GENERATION 5
This page will start with Generation 5 of the Lauritz Knutson bloodline, so I hope you're keeping track. We're a very loving family, who very much enjoys a good joke, and to share our family history with one another. At every reunion we have pictures of our ancestors and this same family history sits on the table in books, kept by one of my cousins, Gail. A few years ago she sent me some books through my dad, to help translate some of the words which were in old Norwegian, and through research, we were able to figure out what they meant, and piece together what you see here.
So please, enjoy.
TILLMAN KNUTSON, the first son of LAURITZ KNUTSON and EMMA OLSON, was born October 28, 1894 in Crawford Co, WI and passed away January 29, 1979 in Soldiers Grove, WI. He married BEATRICE RANNEI HOFFLAND on April 07, 1915 at her parents' home in Crawford county. BEATRICE, the daughter of JACOB HOFFLAND and JULIA HELGERSON, was born July 01, 1897 in Crawford Co., WI and died March 23, 1981 in Soldiers Grove, WI.
TILLMAN and BEATRICE had 9 children:
1-LAWRENCE JACOB KNUTSON: b. November 20, 1915; d. July 31, 1999, San Antonio, TX. He married JUDY OLSEN on January 01, 1947, she was b. December 16, 1926
2-GENEVIEVE ELIZABETH KNUTSON: b March 03, 1917, Crawford Co., WI, married MAURICE THOFTNE on September 30, 1940 in Nashua, IA. MAURICE was b. March 27, 1913 in Crawford Co., WI; d. May 06, 2006, Viroqua, WI
3-HAZEL IONA KNUTSON: b. January 27, 1923, Crawford Co., WI; Married OMAR DULL, June 24, 1943 in Hattieburg, MS. OMAR was b. January 13, 1919 in Crawford Co., WI; d. May 17, 1997 in Soldiers Grove, WI
4-TOLENE BERNICE KNUTSON: b. February 23, 1926 in Crawford Co., WI; married MYRON BUROKER on October 01, 1946 at South Kickapoo Church, Viroqua, WI. MYRON was b. January 29, 1922 in North Clayton, WI; d. August 16, 2007 at Soldiers Grove, WI.
5-LORRAINE (OPHILIA) KNUTSON: b. July 01, 1928, Crawford Co., WI; married CHRISTEN JORGEN DAVIG on June 17, 1951 at Kickapoo United Church, Viroqua, WI. CHRISTEN: b. May 25, 1926, Utica Twp, WI; d. November 23, 1993 at home, Crawford Co., WI
6-EMMA MARIE KNUTSON: b. July 21, 1930 in Crawford Co., WI; married RAYMOND FORTNEY on September 15, 1945. Raymond was born January 15, 1928 in Crawford Co., WI
7-BETTY LOU KNUTSON: b. January 13, 1935 in Wisconsin; married DONALD FINLEY on May 08, 1954. DONALD: b. March 20, 1930.
8-PATRICIA CAROLE KNUTSON: b. January 06, 1942 in Viroqua, WI; married MERLYN L. BUROS before 1959. MERLYN: b. December 27, 1938 in Viroqua, WI; d. Octobert 23, 1997 in Viroqua, WI. Married RODERICK EARL OLSON on August 28, 1960 at Our Saviors Church, Soldiers Grove, WI. RODERICK: b. July 26, 1937 at Trout Creek, WI
DOROTHY KNUTSON and RAY RANUM had one child:
1-MARLOW CALVIN-KNUTSON RANUM: b. December 16, 1938 with special needs, currently lives in a group home in Minneapolis.
CLEMENT KNUTSON: b. November 05, 1899, Soldiers Grove, WI; d. March 02, 1970. CLEMENT married ALMEIDA OLSON on September 21, 1920. ALMEIDA, the daughter of OLUF OLSON and JOSIE HOFFLAND, was born in 1900 and died in 1975.
CLEMENT and ALMEIDA had 2 children:
1-ETHEL KNUTSON who married WALTER KIEVRUDER
2-GORDON KNUTSON: b. July 06, 1928; d. September 19, 1984. GORDON married MARLENE ZITZNER April 10, 1948
LAURA EMMALINE KNUTSON: b. July 17, 1902; d. June 21, 1977. LAURA married TORGER FORTNEY November 16, 1921. TORGER, son of CHRIST FORTNEY and GUNELDA KROKEN, was born January 04, 1898, died June 05, 1973
LAURA and TORGER had 4 children:
CLIFFORD EDWARD FORTNEY: b. April 27, 1922, Vernon Co., WI; d. November 27, 2003, Viroqua, WI. CLIFFORD married RUTH OLSON May 10, 1944 in Viroqua, WI. RUTH: b. December 10, 1924.
LEONA FORTNEY: b. June 21, 1924; d. May 17, 1996. LEONA married IRVIN DREGNE April 28, 1943. IRVIN: b. August 30, 1918
JEANETTE FORTNEY: b. April 13, 1927. JEANETTE married FAY MC DANIEL, b. March 08, 1923.
MYRA FORTNEY: b. July 22, 1928. MYRA married MELVIN OLSON March 19, 1947 in Viroqua, WI. MELVIN: b.December 28, 1921.
OWEN KNUTSON: b. September 01, 1904, Soldiers Grove, WI; d. November 10, 1988 in LaCrosse, WI. OWEN married MARTHA HILLER August 11, 1927. MARTHA, daughter of ALBERT HILLER and IDA WILLIAMS, was born August 19, 1908 and died January 03, 1992.
OWEN and MARTHA had 6 children:
1-ARLEN KNUTSON: b. July 21, 1928, Soldiers Grove, WI; d. November 28, 2002, Janesville, WI. ARLEN married SHIRLEY CHRONIGER on July 25, 1953 at Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Soldiers Grove, WI. SHIRLEY was born June 03, 1933.
2-ELLING KNUTSON: b. September 09, 1930; d. November, 2009. ELLING married BETTY BROCKWAY, b. December 14, 1938.
3-ODELL KNUTSON: b. September 26, 1932, d. December, 1984, Soldiers Grove, WI. ODELL married ARDELL NELSON, b. August 16, 1941
4-MARILYN KNUTSON: b. July 02, 1937, married CALVIN MESSLING August 31, 1957 in Gays Mills, WI. CALVIN: b. January 24, 1930, Seneca, WI; d. November 28, 2003, Vernon Manor, Viroqua, WI
5-MERLIN KNUTSON: b. April 12, 1939, married MARLENE ALLEN: b. November 11, 1939
6-NYALL KNUTSON: b. February 12, 1942, married CHERYL JONES: b. June 18, 1946
INA KNUTSON: b. January 06, 1909, Crawford Co, WI, d. September 02, 2003, Minneapolis, MN. INA married LEO RUDOLPH OLSON on January 07, 1933. LEO: b. March 24, 1906, d. October 27, 1993
INA and LEO had 2 children:
1-MERLIN OLSON: b. November 22, 1935; married IRENE
2-DAVID OLSON: b. March 04, 1941; married JAN: b. May 21, 1945
CLARICE KNUTSON: b. March 01, 1918; d. October 24, 1990. CLARICE married JOHN BIERI January 26, 1945, JOHN died in 1946. CLARICE married CLIFFORD SWENSON May 25, 1957; CLIFFORD passed away September, 2001.
CLARICE and JOHN had 1 child:
1-KAREN BIERI: b. December 21, 1945; married PAUL HOLTE: b. July 30, 1942; d. April 2, 1986. KAREN married DALE SANDMIRE; b. May 17, 1933; d. ?????
CLARICE and CLIFFORD had 1 child:
1-DOUGLAS SWENSON: b. November 30; d. ???? in motorcycle accident. DOUGLAS married MARY ANN FORDE: b. August 22, 1955
ALICE KNUTSON: b. September 07, 1919; d. November 03, 1988. ALICE married EMIL MATTILA on May 11, 1944.
ALICE and EMIL had 4 children:
1-SUZANNE MATTILA: married JOHN PEDERSON
2-SHARON MATTILA: b. January 02, 1947; married EDWARD MORROW: b. May 05, 1947
3-SHIELA MATTILA: b. June 29, 1953; married MIKE FLANDERS
4-RICHARD MATTILA: b. Mary 14, 1959; married ELAINE