Berte Maria "Mary" (LYSTAD) LOVEN

Berte Maria (or in some records Bertha Mary) LYSTAD was born 29 Dec 1863 in Sørum, Akershus, Norway as Berte Maria HANSEN to Hans OLSON and Anne ANDERSDATTER. (HANSEN, OLSON, and ANDERSDATTER all being surnames based on the name of the father as explained in my last post.) My grandma (her granddaughter-in-law) has told me that she went by Mary.

Her baptismal record in the Ministralbok for Gjerdum, Akershus, Norway as Berte Maria.

From what I've gathered, Mary's father left her family around the time that she was born. While I don't know when she came to America, I suspect that she came with her mother and her older half-sister. I can say that she came sometime between 1865 (when she showed up on the census in Norway) and her marriage in 1887. I suspect her arrival was closer to 1887.

She married John LOVEN 1 Mar 1887 in Glenwood township, Winneshiek county, Iowa. They had 9 children: Albert Herman on 15 Jun 1887, Adolph Melvin on 16 Oct 1887 (he went by Melvin), Henry Rudolph on 1 Oct 1890, Anga Cornelia on 6 May 1892 (she died 7 Sep 1893), Carl Alfred on 7 Dec 1893, Julius Bernard on 25 Sep 1895, Anga Cornelia Minerva on 30 Sep 1897, Hannah Violeta "Violet" on 5 Apr 1899, and Roy Philip on 17 Jun 1903.

Mary died 10 Apr 1948 in Waukon, Alamakee county, Iowa. I do have a PDF of her obit which was posted in the Decorah Journal (Decorah, Iowa) on 15 Apr 1948. She also has a memorial on findagrave.

I have Mary on the following censuses.

• 1865 Norwegian census for the Lystad farm in Ullensager
• 1895 IA Census, page 474, Glenwood township, Winneshiek, Iowa
• 1910 US Census, page 8B, Glenwood township, Winneshiek, Iowa.
• 1920 US Census, page 3A, Glenwood township, Winneshiek, Iowa.
• 1930 US Census, page 2B, Glenwood township, Winneshiek, Iowa
• 1940 US Census, page 3B, Glenwood township, Winnehsiek, Iowa

UPDATES: