Thor Sørensen was born August 8, 1837 to parents Søren Svendsen and Margit Thovsdatter. His name was listed as Thov in the community book and he was a twin to Svend. They lived on a small farm in Seljord, Telemark called the Ringen plads with Margit's parents and bother Aslak Thovsen.
Thor was was working as a
mason in Vennesla when he married Berthe Gurine Olsdatter on July 25, 1874. Berthe was born January 5, 1847 to parents Ola
Sjurson (Syvertson) and Torborg Gurine Olsdatter. The couple lived as tenants of her father on the Stebakken farm in Vennesla
Thor was age 45 and his wife Berthe age 36* when they boarded a ship in
Kristiansand* harbor on April 12, 1883, headed for a new life
America. They traveled with their four young sons, Ole Martin age 9*,
Severin (Severt) age 6*, Torjus (Torgus)
age 3 and little Svend (Sven or Swan) only 6 months
old.
After arriving in the United States at the port of New York, Thor and Berthe traveled to Minnesota and originally resided
in Vega Township. There they had their fifth child Thor(2) in 1884.
They eventually settled on a homestead in Big Woods Township, Marshall County, Minnesota as recorded the 1900 US census. They had two more children, Mary in 1886 and Andrew Ole in 1888.
They farmed and continued to raise their family in Big Woods until their deaths April 7, 1915 (Thor)
and April 30, 1913 (Berthe). They are buried in
the Big Woods Cemetery in Marshall County. Their children, with the exception of Severin who went to
Canada and Mary who went to North Dakota, continued to farm the homestead and remained in Minnesota all their lives.
The variations in the spelling of given names was not uncommon. The use of the
surname Vensland was probably not a result of the immigration and
naturalization process but a preference of Thor who used the name Thor Sørensen Vennesland in Norway.
Vennesland (Vennesla) was the name of the farming community where they lived,
in the county of Vest-Agder Norway. However, Thor's last name was listed as "Sorenson" on
the documents that declared his intent to become a citizen of the United States on October 7, 1890.
Apparently, being unable to write, he used an "X" to mark his assent. His
sons, Ole Martin, Severin in 1901 and Torgus in 1907, used the surname Vensland on their
declarations of intent. There are other Venneslands and Venneslas in
the US and Canada, but the name Vensland seems to be specific to our
family.
I also have a reference from the Marshall
County History Book that suggests that another family that had
emigrated from Norway sent passage for Thor and his family to travel
to America. Their name was Boardson (Baardson), and they and lived in
Warren (Vega Township), Marshall County, MN. There is another reference to the
Boardsons from the same book that I am currently researching. I have
not been able to determine if they were relatives. I have found record of
their passage to America, and I found them recorded in the 1900 US census.