Lee - Lie Family of Norway

from Norderhov and Hønefoss

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Introduction:

Lee is the American spelling of Lie, a Norwegian farm name meaning 'hillside.' The Lee/Lies were from Buskerud County, Norway, from Norderhov and/or Hønefoss. The area is now called Ringerike and has considerable Norwegian history taking place in the area. Thorvald Herman Ericsen was the name my great-grandfather was baptized with, but Lie was the family farm name and that's the name he commonly used. Erik Lie was his father and source of the patronymic Ericsen. Thorvald's mother bore the name Hønefoss in addition to her patronymic. Hønefoss is now a large town, with the name meaning, as near as I can tell, 'place by the waterfall', which accurately describes Hønefoss. Search the name on Google and you'll find numerous pages with pictures, history, and descriptions of Hønefoss in both English and Norwegian.

Thorvald apparently came to the USA alone in 1880 and we're uncertain if any siblings in Norway survived past that date. Dates from a family Bible fill in death dates for most of Thorvald's siblings. Thorvald--usually known as T. H. Lee--was regarded as a smart, well-educated man in Anderson Township, Burnett County, Wisconsin. He was the census-taker in 1930 for that area, was on the school board, and was known to have numerous books (for that time and place), with many of them law books. A fire at his house apparently destroyed any materials he may have brought from Norway. After his wife Randi's death, Thorvald lived in a small house on his daughter Christine Lee Shogren's farm. Unfortunately his books were lost to damp and neglect after his death.

Beginning with the "Gihle" name in the Lee family ancestry and going back in time from there, much of the material here is based on someone else's research, a lady--apparently a distant cousin--living in Hønefoss, Norway. In the areas we overlapped in research we had a great deal of agreement in names, dates, and ancestry but she clearly had access to different records than I did with, apparently, death records being one of her primary sources. Allow for a lack of confirmation in this area of the ancestry, but from a source that looked to me like one quite well-researched.

Table of Contents

• Selected Families/Individuals
• Surname List
• Name Index
• American Descendents of Thorvald H. Lee

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Deb's Family History Main page

Surnames: Bollaugsen - Dahl - Michelet - Hegge-Rask - Lee (Lie) - Houdek-Kotek-Sauter-Kinzel

Burnett Co., Wisconsin Cemeteries: Pleasant Prairie, St. Olaf, Wood River, Benson, Logging Creek, Riverside Cemetery, Grantsburg

This web site produced 10 Apr 2003 by Ancestry Family Tree, a product of Incline Software, LC.