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The Hendricks Minnesota Genealogy Project
Hendricks has a very unique past that ties most of its residents back to a small village in Norway. We believe our perspective on life is enhanced by understanding the generations which preceded us, and are working with our relatives in Norway and other places on the Hendricks Genealogy Project to trace this linage.
Hendricks has a unique kinship with Singsas Norway. The earliest group of immigrants to this area were from Singsas. In 1873, 31 settlers came to the South Dakota/Minnesota area in covered wagons to settle the area which would later become Hendricks. Each of these 31 had travelled from the small town of Singsas, located midway between Trondheim and Roros Norway. From 1873 and on, the family and friends of these settlers immigrated to Hendricks from all parts of Norway.
The goal of the Hendricks Genealogy Project is to create family links between the Norwegian immigrants who settled the Hendricks area, and their Norwegian relatives. In doing so, Hendricks residents have joined hands with their relatives in Norway and other places to recreate this linage. The project coordinator is Jim Winsness from Anderson, SC. On a recent trip to Singsas Norway, Jim realized he was related to many Hendricks residents.
Click here to view the Hendricks
Minnesota Genealogy Project
Project results - as of December 2004
The linage has so far traced back 19 generations, all the way back to 1556! The project statistics as of December 2004 include:
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Hendricks Family Tree |
| # Individuals |
4,859 |
| # marriages |
1,726 |
| Avg. lifespan |
62.3 |
| Earliest Birth |
1578 |
| Text records |
34255 |
| Total Generations |
19 |
| Total Surnames |
529 |
The map to the right shows the farms and residences around Singsas Norway.
 Many of these names have already been included in this project. Residents in Singsas Norway are busily working on discovering the family links of all of these farms and residences. Of course many other Norwegian cities were host to some of our intitial settlers and early residents, and many persons in these cities are also busily identifying these ancestral links.
The Hendricks family tree includes all of the original settlers to the Lake Hendricks Norwegian Colony of 1873.
Some of these families have the last name Bjorgen, Bogen, Digre, Fjeseth, Froiland, Rogness, Trooien, Winsness, Hanson, Knutson, and Kosberg. The Hendricks Family Tree also contains many of the earliest settlers to the Hendricks area and the earliest members of Singsaas Lutheran Church. A partial list of these names include Anderson, Friestad, Engelstad, Bjornlie, Kirkvold, Kvernmo, Larson, Lokkesmoe, Melby, Nygaard, Oien, Rasmussen, Running, Sandro, Singsaas, and Wold.
Though many area residents from Hendricks, Singsaas Norway, and other Norwegian cities have been included in this project, there is much yet to be documented. The family names of many Hendricks residents have not yet been associated to names included in this project. Also, many of the farms around Singsas Norway and other Norwegian cities have not yet been associated. Project manager Jim Winsness requests two ways in which people can help out:
- Contact Jim Winsness at winsness@charter.net or call him at (864) 261-7139. Even those that cannot provide detailed genealogical information can help out by assisting those with this information.
- Persons with an 'above average' interest in genealogy may be interested in obtaining Family Tree Maker's software, which is available for around $30. This software allows for easily combining records with other genealogists who use this software. The combined file can be made available to those who participate and they can then extract from that whatever lines they wish or keep the whole.
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