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Trying to get the Pedersen, Nackerud, and Nakkerud names
into some kind of logical order is a challenge. From public records
we know the following:
-
The
1910 Norway census records lists both Andrew and Gilbert as
residents of Oslo (called Kristiania in 1910) and using the last name of
"Nakkerud".
-
The manifest of the Cedric for both Andrew and
Gunhilda in 1903 listed their names as "Pedersen".
Gunhilda also used the name of "Pedersen" on her trip to the USA in
1904.
-
The
naturalization (this is a
large file so will load slowly) record from
Cottonwood County in Minnesota listed Andrew's name as
"Nackerud". These papers were dated July 5, 1906
and is the petition to become a citizen. Note that Andrew now signs his name as "Andrew P. Nackerud".
But does the "P"
stand for "Pedersen" or "Pederson", or "Peterson"? We
learned the answer in 1909 when Andrew signed his "Oath of Allegiance"
as "Andrew Pederson Nackerud" when he was admitted as a citizen in
November 1909. This document (Oath of Allegiance and Order of
Court Admitting Petitioner) shows the name at the top of the document as
"Andrew Peterson Nackerud" but his signature is the one that counts. The
other is the work of a
court clerk.
-
A 1905 document that is located at the
Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul (Andreas P., Gunhild, Leif N.,
Alfred R. and Harry A.) listed their name as "Nakkerud".
-
The 1903 manifest for Andrew's brother, Gilbert,
lists his name as "Pedersen". A later manifest (1914)
lists his name as "Nackerud".
Questions and Possible Answers
The real question is why did Andrew and Gilbert changed the name to
Nackerud instead of Nakkerud? Or was it a clerical error on the
naturalization papers? Perhaps Andrew and Gilbert wanted more of an
English sounding name.
The use of the name "Pedersen" on the
ship manifest can be explained easily since "Pedersen" means the "son of Petter".
Andrew's father was named Petter Andersen P. Nakkerud (born 1849).
This was a common use of the name "Pedersen". Maybe that was the
procedure when Andrew and Gilbert boarded their ships
− they told the
immigration officials their father's name and they wrote "Pedersen".
Why does the 1905 document found at the
Minnesota Historical Society show the
name as "Nakkerud". Maybe the "census taker" was a Norwegian who
wrote what is heard when Andrew gave him or her his name.
It is fair to speculate on all sorts of
possibilities, but most likely the reason we are all using "Nackerud" is
some clerical error along the way and it never got corrected.
Nakkerud, Norway Just a place
exists. It is a train stop/post office north of Oslo and one of the
manifests (1914 Kristianiafjord) shows "Nakkerud" as the birthday of
Gilbert and his family. See Nakkerud
Norway for more information.
Seattle Nakkeruds Another branch of the Nackerud/Nakkerud
family is located in the Seattle area and they use the name of "Nakkerud". Trygve
Block
Nakkerud immigrated from Norway in the 20s and had three children. A son,
Arnold Olaf Nakkerud, was killed
in 1967 serving on the crew of a helicopter in Viet Nam.
Two daughters, Elise and Gladys, have children and grandchildren in the
Seattle area. Trygve and Andrew are related. Jon Nackerud has talked
with the Seattle Nakkeruds.
Search for Your Relatives Go to a search engine like
www.Google.com and key
in "nakkerud". You will get over 700 records and for all
but a few, they will
be about Nakkerud Norway. So if you are a descendent of Andrew, you
have relatives back in Norway by the name of Nakkerud.
Change Your Name You can easily change
your name and go by "Nakkerud" leaving your official records as
"Nackerud." Some have done this such as Karen Nakkerud (the
daughter of Franz Nackerud).
Rolf Nackerud wanted every Nackerud to change their
name to Nakkerud in the 60s. He did some investigating and found
that is was quite easy to change names. He proposed this to his
brother, Leif Nackerud, who owned a trucking company with the name,
"Nackerud Tracy, Minn" on all his trucks. Leif told Rolf that he
was not about to go to the expense of repainting all the names on his
trucks. That more or less ended any further discussion.
Except that he did get his wish on his headstone. Visit the the
Walnut Grove Cemetery and you'll find that his grave marker reads "Rolf
Nakkerud." |
