Welcome to the Johnsen Family Tree

– now comprising 4300 people who are connected in some way to the families of Norman Johnsen and Martha Reddington.

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Hei, and Velkommen!


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Between 1877 and 1919 Norman’s relatives left their homes in Sandefjord, Nøtterø and Oslo, Norway and after long sea voyages passed through Castle Gardens and Ellis Island immigration centers in New York. They settled in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn where families were formed, mostly among the large population of Scandinavians in that area. They banded together, established roots and somehow survived the Great Depression. Typical of immigrants, many of their offspring eventually found their way to other parts of the country. 

This is a genealogy of their families in the US and in their ancestral homelands, Norway and Sweden. While Norman did some of the research most of the records were supplied by cousins in the US and Norway, among them Turid B Andersen, Torbjorn Kristiansn and many others. Nils Nilsen searched church records, town books and government documents to trace the line back to prominent people, public officials, government leaders and eventually to royalty in the 1100’s – late Viking times.


Martha’s relatives were early New England and Canadian settlers whose roots go back to England, Scotland, Wales and France. Many of them entered the Boston area during the 1630’s when political and religious turmoil in England led to what has come to be called The Great Migration. They cleared land, built farms, raised families and had leadership positions in their towns and churches. Some took part in the conflicts with Indians, French-Canadians and later in the Revolutionary, 1812 and US Civil Wars. Others include; a prominent social reformer; parties in the Salem witch trials; colorful figures, a woman hanged for murder as well as others whose actions were recorded in public documents. 



Martha’s ancestors are also traced to people of some prominence in Great Britain’s history, including one family that goes back to the eleventh century - the time of William the Conqueror.

  Some genealogists say it is foolhardy to think one can accurately trace families to those early times. They may be correct so treat such records with caution.