My dad’s mother’s mother was a Jenssen who immigrated from Norway. A portion of the Jenssen family has deep roots in Kristiansand, Norway. The city, the fifth largest city in Norway with about 90,000 people, has ancient roots. One of the largest pre-Christian burial grounds is found in Oddernes, now a neighborhood of northeast Kristiansand. It dates back to 400 AD. Oddernes is believed to have been a royal residence before 800 A.D. The oldest structure in Kristiansand is the church, built in 1040. The front portion of the church with its tower was added later. However, three bells in the tower date back to the 13th century. Here at the Oddernes church with those ancient bells ringing, my fourth great grandparents, Ellef Olsen Bennestad and Åse Jakobsdatter, were married in 1783 in the original structure. How much further back this familial line goes is not known.
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