I just saw your July 2008 post. I am unsure if your family is related to mine, but you said you "Have letters from Kari to her brothers Ole and Knute in America." In my family, three brothers, Halstein Torson Bakke, Knut Torson Bakke, and Ole Torson Bakke all immigrated (Halstein and Knut in 1853) to Minnesota. If the old letters you have were addressed to Ole and Knute Bakke in Goodhue county, Minnesota, our families may be connected. Note that the family did not use the surname Bakke in the United States until after the 1880 census. I am a descendant of Hastein Torson Bakke of Hemsedal, Hallingdal, Buskerud, Norway (1829-1899).