Seeking information about Henry Bjarne (Barney) Olsen

In attempting to find more information for you, I ended up becoming quite confused because there were 2 Barney (Bjarne) Olsens born in Norway that lived in Chicago.  There is the man you referenced born in 1893, who was always listed as single in US records.  He died in 1980 in Chicago, with no relatives listed in his burial notice.  The other was born in 1901 and died in 1966 in Chicago.  He had been married to Sigrid Nielsen and had 2 children (Elaine Scaccia & Raymond Olsen). 

Dear Mr. Slotsvik,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

For an overview on how to begin your research, we suggest that you review NARA’s Resources for Genealogists, as well as the FamilySearch Research wikis for Illinois Genealogy and Norway Emigration and Immigration .  In addition, the document Suggestions and Advice for Family History Researchers may be useful. 

Since your grandfather’s naturalization took place in a Federal court in Illinois, his declaration of intention (with any accompanying certificates of arrival), and petition for naturalization may be in the custody of the National Archives at Chicago (RM-CH).   Please email RM-CH at chicago.archives@nara.gov to request his documents by including the information and  numbers that you included in your post. 

In most cases, the National Archives will not have a copy of the certificate of citizenship. Two copies of the certificate were created – one given to the petitioner as proof of citizenship, and one forwarded to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

Certificates of citizenship were issued by the Federal courts until October 1991 when INS took over responsibility for naturalization proceedings. All INS records are now overseen by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS maintains duplicate copies of court records (including the certificate of citizenship) created since September 27, 1906 and may be requested through the USCIS Genealogy Program.

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Population Schedules for the 1920 Census, the Population Schedules for the 1930 Census, and  the Population Schedules for the 1940 Census in the Records of the Bureau of the Census (Record Group 29) that may contain information about your grandfather.  The 1940 Census schedules are digitized and available using the Catalog. For access to the non-digitized schedules, please contact the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1) via email at archives1reference@nara.gov. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RM-CH and RDT1. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

You may wish to search Ancestry.com for the U.S. Census as well as their digitized collection of Illinois, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991. There may be a fee for using Ancestry. Instead, check for access at your local library as many library systems subscribe to these sites, making them free for their patrons.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!

Hi Sigmund

Welcome to History Hub

I have listed several references to Henry. They are from familysearch.org. It is a free website.

you just need to register to use

Hope these help

Norway census-1891 and 1900

Hendrÿ Bjarne Olsen, "Norway Census, 1891" (familysearch.org)

Henry Bjarne Olsen* in household of Oskar Edvin Olsen, "Norway Census, 1900" — FamilySearch.org

He was a sailor

Henry Bjarne Olsen, "California, San Francisco Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving, 1954-1957" (familysearch.org)

Henry Bjarne or Henry Barney Olsen, "Illinois, Northern District Naturalization Index, 1840-1950" (familysearch.org)

Bjarne Olsen, "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918" (familysearch.org)

Immigration with father and a friend 1921  This Henry Olsen arrived in 1921 but you state that he registered for the

draft of 1917/18. Since the one I found was a sailor, it is possible that he made two trips.

Bjarne Olsen, "New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924" (familysearch.org)

Alice Lane

Research Volunteer