HVIDSTON FAMILY HISTORY
Gunnar Nilsen Hvidsten was born the 31 July 1863 to Nils Olsen Hvidsten. 
He married Helene Monsdtr Alver the 2nd November 1882. Helene had been born 19 September 1857 to Mons O. Geitreim and Anna Olsdotter Nonaas. Gunnar came from Kviste (very small place of 10-30 families) on Radøy (øy means island, Radøy has a few farms and a small pier) and took over the farm Myra, Alver in Alversund (sund means strait, soun, neck of water). Alversund lies on the island of Radøy about 15 miles north of Bergen, a city on the western coast of Norway. Kviste is a tiny part of Manger county or kommune. About 4 miles north-west of Alversund there is a place called Kvitstein. The name Kvitstein is a Norwegian version of Danish Hvidsten. Norway and Denmark formed a union from about the year 1400 to 1814. During this period Danish was the dominating language. English white = Danish hvid = Norwegian hvit or kvit (in Norway there are two languages). English stone = Danish sten = Norwegian stein. Hvidsten is not a widely used name in Norway. Hvidsten is spelled and misspelled in many ways: Hvidsteen, Hvidten, Hvitstein, Hvitsteen, Withsten and so on. Some Canadian Hvidsten’s changed their name to Widsten. The name Hvidsten came from a farm called Hvidsten. Three or four families (unrelated) have taken that name as their own. According to some research that Carl Hvidsten (not related) did in Norway, the first Hvidsten record appears in the Norwegian Archives in Oslo, Norway in the year 1578. The statement that the Hvidsten name is not considered usual around Kristianea Fjordan, and that Hvidsten rather appears to represent a hill or a stone area of whitish color lying on high ground to identify the location of the farm. "Hvid" in Norwegian language means "White", "sten" means "stone". Other spellings of the name in 1578 are "Hvidstein", "Visstain", "Hvitstten", and "Hvidsteenn". In 1661 "Hvidsteen, and in 1723 Hvidstee, and in 1781 - Hvidsten. Gunnar and Helene had eight children: Anne Marie (1883), Mathilda (1884), Nils (1886), Hildur (1888), Anna (1892), Ole (1895), Gerhard (1899) and Ingolf (1902). Gunnar died 31 October 1944 and Helene on 1 May 1954. Ole Gundersen Hvidsten was born 3 March 1895 to Gunnar and Hellene Hvidsten in Norway.
The name Hvidsten means White Rock. ‘Hvidsten’ changed to ‘Hvidston’ when they immigrated to Canada. Ole had seven brothers and sisters - Ingolf, Anne Marie, Mathilda, Nils, Hildur, Anna, Gerhard. He was the only one who immigrated to Canada. He married Kristine Fjeldskaal in Bergen, Norway in the year 1920. Kristine was born 1 April 1899 in Hosanger, Norway to Haldor and Ragnhild Fjeldskaal. She also had seven brothers and sisters - Amund, Ragna, Ingeborg, Karen, Berthe, Anna and Nellie. Kristine’s mother died of typhoid fever when she was only six years old and Kristine went to live with an aunt. Ole came to Canada 15 April 1924. Kristine and four year old Gunnar followed in 1925. They came via England to Montreal on a Cunard Line Ship, then took the train to Estevan. Kristine’s sister Karen and husband Rasmus Johnson came and met them and took them to Bromhead. It was harvest time. Ole and Kristine rented land by Oungre (near the Range View School where the oldest three children started school), then they moved to a farm one mile east of the hamlet of Hoffer and then into Hoffer where they farmed and Ole had the rural mail route for 15 years. In 1953 they moved to Weyburn, buying a house on 5th Street. After Ole died, Kristine moved into an apartment. Eventually she moved into the Weyburn Special Care Home. Kristine’s interests included crocheting and walking. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church and a member of the Home League. Ole and Kristine had four children - Gunnar (1921-1998), Ruth, Inger and Otto. Ole died the 23 December 1958 in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. Kristine on 23 January 1991, also in Weyburn.
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