In many Scandinavian countries the last name of a person was changed with each generation. The father usually gives his own first name to his son for a last name with adding the suffix "sen" or "son". The father of this line of Berthelsons was named Bertel Andersen and he in turn named his son, Christen Bertelsen, born May 24, 1812 in Dalleriys, Viborg, Denmark. At this time a departure from tradition in naming their children took place because Christen Bertelsen named all eight of his children with the surname of Bertelsen. Our lineage comes through Christen's son, Jens Christen Bertelsen, born June 14, 1858 in Voel, Aarhus, Denmark. When Jens Christen Bertelsen immigrated to America around 1879, he anglicized his name to James Christian Berthelson, a common practice that saw his brother Soren Christen Bertelson also change his name to Berthelson .
At this point in time we are still blessed with some second, many third and fourth generation Berthelsons.
This site is about the George Berthelson family.
George is James Christian Berthelson's Grandson.