A virtual reunion of the Busath family was held on July 26, 2025. The presentations were recorded and are presented below for viewing for non-commercial family history purposes only. All other rights are reserved.
Welcome and Introduction – David D. Busath
Dave welcomed everyone to the virtual Busath family reunion. The meeting began with prayer after which Dave discussed the goal of the reunion to present the busath.org website and have a little fun exploring our Norwegian heritage. To get started, he displayed a picture taken in 1909, showing twelve family members, including four children of Christian and Agnes Busath—Albert, Elsie, Agnes, and Joseph—enjoying themselves near Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon.
2025VR Clip01 Introduction (Time: 5:04)
Busath.org Website, Overview – Gordon J. Clarke
Gordon provided an overview of the busath.org website, including how to navigate its features, such as family photos, reunion reports, presentation videos from the July 2024 in-person reunion, FAQ’s, and how to contact the website group by sending an email to info@busath.org.
2025VR Clip02 Website Overview (Time: 5:44)
Busath.org Website, Places to Visit – Richard B. Busath
Richard discussed interesting places to visit in Utah as listed on the busath.org website. He detailed locations of Busath family graves, residences, and significant events such as Christian Busath’s involvement in (1) pile-driving during the construction of the Saltair Pavilion at the Great Salt Lake, (2) building a bridge across the Provo River, and (3) working on the American Fork Railroad.
Richard also discussed the location of family sites in Norway as listed on the busath.org website. He demonstrated how to find Busath-family-related farms on Google Maps using coordinates provided on the website.
2025VR Clip03 Places to Visit (Time: 12:54)
Busath.org Website, Other Resources, Busethslekta & Permanent.org – Lynn E. Busath
Lynn discussed how the busath.org website is structured to provide one place to access other resources of interest to the family. He showed, for example, how to access and download from the website copies of, and an English translation of, Busethslekta—a book on the Busath family compiled by Severin Steinsås in 1953.
He also showed how to access from the busath.org website the Busath-Cheever and Paxman-Moody Archives hosted on permanent.org, a 501(c) charitable organization that partners with FamilySearch to preserve documents, ensuring they remain accessible in future formats. He also showed how to explore those archives, which contain histories, documents, and photographs related to the Busath and Paxman families. As an example, he discussed the historical meeting in American Fork in 1874 that led to Christian Busath meeting and marrying Agnes Cheever, and how it also led to William Reed Horizon Paxman meeting and marrying Urilda Moody.
2025VR Clip04 Permanent (Time:15:42)
Busath.org Website, Other Resources, Roster of Descendants – David D. Busath
Dave discussed the roster of descendants—a spreadsheet containing at the time of the virtual reunion 1,342 identified descendants of Christian and Agnes and their spouses. The spreadsheet was prepared to maintain contact information for living descendants so we can keep in touch. Family members are encouraged to help keep the contact information complete and up to date by emailing info@busath.org.
2025VR Clip05 Roster of Descendants (Time: 5:10)
Busath.org Website, Other Resources, Støren Facebook Groups – Andrew N. Busath
Andrew discussed two Norwegian Facebook groups of interest to the family and how they have led to connections with a 4th cousin in Norway and discovery of historical photos of Christian’s family and surroundings in Norway.
2025VR Clip 06 Facebook Groups (Time: 4:38)
FamilySearch, Memories & Ordinances – David D. Busath & Richard B. Busath
Dave encouraged family members to scan and share family photographs and documents on FamilySearch and to use info@busath.org to communicate with the family.
Richard explained how he has been reserving family names for temple work in the Christian Bersvendsen Busath Family Group on FamilySearch. Family members who are interested in joining the group and performing ordinances should email info@busath.org.
2025VR Clip07 FamilySearch Tree Overview (Time: 3:44)
Tips on Norwegian Pronunciation – Bradford R. Busath
Brad briefly discussed a trip to Norway he made in 2019. He also presented a primer on Norwegian pronunciation, sharing his experience serving a mission in Norway and his Norwegian heritage. He explained the unique vowels, consonants, and silent letters in Norwegian, as well as common place names and their pronunciations. Brad emphasized the importance of distinct enunciation and provided examples of how vowels and consonants are pronounced differently in Norwegian compared to English. He also discussed the evolution of Norwegian dialects and spelling over time.
2025VR Clip 08 Norwegian Pronunciation (Time: 22:25)
Norwegian Ancestral Sites Exploration – Richard B. Busath
Richard discussed Norwegian ancestral sites visited by him and his family in May 2023 and by Maren B. Brinkerhoff and her family in March 2024. They explored several ancestral farms, including Solemsvold, Buset, Spjellet, and Skärvollbakken. Richard discussed their historical significance and current state. He shared insights from local historian Harold Buset about the Buset farm’s history and its connection to the family name. He also visited the Allan Line Headquarters in Trondheim, where Christian Busath purchased his ticket to America in May 1870.
2025VR Clip09 Norwegian Ancestral Sites(Time: 23:00)
Comments, Q&A, Family Legacy Discussion, and Conclusion
Comments were made by Stanley A. Busath and his daughter Elizabeth, and questions were raised by Nancy Busath and Gregory Busath. Richard explained that the Buset farm was large, with seven farms now on the property, and that it was used for growing crops and raising pigs and sheep. He had been told they likely grew similar crops to those in the surrounding area. Lynn mentioned that census records contain information about the number of livestock, and types of crops grown on the farms at various dates. [For example, the 1865 Census indicates that the farm Spjellet, on which Christian lived, had 3 cows, 10 sheep, 1 pig, and grew barley, oats, and potatoes.]
[A review of the chapter on the Buset farm in the Singsås farm book, shows that the larger Buset farm had been divided into two parts when our ancestors lived on it. The part where they lived was called U’stu’ (later divided into two parts, U’stu’ and Monstu’), which included 105 mål (about 24 acres) of cultivated land and 370 mål (about 85 acres) of productive forest. See Singsåsboka: Gård og grend, ætt og folk (Trondheim: 1958), pp. 326-333.]
Gordon reflected on the importance of preserving family history and values for future generations and offered a closing prayer. Elizabeth shared a personal story about a friend who has maintained and preserved the property of her grandparents, highlighting the lasting impact of family legacies. The meeting was wrapped up with expressions of gratitude from Dave and a reminder to stay connected for future events.
2025 VR Clip 10 Conclusion (Time: 16:38)