When Birgit Arnesdatter was born in 1781, in Li, Buskerud, Norway, her father, Arne Steengrimsen, was 36 and her mother, Ingebjørg Nilsdatter, was 33. She married Knut Steingrimson on 3 November 1812, in Nes, Buskerud, Norway. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 1 daughter. She died in 1872, in Nes, Hole, Buskerud, Norway, at the age of 91.