Surname Saturday 2.0: The Schrøders

The Schrøder Family

 

Like the Rasmusens, this is a very new name on my family tree. One that I only discovered because of records on Family Search. My great-grandmother's mother was a dead-end for her line until I found her birth record, which listed Ole Larsen and Birthe Marie Schrøder as her parents. I've since learned quite a lot about Birthe.

Birthe was born in the early part of the 19^th century. I believe her parents' names were Henrich Schrøder and Anne Sorensdatter. I have several records on her. The first is her birth certificate, which lists her birthdate as 1819. I have found two records listing a Birthe Marie Schrøder, but I believe this one fits closer to the other records I have found. The other record lists her birthdate as 1825, which when I compare it to her wedding records seems a bit too young, so I've chosen to assume the 1819 Birthe is the Birthe I am looking for.

She married twice. First to a Niels Olsen in 1844, which would make her twenty-five at the time, then again to Sofie's father, Ole Larsen in 1851. Neils and Birthe had at least two daughters who I found records of at Family Search as well: Christine Marie, born in 1845, and Anne Kirstine, born in 1847. According to the records I have found, Neils died sometime before 1851, as that was when Birthe remarried.

Unfortunately, this marriage was not to last either. About this time, there was a great wave of Scandinavians who headed to America. Ole Larsen was apparently among them. We are not entirely certain when he left, but their daughter was born in 1855, so it wouldn't have been much earlier than that. From the stories the family told, it seems it probably was not much later, either. When my great aunt went to meet her cousins in Denmark on this side of the family, she asked about her great-grandfather, and was told that he "left [Birthe] with a gift," and that was the last she heard from him. The implication being, of course, that he had left her with child, or with an infant, and never returned or sent on money to help. It was an unfortunately common occurrence at the time. Many men traveled to America with great dreams, promising to send for the wives they left behind, but never did so. Apparently Birthe was one of these. So she was left with three young daughters and little income.

I know little else about this branch, but this story fascinates me. It feels like something I read in a book, but this is something that touched my family only a few generations ago.

Of Birthe's family before her, I have little more than names. But I continue to look in hopes of finding more.

My Schrøder line, for those interested:

* Henrich Christian Schrøder was born 1790 in Slots-Bjergby, Denmark. He married Anne Sorensdatter 1817, and they had at least three children, Birthe Marie, Niels Henrichsen, and Caroline Henrichsdatter. As you can see, they were named in the old way. I do not know when he died.

* Birthe Marie Schrøder was born probably about 1819 in Slots-Bjergby, Denmark, and married twice. First to Niels Olsen in 1844, with whom she had two daughters, then to Ole Larsen in 1851, with whom she had one daughter. I do not know when she died.

* Birthe and Ole's daughter was Maren Sofie Olsen. She was born 1855 in Slots-Bjergby, Denmark. She married Rasmusm Hansen in 1881, and the two had six children together. Their descendants are listed with his family's surname post, so I will not name them here. Maren died in 1923, survived by two sons and two daughters.

What I don't know:

* I would love to know more about Birthe Marie's life, and her daughter Maren Sofie's. I have heard that she was sent out to earn her keep helping other farms, but at this moment, I'm not sure if there would even be a record of such things. I have attempted to find her in the Danish Censuses of her life, but before her marriage to Rasmus, it is difficult to determine if I am finding the correct Maren in the records.

* I would also love to know if Birthe Marie had any other siblings, and what her father's parents names were, as I have been unable to locate any further records on this family.

More on this line:

* Brick Wall Update

* Surname Saturday Post: Schrøder

Surname Saturday 2.0: The Rasmusens

The Rasmusen Family

 

This is one of the newer branches on my family tree. In fact the one person I have with this name actually goes by Rasmusdatter. I presume she named her son, my great-great grandfather, after her own father, but beyond that, all I have is her name on several Danish Censuses. Maren Rasmusdatter married Hans Nielsen sometime before 1841, as she had a child by that time. The couple had at least six children according to the census records I was able to find, born between 1841 and 1854. Hans had a farm, Stubbegaarden, in Alsted-Flinterup, and after they retired, their son Rasmus, who is the third child I have listed for them, took it over.

I do know that the family's farm was in Sealand, the large island of the country, but other than that, I have no information on this family aside from the Census information until I get to their son, so I have no idea who her parents were, or where she was born, and only a vague idea of when. Nor do I have any clue if she had any siblings. But I do keep trying.

My Rasmussen line, for those interested:

* Maren Rasmusdatter was born sometime around 1819. She married Hans Nielsen sometime before 1841. They had at least 6 children: Ole, Niels, Rasmus, Jorgen, Jens, and Ane Lisbeth. She died sometime after 1880, which was the last census I could find her in.

* Niels Hansen was born about 1843. He married Marie Rasmussen, and they had at least one child, Kirsten Marie Hansen. I have no other record of this family.

* Rasmus Hansen was born 1845 in Alsted, Denmark. He married twice. First to Maren Nielsen sometime before 1870, then after her death in 1879, to Maren Sofie Olsen in 1881. Maren and his second wife had six children: Herman, Maren Hansine, Julie Oline, Hans Kristian, Johanne Kirsten, and Ole. Rasmus died in 1895.

* I have already detailed this family a number of times before, but Hermione, Maren and Oline all had children. Herman and Maren's descendants stayed in Denmark, and Herman took over the farm and raised his children there. Oline immigrated to America, and settled there with Holger Hansen, and they had three children there before her death in 1929. All of Oline and Holger's living descendants still live in the US today.

What I don't know about this family:

Almost anything. I know that Maren was born in the early part of the nineteenth century, and that she married her husband probably about mid-century. I know they had at least six children together, and that their son Rasmus took over the farm when they retired. Other than that, I have nothing. No birth date, only a vague birth location, no marriage date.

I would love to learn more about her family, and how many siblings she had. I'd love to know if they were from Sealand, or elsewhere in Denmark. I do know she was born there, but that does not mean that they were originally from the island.

Any help here would very much be appreciated, though I am always doing research on this line myself.

More on this line:

* Rasmussen Surname post

* Where We're From – Denmark

* Brick Wall Update

* Brick Wall Update 2012

Surname Saturday 2.0: The Christensens

The Christensen Family

 

Kirstine & Jorgen (found at Vejle museum)

What I know about this family breaks down to a couple of names on a chart and a small handful of very old photographs. The Christensens were my great-grandfather's maternal grandmother's parents. The only reason I even have their name is because my grandmother and her sister were putting together a family tree, and able to ask their father's cousin for information on this branch of the family.

Kirstine (front) and Katrine

We have three photos of Ivare Kirstine (I believe she was known as Kirstine) that I have included in this post. One is of her with my great-grandfather's older brother Hans Jorgen (named for her husband)'s family, when she would have been about ninety or thereabouts. The second is a photocopy of a photo family members found in a Vejle museum of Kirstine and Jorgen. The third is a photo of Kirstine with her sister Katrine. All three reveal tiny snippets of her life, though I know very little about this woman in general.

Kirstine with her daughter Else and Else's son Hans Jorgen (named for Kirstine's husband) and his wife and eldest daughter

One story I do know is that when my great-grandfather was young, he fell ill, and had to be taken to the hospital, which was a long trip, as they had no cart to carry him in. Rather than make him take the long walk home, he stayed in town at his grandmother's house for quite a long time, and his grandmother grew quite fond of him and didn't want him to return home once he was finally doing better.

In this family, I only have four names: Kresten Christensen, his wife Else Katrine Ivarsdatter, and two daughters, my great-great-great grandmother, Ivare Kirstine and her sister Katrine. All I know for certain is that they were from the Jutland area of Denmark, and most likely from in or near the area of Vejle. I do know for certain that that is where Kirstine lived with her husband and even after his death until her own.

My Christensen line, for those interested:

*  Kresten Christensen married Else Katrine Ivarsdatter. They had at least two daughters, Ivare Kirstine and Katrine. I have no other information about this branch of the family.

*  Ivare Kirstine Christensen was born 1845 in Vindbjerg, Denmark. She married Jorgen Larsen 1863 in Vejle, Denmark. They had nine children. She died in 1932 in Vejle.

Ø  Else Katrine Larsen was born 1865 in Ringive, Denmark. She married Jens Christian Hansen 1885 in Ringive, Denmark. They had eight children, which I listed in last week's Surname post, if you wish to learn about them in more detail. She died in 1934.

Ø  Kristine Larsen was born 1870 in Ringive, Denmark. She married Peter Andreasen. I have no children listed for them. She died in 1957.

Ø  Birte Marie Larsen was born 1870 in Ringive, Denmark. She married Jens Ibsen Laurberg. I have no other details on her life.

Ø  Mette Margrethe Larsen, known as Margrethe, was born 1873 in Ringive, Denmark. She married Isak Isaksen sometime before 1897, and the two emigrated to the US, settling in New York. They had three children: Peter, Jorgen, and Tula. I have details of three generations after them. Margrethe died in 1970.

Ø  Lars Kristian Larsen was born 1876 in Ringive, Denmark. He married Marie Damgaard, but I have no information on their life beyond that. He died in 1955.

Ø  Maren Kirstine Larsen was born 1878 in Ringive, Denmark. She married Christian Christensen, but I have no details on their life together. She died in 1957.

Ø  Soren Larsen was born 1880 in Ringive, Denmark. He married Marie Eskildsen, but I have no further details on his life, or if they had children together.

Ø  Dagmar Augusta Larsen was born 1883 in Ringive, Denmark. She married Reiar Aasberg, but I have no other details on their life together. She died in 1973.

Ø  Ane Marie Larsen was born 1886 in Ringive, Denmark. She Niels Peter Skov Jensen (whom I believe to be a cousin of Else's husband above) in 1906. They had five children: Laura, Jens Skov, Harald Skov, Svend Aage Skov, and Karen Kirstine. I have record of two more generations after those children, but nothing more. Ane died in 1960.

What I don't know:

* While this branch is not as vital to my search at the moment, I would love to learn more about my three-greats grandmother's family, as I have so little on them at the moment.

* When was Kresten born, and where, and who were his parents? And the same information is missing for his wife Else as well.

* I'd also love to know more about Kirstine's siblings, especially Katrine, whom I have a photo of. Any births, deaths, marriages or children would be welcomed.

* I would also love to know more about Kirstine's children, as I currently only have detailed information on three of her daughters.

Other information about this branch:

* Christiansen – Part I

* Women's History Month – Week 1

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – January 1, 1913

1)  Determine where your ancestral families were on 1 January 1913 - 100 years ago.

2)  List them, their family members, their birth years, and their residence location (as close as possible).  Do you have a photograph of their residence from about that time, and does the residence still exist?

3)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status or Google+ Stream post.

Here's mine:

I'm going with assuming children lived at home until they married, but that is not necessarily true.

Senefts –  (Uncertain which children lived with them at the time, but if I assume all of them, there were at least seven people total in residence)
Leon Seneft – ? – London, England
Mindel Seneft – 62 – London, England – died three months later, according to her tombstone
Children –
                Alex Seneft – 29
                Jack Seneft – 21
                Jennie Seneft – ?
                Annie Seneft – 19
                ? Seneft - ?

Kresches – (only have names of three of a likely five children, not sure which still lived at home at this time)
Benzion Kresch – ? – Czudek, Galicia (possibly dead, I have no solid dates for him)
Feiga Kresch – about 43 – Czudek, Galicia
Children –
                Mendel Kresch – 23
                Dora Kresch – 21
                Minna Kresch – ?

Hansens I –

Grandparents –
Christine Knudsen – 78 – Thyregod, Vejle, Denmark

Jorgen Larsen – 75 – Give, Vejle, Denmark
Ivare Kirstine Larsen – 67 – Give, Vejle, Denmark

Parents –
Jens Christian Hansen – 54 – Thyregod, Vejle, Denmark
Else Katrine Larsen – 47 – Thyregod, Vejle, Denmark
Children –
                Hansine Kristine Hansen – 26 (married in 1918)
                Jans Jørgen Hansen – 24 (married in 1923 in England, but probably left about the same time as Holger, 1914)
                Holger Skov Hansen – 21 (married 1918 in the US, emigrated in 1914)
                Aage Hansen – 17 – (married in 1921)
                Alfred Hansen – 15 – (married 1926 in the US, emigrated in 1920)
                Ida Kirstine Hansen – 12 – (married 1932)
                Hans Knudsen Hansen – 9 – (married 1933)
                Adolf Hansen – 5 – (married 1932)

Hansens II – (ditto the above with Hansens I)

Maren Hansen – 57 – Fjenneslev, Denmark
Children –
                Herman Hansen – 30 (married, but he inherited the farm, so I will assume that he is living there with his mother and younger sibling or siblings, depending on who is still living at home) 
                Marie Hansen – 23 (Herman's wife. Their first child would be born in October of this year)
                Oline Hansen – 26 (Not sure when she left home, but she may have been living in Fredericksburg, Denmark by then, or even Chicago, IL, US)
                Hans Kristian Hansen – 22 (again, might already be in the US by this time)
                Johanne Kirsten Hansen – 21 (died in 1916)

Bordewick –

Grandmother –
Karen Dorothea Bordewich – 77 – Norway (possibly Oslo? I believe she moved there after her husband's death)

Parents –
Henrik Bergithon Bordewick – 50 – Vancouver, BC, Canada
Leonhard Marine Bordewick – 51 – Vancouver, BC, Canada
Children –
                Bjarne Bordewick – 24 – Vancouver, BC, Canada (married in 1918)
                Harald Bordewick – 22 – Vancouver, BC, Canada
                Hans Henrik Bordewick – 20 – Vancouver, BC, Canada (not sure when he married, but I don't think he was married yet)

Park –

Robert James Park – 61 – Vancouver, BC, Canada
Elizabeth Park – 50 – Vancouver, BC, Canada
Children –
                Elizabeth Park – 23 (may have been married by this point, I don't have a date for her marriage)
                Mary Dunlop Park – 21 (married in 1918)
                Rhoda Park – 19 (may have been married by this point, as I believe she is the one who moved to the area first, with her husband, but that could be Elizabeth above)
                Margaret Park – 17
                George Dunlop Park – 15 (no date for marriage, but too young anyway)
                Florence Park – 9 – (again, no known marriage date, but far too young)

Jones –

Grandparents –

Benjamin Jones – ? – Merthyr Tydfil, Wales (may be dead by this point, I have his deathdate as "before 1915")
Hannah Jones – 63 – Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
The only child I have a birthdate for is in a separate household, my great-grandfather Daniel.

Parents – 

Daniel Jones – 30 (31 in 16 days) – Vancouver, BC, Canada
Eliza Anne Jones – 27 – Vancouver, BC, Canada (pregnant with their second daughter at the time, who arrives in May)
Child –
                Marjorie Grace – 0 (will be 1 in April)

Howells –

Gabriel Howells – 53 – Vancouver, BC, Canada
Selina Howells – 56 – Vancouver, BC, Canada
Children –
                Catherine Howells – 25 (married 1918)
                Edward Gabriel Howells – 21 (married 1919)

That's all I have dates for, but I'm pretty sure most of the people I haven't included were already deceased by this time. I'm not 100% sure on the numbers, but most should be right.