Matrilinial Monday – Oline Hansen



Name: Julie Oline Hansen
Called by Grandkids: While she never got to meet her grandkids, I have learned that my father and his siblings would have possibly called her Mormor.
Birth: 1886, Fjenneslev, Denmark
Death: 1929, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Spouse: Holger Hansen
Marriage: 1918, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Children: Margaret, Marilyn, Torben
Parents: Rasmus Hansen and Maren Sofie Olsen
Siblings: Herman, Maren Hansine, Hans Kristian, Johanne, Ole
About: Oline was born in Fjenneslev, Denmark, just about in the center of Sealand, which is the large island on the east side of the country which has Copenhagen as the most-eastern point. Her father owned a farm, Stubbegaard, which he had inherited from his father, and which was passed on to his eldest son when he came of age. 

At the age of 8, her father died, and so she and her two elder siblings helped out on the farm. She did not particularly like working on the farm, so eventually she went to those in their town who could afford to pay for help, and began to work as a maid, cook, and seamstress. She ended up with a job with the agriculture minister at the time, and moved with the family to Fredericksburg, just outside of Copenhagen, and lived there for a few years.

Soon after, her younger brother Hans decided to travel to America and find his way there. After a short time, Oline followed him, eventually settling in Chicago doing much the same work she had done in Denmark.

On a trip back to Denmark in 1916, she met another young Dane traveling back to visit with his family. The two spent much time on board together, and when a blockade prevented their return to the US for a time, he sought her out in Fjenneslev, and courted her there. Upon their return to America, he moved to Cleveland, and she soon followed. They were married shortly before the end of the war. My grandmother was born about a year later.

Oline had two more children, and made their home comfortable and happy while Holger built houses. He built the home they lived in, and Oline cooked, washed, and made clothes. Often their family came to visit or even to stay for a time. Her brother Hans was fond of stopping by for supper. Unfortunately, like her father before her, she caught a respiratory ailment, and in early 1929, it became pneumonia, and she died.

Holger sent his children to live with his younger brother, and moved them to a new home. He couldn't stand the thought of staying in the home where she had died.


Oline, Maggie and Holger, ca 1920

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About this blog

This blog is maintained by two sisters who have had a life long interest in geneology.
Mika writes here mostly about our family (Hansen, Hillinger, Bordewick, Park, etc), and her search for more information.
Shannon mostly uses this space as a place to make the many stories written about and by her husband's family (Holly, Walker, Walpole, etc) available to the rest of the family, present and future.

Our blog is named Oh Spusch! mostly because Shannon is bad at naming things. The first post I put up includes a story about the time Walker's great grandfather took his whole family out to see a play and the littlest kept saying "Oh! Spusch!" No one ever figured out what she meant by that.