Brick Wall People Redux – Part 10 – John Park

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Name: John Park
Birth: unknown
Death: unknown
Marriage: unknown
Location(s): Ireland
Relation to me: John Park was my maternal grandfather's mother's paternal grandfather, which makes him 6th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: unknown

Spouse(s): ? Dunlop

Children: Robert James Park
Other Family: none known

Details: I have almost no information on him, and even less on his wife. According to my great-great grandfather's entry on a Northern Irish census before the family moved to Canada, he was born in Antrim in Northern Ireland, so I could assume that that is where they lived, but as of this moment, I certainly can't assume John was ever there, because there's no way of telling where he was or even if he was alive when his son was born. So all I know is that he was Irish and has a rather Scottish/English surname.

Proof:
1) My only current proof of John's existence is his son's death record in Vancouver, BC. At this time, all I have for him is a name, and his wife's surname, and where his son was born (from another bit of proof, but since John's not mentioned on it, I won't use it as proof for him at this time). Unfortunately, John Park is all too common a name. All I can do is hope to eventually find more about him.

Needed:

As you can see, there has been no change on this branch at all. Every other wall on this generation, I've found at least a few more proofs of the ancestor, but with John and his wife, Robert's death record is still the only piece of proof I have they even existed.

I still have absolutely no BMD info for John, and only a vague notion that he was alive in 1850 or 1851, as that is about when his son was born. Irish records are far more spotty for that sort of information, especially when the family is Protestant, which mine was. At this time, all I can think of to do is keep trying when I find new sources on his son, and hope that more information will reveal itself.

If my family or anyone out there has any more information on his family, I'd love to talk to you about him. I'd love to learn more if at all possible.

Original Post
Other Posts about John Park

• Brickwall Update #2
• Park (Ireland>US>Ireland>Canada
• Brick Wall Update
• Brick Wall Update
• Surname Saturday 2.0: The Parks
• Brick Wall Update 2018

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 9 – Ole Larsen

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Name: Ole Larsen
Birth: my records list his birthdate as about 1812.
Death: Sometime around or just before 1900, I believe.
Marriage: April 21, 1851 in Slots-Bjergby, Denmark.
Location(s): Slots-Bjergby, Denmark; Minnesota, USA
Relation to me: Ole Larsen was my paternal grandmother's mother's mother's father, which makes him 6th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): Birthe Marie Schrøder
Children: Lars Christian, Maren Sofie
Other Family: Oscar and Tena, grandchildren

Details: Ole is a little odd, as I know a lot and at the same time very little about him. I have both his wedding record to his wife and his daughter's birth record, and know that he came here to the states about the time his daughter was born. I know that he had a farm here in Minnesota, and that he had a son and a two grandchildren here in the states, and that their branch ended with them, at least according to my great-great uncle, Hans.

Unlike the story I told in his first entry, it seems his story is quite different from what I thought. Originally, I thought that Ole came to the US after his daughter was born, and left behind his wife and child. But then I came across a record for another child by his wife, a son, who I then discovered came to the US as well. So now, until I am certain, I have two possible stories: the first is that he came to the states to prepare a home for his family, and while he was gone, his wife died, so he came to retrieve his son, but his daughter was left behind for whatever reason. OR he left with his son after her death, and left his daughter behind. Either way, it was not a good story for his daughter. There is a family story that says he sent her a vase, and that has been passed around by her descendants in Denmark as a sort of bad taste family joke.

The people I'd learned of from my great-great uncle's interview by my grandmother and her siblings made me misunderstand his relationship to Oscar and Tena, but after finding their father, and realizing who he was, I now have Oscar and Tena in the right place in my family tree. I still don't know anything about Ole's parents and possible siblings, though, and I still don't have dates for his birth or death as of yet, so I still have a long way to go. I'd love to know more about his story, and where exactly he lived in Minnesota.

Proof:
1) My initial proof for Lars comes from his wedding record to Birthe in 1851. It gives no parents, unfortunately.
2) My next is from their daughter's baptism record in 1855. It doesn't prove he was in Denmark at that point, but it at least confirms he is Maren Sofie's father.
3) The next bit of info is an interview with my great-great uncle Hans, in which he mentions him once or twice, mostly about how he went to his farm after coming to the US.
4) And the last bit is in a few letters between my grandmother and her sister about the Hansen family, one of which specifically mentions his desertion of his wife and daughter, though it makes no mention of her other two daughters from a previous marriage, so I'm not sure if they knew about them.

New Proofs I have found of Ole:
5) The birth record of his son, Lars Christian Olsen in 1852 in Denmark.
6) We have found a census record for Ole that lists him with his wife, her two daughters from her first marriage, and their son Christian, in 1855.
7) Then I have a birth record for Maren Sofie in 1855 listing both her parents.
8) There is also a record of a stillbirth in late 1857, only four months before Birthe Marie died. So either she died due to complications, or that loss left her so devastated, she killed herself. Which would make sense why Ole would leave the country after that. Though it still doesn't explain why he would leave his daughter behind.
9) The death record for Birthe Marie in 1858.
10) I also have a confirmation record for Christian in 1866 which lists both Ole & Birthe Marie, which has Christian in Denmark still.
11) Then I have a record of Ole in the Lutheran Church in America that records his son's marriage in 1877, and lists him as well as his deceased wife.
12) There is also Maren Sofie's Confirmation record which lists both her parents in 1869.

Needed:
I have gotten no further with birth or death dates for Ole, but I have been working on it, as has my father's cousin who lives in Minnesota, so hopefully someday we will find more. I still don't know exactly when he first came to the states, and will have to continue to look for him in US Censuses, especially now that I know his son was here in the states as well, at the latest in 1877. I'd still love to know the names of his parents and any other siblings he might have had.

If my family or anyone out there has any more information on his family, I'd love to talk to you about him. I'd love to learn more if at all possible.

Original Post
Other Posts About Ole Larsen:

• OLSEN (Denmark)
• One of treasures I received from my aunt
• Brick Wall Update
• Surname Saturday 2.0: The Olsens
• Saturday Night Genealogy Fun My Family in 16 May 1865
• New Family Discovery

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 8 – Maren Rasmussen (Rasmusdatter)

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Name: Maren Rasmussen
Birth: September 18, 1817 in Alsted, Denmark.
Death: Sometime after 1880, which was the last census I have been able to find her in.
Marriage: before 1841, which is about when their first child was born.
Location(s): Alsted, Denmark
Relation to me: Maren Rasmussen is my paternal grandmother's mother's father's mother, which makes her 6th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: Rasmus Troelsen & Lisbet Nielsdatter

Spouse(s): Hans Nielsen

Children: Hanne, Sophie, Ole, Niels, Maren, Rasmus, Jorgen, Niels, Anders, Jens, Ane Lisbeth
Other Family: Siblings: Mathias, Jens, Truels, Bodil, Niels, Hans; grandfather: Neils Pedersen

Details: I know a great deal more about Maren now, like her husband, though in her case, all her information is from Family Search. I haven't done much of my own looking into her because of this, and will have to look into her information more deeply, as before this all I was certain of was from her son's birth records and the Census records I found on this family in the Danish Census records. Until I've looked into her more, I will have to hold judgement, but right now, she's got a lot more information than I had before.

Proof:
1) My initial proof for Maren came from Rasmus's birth record found at Family Search, but I was unable to confirm it until I had found several of the Census records I now have.
2) My major proof for both Maren and her husband, as well as much of the rest of this branch of the family, comes from Census records, starting in 1850, and going through to the 1880 Danish Census. After that, I have no records of this family at all aside from Rasmus and his family.

New Proofs I have found of Maren:
3) I now have a birth record that lists a birthdate and parents, which is in the right location.
4) I have a birth record for several of her sons, which lists her and her husband.
5) I also have her son Rasmus's confirmation record, which also lists her and her husband.

Needed:

I have no exact death information yet for Maren, and I'm not 100% sure of what is on Family Search, but given what I do have, I'm about 75% sure of her parents, at least. I will have to dig through the proof on the site at some point, as I think there are some records there that don't belong to her, but given that her tree goes back before her parents a little now, I think she can be put on the back burner.

That said, if my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about it. I'd love to learn more.

Original Post
Other Posts about Maren Rasmussen:

• Surname Saturday 2.0: The Rasmusens

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 7 – Hans Nielsen

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Name: Hans Nielsen
Birth: March 9, 1816 in Knudstrup, Denmark.
Death: March 10, 1893, Sorø, Denmark
Marriage: 1844
Location(s): Alsted, Denmark
Relation to me: Hans Nielsen is my paternal grandmother's mother's father's father, which makes him 6th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: Niels Andersen & Ane Marie Rasmussen

Spouse(s): Maren Rasmussen

Children: Hanne, Sophie, Ole, Niels, Maren, Rasmus, Jorgen, Niels, Anders, Jens, Ane Lisbeth
Other Family: Siblings: Kirsten, Anders, Maren, Jorgen, Christian, Christiane, Inger, & Catherine; Anders Hansen & Inger Jensen and Rasmus Rasmusen Ibsen & Sidse Nielsdatter, grandparents.

Details: As you can see if you read the original entry, my knowledge of Hans has grown by leaps and bounds. Not only does he have parents, but he has grandparents, and even great grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles, and so much more. I still have limited records on him, but what I do know goes so much further back in time. The Census records I have found on this family gave me much of the information I now have. It looks as though he was farming the land that my great-great grandfather eventually took over and ran until his death shortly before 1900. He seems to have handed off the farm to Rasmus before his death, as he and his wife are listed on one Census as the "elder farmer" (for lack of a better term), and on another all on their own.

Proof:
1) My initial proof for Hans came from Rasmus's birth record found at Family Search, but I was unable to confirm it until I had found several of the Census records I now have.
2) My major proof for both Hans and his wife, as well as much of the rest of this branch of the family, comes from Census records, starting in 1850, and going through to the 1880 Danish Census. After that, I have no records of this family at all aside from Rasmus and his family.

New Proofs I have found of Hans:
1) I have a birth record for him listing his parents, which confirms his birthdate at March 9, 1816.

2) I also have his confirmation record in 1830, which also lists his parents.

3) And I have his wedding record, listing his wedding date to Maren as December 15, 1843.
4) I now have a marriage record for one of his daughters that lists him as her father.
5) I have a conformation record for Rasmus Hansen, which lists his parents.
6) I have several birth records for his children.
7) And also some confirmation records for one of his children.

Needed:
This isn't a detailed listing of all the information I have on Hans, but as you can see, his line goes back far enough, and the information I have on him is detailed enough that I really have no need to focus on him anymore. At least not for a while. So here's to success story number two.

Original Post
I don't have any major other posts about Hans Nielsen, but any posts about his son (Rasmus Hansen) and granddaughter (Oline Hansen) are easily searchable on this blog.