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