52 Ancestors: Landed - Ole Larsen

 As soon as I saw this prompt, I knew who I'd be writing about. My first Ancestor in the US. When I first started working on my family tree, I believed that my Iris roots were the earliest in the US. The Parks came to Philadelphia in 1883 and had 9 children here, and for the longest time, I believed they were the first to be here in the US. As it is, my great-grandmother is still the first person in my direct line to be born in the US.

But when I started looking into my great-grandmother Oline's line, I learned that her grandfather, Ole Larsen, came here in 1867, according to the census records I have for his son. I know that they son came to America together. My great-great grandmother wasn't so lucky. He left her behind in Denmark. Her mother had died in 1858, so I don't know who took care of her after her father and brother left, though she did have two older half-sisters who were her mother's daughters, so it's possible she stayed with them, or with their grandparents.

Because of this, she spent much of her young life helping out at other people's houses, and only married when she worked for a widower who lost his wife. My great-great grandfather had his own farm, inherited from his father, and they had six children together, including my great-grandmother, Oline. 

Meanwhile, in America, Ole had remarried, and he and his son had settled in Minnesota. I don't know much of their life there, but I do know they had their own farm. I don't know if he kept in touch with his daughter. I do know he wrote to her at least once, though. When my great aunt went to Denmark to meet Oline's family, she learned that Ole had sent his daughter a vase, which had been passed down to the next generations as an almost joke. Rather than sending to bring his daughter to America, he'd left her behind, and in a sort of shameful way, paid her off for never sending for her. 

I will say that I originally thought that he'd come to America alone, and that he'd never sent for his wife or daughter, but somehow, this is worse. And unfortunately, a very common story for people who immigrated to America. The men came first, and left their family behind, alone or in part. There's even a word for the wives left behind by their husbands. A straw widow. Because she wasn't a true widow, so she couldn't just remarry. As it was, his daughter survived. But it definitely wasn't the happiest or most comfortable of lives.

It wasn't until her children left for America that our family got in touch with Ole's American descendants again. His son had had two children, though neither ended up having children, so that line is gone now. But Oline's line is still alive and well, despite her mother being left behind in Denmark.