Surname Saturday 2.0: The Hansens, part 2

The Hansen Family; Sealand, Denmark

While my great-grandparents both had the surname Hansen, and were both born to farming families in Denmark, there is where the similarities in their lines end. While Holger was born in Jutland, Oline, my great-grandmother, was born in Sealand, to a couple with a farm that had been in the family for at least two generations. And while Holger's parents were both alive and well when he left for America, Oline had lost her father when she was still quite young—about the age of nine.

Another thing that makes this line different is how very little I have on it. Only three generations—my great grandmother, her father, and his father. Before that, I have yet to manage to go. Despite that, this is one of my more-beloved lines, not the least of which is the fact that I've actually managed to find information on it beyond what my family already had recorded. And I hope to find more.

Rasmus Hansen, my great-great grandfather, was born to a farming couple by the names of Hans Nielsen and Maren Rasmusdatter in the middle of Sealand in 1845. He was the one to take it over after his parents, and it was there he married two women, and raised his family before his death in 1895.

My great-grandmother and her siblings were greatly affected by his death. While they had likely been expected to help out around the farm before that, after, it became their main chore. Her eldest brother was only 13 at the time. She did not take well to farming, and so to provide income for her family, she began to work for people in the nearby towns, eventually securing a post at the Minister of Agriculture's home, and moving with his family to a location near Copenhagen, doing housework, cooking and sewing to earn her keep.

Eventually, she made enough to follow her younger brother to the US, and settled in Chicago doing similar work there. She returned once to visit her family, and while on the boat to Denmark, she met her husband to be, who took the chance to court her while they were stuck in Denmark due to a blockade during World War I. The two married not long after returning to the US, and settled in Cleveland, where they had three children together before she died of pneumonia in 1929 at the age of 42.

This Hansen line is as follows, for those interested:

* Hans Nielsen was born about 1817 in Alsted, Soro, Denmark. He married Maren Rasmusdatter sometime around 1841, and the two had at least six children. He died sometime after 1880, as he was listed in the 1880 census.

* Their children:
+ Ole, born about 1841
+ Neils, born about 1843
+ Rasmus, born 1845
+ Jorgen, born about 1847
+ Jens, born about 1849
+ Ane Lisbeth, born about 1853
+ There may be more, but those are the children I found listed in the various cenuses with them. I have no other record of these children aside from Rasmus.

* Rasmus Hansen married twice. Sometime before 1870, he married Maren Nielsen, who died in 1879. They had no children. He then married Maren Sofie Olsen in 1881, and the couple had 6 children.

* Their children:
+ Herman, born 1882, married Marie Jorgensen in 1908, they had one son and one daughter, and have many descendants still alive today. He was the one who inherited the farm. He died in 1969.
+ Maren Hansine, born 1884, married Hans Larsen in 1906, and they had three sons and two daughters, both daughters having children of their own. She died in 1986. + Julie Oline, born 1886 (see below for more)
+ Hans Kristian, born 1890, married Mary Deats. He was the other Hanson sibling to move to the US, and stayed there until his death in Omaha in the late 1980s.
+ Johanne Kirsten, born 1891, died 1916.
+ Ole, born 1892, died 1910.

* Oline Hansen married Holger Hansen in Cleveland, Ohio in 1918. The two had two daughters and a son before her death in 1929.

* All three of their children had children of their own, and two branches now have two generations beyond those grandchildren. All of Oline's descendants live in the US, scattered around the country.

What I don't know:

* As of now, I am certain I have Rasmus's parents. I have found a census that includes both his parents and his first wife, which proves to me that I've got the right family. However, I still need to know more about these people. I believe his parents owned the farm, but I don't know if his father inherited it as well.

* I also don't know enough about his siblings, and whether there were others, or what happened to the ones I have found on the censuses.

* I also want to know who Hans Nielsen's parents were. I assume his father's name was Niels, but I have yet to find a birth record or census record that would clarify who his parents might be.

Other information about this branch of the family:
Brick Wall Posts -
* Brickwall Ancestors
* Brick Wall Update
* Brick Wall Update
* Brick Wall Update 2012
Old Surname Posts –
* Hansen part 2
Where We're From Posts –
* Where We're From – United States
* Where We're From – Denmark
Finding Oline Correspondence Series –
* Finding Oline Correspondance – Part 1
* Finding Oline Correspondance Part 2
* Finding Oline Correspondance .5
* Finding Oline Correspondance 3
* Finding Oline Correspondance 4
* Finding Oline Correspondance 5
Other -
* The Gift of Oline: a story of lost and found
* New Discoveries
* Interview with Uncle Hans
* Womens History Month -- Week 1
* Womens History Month -- Week 2
* Womens History Month -- Week 3
* Womens History Month -- Week 4
* Womens History Month -- Week 5