Rasmus? No, Robert.

One of my immigrant ancestors, my great-great grandfather, Rasmus Pedersen, was born on May 22, 1852, in Frejlev, a tiny village on the island of Lolland, Denmark. His father, Peder Olsen, was a blacksmith. Rasmus and his brothers were also trained to be blacksmiths. Starting with brother Hans in 1879, the entire family migrated to the United States by 1882, most of them settling near Waupaca, Wisconsin.

Rasmus married Karen Pedersen in April 1880 and they arrived in Racine, Wisconsin in time to be recorded in the 1880 US Census for that place. While living in Racine from 1880 to 1883, Rasmus worked as a blacksmith and the couple welcomed two daughters – Gertrude and Marie. Shortly after Marie's birth, the couple joined many other Danish immigrants, settling in Howard County, Nebraska. They helped establish the new village of Nysted, not far from the town of Dannebrog.

It was about this time that Rasmus adopted the more American-sounding name of Robert Petersen. He is recorded in the 1885 state census of Nebraska under that name, and he used it for the rest of his life.

The reason for this post is that I recently learned of another family member – also a descendant of my Danish blacksmith ancestor – who made the same name choice.

Robert and Karen's daughter, Marie, married C.A. Christensen in 1904. The eldest of their nine children was born in 1906 and named Oswald. Official documents record his name as Oswald Robert Christensen. However, at a recent family reunion, a member of his immediate family informed me that he was named Oswald Rasmus by his parents, and that he also chose to use Robert instead. We don't really know when or why he decided to make the change. Perhaps it was around the time of World War One, when many immigrants and children of immigrants preferred not to have "foreign" names. That is speculation on my part, however. "Uncle Os" was the eldest brother of my maternal grandfather, Clifford "Kip" Christensen.

Want to learn more?

• A biographical profile of Rasmus Pedersen (1852-1939) on Wikitree.com

• Danish island of Lolland article on Wikipedia.com

• Danish naming customs article on Familysearch.org

• Danish immigration article from the Museum of Danish America

• Dannebrog, Nebraska history article from the Nebraska Historical Society

Os and Jennie Christensen on their wedding day, April 4, 1928

 

These photos show Oswald R Christensen (1906-1989) and Jennie Douglas Rait (1908-1994) on their wedding day, April 4, 1928. Os and Jennie farmed and made a family in Iola, Waupaca County, Wisconsin. Their home was the gathering place for their many siblings, nieces, nephews, friends and others. It was a place where people always felt welcome. Photos courtesy of Dana Christensen Zarling, their granddaughter.

Family Photo Comes "Home" (Thanks to a Good Samaritan)

Have you ever seen an old photograph in an auction or antique store and felt a pang of sadness because family treasures had become lost to people who would care for them? I have recently come into contact with two people who try to restore those lost artifacts to people or places where they will be valued. 

As Director of the Oshkosh Public Library in Wisconsin, I recently received three letters that had been written in the 1860s by an area farmer to his mother in Michigan. The man who sent them visits sales and antique stores, purchases "orphaned" historical artifacts such as photos and letters, and tries to find suitable homes for them. While the Oshkosh Public Library does not collect such artifacts, our Local History Librarian will offer them to the historical society of the city where the letter writer lived.

A short time after receiving the 19th century letters in my professional role as a library director, I again encountered someone whose hobby is to help historic artifacts find their way to good "homes," although this time I had a personal interest in the matter. Through my account on Ancestry.com, I received the following message one day in May 2018:

Hello, I came across a photo at an antique store in Appleton that states on the back: Grandma & Grandpa Christensen, Property of E.J. Christensen. Matches up with the photo of Jens Christensen on your tree and includes who I think may be Caroline Sorensen. If interested, I can send it to you.

 Of course, I immediately expressed my interest. As it turns out, I pass by the fellow's workplace every day as I commute to and from my own work. We made arrangement for me to pay for the photo (he would accept only what he paid) and to pick it up. 

So, one morning in June, 2018, I stopped by the security desk of his workplace and, for the first time, got to see a photo of both my great-great grandparents together.

Here is the photo of Jens Peter Christensen and his wife Caroline Josephine (nee Sorensen), who immigrated in 1888 from their home near Aalborg, Denmark to Waupaca County in Wisconsin:

And here is the photo of Jens from his profile on my Ancestry.com family tree, which my Good Samaritan saw and recognized in the photo he had purchased:

When I carried my new acquisition and my story to the Christensen family reunion in Waupaca, Wisconsin on June 24, 2018, I was just a little anxious that fifteen people would see it and say "Oh, yes, I have a copy of that photo." I was glad to learn that there is at least one copy of the photo already in the family, but that my "treasure" was also a welcome addition. 

Os and Jennie CHRISTENSEN farm, early 1940s

Photos taken on Os and Jennie's farm in 1941 and 1942

 

Dated in album as Spring 1941, from left to right. Back row, Clifford ("Kip") Christensen, Robert ("Bob") Christensen, Oswald ("Os") Christensen. Front row, Ron Hardel (son of Jennie's sister Alta), Donald Christensen, Dorothy Christensen, possibly Kenneth Dunn (son of Kip & Os's sister Mabel). One of the horses is "Prince". Identifications provided by Dorothy Inderdahl (nee Christensen), December 2017.

Dated in album as July 1942, left photo is Dorothy Christensen; right photo is Dorothy with Audrey E Christensen (nee Radloff)

 Dated in album July 1942, from left to right: Ron Hardel, Os Christensen, Bob Christensen, Don Christensen. Dorothy Christensen is between an unidentified couple, friends of Os and Jennie Christensen.

C.A. Christensen & sons, February 1943

This is a photograph of Christian Andrew "CA" Christensen and all of his sons on the occasion of the death of his only daughter in February 1943. Mabel was married to Leon Dunn and mother of three when she died at the age of 34 "after an operation," as the newspaper death notice put it.

Front and center is CA Christensen, who was born in Denmark in 1881 and came to the USA in 1888. His sons, from left to right in this photo, are Oswald R. "Os" (1906-1989), Earl H. (1909-1981), Clifford A. "Kip" (1919-1972),  William M. "Bill" (1927-2007), Edward P. (1916-1986), Carrol G. (1915-1993), and Arthur C. (1913-1996).

This photo was probably taken on the Dunn farm in the Town of Dayton, Waupaca County, Wisconsin.