Take My Poll!

I haven't done this before, so bear with me. I am at a bit of an impasse for my next blog posts. I have been researching for many years, and have plenty of information stockpiled, but organizing and presenting it often make me pause. A lot.

Let me know what YOU might want to read about next.

Vote early and often, as we Chicagolanders like to say!
  Thank you, as always, for reading!

Sally

PS: I posted a different version and didn't think it worked, but it really did, but I already deleted it, so I posted this one. Whew!

Tombstone Tuesday - Antis Z

This is one of the more interesting names I have come across in my cemetery wanderings. His full name is Antis Z. Walley. He was the son of Zachariah and Eunice Walley, and was only 17 when he died in 1875.

Many of the earliest settlers in this area came from Pennsylvania. There is still an Antis, Pennsylvania. Perhaps that's what he was named for.

I didn't dare attempt to move the broken stone, so photographed what I could. I rather like the composition and mystery to go with his name.

Find A Grave memorial

Photographed in Aux Sable Cemetery, Aux Sable Township, Grundy, Illinois

© 2013 Sally Knudsen

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

Thankful for my past generations...

and thankful for my future generation...

© 2013 Sally Knudsen

Tombstone Tuesday - Revolutionary Daughter

This plaque is mounted to the gravestone of Mary Ann Hess Cryder. It reads:

MARY ANN HESS CRYDER

Daughter of a

Revolutionary War

Soldier

Placed by

Alida Bliss Chapter

D. A. R.

Mary Ann's father was Balzer Hess. The Cryder's were originally from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, and settled in rural Morris, Grundy, Illinois before 1840. They are some of the original settlers of Grundy County [see grandson Eugene's biography].

MARY ANN

Wife of

HENRY CRYDER

Died

Sep. 27, 1854

Aged 72 Yrs

Photographed in Aux Sable Cemetery, Aux Sable Township, Grundy, Illinois

© 2013 Sally Knudsen

Wedding Wednesday - A Cross-Country Mystery

Over the past few weeks, I've shared Danish resources and research hints from my own experiences. They really have grand records, those Danes! [Post #8]

I will leave you with a peek at a marriage record that is a mystery as well. I have been able to document a considerable amount of information on my husband's ancestral family through his great-grandfather, Knud Rasmus Knudsen of Aarhus. I won't bore you with all the research details, but suffice it to say that I found an equal lineage for his great-grandmother and Knud's wife, Karen Kristine Nielsen. Karen was born in a small village called Spjellerup, nowhere near Aarhus.

I know that Knud and Karen came to Chicago in 1891, but still had no marriage record in Chicago and none in Aarhus. Once I found Karen's family records in Spjellerup, I decided an "exhaustive search" in that village was necessary. I searched all the marriage book pages from about 1888-1891. As I was about to bail on the effort, on the second to last record of the very last page, here:

Arkivalieronline.dk: Praesto, Fakse, Spjellerup 1844-1891, p 85-86

I found this:

Marriage books are divided in two columns, with the groom on the left and the bride on the right. This record reads:

Ungkarl (bachelor) Knud Rasmus Knudsen, 25 aars (years), Aarhus 

Pige (girl) Karen Kristine Nielsen, 21 aars, Lille Spjellerup

Not much detail, but this is definitely the couple. The marriage date was 8 January 1891. But check out this map of Denmark. Aarhus is circled in red, with Tulstrup at the arrow. Karen's home is circled in blue.

Google map of Denmark

What jumps out at me is HUH? Like many citizens in the 1800's, no matter what country, people stayed pretty close to home. Sure, some ventured to the big cities, but for the most part, families stayed put. So how? when? and mostly why did Knud end up on the island of Zealand, getting married in a little village on the other side of the country?

Genealogy never ends, does it?
______________________________

Thank you for following along on my Danish research adventure. I hope you learned something, and I wish you all Danish ancestors to find, because, boy do they have great records!

Here is a link to my family tree and the Knudsen and Nielsen research.

© 2013 Sally Knudsen

Examining Danish Deaths

Last week [Danish Post #7], I spent time (maybe too much!) sharing the amazing set of records that are the Danish State Archives, or Arkivalieronline. But really, I think FREE genealogy records deserve a lot of words.

This week, we'll look at death records through time. They all contain a trove of information, but their presentation varies.

Our focus Dane, Rasmus Knudsen, was born in a small community and moved to Aarhus. He died in Aarhus in 1902. This is the entire ledger page showing his record:

The columns in this book are: record number, death date and location, burial date and location, name, family information, age, pastor or officiant, and notes. Here is the detail of Rasmus' record:

Arkivalieronline.dk: Aarhus, Hasle, Aarhus Domsogn, 1901-1906

The family data entry is chock full of details. His reads: 

Arbejdsman (laborer), fodt (born) in Hinnerup 12/24 26 (24 December 1826) of Knud Johansen and Kirsten Rasmusdatter. Enkemand (widower) of Ane Botilla Martens, dode (died) 17/1 98 (17 January 1898)

Let that sink in. We get name, birth date and place, parent's full names, spouse status and name, and spouse's date of death. I wish all my ancestors were Danish!

Here are a couple more examples from other time periods:

Margrethe Rasmusdatter 1819-1920 (!)

Arkivalieronline,dk: Aarhus, Ning, Tulstrup, 1892-1923

Johanne Knudsdatter, 1771, age 73 and Ane Nielsdatter, 1771, age 60

Arkivialieronline.dk: Aarhus, Ning, Maarslet, 1738-1813

There are some variations across the years, but Danish vital records are loaded with useful information. I am eternally grateful for this obsession with names and dates and genealogy. The Danes have made my number-crunching fun!

© 2013 Sally Knudsen

Let's Grab Some Danish (Vital Records)

I've been sharing several posts lately about the search for my husband's Danish ancestors. The last post showed ways to use Danish censuses and the data I gathered from them. [Danish Post #6] This virtual genealogy trip started in Chicago, and went across the Atlantic to Aarhus, Denmark. I have been able to find a considerable amount of source material confirming I have the correct ancestral family. My last post reflects on patronymic naming, and what it taught me about how to research families in Denmark. [Danish Patronyms] You might want to read it - it was almost as popular as real danish pastries.

Let's spend some time biting into the really good stuff - vital records. I'll use my focus ancestor, Knud Rasmus Knudsen, as my example. I know he was born in Aarhus probably in or near December 1865, based on the records I have from Chicago.

Lucky for us researchers, the Danish Archives have scanned most census AND vital records and posted them online. For free. No strings attached. Yes, you read that correctly. Ok, maybe the only tiny string is that there is no English translation on the website, but that is an easily climbed string. Grab a warm drink with your danish (I prefer raspberry) and let's virtually visit the Danish Archives.

This is the link to the Danish State Archives page, called Arkivalieronline. On the main screen by the giant A is the dropdown box to choose records. There are many available but we will focus on vital records, or churchbooks (kirkeboger). After selecting kirkeboger, the site needs you to narrow down the location. The options are:

• amt  (compare to US state)
• herred  (compare to county)
• sogn  (parish, compare to town or township)

Once you've found your parish, the options show the churchbooks available, in chronological order. The site also shows what that book contains and the year range. Those options are:

• fodte (births) as F
• konfirmerede (confirmations) as K
• viede (marriages) as V
• dode (deaths) as D

I know, according to the earlier census records, that the Knudsen family lived right downtown Aarhus in Domsogn parish. Here is a screencap of some of the choices I have:

http://www.sa.dk/content/dk/ao-forside/find_kirkeboger

Sally's Tip: If you're brave enough to follow along and download records, this is what will happen: you are actually downloading that book to your computer. Java is required. The program will ask you to confirm your actions and agree to use the LAViewer. When you open the file, it will be a blank page with page numbers and red dots on the left. By clicking on a dot, the page will become viewable. I generally click 5 at a time so when the last one is clicked, the first one is open. Open pages show green. I know it sounds really weird, but that's how it works! You can also save pages to your local computer.

The books are organized by event (births first) and gender (males first). The records from around the mid-1800's and later are in preprinted ledger books. Older records are a little more, um, free form!

Without further ado, here is Knud Rasmus Knudsen's birth record page:

Aarhus Kirkeboger: 1862-1867, fodte no. 131, page 72-73

Here is the information on the left side of the book:

Column 1: record no. 131

Column 2: 9th December (year 1865 is on top of the page above)

Column 3: name Knud Rasmus Knudsen

Column 4: baptized on 11 July 1866

and the right side:

Column 5: Arbejdsman (laborer) Rasmus Knudsen and hans kone (his wife) Anne Bothilde Martens, 35 years old, of Norregade 1072 (house # 1072 Norre Street)

Column 6: not sure - I can pick out Sorensen, Martens and Sorensen - perhaps godparents?

Column 7: not used

Well. That's a lot to digest.

The birth records certainly show a lot of detailed information. If we weren't sure about Knud's family before, we are 100% sure now. Everything in the previous census records is confirmed in the birth record. And the Danes even have record keepers with questionable handwriting!

More on marriage and death records in a future post. Now go enjoy your danish and coffee.

© 2013 Sally Knudsen