Jens and Johanne started their family in Pandrup, in Northern Jutland. Johanne was from a village called Vester Hjermitslev, not far away. They were married in Vester Hjermitslev kirke on February 9, 1901, just 8 days after the 1901 census was taken. The interesting point of this being that Johanne is listed in the household of her future in-laws as a slægtning, or relative.
That was the first thing I noticed, but the second was that Jens is not listed in his parents' household. Based on the fact that I knew he was a blacksmith, my first guess was that he was probably either working as an apprentice somewhere. I have searched and haven't found him on another census...yet. But I'll keep looking.
The following is a picture of the marriage record in the kirkebøger, or church book. This is the official record of Jens' and Johanne's wedding. He is titled as a smed, or smith, and it's noted he's from Saltum parish rather than Jetsmark, which I think supports the idea that he was working elsewhere learning the trade of blacksmith when the 1901 census was recorded. But, that's just speculation looking at the pieces of the puzzle. There is no way to know for sure.
Don't you just love these old records??? I do!!!
After Jens and Johanne married, they settled for a time in Ingstrup parish, where their first son was born. After that, they moved back to Pandrup, where their family shows up on the 1906 census. I have no information about this intermediate move, but I can only speculate. Jens may have been employed by someone else as a blacksmith until he could finally afford to open his own shop...who knows. There could be any number of reasons why they moved and then moved again so soon.
The biggest move was when they pulled up roots and moved to Tylstrup. That was a big undertaking for the time. But, after learning about their eldest son (refer to earlier posts for the full story), it was no surprise that they would have done what they could to be close to him.
Eventually, the family made the decision to come to America. My grandmother was born about 4 months later....a first generation American, barely. :o) (I find it funny that so many misspellings appear on Grandma's birth certificate, when the oath at the top says that it is a "true and correct" copy.)
Just over 2 years later (almost to the day), baby Gladys was born. Sadly, only 3 months later, she contracted pertussis (whooping cough) and died. She is buried somewhere in the Elk Horn, IA cemetery. The people working at the church the day my parents were there asking where to find her told them that, likely, because the family was still relatively new to the area and still getting settled, they may not have had to money to pay for a private plot. Gladys may have been buried in a "common plot", or an area that was donated by someone else, with no headstone. Off to one side of the cemetery is a huge tree with a lot of older headstones around it. I like to think that baby Gladys is resting there under its branches, but we will never know for sure.
Putting everything in context, I often wonder how Johanne dealt with all she was handed in life...as a mother. First, she left her eldest son behind in Denmark knowing she would never see him again. Then, just a couple of years later, she lost a baby girl to illness. I can't imagine the aching in her heart. :o( And I can only begin to imagine what it was like for my grandmother when my own father contracted pertussis as a little boy. Thinking about it, she had to be terrified that she could lose one of her own children to the same thing that claimed her baby sister. So scary! While doing this research, I find myself sooooo often looking at all of it with a mother's heart.
By the time Jens and Johanne celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary, they had parented 11 children! I believe the following picture very well could have been taken at their 50th anniversary party.
I'm going to depend on someone who knows (my dad) to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they are (back, left to right): Lyle, Erik, Norman, Leona (my grandmother), Helga, Ofelt, Herluf, and (front, left to right): Emma, Jens, Johanne, and Erma.
And finally, outside of the "human element", the bracket that shows who's who:
To be continued...
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