Noel
I will start with the Petersen side. The earliest that I can find would go back to the middle or later 1700s. His name was Thomas Larsen. Back then, the last name that was carried on was taking the father’s name and then putting “son” or “sen” behind it. So for Thomas Larsen, his father was probably Lars, and so you add sen of to Lars, and you get Larsen. Probably grew up around Jutland, Denmark. His wife Maren Sorensdatter. The ‘o’ needs a line through it from top to bottom. That’s about all the information that we have about them. They go back four generations.
Then came Peder Thompsen born 1811 in Borup, Denmark. He married Maid Else Larsdatter on December 5, 1836. Else was born on September 17, 1817. They had eight children. The second born was Lars Pedersen. Again, Lars was the son of Peder Thompsen, so Lars’s last name became Pedersen. People in Denmark would also attach the name of the farm or area they lived in, so Lars also was referred to as Lars Himmerege. (Himmerege means host of heaven or house of prayer).
Lars married Marie Sorensen in 1861. They lived around Givskud, Denmark. They had six children. At this time, the boys kept their father’s last name. This is where my grandfather comes in. He was the second born, given the name Peder Christian Karl Pedersen, better known as PCK. When PCK came to America and later moved to Kenmare, North Dakota. That’s when he changed the spelling of his last name to Petersen, since people would mispronounce his last name. His father came to live with PCK in Kenmare, North Dakota.
It is said that my grandfather came to America to escape being drafted into the king’s army. He was always known as PCK. That’s how I remember him, even though I did not really spend any time with him. My great-grandfather Lars lived with PCK until his death in 1928 after moving back to Hutchinson, Minnesota. He died of pneumonia.
My grandfather PCK married Petrea Damskow. PCK and Petrea never met in Denmark, even though they lived only 20 miles apart. They met in Hutchinson, Minnesota, where several Danes had immigrated.
Petrea’s parents were Soren Peter (Pedersen) Damskov and Esther Kristine Christensen. Soren was born in 1839 and Esther in 1835. They had eight children; two of them died in Denmark. Their family was poor. They did not go to church until they came to America. Petrea was the third oldest. When the family decided to move to America, Petrea had to stay behind because her father did not have enough money to bring everyone, and since she was sixteen, she was old enough to have a job and save money until she could come on her own. It took her five years to get enough to join them. Her parents and the rest of the family rented a farm near Hutchinson, Minnesota.
When PCK heard that a new girl from Denmark just came to Hutchinson, he set out right away to win her heart. She had a hard time learning the English language, so she continued to speak Danish. After getting married to PCK in 1892, the home continued to speak Danish. Two sons and a daughter were born while they lived in Hutchinson. Later they moved to Kenmare, North Dakota. Seven more children were born in Kenmare. My father, Immanuel, was number seven of the ten. He was born on December 28, 1905. The entire family moved back to Hutchinson, Minnesota, in 1921.
Now turning to my mother’s ancestry. This will be much shorter since I only have a family tree to go by. My Grandmother was Anna (Larsen) Hofgaard, born in 1878 and died in 1970. Her parents were Hans Larsen, born in 1845 and died in 1917. His wife was Christine Jorgensen, born in 1847 and died in 1920. This is as far back that I can go on my mother’s side.
On her father’s side, her father was Arthur Hofgaard, born in 1880 and died in 1960. His parents were Andreas (Andrew) Hofgaard, born in 1843 and died in 1922. His wife was Elene Hadela, born in Norway in 1845 and died in 1936. Andreas’s father was Christen Gabriel Smith Hofgaard, born in 1793 in Norway and died in 1869. He married Karen Haavelsen, born in 1805 and died in 1832. Christen Gabriel then married Christine Marie Brandt of Norway. She was born in 1806 and died in 1893. Christen Gabriel’s father was Andreas Hofgaard, born in 1756 in Norway and died in 1826. He married Mette Abigail (Petersen) Hofgaard, born in 1770 in Norway, and died in 1853. Andreas Hofgaard’s father was Andreas Jensson Hofgaard, born in 1677 and died in 1727. He married Kristen Flor Hofgaard (No dates for birth or death). Andreas Jensson’s father was Jens Sorensson (no dates), who married Maren Christensdatter, born in 1642 and died in 1808. Jens Sorensson’s father was Christen Pederson (no dates), who married Margrethe Anders (no dates). They were probably born in the late 1500s.
That’s tracing back as far as I have information. Way back, there was some Norwegian heritage.
This should make for exciting reading. (HaHaHa)
Ruby
I (Ruby) don’t have much information to share about our family ancestry. My ancestors were both from Denmark and Germany. They were mainly farmers. My Grandpa Hansen, Alfred, was born in Lolland, Denmark, in 1885 and died on October 29, 1975. He Immigrated to the United States in 1891. He had eight siblings. His parents were Hans Hansen and Ane Petrine. My grandmother, Jencena Houtwed, was born May 20, 1887, and died January 14, 1969. She and Grandpa were married on October 31, 1907. Together they had seven sons, Arnold, Enos, David, Harold, Glenn Edwin, Harland, who died, and one daughter Martha. They were farmers and resided in Ruskin, Nebraska.
My father was David Johannes Hansen, born October 28, 1913, and died on May 10, 1998. He married my mother, Lillian Lorenzen, from Ferndale, California. She was born in Ferndale on November 4, 1920, and died on April 27, 1988. Together they had four children, Ruby, Judy, Larry, and Lela.
My mother’s father, Alfred P. Lorenzen, was born in Hjolderup, Denmark, but lived in Germany just across the border. He emigrated from Schlesurg, Germany, to Ellis Island on March 10, 1898, at the age of 15. He married my grandmother, Ingeborg Jorgensen, from Denmark.
Together they had three children, Lillian, Ingeborg, and Iver.