Blacksmith Soren Nielsen's Family History in Denmark

The Bridge Volume 41 Number 1 Article 3 2018 Those Who Stayed Behind: Blacksmith Soren Nielsen's Family History in Denmark Kai Aage Jensen Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thebridge Recommended Citation Jensen, Kai Aage (2018) "Those Who Stayed Behind: Blacksmith Soren Nielsen's Family History in Denmark," The Bridge: Vol. 41 : No. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thebridge/vol41/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Bridge by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Those Who Stayed Behind: Blacksmith Soren Nielsen's Family History in Denmark by Kai Aage Jensen, translated by Erik S. Hansen Translator's Foreword Hans Christian Andersen's allegorical tale "The Bell" begins with a mysterious but beautiful sound heard from outside the confines of a city. It draws attention away from the narrow streets. The sound is like a church bell pealing deep in the forest. Some townspeople, especially confirmation-age children on the threshold of adulthood, are drawn to go looking for the source of the enticing sound. So, too, was the sto ry of Danish emigration to the Americas. Many were drawn toward the unknown. The stories are varied, and each individual adventure is unique, while many other people remained behind in Denmark to live out their lives. Seeking a new life in a new world makes for good read ing, and much has been written about those who go out to seek their fortunes, but the focus of this article is on those who stayed behind. In the form of a long letter to distant relatives in America, Kai Aage Jensen, a retired small businessman living near Silkeborg in central Jutland, recounts the story of how his family was divided by the lure of emigration, and why some on his maternal grandmother's side chose to remain in Denmark. Coincidentally, because of family ties to the Tjele Manor, a medieval estate near Viborg in north cen tral Jutland, this account also touches on a well-documented side of Danish history, namely that of the landed gentry who were content with their privileged lives. Tjele Manor was home to a famous, if not infamous, figure from Danish history and literature, Marie Grubbe. Various Danish authors, including the playwright Holberg and the Jutlandic storyteller Steen Steensen Blicher, as well as Hans Chris tian Andersen himself in his story "Chicken-Grethe's Family," have recounted her story. The poet J.P. Jacobsen devoted an entire novel to Marie Grubbe, in which he recounts her destiny and desire in dramat ic detail. Kai Aage Jensen's narrative focuses on the parallel universe of the underclass who were the workforce for the wealthy on estates 58 Those Who Stayed Behind I Kai Aage Jensen like Tjele. How this feudal legacy affected the lives of the working poor-and the resulting push factors that led many to seek a new life elsewhere-is the theme of this family history. It's the story not only of those who were drawn to leave- to seek the sound of the exotic bell in the wilderness, so to speak-but also of the life and temperament of those who stayed behind. These are the people who not only provided the hard labor and foundation for generations of the wealthy, but also who contributed to the evolution of modem Denmark. It's the story of interaction between the haves and have-nots, as those two forces altered the structure and dynamic of Danish society over the course of the nineteenth century. Photo presumably of S0ren Nielsen, assumed to be taken during period of active duty, 1860-64. Other documentation shows he was awarded a medal for service at the battle of Dybb0l in April 1864. Photograph courtesy of Bruce Sorensen . 59 The Bridge 41:1 (Spring 2018) Introduction S0ren Nielsen (1836-1913) and Ane Marie Jensdatter (1830-1901) were the parents of Ane Kathrine S0rensen from Vinderup, who be came a beloved grandmother to twelve grandchildren, including me. She was great fun to be with when we were young, yet was also so humble that she almost never spoke about herself and those near est to her. As a grandchild one didn't ask, of course, and now-sixty years later- no one is left to give a first-hand account of actual events. Fortunately, some written information still can be found that is quite accurate, although without much detail. It gives some indication of what happened in the lives of these people. I don't know if others be fore me have done research about my grandmother's parents' life and times from the mid-1800s, but in my case, it was my grandmother's very gentle good nature toward her grandchildren that provided me with so many wonderful childhood memories and now makes me want to find out as much about her as I can, at least as much as exist ing sources can provide. Nineteenth-century women, often with a quickly expanding brood of children at their sides, generally stood in the shadows of their husbands. Nevertheless they were, in truth, the heroes of their day. Completely dependent as they were on their husbands' abilities and willingness to provide for the family, many women-with only minimal financial resources-had to feed and clothe their children. There was no public assistance other than the poor house. Ending there was the greatest shame that could befall a family. Such a fate also meant the father lost his voting rights, while women had no voting rights at all. S0ren and Ane Marie's marriage in 1862 was no departure from the generally meager living conditions of the time. The first years were also a challenge for them, but S0ren had both the ability and will to provide for his wife and children. I hope that this little account will give something of a sense of their humble story, however far from complete it is. Not many of us living a hundred and fifty years later would wish "the good old days," such as they were, to come again. Background To better describe my grandmother's father, who I've decided to make the main character of this story and who had to work very hard 60 Those Who Stayed Behind I Kai Aage Jensen to provide for himself and his family, I will begin with his mother's parents, who were born late in the 1700s, two generations before our main character. We begin in the spring of 1836. S0ren Petersen and his wife Mette Margrethe sit silently at their kitchen table. Several of the older children live at home but with their future still undecided. The two youngest children, Ane Severine and Christen, aged nine and eleven, are off at school. Many of the salient facts of their lives are not suitable for the ears of small children. Together the two middle-aged parents, aged fifty-four and fifty three, have eight children between twenty-five and nine years old. The parents are still in good health and focused on providing for their children. As in all large families, problems are bound to arise, though as long as the children accustom themselves to their rightful place in the family and neither steal nor deceive, the family can avoid the pitfalls and false steps that natural evolution can impart. When S0ren and Mette Margrethe remember the year 1811, both think no doubt of January 25 of that year, the day they had to hurry and marry so that their still unborn child Mette Marie would not be called illegitimate. Though why think back to just that time, when the now middle-aged parents were twenty-nine and twenty-eight years old? No doubt be cause S0ren and Margrethe now had to help their own third-oldest child, their daughter Birgitte, who was twenty-two years old, unmar ried, and carrying the child of the twenty-four-year-old farmhand Niels Rasmussen from Skals. Niels Rasmussen was a reliable fellow who on November 1, 1833 had moved from Peterstrup to serve under Parish Administrator Vagn Hansen at Formyre in Tjele parish. The two young people had met each other at Tjele, but found themselves in a situation where neither was certain the relationship could lead to marriage. With Birgitte's parents' memory of their own similar start twenty-five years earlier, S0ren and Margrethe are in complete agreement that Brigitte's child must not be born in secret but must be provided a good start to life. Thus, it happens that on a warm, summer day in 1836, Birgitte S0rens datter lies in agony while her mother and several neighbor women run to and from the maternity bed. For even if one is young and strong, it is still a painful process to give birth to one's first child. 61 The Bridge 41:1 (Spring 2018) Finally, she is delivered of her burden. The helpful women, all of whom have borne their own children, are quick to attend to make sure the baby boy is healthy and that the mother can resume her daily work and duties as a maid at Tjele Estate as soon as possible. The day is Thursday, August 25, 1836, on which the future blacksmith from Tjele is born in Rise, Tjele parish. He is christened S0ren Nielsen for his mother's father but takes his last name from his father.

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