Hansine Margrethe Kjøller Schrøder, Part 3 -- paternal ancestors

Hansine Margrethe Kjøller, ca 1876

Generation 1 –

Hansine Margrethe Kjøller, born 17 September 1853, Vestermarie, Bornholm, Denmark; married 30 June 1876, Nexø, Bornholm, Denmark to Hans Christian Schroder, born 8 October 1852, Odense, Odense, Denmark, divorced; died 9 May 1920, Seattle, King, Washington, United States.

Three children:

1.    *Axel William (also written  Villiam) Schrøder, born 20 January 1877, Nexø, Bornholm, Denmark;  married 27 April 1912, Seattle, King, Washington, to Anna Mikalsdatter Hornnes, born 20 January 1884, Hornnes, Aust Agder, Norway; died 14 March 1951, Rural Torrance, Los Angeles, California.  Two children:  William Lawrence Schroder, born 14 March 1913, Seattle, King, Washington; two children;  died 28 July 1970, Seattle and Evelyn “Betty” M. Schroder, born 25 May 1914, Seattle, King, Washington, married 30 March 1935 to (1) Theodore “Ted” Tremper, divorced; married 9 May 1943 to (2) Rudi Becker divorced; no children; died 8 October 1981.

Betty and Bill, ca 1917

1.    Unnamed daughter Schroder, born 22 August 1880, Helsingør, Fredriksborg, Denmark, died 22 August 1880, Helsingør.
2.    Camillo Kjøller Schrøder, born 13 June 1885, Rønne, Bornholm, Denmark, died 11 July 1885, Rønne.

Generation 2 –

Jens Peter Kjoller,   born 26 May 1826, Vestermarie, Bornholm, Denmark; married 11 August 1852, Vestermarie, to Ane Malene (also written as Anne Magdalene) Jensen, born 4 December 1818, Vestermarie; died 22 August 1900, Rønne, Bornholm, Denmark.  They had four children all born and christened in Vestermarie, Bornholm, Denmark.

(1)    *Hansine Margrethe Kjøller was born 17 September 1853, see above Generation 1.
(2)    Hans Georg Kjøller, born 8 September 1855.  Hans Georg married  (1) Anna Caroline Viktoria Sonne (born 16 September 1861, died before 1890) about 1881.  They had one child:  Alfred Laurentias Kjøller, born 19 March 1883.  After the death of Anna, Hans G. married (2) Agneta Marie Hansen (born 29 August 1869) in 1890.  No children have been discovered yet.
(3)    Ane Katrine Kjøller, born 8 November 1857.  Ane Katrine never married.
(4)    Jane Caroline Magdalene Kjøller, born 11 November 1860.  Jane married Hans Christian Skov (alternate spellings: Skou, Schouv, Schouw) born 6 August 1863, died 6 March 1916, on 8 June 1883 at Vestermarie.  Hans Christian Skov was the son of Christian Schou and Ingeborg K. Rasmusen.  Hans C. and Jane Caroline had seven children:  Ingeborg Malene Skov, born 19 March 1884; Alma Skov, born 7 December 1885, died 19 January 1887; Herluf Kristian Schou, born 2 August 1887; Harald Valdemar Schou, born 10 November 1889; Henry Knud Schouv, born 24 August 1892, died 28 May 1893; Hans Kristian Schouv, born 8 April 1894; Herman Jensen Schouw, born 8 October 1898. 

Exterior view of Vestermarie church, 1982

Vestermarie church interior, 1982

Generation 3 –

Hans Kioller Hansen or Hans Hansen Kiøller, 25 February 1798, Østermarie, Bornholm, Denmark; married about 1825, Vestermarie, Bornholm, Denmark to
Anne Margrete Madsdatter Kofoed, born 1 August 1801,  who was the daughter of Mads Larsen Kofoed and Anne Margrete Jens’datter; died at Vestermarie.  They had six children:


(1)    *Jens Peter Kjøller was born 26 May 1826, see Generation 2 above.
(2)    Hans Vilhelm Kjøller, born 30 March 1828, married 3 August 1855 in Ostermarie, Mathea Petrea Mognsen, born about 1834 in Vestermarie.  They had six children:  Anine Catrine Kjøller, born about 1858; Hans Svendsen Kjoller, born about 1860; Mathilda Magrete Kjøller about 1862;  Peter Kristian Kjøller, born about 1868;  Sexine Vilhelmine Kjøller born about 1874; Alfred August Kjøller born about 1876.
(3)    Bolsine Catrine Kjøller, born about 1830.
(4)    Bodil Cathrine Kjøller, born 4 January 1831
(5)    Andreanus Kjøller, born 5 March 1837
(6)    Lars Peter Kjøller, born 9 July 1840.  Lars married (1) Johanne Kristine Jensen on 2 March 1861 at Vestermarie.  They had 9 children:  Ane Ellen Margrete Kjøller, born 6 June 1861, died 11 October 1886; Hansine Katrine Kjøller, born 2 December 1862; Jane Laurentia Kjøller, born about 1865; Frida Johanne Kjøller, born about 1867; Petra Ingeborg Karolina Kjøller, born about 1869; Magnus Andreas Kjøller, born about 1861; Jorgine Kristine Kjøller, born 3 February 1872, died 3 August 1911; Hans Jensen Kjøller, born about 1875; Lars Peter Kjøller, born 12 January 1879, died 13 January 1879.  Johanne Kristine died 16 days following the birth of her last child on 29 January 1879.  Lars Peter married (2) Annine Boline Andreasen, born 1855.  They had 2 children:  Peter Andreas Kjøller, born 24 August 1886; Marta Margrete Kjøller, born 11 March 1894. 

Generation 4 –

Hans Espersen Kioller, born about 1764 at Østermarie, Bornholm, Denmark; married 15 January 1793 to Bodil Catrine Jens’datter.  Bodil died 13 September 1830, Vestermarie.  They had five children:

(1)    Seijne Hansen Kjøller, born 1793, Østermarie.
(2)    Jens Hansen Kjøller, born 1794, Østermarie.
(3)    *Hans Kioller Hansen (also written as Hans Hansen Kioller), born 25 February 1798; see Generation 3 above.
(4)    Unnamed son Hansen Kjøller, born 1801; died 15 November 1801, Østermarie.
(5)    Anna Cathrine Hansen Kjøller, born 26 November 1803, Østermarie.

Generation 5

Esper or Esber Kioller
 [At this point we only have his name.  It is hoped that as more records are digitized and/or filmed it will be possible to add information about Generation 5 and beyond.]
At lease one child:

(1)  *Hans Espersen Kioller, born about 1764 at Østermarie, Bornholm, Denmark), see Generation 4 above. One of the attractions on the island of Bornholm is the ruins of Hammerhus seen below in photos taken in 1982.


One of the main attractions on the island of Bornholm, are the ruins of Hammerhus castle pictured below, 1982.

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Note: 

Some of the material posted here originally appeared in "the family gathering" newsletters, Vol. X, issue 1, March 1987, page 122-125 and Vol. XVI, issue 2 (51), July 1993, page 152.  Some new information has been added that was not known at the time the newsletters were sent out.

Hansine Margrethe Kjøller Schrøder, Part 2

Hansine Margrethe Kjøller Schrøder, ca 1903-1904

Sometime following her divorce from Hans Christian Schrøder, Hansine Margrethe returned to Bornholm and settled in Rønne with her parents, Jens Peter Kjøller and Anna Magdalena Jensen (also written as Ane Malene Jensen).   Hansine’s son, Axel, leaves Vestermarie and moves in with them probably between late 1890 and 1891.  Up until this point Axel had been living with his aunts Ane and Jane and Jane’s husband, Hans Christian Skov in Vestermarie where he is listed on the 1890 Danish census taken mid year.  

Most likely one of Hansine's sisters, ca 1880 reproduced 1902

The photograph above is a copy of an original photo and it is likely of one of Hansine’s sisters, Ane or Jane Caroline who was married to Hans Christian Skov.  The resemblance is most noticeable in the mouth and nose.  Not many pictures survived the journey from Denmark to America and those that did are not always identified.  

The Skov’s had seven children of their own and had been fostering Axel since he was 2 or 3 years old.  It was not unusual for children to be fostered out with relatives at what seems to us today a very young age.  The family would not have thought it strange to leave such a young child in the care of an aunt and uncle where he could grow up with cousins close to his own age.  Axel would have been about 13 or 14 years old when he moved back in with his mother. 

Rønne, Bornholm, Denmark, 1982

Hansine’s brother Hans Georg, who had married in 1881, was also living in the same town.  It appears that they together with their father may have joined the newly formed Dairy Co-operative on the island.  Hans Georg is listed as a dairyman and Hansine is identified as being in the milk trade business.  The Co-operative was first established in the 1880s on Jutland and later spread to other parts of Denmark.  It allowed people to pool their resources, use communal grazing land, have access to the latest most modern equipment, trade and sell milk, eggs, butter, cheese and other dairy products for a small fee charged by the co-op.  In return the members could get better prices for their own goods.  Many people took advantage of the new system and it proved quite profitable for those who had several cows and it still managed to help the small farmer or cottar as well. 

Hansine seems to have been very savvy financially and she, her father and her brother did have a sufficient herd of milk cows to do well under the co-operative system.   It also looks as if she had a divorce settlement of some significant amount that allowed her to be more or less independent.  After he retired from his farm in Vestermarie and moved to the town of Rønne, Hansine’s father, Jens Peter Kjøller entered into the cattle breeding business.  This partnership between daughter, son and father permitted them to take full advantage of the Dairy Co-operative and provided a decent income for the extended family.  It is also possible that the two sisters and son-in-law still living at Vestermarie may have been part of the family partnership. Today approximately 95% of all Danish dairy products come from the Co-operative members. 

Information about the Danish Dairy Co-operative can be found here:
http://www.danishdairyboard.dk/History.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_cooperative_movement 

The Rønne church records show Axel’s confirmation at age 14 in 1891, hence it is possible to determine that he was living with his mother at that time at least long enough to take the classes and examinations for confirmation or his records would have been at Vestermarie Church instead.  Axel is listed on the Danish naval roles in 1896 and 1897.  In those days the Danish navy trained the sailors on sailing vessels not steamships so he would have learned how to sail a true large military sailing ship.  

Axel in a sailor uniform, ca 1898

Oral history stories have him sailing as a cabin boy when he was 14 years old but the records show only his entry into the navy at age 19.  The family stories tell of one shipwreck but there could have been two since one story or incident involved a ship carrying a cargo of salt and another seemed to be about a navy ship.  One family story says he was tied to a barrel or piece of wood during a storm at sea.  The ship he was on went down in the storm and was he pulled out of the sea by a rescue vessel. 

The same ship or possibly another wreck with a rescue at sea had him impressed, or as the story goes, he was “Shanghaied.”  This second incident would have been when he was about 20 years old.   He worked on that vessel until he was able to jump ship in Valparaiso, Chili.  Once in Chili he found work in the nitrate mines until he could get another ship and work his way up the coast of South America eventually landing in Seattle, Washington in 1898 or 1899 where he decided to stay.  It is thought that it was during his time working in the mines that he contracted TB which he had the rest of his life.  His route from Denmark would have meant that he came in a sailing ship around Cape Horn or the tip of South America. 

Hansine’s father, Jens Peter, died 22 August 1900 and her mother, Ane Malene, died 16 October 1902.  Hansine had lived with them and had taken care of them for at least five years by the time her parents passed away.  From the quality and quantity of goods she brought with her to America and the fact that most of the items she brought are dated to about the time she left Denmark, it is most likely that she inherited a fairly substantial amount.  Her sister Jane Caroline would have most likely kept the property in Vestermarie, her unmarried sister, Ane, would have continued to live with Jane and help with that large family.  Hans Georg remained in the city of Rønne but also most likely received some inheritance when his parents died. 

Another family story has always held that Hansine came in a sailing ship around South America bringing with her trunks and barrels of goods including dishes and woolen cloth.  However, in 1903 when Axel sent for his mother to join him in the United States the passenger lists show Hansine purchasing a ticket on the Scandinavian American Liner, SS Norge, on the 17th of April 1903.  A closer examination of the lists indicate that she canceled that ticket and later purchased another one, dated 4 May 1903 also on a Scandinavian American Liner, SS United States.  The SS United States was a new steamship, only one year old, when she was a passenger.  Hence while Axel was on a sailing vessel his mother was on a modern steamship.  Just another example of how oral stories can contain kernels of the true events but often some things get jumbled in the retelling as years pass.  Nevertheless, it is these family stories that help us get a sense of the character and lives of our ancestors.  They provide color and richness to the basic dates and facts.  As more information becomes available we can make corrections and additions as needed. 

The picture at the top of the page shows Hansine at 50 years old when she left Denmark to begin a new life in America.  Her occupation/income and social standing is given as “rentier” which translates roughly as a person living on investments or a person of independent means.  This photograph of her taken shortly before she left Denmark seems to confirm that definition.  As one observer noted, "She looks every bit the part of the grand dame."

 Below are a few pictures of some of the lovely things she brought with her when she left Denmark.   A few of these things have survived the years.  Some of the items we have photos of and accounts of but other items are no longer in the family.  She arrived in New York on 15 May 1904 so she bought the ticket about a year before she actually left Denmark.  No connecting ticket has been found and the records show the SS United States continuing on from New York City to Seattle, Washington therefore she must have stayed on the ship to complete her journey.

Here above is a large Rörstrand (ca 1890s) hand painted urn, it has butterflies and strawberry blossoms on the front, Nubian heads on the sides, and sheaves of grain on the reverse side.  Originally it was one of a pair but an attempt to turn the matching urn into a lamp by drilling a hole in the bottom resulted in breaking the urn.  Rörstrand founded in the 13th century is one of the more famous Swedish porcelain factories still in use today.

An interesting thing about the coffee cup and the pot was the pattern of wear on the gold trim of both the cup and coffee pot suggesting that Hansine was left-handed.   Marks on the bottom of the coffee pot and the saucer (ca 1890s) show those pieces to have been made by C. Tielsch & Co. of Altwasser, Silesia, Germany a porcelain factory founded in 1845 and operating into the 20th century.  

The white painted flowers on this porcelain tray (ca 1890s) are Edelweiss and the blue flowers look like Gentian.   If the red flowers were here in the United States and not in Europe they might perhaps be Penstemon with the sprigs intertwined as Baby’s Breath. There are marks on the backside of the tray but those marks have not yet been matched with a porcelain factory.  Because of the Edelweiss it is probably of Austrian or German manufacture.

A wind up Celesta Music Box that has several metal disk records, ca 1890s. 

After Hansine arrived in Seattle she lived with her son and they on occasion had others live with them mostly seafaring friends of Axel’s including L.R. Swanson.  When Axel and Anna Hornnes married in 1912 Hansine continued to live with them.  It is entirely possible that Hansine helped her son and his new bride purchase the land and build the house but we cannot know that for sure.  Anna and Axel also sponsored several friends and relatives who stayed with them until they could get jobs and places to live.  Gunnie Osmund was another of Lil Anna’s nieces and she stayed with them for a while, was introduced to L.R. Swanson, they married and moved to a farm near Silverdale, Washington.  Gunnie was the mother of Agnes Allpress.  Agnes’s children still live on the original farm although it was divided so each of Gunnie’s grandchildren could have their own piece of the farm.  Very similar to what happened in Norway with the larger farms.  Two sisters, Anna and Oline "Line" Espetveit, who had been Lil Anna's neighbors in Norway, were among those who stayed for a while at the Schroders.  Anna Espetveit later married Edward Grodvig, a friend of Axel's, who had also stayed with the Schroders.  There were so many who were sponsored and lived with them it is hard to make a complete list but one is in progress and it is hoped that eventually all the people can be found. 

 Axel and Anna had a small cottage built for Hansine in the backyard of their home on Yale Avenue East.  Anna indicated in her journal that it was not easy having her mother-in-law live with them but somehow they managed.  Hansine was used to being waited on and Anna ended up having to do many things for her that were difficult and unexpected chores.  My mother said that Anna had to carry Hansine or move her from the bed to a chair on some occasions and that resulted in Anna miscarrying two children during the final couple of years of Hansine’s life. 

Here below are a couple snapshots taken that include Hansine during that time.  She died from a stroke 9 May 1920 and after being ill with pleurisy for 2 months prior to her death. 

 Hansine with her grandson, Bill, ca 1913

Hansine in the garden, ca 1918

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Note: 

Some of the material posted here originally appeared in "the family gathering" newsletters, Vol. X, issue 1, March 1987, page 122-125 and Vol. XVI, issue 2 (51), July 1993, page 152.  Some new information has been added that was not known at the time the newsletters were sent out.

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 184

 Legoland, Billund, Denmark, 1982

The postcard shows children riding in Lego cars at Legoland, Billund, Denmark and is from 1982.  The card is slightly damaged but still clearly shows the top and bottom borders with the familiar Lego connecting circles found on all Lego Bricks.

The photo on the postcard shows what is today called the “Toyota Traffic School” for kids 7 to 13 years of age.  Another version for 2 to 6 year olds is called the “Duplo Driving School.”  Below are two pictures taken in 1982 that show both of the rides.

Notice the language sticker (UK flag for English) on the windshield that alerts the attendant how to talk to the child driving the car.  The older children could steer the vehicle while the younger children’s ride had the car anchored on to a track so the child could still turn the wheel but the car would not rush off into the bushes.  Some of the older children did manage to accidentally drive their cars into bushes and off the roadway.  The cars are electrically powered.

Since that time additional smaller Legoland parks have been created in other countries including the United States.  The first park was opened in 1968 to promote the toy and is located next to the original Lego factory that was founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1949.  Over 50 million people have visited the park since it opened.  There are 9 themed areas in the park that covers 45 acres. 

One of the main attractions is Mini Land where there are Lego brick models of buildings and famous landmarks from all parts of the world.   The photo below shows only a tiny section of Mini Land with its scale of 1:20 and over 25 million bricks.  The mountain (also made of Lego Bricks) visible toward the middle in the back of the photo is Mt. Rushmore and does have the presidential heads made of Legos and looks remarkably like the real thing only much, much smaller.  In addition to the real places found in Mini Land there are fantasy elements in separate divisions that include Pirates, Knights, Adventure, Star Wars, The Old West in the United States, imaginary trips to Atlantis and others. There are also educational hands on exhibits that allow experimentation with water, music, and something called the Lego Mindstorms center for fun-based learning.

Visiting Legoland brought back dreams of constructing a mammoth miniature city with ramps and castles made from building blocks for the marble people in the "Marble Kingdom" that my brother I invented when we were children.  My children and now grandchildren love Legos and have played with, collected, and invented many things with these wonderful toys much like the Marble Kingdom of my youth.  Legoland was a delight to visit for all ages. 

For additional information, please see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legoland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legoland_Billund_Resort

McDonough Park, Vienna, West Virginia

 

Map showing the trail system for the park

 

Last year when I went to Marietta, Ohio for a visit the end of February into the first part of March it snowed.  The day we arrived this year it was sunny and 69 degrees F; however, the following day it was freezing.   Yes, it snowed again.  I think the next time I go I will try for a warmer month and no snow! 

Happy Birthday!

This year we were able to be in Marietta for the 8th birthday of a granddaughter and that was very special.  The other set of grandparents are currently living in France for 18 months so in lieu of an in person visit we did FaceTime on the computer instead.  K who is a dear friend of Grandma M and an official great-aunt came from Connecticut.  The house was full.  We had lots of fun and managed do to several things.  The eggs in the incubator did not hatch but should be doing so just about now.  The half grown chicks confined to a tub in the basement did not make a peep and the grown chickens in the coop outside kept producing eggs every day.

One of the days we had a picnic at the McDonough Park across the river in West Virginia.  The park has picnic areas that included tables but also approximately 5 miles of hillside trails ranging from easy to moderate difficulty.  In addition to the trails the park is a wildlife refuge for birds and animals such as deer and wild turkey.  Following a picnic lunch we started out on a short hike. 

Part way up we came to a fork in the trail system.    Bob, K and I elected to take the lower route that was a little shorter distance while my son and his family took the upper trail.  I expected that the 5 kids would zoom along and beat us back to the parking lot even though it was longer.  And they did.  The trail we took soon became muddy, and changed from the easy category to moderate so it turned out to be a bit more strenuous than we had anticipated.  The woods are open with little undergrowth.  Here in the Pacific Northwest there is an enormous amount of undergrowth making it nearly impossible to just walk out into the woods without requiring a trail or a machete to blaze a new trail.  In McDonough Park it would be an easy thing to walk in the trees without a trail but that has dangers too, such as the possibility of getting lost in the woods, as everything looked similar.

I am not sure where all the silt comes from but this pond was very muddy.  There were Canada geese and ducks swimming in this pond despite the muddy appearance.

We saw these pulley remains from coal mining days but no sign of a mine opening suspecting that the mine had been sealed over for safely after it had been abandoned and the forest had been made into a park with trails.

No wonder it was muddy and seemed more difficult than it should for being the easier or shorter trail!

No flowers in bloom or even in bud yet but some of the logs had interesting fungi growing on them.

A pretty park with a funny sign; I don’t think my cat would take to walking on a leash . . .

The round trip trail we took was slightly more than one mile; the upper trail was about 1.5 miles.  We did it in tennis shoes but boots would have been nice for the muddy parts.  We heard lots of bird calls and one that I thought sounded like a whippoorwill but we did not see the birds as they were hiding in the trees.

Mom

Thinking of you today.  Wishing I could call you and say hello, hear your voice, talk about the weather or any other thing.  Missing you, your smile and your laugh, especially on this second anniversary since you left us.

Veteran's Day 2013

Today is Veteran's Day.  More than one generation of Bopa's family served our country.  They were always very patriotic.  Today one of my grandsons helped place flags by the graves of service men and women at a local cemetery. 

I have shared this photo above of Bopa with his brother and father before but it seems especially appropriate to post it again today.  Bopa served in WWII as did his brother.  Their father served in WWI.   His maternal grandfather, pictured below, served in the Spanish American war.

Thank you. 

Rings . . .

He has been appearing in the blog lately.  Yes, we are getting married (today).  Wish us joy and happiness.

Reflections on Mother's Day

 Mom

Today is Mother’s Day and it has been about a year and a half since Mom passed away.   I love this picture of her smiling and laughing.  It was taken at her 90th birthday party.  Doesn’t she look terrific?  It is hard to believe that she left us just a couple of years after this was taken.  I was sure she would or could live to be 100 years old or more.  She seemed indestructible. 

Mom was so talented artistically.  She made wonderful pet portraits in pastels and Christmas windows with scenes from the late 1800s.  She handcrafted decorations, was an accomplished knitter, a wonderful cook and an excellent seamstress making most of my clothes during the years I was in school.  She was gracious and friendly to all.  I miss her and think loving thoughts of her often but perhaps especially on this day that is reserved for thinking of mothers. 

Somebody had a birthday!

Somebody had a birthday!


Today was a very special day for one little girl.  She turned one year old and had a real birthday party with balloons, food, cupcakes, games, songs, and presents. 

 

Happy Birthday little Miss . . .