Maternal Greatgrandfather Christensen/Cramer

Question

My maternal great-grandfather came from Denmark as an older youth, following his parents.  Their surname became Cramer in the US but was Christensen in Denmark.  Because of the patronimic surnames I am having trouble finding his immigration records or Danish records about his parents.  I know he arrived in the US in New York

Thank you..

Answer 1

A Peter Frederik Christensen was born in Bagterp , Hjørring Denmark January 25^th, 1874. He was an illegitimate child of Inger Johanne Pedersen and Peder Christensen see  # 3

He was confirmed as # 7 in 1888. At that time the mother was still unmarried. 

Comments

Lynn; we will continue in English then  But you can always use copy-paste to Google Translate if needed.

We were just discussing that Inger Johanne's father at her baptism was called Peder Jensen, but at Peter Frederik's baptism she was living with her father Peder Frederiksen and in the 1870 census she lived in the same household as a Peder Frederiksen. Her mother Mette Marie Hansdatter lived separately in 1870. We think the father might have used both names.

You can attach pictures and also pdf files under Image on top of a profile or you can post a link to the source if it is online like I do with Danish sources. We need to see the original sources in order to proceed with searching in Denmark. 

Maybe this Introduction to Genealogy in Denmark will be valuable to you?

---

I have added the Iowa Death Index records for Peter C Cramer with DOB and DOD.  I have also added the Emigration Record for when he came to the US.  I may have found a potential marriage record although the wife's first name is not an exact match.  I have not been able to find an emigration record for Inger Johanna (Hanna).  Peter left for the US right after Peter Frederik's baptism.  Can you tell me what part of the birth record indicates that his parents were not married?  Peter Frederik stayed in Denmark with his grandparents until he was 15 but his mother left before mid-1978 because Peter Frederik's sister, Mary Cramer, was born in the US 01 Feb 1879.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

---

Hi

The marriage record look as it is from Jyllinge, if that is correct, then it is wrong end of the country. Peter Christensen is about as common in Denmark as Peter Smith.

The word before the mothers name in Peter Frederiks birth record is "Ugift" = Unmarried

Do you have any original USA sources, that can connect your Fred Cramer with Hjørring or Bagterp?

---

Sorry, I still don't see the smoking gun, that tells us we are dealing with the right person. And I don't see the Iowa Death Index with DOB or DOD?

The fifth column in Peter Frederik Christensens birth record asks:

Name of the parents, their rank, handling, and residence.

In Danish:

Ugift Inger Johanne

Pedersen, Ulhuse

hos faderen Peder

Frederiksen i Bagterp

24 Aar, og udlagt

Barf. Ungk. Peder

Christensen

In English

Unmarried Inger Johanne Pedersen in Ulhuse at her father Peder Frederiksen in Bagterp, 24 years old, and alleged father of the child bachelor Peder Christensen.

---

Thank you, Hanne, for the confirmation that it wasn't likely.  I couldn't read the location.  I will attach an article that Fred Cramer wrote for the newspaper in honor of his 90th birthday.  It confirms a lot of the details but I don't know if you'd consider it an "official" source.  I will also attach his ticket to America that has his birth name on it.

---

Thank you, Ole.  I have attached 2 things to his profile that were in one of his scrapbooks that my mother was given.  One is his ticket to America in 1889.  The other is a story he wrote for the newspaper when he was turning 90, in 1964.  I don't know how the family became "Cramer".  2 brothers and a cousin came to the US and adopted that name.  The 2 brothers settled in Iowa.

---

Hi - Much better - The article say he was born in Bagterp near Hjørring, and the ticket match the immigration record - so Ole found the right person.

If his father left for America the same summer, and later sent for Inger Johanne, then my guess is, that they married in America.

This immigration record fits the father

Navn:	Christensen, Peter	Stilling:	Tjenestekarl
Alder:	32	Bestemmelsessted:	Des-Moines, Iowa
Kontrakt nr.:	61800	Forevisningsdato:	4/10/1874
Sidste oph.sogn:	Hjørring	Sidste oph. amt:	Hjørring
Sidste oph.sted:	Hjørring	Bestemmelses land:	USA
Bestemmelses by:	Des Moines	Bestemmelses stat:	Iowa
Skibsnavn:	Indirekte
IDkode:	I7374C1803

And the mother

Navn:	Petersen, Inger Johanne	Stilling:	Tyende (m/k land)
Alder:	28	Bestemmelsessted:	Des Moines, Iowa
Kontrakt nr.:	167600	Forevisningsdato:	6/22/1878
Sidste oph.sogn:	Ugilt	Sidste oph. amt:	Hjørring
Sidste oph.sted:	Ugilt, Hjørring	Bestemmelses land:	USA
Bestemmelses by:	Des Moines	Bestemmelses stat:	Iowa
Skibsnavn:	Indirekte
IDkode:	I7879P1512

Looks like they worked on the same farm in 1870, no. 15 and 17 in the census - Census also say that Peder is born in Serritslev.

Census 1 Feb 1870 Hjørring Sankt Hans, Vennebjerg, Hjørring, Denmark [https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL8P-B81B]

Hanne

---

Thank you so much.

---

Yes; this is certainly your family and thanks for sharing the newspaper article. I enjoyed reading it.  In my opinion, this is what makes genealogy interesting.
I found Peter Christensen's birth and will put the information on his profile.

---

Thank you

Answer 2

Fred Cramer, Iowa, Old Age Tax Assistance Records, 1934-1958. Pension at Iowa. Gender: male Birth date 25 Jan 1874

Birthplace: Denmark

Father's name: Peter Cramer, mother's name Peterson.

Comments

Thank you.  That is my great-grandfather.  I will keep looking for information about his parents when they were still in Denmark.

---

There were a number of results at familysearch.org that might have been useful, but you would be the best judge of that.

Also, you might want to contact Maggie Anderson or Juha Soini who are the Project Leaders. Mary Jensen is a coordinator for the Denmark project.

---

Thank you.