Cecelie Christensen's (1877-1931) Immigration to New York

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                    I’ve been researching my great-grandfather Hans Christensen’s and his siblings’ immigration from Denmark to the United States. Hans, the oldest, was the first to arrive in New York on 6 August 1890 on the Devonia.[1]  The next to arrive in New York were his brother Christen, his sister Maren Kristina, and her husband Hans Frederik Adelholdt Jensen on 29 May 1891 on the Hekla.[2] However, I could not find an immigration record for his sister Cecelie (1877-1931). All I knew was that she had to have arrived before 24 November 1895 when she married Hans Christensen in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.[3]

                    I finally found her traveling to New York in 1894. On 14 February 1894, Cecelie Christensen, age 17 of Radsted, Maribo, was interviewed by the Copenhagen Police as part of their emigration process. She stated she was going to New York City. Her contract number was 18700.[4] Her ticket was listed as indirect - indicating she would be stopping at another European port on her way to her destination.

                    All her siblings had traveled from Copenhagen to Glasgow, Scotland to board their ship to America, so Glasgow seemed to be a reasonable place to look for records for Cecelie. And it was in the Scottish records I found a surprise. Seventeen-year-old Cecelie, a domestic servant, was listed on the passenger list for the ship Ethiopia, which left Glasgow for New York on 24 February 1894. Listed just before Cecelie was Hans Christensen, a 26-year-old laborer.[5]



                    My first thought was that Cecelie was traveling with her future husband, Hans Christensen. But as I thought about it, I realized her husband Hans was born in January 1869, so would have been 25, not 26 in February 1894. And he was a cook, not a laborer.[6] On the other hand, her brother Hans, born in May 1867, would have been 26 in February 1894, and had been listed as a laborer on the 1890 passenger list leaving Glasgow.[7]

                    To help figure out which Hans she was traveling with, I went back to the Danish records. There I found Hans Christensen, age 26 with a last residence in America, interviewed on 12 February, as contract number 18600 - the same day, and one record before Cecelie.[8] Again, looks more like her brother rather than her future husband.

                    Finally, knowing when, on what ship, and whom she was traveling with, I could find Cecelie’s arrival in New York. They arrived in New York on 12 March 1894 on the Ethiopia.[9]Hans Christensen, a 26-year-old blacksmith, was listed on the second to last line on the page. The bottom of the page was torn, but part of a capital letter C and what looks like an l in the middle, and an e at the end are visible - for a 17-year-old woman with an occupation of help. Cecelie was not in the index, because the page was torn and the person doing the indexing couldn’t read her name. On the 1890 passenger list, Hans had also been listed as a blacksmith. [10]


                    So, it seems that my great-grandfather Hans returned to Denmark, probably in late 1893 or early 1894, so that his younger sister Cecelie wouldn’t have to make the trans-Atlantic voyage by herself at the age of seventeen.

                    Of course, discovering my great-grandfather had arrived in New York in both 1890 and 1894, made me wonder why he consistently listed 1890 as his arrival date, rather than 1894 in later records.

                    In both 1920 and 1930, Hans’ immigration date was listed as 1890. In 1910, it was listed as 1892. A quick check of the census enumerator instructions revealed that in all three years, the instructions indicated that the question referred to an immigrant’s first arrival in the United States.[11]

                    Hans filed his Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States on 16 September 1901, where he stated he arrived on 7 August 1890.[12] Under the 1813 U.S. Naturalization law, a person had to have a continuous presence in the United States between arrival and naturalization. They could not leave the country at any time. However, the requirement for continuous presence was repealed on 26 June 1848.[13] So Hans could leave the United States and return between his first arrival in 1890 and filing his first papers in 1901, and still list 1890 as his arrival date.  


Patty Hankins
Patty@Hankins.net
20 September 2023



[1] “Devonia Ship’s Passenger List”, New York, 6 August 1890, page 6, line 772, Hans Christensen; digital image, “New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYM237_552-0525 : accessed 15 January 2023).

[2] Patty Hankins, “When Did Christen Christensen (1878-1947) of Radsted, Denmark Arrive in New York?,” Wandering Around the Family Tree  (https://pattyhankins.blogspot.com/2023/05/when-did-christen-christensen-1878-1947.html : Accessed 28 May 2023).

[3] Certificate of Marriage, New York, Brooklyn, no. 5678, 24 November 1895, Hans Christensen and Cecilie Christensen; digital image, "Historical Vital Records," New York City Municipal Archive, NYC Department of Records & Information Services ( https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/view/7636193 : accessed 26 May 2023) image M-K-1895-0005678.

[4] “Copenhagen Police’s Immigrant Protocols,” Det Danske Udvandrerarkiv, 14 February 1894, contract 18700, Cecilie Christensen, (http://www.udvandrerarkivet.dk/udvandrerprotokollerne/ : accessed 28 August 2023).

[6] For birthdate, see Denmark, Holbaek, Ore Sogn, Baptisms, 7 March 1869, Hans Christensen; digital image, “Denmark, Church Records, 1812-1924,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/615158058:61607 : accessed 20 September 2023). For occupation, see 1910 United States Census, New York, Kings, Brooklyn, population schedule, ED 550, page 13B, lines 57-62, Hans Christensen family; digital image, Ancestry.com, (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/17899393:7884 : accessed 20 September 2023).

[7] Passenger List, Scotland, Glasgow, Devonia, 24 July 1890, line 868, Hans Christensen; digital image, “Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960”, FindMyPast  (https://search.findmypast.com/record?id=TNA%2FBT27%2F0003%2F00%2F0097%2FP%2F0009F&parentid=TNA%2FBT27%2F0003000097%2F00478 : accessed 16 January 2023).

[8] “Copenhagen Police’s Immigrant Protocols,” Det Danske Udvandrerarkiv, 14 February 1894, contract 18600, Hans Christensen, (http://www.udvandrerarkivet.dk/udvandrerprotokollerne/ : accessed 28 August 2023).

[9] “Ethiopia Ship’s Passenger List”, New York, 12 March 1894, page 1, lines 49-50, Hans Christensen and C; digital image, “New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/4000651011:7488 : accessed 28 August 2023).

[10] “Devonia Ship’s Passenger List”, New York, 6 August 1890, page 6, line 772, Hans Christensen; digital image, “New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYM237_552-0525 : accessed 15 January 2023).

[11] For 1910, see United States Census Bureau, “1910 Census Instructions to Enumerators,” (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/technical-documentation/questionnaires/1910/1910-instructions.html : accessed 29 August 2023). For 1920, see United States Census Bureau, “1920 Census Instructions to Enumerators,” (https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/programs-surveys/decennial/technical-documentation/questionnaires/1920instructions.pdf: accessed 29 August 2023). For 1930, see, United States Census Bureau, “1920 Census Instructions to Enumerators,” (https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/programs-surveys/decennial/technical-documentation/questionnaires/1930instructions.pdf : accessed 29 August 2023).

[12] U.S. Circuit Court, “Declaration of Intention”,  Naturalization Records, Maine, v-Morris, 1903-1904, 16 September 1901, Hans Christensen; digital image, “Maine, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1787-1991,”  Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2899/images/007765280_00604: accessed 10 February 2023), images 603-604 of 2136.

[13] John J. Newman, American Naturalization Processes and Procedures 1790-1985, Indiana Historical Society, Family History Section, 1985, p. 20.

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