Wandering Around The Family Tree

  Have you ever found a beautiful photograph in the family collection and wondered, 'Who is this person?' That's exactly what happened to me with this stunning portrait of a young woman.  She looks to be in her early twenties and the portrait looks to have been taken around 1930. And while members of both my Schickler and Christensen families were living in New York City at the time, we haven’t been able to place this young woman in either family. Photograph of Unidentified Woman. Hankins Family papers,  privately held by Patty Hankins of Bethesda, Maryland. On a recent visit to my Aunt Betsey’s, she wondered if the mystery photo could be a portrait of Lester’s fiancée, the opera singer, who died of meningitis the day after my grandparents got married, which is why Uncle Chris couldn’t walk my grandmother down the aisle at her wedding! [1] Apparently my grandmother's parents weren't able to attend the wedding.  This was a family story I’d never heard. The only m...

 My grandmother, Helen Elizabeth Christensen (1908-1988) kept a School Friendship Book covering her years in High School and beyond. She attended school in Thornton, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, and Penn Yan, Yates County, New York. There are a few pages of snapshots glued into the book.  Eva Christensen  Pre-1924 Thornton, Iowa Eva Christensen (1905-1926) was the oldest child of Hans B Christensen and Henriette Ostergaard. She was my grandmother's older sister. Eva married Einar Sorenson on 5 December 1925. She died just seven months later on 4 July 1926, giving birth to her son LeRoy Einar (1926-1995).  Lillian Christensen Thornton, Iowa Lillian D Christensen (1907-1999) was the second daughter of Hans B Christensen and Henriette Christine Ostergaard. She married Thomas Victor Poli on 2 July 1937.  Ethel and Helen Christensen Thornton, Iowa Ethel Cecelia Christensen (1910-2002) was the fourth daughter of Hans B Christensen and Henrietta Christine Ostergaard. She ...

                      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 interv...

According to his 1907 petition for naturalization, Christen Christensen was born in Lolland, Denmark on 28 September 1878, and arrived in New York on the ship Hekla in May 1891.  [1] However, no male aged about 12 years old named Christen Christensen is listed on the ship ’s passenger list. [2]  Christen ’s sister Kristine and her husband Hans Jensen immigrated to New York on the Hekla in May 1891. Traveling with them was an eleven-year-old child, Kristen. [3] Are Christen Christensen and Kristen Jensen the same person?   Family Background Kirstine and Christen Christensen were children of Lars Christensen and Karen Jensdatter of Radsted, Maribo, Denmark. [4]  Within a few years of their father Lars’ death in 1886, [5]  members of the family began to emigrate to America. Hans, the oldest son, arrived in New York in August 1890. [6]  Kirstine and Christen followed in May 1891. Their sister Cecilie immigrated by 1895 when she married in Brooklyn. [7] ...