I decided to start a blog to chronicle the adventures of my cousin, Maria, and her trip to the United States. I've never done this, so bare with me.
Maria is set to arrive next week on the 18th, but before she gets here I thought I would share the crazy story as to how I met Maria and her family. I don't know exactly where to start.........so I will start at the very, very beginning.
My great grandfather, Peter Sorensen Terp, was born in Randbol Denmark (Vejle County, I think) in 1841. He was one of 8 children (6 boys and 2 girls) born to Karen and Soren.
Peter served in the Danish Army in the 1864 war against Germany. He was wounded by a German sword in the leg and carried a large scar for the rest of his life. Here is a photo of him in his uniform. He was a handsome fellow, don't you think?
Because Peter was not the oldest son, he was not set to inherit any land. He was not interested in remaining a soldier, so he and his brother, Christian, took off for the United States to find their fortune. As the story goes, Peter and Chris landed in New York and bought a ticket as far as they could go with the money in their pockets. They ended up in Omaha, Nebraska in 1869. I don't know if that story is 100% correct since there were many Danish farmers in southern Nebraska at the time, and maybe they came there as they knew of some farmers that would hire them. Anyway, between 1869 and 1880, Peter was a farm hand and then for several years, he and Chris moved out west and worked on the Continental Railroad.
Peter, Sarah and my grandfather, Paul
In 1880, Peter married Sarah Gilmore--a woman 23 years his junior. I doubt anyone blinked an eye back then at a 40 year old man marrying a girl of 17. He settled in Jefferson County, Nebraska near the town of Fairbury. He bought some land, farmed and raised a family of 8 children. The one story my father always told us was that people used to say about Peter was "Old Pete sure has a nice family. Too bad he's too old to see them grow up" Well, he showed them and died when he was 94 years old in 1934. The only grandchild he never got to see was my Dad who was born in 1936.
Peter and his sons-I think my grandfather is on Peter's left side.
I have few details about this life, but one thing my dad found out through his cousins was that Peter never talked about the old country or his life there. He did not go through Ellis Island (he came to the US long before Ellis Island was used for immigration) and I don't know if anyone has recovered his immigration records. My cousin, Jeanne, said that he had the bluest eyes.
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Cut to: 1987
In 1987 I was a senior in high school in Urbandale, Iowa. I became friends with Lotte Moller who was a foreign exchange student from Denmark. She was a lot of fun, always a smile and did better in British Literature class than most of the American kids. She could also rock a scarf long before American women were wearing scarves like they do now.
At the time, I was aware that Peter had come from Denmark but didn't know much about it. I introduced Lotte to my parents and she met some of their friends from a local Scandinavian club (Lotte was a good sport hanging out with the Danish Brotherhood of Des Moines, Iowa).
My parents and I kept in touch with Lotte after high school and in the early 1990s, my parents took a trip to Denmark. At the time, my dad was really getting into geneology and wanted to see Denmark. Lotte took some time to show my parents around in the area and took them to a place where she thought Peter had come from. At the time, we didn't know have specific information. But we did know that out of all the places and towns in Denmark, Lotte was from the same area as Peter. It is almost like it was meant to be. If Lotte had been from Copenhagen we may never have gotten this far.
Around 2000, my dad was talking with his cousin, Jeanne Moore, and she revealed to my dad a book that had belonged to Peter. Nobody could read it as it was in Danish. My dad had some of it translated and it turned out it was a 'Character Book' that chronicled work history and referenced the quality of work. The book was carried when ever a person traveled to another town in Denmark. From there, we found he was from Randbol in Vejle.
In 2005 my parents planned a trip to Denmark and a Scandinavian cruise with some friends. They contacted Lotte (thank goodness for the internet and email by then) for a hotel recommendation. She suggested they contact the Park Hotel in Vejle.
The owner of the Park Hotel in Vejle was a very nice man by the name of Bent (sorry, I cannot remember his last name).
My parents emailed him about a reservation. Bent replied and asked my dad if he was Danish based on the last name of Terp. They emailed back and forth about some details of Peter. The next thing we knew, he put an article in the local newspaper asking if anyone was related to Peter with the details of what we knew. I think Bent also went down the church offices to find any records of Peter and was able to determine some details. Bent also included my parents email address and left it up to anyone interested to contact him. Quickly my parents heard from several people and we were able to determine that we were, in fact, related.
My brother, Brad, gave me some of his airline miles and he and I went to Denmark to meet all these relatives we never knew we had. It was very exciting.
I was able to stay with Lotte--which was an awesome treat to see an old friend and meet her beautiful family. She has three of the cutest little girls I have ever met.
Lotte and her husband, Roland Christiansen, and her parents in 2005
We found out that Peter's sister, Ane, had remained in the area and we met several of her great-grandchildren and their families.
Helle Madsen and her daughter, Maria, Inga and Soren Hansen who are Helle's parents in 2005. They were so kind to host us in their home for an afternoon of delicious desserts and wonderful company. I invited Maria to come and stay with us if she ever wanted to study in America or just come and visit. I never dreamed she would take me up on it!
I was able to visit the church and graves of my great great-grandparents. It's something I never thought I would be able to know about, let alone see for myself. And it was a real gift to be there with my dad.
Lotte took me to see an unusual art installation and the area around it was so beautiful that I asked her to take my picture with the valley in the background:
Another one of Ane's great grandchildren is Elly. On our last day in the area, we met Elly. She gave my dad a photo of the home where Peter was born (the little home at the top of this post). I was shocked to learn that the home used to be in the valley behind me. Crazy.
Elly and my dad in 2005
Which brings me to 2012:
Here is Maria today at age 20. Isn't she a lovely young woman? She emailed us a few months ago and asked if she could come and stay with us for a few months. We were thrilled that she wanted to come and visit and are happy to have her come and stay with us.
Please feel free to follow our adventures with Maria over the next three months on this blog. Some might be in English and some posts might be in Danish. I hope she has a wonderful visit and likes living with us. We warned her she had to share a bathroom with this kid:
and this kid:
Good thing she has three older brothers!
And are the four of us
That's all for now.
-janae
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