This evening, I decided to see if I could find out more about one set of my Danish 4x great-grandparents by looking at their kids’ records.  I figured I could maybe back into some of their facts that way.  It’s worked before, finding a nugget or two in the next generation’s info…

First, I tried to find marriage records for their son, Anders Peter Nicolaisen.  I know he was married twice as his first wife’s burial record in 1862 in Stenmagle, Denmark, lists him as her husband.  (Very small town in a rural/farming area. No one else by the name of Anders Peter Nicolaisen seems to appear in the records so I’m 99.9% sure they’re related.)

No luck.  I found his 2nd marriage, the one to Margrette Hansdatter about 6 months after Maren died, but not his first.  Rats.  So, before I went onto something else, I figured I would at least try to find her actual birthdate.  All I had was 1822 at this point from the burial.  How hard could it be?

I researched the name Maren Nielsdatter, born in Stenmagle in 1822, and found *3*!!  Great.  Now what?  I didn’t have enough other info to narrow it down to know which was really her. Her father would be Niels something given naming conventions of the time.  How could I be sure it was her Niels?

I was just about to go work on something else when I did another search for all Maren Nielsdatters born in 1822 anywhere in Denmark just to see how common that name was. That’s when I noticed a really strange, yet funny coincidence.  It doesn’t matter which Maren it was — the one born in Feb, Nov or Dec 1822 in Stenmagle.  ALL 3 had a father named Niels Hansen!!!  I mean, how truly weird is that?  (Of course, each girl had a different mother just to keep it fun and from being outright freaky.)

So, I still don’t know who is my 3x great-grandaunt Maren’s mother or Maren’s real birthdate, but I definitely now have her dad’s name.  LOL.

In the meantime, I also found church records for Anders moving from parish to parish.  Maybe I can trace his mom, Maren Christiansdatter, that way and figure out when/where she died/was buried.

Little by little, the family puzzle gets filled in…