George Jorgen Nissen (1855 - 1941) Danish. Denmark Birth. Minnesota. Parents? Need Genealogy help

Question

George Jorgen Nissen(1855 - 1941) Is my great great grandfather and is of Danish decent. My Danish root. We need help with finding who his parents are with resources and a direction to go in to locate them. We have his death record. Help with profile updating categories and resources will be greatly appreciated! Thank you Wikitree family. Kind regards 

Answer 1

A Jørgen Nissen was born on 20 Mar 1855 in Hoptrup sogn, Haderslev hundred, Haderslev county.  He was baptized on 6 Apr.  His parents were Nis Nissen and Anna Maria Martine.

Links to same page 557 of church book:

• https://www.sa.dk/ao-soegesider/en/billedviser?bsid=201726#201726,38236068
• http://ao.salldata.dk/vis1.php?side=286&bsid=201726&kb=Haderslev+amt%2C+Haderslev%2C+Hoptrup%2C+1826-1856+FVD+%28KM%29
• https://records.myheritagelibraryedition.com/research/record-10455-26927392/jorgen-nissen-in-denmark-church-records

1860 census record of him living with his family:  https://www.danishfamilysearch.com/cid17863802

Comments

Here's his family in the 1855 census before he was born (unindexed):  https://www.danishfamilysearch.com/sogn336/census1855/opslag13746391

There is an 80 y/o 'Margrethe Nissen' living with the family, likely Nis' mother.  Indexed at MyHeritage:  https://records.myheritagelibraryedition.com/research/record-10258-1742393/mariane-nissen-in-1855-denmark-census

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Interesting the religion listed is Lutheran and I’m sure he was 7th day adventists per obituary and it’s possible his parents were Lutheran. Also per obituary a member of the Danish Brotherhood of America in Seattle.   Thank you.

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1860 Census shows Nis Nissen born 1804 age 56 and Anne Marie born 1814 age 46. Jorgen Nissen age 5 born 1855. It’s possible to have a child at her age so very possible

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The wife/mother mentioned is Maria Anne Martine but also seeing this post

LDS has George NISSEN Listed-

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LVMW-PYX

He was born in Hoptrup, Haderslev, Sønderjylland, Denmark.

You may be able to write to the archives in Hoptrup Denmark to obtain his baptism/birth records. His parents are recorded on LDS as Niss SORENSEN and Valborg PETERSEN.

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The Seventh-day Adventist church didn't exist until 1863 and the first Adventists in Denmark weren't baptized until the late 1870s.

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Lutheran was the default.  And even if you were of another religion, the birth had to be registered through the Lutheran Church as it was the state church and tasked by the government with recording births and deaths and marriages.

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I’m very interested in Church history. This is very interesting. Thank you

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Then you should really enjoy learning about Denmark.  It seems to have more 1000 year old churches than any other place I can think about.  The sites seem to keep moving around, but I keep finding sites with all the beautiful pictures of the inside and outside of these old small rural churches with pictures of beautiful insides, model ships, old baptismal fonts, gorgeous altar pieces and often stories.

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Thank you so much excellent resources and the 1880 Census is my Nissen’s!! We appreciate all the help!

Answer 2

Danish records are online at FamilySearch and elsewhere, including the Danish National Archives. While many records have been indexed, don’t assume that the indexes are complete, so if someone is initially not found in an index, don’t assume he is not there. The Danish Archives says that parish registers are almost complete from about 1812-1814.

The key factor in using these records is knowing where a person came from.

He and his family are in the 1880 census, but it does not help in finding his origin in Denmark. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YB7-KLW?i=11&cc=1417683

Do you have his naturalization documents? The link you have on his profile just goes to the grant of citizenship. It is possible the rest of the file has more information.

Comments

I will try to get the rest of the file. This is definitely my Nissen family in the 1880 census report excellent source. Thank you

Answer 3

Also, have you found his arrival in the United States in the ship passenger list? It may or  may not give you some idea of where he came from in Denmark or who traveled with him.

Once you have a pretty close arrival date, there is a good chance you can find him in the Copenhagen emigration database.  That usually gives you a pretty close place of last residence.  If he was older than 10 when he came to the U.S., you will then have a pretty good chance at finding him in the Danish census.  Starting around 1845, the Danish census will tell you what parish he was born in.

Danish location categories are just getting started.  Mostly we are in the research stage waiting our turn and hoping Aleš can create a lot of what we need with his programs.  Meanwhile, I and a few others are creating the sogne (parish) categories and linking them to the category tree as needed.  Let me know when you get some idea of where in Denmark and I'll get them set up for you.