Peder Larsen (1808-1894) & Ane Kirstine Andersen (1813-1898)
The above Family Group Record is based on Danish parish data, Federal census, immigration records, obituaries, LDS ordinance cards, and published accounts. All of the children listed are full brothers and sisters. Their surnames differ because they lived in that transitional period when the use of Danish patronyms was coming to a close. Each of the children could choose whether to use Larsen, Pedersen or both. Oldest son Hans Henry chose Pedersen but spelled it with a "t" and today all of his descendants are Petersens.
Peder and Ane's Danish Homeland...
Denmark is the land of the Vikings and has a proud and noble history. Today it is a prosperous and happy nation. Depicted here is Zealand or "Sjaelland," the country's largest island, where our Larsen family ancestors lived. It is a beautiful and productive part of the world. If you take a close tour, either in person or vicariously using today's high technology tools, you will feel the quaintness of the villages where our forebears lived and worked, the fertility and abundant variety of the land and domestic stock that now reside there, and the conspicuous degree of industry and husbandry that is employed by the native inhabitants. You may even wonder for a while why our ancestors would leave such a fertile environment to make a life elsewhere.
It is unknown at this time whether Peder and Ane's forebears were Danish nobility or "peasant stock," but our guess is the latter because Peder spent his lifetime earning his bread "by the sweat of his brow." Class distinction in Denmark was a centuries old fact of life. Peder's father was Lars Hansen; and his mother, Anne Pedersen. What is clear is that their generation was the one in which the use of both the call and the surname received mandated changes that have lasted to this day. Until 1856 it was only mandatory for Danish nobility families to use a surname. In that year it became a legal mandate for all Danish citizens to use a surname. In the case of Peder, he was henceforth Peder (his call name) Larsen (from his father's call name of Lars). Peder and Ane's male line descendants used both Larsen and Pedersen (Petersen) as a surname. Today, their direct line descendants are known by either Larsen or Petersen. Those that chose Larsen carried the middle name Pedersen or just "P" for two or three generations. For an excellent treatment of "Patronyms and Patronymic Surnames" please go to: http://dgmweb.net/Ancillary/OnE/Patronymics.html |
A rough depiction of the Island Zealand or "Sjaelland" and location in Denmark where Peder and Ane were born and raised their children. All of their living children became Mormon converts and emigrated to Utah except oldest daughter Anna Sophie. Some of our family history stated that Peder's family left "Ceylon," Denmark when emigrating to Utah. Ceylon was how they pronounced the native "Sjaelland."
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Peder Larsen's hometown of Lynge... Peder -- A Mason and Stonecutter...
Ane Kirstine Andersen's hometown of Borod in the county of Soro...
Family Genealogy...
Historic written documents regarding Peder and his family include at least three "family group sheets" that were prepared by Frank E. Boyd and Peder's granddaughters, Ethelyne Buchanan Breinholt and Edna Buchanan Beecroft. These sheets are almost identical in data presented as to the names and dates of individual family members listed. From footnotes included it is clear that the information on all three originated with Frank E. Boyd. Ethel stated in a footnote on one of the sheets that she received the information by "communication" with Boyd.
Frank E. Boyd is a direct line descendant of Hans Henry Petersen, oldest son of Peder Larsen and a noted Danish LDS hymn writer, most known for his song "Secret Prayer." Boyd may have been the earliest member of Peder's numerous progeny to began searching for his ancestors in Danish parish records. Boyd's family group sheets were generously shared with various cousins among Peter Larsen's descendants and submitted to the church for temple ordinance work. His Family Group Sheets were so convincing, with references to parish records, that dozens of descendants relied upon his information when submitting their own four generation documents to the church's Ancestral File. Likewise, Golden R. Buchanan relied on his information when he prepared Anne Maria Larsen's section in his work entitled "Archibald Waller Overton Buchanan and Family" in 1978. |
Timelines...
Peder and Ane are married...
Peder was 26 and Ane 21 when they married on the 18th of April 1834. The church they chose was centuries old St. Peders in the town of Slagelse.
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Conversion to Mormonism...
The year 1849 was a significant time in the history of our Danish ancestors. The Mormon Saints had been in Utah only two years when, in that year of 1849, Denmark adopted a liberal constitution providing for freedom of religion. The whole of Denmark became fertile ground for Mormon proselytizing. The call to gather to "Zion" commenced immediately and within three years an emigration to Utah began. For the full story of Danish immigration to Utah in the mid-1800s, you may access an excellent two and a half page article by Richard L. Jensen in PDF by clicking here.
Peder and Ane were among the first of the group of more than 17,000 Danish converts who emigrated to Utah in the 1850s and 1860s. Their baptisms are recorded as occurring in 1853, just four years after the country was opened to Mormon misssionaries preaching "the gospel message." Ane joined first. Her baptism occurred on the 12th of June 1853; Peder committed two months later, on the 19th of August 1853. Oldest child, Ane Sophia was not receptive to the Mormon missionaries, and according to Golden Buchanan's account of the family, written for the Archibald Waller Overton Buchanan Family history book, 1878, she remained "bitter" toward the church her entire life (page 144). |
Before leaving Denmark son Hans Henry was called as a missionary. The year was 1857 when Hans served as a branch president at Svenstrup and later as District president in Copenhagen. Second son, Christen P. was also called as a missionary but after the family had settled in Utah. He returned to Denmark where he served as conference president. Peder and Ane's family were musically inclined and often performed for local congregations. Hans Henry was most noted for his songwriting ability. He is recognized for being the author of the favorite Mormon hymn, "Secret Prayer."
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