Lars Thomsen and Bodil Marie Hansen – Walter Thomsen’s Grandparents
Lars Thomsen was born on February 12,
1851, in Jeksn, Adsleve, Skanderborg, Denmark. He was born
on his father’s farm. His father was Thomas Larsen. Bodil
Marie Hansen was born on June 18, 1854, in Vejle, Denmark.
Her father, Hans Rasmussen, died when she was eighteen.
Later on, her mother remarried.
Lars and Bodil were married in approximately 1878. They
moved to Hadsund where Lars was a butcher and a wholesaler
of cattle. Bodil and Lars had eight children within the
space of twelve years. Four of their children lived to
adulthood. Three, including Christian Peter Thomsen,
immigrated to Nebraska. One daughter, Rasmine, remained in
Denmark and eventually settled in Copenhagen. Lars died on
November 30, 1892, in Hadsund[1]
from alcoholism;[3] he was
forty-one years old. Bodil struggled to support her family
after her husband’s death. In 1899, the family moved to
Aarhus to seek better opportunities.[1]
Bodil immigrated to the United States, sailed from
Copenhagen on September 9, 1909, on M/X Oscar II, and landed
at Ellis Island.[2] She
lived with her son Thomas Marius in Omaha, Nebraska. She
died on April 3, 1911, from liver cancer, having lived only
one and one-half years in the United States. She was buried
at the Springwell Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska.[1]
Source:
1. Adlsev-Slaegten Book 1981
2. Ellis Island Record
3. Verbal history, Marjorie White Thomsen
Written by Richard W. Thomsen
Christian Peter Thomsen is in front of his birth home in Hadsund, Denmark.
This picture was taken in 1953. This was the home of Lars and Bodil.
Bodil at the age of 44 in Omaha, Nebraska
After immigrating to the United States in 1909
Bodil and Lars, taken in Aarhus, Denmark
This map shows the location of Hadsund (upper middle section of map), where the family lived and where Christian Peter Thomsen was born. Christian marked the location of their home with the red “X”. This map came from an old book in his library.