Diana's Genealogy Pages — Our Danish Roots
 
This page is dedicated to finding the kin of
 
Carsten Andersen MATHIESEN & Marie Magdalene FRIEDRICHSEN of Denmark
 
Every-Name Index to Family Group Sheets
 
Carsten Andersen MATHIESEN (1842-1904) and Marie Magdalene FRIEDRICHSEN (1846-1918) were born, married, lived, and died in Denmark.   Carsten and Marie had nine children, all of whom were born in Visby, Tønder Amt [now Sonderjyllands Amt], DK, a.k.a., Weisby, Schleswig-Holstein, DEU (at times under Danish or German control).  All of their seven surviving children ultimately left Denmark and came to America. 

Thanks to a pedigree compiled by Søren H. Schmidt of the Lokalhistorisk Arkiv in Bredebro, DK, we know quite a bit about the ancestry and relatives of Carsten & Marie in Denmark.  Thank you, Søren!  He has taken their ancestry back to the point where they are using patronymics, not surnames, which means it's probably as far back as it's going to be possible to go on paper (two descendants of Andreas have been tested for the Danish Demes Regional DNA Project — see Haplogroup R-1b1b-2a1a).  In contrast, we know little of their descendants, except for their eldest son, Andreas, the immigrant to California in 1886 (my father's paternal grandfather). 

I am seeking the descendants of Carsten & Marie (FRIEDRICHSEN) MATHIESEN.  If you are one of them, please contact me.  It would be nice for all of us to find each other!

The surviving children of Carsten & Marie (FRIEDRICHSEN) MATHIESEN were: 
-
Andreas / Andrew   b. 13 Sep 1867   1886, to Oakland, CA
Christian Nielsen   b. 3 Jun 1872    
Martha Cathrine   b. 2 May 1874   1889, to Oakland, CA
Peter Jensen   b. 7 Jun 1876   1893, to Vallejo, CA
Metha / Meta Marie   b. 7 Jun 1876   1894, to Oakland, CA
Carsten Andersen, Jr.   b. 8 Feb 1881   1903, to Vallejo, CA
Mathies / Mathieas   b. 7 Apr 1883   1904, to Vallejo, CA
Andreas MATHIESEN came to California in 1886.  His descendants hold a belief that he came from Denmark to New York, then overland to California.  Like his father, Andreas was a tailor; he owned a haberdashery in Oakland, Alameda Co., CA, where he died in 1921.  He had one child, a son, Arthur Carsten MATTHIESEN (see also Pedigree Chart ).
In 1889, a "Martha Katherina MATHIESEN" of Slesvig, the right age to be Carsten and Marie's daughter, registered to leave Denmark for Oakland, CA.  Did she ever marry?  Did she have children?
Peter MATTHIESEN appears in the 1900 census of Vallejo, CA, and the 1910 census of Oakland, CA, with his wife, Alvilde.  He shows up in the 1920 census of Vallejo, CA (as divorced), living with his brother, Carsten, but is not found in the 1930 census.  He appears to have had no children.
Metha Marie MATHIESEN came to America in 1894.  In 1896, Metha is in Oakland, CA, as witness to the baptism of her nephew, Arthur Carsten MATHIESEN.  In the 1900 Census of Oakland, CA, Metha shows up as a servant in the household of a bank president.  Did she ever marry?  Did she have children?
In 1903, Carsten Andersen MATHIESEN immigrated from Denmark to New York.  In the 1910 census, Carsten and wife, Maria, are newly married and living in Oakland, CA.  In the 1920 census, they were living in Vallejo, CA, and, in the 1930 census, in Sacramento Co., CA.  Carsten died in 1947 and Maria in 1951, both in Placer Co., CA.  They had one child, Charles A. MATTHIESEN, born in 1910 who died in 1971 in Orange Co., CA.  Did Charles marry?  Did he have children?
Mathies MATTHIESEN.  Records indicate Mathies came to America in 1904, but I can't find him in the 1910 census.  In 1920 he is in Vallejo, CA and in 1930 in Sacramento Co., CA, with his wife, Edna, and daughter, Grace, who appears to have been their only child.  Did Grace marry?  Did she have children?
Geographical Note:  as all the records here are historical, I'm using the pre-1970 county (amt), district (herred), and parish (sogn) names on the family group sheets.  For my family, the major changes involved are that, in 1970, Tønder Amt was incorporated into Sonderjyllands Amt and that, in 2007, Sonderjyllands Amt will become Region Syddanmark.
The Danish Demes Regional DNA Project
A regional project for genealogists wanting to use DNA testing to research their Danish roots.
Two of Carsten Andersen MATHIESEN's great-grandsons have been tested, and they are Haplogroup R1b1.
Understanding Patronymic Surnames
Our Danish Names — How They Rank in Popularity

Ander Buch-Jepsen has created a web page listing the top 250 Danish surnames in order of their occurrence in the Danish population today.  Although more than 50,000 surnames are registered in the country, fully 50% of the population uses just the top 15 surnames.  Here is how our Danish family surnames rank:
 

1.
2.
3.
5.
6.
8.
12.
23.
37.
43.
60.
63.
69.
205.
222.
Jensen
Nielsen
Hansen
Andersen
Christensen
Sørensen
Madsen
Frederiksen
Simonsen
Nissen
Gregersen
Mathiesen
Andresen
Matthiesen
Boysen

Family surnames not found in the top 250:  Boisen, Greisen, Friedrichsen, Hagensen, Hinrichsen.

As these patronymics are all based on given names, Ander's list is to some degree a measure of the popularity of those given names at the time surname fixation took place, which in Denmark was by law ca. 1850.  Because these patronymics are based on given names, they are not an indication of relatedness (except for post-1850 generations), which is no doubt the main reason Danes have no "sense of clan" beyond that of being Danish.

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Everything I have is online at this web site; I have no further information. If you feel I've made an error, please don't hesitate to contact me.

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