An 1892 Probate Record from the Danish Market Town Faaborg

Danish probate records sometimes contain information about the emigration of an ancestor or another relative. My great-great-great-grandmother Ane Marie Klausdatter died in Faaborg at the island Funen in 1892.¹ Per her probate file, her heirs were as follows:

1. A daughter Anna Clausine Hansen, married to shoemaker Lars Hansen, residing Espe (my great-great-grandparents).
2. A son Carl Hansen, 32 years old, plumber in America.
3. A son Peder Julius Hansen, 30 years old, plumber in America.
4. A daughter Petra Hansine Christine Hansen, married to molder Theodor Jørgensen in Horsens, deceased and has left behind a son Hans Christian Jørgensen, 6 years old.

Before I found the probate records, my last sign of the brothers Carl and Peder was from the 1880 census, when they were plumper apprentices with Hans Christian Jensen in Faaborg.² America is a large area, but luckily another related entry was recorded in the probate records later the same year. Next to the heading for Ane Marie Klausdatter's probate record are two numbers: 247 and 257. They are references to other parts of the case. At folio 257, a man named Poul Andersen signs for the receipt of the inheritance for the brothers Carl and Peder after producing a power of attorney signed by the notary in Chicago.³ The probate records have given me a lot of new leads, and I can now start searching for the brothers in various Chicago records.

Probate records are very good aids for proving relationships, also when the known information is for a US immigrant and you are trying to identify his Danish parents. The above family lived in Faaborg, which was a market town. Therefore the probate records had to be found in the files of the byfoged, the town bailiff. Probate records for ancestors who lived in the countryside, are often harder to find. Follow my blog for the next couple of weeks, if you want more tips for findings probate records for your Danish ancestors.

Source references:

1. Faaborg sogn [parish], Sallinge herred [hundred], Svendborg amt [county], Denmark, Kirkebøger [parish registers], 1892-1899 FKVD (KM), folio 268, entry 33, "Anne Marie Nielsen født Klausdatter" death (1892); digital images, AO genvej (http://ao.salldata.dk/vis1.php?bsid=179240&side=269 : accessed 28 September 2018).
2. Faaborg købstad [market town], Sallinge herred Svendborg amt, Folketællinger [census records], 1880, Grønnegade [street name], page 250-251, entries 12-13; digital images, AO genvej (http://ao.salldata.dk/vis1.php?bsid=57725&side=11 : accessed 28 September 2018).
3. Faaborg Byfoged, Faaborg Købstad, Salling herred, Svendborg amt, Skifteprotokol [probate records], 1887-1896, 247 verso, "Ane Marie Nielsen født Clausen" death report (1892); digital images, AO genvej (http://ao.salldata.dk/vis1.php?bsid=147741&side=250 : accessed 28 September 2018). Ibid, folio 255 recto - 256 recto, "Ane Marie Nielsen" probate record (1892); digital images, AO genvej (http://ao.salldata.dk/vis1.php?bsid=147741&side=257 : accessed 28 September 2018). Ibid, folio 256 verso, "Ane Marie Nielsen" regarding her probate (1892); digital images, AO genvej (http://ao.salldata.dk/vis1.php?bsid=147741&side=260 : accessed 28 September 2018).