I have found my third great-grandfather Hans Kristian Hansen in the military levying rolls at Arkivalieronline. He was born on 5 July 1824 in the rural parish Øster Hæsinge at southern Funen. His father Hans Jørgen Pedersen was a tenant and copper, so the family belonged to the peasant class.1 Therefore, Hans Kristian Hansen was listed in the military levying roll as an infant shortly after his baptism. For once, it is an advantage to have peasant ancestors!
Find All Records for an Ancestor in the Danish Military Levying Rolls
Hans Kristian Hansen is listed in thirteen different military levying rolls, which is common for a person who was listed as an infant. Some of the records are almost identical and contain no further information than the previous roll.2 Yet, I found him in all the rolls, because we don’t know what the records say before we examined them, right?
The first record for Hans Kristian Hansen in the military levying rolls is shown in the image above. His birthplace is in the fourth column and his birth date is to the far right. If you follow a man backwards in time in the rolls, you can often find his birthplace, birth date, and the name of his father or mother. Then it is relatively easy to find his birth record in the parish register.
In particular three pieces of information in the military levying rolls contributed to my conclusion that exactly this Hans Kristian Hansen was the father of my 2nd great-grandmother Anna Clausine Hansen - of course, in correlation with evidence from other sources. But you probably know that tracing a Hansen in Denmark can be difficult, and the rolls helped me do that.
Danish Military Levying Rolls Reveal Information about Relocations and Military Service
Hans Kristian Hansen reported a relocation to the local military levying officials twice. The authorities recorded Hans Kristian’s relocations in the rolls of both the lægd (military levying area) he left and the one he moved to. Furthermore, they recorded when Hans Kristian served in the military and with which regiment, as well as him being fined for not showing up at the annual session. A session was an evaluation of the physical and mental health of the active and prospective conscripts.
The Military Levying Roll for 1844: Conscription as a Dragoon
The 1844 military levying roll reveals that Hans Kristian Hansen was conscripted as a dragoon and was to report to the 6th Dragoon Regiment on 31 March 1847 – see the image above. That piece of information matches information found in other sources, such as the birth record of his first child, born in 1850 in Ubberud in Odense County.
The Military Levying Rolls for 1850 and 1851: Migration from Øster Hæsinge to Odense
Svendborg County’s main roll for 1850 and Odense County’s supplementary roll for 1851 show that Hans Kristian Hansen moved from Øster Hæsinge to Odense during 1851. Per the moving-in lists in the parish register, Hans Kristian Hansen and his wife Anne Marie Clausdatter moved to Odense Vor Frue Parish on 23 October 1851. They arrived from Ubberud Parish which correlated with the birth of their first child there. A note in the parish register reveals that the relocation had not been recorded in Hans Kristian’s skudsmålsbog (ID booklet). The last recorded removal was in 1840 when he left Øster Hæsinge.3 His failure to report his removal to the authorities explains why he was never listed in the military levying rolls for Ubberud.
Military Levying Rolls for 1854 and 1858: Removal from Odense to Faaborg
Another clipping from the Danish military levying rolls shows that Hans Kristian moved again – this time from Odense to Faaborg at southern Funen. The information in the rolls appear to suggest that he moved in 1858, but that is incorrect. The moving-in list from the Faaborg town bailiff reports that the couple arrived at Faaborg on 3 October 1859 which correlates with their oldest child dying in Odense and being buried there on 19 July 1859.4
Perhaps the family’s relocation caused Hans Kristian to forget to appear at the session for 1860 as recorded in the rolls for Faaborg. The session for 1860 was held in October or November 1859, meaning just around the time of the relocation. Whatever the reason, he was not lawfully excused, and his absence cost him a fine of 1 rigsdaler, the Danish currency then. That was about the price for 2.5 kg or 5.5 pounds of pork, which was significant at that time.5
Conclusion
Danish military levying rolls provide a lot of clues for further research. They might help you find your ancestors in church records, censuses, and other military records. If you haven’t used the military levying rolls, yet, or perhaps gave up on them, you might benefit from reading my tutorials on Danish military levying rolls. My tutorials are focused on images at Arkivalieronline, but with a little practice you should be able to use the images at FamilySearch, if you prefer that website. Hopefully, my guides can help you utilize this fabulous source for more information about your Danish family history.
Notes
- Øster Hæsinge Parish (Svendborg County), parish register 1813-42, sacristan’s copy, page 11, Male Births, 1824: no. 4; image, The Danish National Archives, Arkivalieronline (https://arkivalieronline.rigsarkivet.dk/da/billedviser?bsid=450063#450063,80710838). The image at the top of the page shows the title for area 13 (Øster Hæsinge) in this roll.
- Hans Kristian Hansen is listed in the Danish military levying rolls from the central administration under Svendborg County as follows: Tilgangsrulle [supplementary roll] 1825/L, lægd 13, nr. L186. Hovedrulle [main roll] 1827/B, lægd 13, nr. L186/149. Hovedrulle 1830/E, lægd 13, nr. 149/120. Hovedrulle 1833/H, lægd 13, nr. 120/97. Hovedrulle 1836/L, nr. 97/82. Hovedrulle 1839/O, lægd 13, nr. 82/64. Hovedrulle 1842/R, lægd 13, nr. 64/52. Hovedrulle 1844/U. lægd 13, nr. 52/39. Hovedrulle 1847/Y, lægd 13, nr. 39/26. Hovedrulle 1850/Ø, lægd 13, nr. 26/19. Thereafter, he is listed in the rolls under Odense County: Tilgangsrulle 1851/A, lægd 111, nr. A1953. Hovedrulle 1854/D, lægd 111, nr. A1953/873. Finally, his last listing is under Svendborg County: Tilgangsrulle 1858/H, lægd 89, nr. H684. Then he was stricken from the toll because he was dismissed in 1863.
- Odense Vor Frue Parish (Odense County), parish register with moving-in and moving-out lists 1847-56, Moving-In List, 1851: no. 153-154; image, The Danish National Archives, Arkivalieronline (https://arkivalieronline.rigsarkivet.dk/da/billedviser?bsid=515688#515688,89361644).
- For the relocation, see Faaborg Byfoged (Svendborg County), tilflyttere uden fast tjeneste [newcomers without permanent employment] 1854-73, folio 46 verso, 1859: no. 5-6; image, The Danish National Archives, Arkivalieronline (https://arkivalieronline.rigsarkivet.dk/da/billedviser?bsid=327843#327843,66005752). For the son’s death and burial, see Odense Vor Frue Parish, parish register of deaths 1844-76, folio 55 verso to 56 recto, Male Deaths, 1859: no. 30; image, The Danish National Archives, Arkivalieronline (https://arkivalieronline.rigsarkivet.dk/da/billedviser?bsid=441250#441250,79769232).
- Poul Thestrup, Mark og skilling, kroner og øre: Pengeenheder, priser og lønninger i Danmark i 360 år (1640-1999) (Statens Arkiver, 1999), p. 40. This booklet (only available in Danish) outlines the development of prices and wages in Denmark from 1640 to 1999.
