I Learned Something About Indexes

This week I finished a really fun client project. Of course it was based in rural Denmark, about 50 miles outside of Copenhagen. I know this area very well in terms of genealogy research. I was searching for any information about a certain Christian Sorensen, born in 1850. (Many of you might feel that I was looking for your ancestor—you have to love the same-name research in Scandinavia!) The only record I had for him was his christening record, naming his parents and his rural parish. The last record I had was in 1870 when he was a single man and house servant in a neighboring parish. I looked at everything. The census indexes beyond 1870 were not helpful. It seemed that he quite literally disappeared from the records, likely dying or immigrating without much of a record trail.

In a last attempt to find him, and feeling this was futile, I did a general search in the Ancestry indexes. I included his name, his birth year and birth parish. And what a surprise! There was a mention of a marriage in 1902 in Copenhagen that listed his birth date and rural birthplace. Looking at this original record gave me to much to work with.

Here’s a translation:

Kristkirkens Parish Marriages

Groom: a widower (2^nd marriage) the coachman Christian Sorensen, living Vester Faelledvej 5, born in Bjernede Parish the 20 May 1850, son of the deceased cottager Soren Olsen and his wife Ane Marie born Jensdatter, married 2^nd time with Bolette born Pedersen who died the 26 August 1900 in Vesterbrogade, age 52 years.

Bride: the widow (1^st marriage) Ane Marie Johansen born Jespersen, living at Vester Faelledvej 5, born in Halskov in Korsor Parish 19 February 1860, daughter of the deceased renter Morten Jespersen and his wife Elsa Kaaben born Jensen of Svenstrup Mark in Taarnborg Parish. 1^st marriage with the working man Hans Johansen who died 12 August 1898, last living at Frederik VII Street.

Bondsmen: the inn keeper Lars Jorgensen of Vester Faelledvej and the coachman Frederik Olsen of Vesterfaelledvej 3.

Engagement announced 11 November 1902 and banns read 16, 23, 30 November 1902.

Married 30 November in Kristkirken.

Kristkirkens Parish, Kobenhavn City, Kobenhavn County, Denmark Church Records, www.sa.dk, marriages 1900-1908, image 71/page 70.

Based on this record, I was able to find records for a very messy chain of events that painted a vivid picture of Christian Sorensen’s adulthood. He married three times, outliving his first two wives. This marriage record led me to a combination of five marriages and the christenings of only five children, some living into adolescence and few dying as infants. It turned out to be a very addicting project because each record I found led to something else. None of these family groups were defined in public trees on any of the main genealogy websites.

So what did I learn from this project? I’ve learned that the indexes are getting so much better than they used to be. I’m always rather leery of relying on indexes for Scandinavian research because the indexes produce many false positives and false negatives, again due to same-name research. However, some of these indexes (particularly the ones produced by Ancestry) are including great details, such as including other locations mentioned in the records. Without this clue about the marriage in Copenhagen by a man christened in Bjernede, I would have been stuck with 100 possible Christian Sorensens to weed through. I love it when I find a good tool for upping my research game.