The Mortensens of Svendborg Denmark

Morten Larsen (1802-1855), son of Lars Hansen and Dorthe Madsdatter, was born 13 Feb 1802 in Rudkøbing, Denmark.  He moved to Skrøbelev in 1823 and married Dorthea Oldsdatter (for a period of four years), and then in 1827 married Catrine Jacobine Christensdatter of Skrøbelev, and moved to a family farm and home located on Vindeltorp Way in what is now a part of Rudkøbing, Langeland.  Morten had eight children:

With his first wife, Dorthea:
1.  ANDERS MORTENSEN, born 1820.
2.  CHRISTIAN NIELSEN MORTENSEN.

With his second wife, Catrine:
3.  MARIUS HANSEN MORTENSEN, born 1828, but died in 1829.
4.  CAROLINE CHRISTINE MORTENSEN, 1830-1860

5.  PEDER MADSEN MORTENSEN, born 1832.  Peder never left Denmark.  He moved to Copenhagen when he came of age, and his granddaughter Vera Alfi Jensen married a famous soccer player Wilhelm Emil Nielsen, who played on the Danish National Soccer Team.  Their son, Kurt Nielsen (1930-2011) was a famous tennis player who made it to Wimbledon twice.  His son Christian Kurt Nielsen is a director in the Danish government, whose son is a famous tennis player Frederick Lochte Nielsen (nicknamed "The Turtle").

6.  LARS HANSEN MORTENSEN, born 1835.  Lars joined Peder and moved to Copenhagen when he came of age.

7.  MARIUS HANSEN MORTENSEN, born 1839, was a gardener.  He fought in the 2nd Schleswig War against the Austrians and Prussians in 1864.  While Denmark lost, Marius was unharmed, and came home to his new wife, Kerstine Pedersen Nelsen of Skrøbelev (nicknamed "Stina").  Stina and Marius were married October 21, 1863 in Danish Folk Church, Simmerbølle, Svendborg, Denmark.

Simmerbolle Church, Svendborg, Langeland
(Site of 1863 Marriage of Marius and Stina Mortensen)

Stina was born in Botofte, Tranekaer, Langeland in 1837 to housemaid Maren Nielsdatter and farmhand and stonemason Peder Nielsen, who were married in June 1837 in Tranekaer Church.

MARIUS HANSEN MORTENSEN

(1839-1926)

 STINA MORTENSEN

(1837-1933)

MARIUS AND STINA MORTENSEN
(Young Miaus in the Back)
ca. 1889

Marius and Stina had seven children in Skrøbelev:  Peder, Karl, Marenthine, Lena, Rasmus (aka Alfred), Lars, and Jorgen (aka John). As late as 1880, the whole family was still living in Skrøbelev.  Peder grew up with Stina's parents.  In April 1881, Marius & Stina, and the four youngest kids (Lena, Rasmus, Lars, and John) emigrated together from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and arrived in May, on the ship Hibernia.  Stina lied about her age at arrival, claiming to be 39, when she was 45.

The Hibernia

Stina brought with her a dry sink from Denmark.  I'm not sure how old it is, but it dates back to at least 1880, and is still in the Mortensen family today:

They celebrated the birth of their 8th child, Marius Junior (who was nicknamed Miaus), born in Canada in December of 1882, while they were living in La Regione-Sherbrookoise, Sherbrooke, Quebec.  In 1884, the entire family moved across the border to Berlin Mills, New Hampshire, and their story continues HERE.

8.  FRANSINE DORTHEA MORTENSDATTER, born 1842.

Morten Larsen is THE Morten of the Mortensen name as it comes from Skrøbelev.  All his descendants ended up keeping the name Mortensen throughout their lives, even though some of the American descendants Americanized the name to Mortenson.

Below are a few pictures of Skrøbelev parish, including the local church that the family was christened in, and the baptismal font which was likely used for christening Morten's children.

The ministers of the church during the time of Morten Larsen's time were:

Laurits Dahl (1820-1821)
Christian Bagge Jensen (1821-1827)
Christian Graae (1828-1830)
Hans Jacob Drejer (1830-1832)
Ludvig C.J. Thygesen (1832-1841)
Hans Adolph Sølling (1841-1848)
Henrik Julius Leth (1848-1854)

SKRØBELEV CHURCH

Built 1100

BAPTISMAL FONT
SKROBELEV CHURCH

Former Morten Larsen Property

(from at least 1834-1850)

1 Vindeltorp Way, Skrøbelev

(Now the local school)