Appendix 3
Appendix 5
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Who is Hans Henrik Sorensen?
On May 1, 1849, Hans Sørensen moved his family from Tersløse to Ruds-Vedby, both in the county of Holbæk, Denmark. At the time, the family consisted of Hans Sørensen, Ane Nielsdatter (Nielsen), and their new son, Søren Peter (who was born just two weeks before). It happened that another family already lived in Ruds-Vedby with the father named Hans Sørensen and mother named Ane Nielsdatter. In September, that family had a son born whom they named Søren. Because of this striking similarity, some early 1900s research followed this incorrect family's genealogy.
This section endeavors to show the differences between these two families and to explain some of the subsequent inaccuracies. The most notable error is the middle name Henrik given to our Hans Sorensen. It is easy to understand these mistakes because there are many ways that false leads can be followed. The existence of secondary sources, particularly vaccination dates, has helped show how these two families are different.
Here is the specific information from records of each event found for our Hans Sorensen and his wife as they began their family (see specific references in the main body of the history):
Hans Sørensen - born 2 Oct. 1825 Kragevig, Ørslev, Holbæk, Denmark
father: Søren Nielsen; mother: Karen Jøgensdatter
christened at home 3 Oct. 1825, in church 6 Nov. 1825
vaccinated 7 Sep. 1826
Ane Nielsdatter - born 24 Dec. 1822 Munke-Bjærgby, Sorø, Denmark
father: Niels Nielsen; mother: Ane Marie Olsdatter
christened at home 24 Dec. 1822, in church 2 Mar. 1823
vaccinated 29 Aug. 1823
Married - 9 Sep. 1848 Tersløse, Holbæk, Denmark
Hans, bachelor, age 23, father: Søren Nielsen
Ane, girl, age 25 1/2, father: Niels Nielsen
(Hans vaccination: 1826, Ane vaccination: 1823)
Søren Peter - born 16 Apr. 1849 Tersløse, Holbæk, Denmark
father: Hans Sørensen, weaver; mother Ane Nielsdatter
christened 6 May 1849 in church
Move-in (Tilgangsliste) - 1 May 1849 (recording date) in Ruds-Vedby, Holbæk, Denmark
Hans Sorensen (and wife Ane Nielsdatter) age 24 born and christened Ørslev (his information)
from Tersløse
1850 census, Ruds Vedby, page 9, house number 49
Hans Sørensen 25, weaver, of Ørslev
Ane Nielsdatter 28 of Tersløse (Note: most records incorrectly say her birth place is Tersløse.)
Søren Peder Hansen 1 of this parish
No records were found documenting Hans Sørensen with the middle name Henrik, Hendrik or anything similar. However, when we look at the other Hans Sørensen, Henrik is sometimes listed as his middle name. This is likely where the family started using the Henrik middle name.
Here are the details of the other family:
Hans Henrik Sørensen - born 6 July 1821 Reerslev, Holbæk, Denmark
father: Søren Larsen; mother: Marie Andersdatter
christened 5 Aug. 1821 (no vaccination listed)
Ane Nielsdatter - born 1 Nov. 1823 Niløse, Holbæk, Denmark
father: Niels Bertelsen; mother: Ane Marie Nielsdatter
christened 2 Nov. 1823
vaccinated 21 Aug. 1824
Married - 27 Jan. 1848 Ruds Vedby, Holbæk, Denmark
Hans Sorensen, 26 1/2 years old, vacc. 7 Aug. 1823, born in Reerslev
Ane Nielsdatter, 24 1/2 years old, vacc. 21 Aug. 1824, born in Nidlose
Ane Marie Hansen - born 5 Mar. 1847 Ruds Vedby, Holbæk, Denmark
to unmarried Ane Nielsdatter from Vedbygaard (Hans Henrik Sørensen, father)
christened 5 Apr. 1847
Søren Hansen - born 7 Aug. 1848 Ruds Vedby, Holbæk, Denmark
father: Hans Sørensen; mother Ane Nielsdatter of Vedby
christened 5 Nov. 1848 in church
1850 census, Ruds Vedby, page 6
Hans Sørensen 29
Ane Nielsdatter 26
Ane Marie Hansen 3
Soren Hansen 2
Also of note is that in the 1834 census, this Hans (as a youth) is listed as Hans Henrik Sørensen
Some of our genealogy has also listed this Ane Marie Hansen as Hans Sorensen's first child.
When going purely from the parish birth and marriage records, and knowing that records are sometimes incorrectly written, it is easy to see how researchers could have been confused. The Sorensen family probably did not read Danish and could not corroborate the results of researchers' work who were researchers in Denmark. Now we have microfilm copies and are able to do a lot of research online which makes it a lot easier to find the secondary information necessary to correct the errors.