My next step was to search the 1850 census for Frits, aged 5. Quick success there – I found him with his parents, Johannes Jensen, 40, a soldier, born in Copenhagen and Johanna Elisabeth Molin, 35, born in Sweden. The 1910 and 1920 U.S. censuses had the correct places of birth for Frederick Johnson’s parents – his mother was, indeed, Swedish. Johannes’ and Johanne’s children were Wilhemine Amalie, 9; Emilie Olivie Frederikke, 6; Fritz Wille Oscar Emil, 4 and Ludoviga Josephine Henriette, 2. All were born in Copenhagen except for Johanne Elisabeth.

 With Family Search indexed records and the church baptismal registers on Arkivalieronline.dk, I was able to put together the following family:

Johannes Jensen, born about 1810, Copenhagen, Sergeant in the Danish Army, drummer

Johanne Elisabeth Molin, born about 1815, Sweden

 Children:

Wilhelmine Amalie, born about 1840, no baptismal information found

(Here – possibly a deceased child since there was at least a three year gap between Wilhelmine and Emilie)

Emilie Olivie Frederikke, 18 May 1843, Garnisons Church, Copenhagen

Frits Ville Oscar Emil, 12 May 1845, Garnisons Church, Copenhagen

Ludovica Henriette Josephine, 4 June 1847, Garnisons Church, Copenhagen

Avilda Eleonora Philipine, 11 Oct 1850, Garnisons Church, Copenhagen

 I also found Johannes Jensen in 1840, an unmarried soldier, rank of sergeant, living in the barracks with other soldiers in Copenhagen. I could not find Johanne Elisabeth Molin in 1840, nor could I find Wilhelmine who could possibly have been born as early as 1839. Johannes and another “permiterit” soldier were boarding with the young family of Anders Thomsen in Copenhagen in 1834.

Since the Danish censuses have a gap between 1801 and 1834, I had no other pre-1834 census to search for Johannes Jensen. I had no other clues as to his parentage or siblings. No marriage record had been found for Johannes and Johanne, whose first known child was Wilhelmine, born about 1840, in the Garnison Church registers, nor could I find Wilhelmine’s baptismal record there.

 I decided to try looking in other parishes in the 1840-1843 range for Wilhelmine’s baptism and possibly for a deceased child and happened to start with Trinitatis Church because it was also a large parish. Wilhelmine was not to be found. However, the baptismal records for Trinitatis Church included a stillborn daughter, entered 8 May 1842 in the register, born to Johanne Elisabeth Molin and reputed father Johannes Jensen. I had only looked for marriage records up to 1840, thinking Johannes and Johanne married before Wilhelmine was born. Emilie’s baptismal record listed her father and mother, so they had married before 18 May 1843. I looked again for a marriage between 1840-43; no marriage was found at Trinitatis Church, but the Garnison Church register included an entry on 31 August 1842 for Johannes Jensen and Johanne Molin. One more puzzle piece had been found, but there still was nothing found for daughter Wilhelmine, who was apparently born before Johannes and Johanne married. There were no further clues about Johannes’s parents either. The marriage record didn’t include vaccination dates for the bride or groom. I decided to leave the issue of Wilhelmine’s birth place and baptismal record to focus on the search forthe parents of Johannes Jensen. He appeared to have no middle names, as the census records included middle names for his wife and children, but he was always “Johannes.” A suggestion was made to look at godparents’ names on the baptismal records of his children. That was a dead end. The spot on the record for those names was either empty, or it said “the parents” or maybe “Farmer so and so” from down the road. The only avenue that I could see for further research on Johannes was his military record.