This life sketch will end my series on maternal branches of the family tree. It’s not that I don’t have many more identified ancestors, it’s that I know little about their daily lives and any unique experiences that they might have had. Therefore, unless I uncover a female ancestor with documented interesting life details, my Danish 3X great grandmother, Anna Amalie Christensdatter Moller is today’s final sketch.

Before we begin, note Anna’s two surnames. No, she wasn’t married to men named Christensdatter and Moller. She was born at a time when Denmark was beginning the change from patronymic surnames – whereby their father’s given name + sen (son of) or -datter (daughter of) – to fixed surnames, which might or might not be in patronymic form.

For females who lived into the latter part of the 19th century, their patronymic surname changed even more with the -sen ending becoming the standard and -datter became obsolete.

Therefore, Anna Amalie was the daughter of Christen, who was a miller (moller in Danish), so she was Anna Amalie, the daughter of Christen the miller.

Ane (Anna) Amalie Christensdatter was born 10 January 1823, in Flade, Hjorring, Denmark, the first child of Christen Andersen Moller and Marie Katrine Jensdatter, who had married on 5 November 1822.

Eventually, Anna was joined by seven other siblings, at least three of whom died in infancy. Little is known about her siblings, except that her sister, Inger, married and had children.

It’s possible that her mother lost one or more babies after her birth since a six year gap between children is a bit unusual.

Children of Christen Andersen Moller and Marie Katrine Jensdatter, all born in Flade, Hjorring, Denmark:

1. Ane Amalie, born 10 January 1823; died 19 December 1862, Fredrikshavn, Hjorring, Denmark; married (1) Niels Thomsen Bruun, 1 November 1842, Flade, Hjorirng, Denmark (2) Jens Marinus Hansen, 24 October 1847, Flade, Horring, Denmark
2. Inger Marie, born 9 November 1829; died 17 May 1918, Frederikshavn, Hjorring, Denmark; married Andreas Peter Edvard Qvist, 12 Apr 1855, Glade, Hjorring, Denmark
3. Anders Christen, born 8 November 1831; died after 1870; married Elsine Birgitte Johanne Christensen, c1857
4. Jensine Christine, born 3 November 1833; died 6 June 1867, Frederikshavn, Hjorring, Denmark; married E.C.C. Christensen, date unknown
5. Christiane Amalie, born 29 October 1836; died 5 November 1837, Flade, Hjorring, Denmark
6. Jens Christen, born 16 August 1838; died 6 November 1864, Flade, Hjorring, Denmark; unmarried
7. Lars Christen, born 23 January 1842; died 10 November 1842, Flade, Hjorring, Denmark
8. Lauritz Christen, born 16 March 1845; died 9 February 1848, Flade, Hjorring, Denmark

Anna and her family suffered much sadness with the early deaths of the youngest four of her siblings. However, looking at the vital statistics on this family, her parents had longer lifespans than any of their children, with the exception of Inger.

Anna’s life didn’t get any easier as she got older, either. She married at the relatively young age of 19, at least when compared to my other Scandinavians who married in their late 20s or early 20s to Niels Thomsen Bruun, who was either a fisherman or mariner, on 1 November 1842 in Flade, Hjorring, Denmark.

Niels and Anna were the parents of two children, born in Flade:

1. Margrethe, born 1 May 1843; died 10 November 1890, Calais, Washington, Maine; married Frits Wille Oscar Emil Jensen, 9 June 1867, Flade, Hjorring, Denmark
2. Peter, born 13 April 1845; died after 1890; married Louise Christine Sofie Jensen, 16 January 1879, Aalborg, Denmark

Sadly, Niels died sometime before 1847, leaving a 23 year old widow with two small children. No burial record has been found for Niels and Anna was noted as a widow when she remarried so I assume Niels was lost at sea.

Anna married (2) Jens Marinus Hansen, 24 October 1847, Flade, Hjorring, Denmark and gave birth to five more children:

1. Niels Christian, born 15 September 1848, Flade, Hjorring, Denmark; no further record
2. Bolette Marie, born 17 August 1851; died after 1921, possibly in Arhus, Arhus, Denmark; married Jens Frederik Alfred Berentzen, 5 May 1876, Sankt Hans, Hjorring, Denmark
3. Julie Hansine Amalie, born 28 June 1853, Flade, Hjorring, Denmark; living for the 1855 Danish census
4. Ernst Alfred, born 18 September 1859, Voer, Dronninglund, Denmark; died 1934, Fresno, Fresno, California; married Anna Christensen, 19 May 1896, Marshall County, Iowa
5. Anton August, born 16 December 1862, Frederikshavn, Hjorring, Denmark; died 5 January 1863, Frederikshavn, Hjorring, Denmark

Anna died just three days after giving birth, on 19 December 1862 in Frederikshavn. She was a few weeks short of her 40th birthday. It appears that Jens died in 1871 in Voer, leaving their young children orphans.

What happened to Niels Christian and Julie Hansine Amalie isn’t evident in the records, Bolette remained in Denmark and Ernst emigrated to the United States.

Anna Amalie Christensdatter Moller and her family had difficult lives.