Page 4 and Page 5

Page 4: Grandfather (father's side)

     In the old days it wasn't at all common for families to employ uniform family surnames which is why the son always received his father's Christian name as a surname. It kept switching like that and this is how I ended up with my grandfather's last name, which will be our family's surname from this point on. My grandfather's name was Jørgen Hemmingsen. He was born in or around the year 1750 and passed away around 1825. My mother often times brought up that he was already an old man when she married my father and they took over the farm from him. My grandmother, on my father's side, her name was Karen Olsdatter but about her I know practically nothing because she passed away before my mother married into the family.

     Those old ladies with their names ending in datter (daughter) that was still part of the old customs. This is also why my sisters, Sophia and Maria have Hemmingsdatter as their last name rather than the Hemmingsen that we now use. It was around the year 1850, during the reign of King Frederick VII that a new law went into effect. It stated that all children should be baptized and be given their father's surname. However, those who had children before this new law were still allowed to bestow upon their children the same surname that they had given to their children in the past.

Page 5: Father

     My father's name was Hemming Jørgensen. He was born in the year 1797 and died on the 1st of August 1845 at the age of 48. He was a rather tall, slender man with black hair and a black beard. He combed and kept his hair in the same manner as employed by the women of his time. Split down the middle and then tucked behind the ears. It was so long that it went past his shirt collar and down to his shoulders. His head - his hat was a homemade red cap which he used on an everyday basis and even at night as a nightcap. Perhaps he owned other hats as well. He did own two black felt hats that were both taller and pointier than the hats you see nowadays. When ever he had to go on the road he wore a homemade coat which had a high collar and white metal buttons. The arms and the chest section of the coat were lined with homespun linen. However, the parts of the coat below the waistline had no lining. The coat was probably homemade because there were no tailors born yet. His vest was made out of hat yarn with a collar that stood up straight, with metal buttons and lined with a white linen back.