Page 12 and Page 13

Page 12:

A homemade green robe that was referred to as a coat, with sleeves that went all the way down to the hands. It was loose around the waist and was tied together with a thick woolen rope with large tassels at the ends. Their everyday footwear was a pair of clogs with brass edgings and when they went to town they would wear a pair exactly like my everyday slippers.

When going to town, they would also wear a bonnet. It would take entirely too much paper to properly describe it but it should be mentioned that it was kept in a box that was two by two feet and was referred to as the bonnet box. Whether or not she had more than one set of the above mentioned pieces of clothing I simply couldn't say. However, I don't recall ever seeing her with anything other than her green, strawberry colored skirt in the 17-18 years that I knew her.

On several occasions she spoke about her youth and about how the Swedes lay siege to the city of Copenhagen in 1807. She also spoke about being on Låland as well as a number of other places. For further reference you could read up on Danish history and the Swedes on Låland. She spoke of how one day, when she was still a child in Orup, the Swedish army came through town pulling

Page 13:

a canon behind 20 horses. However, when they reached the outside of town it sank so deep into the mud that they were forced to unhitch the horses and leaving the canon right there, where it remained for many years.   

Page 10 and Page 11

Page 10:

of witchcraft or plain superstition I couldn't say. From what I can figure out, my parents were married in 1825. My mother was of average height and while she wasn't fat she was of a rather heavy build. She had long black hair which she always parted down the middle and tucked behind her ears. Since she always wore a cap it aided in keeping her hair to the back and out of her face. The cap always had a long bow made of silk on it with strands that reached all the way down to her hips. This bow was referred to as a neck bow. In the front she had a bow tied under her chin which had strands reaching down across her chest and it was referred to as the chin bow. However, her night cap had no such bows on it and along with her shirts they were always made from homespun yarn. (there was no such thing as dresses). She, as well as all women of her time, spun and dyed the yarn themselves and had someone else weave it. There were many women who knew how to weave, but most weavers were still men. She also had a home sewn dress made entirely from home spun yarn.(from wool). However, for it to be labeled a dress it needed to be sent to a fabric dyer in the capitol to be sheared. this process entailed dragging the fabric through specialized machinery


Page 11:

several times where it was scraped and scratched so that at the end it was only half as thick as when it was woven. Then it was officially called cloth. Usually when a young girl was to marry she'd receive such a dress which was referred to as a wedding dress. The dress was never to be worn unless the girl was at the altar which happened about twice a year or if she was having a child baptized. Such a dress would last her for her entire lifetime and when she died she would wear it to the her grave. Along with a white apron which was big enough to be draped all the way around her and was made of fine linen. It was exclusively worn at the same events as the dress. Their shirts had sleeves that never went past the elbows. For everyday use, or for if they went to town they would wear sleeve garters that resembled what bartenders and  the such wore at that time. They were made of wool, came in a variety of colors and were fastened above the elbow with a small white strap or something like that. However, when they wore their black dresses then they also wore gloves made of yellow hide. They were as soft as velvet and so long that they also would be tied off above the elbow.  

Page 8 and Page 9

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that night I experienced a sharp pain in the left side of my chest. It was so bad that I couldn't remain seated next to my mother, but instead I had to lay down in the bed of the wagon. I've continued to suffer much throughout my life from that stinging, especially when I catch a cold. The only project that I remember father undertaking or having done was the excavation and building of a well in the middle of the courtyard. A carpenter built the roof over the well and on one of the corner posts he carved the year 1844 in Roman numerals

DVIIIXXXXIIII

Father only lay ill for a few days. One day he stood up and wearing nothing but his nightshirt and his clogs he ventured out into the courtyard. My two sisters grabbed him by the arms and tried to guide him back inside. However, he lead them out of the courtyard and down the road towards town, my sisters by his side the entire time. After he seemingly had walked as far as he desired to he turned around and walked back home. He died a few days later and I remember the funeral well. A wooden cross was placed as a marker on his grave. It was painted white with black lettering.

Page 9:

My mother's name was Ane Elisabeth Hansdatter. She was born in 1799 and died on the morning of Pentecost in 1860 at the age of 61. She was the daughter of the former Hans Hartvig and his wife Ane Johanne Johansdatter who both hailed from the city of Orup in Roholte County. I don't recall much about my mother's father, but her mother I remember quite well. My aunt Kristine Johans had several times spoken about that my mother was supposed to have married someone else before she married my father. She was supposed to have married a man whom I knew, whose name was Niels Mathiasen and he lived in Houby. Her marriage was arranged and she moved in with him. Then it happened that there was a feast where they were both in attendance and for which his sister was in charge of the food preparation. Once everyone was seated his sister replaced two of the porridge bowls and I don't recall if she switched his or my mother's. However, immediately following the meal he pulled my mother aside and told her that he wasn't sure what had come over him but he could no longer stand the sight of her. Shortly thereafter their engagement was dissolved. Whether it was because 

Page 6 and page 7

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During the summers he'd walk around in white linen pants and in the winter he'd wear pants made from deer hides. He had a pair of long trousers that were tied off near the ankles. He also had a pair of shorts that went down to just below his knees where they were fastened using a leather strap and a large metal clasp which was positioned on the outside of the leg. In the summers he'd wear shoes with a large white metal buckle attached to the instep. He also wore long stockings that went above the knees and were secured with woven or braided garters that in turn were made from red and white wool. These garters were long enough to reach 2-3 times around the leg and to make a bow that was placed right by the abovementioned buckle. He also owned two pairs of long boots that went up to just below the garters. The idea was that the garters were to be visible in the space between the top of the boots and the bottom of the short pants. I was a little more than nine years of age when my father died and even though I can picture him clearly in my head, I don't recall him being very active or enterprising. However, he wasn't home much because he was, for his time, a rather

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renowned veterinarian. I remember accompanying him to Taagerup where he cured a sick horse as well as a sick cow. In that place there was also an old woman who sought his advice. She was very constipated and he told her to roast apples on the top of the woodstove as well as heat some beer. She was then to go ahead and consume plenty of both. A few days later we were back in said town and the old woman informed him that his advice had helped a lot. One time my father had some candy and he would give it to the one of us kids who could run the most times around the courtyard. Brothers and sisters were lined up barefoot in the snow, but I just stood there and cried. However, if I remember right I ended up getting my share of the candy in the end. Another time I attended a party in Orup, I think it was for the baptism of Jens Johansen. Afterwards we gathered in the house of Johan Hylsenberg's neighbor, the same exact house I would later receive when I got married. We played with the children that lived there, and among them was a little girl of about 2-3 years of age. I paid no special attention to her but it was this girl who after 18 more years would become my wife. As we were driving home    

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.  

    

Page VIII and Page 3

     On page VIII we're introduced to his notations relating to the various units of measurements that were used in Denmark. While this actually is quite interesting it also presents me with somewhat of a problem. There are some things in the Danish language that can't, and to some degree shouldn't be translated. So here I was trying to figure out whether or not I should be trying to translate terms that might not have a translatable counterpart in the English language. So what I think I'll do here is translate as much of the text on this page as possible but keep the various terms denoting the units of measure in their Danish form. At the bottom of the page I'll include a link to a list of terms and how much their corresponding metric values might be.

-1 Skippund = 20 Lispund
-1 Lispund = 16 pund
-1 pund = 32 Lod
-1 lod = 4 Ounce
-1 ounce = 4 kvintin
-1 kvintin = 4 drachme
-1 dozen = 12
-12 dozen = 1 Gros
-1 Snes = 20
-3 Snes = 1 Skok (60)
-4 Snes = 1 Ol (80)
-5 Snes = one hundred (100)
-6 Snes = a big hundred (120)
Nails, root vegetables and eggs were sold according to their count.
-1 tønde = 8 Skæppe
-1 Skæppe = 4 Fjerding kar
-1 Fjerding kar = 2 Ottingkar
These measurements were used for salt, root vegetables and all kinds of seeds. In regards to fruit you should always pile as much as possible onto a Skæppe when portioning.
You needed 10 Langholmskjærer to a knippe and 20 knipper to a load.
You needed 20 neg in a trave. There were 20 Høbånd in a trave and 3 trave in a knippe.
-Cherries, lingonberries and prunes were all pickled.
-Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries, red currant and black currant were eaten directly off of the plants while the rest were left.
-Pears were cut in half, dried and used instead of raisins.
-The hair that was cut off of the horse's mane and tail as well as hair from cow tails and the hair that was harvested during grooming of animals or the butchering of pigs was spun into rope and used in clothing.

Here now begins our journey through the pages of the Hemmingsen text, Page 3:

    "I'm writing this down so that my children might gain a better understanding where I hailed from. Where I was born, reared, educated and raised. How I have attempted a multitude of things. How I've toiled and labored in order to make ends meet. After everything was said and done, I've come to the realization that the old adage; "Stick to what you know," still rings true! It means that one should stick to one craft or profession because by darting from one occupation to another you only end up being a jack of all trades and master of none. It should also be remembered that with every new thing that you attempt always ends up costing you money one way or another. Either it turns out to be a waste of time, or you have a constant need for expensive tools. Not to mention the multitude of ways one might end up loosing out by moving from place to place. However, if worse came to worse such travel could be beneficial. Because he who has the courage and will to engage in any job offered will seldom remain unemployed for long."

So I suppose that I personally would have a hard time trying to sum up Niels Hemmingsen's overall intentions with this text. In his waning years he might have intended to leave a legacy behind in order to leave something behind that would attest to him having been here. When the Danish immigrants came to the New World they came in numbers that were far less than those of their Scandinavian counterparts. So when they got here, their options for marrying someone with their own national makeup were limited. They were therefore forced to intermingle with other nationalities. The Danes began to disappear into the still emerging American identity and perhaps needed reminders such as this text to keep their heritage alive.



https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danske_m%C3%A5leenheder

Pages VI and VII

     Let's move on to page VI which has something a bit more macabre to offer. Among the lists of information that he decided to copy down here there is one recounting the various places that had experienced major earthquakes along with the year they occurred and the number of people who perished. The other half of page VII also lists the various forms of currency that were being used while Niels still resided in Denmark.
     However, back to the earthquake data. I won't be relisting them here since what they say isn't as interesting as where they came from. The dates span hundreds of years and the locations are litterally scattered all over the world. I sat for the longest time and contemplated why exactly he would have chosen to copy these down. Once again I found myself in the position where I couldn't fully put myself in his shoes but I was certainly capable of attempting to draw parallels between his writing process and my own. When I set out to translate this text I chose to do so by employing pencil and paper. Rather than using a computer, which granted would have saved a lot of time, I told myself that if Niels had taken the care and time to write down his thoughts and memories in longhand then I owed him, and myself to put the same kind of care into my work. I attempted to walk a mile in another man's shoes so to speak. Truth be told I usually try to do any sort of writing related work with pencil and paper. It allows for a better opportunity to connect with the material. While working with this book I enjoyed being able to handle the book. Seeing the places where pages had been earmarked, the flow of the handwriting and even the smell of the paper which had a scent of nostalgia, but I digress. I had for a few years used a leather bound book to jot down certain facts, figure, quotes and ideas that crossed my mind. They were a random patchwork of information that was completely without use to any rational human being, unless they were preparing to be a contestant on Jeopardy. I can of course not be a hundred percent sure as to why he chose to copy this information down, but perhaps it was simply something that sparked an interest in him.
     During my research I was also able to ascertain the source of the earthquake data. He copied it from; “The Standard Reference Work, for the Home, School, and Library, Volume 3,” which was a desktop encyclopedia published by the Minneapolis and Chicago Standard Education Society in 1922. I've attached a link at the bottom of this post in case people want to check it out themselves. Now the fact that I found the source is actually quite interesting. On one hand it underlines the fact that he was a very (self)educated person who was always learning new things. The fact that the book was published in 1922 tells us that he wrote this entire text around or after his 86th birthday. However, what I found really interesting, and what I think speaks greatly to his motivations for writing all of this down is that he is looking at Volume 3 from an encyclopedia series. This volume shares information about many words, starting with DEER and ending with Halifax. The interesting part here, to me at least, is that the D-section also contains a rather detailed description of the country of Denmark.
     I think that he started writing all of these facts down in this book because he found them to be interesting. Then, somewhere along the line something occurred, perhaps he felt that the end was nigh or maybe he began feeling homesick and nostalgic in his twilight years. Whatever his reasons may have been, he switched gears and focused more on creating a written account of things that he remembered from his youth. A simpler time. Back when he still had both feet firmly planted on the dirt roads of Zealand. Maybe he never got to go back to the old country and this literary trip down memory lane was as close as he could get. 

Page VII cont.

     The Danish monetary system was made up of 1/2 Schilling, 1 Schilling and 2 Schilling coins that were all made of copper. There were also silver coins which consisted of 3 Schilling, 4 Schilling, 8 Schilling and 16 Schilling. However, 16 Schilling was also called 1 Mark and 3 Mark made up 1/2 Thaler. 6 Mark, which was also two half Thaler, made up one Thaler. 2 Thaler were a Specie but there was also 8 Mark, 4 Mark and 16 Mark, however these last three were German currency. In paper money we had 5 Thaler, 10 Thaler, 20 Thaler, 50 Thaler, 100 Thaler and 500 Thaler. All were printed on blue paper and considered legal tender. 
     For documents to be legal they needed to be written on paper carrying the right stamps and have a wax seal on them.    

https://books.google.com/books?id=V8lGAQAAMAAJ&pg=PT105&dq=Catania+Sicily+1137+15000+Syria+1158+20000&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjz1Kbo1dDLAhVEw2MKHRTwB54Q6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=Catania%20Sicily%201137%2015000%20Syria%201158%2020000&f=false