Monthly Archives: February 2026

Danish Laws: or, The Code of Christian the Fifth

Researching and understanding the law is critical for our genealogical research, whether we need to know the age of majority or the laws related to inheritance. You and I have each identified strategies for finding the right jurisdiction, then the right location, then the right years, then the right laws.

I often find myself looking in the federal government records for state issues or ….well, you get the ideas. I am not very good at finding the applicable law. So, if I have trouble with accessing the US law efficiently, why would I bother with the laws of a country where I do not speak the language? Well….

I never really thought about researching the law in a foreign country because I am only literate in English. But when you are offered a great work-around and you have a problem that would be illuminated by the law, you take it. The Danish Laws exist in English because Denmark acquired St. Croix, an island in the Caribbean that had originally been settle by Great Britain. English was their primary language. The Danes translated their laws into English for the residents of St. Croix. And, while written during Christian V’s reign (1670-1699) these laws were basically unrevised well into the early to mid 1800s.

The law was written in 1683. The law stayed primarily in its form until 1866 when the Criminal Code was revised in 1866 and the Maritime Laws changed in 1892.[1]

To give you an idea of its inclusions, there are five books which contain a total of fifty-nine chapters covering the following aspects of the law.What follows is the book, it’s title and a selected list of inclusions:

  • Book 1: Of Judicature: The responsibilities of individuals in the court; court procedures
  • Book 2: Section is not included
  • Book 3: Of Civil and Domestic Affairs: Responsibilities of City governmental officers; laws governing business, itinerant sellers and fairs; marriages, divorce and guardianships; laws for servants and idle persons;
  • Book 4: Of Maritime Affairs: laws relating to the seas, including sailors; of freight and accounts; shipwrecks and goods from shipwrecks;
  • Book 5: Of Property or of Title of Possessions and Debts: Contracts and Obligations; succession and inheritance; (largest section); Purchase, Sale and Exchange; Pledges and Mortgages; things found; mills and waters; farm animals; debt;
  • Book 6: Of Criminal Cases: Blasphemy and Magic; Sabbath-breaking; the offenses of children against their parents and the faults of fathers and mothers of families; murder, accidents, force and violence and other such acts; theft and robbery.

Well, you get the idea. I spent much time reviewing the laws associated with marriage and divorce. Here’s why:

Anne Kierstine Danielsdatter Suhm, born 1785, married Ivar Pedersen in 1805 and had four children. Between 1815 and 1822 she left him and the four children to a life of poverty, degradation, and work in an adjacent parish. Since she did not get a divorce, she probably was not eligible to do so. “Distemper” and alcoholism are not justifiable reasons for a divorce according to the law. Ivar could have divorced her for desertion, but didn’t. She cohabitated and provided housekeeping for [Johan] Christian Nielsen shortly after she left her home parish. She had three children by Christian; the third child was my ancestor. Christian was married to another woman at the time of the births of the first two of the children.

Before the birth of the third child, Christian deserted Anne Kierstine. He kept moving, the police kept finding him and garnished his wages behalf of Anne Kierstine, who was now a charity case to the parish when she wasn’t working out.

The courts had had enough of Christian and finally sentenced him to jail. Christian pleaded his case to the judge, including writing an autobiography of his life. He was released from jail time because he had the promise of a job and the attestation of the church official.

Perhaps you can see why I was interested in reading the law as it related to marriage, divorce, criminal actions and punishments, etc. You ight not have such a tantalizing story and this infection of the law, but I found it all very fascinating.

You can find this book in GALE and you can even buy a reprint as actually typeset or buy it used for many recycled book companies, like Abebooks, etc..

If you have Danish roots, you might want to check it out.

Happy hunting!!

Jill

What I have done since my last post: still working on the books. Scandinavian Legacy is getting very close to publiscation–perhaps by the end of February. Ostfriesen Legacy (my mother’s side of the family) has all articles written (I think) and edited, but I haven’t gone through them yet. It is on the back burner until I get the Scandinavian Legacy done.

[1] Christina Lysbjerg Mogensen, “Danmark Historien,” Lex, Danmarksleksikon, 24 March 2025; translated by ChatGPT (https://danmarkshistorien.lex.dk/Danske_Lov_1683)

Finding Clues in FindAGrave, et al

When you look at FindAGrave, what do you see? Skilled genealogists bring their sceptism. I see opportunity.

Step 1:
There is usually a tombstone photo, birth and death information (more than is engraved on the stone), names of the wife, children, parents and siblings and sometimes a short or long narrative added by someone. The problem is, of course that none of the information added can be relied upon, except what you can see with your own eyes….the tombstone engraving.[1]

After determining if the document passes the “smile test,”I look for clues that indicate other records and I try to get to the original! But this assessment is something I do with every document I find–death certificates, newspaper clippings, authored works, etc., not just FindAGrave.

Step 2:
I start with the assumption that they could be right, but, I check all other sources before I believe it. I have to be careful of confirmation bias at this point. Just because one genealogist says it is true, or 55 genealogists say it is true, doesn’t make it true. Genealogists don’t get to vote–that one outlier may be the right one. I consider the relationships as possible but not proven and only “trust” the engraving–but it could be wrong as well.

But, they are clues! I cannot dismiss them outright. And, they may fill in some gap you have been working on or lead you to a better answer then you were holding on to..

Step3:
I check to see if anything in the narrative leads me to other records. This is the most critical question you can ask yourself every time you look at a document. Does that census record indicate land ownership–if so, get the land deeds. Does that newspaper article indicate a prison stay–if so, get the prison records. A document will often “begat” others.

Step 4:
Who is involved? Who was the photographer, the submitter? Who left flowers? If these are relatives, I want to talk to them. Is the submitter a grave competitor, someone who just wants to submit more graves than someone else? Or, were they systemically doing just this cemetery? Or, is this the one from this cemetery that they added? Sometimes I can tell and sometimes I cannot.

I collect all sources in your database that support (or don’t) support a fact. I may have 12-15 that give e a person’s date of birth, for example. I then can choose which on is the best one for my use, but only if I have all of them can I make that determination. So I copy that FindAGrave citation at the bottom and stick it in my database for birth and death.

[You do know that FindAGrave gives a good citation at the bottom, don’t you? Scroll to the bottom. If you just select and paste, it will have background shading, be centered and add an odd size font. If you want to get rid of all that formatting, just copy it to your clipboard like you usually do. When you paste it use this combination: Cmd + Option + Shift + V (yes, it is twister for fingers). This works on a MAC and I believe it works on a PC also. This will give you the citation without all the additional formatting.]

As Tom Jones says, “don’t commit source snobbery,” and too quickly dismiss that weaker source[2]. Instead, look for the clues that might aid your research and find people who may be relatives or a new collaborator.

What is the mostqnteresting fact–true or false– you have found on a FindAGrave site?

Happy Hunting!

Jill

What I have done since the last posting: I don’t have any presentations until February so these waning days of January are spent doo scrolling (who have they shot today?) or working on the Book II, but editing some of the articles that I got to 99%. The editor is working on the final review of the Book I articles and hopefully the final will be to the printers in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I have some work to do on future presentations including my beta workshop on self-publishing.

[1] Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148194922/timothy-harrington: accessed January 26, 2026), memorial page for Timothy Harrington (1808–25 Oct 1854), Find a Grave Memorial ID 148194922, citing Calvary Cemetery, Two Rivers, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, USA; Maintained by Aavedt (contributor 47229161).
[2] Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA, “Perils of Source Snobbery,” OnBoard 18 (May 2012); Board for Certification (https://bcgcertification.org/skillbuilding-perils-of-source-snobbery/)