Across Oceans, Across Time® . . . Stories from the Genealogy Center at the Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn, Iowa

Trials and tribulations.  Wilhelmine Christine Lorensine Christensen was born in Vindeby parish, Maribo County on May 28, 1850.  Known as “Minnie,” she immigrated to Racine in 1873, where she met and married a city policeman and immigrant from Gunderup parish, in Aalborg County, Niels Chr. Sorensen (standing in the photograph, ca. 1880).  Officer Sorensen’s name was mentioned frequently in Racine newspapers of the era as a reliable and conscientious patrolman.  In the mid-1880s he retired from the force to open “The Retreat,” a wine and tobacco establishment on State St., but the enterprise did not prosper.

Niels also began to suffer from deafness, limiting his employment options, and Minnie began taking in boarders to make ends meet.  At the same time, both were active and respected in various Danish organizations in Racine. In December, 1896 Minnie was elected treasurer of The Women’s Ten-Cent Aid Society, a Danish women’s organization formed to assist poor and needy city residents.  In July of 1897 the Sorensen name once more appeared in Racine newspapers, but this time Minnie was the headliner, and continued to be so for the following month. It was discovered that she had embezzled $1,135 from the Society in an attempt to help her husband regain his hearing, hoping to repay the sum before it was missed, although the family was insolvent. Minnie was arrested, charged, and jailed overnight while her husband tried to raise $1,500 bail.

Finally he was successful, Minnie was freed, and her trial postponed while the Sorensens tried to find a means of refunding the money. Various proposals were made and finally one was accepted by the Women’s Ten Cent Aid Society and the case was settled out of court.  The family’s notoriety faded.

Next mention of the Sorensens occurred in January of 1901, when Niels Chr. and his brother Chris, both working for the Mitchell-Lewis Wagon Works, were seriously injured in a runaway wagon accident. Niels’ leg was nearly severed above the knee, but with prompt medical attention it initially seemed that his recovery would only be a matter of time.  Such was not the case, however, and he died of shock two days later, leaving Minnie, three children, and a life insurance policy with The Danish Brotherhood.

Minnie continued running her boarding house, which became a temporary home for scores of Danish immigrants, until she remarried widower Niels Nielsen in 1917.  She lived until June of 1930, when she once more appeared in Racine’s newspapers, this time celebrated as one of Racine’s pioneer residents, with any momentary transgressions long forgotten.

Her file is one of many immigrant collections at the Genealogy Center at the Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn, Iowa.

Museum of Danish America – Celebrating Danish Roots and American Dreams

2212 Washington St., Elk Horn, Iowa 51531

Become a member – Contact the Museum at: 1-800-759-9192 or http://www.danishmuseum.org/ or follow the Museum on Facebook

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