♂Jens Jensen

Jens Jensen (born about 1774) was the son of the village smith of Fidde, in Henne parish, Vester Horne, Ribe, Denmark, on the west coast of Jutland. He was the third great-grand-uncle of Frederic Roger Curtis (1928–2007), the elder brother of Laust Jensen (1783–1868), Roger’s third great-grandfather.

He was born at Nederfidde, one of the two hamlets of Fidde, the fourth child of Jens Petersen (about 1736–1798) and Mette Andresen (1742–1821). Three children had come before him: Else Maria in 1766, Peder in 1768 and a first Marine in 1772, who lived only seven months. The FamilySearch index of Danish baptisms gives his baptism at Henne on 12 June 1774, naming his father as Jens Pedersen, smith.

By the census of 1787 Jens was 13 and the eldest child still at home. His father held a small farm at Nederfidde as well as working the forge, and five younger children lived in the house, from Marie, aged 10, to Bakken, aged 1. His father died in 1798, when Jens was about 24. In the census of 1801 his widowed mother was keeping house at Nederfidde with only two of her children, aged 14 and 11, and Jens was no longer among them. No spouse or children are on record for him, and the date of his death is not known.

Notes

Jens Jensen was one of the commonest names in Denmark and Schleswig, and the registers of the period hold many men of that name.