Looking for John Geedeson b. abt 1844 and Minnie Geedeson b. abt 1840

[Debra Elge Jacobs]

Hello!

I'd like to find records for John Geedeson and Minnie Geedeson who according to USA records came from Denmark. They either emigrated to the state of Illinois in the USA or to the state of Iowa in the USA.
I don't know if they emigrated together or if they met in the USA and then married there. For Minnie, I don't think that "Minnie" is her given name. It could be a variation of Mary, Mina, Wilhelmina, or Minerva.

According to what I can determine, John Geedeson was born abt 1844 and Minnie Geedeson was born abt 1840. One federal census for Minnie says that she came to the USA in 1865.  In the 1880 federal census for Illinois, Minnie shows as being widowed. It also shows she has two children, Clara Geedeson b. 1874 and Harry Geedeson b.1876, both born in Illinois, USA.  I don't have an emigration date for John Geedeson.

The John Geedeson that I am looking for was my great-great-grandfather. Minnie, I believe was his first wife. My Great-Great Grandmother, Anna Handley Geedeson was, I think, his second wife. I'm still trying to figure out if the John Geedeson that was married to these two women was one in the same.
Other spellings of Geedeson that I have seen are Gedison, Getison, Gedderson, Gedeson and Gettison.

The only document we've found for my great-great-grandfather, John Geedeson was an "Oath of citizenship to the United States". It was filed in Dodge City, Kansas, USA on 26 Oct 1885. He disappeared shortly after that. The story was that he had come into some money and was off to either deposit it or invest it. They found his wagon overturned in the Arkansas river in Dodge City, Kansas where they lived, but never found his body.

I am hoping that someone in Denmark can find John and/or Minnie is records there.

Thanks so much. Debra

[Pamela Alley]

Hi Debra

Family Search shows an Anna Handley married to a John Giddison 9 Nov 1878 in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa. If you're able to get a copy of the marriage certificate, and if that's the man you're looking for, you should be able to get the information on where in Denmark he's from.

Regards

Pam Alley

[Ib Hansen]

Hi Debra,

Just an idea:

IF he was born in Denmark, his last name could be: Gjødesen or Gertsen. His first name could be Jørgen, Johannes or Jens.

Geedison is absolutely not a danish name.

Many regards
Ib

[Paul Løndahl-Smidt]

Hi Debra,

Perhaps this is your John.

A Jens Gydesen was born 11 Nov 1844 in Vamdrup, Anst, Ribe, parents Gyde Jessen and Gjertrud Jensdatter, opslag 32 nr 50.

Sincerely,
Paul

[Homer Ficken]

Debra you may be looking at two or three different John Geedeson's?

If you're certain your gggrandmother's name was Anna Handley, the marriage that Pamela found in Iowa must be your ancestors?

Here's another family to consider, although the daughter seems too old:

1880 census Ellsworth, Hamilton County, Iowa
Hans C. Gydesen 38 Denmark
Anna H. Gydesen 36 Denmark
Mary C. Gydesen 5 Iowa

1885 state census Hamilton County, Iowa
Hans C. Gydesen 43 Denmark
Anna H. Gydesen 41 Denmark
Maria K. Gydesen 9 Iowa

The 1880 US and 1885 State censuses of Ford County, Kansas show no Danes named Geedeson or similar.

[Debra Elge Jacobs]

I hope I'm replying correctly...
Pamela: Thank You! Thanks so much, sometimes I forget about Familysearch but have found many things there that are not on ancestry.com. That absolutely must be them. They lived there and that is where my gr-grandmother was born. The story is that they traveled by covered wagon to Dodge City, Kansas.

Hi Debra

Family Search shows an Anna Handley married to a John Giddison 9 Nov 1878 in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa. If you're able to get a copy of the marriage certificate, and if that's the man you're looking for, you should be able to get the information on where in Denmark he's from.

Regards

Pam Alley

[Debra Elge Jacobs]

Ib: Thank You! Yes, I had been told also by my  Swedish distant cousin that the name was not Danish, not even close. He said, it could be that the immigration officer just spelled out what he heard. In fact he, my cousin is the one who recommended I join this forum. I'm so glad I did.  The few documents we've found on either/both John Geedeson's say Denmark. I will check out your ideas "Gjødesen or Gertsen. His first name could be Jørgen, Johannes or Jens". That is exactly what I needed, an idea of what the name could be in Danish.

Hi Debra,

Just an idea:

IF he was born in Denmark, his last name could be: Gjødesen or Gertsen. His first name could be Jørgen, Johannes or Jens.

Geedison is absolutely not a danish name.

Many regards
Ib

[Debra Elge Jacobs]

Paul: Thank You! This is great! The birth year matches the age he would have been when he filed the Oath of citizenship in 1885. The fathers name "Gyde Jessen" makes sense if children are named the same as they are in Sweden. At least to my understanding.  Can you tell me what "opslag 32 nr 50" means? Is this information form a church record or a household directory?

Hi Debra,

Perhaps this is your John.

A Jens Gydesen was born 11 Nov 1844 in Vamdrup, Anst, Ribe, parents Gyde Jessen and Gjertrud Jensdatter, opslag 32 nr 50.

Sincerely,
Paul

[Debra Elge Jacobs]

Homer: Thank You! I may indeed be looking for two different John Geedeson's. However, I couldn't help but wonder since both John Geedeson's seemed to have disappeared, he may have had two families secretly. Just an avenue to explore that flaunts my soap opera brain.... Hehe! I am indeed certain about Anna Handley and am certain that the marriage record that Pamela noted has to be them...still need to go look, but the information she gave is accurate.  I think I've seen those two census records for Hans and Anna Gydesen and wondered if they weren't relations.  For the 1880 and 1885 census' the family was still in Iowa so they wouldn't have shown up in Ford County yet.  1880 Fed Iowa Census-with husband, Jno (John) and daughter, Clara, Name spelled Gedison.  1885, Iowa State Census Collection, 1836-1925, Ann Geedeson with daughters, Clara, Lilly & Alice(?). Also, son, John. The 1890 census' have been lost apparently and then she shows up in Dodge City, Kansas in the 1900 census. Name; incorrectly transcribed as "Sudason". Widowed with daughter, Grace. States that she was born Canada(Eng), her father -England, her mother-New York. States she is the mother of 8 children. Anna died in Pueblo, Colorado in 1925, not sure how she wound up there. Might have followed a child. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=GE&GSfn=a&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=7&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=20121228&df=all&;.  Sorry, probably more info that everyone needs...
Thanks again to everyone...I will go exploring again with this new information.

Debra you may be looking at two or three different John Geedeson's?

If you're certain your gggrandmother's name was Anna Handley, the marriage that Pamela found in Iowa must be your ancestors?

Here's another family to consider, although the daughter seems too old:

1880 census Ellsworth, Hamilton County, Iowa
Hans C. Gydesen 38 Denmark
Anna H. Gydesen 36 Denmark
Mary C. Gydesen 5 Iowa

1885 state census Hamilton County, Iowa
Hans C. Gydesen 43 Denmark
Anna H. Gydesen 41 Denmark
Maria K. Gydesen 9 Iowa

The 1880 US and 1885 State censuses of Ford County, Kansas show no Danes named Geedeson or similar.

[Paul Løndahl-Smidt]

Hi Debra,

The Danish church and census records are online and available for FREE.  http://www.sa.dk/content/dk/ao-forside

Opslag refers to the image number and nr is the number of the record on that page. 

vælg arkivalietype her means the type record you want to access.  Kirkebøger are the church records and folketællinger are the censuses.  Amt is the state, herred the county and kirke is the church.

Sincerely,
Paul

[Paul Løndahl-Smidt]

Hi Debra,

The Jens Gydesen I found in Vamrup is not yours.  Jens died on 7 Dec 1844, opslag 271 nr 20.

Sincerely,
Paul

[Debra Elge Jacobs]

That's too bad, I thought we might have been on to something. Thanks for the link. - Debra

Hi Debra,

The Jens Gydesen I found in Vamrup is not yours.  Jens died on 7 Dec 1844, opslag 271 nr 20.

Sincerely,
Paul

[Debra Elge Jacobs]

Hi Again Paul,
I realized that I made a mistake in my gr-gr-grandfather, John Geedeson's birth year. It would have actually been 1847-1848. The "oath of citizenship" document that I found shows his age as 37 on the date, 26 Oct 1885 which is the date the document was signed. So if I'm correct, he would have turned 37 years of age anywhere from 27 Oct 1847 - 26 Oct 1848.
I got to thinking that perhaps my John Geedeson could have been Jens' brother. But "Jens" in Danish is "John", so maybe not. I guess that John in danish is Jens, Johan or Johan. I wonder if it's possible that since the Jens Gydesen born in Nov 1844 and died just less than a month later, that the parents decided to name a second son Jens as well?  I did check out that link you gave me. When I went to the link, I clicked on English but was soon put back where everything was in danish. I tried to look through the pages for Vamdrup  1847-1848 for another Gydesen but didn't find anything. I was looking at the actual documents though. Have those pages been transcribed so one can do a search or do you have to search through the scanned documents like I did? Any advise would be appreciated. - Debra

That's too bad, I thought we might have been on to something. Thanks for the link. - Debra

Hi Debra,

The Jens Gydesen I found in Vamrup is not yours.  Jens died on 7 Dec 1844, opslag 271 nr 20.

Sincerely,
Paul