Anderson vs. Andersen

New information! I have solved the mystery!

This is one of those family stories where everyone in the family has an opinion in which they are 100% positive they are correct. Thus has made for a lively family debate over the years. I will try to offer my best OBJECTIVE opinion on the subject of the family name and the correct spelling.

My Anderson family is from Denmark. Paul (or Poul), wife Jensenna Christensen-Anderson and their 3 children, Fred, Christian and Elizabeth immigrated here in 1865. At this point in my research I have been unable to locate the “ships passenger list” or their actual port of entry (Quebec Canada I believe). When and if I locate these items my view of the correct spelling might change, but as for now this is what I believe. Corrections: Their full names are Poul Andersen and Jensine Christensdatter. I am still searching for the ships list…

Most Danes with the last name of Anderson spell it with a “sen” on the end. It’s quite possible this is the way it was spelled in Denmark and was converted to the “son” upon their arrival to America. The earliest records I have been able to find thus far is the marriage listing of Paul & Jensenna’s daughter Elizabeth (Lizzie) Anderson to Samuel Larson, also of Denmark, on February 23, 1877 in Carroll County, Illinois. In this document the spelling is with the “son”. Corrections: I now have earlier census records of when the family (and their parents and siblings) were in Denmark.

Each document I have found of the family from 1877 to 1920 all use the “son” spelling. I have been told William (Bill) of Nebraska, son of Paul & Jensenna spelled his surname with “sen”, but in all records I have him listed as “son” (census, obits and letters he wrote to the family all show “son”).

About 1925 there was a change in the spelling on some documents, but not all. According to family history Marvel Helen Green, 2^nd wife of John Wesley Anderson (son of Paul & Jensenna) was responsible for the change. I would tend to believe this is true as the changes started to appear not long after she and John were married on February 17^th, 1920. Again per family history, Marvel decided to change the name to “sen” when the family moved to Oregon and supposedly an article was printed (not yet located) in the local newspaper in Kearney Nebraska after they had moved, stating the family had moved to Oregon and changed their name “For No Good Reason”. This part of the story may have been embellished a bit as some documents prior to their move in 1935 used the “sen” spelling. All in all I do think Marvel most likely had a hand in changing the family spelling and it was firmly changed for almost all records found in Oregon. If she was correcting a translation mistake from many years before, or if she just wanted to “For No Good Reason”, there is no way to tell. Corrections: Whether knowingly or not, Marvel did rightly correct the spelling of the family name. In Denmark the Andersen name was spelled with a “sen”. Only upon arrival in the US did it become “son”.

Below is a partial listing of the documents (once they were in the US) I have in my possession and the spelling used at that time. Corrections: ALL Danish documents list the name as ANDERSEN.

In conclusion, most of the John Wesley Anderson family branch and their descendants, particularly after the move to Oregon, spell their name with  “sen”, while John’s parents, siblings and descendants in Nebraska use the “son” spelling. Given the timeframe of the name change starting to take place in documents about same time John & Marvel were married, I do feel she played a major role in changing the spelling. Again the reason for the change is unknown, but I think once I find the immigration documents and naturalization papers of the family it “might” give a better insight as to the original spelling, but… if the family did not fill out the applications themselves, again it would have been left up to an interpreter as to the spelling.

Will this debate ever be settled??

Who knows…but it makes for some fun family gatherings!

Well one might now think so, but knowing our branch of the tree, there will always be some speculation…after all it’s still is a good topic of conversation!