Peder Laursen GRUNNET

w/ Johanne:

Peder was in the 6th generation following the earliest known Grunnet ancestor ("old" Peder Pedersen Grunnet). He was the 7th child of Laurs and Else and the only one of the siblings to carry on the Grunnet surname. Of his 9 children, only 2 of the 3 sons kept the surname.

Peder and Else were married in Eltang 11 Nov 1815. Else was bap. 6 Feb 1796 and d. 30 Nov 1823 in Bjert. She was the daughter of farmer Jens Hansen and his wife Kirsten Hansdatter. Peder's second marriage to Johanne was in 1826. She was bap. 12 Jul 1801 in Kolstrup, Fyn, and d. 30 May 1873 in Losning. She was the daughter of farmer Niels Mortensen and his wife Maren Mortensdatter.

Peder's 4 eldest daughters got, after the usual custom among peasants of that time, besides their baptised name, a "datter" (i.e. daughter) tacked after the father's forename, so: Else Marie Pedersdatter, Kirsten Pedersdatter, Mette Catharina Pedersdatter and Else Kirstine Pedersdatter. The 5th daughter was made an exception and the name GRUNNET was added, thereby Marie Caroline Pedersdatter GRUNNET. Peder's 6th daughter, his 9th child, got alone the name Lauritzine Pedersdatter. Of the 3 sons, none was baptized with the GRUNNET name. Only 2 themselves added the family name to the father's forename, namely the later Free-congregation priest Niels Pedersen GRUNNET (1827-97, the youngest son and 6th child) and Niels Peter Pedersen GRUNNET (1829-81) who became the first of the family to emigrate to America. Later he was followed by several others. But only he and his elder brother's (the priest's) son, Victor August Emanuel Petersen GRUNNET (who also became a priest), brought the family name further in the States. Here it is now carried by quite a few members of Peder Laursen GRUNNET's descendants (2 of Niels Pedersen GRUNNET's sons, Peter T. Waldemar P. GRUNNET and Victor A. E. P. GRUNNET attended Lutheran seminaries in the US. Peter graduated from Luther in Madison, WI and Victor attended Augsburg in Minneapolis, MN).

This work (i.e. N. P. GRUNNET bio) mainly covers Peder Laursen GRUNNET, his wife and children and later descendants. Those before are largely "lost in the mists" other than limited church records (names, dates, places of residence). Other descendants are not covered. A member of the family, Johanne Jensine Cesilie JORGENSEN, who is a granddaughter of Peder Laursen GRUNNET's oldest son, Jens Pedersen (1820-76) was interviewed by priest W. MICHAEL, the author of the N. P. GRUNNET bio. She noted that Peder Laursen and his wife Johanne NIELSDATTER were serious Christian people. In Norre Bjert, where they had taken over the family farm from Peder's parents, they found, around the turn of the century, no Christian life, and when they heard that in the Horsens-Vejle area a strong Christian Lutheran movement had arisen among the so-called "strong Jutlanders", they moved in 1840 to Gesager by Hedensted (parish).

This movement had arisen shortly after 1800 when some "Opvakte" (i.e. 'bright ones' or intellectuals) in the southern part of Jutland took a stand against the new psalter, the so-called "Evangelist-Christian Psalter", which they considered not genuinely Christian (it was said that it was neither evangelist nor Christian). Several of the important Christian psalms had been re-written or completely eliminated and replaced by "psalms of reason". A big struggle ensued. The "Opvakte" carried victory in some parishes and were allowed to keep Kingo's psalter. The fight re-erupted in 1834 when the state-church authorities decided to replace Pontoppidan's explanation of the Catechism with Bishop Balle's textbook in the schools, by force if necessary. Priest MICHAEL has more to say about this struggle and its impact on the GRUNNET family in Gesager in his bio.

It was Johanne who really pushed for the move to Gesager (not far apart, Gesager is too small to show on the map). This was a hard decision, since the family was relatively well-to-do and well respected in Bjert and the move to Gesager meant harder work and a poorer lifestyle. Peder bought a farm with ground in Gesager, which had been (in the 17th century) gathered into an estate and which later on again were divided amongst the estate's sharecroppers. Nearly all of the land was covered with heather and the buildings were old and worn (they were torn down around 1890). Their sone Jens Pedersen often told his children that he had never forgotten the old Bjert family farm. Jens later took over the Gesager farm and tried several times to sell it, but his wife, from Hedenstad, opposed this, not wanting to leave the area.

Both Johanne JORGENSEN and another descendant, ex-master sargent Viggo Petersen (gson of Else Kirstine Pedersdatter, dau's son's son of Peder Laursen), remember that is was primarily Johanne NIELSDATTER who pushed for the move against the family's warnings. She often spoke in Christian meetings and it was her energetic and self-assured influence that set up Christian expectations above the earthly work of our lives that fueled their son N. P. GRUNNET's rebellious thoughts about the State church and also his stubborn will-power for his life-long fight to strengthen the Free church movement against state church resistance.

Viggo describes the area as follows: From Hedensted Station, get off the train and follow the road northward to Horsens, then swing west to Gesager. Well beyond the railroad tracks is open countryside, the NE corner of Hedensted Moor. Soon you see "Mads Enevoldsen's," his "house with 3 chimneys," visible between the trees. Then there is Grandma's house, and Per Bertelsen's, and once were the Cooper-Maren's and Johan, the Weaver's and by the road Per Jensen's farm and "caring" Karens. She was 'roaring' Karen, always ending her 'fast-talkingness' with a roar of laughter, causing us kids to laugh too. There is Snede church and Losning church. I see the ruins of Grandma's house less then 300 meters away. He remembers the peat-smoke, open chimneys and cow and pig odors which are still in the barns. Almost all are buried at Hedensted churchyard (both sides; state-church and free-church). Heading out to Gesager stream along the road toward Oster Snede, he remembers catching crayfish. The stream winds behind Grandma's old house.

I'll soon scan a map of the area sent by JLG. He also notes that Grandma Laura (LARSEN) GRUNNET was born near Vejle. Her family were probably of the "Strong Jutlander" movement and may have heard of Niels Petersen GRUNNET's free church movement before moving to the US in 1880 [perhaps that's why she was later positively inclined toward marrying a GRUNNET? :) ]. The word grunnet (grundet) means 'established, founded or grounded.' Grandma once said it implied (or should imply) 'established in the faith.' JLG has circled the town of Charlottenlund near Kobenhavn (Copenhagen), indicating that 'cousin Niels' lived there.

Source: Biography of Niels P. Grunnet (via JLG)