Four Dollars and a Dream - The Story of Peter Christensen - Part 2

 Part 2 of Pete's Story - read Part 1 here.

The S. S. New York

It was April 20, 1901 when Pete boarded the ocean liner S. S. New York from Southampton, England. Southampton was a major, established point of departure for transatlantic voyages. At the time of this boat’s launch in 1893 it was called The City of New York and was the largest and fastest ocean liner crossing the Atlantic. The massive boat was 528 feet long and 63 feet wide and could accommodate 290 first-class, 250 second class, and 725 third-class passengers. This ship, in 1912, had the notoriety of nearly colliding with the Titanic on the latter ship’s maiden voyage departing Southampton.

Pete stepped foot on American soil on April 30 after a ten-day journey. He was 16 years and 11 months old, could read and write, and claimed “farmer” as vocation. His final destination was Exira, Iowa, where surprisingly his maternal grandfather, Peder C. Larsen lived. From there, he boarded a train for Iowa.

Peder and Jacobine Larsen

Pete’s grandparents, Peder and Jacobina Larsen, had immigrated between 1890 and 1895 in order to join the rest of their children - Soren, Niels, Anna and Kjersten - who had come to the United States about 1886. Their daughter Elsie, Pete’s mother, was the only one of their children opting to stay in Denmark.

It was said that Pete learned the baking trade from an uncle in Omaha, Nebraska, but there is no known uncle in Omaha at that particular time. Pete appears to have stayed in Exira until 1903, possibly helping out on his uncle and grandfather’s farm. In 1903, his older sister Katrina and her family immigrated and joined Pete in Exira. Katrina’s husband, Jens Jensen, was a baker in Denmark and established himself in that occupation in Council Bluffs, Iowa. About the same time, Pete also moved to Council Bluffs, where he learned the baking trade and worked for bakers in the city for the next four years. It is entirely possible that he apprenticed with his brother-in-law, Jens Jensen.

One by one, most of his siblings made their way to Iowa, several of them helped by Pete to immigrate, and he helped them get settled. His brother Chris and sister Katrina arrived in 1903; Laura in 1908; Caroline in 1909; Soren in 1910; and Martinas in 1911 and Mary sometime before 1919. Only Gjertrud stayed behind in Denmark.

Back in Denmark, Pete’s mother Elsie married Jens Eriksen, a neighbor 11 years her junior, and the two of them also immigrated in 1911, settling in Omaha, Nebraska, across the river from Council Bluffs.

To be continued...