Biografi - Carl Ludvig ‎(9)‎ - UK ‎(S16)‎
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Title Biografi - Carl Ludvig ‎(9)‎ - UK
Author Poul Ludvigsen
Text MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER, CARL LUDVIG
11 March 1817 - 5 February 1908
Written by Poul Ludvigsen

I am indebted to my cousin, Kaj Ludvigsen, for providing the details of our family for this account. The immense work he did in compiling everything in a book, is something he deserves a great deal of gratitude for.

My great-grandfather was born at the Kongelige Fødselsstiftelse ‎(Royal Birth Clinic)‎ in Copenhagen and was christened the same place three days later, after which he was placed as a foster child with Jens Andersen and Margrethe Marie Christophersdatter in the town of Herlufmagle. We know that he was confirmed in 1831, but after date time we have no knowledge of his whereabouts until he showed up around 1840 as a postman at the castle Gisselfeld Kloster. While he was at Gisselfeld he became acquainted with a local girl, Ane Sophie Jensdatter. She was born 10 May 1822 as the daughter of farmer Jens Hendriksen and Katrine Marie Gudmundsdatter from Braaby. They became so well acquainted that she became pregnant and on 25 October 1850 they were married in Braaby Church. In 1850, Carl Ludvig was still listed as a postman at Gisselfeld Kloster so it is possible that a couple of months passed before they were able to move into their own house. Together they had five children while living in Braaby: Ane Kathrine b. 22 March 1851, Jens Rasmus b. 29 May 1853, Hans Peter b. 31 May 1855, Niels Christian b. 3 July 1857, and Stine Marie b. 31 March 1860.

At his time Carl was a parcellist, a relatively new designation for those who owed land in the parish. He was classified as someone between a gaardmand, someone who owned a farm, and a husmand, someone who owned a very small piece of land, so Carl Ludvig probably had between 6 to 13 acres of land. When the family moved from Braaby to Gedesby on the island of Falster is not clear, because he received the deed to the farm 1 August 1868, though the actual move did not take place until April 1869. The reason is not known, and it probably does not matter very much. Except for certificates showing deeds of mortgage etc. which were dated the first year after the purchase of the farm, there is not information about the family’s economic conditions or how they lived. No photographs exist of the family when the children were young, nor have any letters or journals remained, so of their daily lives we know nothing. It has been told that Carl Ludvig in his later years was considered somewhat of a natural healer in the parish, but whether that is correct or not, we don’t know. My great-grandmother died on 5 November 1879 and my great-grandfather on 5 February 1908.

What I have written up to this point is based on factual information, but there is another side to Great-Grandfather’s life which needs to be told so his story can be told in its entirety.

He was, of course, born illegitimate, and for many years the family passed around the rumour that his father had been a certain Frederik Christian Danneskjold ‎(1798-1879)‎, Count of Samsøe. My father first told me when I was a young man but at that age the information had no real interest to me. It was actually first when my daughter, Tove, developed an interest in researching our family history, that I began to wonder whether or not this rumour was correct. We wrote several letters to Rigsarkivet ‎(the national archives of Denmark)‎, to inquire about him and the answers were identical. There was information about him in the archives but the records were sealed, thus not available to the public. This, of course, caused us to become even more curious, but what could be done? However, someone else had a clever idea, my cousin Kaj Ludvigsen, with whom I had made contact at this time. He was also very interested in family history, and had tried the same avenues as Tove and I had, and with the same negative results. But he was more ingenious in this matter than we were, and got the idea that DNA testing could prove, or disprove, the rumours of Great-Grandfather’s lineage. So he arranged for this testing to be done at the Panum Institute in Copenhagen where two male members from our family and two from the family from which we presumed Great-Grandfather descended would give blood samples. On 11 April 2001 the institute wrote to Kaj, and I quote: “We have now received blood samples from four family members and have from the test results find them to be completely compatible.” I used underlining is to show that the institute undoubtedly would not have used this word if they had any misgivings about the interpretation of the test results, which the leader of the institute promised to state officially in a letter, but despite several letters and telephone conversations this letter was never received. Kaj was later told that the reason for this was that two of the family members ‎(one can guess which two)‎ were against the official declaration. Here the old saying “we are all equal, but some are more equal than others” can be applied. Regardless of that piece of paper, we now know that the family rumours were true.

In order to provide a cleared picture of the noble family’s past, here are some facts: King Christian the Fifth had apart from his queen, someone else, whose name was Sofie Amalie Moth, daughter of the king’s physician. Together they had three children and in 1676 she was officially acknowledged as the king’s Maitresse, a title which probably corresponds to “second wife”. She was the first and only one to have been given that title. The following year she was given noble status with the name Countess of Samsøe and in 1679 the king recognized their children as legitimate, and the sons were given the name of Gyldenløve. It is from the eldest of these children the family Danneskjold-Samsøe descended.

Until now, I have stated the historical facts, but when the discussion turns to discovering the identity of the late Carl Ludvig’s mother, it becomes more difficult since there is very little authentic information, so most of the conclusions become to a large extent conjecture. But from the confirmed facts we can establish a theory of who it was and this I will try to do. We know that the person who is presumed to be my Great-Great-Grandfather resided around 1850 at the castle Gisselfeld, and at the same time a certain Mademoiselle Therese Cornelia Duckett also lived there. She was born in France and the census records show her to be anstandsdame or chaperon, but she probably was the count’s mistress. The count’s will included among other bequeaths the following: “So Mademoiselle Therese Cornelia Duckett, who for many years has resided in my parents’ and my house is able to enjoy the remainder of her days without worry it is my will that she be given a yearly income of 800 rigsdaler.” From this we can conclude that they had known each other for many years, perhaps from the time they were very young, and with a little imagination it can be assumed that perhaps they shared a roll in the hay, the result being our Great-Grandfather. Neither of them ever married, it would have been impossible to have married each other since she was not from a noble family, but they lived together, unofficially, at the castle until she died a few years before the count. That an ordinary Danish farm girl could have been the mother to my Great-Grandfather can be rejected, since it would have been unnecessary for her to travel all the way to Copenhagen to give birth when a neighbour’s wife or midwife easily could have managed, apart from the cost of taking the long coach ride. No, until another story surfaces, my favourite choice for Great-Great-Grandmother is the French girl.

Calgary, Canada, September 2003.


Biografi - Carl Ludvig (9) - UK

INDINameBirthAnniversaryPlaceChildrenDeathAnniversaryAgePlaceLast Change
1I9‎(unknown)‎, Carl Ludvig
CARL LUDVIG,@N.N.@N.N.,CARL LUDVIG2075116901 August 2017 - 8:49:37pmMYESYESR

Total individuals : 1		GIVNSURNSEXBIRTDEATTREE