MY MEMORIES

Charles Glenn Petersen

1983 - Mississippi Years

Finding Grandpa

The first full day in Copenhagen I went to the Royal Archives to start my research for my grandfather. Once in the archives they found me a helper who was well versed in English. I told the man I was looking for information about my grandfather, Peter M. Petersen. He smiled and said, 'There are a lot of Peter Petersens in Danmark'. Then he asked, 'Where was your grandfather from?' I told him I have no idea, I only knew that he supposedly came to America at about age 20. He just shook his head and said, 'You'll never find him'. The conversation was about over when he suggested I look into the records at the Emigration Archives in Aalborg. Our planned bicycle route was to take us through Aalborg, so that was where we would continue our search.

Jumping forward 4 days we found the Emigration Archives in Aalborg. We had previously determined that my grandfather must have come in the USA around 1890. We looked at every record in the archives for five years on either side of 1890. No Peter M Petersen was found. The guy at the Royal Archives was right it looked like a lost cause. I did make note of a Jens Nørgaard Pedersen I found at the archives who was reported to be going to Iowa. I made the note only because I had an uncle named Jens Norgaard Petersen.