Anderson and Christensen Ancestors
of Jeanette (Anderson) Sonnenberg (1926-2004)
Anderson - First Generation

SOREN¹ ANDERSON was born at Denmark about December 1851, and died probably at North Dakota on 1924.^[1] He married probably at the United States about 1888-9 LENA CHRISTENSEN. She was born at Denmark about December 1866,^[2] and died probably at North Dakota on 1934.^[3]

Soren Anderson came to America about 1887, at the age of 36. Lena Christensen also came to America about 1887, at the age of 21.^[4] About a year later they married. Based on the birth places of their children, they were in Illinois in 1890, at Lost Island Township, Palo Alto County, Iowa, from 1892 to 1898, and in Ward County, North Dakota, at the time of the 1900 Census. The month following that census, Ward County was subdivided, and Burke County was formed. The following two censuses reported the Soren Anderson family in Burke County, which does not necessarily mean that they moved.

The 1900 Census reported this family in Township # 163, Ward County, as follows:^[5]

Other information on this record: Soren and Lena had been married eleven years; Lena had given birth to six children, all of whom were living, both parents came to America in 1887, and Soren had been naturalized.

The 1910 Census reveals that the family was still growing:^[6]

This record also stated that Soren and Lena had been married twenty years, both came to America in 1887, and Lena had given birth to ten children, nine of whom were living. As Lena had a child about every other year, with no gaps, it is most likely that the child who died was born after the last living child, who was born in 1905. Although their eldest daughter remained at home, the next two daughters, the twins, were working out. Martha, 17, worked as a servant in the home of William and Margaret McMullen of Flaxton.^[7] Mary was a servant in the home of Fred and Ethel Carter of Flaxton.^[8] Both had small children in their care; as older children in a large family, they probably had plenty of practice caring for little ones.

At the beginning of 1920 the census reported Soren Anderson, 68, grain farmer, his wife Lena, 53, and their two youngest children, both still in school, Lydia, 16, and John, 14, living in Richland Township, Burke County.^[9] Most of ther children appear to have been in the area. It is difficult to make the correct identification of daughters, who after marriage carry a new surname. However, the following match on the basis of given name, approximate age, state of birth, country of birth of their parents, and residence in Burke or an adjoining county:

• Anna Maria Nelson, twenty-eight, residing in Richland Township with her husband, Peter Nelson, fifty-two, grain and stock farmer, who came to America from Denmark in 1888, and with their children, Rudolph, age seven, and Amos Alvin, age three years and four months.^[10]
• Martha Christianson, twenty-seven, residing in the village of Flaxton, Richland Township, with her husband, Philip Christianson, also twenty-seven and born in Iowa, grain farmer, and their son Donald, age three years and ten months.^[11]
• Marie Peterson, twenty-seven, residing in Richland Township with her husband, Casmer Peterson, also twenty-seven, grain and stock farmer, and their children, Berdett Carl, three years and six months, and Delton Pershing, one year and four months.^[12]
• Enoch Andrew Anderson, twenty-five, grain and stock farmer, living in Richland Township with his wife, Margaret Marie, twenty-five.^[13]
• Sarah Anderson, twenty-three, hired girl, working in the home of John Grogan, physician, in Flaxton.^[14]

Soren died in 1924. The 1930 Census found Lena, 63, living on the farm with her younger son, John, 24, single. Daughter Lida [Lydia], 24, was also listed as part of the household but absent from the home at the time.^[15] Lena died in 1934.

Soren Anderson and his wife Lena Christensen had the following children:

1. ANNIE M. ANDERSON b. at Illinois about July 1890;^[16] m. about 1911-2 PETER NELSON b. at Denmark about 1867. Children of Annie and Peter:
   1. Rudolph Nelson b. at North Dakota about 1912.
   2. Amos Alvin Nelson b. at North Dakota about August 1916.^[17]
2. MARTHA PAULINE ANDERSON b. at Lost Island Township on 12 September 1892;^[18] m. PHILIP CHRISTENSEN b. at Iowa about 1892. Child of Martha and Philip:
   1. Donald Christiansen b. at North Dakota about February 1916.^[19]
3. MARY TABITHA ANDERSON b. at Lost Island Township on 12 September 1892;^[20] m. about 1913 CASMER PETERSEN b. at Nebraska about 1892. Children of Mary and Casmer:
   1. Burdet Carl Petersen b. at North Dakota about June 1916.
   2. Delton Pershing Petersen b. at North Dakota about August 1918.
   3. Helen Petersen b. at North Dakota about 1920-1.
   4. Charles Petersen b. at North Dakora about 1924-5.^[21]
4. ENOCH ANDREW ANDERSON b. at Emmetsberg, Palo Alto County, on 16 August 1894.
5. SARAH R. ANDERSON b. at Iowa about August 1896.^[22]
6. ESTHER LOUISE ANDERSON b. at Lost Island Township on 28 October 1898.^[23]
7. RUTH ANDERSON b. at North Dakota about 1900-1.^[24]
8. LYDIA OTILLA ANDERSON b. at North Dakota about 1902-3.^[25]
9. JOHN SAMUEL ANDERSON b. at North Dakota on 1905; d. on August 1960;^[26] m. at Flaxton, Burke County, on 30 October 1934 FLORENCE ALMA TAFELMEYER, b. at North Dakota on 27 January 1913, d. at Kenmanre, Ward County, on 27 April 2007, child of John and Bessie (Varney) Tafelmeyer.^[27] Children of John and Florence:^[28]
   1. Betty Anderson b. at North Dakota about 1934-5; m. Walter Bettin.
   2. Merlaine Anderson b. at North Dakota about 1936-7; m. George Barnett.
   3. June Anderson b. at North Dakota about 1937-8.
   4. Mary Ann Anderson b. at North Dakota about September 1939; m. ________ Oliva
   5. Myrtle Anderson b. on 1942, d. on 1943.^[29]
   6. Leon Anderson m. Florence ________.
   7. Robert Anderson m. Velma ________.
   8. Wesley G. Anderson b. on 24 Febvruary 1948, d. on 1 November 1974.^[30]

¹Ebenezer Lutheran Cemetery, Flaxton, Burke County, North Dakota, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : database 10 December 2019), Soren Anderson; Created by: Herb Schwede. Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Township # 163, Ward County, North Dakota, enumeration district (ED) 267, p. 14, household 323, Soren Anderson family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 December 2016); NARA microfilm group T623; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
²1900 Census, Township # 163, Ward County, North Dakota, ED 267, p. 14, household 323, Soren Anderson family.
³Letter from Jenette Anderson Sonnenberg, to Charles A. Maxfield, 29 June 1997; held in by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
⁴1900 Census, Township # 163, Ward County, North Dakota, ED 267, p. 14, household 323, Soren Anderson family.
⁵Ibid.
⁶Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population, Carter, Burke County, North Dakota, enumeration district (ED) 182, roll 1139, p. 7B, household 16, Soren Anderson family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 4 January 2015); NARA group T624, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁷1910 Census, Flaxton, Burke County, North Dakota, ED 182, roll 1139, p. 2B, household 45, William D. McMullen family.
⁸1910 Census, Flaxton, Burke County, North Dakota, ED 182, roll 1139, p. 2A, household 30, Fred Carter family.
⁹Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population, Richland, Burke County, North Dakota, enumeration district (ED) 33, roll 1331, p. 3B, household 65, Soren Anderson family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 4 January 2015); NARA microfilm record group T625, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁰1920 Census, Richland, Burke County, North Dakota, ED 33, roll 1331, p. 5A, household 77, Peter Nelson family.
¹¹1920 Census, Richland, Burke County, North Dakota, ED 33, roll 1331, p. 7B, household 10[A], Philip Christianson family.
¹²1920 Census, Richland, Burke County, North Dakota, ED 33, roll 1331, p. 5B, household 96, Casmer Peterson family.
¹³1920 Census, Richland, Burke County, North Dakota, ED 33, roll 1331, p. 3A, household 50, Enoch Andrew Anderson family.
¹⁴1920 Census, Richland, Burke County, North Dakota, ED 33, roll 1331, p. 8A, household 23, John S. Grogan family.
¹⁵Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population, Richland, Burke County, North Dakota, enumeration district (ED) 29, roll 1732, p. 1B, household 20, John S. Anderson family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 23 December 2014); NARA microfilm record group T626; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹⁶1900 Census, Township # 163, Ward County, North Dakota, ED 267, p. 14, household 323, Soren Anderson family.
¹⁷1930 Census, Richland, Burke County, North Dakota, ED 29, p. 2A, household 32, Peter Nelson family.
¹⁸Iowa County Distreict Courts, "Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935," database, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 11 December 2019), Martha Pauline Anderson, Palo Alto Co., 1892.
¹⁹1920 Census, Richland, Burke County, North Dakota, ED 33, roll 1331, p. 7B, household 10[A], Philip Christianson family.
²⁰"Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935," Mary Tabitha Anderson, Palo Alto Co., 1892.
²¹1930 Census, Flaxton, Burke County, North Dakota, ED 12, p. 3A, household 60, Casmer Petersen family.
²²1900 Census, Township # 163, Ward County, North Dakota, ED 267, p. 14, household 323, Soren Anderson family.
²³"Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935," Esther Louise Anderson, Palo Alto Co., 1898.
²⁴1910 Census, Carter, Burke County, North Dakota, ED 182, roll 1139, p. 7B, household 16, Soren Anderson family.
²⁵Ibid.
²⁶Ebenezer Lutheran Cemetery, Flaxton, John S. Anderson; Created by: Herb Schwede.
²⁷Obituary for Alma Tafelmeyer Anderson, found at: Find a Grave, Ebenezer Lutheran Cemetery, Flaxton, Burke County, North Dakota, Created by: Herb Schwede (findagrave.com : database 10 December 2019).
²⁸Information on children of John and Florence, unless otherwise indicated, is from: "Alma Tafelmeyer Anderson"; and Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population, Flaxton, Burke County, North Dakota, enumeration district (ED) 7-12, roll 2994, p. 1B, household 23, John Anderson family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 10 December 2019); NARA microfilm group T627.
²⁹Ebenezer Lutheran Cemetery, Flaxton, Myrtle Anderson; Created by: Herb Schwede.
³⁰Ebenezer Lutheran Cemetery, Flaxton, Wesley G. Anderson; Created by: Herb Schwede.

"Anderson, Alma Tafelmeyer." Obituary, found at: Find a Grave, Ebenezer Lutheran Cemetery, Flaxton, Burke County, North Dakota, Created by: Herb Schwede (findagrave.com : database 2019).

Ebenezer Lutheran Cemetery, Flaxton, Burke County, North Dakota. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2019.

Iowa County Distreict Courts. "Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935." Database. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2019.

Sonnenberg, Jenette Anderson. Letter. 29 June 1997, to Charles A. Maxfield. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

United States Department of the Census. Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2016.

________. Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2015.

________. Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2015.

________. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.

________. Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2019.