Object Record
Images
Metadata
Accession number |
1988.058 |
Object Identification Number |
1988.058.066 |
Object Name |
Padlock |
Donor |
Stehr, Allegra |
Description |
This small brass padlock is in a heart shape. Curved above the heart is the clasp that creates the lock. Near the bottom front surface is a blub shaped hole with a circular metal piece in the middle. Above the hole is "MW & CO.". The back of the lock is plain with silver spots in various places. The lock opens and closes. |
Dimensions |
H-1 W-0.75 inches |
Owned By |
Stehr, Allegra |
Material |
Brass |
Associated People |
Petersen, John Stehr, Allegra |
Search Terms |
Stehr, Allegra padlock Petersen, John Sweden |
Provenance |
This lock was bought in Sweden in 1897 by John Petersen, cousin to Mrs. Sigurd Pedersen. Allegra is granddaughter of H. J. Pedersen; daughter of his son Sigurd. Simon Uggerholdt Christensen was born Jan. 14, 1877 at the Uggerholdt Estate, Skagen, Denmark. His parents were Carolina and Simon Christensen. When Simon was three years old, his father was killed when he fell from a lighthouse. His mother learned to mend fish nets and tools for fisher families, and made a living as a dress maker. When older, Simon cared for cows in a nearby park, cleaned the Mayor's office, and lit stoves in the police stations in the early mornings before business began. An old school friend of Simon's mother's took an interest in their family and gave Simon a ticket to the U.S. He arrived in New York, and then went to Clifton, Illinois where his brother had worked for three years. In 1896 he got a job as a milk man for Borden Dairy. He progressed to a job in a grocery store. Later he became a driver for a doctor's carriage in Chicago. He saved his money and went back to Denmark to visit family. In 1900, Simon homesteaded 160 acres in Palomar, North Dakota. In 1905 he sold the acreage, and traveled on foot to Ruthton, MN, where his brother was. He bought another 160 acre farm there. In 1908, he met and married Ingrid Marie Pedersen, the local minister's daughter. They had six children. Ingrid died Aug. 27, 1935. Simon spent the next 15 years near his children in California. He died Aug. 22, 1968. Agnete Christensen Birdsell was one of Simon and Ingrid's daughters. These materials were given to the museum on her behalf by Allegra Stehr. ________ Pastor H. J. Pedersen was the "local minister" who had the daughter, Ingrid Marie Pedersen, that Simon Christensen married. Pastor H. J. Pedersen, considered "the founder of Danebod" in Tyler, Minnesota, was born in Ringe, Denmark on December 28, 1851. He immigrated to the United States in 1875 and served as minister at the congregation at Gowen, Michigan, until 1880 when he became president of the folk school in Elk Horn, Iowa. He married Ane Marie Jepsen (Jeppesen) on October 20, 1875 in Michigan. She was the only one of her family to immigrant to the USA. The couple had six children together: Holger Wilhelm, Svend Sigurd, Thyra Elisabeth, Ansgar Johannes, Ingrid Marie, Astrid Christine. In 1882 he returned to Michigan and built the Ashland Folk School near Grant. In 1888 Rev. and Mrs. Pedersen and their six children moved to Tyler so that he might found a folk school there. Danebod is the name applied to the colony, the church and the folk school that served as a vital center of education and Danish culture for Danish immigrants. H. J. Pedersen died on July 20, 1905, in Ruthton, Minnesota. |
Images |
012\1988058066.JPG |
Date Received by Museum |
00/00/1988 |