The emigrating generation

Maren Poulsen (May 28th 1850 - February 18th 1935) was married in 1875 to Jens Joergen Nielsen (March 13th 1848 - March 10th 1904). They owned the farm 'Drustrup' and was the first to use Drustrup as a family name. Jens Joergen Nielsen sold the farm Drustrup in 1877 and bought the farm Mellergaard nearby - and also not very far from the Myrtue farm.

Maren Poulsen was born as an illegitimate child of one Poul Christian Nielsen and Inger Marie Soerensdatter (October 5th 1823 - February 14th 1876). June 19th 1853 Inger Marie Soerensdatter married Niels Jensen Haugaard from a farm nearby, and they had other children, but that is another story. Having an illegitimate child was very common but not a happy experience in the family at that time. Without means of birth control and the same loving feelings as today, children were absolutely a possibility, and every family has illegitimate children in the genealogical lines. Through my experience from searching church records, the illegitimate child was mostly the first child of a woman, and she very often got married later - if not with the father to the actual child then with another man.

Maren & Jens Jørgen had these children:
Niels* Drustrup (October 10th 1876 in Ejersted - March 15th 1957)
Johanne Drustrup (July 7th 1878 - ??)
Tommas Drustrup (December 18th 1880-1889)
Søren Drustrup (June 30th 1883 - September 21st 1956)
Johan Drustrup (September 17th 1886 - ??)
Tomine Drustrup (May 5th 1888 - ?? (died as a child))
Thomas* Drustrup (February 1st 1891-1963)

Niels and Thomas* emigrated to USA, while Johanne, Søren (my grandfather) and Johan lived their lives in Denmark, and the two, Tommas and Tomine, died as children.