Isles of the Sea

In my recent reading in the Book of Mormon, I was impressed by Nephi's consideration of the Lord's blessings to come to those of the "Isles of the Sea." In his teachings, he mentions and quotes from the Old Testament — the version he had with him: the brass plates.

He made it plain that he considered that he then lived on an isle of the sea: "And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea." - 2 Ne 10:20

He had earlier quoted from Isaiah, from what is now in our chapter 49, this promise: "Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee my servant for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;" - 1 Ne 21:8.  I also noted that the phrase, "O isles of the sea," actually does not appear in our Isaiah, chapter 49, so it had been removed from the Bible a long time ago.

Earlier in his writings, Nephi mentions the words of the prophet Zenos, where he says, "Yea, then will he remember the isles of the sea; yea, and all the people who are of the house of Israel, will I gather in, saith the Lord, according to the words of the prophet Zenos, from the four quarters of the earth." - 1 Ne 19:16. Again, Zenos is also a prophet, whose writings were removed from the Bible a long time ago.

One reason for my consideration of the "isles of the sea," is that I realized that my own ancestors mainly came from islands, and they lived there when the restoration of the Gospel began in the early 1800s. Many were from Denmark, that part of Denmark that was on the Sjelland island (Copenhagen, etc.). I also have ancestors from the Isle of Man, and from Great Britain, in general (Wales, Scotland, Ireland and England). The others of my ancestors who were not from these islands, were already in America at the time of the Restoration, which Nephi considered an "Isle of the Sea."

The flag of the Isle of Man - "No matter how they throw me, I stand!"

As we served our mission in New Zealand, we understood that the Polynesian islands are very much considered a realization of these ancient prophecies. But now I see that these great prophecies of the gathering for God's covenant people from the Isles of the Sea could very well have been realized with my own ancestors.

Hole in the Rock, North Island, New Zealand

The Loneliest Road, and the Nearby Flooding

 We live quite near U.S. Highway 50, which is referred to in a number of places as "the loneliest road in America," (e.g. see https://www.webuildvalue.com/en/reportage/us-highway-50.html) which runs nearly from coast-to-coast. For those who are from Delta, Utah, we live on the same road as you.

On U.S.50, looking out the window of the car to the Walmart building across the flooded Hocking River

Anyway, at this time it is also interesting that it is currently running right next to a very flooded river, the Hocking River, cutting off  quite a number of places along the way.

The main access road, flooded (see the stranded car in the water up ahead).

Today, it was my task to take our recycle stuff to the drop off place (about 12 miles away from home, in Caanan Township). Well, I discovered earlier today (as you see above) that the main access road was flooded. It is just past the bridge over the Hocking River near U.S. 50 (see map).

A map showing the destination and the three attempted flooded access roads

I knew that there were at least two other back roads that went to that recycling location, so I tried them. They were both also flooded. I know there are a few homes of people who live there, so I wonder how they will get and and out. It is a shame I don't have one of those cool pick-up trucks that have the snorkel...

the second attempt

the third attempt (I think these guys are going to go for a dip?!)

Anyway, we will recycle another day...

FYI, I just saw this local update: "The Hocking River is expected to crest at 23.7 feet, according to the National Weather Service. As of 12:15 PM EDT on August 13, the river had reached 20.31 feet, with a forecast of:

Current Forecast:
2 PM, 8/13: 20.6 feet
8 PM, 8/13: 20.5 feet
2 AM, 8/14: 19.2 feet
Projected Crest: 23.7 feet, which would make it the fifth most severe flood in Athens history and the largest since 1968. If it reaches this level, the water will stay high for about a day."

6. The value of multiple sets of records

It should be obvious to you why more than one set of records is useful in research. I speak here specifically of Danish records in the 1800s.

In previous posts I have mentioned the military records. These are quite useful in tracing the boys and men through years where there are no census records. To review, as a male child is born, he is very soon included in the military records, listing his father (usually) and his birth information, and the record travels with him regardless of where his other family members are. This post does not deal with those important records.

The records I wish to discuss here are the double set of records kept by the Lutheran church over the years of about 1813 through the latter part of the century. These are the "main" records, or Hovedministerialbog and the clerk's copy or "counter" copy, the Kontraministerialbog. Generally, the Kontraministerialbog records are more readable and are therefore the ones used in name extraction or indexing. Also, the Danish state archives made a "new scan" of these records, in color, so they are the better ones to use, in general.

Almost always, I use the Kontaministerialbog records. They continue well into the mid-1900s. The Hoved- records can be useful to verify some confusing points in the Kontra- records, though they do not always continue past the 1890s.

Here are two examples based on recent research:

I found a previously unknown child of the family of Lars Hansen in Værløse. She was born in 1809, so that birth and christening was not found in either the Hoved- or Kontra- records, but in the Enesteministerialbog, or older records. That is not really the point I wish to cover here. The thing I was searching for was her death, because she does not appear in the female confirmation records where she would normally appear as a 14-year old, or in about 1823. 

According to the christening record, she was named Birte, born in October 1809.

As I search the death records, starting in 1813, when those records began in the Kontra- records for Værløse, I eventually found what I thought was the death record for Birte:

The record is difficult to read and seems to say her name was Birgithe Larsdatter and says that she was 10 1/2 years old. The age is off a bit since she was not much older than 10, but the matter of her name puzzled me. It could be someone else. 

It was then that I decided to take a look at the Hoved- records. I found her there and the record made more sense.

Here I saw the information more clearly and it does say her name was Birte and her age was 10.

In another recent research example, I found that additional details of a marriage record gave more credence to the person's identity. In this case, the name, being fairly common, was verified by the vaccination records, sometimes recorded in the Hoved- records and not the Kontra- records.

This Kontra- marriage record shows Jørgen Jensen, age 27, marrying Maren Nielsdatter, age 26.

The Hovedministerialbog record, however, gives some important details to help make sure we have the correct person:

Here it says that Jørgen was 26 3/4 and he was vaccinated on 21 June 1819 and Maren was 26 and vaccinated on 22 May 1818. (You can click on the images to see details enlarged.)

The best place to find vaccination records is usually in the confirmation records. Here again, I found the best detail in the Hoved- records for Maren:

To show you why the Hoved- is better, here is the Kontra- record for comparison. The handwriting is actually quite beautiful, but they chose to not include the vaccination details:

In summary, it is good to know that there are additional records, especially in clearing up some doubts. Still, for the most part, in your research, the usual sources work well, just know that they are not the final word in your research.

NOTE:

Since writing this entry, I have worked on some research in Ålborg and see that there are no Hovedministerialbog records available there. The Hoved- records seem to not be available everywhere in Denmark.  - jfb