180 Laurits Christian Larsen Chapter

Chapter 8 -- 1

Laurits Christian Larsen

[1864-1896]

Laurits Christian Larsen at age 32. Note: The Danish spelling of Laurits middle name is “Kristian.” Photographer unknown.

Chapter 8 -- 2

We know tantalizingly little of the handsome man here pictured. He is my grandfather, Laurits Christian Larsen whose name I am proud to bear. He came to Portland in the 1880s as a sailor on a Danish vessel. Here is the story as grandson Ralph Larsen tells it in The Ancestors and Descendants of Andreas Hansen Vibert: Laurits Christian Larsen was born on Bornholm Island, Denmark, which is near the Swedish border. He was the only child of Joseph and Ann Larsen. He had reddish blond hair. He was a sailor. Once he and some of his friends attended a social put on by the church Marie attended in Portland. After she met Laurits she told some of the other girls at the social that he was the man she was going to marry. It was love at first sight. Instead of returning with his ship, he stayed in Portland and they were married. While living briefly in Portland, Laurits fished along the Alaskan coast and on the Columbia River near its mouth at Astoria. In 1887 Laurits and Marie moved to Laurelview where they bought a farm and completed proving the homestead, after which they received a deed from President Grover Cleveland. In 1896 Marie visited a sick man and shook hands with him. His illness was later diagnosed as Typhoid Fever. On the way home from the visit she picked up an apple in an orchard and ate it without washing her hands. She and Laurits both contacted Typhoid Fever. He also contacted pneumonia and died In September 1896. Their daughter, Lily, was born on January 16, 1897. The farm Laurits and Marie bought sat on a hill looking down on Laurel. Naturally it was called Laurelview. I was born there, as were all my siblings, several of my cousins and all of my blood-related Larsen aunts and uncles. The family was just beginning to prosper when Laurits suddenly died. At the time the couple had four children with a fifth, my mother Lily Laurene Larsen still in the womb. Family lore does not entirely agree on the cause of death. Ralph’s story [see above] says he died of Typhoid Fever complicated by pneumonia. [Spelling note: Lily spelled her name Laurene. It sometimes appears as Laurine, and Lorene.] Evelyn Larsen, Grandma’s favorite grandchild spent many hours with her. Evelyn remembers that Grandma said that it was “a shame he died because they can cure it now.” She said that the doctors packed ice around Laurits to reduce the fever. Evelyn feels pretty sure that the cause of death was appendicitis. [Note: Lyle Larsen interviewed his father, Walter, who said that Laurits died of Typhoid and Pneumonia.] That winter Marie Larsen had to care for four children and a babe in arms. It took great courage and an iron will for her to keep the family together. How she did this we’ll tell in her chapter.