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

Photo ra her unknown.

Chapter 8 -- 1

Laurits Christian Larsen [1864-1896]

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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 Larsenwas 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 onby the church Marie attended in Portland. After she met Laurits she told some of the othergirls 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 fromPresident 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 andate 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. Ralphs story [see above] says he died ofTyphoid Fever complicated by pneumonia. [Spelling note: Lily spelled her name Laurene. It

sometimes appears as Laurine, and Lorene.]

Evelyn Larsen, Grandmas 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 thecause 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 well tell in herchapter.