Researching: ROMER MADSEN LAFORGE BROWN and the DANISH BROTHERHOOD Dear Fellow Genealogists: I am researching my g-grandfather Christen Rømer (B. 19 jan 1842 in Rutsker, Bornholm, Denmark). In 1881, he emigrated from Bornholm to Illinois. April 16, 1884, the rest of the family, wife Johanne, and children Andrea Marie (Mary), Oliva Elisabeth (Olive), Valdemar (Walter), Dagmar Emilie (Dagmar), and Jørgen Johannes (George) Rømer joined him. Christen "Americanized" his given name to Christian and the surname to Romer. (Although his grave is engraved "Christen" and he may also have used "Roemer," as an alternate spelling. According to my father's notes, "Grandpa started a business tiling farms to drain at LaSalle or Seneca, Illinois. He sent to Bornholm for workers. The workers lived with Grandpa and Grandma. She took care of their money so they could save." [NOTE: My ggf was not a candidate for sainthood. He "borrowed" horses and a team and sold them to pay for his passage to America. He left my ggm with a family and huge debts from his business (misad)ventures. At some point he left again while in Illinois and may have gone to California for a number of years. He may even have taken a second wife. He is buried with other Danish Brotherhood members instead of in the family plot. The family story is that my ggm said, "If he could not be with us in life, he shall not be near us in death!" I'm dealing with a hundred years of familial silence and "bad press."] September 24, 1892, Christian Romer became an American citizen at Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. He died February 22, 1900, in Chicago. So, I'm assuming that some time between 1881 and 1892--and perhaps later--the Romers lived in LaSalle County. Other than a faulty memory, the only possibility I'm entertaining that the Romers weren't living in LaSalle County would be if Christian and crew commuted by rail. However, that brings up the additional logistics of horses, wagons, tools, and materials. My grandfather Martin Hilbert Madsen, emigrated from Bornholm April 13,1882 to "Chicago" but he's not in the city directories until 1888 when he shows up as a partner in a grocery store. (By trade he was a "glarmester" or master glass craftsman having apprenticed with his father.) The Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900 shows a single marriage between Martin H. Madsen and Minnie J. Brown in 1891, in Cook County. (Our family oral history indicates Martin's first wife's name as (unknown) LaForge.) Madsen/LaForge or Madsen/Brown had a son in July 1892. LaForge or Brown died some time between that son's birth in July 1892, and Martin's second marriage in June, 1894. Martin remarried June, 1894, to Mary Romer. I am less certain that there is a tie between LaSalle County and Martin Madsen, but he had to be someplace between 1882, and 1888, and the two of them had to meet someplace. I have requested the relevant Illinois birth/marriage/death records for the persons listed above. The 1890 census fragments have no helpful data. Until then, if anybody can offer some help with this mystery, I would be one happy researcher. A check in the LaSalle County directories, the school rolls, or a good yarn about your ggf the farmer getting swindled by some crazy Dane in the 1880's would all be welcome. Best regards, Buzz