Biography of Larson G. Wincentsen, April 18, 1893 to February 8, 1965

84 Pages·2001·12.751 MB·English

by  Larry G. Wincentsen, Robert J. Wincentsen

Biography
Of
Lars Wincentsen
1893to1965
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Lars Wincentsen's Biography
Biography
of
Larson G. Wincentsen
April 18, 1893 to February 8, 1965
by
Larry G. and Robert J. Wincentsen
Started on April 18, 1995
Finished on April 18, 200 I
© Robert Wincentsen, 2001
All rights reserved.
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Lars Wincentsen's Biography
Contents
Forward 5
Chapter 1 The Family Background 6
Chapter 2 The Early Years 11
Chapter 3 The Formative Years 16
Chapter 4 The Marriage to Inez 25
Chapter 5 The Coming of First Son Larry 30
Chapter 6 The Coming of Second Son Bob 37
Chapter 7 The Later Years at Suamico 53
Chapter 8 The Retirement Years at Rothschild 64
Chapter 9 The Passing of the Torc h 69
Chapter 10 Postlog 72
Appendix A Lars Wincentsen TimeLine A-1
Appendix B Index to names and locations B-1
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Lars Wincent~en's Biography
Picture index
Figures Description Pages
Fig. 1 Lars in Navy about 1918. Cover
Fig. 2 Ole, Peter, Chris Wincentsen 8
Fig. 3 John and Anne Mortenson IO
Fig. 4 Lars at about eight years old. 11
Fig. 5 Lars' Grade School picture. 12
Fig. 6 Fairchild New Brick Schoolhouse. 13
Fig. 7 Map of Western Wisconsin Railroads. 16
Fig. 8 Threshing in South Dakota. 18
Fig. 9 U.S.S. Kanawa in 1918. 19
Fig. 10 Souvenir from 1919. 20
Fig. 11 Lars and his US Navy buddies 21
Fig. 12 Lars and Inez Wincentsen 26
Fig. 13 Honeymoon roads in South Dakota. 27
Fig. 14 Inez, Flora, and Jim Wincentsen 32
Fig. 15 Dave Wincentsen. 34
Fig. 16 Larry Wincentsen 51
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Lars Wincentsen's Biography
Fig. 17 Suamico Methodist Church. 56
Fig. 18 Dad and Robert Wincentsen. 57
Fig. 19 Residence at 615 Katherine Street. 65
Fig. 20 Union of Wincentsens and Bertholfs. 67
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Lars Wincentsen's Biography
Forward
It is always a monumental task to write a biography about a
persons life when the traces are rapidly vanishing, however in this
case it is important to some of us to carry on the torch and let
others know a little about their precious history. I have taken to
writing this to capture the essence of a personality that had a great
effect upon my life. Lars (my Dad) had a very quiet life when first
viewed from my perspective, but as I have completed this, I have
learned that not all was serene in his life.
We all have our trials and Dad (I will use this term to refer
to him throughout) had his share of trials to live through. From
these brief glimpses, great resolves come forth. Many of the stories
Larry and I will relate will show how this is true. In a day and age
where things are changing very rapidly, we need a few things to
hold onto and here are a few of the important lessons we learned.
I trust you will enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed
putting my thoughts into a few sheets of paper plus using a
computer to help me spell correctly. In Dad's time a computer was
far from being possible; now they seem almost essential. The one
thing that is not possible for a computer is to live and experience a
lifetime of emotions which is what I hope you will explore with me
in the next few Chapters about Dad.
~o4w~~~
Bob Wincentsen
Leavenworth, KS
April 18th, 2001
Dad's l 08 Birthday
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Lars Wincentsen' s Biography
Chapter 1 The Family Background
The Wincentsen family was originally from Denmark having
immigrated to the Wisconsin area between 1864 and 1865 after
Dad's grandfather and father came through Ellis Island from
Europe. Little is known about the trip except that the family name
was probably changed at that time. Denmark was a patriarch
society at the time where the last name was carried as the family
identification. In the old family Bible handed down to the oldest
son of the oldest son, the family's name was called Lorfen which
may have been the mothers name or this may have been a spelling
of Larsen with the "s" shaped like an fas was the case in early New
England scripts. A stronger possibility is that the family descended
from Vincentz and the pronunciation of the name of the son was
changed from Vincent's son to Wincentsen by the immigration
authorities upon entrance to the US. Either way our family name
became Wincentsen and is usually pronounced with the accent on
the center syllable cent as in Win-cent' -sen.
The recorded family heritage (courtesy of Mrs. Christy
Coolidge, who had the research conducted in Denmark in the early
l 980's) started with Vincens Neilsen. Vincens is not an early
Danish name and may reflect the outside influence due to the
trading nature of the early Danes.
Vincens Neilsen probably was born between 1695 and 1700
and was a copy-holder (or farmer) in Hammer, Denmark during the
survey of 1724. Vincens was married to Bodil Pedersdatter on
Marchll, 1725 and he died November 8, 1762. Bodil (the widow
of Vincens) may have lived until April 14, 1770. Bodil was the
third wife of Vincens (both wives previously had died within two
weeks of childbirth and there were no surviving children). Their
son, Neils Vincensen was born in December, 1725, christened on
December 30, 1725 and died in 1785.
Neils took over the family farm in 1762 when his father
died. Neils (the well esteemed bachelor) married (the pious and
virtuous girl) Maren Rasmusdatter on November 8, 1765 in
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Lars Wincentsen's Biography
Hammer, Denmark. Their first son Vincentz Neilsen was born in
1766 in Hammer, Denmark and christened December 29, 1766, and
died on December 8, 1831.
Vincentz was a blacksmith in nearby Lundby. Vincentz
married Maren Jensdatter on July 4, 1802 and had at least 7
children. Maren Jensdatter was born on October 20, 1792 and died
on January 22, 1849. Their 7th child was a son named Lars who
was my father Lars' grandfather. Lars Vincentsen was born on
December 28, 1825 in Lundby, Denmark.
Lars was from the county of Praesto, parish ofLundbye
which is approximately 20 kilometers west ofPraesto. At the age of
24 he served in the Danish Anny starting on the 31st of May 1848
in the 10th Battalion. On the 22nd of November 1848 he
transferred to the 4th Battalion and stayed there until the 30th of
May 1856. He was called up again for service in the 4th company
of the 18th regiment from March 20, 1864 until October 5, 1864.
He was awarded two commendation medals for the two wars of
1848-50 and 1864.
Lars married Anne Marie Olsdatter, born August 17, 1831,
about 1856 in Denmark. They had eight children between 1855 and
1875, three in Denmark and five in the USA. Their first son
Andrew only lived 2 and l /2 months. Their next son Christiane
(Chris) was born on October 14, 1857 in Denmark. Chris was my
Dad's father. Jens(James) Peter was born next on March 13, 1860.
The family then emigrated to the middle of Wisconsin some time
during late I 862 to early 1863. Andrew was born on February 3,
1863, the first in America. Then came three more children: Peter,
born on September 1, 1865; Maren Christine their first daughter on
December 9, 1868; and Olaf, born on January 1, 1870.
Tragedy followed the family that year as their third son
James Peter died on August 10, 1870. Five years later, Lars and
Anne Marie had one last son August who was born on August 2,
1875. Anne Marie died on May 2, 1882 and Lars followed her in
June of 1891. Because my Dad (Lars also) wasn't born until 1893
he never met his fathers parents. Both Lars and Anne Marie were
buried in a smalJ hilltop cemetery east ofBonduell, Wisconsin not
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