Reinert Rasmussen & Kristiane Osmundsdatter

Reinert Mikal Rasmussen was born Christmas Day 1846. He grew up in a farming family near the town of Herad in Norway. Christmas Eve, nine years later, Kristiane Olivia Osmundsdatter was born. She grew up on the farm Varen, also near Herad. The two were married November 1, 1876, and judging by the birthdate of their first child, Kristiane was pregnant when they married. This was actually not uncommon in Norway at that time and it is estimated that upwards of ten percent of the children born in Norway in the mid nineteenth century were born out of wedlock. Reinert and Kristiane raised a total of six children: Rasmus Marcellus, Olga Mathilde, Reimert Kristian, Otto, Selma Louise, and Hans Julius.

In 1878, after the birth of their first child, the family moved to Farsund, a coastal community on the southern tip of Norway. Although the family lived on a farm (Eigvaag), where they cultivated their own food, Reinert was a sail maker by trade.

By 1900, the two oldest children had immigrated to America. Rasmus to New York, and Olga to Chicago. The rest of the family, except Reinert, would soon follow. In February 1902, Reinert went out boating (presumbaly fishing) with his friend, Peter Olsen, when their boat capsized. Weighed down by their winter clothes and submersed in the frigid winter waters off Norway, they had no chance for survival. They may not have even known how to swim. Their bodies were not found. Several months after Reinert’s death, Kristiane packed up the remaining children, boarded the Oscar II, and immigrated to America to join Rasmus in Hoboken, New Jersey.

When they arrived in America, the children changed their last name from Rasmussen to Reinertsen, and Kristiane changed her last name from Osmundsdatter or Rasmussen to Reinertsen as well. During this time period, Norwegian naming practices were changing and the tradition of taking the fathers first name as a last name was discouraged. In accordance with the new naming convention, Reinert had raised his family under the last name Rasmussen while in Norway. When the family immigrated to America, they may have decided to revert to the old naming practices.

In 1910, Kristiane, Otto, Selma and Hans (who went by John) were living in Hoboken, NJ. Selma worked as a dressmaker and Otto worked as a carpenter. Kristiane was living with Otto’s family on Ninth Street in Hoboken in 1920. Nothing else is known about the family after that.