1800s Curtis Family Home - Then and Now

This is where Benjamin Kingman Curtis lived with his wife Sarah Lavantia Card and their ten children during the 1870s and 1880's. They lived in Ottawa county, Michigan for 30 years before migrating to Utah, Idaho, and Montana.

I've been looking for the exact property in Michigan where this farm home was located. I was curious about the home and wondered if it was still standing today. About a month ago I was told that the farm home is still there on the old Curtis family property and that it hasn't changed much over the past 100+ years. Here's a photo of the home taken about 1990.

A personal visit to see this home as it stands today is a dream I hope will come true very soon. Just imagine what it would be like to actually walk on the property of your ancestor's old farm from the 1800s. While living in Tallmadge, the Curtis family lost a son, Johnny Curtis, to drowning. He was four years old and was buried in a little cemetery close to this home.

Kolding Photos

Armand? Hans? Johan?

For years I've only seen this photo of the boys cropped from the Cabinet Card mount, so I never saw the name of the photographer and the location of his studio until now. With this new information, I'm not too sure who they are anymore.

I've searched for Kolding and only found a town by that name in Denmark.

• 1888 Armand was born in Denmark
• 1890 Hans was born in Michigan
• 1900 Johan, my grandfather was born in Nebraska

My grandfather never mentioned that he had been to Denmark when he was about 10 years old. No extended family member has ever mentioned that the three boys, or even the family, had traveled back to Denmark sometime around 1910. The time frame is an estimate based upon the year my grandfather was born, 1900, and he looks to be 10 years old in this photo. Are the boys who we think they are?

Johan Johansen's sister and her husband

Recently I located another family photo that was taken in Kolding. This photo is of my grandfather's aunt and uncle, the wife being the sister of Johan Johansen, my great-grandfather.

Johan Johansen had two sisters, Kjerstine and Anna Marie. I do not know which of the two sisters this photo is of and I also don't have the marriage information for either of the two sisters.

In summary, we have two photos in our family that were both taken in Kolding, Denmark. Did the Johansen-Madsen boys go back to Denmark? Which sister is in this photo? Don't know.