Baadsgaard Family History in Denmark

This is the church in Dommerby where Baadsgaard family members were married.

This is the church in Lundo where Baadsgaard ancestors were baptized, married and buried.

My son John is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Denmark right now. Many of my husband's ancestors are from Denmark. John has recently been  able to visit the places where the earliest known Baadsgaard family members lived. Here is what happened just last week.

"We drove around to a couple of the areas where my ancestors come from (Dommerby, and Lundø to be specific). At the church in Lundø, which is where my earliest known ancestors from the Baadsgaard family come from, we found 3 gravestones in the cemetery with the name Baadsgaard on them. I took those pictures, and found the people on family search, but ended up finding out that not all of their information was on family search. Because of that find, I have now added about 30-50 names to my family tree in family search. I can't tell you how strong the spirit was being able to put those names in, and reserve their temple work.

Baadsgaard Rock at the site of an old Baadsgaard farm in Denmark.

I'm pretty much a Danish family history expert now, and am excited to help all of you learn how to do it when I get home. Plus, I can speak Danish, meaning I can read and understand the records that my family's information is written on. It's pretty special, and I know that has to be one of the many reasons I was sent to this country."

Lots of people ask me where our unusual last name Baadsgaard came from. It is a Danish last name. Turns out it is a fairly unusual name in Denmark too. (A spelling reform in 1948 introduced the letter å, already in use in Norwegian and Swedish, into the Danish alphabet to replace the digraph aa. The old usage still occurs in some personal and geographical names.) This is a picture of my son John in front of a Baadsgaard street sign in Denmark. Vej means way.

Meaning of the Name Baadsgaard

In Danish, "gaard" most often means farm, courtyard, or estate, and "baad" means boat. Since aa = å, another spelling of the name is Bådsgård.

Baadsgaard as a Place

To date one American research group has identified at least two places in Denmark named Bådsgård in the 1700s. One is on Hanstholm (formerly an island, now connected to the mainland) in Hansted sogn, Hillerslev herred, Thisted amt. Political boundaries changed, and Hanstholm became part of Viborg amt. The other Baadsgaard is in Højslev sogn, Fjends herred, Viborg amt. More Baadsgaards may be found in Denmark and Scandinavia as research continues.

There is a cove called "Bådsgård vig" that can be found by searching for Bådsgård on google maps.

From Wikipedia

"The northern part of Denmark is rising because of plate tectonics, and has lifted the island of Hanstholm out of the water, so it is no longer an island, but an elevated area. You can still see two old farms: Bådsgård, which means boat farm, is located on the previous island Hanstholm; Færgegård is located in Sårup towards Hansted. Today you can simply drive between Sårup and Hansted."

"Lundø is a peninsula surrounded by Bådsgård creek to the south, Skive Fjord on the west, and Lovns Bredning to the northeast, in the southern part of the fjord." 

Baadsgaard as a Surname

It was commonplace for a Dane to use a place name following his/her patronymic name, and a person living at Baadsgaard might use that name as part of his/her personal name. As traditional naming practices evolved, "Baadsgaard" became attached to some families as a permanent family surname. The surname is still in use, though it is rare in the USA.

Baadsgaards in the USA

Of the Baadsgaard descendants living in the USA, a rather light investigation suggests two ancestral lines: Peder Baadsgaard (b.1677) and Søren Andersen Pugdal (b.1659). Soren had a son named Andres (Anders) Sørensen Baadsgaard (b. 1717). Apparently, the name Baadsgaard was used as a place name by Anders.

It has not yet been determine if these two lines are related somehow. Descendants of Peder can be found in Utah, Washington (the state), Nevada, and Texas. Descendants of Soren can be found in Indiana, Illinois and Texas.

Pictures of Ross Esbern Baadsgaard

Ross as a baby with his four older sisters.

The only boy .

Ross with his seven sisters.

Ross as a little boy with his family.

Ross with his parents and sisters in their Springville home.

Ross's childhood home in Spanish Fork.

Ross as a little boy with his family.

Disneyworld Fun

Aubrey and Kyle with Alice, Griffin and Rylan.

Jacob and Teresa with Rachael, Emma and Kate.

                    Aubrey and Jacob's family just got back from a fun trip to Disney World!

Happy Birthday Josh

STARDUST

By

Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy Birthday Josh. I love you.

Josh wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to his grandparent’s cabin when his mom asked him to hop in the van on Friday evening.

“I can’t get service for my phone up there,” Josh said.

“You need a break from your phone,” his mother answered. “Put it in your pocket and let’s go. We’re barbequing hamburgers and slicing up a watermelon tonight.”

Guess if I want supper I better go, Josh thought.

As their van left the valley floor and climbed higher and higher up the canyon toward the cabin, Josh felt himself relaxing and breathing deeper. After dinner Josh’s aunts, uncles and cousins settled in for some games. Josh slipped outside and sat on the bench on the deck trying to get service for his phone so he could text his friends.

“There’s no service up here,” his grandma said sitting down next to Josh. But there’s a different kind of power up here.”

Josh smiled. Grandma was always full of words.

“Josh did you know there's power in every tree, flower, or blade of grass,” Grandma said. “We miss it if we don’t listen. Close your eyes.”

Josh put his phone in his pocket and closed his eyes. He heard the wind washing through the maples and pines surrounding the cabin the whir of the hummingbird’s wings as they fed.

“There is power in everything,” Grandma said.

“I just learned in science that almost every element was formed in the heart of a star from a cosmic explosion,” Josh answered. “Nothing really disappears; it just changes form. We’re all made of star dust.”

“Master creator at work,” Grandma said.

 “When stars get to the end of their lives,” Josh said, “my teacher said they swell up and fall together again, throwing off their outer layers. If a star is heavy enough, it will explode in a supernova. So most of the material we're made of comes from dying stars. We have stuff in us as old as the universe, and stuff from only a few hundred years ago.”

“I’m getting close to the end of my life,” Grandma said. “I wonder what I’ll leave behind when I’m gone?”

“Me,” Josh answered.

Grandma smiled.

“I remember the day you were born. Just yesterday you were a little boy and now you’re a young man.” Grandma said. “Life is so short. We have to learn all we can while we’re here.”

“Let’s make a fire,” Josh said.

Josh and his grandma stood, walked to the edge of the deck and down steps toward the fire pit. They carefully placed dried grass on the bottom of the pit and then placed a tee-pee of sticks and logs above it. Then Josh lit a match and the grass flashed with light that ignited the smaller and soon larger logs. Before long there was a warm blazing fire.

“When I die,” Grandma said, “I will throw off the layers of this earth and in a bright flame of light I will return to my heavenly home. But part of me will remain here in you. Josh, you are my place in the future after I am gone.”

Josh took a long stick and poked the dying embers in the fire.

“Yeah, like nothing really dies, only transforms,” Josh answered.

Grandma put her arm around Josh as wind washed through the trees bringing the warmth from the fire like a warm blanket all around them.

 “I love you Josh,” Grandma said. “Because I’ve experienced how much I love you and your brothers and mom and dad, I have a small idea how much God loves us. When I was your age I always pictured God above me somewhere out there in outer space. But now I know that part of our Mother and Father in Heaven is inside us. In the same way you have my genes, we have our heavenly parent’s DNA.”

Josh and his grandma looked up at the night sky as a chorus of crickets sang in the grass behind them. Suddenly a shooting star streaked across the heavens leaving a trail of glory across the black sky.

“Looks like someone just went home,” Josh said. 

Isabella's Sunshine

ISABELLA’S SUNSHINE

By Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy Birthday precious Izzy. I love you with all my heart.

When Isabella woke for school, she noticed it was still dark outside her window.

“Why is it so dark even in the morning now?” Izzy asked her mother as she walked into the kitchen looking for breakfast.

“In the winter, the sun comes up later and goes down earlier,” her mother said. “But after December 21^st each day has more sunlight because the sun stays in the sky a little longer.

“I miss the summer,” Izzy said. “I like to play outside when it is warm.”

“Me too,” her mother said. “Maybe we just have to figure out how to make our own sunshine.”

“But how?” Izzy asked.

“That is a secret that only you can discover,” her mother answered.

Just then Izzy’s father came into the kitchen with a big smile on his face.

“Look at this beautiful polished rock,” her father said. “Isn’t it amazing?”

Izzy took the smooth stone in her hand and rubbed it with her fingers.

“Daddy how do you find an ugly rock in the field by our house and turn it into something so beautiful?”

“I put the stone in a rock polisher machine where it gets knocked around lot and gradually all the rough edges are grinded off revealing the beauty of the stone.”

Daddy brings sunshine into the world by discovering the beauty in old rocks, Izzy thought.

Then Izzy heard her baby brother babbling in his car seat. First he cooed. Then he suddenly broke into a laugh. The whole family stopped what they were doing and listened. Then everyone ran over to baby Christian and laughed with him.

Christian brings sunshine into the world by laughing, Izzy thought.

Right then Izzy’s brother Daniel grabbed her leg and gave her the biggest hug of the world. Izzy smiled and reached down and hugged Daniel back.

Daniel brings sunshine into the world by hugging, Izzy thought.

After breakfast Izzy ran upstairs and got dressed in her favorite school outfit. Then her mother combed her hair.

“You sure look nice,” her brother Brad said when Izzy stepped out of the bathroom.

Brad brings sunshine into the world by saying nice things, Izzy thought.

While Izzy was waiting for her mother to run her to school she sang her favorite song. Izzy loved to sing.

“When you sing, you fill out house with sunshine,” her mother said.

I can bring sunshine into the world by singing, Izzy thought.

When Izzy jumped out of the car and ran into her school, the clouds were still dark and no sun could be seen in the sky. But Izzy felt warm inside because now she knew where to find her own sunshine.

Chad Gull's funeral

We buried my brother-in-law Chad Gull yesterday. 

This is Chad out in the mountains hunting -
his favorite activity.

Chad's sons: Brandon, Ryan and Aaron 
are the pallbearers at the far side the casket in this picture.

Daniel, Chad's 12 year old son with Down's Syndrome,
spoke at the burial 
and touched my heart to the core. 
Though Daniel did not have distinguishable words 
to express himself, 
his spirit communicated with us his love for his father.

This is Chad's wife Karen - 
my husband's beloved sister and my precious sister.