Looking for Mrs Matson, Richmond Valley, Stratton Island in 1928

[Mumfy]

Hi

I am trying to find this lady in Richmond Valley, Stratton Island (I presume now Staten Island) in 1928. My husband's ancestor (Arthur M. Nelson) travelled from Sydney, Australia in 1928 to visit her. She is noted in the Immigration records as being his sister and the reason for his visit to the US. He is aged 67 at the time and I am trying to find out which of his sisters this might have been.

One possibility is a lady named Frederikke Frandsen who arrived in New York in 1890 aged 21 years. If she married a Mr Matson (or Madsen) then this might prove that she is the one. But so far I haven't been able to trace any record of a marriage.

Any help would be much be much appreciated as I think I've hit a brick wall with this.

Mumfy

[MaureeninNY]

Mercy!!!

 Just to get my thinking wrapped around this one.

Arthur arrives in Vancouver Canada in 1928.

Now the silly questions:
How many sisters did he have? Were they all born in Denmark?

Maureen

[Mumfy]

Hi Maureen

Thanks for such a rapid response!

Arthur (Anton Martinus Nielsen) left Denmark as a young man and emigrated to Australia. I found a number of 'possible' members of his family in Denmark in the IGI - parents and three brothers all born in Aarhus.

Then I found a genealogy website in Denmark which seemed to indicate that there were three sisters born to this same couple (who had the four boys) but the girls, who were also all born in Aarhus, have the surname Andersen not Nielsen.

From that website it would appear that Arthur's father dies and his mother remarries. Frederikke Frandsen b. 1869 is the child of his mother's second marriage and his half sister. And given that I have found a record of a Frederikke Frandsen arriving in New York in 1890, it seemed plausible that she might have married a Mr Matson/Madsen and become the lady living in Richmond Valley, Stratton Island who Arthur travelled all the way from Australia to visit. 

Mrs Matson may also have lived in Philadephia. The death notice for Arthur's wife, who dies in Sydney in 1943, says that she has been to New York and Philadelphia.

In 1928 Arthur arrives in Seattle/Vancouver and Victoria and is then said to be traveling on to New York. I guess the boat journey from Sydney via Auckland, Suva and Honolulu took him to the west coast.

Cheers
Mumfy

[MaureeninNY]

Mumfy,
Wasn't the Fred* Frandsen woman arriving in NY married with children?

Have you found Arthur's wife on any arrival records?

Maureen

[Mumfy]

Hi Maureen

The Frederikke I found arrived on the Lahn on the 3 May 1890 aged 21. The column indicating whether people are married doesn't indicate she's married. It's noted "Calling" and someone else further up the list has "Wife" written against her name... Frederikke has 'none' written against hers.

I can't find any trace of Arthur's wife (Emily) arriving in the USA but then I don't think the records that I have access to are comprehensive.

Cheers
Mumfy

[shellyesq]

A possibility on the New York City bride's index on www.italiangen.org:

Freda Frantzen & John Matsen married on 25 Aug. 1896 in Manhattan

[shellyesq]

I wonder if this might be that Freda from the bride's index:  https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MSLY-X96  It says they had been married for 4 years, and Freda had 2 children (presumably the youngest two). 

On the death index on italiangen.org, there is a death for John Matsen in 1904 that may fit this man.

[Mumfy]

Thanks Shelly for taking a look at this conundrum.

I've just had a quick look at the family search link to the Census page and got quite excited about it but there are a couple of hiccoughs: firstly this lady is born in April 1867 but the person I was looking for was, I think, born 4 Apr 1869. I guess there could be an error here on someone's part and she could still be the one but the other thing is that the census shows her arrival in the USA as 1894 when I think she arrived (or did she go away and come back again??) in 1890.

I'll take a look at the other link asap.

Cheers
Mumfy

[Mumfy]

Seem to have drawn a blank with this lady as it appears that the Frieda Frandsen who marries Mr Matsen dies in 1907, not long after his death in 1904. So she wouldn't have been there for a visit in 1928.
I'll double check to see if I can find her death but there are two trees on Ancestry showing this.

Mumfy