CHARLOT and OLIVIA FRIIS
Charlot Amaldus Friis was born about 1832, probably on the Jutland peninsula of Denmark.
Married Olavia Nicoline Gregersen. (See below.)
Children: (1)
Christian Nils, born in May 29, 1858.
Johan Otto, born May 10, 1865.
Charlot was born in 1832, according to his marriage records. (2)
On Aug. 28, 1857, Charlot married Olavia Nicoline Gregersen in Odder. Olavia was born Feb. 21, 1833, to Niels Gregersen, a teacher in Odder, and his wife Maria Charlotte Fries. (4)
Family tradition says that Charlot was a teacher.
(1) Link to Christian comes from certificate of marriage for Christian, who was married in January 1903 in Humboldt County, Iowa. Christian's birthday is listed on his printed funeral notice. Link to Johan Otto comes from Odder church records, page 43. (2) Church record of marriages of Odder, Denmark, page 46. (3) Church records, pages 39, 138, 190, 196, 213. Numbers are repeated in the records because there are several books. (5) Church records, pages 46 and 162.


CHRISTIAN and SERENA FRIIS
Christian Nils Friis was born in May 29, 1858, in Ostbirk, Denmark. His parents were Charlot Amaldus Friis and Olavia Gregerson. (1)
Married twice. First wife is unknown. Second wife was Serena Matilda Sorenson. (See below.)
Children: (1a)
Carrie (Kropp).
Ella.
Carl, born about 1904.
Henry, born about 1906.
Roy Oliver, born March 16, 1909.
Some children are not listed because they are still alive.
Christian served in the Danish navy aboard a steam ship. During his service, he learned much about the weather that he was able to teach his children.
In 1889 or 1890, Christian immigrated to the United States. The 1910 Census says 1890 but the 1930 Census and his 50th anniversary announcement says 1889. On Dec. 18, 1896, Christian applied for U.S. citizenship in Humboldt County, Iowa. (2)
According to family tradition, Christian and a friend named Ben Mollander joined the Yukon Gold Rush in 1898. Large gold deposits were discovered in Alaska in 1896. Word got out the following year, spurring thousands of people from around the world to journey to Alaska. They dug the frozen ground in the winter and sifted through the dirt in the spring. Many froze or starved to death during the winters, when temperatures fell to 50 degrees below zero. Others suffered from scurvy caused by poor diets. Most people, like Christian, didn’t find much and returned home.
According to family tradition, Christian returned to Denmark. He then came back to the United States before 1903.
Christian was married twice, but no one remembers his first wife’s name, whether she came to America or what happened to her. The 1910 Census notes he was in his second marriage, but gives no details.
On Jan. 16, 1903, Christian married Serena Matilda Sorenson in Rutland Township, Humboldt County, Iowa. The were married by J.E. Jorgenson, a Lutheran pastor in Bode, Iowa. Although the couple’s marriage certificate spells the name "Friis," the name was usually spelled "Freis" in America.
Serena was born May 19, 1878 in Kovborg, Denmark, to Jens P. and Karen (Jensen) Sorenson. (4) She had immigrated to the United States in 1901 or 1902. The 1930 Census says 1901 and her 50th anniversary announcement says 1902.
After a few years in Iowa, the family moved to South Dakota sometime between 1906 and 1909, between the births of Henry and Roy. (5)
In South Dakota, the family farmed in Aurora Township in Aurora County, where they owned 21 farm animals, according to the 1910 Census. The census indicates they rented the farm but family members say the farm was obtained under the Homestead Act, a federal program that granted land to people who could farm it for at least five years. The family lived in South Dakota for about five years, then sold the land and moved to Heartwell, Neb., in 1912 to take up farming there.
Christian was never a good farmer and his efforts weren’t very successful, according to family tradition. However, he had studied botany in Denmark and grew beautiful flowers.
After retiring from farming, Christian was sexton of the Union Cemetery in Humboldt for 12 years.
In the 1930 Census, the family is listed in Springvale Township, Humboldt County. Christian is listed as the caretaker at a cemetery.
Christian was a quiet man. He just wanted to be an American. He worked hard to learn English but always spoke it with difficulty and with a heavy Danish accent. This might explain discrepancies in several spellings. Despite this trouble, Christian, Serena and the two oldest children could read and write English well enough to have it noted on the census return.
Both Christian and Serena were very religious. Late in life they worshiped at the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church in Humboldt. Christian - he was usually called Chris - enjoyed fishing and Serena was a homemaker, who could make the most delicious cinnamon rolls.
Christian died Jan. 21, 1953, in Humboldt. Serena died June 25, 1962, in Sterling, Colo. They are buried in Union Cemetery in Humboldt.
(1) Most information comes from letters and interviews with Roy Fries and Donald Fries in 1989 and a letter from Adalaine Haas in 1990. Date of birth and death come from a printed funeral notice. Parents and place of birth come from marriage certificate. (1a) Children’s years of birth are listed in the 1930 Census of Springvale Township, Humboldt County, Iowa. See "Fries." Roy provided his birth date. (2) 1910 Census of Aurora County, S.D. See "Frees." The 50th anniversary announcement appears in an undated and unidentified newspaper clipping that was in a scrapbook. It was provided by the Humboldt County Genealogical Society. The genealogical society also provided a copy of Christian’s naturalization request. (3) Dates and places of birth and death come from a printed funeral notice. (4) Marriage certificate. (5) 1910 Census.