Tombstone Tuesday: Reinhardt C. Morben

Following today's GeneaBloggers writing prompt, Tuesday's Remember Me post presents the memorial grave marker of Reinhardt Christian Morben of Barnesville, Minnesota. Mr. Morben is my husband Paul's maternal great-grandfather.

Reinhardt Christian Morben was born "Reinhardt Christiansen" in the former township of Norderhov (currently Ringerike) in Buskerud, Norway on 20 December 1857 to parents Christian Torbjornsen and Olea Paulsdatter. In 1880 (article indicates 1879...census reports indicate 1880), Mr. Morben arrived in the United States with his parents and siblings and settled in Minnesota. In 1898, R.C. Morben officially became a naturalized United States citizen.

An interesting tidbit...we can't seem to determine exactly how the name "Morben" came to be used upon arrival in the United States. It doesn't seem to be a place name from Norway or any sort of family name. Any long-lost Morben relatives out there have an idea? Would love to find out!

The following is a picture of his grave marker followed by a snippet from his obituary in the 1 November 1933 edition of the Moorhead Daily News[1]

Barnesville City Cemetery, Barnesville, MN.

[1] R.C. Morben, 76, Barnesville, Dies (1933, November 1). Moorhead Daily News.

Retrieved from http://newspaperarchive.com/moorhead-daily-news/1933-11-01/page-5?tag=reinhardt+morben&rtserp=tags/?pf=reinhardt&pl=morben (February 2013).

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