There are two facts that help to define Grandpa Rasmussen's family.
The first is that, from around 1600 until 1829, nearly all of the men were Lutheran ministers. At least two emigrated from Norway to serve parishes along the southern coast of the Island of Fyn. One of these, Hans Rhumann Frederiksen Monrad, inherited a mansion and estate named Hesselagergard from his father-in-law in 1701. We may imagine a saintly glow about the family in those days, but that wasn't always how those outside the family saw it. Rasmus Bendixsen served a parish on the small island of Stryno off the southern coast of Fyn for 14 years beginning in 1802. At a time when it was customary for young people to be confirmed in the church at the age of 14, and when confirmation was a prerequisite for an apprentiseship, Rasmus chose to delay the confirmation for some of his parish's young people until their early 20s. These young people were left in a sort of limbo, unable to pursue a livelihood and, due to uncertain prospects, unable to pursue marriage. He was not regarded fondly by his parishioners and we can only speculate on the celebration that may have taken place on Stryno in 1816 when he moved on to serve a church in Oster Skerninge.
The second is that, from around 1800 until the early years of the 20th century, the
family was on the move. Each generation made steady progress northward until they
reached the parishes west of Odense in the 1870s. In the final decade of the 19th
century the first of Grandpa Rasmussen's siblings emigrated to the United States. All
but two of the seven children in his family would eventually emigrate.