Denson

Denson - There are several opinions concerning the origins of the Denson surname. Family tradition has it that the Densons are of Danish decent. Further tradition has it that centuries ago two brothers with the Denson name left Denmark one going to Holland the other to America.

The same family tradition has the surname Denson derived from the former name Daneson. Daneson itself was derived from an earlier form of Danielson.

Independently published surname dictionaries generally suggest the name is of English, or sometimes Irish origins. Some say it is a form of Dennison or Denison and that it means the son of Denis (belonging to Dionysus, Grecian god of wine); son of the brown fighter or warrior.[1] Another suggests the name is derived from the English surname Dean, a nickname for someone thought to resemble a dean, an ecclesiastical official who was the head of a chapter of canons in a cathedral, or perhaps more probably an occupational name for a servant of a dean.[2]

The Denson genealogies detailed here are those that are descended from Benjamin Franklin Denson who was born in the early part of the nineteenth century, in North Carolina. His father, "John Denson started west with his wife and family about 1815. John was either killed or captured by Indians (family tradition) and his wife and family came to Tennessee where they settled for a time and then came to Missouri and finally to Illinois. John's wife had a mule. She and her family came across country with the youngest children taking turns walking and riding. It is said that John's brothers who were with the group came on and took up a claim for John's wife in Adams County, Illinois."[3] Exactly when Benjamin Denson settled in Wisconsin isn't known, although he was living there in Iowa county in 1936.[4]

The name Denson is not very common in the United States. Certainly Benjamin Denson and all of his descendants are in some way related to other Denson families. How these relationships exist is not the subject of these genealogies. Listed here are simply only those known genealogies of Benjamin Franklin Denson.

Go here for details on early Denson family naming traditions and customs.