Marie Lauritzen Jensen was born at Hedizord, Denmark - May 18, 1848 and was the oldest of her fathers 8 children. She was the daughter of Lauritz Lauritzen and Maria Pedersen. When she was six years old, the elders first brought the gospel message to her father's house. He and his wife were interested and for seven years studied the doctrines, after which they were baptized. So sincere was their belief during this time that in order to keep their children from learning the false doctrines of the world, they kept them out of school.
Marie's hardships began early. When she was but eleven years old, she was hired out to herd forty head of sheep and three head of cattle. This was a greater hardship because of the damp, rainy climate of Denmark which kept the child wet most of the time. For six months of this labor, she received a pair of wooden shoes, one pound of wool, and enough heavy unbleached factory to make a chemise.
As the girl grew, she learned to cord and spin and weave and shear the sheep and even worked in the fields binding up the grain. In 1864 when Maria was sixteen, the father with his wife and seven children and four friends, whose passage he paid, left Denmark to come to Utah. They embarked on the ocean in an old fashioned sailing vessel in which they were blown about on the waters for six long weeks. During the voyage measles broke out on board and one of the children succumbed to the disease and was buried at sea.
On arriving in America, the uncomplaining family took up the journey across the plains in Bishop Preston's Company even though the 15 months baby was suffering with whooping cough. It could not long withstand the hardships of the journey and one day when the company stopped to rest, another little unnamed grave was made, and two hours later a sad but brave mother and father took up the journey again. Maria was too ill to walk and so lay all day in the wagon with the soft but hot Danish feather beds piled thickly beneath her, and the wagon cover hot and close to her face. How she endured those ten weeks of heat and sickness and death, only those who suffer hardship bravely can ever know.
While on the journey her father purchased two cows which provided a blessing to all. According to Danish custom, the cows were milked three times daily. At such times all came with their tin cups to early receive the fresh new milk. After the distribution, what was left was hung under the wagon in a bucket and when the company stopped, they always found butter in the bucket.
When the company reached the cool air of the mountains much of the sickness disappeared and with joy and thanksgiving all enjoyed the beauty of the mountains through which they passed. They arrived in Salt Lake City September 15, 1864 where they rested for two weeks while waiting for the Sanpete ox and mule teams to take them to Moroni.
During this stay death again visited the family, this time taking the eight year old son. It was on the day that they left for Moroni while her father was busy getting things in readiness to leave that the mother walked alone behind the hearse that carried her little one to the cemetery. She piled rocks high on the little grave but years after when she again visited Salt Lake she could find no trace of the grave.
Soon after reaching Moroni another of the children died from diphtheria and still they went faithfully and patiently through the hard work of helping to build a new settlement.
As soon as Maria got well after reaching Moroni, she went to work for one of the earlier settlers. She helped to make the thin molasses that was used in place of sugar out of carrots, beets and parsnips. She even made soap and she sheared sheep, washed, carded, spun and wove the wool into cloth.
Then if the cloth was to be dyed, she gathered rabbit brush and boiled it to make yellow dye, or used bluing for blue and sometimes combined the two to make green. In such a way, she made her own wedding dress, all the work herself.
Money was very scarce in the colony and when after she had been there for some time, a traveling peddler came to town and she purchased a spool of thread for 40 cents and a yard of calico for 70 cents to make herself a drossing sack. She was very proud and happy.
About this time, much prized crops were threatened with extermination by grasshoppers and Marie along with her companions went out into the fields to fight them.
They piled the straw in ditches and when the hoppers crept into it to roost at night, they burned up the straw and we will hope most of the grasshoppers with it.
In January, the 29th, 1868, Maria was married to Andreas Jensen, with whom she lived a long, useful and happy life.
While living in Freedom, she was counselor to the President of the Relief Society from April 26, 1904 to May 25, 1909 and President of the Relief Society from May 25, 1909 to June 15, 1912.
Since Andreas' death, October 31, 1914, she has lived with her daughter, Tena, and has turned attention to temple work for the dead. Not being physically able to do the work herself, she has hired others to do it, and has been diligent in searching out the genealogy of her forefathers that the work might be done for them.
She had ten children, sixty-four grandchildren and thirty-five great grandchildren.
Children:
Kirsten Marie - Md Ephriam Nelson
Mary Caroline - Md James Swensen
Andrea Jensen - Md Robert Winn
Louisa Lavina - Md Christian B. Christensen
Andrew Edward - Md Elizabeth Keddington
Serena - Md Soren C. Nielsen
Hannah - Md Willis Draper
Martena Geneva - Md Urvin Gee
James Peter - Died as an infant
Charles Wilford - Md Anna Leola Irons - she died
- Md Pearl Morley
Note: Maria Lauritzen Jensen died 1 October 1924, Was buried 4 October 1924 - Moroni, Utah
Descent:
Maria Lauritzen
Mary Caroline Jensen
Alda Caroline Swensen
Carl Ivan Lindstrom
Vickie Lindstrom