Niels Jensen

Born 11 November 1811 in Denmark to Ana Nielsdatter and Jens Larsen
Married Mette Kjerstine Andersdatter 24 May 1833 in Denmark
Niels-Ole Niels-Elnora-Afton
Died 13 March 1891 in Hyrum
Buried in Hyrum

1880 Census

This information came from Hannah Barnes, Phil Jensen, Dorothy Jensen Curtis, and M. Stone.

Niels was converted into the Church by Mormon missionaries. He was a wealthy land owner in Denmark. He became interested in the Church the time he first heard of it. He was baptized on 3 November 1869. When he became a Mormon and decided to come to Utah, he sold his farms. He gave most of his money to the people who had joined the Church and were too poor to pay their transportation to Utah. One story about Niels says that he sponsored another family at the request of Brigham Young before he was able to take the rest of his family.

He migrated to Utah with some of his children in 1870, but Mette stayed in Denmark. One of Niels' descendant, Ellis, served a mission in Denmark and went to Ejlstrup to look up the family and the people in the area remembered Niels as the "old boy" who walked out on his family. Ole Niels Jensen remembered his mother Mette Kjerstine crying and begging Niels not to take him to America. Niels and his children settled in Hyrum, Utah.

Niels stood in as proxy for another one of our ancestors, Christian Fredericksen, when he was sealed vicariously to Mette Jensdatter. He was married to Mette 5 days later for time in the Endowment House. You can read more about this story on Mette and Christian's pages. After Mette Jensen's death, Niels married Maren Johansen. She was a widow with a number of children. Niels was sealed to Maren along with his children Ole and Pernelle, but apparently he did not feel good about this decision. Maren has also been sealed to her first husband, and Niels is sealed to Mette Kjerstine along with their 10 children.