Karen Lauritzdatter [21442] ¹²⁸²⁷

  Notater:

I was born on the 8th of September of 1826 in Kobborod, which is near the Northwest coast of Denmark. My father was Laurs Jepsen and my mother was Marjane Eskov. I married Christen Christensen in 1845 when I was 19 years old. My husband, along with his father, were landowners and very successful farmers.

The Mormon Missionaries came to our door and introduced us to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in 1865. I and my husband along with our two daughters, Maren and Pouline, were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the 1st of May of the same year. Because of our financial successes we have been able to help a large number of poor saints attain their dream of going to Zion. We are grateful that we have been able to help. Going to Zion has also been our goal and we were able to begin our trek almost exactly one year from the date of our baptism. Our seven living children are traveling with us and are going to be able to be raised in Zion. I am so filled with joy for them. Four of our infant children that died in Denmark will be reunited with us in the next life.

Our company of emigrating Saints left Copenhagen on the steamer "Aurora" on May 17th of 1866 and arrived early on the following day in Kiel, Germany, from which city our company went by train to Altona. From there all of the women and children continued in a small steamer to Hamburg, Germany while the men walked to Hamburg. We sailed from Hamburg on the 23rd of May on the double-decked packet ship "Kenilworth". The ship was a very old vessel and had been used to transport cattle. It seemed like "anything was good enough to carry Mormons". The ship had recently been fitted with bunks for sleeping and was deemed suitable for our use. Captain Brown was in charge of our voyage and tried to make our voyage somewhat comfortable. There were 684 Scandinavian Saints on board. We sailed north on the east of England to sail up over the north of Scotland. For the most part of our voyage the seas was very rough and cold. Many of us were sick. At the beginning we were so driven back by the wind that at one point we could see the coast of Norway. Fog and icebergs were also a common occurrence. Twelve saints died during the voyage. I was also very sick during the voyage and could not hold down any food because I was in "a family way". I was unable to regain my strength and died on Saturday, June 23rd at 12:40 p.m. on a very stormy day at sea. My remains were sewn into a large canvas bag and "committed to the deep" half an hour after my passing. Brother Andrew Jenson, a fellow passenger, wrote in his journal that "the death of Sister Christensen called forth much sympathy, as she and her husband had been most liberal with their means in assisting their poor co-religionists to emigrate".

I do look forward with great hope to the day when through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the sea shall give up its dead and I shall be reunited for all eternity with my husband and children in the Celestial Kingdom.

My name is Karen Lauritzen Christensen.

Written by Robert Mathew "Rob" Wood
2nd Great-Grandson Less

  Om Karen

1. Folketælling: Thisted, Refs, Gettrup, -, En gaard, 54, FT-1860, D4922.

2. Folketælling: Thisted, Refs, Gettrup, Kaaberøe bye, En gård, 65, FT-1834, C3095, 1834, Gettrup, Refs, Thisted, Danmark.

3. Folketælling: Thisted, Refs, Gettrup, Gjettrup, En Gaard, 74, FT-1845, B4219, 1845, Gettrup, Refs, Thisted, Danmark.

Karen blev gift med Christen Christensen [21380] [MRIN: 7599], søn af Christen Christensen [21383] og Maren Christensdatter [21384], den 25 Mar. 1845 i Gettrup, Refs, Thisted, Danmark.¹²⁷⁶⁹ (Christen Christensen [21380] blev født den 27 Jul. 1817 i Ydby, Refs, Thisted, Danmark ¹²⁷⁷¹, dåb den 27 Jul. 1817 i Ydby, Refs, Thisted, Danmark, døde den 21 Nov. 1899 i Gunnison, Sanpete, Utah, United States og blev begravet den 25 Nov. 1899 i Gunnison, Sanpete, Utah, United States.)

  Om Christen og Karen

1. Familie: billede, 1865.