Niels Christian Christensen and Karen Marie Sorensen

Researching this line isn't easy--it turns out that "Niels Christensen" and "Karen Sorensen" are very common Danish names. And then there are the patronymic surnames (see below).Luckily, our Niels and Karen are pretty well documented. I'm indebted to the researchers who came before me and put some of this information together.

I don't have a personal history for Niels Christian Christensen, even though I have one for his son and for his father. A little information on Niels Christian can be gleaned from those. A good history of Niels Christian Christensen can be found at The Christensen Chronicles; there's also one for Karen that has information in it that was new to me. I don't want to repeat the information in these posts; I'll mainly be linking up the primary sources for the Niels Christian Christensen family.

One more note before we get into this--Danish surnames are traditionally patronymic, i.e., each surname is derived from the father's first name. Niels' father's name was Niels, so when he lived in Denmark, he went by Niels Christian Nielsen. Karen's father's name was Hans, so when she lived in Denmark, she went by Karen Marie Hansen or Hansdatter. Both of them changed their surnames to match their fathers' when they got to America, so Niels became Niels Christian Christensen, and Karen became Karen Marie Sorensen. Also, Niels sometimes went by Christian, and Karen sometimes went by Caroline.

Got it? Okay, let's move on.

Karen Marie Sorensen was born in Bromme, Soro, Denmark to Hans Sorensen and Karen Marie Sorensen/Sorensdatter (see record). Niels Christian Christensen was born in Stabrand, Nodager, Randers, Denmark (that's town, parish, county, country) to Niels Christensen and Kirstine Marie Nielsdatter (see record).

See Niels' and Karen's histories (links above) to read about their lives in Denmark. You can see Niels' immigration record here. It was a booger to find--first, because his last name is Nielson on this record; and second, because his place of origin is listed as Jutland, Denmark. I found out that Jutland is the mainland part of Denmark and includes several counties, including Randers. I'm sure that this is the right record because he's listed with his siblings Christen, Niels, and Ane Marie, all with the correct ages. Niels' page on Pioneer Overland Travel gives more sources for his journey from Denmark to Utah.

A transcription of Karen's immigration record can be found on this page on Mormon Migration (Bromme is mistranscribed as "Bronno"; however, I can't find her on the passenger list there--several of the passenger list images seem to be missing. Karen's immigration information also appears in Pioneer Immigrants to Utah Territory.

Niels and Karen met in Hyrum, Utah and were married in Salt Lake City on December 21, 1868. I don't have a marriage certificate for them, but this date matches Karen's death certificate and their entries in Pioneer Immigrants to Utah Territory. I'd love to know more about the story of how they met and married so quickly.

Eleven children were born to Niels and Karen: Christian and a stillborn twin, Caroline, Anne, Emma, Peter, Henry, Nephi, Willard, James, and John. You can see the family in the 1870 census, the 1880 census, and the 1900 census. Karen (as Caroline) can be found in the 1910 census.

You can see photos of the family on FamilySearch--here's Niels Christian Christensen's profile, and Karen Marie Sorensen's profile.

Niels Christian Christensen died on April 1, 1905 in Hyrum, Utah and was buried in Hyrum City Cemetery. Here is his death certificate and a photo of his gravestone. Karen Marie Sorensen joined him on October 1, 1919. Here is her death certificate and a photo of her gravestone.