Kirsten Andersen Nielsen

Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to the town in Denmark where Kirsten and Peder lived.  Kirsten was the first of the family to be baptized.  This was in December, 1859, when she was fifty-one years old.  about two years later, her husband joined the Church and in March of 1862, their son Niels Peder, age fifteen was baptized.  The two older daughter did not join the Church and stayed in Denmark when the family came to America.

Kirsten was fifty-four years hold when they Sailed from Hamburg, Germany for America on April 8, 1862.  They sailed on the ship "Humboldt" with their son Niels Peder, and they arrived in New York on May 20, 1862.  They continued west , traveling b y railroad to Florence, Nebraska, and then traveled by ox-team with the Horn Company to Utah.  They arrived on Octber 1 1862.

Kirsten's husband died while they were in the Sweetwater River country, in Wyoming.  He was buried in an unmarked grave.  Kirsten and her teenage son, Niels, continued on and settled with other Danish emigrants in Ephraim, Utah.

Kirsten, faithful pioneer, passed away in November 1867, at the age of fifty-nine years, only five years after arriving in Utah.

Kirsten was a true pioneer woman of great faith and fortitude, who gave up much for her religious beliefs, and endured the trials and tribulations which these brave souls encountered.  We honor her for her great devotion.

Children:

Inger Christine (Kudsk), 4 May 1827

Jorgen, 31 March 1832 (died as a child)

Maren, 9 February 1834

Karen, 22 October 1835

(Source: Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude, Volume III M to R, International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, P. 2162)