Karen Margarethe Sorensen was born on January 20, 1850 in the Rakkeby Parish, Uglit, Rakkeby Hjorring, Denmark. Her mother was Karen Christensen and her father was Soren Mortensen….
Karen Margarethe worked for some neighbors, the family of Anders Olson “Kesko.” They had been converted by the Mormon missionaries. Anders and his wife, Ane, were baptized on July 12, 1862. They would often visit Soren’s family, bringing the missionaries, and tracts from the church. The Olsen family started planning to go to America, where they could live with others of their own faith. Karen Margarethe was converted and baptized on March 23, 1867. She was 17 years old. She wanted to go to “Zion” with the Olsen family.
Soren’s family had not joined the church. It was a difficult decision for a young girl to make…. She decided, however, that she must go. Many preparations had to be made for the long trip.
Karen left her family in Rakkeby and went with the Olsens to Aalborg, then on June 10, 1867 to Copenhagen. On June 13, a large group of saints left Copenhagen on the steamship Waldermeir to cross the North Sea to England. That sea is always rough, it was stormy and most of those on board became seasick. Some of the passengers took their bedding onto the deck, thinking that the fresh air would help to settle their stomachs. During the night, the sea rose and washed over the deck, so the beds were floating in water. The poor people were worse off than before. In addition to these troubled passengers, there were 2000 cows on board, being taken to England. They were as sick as the people. It was a miserable 3 days.
On June 16, the travelers arrived in Hull, England. They traveled by train across England to Liverpool. There they boarded the magnificent steamship, Manhattan. It had been a freighter, recently refurbished to carry passengers. The immigrants remained aboard as the steamship and the supplies were prepared for them to board. This was the first time that a large party of Mormon immigrants used a steam ship to cross the ocean. The Manhattan had tall masts, and sails to supplement the power of the steam engines, when the winds were right. This would be a speedier trip than those which had come before. Previously, the ships were dependent on favorable winds to carry them in the desired direction. Sometimes the ship would remain in a place for days, waiting for the winds to come. Other times the ships would be blown in the wrong direction. Before the steamships, it took two months or more for ships to travel from Liverpool to America. This trip on the steamship would take only 13 days.
The church leader in charge of the Mormon immigrants was Archibald N. Hill, who had been serving as a missionary in England and was on his way home to his family in Utah. There were other faithful missionaries returning from missions. Eight of them had served in England and 10 had served in Scandinavia. Some had served for 2 years, others for 3. There were 1,150 passengers on the ship, 480 were members of the church. 290 were from Scandinavia, mostly Danish, and 190 were from England. The members were happy to meet again with missionaries who had served in their areas. The missionaries who had served in Scandinavia had names which indicate that they had returned to teach people in their native lands. Some of the names were: Christiansen, Nelson, Iversen, Ohlsson, and Larsen. The leader of the Scandinavian saints was Niels Wilhemsen, a man they all loved and respected…..
The immigration records show that Karen M. Mortensen, age 15 (really she was 17) was from Rakkeby, Denmark. Occupation: spinster.
The Olsen family had to leave two small graves in Denmark. Ole and Oline had died in 1856 and 1861. Each was about a year old at death. They were buried in Rakkeby.
The immigration records show that A.P.Olsen Kjersgaard and his wife, Anne, were both 35 years old. He is listed as a farmer. Their children are listed as Anne Kristine, 15, Anne Marie, 13; Martine, 8; Ole, 4; Martin, 2; and Trine, 6 months….
The ship was finally ready, and on June 21 the large ship left Liverpool and moved down the Mersey River, to the English Channel and into Atlantic Ocean. It was very exciting, and a bit scary as they saw the land disappear and all about them was only water. The passengers were not used to the movement of the ship, and seasickness was a large problem for a few days. Many were sick at once, with no way to relieve their nausea, and there was the resulting mess in the bunks and on the floors. Eventually the seasickness passed for most of the passengers, and they were able to enjoy the trip. Most of the time the weather was mild, and the passengers were grateful for that. During the day when the weather was good, immigrants could walk about on the deck and enjoy the fresh air. They marveled at the things that they saw. Fish of all kinds, porpoises, sharks, sea birds and mountainous waves. Occasionally they would see a passing sail or steam vessel, or an iceberg.
The immigrants were divided into wards, with leaders responsible to watch over smaller groups. All members met each evening, except for once when the rough weather prevented it.
One night they had a grand concert on the upper deck. Among the members, were some talented singers, and the captain and other passengers contributed by singing and dancing. The captain supplied seats, lights, and refreshments for the singers and musicians. This was a great night of sharing with other passengers and the crew. The captain and the officers were kind and thoughtful throughout the trip. There was a crew of 100.
Their evening church meetings were held below decks, People would sing, pray, and speak in English or Danish, alternately each evening, so no one felt left out. They would close each evening meeting with prayers in both languages before separating for the night. They would thank the Lord for his protection and ask for continued guidance. There was thoughtfulness and cooperation among these good people who had recently been strangers, but were now brothers and sisters in the gospel, happy in the realization that they would soon be with the greater body of saints in the Valley.
The immigrants traveled in steerage. On the lower deck were built a great number of berths. These were built of rough lumber, and were of different sizes, to provide sleeping space usually for two persons, but some were for one or three persons. On their bunks, the passengers would keep their bedding, and personal items such as cups, plates, knives, forks, and spoons made of tin. These bunks were their homes during the voyage. When waves would become rough, things would fall from the bunks and roll noisily about the floor in the dark. Tins, boxes and bundles, everything which was movable thrashed about in a fearful manner. When they had some light again, and things became calm, passengers would reclaim the things which were theirs. There were no accommodations for privacy and most immigrants wore the same clothing until they got to the U.S., or until they arrived in Zion.
On June 27, there was a violent gale, and for 3 days and nights it seemed to the passengers that the ship might capsize any minute. The captain told some of the missionaries that he had never met with bad luck yet when he had Mormons on board. He said, “There is something peculiar about you Mormons anyway.”
Some passengers brought with them some special foods which they wanted to have. In general, the food was included in the passage, prepared in huge pot in the galley, and served on large, shared tables. It was plain food, but sufficient to keep them in good travel condition. They had soup most of the time, with hard biscuits.
Two infants died on the trip. Joseph Raddon, one year old. Mary Ann Vaughn was almost 2 years old. Both had been sickly before they began the trip. Anne Olson Kesko gave birth to a baby on the ship, on July 10. They named the baby Magdaline. She died on July 12. It was a terrible thing to have a burial at sea. There was the heartache at the death of a loved one. The tiny body was sewn into a blanket and placed atop a plank of wood. One end of the plank was then raised and the tiny bundle slid into the sea, to be covered by the blue-green water.
There were five marriages on board the ship, as they traveled.
After two weeks of seeing only water, sky, a few sea birds, fish and sharks, the passengers joyfully saw land in the distance as they neared New York Harbor. They landed on the morning of the 4th of July. What a grand sight to the immigrants. They couldn’t go on shore, but remained on the ship during the day and the night. The captain asked that the singers meet on the quarter deck and hold a concert. From the ship they noticed the city decorated for the holiday, and people were enjoying the day of celebration. The cannons were booming and the view of New York, with a grand display of fireworks, after dark, was magnificent. Heavy thunderclouds in the distance added much to the effect, and lightning added to the display. Most of these immigrants were from small farming communities and had never seen fireworks before. Many years later, telling a little about this trip, Karen would tell grandchildren of that 4th of July night in New York Harbor, where they could see the celebration from their ship.
The following day, after they had been examined and released from quarantine, the immigrants went ashore and were quartered at Castle Gardens, which was used as the immigrant facility until Ellis Island was used, starting in 1890. Castle Gardens was a large round building, where some groups slept on the floor for a day or two while things were getting ready for them to move on. Some families had to wait there while family members were in quarantine because of some illness. This did not happen to Karen and her shipmates. That same day, they went aboard a steamboat which took them up the Hudson River to Albany, where they arrived the next day.
From Albany, they traveled by train through Buffalo, past Niagara Falls, Detroit, Chicago, Quincy, and eventually to St. Joseph, Missouri. From there they went by steamboat up the Missouri River for two days to Omaha. They camped there for two days, then took the Union Pacific train to North Platte, Nebraska. During this time of train travel, they would sometimes need to camp overnight between trains. They would stay in a large warehouse or out in the open. The railroad equipment was very poor. They traveled in boxcars, on benches without backs. The cars had no springs and they rattled and jolted over the newly built railway.
At North Platte there were cattle waiting, which had been bought for them in Utah. The cattle had been there for a while. They had been feeding, and were in good condition for traveling, but the immigrants had to wait there for about a month, until the wagons and other provisions arrived. They had some sickness and deaths among the immigrants as they waited. Some had measles. The Olson Kesko family lost two more children as they waited here. Martin, 2 and Trine, just less than a year, both died on August 12. This family, with whom Karen traveled, had paid a terrible price. They had lost three children since they left their home in Denmark.
The immigrants had sent money ahead of them to buy the provisions, cattle, and wagons. Theirs was the first large independent company of converts to come to Utah. Up to this time, the church had always sent wagons, teams and other assistance to the companies crossing the plains, but this year no aid was forthcoming. They were fitted out with oxen and new Schetter wagons for the remaining 700 miles of the trip to Salt Lake City. There were 60 teams, with four oxen on each wagon. The captain of the train was Elder Rice, assisted by returning elders. The provisions consisted of fat bacon, flour, and such. They left Platte City and started for the west on August 11. The company was divided into five smaller companies, each with a captain who drove ahead of his company. The smaller companies took turns in the lead of all the companies, one day at a time. This allowed each company to be at the lead some of the time, rather than anyone remaining at the rear, where they had to put up with the dust and inconvenience of following other wagons. The fact that they had wagons did not mean that the immigrants rode. Rather, the wagons were used to carry tents and other supplies. The immigrants walked the 700 miles. Karen would later tell her descendants that she walked every step of the way. They traveled up the Platte River, then up the Sweetwater and over South Pass, down to Fort Bridger. They came through Echo Canyon and down through Emigration Canyon to Salt Lake City, arriving there on Saturday, October 5, 1867, just at conference time.
It was about dusk on a very rainy day. The emigrant train wheeled in on the church farm, three miles south of the city. They were instructed to turn the teams out to feed. They had now reached their destination. Men and beasts were pretty well worn out, and grateful that they were finally in the chosen land. Many who had started the journey were no longer with them. Many families had lost children, mothers or fathers.
The next morning as they rose, they realized that some of the missionaries who had guided them through this long journey had now returned to their own homes and families. The travelers felt somewhat like a flock of sheep without a leader. It had been a stormy night. It was Sunday of General conference. They cleaned up as well as they could and put on the finest clothes they had. It was a windy day, but they started for the city, feeling that they were on special ground. They entered the Tabernacle to join with the other saints in the conference sessions. They heard messages from leaders they had heard of while in their native lands. They were full of joy and anticipation.
BIB: Neola Peterson Miles, "Karen Petersen: Karen (Caroline) Margaret (Sorensen) Mortensen Petersen 1850-1935" [Biography based on oral history interview], 2003.
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