Nina Marie Nielsen

ANDERS CHRISTEN AND NINA MARIE NIELSEN PETERSEN

Anders Christen Petersen Nina Marie Nielsen

Born 13 Mar 1851 Born 22 Mar 1851

Died 26 Sep 1919 Died 01 Mar 1930

Nina Marie Nielsen was born 22 March, 1851, in Klarup, Taars, Hjorring, Denmark. She was the daughter of Mads Peder Nielsen and Johanna Christiansen. Johanna's maiden name is still a mystery. No record of a marriage has been found. Common law marriage was a practice in Denmark at that time. There were no marriage laws. Weddings were expensive and only those who were wealthy enough to afford a wedding had one. The less fortunate couples just lived together until they could save enough money to get married and then they would take the children with them and have them adopted. That could have been the case in this instance, only Johanna never married Mads Peder Nielsen that we know of. Later she was married to Johanas Olson and they joined the church in Denmark. They came to America because of the gospel, crossing the ocean by sailing vessle and leaving Nina Marie behind in Denmark. Two of their sons, Lars (nearly 7) and Joseph (age 3) died of cholera and were buried at sea. They traveled west from New York and joined the handcart company to walk the rest of the way to Salt Lake. They also buried a daughter, Ane Christine, Age 9, at North Platte, Lincoln, Nebraska, reaching Salt Lake with only one child, Charles John (Carl Johan).

Nina Marie's first son, Soren Christian, had been born in Denmark and the father made no effort to provide for her or the baby. She had been left behind when her mother and step-father came to America. She had to work hard for a living. Among jobs she had was milking cows by hand at a dairy. She had been unable to take care of her baby and had hired a woman who lived in Copenhagen to take care of him. By the time Chris, her son, was four or five years of age, Nina Marie's mother and step-father had acquired enough money to send for them. When Nina Marie went to get her baby from the woman in Copenhagen, she found that this lady had become very attached to Chris and he to her and it was a heartbreaking experience to take him from her. Nina Marie refused to leave her son in Denmark where she probably never would have seen him again.

They crossed the ocean on the steamboat "Nevada", leaving Denmark on 26 June 1872. They came the rest of the way by train. Nina Marie was then adopted by Johanas Olson and lived with him and her mother until her marriage to Anders Christen Petersen. (There is a discerpancy in records on this point. The book "History of the Bear Lake Pioneers" states that Thomas Petersen and his son, Anders, sponsored Nina Marie and Chris's trip to the United States. Perhaps Nina Marie and Anders were acquainted in Denmark because they were married in Salt Lake City soon after she arrived.)

Many of the Danish emigrants were sent by Brigham Young to settle in the Bear Lake Valley and these families were among them. Anders Christen Peterson and Nina Marie Nielsen raised their family under pioneer circumstances at Ovid, Idaho. Soren Christian was adopted by Anders Christen and went by the Petersen name. Others of the family were; Eliza Marie, Annie Johanna, Andrew Lewis who died at the age of nine, Matilda Christina (our ancestor) Julia, and Parley Joseph who lived only a month. He was born December 16, 1884 and died Jan 23, 1885.

Anders Christian was a craftsman and a handy man. He made their furniture from material found at hand. He made chairs, wooden clogs of Quaken Aspen, and willow baskets. He was a cobbler and with a last (a form the shape and size of a foot on which shoes are made and repaired) and an awl (a small pointed tool for making holes in leather) and just a few crude tools he repaired shoes for his family and neighbors. No pan was ever discarded in those days so he soldered and repaired such things as the need arose.

He had a little tin flute that he could play simple melodies on for the entertainment of his family. Perhaps this is where some of his family got their musical ability.

There does not seem to be a record of just when Nina Marie and Anders Christian moved to Ucon. Anders Christian Peterson died September 26, 1919 in Rigby, Jefferson, Idaho and is buried in the Ucon Cemetery. Nina Marie took care of herself, living in a log house that sat behind Oliver and Julia Robinson's house, until her health began to fail. Her grandchildren could stop in after school and she always treated them with whole wheat bread, fresh butter, and cheese, all made by herself. She made wonderful Danish pastries, too.

After she celebrated her 75th birthday, she moved in with her daughter, Matilda and Daniel Tyler. She was bedfast for the last two years of her life and Matilda took care of her. After she had suffered so long that there was no chance for recovery, the family met in prayer and through the power of the priesthood asked the Lord to relieve her of her suffering. That night, March 1, 1930, she passed away, leaving her mark on the earth in the family she had raised. She is buried beside her husband in Ucon Cemetery, Ucon, Bonneville, Idaho.

Anders Christian Petersen, born 13 March, 1851, in Flade, Hjorring, Denmark, was the son of Thomas Christian Petersen and Lise Andersen, however, the two were never married. Thomas later came to America with his wife and children, leaving Anders behind in Denmark but sent for him later. Lise never joined the church, but she came to America on the ship "Nevada" in September 1871 with a group of converts. She lived in Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho and is buried there. Lise's name is pronounced as the 'liza' in Eliza. Her name is recorded as Eliza in the 1880 census with her husband: "John and Eliza Wilks". She is listed in Bloomington Cemetery records as Eliza Wilks.)