Anna Maria Johanna Nielsen

Biography

Anna Maria Johanna Nielsen was born on September 10, 1847 in Sankt Knuds, Odense, Denmark. She was the fourth of seven children and the first of four daughters. Around 1860, Anna's family learned about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and eventually Anna's mother, Maren Hansdatter, and all of her living siblings joined the church. (One of her sisters died when she was very young.) However, Anna's father, Hans Nielsen, didn't join the church and did not approve of the family moving to Utah. Despite his wishes, Anna's two oldest brothers emigrated to Utah, and in 1865, Anna, her mother, her brother, and her two younger sisters all made the long journey to Utah. Anna was seventeen when they left and eighteen by the time they arrived in Utah in November.

The next year, on December 16, 1866, Anna married Ole Henriksen Berg, a Norwegian immigrant. They had ten children together, seven daughters and three sons. Anna had to bury three of her children, one of her daughters and two of her sons. One son died very young and the other died on his mission to Norway. Her daughter died suddenly at eighteen of what was thought to be heart failure. Anna took care of her mother Maren in her old age. She also ran the household when her husband was called back to Norway on a mission. She lived in Provo for the rest of her life, where she died on November 25, 1920, at the age of seventy-three.