Maria Pedersdatter Mortensen

Biography

Maria Pedersdatter Mortensen was born on July 3, 1847 in Hårbølle, Denmark. She was the eighth of nine children. In 1855, when she was only eight years old, her family learned about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and converted. The next year they made the decision to emigrated to Utah. Maria traveled with her parents, her three sister, and three brothers. Her eldest brother stayed behind to serve a mission for the church in Denmark. The family crossed the plains in the Willie handcart company, donating their excess so that other families could also make the journey. Even though it was a very difficult journey and many died, the entire Mortensen family made it to Utah alive. They settled in Parowan, Utah.

Maria married Peter Miller Jensen in 1867 when she was twenty years old. The pair settled in Parowan and had five children, four daughters and one son, together. At some point, it is likely they relocated to Union, Utah. Maria died there on July 13, 1903, at only fifty-six years of age. She was buried in Murray, Utah.