Karen Kirstine Hansdatter

Biography

Karen Kirstine Hansdatter was born on April 13, 1872 in Askeby, Denmark to Sidse Jacobsdatter and Hans Jørgen Nielsen. Karen married Hans Larsen, a sea captain, on November 14, 1849. In 1852, Hans was lost at sea. Karen was left a widow at twenty-five with two young children to raise.

In 1857, Karen was converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, alongside her father, Hans. They were baptized together on May 3, 1857. With a hope for better days and a desire to join the Saints in Zion, Karen and Hans took Karen’s children and headed for America. On the ship, William Tapscott, Karen met the farmer Niels Christensen Heiselt and married him on April 17, 1859. Throughout the years, Karen and Niels had nine children together.

Karen and Niels settled in Pleasant Grove, alongside many other Scandinavian Saints. Life in the valley was difficult, but Karen and Niels did what they could to take care of their family. Niels returned from a mission to Colorado severely sick in 1893. He passed away on September 30, 1898.

Karen spent the rest of her life as a widow. She died at her son Hyrum’s home in Provo, Utah on April 27, 1906 at the age of seventy-nine. She was buried in Pleasant Grove City Cemetery in Pleasant Grove, Utah.