Maria Jönsdotter

Biography

Maria learned to read, write, card wool, spin yarn, knit stockings, weave cloth, and make rugs as a child. She would made a living by cooking and doing house work for wealthy people. She Nils Jönsdotter while working and they married in 1874.
They had three children, but it was becoming hard to make a living in Sweden, so her husband left for America and would send for the family later. He earned money from his railroad job, but at one point his responses to letters stopped coming due to an unfortunate situation. It is supposed that Maria conceived the child of another man while Nils was away and that led to their divorce.
Maria then met the Mormon Elders who told her of a man who could lend her money to go to America. She walked to Stockholm to get money and then made the trip to America. After settling in Brigham City, Utah, Maria married Albert Parson Berry in 1886. Shortly after, Maria’s mother came to America and lived with them until she passed. In 1887 she was baptized and joined the Mormon Church. They moved to Idaho, then later to Cache County. 
Maria helped a lot to support the family by spinning yarn, knitting and weaving while her husband cleared the land. Maria also helped work the land with their kids and they grew all kinds of fruits and vegetables. She was a very good cook and no one left her house without being fed a good meal. She visited the sick and served in the Relief Society. Two years after her husband passed away, she moved to Avon, Utah. Her neighbors called her “Sister Berry” and described her as short and plump with a happy, cheerful smile. She made delicious baked goods and a Swedish sweet soup that everyone loved. Maria moved to Millville and met Martin Nielsen, who she married in 1912. When her health began to decline, she lived with a few of her children each for two years before passing away in 1927 after falling in an irrigation ditch.