Anna Christine Hansen Jacobsen

Biography

In a little town outside of Copenhagen, Anna Christine was born on New Year’s Day 1822. She grew up with seven sisters and a brother. At 24, she went to work at a tailor shop in Copenhagen. The same day she started, a young man named Ola Nilsson Liljenquist began his work there as well. They fell in love and two years later were married. Christine and Ola went on to have six children, two of which died early in their childhood. They had a prosperous life, a thriving business, enjoyed pleasures such as going to the theater often, and were well respected by their community.

In 1852, just a couple years after full religious freedom was legalized in Denmark, one of their employees showed the couple a Book of Mormon. A few weeks later they were baptized. Christine and Ola were faithful members of the church from that point on. They took their family and immigrated to Utah in 1857. A mob tried to take away their children on their way to the steamboat, but luckily the authorities arrived in time. After travelling by handcart, they joined the other saints and settled in Hyrum, Utah.

Christine faced many difficulties while taking the main role of tending to her family as her husband would go on to have many leadership positions. Just a couple years after their arrival to Utah, he was called to serve a three year mission to Scandinavia. He would also go on to become a bishop, patriarch, mayor, mission president, and a delegate for a constitutional convention. This often left Christine lonely as she could not speak English very well and their living conditions were not lavish, as they had been in Denmark. She was faced with another challenge soon after Ola’s return from missionary work because the principle of plural marriage was introduced and he would take two more wives. Despite her difficulties, Christine still held true to her faith and did much to help her community. She served as the Relief Society President for 21 years and was one of the first officiators in the Logan temple. Beloved by her community, she was known by many as “Mother Liljenquist.” In 1903 she passed away at age 81 in Hyrum, Utah.