Annie P. Jensen

Biography

Brown hair and blue eyes, Annie was born in 1853 as the fifth of six daughters. She was raised in Sweden and learned to read, write, embroider, knit, and crochet. Her father passed away when she was 13 and within that same year she was baptized. Many of her family and friends were bitter towards Annie’s family about their choice. However, about a year later she immigrated to Utah with her mother and sisters. They joined a wagon train, but Annie had to walk most of the way and even got swept away by a river at one time. After arriving in Utah, they settled in Millville. With her sisters, Annie would pick potatoes, husk corn, and shear sheep to receive a small share of the profits. She would also knit socks in exchange for shoes and even a pig once.

At age 15 she married Peter Herman Hjorth in Salt Lake City. They lived with his parents for a few months before building their own log cabin where they had a daughter together. There were two seasons where grasshoppers attacked all the crops and Annie would go out to help fight them with one hand while carrying a child in the other. In 1872, her husband passed away, two weeks before their second daughter was born. She was left a widow at 19. After grieving, Annie moved to Idaho to live with her sister. There she married her cousin Andrew Anderson and they had another daughter. He died less than three years later and once again Annie was left a widow at only 23.

Still a mother of three, Annie chopped wood, cooked, and took on many various jobs to provide for her family. These jobs included the role of a postmistress and store manager. She also started a school to teach girls different sewing and handwork. In 1879, one of her daughters passed away at age seven. Later that year, Annie became the third wife of Thomas Jessop at age 26. They had four kids together, but three of them died early on. While Thomas worked as a railroad constructor, Annie provided meals for 50 men. They later moved to Oregon, then Washington, and finally back to Millville where Annie took care of her mother. In 1932, Annie passed away at age 79.