Nielsen Immigration To The United States

The LDS Aarhus Conference Emigration List for 1867 lists the family as follows:

Anders Nielsen, age 22, birthplace: Hvidsten, Gassum Parish, Randers County, Denmark. Occupation: farmer (At some point after leaving Denmark and arriving in Utah, he anglicized his name to Andrew and added the parish name, Spendrup, as an identifier.  He was known by this name for the rest of his life.)

Elise (Else) Nielsen, age 22, birthplace: Lyngaa, Occupation/ status: wife (of Anders)

Anne K. Sørensen, age 48, birthplace: Jutland, Occupation/ status: widow (Mother of Elsa)

Marie Sørensen, age 9 months, Birthplace: Jutland, Occupation/status: infant (This Marie is a foster daughter of Anne Kristine perhaps.  I have yet to check the records for her birth. This child is mystery to our family. She dose not appear in the LSD church records after the family's arrival in Utah or on the 1880 Utah Federal Census. If someone has information about her please contact me. Who know maybe someone out there will help solve the mystery about her.)

Marie Nielsen, age: 18, Birthplace: Gassem, Occupation/status: spinster (This Marie is a sister to Anders)

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Karen Hansen, age 9, Birthplace: Nielstrup, Rud, Randers, Denmark, Occupation/status foster daughter to Ane Kirstine Sørensen.  (Unproven that she was with the group.)

 Please let us know if someone help us with information about Karen Hansen?

Karen Hansen was born 21 Dec 1858 in Nielstrup, Rud, Randers, Denmark.  Finding her birth name or a derivative of it on an emigration or passenger list remains a mystery.  The oral history of the Nielsen family states that Karen emigrated from Denmark with Anders Nielsen (Andrew, later), his wife, Elsa, and her mother, Ane Kristine Sørensen.  Anne Kirstine was Karen’s foster mother. This has been proven through the 1860 Danish census.  

In her younger years Karen used the name "Caroline" and as an older person, she was known as "Carrie."  Linking any of these names to the surnames Hansen, Nielsen, or Sørensen has failed to reveal anyone that  "fits."   The oral history also states that the group sailed on the USS Manhattan in 1867.  As yet this data cannot be researched because the manifest for this ship appears to be lost.  It is missing from the Family History Film which includes its sailing date.  These films are duplicates of those from the National Archives (NARA).  Searches for independent sources have been in vain thus far.  Karen also is not listed on the Mormon Immigration Index (a CD ROM published in 2000 by Intellectual Reserve and available for viewing at most Family History Centers.)  The departure list from Liverpool, England lists other ethnic groups by name but at the end of these names it states, "plus 290 Scandinavians."  On the 1870 Federal census for Utah, Karen is listed as "Caroline, a 12 year old "domestic servant" and as living in Anders Nielsen's home.  Anne Kirstine is living there, too.  (Her name misspelled as "Christian Annie."}

As emigrants, the group left Liverpool, England on 21 June 1867 bound for America with 290 other Scandinavians.  Danish LDS converts nearly always (especially those of eastern Denmark) left from Copenhagen on a "shuttle" boat which sailed to England.  The reason being that, at the time, Denmark's harbors were not deep enough to accept the large ocean liners.  The shuttle boats would sail from Copenhagen northward up and around the peninsula of Denmark, eastward across the North Sea, and into the port at Hull, England on her northwest coast.  The passengers to America would then be transferred to a train and travel back eastward across England to her harbor at Liverpool.  At this point they would board the designated ocean liner, sail west again across the Atlantic to an American port.  The Manhattan had recently been remodeled from a sailing vessel to a steam-powered ship.  This was the first steam-powered boat that had been chartered for the transporting of LDS converts to America. The Manhattan with the Nielsens aboard was tugged into the port of New York on July 4, 1867 which was a Sunday (Ellis Island didn't open until 1902, 45 years later.).  The ship arrived in the port about 5:00 in the evening when the 4th of July celebration was in full swing..  The festivities could be seen from the boat.  A massive fireworks was watched by many who were on the deck.  This may have been a terrifying experience for some of the passengers as possibly very few had seen any kind of a fireworks display.  Perhaps pyrotechnics were entertainments in Denmark's larger cities but most of the Scandinavian immigrants were from the rural areas of Jutland.  The rural Danes of the day were of the poorer folk and may not have been able to buy tickets to see a show like this even if it were available.  Anders and the other members of his group probably were not an exception Castle Garden was closed on Sunday.  The passengers didn't disembark until the next day.  After gathering their few possessions, they then got aboard a train again.  The train cars may well have been cattle freight cars.  The immigrants rode from New York to the outfitting post, North Platte, Nebraska, this was near today's Omaha.  Here they had to wait for six weeks for their oxen, wagons, and "plains" supplies to arrive.  Perhaps some felt abandoned.  Others may have felt tricked.  Those with testimonies of a living God and the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ stayed firm.  Among the faithful were Anders, Else and her mother, and Anders sister, Marie.

The weary wagon train participants arrived in Salt Lake City on 5 October 1867.  This was the day before General Conference which was being held in the Tabernacle for the first time the following day.  Though tired and footsore many of the travelers opened their trunks, etc., to find their "Sunday Best.  After a night of rest many awakened early, donned their "church clothes" and attended conference.  These events exhilarated many of the immigrants for this is why they had come to "Zion."

After resting a few days they started the last segment of their long journey to their land of promise. This time Anders group traveled south to the Danish colony at Ephraim, Utah where they lived for the next twenty years.

Surely Karen traveled with the group.  She was baptized a member of the LDS church in Ephraim on 27 Oct 1867.  The Ephraim membership records list her as "1st time baptism," and "without parents."  Her travels across the plains and her arrival in Ephraim are also shrouded in mystery as her name has not been found in the "Crossing the Plains" index and the whereabouts is unknown for the roster of the Leonard G. Rice company with whom the Nielsens traveled. 

To add to the mystery is the rest of the story of baby Marie.  A thorough search of the Ephraim records reveals no clues.  The only two children (boys) who died on the voyage are listed by name in at least one diary.  Perhaps she died on the train segment or while crossing the plains.  No family lore remembered by the present family members has ever included mention of her presence.

Hopefully someone reading this short account will know where some of the missing information and records can be located.  If you can add details please contact family representatives at dellstein@mstar2.net or at Webmaster for any clues that you may have.

Della Nielson Steineckert

October 2003

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