Individual Details

Jensine had a child, Kristoffer Martin Pedersen, born out-of-wedlock on 15 Jan 1874 at Andfiskvann and baptized in the Mo church on 21 Mar 1874. The child died on 13 Feb 1876 at Andfiskvann and was buried in the Mo cemetery on 23 Apr 1876. In 1875, Kristoffer was taken care of by his mother Jensine, living at Andfiskvannet farm together with her parents Petrus Pedersen and Olava Zacharine Andersdatter at that time. Kristoffer Martin Pedersen's father was Peder Johan CHRISTENSEN, born in Villen, Mo, on 10. Feb 1844, baptized 17. Mar 1844 in Mo Church. In 1875 he lived at Hauknes farm, Mo, as a boatbuilder and a fisherman. He and Jensine did not marry.

Hudson Star Observer, March 26, 1931, p1
Mrs. N. J. Jenson, Sr. passed away at 7:15 Tuesday morning, March 24th, at her home on Seventh and St. Croix Streets. Mrs. Jenson was a resident of Hudson for nearly two score years. Funeral services will be held from the home at 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon and from the former Unitarian Church auditorium, now the Sons of Norway Hall, at 2:30 o'clock. Rev. Mr. Elliot of Unity Church, St. Paul, will officiate.

Aid Society Norden, Recording Secretary's Book, 28 Mar 1931, p282
Jensine's death was reported, and sick benefits of $10 and a death benefit of $50 were paid.

Hudson Star Observer, April 9, 1931
Jensine Katherine Petrusen was born at Solhaugen Hemnes in Helgeland, Norway, July 14, 1848 and lived there with her parents, three brothers and two sisters until after the death of her mother when Mrs. Jenson was but a child of
13 years. Her mother passed away while the father was at Lofoten Islands for the customary winter fishing, leaving her, the oldest of six, the youngest less than a year. The family later moved to Mo in Ranen, and when she could leave
the family of growing children she was employed at the L.A. Mayer Estate. At this place, which employed upwards of 30 to 40, she met her future husband, N.J. Jenson, whom she later married, settling right down in the little town of
Mo. Here all of their five children were born. Mr. Jenson preceeded his family to America, going in '87 while Mrs. Jenson with the three youngest children came in July 1891, and the two eldest came in July of 1898 and Hudson
was the only "home" in America that the Jenson family ever knew, until they were grown to manhood's estate. Olaf now resides with his family at Whitefish, Montana; Axel at Superior, Wisconsin, the remaining three reside here. The
family have been affiliated with the Unitarian Church since the days of Rev. Christopher Janson, at Hudson and so long as that church was active here.
Mrs. Jenson was ill and confined to bed less than a week, when pneumonia laid her low. Her distant sons were notified; Axel and wife arrived before his mother's passing, but Olaf was unable to reach here before Thursday night,
March 26. She passed away early on Tuesday, March 24th, conscious to the last. Always active, working, planning for her loved ones, her home, friends, relatives, working among her flowers, in her garden, and her intense love of
reading filled her later years to a large extent. Idolized by her family of five children, their helpmates with eighteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren, no family circle was complete without "grandma" there. Her
quiet sunny disposition, her cheery smile, coupled with her robust health, all contributed to an active interest in all that concerned her dear ones. In 1910, she with her son Axel, visited a sister at Lake Park, Minnesota whhom she
had not seen in over thirty years. In August 1928, Mr. and Mrs. Jenson celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage by a trip to Montana, where they spent a week with their son Olaf and family. In 1929 that family came to Hudson and a family reunion was held, in the commodious home on Seventh and St. Croix Streets, where the Jenson's Sr. have resided for nearly 15 years, less than a block south of their first home in Hudson. Living in the same neighborhood, Mrs. Jenson was well known to all, and was "Grandma Jenson" to scores of younger folk. She leaves her husband, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, with a thankfulness in their hearts to God, for the years
and ripe old age alloted the beloved little woman who slept so beautifully and peacefully away, with all but one of her children at her bedside when she breathed her last.
Rev. Blomholm conducted the burial service at the home, at 2:00 o'clock on Saturday, March 28, 1931 while Rev. Frederic M. Eliot, pastor of the Unity Church of St. Paul, conducted the services at the former Unitarian Church, at
2:30 o'clock. Miss Edith Hanson assisted in the service at the piano, Miss Catherine Windahl and Russell Solheim sang "Beautiful Isle of Somewhere". Four sturdy sons carried their beloved mother to last earthly resting place, beside
the little granddaughter, Janet Jenson, in the beautiful Willow River Cemetery, with a large coterie of friends in attendance.
"Where crystal streams thru endless years
Flow over golden sands
And where the old grown strong again
We'll clasp our Mother's hands."

Yarns of Yesteryear, Country Today, Eau Claire Leader-Telegram publication, ca 1978/79
by Anna J. Lester, River Falls
Grandma J., I knew you well. My father was your youngest son. When we were little, and lived seven miles away in the country, it was at your house we stopped on our rare visits to town. When Grandpa drove out to see us in the buggy drawn by Nellie, your horse, you came along. When we moved closer to town the year I was 10, you were just two miles away and came almost every Sunday.
I am vague about many facts in your life because I was so incurious and so wrapped up in myself at the time. Also, your language was Norwegian by choice, although you spoke English well enough for all practical purposes. Now I wish I had asked you so many questions!
I can see you vividly. You were a small woman, not much over five feet. You were not fat, but you had a round figure, and I think of you dressed in a small gray or dark blue print, a collarless blouse buttoned up the front, a dark skirt slightly gathered into a band at the waist always covered by an apron, a small kerchief knotted around your neck. Your shoes were soft, flat-heeled black kid laced above the ankle. The sleeves of your blouse, which stopped halfway to your wrist, were innocent of trim, as was the collarless neck. No lace, no ruffles. I have often thought how comfortable it must been to dress so frankly like an old lady.
I don't know whether you made your own clothing, but I assume you did. Your white hair was combed straight back, braided and wound in a tight little bun at the back of your head. Your blue eyes, your mouth, were prim and a bit severe, but not unkind. You did disapprove, however -- oh yes!
You disapproved because we children couldn't speak Norwegian, we were lazy and didn't help with the work as we ought. You disapproved of bobbed hair. You even scolded a little because we said Mom instead of Ma. Maybe you cringed as I do when I hear great, grown-up people say Mommy and Daddy. When you ate dinner at our house, you filled the tea kettle and put the dish water on to warm before we sat down to eat. You whisked away our dishes as we took the last forkful and started in washing dishes. It would have been a good time to grab a dish towel and help, I might have asked a lot of questions, and you might have answered when we were alone at the dish pan.
Did you ever work for wages after you married Grandpa? (I do not think so.) How did you feel when you had to leave two little boys behind you when you followed Grandpa to this country? I heard my mother say you walked more than 40 miles to say goodbye to them before you left, taking the three youngest children with you to America. The boys wo stayed behind herded cows for farmers and were raised by the families who took them in. When they reached manhood, about 10 years later, they joined the rest of the family in America.
I wish I had asked you to tell me about the crossing. What did you take with you? What did you eat on board ship? Were any of you sick? How did you get from Ellis Island to the Wisconsin town where Grandpa was waiting? What kind of home did Grandpa have ready for you?
I remember you and Mom sitting visiting after the dinner things were cleared up, your hands foled in your aproned lap, the thumbs twirling first clockwise, then counter-clockwise. I paid little attention to your conversation, being immersed in a book or playing outdoors. Sometimes the two of you strolled about outdoors, bending occasionally to pull up a weed or to retrieve something which had been dropped on the ground.
When we were going to high school just two blocks from your house we ate lunch at your kitchen table, my brother and I and a younger sister. You were not a good cook: Your bread was grey and heavy; the jam jar was filled with several kinds of gummy jam scraped out of near-empty jars. Basically, it was apple butter and grape jelly to eat. Sometimes there was a plate of cold pancakes left from breakfast, or a few cookies which were not as good as my mother's. but we had the sense to eat without comment.
When we sometimes tried to enlighten you from our "superior" store of knowledge, you said skeptically, "That may be." I have remembered that phrase sometimes when I disagree with my husband but don't feel up to an argument.
I remember the kitchen, the small rectangular table by the window with a drawer where you kept neatly folded wrapping paper, empty bags and a ball of string, to whcih you added whenever string came into the house. You were so frugal, I remember that even when you drank from the big copper dipper hanging above the sink and there was a little water left, you emptied it not into the sink, but into the tea kettle or reservoir. The white enamel coffee pot stood at the back of the stove, and from time to time you added a little ground coffee and a little more water. I suppose you emptied it sometimes and started fresh -- but I never saw you do it.
I don't remember you doing any kind of fancy-work, but I remember your dish towel which had patch upon patch sewed on by hand. I remember the heavy quilts on your beds. Did you make them?
When you were about 80, your oldest son lost his wife to cancer. After he was alone, you walked four long blocks once a week to clean his house and walked home again afterwards. Now that I am nearing 70 and feel some of the infirmities of age, I think of that.
When you were 84, you caught a cold which worsened into pneumonia, and after three days' illness, you died. Your remains lie in the cemetery on the hill beside Grandpa, under two small flat stones bearing only your names and the dates of your birth and death.
Grandma J., you are still an enigma to me, but a familiar figure.

Emigrated: FHL Film #1402515
Steamship: British Princess to Philadelphia
Arrival date: July 5th, 1891
No sickness or contagious disease aboard
Number of Passengers:
Saloon - 3
Steerage - 358
Passenger: Jensine Jenssen, age 40, native country Sweden [ditto from entries above], destination Michigan
Karen Jenssen, age 7, child
Axel Jenssen, age 5, child
Nels Jenssen, age 4, child
Hans Jenssen, age 45, Lab

Feeder ship: Domino, American Line
Date: 17 Jun 1891
Route: Trondheim to Christiansund to Hull
Hull to Liverpool: via train

BRITISH PRINCESS / LES ALPES 1882 This was a 3,864 gross ton ship, built by Harland & Wolff, Belfast in 1882 for British Shipowners Ltd. Her details were - length 420.1ft x beam 42.2ft, one funnel, four masts, single screw and a speed of 12 knots. Launched in December 1882, she was chartered to American Line and commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Philadelphia on 28th April 1883. She commenced her last voyage on this service on 16th May 1894 and was sold to French owners and renamed LES ALPES the following year. In 1910 she was scrapped at Marseilles. [North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.3,p.942]

Birth	14 Jul 1848	Solhaugen, Hemnes, Nordland, Norway
Christen	30 Jul 1848	Hemnes, Nordland, Norway
Marriage	8 Aug 1880	Mo i Rana, Helgeland, Norway - Nils Johan Jenson
Emigration	5 Jun 1891	British Princess - Port of Philadelphia
Death	24 Mar 1931	Hudson, St. Croix County, Wisconsin
Reference No		15
Burial		Hudson, St. Croix County, Wisconsin, Willow River Cemetery

Spouse	Nils Johan Jenson (1858 - 1934)
Child	Jens Herman Jenson (1879 - )
Child	Olaf Peter Jenson (1882 - 1964)
Child	Karine Marie Jenson (1883 - 1973)
Child	Axel Zahl Jenson (1885 - 1945)
Child	Nels Johan Jenson (1886 - 1947)

Spouse	Peder Johan Christensen (1844 - )
Child	Kristoffer Martin Pedersen (1874 - 1876)

Father	Petrus Petruson (1819 - 1905)
Mother	Karin Maria Jensdtr. (1821 - 1862)
Sibling	Peder Benjamin Petruson (1850 - 1912)
Sibling	Christense Elisabeth Petruson (1852 - )
Sibling	Gulle Petruson ( - 1854)
Sibling	Daniel Peder Petruson (1856 - 1933)
Sibling	Serene Lovise Petrusdatter (1858 - 1952)
Sibling	Ludvig Johan Petruson (1860 - 1943)