DEATH/OBITUARY/CEMETERY RECORDS

• Grave Record:  Soren JENSEN buried 25 Jun 1917, grave 12, lot 1, block 63; Mrs. Soren JENSEN buried 6 Dec 1931, grave 11, lot 1, block 63.  Source:  Blair Cemetery Book, Blair Library

• Obituary:  Soren  JENSEN died at 7 p.m., Saturday, 23 Jun 1917 as the result of a paralytic stroke suffered on Friday of the previous week.  He was unconscious much of that time and his great vitality kept him alive for eight days.  It was said that he was a man of quiet and simple tastes, and was vigorous until three years before his death.  Soren  JENSEN, pioneer settler in the county, who reaped the rewards of hard labor and good management, because one of the largest landowners, and therefore, one of the wealthiest men in the county.  It was said, “He was always upright and honorable.”  Surely he was generous.  His mother and father-in-law lived in his home for many years.  He brought several of his sisters and brothers to this country from Denmark.  Then he proceeded to help them get started with financial aid and advice.  Among those were Anton  JENSEN, George  JOHNSON, Peter  JENSEN, Mrs. Elsa  JORGENSEN, Mrs. Lena  JEPPESEN, and Hanna  FRAHM.  The funeral services were held at the Danish Lutheran Church in Dexterville on Monday, 25 Jun 1917.  Six of his sons were pallbearers and the eldest, James H., escorted his mother.  The remains of Mr. JENSEN were laid to rest in the family lot in the Blair Cemetery, which has been in readiness for several years.  The majestic funeral monument had been erected several years prior to Mr.  JENSEN’s death.  Source: Blair PILOT as stated in The Family of Soren and Anne Sine (PETERSEN) JENSEN 1842-1974.

• Obituary:  Sine JENSEN, intensely patriotic and a devout Christian, died at 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, 3 Dec 1931 of cancer of the stomach.  At the funeral services, held Sunday afternoon from the First Lutheran Church of Blair, hundreds were unable to gain entrance and the procession to the cemetery was two miles long.  While automobiles carrying the mourners were turning into the burial grounds, there were machines that had not left the church.  Observers said it was the longest funeral procession in Blair in recent years.  The pallbearers were six of her seven sons.  James H. JENSEN, another son, who lives in Long Beach, CA, was unable to be present for the funeral.  He was here, however, in September, when the thirteen children of Mrs. JENSEN gathered around her bedside in the Blair Hospital for a reunion.  This reunion took the place of the annual JENSEN family picnic, scheduled for Fontanelle Park in Omaha in August and postponed because of the illness of the head of the family.  Source:   Blair PILOT reprinted in The Family of Soren and Anne Sine (PETERSEN) JENSEN 1842-1974.

• Obituary:  Blair Pilot Tribune, 10 Dec 1931.  Pioneer Dies.  Mrs. JENSEN's Death Mourned by Many.  Matriarch of Middlewest's Largest Family Buried.  Mrs. Soren JENSEN, 83, prominent Washington county pioneer and matriarch of the largest family group in Nebraska, if not in the middlewest, died at 10:30 Thursday night at her home on west Nebraska street. Ill for more than three months, Mrs. JENSEN's recovery was doubtful from the outset and as she gradually grew weaker it became apparent to the family that her death was a matter of only a few days.  One of the true pioneers of Washington county and an example of what was accomplished through the industry, fortitude and bravery of the early residents, who helped transform a veritable wilderness into one of the most productive regions in the United States, Mrs. JENSEN's death was mourned by thousands.  At the funeral services, held Sunday afternoon from the First Lutheran church of Blair, hundreds were unable to gain entrance and the procession to the cemetery was two miles long.  While automobiles carrying the mourners were turning into the burial grounds, there were machines that had not left the church.  Observers said it was the longest funeral procession in Blair in recent years.  Pallbearers were six of Mrs. JENSEN's seven sons.  They were:  J.P., Nels M., Omaha; Edward, Henry, Andrew, Fremont, and Albert.  James H. JENSEN, another son who lives in Long Beach, Calif., was unable to be present for the funeral.  He was here, however, in September, when the thirteen children of Mrs. JENSEN gathered around her bedside in the Blair hospital for a reunion.  This reunion took the place of the annual JENSEN family picnic, scheduled for Fontanelle park in Omaha in August and postponed because of the illness of the head of the family.  The immediate survivors of Mrs. JENSEN  are her 13 children, all grown men and women, the youngest 37 and the oldest 63.  They are Mrs. Jens Black JENSEN, Mrs. Peter SVENDGAARD, Mrs. Ed GILBERTSON, Mrs. Mary VOSS, Mrs. George H. KUHR, jr., Mrs. Henry VOSS, James, H.J., Peter, Nels M., Edward, Henry, Andrew and Albert.  James lives in California.  Mrs. Henry VOSS in Millard, Nels in Omaha and Andrew in Fremont.  All the others are residents of Blair.  In addition, Mrs. JENSEN is survived by 63 grandchildren and 73 great-grandchildren.  The number of these descendants alone establishes the fact that there is no one in the middlewest who leaves a larger number of direct descendants.  Through the marriage of her descendants Mrs. JENSEN was related, in varying degrees of kindred, to more than 700 persons.  Mrs. JENSEN was born January 12, 1848, in Denmark, and with her parents emigrated to America in 1860, as members of a Mormon colonization expedition.  With the north and south torn by the Civil war dissention, they made their way westward in a covered wagon and in the fall of the year arrived in St. Joseph, Mo.  They came then by steamboat to Omaha.  While at the Mormon camp at Florence, Mrs. JENSEN's father, Jens PETERSEN, learned that polygamy was practiced among Mormons in Utah and with several other members of the pioneering expedition revolted and abandoned the trip westward.  In Omaha Mrs. JENSEN was baptized into a reorganized branch of the Mormon church, the Josephites, and her father was the first missionary of that faith to preach in the old settlement of DeSoto.  Among the other pioneers who were members of the Mormon emigration from Denmark to America and who revolted against the practice of polygamy were the parents of the late Magnus JOHNSON, Mrs. Ole JACOBSEN [sic], and C. John NELSON.  With the death of Mrs. JENSEN, the only living survivor of the expedition is Mrs. Lena JORGENSEN, 92, who lives on West Colfax street.  Intensely patriotic, Mrs. JENSEN, during the World War, watched with keen interest the activities of her six grandsons, who were members of the army.  They were, Howard JENSEN, Lyle REEH, Walter GUTSCHOW, Peter DIESTEL, Elmer JENSEN and George DREVSEN.  In addition, she took a marked interest in the war work of her daughter-in-law, Mrs. J.P. JENSEN.  The latter received five citations from the American Red Cross and later won national recognition while serving for seven years as a department service officer.  A Christian throughout her life, Mrs. JENSEN was, after her marriage, a member of the Seventh Day Adventist church while she was a resident in the Orum vicinity.  Later she joined the Lutheran faith, but regardless of religious allegiance she was a faithful communicant and devoted worker for the cause of Christianity throughout her life.  Active until three months ago, Mrs. JENSEN won recognition four years ago when she was awarded first prize by the Blair Chamber of Commerce for the best kept lawn in the Fourth ward.  She did all the work herself to qualify for the prize and even as late as this fall took an active interest in the planting of her garden.  Mrs. JENSEN's husband, one of Washington county's wealthiest citizen's [sic] died in 1917.  Apparently realizing that death was imminent, Mrs. JENSEN asked on Thanksgiving day that the family quartet, composed of four children of Mr. and Mrs. J.P. JENSEN, come to her home and sing to her.  The four, John, Edith, Dorothy and Alfred JENSEN, did so and Mrs. JENSEN told her grandchildren that she had enjoyed the concert, which included hymns and Danish folk songs, immensely.

Soren JENSEN, supervisor from a precinct on the county board.  Source:  BUSS, Rev. Wm. H.; History of Dodge & Washington Cos., NE; The American Historical Society, Chicago 1923, p. 328.

Soren JENSEN

1842                Born 3 Aug, Vejle, Denmark (See Maps)
1864-65          Worked New York City that winter
1865                Worked on Sullivan farm in IL (probably that summer)
1865                Moved to Omaha, NE and worked for Union Pacific Railroad
1866                Married Anna Sine PETERSEN 27 Aug; resided in Omaha
1866                NW corner of Washington County, NE, section 33, twp. 20, range 9 east, hamlet
                        of Admah
1867                Homesteaded land in Lincoln Twp., Washington County, NE
1901                Moved to Blair, NE
1917                Died 23 Jun in Blair, NE

Anna Sine PETERSEN

1848                Born 12 Jan in Aalborg, Denmark  (See Maps)
1860                Emigrated to America with parents, early part of the year
1860                Arrived St. Joseph, MO in fall and went to Omaha, NE
1865                Employed in Empire House (hotel) in Omaha