Maren's Story
Birth: March 29th, 1846 | female | in Nysted, Maribo, Denmark
Death: September 3rd, 1859 | 13 years old | in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Memorial: Stone 9 | center column | 4th name
Karen Madsen is the daughter of Mads Jensen and Ann Hansdatter, both from Denmark. After the Jensen Family immigrated from Denmark to America, they joined the George Rowley Company of 1859 to journey to the Great Salt Lake Valley with other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Exhaustive travel conditions, disease, injury, lack of food and medicine, prematurity, and extreme weather were some of the greatest threats to pioneers. When the company entered the Salt Lake Valley, 13-year-old Maren passed away on September 3, 1859 from “mountain fever.” The family buried her in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, near her sister, Karen, who also died of Mountain Fever the day after on September 4.