Mette Marie Jensen

Mette Marie Jensen is the third of eight children born to Christen Jensen and Barbara Jensdatter, both of Denmark.

After joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the family immigrated to America, sailing on the ship “John J Boyd.” After arriving in America, they traveled to Nebraska where they joined the John R. Young Company. On June 30, 1863, the Jensen family and other Saints began their trek across the plains for the Great Salt Lake Valley.

Exhaustive travel conditions, disease, injury, lack of food and medicine, premature birth, and extreme weather were some of the greatest threats to pioneers. Cholera, a bacterial disease caused from contaminated water, infected many of the travelers. Diseases followed the pioneers along their journey west. Among the victims was 4-year-old Mette Marie. She is buried near the Platte River, 184 miles west of Florence, Nebraska.

A relative, Darrel Harker, recorded: “When my mother told me about Mette Marie’s death, I was struck by her description of how deeply her grandmother grieved over the death of her little girl. It would be difficult to lose a child at anytime but the pain Barbara felt at the death of Mette Marie would likely be magnified many times by the fact that she would be buried in an unmarked grave miles from civilization. We assume that there was a graveside service but it would not likely be one of comfort because the wagon train would have to move on.”