Tomina Elizabeth Svendsen

Tomina Elizabeth Svendsen is the daughter of Mogens Svendsen and Anne Laursdatter from Denmark. The Svendsen family immigrated to America, sailing on the ship “Kennilworth.” Extended family traveled with them. After their arrival, they traveled to Nebraska to join the Andrew H. Scott Company bound for the Utah Territory. The Company left Florence on August 8, 1866.

On September 3, while in Wyoming, Anne gave birth to a daughter they named Tomina. On September 17, Mogens died from injuries. A week later on September 24, Tomina passed away. And then on October 1, Anne passed away from the effects of childbirth. A grandmother, who was traveling with the family, took the children on to the Salt Lake Valley and cared for them.

A daughter wrote: “My father [Morgan Swendsen] was ill throughout the journey. When almost to our destination he slipped while climbing into the wagon and was killed. The wagon ran over him. He was buried in Echo Canyon. My mother [Ane Laursen Nielson Swendsen] was weakened from the trials and hardships of the journey and having a baby only two weeks old. She died seven days after my father. She was buried on Big Mountain. I remember seeing my Mother wrapped in a sheet and lowered into the grave.”