This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: rogjensen Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.southdakota.counties.turner/415.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Christen and Maren Jensen (Skeen) by Lorraine Jensen Weare (Granddaughter) My grandparents were born near the town of Hjorr- ing in Jutland, Denmark; Christen Jensen on May 6, 1842 and Maren Jensen on February 14, 1847. They were married July 19, 1871. In Denmark my grand- father operated the "Skeen" flour mill, which was a mill driven by a waterwheel. It was located at Mugdal, five miles inland from the northern shores of Denmark that lie along the Skagerrak. (In Dakota Territory my grand- father would add "Skeen" after his name so people would know which Christen J ensen he was, as Scandinavian names often are very similar or even identical.) In the spring of 1874 they sailed for America- Christen (age 32), Maren (age 27) and their son, Louis New York to Yankton, Dakota Territory via Chicago and Sioux City. The last part of the trip was very slow because the railroad company, pushed by a con- struction deadline, had not bothered to prepare a road- bed. The rails had been laid on prairie sod in many places, and often the passengers would get off, walking alongside the train as it moved West, picking wildflowers as they walked. Christen and Maren Jensen homesteaded in Swan Lake Township, Turner County, Dakota Territory, two miles north and one mile east of what is now the town of Viborg. Their first home was a dugout in the side of a hill, about a hundred feet from Turkey Ridge Creek. This dugout was covered with poles and hay. They lived here until their home was built. (This building- enlarged and modernized -was moved to Viborg by later owners and is still in use today.) They had nine children, of which eight survived: Louis, Juel, Carl, Magnus, Jennie, Minnie, Otto and Nels. >From my mother, Minnie Jensen, and my Uncle Louis' written reminiscences, I learned a little of what life was like for my grandparents. Uncle Louis writes: "My first clear remembrance of homestead life was of my father walking to Yankton and bringing home a 50 Ib. sack of flour and other groceries on his back; of my father and other neighbors driving with ox teams ot the Jim River for firewood. I can remember twisting long tough slough grass for hours at a time, into tight, heavy bunches that would serve as fuel for the kit- chen stove. I can remember my mother first shearing the sheep, then washing and carding the wool, and later spinning it into yarn and then knitting our underclothing and socks. Gardens furnished the vegetables and prairie chickens, ducks and fish helped make up the family meals. When we started raising wheat, we took it to the mill and waited for it to be ground into flour." >From my mother I learned that my grandfather's great interest was with machinery, and mother gave me a picture of acorn cutter and knotter that he in- vented. He also invented a twine knotter for the binder-but that story is told in the Dowm Memory Lane section. He also devised a gadget for twisting the finer grade of hay into rope (for hemp and manilla were too expensive for the pioneer setters to buy) for use in thatching slough hay to many of the early shacks. He also made a mechanism for boring artesian wells and was the first to make artesian wells in this part of the country. Christen Jensen died in 1914 at age 72 and is buried in Rosehill Cemetery in Viborg. Grandma Maren lived to be 99 years of age, and won many blue ribbons at the Turner Country Fair when she was in her mid-90's for her hooked and crocheted rugs and knitted scarves and mittens, which she knitted from wool she carded and spun herself on the spinning wheel they brought over in 1874. At 95 she received the National Needlecraft prize for her outstanding exhibit at the Turner County Fair. Maren Jensen died in 1946 (99 years, 1 month, 1 day) and was probably the last of her group of Danish pioneers that came to this area. She is buried beside Christen in Rosehill Cemetery in Viborg. Hope this helps you...roger jensen formerly of Viborg SD Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.