Our Pioneer Heritage HER MOTHER Mary Jensen Bearnson was bom in Duningland, Denmark, April 26, 1858, the daughter of Christian Jensen and Anne Sophie Larson. By occupation her father was a coachman and her mother a skilled tailoress. One of a family of three children, her early child¬hood was spent in Denmark where she lived with her father, mother and grand¬mother. She started to school when very young and learned to read and write her native language. Her home life in Denmark was exceptionally pleasant and everything in the home was done with the good of the child in mind. In 1853 the gospel was preached to the parents of this child and they both accepted it. Their main thought was of preparing to come to Zion. Many meet¬ings were held in their home and the missionaries were always welcome. In 1862 a boy child that had been born to them in 1860 died and the mother gave birth to another child, who also died. Shortly after this the mother, Anne Sophie, took very sick. She was devoted to her religion, and thinking of her daughter Mary and her future, she called her husband to her and secured from him a promise that if the child's grandmother, Christanna Peter¬son, ever went to Utah, he would allow Mary to go with her. Shortly after Christian had made this promise, Anne Sophie died. In 1866 the grandmother began making preparations for coming to Utah and Mary was given over to her. Christian took his daughter to Aalborg, where a very sad parting took place. He promised that he would follow soon after, but although he lived to be eighty years of age, he never came. He married a woman by the name of Anne Christensen. They were the parents of two girls and remained in Denmark. The grandmother and child started from Aalborg to Copen¬hagen where, on May 21, 1866, they sailed for Hamburg, Ger¬many. They arrived at Hamburg May 24 and went on board the sailing vessel Kenniilworth, which carried six hundred eighty-four Saints under the direction of Samuel Sprague. They landed in New York City, July 17, 1866. From there they went to Boston. It was here that Mary saw her grandmother for the last time, for on the first train going west from Boston, Christanna died. Faithful friends immediately took charge of the little girl and she came on to Utah in their care. At Omaha they were met by wagons from Utah. Mary was placed in Andrew Scott's company in which there were three hundred people with forty-nine wagons. She was placed with the Jensen family in Hans Rigtrup's wagon. Mary walked most of the way. Thirty members of this company died on the Plains. The company arrived in Salt Lake City, October 6, 1866. In Denmark the Hans Otteson family and the parents of Mary had been very close friends. Christanna Peterson had taken Mrs. Otteson with her to Mormon meetings. As a result, these two women had become very friendly and had both be¬come converts to the gospel. Mrs. Otteson met Mary at Salt Lake City and took her to her home in Spanish Fork, Utah. Mary lived in this home for eight years. She did the same work as other pioneer children-helping in the home, fighting crickets and grasshoppers, working on the farm, knitting, spinning and any other work that she was asked to do. The Otteson family treated her as their own and did all they could to make up to her the loss of her own kindred. She went to school when possible, with other pioneer chil¬dren. However, at the age of seventeen, with the consent of Mrs. Otteson, she went to live with the family of William Holt. They were very kind to her. It was while living in the Holt home that she married Benjamin Shepherd in the Endowment House, June 28, 1878. One child, Josephine, was born to them. Later they were divorced. May 1, 1887, she married Finnbogi Bearnson. They were the parents of six children: William F., Catherine Vigdus (Kate), Elmer, Elner, (twins), John Y., and Hattie. One of the places the family called home was Winter Quarters, one mile up the canyon from Scofield, Utah. Here Finnbogi worked at the mine and was also constable of the little mining town. At the time of the great mine payroll robbery by the Butch Cassidy gang, Mr. Bearnson participated in the hunt throughout Southeastern Utah. Mary was always known as a home woman and a devoted mother. Although at times her sorrows were many, she learned to look on the bright side of life and cultivated a cheerful dis¬position. She served as a Relief Society teacher for twenty-five years, both before and after Spanish Fork was divided into wards. PRESIDENT CARTER REMINISCES February 19, 1975, President Carter took time from her busy schedule to record the following information concerning her