Lauritz Jensen

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Brief Overview

Lauritz Jensen.

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Lauritz Jensen was born on Ærø in 1869 and immigrated in 1889 on the fateful voyage of theDanmark, which sprang a hole in the North Atlantic halfway through the journey to New York. A much smaller cargo ship, the Missouri, first attempted to tow the Danmark to Newfoundland but was frustrated by ice floes. Faced with a sinking passenger vessel, the captain of the Missouri ordered his cargo jettisoned and transferred over Lauritz and several hundred other passengers. They were taken the Azores, where the men were left behind for other ships while the Missouricontinued to North America. After several weeks Lauritz found transportation to New York and proceeded west. A song he wrote about his maritime adventure is in his file at the FHGC.

A decade later he married Shelby County native Karen Marie "Mary" Pedersen; they became the parents of six children. These photographs were taken in the 1890s.