Source:
"Life of Karen Sophie Nikolaisen Hintze", was found in privately published history of Henry Herriman Hintze distributed in July 2005 at a Henry Hintze family reunion held in Copperton, Utah.
This information was obtained from the HINTZE FAMILY HISTORY Compilation begun in August 1983 and is continuing under the direction of the F. F. Hintze family organization.
Karen Sophie Nicolaisen was born February 27, 1824 in Sonnerup, Denmark [map]. She was the daughter of Nicolaj Nielsen and Ellen Hansen. She married Anders Hintze November 8, 1852 and to them were born five children -- Ana Sophie, Ferdinand Friis, Nicolaj, Florentina Camilla, and Sarah. Three of her children died in infancy. Ferdinand and Florentina survived and lived relatively long lives.
Karen lived with her husband and young family in Roskilde, Denmark [map]. She was a large woman of aggressive nature. She first heard of the Mormons from an old lady, a Mormon, who came to their door peddling fish. When the lady didn't come around for a time, Karen began inquiring about her. When the lady finally reappeared, she informed Karen of the presence of Mormon missionaries in the area. Karen asked her husband if it might be alright to invite them to call, to which he consented. She was quick to grasp the principles of the Gospel and in a few months was ready for baptism.
In 1864 she emigrated to Utah with her husband and two remaining children. Her baby daughter, Sarah, died on the voyage from Liverpool, England to America and was buried at sea. As they crossed the plains, Karen and her children often scouted for wild fruit and berries, sometimes getting far behind the wagon train and taking chances of getting lost of being caught by Indians. When they arrived in Salt Lake there was no friend or acquaintance to greet them and they sat and slept on the platform of the Tithing Office for two days and two nights without being claimed and taken into someone's home who would help them get started in this new land. Tired and disillusioned, Karen exclaimed, "So this is Zion!" Her husband's comforting words were, "I knew it would be like this. How else could it be?"
In time they found friends who were able to help them in learning the homestead laws. They filed on some bench land with no water, made a dugout dwelling, and started a dry farm. Others soon filed nearby and together they built a canal to bring water to their land. Karen's husband was frail, with chronic asthma, buy she made up for his weakness. They produced food for themselves and some to sell. She balanced the basket on her head. She came back with a load of cast-off army clothes which she made over for clothes for her family.
Karen readily accepted the principles of plural marriage and assisted her husband in selecting two more wives. She worked faithfully in the Church. She was a good mother and wished always to each her children that which was right. She was by nature jovial and happy and remained as such most of her life. However, because o the trials in later life, she became very cross and irritable. At the death of a granddaughter she expressed a desire not to live any more and died soon thereafter. It was on September 19, 1881.
