Christen Jensen, son of Peder Jensen and Kirsten Andeston, was born October 28, 1848 in Farre, Skanderborg, Denmark. When he was 10 years old, Latter Day Saint Elders came to his father's home and taught the Gospel to his family. Christen was converted and wanted to be baptized, his father, however, thought he was too young. On April 6, 1862, the family of nine members left Denmark and traveled to Salt Lake City. On this journey Christen was taken seriously ill with ague, at Florence, Nebraska, and begged to be baptized. His father consented and he was baptized June 27, 1862. He instantly healed and became strong enough to walk all the way to Salt Lake City. The family later moved to Moroni, Sanpete county, Utah. During this time there was trouble with the Mavajo and Blackhawk Indians. Christen was mustered into Company A to do service in the Blackhawk war. He served in that capacity for three years.
He received his endowments and married Maria Sophia Anderson on February 8, 1868. That same spring, he received a call to go as a Church teamster across the plains, assisting the emigrants on their way to Utah. On December 5, 1875, he took a second wife, Anna Christina Bengtsson. In December, 1881, he married Helena S. Rundquist, and in 1886, he married Mattie K. Peterson. About this time great pressure was exerted against polygamists. Christen moved part of his family to the San Luis Stake of Zion. He was in exile for 12 years. The family lived in Richfield for about 13 years and then moved to Eastdale. He was the father of 18 children. Anna Christana was the mother of 7 daughters and three sons and Helena Sophia was the mother of six daughters and two sons.
In 1886 Christen assisted in organizing the 92nd Quorum of Seventy, and for 11 years he served as its senior president. After the persecution relented, the Jensen family made plans to return to their home in Utah, but he cas called to move to Eastdale and serve as the Bishop of the Eastdale Ward. He was ordained a Bishop by Apostle John W. Taylor on August 11, 1897, with Simeon Adams Dunn as First Counselor and Ward Clerk and Andrew S. Nielson as Second Counselor.
When Eastdale was sold, Bishop Jensen moved to Manassa. On October 24, 1909 he was set apart as a member of the High Council. On August 20, 1911 he was ordained a Patriarch by Apostle Orson F. Whitney. For a number of years, he was Stake Representative of the Genealogical Society of the San Luis Stake and served as a Secretary and Treasurer of the San Luis Stake Academy. He has acted as Justice of the Peace, Police Magistrate, School Trustee, membeer of the Manassa Town Board, President of the Colonial State Bank of Manassa and a missionary to his native Denmark.
After the death of his wives, he worked in the Salk Lake Temple and met and married Eliza Bessey. Christen died October 31, 1932 in Manassa.
This history was taken from "The Mormons: 100 Years in the San Luis Valley of Colorado 1883-1893", compiled and edited by Carleton Q. Anderson, Betty Shawcroft and Robert Compton,
