Karen Caroline Hansen

Biography

Karen Caroline Hansen was born on January 14, 1849 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was the second of eight children. When she was eight years old, her parents took her and her siblings and set out for Utah. They sailed first to England before boarding the ship "Westmoreland" in Liverpool. Karen and her family arrived in Philadelphia on May 31, 1857. From there, they took a train to Iowa City before joining a handcart company.
However, a little ways past Omaha, Karen's father took ill and her mother was unable to pull the handcart without his help. When a man from Jenoa offered his farm in exchange for joining the group of Saints on the journey west, Karen's family took over his farm in his stead. They lived in a dugout and subsisted on squash and potatoes until their father was able to earn flour working in Omaha.
Though Karen (who changed her name to Caroline once arriving in the States) later recalled their difficulties in Iowa vividly, she also described it as a beautiful place. Once her father was able to build a log cabin, they had less trouble with flooding and illness. Native American conflict in the area drove her and her family to move from Jenoa to Council Bluffs and then Crescent City.
In 1861, the family acquired a wagon and was finally ready to make the journey to Utah. Karen described their time crossing the plains as "very pleasant". She and the other children walked almost the whole way. After arriving in Utah, she and her family made their home in American Fork. Less than a year later, Karen's mother Inger died giving birth to her youngest daughter, who was named Inger after her. In her stead, thirteen-year-old Karen took over caring for the household with help from her siblings. When her father remarried in 1863 and the house started to get crowded, Karen moved out and started working. She cooked, nursed, and cleaned to support herself.
In 1869, Karen married Joseph Smith Adams in Salt Lake City. The couple made their home in American Fork and had ten children together, nine of whom lived to adulthood. Joseph worked in cattle raising, while Karen worked hard to support their family. Joseph passed away in 1917, at some point after which Karen moved to be with her son Leonard in Provo. She died on August 10, 1934 at the age of eighty-five and was buried in the American Fork Cemetery.