L is for Lorentzen

photo source: familysearch.org

Anna Maragretha Dorothea Lorentzen, my dear husband's great-great grandmother was born October 27, 1827 in  Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark, which today part of Prussia, Germany.  Her mother was Ane Margarethea Jacobsen who was married to Lorentz Lorentzen.  Lorentz was the coachman of King Frederick VI of Denmark, and Margaretha was a cook in the king's palace.   King Frederick and his wife had no male heir, and as the queen was past child bearing age, it was accepted practice for the king to take a mistress in order to produce an heir to the throne.  Ane Margarethea and Lorentz had two healthy young sons, so Ane was chosen to be the King's mistress.  She was a part of the king's court and attended many functions with the king.   When Doris was born, unfortunately for the king, she was a girl, so he still had no male heir, but Doris and her mother were loved by the king, and well provided for by him.  King Frederick died when Doris was only 10 years old, and King Frederick's nephew took over the throne.   Doris and her parents were provided an estate, and Doris received a full education at the palace with other children who were relatives of the King.  After her schooling was complete, Doris left the court, and at age 23 married  Hans Petersen who had a fine farm and raised purebred horses for the government.  They were known as a fine couple, were quite wealthy, and had three healthy children; Josephine, Ernest, and Lorenz.  

Doris's mother had a dream that two gentlemen would come to their door with a valuable message.  When two Mormon missionaries showed up at their door, Doris and her Mother were quickly converted and baptized as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of  Latter-Day Saints in 1858.   Hans was not as enthusiastic, but he too eventually joined the church, which was not well accepted in Denmark.  The family did much to help the church and its members, especially financially.  In 1863 Doris convinced Hans to emigrate to the United States,  and they sailed from Liverpool England to New York City, arriving  in May of 1863.   This was during the Civil war, so there was some difficulty with their travel, but Hans was able to buy some of the finest stallions and mares available to take with them as they traveled by wagon train  west from Nebraska to the state of Utah.

 Hans wanted to continue on to California to try his hand at mining gold, but Doris was determined to stay in Utah, which was the headquarters of the Church.  They were able to settle on a farm of 20 acres where  Hans eventually continued to make money raising fine horses, but the family gave much of their income to others less fortunate than they were. Two more children were born to the couple, Hans, who died at the age of six years,  and Ezra.  Eventually Doris and Hans were divorced, and Hans remarried.  Doris worked hard to support her children on her own, carding wool and making quilts, and later working as a cook.  She was later asked to learn to be a midwife, which she did, delivering about 1200 babies during her later years, continuing to work until 1919 when she reached the age of 90 years.  She was always generous with whatever skills, money, or other resources that were available to her.   Doris Lorentzen passed away at her home on November 17, 1922.