Martin or Martinus Jensen was born on 26 Apr 1868 in Vrensted, Borglum, Hjorring, Denmark. This puts it on the upper most tip of Denmark on the western side near the North Sea. He was the youngest of seven children born to Niels Jensen and Maren Sorensdatter. His siblings were Jens (James) b. 1854, Soren b. 1856, Jens Christian b. 1860, Christian b. 1862, Kjersten b. 1862 Nielsine Marie b. 1865 and Martinus b. 1868. I have not been able to locate all of the dates for their deaths but we do know that Christian, Kjersten and Nielsine all died the first week of November 1867, just five months before Martin was born. Most likely cause was the cholera epidemic that was sweeping the world with over 500,000 deaths, with over 30,000 in Denmark alone! When Martin was 4 years old he, his older brother, Soren (I believe the only other surviving child), and their parents emigrated to the United States.
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| Martin & Laura Jensen |
In 1906, Martin became one of three mail carriers for the new rural areas around Stephen, MN and remained in that job for 25 years until his poor eyesight caused him to retire. It was written in the Marshall County Leader/Stephen Messenger newspaper on 4 Nov 1910, "Guess we will be compelled to get up before breakfast these mornings in order to mail our letters, as our mail carrier, Martin Jensen, has a new motor cycle."
Martin married Laura Francis Toombs 27 Nov 1889 and they produced eight children. Laura and Martin were parents to Marion, George, Nellie, Anne, Lawrence, Nels, Charles and Hazel. Hazel, the youngest was born in 1908. When she was 13 years old, her mother died and Martin remarried two years later to Minnie Mott. Minnie, too, died an early death, passing away one year later in 1924. Martin again remarried Mrs. Mary Anderson in 1931 and when she passed away in 1940, he moved in with Hazel and her husband, Omer Brossoit with their three children, Marvin, Bette and Joan down in South St Paul, MN.
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