The Ship that brought Anders Christensen and Kirsten Marie Jensdatter to America

Kenilworth

Source:  Scandinavian Emigrant Ship Descriptions and Voyage Narratives (1852-1868)
from Ships, Saints, and Mariners by Conway B. Sonne and other sources.Ship: 987 tons: 165' x 34' x 24'
Built: 1853 by John Currier at Newburyport, Massachusetts
Sailing from Hamburg on 25 May 1866, the British ship Kenilworth carried on board 684 Mormon passengers. Of this number 583 were Danes, 23 Norwegians, 73 Swedes, and 5 Germans. Elder Samuel L. Sprague presided over the emigrant company. He was assisted by Elders Morten Lund, Fred R. E. Berthelsen, and Ole H. Berg. Under the command of Captain J. Brown the square-rigger arrived at New York on 16 July-a fifty-two-day passage. During the voyage there were twelve deaths, seven marriages, and two births. I
Originally built in America as the Volant, the ship was transferred to British registry in 1864 and renamed Kenilworth. In 1866 her owner was David Jones of Swansea. She was a two-decker with a square stern and a billethead. On 27 August 1877 the Kenilworth was lost in the Strait of Belle Isle.



Mormon Migration (mormonmigtation.lib.byu.edu)
"Fri. 25. [May 1866] -- The ship Kenilworth sailed from Hamburg, Germany, with 684 Scandinavian Saints, under the direction of Samuel L. Sprague. The company landed in New York July 17th and arrived at Wyoming [Nebraska] July 29th."
CC, p.75
". . . A company of emigrating Saints (the first of the year's emigration) left Copenhagen by steamer 'Aurora' May 17, 1866, and arrived early on the following day (May 18th) in Kiel, from which city the company went by train to Altona. From there the women and children continued in a small steamer to Hamburg, while the men walked to the same place. On their arrival in Hamburg, the emigrants were lodged for the night in a large emigrant building, and the following day went on board the double-decked ship 'Kenilworth' (Captain Brown). On Tuesday, May 22nd, more emigrants (who had left Copenhagen the preceding day) together with Elders Carl Widerborg, Niels Wilhelmsen, George M. Brown and Christian Christiansen, arrived in Hamburg, and on the 23rd the ship sailed a few miles down the river Elbe, where it anchored. On the 24th President Carl Widerborg, accompanied by Elders Niels Wilhelmsen and Christian Christiansen, came on board and organized the company, appointing Samuel L. Spraque president with Elder Morten Lund as his assistant. Fred R. E. Berthelsen was appointed secretary and Elder Ole H. Berg captain of the guard. The emigrants were divided into forty-two messes, each containing from twelve to seventeen persons, and a president appointed over each mess.
The ship 'Kenilworth' lifted anchor in the river Elbe at Hamburg May 25, 1866, and commenced its long voyage across the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean, with its precious cargo of 684 souls on board; of these 583 were from Denmark, 23 from Norway, 73 from Sweden and five from Germany. The route around the north of Scotland was chosen and one day the ship, driven by contrary winds out of its course, got so close to the west coast of Norway that its rocky cliffs were plainly seen. The Shetland and Orkney Islands were soon passed and the winds were favorable for about three weeks. After that there was continuous headwinds and fog for five weeks, which made the voyage both long and dreary. Captain Brown and the ship's crew treated the passengers in a kind and generous manner, allowing them all the privileges that could reasonably be expected. The provisions were satisfactory and the sick received good attention. Eleven or twelve persons died during the voyage. Among these was a man who wilfully jumped overboard on July 15th, just as land was in sight. A boat was launched in an endeavor to save him, but without success. The following night the ship anchored off Staten Island, and on the 17th of July the emigrants were landed at Castle Garden, the weather being exceedingly hot.
Elder Thomas Taylor, who again acted as emigration agent for the Church in 1866, had experienced much trouble in making the necessary arrangements for transporting the emigrants from New York to Wyoming, Nebraska. The railroad companies, whose lines went out from New York, had apparently planned to speculate at the expense of the 'Mormons,' and hence asked an unusual high price for conveying the emigrants westward. At length, after making a trip to Boston, Elder Taylor succeeded in closing a satisfactory contract for their conveyance, by an entirely new route, which was several hundred miles longer, but much cheaper than the more direct route used to be.
On the evening of the same day that the passengers of the 'Kenilworth' were landed at Castle Garden, the emigrants proceeded on their journey on a large freight steamer to New Haven, Connecticut, where they arrived on the morning of July 18th. After staying there a few hours, the journey northward by train was begun, passing through the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to Montreal in Canada. Here the emigrants had to accept passage in some very uncomfortable and dirty freight and cattle cars, in which they traveled through Canada, the route of travel being along the north bank of the St. Lawrence River and the shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, to the St. Clair River. On the evening of July 20th, a part of the train jumped the track near Port Hope on the banks of Lake Ontario, but through the interposition of kind Providence no one was hurt. The emigrants were ferried over the St. Clair River to Port Huron in the State of Michigan, where better cars were obtained, and they wended their way via Chicago to Quincy, Illinois. A steamer took them across the Mississippi River to the Missouri side, where they found temporary shelter from the burning sun in a nearby grove. While stopping there, a young boy who ventured too far out while bathing was drowned in the river. After a very disagreeable ride through the State of Missouri, where the inhabitants at nearly every station did all they could to insult the emigrants, the company arrived at St. Joseph July 27th. From this place they sailed two days on a steamboat up the Missouri River. On this most unendurable passage up the river they suffered all kinds of insults and abuses from a wicked crew
. Finally, the company reached Wyoming, Nebraska, Sunday morning, July 29th, and in the afternoon camped on the heights in and near the town. The 450 teams sent by the Church in 1866 to the Missouri River to assist the poor had already waited some time for the arrival of the emigrants in Wyoming, wherefore the necessary preparations were hurriedly attended to in order to begin the journey across the plains as soon as possible. . . .
. . . A part of the Scandinavian emigrants crossing the ocean that year in the ships 'Kennilworth' and 'Humbolt' crossed the plains in Captain Joseph S. Rawling's ox train, which left Wyoming Aug. 2nd and arrived in Salt Lake City Oct. 1st. Another part of them left Wyoming with Captain Peter Nebeker's ox train, Aug. 4th and arrived in Salt Lake City Sept. 29th. A third division left Wyoming with Captain Andrew H. Scott's company, Aug. 8th, and arrived in Salt Lake City Oct. 8th. . . ."
HSM, p.191-93, 194


Mormon Migration (mormonmigtation.lib.byu.edu) Passengers:
Anders Christian Christensen -Age 30-Horby, Jutland, DenmarkKirsten Marie Christensen (wife)-Age 27-Taars, Jutland, DenmarkNicoline Christensen (child)-Age 9-Taars, Jutland, DenmarkMariane Christensen (child)-Age 7-Taars, Jutland, Denmark