In 1840 a girl named Maren Amine Olesdatter was christened in Asdal sogn. Her parents were Ole Christensen and Else Marie Pedersdatter.

In the year 1845 Maren Amine Olesdatter lived in Asdal with her parents, one grandmother and 2 siblings.

In Danish census 1850 Maren Olesdatter lived in a place called Klitten in Asdal sogn with her parents, a grandmother and 5 siblings.

In Danish census year 1860 Maren Olesdatter no longer lived with her parents. Her parents were still living in Klitten in Asdal.

Maren married Mads Peter Thomsen on 23 Oct 1860, in Asdal sogn, Vennebjerg herred in Hjorring amt.

An Ole Christian Madsen was born 28 March 1862 in Ugilt sogn, Vennebjerg Herred in Hjorring amt. He was christened in the church 20 July 1862. His father was Mads PeterThomsen and his mother was Maren Amine Olesdatter, they lived in a small place called Iilbjerg in Ugilt sogn. The mother was 22 years old.

In 1864, another son was born, Joseph Thorvald Madsen, from Ugilt sogn.

The story is told that Maren Amine and her husband, Mads P. Thomsen and their two sons: Ole Christian Thomsen - age 3, and Joseph Thorvald Thomsen - age 9 months, lived in Vendsyssel, Jutland, Denmark. They joined the Mormon movement to Utah, setting sail from Hamburg, Germany to New York City, NY, on 8 May 1865. Traveling with them was Johanna Thomsen, age 26, presumed to be Mads' sister. They were aboard the Mormon Migration ship, B.S. Kimball. This ship traveled in very rough waters and had a fire (that did not halt the voyage) and lost several people to smallpox. It is believed that Maren died aboard that ship and was buried at sea.
This information has not been verified.

The 1870 U.S. Census of Nebraska City, Otoe County, Nebraska (p. 28) lists an M.P. Thompsen, age 41, O. Thompsen, age 8, and T. Thompsen, age 3, from Denmark. The ages match. Spelling the name with a p could be an enumerator error. The T Thompsen is listed as "f"-female, but that again could be an enumerator error. Maren's younger sister, Ane, was living in Nebraska City in 1870, so it could fit that the Thomsen's left the Mormom movement and moved there.

In Denmark, around 1860, the custom of children taking the Given name of the father and adding "sen" (son) or "datter" (daughter), began to gradually disappear; thus, Mads Thomsen's son's were surnamed Madsen. In 1865, when they left Denmark, the boys' surnames on the ship register were Thomsen.

There is a Mads P. Thomson, age 82, listed at an old folks home in Fayette, Decatur County, Iowa in 1919; whether this is our Mads has yet to be verified.

For journal accounts of this voyage, see http://www.lib.byu.edu/mormonmigration/voyage.php?id=57, or search for Mormon Migration 1865 May, B. S. Kimball: Hamburg to New York.

There is much more research needed on this line of the family.