Marriage: 18 Aug 1887
Logan, Cache, Utah
Bertha always remembered the rolling hills and grassy lanes of the fairy tale
land of Denmark. She and her little sister, May, would pick flowers and herd
geese and go to the village bakery for bread. Her father was sick when Bertha
was 8 years old. A few days prior to his death he charged Bertha to care for
her mother. She never forgot her promise, and did indeed care for her mother
for many years prior to her mother’s passing.

Her mother remarried and in 1880 the family converted to Mormonism. They made
their move to Utah in 1881. Her step father, Christian Steffensen, was in the
dairy business and it was Bertha’s task to help deliver the milk door to door,
measuring it out of a big bucket, as to each families’ needs. At age 18 she
went to work at the Pacifica Hotel in Evanston, Wyoming. While there, she was
courted by a wild cowboy, Marion Woodruff, whom she had actually known from
home. Since Marion couldn’t write very well he had his brother, Ensign, help
him with his love letters. One time when Ensign wasn’t at home, he had his
sister, Emeline, help. The different handwriting confused Bertha, yet somehow
out of all of this love bloomed; and the couple were married August 18, 1887 in
the Logan Temple.

The young family lived in Salt Lake for several years. Bertha gave birth to 5
children: Ella (1888), Earl (1890), Myrtle (1892), Mamie (1895), and Vernon
(1897). Her husband earned a living at various job but there was some struggle
in their marriage, due primarily to his drinking and wild ways. In 1897 Bertha
and her mother were introduced to the 7th Day Adventist religion.
Coincidentally her husband decided to move the family to Tremonton, Utah to
homestead. Life was tough in those days. They lived in a dug-out home, cooked
outside and eked a living out of sagebrush flats grubbed into farmland.
Bertha’s mother had stayed in Salt Lake, and Bertha although busy just surviving
in Box Elder County, would return to her mother, for the next few births: Rosa
(1899), Ione (1902), and Ruth (1904). During these visits she strengthened her
ties with her new found religion. After Ione’s birth she insisted that all
preparations for Saturday and Sunday be done on Friday night. They became the
family of the two Sabbaths, Sabbath School on Saturday and Sunday School on
Sunday. The children had to make a choice between religions in their later
life, but in their youth, they learned both doctrines and pondered them.

Bertha continued as a good wife and mother as the families economic status
continued to improve. They moved from dug-out to log cabin and finally into a
nice two story home in 1909. She gave birth to 3 more children in Tremonton:
Leland (1907), Elmer (1909), and Iva (1912). Her daughter Ruth contracted
whooping cough in 1909 and passed away at the age of 5. The rest of her family,
10 children, all grew to maturity. With so many children there was always lots
to do. Before long there were grandchildren, and Bertha was the midwife, the
births occurring in the front parlor of the house. Bertha was an emaculate
housekeeper. Sweeping and mopping were not enough, you had to get down on your
hands and knees and scrub out the cracks. There is a profound image in her
children’s minds of seeing her bent over her scrub board and wash tub with her
wire-rimmed glasses down on the end of her nose. For her 50th wedding
anniversary, she was given an electric washer. Plugging it in, she got an
electric shock. She was ready to return to the scrub board. She left a new faith
with some of her children (giving them all free choice), and she was a model of
motherhood for all. [Alan J. Hill, 12-24-98]
Sources

Brainard, Rosa, Mother, Life of Hansina Dorthea Bertha Jensen, a life sketch
prepared for Bertha’s 50th wedding anniversary, 1937.

Hill, Alan J., Neither Saints Nor Sinners, Just Good Folk, Salt Lake City, c.
1983

Woodruff, Leola, Valley of Decision, Pacific Press Publishing, Association,
Mountain View, California, 1959.