Caroline Andresen was born in Durkung, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany on April 10, 1863.  Her  father was Andreas Andresen but he also went by Andrew when he came to the United States.  Her Mother was Sena Catharina Jensen, daughter of Christopherr Jensen and Cecelia Mohr.  This information came from Emil Hinrichsen's old family bible.  ( Does anyone know who has this bible now?)  She had 4 brothers and 1 sister:  Martin, Christopher, Ingwer, Soersel (Celia) and August who died at age 2 in Germany.

She immigrated to the United States in 1883 with her family.  She left germany on October 14, 1883 on the ship Bohemia.  She arrived in New York on October 29, 1883.
When she traveled with the following family:

Caroline Andresen,  Ingwer Andresen, Sosel Andresen (Celia) , Martin Andresen, 
Meta Andresen, Sina (Daughter of Martin & Meta) and Aug a 6 month old baby of Martin & Meta (not sure if this baby is male or female and I can find no other record of this baby.  Does anyone know anything about this child?  The departure record lists baby as a male, the arrival record lists baby as female.)

Her father Andreas and her brother Christopher immigrated together in 1882 on a ship named India.

Christopher Andresen, lived in Charlotte, IA.  He remembered herding geese in Germany.

Martin Andresen, Settled in Charlotte, then Dewitt.

Ingwer Andresen, lived on a farm just north of Lena in Bryant.  His son Art married Gerrtrude and lived  in Lena's house from 1925-1926.  Ingwer could remember the family was so poor in Germany that as a small boy he stole potatoes and his mother cooked them over cow chips.

Celia Andresen, lived in Clinton on 4th Ave.

Andreas Andresen lived with the Carolines family  in Bryant. He shared a middle bedroom upstairs with two boys, sleeping in a double bed.  Emil remembers his grandpa couldn't milk a cow because his hands were cupped from holding a spade, digging ditches (his trade).  Andrew died in 1918, during WWI.

When Caroline came from Germany, she worked for Fred Nogle,  one of two stores in town.  Fred liked her and gave her a parrot that could only say "Otto".  It was when she was working in this grocery store that she met Thomas Peter Hinrichsen.

On January 7, 1885 Caroline and Thomas were married.  They started their family in Deep Creek Twp, Clinton, Iowa.  the Hinrichsen family lived on a 3 acre corner lot just north of Bryant, Iowa.

Thomas and Caroline had 7 children:  Peter August, Selma Marie, Minnie Katherine, Alvin Daniel (1), Alvin Daniel(2), Emil William, and Thomas Peter.

The house in Bryant had a small porch that poked out in front towards a dirt road; a white picket fence enclosed the area, housing a cow, pigs, lots of chickens and Old Kate, the horse.  A large garden kept Caroline and the younger children very busy.

Emil Hinrichsen can remember going to Clinton maybe three or four times a year.  Caroline would then stop to see her sister Celia.  Generally , Old Kate was hitched to the buggy and they started at 4 a.m., arriving in Clinton about 7 a.m.

School was one mile West of the Hinrichsen home.  It was the South Prairie School.  When everyone attended, there were as many as 45 students.  In the spring and fall when there was work to be done, the attendance tapered considerably.

The Hinrichsens attended a country church in Bryant, Zion Lutheran Church.

In 1895 Thomas Peter Hinrichsen died just before his youngest son Thomas was born.

In the 1895 Iowa state census Caroline (age31) was keeping house.  Her husband (a carpenter age 360 was the head of the house living with the 6 surviving children and her father Andrew Andresen.

In 1900 Federal census Caroline was the head of house.  It says she was a farmer and owned her own farm.  Minnie, Alvin, Emil and Thomas lived with her.  Because she was a widow, her brother Ingwer at times took in her children and let them live with he and his family.  They were able to work, have room and board with Ingwer and still help support Caroline financially.  Caroline also took in wash to earn extra money.

In the 1905 Clinton Census Register all of the kids along with Andrew were listed as living with Caroline as head of household.

In 1910, the Hinrichsen family moved to a much larger home on 6th ave. in Clinton.  There the boys attended Clinton Business College, went off to war and then went to work for the Curtis Co.

Lena (Carolines nickname as found on her tombstone) loved to play bridge!  She was a member of a bridge club and played every week.

Lena died on July 24, 1962 in Clinton, Clinton, Iowa.  She was 99 years old.  She was burried in the Center Grove Cemetery, Gooselake, Clinton Co. Iowa.

For her son Emil's 90th birthday his family made a book for him.  In it, it had some "I remember" statements in it about Caroline;

   "Great Grandma (Caroline) sitting out on the big front porch in Clinton, telling me about having been alive before Lincoln was shot, before cars, before airplanes, before electricity p and the impression it made on me, not of her age, but of the astonishing possibilities for change in one lifetime."

  "Trying to get through great grandma's accent."

  "Watching Great Grandma bake rye bread and peppernuts - grandpa in his chair and    Great Grandma in hers."

  "Lena saw Humor in everything"
  

The above infomation was mostly compiled 20 years ago when I was taking a geneology class at BYU.  I had read through some family histories to get some of the information and researched for the rest of the information.  I don't have the book Emil's family made him or any pictures.  If you have any more information on Lena or her family please add them to her memories for all to share.