Nephi United States Centennial Jensen (1876-1955)

Nephi U. S. C. Jensen

   The following profile centers on one of the single greatest strange name discoveries this author has discovered in quite some time. The plentifully named individual above, Nephi United States Centennial Jensen, was a Utah attorney, judge, and Mormon leader during the first half of the 20th century, and I first located Jensen's name (as well as the above picture) in the History of the Bench and Bar of Utah, published in 1913. Throughout this book were featured numerous Utah lawyers, attorneys, and judges, many of whom had political offices to their credit. Among these men was the gentleman shown above, listed under the curious name of Nephi U.S.C. Jensen. I soon found that his unusual first name was given to him in honor of Nephi, the sixth-born son of Lehi, a high-ranking prophet in the Book of Mormon. After some lengthy searching, I discovered a death certificate for a Nephi United States Centennial Jensen, born in Salt Lake City on February 16, 1876. I compared the date to the one found in the aforementioned Bench and Bar book and found them to be a spot-on match! 
   Nephi U.S.C. Jensen was born of Danish parentage on February 16, 1876, in Salt Lake City, Utah. His parents, Soren and Christine Rasmussen Jensen had settled in Utah after emigrating from Denmark in 1861. No source mentions why his parents gave him the middle names "United States Centennial", but seeing that the country turned 100 years old in the year of his birth, they must have been seized with truly patriotic fervor to do so!! 
   Young Nephi joined the Mormon Church at age eight and is recorded as attending the "public schools of Sugar House" as well as the Union High School in Montezuma County, Colorado. Jensen continued his education at the Latter Day Saints College in Salt Lake City and later earned his LL.B degree from the University of Chattanooga in 1906. After leaving school in Utah, Jensen went into missionary service, preaching the word of Mormonism throughout the Southern area of the United States. Jensen returned from his religious mission in 1900 and settled in Arizona for a time. It was here that he married Ms. Margaret Fife Smith (1882-1969) on April 9, 1902, and moved back to Utah a short while later. Genealogical websites mention that Nephi and Margaret had at least one son born to them, Paul, who was recorded as being born sometime in 1903.
   Jensen was admitted to the Utah bar in February 1906 and in November of that year was elected to his first political office, winning election to the Utah State House of Representatives as a Republican. He took his seat in early January 1907, representing the county of Salt Lake. The Bench and Bar of Utah also mention his service, stating that he received "the highest vote of any candidate on the ticket." He served in the state house for one term (1907-1909) and a roster of house members from that legislative session has been provided below. Nephi's name is located at the very bottom of the roster.

   Jensen took his seat in the legislature in January 1907 and, in an interesting anecdote, his arrival in the state house soon caused a problem for the compilers of the legislative journal! As the Salt Lake Tribune snippet posted below relates, the legislature passed a motion stating that the lengthy name of Mr. Jensen occupied "too much space in the journal" and " that in the future he be designated as Nephius Jensen". No paper of the time denotes how Jensen reacted to the measure, but I like to think that he and many of his fellow legislators had a good laugh about it! 

   After leaving the legislature, Jensen continued practicing law, and in 1911 was named as the Assistant Attorney for Salt Lake County. He served in this position until August of 1913 when he resigned and started a joint law practice with another Utah attorney, C.E. Marks, who had previously served as a district court judge in Idaho. A portrait/article on Jensen's resignation from that office appeared on page fourteen of the July 16. 1913 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune and is shown below. For such an obscure individual, Mr. Jensen has had quite a few pictures of himself located in periodicals of the time, much to my great surprise!

   The firm of Marks and Jensen became regarded as one of the most successful law firms in Salt Lake, and this partnership lasted until 1919. That year, Jensen felt called to religious work once again and journeyed to Canada to accept the leadership of the Canadian Mission, a project of the Mormon church. His appointment to this position was viewed by the May 1919 edition of the Improvement Era periodical as an excellent choice, remarking that Jensen's "many friends feel that he will make good in the honor  that has come to him to found a new mission of the Church." During his leadership, Jensen established the mission's base in Toronto and after returning to the United States in the mid-1920s became a well-known public speaker on the Church of Latter Day Saints, tracts, and religious ideals. During research on Mr. Jensen, several archived newspaper articles were discovered that attest to his popularity as a public speaker. The Improvement Era further illustrates that Jensen was a popular draw during that period, stating that "his ability as a speaker, and his diligence to service of the Church is recognized by all who have heard or known him."

Nephi U. S. C. Jensen as he appeared in the 1919 edition of the Improvement Era.

   In 1928 Jensen returned to politics when he was appointed as judge of the municipal court of Salt Lake City, this appointment being occasioned by the death of Judge O.C. Dalby. That September Jensen announced that he'd be seeking his own term as judge. That November he won the election and would serve an indeterminate tenure as judge, though sources relate that he was still on the bench until at least 1933. Jensen's time as judge was profiled in the Salt Lake Tribune in April 1932, which described him as a thorn in the side of unsafe motorists, with the Tribune noting that he was "carrying out a vigorous punishment campaign" for those that violated city traffic laws. Remarking that "the lives of 140,000 persons must be safeguarded", Jensen went on to remark:

"The court's attitude has done much in our campaign to reduce traffic accidents, and if all courts were as consistant and cooperative, I am sure a that a great portion of our motor problem will have been solved."

From the Salt Lake Tribune, April 17, 1932.

  Throughout that decade and into the 1940s and 50s Jensen published scholarly articles and pamphlets discussing his views and maintained a public speaking career. He had earlier authored Utah and the Civil War in 1929 with two co-authors, Margaret Fisher and Christian N. Lund. After many years of prominence in Salt Lake City, Nephi U.S.C. Jensen died at age 79 on September 2, 1955, and was buried in the Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park in Salt Lake City. Jensen's wife Margaret survived her husband by nearly fourteen years, dying in Utah on March 28, 1969, at age 86, and she too was interred at the Wasatch Memorial Park.
  On an aside note, I have decided to post a part of Nephi United States Centennial Jensen's death certificate, as I have an inkling that no reader will believe that one man could be given so strange a name! Here it is, courtesy of the Utah State Archives website.

                     The full death certificate lists Jensen's cause of death as "coronary occlusion."

A death notice for Jensen that appeared in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

"His Official Record....."