Cornelius Boy Jensen (September 29, 1814 – December 12, 1886) was a Danish

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of the ship, inc ...

and Californian politician. Of the nine one-year terms that he served as county supervisor between 1856 and 1877, Jensen was the Chairman of the

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...

Board of Supervisors four times. His Agua Mansa home, the Jensen Alvarado Ranch, is a registered

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

(No. 943) and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Early years

Jensen was born on the North Frisian island of

Sylt Sylt (; ; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, with a distinctively shaped shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Fris ...

off the coast of

Southern Schleswig Southern Schleswig ( or ', ; ) is the southern half of the former Duchy of Schleswig in Germany on the Jutland Peninsula. The geographical area today covers the large area between the Eider river in the south and the Flensburg Fjord in the no ...

(then part of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, now in Germany) in either 1812 or 1814. He took his

mate Mate may refer to: Science * Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in: ** Mate choice, intersexual selection *** Mate choice in humans ** Mating * Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins Pers ...

's exam in Denmark and thereafter made several trips around

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

, arriving in California by 1844.

Biography

Jensen was captain of his own vessel for 20 years. He arrived in San Francisco in 1848. With news of the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

, his crew jumped ship and, thereafter, he went to

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

and opened a store, selling items to the gold miners. It was there that he met the

Californio Californios (singular Californio) are Californians of Spaniards, Spanish descent, especially those descended from settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish language in C ...

Ignacio Alvarado. At Alvarado's urging Jensen moved to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, settling in Agua Mansa around 1854. At the age of 40, he married Alvarado's 16-year-old sister, Though the reference states that Mercedes was Ignacio's daughter, genealogical records show Ignacio (or Ygnacio) to be her brother. Mercedes Alvarado (c. 1848–1914) at

Mission San Gabriel Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality *Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * O ...

in 1853. Her parents were Francisco and Juana Maria (Avila) Alvarado. Jensen had several careers after his early years as a sea captain. In addition to being a rancher and vintner on his Southern California properties, he owned a sawmill and a store, and served as a politician.

Personal life

After the

Great Flood of 1862 The Great Flood of 1862 was the largest flood in the recorded history of California, Oregon, and Nevada, inundating the western United States and portions of British Columbia and Mexico. It was preceded by weeks of continuous rains and snows tha ...

destroyed much of the town of Agua Mansa, Jensen and his wife built a home on hundreds of acres on what was to become the Cornelius and Mercedes Jensen Ranch, a

, located at the Jensen-Alvarado Ranch Historic Park and Museum. Their brick home, the oldest non-

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

structure in the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

, was Riverside County's first

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

-fired brick building. Of their twelve children, ten survived into adulthood. His oldest son was Jose (born 1855) who made a career as a deputy assessor, judge of elections, and member of the board of education. Henry (born 1867) was a member of the school board. Their son John, who married Emily Crowder, built a wood-framed home that was subsequently moved to the Jensen-Alvarado Historic Ranch and Museum, serving as the caretaker's home. Jensen spoke fluent German, Spanish and English. Considered the richest man in the area when he died in 1886, Jensen is buried at the Agua Mansa Cemetery near Colton, California. Mercedes’ sister, Delores, married Fenton Slaughter who also sat on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. Jensen's cousin, Peter Peters, who also hailed from Sylt, married Mercedes’ other sister, Refugio; Peters served on the local school board and was a trustee of the Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery.Sheffield, p. 18

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Cornelius 1814 births 1886 deaths American people of Danish descent American people of Frisian descent 19th-century Danish sailors Sea captains North Frisians People from San Bernardino County, California People of the California Gold Rush Danish Frisian people People from Sylt