Jennie Elizabeth appears to have been a very independent woman and apparently not afraid to venture far from home. She was the first child born to Nels and Selma in the United States. She appears in the 1880 Census as a 7 year old girl in the family home at 82 Colfax Street. She was still living at home (82 Colfax) in 1889-1891 according to the Jamestown City Directories for those years. She was listed as a spinner or knitter.

In 1895 at age 22 Jennie married Emil A. Anderson. Emil was born as Anders Emil Samuelsson, but changed his name in the US. Emil had emigrated to Jamestown in March of 1889. They were married by J. M. Ahnstrom, pastor of the then Swedish Evangelical Mission Church on Chandler St. (now First Mission Covenant Church - different location.) Jennie and Emil probably met at this church where Emil and Jennie's parents Nils and Selma also attended. Also John P. Oberg and family attended this church.

Soon after their marriage in Jennie and Emil moved to Winona, MN. They show up in the Winona city directories. Emil was then the pastor of the Swedish Congregational church. While in Winona, Eugenia Amelia Anderson was born on 10 Feb 1896. By the time of the birth of their second daughter, Ellna Irene Anderson (21 Dec 1897), they were in Lake City, MN.

The 1900 Census shows Jennie, Emil and two young daughters (Eugenia and Ellna) living in Lake City, MN. Jennie is referred to by her middle name Elizabeth in the 1900 census and the children's names vary in their spelling. Emil was the pastor of the Swedish Congregational Church at the S.E. Corner of 6th & Doughty (source: Wabasha County 20th Cent. Directory by Prather, pg. 22). They lived at 220 West 6th Street. But by 1905 they had moved to Sandstone, MN - the same town as Emma Oberg and Bernt Moe. Emil gained a bit of fame during the Great Fire in Sandstone by warning several town's folk of the oncoming blaze and directing others to seek protection in the river.

The 1910 Census shows that Jennie and family were then living in Minneapolis, MN at 1500 Vine Place (now LaSalle Avenue). Emil's occupation is listed as a real estate salesman. According to Emil's death certificate and obituary he passed away in his mid 40's in 1913 and was survived by a wife, two daughters, and a sister (Alma). In 1913 they were living at 787 Cromwell Avenue, St. Paul. By 1915 her daughter Eugenia had left home and was married (07 Jan 1915) to Gilbert Truman Halvorsen and in 1920 they were living at 423 Penn Avenue in Minneapolis with sons Gordon and Truman. (Another son Vernon was born in 1922.)

Jennie was married a second time to George William Ellsworth on 16 Dec 1919. George was a local butcher with his own shop on Raymond Avenue in St. Paul and had been a widower since 1918. He had 5 children with his first wife Elizabeth Imry White (Florence, Maude, Dorothy, Beatrice, and Harold). Jennie and George lived at 787 Cromwell Avenue in St. Paul, MN according to the 1920 Census. None of George's or Jennie's children are listed as living with them.

By 1922 Jennie and George had moved to Lake Worth (Palm Beach), FL, which is mentioned in Selma Charlotta Oberg's obituary. They resided at 324 South N Street. George is listed in the 1930 census as still being in retail meats in Lake Worth, but was close to retirement age at 67 (Jennie was 57). By the time of George's death on May 4, 1935 they had moved back to the midwest. George's death certificate indicates that they (possibly just he) may have been living in Fairfield, Iowa. George is buried in his family's plot in the Crystal Lake Cemetery (Minneapolis).

Eugenia passed on 27 Nov 1924 of smallpox and Gilbert married sister-in-law Ellna on 03 Jul 1925. The 1930 Census shows Ellna and Gilbert T. Halvorsen living at 4800 14th Avenue in Minneapolis. The Minneapolis city directories (1936-1939) also show Jennie living at 4800 14th Avenue in Minneapolis. Ellna and Jennie appear to have moved to the Chicago area after Ellna was divorced from Gilbert.

Jennie's final residence at the time of her death was 731 Buena Avenue, Chicago, IL. She had been in the Oak Forest Hospital of Cook County for 9 months before she passed on. She is buried at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota, next to Emil. Daughter Ellna Irene Halvorsen is buried on the other side of Emil (grave 5 - empty, grave 6 - Ellna, grave 7 - Emil). Eugenia is buried in the Crystal Lake Cemetery in Minneapolis in the Halvorsen family plot.