Danish birth records of the nineteenth century often consist of a one line hand written entry in the local parish register, written in Danish.

Caroline's birth record name was: "Karoline Thomasine Hansen" and she was born in what is now Rarup Parish, within Hedensted municipality (a district created in 2007), Central Denmark Region (Midtjylland), Denmark. Rarup is approximately 9 miles south of Horsens, and 20 miles east of Vejle. She was daughter to Hans Christian Hansen and Susanne (Sorenson) Thompson.

In 1884, Caroline migrated to the U.S. with her mother Susanne and older brother Julius. They left Gramrode, Denmark (near Rarup - also a small village south of Horsens), and travelled to Hamburg, Germany where they set sail on 14 September 1884 aboard the German steamship "Lessing" of the Hamburg-American Line. They arrived in New York, USA on 2 October 1884 over two years before the N.Y. Statue of Liberty was built.

After arrival, it is believed they stayed in New York for a very short time, and then went to Chicago where they lived for a time. In 1889, Caroline married (1) Christ L. Jensen (1868-1931) and had five children: Nels, Mary, Emil, Daniel, and David. After Christ L.'s death in 1931, in 1935 she then married (2) William J. Giertz (1870-1950) in Miami but had no other children.

Caroline Thomasine (Hansen/Thomsen/Thompson) Jensen Giertz had several surnames due to her personal history. Of the Thompson's who came to America, different branches of the family adopted different surname spellings, including originally Thomsen, then later Thompsen and Thompson. But Caroline (whose surname was actually Hansen) soon changed her surname to Jensen, after marrying Christ L. Jensen first, then married a second time to William Giertz in Florida . Thus, she finally became Caroline (Thompson/Thompsen) Jensen Giertz which is what appears on her Florida death certificate.