When Peter Cornelius Carstensen was born on 17 December 1833, in Holbøl, Slesvig, Denmark, his father, Iver Carstensen, was 48 and his mother, Ana Cathrina Diderichsen, was 46. He married Karen Petersen on 27 April 1864, in At Sea. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 6 daughters. He lived in Denmark in 1845. He died on 31 March 1887, in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States, at the age of 53, and was buried in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States.