Born in Nimtofte on 23 February 1839 to Peter Christian la Cour (no. 53) and Caroline Jacobine la Cour, Marie lived at home with her parents until her marriage on 28 August 1863 to Niels Larsen Tybjerg, a man born on 20 August 1831 in the village Fredsgårde near Ringsted to Lars Jensen, a crofter, and Kirsten Jensdatter. Niels graduated from Lyngby teachers’ college in 1855 and worked as a tutor at the Ålsø parsonage from 1855 to 1857. He subsequently studied in Copenhagen while working as a private tutor in the household of Frederik Barfod in 1858-59. In 1860 he became a teacher at the public school in Middelfart. After resigning in 1871, Niels established a private independent school in the same town. It was said about her that Marie’s quiet and industrious life went on hidden from the world, but she lived and died like a true Christian heroine: she was always open and happy, even under modest and impoverished conditions. She worked hard as an assistant to her husband in both home and school to a degree rarely seen elsewhere. She was wealthy in that she was able to live for more than herself, something that every day gave her new strength. Marie died on 30 September 1876 in Middelfart after 11 weeks of illness; Niels died on 1 December 1917. (Seven children: the Middelfart Line.)
