[Update March 30, 2020: This narrative has been amended to change the names of Johann Friedrich Fechser’s second and third wives. The reasoning for this change can be found in “Elizabeth and Cathrine Amalie.”]
As I was growing up, my paternal grandparents used to tell what seemed to be a rather romantic story about my second-great-grandfather, Johann Friedrich Fechser, and how long he had to wait to marry the girl he loved. According to the story they told, Johann had a girl he wanted to marry, but the church leaders told him he first needed to marry an older widow who needed support, and that when he could afford a second wife he could marry the girl he wanted. Then, when he could finally afford a second wife, they told him he needed to marry a second older widow who also needed support, and he wasn’t allowed to finally marry his first choice until his third wife.
That may be an endearing tale, but when I researched this branch of the family, I discovered that this is not exactly how it happened.
The Wives of Johann Friedrich Fechser
Johann Friedrich Fechser had six wives that I know of, but there may have possibly been more. These six are all documented in some way, and are probably the only ones, but some family histories say there might have been more. I will enumerate these six wives one at a time here.
Rosina Frederica Keyser
Johann Friedrich Fechser married his first wife, Rosina Frederica Keyser, in 1850 in Hamburg, Germany, before travelling to the United States. They had a son in Hamburg who died as an infant. After coming to the United States, they had a daughter born to them in Saint Louis, Missouri. During their overland journey to Utah, both the wife and the daughter died, and Johann Friedrich arrived in Salt Lake City alone.
Cathrine Amalie Borresen
Johann Friedrich Fechser married his second wife, Cathrine Amalie Borresen, in 1855 in Salt Lake City. Cathrine, also known as Trine, was from Denmark, and had been widowed on the journey to Utah. She had one surviving daughter at the time she married Johann. Neither Trine nor her daughter can be found on the 1860 census. Trine can be seen living with Johann in the 1870, 1880, and 1900 census records. She died in 1902.
Elizabeth Rasmussen
Johann Friedrich Fechser married his third wife, Elizabeth Rasmussen, also from Denmark, in 1857 in Salt Lake City. She is said to have been widowed, but I could not find any information about her first husband or any children they might have had. Johann and Elizabeth had two daughters. Elizabeth can be seen living with Johann in the 1860, 1870, and 1880 census records. She died in 1888.
Ida Christina Johnson
Johann Friedrich Fechser married his fourth wife, Ida Christina Johnson, from Norway, in 1864 in Salt Lake City, and she is the main subect of this story. They were living in Mount Pleasant, Utah, at the time, but they traveled to Salt Lake in order to be married in the temple. They had thirteen children together, at least ten of whom survived to adulthood (the only record of their youngest daughter is in the 1900 census, so it is not known what happened to her; she must have either died or gotten married prior to the 1910 census). Ida can be seen living with Johann in the 1870, 1880, and 1900 census records. Widowed in 1908, she was living with her daughter Ella in the 1910 census; in the 1920 census she was living alone; and in the 1830 census she was living with her daughter Elizabeth and her family. She died in 1931.
Anna Katherina Hafen
Johann Friedrich Fechser married his fifth wife, Anna Katherina Hafen, in 1867 in Salt Lake City. She had arrived from Switzerland the year before with her eleven-year-old daughter. Johann and Anna had one daughter who died very young. Anna and her daughter cannot be found in the 1870 census, but Anna can be seen living with Johann in the 1880 and 1900 census records. She cannot be found in the 1910 census. She died in 1914.
Benta Nielson
Johann Friedrich married his sixth wife, Benta Nielson, from Sweden, at some time between 1880 and 1900. Benta was widowed first in 1864, from Andrew Johnson, and for the second time in 1873, from Andrew Peterson. In the 1880 census, her name is listed as Benta Peterson, and her marital status is listed as widowed. In the 1900 census, her name is listed as Benta Fechser, and her marital status is listed as married. She died in 1908 and is buried in a plot in the Mount Pleasant City Cemetery along with three of Johann’s children and one of his granchildren.
The Story of Johann and Ida’s Marriage
Ida Christina Johnson was born August 13, 1846, in Risør, Norway, to Christopher Johnson and Maren Evenson. She was the second of eight children in the family. In 1857, the Johnson family is recorded as leaving the state church of Norway as dissenters. At some time during this period, they joined the Mormon church and made plans to sail to America and settle in Utah. According to an autobiographical sketch by Ida, the family sailed to Quebec, Canada, in 1860, where they lived until 1863. In 1863, they travelled in the John F. Sanders Company, leaving Florence, Nebraska, on July 6, and arriving in Salt Lake City on September 5.
By the time Ida arrived in Utah, Johann Friedrich Fechser was already married to two wives, so the story about him not being able to marry the woman of this choice the first two times did not seem to work. Futhermore, Ida was twenty-one years younger than Johann Friedrich, and was not even a teenager when he married his other two wives, so that also contradicts the story of two young lovers being unable to marry when they wanted. I needed to find out more about this relationship.
Memories of Ida C. Johnson Fechser, written by Ida’s granddaughter Ina Fechser, relates stories that Ida told her children and grandchildren. One of the stories repeated in that memoir tells of Ida falling in love with a young man who had been sent by Brigham Young to help guide the immigrant company headed for Utah. When they reached Utah, the young man was sent back to help guide another company of immigrants, and they planned to reunite when he was finished with that task. Before he was able to return, however, Johann Friedrich Fechser decided he wanted a younger wife, and he was fond of Ida, who sometimes came to Johann’s flour mill with her father, so he asked her father for her hand in marriage. Ida’s father felt that he owed Johann, who had helped them through their poverty during their first year in Utah, and agreed. Ida did not want to marry Johann, but obeyed her father and got married. Later, the young man she had fallen in love with returned from guiding the other company of immigrants across the plains, and learned of her marriage. According to her, he threw up both of his hands in sorrow and surprise and grief. Ida grew to love her new family, but constantly related this sad experience to her children and grandchildren.
Ida and Jep in their later years. Were they young lovers separated by Ida’s marriage to Johann Fechser?
Who Was That Young Man?
There was no mention of the young man’s name in the memoir, so I wanted to do more research to determine who he might have been. I cannot say that I have solved the mystery, but I think I have a pretty good case for who he was.
My first clue to the identity of the young man came from the journal of Lars Christiansen Nielsen, who was another immigrant in the John F. Sanders Company. Lars wrote, “On July 6, we began our journey over the desert in John F. Sanders Company. They were from Sanpete. Our wagon master was Jep Sumager from Manti. He was a very fine young man, he was so good to the children. On mornings when I walked ahead with my two oldest sons, Peder and Jens Christian, to entertain them a little Jep would say ‘You can let them sit by the side of the trail and I’ll pick them up to help in the wagon.’”
Jep Sumager didn’t seem to be a name that matched an actual person of the time, so I began searching for names that were similar, and I finally came up with Jeptha Shomaker, who had arrived in Utah with his parents in 1847.
Jeptha (sometimes spelled Jephtha) Shomaker (sometimes spelled Shoemaker), was born July 25, 1838, in Adams County, Illinois, to Jezreel Shomaker and Nancy Golden, the fifth of nine children. His parents had moved to Illinois from Kentucky about 1828, where they homesteaded and owned one of the largest farms in the Adams County. They gave up everything in 1847, when they joined the Mormon church and journeyed to Salt Lake City in the Charles C. Rich Company. They were among the first pioneers to settle in Manti, Sanpete County, Utah, in 1849, where they built a stone house and raised sheep for wool.
According to a history written by Jeptha’s granddaughter, Alice Larson Day, Jeptha went back more than once to help lead other immigrants to Utah: “Several years later, Jephtha went back to Winter Quarters for more of the Saints. This company was comprised of all Danish people, and they had quite a time making each other understand what they were talking about. He enjoyed the trip immensely. He sent his team back again, and on the trip one of his oxen died.” This leads to the conclusion that he was the wagonmaster from Manti mentioned in Lars Christiansen Nielen’s journal, and that he might possibly be the young man Ida fell in love with during her journey to Utah.
After returning from helping the other immigrant companies, Jeptha settled in Manti, where he was a farmer. He served for six months in the Utah Territory Militia before marrying Ann Marie Bailey, an immigrant from England, on October 2, 1867, in Manti. In 1881, they were among the first pioneers to settle in Ferron, Emery County, Utah. They had eight children together. Jeptha died March 1, 1893, in Ferron. His wife died a little more than a year later on July 6, 1894.
Conclusions
The first conclusion that can be drawn from this story is that family tales that have been passed down might not always be accurate. More study needs to be done before anything can be accepted as fact. The story passed down by my grandparents was not entirely accurate, and the story that I am telling here is still a mere conjecture and also might not be accurate.
Although it starts with sadness, this story does have a happy ending. Ida and Jep, after being forced to go their separate ways, each raised a large happy family. Nevertheless, we have to appreciate the tragedy of two young lovers being forced by family to separate. It reminds me of Romeo and Juliet, or Tony and Maria, a love that was meant to be but could never reach fruition.
Eric’s Roots 