Tragedy at Almy

When it comes to coal mine accidents, I have often tended to think of them as occurring more in eastern states, such as West Virginia and Pennsylvania, rather than in western states; but after I discovered that two of my ancestors had been killed in coal mining accidents in the West, my understanding of the subject has changed.

The State of Utah Death Certificate for Peter Angelo Christensen.

My great grandfather, Peter Angelo Christensen, was killed while working in a coal mine in Coal Creek, Carbon County, Utah, in 1924. His death certificate lists the cause of death as “shock from crushing wound of pelvis and lower spine (mine accident).” According to family histories and a newspaper account in the Salt Lake Telegram, he was run over by a coal car.  Being a small accident with only one fatality, it was not widely reported in the news. His eight children had been living with various relatives since the death of their mother, Maren Regina Fechser Christenesen, during the influenza epidemic of 1919, and then his death left them orphaned. Ironically, his oldest son, my granddad Theodore Angelo Christensen, spent most of his adult life working for the United States Bureau of Mines, which had the implementation of mine safety as one of its various functions.

The report of Peter Angelo Christensen’s death in the Salt Lake Telegram, October 3, 1924.

The death of my third great grandfather, Edwin Cox, was part of a much more massive mining accident. When the Rocky Mountain Mine #5 in Almy, Unita County, Wyoming, exploded on March 20, 1895, it was the greatest mining tragedy ever to have occurred in that state. Sixty-one men died, at least fifty women were widowed, and close to two hundred children and other dependents lost their only means of support. Also killed in the explosion was Aaron Butte Jr., who was a brother-in-law to Edwin Cox in two different ways: He was not only the husband of Edwin’s half-sister Elizabeth Ann Cox, but also the brother of Edwin’s plural wife, Jane Butte.

The aftermath of the Almy Mine explosion.

Why Were They in Almy?

When the Utah Territory was striving to become a state, polygamy created a barrier to the United States government granting statehood. In 1887, the Edmunds-Tucker act was passed by Congress, making it easier to prosecute Mormon polygamists. In 1890, the Mormon church officially denounced polygamy, but there was still a large number of practicing polygamists in the area. Many allowed themselves to be apprehended and wore their prison stripes with pride as a statement of civil disobedience, but most were trying to avoid arrest in order to continue supporting their families.

Three counties in three separate states kept the government from discovering multiple wives.

Idaho and Wyoming each became a state in 1890, while Utah remained a territory. Many Mormon polygamists settled in Price County in the northeast corner of the Utah Territory. They could then have multiple wives living both in Bear Lake County in the southeast corner of Idaho and also in Uinta County in the southwest corner of Wyoming. That way, it would be difficult for government officials to discover their multiple marriages, but they could still live within twenty-five miles of each of their wives. Whether this is why Edwin Cox was living in the area is not certain, but it seems quite likely, as he had two wives at the time.

[Update, February 12, 2016: I have since realized that Edwin Cox, rather than trying to hide his polygamy from the government, actually followed their rules: He claimed his second wife as his wife of record, while no longer calling himself married to his first wife.]

This tree shows my descent from Edwin Cox.

The Explosion and Its Immediate Aftermath

Edwin Cox was the head carpenter and was working outside the mine at the time of the explosion. He and three others, including James Barfield Bruce Jr. (mine foreman and former Unita County Commissioner), were killed immediately by large splinters of timber flying out of the mine. A large, pointed piece of board pierced Edwin Cox’s neck like a bullet. James Bruce’s son had arrived driving a one-horse carriage to fetch his father home just in time to watch his father die. The axle of his carriage was broken by the force of the explosion.

Three others, including Orlonzo B. Maltby (chief machinist), were severely injured outside the mine and died soon afterward. Jeremiah Crawford, a sixteen-year-old mine worker, died in his arms of his father, John Crawford.  The first news stories also said an Austrian named James Gerruly was killed outside the mine, but he was not mentioned in any later stories, and I have been unable to find any information about him or whether he actually existed. I must assume that a reporter had gotten a name wrong and that his mistake was repeated in other newspapers.

Early reports estimated a death toll as high as eighty-one, but after all of the bodies had been recovered during the next five days, the number of victims was determined to be sixty-one. As there were more than one hundred and thirty men employed in the mine, the death toll could have been much higher, but the explosion occurred at 5:45 in the evening when a number of men had already exited in anticipation of the 6:00 end to the work day.

Among the first responders to the explosion was William Graham Sr., foreman of the #6 mine, whose son, William Graham Jr., was one of the victims. The fact that he continued in this effort during the grief of knowing his son had been killed shows his dedication to his fellow workers.

An extra train was ordered from Evanston, Wyoming, carrying physicians and relief personnel. Despite the huge number of men volunteering as rescue workers, it took three hours for the fouled air to be clear enough for any of them to enter the mine. They soon realized that rather than rescue, their main objective would be the removal of dead bodies, most of them burned so badly they could be identified only by their clothing and their boots. It was a long, gruesome, arduous process, and the last body, that of Walter Miller, was removed at 8:00 in the evening on March 25, a full five days later.

Funeral services were held for most of the victims on Sunday, March 24, the largest being held at the Mormon chapel in Almy. Thirteen coffins had been placed inside the chapel before it was determined that there would be no room to seat the mourners with all the coffins inside. The coffins were then taken outside, and a total of thirty-two coffins were arranged outside the church. Most of them were then interred at the Almy Cemetery, but the remains Edwin Cox and Aaron Butte, as well as those of Walter Miller, were taken to Utah for burial.

The large majority of the victims were Mormons, but separate, smaller group funeral services were held for the Finnish, the Methodists, the Catholics, the members of the Ancient Order of Foresters, and the Episcopalians. Orlonzo B. Maltby and Frederick John Morgan were the only victims carrying adequate life insurance, each insured for $2000 by the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and each had a private funeral service. Maltby was buried by the Albert Pike Masonic Commandery No. 1, Morgan by the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

The Inquest into the Accident and Subsequent Lawsuits

The coroner’s jury began its inquest at 10:00 on Tuesday morning, March 26. The inquest was led by W.J. Cashin, coroner, and consisted of James Bowns, mine foreman; James Vickers, a miner; and C.T. Gamble, physician for the mining company. There were no jurors from outside the company.

Twenty witnesses were called with varying theories as to the cause of the accident. Some said the explosion was caused by excess gas in the mine, which would have laid the blame on the mining company. This claim was rebutted by those saying that the mine was one of the best ventilated mines in the state and that its ventilation system went far beyond what the inspectors required. Others argued that it was caused by a miner setting off a blast that ignited coal dust in the mine, which would place the blame on one of the dead miners. Some claimed that a mine inspector had recently pointed out the large amount of coal dust and had suggested that sprinklers be used to dissipate it, but as it was a suggestion rather than a requirement, the company could not be held legally responsible for the consequences of not acting on it.

The final verdict concluded that the explosion occurred “apparently from fire damp and possibly augmented by coal dust.” This basically exonerated the mining company, relieving it from legal responsibility. Nevertheless, there were subsequent lawsuits filed against the Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company.

William Graham Sr., foreman of the #6 mine, whose son William Graham Jr. was killed in the explosion, resigned his position within days of the accident, stating that he was doing so in order to institute a lawsuit against the company. My research has been unable to find any evidence of this lawsuit, so it is unknown whether it was actually filed or what the outcome was.

Shortly following the accident, the Almy Relief Committee was formed in order to collect donations and distribute aid to the widows and children of the victims. Corporations, companies, and churches, as well as individual people, were generous in their contributions, but it still could not cover all the necessary expenses of the victims’ families. An open letter on behalf of these families described many of them as “destitute,” saying the children were “in many cases half-clad and hungry.” Those with no other means of support were feeling desperate.

The Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company offered a payment of $1000 to the families of each of the miners killed in the accident, which they later raised to $1500 for each family. They vehemently denied any responsibility, calling their offer an act of magnanimity. The families rejected the offer and asked for $3000 each. The company rejected that request. After attempts at arbitration seemed to be failing, in June the families combined efforts in their plans to file a lawsuit against the company.

By August, arbitration had deteriorated so much that the lawsuit filed by the families against the company asked for $20,000 for each casualty. Despite the fact that the local newspapers declared allegiance to the families, the company dug in its heels and claimed it was not responsible and could not be forced to pay any damages. On September 16, after fruitless arguing between the parties, the case was scheduled to be postponed for fifty days.

In November, the court in Evanston ruled that due to public prejudice the company could not receive justice in Unita, Sweetwater, Carbon, Natrona, Converse, or Weston Counties, and ruled for a change of venue to Laramie County. The company offered $500 for each casualty, which the families declined. The case was scheduled to be heard in District Court in Cheyenne on January 26. On January 2, an agreement was reached whereby the company paid $1000 per head plus court costs.

Support from the Local Newspapers

The newspapers, in particular The Salt Lake Herald, rallied around the widows and families, but nothing was able to overcome the mining company’s experienced legal counsel.

“A naked lamp, exposed by an incautious miner, was probably the immediate occasion. But the mine must have been very foul or the dreadful explosion could not have occurred. … Help must be afforded to the needy, and the responsibility for the holocaust must be discovered, that justice may be done to the living who can only mourn for the loss of the dead.”—The Salt Lake Herald, March 22, 1895.

“The mine disaster at Red Canyon, Wyo., the other day makes the blood run cold to recall. Is there no way possible to provide protection from the chance of these horrible underground butcheries?”—The Provo Evening Dispatch, March 23, 1895.

“They had been warned more than once by the mine inspector that if they did not take some means to get rid of the large amount of dust an explosion might occur which would kill every man in the mine. That warning is in the last report of the inspector that hangs in the office of the company today. … Other mines in the state have taken precautions against dust explosion. …The accident in 1886 cost the Union Pacific Company $5,000 for each person killed and it will be strange if the Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron company do not have to pay pretty stiffly for the loss of life last Wednesday. … Responsibility for such a terrible disaster as this ought to be clearly established and the fullest possible amends demanded.”—The Salt Lake Herald, March 26, 1895.

“The company owning and operating the mines are responsible for the consequences of accidents arising from any neglect on their part to preserve the lives of their employees. There should be a searching investigation into the actual origin of the explosion, and the blame should be placed where it belongs, no matter where that may strike.”—The Salt Lake Herald, March 27, 1895.

“I know to produce a dust explosion the dust must first be raised and put in motion or an explosion will not occur.”—The Deseret Weekly, March 30, 1895.

“It is a pity this affair could not have been settled without going into court; for whatever the outcome as to the amount of damages awarded, the contestants are sure to suffer loss and delay in settlement, the only ones gaining by litigation being the lawyers and others to whom fees must be paid. As to the amount of damage, it might seem that $3,000 was small compensation for the death of the head of a family, even in a case where the killing was accidental. … In its response the company denies all legal responsibility for the fatality, and insists that its offer of recompense is pure magnanimity. … If there were no responsibility recognized for the condition of the mine, such as produced the fatality, it is hardly probable that its owners would be content to pay over such a large sum for mere charity’s sake. The tender of the amount, therefore, is virtually a confession of legal responsibility.”—The Deseret Weekly, June 29, 1895.

“In our opinion those poor people who have been bereaved of their dear ones through the awful calamity at Almy, ought to receive a considerable sum each to alleviate their distress. … The company for whom the men labored and in whose interest their lives were lost, ought to take into consideration all the facts in the heart-rending case, and act in a spirit of humanity rather that with a cold-blooded business calculation.”—The Salt Lake Herald, August 4, 1895.

“Within two months of the date of the accident this case could have been settled without going to court if proper means had been used to get the widows together and given them a chance to have fixed their own arbitrators in the case—a thing which was never done.”—The Deseret Weekly, January 29, 1896.

Legislation the Following Year

On April 4, 1896, shortly after Utah had gained statehood, when the 1st Utah State Legislature was debating H.B. 46, For the Protection of Miners, Senator Malin M. Warner moved to strike out a clause requiring inspection of mines. During the discussion, Senator Edward M. Allison read from a letter arguing that if the Wyoming mine inspector had done his job in Almy in 1895 the explosion in Mine #5 would not have occurred. The motion to strike the clause was defeated, and mine inspections were required in the State of Utah.

Unfortunately, the inspections weren’t as strict as they could have been, and four years later on May 1, 1900, an explosion in the Winter Quarters Mine #4 in Scofield, Utah, killed more than 200 men. The explosion was attributed to coal dust in the mine. Mine Inspector Gomer Thomas was quoted as saying, “I have been at war for months with these people on this dust question, and they repeatedly promised to attend to it and have it sprinkled; but as I only made visits here once in three or four months, it was neglected.”

A List of the Dead

This list of the dead has been compiled from several newspaper lists printed at the time. Where possible, I have tried to verify the full names and ages of the victims and the number of family members left behind. This effort was made nearly impossible by the lack of an 1890 census, but I have done the best I could. I do know that the newspapers all listed my third great grandfather Edwin Cox as having one wife when he actually had two, but that was probably done so as not to give evidence of an illegal plural marriage. I was not able to determine whether any of the other victims had multiple wives.

1. Samuel Bates; age 20; 1 wife and 2 children; son-in-law of victim Thomas Hutchinson.
2. Thomas Booth; age 48; widowed with one child.
3. Willard Brown; age 30; 1 wife and 7 children.
4. James Barfield Bruce Jr.; age 53; 1 wife and 3 children; mine foreman; former Uinta County Commissioner.
5. Henry Burton; age 66; 1 wife and 1 child.
6. Aaron Butte Jr.; age 34; 1 wife and 3 children; brother-in-law of victim Edwin Cox.
7. Albert Stanton Clark; age 18; single.
8. Charles Clark; age 42; 1 wife and 6 children.
9. James P. Clark; age 32; 1 wife and 4 children; brother of victim John T. Clark.
10. James W. Clark; age 41; 1 wife and 1 child.
11. John T. Clark; age 35; 1 wife and 4 children; brother of victim James P. Clark.
12. Samuel Clay; age 14; single; driver boy; his father, John Richard Clay, was working outside the mine and survived the blast.
13. Benjamin Cole; age 33; 1 wife and 5 children.
14. Edwin Cox; age 56; 2 wives and 5 children; head carpenter; brother-in-law of victim Aaron Butte Jr.
15. Jeremiah Craword; age 16; single; died in the arms of his father, John Crawford, who was working outside the mine and survived the blast with minor injuries.
16. George Critchley; age 53; 1 wife and 2 children.
17. Angel Deromedi; age 28; 1 wife and 4 children.
18. John Dexter; age 29; 1 wife and 1 child; his wife was pregnant with his second son.
19. John R. Fearn; age 36; 1 wife and 2 children.
20. William Graham Jr.; age 17; single; son of William Graham Sr., foreman of the Number 6 Mine.
21. William H. Grieves; age 20; single; driver.
22. Samuel Halston; age 33, 1 wife and 1 child.
23. George Hardy; age 35; 1 wife and 4 children.
24. James Hutchinson; age 45; 1 wife and 4 children; brother of victims Samuel Hutchinson and Thomas Hutchinson.
25. Samuel Hutchinson; age 34; 1 wife and 7 children; brother of victims James Hutchinson and Thomas Hutchinson.
26. Thomas Hutchinson; age 40; 1 wife and 9 children; brother of victims James Hutchinson and Samuel Hutchinson; father-in-law of victim Samuel Bates.
27. Joseph Hyden; age 61; 1 wife and 4 children.
28. George Frederick Hydes; age 21; single.
29. Isaac Johnson-Kosola; age 30; 1 wife and 2 children.
30. Matt Johnson-Passoja; age 30; 1 wife and 2 children.
31. Batiste Julien; age 44; 1 wife and 6 children.
32. Charles Kosola; age 25; 1 wife.
33. Gustav Kosola; age 28; 1 wife and 2 children.
34. Marshall Langdon; age 21; single.
35. William Langdon Sr.; age 52; 1 wife and 3 children.
36. David W. Laurie Jr.; age 24; 1 wife and 1 dependent mother; driver.
37. Johan Lehtinen; age 25; 1 wife and 2 children.
38. John Lester; age 35; 1 wife and 6 children.
39. James Limb; age 23; 1 wife and 1 child.
40. David Lloyd; age 37; 1 wife and 5 children.
41. John G. Locke Jr.; age 17; single; driver.
42. Johan Looperi; age 53; 1 wife and 1 child.
43. Orlonzo B. Maltby; age 50; 1 wife and 10 children; chief machinist.
44. John G. Martin; age 40; 1 wife and 5 children.
45. Andrew Mason; age 38; 1 wife and 5 children.
46. William Mason; age 21; 4 dependents, possibly siblings.
47. Walter Miller; age 48; 1 wife and 5 children.
48. Frederick John Morgan; age 39; 1 wife and 2 children.
49. John Luke Morris; age 19; single; son of victim William Morris.
50. William Morris; age 47; 1 wife and 8 children; father of victim John Luke Morris.
51. Henrick Albom Nybom; age 25; 1 wife and 2 children.
52. John Phebey; age 36; 1 wife and 5 children.
53. William Pope; age 35; 1 wife and 4 children.
54. Henry Scothern; age 23; 1 wife; driver.
55. William Hyrum Sellers Jr.; age 22; 1 wife and 1 child; conductor; son of victim William Hyrum Sellers Sr.
56. William Hyrum Sellers Sr.; age 46; 1 wife and 4 children; father of victim William Hyrum Sellers Jr.
57. Matt Siltanen; age 38; 1 wife and 2 children.
58. Hugh Sloan; age 32; 1 wife and 6 children.
59. William Wagstaff; age 27; 1 wife and 3 children.
60. William Weedop; age 35; 1 wife and 3 children.
61. John Wilkes; age 34; 1 wife and 5 children.

More than a century later, men are still dying in coal mines due to lack of proper precautions, and their widows are still suffering from the lack of compensation from mine owners. Some things never change.

 

 

The Biography of Peter Christian Christensen

I am planning to write the most complete biographies possible about as many of my direct ancestors as I can. The first will be of my second great grandfather, Peter Christian Christensen. His story has been difficult to track down, because earlier genealogists have recorded a lot of incorrect information about him. I hope to make it as accurate as I can, and I welcome any input if anyone finds any inaccuracies.

[Footnotes with references are included at the end of each section. Some of them include links to online reference sites, and hopefully they will remain up to date. It is difficult to keep up with organizations constantly remaking their web pages. At the time of publication, the link for Dansk Demografisk Database was not working. I hope this is a temporary problem, as this is the only online source I know of for finding Danish census records.] 

This tree shows my descent from Peter Christian Christensen.

Personal Data

Name: Peter Christian Christensen
Also Known As: Hans Peter Christensen
Also Known As: P.C. Christensen
Born: August 17, 1849, København, Kingdom of Denmark
Died: December 19, 1928, Moroni, Sanpete County, Utah, USA
Burial: December 21, 1928, Moroni City Cemetery, Moroni, Sanpete County, Utah, USA
Son of: Christian Christensen and Margrethe Hansdatter
Brother of: Johan Erastus “Jon” Christensen
Husband of: Mary Mallinson
Father of: Edward Christian Christensen (never married), Peter Angelo Christensen (married to Maren Regina Fechser), Blanche Ophelia Christensen (married to Oliver Eugene Eliason), Ernest Raymond Christensen (married to Crilla Ethelyn Candland), Hannah Caroline “Daisy” Christensen (married to John Raymond Blackham, widowed, married to Edgar Thomas Reid), Nelson Howard “Nels” Christensen (never married), Mary Viola “Shorty” Christensen ( married to Perry Taylor Warren, married to Oren Draper, remarried to Perry Taylor Warren), Randall “Ray” Christensen (married to Ida Belle Gledhill), Frank Jay Christensen (married to Violet Fiack [widow of Edmund T. Olsen]).

Early Childhood in Denmark

Peter’s parents were Christian Christensen (born March 4, 1819, in Kirke Såby, Voldborg, Roskilde, Denmark)¹ and Margrethe Hansdatter (born April 26, 1826 in Skulleløv, Frederiksborg, Denmark).² They were married September 16, 1849, in København, Denmark. At the time they were married, Christian was working as a farm hand.³ During the early years of their marriage, they lived in København, where Christian worked as a laborer in a soap factory.⁴

Peter was born August 17, 1849 in København, Denmark,⁵ approximately one month before his parents were married. He was baptized the same day as his parents’ marriage, and the moral judgment of the parish priest seems to be evident in the comment uægte [illegitimate] included in two separate places on Peter’s birth and baptism record. His name at birth was Hans Peter Christensen. Apparently, he was known by his middle name during his early years, because he spent the rest of his life as Peter, probably never knowing that his original name was Hans. He also spent his life thinking his birthday was December 5, 1849, which is the date of birth listed on his death certificate.

The naming convention in Denmark at that time was for the first-born son to be named after his paternal grandfather and for the second-born son to be named after his maternal grandfather. This might lead one to believe that Peter had an older brother named Christen. However, in some locations the naming convention might have been different for an illegitimate son, who would be named instead after his maternal grandfather.⁶ With this in mind, it can be assumed that Peter was the oldest son in the family.

When the Mormon missionary Johan Erik “John” Forsgren was banished from Sweden in 1850, he and his partner Erastus Snow continued their missionary work in København. There they converted Christian and Margrethe Christensen, who named their second son Johan “Jon” Erastus Christensen (born June 11, 1852) in honor of those two missionaries.⁷

By late 1852, those who had joined the Mormon Church in Denmark were feeling like outcasts in the predominantly Lutheran Danish society. When John Forsgren was preparing for his return to Utah, he put together a company of 297 converts to join him. The people in this company sold their property for only a fraction of its value before they left. They were known as the “Scandinavian Mormon Migration,” the first large group of Mormons to travel from Denmark to the Great Salt Lake. Christian and Margrethe Christensen and their two sons were a part of this migration.

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Footnotes for “Early Childhood in Denmark”:

     ¹Christian Christensen’s date and place of birth come from a copy of his birth record accessed at Arkivalieronline, from a copy of his confirmation record shared on Ancestry, and from a transcript of the 1850 Danish census accessed at Dansk Demografisk Database.
     ²Margrethe Hansdatter’s date and place of birth come from copies of her birth and confirmation records shared on Ancestry, and from a transcript of the 1850 Danish census accessed at Dansk Demografisk Database.
     ³The date of their marriage and Christian’s occupation at the time come from a copy of their marriage record shared on Ancestry.
     ⁴This information comes from the Christian Neilson Journal and Letters, compiled by Christian Neilson’s second great granddaughter, Wanda Knudsen Guthrie, in which Christian Christensen is referred to as “Sobesyder [soap maker] Christensen.”
     ⁵Peter’s date and place of birth come from his birth and baptism record shared on Ancestry, and from a transcript of the 1850 Danish census accessed at Dansk Demografisk Database.
     ⁶This possible variation in the Danish naming convention was suggested by Bev Anderson in a forum discussion at Rootsweb.
     ⁷The story of the Christensens’ conversion, the birth of their second son, and their departure from Denmark come mostly from undocumented family trees and family histories. Jon’s year of birth can be calculated from the age given on his death record at the Missouri State Archives.

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From Denmark to Saint Louis

Although there are no specific mentions of this Christensen family in the journals from the voyage (aside from the tragic deaths of three of them near the end of the journey), the following narrative gives an idea of what young Peter Christensen would have experienced during these months.

The voyage of the Scandinavian Mormons began on Monday, December 20, 1852.⁸ On this day, at 12:30 p.m., they sailed from København aboard the steamship Obetrit. They had to lay at anchor for most of the day on Tuesday and arrived in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, on Wednesday. Being at sea for the first time, a large number of passengers suffered from seasickness during this short trip.

At 6:30 the following morning, they boarded a train at Kiel, arriving in Altona, Hamburg, Germany, at 9:30 that night. That trip along the Hamburg-Altona–Kiel railway of 105.6 kilometers (65.6 miles), which took them more than a half-day, would take just slightly more than an hour by automobile today. They were cordially received in Altona, where they were fed and given lodging for the night.

At 2:00 p.m. on Friday, Christmas Eve, they set sail on the steamship Løven [Lion]. When they reached Cuxhaven, Lower Saxony, Germany, at 8:45 p.m., they were forced to drop anchor until 1:00 Christmas afternoon because of stormy seas. Then they sailed along the coast to near Workum, Friesland, Netherland, where they were once again forced to drop anchor because of stormy seas.⁹ They could not sail again until midnight.

During the night of Sunday, December 26, the storms on the North Sea became so severe that all of the passengers had to remain in extremely tight quarters in the hold of the ship for nearly an entire day as the waves crashed over the deck. Tempers flared during these trying circumstances, and some minor fights erupted. When the storm finally ceased, they discovered that many boxes and barrels had been broken by the force of the waves, and apples were strewn all over the deck. To the children’s delight, they were told they could eat as many of the apples as they wanted. Many children ate more than they should have and regretted it later.¹⁰ The sailors rigged up a rope railing to replace some of the railing that had been destroyed in the storm.

After two days on stormy seas, the ship arrived at Hull, York, England, on Tuesday, December 28. The captain said it was the worst storm he had ever been out in. More than a hundred ships had been damaged or destroyed.

At noon on Wednesday, December 29, they caught the train to Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and reached their destination at 9:00 that evening. They were warmly received there, and they were fed and given lodging for the night. They remained there for one additional day.

On Friday, New Year’s Eve, they finally boarded the ship that would take them to America. The Forest Monarch, under the command of Captain Edmund Brewer, was a Canadian-built, three-masted square-rigger, usually employed as a packet ship.¹¹ Today, it would be considered a small ship, but it seemed enormous to the travelers of the time.

The Danish voyagers spent the first two weeks of 1853 on board the Forest Monarch anchored in the River Mersey, waiting for friendly winds to replace the storms. They would often dance and sing for recreation to pass the long days of waiting. A daughter, Josephine Ipsen, was born to passengers Anders and Kristine Ipsen during that time. A daughter, Hannah Josephine Andersen, was born to passengers Wilhelm “William” and Henrietta Andersen on Saturday, January 1. Passenger Juliane Knudson, who had remained behind in Hamburg because of illness, finally caught up and rejoined the other passengers on Monday, January 3. On Friday, January 7, the passengers held a meeting to discuss regulations concerning the preparation of food, the cleaning of the ship, and the distribution of water. Four couples were married on Saturday, January 8. Passenger Christen Jensen, eighty-five and a half years old, died on Monday, January 10, and his body was taken ashore for burial. There were two additional deaths on Wednesday, January 12: (1) passenger Christian Neilsen, twenty-six years old; and (2) Lauritz Elias Domgaard, young son of passenger Niels Peter Domgaard. Their bodies were taken ashore the following day for burial in Liverpool. At one point during their wait, the Forest Monarch was struck by another ship but suffered only minor damage. On another night, stormy waters set the Forest Monarch adrift, and she had to be rescued by two tug boats.

On Sunday morning, January 16th, they finally lifted anchor so they could begin their journey across the ocean. From noon until 4:00, a tugboat pulled them up the River Mersey, and they watched Liverpool disappear into the fog. For the next two days, the winds were favorable as they sailed through Saint George’s Channel and into the North Atlantic Ocean.

As they started across the ocean, the weather was mostly good, sometimes warm enough for people to walk on the deck in light clothing and bare-footed. Nevertheless, an occasional stormy day would damage the sails and leave some of the passengers seasick. From the deck, they could see many other ships, and sometimes they could watch large flying fish and dolphins swimming.

On Thursday, February 3, infant Josephine Ipsen, who had been born while the Forest Monarch was anchored in the River Mersey, died and was buried at sea. On Monday, February 7, Poul Poulson, the infant son of Anders and Bodila Poulson, died and was buried at sea.¹² A daughter, Geraldine Hansen, was born to passengers Jens and Sophie Hansen during the night of Monday, February 14.

On Tuesday, February 15, the Danish immigrants caught their first view of the West Indies as they passed by La Désirade in the Guadeloupe island group. That evening, a son, Ephraim Larsen, was born to Poul Christian and Kirsten Larsen. The passengers watched large flocks of birds that would fly down to pick food from the surface of the water. A swallow flew onto the ship and stayed for the day. On Monday, February 21, Anna Maria Ipsen (three-year-old sister of Josephine Ipsen, who had died on February 3) died and was buried at sea.

On Thursday, February 24, they passed Jamaica and could see Cuba to the north. The passing took some time, as the winds were slow that day. The next day, they traveled far enough that they could no longer see Jamaica. On Sunday, February 27, and Monday, February 28, they could see a beacon of light from a lighthouse on Cuba. Monday evening, Ephraim Larsen, the youngest child aboard the ship, died.¹³

From Tuesday, March 1, through Saturday, March 5, contrary winds made for slow progress, but they were finally able to drop anchor at the mouth of the Mississippi River on Monday, March 7, and John Forsgren went ashore to New Orleans to make preparations for the trip up the Mississippi. That evening, passenger Maren Jorgensen died. A small group of men made a casket and took her body to a small island near the mainland for burial. When they returned to the ship, they brought green tree branches and green plants, which was a refreshing sight to the immigrants who had spent the last two months on the ocean.

The island where they buried Maren Jorgensen is important to this story, as this is where Margrethe Hansdatter Christensen, the mother of Peter Christian Christensen, would also be buried less than a week later. The location of the actual island will probably never be positively identified. Their description of it said only that there were many tree stumps, that the land was very rich, and that it had a lighthouse. A total of five passengers died while they were waiting at anchor, and most if not all of them were buried on the same island. Perhaps some had been on the verge of death but willed themselves to remain alive until they saw America; or, perhaps, the water supplies going rancid during the long voyage finally caught up with them. Some of the passengers remaining on the ship were suffering from dehydration and dysentery.

On Friday, March 11, Louise Marie Pedersen, the infant daughter of passengers Hans and Ane Martine Pedersen, died and was buried on the same island.

Peter Christensen’s mother, Margrethe Hansdatter Christensen, died on Saturday, March 12. Some journals say that she died in the evening, while others say she died at 5:00 in the morning, but they all agree on the date. There is no official record of her death, but it would be assumed that the cause of death was dysentery. She was buried on the same island as Maren Jorgensen and Louise Marie Pedersen, so her remains are now in an unknown place. That evening, John Forsgren returned from New Orleans on a steamship, bringing fresh meat, vegetables, and bread that he distributed among the passengers.

On Sunday, March 13, passenger Anders Ibsen died and was buried on the same island. Two of his daughters had died during the previous month. On Tuesday, March 15, Jens Christian Jensen, four-year-old son of passengers Mads Christian and Maren Jensen, died. He may have been buried on the island, or he may have been buried in the Mississippi River.¹⁴

On Tuesday, March 15, when the river was high enough that the ship wouldn’t get stuck on the muddy river bottom, two steamboats hauled the Forest Monarch farther up the river. After some of the passengers were transferred to a larger ship and reluctantly required to mix with passengers of different nationalities and religions, they docked in New Orleans on Thursday, March 17, at 10:30 a.m. Although the immigrants who had been transferred felt persecuted by the other passengers, they were counseled by John Forsgren to “return good for evil,” and they agreed to present to the captain of that ship a gift of twelve American dollars in an attempt to improve the impression most people had of the Mormons. As they approached New Orleans, on the east side of the river they could see black slaves and their white overseers working in the beet fields and living in wooden shacks and houseboats. Most of the shacks were built on poles so they would be high enough when the river overflowed its banks. On the west side of the river, they could see a lighthouse and some factories. Closer to town, they could see finer houses with orchards, flowering gardens, livestock, and birds singing in the trees. They passed by a church and saw people driving closed-in wagons. It looked like paradise to those who had been at sea for such a long time.

They were docked in New Orleans for a very short time. Some of the passengers took advantage of this opportunity to set foot on American soil for the first time, but John Forsgren advised them against going into town, because he felt it was populated by “ungodly people.” Some local Danish people came aboard to ask about the latest news from Denmark and to see if they knew anyone on the ship. Two passengers, identified only as “W. Andersen and his wife,” parted company with the Mormons and chose to remain in New Orleans. Two children died during this short stay and were buried in New Orleans: (1) Margrete Christina Larsen, three-year-old daughter of passengers Hans and Elina Larsen; and (2) Christina Margrethe Munk, infant daughter of Christian and Anna Maria Munk. One child, Ephraim Monarch Dennisen, son of Hans and Johanna Dennisen, was born during this time.

On Saturday, March 19, the passengers boarded a small steamship, which was used to transfer them to a larger steamship, the Grantover. During this transfer, Chistian Christensen was very ill, and was accompanied by Christina Erika Forsgren (sister of John Forsgren, the group’s leader), who was helping to take care of young Peter and Jon Christensen, whose mother had died less than a week earlier.¹⁵ Two other passengers, twenty-eight-year-old Anna Beckström, and eight-year-old Peter Munk, were also quite ill at this time, but both soon recovered.

The Grantover was a three-decker, which looked like a large, flat, three-story building floating up the river. It was more than one-and-a-half times longer than the Forest Monarch. The pilot steered the ship from a salon at the front, where many sailors had to keep watch for logs or branches floating down the river that could threaten to damage the paddlewheels. The passengers were quartered in the lower deck, but the cargo of many large sacks of salt left very little room for them to sleep. Some of the passengers searched around the ship in order to lay claim to more comfortable places to sleep.

On Sunday, March 20, the ship stopped to take on an additional cargo of sugar. The freight took up so much room that the Mormons could not find a space large enough to hold their regular Sunday meeting. From the deck, they could see many houses, gardens, and orchards, and people fishing from the river bank. They could also see many smaller boats, built for housekeeping as well as for sailing, floating into the Mississippi from its tributaries.

On Monday, March 21, through Saturday, March 26, they passed by some large forests, some areas of which had been cleared of trees and with the ground plants burned off in order to prepare the land for farming. They could see some small villages, as well as large plantations with small decrepit shacks for the slaves’ quarters. Beside them on the river, they were able to see many different styles of steamships, some with paddlewheels in the back and some with paddlewheels in the center of the ship.

On Easter Sunday, March 27, they still did not have room to hold a Sunday service. The following day, they stopped in a small town, where they could see factories, a saw mill, and coal mines. Here, they took on even more cargo consisting of packed barrels and other merchandise.

On Tuesday, March 29, they arrived in Saint Louis, Missouri. From the deck, they could see a large steamship serving as a ferry that was large enough to take full wagons and their teams across the Mississippi River. They were beginning to witness first-hand that America was the land of opportunity. The working men in Saint Louis were better dressed than the best-dressed people in Denmark. At meal time, the American sailors aboard the ship were served as much food as they wanted, and if there was more than they could finish it was thrown overboard. When they left the ship on Wednesday, March 30, Christian Christensen was still very ill. Passenger N. Hansen was also ill.

When they left the ship, it was determined that it would be healthier to remain in Saint Louis for a while before continuing their journey, so they paid their lodging for a month on the second floor of a four-story building, packing as many of them in a room as could fit. Many of the men went to work during this stay, some working on grading of a new railroad. There were many houses built of wooden boards in Saint Louis, and the immigrants witnessed more than a few house fires while they were there. The parks in the city had artificial water springs to which the fire department would attach long hoses in order to fight the fires. The parks were well cared for, but the immigrants were surprised at the lack of sanitation on the city streets and the lack of upkeep in the city’s cemeteries.

On Saturday, April 2, Peter Christensen’s infant brother, Jon, died of dysentery and was buried in Wesleyan Cemetery.¹⁶ Wesleyan Cemetery later closed in 1878 and relocated to the New Wesleyan Cemetery, then closed again in 1952 and relocated to various other cemeteries.¹⁷ The graves of those with no known descendants were not recorded, so Jon’s remains are now in an unknown location.

The following day, Sunday, April 3, Peter Christensen’s father, Christian Christensen, died of dysentery and was buried in a pauper’s grave at Saint Louis City Cemetery.¹⁸ Inger Dennison, whose grandson Ephraim had been born while the Forest Monarch was docked in New Orleans, died the same day of old age and was also buried in a pauper’s grave at City Cemetery. There were three cemeteries known as City Cemetery in Saint Louis, but they no longer exist. Most of the graves are said to have been moved to New Pickers Cemetery, a part of Gatewood Cemetery, and there are no markers for the graves moved from the City Cemeteries.¹⁹ Christian Christensen’s remains are now in an unknown location.

At the age of three, in a strange land, not yet knowing the language of his new country, Peter Christensen became an orphan. Surviving family members, if any existed, were thousands of miles away in Denmark. He was truly alone in the world.

On the evening of April 3, three of the immigrant couples were married, so life went on as usual. On Friday, April 8, passenger Anders Beckström from Sweden, who during the journey had lost his memory, died in a hospital in Saint Louis. He was one of the few non-Mormons to travel with the group.

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Footnotes for “From Denmark to Saint Louis”:

     ⁸The stories of the journey from Denmark to Utah are documented in various journals kept by member of the company. Most of them can be accessed at Mormon Migration or at Mormon Overland Pioneer Travel. Family trees at Ancestry (some documented, some not) have been used to try to fill in the entire names of those passengers who have been identified in the journals only by partial names.
     ⁹The journal of an unidentified Danish immigrant states that they dropped anchor at “Nye Werk, Holland.” Workum seems to be the most likely city close enough to the coast for him to be referring to. The journal does not make it clear how long it took to get from Cuxhaven to there, so it is hard to gauge whether the timing is right for this to be case.
     ¹⁰This story comes from The Autobiography of Caroline Domgaard Nelson or Neilsen (although titled Autobiography, it is actually written in the third person and appears to be written by someone else), who was seven years old at the time. It was accessed at Autobiography of Caroline Domgaard Nelson or Nielsen. The story quotes Peter Munk, who was eight years old at the time. Caroline Domgaard and Peter Munk were both passengers on the ship.
     ¹¹Information about the Forest Monarch comes from Scandinavian Emigrant Ships.
     ¹²One passenger’s journal stated that the son of Poul Larson died on March 15, but he may have been mistaken, because other journals give the date as February 7.
     ¹³The journal of Christian Neilsen Munk states that the child who died that evening was the “child of Brother Christensen.” The other journals, however, refer to him as the “child of Brother Pouls Chr. Larsen” or as the “youngest child on the ship.” Either Christian Munk made a mistake with the name in his journal, or (more likely) a transcriber got it wrong.
     ¹⁴It seems strange for someone to be buried “at sea” in a shallow portion of the Mississippi River, so it may or may not be true. One immigrant’s journal simply says “the body was buried.” Another says he was “buried at sea.” A third says he was “buried in the river.”
     ¹⁵The assumption that Christina Forsgren was with the Christensen family is deduced from the following: (1) the list of passengers leaving the Forest Monarch shows a Christine with the Christensen family; (2) Christensen family histories say that the orphaned Peter was taken in by the Forsgren family; (3) Forsgren family histories say that Christina Forsgren was aboard this ship; and (4) Christina’s name cannot be found elsewhere on the list of departing passengers. The only other possibility for the Christine leaving the ship with the Christensens would be Anna Christine Knudsen, who later married John Forsgren’s brother Peter, but she can be seen elsewhere on this passenger list with her parents, so this couldn’t be her.
     ¹⁶The cause of death and place of burial come from death records obtained from the Missouri State Archives.
     ¹⁷Information about the history of Wesleyan Cemetery comes from the Saint Louis County Library web site and from the Find-a-Grave web site.
     ¹⁸The cause of death and place of burial come from death records obtained from the Missouri State Archives. This particular record contains some errors. It lists Christian Christensen as female rather than male. Also, in the entry directly below his, it lists Inger Dennisen as male rather than female, although the journals of other passengers refer to her as “Sister Dennisen” and “the mother of Brother Dennisen.” Curiously, she is also designated as male on the list of passengers leaving the Forest Monarch, but many irregularities on that record can be attributed to the language barrier between the workers in New Orleans and the Danish passengers they were recording. She was probably ill at that time and had someone else providing her information.
     ¹⁹The information about the City Cemeteries in Saint Louis comes from the Find-a-Grave web site, and is attributed to the St. Louis Genealogical Society.

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From Saint Louis to Sanpete County

The Christensen family histories all say that Peter Christensen crossed the plains with the company led by John Forsgren made up of the passengers from the Forest Monarch. There is no reason to doubt that three-year-old Peter was a member of this company, but he doesn’t seem to appear in any surviving records of the journey. Perhaps as a young orphan, he was like a shadow in the group, being there but never really noticed. The family histories say he was taken in by John Forsgren. Research indicates that John Forsgren didn’t treat his own families very well, so it might be out of character for him to volunteer to take in an orphan, but that is apparently what happened. Perhaps Peter was cared for by John Forsgren’s sister Christina during this leg of the journey.

At their regular Sunday meeting on April 10, the immigrants signified by a show of hands that they were ready to travel to Keokuk, Iowa, their next leg of the journey.

On Thursday, April 21, the first half of the Forsgren Company left for Keokuk on the steamship Di Vernon, sailing up the Mississippi River and arriving the following day. They stayed for one night in Keokuk, then set up camp about a mile north of the town near a forested area where they could collect all of the firewood they would need. There was a camp of English immigrants who had prepared their camp site and helped them get settled in their quarters.

The same day that they left, a daughter, Josephine Epraimine, was born to Peter and Ellen Madsen in Saint Louis, but she died nine days later, Saturday, April 30, and was buried the same day. On Sunday, April 24, Kirsten Larsen, the wife of Poul Christian Larsen, died in Saint Louis, and she was buried two days later, Tuesday, April 26, the same day that John Forsgren returned to help the second half of the company prepare to travel to Keokuk. On Friday, April 29, Christina Maria Christiansen, wife of Christian Christiansen (no relation to Peter Christensen), gave birth to stillborn twins near Keokuk.²⁰

The second half of the company departed for Keokuk on Saturday, April 30, except for Peter and Ellen Madsen, who buried their nine-day-old daughter that afternoon and left the next day. After spending the night in Keokuk, they joined the first half of the company in the camp north of town. Following a proposal from John Forsgren, Hans Christian Hansen, who had served in the Danish Army before leaving his homeland and been a close personal friend of Danish King Frederick VII, was unanimously appointed to be the sergeant of the camp.

On Sunday, May 8, Peter Adolph Forsgren, the brother of John Forsgren, was married to Kirsten Knudsen.

During the weeks they were in Keokuk, much energy was put into procuring wagons, oxen, and supplies. The group was divided into companies of fifty, each divided into five companies of ten. A captain was appointed for each ten and an additional captain over each fifty. John Forsgren was appointed captain over the entire Danish company.

On Monday, May 16, John Forsgren left to obtain some more oxen. On Tuesday, May 17, a child of Rasmus Andersen died. On Wednesday, May 18, John Forsgren returned with some oxen.

On Friday, May 20, the first group left Keokuk, and camped about ten miles away. They traveled another four miles on Saturday, May 21, and made a new camp. John Forsgren and Christian Christiansen then returned to Keokuk to lead the remaining members of the company to this camp, who arrived on Sunday, May 22. It was a rough start to their journey, as it rained most of the time they were traveling. On May 22, a child was born to a member of the company identified only as “Sister Andersen.”²¹

On Friday, May 23, they camped at Sugar Creek, Iowa. This spot, about seven miles from Nauvoo, Illinois, had been used as a winter camp by the first Mormon company to cross the plains and was referred to by them as the “Camp of Israel.” Nearly all the early Mormon companies camped at this site.²² While they were there, the members of the company agreed that if they had enough provisions they should give a present to the leader of the English camp who had helped them get settled at Keokuk.

On Tuesday, May 31, the company began to travel again, but Lars Justesen’s group of fifty was delayed while they rounded up some lost oxen. Paul Kofford’s wagon tipped over in a ditch while two women and two children were riding in it. Luckily, no one was hurt, and the wagon was not damaged.

On Wednesday, June 1, Lars Justesen’s group of fifty caught up with the company. On Thursday, June 2, they passed near a place known as Dogs Town and camped not far from it. On Sunday, June 5, they experienced a lot of rain and hail along with thunder and lightning. John Forsgren injured his arm and back when he slipped in the mud and fell under a wagon. The rain continued Monday, June 6, through Wednesday, June 8, as they passed through Stringtown and Drakesville, Iowa. On Thursday, June 9, they camped at Soap Creek after passing through Unionville, Iowa. On Saturday, June 11, they camped at a place identified as “Doddirsjoid.” On Sunday, June 12, they camped east of Chariton Pond and passed by the town of Chariton the following day, Monday, June 13. A daughter, Sarah Florentine, was born to Herman Julius and Hannah Christensen.

After passing by Chariton, they spent the next few nights camping by small streams. On Thursday, June 16, after passing by Four Mile Stream and Seven Mile Stream, they camped near Mount Pisgah, which had been made into a permanent settlement for use as a stopping point for Mormon companies traveling west. Mount Pisgah had been named after the mountain in the Bible from which Moses was allowed to see the promised land.

On Saturday, June 18, and the following day, they camped on the Middle Branch of the Nodaway River. On Monday, June 20, they camped on the West Branch of the river. On Tuesday, June 21, they camped near Indiantown, Iowa. On Wednesday, June 22, they had to camp at a place where there wasn’t any firewood. The following morning, Thursday, June 23, they got a late start, as they had to wait for Lars Justesen to round up some missing horses. While crossing the Nishnabotna River that day, the oxen leading Peter Forsgren’s wagon tried to swim back to shore, and the wagon’s box came loose from its wheels. The men jumped into the river in order to fish out the wagon box along with its passenger. No one was severely injured, but two of the men were stepped on when they hitched the nervous oxen to the wagon again.

Two days later, on Saturday, June 25, they arrived at Council Bluffs Iowa, across the Missouri River from what is now Omaha, Nebraska, and they stayed there while gathering enough provisions to last for the rest of the journey. Council Bluffs was not only a stopping place for the Mormons, but also for people heading west to the gold fields of California. In six weeks, they had traveled about 265 miles.²³

One journal states that on Tuesday, June 28, Neil Pedersen and his family left the company and would go no further.²⁴ On Wednesday, June 29, another member of the company, Jorgen Nielsen, also said that he wished to remain in Council Bluffs, saying that there were liars and slanderers among the company and that he was no better among them than any other place in the world. John Forsgren declared that Jorgen Nielsen had slandered the church, and there was a unanimous vote that he be excommunicated from the church. Jorgen and his family left the following day. On Friday, July 1, Frederikke Frederiksen left the company and decided to remain in Council Bluffs. On Saturday, July 2, before the company moved to the shores of the Missouri River to continue their journey, Jorgen Nielsen returned to the camp with a Council Bluffs policeman, seeking his oxen that had been driven off by Hans Christian Hansen. The officer forced Hans Christian Hansen to return to the city, where he had to pay eleven dollars. On July 4, Hans Jorgensen and Dorthe Christensen were married in the camp.

On Tuesday, July 5, they began to ferry across the river during a thunderstorm, and four wagons got across. Some of the company members began building a bridge, and it took four days to get all of the wagons and oxen across. Four oxen had to be left behind for Jorgen Nielsen, who had sued John Forsgren for their return. On July 6, 1853, while the company was in the process of moving the wagons across the river, a daughter, Sarah Dianna Overlade, was born to Andreas and Karen Overlade.

On Sunday, July 10, the company was reorganized into new groups of fifty. On Monday, July 11, the son of Julius Herman Christensen fell off of the wagon, and the wheel of the wagon passed over his face. His nose was pushed into his face, and they had to remove a broken bone from his nose, but he survived.²⁵ On Tuesday, July 12, John Forsgren had to return to Council Bluffs to pay thirty dollars in damages to resolve the lawsuit that had been brought by Jorgen Nielsen.

The first group of fifty commenced traveling on the morning of Tuesday, July 12, and the rest followed the next morning. On Friday, July 15, they reached the Elkhorn River. The ferry man at the Elkhorn Crossing allowed them to use his ferry at no charge. On the evening of Sunday, July 17, William Andersen fell, and his chest was run over by two wagon wheels, but he survived the accident.

They camped at Schell Creek on Monday, July 18. On Wednesday, July 20, the first group of fifty reached the Loup Fork of the Platte River, where they were once again ferried across at no charge. The Elkhorn Crossing and the Loup Fork were two of the most difficult crossings for pioneers heading west. The remainder of the company crossed the Loup Fork during the following two days.

As they got farther from civilization, there were not as many established places to camp. At times they camped at places that had no water or no firewood, so they were happy when they could find a camping spot that had both. Sometimes the trail would be sandy, causing them to move more slowly, so they were happy when they could have a solid road to travel.

On Sunday, July 24, after a slow trek across some high hills on a sandy road, they were able to camp by a small stream. That morning, Hans Andersen Peel died. Later that day, a son, Denmark Jensen, was born to Mads Christian and Maren Jensen. On Monday, July 25, they came to Wood River. There were no bridges or ferries, so they had to ford the river, which caused minor damage to some wagons.

They camped on Tuesday, July 26, by the Wood River, and on Wednesday, July 27, by the Platte River. When they camped near the rivers, they had plenty of water and firewood. As they traveled along the Platte for the next couple of weeks, some of the deeper streams that needed crossing had bridges that had been constructed by earlier Mormon companies, while others were shallow enough to ford. The streams they had to cross had descriptive names, including Elm Creek, Buffalo Creek, Six Spring Creek, Black Mud Creek, Bluff Creek, Petite Creek, Rattlesnake Creek, Wolf Creek, Watch Creek, Crab Creek, and Sand Hill Creek. They camped near Buffalo Creek on Saturday, July 30. On Sunday, July 31, John Forsgren informed the travelers that when they reached their destination they would not choose where to stay but would be appointed a place.

On Saturday, August 6, Christian Munk’s child fell off of the wagon, but was not injured.²⁶ At their Sunday meeting on August 7, John Forsgren warned the people not to leave the camp without permission from their group’s captain, so that they could know where everyone was at all times. On Monday, August 8, Christian Christiansen died.²⁷ On Wednesday, August 10, they were visited by a group of sixty Indians, begging for food, which the travelers gave to them. At their Sunday meeting on August 14, John Forsgren admonished the people to take care of themselves and not to try to take care of others.

On Saturday, August 20, they reached Fort Laramie, where they crossed the Platte River. By Monday, August 22, they were into the Rocky Mountains. Among the places they passed by and camped in along this leg of the journey were Little Spring Creek, Deer Creek, LaBonte River, Boyd Stream, La Prele Creek, Bad Slough, Sweet Water River, Devils Gate, Alkali Lake, Strawberry Creek, Pacific Creek, Little Sandy, Black’s Fork, and Ham’s Fork. On Thursday, August 25, Charlotte Thorp was run over by a wagon, but she survived the accident. On Sunday, August 28, Hans Larsen was married to Anne Marie Jorgensen.²⁸ On Monday, August 29, Herman DePlade died. On Tuesday, September 13, Peter Madsen was mending a broken harness when one of his oxen got scared and dragged him for some time. He had to remain in the wagon for ten days before he could walk again.

On Tuesday, September 20, they arrived at Bridger’s Fort, where trail split. To the north, it became the Oregon Trail; to the west it became the Mormon Trail, heading toward the Salt Lake Valley. During this last leg of the trip, they passed Muddy Creek, Bear River, Echo Canyon, Cache Cave, East Canyon Creek, and Last Creek, until they finally arrived at Salt Lake City on Friday, September 30. Brigham Young directed the Danish immigrants to settle in what would later become Sanpete County, along the Sanpitch River.

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Footnotes for “From Saint Louis to Sanpete County”:

     ²⁰The journals from the journey simply say “The wife of C. Christiansen.” According to Conquerors of the West: Stalwart Mormon Pioneers, Vol. 1–2, edited by Florence C. Youngberg (Agreka Books, 1999), Christian Christiansen was the first Mormon convert in Denmark, and he married Christina Maria Hedvig Bruun in 1850. This book mentions their birth of stillborn twins near Keokuk.
     ²¹According to the LSD Church History web site, the child born on May 22, was Hannah Andersen, daughter of Wilhelm and Henrietta Andersen, but Hannah Andersen had actually been born on January 1, while the Forest Monarch was anchored in the River Mersey, so this couldn’t be her. The identity of this “Sister Andersen” remains a mystery.
     ²²The information about Sugar Creek, as well as information about a few additional locations to come along the Mormon trail, comes from the LSD Church History web site. Although their information about individual company members seems to be inconsistent, their descriptions of locations along the trail seem to be reliable.
     ²³After they left Council Bluffs, the dates do not always agree from one person’s journal to another. It is unclear whether some of the groups of fifty lagged behind the others by a couple of days, or whether the many months of travel had caused some of the journalists to lose track of what day it was. Most of the dates used in this story come from the company journal.
     ²⁴It is difficult to find more information about this Niels Pedersen. The most likely candidate would be a Niels Pedersen whose gravestone in the Little Denmark Cemetery in Gowen, Michigan, says he was born in 1815 in Denmark and died in 1882. According to his memorial on Find-a-Grave, he had a wife named Katharine, which would make them match the Forest Monarch passenger list from New Orleans, which shows a Niels Peder Pedersen and his wife Catrine. There is also the possibility that the unnamed person who wrote this journal (or the transcriber) may have gotten the name wrong and actually been referring to Jorgen Neilsen, who left the company during the next couple of days.
     ²⁵Herman Julius Christensen had three sons, Herman, Theodore, and Titus, but the journals do not clarify which son this happened to.
     ²⁶Christian Munk had three children, Peter Mikkel, Petrine Christine, and Margrethe. The journals do not say which child this happened to.
     ²⁷This family of Christiansens is a difficult one to keep straight. This Christian Christiansen appears to be the brother of the Christian Christiansen whose wife gave birth to stillborn twins in Keokuk. Their father was named Christian Christensen, and they also had a couple of brothers named Christen Christiansen.
     ²⁸Although the company journal gives the bride’s name as Ane Marie Madsen, the Forest Monarch passenger list and all later records identify her as Anne Marie Jorgensen.
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Childhood in Sanpete County

There is very little definitive information available about Peter Christensen’s early life in Utah.²⁹ While most of the Danish Mormons settled in Sanpete County, the Forsgren family—John Erik, brother Peter Adolph, and sister Christine Erika—went to Brigham City, Box Elder County, and it is assumed that Peter lived there with them.³⁰

John Forsgren and his second wife, Sarah Belle Davis, moved to Carson City, Nevada, in 1856, but it is not known whether Peter went with them or remained behind with other Forsgren family members. After they returned in 1858, John and Sarah separated and divorced. Sarah married a man named Joseph Clapper. John married a widow named Ingeborg Petersen, and they moved to Moroni, Sanpete County, taking Peter with them.³¹ At some point early in the 1860s, Peter left the Forsgrens and went to live with Abner Lowry, the son of John Lowry Sr.³² While he was living with the Lowry family, he was known as Pete Lowry.

During of the early decades of the Mormon settlement in Utah, there were ongoing skirmishes between the settlers and the Timponogos Indians. One of the leaders of the Timponogos was named Jake Arropeen. During an 1865 meeting to discuss the Indians’ claim that the settlers were responsible for the small-pox that had killed many of their people the previous winter, Jake Arropen became quite agitated. John Lowry Sr., who was working as an interpreter, pulled Arropeen off of his horse and was preparing to beat him when some bystanders were able to interfere and stop the fight. This incident is often credited for the escalation of the skirmishes with the Indians into what became known as the Black Hawk War. John Lowry later claimed that Arropeen was preparing to attack him when he pulled him off of his horse.³³

Peter Christensen was too young to join the militia, but the Lowry men—John Sr., John Jr., and Abner (with whom Peter was living)—were all involved in this war against the Indians. Peter was appointed to stand guard over the cattle during this time. There is a story about Peter seeing some Indians coming toward the area while he was herding the cattle one day. He was on one side of a canal, and the cattle were on the other side. He could not swim, so he removed his clothes and tied them to a rock which he threw across the canal. Then he crawled across the canal while holding his breath, after which he put his clothes back on and herded the cattle back to the settlement.

When Peter left the Lowrys to go out on his own, he worked as a farmer and a freighter. In the 1870 U.S. Census, there is a nineteen-year-old Peter Christensen boarding with the Groosebeck family in Salt Lake City and working as a teamster. This could possibly be him, as no other Peter Christensen of that age can be found in Utah in that year’s census.

While looking through some belongings he had inherited from his parents, Peter found a Danish Bible. Inscribed in that Bible were the names Christian Christensen and Caroline Christensen. He believed these to be his parents, and even his death certificate lists his mother’s name as Caroline. He took the middle name of Christian in honor of his father, and for the rest of his life he was known as Peter Christian Christensen, later shortened to P.C. Christensen.

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Footnotes for “Childhood in Sanpete County”:

     ²⁹Most of the information about Peter’s life during this time comes from Quietly Going about Their Business, The Family Histories, compiled by Ida Belle Gledhill Christensen Buchanan, Peter’s daughter-in-law.
     ³⁰Most of the information about the Forsgren family comes from Forsgren John Erik & Descendants, a web site created and maintained by the descendants of John Forsgren.
     ³¹The fact that Peter came to Moroni with the Forsgrens is assumed from a ten-year-old son named Peter being listed in the Forsgren household in the 1860 United States Federal Census. There is a possibility that this Peter might actually have been a son of Ingeborg, but nothing is really known about her life prior to her arrival in Utah the previous year. This particular census also showed the three children of John and Sarah Forsgren living with John and Ingeborg Forsgren, when they were actually living with Sarah and her new husband.
     ³²Most histories state that Peter went to live with the Lowry family, without specifying whether it was John Lowry or one of his sons, John Jr. or Abner, but the History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah, by W.H. Lever (Ogden, Utah, 1896) says that he lived with the family of Abner Lowry. This book states that Peter went to live with the Lowry family in 1858. Because there is a son named Peter in the Forsgren household in the 1860 Census and no Peter in any of the Lowry households in that census, it was probably in later years that Peter went to live with the Lowrys.
     ³³This story comes from History of Indian Depredations in Utah, by Peter Gottfredson (Salt Lake City, 1919, Skelton Publishing Co.).

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Still in Sanpete after All These Years

On January 29, 1892, Peter Christian Christensen married Mary Mallinson in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. Mary had been born on July 21, 1853, in Ashton-on-Lyne, Lancashire County, England, to Edward Mallinson and Ophelia Turner Mallinson. She came to America with her parents in 1864 aboard the General McClellan. They had crossed the plains in the Joseph S. Rawlins Company, arriving in Salt Lake City on September 20, 1864. Peter and Mary set up housekeeping in Moroni, Utah, where Peter continued working as a farmer and a freighter.

Their first child, a son named Edward Christian Christensen, was born on February 2, 1873, in Moroni. Their second child, a son named Peter Angelo Christensen, was born on April 27, 1875, in Moroni. Perhaps to avoid confusion, he was referred to as Angelo, and it may be during this time that Peter Christian began to be known as P.C. Their third child, a daughter named Blanche Ophelia Christensen, was born June 17, 1878, in Moroni. Their fourth child, a son named Ernest Raymond Christensen, was born July 12, 1881, in Moroni. Their fifth child, a daughter named Hannah Caroline Christensen, was born November 11, 1883, in Moroni. She was always known as Daisy (Aunt Daisy to the nieces and nephews she doted on). Their sixth child, a son named Nelson Howard Christensen, was born March 23, 1887. He was known as Nils. Their seventh child, a daughter named Mary Viola Christensen, was born July 14, 1890, in Moroni. In her later life, when she supervised the kitchen at the George White Service Center in Portland, Oregon, during World War II, she was known as Shorty or Shrimp.³⁴ Their eighth child, a son named Randall Christensen, also known as Ray, was born May 12, 1893, in Moroni. Their ninth and final child, a son named Frank Jay Christensen, was born October 20, 1859, In Moroni.

On April 11, 1882, Peter Christian Christensen proudly became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Having arrived at age three, he probably had no memory of any other home other than the country to which he was finally being accepted as an official member.³⁵

During the 1880s, Peter ran a large general store in town. He sold much of his merchandise on credit, never turning anyone down if they needed supplies but were short of money. Because of this, he had a very low cash flow, and when he lost the store in the early 1890s his customers owed him thousands of dollars. Then he owned and ran a lumber mill. He had a fine team of horses that hauled the lumber by sleigh during the winter and by running gears in the summer. His daughters cooked at the mill, and they were there to care for him the day he cut his hand with a large saw. He never saw a doctor for this injury, and it left his two middle fingers stiff for the rest of his life.

Peter was active in local affairs. He served on the City Council, and was a delegate to many Republican Party conventions. In 1901, he was appointed Postmaster at Moroni. He remained in that position until 1915, when his son Randall was appointed to take his place. He continued to work there even after his son had taken over the reins.

Peter and Mary’s oldest child, Edward Christian Christensen, died tragically at the age of 29 on December 26, 1901. Ed had returned from a Christmas dance complaining of a suffocating feeling and died that night. His cause of death was listed as hemorrhage of the lungs.³⁶

Their second son, Peter Angelo Christensen, was widowed on March 28, 1819, when his wife, Maren “Mary” Fechser Christensen, died during the influenza epidemic. Since Angelo worked in the coal mines and could not be at home to tend to his children, they all went to live with relatives. Most of the children moved in with aunts and uncles, but eleven-year-old Mary Berniece Christensen moved in with her grandparents, P.C. and Mary Christensen.³⁷ She must have had a special place in their hearts for them to take on this responsibility at their advanced age. Five and a half years later, on October 1, 1924, Peter Angelo Christensen was killed when he was run over by a coal car at the mine where he worked.³⁸

Peter Christian Christensen was a lover of music and had a large collection of records that he liked to listen to on Sunday evenings. He enjoyed dancing and was a favorite dance partner even among the younger ladies, and he also acted as caller for square dances. He enjoyed going to ball games and movies. During his later years, he wore a black skullcap to keep his bald head warm. He underwent cataract surgery, which was much more risky then than it is today, and the surgery took away a lot of his joy for life.

Peter’s wife, Mary, died on August 31, 1927, from an accidental injury after falling on some stairs.³⁹

Their next-to-the-youngest child, Randall Christensen, died at a tragically young age on March 2, 1928, from pneumonia caused by inhaling fumes at his place of work, the Maytag Washing Machine Company.⁴⁰ He was not quite thirty-five years old.

Peter Christian Christensen died on December 19, 1928. He left quite a legacy, survived by six children, nearly thirty grandchildren, and more than a hundred great grandchildren. The little orphan from Denmark left his mark on the world, and will always be remembered as one of the earliest settlers in Sanpete County.

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Footnotes for “Still in Sanpete after All These Years”:

     ³⁴This information about Mary Viola’s nicknames comes from an article in the Oregon Journal, August 17, 1945, section 2, page 2.
     ³⁵Although his naturalization papers cannot be found, there are two separate mentions of the event in the Salt Lake Tribune, one giving the date as October 10, 1881, and the other giving the date as April 11, 1882. Since there is usually a waiting period between application and acceptance, the logical assumption would be that his application was accepted on October 10 and then finalized on April 11.
     ³⁶This information comes from his obituary in the Ephraim Enterprise, December 26, 1901.
     ³⁷This information comes from the personal journal of Theodore Angelo Christensen, the oldest child of Peter Angelo and Mary Fechser Christensen.
     ³⁸This information comes from an article in the Salt Lake Telegram, October 3, 1924.
     ³⁹This information comes from her death certificate issued by the State of Utah.
     ⁴⁰This information comes from his death certificate issued by the State of Utah.

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Granddad’s Life Lesson from Buckskin Gloves

Among the greatest gifts a person can give to his or her genealogist descendants are well written journals, memoirs, and personal histories. My granddad, Theodore Angelo Christensen, kept journals throughout his life and also has one of the most complete personal histories of any of my ancestors. In addition to that, he also wrote stories about his life. I consider him a writer of fables, as most of his stories had a moral and taught a lesson.

The Christensen children, ca. 1919. Judging from the apparent ages of the children, this might be the last photo of the children together before their mother died. Back Row: Theodore Angelo, Mary Berniece, Ralph Frank, Kenneth Ernest. Front Row: Earl Glade, Maiben Lee, Evan Frederick, Irene Ida. (Photo from the web site of Randall L. Christensen)

Granddad was only fourteen-and-a-half years old when his mother, Maren Regina Fechser Christensen, died during the influenza epidemic in 1919. His father, Peter Angelo Christensen, was working in the coal mines in Carbon County, Utah, while the rest of the family lived in Sanpete County, and he could come home to be with his family only on the weekends.

After the death of their mother, the children were sent to live with different relatives, as they couldn’t live with their father in the coal fields. The youngest brother, Ralph Frank, went to live with his uncle and aunt, Ernest and Ethyl Christensen; brother Evan Frederick went to live with his uncle and aunt, Randall and Ida Christensen; brother Maiben Lee went to live with his uncle and aunt, James and Amelia Fechser; sister Ida Irene went to live with her uncle and aunt, Ray and Daisy Blackham; brother Earl Glade went to live with his uncle and aunt, Andrew and Ella Sorensen—then after Andrew’s death, Earl lived with Ella and her second husband, Emil Hasler; sister Mary Berniece went to live with her grandparents, P.C. and Mary Christensen; brother Kenneth Earnest went to live with his uncle and aunt, Ernest and Ethyl Christensen.

Granddad, being the oldest, was given the choice of moving to Carbon County to stay with his father, but he opted instead to live with his uncle and aunt, Andrew and Rozena Madsen, on their farm in Mount Pleasant. His cousin Evan was just two years older than he, and they worked together on the farm, including participating in the fall roundup when they went with the other local farmers and ranchers to drive the cattle from the summer grazing ground back to the farms and ranches. Then, after the roundup, they would assist in branding the new calves that had been born that year.

In their later years, Granddad (Theodore Angelo Christensen) and Nana (Reba “Becky” Cox Christensen) listen to one of my impromptu concerts on the living room rug.

In the story I am presenting here, Granddad learned a life lesson from buckskin gloves. Shortly before he died, it  was published in Saga of the Sanpitch—an annual collection of winning entries in the Sanpete County Historical Writing Contest—Volume XIII, 1981 (© 1981 Lillian L. Fox for the Manti Region Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints).

Buckskin Gloves

Theodore A. Christensen
371 Eudora Street
Denver, Colorado 80220
Senior Citizen Division, First Place Short Story

Day dawned bright and clear on the Andrew O. Madsen farm as his son, Evan, and I hitched Queen and Prince to the front running gears of the farm wagon on which, the night before, we had tied securely several hundred pounds of rock salt. We had been assigned the task of hauling salt to the summer range.

Of course, this would be more like a holiday for us and a welcome relief from the back-breaking job of weeding the sugar beet field all day.

Perhaps one of us could have handled the assignment to haul the salt, but Uncle Andrew knew his boys. This would be a great experience for us because we enjoyed working together, since we were more like brothers than cousins. My Uncle might even have been the original author of the buddy system used so universally.

Within two hours we were in the foothills. Our pace slowed considerably as we began to climb the steep road into the mountains. One could hardly call it a road—a trail, maybe. That is why we had used only the front running gears of the wagon. In places the trail was very steep and rocky, and we were glad we had two heavy work horses to do the pulling. Frequent rest periods for the horses lengthened the travel time, and it was midday before we reached the slopes of “Tow-Head,” the name given by the early Danish pioneers to this bald prominence in the Wasatch plateau framing the border of the Sanpitch Valley.

Experience gained over many summers of grazing cattle in these mountains had dictated the strategy now used in locating the “salt-licks” high on the mountain side, because it forced the cattle to graze up and down the grassy slopes between the salting grounds at the top and the springs and creeks at the bottom where they watered.

During our descent, after unloading the rock salt, we stopped at Cold Spring to eat our lunch. Paradise couldn’t be more beautiful and peaceful than this sylvan retreat, and Evan and I took full advantage of it before we headed for home.

It wasn’t until we were safely back at the farm and the horses were unhitched, watered, fed, and curried, that Evan discovered he did not have his leather gloves. He was crestfallen. Where had he lost them? They were not ordinary gloves. They were real, honest to goodness buckskin gauntlets with leather fringe and brass stars. And besides, they were his Christmas gift from his Dad.

Uncle Andrew, the wise man and good that he was, reasoned that the most logical place the gloves would be was at the spring where we had eaten our lunch. So, he excused us from another day of work in the sugar beet field and sent us back to the mountains to find the priceless gloves and to teach us a lesson as well.

Golly, two holidays in a row. Wow! How lucky can you get? But this time the transportation would not be the same. We would ride double on the oldest, most gentle horse on the farm. He was a work horse so there would be no saddle. We would ride him bareback. We mounted, Evan in front and I behind, and started out on a trot. But that gait wouldn’t last for long. The old horse (I have forgotten his name) didn’t know how to lope, only how to walk and trot. We soon slowed him down to a walk for our own comfort. The weather was perfect: cool canyon breezes blowing into our faces. By comparison, we asked ourselves, what would it be like in the beet fields by now, especially with a hoe in your hands? (Well, you get the picture.)

Before the sun was too high we were in the scrub-oaks, then in the aspens and finally in the pines. And, about noontime, we found our little spot of Paradise again beside that cold spring of water. Everything was just the same as we had left it the day before. Yes, even the gloves were there on a rock ledge above the spring where Evan had placed them. You have never seen a more excited and happy young man when he slid off that horse and bounded for the spring and his gloves.

A lazy hour sprawled out on the grass beside the spring, eating the lunch which my Aunt Rozina had prepared for us, would prove to be the “icing on the cake” before that adventurous day would end.

But you can’t loll around in luxury all day when you have evening chores beckoning you to get moving, and a hot August afternoon for you as soon as you emerge from the cool comfort of forested canyons. Mounting up, we turned old “What’s His Name” towards the valley for our long trek home with Evan’s hands safely ensconced in those priceless gloves.

Do you know that riding downhill, without a saddle, is a lot tougher than riding uphill? Well, it really is, as we found out before our day was ended. As soon as we left the cool shade of the canyon, the hot sun began beating down on us as if intent on cooking us alive. By that time, too, the back of that old horse seemed to be getting broader at every step, and we were sure we would likely be split in two, right down the middle, any minute. Finally, when we realized that we had gone through all the punishment we could take in one day, we dismounted from our upright position, then remounted, but in a semi-prone position on our stomachs, with Evan’s head and arms hanging down on one side and mine on the other, with our arms around each other’s legs in order to balance so we wouldn’t fall off. We had tied the bridle reins around the horse’s neck because he knew the way home.

It seemed a much longer ride home, but riding at a slow gait, we were safely home in a couple of hours. Neither of us had fallen off the horse in spite of our precarious positions, and considering everything, we were not too much the worse for wear. However, that evening we did prefer standing to eat supper.

The highlight of the whole experience was to look on Evan’s radiant face as he displayed his precious buckskin gloves to the family. The gloves were like the prodigal son. They were lost, now they were found.

Source: Recollections of the author.

Padding the Census with the Fechsers

One of the problems that can be encountered when researching one’s ancestry is the discovery that you have placed incorrect information in your family tree due to the fact that one of your ancestors had given incorrect information on the U.S. Census. I recently had this happen with my second great grandmother’s data on the 1900 census.

In a previous post, Finding Peter Christian, I had mentioned that many of the early Utah Mormons would pad the census records in order to help Utah qualify for statehood. However, since Utah was already a state in 1900, it’s difficult to imagine why Ida Christina Johnson Fechser’s 1900 census shows so many of her children living in the house who were either dead or married and living elsewhere. Perhaps after gaining statehood they continued to pad the census hoping for more Congressional representation.

Ida Christina Johnson Fechser (center), with her sisters, Josephine Maria Johnson Day (left) and Inger Elizabeth Johnson Allred (right).

This would have been Ida’s first census as head of the house. When Utah gained statehood, the federal government was fighting polygamy by enforcing laws against “cohabitation,” so her husband, my second great grandfather Johann Friedrich Fechser, was living with (and officially married to) one of his other wives. It must be difficult for a woman who has spent her entire life in a strongly patriarchal society to suddenly be the one in charge, giving this information to the census takers. One must wonder if she really understood what the census was.

She was a fifty-three-year-old, single mother of thirteen, still raising the five youngest. Originally from Norway, she had been in America for forty years and was a month and a half shy of becoming a naturalized citizen. My theory is that when the nice young census taker came to the door asking about her family, she responded by telling him about all of her children, whether they lived there or not. She may have also been somewhat confused, perhaps with a bit of early senility, as she gave the birthplace of the children’s father as Norway, when actually he was born in Germany.

The 1900 census shows Ida C. Fechser having seven daughters, four sons, and two daughters-in-law living in her household.

The Deceased Children

The first two children listed in the census are a daughter, Fredricka Fechser, age 36, and a son, Joseph F. Fechser, age 34. In reality, her first two children died at a very young age. Frederike Amalie Fechser was born on November 9, 1864, and died the following day. Joseph Frederick Fechser was born on January 29, 1866, and died at the age of two on May 27, 1868, when he drowned in the creek that ran by their house.

Frederike Amalie Fechser and brother Joseph Frederick Fechser share a headstone in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Mount Pleasant, Sanpete County, Utah. Photograph by Penne Magnusson Hannum.

The “Daughters-in-Law”

The next two children listed in the census are two daughters-in-law, Sarah M. Jensen and Ida C. Coliston. In reality, these were daughters who were married and living elsewhere.

Sarah M. Jensen was actually Sarah Marie Fechser (2/8/1868–10/2/1946), who was married to Niels Hansen Jensen (6/30/1845–12/25/1906), and they were also listed at their own address in the 1900 census. Since Ida’s census listed Sarah and named her as a daughter-in-law directly beneath Joseph’s listing, I had originally mistakenly assumed that Sarah was Joseph’s wife. It took more research to discover that Joseph had in fact died as a toddler and that Sarah was a daughter rather than a daughter-in-law.

Ida C. Coliston was actually Ida Christine Fechser (10/26/1869–6/29/1916), who was married to Henry Jarmond Carlston (4/4/1864–5/10/1946; also known as Henry Jeremy Carlston), and they were also listed at their own address in the 1900 census.

Two More Married Daughters

The next two children listed in the census are two daughters, Josephine Coliston and Rosina Madsen. Finally, she has two of her children somewhat correctly identified; but, then again, they were not living in her house and shouldn’t have been listed at this household in this census.

Josephine Coliston was actually Josephine Fechser (9/21/1871–6/18/1950), who was married to Franklin Ernal Carlston (3/14/1868–1943; the brother of her sister Ida’s husband Henry), and they were also listed at their own address in the 1900 census.

Rosena Madsen was actually Rozena Evena Fechser (8/6/1873–3/29/1951), who was married to Andrew Oscar Madsen (4/30/1870–7/19/1929), and they were also listed at their own address in the 1900 census. She and her husband have some extra significance in my family tree, as they were the family that my grandfather, Theodore Angelo Christensen, went to live with at the age of sixteen after his mother, Maren Regina Fechser Christensen, died during the influenza epidemic of 1919.

Andrew Oscar Madsen and wife, Rozena Evena Fechser Madsen. My grandfather went to live with them after the death of his mother.

The Rest of the Children

There are seven more children listed in the household in this census: Fred, James C., Mary R., Lizzie, Hyram, Ella, and Anna. I am assuming that all of these were still living in the household at this time and actually did belong on this census.

Fred was John Frederick Fechser (8/17/1875–1/3/1952). During the summer of 1900, he was attending the Teacher’s Institute in Manti, Utah, but would have been living at home. He probably did not leave home until his marriage in 1902.

Mary R. was Maren Regina Fechser (6/10/1880–3/28/1919). She probably did not leave home until her marriage to Peter Angelo Christensen in 1902. She was the mother of my grandfather, Theodore Angelo Christensen.

No photographs can be found for my great grandmother, Maren Regina Fechser Christensen. This photo of her headstone is courtesy of Becky Dawn.

Lizzie was Elizabeth Inger Fechser (8/29/1882–2/15/1977). She probably did not leave home until her marriage in 1907.

Hyram was Hyrum Fechser (1/7/1885–6/17/1962). He probably did not leave home until his marriage in 1910.

Ella was Ella Mennetta Fechser (2/5/1887–3/11/1986). She probably did not leave home until her marriage in 1911. She also is listed as living with her mother in the 1910 census.

The only information I can find about Anna is what is given in this census, that she was born in March 1890. She is not in the 1910 census, so she probably died or married before then.

Epilogue

If nothing else, this story helps emphasize the importance of putting correct information on public documents. It can save your descendants a great deal of frustration when they try to research their roots.