John Johnson Felt (Faldt)

(Johannes Johansson)

1819–1916

Residence: Huntsville, Weber Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 17 April 1885

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 21 June 1886

Name of departure ship: Otto

Birth date: 22 June 1819

Birthplace: Kkjellebo, Hjo, Skaraborg, Sweden

Father: Jonasson (Trogen), Johan

Mother: Johansdotter (Essgren), Sara

Spouse: Jonasson, Brita (Bretty) Lisa (Eliza)

Marriage date: 1 October 1843

Marriage place: Mofalla, Skaraborg, Sweden

Spouse: Anderson, Britta

Marriage date: 17 October 1858

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Peterson, Stina Kajsa

Marriage date: 21 June 1862

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Stromberg, Kajsa Lisa

Marriage date: 23 September 1863

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Stromberg, Maria Christina

Marriage date: 30 November 1867

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Death date: 3 September 1916

Death place: Huntsville, Weber Co., Utah

Burial place: Huntsville, Weber Co., Utah

When John was ten months old, he was taken away from his mother by an elderly couple who had no children. They were very loving parents to him, but the father died when he was ten years old. In 1840 he enlisted in the Swedish military and was grateful for the food and clothing this service provided him. During his three years of military service, he learned the shoemaker’s trade (see Hyde, “John [Johnson] Felt,” 1).

He was discharged from the military and in 1843 worked as a shoemaker. However, he was unable to make enough money to support himself, so he reenlisted. With the money earned, he bought two houses—one to rent out and the other to live in. His residence was located in the seaport village of Rödesund, in the parish of Korsberga (see Hyde, “John [Johnson] Felt,” 1).

On 2 June 1854, he, his wife, and his sister were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Erich Erichsen. In that same year, he was ordained an elder by Elder Lundblad. In 1855, when his military commitment ended, he and his family began a long and difficult voyage to America. During the voyage, his father-in-law died. The rest of the family arrived in New York Harbor in February 1856. They then traveled to Iowa, where John worked for fifteen months before continuing his journey to the Salt Lake Valley (see Hyde, “John [Johnson] Felt,” 2).

One year after his arrival in the valley, his wife died, leaving him with five children to raise. Two months later, John married a close family friend who had cared for his wife during her illness. They settled in Grantsville, Tooele County. In that community, John raised one thousand sheep, was part-owner of a molasses mill, and served on the city council (see Hyde, “John [Johnson] Felt,” 2).

In 1871 he left Grantsville to reside in Huntsville, Weber County. There, John was a “most progressive farmer” who enjoyed using the latest farm machinery. He was so trusted in the area that his sons and grandsons were given unlimited credit at local stores (see Hyde, “John [Johnson] Felt,” 3).

Although John was believed to be the most well-to-do man in Huntsville, he willingly left his fortune to serve a mission in Scandinavia in 1885. He arrived in Copenhagen on 17 April 1885 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. After serving an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 21 June 1886 aboard the steamer Otto (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 293–94, 297).

Upon returning to Utah, he was embroiled in a controversy over polygamy. Although many were imprisoned, John had the means to pay the fine of $125 instead. After paying his fine, he lived with his fifth wife, Maria Christina Stromberg (see Hyde, “John [Johnson] Felt,” 4). John was a strong, healthy man, outliving his wives and half of his twenty-two children. He died in 1916 in Huntsville at age ninety-seven (see Hyde, “John [Johnson] Felt,” 4).

Christian Daniel Fjeldsted

(Christian Daniel Hendrichsen)

1829–1905

Residence: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 31 July 1861; 1 September 1881; 16 November 1886

Missionary labors: Scandinavian Mission

Departure date from Copenhagen: 15 July 1870, 4 April 1884; 29 September 1890

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 20 February 1829

Birthplace: Sundbyvester, Tårnby, Copenhagen, Denmark

Father: Fjeldsted, Hendrich Ludvig

Mother: Henrichsdatter, Ane Cathrine

Spouse: Olsen, Karen

Marriage date: 12 April 1849

Marriage place: Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Spouse: Christensen, Johanna Maria

Marriage date: 3 July 1859

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Christensen, Catrina Maria

Marriage date: 13 May 1865

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Larsen, Josephine Margarethe

Marriage date: 4 September 1871

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Death date: 23 December 1905

Death place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Burial place: Logan Cemetery, Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Christian was born to parents with modest means who taught him to work. When he was ten years old, his father died, leaving him with the responsibility of supporting his mother. He worked as a harness maker and molder in an iron and brass shop to support the family (see Lowe, “The History of Christian Daniel Fjeldsted,” 1).

On 20 February 1852, he and his wife were baptized by Christian Samuel Hansen. After his baptism, Christian taught the gospel to coworkers. Although his employer fired him for speaking of Mormonism, he soon found other work and became a district president for the Church on the island of Amager. In 1855 he was called to be a traveling elder in the Copenhagen Conference, before serving as president of the Ålborg Conference. During those years, hundreds of people joined the Church (see Lowe, “The History of Christian Daniel Fjeldsted,” 2).

In 1858 Christian immigrated with his family to America and arrived on 7 October 1858 with the R. K. Homer Company in the Salt Lake Valley. They settled in Sugar House, Salt Lake County, where Christian worked in the foundry (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:203).

In 1867 he was called on the first of six missions to Scandinavia. He accepted donations to pay for his first mission but found conditions in Sweden worse than his own poverty. People were so poor that they were committing criminal acts so they could eat in prison. His journal entry for 17 August 1868 reflects his gratitude for what the Lord had given him: “With this picture of misery before my eyes, I thank God for my mountain home and the blessings of the Priesthood” (Lowe, “The History of Christian Daniel Fjeldsted,” 3).

During the first year of this mission, he was president of the Ålborg Conference. The second year, he was a traveling missionary in the Scandinavian Mission. Before he departed for America in 1870, he presided over the Christiania Conference (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:203).

Returning to Utah, he settled in Logan, Cache County. There he worked as a farmer and presided for nine years over the Scandinavian Saints (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:203). In 1881 Christian was again called to serve in Scandinavia. One of his many duties on this mission was to oversee the emigration of numerous Latter-day Saints. Many of them left Scandinavia because persecution was rampant; mobbings were not uncommon, and elders were often arrested and fined. Christian departed from Copenhagen aboard the steamer Milo as the leader of the Latter-day Saint company (see Lowe, “The History of Christian Daniel Fjeldsted,” 6).

After returning to his home in Logan, he was selected to be a president of a quorum of the Seventy by Wilford Woodruff. His tenure in that assignment was short-lived because he was so “hunted and persecuted” for polygamy that the General Authorities sent him on a third mission to Scandinavia (see Lowe, “Christian Daniel Fjeldsted,” 8). He labored for four years, first as a traveling elder, then as president of the mission, before returning to Utah in 1890 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:203).

His missionary service resumed in the spring of 1897. On this mission, he created a branch of Scandinavian Saints in the Chicago area before returning to Utah (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:203).

In April 1901, he began his final mission to Scandinavia. He served as president of the mission until his release in July 1905. During this mission, he printed a new edition of the Book of Mormon (see Lowe, “The History of Christian Daniel Fjeldsted,” 15).

In total, Christian spent seventeen years in his native land preaching the gospel. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean eleven times and served as mission president three times (see Fjeldsted, “Lives of our Leaders—The First Council of the Seventy,” Juvenile Instructor, 15 May 1901).

His great-granddaughter recalled that Christian was a short man—five feet four inches—with a “Santa Clausy” appearance. He apparently had a sense of humor, often remarking that he “would have been taller had not so much of him been turned up for feet.” He loved cleanliness to the extent that he made sure even the pig pens were scrubbed until the floorboards shone. Humble and childlike, he often felt inadequate because of his lack of English fluency. But any inadequacies he felt never kept him from responding to a calling from the Lord.

For his untiring devotion to missionary work, one author has memorialized him as being “among God’s noblemen[author: should a space be added after “noble”?]” (Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:203). He died in 1905 after an operation in a Salt Lake City hospital at age seventy-six. His funeral services were held in the Assembly Hall in Salt Lake City (see “Christian Daniel Fjeldsted,” Church News, 1 December 1962).

Adolf Zacharias Fjelström

(Adolf Sakarias Winberg)

1866–1940

Residence: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 30 April 1892

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 7 June 1894

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 16 September 1866

Birthplace: Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

Father: Fjelström, Carl Zacharias

Mother: Winberg, Christine Katrina Jansson

Spouse: Thomason, Elizabeth Christina

Marriage date: 2 January 1889

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Death date: 19 December 1940

Death place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Burial place: Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Adolf’s mother was baptized 17 January 1878 in Sweden by C. A. Ek. Some eight months later, Adolf also accepted the gospel and was baptized by John Larsen on 1 August 1878. Eleven-year-old Adolf immigrated almost immediately to Utah and worked there as a carpenter. He worked hard and sent money back to Sweden so his mother could also join the Saints in Zion. She was finally able to emigrate on 18 August 1883.

In 1892 while a resident of Logan, Cache County, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 30 April 1892 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. After serving a successful mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 7 June 1894 aboard the steamer Bravo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 328–29, 337).

Adolf served a second mission to Scandinavia in 1904. He arrived in Copenhagen on 14 May 1904 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 402, 405).

After completing this mission, Adolf lived for awhile in Idaho, being “received from the Rexburg 2nd Ward, Fremont Stake” in 1919. In Salt Lake City he resided at 539 East 900 South in the Salt Lake Second Ward. In that ward, he was an active high priest. He died in 1940 in a Salt Lake hospital of uremic poisoning at age seventy-four (see “Obituary of Adolf Fjelström,” Deseret News, 21 December 1940).

Nils Christian Flygare

(Nils Christiansson)

1841–1908

Residence: Ogden, Weber Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 22 November 1874; 7 January 1878; 14 October 1885

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference; Scandinavian Mission

Departure date from Copenhagen: 22 June 1876; 30 August 1879; 3 October 1888

Name of departure ship: Albion

Birth date: 3 February 1841

Birthplace: Ruthsbo, Bjäresjö, Malmöhus, Sweden

Father: Flygare, Christian Johansson

Mother: Nilsdotter, Anna

Spouse: Wetterlund, Julia

Marriage date: 23 February 1864

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Isackson, Mary Caroline

Marriage date: 24 October 1877

Spouse: Jonsson, Maria

Spouse: Russell, Jeanette

Death date: 19 February 1908

Death place: Ogden, Weber Co., Utah

Nils’s father died when Nils was just two years old. Although many difficulties surrounded his youth, Nils obtained work as a farmer and carpenter’s apprentice in Lund. At age seventeen he was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 5 September 1858 by C. Nielsen. After his baptism, he was so influential in teaching the gospel to his coworkers that he was dismissed because his employer feared that if he let him stay every employee would become a Mormon (see “Autobiography of Nils Christian Flygare,” 1).

Nils served a local mission in the Skåne Conference after losing his employment. The mission was difficult because the people were “very hard and inhospitable,” and as a consequence Nils often suffered from hunger and cold. One day a mob threatened to kill him and his companion. On another occasion, a mobber hit him with a large stick and knocked him out. Despite these hardships, Nils labored for three years as a traveling missionary, as president of four branches, and as president of the Stockholm Conference (see “Autobiography of Nils Christian Flygare,” 2).

During the time that he presided over the conference, he reported for military duty in compliance with Swedish law. At one point, the king of Sweden offered him a chance to become an officer in the army—a position that promised power and prestige. He declined the king’s offer, preferring to continue his minor role in the military (see “Autobiography of Nils Christian Flygare,” 5; Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:461).

In 1864 Nils immigrated to America aboard the Monarch of the Sea. Aboard ship, he was responsible for the sick and the dead. He crossed the plains in the William B. Preston company. After arriving in the Salt Lake Valley in 1864, he settled in Ogden, Weber County, where he worked as a builder.

In 1874 he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He was assigned to preside over the Stockholm Conference and later the Scandinavian Mission. He was released from these assignments in 1876. He then led a large group of emigrants to Utah (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:461).

In the fall of 1877, Nils again accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. This time his responsibilities included publishing the first edition of the Book of Mormon in Swedish. In 1879 he returned to Utah. He was sent to Scandinavia a third time in the fall of 1885. He arrived in Copenhagen on 14 October 1885 and was assigned to preside over the Scandinavian Mission (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:461). After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 3 October 1888 aboard the steamer Albion, having served a total of twelve years as a missionary (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 305–6).

Nils was a leader in Utah as well as in the mission field. At various times, he was the bishop of the Ogden Fifth Ward, a counselor in a stake presidency, a member of the board of education, a building inspector, and a fire and police commissioner. He also served the state at the Agricultural College in Logan and at the State Industrial School. He was the director of the First National Bank of Ogden and a member of the Ogden City Council. He held financial interests in lumber, railroad, and sugar beet companies. He owned the publishing company that printed Gospel Essentials in Swedish (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:461).

One biographer called Nils a “solid and sincere man, generous in his dealings with others, and tolerant as a Bishop in the Church” (Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:461). He died in 1908 in Ogden at age sixty-seven.

John Heber Forsgren

1856–1946

Residence: Brigham City, Box Elder Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 14 November 1890

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 6 October 1892

Birth date: 7 October 1856

Birthplace: Carson City, Carson Co., Nevada

Father: Forsgren, John Erick

Mother: Davis, Sarah Belle

Spouse: Evans, Ann Jane

Marriage date: 12 August 1880

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Thorn, Cynthia Marie

Marriage date: 16 December 1885

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Spouse: Walker, Lydia

Marriage date: 1 July 1903

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Death date: 4 August 1946

Death place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Burial place: Brigham City, Box Elder Co., Utah

In 1890, John, a resident of Brigham City, Box Elder County, Utah, accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 14 November 1890 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. After serving an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 6 October 1892 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 316–17).

He returned to Brigham City and served as secretary and president of the YMMIA of the Brigham Third Ward. He also served as an assistant and superintendent of the Brigham Third Ward Sunday School and as a member of the 18th and 133rd quorums of the Seventy (see Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 875).

Civically, he was a member of the Brigham City Council for one term. His family home was in Elwood, Box Elder County, Utah, prior to his death (see Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 875). He died in 1946 in Salt Lake City at age eighty-nine.

Peter Adolph Forsgren

(Carl Gustaf Johansson)

1826–1908

Residence: Brigham City, Box Elder Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 24 June 1885

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 21 June 1886

Name of departure ship: Otto

Birth date: 20 July 1826

Birthplace: Gävle, Gävleborg, Sweden

Father: Forsgren, Johan Olaf

Mother: Hollstrand, Anna Christina Olsson

Spouse: Knudson, Anna Christina

Marriage date: 8 May 1853

Marriage place: Keokuk, Lee, Iowa

Spouse: Thomsen (Thomassen), Elise (Eliza) Caroline

Marriage date: 20 March 1879

Marriage place: Endowment House, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Death date: 1 March 1908

Death place: Brigham City, Box Elder Co., Utah

Burial place: Brigham City, Box Elder Co., Utah

Peter was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 26 July 1850 by his brother John E. Forsgren. He became the first man to join the Church in Sweden. At the time of his baptism, he had consumption with a prognosis of only a few months to live. His biographer states that after his conversion, his health improved. However, his association with Mormons led to his being “banished from Sweden” (Madsen, “History of Peter Adolph Forsgren,” 2).

In 1852, he began the process of immigrating to America by boarding the Forest Monarch. He arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 30 September 1853 and settled in Brigham City, Box Elder County, becoming the first Scandinavian to settle north of Salt Lake City (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:393).

Like many early settlers, Peter and his wife lived in a log house with neither doors nor windows. They ate sego lilies to survive until Peter began working as a weaver (see “Sketch of the Life of Anna Christina Knudson,” 1). He made the first loom in Brigham City using only a saw, a hammer, a knife, and a hatchet. Some of the carpets he wove were used in the Logan Temple, and patterns he and his family made were exhibited at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 (see Madsen, “History of Peter Adolph Forsgren,” 2).

In 1885, Peter accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 24 June 1885 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. After serving an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 21 June 1886 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 294–95, 297).

From December 1888 to March 1889, Peter served a prison sentence for unlawful cohabitation (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:394). After his release, he served in the bishopric of the Brigham City First Ward. In July 1900, over five thousand Scandinavians living in Utah met in Brigham City to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his baptism into the Church. They presented him with a gold-headed walking cane. On this occasion, he was ordained a patriarch in the Church. Peter died at his home in Brigham City at age eighty-one (see Madsen, “History of Peter Adolph Forsgren,” 4).

Olof Alfred Theodore Forssell

1844–1904

Residence: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 27 November 1877

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 23 June 1879

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 24 September 1844

Birthplace: Sala Stadsförsamling, Västmanland, Sweden

Father: Forsell, Johan Bernhard

Mother: Johnsson, Catharina (Carolina) Josephine

Spouse: Anderson, Eva Neilson

Marriage date: September 1869

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Death date: 21 January 1904

Death place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Burial place: Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Olof was baptized on 10 October 1865 in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1866, he immigrated to the Salt Lake Valley, where he lived for the remainder of his life (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 105).

In 1877, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 27 November 1877 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference, which included Sweden and Finland. The Finnish government banished him for proselytizing (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 105). He departed from Copenhagen on 23 June 1879 aboard the steamer Cato (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 230–31, 240).

Olof resided at 304 E Street in Salt Lake City. He worked as a janitor at the McCornick’s Bank. He died in 1904 in Salt Lake City at age fifty-nine (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 105).

Christen Andersen Frandsen

(Christen Andersen)

1849–1929

Residence: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 3 November 1885

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 18 August 1887

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 10 March 1849

Birthplace: Ågård, Bindslev, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Frandsen, Anders Christian

Mother: Christensdatter, Margret

Spouse: Jensen, Anna Katherine

Marriage date: 14 November 1878

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Death date: 10 March 1929

Death place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Christen first became acquainted with Mormonism through his employer and his employer’s family, the Jensens. When Father Jensen became interested in Mormonism, he decided to go to Utah to learn more about it. Christen accompanied his family and was baptized along with them in 1873 in Utah. Sometime later, Christen wrote of his conversion, “I was very happy with this new found truth and I have worked ever since in the service of the Lord.” In 1878, Christen married Anna Katherine Jensen, a daughter of the Jensen family who had brought him to America (see Journal of Anna Lena Frandsen Andreasen, 2–3).

In 1885, Christen accepted a mission call to Scandinavia, leaving behind his wife, two daughters, and an eight-month-old son. He had to sell animals and machinery in order to raise the needed money to serve this mission, but the financial sacrifice paled in comparison to his emotional sacrifice. His daughter records in her journal that he said as he left his family, “It was one of the hardest days of my life. Yes, I was happy to go preach the gospel but to see my wife and children cry when we said good-bye was really hard” (Journal of Anna Lena Frandsen Andreasen, 3–4).

Christen arrived in Copenhagen on 3 November 1885 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference—first as a traveling elder, then as president of the Hjørring Branch (see History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah, 310).

His family in Denmark was happy to greet him. His mother allowed him to stay with her much of the time. However, his family was unhappy about his membership in the Church and was unwilling to open their hearts to Christen’s new faith. His daughter wrote, “He filled a good mission, even though he could not convert any of his own people.” However, she did record that Christen met a family who was “very friendly until they . . . talked about Mormonism, then [the family] went in the other room and left them alone.” Seeing an old violin on the wall, Christen took it down and examined it. The next time he visited the family, he brought some violin strings with him and played the old instrument until a boy in the family came out of another room. He repeated the violin performance several times until the entire family came into the room. Although this family did not join the Church while he was in Denmark, his gift of music “paved the way” for their later baptism (see Journal of Anna Lena Frandsen Andreasen, 4).

After his mission, Christen was employed as a miller. He served two consecutive terms on the city council. At the same time, he also served in the YMMIA and Sunday School. Christen died in 1929 in Ephraim, Sanpete County, Utah, at age eighty.

George Frandsen

(Jørgen Frandsen)

1834–98

Residence: Mount Pleasant, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 24 September 1878

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 5 July 1880

Name of departure ship: Leo (Cato)

Birth date: 31 May 1834

Birthplace: Stoense, Stoense, Svendborg, Denmark

Father: Jørgensen, Frands

Mother: Rasmusdatter, Anne Maria

Spouse: Nielsen, Karen

Marriage date: 19 September 1856

Marriage place: Kaysville, Davis Co., Utah

Spouse: Syndergaard, Ingeborg

Marriage date: 18 October 1869

Marriage place: Endowment House, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Death date: 21 May 1898

Death place: Price, Carbon Co., Utah

Burial place: Price, Carbon Co., Utah

George was baptized on 27 November 1855. Within a year of his baptism, he immigrated to America aboard the John J. Boyd. He then journeyed to the Salt Lake Valley with the Canute Petersen company (see Reese, “George Frandsen,” 1).

George settled in Mill Creek, Salt Lake County, before moving to Mount Pleasant, Sanpete County, Utah, in 1859. In 1865, he fought in the Black Hawk War and was wounded in the skirmish at Fish Creek. A payroll account shows that he was paid $14.25 a month for his service in the cavalry and infantry during the war (see Criddle, “George Frandsen,” 1–5).

After his military service, George was employed to ship freight to mining camps. He left the freighting business to become part-owner of the first sawmill in Mount Pleasant (see Criddle, “George Frandsen,” 7). He left the mill to accept a mission call to Scandinavia in 1878. He arrived in Copenhagen on 24 September 1878 and was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen aboard the steamer Cato on 5 July 1880 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 235–36, 244).

After he returned to Utah, George accepted a settling mission call to Price, Carbon County, Utah, in 1882. He became the first bishop in Price, with responsibility for fifteen families who were “very poor, and many of them were discouraged. [He] encouraged the people to renew their faith in God.” He served for fourteen years as their bishop (see Criddle, “George Frandsen,” 10).

During his tenure, George surveyed Price and donated a tract of land for public use. He helped build canals and roads, and he collected money for a meetinghouse—cutting the logs for the structure himself. In 1885, he built the first frame house in Price, using the lumber from the Frandsen brothers’ sawmill in Mount Pleasant (see Criddle, “George Frandsen,” 11).

His biographer records that George was “very supportive of widows,” a charitable bishop who would “leave a sack of flour or a ham or a leg of mutton on the back porch” for families in need (see Criddle, “George Frandsen,” 12). He died in 1898 in his home in Price at age sixty-three.

John Frantzen

(Johannes Larsen)

1837–1905

Residence: Spring City, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 30 May 1873

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Mission Office

Departure date from Copenhagen: 25 June 1875

Name of departure ship: Pacific (Cato)

Birth date: 10 March 1837

Birthplace: Kongsrudeie, Nes, Hedmark, Norway

Father: Frantzen, Lars

Mother: Johannesdatter, Martha Maria

Spouse: Hansen, Mary A.

Marriage date: 21 September 1861

Marriage place: Spring City, Sanpete Co., Utah

Spouse: Nielsen, Elvilda Matilda Arnesen

Marriage date: 31 March 1873

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Death date: 12 January 1905

Death place: Spring City, Sanpete Co., Utah

John was baptized on 10 August 1856 in Christiania, Norway. He and his family immigrated to America in 1857. They crossed the plains with the Christian Christensen handcart company and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 13 September 1857 (see History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah, 494).

John settled in Lehi, Utah County, before moving to Spring City, Sanpete County, in 1860. While residing in Spring City, John accepted an assignment to go to the Missouri River as a Church teamster to assist the poor. He also served in the Black Hawk War, on the first Lehi city council, as a justice of the peace, and as a stockholder in the local co-op store (see History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah, 495).

He inherited fifteen acres of land in Spring City when his parents died and owned fifty-five acres in Spring City by the time he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 30 May 1873 and was assigned to labor in the Copenhagen Mission office as a bookkeeper (see History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah, 495). During his mission, he baptized several extended family members (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 106). He departed from Copenhagen on 25 June 1875 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 222).

After returning to Spring City, he served as a counselor in the bishopric for fifteen years and as a tithing clerk in the Spring City Ward for over twenty years. John was sentenced to prison for cohabitation on 5 March 1889 and was discharged on 8 January 1890 (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 106; History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah, 495). He died from pneumonia in 1905 in Spring City at age sixty-seven (see “Funeral for John Frantzen,” Deseret News, 19 January 1905).

Niels Frederiksen

(Nils Fredriksen)

1848–1932

Residence: Salem, Utah Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 27 May 1889

Missionary labors: Aarhus and Copenhagen conferences

Departure date from Copenhagen: 14 May 1891

Name of departure ship: Volo

Birth date: 11 January 1848

Birthplace: Jyderup, Fakse, Præsto, Denmark

Father: Jensen, Frederick

Mother: Hansdatter, Inger Marie

Spouse: Frandsen, Ane Catrina

Marriage date: 23 December 1880

Marriage place: Endowment House, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Matison, Hannah Maria

Marriage date: 1900

Marriage place: Mexico

Death date: 6 October 1932

Death place: Dublan, Juarez, Mexico

Burial place: Dublan, Juarez, Mexico

Niels and his wife came from Denmark in the 1870s. They had kept the mission home in Denmark for a number of years and had known many of the Mormon elders. In Denmark, Niels had been a dance master and music instructor (see Taylor, Salem, The City of Peace, 38). He and his wife had no children but resided in Salem at 90 East 300 South (see Hanks, Summer Spring, 204).

Niels accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1889. He arrived in Copenhagen on 27 May 1889 and was assigned to labor in the Århus and Copenhagen conferences. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on the steamship Volo on 14 May 1891.

He served on a building committee for the Salem chapel and also as a mason. He led the Salem choir and in 1890 was the first director of the Salem Silver Band, which furnished music for holiday occasions (see Hanks, Summer Spring, 175–77).

On 6 November 1900, Niels and his wife left Salem to make a home in Dublan, Juarez, Mexico. He died at age eighty when he was shot to death by one of two masked Mexican bandits who entered his home. It was believed that the bandits went to the home to rob the Frederiksens. One of the bandits apparently became nervous and shot Niels in the head, killing him. The bullet entered behind the left ear and severed the spinal cord (see “Robber Kills L.D.S. Man in Mexican Home,” Salt Lake Tribune, 9 October 1932).

Jens Christian Sorensen Andersen Frost

(Jens Christiansen Sørensen)

1839–1905

Residence: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 5 November 1881

Missionary labors: Ålborg and Copenhagen conferences

Departure date from Copenhagen: 24 August 1883

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 2 November 1839

Birthplace: Hou, Mariager, Randers, Denmark

Father: Frost, Anders Sørensen

Mother: Christensdatter, Else Maria

Spouse: Andersen, Johanna Marie

Marriage date: 13 April 1862

Marriage place: aboard Franklin

Spouse: Mortensdatter (Mortensen), Mette Marie

Marriage date: 15 December 1866

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Petersen, Sena (Sine)

Marriage date: 10 April 1872

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Death date: 9 June 1905

Death place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

On 20 November 1858, Jens was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Four years later, he immigrated to America. On the voyage, he was married to Johanna Andersen by the ship captain. Aboard ship, the emigrants were organized into eight districts. Jens was selected to be a president of one district. The ship arrived in Castle Garden, New York, in May 1862. Jens and his wife journeyed from New York to Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, Iowa. From there, they walked to the Salt Lake Valley (see “Jens Christian Sorensen Frost,” 1).

In the valley, Jens built a three-room adobe house with mud floors, in which twenty children were born throughout the years. Later he built a large rock home with twelve rooms for his three families in Ephraim, Sanpete County. Jens was the carpenter who hung the doors in the Ephraim Tabernacle. He was also a casket maker, painting the caskets with black from stove lids. According to his biographer, Jens was a “very meticulous man” who “lived in harmony with his three wives and families,” never showing “any preference for one in front of the others and he was a kind father” (“Jens Christian Sorensen Frost,” 1).

In 1881, Jens accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 5 November 1881 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg and Copenhagen conferences. In 1883, he and his companion were interrogated about their reason for being in Denmark. They answered questions posed by the government officer but asked what law they had broken. The officer ordered them to “shut up” and threw them out. At the end of his eventful mission, Jens departed from Copenhagen on 24 August 1883 aboard the steamer Bravo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 262, 264, 266–67, 270). He died in 1905 in Ephraim at age sixty-five.

Hans Madsen Funk

1839–92

Residence: Lewiston, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 29 November 1879

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 29 August 1881

Name of departure ship: Pacific

Birth date: 15 May 1839

Birthplace: Egg, Pedersker, Bornholm, Denmark

Father: Espersen, Didrik Funk

Mother: Madsdatter, Kierstine

Spouse: Swenson, Christena

Marriage date: December 1864

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Peterson, Anna Sophia

Marriage date: 23 May 1868

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Larsen, Elizabeth

Marriage date: 21 December 1881

Death date: 25 October 1892

Death place: Newton, Cache Co., Utah

Burial place: Richmond, Cache Co., Utah

On 4 November 1855, Hans was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Christian G. Larson. He immigrated to America in 1861 and by 1872 had set up a homestead in Lewiston, Cache County, Utah (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4:412).

In 1879, Hans accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 29 November 1879 and was assigned to preside over the Copenhagen Conference. In 1880, he and his companion held Church meetings on the island of Samsø (Holbæk County). They were arrested and imprisoned for three days. After his release, Hans baptized and confirmed a family living on the island. As one historian observed, “It seemed that every time the civil authorities undertook to hinder the progress of the work, they only helped to arouse the feelings of the people and further the good cause.” Hans departed from Copenhagen on 29 August 1881 aboard the steamer Pacific (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 238, 243, 258, 495).

A few months after he returned to Utah, Hans was ordained a bishop by William B. Preston. He served as bishop of the Newton Ward in the Benson Stake from 1884 to 1892. During his tenure, he was arrested for unlawful cohabitation. In November 1887, Hans was fined three hundred dollars and sentenced to six months in prison. The following May, he was released (see Jenson, Church Chronology, 19 November 1887, 19 May 1888). He died in 1892 in Newton, Cache County, at age fifty-three.

Peter Christian Geertsen

(Peder Christensen Geertsen)

1837–94

Residence: Huntsville, Weber Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 15 November 1873

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 25 June 1875

Name of departure ship: Pacific (Cato)

Birth date: 26 July 1837

Birthplace: Gøttrup, Thisted, Denmark

Father: Larsen, Geert

Mother: Knudsdatter, Ane Marie

Spouse: Pedersen (Gjoderum), Mariane

Marriage date: 15 May 1862

Marriage place: Århus, Århus, Denmark

Spouse: Bingham, Mary Ann

Marriage date: 21 August 1871

Marriage place: Endowment House, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Knudsen, Inger Marie

Death date: 22 August 1894

Death place: Huntsville, Weber Co., Utah

Burial place: Huntsville, Weber Co., Utah

Peter said of his early family life, “We lived in mutual strife.” He attended school from ages eight to fourteen but struggled to fit in with his classmates due to a lame foot. His physical afflictions led him to wish that he had lived at the time of Jesus and His Apostles so that he might have been miraculously healed (see Packer, “My Life, Written by Myself Peter Christian Geertsen,” 2–3).

Peter was baptized a Lutheran in 1852 and hoped to become a teacher in that faith. In 1854, when his brother Lars joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Peter became interested in Mormonism. “I searched the Bible and found one scripture after the other to confirm Mormonism,” he wrote. Peter was baptized on 5 October 1854 by Mikkel C. Christensen. Some of his brothers opposed his baptism and persecuted him for his beliefs (see Packer, “My Life, Written by Myself Peter Christian Geertsen,” 3–6).

In October 1855, he was called on a local mission to the Hjørring Branch. He served as a local missionary for over nine years. During these years he served in the Vendsyssel Conference, the Frederica Conference and as president of the Århus Conference (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 107).

After nearly ten years of missionary service, Peter and his wife immigrated to America aboard the Monarch of the Sea. In 1864, they settled in Eden, Weber County, Utah, before moving to Huntsville, Weber County. Peter supported his family as a farmer and stockman but confessed that he was a more successful missionary than a financier (see Packer, “My Life, Written by Myself Peter Christian Geertsen,” 11).

In 1873, Peter accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He labored as a traveling elder before being assigned to preside over the Århus Conference. After completing a successful mission, he returned to America in June 1875. Although he had served well, his journal entry of 30 May 1875 shows his eagerness to return home: “I was glad that I would now soon enjoy the society of my own dear family” (see Packer, “My Life, Written by Myself Peter Christian Geertsen,” 13).

After returning to Utah, Peter again began farming. On 15 February 1886, he heard that he must either go on another mission or go to the penitentiary because his family had been subpoenaed to appear before a Grand Jury. By 22 February 1886, he had purchased tickets to New York and made plans to serve another mission in Scandinavia. On this mission, he worked in the Copenhagen Office translating, keeping records, writing a mission newsletter, and bookkeeping. He also preached the gospel and “converted no small number of saints,” but none of his own family members joined the Church. Peter departed from Copenhagen on 24 May 1888 (see Packer, “My Life, Written by Myself Peter Christian Geertsen,” 15).

Upon returning to Utah, he was captured and served a term in the penitentiary for unlawful cohabitation from 22 January 1889 to 22 June 1889. A letter from prison to his wife Mary Ann, had to be written and delivered in secret. In the letter Peter encouraged Mary Ann to “be of good cheer for our day of trial will come to an end before long and then we shall rejoice in having been faithfull [sic].” He also wrote, “I shall put my mind to study and brighten up. . . . It was a little strange at first to be shut up in the cell for more than 13 hours but I get more familiar with it every day” (letter of Peter Geertsen to Mary Ann Geertsen, 9 February 1889).

Although Peter died in Huntsville in 1894 at the age of fifty-seven, it was not the last time he was heard from. After his death, he reportedly appeared to his son Peter Jr. to show where the survey stakes were placed on his old property in Huntsville. When the son asked him how he liked it “over there,” Peter replied, “Fine, but we move faster than on earth. I am working in the church office of Copenhagen” (see Packer, “My Life, Written by Myself Peter Christian Geertsen,” 16).

Peter Christian Geertsen Jr.

1869–1958

Residence: Hunstville, Weber Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 20 June 1892

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 3 May 1894

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 15 September 1869

Birthplace: Huntsville, Weber Co., Utah

Father: Geertsen, Peter Christian

Mother: Pederson, Mariane

Spouse: Jensen, Jensine Bergette Albertine

Marriage date: 16 December 1891

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Spouse: Rawlinson, Mary Jane

Marriage date: 12 February 1930

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Death date: 12 May 1958

Death place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Burial place: Salt Lake Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Peter was baptized on 20 October 1876 and endowed on 16 December 1891 in the Logan Temple. In 1892, while he was a resident of Huntsville, Weber County, Utah, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 20 June 1892 and was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 3 May 1894 aboard the steamer Milo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 328, 337).

Peter died of causes incident to age at his residence, 744 Roberta Street, in Salt Lake City, at age ninety. He served as the first Huntsville city judge and as a justice of the peace for three terms. He was serving as a high priest in the Third Ward of the Liberty Stake at the time of his death (see “Peter C. Geertsen,” Deseret News, 14 May 1958).

Niels Georgeson

(Niels Jørgensen)

1834–1902

Residence: Oxford, Bingham Co., Idaho

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 29 April 1885

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 30 May 1887

Name of departure ship: Argo

Birth date: 17 January 1834

Birthplace: Høsterkjøb, Birkerød, Frederiksborg, Denmark

Father: Knudsen, Jørgen

Mother: Nielsdatter, (Anne) Sophie

Spouse: Kofoed, Johanna Margretha

Marriage date: 24 July 1863

Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Jensen, Mette Catherine

Marriage date: 16 June 1877

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Spouse: Rohr, Thora Charlotte

Marriage date: 24 October 1878

Death date: 16 July 1902

Death place: Weston, Franklin Co., Idaho

Burial place: Weston, Franklin Co., Idaho

Niels was the youngest of twenty-one children born to his father and the only one of them who accepted the gospel. He was baptized on 15 May 1853. After his baptism, he immigrated to Zion and arrived in Salt Lake City in October 1854. He settled in Pleasant Grove, Utah County. In 1856, he was ordained a teacher and an elder. He was endowed on 13 June 1856 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. He was ordained a Seventy on 25 May 1857 and served in the Fifty-second Quorum of the Seventy (see Lund, Scandinavia Jubilee Album, 107).

He is remembered as working in Brigham Young’s sawmill in City Creek Canyon before moving to Oxford, Oneida County, Idaho, in 1864. Two years later, he located in Weston, Franklin County. There he was ordained a high priest and was selected to be a counselor to Bishop A. A. Allen. At the organization of the Oneida Stake in June 1884, he became a member of the high council. His service on that council was interrupted when he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. In the mission field, he preached the gospel on Sjælland and was “kindly received by all” (Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 7:512). Niels accompanied 138 emigrating Latter-day Saints and ten elders on the steamer Argo from Copenhagen to Hull, England, as he departed from the mission. The voyage lasted two days and eleven hours—with two nights on the North Sea (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 302).

It was not until 5 April 1895 that he again left Salt Lake City to fulfill a mission to Scandinavia. Upon returning to Idaho, he was arrested and tried for unlawful cohabitation. At the trial, he was acquitted (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:445). He returned to his home, where he was ordained a patriarch in the Oneida Stake of Zion on 25 April 1892 by Moses Thatcher (see Lund, Scandinavia Jubilee Album, 107). Niels died in 1902 in Weston at age sixty-eight.

Peter Berthelson Christianson Green

1864–1962

Residence: Plain City, Weber Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 19 September 1891

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 10 August 1893

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 4 February 1864

Birthplace: Plain City, Weber Co., Utah

Father: Green, Peter Christianson

Mother: Bertelsen, Elsie Marie

Spouse: Maw, Dinah

Marriage date: 29 September 1886

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Death date: 6 December 1962

Death place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Burial place: Lewisville Cemetery, Lewisville, Jefferson Co., Idaho

Peter was raised in a Mormon household. He accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1891. He wrote in his journal that it was “a real adventure” for him to go on a mission. The first meeting he attended as a missionary was a “full house.” He was told that a schoolteacher and his friends intended to break up the meeting. Peter defused the situation by telling the people that although he was a stranger in Denmark, his parents were Danish natives who had told him how hospitable and kind the Danes were. He spoke for an hour without the expected disruption and later baptized six of those who attended that first meeting (see Green, “Life Sketch written of Peter B. C. Green,” 1).

During the last six months of his mission, he served in the Copenhagen Mission Office. During this service, he witnessed a miracle—a woman who had not walked in years was baptized and walked out of the water alone. Peter departed from Copenhagen on 10 August 1893 aboard the steamer Milo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 320, 332).

His first Sunday back in Utah, he was called to be a counselor in the YMMIA. After eight years of service to the youth, he was ordained a bishop and called to serve in the Plain City Ward. He remained in that calling until moving to the Lewisville Ward in 1907. He served as bishop of the Lewisville Ward from 1913 to 1923 (see Green, “Life Sketch written of Peter B. C. Green,” 1).

In 1941, Peter moved to Idaho Falls, Bonneville County, Idaho, where he served as a ward teacher in the Fourth Ward. After serving in a number of other callings, Peter left Idaho Falls to reside with his children in various locations in the western United States (see Green, “Life Sketch written of Peter B. C. Green,” 1). He died in 1962 in Salt Lake City at age ninety-eight.

Francis (Frantz) Theo Greenburg

(Frans Theodor Grönberg)

1823–93

Residence: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 14 June 1887

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 30 May 1889

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 31 May 1823

Birthplace: No. 9 Qv. Blåman, Klara-Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

Father: Bergh, Christian (?)

Mother: Grönberg, Anna Maria Swensdotter

Spouse: Swensdotter, Anna

Marriage date: 1852

Marriage place: Sweden

Death date: 12 November 1893

Death place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Burial place: Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Francis served as a cannoneer in the king’s fleet in Stockholm, Sweden. By 1854, he was in Copenhagen. He was baptized in that city on 7 February 1854 (see Scandinavian Mission Index). From November 1855 to January 1857, he served as the branch president of the Göteborg Branch. It is said that the entire time he was in Göteborg he was only a step away from being jailed for his religion. Perhaps the experience was too much because sometime after he returned to Copenhagen in 1857 he asked to be excommunicated. The Copenhagen Branch records indicate that he was rebaptized on 10 October 1858.

Francis and his family departed from Sweden in the spring of 1861 aboard the Monarch of the Sea. They arrived in New York City on 19 June 1861 and then journeyed to the Salt Lake Valley (see Spjut, Swedish Mormon Pioneers, 3:879).

Although Francis was a tailor by trade, he worked in the grocery business in the valley. Just prior to his mission call to Scandinavia, he was rebaptized on 4 May 1886 by John Cottam in the Salt Lake Thirteenth Ward. He arrived in Copenhagen on 14 June 1887 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. After serving an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 30 May 1889 aboard the steamer Milo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 304, 309).

Francis died of general debility in 1893 in Salt Lake City at age seventy. Funeral services were held at his residence at 309 South 500 East on November 13 (see “Greenburg,” Salt Lake Herald, 13 November 1893).

Nils Jonsson Grönlund

(Nils Jönsson)

1844–1900

Residence: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 3 June 1876

Missionary labors: Skåne Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 8 September 1876

Name of departure ship: Cameo

Birth date: 13 October 1844

Birthplace: Gryby, Borlunda, Malmöhus, Sweden

Father: Nilsson, Jöns

Mother: Hansdotter, Kjersti

Spouse: Anderson (Johnson), Johana

Marriage date: about 1868

Marriage place: Denmark

Death date: 18 May 1900

Death place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Burial place: Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

When Nils was born, his father was known as “the parish shoemaker.” In 1858, Nils left his parental home and journeyed to Copenhagen. In Copenhagen, he met Mormon missionaries and was baptized on 11 September 1865 (see “Nils Jonsson Gronlund and Johana Andersson,” 1).

He and his wife immigrated to America with 565 other emigrating Latter-day Saints aboard the steamer Minnesota. After arriving in the United States, they boarded a train and journeyed to Utah. Nils and his wife settled in Salt Lake City. He was endowed and sealed to his wife on 3 February 1873 in the Endowment House (see “Nils Jonsson Gronlund and Johana Andersson,” 1).

In 1876, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 3 June 1876 and was assigned to labor in the Skåne Conference. After serving an honorable mission, Nils departed from Copenhagen on 8 September 1876 aboard the steamer Cameo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 225–26).

After returning to Salt Lake City, he accepted a mission call to New Zealand in 1879. On this mission, he experienced severe health problems, including inability to speak and partial hearing loss. As a result, he returned home early from the mission (see “Nils Jonsson Gronlund and Johana Andersson,” 2).

After arriving in Salt Lake City, he opened a business at 59 East and 200 South called the Scandinavian Mercantile Company. He sold dry goods and shoes and prospered until 1894. Due to business reverses, his company folded and he declared bankruptcy (see “Nils Jonsson Gronlund and Johana Andersson,” 2). This failure took a toll on his health. He died in 1909 of general anemia at age fifty-five. Funeral services were held in the Salt Lake Seventeenth Ward meetinghouse. Members of the Third Quorum of the Seventy, of which Nils was a member, were requested to be present at the funeral (see “Nils Jonsson Gronlund and Johana Andersson,” 2).

Charles John Gustaveson

(Carl Johan Gustafsson)

1842–1923

Residence: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 22 November 1874

Missionary labors: Skåne Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 22 June 1876

Name of departure ship: Otto

Birth date: 11 April 1842

Birthplace: Vadstena, Östergötland, Sweden

Father: Nilsson, Gustaf

Mother: Lindberg, Anna Stina (Carlsdotter)

Spouse: Hannah

Marriage date: 1876

Death date: 2 November 1923

Death place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Burial place: Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

On 13 December 1862, Charles was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden. In 1864, he journeyed to Denmark and served two years as a local missionary. In 1866, he immigrated to America and settled in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah. In 1874, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 22 November 1874 and was assigned to be a traveling elder before being called as president of the Skåne Conference. After serving an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 22 June 1876 aboard the steamer Otto (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 220–25).

After returning to Utah, Charles became a well-known citizen and inventor in Salt Lake City—ten U.S. patents are attributed to him. He took time away from his inventing to visit Sweden in 1893 to acquire family genealogy (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 334–35; Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 108).

He died at his home, 784 Ashton Avenue, in 1923 in Salt Lake City at age eighty-one. Funeral services were held in the Forest Dale chapel (see “C. J. Gustaveson, Inventor, of Oil Processes, Dead,” Deseret News, November 3, 1923).

Nils Oscar Gyllenskog

1858–1956

Residence: Smithfield, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 1 December 1885

Missionary labors: Skåne Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 29 September 1887

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 7 June 1858

Birthplace: Norra Sandby, Kristianstad, Sweden

Father: Gyllenskog (Gotrik), Nils Nilsson

Mother: Truedsdotter, Hannah Pernilla

Spouse: Henstrom, Anna Nathalia

Marriage date: 18 October 1893

Marriage place: Logan Temple, Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Death date: 28 March 1956

Death place: Smithfield, Cache Co., Utah

Burial place: Smithfield, Cache Co., Utah

When Nils was eight years old, he and his family immigrated to America aboard the Humboldt. By 1866, they had settled in Cache Valley, Utah. Nils was employed as a farmer, lumberman, and railroad worker in Smithfield, Cache County. He married at age thirty-five and had three children before serving a mission to Scandinavia in 1885 (see Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 10:245–46).

Nils arrived in Copenhagen on 1 December 1885 and was assigned to labor in the Skåne Conference. He served faithfully until his departure from Copenhagen on 29 September 1887 aboard the steamer Bravo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 319, 321, 333).

Nils returned to Smithfield. After the death of his wife, he raised his seven children by himself. He died of a heart ailment in 1956 at his home in Smithfield at age ninety-seven (see Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 10:247).