Carl John Capson

(Carl Johan Månsson)

1822–1901

Residence: East Mill Creek, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 12 September 1882

Missionary labors: Skåne Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 6 June 1884

Name of departure ship: Panther

Birth date: 16 July 1822

Birthplace: Skönabäck, Slimminge, Malmöhus, Sweden

Father: Capson, Måns Jönsson

Mother: Pärsdotter, Mätta

Spouse: Hanson, Ingrid Jorensson

Marriage date: 23 August 1846

Spouse: Malmgren, Johanna Caroline Bengtson

Marriage date: 14 October 1855

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

Spouse: Kannen, Matilda Charlotta

Marriage date: 17 February 1866

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

Death date: 22 November 1901

Death place: East Mill Creek, Salt Lake Co., Utah

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

As a youth, Carl worked as a gardener and was well established in his trade when he heard missionaries preach the doctrine of Mormonism. Carl was one of the first converts in Sweden, and he was baptized on 10 August 1852 by Anders W. Winberg. After being ordained an elder in 1853, he was called to preside over the Lund Branch, one of the first branches in Sweden. The first Latter-day Saint conference held in Sweden convened in his barn on 25 June 1853, and at this meeting the Skåne Conference was organized (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 3:336–37).

Carl departed from his native land with his wife and two children on 26 November 1853. After a short stay in Denmark, they continued their journey to England and then crossed the Atlantic aboard the Benjamin Adams. They crossed the plains in an ox team company to reach the Salt Lake Valley on 5 October 1854 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 3:336–37).

In the valley, Carl worked as a gardener for President Brigham Young. He resided in Sugar House, Salt Lake County, for six years before locating in East Mill Creek, Salt Lake County, where he owned a large farm (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 3:336–37).

He temporarily left that farm and his family to accept a mission call to Scandinavia in 1882. He arrived in Copenhagen on 12 September 1882 and was assigned to labor in the Skåne Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 6 June 1884 aboard the Panther (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 267, 269, 279). Carl died in 1901 in East Mill Creek at age seventy-nine.

August Carlson

1861–1937

Residence: Ogden, Weber Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 19 February 1892

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 3 May 1894

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 4 April 1861

Birthplace: Stora Jonstorp, Öttum, Skaraborg, Sweden

Father: Andersson, Carl

Mother: Jonsdotter, Maja

Spouse: Pehrson, Anna Benedikta

Marriage date: 15 December 1881

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

Spouse: Anderson, Caroline Theblom

Marriage date: 26 March 1896

Marriage place: Ogden, Weber Co., Utah

Death date: 2 May 1937

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

Burial place: Ogden, Weber Co., Utah

As August grew to manhood he worked on the family farm. At age sixteen he left the farm and worked delivering bread by horse and wagon in Stockholm. While in Stockholm, he accepted the teachings of Mormon missionaries and was baptized on 28 December 1878 by C. G. Janson (see “A Short Story of August, Caroline T. Anderson, and Anna Benedikta Person Carlson,” 1).

After his baptism, he served as a local missionary in Vesterås (Västmanland County) and Dalarne (Kopparberg, and parts of Värmland and Gävleborg counties) from 1879 to 1881. This period in his life proved difficult even though he baptized his first convert ten days after receiving his mission call. August was fined more than fifty kroner for preaching the gospel. He became discouraged and was ready to quit when, according to the biography written by his wife, his mother, who had been deceased for ten months, appeared to him and encouraged him to continue. His wife Caroline recounts:

He was considering asking for a release from his mission, as everything seemed dark and useless; so he decided to write to the mission president the next day. In the early morning of that day, which was the 6th of February 1880, he heard a knock on the door to his room. Thinking it was one of the people he was staying with, he said, “Come in!” To his surprise his own mother walked in. . . . He stretched out his arms as to embrace her, but she said, “Touch me not, for I am only a spirit. I have asked permission to come to see you because I know of your hardships.” Then she . . . told him to be faithful and finish the mission . . . and promised him that a way would be opened for him to get money so he could immigrate to Zion. (“Short Story,” 1)

His mother’s spirit also told him to gather genealogical information for temple work even though at that time vicarious work for the dead was being practiced only in the St. George Temple (see “Short Story,” 1).

The promise his mother’s spirit made was fulfilled. August completed his mission and immigrated to Utah in August 1881 and settled among his Swedish friends in Ogden, Weber County. There he married Anna Person, who was nine years older than he was and who was deaf. Their marriage ended in divorce (see “Short Story,” 1–2).

In 1892, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 19 February 1892 and was assigned to be a writer for the Nordstjernan for six months. For twenty-one months, he served as president of the Stockholm 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, 327, 329, 337).

He served another mission to Scandinavia in 1905, taking his family with him. He was assigned to be the district president (see “Short Story,” 2). As such, he had an audience with King Oscar II of Sweden and had the privilege of introducing Elder Heber J. Grant to the king (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 445, 484).

He and his family returned to Ogden in the fall of 1907. In 1908, they located in Salt Lake City, purchasing a home at 372 North Main Street. In 1916, August was ordained a high priest and was set apart as a counselor in the bishopric of the Salt Lake Nineteenth Ward. He served for nine years in a bishopric. During those years, he experienced difficult financial circumstances (see “Short Story,” 2). August died in 1937 in Salt Lake City at age seventy-six.

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August Wilhelm Carlson

1844–1911

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

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 27 September 1877

Missionary labors: Assistant in Nordstjernan office; translated Book of Mormon into Swedish

Departure date from Copenhagen: 7 September 1878

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 28 August 1844

Birthplace: Karlskrona, Blekinge, Sweden

Father: Carlson, Carl Gustaf

Mother: Lundgren, Helen Marie

Spouse: Spencer, Mary P.

Marriage date: 22 April 1872

Death date: 8 July 1911

Death place: Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Co., California

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

On 15 May 1863, August was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After his baptism, he labored as a local missionary in the Göteborg Conference from 1864 to 1865. From 1865 to 1866, he labored in the mission office in Copenhagen. Later, he was assigned to the Millennial Star office in Liverpool, England (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4:368).

August immigrated to America in December 1871 and settled in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah. When a soap factory, a branch of the United Order, was formed in the Salt Lake Nineteenth Ward, he became secretary of the branch on 27 May 1874 (see Kirkham, Tales of a Triumphant People, 72).

In 1877, August accepted an unusual mission call to Scandinavia. He was assigned to complete the translation of the Book of Mormon into the Swedish language. He arrived in Copenhagen on 27 September 1877. He was assigned to be an assistant in the Nordstjernan office from 1877 to 1878 and pro tem president of the Scandinavian Mission from 1877 to 1878. Before he departed from Copenhagen on 7 September 1878 aboard the steamer Bravo, two thousand copies of the Swedish translation of the Book of Mormon were published (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4:368; Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 229–34).

He returned to Salt Lake City in January 1878, where he was ordained a high priest on 8 May 1881. He served as a member of the Salt Lake City Council from 1888 to 1889, regent of the University of Deseret from 1886 to 1890, and trustee for the State School for the Deaf and Blind from 1886 to 1899. He was also director of the Deseret National Bank, the Deseret Savings Bank, the Stake Bank of Utah, Zion’s Benefit Building Society, and treasurer of ZCMI (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 72).

August was vacationing in Santa Barbara, California, when he died. He was sitting on the veranda of the Arlington Hotel when his heart failed. He died shortly thereafter (see “A. W. Carlson Is Called by Death,” Deseret Evening News, July 10, 1911).

Gustav Wilhelm Carlson

(Gustaf Wilhelm Olofsson)

1837–1912

Residence: Salem, Utah Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 29 April 1892

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 5 April 1894

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 15 March 1837

Birthplace: Söderhagen, Ösmo, Stockholm, Sweden

Father: Carlsson, Olof

Mother: Pehrsdotter, Britta

Spouse: Johnson, Eva Elisa (Elizabeth)

Marriage date: 15 October 1869

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

Death date: 30 December 1912

Death place: Salem, Utah Co., Utah

Burial place: Salem, Utah Co., Utah

Gustav came from Sweden to the Salt Lake Valley in 1869. He met his wife in Ogden, Weber County. After their marriage, they settled in Salem, Utah County (see Taylor, Salem, the City of Peace, 34).

Gustav accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1892. He arrived in Copenhagen on 29 April 1892 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. After serving an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 5 April 1894 aboard the steamer Bravo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 328–29, 336).

Upon returning to Utah, he helped build a creamery in the Salem area (see Taylor, Salem, the City of Peace, 34). Gustav died in 1912 in Salem at age seventy-five.

John Jacob Carlson

(Jacob Nilsson or Carlsson)

1860–1946

Residence: Pleasant Grove, Utah Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 9 May 1888

Missionary labors: Skåne Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 29 May 1890

Birth date: 10 June 1860

Birthplace: Önneköp, Långaröd, Malmö, Sweden

Father: Romare, Nils Carlsson

Mother: Hansdotter, Karna (Caroline)

Spouse: Christensen, Annie Christine

Marriage date: 31 March 1881

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

Spouse: Jensen, Stine

Marriage date: about 1885

Death date: 14 March 1946

Death place: Draper, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Burial place: Pleasant Grove City Cemetery, Pleasant Grove, Utah Co., Utah

John’s parents joined the Mormon faith before he was born, according to a note in John’s birth records stating, “The father declares that he is a Mormon.” The family immigrated to America and settled in Pleasant Grove, Utah County, Utah. John grew to manhood in that small community (see “Early Pleasant Grove Pioneer Died at Draper on Mar. 14,” Pleasant Grove Review, March 15, 1946).

In 1888 he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 9 May 1888 and was assigned to labor in the Skåne Conference. Upon completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 29 May 1890 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 307, 315).

After returning to Pleasant Grove, John moved his family to Idaho. He served a mission in Canada, and later he and his family moved to Draper, Salt Lake County. In Draper, John served as a high priest in the Draper First Ward. He died in 1946 at his home at age eighty-five (see “Early Pleasant Grove Pioneer Died at Draper on Mar. 14,” Pleasant Grove Review, 15 March 1946).

Peter Cornelius Carstensen

1833–87

Residence: Ogden, Weber Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 28 May 1872

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 18 June 1874

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 17 December 1833

Birthplace: Holbøl, Åbenrå–Sønderborg, Denmark

Father: Carstensen, Iver

Mother: Diederichsdatter, Ana Cathrina

Spouse: Petersen, Karen

Marriage date: 27 April 1864

Marriage place: aboard Monarch of the Sea

Spouse: Hansen, Elsie Sophie

Marriage date: 14 December 1874

Spouse: Peterson, Dorthea

Marriage date: 12 October 1894

Death date: 31 March 1887

Death place: Ogden, Weber Co., Utah

Burial place: Ogden, Weber Co., Utah

Peter was educated in Denmark. Throughout his life he worked as a farmer and a shoemaker. He was baptized in Denmark, and he served as a local missionary. He was president of the Fyen Conference from 1862 to 1864 before departing from Copenhagen aboard the steamer Sultana on 13 April 1864. He immigrated to America aboard the Monarch of the Sea. On ship, he married Karen Petersen. They crossed the plains together to reach the Salt Lake Valley. Once there, Peter was ordained a seventy (see Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 622).

In 1872, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 28 May 1872 and was assigned to labor as president of the Copenhagen Conference. After completing this assignment, he departed from Copenhagen aboard the steamer Milo on 18 June 1874 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 171, 181, 215, 219, 494, 498).

Peter died in 1887 in Ogden, Weber County, Utah, at age fifty-three. Funeral services took place in the Fourth Ward schoolhouse on a Sunday afternoon. He was survived by one of his wives and eight children. It was said that he was “kind to his family, faithful to principle and true to his God; he was respected and honored by all who knew him” (“Laid to Rest,” Ogden Daily Herald, 4 April 1887).

John Arvid Anderson Cederlund

1865–1913

Residence: Montpelier, Bear Lake Co., Idaho

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 19 September 1891

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 10 August 1893

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 13 April 1865

Birthplace: Allmungs, Havdhem, Gotland, Sweden

Father: Cederlund, Olof Andersson

Mother: Ahlbom, Margaretha Christina Jacobina

Spouse: Holmes, Ida Louisa

Marriage date: 29 June 1887

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Death date: 24 October 1913

Death place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

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

John’s parents were Baptists when he was born, so his name was not listed in the Lutheran Church records. Instead, only the notation that a “male child” was born to the tailor Olof Cederlund on 13 April 1865 was made.

The name Cederlund, by which John and his descendants are known, was given to his father, Olof Anderson, by the Swedish army because there were too many men with the surname Anderson in the military. The name Cederlund was kept when the family moved to the United States (see correspondence from Roy Lee Grover, 7 July 1999).

While a resident of Montpelier, Bear Lake County, Idaho, John accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1891. He arrived in Copenhagen on 19 September 1891 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. Upon completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 10 August 1893 aboard the steamer Milo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 320–22).

After returning to the States, John settled in Logan, Cache County, Utah. He served as the Sunday School president for fifteen years in his local ward. He died in 1913 in Logan at age forty-eight. His funeral was held in the Logan Fourth Ward meetinghouse (see “Funeral Services for the Late John A. Cederlund,” Tri-Weekly Journal, 30 October 1913).

Andrew Christensen

(Anders Christensen)

1838–1926

Residence: Fairview, Utah Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 5 June 1883

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 7 May 1885

Birth date: 19 December 1838

Birthplace: Skuldelev, Frederiksborg, Denmark

Father: Pedersen, Christen

Mother: Pedersdatter, Karen

Spouse: Rasmussen (Severson), Anna

Marriage date: 19 April 1863

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

Death date: 12 February 1926

Death place: Fairview, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Lot 1, Grave 85, Fairview Cemetery, Fairview, Sanpete Co., Utah

In 1855, Andrew was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as a local missionary before immigrating to America aboard the William Tapscott in 1860. He crossed the plains in the Reuben Eldredge freight company to reach the Salt Lake Valley (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 274).

He was ordained a seventy in 1861, and he married Anna Rasmussen in 1863 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 274). He resided in Salt Lake City before moving to Brigham City, Box Elder County, Utah. By 1868 Andrew was residing in Fairview, Sanpete County, Utah (see “Fairview Loses Its Oldest Resident,” Ephraim Enterprise, February 19, 1926).

In 1883, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 5 June 1883 and was assigned to labor in the Copenhagen Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 7 May 1885 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 273–75, 292).

After returning to Fairview, he retained his missionary zeal. His biographer wrote that he was “a faithful church worker, . . . with a testimony of the Gospel.” Andrew was ordained a high priest in 1902 by John B. Maiben. He died in 1926 in Fairview at age eighty-six. His funeral was held at the North Ward chapel in Fairview (see “Fairview Loses Its Oldest Resident,” Ephraim Enterprise, 19 February 1926).

Anthony Christensen

(Anthon Christensen)

1849–1916

Residence: Oak City, Millard Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 9 November 1891

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 16 November 1893

Name of departure ship: Majestic

Birth date: 20 February 1849

Birthplace: Østrup, Vognsild, Ålborg, Denmark

Father: Christensen, Christen

Mother: Sørensdatter, Bodil

Spouse: Lovell, Castina (Kirstine)

Marriage date: 14 April 1873

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

Death date: 28 June 1916

Death place: Oak City, Millard Co., Utah

Burial place: Oak City, Millard Co., Utah

Anthony was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 4 April 1861. Within a year of his baptism, he began the process of immigrating to America. On 15 April 1862, he departed from Hamburg, Germany, aboard the Franklin with 413 other passengers. He was on the water for six weeks before docking in Castle Garden, New York County, New York. He then migrated to the West with the Christian A. Madsen company and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 23 September 1862 (see “Christensen Pioneer Travel Heritage,” 1).

Anthony resided in Spanish Fork, Moroni, Monroe, Marysville, Gunnison, and Scipio before moving to Oak City, Millard County, in 1870. He served the Church as a ward teacher, Sunday School teacher, and Sunday School superintendent in the Oak Creek Ward (see “Anthony and Castina Christiansen,” 26–72).

In 1891, Anthony accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. At the time he had ten children ranging in ages from seventeen years old to one month. He arrived in Copenhagen on 9 November 1891 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. He enjoyed laboring in the Fredrickshaven Branch (Hjørring County) within that conference. He wrote, “I enjoyed my labors, had the privilege of baptizing several persons” (“Anthony and Castina Christiansen,” 72–73).

During the later part of his mission, he rekindled memories of boyhood days and visited old school friends. “Here I am standing on the hay land thinking of old times I had while living here with my parents,” he wrote. After serving an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 16 November 1893 aboard the Majestic with emigrating Latter-day Saints and other returning missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 333).When he neared the United States, he penned, “We could see land . . . with joy in our hearts and tears in our eyes. Home and friends were on our minds” (“Anthony and Castina Christiansen,” 73).

When he approached Oak City, “I met my sons strung along the road like rocks and kissed them as I came to them. I kissed my wife at the gate. We were so happy.” After this cordial greeting, Anthony purchased 160 acres north of town. Much of his acreage was planted with fruit trees (see “Anthony and Castina Christiansen,” 73–74).

He was a member of the 111th Quorum of the Seventy and became its senior president. In 1906, he was a home missionary in Scipio, Millard County, Utah (see Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 804). Then at age fifty-nine, Anthony received a second mission call to Scandinavia. “The ward gave me a farewell party. But the day before I was to leave I received a letter from the First Presidency releasing me from this mission due to my age and the need for me at home.” The money collected for him was given to the ward chorister to buy music and books for the choir (see “Anthony and Castina Christiansen,” 74).

Anthony became critically ill in May 1916. He died at age sixty-seven. All thirteen of his sons and daughters attended his funeral (see “Anthony and Castina Christiansen,” 74).

Antone Erastus Christensen

1864–1930

Residence: Fountain Green, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 28 October 1890

Missionary labors: Christiania Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 1 September 1892

Name of departure ship: Volo

Birth date: 24 July 1864

Birthplace: Moroni, Sanpete Co., Utah

Father: Christensen, Christen Antone

Mother: Mortensen, Mette Marie

Spouse: Andersen, Mary Josephine

Spouse: Jensen, Annie Christena

Marriage date: 11 April 1888

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

Death date: 18 June 1930

Death place: Shelley, Bingham Co., Idaho

Burial place: Shelley, Bingham Co., Idaho

Antone, a resident of Fountain Green, Sanpete County, Utah, accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1890. He arrived in Copenhagen on 28 October 1890 and was assigned to labor in the Christiania Conference. In June 1892, he and Elder Ole Sorensen Jr. spoke in an open-air meeting to about three hundred people in Gudbrandsdalen (Oppland County, Norway) (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 323).

According to family tradition, Antone was asked to train some of the weaker missionaries (see correspondence from Neda Gyllenskog, July 18, 2001). He departed from Copenhagen aboard the steamer Volo on 1 September 1892 with two other returning missionaries—Andrew G. Johnson and Peter Christensen. These three missionaries were in charge of fifteen emigrating Latter-day Saints on the voyage from Denmark to Hull, England (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 326).

He eventually settled in Shelley, Bingham County, Idaho, where he was recognized as one of the early settlers. He attended the Shelley First Ward, but his attendance was sporadic because he was ill for several years. Antone died in June 1930 in Shelley at age sixty-five.

Carl Christian Anthon Christensen

1831–1912

Residence: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 16 September 1887

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 17 October 1889

Name of departure ship: Cameo

Birth date: 28 November 1831

Birthplace: Garnison-Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Father: Christensen, Mads Duerup

Mother: Christensdatter, Dorthea Christiane

Spouse: Harby, Eliza Rosalia

Marriage date: 24 April 1851

Marriage place: Liverpool, Lancaster, England

Spouse: Pettersen, Maren Frederikke

Marriage date: 30 November 1868

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

Death date: 13 July 1912

Death place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Carl grew to manhood in a family that suffered from poverty, discouragement, and his father’s alcoholism. His resourceful mother made paper silhouettes to entertain her children when they had no toys. Following her example, Carl became proficient at cutting out paper silhouettes. At age eleven, he studied art in a state school for the poor. There he met an influential patron who helped him gain admission to the King’s Royal Academy of Arts (see Bitter, “Carl Christian Anthon Christensen,” 2).

After Carl was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 26 September 1850, he was so ostracized by his associates at the Academy of Arts that he gave up his desire to become an artist. Still, he graduated with high honors in January 1853 (see Bitter, “Carl Christian Anthon Christensen,” 2).

Soon after his graduation on 24 January 1853, Carl was ordained a priest and was called on his first mission—a mission that would be fraught with persecution and poverty. He labored in West Zealand, Sjælland, Denmark, from January to July 1853. Later that year, he was ordained an elder and was called to serve in Norway. There he assisted Canute Peterson. Elder Peterson, discouraged about the lack of success and shortage of funds, was less than enthusiastic about having Carl as his companion. But when Carl sold his watch and contributed the money to their missionary labors, they became friends and had much success. Due to their efforts, a branch of nine members was established in Christiania on 8 December 1853 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:378–79).

On 3 March 1854, Carl and his companion were arrested and imprisoned at Drammen (Buskerud County, Norway). Carl was sentenced to five days on dry bread and cold water, which he chose instead of a fine. After his release, he was assigned to labor in the Frederikshald Branch (Østfold County, Norway). While there, he worked as a painter to pay for food and housing. Because he had to work, he preached only on Sundays. From Frederikshald, he walked nearly three hundred miles over snow and ice to reach the city of Mandal, Vest-Agder County, Norway. In that city, he was arrested for preaching the gospel. But this time, instead of sentencing him, police sent learned men to debate with him. One result of the debate was that a number of people joined the Church. Another result was that government officials were persuaded to hold a friendlier attitude toward Mormonism (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:378–80).

In September 1855, Carl became president of the Christiania Conference, which included all of Norway (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:380). After two years of service as president, in April 1857, he immigrated to America. He served as a division captain of the handcart company that arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 13 September 1857—”practically penniless but with faith in God and hope” (Bitter, “Carl Christian Anthon Christensen,” 4).

In Salt Lake City, Carl’s interest in art was rekindled. He obtained employment as a scenery painter for the Salt Lake Theater (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:380).

In 1865, he accepted a mission call to Norway, where he again presided over the Norwegian Conference. In that conference, he supported himself by painting portraits. He was released from this mission in May 1868 and returned to Utah. In Utah, he painted murals for the Manti, St. George, and Logan Temples (see Bitter, “Carl Christian Anthon Christensen,” 4).

Carl served a third mission to Scandinavia from 1887 to 1889 as a writer and translator at the mission office in Copenhagen. Before the term of this mission was over, Carl’s son Erastus was killed in an accident in Utah. Knowing that he was needed at home, he asked for and received a release on 17 October 1889 (see Bitter, “Carl Christian Anthon Christensen,” 5).

After this third and last mission, Carl distinguished himself as a historian, poet, and painter of Mormon history. To create the collection of Mormon history panoramas that was shown in many settlements throughout Utah, he interviewed many eyewitnesses of Church events and asked them to help him with details (see Bitter, “Carl Christian Anthon Christensen,” 5).

In 1900, Carl was ordained a patriarch in the South Sanpete Stake. In 1901, he was assigned to work in the Church Historian’s Office. Much of his work serves as the basis for the official Church history of the Scandinavian Saints (see Bitter, “Carl Christian Anthon Christensen,” 5–6). Carl died in 1912 in Ephraim, Sanpete County, Utah, at age eighty.

Charles John Christensen

1861–1928

Residence: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 28 September 1883

Missionary labors: Christiania Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 15 June 1885

Name of departure ship: Panther

Birth date: 21 March 1861

Birthplace: Fairview, Sanpete Co., Utah

Father: Christensen, Carl Christian Anthon

Mother: Harby, Eliza Rosella

Spouse: Frost, Maria Elizabeth

Marriage date: 14 April 1886

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Death date: 13 January 1928

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

Burial place: Park Cemetery, Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Charles was the first boy born in Fairview, Sanpete County, Utah. Soon after his birth, his parents moved with him to Mount Pleasant, Sanpete County, where he spent the first nine years of his life. From Mount Pleasant they moved to Ephraim, Sanpete County (see Christensen, “Charles J. Christensen and Family,” 52).

Charles served three missions—one of them to Scandinavia. In 1883, he accepted his first mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 28 September 1883 and was assigned to labor in the Christiania Conference. He wrote poignant letters and poems to his wife and two children from the mission field:

To My Wife—Elizabeth Christensen

Oh! Happy Day when we shall meet,

Our joy and bliss will be complete.

Then never more from you I’ll part

The fond affection of my heart.

Oh! Dearest Wife and Children two,

I want to live my life with you.

Now in my verse, I wish to say

God bless my darlings far away. (Christensen, “Charles J. Christensen and Family,” 29)

In another poem, Charles recounted the loneliness of a cold Christmas Eve in Norway when he was obliged to seek shelter in a barn:

Such was the life of a poor Morman [sic] boy

The night before Christmas while others had joy

Tho the night was unpleasant I thought of the Lord

And knew as His servant I’d get my reward. (Christensen, “Charles J. Christensen and Family,” 27d)

Thoughts of the Lord and his family sustained Charles on this mission. He served as president of the Copenhagen Conference from 1894 to 1895 before departing from Copenhagen on 15 June 1885 aboard the steamer Panther (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 273, 275, 290).

He became known in the Intermountain West by exhibiting a collection of paintings called the “Panorama”—painted by his father, C. C. A. Christensen. He also lectured on Mormon history. When not traveling with the paintings, he taught school in Ephraim, Sanpete County, and Sterling, Sanpete County, and was an agent for the Co-op Wagon and Machine Company (see Christensen, “Charles J. Christensen and Family,” 52).

In 1910, Charles went on a short mission to southern Utah. He later served another short mission to the northwestern states. He moved to Salt Lake City in 1918 and died in 1928 at his home at age sixty-six (see Christensen, “Charles J. Christensen and Family,” 52).

Christian Anton Christensen

1836–1907

Residence: Fountain Green, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 30 September 1879

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 5 July 1880

Name of departure ship: Leo (Cato)

Birth date: 20 February 1836

Birthplace: Tulstrup Mark, Tulstrup, Århus, Denmark

Father: Rasmussen Degn, Christen

Mother: Rasmusdatter, Maren

Spouse: Mortensen, Mette Marie

Marriage date: 11 July 1861

Marriage place: Florence, Douglas Co., Nebraska

Death date: 29 September 1907

Death place: Smithfield, Cache Co., Utah

Burial place: Smithfield, Cache Co., Utah

Christian Christensen’s father and mother were lawyers. It was said that his mother was the better of the two. Christian and most of his family were baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 25 August 1859 by Søren Petersen. Christian immigrated to America with his brother, Rasmus Peter Christensen, aboard the Monarch of the Sea. At the time, he was twenty-five years old and listed his occupation as a farmer (see “Christen Anton Christensen,” 1).

After arriving in America, he moved to Nebraska, where Elder Erastus Snow performed his marriage to Mette Mortensen at Florence, Douglas County. Christian and his bride journeyed together to the Salt Lake Valley (see “Christen Anton Christensen,” 1).

They settled in Moroni, Sanpete County, for two years before moving to Fountain Green, Sanpete County. In 1876, while Christian was residing in Fountain Green, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 30 September 1879 and was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. After serving an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 5 July 1880 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 238–39, 244).

Upon returning to the States, he built a store at the south end of Main Street in Fountain Green, where he sold general merchandise. He later became one of the early independent wool growers of that community (see “Christen Anton Christensen,” 1).

In 1890, he and his family moved to Shelley, Bingham County, Idaho, where they lived for three years before moving to Smithfield, Cache County, Utah. He was a successful farmer and sheep owner in Smithfield. He was known for his skill in caring for a hundred beehives and seldom getting stung (see “Christen Anton Christensen,” 1).

As he grew older, Christian became hard of hearing and nearsighted (see “Christen Anton Christensen,” 2). He died in 1907 in Smithfield at age seventy-one.

Christian Lauridsen Christensen

(Christian Larsen)

1841–1900

Residence: Salem, Utah Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 24 September 1886

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 19 July 1888

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 23 July 1841

Birthplace: Ulvgraven, Sankt Hans, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Christensen Høyen, Lars

Mother: Møller, Else Bredahl

Spouse: Frantzen, Grethe Sophia

Marriage date: 20 December 1869

Spouse: Hansen, Thea

Marriage date: 16 January 1889

Death date: 17 December 1900

Death place: Salem, Utah Co., Utah

Burial place: Salem, Utah Co., Utah

In 1870, Christian emigrated from Denmark to America. He settled in Salem, Utah County, Utah, where he became known as a good farmer. He was also known as “a hat lifter to the ladies,” which evidenced his courteous training in Denmark (see Taylor, Salem, the City of Peace, 29).

Christian was residing in Salem when he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1886. He arrived in Copenhagen on 24 September 1886 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. After serving an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 19 July 1888 aboard the steamer Cato. Aboard ship, he was responsible for 113 emigrating Latter-day Saints and three other returning missionaries. On the voyage the returning missionaries taught curious passengers about the restored gospel (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 299–300, 306).

After returning to Utah, Christian and his wife separated. The separation was probably because he brought home a younger wife from the mission field. He suffered a disabling stroke sometime before his death in 1900 in Salem at age fifty-nine (see Taylor, Salem, the City of Peace, 27).

Hans Christensen

1840–1923

Residence: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 6 May 1884

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 17 October 1884

Birth date: 20 February 1840

Birthplace: Snarup, Rakkebye, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Laursen, Christen

Mother: Hansdatter, Gjertrud

Spouse: Poulsen, Johanne Marie

Marriage date: 1 February 1863

Marriage place: Pleasant Grove, Utah Co., Utah

Spouse: Jensen, Johanne Catherine

Marriage date: 17 July 1876

Marriage place: Richfield, Sevier Co., Utah

Death date: 5 February 1923

Death place: Richfield, Sevier Co., Utah

Burial place: Richfield Cemetery, Richfield, Sevier Co., Utah

Hans attended school in the winter under the tutelage of J. S. Rosendell. During the other seasons, he was a herd boy. At age sixteen, he left herding and school to take care of the family farm and to learn the blacksmith trade (see “Autobiography of Hans Christensen,” 3–4).

As a result of his baptism on 18 May 1861 into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he became estranged from his parents. Hans served two local missions in Scandinavia. In his autobiography, he wrote that he spent “many happy hours” teaching the gospel with his companion, but not many people were baptized. During these missions, he served as president of the Rold (Ålborg County) and Wiebye branches (see “Autobiography of Hans Christensen,” 8).

Hans borrowed fifty Rigsdaler (about twenty-five dollars) from his companion’s mother to immigrate to America. He visited his own home before leaving Denmark and was disappointed that he was looked upon as a prodigal son—except by his mother and sister. This was the last time he ever saw his mother. He departed for America on 6 April 1862 aboard the steamer City of Berlin (see “Autobiography of Hans Christensen,” 8).

After arriving in America, he journeyed with the John R. Murdock ox team company to the Salt Lake Valley. He arrived on 17 September 1862 in the valley. For a time, he resided in Kaysville, Davis County, with his brother before settling in Milton, Morgan County, then in Huntsville, Weber County, and finally in Richfield, Sevier County, in 1873 (see “Autobiography of Hans Christensen,” 8–9).

On 26 March 1884, Hans received a mission call to Scandinavia. Although he was in debt, he gladly accepted the call. He sold his property to cover mission expenses. He arrived in Copenhagen on 6 May 1884 and was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. In that conference, he visited his family. His father refused to shake his hand even though he hadn’t seen him for twenty-two years (see “Autobiography of Hans Christensen,” 19).

On the mission, he had difficulty memorizing scriptures. He attributed the difficulty to a head injury that had occurred a few years before. Because of ill health, he was released early from an assignment in the Århus Branch (see “Autobiography of Hans Christensen,” 20; diary of Hans Christensen from mission, 1884). He departed from Copenhagen on 17 October 1884 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 280, 282–83).

Returning to Richfield, Hans served in many positions of responsibility, including clerk of the Richfield First Ward and a member of the Sevier Stake high council. He served his community on the board of directors for the Richfield Co-op Institution and as a school trustee of the Richfield School District (see “Autobiography of Hans Christensen,” 16).

In 1890 Hans was imprisoned, he said, “for the serious crime of treating my wives, as wives” (“Autobiography of Hans Christensen,” preface). His incarceration gave him time to write a richly detailed autobiography. He died in 1923 in Richfield at age eighty-two.

Jens Christensen

1838–1917

Residence: Spring City, Utah Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 27 November 1877

Missionary labors: Århus and Ålborg conferences

Departure date from Copenhagen: 23 June 1879

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 16 January 1838

Birthplace: Toje, Torslev, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Weverstip, Christen Jensen

Mother: Madsdatter, Johanne Marie

Spouse: Olsen, Mary Hedwig

Spouse: Estmann (Vertmann, Ertrann), Anna Gertrude

Spouse: Albertson, Maria Bodel

Death date: 3 October 1917

Death place: Spring City, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Spring City Cemetery, Spring City, Sanpete Co., Utah

On 2 June 1861, Jens was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Denmark by Jens Nielsen. After his baptism, he labored as a local missionary in the Vendsyssel Conference (Hjørring County) before immigrating to America in 1863 aboard the John J. Boyd. He continued his journey across the plains to reach the Salt Lake Valley (see “Jens [James] Christensen,” 1).

Jens settled in Spring City, Sanpete County. In 1864, he journeyed to the Missouri River as a Church teamster to help poor Latter-day Saints reach the valley. He was endowed on 14 October 1865 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. He served as an elders quorum president and as president of the Scandinavians in Spring City for many years (see “Jens [James] Christensen,” 1).

Jens served two missions to Scandinavia. The first began when he arrived in Copenhagen on 27 November 1877. He served a year in the Århus Conference before presiding over the Ålborg Conference. He departed from Copenhagen on 23 June 1879 aboard the steamer Cato (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 361, 363, 366). After returning from this mission, he was ordained a Seventy on 7 August 1884 and called to be a president of the Eightieth Quorum of the Seventy (see Mount Pleasant Pyramid, 5 October 1917).

Jens served a second mission to Scandinavia in the Ålborg Conference from 1897 to 1898 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 361, 363, 366).

After returning to Utah, he was ordained a high priest on 6 January 1906 by Christian N. Lund (see “Jens [James] Christensen,” 3). He died in 1917 from general debility at his home in Spring City at age seventy-nine. His funeral services were held in the Spring City Tabernacle. At the funeral, he was recognized as “one of the leaders of the Scandinavian people in the valley” (Mount Pleasant Pyramid, 5 October 1917).

Jens Martin Christensen

1843–1908

Residence: Manassa, Conejos Co., Colorado

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 4 May 1886

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 7 April 1887

Name of departure ship: Panther

Birth date: 29 April 1843

Birthplace: Vester Hammerholt, Hørmested, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Ovesen, Christen

Mother: Andersdatter, Kirsten Marie

Spouse: Rasmussen, Maren Johanna

Marriage date: 28 October 1866

Marriage place: Mount Pleasant, Sanpete Co., Utah

Death date: 7 July 1908

Death place: Murray, Salt Lake Co., Utah

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

At age twenty, Jens left his home in Hørmested and moved to Copenhagen. In the city, he was employed as a captain of the Queen’s Guard and attended Her Majesty on state occasions and parades. It was during this employ that he met Mormon missionaries and was converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was the only one of the eight children in Christen Ovesen’s family to join the Church. He was baptized in February 1866 at age twenty-three (see Mecham, “History of Erastus Snow Christensen,” 6).

Jens immigrated to America in 1866 aboard the clipper ship Kenilworth, sailing from Hamburg, Germany, to New York (see Mecham, “History of Erastus Snow Christensen,” 6). He traveled with 201 other Scandinavians across the plains in Captain Abner Lowry’s pioneer company. It was in this company that he met his future wife, Maren Rasmussen. She was critically ill with cholera at their first meeting. He carried her, gave her tiny sips of water, and held an umbrella over her to shield her from the hot sun during the pioneer journey (see Christensen, “My Grandfather—Jens Martin Christensen,” 1).

Jens married Maren, and they settled in Fountain Green, Sanpete County. In that community, they contended with grasshoppers that destroyed their crops, and later with Indians in 1866–67. In 1880, they were called by President John Taylor to settle in the San Luis Valley. They accepted the call and set up a business selling butter, eggs, vegetables, etc., to railroad construction camps in the area. Jens also worked as an agent for the Deseret News for about fifteen years (see Mecham, “History of Erastus Snow Christensen,” 6, 10).

He was ordained a high priest by Brigham Young and became a member of the first high council organized in the San Luis Valley. He later served as a counselor in the bishopric for fourteen years and as superintendent of the local Sunday School. Much of that time, his wife served as president of the Relief Society. After residing in San Luis Valley for twenty-five years, Martin and his family moved to Manassa, Conejos County, Colorado (see “A Few Notes on the Life of Martin Christensen, Sr.,” 1).

While residing in Manassa, Jens accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1886. He was one of thirty-one elders called on a mission to Scandinavia that year. He arrived in Copenhagen on 4 May 1886 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 299–300). He preached in Hjørring and was successful in baptizing one of his brothers. He visited Maren’s family in Torrig (Birket Parish, Maribo County), Lolland, Denmark, but they rejected him and his message. Her mother said of Maren, “I don’t want anything to do with her or her d—religion” (“A Few Notes on the Life of Martin Christensen, Sr.,” 1). After serving an honorable mission, Jens led a group of 108 emigrants and nine other returning missionaries. They departed from Copenhagen on 7 April 1887 aboard the steamer Panther (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 302).

By 1900, Jens’s health began to fail. Hoping to improve his physical well-being, he moved with his wife to Murray, Salt Lake County, Utah. Jens died on 7 July 1908 at the home of his daughter, Avilda, at age sixty-five (see Morgan, “Jens Martin Christensen and Maren Johannah Rasmussen,” 2).

Jens Möller Christensen

1846–1915

Residence: Moroni, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 16 May 1881

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 15 June 1883

Name of departure ship: Pacific (Milo)

Birth date: 8 January 1846

Birthplace: Kirkeby, Hornstrup, Vejle, Denmark

Father: Andersen, Christen

Mother: Jensdatter, Ane Margrete

Spouse: Zakariesen, Ane Kerstine

Marriage date: 23 June 1867

Marriage place: aboard the Manhattan

Spouse: Andersen, Petra Sophia

Marriage date: 11 October 1883

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

Death date: 7 January 1915

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

Shortly after he was baptized on 31 May 1863, Jens was sent on a local mission for three years. During this mission, he served as president of the Fredericia Conference in 1865 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:686).

In 1867, Jens and Ane Zakariesen immigrated to America aboard the Manhattan. They crossed the plains with the Leonard G. Rice independent wagon company and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 5 October 1867 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:686).

Jens and Ane settled in Moroni, Sanpete County, Utah. In that community, Jens served in a number of Church callings, including secretary and superintendent of the Sunday School, and director of the United Order from 1875 to 1878. He also served as a member of the high council of the North Sanpete Stake from 1874 to 1877. In 1877, he was elected mayor of Moroni. Later he served as the local justice of the peace (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:686).

In 1881, Jens accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 16 May 1881 and was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. He served as a traveling missionary before becoming president of the conference. He departed from Copenhagen on 15 June 1883 along with 17 other returning missionaries and 503 emigrating Latter-day Saints (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 269).

After returning to Utah, Jens was elected mayor of Moroni for two more terms. In 1891 he moved his family to Salt Lake City so his children could have a better education. In the city, he served as a counselor to Bishop J. W. Bond of the Salt Lake Fifteenth Ward and later Bishop Edward T. Ashton of the Salt Lake Twenty-fourth Ward (see Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 804).

He was president of the J. M. Christensen Produce Company before accepting a mission call to the northern states. He began this mission on 11 September 1899. In 1905, he was called to preside over the Danish-Norwegian Mission. He served in that capacity until 1907 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:686).

He died in 1915 in Salt Lake City at age sixty-eight, one day shy of his sixty-ninth birthday.

John Christensen

(Thyge Christiansen)

1844–1905

Residence: Brigham City, Box Elder Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 9 November 1891

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 22 February 1893

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 4 July 1844

Birthplace: Rolsgård, Astrup, Ålborg, Denmark

Father: Christensen, (Johan) Christian

Mother: Thygesdatter, Mariane

Spouse: Jensen, Louise Dora

Marriage date: 3 July 1876

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

Spouse: Jensen, Emma Elizabeth

Marriage date: 4 November 1877

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

Death date: 24 April 1905

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

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

John was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 24 December 1861 by T. Andersen. He was ordained an elder on 10 April 1878 by Elias Smith.

John, a resident of Brigham City, Box Elder County, Utah, accepted his first mission call to Scandinavia in 1880. He was one of thirty-four elders to receive mission calls to Scandinavia during that year. He arrived in Copenhagen on 4 May 1880 and was assigned to the Ålborg Conference (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 250).

After returning from his mission, he continued to reside in Brigham City pursuing the occupation of a merchant. John was ordained a Seventy on 27 January 1881.

John served a second mission to Scandinavia in 1891. He arrived in Copenhagen on 9 November 1891 and was again assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. After serving an honorable mission, he returned from Copenhagen on 22 February 1893 aboard the steamer Bravo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 320, 337).

He died suddenly in 1905 in Brigham City at age fifty-six. The funeral was held in the Brigham City Second Ward (see “Sudden Death,” Deseret Evening News, April 27, 1905). It was recorded that he “died in full faith” (Brigham Second Ward records, FHL 0025805).

Lars Peter Christensen

(Laurs Peter Christensen)

1837–1918

Residence: Richfield, Sevier Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 16 May 1881

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 15 June 1883

Name of departure ship: Pacific (Milo)

Birth date: 17 January 1837

Birthplace: Møhhusene, Vrejlev, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Laursen, Christen

Mother: Hansdatter, Gjertrud

Spouse: Lee, Anne Marie Nielsen

Marriage date: 16 May 1861

Marriage place: aboard Monarch of the Sea

Spouse: Petersen, Ane Marie

Marriage date: 8 September 1866

Marriage place: Milton, Morgan Co., Utah

Spouse: Jacobsen, Karen Jacobina Andrea

Marriage date: 13 December 1883

Marriage place: Richfield, Sevier Co., Utah

Death date: 25 July 1918

Death place: Richfield, Sevier Co., Utah

Burial place: Richfield, Sevier Co., Utah

Soon after Lars’s baptism in 1858, he was ordained an elder and called to preside over the Taars Branch. He later presided over the Harridslev (Hjørring County) Branch. During his years of service as a local missionary, he baptized eleven converts before immigrating to America in 1861 aboard the Monarch of the Sea. He arrived in the Salt Lake Valley with an independent company on 22 September 1861 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:211).

He settled in Kaysville, Davis County, before moving to Farmington, Davis County, and then Milton, Morgan County, in 1863. He served as a second counselor to Bishop Charles Peterson for twelve years in Milton. Civically, he served as a captain of the Utah Territorial Militia in charge of 150 men (see Warnock, Sevier Stake Memories, 446).

In 1875, Lars moved his family to Richfield, Sevier County, where he was president of the United Order from 1876 until it was dissolved in 1881. He was a farmer, blacksmith, and lumberman, furnishing ties for the Union Pacific Railroad (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:211).

In 1881, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 16 May 1881 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. During the mission, he was president of the Hjørring Branch for a year and baptized forty-one converts. After that presidency, he presided over the Ålborg Conference. He departed from Copenhagen on 15 June 1883, bringing with him 122 emigrants (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:211).

In 1889, Lars was sentenced to three months in the Utah penitentiary for unlawful cohabitation. After his imprisonment, he went into exile as a blacksmith in Nevada. While visiting his families in Utah, he was arrested twice by U.S. deputies but was discharged on both occasions (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:211). Lars died in 1918 in Richfield at age eighty-one.

Mads Frederick Theobald Christensen

1837–1917

Residence: Fairview, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 13 November 1883

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 15 October 1885

Name of departure ship: Cameo

Birth date: 10 March 1837

Birthplace: Brogade #6, Vor Frelser-Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Father: Christensen Duerup, Mads

Mother: Christensdatter, Dorothea Christiane

Spouse: Rasmussen, Kirstine Sophie

Marriage date: 3 June 1861

Marriage place: Fairview, Sanpete Co., Utah

Spouse: Larson, Fredrika Olsson

Marriage date: 26 December 1863

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

Spouse: Larsen, Jensine Serine

Marriage date: 7 June 1907

Marriage place: Denmark

Death date: 14 July 1917

Death place: Mount Pleasant, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Fairview, Sanpete Co., Utah

Due to the “heroic efforts” of his mother to overcome the prevailing poverty of her family, Mads was educated at one of the best free schools for boys in Denmark called the Ophan. He later learned the trades of saddler and upholsterer (see “Autobiography of Mads Frederick Theobald Christensen,” 1–2).

In 1850, when he was thirteen years old, his mother was baptized. Although he wanted to be baptized at that time, the rules of his trade school did not allow such an action. His mother wanted to take her sons to America, but Mads was prevented because he was legally bound to his apprenticeship. In order to go with his mother, Mads had to press charges against his master teacher. He charged the teacher with abuse and was allowed to emigrate. As Mads recalls, “The Lord opened the way seemingly to reward me for taking the courage to obey the requirements of the true gospel.” He was baptized on 8 April 1853 and then departed with his family from Denmark on 20 December 1853 (see “Autobiography of Mads Frederick Theobald Christensen,” 5).

Soon after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on 5 September 1854 with the Hans Peter Olson wagon company, Mads settled in Springville, Utah County. In that community, he endured poverty, starvation, and lice. Then in 1856, he was hired as a saddler in Provo, Utah County. Four years later he moved to Fairview, Sanpete County. He lived in a “hut with the roof made of willows, straw and earth” until he built a log cabin near the dwelling of his brothers Carl and William (“Autobiography of Mads Frederick Theobald Christensen,” 10–16).

In 1864, Mads accepted a call from Brigham Young to settle in Muddy Valley, about one-hundred miles south of St. George, Washington County, Utah. On the journey to the valley, his toddler Freddie was run over by a wagon but recovered miraculously. Mads’s growing family endured poverty and hardship in the valley. He and his brother William built a shingle mill, which they gave to the United Order, along with “machinery, sheep, cows, and farms.” In the valley, he made forty-four thousand adobe bricks. After the United Order dissolved, Mads worked for the Singer Sewing Machine Company for eight years (see “Autobiography of Mads Frederick Theobald Christensen,” 17–23).

In 1877, he and his brother C. C. A. Christensen exhibited a series of paintings called the “Panorama,” depicting the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mads owned one-third interest in the “Panorama.” This interest provided a good living until he accepted the position of principal in the district school in Fairview in 1879. He then sold his interest in the exhibit (see “Autobiography of Mads Frederick Theobald Christensen,” 23).

In October 1883, Mads accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 13 November 1883 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. He labored in the editorial department as a translator and scribe for the Scandinavian Stjerne (see “Autobiography of Mads Frederick Theobald Christensen,” 25). He departed from Copenhagen on 15 October 1885 aboard the steamer Cameo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 292).

In the fall of 1898, he was called on another mission to Scandinavia to work as a translator and scribe in the mission office. On this mission, he revised the Danish hymnbook and several other Latter-day Saint books and tracts. He recalled that “the two years passed pleasantly” (“Autobiography of Mads Frederick Theobald Christensen,” 25).

Less than five years later, he went to Copenhagen again to do the same kind of work. During this mission, his wife passed away, and he was given the option to return home. He decided he could not be of much use to his grown children, so he remained in Copenhagen (see “Autobiography of Mads Frederick Theobald Christensen,” 26).

Acting on the counsel of his mission president, he remarried before leaving Denmark in 1907. After returning to Utah, he supported his wife and their children working as a photographer in Mount Pleasant, Sanpete County. Mads died from a buggy injury and sickness in 1917 in Mount Pleasant at age eighty. His granddaughter remembers him as a “very loving man” who was “gifted in music—loved life very much” and who was “intelligent” (correspondence from Ruby C. Smith, 30 July 1999).

Niels Christian Christensen

1847–86

Residence: Levan, Juab Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 1 November 1884

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 2 April 1885

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 5 February 1847

Birthplace: Østrup, Vognsild, Ålborg, Denmark

Father: Christensen, Christen

Mother: Sørensdatter, Bodil

Spouse: Thompson, Johanne Marie

Marriage date: 5 February 1868

Marriage place: Gunnison, Sanpete Co., Utah

Spouse: Thompson, Christiana

Marriage date: 8 August 1870

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

Death date: 5 June 1887

Death place: Levan, Juab Co., Utah

Burial place: Levan, Juab Co., Utah

Niels grew up in a prosperous home in Denmark. His father owned a large farm called Østrupgaard and had a spacious home, several barns, and outbuildings. Although his family had heard anti-Mormon stories, they invited the missionaries to come into their home. The family was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in April 1861 by C. C. A. Christensen. Niels was fourteen years old at the time (see “Precious Testimonies: The Eternal Family of Christen and Boletta Christensen, Pioneers of 1862,” 10).

He and his family immigrated to America in 1862. They settled in Levan, Juab County, Utah, where Niels fought in the Black Hawk War. In that community, he was informed of his United States citizenship on 2 May 1871 (see “Precious Testimonies,” 13–15).

After being ordained a Seventy on 26 January 1884, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. After arriving in Copenhagen on 1 November 1884, he was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. While on this mission, he gave financial aid to many who wanted to immigrate to Zion. His mission was cut short due to an accident. A tree fell on him and injured his back. The damp climate aggravated his condition. He was granted an early release in 1885 (see correspondence from Mrs. Renon Jones). He departed from Copenhagen on 2 April 1885 aboard the steamer Milo (see History of the Scandinavian Mission, 282–83, 289).

After returning to Utah, he contracted Bright’s disease and lived only six months. He died in 1887 at his residence in Levan at age forty (see “Precious Testimonies: The Eternal Family of Christen and Boletta Christensen, Pioneers of 1862,” 15).

Otto Edward Wilhelm Thorwald Christensen

1841–95

Residence: Fairview, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 27 November 1877

Missionary labors: Århus and Copenhagen conferences

Departure date from Copenhagen: 23 June 1879

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 13 February 1841

Birthplace: Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Father: Christensen Duerup, Mads

Mother: Christensdatter, Dorothea Christiane

Spouse: Christensen, Marianne

Marriage date: 18 September 1861

Marriage place: Fairview, Sanpete Co., Utah

Spouse: Andersen, Maren Annette

Marriage date: 23 September 1865

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

Spouse: Petersen, Wilhelmine Severine Pauline

Marriage date: 9 October 1877

Marriage place: Manti, Sanpete Co., Utah

Death date: 25 March 1895

Death place: Vernal, Uintah Co., Utah

Burial place: Vernal, Uintah Co., Utah

Otto, the brother of C. C. A. and Mads Christiansen, had childhood memories of their alcoholic father and a life of abject poverty. As a young boy, he worked with a harness maker (see Holt, “The Life History of Otto Edward W. T. Christensen,” 1).

His life dramatically changed when he and many of his family members were baptized on 14 October 1850. After his baptism, it was decided that Otto would go to America. In 1852, he voyaged in the custody of a missionary aboard the Forest Monarch to reach New York and then crossed the plains with the John Forsgren company to reach the Salt Lake Valley on 30 September 1853 (see Holt, “The Life History of Otto Edward W. T. Christensen,” 2). Otto lived in Fairview, Sanpete County, Utah. He became a schoolteacher. Some remembered him playing the fiddle in theatrical productions and leading the local choir. Others remembered that he fought in the Black Hawk War to protect his community (see Holt, “The Life History of Otto Edward W. T. Christensen,” 3).

In 1877, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 27 November 1877 and was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. He served as president of the Copenhagen Conference from 1878 to 1879 before departing from Copenhagen on 23 June 1879 aboard the steamer Cato (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 240).

After his mission, Otto colonized the San Luis Valley in Colorado. He is credited with being the first postmaster in Manassa, Conejos County, Colorado. He later resided in Creede, Mineral County, Colorado, where he entered the hardware business without success. His business was destroyed by fire but was later rebuilt. He served in a stake presidency, as stake superintendent of the Sunday School, and on the local school board. In 1894, he moved to Vernal, Uintah County, Utah (see Christensen, “William Christensen,” 5). He died in 1895 in Vernal at age fifty-four.

Peter Christensen

1845–1912

Residence: Elsinore, Sevier Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 12 September 1882

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 9 June 1884

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 15 February 1845

Birthplace: Dyrhedenshuse, Volstrup, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Sørensen, Christen

Mother: Leissdatter (Siseman), Maren Larsen

Spouse: Jensen, Mette Marie

Marriage date: 13 November 1865

Death date: 12 December 1912

Death place: Midvale, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Burial place: Elsinore, Sevier Co., Utah

As a child, Peter was apprenticed to a wheelwright. He was so small at the time that he had to stand on a trough to put the harness on the horses (see Warnock, Our Own Sevier, 192).

In 1871 Peter was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was ordained an elder. He served a local mission until immigrating to America in 1873. He settled in Richfield, Sevier County, Utah, before moving to Elsinore, Sevier County, in 1875 (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 81).

Peter accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1882. He arrived in Copenhagen on 12 September 1882 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 9 June 1884 aboard the steamer Milo. On the voyage he was in charge of 531 emigrants—406 were Scandinavians (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 267–68, 279).

Returning to Utah, he served as second counselor to Bishop James I. Jensen from 1888 to 1893 before being appointed first counselor. Peter supported his family as an amateur inventor. He devised an elevator to hoist goods from one floor to another, a lazy Susan, and a cart to use in planting grain. Civically, he served as the Elsinore town president from 1896 to 1897 (see Warnock, Our Own Sevier, 192).

Peter accepted a second mission to Scandinavia in 1900. He arrived in Copenhagen on 27 November 1900 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference before presiding over the Copenhagen Conference from 1901 to 1902 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 355, 365, 382, 495). Peter died in 1912 in Midvale, Salt Lake County, Utah, at age sixty-seven.

Peter Christensen

1862–1906

Residence: Moroni, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 28 October 1890

Missionary labors: Christiania Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 1 September 1892

Name of departure ship: Volo

Birth date: 5 September 1862

Birthplace: Moroni, Sanpete Co., Utah

Father: Christensen, Rasmus Peter

Mother: Swensen, Maria

Spouse: Jensen, Helena

Marriage date: 2 June 1886

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

Death date: 20 January 1906

Death place: Sunnyside, Carbon Co., Utah

Burial place: Moroni, Sanpete Co., Utah

Peter was born in a flooded dugout in Moroni, Sanpete County, Utah. He was baptized at age eight (see Christensen, “Peter Christensen,” 1).

In 1890, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 28 October 1890 and was assigned to labor in the Christiania Conference. He served in the district of Hedemarken and later the city of Trondhjem, Norway. After serving an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 1 September 1892 aboard the steamer Volo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 316–17, 326).

Returning to Utah, he served an additional mission lasting six months in Logan, Cache County. He later served as a Sunday School teacher in Moroni, Sanpete County. He and his brother James had a cattle ranch in Moroni called Christiansen Brothers. Together they built a store, a post office, and another ranch in Scofield, Carbon County (see Christensen, “Peter Christensen,” 1).

In 1906, Peter was killed in a snowslide while taking out props for a coal mine. He was in a presidency of the Thirty-seventh Quorum of the Seventy at the time of his death at age forty-three. He left behind a widow and nine children, who remembered him as a kind and patient man (see Christensen, “Peter Christensen,” 1).

Peter Christian Christensen

(Peder Christian Christensen)

1830–1908

Residence: Manti, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 28 May 1872

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 18 June 1874

Name of departure ship: Milo (Humber)

Birth date: 8 June 1830

Birthplace: Aså, Dronninglund, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Nielsen, Christen

Mother: Christiansdatter, Anne

Spouse: Sorensen, Ane Christine (Kirstine)

Marriage date: 1849

Marriage place: Denmark

Spouse: Christensen, Ane Margrethe

Marriage date: 4 December 1854

Marriage place: Denmark

Spouse: Michaelson, Fredrikka

Marriage date: May 1869

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

Death date: 24 November 1908

Death place: Mayfield, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Mayfield, Sanpete Co., Utah

As a child, Peter helped support his family. After his baptism on 24 October 1859 by Niels M. Peterson, he served a local mission in the Vendsyssel Conference for one year. He then immigrated to America in 1861 (see Vest, “Peter Christian Christensen,” 1).

He resided in various locations in Utah including Pleasant Grove, Utah County; Salina, Sevier County; Manti, Sanpete County; and Mayfield, Sanpete County. He claimed his many moves were due to Indians destroying his crops and stealing his cattle. To stop these problems, he accepted the commission of First Lieutenant in the Black Hawk War (see Vest, “Peter Christian Christensen,” 2).

Peter served three missions to Scandinavia. The first was in 1872. He arrived in Copenhagen on 28 May 1872 and was assigned to preside over the Ålborg Conference. After honorably completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 18 June 1874. His second mission was also served in Scandinavia. From 1891 to 1893, he presided over the Hjørring Branch. From 1895 to 1897, he served in the Copenhagen Conference (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 211, 215, 219, 326, 346, 359).

Between missions, Peter served in the Sixty-fifth Quorum of the Seventy before being ordained a high priest on 2 May 1900 by G. B. Mablen and was also called to be a ward teacher. He earned a living as a mail carrier, farmer, and sheep raiser (see Vest, “Peter Christian Christensen,” 1).

While escorting a young woman from the train station, Peter took a bullet in his arm to save her from being murdered by a rejected lover. As a result, he lost his arm below the elbow. After the accident, he continued to deliver mail and passengers from Mayfield and Gunnison depots, a distance of eleven miles round-trip. He met all trains with horse and buggy regardless of the weather. He died in 1908 at age seventy-eight after slipping on an icy railroad track and being run over by a train (see Vest, “Peter Christian Christensen,” 2).

His granddaughter said of him, “Grandfather had a very pleasing personality. He was always surrounded with friends. He was a firm believer in the gospel and spent much time and money working for it” (Vest, “Peter Christian Christensen,” 1).

Simon Christensen

1846–1935

Residence: Richfield, Sevier Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 4 May 1880

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 16 June 1882

Name of departure ship: Albano (Bravo)

Birth date: 13 August 1846

Birthplace: Stensbøck, Bindslev, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Simonsen, Christen

Mother: Jensdatter, Anne

Spouse: Jensen, Birthe Marie

Marriage date: 22 July 1872

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

Spouse: Jensen, Mette Marie

Marriage date: 1915

Marriage place: Manti, Sanpete Co., Utah

Death date: 30 June 1935

Death place: Manti, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Richfield, Sevier Co., Utah

Simon was a member of the Lutheran Church when he began investigating the teachings of Mormonism. “I had a heavenly influence come over me to join the Church. This testimony which I received on that occasion has stayed with me through my long life,” he wrote (correspondence from Gwen C. Jackman, June 26, 1999). He was baptized on 28 June 1867 by Hans Jensen Hals (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:753–54).

Soon after his baptism, he was ordained an elder on 1 September 1867 and was called to serve a local mission in the Ålborg Conference. During this mission he met the woman he would later marry, Birthe Marie Jensen. His missionary companion, who was released a year before Simon, was going to propose to Birthe, but she could not afford to immigrate to the United States at that time. Simon advised his companion to marry another girl who had the needed funds to emigrate. Through this means, Birthe remained single until Simon was released (see correspondence from Simon Christensen, September 29, 1931).

After borrowing eighty-six dollars, Simon emigrated from Copenhagen to Hull, England, aboard the steamer Humber. After crossing England by rail, he embarked for America at Liverpool on the steamer Nevada. Once in the United States, he crossed the continent by rail and arrived in Salt Lake City on 27 September 1871. There he married Birthe in the Endowment House in 1872 (see letter to Clara C. Dalley from Simon Christensen, September 29, 1931, Manti, Utah). They resided in Salt Lake City. In the city, Simon was a “missionary stone-cutter” for the Salt Lake Temple (Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 82).

In 1874, he and Birthe moved to Richfield, Sevier County. In that community, Simon participated in the United Order until it dissolved. He worked in ZCMI as a clerk and later as superintendent. From the money earned, he acquired a forty-acre farm (see Flake, Portrait, Genealogical and Biographical Record of Utah, 293).

He interrupted his farming career to accept a mission call to Scandinavia in 1880. At the time, he had three small daughters ages seven, five, and three, and his wife was expecting another child. There was only one sack of flour and forty cents in the house when Simon left Richfield bound for Denmark (see correspondence from Gwen C. Jackman, June 26, 1999). He arrived in Copenhagen on 4 May 1880 and was assigned to preside over the Ålborg Conference. After serving an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 16 June 1882 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 265).

Returning to Richfield, Simon worked as a mason, store employee, farmer, and dairyman. He was a member of the city council for ten years, was on the school board for ten years, and was a justice of the peace for twenty-three years. He was also associated with the irrigation projects of Sevier County, promoting and developing the reservoir systems in Central Utah (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:753–54). He was a counselor in four bishoprics and a member of the Sevier Stake high council (see Warnock, Sevier Stake Memories, 446).

Simon served a second mission to Denmark from 26 October 1907 to 19 January 1909. In 1916, he was an ordinance worker in the Manti Temple. Six years later he was appointed to be the doorkeeper and recorder in that temple (see Warnock, Sevier Stake Memories, 446). He held the position until 1933 when he had to quit because of illness (see “Funeral Held Wednesday for Old Resident,” Richfield Reaper, 4 July 1935). Simon died in 1935 in Manti, Sanpete County, at age eighty-eight.

Thomas Christian Christensen (Fautin)

1825–95

Residence: Mount Pleasant, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 5 November 1881

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 15 June 1883

Name of departure ship: Pacific (Milo)

Birth date: 17 June 1825

Birthplace: Tranholm, Torslev, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Christensen, Christen

Mother: Thomasdatter, Maren

Spouse: Olesdatter, Inger Cathrine

Marriage date: 4 November 1857

Marriage place: Elling, Hjørring, Denmark

Spouse: Davidson, Mary Diantha Catherine

Marriage date: 13 June 1868

Death date: 17 July 1895

Death place: Mount Pleasant, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Mount Pleasant, Sanpete Co., Utah

Thomas was also known as Thomas C. Christensen Fautin. He was drafted into the Danish military. After his discharge he met his wife, and in 1859 Mormon elders presented the gospel to them. They accepted the gospel message and were baptized before immigrating to America aboard the William Tapscott. They pulled a handcart to Zion and arrived in Salt Lake City on 29 August 1860. They lived in Salt Lake City before moving to Mount Pleasant, Sanpete County, Utah (see Carter, Treasures of Pioneer History, 3:160–61).

Thomas was a farmer, one of many who suffered when the crickets ate his crops. To supplement his income, he made molasses, and his wife wove clothing (see Carter, Treasures of Pioneer History, 3:160–61).

He accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1881. He arrived in Copenhagen on 5 November 1881 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 15 June 1883 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 262, 264, 269). Thomas died in 1895 in Mount Pleasant at age seventy.

Joseph Christenson

1865–1947

Residence: Gunnison, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 28 September 1886

Missionary labors: Skåne Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 27 September 1888

Birth date: 19 April 1865

Birthplace: American Fork, Utah Co., Utah

Father: Christenson, John

Mother: Harling, Johanna

Spouse: Brown, Lillian Rachel

Marriage date: 24 September 1890

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Death date: 17 November 1947

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

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

At his birth, Joseph’s mother consecrated him to the Lord. He spent his life fulfilling that consecration by serving the Lord in any calling he received. He was born into a polygamous family that nearly starved during the grasshopper plague in Gunnison, Sanpete County, Utah. Although they had no money, they were rich in faith. For example, after his mother pled with the Lord for bread, a neighbor came to their door with biscuits and twenty-five pounds of flour (see Utah Genealogical Magazine, October 1937, 147). In better times, Joseph played baseball and played the horn in a band. He was ordained a seventy at the age of eighteen (see correspondence from Shauna Sargent, 7 September 1999).

Joseph served a mission to Scandinavia from 1886 to 1888. He arrived in Copenhagen on 28 September 1886 and was assigned to labor in the Skåne Conference. He served this mission “without purse or scrip,” depending on the generosity of the Swedish people. On one occasion, he was asked to speak in a Lutheran church. His words were well received. He spoke four or five languages fluently (see correspondence from William Ickes, July 7, 1999). A number of people joined the Church as a result of his missionary efforts. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 27 September 1888 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 299–300, 306).

In the spring of 1889, he was called to Salt Lake City on a political mission and asked to vote in order to keep the city from the “clutches of the anti-Mormons.” After the election, he served a home mission in the Salt Lake Stake from 1890 to 1896 (see Utah Genealogical Magazine, October 1937, 148). He then began selling sewing machines and working for the Church.

In 1893, he was hired to work in the Salt Lake Temple as a recorder—a direct answer to his prayers. An avid genealogist, Joseph helped Joseph Fielding Smith establish the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1894. He served as vice president of the society for thirty-seven years, a tenure unsurpassed at the time. He served as a home missionary again from 1897 to 1902 and as bishop of the Salt Lake Tenth Ward for over twenty years. He was set apart on 12 June 1929 as second counselor in the Salt Lake Temple presidency and as first counselor on 10 June 1935 (see Utah Genealogical Magazine, October 1937, 148).

Joseph is also remembered as a faithful journal writer. He recorded nearly forty volumes of his life experiences. He died in 1947 in Salt Lake City at age eighty-two.

Christian Johan Christiansen

(Christian Johan Sørensen)

1855–1927

Residence: Fountain Green, Sanpete Co., Utah

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 12 September 1882

Departure date from Copenhagen: 9 June 1884

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 17 April 1855

Birthplace: Solbjergmark, Tiset, Århus, Denmark

Father: Christiansen, Søren

Mother: Loft, Caroline Theodora

Spouse: Oldroyd, Ellen Jane

Marriage date: 29 May 1876

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

Death date: 26 December 1927

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

Burial place: Fountain Green, Sanpete Co., Utah

Christian immigrated to Utah with his parents in 1860, sailing across the Atlantic aboard the William Tapscott. He settled with his family in Fountain Green, Sanpete County, Utah, in 1861. He was baptized in May 1864 in Fountain Green by William Huggens and was ordained an elder on 24 May 1876 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:577).

In 1882, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 12 September 1882 and was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. He served in the Vejle (Vejle County) and Esbjerg (Ribe County) branches before departing from Copenhagen on 9 June 1884 aboard the steamer Milo with emigrating Latter-day Saints (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 279).

After returning to Utah, Christian was ordained a high priest and was called to serve in the Manti Temple from 1888 to 1889. He was sustained as the fourth bishop of the Fountain Green Ward on 22 November 1890. He also served as a superintendent of the Fountain Green Sunday School, as a ward teacher, and as a member of the town council (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:577). He died in 1927 in Salt Lake City at age seventy-two.

Frederick Julius Christiansen

(Frederik Juul Christiansen)

1826–1920

Residence: Mayfield, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 2 May 1883

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 17 October 1884

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 25 December 1826

Birthplace: Hjørring, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Ruth, Christian Fredericksen

Mother: Christensdatter, Maren

Spouse: Larsen, Johanna Marie

Marriage date: 2 May 1854

Marriage place: Denmark

Spouse: Andersen, Kirstine Marie

Marriage date: 13 January 1856

Marriage place: aboard John J. Boyd

Spouse: Jensen, Kirstine Marie

Marriage date: 16 July 1864

Spouse: Larsen, Else Margrethe

Marriage date: 25 January 1868

Spouse: Poulson, Margaret

Marriage date: 17 June 1880

Marriage place: Manti, Sanpete Co., Utah

Death date: 16 March 1920

Death place: Mayfield, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Mayfield, Sanpete Co., Utah

In his youth, Frederick received a common education and learned the trade of making spinning wheels and carpentry. During the war between Denmark and Germany, he was drafted into the military and fought in the historic battles of Isted and Schlesvig and was wounded in the leg (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:569).

Frederick was baptized on 4 June 1853 in Denmark by Peter Christian Jensen, against the wishes of his father (see “Autobiography of Frederick Julius Christiansen,” 1). Soon after his baptism, he served a local mission in the Vendsyssel Conference. In 1854 he married, and then continued his missionary work in and around the city of Sæby (Hjørring County). In 1855, his wife died, and he suffered a serious illness for six months. Despite these trials, he did not stop his missionary efforts. He immigrated to the United States on 25 November 1855 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:569).

Aboard the John J. Boyd, Frederick married again. The newlyweds continued their journey towards Utah with the Canute Peterson Company and arrived in Salt Lake City on 20 September 1856. They settled in Brigham City, Box Elder County, where Frederick was a cooper and a maker of spinning wheels. In 1858, he moved his family to Ephraim, Sanpete County. In 1878, his family pioneered the community of Mayfield, Sanpete County, where Frederick was a school trustee (see “Autobiography of Frederick Julius Christiansen,” 2–6).

In 1883, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 2 May 1883 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. He wrote in his personal history that “the people [in that conference] were just too prejudiced, and they generally believed that one denomination was as good as another” (“Autobiography of Frederick Julius Christiansen,” 6). At the close of his mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 17 October 1884 aboard the steamer Bravo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 275, 280).

In 1888, Frederick was sentenced to prison for unlawful cohabitation. He served a four-month prison term in the Utah penitentiary and paid a fine of fifty dollars (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:570). After his release, he returned to Mayfield to care for his farm and do some carpentry work.

He continued to work in the local ward and Sunday School “till I was released on account of old age.” He is remembered for doing a lot of ordinance work in the Manti Temple at the end of his life. He wrote, “I have been to the Temple 269 times to be endowed and several times to have baptism done” (“Autobiography of Frederick Julius Christiansen,” 7). He died in 1920 in Mayfield at age ninety-three.

Fredrick N. Christiansen

(Frederik Nielsen)

1844–1930

Residence: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 4 May 1885

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 21 June 1886

Name of departure ship: Otto

Birth date: 25 August 1844

Birthplace: Østrup, Kirkerup, Copenhagen, Denmark

Father: Christiansen, Niels

Mother: Jensdatter, Anna

Spouse: Peterson, Karen

Marriage date: 10 October 1879

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

Death date: 29 March 1930

Death place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Fredrick was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 27 April 1875 in Denmark. He was ordained an elder by H. F. Peterson. Soon after his ordination, he immigrated to the United States and settled in Ephraim, Sanpete County, Utah (see Ephraim South Ward Records, FHL #25,935).

On 7 August 1884, he was ordained a Seventy by John F. F. Dorius (see Ephraim West Ward Records). In 1885, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 4 May 1885 and was assigned to serve in the Copenhagen Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 21 June 1886 aboard the steamer Otto along with 290 emigrating Latter-day Saints and 10 other missionaries. It was a stormy voyage marked by illness and death among the passengers (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 297).

Fredrick served a second mission to Scandinavia in 1901. He arrived in Copenhagen on 5 May 1901 and was appointed to labor in the Århus Conference (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 385–86).

He returned to Ephraim. He worked as a blacksmith during his lifetime. He died at his home in 1930 at age eighty-five after suffering from chronic heart trouble.

Hans Jacob Christiansen

1848–1923

Residence: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival dates in Copenhagen: 4 May 1880; 20 April 1885

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference; Christiania Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 28 August 1882; 19 June 1888

Name of departure ship: Argo

Birth date: 9 January 1848

Birthplace: St. Jørgensbjerg, Copenhagen, Denmark

Father: Hansen, Christian

Mother: Jacobsdatter, Margrethe

Spouse: Steffensen, Nikoline Emilie

Marriage date: 1870

Marriage place: Roskilde, Copenhagen, Denmark

Spouse: Larsen, Laura M.

Marriage date: 28 October 1872

Spouse: Haroldsen, Elise Anne

Marriage date: 17 January 1875

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Spouse: Larsen, Inger Marie

Marriage date: 30 August 1883

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

Death date: 27 May 1923

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

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

Hans was reared by his grandparents. His grandfather was a sailor and encouraged him to follow this occupation. Hans became a deck boy on the Valkyrien when he was fifteen years old. He visited South America and other ports and at one point had a narrow escape with a shark. In New York City, he contracted typhoid, and he was also robbed of his money and clothing. After this incident, he was hired on an American ship and saw the northern part of North America and had a “very hard experience” before returning to Denmark (Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:202).

When Hans was age eighteen, his father died, leaving his mother with six children to raise. Hans accepted work at the post office in Roskilde in hopes of supporting his family. At age twenty-one, he was appointed a corporal in the Danish army. During his military stint, he married Nikoline Steffensen, who died soon after giving birth to a daughter. Seeking solace, he turned to his mother, who had converted to Mormonism. She convinced Hans to speak with the Mormon missionaries. He was baptized on 26 December 1871 in Copenhagen by Martin Williamsen (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:202).

In June 1872, he immigrated to America with 396 other Latter-day Saints aboard the Nevada. After arriving in New York Harbor, he continued his journey to the Salt Lake Valley. There he supported himself by making saddles and harnesses. He married Laura M. Larsen, and on their wedding day he was ordained an elder. In 1873 he moved his family to Logan, Cache County, Utah (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:202).

In 1880, Hans accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 4 May 1880 and was assigned to be president of the Copenhagen Branch, and later president of the Copenhagen Conference. While on this mission, he “endured many hardships and trials, witnessed numerous marvelous manifestations of the power of God and baptized eighty-seven persons” (Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:202). He departed from Copenhagen on 28 August 1882 aboard the steamer Argo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 250, 257, 265).

Upon returning to Logan, he resumed his trade. He served as an ordinance worker in the Logan Temple from 1884 to 1885. In the latter part of 1885, Hans accepted a second mission call to Scandinavia—this time as president of the Christiania Conference, which included all of Norway. On the three-year mission, he was taken to court several times for preaching the gospel and was strongly opposed by the Lutheran clergy. In spite of the opposition, he baptized 126 people before returning to Logan in July 1888 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:202).

In 1893, he again journeyed to Scandinavia as president of the Christiania Conference. A year later, he learned that his wife Laura and his daughter Emilie had died. Despite his grief, he continued on the mission and baptized sixty-four converts before departing from Norway in August 1895 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:202).

Hans served in a number of Church positions in Utah, including serving in the presidency of the Thirty-second Quorum of the Seventy, before serving a fourth mission to Scandinavia in 1902 as president of the Copenhagen Conference. He made many friends on this mission and baptized fifty-four converts. He returned to Logan in 1905. In October 1905, he was called on his fifth mission as a special missionary to the Scandinavian Saints throughout the Church. From 1906 to 1914, he also served as editor of the Bikuben, a Danish newspaper published in Salt Lake City for Scandinavian Church members (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:202). He died in 1923 in Salt Lake City at age seventy-five.

John Erick Christiansen

1851–84

Residence: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 2 December 1876

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 7 September 1878

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 29 September 1851

Birthplace: 231 Adelgade, Trinitatis-Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Father: Christiansen, Christian

Mother: Bruhn, Christine Marie

Spouse: Petersen, Georgine Dorcas

Marriage date: 25 October 1869

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

Death date: 21 December 1884

Death place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

John is believed to be the first son born to Latter-day Saint parents in Scandinavia. His parents were listed as members of the Church in his birth record. In 1852, when he was one year old, his parents immigrated to Utah, arriving in Salt Lake City on 30 September 1853. From there, the family moved to Ephraim, Sanpete County, in 1860. John was baptized at age eight. He later served in the Sunday School and as a district school teacher as well as a stonemason in Ephraim (see Our Yesterdays, A History of Ephraim, Utah, 1854–1979, 115–17; Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 83).

In 1876, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 2 December 1876 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. After “laboring with much success,” he departed from Copenhagen on 7 September 1878 aboard the steamer Bravo (Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 226–27).

John died in 1884 in Ephraim at age thirty-three. He left behind a wife and four children.

Joseph Christiansen

1854–95

Residence: Mayfield, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 1 May 1891

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 11 May 1893

Birth date: 17 August 1854

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

Father: Christiansen, Niels Christian

Mother: Mortensen, Catherine

Spouse: Peterson, Hannah Mettetirine

Marriage date: 31 January 1875

Marriage place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Death date: 6 March 1895

Death place: Mayfield, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Mayfield, Sanpete Co., Utah

Joseph was baptized at age eight and grew up in Ephraim, Sanpete County, Utah. In 1876 he was a pioneer settler in Mayfield, Sanpete County. He devoted himself to building the community and served as manager of the Mayfield co-op from 1880 to 1891 (see History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah, 540).

Shortly after the birth of a daughter in 1891, Joseph was called on a mission to Scandinavia. He accepted this call “with all his heart.” On 1 May 1891, he arrived in Copenhagen and was appointed to preside over the Århus Conference. Six months after leaving home, he learned that his baby daughter had died (see “Joseph Christiansen,” 1). In spite of the tragedy, he continued his term as president of the conference. The last eleven months of his mission, he was president of the Scandinavian Mission, which included Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. In this position, he generously paid for the passage of several Latter-day Saints to immigrate to America. Joseph departed from Copenhagen on 11 May 1893 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 319, 322, 325–27).

When he returned to Mayfield, he found that the rejoicing was mixed with sorrow over the loss of his daughter, although all agreed it was God’s will. He reestablished himself as a businessman by purchasing a co-op store. He was also a leader in the irrigation effort as well as in other local affairs. He was a stockholder and director in the C. Andrews Company of Nephi, and a Sunday School superintendent for fourteen years (see History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah, 540). In 1888, he was ordained a high priest and called to be second counselor to Bishop Ole C. Olesen (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4:370).

In 1894, he and his wife were blessed with another daughter, but she lived only three weeks. Again their grief was tempered by their faith in God’s will. This was not the end of their sorrows. Joseph contracted Bright’s disease and never recovered (see “Joseph Christiansen,” 1). He died in 1895 in Mayfield at age forty-one.

Rasmus Erastus Christoffersen

(Rasmus Christophersen)

1837–1910

Residence: Lynne, Weber Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 16 May 1881

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 11 May 1883

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 23 December 1837

Birthplace: Sillestrup, Idestrup, Maribo, Denmark

Father: Rasmussen, Christopher

Mother: Clausdatter, Karen

Spouse: Bosen, Bodil Christine Jensen

Marriage date: 13 September 1863

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

Death date: 17 September 1910

Death place: Lynne, Weber Co., Utah

Burial place: Ogden Cemetery, Ogden, Weber Co., Utah

At age twenty-two, Rasmus was baptized on 8 February 1859 at Sillestrup, Denmark. He labored as a local missionary from 1859 to 1861 in Jutland before immigrating to Utah in 1861 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:262).

He settled in Salt Lake City until being called to establish a settlement in Circle Valley, Sevier County, in 1863. Due to Indian troubles in that area, the settlement was abandoned until peace could be established (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:262).

In 1866, he and his family were sent to Bingham’s Fort (later called Lynne) near Ogden, Weber County. During his first years in that community, Rasmus fought in the Black Hawk War from 1864 to 1867 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:262).

In 1881, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 16 May 1881 and was assigned to labor in the Copenhagen Conference. After serving an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 11 May 1883 aboard the steamer Bravo with eleven emigrating Latter-day Saints and three other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 269).

Returning to Utah, Rasmus served as a constable for four years, a water master for twenty-six years, a juror for seven years, and a school trustee for six years. He also served as a counselor in the Lynne Ward bishopric for thirty-one years from 1877 to 1908. For his service to the ward, he was given a beautiful armchair as a token of remembrance (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:262).

Rasmus was a partial invalid for several years after suffering a stroke. He died in 1910 at his home at age seventy-two. His biographer wrote of him, “Thousands of travelers, beside the local residents who have been in need, have had their wants liberally supplied through the kindness and hospitality of [Rasmus]” (Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:262).

Peter Olofsson Cronquist

(Pehr Olofsson)

1828–1902

Residence: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 28 September 1890

Missionary labors: Skåne Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 11 June 1891

Name of departure ship: Volo

Birth date: 1 September 1828

Birthplace: Kialfhusen, Östra Strö, Malmöhus, Sweden

Father: Nilsson, Olof

Mother: Tufvasdotter, Karna

Spouse: Wirfets, Anna Wilhelmina Ottosson

Marriage date: 17 July 1853

Marriage place: Lund, Malmöhus, Sweden

Spouse: Pehrsson, Elna

Marriage date: 9 September 1891

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

Death date: 30 October 1902

Death place: North Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Burial place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

After the death of his father, Pehr moved to Lund and was apprenticed to a stone layer. At age twenty-five, he married Anna Wirfets, who was forty-three and had four children by a previous marriage. The oldest of her children was only five years younger than Pehr (see “Peter Olofsson Cronquist,” 1–2).

In 1862, Pehr’s stepson Carl was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The rest of the family followed in 1863 and 1864. Pehr was baptized on 25 April 1863 in Malmö, Sweden, by S. Nilsson. In June 1866, he and his family sailed on either the Cavour or the Humbolt to America. They settled in Logan, Cache County, Utah (see “Peter Olofsson Cronquist,” 2).

In 1890, Pehr accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 28 September 1890 and was assigned to labor in the Skåne Conference. At the conclusion of this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 11 June 1891 aboard the steamer Volo with forty-two emigrating Saints and three other returning missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 316, 319). Pehr died in 1902 in North Logan at age seventy-four.