Claus Herman Karlson

(Clas Herman Larsson or Carlsson)

1849–1915

Residence: Oakley, Cassia Co., Idaho

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 14 June 1887

Missionary labors: Göteborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 30 May 1889

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 20 September 1849

Birthplace: Klintatorp, Grevbäck, Skaraborg, Sweden

Father: Carlsson, Lars

Mother: Andersdotter, Britta

Spouse: Severe, Henrietta

Marriage date: 10 January 1875

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

Death date: 3 July 1915

Death place: Parker, Fremont Co., Idaho

Burial place: Parker Cemetery, Parker, Fremont Co., Idaho

His parents joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1854 in Sweden. They immigrated with Claus to America and crossed the plains in the Christensen handcart company in 1857. On the journey, his father died at Fort Bridger, leaving Claus and his mother to continue their way to the Salt Lake Valley. At that time, he was nine years old (see Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 14:321).

Due to poverty, he was unable to attend school in the valley. He learned to read and write from children who did attend school. His biographer wrote that he “would smooth the dirt and write with a small stick for a pencil, while he herded cows for pay” (Miller, “History of Claus Herman Karlson,” 1).

At age twelve, Claus was hired to haul freight from Kelton, Box Elder County, to Salt Lake City. He continued in this employ after his marriage to Henrietta Severe in 1875. Between 1880 and 1882, he and his wife moved to Oakley, Cassia County, Idaho, where he continued to haul freight. From 1883 to 1887, he served as the justice of the peace in Oakley (see Miller, “History of Claus Herman Karlson,” 1).

Then in 1887, Claus accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He journeyed across the United States and then boarded the steamer Wisconsin bound for Liverpool to reach Scandinavia. “We didn’t get very far when we got fast on a sand bar and two tug boats got us off, having to turn the ship clear around before doing so,” he wrote. He arrived in Copenhagen on 14 June 1887 and was assigned to labor in the Göteborg Conference. He departed from Sweden aboard the steamer Christiania. He described Göteborg as a beautiful city with eighty thousand inhabitants. He labored in Norrköping (Östergotland County) and wrote, “I find myself alone in a strange city and seemingly without a friend. . . . I am to preside over the branch, also teach an English class every night.” On this mission, he visited relatives and his place of birth. He wrote, “I found an old friend of my father’s whom I talked with a long time” (“My Mission to Scandinavia—Personal Journal of Claus H. Karlson”).

Much of his personal writings are about weather, travels, and holding meetings. However, he did share glimpses of his testimony: “Spoke an hour on the divine mission of Joseph Smith. The congregation seemed very much interested and a goodly portion of the spirit of the Lord was with us.” But too often he found that the learned were not interested in his message. He called them “infidels” because they “would not believe.” However, he did write, “I still hope of winning some of them over to the truth” (“My Mission to Scandinavia—Personal Journal of Claus H. Karlson”).

He wrote of receiving his missionary release: “Of course I was pleased, and at the same time serious reflections ran through my mind in regard to whether I had been faithful as a servant of the Lord” (Miller, “History of Claus Herman Karlson,” 1). After completing an honorable mission, Claus departed from Copenhagen on 30 May 1889 aboard the steamer Milo with 239 emigrating Latter-day Saints and 12 other returning missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 309). Of this voyage he wrote, “Missionaries quarters are excellent and all retire to rest.” After arriving in Hull, England, he penned, “The streets are not kept as clean as I am used to seeing them in Sweden. Seems a very nice city though the sameness of the architecture is rather wearisome” (“My Mission to Scandinavia—Personal Journal of Claus H. Karlson”).

Returning to Oakley, he found his farm quite run down. He set about to improve things and sold his interest in a co-op store and built a store of his own. During those years, he served on the high council of the Cassia Stake in Oakley and as a home missionary. In 1900, he sold his store to the co-op company and moved to Parker, Fremont County, Idaho, where he bought 160 acres (see Miller, “History of Claus Herman Karlson,” 1).

Being an active Mormon, he was angered that he was not allowed to vote due to his belief in plural marriage: “Because I was a member of the Mormon Church and as such believed in obeying the commandments of God, I could not vote” (Miller, “History of Claus Herman Karlson,” 1).

In 1908, he suffered from a paralytic stroke, that crippled him (see “Sketch of Henrietta Severe Karlson,” 1). During his remaining years he enjoyed reading masterpieces of literature and “occupied most of his spare time reading the best of material he could find.” Claus died in 1915 at his home in Parker, Fremont County, Idaho, at age sixty-five (see Miller, “History of Claus Herman Karlson,” 1).

James Morgan Keller III

1865–1920

Residence: Mink Creek, Franklin Co., Idaho

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 28 August 1889

Missionary labors: Copenhagen and Ålborg conferences

Departure date from Copenhagen: 11 June 1891

Name of departure ship: Volo

Birth date: 9 June 1865

Birthplace: Mantua, Box Elder Co., Utah

Father: Keller (Kjøller), James (Jens) Morgan (Morgensen)

Mother: Valentinsen (Valentine), Karen Margarethe (Margrethe)

Spouse: Baird, Mary Ellen Delacy

Marriage date: 9 December 1883

Marriage place: Mink Creek, Franklin Co., Idaho

Death date: 31 December 1920

Death place: Mink Creek, Franklin Co., Idaho

Burial place: Mink Creek Cemetery, Mink Creek, Franklin Co., Idaho

As a young boy, James experienced loneliness in Mantua, Box Elder County, Utah. His nearest neighbor lived twenty miles away. In 1872, he and his father moved to Mink Creek, Franklin County, Idaho. In Mink Creek he was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 17 July 1877 by Bishop Rasmus Rasmussen (see “Mink Creek Idaho Ward, 1871–1976,” 10).

After his baptism, he labored beside his father in the local sawmill. He was ordained an elder in 1880 by Andrew A. Bjorn. Three years later, he married. Although he and his wife were happy, she complained that people in Mink Creek “could scarcely speak a word of English. . . . You will never know how lonely it was at first in Mink Creek” (“Mink Creek Idaho Ward, 1871–1976,” 10). In spite of her loneliness, they continued to reside in the area. James was endowed on 25 June 1884 in the Logan Temple and was ordained a high priest on 17 June 1892 by Anthon H. Lund.

He served as second counselor to Bishop Rasmus Rasmussen and later as first counselor to the same bishop (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 3:434). Through these years his wife became more accepting of those in Mink Creek. He bid farewell to her in 1889 to accept a mission call to Scandinavia.

He arrived in Copenhagen on 28 August 1889 and was assigned to labor in the Copenhagen and later Ålborg conferences. He served in Bornholm, the homeland of his parents (“Mink Creek Idaho Ward, 1871–1976,” 11; Keller, “A Small Sketch of the Life of Jens Mogensen Kjoller [James Morgan Keller],” 1). When he departed from Copenhagen in 1891, there were forty-two emigrating Latter-day Saints aboard the steamer Volo and three other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 319).

When James returned to Mink Creek, he built the finest house in the community for his wife (see “Mink Creek Idaho Ward, 1871–1976,” 11). Sixteen years later, he accepted a second mission call to Scandinavia. On 17 July 1907, he arrived in the Danish-Norwegian Mission. From 1908 to 1909, he served as president of the Bergen Conference. He was honorably released on 27 May 1909 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 417, 508).

Returning to Mink Creek, James was ordained a bishop on 26 February 1910 by Heber J. Grant. He was the fourth bishop of the Mink Creek Ward of the Oneida Stake. He served in that capacity from 1909 to 1916 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 3:434). His later years were riddled with poor health (see “Mink Creek Idaho Ward, 1871–1976,” 11). James died in 1920 in Mink Creek at age fifty-five.

Andrew Knudsen

(Andreas Hansen)

1854–1936

Residence: Provo, Utah Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 24 June 1887

Missionary labors: Christiania Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 8 August 1889

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 13 July 1854

Birthplace: Østre Sveen, Løiten, Hedmark, Norway

Father: Knudsen, Hans

Mother: Larsdatter, Birgitte

Spouse: Sward, Chesty

Marriage date: 9 June 1877

Death date: 30 August 1936

Death place: Provo, Utah Co., Utah

Burial place: Provo City Cemetery, Provo, Utah Co., Utah

Andrew was raised in the home of well-to-do parents who embraced The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1863. The family crossed the Atlantic Ocean aboard the Lady of the Sea from Liverpool to New York. They immigrated to the Salt Lake Valley in 1865 with an independent ox train. They then located in Provo, Utah County (see Flake, Portrait, Genealogical and Biographical Record of Utah, 415).

Andrew was baptized at age nine in December 1870. He spent many happy days assisting his father on the family farm in Provo (see Warrum, Utah since Statehood, 2:915). As his father advanced in years, Andrew and his brother purchased the family homestead (see Flake, Portrait, Genealogical and Biographical Record of Utah, 415).

At age eighteen, he studied music and began a career that twenty-five years (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 147). He was very talented on the clarinet and was a member of the Jepperson Orchestra. He also sang in the Tabernacle Choir (see Flake, Portrait, Genealogical and Biographical Record of Utah, 415).

In 1887, Andrew accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 24 June 1887 and was assigned to labor in the Christiania Conference. He served in the Bergen, Hedemarken, and Arendal (Aust Agder County) branches. He had the responsibility not only of presiding over two of the branches but of organizing a choir in the Arendal Branch. After completing an honorable mission, Andrew accompanied 150 emigrating Latter-day Saints aboard the steamer Bravo to Hull, England. Aboard ship he served as an assistant to Jens C. A. Weibye (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 309).

Returning to Provo, Andrew became a member of the Provo City Silver Band (see Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 20:113). He was ordained a high priest and a bishop and set apart to preside over the Provo First Ward on 24 December 1893 (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 147). Later he served as an alternate on the high council of the Utah Stake. He was also a member of the Provo City Council for two years and chairman of the committee on irrigation (see Flake, Portrait, Genealogical and Biographical Record of Utah, 415).

In 1898, along with his brother Herman, Andrew established the Provo Creamery. He also had interest in sugar beets, which he sold to the Lehi Sugar Factory. He helped organize the Farmers’ Protective Association, whose object was to protect the sugar industry in Provo (see Flake, Portrait, Genealogical and Biographical Record of Utah, 415). His biographer said of him, “In all business matter has displayed sound judgment and keen sagacity” (Warrum, Utah Since Statehood, 2:912). Andrew died in 1936 in Provo at age eighty-two.

Svante Johan Svenson Koeven

(Sven Johan Svensson)

1836–1922

Departure date from Copenhagen: 24 May 1888

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 29 December 1836

Birthplace: Kärret, Södra Råda, Värmland, Sweden

Father: Andersson, Sven

Mother: Andersdotter, Brita

Spouse: Arvidson, Anna Maria

Marriage date: 9 November 1868

Spouse: Ridderberg, Maria

Marriage date: 26 September 1888

Spouse: Vickland, Karin

Marriage date: 28 September 1888

Spouse: Hedman, Kajsa

Marriage date: 28 September 1888

Spouse: Carlson, Johanna Louisa

Marriage date: 3 October 1888

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Death date: 10 July 1922

Death place: Montpelier, Bear Lake Co., Idaho

Burial place: Montpelier Cemetery, Montpelier, Bear Lake Co., Idaho

Svante lived at home with his parents until he was eleven years old. During those years, he tended his younger brothers and sisters because both of his parents worked. He educated himself and learned to read but not how to write. In 1847, he lived with a country tailor to learn his trade. In the years that followed, he moved from one tailor’s home to another until he acquired the needed skills (see Diary of Svante Johan Svenson Koeven, 3).

In 1860, while working with a tailor in Stockholm, he contracted a lung disease. The disease led a minister to explain to him that he must be converted before he died. By August of 1860, his health had improved, and his interest in religion had grown. He was disappointed that the Lutheran minister could not answer his questions. It was a dream in which his departed father appeared to him and told him that the true gospel was upon the earth and that he must search for it; that led him to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Svante was baptized on 7 September 1861 and wrote in his diary, “I cannot describe the joy I felt over finding that for which I had sought for one and one-half years” (Diary of Svante Johan Svenson Koeven, 3).

In 1862, he was ordained a priest and an elder. By 1863, he had become president of the Stockholm Branch. He served in that position until being called on a local mission to Gotland. Although he met with much success as a missionary, his words were rejected by his family (see Diary of Svante Johan Svenson Koeven, 3).

In 1866, Svante immigrated to America and settled in Enterprise, Washington County, Utah. In 1872, he moved to Montpelier, Bear Lake County, Idaho. It was in Montpelier that his wife died, leaving him to raise a crippled boy. Svante and his son were residing in a two-room log house when he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. On that mission, he served as president of the Uppsala Branch. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 24 May 1888 aboard the steamer Milo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 299–300, 305).

After returning home, he married again. He supported his family as a builder and a farmer. He is remembered for his construction labors on the Logan Temple and for doing the genealogical work for many relatives and friends (see Matthews, History of Bear Lake Pioneers, 360).

In 1905, Svante was called on a local mission. He was disappointed when near neighbors didn’t accept the gospel because he wanted them to have the same happiness he enjoyed. His patriarchal blessing promised him that many souls would rejoice and rise up and bless him and thank him for having brought them the gospel. He believed that he did not fulfill this promise (see Matthews, History of Bear Lake Pioneers, 360).

In 1914, he sold his home and ranch. He died in 1922 in Montpelier at age eighty-five (see Matthews, History of Bear Lake Pioneers, 358–61).

Jens Hansen Kofoed

1848–1922

Residence: Brigham City, Box Elder Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 28 September 1890

Departure date from Copenhagen: 3 September 1891

Name of departure ship: Guion Lines

Birth date: 2 November 1848

Birthplace: Arnager, Nylarsker, Bornholm, Denmark

Father: Kofoed, Hans Ancher

Mother: Munch, Cecilia

Spouse: Quigley, Ellen Elmira

Marriage date: 3 June 1870

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

Spouse: Gassman, Rosina

Marriage date: 4 March 1872 (1876)

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

Spouse: Gassman, Ellen Elmira

Marriage date: 4 March 1872

Death date: 13 November 1922

Death place: Weston, Franklin Co., Idaho

Burial place: Weston, Franklin Co., Idaho

In 1853, Jens and his family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Denmark. They immigrated to America in 1857. It was reported that Jens walked barefoot across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley in the John Taylor company, arriving on 17 September 1860. He and his family settled in Lehi, Utah County, before moving to Weston, Franklin County, Idaho (see Youngberg, Conquerors of the West: Stalwart Mormon Pioneers, 281).

Jens was residing in Brigham City, Box Elder County, Utah, when he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1890. He arrived in Copenhagen on 28 September 1890. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 3 September 1891 aboard a steamer operated by the Guion Lines (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 316).

Returning to the States, he lived in several areas, including Afton, Lincoln County, Wyoming. It was his work on the railroads that extended from Idaho to Montana that led him to reside in so many different communities. His descendants remember him as an excellent hunter who supplied meat for his own family and many others. They also recall that he worked in the local mines (see Youngberg, Conquerors of the West: Stalwart Mormon Pioneers, 281). Jens died in 1922 in Weston, Franklin County, Idaho, at age seventy-four.

Erastus R. Kofford

(Rastus Emanuel Larsen)

1860–1934

Residence: Mount Pleasant, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 24 June 1889

Missionary labors: Christiania Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 16 April 1891

Name of departure ship: Cameo

Birth date: 14 November 1860

Birthplace: Vester Marie, Bornholm, Denmark

Father: Kofoed Busk, Lars

Mother: Jensen, Cisilie Kirstine

Spouse: Reynolds, Clara Cornelia

Marriage date: 6 September 1883

Marriage place: probably Utah

Death date: 11 September 1934

Death place: Provo, Utah Co., Utah

Burial place: Provo City Cemetery, Provo, Utah Co., Utah

Erastus, a resident of Mount Pleasant, Sanpete County, Utah, accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1889. He arrived in Copenhagen on 24 June 1889 and was assigned to labor in the Christiania Conference. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 16 April 1891 aboard the steamer Cameo with fifty-nine emigrating Latter-day Saints (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 310–11, 318).

Following a short illness, Erastus died in 1934 at his home in Provo at age seventy-three. His funeral was held at the Provo Fifth Ward meetinghouse (see “Erastus Kofford,” Deseret News, 15 September 1934).

Bent Rolfsen Larsen

(Bent Rolfsen Olsen)

1845–1926

Residence: Monroe, Sevier Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 5 November 1881

Missionary labors: Christiania Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 15 June 1883

Name of departure ship: Pacific (Milo)

Birth date: 24 September 1845

Birthplace: Risør, Aust-Agder, Norway

Father: Larsen, Ole

Mother: Bentsdatter, Ingebor Maria

Spouse: Sorensen, Julie

Marriage date: 30 June 1873

Spouse: Washburn, Lorena Eugenia

Death date: 7 November 1926

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

Burial place: Monroe City Cemetery, Monroe, Sevier Co., Utah

Bent was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day on 10 September 1864 and ordained an elder on 14 January 1870. He immigrated to Utah in 1866 and was a resident of Monroe, Sevier County, Utah, when he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1881. He arrived in Copenhagen on 5 November 1881 and was assigned to labor in the Christiania Conference. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 15 June 1883 with 503 emigrating Latter-day Saints and 17 other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 262, 264, 269).

Upon returning to Monroe, Bent was called to serve in the second elders quorum of the Sevier Stake (see Warnock, Memories of Sevier Stake, 131). On 11 May 1887, he was arrested for unlawful cohabitation and sentenced on 16 March 1888 by Judge Henderson to six months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a fifty-dollar fine. On 16 September 1888, he was discharged from the penitentiary (see Jenson, LDS Church Chronology, 11 May 1887; 16 March 1888; 16 September 1888).

Bent was a farmer and lived in Monroe for almost sixty years. He also served as a temple worker in the Manti and Salt Lake temples. He died in 1926 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, at age eighty-one.

Christian Larsen

(Christian Christensen)

1842–1927

Residence: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 6 November 1882

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 25 August 1884

Name of departure ship: Panther

Birth date: 5 August 1842

< lang="DA">Birthplace:< lang="DA"> Svæltekrog, Longelse, Svendborg, Denmark

Father: Larsen, Christen (Christian) J.

Mother: Hansen, Dorthea

Spouse: Barrett, Emma

Marriage date: 7 December 1868

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

Death date: 15 April 1927

Death place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Burial place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Before his baptism on 26 May 1866 by Jens Jensen, Christian was a merchant-sailor, trading between Denmark and the British Isles. When war broke out between Denmark and Germany, the merchant vessels were pressed into military service. He saw some fighting and was in the battle of Heligoland. Soon after his baptism, he immigrated to America and crossed the plains in Henry W. Lawrence’s ox team company. He settled in Logan, Cache County, Utah, where he worked in farming and stock raising for many years. During these years, he was ordained an elder in January 1867 and was endowed on 7 December 1868 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:75).

In 1882, Christian accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 6 November 1882 and was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 25 August 1884 aboard the steamer Panther (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 268, 279).

After returning to Utah, he was ordained a high priest on 3 March 1887 by Franklin D. Richards. He served as a high counselor in the Cache Stake of Zion beginning in 1901. Before this calling, he was a teacher and an assistant superintendent of the Sunday School. He also served as a counselor and president of the YMMIA. Other service included secretary of the teachers, elders, and then Seventy quorums (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:75).

Civically, Christian served as a councilman, alderman, assessor, and member of the school board (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:75). He died at his home in Logan at age eighty-four.

Christian Gries (Grejs) Larsen

(Christen Laursen)

1828–1911

Residence: Spring City, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 6 October 1873

Missionary labors: Scandinavian Mission

Departure date from Copenhagen: 25 June 1875

Name of departure ship: Pacific (Cato)

Birth date: 17 December 1828

Birthplace: Grejs, Grejs, Vejle, Denmark

Father: Johansen, Lauritz (Lars)

Mother: Sørensdatter, Ane Margarethe

Spouse: Sørensen, Caroline Maria

Marriage date: 1 April 1857

Marriage place: Grejs, Vejle, Denmark

Spouse: Christiansen, Anna Marie

Marriage date: 15 January 1860

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

Spouse: Ungermand (Wermann), Anna Olsen

Marriage date: 30 May 1863

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

Spouse: Olsen, Caroline Ann

Marriage date: 9 April 1864

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

Spouse: Johnson, Annetta (Anna)

Marriage date: 10 April 1876

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

Death date: 1 June 1911

Death place: Castle Dale, Emery Co., Utah

Burial place: Castle Dale Cemetery, Castle Dale, Emery Co., Utah

While in the king’s military service, Christian was baptized on 15 March 1851 by Andreas Aagren. Following his baptism, he preached to military personnel. He then served as a local missionary for over four years (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 151). During this mission, he served in the Bornholm Conference. He “expressed himself as happy, . . . reported that his Conference was prosperous. The missionaries and most of the Saints were faithful and true to their covenants. . . . The spirit of the Lord seemed to be gaining an influence for good over its former opponents” (Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 101).

He later reported that on the isle of Bornholm “nearly every city and village on the island had been visited by the Elders.” In spite of his optimistic recording, Christian was imprisoned for preaching. On 31 March 1853, he was released from the Frederikstad (Østfold County, Norway) prison “on condition that he would not attend to any official ordinance pertaining to his Church pending the findings of the Supreme Court” (Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 73, 108).

He is credited with organizing the first conference of the Church in Norway on 6 April 1853. It was held in Gaard Ingolsrud. At this conference, Church authorities were sustained by a vote of the Saints. Andrew Jenson wrote, “The Saints enjoyed the meetings exceedingly” (Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 73).

On 1 January 1857, he was given permission to immigrate to America. He crossed the Atlantic aboard the Westmoreland and then joined the Mathias F. Cowley wagon train to reach the Salt Lake Valley. It is family tradition that he pulled a handcart in this company (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:524).

Christian located in Spring City, Sanpete County, and took an active part in local affairs. He was endowed on 14 November 1860 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. He served as the first bishop of the Spring City Ward from 1860 to 1868 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:524).

He accepted a call to preside over the Scandinavian Mission in 1873. On Sunday, 1 June 1873, he accompanied Erastus Snow to the Jutland Penninsula and to Sørø County, Denmark. There they held meetings in Ålborg, Hjørring, Randers, Århus, Odense, and then Slagelse in Sørø. On 22 May 1875, President Joseph F. Smith wrote that while in Mr. M. Hansen Gissemann’s large social hall in Frederiksberg, “Chr. G. Larsen and myself addressed the brethren at some length” (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 221).

In 1875, Christian was the leader of emigrants aboard a steamer bound for Hull, England. He journeyed with the same emigrants by train to Liverpool. From Liverpool, he journeyed aboard the steamer Idaho with 765 emigrating Latter-day Saints also under his leadership (see Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 19:6)

Returning to Utah, Christian presided over the Latter-day Saints settled in Castle Valley, Emery County (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 151). He served as the first president of the Emery Stake from 1880 to 1899. During these years, he was president of the co-op in Castle Dale, Emery County, and a member of the board of education (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:524). Andrew Jenson wrote of him, “Bro. Larsen was an excellent speaker and a man of distinct leadership” (Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 214).

On 16 January 1899, he was ordained a patriarch in the Emery Stake by President Anthon H. Lund. He died in 1911 in Castle Dale at age eighty-two. His biographer said of him, “He was one of the most talented and successful missionaries which the Scandinavian Mission produced. . . . His sermons were delivered with earnestness which made a deep and lasting impression” (“Sketches on the Lives of Christian Gries Larsen and His Wives,” 1).

Christian Peter Larsen

(Christen Pedersen)

1846–1933

Residence: Manti, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 19 September 1891

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 7 September 1893

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 11 January 1846

Birthplace: Fårdrup, Fårdrup, Sorø, Denmark

Father: Larsen, Peder

Mother: Andersdatter, Ane Kirstine

Spouse: Matthews, Mary

Marriage date: 1 December 1868

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

Death date: 2 May 1933

Death place: Manti, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Manti Cemetery, Manti, Sanpete Co., Utah

Christian was baptized on 19 December 1857. He immigrated to Utah in 1862 with his parents. The family located temporarily in Salt Lake City. At age sixteen, Christian worked for Nymphas Murdock. While thus employed, he met Mary Matthews from England. They soon married. Their first two children—Nymphas and Sarah—were named in honor of the Murdocks (see correspondence from Alve Murdock, 28 June 1999).

Christian and his family made Manti, Sanpete County, their home. However, Christian left Manti to fulfill a mission to Scandinavia in 1891. He served in the Copenhagen Conference before being called as president of that conference in 1893. After completing an honorable mission, he accompanied twenty-four emigrating Latter-day Saints aboard the steamer Bravo in 1893 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 321, 333).

After his return to the States, he again resided in Manti. He represented his community in the first Utah State Legislature as a senator before accepting his second mission call to Scandinavia in 1904. On this mission, he labored in the Ålborg Conference (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 402, 405).

After the mission, he returned to Manti, where he served the community in several civic capacities. For two years he was a policeman, for four years a city marshal, and for an additional four years a justice of the peace. He also served the community as a member of the city council and the state as a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1895 (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 152). Christian died in 1933 in Manti at age eighty-seven.

Hans Larsen

1837–1915

Residence: Woodland, Summit Co., Utah

Arrival in Copenhagen: 14 June 1887

Missionary labors: Århus and Copenhagen Conferences

Departure date from Copenhagen: 8 August 1889

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 29 April 1837

Birthplace: Jersore, Klinte, Odense, Denmark

Father: Hansen, Lars

Mother: Jensdatter, Maren

Spouse: Mikkelsen, Jensine Dorthea

Marriage date: 1862

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

Death date: 8 December 1915

Death place: Hanna, Duchesne Co., Utah

Burial place: Tabiona, Duchesne Co., Utah

Hans came to Utah in 1860 with an independent ox team company. In the Salt Lake Valley, he married Jensine Mikkelsen, a young woman he met while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. They resided in Salt Lake City, where Hans supported his family as a lime burner, a carpenter, and a cooper. After several years, he and his family moved to Kamas Valley in Summit County, where his skills as a carpenter were in great demand. However, due to Indian problems, the family moved to Peoa, Summit County, near the Weber River. When peace was restored, they returned to Kamas Valley (see Larsen, “A Brief History of My Father and Mother,” 1).

Hans purchased much land in the area and donated a portion of it to the Church. Due to his donation, he was privileged to name the local ward. He chose the name “Woodland Ward” before accepting a mission call to Scandinavia in 1887 (see Larsen, “A Brief History of My Father and Mother,” 2).

On 14 June 1887, he arrived in Copenhagen and was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. Later he labored in the Copenhagen Conference. On this mission, he gathered much genealogy before departing from Copenhagen on 8 August 1889 aboard the steamer Bravo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 304, 309).

Hans returned to Utah for a brief season. However, his thoughts of the ideal location had turned toward Mexico. On a journey to Mexico, the wagon in which he was riding tipped over. In the ensuing accident, his leg was badly hurt. He was crippled the remainder of his life (see Larsen, “A Brief History of My Father and Mother,” 3–4).

Hans settled in Dias until the Mexican Revolution forced his removal. He then resided in Hanna, Duchesne County, Utah (see Larsen, “A Brief History of My Father and Mother,” 4). He died in 1915 in Hanna at age seventy-eight.

James Peter Larsen

(Jens Christensen)

1842–1912

Residence: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 6 November 1880

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 16 June 1882

Name of departure ship: Albano

Birth date: 11 March 1842

Birthplace: Holdensgård, Albæk, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Laursen, Christen

Mother: Christiansdatter, Johanna Marie

Spouse: Larsen, Kirsten

Marriage date: 19 January 1863 (1862)

Death date: 11 May 1912

Death place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

James’s parents and eight siblings converted to Mormonism in 1854. Soon after their baptisms, the family voyaged from Europe aboard the sailing vessel John J. Boyd. On the journey, the death toll was high. Two of James’s brothers succumbed and were buried at sea. They also experienced a hurricane, a fire aboard ship, and a collision with another ship. Their vessel reached New York Harbor on 16 February 1856. It was not until 28 August 1859 that the family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley with the ox train company of James Brown (see Hayes, “History of Christian Laursen,” 1–2).

Brigham Young advised the family to settle in Ephraim, Sanpete County. There James fought in the Black Hawk War. In the Salina Canyon battle, he was shot through the coat sleeve (see History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah, 324).

He accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1880. He arrived in Copenhagen on 6 November 1880 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 16 June 1882 aboard the steamer Albano with 573 emigrating Latter-day Saints and 14 other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 265).

After returning to Utah, he became a successful farmer (see History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah, 324). James died in 1912 in Ephraim at age seventy.

John Martin Larsen

1822–1908

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

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 22 November 1874

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 8 September 1876

Name of departure ship: Cameo

Birth date: 22 November 1822

Birthplace: Odense, Odense, Denmark

Father: Larsen, Knud

Mother: Ørtner, Margrethe

Spouse: Andreasen, Laura

Spouse: Ortener, Karen Marie

Spouse: Sørensen, Anna Maria

Death date: 27 November 1908

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

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

John’s parents, Knud Larsen and Margrethe Ørtner, were married in Vor Fue parish in Odense City, Denmark on 19 May 1820. An older brother of John, Mathias Wilhelm Larsen, was christened in that same church on 21 October 1821.

John is recorded as being baptized on 19 September 1854 by Jorgen Jensen, as was his wife. He and his wife immigrated to America in 1856. Aboard ship, their only child died. John and his wife continued their journey after the ship docked in New York Harbor. They were among hundreds who pushed and pulled handcarts to Zion (see “Funeral of J. M. Larson,” Deseret Evening News, 28 November 1908).

While residing in Salt Lake City, Utah, John accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1874. He arrived in Copenhagen on 22 November 1874 and was assigned to labor in the Copenhagen Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 8 September 1876 aboard the steamer Cameo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 220, 225).

John died in 1908 in Salt Lake City at age eighty-six after suffering from poor health for many years. His funeral was held in the Salt Lake Eleventh Ward meetinghouse (see “Funeral of J. M. Larson,” Deseret Evening News, 28 November 1908).

Lars Larsen

1838–1901

Residence: Brigham City, Box Elder Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 7 November 1883

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 20 August 1885

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 22 April 1838

< lang="DA">Birthplace:< lang="DA"> Mønge, Vejby, Frederiksborg, Denmark

Father: Hansen, Lars

Mother: Larsdatter, Laurine

Spouse: Jensen, Anna Margrethe

Marriage date: 7 March 1862

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

Death date: 21 March 1901

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

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

After joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1850s, Lars labored as a local missionary. During this service, he was arrested and brought to an inn where he was abused throughout the night. He was then taken to Malmö, where he was confined to prison for several days. After being released, he preached the gospel in the Hedemarken area, Norway. There he was arrested and taken to prison in Vang, Hedmark, Norway, where he was kept for eleven weeks awaiting trial. He was finally released on 28 July 1857. He was then assigned to labor in Vejle, Denmark. Once again, he was arrested and imprisoned for preaching the gospel. This time he spent five days in jail (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 103, 126, 144).

In 1859, Lars left Scandinavia and immigrated to America. He crossed the plains in George Rowley’s ox team company (see Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 14:323).

Six years later, in 1865, he returned to Scandinavia to serve as president of the Vendsyssel (Hjørring County), Denmark Conference. Another mission call came in 1883. He arrived in Copenhagen on 7 November 1883 and was assigned to labor in the Copenhagen Conference. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 20 August 1885 aboard the steamer Cato with ninety-three emigrating Latter-day Saints and four missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 291, 492).

He returned to Brigham City, Box Elder County, where he is played in the local brass band (see Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 20:83). He was a carpenter and farmer by trade. He died in Brigham City on 21 March 1901 at age sixty-two. He left a wife and nine children.

Lars Kervin Larsen

(Lars Larsen)

1847–1929

Residence: Hyrum, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 4 May 1880

Missionary labors: Christiania Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 16 June 1882

Name of departure ship: Albano

Birth date: 5 November 1847

Birthplace: Kjørven, Jevnaker, Oppland, Norway

Father: Nielsen, Lars

Mother: Christiansdatter, Ann

Spouse: Petersen, Josephine Margarethe (Margaret) Hansine

Marriage date: 10 May 1870

Marriage place: Hyrum, Cache Co., Utah

Death date: 24 March 1929

Death place: Hyrum, Cache Co., Utah

Burial place: Hyrum, Cache Co., Utah

Lars was introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when his father and sister, Karen, joined in 1860. He was baptized on 2 September 1866. He accepted a local mission call and served for two years before immigrating to America aboard the John Bright. He arrived in the New York Harbor on 13 July 1868 and then traveled by train to Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska. From there, he journeyed with Horton D. Haight’s pioneer company to reach the Salt Lake Valley (see Larsen, “Journal of Lars K. Larsen,” 1).

Lars settled in Hyrum, Cache County, Utah, with his married sister. After his own marriage, he remained in Hyrum. He is remembered to have operated a large raspberry patch and a field of cultivated vegetables. He also owned dairy cows. It was his practice while milking cows to give sermons, as if speaking in church. The neighbors claimed they could hear him a block away (see Larsen, “Journal of Lars K. Larsen,” 2).

Lars accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1880. He arrived in Copenhagen on 4 May 1880 and was assigned to labor in the Christiania Conference. He converted many relatives on this mission. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 16 June 1882 aboard the steamer Albano with 14 returning missionaries and 573 emigrating Latter-day Saints (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 250, 265).

Lars accepted a second mission call to Scandinavia in 1904. On 20 December 1904, he arrived in Copenhagen and was appointed to labor in the Christiania Conference (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 265, 404–5).

After completing this mission, he again returned to the States. At that time, near neighbors described him as being six feet four inches in height and very slim. He died in his sleep of pernicious anemia in 1929 at his home in Hyrum at age eighty-one (see Larsen, “Journal of Lars K. Larsen,” 2).

Niels Christian Poulsen Larsen

(Niels Christian Paulsen)

1843–1888

Residence: Manti, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 30 September 1879

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 5 July 1880

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 18 January 1843

< lang="DA">Birthplace:< lang="DA"> Samsig, Gerum, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Larsen, Paul Christian

Mother: Jensdatter, Else Maria

Spouse: Lund, Christina Christensen

Marriage date: 30 March 1869

Marriage place: Manti, Sanpete Co., Utah

Spouse: Anderson, Jensini

Death date: 24 February 1888

Death place: Manti, Sanpete Co., Utah

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

Niels was baptized on 1 January 1862 and endowed on 30 March 1869 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. While a resident of Manti, Sanpete County, Utah, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1879. He left Manti on 4 September 1879 and traveled by train to New York. In New York Harbor, he boarded the steamer Montana bound for Liverpool. After arriving in Liverpool, he traveled by train to Hull, England, and from there to Copenhagen. He finally arrived in Copenhagen on 30 September 1879, where he was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference (see Larsen, “My Journey to Denmark,” 1; Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 238–39, 244).

His first afternoon in Ålborg was spent visiting families in Nørre Sundby, who “were very happy to see [me].” He also visited “a few of my friends from my youth” and his brother Lars who talked “about the gospel’s first principles which kept [his] interest” (Larsen, “My Journey to Denmark,” 1–2).

Niels, traveled from town to town on this mission. When speaking of Latter-day Saint meetings, he wrote, “Not many were present but they were good people.” Throughout his missionary journal, he often recorded writing letters to his wife and “his joy at receiving any news from home.” Most everywhere he traveled, he was well received but occasionally he penned of being “received with contempt” (Larsen, “My Journey to Denmark,” 6).

While attending Lutheran meetings, he heard three ministers preach and “one of them talked about the creation and said that man came from two oaks and then drank an intoxicating drink, and that is how the fall came about.” When he had occasion to listen to fellow missionaries, he penned, “Excellent sermons were given” (Larsen, “My Journey to Denmark,” 15).

Niels was arrested by a police officer near Hvidbjerg, Thisted County. He had his books taken from him and all his belongings before being put in a cell. After four nights of confinement, he was released. Toward the end of his mission, he received word that his wife had died. He was released early to return to Utah and care for his bereaved children. After one last visit with extended family members in Denmark, John began his journey home (see Larsen, “My Journey to Denmark,” 18).

A poem in his diary reveals his feelings:

Soon, across the broad waves of the ocean,

You shall go away, on your way home to your beloved little ones.

Your sorrow will be hard to bear

When you gather your family around you, and she is missing,

The one you left just one year ago in a lonely valley

In order to bring us the beautiful message of peace.

Please receive my thanks, because I know for us that every word you spoke to me was pure and true,

You Honorable Man of Zion!

May the Lord look down and bless your life forever! (Larsen, “My Journey to Denmark,” 22)

He boarded the steamer Prior bound for Copenhagen and departed from Copenhagen on 5 July 1880 aboard the steamer Cato with 346 emigrating Latter-day Saints and other returning missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 244). After reaching Hull, England, he went by train to Liverpool, where he boarded the Wisconsin. Aboard ship he reported, “Sometimes I didn’t sleep too well when I dreamed about my home and saw my child and my father crying, that made me feel so bad” (Larsen, “My Journey to Denmark,” 20).

On 31 July 1880, he penned, “I was home in Manti with my beloved children and my old parents” (Larsen, “My Journey to Denmark,” 21). Niels died in 1888 in Manti at age forty-five.

Niels Peter Larsen

1827–1911

Residence: Pleasant Grove, Utah Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 20 July 1891

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 12 May 1892

Birth date: 20 April 1827

Birthplace: Vejby, Hjørring, Denmark

Father: Nielsen, Lars Christian

Mother: Nielsdatter, Mette

Spouse: Svendsen, Karen Kirstine

Marriage date: 13 April 1855

Marriage place: Vejby, Hjørring, Denmark

Spouse: Svendson, Christine Wilhelmine

Spouse: Jensen, Anne Eskerhoi

Spouse: Kjeldsen, Karen Margretta

Death date: 20 November 1911

Death place: Pleasant Grove, Utah Co., Utah

Burial place: Pleasant Grove, Utah Co., Utah

Niels served the Danish army in the war against Germany in 1848. He was baptized on 17 October 1856 by L. C. Girtsen. He emigrated from Denmark to America two years later. Four years after his arrival in Utah, he received his endowment in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City on 28 March 1863 (see Jenson, LDS Church Chronology, 20 November 1911). From 1862 to 1865, Niels spent time in Sanpete County helping to protect the settlers of that district from the Indians (see “Utah Pioneer Dies at Pleasant Grove,” Provo Herald, November 23, 1911). The 1870 U.S. Census lists Niels’s occupation as a farmer.

While residing in Pleasant Grove, Utah County, Niels accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1891. He arrived in Copenhagen on 20 July 1891 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference and to extract genealogical information. After completing both assignments, he departed from Copenhagen on 12 May 1892 with sixty-four emigrating Latter-day Saints (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 319, 321, 325)

Niels died in 1911 in Pleasant Grove at age eighty-four. He was survived by five daughters and one son (see “Utah Pioneer Dies at Pleasant Grove,” Provo Herald, 23 November 1911).

Nils Larsen

1830–1893

Residence: Montpelier, Bear Lake Co., Idaho

Departure date from Copenhagen: 19 October 1883

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 30 March 1830

Birthplace: Tjæreby, Idestrup, Maribo, Denmark

Father: Andersen, Lars

Mother: Svendsdatter, Birthe

Spouse: Hovinghoff, Wilhelmine

Marriage date: 7 June 1863

Marriage place: aboard BS Kimball

< lang="FR">Spouse:< lang="FR"> Sorensen, Maren (Marie)

< lang="FR"> Marriage date: Abt 1863

Spouse: Nielsen, Karen Marie

Marriage date: 13 December 1883

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

Death date: 30 August 1893

Death place: Colonia Dublán, Galeana, Chihuahua, Mexico

< lang="ES">Burial place:< lang="ES"> Colonia Dublán, Galeana, Chihuahua, Mexico

< lang="ES">

Nils was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 7 May 1857 in Denmark. He immigrated to America aboard the Kimball in 1863. He settled in Salt Lake City, where he received his endowment on 12 October 1869 in the Endowment House (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 270, 273, 275).

In the early 1880s, Nils accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 19 October 1883 aboard the steamer Milo. Aboard ship he served as a cook (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 270, 273, 275). He died in 1893 in Colonia Dublán, Galeana, Chihuahua, Mexico, at age sixty-three.

Oluf Christian Larsen

1836–1929

Residence: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 16 May 1881

Missionary labors: Christiania Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 6 April 1883

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 8 April 1836

< lang="DA">Birthplace:< lang="DA"> Lille Landfaldege, Bragernæs-Drammen, Buskerud, Norway

Father: Olsen, Lars

Mother: Olsdatter, Marie

Spouse: Olsen, Emelia Christine

Marriage date: 20 April 1862

Marriage place: Elbe River (aboard ship)

Spouse: Peterson, Annie Marie

Marriage date: 23 December 1863

Marriage place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Spouse: Anderson, Amelia

Marriage date: May 1874

Spouse: Christensen (Larson), Hannah (Johanna)

Marriage date: 16 July 1884

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

Death date: 11 November 1929

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

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

By age six, Oluf was working in a tobacco factory. In the factory, his arm was crushed between the cogs in a machine. A local doctor patched him up, but his arm was never totally repaired (see Larsen, “A Biographical Sketch of the Life of Oluf Christian Larsen: Dictated by Oluf Christian Larsen,” 2).

He was introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1854. “The Mormons were so unpopular that I played Nicodemus by visiting the elders when I could sneak away from my friends. The elders were thrown into prison several times but this increased the interest of the people and their sympathy for the elders,” wrote Oluf (Larsen, “Autobiography of Oluf Christian Larsen (1836–1916),” 12).

Oluf was baptized on 6 April 1857 about midnight, much to the distress of his parents, who attempted to prevent his baptism. He recalled hearing in the voice of an unruly crowd his mother saying, “Oh, if I could only get hold of him” (Larsen, “A Biographical Sketch of the Life of Oluf Christian Larsen: Dictated by Oluf Christian Larsen,” 14).

He was ordained a deacon on 20 September 1857 and a priest on 21 March 1858. “I felt it my duty to testify to everybody I came in contact with,” said Oluf. “They mocked and reviled me.” After laboring as a local missionary in Norway, he was imprisoned for preaching and forced to live on bread and water and then fined. In spite of the hardships, he wrote, “I rejoiced at the privilege of suffering in prison for the gospel’s sake” (Larsen, “A Biographical Sketch of the Life of Oluf Christian Larsen: Dictated by Oluf Christian Larsen,” 14–15).

After his mission, he enlisted in the army. “This was hailed with joy and satisfaction by my parents, the priest, and my friends outside the church, thinking it would be impossible for me to withstand the ungodly influence that would beset me in the army,” he penned. However, Oluf found it possible to continue an attachment with the military and also to serve a local mission in Drammen before being appointed president over the Fredrickstad and Fredrickhald’s districts, Østfold County, Norway (see Larsen, “A Biographical Sketch of the Life of Oluf Christian Larsen: Dictated by Oluf Christian Larsen,” 19).

He was blessed with not only leadership abilities but also musical talents. For example, he wrote a song at the death of King Oscar I. It appears his song was “undoubtedly the first in print about His Honor’s demise.” He is credited with organizing the first Mormon choir in Norway in 1859. Although he enjoyed much success and happiness in Norway, he desired to emigrate. He wrote that “every avenue to get money was closed against me” until April 1862. He then departed from Scandinavia with emotions that were “mingled with joy and sorrow.” After arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on 29 September 1862, he wrote, “Coming down through Emigration Canyon we found teams camping all the way inquiring for friends and relatives” (see Larsen, “Autobiography of Oluf Christian Larsen (1836–1916),” 25, 33, 37).

He and his wife lived with H. O. Magleby in the Salt Lake Valley for a brief time. Oluf worked in his carpenter’s shop. They moved to Springtown, Sanpete County, and later to Ephraim, Sanpete County, before settling in Circleville, Piute County. At each of these locations, Oluf used his carpentry skills to earn a livelihood to support his family. He built dams and dug canals to supplement the family income. With the coming of the railroad, he wrote, “Merchandise now was reasonably cheap because of railroad transportation and grain was a better price.” Gaining employment with the telegraph lines in 1871 greatly enhanced his economic base. “It seemed that the blessings of the Lord followed us from this time and we were more prosperous,” he wrote (Larsen, “Autobiography of Oluf Christian Larsen (1836–1916),” 54–55).

In 1881, Oluf accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. “The people of Ephraim were very kind to me. They gathered up a nice little sum of money and with what I could scrape together I had plenty to take me to my mission field,” he penned. He crossed the Atlantic aboard the Wyoming and arrived in Copenhagen on 16 May 1881. He was assigned to labor in the Christiania Conference. “I now felt perfectly at home, because of my previous missionary work, ready and prepared to do what was required of me,” he said. On this mission, he saw his mother. “A great change had taken place with her, especially intellectually,” he penned. He labored in the Bergen and Hedemarken branches (see Larsen, “Autobiography of Oluf Christian Larsen (1836–1916),” 55–57).

During the mission, Oluf was imprisoned for five days in Drammen. He settled the problem by paying a fine of ten speciedaler. He wrote, “I never idled my time away” (Larsen, “Autobiography of Oluf Christian Larson (1836–1916),” 65). He departed from Copenhagen with 103 emigrating Latter-day Saints and several missionaries aboard the steamer Cato in 1883 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 138, 269).

He returned to Ephraim and reunited with his family. He was nearly “overcome by the kindness of the [local] people [for] no debt had accumulated during my absence,” he wrote (Larsen, “Autobiography of Oluf Christian Larsen (1836–1916),” 66).

He was arrested in 1888. This time it was not for preaching but for cohabitation. He pled guilty and was sentenced to six months in the Utah penitentiary. “I little dreamed that I would be imprisoned in this glorious republic of America by obeying and practicing the religious doctrine of my church. . . . If I didn’t know there is a righteous God over-ruling everything for the good of those who love Him, I could be tempted to curse [the] nation” (Larsen, “Autobiography of Oluf Christian Larsen (1836–1916),” 69–70).

After being released from prison, he moved to Salt Lake City. Oluf died in 1929 at his home in Salt Lake City at age ninety-three (see Larsen, “Autobiography of Oluf Christian Larsen (1836–1916),” 70–75).

Rasmus Larsen

(Rasmus Hansen Christensen)

1839–1928

Residence: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 8 November 1887

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 12 September 1889

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 9 November 1839

Birthplace: Sveltekrogen, Longelse, Svendborg, Denmark

Father: Larsen, Christen

Mother: Hansen, Dorthea

Spouse: Petersen, Mary Christina

Marriage date: about 1865

Death date: 6 December 1928

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

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

Rasmus immigrated to Utah in 1865 and settled in Logan, Cache County, where he worked as a cooper. While residing in Logan, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1887. He arrived in Copenhagen on 8 November 1887 and was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 12 September 1889 aboard the steamer Milo as the leader of the forty-two emigrating Latter-day Saints. After reaching Hull, England, Rasmus traveled by train to Liverpool (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 310).

On 21 September 1889, he boarded the steamer Wyoming in the Liverpool harbor. Aboard this vessel, he served as the leader of 133 Scandinavian, Swiss, and German Saints and nine returning missionaries. The Wyoming arrived in New York Harbor on 2 October 1889 (see Jenson, LDS Church Chronology, 21 September 1889).

Rasmus had returned to Utah by 10 October 1889. From 1891 to 1892, he was an officiator in the Logan Temple. In the fall of 1892, he moved to Mexico, where he remained until 1912. He died at the home of his son Joseph W. Larsen in Salt Lake City at age eighty-nine. Funeral services were held in the Salt Lake Ninth Ward chapel (see “Cooper Larsen Dead,” Logan Journal, 8 December 1928).

Rasmus Mogensen Larsen

(Rasmus Mogensen)

1848–1919

Residence: Basalt, Bingham Co., Idaho

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 30 June 1894

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 8 November 1894

Name of departure ship: Rona

Birth date: 25 September 1848

Birthplace: Holme, Holme, Århus, Denmark

Father: Laursen, Mogens

Mother: Mathiasdatter, Karen Marie

Spouse: Madsen, Christine Marie

Marriage date: 24 September 1870

Marriage place: Skanderup, Skanderborg, Denmark

Death date: 16 August 1919

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

Burial place: Honeyville, Box Elder Co., Utah

Rasmus was baptized in Århus, Århus County, Denmark on 20 February 1881. Accompanied by his wife and family, he immigrated to Brigham City, Box Elder County, Utah, in 1884. Some years later, they moved to Fielding, Box Elder County, and then Malad City, Oneida County, Idaho (see “Two Pioneers Died after a Short Illness,” Box Elder Journal, 18 August 1919).

While a resident of Basalt, Bingham County, Idaho, Rasmus accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1894. He arrived in Copenhagen on 30 June 1894 and was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. After completing an honorable mission, Rasmus departed from Copenhagen on 8 November 1894 aboard the steamer Rona with eight emigrating Latter-day Saints (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 337, 339–40).

After this mission, he settled again in Brigham City, where he was known as a hardworking shoemaker and was respected by all. He died at his residence from liver trouble and dropsy at age seventy-one, after having been confined to bed for four months. His funeral services were held in the Brigham City Second Ward chapel. He was survived by a wife, six sons and one daughter (see “Two Pioneers Died after a Short Illness,” Box Elder Journal, 18 August 1919).

Andrew Larson

(Anders Larsson)

1830–1886

Residence: Washington, Washington Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 1 September 1881

Missionary labors: Skåne Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 16 June 1882

Name of departure ship: Albano (Bravo)

Birth date: 22 May 1830

Birthplace: #14 Westesvång, Sankt Petri-Malmö, Malmöhus, Sweden

Father: Pehrsson, Lars

Mother: Larsdotter, Hanna

Spouse: Jönsson (Ulstrom), Anna Christina

Marriage date: about 1852

Marriage place: Sweden

Death date: 29 September 1886

Death place: Washington, Washington Co., Utah

Burial place: Washington City Cemetery, Washington, Washington Co., Utah

Andrew was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 20 May 1854. He came to America with his wife and two children that same year. He settled temporarily in Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska, to earn money for the journey to the Salt Lake Valley. He and his wife eventually arrived in the valley on 17 September 1860. They settled at Fort Ephraim for one year before moving to Washington, Washington County, in December 1861 (see Washington Ward Records FHL Film #27435). He was ordained a high priest on 1 May 1877.

While a resident of Washington, Andrew accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1881. He arrived in Copenhagen on 1 September 1881 and was assigned to labor in the Skåne Conference. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 16 June 1882 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 262–63, 265).

Andrew returned to Washington and resumed farming. He died in 1886 in Washington at age fifty-six.

John Larson

(Johan Larsson)

1848–1929

Residence: Gunnison, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 27 November 1877

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 1 September 1879

Name of departure ship: Aurora

Birth date: 27 August 1848

Birthplace: Kumlaby, Norrby, Västmanland, Sweden

Father: Andersson, Lars

Mother: Larsdotter, Cajsa (Katrina)

Spouse: Erickson, Anna

Marriage date: 29 May 1871

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

Spouse: Wangelin, Laura Gardell Larsen

Marriage date: 23 June 1923

Death date: 29 December 1929

Death place: Gunnison, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Gunnison, Sanpete Co., Utah

At age 18, John was baptized on 23 February 1866 by Swen J. Larson. He was ordained a teacher on 4 June 1867 and a priest on 27 May 1868. He served a local mission and helped convert his father’s family in 1868 (see “History of John Larson,” 1).

John and his family immigrated to America in 1869 and settled in Gunnison, Sanpete County, Utah. After living in Fort Gunnison for a season, John built a home for his extended family on the north bank of the San Pitch River. To adorn the home, he built furniture—spinning wheels, wood cards, and looms (see History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah, 460). He supported his family by manufacturing shingles and lumber in Twelve Mile Canyon. Later he engaged in a mercantile business and was a stockholder in a local co-op store. He was also a landowner in North Mayfield, Sanpete County. Due to his many holdings in the locale, it was easy for him to volunteer for sentry duty during Indian troubles (see “History of John Larson,” 1).

In 1877, John accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 27 November 1877 and was assigned to labor as a traveling elder in the Stockholm Conference before becoming president of that conference (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 231). According to his biographer, “In missionary work he was very successful and was the means of converting and bringing to Gunnison many splendid families” (“History of John Larson,” 1–2). He began his journey back to the States aboard the steamer Aurora with 103 emigrating Latter-day Saints. Twenty-four of the Saints from Stockholm were under his leadership (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 240–41).

After returning to Gunnison, John did carpentry work on the local Relief Society hall. He served as secretary of the Gunnison Irrigation Company before becoming company president from 1903 to 1907. He was also the owner and president of the Highland Canal Company. He served as justice of the peace for four years and as president of the Gunnison city council (see “History of John Larson,” 2).

Ecclesiastically, he served as superintendent of the local Sunday School from 1892 to 1916 and as a counselor in the bishopric from 1892 to 1902. He was ordained a patriarch on 5 May 1918 by Hyrum G. Smith. After losing his health, he retired in 1923. John died in 1929 in Gunnison at age eighty-one as a result of a dropsical condition. He was survived by his wife, one daughter, and two sons (see “Pioneer Resident Is Called to Rest,” Gunnison Valley News, 2 January 1930).

John Andrew Larson

1869–1937

Residence: Preston, Franklin Co., Idaho

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 15 March 1892

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 3 May 1894

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 14 September 1869

Birthplace: Logan, Cache, Utah

Father: Larsen, Johannes

Mother: Jensen, Anna (Annie)

Spouse: Allen, Maria (Myra) Elinor

Marriage date: 4 December 1895

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

Death date: 22 January 1937

Death place: Preston, Franklin Co., Idaho

Burial place: Preston City Cemetery, Preston, Franklin Co., Idaho

John’s parents were converted to the gospel in Scandinavia and came to Utah in 1861. He grew up helping his father on the family farm near Logan, Cache County, and clearing sagebrush from the family land in Preston, Franklin County, Idaho. The family moved to Preston in 1884 to raise cattle and horses when John was fourteen years old (see Larson, “A Short Sketch of the Life of John Andrew Larson,” 1).

John was still residing in Preston when he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1892. To prepare for the mission, he was endowed on 10 February 1892 in the Logan Temple (see FamilySearch). He arrived in Copenhagen on 15 March 1892 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 3 May 1894 aboard the steamer Milo with twenty-four emigrating Latter-day Saints and other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 327, 329, 337).

He returned to Preston and purchased a farm. It was not long before he enlarged his farm. This led many in Preston to conclude that John was very progressive. He raised a variety of oats that won first place at the state fair. He prized the gold medal he won for his crops. He also took much delight in owning fine horses and serving on the Preston Whitney Canal Board. His biographer said of him, “[He] was always ready to help build chapels for the welfare of the community” (Larson, “A Short Sketch of the Life of John Andrew Larson,” 1)

John suffered from a heart attack and from shortness of breath thereafter. It was an attack of influenza which led to his death in 1937 at his home in Preston at age sixty-seven (see Larson, “A Short Sketch of the Life of John Andrew Larson,” 1).

John Nils Larson

(Johan Nilsson)

1828–1898

Residence: Moroni, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 27 November 1875

Missionary labors: Skåne Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 8 September 1876

Name of departure ship: Cameo

Birth date: 21 July 1828

Birthplace: Djurhus, Slimminge, Malmöhus, Sweden

Father: Larsson, Nils

Mother: Hansdotter, Karna

Spouse: Anderson, Elsa

Marriage date: 22 June 1856

Marriage place: Keokuk, Lee, Iowa

Spouse: Larson, Kjersti (Christena) Yorgensen or Jorgason

Marriage date: 15 September 1869

Marriage place: Moroni, Sanpete Co., Utah

Death date: 9 November 1898

Death place: Moroni, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Moroni, Sanpete Co., Utah

In his youth, John was conscripted into the Swedish army. During his military service, he delivered government mail to sparsely settled areas of the country. After his military stint, he became a carpenter (see Cooper, “Biographical Facts for John Nils Larsson,” 1).

John was baptized on 22 March 1853 a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by C. Capson. Following his baptism, he served as a local missionary. By 1854, he was betrothed to Elsa Anderson. They immigrated to America with other converts. After arriving in New York, John took a carpentry job to acquire necessary means for him and Elsa to continue their travels to Zion. By 1856, they had arrived in Iowa, where they married before crossing the plains with an ox team company. They entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1857 (see Cooper, “Biographical Facts for John Nils Larsson,” 1).

For a time, the young couple resided in Cottonwood, Salt Lake County, before moving to Spanish Fork, Utah County. By 1859, they had accepted a settling assignment to Sanpete County. On 5 June 1861, John received a certificate of naturalization, announcing his United States citizenship (see Cooper, “Biographical Facts for John Nils Larsson,” 1). That same year, he was endowed on 23 November 1861 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.

Although so much seemed to be going right for John, it was not long before the Black Hawk War required his military service. He willingly protected settlers in Sanpete County.

After the threat of war passed, he joined with Scandinavian friends to form a mercantile business called the Moroni Co-operative Mercantile Institution (see Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 12:174). Six years later, he became an elders quorum president. On 9 October 1875, he was ordained a seventy by Orson Pratt (see Cooper, “Biographical Facts for John Nils Larsson,” 1).

This ordination preceded his mission call to Scandinavia in 1875. He arrived in Copenhagen on 27 November 1875 and was assigned to labor in the Skåne Conference. During this mission, he gathered much genealogical information (see “Biographical Sketch of John N. Larson,” 1). After completing the mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 8 September 1876 aboard the steamer Cameo with 150 emigrating Latter-day Saints and other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 225).

After returning to Utah, John again took up carpentry, farming, and sheepherding. He owned many sheep in the cooperative public herd (see Larson, “History of John N. Larson,” 2). He served on the board of directors of the Moroni Co-operative Merchandise store (see Cooper, “Biographical Facts for John Nils Larsson,” 1). When time permitted, he donated his carpentry skills to build the Manti and St. George temples.

John died in 1898 in his home at Moroni, Sanpete County, at age seventy. The physician who examined him shortly before his death stated that he had no disease but was simply “worn out” (Cooper, “Biographical Facts for John Nils Larsson,” 1). His biographer wrote that “his hair remained almost black and he still possessed all his natural teeth” at the time of his death (Larson, “History of John N. Larson,” 2).

Lars Erik Larson

1842–1924

Residence: Richmond, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 30 April 1889

Missionary labors: Göteborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 2 April 1891

Name of departure ship: Volo

Birth date: 22 February 1842

Birthplace: Botten Östergård, Julita, Södermanland, Sweden

Father: Larson, Lars

Mother: Axelsdotter, Anna Stina

Spouse: Gustafson, Bertha Sophia

Marriage date: 16 April 1871

Marriage place: Julita, Södermanland, Sweden

Spouse: Holm, Cecilia Par

Marriage date: 8 June 1904

Spouse: Sanders, Othelia

Marriage date: 1921

Death date: 30 June 1924

Death place: Richmond, Cache Co., Utah

Burial place: Richmond, Cache Co., Utah

Lars emigrated from Sweden to America in 1881. He had settled in Logan, Cache County, Utah, by 10 June 1881. By the late 1880s, he was residing in Richmond, Cache County (see “L. E. Larsen,” Deseret News, 2 July 1924).

While in that community, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1889. He arrived in Copenhagen on 30 April 1889 and was assigned to labor in the Göteborg Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 2 April 1891 aboard the steamer Volo with forty-three emigrating Latter-day Saints and other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 318).

He returned to the States and continued his residency in Utah. He was confined to his bed for the last eight months of his life. He died in 1924 at his home in Richmond from ailments incident to age (see “L. E. Larsen,” Deseret News, 2 July 1924). He was eighty-two years old.

Lars Niels Larson

(Lars Nilsson)

1826–92

Residence: Moroni, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 6 November 1880

Missionary labors: Skåne Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 13 October 1882

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 8 June 1826

Birthplace: Brodda, Slimminge, Malmöhus, Sweden

Father: Larsson, Nils

Mother: Hansdotter, Karna

Spouse:Joransson, Botilda (Matilda)

Marriage date: 24 July 1856

Marriage place: Iowa

Spouse: Joransson (Jorgansen), Pernella

Marriage date: 23 October 1859

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

Spouse: Joransson (Jorgansen), Johannah

Marriage date: 23 October 1859

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

Death date: 8 May 1892

Death place: Moroni, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Moroni, Sanpete Co., Utah

Lars was the first of his family to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was baptized on 22 April 1852. He served as a local missionary in Sweden. He was instrumental in converting his family before being cast into prison for three weeks for preaching. After his release, he often went hungry “because he knew the Saints often times would give to the missionaries and go without themselves” (Anderson, “Some of the Incidents of My Father’s Life—History of Lars N. Larson,” 1).

He journeyed from Sweden to America in 1854 with his parents. Coming up the Mississippi River, his father died. His mother died in Alton, Madison County, Illinois. Lars stayed in Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa, for three years to earn enough money to continue his journey to the Salt Lake Valley. In Iowa, he married his first wife. Unfortunately, she passed away a year later. He continued his journey to the Salt Lake Valley in 1857. On the journey, he had no money and was unable to communicate because he could not understand the English language (see Anderson, “Some of the Incidents of My Father’s Life—History of Lars N. Larson,” 1).

He settled in Moroni, Sanpete County. While residing in that community, family members recalled that

He had faith in the God that he worshiped

And the Prophets of these latter days,

He answered the call “Come to Zion”

To the Lord’s house on the top of the mountain

In the choice land of the free and the brave.

Lars accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1880. He was called at night to accept the mission assignment, and the next morning he left to serve. As a result of his quick response, he was called the “Minute man” (Anderson, “Some of the Incidents of My Father’s Life—History of Lars N. Larson,” 1).

He arrived in Copenhagen on 6 November 1880 and was assigned to labor in the Skåne Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 13 October 1882 aboard the steamer Cato. Aboard ship, Lars assisted Peter O. Hansen as a leader of the 108 emigrating Latter-day Saints (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 250, 252, 257, 266).

After returning from the mission, he worked as a logger in the canyons to get needed wood to build meetinghouses and other public buildings. He also ran a butcher shop until his health failed (see Anderson, “Some of the Incidents of My Father’s Life—History of Lars N. Larson,” 1). Lars died in 1892 in Moroni at age sixty-five.

John Lawrence

(Johan Petter Larsson)

1853–1934

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

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 1 May 1891

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 30 March 1893

Birth date: 6 September 1853

Birthplace: Ärentuna, Uppsala, Sweden

Father: Persson, Lars

Mother: Pehrsdotter, Anna Lisa

Spouse: Lindqvist, Emma Louisa

Marriage date: 25 August 1873

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

Death date: 23 June 1934

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

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

John was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 26 July 1869 by G. O. Jensen. Two years later, at age nineteen, he immigrated to the United States. He settled in Provo, Utah County, Utah, where he operated a lumber mill for ten years. He then moved to Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah.

John was a resident of Salt Lake City when he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1891. He arrived in Copenhagen on 1 May 1891 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 30 March 1893 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 319, 321, 333).

Soon after returning to Salt Lake City, John was selected as the president of the Scandinavian meetings held in that city (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:379).

John worked in the City and County Building and then served as an engineer at the Presiding Bishop’s office for twenty years. He then became the Salt Lake Temple engineer.

On the morning of 23 June 1934, he was attempting to trace the cause of a motor failure in the Salt Lake Temple. A test bulb exploded in his hands, and he was severely burned. He was given first aid treatment and was advised to go to the hospital for further treatment. On his way to change his clothes, he collapsed. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. Funeral services were held in the LeGrand Ward chapel (see “Engineer at Temple Dies,” Deseret News, 23 June 1934).

Harold Fridtjoff Liljenquist

1857–1936

Residence: Hyrum, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 28 September 1890

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 18 August 1892

Name of departure ship: Wilson

Birth date: 19 January 1857

Birthplace: Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Father: Liljenquist, Ola Nilsson

Mother: Jacobsdatter, Anna Christine Hansen

Spouse: Rasmussen, Laurine

Marriage date: 1 January 1876

Marriage place: Hyrum, Cache Co., Utah

Death date: 14 January 1936

Death place: Hyrum, Cache Co., Utah

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

Ola N. Liljenquist, Harold’s father, was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 4 September 1852 by John E. Forsgren. Because of their strong belief in their new faith, Harold’s parents probably didn’t register Ola’s birth with the Lutheran Church authorities.

Harold began emigrating with his parents from Copenhagen to America on 13 April 1857. In Liverpool he boarded the Westmoreland with a company of 554 Latter-day Saints, mostly Scandinavians. They arrived at Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, on 31 May 1857. They traveled by train to Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa. They departed from Iowa in the wagon company of Mathais Cowley. At that time, Harold was only six months old. The wagon company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 13 September 1857 (see “Sketch of the Life of Harold F. Liljenquist, My Grandfather,” 12).

He and his family first settled in Spanish Fork, Utah County. By 1859, they were residing in Goshen, Utah County. By the fall of 1862, the family had moved to Hyrum, Cache County. In this community, Harold attended school and was baptized in June 1865 by Andrew A. Allen Sr. (see “Sketch of the Life of Harold F. Liljenquist, My Grandfather,” 13).

As a boy, he learned to sort lumber and keep accounts of the lumber at the Church ranch in Blacksmith Fort Canyon. As he grew to manhood, he was ordained a seventy on 7 January 1889. He served a home mission in the Cache Stake beginning on 4 November 1889. He was released from the home mission upon receiving a mission call to Scandinavia in 1890 from Wilford Woodruff. He temporarily left his wife and five children to fulfill the mission (see “Sketch of the Life of Harold F. Liljenquist, My Grandfather,” 16).

He arrived in Copenhagen on 28 September 1890 and was assigned to labor in the Copenhagen Conference. He served in the North Sjælland and Copenhagen branches. He also served as a traveling missionary in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark (see “Sketch of the Life of Harold F. Liljenquist, My Grandfather,” 16).

On this mission, he baptized thirty-two persons and confirmed twenty. From 1891 to 1892, he was president of the Copenhagen Conference. After completing the mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 18 August 1892 aboard the steamer Wilson. He was one of two elders—the other being Nils Borgeson—in charge of forty-nine emigrating Latter-day Saints bound for Hull, England (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 326, 495). From Hull, he traveled by train to Liverpool, where he was assigned to care for ninety-seven emigrating Scandinavian Saints aboard the Wyoming (see “Sketch of the Life of Harold F. Liljenquist, My Grandfather,” 16–17).

When the Wyoming arrived in New York Harbor, the ship was quarantined for 12l days as four of the passengers had contracted cholera. During those days, Harold became known as the “Mormon Interpreter.” When the quarantine ended, he traveled by train to Salt Lake City, arriving on 27 September 1892. He returned to Hyrum, Cache County, Utah, after an absence of twenty-five months (see “Sketch of the Life of Harold F. Liljenquist, My Grandfather,” 17).

Upon returning home, he was called to be president of the YMMIA, assistant superintendent, and then superintendent of the Sunday School in the Hyrum Ward. On 26 August 1901, he was ordained a high priest by Marriner W. Merrill. He served as bishop of the Hyrum First Ward from 1901 to 1913. He also served as county commissioner for one term, mayor of Hyrum for three terms, and a member of city council for seven terms. He served four terms as deputy county assessor and one term as the leader of the Silver Grey Brass Band in Cache Valley. He worked for the Amalgamated Sugar Company as a fieldman for twenty-two years (see “Sketch of the Life of Harold F. Liljenquist, My Grandfather,” 17–18). Harold died in 1936 in Hyrum at age seventy-eight.

Gustaf Lindahl

1867–1921

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

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 27 May 1892

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 5 April 1894

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 5 August 1867

Birthplace: Väddö, Stockholm, Sweden

Father: Lindahl, Anders

Mother: Jönsdotter, Greta Charlotte

Spouse: Lindberg, Hannah

Marriage date: 3 December 1896

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

Death date: 2 August 1921

Death place: Provo, Utah Co., Utah

Burial place: Provo, Utah Co., Utah

Gustaf immigrated to the United States on 17 October 1889, two years after he was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a resident of the Salt Lake Thirteenth Ward, Salt Lake County, Utah, when received a mission call to Scandinavia in 1892. He arrived in Copenhagen on 27 May 1892 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 5 April 1894 aboard the steamer Bravo with thirteen emigrating Latter-day Saints and other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 328–29, 336).

Upon returning from his mission, Gustaf married and eventually found his way to way to Mount Pleasant, Sanpete County, Utah (see Mount Pleasant South Ward Records FHL 0002056; 1900 U.S. Census, Mount Pleasant, Sanpete, Utah FHL 1241686, ED 129, 24). The 1900 U.S. Census lists his occupation as a mineral agent.

He was later moved to Provo, Utah County, Utah, where he died in the Utah State Mental Hospital on 2 August 1921. He was buried in the Provo Cemetery (see Provo Sexton Record 979.224 V2h, 1).

Niels Rasmussen Lindahl

(Nils Nilsson)

1837–1922

Residence: Union, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 6 November 1880

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 6 April 1883

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 18 May 1837

Birthplace: Svedala, Malmöhus, Sweden

Father: Rasmussen, Nils

Mother: Hansdotter, Bengta

Spouse: Larsson, Kersti

Marriage date: 1863

Marriage place: Sweden

Spouse: Olson, Gustava Johanson (Brax),

Marriage date: about 1904

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

Death date: 13 October 1922

Death place: Midvale, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Niels was the son of a rich peasant who died when he was eleven years old. His mother had difficulty raising the children after his death. Niels was not raised by his mother. He was raised at the expense of the government. In spite of these early hardships, he received a good education (Autobiography of Nils Rasmussen, 1837–1922; Morgenstjernen 4 (1885): 7–13; Bitton, Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies, 213).

On 16 September 1857, Niels was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Johan Holmstedt. He was ordained an elder on 18 March 1858. For four years, he labored as a local missionary in the Skåne Conference before immigrating to America. He crossed the ocean on the sailing vessel Athenia with the O. N. Liljenquist company. He crossed the plains with Captain Joseph Horne’s ox team company, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on 14 October 1862 (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 154).

He located in Moroni, Sanpete County, and later in Ephraim, Sanpete County. He accepted a call to settle in Circle Valley, Piute County, in 1865. Due to Indian problems in the area, he lost his property and returned to Moroni (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 154).

Niels was endowed on 30 January 1868 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. In that same year, he worked on the railroad in Weber Canyon. He then began a series of relocations including Santaquin, Utah County, and Union Ward, Salt Lake County, before returning to Moroni (see Autobiography of Nils Rasmussen, 1837–1922; Morgenstjernen 4 (1885): 7–13; Bitton, Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies, 213). He was ordained a seventy on 18 June 1876.

In 1880, while a resident of Union (now East Midvale), Salt Lake County, he received a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 6 November 1880 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. He served in the Örebro Branch and as president of the Stockholm Conference from 1882 to 1883. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 6 April 1883 aboard the steamer Cato as the leader of the sixty-first company of Latter-day Saints to leave Scandinavia. Aboard the steamer, he had responsibility for 103 emigrating Saints (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 269, 484).

Niels fulfilled a second mission to Sweden from 1894 to 1896. He arrived in Copenhagen on 18 February 1894 and was assigned to be president of the Stockholm Conference. On 2 April 1896 he departed from Copenhagen (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 338, 352, 484).

He returned to his home in Salt Lake County, where he died in 1922 at age eighty-five of pneumonia. He was a retired farmer. He was survived by his widow and two sons and one daughter (see “Niels R. Lindahl of East Midvale Dies,” Deseret News, 14 October 1922).

Jonas Eliason Lindberg

(Jonas Eliasson)

1833–1897

Residence: Tooele, Tooele Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 27 November 1877

Missionary labors: Göteborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 23 June 1879

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 7 June 1833

Birthplace: Tegen, Dalskog, Älvsborg, Sweden

Father: Andersson, Elias

Mother: Jakobsdotter, Elin

Spouse: Jacobsdotter, Maja (Mary)

Marriage date: 22 April 1862

Marriage place: Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany (at dock on board ship)

Spouse: Jonason, Anna

Marriage date: 17 August 1874

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

Death date: 1 January 1897

Death place: Tooele, Tooele Co., Utah

Burial place: Tooele, Tooele Co., Utah

Jonas was the tenth of eleven children. At age twenty-three, he and four of his siblings were baptized on 17 September 1856 by Charles Fayell. He served as a local missionary in Göteborg. During this mission, he was arrested and persecuted, passing through many hardships (see Clark, “Family History: Jonas E. Lindberg and Wives—Mary Jacobson and Anna Jonason,” 1).

After nearly six years of missionary work, Jonas immigrated to America in 1862. He paid for his emigration expenses by working as a shoemaker. He crossed the plains with his wife, whom he married on the journey. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 23 September 1862. A few months later, Jonas was endowed on 7 January 1863 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City (see Clark, “Family History: Jonas E. Lindberg and Wives—Mary Jacobson and Anna Jonason,” 2).

By 1863, he and his family had moved to Tooele and purchased property on Main Street. Next to their home, Jonas operated a shoe shop. He was reported to be a good worker and usually had all the work he could possibly do (see Lindberg, “Jonas E. Lindberg History,” 2).

That was until 1877 when he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 27 November 1877 and was assigned to labor in the Göteborg Conference. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 23 June 1879 aboard the steamer Cato with 331 emigrating Latter-day Saints and other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 230–31, 240, 261).

He returned to the States, where he once again worked at his trade. Unfortunately, his work was interrupted on 14 June 1886 when Jonas was arrested for unlawful cohabitation. According to family tradition, the judge told him that if he were “willing to abide by the law, we will let you go. Father arose in court and bore his testimony that he knew the principle to be true as it was in the days of the ancient prophets” (Lindberg, “Jonas E. Lindberg History,” 3). On 20 September 1886, he was sentenced by Judge Zane to eighteen months of imprisonment and a three-hundred-dollar fine. After serving this sentence, he was discharged from the penitentiary on 22 March 1887 (see Clark, “History of Jonas Eliason Lindberg and Wives—Mary Jacobson and Anna Jonason,” 3).

He returned to his home in Tooele, where he served as a president of the Forty-third Quorum of the Seventy. He also presided over the Scandinavian meetings in the community. “On his death bed, he pleaded with his children to continue his temple work and gave each of his children a father’s blessing” (Clark, “Family History: Jonas E. Lindberg and Wives—Mary Jacobson and Anna Jonason,” 3). Jonas died in 1897 in Tooele at age sixty-three.

Nils Lindelof

(Nils Pehrsson)

1830–1916

Residence: Plain City, Weber Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 28 May 1872

Missionary labors: Göteborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 27 August 1874

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 19 April 1830

Birthplace: Landskrona Stadsförsamling, Malmöhus, Sweden

Father: Olsson, Pehr

Mother: Nilsdotter, Ingrid

Spouse: Lindblad, Mathilda G.

Marriage date: 23 January 1892

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Death date: 8 June 1916

Death place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

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

Nils was baptized on 11 April 1854 in Copenhagen, Denmark, by C. Christensen. According to his biographer, “He became active in the interest of spreading the truth among his fellow man.” He labored as a local missionary for nearly seven years in the Skåne Conference before immigrating to America in 1861. He sailed from Liverpool to the United States aboard the Monarch of the Sea and arrived in New York Harbor on 19 June 1861. He journeyed to the Salt Lake Valley and settled in Ogden, Weber County, Utah. Two years later, he moved to Plain City, Weber County (see Diary of Nils Lindelof, 1873–1874; Bitton, Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies, 213).

It was in Plain City that he received a mission call to Scandinavia in 1872. He arrived in Copenhagen on 28 May 1872 and was assigned to preside over the Göteborg Conference (see Diary of Nils Lindelof, 1873–1874; Bitton, Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies, 213). After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 27 August 1874 aboard the steamer Cato with 214 emigrating Latter-day Saints. After the steamer arrived at Hull, England, Nils took a train to Liverpool, where he boarded the seafaring vessel Wyoming. During the Atlantic crossing, Nils assisted John C. Graham in caring for 123 emigrating Latter-day Saints (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 211, 220; An Enduring Legacy, 12:5).

Returning to Utah, Nils settled in Logan, Cache County. There he was ordained a high priest on 5 June 1884 by C. O. Card. When the Logan First Ward was divided, he was called on 5 June 1885 to be a counselor to Bishop Isaac Smith of the Logan Seventh Ward. Under his direction, a meetinghouse was erected in four months at the cost of six hundred dollars (see Diary of Nils Lindelof, 1873–1874; Bitton, Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies, 213).

Nils served a second mission to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 23 November 1886 and was assigned to labor in the Skåne and Göteborg conferences. For a time, he presided over the Göteborg Conference. On 27 September 1888, he sailed from Copenhagen to Hull, England, as the leader of 102 emigrating Latter-day Saints (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 299–300, 306).

He returned once again to Logan. Nils died in 1916 in that community at age eighty-six. His funeral services were held in the Logan Seventh Ward. It was said of him, “He died in full faith and fellowship in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (“Lindelof Funeral Held on Sunday,” Logan Journal, 13 June 1916).

Charles John Aaron Lindquist

1864–1934

Residence: Provo, Utah Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 4 May 1883

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 15 June 1885

Name of departure ship: Panther

Birth date: 24 July 1864

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

Father: Lindquist, Niels Aaron

Mother: Hoglund (Hagerlund), Josephine Caroline

Spouse: Ness, Amelia Kjerstine (Larson)

Marriage date: 16 August 1888

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Spouse: Theurer, Ada Christina

Marriage date: 12 May 1915

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

Death date: 4 December 1934

Death place: Ogden, Weber Co., Utah

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

Charles was born one year after his parents arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. In Logan, Cache County, Utah, he was apprenticed to his father to learn the trade of making furniture and caskets (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 274).

Charles received his endowment on 5 April 1883, just prior to serving a mission in Sweden. On that mission, he presided over the Eskilstuna, Södermanland County, Västmanland County and Dalarna (Kopparberg, Värmland, and Gävleborg counties) branches. Returning to Logan, he labored in the YMMIA before moving to Ogden, Weber County, on 12 January 1887 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 274).

In Ogden, Charles worked for the Stratford Company to support his family. By 1889, he had entered into the funeral directing business, having purchased the James Gale Undertaking Firm. He became president of the Lindquist Sons-Carlquist Company of Ogden and Salt Lake City. He was the first licensed embalmer in Utah (see correspondence from Shari H. Franke). He worked with George William Larkin and formed a partnership called Larkin-Lindquist in Salt Lake City. The city directory of 1890–91 announced that his company had a full stock of metallic, cement, and hardwood caskets (see Carter, Heart Throbs of the West, 6:319).

Charles accepted a second mission call to Scandinavia in 1903. On 25 May 1903, he arrived in Copenhagen and was assigned to be president of the Stockholm Conference. During his tenure, he selected the site for a new mission home at No. 3 Svartensgatan, Stockholm, Sweden. The property, with improvements, cost nearly two hundred thousand kronor. He was present when the site was dedicated by Heber J. Grant on 23 October 1904 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 274, 395, 399, 484).

After the mission, he returned to Ogden. In the Ogden Second Ward, he served as counselor to Bishop Robert McQuarrie for ten years (see Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 1006). By 1927, he was a member of the Weber Stake high council (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 274). He served in the Ogden Chamber of Commerce and was a member of the National Funeral Directors Association. For many years, he was president of the Scandinavian Society of Ogden. He was a member of the Weber County Fish and Game Protective Association (see correspondence from Shari H. Franke).

Charles died from pneumonia in 1934 at a local hospital at age seventy. At the time, he was the oldest active funeral director in the state (see correspondence from Shari H. Franke).

Erik Petersson Lindquist

(Eric Pettersson)

1828–1902

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

Arrival in Copenhagen: 18 December 1891

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 5 April 1894

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 22 August 1828

Birthplace: Björka, Lindesbergs Stadsförsamling, Örebro, Sweden

Father: Carlsson, Petter

Mother: Larsdotter, Maria

Spouse: Lilja, Anna Sophia

Marriage date: 24 June 1854

Marriage place: Hedvig Eleonora-Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

Death date: 13 July 1902

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

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

Erik joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden. He and his wife immigrated to the United States to be with the main body of the Church on 9 June 1884. While residing in Utah, family members recalled that he was anxious to be sealed to his wife in the Logan Temple. He sold his gold watch to pay for their journey from Salt Lake City to Logan (see “Erik Petersson Lundquist and Anna Sophia Lilja,” 1).

In 1891, Erik received a mission call to Scandinavia. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 5 April 1894 aboard the steamer Bravo (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 320–21, 336).

He returned to his family in Salt Lake City. Erik died in 1902 in Salt Lake City at age seventy-three. He was so beloved by his wife that when he died she exclaimed, “I cannot live without him.” She died nine days later (see “Erik Petersson Lundquist and Anna Sophia Lilja,” 1).

George William Lindquist

1871–1935

Residence: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 30 April 1892

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 5 April 1894

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 29 September 1871

Birthplace: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Father: Lindquist, Niels Aaron

Mother: Hoglund, Josephine Caroline

Spouse: Olsen, Mettina

Marriage date: 3 December 1890

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

Death date: 20 June 1935

Death place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Burial place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

William was baptized on 5 June 1879 by Hans J. Christiansen (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4:436). He was endowed on 3 December 1890 and was sealed to Mettina Olsen on the same day in the Logan Temple.

He was ordained a Seventy on 8 April 1890 by John Morgan (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4:436). Two years later, he received a mission call to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 30 April 1892 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 5 April 1894 aboard the steamer Bravo with thirteen emigrating Latter-day Saints and several other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 328–29, 336).

After returning to Logan, Cache County, Utah, he became a licensed embalmer on 1 September 1898. Thirteen years later, he was ordained a high priest on 7 May 1911 by Heber J. Grant and was ordained a bishop on 14 October 1917. He served as first counselor in the Cache Stake presidency from 1921 to 1930. During these same years, he was chairman of the Republican Party in his area for four years, served as city commissioner from 1912 to 1926, and was a member of the Logan Chamber of Commerce (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4:436). William died in 1935 at his home on 335 North First East Street in Logan, following a critical illness. He had been in poor health for three years before succumbing to death at age sixty-three (see “First Counselor in Cache Stake Taken by Death,” Salt Lake Tribune, 21 June 1935).

Joseph Reinholt Johansson Linvall

(Joseph Reinhold Johansson)

1832–1887

Residence: Paris, Bear Lake Co., Idaho

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 16 May 1881

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 6 April 1883

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 20 May 1832

Birthplace: Oinila, Paimio, Turku-Pori, Finland

Father: Linvall, Johan

Mother: Henriksdotter, Maria Christina

Spouse: Sorensen, Caroline Frederika

Marriage date: 1862

Marriage place: Utah

Death date: 17 August 1887

Death place: Montpelier, Bear Lake Co., Idaho

Burial place: Paris, Bear Lake Co., Idaho

Joseph, a resident of Paris, Bear Lake County, Idaho, received a mission call to Scandinavia in 1881. He arrived in Copenhagen on 16 May 1881 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. Andrew Jenson wrote of him and nine other missionaries laboring in Stockholm: “They all labor with energy and good will for the welfare of their fellowmen.” After completing this mission, Joseph departed from Copenhagen on 6 April 1883 aboard the steamer Cato with 103 emigrating Latter-day Saints and four other returning missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 258, 262–63, 269).

He returned to Idaho, where he served as a member of the Eleventh Quorum of the Seventy. He died suddenly in 1887 at Montpelier, Bear Lake County, at age fifty-five, leaving a wife and nine children to mourn him (see “Joseph Linvall,” Southern Idaho Independent, 2 September 1887).

Peter Andrews/Anderson Lofgreen

(Per Andersson)

1847–1922

Residence: Huntsville, Weber Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 21 May 1880

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 16 June 1882

Name of departure ship: Albano

Birth date: 18 January 1847

Birthplace: Örja, Malmöhus, Sweden

Father: Löfgren, Anders Persson

Mother: Bengtsdotter, Sissa

Spouse: Sandberg, Johanna Catherine Antonetta

Marriage date: 3 December 1865

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

Spouse: Nielson, Zipporah Elizabeth

Marriage date: 31 July 1879

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

Death date: 5 March 1922

Death place: St. David, Cochise Co., Arizona

Burial place: St. David, Cochise Co., Arizona

Peter and his family resided in Helstrop (possibly the Hällstorp, Billeberga, Parish), Jonköping, Sweden. In that small community, he attended school for six weeks. It was his father who gave him a rudimentary education. At age thirteen, he heard of a “strange religion” (“Biography of Peter Andrews Lofgreen: A Pioneering Spirit,” 1). His father and stepmother joined this religion in 1860. Peter joined them in this new faith on 8 April 1860.

The family immigrated to America two years later. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 27 September 1862. In the valley, Peter worked at a paper mill in Sugar House for about three years (see Lofgreen, “Autobiography of Peter Anderson Lofgren [1847–1919],” 1; Bitton, Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies, 217). He was endowed on 9 October 1866 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.

Soon after their marriage, Peter and his bride Johanna Sandberg made a series of successive moves: to Cheyenne, Laramie County, Wyoming; to Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska; and to St. Louis, St. Louis County, Missouri. At these locales, Peter engaged in the upholstering, paper hanging, and awning businesses. At one time, he was a paper carrier for the St. Louis Globe. He also worked as a mail clerk and was active in labor unions. He was jailed for his activities in the union and was thought to be the cause of a riot (see “Biography of Peter Andrews Lofgreen: A Pioneering Spirit,” 1–2).

Peter became a United States citizen in 1876. Two years later, he returned to Utah and became a farmer and teacher in Huntsville, Weber County. It was in this agrarian community that he received a mission call to Scandinavia in 1880. “This came while I was under very trying circumstances. I had no means and what to do. . . . I took a journey to Salt Lake City to inform President John Taylor of my circumstances.” He was unable to see President Taylor but met with Elder Franklin D. Richards, who promised, “The way shall be opened for you to go and you shall be blessed” (Lofgreen, “Autobiography of Peter Anderson Lofgren [1847–1919],” 2).

Peter arrived in Copenhagen on 21 May 1880 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. On this mission, he visited his old home. It was with sadness that he beheld the home in ruins. Yet his sorrow was abated. On the mission, he baptized thirty-nine converts (see “Biography of Peter Andrews Lofgreen: A Pioneering Spirit,” 2). Upon completing this mission, Peter departed from Copenhagen on 16 June 1882 aboard the steamer Albano with 573 emigrating Latter-day Saints and 14 other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 265).

After returning to Utah, he became dissatisfied with his residence. By 1883, he and his family were residing in St. David, Cochise County, Arizona. There he was ordained a high priest on 7 July 1884 by Christopher Layton. In 1885, he began serving in the bishopric and in 1888 became bishop of the St. David Ward (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4:601). During this era, he recalled starting to build a tithing barn, but “a hurricane took the barn topsy turvy and splintered nearly all the scantling, and much of the lumber” (Lofgreen, “Autobiography of Peter Anderson Lofgren [1847–1919],” 5; Bitton, Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies, 217).

To support his family, Peter taught school. At one point he imagined much prosperity because he struck oil while drilling for an artesian well, but nothing came of the discovery. He was released as a bishop in 1902 and received a resolution of appreciation from his ward members (see Lofgreen, “Autobiography of Peter Anderson Lofgren [1847–1919],” 5; Bitton, Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies, 217).

In 1903, he was ordained a patriarch. He served in this capacity for seventeen years. During those years, he suffered from blood poisoning in his right hand. Nevertheless, he was determined to serve his God and his community. He became a justice of the peace, a notary public, and a postmaster. Peter died in 1922 in St. David from stomach cancer at age seventy-five. His obituary notes that he was an active citizen of St. David for more than forty years (see “Biography of Peter Andrews Lofgreen: A Pioneering Spirit,” 3).

Fredrik E. Ludvigsen

(Frederik Ludvigsen)

1836–1918

Residence: Gunnison, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 4 May 1883

Missionary labors: Århus Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 15 June 1885

Name of departure ship: Panther

Birth date: 5 October 1836

Birthplace: Albæk, Randers, Denmark

Father: (Sennels) Nielsen, Ludvig Christian

Mother: Fredriksdatter, Dorthea

Spouse: Myrup, Ane Marie Nielsen

Marriage date: 23 September 1862

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

Death date: 20 April 1918

Death place: Gunnison, Sanpete Co., Utah

Burial place: Gunnison, Sanpete Co., Utah

Fredrik was baptized in 1856 by Frederik Lyngberg. Soon after his baptism, he was ordained a priest and was called to labor as a local missionary for two years in the Århus Conference. In 1862, he sailed from Hamburg, Germany, to America, crossing the Atlantic aboard the Electric. He arrived in New York Harbor on 5 June 1862. From New York, he traveled to Florence, Douglas County, Nebraska. There, Fredrik joined the Christian A. Madsen pioneer company to cross the plains to reach the Salt Lake Valley (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:558). He arrived in the valley on 23 September 1862, and on that he day married Ane Marie Myrup.

The young couple settled in Ephraim, Sanpete County, and later in Manti, Sanpete County. In 1865, they made Gunnison, Sanpete County, their permanent home (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:558). During these various moves, Fredrik interrupted his travels to fight in the Black Hawk War, serving as a home guard (see History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah, 461). He was employed as a trader, traveling between Gunnison and Salt Lake City. For twelve years, he served as a school trustee (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:558).

He accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1883. He arrived in Copenhagen on 4 May 1883 and was assigned to labor in the Århus Conference. After completing this mission, Fredrik departed from Copenhagen on 15 June 1885 aboard the steamer Panther with 273 emigrating Latter-day Saints and eight other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 273, 275, 290).

In 1892, he returned to Denmark, this time for the purpose of bringing his mother to America, since his father had died in 1887 (see Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2:558). Fredrik died in 1918 in Gunnison at age eighty-one.

Mathias Christian Funk Lund

(Mathias Kristian Funch)

1849–1926

Residence: Plain City, Weber Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 20 June 1888

Missionary labors: Copenhagen Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 24 April 1890

Name of departure ship: Cameo

Birth date: 31 August 1849

Birthplace: Arnager, Nylarsker, Bornholm, Denmark

Father: Funch, Didrik Jacobsen

Mother: Hansdatter, Karen (Catherine)

Spouse: Swensson, Pauline Persson

Marriage date: 11 May 1874

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

Death date: 2 March 1926

Death place: Ogden, Weber Co., Utah

Burial place: Plain City Cemetery, Plain City, Weber Co., Utah

On 5 September 1858, Mathias was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was endowed on 11 May 1874 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City (see FamilySearch).

While a resident of Plain City, Weber County, Utah, he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1888. He arrived in Copenhagen on 20 June 1888 and was assigned to labor in the Copenhagen Conference. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 24 April 1890 aboard the steamer Cameo with 116 emigrating Latter-day Saints and six other missionaries. The voyage across the North Sea was marked with considerable seasickness and stormy weather. The Cameo arrived at Hull, England, on 27 April 1890 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 307, 313).

Mathias returned to Weber County, where he worked as a farmer in Plain City. He died from pneumonia at the Ogden Hospital at age seventy-six. His funeral was held in the Plain City chapel (see “Plain City Resident’s Funeral Set for Thursday,” Deseret News, 3 March 1926).

Thomas Sorensen Lund

(Thomas Christian Pedersen)

1833–1915

Residence: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 6 November 1882

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 9 June 1884

Name of departure ship: Milo

Birth date: 15 January 1833

Birthplace:Oster Ørbæk, Kornum, Ålborg, Denmark

Father: Lund, Peder Sørensen

Mother: Pedersdatter, Maren Kirstine

Spouse: Christensen, Andrea Martha

Marriage date: 29 July 1863

Death date: 14 October 1915

Death place: Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah

Thomas was baptized by A. C. Pedersen on 29 May 1856 a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After his baptism, he served as a missionary in Denmark for some years before immigrating to America in 1862 (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 156).

He was residing in Ephraim, Sanpete County, Utah, when he accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1882. He arrived in Copenhagen on 6 November 1882 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. After completing this mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 9 June 1884 aboard the steamer Milo. On 12 June 1884, the Milo arrived in Hull, England. From there, Thomas traveled by rail to Liverpool. He then embarked on the Arizona with 531 emigrating Latter-day Saints and twenty-five other missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 268, 279).

Upon returning to Ephraim, Thomas prophesied that in a few years he would be worth more than double his early possessions. According to his biographer, “He [was] worth more than ten times as much as he had before going on that mission” (Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 156). He was residing in the Ephraim South Ward when he died in 1915 at age eighty-two.

Karl (Charles) Hendrick Lundberg

(Carl Hendrik Lundberg)

1836–1901

Residence: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 4 May 1880

Missionary labors: Göteborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 28 August 1882

Name of departure ship: Argo

Birth date: 10 October 1836

Birthplace: Östebo, Skållerud, Älvsborg, Sweden

Father: Lundberg, Salmon Christensson

Mother: Ekman, Lena Kaisa

Spouse: Jensen, Elizabeth Wilhelmine Olsen

Marriage date: 4 October 1861

Marriage place: Ödeborg, Älvsborg, Sweden

Spouse: Gustavson, Anna

Marriage date: 9 December 1885

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

Death date: 6 November 1901

Death place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Burial place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Karl was raised in Sweden. As a young man, he left Sweden to work in a foundry in Norway. He was baptized on 15 December 1861 in Frederikshald, Østfold, Norway, by Jen Petersen. He was ordained a teacher on 20 April 1862 by Chester Hansen, and an elder on 1 March 1863 by Olof Östra (see Lundberg, “History of Karl Hendrick Lundberg,” 1).

He emigrated from Norway to America and settled in Logan, Cache County, Utah, where he worked as a blacksmith. He made the mold for the twelve oxen on which the baptismal font rests in the Logan Temple. He also made a fence around the font, hammering out each picket with an anvil (see Lundberg, “History of Karl Hendrick Lundberg,” 1).

In 1880, Karl accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in response to a letter from President John Taylor dated 6 March 1880. He was set apart for the mission by Elder Orson Pratt. He left his wife and three children to serve. He arrived in Copenhagen on 4 May 1880 and was assigned to labor in the Göteborg Conference. His missionary journal is filled with conversations he had with investigators and members (see Jacobson, “Charles H. Lundberg Diary Summary,” 1). After completing this mission, Karl departed from Copenhagen on 28 August 1882 aboard the steamer Argo with 292 Scandinavian Latter-day Saints and five other missionaries. They had a stormy and unpleasant voyage to Hull, England (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 256, 265).

Returning to Logan, Karl was ordained a high priest on 25 April 1898 by C. Robinson. It was written of Karl, “He was a man of faith. He never forgot a kind act. He was fair with all. He has left a wonderful heritage” (Lundberg, “History of Karl Hendrick Lundberg,” 1–4). He died in 1901 in Logan at age sixty-five.

Fred Lundberg

(Fredrik Lundberg)

1855–1929

Residence: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 20 December 1879

Missionary labors: Göteborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 20 June 1881

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 26 April 1855

Birthplace: Gärdhem, Älvsborg, Sweden

Father: Lundberg, Salomon

Mother: Andersdotter, Christina

Spouse: Bergelin, Martha

Marriage date: 10 April 1876

Marriage place: Logan, Cache Co., Utah

Death date: 4 March 1929

Death place: Alhambra, Los Angeles Co., California

On 10 September 1864, Fred was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He immigrated with his parents to America in 1866. They settled in Logan, Cache County, Utah. In his youth, he labored as a home missionary in the Cache Stake of Zion for three years, as a counselor in the Fourth Quorum of Elders, and as a counselor in the presidency of the YMMIA (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 156).

He was endowed on 10 April 1875, four years before fulfilling a mission to Sweden. He labored in the Göteborg and Stockholm conferences. After completing this mission, Fred departed from Copenhagen on 20 June 1881 aboard the steamer Cato with 147 emigrating Latter-day Saints. He was in the thirty-fifth company of Saints to leave Scandinavia. He was one of three elders in charge of the emigrating Saints aboard ship (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 238, 240, 255).

Fred fulfilled a second mission to Sweden from 1891 to 1893. On 21 March 1891, he arrived in Copenhagen and was assigned to preside over the Stockholm Conference. He departed from Scandinavia on 22 February 1893 (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 319, 333, 483–84).

After returning to the States, he served as a president of the Sixty-fourth Quorum of the Seventy (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 156). He died in 1929 in Alhambra, Los Angeles County, California, at age seventy-three.

Charles August Lundell

(Carl August Lindell)

1859–1927

Residence: Benjamin, Utah Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 27 May 1892

Missionary labors: Stockholm Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 7 June 1894

Name of departure ship: Bravo

Birth date: 18 November 1859

Birthplace:Näslunda, Badelunda, Västmanland, Sweden

Father: Lindell, Anders Gustaf

Mother: Ersdotter, (Gustafva) Carolina

Spouse: Peterson, Maria Johanna

Marriage date: 15 April 1891

Spouse: Larsson, Karin (Carrie)

Marriage date: 20 June 1923

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

Death date: 10 April 1927

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

Burial place: Benjamin Cemetery, Benjamin, Utah Co., Utah

Charles was baptized on 27 January 1885 by Charles Lindquist. He immigrated to America in 1886 and located in Benjamin, Utah. He was ordained a seventy and became a member of the Seventy-second Quorum of the Seventy before serving a mission to Scandinavia. He arrived in Copenhagen on 27 May 1892 and was assigned to labor in the Stockholm Conference. After completing this mission, Charles departed from Copenhagen on 7 June 1894 aboard the steamer Bravo with fifty-three emigrating Latter-day Saints (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 328–29, 337).

On 28 March 1921, he arrived in Scandinavia to serve a second mission. He was called to preside over the Göteborg Conference. His service ended in 1921 when he was officially banished from Sweden for preaching the gospel (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 466, 468, 485).

In his later years, Charles resided in Salt Lake City near the temple. He served as an assistant superintendent of the Sunday School and as a president of the 128th Quorum of the Seventy. He was a teacher in many Church organizations and a trustee of the local schools before being confined to his home due to illness. Charles died in 1927 at age sixty-seven. His funeral was held in the Wasatch Ward chapel. At the funeral it was said that Charles manifested a spirit of optimism and service throughout his life (see “Charles Lundell,” Deseret News, 17 April 1927).

Christian Nielsen Lundsteen

(Christen Nielsen)

1839–1907

Residence: Levan, Juab Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 1 November 1884

Missionary labors: Ålborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 15 June 1885

Name of departure ship: Panther

Birth date: 15 June 1839

Birthplace: Nørre Tranders-Ålborg, Ålborg, Denmark

Father: Jensen, Niels

Mother: Larsdatter, Ane Kierstine

Spouse: Nielsen, Anne Johanne

Marriage date: 9 January 1867

Marriage place: near Tranders, Ålborg, Denmark

Death date: 11 April 1907

Death place: Levan, Juab Co., Utah

Burial place: Levan, Juab Co., Utah

Christian grew up on a farm in Denmark. After his marriage, he moved to his wife’s family home. While living there, he assisted his father-in-law with the dairy farm. The farm prospered under his hands. It was his faith in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that led him to sell the farm in 1878 and immigrate to America. The sale of the dairy farm provided the means for not only him but thirty-five families to immigrate to Zion (see Christensen, “Sketches in the Life of Caroline Nielsen Lundsteen,” 2–3, 6).

By 1878, Christian and his family had settled in Ephraim, Sanpete County, Utah (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 157). By December 1878, he and his family were living in Levan, Juab County, in an adobe home that had two bedrooms. Soon after this move, Christian was endowed on 9 October 1884 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City (see Christensen, “Sketches in the Life of Caroline Nielsen Lundsteen,” 6–7).

Six years later, he was called to serve a mission to Denmark. He arrived in Copenhagen on 1 November 1884 and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. His fervent desire on this mission was to convert his extended family members—”but his labors were fruitless so far as members of his family were concerned” (see Christensen, “Sketches in the Life of Caroline Nielsen Lundsteen,” 8).

In June 1885, he was summoned by police officers to a court of law. On 8 June 1885, he was imprisoned. While in prison, he was stripped of his valuables, including his clothes and was “treated like a dog.” He submitted to this treatment “cheerfully, realizing that he only suffered for the gospel’s sake” (Lundsteen, “Missionary Journal of Christian Lundsteen”). He departed from Copenhagen on 15 June 1885 with 273 emigrating Latter-day Saints and eight other returning missionaries aboard the steamer Panther (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 282–83, 285–86).

On 5 May 1896, Christian received a letter from Wilford Woodruff that invited him to again serve a mission in Scandinavia. He counseled with Elder Heber J. Grant before leaving. He was told, “We were not allowed to baptize women or children, without husband’s and father’s consent. . . . Be clean and you will have all desired blessings” (Lundsteen, “Missionary Journal of Christian Lundsteen”). On 24 August 1896, Christian arrived in Copenhagen and was assigned to labor in the Ålborg Conference. He served as president of the Frederikshavn Branch (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 355). Although he labored in the area of his youth, he “was again unsuccessful in his attempt to bring any of his folks into the Church” (Christensen, “Sketches in the Life of Caroline Nielsen Lundsteen,” 8). On 28 July 1898, he departed from Copenhagen bound for the United States (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 366).

Returning to the States, he was a faithful and active member of the Levan Ward (see Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album, 157). Christian died in 1907 in Levan at age sixty-seven.