 |
| John Christenson |
A personal history probably written by one of his
children (copied exactly as written without corrections, deletions, or
additions; my corrections based on my research can be found below):
Johannes Christenson was the eldest of three
children born to Johanna Martenson and Christian Gudmundson, He was born August
16, 1826 in Krokhusetgard, Gunnarp Parish, Hallandslan, Sweden(1). The family were tennants there, and the whole
family worked for the overlord, or owner.
When Johannes came to America he became known as
John.
As a lad, John's work at the gard(2) was that of
swineherd at least part of the time.
Economically, Sweden's people had little of which to boast; but they
were able to get some basic education under the auspices of the Luthern (State)
church, if they were members(3).
John's sister Magdalena was born October 27, 1830,
and his brother Bengt Magnes on Sept. 19, 1834.
His brother died at the age of two.
His father died when he (John) was about nineteen years old.
A few years later the family heard the "Mormon"
missionaries, and, recognizing the truth of the gospel, they were
baptized. John was baptized by Elder
Jons Olson on March 23, 1859(4). He was
soon assigned to duties as a missionary, and continued in that work until 1861.
Naturally, John and his sister were anxious to
come to America. It was not easy to save
money for the trip in that land of small opportunity, where their friends had
turned away from them and all was hostile to them and to the church they had joined. Perhaps the hardest of all was leaving their
mother, who was too old and ill to travel, knowing they never would see her
again in this life.
At last, in the spring of 1861, they were ready to
begin their journey to 'Zion'. When they
reached Copenhagen, Denmark, where saints gathered to take ship, Magdalena
became very ill. One of the Saints,
Christena Nilsson Holm, took her into her home and nursed her back to health by
the time they were ready to sail. The
three became friends, and were passengers on the same ship, which left Copenhagen
May 12, 1861(5).
Christena was the youngest of seven children. She was born August 4, 1836 at Farlov,
Christianstad, Sweden. She was the
daughter of Ake Nilsson and Kama Svensson, both of Opmanna, Christianstad,
Sweden.
Because work was scarce in Sweden, Christena's
older-brother went to Denmark, and there he found work as a blacksmith. He took the trade name of Holm. He wrote home and told his family of his
improved condition, and told them that there was plenty of work for all, so the
rest of the family followed him to Denmark.
Christena was then fifteen years old.
She found work in a weaving mill.
From that time she went by her brother's name of Holm.
While she was working in the factory she heard the
Gospel taught by the Mormon missionaries.
She accepted its truths and was baptized in the North Sea, on January 8,
1856. They had to chop a hole in the ice three different places before they
found water deep enough, as the ice was very thick. It was either this, or to wait, maybe for
many months for the elders to come that way again. There was great opposition and persecution of
the Mormons and their religion. She suffered no ill effects from the cold, but
did meet many trials because of her decision to join the Church. She told of a cottage meeting which had been
called one evening, secretly, because of the bitter enmity of the majority of
the people. Somehow news of the meeting
leaked out, and as they were listening to the Elders, an ax was hurtled through
the window, striking one Elder in the head, splitting his skull. The Elders
poured consecrated oil into the wound and administered to him. Through the faith of those present the Lord
heard their petitions; the split bones came together, the Elder recovered and
was able to complete his mission.
Christena was the only one of her family to accept
the gospel. The rest of the family was
very bitter toward her for joining the Church.
She was engaged to a young man of considerable wealth. When he heard of her 'crazy notions' he gave
her a choice—either him or the church.
Without hesitation she chose the church and went to return the costly
gifts he had given her. Her ring and his
picture, framed in gold, he threw to the floor, stamping them to pieces in his
anger, and said he would do the rest the same way. So Christena kept a few things, which she
gave to her daughters many years later(6).
Emigrant ships were certainly not luxury
liners. The passengers carried his
little clothing, bedding and food for the journey, and found space for himself
somewhere on the ship. They were six
weeks on the ocean. At one time, during
a storm, Christina fell through a man hole, or trap door which had carelessly
been left open. She grabbed the edge of
the opening and held on for dear life until she was found and rescued. Had she not, the ballast, shifting with the
movements of the wilding pitching ship, would have crushed her(7).
The three friends crossed the plains together in
the Hans Murdock Handcart Company(8) of 1861.
This meant walking all the way from Omaha across Nebraska, Wyoming, and
part of Utah, pushing and pulling handcarts which held all their worldly
possessions, over muddy, or hot and dusty plains and rugged mountain
trails(9). Slowly the miles fell away.
Christena walked all the way, wading most of the streams and rivers until she
became ill, and suffered from sore eyes; so it was ruled that she would be
allowed to ride across the streams.
They arrived in Salt Lake City on Sept 8,
1861(10). Now they had to conquer a
strange language, learn to understand a strange people, a strange land, Indian
troubles, and make a home. The task
seemed insurmountable!
John and Christena were married on November 2,
1861, by Bishop Davis of the Salt Lake Seventeenth Ward; and they lived in a
house of his for awhile. In 1862 they
moved to American Fork. They were sealed
Oct. 9, 1862, in the Endowment House.
While living in American Fork the Christensons
would walk into Salt Lake City twice a year to attend the General Conferences
of the Church, in April and October.
Then they visited with John's sister Magdalena, before the twenty-five
mile hike back to their home.
Two children were born to John and Christena while
they lived in American Fork. Caroline
Josephine was born June 2, 1863(11), and Brighamine (later Minnie) was born April
21, 1865. Brighamine was premature, and it was touch and go as to whether she
would live, but due to the faith and prayers of her parents, she did live, and
grew to perform a very great service as a trained nurse and midwife. She lived to be almost ninety years of age,
and to her dying day she was thoughtful and helpful to those who were ill or
otherwise needed her.
The companies of saints coming to Utah were sent
to different localities to make their homes and build up the outlying towns; so
many from the same country often were sent to the same place. Among those who stopped at American Fork were
Pher Hanson, his wife and sister-in-law, Johanna Herling. They were stopping in Bishop Harrington's
yard when the Christensons visited them and welcomed them to Zion. On March 12, 1864, John Christenson and
Johanna Herling were married in the Endowment House. Their first child, Joseph, was born April 19,
1865, at American Fork.
In 1866 the home in American Fork was sold for a
new wagon and a team of oxen(12). The
family had been called to go to Gunnison, Sanpete County, Utah, to help in the
settlement of that country(13). Because of
Indian troubles they travelled in groups.
There were eight wagons in their particular group. Among the number of people who travelled with
them were William and Joseph Bardsley and Sylvester Whiting. The wagons were of the scooner type, with a
heavy canvas top. The women and children rode inside, while the men walked
outside, carrying their guns.
This was the time of the Blackhawk war, and there
was much trouble and many raids in Sanpete County; so for protection the people
in Gunnison lived in the Fort for many years.
John bought a house, one wall of which was the wall of the fort(14). Each family had one room in which to live;
and as they tilled their farms they had to station guards and work in groups to
guard against surprise by the Indians(15). Here was born to Christena, John and
Tilda Christena, and to Johanna, Anna and Emma.
When the Blackhawk war was over and peace had been
established, John built a home for his family on Main Street in Gunnison. It was built of native gray sandstone, and
was built in the manner of a Duplex, having two rooms and an attic room on each
side, with a private room in the middle for John. They moved into this home in 1872, and here
they lived, and the children grew up.
The children were taught to respect the rights and
feelings of others. There was never a
distinction made of any child, and in all their lives they never felt that they
were anything but whole brothers and sisters to each other.
The women were active in church organizations,
besides taking care of their home and children, so it was a busy life. There was certainly much to be done to wrest
a living from the land in that desert country.
The girls learned to help their mothers in such tasks as spinning and
weaving and knitting, as well as cooking and sewing, and the boys worked with
their father on the farm. Any honest
means which came to hand was tried to provide for the family needs. John became a farmer, a miller, a tool maker and
a tool dresser. While working at the latter trade a piece of steel from a tool
he was working on broke off, striking him in the eye, destroying the sight in
that eye.
At the time of the "Crusade", John had
to build another home for Johanna. This
was build in Centerfield, on the farm, and there she finished raising her
children.
John couldn't bring his family to America, but he
did a great work in taking freedom to his ancestors, in getting their temple
ordinances done for them. When his three
sons went on missions to the Old Country, John had each of them do what he
could to gather up genealogical data so the work could be done.
Part of the time that Joseph, (John's oldest son)
spent in Sweden, he was in John's birthplace.
Upon his return to Utah he spoke of his great admiration for his father
and the great things he had accomplished here, after such poor and humble
beginnings in that far away land.
John was known among his associates as a man of
integrity. He lived the principles of
the Gospel to the letter as he learned them.
He was a kindly man, a generous neighbor. He was the president of the High Priest
Quorum at the time of his death, which occured June 8, 1903, at Gunnison.
Both Christens and Johanna lived for more than two
decades after his death. Christena lived
in the home on Main Street, with her daughter Minnie, and she was active in the
Relief Society until just a few years- before she died. She died at Gunnison on Dec. 20, 1929. She was 93 years of age. Johanna died at 85,
on Oct 5, 1925(16). She was also living in
Gunnison with her daughter Anna.
1 Parish records show that before John turned two the family
became tenants on the Greppered farm in the Krogsered Parish.
2 Swedish term for "farm"
3 The Lutheran Church was the official state
church of Sweden. All citizens were
listed on the rolls of the church and their residence, moves, etc. were tracked
by parish priests.
4 The "family" was not baptized after
hearing the Mormon missionaries. According to LDS church records, John was
baptized 23 November 1857. His sister, Magdalena, was baptized 7 months later
on 21 June 1858. Their mother, Johanna, was baptized by proxy in 1937 in the
Salt Lake Temple, 64 years after her death. I can't find any reference to an
Elder Jons Olson, so that's something I can't confirm. Interestingly though, a
letter written to a Scandinavian Mission President in 1857 states: "As to
Sweden....The Elders are often arrested, dragged before both civil and clerical
authorities, sentenced with fines and imprisonment on bread and water, and
ill-treated, as a consequence of illiberal laws. A proposition for religious
liberty, to a certain degree, has lately been presented before the Diet,
assembled in Stockholm, but it is doubtful whether it will pass this term, as
the members in the legislative assembly are not satisfied with the many
restrictions contained therein. The act was rejected by three classes, namely,
the nobility, the priests and the peasantry, and only accepted by one class,
namely, the citizens (Borgarne). The people in general are longing for freedom
of conscience and worship, as there are many dissenters from the State Church,
but the priestly caste and nobility are afraid that too much liberty will be
given to the people, who they say are liable to be deceived by proselyting
emissaries." (here p. 508)
5 The correct date was Thursday, 9 May 1861.
6 I cannot confirm nor deny any of the accounts
concerning Christina and her experiences associated with her conversion, but
genealogists have learned to always take family folklore with a grain of salt.
7 Here (p.154) is a fascinating, detailed account
of this particular voyage as well as their entire immigration process.
8 This was actually the Capt. John R. Murdock
Company.
9 This was not a handcart company but a wagon
train that originated in Utah. It was composed of more than sixty "down
and back" wagons donated by Utahns to go "down" to Florence to
bring "back" immigrants. Although each immigrant was assigned to a
wagon, most chose to walk as much as possible to lighten the wagon and spare
their own tailbones from the hard, jarring wagonbeds.
10 The correct date was 12 September 1861.
11 In case I forget to mention it later, she died
at the age of 14.
12 According to Hartley's book, Kindred Saints,
this probably didn't happen.
13 The fact that they were "called"
(presumably by Brigham Young) to relocate to Gunnison is family folklore and is
not backed up by any documentation. LDS church records neither confirm nor refute
this story. Gunnison was located in Sanpete County which was settled primarily
by Scandinavian immigrants. Perhaps they had friends there. There also may have
been better opportunities to obtain more land.
14 The fort wasn't constructed until after the
Christenson family arrived in Gunnison.
15 The local farmers were trained and drilled to
create a local militia. Having no choice in the matter, John enlisted and
served as a Private from 1 April 1866 to 1 November 1866 and again from 1 May
1867 to 6 November 1867.
Comments
Post a Comment