Peter Monsen (Peder Mogensen) Pioneer of the Month January 1910

PETER MONSEN (PEDER MOGENSEN)
Peter Monsen was born 8 April 1830 in Svendstrup, Langeland, Denmark. It was a little village about two miles from Kerser, a harbor town on the west coast of Denmark. His home was a long, one-story adobe house with a thatched straw roof. His family appears in the 1840 census records for the Taarnborg District of Svendstrup: Lars Mogensen age 35 and his wife Christine Jensdatter (Jensen) were living in Svendstrup City in February 1840 with the following children: Ane Christine Mogensen age 13, Peder Mogensen age 10, Rasmus Mogensen age seven, Caroline Mogensen age four. Lars’ mother is a widow at this time and living with him: Karen Johansdatter (Johansen) age 66. His parents were farmers who did not own their own farms, but rented them. Peter spent his young manhood, as was the custom, on the adjoining farms as a hireling.

Peter and his people belonged to the Lutheran Church and were devoutly religious. On 9 March 1853, Peter was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He, in turn, baptized his father Lars, his mother Christine, his sister Hansine, and Dorthea Marie Christensen (Nielsen), whom Peter was to marry. His family was among the first to embrace the Mormon faith in Denmark. At the end of that year, Peter’s family left their home in Denmark to move to Zion. Listed on page 588 Afgangsliste (Departure List) in 1853, town of Taarnborg, island of Langeland, 1841-58: Lars Mogensen, his wife Kristine Jensen, and their four children: Caroline 19, Jens 10, Hansine 13, and Hanne Catherine left for Copenhagen 24 December 1853. Mogens Enke (Lars’ mother), age 74, went also. After they arrived in St. Louis, Missouri, Lars died of cholera on 6 April 1854. Peter’s mother, Christine, a sister Caroline, and a brother Jens (James Willard Munson), arrived safely in Utah. However, Peter’s grandmother, Karen Johansen (Nielsen), and two sisters, Hansine and Hanna Catherine all died of cholera on the way across the plains.



Peter remained in Denmark to be married. The Taarnborg Church records (page 330), show Ungkarl (young bachelor) Peder Mogensen 23 years old and Pegen (unmarried girl) Dorthe Marie Christensen 18 years old, were married in the Taarnborg Church on 8 January 1854.



Those present were Christian Nielsen (Dorthe’s father) og (and) Lars Mogensen (Peder’s father). “Begge er Mormoner.” (Both are Mormons) Dorthea’s family is listed in the 1840 census records for the Taarnborg District of Svendstrup City as family #108: Christen Nielsen age 43 and wife Ane Andersdatter (Andersen) age 41, their daughter Dorthe Marie Christensen age five. At this time they had four servants or friends living with them. Dorthea’s parents were wealthy and they offered her all of the riches they possessed if she would not join the church. She was their only daughter, and they didn’t want her to leave them to come to Zion. But no material offer could dissuade Dorthea and Peter from doing what God intended them to do. They left Svendstrup for Copenhagen, bound for Utah, and with them was their one-year-old son, Christian Nielsen Mogensen. They left Svendstrup on 24 November 1855 as recorded in Landsarkivet, Jagtveg 10-1-20-39 (Archives in Copenhagen).

On 29 November 1855 they left Copenhagen and set sail for Liverpool on 6 December 1855 in a wooden sailing ship named “The John J. Boyd,” bound for America. There were 508 people on the boat and 437 of them were Scandinavian saints. The vessel was not equipped for so many people, and crowded conditions prevailed. Tiers of bunks were all around the vessel, and they ate upon the same boxes that were used to sit upon. The captain of the ship was very domineering, and when severe storms arose he forbade the saints to sing or pray or hold services. President Canute Petersen was appointed to take charge of this group of saints and he instructed them to carry on secretly, which they did. Never did they lose their faith. In addition to the terrible storms, fire broke out in the captain’s cabin. No great excitement prevailed as the saints had faith that God would preserve their lives. As they proceeded on their journey, they ran across a disabled ship and picked up 50 sailors. They proved to be a great help to the ship, as the regular sailors were near exhaustion because the journey proved to be much longer than had been contemplated. The water supply ran very low and was vile. Sickness broke out and around 50 adults and children died, among them Peter’s 16-month-old son, Christian. They were heartbroken to see the sailors lower their darling baby into the great ocean. These trials helped to prepare them for the rigors of pioneer life that they would meet in the future. After a voyage of 11 weeks and three days, the saints landed in America on 1 March 1856. They arrived in St. Louis, where they remained for several months finding work to do.


This group of saints began their journey across the plains on 26 June 1856. There were 60 wagons in this company with two yolk of oxen to each wagon and from six to eight persons in each wagon. President Petersen was again called to be their captain with sub-captains under him for each 10 wagons. The oxen were very unruly and would get overheated, so that many of them died. They stampeded one day and killed a man. No one traveled on Sunday, and they held services in the day and evening. Other evenings they would sing the songs of Zion, and occasionally they would dance. They arrived in Salt Lake City on 16 September 1856. On the entire trip they saw very few people outside their own company; no houses were along the way except one government station at Fort Laramie. After arriving here, Peter planned on locating in Weber or Cache County. At this time word came of Johnson’s Army who were said to be on their way to wipe out the Mormons. Peter Monsen was enrolled with the saints who enlisted as soldiers. They went up Echo Canyon, where they prepared to defend the saints against the army. Among other things, large boulders were quarried on pivots in preparation to roll down the canyon as the army came through. The army came, but not in war. In many ways they proved beneficial to the saints. After the army came to the valley, Peter worked at Camp Floyd. There he made adobes with which to build houses for the soldiers camped there.

In 1858 he was called to Sanpete County, and they moved to Ephriam and then to Mt. Pleasant the following year. They lived in the fort there, as did all the other people. This was the year the first school settlement was built. It was a one-room house (about 16' x 25'), which served as a school house, a social center, and a building for religious services. It was called the second ward school house. The desks were a double arrangement (about 2' wide on either side) sloping to the center, with split log benches on both sides. The students faced each other. Four such desks constituted the furniture. A blackboard made from planned lumber hung on the wall. Roaring wood fires provided the heat, from the large fireplaces at each end of the room. There were few textbooks. The meager educational opportunities came from dedicated men and women within the community who had been fortunate to have had some education in the countries where they had previously lived. Peter was one of the first to serve on the school board of trustees. He helped in the building of the school house which was built with donated public labor and materials. He knew well the struggles for education with little or no money to pay the costs. It took about 20 years for new church buildings to be built, and a new and commodious school with modern benches and desks, and with comfortable heading systems as well as with books and supplies.

In 1863, Peter Monsen entered into polygamy and married his second wife, Annie Christena Christensen. She had been born in Copenhagen 8 October 1848. Soon after her family had been converted to Mormonism, they made arrangements to come to America. They set sail on Christmas eve, 24 December 1853, on a ship called the “Benjamin-Adams.” The ship carried mainly Scandinavians. Curiously, this was the same date that the Lars Mogensen family sailed-possibly on the same ship. On their journey to Salt Lake, there was much sickness in the camps of the saints. Annie Christena’s father became ill and passed away on 5 April 1854. Exactly six months later, the surviving family entered the Salt Lake Valley. Within a few months, her mother had remarried. Annie Christena was only seven at the time. In March 1859, they moved to Mt. Pleasant. When Annie Christena was 16, she left her home and went to work for Peter and Dorthea. This was to escape the attentions of her stepfather. She later became Peter’s plural wife, even though she was 18 years younger than he. She became the mother of 13 children.

Annie was strong and well, while Dorthea was ill much of her life. Thus, Annie Christena went into the fields to help with the crops, while Dorthea remained at home to watch the children and to do the work in the home. Those who knew the two families say that a great love existed between the two women. It was said that Peter was a fair and just man, who ruled with gentleness and love, with harmony always prevailing.

In March 1864, Peter was called to go to Circleville with Annie, along with Mads Madsen and his second wife, and colonize the area. They left home with each a yoke of oxen and a wagon, arriving in Circleville about April 1. They proceeded at once to build log homes in which to live. They built houses from timber that was not far away, but since no shingles or lumber were available, they were necessarily satisfied with a dirt roof as well as a dirt floor. The soil there was very fertile, and they proceeded to break up the land and to plant enough grain to raise 1,000 bushels of wheat. There were no threshing
machines then, so the grain was threshed by trampling their oxen over it. When the grain from the first layer was thoroughly tramped out of the straw, chaff and fine material still remained, which had to be separated from the grain. They cleared the ground, and when the wind was favorable, they used a small hand scoop to cast the grain out against the wind, thereby separating it from the chaff. When this was done, they took what they could haul in their wagons, leaving the remainder for those who stayed behind. They returned home to Mt. Pleasant in November of the same year. The immigrant who later occupied their cabin was killed by the Indians.

After returning to Mt. Pleasant and when it was considered safe, Peter was among the first to build a home outside the fort. It was a two-room structure 28' long with two large beams along the top, placed in a half-roof shape to carry the weight of the dirt which answered the purpose of shingles. There was also a dirt floor. Aside from building this house and the log cabin in Circleville, he later built each of his wives a house of adobe. Dorthea’s home, the larger, consisted of a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, and a bedroom. The upstairs remained unfinished, but was used for bedrooms. Annie Christena’s home had a large kitchen, which served as a living room and a dining room as well, and a large bedroom with a clothes closet in it. The upper floor had all bedrooms. The walls were at least 1½" thick, and served to insulate the homes. Peter drew his lot in the southwest of the city, and remained there.

Peter was always ready and willing to answer calls made upon him from the church or the state. He was called to be a minute man during the Black Hawk Indian War in 1865. He was a public-spirited man, devoting much of his time to civic duties as well as to his religious duties. This was all done without pay, but knowing it was for the betterment and uplifting of mankind. His heart and soul was always in the gospel, he was a counselor to Bishop Seely for many years. He was a ward teacher all of his life, and served as head teacher for many years. He was always a member of the ward choir, and the happiest time of his life was when he gathered his many children around him and the sang together the songs of Zion. He had an organ in his parlor, and upon it were two statuettes of Brigham Young and Joseph Smith. He loved singing, and taught his children the love of music. The Monsen daughters were singers and were often in demand at the pioneer socials. Annie and Olevia sang alto, Nora and Esther sang soprano in double duets. All of the girls participated with their father in the ward choir. Life in the Peter Monsen home was a happy one and a busy one. Peter also served in the city counsel for two terms, and was a member of the school and irrigation boards. As previously mentioned, he took part in the building of the fort to protect the early settlers of the valley. He also assisted in the laying out of the towns and farms.

The first steam sawmill brought to Mt. Pleasant was by Peter Y. Jensen and was placed in Cedar Creek Canyon. Before it could be placed, a road had to be constructed. Peter was the supervisor of the road construction. He also assisted in the leveling of the hill where the Manti Temple now stands. After this, a sawmill called the Temple Sawmill was placed in the Twin Creek Canyon, where lumber was sawed to be used in the construction of the temple. The work was carried on in winter and summer (men donated their work with few exceptions). Peter supervised the work in the wintertime. The depth of the snow was at times seven feet, and prevented the use of oxen or horses to drag the timber from the mountainside. The trees were felled and cut into certain lengths. With hand spikes and such appliances as were necessary, they slid the logs from the hillside to the bottom of the canyon. From there they were hauled to the mill upon bobsleds—all home made. The lumber from the mill was hauled to Manti by team, all done with donated work in which Peter participated. When the Snow Academy was built, he furnished teams (at no pay) to haul brick from Mt. Pleasant to Ephriam.

Peter’s occupation was always that of a good farmer. He had studied agriculture and had been a farmer in the old country, so he took great pride in his farm and in his methods of farming. He taught his children these skills. The girls learned from both father and mother that when the food was harvested, it must be carefully preserved and cared for. They entered into the tromping of hay, picking of potatoes, keeping of the garden, and the milking of cows. They also learned to cook and sew from their two mothers (both of whom entered into the training of the children). They learned to spin, to card wool, and to weave. Their hands were also busy with beautiful hand work and crocheted pieces. True pioneer life meant hard work, thrift, industry, and also sharing in the dangers of the pioneer life.

Nothing was easy in those days. The children remember Dorthea’s homemade sausages. They learned the art of cleaning the animal’s intestines and soaking them in brine, scraping them on the breadboard, and then again soaking them in brine. The cleaned intestines were then placed over a cow horn, and the sausage was carefully worked down until the sack was packed tightly. Sometimes, they ground the pork sausage and placed the skin around the spout of the grinder. The skin would fill up as the meat ground through. If any air bubbles appeared, a darning needle was used to poke them out and force the meat in tightly. The sausages were then smoked or put into a weak brine to cure, as were the hams, shoulders, etc. of pork. There was a lot of work involved when a pig was killed. All of the fat was cut off and sliced into small pieces, or ground up and fried just long enough to process it. The whitest part was then stored in jars and placed in the pantry for use in pies and cakes. Other grease was saved for frying food. It was a hard day’s work to “render” lard, and all of the children learned the process. You couldn’t just go to the store to purchase a can of shortening then. The meat from the head of the pig was ground and seasoned and put into a pan. It was pressed flat by putting heavy flat irons (which were used to iron clothes) on top, weighing the meat down and pressing it hard. It was considered a real delicacy, sliced and eaten cold. The pastries and cinnamon buns were also a thing to remember, for on baking day every youngster in the neighborhood went home with a big, hot bun filled with sugar, cinnamon, and raisins. The big drippers filled with homemade bread, each holding 6 to 8 loaves, were familiar sights in their homes. The Danish recipe for dumplings and chicken soup, has now been passed down to the great granddaughters.The children went barefoot as long as the ground was free of snow. But when shoes were needed, Peter furnished his children with wooden shoes that he made. He had learned the craft in his native land, and brought with him some of the tools needed for making them. He would go to Cedar Hills after loads of wood. After loading it he would find a pitch pine tree, just to suit his fancy, for the stick best suited for wooden shoes. After he finished the wooden shoes, his wife shined them nicely with soot she gathered from the fireplace. The children of Peter were the only ones with wooden shoes, and they were nice shoes. The only objection the children had to them was that they couldn’t run as fast with them on as they could when they were barefoot.

During the United Order, Peter was captain of the men who worked in what was called the Old and South Field. He was, however, one of the first to withdraw from the Order. His family was deeply concerned about it, and some of the neighbors went so far as to say that he was on the way to apostasy. Peter felt that he had given it a fair trial. One day on his rounds in the fields where men were engaged in irrigating, he arrived at a piece of his own land where a man was supposed to be irrigating it. Peter found the water all going down a dead furrow of summer fallowed land, with no man in sight. After searching around, he found the man sound asleep in the shade of the willows. When he asked the man how the water was going, he answered, “I suppose it’s running to the west,” which was the slope of the land. That, in addition to many other similar conditions, drew disgust from Peter to the extent that he left the Order.

When the polygamy crusade was on, the U.S. Marshalls had a warrant of arrest for all polygamists. It was just at harvest time, and Peter came to the lumber camp with a proposition to his son to go down to do the harvesting so that he could do the work there at the camp. The harvesting was done under very difficult conditions. Occasionally, Peter would come like a thief in the night to see how they were getting along. The grain was too ripe, dry and brittle, and some had to be soaked in water to use for bands to bind the grain. They had to handle it carefully to avoid waste. They did what was necessary to be done during the balance of the summer and the fall. Peter was in hiding most of this time. The marshalls would come to the house under cover of the night and search through the house for him.

On 9 April 1888, just two weeks after the birth of her 13th child, Esther, the young and beautiful mother, Annie Christena, was struck with puerperal sepsis (childhood fever). The dreaded infection took her life at the age of 40. The burden of a big family must have weighed heavily upon the young shoulders of the children, as they had to share the responsibilities even more so now. Dutifully and lovingly, Dorthea, the other mother, gathered these little motherless children around her, comforting them, teaching them, and being a true mother to them. She was affectionately known to them as “Tante”. Esther has said of her “If ever there was an angel mother, it was Mother Dorthea.” The family then adjusted to a new way of life.

Life in Mt. Pleasant was beginning to take on the airs of a thriving community. Beside the new school and churches, the Wasatch Academy became part of the community buildings. A brick kiln was producing lovely pink brick, and some of the up-and-coming members of the community were building elegant two-story homes. Little groups, who especially enjoyed associating together because of likeness in their nationality, would meet in each other’s homes for parties and dinners. Celebrations were always great days for the people of Mt. Pleasant. Not only was the 4th of July an event, but the 24th of July was also celebrated as the day the pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. Usually, there was a parade led by a brass band. The parade was usually followed by a program recalling the early pioneer struggles. In the afternoon, there was a dance for the children. In the evening, there was a dance for the adults.

During those days, the only source of supplies was through the wagon trains that came from Salt Lake City bringing their necessities. The men of the community would exchange grain for a supply of flour for their winter’s use. The supply wagons always brought back yard goods for the pioneer mother to make up into clothing for her children. Esther well remembers her father bringing her a piece of blue material, while he always brought some pink material for Olevia when they were small girls.

In the winter of 1897, on the 8th of January, Peter was called to go on a mission to Denmark, his native land. He was the oldest missionary in the field—67 years of age. He enjoyed excellent health, and was able to keep in shape and do all that was required of a missionary. He was gladly received by the people, and made many friends. The people were surprised that a man of his age could sing so beautifully. He visited the birthplace of his first wife while he was in Denmark, and was received very kindly by her people. They called all of the neighbors in to see this stranger who had returned to the old homestead after 42 years of absence in America. He served 1½ years in the mission field.

After Peter’s return from his mission, he proceeded to care for his small farm. As in the past he had a few livestock to care for. He continued to do so until he was physically unable. His wife Dorthea died on 10 November 1912. The children all helped care for him. In March 1915, Olevia or “Levie” (one of his favorite children, it had been said) moved in with him and brought her three children. Her husband, Joseph Johansen, had been called on a mission. She worked hard caring for her family and for her father’s needs. It was a good arrangement for all of them. During this time, Olevia’s oldest child, Etta, passed her important 8th birthday. They all drove to Manti in Peter’s shiny, black, horse-drawn buggy with bright red wheels. Etta was baptized in the Manti Temple. After Joseph’s two year mission was over, they all continued to live with Peter for yet another year while they were building a new home. They continued their close association, as did the complete family, until his death.

Birthdays has always been treated as something special for the Peter Monsen family. There was a spot on the pantry shelf where the members of the family put their savings in anticipation of the next birthday. The child having a birthday party could always expect one fine gift from the family. As the girls grew up, sometimes the gift was sheets, linen, dishes or some coveted item. There was always a special birthday dinner, and Father Peter was the central figure at these gatherings. The whole town was invited to his 90th birthday party. He had such a large family, and so many friends, it had to be held in a rented hall. His daughter, Nora, made one of her famous sponge cakes. The cake had to be beaten in a certain way, for a certain length of time, and it turned out as a work of art with the 90 candles ablazing on the top. The tables were set the full length of the hall to accommodate the number of well-wishers who came. His last birthday party was his 94th. He stood in the doorway at Annie’s home and said, “I may not be here too many other birthdays, but I’m going to sing you a song.” He counseled, “I hope and pray that you will continue with your birthday parties when I am gone, for it will keep you close together.”


Peter Monsen died just two months before his 95th birthday, on 9 February 1924. On his death bed he sang “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.” He was buried 12 February 1924, in the Mt. Pleasant City Cemetery by his two good wives. He was among the noblest of all creation. He was careful in the use of language, as well as saying ought against his neighbors. He never spoke profanity, nor spoke untruthfully. He and his wives were outstanding citizens, and devout Latter-day Saints. We can justly and proudly refer to them and their accomplishments with pride and admiration, and be thankful that we are of the lineage of such people. They unselfishly moved about in duty’s call, complying with one of God’s first commandments: multiply and replenish the earth. Under humble circumstances, they reared a large family which would seem impossible today. Peter at no time owned more than 40 acres of land, upon which 16 children were reared to maturity with five others dying in childhood. Despite the privations as would we considered today, or perhaps because of the manner in which they lived, the children grew to man and womanhood with clean, strong bodies, and pure minds instilled with honesty, truth and honor. Peace, harmony, and love were characteristic in the family. That same feeling prevails among their posterity.



POSTERITY

Children of Peter Monsen & Dorthea Nielsen:



Stena &  J.C. Madsen 7 children



Sena &  Peter Peterson 2 children



Joseph &  Anneta Neilsen 3 children



Dorthea & George Christensen 3 children



James & Mary Ann Poulsen 10 children



Lena & Andrew Jensen 11 children



36 children



Died in childhood: Christian, Peter






Children of Peter Monsen & Annie Christensen:



Amelia & ; Thomas Kirby 10 children



Sophia &  Hans Poulsen 4 children



Annie &  Erick Ericksen 8 children



Josie &  Peter Anderson 6 children



John & ; Annie Blake 5 children



Christie & Marinus Beck 11 children



Nora &  Gilbert Beckstrom 7 children



Peter and; Kate Gillman 11 children



Olevia and; Joseph Johansen 7 children



Esther & Albin Merlin Anderson 6 children



74 children



Died in childhood: Peter, Tina, Mary



Peter Monsen’s children and grandchildren totaled 110. His descendants on the 100th anniversary of his leaving Denmark totaled 679.



PETER MONSEN’S WIVES

DORTHE MARIE CHRISTENSEN       ANNA CHRISTINE CHRISTENSEN

Biography sent in by Guy Pearce, a descendant


Peter Monsen (Mogensen) as Remembered by His Son, James

Peter Monsen (Mogensen)

He was always ready and willing to answer to calls made upon him from church or state.

The first steam sawmill brought to Mt. Pleasant was by Peter Y. Jensen, and placed in Cedar Creek Canyon. But before it could be placed, a road had to be constructed.  Father was the supervisor.

Father assisted in the leveling of the hill where the Manti Temple now stands, after which a sawmill, called the Temple  Sawmill, was placed in Twin Creek Canyon, where lumber was sawed to be used in the construction of the Temple.  The work was carried on winter and summer.  Men donating their work, with few exceptions, who were paid temple-scrip, with which they could buy such commodities as were donated by the people.

Under my observation, father supervised the work in winter time.

The use of oxen or horses to drag the timber from the mountainside was prevented by the depth of the snow, which was at times seven feet.  The trees were felled and cut into certain lengths.  With hand spikes and such appliances as were necessary, they  slid the logs from the hillside to the bottom of the canyon; from whence they were hauled to the mill upon bobsleds, all home made.  The lumber from the mill was hauled to Manti by team, all donation work in which father participated,

When the Snow Academy was built, he furnished teams, with no pay, to haul brick from Mt. Pleasant to Ephraim.

On or about 1863, he and Mads Madsen were called by the church to go to Circleville as colonizers.  I heard father say they left home with each a yoke of oxen and a wagon, arriving in Circleville about April 1st.  They proceeded at once to build log houses in which to live.  They had with them their second wives, my mother and Mads' first wife being left at home to care as best they could for what little they had.

The timber from which they built their homes was not far away; since there were no shingles or lumber available, they were necessarily satisfied with a dirt roof as well as a dirt floor.

The soil there was very fertile.  They broke up and planted enough ground to raise 1000 bushels of wheat.  there being no threshing machines then, the grain was threshed by tramping their oxen over it.  When the grain from the first layer spread out was thoroughly tramped out of the straw, there still remained chaf and fine material which had to be separated from the grain.  So they cleared the ground and when the wind was favorable, with a small hand scoop they cast the grain out against the wind , thereby separating it from the chaff.  When this was done, they took what they could haul in their wagons, leaving the rest to be distributed among those remaining, returning home to Mt. Pleasant in November of the same year.

Father was among the first to build a home outside the Fort. It was a two-room structure twenty-eight feet long, with large beams along the top placed in half roof shape, to carry the dirt which answered the purpose of shingles.  There was also a dirt floor.  Aside from that, he built three other homes.

He was in the city council two terms and councilor to Bishop Seely several years.  He was ready and on hand to serve in any capacity where unto he was called.

During the United Order, he was captain of the men who worked in what is called the Old and South Field.  However, he was one of the first to withdraw from the Order.  I  well remember how deeply concerned mother was about it.  Some of the neighbors went so far as to say that he was on the way to apostasy.

One day in his hounds in the field where men were engaged in irrigating, he arrived at a piece of his own land where a man was supposed to be irrigating, he found the water all going down a dead furrow of summer fallowed land, and no  man in sight.  After searching around, he found the man sound asleep in the shade of the willows, and when he asked how the water was going, he answered, "I suppose it's running to the west.", which was the slope of the land.  That, associated with many similar conditions, drew disgust from my father, to the extent that he withdrew from the order, but not until it had been given a fair trial.

At the age of sixty-six, he went on a mission in Denmark;being gone about twenty months.

After his return he proceeded to care for his small farm as in the past, and continued to do so until physically unable.  He had a few livestock to care for until he died at the age of ninety three past.

MOSES MARTIN SANDERS and AMANDA ARMSTRONG FAUSETT SANDERS Pioneers of the Month - December 2009

Moses Martin Sanders was born on the 17th of August 1803, the son of David Sanders and Mary Allred in Georgia.  He had two brothers and two sisters; William Hamilton,  David James, Sarah and Nancy sanders.  Two of the children were born in Tennessee, where his parents moved sometime after they married in about 1802.  Moses Martin married Amanda Armstrong Faucett on the 12th of January 1826.  They were the parents of twelve children: 

     William Carl ------------4 Dec 1826 ------------Died 18 Aug 1827

     Richard Twiggs--------31 May 1828

     John Franklin----------- 5 Mar 1830

     Rebecca Ann ---------- 5 Mar 1832

     Martha Brown-------- 25 May 1834

     David Walker--------     1 Sep 1835

     Joseph Moroni -------  25 Dec 1836

     Sidney Rigdon--------- 10 Mar 1839

     Emma------------------  23 Jan 1841

     Eliza Jane--------------     4 Jun 1843 -------------Died in 1847

     Hyrum Smith----------    10 Jun 1845-------------Died in 1845

     Moses Martin Jr.------   21 Feb 1853

Moses Martin and Amanda were members of the L.D.S. Church in its early infancy and suffered inhuman treatment at the hands of mobs in Missouri along with the rest of the early Latter Day Saints.  During the Nauvoo Period, the Sanders family lived neighbors to the Prophet Joseph Smith and his family.  Moses received his patriarchal blessing in Nauvoo, given to him by Isaac Morley.

When the Prophet Joseph Smith called for members of the Church t5o bring in their deeds to their property in Missouri, Moses Martin was among the first to come.  The  Propghet said to him, "Brother Sanders, you have done this day that which will entitle you and your posterity to an everlasting inheritance in Jackson Co. Missouri."

Moses Martin received his endowments in the Nauvoo Temple on January 1, 1846.  while in Nauvoo, Moses Martin married a second wife before they were driven from there.  Her name was Mary Jane Sanderson.

In 1859, Moses Martin and some of his married children were called to Sanpete County.  They helped to build the fort in Mt. Pleasant, and then moved north to Fairview.  While the men were busy building a fort and church in Fairview, the women resided in Mt. Pleasant.

In 1865, Moses Martin and his married sons were called to the Dixie Cotton Mission in Southern Utah.  Here again they shared the trials, hardships and toil that went into the conquering of a new frontier, as well as a new industry ----cotton.  They also worked on the building of the temple in St. George.  Moses Martin had quite a lot of land and cattle there.  Moses Martin Sanders died at St. George on November 8, 1878. 

the above is taken from the "Sanders Saga"  family newsletter

Lieutenant General, Joseph Smith on his horse "Joe Duncan"

given to him by Moses Martin Sanders.

While living in Nauvoo, Moses Martin sanders and his wife Amanda Armstrong Faucett Sanders lived as neighbors to the Prophet, Joseph Smit, and they cherished their association with the Smith Family.  Moses owned a very beautiful, but unruly horse.  as Moses was often away from home, performing church duties, it fell to the lot of Amanda to lead this horse to water and she was really afraid of him.  He was very high spirited.

One day the Prophet Joseph said to his neighbor, Moses, "Brother Sanders, give the horse to me and I'll promise that you will never lose by it."  Moses Martin replied, "I would, but I am afraid that he may hurt you."  Then the Prophet said, "No, he would never hurt me."  So Moses tossed him the rope and said, "He is yours."  The horse was called "JOE DUNCAN", a very beautiful, intelligent animal.

The picture above shows the Prophet Joseph Smith dressed in his Lieutenant General uniform.  The Prophet rode this horse in maneuvers of the Nauvoo Legion and many other occasions.

AMANDA ARMSTRONG FAUSETT SANDERS

Amanda Armstrong Faucett was born May 6th 1810, the fifth child of Richard Faucett and Mary McKee.  Before she was sixteen years old, she married Moses Martin Sanders who was then twenty three.

She and Moses lived neighbors to  the Prophet Joseph Smith and family in Nauvoo.

Her life was one move after another and always to new frontiers where it was very difficult and often dangerous.  she was a helpmate and companion to her husband.  She gave birth to 12 children.

She was given a patriarchal blessing by the Patriarch, John Smith.  Her blessing told her that she not only shared in the priesthood of her husband but in the absence of Elders, she should have power to heal her children by the laying on of hands.

Amanda  helped pioneer Mt. Pleasant and also Fairview in 1859, then in 1865 they were called to the Dixie Mission near St. George.  There they built a sawmill and furnished lumber for the St. George Temple.  While living in St. George, she lost her husband and moved back to Fairview.

In 1881, she and some of her sons answered the call to help colonize Arizona.  They moved to Tonto Basin.  this move was about the twelfth move for Amanda.  She passed away on April 24, 1885.

Jacob Hafen - Pioneer of the Month - November 2009

Jacob Hafen was born February 16, 1836 in Canter Thurgau, Northeast Switzerland.  Because of old and absolute laws the people in this fertile and productive country suffered much.  The poor people were so limited in their opportunity to make a living, and their schooling was limeted accordingly.  However their working hours were not limited as they are today.  Jacob learned the trade of shoemaking but he had no money to pay for his learning.  After his apprenticeship, he was required to work at the shoemaking bench a year or more without compensation.  From 6 a.m. until 8 p.m., summer and winter Jacob sat at his bench tapping and trimming.  Thrilled with the thought he could soon be master of a trade and then could assist his good parents in the maintaining their humble home.

 Thurgau, his birthplace was known for its fine fruits, therefore the place was nicknamed Ciderindia.  The plentiful production and use of cider gave rise to this name.  The custom was to serve the workmen in the fields a piece of bread and a cup of cider.  The work would then continue til dusk.  Then the evening bell "Angelus" would call the tired workers home to evening chores and supper.   At mid-day the town clock located in the belfry of the village church would announce with twelve strokes the hour of dinner.  Recreations were few indeed for these humble farm folk.  A dance usually started in the afternoon and a recess was called for chores and supper; then back to the dance until midnight, this procedure was really a rare occasion.



Their main recreation was singing.  There were many small singing organizations who would hold joint festivals much like the Welch Eistefodds.  God had given Jacob a wonderful singing voice.  When he sang we heard not only his voice but his heart sang as well.  Jacob was a jocular, good natured fellow.  He made friends easily and held them all through life.  Thus the Mormon Missionaries found our twenty-four year old Jacob in Thurgau.  He and his two sisters accepted the gospel.  The rest of the family couldn't understand the "Spirit of Gathering" that was calling these three away from their family and friends.



Western America was an almost unknown country to these humble swiss farm folk.  In 1861 they embarked on a sailing boat with other immigrants and Mormon converts.  They were tossed to and fro on the ocean for many weeks.  For Jacob, this long journey was an eventful one.  On the boat was a very attractive young woman named Annie Catherine Naef.  She, too had a wonderful singing voice.  So through the gift of song they soon became sweethearts.  The weeks on the ocean were almost too short for these two young adventurers, whose hearts were bursting with songs of love.



How happy they were to put their feet on this, our American soil.  But America was just in the beginning of the Civil War;; hence, new dangers threatened these lovers.  But Jacob had been schooled in hardships and he had fiath that God who led them safely across the ocean would lead them across the mountains and plains to their destination in the valley of the Great Salt Lake.  They arrived in Salt Lake City in the Captain Jones Company in the year 1861.  From there they went to Payson where they were married and lived for three years.  Their next move was to Fort Hambleton which was then a new settlement in Sanpete.  They there took up a homestead and started anew.  Their stay at Hambleton was short. They were called to Richfield.  All went well for two years, then the Black Hawk War forced them to return to Hambleton, now called Mt. Pleasant.  It was here where Jacob and Annie Catherine established the Hafen home.



The boots and shoes Jacob made were of the best workmanship.  Many of the old  people of our community today (early 1900s) remember the happiness that came to them as children when they received a pair of brass tipped shoes made by Hafen, the shoemaker.



He never became wealthy in earthly goods, but every day brought a wealth of joy to the humble shoemaker.  His sense of humor, his charitable nature, his honesty, his faith in God and his righteous living was an inspiration to all who knew him.  Many nights when this tired tradesman would take an inventory of his days work the charity work he did far out balanced the paid jobs.



Because of the Indian trouble there was a militia battalion organized under the leadership of Major James Jorgensen who had served in the Danish Army. Jacob Hafen took part in this and at one time when Jacob was on duty when the drums were calling the men to be ready to fight, he was obliged to lock his wife, Annie Catherine and the baby, Hermina, in their dugout home, lest the prowling redskins would molest them.  She would hide in the corner where she could watch every shadow that came within the range of the one small window that lighted that cellar room.  Suddenly, the window was darkened and as she stared, she saw the face of an Indian pressed close to the window pane.  She didn't know how long he stayed there.  Minutes seemed like hours and an hour seemed an eternity before Jacob returned and found his wife on her knees praying, asking God to keep baby Hermina from awakening and crying.



John Hasler organized a brass band and Jacob played the bass horn.  The village wanted permancy of this organization so ten acres was given to each member.  Jacob received his ten acres along with others and it was known ever after as the Brass Band Field.



There is, however, another episode in Jacob Hafen's life that must be recorded.  With the consent of Annie Catherine, he married and brought across the threshold another wife, Lizetta Ott.  Six children were born to this union.  Three girls and three boys.  She had recently arrived from her native land, in company with her widowed mother, Elizabeth Winkler Ott.  This marriage like the previous one was happy, though troubled by the persecutions of the so called Edmunds Tucker Act.  Consequently, this good man whose family life was exemplary, who was innocent of breaking any criminal law.  Because at this time there was no law in Utah against plural marriage. 



Jacob returned to his native land on a mission in 1883-1885.  On the eve of his departure he sold their best cow to help pay his fare, and he left the wives and children in the hands of God and the community.  These wives and children were equal to the occasion.  The mothers had been schooled in the art of homemaking.  One wife was a fine baker of bread and cakes and the other was a good organizer as well as a good seamstress.  They were educated in the fine arts of lacemaking and embroidery.  They gathered the fruit from the straw stacks and braided it in five and seven strands and sewed the strands to make hats for the next summer trade.  Then all went gleaning over the wheat fields that they might have flour for bread.



The home of the Hafens hummed with activity.  Everything in and out of the house was cleaned and scoured.  The white pine floors and benches were scrubbed with sand and water.  The hand-made lace fillet curtains were taken down from the windows and laundered.  Every cup, plate, pot, and pan was scoured with ashes to give them an extra polish.  Why? Because Father Jacob was coming home! How happy this family of two wives and many children were.  Each doing the different tasks assigned them by their mothers.  There was work for the tiniest hands.  Tiny hands could scour the knives, forks and spoons with ashes.  Tiny hands could polish the shoes of the entire family by applying soot mixed with mutton tallow and brushed with a home made brush.  The brass kettle was made to look like gold scoured with salt and vinegar.  When the house was in order the wives decided to make an arch over the white picket gate for the joyous occasion.  The children were sent out to gather wild flowers to bind it with.  Each child was to bring an armful of flowers and their mothers deft fingers soon arranged them around the green willow arch that was later placed over the gate. "Put my sego lillies on top so Father will be sure to see them." said one little girl.  "No put my blue bells where he will see them." said another.  "He will like them best." said a third child.  Then the wise mothers said, "No, there are no favorite flowers with father and no favorite children or wives."  So the sego lillies, bluebells, indian paint brush, violets and daisies were all twined around the arch that Jacob walked under that never to be forgotten afternoon.  Over the door he entered he read "Welcome Home Father" printed with charcoal on a piece of white muslin tacked above the door.



Jacob had been in hiding for several months which was a hardship on the wives and children as well as himself.  Picture, if you can, two deputies riding up to the house, one went to the front door and one to the back door.  Forcing the door open and demanding to know where their father was.  These children who had been taught to always tell the truth knew that if they told the deputy the truth, their father would be caught so the only answer they could wring from them children was "He isn't here."  Jacob tired in a few months of evading the law and gave himself up.  He was tried with a group of "cohabs" as the prison officers called them and served three months in the Utah Penitentiary.  This was in 1889.  On June 21, Jacob returned to his family in Mt. Pleasant.,



Jacob was a member of John Hasler's Swiss Choir.  They practiced one night each week at different homes.  The object of the choir was to sing at the Swiss meetings, held in the Hague home on South State Street, and they all loved to sing.  This was a great advantage to the children of the Swiss families.  The children would stand around and drink in every note during the practice, and many times had memorized the songs before the older folks did.  Jacob could sing either bass or tenor.  Refreshments of crackers and cakes with cider or beer were served at these practices.



Jacob and his two wives would go serenading at night whenever the spirit of singing would move them.  Especially at Christmas time.  They would share their gift of song with all their neighbors and friends.  No medicine was ever used in the Hafen home except herbs and Hyrum Winters Pills.



Not only the family, but the entire community was happy when Jacob returned.  Many little feet needed shoes Jacob could make.  The Swiss Choir needed the encouragement he could give them.  Young and old needed the jovial salute he would give wherever you would meet him.  His sense of humor made him popular with all people.



One day a man who had "strayed from the straight and narrow" path many times knocked at the Hafen door.  "Brother Hafen", he said, "I know I am not a good man, but I am the father of a baby girl." "Would you come down and give her a name and a blessing?" "I know if any man's prayers reach heaven, yours will."  Needless to say, Jacob complied with the request.



The Hafen children were baptized on their eighth birthday regardless of the time of the year.  Many times the ice on Pleasant Creek had to be broken so baptism could be performed.  The Hafens were an ideal plural family.  In the morning and at the close of day the whole family would kneel in a circle for prayer.  Each child taking his or her turn to thank God for their many blessings.  Jacob was a man of great faith.  He was called out many times at night to administer to the sick. 



Jacob and Annie Catherine Hafen celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on September 21, 1911.



Jacob Hafen was called to the Great Beyond on March 22, 1919.  His wife, Annie Catherine following on the 4th of May 1923.  His wife, Lizetta on the 9th of March 1932.  They left behind a numerous posterity of faithful Latter Day Saints and the God-given gift of singing voices has been handed down to the succeeding generations.  Through the death of Jacob Hafen Jr. in France October 6, 1918, the honor of  Gold Star Mother was bestowed upon Lizetta.

Paul Paulsen Dehlin and Elna Waldemar Dehlin - Pioneers of the Month - October 2009

PAUL PAULSEN DEHLIN
Biographical Sketch by Blenda Dehlin Hampshire

Paul Paulsen Dehlin, born May 4, 1830, in Skana, Sweden, baptized
by Niels Adler, 1855, was married the same year to Elna Waldemar.
When a young man, he learned the cabinetmaker's and mason's trade and
was a journeyman in both. He was a contractor and builder in Malmo,
Sweden, for some time and while at this work heard the Gospel of
Mormonism preached and joined the Church. He was the first one in his
family who did, and was the means of converting three of his own sisters,
his wife and her father and mother, two brothers and one sister. Was a
missionary in Sweden and was arested and jailed once for preaching the
Gospel.

He left Sweden in the spring of 1859 for America. It was a tedious and
long sea voyage in the early days on the slow sailing vessels. Seven weeks
is a long time on the ocean and when that was over, there was the long
journey by land which Paul Dehlin and those depending on him had to think
about. He was intending to come by way of handcart but when he saw how
 hard it was going to be for them all he gave up the idea of going that way
being a little short of cash to provide for them all, but in cases with him
he mastered the situation. He gathered up his own and his wife's jewelry
and sold it to buy a wagon and ox team, which was slow enough traveling,
but way ahead of the handcart and so much more convenient and easier for the
women andchildren as well as his wife's mother and father who were getting
along in years.

He came with Robert F. Neslen's Company and walked all the way
and drove the ox team. A good part of the way carried his little daughter less
than two years old. Managed the trip for his wife and child, her parents, two
brothers, one sister and her little girl and his own sister who were all
depending on him, arriving in Salt Lake City, September 15, 1859. They
went to Mt. Pleasant which was the first year's settlement of that town;
lived there a short time, then moved to Salt Lake City; lived there a short
time, then moved to Tooele but did not stay there very long either. He again
went back to Mt. Pleasant where he settled for good. He was looking for a
suitable place to start a furniture business, and there is where he made and
sold all kinds of fumiture and sold all over the country as his was the
largest furniture business outside of Salt Lake City.
On October 17,1869, his wife died leaving five children, the oldest
12 years old, and a baby boy l8 months old. Elna Dehlin was a very devoted
wife and mother; lived only for her little family; it seemed hard for her to
master the American language, yet when the Relief Society was first
organized in Mt. Pleasant she was chosen second counselor to Mrs. M.F.C.
Morrison, President, and she held that position when she died.
The year following his wife's death, he married a young woman, Julia
Hansen, but she did not make a very happy home for his daughters. His
sister took the little baby boy when the mother died and she raised him to
manhood.

In the spring of 1871 he was called to fill a second mission to
Scandanavia and sailed in company with Anthon Lund and Canute
Peterson, arriving in Copenhagen, May 6, L871. He was appointed to
preside over the Skane Conference, Sweden. He filled a very successful 2
year mission, said he never felt better in his life, but there was a time during
those two years that was very serious. He contracted small pox in the very
worst form; said he was a solid mass from head to foot, and when the mass
peeled off, all the hair on his head came off with it, leaving him entirely
bald. When first taken sick President Peterson forbade the Saints to come
and see him. He set two people apart, blessed them and promised them that
they would not catch the disease, and the promise was made good; but one
young missionary was determined to see him, said he was not afraid of any
disease, but he contracted the disease and died, but the two whom President
Peterson blessed and set apart, the disease had no effect on them, although
they were with him night and day and cared for him until he was well again.
He sailed for Copenhagen, June 27,1873 on the ship 'Pacific". He arrived
in Hull, England on June 30th, sailed to Liverpool on the "Wisconsin" on
July 2nd. He arrived in New York on July 15th and then in Mt. Pleasant on
July 24, t873.

He lived less than two years and was stricken with a severe case of
typhoid fever of which he died June 6, 1875. He left the young wife with
two small children, besides the five children by his first wife, four daughters
and one son. While on his mission he arranged to have his oldest daughter
attend the University in Salt Lake City to study to be a teacher, and on his
deathbed he exacted a promise from her to keep the four sisters together so
they would not be separated. This she did and for six years these sisters
lived together. Hilda, the oldest taught school, Blenda the second oldest
kept house, Augusta and Eda attended school and in time they also became
teachers. Blenda was offered a position as a clerk in the Mt. Pleasant Co-op.
She was the first lady clerk who ever clerked in a store in Mt. Pleasant.
While on his last mission, besides keeping Hilda in school, he placed
Blenda with his sister who already had the little boy. Augusta and Eda with
another sister, for them to take care of his motherless children during his
absence, while his wife lived in a home of her own.

It was a wonder to a great many of the people of Mt. Pleasant to see
these four sisters live along together and support themselves. It so happened
that when John grew to manhood, was called on a mission to Sweden, he
labored in the same district his father had been a missionary twice.
Paul Dehlin was a real businessman and a good financier. He was a
member of the City Council and on the directors of the Mt. Pleasant Co-op.
Charlie Hampshire, clerk in that institution said that Paul Dehlin gave him
more insight to the business than all the rest of the directors put together.

He was a member of the first brass band in Mt. Pleasant and was a
minuteman in the Black Hawk Indian War. He was loved by all who knew
him or whomever he came in contact with. Many a person in need who
asked for help never went away empty handed.
George Q. Cannon once told one of his daughters when talking to her
as she had one of her baby boys in her arms, said, if any of your boys is
mechanically inclined whatever, you do let him follow his grandfather's
trade, for more thorough or better workman I have never known. I have
always admired him and loved him as though he were my own brother.

written by Blenda Dehlin Hampshire

Augustus and Ann Catherine (Porter) Nelson

Augustus Gustave, known to his friends as A.G. was born 21 October, 1851 in Norrvidinge, Malmus Sweden. The son of Hans Nilsson and Olive Poulson (Dehlin). This Swedish father was an excellent farmer and made a good living for his family of six children in Sweden.

When Augustus was ten years old, the Mormon Missionaries converted the family to the Latter-Day Saint religion. They were naturally religious and soon found the principles of the new church suited their beliefs and gave them new freedom of worship. Mormons were not popular so they found themselves without friends and the urge to go to Zion became very strong. The decision to go was made and they sold their home and farm and booked passage for America. They left behind all that had been dear to them.

The trip across the ocean was a long tragic one. Three months of rough seas and many storms. The lack of good drinking water, poor food, and impure air impaired their health. When about half-way across the ocean, measles broke out among the passengers. The children suffered most as there was no room to quarantine the sick. Their low vitality caused the disease to be extremely hard. The Nelson children were all sick at the same time, giving the parents no time for special care or rest. Three of the children died and one was lefft almost blind. It is hard to visualize the depth of their sorrow as the bereaved parents watched while their fifteen-year old son, Anders, almost a man, was tied in a blanket and slid down the plank into the rough black water. Most of the burials were done at night to save the passengers the terrible ordeal of watching a loved one swallowed up in the cold uncaring sea. A few days later his sister, Anna, a young woman of thirteen years followed Anders into the awful watery grave. Mary survived the disease but her eyes were affected by the high fever and the tragedy of blindness seemed imminent. The darling baby Henrik seemed to be recovering when a sudden change snatched him away. All their efforts were in vain. No words can express the anguish of these loving parents. Now all their attention was given to Mary. Her life was spared but she could no longer see and needed to be guided where ever she went. Out of the six children, Anders, Anna, and Henric died. August, Mary and Nels came to Mt. Pleasant, Utah.

Their trek over the plains was much the same as others. Ox teams carried them to Utah and in due time, they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. Mary's eye sight was beginning to come back, but she was partially blind the rest of her life. The family found their way to Mt. Pleasant in 1863, where they became farmers using their knowledge and experience from Sweden.

On the nineteenth of April, 1876, Augustus married a lovely young lady, Ann Catherine Porter. They traveled to Salt Lake in a wagon, taking two days to make the trip, to be married in the Endowment House. Ann told the story of how she carried on her lap a basket of dried apples and plums to Eliza R. Snow. She was thrilled to be of service to her.

Augustus took up a quarter section of land three miles west of town with Christian Peel. Each man took half. Each built a log house and a log grainery. The logs were hauled by ox team from the mountains east of town, and each man helped the other. They had to carry water from a spring at the foot of the hill up to their homes until a pipe was driven into the ground to make a flowing well of delicious cold water. This well produced enough water for home and garden use as well. To keep milk, butter, and eggs cool,m a box was placed over the water with a burlap sack which absorbed water and allowed fresh air to cool and circulate. This "cool box" as it was called was used for many years.

Cattle did well on the large meadows. Pigs and chickens helped to supply food along with the garden produce. Grain was raised on the rich fertile fields.

Twelve children were born to this humble home. One died in infancy, eleven reached maturity. The log home became too small. so a four rooms of red brick were added to the log home.

The children were educated in a one room school house two miles west of their home. As education was emphasized in their home, the older girls, Olivia, Ada and Mae, as they reached college age were allowed to go to the BYU Academy in Provo. They stayed in homes and worked their way. Here they learned to sew and along with their mothers help they became expert dressmakers. Ada also became a school teacher.

Augustus saw a good opportunity for his growing boys to go into the sheep business. He went into partnership with Andrew Larsen. As the business grew the Nelson brothers purchased more ground and went into the sheep business of their own. This became their life's work.

About 1900, Augustus was stricken with arthritis or rheumatism as it was called. He became confined to his rocking chair, used in place of a wheel chair, for the rest of his life. This interrupted the schooling of the boys as now they were required to do all the farm work. They could get about five months of schooling in the winter as fall and spring were busy times on the farm.

In 1906 the family built a beautiful brick home at First North and Fifth West. Here the abundant life of the family was enjoyed. Memories remind us of marriages, graduations, birthday parties, Christmas celebrations and the homecoming of two sons, Hugh and George from World War I.

December 9, 1918, during the terrible flu epidemic, Augustus passed away. He left behind him a better place. He was proud of his large family of fine men and women. He left much improved farm land and good livestock.

During his illness, he guided his family from his big rocking chair. He kept track of appointments such as water turns, also sheepcamp supplies, and finances.

All his life he remembered, but talked little of the terrible tragedy when crossing the ocean. An impression on a ten year old boy, he never forgot.


Life Story of Ann Catherine Porter Nelson

Grandma Nelson sat by her radio. It did not matter that she was in her 90th year. God had blessed her with an alert mind and a remarkable memory. These modern stories provided her with interesting thoughts to make the otherwise long, dry day full of unusual events. They were typical of the lives of people who had come from all over the world into the great American melting pot, and all had become loyal Americans.

The new broadcasts brought her reminders of her grandchildren, now in the service of our country, and filled her with pride that they were on the side of righteousness, fighting in the air, on the sea and on the land to hasten the overthrow of evil forces in the earth. How grateful she was that she was that every day victory seemed more assured for the allies. Even though there was still a long hard fight ahead it was great to have the assurance that "Truth cruised the earth will rise again. The eternal years of God are Hers." And she still had much to live for - to see the great conflict come to an end, to witness her stalwart grandsons and her sweet granddaughters come marching home again - proud and happy and grateful that they had done their part cheerfully and well.

She loved the music of the Tabernacle and Blue Jacket Choirs on sunday morning and there were many soloists whos clear, beautiful and melodious voices brough pleasure to her throughout the week.

In all of these experiences came reminders of a day gone by - a day in which she was very actively doing her part to make the world a better place in which to live. How often it had been referred to as "pioneering" and she as "a pioneer," and always she had been proud to be called a pioneer.

As she snapped off the power which brought this march of time parading through her mind, she leaned her head back against the cushion on the easy rocking chair in which she sat. She closed her eyes and soon there came drifting out of the past a stream of events as interesting and definite as any story she had heard coming from the radio.

Her father was James Buchanan Porter, the son of James Porter and Elizabeth Buchanan, a sister of Jame Buchanan who was the President of the United States from 1857 to 1861.

James B. Porter was born May 4, 1805 at Buffalo, Cumberland county Pennsylvania. He was the eldest of six brothers including George, John, and Henry, and one sister, Rebecca. When grown to manhood, he left his childhood home and married Elizabeth Slaughter who had fallen heir to a good home because she had cared for an aunt and uncle until they died..

It was here that they together embraced Mormonism and began moving, with the Mormons, from one place to another until finally they located in Nauvoo where they were living at the time of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, the Patriarch, Hyrum Smith. With other Nauvoo Saints they experienced the trials of that period, being camped near Haun's Mill when the mob struck there. Elizabeth related many times how all night long she feared that they might be slain. She also related how they were present at the meeting when the mantle of Joseph Smith fell upon Brigham Young and they knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that if they followed his leadership they were doing God's will.

How true it is, thought grandmother Nelson, that "Obedience is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams." Always her father had been ready to obey when the great prophet-leader, Brigham Young called. as a result of his obedience, her life had been enriched; blessings too numerous to count had entered her life. Oh, yes, she had felt the pangs of sorrow at the loss of dear ones. She knew the distraction which comes into the mind of one surrounded with troubles and the heartaches of defeat. Many times she had felt that muscle-aching weariness which comes from an overwhelmed body, but always there had been recompense - the satisfaction that she had done her best, and that always she had tried to meet the issue squarely and bravely, and God had "fit her back for the burden".

When the settlement of Mt. Pleasant was started in 1859, again her father responded to the call of his leader to build and operate a tannery and a shoe shop for that community. This was why, in the spring of that year, she had come with her father's first wife, Elizabeth and her family to this settlement in a company led by James Ivie.

In the fall, her mother with her family arrived, and all of them had lived in a three-roomed house in the fort until the tannery and a three roomed house of rock and tow roomed log house were all completed on the corner where the Presbyterian Church and Manse now stand. The shoe shop was a long room built on the east side of the log house where her mother lived.

It was on April 19, 1876 that she was married to A.G. Nelson - her home town beau. A span of mules that belonged to "the order", was hitched to a covered wagon with one spring seat. This was the carriage in which they traveled by way of Nephi to Salt Lake City to become man and wife.

One of the pleasant memories of this trip was a call she made at the Beehive House. Mrs. M.F.C. Morrison, president of the Relief Society in Mt. Pleasant, had asked her to deliver to Sister Eliza R. Snow, a basket of artificial flowers and a letter. The room was full of women, apparently a gathering of some kind was in session. As she was admitted and announced the purpose of her visit, Eliza R. Snow came quickly to her side and very kindly accepted the gift which was greatly admired by all present. "I will see you at the Endowment House tomorrow, my dear girl, and will be at your side to give you whatever assistance you need when you come there to be married." she said - a promise which she graciously kept.

For five years Ann lived with her mother-in-law, Grandma Olive Poulsen Nelson, in her home on the corner where she then lived.

About 1882 Gus went to Salt Lake City to bring home his mother and sister Mary, with her baby, Obedella - her husband having died very suddenly of pneumonia while she was still in child-bed.

At this time Gus and Ann and their three daughters moved to the farm where they lived in a one-roomed log hut until spring when Gus and his neighbor, Chris Peel, went to the mountains and got out logs for a new home. they moved in a year later.

"I suppose," thought Grandma, as she called to mind the many and varied experiences of her married life, "I can truly say that the happiest time of my life was the next twenty-seven years, most of which were spent on the farm in "The Bottoms."
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Gus and his friend, Chris Peel, united in an effort to surround themselves with farm land, a real example of cooperative endeavor to this day. They built a log house on the land they desired to homestead. Here Chris Peel lived to homestead a quarter section of land while Gus went away to work for about six months in order to earn the money to pay the Government for the land, which they then divided equally. Chris settled on the south side of the road and Gus on the north. They helped each other to get out logs to build their homes and later other neighbors assisted them to get the materials and build the school house about a mile west of their homes in order that the education of the children might not be neglected.

Mary Johansen, who later married Ann's brother, James, was the first teacher. Later teachers were Jennie Jorgensen Rasmussen, W.D. Candland, Andrew Larsen, John N. Ericksen and Camilla Lund.

There were many neighbors in "The Bottoms" at that time, and they were a sociable group, meeting often with their families at the schoolhouse for picnics and entertainment. Some of the neighbors were Jos. Johansen, Chris Peel, Aaron Omen, Jens Jorgensen, Peter Madsen, James Larsen, Andrew Omen, Harvey Tidwell, Mons Monsen, August Anderson, Mart Behanan, Andrew and John Johansen, Will Omen, John and Will Tidwell.

When the schoolhouse was sadly in need of repair and teachers could no longer be secured to teach in "The Bottoms", it was necessary for the children to come to town to go to school. Sometimes they rode horseback, sometimes in the wagon. Some of the children stayed in town with their grandmother Nelson and three winters the family moved to town for the winter. When 21 years had been spent on the farm they came to town to live.

Yes, Grandmother recalled, that was pioneering, but it was a happy time full of interesting varied and worthwhile trials which had made life rich in memories and abundant in living.

Now her granddaughter turned on the radio and the room was again flooded with modern drama, music and news. This brought her suddenly back to the present when times are so different but when every day events are transpiring which will help shape the future destiny of the world.

"Pioneering," she said, "consists of taking the lead in shaping the affairs of the world for a better and more abundant living". "A pioneer is one who prepares the way, as a soldier in advance of the army. I was a pioneer of 1859. My grandchildren are the pioneers of 1945."

At the Annual Celebration of the Mt. Pleasant Pioneer Historical Assoication in March 1947, Mrs. Ann Catherine Porter Nelson was crowned Centennial Queen of the celebration - she being the only surviving member of the original group of settlers who came to Mt. Pleasant in 1859.

She was crowned by her granddaughter, Dolma Nelson. After her coronation, the entire cast of the pageant "Memories Through The Tears" passed in review for Mrs. Nelson.

On July 23, 1948, at the age of 92 years, she passed away in the home she and Gus had built where she had so fully lived, and often in memory relived a long life of noble experiences.

Written by Talula F. Nelson

William Fletcher Reynolds -----Pioneer of the Month - - -August 2009

William Fletcher Reynolds

We now have an excellent picture of him - - -Thank you Joanne!

Dictated and prepared by his oldest daughter, Ellis Reynolds Shipp

My father, William Fletcher Reynolds was born on the 8th of August 1826 in Fayette County, Indiana. His father, James Burt Reynolds was in Maryland about 1796. His mother, Eliza Ann Lawrence Reynolds came to America on a "Man of War" vessel in the days of our pilgrim fathers. As yet we have no trace of my father's ancestry, as to their honor and integrity we can never doubt, but for their carelessness in keeping records, we can never cease to regret.

My father, was one of a number of brothers and two sisters, Mary Emeline and Eliza Ann of whom I have often heard him speak most tenderly.

At an early age, he was made an orphan and mostly thrown upon his own responsiblity. However, his innate honesty and industry enabled him to make his way honorably and obtain through his intelligence and genius, a very remarkable power of usefulness which with his generosity, kindness and sympathy were a remarkable combination, proving a blessing throughout all phases of his life. His genial nature and executive ablility made him an ever welcome addition to any group or community.

At an early age, he made the acquaintance of the Hawley Family, where he was ever a welcome guest. My grandparents soon learned to love him as their own son and the early age of 19, he became the husband of their daughter Anna. She was the sainted one to become my mother when but seventeen years old. While regretting so early a motherhood for her, for myself I shall ever feel grateful for the ideal union of those "two souls with but a single thought and two loyal hearts that ever beat as one." Never in my years have I ever known such perfect congeniality between mortal man and woman. Truly the most perfect connubial happiness I have ever known.

It was in those early days that my people first heard and received the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. That same gospel taught by Jesus Christ of former day saints.

In the year of 1852 my happy father left his native land and all his kindred but his youngest brother Levi W. Reynolds whom he sponsored to the far west, greatly to the dissatisfaction of his elder brothers because of their unbelief in what was called by them the Mormon Doctrine. My father was sincere in his belief and enduring faith and joyfully took up his ox whip and steered the way of his covered wagon with his dearest treasures and all his human possessions. He had been a wise and helpful co-worker with my mother's father in the years of preparation for their long journey into the wilderness of the west. He was a true son to his wife's parents and they loved and honored him as did all who knew him for his genial, upright, helpful ways as a husband and father. He was as perfect as a mortal could ever be. As a saint of the living God, his faith and integrity was true to the end.

On that long eventful pioneer journey, his inventive genius, skill and efficiency seemed in constant demand, being ever ready to repair damage for all in need. Never was he too busy to lend a helping hand. He quickly detected defective mechanism in any machinery for which he knew the remedy. In my recollection, I can see him now trudging patiently the old rough trails managing his two yoke of oxen more with his kind words and gentle voice than with the whip in hand. He was ever on the alert to pick up the pretty pebbles or shells for me, and especially any lost or cast off article found along the trail.

One day, it chanced to be two wagon tires which he thought might sometime be utilized for good. He tied them securely to the side of our wagon and there for many weeks they rattled and dangled with every jolt, which yet I seem to hear. But to my childish mind the most assuring music of the journey coming above all the clatter of the moving caravan, was the voice of my father shouting encouraging words and warnings and pointing out landmarks and beautiful scenery. He was eve a peace maker, not only with humanity but with animals. He could see ways and means superior to easing the load. He seemed to know how to ward off stampedes with wild cattle and buffalo which sometimes threatened. He was merciful to the Indians and dangers could be avoided by kindness, "to feed and not fight them."

The now historic touching story of the death and burial and last resting place of our friend and sister in the gospel, Rebecca Winters, could never have been forcefully told had it not been for the wagon tire surmounting her grave upon which my father chiseled the name, "Rebecca Winters 52" making it now an important landmark of the Old Oregon Trail. And it should be a monument of honor to men who sat up through the long night to laboriously chisel the hard iron by the dim candle light of an old lantern. While others slept, he worked and thus exemplified the unflinching innate desire of his honest soul to live a life of service. So in every righteous cause, 'twas thus he gave his precious life to the fulfillment of this purpose. He became immune to smallpox through a severe attack of the confluent variety and thus he in his whole lifetime worked through many such epidemics going where the nearest and dearest ones dared not to go, a constant bedside nurse helping to restore to health, giving hopeful relief in faith and good cheer. And in fatalities, he alone ministered in those last sad rites of burial and removing all possibilities of further contagion, burning and burying every vestige of danger.

On arriving in Utah, our home was first made in Utah County called "the bottoms" near the present site of Pleasant Grove on what was a sort of camping ground for the first winter, but in the spring my father assisted in locating the site for what is now called Pleasant Grove. Its first name was called Battle Creek because of a former battle with Indians on that spot. The first few years were years of struggle and unbounded endeavor. In two cities, Pleasant Grove andMt. Pleasant, he planted the first fruit trees.

Within a very short time after completing his little log cabin for his home, he constructed a planing mill in his granary adjoining. This mill was set in motion with his feet while his dexterious hands succeeded in turning rounds for broken down chairs or any other needed reconstruction of household furniture. Here he would replace the broken fragments with the new he had turned on his lathe. He would reseat the old chairs with green willow, rawhide or rope, polish up with a coat or two of paint, making them look like new. His labor were done in the morning and evenings between strenuous farm duties. As a child I enjoyed seeing the shavings fly in that shop which seemed almost like fairyland as I watched a piece of rough wood fashioned into butter bowls and paddles and rolling pins and potato mashers. The best were fashioned from pieces of mahogany he discovered in nearby canyons. The whole neighborhood was supplied with these useful kitchen utensils. Even as children we had them in our playhouses. Throughout the whole country, my father was known for his genius and handiwork. He had great executive ability which proved a great factor in building a new home in the desert land. His service proved a great blessing to the inexperienced. It was said, he could do anything from building a house to painting the flags for a 4th of July Celebration, or even making a crochet hook for the little girls just learning to make laces for their panties which they so proudly wore with their little white edges showing below their dresses.

We had not long been in Utah when in 1859 my father's quick eye discovered in the dashing waters of the American Fork Canyon, the very favorable possibilities of a grist mill or flour mill where the scanty harvest of wheat and corn could be ground into flour and meal to make our bread and his firtile brain had soon conceived the wonderful ideas, or should we say it was a divine inspiration, for the sustenance and the physical salvation of a righteous, God fearing people. Thus did a true, pure minded man put his hand and head and heart to the work of the construction of this mill which was in good running order in 1859.

In 1862, Grandfather Reynolds built in Pleasant Grove a mill with great wooded rollers for extracting the juice from the native sugar cane. He also constructed metal vats where the syrup was boiled down to the molasses which was such a luxury to the saints. Pioneers brought their sugar cane from many miles to his mill.

One of our first buildings was of logs brought from the hills. This one room structure served for a school house and church activities. For evening service a sagebrush fire in the large fireplace was our only light until the advent of tallow candles molded by our ingenious mothers.

In the building of every domicile thereabouts, my dear father was more or less active for he was naturally skilled in carpentry and all manner of mechanics. In his little shop he constructed a turning lathe which he propelled by treading with his feet. Here he turned the housekeepers rolling pins and potato mashers and made many toys for the younger generations, wooden eggs for Easter and for their elders, repaired broken down furniture and made them new when called for. All this work was done in the evenings and between the hours of laborious farm industries. He made and repaired everything for the people, from a crochet hook to the house that sheltered them. He put new seats in their chairs with rawhide and willow. And best of all he loved and honored by his chosen people whom he not only blessed with his efficient manual service but with his unbounded faith so pure and childlike and yet so powerful to bless a sufferer. So often his humble ministrations brought blessings upon me as a child.

My father, with ready genius strength and brawn and implicit faith, discovered in the dashing waters of American Fork Canyon the motor power for a grist mill where the whole wheat and the golden kernals of corn could be converted into flour and meal and thus he set about to construct a mill for this purpose whidh he did successfully. A little later, down in the valley, he constructed a large water wheel which supplied the power in the Battle Creek waters for running wooden rollers to crush the long sugar cane stocks pressing out the wonderful supply of juice to be boiled in the vats the same skillful hands had constructed and thus was supplied the needed sweets, the molasses for our tables and the sweeteneing for all our desserts and so nice to eat with our corn bread. Now at this late date, I bow my head in reverence and gratitude for the faith and skill and executive ability of my father.

As husband and father I have never seen his devotion equaled. For him, no effort or sacrifice was too great to make for his beloved Anna. And his sacred devotion was mutual. What an example to their posterity, for which I as their daughter, can never express my gratitude for the blessing it has proven, for which I as their daughter, can never express my gratitude for the blessing it has proven to me in my own home life. When my mother was ill, my father would climb in the heat of the summer sun to the highest peakes of the Rockies for snow to quench her thirst and cool her fevered brow. No effort was ever too great that could bring blessings to those he loved.

No home life could ever be more blessed than that of my childhood and its sacred influence will live in my soul forever. In heaven it had its origin and there it will live forever. In mortality, it could not long exist. Too much of joy to remain of eearth apart. We found this so sadly true with the passing of my angel mother, January 28, 1861 but with such a father, his devoted love, his divine faith and the gracious love which our Father in Heaven bestows on those whom he chasteneth, we found comfort and strength and blessed resignation. Every day we missed her guiding ministering presence and yet we knew that she, with our Eternal Father's love was guiding us through mortal paths. In gospel truth, my father's faith never wavered and in good works he never faltered.

With a number of others, my father was advised to remove to Sanpete County to build up another center stake of Zion, where a number of new colonies were established. In the meantime he had brought home to us a new mother, and I am assured no nobler stepmother ever lived. I had no fears after a short time of residing in the care of two beloved sisters and two equally loved brothers to her watchful care, for I knew she was a noble woman with a most kind, loving sympathetic nature.

My father soon became one of the presiding bishopric of his ward and once began another mission of reconstruction. Another mill for grinding the grain which soon became very plentiful. This mill was another monument to my father's constructive ability.

In the year 1864, he filled a mission to his native state of Indiana and old home in Iowa where he carried the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to his kindred and all who would listen to the great plan of salvation, making every effort to secure genealogy of his kindred now gone. On his return I was blessed with the opportunity of assisting in this work in the old Endowment House when he visited me in my own home after my marriage. This was a sacred work of great satisfaction to both of us. This glorious work for our kindred dead who never had the privelege of doing for themselves. Later my father and his new family removed to Colorado. My mother's children were all married and settled in their own homes and taking noble part in the same work of their pioneer parents.

Through all these many years of changing, never ending vicissitudes, my father's industries and novle works continued. His faith in the Gospel was unwavering. In 1899 I made a visit, and at the same time utilized my time in teaching classes for women on the art of nursing, while I had these pleasant visits between times. When the parting time came, I had a premonition that our next reunion would be in that "better land" where parting never comes again.

How bitterly I wept as he clasped me in his arms as in the olden days, when he would lull my cries and repeat, "Don't cry, darling." This time how I well understood his comforting words and well I knew his words would come true, "We would meet again." but not in this life. Although in those later years we were so far distant from each other, our devotion for each other never wavered. I knew no child ever had a more tender, kind and helpful father, one more faithful and mindful of a daughter's welfare, more exemplary and wise in his teachings and more lovingly true.

I was far away when his call came. When the sad news reached me, I was an orphan indeed! I had already said my last good byes, now I was too far away to reach him. I wasz in a situation rendering a long journey impossible.l I was far from home and all my kindred. No comforting note could reach me, save the echoing of memory, "Don't weep, my child, we shall meet again." At the age of 78 he passed on to his reward. All who knew his integrity and good works knew full well his reward was sure in the highest glories of eternal life. Oh, I feel assured through his spiritual uplifting and daily righteousness of life that he has earned life everlasting and how well we know, "Truth is reason, Truth eternal and that in heaven we have a father and mother there." And those precious ones, our earthly guardians will be there to meet us once again, in perfect blessedness.

Front Row: Wm. Fletcher Reynolds with wife Anna K. Laussen and Emma Reynolds

Back Row: Levi Reynolds, Carl Reynolds, Asa F. Reynolds, and Clara Reynolds Kofford

(sent in by JoAnn Truscott Peterson)