HISTORY OF MARY LARSEN WILLARDSEN

HISTORY OF MARY LARSEN WILLARDSEN 

Sister of Cecelia Kirstine Larsen, they were both married to Jens M. Black

by James L. Willardsen

  

Mother was the daughter of Lars Johansen and Anna Margaret Sorensen. She was born in 

Graceby, Jutland, Denmark, on August 2, 1836. She was the youngest of eight children, 

six boys and two girls.  Two of her brothers were the first of the family to join the 

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It was not long however,until the whole family joined the Church. Mother was
baptized on January 1, 1852, at the age of 16 by Knud Brown. 

On November 24, 1854, a group of about 300 saints set sail from Copenhagen,Denmark 

on board the steamer Cimbria, bound for Utah in America.  They arrived at Frederikshavn 

on the east coast of Jutland at ten o'clock on the morning of the twenty-fifth where 

one hundred forty-nine more emigrants from Aalborg and Vendsyssel Conference came on board. Mother and her brother Jon were two of the passengers
on board.  The voyage was continued on the morning of November 26, but on the morning of 

the 27th, at 2:00 A. M. , the wind turned southwest and began to blow so heavily that an 

experienced sailor deemed it necessary to turn back and seek the nearest harbor, Mandal, 

on the southern coast of Norway.  This romantic place and its surroundings were as much a 

curiosity to the Danish emigrants as the shipload of Mormons was to the people of Mandal.  Here they remained several
days.  On the 7th of December, the weather seemed more favorable, but towards midnight, 

the wind became a terrific gale which shattered the ship's bulwark and broke a number of 

boxes. About 2:00 A.M. of the following day, the captain decided to go back to Mandal 

from where they had come the previous day, but as the waves produced by the wind and 

strong currents made it too dangerous to turn the ship in the direction of Norway, it 

was necessary to go back to Frederikshavn, and they arrived there at 4:00 P. M. on the 

9th of December.  By this time the saints were suffering severely. It is said that on 

their trip crossing the North Sea they experienced one of the worst storms ever that 

made the life of an emigrant company upon the water miserable.  The saints bore their 

hardships with great fortitude and patience. While here, a number of meetings were held 

and the emigrants went on shore to refresh and rest themselves. On December 20th, a third 

attempt was made to reach England. During the night of the 21st - 22nd a worse storm than 

any of the preceding ones arose, threatening the ship and all on board, with utter
destruction.  For many hours the noble Cimbria fought her way against the raging elements,

but at length was compelled to change her course and for the third time the company was 

turned back.  While the captain and crew began to feel discouraged, the saints continued 

cheerful and thankful for their preservation.  About 2:00 A.M. on the morning of the 22nd 

of December, the wind suddenly changed to the north and they immediately steered for Hull,

England.

  
     On December 25th they continued their journey by rail from Hull to Liverpool where
they joined two smaller companies. They remained here for about two weeks. The presidency 

in Liverpool had chartered the ship Helois to take the Scandinavian Saints to New Orleans,

but because the company had been detained so long on account of the storms, the Helois had

been filled with other passengers.  The James Nesmith, together with Captain Mills was 

secured for their transportation instead.  Four hundred and forty emigrating saints set 

sail from Liverpool on board the James Nesmith on January 7, 1855 and arrived at New 

Orleans on February 23rd. 

    Then most of the Scandinavian Saints went on board the large steamboat Oceana and
sailed up the Mississippi River. Seven of the group died on this trip.  On the 7th of 

March they arrived at St. Louis, Missouri. Here the company was divided. In one of the 

camps, cholera broke out and a number of the group died at Leavenworth. From there the 

journey was continued to Salt Lake City, the arrival date being September 7th, 1855.

  
     Mother endured hardships and trials with the rest of the group without complaint
during the hard eleven weeks it took to cross the North Sea.  She became very sick but
her thought's were these as she expressed them, "I had embraced the true Gospel and I
felt that I was in the hands of the Lord, and it did not matter whether I lived or died."
Mother walked across the plains. She and a girl friend started to walk ahead and traveled 

all day -- on the wrong road.  However, two men on horses were sent in search of them. 

When the girls saw the men they thought that they were Indians.

     Her parents and the rest of the family had emigrated the year previously and had
settled in Weber County.  All of them took an active part in the Church.  Some were made 

bishops and some were made stake presidents. Later they moved to Spring City, Sanpete 

County. 

     Polygamy was practiced and many were willing to enter into that order of marriage
because of the principle.  They felt that it would advance them and ensure them the
blessings of the Lord. Mother's sister, who was older than she, together with her husband
desired Mother to be one of their family so she married James M. (Jens Mathias) Black.
Of the five children born to them, two of them died.  She found it difficult to provide 

and care for three children with no consideration, and she was advised to leave her 

husband. 

She married Father (Christian Willardsen) in the Endowment House on July 13, 1867, and was

sealed to him by President George Q. Cannon.  She and Father had seven children, three 

girls and four boys.  Father and his first wife had talked of taking another wife, and it 

was she who suggested that he marry Mary Larsen as his second wife and help to rear her 

three children. 

     These two wives got along exceptionally well and were like two sisters, always
considering each others feelings and many times plotting together to get a favor for the
other.  Mother told of times when they were rearing their families that each of them
would have babies near the same age. They lived in the same house and to keep the rooms 

warm in winter they had a small opening in the partition between the two rooms where a 

small stove was placed, and in this way the babies were kept warm. While the boys were too

young to help with the farm work. Mother helped Father pitch hay, shock grain, etc. while 

the first wife did the housework and took care of the children.

  
     At the time when the Church asked the members to store wheat. Mother did her part
for the Relief Society by going out and gleaning wheat in the fields.  Mother served as a
Relief Society teacher for about thirty years.  She was much concerned about the welfare
of her children and whenever she saw them complying with the will of the Lord, she was not

slow to express her joy and appreciation of the same.

  
     Of the 12 children that she had, only six survived to adulthood and five of them
married, all in the Temple.  In order of age they are: Mary Ann Allred, Rasmena Oviatt,
Christian Willarsen, Caroline Braithwaite, Andrew Willardsen (unmarried), and
James L. Willardsen who at present (in 1961) is the only survivor.

 
     When Mother was 77 years old she suffered greatly with a tumor. The operation for
the removal of an eight pound tumor was very successful.  The doctors and nurses were
most attentive. 

     In 1918 the Willarsen Reunion was held at the Monroe Hot Springs. Although Mother,
at the age of 82, was the oldest member in the family, still she joined the others in the
sports and made it possible to say that everyone went in the pool that day.) Mother a
great woman of great faith, very devoted to her religion, and self-sacrificing, died on
March 17, 1920, at the home other daughter Mena Oviatt.

---

HUSBANDS AND CHILDREN

Jens (James) Mathias BLACK (1818 - 1892)

     Erastus BLACK (1857 - ?)
     Mary Ann  Margaret BLACK (1859 - 1927)
     Rasmena BLACK (1860 - 1945)
     Sarah BLACK (1862 - ?)
     Mary BLACK (1863 - 1869)

Lewis Black Biography by Jen M. Black

LEWIS BLACK

(As written by Lewis Black- a son of James M. and Cecelia Christena Larsen Black)

I was born in 1861 and I was a good-sized boy before I saw a match. We went to the neighbors when our fire went out, they used a powdered rag and a flint to start fires.  I was quite old before I saw a stove.
   

I will never forget the hardships and the fear we had of Indians.  On April 6th, Indians attacked a company under Bishop Olsen on the Sevier River near Richfield and killed Lars A Justensen, Charles Wilson, and wounded R. Thompson.  On August 13, 1867, Indians attacked Spring City and killed James Meeks and Andrew Johansen, and wounded William Blain.

    

Some settlers soon built log cabins, but most lived in dugouts, all with dirt roofs. Everything was hauled from Omaha, with ox team, and no money to buy. 

    

On July 19, 1867, grasshoppers came in great numbers and destroyed most all the crops in Sanpete and they stayed here for three years. They were so thick they darkened the sun along about noon you could hardly see the sun, and not a green leaf left on the trees.  People think the depression here today (1935) is terrible.  They should have been here in early days.  This is Paradise today compared to that time when you could not see the sun on a clear day for grasshoppers. In that day the people were honest, neighborly and dependable. 

    

On September 20, 1876, John D. Lee was convicted of murder in the first degree for connection with the Mountain Meadow massacre.  The fall of 1876

I took Tanner Smith down to York Station and we stopped at Bob Statards hotel and John D. Lee also stopped there.  The next morning he came out in the barn and talked to me and some others that were there and he said, "I am to be shot in September."
    

The first real communication over the air with Europe was on December 25, 1929, on Christmas Day. When Belgium, Holland, Germany, and England sent a concert and Christmas greeting to the United States Broadcasting System.  They sent it to short wave to Long Island and then to New York and then to Salt Lake and we received it here in Spring City over K. S. L.  Told me by Angus M. Black, a son.

Lewis and Trena Jensen were married October 27, 1880 and they first lived across the road west from where Eleanor Barney's home now stands.  I was born there and so were all the other children except Mabel.  Then we moved down to the other place, where the folks lived until their death, and the home still stands, one half block north and one block east of my home.
    

In his early years, dad worked in the canyons getting out red pine timber for railroad ties for the Moss Company.  He also did a little farming and cattle raising, although he never owned more than 20 acres, and the lot where the house now stands. He and mother were married 63 years and 5 months and they had many pioneer hardships to face.  Besides raising 6 children of their own, they cared for others than their own.  They made a home for Trena's sister Leate and her brother Jim because their father and mother were separated. 

   

Dad died May 5, 1944 at 1:10 P. M. at the age of 83.  He was a member of the Elders Quorum of the L. D.S. Church.  Lewis Black was one of the first white children born in Spring City on April 18, 1861, a son of James M. Black and Christena Larsen Black, early Danish pioneers.  His parents came to America in a company of 1,800 Danish immigrants, and his father was one of the early shoemakers of the community of Spring City.

    
Mr. Lewis Black married Trena Jensen October 27, 1880, the ceremony being performed by his uncle Lauritz Larsen of Spring City.  The couple later received their endowments and were sealed in the Manti Temple. (March 19, 1902)
    

Lewis Black was ordained an Elder by James A. Allred on March 2, 1902.

    

He was buried in Spring City on May 9, 1944. 

April 15, 1959
    

On the lot formerly owned by Lewis Black and later Angus M. Black, the house now is in a state of remodeling and three large rooms added.   The three rooms built by Lewis Black are still left there.  Francis J. Black, a grandson, is having it built and will live there.

History of Lars Johansen and Anna Margrethe Sorensen

 History of Lars Johansen 

and Anna Margrethe Sorensen

1794-1881

by Ida Beck Stubbs

Laurits (Lars) Johansen and Anne Margrethe Sorensen today are honored by a large posterity. The Johansen-Larsen Family which consisted of five sons and two daughters today are rated by a church genealogist as being one of the families in the church whose descendants make up one of the largest family membership in the church.

In the Danish records one will find the father’s name Laurits Johansen but the children's surname will be found to be Laursen or Lauritsen. The custom at this period of time in Denmark was to use the patronymic system. This is where the patrilineal surname is formed by the addition of "sen" (son) to the father's given name.  This was the case in the Johansen family. The children all changed their surname from Laursen or Lauritsen to Larsen when they came to Utah. One will find the fathers given name in different records to be Laurits and Lars. The large tombstone of Lars and Anne Margrethe in the Spring City, Sanpete, Utah Cemetery has the inscription, "LARSEN" at the top of the stone. Lars and Anne Margrethe's names and dates of birth and death are listed under the LARSEN name.

Laurits (Lars) Johansen was born the 15th October 1794, at Hammer, Aarhus, Denmark, Christened 16th October 1794; son of Johan Conrad Christiansen BENNER and Sedsel LAURIDSEN. (Many family records have the birth date listed incorrectly as the 8 February, 1792.) Danish records can be found to document the correct date. Very little is known about Lars's early life. He married Anne Margrethe Sorensen on the 25th August 1816, at

Sindbjerg, Vejle, Denmark.  She was born the 12th May 1797, Christened 11 July 1797 at Flojstrup, Vindelev, Vejle, Denmark. She was the daughter of Soren Christensen and Kirstine Mortensen. The couple made their home at Grejs, Vejle, Denmark and here their children were born and lived until they became adults. Their first two children (twins) Soren and Ceceila Marie were born the 27th February 1819. Soren died the 2nd June 1817 and Ceceila Marie on the 15th March 1817. Their third child was also named Soren and he was born the 28th March 1822, married (1) Maria Fredericksen or Hansen, on the 1st March 1854. (Archive family group sheet has their marriage date as December 1854), died the 20th August 1891. Johannes (John) was born the 18th December 1824, married Ane Jorgensen, 19th October 1850, died the 15th March 1895. Sedsel Kirstine (Ceceila Christine) born the 11th May 1826, married 1855, Jens Mathias Black, died the 26th November 1906. Christen Grejs, born the 17th September 1828, married (1) 1 April 1857, Caroline Maria Sorensen, died 1 June 1911. Christian "J" born the 21st March h 1831, married (1) 30 October 1853, Barbara Jensine Dorthe Olsen, died 2nd November 1895. Laurits born the 25th January 1834, married (1) 1 April 1857, Maria Thompsen, died 28 December 1887. Maren (Mary) born 2 August 1836, married (2) 18 July 1862 Christian Willardsen, died 17th March 1920.

The Johansen (Laursen) children learned early in life how to work and to seek an education. One of the children (Christain "J" gave an account of his early life and stated he worked in the Grejs woolen mills when he was six years of age. He would work twelve hours each day. Then he obtained his schooling in the evenings, going to school from seven to nine p.m. When the children were around fourteen years of age they would then be taught a trade.  This trade most children would work at the rest of their lives.  The sons all served in the Danish Army. They served during the time of the war between Denmark and Germany, in the year 1848.  It was while the sons were in the service that each one heard the gospel preached, and each one has given account of his own personal acceptance of the gospel and of each one baptismal in to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In the year 1850, their son Johannes (John) was the first member of the Johansen Family to be converted and was baptized the 18th August 1850, and then was followed by Brother Laurits. He was baptized on the 3rd November 1850.  In the spring of 1851 the two sons, Johannes and Laurits came back to their hometown of Grejs to visit their parents and sisters and to preach the gospel. Lars and Margrethe along with Sister Sedesel Kirstine embraced the gospel and were baptized the 24th August 1851. A small branch of the church was organized in Grejs and also branches were organized in neighboring towns of Fredericia and Stone Lihme. Johannes (John) presided over the branches until he was called in 1853 to go to Aalborg to preside over the conference.

In November 1853, son Christian "J" was appointed by Pres. John Van Cott to be in charge of the first emigration Company of the season. On the 22nd December 1853, he with 301 emigrants left Copenhagen for America. Just four days later, on a cold stormy day Lars and Margrethe with their sons Soren and Laurits and their daughter Sedsel Kirstine left their home to sail from Denmark to Liverpool England to begin their trip to their new home in Utah, United States of America. After a three weeks delay in England they finally set sail for America, this was on the 28th January 1854. They sailed on a ship called the "Benjamin Adams". While crossing the ocean their son Soren was married, on the 1st March 1854, to Maria Fredericksen or Hansen.  (Archive record has their wedding date as of December 1854) A wedding luncheon was served which consisted of sea biscuits, bacon and tea. A wedding dance was held on the ship's deck.

The company of Saints arrived in New Orleans on the 22nd March 1854. Then on the 25th they boarded a steamboat to make the trip up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri. Family records state that Laurits was married also aboard ship (but gives the account as when they were crossing the ocean) but according to the date it would have been when they were traveling up the Mississippi River. They were married on the 1st April 1854. The new bride was Maria Thompson.

When they reach St Louis they were joined by another company which had sailed about the same time on a ship called the "Jesse Munn", The Company then made their way from St. Louis to West Port, which is near Kansas City, Missouri. Here the company was joined by another company. This was the company from Copenhagen, under the leadership of their son Christian "J". The company now was at last on their last part of the journey (but the hardest part) to their new home in the Mountains.

The company consisted of 69 wagons with four oxen to the each wagon. 'The company left West Port on the 15th June.  They were never molested by Indians, and they had sufficient amount of meat which they obtained from the many large herds of buffalo witch roamed over the plains. All went well until the dreaded disease of Cholera broke out among the Saints. It was during this outbreak that many of the Saints died and were buried in unmarked graves along the trail.

The Company arrived in Salt Lake City on the 5th October 1854.  After a brief stay in Salt Lake City the family along with other Saints moved to South Weber, or what at this period of time was known as Kingsfords Fort.

Then two years later in 1856 their son Johannes (John) and sister Maren (Mary) joined the family. Johannes had been serving as a missionary in Denmark since his family had come to Utah. As soon as he was released he had started his trip to the new country.  Then in the spring of 1857 the last member of the Johansen Family Christen Greis mode to trip to Utah.  What a wonderful occasion this must have been for the family to once again all be together.

In the year 1858 when the general exodus took place, the Johansen left South Weber and moved to Ephraim, Utah, shortly afterward they moved to Spring City. Here the parents and some of the children made their homes and spent the rest of their lives.

Anne Margrethe Johansen died the 12th, April 1874 and was buried in the Spring City Cemetery. Lars Johansen died the 9 December 1884 and was buried beside his wife. The cemetery lot of the Johansens is located in the East part of the cemetery and a little North ofthe road with runs East and West through the cemetery.

The Johansen Family organization holds their family reunion in August. The family has been very active in doing their genealogy research. At one reunion a brief history of each child was prepared and the following poem was in the booklet:

Come ye descendents of the Lars Johansen Family, with their sons and daughter they crossed the briny sea. Converts of the Mormon faith, they left their native land. Come, Come get acquainted with your family tree. There is Soren, Laurits Christen Gries, Christen J and John. To this these sturdy branches some of you belong. Also many belong to Sister Sedsel Kirstine and Sister Mary too; every branch needs workers to record their posterity. Let not a single branch is lost to this large family tree. This poem was written by Ann Ellis Larsen the wife of Hyrum Larsen.

Biography of Lars and Anna Margrete Johansen

Biography of Lars and Anna Margrete Johansen

In the early part of the Nineteenth Century, in the little town of Hammebund Hammer Sogn, Viele Amt, Denmark, lived a humble family by the name of Johansen, Lars and Anna Margrete.  They had five sons and two daughters: Soren, Johannes, Sesel(Cecelia) Kjersten, Christian Grix, Christian J., Lauritz, and Mary.  There were two others, twins, Cecel Marie and Soren, who died in

infancy.

These children were all known by the patronymic name of Larsen, from the first

name of the father, Lars, which was customary in Denmark.

   

Lars was a farmer and stock raiser. All learned to toil early and late for a living.  They were God-fearing people, honest, straight-forward in their dealings and friendly with their neighbors.

    

Lauritz was born January 25, 1834.  His early years were spent on the farm. At an early age he and his brother Johannes, learned the tailoring trade, and made most of the clothes for the family. His schooling was obtained at night.

    

In the fall of 1849 many Mormon Elders were sent to various parts of the world-mostly to Europe. Among these were Erastus Snow and P. 0. Hansen who was sent to Denmark, and John E. Forsgren to Sweden.  Other missionaries soon followed and converts were made in the Scandinavian countries.  Lars Johansen opened his home to the missionaries, after becoming a convert in 1850.  They made their home there, lovingly bestowing the name of "Father Lars" upon him,

which name he was known by until the day of his death, December 9, 1883, at the near age of ninety-two.

December 22, 1853, Lars Johansen and his family, with the exception of three sons, left Denmark to go to the new world to make their home in Zion.  Johannes, Christian Grix and Lauritz remained behind to assist as missionaries in the work of the Lord and to dispose of the family property.

Lauritz was baptized in 1850, in Copenhagen, by C. Christiansen, and confirmed the following day by J. E. Forsgren.  The 25th of December, 1851 he was ordained a priest and commenced his missionary labors in the Fredericia Conference under the direction of his brother Christian Grix, who was President of the Conference.

He was ordained an Elder August 23, 1852, at the age of eighteen, and appointed to labor in Rengbjobing and vicinity.  In the spring or summer of 1853, he was called to preside over the Vensysel Conference.  It consisted of eight branches with a total of 257 members.  He filled this position with honor.  He was released in the

spring of 1857 to emigrate to Zion.

On April 21, 1857, the ship Westmoreland sailed from Liverpool with 544 Saints, mostly Scandinavians, under the direction of Mathias Cowley. They arrived at Philadelphia on May 31, 1857, and reached Iowa City by rail June 9, 1857.  They started across the plains in the Mathias Cowley Wagon Train. Lauritz, his brothers

Christian Grix and Johannes were members of the group.

   

 The trip across the plains was similar to those that preceded them, full of hardships.  One can see the lurching wagons as they crossed the river beds full of great boulders.  See strong men tugging and straining, turning the wheels by the spokes, then holding them back with all the strength they had, lest the wagon be swept upon a low lying rock and smash itself to pieces.  See them going back to

help others across, being careful lest they lost their footing on the slippery rocks under the water, and themselves be swept down the rapid, foaming torrent.  But to traverse the precipitous mountains bordering the rivers was even less attractive.

    

They trudged alongside the compact wagons with a loaded gun in hand, the vehicles two abreast, and in case of hostile dernonstrations of savages, four or five abreast.  At five o'clock in the morning the bugle would sound the call to rise, assemble for prayers, feed the teams and get breakfast, and at seven o'clock the signal was given for starting.  At eight-thirty p.m. at the sound of the bugle, each

was to retire for prayers in his own wagon, and at nine o'clock all but the sentries to bed. The night was divided into two watches.  The stock was kept inside the enclosure formed by corralling the wagons according to the custom of the plains.

The tongues of the wagons were placed outside with a forewheel of each vehicle locked in a hind wheel of the one ahead.  They sacredly observed the Sabbath, no unnecessary thing being done on that day.  Divine services were held regularly.

  

We see them slowly traveling along the north bank of the Platte River. The regular route was on the south side, but the Pioneers preferred the north, for one reason, to avoid contacting any migrating Missourians, who sought every occasion to quarrel with them whenever they met them.  So for several hundred miles they

had broken a new road over the plains.  It was known for many years as the "Old Mormon Trail".

They passed through the country of the Pawnees, Sioux, Arapahos, and Cheyennes, without violence, except for troublesome things such as stampeding and stolen stock, burning of grass before and around them.  When the feed was destroyed, they felled trees and their animals browsed on the foliage.

Sometimes the country through which they passed was monotonous in aspect, but the vast level prairie, its waving grass swept by gentle winds was pleasing to the eye.  On the left, the muddy waters of the Platte rolled  ceaselessly over beds of quicksand, hidden at times by many cottonwood groves fringing its sandy shores. Little did they think that in a few short years the "Iron Horse" would thunder across the river's majestic course and golden corn fields would wave and flourish over Nebraska's plains.

They reached Grand Island where the prairies swarmed with buffalo. What a treat to have a replenishment of meat.  They killed only what was needed, remembering the instruction of Brigham Young:  "If we slay when we have no need, we will need when we cannot slay. " The hunters supplied deer and geese, and when the mountain streams were reached, fine trout began to be taken from them.

The most difficult part of their journey lay ahead.  High hills, deep ravines, rugged canyons, rock obstructed and choked with brush, and in places fallen timber over which they must pass,, crossing and re-crossing crooked, willow-fringed torrents.  Many times the deadly rattlesnake sounded his warning.

After a succession of mountains on mountains, hills piled on hills, the tired vision of the struggling group saw before their eyes a broader and grander view. Glimpses of open country appeared, and small sections of the Salt Lake Valley were visible, and beyond them loomed the blue and snowy tipped Oquirrhs, and above them the summit of the far-off Onaqui Range outlined against the Western sky.

For the descent the wheels were double locked, lest teams and wagons should rush on to destruction.  The hopeful group pushed on cheerily, their spirits and strength renewed by what they had seen.  Thus dusty, worn and weary, men, women, and children, dusty wagons, tired oxen, and animals with sore shoulders and feet, worn shoes and hoofs, called it "Enough", as they stopped at a small

stream in the Great Salt Lake Valley, September 1857 -- four months and thirteen hundred weary miles. covered with wagon boxes, some one-room log cabins, but no matter how humble, they were homes.  "Home Sweet Home", and to the inmates, the dearest place on earth.

What a welcome in the home of Lars and Margreta Johansen as they welcomed their boys to their meager surroundings.  The early homes were cellars, some covered with wagon boxes, some one-room log cabins, but no matter how humble, they were homes.  "Home Sweet Home", and to the inmates, the dearest place on earth.

But there were more pressing things now.  President Buchanan had ordered an army to Utah.  This had been provoked by vicious letters sent to him by disgruntled conspirators such as W. M. F. Magraw, and W. W. Drummond, Justice of Utah Territory.  The Saints were determined no one but God himself would ever harm them again, so the Larsens, among others, were trained in the jobs allotted them in what is known as the Echo Canyon War, or better known as "Buchanan's blunder. " They did not flinch nor falter but rose to the occasion, met it face to face, and as usual in such cases, came off the conquerors.  The immortal words of Brigham Young shall ring through the panels of history, "from the lies of political hacks

not fit for civilized society has come this newest persecution, but I won't bear such treatment, for we are free as the mountain air.  These people are free; they are not in bondage to any government on God's footstool.  We have transgressed no law, neither do we intend to do so, but as for any nation coming to destroy this people,

God Almighty being my helper, it shall not be. "

He was resolved to utterly lay waste the land, to have his people set fire to their homes and towns.  They were ready to do just that, converting their ten years of industry and their oasis into a desert.  They were ready to start upon another exodus in quest of peace and freedom.

Again he said, "We have borne enough, we shall bear no more.  Come on with your thousands of illegally ordered troops, and I promise you in the name of Israel's God that they shall melt away as a snow before a July sun, and they shall find this land as barren as when we came here. "  Four thousand hands went up in sanction

to this.

    

Fortunately there was another issue in store.  Kansas troubles were revived and the rumblings of a secession from the South were beginning to gain momentum. Captain Stewart Van Fliet interviewed Brigham Young and the Mormon plans were laid before him in plain view.

    

The troops came on but met disaster from Cheyennes stealing their cattle, and from frost and fire.  There was no blood shed by Mormons, but they harassed the troops in every conceivable way.

    

The Larsen brothers were in the Weber Military District under the direction of Colonel Chauncey W. West, District Commander.  Then the call came to move south in 1858.  They filled their wagons with provisions and household furnishings and started another trek, where ?  They neither knew nor cared.  They knew the Lord would preserve them in their struggle and give them courage to carry on their honest religious convictions.

    

Lars Johansen and wife and some of his children were sent to Ephraim, by President Young, where they settled in the Ephraim Fort.  In 1860, some of the brothers, among them Lauritz, moved from Ogden to Spring City.  Being farmers and good ones, as well as rugged individuals used to cold and hardships, they helped build the town which had been laid waste by the Indians in 1856.  Starting from scratch again, they began to till the soil, never forgetting their God and His blessings. Through their efforts and those of other stalwart men, Sanpete Valley became known as the "Wheat Granary of the West. "

Anders Andersen and Mette Christensen's History

History of Anders Andersen, Mette Christensen 
and Niels Christensen

1809 - 1895 by Ida Beck Stubbs

Anders Andersen was born the 31st October 1810, at Fristrup, Aalborg, Denmark, christened the 4th November, 1810, at Aaby, Aalborg, Denmark. He was the only child of Anders Andersen and Mette Jensen. He was a grandson of Anders Christensen & Karen Andersen, and Jens Thomsen & Johanne Christensen. He had two half sisters, Karen and Johanne Andersen. Karen was christened on the 14th July 1799, at Aaby, Aalborg, Denmark, married (1) 19th December 1828, Lars Jorgensen, married (2) the 27th December 1841, Christen Jensen, died the 2nd May 1876, Johanne christened the 12th September 1802, at Aaby, Aalborg, Denmark.
Mette Christensen was christened the 4th April 1809, at Aaby, Aalborg, Denmark. (through research was unable to find a birth date). She was the daughter of Christen Nielsen and Margrethe Jorgensen. She was a grand daughter of Niels Sorensen and Mrs. Niels Sorensen and Jorgen Larsen and Anne Jensen. Mette had one sister, Maren Christensen, born the 28th March 1813, at Raevhede, Aalborg, Denmark. She had three half sisters and one brother.

Anders Andersen and Mette Christensen were married the 27th September 1833, at Aaby, Aalborg, Denmark. They were the parents of five children: Matte Marie, born the 15th November 1834, christened the 22nd November 1834, died the 16th July 1846. Anders Christian, (twin) born the 6th January 1839, christened the 17th January 1839. Maren (twin) born the 6th January 1839, christened the 17th January 1839, died the 22nd December 1839. Maren, born the 25th September 1840, christened the 7th November 1840, married Peter Almertz, died about 1920, buried at Mount Pleasant, Sanpete, Utah. The couple never had any children. Margrethe, born the 22nd February 1844, christened the 4th March 1844, married (1) 22nd November 1861, Jens Christen Jensen. The couple made their home at Mount Pleasant, Utah. They were the parents of five children. She married (2) the 4th October 1875, Jacob (Jensen) Johnson. They made their home at Spring City, Sanpete, Utah. All the children of Anders and Mette were born at Fristrup, Aalborg, Denmark.


One evening when Anders Andersen was skating home he fell through the ice. There were whirlpools in the stream and the ice wouldn't freeze solid on these places. Anders knew these places but it was a foggy night and he lost his way and skated on to one of these places.  He was able to get out of the water by himself and to continue on his way home. However, he became ill with pneumonia and died shortly afterwards.  He died the 5th March 1845, and was buried on the 16th March 1845, at Aaby, Aalborg, Denmark.


Mette had one son, Soren Hansen before she married Anders Andersen.  He was born the 11th June 1833, at Raevhede, christened the 16th June 1833, at Aaby, Aalborg, Denmark. He was the son of Hans Knudsen and Mette. Hans Knudsen was born the 12th July 1813, at Vedsted, Hjorring, Denmark, christened the 16th July 1813. He was the son of Knud Christensen and Birthe Pedersen. Soren Hansen married about 1860, in Denmark Carlene (Lena) Albertine Carlson. They were the parents of eight children.  The two eldest children died young and were buried in Denmark.  Children number three and four were born in Denmark, and the four others were born in the State of Iowa, after the couple had come to the U.S.A.  The couple made their home at Underwood, Pottawattamie, Iowa.

Niels Christensen and Mette Christensen Andersen were married the 29th August 1845, at Aaby, Aalborg, Denmark. Niels Christensen was born the 13th November 1819, at Sonderove, Hjorring, Denmark. A son of Christen Jensen (Under-lien) and Margrethe Hansen. Niels was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1850, however no L.D.S. Branch record in Denmark has the date and the baptismal work was redone for him on the 16th January 1965.


Mette Christensen and her children joined the L.D.S. Church and were baptized in 1860. Once again the record and the dates can not be found in Danish records. Only the date of the daughter Margrethe Andersen can be found, which was the 5th March 1860. The baptismal work for the rest of the family was redone in the years 1962 and 1965.  In the early spring of 1861 the Christensen Family began making plans to come to America and on to Utah. The Christensen family consisted of the Father, Niels Christensen, Mother, Mette Christensen the two daughters of Anders Andersen and Mette Christensen, Maren (Mary) and Margrethe Andersen and the couples two daughters, Andersine (Sene) Margrethe and Mette Marie Nielsen. ( see the shipping record).


On the 16th May 1861, the Christensen Family set sail for America. They sailed from Liverpool, England on a ship named the "Monarch of the Sea". The ship was under the direction of Jabez Woodward. The ship carried more passengers than any other ship had carrying Danish emigrants up to this period of time. There were nine hundred and fifty-five passengers aboard the ship. The ship docked at New York, from here the family continued on their journey to Utah.  The families of the Christensens have no record to their crossing the plains. The family arrived in Salt Lake City, and then continued on to Sanpete County, and settling in Spring City where the family made their home and here Niels and Mette lived the rest of their lives.


Soon after Mette and the family had arrived in Utah she wrote a letter to her mother-in-law in Denmark, but she told the family she never received an answer to her letter. Through research I discovered Mette's mother-in-law (Mette Jensen) had died the same day the Christensen Family had sailed from England, the 16th May 1861. Mette also told her family that her mother-in-law was one hundred years old but the Danish record has her death recorded and has that she was ninety-six years of age. No birth record can be found, therefore no correct age can be proven as to whether Mette's date or the records are correct as to her age.


The two Christensen children were Andersine Margrethe (Sene), and Mette Marie Nielsen. Andersine Margrethe (known as Sene in Utah records) was born the 26th November 1846, but family and Utah records have her birth as the 13th November 1846.  She was christened the 27th November 1846. She was born at Fristrup, Aalborg, Denmark. She married the 10th May 186? to Eskild Christian Petersen (Peterson). The couple first made their home at Mount Pleasant, Utah, then in about the year 1870 they moved to Richfield, Sevier, Utah, and here they lived the rest of their lives. They were the parents of nine children, Andersine died the 24th February 1922, buried at Richfield, Utah.Matte Marie was born the 23rd May 1850, at Fristrup, Aalborg, Denmark, christened the 28th May 1850, married (1) ____ Madsen, the couple had one child, married (2) Daniel Beckstrom.  The couple made their home at Spring City, Sanpete, Utah. They were the parents of five children. Mette Marie died the 12th January 1895, and was buried at Spring City, Sanpete, Utah.


Mette Christensen died the 18th May 1888, and was buried at Spring City, Sanpete, Utah. She was survived by her husband Niels, one son Sorn Hansen, three daughters Maren (Mary) Almerts, of Mt. Pleasant, Utah, Andersine (Sene) Peterson, of Richfield, Utah and Marie Beckstrom of Spring City, Utah. Mette was the grandmother to thirty-five grandchildren.


Niels died the 9th December 1895. He was buried beside his wife Mette. Lot #21 block 13, Spring City Cemetery. The lot is located North of the East and West roadway, and East of the center driveway.