| Notater |
- LDSEP: Hjørring LDSEP: Salling
Kirstin Ericksen (1852-1857)
[Submitted by: Jens Peter Benson Family Organization, Carol Milligan (president), P.O. Box 56, Newton, UT 84327]
Kirstin Ericksen Benson
By Maude B. Jorgensen, Granddaughter, Transcribed by Annette Hancey Lunceford. (Edited 1998)
Kirsten Ericksen was born on 23 February 1837 in Dokkedal, Mov, Aalborg, Denmark and Christened Kirsten Erichsen on 23 March 1837. She grew up in the village of Dokkedal, near the seacoast, east and south of the city of Aalborg. Her parents were farmers and she liked to tell stories about farm life in Denmark. She told how they used to drive cows to pasture, and that a Danish mile was longer than one of our miles. She would tell folk tales of the little elves, and when she worked butter she would always put a cross on it with the butter paddle. She said they always did that in Denmark so the elves wouldn't steal it.
She was an early convert to the church and was a handcart pioneer. Sometime after 1900 Kirstine dictated her "Recollections" of the journey. Maud B. Jorgensen's father, John H. Barker, wrote it for her. Kirsten never learned to write English.
This gives the story in her own words.
Recollections of Kirsten Ericksen Benson
Coming to Zion in 1857
I left Copenhagen, Denmark April 18, 1857 with my father and mother and grandmother. I was 20 years of age and unmarried. We stopped two days in Liverpool and on April 25th left there on the sailing ship "Westmoreland" under Mathias Cowley, President, with 544 saints, and arrived at Philadelphia May 31st, having been five weeks on the sea.
We were eleven days going from Philadelphia to Iowa City by rail, and while on this journey I got separated from the company and was left behind and lost, a young girl in a strange land, no friends and could not speak English or make my wants known. I was telegraphed for and found by the description of the clothing I wore, and made to understand by the hands of a watch that I could go to my company by train at 6:30 that night.
At Iowa City we were organized as a handcart company under Captain Christian Christiansen. There were about 100 handcarts with three ox teams to help the sick and weak and carry some supplies and the tents. We were only allowed to
take 15 pounds weight of clothing, and even bed clothes had to be left lying on the ground as we left our camping place, for no one would buy them from us. This was a very great trial to me, having brought good new clothing from Denmark to leave on the ground for strangers to take.
We then started for Florence, Nebraska June 15, 1857. Each handcart had six persons, but I was assigned to a cart having only four persons: an old couple, a sickly girl and myself. We were heavily loaded with provisions, and myself and the old gentleman were the pulling team. We traveled through a settled part of Iowa for three weeks, burying by the roadside some of the aged and young who had died of exposure and hardships of the journey. We arrived at Florence the latter part of June and laid over one week to rest.
This three-week hardship had proved that my father and mother and grandmother, who was about 75 years old, could not stand the journey, and decided that they stay behind in Omaha. (Her mother was lame and walked with a cane.) I came to the conclusion that I could not leave my parents in a strange country and so made up my mind to stay with them. The Captain of the company, C. Christiansen came to me and advised me to leave my parents, and promised me if I would do so, God would bless me and them, and preserve us. This was a very sore trial to me, but I put my trust in God and
the promise of His Priesthood, and He has brought them to pass. July 1857 we started on the plains. It was a day I shall never forget, full of sorrow in parting from my parents.
About the fifth day out, I was worn out with pulling over the rough roads, up hills and through the sand, and discouraged because I did not believe I could stand the journey, that I came to the conclusion that I might as well die there as suffer longer, and I purposely stayed behind while the company was traveling, and laid down in the grass, expecting to die there, believing there was no one behind me and that I would not be found. Soon after this the Captain came along and found me and helped me along. He promised me that when we came to a hill or sand he would come and help me pull and he kept his promise and helped me. Soon after this the old couple who were with my handcart died, and I was changed to a cart that had six pullers, and my task was much easier than before.
It was now July and August and very hot on the plains and my shoes were worn out. We had to get raw hide from the dead cattle along the road and make shoes for ourselves so as to be able to pull. Crossing the creeks and rivers would make the raw hide soft, and the hot sun and roads would make it hard, and our feet were nearly all the time sore and bleeding.
I, being alone and having no bedclothes, had to sleep in an old shawl in the tent, and coming through the mountains the nights were cold and freezing, and having to get up in my turn in the night to bake bread I was often too warm on one side and much too cold on the other.
When about 200 miles from Salt Lake City we were overtaken by the U.S. Army under General Johnston going to Utah to war with our people, but they treated us kindly, and the army was a blessing to our people in Utah.
About two weeks journey from Salt Lake City the relief teams came to our help, and oh! how thankful I was to be allowed to walk and not have to pull the cart, for I was sick and worn out with the journey. We arrived in Salt Lake City September 13th, having been five months on the way from the time we left Denmark. When I saw how poor the people were in clothing, for they were ragged, I could not help remembering the good clothing we had left behind.
When we arrived in Lehi where my sister lived, I was so sick and weak that I was not expected to live, and Brother Hyde, (later Bishop of Hyde Park) and Brother Rigby were called in to administer to me, but I could not understand a word they said. Brother Benson being there interpreted it for me. I found kind friends who cared for me and nursed me until I was well.
The next year my father and mother and grandmother came into the valley safe and well. ( Ed: They crossed the plains in Capt. Iver N. Iverson's ox-train, which arrived in Salt Lake City 20 September 1858 (3)). And so were fulfilled the promises of our captain, C. Christiansen, made to me when I left my parents in Omaha.
And so also have been the promises of Brother Hyde when administering to me in Lehi. I realize that I have been blessed of the Lord and preserved for my obedience to the counsel of His Priesthood.
Following her arrival, 13 September1857,(4) she was cared for by Mette and her husband. Kirsten was married and sealed by Brigham Young in the President's office 1 November 1857, to Jens Peter Benson, her sister Mette's husband, as a plural wife.
On 16 August 1862, a reunion of sorts was held in the endowment house. Kirsten's father and mother, Marcus and Kirsten, were there to be endowed and sealed. Jeppe and his new wife, Hannah Mathea Hansen, to be endowed and sealed, as well as Jeppe being sealed to Peter's mother, Maren. Christina Maria Aagensen, Kirsten and Peter were there to be sealed a second time following Kirsten being endowed that day. Peter's sisters, Karen and Martha were there with their husbands Jens Nielsen and William Bell.
In the spring of 1868, Peter moved Mette and her family to Clarkston. Kirsten, with her children Alma Peter, Christina Martena, Samuel and Marcus Joseph, stayed in Lehi that summer and raised a garden, and that fall they also moved to Clarkston. Their first home was a log house. Life was hard, Indians frightening, and Kirsten said the first year or two in Clarkston she did not know what it was not to be hungry. When they moved to Clarkston they took along one of the Johnston's Army cannon balls, and they used it to crush or grind the wheat for bread. While Kirsten was living in Clarkston, Alice Marie, Isaac, and Rastus were born, Rastus living only about eleven days. In the fall of 1869, Peter moved Mette and her family to Newton, leaving Kirsten and her family in Clarkston. In about 1874 Peter built a frame house in Clarkston for Kirsten and her family.
In 1876 Kirsten's sister, Mette, died of complications relating to the birth of her tenth child, who died the day he was born. Mette's death left six living children, the two oldest married. Kirsten and Peter decided she should care for the children in Newton. The home in Clarkston was sold to a Mr. Loosle, and Kirsten moved to the rock house in Newton, where Mette had lived. Kirsten now had a family of ten to care for.
In 1879 Peter married Christina Nielsen who had come from Denmark in 1878. He built her a frame home west of the rockhouse, about in the center of the block.
Peter died of "stomach troubles" on 21 June 1898, at age 67. Kirsten's youngest son Isaac was married in December 1898 and he and his wife Lucy Atkinson
of Clarkston made their home with Kirsten in the rock house. Lucy had a sweet disposition and was always very kind to Kirsten. They got along well together.
Kirsten died 22 October 1910, at age 73. She was buried on 25 October 1910, in Newton, Utah. She left two daughters and four sons: Alma, Christina, Marcus, Samuel, Alice, and Isaac, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
- Kommentar af Maude B. Jørgensen
Jeg har mange glade minder fra det gamle (rock)hjem (i Newton), for jeg brugte meget tid der paa at lege med min kusine. Jeg husker saa godt loftslemmen i bræddeloftet i et af soveværelserne ovenpaa, der aabnede ud til loftet, et gemmested, da forbundsmarskalerne kom til byen paa jagt efter dem, der havde mere end én kone.
Udover det almindelige arbejde i et hjem og en familie var der mange andre opgaver i et pionerhjem, saasom at vaske og karte uld, derefter spinde det til garn og strikke sokker og strømper, lave tøj og hatte af halm, der var omhyggeligt samlet og flettet med syv traade, hjemmelavet sæbe lavet med lud fra træaske, fremstilling af talglys og kartoffelstivelse. De lavede ogsaa farvestof fra planter og rødder til at farve garnet. Jeg husker spindehjulet lavet af bedstefar og husker at se mor spinde paa det.
Nogle af de erindringsbilleder, jeg har af hende, er at lave kød, skære brød, se hende lave og stege donuts eller crullers. Hun skar dejen i aflange stykker, lavede en slids i midten, gav dem et hurtigt twist og satte dem i elkedlen. Hvor nød vi unge dem, saa snart de var kølige nok til at spise! Jeg kan se hende pleje babyer, vugge dem i vuggen, se hende skrælle æbler og lægge dem til tørre, skære og tørre blaa blommer (pladsen var fuld af frugttræer), konservere frugt, karte uld, strikke sokker og vanter, kærner, arbejder og støber smør, laver dyner, syr og lapper, læser sit danske blad, skubber saa brillerne op paa panden og glemmer, hvor de var, og har alle omkring sig paa jagt efter dem. Min søster Sue husker, hvordan hun elskede at faa nogen til at børste og rede hendes haar. Hun bad højt, hun bad ikke bare sine bønner, hun talte virkelig til Herren, som om han var lige ved siden af ??hende. Hun var en lille kvinde; Jeg vurderer ikke mere end fem fod en eller to tommer, havde blaa øjne. Hun mistede aldrig sin danske accent, og da vi unge var særligt provokerende, skældte hun os ud paa dansk ved at sige "skam jer". Jeg husker det forstørrede billede af hendes forældre, der hang paa væggen i hendes værelse, og et smukt cremefarvet silkesjal, som hun plejede at have paa i kirken i mildt vejr. Jeg har en stol lavet af hendes sorte plyskappe. Hun havde et hjemmelavet tæppe paa gulvet og en "fjerflaat" paa sin seng.
Om aftenen den 29. august 1910 kom min far, som var gaaet bort i februar, til mor og bad hende gaa og fortælle bedstemor, at han havde fundet et sted til hende. Jeg kan huske, hvor bleg og svag mor var den dag, men hun gik hen og kom med beskeden. Bedstemor tog det ikke alvorligt, i hvert fald udadtil. Den 28. september fik hun et slagtilfælde og kunne ikke sige et ord, mens hun laa syg. Fem af hendes seks børn boede i Newton, men Samuel var paa det tidspunkt paa en gaard i Sublett, Idaho. Der blev sendt besked til ham, og efter at han kom, virkede hun tilfreds, og den 22. oktober 1910 døde hun, 73 aar og otte maaneder gammel. Hun var en kær, venlig sjæl, som havde gennemgaaet alle prøvelserne i pionerlivet, og hvis tro og vidnesbyrd var blevet stærkere for hvert aar af hendes liv.
1. FHL film 0410434
2. Benson, Kersten Erickson, Autobiography, [LDS Church Archives, Ms 12065, pp. 1-3; Acc. #200259 and Ms 8237, reel 3, item #26; Acc. #209198]
3. Utah Immigration Card Index 1847-1868 ("Crossing the Plains Index")(FHL film 0298441)
4. Arrival in Salt Lake Valley (FHL book 979.2 D27j #4-128)
5. FHL film 0183395
6. Live endowments Endowment House (FHL film 0183404)
7. Sealings Endowment House (FHL film 0183395)
8. Kirsten and family in Newton, Newton Ward Records (FHL film 0025609)
9. Obituary, Death of Kirsten Benson, Newton Ward, Benson Stake (FHL film 0025610)
10. Obituary, Funeral and Burial, Newton, Cache, Utah, Deseret News, 27 October 1910 (FHL film 0026979)
- Det var nu forældrenes tur til at tage turen. Selvom ventetiden havde været lang og nogle gange sorgfuld, var maalet om at få familien samlet igen nu ved at blive realiseret. Aaret var 1857. Marcus, hans hustru Kjersten og hans tilbageværende datter Kirsten var ved at fuldføre deres planer om at slutte sig til folkevandringen. Marcus og hans kone besluttede at tage hans kones mor, Mette Christina Nielsen, en 72-aarig enke, med til Amerika.
Kirsten var nu 20 aar, hendes far var 48 og hendes mor 50. De fire af dem forlod København 18. april 1857 på dampskibet "L. N. Hvidt" til Storbritannien i et selskab af 540 skandinaviske hellige under ledelse af Hector C. Haight. Fartøjet naaede Grimsby, England den 21. april. De 540 fik selskab af fire missionærer, der vendte tilbage fra Storbritannien, inklusive Mathias Cowley, som derefter præsiderede over emigranterne. De sejlede fra Liverpool paa skibet "Westmoreland" den 25. april 1857. De ankom til Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, den 31. maj 1857, og gennemførte en 36-dages passage.
Under den elleve dage lange togrejse fra Philadelphia til Iowa City, Iowa, havde den unge Kirsten en rystende oplevelse, da hun midlertidigt blev adskilt fra sine forældre og resten af ??selskabet.
I Iowa City blev Mathias Cowley-selskabet opdelt i to selskaber. Et selskab paa 198 helgener var organiseret med 31 vogne, stadig under ledelse af Mathias Cowley. Det andet selskab bestod af omkring 330 helgener inklusive Marcus og hans familie. De var organiseret som et haandkærreselskab under ledelse af James Park, David Dille og George Thurston. Dette skulle blive kendt som det syvende haandkærreselskab. De forlod Iowa City omkring den 15. juni 1857 og rejste så langt som til Florence, Nebraska. I Firenze blev selskabet reorganiseret under kaptajn Christian Christiansen.
Deres ankomst til Firenze maa have været bittersød. Dette var stedet, hvor Else Marie var død og blev begravet tre aar tidligere paa sin rejse til Utah. Paa dette tidspunkt stod det klart, at mange af det syvende haandkærreselskab var for syge og ikke ville være i stand til at gennemføre rejsen til fods. Marcus, hans kone og hendes mor var blandt dem, der blev i Firenze indtil det følgende aar.
Modvilligt efterlod Kirsten dem i Firenze og fortsatte med selskabet. Hun ankom til Salt Lake City den 13. september 1857.
Hun var syg i ugevis, svækket af rejsen. Hun tog til Lehi, Utah, hvor hendes søster Mette Kjerstine og Jens Peter Benson, Mette Kjerstines mand, nu boede. De var flyttet sydpaa fra Salt Lake City paa grund af truslen fra Johnson's Army. Kirsten blev den 1. november 1857 i præsidentens kontor beseglet til Mette Kjerstines mand, Jens Peter Benson, som ekstrahustru.
Marcus, hans kone og hendes mor, som stadig var i Firenze, sluttede sig til Iver N. Iversens vogntog, som var afgaaet fra Iowa City omkring midten af ??juni 1858. De gennemførte derefter rejsen til Utah og ankom til Salt Lake City den 20. september 1858. De slog sig ned i Lehi, genforenet med Mette Kjerstine og Kirsten.
- Kaldte sig Christina Martena.
Life Sketch of Kirsten Ericksen Benson (Also listed as Christina Martena in the international Genealogical index and her Patriarchal Blessing) by Maud B. Jorgensen (grand-daughter)
Kirsten Ericksen Benson was born 23 February 1837, in Dokkedal, Denmark. She was the second of her parents four daughters: Mette Christina, born 1833; Kirsten, born 1837; Elizabeth, born 1839; and Elsa Marie, born 1842. Her mother was Kersten Christensen, born 12 Dec 1806, in Dokkedal, and her father was Marcus Ericksen, born 19 September 1808, in Mov, Aalborg, Denmark.
Her parents were farmers and she grew up in the little village of Dokkedal, near the seacoast, east and south of the city of Aalborg.
She told me how they used to drive cows to pasture, and that a Danish mile was longer than one of our miles. She would tell us folk tales of the little elves, and when she worked butter she would always put a cross on it with the butter paddle; she said they always did that in Denmark so the elves wouldn't steal it.
The first Latter-Day-Saint missionaries went to Denmark in 1850.
Soon afterwards, the Ericksen's heard the gospel message and were baptized in 1852. Her maternal grandmother was also baptized.
Persecution began as soon as they became "Mormons". They did not have means for all to make the journey to Zion together, so preparations were made for two of the girls to leave. In December 1853, they bade goodbye to Mette, the eldest, and Elsa Marie, the youngest daughter, whom they were never to meet again in this life, as they started their long journey to gather with the Saints in Salt Lake City. The Scandinavian Saints would go to England, and sail from Liverpool to New Orleans, which was the port of entry for the emmigrants for several years. They sailed up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, and from there went on to Kansas City, Missouri (Westport), where companies were outfitted to cross the plains in 1854. Many had died of cholera while coming up the river, and many on the overland journey. Little Elsa Marie, not quite twelve years old, was stricken with the dread sickness and died at or near Florence (Omaha), Nebraska, and was burried in an unmarked grave.
Mette made the journey safely to Salt Lake City, where she worked in the home of Truman Angell, until she married Jense Peter Benson in April 1855. He had emmigrated from Denmark in 1853.
In November 1854, another sister Ann Elizabeth, fifteen years of age sailed from Denmark for England with the Peter O. Hansen company.
They left Liverpool 7 January 1855 on the ship James Nesmith, about four hundred in number, and reached New Orleans about the first of March; then on up the Mississippi and on to Mormon Grove, Kansas which was the outfitting point that year. She reached Salt Lake City the first week in September 1855.
The next year the rest of the family prepared for their journey, but the port of entry was now Philadelphia, so the ocean voyage was not as long and they did not have to leave until spring. On 25 April 1857, grandmother (Kirsten), her parents and her grandmother left Liverpool on the sailing ship Westmoreland, bound for America.
With the news of the marching of Johnston's Army to Utah in 1857, the people left their homes and moved south. Mette and her husband had been living in Salt Lake City, but moved to Lehi, so when grandmother reached Salt Lake City in September 1857, sick and worn out with her handcart journey, she had to go on south to find her sister.
Sometime after 1900, grandmother dictated her "recollections" and my father, John H. Barker, wrote it for her. She never learned to write English.
- This gives the story in her own words:
Recollections of KIRSTEN ERICKSEN BENSON, Coming to Zion in 1857.
I left Copenhagen, Denmark April 18, 1857 with my father and mother and grandmother. I was 20 years of age and unmarried.
We stopped two days in Liverpool and on April 25th left there on the sailing ship Westmoreland under Mathias Cowley, President, with 544 saints, and arrived at Philadelphia May 31st, having been five weeks on the sea.
We were eleven days going from Philadelphia to Iowa City by rail, and while on this journey I got separated from the company and was left behind and lost, a young girl in the strange land, no friends and could not speak English or make my wants known. I was telegraphed for and found by the description of the clothing I wore, and made to understand by the hands of a watch that I could go to my company by train at 6:30 that night.
At Iowa City, we were organized as a handcart company under Captain Christian Christiansen. There were about 100 handcarts with 3 ox teams to help the sick and weak and carry some supplies and the tents. We were only allowed to take 15 pounds weight of clothing, and even bed clothes had to be left lying on the ground as we left our camping place, for no one would buy them from us. This was a very great trial to me, having brought good new clothing from Denmark to leave on the ground for stangers to take.
We then started for Florence, Nebraska June 15, 1857. Each handcart had six persons, but I was assigned to a cart having only 4 persons: an old couple, a sickly girl and myself. We were heavily loaded with provisions, and myself and the old gentleman were the pulling team.
We traveled through a settled part of Iowa for three weeks, burying by the roadside some of the aged and young who had died from exposure and hardships of the journey. We arrived at Florence the later part of June and laid over one week to rest.
This three weeks hardship had proved that my father and mother and grandmother, who was about 75 years old, could not stand the journey, and decided that they stay behind in Omaha. (Her mother was lame and walked with a cane.) I came to the conclusion that I could not leave my parents in a strange country and so made up my mide to stay with them.
The Captain of the company, C. Christiansen came to me and advised me to leave my parents, and promised me if I would do so, God would bless me and them, and preserve us. This was a very sore trial to me, but I put my trust in God and the promise of His Priesthood, and He has brought them to pass. July 1857 we started on the plains. It was a day I shall never forget, full of sorrow in parting from my parents.
About the fifth day out, I was worn out with pulling over the rough roads, up hills and through the sand, and discouraged because I did not beleive I could stand the journey, that I came to the conclusion that I might as well die there as suffer longer, and I purposely stayed behind while the company was traveling, and laid down in the grass expecting to die there, believing there was no one behind me and that I would not be found. Soon after this the Captain came along and found me and helped me along. He promised me that when we came to a hill or sand he would come and help me pull, and he kept his promise and helped me. Soon after this the old couple who were with my handcart died, and I was changed to a cart that had six pullers, and my task was much easier than before.
It was now July and August and very hot on the plains and my shoes were worn out. We had to get raw hide from the dead cattle along the road and make shoes for ourselves so as to be able to pull. Crossing the creeks and rivers would make the raw hide soft, and the hot sun and roads would make it hard, and our feet were nearly all the time sore and bleeding.
I being alone and having no bedclothes, had to sleep in an old shawl in the tent, and coming through the mountains, the nights were cold and freezing, and having to get up in my turn in the night to bake bread I was often too warm on one side and much too cold on the other.
When about 200 miles from Salt Lake City, we were overtaken by the U.S. Army under General Johnston going to Utah to war with our people, but they treated us kindly, and the army was a blessing to our people in Utah.
About two weeks journey from Salt Lake City, the relief teams came to our help, and oh! how thankful I was to be allowed to walk and not have to pull the cart, for I was sick and worn out with the journey.
We arrived in Salt Lake City, September 13, 1857, having been five months on the way from the time we left Denmark. When I saw how poor the people were in clothing, for they were ragged, I could not help remembering the good clothing we had left behind.
When we arrived in Lehi, where my sister lived, I was so sick and weak that I was not expected to live, and Brother Hyde, (later Bishop of Hyde Park) and Brother Rigby were called in to administer to me, but I could not understand a word they said. Brother Benson being there, interpreted it for me. I found kind friends who cared for me and nursed me until I was well.
The next year my father and mother and grandmother came into the valley safe and well. (They crossed the plains in Captain Iver N. Iverson's ox-train, which arrived in Salt Lake City September 20, 1858). And so were fulfilled the promises of our captain, C. Christiansen, made to me when I left my parents in Omaha. And so, also, have been the promises of Brother Hyde when administering to me in Lehi. I realize that I have been blessed of the Lord and preserved for my obedience to the counsel of His Priesthood.
END
- Kirsten was married to Jense Peter Benson, her sister's husband, as third and plural wife, November 12, 1858.
Terms were arranged and Johnston's Army entered the valley peacefully in 1858. They marched on through Salt Lake City, and down about 16 miles west of Lehi, where they founded Camp Floyd. Grandfather (Jense Peter Benson) was a carpenter, and he, along with many others, was able to get work there. It was a great help to the people at that time. Grandmother said the soldiers would hire the women to make wheat and barley beer for them.
New settlements were being founded in Cache Valley about this time, so in 1867, grandfather went to Clarkston, which had been founded in 1864, and bought some land from George Davis and Bill Sparks, and in the spring of 1868, moved there with Mette and her family.
Grandmother, Kirsten, with her children, Alma, Christina, Samuel, and Marcus, stayed in Lehi that summer and raised a garden, and that fall, they too moved to Clarkston.
In the spring of 1869, it was decided to make another settlement, so a group of Clarkston men went about five miles south, were they surveyed and laid off a new town site, which they named Newton. My grandfather was one of this group. He built a log house, plowed and sowed some grain, and in the fall moved Mette and her family there.
Their children were Mary, Martha, Peter, John, and Elizabeth, who was of Hyde Park) and Brother Rigby were called in to administer to me, but I could not understand a word they said. Brother Benson being there, interpreted it for me. I found kind friends who cared for me and nursed me until I was well.
The next year my father and mother and grandmother came into the valley safe and well. (They crossed the plains in Captain Iver N. Iverson's ox-train, which arrived in Salt Lake City September 20, 1858). And so were fulfilled the promises of our captain, C. Christiansen, made to me when I left my parents in Omaha. And so, also, have been the promises of Brother Hyde when administering to me in Lehi. I realize that I have been blessed of the Lord and preserved for my obedience to the counsel of His Priesthood.
END
- Kirsten blev gift med Jense Peter Benson, hendes søsters mand, som tredje hustru, 12. november 1858.
Vilkaar blev arrangeret, og Johnston's hær gik fredeligt ind i dalen i 1858. De marcherede videre gennem Salt Lake City og ned omkring 16 miles vest for Lehi, hvor de grundlagde Camp Floyd. Bedstefar (Jense Peter Benson) var tømrer, og han kunne sammen med mange andre faa arbejde der. Det var en stor hjælp for folket paa det tidspunkt. Bedstemor sagde, at soldaterne ville hyre kvinderne til at lave hvede- og bygøl til dem.
Nye bosættelser blev grundlagt i Cache Valley omkring dette tidspunkt, saa i 1867 tog bedstefar til Clarkston, som var blevet grundlagt i 1864, og købte noget jord af George Davis og Bill Sparks, og i foraaret 1868 flyttede han dertil med Mette og hendes familie.
Bedstemor, Kirsten, med sine børn, Alma, Christina, Samuel og Marcus, blev i Lehi den sommer og anlagde en have, og det efteraar flyttede de ogsaa til Clarkston.
I foraaret 1869 blev det besluttet at lave endnu en bosættelse, saa en gruppe Clarkston-mænd gik omkring fem kilometer sydpaa, hvor de undersøgt og grundlagde en ny by, som de kaldte Newton. Min bedstefar var en af ??denne gruppe. Han byggede et bjælkehus, pløjede og saaede lidt korn, og i efteraaret flyttede Mette og hendes familie dertil.
Deres børn var Mary, Martha, Peter, John og Elizabeth, som blev født i Clarkston. Hjemmet i Newton laa i det sydvestlige hjørne af byen, hvor Ernest Jensen paa et tidspunkt boede.
Senere købte bedstefar Atkinson-stedet paa den anden side af gaden, syd for den offentlige plads. Han ejede den nordlige halvdel af blokken. Deres første hjem var af bjælker, men senere byggede han et klippehus paa det nordøstlige hjørne, som omkring 1960 stadig blev beboet af hans barnebarns enke og familie. (Den er siden solgt til Kathryn Rassumsen, et oldebarn).
Jeg har mange glade minder fra det gamle hjem, for jeg brugte meget tid der paa at lege med min kusine. Jeg husker saa godt loftslemmen i bræddeloftet i et af soveværelserne ovenpaa, der aabnede ud til loftet, et gemmested, da forbundsmarskalken kom til byen paa jagt efter dem, der
havde mere end én kone. (REDAKTIONSBESKRIVELSE AF oldebarnebarn: Falddøren var i det vestlige soveværelse, i skabet).
Livet var haardt, indianerne skræmmende, og bedstemor sagde det første aar eller to i Clarkston, at hun ikke vidste, hvad det var at ikke være sulten. Da de flyttede til Clarkston, tog de en af ??Johnston's Army kanonkugler med, og de brugte den til at knuse eller male hveden til brød. Mens de boede der, blev Alice, Isaac og Rastus født, Rastus levede kun omkring elleve dage. Hun boede der, da Martin Harris, et af vidnerne til Mormons Bog, døde i 1875. Bedstefar Benson lavede sin kiste, og min mor huskede, at hun saa ham lave den.
I 1876 døde hendes søster, Mette, kort efter fødslen af ??sit tiende barn; han døde ogsaa. Hun havde begravet to smaa piger i Lehi og en i Newton og efterladt seks levende børn, hvoraf de to ældste var gift.
Hjemmet i Clarkston blev solgt til en Mr. Loosle, og bedstemor flyttede til Newton. Nu var der en familie paa ti at passe. Udover det almindelige arbejde i et hjem og en familie var der mange andre opgaver i et pionerhjem, såsom at vaske og karte uld, derefter spinde det til garn og strikke sokker og strømper, lave tøj og hatte af halm, der var omhyggeligt samlet og flettet med syv traade, hjemmelavet sæbe lavet med lud fra træaske, fremstilling af talglys og kartoffelstivelse. De lavede også farvestof fra planter og rødder til at farve garnet. Jeg husker spindehjulet lavet af bedstefar og husker at se mor spinde paa det.
I 1879 giftede bedstefar sig med Christina Nielsen, der var kommet fra Danmark i 1878. Han byggede hende en rammebolig vest for bedstemors, omtrent midt i karréen. De havde en familie paa fem, Caroline, Margaret, Nephi, Annie (Anna) og Joseph, som døde som baby.
Bedstefar blev arresteret for polygami i 1887. Han blev idømt en bøde paa hundrede dollars og dømt til seks maaneder i Utah State Penitentiary (BEMÆRK: Beliggende i Sugarhouse-omraadet i Salt Lake City). Han rejste fredag ??den 23. december 1887 og blev udskrevet torsdag den 24. maj 1888 efter at have aftjent fem maaneder.
I 1898 arbejdede han paa en bygning og faldt ned fra taget. Han døde kort efter af kvæstelserne, 21. juni 1898, i en alder af 67 aar.
Bedstemors yngste søn, Isaac, blev gift i december 1898, og han og hans kone Lucy Atkinson fra Clarkston boede sammen med hende.
Lucy havde et sødt sind og var altid god og venlig mod bedstemor. De kom godt ud af det sammen. Selvom hun havde sit eget værelse, havde hun været for haard i sit liv til at tage det roligt nu, og da hendes fem børnebørn kom, hjalp hun til med alle opgaver i hjemmet.
Nogle af de erindringsbilleder, jeg har af hende, er at lave mad, snitte brød, se hende lave og stege donuts eller crullers. Hun skar dejen i aflange stykker, lavede en slids i midten, gav dem et hurtigt twist og satte dem i kedlen.
Hvor nød vi unge dem, saa snart de var kølige nok til at spise! Jeg kan se hendes pleje babyer, vugge dem i vuggen, se hendes skrælle æbler og lægge dem til tørre, skære og tørre blå blommer (pladsen var fuld af frugttræer), konservere frugt, karte uld, strikke sokker og vanter, kærner, arbejder og støber smør, laver dyner, syr og lapper, læser sit danske blad, skubber så brillerne op på panden og glemmer, hvor de var, og har alle omkring sig på jagt efter dem. Min søster, Sue, husker, hvordan hun elskede at få nogen til at børste og rede hendes hår. Hun bad højt, hun bad ikke bare sine bønner, hun talte virkelig til Herren, som om han var lige ved siden af ??hende. Hun var en lille kvinde; Jeg vurderer ikke over fem fod en eller to tommer, havde blå øjne. Hun mistede aldrig sin danske accent, og da vi unge var særligt provokerende, skældte hun os ud på dansk ved at sige "for skam jer". Jeg husker det forstørrede billede af hendes forældre, der hang på væggen på hendes værelse, og et smukt cremefarvet silkesjal, som hun plejede at have på i kirken i mildt vejr. Jeg har en stol lavet af hendes sorte plyskappe. Hun havde et hjemmelavet tæppe paa gulvet og en "fjerflåt" på sin seng.
Om aftenen den 29. august 1910 kom min far, der var gaaet bort i februar, til mor og bad hende gaa og fortælle bedstemor, at han havde fundet et sted til hende.
Jeg kan huske, hvor bleg og svag mor var den dag, søndag den 30. august, men hun gik hen og kom med beskeden.
Bedstemor tog det ikke alvorligt, i hvert fald udadtil, men den 28. september fik hun et slagtilfælde og kunne ikke sige et ord, mens hun laa syg. Fem af hendes seks børn boede i Newton, men Samuel var paa det tidspunkt paa en gaard i Sublett, Idaho. Ord blev sendt til ham, og efter at han kom, virkede hun tilfreds, og den 22. oktober 1910 døde hun, 73 aar og otte maaneder gammel, en kær venlig sjæl, der havde gennemgaaet alle prøvelser i pionerlivet, og hvis tro og vidnesbyrd havde vokset sig stærkere for hvert aar af hendes liv. Hun efterlod to døtre og fire sønner: Alma, Christina, Marcus, Samuel, Alice og Isaac, børnebørn og oldebørn.
Fra 1906 til 1908 udfyldte hendes søn Alma en mission til Danmark og besøgte hendes fødeby, Dokkedal. Hendes søn, Marcus, udfyldte en mission i Nordstaterne fra 1905 til 1907. Hendes oldebarn, Neal Jorgensen, udfyldte en mission til Danmark fra 1948 til 1951. Hundredaaret for den danske mission blev fejret i 1950, og han fik det privilegium at være kirkens fotograf til festlighederne. Mens han arbejdede i Aalborg, kunne han ogsaa besøge hendes fødested.
Annette Hancey Lunceford
|
1837 - 1910 (73 år)
: Adresse
: Beliggenhed
: By
: Sogn
: Amt/Region
: Land
: Ikke indstillet
