Browsing Tag

perpetual emigration fund

9 posts

    JACOBSEN, Christian Jensen: Frontier Craftsman

    Another life altering experience occurred in 1854 when L.D.S. missionaries introduced the Jensens to a new religion. After a short investigation Christen and Kirsten were baptized on a cold day in December and became the first members of the church in their local area. Soon after, Christian was called to be a local missionary and also to preside over two branches of the church. In the fall of 1857 he was assigned to open a mission on LæsØ, an island located midway between Jutland and Sweden. As a missionary he received frosty receptions but soon encountered some inhabitants in need of his clock repairing skills. This led him to adjust his strategy and avoid the topic of religion until he had the family’s clock dismantled. Once the family knew him as a clock repairman, they were more prone to discuss religion with him. Using this strategy, and after visiting the island several times, Christian baptized a dozen or so members and organized the Byrum Branch there.
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      CUNNINGHAM, Elizabeth: True Grit

      “My father was a miner by trade and being a man of weak constitution was badly adapted for such a laborious occupation. Consequently, this threw the management of affairs nearly entirely upon my mother, and to speak of her in [a] phrase, I cannot do it better than by saying she was a rustler in the greatest sense of the word.” Elizabeth was the foundation and matriarch of the family. She was the force that carried the Cunningham family from Scotland to Utah."
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        JENSEN, Jens and Dorthea: Nearly Pioneers

        Most pioneer stories involve building religious faith through hardships and challenges, but some early migrants to Utah don’t fit this mold. Some were disappointed by life in Utah and returned to their place of origin. Others moved on seeking greener pastures elsewhere. Still others remained in Utah but became disaffected with the dominant religion. Some became Jack Mormons, others became vocal critics of the LDS Church, and still others joined a different church. Jens Christen Jensen and his wife Dorthea were cases of the latter.
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          BELLISON, James Thomas and Louisa

          Before many days, an incident occurred which tells a lot about James' attitude toward draft animals. His granddaughter, Pearl Allen Read, tells of the company coming to a bog of mud in the trail which caused many wagons to get stuck. As each team came to the bog, the Captain standing there would join the drivers in whipping the animals to get them through.When it was his turn, James forbade the Captain. "These are my animals and no whip is to be used on them." Although James' team pulled through the bog successfully, the Captain was angry and thereafter continued to find fault with this independent member of his company.James Thomas' life-long insistence that his animals be treated well was admired by those who knew him and was learned and perpetuated by his children throughout their lives.
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