- Christian was born 6 Jun 1816, the seventh of 8 children of Niels Hansen and Maren Pedersdater on a farm named Glavendrup in the parish of Skamby in the state of Odense, in the northern part of the island of Fyn in Denmark. Between the years of 1816, when Christian was born and 1821, when his younger brother Hans was born, the family moved to the parish of Allese. Here Niels Hansen was finally able to become a "copyholder" or "gaardmand"of a farm instead of just a laborer on someone else's farm. His father, Niels Hansen, was listed as "gaardmand" a farm "copy holder" when he died in 1834. The 1840 census shows Christian living on the farm where his mother was listed as the landholder with Peter the older brother as the manager of the land. Christian was listed as a "Daglejer" a day laborer. When Christian's mother died, his older brother, Peter became the copy holder of the farm. The 1845 census finds Christen as a Tjenestekarl (servant or labourer) on a farm run by Jørgen Nielsen in Brandsbye near Hjadstrup.
By the time Christian and Ane Katrine were married in 1847, Christian was the father of three children. Two (Niels and Rasmus) with Ane Katrine and one Abilone Marie Carlsen, commonly refered to as Mary Nielsen, with Bodil Marie Carlsen.
The notes in the parish register beside the names of his children tell us that he was poor. He didn't own a house or land but was always a farm laborer in Denmark. The word "indsidder" is often used in these notes. "Indsidder" means someone who lodges with other people. The 1850 census shows that he and his wife and two children were living with her (Anne Kathrine's) parents.
Christian and his wife were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 3 April 1854 by Niels Hansen in Horsbek, Fyen just 3 years after the first missionaries came to the isle of Fynn. Peter Willard remembers his parents many times giving up their bed to the missionaries.
Christian was:
Ordained a Teacher (Larare) 7 Sept. 1856 - Bredstrup Branch records
Ordained a Priest some time before 22 April 1864
Ordained an Elder probably 12 Oct. 1874 - when he was Endowed and Sealed to Ane Katrine
Ordained a High Priest 8 June 1879 (Cache Stake High Priest Quorum Minutes) under the hands of Robert Henderson, Joel Ricks, and William Hyde.
He emmigrated to Utah in 1871 with his wife, Anna Katrina Hansen, and children, Karen Christine, Stine Marie and Peter Willard. They left Copenhagen on Sept. 1, 1871 on the steamship "Humber" (170 in number) and arrived in Hull, England on Sept. 4th. The trip across the North Sea was pleasant and the weather was favorable during the whole passage, and scarcely any seasickness occurred. On Sunday, Sept. 3rd, a church meeting was held on board with all the Saints and some nonmembers attending. On Tuesday, Sept. 5th, they traveled by rail to Liverpool. Here they are listed on the ship's roster along with 258 other members of the Church. The ship was the 'Nevada' and sailed from Liverpool, England 6 September 1871. The ships Master was W. Forsyth and it arrived in New York 12 days later on 18 September 1871. They continued their trip to Utah via rail and arrived In Ogden on Sept. 27th. The leader of the LDS company on board was John I. Hart. (LDS Roster film# 025692, US Roster film# 175704)
Christian had borrowed $700 to immigrate with his family. He understood the Gospel and obviously had a very strong testimony because he spent 17 years in Denmark as the only member of the church in his family. Just 3 years after arriving in Utah, he and his wife were sealed in the Endowment House. He spent many days helping build the Logan Temple, and when completed, did the Temple work for many of his relatives. He took a second wife - Nielsene Amalia Hansen Grum- in 1884 (who was about 55 at the time). He built a second home for her just east of his first home on his property on Canyon Road in Logan, Utah.
Christian Nielsen became a citizen of the United States, 8 April 1880 in the Third Judicial Distric Court of the United States in the Utah Territory.
Four years before his death all of his children except Niels and Mary were Sealed to him and Anne Kathrine.
He died 2 May 1899 and was buried in the Logan Cemetary Lot 60, Block 9, Plat A, Space 8
As a side note, Christian probate record recorded in Cache County lists all of his living descendents including Mary Nielsen, the daughter of Bodil Marie Carlsen.
The above narrative by Robert N. Gerber
|
1816 - 1899 (82 år)
Has ingen forfædre men 22 efterkommere i dette stamtræ.
Notater