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Show Volume XXX Issue V The Ogden Valley News Page 9 October 15, 2023 A Brief History of Christian & Ane Margrethe Christensen Petersen Marie’s daughter Janet, whom they called “Nettie,” recalls being told that shortly after she was born on 31 October 1881, her mother and a lady friend were having a social “cup of tea.” The friend looked into her cup, and feeling a sudden inspiration said, “Oh, Marie, I can see a man a comin’ with a black suit and a black silk hat and a parcel under his arm.” The women looked at each other, laughed at the joke, and forgot it. The next day, Marie saw a man walking down the lane wearing a black suit and a black silk hat with a package under his arm. The surprise soon turned to joy, as the man was Marie’s father, Christian, at last reunited with his family. When he was shown his new granddaughter (Nettie), Christian was concerned because the baby was so small, weighing only four pounds, and thought she could not live. Christian had to leave four of the older children in Denmark and hoped he could now work for money to send for them. He and Ane settled in the canyon between Ogden and Huntsville, where he procured the job of caring for a stretch of road. He removed large rocks that rolled down the mountainside onto the road, and used a horse and cart to haul dirt to fill in holes that grew from the passing of many wheels, particularly in wet weather. One day, Jens Petersen of Huntsville was hauling grain through the canyon when he stopped to talk to Christian, whom he had come to know. Christian mentioned to Jens how he and his wife missed their children still in Denmark. Jens thought about this as they talked, and before he left, Jens told Christian that he would advance the money for the passage of Christian’s children if they would work for him after they arrived to pay back the debt. Jen’s wife was sickly and could not care for the household, often needing someone to care for her, which Christian’s oldest daughter could do. Christian was delighted with the proposition and sent a letter off to Denmark. The members of the family accepted the conditions of the loan and arrived in Ogden on 27 August 1882. The family was overjoyed to be together again. The oldest daughter, Caroline, moved into Jens Petersen’s home to work off her share of the family debt. Jens soon told Caroline that if she would marry him, the debt would be considered paid. Caroline eventually did marry Jens, despite Jens being older than her father. After a time, Christian and Ane moved from Ogden Canyon to Eden, where they were able to buy a lot and a house. Christian did not acquire a farm on his own but worked for his neighbors. Christian and Ane enjoyed their three-room frame house, even though the cellar would fill with water in the spring. They had chickens, two cows, a barn, and a garden. Christian had to take his cows across the street to water them. To keep the cows from escaping, Marie’s children would stand in the street in strategic places to keep the cows from wandering as they crossed the road. The boys would gather up the cows from the townspeople each morning and take them to the pasture in the foothills, then bring them back at night. Christian and Ane were ambitious and hardworking. During the threshing season, Christian worked on the straw stacks. He had no gloves, and before the season was over, “his hands would have no skin left.” Ane did a lot of spinning. She washed Note: The information in this short biography was researched using multiple sources and originally compiled in 1966, then revised in 1975, by Myrtle Stevens Hyde, a great-great granddaughter of Christian & Ane Petersen. Their names appear on the monument in the Huntsville Town Park. The following was taken from the Hyde document and submitted by Robert W. Collins, a great-great-grandson of Christian and Ane. Christian & Ane Margrethe Christensen Petersen. Ane Margrethe Christiansen and Christian Petersen were both born in Denmark—Ane on 18 February 1828 and Christian on 31 October 1831. They met when Ane was hired to do household work for Christian’s father in the hamlet of Syvendekkob, Skamstrup parish. She did her tasks well, and soon found her employer’s son, Christian, paying more and more attention to her, even though she was nearly four years older than he. The two fell in love and decided to marry. In 1864, both joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Jyderup and desired to emigrate to America, but the means to do so was slow in coming. One of Christian’s married sisters, Maren Nielsen, had already made the journey to America and was living in Eden, Utah. Christian’s daughter Marie had her passage to America paid by a kind member of the Church; thus, was able to emigrate ahead of her parents. This was in 1878 when Marie was 16 years old. Marie made the long journey and eventually arrived at her aunt’s house in Eden. Meanwhile, back in Denmark, by the fall of 1880, matters for Christian and his wife seemed daunting. The main employment Christian could get, when he could get any, was farm labor, which paid very little, and now the owner of the house where they lived told them they would have to vacate. Christian replied that he could not leave the house until Ane and the children could go to America. It was considered a miracle when by spring there was enough money to buy passage to America for at least some of them. This was mostly because Christian and Ane’s daughter Marie, still living in Eden, was able to send her parents some money. There was enough to buy passage for Ane and the two youngest children: Neils, age 11 and Elizabeth, age 8. Ane and the two children sailed from Denmark to Liverpool, England, left Liverpool on 25 June 1881 on the ship “Wyoming,” and arrived in New York City on 7 July. They continued their journey by rail and arrived in Ogden, Utah on 15 July for a joyous reunion with Marie, who took them to her home in Eden. and carded wool, spun and wove it, and made clothes for the family. Once she made matching suits for her husband and herself. The color was “reddish, and husband and wife looked swell together in their matching suits. She had a tallish round hat that she wore with her suit and looked very pretty.” Both Christian and Ane were pleasant to be around, having kind and sweet dispositions. Their grandchildren recalled that they were patient and nice to the younger generation, and that Grandma was a little taller than Grandpa. Sometimes granddaughter Nettie would go to Christian and Ane’s house when the floor was dirty, and Ane would ask her to scrub it. Ane sprinkled wood ashes over the floorboards and Nettie would scrub. “Those boards came as pretty and white and clean as you can imagine.” Christian and Ane remained very active in Church, and Christian never ceased to read his Bible, becoming quite a well-versed man. As Christian and Ane grew older, they were unable to care for themselves. Their daughter Caroline had become a widow, so they accepted her invitation to move into her home in Huntsville. When they made the move to Huntsville, around 1905, they brought a cow with them, and Christian was able to help with some of the household chores such as chopping wood. Ane was mostly bedridden. Christian developed dropsy (excess water retention) and by 1909 could not lie down, so he sat in a rocking chair for the remaining eighteen months of his life and died on 14 June 1910. Ane died on 10 January 1912. They are buried together in the Huntsville Cemetery. From The Past . . . 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