Home of Hans Christian Davidsen and wife Johanna Marie Nielsen ~ Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

Hans Christian Davidson

On page 92 of the Mt. Pleasant History by Hilda Madsen Longsdorf, she briefly mentions that H.C. Davidson had moved to town with his family and "erected an astrometer on his lot." The location was "west side of State, southwest corner of intersection of First North." I googled "H.C. Davidson" and "astronomy" and I discovered a blog entitled "Hans Christian Davidson and
Descendants".  http://hcdavidson.blogspot.com/

Here I found out quite a bit about Mr. H.C. Davidson.  Hans Christian Davidson was born in Horup, Alsen Island, Schleswig, Holstein, Denmark.  H.C. and his wife Annie Marie Jensen came across the plains to Utah in 1858.  In 1866 the family moved to Mt. Pleasant where H.C. was the first dentist and also the first newspaper editor.  He studied astronomy and made a perpetual calendar.

In the years 1876-77, during which time E.A. Day was teaching in Mt. Pleasant, Davidson, was asked to lecture to his pupils.  His talks and illustrations proved very interesting and beneficial.  Mr. Davidson was always eager and willing to be of help at any time.

"H.C. Davidson's sons, Lorenzo and Amasa Davidson attended the first Presbyterian school, now known as Wasatch Academy, founded here in 1875 by Dr. Duncan J. McMillan. The school was first conducted in an old dance hall which was converted by McMillan into a school and church. This building still stands on Main Street as one of the land marks of the early pioneer days, and is now the meeting hall of the Masonic Lodge."


"They moved to Birch Creek in 1879 and lived there until Mrs. Davidson died, May 2, 1886, after which they moved back into town. The farm was sold to James C. Meiling of Mt. Pleasant. Davidson remarried a few years later to a widow from Ephraim."

"During these early years, there was no dentist of course, so Mr. and Mrs. Davidson did their best to take one’s place and pulled teeth for people, using the old fashioned turn-keys, which we still have with the relics. Mr. Davidson was also the first printer in Mt. Pleasant, and did job printing up until the time of his death in 1891, making him seventy-one years old. "
 
"We know several prominent men of Utah who tell us that it was Hans C. Davidsen's lectures that inspired them to make great efforts for success. It remains for us as his progeny to carry on the work that he started, honoring and revering him for his high faith and courage to battle against big odds. May we not be found wanting."  by Sarah Davidson Wilcox, Daughter of Hans Christion Davidson.

Western Paintings ~ Submitted by Carol Corcoran

  Click Here: Western Paintings

Enjoy

Biography of James Christensen Harbro

What makes Yellowstone's largest hot spring look like a rainbow? Science!

What makes Yellowstone's largest hot spring look like a rainbow? Science!

So Now We Have A New Oil Well

Drilling for Oil Again

East of Moroni

Just Off the Timms Hill 

(where the last one was drilled)

What Would The Pioneers Think?

My research of the Utah Digital Newspapers say it is not anything new.

Newspaper reports as early as 1903, Sanpeters have been drilling for Black Gold.

Female Relief Society ~ June 1878 ~ A visit from Eliza R. Snow

Meeting held June 22, 1878
Opened by singing by the Choir
Prayer by  Edward Cliff
Singing by the choir.
Sister Morrison called the congregation to order and introduced Sister Eliza R. Snow and Sister Zina Young.
Sister E. Snow addressed the meeting and said that she had the opportunity to meet with the Sisters and she read our  .......... report and found it very recommending(?) but that it was not all that she likes to see.  She likes to see just as much the important part of the work of the Society. If the sisters work morally and spiritually, if this cultivates the Spirit of God.

Ask all if they were aware of
the work as a member of the Society, such as a member of the Latter Day work or if some of us have gone to sleep and grown cold. If that is the case then
 maybe you are certainly unhappy and what is more in Heaven and on Earth then the happiness of this kingdom would be in this Last Days.(?)

Then she spoke about the celestial law when it was revealed to her in the days of
.......?  She did not understand a thing about it, but the Spirit of God taught her and ..... that she get it and understand more.  She was glad that.....said one more......shows what important duty lays upon the women to bring up our children as useful instruments in the Latter Day Work, and useful and worthy of a nation.  It says, show me the women of a nation and I will tell what this nation is. "Think about this Sister and think and put it to practice in your families and in your homes.  We have no time to..........that was the law for us.

She thanked the brethren for coming and was, and was always glad to see them come to meeting, hoped that they felt benefited by..

She did not come to preach to you because she thought she was better than you but we have our duties to perform and every day of our life we should think of our duty as mothers and as ......workers in the great and glorious work.

She spoke again about plural marriage as a principle that was given to us to.......... prepare us for exaltation and glory that God has promised to them that will practice it............

Sister Elisa is a little greedy, but I am only that much greedy that I want to obtain all the blessings and exaltation that God will restore upon us if we only keep His commandments.  If a man is married to one wife and thinks he can obtain the same blessings and glory than a man that has more wives and endure all the trials and troubles therewith.  We should not ........ourselves with that.  We have to overcome all things that will hinder us to keep the commandments of God.  Would you want a man that loves only one wife at the time.  Who would not despise such a man?  But would you want a man that would promise you that he would never take another?  I would not have him if he was the only man in the world.

If we want to come up to our duty, we have to meet often, and that way obtain the Spirit of God.  This makes our homes happy.  A woman that has the Spirit of God in her heart is kind to her husband, kind to her children.  A woman that attends her meetings can do more work. The woman that day after day works and toils will never overcome her work and certainly be unhappy and makes all her........unhappy.  A woman that day after day tries to do her duty and is willing to improve in all good things until she is called away....... she will meet her friends that have gone before her...... sisters they want to become

History of Mina Simpson Bjelke From Her Letters continued............

Home of Charles Jacobsen and wife Grace Maggie Candland ~ Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

WHAT IS SALERATUS?

With their ox teams, the settlers would go to Manti to gather saleratus. That to be used for bread-making was carefully gathered with a spoon and that to be used for the washing was gathered with a shovel. In the making of bread, water was poured on about a cupful of saleratus, and when settled and clear, the top would be poured off and combined with buttermilk, then used for leavening bread. They also at this time made Salt Rising Bread and later the yeast from the home-made beer was used for the leavening. A beverage known as Brigham     Tea, made from a brush called Mountain Rush, was widely used with   or
    without milk or sweeten­ing. This tea was also used for medical purposes.

History of Mt. Pleasant by Hilda Madsen Longsdorf page 56

Above Photo  courtesy of:
http://wyoshpo.state.wy.us/trailsdemo/saleratuslake.htm

Wool was washed in two or three warm waters, softened with saleratus, and made white, fluffy and beautiful. Much was also washed and cleaned in the warm springs known as Crystal Springs, south of Manti, which is a soft, warm water, where it was made soft, clean and lovely.

Women also carded the wool with hand cards, spun it into yarn on home-made spinning wheels, and on home-made looms they wove it into cloth and made it into clothing. Some still re­member the never-ending irritations caused by home-spun under­wear.

History of  Mt. Pleasant by HML page283

Saleratus was a chalk-like powder used as a chemical leavener to produce carbon dioxide gas in dough.

 Saleratus was a naturally occurring mineral found in the western United States, especially in areas that were extremely high in alkaline. This bubbly white crust would be collected by pioneer women and used to leaven the biscuits and breads they baked in their dutch ovens. To make it even more confusing, this “new” product which we call baking soda today was referred to as saleratus as well after its introduction in 1860 and for some time afterwards. Today, some people still call baking soda biscuits “saleratus biscuits.” The proportions of the first saleratus and the later baking soda version of saleratus were slightly different: about 1 ¼ tsp. of baking soda to 1 tsp. of saleratus.



MILLING PROCESS



In the milling of the wheat, the grinding apparatus consisted of two circular stones fitted together. They were smooth on one side, and were called the upper and lower or nether millstone. which were held together with a perpendicular shaft. The upper stone was turned round and round upon the under one by means of the crank. The lower stone was stationary. A round hole in the upper one admitted a quart or two of grain at a time. As the stone evolved this would gravitate down and out from between the stones and during the slow movement it would be ground into more or less fineness. This then was bolted or sieved through a thin cloth, separating the flour from the coarse particles and bran.

This flour was made into dough and leavened with beer yeast, sour dough kept from the last baking, salt rising made from shorts and salt water set to rise, or saleratus. This last preparation was made by putting a certain amount of saleratus in a vessel and a quantity of water, according to the amount being made, stirring well. and allowing to settle until perfectly clear. This liquid was used to leaven biscuit dough and could be kept on hand some time. About the only saleratus beds to be found in this part of the state or nearest here, were down a little south of Manti.

History of Mt. Pleasant pp 284-285  HML

Plain But Wholesome: Adventures in Mormon Pioneer Food: Saleratus: 

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Patty Sessions was headed out of Nauvoo in 1846. So was her husband's second wife, Lovina. What we know about the circumstances comes from Patty's diary, so perhaps the facts are a little slanted. The Sessions's were not long on the trail before tensions between the two sister wives made life difficult, with all three sharing a tent. According to Patty, Lovina refused to help with camp chores such as cooking and laundry. She told Br. Sessions lies about Patty. Br. Sessions apparently came to feel that Patty was at fault. To demonstrate his condemnation of her, Br. Sessions took away Patty's stores of saleratus and locked it up. Patty was about 45 years old at the time.


Saleratus is a chemical compound (potassium carbonate) which naturally weeps from the ground as mineral-bearing water evaporates. Coming from Latin roots,sal aeratus means aerated salt, referring to its ability to produce carbon dioxide when mixed with another acidic food element such as vinegar or tartaric acid (cream of tartar). It is used instead of soda to make biscuits. Pioneers on the trail often gathered saleratus when they found it, for example near Independence Rock in Wyoming. It is also reported to occur on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. I believe I have seen some such deposits in the past.


In Utah, pioneer settlers continued to use saleratus to leaven their biscuits. Livvy Olsen, a Danish immigrant growing up near Manti, Utah in the 1860s, remembered collecting saleratus by the wagon load near the San Pitch river.


So today I went out to see if I could find some saleratus. South of Manti a mile or so is "Manti Meadows", a property managed by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Most people go there to hunt ducks and pheasants. From the road, I could see bright white patches in the clay soil. We (my good wife sometimes shares my food adventures) walked a half-mile or so from the parking area, and spotted a patch of what we thought was saleratus. It crusted over the ground, with a slightly crystalline appearance, almost like salt. It seemed to be frozen in a bubbly foam. The crust was a quarter- to half-inch thick over the ground. I whipped out a small container of vinegar I had brought. A little saleratus in my palm foamed and fizzed when I poured vinegar on it. We had struck it rich!


Last night it rained considerably, so the deposits were softer than normal, and we had to be careful in collecting them so they wouldn't crumble. I imagine that if we had a dry spell, the saleratus would be more crusted and stable. Also with the rain, some sandy silt came up with the saleratus.

From what I have read, some pioneers dissolved the saleratus in a little water, and let the silt settle to the bottom. The mineral-bearing water could then be used to mix biscuits. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know how it turns out. More than anything it makes me think we don't really know much about pioneer cooking, if we've never used saleratus before.


The above story is courtesy of Brock Cheney, a historian, primarily focused on Utah and Mormon themes in the 19th century. His recent work has centered on foodways among Mormon pioneers. His book on the subject, Plain But Wholesome is due out in the spring of 2011. He is also working on a companion volume of recipes.

You can contact Brock by writing to pioneerfoodie@gmail.com

Hi,

My name is Lois Elkington.

I am the great-granddaughter of Justus Moore (JM) Boyden and; Elenora (Elinora, Nora, etc.) Jorgensen.

My grandmother Helen Elizabeth Boyden Elkington was born in Mt. Pleasant, Utah and collected three photo albums.

I have scanned her albums and other photos she obtained.

I would love to share with your terrific museum these family treasures.

Attached I have included a family tree for your reference.

Justus Moore (JM) Boyden had a brother Moses Alphonzo (MA)Boyden who assisted him at the Pyramid newspaper.

He also worked for the railroad and ran a newspaper in Manti before moving to the state of Washington where he became the publisher of the newspaper there.

MA Boyden married Hannah Lena Madsen who was born in Mt. Pleasant, Utah.

I have attached the following:

      1) Family of George Washington Boyden - father of Justus Moore and Moses Alphonzo Boyden.

                           Both sons moved to Utah and lived in Mt. Pleasant, married girls from Mt. Pleasant.

       2) Information about MA Boyden found in the newspaper at his death.

Majority of the information here was obtained through the Indian Valley Museum in Taylorsville, California.

http://www.indianvalley.net/iv-museum/ 

or

from Bob Crawford a 3rd cousin I located through Ancestry.com

I discovered a book (Vol. I) in the basement of my grandmother's house after she passed.

I kept wondering where Volumes I and II were.

Then started thumbing through and after looking up Elkington  and other names, I checked Boyden.

Bingo, there was my great-great-grandfather Justus Moore Boyden.

Attached, you will find scanned pages from that book:

UTAH - A Centennial History

Personal &  Family History

Volume III

Lewis Historical Publishing Company Inc.  

New York  

1949

 I have also attached his obituary that I discovered this summer (2014).

Lois Elkington

Newspapers.com

The Salt Lake Tribune 11 October 1958 - page 48

Heart Ailment takes life of Ex-Teacher, Mayor

 Justus Moore (J.M.) Boyden

SANDY—Justus Moore Boyden, 89, 16 W. 1st North, former Sandy mayor and former music supervisor of the Jordan School District, d i e d Thursday at 9:45 p.m. in a Salt Lake hospital of congestive heart failure. Mr. B o y d e n was also one of the founders of the Mt. Pleasant Pyramid, editor and publisher for more than 20 years, and was Mt. Pleasant city recorder six years. He organized the Utah National Guard Band as a lieutenant, and was conductor of it for a number of years.

PROMINENT in the Republican Party, he was former chairman of the Sandy city voting district and chairman of the 18th legislative district, and secretary of the party in Mt. Pleasant for several years.

Born Dec. 4, 1868, in Indian Valley, Plumas County, Calif., he was a son of George W. and Marie Price Boyden. He married Nora Jorgensen, of Mt. Pleasant in 1892. She died in 1937. He married Pearl Wilson in 1950 in the Salt Lake Temple, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1912 he sold the Pyramid and became a music instructor at North Sanpete High School, Mt. Pleasant. He also served on the board of education there for three years.

The year the Republican Party was organized in Utah, he traveled through the southern part of the state with Frank J. Cannon, Reed Smoot and George Sutherland, later U.S. senators from Utah, and Heber M. Wells, later Utah governor.

He retired as Jordan District music supervisor in 1937, was elected a member of the Jordan Board of Education in 1939, and served two terms. In 1947 he wins elected Sandy mayor. He served through 1949.

Surviving are his widow; one son and one daughter, George P. Boyden, Colorado. Springs, Colo.; Mrs. Helen B. Elkington, Sandy; five- grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren and three sisters in California.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Salt Lake Tribune – 12 October 1958  page 111

Service Monday For One-Time Chief of Sandy

Special to The Tribune

SANDY — Funeral services for Justus Moore Boyden, 89, 16 W. 1st North, will be conducted Monday at 11 a.m. at 8090 S. State.

Mr. Boyden was former Sandy mayor and music supervisor of the Jordan School District. He died Thursday at 9:45 p.m. in a Salt Lake hospital of congestive heart failure.

Friends may call at the place of services Sunday from 6 to p.m. and Monday prior to services.

Burial will be in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. 

How wonderful for Lois to Share.

~~~~~~~~

We hope more will do the same !!!

Mayor and City Council ~ 1889-1890

Photos You May Not Have Seen Before ~ Submitted by David R. Gunderson

os, mostly ones You May Not Have Seen Before. Some are really cool.

1. Path-Laying Machine

2. The Internal Mechanism of a Watch by Patek Philippe, Considered the Finest Watchmaker in the World

3. Sunset and Eclipse Happening at the Same Time

4. Algodones Sand Dunes Curvy Border Fence in Southern California

5. Perfect Cubes of Pyrite Formed by Mother Nature

6. Melted Glass in a Fire Damaged Building

7. World's Deepest Swimming Pool - 113 Ft. Deep and Holding 600,000 Gallons

8. A Turtle Riding a Jellyfish

9. A Child's Skull Before Losing Baby Teeth

10. You Won't Believe How Accurate GE's New CT Scanner Is

11. Horizontally Spiraled Bricks On a New Restaurant Building

12. Lizard Shed His Entire Face in One Go

13. Intricate Colored Pencil Drawing of a Wave

14. This Eggshell Has More Than 20,000 Holes Drilled in It

15. Sverd i fjell Giant Sword Monument in Norway

16. Present Day Manhattan Versus What It Would Have Looked Like 600 Years Ago

17. Cool Idea for a Bridge

18. This Is What Space Mountain Looks Like With the Lights On

19. Cabbage Geometry

20. The Fukang Meteorite

21. Human Vision (Top) vs. Cat Vision (Bottom)

22. A Cabinet Carved to Look Like a Digital Glitch

23. Grass After a Lightning Strike

24. This 3D-Printed Cast Uses Ultrasound to Heal Bones 40% Faster

25. Bridge Over Icy Water

26. Fireworks, When the Camera Refocuses During the Explosion

27. Wounded Lion Sculpture in Honor of Swiss Guards Who Died in the French Revolution - Luzern, Switzerland

28. Artist Designs a Wolf Out of Pipe Cleaners

29. Moreton Island, Queensland, Australia. It's a man made scuttle structure so boats could have safe anchorage while also providing a neat dive site

30. Lenticular 'UFO' Cloud

31. The Runway at the Gibraltar International Airport Has a Road Crossing It

32. Loaf of Art. Each Color Was Layered to Form the Picture. Apparently Each Slice Sold for $5000.

33. View of Space Shuttle Atlantis from the International Space Station

34. What a Liter Bottle of Soda Looks Like Before Compressed Air Is Added

35. Rarely Seen Back of the Hoover Dam Before It Was Filled with Water in 1936

36. Marlon Brando Before and After His Makeup Was Done for His Role in the Godfather

37. Power Strip Liberators

38. Cross Section of Undersea Cable

39. This Is Only One Picture

40. Cryptex Flash Drive

41. Cross Section of a Commercial Airplane

42. There Are 1 Million Different Colors in This Picture

43. Hitler Had to Cut His Moustache to Fit Into a Gas Mask. This Is How He Looked Before

44. A Fish That Eats Prey Up to 10x Its Mass and Twice Its Length

45. Bismuth Is a Chemical Element With An Amazing Iridescent Oxide Surface

46. Coins Stacked in Such a Way That They Extend Past the Edge of the Table