Pioneer Merchants

History of Mount Pleasant by Hilda Madsen Longsdorf
pp 326-330

PIONEER MERCHANTS OF MT. PLEASANT

(Compiled 1922)

During the fort wall days of Mt. Pleasant, Alma Bennett

and Miner Wilcox sold a few necessities.

Later, as the people began to move from the fort, some goods were brought in by peddlers.

In the early sixties John Dahlin and others conducted sort of a store in one room of a small house on a lot where S. E. Jensen now lives at First East and First South; and from a small room of a dwelling house just south John Wheeler and David Candland sold goods. Some say Peter Jorgen Jensen was also

located in this neighborhood. 

Freighting was done by ox teams across the plains from eastern points to Salt Lake City, and then in turn it took a long time to make the trip from Salt Lake City to Mt. Pleasant.

About 1863, Alma Bennett had a small workshop on a lot where A. C. Madsen's home now is on State Street and Third North where he made and sold furniture, he also sold articles made at a crude sawmill owned by George Wilson, Henry Mc. Arthur and A. H. Bennett, east of town. Later, several people made and sold furniture, among them James Olsen, Nils Rosenlof, and Harold Christian Beaumann, Sr.



In 1866, Paul Dehlin had sort of sawmill machinery oper­ated by a big water wheel, placed in the stream on Main Street between Third and Fourth west about where the Clyde property is now located.

In 1864 William Jennings established the Jenning's store, on the lot where William Hansen now lives, north side of Main Street between Second and Third west. It was managed by Joseph Stanford. Anthon H. Lund and Charlie Hampshire clerked there for a short time.

About 1869 a Co-op store was started, later this company erected a building on the southwest corner of the intersection of Main and State streets.

A few years later on account of the increasing business of this company they built a brick building on the northeast corner of intersection Main and State streets.

The brick for this building was made west of town under the direction of Andrew Madsen and C. W. Anderson; Martin Rasmussen, James C. Meiling and others did the burning. Among those who did the excavating were John Meyrick, Paul Coates, Sr.; Lars and Andrew Christensen were masons, and Jacob Rolfson and Eric Gunderson, Sr., were carpenters. Nothing but first-class bricks or materials were put into the building at that time.

The same clerks, Charlie Hampshire, Ole Sorenson, Blenda Dehlin, and Lauritz Larsen, served in this building; among those who later served were Wellington Seely, Wm. Morrison, Jr., Stena Jensen, Louise B. Madsen, Caroline Johansen, Nora Jorg­ensen, Lena Madsen, and Minie Johansen.

In 1898 the Equitable Building was erected and the stock was transferred there. This company built the Branch Building on Third South and Second West, which for some time they operated in connection. Later Tathen and Dun. Then George Christensen, then the Progress Branch, and then Paul Monsen and Vern Gunderson were located there.

In 1893 the Union Mercantile Company was organized. They did business in the brick building formerly occupied by the Co-op store. In 1897 the company was reorganized as Madsen & Sons Mere. Co., who were in business for a number of years. Madsen & Longsdorf began business in the building in 1898




selling machinery and repairs. S. D. Longsdorf also had a grocery and produce store there. Three years after the building of log Co-op Store, G. G. Bjelke, John Waldermar, Magnus Rosen­berg and others built an adobe building west on Main Street which was considered much more up to date than the "Log Co-op." They were joined by Niels S., Andrew, and Hans S. Nielson.

In this building sprang into existence what was later known as the Sanpete County Co-op. It was then known as the Lower or Swedish store or Gentile store, and did a flourishing business with N. S. Nielson, August Wall, Hans Nielson, (clerk) Andrew S. Nielsen and Henry Ericksen as clerks.

During the seventies John Waldermar had a butcher shop in a log building opposite the Sanpete County Co-op, where Henry Ericksen and A. B. Waldermar were the clerks. Among the meat dealers a little later were Mike Jorgensen and Taylor Armentrout. A joke well remembered was a wager a young man made at that time that he could, blindfolded, hit a mark with a cleaver on a chopping block in Armentrout's Shop. He was blindfolded and as he raised his arm to strike, M. G. Rolph slipped the young man's hat on the mark; the man struck and cut his own brand new derby right in two. This caused quite an excitement at the time, but Rolph had to furnish a new hat.

Other meat dealers were DeLong, Niels Rasmussen, Evan Ivie, and Keen Tidwell. In 1889 the Ericksen Meat & Grocery Company was established by Henry Ericksen and Alif Ericksen. Later Joseph Seely, Al Peterson, John Ericksen, Andrew O. Mad­sen, and Stewart Seely were located on the north side of Main Street, between State and First West.

It is thought that Hutchin and Lither opened the first drug store unless Dr. Evans earlier sold drugs. They say he sold every­thing and customers were welcome to help themselves from any bottle back of the curtain. It is said 1. B. Hunter also sold drugs. Lindsay had a drug store in Nickolsen's building, north on State Street. This building was later moved to Main Street and was occupied by Dr. E. C. Mills and others. Biddle, Wright and Moss were located on Main Street; later they sold to S. H. Allen and Thomas West, who, in 1889, established a later type drug store. William Clos and Paul Vanoric were the druggists there. W. W.


Woodring also had a drug store. In 1897, A. H. Maiben built the Palace Pharmacy, which later was Maiben and McGraw, Maiben & Aldrich, and of later date, A. D. Sutton Drug Company, R. W. Weech Drug Company, and now we have on the corner of State and Main, where the old log store once was, the drug store owned and operated by Ed Johnston.

It is remembered that in the early days Mrs. Coates had a small store in part of an adobe house on the lot where the Hans Nielsen home now is. Later her son held forth in what is now known as the Willard Kofford block.

Daniel Beckstrom had a furniture shop about where Lawrence Carlsen now lives. Ferdinand Clark and Christian Johanson car­ried a stock of furniture on State Street, as did also Axel Bjelke.

Back to the stores again-Niels Lund conducted one in part of the adobe building on the lot where P. C. Lund's home is today. Sorn J. Neilson had a store where Roy Christensen now lives. Later he and his brother, Neils Peter, and H. C. Beaumann, erected a store on Main Street, on part of Peel's lot, where the DeGraff sisters, Antoinette and Annie, clerked. Abram Johnson, Lena Jorgensen, Rozena Fechser and Amelia Olsen were among the first clerks there. In 1895 Larsen Brothers had a store, on Larsen's lot, south of the South Ward Chapel, where Alex Poulsen later located.

Some of the early Main Street stores which need only be men­tioned in passing, were Brown & Acord, the creamery stations managed by Peter Matson and Ole Hansen, and James B. Porter's book store a block east; Tarvey's notion store, Arrowsmith notion store, Aldrich Brothers in the Progress Building, W. O. Ash & Company, Hardware, which started as a tin shop and developed into a leading hardware store, located in part of the building used by the Consolidated Furniture Company.

Tathen and Selby conducted what was known as New York Cash store, or Golden Rule; later John Selby became sole owner, and later the National was operated there by Straws.

Another store of early importance was the one operated by George Farnsworth and others. It was started in part of a small building about where the B. F. Lovel home now is. Later they built a frame building just south. The building had an upper story where furniture was carried in a limited way. Abram John­son and Amasa Aldrich were the clerks who served. Later A. Kofford's two-story frame building was erected on Main Street, near where is now the grocery department of the Wasatch Merc. Niels Rolph, it is said, had conducted a small needle shop in his father's property in the northeast part of town. After his death, M. G. Rolph operated the store erected on Main Street. Many remember the auction sale conducted there when L. P. Nelson acted as an auctioneer. Martin Kroll conducted the first confec­tionary store, also the first bakery. It was located between State and First West, on Main Street, many remember the ringing of a bell as the door was opened. Peter Jensen was formerly located on this block, also.

Many such stands have since operated and vanished, however, Anthon Gunderson, located west on Main Street, and Peter Jensen. formerly located in part of the Mt. Pleasant Opera House, held forth for many years.

J. E. Gunderson bought and made improvement on Main Street, and J. C. Penney Company started business there in 1911, with W. B. Hicks as manager. Postgard's Jewelry Company, which later became the Squire Jewelry and Floral Company, was estab­lished in 1920, between First and Second West on the north side of Main Street, and later they moved one block west, and then back again.

So history is made.