HAPPY HALLOWEEN

It Happened Here in Mt. Pleasant ~~~ Indian Squaw Buried Alive

 

From Mt. Pleasant History:  Hilda Madsen Longsdorf 

The Indians were often seen roaming about and frequently visited the colonists; many interesting instances have been related concerning them. Peter Gottfredson related the following:



"In the spring of '61, when the stock was brought back to Mount Pleasant, Jack Tidwell, Charley Tucker and I herded sheep around near town. A camp of Indians was camped at Twin Creek. They wanted a grave dug for a squaw. Bishop Seeley had two men go out and dig the grave and then they left their shovels for the Indians to fill in the grave. The grave was dug about five rods north of the northwest corner of the graves that were then lengthwise, north and south. We boys saw the Indians bring the squaw lying across a horse, one Indian behind the horse, the other holding the squaw on. 

We went to see the burial. When the Indians brought the squaw, she was yet alive but very sick. They led the horse to the south end of the grave and pushed her off into the bottom of the grave. When she fell into the bottom of the grave she made a loud moan. The Indians handed the shovels to us to fill in the dirt. 

We threw down the shovels and went to our sheep a short distance south of the grave yard. When next we went there, the grave had been filled in and the squaw had been buried alive with only a blanket wrapped around her. The Indians broke camp the next day and moved away."

Hilda Madsen Longsdorf, History of Mt. Pleasant p 69

President Oaks

 

Lois Jensen Poulson

 

Obituary 2012

Lois J Poulsen, born June 21, 1917. Beloved wife, mother, grandma, grandma great, and grandma great-great passed away very peacefully at 1:55 a.m. Sept. 1, 2012.
Lois knew nothing but hard work and tend babies her whole life. She talked a lot about helping her father in the fields every day. She loved to eat and always ate everything especially her desserts. Her sister Margaret always said, "Give it to Lois, she will eat it."
She was very proud of her four boys and they loved her very much. She was also very proud of the fact that she graduated from Wasatch Academy. She ate and fought for life to the very end. She worked at the Moroni Processing Plant and J.C. Pennys. She will be missed very much for her quick wit and her beautiful smile. She is survived by her two sons Dick (Donna) and Tony (Connie); daughter-in-law Vonda Rae Poulsen. She is preceded in death by Mother and Father Elmer and Helma Jensen, brothers and sister Russel, Margaret and Jack; sons Wayne and David; a granddaughter and grandson Paige and Trent; great-great-granddaughter Jordan.
The family wishes to thank Autumn Park and Intermountain Hospice for their wonderful care and their never-ending thoughtfulness. She was also tenderly cared for by her loving daughter-in-law Donna Poulsen.
Graveside services will be Wednesday, September 5, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. in the Mt. Pleasant City Cemetery with viewing prior at Rasmussen Mortuary from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m

BIRTH	21 Jun 1917 Mount Pleasant, Sanpete County, Utah, USA
DEATH	1 Sep 2012 (aged 95) Utah, USA
BURIAL	Mount Pleasant City Cemetery Mount Pleasant, Sanpete County, Utah, USA

Home of Hans Nielson and his wife Amelia Simpson ~~~ Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen, Standlee

 

DID YOU KNOW ~~~ Submitted by Larry Staker

 

SANPETE RABBIT DRIVES ~~~ James L. Jacobs

 

This picture gives us another view of Main Street. Recognize anyone you know?

Rabbit Hunts were a common activity in the early 1900s.

 

Annie's Mother and Brother (Annie Marie Clausen)

The following information is taken from the book

"TheFamily History of William Bristol,

Ane Marie Sophie Clausen, 

Joseph Cambron

and their descendants."

Written by Pat L. Bird Sagers 

 

Photos From 2011 Pioneer Day

 

Left to Right:  Sylvia Healey, Ron Porter, Donna Brunger, Bud Carlson and LaRue Beck Stewart

L to R:  Anetta Mower and Peggy Christensen

(Daughters of Ray and Pearl Peterson)

L to R:  Lambert Jensen, Bob Mower

L to R:  Jay Monsen visiting with Mayor Sandra Bigler

Mr. and Mrs. Max Ericksen

Our Wonderful Kitchen Crew headed by Diane Beck Lund ( far rear)

James Hansen and John Waldemar - - - Short Story by Hanna Neiborg, St. Anthony, Idaho - 1965

 

This story is one of my favorites . 

 

James Hansen, my grandfather, a Danish convert to Mormonism, emigrated from Denmark to Utah.  Following church authorities' decisions, he and his family were sent to help colonize Sanpete County.  They arrived in Mt. Pleasant in 1859.  James Hansen was a well-educated musician.  He played all the instruments including the organ.  The violin was his favorite. He taught music and dancing, but according to Brigham Young, he and his sons must till the soil.

It was the year 1880, Mt. Pleasant saints were having the greatest 24th of July celebration they had ever had.  It was to be held in the bowery with songs, recitation, and orations.  But the crowning glory and most exciting part of the program was a contest between Mt. Pleasant's two musicians playing violins.  John Waldemar and James Hansen were the contestants.  John was also a well-trained and outstanding violinist.

John lived with his family on his farm several miles north of Mt. Pleasant city limits. James lived with his family in the large home on Main Street.  He was a very serious man, but he could be jolly.  This mood came to him only when he did the thing he loved best and which he could do best--his music, more especially his violin.  John made his brags to James.  He had new music that he was perfecting for the contest.  This was depressing to James.  New music for this frontier country was unheard of.  He had used all the music and melodies that he had brought with him from the old country.

Then an idea struck this Danish musician.  It was a long way to the Waldemar farm, but that would not stop him.  On the evening when James felt that John's farm work was finished and he would be practicing, he rode his horse to the Waldemar farm.  He crawled close to the open window where he could hear the beautiful violin music filling the air.  Intently he listened until he heard John close his violin case.

Upon returning to his own home, his remarkable ear and memory let him play John's beautiful new tune.

To make himself sure, he returned several nights.  Soon he knew he could play the melody better than John could.  He then went to work on John's music.  He used his Danish training until his piece was presentable.

With much excitement, the great day arrived. Everyone in the hamlet attended.  Everyone was excited about the contest.  The audience's applause would declare the winner.  The violinists drew cuts who should be first.  It was John.  Before the tense crowd, standing erect, John Waldemar began to play.  His beautiful new music filled the bowery.  Women used their handkerchiefs as the melody flowed on.  How could any music excel at John's!

James Hansen stepped to the platform.  Silence filled the bowery.  He lifted the instrument to his shoulder.  With his right arm outstretched, he clutched the bow with his beautiful white hand.  deftly he let it slide over the strings while the long fingers of his left hand precisely pressed them.  What music! It was John's melody only in a haunting minor key enhanced by the vibrato of James' left hand.  Then the mood changed.  It was John's melody in a vivacious Danish polka, so rhythmical it was hard for the saints to keep their feet from stamping.  After returning to John's theme, James turned the music into a scherzo, a waltz with a brilliant pizzicato, finishing with a Danish mazurka.

The bowery rang with applause. There were whoops and hollers, with hats flying in the air, to the very hills.  James had won the day!  His innate ability, coupled with the training acquired in Denmark, won for him the coveted prize- - - - the esteem of his fellow saints.

The friendship of the two musicians was not changed, but never again did John Waldemar make brags before James Hansen.
Sent in by Evelyn Ireland

Fiddles and Fiddlers by Mary Louise Seamons ~~~~ Saga of the Sanpitch

Home of Samuel Richard Hampshire and his wife Elna Cecelia Waldemar ~~~ Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

 This house has been resold and information will be updated.

PATIENTLY WAITING ~~~ Submitted by Larry Staker

 

EARLY MORMON COINS

 

Photo courtesy of KSL 

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=29609146

  Rare Mormon Coins Go Up for Auction

April 23rd, 2014 

Keith  McCord

Halley's Comet 1910 ~~~ Story by Talula Nelson ~~~ From our Archives

 

Rides in straw-filled bobsleighs with plenty of quilts and warm rocks on our feet were a very delightful experience of my girlhood. Our voices rose in song and laughter as the crisp air stung our faces while the horses trotted over the snow-covered roads.

It was on just such a bobsleigh ride in 1910 when a group of us teenagers were on our way to attend a dance at Snow College, that we had an unexpected experience. Mid-afternoon found us on our way. We left Mt. Pleasant, passed Hoo-Doo-Hill, on through Spring City, and into Pigeon Hollow when the sun began to sink out of sight. We snuggled deeper into the quilts and sang louder as we missed the warmth of the sun.

Shortly after the sunset, a beautiful "star" with a long, fan-shaped tail appeared just above the horizon. Someone said, "It must be a comet!" We all sat suddenly quiet and subdued. To us, comet meant earthquakes or the end of the world. The silence was broken only by the weird sound of the sleigh-bells as they fell on the slow-moving horses. The driver was too overwhelmed to keep his whip in action. How could anything so beautiful be a forerunner of such awful things to come?

After some concern about whether to turn around and return home, we proceeded to the dance. The atmosphere was tense. The music seemed out of place at first with so many telling strange stories of calamities to come.

The night passed. The next day came and went with no hint of destruction. As evening came, the beautiful comet reappeared just above the horizon in the western sky. For days it returned. Then one day, it did not show and we felt a bit relieved that the world was safe again.

On November 2, 1985, I was invited to join the Halley's Comet Club. We met at the Lafayette Ballroom of the Hotel Utah for our first club party. We enjoyed a nice program, saw Edmund Halley pictures in the 16th century costume, and were tested on our ability to identify cars of 1910, dry goods of that year, and advertisements. Prizes were given. After refreshments, a group picture was taken which was published in the December 16, 1985 edition of Time Magazine. We were then escorted to the Hansen Planetarium where we enjoyed the history of Halley's Comet. It was a thrill to be there after 76 years and to be reminded of that eventful night when I saw Halley's Comet in 1910. (note: the next appearance of Halley's Comet is 2061)

So That's How Pumpkin Pie Is Made

 

N. P. Nielsen, Jr. Family

My husband Peter Hafen has 6 generations of Nielsens who have lived and died here in Mt. Pleasant.  The following photos are of his great-grandparents N.P. Nielsen and his wife Mary Maren Christiansen Nielsen. 

 Neils Peter & Mary Maren Christiansen Nielsen & (Front-Grandsons, Bert & Niel Hafen), Karen Maria Christiansen Jorgensen

Niels Peter Nielsen Jr. and Mary C. Nielsen

Carrie Nielsen Hafen's Parents

N. Peter Nielson in entry for Mary Mariah Nielson, "Utah Death Certificates, 1904-1964"

---

Grandmother Mary Christiansen Nielsen and 

Bert Hafen 

11

Grandfather Niels Peter   Nielsen  Jr.

Boyd, Neil, and Bert Hafen

Granny Great Nielsen, Boyd Hafen, Carrie N. Hafen, JoAnn Hafen, Donald Hafen, Neil Hafen

Mary C. Nielsen and sister Maria Christiansen

Maria Christiansen

Niels Christiansen, Mary C. Nielsen and Joe Christiansen

L to R back row:  Donald, Bert, JoAnn Hafen

Peter Hafen in front

Little Peter Hafen with his "Granny Great"  Mary Christiansen Nielsen

N. P. Neilson and his brothers 

 Jens Peter Nielsen, Carl Christian Nielson, Andrew Marenus Nielsen, and Albert Nielsen took on the name "Tanner" because of two reasons:  1.  Andrew and his brothers were tanners by trade.  2. There were so many more Nielsens in the community already, the name Tanner best distinguished them from the other Nielsen or Nielson families. 

Mary Maria Christiansen

 

Unknown author on family search:

She has to be in the system somewhere because I can't attach her Death Certificate. There are so many variations of the different names, especially the surnames. I am attaching the notes I have on her. 1880 CENSUS - Mount Pleasant, Sanpete, Utah, US. Peter Neilsen, male, 17 <1863>, single, white, at home. Son. Father: N. T. Neilsen, 44 <1836>; mother: Maria Neilsen, 38 <1842> Siblings: James P. 14, Carl C. 12, Andrew, 8, Albert Neilsen, 0. Mother of N. T. Neilsen is 75 <1805>, Denmark. 1900 CENSUS - MT. PLEASANT CITY, SANPETE, UTAH, US Mary A. Nielsen, wife, F, 40 <June 1860>, Denmark. 3 children, 2 living. 1910 CENSUS - MT. PLEASANT, SANPETE, UTAH Mary M. Neilson, wife, 49 <1861>, Denmark. Husband is Neils P. Neilson. 1940 CENSUS - MOUNT PLEASANT, SANPETE, UTAH Nielson, Mary M. Mother (of Carrie Hafen). Female, white 79 <1861>, Widowed, 5th-grade education. Born in Denmark. Same house in 1935. House Work. !IGI. Deceased member records. OR: Parents: Niels Christiansen and Karen Jensen or Seirse. OR entry for Marie Christensen, daughter of Niels Christensen and Karen Jensen, birth date as 5 May 1860, Stokeby, Rise, Svendborg, Denmark for ordinance dates of 1988. Also SP 8 Dec 1988 IF. [Marie M. Christiansen JEN] Listed as the mother of Carrie N. Hafen. Father: Mr. N. P. Nielsen. in an obituary of N. P. Nielsen. Mary M. Christiansen. Photo in Family Search Memories with Mary Maren Christiansen Nielsen UTAH DEATH CERTIFICATES: Mary Mariah (sic) Nielson, age 84 years 8 months and 6 days. Death 13 Feb 1947, Mount Pleasant, Sanpete, Utah, female. Married to N. Peter Nielson, born June 7, 1863. . Father: Niels Christianson. Mother: Karen Jensen, both born in Denmark. Widow. 78 years in Community and 78 years in USA. Born in Denmark. Informant: Carrie (indexed as Cassie) Hafen. Burial Feb. 15, 1947, Mt. Pleasant.

Family Group Sheet of William Olsen (These documents are considered to be Original History as they were recorded by the pioneer themselves or by 1st generation.)