With the permission of David R. Gunderson.
Maria Elizabeth was born on 21 September 1802, in Rasvåg, on the island of Hidra in Norway, to Hendrick Pettersen of Pomerania, Germany and Rachel Cecelia Rasmussen of Rasvåg. Her parents were both born in about 1774 in Rasvåg and were married on 13 Nov 1801. By 1807, the family had moved (probably by ship) to Risør, Norway where she grew up. Her siblings; Rasmuss, Hendriette, and Catharina were born on 26 Feb 1807, 4 Oct 1809, and 19 Dec 1811 respectively. Nothing further is known about her siblings. On 18 Dec 1827, Maria Elizabeth married Lars Johnson who was born in about 1802 in Risør. They had 3 children: Johan, Ole, Caroline Cecilia (our ancestor),
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| Caroline Cecilia Gunderson Daughter of Maria Elizabeth |
and born: 14 Mar 1828, 9 Dec 1830, and 3 June 1834 respectively. Nothing further is known about Johan or Ole.
Maria Elizabeth must have been a normal Norwegian housewife and mother living in a small fishing village. She is reported to have been a very good seamstress making excellent clothing for her family and others. She taught this skill to her daughter who also became a skilled seamstress. At some point, she became a widow and also lost her eyesight, although she may not have been totally blind.
In September 1851 the first Mormon Missionaries came to Risør, Norway, Maria Elizabeth and her daughter Caroline Cecilia became the 7th and 8th members respectively. They were both baptized and confirmed on 25 June 1852. J. A. Ahmanson baptized both of them and also confirmed Maria Elizabeth. Caroline was confirmed by H.P. Jensen.
As the Gundersons and other families, one-by-one, left Risør to go to Zion, Caroline also longed to go to Zion, but she just couldn’t leave her blind and widowed mother alone in Norway, Recognizing the strong desire of her daughter to join the Saints in Zion, Maria Elizabeth encouraged her to go also. However, Caroline always replied that she could never leave her mother alone in Norway. Finally, Maria said, “If you won’t go without me, I will have to go with you” When Caroline asked how they could do this, her mother said that “they would just face the problems, one-at-a-time.” In the spring of 1857 they did just that. Maria Elizabeth (age 54) and Caroline (age 22) departed from Norway on Saturday, 11 Apr 1857, with a group of Saints from Christiania (Oslo), Norway and sailed to Copenhagen aboard the Norwegian steamship Viken.
In a calm sea, the vessel arrived at the Danish port the following day. After a five-day delay this company, about 540 emigrants under the direction of Hector C. Haight, president of the Scandinavian Mission, boarded the Danish screw steamer L. N. Hvidt and traveled to Grimsby (just south of Hull). From that English, port they traveled by train to Liverpool. Soon after they arrived in Liverpool, they boarded the Ship Westmoreland. The Westmoreland sailed from Liverpool on Saturday, 25 April 1857 and arrived at Philadelphia Pa. on Pentecost, Sunday 31 May 1857 after a 36-day passage.
The emigrants then boarded the train to go to the trailhead in Iowa City passing through Baltimore and Wheeling along the way. About 330 of the 544 emigrants on the Westmoreland were also planning to cross the plains by handcart, so Caroline and her Mother had much in common with their fellow passengers. At Iowa City, they joined the 7th or Christian Christiansen Handcart Co. which departed on 12 June. The leader of the saints onboard the Westmoreland was Matthias Cowley and Orson Pratt was the travel agent for the Saints leaving Liverpool at that time. The fare on the ship for each passenger was £5.5.0. Rail fare was $12.50 each, with another $15 per person for the handcart. Another source of this information reports that the total for sail, rail, and trail in dollars was $ 86 dollars per person.
Caroline and her mother were of modest means and they were able to deposit only 1 £ each. They must have received private help because help from the PEF (Perpetual Emigration Fund) was not available in 1857.
Since the handcarts were small and had to be shared by several people, the weight and bulk of the luggage were severely limited. Many had to leave books and other cherished positions at the trailhead. C. C. A. Christensen, who also came in the 7th Handcart Co., recalled that “One of the people we had was a blind sister from Norway, who was about sixty years old (actually 54 years old), and she walked the whole way. But she was always cheerful, and as she pushed the handcart her young daughter was helping to pull we could often hear her merry laughter when she unexpectedly found herself wading through one or another of the many streams of water which were found along our way. "Now, Mother, we are bout to cross some water,"we could hear her daughter warning her, “Is it deep?" or "How deep is it?" we heard the reply from the blind woman; and when the explanation was satisfactory, she walked cheerfully out into the water.” Family tradition recalls that Maria followed along holding the back of the handcart to feel or sense the road conditions ahead, and to brace herself if she stumbled, and to lend a hand by helping to push the cart. “For some must push and some must pull”.
As everyone else did, Maria Elizabeth walked every step of the way across the plains to Zion, solving the problems one-at-a-time as she had predicted. They passed large herds of wild buffalo, Indian villages, and forded many streams. But they had some fun times as well.
Dances and Hard Times Parties were held. One night, an old Danish pioneer, who had lost his sense of smell, proudly brought a small black and white animal into camp that he had managed to kill with his cane. He had planned to use it for food. It took a few days before he was welcomed back into polite company.
The 7th Handcart Co. arrived in Salt Lake on 13 September 1857 (after a 65-day crossing). It was probably no coincidence that Maria Elizabeth and Caroline had traveled in the Christiansen Handcart Company since it had crossed the plains together with the Cowley Ox Cart Company. Erick Gunderson’s younger brother, Jens Gunderson, and his family were members of the Cowley Ox Cart Company. They had also been members of the Risør Branch of the Church in Norway and had probably been friends of Maria Elizabeth and Caroline since their childhood, Since they were friends from “home” and had crossed the plains together, it would only be natural for Jens and his family to invited Maria Elizabeth and Caroline to join them in Spanish Fork where the Gunderson family had settled. Erick Gunderson, who had lost his first wife in 1855 at Mormon Grove, Iowa had arrived in Utah in Sep 1856, was living with his parents. Erick and Caroline quickly became interested in each other and on Monday, 12 October 1857, about four weeks after Caroline’s arrival; they were married by none other than Brigham Young himself in the President’s Office in Salt Lake City at 12:30 PM.
Maria Elizabeth made her home with Caroline and Erick for the rest of her life, first in Spanish Fork and later in Mt. Pleasant. She assisted Caroline in the delivery of all 11 of her children and also helped Caroline through the loss of all three of her daughters and one of her sons. Maria Elizabeth remained as positive and cheerful as she had been while immigrating to Zion and helped Caroline and the family to the best of her ability throughout her life. She was loved by all. She was truly one of the great pioneer women of Utah immigration.
Maria Elizabeth Johnson died: 30 April 1890, in Mt. Pleasant, Utah in the 88th year of her life. She made great sacrifices so that we could live in the United States and enjoy religious liberty She is truly an inspiration to us all. It is an honor and a responsibility to be one of her Descendents. A New Tomb Stone For Maria Elizabeth Johnson In 2007, it was discovered that the grave marker of Maria Elizabeth Hendrickson Johnson, which was installed in the 1890s, had deteriorated to the point that the inscription could no longer be read. It was decided that a new marker was needed. When asked, family members were enthusiastic and readily gave funds for the project. They also helped to finalize the new inscription. All agreed that pictures a sailing ship and a handcart would remind us all of the courage Grandma Johnson exhibited in immigrating to Utah. A Picture of the old Stone taken in 1995, more than a century after Maria’s death and one of the New Stone: installed in May of 2008. On 26 May 2008, The family met to dedicate the new stone.
Contrary to the predictions, the day of the dedication started with rain then went to intermittent rain, hail, snow, and wind, with an occasional sunshine break. Some suggested that we were having a reenactment of Martin’s cove experience. Others said that it was just to let us know what the pioneers had to go through. We were too late to get a reservation for one of the two pavilions in the Mt. Pleasant Park. On the morning of the 26th, I called a friend in Mt. Pleasant to check on the weather since we had been too late to reserve a pavilion. He immediately said, “Take our reservation; we had to cancel our activity. I’ll go right down and post our reservation receipt so no one will take the pavilion before you get there.” What a blessing that turned out to be! Front View of the New Stone & Inscription When we arrived, at least 50 family members had assembled at the gravesite and the sun was shining. However, there was a huge black storm cloud rapidly approaching from the south. So I quickly asked Roger P. Monson, a descendent of Erick Gunderson Jr. to give the dedicatory prayer. (He offered a beautiful and spiritual prayer) He finished just as the bad weather arrived and we all quickly went to the pavilion for the program and the Potluck luncheon. There were representatives from the families of all the sons of Erick & Caroline except for Lars, Carl, and Jens. We all had a grand time visiting and meeting with our new friends and cousins. Just as the Luncheon and the program ended, the wind started to blow, making it hard to properly clean up the Pavilion, but we did the best we could. It was a great day. We even had Potato Starch Cake, an old Gunderson family favorite Roger Monson presented a beautifully bound keepsake booklet to the members of the family detailing the program and activities of the day, as listed below, plus eleven pages of color pictures and maps of the Gunderson family home towns of Southern Norway.
Betty G. & Walt Woodbury also handed out sheets giving the names of the parents, children, and grandchildren of Erick & Caroline Gunderson.
The layout of the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Showing the Gravesites of Many Family Members
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