NORTH BRICK SCHOOL HOUSE

 

 

FAIRVIEW MUSEUM OPEN HOUSE

PETER LEON HAFEN ~~~ My Sweet Husband

 

Peter Hafen  a Loyal Aggie 

Peter Leon Hafen

June 2, 1938 — June 11, 2025

Mount Pleasant

Peter Leon Hafen, 87, returned to his Heavenly Father on June 11, 2025.

Born on June 2, 1938, Peter lived a remarkable life filled with adventure, hard work, and talents few could match. A master welder, mechanic, carpenter, & blacksmith, Peter was known to be able to fix or build anything. If it was broken, he could make it work again—usually better than before.

In high school, Peter stood out as an athlete, known for his incredible speed and toughness in any sport he played. When a series of concussions put an end to his football dreams, Pete did what any determined young man would do—he started riding bulls in rodeos across the Sanpete Valley.

Music was another of Peter’s many gifts. He could play just about anything—including the saxophone, trumpet, piano, guitar, and banjo. He and his brother Donald—his lifelong sidekick and partner in crime—performed in a band called The 7 Hits & A Miss. They played for dances all over central and eastern Utah.

Peter was also a licensed barber who once cut hair in the legendary Hotel Utah. Later, he opened barber shops in both Provo and his hometown of Mount Pleasant. And if that wasn’t enough, he was also a talented baker—known for beautifully decorated cakes and delicious homemade pies.

On September 9, 1966, Peter married his sweetheart, Kathy Hafen. They were later sealed in the Manti Temple on August 9, 1977. Together, they raised three children—Michael, Laura, and Jon—and were blessed with 10 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

There’s so much more we could say about Peter Hafen. He was full of wisdom, loved his family unconditionally, & was gifted with a sense of humor that came with great advice often shared with us. To this end we finish with one of his favorite lines: “Never ride a bull backwards.” There’s a story behind that—and plenty of others that we’ll hold close to our hearts until we meet again.

Funeral services for Peter will include a viewing on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM at Rasmussen Mortuary, 96 N 100 W, Mount Pleasant.

A second viewing will be held Wednesday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 AM, followed by funeral services at 11:00 AM at the Mount Pleasant LDS North Stake Center, 461 N 300 W, Mount Pleasant. Online condolences at rasmussenmortuary.com

Peter Hafen
Mt. Pleasant Blacksmith Shop

Cameron Maxwell
Donald and Peter Hafen

L to R: Carolyn Hafen, Grandmother Carrie Hafen, Peter Hafen, Nicholas Bert Hafen

Yogi's BarberShop

MT. PLEASANT BOOK ~~~ SURROUNDING COMMUNTITIES

FORMER MAYORS OF MT. PLEASANT

 

FLOUR AND BREAD

 

 

    hope I am not trespassing on your space.

    Very respectfully, A. Croll

ANNIE CHRISTINE CHRISTENSEN MONSEN (From our archives)

 This post has over a thousand hits.  

Many thanks goes to  Beverly McIntosh Brown for sending in the histories of Annie Christine and Dorthea Marie Nielsen (Christensen).  These were the two wives of Peter Mogensen (Monsen).  Peter was Pioneer of the Month in January 2010.  We will link all these histories together for research purposes.

Annie Christine Christensen Monsen

Wife of Peter Mogensen (Monsen)  You can find his history here:

Originally compiled and typed by F. Fern McIntosh Jacobs

Retyped by Belva Jones McIntosh June 2000

Most parenthetical comments and highlighting done by Beverly McIntosh Brown


Annie Christine Christensen Monsen was born October 8, l848 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the daughter of Catherine Amalie (Trine) Rasmussen Borresen Christensen Fecher (her story typed separately) and Peder Henrick Christensen. (Annie was the second wife of Peter Mogenson.)



Her Mother, “Trina” as she was called, was born October 18, 1826 in Denmark, and her father was born January 15, 1823 in Sanby, Lolland, Denmark. The Christensen’s became the parents of two daughters, who were born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Annie Christine Christensen was born October 8, 1848 and Jensine Sophia, born December 30, 1850.



They became converts to the Restored Church and soon after, in company with the Borresen families, set sail for Zion in America. The day happened to be Christmas Day.



After a time, they landed at New Orleans, Louisiana, and soon the Saints were sailing up the Mississippi River. There they saw burly Negroes loading barrels of molasses and huge bales of cotton onto ships for transportation. Also they saw alligators sunning themselves on the riverbanks. These were strange and interesting sights for these immigrants from afar.



Soon after landing at Winter Quarters, these families joined a pioneer company bound for Utah. There was much sickness in the camps of these saints. Now it was the father who became ill and passed away on April 5, 1854. So, sadly, Trine had her beloved husband, Peder Henrick Christensen laid to rest enroute to the Salt Lake Valley. Cholera took its toll, and death occurred among many of their friends.



Annie’s mother became acquainted with a very fine man, a German immigrant, John Frederick Fechser. He was kind to her and while they were in Salt Lake she became his wife on January 14, 1855.



In March 1859, Fechser’s family, with others from Salt Lake Valley and Utah County, came to Mt. Pleasant, Sanpete County. They helped to build the fort in Mt. Pleasant, and in the summer of 1859 it was completed.



After the Manti Temple was completed, it was a great joy to Trine Christensen Fechser when she, accompanied by her daughter could go to the temple and be sealed for eternity to her dear former husband, Peder Christensen, who died enroute to Utah.



Annie Christine went to work at the home of Peter Monsen when they moved to Mt. Pleasant. He and his good wife Dorthea Nielsen were the parents of five children. Christian who was buried at sea at the age of 16 months while they were on their way to America, and Anne Christina, Peter L., Joseph Moroni and Sena M. It was the order of the Mormon Church at that time for the worthy members to enter into plural marriage. Since Dorthea was not well, and Annie needed a good home of her own, it was decided that Annie should become his second wife in plural marriage. Annie was very fond of both Peter Monsen and his wonderful wife, so their marriage was solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple the 2nd of January 1864. Dorthea was like a real mother to her, and whenever she was troubled or needed help, she was the one who gave her love and consolation and encouragement. Dorthea had three more children – James, Dorthea M. and Carolena.



Annie gave birth to thirteen children. Annie lived in a little house one block west of Dorothea, and they enjoyed a very pleasant relationship at all times. Annie helped Peter Monsen down at the farm, and many times the babies slept in the shade of the bushes of a wheat stack while she worked hand in hand with her husband. Dorthea, who was not well enough to work in the fields, often assumed the responsibility of all the children while Annie worked. Annie wore her husband’s old shoes tied to her feet, and didn’t know what it was to have a beautiful new pair of her own.



Both women were excellent dressmakers, and did all of their own sewing. The last pat of Annie’s life was very hard because the practice of plural marriage or polygamy was abolished and she had to hide from the officers for fear of being arrested. She slept in many different places at night and exposed herself to all kinds of weather. She died in 1888 at Mt. Pleasant at the age of 40 of childbed fever, a couple of weeks after the birth of her 13th child, Esther. When she died, Peter Monsen was in Indianola preaching to the Indians, and John, 13 years of age, rode to there on a horse to get him.



It was a real tragedy, and much sorrow filled the hearts of these children when their dear mother was taken from them so young. Dorthea tenderly took care of her children until she died, November 10, 1912. Esther said that if ever there was an angel on earth, it was this wonderful stepmother. She said,”All I knew about my stepmother was beautiful. She was so kind and patient and helpful to all of her children and stepchildren, even though she had not known a well day for the last 40 years of her life. She need not be afraid to meet Annie and give a good report on the care of her wonderful children.

NEWSPAPERS OF SANPETE COUNTY

 

Saga of the Sanpitch  1980

NEWSPAPERS OF SANPETE COUNTY

Eleanor P. Madsen

Ephraim, Utah

Professional Division

First Place Historical Essay

“When the last editorial is written

And the ink is smoothly dried;

When the papers have been folded

And addressed and wrapped and tied;

When these two who stood together,

Though days were dull or bright,

Will have closed the office door at last

For the long, eternal night;

May the thoughts and words and phrases

Of the things they dared to say

Be their unquestioned ‘press card’

In that land of endless day.” 1

This poem might well be a eulogy to all the editors of early Sanpete newspapers. We picture two
toiling together with laborious hand methods, the only available tools in those early days before the turn of
the century, when every letter was set separately, all the inking done by hand, and the press operated by hand
or foot power.

The old print shops are now forgotten as newer and faster methods have replaced the archaic one.
Even the Linotype is now becoming obsolete as more modern, electric machinery performs many tasks with
minimum effort for the editor and his staff.
Survey after survey has proven that no other medium is so thoroughly read or listened to as the
hometown paper. Indeed, since April 24, 1885, when the Home Sentinel, the first newspaper published in
Manti by James T. Jakeman, 2
residents have eagerly scanned local publications for personal and social items,
odd bits of national and state happenings, and other copyrighted material. Three items taken from the first
editions have a bit of humor for the reader today.
“Salt Lakers are having strawberries and cream and our Manti, more rain.”
Ft. Green Items: “The stores of this burg are paying 6 cents per dozen for eggs and 42 cents per bushel
for wheat.”

“Wide brimmed hats are very fine as substitutes for umbrellas in the sun’ but people do say they are
out of place on the front seats of the theatre. He (she) whom the coat fits let him put it on.
Within five years two other local papers appeared. In June, 1890-, James T. Jakeman issued the County
Register in Ephraim 4, and in November, 1890, A.B. Williams and J.M. Boyden published the Mt. Pleasant
Pyramid. 5.in 1891 the Ephraim plant was purchased by M. F. Murray and Company. The name was changed to the Enterprise 6
by which it was known through the management of ten editors, Ward Stephensen, John
Christiansen, Fred Jorgensen, W.E. Thorpe, Oscar Neilsen, a. E. Britsch, Nephi Christensen, Curtis Mitchelson
and Roscoe C. Cox. 7 Mr. Cox began publication in 1925 and was editor and manager for 35 years, the longest
period for any of the publishers. 8

The plant was located first in a building at 30 East Center Street. It was
later moved to the basement of the Ephraim Bank building and then to 56 North Main (Roscoe Cox Home).
The Mt. Pleasant Pyramid was purchased from Mr. Williams and Mr. Boyden by Burke McArthur in
1911. Mr. McArthur bought the first Linotype machine in Sanpete County, and continued to make
improvements in the plant until it was modernized throughout. About this same time, he also purchased a
permanent home for the paper, the building which it now occupies. 9

“The price of the local paper was combined with the needs of those concerned in Sanpete; it was
printed in kind; in terms of so much hay, so many potatoes or so many cords of firewood.” 10 Rates of
subscription listed in the Mt. Pleasant Pyramid Friday morning December 29, 1912, were: one year - $1.50; six
months - $.75; three months - $.50.
Editorials played an important role in the early newspapers, serving to arouse interest and to motivate
the people to action on local issues. They also helped shape policies and form public opinion on vital matters,
proving that the ‘pen is mightier than the sword.”
Mt. pleasant also had a small newspaper called The Call, which was edited and published by Christian
N. Lund, Jr., in a plant on the south side of the street at about 270 West Main. Mr. Lund operated his plant
first in Salina, then in Mt. Pleasant for a total of about ten years before moving to Salt Lake City, where he
continued in the newspaper business with a paper entitled The Progressive Opinion, which maintained a
circulation in Sanpete County for many years.

The Home Sentinel in Manti with J. T. Jakeman, Manager, and Dan Harrington, Editor, was re-named
The Sentinel in 1890 when H. H. Felt leased it. On October 13, 1893, under lease to Joel Shomaker, the paper
acquired the title of the Manti Messenger, which has continued since that time. 11 Other publishers to the
year 1929 year were J. L. Ewing, Peter A. Poulson, M.A. Boyden and S. Peter Peterson. 12
An item from the January 26, 1894, issue of the Messenger gives an insight into law enforcement in the
city.

“Sleigh riding has been the order of the day for some time. Some of the boys were a little too fast to
be within the limits of the city ordinances last Sunday and as a result were fined on dollar each.”
A rival paper in Manti, the Sanpete Democrat, was first issued in June, 1898, 13 and in 1902 was known
as the Sanpete Free Press with L. A. Lauber, publisher. It sold for $1.00 per year. 14 A local item in the January
7, 1902, edition reads as follows: “The rabbit hunt on Monday between Manti and Ephraim resulted in favor of
Ephraim by a score of 186 to 155….”
In the south end of the county, the Gunnison Valley News recorded this item:
“The great event came when a man named Camp came with a press and started a local weekly, which
he called the Gunnison Gazette. It was housed in a little building that stood on the north side of Center street
next to the school lot. After a short while, in 1909, he sold it to Nephi Gledhill. It was an old Washington hand
press. It took the family to get the paper out. The children would go after school and set type. When the
bank building was finished it was moved into that basement.”1513
In 1919 the paper was transferred to Howard W. Cherry, who modernized its operations and changed
the name to Gunnison Valley News. Subscription rates were $2.00 a year and $1.00 for six months. 16

Many
issues of the paper that year carried items of soldiers returning from World War I. the paper for July 4, 1919,
gave a detailed announcement of a patriotic program followed by foot, auto and horse races, boxing, baseball
and dancing, saluting the soldiers with the greeting: “Welcome, Soldier boys, the town is yours. Let’er bust.”
Prior to the editions of the local papers in the various communities in the County, the readers of early
news were able to obtain the Daily Deseret Evening News, which began as a weekly journal in 1867. “It
contained a variety of material, including speeches, lectures on scientific subjects, messages from church
heads, legal notices, local news, messages from the settlements reporting their progress, etc. It was always
part of the settlement. It gave the people a sense of contact with the world, a basis for comparing their lives
with that of other settlers and made them feel part of a large and important body. Everybody read the
News.”17 In this News, September 22, 1883, there appeared “more than two columns of the full size
newspaper, the names of all the stake presidencies and ward bishops for all the organized stakes of the
church.”

The Salt Lake Weekly Herald (Tribune) also found ready circulation in Sanpete County, 18
In listing early day publications, the Snowdrift, with Roscoe C. Cox as its first editor, provided
happenings and literary contributions from students at the College as well as being a media for training and
developing of talents in the news field.

The local papers were a powerful force in uniting the thoughts and actions of the people in the
communities. In giving due credit to the editors and publishers of Sanpete newspapers in the 44 years from
1885 to 1929, we are aware that they put the good of the people before their personal gain. First and
foremost was their love of the work, hearts that felt and understood the pulse of the community, men who
dared crusade for a better world, sometimes unappreciated, sometimes misunderstood, but never ceasing
their efforts for the printed page until that final copy was edited. These hands that set the type, turned the
presses and folded the papers will not be forgotten. Their words will echo and re-echo from the yellowed,
brittle pages, reminding us of conflict, tragedy, of joy and faith and hope, of life, as it was in our Sanpete
towns through these years.
Sources: 1
Christie Lund Coles, “To Mother and Dad”, Newspaper clipping.
2
These Our Fathers, p. 36
3
Snow College Film Library, Home Sentinel, 1885.
4 W. H. Lever, History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, p. 287.
5
These Our Fathers, p. 103.
6 W. H. Lever, p. 287.
7
These Our Fathers, p. 86.
8
Armanda Cox, Personal information.
9
These Our Fathers, p. 103.
10 Albert Antrei, “The Salty Old Press of Sanpete County”, Enterprise, 1979.
11 Mt. Pleasant Pyramid, December 29, 1912.
12 Antrei.
13 Song of a Century, p. 123.
14 W. H. Lever.
15 Sone of a Century, p. 123.
14 W. H. Lever.
15 Snow College Film Library, Sanpete Free Press, January 7, 1902.14
16 These Our Fathers, pp. 156-157.
17 Snow College Film Library, Gunnison Valley News, May 2, 1919.
18 These Our Fathers, pp. 156-157.
LAND OWNERSHIP IN EARLY FAIRVIEW

Niels Peter Neilson Family Group Sheet

 

PIONEER DAY HOMECOMING ~~~ MARCH 1921

 

MADSENS OF MT. PLEASANT

 

Our Blog has been posted for over 10 years and most photos, histories, stories, family group sheets, obituaries, etc.  have now been posted. 

 We have invited followers (of which we have many) to send in their family histories and stories as well.We have just about run out of these. 

 The Madsens of Mt. Pleasant is a book of history edited and published in 1967 by Co-Editors Nell Madsen and Pearle M. Olsen.It is a real treasury of histories, photos and more.  Many current local families are offspring of the original Madsens to Mt. Pleasant.  Their stories are of love, success, sacrifice, and of great interest. However, much has happened since 1967. 

If you and your family have more updated material we encourage you to send it in and we will include it in our postings. (pandk@cut.net)
 The Original Madsens were Lars and Bodel MadsenTheir children were  :Mads Madsen

Niels Peter Madsen

Andrew Madsen

Anna Margrethe Madsen

Jacobena Madsen

Niels Madsen

Lars Christian Madsen 

O 

HISTORY OF THE LIBERTY POLE OF MT. PLEASANT

 

 

MOUNTAINVILLE HISTORY ~~~ Compiled by Melba Shelley Hill

More History of Mountainville Can be Found  Under "Mountainville History" . 

                  She has always had a strong testimony of the gospel and has tried to live its teachings in her 

                  everyday life which has had a bearing on her children. 

        

                  She has been a good mother and homemaker.  She has learned that blessings came from          

                  obedience and when there is a job to do in the church that we should obey and there is
                  is always a way provided to do the work.  She has reaped many blessings.  She has always
                  been dependable.  Her word was always good

                  She has never been afraid of work and has worked hard all her life.

                  August 31, 1958 Fannie B. Shelley was appointed president with LaRue A. Burnside and Erma
                   C. Shelley as counselors..  Verla R. Coates as secretary.

                  She was born 1 December 1911 in Deseret, Utah to Joshua Rudd and Lillie May Hales
                   Bennett.  She married John William Shelley July 20, 1932 in the Manti Temple.  They are
                  the parents of nine children.

                  Fannie always enjoyed being out-of-doors.  She was a friend and teacher to her children,
                  Her life revolved around her family.  She would join in softball games with her children.
                  She would read bedtime stories, wash and iron levis and shirts for eight boys as well as
                  the rest of the laundry, bake the best cookies and bread.  She would find time to help pick
                  strawberries and raspberries with her family to sell during the summer.  When John was
                  away working, she had to help with milking the cows and any other chores that needed done.
                  She made beautiful quilts.  While waiting for John to go around his trap lines, she would wait in
                  the car crocheting beautiful doilies and tablecloths.

                  Fannie loves the temple and has been a worker in both the Provo and Manti Temples for several
                  years.  She has served in the Primary, Mutual, Sunday School and Relief Society.


                  January 3, 1865, Sister Leila Christensen became president with Verla R. Coates and Erma C.
                  Shelley as counselors.