How are you related to James Ephraim Madsen & Birgithe Jensen?
Larry's mom, Hattie was the oldest daughter of Mads Jonathan Madsen who is the third son of James & Birgithe
James Ephraim Madsen was born on 21 January 1844 in
Bjerrede, Terslev, Denmark. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints 28 March 186 and was married to Birgithe Jensen in the
Endowment House in Salt Lake City on 6 July 1869. He passed away at his home in
Salem on 23 March 1914, of carcinoma of the stomach. A doctor had been called
in on 23 January 1914. He was 70 years and 2 months of age. His youngest son,
Elmer was 28 and 8 months old and Elmer’s oldest son, Donald was 11 months.
the same home today
At the time
he joined the Church he took Ephraim as his middle name. He was disowned by his
family in Denmark. At that time he said, “I have a choice, I can be better or I
can be worse and I’m going to be better,”
His first
Christmas day in American was spent as a woodcutter in Ogden Canyon with a
lunch of bread and water.
When work
was to be done, church or community, always he and his boys were there. The
Church was everything. He said he would do it all again. Some other thoughts
attributed to him follow:
·
If that’s the way the Lord wants it, that is the
way it’s going to be.
·
The secrets of life are secret because so few
people really find them out.
·
Some very special people will come from the
shadows of these mountains (the mountains around Salem).
One final message from James
Ephraim Madsen: If this counsel or work be of men, it will come to naught: But
if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight
against God. (counsel of Gamaliel Acts 5:39)
His finances are not completely
known to us, but after the farm and the home were sold, sometime in 1915 (Will
ran the farm for one year) each child inherited in 1916 enough to make a real
change in their way of living. Two of the boys built nice homes (not all from
this legacy). Again in 1919 each child received about $50.00 from a relative in
Denmark. Elmer was 29 years old in 1916 and 32 years old in 1919. One wooden
box contained all the belongings he brought from Denmark.
He
would always cut a stick to measure the onions, those of proper height were
pulled and sold. He apparently was very exacting and meticulous about the work
of the farm.
During
the summer of 1913 he came alone and unannounced to Salt Lake City to see his
new grandson, Donald. He brought a brand new dollar bill and expressed his
pleasure at seeing the baby many times. He also apologized for not feeling too
well.
It
was probably impossible to find a discrepancy between the way this man lived
and the way he believed.
A RECOLLECTIONS OF RAE MADSEN KERN
One day
while I was attending the BYU, and I’m sure it was prearranged because it went
all so smoothly, my father and I went to Salem to visit some of his friends.
One very special person was Mrs. Andrew Ottesen (Larcena Olsen) daughter of
Soren Olsen, early Salem settlers from Denmark. They arrived “just after the
pioneering had been done” and acquired the land that Andrew Ottesen was faming.
Her father was reported to be a very good farmer who took great pride in his
work. Larcena married Andrew Ottesten from the Spanish Fork river bottoms. They
were farmers and very thrifty. Their city home was east and across the street
form John Flygare’s. When Andrew’s father died the main responsibility of
caring for his mother fell to him. His father had asked him to be good to his
mother and help her all he could. This he always did – fair and honest with his
dealings with her and she loved and trusted him. She passed away at the age of
93 in 1952. The three children born to this family were: Mary, married to Elias
Neilson of Spanish Fork; Andrew married LaVian Done of Payson and Ethel married
to Raymond Hanks, a successful farmer at Burley, Idaho. This is the family who
took care of Kate B. Carter’s mother when she arrived from Denmark completely
alone and just about nine years old.
This day
was special in many ways and I have often wondered if I would be able to
capture the message adequately and accurately enough to portray this person I
would only really know at some future time. Most of the conversation was about
James E. Madsen. There were many fond remembrances of him as a great strength
in the life of this family.
Apparently
his children could not have fully appreciated his strengths, his devotion to
God and his goodness to his fellow man. Perhaps he found it difficult to
express his love for his children, nevertheless, the message very clearly was
that in spite of any possible misunderstandings between father and sons, this
was a man of whom it was probably impossible to find a discrepancy between what
he believed and what he lived. His philosophy of life was “if that’s the way
the Lord wants it, that’s the way it’s going to be.” As far as he was
concerned, the only problem was in finding out what the Lord wanted. That their
father was a very special person was something his children were proud of and
knew well.
Mrs.
Ottesen was at the time 85 years old, spry and cheerful. We were shown her
flowers and vegetable garden and she proudly displayed a piece of farm
equipment that had once belonged to James Ephraim Madsen. The total exact
conversation is lost forever, but an impression of this man was formed that I
have tried to capture in the form of a letter which I will call “To my child
from you grandfather,”
Mrs.
Ottesen also “happily” sang this song to us – Daddy joined in. It is probably
the only time in my life that I have heard him song. Again I would like to capture something
special.
“God Moves in a Mysterious Way”
God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs and works his sovereign
will.
Ye fearful Saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much
dread
Are big with mercy and shall break in blessing on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His
grace;
Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour;
The bud my have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the
flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan His works in vain;
God is his own interpreter, and He will make it plain. (in
chanting style)
William
Cowper (1731-1800)
Converts
from Denmark, in Salem, practiced their English with these two words. The
chanting style made it easy to sing (?) while working; the rhythm and rhyming
made the pronunciation easier. It was a familiar and popular religious verse
and song of the day so its meaning was probably familiar to many. How often
have all of us heard parts of its message in many conversations with parents
and grandparents. How often have all of us heard it softly chanted strictly as
a personal private affair. That is the earliest memory of my grandmother,
Birgithe Jensen Madsen.
BIRGITHE JENSEN MADSEN - Mother
en Family History Transcript
BIRGITHE JENSEN MADSEN - MOTHER
Birgithe Jensen Madsen was born in Dronninglund, Longenhjoring,
Denmark on 23 July 1853 to Paul M. and Meta Kyerstine Olsen Jensen. She was
baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 22 April 1866 by
Peter Nelson and confirmed by him. After the family accepted the gospel they
immigrated from Denmark to Utah in 1866. They arrived in Salt Lake City 8
October 1866 and settled in Spanish Fork. They dug a dugout to store their things
and lived in a tent until they could build a two room adobe house. Our
great-grandfather made the adobe for the house and Grandmother and Aunt Hannah
helped mix the mud and water for them. They would get in barefooted and run
around and dance and had all kinds of fun doing it.
Birgithe had no chance to go to school after she got to this country
and had very little schooling in Denmark. She estimated about a year in all.
She went to work about a year after she came and worked until she was married
at the age of sixteen to James Ephraim Madsen. They were married in the
endowment house at Salt Lake City by Daniel H. Wells. They lived in Salem until
his death in 1914 and she continued to live there except for a short time when
she lived with her only daughter, Delia, because of poor health. She passed
away 15 September 1932 and was buried in Salem, Utah.
Some of her memories of the trip from Denmark have been recorded by
Delia for the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. She stated that they left a
comfortable home, sold everything they could and came to Utah for the sake of
the gospel. Birgithe was 13 and her sister Hannah was six at the time. They
sailed on the ship Kenilworth from Hamburg, Germany in May of 1866 with 684
Scandinavian Saints on board under the direction of Samuel D. Sprague and
landed in New York on July 17.
When they were on the ocean the ship caught fire. Birgithe's father
was acting as guard that night. While he was making his rounds a man who was
sitting up with his sick wife showed him where the fire had burned a big round
hole in the ship. Our great-grandfather could not speak a word of English so he
had a hard time giving the alarm, but finally he made one of the deck hands
understand. Some of the crew were very frightened. The thought the ship was
sinking, but it was only the water they were using to put out the fire and it
was not long before the captain came and told them not to be afraid; the fire
was out and they would soon be on their way. It took eight weeks to cross the
ocean. In New York they were advised to take a condemned train because it was
so much cheaper. They were eleven days on the train as they went up through
Canada. When they arrived in Boston, a friend of theirs, Mrs. Christanna
Peterson, became ill and on the first train going west from Boston she died,
leaving her little grand-daughter, Mary Jensen, eight years old, who was
migrating with her. Mary came the rest of the way to Utah in the care of
Birgithe's parents. She became Birgithe Jensen's companion - walking most of
the way across the plains together.
When they were nearing Chicago the Elders warned them to be real
quiet as there might be a mob waiting for them if they found out they were
Mormons. One fellow refused to close the window he was sitting by in the train,
as he had been asked to do. He kept sticking his legs out and when they
stopped, someone from outside grabbed them and hung onto them, After that he
was glad to close the window.
They put rocks on the track thinking it would cause the train to run
off into the lake, but it seemed as if The Lord was with them for by some
miracle it ran off the opposite way into a forest of trees and bushes. Quite a
few were shaken up and received cuts and bruises, but otherwise unharmed.
They came down the Missouri River on a flat boat. While on this boat
a crazy woman furnished them with amusement. The cooks were peeling apples; she
asked for one and they gave it to her. Then she kept asking for more and was
told that she could not have any more so she watched her chance and grabbed the
pan and threw them all into the river. Another time she took a bath in the
water they kept in a large stone jar for drinking. The Mormons were not allowed
to drink that water; they had to drink river water. I suppose the sailors
preferred the river water too after that incident.
At Omaha they were met by wagons from Utah and left on August 8th
with Andrew L. Scott's ox train. Hans Rigtrup was their teamster. There were
300 people in this company with 49 wagons. All that were able had to walk so
Grandmother Jensen and Mary walked most of the way as did Birgithe. Hannah was
only six years old and not very well so was allowed to ride. It was hard to
keep in shoes, Birgithe's mother made shoes of old felt hats or anything she
could get to try to keep their feet covered; she was a very good dressmaker and
used her skill on the shoes. But they didn't last long and often their feet
were sore and bleeding from walking so much. Grandfather Jensen had been in
comfortable circumstances in the old country and sold out for what money he
could get and then helped many immigrants who were less fortunate than himself
by lending them money. Some were anxious to pay back and did as soon as they
could, but he received nothing from others.
When they were in Laramie, Wyoming, Birgithe and Hannah were walking
down the road together and an old lady stepped out of a log house and caught
hold of Hannah and took her in the house. Both girls screamed until their
father came. The old lady explained that she wanted to help the child. She said
she looked delicate and would never live to cross the plains. The old lady took
them in afterward and gave them a good meal which Birgithe did not share as she
could not be found. Hannah crossed alright and lived to be over 70 years old.
James Ephraim and Birgithe immigrated at the same time, but she did
not meet him until she came to Spanish Fork. he was the only one of his family
to accept the gospel and his parents and sisters seemed to think he had
disgraced them by joining the Mormons. After they were married they moved to
Salem and built a dugout to store their things. They camped in a wagon until
they could build a one room adobe house for which her father made the adobe.
Birgithe was often left alone while her husband was away freighting or working
int he canyon. She was sometimes quite frightened of the Indians. She often
went into the fields gleaning wheat and thought nothing of walking to Spanish
Fork to visit her parents.
A few years later they built a larger house, a two room adobe, and
as the family grew they added to it. As they prospered a little they built a
ten room brick house.
Mads Jonathan Madsen is the tall son in the middle back
She became the mother of eight sones and one daughter. At the time
this was written one son and preceded her in death. John passed away at the age
of 54 on July 18, 1930. She then had eight living children, 56 grandchildren
and 17 great-grandchildren. Her husband had passed away on 26 March 1914 after
a useful and exemplary life. He was always a hard worker and kept busy until
almost a week before his death, although he had been very ill for almost two
years. He served for many years as chairman of the Board of Education and was
an active church worker. She was also kept busy in the church. She was
treasurer in the Relief Society for 27 years. She spent many hours making
temple clothes for the dad and other sewing that was needed. She helped lay out
the dead and waited on the sick. She was active in the Religion Class for many
years.
She was of a cheery happy disposition and a good wife and mother.
She always thought of the welfare of others and did a good turn whenever she
could. Through her many trials she always tried to look on the bright side of
things. (Most of the above is from the biography prepared by Delia for the
Daughters of the Utah Pioneers)
SOME MEMORIES OF GRANDCHILDREN
Bea Kimball remembers her sister telling of sitting on the porch of
grandmother's Salem home and watching her making beautiful beaded necklaces
which she gave to her grandchildren. Grandma would say, "Are you a
princess, I'm making this for a princess." This was typical of her
interests and talents and love for her family.
I remember (Hattie
Knight) how we always looked forward to a visit from Grandma Madsen each
summer. How she got to Idaho I don't know, but she would spend about a week
with each family - John, Frank and Irvin. She would sit for hours and teach me
to tat and to crochet. She was an expert at both. She had a very painful hip
and used a cane during her later years. Her needlework was beautiful and given
generously to each family.
