Coincidences with Family Roots

“I think we’re related!”

Our daughter Heidi while attending Utah State hears a familiar family story from her professor

Our children had all heard bits and pieces of the story about our Christensen ancestors who in the late 1800s lived in a dugout in the small community of Mink Creek, Idaho. Eventually the Christensens moved to a cabin that they nicknamed the Glass Palace. Our daughter Heidi while attending a class at Utah State, heard her teacher share a story about her family living in a dugout and a Glass Palace in Mink Creek, Idaho. After class, Heidi came up to the teacher and said, “I think we’re related!”. As it turns out, her teacher, Susan Andersen, is my second cousin. She is the grand-daughter of Elvira, the youngest sister of my grandmother Johannah Elizabeth Hansen (Christensen).

Heidi decided to include the story of the Christensen family in her next writing assignment. I was able to help research more about their experiences. This motivated me to learn even more about the Christensen family and they have influenced me in a number of ways.

A fun fact is that Heidi, like her teacher Susan, became a college writing instructor (formally: Lecturer, Department of Writing Studies at Boise State University and Adjunct Instructor at College of Western Idaho).

Timeline

Emigration from Denmark to Utah

After joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1880, Steffen and Thomine Christensen left their comfortable home and good business in Denmark, sold everything and immigrated to the United States by way of Hamburg, Germany and then Liverpool, England. They left Denmark due to the persecutions against Latter-day Saints. On September 4th, 1880 they along with their good friends, Andreas and Kirsten Jepsen departed Liverpool, England on the ship S.S. Nevada, which was a steamer with riggings. After about 11 days at sea, they arrived in New York on September 15th. They were then separated into stalls, depending on the state the immigrants were traveling to. Finally they were placed on a train, which took them to Ogden, Utah. They could not speak any English but were able to describe to a man that they were heading to Logan, Utah. With their young daughters Annie and Matilda they rode in a buckboard wagon with the man to Logan.

In Logan, Steffen got work at a flour mill. They lived in a shack west of town and Steffen walked four miles every day to the mill. They had challenges living outside of Logan. One day a band of Indians came to their home, encircled it and raced around the house yelling and laughing. Thomine took her children and headed for town. On their way they met Steffen coming home from work. They all went together into town and stayed with friends.

Steffen’s job at the flour mill included climbing into the cold river water and chopping the clogged ice off the large water wheel. It was here that he developed rheumatoid arthritis from the cold in his legs and arms that lasted for the rest of his life.

They had another child while living in Logan, Stephen Christian (Chris) was born in 1882.

On to Mink Creek or ‘Bear Hollar’, Idaho

In 1883 when the job became much more difficult for Steffen because of his rheumatism, they decided to move to Mink Creek, Idaho. Steffen wanted to try ranching and farming and homestead a large piece of land.

He was accompanied by Andreas Jepsen, the friend whose family had traveled with them on the S.S. Nevada and train to Utah. They came to Bear Hollow where Bear Creek ran, which is near Mink Creek. There were no materials to build a cabin, so they dug a hole to stay in.

When Steffen’s family joined him, he built a dugout in the side of a hill with square walls, a dirt floor and straw on the roof. The Christensen family was the first family to settle in Bear Hollow. They lived in the dugout for at least five years. Some written histories indicate seven years. My calculations of the timeline comes to seven years, or at least closer to that. Usually dugouts were considered temporary homes, but due to the lack of building materials locally and Steffen’s rheumatoid condition, they were in the dugout for a very long time.

In 1884, the Jepsen family joined them in Bear Hollow as the second family. Andreas’s wife Kirstine was expecting. Andreas also built a dugout for his family.

A third family, Peder and Elsie Larsen came to Bear Hollow and also built a dugout. The Larsens had immigrated from Denmark to Utah and had traveled on the S.S. Nevada, but they came a couple of years earlier in 1878. They first settled in Salt Lake City before moving to Mink Creek. When the Larsens were sailing from Denmark, Elsie gave birth to a son they named Nevada Atlantic Larsen after their ship and his birth while at sea.

Julius Jepsen and daughter Josephine join the Christensens in their dugout

When the Christensens came to Mink Creek in 1883, their family consisted of Steffen, Thomine (Minnie), Annie, Mathilda (Tillie) and Stephen Christian (Chris), who was probably less than a year old.

On December 24th, 1884 the Christensen’s neighbor and friend, Kirstine Jepsen gave birth to twins. Unfortunately, Kirstine died about two weeks after giving birth. The twins were Julius and Kirstine Marie (named after her mother). Thomine took in Julius and cared for him until Dorothea, Thomine’s sister came from Cleveland, Idaho, which is about 10-20 miles away. Andreas had helped pay the travel for Dorothea and her son Marinus a year before when they emigrated from Denmark. For a short time there were six people in the dugout counting Julius. Dorothea came with her son Marinus and took care of the home and the boys, that is, the oldest son Andrew, Julius and Marinus in the Jepsen dugout. Kirstine, the other twin went to live with Jim Rasmussen’s family, another friend of the Jepsens. They cared for her for six years and then she contracted scarlet fever and died.

On July 8th, 1885 Dorothea Thomsen, married Andreas Jepsen and they had eight boys and a daughter together. Dorothea was also known as ‘Aunt Taya’ by my grandmother Hannah.

On May 10th, 1885 Josephine Frediricka was added to the Christensen family, the first to be born in the dugout.

Daughter Hannah and Larsen family join the Christensens in their dugout

On December 17th, 1887 Thomine gave birth to Johannah Elizabeth (Hannah), bringing the total to seven in the dugout. Then two weeks later, the Larsen family’s dugout burnt to the ground. My Grandma Hannah says this about the experience:

When I was two weeks old, our neighbor’s house burnt down, and this Larsen came up to my father and said, “My house burn’t down and what will I do Stephen?” Well, Dad took the horses and hooked them up to the sleigh in all the snow and went down there and He said, “You had better come home with me”. They were seven too and we were seven. We made room on the floor. There was no place to go. They didn’t have any other neighbors, no body to take them in. They stayed there with us until they could find enough logs so they could build a chicken coop or some little place for him to live.

Tape Recording of Hannah Hansen (Christensen) in 1974 transcribed by Larry Hansen

So now there were fourteen people in the dugout.

Alma (Elmy) Swensen joins the Christensens in their dugout

When Hannah was about nine months old, a family from Hyde Park, Utah were fleeing officers due to their practice of polygamy. The wife gave birth to a son, Alma Swensen in Preston, Idaho on August 6th, 1888. They were on their way to Star Valley, Wyoming when Alma was born. The Swensen’s came to Thomine in Mink Creek and asked if they could care for their infant son until they returned. From what I can gather, and I have pieced this together through research on FamilySearch.org, the Swensen’s were from the same region in Denmark (Hjørring) that the Christensens were from. This may have been the connection between the families.

Thomine nursed and cared for this little boy for two years until he died. He shared a cradle with my Grandma Hannah, who says of the experience:

…there was a man that was a polygamist and some officers were after him. The man had a little boy and the officers were going to take the baby away from them if they didn’t leave the country, so they went to Star Valley and they left the baby with Mother. And Father made a homemade cradle and the baby boy and I slept at each end of the cradle. Mother sat there like that and rocked it and knitted.

– Hannah Hansen (Christensen)

There is also a family story that while the babies were laying in the cradle, which had straw in it, a chicken would come and lay an egg between them.

By this time, it was likely that the Larsen’s had moved out to a chicken coop until they built a cabin. So the number of people in the dugout was now eight.

Where there was heart room, there was house room

Clearly the Christensens faced challenges and life was much different than it was in Denmark where they had a comfortable home and Steffen had a good business. Yet, they were willing to open their little dugout to help neighbors and others in need. My cousin Larry Hansen writes:

Thomine and Hannah both said that the happiest time of their life was when they were living in the dugout. Hannah said the children never fought. Thomine always said where there was heart room, there was house room. Thomine hardly had a thing while they were living in the dugout. She had a little table in the corner that had some leaves that let down so it wouldn’t be in the way. The family broke off the heads of wheat so nothing would go to waste. They put the heads on a cover and tromped on them to get all the wheat out. Steffen held the cover up to the wind to blow away the chaff.

– Larry Hansen

This story has influenced me, especially when our family has been in need or someone needed a place to stay. There is always house room and love, because there is always heart room.

The ‘Glass Palace’

Cousin Larry continues:

Later when the family finally moved into a log cabin that Steffen built, Hannah’s older brother, Chris, danced for joy on the new wooden floor. Hannah said the neighbors called the log cabin a glass house because it had two windows with glass in them. Hannah called the log cabin a palace. Steffen made wooden shoes for the family, which they wore for years. Hannah didn’t have a coat until she was twelve years old. Before that, she wrapped her mother’s shawl around her. Her dress was made from flour sacks. When her sister Josephine died at the age of fourteen, Thomine borrowed a dress for Hannah to wear to the funeral. Hannah later had a nice pair of shoes that she never wore except in school or in church. She went barefoot until she got to the church or the school.

– Larry Hansen

Additions and Passings

The oldest child, a son Peder died in infancy when the Christensens lived in Denmark. Josephine died when she was fourteen.

Children added to the Christensen family while living in the Glass Palace were:

Martin Christensen (1890),

Hyrum Wilford (1893),

Charley (1896),

and Elvira Thomine (1898)

Steffen passed away on May 6th, 1905 at the age of 54, primarily due to his rheumatoid arthritis and pneumonia.

A granddaughter Drucilla White wrote:

It was early spring when he became ill, he was trying to dig in the garden one day when he stuck the spade into the ground and said: He thought he would go into the house and rest a little while, he never did go out there again. He was ill with pneumonia. My mother Mathilda had the same sickness (at the same time). He suffered a great deal before he died, although everything was done at that time was done for him. He died 6 May 1905 at age 54. The spade wasn’t moved from the ground where he was digging for a long time.

– Drucilla White

Christensen Coat of Arms

See  Steffen & Thomine Christensen in our Family Roots site for more detail.

Sources

• “Alma Swensen (KWJT-T44) – Collaborate – FamilySearch.org.” FamilySearch, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023, 1. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.
• “Andreas Jepsen (KWNN-HLY) – Memories – FamilySearch.org.” FamilySearch, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023, 1. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.
• “Johannah Elizabeth Christensen. (KWC6-KQ3) – Memories – FamilySearch.org.” FamilySearch, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023, 1. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.
  • Tape recording on 7 April 1974 of JOHANNAH ELIZABETH CHRISTENSEN HANSEN 17 December 1887 – 28 September 1979
  • Life History of John and Johannah Hansen By Larry Jed Hansen, a grandson, in 2018
• “Julius Jepsen (KWCY-B59) – Memories – FamilySearch.org.” FamilySearch, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023, 1. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.
  • Life Story of Julius Jepsen Himself
• “Kirstine Hagelund (KWNL-8LK) – Memories – FamilySearch.org.” FamilySearch, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023, 1. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.
• “Peter Larsen (KWN4-F27) – Memories – FamilySearch.org.” FamilySearch, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023, 1. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.
  • Peter Larsen Story
• “Steffen Christian Pedersen Christensen. (KWCX-YC4) – Memories – FamilySearch.org.” FamilySearch, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023, 1. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.
  • A History of Our Beloved Parents and Grandparents Steffen and Thomine Christensen By Merlin Christensen (grandson)
  • Individual Summary Steffen C P CHRISTENSEN 1851 by Gene Hansen (grandson)
  • Life History of Stephen Christensen by Drucilla White (granddaughter)
  • Stephen and Thomine Christensen Log Cabin – Called ‘The Palace’
  • Christensen Coat of Arms
  • Josephine Federicka Christensen, daughter of Steffen & Thomine when she was 14 yrs old.
• “Thomine Matilde Mortensen. (KWCX-YCH) – Memories – FamilySearch.org.” FamilySearch, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023, 1. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.
  • Individual Summary Thomine M Mortensen by Gene Hansen (grandson)
  • Thomina Mathilda Mortensen life story by Elvira Thomine Christensen McCarrel (daughter)