Christian Hans Monson June 16, 1837-September 23, 1896

Christian Hans Monson

(Christen Hansen)

1837–96

 Christian’s father was a woodcutter by trade. He was industrious and hardworking, and he expected everyone around him to be the same. He had a violent temper, and Christian recalled being “mortally afraid” of his walking cane. However, when he was in good humor, Christian enjoyed sitting and talking to him as he smoked his long-stemmed pipe (see Skidmore, “Biographical Sketch of the Life of My Father Christian Hans Monson as I Knew Him,” 1).

Christian was baptized on 4 April 1853 by Svend Larsen. At the time, he was an employee of the Fredrikstad prison. He recalled carrying meals to the elders who were imprisoned for preaching. In this process, an elder asked him why he abused and tormented him, for “so persecuted they the Christ and his followers.” The prisoners set Christian to thinking. One night during the winter of 1852, he released his prisoners. Together they walked to the fjord, where Christian was secretly baptized, after which the elders returned to their prison cell (see Skidmore, “Biographical Sketch of the Life of my Father Christian Hans Monson as I Knew Him,” 2; Skidmore and Horne, “Immigrant Pioneers: Christian Hans Monson,” Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Lesson for October 1984, 41–53; Roberts, “Love Is Its own Reward,” New Era, February 1978, 6–7).

Christian was whipped by his father for being baptized and told never to return. He left home and labored as a local missionary in Drammen, Buskerud County, Norway. At that time, he was five feet nine inches and weighed 190 pounds. He had blue eyes, a fair complexion, brown hair, and a beard (see Skidmore and Horne, “Immigrant Pioneers: Christian Hans Monson,” Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Lesson for October 1984, 41–44).

He was ordained an elder on 8 September 1856. He began his emigration to America on 9 August 1857. He voyaged from Liverpool to the United States aboard the Westmoreland. He crossed the plains in the Christian Christiansen handcart company to reach the Salt Lake Valley (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 236). Christian settled in Lehi, Utah County, before moving to Logan, Cache County, and finally Richmond, Cache County. He was called from Richmond to serve as a guard in Echo Canyon during the Utah War (see Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 1042). After the threat of war passed, he was endowed on 26 October 1861 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.

Cabinet makers and finish-carpenters making stairway posts and materials for stairways in the Logan Temple.  Christian Hans Monson, center, and son Joseph front right.

He married Nielsine Kruetzback, a widow fourteen years his senior. This marriage ended in divorce. After the divorce, Christian accepted a mission call to Scandinavia in 1878. He arrived in Copenhagen on 20 November 1878 and was assigned to labor in the Göteborg Conference. After completing an honorable mission, he departed from Copenhagen on 5 July 1880 aboard the steamer Cato with 346 emigrating Latter-day Saints and other returning missionaries (see Jenson, History of the Scandinavian Mission, 243).

Residence: Richmond, Cache Co., Utah

Arrival date in Copenhagen: 20 November 1878

Missionary labors: Göteborg Conference

Departure date from Copenhagen: 5 July 1880

Name of departure ship: Cato

Birth date: 16 June 1837

Birthplace: Stora Boeplads, Tune, Østfold, Norway

Father: Monsen, Hans

Mother: Nielsdatter, Berte

Spouse: Kruetzback (Kredsbank), Nielsene Olsen

            Marriage date: 29 June 1858

            Marriage place: Lehi, Utah Co., Utah

Spouse: Peterson, Anna Catherine

            Marriage date: 26 April 1861

            Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Mansson, Ellen Persson

            Marriage date: 16 March 1867

            Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Olsen, Karen Maria

            Marriage date: 2 May 1870

Spouse: Jenson, Elna (Ella)

            Marriage date: 5 January 1874

            Marriage place: Endowment House, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Spouse: Jacobsson, Wendla (Vendla)

            Marriage date 15 March 1883

            Marriage place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

I just took a photo of this and realize that the names are not very clear.  I will eventually get a scanner the wives and children from top left in clockwise position are: Nilsine Kredsbank with Christina and Hyrum, Anna Catherine Petersen with Joseph, anna Catherine, Hans and Elizabeth. In the Center is Ellen Persson Mansson (Munson) with Parley Herman, Chales Andrew, Ellen Marinda, Hyrum Moroni, Walter Peter, Brigham, aaron Abraham, Otto Junius, Berta Marie, LaFayette, and Eaam Chersta.
Bottom Left Karen Marie Olsen, Elna (Ella) Jenson with her children Ezra Peter, Emaline, Ella E (Evaline or Eva0 Fredrick Lorenzo, Julia Amanda, Rachel, Sarah, Franklin LeRoy, Williard and William Aquilla.  Vendla Jacobson with her three children: Vendla Josephine, Ernest Ephriam and Eliza Victoria.

(pink represents my connection)

Death date: 23 September 1896

Death place: Richmond, Cache Co., Utah

Burial place: Richmond, Cache Co., Utah

On 23 June 1888, the First District Court of Ogden sentenced Christian to six months’ imprisonment and a one-hundred-dollar fine for unlawful cohabitation. He was discharged from the penitentiary on 23 December 1888 (see Jenson, LDS Church Chronology, June 23, 1888; December 23, 1888).

Christian Hans Monson standing third from the right.  President George Q Cannon is seated in center.  Picture taken at the Utah Territorial Prison, Salt lake City, in the period between 23 June and 23 December.

After his discharge, he served as president of the Thirty-ninth Quorum of the Seventy and as a temple worker in St. George. He is remembered as being a pioneer builder and lumberman. He is credited with assisting in the construction of the Salt Lake, St. George, Manti, and Logan Temples (see Skidmore and Horne, “Immigrant Pioneers: Christian Hans Monson,” Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Lesson for October, 1984, 49–50).

In his later years, he moved to Franklin County, Idaho, where he set up a lumber mill. He operated the mill until his health failed. Christian died in 1896 from jaundice and gallstones in Richmond at age fifty-nine (see Skidmore and Horne, “Immigrant Pioneers: Christian Hans Monson,” Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Lesson for October 1984, 51).

William James Whitehead Jr

              William James Whitehead

          April 20, 1912- March 22, 1961

         (as told by Hazel Whitehead Bowie his daughter)

William, better known as Bill, came to Canada about 1906 with his wife Sara, and one child Ross, very young and full of adventure.  This was  at the same time that his father William James Sr. and his family came to Claresolm district.  They all settled on a homestead four miles south and two miles west.  

Bill and Sara weren’t there long at the time, and after a short stay returned to Idaho.  They returned to the Claresholm district in 1916 and settled one and a half miles south of town.  This time, they had two more children, a son Connel and a daughter Hazel.

As the family settled in the new land there was hard work and many hardships to overcome, very little money but they had a great will to make a new home.  Everyone was having the same experience and it was a great promising adventure.

The day’s work started early.  All chores had to be done before going to work in the fields.  In the winter the hour to rise was still early to get the family off to school as they had to drive some distance in a buggy or sleigh.

In those days, people had to make their own entertainment on the farm.  On winter evenings we would sit around the kitchen table, where the lamp was and Mother would read a book aloud to the family, perhaps tow or three chapters at a time.  It was one of our few pleasures and we could hardly wait for the plot of the story to unfold. 

It was really something when the radio was invented.  Dad bought one (Day Fan).  At first it just had ear phones and we took turns in listening.  It was wonderful!  After we got a loud speaker, neighbours would come over to listen to our favourite program, W.W. Grant from Calgary broadcasting Old Time music.

DeLyle was born here on this farm in 1919 and Boyd was born in a little house in town just east of the old Presbyterian Church (Masonic Lodge now) in 1921.  We had moved into town for the winter making it easier to go to school.

My grandfather owned a threshing machine and would go around doing threshing throughout the country.  There weren’t too many outfits at the time and they used a big steam engine.  It was a thrilling sight to watch we though.  Bill ran the stook loader which was operated with the horses.  It was fun to visit the cook car with lots of good food and always as apple or a piece of apple pie to be had.  The men that lived near always went home on Saturday night for Sunday.  Threshing time was very exciting and important.  Often it would rain in the Fall and it prolonged the event.

Even though it took longer to put crops in, summer fallow and harvest neighbours seemed to have more time to visit and become acquainted.  In the winter there were house parties, school dances and sleigh rides.  Everyone attended the dances, kids and all.  Dad would hitch up the team to the democrat or sleigh and away we would go to a neighbours and stay all day.  If a storm blew in we would have to stay all night.  The poor cows would just have to wait to be milked until morning.

In the summer there were picnics and sports days.  We made our own fun.

Saturday night was THE night to go to town!  The stores stayed open until eleven o’clock and shopping for the week was done.  Perhaps we would go to the Saturday night show if we could get the money.  We would try to get in early to get a parking place (we had a car now) on main street.  We could sit in it and watch the people go by, and visit with neighbours and friends, it was exciting!

I can remember our first car.  Dad bought it in 1918 in November.  We went to town to celebrate Armistice Day of World War One.  It was a Ford Touring car.  The top would come down and there were curtains that could be drawn on the sides.

In 1929 Dad sold the farm to Ben Andrews and took Ben’s house in town for a down payment.  Dad took a barbering course and set up business in a little shop just west of the old Wilton Hotel.  However, after a few years farming lured him back to the fields.  He went to the Raymond district where he lived until the time of his death on March 22, 1961.

Mother died in Lethbridge on November 6, 1964.

There were five children, sixteen grandchildren, and twenty-six great children in 1974.

Ross the oldest married Valeria Anderson from Barnwell, Alberta and went down there to farm.  They had three boys: Bernard, Ray and Preston.  Ross passed away in May of 1951.

Connel married Vivian Lucas of Stavely, Alberta.  They had five children: Bryan, Sharan, LeRoy, Larry, and Roseanne.  They lived most of their lives in Stavely and Calgary.  Connel passed away in February 1957.

Hazel went to school at Hoosier, Northern Lights and Claresholm.  She later went to hairdressing school in Lethbridge and spent time working with her father in his shop.  She married Mike Bowie from Claresholm, Alberta.  They had two boys: Gerald (Gary) and Douglas Boyd.  They lived in Claresholm until 1957.  Mike passed away in Lethbridge in 2001 and Hazel in 2007.

DeLyle received most of his schooling in Claresholm and then went to school in Logan, Utah to finish.  He married Shirley Butler from Fort Macleod.  They had four girls: Louise, Kathleen, Diane and Marie.  They made their home in Macleod during the war where he worked at the airport.  Then to Lethbridge to work for the city as paymaster.  DeLyle died in 1966.

Boyd, the youngest, went to school at Hoosier, Claresholm and Logan, Utah.  He was very good in athletics and track and field events.  He married Marguerite Miller and they had two children Lynda and Donald.  They lived in Claresholm most of the time.  He sold Chrysler cars in town.  Boyd passed away in 198 .  

William Whitehead 1839-1881 (or 1882)

WILLIAM WHITEHEAD

"A HANDCART PIONEER"

FATHER OF MARGARET ELIZABETH WHITEHEAD

William Whitehead was born on the 23rd of November 1839, at Calfley, Friarmere, Saddleworth, Yorkshire, England. He was the son of Martha Whitehead and Robert Wright, who was a machine printer at the Denshaw Print Works. According to family history, he grew up in the home of his grandparents, James Whitehead and Hannah Hepworth Whitehead in Oldham.

It is said that he received a fine education in England. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but the date of his baptism seems uncertain. According to the Franklin ward records, he was baptized by James Gledhill in November 1852, and was confirmed the same month by William Scofield. This would have made him about thirteen years old at the time. However, according to the temple index bureau record card, he was baptized November 2O, l854. This would have made him just a few days short of fifteen years old.

William immigrated to Utah in 1859. He sailed on the William Tapscott, a ship of 1,750 tons register. The ship had been chartered by the church and sailed from England (probably Liverpool) for New York on April 1, 1859. His age is given in the immigration records as twenty, though he would not have reached the full age of twenty until November of that year. According to the emigration records, he gave his address as Manchester, and his occupation as factory worker. The price of his ticket, steerage class, was 4.60 Pounds. There were 601 adult passengers, 92 children, and 32 infants, making a total of 725 emigrants from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland. Also included were some missionaries returning to the United States. One of the returning missionaries, according to family history, was an Elder William Taylor, with whom he later stayed in Lehi, Utah.

The William Tapscott arrived in New York after a pleasant voyage of 31 days. According to the book, Handcarts to Zion, the party of emigrants left New York on May 14,1859, on the steamer " Isaac Newton" for Albany. From Albany, they took the Hannibal and St. Joseph railway to St. Joseph, Missouri. From there, they took riverboats on the Missouri River to Florence, Nebraska. Florence was the staging and departure point for the handcart companies. William Whitehead was a member of the Eighth Handcart Company. According to the book, Handcarts to Zion, the company was made up of 235 persons. There were 60 handcarts, and six ox-drawn wagons to haul provisions and the sick. George Rowley was Captain of the company, and there was a sub-captain for each ten carts. The carts each had a cover made from bed-ticking and stretched over three bows. The company started from Florence on June 9,1859 and traveled four miles. On the tenth, they laid over to get organized. On the eleventh, they started out in earnest and traveled sixteen miles. On the twelfth, the group traveled twenty-two miles and ran into swarms of big mosquitoes. Provisions for ten days for one person included ten pounds of flour, one pound of bacon, a little sugar and some salt.

The company met a large band of Sioux Indians on July 3rd. They were the first Indians most the emigrants had ever seen, and it was a terrifying experience for them. The Indians demanded food, and were given three sacks of flour and some bacon. That night, the Indians staged a dance. Next morning, the company left early hoping to elude the Indians, but some of the Indians followed them and tried to make a deal for a "white squaw." There was another encounter with Indians in the Devil's Gate area, which frightened the emigrants. There had just been a battle between two tribes. The victorious tribe had a number of prisoners, and they invited a number of the men in the handcart company to visit their camp to watch the prisoners be tortured to death. The men respectfully declined the invitation. The main company ran low on food and many were suffering from starvation when a supply wagon train from Salt Lake City reached them after traveling night and day to come to their aid. The company arrived in Salt Lake City on the afternoon of Sunday, September 4, 1859. They were met, on their arrival, by a large crowd, including two or three bands. For a more complete account of the trek of the Eighth Handcart Company, the book Handcarts to Zion is highly recommended.

According to family history, due to the extreme heat and exposure during the trek, and the strain of pulling a cart, William ruptured a blood vessel in his head and was in serious condition for some time. It is said that as a hardship of the handcart journey, he was never a very strong man.

William located at Lehi, Utah, living with Elder William Taylor, until his Aunt Mary brought him to Ogden. Mary had promised to look after William until the Ramsbottom family could immigrate. William's mother, Martha Whitehead, married Henry Ramsbottom in August of 1853. In the early spring of 1862, William along with his two cousins, Ben and James Chadwick, moved to Franklin, Idaho. He helped Ben and James bring logs out of the canyon and helped them build a house for their mother (i.e. Williams' Aunt Mary).

According to family history, in 1862, William went to Salt Lake City to meet his sweetheart whom he had left in England in 1859. He expected to bring her back to Franklin with him. However, when he arrived, he found her already married. On the way back from Salt Lake City, he married Margaret Green whom he had previously known in England. Family records give the marriage date as March 28, 1862. However, there seems reason to believe that the marriage may have actually taken place a year later, in 1863.

William met his mother and family in Ogden and brought them to Franklin in a covered wagon in the fall of 1869. It is likely that the family arrived in Ogden by train, as the transcontinental railway had been completed in May of that year.

In 1872, with his first wife's consent William married Alice Butterworth and they all lived together in the same house. Alice died soon after the birth of her first child, Alice Whitehead.

According to the records of district court of the third judicial district of the territory of Idaho, in and for the county of Oneida, William Whitehead made application for and was granted United States citizenship on July 8, 1873.

According to family history, William was one of the first city councilmen chosen when Franklin was organized a city in 1878. After his day's work, William would read and study by candlelight until very late. He was eager to learn and he attended the night school of William Wright. He also attended the Elders' School. He was a bookkeeper for Merrick and Duffin, also for the first co-op store. He was ward clerk and choir leader, and was active in dramatics. He was a member of the militia, and was a minute-man. He was also a good mason and farmer (according to the 1880 census records, he gave his occupation as stone mason). William was always noted for his cleanliness and neatness of person. It was said of him, "every hair and thread must be laid just right at all times."

William had eleven children by his first wife, Margaret. He loved his family dearly, but they were very poor. He was a small man of medium complexion with blue eyes. He died of a ruptured appendix, but the date of his death does not seem certain. The archives of the Genealogical Society in Salt Lake City gives the date as April l2, 1881. Family records submitted to the Genealogical Society by the Ramsbottom family give the date as April 2, 1882. If 1881 is the correct date, he would have been forty-one years old at the time of his death.

The following experience was told to Sarah Eppich by an unidentified son of William Whitehead on February 21, 1940 at Cornish, Utah. "I left Monday morning to go up Maple Creek to chop logs. When I left, father was not feeling very well. Monday night, a strange woman came into my cabin and woke me. She told me I was needed at home. I woke the other men and asked them if they had seen her, but none of them had. Then I got up and looked for tracks in the snow, but although it was three feet deep, there were no tracks. The next morning I had just felled one tree and started on another when the same woman I had seen came and told me that I was needed at home. Then, in a flash, I saw my brother, Peter G., coming on a horse to meet me. I told my friends, and we locked the cabin and started down the canyon. We met Peter, six years old at the time, at the bottom of Lowe's hill. He was coming on a horse to meet us. When I reached home, my father was sitting in a big chair with a quilt wrapped around him. I talked to him for a little while, and then my mother came into the room and told me the cows had broken through the willow fence and got out. I left to fix the fence, and when I returned, they told me my father had just passed away. He had died of appendicitis while sitting in the chair."

A note about Saddleworth

There seems to be some confusion in the family records about Saddleworth. It is in the County of York, but because of historical circumstances, the Church of England there was a part of the parish of Rochdale, which was in Lancashire. A book published in 1795, written by John Aiken gives the following information about Saddleworth. "Saddleworth is a large valley, about seven miles long, and five across in the broadest part, situated in an angle of Yorkshire between Lancashire and northeastern projection of Cheshire. It is a wild bleak region of which a very small part is under cultivation; but industry has accumulated in it a large number of inhabitants, who gain the comfortable subsistence by the manufactory of woolen cloth for which the place is peculiarly famous. The district is divided into four quarters, called meres, Quick-mere; Lord's mere, Shaw-mere, and Friar-mere. The latter was once an estate belonging to the Black Friars, who had a house or grange there, near Delph. The houses are all built of stone, which is in great plenty; but timber comes high, being brought from Hull or Liverpool, and undergoing an expensive land carriage; hence house-rents are dear. This hinderance to improvement, it is hoped, will be removed in a great measure by the new Huddersfield and Ashton Canal, which will pass through the midst of Saddleworth." Another book, published in 1825, names Calfhey as one of the places in the Saddleworth area. Calfhey could not have been a very prominent place, as we have not been able to locate it on any map. It was probably a very small village or settlement; and was probably somewhere in the area near Delph and Denshaw, as William Whitehead's birth was registered in Delph.

.... Take from the

Whitehead Family Magazine

The Beginning...

BOWIE*NELSON*WHITEHEAD*MORTON*MONSON*IRVINE*OSTLUND*CARLSON

I feel like I can no longer put off this project. I have always had a keen interest in my roots. Like most of you learning how to find balance in life is a constant struggle. I have a plan! Since the beginning of the year I have dedicated most Sunday evenings or afternoons to this project and slowly but surely I have been making progress.

The basic gist of this project is to document the lives of my ancestors. I feel that to properly portray their lives, I need the involvement from those who lives are also effected by these great people. I do not live in isolation, I am part of a great family that all make up these generations.

I have limited information and I know that there is much more out there. I invite all whose lives are touched by these ancestors to contact me and contribute.

I am thrilled to start this part of the project with you.

MARY WITH HER OLDER SISTER VELDA

The first ancestor I am going to highlight is Grandma Mary. When I was 5 my mom (Diane Irene Morton) made a book as a tribute to her parents. In this book all of Grandma Mary's siblings wrote to her. I was thrilled to read and enjoy these kind words. Unfortunately for me, my siblings and cousins, she died at a very young age.

I hope you enjoy these words as much as I. If any of you have tributes that you would like to add, please contact me and I will do so.

Mary Irene (Nelson) Morton

Born October 12, 1916 Stirling, Alberta

Parents Alonzo Nelson b. 27 Jan 1885 Mt Pleasant Sanpete, Utah D.25 OCT 1949 Lethbridge, AB

Hulda Ostlund b. 21 May 1885 Elsinore Sevier Utah d. 1 Feb 1930 Stirling, AB

Siblings: Farrell Alonzo Nelson 30 Dec.

Ruth 19 March 1911

Laura 14 Nov 1912

Velda 8 June 1914

Mary Irene 12 Oct 1916

Berta 24 June 1918

Beth Hulda 17 April 1923

(1909 all born in Stirling, AB)

Her Story written by her daughter Diane in 1977

Mary Nelson was born October 12, 1916 in Stirling, Alberta at the home of her grandpa Ostlund. She was the fourth daughter of Alonzo and Hulda Ostlund. Their family consisted of “all girls and one boy.

As a young girl of four Mary was given the task of watching over her two year old sister Bertha who loved to “eat” snakes. There was always plenty of work to do but Mary also had fun. She used to love dressing up in her sisters things, they always seemed prettier than her own. At six she was dressed up in her own good things waiting to go to town to a show when she accidentally fell backward into the tub of bath water. This made it necessary to wear her older sisters things to town- they were too big of course and it wasn't; so much fun. Also, at the age of six Mary was sent to school, only to be sent home again because of her birth date.

At eight Mary was baptized in her Grandma Burkes bathtub. She had to be immersed several times because her foot kept popping up so she has always felt “well-baptized”.

Mary was often looking around for money, as are most kids. Once she got to school one of her favorite things was scouting around the school yard for lost change. Upon finding any she would rush over to the store to buy cinnamon candy. Another favourite way to get money was to see who could get up earliest in the morning to make the fire and collect the change left on the organ by dad. This was left there for this exact reason. Laura was usually the winner but Mary won a few times. (She got up “early”one morning only to find it wasn’t yet morning-her dad was still sitting up) The money was not always spent on candy, some of it went to Laura who was willing to take Mary’s dose of cod liver oil for a small fee. Mary not only hated this medicine but the dose of epsom salts administers to anyone sick to go to school. She didn’t often take this either, as soon as her father left the room she would dump it into the slop jar.

Anyone who knows Mary knows what a lovely seamstress she is. This career started at about eleven and the first project was not too successful. It was a dress sewn for Velda on which Mary put the top backwards. This mistake was blamed on the fact that she had sewn it on a Sunday.

The Nelson girls all know how to work. Their mother became ill when Beth was a baby and she died three years later. Each one had a particular job and Mary's was to see to her mother. (Her mother always told her she should be a nurse). In addition to the house duties their father gave the a field of beets and told them they could have the profit that was gained from it. They did this and also helped out with other field work. At about thirteen Mary broke her arm when she fell off the hay wagon while “tramping”. Even though they worked hard the girls learned how to turn it into fun and are all thankful for this valuable lesson.

By fourteen Mary started going to dances and showing interest in boys. It was at a dance she first met Jack Morton from Warner. He had come to the dance with several other young men from Warner. The romance didn’t start until several years later. Mary’s boyfriend at that time was Oscar Miller and he brought Jack and Fred Nelson along on one of his Sunday visits to the Nelson home. Jack took over that night and Oscar drove Jack, Fred and Mary to Fred’s place in Warner. Fred intended to get the family car and drive back later that evening. There was no car at Nelson’s so they had to wait and it was 4:30 am when Mary finally arrived home. Her father was very surprised to see Mary walking in- he had thought she was up in bed all along.

Jack and Mary dated all that summer and on until New Years when he took off hunting coyotes. He wasn't heard from again until July 24 when he showed up with his suitcase and shinny shoes. He acted as though he had never been gone but it was a bit of a problem for Mary- she was dating Johnny Jones by now. However, the two disappeared for a while and Johnny got the message. The two went together then until March 17 when they became engaged and were married that summer on July 4 in the Nelson yard. The honeymooners left for the Calgary Stampede in a Model A with a tent and Jack’s saddle in their trunk.

After the honeymoon Mary moved into the house on the farm- cleaned it up and began her chores as wife to Jack and “caretaker’ of George and Irvine. In April 1937 Marlene was born. A dark haired darling who was the joy of the household. These first few years of marriage were lean ones but Jack’s rodeo money helped out and there were lots of good friends to enjoy. Then in October of 43 Diane was born and two years later Bill. The same year he was born Jack was called up for enlistment but was rejected because of bad feet. This was such a happy occasion that Jack celebrated by paying $15 dollars for a sealskin hat for Mary! The two vowed not to tell a soul how much it cost but Jack’s mother found the bill. In March the following year Mary packed up and the family went to live at the McIntyre ranch where Jack was superintendent. The time there was enjoyable and Mary had several interesting things happen- she delivered a baby for example.

Mary is a marvelous cook. She can cook for a large group of people and make it seem simple and have it tasted great. She can also sew like a pro and many people have counted on her to make their clothe-men, women and children. Her house was always in order, she enjoyed gardening and is good at hand crafts. Mary didn’t waste a minute and you’d rarely find her down. When she was ill she didn’t let her keep her down.

Religion was always been important in Mary’s life and she has taught Sunday School for many years. She has held many leadership positions and has earned the respect of many people both in and outside her own church. Mary has been successful in instilling in her children a love for the Lord.

Community work has always been important to mary and she has and always was involved in her community. Working on Home and School, Library, Farm Women's of Alberta are just a few.

Through the years Mary has stayed close to her family. She and her sisters and brother got together often. She has also gained the love and admiration of many friends. She has raised a fine family and always showed them her love. Her grandchildren love her as do the children of her friends.

As a tribute to mary in conclusion just let me say- the world would certainly be a better place if there were more people like Mary.

Tributes to mary from her brother and sisters

All the tributes were written in 1977

Beth’s Tribute

Being the youngest of 7 children and having lost our mother at the age of six years, I owe a great deal to a good father, one brother and 5 sisters. I suppose in my early years I didn’t think too much of their discipling and their instructions, but as the years pass I appreciate each one more. We are a very close family, and their concerns are my concerns.

My childhood memories of mary are not that vivd as she was married when I was 12, but I do recall walking back and forth to school, carrying our lunches, cutting through Bradley's pasture after we made sure there were no bulls.

Then there are the fun times when we would go swimming in the canal and many were the water fights. It was always our job to herd the sheep and I can recall on many occasions she and I watching them in the field to the south of the house, the games we played and the bouquets of flowers we would pick and take home.

I can recall one summer we were putting up hay and she slipped off the rack and broke her wrist.

After she was married I spent a lot of time at Warner and because of her I have made a lot of new friends.

Mary developed a great sewing talent and it seems every time I hauler ‘help’ she is more that obliging. The little bit I know about sewing I can thank her for. If I don’t know much about sewing, I sure do know how to press. Thanks to her each one of my children had a wedding trousseaus.

She and Joan were instrumental in planning our 25 Wedding Anniversary at the Park Plaza. She phoned everyone and asked them if they would like a night out at thier own expense, what a surprise!

We had many good time together. We’ve been on holidays and trips, we’ve had family reunions and we have worked together on cleaning bees- all a pleasure. We’ve also been though times of sorrow, I have felt her strength.

The public are always confusing her and I - a fact that I am proud of!

BERTHA’S TRIBUTE

Things I remember about mary: we were always trying to see who was the strongest, we were always trying to take the other down and I have to give and say she could take me down more times than I could her- so she was the strongest.

We each had to make our own lunched to school every morning and try to get the Lethbridge Herald comics to wrap it in so we could read it at noon, walking, running or whatever to get to school on time. Many times we would be crawling under the fence at home and hear the bell ring- then we really did run.

In the winter they always knew when the Nelson girls were late because dad would put the sleigh bells on our horse named Dick (a beautiful white horse) and you could hear the bells a long way off, they sounded pretty but not when you were late for school.

In the summer time it was always fun to do the hay because that gave us a chance to drive the horse that pulled the hay up onto the stack. But when Mary fell and broke her arm, that ended putting up the hay.

It was always fun to go swimming in the old gravel pit. Mary and I could swim pretty good but Velda couldn’t and was scared to try so Mary and I would push her in and have great fun watching her try to swim.

It was fun for us to go for the cows in the pasture until the ay (sunday, we had on our good clothes) and the horse didn’t want to go so it Iaid down in the canal to cool off!

The growing up days were fun now that I look back. Having as many sisters as we did- we got along good. Well I do remember when Mary had a boyfriend named Jack Morton- he was terrible- I couldn’t understand why he didn’t like me- I even got on his back so bad that he tied me to the door knob in the kitchen- on a Saturday when we had the house all clean and floor waxed- he went to the well and got a pail of cold water and came in the house and threw it on me!and threw it on me! They took off for Lethbridge and left me to clean-up. I will never forget the day she got married- how beautiful she looked and all us girls standing in a circle waiting for her to come down the stairs (boy she didn’t know what she was in for). She finally made it and also the getting married- when it was over- I was standing by Velda and I looked up at her and she was crying. I asked her what are you crying for and she said, “you’re supposed to:. But I didn’t know then I would have to put up with Jack anymore, He would have to be nice to me because he was now my brother-in-law.

I have always appreciated Mary. She was always and still is ready to help you if and when you need help. I am glad I had a sister like her. Bertha

VELDA’S TRIBUTE

One of the very first things I remember about Mary when she was a cute little girls was how spunky she would get whenever Grandpa Ostlund (Jonas) would come our from town to tend us. Invariable she would pack her bag, start up the land and say she was running away. I would almost panic because he wouldn’t go after her until she got clear to the top. Then he brought her back in no certain terms.

As a family we all worked hard but we also played hard. Mary and I did a lot of work together but we usually turned it into a contest. When we shelled peas we counted our a certain number- then raced to see who could finish first, When we did the dishes we’d sing- either church songs, nursery rhymes or love songs. The one that couldn’t come up with another song had to finish the dishes alone.

We always had a lot of fun. Every birthday was special and still is. Whenever a gang would be at our house- every child would be upstairs all the older ones putting on a show and all the younger ones watching and crying, We always had a good audience when we displayed all of the lovely old fashioned clothes that were in a big chest upstairs.

Mary and I always had lots of good times together without very many problems. I think we’ll keep it that way

RUTH’S TRIBUTE

Mary is my third sister and I think she is a lot like her father, rather ambitious, knows what she wants and makes good decisions. Does everything she does very well.

I remember when we were little and whenever in the summertime we couldn’t find her, we just went into the pea patch and Mary would be eating peas her dress lap full. I wonder if she still likes peas that well now. Then I remember Mary always had a fad for pretty clothes, she always had a surprise for us because she would always get somebodies pretty dress or hat and wear them. I don’t think she asked us anytime, maybe she thought we would say ‘no’.

She has a good sense of humour and can always tell a good clean joke well.

She is good hearted, would do anything and everything for everybody. She can cook like I can’t imagine. Cook for an hundred and look like she just stepped out of a palace. I remember she made a forget me not quilt and had everyone embroidery a flower on each block. I was different because I put a bucking horse on mine for Jack. She enjoyed that and we had a good laugh.

I don’t know if she is a good speller yet because she left a not once when Gerald was a teacher and she said, “I made the East instead of yeast”. Gerald made sure she spelled it right the next day when she got to school.

Mary has always loved to sew. I guess she took after her grandpa Ostlund because he was a tailor. When someone pulls apart her husbands shirts and makes one herself! Then I begin to wonder. But she still seems normal and looks younger every day so...

She is a friend- sister. Like all my sisters I think they are tops. Mary has never forgotten my birthday, always want to entertain my family. Wish I could drive a car like she can.

She is very kind and gracious and has helped Jack raise a lovely family. Now that I am way from all my sisters seems like I appreciate and miss them more.

LAURA’S TRIBUTE

Laura was the second eldest daughter and she married Norman Hirsche. They had 3 sons. Laura was a good mother, hard worker, lover of little children and always had a beautiful garden. She was close to Mary as to all her sisters and they all miss her since her death in 1972.

ELLEN’S TRIBUTE (sister-in-law)

Indeed you are dear to me. I am lucky and truly blessed to have you for a sister. You and your sisters have so many wonderful qualities of character, and so many abilities that I admire and wish I had, that I found quite difficult at times to fit in with.

I know you deserve all those abilities you have developed. It has taken desire, confidence, practice, work, work, work (plus a little talent eh.) But it’s just not fair for one person to be such a perfectionist such as a perfect cook and charming hostess always, a good housekeeper and homemaker, an excellent seamstress, an outstanding leader both at church and community, a down right good friend to all, and a wonderful sister-in-law.

When I think of you I think of the words of the Saviour, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Also, when love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece”.

I feel honoured to have had the rare opportunity to play the Wedding March on the old organ in your dining room July 4, 1935. You made a beautiful bride coming down those stairs.

You have heard the statement many times, “you can never keep a good woman down’. You’ve never been down very much, even tho you should have at times. You are and have been always up and going and doing for friends and loved ones.

God bless you mary and Jack, who too has been just as kind and hospitable and earned the love and respect of so many, especially the children who deemed it a real privilege and holiday to stay with Uncle Jack and Aunt Mary. May you have many more wonderful years ahead.

I love you both Ellen

FARRELL’S TRIBUTE

You are my fourth sister, born of goodly parents on October 12, 1916. You were the 5th child born to Alonzo and Huldah Nelson, being named after Dad’s oldest sister mary Knudsen, who was largely responsible for raising Dad to manhood after his mother died while he was quite young in Utah.

There were no cars or school buses when we were kids, so it was my job to haul all y sisters to school with Old Pete and the buggy. In the winter when there was snow we travelled by sleigh, in the cutter, with the sleigh bells which grandfather brought from Elsinore, Utah when they came to Canada. I think John Nelson’s father made them.

We have always been a close family, a very close family, too close for secrets about our lives, good or bad, and close enough to enjoy each others company and good times together. Close enough that we have never lived much over 25-30 miles from the place of our birth and that’s unique.

I have a real love and appreciation for you mary, as a sister, an individual and as a mother. You have consistently been a good example at all times, friendly, loyal, and honest to your convictions. Your talents are man, sewing, cooking, teaching, entertaining and helping others ar all times. The beautiful thing about you is, that you have abundantly used your talents for the benefit of others.

I have also appreciated Jack, very much through the years. he is and always has been a real valued friend and brother-in-law possessing many of the fine qualities of character you do.

Your greatest and most valued possession is, of course, your fine and devoted family. May the Lord continue to bless, help and guide you all.

I love you.

Alonzo Nelson born 27 January 1885 in Mt Pleasant Sanpete, Utah U.S.A.

married 5 May 1909 to Huldah Ostlund

died 25 October 1949 in Lethbridge, AB, buried in Stirling.

His father was Nels Hans Nelson and his mother was Mary Ann Gillett.

Hulda Ostlund born 21 May 1885 Elsinore Sevier, Utah. She died 1 February 1930 in Stirling, Alberta and buried 5 February 5 1930.