Lars Hans Christiansen

Born 6 March 1844 in Denmark to Christine Pedersdatter and Christian Johan Christoffersen
Married Anna Dorthea Jensdatter Sorensen 26 April 1875 in Salt Lake
Lars Hans-Peter-Afton
Died 25 April 1904 in Hyrum
Buried in Hyrum

1870 Census
1880 Census
1900 Census

This history of Lars Hans Christiansen was written by Bertha M. Christiansen who was a daughter-in-law.

A short life story of Lars Hans Christiansen, born 6 March 1844, in Harrested, Soro, Denmark. His father's name was Christian Johansen Christoffersen, who was born 15 December 1811, in Fuglsbolle, Denmark. His mother's name was Christine Pedersen, born 27 Mar 1809, in Jyderup, Hobeck, Denmark.

Note: Very little about Lars life is known as shortly after his death in 1904, the family home in Hyrum burned down and with it the old family bible in which the family records were kept and all other records which had been accumulated.

We are in debt to Christian Christiansen, his nephew, who with his father, Jens, a brother of Lars Hans, gathered much of this history. Also from the records of Peter's life history, we received a little insight of life in his father's house. His son, Jerry, who is still with us at nearly 100 years old, verified many things which will be told in this history. This and Jerry's own life story were told to Jerry's wife, Bertha, who wrote them down. Jerry is the only one alive of his ten brothers and sisters.

We know from records at hand that Lars had four brothers and two sisters. He was one in a family of seven.

Peter was born in Febeck, Bostrup; Niels, Hanna and Lars were born in Harrested, Soro; Jens, Hans and Marie were born in Slots-Bjergby, Soro, Denmark. Five of them together with their parents accepted the Gospel and immigrated to Utah (Hyrum). His father was a farmer in Denmark. Due to the feudal system which existed in Denmark, the land stayed in the hands of the people which first had it taken up and could only be sold among the landowners. Guess that is how aristocracy came into being in Europe. Common people had the right to rent or lease land when they had a chance. Lars' father was fortunate to be one of them. An episode was told to me by Mary Smith, a daughter of Peter Christiansen. The father of Peter and Lars had leased some land. The contract was for a long term, maybe for life. Sometime during that term, the owner came and wanted Christian to release the contract as he was short of funds and wanted to sell it. Christian refused several times to release the owner from the contract as his way of making a livelihood was at stake. After some more persuasion, he proposed to the owner that if he were willing to sell a certain part of the land to him, he would accommodate him. The proposal was accepted by the landowner after some argument. Christian Christoffersen became one of the first land owners among commoners.

Lars grew up like all normal boys do. A sister-in-law, the wife of Jens, told her children, "The Christiansen boys were known as the Longlanders. They were mischievous, and full of life and health." Their parents saw to it that they received all the education that was possible. The Bible was used as a textbook in school and religion played a big part in the Christiansen household. It is said of the boys' father that he was an ardent Bible student and his sons followed in his footsteps. They were members of the Lutheran Church. We have been told by the family of his brothers that Lars had considered becoming a Minister in that church. By the same families, we were told that he was the first to hear of the restored Church of Jesus Christ. According to the date of his baptism, 19 November 1862, he was not the first of his family to be baptized. His nephew, Christian, says of him: He was a great Bible student and knew the Bible as few men do". He served a mission for the Church when his family accepted the Gospel and migrated to the U.S. in 1863 and 1864. Lars came to the U.S. sometime in 1864 after completion of his Mission. We searched at the Church Historian Office for it and were told that many came in private companies and did not give the information to the office. According to information obtained from the Church Historian Office, Lars' fiance, Sophie Rasmussen, came in the same company in which his brothers, Peter and Hans, came, leaving Copenhagen on 23 April and arriving in Salt Lake on 15 September 1863.

They were married on 29 December 1865 at Hyrum (later sealed in 1867 in Salt Lake). To this union ten children were born, five boys and five girls. They had the misfortune of losing four of their girls who had diptheria which was not controllable in those days.

On April 26, 1874, he married Annie Dorothea Sorensen. To that union were born four children, the youngest son, Able, died also as a child.

Jerry tells us his father enjoyed music and especially organ music. Many times on Sunday he would get out their Danish song books and sing the songs of Zion with his sister, Elvira, accompanying him on the organ. Jennie Christiansen Shurtlif told me she was asked to take Elvira's place after she married.

He was a High Priest and a regular attender at the required meetings. Jerry remembers that he was a teacher in the Sunday School and he and his brothers were among the students to receive the benefit of his teachings. He would insist that they commit the scriptures in question to memory. He loved the Gospel and tried to carry out and live its principles. Jerry was asked many times to take the tenth load of the harvest to the Tithing Office. He also told me that his father took his oxen team and went to the canyon to bring out rocks for the building of the Logan Temple. His nephew, Christian, says of him that he was always interested in the education of his children and urged them after Grammar School to go on to the local Academy and later to the College in Logan. He also says he taught them honesty and integrity very successfully and left them with a firm conviction that their word must be as good as their note.

Again, I quote from his nephew, Christian: "He was a Pioneer in every deed. He was an extremely hard worker, as generally known, he worked himself to death." It is told about him walking to the canyons about four miles, cutting on the logs all day, leaving the canyon when too dark to work any longer and then returning home walking all the way. This way he obtained material for a very outstanding fence around his 80 acre homestead. The fence was built by setting two posts with about eight inches between them, then boring holes directly opposite in which wooden pins were inserted. The logs were then layed on top of the pins. The fence was four poles high with about 18 inches between them. It was thought a remarkable accomplishment and it kept stock in or out. Part of it is still standing as a monument of endurance and ambition of the early pioneers. I quote further: "Uncle Lars was a pioneer of dry farming, a method as we understand it now of alternating the fallow principle with grain crops in successive years. He was also a pioneer in the field of farm machinery to modernize the farm." He was the first to purchase and operate with his mechanic minded brother, Jens, the self-rake, a fore runner of the twinbinder. In addition, he pioneered the use of other harvesting machinery such as the cropper and the moss harvester. He was the first to use a grain drill instead of broadcasting the grain by hand. His pioneering spirit carried over to his sons who pioneered the dry farming method very successfully in Marsh Valley, Idaho.

He liked and enjoyed carpentering, building his first home and barn in Hyrum and on his homestead. Many pieces of furniture in their home were the work of his hands. We still have a cupboard on the farm which he built and gave to Jerry after his marriage. When death visited the home he made the coffins for his little ones.

When his sons began their own homesteading they received a wagon and seedwheat to help them out. He died on 25 April 1904, in Hyrum, where his remains rest in the cemetery.

During the years 1992-1996, additional research was conducted on the Christiansen Line by Allan Christiansen of Ogden, Utah and Vaughn Nielsen of Brigham City, Utah. They are both great-grandsons of Lars Hansen Christiansen. These additions to the life histories of Lars Hansen Christiansen, and his parents, Christian Johansen Christoffersen, and Christiana Pedersen, were written in February 1997 by Allan Christiansen. Vaughn Nielsen passed away in June 1996, but much of this additional information can be attributed to him.

In 1994 we made contact with David Barkdull of Dover, Delaware who is a great-grandson of Peter Christiansen, older brother of Lars Hans Christiansen. He compiled a life history of Peter Christiansen and sent us a copy, along with the "Temple Book Notes" made by Peter Christiansen during his lifetime. Peter's life history and temple notes gave us additional information on his brother Lars Hans and their father and mother. After reviewing many films in the Family History Libraries, we have located more information about when they joined the LDS Church, when they all emigrated to America, and more about their life in Hyrum, Utah.

Lar's older brother, Peter, said in his life history about when the family joined the Mormon Church. The following is quoted from Peter:

"One of Peter's younger brothers, Lars, had been the first in the family to join the Mormon Church. He was baptized on 19 November 1861. His father had been baptized on 3 June 1862, and his mother a few months later on 8 August. His youngest sister, Marie Dorothea, also joined the Mormon Church prior to Peter's conversion. She was baptized 24 Jul 1862. The following spring, on 26 March 1863, Peter was ordained an Elder by Elder Brent Jensen. After his ordination, he and his wife talked about the counsel of the Prophet Brigham Young, who told the saints they should emigrate to the new Zion in America. They decided this was what they should do and immediately began preparations. Peter sold his farm to a neighbor on the same conditions for which he and Anne had become the owners of it. He gave the house and lot his father had given him when he was married, to his brother and sister, Niels and Hanna, who had not joined the church but stayed in Denmark. In addition he gave Anne's parents $400.00 to help them. He also was able to pay the passage for twelve other new converts who were unable to pay themselves. One of these converts was Maren Olsen, their housemaid. She had also joined the Mormon Church with Peter and his family. Her family had disowned her after she became a Mormon. On 23 April 1863, Peter, Anne, their four children, Maren and Peter's youngest brother Hans, departed for America. They were leaving behind their family and friends whom they loved dearly and putting their trust and faith in their God. It was difficult for them to leave because they knew they would probably never see any of their friends or family again. However, they didn't look back but set their sights on their objective to gather with the rest of the saints in Utah."

In Peter's Temple Book, he is quoted as saying he was ordained an Elder by Brent Jensen and Lars Christiansen. The date that Peter says Lars was baptized into the Mormon Church is one year earlier than is shown on the church records. Since we have been told that Lars was the first in the family to accept the gospel and join the church, it is likely that the baptism date quoted by Peter of "19 November 1861" is correct and the date of "19 November 1862" in the church records is in error.

The Life History of Lars Hans Christiansen says he served a mission for the LDS Church in Denmark before he emigrated to America. This is probably true, but it would have been a short mission since he came to America with the rest of the family in April 1864. We found LDS Church records that showed the family members that joined the church in the Love or Sondre (South) Oredrev Branches of the Scandinavian Mission in 1862. Jens was baptized in Copenhagen in April 1864 by Lars Christiansen a few days before the family emigrated to America.

Peter and his wife and four children, younger brother Hans, and Lars' Fiancé Sophia Rassmusen, had previously emigrated in April 1863. Their mother Christiana remarried the missionary that converted them, Hans Olsen, in March 1863. In the next year, they sold Christian Christoffersen's farm to obtain the money necessary to emigrate to America. On 28 April 1864, a family of eight set sail on the ship Monarch of the Sea and arrived in New York City on 3 June 1864. The eight family members were Hans Olsen, age 33, Christine Olsen, 52 (Lars mother), Lars Christiansen, 20, Jens Christiansen, 18, Marie Dorothea Christiansen, 11, and two of Hans Olsen's sisters, Hedevig Olsen, 24, and Ane Olsen, 38. A widow also traveled with them, Ane Kirstine Pedersen, age 35.

Vaughn Nielsen found the church records showing that Lars Hans and Sophia Pedersen did not initially marry in the Endowment House as indicated in his life history. They were married in Hyrum, Utah on 30 Dec 1865. Two years later they went to the Endowment House in Salt Lake City and were sealed to each other on 29 November 1867.

We located an LDS Plains Crossing film that showed the family of eight joined a large company of LDS emigrants crossing the plains under the leadership of Capt. William B. Preston. The company arrived in Salt Lake City on 15 September 1864.

After locating the name of the wagon train that our ancestors crossed the plains "William B Preston Church Train", an effort was made to find someone in the company that had written a history of the plains crossing. Marilyn Christiansen Throckmorton of West Valley City, Utah, a great-granddaughter of Lars Hans Christiansen, went to the Church Historical Department in Salt Lake City to find more information on this wagon train. She learned there had been seven accounts written about this plains crossing. Five of the seven accounts were on file, but cannot be copied or taken out of the office. It is only possible to read through them and make notes. Marilyn was able to obtain a list of the "passengers" in the Capt. William B. Preston's Company. She also obtained from the Church Biographical Encyclopedia a summary background on William B. Preston, who was asked by President Brigham Young to go to Missouri and lead a train of saints to Utah in 1863 and again in 1864.

A letter written by Caroline Mortine Hansen to her husband Charles Hansen, who was serving a mission in Denmark, said that they sailed on a very nice ship from Copenhagen on Wednesday, April 13, and arrived in Grimsby, England on April 18th. On April 28th, they left Grimsby and traveled by train to Liverpool, and arrived the same day. She wrote another letter to her husband on June 17th where she says they were on the water five weeks and arrived in New York on June 3rd. She later says they arrived in Wyoming, Nebraska on June 13th. [Wyoming, Nebraska is about 40 miles south of Omaha -Ed.] The next letter Charles Hansen received was from a traveling companion of his wife, Trine Marie Hold in Salt Lake City telling him his wife had died in Wyoming only six days before the trip ended.

From the History of the Scandinavian Mission. p. 181 we learn about the trip from Denmark to England.

"On April 13, 1864, the English steamer 'Sultana' sailed from Copenhagen, Denmark, with 353 emigrants from the different conferences in Denmark, excepting a few from Fredricia, who on account of the war [Germans were invading parts of western Denmark at this time --Ed.] had to go direct to Hamburg. This company was in charge of Pres. Jesse N. Smith, who was returning home from a successful mission to Scandinavia...A number of traveling Elders, who had diligently labored in the ministry, also emigrated with this company, which, like the preceding one, went by way of Lubeck, Hamburg and Grismsby [England], to Liverpool [England] where they were joined by the company that sailed from Copenhagen, April 10th."

"On Tuesday, April 26th, the ship 'Monarch of the Sea' cleared for sailing and on Thursday, April 28th, sailed from Liverpool, England, with 974 souls on board. Patriach John Smith was chosen president of the company with Elders John D. Chase, Johan P.R. Johansen and Parley P. Pratt Jun. as his counselors."

Emigration records from the European Mission for 1864 indicate that the cost of this voyage across the ocean was 4 British pounds, 8 pence per Scandinavian adult. The group totaled 974 with a breakdown as follows:

England 175

Scotland 28

Wales 5

Ireland 4

Denmark 389

Sweden 333

Norway 33

Germany 3

Russia 1

America 3

The journal recorded by Lars August Nelson, who was also in the same company as our ancestors, gives us some information about the journey across the Atlantic Ocean:

"The ship to America was a huge one. Before it was loaded, it stood so high above the water and we had to visit some time while the sailors loaded heavy freight into the hold. I have tried to forget the journey across the Atlantic. Our rations were raw beef, large hard soda biscuits, water, mustard, and salt. Sometimes we would wait most of the day for our turn to cook our meat. The winds and waves were so high sometimes that the flag on the main mast touched the waves as it rolled. Trunks and boxes had to be tied down. The vessel had three decks and there were bunks all around on the two lower decks. We saw many varieties of fish. Sometimes the passengers, men and women, helped bail out water when it seemed the ship might sink. During the voyage there was considerable sickness and a number of deaths, mostly children. On the morning of June 3rd, the ship arrived in New York where the landing of the emigrants at the Castle Gardens at once took place. In the evening they were sent by steamer to Albany, New York, and from there by rail to St. Joseph, Missouri, thence by steamer up the Missouri River to Wyoming Nebraska, from which place most of the Scandinavian saints were taken to the Valley by the Church teams of which 170 were sent out that year."

The LDS Church Journal of History mentions this wagon train on three different dates:

July 8, 1864: Gave list of passengers in Capt. William B. Preston's company. This list includes Hans and Christina Olsen and Lars, Jens and Marie Christensen. The company left Wyoming, Nebraska [Wyoming was located about 40 miles south of Omaha -Ed.] on July 8, 1864 and arrived in Great Salt Lake City on September 15, 1864. We noticed the other three people in the "Olsen Family", Han's sisters Hedevig and Ane and a widow Ane Kirstine Pedersen, were not on the list of the passengers crossing the plains in this company. We know they were on the ship with the others, and apparently stayed in the eastern states.

August 10, 1864 Deseret News article: Capt. John Murdock's mule train passed Horse Shoe, and Capt. William B. Preston's train crossed the Platte at Julesburg on the 6th of this month. Both trains were making good progress, and the passengers generally enjoyed good health.

September 21, 1864 Deseret News editorial: Capt. William B. Preston's train, which arrived on the 15th of this month, brought many needed suppilies from the east.

The following are excerpts from the Journal of Robert Bodily.

"William B. Preston was our captain. Three teams, including his, were sent from Kaysville to the Missouri River for the emigrants. Buffalo were not so numerous as four years before (his first trip to Salt Lake). There being more people and the wagon loaded with merchandise, a good many people had to walk every foot of the way across those plains, both men and women across rivers, it made no difference, but they did not complain. But everyone could see how tired they were. In the start the days were long and plenty of grass and water and we could camp almost anywhere, but as we came on, the days grew shorter and water dried up in lots of places and the grass dry and not much for the cattle. It made it very hard on the people. Sometimes we would be very late coming into camp and then supper to get and children put to bed but when we got into camp in any decent time, we always had camp prayers and all would assemble together and sing a hymn and all seemed to enjoy it and forget the days hard work. And all seemed to enjoy good health so in due time we arrived in Salt Lake City on September 15, 1864. We unloaded and went home with joyful hearts. We were heartily received by the people."

Excerpts from History of Lars August Nelson"

"Thus about 400 Scandinavians crossed the plains in Captain William B. Preston's company of about 50 Church teams, leaving in the beginning of July and arriving in Salt Lake City on September 15, 1864. The journey to Zion: In due time boys and wagons from Utah arrived and everything was loaded for the trip. There was a stove and tent in each wagon. Then the luggage and two families were piled in and we were off for Zion."

"At first there was an abundance of grass. I liked to watch the donkeys in the train. Day after day we traveled and the only living thing of any size was an occasional stage coach and the stations built along the way. One day I got out of the wagon and ran ahead until noon. After that I had to walk most of the way. One day two young women sat down to rest. All at once they screamed and jumped up. Then a man killed a large rattler where they had been. I have seen families take a corpse out of the wagon, dig a shallow grave and then hurriedly catch up to the train which did not stop. Then we got a glimpse of the mountains in the distance. We also saw large herds of buffalo. While camping one noon, a herd was coming directly towards us. Some men rode out and turned them. To avoid a stampede of our oxen, we started out and the teamsters were able to keep them under control."

"The first Indians I saw were at a stage station. There must have been several hundred of them and we could see their wigwams in the distance. We were now getting into great sagebrush flats and everybody was warned against fires. One day at noon we yoked up in a hurry because someone had let their fire get the best of them."


"Now we began to meet companies of soldiers. They generally led horses with empty saddles. Next we saw where a fire had burned some wagons in the company in which grandmother crossed in 1862. The whole country round about was black and the grass had not started. When we crossed rivers, if they were not too deep, the men and women waded. Two government wagons were caught in the quicksand near where we forded. As we got into the hills, there was a lot of elk, deer and antelope. One man on a gray horse did the hunting for the group. Several times the oxen tried to stampede. On parts of the trail men had to hold the wagons up to keep them from tipping over."

"The most interesting of all to me was at Echo Canyon where we were told how the Mormon scouts had marched round the cliff and made Johnston's army believe there were a whole lot of them when in fact there were very few. We found chokecherries along the road but they were too green. The last hill seemed the longest and steepest and we did not reach the top until late in the evening. Next morning everyone was happy. Cherries were riper and so good to eat they failed to choke. Happy beyond expression we hastened to get a view of Canaan and Joseph's land, where the Elders of Israel reside and Prophets and Apostles to guide the Latter-Day Saints. Having seen some of the big cities of the world, you may imagine our disappointment when we looked down from Emigration Canyon upon Great Salt Lake City by the Great Salt Lake. We saw Fort Douglas where some of the soldiers were stationed. One aged man exclaimed, 'Why, the children cry here as they did at home.' We entered the dear old tithing square and rested until noon. Now it was for us to decide where we wanted to settle."

Excerpts from Henry Ballard's Journal on William B. Preston's Church Train from Wyoming, Nebraska to Great Salt Lake City in 1864:

July 8 - 800 emigrants came from Wyoming (Nebraska).

July 9 - Traveled 4 miles.

July 11 - Heavy rain.

July 15 - Woman and child died in camp.

July 20-21 - Traveling on the Platte (River).

July 22 - A son was born.

July 24 - Another child died.

July 25 - Passed Kerney and camped 10 miles above. July 28 - Traveled 23 miles.

July 29 - Another woman died.

July 31 - Very hot, traveled 15 miles.

Aug 2 - A man died.

Aug 4 - Crossed So. Platte, decided to travel to Julesburg.

Aug 7 - Sunday - Rested the cattle in the fore part of the day. Mule bitten by a snake and died, cattle stampeded.

Aug 9 - Traveled 10 miles, cattle dying, telegraphed Pres. Young about route to take.

Aug 10 - Indian disturbances in area, next church train 60 miles behind

Aug 11 - More cattle dying.

Aug 14 - A child died.

Aug 16 - Had to camp without water, the creek sunk in the sand.

Aug 18 - Camped 180 miles from Julesburg, son born. Aug 22 - Unlevel country and wind blew very hard, very rocky country. Mentioned many times that they crossed over the Platte.

Aug 26 - Five horses missing, stolen by men at the station because of damage to their hay, eight men had to stand guard.

Aug 31 - Without water for many miles, a woman died who was 60 years old. Mentioned camping without water many times. Also mentioned several times about having a good feed.

Sep 4 - Thunder storm, son born.

Sep 5 - One of the teamsters broke the hind wheel of his wagon all to pieces and they loaded his load into another wagon.

Sep 9 - Two women died of dysentery (One of these was Caroline Hansen).

Sep 10 - Bad accident, a man fell off the temporary seat at front of his wagon and both wheels of the wagon ran over his neck and injured him badly. We had to leave him at the Bear River Station, he died three days later.

Sep 12 - A child died.

Sep 14 - Went to the top of Little Mountain and camped there.

Sep 15 - Arrived in Salt Lake.

Sep 20 - My wife had a son.

Extracted from the Church Biographical Encyclopedia concerning William B. Preston.

"William B. Preston and two of his brothers-in-law, John B. and Aaron Thatcher, left Payson, Utah in August 1859 and moved to Cache Valley and were the first to settle upon the present site of Logan. He helped to lay out the city of Logan in 1860 and was named the first Bishop of Logan. He served in the Territorial Assembly in 1861-1865 until he was called on a mission to England in 1865. When he returned from his mission on July 14, 1868 on the steamer Colorado, he was put in charge of a company of 600 saints and led them to Utah, arriving the following September. On April 6, 1884, William B. Preston was called to be the Presiding Bishop of the Church."