Married Annie Christine Petersdatter 26 May 1873 in Copenhagen
Rasmus-Mary-Howard
Died 28 Mar 1929 in Logan, Utah
Buried in Preston
1900 Census
1920 Census
The following history is based on information from Kay May, a grandson of Rasmus, and Elmer [Collins?], a grand-nephew of Rasmus, and also from historical records. If you know more about Rasmus's early life I'd love to hear from you in the comments.
Rasmus Olsen was born 19 April 1851 in Denmark. I know nothing about his early life except that he had 7 brothers and sisters. The oldest died young and the second when he was 30, but the rest lived into the 1900s. Rasmus's father, Ole, died a few years after Rasmus emigrated from Denmark.
Rasmus was baptized in (probably) Copenhagen on 22 September 1871 and married Ane Kjerstine Pedersdatter in 1873. They immigrated to Utah in 1879 with their three children and settled in Mink Creek, Idaho, where Ane's brother Hans lived with his wife, Maria, and their children. Rasmus and Ane had five more children in Mink Creek.
Rasmus's sister, Ane Marie, also joined the Church in Denmark and came to Utah with three of her children (one died on the journey and her oldest daughter and husband were left in Denmark). Ane Marie lived with Rasmus and Ane for a short time but that didn't work out (all I know is that there were arguments, apparently over sugar) and Ane Marie left or was forced to leave the house. She married again and had another child, and then married a third time after her second husband died.
In 1892 Ane was committed to the Idaho Insane Asylum in Blackfoot. In 1895 Rasmus sent to prison (the details of his convictions will not be posted here, but are in his more complete history that I can email to you when it is finished). He was there for about two years. He was also disfellowshipped from the Church in 1895.
With Rasmus in prison and Ane in the mental hospital, the children were in a difficult place. The younger children were taken in by relatives or friends and the older children left to support themselves. They worked in sugar beet fields in Utah and Idaho and also in a restuarant in Utah. I imagine they did other things as well, but I don't know very much about their lives at this time. You can read about the children below.
I'm not sure where Rasmus lived right after he got out of prison, but in 1900 he owned a farm and was living there with his youngest son, Henry. His third child, Hannah was living with him too, but she was married and had a daughter. Rasmus was rebaptized 2 June 1907, but was sent back to prison for another two years in 1909. Again, the details of that conviction won't be posted here, but you can email me for them when his history is completed.
In 1920 Rasmus was living in Swanlake, Idaho, with his fourth daughter, Mary, and her family. I don't know how long he lived there, but I do know that Rasmus was living in a boarding house in Preston for the last few years of his life, except for the last five months when his daughter, Christina, cared for him in her home before he died.
Remember Anna Marie, Rasmus's sister who also came to Utah? Her grandson, Elmer, was about 10 years old when Ramsus died and he remembered Rasmus. Anna Marie cooked food for Rasmus sometimes and Elmer would take it to the boarding house for him. Elmer would often see Rasmus on the street in Preston on his way home from school and would go with Rasmus to his room to visit. Rasmus would often give Elmer a nickle to spend. Anna Marie took care of Rasmus in difficult times. Elmer remembers Rasmus as a very likable person. So there's something positive to remember about Rasmus.
Rasmus died in 1929 and was buried in the Preston, Idaho cemetery next to Ane.
Their oldest son, Ole Peter (1874) had run away from home at about the time Ane went to the hospital, or a little sooner. He lived in Spokane, apparently for the rest of his life where he died after being hit by a car.
Maren Sophie (1877) married Levi Reeves in 1898 but died of pneumonia 11 days after the wedding.
Bodil Johannah (Hannah, born in 1879) married Eli Reeves in 1897. In 1900 she and Eli and their daughter were living with Rasmus, working on the farm he owned. Hannah went on to have 6 more children and died in 1971.
Juliana Lorraine (Julia, born in 1881) went to live with her aunt, Ane Marie Olsen Svendsen in the mid-1890s. You can see her in a photo of the family at that link. She was working as a servant for the Hunz family in 1900. The transcription of the census record is incorrect (she is digitally catalogued as Julia L. Hunz, even though the census record says Julia L. Olsen). In 1908 when she married Jack Marshall. She had one daughter and then divorced. She remarried to John Melchi in 1913 and had another daughter and was divorced again. In 1920 she was living in Franklin County, Idaho, with her two daughters, but by 1930 she had been admitted to Blackfoot South Asylum and lived there till she died in 1956.
Anne Marie (Mary, born in 1883) disappears from 1895 till 1908 when she married Norman Hans Nisson in Idaho. Norman had a rough childhood too. You can read more about Mary on her page.
Christina Margaret (1886) was living with her uncle and aunt, Hans and Maria Petersen in Gentile Valley, Idaho, in 1900. I assume they took her in when Rasmus went to prison the first time. By 1900 Hans and Maria's children had left home. Christina married Frank May (at least I think that's the name he went by) and one of her sons, Kay, and his wife, are a major source of information about Rasmus and Ane and their family. Most of the information in this history is based on what they found, and also a book they have which was written by Rasmus (which I'd love to see).
Elizabeth Petrene or Catherine (Lizzie, born in 1888) was living with Sophie Merrill in Richmond, Utah, in 1900. Sophie Merrill was a wife of LDS Apostle Marriner Wood Merrill and he mentions Lizzie his journal. Click on that link and search for Lizzie. The second and third of the four mentions of Lizzies are ours. I know this isn't much, but it's nice to see one of the children's names recorded somewhere. Lizzie married Thomas Kane and had a few children. In 1915 she was living in New York and had two children. She died in 1973.
Finally, Henry Lawrence (1891) also was taken in by Ane Marie Olsen Svendsen while Rasmus was in prison. He was living with Rasmus in 1900. I don't know much else about him.
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