Beate Olsdatter Petterborg

Born 14 November 1864 in Norway to Marie Eriksdatter and Ole Olsen Petterborg
Married Hans Nissen 3 September 1881
Beate-Norman-Howard
Died in August of 1899 in Preston
Buried in Preston

I know very little about Beate's life after she arrived in Utah.

Written by Helen Renee Evans Bench
This history was compiled from the personal histories of Anne Mathea Olsen Millard, and Oliane Olsen Taylor.

Beate Olsdatter Nissen was born November 14, 1864 at Heljain, Nes, Hedmark, Norway to Ole Olsen Petterborg and Marie Ericksdatter. She was the eighth in a family of nine children, having three brothers, Ole John, Emil, and Evan, and five sisters, Gine, Anne Mathea, Oliane, Beathe (who died young), and Christina Bergethe. Her parents were among the sturdy peasant farmers who tilled the land rented to them by the Lutheran minister. The family was very poor and worked hard to make a living.

When Beate was one, the entire future of her family's life was changed by the Latter-day Saint gospel for it was then they became converted to its teachings. Her mother was baptized first but she kept it a secret until a year later when her husband joined. When the Lutheran minister learned about them joining this new religion, he bade them to leave this Peterborg place they were renting. They had but a short time to dispose of a few personal belongings they couldn't take with them. It was a very sad parting for they had become so attached to the country and the lovely Peterborg place. They left no friends for these people had turned bitterly against them. These former friends tormented and made moving as disagreeable as possible. The family had no place to go so they decided to move to Oslo for employment and the family could be found more easily there.

Life in a big city goes well when one has plenty of money or a good job, but when work cannot be had and money for the necessities of life is scarce, it brings a sad chill over one to be there. The first winter in Oslo was a dreadful one. Her father sprained his back and was laid up the entire winter. Her mother suffered illness too. Lack of food and worry caused her mother to lose her baby prematurely that winter and to suffer with the sickness she had. This good mother divided the last morsels of food in the house to her children and went without herself because there was not enough for both.

Spring finally came. It was then that most of the family found employment in a brickyard. All, from the smallest to the largest were willing to work there to provide food for themselves although the salary was very small.

During the next years in Oslo, the family was blessed with much work, so along with their savings and scheming, they finally accumulated enough money to take them to Utah. In June 1875, her parents, Emil, 21, and Beate, 11, sailed for America on the ship "Idaho" and located in a little community east of Preston, Oneida (now Franklin County), Idaho. This little place was known as Worm Creek, and her parents settled just across the street from the present Preston Fifth Ward Chapel in Franklin Stake.

In 1876, Marie passed away. She was unable to stand the added hardships which came to her with pioneering. She had been a sufferer of consumption for years. She left a song which she had composed that told about her life from the cradle to the grave that gave solace and inspiration to her children. The last verse was composed on her deathbed.

Ole Olsen Peterborg died in December 1885. At that time they were living in Grass Creek.

Beate married Hans Andersen Nissen September 3, 1881. There is not a lot known of Hans Andersen Nissen except that he was a railroad foreman on the section at Preston, Idaho. Annie Marie was born in the railroad section house June 25, 1882, Norman Hans was born June 25, 1884, Olive Matilda was born September 13, 1886, and Clarence Wilford was born September 30, 1893.


Note: Bertha K. Daniels, a descendant of one of Beate's older sisters, writes that the Perpetual Emigration Fund helped Ole, Marie, Emil, and Beate immigrate in 1875, but there was not money for the entire family to go then. The other children came later. Ole Olsen's page has more about the other children. She also says that Hans Nissen was not a member of the LDS Church. The only baptism we have for him is after his death, but I found the record for Hans Andersen Nissen's immigration to Utah with the aid of the Perpetual Emigration Fund in 1864, which would indicate that he was a member of the LDS Church. Hans' older brother Niels and older sister Ane Dorthe also joined the LDS Church and immigrated to Utah, so it is likely that Hans was a member in at least the 1860s.