Brev til Ane Jensdatter

Letter to our daughter Ane in Copenhagen.
Fort Ephraim, 29 August 1865.
Dear Daughter Ane,

I received your letter of 22 May on 12 August. I see from it that you were in good health at that time, which we are happy to hear; but we are not happy that you must remain so long in old Babel and suffer from the lack of the necessities of life. But if it is the will of the Lord that you shall be freed, I hope that the way may soon be opened for you, for now I have $80 in gold which I will pay to Brigham Young at the first opportunity I can get. But now at the present time everyone is very busy with the harvest, so no one is traveling to Salt Lake at this time.

I hope that it will be sufficient to pay for your trip. From what I know about the exchange of money, it will amount to a little more than 160 rigsdaler in Danish money.

You write in your letter that you lack many things for the trip, such as traveling clothes and bedding, etc. You must remember that each person cannot take much along, so you must limit yourself as much as possible. As far as traveling clothes are concerned, you must get yourself some which are strong and good and as light as possible, and when you have enough clothing to get you home here, then I hope your mother will have something to share with you, and if the Lord is willing that you both may make clothes, you can help each other make some more clothing.

For bedding you should see that you get something light, and a sack to keep them in when you are traveling, to protect them from being soiled.

Do not buy any vain frills which are of no use. Real Latterday Saints should clothe themselves modestly, preferably in homemade clothing, and if they manufacture it themselves they have the right to dress in the finest silks; but those who are our enemies must not live off our labor. I will explain this for you in more detail another time, but that is Brigham Young's teachings.

You should prepare yourself with good strong footwear, for it is possible that you will end up walking much of the way.

It could be a good thing to have some hard bread with you, for now and then it so happens on the sailing ship that you cannot eat what you get on the ship, and sometimes this is because of seasickness. Then it is good to have a little something to eat.

Be very frugal with your money, for now and then there are places where they must buy their food, for example, when they are riding on the railroad and sailing on the rivers, and then it is not well with those who have nothing with which to make purchases.

I share with you here advice which I know is beneficial for you, but I cannot set down any particular rules, for the trip one year may be very different from another. But I hope that Viderborg* will inform you about whatever else is needed.

When I received your letter, I had decided to wait to write you until I had paid the money to Brigham Young. But since it is not harvesting weather today, I want to write these few lines to inform you about various things; and since it will be a long time before the letter reaches you, I decided to send this one as a forerunner to the other one, for when I get the money paid to Brigham Young I will write again and perhaps give you information about something which I do not now know.

Be very careful with the money you take with you on the trip, so no one will take is from you. Have it in something inside your clothing, such that you will not lose it. And do not tell anyone that you have any money, for there are those among the people who try to get what the others have.

The last part of April I sent an open letter to you by way of Brother C. Christiansen (He is from this town and was sent to Denmark on a mission, along with several others.). In it I had a few warnings for you which I hope you have now received. I also sent a few observations with him for the rest of our family.

In my letter to you of 8 November 1863 I gave some advice and admonitions for you to remember and follow when you go on the trip, which I had previously mentioned in a letter to you 20 July 1862. But since I do not know whether you are keeping my letters, or remember it, I will state them again for you.

It will be necessary for you to have a pot or kettle with a lid to it, so that you can cook in it on the trip, especially through the wilderness. Supply yourself with good footwear. As far as your clothing is concerned, cotton cloth is the best; it is light in weight and does best in this climate. Likewise bedding of as light a kind as possible.

Further in the same letter:

When you go on the trip, watch out for large companies or parties. Mind your own business as much as possible. Be very patient. Do not let anyone seduce you or coax you, for on the trip many things will happen which are not right. But do not let that offend you, but strive always to do right and progress in humility and meekness. Take care of what you have. Do not tell anyone what you have in your chest or suitcase, for on the trip there will now and then be those who will try to entice from others what they have, with very sweet promises and flattering words. Watch out for such people as much as possible. Endeavor to be orderly and clean in all things. Beware of becoming offended by what others do, but do what is right yourself, and remember that everyone must give an accounting for his own deeds.

In the same letter you were also counseled to take some money with you, which is mentioned above.

In my letter to you of 14 November 1864 I wrote to you that it would be good to take a little wine‑vinegar with you on the trip, for it can often be useful.

In the same letter I also wrote: "It might also be a good thing if you could take with you some hard bread, which can keep and not go moldy or spoil, to have a little something to help you on the big ship; for I have heard several people complain that they have gone hungry on the sailing ship, not because they received too little, but because they were not able to get it cooked or completely prepared. There were so many on board that they could not get it cooked, except a few days a week when their turn came. In such situations it can be a good thing to have a little to eat."

As far as the trip across the ocean is concerned, it varies a great deal from one year to the next; and if two ships go in

a given year there can be a big difference with regard to what they have to live on and how they receive it and in what way it is prepared. But it is always good to prepare oneself to meet anything, both the bad and the good.

We all send our dearest greetings. I recently received a letter from Jens and Anders. They were in good health. Ole is living here in town and is well.

My wish is that these lines may find you in good health and that the contents may be helpful to you, and that you may have the strength to pray that God our Heavenly Father will give you strength, for the sake of his son Jesus' name, Amen.

I ask you to write to us as soon as it is possible and let us know how you are doing and how things are going in the nations, for we sometimes want to know something about how things are in our old native land, for the news we get from there is very little.

This is the wish of

Rasmus Olsen.

My address is as usual.

*Carl Widerborg, president of the Scandinavian Mission. This letter was sent to him with the request that he deliver it to Ane Petersen.

Fort Ephraim, 3 September 1865.

Dear Daughter Ane,

(On the envelope)

As an addition to the letter inside I wish to set forth a few more lines. Late in April I sent you an open letter (See page 36).

In my letter to you of 24 June and 4 and 17 July 1864 I asked you to bring with you some cherry‑stones and [“Seamstress-blossom‑stones”?] and [another kind of stone], flowers of various kinds, hazel‑nuts, and, of whatever other kind you could get, just a little of each kind, so it will not be an inconvenience on the trip.

I ask you to tell C. Christiansen, who took the open letter to you, if you see him at the meetings, that his family are well. You can also tell Johan Fagerborg that his wife is well. She lives just across from us on the other side of the street.

To help me learn the English language I need a dictionary, and if it is possible for you to get one for me and bring it with you, I would like to see it. I have seen one here in town and would like to have one of the same kind. Its title in Danish is this: English‑Danish and Danish‑English Hand‑Dictionary for the Use of Both Nations, by Cecil Hornbeck, translator in English. English‑Danish Section. Copenhagen: The University Bookstore. Andr. Frd. Høst Publisher. Branto [?] Luna Printers, L. S. Muhle, 1863.

Yours until death,

Rasmus Olsen.

This letter put on the envelope of the other letter and sent to C. Viderborg.

Ane Is refered to an page 1-9-c evidently Rasmus didn’t bring Ane with them in 1854. On Page 1‑9‑D a contract between Rasmus Olsen and Carl Capson "for a space for one person more than his family now is" ‑ to cross the plains. The next clue is these letters from Rasmus to his stepdaughter in Copenhagen. Other than the letters to Ane not much is known until we find her death at Nephi 1923, she had married a Jens Olsen and is listed in the cemetery records as Ane Jensen Olsen (Ingeborgs daughter). Please share additional information.

I Rasmus Olsens dagbog fra 1963, 1964 findes Ane Nævnt som vist i tabellen nedenfor. Man ser, at Rasmus var meget optaget af at få Ane til Amerika. Brevet til Australien var til Frederik Bendtsen Petersen, som Ane var blevet gift med i København.

Tak til Pamela Carlene Nelson for brevet.

[ Forrige emne | Rasmus Olsen | Næste emne ]