Rasmus Olsen was born in Praesto, Schouhuus, Denmark on 14 November, 1806. Little is known about his boyhood. All we have been able to glean from the records is that he lived in a beautiful place located on a cliff overlooking the ocean. There were many lovely flowers on their farm, and his family also raised beautiful horses. Usually people living in those kinds of localities had to tie up their children to keep them from tumbling down the cliffs.
Rasmus married Ingeborg Hansdatter (born 28 Dec 1812, in Stensby, Kallehave, Denmark) 7 August 1836. Ingeborg had previously been married to Jens Larsen, who on 15 February, 1836, had been found dead in a ditch while he was enroute to nearby Vordingborg. He was 33 years old at this time.
Ingeborg had two daughters by Jens: Maren Katherine, 4½ years old, and Ane, 1½ years old. Rasmus adopted these two little girls, and they have subsequently been sealed to him and Ingeborg. Rasmus and Ingeborg had five children born to their union:
Rasmus must have been a remarkable man. All the people in the village called him Rasmus the Wise, and said he was as good as a doctor, knowing how to cure ailments by the use of herbs that he grew. As for occupation, he was listed as a weaver of fine linens.
On 6 October, 1849, Brigham Young called missionaries for the first time to go to Scandinavia to open up the missionary work in these countries. Among those sent was Erasmus Snow. From a verbal report given at an Olsen Reunion in Ephraim, Utah, at which time a monument was dedicated to honor our Olsen family members buried in the Pioneer Cemetery, I was able to glean this interesting story. The old gentleman to recited it indicated that it came from the journal of Erastus Snow, which is now kept in the archives of the Church. I have no more verification of the truthfulness of the story than that, though the story teller indicated that his son had read the journal entry.
Erasmus and his companion seemed to be having trouble generating much interest in the Church in the little Danish town in which they were laboring. So they made it a matter of prayer, and during that night Elder Snow had a dream in which he saw a chicken in the middle of a village crossroads. The next day as he and his companion were tracting, lo and behold Elder Snow recognized the very spot he had seen in his dream the night before. And even more remarkable was that there was a chicken there.
The two elders followed the chicken, and it led them into a nearby farmyard. They knocked on the door, and were greeted by the homeowner, Rasmus Olsen, who later became my great great grandfather. As a result of this initial contact, Rasmus was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on 12 July 1852, and Ingeborg was baptized the following day, 13 July 1852.
A week after his baptism, Rasmus wrote this testimony concerning the missionary who baptized him:
I testify hereby that K. H. Bruhn, who came here June 30, has, during the time he has been here, been a faithful laborer in the Lord's vineyard. He has with untiring zeal borne testimony wherever he has had the opportunity, and in addition has held public meetings now and then; but here as in so many other places the devil seeks to that end that the good seed which is sown shall not germinate and bear fruit. I pray that the dear God and Father will in his merciful grace influence the honest in heart by the power of his good Holy Ghost, so that the light may also be well lit in this area ... .This is my prayer to the eternal God and Father by me, the most lowly in Christ.
‑ After joining the Church, Rasmus expressed the desire to take his family to Utah to join the Saints. When the townspeople heard this, they came to him and tried to persuade him to stay. They even sent to the Pope to see if he could persuade Rasmus to change his mind. But Rasmus was firm in the faith, and made preparations to make the trip. However, he lacked the necessary funds to do so. He had to have 820 rigsbankdallers to make the trip ‑ 150 for each adult, and 130 for each child. So on 22 October, 1853 about fifteen months after he joined the Church ‑ he auction off all his properties and household goods, and apparently raised enough money to cover his moving needs. Also, before he left he contracted with a man to share a wagon and some oxen with this man's family to travel "over the plains in America to Great Salt Lake City."
In a letter he wrote to the Mission President in Denmark, he said "On December 25, 1853, I left Copenhagen, together with my wife and four children to journey to Utah." They boarded the ship, Eideren, where they sailed to Liverpool, England, arriving 9 January, 1854. From there they boarded the Benjamin Adams on 28 January, 1854, their destination being New Orleans. Their little three year old son, Hans, died en route and was buried in the Atlantic Ocean. They landed in New Orleans 23 March 1854, and on 25 March they boarded the steamboat L. M. Kennet, and sailed up the Mississippi River, arriving in St. Louis on 3 April. There they joined a company of Saints and traveled to Kansas City, where they made preparations for the journey to cross the plains. They left Kansas City 9 May 1854, and arrived in Salt Lake City 5 October, 1854.
The following are excerpts from Rasmus’ journal as they crossed the plains:
29th day of travel. During the night I had much aching in my limbs, and in the morning I believed that it was impossible for me to walk today. But when I arose and had moved a little, the Lord was so merciful to me that I was. able to walk.
42nd day of travel. At first the trail over which we drove was somewhat hilly; later it was level until along in the afternoon, when it again became hilly, ending with a large hill which was very steep to drive down. After that we had much gravel and sand to drive through to the river, where we camped. We camped almost right beside the river, which is called the Platte River.
46th day of travel. Some days ago Hans Hansen stayed at a camping place and refused to go further, but one day later he came running to us with only a shirt and pants on and wanted to go with us. So a wagon and some brethren had to go back to get his things and it took a few days before they caught up with us. Much disunity has arisen between various of the brethren. The devil is carrying on his game as far as he can get permission. We have now come half way.
51st day of travel. In the morning we had some hills and sand to pass through. We went past many Indian tents, which were there by the hundreds down by the river, at a distance of five to six miles. They had an enormous number of horses. While we passed through this area a great number of them were walking, standing, and sitting on both sides of the trail. Some of them followed with us a little of the way, and some of them had shoes to sell. Some of them wanted to sell horses, and others begged.
They arrived in Salt Lake City on 5 October, 1854, and on 22 October, 1854 Rasmus and his family were among twenty‑five wagons of Scandinavian Saints to arrive in Fort Ephraim, Sanpete County, Utah. It had taken them three weeks and 130 additional miles to reach this final destination. When they arrived, they got out of their wagons, unyoked the oxen, walked out in the sagebrush, and knelt down and thanked God for their safe arrival.
Winter was just around the corner. It is reported that a Brother Olsen, and we like to think it was our Brother Olsen, Rasmus, though we can't verify that it was, sold his silk hat, his coat and feather bed, all brought over from Denmark, for some of last year's wheat and a bushel of potatoes. The emigrants went into the hills and dug sego bulbs and thistle roots to use for food. Also pig weeds were gathered for greens. Log and mud houses were built within the Fort wall to provide for these new settlers.
Rasmus was a prolific journal keeper. There are nineteen volumes of diaries covering approximately 2,000 manuscript pages, all in Danish, deposited at the Church Historians Office in Salt Lake City. All of these pages translate to three microfilm tapes, which contain much valuable and helpful materials having to do with the ancestry of Rasmus Olsen, as well as copies of many letters he wrote back to his family and friends in Denmark.
On 20 November, 1861, Rasmus wrote a letter to his step‑daughter, Ane, who was still in Copenhagen, in which he talks about the importance of gathering records of deceased ancestors for eventual temple work. He was very concerned about Ane, as shown in a letter he wrote to President Jesse M. Smith of the Scandinavian Mission under date of 5 November, 1863: "On December 25, 1853, I left Copenhagen, together with my wife and four children, to journey to Utah. We left behind two girls. Trine, the eldest, was out in the country, and she later died. Ane, the youngest, was in Copenhagen, and was subsequently married to a person named Frederik Bent Peterson, who later went to Australia and left his wife, Ane, behind in Copenhagen. Since that time she has wandered from pillar to post and done things not pleasing in the sight of the Lord." Rasmus then goes on to express his hope that somehow financing can be found so that Ane can immigrate to Utah and be with the Saints.
And also his journal includes a copy of a letter Rasmus wrote to Brigham Young under date of 24 September, 1865, in which he notes that he sends 80 dollars in gold to pay for the emigration of »my daughter, Madam Ane Petersen«.
His prayers and efforts in behalf of Ane were successful, as indicated in a letter Rasmus wrote to C. F. Stoffer under date of 24 September, 1867. From the letter it appears that Stoffer is Rasmus’ son‑in‑law, married to Rasmus’ step‑daughter, Ane, who evidently had now come to Utah and divorced her first husband, the Mr. Petersen who went out to Australia and the gold fields. Stoffer and his wife were living in Salt Lake City.
Rasmus Olsen spent the remainder of his days in Ephraim. He served for many years as a clerk of the Ephraim Conference, and his minutes were as complete as were his journal entries. On 20 August, 1862, he recorded that the following brethren were in attendance:
John Taylor, Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, John Henry Smith, Erastus Snow, and George Q. Cannon.
During his lifetime the Manti Temple was built, and Rasmus pledged four bushels of wheat for every month the Temple was under construction.
Rasmus Olsen died in May of 1888 in Ephraim, Utah, at the age of 82, and is buried in an unmarked grave in the Ephraim Pioneer cemetery.
I am humbled by my pioneer ancestry, who exercised their faith as did Rasmus Olsen, and I hope I am living my life so as to merit their love and respect, and to thank them personally for the effect they have had on my life if and when I join with them in the eternal realms on high.
This copy, made available through the courtesy of the International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, may not be reproduced for monetary gain.
Link: Rasmus Olsen
Note:
Værdien af en rigsbankdaler fremgår bedst af dagløn eller købekraft. I 1850 fik en dygtig skomagersvend i Roskilde 7 rigsbankdalere om ugen.
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