Joanna Hollister Patten

Joanna Hollister Patten (1833-1916)

Autobiography of Joanna Patten

"My parents names are John and Vina Hollister. My mother's maiden name was Clearwater. My father was born in Marble Town, New York State, October 13, 1792. My mother was born in Marble Town, December 19, 1792. Her mother's name was Rachel Davis. Her Father's name was John Clearwater and was born in Ireland. My parents had nine children, to-wit: Isaac, Mary, Melissa, Alva, Keziah, Sarah Anne, Vina, Rachel, Catherina and Joanna. They were all born in the town of Caroline, Tioga County, New York.
My parents join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. They assisted in building the temple in that place and received their patriarchal blessings under the hands of John {Joseph} Smith, Sr the Patriarch of the Church and the father of the prophet, Joseph Smith. They emigrated with the Church to Missouri, and there through the persecution of the Saints. They were at Hauns Mill, Missouri the day after the terrible massacre, October 30, 1838. They were driven from their own homes by the mob, which was carrying out the extermination order of Governor Wilbur Silburn W. Boggs {Lilburn Williams Boggs}. My father lay out in the woods in the cold secreting himself from the mob, through which exposure, he died leaving mother with eight children to support. We were then without a home and lived in a wagon, all sick with chills and fever. She cared for and drove the team herself and returned to father's friends in Ohio. She stayed there a short time, helping missionaries who were sent to preach the gospel.
We then went to Nauvoo, stayed there until the Church was driven from that city after a severe battle and being disarmed. The women were searched for arms while camped on the banks of the Mississippi River, with neither shelter nor beds, except that furnished by nature. The mob fired at us but failed to injure anyone. We came west with the Church through the trackless wilderness, suffering the privations and trials incident to that journey.
I was baptized in Nauvoo in 1844. During our travels we suffered from hunger. The Lord sent quails which supplied our wants. This was in the year 1847. From then until 18523 we were traveling west until we arrived in Salt Lake Valley.
I was married to Thomas Jefferson Patten in Provo City, Utah April 25, 1853. He was born in Green County, Indiana, April 10, 1828. He is the nephew of David W. Patten one of the first Apostles, who was murdered in Missouri {Crooked River Battle} for his religion, being the first martyr in this dispensation. My husband is the son of John Patten, who was a High Priest.
I have ten children, all living, vis., Vina, born in Manti, Utah March 6, 1854; Thomas Jefferson, Jr {our ancestor} born in Provo City, Utah Feb 25, 1856; Hannah born on the desert on the Humboldt Nevada, Oct 10, 1857; on our return from Carson {Nevada} Mission, Joanna born in Provo City, April 18, 1860; Ida born in Provo City, Sept 3, 1862; Melissa, born in Provo City, Utah, May 9, 1864; William W., born in Provo City Aug 10, 1867; Alva born in Provo City, Oct 19, 1969; Phoebe born in Provo City, Aug 19, 1872; David Wyman, born in Provo City Nov 8, 1877.
We received our endowments in 1854 were sealed according to the law of Celestial Marriage in 1862. We received our second anointing in the same place under the hands of Apostle George A Smith.
During the first year of our marriage hostilities began between the Indians and the whites followed by a terrible war. Our people were obliged to move into forts for protection. Soon after the ward was over, in 1854, the grasshoppers made their appearance and ate all our cops, in consequence of which bread was very scarce. Many people lived on wild roots. Clothing was very hard to get, as it had to be hauled in wagons by oxen from the Missouri river, a thousand miles away.
In 1856, we moved to Carson Valley, Nevada and returned in 1857. The country in those days was inhabited by Indians from the Missouri River to California and were very hostile. My sister Isabelle was sealed in the Temple at Nauvoo to George F Stiles. Sister Sarah Ann was sealed to Phineas Young, brother to President Brigham young. Sister Catherine was sealed to Rosil Ferree. They have nine children.
My daughter Vina married John H Moore. Joanna married Joseph Harris, a grandson of Hyrum Smith.
I believe in Celestial marriage and believe it was formed of God for the redemption of mankind, to ennoble the human family. Without it our religion would not be perfect, for the man is not without the woman nor the woman without the man in the Lord. See revelation given to Joseph Smith the Prophet and Seer in Nauvoo Hancock Co., Illinois July 12, 1844, published in the Pearl of Great Price. In Heaven they neither marry nor are given in marriage. If we want to be more than angels, we must be sealed for time and all eternity, and live by every commandment that God has given us and our salvation is sure.
When I was three years old while in Missouri, my father died, being brought up by my mother consequently am a woman's suffragist. I believe in Woman's rites when she can get them.
I have been a member of the Relief Society ever since it was organized. Acted for about twelve years as teacher in the same Relief Society. My picture is with the county Presidents as Treasury of Relief Society. I am president of the woman suffrage society. Have done baptisms for seven thousand of the dead and endowments for about one hundred. Have received all the ordinances for myself.
Before this box is opened, I will have closed my eyes in death with the hope to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection with love and affection to everyone that should chance to read this, yours truly.
Now my gentle reader, whoever you may be. I have endeavored to give to you a little of the history of your ancestry, trusting that this may do you some good. My motive in writing this is to preserve the genealogy of my family. Before you read this, I may have passed from this stage of existence and others occupy my place but my prayer is that we may all be saved in the Celestial Kingdom of our God. Amen
Provo City, Utah County, Utah
January 1, 1881"
(This was found in a box 50 years after it was written by Joanna Hollister Patten)

Kirtland, Ohio about 1836

John and Vina must have felt the west ward movement pulling them to Ohio. The exact circumstances are not know why they moved, but in my heart I feel the spirit of the Lord was on them and maybe they didn't even know why they were to go to Ohio. Coming first to Portage county, Ohio here they found themselves among the budding new Church of Jesus Christ and here they found their home with the Saints.
John had such a drive to know what was right that on December 4, 1835  in Kirtland, Ohio he went to the home of Joseph Smith and spent the evening talking and discussing religion. John Hollister stayed the night at Joseph's home and in the morning acknowledged that although he thought he knew something about religion  he was now sensible that he knew but little. (Joseph Smith of this meeting wrote that John's confession was the greatest trait of wisdom he could discover in him). On Monday, December 7, 1835 he wanted to be part of the church, and remarked that he had been in darkness all his days, but had now found the light, and intended to obey it. By June 1836, John Hollister was ordained to office of Priest.
 The Hollister family was now part of the body of Saints and there in Kirtland Ohio helped in the building and dedication of the Kirtland Temple. Our Joanna was just a baby here in Kirtland, but still was a part of the experience of those early restoration events.

map showing west ward movement years 1830-1836

Kirtland Temple dedicate March 1836

At the age of three, Joanna's life of hardship began when the family moved to Missouri, where they suffered such persecutions that they soon fled to Quincy, Illinois. Persecutions were happening in part due to Missouri's Governor Lilburn Boggs issuing an "extermination order" upon all "Mormons". Gov Boggs is now most widely remembered for his interactions with Joseph Smith and Porter Rockwell, and Missouri Executive Order 44, known by Mormons as the "Extermination Order", issued in response to the ongoing conflict between members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and other settlers of Missouri.

Lilburn Boggs, Missouri Governor

The climax to the Missouri persecutions was the massacre at Haun's Mill one of the most lamentable instances recounted in American history. Joanna's parents were among the sufferers.



Joanna's father, John, fortunately escaped and hid in the woods all night, but through this exposure in the wet and cold, he died, leaving his wife to care for their eight children, who were all sick at the time. The family went back to Ohio for a time.

Lavina or Vina Clearwater Hollister (Joanna's mother)

Our courageous Vina would lead the team of horses and drive the wagon to safety all while tending to sick children and mourning the loss of her beloved companion and husband, John. What a terrible loss, what heartache. Yet Vina carried on and did not loose sight of her burning testimony or her resolve to be with the Saints in Zion.

Haun's Mill Massacre, October 30, 1838, tragic events for the Hollister family

We now go along with the Hollister family to Nauvoo. When Joseph Smith took up his residence in Commerce in the spring of 1839 the little settlement consisted of one stone house, three frame and two block houses and three log cabins. The place was virtually a swampy wilderness. By draining the land, a delightful location for a city was made possible and the name changed to Nauvoo, a word of Hebrew origin signifying  "a beautiful situation or place". Vina and her children including Joanna were among the Saints in Nauvoo, experiencing all the events that happened there. 1844 Joanna was baptized here. At the end of the first year, the population was over three thousand, and at the time of the great exodus, just six years later, it was twenty thousand and a city of beautiful homes. After the exodus the beauty of the place was destroyed, and the growth permanently stopped.

Nauvoo exodus, winter 1846

In the severe winter weather, the inhabitants of Nauvoo were once again driven from their homes, this time to the banks of the Mississippi River, where they were without shelter, bedding or sufficient food and clothing. The suffering at this time were almost unbelievable as might be exemplified by the fact that the first night of the encampment, nine babies were born to the refugees (another of our ancestors, Diantha Morley Billings helped to attend these mothers for the births).

They went to Winter's Quarters until the summer of 1852. Vina's struggle to get her family to Utah lasted from 1847 to 1852, and when they finally arrived in Salt Lake City September 1852 with the  Robert Wimmer Company, Joanna was 19 years old and her mother Vina was 59. They were soon sent with a group of saints to the Provo River Settlement.

Thomas Jefferson Patten, Sr  (1828-1909)

Here Joanna met a young man by the name of Thomas Jefferson Patten, to whom she was married April 25, 1853. Thomas was the son of Dr. John Patten who died in Winter Quarters and the nephew of  David Wyman Patten, the martyred apostle.
The young couple's honeymoon was one of perilous adventure. The day after they were married they were sent to Manti to take part in the Indian Walker War. They lived in a wagon and the Indian, bitter an Hostile stole their cattle and most of their possessions. So here our Joanna began her wifely duties in a wagon among the Indians. Because of their hostility, the white settlers were forced to live in forts. At the close of the ward they returned to their homes, but their crops were entirely lost when the grasshoppers made their tragic appearance. The plagues almost drove the people of Provo to the brink of starvation. The crops of 1854 and 1855 failed owing to the ravages of grasshoppers, though drought added to the disastrous situation. Then followed the unusually severe winter of 1855-56 when cattle and sheep died by thousands from starvation and cold the settlers suffered severely from these combined calamities.
In 1856 they were called on a special colonization mission to Carson Valley, Nevada for a year during which time their third child was born. Realizing as the leaders did, that agriculture was the backbone of the community, groups were thus called to demonstrate rotation of crops and other agricultural experiments.
As they returned, news reached them of the Johnston's army invading Utah, they were filled with apprehension when they remembered the horrors of Hauns Mill and Nauvoo. But imbued with such patriotism as the people had always shown, they met the new crisis with strength and courage in spite of the previous persecution at the hand of soldiers and officials.
For a few years, they lived in Provo they managed to save about $200 to furnish their little home. At this time, they were called upon to spend their little fortune for guns and ammunition for the Black Hawk war.

Sisters visiting together. Rachel Catherine Hollister Ferre (left),
Melissa Hollister Van Hyning (middle), and Joanna Hollister Patten (right).

Joanna and her husband decided to take a homestead on Provo Bench (now know as Orem), one of the first families to settle there, although their friends protested and ridiculed. Joanna was the first white woman to live there. They tore the sagebrush up by hand, piece by piece and prepared the grounds for their cops, alfalfa was one of  the crops everyone said could not be raised in that section. In order to get the necessary water for their home and crops. Thomas and Joanna helped dig a ditch from the mouth of Provo Canyon to their home, a great distance. They built a square log house, fifteen by fifteen with a huge stone fireplace, where the cooking was done. Later they built an adobe house with three rooms and an upstairs. This house was built on the north west corner of what now is ZCMI in the University Mall. Here they raised their large family in love.

Ten children surround Thomas Jefferson Patten Sr., and his wife Joanna in this formal portrait dating from about 1885. They were among the earliest settlers of Provo. On the back of the photograph, which has been mounted on stiff paper, is a record giving birth dates, spouses and other interesting information about those shown. Left to right, front row, are Thomas Jefferson Patten Jr., Phoebe Patten, Joanna Hollister Patten, Thomas J. Patten Sr., David Wyman Patten, Vina Patten Moore second row: Melissa Patten, Ida Patten, William Wallace Patten, Alva Patten, Joanna Patten and Hannah Patten

The first real home built on Provo Bench by Thomas Jefferson and Joanna Hollister Patten.  Grandmother Patten is standing in front of the house.  This was located on State Street in Orem and is North West of the University Mall

In addition to the alfalfa, they also raised sugar cane and Thomas owned and operated the first molasses mill on the Provo Bench. (did he like sweet things??)

In those days coyotes were numerous and spread terror with their howling and by stealing chickens, calves and pigs and most anything they could get to eat.
After two years of success on this homestead on the "bench" others began to avail themselves of land.

Here their hospitality to all was legend. In later years her home served as a haven for the unfortunate as well as a headquarters for church and state authorities. She was invaluable in the days when a doctor's services were almost unattainable. Her family remembers well the catnip tea she brewed, the burdock leaves they used to bind on to cure headaches as well as countless other remedies made from native herbs.
During hard winters, Joanna would leave a light burning in her window to guide travelers through the blizzards while her husband made trails through the deep snowdrifts to further assist them. Their hospitality was unsurpassed and their home was a stopping place for Church Authorities traveling up and down the state. Additionally, most of the schoolteachers made their home with Mother Patten.

She worked in the Relief Society and enjoyed her service for that organization.

Stake Relief Society presidency in Provo 1892. Joanna is in back row far right.

Thru all the years of struggle Joanna's spirit never faltered. She felt strongly the need for social development in the community life. a wider field for expression and greater opportunities for her children. To further the religious and social life of the little community, the Pattens donated a part of their land for the first school and the first church. They also gave land for a tithing yard and the first school on "the bench".

Timpanogus chapel, still standing today

Timpanogos Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in 1895 on property donated by Thomas J. Patten, Sr

Joanna herself says that because she was raised by her mother, she became a woman's suffragist. She carried on an active correspondence with Susan B Anthony for many years. In 1890 when the women of Utah were working for their franchise, Joanna was appointed president of the Woman's Suffrage Association of Utah County. She and Anna K Smoot traveled from one end of Utah county to the other, month after month until Utah became one of the first states to grant suffrage to women and the first to gain statehood with suffrage.
She was a woman of serenity and wisdom who literally hewed her niche out of the earth and set therein her light of inspiration for all who knew and loved her.

Stake Relief Society Board Provo, UT, March 21, 1914. Joanna is exactly in the middle in all black.
(L-R, Margaret Allen Webb Smith Harris, Marinda Melvina Knapp Glazier, Martha Ann Smith Harris, Marilla Lucretia Johnson Miller Daniels, Eunice Billings Warner Snow, (Diantha Morley and Titus Billings daughter), Joanna Hollister Patten, Alice Malina Barney Wilkins, Sarah Louisa Fausett Turner, Percia Cornelia Grover Bunnell, Hannah LIbby Carter Robbins, Sarah Topham Clark.)

The above picture shows a group of sisters, members of the Stake Relief Society Board. They had dressed in their Sunday best or Widow Black and stood proudly in front of the draped flag of the United States of America, quietly declaring their patriotism. This day was an important occasion. They had hired a photographer and made arrangements for a notary public to be in attendance. They desired to record an "official" and legal document. A bold act for eleven elderly women, but they were already active "Suffragettes", and proud of it. This photograph and document was to become their voice, their independent cry to be heard. A record for their posterity. The official document says, "We the undersigned with joy and heartfelt gratitude to God, Our Heavenly Father, hereby testify that we saw the Prophet Joseph Smith and declare unto all that he was a prophet of God."

Joanna sitting in chair last on right, her son Thomas Jefferson Patten, Jr just behind her. about 1908

Her granddaughter, Zelia Riley, writes some details of their life in Orem this would be in Joanna's later years,

"They had a large living room and there my grandfather had a table and a desk to one side and my grandmother would sit at the other side of the desk with a table. On the table would be the Standard Church works, the Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price and the Woman's Exponent (church magazine). Every afternoon, after we had picked cherries all morning and they had been working, digging weeds, getting dinner and everything, we then had a study period and a rest period. The house was always so quiet and we would either lie down for a little while or study. Then it came time for our supper. And what would we have for supper? A great big pan of milk. We each would have a big bowl and we'd have bread and milk, maybe with green onions or chopped onions that we would put in our milk. Sometimes we would have a little cheese. The meals were always cooked in this log cabin and then they were carried into the living room where we had a dining room table. There we had a wonderful meal, each time, especially in summer when it was hot outside.
My grandmother was a wonderful housekeeper. Everything was so clean and neat and we couldn't have one fly in the house.
By six o'clock in the morning, out the East window, we could hear our grandmother going to the ditch to get her water. They had to use ditch water. She would go to the ditch and I could hear singing yet as she was carrying this water over to the house to prepare the breakfast.
Grandmother did all of her cooking in a small log cabin. It was very clean and spotless. Out in the back of this cabin they had a big cellar that they had dug down into the side of the hill and then they had put a big roof over it and covered the roof with thatch and dirt. In this cellar it was very cool and on each side they had rows of shelves. On one side they set the milk. They had the milk in shallow pans and the cream would rise on this milk and oh it was so good looking. Sometimes when my grandmother wasn't looking we would get a slice of bread and just dip it in that cream and sprinkle ad little sugar on it. It was so good. Grandmother made all her own bread and I can just see it as she took it out of the oven all brown Of course, the first thing we would do at the beginning of each meal was to have a blessing. My Grandmother would often call on my Grandfather and he would say the blessing. He was always neat and clean. Grandfather seemed to enjoy all the meals and one thing that he would like to do, if grandmother wasn't looking was to take a spoon of sugar and eat it. He often said, "little rocks would be good if they had sugar and cream on them." as he picked up the cream pitcher.
On Sunday we all went to Church, I distinctly remember once going to Church with my grandmother, I think it was a fast meeting, all at once she got kind of uneasy and started moving around. I asked her what was wrong and she said "well there's just something wrong." She put her hand down on the side of her leg and held it tight, then she went out of the Church. When she came back she told me that a mouse had gone up her dress and she had to leave to get rid of the mouse.
Grandmother was a very beautiful little woman. Very petite and she always looked so neat and clean. Always she wore a checkered apron to keep her house dress clean and this was tied around her. It was neatly ironed and taken care of. On Sunday, she had her Sunday Clothes. My grandmother was quite a cultured woman. She believed in woman's rights or women's suffrage. She went to all their meetings and she carried on this way. She always had beautiful clothes to wear. I remember her usually wearing dark or black clothes made of silk or taffeta, with a cute bonnet trimmed with lace and flowers tied under her chin.
Grandmother had a wonderful flower garden out in front of her house. She prided herself in this garden. After all of her work in the morning, after dinner was over, after her reading and resting and studying, then she would spend an hour and a half or two in her beautiful flower garden. It had every kind of flower that you could think of and we would never find a weed in it.
I never remember my grandmother lying down. She always rested in the afternoon, but she rested in her rocking chair. She sat in the rocking chair by her desk. She always rested in this rocking chair, reading and resting. I remember her reading a book and the book I noticed mostly on the table or the desk was The Book of Mormon, The  D & C, Pearl of Great Price and the Bible. I don't remember all of the other books. They were always reading and studying form these books.
I never remember grandmother being ill. Of course, she was always working. Although she had little ailments, she would never complain. I never remember her being laid up with her illness.   Finally when she became ill and was 84, they sent for my mother. My mother went down there and stayed for two weeks. Not once did my grandmother stay in bed, all day she demanded that they get her up. She would sit in her rocking chair, and in this rocking chair, after three weeks, she passed away. She thought it was better because too many people die in bed."

Her death occurred December 2, 1916, she is buried in the Provo City Cemetery.

Ane Catherine Jensen Hunsaker

Ane Catherine Jensen Hunsaker (1843-1927)

As told by her daughter, Margaret Hunsaker Hawks or Maggie,
"My mother, Katherine Jensen was a beautiful dainty woman with a proud carriage, kind and generous especially to the poor and unfortunate. She was born in Norlundy, Galand, Denmark February 12, 1843 to her parents Hans Peter Jensen and Ane Marie Clawsen and died September 15, 1927 in Honeyville, Utah. She was about 10 years old when she sailed across the Atlantic Ocean with her Aunt Julia Jensen (her father's, Hans Peter Jensen, sister). Catherine's mother had died shortly after the birth of her fourth child, leaving her and her three other siblings motherless. After sailing to America on the Forest Monarch 1853, Katherine Jensen crossed the plains with her uncle Jensen in the John E Forsgren company." The company left May 21, 1853 and arrived in Utah September 29, 1853. They said the progress was slow with the roads being muddy and bad, but still averaged about 15 miles a day.

We know back in Denmark, Catherine was baptized February 12, 1851 as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints with her father and mother in attendance. Also there in Denmark, before joining The Church, Catherine's father, Hans Peter was a iron foundry or steel mill factory owner and a preacher for a group of three hundred or so Baptists.  Once the family joined The Church, the family experienced persecution for their religious beliefs with a hostile mob breaking windows to their home and camping outside their home trying to kill Hans Peter. For these four small children, those events must have been so unsettling.

By 1852, Hans Peter and family were selling all they owned in preparation for journey to America. Catherine's aunt Julia (her father's sister) was taking care of the her and her siblings as Hans Peter was about preaching the gospel and gathering saints. Hans Peter came to America's Salt Lake City later than his first four children in October 1854 with a new wife, Sarah Josephine Clausen. This new step mother, Sarah Josephine, would be the one to take care of the first four Jensen motherless children, but was never very good to them. After she had children of her own, she was very partial to her own children and unfair to her stepchildren, including our Ane Catherine.

Later, Anna Mariah Clawsen's children received some of their mother's inheritance, but Sarah took this money to build a house for herself and her sister. Catherine's brother, John, said that he had to learn to read and write by himself while herding sheep on the hills near Mantua, Utah. Frederic, the youngest brother, died of the measles while sleeping outside in a granary in the middle of winter. Catherine and her sister Anna had to go out to work when they were very young.

Catherine was 13 years old when she went to work for Eliza Collins Hunsaker, the first wife of Abraham Hunsaker. Eliza felt sorry for Catherine and employed her mainly to help her and to give her a place to live. Catherine, who always loved Eliza, appreciated her kindness and called her "Aunt Eliza."
Where was Hans Peter Jensen to advocate and meet the needs of these first four children? I have a hard time processing and accepting his treatment and neglect of these children and even the malnutrition they experienced in their youth.

Catherine married Abraham Hunsaker on 15 November 1858, just before she was 16 years old. She became the mother of 10 children, all of whom lived to maturity except two. For the first part of her married life she lived in the Big House in Brigham City.

When Abraham moved to Honeyville, she went there to live in about 1874. For many years she lived in the house by Salt Creek, west of Honeyville. She moved into Honeyville later. While in Honeyville she cooked for the older boys who farmed and herded livestock.

She had many experiences with stray Indians who came begging for food. She was always afraid of the Indians, and one time took her small children and hid out in a cornfield for several hours until some Indians had gone away from her home.

Catherine was called "little grandma" as she only weighed 90 pounds. According to her brother John, this was no joke, however, as she had had to contend with hunger much of her life. Catherine never had very good health, although she lived to be 84 years old. She had a nervous condition, probably brought on by malnutrition in her early life. She was a faithful little lady and expected all of her children and grandchildren to be ladies and gentlemen.

later in life Catherine Jensen Hunsaker

Catherine Jensen Hunsaker obituary
Salt Lake Telegram, Friday, Sept 16, 1927, page 26

Catherine J Hunsaker later in life

Amos Hawks

Amos Hawks 1838-1911

Amos Hawks was born March 22, 1838 on The Plains of Far West, Missouri to his parents Joseph Bryant Hawkes and Phoebe Ann Baldwin (his father's second wife). Compiler's interesting fact to note, Amos dropped the "e" in his last name at some point.

We must begin Amos' story by starting with his father's conversion to The Church. Joseph Bryant and his first wife Sophronia Alvord received a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been baptized in January 1832, while living in Pontiac, Michigan. Some sources say they were baptized by Elder Jared Carter (Elder Carter is mentioned in D&C 79).

The Church had been organized only a few years earlier, April 6, 1830.

Joseph Bryant Hawkes is mentioned in Joseph Smith's Journal on page 91 during his visit to Nauvoo on Saturday Oct. 24, 1835 & Sunday Oct. 25, 1835. He stayed overnight with Joseph and Emma Smith in the log cabin homestead in Nauvoo on Saturday Oct. 24, 1835 and went to church with them the next Sunday morning on Oct. 25. 1835. During this visit, Joseph was shown the Abraham papyri by the prophet. These papers were translated and became the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price.

In August 1836, Latter-day Saints began to establish a stake of Zion at Far West. By 1838, Far West was home to 4,900 Saints. The Joseph Bryant Hawkes family were among those that came to Far West and to gather together away from persecutions. Sadly in April 1837, Sophronia Alvord Hawkes died there and at the time was buried in a cemetery west of town, but later fell into disuse and was then a cornfield without a proper marker for her final resting place. (Note Sophronia Alvord is a sister to Charlotte Alvord who married Lyman Curtis our ancestor on Dad's side)

Just a few months later, Joseph Bryant would marry again to a widow, Phoebe Ann Baldwin in about June 1837 in Far West, Missouri. Our Amos was born here as well having five half siblings, the brother closest in age to him by a few years, Joshua would form a close brotherly bond that would be the mainstay for the Hawks family and for their entire lives.

Amidst these events of change and adjustment of loosing a wife, gaining a wife and a new son, the Hawks family were forced to abandon the place by the winter months of 1839 due to severe mob persecutions and harassment. After they left, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a few others returned and dedicated a temple site there, in obedience to a commandment from the Lord (see Doctrine and Covenants 115:11; 118:5)

In 1839, Amos' father, Joseph Bryant, settled the family in the city of Nauvoo at the counsel of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Our Amos spent his youngest years growing up here in Nauvoo, what a time to be alive. It is certainly true that Amos and his family knew the Prophet personally, and as a child "sat on his knee" as the saying goes.

Nauvoo and temple about the time of the exodus 1846

Joseph Bryant Hawkes was called to help labor on the new temple in Nauvoo and did so for seven years, until its completion and dedication on April 30, 1846. I'm certain our Amos was at the temple sight looking on and witnessing these awesome events. Phoebe was one of the eighteen sisters who comprised the original Relief Society.

Nauvoo Temple 1846

The Hawks family suffered much through poverty and sickness during their stay at Nauvoo, having been driven from their homes and losing nearly all they possessed. April 30, 1846 the Nauvoo Temple was dedicated and in September of that same year, the Temple fell into the hands of the mob and on November 19th, it was gutted with fire. What a heartbreak that must have been to know all the hard work and effort was wasted.

Nauvoo temple burning

In 1846, Amos' Father Joseph and Mother Phebe permanently lost their health with chills and fever as a result of exposure and the hardships they were forced to endure. Although he survived these trials and sickness and eventually made his way to Utah, Joseph Bryant was never well again after living in Nauvoo. In addition to the loss of health and personal sickness, Joseph and Phoebe lost several children in Nauvoo, the oldest Samuel died of consumption, Adalie and Joseph both died young and Levi drowned in the Mississippi River. So much loss here.

It was in the month of October, after a hard battle of the few Saints that were left in Nauvoo, that they were driven out and had to flee for their lives out of the city, west across the Mississippi River into the wilderness. With little affects, they were moved with the rest of the exiles into the woods on the Iowa side. Their stock consisted of one three-year-old heifer (this heifer would be a life saver later).

Exodus from Nauvoo

After a few days they moved down to Montrose, a little town about three miles below, where they were taken into a house by a friend of his father's, James Hoten. To support themselves, they used the milk from their only heifer, and the boys, Joshua and Amos, would sell the milk to steamboaters who put in at Montrose.

Amos' father and mother were both very sick and were supported from the charity of their friends. A company of teams was sent back from Garden Grove, about 150 miles west in Iowa, where they moved to a settlement of the Saints, where Amos' married sister Lucy was living.

Amos' father's health was a little better though he was quite weak and had decided to go back East to his native land of Maine and his people and see if it would help his health. He also hoped some of his folks would help him out in his hour of need. He needed a wagon and supplies to get him to Salt Lake Valley. In the fall of 1847, about October, his father left for Maine. It is told Joseph walked to Maine and back again.

Joshua and Amos were all that was left to care for their mother. In a few weeks after his Father had gone east, his mother became a raving maniac and Amos went to live elsewhere. Phoebe was cared for by the members in the ward until Amos' father returned the spring of 1848. Phoebe had a brain tumor, and without a way to medically treat the tumor, she suffered immensely until her death.

Amos' sister Lucy and her husband, Philo Allen, had moved to Council Bluffs in the spring of 1847 and one year later they came back to gather the family, shortly after his father returned from the East. They went to live with Lucy and her family that summer and all farmed together.

Amos was baptized on April 6, 1848 at Garden Grove, Iowa. In the fall of that year they built a cabin on a farm that his father had taken up two miles south of Kanesville  Council Bluffs.

In the summer of 1850, Amos' Father convinced a widow with three children by the name of Mrs. Bowen, to come to the Hawkes home and help with housekeeping. So logically, Joseph married Mrs. Bowen, that fall August 27, 1850.

Phoebe Ann Baldwin, died in December 1850, still no better until death relieved her of her suffering. They were still living at Kanesville at the time. Father Joseph and Mother Phoebe Ann had been married for 13 years. She was 47 and he was 51.

Lucy Hawks (Amos' half sister) and Phil Allen

In 1851 they sold the farm in the spring and Amos and his father and family came to Salt Lake City in the Harry Walton/Garden Grove Company and settled in Ogden.  His father Joseph and Mrs. Bowen separated after they arrived in Ogden, after being married about one year; Joseph was now 52 years old.

On March 20, 1853, Joseph Bryant married his first wife's sister, Albina Alvord Murry, a widow. She was 39 and he was 54.

In April they moved near Spanish Fork, Utah, settling at Palmyra, a new town laid off the fall before.  Palmyra would eventually be united with and absorbed into Spanish Fork. They took forty acres of land in what was called "The Big Field," and farmed a little of it that year. Amos and Joshua spent the forepart of the season making a ditch and getting poles, they did quite a large amount of water work on the irrigation canal. That wasn't all they were doing that summer, there were always threats of Indian attacks.

A second Indian war had broken out, July 17, 1853 with Chief Walker at the root. An incident in Springville furnished him with the excuse. A white man, James Ivie, saw an Indian beating his wife and turned on the Indian with some punishment that later caused his death. As the Indian was a member of Walker's tribe the Chief at once set out on the warpath to seek revenge. These events would effect our Hawkes family living in Palmyra.

On the afternoon of July 23rd, Clark Roberts of Provo and John W Berry of Palmyra were dispatched by Col. Conover to Salt lake City with messages to General Wells asking for further orders. On reaching Summitt Creek, now Santaquin, they found he place deserted, as the settlers had fled to Payson for safety.  While riding through the town, they were suddenly fired upon by Indians. Roberts was shot through the shoulder and Berry through the left wrist. The two men rode at full speed toward Payson, arriving safely.

That same night when the two men arrived at Palmyra, they found the citizens camped in the school house. W. S. Berry and Charles Price were on guard. The Indians made a raid on the cattle at the Palmyra settlement and succeeded in getting them all out of the corral, but the guard went after the cattle and soon got them started back; another unsuccessful attack by the enemy.

On account of the Indian depredations, all the settlers on the river in what was then known as the "upper settlement" moved to Palmyra for the winter. The people stood guard all fall and winter, not knowing when the Indians might attack them.

In November 1853, Amos' stepmother died, at the age of 39, after being married to Joseph for only about eight months. She was his fourth wife. So, Joseph, Amos, and Joshua were left alone again, without anyone to do the housework, only themselves. The boys went to school that winter.

During the spring and summer of 1854, Joseph Bryant with a few other settlers went to Pres. Young to get permission to build a fort two and one-half miles east of Palmyra. Having received permission, the Hawkes family moved into this small fort (this was later called the "Old Fort") and built their own home within the fort's walls.

The fort measured 100 feet from north to south an 60 feet from east to west, about 40 acres of land. The outside walls were two feet thick and 20 feet high. To this fort there was only one entrance, two folding gates 16 feet high and built of planks two inches thick laid double (four inches thickness). The doors and windows of the houses all faced the inside of the fort, there being none on the outside. There were port holes in each of the compartments, both in the upper and lower stories. In the center of the square a well was dug which afforded water for the use of the families.

By August 12, 1854, a big peace council was held in Provo bringing the close to the Walker War of 1853 and soon the Indians grew weary of fighting. This allowed the settlers to leave the forts and go back to their homes and fields.

Joseph Bryant married a widow, his fifth wife, Catherine Cole Sterling, September 9, 1855. She had an adopted boy, Hyrum. Joseph B and Catherine went on to have two daughters together, Catherine and Saphronia. She was about 30 years old and had come from New Brunswick while Joseph was now 56 years old.

About this same time, Joseph took up two lots in Spanish Fork.  Amos and Joshua made quite a number of adobe bricks to build on Joseph's city lots. They put up a house of six rooms that fall and the next spring. It seemed that they were constantly on the move and building. Amos and Joshua worked at home most of the time, helping to get Joseph comfortably fixed in life. His health was poor and he could not do hard labor, so the heft of it fell on, Amos and Joshua.

Amos' brother, Joshua Hawkes 1836-1914
(note this branch of the family kept the "e" in Hawkes)

Amos married Mary on March 18, 1858 in Spanish Fork, Utah and on January 23, 1859 they were sealed. Wasting no time, they started their family right away and Amos Joseph was born November 1858 in Spanish Fork. Not long after Joshua White Hawks joined the family Dec 23, 1861 (our ancestor).

Amos Hawks and Mary with their infant son Amos Joseph (Joe) about 1858.

December 19, 1862 in Spanish Fork, Utah, Utah Territory, United States Amos' beloved father Joseph Bryant Hawkes, passed away. Throughout his life he had always been a strong supporter of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Brigham Young; a true Latter-Day Saint. Of his father's death his son Joshua Hawkes writes,

"My father took sick about the….of December with a cold on his lungs and died on the 19th. Loosing my father was the hardest blow to me of the whole. The loss of our eldest son and sweet babe was hard to bear, but the long years of toil and trials through which I had spent my whole life, knowing his untiring zeal and faithfulness in the Gospel and the welfare of his family which he always labored for, made it quite hard for me. His loss as a father can never be replaced this side of the Veil."

About this time, Amos and Joshua obtained some land in Spanish Fork known as the Pace Farm.  The water raised very high early in April, and commenced to overflow their land.  Quite a number of farmers began to levy against the rising water. They worked for three weeks in the water most of the time, which was very cold. They lost a part of their crop, but the land was cut in hollows, and most of the top soil washed away. By 1863 they built cabins on their farm land three miles from town.

Amos had a daughter, Agnes Evaline Hawks born March 23, 1864, what joy to have a little girl!  Their happiness too soon turned to sorrow when Agnes died May 3, 1867 at Willard, Box Elder County, Utah, just three years old. She is buried in the Willard pioneer cemetery.

Ephraim Manassa Hawks joined the family April 17, 1866 Willard, Box Elder, Utah Territory, United States. They would call him Eph.

Amos, bought himself a farm at Willard City, Box Elder, County about 1867. He wanted his brother Joshua to go with him and help him, since he had no place, he did and moved in the spring. Amos then went to Montana, leaving Joshua to care for the place and raised crops. Amos did not return until late in the fall, when they spent the winter in getting out fire-wood and attending their stock.

In the spring of 1868, Amos thought he would put out an orchard. So, he sent his brother Joshua to Salt Lake City to got $44 dollars worth of fruit trees and set them out. They raised some corn and enough wheat for their use, although the grass-hoppers were very bad and destroyed a great deal. They went to work and got out logs and put up a house for his brother that summer. Samuel Junius Hawks joined the family in the summer June 21, 1868, Willard, Box Elder, Utah. They moved into the cabin in the fall. The brothers and family were getting along quite comfortable by this time and thus they passed the winter.  By 1869, they were still working on the farm and raised a very good crop of grain and vegetables that summer.

Franklin Levi Hawks came along December 23, 1870 when the family was living in Willard. Amos had sold out his land and home at Willard not long after the birth of Franklin Levi and moved to Promontory.

By 1873 Amos and family had moved to Franklin, Idaho and put up a water-powered sawmill. It was at the intersection of Maple Creek and it sawed a great deal of lumber from Crooked Canyon. It was afterwards known as the "Gibson Mill." Amos was quite anxious for his brother Joshua to move up there, as the prospects appeared good. Here Lafayette Hawks was born April 4, 1873 Franklin, Idaho.
John Willis Hawks was their last child born to them March 3, 1876 in Franklin, Idaho.

By 1880, Amos and Agnes along with their sons decided to travel south and make their home in Mexico coming from Franklin, Idaho. (Along their journey south, one of their sons, Joshua White met and married Margaret Hunsaker while resting in St. George, Utah...our ancestors)

Continuing south in a wagon train, they never reached Mexico and when they arrived in Mesa, Arizona they decided to stay and settle. Here in the desert region, Amos and his seven sons helped to settle Mesa, Arizona and helped to organize a water system and plant fruit trees and helped it become the thriving community it would later be. They were carpenters, masons and builders using adobe bricks. His eldest son, Amos Joseph also owned a grist mill there. They are listed as a pioneer family of Mesa in 1881.

It was here in Mesa that they would experience another tragic loss, their 18 year old son Levi Franklin, just beginning his life would pass away August 8, 1887.  Aunt Mickey found out Levi was initially buried in the pioneer cemetery on University, but was brought to the Mesa City Cemetery as a re-interment sometime later.

Levi Franklin Hawks 1870-1888

They left Mesa, Arizona in about 1898 to settle in Price, Utah and by 1900, they were found in Orangeville, Utah in the census.

Brick makers, Amos Hawks family

Amos died April 12, 1911 suddenly probably of heart disease. He is buried in the Orangeville City Cemetery, Orangeville, Emery County, Utah. His wife followed him in death just nine days later.

His death notice in the newspaper reads:
Eastern Utah Advocate 1911-04-27
Gossip of Emery County
Orangeville, April 22 – The remains of Father Amos Hawks were brought over from Price, where he died, and buried her last Saturday. Father Hawks was a pioneer of Utah having come with his family in 1850. He was a stone mason and bricklayer by trade and therefore he took an active part in building up Utah and adjacent states and territories. He has resided in different places from Idaho on the north to Arizona on the south, and being very industrious and having a large family, he was always found in the lead in building up the different settlements where he resided. He leaves a good record as an honest, God fearing Latter-day Saint and a man not afraid to speak in defense of his convictions. He is survived by a wife, who is very ill and not expected to survive him long, six sons, and a large number of grandchildren. He was born on March 15, 1838. He has fought the good fight and gone to his reward. The speakers were U. E. Curtis, Jasper Robertson, and A. C. VanBuren.

Amos and Mary Hawks family about 1900-1910 Utah
Standing L-R  John Willis, Lafayette (Lafe), Samuel Junius (June), Ephraim (Eph)
seated L-R Amos Joseph (Joe), Father Amos, Mother Mary, Joshua White (Josh)

Levi Bracken

Levi Bracken 1791-1852

Levi Bracken was the son of William Bracken and Mary Garrison. He was born March 14, 1792 at
Conamaughn, Cambria County, Pennsylvania (now Philadelphia).

He was very unfortunate, especially in the early years of his life. It was filled with sorrow, disappointments and hardships. He was only three years old when his father died in 1795, thus being deprived of the love and wise counsel that a kind father could give to him. After this tragedy, his mother began to plan as best she could for her two small sons; with Thomas and Levi she prepared to go to Ohio to start a new life. This she did, accompanied by her father, Elijah Garrison, and her brothers.
 After they arrived in the new state, her hopes and plans for her young sons were snatched away
without warning. It was in the year 1797 when Levi was only five-years-old that his mother passed
away. During his tender years he learned many valuable lessons of life that were a lasting benefit in
later years. Robbed of the understanding love and guidance of both mother and father, young Levi
developed a serious independent nature. While he was reared by his grandfather and uncles who were
mindful of his needs, he missed the natural motherly affections and fatherly confidence every son
craves. The years passed swiftly and he did all that was required of him and gained the respect and
admiration of his fellowmen and associates.
 He was energetic and self-reliant, and because of childhood responsibilities, reached the state of
manhood prematurely. He was anxious to have a home of his own and enjoy the love, security, and
peace that had been denied him thus far in his life. At a very early age, he fell in love with an attractive young lady by the name of Elizabeth Clark. She was born in Missouri on the 26th of October, 1797. Elizabeth's family had emigrated to Jackson County Missouri and suffered the usual hardships and persecutions that came to the saints there.

Elizabeth Clark (Levi's wife) 1790-1876

They were soon married and after the happy wedding, took on the more serious problems of
homemaking. Their lives together were filled with varied and unpredictable experience, but they were
young and courageous and unafraid of the future. They were accustomed to frontier life and would
stand together, undaunted by the trials in store for them. The first part of their married life was spent in Hamilton County, Ohio. They lived there until 1821 when they decided to move to Rush County,
Indiana.
 While living in this locality, Levi received the most satisfying blessing of his life. He heard the
gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as it fell from the lips of humble men of God. His yearning
soul drank in the comforting message that explained so many of the mysteries of life. He became an
ardent investigator and with each new gospel truth he heard, the more convinced he became of its
divinity. He was soon converted and led into the waters of baptism by Elder Benjamin Benson on
March 10, 1832 at Clinton County, Indiana. His soul was filled with love, contentment, and
appreciation of God’s kindness to him. He went forth with renewed strength and the power of the Holy Ghost to accompany him during times of distress. He was one of the first Elders ordained in the Church.
By September 25, 1835, Levi was on a mission for the Church with Uriah Curtis. They were laboring in Clark County, Indiana where they taught and baptized John Tidwell among others. John Tidwell would go on to be a branch President of a small group.
After living in Indiana for some time they decided to move to Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, where they could live among the Saints. This they did and remained here until 1846 when the Saints were driven from their homes there. Levi and Elizabeth Bracken took out their own endowments in the Nauvoo Temple on January 22, 1846.
Sometime between January and December 1846, they began their travel west and then by December 31, 1846, Levi and his family were members of the Winter Quarters Twenty First Ward.
After leaving Nauvoo, they traveled to Council Bluffs (then called Kanesville), Pottawattamie County, Iowa and settled in the Big Pigeon area, which was still being established. While living there, Levi became very active in both civil and religious affairs. He served as Bishop for the Church, and as an Alderman for the community. In March 1848, a post office was established in Kanesville. A county organization was also obtained being called Pottawattamie. Levi Bracken was one of the magistrates. Here he also served as Justice of the Peace. He enjoyed giving his service to his fellow men.
On the 1850 U. S. Census, in dwelling #674, the Brackens were listed with those in Big Pigeon.  Recorded were Levi, age 60; Elizabeth, age 61; and Ann, age 20.  Levi and Elizabeth also appear on the 1851 and 1852 Iowa State Censuses in the same place.

Big Pigeon Tabernacle, Pottawattamie County, Iowa. where they met for church meetings

This phase of his life was soon to be interrupted, for in the year l852 preparations were made to begin the trek across the plains. Together with his wife and family he secured the necessary provisions and left with a group of faithful Saints for the Rocky Mountains. He served as Captain of  2nd Ten of the 16th Company under Captain Uriah Curtis.
They endured many harrowing experiences during their strenuous trek across the unfamiliar and barren territory. But their faith was unwavering and they journeyed on. By July they had reached the Platte River in Nebraska. There was a great deal of sickness among the Saints and many died and were buried in unmarked graves along the Mormon Trail.
It was during this time, when many were stricken with cholera, that Levi was called to administer to Sister Allen Mathews who was seriously ill with the dreaded disease. Realizing full well its contagiousness and the danger in which he placed himself, he willingly went to bless a friend. After completing the request he also became a victim of the terrible malady and passed away the following morning at 8:00 a.m. He died in August 1, 1852 and was buried at Loup Fork, Nebraska in an unknown grave.

The crossing at Loup Fork, where the Loup River and the Platte River meet,
near here is where Levi Bracken died

Plaque posted at the signt, 'Road to Zion', showing groups of pioneers crossing here.

It may be said of him, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13.

Elizabeth Bracken, Levi’s devoted wife, continued to travel on with the company of Saints to Salt Lake City, Utah. She later moved to Spring Valley, Nevada and made her home with one of her daughters. Here again a new life was opened up before her, one full of the care and responsibilities that come with pioneer life. But she continued to carry on with faith and courage.
Her eventful life came to a close 8 June 1876 at the home of her son-in-law, William Bailey Maxwell. She was 85 years, seven months and 15 days old. She lived and died a faithful Latter-Day Saint, and died with a hope of coming forth in the morning of the First Resurrection.
The descendants of Levi and Elizabeth, six daughters and one son (two more sons died young or in infancy), bear record of the valiant efforts of those noble pioneers and pay homage to them today after a period of one hundred and fifty years.

Their Children:
Mary Ann married Luther Collins Ramsey
Hannah Maria married Levi Tomlin
James Bennett married Sarah Head
William died in infancy
Martha Ruth married Thomas Hampton
Lucretia Charlotte married William B. Maxwell
Matilda married James McFate
Elizabeth Ann married to Dabney Keele (our ancestors, they had a son William Augustus Keele that married Cleopatra Burgess)
another son died young

Johan Nicolai Christensen

Johan Nicolai Christensen (1836-1914)

Much of this information is taken from his daughter, Leolette Christensen, daughter of John Nikoloy Christensen from Treasures of Pioneer History: Vol 4, Pioneer Dentists and Druggists, Provo, page 124

His mother, father and siblings 

John Nikoloy Christensen, pioneer dentist of several Utah towns was born December 28, 1836, in Gjerringe, Thested, Denmark, the son of Kristen Pedersen Knattrup and Ane Johanne Nikoloydatter. 

Johan Nicolai Christensen had three sisters and one brother Peder Christensen, who was born 2 Oct 1828 in Hoerdum, Thisted., Denmark. A sister Ane Christensen born 24 March 1826 also of Hoerdum., Thisted, Denmark, she married Christen Sorensen. His second sister Ane Katrine Christensen, born 2 Apr. 1832, Gjerringe, Thisted, Denmark, married John Peter Holm.
The third sister Kirsten Christensen came with their parents from Denmark. She was born 8 May 1843, at Sunby or Stagstrup, Thisted, Denmark,and died 30 Nov. 1866 in Utah. She was 22 years old when they sailed from Denmark,on the ship Kenilworth,on 25 May, 1866 this according to the Emigration records. John's parents came to Utah with a company of Saints in 1858.
John and Emma's daughter Johanne also came to America with her grandparents (Kristen and Ane Johanne) on the ship Kenilworth. She was 4 3/4 years old. This was the ship that Andrew Jensen sailed on in 1866. It is told that this daughter, Johanne Christensen was left with strangers until her father, John, came two years later.

His wives and children

John's marital affairs with their various children can seem complicated so I am listing who he married and his children in list form rather than story form.

John first married Emma Nicoline Dahl in Denmark, June 10, 1858. She never came to America and eventually remarried Mr Anderson. She died in Denmark 1907. John and Emma had three daughters,
1. Margrethe born 1858 in Alborg, Thisted., Denmark. She died in Denmark 1905.
2. Johanne born Sept. 1860 at Alborg., Thisted, Denmark. Johanne married first James Chauncey Carter in Utah they had six children. They eventually divorced and she married second Stephen  J Adams. She died in Colorado in 1937.
3. Louise Nelsine (our ancestor) born March 28, 1862, Alborg, Thisted, Denmark. Louise married Charles Eli Williams, we know this marriage was not a happy one but still they managed to have seven children all in Utah. She died 1945.

John married as his second plural wife Maria Jensen about 1864 in Denmark. Once they were in Utah and several children later, they too divorced and she remarried Andrew Christopherson.  Their children were,
l. Albertine Christensen., born 1866 in Denmark. She died on board ship Emerald Isle 1 July 1868.
2. Atlantic, born 22 July 1868 on the Atlantic Ocean. Died 1951.
3. John Christensen died young.
There may have been other children by this marriage.

John married as his third plural wife Christine Charlotte Johnson on June 3, 1872. They were married in the Salt Lake Endowment House. The two plural wives and John could not get along and Christine Charlotte's marriage to John was eventually annulled and she remarried James Hansen, her children were willed to John Nicolai. Their children were,
l. Leolette Josephine Christensen, born 17 Aug. 1874 at Spring City, Sanpete, Utah. She never married and died in 1963.
2.Carl Albert Christensen born 1876 and died 1879.

John lastly married Phebe Carter as his fourth wife on September 22, 1877 in Salt Lake City. Not in polygamy this time. Their children,
1. Herbert Christensen 1878-1879
2. Ruby Christensen 1879-1940, she married Herald B. Crandall
3. Harold D Christensen 1888-1955, he married Catherine Needham.

To America

Johan or John Nicolai, his second plural wife Marie Jensen, and their daughter Albertina came on the packet ship Emerald Isle which left Liverpool June 20, 1868 with Hans Jensen Hale as captain. During the ocean voyage little Albertina died and a son, whom they named Atlantic, was born July 22nd. During that fateful voyage thirty-seven persons died and were buried in the ocean, and others died after landing in New York. The company docked in New York harbor August 11th and on the 25th they arrived at Benton on the Union Pacific Railroad seven hundred miles west of Omaha.

When John left Denmark, he took with him his second and pregnant wife Marie Jensen and their infant daughter Albertine. John promised Emma Nicholine Dahl, his first wife, that they would send for her after they got settled in Utah, planning to live in polygamy. But for whatever reason, they didn't ever send for Emma. John did try to live in polygamy with his second (Marie Jensen) and third (Charlotte Christina Johnson) wives but they couldn't agree. Eventually both of these wives left him, legally divorced him and he came alone to Provo to live.

Here, Johanne, John's oldest daughter in America introduced her father John to her soon to be sister in law, Phebe Carter.  John married Phebe Carter as his fourth wife. John and Phebe Carter and Johanne Christensen and James C. Carter had a Utah double wedding  in 1877. Phebe was sixteen years old at the time of her wedding to the forty-one year old doctor. Three children were born to them in Provo, Utah.

Interest in medicine and dentistry

John N. Christensen had served with the Danish army in the war between Denmark and Germany. He was wounded and so was forced to stay in the rear ranks where he assisted the army doctors with other wounded men. In that way he became interested in medicine and surgery which served him well during the pioneering period in Utah.
He settled first in Richfield where he followed the trade of tinsmith and did any other odd jobs he found to make a living for his family. From Richfield he moved to Mount Pleasant where he met Dr. Van Nocken, a dentist from whom he learned the profession. He practiced in Spring City, Lehi, Springville, Payson and Provo. He moved from Spring City, Sanpete County to American Fork in 1876, and remained there for several years before finally settling in Provo. He not only practiced dentistry, but surgery and medicine as best he knew, and became known as Dr. Christensen. He also learned Ventriloquism also Hypnotism. When a Doctor he cured people thru Hypnotism as well as medicine. He was mechanically minded, industrious, of an inventive nature and never idle. He instilled in his sons a love of his profession and both Atlantic Christensen of American Fork and Salt Lake City, and Harold Christensen of Lehi and Provo, became dentists.

Dr Atlantic apprenticed under his father and after practicing in American Fork for a few years went to the University of Denver Dental College where he received his DDS. Three of John N. Christensen’s grandsons are also in the dental field; Dr. Scott A. Christensen, Hollywood, California; Dr. Harold Crandall, Salina, Utah, and John C. Christensen, a dental technician, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Interesting facts

One of his granddaughters, Florence Williams, recalls, "He was a handsome man, large in stature. I think he was 6 feet 4 inches tall and he wore a size 14 shoe. He used to go to Salt Lake to order his shoes because they didn't have any that size in Provo."

One thing long remembered by the people of Spring City was John N.’s treatment of the family of Apostle Orson Hyde during the typhoid epidemic. He had the sick children wrapped in wet sheets, gave them plenty of water to drink, and all recovered. He had some knowledge of ventriloquism and used it more than once when Indians threatened trouble. The Indians credited him with supernatural powers.

He died in Provo January 16, 1914.

Obituary of Johan N. Christensen

, January 29, 1914 "Herald" Extra" page 94

Provo City Cemetery, Provo Utah

Joanna Patten Keele

Joanna Patten Keele 1888-1959

Joanna Patten, was born 8 March 1888 in Provo, Utah to her parents Thomas Jefferson Patten, Jr and Clara Isabella Billings, the third child in a very large family of eleven children. She married Frank Keele the 12th of July 1911 in Manti, Utah. Together they had nine children, five girls and four boys. Joanna Patten Keele passed away 25 March 1959, Provo, Utah.
She was a talented singer, homemaker, Gardner, mother and wife.

Patten Sisters, L-R Clara, our Joanna, Luella about 1890

Clara Isabella Billings Patten (Joanna's mother)

Thomas Jefferson Patten, Jr (Joanna's father)

Patten brothers and sisters. Joanna Patten Keele front row last on right.

When Joanna was born, her father, Thomas Jefferson Patten, Jr. took her into the kitchen and gave her his mother's name of Joanna. To which her mother, Clara Isabella replied, " I will never call her Joanna, I will call her Jossie."  Joanna's mother, Clara Isabella, never did call her by her given name of Joanna and when Clara Isabella died in 1944 Joanna said, "There, now I will take my name back!!" (I guess she didn't like her nick name. This story was told over and over by her daughter Lois Keele Williams)

In Joanna's own words she tells us of her life, 
"I commenced school on Provo Bench in 1894. My teacher's name was Susan Talmage. I graduated in 1902. Worked in Provo Woolen Mills from 1904 until 1906. Attended school at Brigham Young University 1910 to 1911 where I studied voice under Anthony C. Lund, and was also chosen to sing in the Utah Stake Choir under the direction of Dolf Boshard with Clair W. Reid as Tabernacle organist. I well remember the installation of the pipe organ 'twas at that time and required months of labor to complete. At the final completion, we presented a concert with Emora Lucy Gates as our guest soloist and following with concerts with Torit. Sisters as guest soloist and also J. J. McClellian.

Photo taken by David Kinnear, a friend and neighbor of the Patten family. He writes on the back of the photo that it was taken in 1904. Middle row, left to right: 1-Clara Isabella Billings Patten, age 43, 2-Jerusha Shomaker Billings, age 64, 3-Nellie Bell's mother, 4-David Kinnear's mother called Auntie Jean.  The babies being held by the grandmother in the center place of honor, are likely not twins but probably Alden Gaylor Patten, age 3-6 months, and a child belonging to the Kinnear family.  None of the Patten grandchildren were born until three years later.  Back Row, left to right: 1-Luella Billings Patten Holman, age 20, 2-Jerusha Lois Patten Downs, age 15, 3-Mrs. David (Nellie Bell) Kinnear, 4-Clara Isabella Patten Clark, age 18, 5-Joanna Patten Keele, age 16 1/2.

I was married to Frank Keele in the Manti Temple July 12, 1911 and prior to my marriage I became acquainted with my husband who also was attending school at the Brigham Young University."
Of this acquaintance, their daughter Lois recalls, "A few years later, dad had a great desire to attend Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah. Arrangements were made for young Frank to stay with his cousin, George P Billings. They soon became fast friends. One night George said, "I know a family with seven daughter, living on the Orem Bench about six miles away. They're cousins of mine." So breaking the school rules, they rented bikes and paid a visit to the Thomas Jefferson Patten Jr home, the family with seven girls. George was to date Luella, the oldest and Frank would date Clarabell, the second oldest daughter. However when Frank saw Joanna, in bed with the chicken pox, he knew she was the one for him. For the remaining school year, there were many more visits to the Patten home but always to court Joanna."

Frank Keele and Joanna Patten Wedding 1911.

Joanna continues, "Before entering B. Y. U., I was secretary of the Sunday School Organization in the Timpanogos Ward from 1906 to 1909 and also secretary of the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association in the Timpanogos Ward. My husband and I worked in the fruit. He picked peaches and I packed for Stephen Bunnel. And on the 18th day of  September 1911, he left Provo Bench to go to Idaho with my grandmother (Jerusha Lois Shomaker Billings) who had been spending the summer at my father's home on Provo Bench and whom was returning to her other daughter's home in Heyburn, Idaho where she was living. 

Grandmother Billings
Jerusha Lois Shomaker Billings (1840-1915)

On the 23rd day of November 1911, I followed my husband to make our home in Idaho. 

Columbia River Basin Project, Idaho, Burley, Idaho about 1910

We lived with one of my aunts (her mother's youngest sister), Lapriel B. (Billings) Sorenson there on the Columbia River Basin Project for the next four months and then in the spring, we filed on an eighty-acre tract of land owned by the Government. We built us a one-room shack and the next September 2nd, 1912 our dear little girl was born, Luella Billings."

Typical homestead, Idaho 1912

They both loved the gospel and were very obedient to the law of multiplying and replenishing the earth. In Idaho, she had all seven babies at home with only the assist of a midwife or country doctor with none of the conveniences of modern medicine. None of these births were registered at Heyburn City records, or the state of Idaho. (Luella, Cleopatra, Thomas, William, Clara Isabella, Lois and Frank)

Joanna continues, " 'Twas there we both worked in the church traveling eleven miles to Heyburn Branch to attend our Sunday School, Mutual and Fast Meeting and we very seldom missed a meeting.  'Twas there I was set apart as Visiting Teacher in the Relief Society Organization and it was there we both received our Patriarchal Blessings."
Her daughter Lois recalls, "A beautiful recollection of my mother happened here in Heyburn, Idaho. Following her patriarchal blessing, the stake patriarch commented to my father after she left the room, "I have never laid my hands on a more pure vessel."

They experienced the typical pioneer hardships of clearing the sage brush land with their bare hands, building a rough shack home, enduring the ever constant blowing wind and sand in the summer and the biting cold in the winter. They developed the land, planting rotation crops and building a herd of milk cows and cattle.

It was during this period of time that the nation was involved in World War I and Frank was drafted. Lois recalls, "My mother petitioned the local authorities and explained in no uncertain terms, that she needed him to care for her, the seven children and the eighty acres much more than the government did."
Of this time in Idaho Lois recalls, "Money was always scarce and mother earned a little extra by selling cream and homemade butter. Luella, the oldest child was always left at home to tend the house and take care of the children. Cleo would most always accompany mother on these trips over the Snake River into the town of Burley, tending the two younger babies, Frank and Lois bouncing along in Joanna's two-seated buggy."
After their first seven children were born or about 14 years, they moved to Lovell, Wyoming to run the Keele Ranch. This would be about 1923 when they moved. Prior to the big move, grandfather Keele paid them a visit for the very first time. 
Their daughter Lois recalls, "Dad went to pick up his father, William Augustus Keele, at the train station in the little black 'Cadillac' buggy, which he seldom drove. As they arrived into the yard, the children had to snicker, because one side of the buggy was sagging nearly to the ground from  grandfather's portly frame, while dad's side was sticking way up in the air."

Grandfather Keele
William Augustus Keele (1852-1924)

Grandfather Keele was a very sick man dying of dropsy. His legs were enormous and hung down over his boots. The only way he could prevent his lungs from filling up with fluid was to sleep propped up in a chair. He seemed to fill the whole room.
After some private dialogue and talking into the night, grandfather Keele asked Frank and Joanna to come to Lovell and help take care of him and run the Keele Ranch. In exchange for this service, my father had the understanding that the ranch would become his. This was a hard decision. How could they wisely and quickly dispose of their livestock, eighty acres of cleared and cultivated land, farm equipment, their home and most of the household goods. There would be precious few items they could take with them. However, this noble couple agreed to sell out everything they had worked for all those years. They chose to accommodate the request only out of love and loyalty to Grandfather Keele. 

Once again love and loyalty was the deciding thread of their life's tapestry.

Of this time in Wyoming, their daughter Lois recalls, "The next few chapters of my life were spent in another harsh climate, and more grueling work as we took over the labor of the Keele Ranch. We raised sugar beets and potatoes, alfalfa to feed the livestock and we even tried growing an acre of cucumbers as a money crop for Hinze Pickle Company. In addition we always planted and weeded and harvested about 1/4 acre garden for family use. Preserving these crops for winter was also part of family life. This was how our life pattern flowed in the summers, but in October after the beets and pumpkins were harvested we would move to town six miles away, into a white two story house. This house was so impressive because our family of nine going on ten people lived while at the ranch, in one room house with wall to wall beds, five children in a bed. There was a small adjoining kitchen."
Lois continues, "Many happy childhood memories occurred in this two-story house in Lovell. We were close to school and church. My dad worked in the sugar factory in the winter and would surprise us with brown sugar treats brought home in his lunch box. These treats were the burnt sugar residues left from the processing. Our childhood joy was so complete here. John and Max were now the latest addition to the family. My sister Carol was born on Christmas Eve. Dad woke us up and carried each one down stairs in a warm blanket to share our newest Christmas gift, our darling baby angel, Christmas Carol.

The harsh climate and the grueling work soon took its toll on Joanna. She was far away from her brothers and sisters. She felt totally alone. Wyoming was barren in contrast to the wonderful fresh fruits grown back home in Utah. Also her son, Gus, started getting pneumonia almost every winter and one year the entire town of Lovell had a terrible epidemic of spinal meningitis and the schools were closed for weeks and the whole town was quarantined. School children received their lessons through the mail! These were only some of the reasons Joanna longed to be back home closer to her family.
After five long years in Wyoming, for these and other reasons, they decided to move back home to Provo, Utah. 
Frank put his family on the train and kissed his wife and children good-bye. He had to stay behind to finish the trip and try to sell off equipment. That first night in Salt Lake City was spent in a hotel room, with all ten children and Joanna in a rented one room. The lights of a big city were awesome!
Once they landed in Utah, they stayed with Joanna's mother, Grandma Patten (Clara Isabella Billings) in Orem. It must have been in the spring because it was the strawberry season. Frank had given Joanna some money to last until he arrived and turned up missing from under her pillow. Staying in the Patten home became too awkward. Her daughter, Lois recalls, "The stay at Grandma Patten's was not very pleasant or very long, we were glad to leave."
Additionally, Joanna's father, Thomas Jefferson Patten Jr, had passed away years before and had ear marked 10 acres, 1 acre for each of his children. However, Uncle Ezra (Joanna's brother) eventually got all the land through fraud and deceit. It was a blow to them as they really needed that land for their family of twelve.
The first house back in Utah was at the back of an empty store right next to Orem High School. That fall Frank finally arrived driving into the yard with a new truck. All the children jumped for joy! 
The next few years for the Keele family was spent moving from one house to another. Frank tried his hand at many different jobs and finally ended up working at the brick yard and harvesting fruit as a side job. He was tired of paying rent and decided to build his own home, so he purchased a lot and bought all the material and completed the house in Provo on 7th West and 6th North.

Frank and Joanna home in Provo, UT

The fruit industry offered plenty of work for all the children and Joanna worked right along with them. Leaving at 5 am, they would crawl along the strawberry rows with small baskets, filling them with luscious ripe red berries.  The pay was ten cents a crate (12 cups in a crate). Joanna always took her pay in the fruit to can for him use in the winter. Money was spent on fabric to sew their own school clothes.

Keele sisters, berry pickin' bunch (Lois is the dark haired beauty without hat, overalls, long sleeve)

Fond memories recalled by Joanna's daughter, Lois. "Walking home from primary where she would watch her mother leading the music and that's what I wanted to do. We didn't have a car and had to walk to and from church, this is when she was a young mother."

Joanna and her daughters Bell, Carol and Lois all sang together in a quartet and tried to practice daily as they were asked to perform all over the valley frequently. They had to develop a wide repertoire and loved doing this. Their warm, tight vocal blend was wonderful as only family can produce. It was always for church service, never any thought of going big time.
(compilers note, granddaughter Joanna Williams Curtis also raised her daughters in this same way, the tight harmonies were taught to her daughters and passed on, what a beautiful legacy to carry on)

Keele sisters with Joanna (her long hair down)

Her granddaughter, JoAnna Williams remembers: " As a young child, I remember visiting Provo, UT and can still "feel" the envelope of warm, deep love that my grandmother's arms consistently provided as she encircled me with her passionate greetings. Her love was so intense that the substance of it melted my bones and fed my young soul. It was so thick it was as though I could physically touch it.
The Keele home was very humbly built by Frank Keele's ingenuity, determination and sweat of his brow. The Provo based home included a roughed-in cement basement and 2 bedroom house above ground. It also had a lighted kitchen featuring a large wooden round table where canning corn, tomatoes, peaches and cherries joined laughter and work together for the Keele family. Aroma from freshly baked bread and homemade pies still graces my senses. Gleaning the fruit trees, berry patches and vegetables fields provided their winter's primary source of food. I can recall a back porch where Joanna grew lovely, stair-step potted flowers and green, hanging plants and nearby the lilting song of birds housed in a cage.
Beyond the porch lay my childhood fascination... grandmother's garden. Along the wire fence, gladiolas and sweet peas paraded their brilliant red, yellow and purple hues. Mid center in elevated green rows grew peas, carrots and tomatoes. Nearby a berry patch yielded lots of sweet juicy berries. In the back of the garden there were tall rows of golden corn and the rabbit hutch with many white furry bunnies which caught my undivided attention for hours. To me, the garden's beauty was the outward expression of my grandmother's nature and never at any time did she prohibit me from visiting her garden."

Now the adult Keele sibling singers 

Joanna died from bone cancer on 25 March 1959 in Provo, Utah and her husband followed with lung cancer 2 years later.

Joanna Patten Keele obituary The Daily Herald, 25 Mar 1959, Wed, Page 4

Frank and Joanna (Patten) Keele family about 1959
(Joanna's picture was added after the fact. This picture was taken at or around the time of her death, and her picture was added later.)