TITLE PAGE PIONEER (full name) Sophia Petrenella Jorgensen Anderson BIR TH (date and place) 5 August 1862, Copenhagen, Denmark PARENTS Gdans Jorgensen Marie Dorothy Brink DEATH (date and place) 3 October 1944 MARRIED (who and date) Andrew, Carl Anderson 2 December 1880 ARRIVAL IN UTAH (date) September 1868 – Oct 12. (Company arrived with) John C Holman Oxen-Train HISTORY (who wrote) (date written) WHO FILED HISTORY Eloise Martineau, March 14, 1986 THEIR ADDRESS 97 N Coml 500 E Morgan City, Utah 84050 CAMP SUBMITTING HISTORY Mt Joy Camp CAMP HISTORIAN Larene Preece HER ADDRESS RFD Box 100 COUNTY Morgan, Utah 84050 COUNTY HISTORIAN Dena C. Rich HER ADDRESS 1266 n Morgan Valley Dr., Morgan, Utah 84050 SOURCE OF INFORMATION & PAGE NUMBERS: Presented by Eloise A. Martineau, Granddaughter, Morgan, Mt Joy Camp, Utah A Short Sketch of the Life of Sophia Anderson Sophia Petrenella Jorgensen Anderson was born August 5, 1862, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her father was Hans Jorgensen and her mother, Marie Dorothy Brink. The Jorgensens lived happy and uneventful lives until 1861 when they joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Relatives and friends then turned against them; Hans lost his job. Earning enough money to support a young family without steady employment proved impossible, and it became necessary for Sophia's mother to take in laundry to augment the family income After seven years of struggle, the family decided to leave Denmark and emigrate to America. On June 4, 1868, Sophia, her parents, her brother Lars, and her baby sister sailed from Liverpool for the United States. Anticipation filled their hearts as they set sail for the Promised Land. Sadness was felt too as they left their Danish homeland forever. The Atlantic crossing proved hard. Since water and food were scarce, many of the passengers became ill and died. The mother of one little girl who had died aboard ship gave Sopia her daughter's doll. While the gift came from a heart-broken mother, it neverthetheless provided Sophia with a cherished toy to fill the hours during the long ocean voyage. On July 13, the ship docked in New York harbor. The Jorgenson family was once again safe on dry land, all had survived the crossing. But they were tired and hungry; the children cried for food. Confused and penniless, they missed the guidance and direction Mormon missionaries had so often provided. Feeling alone and helpless in a strange city, Sophia's mother was trying to quiet the children when she found a paper bill. Not knowing what it was, she was about to discard it as just a scrap when a little girl traveling under the Jorgensons' care said, "That looks like what everyone is using to buy bread." Sister Jorgensen stared at the crumpled paper, but nonetheless sent the little girl to find a bakery. Soon she returned with her apron overflowing with bread, buns, and even some small change. 1 The Jorgensens' journey was not yet over; in fact, the hardest part lay ahead. The family traveled by rail as far as possible, probably to Omaha, Nebraska, and from there proceeded across the plains by covered wagon. The journey across the vast, unsettled plains was long and tedious. The constant jolting of the wagon so nauseated Lars, already ill, that he had to be carried most of the way. It seemed unlikely he would live to reach Utah. Four-month-old Marie was cross and tired. Part of the time she had to be carried; part of the time she rode in the wagon on the lap of the little girl coming to Utah with the Jorgensens. Six-year-old Sophia walked most of the way across the plains, tugging at her mother's skirts as she trudged over the dry, dusty miles. But the blessings of the Lord were with them, and Sister Jorgensen's prayer that all her family might safely reach Zion was answered. Enroute the emigrant group faced hardships and dangers common to all pioneers. To ensure more safety against unfriendly Indians and natural dangers, leaders instructed those walking to stay close to the wagons. In spite of numerous warnings from the leaders, one young woman lagged farther and farther behind until she finally disappeared completely. A search party retraced their tracks, but she was never found. It was thought the Indians had captured her. The small band of pioneers reached Salt Lake City early in the fall of 1868. Sophia's father had planned to settle his family in the Sanpete area of central Utah, but a Bishop Nelson persuaded him to go instead to Bear River City. The Jorgensens headed north to the sparsely populated settlement beside the Bear River. The found homes made of logs or adobe, some families were even living in dugouts along the river bank. During that first winter Brother Jorgensen worked on the final leg of the transcontinental railroad before tracks laid by the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific met at Promontory Point in May 1869. Sophia's father built a two-room abode house across the street and a short distance south of where the ward building and opera house were later erected. Their lot would one day become the site of Bernard Hansen's store. Because no water was available for irrigation, crops were hard to grow. Brother Jorgensen worked at whatever job he could find. Whenever she could, Sister Jorgensen helped earn money to feed and clothe the little family. 2. Somehow the Jorgensen name was changed to Johnson. Throughout their new community they became known by this name. Even after the mistake was recognized, nothing was done to restore the rightful surname. Now, more than one hundred years later, descendants still use the name of Johnson. When Marie Josephine, Sophia's younger sister, was two years old, she became very ill. In the dark of the night Sophia's mother felt her little girl grow cold and heard her breathing cease. She knew her baby was dead. Without light, Father Jorgensen crossed the street to the Ipsens where he borrowed a light so his wife could see to wash and lay out the baby. When the canal was finally dug bringing water to the town's thirsty crops and orchards, Sophia's father was one of the workmen. With the crops flourishing and the future looking full of promise, the Indians lay claim to the water rights. A subsequent government decision favored the Indians; once again the crops turned brown, the grass died. In despair the settlers of Bear River City decided to leave their lands in search of new homes. But President Brigham Young came to the little community and promised the people that if they would remain, they would live to see the day when the waters of the Bear River would turn their parched lands into fertile, productive farms. So the settlers stayed; Brigham's prophecy was fulfilled. Sophia grew to young womanhood doing her share of the work and adding to the family income by working for others. And she was happy. She enjoyed the social life of the community—parties, dances, picnics. Then love came, and on December 2, 1880, she married Andrew Carl Anderson in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. Andrew's parents had joined the Church in Denmark and came to Bear River City in 1869. By the time they emigrated the railroad was finished, and their journey across the continent was comparatively easy. But they too had come to a new land for the gospel's sake; they were ready to face hardships to build a new home in a new land. The spirit of pioneering was strong in the hearts of Sophia and her young husband Andrew. In 1891, after they had been married ten years, they moved to Bothwell where they homesteaded a piece of land. For two or three years before completing this move they had spent their summers on the Bothwell 3 land. Here again Sophia knew hardship and loneliness. She was the first white woman to settle in Bothwell. Not until the Priest and Hunsaker families joined the Andersons did Sophia find the companionship of neighbors in her new home. Sophia once again experienced life without water for irrigating crops or performing household chores. With the help of her children, she carried her clothes down to Salt Creek. Here, using sage as fuel, water was heated and the clothes rubbed on boards before being hung to dry on nearby sage brush. Not until the Bothwell Canal was constructed was water plentiful. The Andersons' first home at Bothwell was built near Lone Rock on what later became the Fred Eggli farm. After the irrigation system was finished, the family erected a log cabin on the south side of the canal. This became the location of the permanent family home. Sometime around 1903, part of this house burned, scattering the children to the homes of friends and relatives until the men of the community could donate time from their own chores to add two new rooms to the damaged structure. Then once more the family was together under one roof. But life was still not easy; comforts were still few. While water for household use could now be carried from the canal which flowed past their home, bare floors meant hard scrubbing, ironing required continually heating heavy irons on the wood-burning stove; clothing was tediously stitched by hand. And illness was met with home remedies and faith. Sophia's fourteen children were born without a doctor, often without even the aid of a midwife. In spite of heavy family demands, Sophia Anderson made time to serve her Church. In 1899 she was called as president of the Bothwell Relief Society, a position she held for ten years. Serving in this capacity called for additional sacrifice. She often walked to meetings carrying a small child in her arms. In appreciation of her years of faithful service, a rocking chair was presented to her by the Relief Society following her release. Sophia was a true pioneer, but she was often afraid. Severe thunderstorms always frightened her; conquering this fear proved difficult. Sometimes when left alone with her little ones, the inky blackness of night also 4 terrified her. Many times as the lonely night came on, she gathered her small children and walked to a neighbor's home to await Andrew's return from work or a supply-purchasing trip to Bear River. Just before Christmas in 1908, Andrew Anderson died. Sophia was just 46, eight of her thirteen living children were still living at home. Sophia felt her husband's death keenly; at times her responsibility seemed more than she could bear. But she faced earning a living for her family with resourcefulness, hard work, and economy. For several years after Andrew's death, she and the children worked as janitors at the meeting house. In July, only seven months following her husband's death, Sophia faced a second tragedy. Her daughter Ella Cleophia Stokes, ill and near death, was brought from Canada to her mother's home. In spite of a mother's tender care, Ella died. She left an infant daughter, but shortly after Ella's death, the baby died too. Sophia's strong faith sustained her during this second sorrow. Sophia Petrenella Jorgenson Anderson was a pioneer--a woman who walked across the plains, settled a new territory, raised 13 children. Her lifetime spanned part of two centuries—from a Danish childhood wherein she experienced the persecution that accompanied the family's conversion to the gospel through eight decades to an age when the world was again at war. She saw grandsons leave home to defend the very freedoms she had come to this land to embrace. Sophia met each day with the knowledge that help and guidance would come from her Heavenly Father. And that faith sustained her. Presented by Elaise A Martineau Granddaughter Morgan, Mt Joy Camp