Christian Anderson
Christian Anderson
As told to his daughter
Elva A. Christiansen
Far away in the beautiful country called Denmark, on the island of Falster, lived the happy family of William Anderson. His wife’s maiden name was Henrietta Berntsen. The seasons of Denmark are similar to our own country.
One spring morning, the 21st of April 1844, when mother nature had called all her buds and flowers forth to put on new splendor, a tiny baby came to gladden the home of William Anderson. He was christened “Christian,” and was the second child born to this union, later there were nine others born to them.
The following is the history of Christian Anderson, related by him to his daughter Elva, his youngest child.
“At the age of six years I started to school. I had not been to school very long until my parents received L.D.S. elders into their home, and in a very short time had accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Several converts from the Denmark branch were preparing to emigrate to Utah, so along with the valiant group, William Anderson and his small family left.
“To our great surprise, on the first day of January 1853, a baby girl was born at Liverpool, and we named her Hannah.
“We had an interesting experience while crossing the North Sea. I shall tell you about the ship bringing the Danish group pf pioneers to America.
“There were 150 vessels in the North Sea that fateful night, as I put it in my way of speaking. 144 of them were destroyed. I well remember the clouds gathering and the lightning flashing. We were all very frightened as the rain came down. One of the only ships that survived was the ‘Forest Monarch.’
“The sailors lashed barrels of apples around the ship’s railing, and during the storm, the ropes were broken. The barrels containing the apples were opened enough to allow the apples to roll all about the deck.
“The happiest moment I had while crossing the water was gathering the beautiful red apples and eating some; also the joy we had the next morning when the storm had subsided, and to see the sun shining. Each child remembers so well the thrill when they were told they could eat as many apples as they wanted.
“The Forsgren Company landed at New Orleans and took a Mississippi river boat to Keokuk, Iowa, near the city of Nauvoo, from which the Mormons had recently been driven.
“Many stops were made while making the journey. I was eight years of age when I walked
