The Paris, France Temple...?
I always look forward to General Conference. On my mission, we would get CD's of the sessions and listen to them while we studied, ate, planned, etc. There was a time I even had the October 2006 General Conference talks memorized; namely Thomas S. Monson's, "
True to Our Priesthood Trust" , Gordon B. Hinkley's "
The Faith to Move Mountians" among several others. Though I may not recall as clearly what is said as much as at that time, I still love hearing from the General Authorities.
I am really hoping that maybe we'll hear an announcement about a temple in France. The LDS members in France have wanted a temple for years. I have lived among the most faithful French Saints and seen their hunger and yearning for a House of the Lord to grace their country. I know first hand their sacrifices and I can testify of their need. President Hinkley visited France in 2004, and he told the French Saints they were "worthy of the richest blessings of the Church... "I wish I could announce that we could have a temple here, but we do not have a suitable place yet, in my judgment, to build it...So we will continue to look. I don't know when it will be built, but I am confident that that we will have a temple for the French-speaking people of the church sometime in the future...And so, my brothers and sisters, I ask you to be patient for a time...Sometime in the future a beautiful house of the Lord will grace this land."
"Sometime in the future" may be announced Saturday.
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| Paris, France Temple |
In July, a reputable newspaper,
Le Parisien, the largest national newspaper in circulation in France, announced that a detail document had been submitted to the city hall of Le Chesney (a city near Versailles) for approval. A
nxious to clear the field, mayor Philippe Brillault confirmed "From what I know, the Mormons are planning to spend 80 million Euros in total, including land and buildings."
President Thomas S. Monson announced that the church "hoped" to build its first temple in France on property on the outskirts of Paris. The Deseret News reports, "customarily, new temples are announced by the president of the church at one of the church's general conferences, after local government building approvals and property acquisition have been secured... Although the local government approval process for the French temple is still under way, French newspapers are already reporting church plans to build at Le Chesnay, near Versailles, and this prompted today's announcement...There have been several previous attempts to find a suitable site for a French temple, but none were finalized... French members of the church wishing to visit a temple usually travel to those in neighboring European countries." (In my mission that meant Spain or Switzerland.)
The long-awaited announcement of a temple is just the most recent development in the LDS Church's 162-year history in France. Although there is earlier mention of sending missionaries to France, as early as the Nauvoo period, the first mission was organized in 1849. As was the case in so many European missions, the earliest Mormon missionaries met with considerable resistance, and church growth was slow. At one point the mission was closed for several decades, during the violent French Revolution and World Wars I and II, and wasn't re-opened until 1912. A unique chapter of LDS Church history in France was the so-called "Paris Art Mission." In 1890, five young artists — John Hafen, Lorus Pratt, John B. Fairbanks, Edwin Evans and Herman Haag — were called as "art missionaries" and sent to study at the Julian Academy in Paris, where they honed their skills in preparation for painting the vast murals in the Salt Lake Temple. That "missionary" effort was, by all accounts, eminently successful. Church growth in France increased significantly after World War II. The first stake in France was organized in Paris in 1975. Today there are more than 35,000 Latter-day Saints in France in nine stakes, 57 wards, 54 branches, two districts and two missions.
And now, in the very near future, there may be a temple to serve them all.
Generations Projects: The Marx's
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| Philip Marx |
Johannes Philip Marx (Sr.) was born 1 March 1834 in Asbach, Hesse, Germany to Johann Georg Marx (1799-1846) and Maria Barbara (1799-1843). He had learned to be a shoemaker by trade. At the time, the Hessian army was rented out for mercenary purposes by the prince (remember your American History, Hessian soldiers were hired by the British during the American Revolution?). Pay was low; some soldiers received nothing but their daily food, as the revenues paid for these men's service went back to the German royalty. Nevertheless, some Hessian units were respected for their discipline and excellent military skills. Johannes and his brothers Johann Georg Marx, Jr. (1826-1903), Georg Philipp Marx (1824-1899)who didn't much like the idea of fighting for other people's causes for low pay, decided they'd evade the draft by leaving for the United States. In 1852 the three brothers accompained by their sister, Maria Barbara Marx (1822) came to the United States where he worked at his trade until 1855, when he enlisted in the United States Army, in the US Seventh Cavalry (immortalized in later years by being led to slaughter by George Custer). They were sent to Texas (another ancestor who lived in Texas!) until 1858, then they marched to the Mississippi River, thence by boat to St. Louis. They soon started for Utah and marched all the way to Cedar Valley. The U.S. government had become deeply suspicious of the LDS saints in Salt Lake City, UT. From 1857 to 1858, then US President James Buchanan sought to quell the supposed "rebellion" in Utah Territory by Mormon settlers. He sent US forces there in 1857, in what was known as the "Utah War". In due course, the Seventh Cavalry formed the core of
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A younger Philip Marx |
the force sent under the leadership of Col. (brevet brig. gen.) Albert Sidney Johnston (would be a monumental Civil War general) by President Buchanan to put down the nonexistent "Mormon rebellion" in Utah. On April 12, 1858 the U.S. Army under Johnston arrived at Salt Lake and Brigham Young stepped down as governor of the Territory of Utah (or "State of Deseret"). No hostilities ensued and the troops were billeted 40 miles southwest of Salt Lake City in a camp they had constructed.
Later on, the brothers' enlistments expired. George went to Wisconsin and Johann went to New York where their sister Barbara was living. All three brothers were very good and kind men but also very strict. When they said anything they meant it. This is said to be because their parents were very strict with them. Philip was honorably discharged 23 April, 1860. He was in bad health and received a pension of $6 a month from the government. His brother returned to New York; Johannes remained because a local girl had caught his eye, a Danish immigrant, Karen Marie Jacobsen (Larsen)(1840-1924). They were married the same day he was released from the military, 23rd of April ,1860 in Salt Lake City. In May 1860 he relocated to Moroni , UT and worked as a shoemaker for fifteen years. Johannes converted converted from Lutheranism, to Mormonism, by entering the waters of baptism the 8 June 1862. They had three children, Philip, Josephine, and Jacob. Phillip was divorced from Karen Marie in 1866 and married Marie Nielsen in December 1866. Apparently, Karen remarried an Ole Christian Petersen (1840- 1917) on 2 March 1873 in Manti, UT.
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| Phillip Marx Sr and 2nd wife Marie Nielson with two daughters, probably Marie Magdalena (maybe 13 years) and Matilda (maybe about 7 years) |
He took his 2nd wife, another Danish girl, Marie Magdalena Andersdatter Neilsen (1843-1892). The two were married, in 1866, in Moroni, UT. They had six children, Andrew, George, Tilda, John, Joseph (married to Louisa Myrtle Kump), and Alvin. According to LDS records, Philip was sealed to her posthumously in 1911, in the Manti, UT temple at which time he was also endowed, one year before his death.
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| Phillip Marx, Josephine Maria Marx, and Jacob Marx back row, children of first wife, Karen Marie Jacobsen. Possibly Marie Magdelina, Andrew and George front row, children of second wife, Marie Nielsen |
In 1873 he took up 160 acres of land, two miles south of Moroni, and built a nice farm of ninety-seven acres.
His military experience would serve the LDS saints yet; he also took part in the Blackhawk War, a series of conflicts and skirmishes between pioneer immigrants and the Native Americans in Utah from April 1865 until 1867, as a captain. He drilled the local company, taking an active part throughout the war.
His third wife was Nelsine Rasmussen (born 1831), again a Dane (he must have had a thing for Danish women) who he married in 2 January 1895 in Moroni, UT. Philip died the 6th of September 1912 in Moroni, Utah. He was 78 years old.
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| Death Certificate- cause of death Chronic Parenchymatous Nephritis- a renal disease |
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| Johannes Phillip Marx headstone |
Generations Project: Claire Brianne
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| Miss Claire Brianne: born Sept. 8, 2011 at 10:58 PM |
This Generations Project post is about a future generation, rather than a past one, the birth of our daughter Claire Brianne Palmer. At some point not long after the baby is born, I imagine that just about every new father gets hit with a sharp jolt of reality: he's a father, I'm a dad, I'm a parent- with all the new responsibilities, new pressures, and new expectations to live up to. For me, this seemingly basic little epiphany came once we got home with Claire. Melissa's grueling 20 hour long unmedicated natural labor, followed by the epidural, and a "cherry-on-top" Cesarean birth was over.
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| Claire and Melissa after C-section |
Claire was finally ours. The frantic fray of hospital procedures and protocol were gone. We were home and it was finally quiet and we were left to our own devices, Melissa, Claire, and I. Now what? Time to start life's newest chapter. It was all surreal up to this point, Melissa being pregnant, going to the hospital, going through labor together, it was like we were "playing house". It was then I came to realize that our lives had changed forever. A barrage of questions suddenly hit me between the feelings of elation of having created new life and feelings of helplessness of being an inexperienced new father... Will I be a good dad? What does it mean to be a father? How do I raise a child? Will I be able to live up to her expectations of what it means to be a father? Will I be able to protect my family from harm, will I able to adequately provide for my family. Will I know what to do with her, will I be too much-or not enough-like my own father? These types of questions may not have any answer, baby probably won't give much feedback for a while, about how I am doing as a father: no smiles, no laughing, not much response in any way at all. It's very easy to take a baby's lack of enthusiasm as some kind of referendum on one's worth as a dad, and we are constrained to do our best in spite of whether or not it's acknowledged.
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| 8 lbs 13 oz and 20 in. long |
I have discovered a new and different kind of love. There's no comparing the all-consuming love for one's child with the love for any other person. Learning to master a baby's cues and meet her needs, the baby will learn to love you--and to express that love in the most amazing ways. The first time that a baby coos or hugs you or falls asleep in your arms brings a new sense of fulfillment and love. Maurice Sendak may have captured the feeling better than any other writer in a scene from Where the Wild Things Are where the monsters plead with Max not to leave them: "Please don't go," they say. "We'll eat you up we love you so."
I've also developed a deeper appreciation for womanhood and the beauty of motherhood. After watching Melissa go through months of discomfort, illness, fatigue and not being able to look the way she wants or wear what she wants for being so pregnant all culminating in an excruciating labor makes me wonder who really is the "weaker sex", all during the which I was helpless to relieve her pain. The unique bond between a mother and her child unknown to any man is one which is only developed by immense sacrifice. I will be forever grateful to Melissa for what she suffered to bring our beautiful daughter in to the world.
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| Sleeping baby |
All in all, we are so happy to have our "Claire bear" and we can't imagine how we ever got along without her!
Generations Projects: The Neilson's
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| Orginal headstone for Ramus. This has since been replaced. |
Rasmus Nielson was born January 21, 1781 at Lindelse, in Denmark. He was the son of Niels Fredrickson and Maren Rasmusdatter. Rasmus first married Sidsel Christensen, a widow. Sidsel died 29 June 1830 leaving one daughter.On the 23rd of October 1830, Rasmus marries his second wife, Dorothea Hansdatter, daughter of Hans Lauritsen and Joanna Gotfredsdatter. From this union came the posterity that came to the United States of America. They joined the Mormon Church in 1853 and in December of that same year they set out for Utah with their five children. Rasmus, his wife and 3 children, Mads, Hanne and Hans, came to America in the winter of 1852 and 1853. On the ocean their 5 year old daughter, Maren Kristine, died and was buried at sea. They crossed the plains in Captain Hans Peter Olsen’s company by ox team party and were sent to Sanpete Valley to make their home. They went to Manti first and then to Ephraim. 31 May 1938 in the Manti Utah Temple, Rasmus and Dorothea were sealed for time and eternity.Rasmus Nielsen was one of the first settlers in Ephraim in 1854. Rasmus died 13 July 1863, at Ephraim, Utah. Dorthea died 22 July 1872, Ephraim, Utah .
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| Hans Neilson (center) and sons |
Hans Peter Rasmussen Nielsen, the 3rd child of Rasmus and Dorothea was born the 6th of July1839 in Gjerlev. He was 15 when his family emigrated from Denmark. His parents were sent to Sanpete County to assist in settling the city of Ephraim. They lived in dugouts until proper homes could be built. He was a freighter for there were not yet any railroads, and had many encounters with the Indians. He marries Annie Ditlevine (Lovine) Petersen in 1860, also a Danish immigrant, daughter of Jacob Pederson, and Eleanora Hedveg Madsen.
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| Annie Neilson |
Hans was a polygamist, as was practiced in the early church, and took a second wife. He married Caroline Christiansen (Thomasdatter), in Salt Lake in 1863, and in the year 1875 and moved to Chester, UT. Here he became a prosperous farmer. In total, he was the father of 21 children, fourteen girls and seven boys.
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| Caroline Neilson |
On the 27th of September, 1888, an indictment was brought against Hans on counts of bigamy or unlawful cohabatation by the US Supreme Court. The purpose of this posting is not to discuss plural marriage - maybe at a later time, simply a telling of the facts. The first charged that "on the 15th of October, 1885, and continuously from that time till the 13th of May, 1888, in the district aforesaid, he, the said Nielsen, did unlawfully claim, live, and cohabit with more than one woman as his wives, with Anna Lavinia Nielsen and Caroline Nielsen." To this indictment, on being arraigned, on the 29th of September, 1888, Hans plead guilty, and on the 19th of November following, he was sentenced to be imprisoned in the penitentiary for the term of three months, and to pay a fine of $100. He did time from the 19th November 1888 to the 6th March 1889.
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| Hans Neilson in prison at Utah State Penitentiary |
The government at this time was particulary aggresive in prosecuting LDS polygimists. After Hans served the sentence, a second indictment charged "that said Nielsen, on the 14th of May, 1888, in the same district, did unlawfully and felonious commit adultery with one Caroline Nielsen, he being a married man, and having a lawful wife, and not being married to said Caroline." After having pleaded guilty to the other, Nielsen pleaded not guilty, and that he had already been convicted of the offense charged in this indictment by his plea of guilty to the other. He appealed for an order of habeus corpus, stating that he was being tried for the same charge twice, which was denied, and sentenced to an additional 125 days in prison.
He was locked up from the 12th March 1889 until May 15th.
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Deseret News article 25 May 1889
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| Hans Neilson |
In 1890, when the Manifesto was issued, and the practice ended, Hans was forced to leave Annie with 11 children and lived with the second wife Caroline Christensen, they had three boys and seven girls. A son, Jacob Nielson (Married to Eliza Pearl Kump, from the Kump post)was born 21 March 1871, to Hans and Annie. Jacob now had to help his single mother earn the living for the large family. It was necessary for him to leave school with a sixth grade level education at the age of 19.
Hans died in 1925 . Anne (1905) and Caroline (1920) had proceeded him in death . There were seven sons and eleven daughters, one hundred and twenty three grand children, ninety great grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild at the time of his passing from natural , age related causes.
http://www.ourlifehistory.org/genealogy/histories/History%20of%20Jacob%20Nielson%20and%20Eliza%20Pearl%20Kump%20Nielson.pdf
http://www.ourlifehistory.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I132&tree=Richens-Sorensen
http://supreme.justia.com/us/131/176/case.htmlhttp://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ex_parte_Nielsen
http://books.google.com/books?id=MDAUqgjxlIgC&pg=PA224&lpg=PA224&dq=Hans+Nielsen+AND+rudger+clawson&source=bl&ots=O1H1WRu7oK&sig=OqcfyMJXIRolCJ6sco9gwT21KJA&hl=en&ei=jgBlTtqsLeWmsAKBpLiaCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Hans%20Nielsen%20AND%20rudger%20clawson&f=false
Generations Project: The Mendenhall's
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| Thomas Mendenhall, Sr. and daughter Susannah Mendenhall Cloward |
Thomas Mendenhall, Sr., son of Abraham Mendenhall and Elizabeth Wells, was born 10 March 1806, at North Carlson, Delaware. He married Mary Ann Sinex, daughter of John Sinex and Susannah Stidham in Millcreek, Delaware the 27th October, 1810 . Mary was born the 16th of September in Christiana, Delaware.
In the year of 1843 he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mary, his wife joined three years later in 1846. After joining the church they were very desirous of coming west and joining the Saints.
They left Delaware and went to Nauvoo, IL sometime before 1845, where they began making plans for the long hazardous journey across the plains. All in all they had 6 children. On the 22 of July 1845 their little son, Edmond, who was almost four years old, passed away. Two years later, 27 April 1847 they lost their baby girl, Elizabeth. She was two months old.
They left Nauvoo and started westward but after reaching Council Bluffs, Mary Anne became critically ill and passed away on 27 April 1848, leaving her husband with four children to care for alone. She was buried at Council Bluffs. Her name is posted on a listing at the Pioneer Memorial Park at Nauvoo, Illinois.
In March 1850 he married Catherine Barton and they continued on the journey westward, reaching Salt Lake City on 15 September 1852 and settled at Spanish Fork.They migrated to Utah in 1852 in the David Wood Company in the 6th Company. David Wood Company lists members including "Thomas Mendenhall (age 46), Cathern Mendenhall (age 47), William Mendenhall (age 37), Sarah Mendenhall (age 34), Susanah Mendenhall (age 18) [mother of Mary Catherine "Kate" Cloward from the Kump's post], George Mendenhall (age 16), Lewis Mendenhall (age 13), Mary Mendenhall (age 13), Thomas Mendenhall (age 11), Thomas Mendenhall (age 8), Richard Mendenhall (age 7), John Mendenhall (age 5), & Elizabeth Mendenhall (age 2)."
In the spring of 1860 Thomas with his family came with others to Idaho and settled in Franklin, Idaho. He was a farmer and trader, traveling between Franklin and Salt Lake City, buying and selling merchandise.
His second wife passed away and he married Margretta Nielson. He was the father of six children who were Susannah, George Madison, Louis, Henry, Edmond, Thomas Jr., and Elizabeth.
He died at Dayton, Idaho on 2 September 1888, at the home of his son George Mendenhall.
http://www.eancestry.org/docs/histories/001031.pdf
http://www.eancestry.org/getperson.php?personID=I1416&tree=nichols
Generations Project: The Kump's
In the family history quest of finding ancestors, matching up dates and all the mess that entails, etc. the Kump's are a dream come true. My maternal grandparent's are both descendants of Zachariah Kump, Sr. and Mary Catherine "Kate" Cloward (my maternal grandparents are actually 2nd cousins).
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| Zac and Kate (circa 1900): A common ancestry! |
Zachariah was born in Dover, Pennsylvania, on July 3, 1830. Given name is actually Zacharias Kumpf. It is likely his became "Americanized" early, though, due to his name being listed as "Zachariah Kump" in the 1850 U.S. Census. Name variations include both Zachariah, Zackariah, and plain ole' Zac. Both variations are utilized interchangeably in various records.
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| Zachariah Kump, Sr. |
In '31 the Kump family removed to Ohio and later to Wisconsin. When "Zac" as he was often called was 21, he went to California and engaged in mining (most likely in the California gold mining rush of 1848–1855) and farming. He lived with a niece (Rose Story Cooley) and her husband (David Cooley). In 1967 he came to Moroni, UT bringing a threshing machine, (a machine that separates the grain from the stalks and husks), and the next year he went back and hauled out another. He came to Chester, UT in the spring of 1881 and now has a nice, well-improved forty-acre farm. He is a stockholder in the Moroni Co-op store, and a prominent citizen of Chester. Zachariah was married first to Elizabeth Ann Cloward, who after having 3 children passed away after childbirth, and then next to her cousin Mary Catherine "Kate" Cloward, Elizabeth's cousin who was tending to the family. He next has ten living children with Kate: Ellen, Susan, Eliza, Louesa, Zachariah, Lewis, Willis, Jacob, Loren, Edna and Katie. LDS records do not give him a baptismal date until 2 years after his death, so he was not a LDS member.
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| LDS Membership Records |
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| Mary Catherine "Kate" Cloward Kump |
Kate however, was baptized and confirmed on 7th of Sep 1873 by Lars N. Larsen. Kate was married to Zachariah in 1875 in Sanpete, Utah. She was born in Spanish Fork, UT on 23 May, 1856. She was one of nine children, six boys and three girls. While she was quite young, her parents moved to Moroni, Utah. Her education was limited and her parents were poor. She had to work as a child to earn money for clothing. She did however grow up happy and enjoyed going to dances and quilting parties. Her father, Jacob Cloward, Jr. did not join the Church, but her mother, Susannah Mendenhall had been baptized in 1867. The Mendenhalls were early LDS Saints from Delaware. Her and her many children appear on the LDS church records. They are recorded as having made various finicial contributions towards the construction of the Salt Lake Temple in 1881.
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Contributions totaling $450 for the temple |
Her son, Zacharias Jr. records that she was very fervent member of the Church, "she was a great tithe payer", and very devout member of the Church. She was diligent in preforming temple work for her non-member husband 2 years after his death, and having their family sealed together, as well as children that passed away in infancy. After a son, Wilous, died from appendicitis, "she could not hardly do anything for thinking of him. She told the Bishop all about it and said Willous cannot go on until his temple work is done."
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| Kump home in Chester, Utah, circa 1909 |
This is a photo of the Kump home in Chester, Utah, circa 1909. Zachariah Kump Sr. built this home 1885; Pictured are Kate and her two sons, Carlyle and Dean, and her daughter-in-law, Blanche, holding her son, Don.
Zac dies on June 19, 1904 at Chester, Utah after falling from tree or a chair. Cause of death is listed as "paralysis of brain", he fell from a height while putting up a swing. He was buried at Moroni Cemetery, Moroni, Utah .
Kate was left with the responsibility of raising a large family as a single mother of 15 children. Son, Zac Jr, records" Oh, what a wonderful mother she was to her children. I know, because I was one of them. My mother who challenged the crisis of life or death that she might give birth and bestow upon fifteen children the invalued gift of mortality. Our mother that gave the food that kept life, kindled and nourished us when body and mind were helpless through the long days of infancy. Our mother who watched in our earliest years, our every move, who guarded our sleeping and wakening moments to save us from harm. Our mother who gave us all she had to give, to the last morsel of strength of thoughtfulness, and the tenderest care and love ever had, and always. She was so good and kind."
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| Kate's place |
In 1910 after selling her two-story brick home; Kate bought this smaller house. She had a good horse and buggy and visited her children often. This house was remodeled soon after she died. She died in this house the 25 March 1915 from "pleurisy with effusion".
