Rasmus Peter Christensen
Rasmus Peter Christensen was born April 9, 1821 at Tultrup, Aarhus, Denmark.
He was the second child in a family of seven children, 5 sons and two daughters born to Christen Rasmussen “Degn” and Maren Rasmussen. The “Degn” means clerk. He went by the name of Peter Dane most of the time. In Denmark the Dane means learning. He had an older brother named Rasmus, who committed suicide by hanging himself when 33 years old and a younger brother, Rasmus Ludvig. The oldest boy was called Rasmus but the other two boys went by their middle names. His father and mother were both lawyers, often taking cases against each other and ‘twas said that his mother was the best of the two.
Peter Dane was of a small stature, when grown he was aobut four foot and ten inches in height, and of a blond complexion. He was a great comedian and was noted for the many tricks he could do.
He was a farmer, and a brick maker and a baker. He had a large kiln and made many of the brick for homes that are still standing in Denmark today. Peter believed in making the best . He also owned a fine bakery. He was very well to do.
Peter married Aug 1, 1846 to Bodil Kirstine Sorensen, a daughter of Soren and Maren Jensen Polsen. They were very happy and to his union came three children; Ane Elizabeth was born July 5, 1846, Soren was born Feb 18, 1848 and little Christne was born Feb 10, 1850. When Christen was 8 months old he died and just a month later Bodil died also.
Seven months after Bodil died, Peter had talked a very beautiful and stylish young woman into marrying him. She had long dark hair and her name was Karen Eskeldsen. Nine months later on March 29, 1852, a son, Christen, was born. His new wife died a month later. Little Christen lived 3 years and then he died also.
Peter’s sister Mariane had married Lars Svendsen. Lars had a sister, Maria, who had never married as something had happened to her boy friend. Peter needed someone to care for his small children and he could not hire anyone. Maria was just 2 years younger than Peter so a marriage was arranged and they were married Nov 2, 1852.
Maria was a wonderful step-mother and a good wife. Peter and Maria had 8 children but sorrow visited them often and only three children lived past their childhood. Their first five children were born in Denmark. Kjersten Caroline b Oct 1853 died May 2,5 1855; Kjersten Caroline b Feb 14, 1856; Marianne Oct 1857; Svend born July 15, 1859; and Karen Marie born Sept 29, 1860.
Of Peter’s six brothers and sisters only 2 did not join the Mormon Church. The oldest; Rasmus died before the Missionaries arrived and Rasmus Ludvig never joined. Karen Marie joined first. Peter was the last one to become a member. Peter listened but was doubtful. He even let missionaries stay at his home. It wasn’t until the following event took place in his own home that Peter believed and asked to be baptized.
Peter and Marie’s daughter Mariane was blind. One day the Mormon Elders asked if they could administer to this little girl who was about three years old. Peter told them they could so they blessed her to be able to see. They then asked her what they were holding and she told them it was a spoon. She could see! When Peter saw this miracle performed right in his own home, he joined the Church. He and Maria were baptized Jan 3, 1860 by Soren Peterson (Stark) who later became his brother-in-law.
Peter was of a religious nature and during the last sixteen months he lived in Denmark after joining the L.D.S. Church, he and Tore N. Peterson acted as missionaries similar to the way we do Stake missionary work in the Church now.
At the age of 39, Peter decided to immigrate to Zion. Because he was so well off he helped finance this dream for many others, with many promises of repayment. He did receive a wooden tub.
There was a large group who traveled with the Christensen family. Peter’s 25 year old brother Antone was one of them. They traveled on the ship “Monarch of the Sea” While on board the ship, and epidemic of measles broke out. Many were sea sick. Peter and all of his family except Christina. She was the only one able to see her baby sister wrapped up in a blue blanket and a piece of coal tied to her and then buried at sea. While on board there were 3 births, and 9 deaths. They arrived in New York June 19, 1861. From New York the company traveled by rail and steam boat to Florence, Nebraska arriving there July 1. It was on this part of the trip that Peter and Maria lost two more of their children, this time to measles. First Marianne, who had been blind, died. They were on the train at the time. At the next stop they were met by a mortician who took Marianne away and they never did know where she was buried. A little farther on, Svend died and was buried under a tree in Florence, Nebraska. 97
On July 11, 1861 at midnight Peter’s brother Antone was married to Mette Marie Mortensen.
Peter and Marie and party arrived in Moroni in the fall of 1861 when the town was just 2 years old. Their first home was a little dug out. There were many floods that year, and it was during one of these that Peter and Maria’s dug out was flooded. Neighbors came to help dip the water out, their bed was hung from the rafters and it was there in that wet dug out that their 6th child, Peter was born Sept 5, 1862.
As soon as they could Peter and Maria burnt brick and built themselves a 2 room home. This was where their last two children were born; Erastus Feb 4, 1865 and James Sept 13, 1867. Erastus died of small pox in 1871, six years old. Of the 8 children Peter and Maria had, only 3 lived to marry.
On the 19th of July 1862 Peter and Bodil’s daughter Anne married Peter’s brother-in-law, Lars Svensen.
In April of 1865 the Blackhawk War started. Every town was ordered to build forts and live in them. Peter helped build the Moroni Fort; but here he showed the strong Christensen trait of being stubborn. He would not move into the fort unless he was sure of Indian trouble. His home was a long block from the fort. The Fort was in the area of the current city park….his home was straight across the street from the current Moroni Turkey Plant.
After living in Moroni 11 years Peter took as his second wife *Sena Pederson “Stark” who was 17 years younger than he. They were married the 28th of April, 1873 in the Endowment house at Salt Lake City by D.H.Wells. Sena was the sister of the man who baptized Peter and Maria in Denmark. After their marriage, Peter fixed her up a house about 1 block south of Maria’s house. To this union were born four children;Marie Elizabeth (1847); Anna Rozina (1876); Erastus Peter (1879) ; Annie Elizabeth (1880). Peter was 59 years old when his last baby, Annie was born. Their second girl Rozina drowned when she was 2 ½ years old.
The St. George temple was built 1873-1877 and Peter donated time to go to St. George to work on the temple in 1873. Moroni Ward sent 10 men and about 7 wagons and loads of goods to St George at this time.
In 1888 the persecution for polygamists was so bad in Utah that many of the men moved some of their wives to other states. In January of this year Peter, Sena and their children Erastus and Annie went to Sanford, Colorado to live. His wife Maria stayed in Moroni.
Peter and Sena first lived in the east part of Sanford. Peter then got them a lot of their own and built a dug out on the north west corner. Their daughter Maria, came to Colorado a month after they did. She never returned to Utah to live. She met and married William Brothers when she was 16 and lived there in Sanford.
They had been there some time when Maria and Peter’s son James came to help with the building of a two room log house in place of the dug out. They hauled the log’s from the hills thirty miles away.
Peter disliked having his 2 wives living so far apart as they had always gotten along so well. Sena’ children called Maria “Bestemore” which means father’s mother or grandmother in Danish. He was forced to live there for seven years as the Utah Marshals were hunting for all men who had more than one wife so they could put them in jail.
When the law was passed that a man could have only one wife and other marriages were annulled, Peter and Sena returned to Moronoi (1896) But were no longer man and wife for this life. This was the year Utah became the 45 state of the United States of America.
Peter learned English, but he could not get away from all of his Danish customs; he still wore wooden shoes a large part of the time. Peter loved to fish and he did a lot of peddling. He always took one of his children with him for company.
Peter bore a strong testimony on the virtue of paying an honest tithe. He always paid his 10% on the dollar or his “tee” cents as he called it. ON one occasion when they came around for a church sponsored fund raising drive Peter, seeing donations ranged from 50 cents to $10, said, “I give my tee cents, Peter don’t want all the blessings.”
Peter lived with his son James for a few years. He was going blind at the time and when every he left the house, one of his grandchildren had to go with him to make sure he didn’t get lost. He later lived with his daughter Annie (his first born child)
Peter lived to be 92 years old. He died in 1913.
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