24 July 2019 

24 July is Pioneer Day.

I received an email today about Hannah Gustava Gundersen 1862-1944. She was 6 years old when the John G. Holeman Company departed on 1 Sept 1868 and traveled for 24 days. She is my 4th cousin.

Hanna Gustava Gundersen was born on the 20th of June 1862 in Forstaden, near the city of Fredrikstad, Norway. She was the last child born to Torger and Oline Gundersen. Her mother Oline was 45 years old when she gave birth to Hanna. Her father Torger, was a forman in the large Fredrikstad lumbermill. Oline and Torger were early converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They were baptized in the Glommen River on the 2nd of August 1853. Hanna was given a name and a blessing in the Fredrikstad Branch by Brother M. Pedersen on the 6th of July 1862. In the 1865 census of Fredrikstad, Hanna is named along with her family. She was the last child of eight siblings. Hans was the oldest, who sailed up the coast of Norway to Namsos where he worked in the lumber mill. He married Karen Johannesdatter. Maren Annette, an older sister, had already gone to Zion and she married Christian Christiansen. They were living in Big Cottonwood area, south of Salt Lake. Anton, the 3rd child of the family, became a seaman and to the great sadness of the family was lost at sea. Olina would sometimes be heard saying, "Hvorhen er Anton" (Where is Anton)? Thomas and Edward are young men in their teens in the Norwegian 1865 census. Olaf and Josephine were very young when they passed away. Hanna is the last child of the family listed, along with the name "Mormon" written by each of their names. Torger and Oline's desire to eventually come to the Salt Lake Valley started on the 12th of May 1866. Torger, Oline, Thorvald, Edward and Hanna departed on the bark Vanadis from Christiania (Oslo) on that date. They arrived in Quebec, Canada on July the 2nd 1866. From Quebec they went south to La Crosse, Wisconsin where Torger worked in the lumber mills for over two years. Hans and his wife Karen Johannesdatter and their three month old baby Carl Olaf, arrived in La Crosse in 1867. Unfortunately Hans passed away shortly after they arrived and Olaf also passed away. Karen remarried a man by the name of Christian Hansen. They had a son they named Herman, who never married. Karen stayed in La Crosse, and passed away in 1926. Torger was able, because of his skill as a lumberman, to break a key log that was jamming the logs, then running for his life. With this money the family was able to take the last wagon train to the Salt Lake Valley in 1868. The John G. Holman company was sent by Brigham Young to pick up the last of the Pioneers to come by wagon and ox team. There were 62 wagons, 6 independent wagons, and 50 persons not included in the 600 Scandinavian passengers from the ship Emerald Isle. This large body of Saints began at the North Platt River near Rawlins, Wyoming on the 1st of September 1868. Hanna was 7 years old and walked much of the way along with the rest of her family. The Holman company arrived at the Tithing Office in Salt Lake on the 25th of September 1868. On this very day, Torger and Oline's daughter Maren Annette had baby Charles Christensen. Christian, Maren Annette's husband, built a home in Big Cottonwood. They were happy to share there home with their family they hadn't seen for many years. Torger built a temporary dugout, on a hill, for them to live in on what is now Holloway Drive in Holladay (Cottonwood), Utah. The family lived in this until a more permanent log home could be built in this same area. Christian taught Torger, Thorvald (Thomas), and Edward the plastering trade. For one of the plastering jobs, they received as payment a flat piece of property at the north end of Park City. When Hanna was 17 years old she married Henry Lavern Swabes. In the 1880 census Torger and Oline are living with them in Park City. Henry worked in mining in Park City, but moved to Wyoming after 1890 for better opportunities. In the 1900 Freemont, Wyoming census he worked in the Placer Mine. The census tells us that Hannah had six children and five of them were living. These are the names of the five children; Emma 17 years, Reynold 15 years, Maud 14 years, Ernest 10 years, all born in Utah and the last child Jessie 3 years born in Wyoming. Ida, the oldest daughter, passed away in 1897. By the 1920 census Henry is 62 years, Hannah is 57 years and they are renting a home in Riverton, Wyoming. Later we read from Reynold's draft card that he is living in Atlantic City, Wyoming and his mother Hannah, who is now a widow, is also living there. She passes away in 1944 at the age of 82 after a most eventful life. As we read of her experiences; a young girl sailing from her homeland in Norway, walking across the plains of Wyoming, then returning back to Wyoming to raise her family with her husband Henry. She is buried beside her children Reynold and Jessie with a headstone bearing all of their names. Compiled by Elizabeth (Betty) Gundersen.