JOHN ERIK FORSGREN, THE MORMON BATTALION & POST-BATTALION ACTIVITIES

Brief references have been made in other posts on this blog about John E.'s participation in the Mormon Battalion.  However, the subject deserves a much more thorough treatment.  I have invited Grant Forsgren Hovey, a John Forsgren descendant, to add to this post as he might see fit since he has also done extensive research on both his ancestor and the Battalion.   I am also indebted once again to Laurie J. Bryant, Ph.D., for giving me permission to quote from her manuscript, "A Rascal Among the Faithful."   Laurie has contributed good historical insight into the formation of the Battalion itself as well as John's participation.    We invite others in the family to comment as well on any content contained in this post.

Sculpture by Ed Fraughton of a Mormon Battalion Soldier

From Ms Bryant's manuscript:
Service in the Mormon Battalion
Late in 1845, persecution of Mormons was on the rise, and life in Nauvoo was becoming intolerable for Church members. Brigham Young and his advisors were planning an exodus whose destination would be somewhere west of the Rocky Mountains and outside what was then the United States. When the exodus began in February, 1846, John Forsgren was among the first of Heber C. Kimball’s family to cross the Mississippi River into Iowa. This time of crisis for the Church coincided with much larger events that were also shaping American westward expansion. The United States had annexed the Republic of Texas in 1845; the Mexican army responded in April, 1846, by crossing the Rio Grande and firing on American troops near the Texas border. A war with Mexico was imminent.

Church members were asked to join the United States military in a unit that became known as the Mormon Battalion. In addition to its obvious tactical purpose as a fighting force, the Mormon Battalion also figured into the strategic plans of both President James K. Polk and President Brigham Young. Young had sent Jesse Little of the Eastern States Mission to Washington, D. C., to ask for assistance in escaping persecution; Little arrived in the capital only days after the declaration of war with Mexico on May 13, 1846. Polk already knew about the persecution of the Mormons, and their desire to flee the United States; he had previously turned down requests for help. Now, it was to Polk’s and Young’s mutual advantage to cooperate in organizing the Mormon Battalion. From Polk’s point of view, creating the Battalion would serve “to conciliate [the Mormons], attach them to our country, and prevent them from taking part against us.”(19) Young could see that having Church members in the military was good public relations, showing that the Church was not an enemy of the United States. Then too, Young reasoned that the emigrants were in desperate need of money, and military pay and allowances, donated to the Church general fund, could “take their families over the mountains.”(20)

 Recruiting for the Mormon Battalion began in late June, 1846, at settlements in Iowa where Mormon groups stopped to prepare for the journey west. Over the next three weeks, and after a good deal of Brigham Young’s encouragement, over 500 volunteers joined the unit, left their families in the care of others, and set off across the Great American Desert to prevent the Mexican army from invading the United States. (21)

John E. Forsgren was the lone Scandinavian member of the Mormon Battalion, the only unit of the U. S. military to be established based on the faith of its members. He enlisted as a private in Company D. Mustered in on July 16, 1846, he marched off toward the southwest on July 20; on August 21, he sent $18 to Heber C. Kimball, “aside from that sent to their families.”(22)

The Battalion arrived at San Diego on January 29, 1847, after a grueling journey of some 1900 miles. The war had ended; no one in the Battalion ever engaged the enemy. Forsgren and most of the other volunteers were mustered out at Los Angeles after exactly a year of service. If Forsgren had enlisted to help other Church members on their journey west while protecting future American claims to the Southwest, he should have been pleased with the results of his efforts. But if he joined the Battalion in the hope of finding adventure and glory, he would have been deeply disappointed, as his later recollections suggest.

With no work and apparently no taste for military life (although they were strongly encouraged to re-enlist), groups of men started northward out of the Los Angeles Basin and into the Central Valley. Eventually they found their way to the area of Sutter’s Fort in the Sierra Nevada foothills. A few lingered and became participants in the gold strike of January, 1848, but most simply headed east across the mountains and the Great Basin, returning to their friends and families in the new settlement of Great Salt Lake City.(23)

That is the straightforward part of the Mormon Battalion’s history. The backstory is much more complex and often unhappy. Long before arriving in California, the men’s clothes and shoes were in tatters. Rather than buy uniforms from the Army when they enlisted, they had donated the money to Church funds. Many men were sick, in part because Brigham Young had warned them not to accept military medicines (24) (which were standard for the times), but to rely on divine intervention instead. For that matter, at limited medical care was offered was sometimes negligent, (25) and some of the suffering could have been prevented.

Members of the Battalion later described deep resentments that grew up in the Battalion, not only between the officers and men, but among the officers themselves. (26)  Many incidents arose from misunderstanding; many have been overblown. For John Forsgren, his year with the Battalion was both a source of pride and the basis of resentment he expressed much later.

Battalion organization seems to have been at the core of most problems. All the recruits and some of the officers were volunteers, and thus those officers were elected by the men and lacked the authority of regular military commissions. The volunteers had, prior to entering military service, been related to each other as family members, brothers in the Church, and through the priesthood hierarchy. There had been only two weeks for training and instructing them in military discipline before the unit elected its company-grade officers and set off on its march. The historian Sherman Fleek, a retired Army officer and a member of the LDS Church, explains that the Battalion thus had two conflicting hierarchies operating under entirely different rules, and that these would have been hard for both men and officers to reconcile.(27)   The volunteers found it very difficult to accept, for example, that Elder George P. Dykes (who held no special position in the Church) was now 1st Lt. Dykes of D Company, their superior in the military chain of command. In Fleek’s judgement, Dykes’ efforts at discipline and order were evidence that Dykes was one of the few Battalion members who had “learned the profession of arms.”(28).   The men in his company, John Forsgren among them, did not see it that way.

Dykes came to be disliked by many of his men, who objected to what they saw as his strictness and dictatorial style. Years later, John Forsgren’s family and friends must have been treated often to his complaints about Dykes and his resentment over being “locked up” for refusing duty because the unit had not received its bread ration. (29)  Forsgren’s compiled service record is silent on the matter of discipline.  Battalion members such as Tyler and Standage who kept journals or wrote of their experiences did not mention Forsgren by name, although Henry Standage wrote, “several of Co. D put under guard...for refusing to drill.” (30) While Forsgren may have found his experience in the Mormon Battalion unpleasant, that didn’t prevent him from joining his comrades at celebrations and reunions in 1865 and 1870. (31)

Battalion members who left California after mustering out reached Great Salt Lake City in mid-October, 1847.  Forsgren traveled east with the loosely-organized Hancock/Hunt/Pace/Lytle Company. (32)

Forsgren’s life thus far had been one of almost constant travel; even his long journey with the Mormon Battalion seems not to have made him any less restless.  Rather than settle down in Great Salt Lake City, by September, 1848, he was carrying “dispatches from the Valley” east along the Mormon Trail through Pacific Springs and as far east as Devil’s Gate, Wyoming.(33)   In November, 1848, he was named a member of the Amasa Lyman-Orrin Porter Rockwell party for “an exploring mission and preaching mission to California.” (34)   As it happened, when Lyman and Rockwell started out in early 1849, Forsgren was not with them.  Rockwell had already gained an unsavory reputation for minting counterfeit gold coins; (35)  it is tempting to imagine a partnership between the future “Bench Prophet” and the “Destroying Angel,” but Church leaders had other plans for John Forsgren.

Footnotes for the above:
19. Polk, James K., Polk: The Diary of a President, 1845-1849, 1929. A. Nevins, ed., p. 109. Longmans, Green and Company, London, New York, etc.
20. Brown, Joseph E., 1980. The Mormon Trek West, Doubleday, Garden City, New York, p. 50-52
21. Fleek, Sherman L., 2006. History May Be Searched in Vain: a military history of the Mormon Battalion, Arthur H. Clark Co., Spokane, Wash., p. 66
22. Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints (chronological scrapbook of typed entries and newspaper clippings, 1830-present), Aug. 21, 1846, p. 6, LDS Church Archives.
23. Bigler, D., and Bagley, W. eds., 2000. Army of Israel: Mormon Battalion narratives, Arthur H. Clark Co., Spokane, Wash., Chapter 10
24. Fleek, S., History May Be Searched in Vain: a military history of the Mormon Battalion. Arthur H. Clark Co., Spokane, Wash. p. 140
25. Fleek, S., History May Be Searched in Vain: a military history of the Mormon Battalion. Arthur H. Clark Co., Spokane, Wash., p. 218
26. Tyler, D., 1881. A concise history of the Mormon Battalion in the Mexican War 1846-1847. p. 143-144.
27. Fleek, S. 2006, History May Be Searched in Vain: a military history of the Mormon Battalion, Arthur H. Clark Co., Spokane, Wash., p. 206
28. Fleek, S., 2006. History May Be Searched in Vain; a military history of the Mormon Battalion, Arthur H. Clark Co., Spokane, Wash. , p. 334
29. U. S. Bureau of Pensions, deposition of Kiersten Forsgren, February 15, 1893, p. 14
30. Golder, F. A., 1928. The March of the Mormon Battalion, from Council Bluffs to California, taken from the journal of Henry Standage. Century Co., NY, p. 213
31. Deseret News, August 2, 1865, p. 2 and October 19, 1870, p. 1
32. Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, Church History Library database
33. Journal History, September 5, p. 1; Sept. 12, p. 2; and 13, p. 1,1848
34. Journal History, Nov. 26, p. 1, 1848
35. Owens, Kenneth., Gold Rush Saints, Arthur H. Clark Co., Spokane, Wash., p. 80

The following are photocopies of cards from John Forsgren's compiled service record.  The originals are in the National Archives in Washington D.C.   These copies I obtained during an interview with LeJune Forsgren Maughan, the granddaughter of Peter Adolph Forsgren thru wife Elise Thomassen.    You will note that they don't tell you much other than to corroborate dates of mustering in and out.   Typed notes at the bottom of each card that they are "corrected" pages are intriguing.  Have no idea what that means.

In the many accounts of John Forsgren that I have read over the years it is clear that his time in the Battalion was important to him, as were his friends from that service.  He often wandered around the state visiting them and attended events that would recognize the Battalion.  On October 10, 1870, for instance, John was among the sixty-three (out of 500!) members of the battalion who were present at a dinner and party held in the Salt Lake Social Hall honoring those who had served in Zion's Camp and in the Battalion.    (see Journal History of the Church, Oct. 10, 1870, p. 1).  Also present on that occasion was Martin Harris who had arrived from the East earlier that year to rejoing with the body of the Saints.  

While living in Moroni John was active in the 24th of July celebrations with other Battalion members.  He served as "Marshal of the Day" on July 24, 1865.  Later, he and his wife Kiersten moved to Santaquin. John held the same honor in a similar celebration held there on 24 July 1868.  On that occasion John led a procession of the Martial Band, former members of the Mormon Battalion, and others to the house of President Hollady who served as the "Orator of the Day."

One account of John E's life states that he arrived back in Salt Lake on 1 Oct. 1847 after being released from Battalion service.  Other sources state that Oct. 16th is the more likely date.   The question at this point in our narrative is: what or whom did he hope to find in Salt Lake?   Did he know that his wife Mary Ann Hunt Forsgren would be there waiting for him?   Was he surprised?   What caused the final rift in their relationship - an ocurrence which seems so amazing to me since Mary Ann had traveled all the way across the plains experiencing her own privations and difficulties.    For much more detail on that story, please go to the blog post about Mary Ann (created in May 2010 and recently updated).   What feels certain is that John Forsgren wanted to be important, still wanted to make a place and name for himself among the Brethren.  He got that chance, of course, when shortly afterwards he was called to serve his famous mission to Sweden.

Anyone interested in the Mormon Battalion should visit the new Battalion Historic Site in San Diego, California.  Though I have not yet been there myself I recently heard from family members that it is a popular attraction, very interactive and nicely done.  Get an overview of all that it has to offer at http://historicmormonbattalion.net/

Update: Feb. 2012:
     While vacationing with my family in Oceanside, California we took advantage of the opportunity to finally visit the monument.  It is indeed a nice place to be.  (Complete with talking portraits just like in Harry Potter!).  Very intersting for young children who also get to pan for gold, work a pump, find their ancestor's name in the Battalion logbooks and have their photo taken in "old time" mode.  Guides are well informed and helpful.  The emphasis of their presentation of the Battalion experience was that it was a huge financial help to the saints as they crossed the plains since most of the monies paid the soldiers by the U.S. Government went to the families instead of being spent on uniforms, etc. 

Our guide choses a volunteer from the group to come get dressed up with the typical gear of a Battalion volunteer.

There's our John in the volunteer logbook

My husband Victor with the statue of the soldier at the entrance to the monument.

Our granddaughter, Noelle, seeking her fortune

A small-scale covered wagon is part of the display.

The Monument is part of San Diego's Old Town and across the street from a synagogue and several beautiful homes that have been moved to the area for tourist appeal.   There is a small picnic area behind the battalion monument as well which we were grateful for since we had packed a quicky lunch that Sunday afternoon and the kids were "starving."  (of course).          Go visit;   Enjoy!

JOHN ERIK'S SIGNATURE /PASSPORT APPLICATION

     I came across the following entry on Ancestry.com.  Thought it would be nice to share what John's signature looked like.  Notice he writes it John E. Forssgren.

Transcription of the document:
U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925.  #4189
Rec'd 25 March   M. Reddall
To Honorable John M. Clayton
          Sec of State Washington City D.C. 
Dear Sir.  Be pleased to transmit by return of mail a passport in accordance with the enclosed attested Certificate, and
            Oblige your humble Servt -
address No. 8 Library st Philada.
to Chas. Watkin, Ship Brokers
Philada  March 23rd 1850

[This would have been John's application to return to Sweden on his mission as directed by the First Presidency in the October 1849 General Conference].

JOHN ERIK'S MEMBERSHIP & BLESSINGS HAVE BEEN RESTORED !!!

     In my mailbox yesterday was a marvelous gift.  Judd Forsgren, great grandson of John Erik Forsgren, forwarded to me the following letter:

I was on my way to our local branch family history center when I opened the letter.  I sat very quietly in my car for several minutes letting the impact of this wash over me.  We had initiated the request for reinstatement on August 21, 2010.  The request had to be sent through someone who was a direct family descendant so I solicited Judd's help after drafting a letter to the Office of the First Presidency.  It was Judd and his daughters who had so much to do with creating and placing the monument to John E. in Gavle, Sweden.

For several months, as I have worked at creating this website, gathering every scrap of information I could find (with the very able help of Laurie Bryant in Salt Lake City and numerous other descendants & interested parties) I have come to have deep feelings and involvement in the life of John, his wives and descendants.   I kept getting the urge to make this request, hoping that on the other side of the veil John has met any requirements of change of heart or repentance or whatever might be expected "up there" and would want nothing more than to once again enjoy the full fellowship of the Church.  There is no doubt but that he was a strong advocate for the Gospel.  He was a man with weaknesses as well, and eventually lost site of what he had stood for most in the early days of his conversion.  

The following letter, dated  November 4, 2010 was later sent to Judd:

 "Dear Brother Forsgren:

        We are pleased to inform you that the following ordinances were completed by proxy in the Salt Lake Temple on behalf of Brother John Eric Forsgren: 

     Readmission and restoration of temple blessings on November 2, 2010.  

These ordinances have restored all priesthood and temple blessings held at the time of his excommunication. . . . 

                               Sincerely, Thomas E. Coburn, Managing Director (of the Church Temple Dept.)

That these temple and sealing blessings are now once again available to him brings me great joy.  If in any way I have had some small part in bringing this event about then I am satisfied.  Whatever his decisions are now in the spirit world, I, for one, look forward to meeting him and thanking him for all that he did to bring the Gospel into the lives of many people.

Note:  I have had no previous experience with the restoration of blessings so had had no occasion to contemplate what that might consist of.  In Elder Gerald Lund's 2010 book Divine Signatures, the following was stated:  "When a person transgresses to the point that full Church fellowship, or even membership, is taken away, the blessings and privileges of the priesthood and temple ordinances are withdrawn as well.  These can only be restored with permission of the First Presidency.  The restoration itself is an ordinance done by the laying on of hands.  For many years, only General Authorities were given these assignments.  Now area seventies and some stake presidents receive those assignments as well."  (p. 133-134)  Elder Lund was referring in this case to a restoration of blessings to a living individual.  The letter from Bro. Coburn makes it clear that a proxy ordinance (restoration of blessings for a deceased individual) is done by a member of the temple presidency within the walls of the temple.

JOHN ERIK HAD SMALLPOX ???

The following quote is taken from Kate B. Carter's Treasures of Pioneer History vol. 1 in her accounts of Pioneer Humor [available on ancestry.com]
     "The main speaker who had been sent out from Salt Lake for the semi-annual conference at Moroni, Utah in 1872 was Brother Forsgren.  Brother Forsgren had known my grandfather, J.C. Nelson (or Nielson) as the president of the Aarhuss Latter-day Saint mission in Denmark;  and now that he was mayor of Moroni and still a fervent worker in the church, it was only fitting and proper that Brother Forsgren should be his guest.  But, Brother Forsgren became ill and it was discovered rather belatedly that he had smallpox.  Nelson's oldest son, Andrew, contracted the disease and since the mother had recently died the father waited on him and then came down with the disease himself.
     "On day Nelson decided he was well and although the quarantine flag had not yet been taken down, he thought it would not hurt him to take a horseback ride.  So the horse was saddled and Nelson rode proudly up Main Street and on up into the hills, then back home.  But the news of his trip had spread like wildfire, and when he arrived home, Jerome Bradley, the city marshal, was there to arrest him for breaking the quarantine and exposing the public.  He was immediately hauled off to the city hall for a hearing.  Within a few minutes half of the town had crowded into the little courtroom to hear the trial.  The judge heard the marshall's story, then he hurriedly looked around at the crowd which had assembled and at those outside who were peeking though the doors.  It was at this instant that it dawned upon the judge that Nelson had the smallpox.  So with a broad smile and a quick gesture he ordered the courtroom cleared - case dismissed - and Nelson to to home and stay there until quarantine flag was taken down."

I had never heard ANY references to John having had smallpox.  My thoughts race to wonder that if he did, how bad was his illness...and was that one of the contributing factors to a debility he later claimed for his not being able to work  (for example he was supported by the efforts of his wife when they lived on the East bench in SLC).  I remind those reading accounts such as this that it is a tale.  It may be a true tale or it may be embellished through repeated telling.   Kate Carter's compilations have not always been true to fact, so unless we can learn further information we have to just take this story at face value, be amused by it, but also hope to prove it!

A "FINBUL WINTER" AT THE FORSGREN HOME IN GAVLE

     We have a wonderful new friend!   Meet Charlotta Cederlof (sorry, I don't know how to add the correct Swedish diacritical marks over the o in her surname!).  Charlotta is a journalist who has lived most of her life in Gavle.  She is working with a radio show about sculptures in Gavle.  When she found the blog she contacted me with a wonderful offer to send photos.    I told her that I have seen many pictures of the front and sides of the old Forsgren home which is now a shop called Konstra in larger Gavle Old Town.   What I would like to see are pictures of the back and interior yards.   She shared the following pictures with me and gave permission for them to be published on the blog.

This picture was taken during the long winter of 2009-2010.  Charlotta called it the "finbul" winter - a mythical winter from the days of the Vikings which was said to last three years without any summer.  It must have seemed like that to the residents of Gavle.  The snows reached 7 feet high (2.2 meters)!  This photo is taken across "Snus majas Tomt" - the name of the park and surrounding houses.  Tomt means yard or garden.  Maja is a woman's name and the word "snusmajas" can be roughly translated to mean "chewing tobacco Maja."  She was a lady who was known to sell tobacco and sometimes gin to the sailors.

That is the Forsgren home in the background. It is now a lovely arts & crafts shop.  The memorial bust of John Erik is just out of sight on the left side of the photo.

Here we find John Erik once again braving the long, cold winters!  His home is to the left in the photo.

How wonderful that these ancient little buildings can withstand this kind of weather!  It freezes me just to look at it!

 Can a bicycle even navigate these winters???   Photo taken right next to the Forsgren home looking down the street.  (Compare the image to the first one taken across the park).

This is Charlotta's friend Ina enjoying lunch in the back of the Forsgren house (on a much nicer day!)  Notice two things:  the lovely stained glass window which is between the main house and the second building of the
Forsgren property.  Also, the two young men are looking from the house out onto the snusmajas tomt and the sculpture of John Forsgren.

     This photo was taken at Majas - the tea room next door to Konstra (the Forsgren home, now antique shop). Charlotta made an interesting comment in her last email to me:
"The really weird thing is - and it has happened to a lot of people - and I am not the kind of person who usually believes in this stuff - that when you enter the main house you suddenly get a very strong feeling that you have traveled in time back to the 19th century... "
     We Forsgrens are glad to hear that.  Maybe the spirits of our fine ancestors are hovering near to help bless and preserve this place for many more generations!   Thank you, Charlotta, and thank you to all the people of Konstra and Old Town who take such good care of the buildings, grounds and John Erik.  Charlotta assured me that John is cleaned up and back to normal after someone threw paint at the sculpture last year.

JOHN & SARAH'S PATRIARCHAL BLESSINGS

     I am indebted to Richard Wright, a John Erik descendant and Salt Lake resident, for acquiring photocopies of the Patriarchal Blessings of John and Sarah Bell Davis. These were additional documents I have wanted to acquire for the Forsgren files for some time.

     It would be inappropriate to quote either of them in their entirety but I marveled at some of the promises which were given and were fulfilled.

     John Erik's blessing (Book B, p. 89) was given by John Smith, Patriarch in Nauvoo on July 29, 1844.  He is listed as John E , son of John & Anna Christianna Forgerson stgreen.  (The misspelling crossed through and corrected slightly above).
     His lineage is through the blood of Ephraim.
     He is told that if he desired he would raise a warning voice in his native land and have mighty power to confound the wise and the learned... that the Lord would give his angels charge to assist him and be his constant companion, to comfort and deliver him out of all his troubles.  He would be able to heal the sick and would have power to redeem his friends, both the dead and the living.  His name would be had in honorable remembrance till time should be no more and this blessing should be perpetuated to his children through all the generations.

     Sarah Bell's blessing was given 6 months earlier by Hyrum Smith on January 9th 1844.  Though it is not stated it would also have been Nauvoo...just a few short months before Hyrum was killed with Joseph.   Sarah was only 15 years old at the time she received her blessing.
     No lineage is stated though she is promised the blessings of the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.   She is told to be steadfast and immovable and that she would abound in grace and in faith.   She is assured that she would be blessed with a house and a habitation, possessions and tenements and the power of God would be upon her and her children after her.  Like John E (who did not get his blessing till several months later.  They were not "involved" at the time as far as we know other than that were residents of the same community.  John in fact would marry Mary Ann Hunt just 6 months after his blessing in January of 1845) she is told that her name would be had in remembrance among all her posterity until the latest day.

     Her blessing must have been a great comfort to her as she witnessed and participated in the persecution and uncertainty of the time...to know that some day she would indeed have a home and possessions and children.  It is through her that there exist any descendants at all for John Erik Forsgren.  She was protected and helped in the home of her parents even after she and John had divorced.  

   

2010 Reunion Attendees Vote To Keep 'er Going At Least Another Two Years

The Forsgren Family Association met for its bi-annual reunion at the Community Center in Brigham City yesterday, August 7th.  The Forsgren scrolls were updated and hauled out to line the floor once again.   So glad to rub shoulders with the faithful descendants who always come to the reunion.  Had about an equal number of John E. Forsgren  and Peter Adolph descendant representatives.  Sadley, no one was there to bless the memory of Christina Erika Forsgren.

The Peter Forsgren descendants cover the top 3 rows of paper.  John E's are at the bottom and Christina Erika's descendants are the smaller group at the left side of the picture.  Erika descendant's unite!   We need more data!

President Lester Lee Knight showed slides of each of the families of the three Forsgren children and the original home in Sweden. 

Lester and Adele  presented the option of abandoning this "umbrella" organization now that several on-line resources have been created for the dissemination of information and because it is growing harder and harder to contact family members about the reunions.   E-mail and home addresses change with much more frequency than they did 15 years ago.  Postal costs are huge and many letters and emails get returned.

No one really has the heart to abandon, however.    The decision was made to contine uploading more information to the internet and to meet at least one more time in two years and re-evaluate then.  No one wanted to take on the roll of President so Lester and Adele will work together again for the 2012 reunion.  (It was agreed it will take place in either July or August so we don't interfere with BYU Football season.  Grin for Arnold Wagner!!)

A report was made on the successful completion of two other projects:  The renovation of the original Peter Forsgren pioneer home on 1st East, completed by David Ericson and his son Scott from Salt Lake.  Scott and Karen and their young family have moved into the home which now boasts wonderful modern appliances, flooring, etc. while still retaining many of the original features of the home.

The Cemetery Headstone project has also been completed.  Five small stones commemorating the deceased infants of  Adolph Peter & Dena Forsgren were raised and reset.  Also the broken stone for Charles Peter Lee has been repaired and reset.  All were done with with great care and excellent workmanship by the Bott Monument Company.  (The Botts are related thru marriage, by the way!)

An additional note on headstones for the record:   The old pioneer stone which used to be the main marker for the Peter Adolph/Adolph Peter burial area was removed many years ago and replaced with a more modern stone.   The original stone was saved by the family and is at the home of Mark Forsgren, son of Frank Forsgren, longtime supporter of the reunions.   It might eventually go back to the cemetery...but for now will remain in the backyard of Mark's family.  The stone had incorrect information on it.  It was engraved Peter O (instead of Johan O) on one side of the stone

Below is an old photo of the family plot showing the placement of the 5 small stones as well as the two tall pioneer stones which once were there.  The stone shown above is the one on the right in the photo below.

The repaired & reset Charles P. Lee stone

Attendees:  Laurie Bryant, S.L. researcher on John Erik Forsgren, Arnold and Diane Wagner, President Lester Knight

Richard and Joleen Wright - Longtime supporters of John Erik descendants

The Tom and Zola Forsgren clan - Peter Adolph descendants

Judd & Nona Forsgren - mover and facilitator of getting the John E. bust sculpted by his daughters and placed in Gavle, Sweden

Scott and Joyce Lee from St. George

Morris and Dellalee Forsgren.  Morris has been past president and vice-president more than once.  And he makes GREAT homemade root beer!

Sorry I haven't uploaded all of the photos...and sorry we didn't get photos of all who attended.  We are, nonetheless, so glad for your attendance, your contributions, and your good food!

Posted below is the handout I prepared for all the attendees about the sources used for uploading information to on-line sites for the benefit of all who might be interested researchers. 

On-line Resources for Forsgren Materials


(Report prepared for the August 2010 Family Reunion by Adele Manwaring Austin, Assn. Sec/Archivist)

Adele Austin 535 Fogg St. Las Vegas, NV 89110-4034 Ph. 702 452-0461 email: vaustin4@cox.net

In an effort to make available all the information stored at my home in the form of the “Forsgren Family Association Archives” to interested researchers and descendants of Johan Olaf Forsgren I have set up the following on-line resources. I opted NOT to create a web-site where it is all available in one place simply because I do not have the training to create web-sites and because web-sites come with their own challenges that make getting the information up and usable a bit of a frustration.

Please be aware that all of the sites are very much works in progress. I will continue to add to them as I collect & receive information, analyze it or get it scanned and processed. Please visit the sites often as they will be ever-changing!

Please also note that I do not pretend to be an authority on all the branches and descendants of the three Forsgren siblings that came to Utah! I welcome input from each of you as well. The whole direction of family history, especially as created by the Church, is to emphasize community and collaboration. “WE is better than ME” is the motto. I will come to certain conclusions based on the information I have available. Other descendants will have access to photos, biographical sketches, records and sources that have not been submitted to me for inclusion in the archives which could fill out or change data I currently have. Please contribute; please analyze and question my conclusions; please share your family records & photos with all of us.

Lastly, I would ask you to share this handout with other family members. Our mailing and e-mail lists just do not stay current, so getting the word out to everyone not in attendance at this reunion will be a bit of a costly challenge. I would be happy to send this handout as an email attachment to anyone requesting it so it can be forwarded on to other family members.

Here are the various resources that will include Forsgren family information:

BLOGS

Blog Definition: A blog (also called a weblog or web log) is a website consisting of entries (also called posts) appearing in reverse chronological order with the most recent entry appearing first (similar in format to a daily journal). The weakness to a blog is that you will have to search thru older posts to find all the information I have made available. The strength to the blog is that I can be personal and that uploading and changing information and photos is very simple.

I have set up a separate blog for each of the three convert Forsgren siblings. They will contain histories, photos and descendant information. Announcements for reunions, pleas for research help will also appear there. In the lower right corner is a link where you could sign up to become a “follower”, meaning that anytime I post new information to the blog you would be notified. At the end of each post there is also a place where you can make a comment on the content. If you do not wish to comment publicly on the blog, please feel free to contact me by e-mail, phone or regular mail (addresses above).

If this all seems overwhelming solicit the help of one of your computer-savvy children or grandchildren who can help you get started. For them this is all second nature. Here are the addresses for the three blogs. Please visit and enjoy.

• johnerikforsgren.blogspot.com
• peteradolphforsgren.blogspot.com
• christinaerikaforsgren.blogspot.com

FORSGREN ANCESTRAL LINES (Johan Olaf & Anna Christina Forsgren going backwards)

If you are seeking information on the ancestors of one of the siblings you will find the best information on the Church’s website new FamilySearch. (new.familysearch.org). It is not something I have created, but is available there by virtue of years of descendant contributions and temple work including work done during the lifetime of our ancestors.

This website is currently available to LDS Church members only. It is accessed by registering your unique LDS membership number and the date of your confirmation (NOT your baptism) Both the member number and the date are available from your ward clerk. Help in using the site for the first time can be requested from your ward family history consultant. Only information on deceased people will be located on this site. You will not find the names of living individuals unless they are of your own children (and that information is viewable only to you when you sign in with the user name and password you will create).

Please note that newFamilySearch is still in transition. It will eventually be renamed “Family Tree” and will be incorporated into the Church’s current familysearch.org website which is available to all users, whether LDS or not.

You are likely to find Forsgren ancestral information on other websites such as Ancestry.com and Rootsweb.com which allow people to upload genealogical information. Just be aware that a family tree is only as reliable as the care the uploader has given it. Many of our trees have been copied and recopied from other family members over long periods of time and may or may not be totally accurate.


FORSGREN DESCENDANCY LINES (Moving forward from a common ancestor)

Because descendancy research involves the names of living people, privacy issues come into play. I will not upload the complete list of descendants to any website for that reason. Please contact me directly for a complete list of descendants of your ancestor and I will be happy to send you a copy of whatever I have available.

• The descendants list for John Erik Forsgren currently is 18 pages
• The descendants list for Christina Erika Forsgren Davis is 10 pages
• The descendants list for Peter Adolph Forsgren is 81 pages

We are now into the 9th generation from Johan Olaf. For many lines I still do not have information beyond the 5th or 6th generations! If you can help with the association’s goal of tracking living descendants that would be a great help. I will accept the information in any format that it is comfortable for you to send it. As you can see, there is great need to get additional information for both John E Forsgren and Christina E. F. Davis. I would love to work with any interested volunteer who is willing to track descendants and strong-arm them for some data!!

FORSGREN PHOTOS

A. Miscellaneous photos will show up on the blogs to accompany the articles that go with them.

B. Headstone photos. I am always taking photos of Forsgren family headstones – particularly in Brigham City Cemetery and the Riverton, Idaho Cemetery. I have been uploading them for several years to the website findagrave.com so that they are available to anyone who wishes to see them or download them to their own files. YOU CAN ALSO DO THIS! (And should!). I would especially like help getting the photos online of descendants in the Ogden, Salt Lake and other outlying & non-Utah cemeteries. This is a free website to both visit and upload information to. (There are other headstone websites. I just happened to choose this one). On findagrave.com you can upload a digital image of the headstone as well as photos of the ancestor. There is room for biographical information and for the actual citation of the headstone location as well.

C. Photos of Individuals. I have begun uploading all the photos I have of Forsgren ancestors and descendants to the website FLICKR (http://www.flickr.com/   My photostream is under Adele Austin2010). This is a recent project and things are not very organized there yet, so be patient. You can also add digital photos you might have in your possession to share with other Forsgren relatives. (Please send me a copy too if you see you have photos the Forsgren Family Assn archives does not have.)

D. Photos of Buildings, Documents, etc. Many of these will also be found on the blogs, but I will add them to the Flickr website as well.

OTHER ARCHIVAL PROJECTS

At a recent genealogy conference I attended, great emphasis was made on recording living history and record preservation. (The Church, by the way, is emerging as a world leader in this field!).

I have the equivalent of about 5 legal file drawers of “stuff” at my house that needs to be preserved digitally. Over the next couple of years I will be taking time to scan what I can and get it saved to Milleniata CD’s which are purported right now to be the longest-lasting available medium for long-term preservation. (Anyone want to volunteer to help???) Much of the paper (mostly family group sheets) will be disposed of after appropriate back-up has been made just to reduce the sheer quantity of material. The preserved copy of this material, then, can be passed on to whomever will succeed me as Secretary/Archivist with additional copies placed in the hands of other Forsgren descendants for safekeeping.

It is my hope that each of YOU will look closely at what you have in your own homes and take the time to do the same. Don’t let someone pass away before the family photos are identified or the family story is told. Take time to back up your files and to digitize photos and important documents. I ache when I can’t solve a “mystery” because records were destroyed by persons who did not know of their value. If you feel “too old” to pick up all this new-fangled computer stuff then be happy doing what you can: preserving the records for posterity. Talk into a tape and reminisce. Identify the photos you have. Tell your memories of the people who are no longer with us. Record your own life story in the simplest manner possible. Involve your children or grandchildren in these projects. Our hearts can’t turn to our ancestors (who are very much alive, by the way, and don’t really want to be forgotten!) if we never talk to someone else about these people.

If you ever feel guilt when the speaker from the pulpit talks about family history just remember that there are multiple ways we can serve in this field: temple attendance, indexing of original records so that millions can have access (See familysearchindexing.org), scrapbooking, holding reunions at a lower family level than this umbrella organization, spending time with grandkids, etc. etc. If you aren’t one of the ones who feel like research is something you can do then think how you could be involved in some other way.

I am only one. But together we can have quite an impact on Forsgren memories! Happy goal setting!

DESCENDANTS of John Erik Forsgren

     Since the early 1960's various members of the Forsgren family have worked at tracking the descendants of the Forsgren siblings.   A great deal of the ground work for this effort was done by Elias Peter Forsgren, a son of Peter Adolph Forsgren by his second wife Elise Thomassen.   Others have carried on the work and we continue to do so today.    The list is, of course, only as complete as the information provided to us by Forsgren descendants.     We would love to have any contributions of your paper family group sheets or Personal Ancestral File email attachments.

To protect the privacy of living individuals I will not post the descendancy chart to this blog.   I will be happy to send a copy to any family member who wishes to contact me and who can provide information concerning their own rightful spot in the family. 

As of 1 Sep 2012 the descendant list contains 1228 individuals and 393 marriages and is 18 pp. long.  There are large holes where information is needed since we are now into the 9th generation (from father Johan Olaf Forsgren), yet I do not have family records for some branches of John Erik's family beyond the 5th or 6th generations.

Sooooo...... please get a copy of the descendant's list, see where YOUR family stands, and help us fill in the gaps!

John Erik's Expulsion from the Church

     On this date 167 years ago, John Erik Forsgren was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Boston, Massachusetts by William McGhen.  It was a Gospel he embraced with his whole heart.  It took him to Nauvoo where he met the Prophet Joseph and other Church leaders, becoming particularly close to Heber C. Kimball.  He began the westward move to the Rockies, then  joined the Mormon Battalion (the only Swede to do so among the volunteers).   He later willingly left his wife of just a few months and returned to Sweden to preach the restored Gospel there. He became President of the Scandinavian Mission for a time and then successfully led a group of Saints across ocean and land to bring them safely to the heart of the new Zion in the Salt Lake Valley.

     He could not have known, given that dedication and enthusiasm, that he would later become disenchanted with this Church he loved.   He eventually began to criticize the leadership of Brigham Young and then set up a large tent on the East Bench of Salt Lake City (at 4th South and 11th East) where he began preaching his own religion.   A grand daughter - Alice Mariah Forsgren Eliason Hatch - wrote the following in her memoir of her family life (in answer to questions initiated by her niece Hazel): "Grandpa John Eric was an eloquent, fiery spseaker and became very prominent.  He expected to be one of the Twelve Apostles and when Brigham Young chose Erastus Snow to be his apostle when a vacancy occurred, Grandpa became disillusioned and hurt.  It was the cause of his leaving the Church and starting a church of his own. . . .
     I remember hearing my Mother [Esther Ann Smith] tell me once:  'I only saw your grandfather John Eric Forsgren once.  He was an old man then, and he paced up and down the room expounding his doctrine.  He said that he would be taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot like the Prophet Elijah.  I asked her how Dad felt about him.  She said he always hated him.'  I was always curious about Grandpa but could find out very little about him.  It seems as if he covered his failures with delusions of grandeur - a useful and common device.  I don't know why he came back to Brigham.  He didn't stay."

     I have recently wondered as well how the death of Heber C. Kimball affected him John.  Heber and his wife Vilate "adopted" by sealing John Erik and his then wife, Mary Ann Hunt.  That seems a significant act.  Heber continued to be involved in John's early life and decisions once in the S.L. valley.  It was he who suggested John take Heber's own step-daughter (by his second wife), Francis Noon Smith, a young widow to be a plural wife and it was he who performed their sealing.   Heber believed strongly in the law of plural marriage and probably also hoped that John E. would care for his recently widowed step-daughter and her children.  Other family stories indicate that this very sealing was the beginning of the end for John's marriage to Sarah Bell Davis.   Sadly, neither marriage went well.   How did John feel about that?

     It has been stated in many histories about JEF that he died a non-member of the Church.   I knew he had disassociated HIMSELF from the Church but sought evidence of a formal excommunication for which I had no dates.   I spoke with a member of the Church Temple Committe in Salt Lake, who after a lengthy search, returned to tell me that they had no formal record on file of such an excommunication.  He suggested that probably this information would be buried in the minutes of the ward or stake in which he lived but because I was not a direct descendant of John E  (My line is through Peter Adolph, his brother), I could not have access to those minutes.   I was not successful in finding a descendant who had the time to plow through several rolls of microfilm to find a church court proceeding for John.

     I am indebted to Laurie Bryant of Salt Lake City (who was also doing some research on John Erik and other inhabitants of the East Bench area) for calling to my attention the following notice published in the weekly edition of the Deseret News, Feb. 12, 1879, p. 9.  (A notice taken from the Deseret News Daily of Feb. 8th):

" The following decision was rendered, and unanimously sustained by the High Council, on Sunday, February 2nd, 1879, viz.: ' That John E. Forsgren is possessed of a lying spirit, is guilty of unchristian-like conduct, and that he be cut off from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that this decision be published in the papers.'    Wm W. Taylor. Clerk of the High Council."

     I was grateful for the conclusion of an unfinished research goal.  But since this is a blog of my feelings and thoughts as well, I must add that in reading the notice over and over again I was filled with great sadness and heartache.  I yearned for this not to have happened.  I felt stung by the frankness of the words used to describe the event.   I am assuming the reference to his "lying spirit" had to do with his very open denunciations about Brigham Young and other leaders with whom he had quarrels.  I wished that the events of his life had not brought him to this point. 

     Again I state that it is not ours to judge.  The incredible work he did during the early days of his dedication and missionary efforts should not be ignored.  We must look at his life in its totality and hope that one day we will all understand better what led to his unhappiness and disenchantment.

DESCENDANTS OF JEF - John Heber Forsgren

 JOHN HEBER FORSGREN - Third child of John Erik and Sarah Bell Davis Forsgren

(born 7 Oct 1856, Carson City, Nevada;  died 4 Aug 1946, Salt Lake City, Utah)

 John Heber Forsgren and 2nd wife Cynthia Marie Thorne

  Married and sealed 16 Dec 1885 in the Logan, Utah Temple;  (His first wife, Ann Jane Evans had passed away shortly after the birth of their daughter Sarah Cleofa Forsgren just two days short of their 1st wedding anniversary 12 Aug. 1881.)   Marie died in 1900 after 15 years of marriage, leaving 6 children. 

I have no photo of his first wife, Ann Jane Evans.

 Lydia Walker Forsgren - Third wife of John Heber.  

They were married in 1903 and got to be together for 43 years when JH passed away.  Five children born to this marriage.  Lydia died in 1961.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN HEBER FORSGREN: Written by Maurine Guymon and delivered at the Forsgren Family Assn. Reunion 29 July 2006
     Sometime in the middle 1850's John Eric Forsgren and his wife Sara Belle Davis were sent by Brigham Young to Carson City, Nevada on a colonizing expedition.  At that time it was an unsettled area but considered part of Utah.  They traveled with two children:  Charles William and Sarah Alice.  After settling in this barren land John Heber was born on Oct. 7, 1856.  He is said to be the first white child born in [what is now] Nevada.  [I wish to interject at this point the following comments that are included in the blog post about Sarah Bell: "Shortly after their return from Carson, Sarah and John have separated. Niece Alice Mariah Forsgren makes a confusing statement in her written memories about John Heber's birth. . . . she states: 'Uncle John was born a few years later and Roy [Alice's brother Samuel Leroy] said they called him Johnny Crocker. She married John Crocker later.' This is a confusing statement on two accounts. She is not remembering the surname correctly. It would have been Clapper.... and is she suggesting that other people felt that John Heber was really the son of Joseph Clapper whom Sarah later married on 11 October 1859?  Or were people just speculating and being unkind if she was seen to be keeping company with Mr. Clapper??  I am inclined to believe that John Heber IS John Erik's actual son for two reasons. He is named John, probably after his father, and Heber, probably after Heber C. Kimball who was very important in John E's life. (It is possible, of course, that John Erik only thought he was the actual father of John Heber and would have named him accordingly). Another consideration is that a close examination of the photos of John Heber appear to show a genetic trait present in many of the Forsgren siblings and their descendants - a slight eye abnormality which I have seen in photos of Peter Adolph, Pehr Johan, Milda, Elias Peter and others.] Shortly after Brigham Young recalled them to Utah because Johnston's Army was approaching.  Soon after their return to Salt Lake, Sarah left John Eric and moved to Brigham City with the three children.  When John Heber was only seven years of age his mother  passed away.  He and his siblings were reared by his maternal grandmother, Sarah M. Davis whom they revered as a  "sainted mother."
     About the age of twelve John was hired by the co-op cabinet shop and learned the trade of cabinet making.  He worked for a number of years here until the shop went out of business.  The lumber mills operated by the Brigham City Cooperative Institution gave him employment and here he perfected his trade as a carpenter.
     On Aug 12, 1880, John married Ann Jane Evans.  Only one year after this union Jane Evans died, leaving an infant daughter, Sarah Cleofa, known as Cleo.  In June 1908 Cleo Forsgren married Victor Emmanuel Madsen.  After giving birth to three sons (one dying in infancy) Cleo lost her husband and had the difficulty of rearing two young boys.  These two sons grew up, married and presented John Heber with many grandchildren and great grandchildren.
     In Dec. of 1885 John Heber married Cynthia Marie Thorn.  Their first child, a son, died at age two.  Only three months after his death Cynthia gave birth to a daughter, Annie.  When she was only two years of age her father departed for Sweden on a mission.  Annie lived only four years, her death taking place three months before her father arrived home from his mission.  After these many sad events Cynthia Marie and John had four children, 2 girls and 2 boys that all grew to be adults.  Another calamity befell John when Marie died in Nov. 1900, leaving him with four small children:  Ethleen 7, Eugene Richard 5, Virginia 3 and Charles Victor, 1.  These four children grew up and married.  Eugene had only one child before he perished in a hotel fire.  His son, Eugene Richard Jr. was killed in North Korea in Nov. 1950.  This death would have been a double tragedy for John Heber because this was the only child with the ability to carry on the Forsgren name.  However, the other three children have had large families and now his descendants number in the hundreds.
    Three years after the death of Cynthia Marie, John married Lydia Ann Walker.  She reared the four children mentioned above as well as five of her own.  None of the children from this marriage married so all of his posterity can be traced to his first two wives.
    The Forsgren family, now consisting of Lydia and their four adult children, moved to Salt Lake when John Heber retired.  He was a great gardener and his beautiful roses, along with other landscaping, were the talk of the neighborhood on 15th East and 18th South.  He lived a quiet life there with his family and the many children and grandchildren visiting  him.  He had a Bible written in Swedish and kept up his knowledge of the language by reading it.  He enjoyed his many visits to Brigham City and especially the cemetery on Memorial Day where he had laid to rest so many of his family.  He was buried there after his death, 4 Aug, 1946, in Salt Lake City.

NEWS ARTICLE: A DESTRUCTIVE FIRE:   Box Elder News Apr. 16, 1908  [

     John H. Forsgren, our former townsman, now residing at Elwood, had the misfortune last Saturday to lose his home and furnishings by fire. Mr. Forsgren and his little boys were working in the field near the house, sowing lucerne seed and as evening drew nigh one of the little fellows was sent to build a fire in the stove preparatory to the evening meal, as they were "batching it" Mrs. Forsgren and the little girls being up in Idaho [this would be a reference to Lyda Walker Forsgren, his third wife]. The lad made a good fire and returned to his father, who had a premonition that all was not right, but continued with his work and soon smoke began pouring out of the windows and the building, which was frame, burned like tinder. The heat from the stove must have ignited the wood box which stood close by. Only a few articles from the celler were saved.
     Mr. Forsgren considers his greatest loss that of his splendid library and valuable papers which money cannot replace.
     We sincerely sympathize with Mr. Forsgren in his misfortune. His experience has been that troubles do not come singly, and he has certainly had his share of them. As there was no insurance on the property, his loss in this case is a total one.  

BURIAL: Brigham City Cem. B-18-7-3

DEATH:  Certificate No. 1296, Registrar No 1413 (available through Utah Death Certificates 1904-1956 online)

John Heber Forsgren
died at age 89 yrs, 9 mo. 27 days, August 4th, 1946, Salt Lake City, S.L. County at his residence 1897 South 15th East of Coronary oclusion/ arteriosclerosis
Lenth of residence in community:  21 years
Not a veteran, no social security number
Male, white,married to Lydia Walker, age 73
Born October 7 1856, Carson City, Nevada
Usual occupation:  Retired, Lumber man in retail lumber
Father: John Eric Forsgren,  born Sweden
Mother, Sarah Bell Davis, birthplace unknown
Informant signature: [hard to read, could be C O Forsgren?)
Removal to Brigham City Cemetery 6-7-46;  Taylor memorial Mortuary

OBITUARY:  Salt Lake Tribune, Monday, August 5, 1947 (with photo); and funeral notice 8/6/1946 p. 10
                         EARLY BRIGHAM CITY LEADER, JOHN HEBER FORSGREN, DIES
     John Heber Forsgren 89, 1897 15th East, prominent early Utah businessman and active LDS church worker, died Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at his residence of causes incident to old age.
     He had been a resident of Salt Lake City for the past 21 years and previous to that time resided in Brigham City, where he was active in business, church and civic leadership.
      For many years he operated a lumber and hardware business in Brigham City.  He is credited with being instrumental in the establishment of the first public library in Brigham City.  During his lengthy and active career in the LDS church, he was superintendent of Brigham City Third LDS ward Sunday school; stake superintenedent of Religion classes, Bear River stake; member of the stake Mutual board, Box Elder Stake, and was former city councilman.
     He was born Oct. 7, 1856, in Carson City, Nev., a son of John Eric and Sarah Belle Davis Forsgren.  He moved with his family to Brigham City when he was one year old.  He married Lydia Walker.
     Surviving besides his widow are three sons and five daughters.  Donald E. and Waldo W. Forsgren, Bellingham, Wash.; C.V. Forsgren, Mrs. Cleo F. Madsen and Mrs. Virginia F. Larsen Brigham City; and Afton and Barbara Forsgren and Mrs. Ethleen F. Burnham, Salt Lake City; 13 grandchildren and two great- granchildren."
      JOHN HEBER FORSGREN
      Funeral Services for John Heber Forsgren 89, 1897 15th E. will be conducted Wed. at 12:15 p.m. in Edgehill LDS Ward Chapel, 15th E. & Blaine Ave.
      Friends may call at the family home Tuesday from 4-8 p.m. & Wed. from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.  Burial will be in Brigham City Cemetery.

An obituary and funeral notice was also published in the Deseret News Aug 5, 1946 p. 14 and Aug.6, 1946 p. 14.

WIFE #1 - Ann Jane Evans, born 6 Dec. 1859 in Genoa, Monroe Co., Nebraska.  Died 10 Aug 1881 in Brigham City.  Buried in the Brigham City Cemetery.   [Though the state is listed as Missouri in the Ancestral File, Elias Peter's FGS for her lists Geneva, Monroe Co, Nebraska; Brigham City Sexton's recs say Genoa, Nebraska; Nebraska is the birthplace of mother listed on Cleofa's entry in the 1900 Census ]
Her parents are John Evans (born Jan 1829, Utah) and Elizabeth Davies (born Feb 1825, Utah)
 
BURIAL: Brigham City Cem B-15-11-2   [I do not yet have a photos of either Ann Jane or of her headstone 8-2011]

John Heber and Ann Jane had only one child, Sarah Cleofa Forsgren (known as Cleo).  Cleo was born 11 May 1881 in Brigham City.  She died 25 Mar 1960 in Brigham City and was buried on 29 Mar, 1960 in the Brigham City Cemetery.  On 24 Jun 1908 Cleo married Victor Emmanuel Madsen in the S.L. LDS Temple.   I have no photo of  Cleo.

Victor Emmanuel was born 17 Mar 1879 in Brigham City, the son of Peter Fabricius Madsen and Emilia Cecilia Magdalena Dahlgren.

PIONEERS & PROMINENT MEN OF UTAH: (Photo, shown above, is on page 497)

     Married Beatrice Winnifrid Midgley April 23, 1902 Salt Lake City (daughter of Benjamin Midgley and Sarah J, Midgley, former pioneer May 1855, Milo Andrus company, latter of Nov. 2, 1864, Warren Snow company). She was born Aug. 28, 1877, at Nephi, Utah, died Oct. 6, 1902. Family home Brigham City, Utah. Married Sarah Cleofa Forsgren June 24, 1908, at Salt Lake City (daughter of John H. Forsgren and Annie Jane Evans of Brigham City, Utah). She was born May 11, 1881. Their children: Victor Earl Madsen b. April 14, 1909; Irwin Denton b. Dec. 16, 1910, died Dec. 18, 1910. Family home Brigham City, Utah. Missionary to Scandinavia 1905-07; high priest; chorister in 3d ward since 1900; leader of tabernacle choir. Manager of Box Elder creamery 1900-05. Editor Box Elder News, Member 32d ward bishopric.

SKETCH: Utah Since Statehood Vol. II
     Victor E. Madsen, managing editor of the Box Elder News of Brigham, was born March 17, 1879, in the city which is still his home, a son of Peter F. and Emelia M. C. (Dahlgren) Madsen. The father was born in Sjaeland, Denmark, August 10, 1843, a son of Neis and Martha M. (Hansen) Madsen. He came to Utah in August, 1860, with an independent company. On the 10th of November, 1873, at Salt Lake City, he married Emelia M. C. Dahlgren, a daughter of Jacob Jorgen Ulrik and Anne Sophia (Basse) Dahigren. She was born June 16, 1848, in Skjelskor, Denmark. Peter F. Madsen became the first telegraph operator in Brigham and filled the position for eight years. He was also justice of the peace, county clerk and recorder and likewise filled the offices of county commissioner and probate judge. He was the first man to subscribe to the Edmunds-Tucker oath in Utah and voted in 1887. Actively interested in the work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was a missionary to Europe for three years and also served as bishop's counselor and high councilor and for some time acted as bookkeeper in the tithing office. At the time of his death, which occurred July 16, 1913, he was a high councilman in the church. To Mr. and Mrs. Peter F. Madsen were born the following named: Waldemar P. F., born August 19, 1874, married Adah Nichols in November, 1901. One child, born January 9, 1876, died unnamed. Emelia Maria, born August 21, 1877, became the wife of Frank Welling in June, 1911. Victor Emmanuel is the next in order of birth. Roland Adolph, born October 2, 1880, married Abbie Reese on the 24th of January, 1906. Lillie May, born March 19, 1882, is the next of the family. Leo Dahlgren, born February 1, 1884, was married June 19, 1912, to Albertie West. Another child, born July 23, 1887, died in infancy. Sterling Dahlgren, born April 4, 1890, wedded Lois Peters, a resident of Brigham. Constance, born June 12, 1892, is the wife of Perry D. Peters also of Brigham.

     Victor Emmanuel Madsen was educated in the public schools of Brigham and for a year was a student in the Agricultural College at Logan. When fifteen years of age he started out to earn his own livelihood and was first employed in the Cache valley, where he engaged in the creamery business until 1905. During the period from 1900 until 1905 he worked his way steadily upward until he was made manager of the Blackman & Griffin creamery. In the latter year he was called on a mission to Denmark, where he served for thirty-three months and during the latter nineteen was secretary of the Scandinavian mission and had charge of the choir during the entire time. In his labors there he was very successful.
     Mr. Madsen has been married twice. In Salt Lake Temple, April 23, 1902, he wedded Miss Beatrice Winifred Midgley, a native of Nephi, Utah, and a daughter of Benjamin and Sarah J. (Jackson) Midgley, representatives of an old and prominent family of Nephi. Mrs. Madsen passed away October 6, 1902, at the age of twenty-five years. On the 24th of June, 1908, Mr. Madsen wedded Sarah Cleofa Forsgren, a daughter of John H. and Annie Jane (Evans) Forsgren, of Brigham, Utah. She was born May 11, 1881, and they have become parents of three children: Victor Earl, born April 14, 1909; Irwin Denton, who was born December 16, 1910, and died December 18, 1910; and Harold Lee, born July 26, 1913.
     Mr. Madsen has membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the third ward of Brigham and is first counselor in the stake presidency. He went on a mission to Scandinavia covering the years from 1905 to 1907 and for many years prior to going on the mission had charge of the music of the ward and also of the tabernacle choir of Brigham. He served in the third ward bishopric for two years and came into the stake presidency on the 18th of March, 1917. He has also been active in Sunday school work as a member of the board and is an ex-superintendent of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association, while in other organizations directed by the church he has likewise been active. During the period of the war he was a member of the County Council of Defense and a member of the central committee on War Savings Stamps. He owns a pleasant residence at No. 116 North Second West, where he and his family reside. He is a progressive business man, taking the keenest interest in all that has to do with the welfare and progress of city and state, and has made the Box Elder News the exponent of all plans and projects which have for their object the uplift of the individual and the betterment of the community at large.

[The information that Victor had a previous marriage was new to me. Winnifred's  death predates a lot of available on-line records so I do not know what the cause of death was. She is buried in Brigham City Cemetery in plot B-3-12-1. [I do not yet have a photo of that headstone]. There were, of course, no children born to this marriage. ]

CENSUS: 1910 U.S. Census of Brigham City, Box Elder, Ward 3; ED7 Sheet 3-B, Taken 25 & 26 April.
Madsen, Victor E, head, md, age 31, his 2nd marriage 2 yrs., newspaper manager born Utah Madsen, Cleopha, wife, md, age 28, her first marriage 2 yrs., mother of 1 child, 1 child living. Born Utah, father born Nevada, mother born Nebraska,
Madsen, Victor Earl, son, age 1, born Utah

Victor E. Madsen was editor of the Box Elder News and is given part credit for organizing the first "Peach Day."

HONOR: Ogden Standard Examiner, Wed Evening, Sept 20, 1922.

     "Brigham's First Peach Day staged 18 years ago". Many people ask the questions: "How was it started?" "Who originated the idea?" "When was the first one held?
     The honor of holding the city's first festival in great part is due to two men: S. Norman Lee and the late Victor E. Madsen.
      With the idea in mind of advertising the Brigham City country as an ideal fruit growing section and at the same time granting an oppotunity of staging a festival and carnival they staged the first Peach Day 18 years, ago in the fall of 1904. . . .
     . . . These two men worked hard and late at night to make the event a success and they accomplished their end. So successful were the first festivals that it was decided that the day should be made a community even and the celebration was then turned over to the city. For a year or so the fruit growers of the vicinity took charge and later, when the chamber of commerce was formed, was given into the hands of the organization. . . .

MISCELLANEOUS: Ogden Standard Examiner, Oct. 26, 1921
     Judgment was awarded Victor E. Madsen against the Utah-Idaho Central Railroad company in the sum of $15 with interest at 8 per cent from Nov. 19, 1921 for the killing of a milch cow by one of the railroad company's passenger trains at what is known as the Wilson cossing a mile north of this city. This case was heard in the city court during the summer, at which time the court found in favor of the plaintiff and the defense appealed to the district court.

DEATH: Ogden Standard Examiner, June 4, 1922
BRIGHAM CITY EDITOR EXPIRES
   Victor E. Madsen Succumbs to Complications Following Operation
Special Dispatch, Brigham, June 3 - Victor E. Madsen, editor and manager of the Box Elder News died at 11:30 o'clock Saturday morning. Mr. Madsen was operated on Tuesday noon for appendicitis and was apparently getting along as well as possible until Friday evening when he took a turn for the worse.
   Mr. Madsen had been the editor and manager of the Box Elder News since 1909. He had also held the position of first counselor to President Norman Lee of the Box Elder stake since 1917. He served a mission for the LDS church to Scandinavia, 1905-1907. He is survived by a widow, two children, 12 and eight years old. Funeral services have not been arranged.         

Ogden Standard Examiner, June 6, 1922
MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR CHURCH LEADER
   Brigham, June 6 - Memorial services for President Victor E. madsen, editor of the Box Elder News, who died Saturday, were held Sunday afternoon in the stake tabernacle. President Madsen died following an operation for acute appendicitis.
   The following speakers paid tribute to President Madsen: Jess W. Hoopes, Bishop Brigham Wright, Bishop H.W. Valentine, President Norman Lee of Brigham City and President Charles H. Hart and Apostle George A. Smith of Salt Lake City.   President Madsen was characterized as the "friend of humanity," the "man who loved." The choir rendered special numbers undert he direction of Professor Mann.

FUNERAL NOTICE: Deseret News, Tues June 6 1922, p. 3
CONFERENCE IS TURNED INTO MEMORIAL MEETING
Brigham City- June 6-At the quartrly stake conference Sunday only one session was held and that in the afternoon. After the opening exercises and sustaining the officers of the church and stake, the meeting was turned into a memorial meeting in honor the late Prest.Victor E. Madsen. The speakers were Elder Charles H. Hart, Elder George Albert Smith,Bishop Brigham Wright, Bishop H.W. Valentine and Prest. S. Norman Lee.   Beautiful tributes were paid to the character of Mr. Madsen and a special musical program was rendered.
BUSINESS HOUSES TO CLOSE DURING MADSEN FUNERAL
Brigham City, June 6- Announcement is made that funeral services for the late Victor E. Madsen, who died Saturday, will be held in the stake tabernacle Wednesday afternoon commencing at 2 o'clock. All business houses will close between the hours of 1:30 and 4:00 on Wednesday so that all who desire may attend the funeral.

BURIAL: Brigham City Cem B-3-12-2. Sexton's recs list d.o.d. as 5 June 1922

Sarah Cleofa Forsgren & Victor Emanuel Madsen were the parents of three children:
         
           #1) - Victor Earl Madsen, born 14 April 1909, Brigham City.  Died 30 Jan 1993 Brigham City and buried 3 Feb 1993 in Brigham City Cemetery plot B-3-12-6  Victor Earl (known mostly as Earl) married Elizabeth Romney 7 August 1939 in the Salt Lake Temple.  Elizabeth was born 3 Apr 1907 in Colonia Juarez, Mexico.  She died 9 Feb 1993 in Brigham City and was buried 13 Feb 1993 in the Brigham City Cemetery plot B-3-12-7

 DEATH: Social Security Death Index
   Name: Elizabeth R. Madsen
   Last Residence, Brigham City
   Born 3 April 1907; Died 9 Feb. 1993.
   SSN issued Calif, before 1951

BURIAL: Brigham City Cem B-3-12-7; Sexton's records list her parents as Miles Archibald Romney and Elizabeth Burrell; IGI lists Mile Romney and Elizabeth Burrell.

Victor Earl Forsgren is listed as part of the Family Tree of Kristin Glass 03-06-2011 on ancestry.com submitted by Douglas T. Anderson. No death information is listed

MILITARY: Utah Military Records, 1861-1970
Military Service Cards, ca. 1898-1975
Local Board No. 3
Madsen, Victor Earl (wh), Rank: Sgt. Ser. # 399 158 25 Army
Commissioned 6/5/43 Salt Lake City, Utah
Termination of Service 10/11/45, Ft. Bliss, Texas
Date of Birth 4/14/09, Brigham, Utah
Parents Victor E. Madsen, deceased; Cleo F. Madsen, 116 N. 2nd W., Brigham (also nearest kin)
Marital Status: Married. Wife Elizabeth Romney 22 E. 1st N. Brigham

MILITARY: U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
Name: Victor E Madsen
Birth Year: 1909
Race: White, Citizen (White)
Nativity State or Country: Utah
State of Residence: Utah
County or City: Box Elder
Enlistment : 15 Jun 1943 Salt Lake City, Utah
Branch Code: Veterinary Corps or Service - For Officers of the Veterinary Corps and for Enlisted Men of the Veterinary Service Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source: Civil Life
Education: 1 year of college
Civil Occupation: Retail managers
Marital Status: Married
Height: 89 ;  Weight: 104

APPOINTMENTS: Ogden Standard Examiner, April 28, 1946
V.E. MADSEN NEW C.C. SECRETARY
      Brigham City, April 27 - V. Earl Madsen, returned army veteran and Brigham City businessman, is the new secretary of the Box Elder chamber of commerce, it was learned today from the chamber's board of directors. Mr. Madsen replaces Carroll B. Williams who resigned to enter private business insurance.
Mr. Madsen will take office on May 3. He is a son of the late Victor E. Madssen and Cleo F. Madsen
       Before entering the army, Mr. Madsen was manager of a Brigham City clothing store. His wife is the former Elizabeth Romney, a former faculty member at Box Elder high school.
      Mr. Madsen's father was editdor of the Box Elder News for 14 years and served in the LDS Box Elder stake presidency for a number of years before his death.

DEATH: Social Security Death Index
Name: Victor E. Madsen
Last Residence, Brigham City, Utah
Born: 14 April 1909; Died 30 Jan 1993
SSCard issued Utah before 1951

BURIAL: Brigham City Cem B-3-12-6

Front and back of their headstone

Victor Earl Madsen and Elizabeth Romney had two sons:  #1 Richard Romney Madsen (born 30 Sep 1946, Ogden, Weber Co.  Died 20 July 2002 in Weber County.  Buried in Brigham City Cemetery plot B-26-15-6.  [I have no information if Richard married or not or how many children they might have had.  I also have no photo of him]

   #2) Alan Romney Madsen, born 2 Aug 1951, Oakland, Alameda Co., Calif.  Died 13 April 1987 in Garland, Box Elder County.  He is also buried in Brigham City Cemetery plot B-26-15-6W.  Alan Married Janet Johnson , and they have three children

From findagrave.com (submitted by Sarah Argyle)
ALAN ROMNEY MADSEN
Birth: Aug. 2, 1951
Oakland  Alameda County   California, USA
Death: Apr. 13, 1987
Garland, Box Elder County, Utah, USA
"Alan was the son of Victor Earl and Elizabeth Romney Madsen. He was married to Janet Johnson and had three loving children James, Alison and Sarah. He worked for many years for the Union Pacific Railroad. Alan was a kind and loving man. Everyone that met him loved him. He died too young to meet any of his six wonderful grandchildren. He has been dearly missed."

Victor Emmanuel and Sarah Cleofa Forsgren Madsen's
          Child #2) - Irwin Denton Madsen, born 16 Dec 1910 in Brigham City;  Died 2 days later on 18 Dec. 1910 in Brigham.  Buried in Brigham City Cemetery plot B-3-12-8
 

Victor Emmanuel and Sarah Cleofa Forsgren Madsen's
          Child #3) -- Harold Lee Madsen , born 27 July 1913, Brigham City;  Died 7 April 2004, Salt Lake City.  Body returned to Brigham City Cemetery for burial on 14 Apr 2004.  Harold married LouVell Roberts on 5 Aept 1942 in the Salt Lake Temple.  LouVelle was born 21 Sep 1906 in Monroe, Sevier Co., Utah, the daughter of Walter Roberts and Millie Elizabeth Nebeker.  She died 28 Feb 1979 in Walnut Creek, Contra Costa Co., California and was buried 2 mar 1979 in Hayward, Alameda Co., California.  Harold and LouVell are the parents of two sons:  John David Madsen and Bard R. Madsen


(Harold's Obituary photo)
In 1960 Harold was living in San Lorenzo Calif

CENSUS: 1930 Census of Brigham, Box Elder, taken Apr 4, ED 2-7 Sheet 3-B, North 1st East, Family #69
Madsen, Cleofa G, head, age 48, own home, widow, age 27 when md, born Utah, father born Nevada, mother born Nebraska, stenographer for Farm Bureau
Madsen, V. Earl, age 20, born Utah, minister for Latterday Saints Church
Madsen, Harold L, age 16, born Utah, salesman at Shoe Store

MILITARY: Utah, Military Records, 1861-1970
Name: Harold Lee Madsen
Birth Date: 27 Jul 1913 Brigham City, Utah, age 29
Father: Victor E Madsen   Mother: Sarah Madsen
Military Service Year: 1942

U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
Name: Harold L Madsen , white, citizen
Birth Year: 1913 Residence Box Elder Co., Utah
Enlistment Date: 2 Sep 1942 Salt Lake City, Utah
Branch: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Grade: Private
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source: Civil Life
Education: 4 years of college
Civil Occupation: Teachers (secondary school) and principals
Marital Status: Single, without dependents
Height: 68 /  Weight: 130

OBITUARY: Contra Costa Times, Apr. 19, 2004 (also published in Box Elder News, 19 Apr 2004, Deseret News Apr. 19, 2004 (with photo) Walnut Creek, CA paper, & S.L. Tribune -all on April 19)
     Harold Lee Madsen passed away Wednesday, April 7, 2004 in Salt Lake City, Utah from causes incident to age. Hal was born July 27, 1913 in Brigham City, Utah to Victor E. Madsen and Cleofa Forsgren Madsen. He was raised in Brigham City in the Third Ward. He graduated from Box Elder High School and was pleased to attend his 73rd class reunion last year. He graduated from the University of Utah and returned to Brigham City to teach art at the High School there. He married LouVell Roberts on September 5, 1942 in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were the parents of two sons, John David Madsen (Peggy) of Brigham City, Utah and Dr. Bard Roberts Madsen (Adele) of Salt Lake City, Utah. Hal served in World War II in the Air Force receiving special training at Yale University. After his honorable discharge, he and LouVell moved to California to pursue his career in apparel design. They lived most of their lives in the San Francisco Bay Area in San Lorenzo and Martinez. After his work in the apparel industry, Hal joined the faculty of Diablo Valley College teaching apparel design and history of design. He left a legacy of creativity and appreciation for his craft among his students via fashion shows, and trips to fashion centers in the U.S. and abroad. Among his avocations were painting landscape watercolors, gourmet cooking, gardening and landscaping, furniture building, stained glass work, attending the symphony and the opera as well as traveling home and abroad. Hal had a special talent in playing the piano which he enjoyed and shared with others most of his life. He his survived by his sons and their wives and grandchildren: Greg Madsen, Brigham City; Nate (Amy) Madsen, Chicago, Illinois; Joanna Siddoway (Lex) Bellevue, Washington; Josh (Jessy) Madsen, Boulder, Colorado; Kasey Later (Steve) Provo, Utah; Scott Madsen, Salt Lake City, Utah; Jane Madsen and Annie Madsen, Provo, Utah. Graveside services are Wednesday, April 14, 2004 at 3:00 P.M. At the Brigham City Cemetery under the direction of Gillies Funeral Chapel, Brigham City,UT.   [I do not yet have a photo of Harold Madsen's headstone]

JOHN HEBER FORSGREN'S WIFE #2 -  Cynthia Marie Thorne, born 4 Sep 1864, Three Mile Creek, Box Elder Co. Died 14 Nov 1900 in Brigham City;  buried 19 Nov  1900 in Brigham City Cemetery. She was known as Marie or Maria in her lifetime.

DEATH: There is no death certificate for her on the Utah Birth and Death Certificates online database
Obituary Deseret Evening News: Friday, Nov 16, 1900 p. 7
"DEMISE OF MRS. MARIA T. FORSGREN, A VICTIM OF TYPHOID
    Brigham City, Box Elder Co., Nov. 15- Mrs. Maria T. Forsgren, wife of John H. Forsgren of the Third Ward, died of typhoid fever last night at about 6:15. She was stricken down with the dread disease about two weeks ago and has suffered severely ever since until her death. Mrs. Forsgren is the daughter of Richard Thorn of Three Mile Creek and has been prominent in society in this city for some years. She leaves a husband and four small children to cherish her memory. This is the second time that Mr. Forsgren has been called upon to part with a young wife, his former wife having died suddenly about fifteen years ago leaving one child, a girl."

BURIAL: Brigham City Cemetery B-18-7-4 - listed as Maria Thorne Forsgren with death 16 Nov 1900

WIFE #3 - LYDIA ANN WALKER , born 27 Aug. 1872 in Perry, Box Elder Co.  Died 18 August 1961 in Salt Lake City; buried 22 Aug. 1961 in the Brigham City Cemetery

NEWS ARTICLES: Ogden Standard Examiner, 22 July 1928

      "Mrs. John H. Forsgren of Salt Lake is visiting relatives and friends in Brigham City. Mrs. Forsgren is compiling a history of Box Elder county and is here in the interest of same."

Ogden Standard Examiner, 7 April 1932
     ". . . Mrs. Ella Bingham, chairman of the Box Elder county history committee. She presented Mrs. Lydia W. Forsgren of Salt Lake City, wife of the late John Forsgren, a former hardware merchant of Brigham City, who has written and compiled a book of the history of Box Elder county. The plan of the book, which is now being published, was shown. It will be bound with a bronze leather covering, showing ox teams. Colored plates and pioneer pictures will be featured. This book when released will be of much interest to Box Elder people and the daughters were asked to pledge their support in co-operating with the history committee in the sale of these books. . . ."

Lydia Walker Forsgren was apparently a Democrat. She was a delegate to the state Democratic Convention in Sept of 1908 (Box Elder News)

Below is a sample of Lydia's handwriting.  Along with being the historian for the Box Elder County history she seemed to also have immersed herself in genealogy.  This letter would have been written probably to Olivia
Forsgren Lee who was also very interested in the family genealogy from the Peter Adolph Forsgren side.

OBITUARY:  Salt Lake Tribune Saturday, August 19, 1961 p. 29 (with photo) & funeral notice 8/20/1961 p. B-9
"FORMER UTAH EDUCATOR, 89, DIES AT S.L. HOME
     Mrs. Lydia Walker Forsgren, 89, 1897 15th East, former teacher and active church worker died Friday at 3:30 p.m. at her home of causes incident to age.
     Active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mrs. Forsgren taught in Utah schools shortly after 1900. She was also the author of a history of Box Elder County, sponsored by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, of which she was a member.
     Born Aug. 27, 1872, in Perry, Box Elder County, she was a daughter of Dan Wray and Barbara Ann Walker.  She was married to John Heber Forsgren July 1, 1903, in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.  Mr. Forsgren died Aug. 4, 1946.
     Survivors include sons and daughters, Waler W., Miss Barbara, Miss Afton and Donald W. Forsgren, all of Salt Lake City; step-children, Charles Victor Forsgren, Mrs. Leland Larsen, both of Brigham City, and Mrs. Ethleen F. Burnham, Salt Lake City, and two sisters, Mrs. Jack Davis, Ririe, Idaho, and Mrs. Wallace A. (Maude) Laury, Denver, Colo."

The home on the corner of 15th East & 18th South where John Heber and Lydia Walker Forsgren lived

LAST RITES SET FOR TEACHER
     Funeral services for Mrs Lydia Walker Forsgren, 89, 1897-15th East, who died Friday at 3:30 p.m. in her home of causes incident to age, are scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m., at 260 E. South Temple, where friends may call Monday, 6-8 p.m. and Tuesday prior.
     MRS. FORSGREN was a former teacher and was author of a history of Box Elder County.  Burial will be in Brigham City Cemetery Tuesday at 12:30 p.m.

An obituary was also published in the Deseret News Aug. 19, 1961, p. B-5

BURIAL: Brigham City Cemetery : B-18-7-2