Memorial Day Family History Tour 2018 - Mouritsen Edition, Part II (Bennington)

This is the 2nd part of the Memorial Day Family History Tour 2018. Here is Part I.

Upon leaving Smithfield, I continued North into Idaho before turning East on Highway 36 toward Montpelier.

View while driving through the canyon en route to Montpelier

Upon arriving in Montpelier, I headed straight to the Bennington Cemetery, which is just a little ways off of Hwy 30, just north of Montpelier. I had never been there before, but it was small enough that it was relatively easy to find the graves that I was looking for. The Mouritsen graves were clustered in the southwest corner of the cemetery.

Headstone of Mourits Mouritsen

Mourits was the oldest child and only son of Lars and Maren Mourtisen (he had an older half-sister, Johanna Marie). He was born in January of 1849 and joined the Church along with his parents in February of 1858. (Incidentally, his baptism date in FamilySearch shows as 17 February 1857, which to me seems likely to be incorrect since Lars and Maren were baptized 17 February 1858. Does anyone know how to correct that? Or have information that makes it seem the 1857 date is correct?) He migrated with his family to Utah in 1859, ultimately settling in Smithfield in 1865. In May of 1870, he married Mary Elizabeth Hillyard, with whom he had 5 children, only two of which (Mary Elizabeth and Eliza Jane) survived childhood. Mary died in January of 1881 and his two surviving daughters returned to live with Mary's parents for the time being. Mourits remained single for the next four years, when at the age of 36, and possibly at the prodding of his father Lars (Lars was promised in his patriarchal blessing that he would have a "kingdom upon the earth which (should) bear (his) name in the house of Israel forever", but as of yet, Mourits had no male heirs to carry on the Mouritsen name), he married Susan Elizabeth Wildman (age 23) and Carrie Hansen (age 17) on the same day in October of 1885. Less than three weeks later, Mourits was en route to Denmark, where he had been called to labor as a missionary, leaving his young wives (Lizzie was already pregnant with Edward, who Mourits would not see until he was 14 months old) along with his two older daughters, now 13 and 9, respectively.

When Mourits returned in August of 1887, the situation had changed considerably with regards to polygamy, and it was no longer safe for them to all live together. It was decided that Lizzie and her baby would remain in their Smithfield home, Mourits, Carrie, and Mary would go to Star Valley, Wyoming, and Eliza would live with her Grandma Hillyard in Smithfield. Mourits never made it to Star Valley and Mourits and Carrie ended up establishing a ranch just east of Bennington. It wasn't until several years later, in 1903, that Lizzie and her children were able to move to Montpelier to be closer to the rest of the family. Mourits remained in Bennington until he passed away in 1922.

Grave marker of Susan Elizabeth Wildman Mouritsen (my great-great-grandmother, known as Lizzie)

Susan Elizabeth Wildman was born in March of 1862 in Ontario Canada. Her parents joined the Church in 1866 and migrated to Utah in 1868. She grew up in Smithfield and then married Mourits in 1885. Lizzie had eight children with Mourits, four boys and four girls (plus another stillborn daughter). Only one of her four sons would live beyond early adulthood. Roy, the youngest, drowned just a few days after his 6th birthday. Edward and Glendale died within a few years of each other, Edward in a railroad accident in February of 1913 and Glendale (my great-grandfather) of appendicitis in July of 1915. Both Edward and Glendale had children they never knew. In Glendale's case, it was his only child, a son, my grandfather. Lizzie took care of Mourits at the end of his life (he was ill for more than two years before he died). She passed away at the home of her oldest daughter, Vara, in November of 1946.

Headstone of Edward Mouritsen, Lizzie's oldest son

Edward was the oldest child of Mourits and Lizzie and was born in 1886 while Mourits was still on a mission to Denmark. Edward was killed in February of 1913 in a railroad accident (from the Montpelier Examiner):

"Ed Mouritsen, a signal maintainer at Fossil, was killed instantly last Sunday afternoon near that town, by being struck by a freight engine.

"Ed had been over to Kemmerrer acting as a pall bearer at a funeral of his friend, Edward Pekinpaugh, and had come back to Fossil, changed his clothes, and started east on his motor-road speeder. He was accompanied by a friend. They had gone only a short distance when they met the freight train coming down Fossil Hill. There was a blizzard blowing at the time, and neither one on the cycle noticed the train until they were almost together. The friend saw the train first and called to Ed to jump, at the same time sliding off the car himself. Evidently the unfortunate maintainer did not hear the warning and the next instant the freight engine had struck both him and the car and buried them into the ditch; Ed was killed instantly."

Edward left behind a wife and two children, a son and a daugher, along with a third son, Edward, who would not be born until that September.

Grave marker of Edward Wildman, Lizzie's father (my great-great-great-grandfather)

 As mentioned above, Edward Wildman joined the Church in 1866 and migrated to Utah in 1868. His history says that he became an alcoholic when he arrived in Utah and never recovered from that. He was able to be sealed to his wife and older children in 1910 (he was sealed to his wife in the Endowment House in 1868, but the older children were not with them. The younger children were born in the covenant), just three years before his death. Edward lived in Smithfield the majority of the time after migrating to Utah and I was unable to find anything definitive on why he was in Bennington when he died. My assumption is that at some point after his wife died in 1911, he went to live with Lizzie (or at least near her), but I couldn't find anything that said that explicitly. He died in November of 1913, the same year that Lizzie's son Edward was killed.

L to R: Grave marker of Lizzie and headstone of Mourits

Mourits and Lizzie had been married for just under 37 years when Mourits died in September of 1922.

Grave marker of Carrie Hansen Mouritsen, Mourits' third wife (Mourits married Lizzie and Carrie on the same day)

Karen (Carrie) Hansen was born in May of 1868 in Denmark. Her parents had joined the Church just prior to her birth and the family migrated to Utah in 1870. In October of 1885, just a few months after her 17th birthday, and despite her parents' attempts to dissuade her, Carrie, along with Susan Elizabeth Wildman, married Mourits Mouritsen. Carrie had eight children with Mourits (she was 19 years younger than her husband and 20 years older than her oldest child, Victor), but in 1907, she died giving birth to her ninth child, a daughter, who died as well. (Her daughter Leah says that the early labor and hemorrhage were brought on by Carrie's doing housework because she heard that her family was coming from Logan to visit). At the time of Carrie's death, there were 16 living children (8 of Lizzie's and 8 of Carrie's, the older two girls from Mourits' first marriage were married and had moved away), the oldest of which was 21.

Headstone for my great-grandparents, Glendale Mouritsen and Nettie Maybelle Crane Mouritsen

Glendale Mouritsen was born in 1892 in Smithfield. Before he turned two, his family moved to Bennington and it's there that he grew up (Glen's mother Lizzie didn't move to Montpelier until 1903, but Glen's history says he moved to Bennington in 1894. A little unclear what the situation was there. Maybe Glen went to live with Carrie and Mourits?). Nettie Maybelle Crane was also born in 1892 (she was a month older than Glen) in Herriman, Utah. Her family moved to Bennington when her father bought a ranch north of there in 1904. Being the same age, Glen and Nettie would have gone to school together and probably became acquainted there. They were married in December of 1914.

Glen purchased a fish and game license in June of 1915 and described himself as "five feet and eleven inches tall, weigh two hundred pounds, am light-complexioned, have light hair and blue eyes".

Glen played catcher on the Bennington baseball team. In early July, they had an important game in Fairview, Wyoming. Glen had some stomach pains when he left which he assumed were indigestion. During the game, he was struck with a fastball and immediately became much sicker. He was transported back home to the Montpelier Hospital where it soon became apparent that he would not live. He signed a will dated July 10, leaving everything to Nettie (they had been married less than seven months) and asked Nettie's father to take Nettie (who was pregnant with my grandfather) back into his home.

Glen's younger sister Bertie recalls the following:

"Nettie begged Dr. Ashley to let her go in and see Glen, and he said he would on one condition -- that she would not break down while in Glen's room. Nettie took some time to compose herself, went in and picked up Glen's hand, and just stood and looked at him for a few minutes. She kissed him and said goodnight and turned to leave the room when Glen said, 'So-long Kid.' They both knew that was goodbye."

Glen died July 12, 1915. My grandfather was born that October. He lived in Bennington until he was four, at which time Nettie married Roy Boulter and they moved to Draper. Nettie was buried next to Glen in Bennington when she died in 1960.

Headstone of my great-great-grandparents, James Crane and Sarah Jane Butterfield Crane

Nettie's parents, James George Crane and Sarah Jane Butterfield Crane grew up in Herriman, Utah, before marrying and relocating to Bennington in 1904. Sarah's grandfather, Thomas Butterfield, was one of the founders of Herriman and Butterfield Canyon is named after him. James' father, James Crane, grew up a virtual orphan in Wales before joining the Church and coming to Utah, where he was another early settler of Herriman and the first Bishop of the Herriman Ward.

After spending some time in the cemetery, I was a bit hungry so I drove back to Montpelier and got some lunch at Dan's Drive In. I thought about leaving for home at that point but decided that I had driven all this way so I should probably see what else I could before leaving. I got in touch with Melissa Mouritsen Wheeler (granddaughter of Irvin Mouritsen), whose family owns the land where the original Mouritsen home was located and asked her to direct me there. After an initial misunderstanding (I think I drove most of the way to Geneva before realizing I was on the wrong "Canyon Road"), I was able to find the site.

After spending some time there, I headed back toward Bennington, but stopped at the campsite on the Mouritsen ranch land and was able to meet Roger Johnson and his wife, Tina. Roger is another grandson of Irvin and Melissa's cousin. Both Roger and Melissa would be my dad's (half) second cousins. We had a nice visit and Roger shared with me a lot about the history of the ranch and his grandfather, Irvin.

By this time, it was getting late and I had a long drive back to Grantsville, so I hit the road.

Because of my great-grandfather's early death and my great-grandmother's remarriage, I feel I had lost some connection to my extended Mouritsen relatives. (I had never even been to Bennington for crying out loud!). It was nice to be able to go to these places and feel that connection to my ancestors.

Memorial Day Family History Tour 2018 - Mouritsen Edition, Part I (Smithfield)

I knew it was going to be a long day, so I made sure to get an early start, leaving my house in Grantsville just before 7 AM. Soon after stopping at the McDonald's in Lakepoint, I was left to ponder whether the second Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit had been either wise or necessary. At that point, the answer seemed quite obviously no on both counts.

Just under two hours later, I was pulling into the parking lot of the Smithfield Tabernacle, which is now used by the city of Smithfield as a Recreation Center, the first official stop on my tour.

Smithfield Tabernacle

North Side of Smithfield Tabernacle

South Side of Smithfield Tabernacle

My great-great-great grandfather Lars Mouritsen (from whom I get my middle name), along with his grandson, Joseph Merrill, was responsible for making (most of) the brick used in the construction of the Smithfield Tabernacle. Lars was a brickmaker in Smithfield and was approached by the leading authorities of the Church to burn 200,000 brick to build the tabernacle. He did not feel equal to the task and turned them down. Three different times they approached him about it and each time he declined. Finally, he was told that he could either go on a mission or burn the brick. He said he could not preach so he would burn the brick. He was involved in making the brick from 1880 to 1887 when he sold his brick business and moved to a larger farm.

Lars was born in 1825 in Denmark. Not much is known of his childhood but at least part of it was quite traumatic because his father committed suicide by slitting his own throat when Lars was 11. In September of 1848, he married Maren Sorensen, who had a two-year old illegitimate daughter at the time. The daughter, Johanne Marie, was raised as the daughter of Lars and Maren, but was probably never legally adopted by Lars. Lars and Maren joined the church in February of 1858 and were baptized by Niels Peter Larsen (who incidentally is my great-great-great grandfather through my paternal grandmother). Lars migrated to Utah in 1859. After two years in Sessions Settlement (Bountiful) and four more years in Plain City, Lars and his family moved to Smithfield where Lars would reside for the remainder of his life.

After spending some time at the Tabernacle, I moved on to the Smithfield Cemetery, and after looking about for a bit, I was able to find the graves of Lars, his wife Maren, his grandson Joseph Merrill, and Joseph's two wives, Katie and Grace Hale.

Grave marker for Katie Hale Merrill and her son, Joseph Aroet

Grave markers for Joseph Merrill and his second wife, Grace Emma Hale Merrill

Grave marker for Joseph Merrill

Grave marker for Grace Emma Hale Merrill

L to R: Grace, Joseph, Katie/Joseph Aroet

Headstone for Maren Sorensen Mouritsen

Headstone of Lars Mouritsen

Maren and Lars Mouritsen

L to R: Katie/Joseph Aroet, Joseph, Grace, Maren, Lars

While reading about some of my Mouritsen ancestors, I became interested in the story of Joseph Merrill, Lars' grandson. Joseph, born in March of 1868, was the son of Horatio Harris Merrill and Martine (Martha) Mourtisen Merrill (who was my great-great-grandfather Mourits' sister). Martha died in the birth of Joseph's younger brother Martin when Joseph was only two. The two children fell under the care of Lars and Maren, but Martin died from dysentery when he was seven months old. Joseph was raised by Lars and Maren and as mentioned above, assisted Lars in making the brick for the Smithfield Tabernacle.

 In November of 1890, Joseph married Katie Eliza Hale in the Logan Temple. On Christmas Day of that same year he was called on a mission to Samoa and two weeks after that Katie was called to accompany him. They were set apart in February of 1891 and arrived in Samoa a short time later. Tragedy struck in June when Katie became ill and gave birth to her baby prematurely. On June 29, 1891, the baby died, and an hour later, Katie "talked with her husband, kissed him goodbye, and all was over." Katie and her baby, whom they named Joseph Aroet, were buried in the same coffin.

Joseph completed his mission, returning home May 14, 1894. He was able to bring the bodies of his wife and son as he explains:

"I brought the bodies of my wife and son home for burial to Smithfield. Getting the bodies home was a miracle, for it was against the rules to take a corpse. The shipping clerk in some way listed it as Dry Bones for Experiments and I was able to bring them home in a hermetically sealed and wooden box. On board the Captain somehow found out and swore me to secrecy, or passengers would sue the company. We arrived safely."

In June of 1894, Joseph married Katie's sister, Grace Emma Hale at Logan. He later returned to Samoa as president of the Samoan mission in 1901. He died in 1961.

While Joseph's story was immediately interesting and compelling, it became even more so when I connected the dots. Joseph's wives, Katie and Emma, were the daughters of Alma Hale, who had originally settled, along with his brother Aroet, in Grantsville, Utah. After the completion of the Logan Temple, Alma and his family moved to Smithfield to be closer to the temple which is where his daughers became acquainted with Joseph. Alma's brother, Aroet, is the great-great-great- grandfather of my wife, Jeanell. My great-grandfather's first cousin was married to Jeanell's great-great-grandfather's first cousins.

It was still early at this point, but I still had a fairly long journey ahead so I continued north to my next stop: Bennington, Idaho.

Part II