MARY HALVERSON
(ANE MARIE CHRISTIANSDATTER PETERSON BOEL HALVERSON)
June 12, 1952 Springville Herald
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| Ane Mary Peterson Halverson |
Mrs. Halverson lives with a son, Joseph L. Halverson, on the Main highway at Mapleton, about a block south of Holley's Service. She does her shopping in the nearby grocery store and helps with the housework and cooking. Her story of the experiences she has had in her native Denmark and of the hard times she has had since she came to this country, is one of the most interesting we have heard. She relates her own story as follows:
"I was born March 17, 1870 in Oudrup, Denmark, which was about five miles from the sea. My father's name was Christian Peterson and my mother, Mary Sorensen.
"They were farmers and also had cattle and sheep. Just east of the old home there was a large hill that sloped quite steeply to a point, and at the top there was a hole or depression that was filled with water the year around. (where the name Bol or Boel or Bole originated) The children used to climb the hill and in the summer, the water was shallow enough that we could wade in it.
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| Mary Halverson |
"I went to school until I was in the third grade. When I was nine years old the Latter Day Saints missionaries came to our home and my parents became interested in their message. My mother, while visiting in Aalborg, was baptized in the sea. They had to break the ice to baptize her but she suffered no ill effects from the experience.
"Two years previous to this time, my father and five of the children had emigrated to Zion.
"The Mormon elders had been to my grandfather's home several years before this time, but he was very bitter and would not listen to them.
My father's sister, Christiana, who later was married to Frederick Twede, loved to hear the gospel and she would go at night, under a pretense of going to a party, to hear the elders preach. She and her mother joined the LDS church, and Mrs. Twede pulled a handcart across the plains.
"I recall my Grandfather Peterson, who was a small man and often wore a loose cloak. As children, we used to follow him about as he went to stake the dry cattle out and we would get under his cloak.
"At the age of ten years I accompanied my mother and the twins, Pierre and Nels, to join my father in Great Salt Lake. We came from New York by train, arriving in Utah on June 24, 1880.
"I recall that I was not seasick on my voyage to this country, and each evening the missionaries would come and conduct prayer. This was strange to me, as we had never had prayer in our home.
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| Lars Andreas & Ane Mary Halverson |
"Father rented a farm from Bishop Hunter of Salt Lake and we lived in a two-room frame home that Bishop Hunter built. It was about a mile west of town. During this time, I helped to herd cows and milk them and helped with the house work. We did not know anyone who lived in Pleasant Grove, but one day a man who had been our neighbor in Denmark, and now lived in Levan, passed our house and recognized father. It was a happy reunion.
"During our stay in Pleasant Grove, I was baptized into the LDS Church.
"Just east of our house there was a nice pasture and every summer the Indians camped there. They were friendly and never bothered anybody.
"There were quite a number of Danish families living in Pleasant Grove, and I recall an interesting incident in connection with a conference held there. President Lund was in attendance and began to speak to the people, when an old lady who did not understand the English language very well stopped him and said, `President Lund, could you please speak to us in our tongue?' President Lund immediately changed into the Danish tongue and spoke words of hope and comfort to those who had forsaken their homes and native lands for the LDS gospel.
President Stephen L. Chipman was present at the time and he shook his head in wonderment to see President Lund change from one tongue to another without effort.
"After I was in Pleasant Grove three weeks I went to Big Cottonwood to stay with my father's cousin. I worked nine months helping with the children and house work.
"We moved to Mapleton in November 1883 to a one-room frame home on the site where Mary Allen built her house. There was a granary attached at the corner of the house. We arrived there at 9 p.m. and the carpet was pulled back and there was straw on the floor. We pulled up the old carpet and swept up the straw and put up a stove. The pipe on the stove was too short so we had to put it through the window. I remember my Grandmother Peterson stayed out in the wagon all wrapped up until we had the house warm.
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| Chris Eliza Mary Merrill Joe Andrew Harvey |
"I attended school one winter for about four weeks and about five weeks the next winter. My teacher was Hannah Friel.
"One of our closest neighbors was Richard Thorn and his wife and I remember we did not have a cow and they told us to come and milk one of theirs.
"Of our 20 acres of hand, most of it was in sagebrush. My father ploughed the ground with a hand plough and I followed behind pulling the sage brush and piling it. We hauled about 150 loads home to burn.
"We had two horses and two cows and a calf and we planted some crops that spring.
"One winter, I recall, my father made 175 pairs of wooden shoes, and sold them to Mapleton residents for $1.00 per pair for men's and 75c for women's. He had learned to make them in the old country.
"I recall the families living at Mapleton then were the Fifields on the old Marshbanks farm. Tom Williams lived in a dug-out. Mr. Malstrom lived where Rebecca Hall lives; Steven Perry a half-mile south of the meeting house. Lucian Hall lived in a cellar that was walled up with brick.
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| James Ray Myrle Chris Harvey Eliza Mary Andrew Mary Joe Merrill |
"After our marriage, we lived in a house west of the old C. O. Law place until he road east of the Lewis Nielson home was opened. Then we built up the lane.
"My husband engaged in farming all his life. About the time our second child was born we moved to Redmond and live there three years.
"The land at Redmond was poor and the prices for farm produce was bad. Money was very scarce. I recall butter sold for three pounds for 25c. Eggs were 4c per dozen. We couldn't even get a spool of thread for a dozen eggs. Wheat was three bushels for a dollar.
"It was hard in those days to get enough money to pay taxes. We could get script at the store for produce, but seldom saw any money.
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| Halverson house |
"Coming to Mapleton from Redmond, we lived on the site of the Lorin E. Harmer corner, and then moved to Palmyra where we lived for about four years. From there we moved to Mapleton to the Aaron Johnson home, where we have lived more than forty years."
Mr. Halverson died December 9, l928.
Mrs. Halverson served as a Relief Society teacher for 25 years and has always been a faithful member of the LDS church.
Mrs Halverson is the mother of nine sons and daughters, with seven living as follows: James A. Halverson of Spanish Fork; Mrs. Myrtle A. Ashby of Missoula, Montana; Christian P. Halverson of Salt Lake City; Harvey Halverson of West Jordan; Joseph L. Halverson and Merrill F. Halverson of Mapleton; Mrs. Mary H. Bowen of Thornton, Idaho. She has lost a daughter, Eliza, at the age of 45, and a son, Raymond, at the age of 22. She also has 30 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.
MARY PETERSON HALVERSON
Aaron Mendenhall, Springville Herald, 27 December, 1951
The gathering of the remnants of the blood of Israel from far distant lands across the sea to the valleys of the Rocky Mountains is one of the most interesting narratives of modern times. The pattern unfolded in this mighty trek, so closely follows the predictions uttered thousands of years ago by the prophets of ancient Israel, that one cannot doubt the divinity of the whole movement.
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| Barn |
My name is Mary Peterson Halverson. I was born
17 March, 1870 in Oudrup, Denmark, which was about five miles from the sea. My father's was Christian Peterson and my mother's name was Mary Sorenson.
They were farmers and also had cattle and sheep. Just east of the old home, there was a large hill that sloped quite steeply to a point and at the top, there was a large hole or depression that was filled with water the year around. The children used to climb the hill and in the summer, the water was shallow enough so we could wade in it.
In the northern part of Denmark where we lived, the summers were short. The sun arose about 3 a.m. and went down very early. The weather was damp and foggy. It was quite hard to get the grain and hay dry enough so that it could be harvested. The winters were cold and it became dark at 3 p.m.
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| Little Grandma Christian Peter Boel |
I went to school until I was in the third grade. When I was nine years old, the Latter-Day Saint missionaries came to our home and my parents became interested in the restored gospel. Mother, while visiting in Aalborg, was baptized in the sea. They had to break the ice to do this, but mother never took one bit of cold because of it.
Two years previous to this event, my father and five of the children had emigrated to Zion.
The elders had been to my grandfather's home several years before this time, but he was very bitter and would not listen to them.
My father's sister, Christiana, who later married Frederick Tweede, loved to hear the gospel and she would go at night, under the pretense of going to a party, to hear the elders preach. She and her mother joined the Church and Mrs. Tweede [Aunt Christiana] pulled a handcart across the plains.
Grandfather Peterson was a small man and often wore a big loose cloak. We children used to follow him as he went out to take the dry cattle out and get under his cloak.
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| Christian Peter Boel Aunt Hanna |
During the voyage, I was not seasick at all and one of the twins was not, but mother and the other twin were very sick and I helped to take care of them. On the ship, when we were getting ready to retire at night, the elders would come in and have us stand up while they had prayer. I thought this was strange because we did not have any prayers at home.
Upon our arrival in Salt Lake we stayed in a big room of a building in the tithing yard. We stayed there for about two days and then moved down to Pleasant Grove.
Father rented a farm from Bishop Hunter of Salt Lake and we lived in a two room frame house that Bishop Hunter built. It was about one mile west of town. During this time, I helped to herd the cows and milk them and helped with the housework. We did not know anyone who lived in Pleasant Grove, and one Sunday a conference were held there. President Anthon H. Lund was there and started to speak to the people when an old lady who did not understand the English Language very well, stopped him and said, "President Lund, could you please speak to us in our own tongue?" President Lund immediately changed into the Danish tongue and spoke words of hope and comfort to those who had forsaken so much for the gospel sake. Tears of joy ran down the faces of those present as it brought tender memories of home and their native land.
President Stephen L. Chipman was present and he just shook his head in wonder how President Lund could change from one tongue to another without effort.
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| Grandma's Aunt Christiana Peterson Twede |
My father bought twenty acres from Lucian Hall which was 1/4 mile west of the old homestead where they lived for many years. We went up to the bottom of the big slide and hauled cobble rocks and built a two room house. The mud was made by riding a horse around in a mud hole. The water was drawn from a well which we had dug. It was about 20 feet deep and never went dry.
I attended school for about four weeks one winter and about five weeks the next winter to Hannah Friel.
One of our closest neighbors was Richard Thorn and his wife. We did not have a cow and they told us to come and milk one of theirs.
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| Grandpa Boel back center with black beard Aunt Hanna center |
Of the 20 acres of land, 2 1/2 was in lucerne. The other 15 acres was in sagebrush; I pulled it off by hand. With a hand plow, father plowed the ground while I followed along and pulled the sagebrush up and put it in piles. We hauled 150 loads home to burn. Father and Peter Mason dug a well in February. As soon as spring broke, we commenced to build a house. We built a cellar first which we lived in for about 3 months. We had two horses and two cows and a calf and we planted some crops that spring. One winter, father made 175 pairs of wooden shoes. He sold them for $1.00 and the women's for 75 Cents.
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| Grandpa Boel Gidian & Herman Twede John Hafen at Strawberry |
We lived in a house west of the old C.O. Law place until the road east of Lewis Neilsen's house was opened then we built up the lane. He [Andrew] engaged in farming all his life. We had nine children, six boys and three girls: James Andrew, Myrtle Christina, Christian Peter, Raymond, Harvey, Eliza, Joseph Lund, Merrill Franklin, and Mary Hannah. The family moved over east of the Hales place.
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| Donna Grandma Mary Halverson daughter Mary Mary Vincent Halverson |
Coming home from Redmond, we lived on the site of the Lorin E. Harmer corner and then moved to Palmyra where we stayed about 4 years. From there we moved to Mapleton to the Aaron Johnson home where it will be 40 years next 14th of March. I was a Relief Society teacher for 25 years. I am nearly 82 years old and am well and have been very happy with my family. My husband died December 9, 23 years ago and since that time I have kept in touch with my family.
I have a firm testimony of the Gospel and we, as a family, have been blessed many times by the benefits of the same.
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