Anne Mathea's Conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

This is the final history I have received from M. G., written about Anne Mathea (Matilda). It is the story of her conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was written by her granddaughter, Lula Kendall Williams. Lula and her two siblings--older brother, Theone and younger sister, Bertha, were the children of  Matilda's daughter, Ada. Ada and her husband, Joseph Bradford Kendall, Jr., died in 1917 and 1918 respectively and the children were then raised by their grandmother.
Here is a picture of the 4 of them. It was previously posted here.

Picture provided by and used by permission of D.R.

Here is the account, written by Lula:
     "A beautiful mental picture came to my mind as I tried to write this account of my grandmother's conversion to Mormonism.  Many times I heard her relate this experience, and every time it brought tears to her eyes and a lump in her throat, because she had that burning testimony within her bosom that told her the information and knowledge she received at the time is true; that this is the only true church; that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and that he did receive divine revelation from our Heavenly Father.  I, too, feel touched by the account.  It has increased my testimony and made me want to live worthy of it's blessings.  I wish to show appreciation for the trials and hardships she encountered.
    "Way back in 1865, Latter Day Saint Missionaries were scarce in Norway.  Their districts were large, therefore, they could not hold meetings in these smaller branches more than twice a year.  Many weeks before the welcome visit, the news of their coming was broadcast far and near.  Thus it was that great-grandmother Olsen who was living in Nes Sogn Hedenmarkin decided to attend a cottage meeting and find out about this new religion.  A cousin of hers, who was a member, issued the invitation and created the desire for attendance.
     "The cottage meeting was held at Sister Petronella Anderson Briskeby's place. It was necessary for the journey to commence early in the morning in order to reach the appointed place in time for the services, which began at two o'clock in the afternoon.  Yes, walking was the only means of travel they had so we can easily account for the time spent on the road.  Grandmother Millard who was then eleven years old was then taken along as company for great-grandmother.
     "The services were similar to our Sunday evening meetings except for the fact that two elders Brother Jensen and Brother Peterson had charge of it and also were the principal speakers.  Each one in his turn gave wonderful sermons on the first principles of the gospel.  Grandmother sat spellbound throughout the entire meeting.  She said their testimonies thrilled her to the core; and she felt a tingling sensation go over her entire body.  She knew the elders were speaking words of wisdom and the truth.  Grandmother said the feeling she had was the same as when one hears a beautiful musical selection or sees a lovely painting or a gorgeous scene of nature.
     "When the meeting was over great-grandmother tarried some time to talk longer with the missionaries.  During the conversation great-grandmother purchased a Letter Day Saint hymn book from them but was afraid to let her husband know about it so she asked them to present it to grandmother as a gift.  Grandmother prized the book very dearly.  When she arrived home she was anxious to sing the new song she had learned, for her father and show him the lovely book the elders had given her.  Great-grandfather was very pleased with her singing and enjoyed reading the other hymns in the book.  That book did much to persuade great-grandfather to listen to Mormonism.
     "One year and one half elapsed before grandmother was baptised but during that time her testimony never wavered. On the contrary  she became more interested and studied more intensely.   Although she was but a child she could readily see that the Lutheran Church lacked much.  She compared Lutherianism to an unseasoned meal, while Mormonism was like a seasoned meal because it was so satisfying to the soul."

This account helps me understand a little better the deep feelings that members of the family had for this new found religion and the sacrifices they made to have it in their lives. How grateful I am, that they followed the promptings and adopted a whole new way of life!

   
 

A History About Anne Mathea (Matilda)

One of the documents I recently received from M.G. was a short personal history written about 1965 by Ethel Julian Millard Kendall. She is the daughter of Anne Mathea, Ole and Marie's daughter. I am posting the part that tells Ethel's version of Anne Mathea's history. It is posted just as I received it.

     I, Ethel Julian Millard Kendall, was born June 27, 1890 in Preston, Idaho.  The house is located on East State Street.  My father and mother are William Charles Millard and Anne Mathea Olsen (Peterborg) Millard.

    My mother Anne Mathea Olsen (Peterborg) Millard was born in Helgain Nes Sagn, Norway to Marie and Ole Olsen (Peterborg).  She joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints with her parents in Norway.  Her family lived on the Peterborg estate.

     When they joined the Mormon church, they were driven off the Estate and told never to return.  They spent two very hard years in Oslo, Norway while trying to save money to come to America, and to Zion, so they might rear their children among the saints. However, at the end of the two years, they had saved only enough to bring two of their children with them.  They brought their oldest boy ( who was 18, and would have been drafted, had they not), and the youngest girl, who was three years of age.

   Upon reaching Zion, her parents and the two children filed a homestead in Preston, Idaho.  Through the hardships, her mother took sick after three years, and on her death bed, her request was that Mathea ( or Matilda as she was called by her friends) be brought over from Norway to take care of her.

   So mother left her fiancé in Norway and began her journey.  He was to come the following year.  When she had only begun her journey, she received word that her mother had already passed away.  She moved in with her father, and kept house for him.

   She became very lonely and homesick, so she let a rich farmer (Jacob Jensen) convince her to marry him in polygamy two years after she came. (Dec. 2, 1880).  She was his second wife.  After she had been married a little over a year she found that she was pregnant.  At this time, the farmer’s wife became uncontrollably jealous.  Mathea felt very hurt and unwanted.  After standing it as long as she could, she left and went back to her father.

   Three months later she gave birth to twins, Oliver and Hager Mathea. (13 April 1882). She took a stroke near the time of their birth, which almost took her life and the life of the twins.  Hager Mathea lived until October of the same year.  It was only through the special care given by a good neighbor lady, Mrs. Sophia Early, that Oliver’s life was saved.

   She met my father, William Charles Millard, when Oliver was one year old.  They fell in love and were married (24 Sept. 1883) civilly.  (Later after obtaining temple divorce – 19 April 1933 – from the farmer, they were sealed from time and all eternity in the temple. Dad promply adopted Oliver.  Mother and Dad had seven children.  I was the fourth child.  I was born 13 years after my mother came here—to this country.  The other children were Ada, Pearl, William, Lillia, Lavean and Carl.

As with any history written years after the event and by someone else, there can be inconsistencies. I found a couple of things that differ from some of the information I found as I have done research. I am showing a few of them, not to criticize but to clarify. 

            

In an earlier post I wrote about the "farm books" or "bygdebøke" and it showed that the name of the farm was Petterborg. The only reason I am bringing this up is because there was also a farm Peterborg and I don't want someone looking at the wrong farm information. I have seen where the family spelled their name as Peterborg and Petterborg. It changed back and forth from one to the other over the first 50+ years.

The family joined the LDS Church in 1866 but did not emigrate to America until 1876. They lived in Oslo about 10 years, not just 2.

Emil was 20 years old when they came to America and Beate was 12 years old.

I am grateful that Ethel took the time to write about her mother and share the things she knew about her.

I will be posting histories about Ole and Marie's family, written by other family members that I have been given. If anyone, reading this blog, knows of other histories that have been written about the family, please let me know so that we can share with others. Every little bit helps us learn more about this strong and courageous family.

Ole and Marie's Graves

Franklin, Idaho Cemetery

The Franklin Cemetery is a very pretty, well maintained, active cemetery. There is even a spreadsheet of the graves posted on the Internet.

Image from Franklin Cemetery website:http://franklinidaho.org/Cemetery.htm

Marie & Ole came to America in 1876. Marie's health had not been very well for many years. They had lived under some pretty rough conditions. When they first got to Oslo, in the late 1860's, food was scarce and Marie went without many times. I am pretty sure the conditions in Idaho were not much better when they arrived. I have conflicting information on the exact year of her death. I have that she died 24 Jan 1879 but the grave marker says 1878. I will have to do some more research and see if I can find the correct date. She died from consumption or what is known today as tuberculosis.
Ole and Marie were so poor that they couldn't afford to purchase burials plots.The story goes that Hans Olsen and his wife, Nettie, gave the family two plots. At the time they only put up wooden markers to show the grave locations. I am sure these rotted many years ago. Ole died in 1885. The cemetery records burned in a house fire, so the exact location of the unmarked graves in unknown. Lucille Petterborg Perkins showed some family members who attended her sister, Ruby's, funeral the location of the graves, as best you could remember them. She had been shown the location by Nettie Olsen. The Olsen family is no relation to Ole.

R.P. made the following drawing to show the actual location of Ole and Marie.He was with Lucille the day she showed the spot.

Lee Arnold Petterborg's family are the ones who had the marker placed as a memorial to Ole and Marie. Lee is Emil's oldest child with his wife, Annie Dobson. The marker is not on the exact location of the graves. Thank you for your kindness!