On Hiatus

I have taken the month of December off to prepare for the holidays with my family.

Look for me again in January.

How Do I View The Lessons?

What Are These Lessons?:
The lessons I have posted are ones that I created to teach a class of family history researchers. They are designed to provide information, outlines, tips, resources and new ideas to help each of us in our research and should work for all skill levels. These lessons were created in PowerPoint and designed for use in a classroom setting. I have published them on this site for others to use in their home or to teach with. I have converted the lessons to be viewed without using PowerPoint or a PowerPoint viewer so all you need is the internet. I did not set up the lessons to run automatically but to be advanced click by click each time you are ready to move forward, as a teacher would use it . This way you can take as much time as you need to discuss a particular point or to study the slides.


How Do I View The Lessons?:
- Choose the lesson you want on the side bar and click to open the blog page.
- Click on the image of the lesson or the link to the lesson.
- This will open the lesson in a new window for you to view.
- Wait about 10-15 seconds for the lesson to load before you begin.
- Click on the image/slide, not the tool bar on the bottom, to advance the lesson.
- If it doesn't start when you click, try clicking again in a few seconds.
- Continue to click on the image each time you are ready to move on to the next part of the lesson.
- Return to the lesson blog page after viewing the lesson for additional tips and handouts in this topic.

How Do I Use The Viewer?:



Note: Opening the slide reel allows you to speed through the slides if you want to find one later in the lesson.

Don't Miss the Story in Family History

I started this blog as a way to organize and share the records I collect with others. My focus is to find out as much as I can about who my ancestors were and what their lives were like using the records I can find. I have put together this lesson on how to find the Story hidden in these records we collect.


Click on this link or the image to view the lesson:
Don't Miss the Story in Family History.

Instructions:
How Do I View The Lesson?


Lesson Handout:



Open Handout in PDF

1940 Family Reunion

I have been collecting news articles on my family in the Utah Digital Newspapers database for quite a while now. In my searching I found that my Lindeman family would travel from Salt Lake to Richfield, Utah almost every year and turn up in the society pages of the Richfield Reaper in town visiting with Mr. and Mrs. Rowley. This trip is about 165 miles and takes almost 3 hours to drive with today's roads and speeds. map it Mrs. Rowley and Mrs. Lindeman are both Thorups and they would often celebrate Mrs. Rowley's birthday with her.
Mrs. Rowley is Nephine Merabele Thorup - born 14 June 1890, married William Andrew Rowley
Mrs. Lindeman is Lizzie Henrietta Thorup - born 16 March 1894, married Russell Olonzo Lindeman
Both are daughters of Herman F. F. and Jensine Jensen.

Richfield Reaper June 20th 1940 Social News
I collected a few articles of their visits such as this one, but never had so many names been given. This must have been a big celebration for Nephine, her 50th birthday party. She had a much larger family gathering than usual and even had some come from Canada. It was interesting to have such a collection of names at a family gathering given in the newspaper. This is one thing I love about the newspapers. You can often make family connections based on the comings and goings of all the neighbors and their get togethers. The society pages used to be quite a gossip column and even an opinion or two from the reporter slip in once in a while which are always hilarious to read.

I recently came across some Thorup Photographs posted online by Gael Lindstrom (thanks a million by the way!) and found this Photo of a family reunion labeled "Thorup Family Reunion at the Andrew Rowley Home in Richfield, Utah June 16, 1940."
There was a photograph taken of the family at the reunion I have an article about!...And I actually found it! It is exciting to have these two pieces of recorded history put back together for us to see 68 years later.


If you can identify someone in the photo
please contact me or leave a comment. Thanks!

These are the names we have labeled thus far:


From L to R
Back Row: ?15 , child held ?16 , ?17 , Bertha Lindstrom, Wm Lindstrom, ?18, space across to man's head ?19 , Alvin White, Albert Bruening, Russell Lindeman
Row 2 and between: Lizzie Lindeman, ?6 , woman's head ?7 , ?8 , womans' head ?9 , child held ?10 , ?11 , man's head above/behind ?12 , child held ?13 , Wm Rowley, woman's head ?14 , Nephine Rowley, child in front is Lois Lindeman, Zina White, Gertrude Bruening, LeRoy Lindeman
Front Row: ?1 , ?2, child kneeling ?3 , Child sitting in front ?4, ?5

More Renstrom Surname Facts

From Ancestry.com using the 1880 US census and other records, they have put together these charts on any given surname. Here is what they have on Renstrom.

Top Occupations for Renstrom in the 1880 Census:

Works in cor...means works in corn planter works


Renstrom years of Immigration from NY Passenger Lists:

Our Renstroms came between 1872 and 1875.


Renstrom Ports of Departure from NY Passenger Lists:

I don't have the immigration information yet on our family, but I will post it when I find it.


Renstrom Life Expectancy from S. S. Death Index:

I guess not many Renstroms died in 1951


Top Places of Origin for Renstrom from NY Passenger Lists:

Our Renstroms are Swedish


Renstroms in the Civil War from Civil War Service Records:

We have a lot more serving Now!






Enter your Surname

Catherine Charlotte Renstrom & Who is "Mantlo"

Ok all you Renstrom descendants. I need your help on this one. I am seeking "Mantlo" who posted the following on Ancestry.com in July of 2000.

"Katherine Charlotte Renstrom
posted by: Mantlo Posted: 31 Jul 2000 11:12AM

my GGGrandma is Katherine Charlotte Renstrom, daughter of C.J. Renstrom from Stockholm, Sweden. She was born 5 July 1856, died 1882 in Huntsville, Utah. That is absolutely all I know - anyone else know some Renstrom history?"

We are the Huntsville Renstroms! I am anxious to respond but I have no contact information for him/her. From the other posts Mantlo has made I know that Mantlo is a surname in his/her family as well. If anyone knows who I am referring to, please direct them to this site as I have ample family information available.

I will post some of this information here:

This is my reply I posted on Ancestry.com
"The Renstroms of Huntsville are my family. I have recently started a blog where I am collecting family stories if you want to see it www.renstromrecord.blogspot.com. I am interested in where you got your information. I do have family records of a Catherine Charlotte, sister to our ancestor Andrew Pehrsson Renstrom. She was born in Sweden in 1856 and some of her family did settle in Huntsville. I don't have a lot of records on her but I do have genealogy on the family. The rest of the information you gave does not match what I have. We should compare our notes."

I think I know why you are finding it difficult to follow this line.

#1) CJ Renstrom is not the father of Catherine Charlotte from Huntsville. I do know who CJ is. The Huntsville church records list CJ Renstrom as the missionary who baptised this family. His full name is Carl Janson Renstrom.

#2) Her generation is the first to take the name Renstrom. Previously their name followed the pattern of patronymics. Her name was Catherine Charlotte Erickson before she took the name Renstrom. Her Father's name was Eric Pehrsson and his father's name was Pehr Ersson. It is our understanding that when they joined this new Church they all took the name Renstrom after the missionary who had baptised them.

Data on Catherine Charlotte Renstrom:

Born 4 Oct 1856 in Ramsjo, Uppsala, Sweden
Baptised 1872 or 1873
Married 3 July 1876 to Soren Peter Petersen
Died 17 Aug 1880

From the Huntsville Church Records FHL US/CAN Film
25997:
Soren Peter Peterson is the son of Peter Peterson and Maria
Born 1853 in Denmark
    His Father Peter Peterson is living here as well
      is the son of Peter Thomasen and Mete
      Born Jan 12 1821 in Denmark
    His Mother Maria Peterson is living here as well
      is the daughter of Soren Jensen and Bodel
      Born Oct 9 1823 in Denmark

Soren Peter Peterson's children are also listed
Maria Charlotte Peterson is the daughter of Soren Peter Peterson and Charlotte R.
Born Mar 22 1877 in Huntsville
Louisa Christine Peterson is the daughter of " and "
Born May 28 1878 in Huntsville
John Soren Peterson is the son of " and "
Born Sep 14 1879 in Huntsville

Catherine Charlotte is not listed here and the rest of the family is listed together so she is probably dead at the time of this recording. I will dig into these records a little more and see if I can find an accurate date.

One of her brothers is listed on the bottom of this same page

Eric August P. Renstrom son of Eric Pehrson and Catherine Kristine
Born Nov 8 1860 in Sweden


She was going by Charlotte and living in Huntsville with her spouse and three children and in-laws in the 1880 census recorded on June 3rd:

Petersen, Soren   White, Male, 27yrs, Married, Farmer, cannot read or write, born in Denmark, parents born in Denmark

, Charlotte    White, Female, 25yrs, Married, Wife, Keeping House, born in Sweden, parents born in Sweden

, Mary    White, Female, 4yrs, Daughter, born in Utah

, Louisa    White, Female, 2yrs, Daughter, born in Utah

, John    White, Male, 7 months, born in October, Son, born in Utah

Petersen, Peter    White, Male 59yrs, Married, Farmer, born in Denmark, parents born in Denmark

, Mary    White, Female, 57yrs, Wife, Married, Keeping House, born in Denmark, parents born in Denmark

Photos and more records will be posted soon.

How Common is the Renstrom Surname?

I thought this was appropriate for the Renstrom Record:
This information is from the US Census Bureau and posted on this site mongabay.com













Renstrom is one of the very uncommon Surnames in the US
Guess which Surname is ranked #1 for most common in the US.

Surnames

Surname	Rank in US	# in US	Frequency out of every 100,000
Renstrom	32939	656	0.24
Smith	1	2,376,206	880.85

Renstrom Surname Distribution in 2000

"RENSTROM is identified by the U.S. Bureau of the Census as a surname with more than 100 occurrences in the United States for the year-2000 U.S. Census. In "Demographic Aspects of Surnames from Census 2000", the Census Bureau tabulated the surnames of all people who had obtained Social Security Numbers by the year 2000.

RENSTROM ranks # 32939 in terms of the most common surnames in the United States for 2000.

RENSTROM had 656 occurences in the 2000 Census, according the U.S. government records.

Out of a sample of 100,000 people in the United States, RENSTROM would occur an average of 0.24 times.

Race / ethnic origin

The race categories shown in these files are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups: "White only", "Black only", "American Indian and Alaskan Native only", "Asian and Pacific Islander only", "Two or More Races", and "Hispanic".

For the last name of RENSTROM the Census Bureau reports the following race / ethnic origin breakdown:
98.17 percent, or 644 total occurences, were "Non-Hispanic White Only"
Insignificant percent, or Less than 100 total occurences, were "Non-Hispanic Black Only"
0 percent, or Less than 100 total occurences, were "Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only"
Insignificant percent, or Less than 100 total occurences, were "Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native"
0.76 percent, or 5 total occurences, were "Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races"
0.91 percent, or 6 total occurences, were "Hispanic Origin"

____________________________________

Smith Surname Distribution in 2000


"SMITH is identified by the U.S. Bureau of the Census as a surname with more than 100 occurrences in the United States for the year-2000 U.S. Census. In "Demographic Aspects of Surnames from Census 2000", the Census Bureau tabulated the surnames of all people who had obtained Social Security Numbers by the year 2000.

SMITH ranks # 1 in terms of the most common surnames in the United States for 2000.

SMITH had 2,376,206 occurences in the 2000 Census, according the U.S. government records.

Out of a sample of 100,000 people in the United States, SMITH would occur an average of 880.85 times.

Race / ethnic origin

The race categories shown in these files are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups: "White only", "Black only", "American Indian and Alaskan Native only", "Asian and Pacific Islander only", "Two or More Races", and "Hispanic".

For the last name of SMITH the Census Bureau reports the following race / ethnic origin breakdown:
73.35 percent, or 1,742,947 total occurences, were "Non-Hispanic White Only"
22.22 percent, or 527,993 total occurences, were "Non-Hispanic Black Only"
0.4 percent, or 9,505 total occurences, were "Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only"
0.85 percent, or 20,198 total occurences, were "Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native"
1.63 percent, or 38,732 total occurences, were "Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races"
1.56 percent, or 37,069 total occurences, were "Hispanic Origin"

NOTE: Fields suppressed for confidentiality are assigned the value "Insignifcant"

The presentation of data on this site focuses on summarized aggregates of counts and characteristics associated with surnames, and, as such, do not in any way identify any specific individuals.

All data is dervied from David L. Word, Charles D. Coleman, Robert Nunziata and Robert Kominski (2008). "Demographic Aspects of Surnames from Census 2000". U.S. Census Bureau."

Map Your Surname
__________________________________________

I had a request for information on some of our other Surnames:

Surnames

Surname	Rank in US	# in US	Frequency out of every 100,000
Smith	1	2,376,206	880.85
Berg	637	48,480	17.97
Lindeman	6479	4,974	1.8
Renstrom	32939	656	0.24
Thorup	49159	402	0.15

It looks like our Thorup surname is even less common with only 402 Thorups listed in the United States as of 2000.

Berg Surname Distribution in 2000


Lindeman Surname Distribution in 2000


Thorup Surname Distribution in 2000


Map Your Surname
__________________________________________

Alternate Surname Spellings

"Why can't I find my Ancestor's Records?" Have you tried alternate surname spellings? Here are four different records for the same Lindeman family spelled four different ways.

Using Alternate Surname Spellings for your Ancestor can open up a world of records that may not otherwise be found. Being flexible on locations, dates, spellings, and using nicknames or looking for them among relatives can all be useful in finding those missing records. Here is a presentation I put together using Kimberly Powell's outline posted on genealogy.about.com titled Top 10 Search Tips for Finding Alternate Surname Spellings and Variations. Click on this lesson link for tips, examples and other helpful websites that can guide you in your search.

Using Alternate Surname Spellings

Remember--click on the slide to advance the lesson, not on the arrows. Use it just like a PowerPoint presentation.

Another problem I have been having in locating Ancestors by the way their name is spelled is in the digital newspaper collections. OCR or Optical Character Recognition is an amazing new technology being used to index records. Rather than having a human read every page of every paper being digitized to create a searchable index, this technology allows it to be done in a single scan. Characters are recognized and "translated" into searchable text. In essence, the computer can now do the reading and searching for us in seconds, directing us to the exact page and location on that page that has the Surname we are looking for. Amazing, Wonderful, and saves us hours and even days. Read more on OCR

Unfortunately, this system does err at times, especially if the text being scanned is unclear, distorted, or incomplete. For example:
Utah Digitized Newspapers OCR does not read the surname Renstrom for some reason.
When I search this name I get three records, two of them are about the same article and the third is not a relation, yet I have found several more Renstroms in this same database. Why are they not indexed? Probably for the reasons listed above and possibly that the text is often too small to make out this particular letter combination correctly.
This article lists the name Renstrom several times clearly and was found in this database, yet I did not locate this article under Renstrom. I do not know what this name is indexed as, if I did I could type that in and hopefully find more records, but it is likely that it is indexed differently each time.

In the Northern New York Historical Newspaper Collection I am finding it difficult to find a particular family that I know was in the area at the time and should have news articles about them. Here is an example of a mis-indexed name from this database.
Click on this image to see a larger view. This has a wonderful example of incomplete letters confusing the OCR. Notice the top search result on the left and the enlarged image on the right. You will see on the right that the first name mentioned here in the newspaper image is Mrs. John D. Robillard. On the left you will see the OCR indexed this name as JuiiU D. Uobiliarti. Your eyes can fill in the blanks of the incomplete letters to a name that makes sense, yet the computer cannot or did not in this case. I searched the name "Dr. James Garvin" whose name you will see listed next in this news article. Fortunately, the Robillards are a relation and I was able to obtain this record on them despite the index error. I would never guess Uobiliarti as an alternate spelling to search.
Another example is in the next search result. This is an obituary for John Garvin, but I couldn't find it under John. You will notice in the image how a portion of the O is missing in the name John. Look at the word Obituary at the top. It has bled so much that it is difficult to make out. As humans using logic and context clues we are able to decipher it just fine, but not the computer. Luckily I was able to locate this obituary, once again through Dr. James Garvin. This article gave me the connection between these two that I was hoping for and told me of another sister that I did not know about.

Just because a name is not in the index does not mean the information is not there. Use relatives, dates and locations where you think you may find them. It will take a little more digging on your part, but the fruits of your labors will be well worth it.

Double Descended

Here is a photo of the Herman August Thorup Family



Names from Left to Right and Back to Front:
Back: Christine Veronica Thorup (Rasmussen), Hyrum Emanuel Thorup, Nettie Neilsine Nielsen (Thorup), Joseph Thorup, Clara Romney (Thorup), John Theobald Charles Thorup, Johanna Caroline Ostermann (Thorup), Jensine Jensen (Thorup)
Front: Niels Rasmussen, Lara Augusta Marie Thorup (Rasmussen), Herman August Thorup, Mary or Marie Christine Christensen (Thorup), Herman Frederick Ferdinand Thorup, Anne Christine Anderson (Thorup)

This photo is a special one for my family because we are the descendants of two of Herman August Thorup's Children (Christine Veronica and Herman F. F.). In this family photo we see our ancestry come together.

This summer my sister married into my husband's side of the family and we just had our first huge group family photo with both of us in it. I am going to hold onto this photo for our posterity who will once again be double descendants and double related.

Anyone Speak Danish?

My mother has an original passenger contract for our ancestor Herman F. F. Thorup. The bulk of the text is written twice, once in English so that makes it a lot easier. I did make out that it is for passenger: Herman Thorup age: 53 whose occupation is: Missionary. He is traveling from somewhere to Boston Massachusetts and they guarantee to get him there.



In the earlier years of mass immigration, there were several complaints by passengers of being "swindled" by their emigration agents. As a result, various laws were passed requiring agents to be certified by the government and for every passenger to have a signed and stamped passenger contract. They were to carry this with them for the entire journey to protect their rights and ensure they arrived at their desired destination under the terms originally agreed to.



Herman F. F. (Right) with mission companion in Denmark

Been to Park City Lately...?

Do you know you have an ancestor who built two homes on the Park City list of Historic Homes? One is on their famous Main Street Walking Tour called the Durkin Boarding House or the Centennial House located at 176 Main Street. Check it out next time you go!

See How It Looks Today
Click on the red A to see it from the street

This Boarding House was built in 1901 and Joseph Durkin died only two years later.
The Park Record
October 12 1901
This article mentions Joseph Durkin working on the boarding house on Main Street.










The Park Record
April 11 1903
Here is the obituary for Joseph Durkin.

Here is an article on renovating the Boarding House:
The Salt Lake Tribune - Dec 30 2004
A piece of Park City history has a chance to bloom again
The Centennial House: A proposal would turn it into a modern restaurant, with condos and parking

"The Centennial House near the top of Park City's Main Street was built in 1901 as a boardinghouse for miners. The frame structure is aging rapidly, but Parkites Judy Jackson and Chad Carter have a plan to refurbish it."
"Joseph Durkin built the Centennial's frame structure in 1901 during Park City's heyday..."We just wanted to save this piece of Main Street history," Judy Jackson said...Every day when we came to work, the Centennial was staring us in the face," Jackson said. "One day, we looked at it and thought, 'We could turn this into a real jewel.' "
Today, it still functions as a boardinghouse and is home to seven renters. But owner Dale Nelson agreed to sell the Centennial to Jackson for an undisclosed sum if Park City would approve her plan for a historic rehab. The proposal would transform the ground floor into a restaurant and the second floor into two 1,800-square-foot condominiums."


The second home listed with the Historic Homes of Utah is the Joseph Durkin Home located at 22 Prospect Street and was built about 1885.

See How It Looks Today
Click on the red A to see it from the street

Next time you are in town, remember that you are part of Park City's History.

Using Cemetery Records

Why should I use cemetery records? What can they teach me that I don't already know?


The Cemetery is an often overlooked wealth of Family information. Click on the following link to view my lesson on just what and how you can find this "hidden" information:


Using Cemetery Records

Instructions for Lesson Viewing:
Do not use the arrows at the bottom of the screen. When the window opens, wait a few seconds, then click on the page/screen in the box with your mouse to advance the lesson. The arrows at the bottom advance to the next slide, but if you use this you will miss all of the movements that occur on each slide.

Related Links:

Tiptoeing Through the Graveyard by Kimberly Powell

findagrave.com for free cemetery lookups and photo requests

US Newspaper Project for links to newspapers online in the United States

USGenWeb for links to free records posted by state, they often have cemetery records available

WorldGenWeb for links to information and records posted from countries of the world, sometimes have cemetery information

Here is an example of a Sexton's Record:
Sexton: "the person paid to care for a church and/or cemetery, to toll the church bell, dig graves, etc." from A to Zax
Sextons' Records are often kept at the office or church in charge of a particular cemetery. You can see from this document that there is a wealth of information here that is often not included on a headstone. These particular records collected: name, place and date of birth, parents names, religion and reputation as well as the date of death. It never hurts to ask the cemetery office if they have more information on your buried ancestors. Even if they only have the name of the mortuary, you can then go to them and ask for records there. Mortuaries very rarely go out of business but they are sometimes absorbed by a nearby mortuary. They would usually have a form for a family member to fill out during this process that you can gather more information from.

Tombstone Rubbing:
Here are a few tombstone rubbings done on Pellon with a crayon. I love doing rubbings as it is a way for me to take home a part of history. It is the next best thing to being at the actual cemetery. I have a part of something that was there and shows the headstone in actual size. I have tried using other materials to do rubbings but I prefer the pellon and crayon. It is less messy and easy to transport and save without fear of damage. Rubbings are also very helpful when the tombstone inscription is faded and worn. A rubbing can bring the text back into plain view and give that important date or relationship you were seeking. Then there are those times when the sun and the headstone or your flash and the stone line up just right to make the inscription not show up on film. You don't always know this until you get home and it is nice to have the rubbing so you can still have record of what is written. Make sure you learn the rules of the cemetery you plan to do rubbings at as some do not allow it.

What I Bring to the Cemetery:
- camera
- extra batteries
- pen and pad of paper
- pellon (found at local fabric store)
- crayons
- roll of butcher paper (found at local craft store)
- scissors
- water bottle or two
- rag
- map of cemetery with plot locations of ancestors

I bring a roll of butcher paper as it is less expensive and I can use one long sheet for the larger tombstones. The water and rag are to clean off the stones which are often not photo ready. The pen and paper are to make notes as I go along. Sometimes thoughts will come while I am there that I want to remember. I may want to write down locations of graves I took photos of that I did not plan on beforehand. I may have questions about relationships revealed that I want to remember to look up later. I may come up with more questions to ask at the local office while I am there. It comes in handy sometimes. The scissors are to cut the pellon and paper to the size I want. I have found that the darker crayons work the best, but you can experiment with different colors. I never use tape to hold the material still for a rubbing. I use another set of hands or brace it myself. I don't like to disturb the stones any more than needed.
For more details and other tips/suggestions on doing Tombstone rubbings,
read How to do a Tombstone Rubbing by Kimberly Powell

If you have any comments, tips, suggestions or links to add, just leave a comment.

A Loss Too Great

Herman F. F. Thorup or Herman Frederick Ferdinant Thorup, is no stranger to hardship. I find that anyone who lives on this earth endures great suffering of some kind before they leave it but there are a few people who seem to get more than enough for creating good character. For some, the tragedies they suffer seem to be greater than one can bear. My great great grandfather, Herman F. F. Thorup is one of these people. He endured many painful experiences beyond what I am writing about today, but for now we will look into this window of time when he suffered the loss of his entire first family. Herman was born April 19th 1849 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Here he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at age twelve and served his first mission at age 18 to Denmark. He was released early to emigrate with his family to the United States and they were able to settle in Utah. He married Sophia (Sophie) Augusta (Gustava) Johnson on May 28th 1872 at the age of 23. One year later their first child was born, May Josephine (B: July 10 1873). They had a total of four children together. Based on the dates of their children's births, this photo should be of May and Albert with their parents taken about 1876. Their third child, Christina lived less than a year. I do not know her cause of death yet, but I am looking for it and will post more information as I find it. A little over a year after this their fourth child was born, Sophia, and a few weeks later in October of 1878, Herman's dear wife Sophia died, probably from complications of childbirth.

A little over a year after this Herman F F arrives in England on November 7th 1879 with his brother John T. Thorup to be missionaries in Europe (again). This is a portion of a newspaper article announcing the safe arrival of a group of Elders (the Thorups among them) printed in The Millenial Star. How difficult it must have been to leave his three young children with no mother to care for them to serve this second mission for the church.
Where did his children go while he was gone?

Here we have two Census Records for 1880:




This one for Salt Lake City shows Neils Rasmussen with his wife Laura (Augusta Marie Thorup) and two children. - Albert and Mary Thorup, ages 5 and 7, nephew and niece to Neils. He left the two older children with his sister and brother-in-law in Salt Lake City.

Where is the Baby?




Here we find that he left his baby girl Sophia with his wife's side of the family in Spring City, Utah. She is just one year old and is granddaughter to John and Eliza Johnson.

Herman FF did return safely in July of 1881 and was reunited with his family. Herman did remarry and began to have more children when tragedy struck again.

Diphtheria

In 1884, Salt Lake and surrounding areas suffered with a Diphtheria outbreak. It was not an uncommon illness to find but it was usually able to be contained through strict quarantine rules. However, in 1884 it was unable to be stopped and it swept through many homes. Our poor HFF Thorup was forced to endure the loss of the rest of his three children from Sophia Augusta.

Here are two articles from the Deseret News dated December 24th (Christmas Eve) and December 31st (New Years Eve) of 1884.




All three of his children die of Diphtheria in 1884 within a few weeks of each other. He also had a fourth child die from his new wife at this same time of croup. Croup was often caused by the Diphtheria bacteria before immunizations and it came with deadly strength. You will also notice in this article that Neils Rasmussen lost a son at this time too.
I cannot even imagine how he survived this. He pushed on in life only to suffer a great deal more but his life is a true example of strength and trust in the Lord. His life continues to strengthen his posterity. A loss too great to even imagine and with more ahead is hard to fathom, but it was a meaningful mission that left a great legacy of faith for us to follow.


Their Children:
May Josephine (b. 7/10/1873 d. 1884),
Albert M. (b. 11/5/1874 d. 1884)
Christina S. (b. 10/14/1876 d. 8/22/1877)
Sophia C. (b. 9/17/1878 d. 1884).