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Elsie Rasmussen Nielson
Elsie Rasmussen
Born: 29 January 1830 at Stokkemarke, Maribo, DenmarkLIFE SKETCH ELSIE RASMUSSEN NIELSON
As an infant, Elsie was taken into the home of the Beauboum family and had no recollection of her parents. She attended school until she was fourteen, the hired out as a farm hand.
She met Jens Nielson, also a farm hand. They were married when she was twenty years old. When they joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they were shunned and persecuted by family and former friends.
In 1856, they sailed from Liverpool, England on the ship, “Thornton” and landed in New York. They traveled by train to Iowa where they joined the Willie Handcart Company. With them was their six year old son, Jens, and a little Mortensen girl thought to be about ten years old.
The company was overcome with cold and hunger in Wyoming. Both children died on October 23, 1856, along with twelve others of the company. Jens’ feet were frozen and he urged Elsie to leave him, but she pulled him in the cart as they struggled towards Zion. They were met with rescue teams and supplied at Fort Bridger where they left their worn out carts.
After resting a short time in Salt Lake, they were instructed by Brigham Young to help settle the communities of Parowan, Paragonah, Circleville, and Panguitch, then Cedar City. Their final move was to Bluff in San Juan County.
Jens had promised Elsie if she would consent to living in polygamy she would be blessed with more children. This was fulfilled with the birth of three daughters. Jens built a home in Cedar City for Elsie and his second wife, Kirsten Pedersen, then expanded the home again when he married a third wife, Ane Katrina Jorgensen.
In 1879, Joe Nielson, and his half-sister Mary Nielson Jones (with her husband, Kumen Jones) were called to be participants in the San Juan Mission. Jens determined to go, as well. Elsie and her daughter, Julia, and Trina with three children remained in Cedar City, and Jens intended to bring them to the new settlement once it was established. Elsie, after all, had already endured the trials and losses of one pioneering event, the Martin-Willie handcart disaster. The 'six-week' plan to reach the San Juan went badly, requiring six months, much of its eventual success can be attributed to the motivational ability of Jens Nielson, the company chaplain, and son-in-law, Kumen Jones.
On April 6, 1880, the pioneer company reached what is now Bluff, and decided they had had enough. Creating homes and attempting to establish farms occupied their time, especially that of Jens, who was appointed bishop of the new ward at Bluff. In the fall of 1880, Jens returned to Cedar City and brought Elsie and Julia back with him to Bluff in early winter. Trina stayed in Cedar until her death in 1884. Again, Jens returned and brought his three other children to Bluff, where Elsie became their "mother."
Jens built two homes for his families as life became more settled and his efforts produced more income. Elsie was frugal and resourceful. She planted mulberry trees to raise silk worms, extracted honey from beehives and wove many beautiful strips of carpet for her home and her neighbors. She made countless hand-sewn buckskin gloves and most boys in town had a baseball covered with buckskin by “Aunt Elsie”.
Elsie passed away on May 16, 1914, and is buried in the Bluff Cemetery beside her husband.
Right-click [Mac Control-click] to open full-size image:
Elsie Rasmussen Nielson