Karl and Anna, The Last Goodbye

When I left Karl Erik Magnus and his wife Anna it was 1877 and they were living in Asteska in the Söderala Parish. Their two oldest sons, Erik and Albert, had both left home, working as shoemaker journeymen. Karl was supporting the family with his work as a shoemaker and Anna was busy raising 2 yr-old Anna and their infant son Carl.

Fast forward 5 years to 1882 when (of course) Erik went home for a visit and informed his family that he had joined the Mormon Church. He was not the first in the family to exercise his religious freedom. If you remember, his grandfather, Magnus Hallman, had become a Baptist. Erik must have hooked his family up with the local missionaries (the church insiders know exactly how this works) because on 30 April 1883 Erik's mother, Anna was baptized a Mormon. Three months later Karl was also baptized. One month before Erik left for America, 11 yr-old Anna was baptized, and finally, a year after that, in July 1887, 9 yr-old Carl was baptized. I'm sure they did all they could to try to convince Albert to join them in their new-found religion, but he was never baptized into the Mormon Church during his lifetime. (It didn't take too long to speculate that the reason all of them - except for mom Anna - were baptized in the summer was because the lake water wouldn't be as cold that time of year.) 

After Erik left for America in June of 1886, Karl and Anna would have been getting their finances in order in preparation for leaving their homeland as well. For some reason, they sent their two youngest children, Anna and Carl, on to Utah without them. The children didn't travel alone of course - they went with a large group of Mormon emigrants. In fact, according to son Carl, the missionary who taught them and converted them to Mormonism was the one who watched over them the entire trip. Karl did go with them as far as Denmark, though, and then returned home to his wife, Anna. The plan, it seems, was for Karl and Anna to join their children in Utah as soon as they could. Here is what son Carl wrote about it many decades after the fact (I corrected a few grammatical and spelling errors to make it easier to read):

It was Elder Selin that converted our folks to the LDS Church. We thought that if we came to America and Utah we would be saved and be better Mormons. It seemed then that it was necessary for us to come. Erik came first. Right here I might say that Elder Selin baptized us into the LDS Church in Sweden and then we came to Utah. Erik baptized us again. I didn't ever know why, but always told my children that I guess the water was too clear in Sweden. Annie and I always slept with our Mother. We were always close to her. When Annie was 12 and I was 10, we came with Elder Selin to America. Dad and mother were going to sell their home and then come, too. Dad rode a little way on the boat with us, leaving Mother alone. She seemed so lonesome and so alone. We went through Stockholm, Sweden and down the Baltic Sea to Denmark. I don't remember the name of the boat we were riding on, but I can remember how seasick we were. The first night in Denmark Dad got a nice room for us, but we were so ill that we really made a mess out of it. They had good food, but we couldn't eat it because of being so ill. In Denmark Annie and I slept together. One tick under us and one tick over us. They really did things different in the old country. Dad left us in Denmark. He went back to Sweden and we came on to America with Elder Selin. Row boats would come up along by our big boat with oranges, bananas, and other things for us to buy. They would pull it up in a bucket. We would take it out and put our money into the bucket and send it back down. We were 12 days on the ocean. I remember the sun and moon coming up and going down on the water. I remember an iceberg floating along.

The children left Sweden in May of 1887 and Karl returned home to his wife and an otherwise empty home. And then tragedy struck again. In June of 1888 Karl's wife of more than 33 years passed away. No cause of death was listed in the church record. Son Carl later wrote, "I worked for Tom Bladen. . . . . I was up on Cedar Mountain at Three Creeks when Tom Bladen came up to tell me my mother wouldn't be coming. I asked him why, and he said she was dead. I was sure my mother had died of a broken heart because of sending her two youngest children away. I know if I sent two children, 10 and 12 years old, away - so far - I would have died with a broken heart."

Six months later Karl left Sweden to join 3 of his children in Utah. He left behind his son, Albert, and Albert's oldest son, Karl Albert, who was at that time less than 1 yr-old.

There is short published account of Karl's immigration journey. Karl traveled with 121 other emigrants. They left Copenhagen on 27 September 1888 and left Liverpool on 6 October on the Steamship Wyoming. (By the way, the SS Wyoming made more than 38 voyages over a twenty-year period and carried more Mormon immigrants across the Atlantic than any other vessel - a total of 10,473 people.)

SS Wyoming

As I was delving into the documents I made a surprising discovery. My dad's grandfather, Joseph Christenson, was one of the returning  missionaries who accompanied this group of Mormon immigrants to Utah. Imagine that! My mom's great-grandfather and my dad's grandfather together on the same ship across the Atlantic Ocean and on the same train across the heartland of America with no idea their descendants would someday meet in Salt Lake City, get married, and create me!

Joseph kept a detailed journal in which he wrote almost daily. 12 volumes of his journals were donated to the Church History Library and I was able to convince them to digitally scan all 12 volumes and provide me full access. I'll spare you a lot of the detail since what I wrote about Erik and Josephine's traveling experience provided a pretty good description of the immigration process already, so I'll just focus on the details specific to this trip. By the way, Joseph was a missionary in the southernmost part of Sweden, so he would not have met Karl prior to this trip. (It's my understanding that because the Mormon Church did so much business with the shipping companies, returning missionaries were often upgraded and given special perks, especially towards the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Obviously the missionaries traveling with this company were given rooms - "better" ones - and were not traveling in steerage. I don't know if Karl traveled in steerage or if he had means to travel in a higher class.)

Thursday, 27 September 1888

...on board ship 9:00 p.m. and then away from old Scandinavia.

Friday, 28 September 1888

Good health prevailed among the company, with a few exceptions.

Saturday, 29 September 1888

Some were sick today as well, but seemed to take the situation without a murmur. In the afternoon the storm increased in violence, and in the night it became simply terrific. Many could not keep their beds on account of the rolling and rocking. Several of the saints, as well as some missionaries, could not get up next morning.

Sunday, 30 September 1888

The water washed over the deck so that no one could remain above. Sunday afternoon we all got up, being in still water, and straightened out clothing, etc. After eating a hearty meal, felt perfectly well. About 6 o'clock p.m. we anchored before Hull. But did not get off from the boat before morning as the tide was out. Thus ended a very troublesome journey without accident.

Monday, 1 October 1888

About 8 o'clock a.m. we had our effects examined by the custom house officers. At 10 a.m. we left for Liverpool by express. The saints received special care and the missionaries being given 1st class. At about 1/2 past 3 we arrived in Liverpool, and after getting our hand luggage on board the company wagon, we marched to the hotel: 10 & 11 Kent Square.

Friday, 5 October 1888

Packed up and started for the boat. Had considerable bother to get the emigrants into shape. They had not yet arrived when we got there, as the team with baggage went so slow.

Saturday, 6 October 1888

...we discovered that we had been tendered the wrong rooms, which necessitated a change for better berths. The last bell rung at 10 a.m. and the tug boat left at 11. Thus we leave Old England's shore feeling well; and putting ourselves in the hands of the Lord. The weather was somewhat rough, but still we have all kept afloat pretty well. 

Sunday, 7 October 1888

Half past six a.m. we anchored before Queenstown and at about 1 p.m. we were off again.

Monday, 8 October 1888

Weather very fair. We all had good health and felt well.

Tuesday, 9 October 1888

Soon after getting up the sea became so rough that nearly all were sick. Mostly all the saints were abed, as well as some of the brethren.

Wednesday, 10 October 1888

The weather moderated a little and in consequence we all felt better. A family from Copenhagen, Petersen by name, were discovered to have diphtheria, and were placed in the hospital.

Thursday, 11 October 1888

In the afternoon the sea rolled terrifically, submerging the deck so that none could be up without danger of getting wet. Mostly all the saints were sick, and some were very sick.

Friday, 12 October 1888

Is very foggy this morning. The sea had gone down so we could be up. The fog disappeared later in the day.

Sunday, 14 October 1888

The day was very fair.

Monday, 15 October 1888

The day passed very pleasantly. All the saints joyful at being so near land.

Tuesday, 16 October 1888

At 9 a.m. the customs officers came on board and at 11 a.m. in port. After some little waiting we got our people off. Our baggage was not examined very extensively, $5 helped the matter wonderfully.

A small boat...to take us to Castle Garden and to the Norfolk Steamer. We got through Castle Garden without any bother and immediately went on board one of the "Old Dominion" steamers which was waiting for us.

The evening passed very pleasantly with vocal and instrumental music.

Wednesday, 17 October 1888

The train was waiting for us so we soon were on the fly toward our home.

Friday, 19 October 1888

The great number of stoppages made it very unpleasant for us, being impatient to get home. We were also at a great deal of inconvenience on account of so little room. At Bristol we declared we would go no further until we got another car. By the help of a few dollars we succeeded in getting our extra car. We were also put on a freight train to Chattanooga; but there we were put on a passenger to Memphis. We now made good time.

Saturday, 20 October 1888

At Memphis we changed cars for Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad. We were more courteously treated after this. The agent did all to assist us. Not a very good spirit was manifest among the saints, but seemed to get better after we got settled. We were so very crowded, which I supposed caused the bad feelings.

Sunday, 21 October 1888

Arrived in Kansas City this morning. After doing the business necessary we boarded the train which left a little after 11 a.m. We went on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe to Pueblo.

Monday, 22 October 1888

At Pueblo we took the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad for Utah. However it took some time before we got started as the railroad men were on a strike. Going through the canyons of the Rockies there were so many grand sights that to describe them would be impossible. They seemed beyond all that has yet been written about them. Some of the grandest sights were passed after dark, but the moon shone brightly which added very greatly to their beauty.

Tuesday, 23 October 1888

Arrived in Salt Lake City about 9 p.m.

Once Karl arrived in Salt Lake City, he would have had another 250 mile train ride to Cedar City. He would have been met by Erik and Erik's new wife, Josephine. And he would have been reunited with his two youngest children, Carl and Anna.

Carl, Karl, & Anna Hallman

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