Here is the history of my great grandfather from Denmark.
Niels Heber Anderson was born 27 September 1864 in Oden, Vejle, Denmark. He was the second child and the first son of Niels Jeppesen Anderson and Karen Marie Petersen. His father, Niels Jeppesen Anderson, was born in Voster, Vejle, Denmark 10 February 1836, and his mother was born in Bryrup, Skanderborg, Denmark 27 March 1827. He was the second child in a family of five children. Sofie MNarie, born 14 September 1862, was the oldest or first born child. Niels Heber was the second child and Andrew Peter Daniel was the third child and second son born 28 March 1866. Elsee Kristine, the second girl and the fourth child, was born 2 July 1868 at Thaarup, Vajle, Denmark and Andreas George, born at Vinding, Vejle, Denmark the 7 May 1871, was the fifth child and the third son.
Like Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, Niels Heber received little formal education. During the long winter nights at the sheep camp on the west deserts, he taught himself to read and to write. As one reads his two small volumes of missionary diary, one notes the spelling. Words were spelled as they sounded to him.
During those long evenings, he taught himself not only to read but the basics of arithmetic as well. He had his own method of addition, subtraction, and multiplicaiton which made it possible for him to meet all his daily needs. He could figure costs in his head as well and as quickly as anyone. Because of his not having the benefit of formal instruction, he encouraged his children to take advantage of their opportunities for acquiring an education. On the other hand, if his children were not applying themselves in school and were more or less wasting their time, he felt that they should discontinue school and go to work.
His family at the time consisted of Mary Ann Knopp Anderson, his wife, and six children: Mary Ann (Mamie), Caroline, (Callie), Amilia Sophia (Millie), Niels Heber Jr. and the twins, Moneta and loeta, who were born the previous 13 of June 1899.
Father served the first three months of his mission in Carthage, Missouri, from the 2nd May 1900 to the 3rd of August 1900. At a conference in kansas City, he and an elder by the name of Elder L.C. Farnsworth were assigned to the St. Joseph, Missouri area. They left Kansas City on August 6, 1900 and arrived in St. Joseph, Missouri at midnight. Here he labored for the next five months.
On the 14th of January 1901, he in company with an Elder Hansen left St. Joseph, Missouri, for Platte County, Missouri, arriving in the afternoon and immediately began searching for a place to hold a meeting. It appears to have been the custom at that time to hold meetings in school houses and on the streets. The elders would seek permission to use the school house in a school district and if permission were granted, the district would be canvased and an invitation give to attend the meeting.
The remaining months of his mission were spent mostly in the eastern counties of the state of Kansa with occasional visits to St. Josph, Missouri, where conferences of the elders wer eheld and new assignments of companions and "fields of labor" were made.
Father never mentions important incidents which happened to him or his companions nor did he describe how he felt about the experience of the day. There is, however, one experience he related after coming home that should be recorded. One night after he and his companion had gone to bed, he was awakened by a feeling of darkness and heavy forboding. As his senses became more alert, he perceived the presence in the room of a large man who was holding a knife in his hand. He spoke to Father, saying, "You are the one I want. I am going to kill you." By exercising the Authority of the Priesthood and in the name of Jesus Christ, the evil presence was forced to leave the room. Father's assessment of this incident was that "we must have been disturbing the Devil's kingdom."
Father left Kansas City at 6:30 p.m. March 25, 1902 via train to return home. Wednesday, the 26th because of heavy rain and wind the train was late arriving at Pueblo, Colorado which made it necessary for him to wait for the local train which made it impossible for him to make proper connections in Utah. he arrived in 'Thistle, Utah, at about 11 a.m., March 27 too late to catch the train that went south into Sanpete County, so he had to stay over that day and night at Thistle. He arrived at Mount Pleasant, Utah Friday morning at 10:40 a.m. where he was met by his father who took him to Moroni. His last entry in his journal states, "I vfound my family as well as could be expected. Our little girl that had been sick was getting better and I enjoyed my home and the company of my wife and little ones. And thus I found myself at home once more after I had spent nearly two years in the mission field."
Apparently, Father had mentioned this to the mission president who told him that if he felt that he was needed at home he might leave and his mission release would be sent to him. In father's missionary journal under date of March 7, 1902, appears this entry: "We went to Scranton in the morning and got our mail. I got a letter from home stating that Moneta was getting better. I also got a letter from President Duffin stating that if I felt it my duty to go home he would send me my release, but I trust that my family will be well again, so I went to work . . ."
Each spring Father trailed his little flock of sheep up Spanish Fork Canyon to the summer range which was located south of what used to be known as Tucker. On one of these trips one of the horses, Prince, we called him, became very ill. It appeared, for a time, as if he were going to die. Prince was definitely needed and this occasion became one of the times when Father needed a blessing from the Lord. In faith he asked for that blessing and Prince the next morning was as well and healthy as he had been any other day of his life.
Father's last sermon, given in a Sacrament meeting, was a fitting climax to his life-time of service in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It could well be considered a benediction to a faith in Jesus Christ which had grown to near perfection, In the conclusion of his talk, he stated that the Lord had never failed to answer his prayers. He had never been refused anything he had asked for. Ephraim Nelson, a life long friend, who was bishop at the time, challenged Rather by saying that he did not believe what Father had said indicating that he recalled many occasions when the Lord had not seen fit to answer his prayers. Father informed him that what he thought or what his experience in having the Lord answer his prayers might be actually made no difference b3ecause wht he had said was true, the Lord had in very deed answered all his prayers. Bishop Nelson then remarked that he must have been very careful of what he had asked for in his prayers. Father agreed that his was true, because he had never asked the Lord to do anything for him that he could do for himself or to provide him with anything he did not need.
One morning as the chiken coop which was located north of the house was being constructed, a bill for materials from the Jewel M. Peterson Lumber Company of Mount Pleasant was handed to Father by Elbert Draper who delivered the building materials. As Father read the bill item by item, he recognized a mistake in the amounts. Although he had never been taught arithmetic in school, he figured each item in his mind and came up with an answer which showed that the lumber company had made a mistake of just under $25,00 in Father's favor. he could have paid the bill then and there as it was written in which case he would have been approximately $25.00 to the good. Instead, however, without a moments hesitation, he indicated the faulty calculation on the bill, made a check for the corrected amount and gave it to a grateful Mr. Draper.
The nature of his business operation required that certain items both for the house and for the business were purchased on "tick" as it was called (that is on credit). Each fall when the labms were sold and the sugar beet checks received, he would pay his creditors. Prompt payment of his accounts earned for him the reputation of an honest man who paid his bills promptly.
Occasionally the boys in our community would ride horses on Sunday afternoon, but Father was neve rin sympathy with this practice, and would not permit his boys to ride horses on Sundays. The horses worked six days during the week and needed a day of rest just as man needed the Sabbath for rest.
As a small boy, there was great adventure in going with Father on the mountain in the fall of the year with the team and wagon for a load of coal. Around the camp fires, I would listen with great interest to the men talk. I heard many of them make unkind and sometimes vulgar remarks about their wives or women in general. Never at any time in my life did I hear Father express an unkind, mean, or vulgar thought about my mother or any other woman.
Early one morning at our feed lot at the farm, a neighbor came into the yard and began to ridicule Father. I have no recollection of the problem or incident that percipitated the situation, but I recall how angry I became as I listened to him cuss and swear at my Father who quietly listened and said or did nothing. After the neighbor had exhausted his anger and had gone on about his daily work, I asked, "Why did you take all that abuse?" Father answered, "son," he said, "we have to live with him and it is better to endure a little verbal abuse than to live constantly at war with your neighbor." In my youth, I was a little disappointed with Father's behavior that morning and the wisdom of that vivid lesson did not fully come to me until years after it had happened. It is much better to suffer abuse than to live in constant turmoil with those about you.
"You can't learn any younger," is an example of the application of a principle of teaching Father used as a stock answer to the excuse, "I don't know how," offered by his children when they had been given an assignment that seemed too difficult or one that was considered distasteful to them. He always answered, "You can't learn any younger." This simple answer conveyed his confidence in his son or daughter and a simple challenge to reach up to a new level of accomplishment.
"You can't put old heads on young shoulders." This is another eternal truth that Father learned about youth. There is no substitute for experience nor is there a better teacher. Understanding this truth, mad ehim more patient and wise in dealing with his children and grandchildren.
Although Father had very little formal schoolling, he had learned much about people and about life from his observation and his association with people in his daily activities. His study of the scriptures and his mission experience, no doubt, gave direction and meaning to the thoughts of his mind which matrued into the basic principles by which he goveren his daily actions.
One day in the sugar beet field, the use of a whip became the subject of conversation. A neighbor boy, Lionel Jensen, challenged Father on his ability to use the whip. Father accepted the challenge which was that he could pop the whip on the seat of Lionel's pants every step he made across the beet field. Father gave Lionel a good head start, but Lionel only proceeded a very short distance when he realized that the end of the whip was actually dusting the seat of his pants at every step he took. The Bull Whip is the instrument used to drive oxen and a person who drives them soon becomes efficient in its use as the neighbor boy soon discovered in a sugar beet field one clearn autumn day.
Apparently some sheep stealing had been going on in Sanpete County. Bill Brewer of Mount Pleasant, Scott Bruno and my father, Niels Heber Anderson, of Moroni, on the 26th day of November 1894 in company with Sheriff James Burns came upon Moan Kofford and Jim Mickle at Reader's Ridge back of the Horse Shoe Mountain. Evidence of the changing of the ear marks in sheep and brands made it quite clear that certain sheep had been stolen.
Sheriff Burns made an attempt to place Moan Kofford and Jim Mickle under arrest without first disarming the. As he approached them they shot and killed the sheriff, then warned the other men that if they did not stay out of the affair they would receive the same treatment as had been given the sheriff. Hilda Madsen Longsdorf, in her book entitled Mount Pleasant, recorded the incident as follows: "November 26, 1894, Sheriff James Burns, while attempting to place Moan Kofford and Jim Mickle under arrest for stealing sheep, was shot and killed by them, several shots entering his body. The shooting took place on Reader's Ridge, back of the Horse Shoe Mountains, also called Orson Hyde's Arm Chair, or the Bishop's Chair. Bill Brewer, Heber Anderson and Scott Bruno witnessed the shooting. Bill Brewer and Anderson brought the news to Spring City. Thomas Barby, with the milita of mt. Pleasant, was soon on the scene of the shooting, and the body was taken to Mt. Pleasant. Although the Militia searched and guarded for a couple of weeks in the ledges and dense timber, the murderers were never apprehended." (Mount Pleasant, 1859-1930, Hilda Madsen Longsdorf, Stevens & Wallis, Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, p. 175)
Father was nervous about the threat Kofford and mickle had given him and the two other men and shortly after the incident, purchased a "six shooter" which he carried for several years thereafter. He told me that he had decided to sell his life as dearly as possible if ever he met Kofford or Mickle and the occasion might require it.
Many years after the shooting of Sheriff Burns took place, Father was asked to accompany the Sanpete county law officials into Idaho. A certain man while drinking in a bar boasted of having killed Sheriff James Burns in Sanpete County, Utah. He claimed to be Moan Kofford. He was arrested and was being held in jail until the matter could be investigated. Bill Brew and Scott Bruno were deceased and father was the only living witness to the shooting.
Father was well acquainted with Moan Kofford and as he entered the jail, he could hear a man singing and this was something he had never known Kofford to have ever done; but to be positive of his identification, he asked the man to walk down the hallway. As he did so, Father was positive that he was not Moan Kofford because Kofford had a peculiar gate as he walked.
Father said that he had seen Moan Kofford only once after the shooting. Kofford was driving a freight wagon near Lavan and as their eyes met, Kofford, pulled his hat down so as to cover his face and at the same time put the whip to the team.
Mary Ann born 2 Jan 1890, Annie Caroline 20 May 1892, Amelia Sophia, born 6 May, 1894, Niels Heber, born 22 Sept 1896,Moneta and Loeta (twins) born 13 June, 1899, Jacob Wilford, born 14 Jan 1903, John Henry born 25 Feb, 1905, James Ephraim born 5 May, 1907, Ruth Zina (my grandmother) born 20 July 1909, George McKay born 13 Jan, 1912, Ellen Geniel born 18 Dec, 1914.
All of the children were born and raised in the family home at Moroni, Sanpete County, Utah. In this home family prayers were said each morning and night with Father as spokesman for the family. When Father was absent from the home, mother would then lead the family in prayer. There are fifty-three grandchildren in the family. They are divided among the twelve children as follows: Mary Ann (5), Annie Caroline (5), Amelia Sophia (9),Niels Heber (7), Moneta (2), Loeta (2), Jacob Wilford (1), John Henry (4), James ephraim (3), Ruth Zina (5) (my grandmother whom I am named after), George McKay (7), and Ellen Geniel (3). Niel's mother Karen M. Nielsen Niel's father Niels J. Anderson
Conclusion
Father was not rich as counted by material possessions. His wealth consisted of a numerous progeny of honorable men and women who are honest, patriotic citizens; knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the plan of exaltation; an unshakable faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His redeeming infinite sacrifice; an assurance that God hears and answers prayers because his humble, sincere prayers were answered; confidence that personality endures beyond the grave and that the family unit will be perpetuated throughout the eternities by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. He taught these great truths to his children and grandchildren and counselled them to be faithful to the sacred covenants entered into with the Lord and to endure loyal and faithful to the end of mortal life and thereby be accepted into God's kingdom and given an exalted place therein.
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