The story of a faithful hero from a Sweden and a faithful heroine from Denmark who met in Pleasant Grove, UT and were married. Charles Peter Warnick and Christine Marie Larsen.
Christine lived in Denmark as the youngest of three siblings. When she was about six years old, the Mormon Elders came into the area. Her parents, Lars Christen Larsen and Maren Bertelsen, soon became interested in their message. Their plans for the future changed as Lars and Maren were baptized in June 1860. Christine was not old enough to be baptized with the rest of the family, but she was blessed by the Elders and her name was entered on the records with her parents.
The family soon gained a desire to go to Zion. Lars worked as hard as he could prepare for this long journey by spinning and weaving and making clothing. In the spring of 1863 they were ready to start, leaving behind those things that had been their life's ambitions, their new faith and hope prompting them on to face new fields and to strive for new goals.
They were at sea for eight weeks before traveling across the plains to Utah where they spent their first winter in Draper, UT before moving to Pleasant Grove (Warnick Family History, Volume 1 pg. 250).
Charles, or Carl as he was called, was the youngest of seven children living in Sweden. His father, Anders Petter Warnicke, worked as a sharecropper (almost equivalent to being the work of a slave) and the family lived in a one room house. His mother was Anna Helena Andersson.
Carl was attending a service in the Swedish Lutheran Church, where children weren't taken to church very often. On the ceiling of the small chapel was a painting of the devil in a red costume with horns and tail, pushing back with a pitch fork the poor unfortunate people. This painting made such a vivid impression on Carl's sensitive mind that it haunted him by night and worried him by day. He thought he was just an ordinary boy and could never be good enough to go to heaven so, of course, he would have to go to this burning lake.
One Sunday an aunt came to visit. She was so interested in a new religion which she had heard about from two men from Utah. One thing that caught the attention of the ten year old Charles was that these Mormons, as they were called, didn't believe in the lake of fire and brimstone. After hearing this he listened eagerly to the discussion of the older members. He was ready right then to join a church that didn't believe in that terrible picture. Of course, he couldn't understand all of the principles of the gospel at that age but even after many years of study and experience, he never doubted that he had embraced the only true Church of Jesus Christ.
The priest in that little Swedish village was very antagonistic to the Mormon religion and encouraged the people to make life unpleasant for anyone who joined it. After a few years of hardship, 11 members of the family set sail (the oldest son stayed to complete a mission in Sweden, and the oldest daughter also remained in Sweden for a time). The following account of their journey comes from "Life Sketch of Anders Petter Warnick and Anna Helena Andserson Warnick written by Effie Warnick Adams"
They arrived in New York, July 31st, 1866 in Staten Island. Cholera had broken out among the passengers while on the ship. The supply of water had been very limited, and they were allowed only one quart of putrid liquid per family each day. Other rations were likewise limited and poor in quality. Carl, only 16 years old at the time, had been so ill that his mother worried he wouldn't be allowed to land. His sickness was evident in the fact that he had lost all of his hair.
The route they had been informed they would take needed to be changed. The railroad companies, whose lines went out from New York, took advantage of the "Mormons" and asked an unusually high price to take them west. Elder Thomas Taylor, who arranged their travel, was able to close a satisfactory contract by a new route that would be several hundred miles longer, but much cheaper. One drawback to this plan was that the saints would have to ride across the country in cattle and freight cars.
The saints then traveled to Connecticut on a large freight steamer. From there they went by train through Connecticut, Massachusetts, and vermont to Montreal, Canada. Here they boarded the uncomfortable and dirty freight and cattle cars to travel through Canada before they were ferried to Michigan.
During their travel, many of the immigrants developed cholera and died. The cattle cars were kept clean as much as possible so that the sick could lay on the floor and rest, being too ill to raise their heads. The roughness of the ride added to the discomfort and the journey became almost unendurable.
Anna Helena (Carl's mother) was one who was suffering greatly. She endured three days of the terrible ride across Canada, but on the third day she passed away. According to a record by Carl, she was left dead on the station platform on August 5, 1866. This was most likely in Marcella, Michigan.
Many other members of the family also suffered intensely. For five more days they endured the agony of the bumps, and the discomfort of their condition. They traveled across Illinois, the Mississippi River, and through hostile Missouri. Just before the train reached St. Joseph, Missouri, one of the cars caught on fire where the sick were removed to escape the fire. Some of the sick and dying had to be left on the platform of the depot, including Anders Peter Warnick and his daughter Anna Christina. "Death had not completely claimed them, and loved ones obtained no further knowledge of their fate."
Here is a record of Carl's feelings, written later in his life sketch: "When I look back and think of that awful scene, I wonder how we could do it and I can only think that we saw so much suffering and death, that our sense of feeling and sympathy must have been paralyzed. We thought that we were all doomed and nothing mattered--the sooner the better."
We do not know where Anna Helena or Anders Peter were buried. "We have none of their earthly possessions to tie us to them, but the tie we have is stronger than any material thing. It is the bond of appreciation, love and respect, which fills our souls when we contemplate our debt to them." Because of them, we have our "precious, dearly bought heritage. Because of their courage, we live at liberty, in a place of beauty and bounty." We have the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Christine Marie Larsen
The family soon gained a desire to go to Zion. Lars worked as hard as he could prepare for this long journey by spinning and weaving and making clothing. In the spring of 1863 they were ready to start, leaving behind those things that had been their life's ambitions, their new faith and hope prompting them on to face new fields and to strive for new goals.
They were at sea for eight weeks before traveling across the plains to Utah where they spent their first winter in Draper, UT before moving to Pleasant Grove (Warnick Family History, Volume 1 pg. 250).
Charles (Carl) Peter Warnick
Carl was attending a service in the Swedish Lutheran Church, where children weren't taken to church very often. On the ceiling of the small chapel was a painting of the devil in a red costume with horns and tail, pushing back with a pitch fork the poor unfortunate people. This painting made such a vivid impression on Carl's sensitive mind that it haunted him by night and worried him by day. He thought he was just an ordinary boy and could never be good enough to go to heaven so, of course, he would have to go to this burning lake.
One Sunday an aunt came to visit. She was so interested in a new religion which she had heard about from two men from Utah. One thing that caught the attention of the ten year old Charles was that these Mormons, as they were called, didn't believe in the lake of fire and brimstone. After hearing this he listened eagerly to the discussion of the older members. He was ready right then to join a church that didn't believe in that terrible picture. Of course, he couldn't understand all of the principles of the gospel at that age but even after many years of study and experience, he never doubted that he had embraced the only true Church of Jesus Christ.
The priest in that little Swedish village was very antagonistic to the Mormon religion and encouraged the people to make life unpleasant for anyone who joined it. After a few years of hardship, 11 members of the family set sail (the oldest son stayed to complete a mission in Sweden, and the oldest daughter also remained in Sweden for a time). The following account of their journey comes from "Life Sketch of Anders Petter Warnick and Anna Helena Andserson Warnick written by Effie Warnick Adams"
They arrived in New York, July 31st, 1866 in Staten Island. Cholera had broken out among the passengers while on the ship. The supply of water had been very limited, and they were allowed only one quart of putrid liquid per family each day. Other rations were likewise limited and poor in quality. Carl, only 16 years old at the time, had been so ill that his mother worried he wouldn't be allowed to land. His sickness was evident in the fact that he had lost all of his hair.
The route they had been informed they would take needed to be changed. The railroad companies, whose lines went out from New York, took advantage of the "Mormons" and asked an unusually high price to take them west. Elder Thomas Taylor, who arranged their travel, was able to close a satisfactory contract by a new route that would be several hundred miles longer, but much cheaper. One drawback to this plan was that the saints would have to ride across the country in cattle and freight cars.
The saints then traveled to Connecticut on a large freight steamer. From there they went by train through Connecticut, Massachusetts, and vermont to Montreal, Canada. Here they boarded the uncomfortable and dirty freight and cattle cars to travel through Canada before they were ferried to Michigan.
During their travel, many of the immigrants developed cholera and died. The cattle cars were kept clean as much as possible so that the sick could lay on the floor and rest, being too ill to raise their heads. The roughness of the ride added to the discomfort and the journey became almost unendurable.
Anna Helena (Carl's mother) was one who was suffering greatly. She endured three days of the terrible ride across Canada, but on the third day she passed away. According to a record by Carl, she was left dead on the station platform on August 5, 1866. This was most likely in Marcella, Michigan.
Many other members of the family also suffered intensely. For five more days they endured the agony of the bumps, and the discomfort of their condition. They traveled across Illinois, the Mississippi River, and through hostile Missouri. Just before the train reached St. Joseph, Missouri, one of the cars caught on fire where the sick were removed to escape the fire. Some of the sick and dying had to be left on the platform of the depot, including Anders Peter Warnick and his daughter Anna Christina. "Death had not completely claimed them, and loved ones obtained no further knowledge of their fate."
Here is a record of Carl's feelings, written later in his life sketch: "When I look back and think of that awful scene, I wonder how we could do it and I can only think that we saw so much suffering and death, that our sense of feeling and sympathy must have been paralyzed. We thought that we were all doomed and nothing mattered--the sooner the better."
We do not know where Anna Helena or Anders Peter were buried. "We have none of their earthly possessions to tie us to them, but the tie we have is stronger than any material thing. It is the bond of appreciation, love and respect, which fills our souls when we contemplate our debt to them." Because of them, we have our "precious, dearly bought heritage. Because of their courage, we live at liberty, in a place of beauty and bounty." We have the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment