I must confess a grievous fault on my part, perhaps a year ago before the death of Hanna, the second wife, I asked her to dictate her life history to me. She commenced doing this, but tiring, put off finishing it, and it was never begun again. Not only that, but the shorthand notes of the little she did tell me, were partly destroyed, and so, today only a small portion of her history as she gave it remains. - Nellie Iverson Cox, 1951.

I do not have the correct date and the names of her parents. Her place of birth is given only as Denmark but it was in the neighborhood of Aalborg that she first saw the light of day, on February 6, 1859. She was one of five sisters. At this writing, one, Susanna survives.

The poorer people of Denmark, having little worth while to bestow upon their children endowed them with several names, so she was called Julianna (or Yuliana) Johanna Dortea. Her father was Jens Christian Christensen, and her mother Lassina Maria Hendrexsen or (Hendersen). Grandmother was apparently called Dora for short during her girlhood but changed that to Hanna after her marriage.

I remember hearing her talk about her childhood and the fresh, green appearance of the entire country. There were few hills and everything had the appearance of a verdant meadow in the growing season. Her continual desire after she left Denmark was to have returned for a visit to her beloved Native Land. The parched sandhills and barren stretches of desert which she saw in America were in great contrast to the beautiful, evergreen land of her birth.

She also spoke often of the Lutheran Pastor who was also the schoolteacher in her home community. His Bible stories and religious teachings made a lasting impression on her mind so that she was able to say when she heard the Mormon Missionaries: "That is exactly what Christ taught."

Hanna's parents and probably all of her sisters accepted the Gospel and her sisters at least came to America, some of them later living in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. One sister, Suzanna was living in California at last report. She would be quite elderly at this date.

Grandmother had a hard life both in Denmark where she had to work in the fields and later, as a pioneer in Littlefield, Old Mexico and at Mt. Trumbull, Arizona this latter because of her advanced age being the most difficult of all.

One of her tasks as a girl was to cut the 'turr' or peat as it was also known, which was a sort of soft coal composed of decayed vegetation and was the only fuel available. This required frequent turning to allow the moisture to evaporate and here as well as in the grain fields, she worked in a constant, stooping position resulting in a decided hump on her back which she carried all her life, This was not the only scar which work placed on her body. Once when she worked in a blacksmith shop with her Father, it was her duty to keep a firm hold on the knives which were being sharpened. One young man who had worked at this same occupation previously, had allowed the knife to slip, cutting himself quite badly, and had fainted when the cut was being sewed up. She had the same misfortune and had the tendons in several fingers severed so they could not be straightened, but when telling this she was always very proud of the fact that she had not fainted.

She had to milk cows, which she said, had to be milked three times a day in the summer because of the long hours of sunlight. The longitude there is between 55 and 60 degrees and corresponds to that of northern Canada.

Once she worked For a family by the name of 'Sink' living at a place called 'Hals'. It was her duty among other things, to care for a little boy named 'Christian Sink'. She tells of having to amuse him by knocking on the wall while he was occupied on his nursery chair, or whatever it was they used in those days.) She became very attached to this child and often mentioned the desire to have the Temple Work done for his family. Madame Sink, his mother, was a strict task mistress. The milk utensils had to be scoured, the floors scrubbed and everything kept spic and span.

Due to the extreme cold in Denmark in the winter, quilts were little used on the beds, feather ticks taking their place. These were also used as mattresses. Ducks and geese were plentiful so there was no lack of down to make bedding.

The long evenings were used to spin wool into thread to be made into clothing. When her tasks were finally completed she was so exhausted that she could not always sleep. To add to her unease was the fact that the hired man would call her to get up and she might not hear him. She tells of waking at two o'clock in the morning and thinking the hired man had called her until she had crept out in the hail to look at the clock.

The following is part of her memories given in her own words when she was about 76:

"My sister and I had gone to the place where the soldiers were exercising. It was a tine sight to see them lined up in two rows with the General marching up and down, giving orders. He would cry, 'Stomach in, shoulders back chest out.' That was more interesting than any picture show I have ever seen. Once in a while the soldiers gave us penneys to spend."

"When I was about eight or nine we moved to Gothope where my father worked in a big blacksmith shop where the machinery was run by water power. The bellows were run by water power and there were huge forges all over the room. For a long time my job was to tend a huge hammer so that it would not run too fast. The man who held the iron hammer would motion with his head one way or the other and I knew by this just what he wanted me to do. I tried to be careful and watch his head so that I would know just how he wanted his hammer run. Another job was to grind knives on a wooden wheel which also ran by water power. There were cracks on the wheel and if I allowed the knives to go too far back they would be jerked out of my grasp and there was danger of my being cut if I did not have a tight hold. One night the man was getting ready to go to supper which would leave me alone, so I tried to hurry and by not thinking I got cut quite badly."

"I helped the men haul manure to the fields. They would haul out many loads of manure which they would put in small piles and the hired girl would have to spread it around on the ground. Sometimes she would have to help load it too if there was only one hired man. I often had to go milk while the men ate dinner. When I finished this, I could eat what was left. The men would then take a nap while I washed the huge stacks of dishes - not alone the dinner dishes but many buckets and pots and pans and tubs which had been used to make cheese and for churning as well. After this there was no time to rest before going out to the fields again."

"In haying season I had to help load and unload the hay and I had to fork the bundles of grain up in the wagon and when the load reached home I would fork them up in the barn."

"My parents were Lutherans but joined the Mormon Church due to the work of some missionaries from Aalhorg. I attended Church in Aalborg some distance from my home. (A Danish mile and a half.) I was staying at home the year after my job at Haals to help mother as she was ill. It was during this winter that I became a Mormon. I joined the Church because I knew the Bible well from being taught it by my teacher in School and I knew that what the missionaries taught was the same as the Bible taught."

"It was the custom for both boys and girls to hire themselves out as laborers - the boys in various professions and the girls principally as housemaids or field workers. A certain young lady acquaintance of mine had thus hired herself out for a year but had grown tired of the position and wished to return home. However, this could not be done unless someone else took her place. At any rate, I began to work here after the winter when I was here at home with my parents. As it was not far from Aalborg I continued attending Sunday Services." "One Sunday when I was just eighteen one of the missionaries was giving his farewell address as he was being released to return to Utah along with a company of emigrants. At the close of the services he approached me and said he was going to visit a family of Saints who lived near where I worked and he wished to see me too. He approached me in the kitchen where I was at work and asked me what I thought about going to America as his wife."

"I knew he was married and that the Mormons practiced Polygamy. I did not know what to say but I thought, 'Well my intentions are to go to America as soon as I can and as the kind of work I am doing is nearly slavery, the sooner I leave the better.' Ever since joining the Church I had longed to go to Utah, so I said, 'yes' to brother Iverson for that was his name." "I took the train to Aalborg and then to Swenstrop and then on to Gothope to see my folks and tell them goodbye, and got on the train to Aalborg where my future husband met me. Then we got on the steamboat to go to Copenhagen. Then a ship carried us to Hull, England. After a journey by train, we in company with the other emigrants reached Liverpool where we finally embarked for America. There were about seven hundred people on the ship most of them being Mormon converts."

"Brother Iverson had worked as a missionary in Denmark before going to America as a young man and his wife, Anna Dortea had been baptized by him at that time - the last one he baptized. They had several children and the youngest a boy, had been born and had died during his absence and he had never seen it."

Hannah says, "On this same ship on which I came to America there was a young German girl whose grandfather Brother Iverson had baptized many years before. He had known her as a child and had held her on his knee. Now she too, was going to Utah." (1 understand that Hans Peter had not, at this time asked Dortea Caroline Johanna Evers to be his wife.)

This ends the story of Hannah Iverson as given in her own words.

Hans Peter in his own short history goes into greater detail concerning the manner in which he acquired his second wife.

Neither of them tell the name of the ship on which they came to America. A Brother Neilson sent some money with Hans Peter, instructing him to use it on the voyage if necessary. This opened up the way to pay Johanna's passage. He also took to America a young girl named Mina Jensen and a boy Peter Swenson Graco. Though he does not tell us so they very likely were going to friends or relatives in America.

Hans Peter says they had a pleasant trip over land and sea but in spite of this, he was by no means at ease in his mind. His wife at home knew nothing of the imminent addition to her family and he did not know how she would take it. Not only that, Dora Evers, granddaughter of Hans of Stole, did not know he had been commanded to marry her. What a position for a man to be in.

They were approaching Salt Lake on the swiftly moving train, quite a different mode of travel from the slow ox cart which had accompanied Hans Peter and Anna Dortea from New York in 1859. In iust half an hour they would be in the City of the Saints. Hans Peter could endure the uncertainty no longer. With courage born of desperation, he approached Dora Evers and asked her if she would go home with him. Her answer was an unqualified 'yes' so now he had just one thing to worry about. What would his wife in Washington say. Heavy laden, he turned to the Lord in prayer as was his custom at all times but especially when anything worried him, and that his wife at home might accept of this principle of plural marriage as he had done. He says that it was wonderful how sweet the peace of mind he felt, when about two miles before reaching his home, the same voice which had commanded to take this important step, told him that all would be well.

How I wish that he had left us the details of that meeting - the joy of welcoming him that his wife, Anna must have felt the wondering looks of his children as they beheld this kind stranger who was their Father - the tears of sorrow they must have shed because of the two babies who had died during his absence - and lastly, the words of explanation that were given to account for the two young ladies who had accompanied him.

How did Anna Dortea react? Did she merely acquiesce because there seemed nothing else to do or did she rejoice that now her husband might have other sons to take the place of the ones who had died? Was she glad to make one more sacrifice for her religion?

At any rate, soon after their arrival she accompanied Hans Peter and Julianna Johanna Dortea Christensen to the newly completed Temple in St. George. Here on August 10, 1877 his wife and children were sealed to him and that he married a second one.

Dora Evers' daughters probably know why she too was not married at this time instead of waiting until January 19, 1878. However, I do not have that information. Whether she had employment or lived with the Iverson family during the waiting period I do not know.

Babies were not slow in arriving. Hannah buried her first little girl. Her second, a boy was named Peter Martin. Hannah said at one time her husband named all of their children except Victor. This may have been because he was not at home when this occurred, the place of birth being Littlefield, Arizona, considerably removed from Washington where the rest of the family were at that time.