Niels J Larsen by Delores Larsen Allen

Niels J. Larsen

Excerpts from the Personal History of Delores Larsen Allen

(This was all hand written by Delores L. Allen in a red notebook in the late 1970's or 1980)

 

I, Delores Larsen Allen, like Nephi of old, was born of goodly parents Oct. 13, 1903 in Hyrum, Utah, the sixth child in a family of nine children.

My father Niels J. Larsen was born May 6, 1868 in Skuerup Holbark, Denmark, son of Hans Larsen and Maren Johansen. He came to America when eight years old, with his widowed mother and six brothers and sisters.

 

Father was a tall thin man with the bluest, sparkling, bright eyes I ever saw. He was a hard working man. On an eighty acre dry farm he walked behind a plow in the spring and a harrow in the fall, which amounted to several miles a day, with sore feet and corns on his toes.

He lived by the Golden Rule and Ten Commandments. He believed in giving an honest day's work for an honest day's pay, and that our word should be as good as our bond. I never knew him to be unkind or do an unjust act.

He was kind to his animals. Always before retiring he visited the barn and threw down a few forks full of hay to the horses and cows and made sure they were alright for the night.

He taught us the value of work, said it was better to wear out than rust out.

He said we should always be yourself and never try to be someone else.

He had a dry sense of wit and liked to tease grandma (his wife).

Sometimes he would call, "Ma,ma," so excited like something really important had happened. When mother came running to see what was wrong he'd grin and slowly and quietly say, "I love you." She would shake her head and say, "You old fool" Then he'd laugh and get a big kick out of it.

We didn't have much of this world's goods, but we had a roof over our head, never went hungry and had enough clothes to keep us warm in the winter. Best of all we had parents who cared and gave us the help and security we needed. They were truly an anchor in our home.