Biography
of Anna Marie Rasmussen Munk
Written
by LaRue Munk Walker (a Granddaughter)
Anna Marie Rasmussen was born December 7, 1822 at Asker,
Bornholm, Denmark. Her Mother's named
was Bodil Margretti Hanson. Her Father's
name was Mikel Rasmussen. She was
married to Christian Ipson Munk February 4, 1842. Christian and Anna Marie bought the home of
Anna's parents and made improvements and agreements to care for her parents
until their death. Her father died in
1847 and her mother in 1846.
On some of the ground of this lot, flax was raised and
Grandmother made linen cloth. She also
helped increase the family means by carding and spinning. She had her first child on the 21st of September
1844. He was called Michael Peter. Two baby girls, Boline Christine on March 30
1845 and Christine Margret, on January 24 1851 were also born at this home in
Aaker, Denmark.
Mormon missionaries came to the Munk home in the year 1852.
They were allowed to have meetings in this home and teach the restored
gospel. Anna Marie and her husband were baptized
on March 26th 1852 by Elder O. Svensen.
Like many other who accepted this faith they desired to come
to Zion in America. So on December 22,
1852 they started the long journey to America where they hoped to finally reach
Salt Lake City in Utah.
After various delays along the first part of this journey
they finally reached Liverpool in England and boarded an English ship called
Forest Monarch bound for New Orleans.
This proved a hard sea voyage because of severe storms. Sometimes the storms were so fierce that the
waves would roll over the deck, causing damage to boxes of foodstuffs. Once some boxes of apples were broken. My, what a scramble when the children saw the
apples rolling over the deck.
Grandmother thought this particular accident was a blessing for the
children. The diet on the ship had consisted
larger of parched peas and black coffee so the apples were a great treat to the
children.
As the voyage continued passengers weakened on the bad
diet. The tossing and rolling of the
ship caused much illness. Some
passengers died, among them Grandmother's baby Christina. Grandmother saddened by her baby's death and
dreading a sea burial for her, prayed for help.
She felt God answered her prayer, for the Captain for the ship came to
her and told her she would not have to bury the baby in the ocean but when they
reached the sand bar he would let them off from the ship so they could find a place
in the ground to bury the child. Early
on the morning of March 7th the land of America was sighted. A three pm they reached the sand bar and left
the ship long enough to bury the child.
The Forest Monarch reached New Orleans on March 19th. It had taken 11 weeks to cross the
Atlantic. Here at New Orleans they
landed from the ship and boarded a river steamer which took them a short
distance up the river where they left it and boarded a larger steamer, the
Grantover, and commenced their real river journey to St. Louis.
On the 20th of May the long trek across the plains was
started with John E. Forsgren as Captain of the Company.
How happy Grandmother must have been on the 30th of
September when this company reached Salt Lake.
On the 15th of October they arrived at Spring City, Little Denmark, safe
and well. But on the 15th of November
they received word from Brigham Young to move to Manti because of Indian
trouble. Grandmother helped with the
house work in the Father Millet home where they found shelter until other
arrangements could be made.
A building lot was finally obtained in the east line of the
Manti Fort and on this lot a home was erected in March 1854. A grandson Ray Munk now lives at this
location at the time of this writiing.
Many hardships came with the planting of crops. Some years the rust would ruin the wheat and
it wasn't worth harvesting. Some years
the grasshoppers destroyed most of the crops.
Grandmother and the children gleaned wheat on the edges of the fields
where they were lucky enough to find any.
One season they gleaned 50 bushels of wheat. One especially bad year the Munk home was
without bread for 7 months.
My father Joseph Munk was born in January of 1855 which was one
of those crop failure years. Grandmother
didn't taste bread for months before he was born but lived largely on squash
and dried beans. Never the less she was
able to nurse another women's baby besides her own.
During the year of 1865 the Indians went on the war path and
hostilities continued for three years.
After peace finally was restored between the whites and the Indians, the
grasshoppers came and destroyed crops for three years in succession.
It was during these three hard years of crop failures and
Indian troubles that Grandmother's other children were born. There were two boys, Ernest born February 10,
1858 and Christian, April 4, 1860. Also
two girls Marriah Margareth, December 29, 1862 and the youngest Hannalr
Cordelia December 23, 1867.
When my cousin May was a child she heard some folks say a
family of quarreling neighbor's of theirs had moved down near her Grandmother
Munk's. So one day when May was visiting
Grandmother she asked her "Do you quarrel with your new neighbors?",
No dear, it takes two to have a quarrel", replied Grandmother.
Another time when May was at Grandmothers the young green peas
were just at their best and she asked for some.
"Help yourself dear", said Grandmother. Then she told May about the parched peas they
were served on the ship coming to America and how distasteful peas looked to
her for years afterward.
When Josie, my sister was graduated from elementary school
Grandmother encouraged her to go on to higher schools of learning. Since they were not available in Manti at
that time Josie was sent to Logan to continue her education.
For many years Grandmother carded and spun wool for
others. Grandfather would sit and pick
the wool apart, and then Grandmother would card it into soft fleecy bats with
wool carders. Often times she had a
large clothes basket heaped with fluffy bats ready to be made into yarn on her
spinning wheel or used for filling for quilts.
When she spun the wool into yarn she turned the spinning
wheel with her foot and stretched the soft white bats into a twisted
thread. Grandfather would hold the yard
while she would wind it into skeins to be used for knitting sox, sweaters, scarves
or crocheted into afghans or cushion covers.
When the grandchildren went to the Munk home to visit, Grandmother
often treated them to red and white striped stick candy.
Often calls came for her to help when illness came to families. She was glad to go and do what she could to
relive pain and give comfort.
Their son Christian says that he never heard his parents
speak a cross word to each other and if a decision was to be made they often
slipped into the next room and talked it over until they both came to the same
conclusion.
Grandfather says his wife faithfully helped him in every way
and was a loyal companion.
Grandmother died at the age of 87 at the home of her son
Ernest. It had been her desire to live until
the return from the Australian Mission of her son Christian and this was
granted.
She had 42 grandchildren and 28 great grandchildren. She was a consistent Latter day Saint and was
loved and respected by all who knew her.
She died March 15, 1910
No comments:
Post a Comment