Appendix 1 Andrew Jenson, Mormon Encyclopedist Davis Bitton and Leonard J

Appendix 1 Andrew Jenson, Mormon Encyclopedist Davis Bitton and Leonard J. Arrington In November 1876, shortly after the appearance of Edward Tullidge’s zealous collector of historical records, faithful diarist, and author of Life of Brigham Young; Or, Utah and Her Founders, a twenty-six-year- more than five thousand published biographical sketches. Jenson may old Danish settler in Pleasant Grove, Utah, wrote to Daniel H. Wells, have contributed more to preserving the factual details of Latter-day a close adviser to Brigham Young. Hopeful that he would not have to Saint history than any other person; at least for sheer quantity, his spend the rest of his life as a manual laborer, the young man asked if projects will likely remain unsurpassed. Jenson’s industry, persistence, he might have permission to prepare and publish a history of Joseph and dogged determination in the face of rebuffs and disappointments Smith in the Danish language. Wells replied that he had “no hesi- have caused every subsequent Mormon historian to be indebted to him. tancy” in approving the proposal but doubted that the project, although Andreas Jensen was born in 1850 in the country village of Damgren, worthwhile, would be financially remunerative. The young immigrant in Torslev Parish, Hjørring County, Jutland, Denmark, the second son arranged his affairs at home, began the work of translating and writing, of Danish peasants.1 When Andreas was four, his parents were visited and canvassed for subscribers. by Mormon missionaries in Denmark and converted. Andreas and his Thus began the historical labors of Andrew Jenson, who for the older brother, Jens, who were subjected to harassment at school because next sixty-five years worked prodigiously in the cause of Mormon his- 1. Especially helpful in the preparation of this essay were the diaries of Andrew Jenson, housed tory. He was the author of twenty-seven books, editor of four historical in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University periodicals, compiler of 650 manuscript histories and indexes to nearly Library, Provo, Utah, and in the Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah; Autobiography of Andrew Jenson (Salt Lake City: every important historical manuscript, publisher of a reference work, Deseret News Press, 1938); Keith W. Perkins, “Andrew Jenson: Zealous Chronologist” (PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1974); Louis Reinwand, “Andrew Jenson, Latter- This essay originally appeared as “Andrew Jenson: Mormon Encyclopedist,” in Davis Bitton day Saint Historian,” BYU Studies 14, no. 1 (Autumn 1973): 1–15; and Dean C. Jessee, and Leonard J. Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians (Salt Lake City: University of Utah “Andrew Jenson: Itinerant Crusader for Historical Records,” unpublished paper prepared Press, 1988), 41–55. for delivery to the Mormon History Association, 1973. Andrew Jenson, Mormon Encyclopedist 401 of their religion, were taught at home. Their reading consisted primarily In 1873, when Jenson was twenty-two, he became a United States of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Mormon promotional literature, and citizen and was called to be a proselyting missionary in Denmark. the Skandinaviens Stjerne, the Latter-day Saint semimonthly periodi- Crossing the Great Plains and Atlantic Ocean once more, he began cal published in the Danish-Norwegian language. While Andreas was preaching in his native country. In connection with his missionary growing up, the Stjerne published a series of excerpts from the “History work, he published occasional articles and letters in Skandinaviens of Joseph Smith,” which excited the interest of the youth and helped Stjerne and local newspapers. Among other things, he wrote a history determine his style of writing. of the Aalborg Conference (or District) of the Mormon Church. He At the age of thirteen, inspired by the example of a missionary who found that he enjoyed historical writing. visited the Jensens, Andreas began to keep a diary or personal history, Two years later he was back in Utah. He married Kirsten Marie a task which he continued until his death at the age of ninety-one. At (Mary) Pederson, joined the Church’s Young Men’s Mutual Improvement about the same time, he began to travel throughout Denmark, selling Association in Pleasant Grove, and tried to support his bride with work lithographs to raise money to help the family immigrate to Utah. In on a farm. To finance a home, he helped build a tramway up the Little the spring of 1866, when Jensen was fifteen, the family sailed from Cottonwood Canyon, southeast of Salt Lake City. Soon his first son Denmark to New York, took a train to the Missouri River, acquired an was born. ox team, and in October arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. During these months, Andrew became depressed at the prospect of To use Jensen’s phrase, he “hoofed it” all the way. Anxious to adopt a life devoted to “working with pick and shovel.” He wanted to engage the ways of Zion, Andreas changed his given name to “Andrew” and in literary pursuits but did not see how it could be done. During those altered the spelling of his surname to “Jenson.” weeks of hard labor, interspersed with serious thoughts about his future, After remaining a short time in the Salt Lake Valley, the family he made the decision to translate certain parts of the history of Joseph moved thirty-six miles southeast to Pleasant Grove, Utah, where they Smith into Danish. Joseph Smiths Levnetsløb (History of Joseph Smith) could be near some Danish acquaintances. There Andrew herded cows was at first published in monthly installments, for which a charge and worked on the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. of ten cents per month was made. By the time of the first mailing After the joining of the rails at Promontory in 1869, Andrew bought in July 1877, there were nine hundred subscribing customers, all in sixteen acres of farming land but was not a success as a farmer. He Utah. With the assistance of Jonah A. Bruun, a missionary compan- resumed work on the extension of the railroad south of Salt Lake ion who had translated for Skandinaviens Stjerne, the 448 pages of City; worked as a cowboy in Wyoming, Kansas, and Nebraska; and the completed book were finally bound and published in 1879 by the after a year returned to Pleasant Grove with three hundred dollars in Church-owned Deseret News Office in Salt Lake City. This was the cash. He then worked on branch railroad construction, was employed first foreign-language book published in Utah, the first publication of in the Brigham Canyon mine and smelter, clerked in a grocery store, a bound book dealing with Joseph Smith, and the first in a series of and sold lithographs. historical publications prepared by Jenson. 402 Appendix 1 Upon the completion of the Levnetsløb, Jenson was called to leave to historical, biographical, chronological, and statistical matters.” The behind his wife and two young children and journey to Denmark immediate successor of Morgenstjernen, the Historical Record began to serve once more as a missionary. Assigned to be president of the with volume 5 and continued through volume 9 (1886–90), reaching Copenhagen Branch of the Church, he studied Danish language a total of 1,135 pages. The publication included narratives and docu- and literature and served as a translator and writer for Skandinaviens ments of early Church history; biographies of early leaders; histories of Stjerne. He later became assistant editor of that publication. Jenson also settlements, organizations, and missions; and chronologies of important edited a monthly periodical for young readers entitled Ungdommens events. Once again Jenson followed his tried and proven format by Raadgiver (Counselor of Youth) and prepared a new edition of the Book publishing in monthly installments, this time of thirty-two pages each, of Mormon in Danish, together with an index. Upon the death of the evenly divided between historical narrative and chronology. Jenson’s mission president, he served for a period as acting president. style was factual and simple, emphasizing accuracy in dates and figures. Upon his return to Utah in the fall of 1881, Jenson began prepara- One of Jenson’s daring publications at this time was a short treatise on tions for the publication of a historical magazine in the Danish lan- the history of plural marriage, including a list of all women “sealed” guage. The first issue of Morgenstjernen (Morning Star), appearing early to Joseph Smith.2 in 1882, included a history of the Scandinavian Mission from 1850 to Having worked closely with persons in the Church Historian’s Office 1880, a biography of Erastus Snow (a Mormon Apostle who had been and wishing to have sponsorship for his publications, Jenson wrote to president of the Scandinavian Mission of the Church), a summary of the Church President in 1886, asking for employment in the Historian’s events in 1881, and other articles. Jenson used the same method for Office.3 The President replied that it would not be convenient at that Morgenstjernen that he had used in selling Levnetsløb: he sold advance time. He also stated that he was reluctant to give any endorsement to subscriptions and mailed the magazine out in sixteen installments of Jenson’s publications: they must “stand upon their own merits and sixteen pages each. Eventually, the number of subscribers exceeded the people to be their judges.”4 Nevertheless, the President was com- two thousand. One incidental result of his canvassing for subscriptions plimentary about Jenson’s work, and the Church-owned Deseret News and looking for material for future articles was the acquisition of many commented that it was the first time the history of the Mormon people private journals and other personal histories.

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