Weston Memories Weston Memories Table of Contents Dedication ............................................................................................................................. 5 Preface ............................................................................................................................. 6 History of Weston ................................................................................................................. 10 Biography of Matthew Phelps Fifield ......................................................................................... 57 Pioneer Banks and Bankers ..................................................................................................... 90 Stories to Tell at Christmas ..................................................................................................... 91 History of the Weston Ward ..................................................................................................... 93 Weston in Heart Throbs of the West ......................................................................................... 95 A Short History of Weston ..................................................................................................... 96 Excerpts from the Manuscript History of Weston ..................................................................... 98 Excerpts from Peter Maughan Family History............................................................................ 100 Sketch of Rasmus Nielsen ..................................................................................................... 104 Mormonism in Idaho Politics ..................................................................................................... 111 Idaho Mormons in a Detroit Prison ......................................................................................... 123 Biography of Christian Olsen and Annie Ellingsen ................................................................. 134 Eulogy of Nels Rasmus Nelson ......................................................................................... 143 Brief History of Norman Nelson ......................................................................................... 145 Norman Nelson Tells stories about Weston ............................................................................. 147 Pedigree Chart of Norman Nelson ......................................................................................... 149 Documents Relating to Carl Jensen ......................................................................................... 150 How Title is Acquired Under the Homestead Act ................................................................. 155 The Journey to Zion ................................................................................................................. 156 In memory of Norman Nelson shown here as a child, who was the son of Amelia and Nels Nelson and grandson of Christian Olsen 5 Preface original. After this history is a portion of the bi- ography of Matthew P. Fifield. Matthew was with This book is the third one that I have put together the second party to arrive at Weston. Although he concerning the history of my family. The purpose is not relative of the family his biography has some of this book is to try capture a glimpse of what life wonderful stories concerning Weston. was like in Weston, Idaho in those early days for some members of the family. To do this I have bor- After the Fifield biography you will find a few sto- rowed heavily upon previously published material ries concerning Weston and its early history. Fol- along with some new material discovered in the lowing these is a brief history of Rasmus Nielsen. last couple of years. It should be noted that the surname Nelson and Nielsen have been used the refer to the same per- My search for material on Weston began with my son since Nelson is just the Americanized version grandfather, Norman Nelson, who tells of stories of the Danish surname Nielsen. They were often of Weston in a recorded oral history that I did for used interchangeably. After the history of Rasmus a previous book. Next my search led me to the Nielsen comes the a couple of articles concerning Family History Library in Salt Lake City and af- the politics and conditions leading up to Rasmus’ ter that I went to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, arrest and subsequent imprisonment. Following who had some information on Weston. Wanting this is the history of Christian Olsen, who was a more information I visited the Special Collections close friend of Rasmus Nielsen. Next is a brief department of the Merrill Library at Utah State sketch of Nels Nelson, my great-grandfather. After University, which yielded some stories and one this there is a history of my grandfather Norman informational biography. Some correspondence Nelson, which was written by him. Following this with distant relatives has also been fruitful in that is a pedigree chart that contains the family lines of I was able to get additional information concerning my grandfather, Norman Nelson. After the pedi- our common ancestry. I have also been lucky to gree is a couple of stories told by Norman Nelson find some relatives that had pertinent information to me and they come from a previous book, The concerning the family history of ancestors from Legacy of Norman Nels Nelson. After this you will Weston. find a copy of some legal documents concerning the citizenship and homestead of Carl Jensen, who Wherever possible I have tried to credit the original was the father-in-law to Rasmus Nielsen and came authors of the material used in this book. to Weston in 1868. This is followed by a brief article on how the homestead law worked. I have felt for some time that more information should be gathered concerning Weston due to the At the end of book you will find an article that long family history dating back to 1865 when one traces the route taken by Rasmus Nielsen and its founders, my great-great-grandfather, Rasmus Christian Olsen from Denmark to Salt Lake City. Nielsen came to settle. To understand some things in this book I need to The organization of this book is as follows: The recount some Mormon history to help explain some first portion contains the History of Weston by Lars points brought out in the Weston histories and the Fredrickson. The version I chose to use was the biography of Matthew Fifield. One of the ideas annotated version edited by the late Cache Valley that strikes people today as odd is the concept of historian, A.J. Simmonds. This is the de-facto his- early Mormon settlers purchasing only from other tory of Weston and contains some insights to the fellow Mormons and avoiding gentile merchants early history of Weston. Don’t forget to read the altogether. This seems strange today in our cur- notes at the end of this history since they provide rent economic system and in an age of world trade some additional information not included in the agreements. The concept of purchasing only from 6 fellow Mormon merchants came from a desire of ing the matter of gentile trade. Brigham Young to try to get the Church to become self-sufficient. We have talked to the brethren and sisters a great deal with regard to sustaining ourselves and ceasing this It started with a cooperative being established in outside trade. Now what say you, are you for it as Brigham City in 1864. Little by little more and well as we? Are we of one heart and one mind on this subject? ... My feelings are that every man and woman more business in this town was done through co- who will not obey this counsel shall be severed from operative businesses. Later in May of 1869, the the Church, and let all who feel as I do lift up the right Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI) hand. [The vote was unanimous.]4 was formally organized. “The purpose of ZCMI, as it was popularly known, was to bring goods to This last part by Brigham Young implied that doing the territory, sell them as inexpensively as they commerce with gentiles was a sin, and could result could possible be sold and let the profits be divided in a punishment of excommunication. Know- 1 with the people at large.” After a time some 150 ing this it is easier to understand why the church plus cooperative stores were started in Utah and leaders in Weston asked some members to ask for Southern Idaho. The ZCMI gradually created forgiveness after buying from gentile merchants. factories to make clothing, boots, and shoes, etc. This was a bitter pill that many Weston Saints found difficult to swallow and so there was much In Weston a co-op was started in the 1870s with discussion concerning the matter. To many it was members buying shares in the co-op. Profits (if not a religious question, but an economic one -- any) would be shared amongst the shareholders. why buy from the cooperatives at higher prices when they could get the same or better goods at a Brigham Young stated on October 9, 1865 in gen- lower price at a nearby gentile store. eral conference that the Saints needed to help one another and turn away from gentile merchants. This policy of trading only with fellow Saints became less and less enforced following Brigham I wish the brethren, in all our settlements, to buy the Young’s death in 1877 and eventually it was aban- goods they must have, and freight them with their own teams; and then let every one of the Latter-day Saints, doned. The railroad and other economic develop- male and female, decree in their hearts that they