The Diaries of Samuel Gudmundson (1831 – 1901) Born in Norway Immigrated to Utah Served three Missions in Norway Died in Springville, Utah Compiled by Holly Gudmundson LaStar Richins ii Table of Contents Forward and Acknowledgments …………………………………………… iv Chapter 1 First Mission Diary 1860 – 1861 …………………………. 1 Chapter 2 Diary in America 1861 – 1867 …………………………….. 19 Chapter 3 Second Mission to Norway 1867-1869 …………………… 27 Chapter 4 Back in America 1869 – 1881 …………………………….. 57 Chapter 5 In Springville 1882 – 1890 ……………………………….. 69 Chapter 6 Diary 1891 – 1900 ………………………………………… 89 Appendix A – First Pages of Samuel Gudmundson’s 1860 Diary ……………………. 123 B – Family information written in Samuel Gudmundson’s Diary …………. 124 C – Picture Family Group Sheet …………………………………………… 129 D – Letter written by Amalia ………………………………………………. 130 E – Mission Certificate …………………………………………………….. 131 F – Memorandum …………………………………………………………… 132 iii Forward and Acknowledgements This is to express thanks to all those who participated in putting this book together. Holly Gudmundson did the majority of typing into the computer from badly copied versions of previous typings and also reading from poorly copied pages of the diaries. In her own words she said, “Chapter one (1860) was transcribed on an old manual typewriter by an unknown person. It must have been a very old typewriter and have gone through a number of carbon copies since when I got it; the letters were only a third visible in some parts. Still, with a little pondering and the help of the Lord, I was able to decipher the message in an understandable manner. Interestingly, when I went back later to read the worst parts of the manuscript, I couldn't make out anything. Just a further confirmation that the Lord is interested in the dissemination of Samuel Gudmundson's diaries.” Holly also asked a relative, Dale Hope, to translate some of the pages from Norwegian to English. He wrote, “I am sorry I could not read more of the text, but the travel log tells of a faithful member of the Church visiting different cities and saints in Norway. Your ancestor must have been quite the man. I wonder how he got the money and the time to travel back to Norway.” After finishing her task of typing it all in, Holly found that her Aunt Barbara Gudmundson Lindberg had done the last section of the diary 1891-1900. Holly felt Barbara had done a better job and asked me to include it instead of her own hard work. So the last section was transcribed by Barbara Gudmundson Lindberg. From Barbara’s own written words in 1995 she says, “The typewritten copy of Samuel Gudmundson diary beginning in the year 1891 was transcribed by me from a copy of his original handwritten diary now in the possession of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint, Historical Department. I have taken the liberty of making some spelling and punctuation corrections in order to make the manuscript more readable. I feel that grandfather Gudmundson would want us to understand what he has written, rather than be distracted by how he wrote it. I noticed that he corrected himself as he became more proficient in the English language over the approximate ten year period of the Diary.” I have added the pictures and formatted the typed pages for the final copy. We hope you enjoy the writings of our Ancestor, Samuel Gudmundson – born in Norway, joining the church and coming America to Zion and becoming a missionary several times back to Norway. LaStar Richins The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints owns the copyright on these diary. ‘If anyone wishes to publish excerpts from this material, outside the provisions of Fair Use as defined in the United Stated Copyright Law, they must receive authorization from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ Office of Copyrights and Permission prior to publication.’ iv Chapter 1 Samuel Gudmundson's 1st Mission Diary1 1860 - 1861 Thursday the 1st of November(1860) I was set free from Christiania2 town hall. I had been sitting there for six days on water and bread and one day on the ordinary prisoner’s food, in all seven days, because I had obeyed the Lord’s order to baptize people for forgiveness of sins. Friday the 2nd C. Dorius left for Drammen. From there he will go to Riso and also visit Kongsberg, Skien, and Brevig on the same trip. Saturday the 3rd F. Dorius left for Hedemark where he stayed a fortnight among the Saints and our friends and there he held many good meetings. Sunday the 4th very good meetings both in the morning and in the afternoon in Salen (the meeting room in Oslo, or Christiania, as it was then called.) Samuel Gudmundson Sunday the 11th, the same. Thursday the 15th Abt 38 years old some of the Brothers began to sing again and we had a 1831-1901 new teacher by the name of Johnsen. He was from Bergen and we were to pay him 5 Spesidaler (a six-dollar Norwegian coin used until 1873 worth about one American dollar). Sunday the 18th, good meetings in the Salen. Brother F. Dorius had returned from Hedemark and the Saints were delighted to hear his remarks. Sunday the 25th, we had a district meeting in Salen and many of the Saints from Christiania, Aker, and Strømmen were gathered there. Some of them were excluded from the Church, among them Brother Helland. When his matter was taken up for consideration, he became very brutal and insulted the whole assembly and asked /told/ us to go to hell and then ran out of the room. Some of the brethren that hadn’t already gotten a parish, got one, and some others got a bigger one. After the proceedings we used the time to bear testimony to the Saints and the foreigners [investigators?]. 1 Samuel Gudmundson was baptized by Johan Johansen at Fredericton, Norway 1 Oct 1854. About a year after his baptism he was called to serve a mission in Norway. He served from 1855-1861, three of those years he was President of the Brevig Conference. 2 The first recorded settlement was called Oslo made in the 11th century by Harald III Hardrada, but after a fire in 1624, it was entirely replanned by the Danish king Christian IV and renamed Christiania from 1624 to 1924. Following Norway's separation from Denmark (1814) and then Sweden (1905), the city reverted in 1925 to its original Norwegian name of Oslo. - 1 - Chapter 1 - Samuel Gudmundsen’s First Mission Diary 1860 -1861 In the week between the 25th and December 2nd, first Brother F. Dorius and myself and later Brother E. Larsen and myself were occupied with the year’s accounts and we handed them over on the 13th of December. (December 12th) In the evening, President Carl Dorius came back from his trip to the west coast and came first to Sister Granberg where were gathered some Brothers and Sisters to celebrate Sister Martha Vismans birthday. Sister Wensberg was there too and little Thomas and Massi. Monday the 17th. Brothers Dorius, Vinge, and Larsen and I were invited to Brother Jacobsen’s to dinner and amused ourselves with singing until late in the evening. Tuesday, Dec. 18th we were invited to dinner at Brother Christophersen’s in Nygaden. I spent the evening in the council. Wednesday the 19th we were invited to dinner at Brother G. Sorensen’s in Munkedamsveien and we were delighted to be there. We ate the evening meal at Brother R. Christiansen’s in Fjordingen. I spent the evening in prayer meeting. A few were indignant and ran to the door. Thursday morning we breakfasted at C. Christiansen’s in Enerhaugen and afterwards I went to Weihe with a new fiddle. In the afternoon we went to Brother Andersen’s in Theatergaden and blessed a newborn boy. From there we went to Jordhoy where we were invited to the evening meal. It was Brother Jordhøy’s birthday. On my way home in the evening I fell on the city square and injured my wrist very badly. Brother Carl Dorius and I went from Jordhøy to Brother Johnsen’s where we stayed until 11:30 at night and talked with the sisters Marie and Caroline. Friday the 21st. I could hardly sleep this night because my wrist ached so badly. I breakfasted at Brother K. Halvorsen’s. At 7:00 o’clock in the morning Brother F. Dorius and I left Christiania on the steamship “Vidar” and arrived the same day at Fredriksværn where we lodged in town. This day my wrist was aching much. Saturday the 22nd, we left Fredriksværn on board steamship for Langesund where Brother Dorius and I separated. He was going to Risøer. I talked to Elias and his family in Langesund. I walked from there to Brevig where I spoke with Brynhildsen and his family, then I drove from there to Skien and for that transportation I had to pay four /?/. I found lodging at Hans Jorgensen’s at Blegebakken. His daughter was in the Church. The husband and the wife especially had belief in the gospel. Sunday the 24th in the afternoon Br. Pedersen and I visited the Sisters Aulie who lived at Brekkejordet. We spoke with both sisters and their father. He was a good man. I blessed a child (girl) that belonged to Sister Grethe Aulie. Brother Pedersen and I stayed at Christiansen’s and H. Hansen at Hans Sorensen’s Christmas evening. Tuesday the 25th, the first day of Christmas, we had a meeting at Øen at Brother Christensen’s. - 2 - Chapter 1 - Samuel Gudmundsen’s First Mission Diary 1860 -1861 Wednesday the 26th, we had two meetings in the town: at Blegebakken where Hansen and I preached and at Øen where J.