History of Johanna Marie Andersen Frost
As a young woman in Demark, Johanna was trained as a dressmaker and seamstress. She was working on a large estate in a town where the Mormon missionaries were preaching. She was not allowed to visit these meetings. She waited until nightfall when all was quiet and then she would leave her room through the window. She had a sincere interest in this new religion and decided to be baptized (30 August 1861). She had heard much about a new missionary and was curious to hear his message. There seemed to be an immediate attraction between Johanna and this handsome light-complexioned missionary (Jens Frost). Johanna was known as one of the prettiest girls around. It was not long before the young couple were making plans to go to America. Her parents were very much put out over the affair. Her father chased after the wagon with outstretched arms, begging her not to leave. She was his only daughter. But the happy lovers left Denmark and were married on the ship.
The crossing took nine long weeks and during this time Johanna helped prepare burial clothes for the many children who died. Cholera and measles were rampant. She became very ill herself and was so weak it was difficult for her to walk off the ship when they finally reached America. They went to visit Jens’s sister in Blair, Nebraska, for a much needed rest. Then on to Council Bluffs and the long handcart walk to the valley. A young Indian brave took an interest in Johanna and followed the camp so that he was always there to help carry her over the rivers on his pony. It was disconcerting to her husband, but safe passage for Johanna.
Their first home was a dugout a few blocks from relatives in Ephraim. It was here their first child was born. One day as she rocked little Lizzie, she looked up to see a big Indian in fancy headdress standing in the doorway. He was scared away by a tiny little neighbor woman abusing him in Danish.
Sometime in 1865/66 they moved into a three-room adobe home. Two rooms had floors of mud which was dampened to make a hard surface. It smelled clean and sweet. One room had a wooden floor. Cooking was done on a fireplace, the only source of heat for a long time. It was a great day when Jens surprised the family with a new four-hole stove which he brought home in a wheelbarrow.
These were busy productive days. Spinning, weaving, knitting, sewing, cooking, soap making, candle dipping, butchering, gleaning, food storing. They even made cheese. Most housewives needed help. Mette Mortensen, a young convert who had been ostracized by her wealthy family for joining the Mormons, came to help. Jens had met her during his trip returning from another mission. She came to live with the family and eventually became Jens’s second wife. She was a talented woman, diligent and efficient. Seventeen children were born to this family during their stay in the three-room house.
Eventually a large rock house was built. It still stands on the east side of Ephraim’s Main Street. Mette and Johanna gathered horse hair and cow hair from the tannery which was washed, carded and spun, then woven into strips of rust, yellow, and black checks. The rough strips were then sewn together to make a large carpet. This carpet was a source of great pride. It received first place at the State Fair. It graced the large parlor which was used only for special occasions. It lasted for years.
Johanna and Mette made all the clothing for the family. When the eight pretty blonde daughters, all dressed alike, marched down the aisle behind their parents during Conference, it created quite a stir. Johanna was a Relief Society Teacher and did much church work all her life. All her children were married in the Temple, which was a source of great joy to her. Like so many pioneer women, she and her sister wives carried heavy responsibilities while Jens went on foreign missions or worked on the Salt Lake Tabernacle and the temples in St. George and Manti. He was one of the carpenters who built the famous spiral staircase in the Manti Temple. Jens was a hard worker and a good provider. He worked as stonemason, cabinet maker, carpenter joiner, shoemaker, blacksmith, and farmer. It seemed he could do anything and do it well. His was a happy, congenial family. They worked hard to keep their home, barns, and gardens in meticulous order. He was proud of all of them. He died in 1905 after two years of failing health. Johanna died suddenly of a hemorrhage of the lungs in 1907, age 68.