Johanna Marie Anderson Frost (1)

(Carl Hulbert's Great Grandmother Mother's Side)

Johanna Marie Anderson Frost was born in Skjove, Ujoring, Denmark, on January 30,
1839. Her home was at the edge of a beautiful forest of which her father was the
keeper.  He was a man full of life, very sociable and he played well on the violin
and so became a great favorite with the royalty and others for whom he acted as
guide on hunting trips through the forest.

Johanna Marie was the only daughter.  There were three brothers.  At the age of
fourteen, she was apprenticed out to a dressmaker to learn sewing.  She stayed here
three years, and as it was the custom of all girls at this time, she did many other
kinds of work in the home, even hauling manure and cleaning the pig pens.

When she had finished her course in sewing, she went to a large estate as a
seamstress. One evening she was supposed to wait up to assist the fine ladies with
their cloaks when they came from a party.  To pass the time while she was waiting,
she dressed herself up in one of the guest's cloak and muff, just to see how she
would look in such fine clothes. She sat in a chair dressed in her gala attire and
there she fell sound asleep.  Here she was found when the guests returned.  This
caused much merriment for the guests, but acute embarrassment for Johanna Marie.

It was while she was here that she heard of the Mormons.  The lady of the house told
the girls that there were some Mormons in the vicinity and that they were preaching
that night at a home in the neighborhood.  Johanna Marie and two of the girls who
were fellow employees, decided to go to hear the "Mormons" just as a lark.  The home
proved to be some miles away and it was late when they arrived, almost ten o'clock.
The meeting was nearly over.  A young man by the name of Jens Christian Frost was
preaching.  Johanna Marie was considered to be one of the most beautiful girls in
Ujoring, and naturally, she drew the attraction of the young missionary.  It was
love at first sight for both of them and through him she learned of the gospel, and
soon joined the church.  When her father heard that his only daughter had joined the
Mormon Church, he put her trunk out of doors and told her never to come back to his
home.  Johanna Marie went to the home of the Wheelwrights and sewed for them,
helping them to get ready for the journey to America.

As Jens Christian and his father and mother were among the people sailing on the
same boat as the Wheelwrights, Johanna Marie who was not engaged to Jens Christian
Frost decided to accompany them.  When she went to bid her parents goodbye, a very
touching scene occurred. Her father ran after the wagon and begged her to come back,
but her destiny decreed that she go on to Copenhagen where she met young Jens
Christian and they sailed on the ship "Benjamin Franklin", a sail ship, on April 6,
1862.

One week after the ship left Copenhagen, Jens Christian Frost and Johanna Marie
Anderson were married.  They were on the ocean for nine long weeks.  During that
time, measles broke out on board ship and fifty children and two grown people died
of this disease.  The Wheelwrights four children were buried at sea.  It was heart
rendering to see the mother as one by one; her children were put on a slab and
lowered into the water.  The last was a beautiful little girl.

The drinking water on the ship was very bad.  It was stringy as molasses and many of
the passengers were sick with dysentery.  Johanna Marie among them.  She was so weak
and ill when she landed in America that she could hardly walk off the boat.

As soon as they were able, they journeyed to Council Bluff where they waited six
weeks for the teams to come from Utah.  Johanna Marie went out and worked and earned
two tin plates and two tin cups of which she was very proud.  There was only room
for provisions in the wagon, and all who were able had to walk.  Johanna Marie
walked all the way from Council Bluff to Utah.  Her only ride was when she crossed
Platte River on a horse behind an Indian.  She was afraid, for she had never seen an
Indian before coming to this strange land.  She was reassured by her friends and was
finally persuaded to cross the river in this manner.  After their arrival in Utah,
they went to Pleasant Grove, but after a short time, they moved to Ephraim, Utah, to
join their Scandinavian friends.  During her short stay in Pleasant Grove, she was
invited to have strawberry tea, bread, and molasses.  To her this was the most
delicious meal she had, had in months.

In Ephraim, they lived in a dug-out.  It was here that Johanna Marie gave birth to
her first child - Marie Elizabeth.  While she was recovering from the birth of her
child, some Indians tried to force their way into her dug-out home, but were driven
away by an old woman who lived near.  This woman was the mother of Andrew
Bjerregaard who was to become President of the Bank of Ephraim.

It was shortly after this incident when Johanna Marie was strong enough to undertake
a trip then she and Jens Christian joined their friends, the Wheelwrights
(Wheelmakers), the Wybees from Manti, and others, and went to Salt Lake City for
their endowments.  As they were returning home, their happy group was much saddened
to learn that on the previous day, seven men had been killed by the Indians.  Some
of those killed were Sorenson, Torup, and Estgaard.  As they sadly proceeded on
their way, they were much frightened to observe a company of what they believed
could only be Indians coming over the hills with their guns glittering in the sun.
The men quickly drove the wagons in a circle to protect their little band.  Johanna
Marie begged piteously for her husband to kill her and her child rather than let
them be captured by the Indians.  The little group was gripped with fear, for they
were few in number, as they knew the Indians were on the warpath.  It was with
unbelievable relief and joy that they greeted the discovery that their "Indians"
were only scouts, out looking for the real culprits who had so saddened the small
community.

Johanna Marie was very proud of her first home which was built soon after their
return from Salt Lake City.  It was an adobe house of three rooms.  Two of the rooms
had floors of mud, and the third room boasted a wood floor.  The roof was mud, and
when it rained, all the buckets were put to use to catch the water as it leaked
through.

The fireplace was used for warmth and also for all the cooking for a number of
years. Then one day, Jens Christian, surprised his little family.  He brought home a
small four-holed stove on a wheelbarrow.  How happy they were to have a REAL stove.

After a time, two more wives were added to the family, and in this little house,
eighteen children were born.  The women did all their spinning, weaving,
candle-making and soap-making.  At candle-making time, they would take a boiler of
water (boiling) and pour melted tallow into it, and then the fun began.  They had
willows or sticks which were as long as the boiler.  On these sticks, they would
fasten ten long wicks about an inch apart.  These they would dip into the hot tallow
water and then place them on a rack to cool.  Then another lot was dipped, and then
another, and yet another until three or four hundred candles had been made.  As the
candles were cooled, they were re-dipped until the reached the desired size.  The
smaller ones were used as wicks for general purposes.  The larger ones were used for
sewing and reading.

Soap was made by gathering salratus from the swamp lands west of Manti and this was
put into tubs and water poured over it.  It would get clear and strong and make a
very strong lye solution.  This, they would mix with grease and boil it until it
turned into soap.  If it was not mixed quite properly, it would be reboiled until
the desired result was obtained.

Johanna Marie's training was put to good use as she did all the sewing for the
entire family - even making cloth shoes and braiding hats.  She made hundreds of
cloth hats and wool caps for the Relief Society.