John E Forsgren Company (Forest Monarch) 1853

The John E. Forsgren Company was the first large company of Saints who emigrated to Utah from Scandinavia.

Timeline of the Voyage and Overland Journey
December 20, 1852: Two hundred and ninety-three Saints sailed from Copenhagen, Denmark on the steamship Obotrit. December 22, 1852: The steamship Obitrit arrived at Kiel, Holstein, Germany and traveled by rail the next day to Hamburg. December 24, 1852: The saints boarded the steamship Lion and sailed down the Elbe River to Cuxhaven. December 25, 1852: The Lion sailed to the mouth of the river and made the open sea by midnight. December 28, 1852: The Lion entered the harbor at Hull, England. December 29, 1852: The Saints arrived in Liverpool, England. January  1, 1853: The Saints boarded the packet ship Forest Monarch which was anchored in the river Mersey. January 16, 1853: The ship Forest Monarch sailed from Liverpool, England, with 297 Scandinavian Saints, under John E. Forsgren's direction. March    8, 1853: The Forest Monarch arrived at the moth of the  Mississippi River and arrived on the sixteenth at New Orleans. March   31, 1853: The Saints traveled up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. April       1853: Arrive at Keokuk, Iowa where they prepared from the overland journey West. May     21, 1853: With thirty-four wagons and about one hundred and thirty oxen the company departed Keokuk. Sept. 30, 1853: The company reached Great Salt Lake City. [Source: Millennial Star, Vol. XV, pp. 89,282, 368; Morgenstjernen, Vol. I, page 180. Andrew Jensen. " Church Emigration" the Contributor Vol. XIII, August 1892, pp. 458-460]

 Church Emigration Agents
 * Willard Snow, Scandinavian Mission President
 * Samuel W. Richards, British Mission President
 * John Brown, Agent,New Orleans
 * Horace C. Eldridge, Agent,St. Louis
 * Isaac C. Haight, Agent, Keokuk

Forest Monarch

 * Fred E. Woods and Nicholas J. Evans. "Latter-day Saint Scandinavian Migration through Hull, England, 1852-1894. BYU Studies 41 (2002):75-102
 * Fred E. Woods. " From Liverpool to Keokuk: The Mormon Maritime Migration Experience of 1853." Mormon Historical Studies 4 (Fall, 2003):3-24
 * David Buice. "When the Saints Came Marching In: the Mormon experience in Antebullum New Orleans, 1840-1855." Louisiana History 23 (Winter,1982):221-237
 * John E Forsgren Company partial roster Journal History dated Sept 30, 1853

Keokuk

 * Fred E. Woods and Douglas Atterberg. "The 1853 Mormon Migration through Keokuk." Annuals of Iowa 61(Winter 2002): 1-23
 * William G. Hartley. "Mormons and Early Iowa History (1838 to 1858): Eight Distant Connections" Annuals of Iowa 59 (Summer,2000):217-260
 * William G. Hartley. " LDS Emigration in 1853: The Keokuk Encampment and Outfitting Ten Wagon Trains for Utah." Mormon Historical Studies 4 (Fall,2003): 43-76
 * Alois J. Weber. History of Mormon Encampment in 1853. Lee County Historical Society Publications. No. 7 (Keokuk, 1963)
 * Alexander L. Baugh. "Remembering the Mormons in Lee County, Iowa: Marking the Past in Montrose and Keokuk." Mormon Historical Studies 4 (Fall, 2003): 175-184
 * Polly Aird. "Bound for Zion: the Ten and Thirteen Pound Emigrating Companies, 1853-1854." Utah Historical Quarterly 70 (Fall, 2002):300-325
 * Stanley B. Kimball. " The Saints and St. Louis, 1831-1857: An Oasis of Tolerance and Security." BYU Studies 13 (Summer,1973):
 * Historical Research Index. " 1853 Mormon Immigrants Who Camped in Keokuk." Mormon Historical Studies 4 (Fall, 2003): 123- 166
 * Mormon Trails Association, Iowa 1853 Emigration
 * John E Forsgren Company (1853) Sources Mormon Pioneers Overland Travel,1847-1868
 * John E Forsgren Company (1853) Roster Mormon Pioneers Overland Travel,1847-1868

Diaries, Journal Accounts

 * James L. Anderson. Denmark to Manti: the History of William Anderson Family Section III The Journey p. 113 (Image 122)-202
 * Arthur Smith Schmidt Larsen. Genealogical and historical sketch of the life of Hans Larsen of Copenhagen, Denmark : (known as "Pram Sticker Larsen") (who was an immigrant in the company of John E. Forsgren, which left Denmark December 23, 1852, and arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah September, 1853.)
 * A Pioneer journal, Forsgren Company, Containing Story of the First Danish Company to Utah. Daughters of Utah Pioneers,1944

Related Sources

 * Andrew Jensen. History of the Scandinavian Mission. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Press, 1927.
 * William Mulder. Homeward to Zion: the Mormon migration from Scandinavia. Minneapolis,Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1957. FHL 979.2 W2mu
 * Frederick Piercy. Route from Liverpool to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Illustrated ed. James Linforth (Liverpool & London,1855)
 * Conway B. Sonne. Saints on the Seas: a maritime history of Mormon migration, 1830-1890. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, 1983. FHL 289.309 So59s
 * Conway B. Sonne. Ships, Saints and Mariners: a maritime encyclopedia of Mormon migration, 1830-1890. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, 1987. FHL 973 W2ss
 * Jorgen W. Schmidt. Oh, du Zion i vest: vest den danske Mormon-emigration 1850-1890. Copenhagen,Denmark: Rosenkilde og Bagger, 1965. FHL 979.2 W2sj