"Biography of John Olsen," written by Sherrie Ann Olsen Rubink;  summarized from "John Olsen (Jorgen Nielsen), Biography," located in the book, George A and Agnes Belle Baird Olsen, their Legacy of Testimony.  https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/2283613?availability=Family%20History%20Library  (2/16/2014)

     John Olsen was a Danish immigrant and a Mormon Handcart pioneer, who came to Utah in 1860, with the Stoddard Handcart Company.  John Olsen, whose Danish name was Jorgen Nielsen, was the son Niels Christian Olsen, and Maren Thomasen Olsen.  He was born 28 August 1847, Skovso, Slagelse, Soro, Denmark.  He was a devoted husband and the father of 15 children.  He was industrious, being a homesteader, a dairy farmer, and a logger.  John had a passionate testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  He labored to plant this testimony in the hearts of his children and to serve faithfully in his church callings.
     John’s parents lived on a large farm and that his father was a prosperous farmer and a leader in the community where they lived.  John was the sixth child of seven children.  Niels and Maren’s children were Ole Niels, Rasmus, Karen Maria (Marie), Maren Kirstine, Hans, Jorgen (John), and Jens (James) Peter.
     In about 1856, Mormon Elders came to the Olsen home preaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  After the Elders shared their message with Maren, John’s mother, she believed their teachings and wanted the gospel taught to her family.  Maren gained such a strong testimony of the gospel that she was baptized on the 14 August 1856.  However, John’s father, Niels, did not understand the teachings of the restored gospel and disliked his wife joining the Mormon Church.  In fact, he resented his wife’s feelings about this new religion.  Consequently, the children were not baptized at this time.
     A few months later, John’s father, Niels, took sick and lost his speech (probably a stroke).  John’s mother could see he had something on his mind he wanted to tell her.  She knew he had forgiven her for joining the Mormon Church and really believed it himself.  Almost a year after Maren was baptized, her husband passed away on 2 July 1857.  Later that summer, on 16 August 1857, John’s sisters, Karen Marie and Maren Kirstine, were baptized; and then, in the fall, on 18 October 1857, John and his brother, Hans, were baptized by the Mormon missionaries and became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 
     John’s mother, Maren, had a strong testimony and wanted to immigrate to Utah.  Maren sold all she had and together with the money she had saved, she and four of her children; two daughters, Karen Marie, age 20, and Maren Kirstine, age 17, and two sons, John (Jorgen), age 12, and James Peter, age 9; arranged to immigrate.  It must have been very difficult for John’s mother, Maren, to leave three sons in Denmark. 
     The Olsen family departed Copenhagen, Denmark, on Wednesday, 2 May 1860, with a group of 301 Scandinavian emigrants aboard the Prussian steamship, Pauline, under the leadership of Carl Widerborg.  “The voyage over the Cattegat and North Sea being stormy, a number of the emigrants suffered with seasickness, but the company arrived safe and well, in Grimsby, England, 5 May.  From Grimsby, the emigrants continued the journey (by train) to Liverpool, where they arrived Sunday afternoon, 6 May, and secured lodgings in a hotel on Paradise Street.”  “William Tapscott; A Compilation of Voyage Notes.”  Mormon Immigration Index.  Family History Resource File on CD.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Salt Lake City, Utah.
     On 7 May 1860, the Olsen family boarded the ship, William Tapscott, in Liverpool, England, and sailed on 11 May 1860.  The ship’s passenger register for the William Tapscott lists: Maren Olsen; Born: 1813; age: 47; Origin: Denmark; Karen (Marie) Olsen; Born: 1840; age: 20; Origin: Zealand, Denmark; Maren K. (Kristine) Olsen; Born: 1843; age: 17; Origin: Zealand, Denmark; Jorgen (John) Olsen; Born: 1848; age: 12; Origin: Zealand, Denmark; Jens (James Peter) Olsen; Born: 1852; age: 7; Origin: Zealand, Denmark.  Sources: British Membership Register.  Book #1046: 164-193.  FHL Film #025,691.  William Tapscott; Customs #473.  FHL Film #175,557.  Scandinavian Membership Register. 1860: 78-86.  FHL Film #025,696.
     Some family histories tell us that John’s mother, Maren, was ill from the smallpox with one pockmark on her hand, and was held back in quarantine (the pest house) with several others.  However, she may have only been in the hospital during the 5-6 days the ship was held in quarantine.  Some family biographies also say that 17-year-old Maren Kirstine took the responsibility of caring for her blind sister, Karen Marie, and for her two younger brothers; 12-year-old John (Jorgen), and 9-year-old James Peter, during their travel to Florence, Nebraska.  Because neither the journals of the church leaders nor the various journals of fellow immigrants indicate that anyone was left behind, traveling to Nebraska later than the main group; it is most likely that the family traveled to Nebraska together.
     The family reached Florence, (now Omaha) Nebraska, on 1 July 1860.  Some family histories tell us that Maren Kirstine was persuaded to leave her blind sister behind in Nebraska to await the arrival of their mother after her release from quarantine.  She could then travel to Utah with their mother by ox team.  However, Scandinavian Immigration Records show that Maren planned for both ox team and handcart travel.  These records show that Maren paid for two ox team passages and three handcart passages before she left Denmark.  Maren did not have enough money for all five family members to travel to Utah by ox team and planned for her three younger children travel to Utah by handcart.  Scandinavian Membership Register.  1860: 78-86.  FHL Film #025,696.
     The three Olsen children traveled to Utah, with the Stoddard Handcart Company.  Handcart companies began making the trip to Utah in 1856.  Due to poor crops in Utah in 1855, there was a decrease in tithing receipts and donations to the Perpetual Immigration Fund resulting in the LDS Church being unable to buy wagons for poor European immigrants.  LDS Church Prophet, President Brigham Young, made plans to build handcarts and have the immigrants pull them by hand to Utah.  Ten handcart companies walked the 930 miles from Iowa City to Salt Lake City from 1856-1860, taking about three months to make the Journey.  In total, 2,962 people made the trip with 635 handcarts and 50 wagons.  The immigrants traveled to Iowa City by train from New York City for $8 train fare.  Eight dollars in 1860, would be the same as about $250 in 2012.
     The Stoddard Handcart Company, the smallest handcart company, was the 10th and final handcart company to travel to Utah.  They began their journey from the outfitting post at Florence, Nebraska, on 6 July 1860, and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 24 September 1860.  There were no deaths en-route with the Stoddard Company.  Listed in this company roster were; Maren Olsen, age 17; George Jorgen Olsen (John), age 12; and Jens Peter Olsen, age 9.  Because the Olsen children did not have a parent traveling with them, they were assigned to travel with the Niels Anderson handcart.  It must have been very difficult for their mother, Maren, to allow her three young children to make such a difficult journey without her.  Sources:  Hafen, Leroy and Ann.  Handcarts to Zion.  Glendale, California: Arthur H. Clark, 1960, 1976: 313.  “Stoddard Handcart Company Roster.”  Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847-1868. http://lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneerdetails/1,15791,4018-1-23950,00.html (14 November 2011).
     This was a very difficult trip.  Many times, it was so cold at night, that the children’s breath would freeze causing their hair to be frozen to side of the tent when they awoke in the morning.  They walked all the way and pulled or pushed the handcart.  Their shoes wore out, and then they found rags and made rag shoes to wear.  However, the rags soon wore out, and then they would spend the rest of the day barefoot and have very sore bare feet.  To help with the food, the boys sometimes found Sego Lily roots and they cooked them.  The boys also milked cows for other pioneers in the company, to earn a cup of milk.  Their food was rationed and they were always hungry.  At one time, they went three days with nothing to eat but brown sugar.  Hess, Elvina; Jensen, Olivia; and March, Eliza.   “Life of Maren Kirstine Olsen Peterson.”
     Journals from the Stoddard Company tell us that everyone’s food was rationed.  This rationing was particularly severe just before they reached, “Three Crossings of the Sweetwater,” in Wyoming.  Captain Stoddard had sent word ahead that the company’s provisions were getting very low and received word that President Brigham Young would have fourteen sacks of flour waiting for them at, “Three Crossings of the Sweetwater.”  After this, Captain Stoddard raised the rations of flour to one and one-half pounds per person per day.  This ration was kept up until they reached Salt Lake City.
     Family records tell us that John would push handcarts, take care of the company’s horses, and help repair wagons.  The Olsen children walked and helped push the handcart across the plains.  They arrived in Salt Lake City on 24 September 1860.  John’s mother, Maren, and their older sister, Karen Marie, traveled with the William Budge Ox Team Company and arrived in Salt Lake City, about a week and a half later on 5 October 1860.
     The Olsen family went north to Brigham City, Utah, to make their home.  John was a handsome young man.  He met Lena Keller.  She was born in Brigham City, 12 January 1855, and was also of Danish descent.  Lena’s family had moved to Mantua, when she was about 8-years old.  John and Lena fell in love, were married and sealed in the LDS Endowment House in Salt Lake City on 8 February 1870.  They settled in the little village of Mantua, four miles east of Brigham City, where they lived for the first 14 years of their marriage.  They were very happy.  Rosella Miller Reeder, a granddaughter, writes that John built the first sawed lumber home in Mantua, Utah.  Reeder, Rosella Miller.  “Personal Research Notes and Sources.”  In possession of DeLynne Howard, granddaughter of Soren Miller and Caroline Olsen.
     Children came to bless John and Lena’s  home; a little girl, Caroline; and a little boy, John Peter.  They were very happy.  Then, they had the very sad experience when losing their third child, little 13-month old Margarethe (Minnie).  She became very ill with whopping cough, and passed away on 25 August 1874.  Six more children were born in Mantua.  They were Martha Lavine, George A, Alvin, Sadie Cordelia, Mary Bodell, and Bernice Christina.  John and Lena attended their LDS Church meetings, served in various callings, and did all they could to help in the little Mantua Ward.  John served as President of the YMMIA for several years in Mantua.  Times were tough and they had to work hard to provide for their growing family.
     In 1884, they moved and homesteaded in Mink Creek, Idaho.  Some of Lena’s parent’s family had previously moved to Mink Creek.  “Mink Creek was first settled in 1871, when James Morgan Keller sent his son, Theodor, and son-in-law, John Olsen, to consider living conditions in Idaho.”  Larsen, Viola.  Book of Remembrance, Mink Creek Idaho Ward 1871-1976.  1976.
     Theodor and John hoped to find a place to establish homes with more land than they could have in Mantua.  They went north through the mountains traveling through Cache Valley to Franklin, and then farther north about 20 miles, to what is now known as Mink Creek.  The land was beautiful and the grass looked good.  To claim the homestead, Lena’s brother, William, stayed the first winter in Mink Creek.  The following summer other family members began moving from Mantua to Mink Creek, Idaho, a distance of about 62 miles. 
     John Olsen secured homestead rights on two pieces of land in Mink Creek.  The first was his 160-acre farm and the other was the 0.19-acre lot in the Mink Creek village where he built his home.  In Mink Creek, John felt there was a chance to make a better living.  There was more land and he could start a dairy business.  John and Lena sold their home in Mantua and moved to Mink Creek.  They were received into the Mink Creek Ward on 14 September 1884.  John worked hard in the canyon cutting and selling lumber to support his family and for the money he invested in his dairy.  He had a large farm, raising feed for his dairy herd, a few sheep and some horses.  Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Mink Creek Ward, Idaho.  Record of members [1877?]-1941.  FHL Film #7503.
     John operated his own dairy and started the first cheese factory in the valley.  He hired neighborhood girls to do the milking, along with his own daughters, and sold cheese throughout the local Mink Creek area and Cache Valley (Logan, Utah).  John’s sons worked on the farm, helped take care of the cows, and took turns herding the sheep on the hillside.  
     In 1889, John’s brother-in-law, James Morgan Keller Jr. received a mission call to the Danish Mission.  He and his wife, Mary Ellen Baird Keller, had three young daughters, ages; 5, 3, and 14 months.  Mary Ellen wrote about this call:  “We felt very sad at first and wondered how we could get along, for it was so hard to get any money.  The old saying, ‘Where there is a will, there is a way,’ does not always come true, but in our case it did.  James’ brother-in-law, John Olsen, bought a dairy outfit and let me bring our cows to his place.  Each morning and night, I left my girls with Grandma Keller (Lena Keller Olsen’s mother, Karen), and walked one and a half miles to help milk the cows and make cheese.  At that time, you could get more money for cheese than butter.  That is how we got the money for James’s mission.  They did not cost as much then as now.  We had a few calves and hogs for sale, and my brother, Peter (Baird), helped with what farming we did.”  Parkinson, Joyce Keller.  James Morgan Keller Jr. and Mary Ellen Baird Keller; Their History and Legacy.  2001.
     John and Lena always took time to attend church and serve in various church callings.  John was ordained a Seventy on 20 February 1884, by E. D. Condor, and he was ordained a High Priest by Apostle M. W. Merrill, 26 January 1890.  He was set apart as the Second Counselor in the Mink Creek Ward Bishopric on 25 October 1888.   He served in this calling until his death in 7 November 1897.  Six more children were born in Mink Creek.  They were Levi Carlos, Myrtle Sophia, James Randolph, Maude Laraine, Lula Violet, and Ariel L.
     By 1896, John and Lena had the large family of 14 living children.  Their older two children had married.  Their oldest daughter, Caroline married Soren Laursen Miller on 13 September 1889, and they moved to Marysville, Idaho, in about 1895.  Their oldest son, John Peter married Millie Ricks on 3 April 1895.  They also settled in the Marysville and Ashton areas of Idaho.  Caroline had four children and John Peter had one child by 1896.  This made five grandchildren for John and Lena.
     Then tragedy came into their lives.  Lena passed away on 17 February 1896, age 41, the day after the birth of her 15th child.  Lena loved her children and shared her testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.  Family tradition tells us that Lena served as Primary President at one time.  John was heartbroken at her death and was very lonely.  In this run-down condition, John contracted pneumonia accompanied with typhoid fever and soon followed his wife on 7 November 1897, age 50, leaving their children alone.  John and Lena were buried in the Mink Creek Cemetery.
     My grandfather, George, was 21 when his father passed away.  He, Martha, Alvin, and his brothers and sisters, kept the family together, took care of them, and ran the family farm.  According to the 1900 Census, George’s recently married sister, Martha, and her husband were living with the family; with young George listed as head of the household.  His older sister, Caroline Olsen Miller and his older brother, John Peter Olsen were farming in Marysville, Idaho, about 180 miles north of Mink Creek.  Sisters, Martha and Sadie, both married in 1899.
Although John Olsen was only 50 years old when he passed away leaving a family of young children, the legacy of his testimony lived on in the hearts of his children.  That testimony, fortified mile after mile during his long handcart trek west, strengthened by prayer, and reinforced through service, is the legacy he has left to us, his descendants.