James Christian was the son of Christian Andreas Samuelson and Christiane Jensen. He was born 28 October, 1861 in Jerup Elling, Hjorring, Denmark. James had three sisters, Gertrude, Helena Maria and Inger Ameilia. Amelia felt closest to her brother, James, who was five years older than she was. Amelia felt that they had a very happy close family.

Amelia tells the story of how her father and the father of James Christiansen had been killed in a terrible accident at Christmas time in 1876. “Amelia had always loved the Christmas season, with all its excitement and merriment. This particular year, it was only two days before Christmas and everyone was excited. Amelia and her mother had been baking special treats for the children and when it got dark, they all surrounded the lantern while father began to tell stories. Amelia loved the stories of Christmas, and her father could tell the account of the birth of Christ with such feeling, you almost felt as if you were there in the stable with the shepherds, looking at the infant in the manger. “

“Then their story-telling time was interrupted by one of the neighbors who had come for a special favor. Christian Andreas Samuelsen, Amelia and James’s father, was the village miller and their home was near the little mill. The neighbor was also making Christmas breads, but found that she had no flour, so she came to Andreas’s house to replenish her supply. Andreas was a little unhappy to leave his own family, but he knew that other families needed to share the joy of the Christmas season, so he put on his hat and coat and headed out the door. ‘I’ll see you again before Julemann (the Danish equivalent of Santa Clause) comes,’ he said. The winter wind blew some snow from the porch onto the kitchen floor when he opened the door, and then he was gone. “

“But Andreas’s shoes were icy, and the weather was very cold. As he poured wheat onto the stones and watched the flour trickle out the bottom, he slipped, and fell into the machinery. He was killed almost instantly. When the neighbor brought the disastrous news, Amelia was overcome with sorrow. Christmas would never mean the same again with papa gone.”

His mother was left to care for the four children by herself. She had become an excellent seamstress, and brought a little money in to buy food. Jim had gone to work to help provide for his mother and sisters.

James married Anne Marie Poulsen 28 Oct 1885 in Frederikshavn, Fredericksburg, Denmark. He turned 24 years old the day he got married. His wife was the daughter of Poul Jensen and Else Johanna Andersen.

Jim’s sister, Amelia, had married Anton Andersen on 28 Dec 1883. They must have received the missionaries about the same time as did Jens and Anne Marie. Amelia’s history tells about their baptism. “Now the baptism ceremony was beginning. The Elders had chopped a large hole through the ice of the lake, and one of them had gently lowered himself through the opening and was standing on the bottom. Amelia looked around at the small group standing on the shore. Besides the two missionaries, the President of the Fredrickshavn Branch was there, and there were several other members of the Branch who had come to assist. Amelia’s brother, James Christiansen and his wife, Anne Marie Poulsen, stood close by the edge of the lake. They were both being baptized along with Anton and Amelia and one other woman. All of those who were baptized were also to be confirmed that evening, there at the lake’s edge.”

It was mandatory that young men join the Danish Army and James obeyed the laws of the land. But when the missionaries found him and his wife and converted them, the missionaries encouraged them to come to America and they desired to do this. It is understood that he had to desert the Army to come to America. Times had been hard and during the past few years money had been difficult for everyone to obtain. More people were doing their own gardening. Employment was not always steady and Danes were immigrating to Germany, to England, and to America for various reasons, including religion.

Being a Mormon was not always easy. The state church was Lutheran, church buildings were built with the help of government funds, the ministry was supported through tax money and those who belonged to other churches found they were actually financing two churches. There was opposition to this practice, but it was limited to the few dissident churches which were established in the country, mostly Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and most recently, the Mormons.

It was probably for the reasons stated earlier and perhaps because of leaving the Army, that James and Anne Marie left everything that they had behind in Denmark and started for Utah. The trip was not easy. They had to travel by carriage to Esbjerg and take one of the ships leaving Denmark for England. That would take three days. This would be followed by a train ride across England to Liverpool. Then there would be the long boat ride across the ocean which would take weeks. Even after reaching New York, there would be the train ride all across the land to finally reach Zion in the mountains of Utah.

James Christian and Anne Marie had been on the ship just a few days when little Charles became sick and died. Anne Marie hid the little body in a dresser drawer for a few days, and when it became evident that she could keep him no longer, they wrapped the body and lowered it into the ocean. What a traumatic experience that must have been for them. It is recorded that Charles was born the 27th of December 1887 and James and Marie were baptized on the 27 February 1888. It is not known how soon they left for America, but little Charles must have been a little over 2 months old when he died, even though genealogy records indicate that he died the same day he was born.

James C. and Anne Marie and their family settled in Huntington for about three years when Anton arrived to find a job and earn the money for Amelia and the children to join him. When Anton arrived in Huntington and observed the hard, rocky soil and adverse desert conditions, he wondered what he was doing in America. James and his wife had somehow built a little house, and were enduring the hardships, but he felt he must write Amelia and tell her that this is no place for them. When Amelia received the letter weeks later in Denmark, her eyes filled with tears. She had felt inspired that their new home was to be in the heart of Zion. Her eyes closed in prayer asking that the Lord would help her find a way for them to get to American before Anton returned to Denmark. The miracle that followed is very inspiring and not only helped Amelia and her family but also James and Anne Marie to locate in a much more fertile area (Montford and Perry) where the land was rich and productive, much like they had known in Denmark, and they were happy to be able to grow flowers and fruit trees and vegetables. (The one difference was the lack of water.)

James and Anne Marie had been in America for about six years, and Anton about four. But now the two men became restless to own their own land and have a little farm of their own where they could raise their own orchards and feed their own horses and cows. Anton convinced Amelia that “the government was giving away land out in the western part of the county. It’s not quite as productive as the land is around here, but it is good land and all we have to do is to agree to live there and build our home there.” He knew several families that were accepting the offer and would be moving there next spring, including her brother James and his family. She and James had been very close as they were growing up as well as with their experiences in America.

Anton had already made three trips to Roweville before he finally moved his family there in 1894. The area now comprising Thatcher, Penrose, and Bothwell was earlier called Roweville. William A. Rowe was the sponsor of the canal through this area which was finished in 1892. There were no settlers in the area of Tremonton until several years later. Land above the canal was available for homesteading rights, but there was no supplemental water available. Land below the canal could be purchased from the company which built the canal for $40 per acre. The price of land in the area is not known for certainty. Land selling for $40 per acre with water rights in other areas of the valley and that price is assumed here. He had chosen a potentially productive plot of land with 85 acres of homestead property above the canal and 32 acres of irrigated land located immediately below the canal, next to another Danish family, C. Tolne Petersen. There were no trees in the area, so he had purchased a carriage and tried to haul lumber out from Brigham City to build his first house. He wanted things to be livable by the time Amelia and the children arrived.

When the time arrived for James Christian and Anne Marie to move to Roweville, they first moved three miles further north in what became Bothwell. After several years, a canal was built that went down into Thatcher. Some land became available and they wanted to get down closer to the water, so they moved about two miles south into Thatcher.

(Bio information obtained from Family Search)