aka Frantz, Frands, and Francis, born: Grundtvig

Son of Nicholai Frederick Hersleb Grundtvig and Kirsten Marie Frantzen Baerend

Frantz Christian first married Jensine Christine Høstmark on September 11, 1857 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Children born to Frantz and Jensine:

1) Severin Holgar Petro, born March 27, 1858

2) Wilhelmine Frandsine, born March 7, 1859, lived 2 days

3) An unnamed boy, stillborn March 4, 1860

September 22, 1865, Jensine was stolen by Indians and never heard of again.

In 1866, Frantz married Ingar Trulson, but later separated and were eventually divorced.

Children born to Frantz and Ingar:

1) Emma, born in 1868, lived 2 years

2) Frantz, born in 1869, lived 1 year

3) Fredrick Hyrum, born June 10, 1871, lived 3 years

4) Daniel Petersen, born January 10, 1873

On November 30, 1874, Frantz married Karen Marie Jensen in Manti, Sanpete, Utah.

Children born to Frantz and Karen Marie:

1) Mary, born September 12, 1875

2) Jen Sina, born August 30, 1877

3) Josephine, born September 2, 1879, lived 18 years

4) Hulda Christina, born in 1881, lived 8 years

5) Eliza, born December 12, 1884

6) George Brigham, born September 2, 1886, lived 23 years

7) Frank Wilford, born September 1, 1888, lived 22 years

8) Clara Jane, born October 20, 1890, lived 2 years

9) Pearl Augusta, born June 26, 1893

10) Florence May, born May 20, 1896

The History of Frantz Christian Grundvig in his own words.

According to the request of some of my children, I will try to make a short sketch of my life, as it has been somewhat different from most of other people's.

I was born in a little town called Ejstrup, Skanderborg, Jutland, Denmark. My father's name was Nicolai Frederick Hersleb Grundtvig. My mother's name was Kirsten Marie Frandzen Baerend. I was the youngest of six children, born March 27th, 1836.

When fourteen years of age, I was sent to Copenhagen to learn the carpenter trade. I have never forgot my mother's last council, which was, "Whatever you do, always tell the truth." I would like to give the same advice to my children, and, if heeded, they will never go very far astray.

I didn't get to see my mother for three years, then she came to Copenhagen, and stayed for a few days, and then I never saw her again. Then, it was some two years later that I received a letter stating of my mother's death. I boarded a ship, and started home. We sailed for some time, after which, we finally reached our destination. But after I got off the ship, I had to walk sixty miles to see her, and much to my disappointment, she had been buried one day before I arrived. I only got to see her grave. I served a total of six years apprenticeship without pay, and only got my board and clothes. And then at the end of six years, I received my diploma, and became a journeyman.

The influence during those six years was bad for my young mind, and all kinds of temptations were before me. I married Jensine Høstmark in 1857. On my twenty-second birthday, March 27th, 1858, our first child, Severin Holgar Petro Grundtvig, was born. After that, I commenced to look on life as something more serious than I had before.

At that time, there was quite a religious stir in Copenhagen, and I attended those meetings. But my wife's brother, Carl Høstmark, was a Mormon and I became interested in him, and thought him to be a good man. He commenced to tell me about Mormonism and I went with him to those meetings. It was while I was attending one of those meetings that I heard Elder Lindquist preach, and I felt like here was what I was hunting for. So, when I reached home that night, I prayed to ask the Lord to give me a testimony of the truth, and if he would, I would sacrifice everything for the Gospel's sake. That night in a dream, I was convinced that the Mormons were preaching the true gospel. Shortly after that, I was baptized, but my wife didn't join the Church until a year later. In 1862, the President of the Conference wished me to go out in the country to preach the Gospel, and I offered to go.

I sold my tools and bench, to help me along on my mission, but I found that I owed two dollars in tithing. The teachers said, "Surely you don't need to pay tithing when you are sacrificing everything to go preach the Gospel," but I thought I'd pay it anyway, and I did so. I went to see my father's sister, Eleonora, the widow of a Lutheran Priest, Herman Frederick Peterson. My aunt was a good, sanctuous person, but she hated Mormons. After I had preached to her for a long time, she said, "Well, I see you are sincere in your belief", and she gave me five dollars. So, I had the two I paid in tithing back and three dollars besides.

I had been laboring as a teacher in Copenhagen, going from house to house, but now I was ordained an Elder. I was appointed to preside over Vestival Branch, about fifty miles from Copenhagen, in Slagelow, Suland. I labored there for about eight months, had great success, and rejoiced in my labors. But the time had come that I had to be a soldier, as every young man had to be in Denmark. During the time I was on my mission, Brothers Carl and Fredimont Dorices, who were from Norway and had been sent on their missions from Utah, told me to ask the President of the Scandinavian Mission to send me to Norway because, they said, that is what they had done to get out of being a soldier before they emigrated to Utah.

In the spring of 1863, I was set apart to preside over the Christiania District near Oslo, Norway, in which there were five branches. The farthest one from Christiania being ninety-eight miles distant. It took me three weeks to visit all of the branches. There were a few Saints living off a distance from my branch, and I remember one woman who took her baby and walked eighty-four miles to Christiania to have her baby blessed. That was the kind of faith they had in those days. In the winter of 1865, I was released from my mission to emigrate to Utah. In the spring, my son and wife came to Norway from Copenhagen. I had no idea where the money was coming from to pay the immigration fund, but Brother Erikson and his wife came over from Copenhagen. He was selling electric belts for rheumatism. His wife made them and my wife learned how to make them from her. One evening when I came home, my wife told me that Brother Erickson wanted to see me because he thought we could make enough for all of us to emigrate. So, they sent the belts to us as fast as we could sell them. And in a few weeks, we had enough money to pay our way.

During the two years I was on a mission in Norway, my wife supported herself and our boy (and helped me also) by making fine ladies' gloves, which she sold. My wife was one of the best singers in the choir in Copenhagen. The last night we were in Christiania, she sang a solo composed by Olie Bell, the great violinist, and she was greatly applauded. The name of the solo was "Po, Salen Jea Seui Det lidvi Aft from Smart erdet smart erdat ovid Haimesse tider".

I was greatly blessed in my missionary work in Norway. I was never in prison for baptizing, in which most of the brethren were, where they had to live on black bread and water for five days for the first offense, and ten days for second, and so forth. I was always warned in the night of what would happen the day following. When the police came around hunting for the little Mormon priest who had baptized someone, he was gone and nobody knew how or where. I had many testimonies of the truth of the gospel and the power of the priesthood. I say to these who bear it, be pure and live humble, prayerful lives.

We left Norway in April 1865, going to Copenhagen, where we found other Mormon emigrants. I stayed in Copenhagen eight or ten days with the Danish emigrants, and we went from there to Hamburg, Germany. On May 8th, 557 Mormons boarded the packet ship, B. S. Kimball, which carried us over the Atlantic Ocean to New York City, arriving on June 14, 1865.

Thirty-two children died from measles and were buried in the ocean deep because we ran out of good water and had no milk to give them. My son also had the disease, but he lived through it. There were only two or three children who had it that lived. We were six weeks and two days on the ocean. From New York, we went by rail to the Missouri River, then sailed on the Missouri a couple of days, and on June 26th, landed at a place called Wyoming, Nebraska. From there, we were to cross the plains with ox teams. We stayed in Wyoming about five weeks because we had some trouble getting the oxen and wagons necessary to take us to Salt lake Valley.

Finally, one morning we were called out and told that if we could reduce our freight to fifty pounds per person, we could all go. We had three in the family and we had three-hundred pounds. So, I started to sell and give away what I thought we could best spare, all good clothes and bedding, until we had one hundred and fifty pounds left. We thought we were all right, but then a few days later, we were called out again and informed we would have to raise fifty dollars for provisions for to sustain our families across the plains. Then, I sold all we had left of value, my watch and gold rings, my overcoat, and fine Sunday clothes, until I had the fifty dollars.

Our company consisted of fifty wagons, with four yoke of cattle to each wagon; most of them were young steers. We left July 31st, and went about five miles the first day increasing the distance each day. On the 18th of September, we camped near Fort Laramie. It was after dark, a short time after we retired, that we were aroused, and told the Indians were driving off our cattle. We didn't sleep much after this. On the morning of the 19th, there were twenty-two head gone, but we crossed the creek and camped in a better place. Some of the men were sent out to recover the lost stock. They recovered some of them, and after two days we started again. On the 21st, we traveled all that day, but the next day, September 22nd, we had to travel a long distance to get to water. My wife became very tired and we got behind the train.

Our boy stayed with the other wagons and the train finally reached the creek. There was lots of thick brush along it, and a lot of Indians were hiding in it. When some of the boys drove the cattle to water, five of them were wounded by the Indians. Then, every man in the camp came out with their guns and frightened the Indians away. At that time my wife and I were still about a half a mile from camp. Some of the Indians came riding toward us, and with a big yell, started to shoot at me, while some of them took my wife on a horse and rode away with her. I was unarmed and shot with four or five arrows, pulling them out each time. The last one lodged in my hipbone, knocking me to the ground. I pulled the arrow out, dropping it on the ground, thinking it was all out, but the whole arrowhead remained, lodged in my hip. (Later, when I found out there was something left in the wound, I got Doctor Anderson in Salt Lake extract it. I carried the arrowhead in my hip for a year and eleven months.) The Indians thought me dead, so they left. I crawled back to camp on my hands and knees without assistance. Those in camp dared not come out to me for fear they'd be attacked also.

She was born March 26, 1837 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was stolen by Indians, west of Laramie, Wyoming on Cottonwood Creek, September 22, 1865.

All the bodily suffering I passed through for nearly two years was but small compared with the anguish and sorrow for the loss of my wife. I have often stood by the workbench with tears running down my cheeks. And I can never forget my boy seven-years-old, who was all I had to live for.

On November 8th, we finally reached Salt Lake City, half starved, and without clothes. We lived in Salt Lake City the first winter, then in the spring of 1866, moved to Big Cottonwood, and stayed there four years. In 1870, we were told that the United Order was to be started in Richfield, so I went there to join it. I worked in it four years, then it broke up. It seemed like the people were not yet ready to receive it. After that, I lived in Dover, Fayette Ward, Sanpete County for about fourteen years. I built a dam and eight miles of ditch. Then we had to move on account of too much mineral. Then, I went to Sterling. Then, I lived in Wellington for ten years, then Deseret Lake for five years, and Clawson, Emery County, Utah.

If success in this world consists of lands, and wealth for your children to enjoy or quarrel about, I have been a great failure. I have eight children living and eight children dead,[not counting a stillborn son] twenty grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, that I consider better property than anything else. I'm nearly seventy-three years old [in 1909], and my earthly mission is soon ended. I would like to go to Salt Lake City to do some work in Temple before I go, but if I don't get the privilege, I hope some of my posterity will be attended to.

I know my imperfections, but I also know that the Gospel is true, and that I shall meet all who are near and dear to me who have gone before in the spirit world, and I shall come forth in the first resurrection, and receive all that was and has been sealed upon my head.

Hoping this little sketch of my life may be of interest to my posterity, I leave my blessing and ask the Lord to bless you all.

Francis C. Grundvig

(Frantz Christian Grundtvig)

Autobiographical sketch, 1909