Lars Petersen

They had sold their property and were going to sell their personal property at auction to the highest bidder. This did not bring as much money as they had expected, but they had to pay for themselves and the two girls, so one day Peter took the money and went to the mission president in Copenhagen to pay for their emigration, and what was left over after the ship’s fare was paid, to have exchanged into American money. When he came home and his mother saw the receipt she noticed that he had not paid in the money for the girls. Now she wanted to know the reason for that and what he had done with the money. Well, he had the money in his pocket. He thought it would be time enough to pay it in when he came to Copenhagen, but she feared that he intended to fool Anne and was intending to spend so much more money on his own girl. When Anne learned that, she felt quite downhearted over it, and did not know what to do about it.

I had been on a mission on the western part of Fyn during the winter, and did not know what there was going on in my own home, Falster. I had written a few letters to Anne Larsen and also received a few from her. My father and my brothers had sent us forty dollars, enough to take me to America in case the war should break out again in the spring, as it looked like at one time. The war had, in the meantime, been settled, but as I now had the money, I wished to emigrate. The president of the conference did not like to let me go, and they wanted me to stay another year. They said they could not spare me, but I insisted on being released as I now had spent three and one half years since my folks emigrated, in the missionary field, so I was finally released with permission to emigrate.

Now I desired to take a trip over to my old home, Falster, to see the old friends, and what was more, to see my old girl before I left my native country. When I came over to Mykjobing, I stopped with an old Mormon family by the name of Hennesen. Sister Hennesen told me that Anne had found a chance to emigrate. She thought, of course, that it was good news to me, as the rumor was that we were good friends, and so it was too, but I thought to myself that it was almost too good to be true. I asked her how that came to happen and she said, “Now you can stay here overnight, and then tomorrow she can tell you for herself.” When I come to see Anne the next day, and to congratulate her on her chance to emigrate she was very mistrustful and afraid it would fail, and then told me how Peter had acted. If she should come to emigrate, she had something that she had to sell, but if she did not then she would not sell it, so she did not know what to do about it. Peter and I had been companions and good friends in the war, and I hoped I would have some influence over him, so I went right over to him and found him alone in the house. As soon as I spoke to him about the money for the girls, he handed me the money right away, but said, “Don’t tell father because he wanted the money for the girls back again, but he shall not have it, for he will only drink it up.” Now the old man did not understand but that Peter had sent all the money to Copenhagen. A little while after I got the money, his mother came in, and as soon as she saw me she told Peter that he had better give me the money. Peter answered, “He has got it.” Now the woman laughed and was satisfied. Then the old man came in, and as soon as he saw me, he called me and told as that Peter had sent all their money away, and he wanted to get the money back again that was intended for the girls for Peter would not do it, but all that time I wanted to tell him that I would see about it when I came to Copenhagen.

Now I went back to Anne and showed her that I had got the money away from Peter and that I had it in my pocket, that she could safely prepare and get ready. Her countenance brightened up at once and mine, too. Now I hurried to send the money to O. H. Berg, the conference president who was now in Copenhagen to look after the interests of the emigrants from his conference. After telling him how the girls had got the promise or the money from Hans Hanson, and how I had got possession of it, I instructed him to not pay the money to President Widerberg in Hans Hansen’s name, but in the girls own names respectively. When I think of it, I cannot help but consider this a providence from the Lord, for if Peter had sent all the money at the same time, it would have been sent in Hans Hansen’s name, and then the girls would have been stopped on the road, as circumstances afterward proved.

Every farmer had a flock of sheep, and most of the girls that served with the farmers had a sheep of their own, which was fed and run with the stock as part or their wages. From this they could get a little wool to help make their clothing, for they mostly had to depend on homemade clothes for everyday use. Anne also had a sheep that she had to sell if she could come to emigrate, otherwise she did not want to sell it. She also had some other things that she could not take with her and wanted to sell if she was sure that she could emigrate. Now she would have to be busy about it as there were only a few days until we had to be in Copenhagen.

When Hopner’s folks learned that Anne was going to emigrate, they evidently got scared that she would find Marie again in Copenhagen. His oldest daughter was married to a man by the name of Jorgensen and lived in Copenhagen. To them Hopner had sent Marie, that they should take Mormonism out of her. A woman of Hopner’s relatives came to Anne and asked her if she knew Marie’s address, and Anne answered, “Yes.” And when asked if she was going to visit Marie when she got to Copenhagen, she replied that she might if she had time. This woman pretended that she would like for her to go and see Marie, and if she had not had her address she would have given it to her. But Anne understood better. The idea was to find out if she had her address, for then they would have to send a warning to Mrs. Jorgensen to look out that Marie should not come to see Anne because she had a great influence over Marie.

But now it so happened that the first day after we came to Copenhagen, Anne went with O. H. Berg to find the place where Marie was, and when they found it, Anne went right up to the door and rang the bell. A girl came to open it and Anne asked if Miss Hopner lived there. “Yes, I will call her.” As soon as Marie saw her, she turned almost red in the face. It was a great surprise to her, but she said right away, “Are you going to emigrate, Anne?” “Yes.” “Where do you stop?” “In Store Kongensgede, No. 23.” That was all they got to say, for then came Mr. Jorgensen in a great hurry. “Are you Mormons?” “Yes.” “Out with you.” Then he pushed her out and locked the door behind her. This was only a short conversation, but it was enough. The chain that Marie had been tied with had been broken. Next morning she came right to the Store Kongensgede, No. 23 and wanted to see Anne again, but Anne had gone out with O. H. Berg to try to find her two sisters that lived in Copenhagen, so Marie and Anne did not get to see each other again until they met in Salt Lake City. We stopped with them two nights when we went through the Endowment House in 1871.

I was well acquainted with Marie. We lived in the same town and had almost grown up together, still she was a few years younger than I. She said to me, “What shall I do? I am tired of the way they are treating me, but I don’t know what to do.” I told her that I was not in a position now to give her advice or to tell her what to do, but I advised her to go to the mission president, Carl Widerberg, and perhaps they would find a way out for her and I gave her his address. We did not see any more of her while in Copenhagen, but we learned afterwards that she had gone with S. J. Jonassen over to Sweden and got married to him. Jonassen had been president of the conference where Marie had her home until he had been sent over to Sweden to preside over the Malmo conference, so they were well acquainted. It is also likely that Jonassen had been courting her before, for Anne said that Marie had asked her the previous summer if she thought Jonassen would be a good man.

Now Marie was out of Hopner’s reach and, of course, Anne got the credit the second time of having led Hopner’s daughter astray. That same Jonassen apostatized after they had lived in Salt Lake City a few years, but Marie stayed with the Church. Jonassen died young and a son of theirs has since been on a mission to Denmark.

The last evening we were to stay there, I found Anne out in the hallway of the hotel crying. I asked her what was the matter, but she was crying so hard she could not tell me. After a little while she told me that Hans Hansen had told her she had better stay here in Copenhagen, for she would get no further than to Hamburg anyway, and she did not know what in the world to do now. She would by no means like to stay in Hamburg, and she would not like to stay in Copenhagen either. Then she would rather go back to Falster, but she did not like that either, besides she had no money to go back with, and the people would laugh at her when she came back again saying that the Mormons had fooled her. She really felt awfully bad over it. I told her that Hans Hansen could not get that money back again, neither could he stop her in Hamburg, because when I sent the money in I sent it in her name and it was out of his reach. If Peter had sent the money in at the time he sent their own, then they could have got it, but not the way it was fixed now. But she was still afraid to go to Hamburg for fear they would find some tricky way to do it, and she could by no means think of staying in that German city. I then said, “You shall not stay in Hamburg, for if such should happen, you shall go for my money. I can better get along in Hamburg than you can.” This, of course, comforted her, but she did not like to stop me from going either. I guess she did not sleep much that night.