Friday, June 20, 2008

Annie Elisaberh Hansen wife of Amasa Davidson

1
Life History of Annie Elisabeth Hansen Davidson
by her daughter Beatrice Davidson Wayman

Annie Elizabeth Hansen was born at Fairview, Sanpete, Utah, on 27 May 1873. She is the daughter of Peter Niels Hansen and Maria Jensen. Her father, Peter, was born in Store Valby, Copenhagen, Denmark, and her mother, Maria, was born in Sondersted, Holbek, Copenhagen Denmark. Annie was the sixth of nine children and had four brothers, but only three living, as her brother Joseph lived only one year; and four sisters. The older siblings were: Mary, Peter Henry, Joseph, Emma, and Celestia; the younger siblings were James Edward, Nels, and Inger Maria.
Annie was born in a log house which had four room and a hall on the main level, with some bedrooms upstairs.
As a child, Annie wore wooden shoes and when she would go to the store, a man would take her shoes from her and put them on his hands and would dance around the store with them, If she could notice that the man was in the store before she went in, she would take her wooden shoes off and leave them by the door. The man would then go outside and get her shoes and dance around with them causing little Annie to cry and beg to get her shoes back.
Annie was baptized 4 September 1881, by Christian Peterson at Fairview, Utah, when she was eight years old.
Annie started school when she was six years old but she went only to about the fourth grade as her eyes were too poor for her to continue her studies. Later when she was older and had a pair of glasses, she studied by herself. She had a notebook in which she wrote words she couldn=t spell and she studied arithmetic until she was better at it than her children who were going to school.
When Annie was small, the Indians were hostile and would steal the children if they got a chance. Many times Annie=s mother, Maria, would hide her children in the wheat bin all day while she worked. She would caution the children to be very still so the Indians would not know they were at home, but would think that they were at the barricade.
Annie worked very hard when she was young and had the strength of a man. She would carry hundred pounds sacks of flour upstairs when her father brought them home form the grist mill. She would wash clothes all day on the washboard and then walk three miles to tend her sister Mary=s children. One evening about dusk, as she was on her way to her sister=s home, she could see some Indians coming toward her. She knew they were not very friendly and being all alone and a long way from help, she was terrified for fear they would capture her. She surely had her prayers answered that night as she was prompted to crawl under a bridge and hide until the Indians tired of looking for her and went on their way.
Among the other things that Annie did as a girl was to help wash and dye the wool after her mother had sheared the sheep. She would then help make the wool into yarn, the yarn into cloth and then make her clothes from the cloth.
Annie=s sister Celestia, who was two years older than she, was engaged to marry a young fellow named Amasa Davidson, who had a job herding sheep. Celestia would often cry and tell Annie that she knew she would never live long enough to be married but that Annie would marry her sweetheart. Celestia was not sick at this time but she just had a strong premonition that she would not live long enough to be married. And it happened as Celestia predicted. Celestia did die and sometime later Amasa Davidson asked Annie to be his wife. Just before they were to be married however, Annie became ill with rheumatic fever and was confined to her bed. Annie=s faith in our Heavenly Father=s power to heal was great however, and she believed that she would be made well if she could be baptized for her health. A bed was made for Annie in a covered wagon and Annie and Amasa accompanied by Annie=s older sister Mary (Mamie), traveled about thirty miles to the Manti Temple. After Annie was baptized, her health was greatly improved and Annie and Amasa Davidson were married while they were still at the Temple in Manti. They were married 12 June 1889 by Daniel H. Wells. Annie was sixteen years old at the time of her marriage. Before they were married however, Amasa was sealed the Annie=s sister Celestia who had been his first love. Mary, the older sister of Annie and Celestia, acted as proxy for the sealing of Amasa and Celestia.
Annie was gifted to know when certain things would happen. On nine different occasions she had a premonition of the impending death of one of her Sister Emma=s infant children and was able to go to her sister=s home and be with her when it happened. She would tell her husband or her mother that she had to go to her sister Emma=s house as one of Emma=s babies was going to die.. Emma had twelve children; Eight of them died when they were infants; one lived until it was about two years old and only three of the twelve grew to maturity and were married.
It was granted to Annie to know the hour that her father would pass away although he wasn=t very ill at the time. Because she knew when it would happen, she was able to go and be with her mother at the time. Her father, Peter Niels Hansen, passed away 14 February 1895; Annie was 21 years old at the time. Peter=s oldest child, Mary, was 31 and his youngest child, Inger Marie, was 12 years old.
In 1909, Annie=s mother, Maria died. Maria and another young woman had come from Denmark to America as traveling companions to two older ladies. On the trip across the Atlantic the ship was becalmed for an extended period of time; water and supplies ran short, and the two older ladies died at sea. It is said that the ship=s Captain then sent the ladies money bact to Europe leaving Maria and her friend without any means of support. The two of them made their way to where the Church wagon trains were organized There the immigrating company was met by service missionaries who had been called to take their teams and wagon to bring the immigrants to Utah. There she met Peter and traveled across the plains in his company. They were married that October. The year after Marie=s passing, in May 1910,Annie, Amasa and their family moved to Ft. Bridger Wyo. where they bought a ranch.
While she lived in Ft. Bridger, Annie worked in the Relief Society. While was a visiting teacher and had to go twelve miles with a horse and buggy to do her visiting. In Sept. 1914, shw was set apart as 2nd counselor in the Relief Society and in July, 1918, shw was set apart as president of the Relief Society in the Milburne Ward. And held that office until 2 Sept. 1923. By way of explanation, Annie and her family lived about 3 miles fro Ft. Bridger which was their mailing address. At Ft. Bridger was a store, post office, hotel, blacksmith shop and of course the well know fort. named for Jim Bridger. There was no L.D.S. ward there, however, so Annie and her family went to church at Milburne where the closest ward was located. Milburne Ward was in the Lyman Stake and was about 3 2 miles from the Davidson Farm. Milburne was settled and laid out by Amasa=s oldest brother Hans T. Davidson. There is prophecy concerning the Milburne Ward which was actually fulfilled. The prophecy was given during a testimony meeting by Florence Kilburne whose husband was later bishop of the Milburne Ward and whose daughter, Sylvia later married Annie=s son Amber Davidson. Florence Kilburne spoke in tongues and was then gifted to interpret what she had said. She told the people that if they didn=t live better and cease to be so indifferent to the work of the lord that the Milburne Ward would be taken away and the people would have to go elsewhere to church. Some years later this prophecy came true and Milburne Ward was dissolved.
In 1918, Annie Davidson was asked to be president of the Red Cross in her district, and held that position at eh same time she was president of the Relief Society. She had to drive 3 2 miles with a horse and buggy to both her relief Society and Red Cross Meetings.
Annie did a great deal of knitting. She knit stockings for her ten children and husband and also for the Red Cross. She also did a lot of crocheting and claimed that the slips, undershirts and panties, that she made weren=t finished if she didn=t put a crochet edge on them.
During the last years that Annie lived in Wyoming her health wasn=t very good so on the 14 October 1923, she moved to Ephraim, Utah, where her son Emery lived. Six of her ten children wer now married and one son was working away from home. The three other children , Vennes, Vay Anna and 14 year old Kermit went with their parents to Ephraim, where the family stayed for the winter at the home of their son Emery. In the Spring, the family returned to their home in Wyoming. The next four and one half winters Annie Davidson lived in Wales, Utah, where her sister Mary lived. She held various positions in the Relief Society while she lived at Wales. In 1925 shw as sustained as 2nt counselor and in 1928, she was class leader and visiting teacher.
On 23 Feb. 1929, she and her husband moved to Mt. Pleasant, Utah, where they had purchased a red, brick home. Less that a year after they moved to Mt. Pleasant her husband became very ill, so her daughter , Beatrice, with her family moved from her hove in Evanston, Wyo. on 1 Nov. 1929 to help take care of him. Amasa Davidson did not improve, however. Amasa Davidson died 3 Jan. 1930. and was buried at Mt. Pleasant, Utah.
Annie Davidson continued to live at Mt. Pleasant, Utah shw was active in the relief Society and did temple work at the Manti Temple. Her daughter, Beatrice, and her family lived with her until September 1931, when they moved to Molen, Emery Co. Utah. Annie Davidson lived alone for only a few weeks after her daughter, Beatrice , moved however, and then she became so ill that her daughter left her family in their new home and returned to take care of her mother. Annie became worse and was taken to the Holy Cross Hospital for an operation. She did not recover and passed away on Nov. 24, 1931 at the age of 58. Her daughter, Beatrice went with her mother to the hospital at Salt Lake and accompanied her Mother=s body back to Mt. Pleasant on Thanksgiving Day. Annie Davidson was buried beside her husband in the Mr. Pleasant cemetery.
Annie=s youngest son, Kermit, was missionary in the Norther States at the time of his mother=s death but his mother had told him that she did not want him to return home in case she did not recover as she knew he would not return to finish his mission if he were to come home.
Annie Davidson=s life was spent in service to others ans she was dearly beloved by all. She had a very sunny disposition and always seemed to have a happy smile. She loved music and dancing and encouraged her children to study music also. She left a posterity of ten children and thirty-four grandchildren.

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