This blog is about Alexander & Sarah Mary Theresa DeLacy Baird who immigrated to America from Scotland and Ireland. It is also about James Morgan & Anne Christine Larsen Keller who immigrated to America from Denmark. The stories and entries are about their lives, their descendants and their ancestry.
Please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.
Ray Baird Lundgreen is the great grandson of Alexander and Sarah Mary Theresa deLacy Baird.
At the Graveside Service 28 Jun 2010
Ray came into the world in the midst of a great storm one evening and left this world on a very peaceful and quiet day. This is like our life here with great controversy and then as we leave this life we are filled with peace and happiness.
During Ray’s life many changes in our world have occurred. The Bishop’s daughter recently observed a large old 78 record and remarked that it was a very big CD.
Ray loved scouts and wore the scout uniform proudly. Now as we viewed his body he wears the uniform of the Temple. A symbol of where he is waiting for his family. The associations continue on for eternity.
“The Shaping of Stones”
The most beautiful stones
Have been tossed by wind
And smoothed by water
… Just like stone
We have been polished by the
….Gifts of our fathers
The wisdom of their years
The strength of their values
And the patience of their understanding
Joseph F Smith
“Death is not an unmixed horror. With it are associated some of the profoundest and most important truths of human life. Although painful in the extreme to those who must suffer the departure of dear ones, death is one of the grandest blessings in divine economy.
“We are born that we may put on mortality, that is, that we may clothe our spirits with a body. Such a blessing is the first step toward an immortal body, and the second step is death. Death lies along the road of eternal progress; and though hard to bear, no one who believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and especially in the resurrection, would have it otherwise…Death is really a necessity as well as a blessing, and…we would not and could not be satisfied and supremely happy without it.
“For death was the penalty of the law transgressed, which man was powerless to avert, that fiat of God being. ‘In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, ‘[Moses 3:17] and this penalty was to follow upon all flesh, all being as helpless and dependent as he was in this matter.
“We are called mortal beings because in us are seeds of death, but in reality we are immortal beings, because there is also within us the germ of eternal life. Man is a dual being, composed of the spirit which gives life, force, intelligence and capacity to man and the body which is the tenement of the spirit and is suited to its form, adapted to its necessities, and acts in harmony with it, and to its utmost capacity yields obedience to the will of the spirit. The two combined constitute the soul. The body is dependent upon the spirit, and the spirit during its natural occupancy of the body is subject to the laws which apply to and govern it in the mortal state. In this natural body are the seeds of weakness and decay, which, when fully ripened or untimely plucked up, in the language of scripture, is called “the temporal death.
“Every man born into the world will die. It matters not who he is, nor where he is, whether his birth be among the rich and the noble, or among the lowly and poor in the world, his days are numbered with the Lord, and in due time he will reach the end. We should think of this. Not that we should go about with heavy hearts or with downcast countenances; not at all. I rejoice that I am born to live, to die, and to live again. I thank God for this intelligence. It gives me joy and peace that the world cannot give, neither can the world take it away. God has revealed this to me, in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it to be true. Therefore, I have nothing to be sad over, nothing to make me sorrowful.
Ray returned to be with the rock of his father and brother and the rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ.
(Note by Shelley Haltiner Grover: These words were not recorded and were written down as notes therefore they may or may not be verbatim, but the ideas were presented. The Shaping of Stones is exactly as read as well as the Quote of President Joseph F. Smith. The Quote was taken from the “Teachings of Presidents of the Church” Series, pages 87-89, but may or may not be the full quote used as it does extend two additional paragraphs.)
(Note 2 by Shelley Haltiner Grover: If there are comments, additional thoughts not included, corrections, etc please email me and I will correct this. shelleygrover.genealogy@gmail.com)
This was read at the graveside service by: Granddaughter Mandy Lundgreen Celis
Life History
I wanted to say something about my grandfather.
Ray Baird Lundgreen was born October 17th 1926 in his parents’ home in Ogden while a fierce wind storm raged outside. Assisting the Doctor at his birth was his paternal Grandmother Mary Anderson Lundgreen, a midwife.
He was the second of three children born to Orlando V. Lundgreen and Vontella (Von) H. Baird Lundgreen. He had an older brother Vern B. Lundgreen and a younger sister Joyce (Lundgreen) Fox both of whom have preceded him in death.
Soon after his birth Orlando and Vontella built their home on Fourth Street in Ogden where he lived until his marriage to Sarah Jean Law on May 3rd 1950 in the Idaho Falls Temple. This was a very special day as Ray & Jean participated in a double ceremony with one of Jean’s cousins.
For the first 16 years of their marriage Ray & Jean lived in many parts of Weber County. Finally in 1966 they were able to buy a home in Clearfield where Jean continues to reside today.
He was the proud Father and Father-in-law of 5 sons, 2 daughters, 4 daughters –in-law and 2 sons-in-law. They are Val Lundgreen, Kevan and Patty (Armstrong) Lundgreen, and Pete and JoD’An (Lundgreen) Smalley all of Clearfield, Leland Lundgreen and his recently departed wife Laurel (Bass) of Roy, Dana Lundgreen of Draper, Jonathan and Heidi (Langton) Lundgreen of Ivins, Utah and Daniel and Cindy Jo (Lundgreen) Rogers of North Attleborough, Massachusetts. He was also the Grandfather to 9 boys & 3 girls as well as Great-Grandfather to 9 (6 girls and 3 boys).
Ray worked for the United States Air Force at Hill Air Force Base for over 30 years until his retirement in 1988.
His favorite hobbies were rock collecting and fishing. He enjoyed taking his family to different locations to hunt for rocks. When he got the rocks home he would spend many hours cutting and polishing them before making them into key chains and other types of jewelry. Although he enjoyed fishing, it seemed like the thing he caught the most was one of his boys when they fell in the water.
Ray was an active Scouter for over 30 years. In 1990 Ray & Jean were called to serve for one year as missionaries in the Pittsburg Pennsylvania Mission. Upon their return home they then served as stake missionaries.
Due to various problems he encountered later in his life Ray spent the last several years in a care center where he passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 23rd 2010.
Although he will be missed we take comfort in the knowledge that he is at peace and freed from the difficulties of mortality. We look forward to the day when we and he will be reunited as a family forever.
Since I was 10, and the present baby of the family, Mom and Dad discussed it and decided they should have more children to raise since we would all soon be up and gone and Mom said, "There just isn't any reason to stay married if we're not raising children." Soooo. When Mother was expecting Mike, Art was 15, Bruce was 13 and I was 10. We were old enough to be consulted in such matters as the naming of this baby. We all made suggestions. Everyone but me loved "Douglas" (there was a nice boy in my class named Douglas, but his ears stuck out). "Keith" was pretty popular. Mother thought maybe she should name him for Richard R. Lyman, her apostle uncle, but Aunt Myrl had already stolen that thunder and Dad kinda drug his feet on that one. Then someone suggested "Michael."
Douglas sounded great with it. Mom said while he was little, we could call him Mickey and we all thought that was adorable. Yet, when he came home, we all called him "Mikey" for years. He just wasn't a Mickey. That was okay. Rick gave us the "icky" syllables we were looking for. And that is how Mike got his name.
Why Mike's Birthday is sometimes on Father's Day
Grandma Baird wanted to have Mike on Father's Day. (Do you remember) That was on Sunday, the 17th. The doctor gave her some medication to start things going on Saturday since Mike was about due. Then Dad and the boys (Art and Bruce) went off doing the Saturday things with Dad as they so often did, leaving me home alone with Mom. The medicine worked great. She went into hard labor in no time! It was a hours until the guys came home. Michael wasn't born right then and there only because he was turned the wrong way. Dad took her to Dee Hospital in Ogden where she went through an awful night, but unable to deliver. Finally, on Sunday morning, the doctor decided to try to turn him manually inside the birth canal (I'm sure that was fun for Mom) before going to a C-section (rare in those days). That did the trick, and Mikey came into the world after a rough birth. He was happy and cute though, just like he is today. So that is why Mike's birthday is sometimes on Father's Day.
Why Mike Is So Sweet
The Dee Hospital played another part in Mike's life as he, with a lot of other babies in that hospital, got a form of dysentery during his birth stay. Mom couldn't get it to clear up. When he was four months old he was rushed back to the Dee and he nearly died with dehydration and fever. They had to make an incision in his ankle to even administer the IV he was so tiny. Mom was so sure we would lose him he was that low, that when they came back from the hospital Art was washing diapers in the Twin-tub Dexter, and she told him to take them out back and burn them. He didn't. Dad said he reached under the oxygen tent and squeezed his foot a little to see if he was alive. Mike barely twitched the third and fourth fingers on his left hand (his favorite sucking fingers after that) his only sign of life. When he finally recovered and came home, Mike had to have such a special diet with no real sugar, only malto-dextrin for about a year. It tastes very sweet and that is why Mike is so very sweet to this day.
I testify these things are true, and I should know because I was there. Mike's true and loving BIG sister, Charlotte June Baird June 17, 2010 Hollywood, California, USA
[Note from Shelley: Thanks for allowing me to post this.]
Wife of James Morgan Keller; daughter of Jens Larsen & Bertha Sophia Anderson Jorgensen
Anna Christena Larsen Keller was the daughter of James Larsen and Bertha Sophia Jensen. She was born in Helsingor Denmark on Aug 19, 1843. She received very little schooling. Her parents were quit wealthy and owned a lovely home. Her mother was first married to Erickson. Three children were born to them. After Erickson’s death Bertha Sophia married James Johnson who was the mother of Anna Christena Larsen.
When she was only 9 years of age the gospel of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints was brought into her home by missionaries of the Church. And all of her family were converted into the church.
In the year of 1850, her parents left all their property and their wealth and set sail for America. On the ship coming over, her parents were very sick. They lived at Omaha for a year. Then encountered many hardships during their stay there, but their faith never faltered. Later they stayed in Nauvoo.
She used to relate how she and other children visited with Emma Smith, the Prophet Joseph Smith’s wife and how Sister Smith would sit in her great rocking chair and tell them stories about the Prophet. Many times Anna Christena crossed the Missouri river to Montrose where she tended children for a family. The lady of the house once told her that eggs made cookies tough so when she made cookies she herself never used eggs.
The camp had to lie over in winter quarters for some time and while there some mobsters took her brother put him in a barrel and rolled him down a hill. This crippled him for some time but eventually he recovered.
They were very careful to make friends with the Indians and could get them to shoot buffalo for their meat. The buffalo were in such great herds they would come down the trails in such great herds a mile or more in length and sometimes would stampede. Nothing would turn them. If a caravan happened to be in their path they would just thunder right through wagons and carts as if nothing were there.
In the year of 1856, the family located near Brigham City [Box Elder County, Utah] in what is now known as Perry. James Morgan Keller with his wife Margrette and children lived at Brigham. Anna Christena started working [for] him at the time she became his third wife. Lorenzo Snow being President of the Stake commissioned him to take more wives. This he did marrying Margaret Larson and Anna Christena with in the same year.
Anna Christena was a pretty girl and had many suitors, but she chose to marry James Morgan Keller. She told how the others all told her if she would marry them she would be the favorite wife and they would love her more that the others. But James Morgan told her that all would be treated alike and share the same place in his affections that he would be as good to one as another and do all in his power to make them happy. That is probably what won her over and she became his third wife. They traveled all the way to Salt Lake in a wagon with an ox team where they were married in the endowment house on Jan 2, 1858.
Her family left Nauvoo and started across the plains with one of the handcart companies of which there were ten. They were numbered with Captain Brown’s Company. The family had an oxen team but Anna Christena walked the full 1300 miles except for the few times that Captain Brown let her ride his mule. At times her feet would get so sore they would bleed. At night all the camps would gather together around the campfire and sing the songs they dearly loved and thank God for all their blessings.
In Brigham they lived the United Order for some time. In one of the improvements [Improvement Era, a church magazine] Eras Roy B. Snow said of the order it accomplished its purpose and while in effect was perfect in its government.
After living in Brigham for a while they moved to Mantua [Box Elder County, Utah]. Here her home was a dug out but they were very happy. Here they helped till the soil fight grasshoppers and build up the town. It was at Mantua she started to give her services to the church work as a relief society teacher and counselor in the in the mutual.
She became the mother of 14 children: 6 boys and 8 girls. Six of them were born in this dug out. Listed with the eldest first: Sophis, Charlotte, Adelia, Marie, Torval, Tora, Romanta, Sylvanius, Adam Archible, New Gena, Urias, Sylestres, Alvrus, Earnest, and Louela. One girl and one boy died in infancy. The rest grew to maturity and were all married in the temple of our Lord.
Besides raising her own family she raised Anna Petra, James Morgan’s fifth wife who died in child birth. These children were: Sylvester, Adonald, Royal, Allie, K, Annike Octavia, Eli Thomas, Elzada Camilla. She also raised a grandson Richard Priest whose mother Marie Keller Priest died when the child was only three weeks old. This raised the count of her children to 21. She knitted, spun and wove to make clothes for them.
The children of the other wives were as much at home in her home as in their own. Her home seemed to be a gathering place for the young folks.
From Mantua they moved to Mink Creek [Bannock County, Idaho] (1877) and were among the first settlers here. Up to this time the settlers had lived in dugouts and her home was the fist home to be built in Mink Creek. It was a two-room log house. About 5 years later he built a three-story rock house and then a frame building which (Hyrum Bell got). They went through many hardships had very little to eat and not much clothing. All the clothing was made by her own hands as she spun and wove all the cloth that their clothes were made of.
She was active and prompt in her church duties. She was very strict about attending church meetings and saw to it that her children did too.
At one time when her husband was very sick she felt as though the family could not spare him so she went out of the house around the house by a big choke cherry tree and prayed that if he might be spared she would be willing to spare one of her children. She went back into the house and he spoke to her for the first time in three days. He was soon well again but a week later here baby, a strong fine healthy boy took sick and died. She knew that her prayer had been answered. She told this incident as one of her testimonies of the gospel.
She was made President of the Relief Society and held this position for 14 years resigning only when she took the six children of Anna Petria to raise. She and her counselor, Louise Wild and Christina Wallgren would visit the ward riding in a big wagon. When these trips became necessary. It would usually take three or four days to cover the territory, which included from over on Bear River, Mink Creek and Glenco. She was very diligent in all that she did.
She prepared many bodies for burial. At one time here was an epidemic of diphtheria and in one family five died. While in another 7 in one week. She went to their homes and gave comfort to the families. She always looked on the bright side of life and although she went through many hard trials.
She was charitable and kind and good to those in distress took care of the poor and divided what little she had. She would gather wild fruit and dry it. At times Indians would come and require the last marshal of food she had in the house.
Life was made difficult at times by visits by the marshal. A law had been passed that a man could have only one wife. James Morgan was devoted and close to all of his wives and families and remained faithful to all of them to the end. Whenever possible someone would warn them of the marshal’s coming. This usually gave them time to hide. Once they came to Anna’s home (looking for James Morgan). They asked if she would give them dinner and feed the horses. She sent the boys to tend the horses and she gave them something to eat. After the meal they asked what they owed her and she replied nothing. But one man gave her a silver dollar. That was the first dollar one of the children had ever seen and seemed to them such a big dollar. After the bill was paid they produced a search warrant and she gave them permission. They wanted to know if there was some way to get under the house. She opened a trap door in the floor and one of the men went down after much hesitation because of the darkness. While he was down there he heard the others calling that they had found the husband of the house. Those around tried to tell them it wasn’t but they wouldn’t listen. In reality they had one of the first wife’s sons. But because of his appearance and walk and the fact that he had called at two or three homes they were sure they had the right man. They had William who never married. The marshal took him to Blackfoot (Idaho) and held him a week or so before discovering their mistake. They could have been fined for such an offence so they let him go with many apologies and with the means to return home.
Anna Christina usually enjoyed good health, however she told of becoming very ill one night when alone at home. Her children had all gone to a dance when they returned home they found her lying as if dead. Her testimony is that she visited the spirit world. There she saw her daughter, Maria tending children. It was beautiful, very beautiful place. She saw a path that stretched on and on into space. On one side of the lovely path stood people old and young dressed in beautiful robes. They seemed to be extremely happy and contended. On the other side were people old and young dressed in shabby colored clothes and they were extremely dejected and unhappy. When she came back she told her story and said it was to urge her to do temple work, but she found time to do very little. What an inspiration this should be to her ancestors!
She took care of Jens Larson, her father in his last years. She was the last of the five wives to live so also took care of James Morgan in his last years. She lived 21 years after his death.
In June 1914, she moved to Snake River Valley at Idaho Falls with her daughter, Louella and in Sept 1923, they moved to Iona, on March 11, 1924. After living with her daughter for 17 years she passed away just as true a latter-day saint as ever. She said she was ready to die and would be glad to meet those who had gone before.
She lived to be 81 years of age. She was brought to Mink Creek, Idaho to the home of her son Torval. Funeral services were held in the Mink Creek Church house on Mar 14, 1924 with Bishop William E. Crane presiding with the following speakers: Andrew Larson of Preston, Arthur Schwieder, Dehlin Ward, Amos Keller and Bishop Crane. The invocation was offered by Louis Keller and benediction by H. Hyrum Bell. Buried in Mink Creek Cemetery.
A TRIBUTE
Dear Sister,
With unfaltering step
Thy feet have trod the path
Which for the gospel’s sake
Was marked for thee.
The time when first
Thou didst part from home
And all thine heart held dear
To cross the wide
And troubled ocean Zion ward.
The lovely scenes of childhood
Dear parents, brothers and sisters
Fond caressed
All that renders life so sweet.
With the chosen of thine heart
Thy didst turn thy thoughts away
And through the varied chancing scenes
That crossed thy path
Has held thyself most true and steadfast.
Even when sickness dire and death
With stern and ruthless hand
Has loved one taken from thee
And lovely winning ways beguiled
Thy weary thine onward footsteps
And when thou had to encounter
New and strange life grim want and poverty
All these with patting heart
Still helpful has thou borne.
And even striven through all thy duty to perform
With unwearing cares and cheering tone
To comfort those in affliction
To raise to health once more
With the aid of the almighty Father
Many who perhaps
Would have passed away.
Seeking a saint to be
In the very deed
With warm and kindly sympathy
With the wants of others.
The teaching of our beloved savior
Remembered well.
Patience too thou hast to teach
The young and tender mind
To train to useful habits
Those beneath thy care
Living to enjoy the pleasant company of
The dear children God hast left thee
Still onward the praise is won
The goal is reached in heaven
Immortal Life Glory Unspeakable
A mother of Israel Departed
Our loss is her inpanite gain
Like her may we ever be faithful
While here on this earth we remain.
(Poem from Aunt Clara or Aunt Louella)
Things Virgia Hansen remembered she has said:
Here is more of her wisdom.
“Wives” help you husband”, Never take your babies with you to the table. You deserve the right to eat your meal in peace. “Don’t allow your children to stay overnight with anybody when night comes they belong in their own houses. Live your lives so well that you can live polygamy…I am so thankful that it was my privilege.
She used to made bread dough dumplings by dropping little balls of dough in a shallow boiling water and cover until done and then serve them with cream flavored with vanilla and sugar. How I loved them.
To me a granddaughter she was the sweetest most lovable and dearest lady I have ever known. I count it one of my choicest blessings to have been privileged to know her. Virgia
Information from Clara Keller , Adam Keller, Virgia Hansen, Cloteal Carver, Schiweider and others. Complied by Helen Mitchell.
(Note: This history in my possession and looks like it was the original handwritten history. But knowing that copies were handwritten it could be a copied of the original. If anyone has a copy or the original, I would love to hear from you.
Shelley
[Note from Shelley: Clara Keller is the wife of Selestres (Leslie) Keller who is a son off Anna Christena Larsen Keller. Adam Keller is the son of Anna Christena Larsen. Cloteal Carver (Baird) is the daughter of Charlotte Alvina Keller who is the grand-daughter of Anna Christena Larsen. Louella Schweider is the daughter of Anna Christena Larsen. Helen Mitchell is the daughter of Adam Keller is the son of Anna Christena Larsen. If anyone can tell about Virgia Hansen and where she fits in. please email me or post a comment. Thanks. Shelley
[2nd Note from Shelley: This is a email note from Sherrie Rubink about Virgia Hansen: " I did not know Vergia Hansen, but I looked her up in the Mink Creek Ward History that I purchased several years ago. There is a copy at the family history library. Anyway it has a biography and pictures of her and says that she is Tora Vergia Wilde Hansen, the daughter of Albert Alonson Wilde and Tora Keller. " Tora Keller is the daughter of Anne Christena Larsen Keller. Thanks to Sherrie!!]
[3rd Note from Shelley: Glenco is on the same road to Mink Creek but before you come to Mink Creek.]
