Saga of the Sanpitch Volume 17, 1985 - Sanpete County

My great-grandmother's grave is marked by a lovely, old stone engraved with this wistful little verse,
but even today the cemetery where she lies is arid in many spots, quite unlike those in the beautiful, green
country she left for the sake of the gospel „ Each year as we drive to Gunnison on Memorial Day to honor our
dead, I think of Karen, whose life was so short, and select my loveliest flowers for her, thinking of the day she
passed away leaving a husband and four small children.
I am very proud of my Danish ancestry. When I was a young girl someone would often mention my
name, remarking how different it was. I would laugh and think it fun to say, "Oh, I'm Danish. What else could I
be with grandparents named Myrup, Fjeldsted, Tollestrup and Christensen?" Today I realize my Scandinavian
heritage means much more to me than having an interesting Danish name.
Denmark is the smallest of the Scandinavian countries. It consists of one large peninsula called Jylland
(Jutland), and several smaller islands where many Danish people live. My ancestors came from Thyland and
Vendsyssell, northern provinces which are separated from mainland Denmark by the blue waters of the
winding Limfjord.
My daughter, Norine Hansen, filled a mission to Denmark in 1960-62. She tells of the fjord as it
appeared to her:
The blue, sparkling Limfjord of Denmark is not as spectacular as the fjords of Norway,
but it is very beautiful. Though it transverses the entire tip of Jutland, it is a changing body of
water. . . now only as wide
as a river, now appearing to be a lake of great size, now white water rushing through a narrow
channel, yet always deep enough to carry great ships on their way to the sea. The Limfjord is
an integral part of Denmark,
supporting many people, who live along its winding waterways.
In Andrew Jensen's "History of the Scandinavian Mission," he wrote about this part of Denmark in
1861:
There is an ancient saying that the north side of the Limfjord was the north side of
righteousness. . .greater numbers have been baptized here according to its population, than
any other place.
There, where the waters of the North Sea surge against the ancient shores, Danish families have lived
for centuries on farms or in little hamlets. Many gave their farms descriptive names such as 'Solskin,' which
means sunshine. Karen was born on a little farm named 'Fulgsang,' which is Danish for bird song. I like to think
that she was often aware of the skylarks soaring high above the green fields, singing their melodic, distinctive
song.
My maternal grandmother Frederikke Tollestrup Fjeldsted, remembered her mother as a small girl
with fair skin touched by a rosy-pink glow from the cold northern winds; her eyes were expressive and
matched the blue of springtime skies.
In 1850, when Erastus Snow was called to open the Scandinavian Mission, Karen was nineteen years
old and not at all interested in missionaries who went from door to door preaching the doctrines of a new
religion. Still on the 1st of January, 1854, she married Niels Christian (Christensen) Tollestrup who had been
converted to Mormonism in 1853 by Ferdinand Dorius, a native Danish missionary., This dedicated Elder later
emigrated to Utah, settled in Sanpete County, and became an outstanding citizen of Ephraim. Perhaps his
sincere testimony touched the heart of Karen for eventually she, too, became a "Mormon."
Christian A. Madsen, who also emigrated to Utah, only to return to Denmark as a missionary, was
instrumental in convincing Niels that he and Karen would be wise to join other Danish families in Utah,
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