Denmark, jutting out into the Baltic Sea north of Germany, is Europe's oldest kingdom.  Numerous finds and excavations indicate that Denmark has been inhabited for at least four thousand to five thousand years and possibly much longer.  The country's position at the entrance to the Baltic Sea, one of Europe's oldest trading routes, going back to prehistoric times, favored early settlement here.

Denmark consists of one peninsula and 493 islands and islets, all of them quite flat.  The highest hill is only six hundred feet above sea level.  The sea, of course, is the natural link between the different parts of the country, and so the Danes became a seafaring nation quite early in history.  They roamed the neighboring seas and conquered neighboring lands.

Denmark's scenery is the gentlest and most idyllic of all the Scandinavian countries.  Its green pastures are dotted with brown and speckled cows, red or white farmhouses and whitewashed churches.  Its quaint gardens and wind-caressed groves next to blue inlets and sandy beaches breathe a fairy-tale atmosphere of charm and harmony.

The Folkmann ancestors are found on one of these islands, Bornholm, as far back as records exist.  The Lutheran Church is the state church of Denmark, and the king must be a member of that church.  The sea and agriculture, along with related occupations provided the livelihood for most of the Danes.

Jorgen and Gjertrud

Jorgen Christopherson Folkmann was a blacksmith by trade on his native island of Bornholm, Denmark, and enjoyed a good business.  He was born on the 10th of September 1792 in Vester-Marie to Christopher Olsen Folkmann and Birthe Ipsen (Jeppesen).  Nothing is known of his early life.  When he reached manhood he married Gjertrud Kristine Ipsen on the 29th of March 1817.  Gjertrud, daughter of Jeppe Sorensen and Ane Pedersen, was born on the 19th of March 1790 in Aaker, Bornholm, Denmark.

Jorgen and Gjertrud lived in Aaker and were the parents of eight children, three boys and five girls.  Their eight children were:  Bergette, 1818; Christiane, 1820; Elsebeth, 1822; Elsebeth, 1823; Jeppe, 1824; Christopher, 1827; Jens, 1829; Jorgine, 1832.

Jorgen and Gjertrud were God-fearing stalwart members of the Lutheran Church, the prevailing church in Denmark at that time.  They gave their children a good religious background and set a good example for them to follow.  Their ancestors as far back as 1620 were all born in Bornholm.  Gjertrud died on the 20th of November 1848 at the age of 59.

Emigration to America

Mormon missionaries arrived in Bornholm and preached at their street meetings of the restoration of the gospel by the prophet Joseph Smith.  The Folkmann family listened to their message and their testimony.  Several of Jorgen's children were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  There was much opposition to the Church in Bornholm, and Jorgen's sons were victims of mob persecution.  Jorgen was baptized on the 30th of December 1856, and on the 25th of April the following year he emigrated to America with his son and daughter-in-law, Jens Peter and Matilda.  The new converts to the Church were urged to leave their homes and go to Zion where all the Saints were gathering in Salt Lake City in the tops of the mountain.

They left Copenhagen on the 18th of April with a group of emigrating Saints and sailed to Hull, England, where they transferred from the boat to railroad cars to continue their journey to Liverpool, the point of embarkation.  They sailed on the "Westmoreland," and after five weeks of a fairly good voyage they reached Philadelphia.  The trip up the bay and river to the landing place gave these foreigners an "exalted impression" of America.  An American man-of-war passed them as they made their way up the river, and the emigrants raised their voices from the deck in loud cheers.  The captain of the battleship returned a salute of welcome by firing the guns from the ship.

Their outburst of joy soon turned to feelings of sadness when they heard the unhappy news of the assassination of Parley P. Pratt in Arkansas.

The emigrants set out in a day or two by rail to Iowa City which was the western terminus of the railroad.

Travel by Handcart

As Jorgen had used what means he had for the support of missionaries and for his son Peter's emigration and his own emigration, he was forced to travel to Utah by the cheapest means possible.  They began the journey ahead of 1,334 miles by handcart, which would be a most difficult mode of travel over the rolling hills of Iowa, the sands of Nebraska, the hills of Wyoming, and up over the plateaus and through the mountains to Salt Lake City.  Because of limited space on the carts, many treasures had to be left behind.  They also had to leave extra clothing, feather beds, their best clothes, books and souvenirs of their homeland.  The leadership for this company was very poor and there was much discouragement among the pioneers.

Four mule teams were provided for hauling extra provisions and the helpless and sick, but because of poor management the drivers went on ahead and were unfeeling of the needs of the marchers.  The group finally scraped up enough money between them to buy an ox team from a passing farmer and this was their hospital wagon, often carrying as many as 20 persons at one time.  Quite a number of the emigrants took sick and of those, quite a number died.

In Florence they met a returning Danish missionary, Christian Christiansen, whom they had admired and respected in Denmark.  He had planned on going to Utah by ox team, but upon hearing of the troubles of the handcart company he agreed to be their leader.  His appointment was hailed with delight, and he provided the necessary leadership to make the journey more pleasant.

The crossing of the Platte River was extremely difficult and took two days.  The carts had to be emptied and pulled across by the men, and then all of the pioneers' belongings had to be carried across.  The women rode across on horses behind the Indian guides.

Along the way the pioneers saw the inhabitants of the prairie:  deer, antelope, geese and ducks.  Advance riders reported seemingly endless prairie dog colonies that speedily disappeared at the first sign of danger, and then popped their heads out of their holes as soon as the danger was past.

Plenty of buffalo roamed the plains, but apparently the Danish emigrants were not hunters or didn't have the proper ammunition for their guns as they didn't try to kill any buffalo for much needed meat.  Their provisions were dwindling, and they had to portion out their remaining food.

As the handcart company journeyed along the north bank of the Platte River, the U.S. Army was traveling along the south bank on its way to Utah to put down the supposed rebellion there.  The army was well supplied with food and equipment and had an easy journey.  One day one of the army's oxen was killed and the soldiers gave the meat to the Saints.  This was gratefully received.

Because of the difficulty in pulling the carts in the sand along the Platte River, the company left the river and traveled along firmer ground.  Many reached the point of exhaustion from the heat and severe strain of pulling the carts.  More treasured belongings were thrown out to make the load lighter.

Jorgen is Lost

On the 9th of August the company reached Fort Laramie and camped there to rest for two days.  They then entered the Black Hills.  Although wood and grass was more abundant here, water was more difficult to find.  While traveling through these woods one day, they unknowingly passed the only watering place to be found on that day's journey.  To add to their discomfiture, they were obliged to pass the night in their famished condition without even the shelter of tents which had been carried ahead on the wagons by the thoughtless drivers.  Peter and Matilda pulled their handcart.  As Jorgen felt unwell and was unable to walk as fast as the company traveled, he lagged behind a good deal.  Here Jorgen was lost, and for a whole day a search was kept up to find him without success, and the searchers returned to their camp with heavy hearts, fearing Jorgen was dead.  The next day they continued their way.

Jorgen had ventured off on what he thought was a cutoff, hoping to find water to quench his thirst.  Finally he got on the wrong track and was lost in the woods.  He walked aimlessly around in the Black Hills for three days, and found nothing to eat but a few berries which he picked.  On the evening of the second day he felt very sick and tired and made himself a bed of dried grass and laid down to die.  However, the next morning he awoke feeling better so continued his tramp.  At last he came to the Platte River and waded across.  On the other side he met a mountaineer, a white man and his Indian wife.  This man took Jorgen up in his wagon, took him to his tent, and cared for him as well as possible.  The day after, the mountaineer caught up to the handcart company.  They were all surprised and delighted to see Jorgen, especially Peter and Matilda.  Jorgen continued the journey without further mishap.

In spite of all the problems, this company of Saints was not without hope, and consequently felt the joy that comes from the expectation of better days.  Because of their enthusiasm, they often broke out in songs and peals of mirth.  There were also pleasures along the way.  Each evening there was singing and maybe dancing around the campfire.  By the time the company reached Wyoming, most of the marchers had worn out their shoes and were walking barefooted, often stepping on prickly pear.  This was a painful experience, but they all had some good laughs about it later.

Journey's End

On the 22nd of August, the company was met at Devil's Gate by a supply train sent with much needed provisions from Salt Lake City.  The most difficult part of the journey was the last part up the mountain inclines and through the narrow canyons.  But eventually on the 13th of September 1857, Sunday, they marched with a feeling of thankfulness and grand expectations into the City of the Saints.

A group of these Scandinavian Saints settled in Lehi, but in the fall of 1858 an exploring party left Lehi in search of a new home.  Among them was Jorgen's son Jeppe.  They went north as far as Ogden and visited Lorin Farr, telling him they represented a group of Lehi citizens who were in search of a more suitable place to settle permanently.  Water was scarce in Lehi, but they had been told that water was plentiful and the soil was rich in Weber County.  President Farr told them he knew of an ideal spot for the location of a new settlement, and went with the men to the present site of Plain City.  These men liked what they saw.  A canal could be dug from the Weber River for irrigation water, there were springs for culinary water, and underground water was plentiful.  The explorers returned to Lehi and reported their findings to their families and friends, and then spent the winter months making preparations to move to Weber County the following spring.

Jorgen's son Christopher and new daughter-in-law Elia had arrived in Lehi from Denmark in October 1858.

A Town is Born

A company of approximately 100 people including the families of Jeppe, Jens Peter and Christopher Folkmann left Lehi on the 10th of March 1859 and traveled northward with teams of oxen, horses and mules.  Jorgen's name was not listed with the others, but it is assumed he was with his sons.  The roads were muddy and travel necessarily slow.  The homeseekers were seven days en route, arriving at the site previously selected at 5:00 o'clock on the afternoon of March 17th in a snow storm.  The wagons were lined up east and west for protection against the north wind.  A hole was dug to the south of the wagons, and a campfire built in it.  Sagebrush, which stood four to ten feet high, was all that could be seen for miles in any direction.  Yet the colonists were pleased with the location.

The colonists planned and surveyed their townsite and farming lands.  Square blocks, each containing five acres and divided into four lots, were laid out.  One centrally located block was designated as the "Public Square."  Later the church, school house and other public buildings were built on this square.  Streets were laid out at night with the aid of the North Star and measured with a rope.  The measurements were so accurate when later surveyed, not one line was changed.

One of the first concerns of these pioneers was to provide shelter.  Dugouts were made and used until log houses and adobe houses could be built.  The dugouts had dirt floors and roofs, a fireplace in one end, a door and window in the other.  There was no glass available for windowpanes.

These people were converts, and never forgot their reason for leaving their homeland and coming to this new land.  The settlement was only two months old when a branch of the Church was organized.  Jorgen's son Jeppe was ordained one of the counselors.  Even while building their own homes and farming, they held religious services in a tent until they had completed a bowery which they used temporarily.  In the winter time, church services were held in a dugout.  An adobe building for their meetings was completed in 1860.

Life Was Difficult

Their first year in Plain City was a real test of endurance for these hardy pioneers.  They toiled day after day with nothing to eat except a small amount of dry bread or some boiled potatoes.  Sometimes they had a soup made from roots or wild herbs.  Pigweed or red root greens were also eaten.

There was a limited amount of seed and water the first year, so only a small tract of land was planted.  The potatoes were planted from peelings.

 

The climate and soil were good, and abundant and varied crops were raised after the first year.  Shade trees were planted around the homes and the public square.

Every pioneer family had a lye barrel for extracting lye from wood ashes.  They combined this with fat and made their own soap.  Soda, starch, cloth, rag carpets, candles, quilts, straw hats, vinegar and dresses were made in the homes.  The women also did spinning, weaving, knitting, crocheting, tatting, made bread, dried fruit, and made butter and cheese while the men made adobes, nails, bricks and did the farming.  The children helped around the home, garden and pasture.

Recreation

In early Mormon towns, life was not all work.  The first dance was held in Plain City when the town was four months old.  A comb band furnished the music and the dancers danced on the bare ground west of town.

Later socials were held in the homes and the school.  Each person brought a candle for light.  The settlers also had candy pulls, picnics, corn huskings, athletic contests and fruit drying bees.

A drama group was formed and plays were presented to enthusiastic audiences in the school house.

A Fatal Accident

Jorgen was involved in the work and pleasures of the community life until his untimely death as the result of an unfortunate accident.  An ox became unruly and Jorgen fell from his wagon.  He died the next day on his 72nd birthday, the 10th of September 1864.  He was buried in the Plain City Cemetery.