PERSONAL HISTORY OF CARRIE TUFT JENSEN
My mother Mette (Martha) Christine Gottfredson emigrated to Utah in 1858 from Denmark with her parents, Jens and Karen Gottfredson and her three brothers, Peter, Hans, and Joseph. In Denmark they had been converted to Mormonism through the efforts of the Mormon missionaries. The family lived in Mt. Pleasant and later in Richfield. Mother later returned to Mt. Pleasant, with her brothers Peter and Hans because the employment possibilities were better. While in Mt. Pleasant, she met and married George Tuft, who had also emigrated from Denmark with his family. They married on April 10, 1871 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. Ten children were born to this union, one of whom died in infancy.
George Tuft was a farmer and farmed about forty acres of land north of Mt. Pleasant. They were very poor, with little or no money but with a few head of cattle and horses. They lived in a small log house built in the center of a quarter block at third east and first south in Mt. Pleasant. They later built a seven room house on the corner of this same lot. George Tuft suffered an attack of appendicitis on November 30, 1897 and since there was no knowledge of how to treat this condition he died the next day, Dec. 1. 1897. This left my mother a widow with nine children to support and with very limited means of supporting them. In addition, they owed a sizable bill at the Sanpete Co-op for items which they had purchased on credit to sustain the family. This worried mother greatly. She talked to N.S. Nielsen, the Co-op manager about it and he agreed to accept a horse and buggy as full settlement of the bill. Mother then rented three rooms in her home to a number of different individuals including students and school teachers. She received $3.00 per month rent from these rooms. In an effort to keep her family in food, she located them in homes around town where they could work their board and room. I remember working for the Elisha Brandon family where I did housework, hauled wood and acted as companion to Mrs. Brandon. For this I received board and room and fifteen cents per week which was paid in the form of a store order on the Sanpete Co-op.
About this time Annie, the oldest daughter, was married to Axel Waldemar who was also a farmer with land in the fields north of Mt. Pleasant. They lived on north state and here their two daughters Ariel and Neva were born. The two sons, Frank and Jim, also left home about this time and went to other towns seeking employment.
Mother received employment about this time as the City Treasurer. Her duties were to collect the license fees, water bills etc. and paid the city bills. This job paid her $15.00 per month.
Mother suffered a great deal from rheumatism in her legs and feet and in one hand where she had three fingers which she could not bend. We felt this came from the extremely hard work she had been required to do all of her life.
A few years after my father’s death, mother married Thomas Ivie, a widower with several children. These children were being cared for by other relatives, but they would come to stay with us on occasion and when they did we sure had a houseful. Thomas Ivie farmed my mother’s farm and things were pretty good for three years when Thomas died of a liver condition.
My sister Edna married John Matson about this time. I remember that Edna, in preparation for her marriage, had made a very lovely and elaborate wedding dress. They were to be married in the temple, but the authorities at the temple said the dress was inappropriate so she had to borrow a dress for the occasion. They moved into a one room house behind John’s father’s home on east main street. John’s father was a polygamist with two wives. One of the wives died and John and Edna moved into her home which was located in the south part of the town. John was forced to go out of town for employment and he would leave Edna and their son Glen alone. Edna was nervous about being alone and I would stay with her while John was away. They then moved to Salt Lake for a short time where their daughter Vida was born. They again returned to Mt. Pleasant and purchased a small home a block west of our family home where the other three children, Ralph, Alice and Thelma, were born and the family raised.
They subsequently moved to Bingham Canyon where John obtained employment as a guard at the copper mine. They lived in Bingham for about three years and then to Salt Lake where they spent the rest of their lives.
In 1907 my sister Bertha decided to go to Salt Lake to get employment. She did so and located in an apartment in Salt Lake. She then prevailed upon mother to come and stay with her so that she could avail herself of hot bath treatments to get relief from the pain of her rheumatism. Mother took the treatments for some time and did get somewhat better and then returned to Mt. Pleasant. While in Salt Lake, Bertha renewed her acquaintance with Charles Bellemere, whom she had known in Mt. Pleasant. Charles was working as a photographer in Salt Lake. They were married shortly thereafter and subsequently moved to Kansas City, Missouri where Charles had been born and raised. There their two children, Katherine and Charles, were born. Bertha died on May 3, 1917 after being burned in a gas explosion in their home.
My sister Ella was the best looking of all the Tuft girls and one year was selected as the Goddess of Liberty for the town’s 4th of July celebration. Theodore (Tobe) Candland from Chester lost no time in dating Ella. They were married shortly thereafter and three children were born to the union, Dwight, Beth, and Rex. Tobe engaged in a number of different types of employment. He was a very personable man and seemed to succeed best in those jobs where he was dealing with the public. He was an implement salesman and a commission man dealing in the purchase and sale of livestock. They lived their entire lives in Mt. Pleasant and everyone in the county knew Tobe and Ell.
On December 11, 1907 I married Arthur Jensen and we moved into mother’s three rooms. There my son, Lynn, was born about one year later. We lived there for about three years and then moved to the Jensen farm north of Mt. Pleasant. We moved into a two room washhouse adjoining the larger farm house. Arthur’s sister Lurinda who was a widow with three children was living with Arthur’s parents in the farm house. About three years later both Arthur and his sister Lurinda contracted pneumonia and were very ill. I am sure that had it not been for the services of two trained nurses Miss Malmstein and Miss McFadden they would have both died. Because of the two cases of pneumonia at the same time it was thought to be contagious and the children were sent to town to live with relatives. Lynn, who was in school by this time, lived with my mother.
We lived on the farm for another three years and then moved back to mother’s three rooms while we were building a house in town. We moved from there to the site of the new house where we lived in a wood granary with a tent attached until the house was completed. We lived there only two more years and then moved back to the Jensen farm upon the death of Arthur’s parents. My daughters Dorothy and Betty were born in 1919 and 1922 and we lived at the farm most of the time until Arthur passed away in 1939 after another bout with pneumonia. About a year later I purchased a house in town, the same house in which John and Edna had raised their family, and which I occupy at the present time.
My sister Lola the youngest married Ora Hansen from Ephraim and they lived in Ephraim for many years. Their children Ruth, Roger and Mary Lou were born there. Ora worked at the Ephraim bank and served as bishop of one of the Ephraim wards for many years. The subsequently moved to Salt Lake City, where Ora obtained employment with the State of Utah. Lola died on October 10, 1960 after a lingering illness. (Stroke by Lynda Bench’s memory)
Florence married Roumaine Sorensen from Axtel and they moved to Axtel where they engaged in farming with Roumaine’s father and brothers. They subsequently moved to Logan, Pegrem, Idaho and Lewiston, Utah. They had three sons Earl, Boyd, and Jack. Roumaine passed away in Lewiston from a heart attack and was buried in Logan. Florence is living in Logan at the present time. Her son Earl is President of the Danish Mission for the church. Boyd lived in Montpelier, Idaho and Jack in Lewiston, Utah.


Personal history written by Carrie Tuft Jensen April 4th, 1964.