A Brief Sketch of Lewis Larsen
Written by his granddaughter Carol Phelps Thomson
From information found in “First 100 Years of Ephraim”
by Grace Johnson and from “The Early Larsen Family” genealogical Record
2
Lewis Larsen 1867
Name:
Date of Birth:
Marriage Date:
Marriage Place:
Death Date:
1
Lewis Larsen 1917
Lewis Larsen
July 10, 1836 - Folster Harreby, Maribo Denmark
May 11, 1867 - Married in polygamy
Old Endowment House - Salt Lake City, Utah
June 17, 1924 in Ephraim, Utah - the town he loved and helped to build.
In 1864 he was made Captain of the Black Hawk War.
Father:
Mother:
Rasmus Larsen
Caroline Kirstine (Karen) Olsen Larsen
Spouse Name:
Date of Birth:
Marriage Date:
Marriage Place:
Death Date:
Father:
Mother:
Maren Margrethe Larsen
October 31, 1846 in Albelsoyn, Denmark
May 11, 1867 (2nd wife to Lewis Larsen)
Old endowment House - Salt Lake City, Utah
June 3, 1932 in Ephraim Utah
Christen Larsen
Johanna Maria Christiansen Larsen
Lewis Larsen was born the first child of Rasmus and Karen Olsen. He went to work on a fishing
boat at the age of ten. He was considered one of the best swimmers in that part of Denmark at
that time.
In the spring of 1851 two Mormon missionaries came aboard the fishing boat where he was
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working and told the story about the new gold bible and the prophet who had seen the Lord of
Heaven.
This story interested Lewis very much and he asked the missionaries to visit his home. It was
shortly after that the whole Larsen family was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
They sold their home and all their possessions so they could set out for America where the new
Zion was established. They found they didn't have enough money so Lewis employed himself
as a seaman to help pay the family's passage.
They came into a terrible storm at sea and one of the crewmen was washed overboard. Lewis,
seeing what happened, tied a rope around his waist and jumped over the side to save the man.
Lewis struggled and got him back on the ship safely.
It took 70 days to get to New York. The Captain of the ship gave Lewis $50 for saving the
crewman's life and asked him to stay on the ship. The family took the $50 and with Lewis
bought a train ticket to go west. They then worked and scraped until they earned a wagon and
a team for the remainder of the journey.
In 1853 the Larsen family along with many other saints journeyed to the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
They traveled most of the summer and arrived in the Salt Lake valley in the fall of 1853. They
stayed in Salt Lake the rest of the winter.
In the spring of 1854 President Brigham Young asked them to go to Sanpete County, a slope
in the center of Utah called Pine Creek. They built a fort to protect them from the hostile Indians
who were raging throughout the territory under Chief Walker.
In the spring of 1854 the new fort which Lewis helper to build was finished and was called Fort
Ephraim. Lewis's family was among the first eight families in Ephraim.
Lewis was ordained to the First Quorum of the Seventies on May 17, 1857 at the age of 21 years.
In November 1861 he married Thursa Malinda Whitlock in the Endowment House. They had
thirteen children during their marriage.
In 1863 Lewis was called with 160 other men back to the Missouri River to help the immigrating
Saints coming west.
In 1865 he made a similar trip. These trips were considered missions--all men served without pay
and furnished their own provisions, teams, wagons, etc. It took most of the summer to complete
the trip.
About three weeks along the trail back to Utah a plague of cholera broke out. There were from
five to ten people a day dying. Sometimes they were buried in one grave.
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In 1864 Lewis was made captain of the Black Hawk Indian War Veterans. These men were called
minutemen and were posted at Guard Knoll east of Ephraim to watch out for Indians. This
cavalry of men were all volunteers.
April 9, 1865 a group of men met with the Indians for a council to talk peace, but the Indians
wanted war. They stole about 70 head of stock and stampeded them up Salina Canyon. Captain
Larsen and his men fought them and succeeded in taking back the herd.
Lewis fought in all the raids and massacres in 1865. He was there fighting in Ephraim Canyon
the day William T. Hite was killed and Soren Jesperson was tortured and finally killed. He was
there when the Indians killed three people in the fields west of Ephraim and drove off with the
stock from Ephraim.
The same day, Lewis battled with the Indians up at Guard Knoll. William Thorpe was killed and
Lewis was wounded in the leg. He was wearing homespun temple garments and they said the
bullet didn't penetrate into his leg because of them. The wound left a dent in his leg the rest of
his life.
Lewis showed great courage and knew the cunning ways of the Indians. There were two Indian
war chiefs, Chief Black Hawk and Chief Greenwood, and their warriors had spread terror from
as far north as Provo and as far south as St. George.
In midsummer of the year 1865 General W. S. Snow took charge of the whole Sanpete Militia.
General Snow and his men started after Chief Black Hawk and chased him to the Green Valley
River. General Snow chose three men to swim across the river to see if Black Hawk had crossed.
Lewis Larsen, John Sanders, and R. Bennett were chosen.
The river was high and rough. Sanders and Bennett nearly drowned and had to be rescued.
Lewis made it across and picked up Black Hawk's trail and reported back to General Snow.
General Snow didn't dare cross the river but decided to go back for food and supplies.
In March 1866 while Lewis was still with General Snow, they came upon a camp of Indians near
Nephi. The Indians were surrounded and put under arrest. One of them tried to escape but was
shot by Lewis Larsen. He was later identified as Chief Greenwood. Chief Sanpete was also taken
at this time.
It was early the next year the Chief Black Hawk made peace with the settlers. After that Lewis
disbanded his small army and returned in 1867 to farming. It wasn't long before he was called
again to keep law and order as city Marshall.
May 11, 1867 Lewis married Margrethe Larsen in polygamy in the old Endowment House in Salt
Lake City. He and Margrethe made their home on a 160-acre piece of land west of Ephraim.
Some members of the family still make their living there. He had eleven children with Margrethe,
and thirteen with his first wife.
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Lewis spent seven years in the rock quarry during the time the Manti Temple was being built. He
was a member of the Ephraim City Council for many years.
On October 20, 1888, Saturday, in the First District Court at Provo, Lewis Larsen of Ephraim was
sentenced to 90 days in jail and a $100 fine for unlawful cohabitation by Judge Judd. On
December 7, 1888, a Friday, Lewis Larsen was discharged from the penitentiary.
October 6, 1890 the Manifesto was passed. Lewis and his first wife and children moved to
Cleveland, Utah, where he became a farmer and postmaster. In 1912 when his first wife died,
Lewis came back to Ephraim and lived with Margrethe.
Lewis was a handsome man and held himself erect. He had beautiful blue eyes and thick curly
gray hair and beard. He enjoyed his big family and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Even
his children and their children from Cleveland came to visit and stay overnight in Ephraim.
Lewis was home and he loved it. Many of the men who fought with him during the Indian War
also lived in Ephraim to a ripe old age and they visited with each other often.
On March 14, 1917 he was awarded a pension of $20 a month. He always wore his Black Hawk
Indian War badge when he was dressed up.
June 17, 1924 he died and was laid to rest in the new cemetery in Ephraim, the town he loved
and helped to build.
Entered into the computer with minor corrections and pictures added by Tammy Rae Cox
Thomson, a third great granddaughter of Lewis Larsen.
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