CHRISTENA MARTENA BENSON BARKER by Maud B. Jorgensen

My mother, Christena M. Benson Barker, was born in Lehi, Utah 22
February 1863. Her second name was Martena, but she never liked it,
so used the initial M. Her father Jens Peter Benson was born in
Aaker, Bornholm, Denmark 26 April 1831, and came to Utah in 1853.
Her mother, Kersten Ericksen, was born in Dokkedal, Denmark 23
February 1837, and was baptized in 1852. She pulled a handcart
across the plains in 1857, the year Johnston's Army came to Utah, and


the people of Salt Lake moved south. She went on to Lehi where her
sister and husband, Mette Christina and Jens Peter Benson were
living. They took her into their home and cared for her while she
lay ill for weeks, after her exhausting journey, on foot, from Iowa
City to the Valley. She became the plural wife of Peter Benson 12
September 1858. They made their home in Lehi until 1868, when they
moved to Clarkston, Cache County. Four children were born to them in


Lehi, Alma Peter in 1860, my mother, Christena 22 February 1863,
Marcus Joseph in 1865, and Samuel in 1867. Their other children were


born in Clarkston, Alice Marie in 1870, Isaac in 1872 and Rastus in
1875 who only lived eleven days.
Mother was only five years old when they moved to Clarkston, but her
grandmother Ericksen had already taught her to knit. The tiny
stocking she thought was for a doll she some day hoped to have, her
grandmother told her was for the cat. (The Ericksen grandparents
crossed the plains in 1858, and made their home in Lehi, where they
both lived to be 87 years of age.)
One of the things she remembered they took with them to Clarkston was


one of Johnston's Army cannon balls which they used to crush or grind


the grain into coarse flour for bread. As in all pioneer
communities, food was scarse, and my grandmother said the first year
there, she did not know what it was to have enough to eat, she was
always hungry.
Indians were not too friendly, and gave them plenty of frights. One
old chief used to come to their place and one day while mother was
holding her little
sister Alice, this Indian took the baby out of her arms, and no doubt


would have stolen her had not Martha, one of the older girls of the
first family, come into the room just then and snatched the baby away


from him.
Mother along with the other children used to help herd cows on the
meadows south and east of Clarkston. She also remembered the severe


winters and deep snow.
One of the persons she remembered well was Martin Harris, one of the
Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon. He died in Clarkston in 1875.


My grandfather, Peter Benson, was a carpenter and had a work bench
in one end of the log room, and mother remembered watching him make
the coffin. I do not know if she went to the funeral or not, but
Aunt Alice remembered going to it. It was held in a log room and was
very crowded, she said her mother held the baby and she had to stand
or lean against her during the services. William B. Preston from
Logan was one of the speakers, and she was very impressed by him, she


thought him so good looking.
While just a child in Lehi, mother picked up a small brown stone,
which turned out to be a "peep stone". Once while they were living
in Clarkston, grandfather went to Lehi, she located him on the return


trip, figured out about the time he would reach Clarkston, and she
and the other children walked out to meet and surprise him, and have
a ride back into town. She never exploited this gift, not many knew
about it, but she was asked, at times, to locate lost cattle. One
time, a lady had some treasured lace curtins that were blown away in
a storm, she promised mother a silk dress if she could locate them.
They were lodged in a ditch just under the edge of a bridge, but she
never got the dress or anything else for finding them. We children
used to ask her what became of the stone, but all she ever said was
that it got lost, and not until after her death did we learn how.
Once when father was away from home, she told him something he did -
not anything out of place, but he resented it, and in his anger threw


it away, and spent the rest of his life regretting it. He was always


bringing home odd rocks in hopes one would turn out to be another
"peep stone".
While they were living in Clarkston, mother had scarlet fever and was


in bed for seven weeks. She had to learn to walk again. I do not
know if it was this time or another when she was sick that she craved


something sour. Lemons could not be had and she begged for some
vinegar. She wanted it so bad, she felt like she would never get
well without it. Her mother was afraid to let her have any, but one
day, a neighor lady, Matilda Atkinson, gave her some and she started
to get well from then on. She was grateful to that lady all her
life.
In 1876, grandfather's first wife, Mette, died after the birth of her


tenth child, he died too. Grandmother and family were moved to
Newton to take over the care of the motherless family.
In pioneer times, all shared in the tasks of homemaking. Mother
learned to card wool, both for spinning and into batts for quilts.
She did her share of the family spinning and knitting. She sewed
clothing by hand including shirts for her brothers, braided straw and


made hats. Washing was done on a wash board, and irons were heated
on the stove. Their fuel was wood from the mountains, chopped by
hand. Starch, soap and candles were also made in the home. Their
good times came from parties, dancing and singing.
Opportunities for schooling were limited, but mother attended school,


when possible, and my father was her first school teacher.
3 April 1879, she was married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake
City to John H. Barker, as his plural wife, and in September 1879, he


also married Johanna Jensen of Weston, Idaho in the Endowment House.


Mother's honeymoon was a trip to Lehi, to visit her grandmother and
grandfather, whom she had not seen since leaving there in 1868.
The log house on the farm north of town had two good sized rooms, so
mother and Aunt Hanna each had one. They got along well together. 8
June 1880 mother's first child, a daughter, Alice Marinda was born.
In 1882, after the rail road had been built on up to Montana, father
went up to Beaver Canyon (near Spencer, Idaho) to take care of the
store for Samuel Roskelly, who had a saw mill up there. Mother went
to run the boarding house and hotel, she had only one helper, a girl
from Newton.
That summer she said she learned to roll out a pie a minute. She had


so much to do that she could not watch her litle girl as closely as
she would like to have done, so she had a number of narrow escapes.
One Saturday night she was not to be found, so mother went down to
see if father had seen her. In the back of the store was a group of
Indians, they had two year old Marinda up on the counter and were
feeding her pine nuts.
Another time her foot got caught in the rail road track, one of the
men saw the train coming and got her away just in time.
One day she climbed up on one of the big piles of logs that were
ready for the mill, because of her red dress, they were able to spot
her.
Another time a herd of Texas long horn cattle were being driven
through there. In the center of the road, playing in the dust or sand


was the little girl, totally unaware of any danger. When the leader
of the herd saw her, he stopped, pawed the dirt and bellowed; in that


instant, one of the men had
seen her and was racing for her, he was able to snatch her up. He
lifted her high above his head, and the herd went on. Mother had
seen the rescue, but was not close enough to have reached her in
time.
In the fall they returned to Utah. Father went to work for the Logan


Branch of the Z.C.M.I. as shipping clerk. Their home was downn in
the part of Logan that was called the "Island", south and east of the


Temple. The Temple was being completed and mother spent much of her
time helping there. The ladies cleaned, sewed strips of homemade
carpet together, made curtains and helped at numerous jobs. She had
to take Marinda with her and would put her down among the bronze oxen


that supported the baptismal font, it made a good play pen. She was
four years old when the temple was dedicated, a quiet child, small
boned and fine featured and small for her age. Because mother had
worked so faithfully there, and could not attend the dedication,
unless she took her, she received special permission to take her with


the promise that she would make no disturbance whatever. She made
not a sound, and needless to say, was the only child at the
dedication.
In July 1885, mother's second child, a son was born, he was named
Irvin Benson. The home in Logan had been sold, and she was then
living back in the house on the farm at Newton.
Mother often told us how she would walk to town to pick currants.
Then with them, and a child in the little wagon, would walk back up
to the farm, it was all up hill going home. One time, she said she
was so tired she felt she just couldn't pull the wagon another step.


She prayed for strength and her prayer was answered immediately, she
said it was as though someone was pushing the load and all she had to


do was guide the wagon.
Those were troublesome times for the men that had more than one wife,


and for the women. The United States marshalls were everywhere it
seemed, and people lived in constant fear. Aunt Hanna, with her two
boys, Henry and David, and mother with her little boy Irvin, went to
Ogden where they were not known, or as it was spoken of then, "on the


underground". Mother left her litle girl, Marinda, with grandmother
Benson in Newton. They rented a log house in Five Points, as North
Ogden was then called, and mother went to work as a hired girl in
different homes to provide for them while Aunt Hanna took care of the


three little boys. Mother would walk into Ogden in the morning and
back at night most of the time. One of the families she worked for,
and were so good to her, was named Hinchcliffe.
One night, when her little boy, Irvin, was saying his prayers he said


"Please God, send me some oranges." She didn't even know he knew
what an orange was, and she could not afford to buy them. She told a


friend of it, he took a dollar out of his picket and told her to buy
oranges with every cent of it. Prayers are answered in many ways.
Mother had left a big crock of currant preserves in Newton, and
Birdie (Bessie), one of the girls of the first family, told me how
well she remembered the morning father got it out of the cellar and
opened it for them, and how good it was.
Aunt Hanna and mother were getting along fine, when father came down
in June 1888 with the news that Aunt Susan, his first wife, had died
from diabetties. They had a family of nine children, three boys and
six girls. The two oldest, John and Annie were married, the youngest


was seven years old. He wanted one of them to go back with him to
care for the family. They felt they were doing alright where they
were, and preferred to stay in Ogden. Father started for home alone;


but as soon as he left, the lady they rented from came over. When
she heard the story, she told them they were not doing their duty,
that as his wives, one of them should go to the motherless home.
Tender hearted mother was conscience stricken and knew that she must
go. Meanwhile, father had turned the team around and came back, said


he was staying until one of them decided to go back with him. Mother


had saved a few hard earned dollars, so they drove into Ogden and she


spent it all at Wrights store for yard goods to take back with her.
She found the little girls badly in need of clothing, the first thing


she did was make underclothes and dresses for them. Their mother had


been sick for a long time.
Father's court trial on charges of polygamy was held 4 December 1888,


but the first wife having died, they could not prosecute, and the
case was dismissed. Father and mother had another marriage ceremony
performed by Probate Judge, J.Z. Stewart, in Logan on 2 July 1888,
making mother the legal wife in the eyes of the law.
Mother's third child, George Isaac, was born 22 August 1890 in the
home on the farm.
About this time, the north part of the old rock house was being built


or perhaps finished. Father's sister, Jennie, came from England when


George was about six weeks old, she stayed in Newton a while, then
went on to Salt Lake City.
Mother's fourth child, Jesse Benson, was born 4 November 1892, Susie
Myrtle, 6 December 1894, Naomi Benson, 25 September 1897, Maud Benson


14 August 1899 and Stephen Waldo, 3 December 1901, making a family of


eight, four sons and four daughters.
She nursed us through childhood illnesses, scarlet fever, measles,
mumps, ear aches, colds and other upsets, there were no doctors near.
How well I remember the good things she used to cook, roast beef and
Yorkshire pudding, suet puddings and fruit cakes, the English roly-
poly puddings, big crocks of preserves and chow-chow and mustard
pickles, soup with Danish dumplings, Danish sweet soup, the long
round loaves of bread, doughnuts, roast wild duck and dressing,
English apple dumplings, honey candy and the big freezer of ice-cream


for the 4th of July.
I never remember mother being really well, for years she took heart
pills. I dreaded to see her go to meeting, for nearly always, she
was carried home. She would fight and gasp for breath, while folks
rubbed her arms and legs to help keep her blood circulating. Then
afterward, she would be too weak to speak above a whisper, and would
be in bed a day or two. Then she found certain strychnine tablets
would sometimes give her heart the needed stimulant to ward off an
attack. I also remember the terrible headaches she would have. Yet
during all these years and later too, there was seldom a week when we


were alone. Father would bring church and political speakers home
for meals, and show troupes and other travelers would stay at our
place.
Father's cherished dream of returning to England came true in 1909.
He wanted to search for genealogy and fulfill a mission. He left in
April and was assigned to the Bristol Conference, or District, a cold


damp climate. He was 67 years old and not too strong. The food,
much different than he was used to at home. His health failed and he


returned in September, too weak and ill to walk alone. He was soon
bedfast, gangrene developed in one of his legs and it was amputated
in January at our home. He recovered from the operation, but was too


weak to withstand an attack of pneumonia and passed away 27 February
1910.
This was a long hard seige for mother - even with help, for he wanted


her by his side constantly. My sister, Sue, who was in the eight
grade in school, quit to stay home and help. Our half sister, Mary
B. Arnn, left her family in Arbon, Idaho and spent several weeks
helping care for father. Toward the end of his illness, mother never


had a nights rest in 6 weeks. She was completely worn out and almost


on the verge of collapse when he passed away. In the late spring,
she went to Ogden and spent a week with Aunt Hanna, whom she had not
seen in years, and thoroughly enjoyed the visit.
Mother had many spiritual experiences in her life time. One I will
relate. On the night of 29 August 1910, father came to her and told
her to go tell "mother" (grandmother Benson) that he "had found a
place for her." I will never forget how chalk white and weak she was


that Sunday, but she went over to Grandmother's and delivered the
message. Outwardly, grandmother brushed it aside, but on 28
September she had a stroke, and on 22 October she passed away, never
having been able to speak a word. She was 73 years old, had passed
through all the hardships of pioneer life, including pulling a
handcart across the plains in 1857. She had a strong testimony of the


gospel and always prayed aloud, she didn't just "say" her prayers,
but it was just as if she was talking to the Lord face to face.
Another sorrow came to us when Naomi, the sister just older than I,
beacme ill. She was sick all winter, mother took her to Salt Lake to
the best doctors available, when nothing could be done, they returned


home and after weeks of suffering, she passed away 25 April 1914
(malignant sarcoma). She was sixteen years old, had an outstanding
personality, was a talented singer and sang much in public, and was
loved by all who knew her.
We had a small flock of sheep, and after they were sheared, mother
would wash the wool, then it was "picked" and she would card it into
batts for quilts. She pieced and made quilts, knit our stockings when


we were youngsters, also socks for the men folks, and made almost all


of our dresses and other clothes.
All were welcome in our home, she fed friend and stranger alike, no
one ever left our home hungry. She was sweet and kind to all.
About 1916, electricity came to Newton, and the town also put in a
water system, so we had electric lights, electric iron and grill. We


had a sink and cold water tap in the kitchen, later was added a hot
water tank.
Mother had her last heart spell about 1914, then started with gall
stones, the spells became worse and more frequent as time passed.
More than once, I was alone with her in the wee hours of the night
through one of the terrifying ordeals, a tiny morphine pill the only
medicine.
About 1917, she had a slight stroke in her right side, and though in
continual pain, she knit a number of sweaters for the Red Cross
during World War I.
The gall stone attacks were getting worse and worse; Dr. Campbell of
Logan advised an operation. He took her to Salt Lake City and on 8
June 1918, Dr. Charles Mayo of the Mayo Brothers Clinic, performed
the operation. He was serving in the Army and stationed at Fort
Douglas at the time. When his orders came to leave, he removed the
drainage tubes from her side, perhaps they should have remained
longer, at any rate, the poison spread through her body and she
passed away 21 June 1918 in the Holy Cross Hospital.
Sue and I were in Salt Lake and spent the day at the hospital, going
to Aunt Jennie's at night. I dreamed I saw her drive away with
someone in a little black top buggy. I awoke and felt that I knew
what it meant. We were very uneasy, got up at four o'clock and took
the first street car up to the hospital. As we walked down the hall
we could see the door was open and we knew before we reached the room


that she was gone.
Soon after her passing she was permitted to come to both Sue and I
with a message that brought lasting comfort to both of us.
She left seven children and twelve grandchildren. The two youngest
of the family, Waldo, and I, were not married. She was only fifty
five years old, but during those years, had experienced joy and
happiness with family, loved ones and friends, and received many
blessings. On the other hand, it seemed she had almost more than her


share of sickness, sorrow, trials, and testings, but remained
faithful to the end. She taught her children the gospel, not only by


precept, but was a living example.
Her services were Sunday, 23 June 1918, and she was laid to rest in
the Newton Cemetery.

IN MEMORY OF SISTER BARKER

Tread oh so softly, don't break her rest
Sleeping so sweetly, is she not blest?
Don't break the silence, hush, do not weep
Angels are near, their silent watch keep.

Hark, I hear music, faint but tis clear,
Yes, they are singing, the tones I can hear.
Come my dear Sister, come, come away.

Come where cold breezes never can blow,
But love all abiding for ever shall flow.
Just cast on God your every care
And you shall meet your loved ones there.

So her works behind her shine.
As the sunset in the west
Leaves a track of light behind,
So her works light her to rest.

How quick the change from joy to woe,
How chequered is our lot below.
Seldom we view the prospect fair
Dark clouds of sorrow pain and care.

From a friend and Sister
E.H. Weakley
21 June 1918
Newton, Utah