Ogden and the Dutch Ancestors Connection

The place now known as Ogden might be the oldest "settlement" in Utah by virtue of a small picket fort that Miles Goodyear, a trapper, built in 1845. Goodyear sold "Fort Buenaventura" and the surrounding land to James Brown who moved into the area in the fall of 1847 under the direction of Brigham Young.  The purchase price was $1,950. 

From 1847 to 1869, others followed Brown and established small farming settlements along the Ogden and Weber rivers. The city of Ogden, named for Peter Skene Ogden, had a population of 1,463 people in 1860.

Not too long after the driving of the Golden Spike in 1869, the Ogden community transformed when it became the junction of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads. All passengers, baggage and shipping changed trains in Ogden as they traveled east or west and then later north and south across the nation.  

And we now know Ogden as the place where Dallin Wrathall is serving his mission.

In fact, Dallin is not the first of our family to have ties to Ogden.  Many converts to the church from the Netherlands, including some of our ancestors, settled in Ogden. In Ogden and Salt Lake there were Dutch-language study groups, choirs, socials, theatricals, soccer teams, and, for awhile, even a Dutch band. Church meetings in Dutch for a handful of immigrant converts were held in Ogden as early as 1870, and off and on for several years thereafter.  

Sources: http://historytogo.utah.gov/places/ogden.html, http://www.ogdencity.com/en/about_ogden/history_demographics/ogden_history.aspx, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/h/HOLLANDER_IMMIGRANTS.html


In the fall of 1890, the Denkers family arrived in Utah.  On a cool, early spring day, about 124 years later, I visited the Ogden City Cemetery.This is the final resting place of several of our Denkers ancestors.  My second great grandfather, Gerrard or Gerardus:

His wife and my second great grandmother Aaltje Brand Denkers:

Their son, Bernardus Albertus, who is my great grandfather is also buried in this cemetery, although he and his family had moved to Pocatello, Idaho by the time he died.

And exemplifying the strong bond to Ogden, this marker for Bernardus's wife, Lettie Phillips Denkers is placed next to his grave stone:

Gerardus Bernardus Denkers

Gerardus Bernardus Denkers

Last time I wrote about Bernardus Albertus Denkers.  His father is Gerardus.

Gerardus was born on July 21, 1843 in Deventer, Overijissel, The Netherlands.  He grew up there and married Aaltje Brand when he was about 25.  A few years later, he and his wife joined the LDS church -  early converts in the Netherlands.

Gerardus worked in the printing business.  His granddaughter, Norma, tells the story that after he was baptized, he went to work, where his boss asked him what religion he belonged to. He responded that he belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  His boss asked if that was the Mormon Church.  When Gerardus said it was, his boss responded by saying that he did not care to have a Mormon in his employment and fired Gerardus.

From my research on the church's early days in the Netherlands, it appears that many Dutch did not like "the Mormons", so it is very possible that he could have gotten fired just because of his church membership!  Norma continues:
"Grandfather left the shop wondering how he would provide for his wife and children, but the Lord was with him. He picked up a paper from the street and in it was a request for an experienced foreman in a printing office in Almelo . . . He answered the request and was hired, and inside a week he had moved his family to Almelo."

This must have happened around 1875, because Pieter Jacob Denkers was born in Almelo on December 21, 1875, the first of the Denkers children to be born in that city.

This picture of the family was taken about 8 years after the family left Europe on the ship Wisconsin and came to Utah .  Like many of the LDS Dutch immigrants, they settled in Ogden.  Gerardus died there in December of 1911 and is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery.

Bernardus Albertus Denkers

Bernardus Denkers

Most of our ancestors came from England.  One exception is my father's mother's ancestors.  For my nieces and nephews, your Grandpa Smith's grandpa, Bernardus Albertus Denkers, came from the Netherlands.  (Sometimes people mistakenly call this country Holland.)  Bernardus is your great-great grandfather.

He was born in 1874 in a small city called Zutphen.

Zutphen is only about 3 1/2 hours drive away from Frankfurt, where Allison is serving her mission.

Bernardus's father joined the LDS church in 1872, one of the earlier members in the Netherlands.  This was a very courageous move in a country where people did not like the "Mormons."  At the time, there were many false rumors about the church, including one that members were baptized in tubs full of mud!

In 1890, when he was sixteen, Bernardus's family immigrated to the United States.  They settled in Ogden, Utah. Five years later, Bernardus returned to the Netherlands to serve a mission, and when he came home he eventually went into the furniture business, learning upholstery and cabinet making. 

In 1899, he married Lettie Phillips.

Lettie and Bernardus

After he was married, Bernardus was called on another mission to the Netherlands.  He had to leave his pregnant wife and young son to serve.

Denkers family at home in Pocatello

Bernardus and Lettie eventually had 11 children, one of whom is my grandmother, Lettie Denkers (on the left side of the group in the white dress.  Her father, Bernardus, is on the right, with the mustache).  I never knew my grandmother because she died long before I was born, but I have visited with her youngest sister, Norma, several times.  Norma lives in Salt Lake City and will be 94 years old this year. Not long after Norma was born, the family moved to Pocatello. She remembers that she would run to the corner to greet her father when he came home from work and carry his lunch bucket. She said that he always had a treat for her in his lunch bucket.

Bernardus, or Bernard as he was then known, worked for the Union Pacific Railroad while they lived in Pocatello.  Norma remembers that they received passes on the train and took family trips to Yellowstone and Lagoon.  Sometimes when they were out as a family, passers-by would stop to count all the children!

When she was seven years old, Norma remembers that her father was sick with pneumonia, but was asked to help another sick person.  He got up from his sick bed and went to help.  Not long after, he died, at the age of 52.

He had two funerals, one in Pocatello and one in Ogden, where many friends attended.  He is buried in Ogden.