Hans Christian Nielsen Frogner and Britta/Bertha Mattson

Goodness, this is a difficult family to research. I've found some records that I'll link to here, but I'm sure there are others out there that I just haven't been able to find. I apologize for the length of this post...these records take a bit of explaining.

I think the main problem is the names. Since Hans was born in Norway and Britta was born in Sweden, any records from there will use their patronymic surnames--so Hans would be Hans Christian Nielsen, and Britta would be Britta Mattesdotter. 

I don't know where the Frogner name comes from; I think it's probably the name of a place the family lived--and there is an area of Oslo that's called Frogner (Wikipedia says the place name probably comes from the word for 'manure,' or 'fertilized fields.' Nice, right?)--but I haven't found any specific connection between the place and the family yet. Records from the U.S. sometimes have Hans' last name as Frogner, and sometimes Nielsen.

Add to that the problem of Britta's name--on various records, I've seen it written Britta, Bretta, Breta, Bertha, Brittia, Beatris, and Bressa. I'm sure there are other variations.

And then there's the History of Hans Christian Nielsen Frogner that I published earlier on this blog. It seems to be in the hands of several of his descendants. I'm grateful that we have it, but the records don't support everything that's in it. So some of the facts are a little fuzzy...is the personal history right, or are the records right?

Anyway, on to what I do know. Let's look at some records!

Hans Christian Nielsen (Frogner) was born sometime in 1837 or 1838 in Bjolsen, Aker, Oslo, Norway. His life story and his headstone say February 29, 1838; the 1900 census says November 1837; the actual Norwegian church record (which was a pain to find--thank goodness for Google Translate) says March 7, 1838, but maybe that's a baptism date. I'm partial to the Norwegian church record, since that would have been recorded at a time near his actual birth. His parents were Niels Hansen Frogner and Gunild Christine Jensen (or, more likely, Jensdotter).  The church record also lists his parents' names.

I have no record for Britta's birth. According to FamilySearch, she was born on December 1, 1839, in Spettungen, Varmland, Sweden. Her parents were Mattes Jansson and Bertha Madsen. The 1880 census lists Britta's birth year as 1842; the 1900 census says December 1847. I've looked for a church record based on this information, but I haven't found anything.

Hans Christian Nielsen and his first wife, Agnethe Christiansdr (short for Christiansdotter; if she were a boy, her surname would be Christiansen), were married at Gamle Aker Menighet (that's the church--it has a website!) in Oslo, Norway, on June 28, 1863. You can see the indexed record here.

According to Hans' life story, he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1864, but his wife did not. She took their son, Charles (I've also seen him called Carl or Call), and left. Hans decided to join the Saints in Utah, and somehow managed to bring Charles with him. I can only imagine that this situation was devastating for everyone involved.

Exactly when Hans and Britta came to the United States is unclear. Hans' history says that Hans, Carl, and Britta were on the same ship and traveled west to Utah in the same company. However, the 1900 census says that Hans immigrated in 1867. I think I've found Hans' record on Mormon Migration, but Britta and Carl aren't listed on that voyage. I haven't found Britta or Carl listed on any voyage yet. So...I just don't know.

I don't have a marriage record for Hans and Britta, but according to their FamilySearch records, they both received their LDS endowments on November 15, 1869 at the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. In researching other branches of my family tree, I've often seen couples receive their endowments and be sealed in the Endowment House on the same day. So November 15, 1869 may also be their wedding date. FamilySearch gives their sealing date as sometime in 1950, but I'd guess that that's a duplicate sealing.

Here's a naturalization record for a Hans N. Frogner in Salt Lake City from 1869. There aren't any other identifying details on the certificate, so I can't know for sure that it's him, but it fits the timeline. And I haven't come across any other Hans N. Frogners in the same area at the same time.

I haven't found Hans or Britta in the 1870 census. I've looked all through the Hyrum, Utah section, but they don't appear there.

In the 1880 census, the family was living in Hyrum, Utah. Hans and Britta (Breta) both appear with children Bena M., Hans C. (often referred to in records as Cris), Olof, Carl (Hans' son from Norway), an unnamed baby Frogner (would have been Gunild), Emma S., and Anna C.

In the 1900 census, the family was living in Bingham County, Idaho. Hans and Britta (Bertha) appear with sons Cris and James.

In the 1910 census, Britta was living with Cris. The census was taken on May 10, 1910, and Hans didn't die until later that year. I don't know where Hans was living--maybe he was missed on the census?

Hans Christian Nielsen Frogner died on December 25, 1910, in Blackfoot, Idaho. He's buried in Riverside Thomas Cemetery in Blackfoot. You can see his headstone, as well as a map of the cemetery and the stone's location within the cemetery, on Billion Graves.

Britta Mattson Frogner died on July 18, 1915, in Camas, Idaho. Britta's obituary is indexed here. It lists her parents as Britt Mattson and Mat Joensen. Her death certificate is here, with parents given as Olef Madison and Bressa Madison. (Chris was the informant on the death certificate, and apparently didn't know a lot about his grandparents.) She was buried in Riverside Thomas Cemetery in Blackfoot, Idaho, next to her husband. You can see her headstone on Billion Graves.

History of Hans Christian Nielsen Frogner

Here's another life history from my personal stash:

Hans Christian Nielsen Frogner, son of Niels Hansen Frogner and Gunild Christine Jensen, was born in Hester, Akerhus, Norway on February 29, 1838. He spent his boyhood days on a small farm working with his father. They also worked and earned what they could at other jobs when they were available, so he was taught early in life that work was honorable. He learned many ways in which to earn a living. He was taught honesty and integrity, which was carried throughout his life, and he taught it to whomever he associated with.

He met and married Agnettes Christiansen in 1862. They had a son named Charles, later known as “Call.” Life was good to them, and they were content until Hans Christian met the LDS missionaries and joined the church in 1864. His wife became very unhappy and bitter toward this new religion and finally decided to take their child and leave him, which caused a lot of unhappiness and trials for him. In the meantime, he decided to join the Saints in Utah, but since he could not bear the thought of leaving his child behind, he managed to get his son and bring him with him. They sailed for America in 1868, which was a very long voyage in those days. Then they traveled across country with teams or any conveyance they could get. While on the voyage, he met a young lady by the name of Bretta Mattson from Fryksands, Varmland, Sweden, who had recently joined the Church and was gathering to Zion. They traveled on the same ship and across the country in the same company, so they got to know each other very well. Shortly after they arrived in Utah, they were married in the Old Endowment House in Salt Lake, and settled in Hyrum, Cache County, Utah. They were both industrious and soon had a good home and plenty of the necessities of life.

Hans Christian was known to have been one of the best workers in the community wherever he lived. He was a good carpenter and very precise in his work. It was often stated that he would die with his boots on, which later happened. He was building a new house for his family and died of a heart attack at the age of 72.

He was very staunch in his church work. He attended regularly, lived the gospel, and was a good example to his family.

He had a sister, Jensine, who joined the Church in Norway and expressed her desire to Hans that she would like to come to America. He immediately set to work gathering money for her fare and sent her passage to Utah. She later married Hans Olea Weeding. She and her two daughters, Emma Weeding Nielsen and Caroline Hansen Rawlins, with untiring efforts, gathered the genealogy of their forefathers back through the 9^th and 10^th generations and did most of their work in the temples.

Grandfather Hans Christian and Bretta reared seven children and have many descendants to honor their name and help carry on the work of the Lord.