Ellen Peronella Pehrson

Biography

Ellen Johnson Pehrson was born to John and Kersting Johnson on 8 August 1859. Her first memory is of attending her grandmother’s funeral when she was ten years old. Her family was devout Lutherans and she attended confirmation at age fourteen. Her mother died at age thirteen and since she was the oldest, the burden of caring for the family fell upon her. She took up work in Copenhagen which allowed her to visit her maternal aunt. It was on one of these visits that she met Nels and they soon married in January of 1881. In 1883 Ellen hired a woman to help her sew a dress. Impressed by her singing, Ellen inquired more about the lady and learned she was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The woman invited Ellen to join her at a service where she “sure liked the meeting fine” She attended on her own for a bit until she and Nels both met with the missionaries. Her father came to visit and forbade her joining the church as they are “all false doctrine” and “false prophet so don’t you even join them, I am older than you are and I know all about it” To which she responded, “how can you know if you’ve never been to the meetings.” 

As sad as she was to go against her fathers wishes, “Our Heavenly Father he was so good to us and we became stronger in the Faith.'' They were baptized on July 12, 1884 by Brother I. A. Hanson at 11 pm. When their baby boy tragically died the following summer, the priest refused to bury him since they were not Christians. Her LDS community gathered together for a small ceremony. They often had the elders over weekly for prayer, singing, and food. Of it she said, “we had a good time together.”

In 1888 Nels secured a loan to immigrate to Zion. Ellen, the children, and her grandmother joined him in Utah a few years later. On April 8, 1893 they received recommends to attend the Salt Lake Temple on the day of dedication. They spent some time in Pleasant Grove before migrating to Tooele County and then Teton, Idaho to live with Nels brother. After the death of two children they returned back to Salt Lake Utah where Ellen passed away in 1935.