Alvin Moroni Jensen Funeral program

This is the program from Alvin Moroni Jensen's funeral in 1978. 

Memories of Alvin and Emily Jensen by daughter Iona Jeanne

Jeanne wrote a wonderful addition to the histories of her parents Alvin and Emily Jensen in this memo to their posterity.  She also wrote up a nice reminder of how different it was to live in the 19th Century.  She appeals to family members to write down their memories before they are gone, and to maintain a family organization to stay connected.  It's a nice read I'm glad to share.

Emily Steele Jensen's Life Story

Alvin and Emily

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alvin Moroni Jensen lived over 22 years after his beloved wife Emily died.  He used that time to do genealogy work.  As part of preserving his heritage, he wrote his autobiography and this biography of his dear wife Emily.  In it, his love for Emily is clear.  This copy was typed from legal size to 8 1/2 x 11 by Alvin and Emily's son Garth.

 

I wanted to add an account sent to me by Emily's granddaughter Darla Jensen Pearce.  She shares her experience with the death of her Grandmother Emily Steele Jensen.

When Grandma Emily died on August 10, 1955, I was eleven years old and she hadn't been sick for a day in her life.  The night before she died, they wouldn't let us see her because she had been to the doctor and wasn't feeling good.  I told Joanie, my cousin [Mack's daughter] who lived next door to us and she came with me to see what we could see.  The little house was all lit up because it was so dark outside.  We had a perfect view peeking in the front window.  There was my grandmother throwing up in an old can from the kitchen and Ken was bending over her.  I told Joanie that this must be real serious and that we should pray to our Heavenly Father, so she would be okay.  Joanie wasn't a Mormon, did not believe in prayer but she was also alarmed at the way Grandma looked, so pale and so sickly.  So these two little girls knelt down in the patio and I said the prayer.  I prayed that Grandma would live and be healthy again.  A small child's prayer.  At five o'clock the next morning, my Dad woke us all up in our beds.  He said, "Grandma's dead and you only have a few minutes to say goodbye to her before the paramedics come."  So as a family we all trooped over in our PJ's and saw her lying in her bed, so still.  Grandpa had placed a board under the mattress the night before when she complained of not being able to breathe.  He thought if she was lifted up, she could breathe easier but she didn't.  Ken had just finished giving her CPR and it was all over.  Only the funeral was left and she was gone.  Gary, Blaine, Sandi, Joanie and I drove to the cemetery in Uncle Paul's bright orange convertible.  That was the only bearable part of that day.  Over a hundred cars followed the hearse winding up to Glen Haven where all of our loved ones are now buried.  Grandma Emily was the first.  I remember straining to turn around and watch all the cars come up that winding road one after another.  Who could have guessed how many people loved her?  I was so surprised.  Through the years, Uncle Kenny would take his fire truck up there and send a big spray of water on the thirsty ground to make sure the grass stayed green on our loved ones graves.  He did this over the years up until they moved to Nevada.  It's like we owned that place, so many relatives are [now] buried there.  (Darla Jensen Pearce, email to Melanie Johnson, January 3, 2005, p. 3)

Alvin Moroni Jensen's Book of Remembrance

Pop (Alvin Moroni Jensen) made several Books of Remembrance for his grandchildren in the 1970's.  Using an Exacto knife and ruler, copies of photos and documents and his index finger on an old typewriter, Pop created these books to pass on his genealogy to his grandchildren.  It must have taken months!  Each book is an original, complete with hatch marks to guide his Exacto knife and tape holding each photo inside the openings he made.  In them we can see what Pop valued, what he wished to pass on to the next generation.  Posted here find the contents of the Book Pop gave my dad Gary Alvin Jensen, ordered as closely as possible as they were in the cardboard book. 

The typed inscription on the inside cover of the green Book of Remembrance.

 The first page is a purchased sheet titled "Our Married Life."  Pop had taped a photo of the Manti temple on it, where he and Emily were married.  Genealogists used these purchased sheets to separate chapters in these 8.5 x 14 Legal sized Books of Remembrance.

Marriage Certificate for Alvin Moroni Jensen and Emily Steele.

Certificate reads, "Alvin M Jensen of Circleville and Emily Steele of Panguitch, married at Manti City on 3rd October 1906.  Witnesses-- Hans Westenskow and Azariah Smith, performed by Lewis Anderson, Elder.  The marriage certificate is a Xerox copy, a new tool for genealogists in the 1970's.  The image has degraded considerably because the ink had fused with the plastic cover sheet inside. 

The next sheet, another purchased one reads, "Sacred Memories." 

Pictorial life story of Emily Steele Jensen

Pictorial Life of Alvin Moroni Jensen

Homes Pop and Emily resided.  Bottom photo is dated December 1975.

Homes Pop and Emily resided.  Top photo is also dated December 1975.

Tribute page to Emily, thanking her for raising an honorable family.  Photo in center is Emily, side photos are greeting cards.  Colorful stickers adorn the page.

 Chapter heading "Our Children."

Emily Steele Jensen's funeral program, headstone and a nice photo taken just before her death.

  Chapter heading "Our Families." 

Picture Family Group Sheet of Alvin Moroni Jensen and Emily Steele Jensen's family.

Golden Wedding Anniversary of Mahonri Moriancumer And Emily Bunker Steele

Picture Story of Mahonri Moriancumer Steele and first wife Emily Bunker Steele

Emily Steele's ancestry

Pictorial History of Mahonri Moriancumer and plural wife Mary Ellen Jepson Steele

This is another chapter heading page titled 'Ancestry.'

 This chapter heading, "Ancestry" is included because it shows a display board loaded with photos of ancestors that Pop hung in his small home.  Those photos were passed on to his son Garth who also hung them proudly in his home.

Garth Peder Jensen's ancestry

This sheet, showing the family of John Steele Jr and Catherine Campbell Steele was printed professionally.

Families of Mahonri Moriancumer Steele by Emily Bunker, left and Mary Ellen Jepson, right.  Professionally printed.

Photos of Ane Jacobsen and Jorgen Peder Jensen, parents of Alvin Moroni Jensen

Important buildings in the lifes of Ane and Jorgen Jensen-- the Endowment house in Salt Lake City, the first chapel in Parowan and the St. George Temple.

The reverse of the center photo of the Parowan meetinghouse reads, "First LDS Meetinghouse in Parowan, Utah.  Jorgen Peder Jensen attended services here while living in Parowan, Utah.  He also helped to build it.  It has been preserved by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers as a monument to the saints who helped settle Parowan."

Close up photos of Mary Ellen Jepson and Mahonri Moriancumer Steele

An explanation of why the St. George temple was significant to Jorgen Peder Jensen, Mahonri Moriancumer Steele and Mary Ellen Jepson.

Picture family group sheet of Jorgen Peder Jensen and Ane Jacobsen Jensen

Home and family photos of the Jorgen Jensen family

Photos of Mahonri Moriancumer Steele and his wives and children.

Family portrait of the Mahonri M. Steele Sr. Family, taken about 1897 (my guess.) 

Certificate presented to Pop when he was 85 years old. 

The Reseda building which Pop maintained as Custodian for nearly 20 years.

A congratulations note from Gerald R. Ford, United States President commemorating Pop's 90th birthday 3 February 1975. 

A pedigree chart showing the descendancy of Adam and Eve to the Twelve Tribes of Israel

 Several letters and histories are included.  This letter from Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Wilford Woodruff to John Steele Jr. acknowledged that his daughter, Young Elizabeth Steele, was the first white child born in the State of Utah.

 Another letter penned by President Brigham Young discussed the nature of ore samples that John Steele Jr. had been sending to church headquarters in Salt Lake City for analysis.

 Additional items included in the book of remembrance, not included here:
Excerpts from John Steele Jr. diary "Life in the Valley 1847-1850"
Patriarchal Blessings to Emily Steele Jensen and Alvin Moroni Jensen
Letter from Wilford Woodruff to John Steele Jr about a particular family marriage.

Alvin Moroni Jensen Shoots Off an Indian Chief's Toe

Alvin was comfortable around horses, as shown in this photo taken in the 1970's

Gary Alvin Jensen, grandson of Alvin Moroni Jensen, shared the following story in an email dated January 27, 2006.

"After Alvin married Emily, he worked for Emily's father Mahonri Moriancumer Steele Sr.  He managed his herds of cattle and horses.  Emily and their kids lived out of the wagon in the desert around Delta, Utah.  In the winter, Alvin would take the herds down into Mexico and winter there.  In spring he'd bring them back.  Pop (Alvin) told me a story about the Indians that came around him and his herds.  One time a Chief told Alvin that he was going to take his horse.  Alvin took out his pistol and shot the Chief's big toe off to show the Chief that he wasn't afraid of him.  After that the Chief gave Alvin a lot more respect and Alvin kept his horse.  In fact, the Chief gave Pop a wool hand-woven Indian horse blanket that I have in my possession.  It measures about 3 1/2 feet by 6 feet."

That's one way to earn respect in the wild west era. 

Alvin Moroni Jensen Helped Notorious Butch Cassidy Visit His Family

Butch Cassidy, neighbor of  young Alvin Moroni Jensen.

  Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

In a previous post I uploaded my Great Grandpa Alvin Moroni Jensen's autobiography.  Interestingly, he leaves out some interesting stories.  Perhaps they are best told by others, not oneself.

My dad, Gary Alvin Jensen (Alvin's grandson and namesake,) shared the following story in an email dated 27 January 2006.

Answering the question, "Who was it that helped Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hide out in Utah?  I want to say it was Pop (Alvin Moroni Jensen,) but he seems too young."

Gary answered, "It was Alvin M. Jensen, my grandfather.  He was a young man in Circleville, Utah and Butch's parents lived on the next farm from him.  Butch would ride onto his parent's place and Alvin would tend his horse while Butch would sneak over to his parent's place.  He would hand Alvin his horses reins and give him a silver dollar.  Sometime later, Butch would sneak back to Alvin's house and get his horse."

Alvin's father was called to serve as Bishop of Circleville ward in 1896, although they had been living in Parowan.  They sold the family farm and moved to Circleville before Fall.  Alvin's family lived in three homes in the first few years of living in Circleville.  It's not clear which home was near the Parker family, so to put a date on this would be difficult.  First they rented a 500 acre ranch just outside of town from Ambrose Thompson, living there for 2 years.  In 1898, Alvin's dad Jorgen Peder Jensen built a family home on a small plot of land in the town center.  Soon afterward, Jorgen bought a small farm of 30 acres just outside of town and another 160 acres in what was then called 'Lost Creek.' 

Maximillion (Maxy) Parker had moved his family to Circleville area in 1879, living on a ranch outside of town.  It was there that Butch lived in a two room log cabin, supposedly adjoining the property that the Jensen family would later settle on.   

Looking at the 1900 census would be one way to verify that the families lived near each other.  They should appear on the same page or even be listed one after another.  In the 1900 census, we see the Jensen family in Circleville with Alvin listed at age 15.  There is no Maximillion Parker listed on the page showing the Jensen family.  But with such a notorious son, perhaps the family avoided the census taker.  Or they may have moved by 1900.  Butch's mom had died around the turn of the century and his father moved into town.

Considering Alvin's extreme prowess with horses, he was capable of managing Butch's horses while between the ages of 11 and 16, when the families may have lived next door and before Butch fled to Mexico in 1901.  A silver dollar was probably a lot of money in those days and a lot of the locals looked up to Butch.  Although I am unable to verify or discount this story, it's plausable and certainly livens up our family history .