Brian Roper Family History: Ole Hansen Jacobson

Oak City Sunday School in 1880

Ole Hansen Jacobson Family (circa 1907)

Ole Hansen Jacobson Family (circa 1917)

Ole was born on New Year’s Day in 1853 in Klovtofte, Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the son of Hans Jakobsen (I’ve also seen this written as Jacobson or Jacobsen), born February 27^th, 1814 in Svogerslev, Copenhagen, Denmark and passed away on the 15^th of July in 1818 in Klovtofte, Copenhagen, Denmark. Ole’s mother was Maren Hansen, who was born August 12^th, 1818, in Rye, Sommerup,

Denmark

; she died in December of 1893 in the city of Provo, Utah. The story I read and the way I understand it is that about the time Ole’s father passed away, a group of “Elders” from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were preaching their beliefs in the city of Klovtofte. Ole, his mother, his sister and her husband became very interested in what they were being told, and converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1867, Ole and his family left

Denmark

with other converts and set sail to

America

. On the travel to

America

, the “mountain fever” broke out among the passengers; some died and were buried at sea. Ole succumbed to the disease, but fortunately for his descendants reading this right now, he lived. Even after reaching the shores of

America

he continued to overcome the disease. Ole’s mother was financially stable and left her homeland with many valuable possessions but “due to the dishonest handling of emigrant possessions while crossing the plains she lost many of her cherished valuable things.” While crossing the plains a man became friendly with her and learned she had money with her. He finally asked to borrow a “quite a sum from her.” She trusted his honesty and loaned him some of her money. He promised to get work as soon as they reached Utah and said he would pay it all back to her. She never saw or heard of him again after reaching Utah. She was left with not much money to live on. The Jacobson family first settled in Bear River, a small town near Brigham City. They also lived in Brigham City for a while. Ole had learned some carpentry work in

Denmark

and worked as an apprentice for a cabinet maker in Brigham City to help ends meet for the family. Not being able to get much work in Provo at the time, he and his friend worked in the Tintic Mines. When a railroad was being built through Leamington Canyon there was a call for men to work there, cutting down pinion pine trees, cutting them up and preparing them for burning to make coke to be used for the train engine. The men would be paid extra good wages. Ole built the coke kilns for burning the coke and they gave service for many years. Ole was also a musician. He played violin a little and played the accordion very well. While working in Leamington County the boys from Leamington asked him if he would play for their dances. His music was appreciated so much he was asked to play for all the dances in the neighboring towns. While playing for dances in Oak City, he “met a charming young lady who was considered queen of the ball”, Rebecca Deseret Dutson. They became very close friends, courted and later were married in the Salt Lake Endowment House on March 14, 1878. Rebecca’s parents admired Ole and were happy to welcome him into the family. Ole bought city lots in the east part of Oak City. He built a comfortable little home for them and made most of the furniture in the house. He landscaped the yards, planted lawns, trees, shrubs and flowers, making the little home attractive and a nice place for living. Ole was a first class carpenter and built several of the best homes in Oak City and Leamington. By the 1960s they were still in good condition and being occupied by different families down through the many years since being built. He also built the cabinet work in many of the old homes too. He was the main carpenter in building the Church House in Oak City, which was taken down in the 1980’s. Ole also did some prospecting and mining. Ole was a professional gardener in raising fruits and vegetables. He raised all kinds for market. As his children became old enough to work they all helped harvest the fruits and vegetables. His products were “of high quality and always in demand.” After his boys were old enough, Ole decided to try his hand at dry-land farming to raise hay and grain for their animals. He secured the land and prepared it for planting. One of the townspeople is said to have thought he was crazy for trying to raise crops without water. The man promised to give Ole a dollar for every hat full of grain he could raise on his farm. The grain was planted and the first crop yielded 200 bushels of turkey read what. He “surprised the townspeople” and soon there were dry-land farms on all sides of town. Eventually, Ole raised many other products on the dry farm. He raised poultry for some years, but got too advanced in his years and passed along the farming to his sons. Ole then went into the general mercantile business, which was very successful for several years. After his health began to fail, he was forced to sell out as none of his sons wanted to take the business over.

Ole Hansen Jacobson

Ole was an artist and did some art work in his younger years and later specialized in enlarging and finishing photographs. He became acquainted with Professor Karl Gottfried Maeser (president of BrighamYoung University, 1879-1892) and enlarged his photograph and hung it in his living room as an example of “an outstanding character, a civil leader, educator, and a faithful Latter-day Saint.” Ole was self-educated and had a collection of many valuable books on different subjects. In his library he also had all the Church books and publications that were extensively read and studied by parents and children. It is said that Ole’s greatest concern in life was the welfare of his family. Five of his children attended college. Two of his sons spent their lives teaching at the high school, two were carpenters and builders and one a farmer. One daughter took a course in home economics at BYU, specializing in dress making. She made dresses, suits and coats for her mother, all her sisters and for many of her relatives and friends for many years. She also studied piano music at BYU and the Utah Conservatory of Music in Salt Lake City, Utah. She taught piano to young girls in Oak City and Leamington. The Jacobson girls were all said to be industrious and good homemakers. Ole and Rebecca were very found of music in their home. Many evenings were spent with music and singing. As the children became old enough to play musical instruments they were purchased and a four-member orchestra was organized in the home. Ole was also very active in civic affairs in his home town. He was the president of the school board for many years. He held many other civic positions during his life. Ole and his family were all very active in their church. The family attended church regularly and all held positions in the auxiliaries of the Church. Obedience and punctuality were always stressed in the home.

While Ole’s children were growing up there were many cases of sickness and accidents in the family. Consecrated oil was always in the home for use in case of sickness. There was never a doctor in the home. In case of broken bones through accidents (which happened several times), the patient was taken across the street to Brother Partridge who claimed he didn’t know much about setting broken bones but was always successful in his attempts to heal, he fixed three broken arms and a badly broken foot for members of the family. The family also made their own medicines from herbs of different kinds. In the early days of Oak City, Ole organized and led the Marital Band. They played for many of the ward entertainments. He also held many positions in the Church. The first Sunday School was organized in 1871 with John William Dutson (his father-in-law) as Superintendent and Ole “1^st Assistant, Superintendent” from 1878 to 1887. He also held the position of 2^nd Assistant from 1888 to 1895.

Some thoughts given by Ole: If you can’t say something good about a person, don’t say anything. What you do, do your best so you will be proud of it. Give your best to others. Obedience is a principle that should be well understood by every young man and woman as we have need to practice it every day of our life. Habits are not the growth of a day but the result of frequent repetition. The human mind receives impressions from its surroundings. Men while forming their character should avoid bad company. Let us associate with the pure in heart whose character is unblemished and worthy of imitation. A good character is worth more than gold. Let us ever be found in the path of self-improvement, that our minds may become “Fountains of Knowledge”.