Woods Cross

In April 2001, about a month before Allan passed, a good sister in the Fairfield, Pennsylvania Ward took it upon herself to visit Dad and record his personal history. Our family and generations will be forever grateful for this thoughtful, selfless act. Not only do we now have a digital audio copy of the interviews but the written transcription which amounts to 31 pages. Some areas of his life he was particularly detailed about, others require the need of additional sources and commentary. The time Allan lived in Woods Cross, Utah just southwest of Bountiful was one of the detailed accounts he gave. It is only fitting then that this account be told in his own words.

Editorial Comment

Two weeks ago my intent was to post a section on Axel Kjelstrom, Allan's father. I was soon surrounded by information on him (which is fantastic by the way) and became overwhelmed. I decided to move on to Allan's mother, Juanita and found myself in the same predicament. While I am organize that, including a transcription of a two hour interview Dad conducted of his parents in 1978, I am going to move on to Dad's childhood. Stay tuned for posts on Axel and Juanita.

By the way, I have changed the way pictures and other files are accessed. Although, I am still working on posting pictures and files, it should now be much more easily accessible.

An American Pilgram

In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, several European countries were in fierce competition for settlements in the New World. Jamestown, Virginia is widely regarded as the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States of America, established in May, 1607. The location of the settlement was primarily determined for its defensible positions along the James River at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and was named for the current English monarch, King James I. The area was swampy and infested with mosquitoes and disease and the settlers soon found that tidal cycles made the river water undrinkable. There were little opportunities for hunting or farming. Despite leadership from John Smith, Robert Hunt and others, the colony was destined for failure until one of the colonists, John Rolfe successfully introduced a breed of tobacco that was profitably exported in 1612.

Changes to the Virginia Company in 1619, who sponsored the new colony from London, brought increased investments that allowed further development of Jamestown. One of the developments was the establishment of the House of Burgesses, the first representative legislative body in the New World, and one of the first seeds of democracy in America. One year later, Thomas Lassiter (also recorded as Leister) arrived in Jamestown aboard the vessel Abigail at the age of 33 with his wife Lillie and son William. His brother, Edward would arrive in America in the same year, however at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Thomas is listed as one of 1,033 persons living in Virginia in 1624 and one of 224 in Jamestown. It is likely he was one of the first 1,000 Europeans to survive after arriving permanently in the New World.

The Lassiter family would stay in the Jamestown/Nanesmond area for four generations before moving to North Carolina where they would stay for another four generations. It would be Hardy Lassiter who would move to Tennessee and his son, Cannon who would live in Arkansas in the mid 1800’s. Cannon’s son, and Allan’s grandfather, Leander Lee Lasater would join the church in 1907 and located to the Salt Lake Valley.

Lessons Learned

John Valfread Kjelstrom, Allan’s grandfather, lived with Lorenzo Pettit from the age of seven until just before his sixteenth birthday. It was around this time that Lorenzo’s wife passed away and he remarried. John didn’t get along with the newest member of the family and asked permission to go live with his mother who had emigrated a few years prior and was residing in Logan City, Utah. As John describes it, Lorenzo had sent money for four to emigrate from Denmark, Catharina, John’s brothers, Charles and Axel, and sister Augusta. However, Charles had already found a way to America when the money reached John’s family and as a result they used it to pay for Catharina’s new husband, John Peter Lundberg to emigrate with them.

John’s describes this move from Lorenzo Pettit’s home to his mothers “the worst step I ever made.” He didn’t get along with John Lundberg, calling him a “cross and overbearing” husband to his mother, later admitting however that he did get better as he got older. John would soon go live with his brother Charles, who was also housing their younger brother Axel. Charles had married young and was making a good living. Eventually, John would find himself in Vernal, Utah, just west of the Colorado border. It was here that he met Allan’s grandmother, Emily Hill. They were married in Wellington, a small town just south of Provo, where Emily was from. Three children were born to the young couple while they resided in Vernal, James, Elmer and Sylvester. They spent some time in Frisco, Utah on the other side of the state and near the Nevada border before deciding to take their residence in Rexburg, Idaho. Five more children were born to Emily and John between 1899 and 1910, including Axel Gabriel, Allan’s father. According to John, Emily was unhappy in Rexburg and insisted on moving back to Utah. Unfortunately, it was this that spurned a divorce between John and Emily. Emily would take the children back to Utah and John would go on his own way.

Shortly after the divorce, John met and married Ruth Morgan, the mother of “two families of children.” But this relationship too would not last and John and Ruth would also divorce. John would bounce from job to job, taking him from Salt Lake City to Laramie and then to Sioux Falls, Iowa. Here, he married Coria Jackson, only to be separated and divorced a short time later. John’s travels would then take him to Illinois, California, Kansas, Missouri and then back to Kansas. His jobs would include picking chickens, washing dishes, milking cows and other odd jobs. In 1920, John made his final move to Los Angeles California and lived there until his death in 1955.

In 1937, John put together his book of remembrance which brought to light many, many stories and historical family information. In his writings, he alludes to his mother’s last request of him before she died; to do the families work in the temple. This became his life’s mission in his later years, becoming active in the church and making relatively frequent trips to Salt Lake City to visit the temple. He would admit that his happiest times were with his young family in Vernal, when he was active in the church and living the gospel. His final statement “I hope and pray that my record will be pleasing with the Lord when he sees fit to call me home with my mother and give an account of my life while he trusted me.” It is clear from the last page or two of his self-written life’s story that his days of traveling and quick relationships were a hard lesson leading to stability and a lasting testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is hard to say how much of an influence John was on his posterity simply because he wasn't a significant part of most of his childrens lives. And perhaps it is a lesson to his decedents the importance of family and perseverance and how much of an effect one decision can make in the lives of generations.