Stephen Jensen Jacobsen Beck
Sidney Kay Smith Creer's Great Great Grandfather
By Stephen F Beck, grandson
From book “In Memory of the Becks” compiled by Stephen F
Beck
Stephen Jensen Jacobsen Beck was born 16 November 1818 at
Salturm (Saltum) Hjorring Denmark. A son of Jacob Stephensen Jensen Koedal
Beck. Stephen Beck’s father was a deacon in the Lutheran church and Stephen was
the oldest child of a family of fourteen children. In his youth he learned the
carpenter trade, in which he excelled. He was especially good at cabinet making
and finishing.
At an early age he went away from home to help build a
school house and while there he met Inger Kirstine Jacobsen and brought her to
his father’s house where they were married. He was very much criticized for
marrying out of his social strata as he was from a tradesman’s family and she
was not. He said that she was the one he wanted and could not help but love a
beautiful and intelligent girl like her. Grandmother was born February 15,
1827, nine years after grandfather.
In about the year 1856 they were contacted by the Mormon
missionaries and readily accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints. They were baptized the 26 February 1857. Many times have I heard them
tell of walking four miles in the snow and cold and cutting the ice that they
might have the opportunity of being baptized. My father Jacob being their
oldest boy was baptized with them. He was only nine at the time.
Stephen’s father was a well-to-do man who had a large home.
Every Christmas all the married children went home and took their families with
them and stayed with their parents for a whole month, feasting and rejoicing.
Stephen did well in his carpenter trade and managed to make
a comfortable living for his wife and boys. But the desire to come to Zion was
so strong in the hearts of him and his wife that they saved all they could and
made plans to leave Denmark. With the money they saved and the little that
Stephen borrowed from his brother Christian he finally was able to leave his
native land and sail for America.
He left his parents and most of his family there and it must
have been with some misgivings and sorrow that they said good-by because there
surely was not any hope of seeing his beloved parents and loved ones again in
this life. They gave up a lot for the gospel but they never regretted it.
Later, two of his brothers and one sister joined him in Utah.
In the early spring of 1862 they set sail on the good ship
Franklin with 600 other people. Most of them were Mormons. They were all bound
for Utah and they suffered many privations incident to steerage passage on the
sailing vessels of that time. The ships were small and they were often very
poorly equipped to feed the many passengers. What food they did have was of a
very poor quality and was rationed. Many of the Saints died on the way and were
buried at sea. They were rolled in burlap and weighted and thrown overboard.
They were on the ocean for six weeks and had a hard voyage.
Stephen had five sons with him, my father Jacob, age 14, Peter, age 12,
Christian, age 7, Stephen, age 5, Theodore, age 3. While on the ocean
Grandmother gave birth to another son, August. Grandmother often said that she
could not get the proper food to eat in order to nurse him and he starved to
death. It was a sad day for these wonderful parents when they buried this
little boy in the ocean.
After a long voyage they arrived in the New York Harbor May
29, 1862 and immediately left for Florence, Nebraska, by train. They were 10
days on the train and must have marveled at the vastness of the country. And
many times I suppose Stephen wondered how far it was to Utah and how long
before they would get there. When they reached Florence they were in a hurry to
get ready to leave for Utah so they could be in the Salt Lake Valley before it
got too late in the fall. They left Florence on July 14, with Captain Christion
A Madsen and the Ola N Lillyenquist company.
It was a happy day on September 23, 1862, when they arrived
in Salt Lake City along with the other 400 immigrants and some 80 wagons that
had been their homes for more than two months. They had walked the long
distance to Utah. No one rode in the wagons that was able and big enough to
walk. They boys had walked the entire distance barefooted and often their feet
were very sore. The food had been very scarce and they looked forward to having
enough food to eat and a good home to live in when they reached Utah. But it
seems that the suffering of this good family of Stephen Beck had just begun.
They remained only a short time in Salt Lake City, for they
were then sent to Lehi with others of the same company. They lived in Lehi
about two years in a small adobe house that had a dirt roof. This poor little
home was situated at the south end of Lehi. They were very lonely and homesick
many times, often very hungry. There was not much work for a carpenter in Lehi,
even a very good carpenter, and Stephen tried very hard to find something to do
to get food for his family. They did just about everything but ask for food and
they were much too proud to beg for anything to eat. Often they walked down to
the lake to catch a few fish to eat. They cut willow branches and wove baskets
and went around from house to house trying to sell them. There was not any
money in the small town of Lehi and people just could buy the baskets. Even the
bishop could not purchase one of them and this disappointed my grandfather very
much and for a long time he felt rather bitter about not even being able to
sell a basket to the Bishop.
Grandfather and Grandmother worked hard with their boys one
time to clean a little wheat in one of the farmer’s fields hoping to get enough
wheat to make some bread, but just as soon as they got a little pile made, the
owner came along, put it in his load and hauled it away. Cruel treatment for
such worthy people.
While at Lehi another son was born and they named him John.
In 1864 they moved to Alpine, Utah, about six or seven miles up the Lehi creek
bed to build a home on the north side of this same creek. Here Stephen spent a
long time building a lovely home for his family. They built by the bridge that
crossed into the town of Alpine. It didn’t take the people of Alpine long to
find out the worth of a good carpenter. He helped to build most all their homes
and barns and many of them are still standing.
His oldest sons had to seek work away from home to help make
a living. Jacob and Peter worked hard for different men and received very
little pay, often not getting much more than board and room.
This family was made very happy, when in 1866 two brothers,
Christian and Frederic joined them at Alpine. A sister, Lucy also came but she
and her husband journeyed to Sanpete County to make their home.
Frederic was a very good mason and Christian was a farmer.
At Alpine they were called farmer Beck, mason Beck, and carpenter Beck. Stephen
Beck very often did the carpenter work on the homes after his brother Frederic
had finished the mason work. They were the main builder of the first meeting
house and many other buildings.
Stephen Beck finally built himself one of the most
commodious homes in Alpine. It was a long large house with a lean the full
length of the back part and a porch the full length of the front, facing the
street. It had an upstairs in which he had a large carpenter shop where he made
cupboards, tables, chairs, and other items of furniture. It was not possible to
go to the store and buy furniture at that time so Carpenter Beck was kept very
busy, and he enjoyed his work, doing the very best he could. Some grandchildren
are exceedingly proud today of the pieces of furniture of their grandfather’s
that are in their homes.
Coffins were much needed in this new settlement in which to
bury loved ones that passed away. My Grandfather built many, many coffins and
built them lovingly, for he liked his neighbors and felt a sadness in his heart
when they had the misfortune to lose their loved ones. He built the coffins
well and charged very little for his work. His skill as a builder of everything
will never be forgotten in Alpine.
Stephen also did considerable farming on ten acres of land
that he planted into gardens and grain and an orchard. Everything they ate had
to be raised on their own land.
Grandfather had a fine horse and carriage. The carriage was
painted a bright color and had two seats. The front seat and the back seat were
built so that the two backs were together, one facing the front and the other
facing the back. His horse was pure white and there was a pretty little white
dog that would sit in the front seat with him.
Grandfather was a very ambitious man and often held public
jobs. For many years he carried the mail from American Fork to Alpine. The
people of Alpine would congregate at the Post Office which was on the front
porch of one of the homes and watch for Brother Beck to come around the corner
at the end of the long main street with the mail. He was so punctual one could
set his watch by Grandfather’s arrival and departure with the mail.
Here at their new home they were blessed with two more children,
a son Daniel, and my weren’t they proud when they had a baby girl born to them!
They named this first and only daughter, Laura. They spent all the money they
could make to give their children the schooling and music lessons that they
wanted them to have. Stephen and Theodore were each given a violin and a piano
was placed in the home for Laura to play.
Grandmother Beck was a woman of great courage and
convictions. She was an extensive and intensive reader – so much that is was
unusual to see her without printed matter or a book in her hands. She
appreciated what education could do for her children when she often walked, and
sometimes in a snow storm to American Fork with a ham in her arms to give to
the Presbyterian Church where her daughter Laura was learning the elements of
education.
All the children attended elementary school in Alpine and
received the best there was at that time. They were very happy when they were
able to send Daniel and Laura to the Presbyterian Mission School in American
fork and later to the new B Y Academy at Provo. They both graduated as
teachers.
Daniel went to Beaver to teach and it was a very proud of
him. Grandfather and Grandmother were heart broken when at the age of thirty he
died, leaving a pregnant wife, Lena, and one son. Later a baby girl was born to
Lena. I well remember when they went down to Beaver on the train to Dan’s
funeral. This was the hardest sorrow they were ever called upon to bear.
Laura taught school for fifty years in different parts of
the state and was a rated as a very fine teacher.
Beside providing for this large family my grandfather
provided a good home for his grandson Gusmore Beck.
Grandfather was very strict and insisted that his children
do what was right. He taught them to be industrious. Still, boys will always do
the things that they want to do anyway. At one time Steve and Theodore and some
other boys from Alpine made a dugout under the creek bridge to play in. They
were using it to play cards and had a table and chairs there. One day
Grandfather caught them playing and told Grandmother the boys were gambling and
he didn’t like it. Grandfather had a very good Danish temper and when he got
angry he was angry all over. Grandmother told him to destroy it and he said,
“You wait, I’ll fix that.”
When spring came and the high water came down the creek he
went under the bridge to the dugout and threw everything in the room into the
high water. The boys weren’t very happy about it but Grandfather felt that he
had done the right thing.
Steve and Thed, as the two boys were called, were very good
at playing their violins. They played for all the dances in Alpine.
As is often the case when children are young they get sick.
Once when Gusmore was quite small he came down with smallpox. Grandfather and
his family were quarantined. Grandfather did not like to be told what to do at
any time and so one day after staying in as long as he could stand it he left
the house and walked down through the creek to Highland where Jake lived. He
said he didn’t have smallpox and he wouldn’t give it to anybody, so he wasn’t
going to stay home. He crossed over through the fields and reached Jake’s place
just as the family was sitting down to dinner. As he came in the home, we all
left the table, as we were afraid of catching the smallpox. Mother gave him his
dinner and Mother said he ate a whole pie. After dinner as he was leaving our
house our little dog bit him on the leg and he fell down. He got up in a rage
and we children stood around the corner of the house laughing at him. He gave
the dog a good whipping and then went home the same way he had come, through
the fields and along the creek bed.
Naturally my grandfather liked to visit with his children
but my father never seemed to have time to stop and talk to him. One day
passing our home on his way to visit his son Peter he drove up to the barn
where I was working and said, “Vere is Yake?” I replied that I did not know.
“Vere is he gone?” I said I did not know and he said “Vell when will he be
back?” Again I said I didn’t know. This made my short-tempered Grandfather very
angry and he said, “Ya don’t know a dammed ting, do ya?” and hit his horse and
drove away real fast.
My Grandfather and Grandmother always spoke in a broken
English and Grandfather was always called “Stebbin” by his wife. He lived a
clean, industrious, and conscientious life.
He and Grandmother complemented each other with a full
realization of life’s responsibilities and with gratitude in their hearts for
their new adopted country.
On the morning of October 3rd, 1903, after having been
feeble for some time, and unable to leave the house Grandfather passed away. He
was sitting in his arm chair and Grandmother had just brought his breakfast to
him. After eating his breakfast he was putting on his shoes when one fell to
the floor. Grandmother went to assist him but found that he was just passing
from this life. In one more month he would have been eighty-five years of age.
During the last years of Grandfather Beck’s life he built a
casket for himself. He built this casket in the upstairs of his home in his
workshop. They said it was the very best casket he had ever built. He lined it
and it was beautiful and when he had it finished he lay down in it to see if it
fit. He knew he was going to die so he was sure he would need a casket and he
might just as well built it for himself and do a good job.
He had remained true to the gospel that he had accepted as a
young man in Denmark. Six years after Grandmother and Grandfather arrived in
Utah from their native land they made a trip to Salt Lake City where they were
married for time and all eternity in the old endowment house at Salt Lake City.
He always did his best to set a good example for his children. As a young boy I
can well remember Grandfather bringing a chair to the front of the meeting
house and placing it directly in front of the pulpit so that he could hear the
speaker, as he had become hard of hearing late in life.
“Men are of two kinds, and he was of the kind I’d like to
be. Some preach their virtues, and a few express their lives by what they do.
That sort was he.”
