R Family Historian: Christine Rasmine Schow - Grandmother of Than Cooper, Plural Wife of James Henrie

Christina Rasmine Schow Henrie was born in Aalborg, Denmark, January 19, 1844. She with her parents and brothers accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from Elders Erastus Snow and George P. Dykes who with two others were the first missionaries from Utah to Denmark.

She was baptized April 13, 1851 by Elder Hans Peter Jensen. They left their home for Utah in December 1853, going to Liverpool where they embarked on the sailing vessel, Jessie Munn under the direction of Christian Larsen. For a full account of the voyage and to see the Schow family listed on the passenger list click here. Arrived in New Orleans, America, February 10, 1854, continued up the river to Kansas City, Missouri. Many passengers had died from small pox.

They crossed the plains with an ox team in Elder Hans Peter Olsen's company. Christina walked all the way to Salt Lake City except two afternoons, one when she was ill, the other when it was a down grade. While crossing the plains many had died of cholera among the number were her Grandmother and her step-grandfather who died within ten days of each other.

She recalls seeing herds of Buffalo, one stampeded going right through their company.

They arrived in Salt Lake City, Thursday October 5, 1854. They settled in Bountiful where she lived with her parents until 15 years of age when the family moved to Brigham City. During this time they suffered great hardships and the Indian troubles kept them in constant fear. Then came the grasshoppers which caused famine and their family of six persons lived for ten weeks on pig weeds, sour milk and ten pints of flour a week. When the wheat and grain that missed destruction was harvested the family gleaned wheat and barley from the field of Brother William Brown and carried it two miles to the Burr Mill to be ground. She says "We have never since been without flour."

After the parents moved to Brigham City, Christina lived with Myra Mayall Henrie until she was married to Sister Henrie's son James, December 6, 1861. She was 17 years old. She was a "Plural Wife", Rhoana Hatch being his first wife and she the second.

During the colonization of the southern part of the state and Nevada, they were called Utah to Panaca, Nevada. Here they lived until the spring of 1871. At the time of the resettlement of Panguitch, they moved there where she resided until her death. In all the places where they lived it was a pioneer life fraught with many dangers, hardships and privations, but like all other pioneers, it was born by them without a murmur.

While in Panaca, Nevada she acted as Relief Society Teacher, besides the work of home making. She did weaving, spinning, knitting, hat making, glove making, sewing and dairying.

She wove 450 yards of cloth in one season, flannels, hudsuns, geans, twills for blankets, shawls, also the household linens from flax, and wove rag carpets.

Pictures Courtesy of Ron & Juana Englestead

The straw hats she made for men and for women sold for $1.50 to $2.00 each. She sold some of them in Salt Lake City. She made and sold both buckskin and crocheted woolen gloves, prices $2.00 and $1.50.

When spinning she usually did five skins (4 1/2 lbs.) a day, and earned $50.00 one winter for sewing for the Coop store in Panguitch. She and Rhoana worked together. ( She spun both cotton and linen thread).

Christina's schooling consisted of 17 weeks while at Bountiful.

She is the mother of ten children, four boys and six girls. They all lived to have families of their own except one that died in infancy. She has spent her life in home-making and reared her own family and part of her two children's families, two children dying leaving families of children. Her second child, Mary Henrie Cooper, is our ancestor. At the time of her death, she had sixty-six grandchildren and forty-seven great grand children.

Christina died 5 October 1927 at Panguitch, Utah and was buried 7 October 1927 at the Panguitch cemetery. She was a very noble and worthy woman, full of faith and devotion; she died as she had lived, in full faith of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I found a copy of the newspaper announcement of her death and funeral program. See it here. One note of interest is that our grandmother, Bell Cooper, sang in Christena Henrie's funeral. In the article it says, "By special request, Bell Cooper, Ellice Cooper, and Illeta Reid sang "There's No One Like Mother to Me," accompanied by Dora Clove." Bell and Ellice were married to her grandsons, Than and Trav. I don't know the connection to Illeta Reid, and Dora Clove was Grandma's good friend. Grandma was married to Grandpa at this time, was 34 years old, and had given birth to seven children. Mae was about 1-1/2, my mom, Fae Ann was not born yet.

I have posted this picture before, but wanted to include it again of James Henrie and his three wives. Rhoana Hatch Henrie on the left, standing is Gedske Schow who is also a half sister to Christena Schow Henrie (so they really are "sister wives" ha ha), and on the right is Christena Schow Henrie.