Descendants of founding members make presentation
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Elna Johnson is pictured here with her four children. From left are Brenda Brandt, Randy Johnson, Lori Pankonin and Kurt Johnson. -
Elna Johnson, front center, is surrounded by members of her immediate and extended family, all of whom are decedents of Niels and Anna Marie Andersen. Johnson and her children -- Brenda, Randy, Lori and Kurt -- presented the family’s Danish Bible back to St. John’s Lutheran Church during a ceremony April 21 at the church in Kronborg. -
This family Bible, printed entirely in Danish, is believed to be approximately 150 years old.
A Danish Bible that belonged to one of the original charter members of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Kronborg was returned to its home parish last week and now has a permanent home in the church archives.
Elna Johnson of Imperial, the granddaughter of founding members Niels and Anna Marie Andersen, was given the Bible years ago by her mother, Agnes Christensen. Agnes was the youngest of 10 children, all but one of which was born in Kronborg. Johnson said she felt the time has come to return the delicate artifact to the place where her family roots are deeply buried.
“I feel welcome here today,” Johnson said at a luncheon in the parish hall after the April 21 church service. “I’m proud that this has been an occasion to bring my family all together and proud that they all made the effort to be here.”
Johnson and her four children -- Brenda, Randy, Lori and Kurt -- presented the Bible during the church service, which was also attended by several members of the extended family, including Karol Bankson of Hordville and Parma Labrie of Grand Island, granddaughters of Otto and Metto Andersen, respectively.
Johnson recalled many visits to the historic Kronborg church during her childhood, including stops at a home built nearby which her grandparents lived in many years ago. Johnson was actually raised in Colorado, as her mother met a young Dane from the Brush area, Severt Christensen, at a church event and the couple raised their own six children mostly on the plains of eastern Colorado.
“It’s just such an honor to be here and to see my mother’s roots and the house my grandparents lived in,” she said. “I remember Irvin Sorensen standing at the window over there and looking over saying that’s where he was when they buried his mother. That’s one of the hard things of life. There are just a lot of memories here.”
Two of the Andersen daughters died during the flu pandemic in 1918, both of whom were pregnant and married with children. In total, six of the 10 children, Niels and Anna Marie, as well as Niels’ mother are all buried in the church cemetery.
“Thank you so very much for this welcoming,” Johnson added. “We’re just so very proud to present this Bible to you.”
Her son Randy Johnson of Overland Park, Kan., then provided some additional family history. He reported that family records indicate that Niels and Anna Marie were both born and raised in Denmark, though on opposite sides of the small country. They apparently did not meet until they were both living in Kenosha, Wisc., where they were married in 1877.
Niels moved to Kronborg in 1878. Anna Marie was pregnant at the time and joined him a year later with their first son, Chris.
It is not documented when or where the Andersens obtained the family Bible, which is printed in Danish. The only two pages in English were hand-written inserts, one which looks to be their wedding license, and the other listing the names and birth dates of all 10 children.
Long-time St. John’s church member Deryl Nissen provided some historical background for those gathered, hoping to explain why so many Danes ventured from their homeland to a much different climate and culture so far away.
“I think the word that comes to mind is opportunity,” he said. “A lot of this area around here was originally homesteaded by our Danish forefathers. The land was formidable. The soil beneath was fertile, as we know by looking around now, and would produce a bountiful harvest, but to get to that point was a lot of work so our forefathers were pretty sturdy folks.”
Nissen said the first Danes arrived in Kronborg in 1872 and within 10 years there were 15 families in the neighborhood, according to church records.
“I’ve done some research for other things and I think that Niels is listed as one of the 15 charter members, so your family has a long tradition at St. John’s,” Nissen said. “We’re very pleased and proud and honored to welcome you back and we’re very pleased that you have brought your family Bible back here.”
Opal Christensen, the church historian, said she prepared a space for the Bible in the church archive room, which currently features pictures of youth confirmations as well as other church artifacts.
“I have rearranged the area for memorabilia and we have a shelf that we’re going to put this Bible on,” she said. “I cannot tell you how thankful I am that you are doing this. What a beautiful gift to give back to us and we really, really do appreciate it. We will do our best to take care of it for you.”
