Gudmundur and Marie Jacobsen Garf Gudmundsen

Since goals and resolutions seemed to be a theme this month, I thought I’d share some insights about my paternal great great grandparents. These people, along with all the other early Missionaries and Pioneers, made major changes in their lives. They had their set back and disappointments, but became stonger for them.

Gudmundur Gudmundsson was born March 10,1825, to Gudmundur Benediktsson and Gudrun Vigfusdottir on a farm at Artun, in the Rangarvalla district of the Oddi Parish in Iceland. He was christened a Lutheran at his home on March 23,1825.5 Gudmundur remembered his parents as "poor but devout and pious; my father especially was very pious and often reminded his children . . . to honor God. . . . We were ten sisters and brothers, and I was the youngest son."

Mary Sobey Garff Gudmundson was born in Eskeburg, Denmark, December 9, 1820. Her father’s name was Jacob Sobey. There wasn’t much known about her early life except that she married Niels Garff, who was a man of considerable means. They were able to afford servants in their home, so that grandmother’s life was one of comparative ease. Comparing this part of her life with her later years shows the faith and courage which carried her safely through the trials and hardships of pioneer days.

While taking an evening stroll, Gudmundur saw a group of people listening to a preacher on a Copenhagen street corner. Before he came within range of the preacher's call, Gudmundur heard an inner voice say, "What that man is saying is true; listen to him." The preacher was a Mormon elder, Peter O.Hansen. After his conversion, he became a missionary. He had a very strong testimony and Missionary Zeal. Even when he was forcefully recruited into the Icelandic Army and, due to illness, was in the infirmary, he kept up his Missionary work – trying to convert his fellow patients. After his discouraging attempts to convert his family in Iceland, he was called to a mission in Denmark. One of the families that he helped convert was the Niels and Marie Garff. A very close friendship sprang up between them and after Gudmundsen had converted them they persuaded him to immigrate to America with them. Their lives were strangely interwoven from that time on.

After their conversion, their one consuming desire was to come to America and live with the body of the church in Utah. Weeks, possibly months were spent in preparation for this long journey. An itinerant tailor was engaged to live in their home and provide the whole family with suitable clothing. By the time they were ready to start, they had many trunks full of clothing, bedding and supplies of various kinds. They even brought lovely feather ticks, as they were called, little realizing the nature of the trek before them.

While they were crossing the Atlantic Ocean, Marie gave birth to a son. Since it was the custom to name a child born at sea after the ship and Captain, the child was given the name Deacon Westmorland. After the Garff’s arrived in the United States, they used part of their money to help others make the trek to Utah. They had purchased a fine wagon themselves. However, when it was time to load up, they found that the man that they had bought it from had stolen it. They then made arrangements to buy a half share in another wagon. Shortly after they had left, the man they were sharing the wagon with decided he was going back – and, if they were to keep any part of the wagon, they would have to go with him. They decided to go on and had to rely on the kindness of those around them to help with the young children on the trip.

While crossing the plains, sickness struck the Garff family, and Niels Garff and his daughter died. Niels and Marie's son Louis Garff recalled, "Two days jorney out from Larmey [Fort Laramie] my Sister died,
short[l]y after my Father died and was buried on the plains. The rest of our family bearly escaped death, and arrived at the Grate Salt Lake City Sept. 13 1857." At the time Mare was herself was so very ill herself that, although she realized that there were deaths in the camp, she didn’t know that her husband had died until later. However, just before Niels's death, he made Gudmundur promise to take care of his wife and family. His dying words were, "I want her to go to Zion and be with God's people." Gudmundur promised, and true to his word, shortly after their arrival in Salt Lake City he married Marie Garff on October 4, 1857, and became a father to her children. Marie and Gudmundur had three sons together, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Even after they arrived in Salt Lake, things were not easy and they had disappointments and setbacks. Although their testimonies were so very strong, they joined a group called the Morrisites. During this time, in an attempt to gain medical aid for Deacon, they traveled to California. While there, Marie became very homesick and prayed fervently to get back to her home – not in Denmark but in Utah. Miraculously, while playing in an abandon shack one of the children a large amount of money. After talking with the local Sherriff, and finding they could keep the money, they discovered that they had enough to make their way back to Utah – where they were rebaptized. They remained faithful to the Church, and the gospel for which they had sacrificed so much, for the rest of their lives.