Anthon L. Skanchy, III–IV

Anthon L. Skanchy A Brief Autobiographical Sketch of the Missionary Labors of a Valiant Soldier for Christ

TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY DR. JOHN A. WIDTSOE

III. I GO ON MY FIRST MISSION Early in the spring of 1863 I was called to be present at the conference to be held in Christiania. T resigned, immediately, my place in the rope factory. According to law, six weeks' notice had to be given when a person resigned from steady em- ployment but if I was to reach the conference on time, I had to ;

leave at once, for at that time there was no railroad between Christiania and Trondhjem. I was, therefore, obliged to tell the owner of the factory that I had to leave in one week. This was a hard nut for him to crack, especially since he had the law on his side. I told him that I was going to the conference, law or no law, and that I was going to be there on time. He finally gave in to my request, and even offered to meet me in the morning of my departure to bid me goodby, and promised to send an apprentice to carry my satchel to the city limits. On the morning of my departure, the master came, accord- ing to his agreement, and brought with him an old school teacher, connected with the church, as I supposed for the purpose of driving "Mormonism" out of me. Their plan did not material- ize ;our discussions were carried on in a friendly way, and at last they bade me goodby, and gave me their best wishes for my future. The apprentice came and carried my satchel through the city. Thus I left my native city, to begin the many years of missionary service. A Swedish rope-maker was also on his way to Christiania, and we, therefore, traveled together. We traveled on foot, along the country roads, the 350 miles that separate Trondhjem from Christiania. This was early in the month of March. The roads were difficult to travel for there was much snow. Moreover, neither of us knew the conditions and short cuts of the roads. We had snow shoes along with us, which made our journey more rapid in places where they could be used. On we traveled, day after day along the valleys, over the hills, now in heavy drifted :

snow, now where the road was bare from the heavy winds. In the course of our journey, we finally had to climb Dovre

ANTHON L. SKANCHY • 237

mountain, the highest divide in Norway. The mountain side was covered with drifted snow, and it was exceedingly difficult to walk there. One evening we reached the station known as ( rrievestuen, the first statical north of Dovre mountain, and spent the night there on nearly the highest point of the mountain. This is far above the tree line, and no dwelling houses are found so

far up on the mountain. The next day we crossed the mountain, for the first time for me, though it was not to be my last. That day we undertook, as usual, almost too much of a day's journey, for we traveled almost fourteen miles through the heavy drifted snow, to the second station from the one in which we had spent the night. Darkness overtook us. The road was filled with drifted snow, and in our worn-out condition we were in danger of giving up and remaining in the snow throughout the night. I had in my pocket a small bottle of camphor drops of which we

took a drop now and then. This seemed to help us, and at length, we reached the station. The next morning we walked ten or twelve miles downward into the beautiful and well-known Guldbrands Valley. Some days later we reached the beautiful city of Lillehammer, which lies at the end of the great lake of Mjosen. Ships here take passengers to Eidsvold but, when we arrived, the lake was still covered wfth ice ;

and we had to continue our foot journey twenty-eight miles far- ther. At last we reached the town of Gjevig; where we journeyed by ship to Eidsvold, the railroad terminus, where we boarded the train immediately, and found ourselves in Christiania the same clay. The long walk was ended. On the evening of my arrival, the conference began, in the large hall in Storgaden. Elder Rasmus Johansen was president, and the brothers Dorius were also there. I felt like one who has just escaped from a prison — glad and happy. We had a good time together. Nearly all of the missionaries and our local elders were there. During this conference I was called to go to Nordland on a mission, and I received my commission from President Rasmus Johansen. I suppose few of those present

knew anything about Nordland at that time. Soon after the conference. I began, alone, my long tramp of 350 miles, northward, to my native city of Trondhjem. On the return journey, however. I took a somewhat different route. through Osterdalcn. On this trip. also. I had to walk across a great mountain and as I was not acquainted with the conditions, it was night before I came down from the mountain, into the nearest village. The people had all gone to bed. I knocked on the door of one of the houses. "Who is there?" asked someone. "A stranger who has come over the mountain." said I. "No, he can get no entertainment here," said a woman, briskly. "Hold on," said a man. "A man who has walked over the mountain

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alone at this time of night needs rest. I have been out myself and know what it means." He dressed himself, opened the door, put good food on the table, made my bed, and said, "Help your- self." This man was one of the many who has secured, for him- self, a reward. • I came finally to the city of Roros, where many of my family lived, and bore my testimony. to whom At last I readied I Trondhjcm where I secured work again in the rope factory, and where I worked during two weeks, in oder to earn enough to buy

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Srrrrtah: ) MISSIONARY CERTIFICATE OF BISHOP ANTHON L. SKANCHY This certifirate, issued in 1863, bears the endorsement of different police officers, under date of Nov. 2, 1863; June 10, 1864; and' May 24, 1865.

a steamer ticket to the place assigned to me for my missionary labors. At that time, the missionaries were sent out without purse or scrip, and depended entirely upon the promises of the Lord.

IV. MISSIONARY LABORS IN NORDLAND AND FINMARKEN The 27th of May, 1863, I took passage with the steamship Prince Gitstaf, and with God's mercy of eternal salvation before me, I bade my dear mother goodby. With joy in my heart I went out to carry the message of the everlasting covenant, to preach the gospel and to battle for the cause of truth.

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The first island I visited was Dcgoc. It lies off Hclgelancl. There I bore my testimony to the people, and distributed books and tracts wherever I went. I then traveled to Harstad, from there to Qvarfjorden where there was a family who belonged to the Church, and then along Kadsfjorden where there also was a family belonging to the Church. Then came numerous long visits among the many deep fjords and sounds of which Nordland mainly consists, and upon the islands, most of which are thickly peopled. I traveled by boat, sailship or steamship, as opportunity offered. I tramped from island to island, over mountains and valleys, visited houses and fishing districts, and had opportunity to bear my testimony be- fore many people. I visited nearly all of the inhabited islands, fjords and sounds in Nordland. There I met many kinds of peo- — ple. priests and school teachers, and many people well versed in the Bible, The people in Nordland seemed to me to be better posted on the Bible than in any other place in Norway. The few Saints whom T found scattered on the different islands were visited, bu*, soon after I reached there, two families who belonged to the Church emigrated to Zion, namely Pollov Israelsen, and Peter Hartvigsen. My greatest interest and joy was my mission work. this I can truthfully say. ;

Nordland begins several miles north of Trondhjem, where the Atlantic ocean crowds in and follows the Norwegian coastline northward and washes the old steep rocks of the shore, until the famous North Cape is reached, a few miles from the widely known city of Hammerfest. Hundreds of tourists from various nations visit this place every summer. Here they may see the midnight sun circle around the horizon, through two long months of summer. After we leave North Cape the coast line draws north-east and east to south, until the great Atlantic ocean sur- rounds Norway's northern, barren and fjord-furrowed coast. This part of Norway is called Finmarken. The country is here very barren. No vegetation, excepting grass, is found, and the popula- tion, chiefly Finns and Lapps, live on the mountains and care for their great herds of reindeer, or, they live on the islands and fish from season to season. Fishing, as is well known, is the life- blood of Norway's industrial existence. I give these facts be- cause this great mission field is little known, even now, in our Church history. 1 was called to go on a mission to Nordland, which includes many cities such as Namsos, Bodo, Harstad, and Tromso. The last mentioned city lies $7? miles north of Trondhjem, and Vardo, the most distant of the cities lies 1.400 miles north of Trondhjem. This vast territory was. therefore, my mission field. In this field only ten souls belonged to the Church at the time I came there.

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These few had been baptized by Elder Ola Orstend who was the captain of a trading ship, and who later became postmaster in Cottonwood, Utah. The people in thai part of the land did not always deem it proper for me to preach "Mormonism" and to administer the ordinances of the Church. Consequently, during the time T spent in that country, I was arrested seven times, carried over land and sea in boats and steamers as a prisoner, tried in various places, and was sentenced to imprisonment six times. The first time I was given six days imprisonment with only bread and water for food. This was in the city of Tromso. In the prison I had to mingle with thieves and murderers. 1 was assigned a little room in the attic with a tiny window in the east, and a hard bed hanging by hinges on the wall so that it might be dropped down when it was tc be used and lifted again when not in use, so that there would be some room for me in which to move about. A tiny table and a tiny bench constituted the furniture. I had a small piece of

sour, coarse bread, and all the water I desired, every twenty-four hours. The cause of my sentence was illegal religious activity. When I had earned my freedom, and was let out of the prison, I began again to bear my testimony among the people and to distribute books and to hold meetings, and to baptize those who were converted to the saving message. The tracts that I distributed found their way to many of the honest in heart. I heard at one time of a man far away in Fin- marken who desired much to see and speak with an elder. He had read something in some of our books that had reached him. T had then just come out of the prison in Tromso. I bought a ticket on a steamer to a station known as Hasvig, on the east side of the great island of Soro. He who desired to meet an elder of the Church lived in Ofjorden, west of the island, nearly thirty- five miles away, over great mountains and morasses. Since I had never been in this place, I wondered if I could find my way to it. The only road was that made by the goats as they traveled back and forth between the watering and feeding places. The steamship was to arrive in Hasvig at two o'clock in the morning. It was the 16th day of September. I was the only deck passenger on the ship. As the night went on I became very anxious about the manner of my reaching my destination, and when all was quiet on board I went forward on the ship, bowed before the Lord and prayed to him, in whose service I was traveling, to guide my foot- steps and to care for me on this particular task. I became sur- rounded by a great light and a voice said to me, "Be of good courage. You are not alone. Whatever is necessary will be given you." I cannot describe how happy I felt. At two o'clock in the morning the steamboat whistled and we stopped at the station of Hasvig. There was no landing place

WTIK >\ L. SKANCHY 241

there at that time, so the postmaster came out with a boat to de- liver and receive the mail. I was the only passenger he brought

away. He asked me where I came from and where I was going. I told him and he invited me immediately to go with him to his office. Ho said, "My housekeeper has always a cup of coffee ready for me when I am up at night to get the mail." Afterwards he went down with me to the shore and took me to a freight boat which was about to travel up the fjord the way I was going. The postmaster asked those in the boat to take me with them as far as they went, and told me it was best for me to begin my foot jour- ney at the place the boat would stop. I continued with the boat to Sorvar, which we reached at ten o'clock the next forenoon. Great fishing districts are located there. I had been up all night, and I was very tired. A fisherman whom I met asked me to go with him to his place and he would make some coffee for me, for he understood that I was tired. As my strength returned to me I began to bear my testimony to them. After an hour's time, one of the many who had gathered to listen to me, invited me to go with him to his house for dinner, after which he took a boat and rowed me across the sound. On this journey our time was occupied in explaining questions which he directed to me. He was very much interested. After we crossed the sound he hired a boat and we rowed up to the head of the fjord. Here we found shelter for the night with a family of Laps. When they heard where I was going, one of the Lap women said she knew the road well and offered to go with me and to show me the road over the mountains, about seven miles. We reached Ofjorden, my destination, early in the afternoon and was welcomed by the man who had desired to see a "Mormon" elder. This man, for some time, had held a position similar to that of probate judge, but had resigned his position and was now living quietly and was being cared for by a housekeeper. It was pe-

culiar that the man who had heard me speak on the island, and who had rowed me across the sound, had followed me the whole distance. I held a meeting with them and spoke to them the whole day of my arrival and the day after. My friend the fisherman returned, at last. The day afterward I baptized the old probate judge later his housekeeper was baptized, and at last the Lap wo- ;

man who had acted as my guide over the mountain was baptized. When this had been accomplished the Lap woman guided me back straight over the mountain, to Hasvig where I had left the steamship early in the night just a week previously. The vision that I had had on the deck of the ship that night had been literally fulfilled. Everything that was necessary had been given me. I felt very grateful to the Lord for his fatherly care and •guidance during the week. Afterward I visited the huts of the Laps on the shore and