Edward H. Anderson

Improvement Era Vol. XXXI MARCH, 1928 No. 5 Edward H. Anderson By Elder Junius F. Wells and Dr. George H. Brimhall IN a loose-leaf volume of typewritten biographical material, Elder Edward H. Anderson compiled, in his orderly, characteristic fashion, the evidences of a remarkably active, industrious, useful life; modestly revealing aspirations of the noblest quality, and an ambition to succeed worthily, by "the patience of hope and the labor of love;" as the Lord should lead and the Almighty direct his prog- ress, from childhood to the grave. There is so much of this material, though but a moiety of his life's achievements, that it is not easy to select and compile, within the space allowed, even the salient points of his busy career of constant effort, of almost incomparable devo- tion to labor, of sublime triumph in overcoming difficulties; winning the applause of his fellow-men and, at last, the welcome plaudit of Him who hath the right and power to say: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. * * Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Of the earliest conscious period of his life, he writes that he was born on October 8, 1858, in Billeberga, Sweden, and when only five and a half years old was on his way, with his parents, on the long and unknown journey to Western America. The company they traveled with, comprising more than nine hundred emigrating Latter- day Saints from Sweden. Norway and Denmark, after reaching Liverpool, early in April, 1864, were packed into the wooden sailing vessel, royally named, The Monarch of the Sea. After six weeks of turbulent rule of the waves, the Monarch, with its precious cargo, arrived at the port of New York. Combining a devious railway journey through Canada, on account of transportation dangers in the States, caused by the Civil War, with delays on the border, ar- ranging for the overland journey across the plains, nearly three months had elapsed before they set out for the valley of the Great Salt Lake: "Day after day progress was rfiade and many exciting incidents, and ups and downs, were experienced, until finally, on the 15th day of September, 1864. the lad and his parents landed on Emigration Square in Salt Lake City. Ox teams had carried

362 IMPROVEMENT ERA them over the plains. Much of the distance had been traveled on foot by the boy, and many instances of heroism that happened long remained in his memory. One day a stampede of the oxen, caused by a buffalo herd, sent the wagons scurrying over the trackless "plains. It happened that the boy and his folks were in one of the wagons which stopped, just as the team was about to go over a precipice. But luckily, the fall was avoided. One of the lad's duties was to gather the tent-pins every morning, as the tents were taken down for the travel of the day." His first two years in Utah he lived in Mill Creek and started to school to learn a new language. His first school teacher was David H. Peery, a Virginia convert, who arrived the same year, after losing all his property in the Civil War. His first school book was a Webster's blue-back speller — his text book for years and a precious souvenir for life. After a sojourn of two years in Farmington, under the tuition of Aunt Huldah Kimball, he and the family moved on to Ogden valley, late in 1868. There, for eight years, he lived the life of a farmer's boy, herding cattle, working in the canyons, and farming; for seven years fighting the grasshopper plague, which about devastated the valley of its crops and nearly starved its people to death. During this period, he was a student of his spelling-book and of other books and of the Bible. He became so proficient that, at the age of sixteen, he assisted George Hall in teaching the school at Huntsville. It was then that he was encouraged, by Charles Wright and Professor L. F. Moench. to enter the University of Deseret as a Normal student. Finishing the Normal course, he be- came a teacher for three years in Eden, Wilson's Lane and Ogden. Referring to his early reading of the Bible, Elder Anderson wrote interestingly, in 1913, for the Juvenile Instructor, from which the following is taken: "Among the possessions father and mother took with them from Sweden, was a large Swedish Bible containing the Old and New Testaments and Apocrypha, with over five hundred illustrations. * * * These Bible stories' and rare pictures were the inspiration of my childhood — and no influence, aside from the pious teachings of my sainted parents, ever gripped me to stay, as did the contents of that good book. I own it now, and hold it a most precious gem among a thousand others — a rich legacy, old, yellow and withered though it is. In it I scrawled my first signature, and I spelled my name Adward, doubtless because the 'E' in Swedish is pronounced A.' 'From this good book I learned that God is a personage, in form like a man; that he made the sun, and the moon, and the stars; shaped the earth, and is the cause of all that is. * * * "The text which describes the first day of Creation never quite satisfied me in the English version, because the thought in the Swedish language seemed a thousand times more impressive. To this day, I love the literal translation sealed upon my mind in my early childhood. * * * "My faith may be stated in these words: "God is like a man. "God is all powerful, all good, and all righteous. "With God nothing is impossible. "God hears us when we pray to him.

EDWARD H. ANDERSON 163 "It wc live to please God, we will be permitted to return to hi9 home, to dwell with him and those we love, in eternal happiness. "Somehow I gathered these ideas from the stories of the old book, and my belief in them is just as clear and strong today as in those early years. Other stories in the same good old book linger prominently in my mind, and have been, to a great extent the means of shaping my thought and character." Briefly stated, Elder Anderson's activities after his period of school teaching arc enumerated in the following: "In 1879 he entered the newspaper business, where he managed and helped in the business department of the Ogden Junction, and later in editing and managing the Ogden Herald and Ogden Standard for ten years. "He was superintendent of the district schools in Ogden for nearly five years; superintendent of the Y. M. M. I. A. for a number of years, and occupied practically every position in the priesthood, except that of bishop, in the wards in which he lived. He frequently visited every settlement in Weber county, in his labors as stake superintendent of the Mutual Improvement Associations. "In December, 1888, he became general secretary of the Y. M. M. I. A., assistant editor and manager, under Junius F. Wells, of The Contributor, a position he occupied for two years. In September, 1890, he was called to preside over the Scandinavian mission, which he did to the satisfaction of the authorities and the people, for some ihing over two years: in the meantime, editing the Danish and Swedish Church papers of the mission. In 1893 he was elected city recorder of Ogden. which position he cccupied for six years. He was elected a member of the House in the fourth Utah State Legislature, in November, 1900. In the spring of 1901. he was nominated by President McKinley and confirmed by the Senate, Surveyor-General of the state of Utah; and for nearly five years held that position. "In June. 1899. he was chosen associate editor of the Improvement Era, in which position he has functioned ever since — for the past twenty-nine years. He was chosen secretary and treasurer of the General Board November 1. 1905, and acted until 1907; then again in July. 1909, and acted until October, that year. He was a member of the high council of the Granite stake for a number of years; and was later chosen second counselor in the presidency of the stake, under President Frank Y. Taylor, being set apart by President Hebcr J. Grant. He was chosen first counselor to President Taylor on the occasion of the division of the Granite stake. May 24, 1924. and was set apart for the position by President Grant the same day." With a single exception, his was a record of the longest con- tinuous editorial service of any writer in the history of the Church. Of its quality, it could not be better praised than in the words of President Joseph F. Smith, spoken by him upon a certain occasion, as chief editor of the Improvement Era, when Edward H. Anderson was his assistant and the practical editor. President Smith said: "I do not need to read what Edward H. Anderson writes. I endorse it without reading it, and know that it will be sound." At his funeral. Elder Junius F. Wells added: "That is my testimony also, concerning his dependability. 1 do not think you will find any words that have fallen from his lips, or any words from his pen. of an unsound doctrine or principle, or in advocacy of that which is wrong or unworthy. On the contrary, his whole life's plan and purpose, his ministry, more especially in

364 IMPROVEMENT ERA his writings, for he reached the multitude through his writings, was to inspire upright- ness of character, integrity to the truth, valor in the cause of Zion and the upbuilding of a young manhood and a young womanhood, in the community of Latter-day Saints, that should surpass, in the admirable qualities, any other community on earth. He strove most nobly for the achievement of these purposes." Had it been possible for Edward H. Anderson to pursue liter- ature exclusively, and give full play to the poetic trend of his mind, he would have taken high rank as a poet, a maker of hymns, a. singer of sacred songs. An example of this quality, "My Star," is printed on another page in this number. This verse was read at his funeral. He had read it himself, a few days before, at a banquet in Provo. Few men among the Latter-day Saints ever attained a worthier distinction than Elder Edward H. Anderson. He took himself in hand when a mere child — a little Swedish boy, in a foreign land, and became almost self-educated, self-governed, self-trained, self-depend- ent; relying only and implicitly on God. On Wednesday evening. February 1, 1928, he laid down his life peacefully, by the fireside of his home, in the sole companionship of his beloved wife. Mrs. Jane B. Anderson, whom he married June 29, 1882, is the daughter of the late Richard Ballantyne of Ogden, and is the mother of ten children; five sons and a daughter living. Three died in in- fancy and their son, Dr. David B. Anderson, was accidentally drowned in Lake George, N. Y., at the age of twenty-seven years. At the funeral, Sunday, February 5, 1928, held in the Richards ward meeting-house, the respect and admiration of a multitude of attending friends were feelingly expressed, by all the speakers; in the sacred songs; in the comforting prayers uttered by Elders J. E. Talmage, Hyrum G. Smith and B. H. Roberts; in the beautiful tribute of flowers laid upon the casket and the grave. President Frank Y. Taylor paid Brother and Sister Anderson a glowing tribute, saying, "They were the perfect lovers; time has sanctified happiness in their lives, and love and joy have increased with their age." General Superintendent George Albert Smith delivered an appreciative discourse of perfervid eloquence, expressing, for himself and the great organization of the M. I. A., the admiration, confidence and love, in which Elder Anderson was esteemed by all its members. President Heber J. Grant, whose funeral sermon appears in the Editorial department of this number, stated that he considered Ed- ward H. Anderson's life the ideal type of a genuine Latter-day Saint. The summing up of his domestic felicity was comprehen- sively uttered in the admiring phrase of the one who knew and loved him best: "No better man ever lived,"