Commentary & photos about lars peter peterson by George Vernon Peterson Jr. ‘Bud’

THE LIFE OF LARS PEDER CHRISTENSEN (PETERSON)
by Niels Marcus Peterson – a grandson—son of Niels Peter Peterson
(My copy was made first by his sister, Mary Monson, in 1979.)

COMMENTARY & PHOTOS ABOUT LARS PETER PETERSON
by George Vernon Peterson Jr. ‘Bud’ (completed in 2013)

Danish Flag

LARS PEDER CHRISTENSEN was born on November 27, 1825 in Fourholt, Albek Sogn (Parish), Hjorring Amt (County), Denmark. He was the son of Christen Pedersen and Marie (pronounced Maria in Danish) Laursen. His name was chosen to perpetuate the names of both his mother and his father. Three children had preceded him in the family, but each had lived but a short time. The eldest, Peder, was born October 6, 1818 and died the same day. The next, Lours Peder, was born 24 September 1820, and died on September 30, six days later. The third child was born on 8 July 1822 and died the same day. So when our Lars was born, it was a happy time, and brought joy to his parents to know that they had an heir to carry on their name.



Lars Peder Christensen was an early settler of my hometown of Richfield, Utah. His birth name was Laurs Peder Christensen. Laurs is the first name of his maternal grandfather, Laurs Laursen. Peder is the first name of his paternal grandfather, Peder Jensen. Christensen reflects that he is the son of Christen Pedersen. In 1862, Laurs Peder Christensen spoke to the immigration agent in New York City, when Laurs told him that his father’s last name was Petersen, the agents is said to have exclaimed, “Well, you have to have the same last name as your father!” The agent then quickly wrote down his name using English. The agent wrote, “Lars Peter Peterson” in perfect English and that is how Laurs Peder Christensen became Lars Peter Peterson in America. This is the story I heard when I attended the Lars Peter Peterson family reunion at Lagoon many years ago. There were two beautiful cousins there who both had been Miss Utah. When you go to the Richfield Cemetery to look for Lars Peter’s grave, you will find it if you use the name of Lars Peter Peterson. If you use his original name you will never find it.

Christen Pedersen, Laurs’ father, lived to see him marry to Else (pronounced Elsa) Marie Jensen of Fourholt, and to know that he had a posterity. Marie Laursen, his mother, must have been pleased when her only child became a father of a whole family of ”Laursens”, since her father was born Laurs Laursen. The Parish Register shows that Ane Marie (pronounced Anna Maria) Larsen was born 16 May 1853. My father, Niels Peter (Niels Marcus Peterson is the Author.), said that it was at 10 o’clock A.M. James Christen Larsen was born 12 December 1854. Maren Larsen was born 12 June 1856 at 4 o’clock P.M. Niels Peter Larsen was born 9 May 1858 at 5 o’clock A.M.; Ole Christen Larsen was born 24 June 1859 at 4 o’clock P.M.; and Christen Larsen was born 17 June 1861 at 9 o’clock P.M.

Lars Peter Peterson and Elsie Marie Jensen Peterson had six children born to them in Denmark. If they had stayed in Denmark they would have been Larsens (or even Laursens) since Lars (or Laurs) is their father. The six children that they took with them in 1862 when the immigrated to America were Anne Marie, James Christian, Maren, Niels Peter, Ole Christen and Christen. They were born on the family farm in the Fourholt area, of the Albek church zone, in the county of Hjorring, in the Kingdom of Denmark.

These six children were all born in the Family Home, Fourholt. It was located on the south side of a large hill near a stream that ran into the North Sea near Vososo. After Laurs Peder and Else Marie (pronounced Elsa) were married on 26 November 1852, a series of events occurred which changed the lives of the family. Elsa’s widowed mother, Maren Mickelsen, married Ole Mickelsen. They accepted the Gospel when contacted by the Latter Day Saint Missionaries, and prepared to leave for America. Elsa’s only sister, Johanna, was baptized in 1855, and left the next year with her mother and step-father for America. Johanna joined the “Hand Cart” Company to cross the plains, and Maren and Ole went with the Ox Team Company. Maren never reached Salt Lake City, but Johanna made the difficult trip and later married John Paternoster Squires.

Maren Mikkelsen and her younger daughter, Johanna Marie Jensen, were both baptized by Latter Day Saint Missionaries on 9 April 1855. Perhaps Maren’s second and much younger second husband, Ole Mikkelsen, was baptized that same day. They joined a group of Danish Saints led by Johan Ahmanson and sailed from Copenhagen to Germany and from Germany to Liverpool where they boarded the Thorton. They sailed to New York, made their way to Iowa City, where Johanna, at the age of 21, joined the Willie Handcart Company, and Maren and Ole Mikkelsen, because of Maren’s age of 61, joined the William Hodgett Ox Train Company. Maren died along the way. Johanna made the journey and raised a family there. Ole Mikkelsen seems to have disappeared; don’t know what he did next.

Else (Elsa) accepted the gospel and was baptized on 27 November 1857, Lars’ birthday. (It must have been cold in that winter stream.) This was a critical time for the young family. Where there had been perfect love and confidence between Lars and his wife, now there was religious differences. He insisted that the children be baptized into the Lutheran Church at birth. He drove the Company to church at Albeck while Else stayed home to prepare the feast. Church (L.D.S.) members were severely persecuted in Denmark at this time. There was now bickering and contention almost causing a separation: but on 14 October 1861, Lars joined the L.D.S. Church. He had finally seen the “Light.”

The Danish Lutheran Church at Albæk. All who were born in this church’s region were supposed to be baptized as an infant and a record made in the Kirkebog (church book).

After Elsa joined the Mormon Church in November 1857, three children were born to Lars and Elsa: Niels Peter in May 1858, Ole Christen in June 1859, and Christen in June 1861. For each of these occasions, Lars must have loaded the children into the family wagon to take them to church to have the newest one baptized as an infant in the Royal Danish Lutheran Church. Each of these times, Elsa must have stayed home because she did not agree with the need for infant baptism and prepared a nice feast for when the family returned following the blessing of each of their three youngest sons. It can be assumed that Elsa attended the baptisms of the three oldest children. These baptisms would have all happened in the Albek Church.

Lars Peter Peterson lived to be 80. See his military metal from Denmark!

Before Lars married, he had served in the Danish army in the War of 1848 over the Schlechwich-Holstein Corridor. In his little diary, he tells of the march from northern Jutland to the Prussian Border and return. For his service he was awarded a metal by the King of Denmark (King Frederick VII). (When I obtain someone to translate the little diary of Lars Peder, I will include the information in an appendix.}

When I was 17, I was motivated by my patriarchal blessing to do family history research and gathering and collecting genealogy and pictures. I asked so many questions of Mother, one day she sent me to the west side of our block (At 25 North 3^rd East, we were on the east side.) She sent me to visit Mary Monson who I knew well because I had delivered her morning paper for years and each month would stop by and collect for the paper delivery. Mary Monson was Grandpa George Peterson’s first cousin. She seemed to be in a much younger generation like the one of my parents, but her father hadn’t married until 1879 whereas George Peterson’s mother, who was five years older got married in 1867 or 12 years earlier. When I visited Mary Monson back then in 1963, she showed me old things of Lars Peter Peterson—such as the metal he received by fighting on the border way down on the Danish-German line. Where was the borderline between the two countries? That was what they were deciding.

Lar’s mother died on 15 December 1855, and his father on 28 September 1857, shortly before Else (Elsa) joined the L.D.S. Church. After Lars joined the Church, they decided to make preparations to emigrate to America. By the first part of April 1862, he had sold his home and furniture, and they were ready to leave Denmark. Their neighbor, Hans Christensen, drove the family to Aalborg, a distance of 15 miles in his wagon. From there, they went by boat to Hamburg, Germany.

This record is the work of
Niels Marcus Peterson
Copy is made March 13, 1979
by Mary Monson—his sister
at Richfield, Sevier County, Utah

PS. N. Marcus Peterson has included lengthy discussions about the Genealogy Charts (1 through 7) that originally accompanied this presentation. I have placed these in the back of this presentation in APPENIX A because they are difficult to relate to without the family history charts referred to. I will personally go to www.FamilySearch.org and sign into the Family Tree Project and see that all this information is available there. Anyone can go there to view the Family Tree Project with either an LDS Account or a FamilySearch Account.

Hamburg to New York on the Franklin (15 Apr 1862 - 29 May 1862)
Google.com: searched (Franklin sailed from Hamburg 1862, Mormon)


From the Ship’s Roster

Laurs Peder Christensen

Else Marie Christensen
Ane Marie Christensen
Jens Christian Christensen
Maren Christensen
Niels Peter Christensen
Ole Christian Christensen
Christian Christensen
"Tues. 15. [Apr. 1862] -- The ship Franklin sailed from Hamburg, Germany, with 413 Scandinavian Saints, under the direction of Christian A. Madsen. The company arrived in New York harbor May 29th and at Florence [Nebraska] June 9th. Between forty and fifty children died of measles on board the ship."

". . . For several months, the preparation for this large emigration had been going on in the different conferences throughout Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The emigrating Saints from the Jutland Conferences in Denmark went direct to Hamburg, while most of those from the other conferences first gathered in Copenhagen and thence made their way to Hamburg in different companies. Thus the steamer 'Albion' sailed from Aalborg, April 6, 1862, with over 400 Saints from the Aalborg and Vendsyssel Conferences (Lars Peter Christensen’s family was with this group.) Sailing southward, the ship took up the emigrating Saints from the Aarhus and Skive Conferences at Aarhus in the morning of the 7th, and at Fredericia later the same day they picked up the emigrating Saints from the Fredericia and Fyen Conferences at Fredericia; the ship reached Kiel in Holstein on the eve of the 7th. Here they were joined by a small contingent from Copenhagen, and the journey was then continued the same day (April 8th) to Altona and Hamburg (This was a train trip from Kiel to Hamburg); in the evening the emigrants went on board the ships 'Humboldt' and 'Franklin,' which were anchored in the Elbe. . . .

. . . On Tuesday, April 15th, the ship 'Franklin' (Captain Robert Murray) sailed from Hamburg with 413 emigrating Saints, nearly all from the Aalborg and Vendsyssel Conferences. They were in the charge of Christian A. Madsen, an elder returning home. He chose Jens C. A. Weibye and Lauritz Larsen as his counselors. On board the ship the company was organized into eight districts with the following brethren as presidents: Jens C. Thorpe, Jens Christensen Kornum, Niels Mortensen (Lynge), Lars P. Fjeldsted, C. P. Borregaard, Jens C. S. Frost, Thomas Larsen and Jens Andersen. Jens F. Mortensen was appointed baggage master, Anthon H. Lund, interpreter, and Christian Andersen captain of the guard. . . .

Franklin

Ship: 708 tons: 163' x 31' x 15'
Built 1854 at Rockland, Maine

On 15 April 1862 the full-rigged Franklin-one of four German flag square-riggers ' to carry an emigrant company to America-sailed from Hamburg with 413 Mormons from Denmark. Captain Robert Murray commanded the vessel. Christian A. Madsen, a returning elder, and his two counselors, Elders Jens C. A. Weibye and Lauritz Larsen, presided over the Saints. The emigrants were divided into eight districts, each with a president. Among the emigrants was Anthon H. Lund, an accomplished linguist l who acted as interpreter. He later became an apostle and a member of the First Presidency of the church.

The passengers had boarded the Franklin on the evening of 8 April. Below deck l they found 160 bunks which were wide enough for three persons to lie side by side. Their rations consisted of beef, pork, peas, beans, potatoes, pearl barley, rice, prunes, syrup, vinegar, pepper, coffee, tea, sugar, butter, rye bread, sea biscuits, water, flour, salted herring, salt, and lamp oil. There were eleven lanterns, six belonging to the ship and five to the emigrants. For 90 rigsdaler, the Saints hired an extra cook in Hamburg, who was assisted by two of "our brethren." On Sunday the cooks served "sweet soup;" Monday, pea soup; Tuesday and Wednesday, rice; Friday, barley mush; and Saturday, herring and potatoes.

It was a memorable passage of forty-four days, the Franklin arriving at New York City on 29 May. Elder Jens C. A. Weibye recorded a valuable description of the voyage:

Some of the emigrants carried the measles with them from home and the disease soon spread to all parts of the ship, so that no less than forty persons, mostly children, were attacked at once. Many of the emigrants were also suffering with diarrhea, which caused much weakness of body. We lost the appetite for sea biscuits, but leamed to soak them in water or tea for eight to ten hours, which softened them so that they became more palatable. The sick were served twice a day with porridge made from barley, rice or sago, and almost every day pancakes could be had by the hundreds for the sick, who could not eat the "hardtack" (sea biscuits). Wheat bread was also baked for some of the old people. We held a council meeting every night and the sanitary condition of the ship's apartments were attended to with great care. Three times a week the decks were washed and twice a week the ship was thoroughly fumigated by burning tar. A spirit of peace prevailed.... The captain and crew were good-natured and obliging and so were the cooks who even served the sick when they were not on duty. We held at times meetings of worship on the upper or lower deck, and every morning at 5 o'clock the signal for rising was given by the clarionet or accordion. At 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. a similar signal was sounded calling the Saints to assemble in their several districts for prayer. Most every day we amused ourselves a short time by dancing on deck to music played by some of our brethren or members of the crew. We could thus have had an enjoyable time, had it not been for the sorrow occasioned by the many sick and dying amongst us on account of the measles. Up to this date (May 27th) three adults and 43 children have died, nearly all from measles. During the last few days, the chicken-pox has broken out amongst us and four cases have already developed. We have had head winds most of the time; otherwise we could have been in New York before now for the "Franklin" is a first-class ship. We have been very little troubled with seasickness.

By the time the Saints arrived at New York forty-eight had died-more than 11 per cent of the company. At Castle Garden the Saints were quarantined. After eighteen had been hospitalized, the remaining emigrants were returned to the Franklin. They remained on shipboard two more days and a night. On 31 May they were received at Castle Garden, where Elder Charles C. Rich and other church representatives greeted them. However, before the company reached Utah there were fourteen more deaths, bringing the total to sixty-two since leaving Hamburg. It is almost certain that the Franklin was formerly the American ship Yankee Ranger which was sold to German owners at Bremen in 1858. Both vessels were registered at 708 tons and reportedly built at Rockland, Maine, in 1854. The Franklin was rigged as a bark and ship at different times, not an unusual practice for this type of sailing craft. She was a three-master with two decks, no galleries, a round stern, and a figurehead. In 1866 she was reported sold to Norwegian owners.

. . . On Thursday, May 29th, in the forenoon, the 'Franklin' arrived at New York. The emigrants were placed on a transport steamer to be landed at Castle Garden, but on arriving at the wharf, they were not permitted to go ashore, because of some cases of measles yet existing among them. After 18 of the sick had been taken into the hospital, the rest were returned to the 'Franklin' and there remained on board two more nights and a day. Finally, on May31st, they landed at Castle Garden, where they were met by Elders Charles C. Rich, John Van Cott and other brethren.

A part of the emigrants did not have means to carry them further on their way to Zion than New York, but through the generosity of some of the Saints who were more fortunate, a sufficient sum was raised to take all these poor Saints along, and with rejoicing the journey was then resumed, leaving New York May 31st, at 9 p.m., by extra railway train to Albany, where they arrived the next morning (June 1st). From there the journey was continued by train via Syracuse, Rochester, Niagara, Windsor, Detroit and Chicago to Quincy, Illinois, and thence by steamboat across the Mississippi River to Hannibal, Missouri, and again by train to St. Joseph, Missouri, where they arrived June 6th. The following day they boarded the steamboat 'Westwind' and left St. Joseph at 10 p.m., after having spent the 'Day of Pentecost' in a way that was anything but pleasant (as there was very poor and crowded accommodation for so many people on this comparatively small vessel). The company arrived at Florence, Nebraska, on Monday, June 9th, at 10 o'clock p.m. Hans C. Hansen's company, which crossed the ocean in the 'Humboldt,' arrived there a week before. Among the 48 persons who died in the 'Franklin' company during the voyage on the sea was Brother Jens Andersen from Veddum (Aalborg Conference), Denmark, who with his own means had assisted 60 or 70 poor Saints to emigrate. He died on the North Sea on the 25th of April, soon after the ship had left Cuxhaven. On the way from New York to Florence [Nebraska], two children died, of whom one was the 15 months old daughter of Jens C. A. Weibye. Eleven persons (4 adults and 7 children) died while staying at Florence and a young girl died on the plains, making in all 62 of the 'Franklin' company who died between Hamburg and Salt Lake City.

On Tuesday, June 10th, the emigrants pitched their tents a short distance north of Florence, and the necessary purchases of oxen, wagons, cows, etc. were attended to. Those who crossed the plains by the Church teams were organized into messes to receive their provisions from the commissary of the company. A few of the emigrants had become apostates on the way and remained in the States. Among these were a blacksmith, J. P. Jacobsen, and Lauritz Larsen from Hojen, Christopher Thomsen from Gaardsholt, Vendsyssel, Denmark, and others with their families. The rest of the emigrants remained in camp for several weeks before beginning the journey across the plains. A few days before the company left camp, Florence and vicinity was visited by a terrible tornado, accompanied by rain, thunder and lightning, by which two of the brethren were killed and Elder Joseph W. Young received severe wounds from a wagon box which blew down upon him; after the accident, he was carried to a place of safety in an unconscious condition, but recovered after a while. The tents and wagon covers of the company were badly torn and shattered on that occasion. . . .

. . .The emigrants who sailed across the Atlantic in the four ships mentioned [THE Humboldt, Franklin, Electric, and Athenia] came together in Florence from which place those who had not the means wherewith to equip themselves for the journey across the plains were assisted by the teams sent there from the Valley by the Church, while those who had means wherewith to help themselves were organized into two independent companies. One of these was placed in the charge of Elder Christian A. Madsen and was composed of 264 persons, 40 wagons, 14 horses, 174 oxen, 99 cows, 37 heifers, 7 calves, 6 dogs and 10 chickens, and brought along 22 tents, 32 cooking stoves, 5 revolvers and 37 rifles. Hans C. Hansen was captain of the guard and Jens C. A. Weibye secretary for the company, which was divided into six divisions with the following brethren as captains: Soren Larsen, Jens C. A. Weibye, Niels Mortensen (Lynge), Thomas Lund, Lauritz Larsen and Christian H. Gron. The first mentioned had charge of five horse teams and the others eight ox teams each.

The other company, which also counted about 40 wagons, with its quota of persons, animals, etc., was in charge of Elder Ola N. Liljenquist, and Elder John Van Cott was placed as general leader of both companies, which broke camp at Florence, July 14, 1862. The first few days some difficulty was experienced, as the oxen, who were not used to Scandinavian orders and management, would often follow their own inclination to leave the road and run away with the wagons, but after some practice on the part of their inexperienced teamsters, the difficulty somewhat disappeared. The journey from Florence was via Elkhorn River, Loup Fork, Wood River, Willow Lake, Rattlesnake Creek, Fort Laramie, Upper Platte Bridge, Devil's Gate, South Pass, Green River, etc., to Salt Lake City, where the company safely arrived Sept. 23, 1862. . . ."

HSM, pp.162-65, 166-67

Tragedy for the Traveling Lars Peter Peterson Family

As they traveled from the seaport of Aalborg sailing south to Kiel, Germany, and then by train to Hamburg, their youngest daughter, Maren (age 6} became very ill. Maren died on 2 April 1862 while traveling to Hamburg. There was not enough time for her burial. Her father, Lars Peter Peterson, just had time to get a small casket built for her. Maren, in her casket, was part of the family luggage as they boarded the Good Ship Franklin. They set sail from Hamburg on 15 April 1862. It took a few days to get out of the Elbe River and out to the Atlantic Ocean. Once they were beyond the twelve mile limit, the burial at sea was done on 20 April 1862.

The 2013 Author Introduces Himself: George Vernon Peterson Jr. also Bud Peterson (1945-)

Since I was 17 years old, I have been collecting and gathering family history information and genealogy. After asking Mother lots of questions, she directed me to go to the west side of our Richfield City block and visit Mary Monson—Grandpa George Peterson’s first cousin. She is the daughter of Niels Peter Peterson who would be Grandpa George’s uncle. Mary Monson showed me old things that belonged to Lars Peter Peterson, her grandfather. She gave me copies of Pedigree Charts and Family Group Sheets that she had and I began my very own genealogy book—Book of Remembrance. When extended family members came to Richfield to visit, Mother arranged for me to get to talk and ask questions and they would often send me copies of documents when they got home. My freshman year at BYU, I spent the two-seek semester break of January 1965 in Salt Lake City, staying with my cousin Gary Sheets. Each weekday he would take me downtown where he worked and drop me off at the Utah Genealogical Society Library which is now called FamilySearch. The information that I learned about my ancestors in Denmark and about their places of birth, I took with me to Denmark when I served my mission there from June 1965 until December 1967. I received the most help during my first four months in Copenhagen. A member’s husband went daily to the national archives. I gave him information about Jens L. Peterson because I could not find the town of Lester Osta anywhere on the lsland of Laaland. But he found that it was Vester Ulslev and he found a Jens Pedersen who had emigrated to America in 1853, which corresponds with Mormon Pioneer time. The Book of Mormon was translated into Danish in 1850.

My father gave me a car when I returned from my mission on December 22, 1967. It was a white Volkwagen station wagon with two seats and a cargo hold behind them in place of a trunk. I got to drive it home from Salt Lake. My sweetheart, Julia Ann Magleby, got to ride with me. In fact we rescued a stranded motorist and wife and drove them into Nephi. Now I was an adult with a car in Utah Valley as I attended BYU. Now I got to make family genealogy visits Ila Christensen Toronto in Spanish Fork was one who her brother, Alten Christensen, recommended that I talk to. His comment was that since Ila was the girl in the Christensen Family that Grandma Annie Peterson raised after the death of their parents, she knew a lot more than he or his brothers did of the stories that their Grandma Peterson told to them. June Barton Bartholomew in Provo, on my father’s maternal side was also a great family genealogist who I visited with and got lots of information from. And also Elsie Christina Peterson Barker has been one of main presenters at several Lar Peter Peterson family reunions which I attended--one was at Lagoon. When I lived in Downey, Idaho, I made a nice visit with Elsie Christina Peterson Barker at her home in Logan. She was named after her grandmother who is buried in Mount Pleasant. She told me where that grave was and how the Spirit led her to find it. She also told at the Lars Peter Peterson Family Reunions how his name was changed from Christensen to Peterson by the immigration agent at Castle Gardens. She also told me the precious story of her sitting on Grandpa Lars Peter Peterson’s lap in Aunt Annie’s home on the corner of Third East and Center Street. She was sitting on his lap when he spoke the words, “Elsa,Elsa, mean care Elsa.” She looked at him and he had tears in his eyes and they were closed. She was six. She thought he was talking to her. Years later, she realized that her name reminded him of his sweetheart with the same name and he was thinking about how much he missed her and how much she had missed out. This happened about 1900 in Richfield.

I have called and talked with N. Marcus Peterson several times. He told me where he got the main account that Lars wrote about the family in Denmark and their long journey to Utah. I no longer have that account and do not know where to get another one. I was hoping that this was it that Pete Monson gave to my sisters in Richfield, but it is not. N. Marcus Peterson had a small ledger book used by Lars Peter Peterson for reckoning money. It listed entries on several pages; but one day he thumbed through all the pages not just the first ones. He found Lars Peter Peterson account or story written by him about their conversion and their long journey. It was in Danish and he got someone to translate it for him. He made copies and I ended up with one, but have since miss placed it and have added to my re-typed account all the stories that I have learned. Therefore the original has been lost. In trying to get another one, I called after N. Marcus Peterson had died so he could not help me. I learned from his wife the name of his son who received his father’s genealogy works. He did not know anything about the account that Lars Peter Peterson had written.

N. Marcus Peterson told me that after Lars Peter’s account had been translated, he gave the little ledger book to the LDS Historian’s Office. Back just a couple of years ago, my sister, Elaine Wayland, and her husband served an LDS Headquarters Mission. While there I asked Elaine to visit the LDS Historian’s Office to see if she could find Lars Peter’s ledger book and history in Danish. I would love to see his handwriting and see if I can read it. Elaine was not able to find anything out about the little ledger book originally belonging to Lars Peder Christensen, who would become Lars Peter Peterson in Utah. I have looked through Niels Peter Peterson’s Sketch of his Life. I think he copied a lot of his history from his father’s. He was only four years old during the trying journey to Zion. That is my main source in restoring the original history I got about Lars Peter Peterson from N. Marcus Peterson—his youngest grandson.

One of the stories that I recall hearing at one of the Lars Peter Peterson Family Reunions was that in the early days of Richfield, that he was the owner of the southeast corner of Richfield’s intersection of Center Street and Main Street—where the Young Block with its tower has stood for years. There he had a corral and barn and sheds behind his home. They had boarding for travelers and stables for their horses along with guestrooms in the home—a Richfield Inn for travelers. I wonder if this could be verified by looking at old property records of Richfield City.