Gunder Eriksen BERG [Parents] 1 was born 2 on 27 May 1827 in Trondheim, Nord Trøndelag, Norge. He died on 25 Jun 1891 in Logan, Cache, Utah, USA. Gunder married Ellen JACOBSEN on 29 Jun 1853.
B Norwegian LDS Branch Recds FHL 17,632. June 1880 Census: Logan, UT.
M A previous date listed as 11 Jun 1844.
D There was a question mark by Logan, UT.RESIDENCE: Moved 1855 to Strinda, Trondelag, Norway. Moved 1855 to Strinda, Trondelag, Norway.]
History from http://jenibw.tripod.com/jensen/id27.html:
Gunder Erikesen Berg was a poor carpenter whose ancestors lived in Trondheim, Norway for some generations before him, as we as in Trepil - a small island town a few miles from the Swedish border. Gunder and his wife Ellen Jacobsen were living in a small two-family dwelling in Trondheim when they heard the hymn :Oh My Father" being sung in the neighboring apartment. Asking about the song, they found Mormon Elder's next door. Soon they were studying about the gospel and were baptized by Elders Antone Schankym the same elder who converted the Widtsoe family.
Gunder set about to save for the expense of the trip across the ocean to America and Utah. The trip was paid for by the profits gained by Gunder from building a house and selling it.
The Gunder Eriksen family - he and his wife Ellen and their children Anna, John Edward, Amelia (Emelia), Bertina, and Cornelious went to Bergen to embark about 1876 or 77. They left one child buried in Trondheim the first Amelia who died as an infant.
It is believed that they adopted the name of Berg aboard the ship before departure. They believed as a group that Scandanavian surnames such as Eriksen, Olsen, etc. were too common for proper identification. Other opinions hold that fathers adopted the name of the form from which they came or their port of embarkation.
The ship was a sailing vessel, a freighter making its last voyage before it bowed out because of the emergence of the steam ships. Apparently it was not sea- worthy. They ran into a great storm and although the ships captain was not a Mormon himself, he claimed, the old hulk would have sunk had there not been Mormons aboard.It was to be last voyage of the ship - and it was. The vessel sank in mid - ocean on its return trip.
While they were aboard the ship the twins, Bertins and Cornelious, discovered a number of cracker barrels in the hold. They thought they were strange thing that they had never seen before and decided to take some. Cornelious was wearing knickers with the band below the knee. They filled the knickers with crackers and went out on deck. They had gone only a few feet when the button on the band broke, and the crackers fell around Cornelious's ankles.
They finally debarked in New York. John Edward, who was about twelve years old, spied some tomatoes being sold in the street. They had never seen tomatoes before. Most of the Europeans called them love apples. They believed they were poisonous. John Edward declared he was going to buy one and eat it. His family frantically warned him with their hands up that he would die if he ate one. He ate it anyway - and lived for many more years.
The family crossed the states by train and settled in Plain City, Weber County - near Ogden - in 1877. After about a year, they moved to Logan, where they began to build a home. Winter came before the basement was even cemented. It was only boarded. The house was located between two canals. When the canals froze over water began to seep into the basement. On Christmas the basement was really flooded. The older members of the family waded, but Cornelious and Bertins used an old tub for transportation, sometimes paddling themselves, sometimes being pushed by John Edward (Eddy).
