Hyrum Christensen

Child 7 of 12

1865–1930 · 64 years

Hyrum Christensen was born December 28, 1865 in Moroni, Utah, the 7th child of Niels and Christiane Christensen. He married Mary Ellen Draper, daughter of Mary Howarth and William Draper, on February 6, 1887. The newly married couple made their home in Moroni, which had a short growing season and inadequate water supply, so that the crops were in constant danger of destruction. No more than half the farm land could be fully utilized. The economy was given a lift when coal was discovered in nearby mountains, but this eventually dwindled. Many people made use of the grazing potential in the Federal domain, which made a lot of people in Sanpete County rich. Eventually overgrazing destroyed watershed, and the Federal government stepped in and severely limited the amount of animals on the range. An era of well being and hoped-for prosperity was coming to an end when Hyrum and Mary Ellen were married. They had no land or animals but were able to build a small home on the hard-pan ridge in Moroni where they lived until their first child was born, and it became clear that they could not support a family on that ill-favored plot of ground. Accordingly, they moved to the orchard and garden spot at the base of the west mountain, a place called successively: “Pole Canyon,” “Lauritzes,” and “Jerusalem”.

There, they were able to sufficiently provide for themselves with flour, meat and vegetables for sustenance but little more. Lack of water prevented expansion. Then along about 1890, new land between the towns of Mt. Pleasant, Moroni, and Fountain Green came under cultivation by reason of a new canal project which was designed to catch the high-waters from the Wasatch Plateau.

Hyrum and Mary Ellen acquired 40 acres of this land, after which they sold out at Jerusalem and settled again in Moroni, in the “Duck Springs” section.

They subsequently lived at the Dry Bottom farm. Eventually Hyrum got into the sheep business, near the end of the era of free grazing, after the watersheds had been trampled and overgrazed almost to the point of destruction. No doubt it was knowledge of profits enjoyed in the past that caused Hyrum to take this opportunity and to buy a bigger and better home than they had owned before. It was also his dream to lay a foundation for more security for his children than he or his wife had ever enjoyed.

The family realized a period of great financial success during which time they were able to send their oldest son to study at University of Utah and also what is now BYU. Then an unseasonably late snowfall caused the death of all the sheep which had already been shorn. That episode was the financial ruin of the sheep business. Hyrum was compelled to let his big home go and take up farming again. He never declared bankruptcy and spent the rest of his life paying off his creditors.

While his wife Mary Ellen was still a young woman, she accidentally tipped a large cauldron of scalding water on her legs, causing deep burns from which she never fully recovered. In 1915, she was taken to the hospital to have them operated on, when a blood clot broke loose and she died while talking to Hyrum on the phone. She was 48 years old. This was a hard blow for her husband, who carried on alone until all the children, except the youngest, were able to care for themselves. He then married Linda Bradley Ford, who won the love and respect of all his children.

Hyrum was a big, robust looking man, but after a few years with the sheep he began to fail. His legs also gave him trouble. They were constantly swollen. He ascribed his ill health to bad diet and exposure while living on the desert with his sheep — no butter, eggs, milk, or vegetables. He died August 30, 1930, probably from heart trouble according to a statement of his eldest son who, himself, died of heart trouble.

Hyrum was always faithful in the Church. Prior to his death, while discussing what his descendants might think of him, speaking with his daughter, he said, “There are two things they can say about me: 1) I was morally clean, and 2) I was honest.”

He married three weeks and three days after his fourteen-year-old brother Joseph was buried.

All twelve children