Frederick around 1874.
With wife Abigail in their wagon.
Frederick with sons, including handsome Stewart Henry Thompson (far right).
Frederick and Lodicia Thompson
Probably written by his grand-daughter Gloria Foster
Grandfather, Frederick Christian Thompson was a Danish Sailor. His mother had told him to go to Utah and marry a Mormon girl. He joined the navy for four years or so, in order to do it. When he was in South America he was bitten by a scorpion. A native sucked the venom from his leg, then asked for whiskey. He drank some and suffered no harm from the bite.
When he was a kid in Denmark, he said they used to put their peas on a knife and suck them off the knife, running their knife from one side of their mouths to the other.
He said there were thousands of little black snakes there, and they would get in the houses. He was not afraid of them but played with them all the time.
He used to ice skate from Denmark to Sweden or Norway, because the North Sea froze over.
He would sing to his children in Danish. “Oh, Tannenbaum” was one. He also sang “Danskepagan” (Danish Maiden). When he married Abigail, she wanted only English in the home. His English improved, but he always had a Danish accent.
He had a farm in Cottonwood. He had a bar in Park City which burned when the city burned.
Left: Photograph of Frederick with sons. Top: About 1874.
Mother said he was a wonderful husband and father. (He payed tithing and ran a bar—figure that one out if you can. It must be said, though, that the Word of Wisdom was not emphasized before about 1920. A lot of the men still smoked and drank until then.)
When he came to Utah the church asked him to Americanize his name. It was “Thomsen” in Denmark.
*We have a copy of his original patriarchal blessing.
*More details on him are available in the writings of Keith Thompson, Grandson.
