ANNA CHRISTINA
LAUTENSCHLAGER ZUNDELL
Christina was born in
Hesse Darmstadt, Germany in 1811. She came to the United States with
her parents as a child. Her parents were affiliated with the Rapp
Society and they settled in Pennsylvania. She married John Zundell in
1832 in Beaver, Pennsylvania. She was nineteen years younger than her
husband. She and John, as were her parents and his parents, were all
members of the Rapp Society (the Harmony Society). The Rapp Society
was a communal living society but shortly after their marriage,
Christina and John withdrew from the society as did John’s brother
and two sisters.
John and Christina
learned about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the
fall of 1838 and were baptized in October of that year. It is
believed they traveled to Caldwell county, Missouri just as the
saints were being driven from that state. Christina was the mother of
thirteen children, four born in Pennsylvania (two dying in infancy)
one in Missouri, five born in Nauvoo (three more dying in infancy)
and the last three born in Council Bluffs, Iowa. They arrived in
Nauvoo with the early saints of 1839/1840 and lived there until 1846
when the saints were compelled in leave. Christina received her
patriarchal blessing at the hands of John Smith in 1845. She received
her endowments and was sealed to her husband in Dec 1845. After being
driven from Nauvoo, Christina and John lived in Iowa, arriving in
Utah 1 Oct 1852. John unexpectedly died just six weeks later and is
buried in Salt Lake City. At this time Christina’s two oldest sons
were age eighteen and sixteen. She had eight children between the
ages of eighteen and ten months. Her youngest son, William was only
ten months old when his father died but he was also blind. She had a
very difficult time raising her children. She lived in Grantsville,
Utah for three years, then moved to Ogden for almost two years, then
to Payson with other German and Swiss families where she thought she
could better herself.
In a history written by
her granddaughter, Julia Kockerhans Linford it states: “While
living in the Grantsville and Tooele area, food was scarce, and the
children gathered sego lily bulbs to supplement their scant diet.
While living near the Weber River, they gathered wild onions and
thistles for greens. During one three month period their diet
consisted of bran bread, wild onions and thistle greens. When
Johnston’s army came into Utah, Christina moved south to Payson.
She bought a lot and erected a log house with the help of her
children. This lot later belonged to the Orem Railroad, which
operated a line from Payson to Salt Lake.
Christina carded wool,
spun, and wove it into cloth on hand looms A Mr. Whitehead raised
some flax and Christina learned to soak it and beat it to take off
the outer layer, then she spun the tender fiber into a coarse linen thread, which was much in demand. Her daughters would take it from
house to house to sell. During the early years in Payson her sons
brought raspberries and wild currants from the mountains and grafted
them into willow trees that grew along the creek on their lot.
Christina loved flowers. The seeds were saved each year for planting,
among which were Sweet Williams and Snapdragons. All kinds of
vegetables were grown, including onions and leeks. Other foods were
homemade sausage, pickles, sauerkraut, apples and other kinds of
fruit butter.
Christina was a
God-fearing woman and always relied upon the Lord in her hours of
need. She relied upon the Book of Mormon. She lived with her son
William, taking care of him until she passed away in Payson at the
age of 90 years”.
History from Mary Crook Bursick
