Bernard Niels Christensen was born on October 3, 1876 to Niels Christensen and Phoebe Adelaide Chipman at the home of Stephen Chipman, Phoebe’s parents. This home is located at 13 North Merchant Street in American Fork. Bernard was named and blessed on December 7, 1876 by Bishop Leonard E. Harrington.
During Bernard’s early years the street known today as Center Street was then called Water Street. Its name came from the fact that an open canal ran down the middle of the street from about First North to Second South. At this point the canal ran to the west to Spring Creek. This water was used for irrigation and stock watering. One morning as Bernard’s father was leading his horses to the canal for watering with Bernard on the back of one of the horses, the horse shied causing Bernard to fall and strike his head on a rock. The scar remained with Bernard the rest of his life.
Bernard attended the Central School when old enough. The school was a big adobe building which served as the school, the church, the dance hall, and the jail. The jail was a dungeon in the basement.
In the winter season, the water in the canal often flooded and froze. Bernard was anxious for some ice skates. His uncle, Stephen Davis Chipman, promised to lend him a pair if Bernard would feed his livestock for a month. Having done this, Bernard received a pair of dull and rusty skates but he was delighted. He would skate up the canal and then walk up the steps to school with his skates on waiting to return home. His love of skating was to last the rest of his life. His mother had told him that he would be a great skater if he observed the Sabbath. One Sunday, Bernard decided to go skating but knowing his mother’s feelings, he slipped his skates out of the bedroom window and then walked out the door. He picked up his skates and started for Utah Lake. Along the way, his conscience and love for his mother made him return home. His children and grandchildren attest to the fact that he did become a great skater as well as speed skater.
One cold winter night Bernard was responsible for saving many boys from drowning in the cold lake. A group of boys from American Fork decided to go skating on the lake before if was sufficiently frozen. Two boys decided to skate out on the lake even though the ice was thin. One of the boys broke through into the icy water. The other boy skated near him and tried to pull him out by throwing his coat towards the boy. Then the ice broke under the second boy . Bernard was the oldest in the group and he ordered the others to stay away. Bernard then skated to shore for a pole to get the boys out. The two boys in the water got excited and started thrashing around and drowned before Bernard could get to them. However, by warning the other boys to stay back Bernard prevented the loss of additional lives.
Bernard was baptized a member of the Church on November 6, 1884.
Bernard was unable to start school in the fall because there were few field fences and the livestock had to be herded until the crops were gathered and the fields declared open. Several of the boys would go together with their cattle and stock horses. After the crops were harvested, Bernard ‘s father would go to the west hill country for fuel wood. Bernard would often accompany his father. One morning, they were hurrying along the winding road that led through the sagebrush toward the Tickville Wash. Both father and son were walking to spare the horses an unnecessary burden. Bernard had been warned not to get behind, but he lagged behind. Bernard’s father looked anxiously back several times but kept moving on with the team. Suddenly Bernard realized that he was far behind and alone in the wilds. He began running and crying and finally caught the wagon. His father stopped long enough to give him a spanking before going on.
On another trip for wood, Bernard’s father selected a young maple curving out from a hillside. He cut the sapling to the right length and then split it down the middle and fashioned sled runners for Bernard. Spokes came from a buggy wheel and it was the strongest and easiest-drawn sled in town. The boys loved to hitch their sleds to the horse-drawn bobsleighs.
The summer of 1890 when Bernard was fourteen he rode into Salt Lake City on a load of hay with his father. Bernard’s father allowed his son to see the town while the hay was being sold and delivered. When Bernard returned to Market Square that evening he informed his father that he had taken a job in a printer’s shop and was starting work the next morning. After some serious consideration, Bernard’s father determined to allow him to stay and work for the printer. Bernard was paid at a rate of one dollar per week which he gave to his Aunt Blanche for his board. The printer was sorry when Bernard decided to leave his employ a month later. Bernard then went to work for the Holts in Parley’s Canyon. Toward autumn, Bernard became very homesick. He went down to Market Square in Salt Lake City where he found some teamsters from American Fork. He caught a ride home. He had been out in the sun so much that summer that his skin was deeply tanned. When he climbed through the pole fence and walked down through the lot, one of his sisters said, “Look, Mamma, here comes a little Indian.” Bernard’s mother was delighted when he handed her his entire savings of $29.00.
On October 2, 1890, Bernard’s sister, Phoebe Helen, died suddenly at the age of sixteen. Bernard’s grieving was dispelled because of a dream wherein he stood with Helen at the foot of the bed where her body lay and Helen told him they would meet again and it would not seem long.
When Bernard returned to school again, he began to realize that his progress had been slow. He therefore resolved to try elsewhere for his education. He applied for membership in the Presbyterian school held at the Presbyterian church. Because the tuition was one dollar and Bernard had no money, he asked the schoolmaster if he could work the tuition off. The schoolmaster agreed and allowed Bernard to come an hour early in the mornings to build the fires, sweep, dust, and ring the bell in the belfry. The rate of pay was five cents per week for twenty weeks. The quality of the schooling was much better there and Bernard was pleased. The Presbyterian church still stands on First East about half a block north of Main.
During the summers of 1891 and 1892 Bernard worked for John W. Young and Company. The Young firm was building the Saltair Railroad. Bernard’s chief duties were that of cook’s helper and water boy.
On July 14, 1894 Bernard was riding his little black mare on his way to Utah Lake to go for a swim when he met his mother coming out of a neighbor’s gate. She greeted him with a smile and turned and went up the street as Bernard watched her go. He had a strong urge to go with her but turned his horse south and went for his swim. When he returned home he found a crowd of people in front of the family home – Bernard’s mother was dying. Earlier in the day, his mother had sung with the choir at a funeral and she had fallen unconscious, probably the result of a massive cerebral hemorrhage. Bernard’s uncle, Washburn Chipman (older half-brother to his mother) paid the funeral expenses and helped in many other ways. Bernard remembered this kindness when thirty-five years later Washburn’s daughter needed help at harvest time. Bernard was ever aware of the gratitude he owed his uncle. After the death of his mother, Bernard felt that his duty was at home. His younger siblings needed his help and this deep loyalty and love was instilled amongst them.
In the fall of 1896 Bernard told his father that he was going to get a job at the sugar factory in Lehi. His father said, “Oh you can’t get a job, they are not even hiring married men.” Bernard was a man of no small determination. For the next seventeen days, he was at the factory twice each day. On the morning of the seventeenth day, someone was ill and Bernard was hired. The shifts at the sugar mill were twelve hours long and the rate of pay was $1.75 per shift. The first day he worked in the pulp silos. Later he worked at the sugar spinners. One morning after an argument with an overbearing foreman, Bernard walked out of the mill. As he was about to leave the mill grounds, the superintendent came hurrying after him and requested that he stay. The superintendent gave Bernard a job as a foreman over a gang of men who were laying a pipeline.
While Bernard was working for the sugar company, he received a call to go to the Southern States Mission. He explained to his bishop that he could not go at that time and asked if his mission could be deferred for a year or two. That winter Bernard took a six-week missionary course at the Brigham Young Academy in Provo. Between seasons at the sugar mill, he helped his father and his Uncle Washburn Chipman. He also spent two quarters at the University of Utah. During this time he played on the American Fork town baseball team. One day amongst those watching was a young lady named Maud Driggs. They were introduced and the beginnings of a romance ensued.
During the fall of 1900 Bernard worked in the American Fork Canyon helping to build the pipeline that delivered the water to the generators at the power plant at the mouth of the canyon. The pipeline was finished about the first of December. With the completion of that project, electric lights were turned on in American Fork for the first time.
In 1900 Bernard went back to his bishop and told him he was now ready to serve a mission. Bernard then went to Maud and told her their marriage would have to wait until after he returned from his mission to New Zealand. On December 6, 1900, Bernard bade farewell to his family and friends who had gathered at the train depot in American Fork to wish him well. Maud and Bernard’s sister, Mable, accompanied him as far as Ogden.
On December 7, 1900, Bernard was ordained a Seventy and set apart as a missionary by President J. Golden Kimball of the First Council of the Seventy. The train then took him to Ogden and then west to San Francisco. He spent two days there then sailed on December 12, 1900 for Honolulu, Hawaii. From there they sailed through the South Pacific and arrived in the Samoan Islands on December 28th and finally arrived in New Zealand on January 4, 1901. Bernard labored diligently on his mission for nearly three years and returned to American Fork on August 9, 1903.
Bernard labored diligently on his mission. His journal tells of his work among the Europeans and the generous hospitality of the Maoris. The warmth and hospitality of these Polynesian people were in marked contrast to the coolness and indifference of the white settlers. The spiritual strength which Bernard acquired during this prolonged period of personal discipline and sacrifice, prepared him for a life of service in positions of influence and trust.
In the fall of 1903 Bernard left American Fork to work for the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company in Idaho Falls. Maud Driggs also moved to Rexburg where she had accepted a teaching position at Ricks Academy – only thirty miles from Idaho Falls. On September 14, 1904, Bernard Niels Christensen married Maud Rosalie Driggs in the Salt Lake Temple. They lived the first months of their marriage in Sugar City, Idaho.
In 1905, Bernard began work with the National Tea Company as a salesman in the Utah mining towns of Eureka, Silver City, and Mammoth. His brother-in-law (Mable’s husband Edward Reese) was a principal partner in that business. Bernard’s‘ integrity and hard work earned him a great clientele in the area. One night the sheriff of Eureka asked Bernard to take $300 in gold out of the area. Bernard was very anxious about the possibility of foul play. Therefore, as night fell, Bernard put the gold in his shoes and, hiking along the railroad tracks, quietly slipped out of town. An electrical storm that night proved to be a blessing in disguise. When the lightning would flash, he would check the tracks ahead and therefore was able to travel safely.
Bernard built a home for his family during the years of 1911 and 1912. He had purchased the Hans Christensen home from his father and uncle with the thought of remodeling it. However, after consulting an architect, it was determined to tear the structure down and use materials from it to build a modern home. That decision was met with some opposition. It was an enormous job. Bernard worked from 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. tearing down the old house and building his new home. His brothers and father assisted in the project. In addition to the razing of the “Big House,” Bernard moved the granary which stood behind it to the lot in back of his own home.
At this time Bernard also began developing a fine herd of Jersey milk cows.
Bernard then ran for and became a Utah County Commissioner. One of the public works projects undertaken while Bernard was county commissioner was the construction of a road in the American Fork Canyon. Bernard wanted the spectacular canyon accessible to families for camping and other recreational purposes.
Another incident which occurred during Bernard’s term as a commissioner is revealing of Bernard’s character. An American Fork City ordinance prohibited the operation of saloons with the city limits. A group of unscrupulous men had been operating a saloon in a building north of the Chipman Mercantile and Boley Building. Bernard’s cousin, Stephen L. Chipman, in his capacity as president of the Alpine Stake said the ordinance should be enforced and the law obeyed. In response, an agent of the lawless detonated a bomb under the window of the Stephen L. Chipman home. The American Fork marshal and the city administrators were afraid to act. Bernard determined the law would be enforced. He made arrangements to do so with the Utah County sheriff. Early one morning, the sheriff and his deputies arrived in American Fork. Bernard went with them to the saloon. The sheriff and his men, guns drawn and armed with the necessary legal documents went into the saloon. The sheriff ordered them out in the name of the law. The morning was spent carrying the gaming tables and liquor bottles and kegs into the street where they were destroyed and burned. Bernard had displayed the courage which had been lacking in the city officials.
About the time Bernard left the Utah County Commissioner’s office, he began working for the American Fork Branch of the Consolidated Wagon and Machine Company. The firm had farm machinery outlets in Utah and Idaho. The company headquarters were in Salt Lake City at approximately 150 South State Street. In his first years with Con Wagon, Bernard solicited business using a horse and buggy for transportation. During this period he also served as a member of the Alpine Stake Sunday School Board. The Alpine Stake then included the area from Cedar Valley on the west to Lindon on the east. Although it was a lengthy buggy ride from American Fork to Cedar Fort, Bernard would rise early and drive there in time for Sunday School. In the winter season he placed heated bricks on the buggy floor to keep his feet from freezing. Near the end of 1917 Bernard was called to the Alpine Stake High Council. He served continuously in this assignment until his death on January 21, 1940. He also continued to do some farming although his father was the mainstay on the farm.
During the years that he managed the Con Wagon, Bernard also continued to operate his dairy. He arranged to ship cream daily to the Finch and Rogers Café in Salt Lake City. The cream had to be delivered to the Orem Electric train depot on Main Street in American Fork where the café would send a man to meet that train each morning. There was no refrigeration on the train, so the cream had to be cold when it was shipped and also when it arrived. Bernard’s son, Clare, was in charge of that three-gallon can delivery each day. The Orem Electric train tracks disappeared following WWII but the depot building still stands at 67 West Main Street. Bernard’s sales territory for Con Wagon reached from Fairfield and Cedar Fort on the west to Lindon and Vineyard on the east. He made his calls using a Ford Model T.
Another activity Bernard was involved with was the exploration of Timpanogos Cave. Bernard , with a group of men, acted as an exploratory committee for additional caves within the Timpanogos Cave area. The first cave, Hansen Cave, had been vandalized earlier but two additional caves were still untouched. Using kerosene lanterns and binder twine, the group went into the cave. The twine was used as a road map back out. The interior rooms or caverns of these deep limestone caves were dark and had narrow passages. A financial committee was eventually founded with Bernard and his friends acting as members. These local leaders were determined to protect the new discoveries and did so until in 1922 Timpanogos Cave was made a National Monument. His love for Mount Timpanogos would last throughout his life, Bernard loved to hike to the top several times each summer; once with President Heber J. Grant.
Bernard left his position at the Con Wagon in 1924 to pursue farming full time. He helped organize the Utah Poultry Growers Association as a farm cooperative. One of their products was “Utah milk-white eggs.” The Intermountain Farmers is the remnant of this organization.
Bernard also loved to hunt. One October 3rd, early in the morning, he went to the lake shore duck hunting. Because it was a cold and drizzly day, he had not seen any ducks. Just as he decided to abandon his hunting, he saw three mallards winging towards him. He watched them intently and as they circled to make a landing, they were all in a line. He fired once and all three ducks tumbled out of the sky. Bernard came home a happy hunter and his wife, Maud, cooked a lovely duck dinner for his birthday.
On January 21, 1940, Bernard died. The death was unexpected and shocking to the family though he had mentioned that he wasn’t feeling well before he went to bed.
Bernard was buried on January 24, 1940 in the American Fork Cemetery.
Compiled and edited by Ruth H. Barker
Sources: The Christensen Family of Soro, Denmark and American Fork, Utah, USA by Allen C. Christensen, 1994