Marian Johanna Larsson and John Johanson

Johanson/Cornwall
This entry relates to the Johanson/blood/DNA heritage of the Kent and Sue Cornwall Family Tree

The chart shows the Haigh/adopted linage of Mary Alice Johanson-Haigh Cornwall

The life story of Marian (Maria, Marion) Larsson and John Johanson is sketched in a 6 page letter* written in 1905 by Marian's only sibling, Justina Larsson Backland.  Half way through the letter Justina simply states,  "Mary Alice was born in Taylorsville 6 October 1891; the mother Marian died on 19 December 1891 and in the following spring the two younger girls were taken into the home of William H. Haigh for adoption."  Four of the Johanson children had died previous to this time in infancy.  Upon his wife's death, John was left with 6 children aged 16, 11, 9, 5, 1 1/2 and 2 months.  Mary Alice (Kent Cornwall's paternal grandmother) was raised by Mary Ann Harker and William Henry Haigh. Mary Alice's sister Phoebe, died four years after going to live with the Haigh's.

Mary Alice Johanson-Haigh Cornwall

The following life sketch is based on selections from Justina Backland's letter which documents John and Marian's life, conversion to the Mormon Church and Coming to Zion:  

"John Johanson was born 16 May 1834 at Trola Ljungby Kristianstad, Sweden (or Vanaberg).  His father, John Anderson, he never knew.  When he was six years old his mother married a Mans Tufvasson. When he was about nine years old his mother died.  He then lived with a neighbor of theirs and his grandmother, Bengta Rasmusson, for about six years.  At the age of fifteen he started to work at different odd jobs..." which took him back and forth several times from Denmark to Sweden working at brickyards and a brewery, also a dairy and stone cutting"... "even at the big dam near Kristianstad"...  He was working " at Alborg, Denmark, breaking rocks... where he first heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and met the first member of the Mormon Church – a lady who was rooming at the place where he was boarding."

John Johanson

"After conversing with this lady in Alborg, and having many arguments with her, he finally became interested and borrowed her books and tracts and studied the gospel.  He then went with this lady to a Mormon Conference and within two weeks, he was baptized on 14 June 1869...   Then the spirit of immigration gradually took possession of him so he remained in Alborg for a year in order to earn his fare to Utah.  He arrived at Salt Lake City, 11 August 1870"
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"John brought to Salt Lake City a little girl whose parents were living there and he stayed with them about two weeks.  Then they sent him up to Bear Lake to look for job.  He walked to Bear Lake from Salt Lake City with a pack on his back.  He found work on a farm... and worked ... that fall and winter for his board.  The next spring he walked back to Salt Lake City for April conference.  While at conference he heard of railroad work south of the city and went there and worked for two days.  Then he got work on the Brigham Young Canal and worked there for a few days."

Marian Larsson

"While working on the canal job he boarded with a Swedish family.  It was at this time and place that he met Miss Marion Larson who was doing some sewing for this family.  He was persuaded by this man to accompany Miss Larson home the next day.  The Swedish family lived at Holladay, so the next day he walked from there with her to her home at East Mill Creek.  He met her mother and step-father, Katrina and Alvah Alexander.  Mr. Alexander hired him as foreman on his farm.  Soon after that, on 4 September 1871, he married the daughter Marion Larson."


"Marion Larson, along with her mother [Katrina] and grandparents Nils and Martha Nilson, had been converted to Mormonism in Sweden.  Her father Johannes Larsson, rejected the gospel.  Katrina Nilson Larson, along with her sister Maria immigrated to America and Utah in 1866; crossing the plains with one of the hand-cart companies.  (While crossing the plains Maria, was captured by Indians and never seen again.)"

"Katrina Larson had left her husband and daughters Marian and Justine in Sweden.  But in 1869 the eldest of the daughters, Marian, was permitted to join her mother, and journeyed to Utah with her grandparents.  They entered Utah in the year of the completion of the transcontinental railroad (1869).  Katrina was recruited to be a cook at a sawmill operated by Alvah Alexander, being hired from the Immigration Station upon her arrival in Utah.  She later married Alexander and they became the parents of four children: Julia, Joseph, Pheobe [the recipient of this letter], and Charles Oscar. Marian lived with her mother and step-father in their East Mill Creek home, and it was while she was residing there that she met and was married to John Johanson."


"John and Marian lived on the Alexander farm for some time." When the United Order was introduced they sold the farm and moved southeast of Sugarhouse.  They lived in the Order for about two years then moved to a farm in Salt Lake City, belonging to George Q. Cannon, then back to East Mill Creek, then up north to Huntsville then back to East Mill Creek to recover from a bad slip on a snowy log.  "When fully recovered from this trouble, they moved out to President John Taylor’s farm at South Jordan", then to Vernal, Utah.  From there they moved to a one hundred and sixty acre farm on Green River.  After three years they moved back to East Mill Creek.  "In the spring of 1887 they moved over to Taylorsville and leased a farm of 60 acres.  They lived there for nine years...  Mary Alice was born in Taylorsville 6 October 1891; the mother Marian died on 19 December 1891 and in the following spring the two younger girls were taken into the home of William H. Haigh for adoption. 


"On March 1892 John married Signal H. Hansen Anderson, who had one son, Anders Peter.  All went well for three or four years (except for a fall from a hay wagon which laid him up for some weeks).  In the fall on 1894 John...  went up to Bear River valley and bought 20 acres of land ...  They made Bear River their home for twenty-five years."

"John Johanson had been personally acquainted with all the Presidents of the Church except the Prophet Joseph Smith.  His testimony since he joined the Church had always been strong in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  When his wife [Singal] died he moved to Idaho where on 4 March 1930 [in Rexburg] he died at the age of 96 and was buried at Ellwood, Utah his old home.  His health was fairly good and he was mentally alert until the end."


* To see a copy of the handwritten letter by Justina Larsson - Click Here .  Please note, for some reason the page labeled  "6 of 6" is the first page of the letter