She left Bullaren…
Hilda left Bullaren in 1867 and went to Norway, looking for work. She met Gustaf Carlsson from Gesäter in Dalsand in Fredrikshald. They married in 1873 in Norway. Gustaf was a shoemaker but Hilda’s parents were not too happy about their daughter’s choice of man and tried to stop the marriage. One of the reasons was that Gustaf was disabled since birth. But Hilda found Gustaf being a nice man and they married without her parents’ approval. Two children, Georg and Elisabeth, were born in Norway.
…became a Mormon…
During their stay in Norway, they became Mormons and were baptised in February 1874 along with Gustaf’s brother Carl. Carl decided to immigrate to Utah, where the church has its headquarter, and settled down in Elsinor. Hilda and Gustaf decided to follow and Hilda went with the children. There was probably not enough money for them all to go. Gustaf stayed in Norway another year and then joined his family.
…and moved to Utah
Gustaf and Hilda settled down in Manti, a small town south of Salt Lake City and Gustaf established a shoemaker’s workshop. Gustaf’s sister also came to Manti, got married and settled down. Hilda gave birth to four more children in Utah. The family moved to Salt Lake City in 1888. Gustaf opened a shoe shop and had four employed shoemakers working for him. Hilda and Gustaf’s last children, Frad, were born in April 1890. Five months later, Hilda and Frad suffered from diphtheria and died.

Hilda with one of her daughters

It was probably very hard for Gustaf to be left with the responsibility of six children after Hilda’s death. He was a very short-tempered person and when the children argued, he just threw them out the door and let the neighbours take care of them. Gustaf realised that he was not able to take care of the children so he sent them different ways. The two eldest girls, Elizabeth and Hilda, got jobs as domestic servants. George was sent to Mt. Pleasant to live with the Munson family, who had a large sheep farm. Joe stayed with the father and Dena was adopted by a family named Evans. Gustaf stayed in Salt Lake City and even though the family was broken up, he kept in contact with his children for the rest of his life. Gustaf died in Galesburg, Illinois in 1928.

The daughter Elizabeth’s (Lizzie) suicide

An article in a Salt Lake City paper in October 17, 1901:


“Lizzie Carlson, a young employee at the C B Markland family, committed suicide during the Wednesday evening while the family was at the theatre. The girl had been unwell for the last year and had suffered from severe kidney- and liver failure during the last couple of weeks. The pain had made her faint and she had not been able to keep any food for the last time.
When the family had left the house on the Wednesday evening, the girl had been left alone with a little boy. She put the boy to bed and went to her room. A neighbour claims that he heard a gun shot about half past nine, but did not found anything special looking out the window.
The family went straight to bed when they came home and did not found out before the next morning that the girl was dead. She was found lying in her bed, just as if she was sleeping. She held Mr Markland’s gun in her hand. There was a bullet hole in the girl’s chest and another one – the lethal one – in her temple. A third bullet had been fired and was later on found in the wall.
The man in the house immediately informed Judge Dana Smith and the undertaker Mr Evans. Judge Smith decided, after investigating the circumstances, that no further investigation was needed. The remnants were taken care of and the funeral is expected to take place tomorrow.
Miss Carlson was about 24 years old and had lived her whole life in the city. She was the daughter of G E Carlson, who had moved to Galesburg, Illinois a couple of years ago. She was also mourned by a sister and a brother, living in Salt Lake City.