Item Detail
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Christensen, Sarah Jane Bartholomew
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1876-1966
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MSS 326
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Biography
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Sarah Jane Bartholomew Christensen was born on September 8, 1876 to John Bartholomew and Eliza R. Metcalf in Fayette, Utah. As a child, she enjoyed community parties and dances as well as knitting and crocheting. During her early teens, Sarah's family bought their first organ on which Sarah learned to play. In the fall of 1891, Sarah began attending seminary in Gunnison and later attended Snow Academy in Ephraim. In the fall of 1893, Sarah went to study at Brigham Young University where she met Andrew B. Christensen. After Sarah and Andrew got engaged, Andrew was called on a mission to the southern states, but he was reassigned to be a principal for a new school in Kanab. Shortly after marrying on July 1, 1895 in the Manti Temple, Andrew and Sarah moved to Kanab. At the end of the school year, Sarah went home to be with her mother when her first child Adelbert was born, but she returned to Kanab in the fall. During the next fall, they moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan where their daughter Edythe was born. In 1901 Andrew and Sarah moved to St. George when Andrew was called to be principal of a new school. After Andrew left to attend the University of Berlin in 1903, Sarah went home to bear her second son Wendell. She later moved to Provo where she registered for some classes at BYU. Shortly thereafter, her son Aldelbert died, so Andrew returned home from Germany in December of 1904. They then moved to Salt Lake City where Sarah bore two more children: Sheldon and Elsie. In the spring of 1910, Sarah and her family started on a journey to Europe and made their first stop in Oxford. In the fall of 1910, they traveled to Denmark, Leipzig, and finally Germany where their son Luther was born. In September of 1911, they returned to Provo where Sarah bore Lucille. In the fall of 1914, they moved to Rexburg, Idaho when Andrew was called to be president of Ricks College. Three years later, they moved to La Verkin in southern Utah. In the fall of 1918, they moved again when Andrew was called to solve administrative problems at the Hinckley School in Millard County; here their youngest daughter Margaret was born, making a total of eight children. After a short time, they finally settled in Salt Lake City. Sarah was widowed by Andrew's death on December 17, 1931, so she began making temple clothing for a living. In the fall of 1936, she moved into her daughter Edythe and son-in-law Dr. Burtis F. Robbins's home. Later in life, Sarah visited her children and grandchildren as much as possible, traveling to California, Ohio, and New York City. Sarah died on April 23, 1966.
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This forty-one page typewritten biography of Sarah Jane Bartholomew Christensen was written by Ruby Kate Smith at the request of Sarah's daughter Edythe Christensen Robbins in 1955 and is found in the bound book entitled 'Pioneer Biographies' (Box 6, Folder 2). Also included is Sarah's obituary from The Salt Lake Tribune dated April 25, 1966.