There are new things popping up all the time it seems. Judith Moss recently discovered the following that should be of interest for descendants of Jennie Jameson Naegle Biesinger, the photo below has double interest: It includes both George C. Naegle (her first husband) and also Thomas Biesinger (the father of her second husband, T. K. Biesinger – she and T.K. served two missions for the LDS Church together, in Texas-Louisiana and Hawaii).
Born in 1844, Thomas Biesinger was 15 years older than George C. Naegle, although both were serving missions at the same time. According to Wikipedia, Biesinger was called to serve a mission in Austria-Hungary and became the first Mormon missionary to preach in the present-day Czech Republic and Hungary. Arrested in Prague during his mission, he spent 38 days in prison, and was then tried and found guilty of canvassing as a missionary for a sect not approved of by the state and sentenced to 30 days imprisonment at hard labor and a fine of 30 guldens. After his release from prison, Biesinger again met one of the men who had testified against him at his trial, and baptized him into the LDS Church.
Wikipedia also notes that Biesinger preached in Switzerland from August to December 1884; this was the period when the photograph was taken. In 1928, at the age of 84, Biesinger travelled to Czechoslovakia as a missionary and obtained legal permission for the LDS Church to operate in that country. by Judith Moss
Monday, May 26, 2014
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Swiss German Missionary Conference 1884 by Paul-Anthon Nielson
Always searching for more information about George Conrad
and his life and I discovered this portrait was taken in the photograph studio
of Moritz Emil Vollenweider (d. 1899) and his son, Emil Vollenweider
(1849-1921), at Postgasse 68 in the city of Bern on 24 December 1884. A
conference of the missionaries serving in the Swiss-German Mission of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) convened in the Hotel
Emmentalerhof in Bern on 20 December 1884 under the leadership of European
Mision President John Henry Smith (1848-1911), a member of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles (since 1880).
 |
George Conrad Naegle second row third man to the right. |
On that same day, David Kunz wrote in his diary: “[… on the
morning of December 20th,] walked [from Niederstocken] to Thun. Got on the
train to Bern. My brother, John, joined me at the station at Thun. As we
arrived in Bern [at the mission office at] 36 Postgasse, we found Apostle John
Henry Smith and several of the Elders there. At 5 P.M. a Priesthood meeting was
appointed where all the elders that were present were called upon to speak
their feelings. Afterwards Apostle Smith spoke to us for about two hours and
gave us some extra good council and told us how to go on and fulfill our
duties.
It was really a time of rejoicing for the elders to meet
again and hear words spoken by one of the Twelve Apostles. I and three more of
the Elders went to Brother [John] Teuscher’s to sleep. John Kunz III’s account
of that day is somewhat similar: “[…] took train to Bern and there the first
Thing we knew met President John Henry Smith one of the twelve Apostels, being
then President over the European Mission. And we all had a good blessed time
for in the same evning Dec. 20 we had a Priesthood Meeting in the English
Languge and all spocke in turns and President Smith give us most exellent
Instructions so that we thought we should never forget them it lasted until 11
p.m.”
Three sessions were held on Sunday, December 21, 1884, at 10
a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. On Monday, the 22nd, general sessions were held at 10
a.m. and 2 p.m.; a conference of the Relief Society was held at 7:30 p.m. that
same evening. John Kunz commented that “The whole of the Conference was a
decided Success, we received lots of good Teachings and the Spirit of God was
there, we all felt to rejoice and to thank God for his Mercy and Blessings.” In
his diary entry on Tuesday, John Kunz wrote: “Dec. 23 was spent in having a Jolly
time counseled all the Time by John Henry. In the Evning we gathered in the
Capacity of a Sonday School Meeting around a nice Christmus tree full of nice
Gifts for the little ones. They done so remarkably well that President Smith
give each of the Boys who Prayed by opening and dismissing a franc, or twenty
cents in U.S. Moneys worth.” On Wednesday, Christmas Eve day, David Kunz
commented: “Had our breakfast there [in the Hotel Emmentalerhof] in the morning
and went down to [the mission office at] 36 Postgasse. About 11 A.M. all the
elders, 14 in number, and Apostle John H. Smith went to Vollenweider’s Gallery
to have our likeness’ taken all in one picture.
As all 15 of us were placed, we were taken once and Mr.
Vollenweider told us to remain in our places. We did so for to be taken again,
but before it could be taken again I fainted and fell to the floor. The
brethren lifted me up and after a few minutes I came to my senses again and was
placed on a chair among the others and our picture was taken. I spent the rest
of that day in the office, also that night I stayed there.” John’s account of
the experience is similar: “Dec. 24 was resolved by all of the Elders from Zion
15 to have each a Group Picture of all of the 15. We contracted and as we where
about to be taken David my Brother fainted a dead faint, we doubted whether he
would come again, but finely he got so we could take them, but later Experience
learned us they where a failure. David I transported to the Officce and got
Sister [Bertha Kunz] Pluess to care for him and went according to apointment in
the Emmenthaler Hof to a Christmus Dinner where 14 of us had a good Time with
an American Plum Pudding, allthough I missed my Brother very much and returned
sooner and found him a great deal improved.
On Christmas day, December 25th, John Kunz III wrote: “a
good many of the Brethren left to their diferent fields of Labor and here I
must state that my Brother David was appointed President of Central Swiss
Conference and myself as such of the Bern conference.” He continued: “Dec. 26,
1884 left Bern and also took leave of my Brother who was told to stay untill
more improoved in his health, this Occasion was a new trial and a hard one to
me, but as I had resolved to Labor and do whatever the Servants of God placed
over me, would advise and apoint me to do, I left all though cryeing and
praying, changing untill my head and eyes requested some stop about it.” This
photograph is the second shot. Front row, left to right: David Kunz
(1855-1916), Assistant Mission Secretary Louis Frederick Moench Sr.
(1846-1916), European Mission President John Henry Smith (1848-1911),
Swiss-German Mission President Frederick William Schoenfeld II (1831-1918),
Mission Secretary Joseph Albert Smith (1844-1926), Thomas Biesinger (1844-1931)
and Conrad Vaterlaus III (1835-1917); back row, left to right: Gottlieb Hirschi
(1837-1900), Gottfried Fuhriman (1859-1920), George Conrad Naegle (1860-1935),
John Kunz III (1844-1918), Jacob Hafen (1836-1917), Jacob Arnold Bigler
(1849-1916), Francis (Fred) Marion Lyman Jr. (1863-1957) and John Rudolf
Boshard (1856-1928). Information and
Identification by Paul-Anthon Nielson kupan@bluewin.ch
Thursday, May 1, 2014
During the years that George C. Naegle presided in the LDS Swiss and German Mission
During the years that
George C. Naegle presided in the LDS Swiss and German Mission, he published
numerous articles and reports in the Church’s long-lived (1869-2000) German
journal Der Stern, starting with his “introduction” (issue of May 1, 1894) and ending with his farewell
(issue of January 1, 1897). The farewell
letter was translated in 2013 by Kenneth Kronenberg, independent translator,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
 |
| President George C Naegle standing behind his wife Sabra while serving in the LDS Swiss German Mission. |
This farewell letter
reflects George’s practice of marking a special day or time with verse – the
four lines at the end clearly rhyme in the original German. This letter’s point of view is different from
that of the “introduction” letter, with somewhat more expression of “we” and the
added signature of Sabra Naegle.
(Der Stern has been
digitized and can be accessed – in German -- on line.)
Dear
missionaries, brothers and sisters, and friends of the Swiss and German
mission:
As we have been called back to Zion,
and having received our honorable release from President Wells in Liverpool, it
is with joy that I take up the pen to dedicate a few words upon our departure
and bid a heartfelt farewell.
 |
| George C and Sabra Naegle |
In this sad position, I received a
telegram from President Woodruff on January 4, 1894 containing the surprising
news that I was to take up a mission in Germany. This truly tested us because
we were far from our homeland, and I was to leave my wife in a weakened state
of health in her disconsolate condition. But then I said, it is a call from
God's prophet, and I will go. We immediately traveled to Salt Lake City, where
the first presidency of the church decided that I was to assume the presidency
of this mission, and that my wife was to accompany me. Three days later, on
January 24, 1894, we departed . . . and reached Bern on February 16. I began my
work . . . and the presidency of the mission was transferred to me 3 months
later.
The success of our work is recorded
in heaven and well-known among our brothers and sisters in this mission. If we
achieved something to promote the work of God in these countries, we feel the
need to honor God for it and thank him from the bottom of our hearts for the
fatherly blessings and support from him that we have enjoyed.
[Here George
expresses specific thanks to a listing of mission staff, missionaries and
members, European Mission officers and staff, and others named, then continues
with comments to missionaries, Church members, and others interested in the
Church.]
Dear missionaries! You have done a
noble work; continue to carry your divine message to the people. This time is
the Lord's time; do not misuse it. Gather your courage and pray for strength
from above to fulfill your blessed missions, and when you do and persevere
steadfastly to the end, you will be counted among the 144,000 who will one day
stand as redeemers upon the mountain of Zion.
Dear brothers and sisters! Be joyous
and trust that your cause is righteous. Remain pure and unsullied by the sins
of the world. Be honest, steadfast, and faithful; pay your tithes, pay your
debts, and be blessed. Fulfill your duties completely and wholly so that you
may enjoy the blessings of God completely and wholly. Support the elders;
listen to their suggestions because they are servants of God and care about
your welfare and salvation.
Dear friends! I urge you to examine
our message thoroughly because I bear witness in the name of Jesus Christ that
God has again spoken from heaven, and as surely as Christ is his son and the
Redeemer of the world, so truly is Joseph Smith his prophet, and this, the
Church of Latter Day Saints, is the church of the Lamb of God and the only one
on earth with apostles, prophets, etc., and the perfect organization as it
existed in the original church, and we invite you to become members of same and
citizens of the Kingdom of God.
Now at the conclusion of our
mission, we for the third time experienced a wonderful conference at Christmas
in Winterthur. "All good things come in three." Perhaps I will take
up a mission for the third time. Gladly, if God calls me again and I can say
that I would not rather be anywhere else but on a mission to Switzerland and
Germany.
Now
the time and hour have come for us to return to America.
Joyously,
we leave the federal city of Bern,
And
return to Zion in the name of the Lord,
I
bid you a fond farewell and hope to see you again
If
not on earth then surely in heaven.
Your
departing brother and sister
Geo.
C and Sabra Naegle
Bern,
Archivstrasse 20, January 1, 1897
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
Finding George
In a quest to discover more about George, contact was made
with Cherrie Naegle who still lives in Toquerville Utah where the Naegle family
had homesteaded. She has dedicated much of her life to gathering and preserving
the history of the family as well as the cities in the surrounding area. She started with publishing a history on John
C Naegle George’s father, and when I contacted her she was very willing to
share the following information and photos about this son George. Some of it we’d
already heard, but we were always hopeful that more details could be found.
George Conrad Naegle was born October 1, 1860 to John Conrad
Naegle and Rosanna Zimmerman in Lehi, Utah. A brother, Heber, was added to the
family in 1864 and his grandmother Julianna Zimmerman passed away in Lehi.
In 1864 his father, John Conrad Naegle was called to settle
in the “Dixie Mission” and in 1865 when George was four years old his father
moved Rosanna’s family to Beaver.
In Beaver “Father Naegle found pasture for his growing herds
of cattle and bands of horses, and an excellent garden spot to produce food for
the rapidly increasing family. But the
stay at Beaver was short-lived.[1] “The
family lived there two years then moved back to Lehi.”[2]
About this time his grandfather and namesake, George Gottlob
Zimmerman, passed away. It was in Lehi
that George was baptized by his father.
George “spent his early years there with a garden and
orchard to be looked after and animals to be cared for. No doubt he was often at Warren Spring Ranch
(or Hot Spring now Saratoga) where his father had most of his cattle and
horses.
As the large family of which he was a member was very strict
in religious observance, he had solid training in the principles of the Gospel,
but little, if any, formal education.
The father, busy with projects for developing the fast-growing empire of
Utah, apparently did not sense the need for it.
Another brother,
Reuben Jacob, was added to the family in 1869, and a sister Rosanna in 1872
while their father was in Germany serving a mission. George must have spent
time in Toquerville while his father was away as it is recorded he was ordained
a Deacon in the early 1870’s in Toquerville.
Shortly after his father, John Conrad Naegle, returned from
his mission in 1874, part of the family again lived in Beaver Utah, but his
mother, Rosanna, was in Lehi for the birth of his last brother, James Zimmerman
Naegle, in 1875. father was ranching on
the Buckskin Mountains prior to September 1869, and in 1874 George undoubtedly
participated in an “all night cattle drive from Corn Creek through Baker’s
Canyon into Dog Valley” and to the Buckskin Ranch, which was remembered by his brother
Heber.
His father John Conrad Naegle “ made all decisions for all
the family, did all the planning, controlled all activities. (Their home) was a strictly patriarchal home
and George Conrad, the oldest son, was his (father’s) right-hand lieutenant. ”
Following the birth of James his father moved his mother,
Rosanna, and his siblings to New Harmony.
John C. also had several wives living in Toquerville through these
years, Aunt Regula, Aunt Verena, Aunt Pauline and Aunt Rosalia.
George probably lived with one of them when
his father needed his help in Toquerville.
George recorded that “there was no distinction between the children of
different families. We always considered
and spoke of each other as brothers and sisters as though they were our very
own and felt as much at home in the other homes as in our own.” At any rate he
met Miss Sarah Higbee of Toquerville and it was there he was ordained an
Elder. Sarah was a daughter of John S.
Higbee and Anna Grander. The couple was
married in the St. George Temple February 18, 1880.
In July 1881 Sarah bore him a daughter, Rose Ann, but she
only lived a few days.
The responsibility of marriage “made him definitely aware of
his lack of education. George determined
to correct an embarrassing situation.
His father readily agreed and purchased a home in Provo where his
children might attend Brigham Young Academy.
George now highly motivated, covered the preparatory studies
in record time and, at the close of the term in 1882, left with credits in
bookkeeping, German and other courses, some taken under Karl G. Maeser.”
In October 1882 a son was born to the couple. He was given the name John Higbee Naegle after
both grandfathers. In 1884 George left
his wife and son to fill a mission in Germany.
He was ordained a Seventy by Francis M. Lyman April 7, 1884. He was well versed in German as his brother
James said it was the language used in their mother Rosanna’s home.
In May 1885 he was appointed to preside over the South
German Conference. In this capacity he
made a tour of all the branches of the Church in Germany and also paid a visit
to Denmark.
“He first labored in Switzerland and later in that part of
Germany where his father’s people had lived for generations, Albersweiler and
Liensweiler. He searched genealogical
records to gather information on the Naegle family line. Later work done by a bonded archivist at
Speyer Staatarchiv verified George Conrad’s work for accuracy to the last
detail. Scraps of letters to his father
at this date have interest:
n November 1885, I was called on a special mission to
Turkey to aid Elder Jacob Spari in opening a mission in Constantinople. We started for the Orient but at Genoa, Italy,
were interrupted by a letter, which called us back owing to cholera, which at
that time was raging in Greece.’
From a later letter:
‘We distributed tracts and ‘Articles of Faith,’ conversed with them all
(his relatives in Albersweiler) on the principles of the Gospel, but it remains
for the future to see if any will embrace it.
I have borne testimony to many and hope the seed sown will find some good
ground and bring forth fruit.
I have five companions, noble and praiseworthy young men,
viz: Elder F. M Lyman, Jr. of Provo and
Elder A. W. Musser of Salt Lake City.
The former is president of the South German Conference and the latter
and myself his co-laborers; but we do not enjoy each other’s company very much
as we are . . . in the Missionary field, I desire to be an instrument in His
hands in bringing souls to salvation.
We have some pretty warm times, especially in the Kingdom of
Bavaria from where Elders Smoot and Jennings were banished last June. I was sent there last July from Switzerland
and spent two months with the police at my heels, was summoned before the Chief
of Police twice and each time threatened with banishment, but I got over the
border into Wurttemberg and escaped being banished. That was in September last and in October Elder
F. M. Lyman, Jr. was banished from that Kingdom . . .’”
George C. returned to Utah in the summer of 1886 and in July
1886 married a second wife, Anna Fauth, who was born in Germany, the daughter
of Herr Fauth and Francisca Moore.
That same year George’s father, John C. Naegle, bought a home
in Kanab, forty miles from the Buckskin Mountains, where he had George and his
family live to be near their ranching interests.
George was ordained a High Priest December 16, 1887, by
Thomas Chamberlain and set apart to act as First Counselor to Bishop Lawrence
C. Mariger of the Kanab Ward. Other
positions held by him in Kanab were President of the Ward and Stake YMMIA, Home
Missionary, and Clerk of the Stake Board of Education.
About this time his wife Sabra was having serious mental
health problems owing to the loss of their first child and was committed to a
hospital in Provo, Utah.
In 1889 he decided to join his father in a move to Mexico
where they had already purchased a tract of land in the Sierra Madre Mountains
near Colonia Juarez. After a three
months’ trip they arrived in Colonia Pacheco and established their large herd
of cattle on the range nearby. In 1890 a baby girl, Georgeanna, was born to
George and Anna in Mexico. He was called
to act as Ward Clerk, President of Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association,
a Home Missionary and an alternate member of the High Council in the Mexican
Mission.
It was there, in June, 1892, that his brother Hyrum was
killed by a large brown bear west of Pacheco.
“It was with the utmost danger to his own life that George killed the
bear and brought his fatally wounded brother to the settlement.
Soon after this sad event, his family suffered severely with
Typhoid Fever and his second wife Anna Fauth and his baby girl (Georgeanna) and
his only son (John) whose mother Sabra was at the time in Utah under doctor’s
care, died.
After the death of his boy, he went immediately to Utah to
wait upon his sick wife. While there he
was called on a special mission to Europe to preside over the Swiss and German
Mission. His wife Sabra, who had
recovered, accompanied him. They arrived
in Berne, Switzerland February 16, 1894 and in April following he took charge
of the mission. During this period he
traveled through the entire mission and also Scandinavia in company with
Apostle Anthon H. Lund and later President Rulon S. Wells both of whom presided
over the European Mission.
Sabra kept the mission home at Berne, and through her kindness
to the Elders and Saints generally she acquired the endearing title of
Missionary Mother.While he presided in Germany four brothers, Heber, Joseph,
Enoch and Casper joined him in the mission field. During their mission Margie Pope’s mother who was dying
trusted her baby to George and Sabra’s care to adopt and raise as their own.
George presided nearly three years during which time the
number of Elders laboring in Germany and Switzerland was increased from 40 to
82 missionaries, among whom were nine French speaking missionaries at the time
of his departure.
After a most successful mission, Elder George C. and Sister
Sabra Naegle returned to Salt Lake City in January 1897 and soon afterwards
continued the journey to his home in Mexico.
The following year, 1898 he removed from Pacheco to Colonia
Oaxaca, Sonora where once again he was called to fill a mission in the interest
of Mutual Improvement in the St. Joseph Stake, Arizona.
And this was just the beginning of what she shared. And the journey
continues as the more and more information is discovered. And as its discovered
we hope to post it here.
[1] A History of George Conrad Naegle
in the book “Stalwarts South of the Border” by his wife Philinda Keeler Naegle
[1] Autobiography of Heber Lehi Naegle,
George’s younger brother
[1] A History of George Conrad Naegle
in the book “Stalwarts South of the Border” by his wife Philinda Keeler
Naegle. Philinda
wondered why Grandfather Zimmerman, educated
in the universities of Germany in German, French, Latin and English, did not
leave his cobbler’s bench and hold classes
for the young of Lehi but he died when George was five years old.
[1] A History of George Conrad Naegle
in the book “Stalwarts South of the Border” by his wife Philinda Keeler Naegle
[1] Ibid.
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