James Larson was born near Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 7, 1835, and immigrated to America 17 years later. He left Hamburg, Germany, May 4, 1853, and landed in New York , August 24, 1853, making the trip in three months and 20 days. 

(Photo of James Larson).  

He first went to the state of Michigan where he was employed at Salt De Sant Mary, digging a canal under construction between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. All work was done with pick and shovel and wheeled out in wheelbarrows. 

He worked on the job for one year. He then moved to the state of Illinois where he lived until May 20, 1863, when he enlisted as a private in Captain A.J. Cheney’s Company (F) 40, Regiment of Wisconsin Infantry. He served under General Hullock until he was honorably discharged at Benton Barracks, Missouri. 

On December 20, 1866, he landed in Logan City, Utah, and there met and married Annie Sorensen in 1867. He lived in Logan until the year of 1876 when he moved to Malad, Idaho,  where he lived until his death. Mr. Larson died on January 11, 1913, at Salt Lake of pneumonia. 

He was Grandpa Jensen’s brother.