(Notes on the life of John Illum, by himself) 

(Editor’s Note: This article was submitted and edited by Steve Illum. He would enjoy any comments. Send them to him at: 4826 S. Farm Road 141, Springfield, MO. 65810.  

Note to Publisher: The author, John Illum, is deceased.) 

Enroute from Denmark to America, I celebrated my seventh birthday aboard the vessel on which we were sailing. I remember my father, Peter H. Illum came to the bed in which I was sleeping and told me that it was my birthday, June 23, 1885. 

We (Peter H. Illum, my father, and three sons – Sevil, John and Carl) landed at Ogden, Utah on July 7th and went to Plain City. I was taken care of by my father’s uncle, Hans Christian Hansen, and aunt, Hedvig Hansen, sister of my father’s mother. His mother, Betty Birgitte Cathrine Jensen, died in Denmark. I started school at Plain City in the fall of 1885. My first school teacher was Annie Green. 

In the meantime, my father married Kristine Svendsen who had just emigrated to America. We moved into a one-room log house. The following year, my father bought about five acres of land on Salt Creek. We built a two-room house, had a cow and some chickens. My brothers and I walked to school a distance of about one-and-a-half miles. 

Ogden was a growing town and my father worked at the carpenter trade, and came home on weekends. The distance to Ogden was about ten miles. We lived in Salt Creek for about six years. Oblivious, Edgar, Betty and Amalie were born there. 

In the summer of 1891, my father found work in Willard, building a store for Charles “Charley” Harding. Carl and I attended school there. Sevil lived with Mr. Harding. In 1892, we moved to Preston, Idaho.  

During the months of May and June, we had a lot of rain. I had to go to Malad to get some flour. I carried the flour home on horseback. We had excellent crops in the fall. We milked ten cows and had plenty of milk and butter. 

In 1906-1908, we had good crops. We received forty-eight to sixty cents per bushel of wheat and three to three-and-a-half dollars per ton of hay. In the fall and winter of 1906 and 1907, I taught school at Pleasantview School for sixty dollars a month. 

In May 1909, Lizzie’s mother had a severe sick spell. After much suffering, she passed away June 9th. It was a severe shock for us and the family. 

Stephen Wight was bishop of the Pleasantview Ward. Lizzie and I became full-fledged members. It was our only diversion from the farm. We attended Sunday School meetings, mutual, and Lizzie worked in the Primary. 

In the Spring of 1893, my father and I drove to Ogden in a cart. I spent the summer working in a harness shop of C.W. Cross. That fall, we moved back to Willard, where we found plenty of work. Sevil, Carl and I attended school at Willard. 

In the fall of 1894, the family moved to Malad. Late in the fall, I returned to Willard. I did chores for Homer Call, went to school, and returned to Malad in the spring. In the Summer of 1895, Father built nice homes in Malad for Henry Jones and John James. In exchange, he received twelve acres of land on which we built a square two-room log house. 

In 1896, we built the meeting house at St. John. At this time, Sevil was working for Bishop Harrison. Carl and I were helping our father. The next year, I finished eighth grade (again) just because I had no money to go to college. 

In the Spring of 1899, I started working for David Deschamps for twenty dollars a month. On May 4, 1899, I left on a mission to the Southern States. The night before I left, we had a storm which left between four to five inches of snow on the ground. Dan Stephens took me to Collinston in a one horse buggy. I was in Salt Lake one day. I went through the temple and received my endowments, was set apart, and left for Chattanooga, Tennessee the next morning. 

There were twenty elders in our group. Among them was Isaac Evans, Samuel Williams, Hyrum Jones and David Hughes. Elder Hughes and I left Chattanooga for South Carolina. We spent one night at Columbia, South Carolina and left the next morning for Conway, a few miles away from the Atlantic Ocean. There we were met by two other elders, East and Carruth. In April 1901, I left South Carolina and on May 4, I arrived back in Malad, two years to the day on which I left. 

For five years, I was a stone mason, carpenter, brick maker, school teacher, and anything I could find to turn my hand at. In the Spring of 1906, R.N. Hill and I formed a partnership and bought a 160-acre farm at Pleasantview. On May 2, I formed another partnership with Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” Palmer, and we were married in the Logan Temple. 

The farm we bought was previously owned by Stephen L. Richard’s, and he had built a two-room log house. I had to lath and plaster the two rooms before we could move in. We bought the stove, bedroom set and table and chairs in Logan. I had to cover them with a wagon cover and put the wagon under the shed until the rooms were ready to move in. 

Lizzie’s father drove down thirteen heads of cows and calves. He said Lizzie had worked eleven years as a clerk in Evans Co-op, and all her earnings were spent on the home. Now he wanted to help her.