Amanda Mathilda Hall was born in Sweden on April 7, 1848 to Anders Hall and Edla Maria Bruhn. She married Johan Bengtsson Wessman in 1872 in Göteborg, Sweden. After joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the family could not afford to travel together to America, so Amanda and Johan sent their daughters Fanny and Bertha first, followed by their sons Herbert and Henry. Amanda and youngest son Joseph came next, and Johan finally emigrated in 1896. The Wessman family settled in Kamas, a small town in the mountains above Salt Lake City, Utah.
Johan died shortly after he arrived in Utah and is buried in Kamas. After he died, Amanda moved to Salt Lake City and supported herself and her youngest children. As she grew older, she spent many years working in the Salt Lake Temple.
Amanda Wessman died on February 15, 1931. She is buried in an unmarked grave in Wasatch Lawn Cemetery in Salt Lake City.
Since she was the driving force behind the emigration of the Wessman family to America, we would like to honor this courageous woman with a grave marker. Because her husband Johan’s gravesite is unknown, we will also list his name on her gravestone.
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| The current plan for the gravestone. |
Emily Wessman and Amy Tanner Thiriot, two of Amanda's great-great granddaughters, are planning a simple granite marker with an engraving of the Salt Lake Temple. The cost to engrave and place the marker will be $775. We hope to have the donations collected by June 15 and the stone placed by Pioneer Day (July 24) 2013.
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| Amanda's grave in Wasatch Lawn Cemetery. |
You can safely and easily donate to this project at GoFundMe. As of this morning we have donations of $30 130.
Please contact us if you have any questions, to see the gravestone design, or to send a contribution by check. For project updates, see the Johan and Amanda Wessman Family page on Facebook or this blog.
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