Anna Brita Ericsdotter

Biography

Anna Brita Ericsdotter was born on November 1, 1829 in Rydholm, Hemsjö, Älvsborg, Sweden. She was the second of six children and had three brothers and two sisters. She had dark hair and blue eyes. Around 1850, Anna met August Johansson and they fell in love. However, as he was from an aristocratic family, his parents did not approve of their relationship. It is unclear if they married; however, some records indicate that they did so in 1851. They had a daughter, Augusta Carolina, in 1852. August had ventured to America for the Gold Rush, but he presumably died shortly after arriving in America because his letters stopped coming. Anna waited for him for seven years, but once he was legally declared dead, she remarried to Charles Johnson on October 30, 1859 in Hemsjö.
At some point Anna's younger brother, Eric Ericsson Rydqvist, heard about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the missionaries. Gradually, Anna and most of her siblings joined the Church. Anna and her husband were baptized on February 17, 1860. Three years later, they left Sweden forever to join the other Latter-day Saints in Utah. Anna traveled with Charles, Augusta, her sister Charlotte ("Lottie") and Lottie's son Ludvig. They crossed the Atlantic onboard the B. S. Kimball, traveling with the poorest class, before making the journey across the plains with the John F. Sanders wagon company. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 5, 1863.
Anna and Charles settled in Grantsville, Tooele, Utah. In 1864, they had a daughter, Wilhelmina "Minnie" Johnson. Two years after their arrival in Utah, in 1865, Anna's sister Lottie married Charles, becoming his second wife. Lottie joined them in Grantsville, where Charles did carpentry work.
Later, the family did temple work for August and he was sealed to Anna. At their home in Grantsville, Anna made a living by weaving while her sister did the cooking and housekeeping. Many surrounding homes had a carpet made by Anna; she was considered to be both hardworking and artistic. In 1878, Charles married a third wife, Anna Olson, who was almost thirty years younger than Anna Brita. When Charles got older, he spent most of his time living with Anna Olson, who took care of him.
Anna Brita spent much of her later life in Salt Lake City, where her daughters lived. Augusta was widowed young and worked as a nurse, and Anna would often watch her children when she left on nursing visits. For the last twelve years of her life, Anna lived with Minnie. She died on November 18, 1912, at the age of eighty-three, and was buried in the Grantsville City Cemetery.