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Max Paul Christian KERSTEN

HUSBAND:
[F10]. Max Paul Christian KERSTEN.
He was born 22 JUL 1893 at Boock, Kreis Randow, Pommern, Prussia; the fifth child of Wilhelm August Karl KERSTEN [F20] and Berta Ernestine Caroline BARTEL [F21]

See also Biography of Max Paul Christian Kersten below.

Max had always had an interest in religion. He asked a lot of questions about religion. When he was about twelve years old, his pastor came to their home and tried to persuade Max's mother to allow him to be trained for the ministry. Although she was a good and religious woman, his mother decided against it. She said that they could not afford to educuate the other children and that she did not feel that it would be right to allow it just for one and not the others.

When Max turned 14 his father gave a pair of high topped boots and said, “Max, you are a man now.” Max felt very proud. Also, at the age of 14, Max began work as a baker's apprentice to Otto Kersten in Stettin. He worked also in several other cities during his apprenticeship. Eventually, Max passed his exams successfully and became a full member of the Baker's Guild when he was still seventeen.

As a young man, he had a happy disposition. He was said to be a "man about town". The girls all liked him. He liked to sing, and had a pleasant voice. He enjoyed traveling. When he came home from his apprenticeship travels or on leave from the military, all his friends and relatives came to visit. The house would ring with his voice as he sang.

When he was grown he weighed 165 pounds. His eyes were blue and his hair was blond.

He loved his Grandfather, Wilhelm KERSTEN [F40]. On the night that his Grandfather died (4 AUG 1908) he came to Max in a dream, held out his hand, and said goodbye. Three days later Max received a letter from home reporting his Grandfather's death.

At about the time he turned eighteen, Max joined the military. His mother was concerned lest her son fall into undesirable company while in the army. Before he left, she made him promise not to drink or carouse as many soldiers often did. And he kept that promise.

World War I began in 1914, and soon involved all Europe. The spark for the war happened on 28 June 1914 when a Bosnian Serb assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary's demands for revenge against the Kingdom of Serbia led to the activation of a series of alliances which within weeks saw most European powers at war. Because of the global empires of many European nations, the war soon spread worldwide. Max soon became involved in the war, and in the fall of 1914, was sent first to Belgium and after a short time to France.

In the following year he was sent to the Eastern Front where he spent several years. He was there during the time of the Russian Revolution. Max told his grandchildren that the cavalry group he worked with all rode white horses. They had no doctor or medic on hand but they did have a veterinarian to care for the horses. One time Max got very ill. His condition deteriorated to the point that they feared for his life. They took him to the cavalry's veterinarian to see if he could do anything for him. The veterinarian gave him a jug of clear colorless liquid, told him to drink the entire jug immediately and then go straight to bed. Max did as he was told. He said he was under the influence of the tonic for a full three days. But when the effects of the tonic wore off, he was cured. For the final year of the war, Max was sent back to France.

When the war ended in 1918 Max returned home to Boock, where he worked as a carpenter with his father. When he needed to have his shirt collars starched and pressed, his mother told him to go over to the home of Agathe Bethsold who did such laundry for a living. While he waited for her to finish the ironing, Agathe told Max about her new religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As Agathe spoke, Max became interested in the gospel. He began attending church with her. Max's interest in the church grew as did his interest in Agathe. One day, Agathe mentioned to Max that she would marry only a member of the church. By this time Max was convinced of the truthfulness of the gospel, and he was baptized on 24 AUG 1919.

A few months later, on 18 DEC 1919, Max and Agathe were married at the nearest civil office in Rothen Klempenow. They would have normally been married in the local church at Boock, but since they had booth become members of the LDS church, they probably did not feel that they wanted to do this. Therefore they were married at the civil office in Rothen Klempenow. His devotion to Agathe was only equaled by his devotion to the church.

Because of both their religious natures, Agathe and Max took their membership in the church seriously, and it was the guiding principle of their lives. Max liked to read the Bible, especially the stories about the Savior. Agathe liked to read the Book of Mormon.

As their children were born, Max and Agathe decided that they wanted to raise them in Zion, so they began preparations to emigrate to America. They had an uncle, Karl Bethsold, living in Duluth, Minnesota, who agreed to sponsor them; so they decided that was where they would go. On the 10th of November in 1924 the family's membership records were removed from the Stettin Branch. On the following day they received immigration visas from the American consulate in Stettin. On the 15th of November they departed Boock. On the 18th of November they embarked from the Port of Hamburg on the ship RMS Andania, a ship of the Cunard line.

After 12 days of sailing, on the 30th of November 1924, the family arrived at the immigration center at Ellis Island in the New York harbor. From there they took the train to Duluth, where they arrived on the 3rd of December 1924. At first they lived close to their uncle, near 23rd Street in Duluth's west end. This first apartment, at 6820 Polk Street, was an upstairs apartment behind a store owned by her uncle's family.

Max obtained employment as an electrician in the steel mills around Duluth. As part of his job he learned to rewind the electrical motors used in the mills.

There had apparently previously been a branch of the church in Duluth, but when the family arrived in Duluth there was no branch of the church located near them. Max wrote to the church headquarters, requesting permission to hold meetings in their home. Missionaries were sent to the area and the branch was started again. Max was called as the Branch President in 1937, and served in that capacity until 1945. The North Central States Mission started the year after they arrived, in 1925.

When they moved to Duluth, they were in debt to their uncle, who had sponsored them. Friends had advised them to file for bankruptcy, but that would have violated their sense of honor, and they refused. It was very difficult for them to repay, but they insisted on fulfilling their obligation.

Having only heard negative things about the church, Uncle Karl was horrified to learn that the couple he had sponsored were Mormons. He took Max aside and told him sadly that unless he gave up this crazy religion, he could not allow his family to associate with Max's family. Max looked Uncle Karl in the eye and said," I'm sorry uncle, but I will not give up the gospel."

For a while, Uncle Karl did as he had threatened to do and the families had little contact with one another. Eventually, however, the families reconciled. But their lifestyles were so different that they never grew very close. Karl's family loved to get together on Sundays to drink beer and play cards, while Max's family was very religious, attending church and entertaining missionaries on the Sabbath.

Soon, Max moved the family to a new apartment near 56th Street. Four years later, about June 1928, they moved to 502 S. 66th Avenue, also in Duluth's west end.

In 1930 the Branch was meeting in the Woodman's Hall. The Duluth Branch was then part of the Lake Conference of the Northcentral States Mission, of which Arthur Welling was the Mission President. On 26 AUG 1931 Max received his Certificate of Citizenship.

During the year 1934 they moved to 1313 Medina Street (Medina Street was 56th Street).

When the girls were starting to grow up and became teenagers, Ruthy didn't always listen to her folks, but she would listen to Sister Cook, who was also a good member of the church. The Cooks lived out by Procter, a little railway place outside of Duluth. The Cook family had to walk a mile to the bus stop, then transfer from the bus to a train into Duluth. Sometimes they had to stand there in the intense cold while waiting for the bus. They were very faithful, though, and never missed a Sunday. One time the MIA had arranged an hiking outing out to Proctor where the Cook's lived. Ruthy had invited along some boys who were not of the best character. She was flirting with them and having a good time. Sister Cook took her aside and told her, "You know, afterwards when they are in the bar, they will only laugh about you behind your back."

The family moved to 5303 Medina Street. They later moved down to 8th street, to an upstairs apartment.

In the Fall of 1943 Max and Agathe went to Utah to visit, and the family was sealed together on 3 NOV 1943. This must have been a great joy to her parents, who after being faithful members of the church for over 25 years, to finally have the opportunity to receive their blessings in the temple.

In 1947 Max and Agathe moved permanently to Utah. Dorothy took care of Ruthie when Mom got things ready in Ogden. Max couldn't get a job in the Geneva Steel Mills in Provo, so he took a job as custodian for the church house at 26th and Jackson Avenue. There were four wards and a Stake meeting there at that time, so there was never and end to his work. Max had a years leave and could have gone back to Duluth to his old job, but Agathe wouldn't go back.

The second World War was hard on Max and Agathe. All their loved ones were in Germany, and no word could reach them as to how their people were surviving, if at all. During the war people learned to hate, and they felt the brunt of this, even though they had been legal citizens of the U.S. for many years.

In the summer time Max found extra work helping wealthy people with their flower gardens. He also fixed electrical things for people in their ward. From this extra money, Max saved it and kept it for their old age. Their home was free of rent, but their pay was small. They lived frugally, but saved enough so they could travel a little.

After the War, Max and Agathe sent clothes and bedding to relatives who were in desperate need. During these years Max and Agathe did extensive genealogy work for their families. We can see the hand of the Lord in their lives.

In 1948 he received his Patriarchal Blessing.

In 1955 Agathe died of kidney failure, so Max was left alone. After her death it was hard for Max to have an interest in life anymore. He had a chance to remarry, but he didn't. He had heard too many stories of widowers who remarried and then the wife left and took half the money. He knew if that happened he wouldn't have enough left for his old age.

Max continued working at the church house and lived alone for another four years. Then, in the fall of 1959, Diane, Dorothy=s daughter went to live with Grandpa in order to finish her high school at Ogden High School. She lived there during her Junior and Senior years at high school. During the years of 1961 and 1962 Diane worked in Ogden and lived with Grandpa. She then got married and Grandpa was alone again, until Naomi, another daughter of Dorothy’s also went there to go to school, from 1962 until 1964, when she graduated from high school.

About that time, Max went on an extended trip all over the eastern United States by bus with a group of members from his Ogden ward. He thoroughly enjoyed it.

In 1964 Max retired from his work at the church and went to live with Dorothy and LeGrand. He was content for a while, but he missed his friends in Ogden. Dorothy and LeGrand were busy with Ranch work and with the family, so Max decided to return to Ogden, but there was no one to take care of him there, so he went into a rest home. That was in 1968 in the fall of the year. He was in the rest home until 1972 when he got pneumonia and died. All his good friends and some former missionaries came to his funeral. He died in full faith in the Gospel.

He died 15 DEC 1972 at Ogden, Weber County, Utah, and was buried at the Ogden City Cemetery in Ogden, Weber County, Utah.

WIFE:
[F11]. Agatha Adelheid Anna BETHSOLD.
Agatha was born 8 AUG 1891 at Boock, Kreis Randow, Pommern, Prussia; daughter of Karl Friedrich BETHSOLD [F22] and Albertine Wilhelmine BARTEL [F23] She had grey eyes and dark brown hair.

Agathe had an older sister and brother, Agnes and Ewald, who were working in Berlin. Ewald was employed there as a member of the Emperor's Guard. Agnes and Ewald met the LDS missionaries there and were converted and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 8 SEP 1911. Agatha also went to Berlin to work. She worked as a maid and learned how a "lady" should act. For the rest of her life she was guided by a strong sense of what she considered appropriate behavior. While working in Berlin she was introduced to the missionaries through Ewald and Agnes. She studied the gospel carefully for a long time before she was converted, but when she gained a burning testimony, her faith was unshakable, even though her decision to join the church was very unpopular with her family. She was baptized on 3 APR 1913 in Berlin by Elder Ashael H. Woodruff. She said that she was baptized in the River at night, because then it was against the State religion to join another church. She also said that for both her and her sister, when they came up out of the waters of baptism, they were so filled with the spirit that their bosoms burned within them.

She met with her brother and sister in the branch meetings. Ewald lived in Berlin until after the war, when he moved to Utah. Agathe was however later quite disappointed in her sister. She had one child out of wedlock, and when she became pregnant a second time, she had an abortion. The person she married also was not interested in the church. This was very distressing to Agathe.

When the war broke out all her brothers were called to serve and so Agathe returned to Boock to work with her family on the farm. She also took in laundry for some of the villagers. Agathe was a very industrious person and learned to work very quickly and efficiently. She also had the true missionary spirit and was not afraid to talk to others about the gospel.

When the war ended in 1918 Max had returned home to Boock. When he needed to have his shirt collars starched and pressed, his mother told him to go over to the home of Agathe Bethsold who did such laundry for a living. While he waited for her to finish the ironing, Agathe told Max about her new religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He began attending church with her. Max's interest in the church grew as did his interest in Agathe. One day, Agathe mentioned to Max that she would only marry a member of the church. But by time Max was convinced of the truthfulness of the gospel, and he was baptized on August 24, 1919. A few months later, on December 18, 1919, Max and Agathe (Max Paul Christian KERSTEN [10] and Agathe Adelheid Anna BETHSOLD [11]) were married at the nearest civil office in Rothen-Klempenow, Kreis Randow, Pommern, Prussia. They would have normally been married in the local Luthern church at Boock, but since they had both become members of the LDS church, they did not feel that they sould marry in a church of their old religion. Therefore they were married at the civil office in Rothen-Klempenow.

Because of both their religeous natures, they took their membership in the church seriously, and it was the guiding principle of their lives. Max liked to read the Bible, especially the stories about the Savior. Agathe liked to read the Book of Mormon.

They moved to Duluth in late 1924. The North Central States Mission started in 1925. There had previously been a branch of the church in Duluth. When Max wrote to the church headquarters, they sent missionaries to the area and started the branch again. Max was called as the Branch President and served in that capacity for many years.

During their first year in Duluth Agathe had a tubal pregnancy and so the doctor did a histerectomy. In their second year in Duluth, she was lifting a sack of potatoes up the stairs to their upstaris apartment so that they wouldn't freeze, and she had a rupture. She almost bled to death. The doctor found that she still had a pulse and was able to save her life. After this, though, she never again had very good health.

She died 17 NOV 1955 at Ogden, Weber County, Utah and was buried there at the Ogden City Cemetery.

CHILDREN of Max Paul Christian KERSTEN [F10] and Agatha Adelheid Anna BETHSOLD [F11]:
  1. Ruth (Ruthy) Agnes Mariechen KERSTEN. Born 20 MAR 1921 at Boock, Kreis Randow, Pommern, Prussia. She was baptized on 28 JUL 1929. She grew up and attended schools in Duluth, Minnesota. When she left home she moved to the Washington D.C. area and worked as a secretary in government service. She married on 2 NOV 1942 to George Ashley MOODY II. They lived in Colonial Heights, Virginia. They had one son, George Ashley MOODY III (known as Ashley), who was married on 27 JUL 1968 in the Woodlawn Baptist Church, at 3:00 o’clock p.m. to miss Frances Cheryl HARRELL, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Charles William HARRELL of Colonial Heights, Virginia. They were married by Rev. Jack MOODY, a brother to Ruthy's husband George. Ashley was later divorced. He remarried later. Ruthy died in 2002.
  2. [F5]. Dorothea Berta Ernestine KERSTEN. Twin to Johannes. Born 9 May 1922 at Boock, Kreis Randow, Pommern, Prussia. She married LeGrand Elliott MORRIS [F4] on 30 OCT 1942.
  3. Johannes Karl Wilhelm KERSTEN. Twin to Dorothy. Born 9 May 1922 at Boock, Kreis Randow, Pommern, Prussia. He died 12 JUL 1922 and was buried in Boock, Kreis Randow, Pommern, Prussia.


SOURCES:

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LIFE STORY OF MAX PAUL CHRISTIAN KERSTEN
by Dorothea Berta Ernestine Kersten Morris

Max was born on July 22, 1893 in Boock, Germany to Wilhelm and Bertha Kersten. He was the fifth child and last boy. His hair was dark blond and he had dark blue eyes. The other children in the family were two older brothers; Richard and Otto, and one sister, Marie, who was the youngest in the family. Two sisters died in infancy, one before Max and one after his birth. Max was christened in the Lutheran Church in Boock when he was six weeks old.

Max's father, Wilhelm, built a new house for his family when Max was ten years old. It was a two story stucco house, and Max was very proud of it.

Max had good health until he was seven years old. He then had pneumonia, and when he had recovered, he was sickly for a couple of years.

One thing that Max especially liked was fruit. He would climb the apple and cherry tree until his grandmother caught him and made him climb down. One time he climbed down and ran towards her with an uplifted arm and said he was the avenging angel. It scared his grandmother. Max has laughed often at that memory.

While his father was away building homes and barns, Max helped his mother. He helped gather peat from the peat bogs and get it dried for winter's fuel. He would also play with his sister Maire.

One incident while there shows his mother's kindness and good teaching. Max threw stones at one of the big green frogs. One day he killed a large green frog and brought it to his mother to show his skill. His mother said, "Max, why do you do this? It is not right to kill God's creatures." After that he never killed frogs again.

When Max was about 13 or 14 years old he became interested in religion, and asked many questions. The pastor of the Lutheran Church came to his mother and asked if Max could prepare to be trained for the ministry, because he seemed interested in religion, and had been asking the pastor many questions. Max was confirmed at 14 years of age in the Lutheran Church. The pastor had a library of mostly religious books, which the family borrowed and read. Max had a great love for our Savior. Bertha Kersten, Max's mother, would have liked to send him to learn to be a minister, but the other sons had learned trades, ans she felt they shouldn't give Max an advantage the others didn't have; so Max learned a trade also, that of a baker.

Max liked school and went through the 8th grade, after which he was apprenticed to a baker (Otto Kersten) in Stettin for a year and a half. Then he went to Loecknitz and was apprenticed there for another year and a half to finish his training as a baker. He became a Master Baker, which was the highest rank in the business, and received his Graduation Certificate and Diploma. When his daughter, Ruth returned to Germany years later, she learned that as a Master Baker, you had to bake something that would look like something else. She saw a plate of food that looked like ham and eggs, when in reality, it was a baked product. Max was a very good baker, and his bread was delicious. The missionaries that came to our home said his bread was better than cake. It was part whole wheat bread.

After his training as a baker, he received his "Wandershaft" papers, which allowed him to go to bakeries in other cities and work for his lodging and meals while there. This was a logical way for a young man to travel and see the country without being a bum or a public nuisance. Max loved to travel. He saw many of the sights and historical places of Germany, such as the old castles in Eastern and Western Germany along the Rhine River.

Max went back to Stettin and on to the resorts along the Baltic Sea coast, then back to Stettin. In the fall of the year, he went to Berlin for a trip, and then on to Hanover (pop. 1 million). Here he stayed for only one day, then on to Rinteln ( pop. about 7 or 8 thousand), a hundred miles south of Hanover, and stayed there all winter. Spring found him with wandering feet again. He went to Leipzig (pop 1 million) and stayed only a few days to enjoy the sights. Then he went back north to Halle (pop 150,000) and stayed six months. In each place he saw the local sights. There were many castles near Halle that were built from the time of the middle ages back to the time of the stone age castles. Max owned and wore a top hat and frock coat, with a cane and a white embroidered vest, which he wore when going to the musicals and places of amusement in his travels as a young man about town. He loved music and was always singing. He had a beautiful baritone singing voice.

At about 18 years of age, Max and a friend, Joseph Hubel, wanted to go to America. His parents objected. His father wanted him to wait until he was 21 years old, and thought Max ought to serve his time in the Army before leaving his homeland. At 21 years of age each man was obligated to serve in the military for three years. So at 19 years of age, Max enlisted in the Army, so he would get it over and then could get on with his life. The name of the Regiment was the "Jaeger" or Pioneer (hunter?) battalion, Hussar Regiment Number 12. Their uniforms were dark blue with a white stripe. They were the King's elite troops. It was a cavalry regiment and they served as messengers. While in training, Max had an accident. He had a fall and the horse dragged him over a large rock, which cut his face badly. After it healed he had to shave his face in every direction, but due to the skill of the doctors, he never had a scar on his face. Max was nearly through with his training when World War I began in 1914.

THE ARMY YEARS

Max was first sent to Belgium and then to France. While there, he fell in love with a French girl, but that romance was short lived, because she got sick and died. He was near Paris when Russia entered the war, so he was called to the Eastern Front in 1915.

Max went to a rest home in the Hartz Mountains for shell shock. After leaving there, Max told of the weary marches through Poland, and of the poverty of the Polish farmers. He and a buddy were billeted at the Catholic Priest's home. The Priest had plenty of good food, while the farmers all around were extremely poor, and had barely enough to eat. Some of the farmer's homes had no bed, only shelves on the wall.

They continued to travel on to Russia. He told stories of the war, not the terrible ones, but the poignant ones, showing how sad war can be, and of the people who had to endure hardships and misunderstandings. Max praised his Captain, and told what a good Christian man he was. His Captain cautioned his men that there should be no shooting of civilians, and if a man surrendered, they were to follow the rules of war, and not shoot indiscriminately, or he would shoot the soldier that did it.

There was an incident where Max and his horse fell through a hoe in the ground that served as living quarters of a family. Both he and the family were frightened, but no harm was done on either side.

Max had to ride alone with messages through the dark forests of Russia. He said it was so dark, he had to let his horse take the lead. I asked if he was scared, but he said, "No, I felt my life was in the Lord's hands, and if it was my time to go, it would be up to him."

While in Russia, they chased the Cossacks, and the Cossacks chased them. The Russians built sheep barns, blocks long, because it was so cold. The sheep barns had thatched roofs, which made it possible for the Cossacks or civilians to set them on fire. One time Max got his horse out of the burning building, only to have his horse turn and run back into the burning building and burn to death. Another time, they burned the building, only to have his boots burned up, and it was so terribly cold in Russia.

Once they captured a group of Cossacks and locked them in a church. By late that day the Cossacks were pounding on the doors and windows. They thought that the Germans were trying to starve them to death. Actually, Max said, "We hadn't eaten all day either. Our supplies hadn't gotten through."

Another sad story was about a woman who had two cows. The milk she got from them was all she had to feed her children. The Army had no food, so they took one of her cows. Max said they all felt bad about it, but they were hungry because they had eaten no food for two days.

Another story Max told was about his buddy, who was a kindly family man. They were going into a cabaret in Russia. When they walked in, his buddy playfully cocked his rifle at a pretty dancer. The gun went off and killed her. He never meant to kill her, but it was an accident. He was never the same again.

At one time, Max had a former circus horse. The horse could do tricks, and would kneel down so he could get on his back while the horse was kneeling. Max had a good time with this horse. Then one day an officer saw it doing tricks and commandeer it, so Max lost his fun horse.

When the Russian Revolution started, the Germans lost no time leaving the country. They had to travel down through the Balkan countries of Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, then through Italy, and on to France again. His regiment were mountain troops there. They went on to Alsace-Lorraine. He was in France when the war ended.

With the war over, Max went home. When he arrived home, his mother was out in the yard, and she thought he was someone who was seeking food. At that time many came to the farms to beg for food and potato peelings because times were so bad. His mother didn't recognize him, so he said, "Mother, don't you know me?" Max was only 25 years old, but he looked 10 years older because of all the experiences he had gone through. For several years after the war he had terrible nightmares that would make him wake up and cry out, and he was ready to flee.

One night while he was still in the service, Max had a dream. He dreamed there was a bright light in the distance that kept coming closer to him. Soon he saw it was a man. Then he saw it was his grandfather Kersten, with an outstretched hand. Then Max woke up. Three days later he received a letter from home saying his grandfather died on the very night of his dream. Max, in later years, did the temple work for his grandfather first, because he felt the dream had a meaning. His grandfather was a religious man, and Max had been close to him, so he thought that someday he would accept the Gospel.

THE POST WAR YEARS

During the rest of 1918 Max worked with his father as a carpenter. A year later, in 1919, he went to work in an electric motor factory near Boock, and learned the trade of rewinding and repairing electric motors, as well as other electric work. At one time, he even made his own radio set.

One day he asked his mother to iron a collar and shirt front for him. At that time the shirt front and collars were very stiff. His mother suggested he go to ask a young lady, Agathe Bethsold, to iron it for him, since she did this kind of work. Agathe had become a "Mormon" while working in Berlin, and she was a zealous missionary who told him of the Gospel while he waited for her to iron the shirt and collar. She lost no time in telling the Gospel to all who would listen. Max was receptive to the truth since he was also a religious man.

Max kept seeing Agathe and fell in love with her. She invited him to go to the Latter Day Saint meetings with her in Stettin. He liked the meetings and the American people. The missionaries were friendly and Max was a man who liked people and was socially inclined. Max joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or "Mormons," as people liked to call them. Max asked that his name be taken off the Lutheran Church records. His parents were indifferent, but Agathe's parents were angry. They had hoped that Max would get Agathe away from those "foolish Mormon notions." But Max had a testimony of it's truth, and would not waver.

Max proposed marriage to Agathe and she accepted. They were married on December 18, 1919. They lived with Agathe's parents.

MARRIED LIFE

Agathe had a miscarriage a few months later, as a result of being kicked by a cow. Their first child was born March 20, 1921. They named her Ruth Agnes Mariechen Kersten. The next children were born May 9, 1922; boy and girl twins, named Johannes Karl Wilhelm and Dorothea Berta Ernestine Kersten. After a month and a half Johannes died. Agathe said if she could have gone to a doctor, she could have saved him. Her milk was not agreeing with little Johannes.

After work, Max would come home and help work on the farm. On Sunday he would take Ruth and Dorothea to visit the paternal grandparents. They could not afford to go to meetings on Sunday to Stettin every week. But Max liked to sing, and he and Agathe taught their children little songs and poems.

They wanted to give their children the advantages of the gospel, so they planned to move to America. They saved what they could and then wrote to Max's uncle, Karl Kersten, his father's brother who lived in America. His uncle Karl loaned them the rest of the money that was needed, so with this they completed their plans. In 1924, on November 18th, they left Hamburg, Germany on the ship, S.S. Andania, of the British Cunard line. They traveled third class across the Atlantic Ocean. In winter the seas are stormy and rough, so Agathe was seasick all the way.

They landed first at Halifax, Nova Scotia, then on to New York. They went to Ellis Island where all the immigrants stopped and were checked. They felt it was God's blessing that they could stay in America, since Ruth had a curvature of the spine, and America didn't want to keep those whom they might have to support for the rest of their lives. But all tests were passed and they left New York and arrived in Duluth, Minnesota on December 3, 1924. They settled in Duluth because that is where their uncle Karl was living.

Duluth was cold and disappointing to Agathe. Norther Europe isn't as cold as Minnesota, even though it is further north in latitude. The town was also black in winter because everyone burned coal to keep warm. They were also disappointed to find that there were no Latter Day Saint meetings in Duluth. Their relatives in Duluth were disturbed to find out they were "Mormons." One day Max was walking along the street and met his uncle Karl, who told him that if Max and his family didn't quit the Mormon Church, Karl's family didn't want anything to do with them. Max looked him in the eye and said, "We are not quitting the Church." Max didn't let this bother him, but went to visit them anyway. Through the years the relatives came to know our family and came to like us even though we went to church every Sunday, and their families had their card parties and served beer on Sundays.

Max and Agathe had plans to move to Utah, but circumstances prevented that. Max was more contented because he had relatives there, and was used to new places, so was more optimistic in his outlook. Max learned the language quicker because he got out among the people when he went to work. They both soon went to night school to learn the language so they could get their citizenship papers. They received their citizenship papers six years later, in 1931. They probably didn't start citizenship school right away, because it didn't take that long to learn.

Since there was no branch of the church in Duluth, Max wrote to the headquarters of the church in Salt Lake City and asked where he could pay his tithing. The church then sent missionaries to Duluth to round up all the former members of the small branch, and to start a new branch. The meetings were started there again in the Woodman's Hall. Max and Agathe had the missionaries over for dinner every Friday night, and also to have a cottage meeting to study the Gospel. Then they had them over for dinner every Wednesday night to learn English. When the missionaries were invited to stay overnight, they thought they would freeze to death in the featherbeds, but the missionaries soon found them too hot.

Max and Agathe found the new foods and new ways different, and it took a while to adjust. Their relatives gave them a jar of peanut butter that stayed on the shelf for a year because they didn't know what it was.

When Max first went to look for a job, he applied for a job at the U.S. Steel Mill in Duluth, since he had training in electric motors and in repairing motors. When he went for a job there were a whole room full of U.S. Veterans looking for jobs. We felt it was truly a miracle for him to get a job, since he spoke very little English, and he wasn't a citizen at the time, and also there had just been a war with his native land. Max and Agathe saw the hand of the Lord in all things, and this getting a job was no exception. They wanted to save their money and to go to Utah, but that wasn't to be for a few years.

When Max started working at the steel mills he had to work extra hours at no extra pay, even if it took all night. This was before they had unions to regulate things.

Max and Agathe moved into an upstairs apartment behind the store his cousin owned. During the first year in America, Agathe had a tubal pregnancy which resulted in a hysterectomy. The second year she tried to lift a 100 pound sack of potatoes up the steep flight of stairs so they wouldn't freeze, which resulted in a rupture, and she hemorrhaged. Agathe nearly bled to death, but the doctor noticed she had a strong heart, so he tried to save her. She survived, but her health was never very good after that.

Max and Agathe moved in 1926 to be near the school so Ruth could attend Kindergarten. She went some of the year, and then transferred to Kate Varne's class for crippled children, with Mrs. Wold as a teacher. There Ruth could have periods of rest, and a registered nurse was there, and she could get physical therapy. In 1927, Dorothy started Kindergarten at Lincoln school. Agathe changed Dorothea's name to Dorothy when she started school.

While living in this area, Agathe's nephew John Sust (her sister's son) came from Germany, but his fiancee followed him and persuaded him to go home. Also while living there, Ruth got the chicken pox and scarlet fever. Then Dorothy got the chicken pox from her. We learned to speak English from the children with whom we played. We played with children of many first generation Scandinavian, Polish, Italian, English, and Finnish backgrounds. Max said one day when he come home from work we said, "Hello Daddy!" and he didn't understand a word we said.

While we were living there and we were very small our daddy used to play "Santa Clause." He would go out in the back woodshed and dress up in a Santa suit. We always felt bad that Daddy was out in the woodshed just when Santa came. We were too young to catch on, since our ages were 3 and 4 years old. Later on, the Santa suit wore out, and Ruthie wondered why Santa was wearing blue pants instead of the usual red ones.

At Christmas time, the first year we were there, we had tiny candles on the tree. They were small, like birthday candles, and fit in tiny holders that clipped onto the branches of the tree. When they were lit, Max and Agathe stayed right there and watched. They were never left burning very long. In that day, many homes caught fire from Christmas trees, so they had to be very careful.

In 1928, Max and Agathe moved once again to be closer to his work. This time to a large house with a basement and a second story, and a back yard for a vegetable garden. Agathe was very glad she didn't have to climb stairs or be in a basement apartment anymore. At one time when Max went to work, just as he was getting on the trolley, an automobile hit him and knocked him over the trolley. Just as he landed on the pavement another automobile came and ran over his legs. He had to walk three blocks home. How he did that I'll never know, but he did walk home.

Max played the flute, and sometimes had a group of friends that played instruments, and they formed a small band, and would practice at one another's homes. While in Duluth Max always sang in the church choir. Max sang a lot. He would sing and whistle beautifully. He liked light opera music and comical songs and many of the hymns of the church. Some of his favorite songs throughout his life were:

Oh My Father
High on the Mountain Top
Have I Done Any Good in the World Today
I Know that my Redeemer Lives
O Ye Mountains High
Silent Night
The Lord is My Shepherd
We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet
Earth with Her Ten Thousand Flowers

He was a kindly man and a happy man, and always an optimist. His life was not an easy one, but he was always cheerful. He was a good husband and father. He used to tell stories at the table that had morals in them, and therefore the children learned life's values. At this time Ruth broke her arm falling off a teeter totter.

The "Great Depression" started at the end of 1929. Soon many men were out of work. Max was one of these. They lived for a while on money from Agathe's inheritance, but that finally ran out. Max looked for work, as many did. About 1/3rd of the men in the U.S. didn't have jobs. There were none to be had. Max looked for any kind of a job, even a part time job, but there were none. They finally had to go on public welfare for a few years. When Mr. Myers went on vacation for a week, Max took over the bakery shop. He then went on WPA (Works Project Administration).

While working for the WPA there on the Skyline Drive, the boss could send Max around the bend and then one day a fellow worker complained and asked the boss why he always sent Kersten. The boss told him "Kersten will always work without being watched." Max was honest in his work and dealings with others.

Our family lived there until Ruth and Dorothy went to Junior High School, in 1934. There again we made a garden in the back yard and lived frugally. Before the Depression started, Mom and Dad gave Ruthie piano lessons. After they moved near the Junior High School they gave Dorothy violin lessons. This called for sacrifice because they didn't have very much money. Dorothy broke her leg at this time, which added another expense when they had so little. One thing Mother and Dad never told us was how tough things were. We guessed at some, but never knew the details until much later. We admired them for not putting their worries and burdens on their children.

Despite their own hardships during the depression, Max and Agathe were always helping people. One day the Elders brought an old German lady from Zim on the Iron Range. She needed a home for the winter. Her son-in-law was deranged and was going to harm her. She lived with Max and Agathe that winter. By the next spring her son-in-law had died, so her daughter and grandson came to get her.

We moved again and Max fixed up the yard and home we moved into. Dad and Mom were both good workers. Max loved his wife very much. He once told Dorothy, "one day I had a quarrel with Mama and I went to work angry and didn't kiss her goodbye." It bothered him all day and he then made up his mind that he would never leave for work again without giving her a goodbye kiss. He said, "and I never made that mistake again." At this time he was asked to be the Branch President of the small group of members. This was in 1934. This caused some to feel that he shouldn't be the President, since we were not Scandinavians as were most of the members. The Mission authorities thought otherwise. Max and the family were always at church, and Max faithfully paid an honest tithing. Max always helped others. During the Depression he helped people in the Branch by fixing their washing machines and irons and other electrical things for free. Everyone was having a hard time.

Starting in 1933, Max and Agathe walked to and from church every Sunday. At first it was 4 miles each way, and then when we moved to another home, it was 3 miles each way. This continued until Dorothy left home in 1942. We walked in rain and sun, wind and snow, every Sunday of the year. Sometimes in winter our cheeks and toes and nose and fingers were dead white. In that climate, they would thaw out with no bad effects. Max performed his duties faithfully.

In 1938 Max and his family moved to an upstairs apartment. We still had a Friday night meeting with the missionaries through the years and had the missionaries over for dinner.

In 1941 Max had a hernia operation so he could get his old job back again at the steel mills. He finally went back to work in 1942. He finally got his family's passage way on the boat paid off. His relatives had said, "Why don't you file bankruptcy?" But he wouldn't. He was honest in his dealings.

In 1942, both the girls left home. Ruth left home to work in Washington D.C., and Dorothy left home with a girl friend for Utah. This left Max and Agathe alone.

The second World War was hard on Max and Agathe. All their loved ones were in Germany, and no word could reach them as to how their people were surviving, if at all. During the war people learned to hate, and with their native German background, they felt the brunt of this, even though they had been legal citizens of the U.S. for many years.

When communications were restored after the War, Max and Agathe sent clothes and bedding to relatives who were in desperate need. During these years Max and Agathe did extensive genealogy work for their families, and recorded genealogy notes from their correspondences. We can see the hand of the Lord in their lives.

By 1946 Ruth had been married and divorced and was living in Ogden, Utah. Agathe moved to Ogden to help Ruth after her divorce, since she was bed ridden for about a year. While Agathe was gone, Max worked two shifts at the steel mills so he could support Agathe and Ruth.

In 1947 Max and Agathe decided to move permanently to Utah. Dorothy took care of Ruthie while Agathe got things ready for Max to arrive. Max first tried to get a job in the Geneva Steel Mills in Provo, since that was the kind of work he had been doing, but was unable to find a position, so he took a job in Ogden as custodian for the church house at 26th and Jackson Avenue. There were four wards and a Stake meeting there at that time, so there was never an end to his work. Max had a years leave from the steel mills in Duluth, and could have gone back to his old job, but Agathe especially didn't want to leave Zion, and they decided to stay.

In the summer time Max found extra work helping wealthy people with their flower gardens. He also fixed electrical things for people in their ward. Max saved this extra money for their old age. Their home was rent free, but their pay was small. They lived frugally, but saved enough so they could travel a little.

Agathe's health was never good, and in 1955 Agathe died of kidney failure, so Max was left alone. After her death it was hard for Max to have an interest in life anymore and he gradually went down hill. He had a chance to remarry, but he didn't take it. He had heard too many stories of widowers who remarried and then the wife left and took half the money. He knew if that happened he wouldn't have enough left for his old age.

Max continued working at the church house and lived alone for another four years. Then, in the fall of 1959, Diane, Dorothy's daughter went to live with her Grandpa in order to finish her high school at Ogden High School. She lived there during her Junior and Senior years at high school. During the years of 1961 and 1962 Diane worked in Ogden and lived with Grandpa. She then got married and Grandpa was alone again, until Naomi, another daughter of Dorothy's also went there to go to school from 1962 until 1964, until she graduated from high school.

About that time, Max went on an extended trip all over the eastern United States by bus with a group of members from his Ogden ward. He thoroughly enjoyed it and it was a highlight of his life.

In 1964 Max retired from his work as custodian at the church and went to live with Dorothy and LeGrand in Park Valley, Utah. He was content for a while, but he missed his friends in Ogden. Dorothy and LeGrand were busy with Ranch work and with the family, so Max decided to return to Ogden, but there was no one to take care of him there, so he went into a rest home. That was in 1968 in the fall of the year. He was in the rest home until 1972 when he got pneumonia and died. All his good friends and some former missionaries came to his funeral. He died in full faith in the Gospel.