History of Levi John Somsen (1877 – 1951) & Isabelle Maud Tanner (1877 – 1975)

1. Levi John Somsen (1877 – 1951) &
Isabelle Maud Tanner (1877 – 1975)
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jsomsen&id=I848
Levi John Somsen
Birth: 11 JUL 1877, Lime Springs,, Iowa USA
Death: 20 Jul 1951, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Burial: 25 JUL 1951 Garland, Box Elder County, Utah
Married 25 Nov 1902, Clover, Tooele, Utah
Isabelle Maud Tanner
Birth: 3 May 1877, Clover,Tooele,Utah
Death: 27 April 1975
Burial Garland, Box Elder, Utah
CHILDREN
1- Ruth Isabelle Somson 1903- 1904 Burial Garland, Box Elder, Utah
2- John Glenwood Somsen 1905- 1966 Burial Garland, Box Elder, Utah
3- Levi Calvin Somsen 1907-1958 Burial Garland, Box Elder, Utah
4- Lyman Keith Somsen 1909-1976 Burial Murray, Utah
5- Laren Alphonso Somsen 1910-1993 Burial Sandy, Salt Lake Co., Utah
6- David Eugene Somsen 1912-1986 Burial Garland, Box Elder, Utah
7- Isabelle Eunice Somsen 1915-1963 Burial Garland, Box Elder, Utah
8- Joseph Don Somsen 1918-1998 Burial Garland, Box Elder, Utah ??
9- Claire Levern Somsen 1920-1922 Burial Garland, Box Elder, Utah
1903 – 1912: Six children were born at Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah.
1915 – 1920: three were born in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah
The family maintained strong ties to Garland, Utah

2. Levi John Somsen (1877 – 1951)
Levi John Somsen is the second of fourteen children of Arent Jan (Aaron John) Somsen (1848 – 1930) AND
Antonia or Jane Grooeboer (1856 – 1930).
Levi John Somsen was born at Lime Spring, Iowa during 1877. Then the family moved to Carimona Twp.,
Fillmore, Minnesota (about 18 Miles North), during 1878-79 and rented a farm. They stayed there for 3 or 4
years then moved back to Lime Springs, Iowa. His Mother’s Parents & family lived at Carimona Twp.,
Fillmore, Minnesota
Lime Springs was incorporated in May, 1876.
Signers of the petition for incorporation include: Father: John Somson (Arent Jan “Aaron John” Somsen), AND
Uncle: G. J. Somsen (Gareet Jan Somsen),
Population
1880 – 468 / 1885 – 448 / 1890 – 550 / 1895 – 551 / 1900 – 605 1905 – 469 / 1910 – 498 / 1915 – 547

3. https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZ97-PLC
1880 United States Census" John Somsen
name : John Somsen event place: Carimona, Fillmore, Minnesota, United States
gender: Male age: 32 marital status : Married occupation : Farmer
ethnicity (standardized) : American relationship to head : Self
birthplace : Netherlands birthdate : 1848
spouse's name : Jane Somsen spouse's birthplace : Wisconsin, United States
father's birthplace : Netherlands mother's birthplace : Netherlands
Household Gender Age Birthplace
self John Somsen M 32 Netherlands
wife Jane Somsen F 24 Wisconsin, United States
son Levi Somsen M 2 Iowa, United States
daughter Amelia Somsen F 1 Minnesota, United States
page : 364 page character : C entry number : 505 nara film number : T9-0619 gs film number : 1254619
digital folder number: 004241999 image number: 00615
http://www.howard-county.com/iowa/city-of-lime-springs.html
Lime Springs, Iowa
The history of Lime Springs is marked by a confusing succession of titles for the town. The "Old Town" of
Lime Springs was settled in 1854 by Oscar Chesebro and Joseph Knowlton. Lime Spring was named after a
spring that produces fresh water today. The spring can be located on the south bank of the Upper Iowa River
below the concrete bridge. The old town of Lime Springs was platted in 1857 by O. and W.O. Wood.
The railroad location was implemented a mile away from the "Old Town" of Lime Spring at the Lime Spring
Station. Glen Roy was the official name of the U.S. post office at Lime Spring Station and the "Old Town" post
office closed in 1868. This area, the Lime Spring Station came to be known as Lime Spring and was platted in
1867. It was not until 1949 that the "s" in Lime Spring(s)was officially added by the post office.

4. The uniqueness of Lime Springs is marked by the
milling industry and the historical site of Lidtke Mill.
This mill was famous for its buckwheat flour and in the
1870s the mill was able to put out 100 barrels of flour a
day. Today Lidtke Mill is on the National Register of
Historical Sites and is still a dominate presence in "Old
Town"
Lime Springs also recalls two devastating fires in its
history. The "Big Fire" of 1901 wiped out both sides of
main street. Although tragic, this fire resulted in
rebuilding main street with the beautiful brick buildings
you see downtown Lime Springs today. The second big
fire was on Easter Sunday, April 21, 1927. Eight
buildings burned including the lumber yard and the opera house on Center Street.
Like many young men, Levi John Somsen left home (sometime after 1895) to move to the west. He ultimately
found his way to Salt Lake City, Utah. There, at about age 25, he meet Isabelle Maud Tanner from Clover,
Tooele, Utah. They were Married 25 Nov 1902, Clover, Tooele Co., Utah and they settled at Garland, Box
Elder Co., Utah. They moved to Salt Lake City, Utah between 1912 & 1915.
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http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/westernStates/westernStatesRecordDetail.cfm?recordID=332938
1902 MARRIAGE
Groom Last Name: SORNSEN (SOMSEN), Groom First Name: Levi J.
Bride Last Name: TANNER, Bride First Name: Isabel M.
Place: Salt Lake City Date: 25 Nov 1902 County of Record: Salt Lake State: Utah Volume: M Page: 352
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Isabelle Maud Tanner Born: 3 May 1877, Clover, Tooele, Utah.
Isabelle Maud Tanner is the second of five children born to Joseph Tanner (1844 – 1923) AND Isabel Stookey
(1854 - 1889).
Her father was born at Newbury, Berkshire, England, England. At the age of about 7, 1851, his parents
emigrated from England and settled at Clover, Utah.
Her mother was born at Belleville, Saint Clair Co., Illinois. At the age of 1 her parent came to Utah and settled
at Clover, Utah.
Clover, Rush Valley, is a town in Tooele County, Utah located in the northwest of Rush Valley. It is about 50
miles West South West of Salt Lake City, Utah and 45 mile West of Lake Utah.. It is a “fairly small”
agricultural area.
This area was first settled beginning in 1856. In The area of Clover and St. John became known as Rush Valley.
Clover is on the east side of Johnsons Pass on Clover Creek and U-125. The settlement was originally named
Johnsons Settlement for Luke S. Johnson, an early settler. The name was then changed to Shambip, a Goshute
Indian word for rush or bulrush plants. Shambip was then called Johnson up until 1856 when G. S. Craig
renamed the town Clover after a nearby flat covered with native clover. At this time, John Bennion built a small
cabin and wintered a few cattle in the area.

5. Clover Spring Campground is a cool escape
from the desert heat. The clear, bubbling waters
of a natural spring gave this site its name.
Cottonwoods trees frame the campground

6. North East of Rush Valley
At about age 25 Isabelle Maud Tanner met Levi John Somsen and they were Married 25 Nov 1902, Clover,
Tooele, Utah and settled at Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah from1902 to about 1912-15. They moved to Salt Lake
City, Utah between 1912 & 1915.
GARLAND, BOX ELDER CO., UTAH
Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah was originally named Sunset and settled in
1890. The first settler was David E. Manning. It was a company town and
was renamed after William Garland, the contractor who built the Utah
Sugar Company factory at the location, completed in 1903.
The company donated land to the LDS Church for a "ward chapel and
amusement hall" and also built 14 homes, a hotel, and other buildings. The
town had a general store, a bank, a post office, and a newspaper named The
Garland Globe in 1906. By 1920s there were other merchants, a flour mill,
a Carnegie Library, and a high school
What is the land like?
Dave Peterson's farm, southeast of Tremonton, in 1945.
Box Elder County forms the northwest corner of Utah.
This large county is part of the vast Great Basin. It
includes the northern part of the Great Salt Lake and
the Great Salt Lake Desert. Marshlands surround the
place where the Bear River runs into the Great Salt
Lake. Some of these form the Bear River National
Migratory Bird Refuge.
Agriculture has always played an important role in the
economy of Box Elder County. About 40 percent of the
county's land is used for farming or ranching. Common
crops like hay, grain and alfalfa are still grown.
Starting in 1901, many farmers planted sugar beets.

7. Two sugar factories, one in Garland and the other in Brigham City, operated for many years, but they
have closed now. Box Elder also has abundant fruit orchards and vegetable crops.
An apple orchard near Brigham City in 1904. Brigham City
still is a center of fruit production. ------------------------>
Common crops like hay, grain and alfalfa are still grown.
Box Elder also has abundant fruit orchards and vegetable
crops.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XMY1-1GQ
1910 "United States Census" Levi J Somson, Sunset, Box Elder, Utah
name: Levi J Somson birthplace: Iowa relationship to head of household: Self
residence: Sunset, Box Elder, Utah marital status: Married race: White gender: Male
father's birthplace: Wisconsin mother's birthplace: United States
Household Gender Age Birthplace
self Levi J Somson M 32y Iowa
wife Isabel M Samson F 32y Utah
son John G Sornson M 4y Utah
son Levi C Sornson M 3y Utah
son Lyman K Sornson M 1y Utah
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They moved from Garland to Salt Lake City, Utah between 1912 & 1915.
Salt Lake began to assume its present character in the early 1900s. The State Capitol and many other historic
buildings were constructed. Electric trolleys, garaged at Trolley Square (now a popular shopping mall), were
installed to transport people living in the Avenues, Capitol Hill, Liberty Park, and Sugar House areas to
downtown. The trolleys were gradually replaced in the 1930s by buses. The last streetcar line was discontinued
in 1941.
Eagle Gate, which had served to mark the entrance to Brigham Young's estate, was reconstructed to allow
traffic flow. City parks were built, sewer systems and street lighting were installed, and streets were paved.
Between 1900-1930, the city's population nearly tripled.

8. Main Street (Salt Lake City 1920) Smith's Drug Store building on the corner of 200 South
and Main Street. The Herald Building is also shown in
the image. (1910
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XH66-VGJ
1930 Levi Somsen, "United States Census"
name: Levi Somsen event place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
gender: Male age: 52 marital status: Married race: White
birthplace: Iowa estimated birth year: 1878 relationship to head of household: Head
father's birthplace: Holland mother's birthplace: Minnesota
Household Gender Age Birthplace
head Levi Somsen M 52 Iowa
wife Isabell Somsen F 52 Utah
son J Glenwood Somsen M 24 Utah
son Levi C Somsen M 23 Utah
son Layman K Somsen M 21 Utah
son Laren A Somsen M 19 Utah
son David E Somsen M 17 Utah
daughter Isabell Somsen F 14 Utah
enumeration district number: 0013 family number: 689 sheet number and letter: 44A line number: 26
nara publication: T626, roll 2418 film number: 2342152 digital folder number: 4547816 image number: 00689
The Great Depression brought construction to a standstill.
http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/from_war_to_war/thegreatdepression.html
Utah was among the states hit hardest by the Great Depression of the 1930s. That claim surprises many people,
who assume, for various reasons, that it was spared the worst. A few statistics make the point. In 1933 Utah's
unemployment rate was 35.8 percent, the fourth highest in the nation, and for the decade as a whole it averaged
26 percent. By 1932 the wage level for those who had not lost their jobs had declined by 45 percent and the
work week by 20 percent. Annual per capita income dropped 50 percent by 1932, and in 1940 had risen to only
82 percent of the pre-depression level. By the spring of 1933, 32 percent of the population was receiving all or
part of their food, clothing, shelter, and other necessities from government relief funds: 32 of Utah's 105 banks
had failed; and corporate business failures had increased by 20 percent.
During 1940’s the boom sounded again during World War II. War industries and military installations
revitalized the economy. Workers and soldiers spent their money in the city's restaurants, shops, ballrooms, and
theaters.

9. https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VB2S-WRH
1940 L J Somsen, "United States Census"
event place: Ward 1, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
name: L J Somsen gender: Male age: 62 marital status: Married race (standardized): White
relationship to head of household (standardized): Head
birthplace: Iowa estimated birth year: 1878
residence in 1935: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Household Gender Age Birthplace
head L J Somsen M 62 Iowa
wife Maude Somsen F 62 Utah
Household Gender Age Birthplace
son Calvin Somsen M 33 Utah
daughter-in-law Betty Somsen F 22 Colorado
granddaughter Helen Somsen F 1 California
grandson Dale Davis M 3 Texas
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http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/westernStates/westernStatesRecordDetail.cfm?recordID=332938
Somsen’s at Garland Cemetery
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GSiman=1&GScid=77238&GSfn=&GSln=Somsen
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=34270260
Levi John Somsen
Birth: Jul. 17, 1877; Death: Jul. 20, 1951
Death: 20 Jul 1951, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Burial: 25 JUL 1951 Garland, Box Elder County, Utah
Burial: Garland Cemetery
Garland, Box Elder County, Utah, USA, Plot: C-1-E-1
Isabelle Maude Tanner Somsen
Birth: Jul. 3, 1877; Death: Apr. 27, 1975
Death: 27 April 1975
Burial: Garland Cemetery Garland, Box Elder County, Utah, USA
Garland, Box Elder County, Utah, USA, Plot: C-1-E-1

10. Your tombstone stands neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out on polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care. It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist. You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you in flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our heart contracts and beats a pulse entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled those many years ago.
Spreads out among the ones you left who would have loved you so.
I wonder as you lived and loved, I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot and come to visit you.
Author Unknown
1975 Isabelle Maud Tanner Somsen

11. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GSln=Somsen&GSiman=1&GSst=47&
Visit the Utah Find A Grave Forum!!
Somsen, Levi John 34270260
b. Jul. 17, 1877 d. Jul. 20, 1951
Garland Cemetery, Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah
Somsen, Isabelle Maude Tanner
b. b. Jul. 3, 1877 d. Apr. 27, 1975270267
Garland Cemetery, Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah
Kogelschatz, Isabel Eunice Somsen 34694888
b. Sep. 12, 1915 d. Oct. 27, 1963
Garland Cemetery, Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah
Somsen, Clair 34270282
b. 1920 d. 1922
Garland Cemetery, Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah
Somsen, David Eugene 34270323
b. Aug. 20, 1912 d. Feb. 23, 1986
Garland Cemetery, Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah
Somsen, Dorothy Louise 34270297
b. Sep. 18, 1918 d. Apr. 21, 1981
Garland Cemetery, Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah
Somsen, John G. 34270317
b. Jun. 12, 1905 d. May 21, 1966
Garland Cemetery, Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah
Somsen, Joseph Don 34270290
b. Jul. 25, 1918 d. Jul. 11, 1998
Garland Cemetery, Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah
Somsen, Levi Calvin 34270307
b. Jan. 10, 1907 d. Jul. 21, 1958
Garland Cemetery, Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah
Somsen, Ruth 34270274
b. 1903 d. 190
Garland Cemetery, Garland, Box Elder Co., Utah
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Somsen, Lyman Keith 56151
b. Jan. 2, 1909 d. Mar. 6, 1976
Murray City Cemetery, Murray, Salt Lake Co., Utah
Somsen, Anna Viola Anderson 36803
b. Jan. 30, 1906 d. Jan. 26, 1990
Murray City Cemetery, Murray, Salt Lake Co., Utah