Posted by:
wondering...
(
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Date: May 01, 2015 12:39AM
Why did such large numbers of Scandinavians (including my own ancestors) embrace Mormonism, leave their home countries, and eventually arrive in Utah in the mid to late 1800s/early 1900s? To this day, Scandinavian family names (Nelson, Petersen, Christensen...) appear with extremely high frequency in the Mormon church.
There were anti-Mormon movements during that time period in Scandinavia, including a 1911 Danish film, "A Victim of the Mormons" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Victim_of_the_Mormons). In spite of the anti-Mormon sentiments, thousands of Scandinavians joined the Mormon church and moved to Utah.
I'm guessing most people were seeking better lives and used the Perpetual Emigration Fund to pay for their travel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_Emigration_Fund).
Any thoughts/family stories?