Lars Anton

It took us a few days after his birth to settle on a name for our baby.  It wasn't because we didn't have a name picked out, we just had a hard time committing to it.  Although popular in scandanavian countries, "Lars" is a rather uncommon name for this part of the world, and we were a little nervous about our giving our son a "weird" name.  However, we cast our worries aside and decided that the only name right for this baby is "Lars Anton Johnson".  We picked the name off of the Johnson family tree.  The original owner of the name--Lars Anton Johannson (later changed to Johnson)--was born in Sweden on July 6, 1841.  He moved to Denmark at an early age, where he grew up and married Lize Frandsen.  Together, they had fourteen children, five of which died as infants.  When he was in his early 40's, Lars became acquainted with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and became a member.  Six years later, in 1890, Lars and his family immigrated to Provo, Utah, where he became a successful farmer.  Lars died at the age of 83 and is buried in the Provo, Utah Cemetery.  He was the first Mormon, first American, and first Johnson in our family.  We are very pleased to give this man's name to our youngest son.  May he ever live up to it!  

Lars Anton & Lize Johannson (Johnson)