The Ancestors

 9" x 12", acrylic on canvas panel © 2024
Collection of the artist

In 1864, Eric Øhlenschlæger and family settled in Fountain Green, Utah. He had three sons and two daughters (who died in Denmark). He died on 4 January 1865—it must have been a cold winter. His sons were Peder, Ludvig, and, my ancestor, Hans Peter. Two of the three adopted patronymic names of Ericksen and the third maintained the family name of  Øhlenschlæger (spelling was Americanized). His death in January made for difficult burial and he happened to have been buried outside of the official cemetery—he was buried in a dry creek bed. A flood came years later and washed the body away; there was no sign of the burial. As close as we can come to the site, it was the "bush" | "tree" which is the focal point of the painting. I contacted the city and found that there was no official record of the burial or the site. So he is immortalized in this painting and the photo that it was taken from.