Franklin Madsen

Franklin's father isJacob Christensen Madsen, his mother isDorthea Christine Jensen both of Denmark. Little Franklin was just 7 months old when they came to America.

The family came from Denmark and joined with the Christian Christiansen Company to come West to the Salt Lake Valley. In Family Search and Pioneer Overland Travels it stated “unknown company”. The name of the company is from Dorthea's history.

According to Dorthea's history, they had to wait all night in the rain for another cattle car to come and take them to Iowa where they would join the Christian Christiansen Company to come west.

Because little 7 month old Franklin was subject to the cold and wet, he passed away.

According to Franklin's fathers account, he says,

“There was no shelter there, it rained all night with mud and rain flowing down the nearby hillside. The next morning, the door of a freight building was opened to us, then we were escorted to an eating house for breakfast and were fed. The railroad cars we traveled in were cattle cars. Sometimes a seat was available to simply sit on the floor. Other times standing up was required with hardly any room to lean against a structure. The conditions were so physically demanding and uncomfortable that one elderly man and three children died. One of those children was their little son, Franklin.”

Franklin is buried in Iowa somewhere along the trail.