Franklin Madsen

When Franklin Madsen was 7-months-old, he emigrated to America with his parents Jacob Christensen Madsen and Dorthea Christine Jensen, both of Denmark.

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the family joined the Christian Christiansen Company to trek west to the Great Salt Lake Valley.

According to the history records by Franklin’s mother, Dorthea', the family 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.

The wet and cold weather had a severe affect on little Franklin. He passed away and is buried along the trail in Iowa.

According to an account written by Franklin's father, it reads: “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.”