Bror
Sornson was born in Vestra Sallerup, Malmöhus, Sweden on August 14, 1807.
Uncited Ancestry family trees suggest his parents were Soren Jonsson
(1771–1837) and Signe Monsdotter (1773-?) and have further ancestors back to
the 1600s.[1]
He emigrated to the United States in 1859 when he was 51 years old. The William Tapscott ship manifest lists him and his family traveling from Liverpool, England, to New York City, with a final destination of Utah. The dozens of names on this page of the ship manifest are all Swedish or Danish with a final destination of Utah. The following is the transcription of the manifest provided by Ancestry.com:
Brior Sorenson, Male, age 51, born 1808
Hanna
Sorenson Female 38 1821
Olof
Sorenson Female 15 1844
Sena
Sorenson Female 10 1849
Ercilia
Sorenson Female 7 1852
Krersty
Awkanson Female 22 1837
Peker
Sorenson Male 30 1829
He
traveled with his wife Hanna Olasdotter and their three children: Olof, Sine,
and Cecilia.[2] [3] Bror later marries "Krersty Awkanson" but it is
unclear her relationship to the family at the time of immigration. Family
stories suggest she was their maid or nanny. It is also unclear who "Peker
Sorenson" is, though presumably he was traveling with them since he has
the same last name and was listed with them.
That same year, Bror and his family are listed as traveling with the Robert F. Neflen Company via wagon train to Salt Lake City, Utah.[4]
He became a follower of Joseph Morris, the leader of a schismatic group known as either Church of the Firstborn or the Morrisites.[5]. During ongoing conflict between the Mormon chuch, non-Mormon settlers, the territorial government of the time, and people indigenous to the area (Native Americans), Morris was shot and killed on June 15, 1862.[6].
Oral tradition says Bror decided to follow other Morrisites out of Salt Lake City and into Montana. His wife Hanna did not want to leave so he left her and his three children behind. He traveled north with his second wife, Kristy Kate Awkanson who gave birth to their first child, Sine, that same year. Annie is said to have been developmentally disabled and spent at least her adult life in an asylum or home.[7] Joseph was born in 1862. August Bror Sornson was born in 1864 and James Isaac Sornson in 1866.[8]
While in Montana, a Morrisite named William W. Davies claimed to have revelations regarding the establishment of a communal society called The Kingdom of Heaven. In 1866, Davies led 40 of his followers to 80 acres near Walla Walla, Washington.[9]
Oral history has it that Bror and Kristy's son Joseph drowned in a river as a boy while helping Davies. Many people blamed Davies for this. In a dramatized version of Bror's life on YouTube made by Bror's great great grandson Ron Klicker:[10]
I lost my first son Joseph. Joseph was about 12 years old and the supply team had gone to town to bring supplies back to to our place and they were to Ford Mill Creek. Mill Creek was flooding and Joseph he was on a horse and Davies said, 'Ford that river and find out where the cross.' 'I can't ford that river. I'm too young, too small.' 'Oh, just get across.' So he started across the river and somehow the horse was spooked and young Joseph fell off. He floated downriver and he grabbed a hold of a tree and and no one could get to him and he clung there for life for a while and then he drowned.[11]
Oral history says many people blamed Davies for the death of Joseph. This was likely around 1874. This drove a further wedge between Bror and Kristy. [12]From Klicker's dramatization:
We had finally given birth to our last child, Lena, in 1870. And at that point my wife was tired of living among the Trinity, and she determined that it was time to leave the compound. Because one other thing was...the place of William Davies, the Holy Spirit, he could have visits with any woman in the compound. And it came time for his visit with with my wife Kristina. And she determined that wasn't going to happen and the children were just small children but William Davies had a beard that came to his knees. He had hair that came to here because, as you can see with me, we were like Samson: our strength comes from our hair. And so we didn't cut our hair. And all of the Davisites were left to wear long hair ... So when he came to visit with my wife, the children grabbed his beard and his long hair and pulled him to the ground while my wife left. And she went to the neighbors, the McKay's, up the canyon and never to return to the compound. She set up a homestead, but I could not leave my friend and my confidant and the Trinity and I refused to leave the compound and so there I stayed.[13]
Davies'
Kingdom of Heaven disbanded in the 1880s, after the death of several of his
children and in the wake of a lawsuit against him. Bror testified at the trial
and remained faithful for his whole life.[14][15]
Though oral tradition says Kristy left Bror, the 1887 Washington State and Territorial Census lists a "Kresty Sorensen" living with a "Burr Soresen" and their children. However, both Kristy and Bror are listed as "single" rather than "married."
Burr Sorensen, 80, farmer, Single, born in Sweden
Kresty
Sorensen, 50, laborer, Single, born in Sweden
August
Sorensen, 22, laborer, Single, born in Idaho
Isaac
Sorensen,19, laborer, Single, born in Idaho
Lena
Sorensen, 17, laborer, Single, born in Washington Territory
Oral
history has it that Bror and Kristy never lived together again. His youngest
daughter, Lena Matilda Sornson, married William Poirier in 1896.[16] Oral
history says she cared for Bror as he aged. This story is backed up by the 1900
United States Federal Census where Bror is shown living with William and Lena
on a mortgaged farm in Russell Creek, Walla Walla, Washington along with their
two daughters and a boarder. It is understood he lived with them until he died
in 1902 at age 95.[17]
He is said to have died near what is now the McKay grade where he and Kristy had lived.[18] He and Kristy are buried together at Stubblefield Cemetery.[19]
