Mary Wagner Madsen

Mary Wagner was the youngest of 12 children. At age seven, Mary was the only child living at home. One of her chores was herding cows. When she finished, Mary liked to play with the neighbors’ children.
One day while visiting friends, Mary was asked to help draw water from a well. She tumbled into the well and landed on the curbing with only her head above water. After several failed attempts to rescue Mary, a ladder was lowered into the well and a man carried her out. Mary was so cold she couldn’t move. Her mother wrapped her in a wet sheet and put her to bed. She eventually recovered.
Mary enjoyed the visits of the Mormon missionaries as much as play time with her friends. The missionaries often sang church hymns for Mary and her parents. Mary said it was the music that converted her.
Like most converts, the Wagners wanted to emigrate to Utah. Mary’s father died en route. Mary and her mother were often stranded for lack of money. After arriving in Salt Lake City, Mary found work with a family in American Fork. At the end of the summer, Mary was told they had no money to pay her. She was given a cow and a sheep, but Mary had no way to transport them. A year later, Mary and her new husband Adolph Madsen retrieved the animals plus a calf and a lamb.

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