A Beautiful Story. It's long, but good.

I have never been one that has gotten into geneology. I had always heard stories here and there about some of my ancestors. One such story was about my great great grandma, Frieda Kaestli, who was born in Switzerland and when she was 21 her parents sent her on a ship to America because a man had "wronged her." She had a son named Carl. She moved to Manti, Utah and was baptized in 1893. She met Thomas Edmunds and they got married in 1896. Thomas adopted Carl. Thomas and Frieda had 8 more children. Carl Edmunds is my dad's dad's dad. So, we are illegitimately Edmunds.
Until recently, this was pretty much the story we knew about how we got the Edmunds name. However, we have recently learned much much more about Frieda and the man that "wronged her." Relatives of my grandpa compiled a huge binder with information and letters that gives Frieda's story a lot more meaning and a deeper look into her life and emotions, as well her devotion to her family and beliefs. Read on if you want to hear a love story that will put Nick Sparks to shame.

Frieda Louise Kaestli, born in 1871, grew up in St. Margrethen, Switzerland. She had blue eyes and brown hair. She went to school and graduated in St. Margrethen.

Thomas Edmunds was born in 1841, making him 30 years older than Frieda. He had previously been married to Catherine Jones. They didn't have any children together, because Catherine died of pneumonia.

Frieda and Thomas had nine children. Frieda lost 3 babies in their infancy. One at 2 months old to pneumonia, another at 8 months old to SIDS, and another at 12 months old to Bronchitis. There was no doctor in their little town. I can't imagine the suffering that she must of gone through over and over and over. Her youngest child was 6 months old when Thomas died of a heart attack. He was 71, but since he was 30 years older than Frieda, that left her a 41 year old widow with 6 surviving children to raise on her own. I think it is safe to assume that she was probably still grieving the loss of her 3 little babies, and now was grieving the loss of her husband. I'm not sure any of us can fathom that kind of anguish. She stayed firm in her beliefs and raised her family deeply rooted in the gospel. She wanted her kids to be educated and missionaries and by the stories and paperwork complied, it is apparent she had a testimony of temple work and families. She was only married for 15 years to Thomas before he died.
Now going back to her time in Switzerland, we only have little information on her childhood and life there. It makes you wonder what she did and what kind of experiences she had during the first 21 years of her life. That is 6 years more than how long she was married to Thomas, and in that 15 years, she experienced enough to last a lifetime. What we do know about her family in Switzerland is that she had two brothers and two sisters. We've also recently learned that she had a courtship with a man for about a year and half---Carl's biological father, Frederic Dessouslavy. We have letters Frederic wrote to Frieda dating from April 29, 1891- July 15, 1892. It is very clear that he never "wronged her", which was originally thought, but they were actually very much in love! We don't have the letters that Frieda wrote to him, and I really wish we did. His letters are so tenderly written. Every letter was addressed, "Dear Friend" or "My dear and tender Frieda." You may say thats cheesy, but it was so genuine and respectful back then, I'm sure. It was a long distance relationship, I'm guessing, which explains all the letters. He wrote of his love and adoration for her and how much he missed her when they were apart. He talked about how hard he was working so they could one day get engaged. He awaited the day he could get her parents consent and swore of his fidelity to her and he promised her eternity. (Pretty interesting since they were not members of the church, but still talked about eternity...) There is one particular letter where at the very bottom, he wrote, "If God is for us, then who would be against us? Forget me not!" Who speaks like that?? I love that line. The last letter we have from Frederic is a letter he wrote to her parents. He addressed it, "Very Honored Family. " He wrote asking for their permission for him to marry Frieda. Here is an excerpt from that letter:
"But alas, the result was, that in a moment of weakness, our destiny was set. I'd rather die than abandon this innocent Frieda who you will certainly set aside! This could mark a sad memory for our families!"
I'm assuming he knew that their moment of weakness was not going to go over well with her parents, but was determined to prove his love and devotion to taking care of her and taking responsibility for their mistake. He talked of not being a rich man, but he was a hard worker and marrying Frieda would be his riches.

After this letter, all we know is that Frieda was sent to America, 21 years old, alone and 8 months pregnant. We don't know much about the rest of Frederic's life. I'm sure saying he was heart broken is an understatement. We know he moved on eventually and had a family of his own, just as Frieda did. My brother actually found many names of Frederic's family that hadn't had their temple work done that we have been able to do. Frederic's temple work had already been done sometime in the 1960s and we're pretty sure it was Frieda who did it for him. This gives me such a greater respect for her, more than I had before we knew about Frederic. It couldn't have been harder as a 21 year old to go to a country alone and pregnant, leaving behind the man she was certain she was going to marry. It is obvious that she truly loved him because she kept all his letters. But, when all is said and done, her eternal family was with Thomas Edmunds and she loved him, too. I am in the process of learning more about their life together because it is clearly how it was supposed to be. There have been 5 generations and counting born into the gospel because of the choice her parents made to send her to America. There will be a part 2 to this story. I'd like to think that the reason she had Frederic's work for him was because she had a great understanding of the plan and wanted him, someone she once loved and respected so much, to be able to be apart of it. Ultimately, the gospel was what she was centered on.

If we were to take the Hollywood approach, we would find a way to make it so Frieda and Frederic ended up together in the end. But, as my dad puts it, we are Edmunds.

If anyone made it all the way through this story, I applaud you. Don't you think that would make a great movie??