Pioneers of St. Clair County, Michigan - Person Sheet
Pioneers of St. Clair County, Michigan - Person Sheet
NameAnders Malté ANDERSEN 
Immigration10 Jul 1903, Ellis Island, New York3409, p 4; year only,3428, p 1 Age: 18
Memocame to U.S. at age 18 on ship “Germanic” from Liverpool
Removal3 Feb 1907, Kenya3409, p 6 Age: 21
Burial24 May 1934, Litein, Kenya3429, place only,3409, p 80,3430, p 1
OccupationPioneer Missionary - Africa Inland Mission
NicknameAndrew3406, p 3
FatherJens ANDERSEN (1846-1925)
MotherMaren Margrethe JENSEN (1850-1936)
Individual Notes
• Of his family, he came first to America. He was going to be conscripted by the Danish government at age 18; he refused, and went to America without any papers. He spent two weeks on Ellis Island before being admitted. His conversion occurred in San Diego - he was walking down a street, and listened to a sidewalk preacher. Mary Honer has his diaries.3431
• He knew of a large colony of Danes who had settled in Jewel Junction, Iowa, so that was his intended destination. He knew very little English - just enough to ask for “Yule Yunction” and hamburgers.3409, p 15
• On his Passenger Manifest, he gives his destination as Uncle Christian Andersen, Box 88, Jewell Junction, Hamilton County, Iowa.3432
• He had been brought up and baptized in the Lutheran Church, but when he went to the United States he did not have any knowledge of a personal salvation. While in the United States, one day he passed by a meeting on the street where he heard someone share that he knew he was saved. This was the assurance that Mr. Andersen wanted. He followed the group into the Peniel Mission and continued to attend meetings there, where he accepted the Lord as his Saviour. From then on his life was changed.3433, p 9
• Jefferson [Whiting Ford] found a kindred spirit in Andrew Andersen, who had pioneered five stations for the Africa Inland Mission.3434, p 100
• Later Andrew Andersen offered to give Clara's mission a place to work in the Kipsigis tribe. Jefferson was asked to act as chairman of their Mission Council for a short time.3434, p 102
• In fact, his [Earl’s] parents had pioneered five stations for A.I.M. among similar people. Andrew Andersen believed that in order to establish a truly indigenous church the people had to be economically able to support it. So he set about to teach them how to use their beautiful land that had plentiful rainfall, much as Jefferson had done in Kitosh. Having won the admiration and confidence of the proud Kipsigis tribe, he was able to teach them to plow with oxen (although the men at first rebelled at having their precious cows do women's work). He imported a circular grind stone from India and taught them to make similar ones to be run by water wheels. He made roads, and he bought the first truck, which he taught them to maintain. In 1934, six weeks before he died of a heart attack, his son, Earl, arrived home from Columbia Bible College in the States.3434, pp 118-9
• For miles around he was known as Bwana Fundi, literally “Master Workman.” He was loved and respected by natives, Indians, Settlers, Government officials, and fellow missionaries. A settler writes “I had the greatest respect for his sterling qualities and admired him in every way. He fought the good fight and now he has is rest and reward. The result of his good deeds will live on.” A friend and fellow missionary writes: “I keep thinking of all the stations he opened, the many trips, the many hardships, I think of him sawing, sawing up Kaprapita to fix a house for the Scoutens, and never will I forget the time he came to rescue Miss H. and me when we were left alone and had trouble. We know that Bwana Fundi will be missed by black and white as he meant so much to so many. I am sad when I think of the work he had to leave. No wonder his heart gave out. He has worked so hard.
- Mrs. R. K. Smith3409, p 81
• Andy Anderson [sic] was a great big Scandinavian man who spoke broken English. He was an inventive man who ran his truck on charcoal, and built posho mills at Litein so the Africans could grind their own corn. Andersons and their children seem as eternal as the mountains, considering the work they have accomplished along every practical line, whether it was Andy’s industrial department, or their son Earl’s extensive gardening, irrigation, and grain planting schemes, or their daughter Mary Honer’s teaching school at RVA, or later, through their grandsons, Howard, Willard, and Herbert, in construction and just about every imaginable activity in mission work.3435
• Dad's constant push and physical strength had finally been his undoing. Earl recalled trying to help his father lift a 550-pound bell up into a bell tower that had been built close to the church. After Earl and some others struggled, Dad climbed the tower, had them toss him the rope and proceeded to haul the bell up single-handedly.3409, p 321
• Dad’s shoes were big ones to fill as he “was probably one of the greatest men Africa has ever seen,” according to Africans and fellow missionaries.3409, p 321
• Recruitment of Key Pioneer Missionaries
Andrew Malta and Vivian Andersen: He joined the A.I.M. from the Lumbwa Industrial Mission. They opened six A.I.M. mission stations among the Kalenjin, including Litein. He also developed the Kijabe Industrial Department. Known as “Bwana Fundi,” he passed on his practical gifts to his son, Earl, and grandsons (Herbert, Willard and Howard), and even to his great-grandsons.3436, p 53
• [excerpts] When [Willis] Hotchkiss returned to the States, he resigned from the A.I.M. in 1899 and joined the Friends Mission at Kaimosi although he himself was not a Quaker. He soon left that mission and formed his own mission, the Lumbwa Industrial Mission, to begin work among the Kipsigis. Andrew Andersen first came to Kenya with that mission.
Various accounts are given for the reason Andersen left the Lumbwa Industrial Mission. Possibly, it was a combination of reasons. Earl Andersen gave the following account to Barnett. All the missionaries of the Lumbwa Industrial Mission were suffering from lack of income. Periodically, they met together at the home of Willis Hotchkiss for business and fellowship. They all shared their desperate circumstances. Willis lamented that the reason for the sparse food he served missionaries at that meeting was his shortage of money.
When Andersen journeyed a few miles from the meeting, he remembered something important he had forgotten at the house, so he reversed the oxen. Many hours later he arrived at the Hotchkiss residence only to find a bountiful table spread with a rich variety of food, all of which belied the sorrowful tale of the shortage of money. This soured Andersen on Hotchkiss so that Andrew resigned from the Lumbwa Mission. Vivian had never been a member.
Shortly after their marriage, Andrew leased a two acre plot nearby the Lumbwa station and constructed their wooden-tram three-room cottage. They filled it with furniture shipped from the States plus their pretty wedding dishes.
The next morning around 5 AM they heard a crackling sound. When they looked out of their tent in horror they saw the front end of their house falling away into flames. The only possessions remaining were their camping equipment with a folding table, two cups and saucers, two cereal bowls, two knifes and forks, and some pots and pans. “We believed the Lord was showing us that were were not to have a permanent home, but move around and do pioneer work. That same day in January of 1913, we sent a telegram to Rev. Lee Downing in Kijabe, asking to join the Africa Inland Mission since we knew the British government had given them permission to begin work among the Kipsigis, Nandi, Tukin [sic], and Elgeyo.” They were immediately accepted by Lee Downing as A.I.M. missionaries.
Before opening the mission station at Litein among the Kipsigis where they served for eleven years, they pioneered in opening mission stations among the Nandi (Chebesaas and Aldai), Kipsigis (Lumbwa and Litein), Tugen (Kapropita), El Keiyo, and El Kebeni – building permanent living accommodations and then moving on.3436, pp. 147-8
• Andrew had been a strong man and could take four-hundred-pound kegs of cement and nails and lift them onto a truck. When he died, they said his heart was displaced, way down into his chest. He worked like a horse and worked himself to death. He poured out his life for the Kipsigis. In 1932 he wrote, “I do not believe the A.I.M. has a more promising field in all Kenya than the Kipsigis....”
Andrew had requested that he be buried at Litein beside the A.I.M. Church, so at midnight they headed back to Litein from Nairobi. Vivian recalled, “On the trip home I was not aware of the storm and the awful roads. All I could think of was my lonely future and my poor, fatherless children.” She was penniless and responsible for the care of three little girls. Andrew and Vivian had agreed together to use their money for the Lord’s work, while trusting God to provide for their own needs.3436, pp. 163-4
• Kijabe A.I.C. Church, built in 1906, with the bell tower
When the foundation gave way and the walls began sagging, Andrew Andersen built the buttresses to support the walls.3436, p 184; photo caption
• He knew of a large colony of Danes who had settled in Jewel Junction, Iowa, so that was his intended destination. He knew very little English - just enough to ask for “Yule Yunction” and hamburgers.3409, p 15
• On his Passenger Manifest, he gives his destination as Uncle Christian Andersen, Box 88, Jewell Junction, Hamilton County, Iowa.3432
• He had been brought up and baptized in the Lutheran Church, but when he went to the United States he did not have any knowledge of a personal salvation. While in the United States, one day he passed by a meeting on the street where he heard someone share that he knew he was saved. This was the assurance that Mr. Andersen wanted. He followed the group into the Peniel Mission and continued to attend meetings there, where he accepted the Lord as his Saviour. From then on his life was changed.3433, p 9
• Jefferson [Whiting Ford] found a kindred spirit in Andrew Andersen, who had pioneered five stations for the Africa Inland Mission.3434, p 100
• Later Andrew Andersen offered to give Clara's mission a place to work in the Kipsigis tribe. Jefferson was asked to act as chairman of their Mission Council for a short time.3434, p 102
• In fact, his [Earl’s] parents had pioneered five stations for A.I.M. among similar people. Andrew Andersen believed that in order to establish a truly indigenous church the people had to be economically able to support it. So he set about to teach them how to use their beautiful land that had plentiful rainfall, much as Jefferson had done in Kitosh. Having won the admiration and confidence of the proud Kipsigis tribe, he was able to teach them to plow with oxen (although the men at first rebelled at having their precious cows do women's work). He imported a circular grind stone from India and taught them to make similar ones to be run by water wheels. He made roads, and he bought the first truck, which he taught them to maintain. In 1934, six weeks before he died of a heart attack, his son, Earl, arrived home from Columbia Bible College in the States.3434, pp 118-9
• For miles around he was known as Bwana Fundi, literally “Master Workman.” He was loved and respected by natives, Indians, Settlers, Government officials, and fellow missionaries. A settler writes “I had the greatest respect for his sterling qualities and admired him in every way. He fought the good fight and now he has is rest and reward. The result of his good deeds will live on.” A friend and fellow missionary writes: “I keep thinking of all the stations he opened, the many trips, the many hardships, I think of him sawing, sawing up Kaprapita to fix a house for the Scoutens, and never will I forget the time he came to rescue Miss H. and me when we were left alone and had trouble. We know that Bwana Fundi will be missed by black and white as he meant so much to so many. I am sad when I think of the work he had to leave. No wonder his heart gave out. He has worked so hard.
- Mrs. R. K. Smith3409, p 81
• Andy Anderson [sic] was a great big Scandinavian man who spoke broken English. He was an inventive man who ran his truck on charcoal, and built posho mills at Litein so the Africans could grind their own corn. Andersons and their children seem as eternal as the mountains, considering the work they have accomplished along every practical line, whether it was Andy’s industrial department, or their son Earl’s extensive gardening, irrigation, and grain planting schemes, or their daughter Mary Honer’s teaching school at RVA, or later, through their grandsons, Howard, Willard, and Herbert, in construction and just about every imaginable activity in mission work.3435
• Dad's constant push and physical strength had finally been his undoing. Earl recalled trying to help his father lift a 550-pound bell up into a bell tower that had been built close to the church. After Earl and some others struggled, Dad climbed the tower, had them toss him the rope and proceeded to haul the bell up single-handedly.3409, p 321
• Dad’s shoes were big ones to fill as he “was probably one of the greatest men Africa has ever seen,” according to Africans and fellow missionaries.3409, p 321
• Recruitment of Key Pioneer Missionaries
Andrew Malta and Vivian Andersen: He joined the A.I.M. from the Lumbwa Industrial Mission. They opened six A.I.M. mission stations among the Kalenjin, including Litein. He also developed the Kijabe Industrial Department. Known as “Bwana Fundi,” he passed on his practical gifts to his son, Earl, and grandsons (Herbert, Willard and Howard), and even to his great-grandsons.3436, p 53
• [excerpts] When [Willis] Hotchkiss returned to the States, he resigned from the A.I.M. in 1899 and joined the Friends Mission at Kaimosi although he himself was not a Quaker. He soon left that mission and formed his own mission, the Lumbwa Industrial Mission, to begin work among the Kipsigis. Andrew Andersen first came to Kenya with that mission.
Various accounts are given for the reason Andersen left the Lumbwa Industrial Mission. Possibly, it was a combination of reasons. Earl Andersen gave the following account to Barnett. All the missionaries of the Lumbwa Industrial Mission were suffering from lack of income. Periodically, they met together at the home of Willis Hotchkiss for business and fellowship. They all shared their desperate circumstances. Willis lamented that the reason for the sparse food he served missionaries at that meeting was his shortage of money.
When Andersen journeyed a few miles from the meeting, he remembered something important he had forgotten at the house, so he reversed the oxen. Many hours later he arrived at the Hotchkiss residence only to find a bountiful table spread with a rich variety of food, all of which belied the sorrowful tale of the shortage of money. This soured Andersen on Hotchkiss so that Andrew resigned from the Lumbwa Mission. Vivian had never been a member.
Shortly after their marriage, Andrew leased a two acre plot nearby the Lumbwa station and constructed their wooden-tram three-room cottage. They filled it with furniture shipped from the States plus their pretty wedding dishes.
The next morning around 5 AM they heard a crackling sound. When they looked out of their tent in horror they saw the front end of their house falling away into flames. The only possessions remaining were their camping equipment with a folding table, two cups and saucers, two cereal bowls, two knifes and forks, and some pots and pans. “We believed the Lord was showing us that were were not to have a permanent home, but move around and do pioneer work. That same day in January of 1913, we sent a telegram to Rev. Lee Downing in Kijabe, asking to join the Africa Inland Mission since we knew the British government had given them permission to begin work among the Kipsigis, Nandi, Tukin [sic], and Elgeyo.” They were immediately accepted by Lee Downing as A.I.M. missionaries.
Before opening the mission station at Litein among the Kipsigis where they served for eleven years, they pioneered in opening mission stations among the Nandi (Chebesaas and Aldai), Kipsigis (Lumbwa and Litein), Tugen (Kapropita), El Keiyo, and El Kebeni – building permanent living accommodations and then moving on.3436, pp. 147-8
• Andrew had been a strong man and could take four-hundred-pound kegs of cement and nails and lift them onto a truck. When he died, they said his heart was displaced, way down into his chest. He worked like a horse and worked himself to death. He poured out his life for the Kipsigis. In 1932 he wrote, “I do not believe the A.I.M. has a more promising field in all Kenya than the Kipsigis....”
Andrew had requested that he be buried at Litein beside the A.I.M. Church, so at midnight they headed back to Litein from Nairobi. Vivian recalled, “On the trip home I was not aware of the storm and the awful roads. All I could think of was my lonely future and my poor, fatherless children.” She was penniless and responsible for the care of three little girls. Andrew and Vivian had agreed together to use their money for the Lord’s work, while trusting God to provide for their own needs.3436, pp. 163-4
• Kijabe A.I.C. Church, built in 1906, with the bell tower
When the foundation gave way and the walls began sagging, Andrew Andersen built the buttresses to support the walls.3436, p 184; photo caption
Spouses
Individual Notes
• Went out in 1911.3442
• A girlfriend of mine and her husband had gone to Kenya, Africa, and they needed helpers as they could buy a bit of land if they had workers and money. The mission in Des Moines, Iowa, sent money to buy the land and Mr. and Mrs. Buckley prepared to go out to help them. I had no money or friends to help, but I felt I must go too. The way was wonderfully provided, mostly by my own family, and I sailed with the Buckleys on Sept. 12, 1911.3433, p 2
• LAWRENCE GIRL IN AFRICA
Miss Vivian Waldron is Now a Missionary in Dark Continent
————————
Will Remain Several Years. Says Natives Run From a Dish of Water
————————
Miss Vivian Waldron, who a few years ago was a pretty little school girl in Lawrence, is now trying to tell the natives of British East Africa that there is a God who loves and cares for them.
Robert Waldron, the father of Miss Waldron, was for many years a tinner in Lawrence, but is now living in Des Moines, Iowa. Mrs. Waldron was a Holiness preacher and her daughter and one son have followed in her footsteps. Sine Miss Waldron went to Africa, the mother has become so interested that she almost may become a missionary.
Miss Waldron, who is a handsome young woman, sailed for Africa last August and expects to remain there for several years. She writes home to her friends many interesting things showing the primitive character of the natives. When they saw a mirror they at once looked behind it to see who was looking at them. They were more afraid of the picture up on her walls and feared they were to be eaten up by them.
When the natives became troublesome Miss Waldron says that all that is needed to scare them away is a pan of water, of which they stand in great fear.3443
• Lawrence.
Miss Vivian Waldron, a Lawrence girl, is now a missionary in Darkest Africa. She left for Africa last August and will remain there several years. She is stationed in British East Africa.3444
• There were some new missionaries at Chaigaik. Mrs. Kramer invited me to her home one morning and very soon Mr. Andersen arrived. It was obvious the meeting was planned. We talked of my uneventful life, then of his. Mr. Andersen was Danish, having gone to the U.S.A. four and a half years, but not long enough to get this U.S.A. citizenship before he went to Africa in 1907. In those days we did not need passports to travel so he did not feel the need to get U.S.A. citizenship since he would be residing in a British colony.3433, p 9
• Mother, in the meantime, had not been well. She was experiencing repeated blacking out spells and none of the local doctors could find what was causing the problem. Since they were unable to determine a cause, it was decided she was suffering from exhaustion after seventeen years in Africa without a furlough. She had not been out of Africa since Dad died. She had continued working with the Girls' Home at Litein, the unwed mothers, helping in the hospital, teaching sewing, and knitting, to her schoolgirls, helping Esther with her babies, and feeling the responsibility of rearing three daughters. It was recommended that she needed a furlough. She was stressed out.
Telling Mother she needed a furlough was one thing. The problem was that no one realized just how little money she had. Neither did anyone come forward to assist.
Mother had kept Grandma's property at Kericho. By renting the two little houses on it, she had supplemented our limited resources and managed to pay the taxes on the property. The tenants were usually missionaries from other missions, so she did not get much, but the revenue helped support us through the war years when very little money came from the States. Since she had been gone so long, contacts in American were virtually nil. Since there was no other way to get enough money for passage to the States, now seemed the appropriate time to sell. The tea plantations had wanted the property for some time, so it was not difficult for Mother to negotiate a sale. The proceeds would buy our fare and provide each of us girls with five hundred dollars towards our first tuition. Earl's share would be the rent received from the Lumbwa property. That property was sublet to a mission group for a very minimal fee. It would take a while for Earl to get his share of the property settlement, but since he was remaining in Kenya, he was in the position for collecting the rent.3409, p 112
• Five years later, Vivian returned to Litein where she continued in ministry without any Home Assignment until 1946.3436, p 164
• A girlfriend of mine and her husband had gone to Kenya, Africa, and they needed helpers as they could buy a bit of land if they had workers and money. The mission in Des Moines, Iowa, sent money to buy the land and Mr. and Mrs. Buckley prepared to go out to help them. I had no money or friends to help, but I felt I must go too. The way was wonderfully provided, mostly by my own family, and I sailed with the Buckleys on Sept. 12, 1911.3433, p 2
• LAWRENCE GIRL IN AFRICA
Miss Vivian Waldron is Now a Missionary in Dark Continent
————————
Will Remain Several Years. Says Natives Run From a Dish of Water
————————
Miss Vivian Waldron, who a few years ago was a pretty little school girl in Lawrence, is now trying to tell the natives of British East Africa that there is a God who loves and cares for them.
Robert Waldron, the father of Miss Waldron, was for many years a tinner in Lawrence, but is now living in Des Moines, Iowa. Mrs. Waldron was a Holiness preacher and her daughter and one son have followed in her footsteps. Sine Miss Waldron went to Africa, the mother has become so interested that she almost may become a missionary.
Miss Waldron, who is a handsome young woman, sailed for Africa last August and expects to remain there for several years. She writes home to her friends many interesting things showing the primitive character of the natives. When they saw a mirror they at once looked behind it to see who was looking at them. They were more afraid of the picture up on her walls and feared they were to be eaten up by them.
When the natives became troublesome Miss Waldron says that all that is needed to scare them away is a pan of water, of which they stand in great fear.3443
• Lawrence.
Miss Vivian Waldron, a Lawrence girl, is now a missionary in Darkest Africa. She left for Africa last August and will remain there several years. She is stationed in British East Africa.3444
• There were some new missionaries at Chaigaik. Mrs. Kramer invited me to her home one morning and very soon Mr. Andersen arrived. It was obvious the meeting was planned. We talked of my uneventful life, then of his. Mr. Andersen was Danish, having gone to the U.S.A. four and a half years, but not long enough to get this U.S.A. citizenship before he went to Africa in 1907. In those days we did not need passports to travel so he did not feel the need to get U.S.A. citizenship since he would be residing in a British colony.3433, p 9
• Mother, in the meantime, had not been well. She was experiencing repeated blacking out spells and none of the local doctors could find what was causing the problem. Since they were unable to determine a cause, it was decided she was suffering from exhaustion after seventeen years in Africa without a furlough. She had not been out of Africa since Dad died. She had continued working with the Girls' Home at Litein, the unwed mothers, helping in the hospital, teaching sewing, and knitting, to her schoolgirls, helping Esther with her babies, and feeling the responsibility of rearing three daughters. It was recommended that she needed a furlough. She was stressed out.
Telling Mother she needed a furlough was one thing. The problem was that no one realized just how little money she had. Neither did anyone come forward to assist.
Mother had kept Grandma's property at Kericho. By renting the two little houses on it, she had supplemented our limited resources and managed to pay the taxes on the property. The tenants were usually missionaries from other missions, so she did not get much, but the revenue helped support us through the war years when very little money came from the States. Since she had been gone so long, contacts in American were virtually nil. Since there was no other way to get enough money for passage to the States, now seemed the appropriate time to sell. The tea plantations had wanted the property for some time, so it was not difficult for Mother to negotiate a sale. The proceeds would buy our fare and provide each of us girls with five hundred dollars towards our first tuition. Earl's share would be the rent received from the Lumbwa property. That property was sublet to a mission group for a very minimal fee. It would take a while for Earl to get his share of the property settlement, but since he was remaining in Kenya, he was in the position for collecting the rent.3409, p 112
• Five years later, Vivian returned to Litein where she continued in ministry without any Home Assignment until 1946.3436, p 164
Census
• 1900 Census: Lawrence, Douglas, Kansas. Age 9, b Jul 1890, KS. Father b IA; mother b IL.3445
• 1910 Census: Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas. Age 19, b KS. Single. Father b IA; mother b IL.3446
• 1910 Census: Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas. Age 19, b KS. Single. Father b IA; mother b IL.3446