Nephi Anderson

Christian Nephi Anderson (January 22, 1865 – January 6, 1923) was a prominent Utah novelist and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). A prolific writer of the "Home Literature" period of LDS fiction, Anderson published ten novels including the bestselling Added Upon (1898), as well as short stories, poetry, essays, and a history of the Church for young people.

Nephi Anderson
Born(1865-01-22)January 22, 1865
Christiania, Norway
DiedJanuary 6, 1923(1923-01-06) (aged 57)
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
OccupationEducator, author, genealogist
NationalityNorwegian
Period1889–1923
Literary movementLDS fiction, Home Literature
Notable worksAdded Upon, Dorian

Family and Church Life

Anderson was born in Christiania (modern Oslo), Norway on 22 January 1865. His parents, Christian and Petronella Nielson, had joined the LDS Church only a few years before his birth and in 1871 they emigrated to Utah Territory, United States. They settled first in Coalsville and later in Ogden.

In 1886, Anderson married Asenath Tillotson and began a teaching career in Ogden and Brigham City. From 1891 to 1893, he served a mission for the LDS Church in his birth country of Norway and resumed teaching upon returning. He served as Superintendent of Schools in Box Elder County, Utah, from 1900 to 1903. Asenath died in January 1904, having borne six children with Nephi (three of which survived to adulthood).

Just two months after his wife's death, Anderson left on his second mission for the church, this time to Great Britain, where under the direction of Heber J. Grant he became assistant editor of the LDS periodical Millennial Star. Returning to Utah in 1906, Anderson moved his family to Salt Lake City and secured a position as instructor of English and Missionary Studies at Latter-day Saints High School. In 1908, he married Maud Rebecca Symons, with whom he would have six more children.

After a short mission which involved his whole family moving to Independence, Missouri, and an assignment there as editor of another LDS periodical, The Liahona, Anderson was asked to come back to Utah and begin working as an editor and librarian with the Genealogical Society of Utah, replacing Joseph Fielding Smith, who had been called to the church's general leadership. In January, 1923, Anderson developed appendicitis and died on January 6 after an operation for the malady when he developed peritonitis. Speakers at his funeral included Heber J. Grant (LDS Church president, with whom Anderson had always remained close[1]), George Albert Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith, John A. Widtsoe, Anthony W. Ivins, Rodger Clawson, and several other prominent LDS leaders of the period.[2]

Literary career

In a piece in The Improvement Era entitled "A Plea for Fiction" (1898), Anderson wrote of the Mormon experience—"What a field is here for the pen of the novelist." Although he is well known for his particular style of early LDS fiction, his first published book was the non-fiction title, A Young Folk's History of the Church (1889). In the early 1890s, Anderson began submitting short works to The Contributor. He published his most recognized work, the novel Added Upon, in 1898, to wide acclaim and popularity. At his death, a local newspaper exclaimed that Added Upon had "been read by almost every person in [Utah]."[3] During the last three decades of his life, Anderson would write ten novels and numerous short stories, all involving LDS characters and storyline.

Novels
  • Added Upon (1898)
    • The first and most popular novel written by Anderson. Originally published in 1898 by Deseret News Publishing Company and significantly enlarged and expanded in its fifth edition (1912), the book has never been out of print (its copyright expired in 2005, at which time it began to be re-printed by numerous online publishers). The story concerns several spirit children of God who move from the pre-existence, to mortal life, to their eternal reward, interacting with each other at each step. The novel influenced many subsequent Mormon works of literature, notably Saturday's Warrior.
  • Marcus King, Mormon (1900)
  • The Castle Builder (1902)
  • Piney Ridge Cottage (1912)
  • Story of Chester Lawrence (1913)
  • A Daughter of the North (1915)
  • John St. John (1917)
  • Romance of a Missionary (1919)
  • The Boys of Springtown (1920)
  • Dorian (1921)
    • A critical edition with scholarly notes, commentary, and analysis edited by Eric W. Jepson was published by Peculiar Pages in 2015 (ISBN 9780991189229). It received the Special Award for Scholarly Publishing and was a finalist for the Criticism Award at the 2016 Association for Mormon Letters conference.[4]

Novellas
  • Almina (1891–92)
  • Fisherman Knute's Christmas Gift (1903)
  • Beyond Arsareth (1919)

Non-Fiction
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
  • A Young Folks' History of the Church (1889)
  • "A Plea for Fiction" (1889)
  • "Purpose in Fiction" (1889)
  • ”Beyond the Arctic Circle” (1895)
  • "Seeing the Midnight Sun" (1898)
  • "Are We Americans?" (1900)
  • "The Larger Nationality" (1906)
  • "The Place of Genealogy in the Plan of Salvation" (1911)
  • "A Day With Carry Nation" (1911)

Short Stories
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
  • "Lester Amsden's Love" (1890)
  • "Grandmother's Rocking Chair" (1890)
  • "Mary, A Story of Sagebrush Bench" (1891)
  • "The Finding of the Pearl" (1894)
  • "Tallie, Bill White's Girl" (1894)
  • "Conscience from Carthage" (1894)
  • ”On the Border-land of Light” (1894)
  • ”Cat-tail Farm” (1894)
  • "Salvation of Souls" (1900)
  • "Finding of Olga: A Pioneer Story" (1901)
  • "Christmas Story on Faith, Hope, and Charity" (1904)
  • "Missionary's Release" (1905)
  • "Freedom of Donald Gray" (1906)
  • "The Inevitable" (1907)
  • "When the Stove Smoked" (1907)
  • "How the Lord Was Good to Aunt Johanna" (1909)
  • "End of the Rainbow" -(1910)
  • "Little Child Shall Lead Them" (1910)
  • "Out of the Abundance of the Heart" (1910)
  • "The Home Guard" (1911)
  • "John Engleman and the Spirit of Christmas" (1911–12)
  • "The Home Field" (1915)
  • "Unbidden Guests" (1915)
  • "Mother's Day" (1916)
  • "Testing of Gilda" (1916)
  • "At St. Peter's Gate" (1917)
  • "Tendrilla" (1917)
  • "Forfeits" (1918)
  • "The Girl" (1921)
  • "Distance Lends Enchantment" (1922)
  • "The Straw" (1922)
  • "Exceptions" (1923)

Poetry
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
  • "The Visit of the King" (1895)
  • "Consolation" (1900)
  • "A Vision" (1901)
  • "Died in the Field" (1901)
  • "Love's First Conquest" (1904)
  • "The Home Call" (1906)

References
  1. "President Heber J. Grant: Nephi Anderson's #1 Fan" by Scott Hales. Low-Tech World. September 5, 2012. Accessed September 5, 2012.
  3. Nephi Anderson Called by Death, Box Elder News Journal, 9 January, 1923
  4. http://associationmormonletters.org/blog/2016/03/2015-aml-award-winners/
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