Carl Christian Amussen

Who was Carl Christian Amussen?

Carl Christian Amussen, also referred to as Carl Christian Asmussen, and with Carl at times spelled Karl, was Utah's first jeweler.

Karl Amussen, the third son of Danish sea captain Karl Asmussen and his wife Petra Asmussen née Johansen, was born in Køge, Zealand just outside of Copenhagen, Denmark on May 20, 1825. Not wishing to follow in his ancestor's footsteps, Amussen apprenticed as a watchmaker, jeweler and dentist. His skill in jewellery-making was so great that he spent sometime as court jeweler to the Czar of Russia. Additionally he was involved in that trade in Great Britain, Russia and Australia and circumnavigated the globe twice over the course of his lifetime. In 1857 Amussen moved to Christchurch, New Zealand where he opened a jewelry store. It was there in 1864 he learned of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from reading Parley P. Pratt's pamphlet The Voice of Warning. The stamp on the booklet noted that it had been published in Liverpool, England and so he traveled there to the headquarters of the church. Amussen was baptized into the LDS Church by Elisha H. Groves and in 1865 moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. Amussen was then called to serve a mission in New Zealand where he organized an LDS congregation in Kaipoi.