Checking in!!!

Hello,

 

How are things with you lately? please email me back as soon as possible.

 

Thanks,
Arnie

The Poem.

Jon Pearson sent this to me (Yvonne) as pdf files can not be uploaded to the blog. I converted it to a Word document, and then, since Word often does not recognize old typewriter fonts, had to change letters back to the original (ie, in the conversion from a scanned pdf file to a word document, "Zion" was changed to "7ion")

Note per Jon's original posting: 

We found this among the effects of Lennart Edwin.   Do not know who wrote it. 

Now I wonder - was this song put together for a Pearson family reunion? I believe it must have been based on a popular song of the time, what was that song? ~Yvonne

LORENTZ PEARSON and ELLEN SWENSON

1. In old Sweden Land of Skåne

Far across the deep blue sea,

Dwelt a man named Lorentz Pearson

Who was yearning to be free.

Chorus:

Go ye westward: Go ye Westward:

Something whispered in his ear,

If you listen to this prompting

You will have no cause to fear.

2. Lorentz listened to the Elders

Who taught him the Gospel plan,

Then he left his home and kindred

For a choice and promised land.

3. Ellen was the oldest daughter,

Of  Pehr Trulson and his Wife.

They also had heard the prompting,

For a fuller better life.

4. Lorentz wooed the fair young Ellen

When to Zion they did come,

Daniel Wells joined them in wedlock

Then they journeyed to their home.

5. Up to Alta in the mountains

Where they worked with might and main,

That they might procure a nest egg

And a livelihood to gain.

6. There their first child came to bless

Lennart Edwin is his name.

He and Rose have five fine children

Who no doubt will bring them fame.

7. Then fair Ellen and young Lorentz

Came to Jordan for to dwell,

Eight more children were born to them

Don't you think they did right well.

8. Lillian Edith is the oldest,

Stella Evaline is next,

Esther Naomi from the Bible

Then was taken for a text.

9. Next Roy Oscar came a bouncing,

He was such a husky boy,

Clara Florence fair and dimpled

To her family was a joy.

10. Then along came Clarence Norman,

Kenneth Morton follows him,

Milo Willard is the baby,

Tallest one and full of vim.

11. Now then Lorentz young no longer

Back to Sweden he must go,

For to warn his friends and kindred

They must reap what here they sow.

12. Back again he came to Zion,

To his wife and children dear,

Here he lived in peace and plenty

For another twenty years.

13. The summons came and he was ready,

He had lived a noble life.

He the Golden Rule had followed

Every day of his long life.

14. Ellen now is left a widow

But she bravely battles on,

Twelve more years and then she follows

When He beckons her to come.

15. We their children now must follow

In the footprints they have made,

Walking in the path of duty

Prayerful and unafraid.

Ellen and Lorentz family photos

So I'm trying to be better at sharing what I have on the blog. Being the mother of a young toddler (yes, he's definitely walking now!) I don't find as much time to blog as I had before. So I taking a few minutes and uploading these pictures of our forebears in whose honor we have this blog - Lorentz & Ellen.

These are from when I scanned Lon's pictures. This first one if of Lorentz & Ellen with Esther. This was a color copy of the original that I scanned, and I believe Arnie has the originals and has a better quality scan of them.



This IS from an original that I was able to scan. It was Milo's copy of the photo that is now in Lon's possession.

The Pearson family circa 1905 - West Jordan, Utah.
Left to Right
Back Row: Esther, Lilly, Clarence, Roy, Clara, Lennart
Front Row: Ken, Lorentz, Milo, Ellen, Stella

Ellen Swenson 1898

I think I remember our past e-mail discussions have been about how this is Ellen Swenson as a teenager. But I don't remember exactly - so I would really LOVE to see a discussion about it in the comments section.

~Yvonne~

 

Histories of Stella Eveline Pearson Peterson & Charles John Peterson

Hi Family:

We will try this again. Here are some histories of Stella Eveline Pearson Peterson and Charles John Peterson.

I am concerned about the formatting of these histories. Also, the pictures have been left off.

But, we'll see.

Arnie

HISTORY OF STELLA EVELINE PEARSON PETERSON

I was born on the 16th of June 1878, on a Sunday, in West Jordan, Salt Lake County, Utah. I was the third child in a family of nine children.

My parents were Lorentz Pearson and Ellen Swenson Pearson.

I was told that I was a restless child and it was hard for me to sit still.

When I was 10 months old I could walk alone and I was glad that no

one had to help me.

When I was 2 or 3 years old, my sister Lillie did something that Mother thought was cute and she told Lillie that she was "Mama's little helper." I wanted to be "Mama's little helper" too, but Lillie wouldn't consent to that and started to cry. When I cried too, Papa came to my rescue and told me I could be "Papa's little helper," which I was, to the end of the chapter. "Papa's little helper and errand runner." No one objected to that arrangement.

Our home was a 2-room adobe house that my father had built himself. The house had 3 glass windows and also a brick chimney. It was a good house for those early days. My mother had a baby every 2-1/2 or 3 years until she had 5 boys and 4 girls. As the family grew larger the house was also enlarged until we had plenty of room.

My father planted trees for shade around the house, and also fruit trees of all kinds known at that time. The peaches were white, as the orange and yellow peaches had not been developed at that time. My father also was one of the first to plant a lawn. To raise a lawn, a sprinkling system is needed, which he didn't have. But the lawn grew and became a wonder in the neighborhood. They also planted gooseberries, strawberries, English currants and native currants. Our place was lovely for those early days. Father and Mother had a lot of work to do, and the children learned to help at an early age. I made my first batch of bread before I was 10 years old. I mixed it and baked it myself. Lillie and I took turns cooking at an early age. one would cook and the other do the cleaning, and then the next week change around. I helped outdoors also, to do things that had to be done on the farm.

We didn't have many toys but we always had a dog and a multitude of cats and kittens. At Christmas time Santa Claus always brought us presents. No one ever saw Santa Claus. I didn't like mysteries, so I decided that I was going to see Santa Claus for myself. Everyone prepared for bed, but not I. I was going to see Santa. Mother put me in our little rocking chair and pinned a shawl around me. Then when everyone was in bed except me they blew out the light and I sat there alone in the dark. We were all in the same room but that didn't make any difference! I was terrified and started to cry. Papa got up and lighted the lamp again and took the shawl off me and I went to bed like the rest of the family. All my wonder about Santa had departed. After that, I took the word of Mama and Papa, who said that "No one had ever seen Santa Claus."

I went to Sunday School and Primary in the old rock meetinghouse, which was later renovated by the Daughters of the Pioneers and called "Pioneer Hall."

I was baptized when I was 8 years old and confirmed the same day, July 6, 1886. I was baptized by James Turner, Jr. and confirmed by Robert Ellwood. I was baptized in the millrace just east of the rock meetinghouse. At this time Fast Meeting was held on the first Thursday of each month.

West Jordan at this time was all of what is now West Jordan, also all of Midvale and East Midvale and part of Sandy. In December 1895 West Jordan Ward was divided and the Midvale Ward was created.

Our old rock meetinghouse had only two rooms and a gallery. We had a large Sunday School, so for a few years we held Sunday School in the new 4-room schoolhouse. Classes were also held in the halls of the schoolhouse. At this time I became a teacher in the "Primary" class, which was a class of the smallest children. When the Religion Classes were organized, I also became a class leader, under Francis Cundick who was principal.

Mother raised chickens and turkeys and sometimes ducks. There was plenty of work. I started school at the age of 6 in a one room schoolhouse, which stood on the corner of Redwood Road and Bingham Highway (the corner of 7800 South and 1700 West Streets). There was just one teacher in the school. George D. Gardner was my first teacher and also my last teacher. In between were several other teachers. I had one lady teacher, her name was Alice McLauchlan. The boys were so hard to control that she had to quit. The last school that I attended was in 1893. I liked to go to school and I did good work. At this time there was no high school nearer than Salt Lake City. George Gardner taught all the pupils from 6 years to 20. At that time we had double desks and my first little seat­mate was Alice Shulsen, our neighbor's little girl. I attended the same school until I was 15 years old, at which time we had 3 rooms and 3 teachers.

One year we had so many caterpillars that we couldn't walk around without stepping on them. On the trunks of the trees they formed circles about 8 or 10 inches in diameter, and the grass we called "carpet grass") was covered with striped caterpillars 4 or 5

inches long and as big around as Mama's big fingers. Mama made a fire in the yard and then she told us that she would give us a nickel for each coal bucket of caterpillars that we brought and put in the fire. We didn't get rich as the worms would climb out as fast as we put them in - almost. We didn't like to step on them ­for various reasons. That was in the days when most of the children went barefoot in the summer, and liked it. When we became a little older we had to drive the turkeys out into the field where the grass­hoppers were hatched. Len and Lillie and I had fun chasing tumble weeds when the wind blew. In the summer evenings we would make bonfire smudges to keep the mosquitos from eating us up.

We had a pond with many toads and frogs and polliwogs. After awhile the polliwogs lost their tails and then became the cutest little frogs. We could hold 3 or 4 of them in each hand, if we could catch them. Did you ever hear a concert given by a pond of frogs and toads? or a concert given by thousands of blackbirds? and watched them as they sang? It seemed as if the leaders would say "Too many tenors." A group would detach themselves, then fly and join another group and try again and again to balance the music. Why don't we have flocks of blackbirds as we used to have? No wonder that the farmers have to do so much spraying today.

Did you ever walk back and forth in a ditch and hunt for "blood Suckers" and "Hair snakes" and watch the "water skaters" walk on the top of the water? If you haven't, you haven't lived. I was a "tomboy@.

I was soon big enough to plant potatoes and pick up potatoes, and help to pick currants, gooseberries and raspberries. One year Lennart and I walked to Midvale and peddled strawberries. Len had 2 big buckets and I had 2 lard pails. We peddled the berries from door to door. I don't think we got rich as the weather was hot and the berries wilted.

Then my aunts found out I could watch babies and other children (bad luck!) so I had many jobs of that kind.

When I was 14 or so I started to do housework for people. When one of our neighbors or friends or relatives had a new baby, they would need a girl to look after the other children, and cook the meals, and do the washing and ironing, and keep the house clean. They would usually have a nurse to take care of the mama and the new baby. I had many of these jobs. Sometimes I was lucky and had long jobs. The pay was $1.50 a week, sometimes $2.00 a week. If I didn't have a job, I would wash for people for $.50 a day. After I started to do housework I earned enough money to pay for my own clothes. One day while looking through a Sears-Roebuck catalogue, I decided that they all gave free advice about someday I would buy myself a gold watch. I worked and saved, spent hours looking in the catalogue trying to decide which one was the one I wanted. Of course, the whole family knew about it and which was their choice. All at once I had an idea. Maybe I could send for the watch and not the chain. And then I could send for the chain later when I had earned more money. I counted my money again and sure enough I had enough money for the watch. So I hurried and made out the order blank. Father came in and I told him about it, and he said for me to order the chain too, and he would pay for it. That was one of the most wonder­ful things that happened in my whole life.

When I was 15 years old, my Aunt Eudora Swenson needed someone to help with the housework. She had 5 children and was expecting the 6th. So my mother told her that I could help her, which I did.

The Salt Lake Temple was to be dedicated on April 6, 1893, and services held several other days thereafter. There was a lot of talk about being rebaptized in order to be worthy to go to the dedication of the temple. I couldn't be spared from my work so I wasn't rebaptized. All the people in West Jordan who wanted to go to the dedication were to go on April 17th. On the morning of the 17th I got up good and early and did my work and then walked a half mile across the field to my father's home to go with them to the dedication. When I got there they were all ready. Old Pet and Nell were hitched to the big two-seated buggy and away we went for our 14-mile drive. We went to the Tithing Yard (where the Hotel Utah now stands), where the horses were unhitched and fed. Then we hurried across the street to the big gates of the temple block. A man at the door looked at our tickets and let us enter. We toured the lower floors and then climbed the circular stairway to the top floor where the dedication services took place. This room had a "stand" at each end of the room. Everything was beautiful and clean. It seemed to me that mirrors were everywhere. I don't remember much of the ceremony except shouting "Hosanna" many times. When the dedication was completed we hurried to find a "rest room" and then they hitched up the horses and started for home. When we got home the family was eating supper, but I had to hurry and go to my work at my aunt's. Mother and the three youngest children didn't go to the dedication as Milo was only about 12 days old. My mother's aunt, Moster Karna Larsen, took care of Mother and the children that day. My sister Lillie, having been born on April 17th, could always remember where she celebrated her 17th birthday. The members of the family who went in the big buggy were: Father, Lennart, Lillie (17 years old that day), Stella (nearly 15), Esther (who was 12), and Roy (about 9 or 10). Clara also went the same day but she went with her Sunday School teacher.

I worked the rest of the spring and summer at my aunt's home and when school started in the fall I went to school again. It was in 1893 that I met my life-long friend, Mary Huffaker. She came from Idaho and was living in the home of our school principal, George D. Gardner. Mrs. Gardner was her aunt. Our school at this time was not graded, but if anyone wanted to learn, they could. It didn't take Mary and me long to become fast friends, which we are still, and I hope always will be.

Now, someone is going to say, "Didn't you ever have any fun? Didn't you ever have a date?" Sure we had fun, and also had dates. We usually went to parties in groups and nearly always walked to get there. We had just as much fun walking to get there as we had after we got there. We also walked to Sunday School, M.I.A., and Sacrament meeting. We also walked to Bingham Junction and rode the train to Salt Lake to go to Sunday School conventions, etc. Bingham Junction is now Midvale. At that time we had no busses, and the street cars came only as far south as Murray.

While I was going to school the next year, we decided that we wanted to become dressmakers. Mary, and Margaret (Mardie) Gardner, went first and became apprentice dressmakers. At this time I was working in the home of our bishop, John A. Egbert. I worked there for a long time and liked it very much. It was a good place to work. Mary and Margaret thought it would be fun if I would join them, which I did. I got to be an apprentice also in the same shop. Mrs. Stein was the dressmaker. She had her shop in the Constitution Building, which was located on Main street between South Temple and lst South. She had two experienced seamstresses and we three new ones.

The next year I worked for another dressmaker named Mrs. Mollie Gleason. I was still a "dressmaker apprentice." Mrs. Gleason and Miss Nellie were Catholics and had no use for Mormons. They said that Mormon girls were immoral in their lives. She said that she knew for a fact that this was true because a Mormon girl had told her. Mrs. Gleason had several Mormon girls working for her who had been there much longer than I had, and I wondered how they could sit and listen and say nothing. One day it was worse than usual and I couldn't take it any longer, so I "blew my top", as they say. Then I didn't wait to be "fired", I just gathered up my belongings and left. The next day Mrs. Stein gave me work again. I worked there until she closed shop for the summer and then I got work from an old lady dressmaker, but she cheated me out of my wages. I had worked for several dressmakers in Salt Lake, but it was now a poor business. The paper patterns had been invented, and could be bought to fit any woman. Anyone could make their own dresses. So I went back to West Jordan and started to do housework again.

While the three of us (Mary, Margaret and I) were living in Salt Lake we lived in the 22nd Ward. We had a long walk morning and evening. We all three slept in a double bed, and carried our lunch in paper sacks. It was fun and we got along fine. After some time Margaret decided that she was needed at home and she left us. While we were living in the 22nd Ward, Mary and I met the two men who later became our husbands - Albert Larsen and John Peterson. They were dis­tantly related and worked together on the section (railroad). John Peterson was born in Sweden and came to Utah as a convert to the Church when he was 10 years old. He lived in several homes until he was old enough and strong enough to do much work. Albert Larsen soon talked Mary into changing her name from Huffaker to Larsen. John Peterson moved to the coal mines at Scofield to work and sent to Sweden for his brother, Wilford. Wilford was too young to go underground in the mines, according to the law, so John paid board for him in the boarding house at the mine.

After Wilford came, the two brothers sent for their parents and another brother and sister (Otto and Ingrid). The whole family of Pehr Johan Peterson were now in Utah, with the exception of one daughter, Alma, who did not join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She and her husband are Lutherans.

Mary Huffaker Larsen and her husband were now living in Tintic. Albert was working in the mines. John Peterson quit the coal mines and also moved to Tintic. Albert was working in Mammoth and John in Eureka (at the "Blue Rock" - or "Centenial Eureka", which was the right name), about three miles apart. John was tall and straight, with blond curly hair. I had visited Mary and Albert in Mammoth before they had any children, and had been corresponding with John while he was in Scofield. Mary asked me to come to Mammoth to visit them again. They now had two little boys, Albert and Eugene. We had a wonderful visit.

In 1898 my two sisters, Esther and Clara, had graduated from the 8th grade, and went to Salt Lake to go to the University of Utah for more education. So I also went back to Salt Lake and we three sisters lived together. I got a job sewing, but I had to work on Saturdays and they were free to go home, if someone came after them. Sometimes I stayed alone over the week end and I was frightened. After awhile Mary and Mardie came back and rented an apartment in the same building that we lived in, and then it was okeh.

In 1902 Esther and Clara graduated from the normal course at the University of Utah, and I had the honor of making their class dresses, and also their graduating dresses. Father took me to Salt Lake and also took the sewing machine for me to use. The sewing machine was in the front of the buggy by the side of my father. Mother and I were in the back seat. A man on a bicycle fell off, just in front of the horses, and frightened them. Old Bally wasn't a very calm horse and she jumped and the neck yoke and the tongue became dis­connected. The horses raced down the street and were caught at the Brigham Young Monument. Father was thrown out on his shoulder and the sewing machine also was thrown out. Nothing was hurt very much. Mother was pretty badly frightened. She decided she was going to jump but I held her with one arm and held the front seat with the other hand. I spent two or three weeks, maybe more, making those 4 dresses.

About this time I was working for Mrs. Daniel R. Bateman. John was living in Eureka with his parents and brothers and sisters, who had recently emigrated from Sweden. He had bought a nice home on the installment plan in Eureka. After awhile John came to see me while I was living at the Bateman home and I found myself the owner of a beautiful diamond ring. Now I had to get busy. Mother and I made quilts, sheets, pillowcases, dish towels galore. And the wedding date was set for September 15, 1904.

We wanted to be married in the temple. I had my recommend and John also had his. John lived in Eureka and his stake president (who had to sign his recommend) lived in Nephi. Eureka and Nephi were a long way apart. There were no automobiles at this time and it was too far to walk, so John sent his recommend to the stake president by mail and it was late getting back. John came to the wedding, but without the recommend, so we had Bishop John A. Egbert marry us, then when the recommend arrived we went to the temple and were endowed and sealed on the 28th of September, 1904, 13 days after the wedding. We had a beautiful reception and dinner at my parents home. Aunt Maggie Parker helped with cooking turkeys, etc., and also helped with the serving. We had numerous lovely gifts. We also had what they used to call a "shivaree" - a group of boys that demanded to see the bride, and a sum of money to buy the drinks for the crowd of boys.

The next day we packed the gifts and put them on the D&RG train. John and I also went home on the train, after we had been to the temple on the 28th. The D&RG Railroad was very scenic - wonderful curves and twists and high bridges. Now you can go to Eureka in a couple of hours in an auto, but they hadn't made an appearance at that time.

The next spring my father sent us 11 hens and a rooster, for his wedding gift to us. The rooster I named "Archibald" and the hens were named after the wives of Archibald (Gardner). That summer we had plenty of eggs and also fryers. We became popular with some of our neighbors as fryers were hard to get in Eureka before the auto­mobile came into popular use.

The house that John bought was located on the road called "Leadville Road" and was near what was called "The Summit." It was a nice roomy house and looked nice from the outside. It contained a living room, 2 bedrooms, kitchen and pantry, 2 clothes closets, a nice front porch, a large unfinished room at the back of the house, a cellar, and an outside toilet. We also had a chicken coop and two wells (1 deep and I shallow) from which we got good water. It was a lovely home, partly furnished, but was not fully paid for. We made a trip to Salt Lake and bought a bedroom set, curtains, carpets, etc.

We went to church and John joined the choir. I have never been a good singer, so didn't join. We went to Sunday School but I was never asked to teach a class in Sunday School. We had fruit and vegetable peddlers, with their covered wagons. They peddled berries, peaches, pears, cabbage and other vegetables. The stores didn't try to compete with the peddlers.

When John and I came home after our marriage, his parents and brother and sister were still living in John's house, so John helped them to pack and move to Provo, where they wanted to live. Wilford and Otto were still in Eureka but later they also moved to Salt Lake City.

On June 25, 1905, our first child was born and was named Karl B. Peterson. John's birthday is June 9th, mine is June 16th, and now we had another "June bug" in the family. My doctor's name was Lashbrook B. Laker. I had a nurse who was Mrs. Gardner. She lived just a few rods east of us. My sister Lillie stayed with us several weeks and helped us to spoil the baby. We had a lot of company the first year. My folks all came, one or two at a time; also several of my aunts, one or two at a time. Everyone wanted to find out what a mining camp was like, and what a mine was like. Mary and I visited back and forth. Albert and Mary had a baby girl named "Marie" near the age of Karl.

We all went home to West Jordan and while there the Pearson family had a family group picture taken, which proved to be good. Lillie now was with us quite often and started taking short jobs in Eureka.

When Karl was about 16 months old, John came home from town and told me that a music firm from Salt Lake had shipped a carload of pianos to Eureka to be sold, and they wanted to put one in our home for us to try out. We were thrilled about it, and I enjoyed it a lot. I had taken a few lessons on a pump organ before I was married. They left the piano with us for awhile and then came back and wanted us to buy it. If we didn't want to buy it they would put it into an­other home. So we signed on the dotted line and it took us a long time to get it paid for. It was a Kimball piano, the wood was oak, and it was lovely. They also gave me a music book for a beginner.

In 1908 John moved me to Provo as the doctor told us the altitude in Eureka was too high for me. On October 2, 1908, our daughter, Evaline Belle was born in Provo. John was working in Eureka and coming to Provo on Sundays. My sister Lillie was staying with me in Provo. This method of living proved to be disappointing ­John batching in Eureka and me feeling the responsibility of the children in Provo. So we moved back to Eureka when Evaline was one year old. We sold our home in Provo and rented for awhile in Eureka. Clarence John was born in Eureka on September 3, 1911. He weighed 10-3/4 pounds. He was the largest of my four children at birth.

Kenneth., my brother, had come to Eureka to find work and was board­ing at our home. The first World War was just starting and all the women were knitting socks and sweaters and making bandages. I didn't knit any sweaters but made a lot of socks and bandages. Kenneth had fallen in love with a Eureka girl, Louise Nelson, and they were married before he left for training at Camp Lewis. We all went to West Jordan, where Louise and Kenneth were married by the stake president. Kenneth served as a driver of a supply truck in Germany and after the war was ended he was chosen to stay there with the Army of Occupation. He made some warm friends among the Germans while he was there.

Esther Louise, my youngest child, was born September 10, 1918. She was born during the First World War, and just before the first epidemic of "flu", which swept the whole earth, it seemed.

In Eureka most of the men worked underground and it seemed as if they all would die. Was it because their lungs had been weakened by underground work? Eureka had no hospital and when the flu became so bad, school was closed and the Tintic High School was converted into a hospital. The halls and classrooms were full of beds, and sick people and nurses. The nurses came from Salt Lake, Provo, and other places. Many people died that year. My family did not catch the flu that first time. After a time school was started again. John was working in East Tintic. The flu came back again and East Tintic decided to quarantine against Eureka. So John and a couple of other men rented a furnished house and batched there. They were not allowed to visit their families in Eureka but must stay in East Tintic.

One night when we were all asleep in bed we heard the fire whistle blow. The ground was covered with snow but the roofs were bare. We found out that the Finn boarding house was on fire. A wind came up and burning shingles were flying all over. I was alone with the children - a baby two or three months old, Karl was about 13 years old, Evaline about 10, and John younger. Every once in awhile we heard an explosion, but we didn't find out what caused it. The fire didn't spread to other buildings and was finally put out. it was a night of terror for me and my family.

Finally the quarantine was lifted and the men were allowed to go home. But the flu flared up again and more men became sick. John came home not feeling well and went to bed. The next morning the doctor came and took care of him, but in spite of everything we could do, he didn't respond. We got a trained nurse from Salt Lake and she stayed right with him until he died, May 8, 1919. He was buried on May 10, 1919, in Provo City Cemetery, Utah County, Utah.

When John became sick, my mother came from West Jordan and stayed with me. We were quarantined and were not allowed to leave the place. After he died, we phoned my folks and John's folks. The first one to come was my brother-in-law, William J. Leak. He took me to the mortuary to choose a casket and clothing for John. There was no choice. Just one casket; also just one robe to be buried in. The robe was lovely - made of linen. I was not allowed to go to the funeral services that were held in the cemetery in Provo. My oldest two brothers, Lennart and Roy, came from Idaho. Roy stayed with me in Eureka and Lennart went to Provo to the funeral. Two of John's good friends, Alma Peterson and George Simkins, went to the funeral and each spoke at the services. The singing was by a hired quartet. My brother Lennart paid for the cemetery lot.

* * * * * * * *

The history Mother wrote stopped at this point. Perhaps she felt that life had stopped for her when our father died. I would like to add a few of my own thoughts and memories.

As I think of our Mother I think of a little, hardworking, uncomplain­ing woman who, after our father died in 1919, was faced with the problem of raising 4 children, without means of support, without training for a job - and how she faced it so bravely. It wasn't beneath her to milk the cow (we always managed to have one in those early years) or feed the pigs, or dig in the garden, sew for people, or do whatever she could to make a little money honestly!

I think of how hard she had to work making soup at the school for several years. I think she made the grand sum of $1.50 per day and worked up to about $2.00 per day. She usually went down to the schoolhouse on the school bus and nearlly always walked home. She would get through with the dishes before the school bus came for the children after school. She sometimes waited for the bus when the weather was bad. She had to furnish her own dishtowels for this job. It was hard work. The only complaint I heard her make about the job was that the school teachers used her dishtowels for their dirty work.

Then Mother got a job at the sugar factory. She really felt like she had had a promotion. The work was only for about 3 months - 4 at the most - of the year. But by careful managing she seemed to get by. She was a very marvelous handler of money - could make it go farther than anyone I've ever known. She spent very little on herself, but managed to get us fed and kept warm. I can't remember that we ever went hungry - our fare was simple but filling.

During our growing-up years Mother was secretary-treasurer of the Relief Society. She was sustained June 21, 1927 and released Janu­ary 20, 1935. This was a job I think she really enjoyed and did to the best of her ability. She loved working with Josie Bateman and Rettie Cundick.

I think of the summer after our father died. Grandma Pearson came to Eureka to help Mother with the packing and moving. The furniture and cow were brought to West Jordan by a moving van. The furniture was stored in Grandpa's buggy shed while our little new home was being built by Joe Drake and his helpers. The cow was put in the pasture with Grandpa's cows. This summer must have been hard on Grandma and Grandpa - to have a family of 4 young children move in on them. Essie was only 8 months old when Papa died.

Our home was completed in November (1919) and we moved in. It had 3 nice rooms, a large pantry and large closet, and a front porch. I'm sure Mother was grateful. We kids probably took it for granted. Then followed some struggling years. Mother's folks were good to help and I'm sure there were sacks of potatoes and other foodstuffs that came from Grandpa's farm and orchard. Mother had a garden, she canned vegetables from it and fruit from Grandpa's orchard. We always had bottled fruit, tomatoes, etc. She canned string beans, processing them in a boiler for hours; also corn. And she even canned meat ­which we thought was delicious.

As I mentioned before, Mother could sew very well. She had had a sewing course a few years before she was married (which she mentions in her history). She made my clothes, shirts for the boys and clothes for Essie; also dresses for herself. She also did sewing for others and "helped out" sometimes when people had sickness in their homes.

I'll always be grateful for the year that she did Ann Irving's washing in exchange for my weekly music lesson. The lesson was 75 cents. I can't remember if she did the wash each week or every other week. She seemed to feel it was a good investment, and I hope I didn't let her down. I've tried ever since then to use the things I learned that year.

We had no car in those early years - very few people did. We walked everywhere we went. Occasionally Mother would hitch up Old Sue, Grandpa's horse, and we'd drive to Midvale for things we needed. Mother churned butter from Old Bossy's milk. This was taken to the store and exchanged for things we needed - sometimes at Goff's store in Midvale and sometimes at Butterworth's store in West Jordan. We also had a small chicken coop and a few chickens, and occasionally there were eggs to sell.

During our later growing-up years, Mother managed to go to the temple very often. I believe this was after I was working and living at home.

Mother stayed very mentally alert and physically active until the last year or so of her life. She loved her home and didn't want to give it up and stay with her children. She loved to have her family and friends come to see her.

The last year of her life was a rather unhappy period of time. She was not well physically and was mentally confused. She wasn't able to live alone and still didn't want to live with someone else, but she finally had to give up her home. She stayed with Essie for several months and was in the South Davis Community Hospital at Bountiful twice during that time. She died peacefully at 7:22 on the morning of January 19, 1968, at the hospital, at the age of 89 years. We miss her but feel that she went to a great reward and is happy there with her husband and other loved ones.

- Evaline (May 1972)

* * * * * * * * * *

When I think of Mama, I see a gentle woman who learned to tolerate loneliness and adversity. She accepted her spiritual and material possessions with gratitude and serenity. She was widowed when I was 8 or 9 months old and soon moved herself and her four children from Eureka to West Jordan. My first recollection of her was after we had moved into our brand-new three-room house. When I was three, I had red measles with pneumonia and nearly died. I remember her constant vigil. Through all my childhood illnesses I was given the best possible care.

Mama stood about 5' 4" tall and weighed, on an average, 120 pounds. She had lovely expressive hazel eyes, medium brown hair and a pretty smooth complexion. Her hair did not begin to gray until she was in her late seventies. She wore her long hair in a bun at the nape of her neck, with curls about the face. She dressed neatly and modestly and I remember being pleased that she dressed her age as well as acted her age. She was always fully dressed before our punctual breakfasts early each morning. She was unpretentious and sincere in her conversation; a compliment from her was a rare treat and therefore gratefully received. She could bring many chuckles from her closest friends and relatives with her dry wit. Her talents were used several times when she was called upon to express her wit in rhyme for ward and old folks' parties. She had a keen memory and kept faithful record of family statistics. I remember the hours de­voted to her Relief Society books while she was the secretary, and how precise her handwriting was.

For the most part Mama was quiet and guarded her tongue well. She usually let others lead out in conversation. She disliked flattery and laziness and loathed contention among us children, or anywhere else. She was sensitive about the welfare and rights of her children; to the best of my knowledge she spoke loyally in our behalf.

One day near the end of her life, when she had come to live at my home because of her failing health, she said, as she sat knitting afghan squares: "You seem so well off for a widow. Just look at this wonderful house, all the conveniences and nice furniture! You have so much - oh, I don't mean there aren't things you'd still like to have - but you are so well off." Yes, she had a comparison; gratitude for the better things runs deeper when one can compare.

I believe Mama loved each of her children differently but equally. She wasn't given to expressing her love with hugs and kisses or flowery words. She lived her testimony of the Gospel; I never heard her express it vocally. She taught me numerous truths by her ex­ample and I love her for it.

- Essie (May 1972)

HISTORY OF CHARLES JOHN PETERSON

by

STELLA.E. PEARSON PETERSON

Charles John Peterson was born in Norrkoping, Ostergotland, Sweden. He was baptized and christened in the Lutheran Church when he was 8 days old and given the name of Carl Johan Melkior Peterson. When he came to the United States of America he was known as Charles John Peterson and that is the name he used when he became a citizen of the United States of America on the 31st of July 1900. His father's name was Pehr Johan Peterson and his mother's name was Carolina Zetterfelt.

Charles John was born on the 9th day of June 1877. He was the fourth child and the first son of his parents. His mother told me that he weighed 16-1/2 pounds when he was born. John had 3 sisters older than he, and 3 sisters and 4 brothers younger than he.

His father was a weaver by trade and worked in a factory where they made woolen cloth for men's suits, etc. His mother also helped to make a living for the family by washing and cleaning for the people who could afford to hire their work done.

Sometimes the father would bring home bolts of cloth and he and the mother would roll out the cloth and look for imperfec­tions in the weaving, and then roll it up and take it back to the factory again. That would add a little to the income of the family.

The mother of the family, Carolina, was by disposition a happy, jolly woman. The father was more serious minded. He had a strong testimony of the gospel, and I have heard that he was a very good speaker in church.

The children were all christened in the Lutheran Church as the mother, Carolina, did not join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until just before the family emigrated to America.

In the summer of 1885, the family began to emigrate to America. Hulda Helena Henrietta Peterson was the first one to go. She was 12 years of age. Her uncle, Swen Wanberg, paid for her emigration, and she lived with their family and helped with the work until she was old enough to work for other people.

In the summer of 1887, Clara Johanna Vilhelmina Peterson., age 12, and Charles John Peterson, age 10, emigrated to America.

A.P. Anderson paid for Clara's emigration. I have been unable to find out who paid John's emigration - perhaps several of the aunts and uncles helped; also the grandmother, Johanna Johanson Peterson may have helped.

Clara and John, aged 12 and 10, arrived in Salt Lake City in September 1887. When the children, Clara and John, left Sweden their mother gave them a basket full of food that she had prepared for them to supplement the food on the ship and also on the train. They got along fairly well on the ship, but on the train it was different. The car which they rode in was full of vermin and by the time they arrived in Salt Lake they were nearly eaten up by body lice.

When the two children arrived in Salt Lake they were met by their uncle, Frederick Samuelson. He took Clara to the home of her aunt and uncle., A. P. and Amanda Anderson. A. P. Anderson had been on a mission to Sweden and he knew the family there. As I understand it, A. P. Anderson sent for Ellen Peterson in 1888. She was the oldest child in the family and was 18 when she emigrated. She also lived in the home of A. P. and Amanda Anderson.

Frederick Samuelson took little 10-year-old John to his home and he lived with them for some time. John was baptized in East Mill Creek where his uncle and aunt lived. He had been baptized in Sweden but had no record of it, so he must be baptized again in order to get a record. While he lived with Samuelsons he attended school briefly. Frederick Samuelson was married to Clara Peterson, who was a sister of Pehr Johan Peterson, the father of Clara and John.

After John left Samuelsons he lived with many families -- whoever had room for a little 10-year-old boy, or, if they didn't have room in their house if they just had room in their hearts, which was more important. At one time he lived with a distant relative whom he called "Uncle Nelson" and "Aunt Christina." This good man had a farm and I think perhaps John felt more secure there as he always wanted to be a farmer after he lived with them. John went to school while living with "Uncle Nelson." I think that John lived with all his aunts at different times and also at the home of his sister Ellen who married a man named John Ekstrom and who lived in Milton, Morgan County. These good people all gave John food to eat and clothing to wear, and if the clothes were not too good perhaps they were as good as their own children wore. They were good people. John had a good disposition to get along with. He was naturally kind and patient and tried not to annoy people. And he was always a good worker. When he grew large enough to do chores, such as feeding cows and other animals, keeping the barns clean and milking cows, etc., he had several jobs of that kind. One was with Henry Doremus, Sr., and one with a family named Corbett. John told me a story of an inci­dent that happened while he was living at the Doremus home. All the children in the neighborhood were hunting sego lily bulbs on the hillside. John had a pick and was digging, and just as he raised the pick another boy saw a bulb and ducked in to get it. He got the bulb and he also got the pick in the back of his neck at the same time. Of course the boy was hurt, but he wasn't permanently injured. They all learned a lesson that day.

When John became old enough to handle a horse, his Aunt Amanda Anderson had him come and live at her home and work in the store as a delivery boy. Here he worked for some time.

Carolina Louise Peterson., age 8, came to America in 1896. Her sisters Hulda and Clara paid for her emigration.

One day in 1896, when John was 19, he met a distant relative named Albert Larsen, from Spanish Fork, who was a "section boss" on the railroad. He helped John get a job on the railroad to keep the road in repair and replace broken rails, ties, etc. While working with Albert Larsen, these two boys became acquaint­ed with two girls from West Jordan who were working in a dress­making shop in the old Constitution Building. Mary Huffaker and Stella Pearson were the girls' names.

[For further history of Charles John Peterson, see history of Stella E. Peterson.]