Anna Maria Peterson
1853-1928
She was nine when she travel with her family from
Denmark to Utah, where she raised a large,
prosperous family.
She was a Faithful Latter-Day Saint.
Annie raising her daughter
Annie Christensen’s children
who are orphans.
Anna Maria Peterson surrounded by her five adult children.
Sitting in front are Annie, Anna, and Alice. If her sons are
in order of age then it is James, Joseph, and George.
Missing from this 1900 family photo is
Johanna, who died in 1885 when 13years old
and father, Jens L. Peterson, who died in 1887.
March 2014
Bud Peterson Family1 History Publications
1051 Brookview Lane, Hampton, Georgia 30228
770-473-7776
THE LIFE OF ANNIE MARIE PETERSON (1853-1928)
by George V. Peterson Jr, “Bud”
(My father is George Vernon Peterson, his father is George Peterson—son of Annie and Jens)
ANNIE MARIE PETERSON was born on 16 May 1853, in Fourholt, Albæk, Hjorring, Denmark.
She was the oldest child of Lars Peter Peterson and Elsie Marie Jensen Peterson. Lars Peterson
was born on 27 November 1825, and his wife, Elsie Jensen, was born on 11 February 1833.
They were both also born in Fourholt area of Albæk church zone in the county of Hjorring in the
kingdom of Denmark. The state church of Denmark is the Danish Lutheran Church. Each
county (Amt) is divided up into church zones (Sogn), where the babies are blessed and their
names are recorded in the church registry. There is a rock in Albæk with the name Fourholt on
it indicating that this is the region of that church zone where the Fourholt farms are located.
Annie’s parents were married on 26 November 1852 most likely at the Albæk church.
The seven children of Lars Peter Peterson and Elsie Marie Jensen Peterson are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Anne Marie Peterson, born 16 May 1853.
James Christian Peterson, born 12 December 1854.
Maren (Mary) Peterson, born 12 June 1856.
Niels Peter Peterson, born 9 May 1858.
Ole Christian Peterson, born 24 June 1859.
Christian Peterson, born 17 June 1861.
Elsie Marie Peterson, born 8 October 1962, in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
Anne Marie is the Danish spelling of Grandma Annie Peterson’s name. The Danish
pronunciation since there are no silent e’s on the end of words, would be Anna Maria. That is
why I vary the spelling of her name. Do I settle for Annie Marie because that is how people
seemed to pronounce her name or do I try to get them to say it the way it would be spoken. I
vary the way I spell it depending on the mood I am in as I am typing.
Annie Marie Peterson married Jens L. Peterson (1822-1887) on 3 August 1867 in the
endowment house in Salt Lake City, Utah. Their six children are:
1. Alice Marie Peterson, born 19 August 1868, St. Joseph, Clark, Nevada at the Cotton
Mission.
2. Johanna Peterson, born 1 January 1872, Richfield, Sevier, Utah.
3. James Peterson, born 15 October 1874.
4. Annie Peterson, born 7 May 1876.
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5. Joseph Peterson, born 10 November 1878.
6. George Peterson, born 25 January 1885.
Annie Marie Peterson was 9 years old, when her family left Denmark-- her parents and their six
children. She was the oldest of the six children. When she was just two her maternal
grandmother, Maren Mikkelsen, joined the Mormon Church and immigrated to America in
1856 to join the Saints in Utah in their Zion in the West. Grandma Maren took her youngest
daughter, Johanna Marie Jensen, with her and they became Handcart Pioneers. Johanna made
the journey successfully with the Willie Handcart Company. Grandma Maren was 61 and she
was sent west with the William Hodgett Oxtrain Company so that she didn’t have to walk so
much. It was a sad, sad day at home there in Albek, when Annie’s mother, Elsie, received a
letter from her younger sister, telling her that when all the handcart pioneers were rescued
from the early winter storms of 1856 and arrived in Salt Lake City, Johanna had learned that her
mother had died along the pioneer trail and was buried out there. It seems that Elsie named
her new baby girl born in June of 1856 in honor of her mother, who was so brave and faithful in
taking hold of the Mormon Faith and braving the challenge of immigrating because of her faith.
It appears that when, Annie’s mother got word of the passing of her Grandmother Maren way
out there on the Western Prairie, that she became determined to follow in her mother’s
footsteps and soon got permission from her husband to join up with the Mormons—the Latter
Day Saints. Elsie Marie Jensen Peterson followed in her mother and was baptized on 27
November 1857 about three years after her mother and younger sister had been baptized.
Their followed four years of difficult times because of religious differences between her
parents. But finally Annie’s father, Lars Peter Peterson, decided to be baptized and join up with
those “crazy Mormons”. He was baptized on October 14th 1861. Almost immediately they
began making preparations to leave their home in Denmark and emigrate to American and then
way out West to Utah.
Crossing the Ocean
Annie was nine years old and the oldest of the six children when it came to leave. After selling
their land and furniture and such, it was a neighbor who hitched up his wagon and hauled them
and their travel gear 15 miles south to the seaport of Aalborg. From Aalborg, the ship filled
with Mormon emigrants sailed down the east coast of Jutland, the Danish peninsula, to Kiev,
Germany, where they boarded the train to Hamburg and the Atlantic Ocean. The eight in the
family were from oldest to youngest: Lars Peter, Elsa Maria, Anna Maria (age 9), James
Christian (7), Maren (6), Niels Peter (4), Ole Christian (3), Ole (10 months). As they were
arriving in Hamburg, Maren became sick and died. Upon arriving in Hamburg, Lars had to hurry
and get a casket made before they could board the ship.
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They set sail on the Benjamin Franklin on April 15, 1862, together with 413 Mormon emigrants
on board. Maren was the first person to be buried at sea once they were far enough away from
the German shore. Robert Murray was captain of the ship and Christian A. Madsen was the
appoint leader of this group of emigrants. Anthon H. Lund (age 18), who would become the
Danish LDS Apostle and Church Historian served as interpreter. Also on board were two
teenagers, Hans Christensen and Johanna Marie Poulsen, who eventually would marry and
make their way to Richfield, Utah, and become the parents of Heber Christensen. Heber would
marry Anna Marie’s daughter, Annie. They would become the parents of five children who
Anna Marie Peterson would eventually raise as her second family in 1917 when both Annie and
Heber were gone.
An epidemic of measles broke out on board the Franklin about mid-ocean and 46 people died—
mostly children. On Sunday, May 4, 1862, Elsie’s baby died (age 10 months) and was buried at
sea. The very next Sunday, Ole Christen (age 3) died and was buried at sea. The three
remaining children Annie, James, and Niels, would grow to be adults and raise families in
Richfield Utah. If you check on the ships roster of passengers, this family is the Christensen
family because Lars Peter was the son of Christen Petersen or Pedersen. If his children would
have stayed in Denmark, their last name would have been Larsen since their father was Lars.
But in Utah, they became the Peterson family.
The ship landed at the New York harbor on May 29, 1862. They were prevented from going
ashore for two days because measles were still onboard and contagious. They were process
through the Castle Garden immigration center on May 31st. From New York, the company
continued by train north to Syracuse; then west to Rochester, Niagara Falls, Detroit, Chicago
and then south to Quincy, Illinois. They reached Florence, Nebraska (Winter Quarters) where
several shiploads of immigrants met up to form one of the largest wagon trains to cross over
the plains to Utah. They numbered 1300 and had just about that many miles before they would
reach the Salt Lake Valley. After three weeks of preparation the covered wagon journey
commenced.
By the time Annie’s family, with her parents and her two younger brothers, arrived in Salt Lake
City in October 1862, they had been traveling for six months. Annie’s mother had a younger
sister, Johanna Marie Jensen, who arrived in Salt Lake City six years earlier with the Willie
Handcart Company. I suppose that as they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, Lars and Elsie would
have located her sister, Mrs. John Paternoster Squires, and spent a few days resting there with
their covered wagon parked right beside Johanna’s home. However, they may have had to
hurry on with their group because of the lateness of the season.
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Pleasant Grove Days
From Salt Lake, they were sent to settle in Pleasant Grove just south in the next valley – Utah
Valley. Annie’s mother, Elsie Marie, had been pregnant all during their strenuous journey. She
gave birth to an infant daughter on October 9th 1862. Elsie Marie died from childbirth just
three days later. Lars sold his wife’s beautiful, elegant dresses in order to help with burial
expenses. In the springtime of 1968, living in Utah Valley, I made an appointment to visit Annie
Peterson Christensen’s granddaughter, Ila Christensen Toronto, who is the granddaughter that
my Great Grandma Annie Peterson raised when her daughter Annie and her husband Heber
Christensen died of illnesses and Great Grandma Annie moved into the Christensen home to
raise her five Christensen grandchildren. Ila Christensen Toronto told me lots of things about
her Grandma Annie Peterson. “When Elsie Marie died, Lars Peter sold his wife’s elegant
dresses to help him pay for burial expenses. Then Annie would see other women wearing her
mother’s dresses and she would miss her mother so. She would hurry home, through herself
on her bed and cry her heart out.” Ila showed me a three inch diameter wooden box that had a
lid the unscrewed. It was things Grandma Annie had received of her mother’s. Inside the box
was some beautiful white cloth from one of her mother’s beautiful dresses and on top of that
was a small Danish dime. They were precious keepsakes that had been handed down. Also,
“Grandma had a subscription of “Bikuben” a Danish newspaper from Chicago that came in the
mail regularly; and she would often be reading it.”
There in Pleasant Grove, Lars Peter would have had to give baby Elise Marie Peterson to a
woman to nurse her and take care of her. The baby girl lived only a month and died on
November 10, 1062. So after a strenuous journey of about 7 months, of the now nine
members of the family only three had survived—Lars Peter, Annie Marie (9), James Christen (7)
and Niels Peter (4).
Once when I visited the home of Elsie Christina Peterson Barker, daughter of Niels Peter, at her
home in Logan, Utah, she told me of going to the Pleasant Grove Cemetery to find her
grandmother’s grave, the grandmother she was named after. As she entered the cemetery she
said sort of a prayer, “Grandma, here I am, coming to find you. Show me where you are
buried.” The spirit led her right to the grave. Later when driving through Utah Valley, I
stopped at the Pleasant Grove Cemetery and said a prayer and tried to follow the spirit and
struggled to find it. Then I saw a maintenance man riding on a lawnmower. I walked over to
him and asked him where a grave was with mother and a baby girl with the same name. He
pointed over to the south rock fence and said was by the pine tree over there. I went and
found it. I found it about the middle of the south rock wall near an evergreen tree. Notice on
the gravestone, that this Christensen family of immigrants had become the Peterson family.
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Lars Remarries
Lars Peter soon remarried. He married Mrs. Maren Andersen on December 8th 1862. She had
been married before but had also lost her spouse. Annie Marie and her new stepmother did
not get along at all. Perhaps Annie was just old enough that is was difficult for her to accept
anyone else in the place of her dearly beloved mother. So Annie was sent to Salt Lake City to
live with Mrs. John Squires. When Ila Christensen Toronto told me about this, she had no idea
then that Mrs. John Paternoster Squires was Annie Marie’s mother younger sister, Johanna
Marie Jensen who had arrived in Salt Lake City with the Willie Handcart Company back in 1856.
It was from her aunt Johanna that Annie Marie learned the household skills of her new country
and settlement. She learned to sew and cook and work with wool and to weave cloth, make
rugs and mend clothing. These skills would help her provide for her own family when she
became a widow and a very young age with five children.
Lars Peter and his new wife, Maren Anderson, moved from Pleasant Grove to Richfield, Utah in
March of 1864 only a couple of months after the first Mormon settlers had arrived. With them
they brought Lars’ two sons, James Christian (age 9) and Niels Peter (7). We have no record of
Maren Andersen having children from her first marriage.
Annie Marie Marries Young
It appears that Annie Marie stayed with her Aunt Johanna for about four years. Then at the age
of only 14, she is married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. There she is married on
August 3rd 1867 to a man much older than her. Jens L. Peterson was born on October 23, 1822
and was in his forties. He was also from Denmark. The Temple Index Bureau in January 1965, I
found the temple card file for Jens L. Peterson, who was born in Lester Osta, Laaland, Denmark.
From comments in the comment column of one of his records in the National Danish Archive
back in the summer of 1965, it said “Reist til Amerika 1853” indicating he migrated to America
in 1853. I was a missionary in Copenhagen, Denmark then and a member’s husband four this
for me. He determined that Jens Pedersen was from Vester Ulslev on the island of Laaland. I
have the desire to see Jens L. Peterson’s Temple Index Card one more time after49 years. I
have been calling FamilySearch in Salt Lake City at 866-406-1830. I have been told so far by the
senior missionaries who answer the phone that Temple Index Bureau is now LDS Temple
Records and that it is restricted to temple recommend holders and I would have to come to Salt
Lake to see it to I can show my temple recommend to get in. I am supposed to get an email
giving me the full answer. I need to recreate what I once knew and use it to document Great
Grandpa’s research that was done for me in Denmark in 1965. I will be in Salt Lake City on my
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way to the Lars Peter Peterson Family Reunion and so I should be able to see it again around
July 2nd 2014.
Twenty years later, Annie would become a young widow at the age of 34 with her five surviving
children to finish raising by herself. Her son George was only 2 years old by then.
The LDS Cotton Mission along the Muddy River of Nevada
After Anna Maria Peterson and Jens were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, on
August 3rd 1867, they must have traveled with a group that were assigned to the LDS Cotton
Mission where Brigham Young was sending faithful members to see if they could grow cotton
sixty miles south of St. George along the Nevada-Arizona border along The Muddy—the Muddy
River. The area was called Moapa Valley by the Piute Indians, who also lived there during
colder months of the year. Moapa means Muddy in the Piute language.
To decrease the Latter Day Saints dependence on the Gentiles (non-Mormons) in the East,
Brigham Young desired to grow cotton and not have to depend on the Gentiles for that
commodity. Also the Muddy ran into the Virgin River and the Virgin River soon ran into the
Colorado River. At that point, Brigham Young was hoping to have an inland seaport by having
river boats navigate the Colorado River from there to the harbor on the Gulf of California at
Baja California going back and forth on the Colorado
The main city in the Moapa Valley along the Muddy River was St. Thomas, founded in 1865. To
begin with it was a fort—Fort St. Thomas. Ten years earlier, the Latter Day Saints have founded
the Nevada settlement of Las Vegas. Today there is an old Mormon Fort there that looks much
like Cove Fort which is found today much further north on I-15 where it meets with I-70 about
30 miles south of Fillmore, Utah. At its high point St. Thomas had a population of 500 even
though it had been burned down twice. Once it burned down from a fire a boy was using for
baking some potatoes that were buried in the soil under the fire.
The birth of Annie and Jens’ first child—Alice Marie Peterson (Hansen) was born here in St.
Joseph, Clark County, Nevada on August 19th 1868. Today, St. Joseph and the Cotton Mission
are under the waters of Lake Meade. When there are dry spells, people can drive south of
Overton, Nevada—where the graves of St. Thomas were moved to—and see a few of the
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remaining foundations. The St. Thomas Road leads to the shore line of Lake Meade where the
Muddy River enters the lake.
The Mormons left St. Thomas in 1871 when a government survey placed it in Nevada instead of Arizona
or Utah. Utah or Arizona would allow taxes to be paid in kind—with the things they were growing or
making. Nevada insisted that the residents pay their taxes in gold. They were not very successful in
raising cotton and Latter Day Saints left the area. The town was completely abandoned in 1938 as the
waters created by the construction of Hoov er Dam began approaching the city. The graves at the
cemetery were moved to Overton City Cemetery to the north and further upstream on the Muddy.
When you are driving on I-15 between Las Vegas and Mesquite, you can see a small stream because of
the greenry that follows it. You will also see a freeway sign. I don’t remember now if it just says
“MUDDY” or “THE MUDDY.” When I first saw Alice Marie Peterson’s place of birth there in August
1868, it said, “Along the Muddy on the Arizona/Nevada border”.
Jens and Annie Move to Richfield
Annie and Jens Peterson and baby Alice Marie next moved to Richfield where Annie’s father, Lars Peter
Peterson, had settled with her two brothers, Jame Christian and Niels Peter. Annie and Jens Peterson’s
second child, Johanna Peterson , was born in Richfield, Utah, on January 1st 1872. Four more children
were born there in Richfield: James (1874), Annie (1876), Joseph, (1878) and George (1885). Alice
Jens and Annie soon moved in The Old Adobe House that was located on the northeast corner of the
intersection of East Center Street and Third East where most likely all their Richfield childen were born.
Johanna Peterson was born in Richfield on January 1, 1872. Johanna died at the age of eight on
February 2, 1880. Her grave in the Richfield Cemetery is with her parents and her brother Joseph.
James Peterson was born in Richfield on October 15, 1874. He married Sarah Geneva Carter from
Joseph, Utah about 1899. Their first eight children were born in Joseph, the last one in 1917.
Eventually they moved to Firth, Idaho where he was a farmer. The next child was born in Idaho in 1920,
but then the tenth and eleventh children were born back in Joseph. In the letter George F. Christensen
wrote to his brother Alten while serving a mission in New Zealand regarding Grandma Annie Peterson’s
death in 1928, George F mentions that Uncle Jim came down from Idaho. This letter can be read in the
section about Grandma Annie Peterson raising her Christensen grandchildren after the death of their
parents. Both Uncle Jim and Aunt Sarah are buried at Firth, Bingham, Idaho.
Uncle Jim died in San Francisco, California on November 12, 1949; his wife Sarah died two years earlier
in Idaho Falls. Both are buried at Firth, Idaho.
Annie Peterson (Christensen) was born in Richfield on May 7, 1876. She was married to Heber
Christensen on April 10, 1901 in the Salt Lake Temple. They raised their family of five children in
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Richfield. Mother Annie then became sick with tuberculosis and Heber found a place for her to live in
Mesa, Arizona to help her recover in the dry climate. Heber and the children having be advised travel by
train to Mesa and arrived just a few hours before Annie died on February 18, 1915. Six days later
Annie’s funeral and burial were completed in Richfield. Two years later, Bishop Heber Chirstensen of
the Richfield First Ward would pass away from troubles with appendisitis. Grandma Annie Peterson
would move into the Christensen home and finish raising these grandchildren: June, George F, Alten, Ila
(the only girl) and McKay.
Joseph Peterson was born in Richfield on November 10, 1878. As a young adult, he served a mission in
Denmark and then returned home and was in the process of building himself his own home when he got
sick and died. He died on December 30, 1914 and the age of 36. His grave in the Richfield Cemetery is
there with his parents and his sister Johanna.
Annie Marie’s younger of her surviving brothers, Niels Peter Peterson, who also raised a family in
Richfield as did their inbetween brother, James Christian, wrote in his (Niels Peter’s) journal about a
temple trip to St. George in December, 1880, when Lars Peter Peterson with his wife, Martha; and
Annie Marie and her baby Joseph.; and James Christian Peterson with his wife Rio Jean, and Niels Peter
Peterson and his wife, Augusta, traveled in covered wagons from Richfield to St. George to compelte
temple work there. I often noticed as I was collecting family history records that many of the Peterson
family pioneer day ordinances were completed in December, 1880, in the St. George Temple.
Quoted From Niels Peter’s Journal :
“I was ordained a Priest on December 9, 1879, by Bishop Paul Poulson, and ordained an Elder in
the Saint George Temple, December 2, 1880, by John Pny. We travelled to the Saint George
Temple during the winter—the distance was about 175 miles, and the snow was very deep. Our
trip lasted about six weeks. Some of us went through for six endowments. Our company
consisted of three teams. In my wagon was William Heywood and his wife (Aunt Jane’s
Grandparents). Father and Martha, her children, Olean and Charley, my sister (Annie) and her
two-year old baby, Joseph. My brother, Jim, and his wife, and her mother, Sister Baker.”
Niels Peter said there were three teams which means three wagons pulled by teams. He began by
telling who were in his wagon but then stopped dividing. I am going to divide them into three
wagons using logic. In the wagon driven by Niels Peter Peterson were himself, his wife, and
William Heywood and his wife ( they are the grandparents of Aunt Jane). Then in Lars Peter
Peterson’s wagon was himself, his wife Martha and her two children, Olean and Charley. Also
Lars’ oldest daughter, Anna Maria, who is married to Jens L. Peterson, she had her two-year old
baby, Joseph ,with her. In the wagon driven by James Christian Peterson were himself, his wife
and his wife’s mother Sister Baker. I believe they used the covered wagons to sleep in as they
journeyed and once they arrived at Saint George, but perhaps some inexpensive housing was
available also.
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George Peterson, the youngest, was born in Richfield on January 25,1885. He married Eva
Eliza Barton from Mount Pleasant because she had come to Richfield to work for a doctor, Dr.
Gledhill, a relative. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on September 12, 1912. They
made their home next door to the north of Grandma Annie Peterson but then she soon moved
to the Heber Christensen home. George probably used his mother’s old adobe home for
storage of his plumbing supplies and tools. Later he built a brand new home just to the east of
the old adobe home. That corner is still a Peterson Family Corner. Elaine Peterson Wayland’s
daughter, Beth, now lives there with her family.
Alice Marie Peterson (Hansen), born at St. Joseph, Nevada in 1868, was the oldest. She
married Christen Hansen. Growing up in the Richfield Third Ward, I knew Lewis Hansen and his
son, Gaylon Hansen; and also Joy Hansen Alcott, who was married to Howard had two
daughters, Andrea and Amber, these are some of her descendants. Also the Hansen brothers
from Elsinore with the John Deere tractors in the Fourth of July parade are her descendants.
One Fourth of July, after the parade in Richfield, my older sister, Elaine, and I went to visit with
these Hansen brothers. We told them that we are descendants of George Peterson, the son of
Jens and Annie Peterson and we thought that we are related. They said that they thought we
already knew that because their mother was Marie. So how did that still make them Hansens?
Marie Hansen was married to O. J. Hansen from Elsinore, Utah. Alice Marie Peterson Hansen
died in Elsinore in 1936 and is buried there.
Annie Peterson’s husband, Jens L. Peterson, died on December 18, 1887. He was 65 years old.
My grandfather George was almost three at the time. No one seems to know what the L in Jens
L. Peterson stands for. It does not appear in his Danish birth record. For some reason after
having served a mission in Denmark, I keep thinking that it stands for Landman, which is the
Danish word for Farmer. This left Annie a young widow of 34 with five children to raise—Alice
(19), James (13), Annie (11), Joseph (9), and George (3). Annie was mighty grateful for all the
domestic housekeeping skills she had learned from her Aunt Johanna Squires in Salt Lake City
before she was married. She had some sheep in a corral in her backyard where she could clip
wool when she needed in and spin it and prepare it for making repairs. She had a loom and
could make rugs for carpeting people’s homes.
Alten Christensen shared this story about my grandfather, George, when he was young. Uncle
George told Alten once that he was so hungry at one time that he could recall walking in the
neighborhood and smelling that a family had some meat they were cooking for a meal. It
smelled so good that he could almost taste it. He paused in front of that house, stepped upon
the bottom rail of the fence and leaned over the fence as far as he could as he inhaled deeply
through his nose and consumed just as much of the cooked meat at he could.
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Also there are tales in Richfield of Jens L. Peterson being a miser and possibly hoarding his
money or burying it in the yard. This might have occurred after Annie moved from the house
and went to raise her Christensen grandchildren. But many holes were dug in the yard around
The Old Adobe House and local residents were searching for Jens Peterson’s buried treasure. I
have heard this story twice as I was growing up. Once I had a high school friend in my car in
front of my house and he pointed to the old vacant lot and told me this story and it was the
second time I had heard it. I once asked Alten about the possibility of Jens L. Peterson being a
miser and he didn’t see how he could have been since they were so poor. That was when he
told me about Grandpa George leaning over the fence to smell the meat.
The Old Adobe House
Annie Marie Peterson and her husband, Jens L. Peterson resettled in Richfield by 1872, and soon lived
in what I now call The Old Adobe House on the northeast corner of Third East and Center Street , facing
Center Street.
Here are two pictures of The Old Adobe House. Gary Sheets is posing with his Grandma Eva Peterson
(Mrs. George Peterson). If Gary is eight years old, then this picture would have been taken in about
1942. The house in the newer colored picture looks bigger than the house in the old black and white
photo, but I can see that the door and the window on the right match. Apparently an addition was
added to the left side of the house running from front to back and went over the left window. I once
asked Alten Christensen if he could remember when it was torn down. He could only remember that it
was still standing when he returned from his mission about a year after Grandma Annie had passed
away (1929).
I think that my grandpa, George Peterson, used The Old Adobe House to store his plumbing fixtures and
full lengths of pipe and such in the house once his mother moved out of it in 1915 after her daughter,
Annie Peterson Christensen passed away.
THE OLD SHEDS that we used to play in front of when I was growing up were in back of The Old Adobe
House. They were strangely positioned because they were most of a lot away from Third East and yet
they faced Third East. Now I realize that they were in the right back corner of The Old Adobe House
where Great Grandma Annie had once lived and where Grandpa George Peterson was raised. The sheds
then looked out of place because The Old Adobe House was no longer there. The lot was a vacant
corner lot with one very large tree close to Center Street. That old tree might have been the last one
remaining from the four that stood originally in front of the house.
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This is the family that Annie Peterson raised in The Old Adobe House on the corner. But in this around
1900 family photo, two family members are missing. The father, Jens L. Peterson, died on December
18th 1887, at the age of 65. The first daughter born in Richfield, Johanna, had died earlier on February
1st 1880, at the age of 8. I try to estimate the date of this picture by looking at the youngest person and
that is my Grandfather, the shortest on the back row. I think he is 14. I add that to his birth year of
1885 and come up with 1899 or 1900, perhaps.
While leaving in The Old Adobe House facing Richfield’s Center Street, Grandma Annie Marie knew
that Apostle Anton H. Lund was coming to town, perhaps to dedicate the old Richfield Tabernacle that
was completed in about 1900. She knew that after he got off at the railroad station at the east end of
Center Street that his carriage would be coming right past her home. She knew Anthon H. Lund—the
Danish Apostle—for they had crossed the Atlantic together in 1862. Back then Annie was 9 and Anton
was 18. He had served as interpreter since he knew both English and Danish. Well her son, George, was
very sick at this time. I picture that she had one of her older kids out front watching or perhaps she was
doing her mending or knitting right there at the doorway—listening. She went out to the street as they
approached. She greeted Elder Lund and then asked him to come into The Old Adobe Home and give
her son, George, a blessing. Elder Lund gave George a blessing of healing. They boy lived until he was
52 years old.
Many years later when my grandmother, Mrs. George Peterson, died in March 1965, because I was
already well into family history as a freshman at BYU, Dad gave me the honor of going to Grandma’s
house and looking through her papers and seeing which ones have family history value. That was when
I found the previous family picture with George as a boy. That is also when I found this newer picture of
Anthon Lund in the First Presidency, apparently because he had blessed George as a young boy.
Lorenzo Snow dedicated the Old Richfield Tabernacle on Main Street in July 1899; perhaps Apostle
Anthon H. Lund was assigned to accompany him.
It was around 1905 when Lars Peter Peterson came to The Old Adobe House to visit with his daughter,
Annie Marie and her children. He was there when a granddaughter, Elsie Christina Peterson, was also
there. She is the daughter of his youngest son, Niels Peter Peterson. Elsie Peterson Barker shared this
story with me. I do not recall if it was at a Lars Peter Peterson Family Reunion, but I believe it was in the
privacy of her home in Logan, Utah. My first job out of BYU was in Downey, Idaho, working as a school
psychologist for the Marsh Valley School District. One time when I was passing through Logan, I
stopped with my family to visit Elsie Christina Peterson Barker. This is what I learned from her: She was
sitting on her Grandpa Lars Peterson’s lap at Aunt Annie’s house and Grandpa seemed half asleep. Then
he spoke and said, “Elsa, Elsa, min Kære Elsa!” She thought that he was speaking to her. He had tears in
his eyes. He seemed to be saying her name. It was years later that she realized that being named after
her grandmother Elsie Marie Jensen Peterson, Grandpa was remembering his faithful sweetheart and all
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that she was missing and all this was happening because of her great faith.
“Elsa, Elsa, min kære Elsa.” Means “Elsie, Elsie, my dear Elsie.”
On the evening of April 14, 1901, there was a wedding reception at The Old Adobe House. Daughter
Annie had married Heber C. Christensen and Grandma Annie had sent out invitations and later there
was a \ report of the reception in the city newspaper.
Annie Peterson and her husband, Heber Christensen made their home in Richfield at 157 West Second
South in a lovey two-story home that Heber built for them. But until the home was completed enough
to move into, they stayed in The Old Adobe House with Annie’s mother and her younger brothers. They
became the parents of five children. But then Annie became seriously ill with tuberculosis, on advice
from the doctors, Heber took Annie to southern California on a train hoping she would recover in a drier
climate. They were there for a short time but could not find any suitable accommodations and so they
moved on to Mesa, Arizona because it was even drier and found a small home to rent.
Grandma Annie moved into the Christensen home to watch over the five children while they were gone.
Momma Annie began to recover and there was lots of hope. Heber arranged for his sister, Emma, to
come and stay with Annie so that he could return to Richfield and take care of his business affairs as
President of the State Bank of Sevier, as Bishop of the Richfield First Ward and as Mayor of Richfield
City.
Then Emma wrote to Heber saying that he should come as soon as possible as Annie was getting much
worse saying that he should travel to Mesa soon! Heber got ready as soon as he could and took the
four youngest children with him—George F, Alten, Ila, and McKay. June stayed in Richfield to go to
school. To get to Mesa on the train, they traveled from Richfield to Provo, then Provo to San
Bernardino, California and from there to Mesa, taking them three days journey. They arrived in Mesa on
the morning of February 18, 1915, expecting to stay there and help care for Annie. How pleased she
was to see them. She felt that she would get better soon. But it was not to be. Annie Peterson
Christensen passed away about 2 o’clock that very afternoon. She was just 38 years old. Her
children were June (age 11), George F (9), Alten (7), Ila (4) and McKay (2).
Here is a letter written by Annie Peterson Christensen from Ocean Park, California to her Mother ‘Ma” in
Richfield, Utah. My wife Patricia and I worked diligently to see if we could type it out so it can be much
more easily read. Where the typed letters are italicized is where we have made just a best guess to read
and translate in. In some places it is very light and there is even one fold in the copied paper. This is
from Alten’s family history book. The book honors his two parents and their heritage and has his
parents’ names and dates of birth and death on the brown cover.
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Letter to Annie Marie Peterson
From her daughter, Annie Peterson Christensen, from Ocean Park, California
Dated November 19, 1914
My Dear Mother and Sister (Alice), (italicized words are best guesses)
Oh what on earth would I do without you and you bet I know just how your hearts ache every day to have me way
down here. That is all the pleasure and enjoyment we have when we can visit each other. This is certainly the
hardest trial of my life and I can’t help but wonder what on earth I have done. But there is nothing to do but to brace
up and try it once more. I have been blessed and healed other times and I hope that I can be strengthened this time.
We do think of staying away till March or April It may depend on how I feel….but if I can avoid a death like
Geretiah Hansen had I am going to try no matter what kind of sacrifice I have to make. I am willing to be patient
and go through a whole lot if I can just live with the children. Bless …..they will keep and una, too. Say ‘ma’if
June’s union suits (full-body underwear) are thin and I believe they are, you let him go down (to Heber’s store) and get two
pairs of new ones. And then in that box in the bathroom is one wool shirt of Alten’s. You go get them some nice
wool shirts, 2 apiece like Ila’s unions. Don’t get them heavy like the unions because they are so heavy to wash and
yet so hard and bulky. They will cost you maybe 60 or 85 cents apiece. But that doesn’t make any difference.
Dress them warm and feed them plenty of good food to keep them well. Get them some fast & wool good
stockings. And if it’s rainy, their rubbers are down in the cellar. Don’t skimp on the fruit let them have the kind
they want and beets and beans, too. Get a nice soup bowl and let them have a little more meat now when it is
getting colder weather. Don’t feed all them chickens all winter, kill some of them off. Let June go and get one of
those little cheeses, they are so nice. Don’t worry ‘ma’ over anything to eat and don’t worry about the house, rest
and keep well if you can. Did you get McKay an overcoat made or his suit made. I guess Ila uses her dresses all the
time now, kind save on her new aprons till spring. We are not going to Phoenix, but to Mesa, tomorrow at 3:15 (by
train) and we get there at 9 o’clock the next morning. Oh how I hope we can get a place to stay where I can get
some nice clean tasty food and then feel to home. Well I am getting tired and will have to lay down, have been
laying down outdoors nearly all day. And that is what I will have to do after this. While I feel a little better down
here, “ma”, I am mighty weak and can’t a walk half a block. That horrible feeling still troubles me but that is very
hard.
Good night all of you.
Lovingly, Annie
So Heber and his four youngest children made it on the long journey to visit Annie in Mesa, Arizona.
They arrived just in time to have a few hours to visit with Mother and Sweetheart before she passed
away. Then Heber had to arrange for the long return trip home on the train, this time taking Annie’s
casket with them as freight. Heber was struggling with his health, too. He never complained but his
stomach felt really bad. He thought it was because of things he ate. Then when it got too bad to
ignore, he got medical help and found out that he had appendicitis and an operation was needed. But
it was too late. He began making arrangements for his kids to be taken care of. What he wanted most
was for his children to be raised together. But this did not seem to be working. He wanted his brother
Orson to sell his car so that his boys wouldn’t have it to run around and maybe get hurt. It looked like
George F and Ila were going to go with Orson, June to another uncle, and Alten to still another, and
McKay another. He requested the Grandma Annie Peterson take care of the five kids but she was very
sick and didn’t seem able to do so any more. Finally Grandma Annie was given a blessing of healing.
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She was sick with pneumonia. She immediately got up so she could take care of the children and was
well from that time until her death 11 years later.
Heber Christensen passed away on February 20, 1917. At the time he was bishop of the Richfield First
Ward, manager of the J.M. Peterson store, president of the State Bank of Sevier, and president of the
school board. Grandma Annie Peterson was strong enough to move back in with her Christensen
grandchildren and raise them carefully and lovingly for the rest of her life. June was now 13; George
Foy, 11; Alten, 9; Ila, 6; and McKay, 4.
When Alten Christensen went on his mission to New Zealand, it was his Uncle George Peterson (18851937) who paid for his mission.
It was while on his mission that Alten
received word that his Grandma Annie
Peterson had died. This is part of the letter
that his brother, George F, wrote to him.
Summary of Grandma Annie Peterson’s Life
Great Grandma Annie Marie Peterson is a
Mormon Pioneer. She was born in Denmark
in 1853, but died in Utah in 1928. She
immigrated with her parents and at the age
of nine, was the oldest of their six children.
Three of those children were buried at sea.
Upon reaching Utah, her mother died from
childbirth and her baby sister died soon
thereafter. She did not get along with her
February 13, 1928
Dear Alten,
…this letter will have to contain bad news…Grandma
passed away late Friday night (10 Feb 1928)… Wednesday
afternoon, she had a fainting spell and did a lot of vomiting
along with it… About 1 o’clock Thursday morning she went
into another spell. She called Ila and I to help her sit up as
she had to vomit. While she was vomiting she went
unconscious. We called the doctor, and tried to bring her
to, but when the doctor came he said there was not a thing
that could be done… She remained unconscious for 44
hours and then passed quietly and peacefully away… The
funeral was today. It was a nice service… Uncle Jim
(Peterson) came down from Idaho yesterday and is
stopping here with us. Ila is taking it pretty hard, as she
had grown closer to Grandma than the boys…we have the
best
15set of Uncles and Aunts that could be found any
where in the world.
Love from all, Geo . F
new stepmother and was sent to live with Aunt Johanna Squires in Salt Lake. She married at a young
age and became the mother of six. Johanna died when she was 8. Joseph died as a young adult. I
would love to be able to look back and see the reception she had in her Old Adobe Home in honor of her
daughter Annie’s marriage to Heber Christensen. Wouldn’t it be thrilling to reach out and pick up some
of the refreshments and sit there and eat them and see just who you could recognize! Her daughter
Annie died as a young mother of five and Grandma Annie moved in to raise her second family. Grandma
Annie always spoke with a Danish accent. And for most of her life there in Richfield and until the end of
her days, she maintained her subscription to “Bikuben”, the Danish newspaper that came in the mail
from Chicago; her Christensen grandchildren often saw her reading from it. All of her children and
grandchildren were noble achievers and distinguished citizens and faithful latter day saints. She is one
great ancestor!
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