Peter Anderson

Peter Anderson, B. 18 February 1840 Person identifier: KWC1-N9K Peter Anderson's father was Anders Rasmusen a farmer, a weaver and a fisherman by trade, a stern man who cared more for his weaving than his family. Peter was born February 18, 1840 in Norre Orslev, Maribo, Denmark and we know little of his childhood other that it was unhappy. When he was 12 years old his mother died, and he ran away to sea. The captain’s son was lonely for someone his own age, so he hid Peter behind some whale oil barrels until they were out of port. Peter had tried to run away twice before, but was discovered before the ships put out to sea. The captain was a good man who was once a school teacher, and taught both boys. Mathematics was their best subject. Peter was a good student and eager to learn. His first voyage took him to Norway, Russia and England. He often told his family about his adventures as a young man sailing the sea, a period of his life that lasted 7 years. Once he was shipwrecked off the coast of Norway. He primarily sailed the Baltic, trading in German, Swedish, Russian, English and Danish ports. He also signed on as a fisherman on smaller ships that would stay at sea until they had filled their catch. Once a larger ship signaled them and pulled along side. They were pirates in need of provisions and two sailors, and they took Peter and one other young man. They were told that they would receive nothing in compensation but the roughest treatment, and any captive that did not obey orders would be tossed overboard, which is why they were in need of two sailors. After the fist day he never saw the other young man again. At one point the captain determined that piracy in the Baltic was too risky, and decided to set sail for the Pacific. On the journey, they set anchor considerably off shore from New York to keep their captives from swimming to shore. The cook was sent ashore with a small party for supplies. The cook knew that Peter was good with numbers and would check the figures of the merchants, and took him ashore. Peter waited for an opportunity which eventually presented itself in the form of a heated argument between the cook and a merchant, and Peter made a break for freedom, running for his life. He was soon lost in the crowds of New York but kept running until he was in the countryside. He knocked on a farmhouse door, but Peter spoke no English and the farmer no Danish, but directed him to a nearby Danish farmer who took him in. Peter was a good worker, and the farmer offered to send him to school with his own children if Peter would agree to work around the farm. Peter was grateful but soon tired of farm work and school, and the next spring he sought employment on the ships sailing the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. That would have been around 1859 or 1860. He was sailing the Great Lakes when winter set in, bitter cold and very rough on the water, and his ship docked at Racine, Wisconsin. Instead of sitting out the winter, he sought employment as a cooper (making wooden barrels). He liked the area, with high wages and the chance to own land, and he wrote his two younger brothers to come to America. Before he heard from them he left Wisconsin and worked his way back to Denmark as a seaman, passing his two brothers Christian and Hans on their way to America. He reached home to find them gone and secured work on the next ship sailing for America. On the return voyage he met two missionaries who converted them to their new religion, Mormonism. On reaching Wisconsin, he tried to convert his two brothers, but they ridiculed him for staying up and studying scriptures and learning the gospel. The following spring he decided to work his way to Utah. This would have been sometime during the Civil War. He found work as a teamster (driving a team of Oxen for a group headed west). During the trip there was a stampede of Buffalo that broke the wagon and killed the oxen, so Peter found employment with another family headed for Sringville, Utah. He had a cousin working as a carpenter in Manti, so upon reaching Utah Peter went there. On December 30, 1864 he married Anna Georgine Jorgensen. They lived in Manti until the latter part of March when they moved to Salina, where they lived in a one-room dugout in the side of Salina canyon. Salina is a tiny town south of Fillmore Utah. Peter lived in Salina during the Utah Indian War, a very savage and brutal conflict on both sides. On one occasion in 1865 Peter was part of a group sent to recover the bodies of two men killed and mutilated by Indians farther up in Salina canyon. There were several battles around Salina, with Indians running off their cattle herds when attacks on the town were driven back. In one engagement, when a group from the town was trying to recover the cattle driven iff during a raid, Peter saw Chief Back Hawk in the brush preparing to fire, and slipped from his horse. The bullet passed through his hat and took off some of his hair. While the Chief was reloading, Peter’s returned fire and hit the Chief. The story goes that the Chief could never stand straight after that, and from that point on the Indians tried to get Peter. He had many narrow escapes, working as a courier and a guard while he lived in Salina, but each time he was able to outwit the Indians. He was given two medals for his heroics during the war, which are still in the possession of the family

ETHEL--Ethel Anderson Stuart Arnold, Life Sketch by her step-daughter, Betty Joy Arnold Blackburn, told to her son, Don Blackburn. Additional details are added with sources listed at the end. ETHEL'S BIRTH AND PARENTS After my Dad, Lew, and Ethel were married, I went to visit Ethel's mother in Cedar City where she lived. Grandma Anderson talked with me about Ethel's life. ADOPTION Ethel's adopted parents were James Erastus Anderson (1872-1955) and Rebecca Jane Ford Anderson (1879-1959). They married in 1902. James parents, Peter and Anna Jorgensen, immigrated from Denmark where they embraced the LDS Church. They came to Utah by ox team in 1863 and pioneered in Manti and Salina. In December 1868 they responded to a call to help settle the Dixie country. Peter and Anna eventually developed the progressive Anderson Ranch (now called Anderson Junction) near Toquerville, Utah. The Andersons had the first telephone system in Dixie, were the first to complete a culinary water system, and grew large, successful fruit orchards. They had ten children. Ethel's father, James, was the fourth child. Ethel was born on June 13, 1913. Grandma Anderson brought her home from California as an infant. Grandma rode on a train from Lund, a small village northwest of Cedar City by the iron mine, all the way to California to get her. As a premature infant and only a few days old, Grandma Anderson placed Ethel on a pillow as she rode on the train. Her little body was covered with burns. She had been scalded in her bassinet or incubator from hot-water bottles that had leaked. Ruth Neagle, a Toquerville resident, who liked Ethel, told me that the burns affected Ethel's life, but she did the best she knew how. Ethel grew and became an active LDS Church member when she was young. She would sit in a front yard tree and sing. BEAUTY SCHOOL Ethel went to SLC as an adult where she attended beauty school. She had her own shop near Temple Square where she did hair for the General Authorities' wives. FIRST MARRIAGE Grandma Anderson said that Ethel was married several times. Her first husband was Samuel Elwood Stewart (1909-1961). They were married December 24, 1932. Samuel died on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1961 in Burbank, California. He is buried in the Elysian Burial Gardens Cemetary in Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, DAUGHTER SHIRLEY Ethel and Samuel had a daughter, Shirley Maurine Stewart Aarts, who lived on Vancouver Island in Canada. My Dad, Lew Arnold went to Canada once to visit Shirley. After Samuel died, Grandma Anderson raised Ethel's daughter, Shirley, who is Dale's age. I thought that she was a sweet girl. She married Tom and lived in Canada. She called me on the phone when Ethel died. Shirley had several boys. The first were twins. One son, probably Kelly, was killed in an accident. Other sons are Parker and Kim Aarts. She has a grandson named Ryley. I liked Shirley. She was a slender, dark-haired girl who was quite pretty. Penny, my youngest daughter, met her at Dad and Ethel's house on Silver Avenue when Ethel died. That was when it was being cleaned. GOOD AT FINANCES Ethel struggled in some ways but was a genius in other ways. She was good at finances while my Dad, Lew, wasn't. Lew could not handle money. He would gamble and play poker with his boss and friends. He was careless that way. But my own mother, Ora, as well as Ethel, could handle money. The families did well when they took care of the finances. ETHEL MARRIES LEW ARNOLD Ethel went to work for the railroad. She was a very competent secretary and worked there for many years. But she was in down times in 1952 when I first met her. I was pregnant with Don at this time. Ethel had returned to Cedar City taking a job as a cook, waitress or worker on Cedar Mountain at Milt's Stage Stop, a little cafe. The cook, Emma Esplin, a dear friend of ours who was also working at the cafe, introduced Ethel to Lew. It wasn't very long until Ethel and Lew were married. They were married on October 16,1949 according to Dad's obituary. They lived in the back of a tire shop with my brother, Dale who later went to the Navy at age 17. I remember that Ethel made Thanksgiving dinner for my husband, Paul, early in our marriage. Dad and Ethel later moved to Salt Lake City where they bought a store. But Lew was not a good businessman so he lost the business. They next moved to Silver Avenue and stayed there for the rest of their lives. VISITS TO TOQUERVILLE Lew would take Ethel to Toquerville to visit with her Aunt Emma during the 1950's. The house was just north of Lynn Neagle's house. Lynn was our friend. A relative had already torn down the house when we lived there. Ethel never went in our Toquerville house but she did visit our Cedar City house once when we lived on Kayenta Circle. CHRISTMAS PACKAGES Our kids especially loved the big Christmas package that Ethel and Dad sent on the Greyhound bus each year. Christmas was not the same without that big package. It was full of special gifts that they had found for their grandkids. She loved giving gifts and so did Dad. GRATEFUL FOR ETHEL Ethel and Lew were married for 38 years, from 1952 to 1980. I am glad that Lew married Ethel as she took good care of him for many years. She also liked my daughter, Paula, a lot. LEW DIES When Lew died, Ethel sent me some old magazines and some clothes I had made for him plus $1,000 of inheritance money. When Ethel died, I received $3,000 for my share of the house. DEATH AND BURIAL Ethel died at age 77 on October 28, 1990 in SLC. She is buried in the Elysian Burial Gardens Cemetery at Millcreek in Salt Lake City, Utah. I believe that she was buried next to her first husband, Samuel. LOVE FOR ANIMALS. Ethel lived her life trying to make life better for others. She had a special fondness for animals. In lieu of flowers when she died, Ethel requested that donations be given to the Humane Society of Utah. --------------------------------------------------- Main Sources: This history is from Don Blackburn's notes (April 16, 2006 and April 20, 2007) that were taken when Joy, his mother, was in her early 70's. Additional details used in this history are listed below. A few of Joy's feelings discussed on the telephone on September 12, 2014, when she was 82 years old, have been included. Ethel's Father, James Erastus Anderson. His information is online at Erhttps://familysearch.org/tree/#view=ancestor&person=KWCC-LVW&spouse=KWJH-DGF. Also see Find-a-Grave online site: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=17426747 The History of the Anderson Family. See '"Anderson's Junction" Area, Washington County, Utah" article by Cindy Alldredge: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utwashin/towns/anderson.html. Ethel's Grandparents, Peter and Anna Jorgensen of Denmark. See online site: https://familysearch.org/photos/stories/446087?returnLabel=Peter%20Anderson%20(KWC1-N9K)&returnUrl=https%3A%2F%2Ffamilysearch.org%2Ftree%2F%23view%3Dancestor%26person%3DKWC1-N9K%26section%3Dmemories Ethel's Relationship to Lynn Neagle. Ethel was his cousin. Ethel's dad was a brother to Lynn Neagle's mother, Emma Neagle. Also, Ethel's dad, James Erastus Anderson was the fourth child while Aunt Emma was the fifth child out of ten children. They were siblings close in age. Lynn Neagle was a friend of Joy and Paul Blackburn who lived in Toquerville. Ethel's Obituary: See "Ethel Anderson Arnold" Memorial on findagrave.com. Note about Joy's friend, "Effie": Emma's daughter, Effie Esplin Brockmyer, was Dr. Burgess' secretary when Lew was his optical technician. When Joy and Paul moved to Monticello in the late 1950's, Effie had moved to Blanding. Effie and her husband, Tom, a pharmacist, had two sons and a daughter. Once when he and his two sons were flying a plane, it crashed and killed all three. Don met Effie on his LDS mission when he was living in Blanding, Utah.

Peter Anderson, B. 18 February 1840 Person identifier: KWC1-N9K Peter Anderson's father was Anders Rasmusen a farmer, a weaver and a fisherman by trade, a stern man who cared more for his weaving than his family. Peter was born February 18, 1840 in Norre Orslev, Maribo, Denmark and we know little of his childhood other that it was unhappy. When he was 12 years old his mother died, and he ran away to sea. The captain’s son was lonely for someone his own age, so he hid Peter behind some whale oil barrels until they were out of port. Peter had tried to run away twice before, but was discovered before the ships put out to sea. The captain was a good man who was once a school teacher, and taught both boys. Mathematics was their best subject. Peter was a good student and eager to learn. His first voyage took him to Norway, Russia and England. He often told his family about his adventures as a young man sailing the sea, a period of his life that lasted 7 years. Once he was shipwrecked off the coast of Norway. He primarily sailed the Baltic, trading in German, Swedish, Russian, English and Danish ports. He also signed on as a fisherman on smaller ships that would stay at sea until they had filled their catch. Once a larger ship signaled them and pulled along side. They were pirates in need of provisions and two sailors, and they took Peter and one other young man. They were told that they would receive nothing in compensation but the roughest treatment, and any captive that did not obey orders would be tossed overboard, which is why they were in need of two sailors. After the fist day he never saw the other young man again. At one point the captain determined that piracy in the Baltic was too risky, and decided to set sail for the Pacific. On the journey, they set anchor considerably off shore from New York to keep their captives from swimming to shore. The cook was sent ashore with a small party for supplies. The cook knew that Peter was good with numbers and would check the figures of the merchants, and took him ashore. Peter waited for an opportunity which eventually presented itself in the form of a heated argument between the cook and a merchant, and Peter made a break for freedom, running for his life. He was soon lost in the crowds of New York but kept running until he was in the countryside. He knocked on a farmhouse door, but Peter spoke no English and the farmer no Danish, but directed him to a nearby Danish farmer who took him in. Peter was a good worker, and the farmer offered to send him to school with his own children if Peter would agree to work around the farm. Peter was grateful but soon tired of farm work and school, and the next spring he sought employment on the ships sailing the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. That would have been around 1859 or 1860. He was sailing the Great Lakes when winter set in, bitter cold and very rough on the water, and his ship docked at Racine, Wisconsin. Instead of sitting out the winter, he sought employment as a cooper (making wooden barrels). He liked the area, with high wages and the chance to own land, and he wrote his two younger brothers to come to America. Before he heard from them he left Wisconsin and worked his way back to Denmark as a seaman, passing his two brothers Christian and Hans on their way to America. He reached home to find them gone and secured work on the next ship sailing for America. On the return voyage he met two missionaries who converted them to their new religion, Mormonism. On reaching Wisconsin, he tried to convert his two brothers, but they ridiculed him for staying up and studying scriptures and learning the gospel. The following spring he decided to work his way to Utah. This would have been sometime during the Civil War. He found work as a teamster (driving a team of Oxen for a group headed west). During the trip there was a stampede of Buffalo that broke the wagon and killed the oxen, so Peter found employment with another family headed for Sringville, Utah. He had a cousin working as a carpenter in Manti, so upon reaching Utah Peter went there. On December 30, 1864 he married Anna Georgine Jorgensen. They lived in Manti until the latter part of March when they moved to Salina, where they lived in a one-room dugout in the side of Salina canyon. Salina is a tiny town south of Fillmore Utah. Peter lived in Salina during the Utah Indian War, a very savage and brutal conflict on both sides. On one occasion in 1865 Peter was part of a group sent to recover the bodies of two men killed and mutilated by Indians farther up in Salina canyon. There were several battles around Salina, with Indians running off their cattle herds when attacks on the town were driven back. In one engagement, when a group from the town was trying to recover the cattle driven iff during a raid, Peter saw Chief Back Hawk in the brush preparing to fire, and slipped from his horse. The bullet passed through his hat and took off some of his hair. While the Chief was reloading, Peter’s returned fire and hit the Chief. The story goes that the Chief could never stand straight after that, and from that point on the Indians tried to get Peter. He had many narrow escapes, working as a courier and a guard while he lived in Salina, but each time he was able to outwit the Indians. He was given two medals for his heroics during the war, which are still in the possession of the family

ETHEL--Ethel Anderson Stuart Arnold, Life Sketch by her step-daughter, Betty Joy Arnold Blackburn, told to her son, Don Blackburn. Additional details are added with sources listed at the end. ETHEL'S BIRTH AND PARENTS After my Dad, Lew, and Ethel were married, I went to visit Ethel's mother in Cedar City where she lived. Grandma Anderson talked with me about Ethel's life. ADOPTION Ethel's adopted parents were James Erastus Anderson (1872-1955) and Rebecca Jane Ford Anderson (1879-1959). They married in 1902. James parents, Peter and Anna Jorgensen, immigrated from Denmark where they embraced the LDS Church. They came to Utah by ox team in 1863 and pioneered in Manti and Salina. In December 1868 they responded to a call to help settle the Dixie country. Peter and Anna eventually developed the progressive Anderson Ranch (now called Anderson Junction) near Toquerville, Utah. The Andersons had the first telephone system in Dixie, were the first to complete a culinary water system, and grew large, successful fruit orchards. They had ten children. Ethel's father, James, was the fourth child. Ethel was born on June 13, 1913. Grandma Anderson brought her home from California as an infant. Grandma rode on a train from Lund, a small village northwest of Cedar City by the iron mine, all the way to California to get her. As a premature infant and only a few days old, Grandma Anderson placed Ethel on a pillow as she rode on the train. Her little body was covered with burns. She had been scalded in her bassinet or incubator from hot-water bottles that had leaked. Ruth Neagle, a Toquerville resident, who liked Ethel, told me that the burns affected Ethel's life, but she did the best she knew how. Ethel grew and became an active LDS Church member when she was young. She would sit in a front yard tree and sing. BEAUTY SCHOOL Ethel went to SLC as an adult where she attended beauty school. She had her own shop near Temple Square where she did hair for the General Authorities' wives. FIRST MARRIAGE Grandma Anderson said that Ethel was married several times. Her first husband was Samuel Elwood Stewart (1909-1961). They were married December 24, 1932. Samuel died on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1961 in Burbank, California. He is buried in the Elysian Burial Gardens Cemetary in Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, DAUGHTER SHIRLEY Ethel and Samuel had a daughter, Shirley Maurine Stewart Aarts, who lived on Vancouver Island in Canada. My Dad, Lew Arnold went to Canada once to visit Shirley. After Samuel died, Grandma Anderson raised Ethel's daughter, Shirley, who is Dale's age. I thought that she was a sweet girl. She married Tom and lived in Canada. She called me on the phone when Ethel died. Shirley had several boys. The first were twins. One son, probably Kelly, was killed in an accident. Other sons are Parker and Kim Aarts. She has a grandson named Ryley. I liked Shirley. She was a slender, dark-haired girl who was quite pretty. Penny, my youngest daughter, met her at Dad and Ethel's house on Silver Avenue when Ethel died. That was when it was being cleaned. GOOD AT FINANCES Ethel struggled in some ways but was a genius in other ways. She was good at finances while my Dad, Lew, wasn't. Lew could not handle money. He would gamble and play poker with his boss and friends. He was careless that way. But my own mother, Ora, as well as Ethel, could handle money. The families did well when they took care of the finances. ETHEL MARRIES LEW ARNOLD Ethel went to work for the railroad. She was a very competent secretary and worked there for many years. But she was in down times in 1952 when I first met her. I was pregnant with Don at this time. Ethel had returned to Cedar City taking a job as a cook, waitress or worker on Cedar Mountain at Milt's Stage Stop, a little cafe. The cook, Emma Esplin, a dear friend of ours who was also working at the cafe, introduced Ethel to Lew. It wasn't very long until Ethel and Lew were married. They were married on October 16,1949 according to Dad's obituary. They lived in the back of a tire shop with my brother, Dale who later went to the Navy at age 17. I remember that Ethel made Thanksgiving dinner for my husband, Paul, early in our marriage. Dad and Ethel later moved to Salt Lake City where they bought a store. But Lew was not a good businessman so he lost the business. They next moved to Silver Avenue and stayed there for the rest of their lives. VISITS TO TOQUERVILLE Lew would take Ethel to Toquerville to visit with her Aunt Emma during the 1950's. The house was just north of Lynn Neagle's house. Lynn was our friend. A relative had already torn down the house when we lived there. Ethel never went in our Toquerville house but she did visit our Cedar City house once when we lived on Kayenta Circle. CHRISTMAS PACKAGES Our kids especially loved the big Christmas package that Ethel and Dad sent on the Greyhound bus each year. Christmas was not the same without that big package. It was full of special gifts that they had found for their grandkids. She loved giving gifts and so did Dad. GRATEFUL FOR ETHEL Ethel and Lew were married for 38 years, from 1952 to 1980. I am glad that Lew married Ethel as she took good care of him for many years. She also liked my daughter, Paula, a lot. LEW DIES When Lew died, Ethel sent me some old magazines and some clothes I had made for him plus $1,000 of inheritance money. When Ethel died, I received $3,000 for my share of the house. DEATH AND BURIAL Ethel died at age 77 on October 28, 1990 in SLC. She is buried in the Elysian Burial Gardens Cemetery at Millcreek in Salt Lake City, Utah. I believe that she was buried next to her first husband, Samuel. LOVE FOR ANIMALS. Ethel lived her life trying to make life better for others. She had a special fondness for animals. In lieu of flowers when she died, Ethel requested that donations be given to the Humane Society of Utah. --------------------------------------------------- Main Sources: This history is from Don Blackburn's notes (April 16, 2006 and April 20, 2007) that were taken when Joy, his mother, was in her early 70's. Additional details used in this history are listed below. A few of Joy's feelings discussed on the telephone on September 12, 2014, when she was 82 years old, have been included. Ethel's Father, James Erastus Anderson. His information is online at Erhttps://familysearch.org/tree/#view=ancestor&person=KWCC-LVW&spouse=KWJH-DGF. Also see Find-a-Grave online site: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=17426747 The History of the Anderson Family. See '"Anderson's Junction" Area, Washington County, Utah" article by Cindy Alldredge: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utwashin/towns/anderson.html. Ethel's Grandparents, Peter and Anna Jorgensen of Denmark. See online site: https://familysearch.org/photos/stories/446087?returnLabel=Peter%20Anderson%20(KWC1-N9K)&returnUrl=https%3A%2F%2Ffamilysearch.org%2Ftree%2F%23view%3Dancestor%26person%3DKWC1-N9K%26section%3Dmemories Ethel's Relationship to Lynn Neagle. Ethel was his cousin. Ethel's dad was a brother to Lynn Neagle's mother, Emma Neagle. Also, Ethel's dad, James Erastus Anderson was the fourth child while Aunt Emma was the fifth child out of ten children. They were siblings close in age. Lynn Neagle was a friend of Joy and Paul Blackburn who lived in Toquerville. Ethel's Obituary: See "Ethel Anderson Arnold" Memorial on findagrave.com. Note about Joy's friend, "Effie": Emma's daughter, Effie Esplin Brockmyer, was Dr. Burgess' secretary when Lew was his optical technician. When Joy and Paul moved to Monticello in the late 1950's, Effie had moved to Blanding. Effie and her husband, Tom, a pharmacist, had two sons and a daughter. Once when he and his two sons were flying a plane, it crashed and killed all three. Don met Effie on his LDS mission when he was living in Blanding, Utah.