FRUITS OF BITTER NESS ~~~ GORDON B. HINKLEY ~~~ADOLPH MERZ

 

CHARLES A. LINDBERGH AND "SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS" FLY OVER MT. PLEASANT

 

Charles A. Lindbergh courtesy of National Geographic

On May 20, 1927 at 7:52 a.m., Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island for Paris, carrying five sandwiches, water, maps and charts, and a limited number of other items he deemed absolutely necessary. He decided against carrying a parachute and radio in favor of more gasoline. In his single-engine monoplane, he was an unlikely candidate to succeed in the transatlantic flight as other contenders opted for multi-engine planes and at least one other crew member aboard. He fought fog, icing and drowsiness (he hadn't been able to sleep the night before taking off) during the historic trip.

On May 21, 33 1/2 hours later, (10:22 p.m. French time) Lindbergh set the Spirit of St. Louis down at Le Bourget Field near Paris. He had flown over 3,600 miles and became the first to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic.

Overnight, Lindbergh became an international hero. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the first-ever Distinguished Flying Cross by the U.S. government, and received high honors from many other countries. 

A few months later he made  the 1927 "Lindbergh Tour" culminating with visits to 48 states and 92 cities, where he delivered 147 speeches, and rode 1,290 miles (2,080 km) in parades.^[26] At the conclusion of the tour, Lindbergh spent a month at Falaise, Guggenheim's Sands Point mansion, where he wrote the acclaimed "We", a book about his transatlantic flight published by George P. Putnam. (Wikipedia)

Add found in newspapers 1927.

Some who remember the flight over Mt. Pleasant say that he chose our city because he had relatives here.  However we have not been able to confirm this as fact.  We do know that he dropped a scroll which said: "Greetings to the People of Mt. Pleasant".  So where is that scroll today?  It was supposedly housed at the Carnegie Library, but no one in recent years seems to know anything about it or what has happened to it.

Charles A. Lindbergh and "Spirit of St. Louis" flying over Wasatch Academy.

(from Wasatch Academy Archives)

Hilda writes of Lindbergh's visit:

September 3, 1927, Colonel Charles A. Lindberg, aboard his famous Spirit of St. Louis, flying from Cheyenne, Wyoming, en­route to Salt Lake City, paused to greet the citizens of Mt. Pleasant. He arrived over the mountains east of the city.

Mayor Joseph Seely having received a telegram announcing his intentions, Mt. Pleasant had been gaily decorated for the oc­casion and all was in readiness to receive him. The massive plane from which a message of greeting was dropped, circled low sev­eral times over the city. After a stay of about fifteen minutes, he left by way of Fairview for Salt Lake City.

p. 203 History of Mt. Pleasant by Hilda Madsen Longsdorf

Courtesy of Utah Digital Newspapers


Researched  and compiled by Kathy Hafen

MT. PLEASANT CITY NEWS

 

WILLIAM SKREVEKUS and SARAH JANE TIDWELL OLSON

 

William and

William Skrevekus Olson's life history

Contributed By

This history was found posted on Mt. Pleasant pioneer blog spot on March 29, 2011.

This was the heading: "My first taste of genealogy came when I found this history in my grandparents' attic. Why it was there, I have no idea. The auto biography is of William Olson. Even though I have Olsen (Olson) ancestors, this is not one of them. However, for me it was exciting to find this history. I must have been only about 13 at the time and the bug for genealogy has never left me. Hopefully, someone out there will appreciate reading it. I remember sharing it with Maxi Olson Christiansen several years before she died. Whether anyone else has it, I do not know."

My father, John Olson, and my mother, Sophia Maria Skrevelus, were both born in Jamjo Soken Bleking Lan, Sweden. Father was born October 27, 1818, and mother was born December 24, 1819.

In 1848 my father sold his farm in Sweden and moved over to Bornholm, a little island 16 by 20 miles square, in the Baltic Sea. He bought a farm there, consisting of thirty acres. He stayed there until 1866. My mother having joined the Mormon faith, was baptized in 1852, being one of the first to be baptized in Scandinavia. In 1866, my father sold his farm, horses, and cattle, and turned his money over to the Church to emigrate the people that were not able to help themselves. He kept enough to emigrate his own family which consisted of Kathryn, myself, and Andrew and Hannah Maria and James. I was born on Bornholm, the third day of June, 1853, and was baptized the tenth of April 1866. We sailed from Bornholm the twelfth of April as far as Kjobenhagen where we stayed ten days then we took a boat for Keil, Germany and from there by train for Hamburg, Germany. The next day, May 25, we went on board the sailing vessel "Kennelworth". Captain Brown. We were nine weeks crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Our food consisted of sailor hardtac, fat bacon, cabbage, and black coffee. The bugle would wake us up in the morning at seven o'clock. We had to be on deck for exercises for one hour then we had breakfast. When the weather was so that the ship didn't roll too much we would dance for a couple of hours. On Sundays we had religious services. Two returned missionaries, Samuel Sprague and Martin Lund from Ft. Green had charge of the company, 686. Thirty-six of the emigrants died and were buried at sea. They would sew them up in heavy canvas bags with about fifty pounds of rocks at the feet to sink them. They would place the corpse on a plank and at a signal from the Captain, they would tilt the plank up and the corpse would slide into the ocean.

The Captain and sailors treated us fine except the cook. He was the meanest man I ever saw. In the morning he would yell, "Come to breakfast, you Mormon S of Bs". Our ship caught fire from the kitchen but after a few hours of fire fighting it was put out after burning part of the kitchen. On the 17th of July we landed at Castlegarden, New York. That night we took a steam boat for New Haven. We were a moltley crowd traveling on foot carrying our luggage and carrying babies and some leading one or two. The road or street was not paved and the mud and slush came up to our shoetops, and a howling mob followed us and called us all the dirty names they could think of and pelted us with mud clods. From New Haven we took a train for Detroit, Chicago, Quincy, Ill., and Saint Joseph, Missouri, the terminal of the railroad. From there we sailed up the Missouri River on a river steamer as far as where Omaha stands now. There was but seven houses there then, and they were just small lumber houses. There they were moving the biggest house up the hill with three yolk of oxen. We started our journey across the plains the second of August. We traveled with sixty five wagons, five yolk of oxen on each wagon. Three hundred and twenty five oxen. Joseph L. Rawlings was captain of the real large train. He had one helper or vice captain, one teamster for each wagon and five night herders that took that herd of oxen out to feed and drove them into camp in the morning.

We had the bugler we had on the ship so that the bugle would call us at six o'clock in the morning. We had one hour to get breakfast and then the oxen would be driven in so we would be ready to start by eight o'clock.

In the evening the music would start up, the young and old would dance for an hour. All the young folks had to walk, the old would ride most of the time. At nine o'clock in the evening the bugle would sound for prayer before going to bed. My father bought a cow in Iowa. He intended to lead that cow not only to Salt Lake but to Mt. Pleasant, a distance of twelve hundred miles. He would turn her with the oxen at night to feed. A good many oxen got alkalied and died, and I wished many times that our cow would get a drink of alkalie water but she came in every morning. But she got tender footed. There was plenty of shoes of the oxen but they were too large for the cow; so we had to tie pieces of gunnisac or anything we could find along the road around her feet so that she could travel. And I was in the same condition. We had been on journey so long that my shoes and clothes were worn out but I could pick up old clothes that other companies had thrown away. Sometimes I would have on two rights and sometimes two lefts.

Our food was sourdough bread, fat bacon, buffalo meat, coffee and sugar. We were not allowed to kill anymore buffalo than we could eat. We were not allowed to waste any of the meat.

The Indians were friendly whenever they came to our camp. Captain Rawlins would give them sugar and beads and small mirrors. It was orders from Brigham Young to always treat the Indians kindly. That is the reason we never had a train destroyed or a man killed during the twenty-three years we carried emigrants across the plains. We sent an average of twelve trains each year. There were many other trains destroyed and teamsters killed. We came to one train that had been burned and all hands killed. There was nothing left but the wagon tires. We stopped and buried the dead. The Indians had gone - there was nothing left but the smoking embers of the wagons. When we got up in the Rocky Mountains, we had several snowstorms and suffered for the want of shoes and clothes. We reached the Salt Lake Valley October 4th on a Sunday afternoon. People from Salt Lake met us about ten miles from Salt Lake with cake and sandwiches and apples. That was the happiest day of the whole journey. It was the first cake and apples I had tasted since we left our home in Sweden. Everybody in the country that had oxen and wagons in the train would come and get them in the spring. Brigham Young would call for a train from each county and then each bishop in each town would make a call for so many oxen and wagons. If a man had two yoke of oxen he would let one yoke go. If a man had two wagons he would let one go and the teamsters were called by the bishop and the captain by Brigham Young and all of them served without pay. All the provisions were furnished for the train by the tithing department. After staying in Salt Lake a week, we got a chance to go with a man to Mt. Pleasant so I took up the march with the cow again. We reached Mt. Pleasant October 18th. In the spring of 1867, I was drafted into the Utah State Militia and acted as homeguard and guarded travelers from one settlement to another as the Indians were on the warpath and killed a good many of our people and in the fall of 1867, I was called to go out to Sevier County and help the people to get away from them. I drove a yolk of oxen and wagon belonging to Peter Miller and I had two small families, nine persons all toll, and brought them to Mt. Pleasant. In the fall of 1869, I went out to Weber Canyon to work on the railroad, the first to come into the valley. I worked during the winter for Thomas Stewart from Logan and the next summer I worked for Bishop West from Ogden and in November, when his contract was done I walked home carrying my bedding on my back. I had just one hundred dollars that was the most money I had ever made and I was very proud of the fact that I could bring home that much money. That is the reason I walked home the one hundred and forty miles as my father and mother had no cow at this time. I bought a cow with fifty dollars and I bought five acres of land with the brush on for the other fifty dollars.

In the fall of 1970, I hired out to the Miller Cattle Company in the southern part of Utah as cowboy and worked for them two years for thirty dollars a month. In October 1873, I was called to go to St. George to work on the St. George Temple with twenty other boys. We left Mt. Pleasant on the 8th of November with four teams to haul our bedding and provisions for the winter. We had had bad weather most all the way. It snowed every day for sixteen days so that when we got to Beaver City we had three feet of snow. From there to Belvia the road was almost impassable. We had to break the road all the way for a hundred miles. All the low places in the road were drifted full so that when our teams got into a low place they would go in clear up to their sides, then we would tie a long rope to the end of the wagon tongue and all us boys would pull them out that way. And that would happen every mile or two. Then we fastened the rope to the end of the wagons and then we would take hold of the rope two and two and break the road for the teams and help to pull the load. When we camped we would dig four and sometimes five feet of snow away to get to the ground so we could make a fire to cook our food---baking our bread and frying our bacon and making some coffee. Wood was hard to get because it was covered with snow. At night we would crowd six of us into each wagon to keep warm. We had that way of traveling for five days. We reached Belvia that night at twelve o'clock. We had not stopped for dinner because we could find no wood to make a fire and it was cold and the wind blew so hard that we couldn't make a fire. It would blow away as fast as we could make it so we crawled into a man's barn and burrowed down in the hay without any dinner or supper and we had to divide our blankets with our horses to keep them from freezing to death. The next morning the wind was still blowing hard so that we were unable to make a fire; so we packed up and drove down five miles into Dixie where it was warm. We stopped at Grapevine Spring, had breakfast which we needed and enjoyed as we hadn't tasted food for more than twenty-four hours.

I worked all winter blasting and quarrying rock for the temple. The foundation was made of black lava rock and the other part is red sandstone. In the spring of 1874, we were all released and returned home. In November, of that year I went out to Pioche, Nevada and worked in the mines one year and left for home the first of January 1975,

The 10th of April in 1876, I married Sarah Jane Tidwell in the Endowment House at Salt Lake City by Daniel H Wells. My wife was the daughter of James Harvey Tidwell and Elizabeth Harvey, native of West Virginia. Her Great-grandfather, John Tidwell, was one of George Wahington's old soldiers who fought all through the Revolutionary War. The Tidwells were natives of Indiana. Both the Tidwells and Harveys were pioneers of Utah and the Tidwells were Pioneers of Mt. Pleasant, Utah.

As a result of that marriage we had six children born. William Aurthur, born first of April 1877, Jonathan Harvey, born July 30, 1879, Berkley, born July 31, 1881. Guy Randolph, born 9th of October 1883. Theodore, born the 3rd of November 1885. Mary Estella, born the 8th of November 1892.

When I married, I had a yoke of oxen and a wagon and fifteen acres of land and a lot with a little one room log house with a dirt roof and a lumber floor, one door and a little window. I had one door and window opening in the north side and the south opening dobied up. Our furniture, all homemade, consisted of one bedstead, one table and two chairs and a little cookstove made of cast iron, that I paid thirty dollars for in Salt Lake, and I also had one cow. That was a small beginning but it was our own. We didn't owe anybody a cent and we didn't have to pay house rent. We lived in that house two years and it was the two happiest years of our lives. We think of it as our "lovenest". In 1878 I bought sixteen acres of land. I had then 31 acres --- considered in those times to be a nice little farm. My wife was a very saving woman so that we managed to save up a few hundred dollars every year. In 1884, I bought two thousand head of Jonas Ericksen's sheep. I paid two dollars and fifty cents a head. I mortgaged my farm to the Nephi bank to pay for them and I was ten years paying that mortgage. Grover Cleveland was elected President and the democrats were in power so that they removed the tarrif on wool so that for years I had to sell my wool for five cents a pound. In 1896, I was elected councilman for two years; and in 1898, I was called to go on a mission to Sweden. I left home on the fourth of November and went by rail to New York and on the 13th of November sailed on the steamship Penland, Captain Neilson from Philadelphia. We landed at Liverpool on the 25th of November. From there we continued by rail the next day for Grimsby. The next day we went on board the steamship Northenden, Captain Marsden and set sail for Hamburg 400 miles away. From there to Kil by railroad and from Kil to Kopenhagen by steamer. We landed there December fourth, 1899. I was set apart to go to Sweden, the birthplace of my ancestors. I traveled over the country from east to west and from north to south. I found many of my relatives, both on my father's side and my mother's side; and they were all fine, intelligent people. They were farmers, builders, contractors, shoemakers, blacksmiths, carpenters, and a good many of them were pilolts. Some were pilots over in England.

Sweden is a most beautiful country in the summertime, especially Stockholm built on five islands. I enjoyed my work among the people there very much because they were very kind and hospitable. I had good health all the time I was there. I traveled all over Denmark and Germany. I stayed in the mission field just two years and a half. Then I was released the 6th of April 1902. I left Sweden the 8th by way of Kopenhagen, Esberg, Denmark; and by steamer from there to Liverpool, England. I left Liverpool on the 13th and went on board the beautiful steamer, Commonwealth for Boston. We had five days of stormy weather, but it was fine as I nor any of the Olson family get seasick. I got home on the 28th of April and found my family all well. My wife had done well at home. I had sold my sheep and the boys had tended the farm. Before I left home I had sold my sheep as my boys were too young to take care of them; however, when I reached home, I borrowed some more money and bought 1500 head of fine ewes. My son, Guy, took care of them until I sold them in 1927. I gave two dollars and fifty cents per head and I sold them for $26.00 in 1927.

CITY TO CELEBRATE FOUNDERS DAY ~~~ Celebrate Merz Fountain (From our archives)

 

See related article here: http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=823365018368490611&postID=3136510531583009047
Hyrum and Adolph Merz donated this carved fountain to the city of Mt. Pleasant in 1909. It was placed in the center of the middle intersection of the older portion of the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. It was then removed and placed on the northeast corner of the Relic Home property.




The placque reads: This Water Fountain was carved from stone from the hills north of Moroni. It was made by Hyrum and Adolph Merz and presented to the City of Mt. Pleasant in 1909.

ADOLPH MERZ AND WIFE IDA RUTIISHAUSER ~~~Researched and Compiledby Tudy BarentsenStandlee

 

THE REAL CENTER OF UTAH

 

ANDREW L. AND LETTIE PETERSON ~~~ PIONEERS OF THE MONTH ~~~ AUGUST 2025

 

Andrew Lysander Peterson - biography

Contributed By

Andrew Lysander Peterson

23 Dec. 1887 - 24 Dec. 1963

Son of Peter Peterson and Celestia Melissa Terry

From a compilation of three life stories, only one listing a date (June 2, 1979) B they were very similar, this document was combined to include all the information available.

Andrew Lysander Peterson was born December 23, 1887 in Fairview, Sanpete County, Utah to Peter and Celestia Melissa Terry Peterson, who were the first baby boy and second baby girl born in Fairview.

He spent ten years of his early boyhood in Indianola, or Thistle Valley as it was called then, going there at the age of four when his father was called and sent there by the church to serve as a Bishop and Peace-maker between the white people and the Ute Indians. His father was called to fill this position just two years after returning home from a full time mission to the Southern State of Virginia.

While Andrew's father was in Virginia serving the church, his mother cared for their five small children and operated the farm to provide a living for them. His father was Bishop in Indianola for 10 years and was then released to return to Fairview when Andrew was 14 years of age. Andrew remembers how he helped carry pickets from the lumber yard with his father at the age of four to build a fence in front of their home, just before going to Indianola.

Of his early years, Andrew wrote: "When I was four years of age my father was chosen Bishop of Indianola, and we moved there June 29, 1892, where we remained for ten years. Our first home there was a small one-room frame house. Within a year father built a brick house. There were about forty families living in Indianola at the time, about ten of whom were Indians. We became very friendly with most of them, as they came to see father very often about their affairs and for assistance in food. I hunted groundhogs, attended school, milked cows, herded cows, hunted rabbits, etc., and attended church duties quite religiously. Among the Indians I became well acquainted with were Nephi, Moroni, James Onump, Toke, Panawatts, Charley Toke, Sam Nephi, Jim Pant, Mountain, Peggy, Nancy Panawatts, and Aby Lehi."

The Community of Indianola had 65 Indians and 35 white families as their total population. Andrew remembered many of the idiosyncrasies of the Indian people and how he and other boys would catch ground-hogs and trade them to the Indians for sinew. They would then throw them into an open fire and roast them whole, then eat them by only rubbing off the burned hair.

Andrew often told his grandchildren many stories about "Old Jim Pant" and "Old Peggy". "Old Peggy" offered to give him a Pinto riding pony if he would stay with him one full moon, which was a month. Andrew said he would do this if he could go to his own home to eat and sleep, but of course that was not the bargain, so he didn't get the pony. He said he didn't want the pony badly enough to pay that kind of price.

A boyfriend of his, Mirt Spencer, and he would often tease "Jim Pant" as Jim would get drunk because of his great weakness for whisky. One day, they mixed a bottle of brew made of "mustard", "vinegar", and "Watkins Lineament" and gave it to Jim. After he drank some of it, he became very angry, picked up a club, and chased the boys down through a lot to Henry Spencer's farm, where they hid. Jim Pant was so drunk he could not find a place to get through, into the barn, so the boys were safe.

Many times, Indians would come to the Bishop and ask for food when they were drunk, but he would tell them to go home and sober up, and then come back later. They didn't like that kind of advice, so they would call his father a "heap bad" Bishop in the Indian language.

Several times, Andrew and his brother Peter would take a lunch with them while they were herding cows, and generally the lunch was made up of bread and milk. They would put it into a stream of cold water to keep it fresh and cool, but always an Indian girl would come and steal it. They conceived of an idea to cover it over with "Thaw" bushes (a place along the stream) and then put the lunch up high in a tree. The Indian girl came by, stepped into the thaw bushes, which made her feet bleed, so she looked around until she found the lunch in the tree and was so angry she kept stealing their lunches every day until they finally gave up taking one. He had many interesting experiences while living among these people.

One day, when Andrew was a little older, and in his teens, he was driving some cattle, along with three or four other men (white men) who were drinking and using fowl language in shouting at the cattle, and they insisted that Andrew should drink with them. However, he refused, so one of them said, "Oh, I thought Peter Peterson would have one Asport" in his family". So when they found Andrew refused to drink, they left him alone after that.

Andrew said: A March 28, 1902 we returned from Indianola to Fairview where I spent the next few years of my life. After graduating from the Eighth Grade in 1905, I attended Snow Academy (now Snow College) in Ephraim, Utah and completed a three-year business course in May 1908. Prior to this I worked summers at Clear Creek at the saw mill."

Andrew received his education at Indianola, Fairview, Snow College and Henager=s Business College in Salt Lake City. It was while attending Snow College in Ephraim, Utah that he met Lettie "Smith" Phipps. Phipps was the real name but the family was known as "Smith" because her father, Isaac Newton Phipps was raised by a Smith family. Andrew and Lettie were married two years later in the Manti LDS Temple for time and all eternity by President Lewis Anderson.

This couple was blessed by five wonderful children: Rhoda May (Christensen), Dean Andrew, Roid Harold, Elden Jay and Wayne Leo. During their courting days they had a great deal of fun dating and dancing. Andrew went to Snow College a year before Lettie did and of course dated girls there. One in particular that Lettie remembers was May Nielsen, daughter of the family where he boarded. Mr. Nielsen would never eat with the boys, so one day Berkley Larsen went into the kitchen where he saw him eating by himself and made the comment, "Looks like you pick your own company!" Mr. Nielsen retorted, A Company, company. That's vot I don=t vant!"

During the summers, Andrew worked at Clear Creek in the coal mines to earn money for his schooling. Every other Friday when he was finished with his work, he would hike all the way over the mountains, a distance of 20 miles, to Fairview. Here he would clean up, eat his dinner, and go to Mt. Pleasant in his father's horse and buggy to date Lettie and take her dancing. In those days there was a dance in town every Friday night, and they had a great deal of fun and enjoyment when they could attend.

Lettie says, "We were married January 20, 1909, and lived with my family for a while. Andrew worked for the City of Mt. Pleasant, and after getting this employment, we moved into a little apartment east on Main Street that was owned by a nice little old German lady. Andrew's father gave us a cow. Sometimes we would go out to the farm and stay overnight and when we returned home the next morning, Mrs. Ficher would meet us at the gate and say, "Our cow has yust been hollerin". I doxxt she wants to be milked." And sure enough, she did, and was hungry, too. We didn't have cars in those days, so we had to walk every place we went."

After living here for just about one month Andrew decided he wanted to go to Salt Lake City and attend Henager's Business College, so they moved there and attended school. It was while in Salt Lake City that their first child, Rhoda May was born, February 24, 1910. Then after graduating from College, Andrew taught school at Henager's for a few months when an opportunity came to him to move back to Mt. Pleasant and work in the Consolidated Wagon Company. Then about a year later he obtained a position with the North Sanpete Bank, where he then worked for the next 20 years. Ten years as Assistant Cashier and ten years as Cashier.

They bought a small home on 6th south and State Street in Mt. Pleasant and lived there for 7 years. It was here that Dean Andrew and Roid Harold were born. Roid passed away at the age of 2 years and 11 months B and then they sold their home and purchased a new one from Bent Hansen on 3rd south and State Street, where Lettie still lived at this time, June 1979. It was in this home that Elden Jay and Wayne Leo were born.

Lettie reports that Andrew was a kind, loving and considerate husband and father, always working and doing things for the welfare of his family. He held many positions in the church, and always honored his Priesthood. He served as Ward Clerk for 10 years in the Mt. Pleasant South Ward, Sunday School Superintendent 3 years, Counselor to Bishop Abraham McIntosh for 5 years, Bishop of the Ward for 17 years with C.L. Stewart and Joseph Johansen as his counselors and Emil Rutishauser, Ward Clerk. He later, after being released as Bishop, served as a Counselor to Reed H. Allred in the Stake High Priest Quorum and was then called to labor in the Manti Temple as Ordinance worker for 5 years. Both Andrew and Lettie were Home Missionaries for 2 years.

He then served on the North Sanpete School Board and the Mt. Pleasant City Council when John Gunderson was the Mayor. He worked in the Post Office for 2 2 years under H. C. Jacobs, Postmaster. This was during the early 1930s when the nation's greatest depression was on. Two banks in Mt. Pleasant had closed, and their son Dean, was called to serve the church in Norway as a missionary. With earning only $85.00 per month and sending Dean $50.00 of that, it was difficult times financially. It was during this time that Jay Rulon Christensen was born to Dr. H. Reed Christensen and Rhoda May Peterson Christensen at the home in Mt. Pleasant, 268 South State Street. This became Andrew's and Lettie's first grandchild.

Andrew was a charter member of the Mt. Pleasant Lions Club and served as a member of it for many years. He and Verg Johnson were chosen as delegates to the National Lion's Club Convention in San Francisco B and went there to represent Mt. Pleasant Club.

In 1943, he began working for the Consolidated Furniture Company in Mt. Pleasant and worked there for the following 20 years. He started out as a clerk and later became the manager following the death of Jorgan Madsen.

He was chairman of the Republican Party in Mt. Pleasant for several years, was a notary public and did income tax reports for many people. He taught the Gospel Doctrine Sunday School Class for many years after he was released as Bishop.

Andrew served as a Bishop during the 20s and 30s before the church started building Bishop's offices in the buildings. Therefore, his home had to serve as a Bishop's office so everyone had to go to his home to talk with him about their problems, pay their tithes and offerings, and apply for Temple recommends. The "old red brick South Ward Chapel" burned down in 1937, and a new building had to be erected, which still stands to this date.

During the construction of this new building, Andrew became very ill and nearly lost his life. The ward held a prayer circle in his behalf . After that Mrs. John K. Madsen came and told him about a doctor in Salt Lake City who she thought could help him. The three doctors out here didn't help him any. They were Dr. Monk of Manti, Dr. Limebaugh from Moroni and Dr. Bert Madsen of Mt. Pleasant.

Mrs. John K. Madsen took us into Salt Lake City. She made a bed for Andrew in the back seat of her big car. Dr. Remington said he could help him. So Andrew stayed at the home of Delmer Tripp in Salt Lake. Delmer took him to the doctor every day. After twelve treatments, he came home feeling much better and was soon back helping with the church. John Gunderson, Chairman of the Building Committee, did a great job as his stand-by. He reported to Andrew every day on the progress of the work and kept things going.

Elden helped on the church before going to California on his mission. He and Kay Schovelle saved the large red velvet stage curtains while the old red brick church burned down.

Andrew gave humorous readings at parties, mostly at church parties, where they would ask him to be on the programs. He gave readings such as: "Sockery Setting a Hen", A Levinsky at the Vedding", Poor Rastmus", "Andy and Madan Queen", and others. He was also in a quartet with Opal Schovelle, Atta Jensen, and George Squires. They sang at funerals and church gatherings. Andrew spoke at many funerals.

Andrew road a bicycle to work most of the time. His first car was a Dodge, second a Plymouth, third a Ford, fourth a Ford, fifth a Mercury Montery.

He raised a good vegetable garden every summer and kept his lot clean and neat. Lettie planted the flowers and cared for them. She also planted all the vegetable seeds while Andrew did the digging.

Nina Johnson said of Andrew, "He wasn't only kind to his family, he was kind to everyone."

Andrew made good honey candy. He would cook the honey. Then when it was cool enough he would pull it until it was golden white and fluffy. He and his sister Sarah were experts in making honey candy. We as a family had this treat quite often.

Old Peggy was an Indian doctor. He was the one who wanted Andrew to live with him one moon. One day, Andrew's father brought a load of wood from the mountains. Old Peggy told him he would send his squaw Keyanna over to unload it for him. The buck Indians didn't work, it was the squaws that did most of the work.

Peggy's little boy died, and Andrew's father made a wooden box for them to bury him in, but they wouldn't use it. Instead, they sat him on the wagon seat between them and drove off to the mountains with him. Peter tried to teach the Indians to bury their dead like the white people did.

During the depression, Andrew lost his job when the banks closed, also his bank stock and had to pay $100.00 a share, which was seven hundred dollars. Besides sending Dean on a mission to Norway for three years and he had to have three hundred dollars over there by the time he arrived in Norway. Those were tough days for all of us. Andrew drew his life insurance out to live on and to have the money for Dean's mission.

Lettie says that during their many years of marriage, they had many faith promoting experiences where the power of the Priesthood was manifest. Two of the outstanding times were when Rhoda nearly passed away with pneumonia and when Elden was very ill with pneumonia. They were both healed by the power of the Priesthood and by faith. In those days, the early 20's and prior, penicillin and other healing medications were not yet known.

In 1962 Andrew wrote: "I am happy in my church work and have a firm testimony of the gospel and rejoice in it. I feel that the Church has been a wonderful help to me and my family. I am very active in my various labors with my store work, church work, insurance business, and taking care of home duties. I manage to put in about 15 hours a day, but I enjoy good health and as long as I feel as well as I do, I want to keep active."

A short statement now concerning the Children of Andrew and Lettie Peterson:

Rhoda was a Primary President, a Relief Society Class Leader and a Stake Relief Society President in the South Sanpete Stake for several years and has been a very devoted daughter to her mother. Elden filled a mission for the Church in California 1940 B 1942 and Wayne was a missionary in the Southern States 1942 B 1944. During World War II Elden served in the United States Air Force and Wayne in the United States Navy. Dean, Elden and Wayne have all served as Bishops and Dean was President of the Norwegian Mission and a Regional Representative of the Twelve Apostles.

Andrew Lysander Peterson passed away December 24, 1963 after suffering a massive heart attack. He died in the Salt Lake LDS Hospital. As of this date, June 2, 1979 Andrew and Lettie Peterson have 19 grandchildren and 55 great-grand children. Their posterity continues to grow!

Peter and Celestia Peterson
Parents of Andrew L. Peterson
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Lettie's  family
Father Mother 
Brother and Sisters 

Peter and Celestia Peterson

Parents of Andrew L. Peterson 

SWEET PHOTOS FOUND ON FAMILY SEARCH

Shared by Pat Sagers

 

Shared by Pat Sagers

Posted by Pat Sagers
Pioneers Entering the Great Salt Lake Valley 

        Artist  Lynn Fausett

 

                                                          

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Wagon Train gathered in a circle
posted by Pat Sagers

RIGBY CLAN ~~~ THIS IS THE BUNCH I WAS BORN INTO 7? YEARS AGO

 The gentleman on the back row is my Grandfather Rigby,  Charles Martin Rigby 

My brother Gregory Pete sent me this picture.  Charles Martin Rigby is our Grandfather. 

My Grandma Rigby is on the back row, head and shoulders above the rest.

 

 

My Birthday Party 1952

I'm not sure my memory of all is very good, but here we'll try:

Back Row l to r: Unknown, Tammy Frandsen (hiding behind), Darlene Frandsen, Dennis Cloward, Doyce Coates, unknown, Kathleen Burnside, Me,  Virginia Allred, Gary Larsen

Second Row  l to r: Dorothy Frandsen, unknown, unknown, Tommy Larsen, Donny Larsen

Front and Center:  unknown

Possible unknowns:  Ted Burnside, Scott Frandsen, Gary Brown, Wally Frandsen

Some Rigby Baby in 1947

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The following photos are where I grew up.

My parents were able to purchase this home from Charley Rambo early in their married life.

My father was able to fix it.  He studied

carpentry at Utah State Agricultural College.