As a young man, he was employed for some time in construction of roads. His fellow workers told him glowing stories of a fine young girl who lived on one of these roads they were constructing. They suggested that he go to her door and ask for a drink of water, in order to become acquainted with her. To stop their teasing, he finally yielded. The girl came to the door, and gave him water; he found that she was all they had said, and he went back again and again. To make a long story short, they fell in love and were married, Her parents were well-to-do people who owned their own property, which was very unusual in Sweden. The name of the girl was Ingelof Anderson.
The grandfather of Anders Peterson had fallen in love with a girl who was very beautiful, but was socially beneath hem. According to the law in Sweden, one must not marry beneath ones social level, or they would lose their inheritance, which of course happened to this man when he married the beautiful peasant girl.
So Anders Peterson, being their descendant, had no inheritance 1eft to him, but worked hard all his life. He and his wife, Ingelof Anderson, became the parents of seven daughters and three sons. He rented land from a nobleman and raised vegetables, fruits, cows, etc. His wife, Ingelof, was a wonderful seamstress and sewed beautiful clothes for wealthy people, who paid her well. All other women in the community worked with the men in the field, so, as she always stayed in the home and sewed, she was known as the lady.” She was very much loved by everyone as she was very sweet and friendly. Her health, however, was never too good, and she spent hours sewing late at night, when she should have been resting. Her husband begged her to be careful, but she loved her work and would work too long. Finally her health failed, and she died when she was forty-four years of age, leaving her husband and ten children, the youngest one oniy a year and a half old.Anders Peterson was a student and a lover of the Bible. When he came in, tired out from his work, he would study his Bible while he rested. Often he had his children read it to him, and tears would come into his eyes as they read some of the beautiful stories, such as the story of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt. But many things in the Bible puzzled him. In the Bible he read of the organization of the Church in the days of the Savior.
Where, now, was a Church having twelve apostles at the head? He read that the Savior was baptized in the River Jordan, after which “He went straightway out of the water.” Anders Peterson had not been immersed in water; he had been sprinkled with a little water from a bowl. He finally joined the Baptist Church because they baptized by immersion, but when he asked to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands he was told, “We have no authority to confer the Holy Ghost.”
He and his dearly loved wife, Ingelof, had been very happy together, but now, according to the teachings of the churches, they were forever parted. Their marriage ceremony had said, “Until death do you part.” He could not understand how that could be right. To him, no place would be Heaven without his wife.
One night he had a dream in which his wife came to him, smiling and lovely. He was so very glad to see her, and the dream was so vivid that he reached out his arms to embrace her. However, she moved away, but as she went, she told him that there was a way provided whereby they might be united forever.
Several years passed. He found it very hard, going all day to work for a nobleman, keeping up his rented ground, and taking care of his very normal, rather mischievous children. He finally married another young lady, several years his junior. Her name was Christine Swenson. She was very pretty and very industrious, and made life easier for him, but not many years passed before she died during an epidemic of smallpox. They had four children, all of whom died in childhood. But in the meantime, he and his wife Christina had heard and embraced the Gospel.
It came about this way: Anders Peterson was always industrious and always thrifty, and was considered rather well-to-do by his neighbors. One of his neighbors had always cared for the L. D. S. missionaries when they were in the community, but when they cam to her home unexpectedly one day, she was quite unprepared to feed them, so she applied to Anders Peterson for help. In those days the “Mormon” missionaries and converts were considered the very “scum of the earth.” No one would willingly associate with them. Anders didn’t see why they would cross the ocean to teach such nonsense, so he was glad to take them in for the night to hear what they had to say.
He and they stayed up almost all night, asking and answering questions. At last he had found what he had sought all those years. The missionary who converted him and his wife and his daughter, Emile Charlotte, was a Brother Rosengren. Anders was baptized on April 17, 1871 and Emile in June 1871.
Later, a missionary named John Olson converted more of the family. John Olson had a brother here in Utah, who asked John to look around for him while on his mission and find a fine Swedish girl to come to America and become his brother Andrew’s, wife. Ander's son Carl August and wife Fredrika were baptized in 1873 and Hilda was baptized in 1874.
Anders Peterson’s daughter Emile Charlotte, a charming and vivacious young lady, decided to come to America and meet Andrew Olson. To make a long story short, they came to America and were married, and strange as it seems, were very happy. Andrew owned a ranch in Beaver County, Utah. His home was in Beaver City. When Anders Peterson and his daughter Hilda Sophie decided to come to Utah, they of course came to live at the home of the Olsons at Beaver.
On the “S. S. Nevada” with Anders Peterson and daughter Hilda came his daughter-in-law Fredrika, who was the wife of his son Carl Angust. Carl had preceded them to America and was living in Murray, and had sent for his wife Fredrika, and his children, Alfred, Martin, Ernest and baby Jacob. His daughter, Annette, had come over with her father when she was only 8 years old.
When they were crossing the ocean, a terrible storm came up which lasted three days. No was allowed on deck. There was much sea sickness. People had to hang onto ropes and straps to keep from being thrown out of bed. There was a great clatter among the dishes, and banging as the trunks and baggage were thrown back and forth in the compartment where they were stored. Anders Peterson and Hilda often said that they never once doubted that they would come over safely to Zion. Fredrika and her children went to their new home in Murray; later they lived for some time in Taylorsville.They moved a few years later to Beaver County, Utah, where the sons, Martin and Ernest, were employed on the ranch of Andrew Olson. .
At the time of his departure from Sweden Anders Peterson had risen, by his industry, thrift and honesty, to the position of Overseer on the estate of a nobleman by whom he was employed. The nobleman trusted and loved him, and they spent much time discussing the Gospel. The nobleman admitted, “Well, you are probably right.” However, he could not give up his wealth and social position for anything as despised as the L. D. S. Church. He pleaded with Anders Peterson to stay with him, as Anders was one of his valuable Over-seers.However, nothing meant so much to Anders Peterson as going to Zion to be with the true Church, now that he had found it. So, he left his kindred friends, and native land to come to America. He never regretted the step he had taken. He availed himself of the privilege of going to the St. George Temple, where he had his wives sealed to him for time and all eternity. He loved this country, and was happy, living with his daughter, Emilie Charlotte, wife of Andrew Olson. At the time of his death, 11 Nov 1890, he was seventy-six years of age. He is buried in the Beaver City cemetery, in Beaver County, Utah.
Martin and Ernest were later employed on a ranch owned by the Williams Brothers, in Beaver County. The brothers for whom they worked were: Ezra T., Joseph, and Parley. Hilda, the youngest daughter of Anders Peterson, married Ezra T. Williams September 4, 1885 in the St. George Temple.One of Carl's daughters, Freda, was being courted by Parley Williams. Parley’s brother Joseph was dating Jane Lillywhite, who was a young resident of Beaver. The brothers Joseph and Parley decided to exchange partners, so Joseph started courting Freda, whom he later married in the St. George Temple.
Jane then became acquainted with Freda’s handsome brother, Martin Anderson, to whom she was married. They are the parents of Carl Ferrell and grandparents of the Anderson children. Martin's brother Ernest married Millie May Neel.
Parley never married.
And Annette, the 8 year old, who came over earliest with her Dad, Carl August and her Aunt Emilie, broke off an engagement to a younger man (so the story goes) and married a widower Warren Lindsay. She never had any children of her own. She was a loving mother to Warren's children.
The red brick home of Hilda Sophia and Ezra Thomas Williams in Taylorsville.
Emilie and Joseph Williams Family.
