The Puzzle of the Petersons
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| The Peterson Cabin at Cable Creek |
The family
chain:
Henry (Ole?) Peterson Great Great Grandpa
Mary Peterson Wolff Great Grandma Lena Peterson Gallagher Great Grandma
Bessie Wolff Grandma married Lawrence Gallagher Grandpa
Ken Gallagher Dad
THE PUZZLE OF THE PETERSONS
This is where things really get confusing and not just because Peterson is such a common name. Here is an attempt to track down this part of the family and solve the puzzle of the Peterson clan.
The writer has a double connection to this family through two great grandmothers. Unfortunately the writer knows very little about this side of his family. The writer’s grandmother was Bessie Wolff Gallagher. She died in 1933 at the age of 41 when the writer’s father was only 12. Her mother was Mary Peterson Wolff.
The writer’s grandfather was Lawrence Gallagher. He passed away in 1959 when the writer was only seven. His mother was Lena Peterson Gallagher. Mary and Lena were sisters (Helen Kulander, Lena’s granddaughter confirmed this).
Mary’s and Lena’s father was Henry Peterson. He was from Sweden. He may have gone by the name Ole (well duh, he was Swedish!). Their mother was Julia Olson or Gunhild or Gundel Mari (she doesn’t help the puzzle any). She was from Norway. Assumptions are made at this point that Julia and GM are the same person and that Henry and Ole are the same person. It is possible that Henry could have been married twice. But there is no proof of that. Plus, at no point is there any indication of a blended family. No mention of step-parents or half siblings.
There are individuals in the generation of Henry’s and Julia’s grandchildren that carry those names. For that reason this document uses those names as their actual names. It is not known when Henry and Julia came to this country or where they were married. All nine of their children were born in the US, so it is possible that Henry and Julia met and were married in America.
In addition to Lena and Mary, Henry and Julia had another daughter, Martha, and six sons, Olaf, Louis, Theodore, Martin, Carl and Frank. Let’s approach this by starting with the children and working backwards to parents Henry and Julia.
The oldest child was Mary Peterson (1861-1926). Mary was born in Wisconsin. So that may have been where Henry and Julia
met. What little is known of Mary was
covered in the section on the Wolff family.
Not much can be learned about her parents from looking at Mary’s
records. That is mainly because the
records are so few. Mary did name one of
sons Henry and one of her daughters Julia.
Mary’s death certificate lists her parents as Henry and Mary. Hard to be certain how accurate this is
because the last name is Pederson. That
last name appears nowhere else in that form.
So it is either an error of the person filling out the form or the
individual providing the information did not know Mary's parents very well.
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Mary Peterson Wolff's death certificate |
The next oldest child is Olaf (1862-1919). The first mention of Olaf (or any of the Peterson clan) is in the 1870 Federal Census for Minnesota. This is the right place as one of Olaf’s siblings was born in Minnesota in 1868, but this record is not a perfect match in terms of family names. It is however the best match that has been found so far.
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1870 Federal Census for Ben Wade, Pope County, MN The Peterson family is listed beginning on line 17 |
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The 1880 Federal Census for Ben Wade, Pope County, MN The Peterson's are listed at the bottom of the schedule |
The 1880 census lists Henry (52) and Canelia (37) as the parents. Canelia is not a good match for any of the other names for Henry’s wife. It is the main indication that maybe Henry had two wives. However, her age of 37 is a good fit for a woman who started having children 18 years earlier and would continue having children for another three years. The children listed, in birth order, are Mary, Oluf, Price, Nena, Harbert, Hans M, John C, and Martha. “Mary” is correct for name and age. “Oluf” could be Olaf. His age is correct. “Price” is the correct age for Louis. Also, “Price” is a name used by Lena as a middle name for her son Herbert. “Nena” could be Lena, the age is correct for her. “Harbert” is the correct age for Theodore, and a version of this appeared in the 1870 census, but after this census the name never appears anywhere else. “Hans M” is the correct age for Martin. Maybe the “M” stands for Martin. “John C” is the correct age for Carl J. Maybe the “C” is for Carl. “Martha” is correct both in name and age. Remember, this part of the blog is labelled "The PUZZLE of the Petersons." These Scandinavians don't make any of this easy.
Olaf next appears in the 1900 Federal Census for
Anaconda, MT. He is 38 and living with
his brother Martin (28). They are
evidently living next door to their sister Lena Peterson Gallagher and her
family as they are listed in the census right after Violet, Lena’s youngest
daughter. The brothers list
their father as coming from Sweden and their mother from Norway. They are both working as day laborers.
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The 1900 Federal Census for Anaconda, Montana |
By 1910 Olaf has moved south of Anaconda to the Deer Lodge National Forest area. He is living with brothers Theodore, Martin and Frank. He now lists his occupation as “gold mining.”
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The 1910 Federal Census for Deer Lodge National Forest, Montana |
In 1914 at age 52 Olaf gets married to a lady of French descent by the name of Mary Pauline Cittie (40). She goes by her middle name Pauline (didn’t anybody in those days use their first name?). Olaf lists his parents as Henry and Mary Peterson and he lists his mother’s maiden name as Kinnean (or possible Kinnear). This is the only reference to that particular name.
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Olaf's marriage certificate, 1914 |
The marriage was a short one, lasting only five years. Olaf passes away on November 10, 1919 at age 58 of tuberculosis. He and Pauline were living in downtown Anaconda at the time of his passing. He was working as a watchman at the Anaconda smelter. His brother Frank provided the information for the death certificate. He lists his parents as Henry and Mary Peterson.
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Olaf's death certificate |
His obituary
lists his siblings that were living at the time: Theodore, Martin, Frank, Mary
and Martha. The only siblings missing
are Lena and Louis. Both of them passed
away more than a decade earlier.
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From the Anaconda Standard, November 11, 1919, page 15 |
By the way, if Pauline’s name sounds familiar, congratulations! Good memory! She is mentioned in the section on Lawrence Gallagher’s siblings. It is Pauline’s home that Herbert Gallagher (her nephew) was accused of breaking into in 1927. Nothing quite like keeping it all in the family!
The next oldest child was the first to pass away. Louis Peterson (1863-1901) was born in Wisconsin. He moved with his family to Minnesota and then, sometime between 1883 and his marriage in 1895, he moved with his family to Anaconda. His full name may have been Louis Price Peterson. The Price Peterson in the 1880 census mentioned above is the correct age for Louis. However, no record has been found that mentions Louis’ full name. Had he lived past 1918 his full name would likely have been disclosed on his draft registration.
In 1895 in Anaconda Louis marries Jennie Wralsen or Warlsen or Warlesen. Remember, spelling seemed optional in those days! Whoever filled out the marriage certificate actually spelled her last name all three ways on the same document. Louis lists his parents as Henry and Julia Peterson.
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| Louis Peterson's marriage certificate |
Not much more
is known about Louis. He passes away
just six years later on August 25, 1901 at age 38. The cause of death is not known. The State of Montana did not start requiring
death certificates until 1907. The short
obituary states that he had a child, however no record has been found of any
child. The obituary also provides some
family connections. Olaf and Theodore
are listed as his brothers and Lena (“Mrs. Pat Gallagher”) is listed as his
sister. Not sure why his other siblings
are omitted. But because Louis predeceased his sister Lena, we at least have some evidence that she was a sibling to Louis, Olaf and Theodore. Other obituaries help to tie in the other siblings.
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From the Anaconda Standard, August 26, 1901, page 3. |
Olaf had listed his parents as Henry and Mary. Louis obituary lists Olaf as his brother. Louis had listed his parents as Henry and Julia on his wedding certificate. So it is likely that Mary and Julia are the same person. The next family member gives us additional clues.
Lena Peterson (1865-1906) is the next Peterson
child. What is known about Lena was
covered in the section on the Gallagher’s.
Lena was in Montana at least by 1888 which is when she married Patrick
Gallagher in Billings, MT. On her
marriage license she lists her parents as Ole and G.M. Peterson. Since Louis’ obituary lists Lena as a sister,
it would appear that Ole and Henry could be the same person and so too with
“G.M.” and Julia.
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Lena Peterson's marriage license |
GM is likely Gunild Mari. Mari is in fact a variant of Mary. Gunild is well, just awkward! Folks did make an attempt to Anglicize their names. While Julia is not a variant of Gunild or Gunel (as it appeared in the 1870 census above), it would be seen as more “American.” Unfortunately there are no further documents on Lena that provide clues as to her parents’ names.
The next oldest child was Theodore Peterson (1868-1940). The first sign of Theodore in Montana is the 1900 Federal Census that shows him living with his brother Martin in Anaconda. They both list their occupations as “placer mining.” That occupation involves mining stream bed deposits for minerals, like gold. In its simplest form that is just panning for gold.
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The 1900 Federal Census for Anaconda, Montana Martin and Ted are shown at the bottom of this schedule |
By 1910 he has moved out a bit to
the Deer Lodge National Forest (see census shown earlier). Theodore
is living with Olaf, Martin and Frank.
They are all in the business of gold mining, except Theodore. He lists his occupation as “wood lumber.” He no doubt found it easier to find trees to
cut in the National Forest than he did panning for gold in a stream. In the census the brothers list their father
as coming from Sweden and their mother from Norway.
By 1930 Theodore is still living with Martin and Frank. The census shows them as living near Cable Creek which is ten to thirteen miles outside of Anaconda. They all list their occupations as “wood choppers” in the timber industry. It doesn't appear that Theodore ever married.
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The 1930 Federal Census for areas near Anaconda, MT Theodore, Martin and Frank are listed near the bottom |
On January 30, 1940, Theodore passed away. He was 71 years old. His death certificate lists his parents as Henry and Julia M Peterson. This is the first time that Julia is shown with a middle initial and it is consistent with other documents showing her as "G.M." or "Gunel M."
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Theodore's death certificate |
His obituary lists his brothers that were living at that time, Carl and Frank; it lists his sister Martha (Mrs. Charles Westlund); and it lists the wife of deceased brother Olaf. No mention is made of sister Lena (she passed away in 1906), but some of her children are listed as niece and nephews – Helen (Mrs W.A. Anderson), William, Cornelius and Lawrence. It is not known where Theodore was buried.
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| From the Anaconda Standard, January 31, 1940, page 4 |
The next oldest child was Martin Peterson (1872-1952). He was born in Minnesota.
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Lawrence Gallagher and Violet Gallagher with Uncle Martin Peterson at his cabin at Cable Creek |
His full name may have been Hans Martin Peterson given how he is listed in the 1880 Federal Census for Minnesota (shown at the beginning of this article). As the 1900 Census for Montana indicated he was a miner, probably both a placer miner (gold panning) as mentioned in the 1900 census and a prospector (the 1910 Census has him listed as a gold miner).
Apparently mining wasn’t paying off for Martin. As mentioned above, in the 1930 census he is
living at Cable Creek with brothers Theodore and Frank as “wood choppers”. By 1940 he is 68
and living by himself in the same place.
His occupation is “watchman” in the gold mining industry. He is living in a rather rough cabin. There are no pictures of the inside of the
cabin. That is a pity, because the
outside sure is interesting. Notice the “Keep Out” sign over the
door. The cabin itself is a log cabin,
but the roof and everything around it looks like it is whatever material they
could scrounge up.
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The Cabin at Cable Creek |
Uncle Dean and Uncle Bill used to tell stories about
this property. Apparently the cabin sat
near the top of a hill such that they could see anyone approaching the
property. Visitors were often greeted by
someone on the porch with shotgun in hand.
Dean visited there with his father Lawrence in the late 1940’s.
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Dean Gallagher, Willie Anderson (Helen Gallagher's husband), Martin Peterson, Bill McMonigle and Lawrence Gallagher at Cable Creek |
On November 19, 1952, Martin passed away. He was found dead in his cabin at Cable Creek by a neighbor. He was 80 years old.
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From the Anaconda Standard, November 20, 1952, page 2. |
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Martin Peterson's death certificate |
The obituary
states that he arrived in the Anaconda area in 1888, which is the same year his
sister Lena was married in Billings, MT.
This obituary is the first indication that other members of the Peterson
family arrived in Montana that early.
The obituary also makes a number of family connections. Some are more helpful than others. It lists siblings or surviving spouses:
“Mabel Westland” is less than helpful as her name was Martha Westlund; Carl
Peterson, Mrs. Pauline Peterson (Olaf’s wife); Mrs. Frank Peterson; Cyrus,
William and Lawrence Gallagher and Mrs. W.A. Anderson (Helen) were Lena’s
children; Ed Wolfe (should be Wolff) and Mrs. Donald Kink (should be Klink)
were Mary’s children. This really helps to tie the family together.
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Martin's grave |
Martin is buried in section J of the Upper Hill Cemetery in
Anaconda. “Section J” turns out to be an important piece
to the puzzle in linking the Peterson's together as will be shown below.
Next up is Carl J. Peterson (1874-1960). It is not clear where Carl was born. Some documents indicate it was Wisconsin,
others indicate Minnesota. It is quite
possible that Carl himself was a bit fuzzy on the facts. However, the two siblings born before him,
Theodore and Martin, were born in Minnesota as were the two siblings born after
Carl. So Minnesota is a safe bet. The Minnesota State Census for 1885 shows his
birthplace as Minnesota.
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State Census for Minnesota, 1885 Lists Henry, Gunild, Maren (Mary), "Theador", Martin, Carl and Bernhart F (Frank) |
The next two places Carl can be found adds more confusion. Both instances involve a woman, but at least it is the same woman. In 1900 he obtains a marriage license to marry Frances Maude Charles (Maude) in Anaconda.
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Carl and Maude's Anaconda Marriage License, 1900 |
Then in 1905 he gets a marriage license in Butte. But at least it is to again marry Frances Maud Charles.
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Carl and Maude's Butte Marriage License, 1905 |
It is not
clear why the second marriage license was obtained. As will be shown below, both Carl and Maude's obituaries state that they were married in 1902. Didn’t
anyone remember dates back then? It
looks like they were trying to split the difference in the dates in his obituary.
The next event found takes place in 1906. It is the birth of a baby boy on November 18th. There is no
first name given. The form indicates
that this is Carl and Maude’s second child.
However no further records have been discovered for any child born
before 1910. So the two children indicated here remain a mystery.
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Birth certificate for Child #2, November 18,1906 |
The 1910 Federal Census lists Carl (35) and Maude as living in the National Forest, maybe not far from brothers Olaf, Theodore, Martin and Frank.
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The 1910 Federal Census, Deer Lodge County, MT The Petersons are listed near the bottom of the schedule |
The census indicates that they have a son named Forest (not a family name, but at least we know how they got it!). It also states that Carl and Maude have had two children and both are alive. The second child would be too young not to be listed as living with the parents, so this is a strange entry. It leaves open the question of exactly how many children Carl and Maude really had in 1910.
The 1920 Census discloses the names of the children that
can actually be found in other records. It
shows Carl, now 45, and his wife Maude living in Williamsburg, MT, which was
just southwest of Butte. They have three
children Forest (9), Violet (8) and Claretta or Clara (6). Carl is still working in a mine, but this
time it is copper.
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1920 Federal Census, Williamsburg, Silver Bow County, MT |
By 1930 the family has moved into Butte proper and they
are living at 933 Oregon Avenue. The
house is no longer there. It appears to
be part of an industrial site now.
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1930 Federal Census for Butte, MT |
By 1940 Carl and Maude have moved back to Anaconda. They are living at 513 Fourth Street.
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1940 Federal Census for Anaconda, MT |
It is hard to
know exactly where that is, because now that street is divided into East 4th
and West 4th. All the
children have moved out by this time.
Carl, who is 65 now, still lists his occupation as gold mining.
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Carl & Maude Peterson, probably late 1940s. |
In 1955 Maude passes away at the age of 81.
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Maude Peterson's death certificate |
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From the Anaconda Standard, December 14, 1955. page 6. Notice the 1902 date for Carl & Maude's marriage. Doesn't match with either marriage license |
Five years later Carl passes away at the age of 84.
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Carl Peterson's death certificate |
Both are buried at the New Hill Cemetery in Anaconda. The marker on their grave is now rather difficult to read.
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Carl and Maude Peterson's grave Carl's name is barely visible on the lower right. Maude's name is on the left. |
New Hill Cemetery is on the west side of
Anaconda on Stumptown Road (yes, that is the actual name of the road) just as
you are leaving town on the way to the Cable Creek area. Despite its name, it is the one cemetery that
is NOT on a hill. There are no other family members known to be
in this cemetery.
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New Hill Cemetery is on the upper left of the map |
Carl’s obituary lists his children that were alive in 1960.
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| From the Anaconda Standard, July 19, 1960, page 6. |
They include Forrest Peterson (first name was not spelled that way), Frank Charles Peterson (no other material has been found on him to date); Mrs. Harold Best (Violet) and Mrs. Fred Hedley (Clara Laura).
After Carl was born it took another six years before Henry and Julia had another child. Martha Peterson was born in Minnesota on May 1, 1880 according to the 1880 census.
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1880 Federal Census for Ben Wade, Pope County, MN Martha's name is the last one on the list. |
Her baptismal record also confirms this and it lists her parents as Henrik and Gunhild Peterson.
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1880 Baptismal record from the Trysil Lutheran Church, Farwell, Minnesota Martha is the fourth name on the list |
On September 16, 1900, Martha marries Claus A. Westlund. She is not in Montana with the rest of the family, but in Wisconsin. It is not known how or why she ended up in Wisconsin.
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From the Immanuel Lutheran Church, Eau Claire, Wisconsin Church records showing the wedding date of Martha and Claus as well as details of their family. Their oldest son is named Henry and they have a daughter with a middle name of Gundel Mari. |
For some
reason he went by the name Charles. In
1910 they are living in Lafayette Township, Chippewa, Wisconsin. “Charlie”, as he is listed in the census, is
a farmer. At this point they have four
children: Clarence, Gustave, Jennie and Esther.
Ultimately they have a total of nine children.
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1910 Federal Census for Lafayette Township, Wisconsin |
Ten years pass by and they have moved about seven miles
to Hallie Township. Charles is still
working as a farmer. They have added a
son, Abel, and three daughters, Vivian, Eva and Ruth.
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1920 Federal Census for Hallie Township, Wisconsin The family listing was spread over two pages in the census. |
In 1930 they are still living in Hallie and still farming. They added one last child, a son, Warren in about 1921.
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1930 Federal Census for Hallie Township, Wisconsin |
Martha and Charlie have not been found in the 1940 census. According to his obituary they moved to Chippewa Falls, WI in about 1936.
Claus passes away on December 17,
1941. He is buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Eau Claire, WI.
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From the Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, WI 18 Dec 1941, Page 18 |
Martha was 61 when Charlie passed away. She moved in with her daughter Esther and lived there five years before moving to a retirement facility. She continued on after Charlie’s passing for another 23 years, passing away on October 23, 1964 at the age of 84. She outlived all of her siblings.
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| From the Chippewa Herald-Telegram October 24, 1964, page 4. |
She is also buried in Lakeview Cemetery in
Eau Claire. Martha, along with her sister Mary, are the only ones of their family not buried
in Montana.
c |
| Martha's grave, Lakeview Cemetery, Eau Claire, WI |
The last one of the children, Frank Benjamin Peterson (1883-1947), was born on February 22, 1883 in Pope, Minnesota. The first record in which Frank appears is the 1900 Federal Census.
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From the 1900 Federal Census for Baker Township, MN Frank is listed on line 24 at the bottom of the schedule Grandma Bessie Wolff is on line 20 |
He is 17 and is living with his sister Mary Peterson Wolff and her husband Arthur L Wolff in Baker Township, MN. He is working as a farm laborer, probably on A.L. Wolff’s farm. As will be mentioned below, his parents are likely dead by 1900 and that is why he is living with an older sibling.
By 1910 Frank has made his way to Montana. He is living with his brothers in the Deer Lodge National Forest. He has switched from farming to gold mining. Gold mining probably did not pay very well because in 1912 he is working at a pumping station at Silver Lake (which is not far from where his brothers moved to near Cable Creek).
Uncles Bill and Dean Gallagher used to say that at some
time in Frank's life he was struck by lightning. They said there was permanent damage to his
arm. If someone was struck by lightning and lived,
one would think that there would be something in the paper on the event. Nothing like that has been found. But, there just might be another explanation
to Frank’s injury.
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| From the Butte Daily Post, December 28, 1912, page 10. |
Apparently Frank was injured when he was wiping down a
transformer at the pumping station and came in contact with some live
wires. Of course, one might ask why
someone has to “wipe down a transformer” in the first place. Not to mention the whole issue of why touch
the thing with the power on. But some
things are best left unexplained. There
does not appear to be any follow-up article on Frank’s condition. However, the World War I draft card he filled
out six years later does provide some information.
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| Frank's WW I registration card |
He lost part of his left arm, some fingers on his right hand and part of his right foot. That is a tough way to be classified 4F. But as the draft card indicates, his injury did not prevent him from getting married. In 1915 he married Emma Johnson.
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| Frank and Emma's marriage certificate, 1915 |
In the 1920 census, Frank is 36 and living at 515 E 3rd
Street in downtown Anaconda, MT, with his wife Emma and Emma’s 21 year old son,
Harold, from a prior marriage. Frank is
working as a watchman at the smelter.
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1920 Federal Census for Anaconda, MT Frank is listed on line 2 and Emma is below on line 3. |
By 1930 Frank is back to living with his brothers
Theodore and Martin out in the cabin at Cable Creek (see the 1930 census shown earlier in this article).
His occupation is listed as “wood chopper” which is the same as his
brothers. But one has to wonder how
productive a one armed wood chopper would be.
There is no sign of wife Emma in that 1930 census. On January 1, 1935 she passes away. She has been living in Spokane, WA and went back to Johnson as her last name. It is unknown when after 1920 that Emma and Frank split up.
On April 28, 1937 Frank marries Evelyn Eklund. She is 22 and Frank is 54. True story! It is on the marriage certificate below. It also shows that Frank is a widower at the time of this marriage.
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| The marriage certificate from Frank's second marriage. His parents are listed as Henry and Julia Peterson. |
In June of that year Franklin Victor Peterson is born. There is no birth certificate on-line, but Ancestry.com has the following reference -
Hmmm, let's see, an April marriage and a son born in June. A case of new math? More likely a lack of planning on Frank’s part. Not much more is known about either Evelyn or her son Franklin. The marriage was evidently a very short one. In 1940 Frank is living alone at 408 Fourth St in Anaconda. He continues to work as a watchman at the smelter.
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1940 Federal Census for Anaconda, MT Frank is near the bottom on line 77. |
Franklin Victor is living with another family entirely. At the ripe old age of three he is listed as a “roomer” in the 1940 census.
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1940 Census for Anaconda, MT Franklin is next to last on the above list. |
Evelyn is nowhere to be
found until her death. Evelyn passes
away in 1994 at the age of 78. She is
still using the Peterson name and apparently had continued to live in Anaconda.
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Evelyn's death certificate, 1994 |
In 1942 Frank registers for the draft. He is living in Anaconda and he lists his employer as the ACM Co., which in Anaconda is the smelter. However, below that he notes that he is a pensioner. Frank is 59 years old.
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Hard to miss Frank with that kind of a physical description. |
Five years later on March 26,
1947, Frank passes away. Apparently he was living out at the cabin at Cable Creek at the time of his passing. His death
certificate states that he had emphysema for years and recently came down with pneumonia
and that resulted in his death at age 64. He is buried in the Upper
Hill Cemetery in Section J.
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From the Montana Standard, March 30, 1947, page 14. |
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Frank's grave in Section J of the Upper Hill Cemetery, Anaconda, MT |
All of the children, except Mary, Martha and Frank, end up in the Anaconda, MT area by 1888. As mentioned above, Mary is in North Dakota married to Arthur Llewellyn Wolff and in 1900 Frank is living with them. Martha is in Wisconsin. The writer wondered why six of nine of the Peterson children are in the same area of Montana. A search of cemeteries and newspapers in the area revealed that parents Henry and Julia may well have moved there themselves.
A Henry Peterson died in 1895 and is buried in Section J of the Upper Cemetery in Anaconda.
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| Grave information for a Henry Peterson in Anaconda. Unfortunately there are no pictures or further information |
A Julia Peterson died in 1896 and she is also buried in Section J.
This is significant in itself as there are three cemeteries in Anaconda that are all adjacent to each other. There is the Lower Cemetery, the Upper Cemetery and Mt Carmel Cemetery. The fact that Henry and Julia are buried not just in the same cemetery, but also the same section of that one cemetery strengthens the idea that they were in some way related. Add to this the fact that Martin and Frank are buried in section J as well and were buried there some 50 years after Henry and Julia (1952 and 1947, respectively) gives an even stronger indication that these folks were related.
Normally a cemetery will fill up one section and then move on to the next. So folks who have died 50 years apart will usually end up in very different sections of the cemetery or maybe a different cemetery entirely. The exception would be for family members. They would be buried in the same plot or section. The Gallagher’s are an example of this. Lena Gallagher was buried in the family plot in Mt Carmel in 1906. Daughter Helen died in 1956 and son William died in 1958. They are all buried in the same plot or section in the Mt Carmel Cemetery.
It is that Section J in the Upper Cemetery that has likely helped to solve the puzzle of the Petersons. Now what about Henry and Julia?
Henry, or more likely Henrik, was from Sweden according to the 1870 Federal Census and the 1875 Minnesota State Census.
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The 1870 Federal Census for Ben Wade, Pope County, Minnesota Henry ("Hendrick") and family are listed starting on line 17 |
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The 1875 State Census for Minnesota Henry and family are listed starting on line 7. |
He was a farmer in or near Ben Wade, Pope County, Minnesota. Sometime after the 1885 Minnesota State Census, but before 1888 Henry and his family moved to Montana, a journey of about 1000 miles.
They homesteaded in an area called Cable Meadows or Cable Creek, and referred to as Peterson Meadows by the locals according to Lloyd Peterson, a grandson of Carl Peterson. Lloyd thought they may have had 50 or so acres in that area which was about 13 miles outside of Anaconda. Unfortunately not much more is known about Henry. He passed away in 1895. As mentioned, he is buried in Section J of the Upper Hill Cemetery in Anaconda.
Julia Peterson was from Norway according to the census records above. Her given name likely was Gunhild Mari which she may have “Americanized” to Julia Mary. As noted above some of her children referred to her as Mary, some referred to her as Julia, and Lena, in the one document that was hers, refers to her as “G.M.”
Julia may have been quite a character. A couple of articles were found on her. In the first one she was arrested in 1895 for some illegal trout fishing.
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| From the Anaconda Standard, September 22, 1895, page 3. Georgetown is near Cable Creek area. |
A corn cob pipe and some salty language from a woman was different back in those days! Plus, the walk from Georgetown looks like it was 18 miles one way.
The second article has to do with a court case Julia brought against more than three others (one of them was a judge!). She alleged that debris from their placer workings were being washed down Cable Creek and on to her property making it unfit for farming. It was front page news at the time.
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| From the Anaconda Standard, July 10, 1895, page 1. |
The judge in the case apparently even went out to look the situation over. In the end the case doesn’t seem to go anywhere. Julia passes away the next year, 1896.
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From the Anaconda Standard, June 1, 1896, page 2. The article refers to a husband, but he died the prior year. |
She was buried in Section J of the Upper Hill Cemetery in Anaconda.
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From the Anaconda Standard, June 3, 1896, page 2. |
Thus ends the puzzle of the Petersons.
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