Augusta Johannesdotter Peterson (wife of Niels Peter Peterson)

by Marilyn Felt Anderson (granddaughter) Augusta Johnson, the daughter of Johannas Backlund and Christina Olafson (Olafsdatter), was born in Bracken, Jarn County, Sweden, on July 31, 1865. Her father, whom she described as being quite “well to do”, died before her birth; and before she reached the age of three, her mother, who nursed many of those afflicted with scarlet fever, died from an attack of the disease. Augusta went to live with her maternal grandparents, Olaf Larson and Kajsa Persson, but remained with them only a short time. When four or five, she went to live with her mother’s brother, Johannes Olson and his wife Christina. Augusta contracted scarlet fever at this time, but soon recovered. Her uncle, Johannes, was also seized and succumbed to the attack. His wife remarried and her posterity consisted of three children, Johann Johannasen, Sophia Johannasen, and an unidentified girl. When Grandmother was seven or eight, Christina took her back to her grandparents. They were very good to her, but being elderly people, in their seventies, they could not work, and Augusta found it necessary, at this early age, to help support herself. She herded cows and tended babies, which helped to supplement the support money that her grandparents received from the Lutheran Church. When Augusta’s grandmother died, she went to Mellerud to live with a family. At age eleven, she tended their only child and sewed, while the parents worked, the woman in a creamery and her husband on a train. Two years later, her grandfather died. She remembers being with him when he died, and said he could walk right up to the very last. She also recalled that he was probably a soldier in his early days, and that in his later years he tended a little plot of ground, where he raised vegetables.

At fourteen, Grandmother was sent to the Lutheran priest in Jarn County. She received there instruction in a class during the summer to prepare her for confirmation. She graduated from the class and was confirmed, receiving for her achievement a New Testament. Shortly afterwards at about fifteen, she went to Mon, a town on the Norwegian-Swedish border. The trains stopped there, and the passengers ate at the hotel. Grandmother worked in the hotel waiting on tables. In her late eighties, she could remember the way she served the dinners – a smorgasbord first, consisting of wine and hors d’oeuvres, and then the vegetable and meat course later. She worked a year, and then signed for another year. However, she cancelled the arrangement, because she decided to go to America. Her employers tried very hard to convince her to stay, and told her if she wasn’t treated right, they would send money to bring her back. Evidently, the great opposition and persecution, which members of the Church in Sweden endured in those early days, prevented many form entering the waters of baptism. But, while Grandmother was working in Mon, the Mormon missionaries found her, taught her the Gospel, and she was baptized. In 1963, when Mother and I visited the little Lutheran church where Grandmother had been a member, we found her name in the parish records with a line through it and “Mormon” written after it. Her parents never joined the Church, but Grandmother later did their temple work in Manti, Utah. Grandmother was to receive money to come to America from her cousin in Grantsville, Charlie Olsen. But when the money was delayed she went to Goteborg where she worked for woman who ran a lunch stand. She cleaned for her and took care of her young baby. It was at this time that Grandmother developed a great abhorrence for alcoholic drinks. The woman’s husband was frequently drunk, and Grandmother was shown the misery and heartache that his conduct brought to his family. From that time, she determined that her husband must not drink. Later on, when she met Grandfather, the fact that he did not drink gave her great faith that he would be a good and reliable husband.

Grandmother remained in Goteborg until money came from America. She waited much longer than she had anticipated and began to fear that she might never see Utah. Finally the money did arrive, and she realizes now that had it come earlier, she would not have met Grandfather on the boat she was on, just returning from a mission in Denmark. She reminisced that it “seemed that was the way it had to be.” In her late eighties, Grandmother retained a keen and a clear memory of events that transpired in her early life. She had a strong faith that she had been guided throughout her days by our Heavenly Father. Grandmother began her long voyage by taking a boat to Denmark, where she waited three or four days at the mission home for the boat to America. She enjoyed the trip from Denmark to America, and recalls the dances they had on board. In fact, she met Grandfather at one of those dances. The missionaries were instructed to take care of the emigrants. Being only eighteen and alone, Grandmother was very shy and appreciated Grandfather’s attention. She recalled that he brought her an orange on one occasion, and eventually they became better acquainted. The boat landed at New York City, where they took a train to Salt Lake. Grandfather said goodbye there and went on to Richfield. Grandmother stayed in Salt Lake one week and then rode to Grantsville in a covered wagon, which was hauling goods. Upon arriving, she repaid her cousin Charlie Olson the money she had used in traveling from Sweden. She then went to Idaho to visit her aunt, Sophia Erickson. Grandfather corresponded with Grandmother and asked her to marry him. When she was nineteen, he came to Idaho and urged her to make a decision. When she consented to be his wife, they traveled to Logan, and were married in the Temple on the twenty-first of April, 1886.

They made their home in Richfield, where Grandmother was a devoted mother and wife. She raised eight children and has numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her children, all but the last, were born without the aid of a doctor. Each time she gave birth, she barely escaped death. She has told many times how she put her faith and trust in the Priesthood, and was administered to on each of these occasions. She spent her married years in the little rock house in Richfield, which Grandfather built. She raised her children in the faith and was a very good sweet, and patient mother. Two of her sons preceded her in death. Lester was shot while hunting and Hanmer died of multiple sclerosis. When she became too old and ill to live alone, she began living with her children and spent time with Harmel, Jerda, and Elsie. In her eighty-ninth year, she went to Logan where she now resides (1956) in a home for the aged. It is across the street from the Temple, where she was married many years ago. She has very good care - a sweet nurse who often writes to me about her, and many friends who have grown to love her. She has always had many friends. One cannot help loving her sweet spirit. She seldom complains, for it is her nature to be long-suffering and patient. She has often expressed her desire to keep peace rather than to complain or criticize. She has set a marvelous example for all of us, her posterity, to follow. Following is a brief extract from a letter her nurse sent to me: “She is a doll – patience and kindness, I know, must be her motto. Yes, she’s talked of her husband being near and said she would soon join him. She likes me to come in and chat with her, but I can’t always do so. Nights are easiest as others are in bed and asleep, so we do get to visit a little. I kissed her cheek the other night as I finished getting her in bed, and she said, ‘Oh my, what have I done to receive that?’, and I told her just because I love you. She smiled a beautiful smile and said, ‘I’m glad you do’.” Grandmother passed away on June 7, 1956, after being unconscious for two days.