History of
the Life of Marie Elizabeth Peterson Olson
The day of December 22, 1877, was
most special for the Peterson family for it brought them a lovely new
daughter. Being a girl was not her mark
of distinction for there were already two sisters, but she was herself, a tiny
new person who came to join the family and make it gay.
It was decided that her name would
be Marie Elizabeth. It was not long
before she had fastened herself securely in their hearts and had learned to run
gaily on the moors with her sisters.
When she could not keep up with them she would stop and with wonder view
the magic around her that was her father's farm. "Surely there is no other place as wonderful
as Vingaker Sweden," she would think.
There was mystery, too. Nice looking men with black coats and tall
black hats came to the house evenings and they would eat cakes and drink tall
glasses of milk. They didn't notice
Elizabeth for she was very small and sat quiet as a mouse in the corner. But she viewed them with great interest and
hoped they would leave a cake for her.
After the children were in bed, the men and Mother and Father sat and
talked. Some nights she would hear them
speak of America. "It would be nice
there," she thought, "but Sweden is our home."
It was not long, however, until
things began to change, with Father and Mother talking of a new religion and of
baptism and leaving their home. Friends
and relatives were different; she was shunned by her playmates, and often she
saw her mother wipe the tears from her eyes.
So, she was not too sad or surprised when at the age of six she was told
that they were going to cross the great Atlantic Ocean and live in a new land
called America. Mother and Father were
going too -- Anna, Alma, Ester, and baby Emil, also. "Won't America be proud," she said,
"when they see we have a new brother."
It was many days before the little
immigrant family found a stopping place in Smithfield, Utah, for three weeks
and then to Mink Creek (Idaho) where they made their home. There was difficulty at first, for Americans
talked such a strange language; however, since they were to live among these
people, they must learn their language and that was one of the hardest tasks
they found to do in their new home.
There were many days of hard work
for the children as well as the grown-ups.
The money had all been spent for passage to America and they must now
find ways of getting some things to eat and wear. The luxury of shoes was for winter only, and
so from sego digging time in the spring until the choke cherries were ripe in
the fall they ran over the hills after cows and did farm work with bare
feet. They had an old blind horse that
they could ride at times, but he was hard to catch and many times they had to
go farther for him than to do the task they were to do. I imagine there were many thorns and stickers
that had to be pulled out of the toes and many drops of blood were left along
the way.
There was not much time for school,
but Elizabeth had a few weeks each winter.
She did her writing and figuring on a slate which she was very proud
of. The years were full of work, but
deep satisfaction for Elizabeth as she grew into a lovely young lady.
As the years went by there were
other horses besides the blind one to ride and in time there was a buggy with
two seats so that they could ride instead of walk to Mink Creek to meetings and
school.
Now came time for Mutual which was
similar to ours as we have it today. She
took part in programs, often singing duets with her sister, Esther, also giving
lessons and talks on various subjects and taking parts in dramas. She played the part of Clotela in ?.
Like many young women she sought
adventure, so to Salt Lake City she went to try her hand as a working girl in a
home where she gained many new ideas in the art of cooking and homemaking, but
she soon became homesick for her mother, father, brothers, and sisters, so back
home she came. Her mother, however, had
other plans. She had taught Elizabeth
the art of spinning, weaving, and knitting wool, how to make soap and potato
starch and many other things that pioneer women were called on to do. With an eye on the future she sent her to
Logan to a Mrs. Hansen who had charge of a sewing school.
So Elizabeth had a career. Not many girls had careers in those days and
this made her quite modern. Hour after
hour she sewed, cutting, basting, ripping seams, making over or making a suit
for a little boy out of Dad's old pants.
Back aches were forgotten when pleased customers told her what lovely
work she did. One of the proud moments
of her life was when her two younger brothers, Enoch and Nephi sang together,
dressed in little black velvet suits that she had fashioned.
A girl like that had many admirers,
but she had her eye on a certain young man who kept riding by, first on one
horse and then on another. His eyes were
always straight ahead, but for some unknown reason his horses reared and bucked
and did the darndest things in front of the Peterson residence. Elizabeth watched from the window with eyes
shining, wondering when this bashful but dashing young man would dare
call. They used to play together when
they were small; what was the matter with him now?
In time he did call and I have been
told by this certain young man that the first two times he walked in backwards
-- why? Don't you remember, he was
bashful. But he must have outgrown it
for after a few months of dances, parties, and sleigh rides Gustaf E. Olson asked
her to marry him.
Preparations were made for the big
event. She spent many days stitching on
her wedding dress. They traveled by team
and buggy to Logan and were married in the temple on the 20th of December 1899.
Their first home was at the head of
Station Creek in a two room log house with a dirt floor. Here the first two children, Elaine and
Hilva, came to make a family. In 1903
they moved to another home on Station Creek where the third child, Geneva, was
born. Then in 1905, when Grandfather
Olson and family moved to Logan, they moved in the Olson home just in time to
welcome the fourth daughter, Selma.
It was here they experienced the
joys and sorrows of life. There was much
work to be done. For Gustaf, the work on
the farm -- plowing, planting, and harvesting meant long days of work. Can you almost hear the squeak of the iron
wheels against the snow in the early hours of the morning as he hauled his
grain to market. For Elizabeth there
were many tasks with the growing family -- sewing, cooking, gardening, and even
helping to milk the cows and doing other chores. She made soap, potato starch, washed and
carded wool, knit stockings and mittens.
She took time to be Primary President, Relief Society Counselor, and
Visiting Teacher. Many times she would
harness the team of horses and hitch them to the buggy or sleigh and drive six
miles to the church house. With all this
work we wonder if they had time for any fun or entertainment. There were sewing and quilting bees, dances
in the old Mink Creek church house and every one brought picnic lunches.
Their first great sorrow was
November 5, 1906 when the fifth child, a son, was born and lived only two
hours. A little over a year later
another son was born and he was named Gustaf LeGrand.
In the fall of 1909, Gustaf was
called to fill a mission in his native land, Sweden. This wasn't easy for Elizabeth but she had
always accepted the call of Authority, so arrangements were made for Enoch (Elizabeth's
brother) to live with them. On November
9, she bade good-bye to her husband and two months later she gave birth to her
seventh child, Ruby. there were many
experiences both sad and happy, but finally the two and half years had slipped
by and her handsome and very polished husband returned.
As the years went by with work and
so forth, four more children came to join this family: Delmer, Venice, Merlin, and Stanley.
In 1917 Elizabeth had a very serious
illness. She had to go to the hospital
in Logan for seven weeks. Dr. Hayward
attended her and he had to call Chicago several times to get advice as to
treatment. They names it Expiratory Dermastice. Her health was never too well.
Elizabeth was always faithful to her
church; she loved music, drama, loyal to her family and she was good to old
people. She passed to that great beyond
January 29, 1928, in the Logan, Utah hospital following major operation. Since that time her husband, a son, and a
daughter have joined her.
She can well be proud of her
posterity. Her sons have served in
responsible positions in the church, one a Bishop and two serving as counselors
in the Bishopric. The youngest son,
Stanley, gave his life for his country in World War II. The daughters have all been faithful workers
in the church and raised good families.
At this time she has six grandsons serving as missionaries for the
church in California, Germany, France, New Zealand, and Texas.
This
history was compiled and written by ELAINE OLSON SMITH, daughter of Marie
Elizabeth Peterson Olson in 1961.
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