Erik Pehrson and Catharine Christina Anderson Pehrson. (Click to enlarge)
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Erik Pehrson and Catharine Christina Anderson Pehrson
Information taken from My Book of Remembrance by Miriam Renstrom Whitesides. Submitted by Jane Renstrom. Erik Pehrson Born: Sept 3, 1812 Died: November 3, 1870 Where: Sweden Catharine Christina Anderson Born: April 20, 1820 Died: May 25, 1903 Where: Huntsville, Utah Married: November 2, 1839 On September 3, 1812, Erik Pehrson was born in Ramsjo, Uppsala, Sweden to Pehr Eriksson (3 June 1779-1834) and Anna Larson (20 September 1788-26 June 1872). In this beautiful land of forests and lakes, his childhood and married life was an industrious and happy one even though the country was troubled with many small wars. Sweden at this time was ruled by King Gustaves IV whose wife was a sister-in-law of Grand Duke Alexander of Russia and therefore under the influence of that troubled country. Bonaparte was very active and Sweden was one of the few countries to defy him. Pehr Eriksson and Anna Larson's children were:
On April 20, 1820, Catharine Christina Anderson was born in Ramsjo to Ander Erickson (16 May 1785-14 April 1868) and Margareta Olson or Person (4 September 1799-6 June 1892). The two families were neighbors. The young girl and boy were friends long before they were sweethearts. Ander Erickson and Margareta Olson's children:
On November 2, 1839, Eric and Catharine were married in the Lutheran Church. He was 27 and she was 19. He worked as a farmer and auctioneer in Bjorklinge, Ramsjo and Viksta. He owned several pieces of farmland, and his desire was to leave a farm to each child. Greta Stina and her husband Lars Hagglund inherited the farm in Viksta. This then went to their daughter Selma Maria born in 1882 who married Arvid Emanuel Ansten. As of September 1993, the farm is in possession of their two unmarried children. Algot Walter was born in 1910 and Astrid Maria born in 1917. (Darrell and Jane met this brother and sister when they visited Sweden in 1985). On November 3, 1870, Erik Pehrson died just three years before the family came to America and before they were introduced to the Gospel. He is buried in Bjorklinge. Elder Erngreen, a former resident of Sweden, came to Uppsala as a Mormon missionary. He was received into the homes of members of the family and he and other elders were given room and board and so the family was taught the Gospel. Many of them were converted to the truthfulness of the doctrine and so neighbors and friends turned against them. They were mistreated and many times when meetings were being held in their homes, rocks were thrown through the windows. They began preparations to emigrate to Utah. Erik and Catharine's son Peter was 22 years old when he sailed alone to America to look the country over and send back a report to those waiting in Sweden. His reports were favorable and so the little group sold their belongings and prepared for the long journey to Zion. The matriarch of the group was Margareta Olson, Catharine's mother. She was a widow as was Catharine. Five of Catharine and Erik's children also came. They were Peter, Carolina, Karin Charlotte, Andrew and Eric August. Margareta had two other daughters who also came with their families. These were Mary Danielson and her husband and three daughters and Margareta (or Anna Greta) Bjorklund, a widow, and her two daughters. Besides the family, two other families, Berlins and Tangreens, also came with them bringing the total of the group to about thirty people. They sailed from Sweden to Copenhagen across the Baltic Sea, through the straights of Cattegat and Spagerrack across the North Sea, which was very rough and landed at Hull, England. They took the train to Liverpool and left that port on the steam ship either Nevada or Wyoming. There were 426 people aboard, 396 from Scandinavia, 26 from England and 2 from Holland. They were on the Atlantic 12 days landing in New York on July 6, 1873, and arriving in Salt Lake City by train on July 17. They went to Huntsville a few days later. Because their journey from New York was by train they were not designated as Pioneers. Catharine made her home in a small two room frame house while Margareta made her home with the Danielson's. Margareta was one of the many in town who worked in the silk industry. That accounts for the many Mulberry trees in many of the towns in Utah. Of Erik and Catharine's four children who came to America, Carolina never married, Karin Charlotte married and had children and died young, Peter moved to Washington and married and had children, Andrew married Caroline Petersen and they had children and stayed in Huntsville and Eric worked in mines and ended up in Alaska in the gold rush and is buried in Juneau. He had no known children. Two daughters stayed in Sweden and married and had children. They are Greta Stina and Anna Maria. After Andrew married, Catharine lived with him and his family. She gave Andrew the money to buy a farm and he was reimbursed that way. She lived in one front room with a corner closed in for a small kitchen. The children all loved her and visited her often begging her for some of her food, especially the gruel she made. She broke her hip at age 82 and was tenderly cared for by her son and daughter-in-law. She died at that home May 25, 1903. Children of Erik Pehrson and Catharine Christina Anderson:
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