Canute Peterson

Canute grew up on a farm in Norway called Maurset which is now visited by tourists. It is also close to the scenic waterfall called Voringsfors. The family emigrated to the United States in 1837, except for Canute’s two oldest brothers John and Jacob, who chose to remain in Norway. His parents settled in LaSalle County, Illinois, where Canute’s father died in 1838 and his mother was bedridden because of rheumatism for 10 years after her husband’s death. During this time, Canute’s mother was taken care of by Sister Jacobs, a family friend who was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Canute’s children would later call her Grandma Jacobs. As he grew up, he honored his parents by doing all he could for his mother and repaying his father’s debts in full.

Canute Peterson was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on August 14, 1842, when he was 18 years old. In LaSalle, there was already a large number of Scandinavian members like him.

He was then ordained as a Seventy, an ecclesiastical office in the LDS church, when he visited Nauvoo, Illinois in 1844. That same year, he was called on a mission to Wisconsin, where he baptized many and met a kind widow, Miss Nelson and her daughter, with whom he became well acquainted. Her daughter’s name was Sarah Ann Nelson. The two of them were inseparable, spending a lot of time together and in church gatherings. When the Pioneers got ready to move to Utah, Canute and Sarah, along with her mother, joined them and left LaSalle together, in 1849.

When the camp was crossing Iowa, Sarah’s mother became ill with cholera, and Canute became overcome with anxiety. In response, he found a quiet place and decided to pray for the Lord to spare her life. When he laid his hand on her head to give her a blessing, he told her to rise and be healed. Miraculously, Sarah’s mother was healed. When the camp arrived at Mt. Pisgah, they met Elder Orson Hyde, who performed the marriage ceremony for Canute and Sarah. They soon reached Salt Lake City in the fall, but two years later, were called to settle Lehi.

When Canute began working on the settlement in Lehi in March 1851 with Jesse W. Fox, Nelson Empey, and Henry Royle, he was called on another mission, this time to his homeland of Scandinavia. His wife was left with their two children, but she was blessed, and when the grasshoppers swept in and devoured the crops of the settlers, her field of wheat was spared.

Canute returned from his mission in 1856, bringing a large number of converts with him. He then became a counselor to Bishop Evans, and in 1867, he was called to go to Ephraim and became a bishop there as well. However, in 1870, he was called again to Scandinavia to serve as a mission president there, he later returned in 1872.

Canute spent the rest of his 25 years of life as a Stake President, another ecclesiastical position in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in Sanpete County. This stake, called "the Sanpete Stake," was later split and he remained President of the new "South Sanpete Stake" until his death on October 14, 1902. Sarah died in May of 1896, and Canute left behind two of his plural wives, Mariah and Charlotte, and his fifteen children.

Throughout his life, Canute Peterson was known for his love of the Gospel and scriptures. He was a central figure in the history of Ephraim and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at large.

Children

Peter Cornelius Peterson (22 Jun, 1850)

Sarah Ann Peterson (4 Jan, 1853)

Parley Pratt Peterson (29 Jun, 1857)

Canute Weiderborg Peterson (5 Apr, 1859)

Herberta Maria Peterson (7 Feb, 1860)

Herbur Peterson (1858)

Lehi Rolfson Peterson (25 Oct, 1858)

Gertrude Elizabeth Petersen (11 Mar, 1861)

Ellen Marie Peterson (6 Dec, 1862)

Mary Isabelle Peterson (18 Jul, 1864)

Jacob Peterson (6 Jan, 1866)

Olivia Frederikke Peterson (13 Mar, 1869)

Nels Peterson (26 Jan, 1861)

Martha Amelia Peterson (April 1863)

Walber Herbertie Peterson (26 Jan, 1866)

John Peterson (1 Nov, 1869)