Andrew C. Peterson Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913, pg 821 Andrew C. Peterson, principal of the Gila Academy, was born in Gunnison, Utah, September 24, 1870. He is a son of Thomas P. and Maria (Tyggeson) Peterson, natives of Denmark who came to America directly from that country and crossed the plains with ox teams to Utah where they arrived among the early settlers. The father engaged in farming until he was killed there in an accident in 1873. In 1878 the family moved to Arizona and settled on the Little Colorado River. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Peterson became the parents of five children: Thomas, deceased, who was 2nd Lt. of the Arizona National Guard; Mary, who married Peter A. Peterson of Utah County Utah; Elsina, the wife of Isaac Isaacson, a member of the board of supervisors of Apache County; Joseph who passed away and Andrew C. of this review. Andrew C. Peterson was eight years of age when he came with his mother to Arizona, settling on the Little Colorado River in 1878. His success in educational work today is the more commendable to him from the fact that before he was eighteen he had only nine months of schooling. He later entered the district school in St. Johns, Arizona, an institution of which he was later principal. He supplemented this by a normal course in Provo, Utah which he completed in 1897, and was then made principal of the St. Johns school. He held this position for two years, resigning in 1898 in order to offer his services for the Spanish American War. He joined Company C of the First Territorial Regiment and was sent to Whipple barracks and thence to Lexington Kentucky. Later his regiment was stationed in Albany Georgia and there were mustered out in February 1899 never having seen active service. Mr. Peterson returned to St. Johns and for a time worked upon a farm and taught school until he was sent to the northern states on a mission for the Mormon church. Having completed this work he returned to Apache County and taught school there for one season, coming at the end of that time to Thatcher, where for two years he acted as a teacher in the Gila Academy of which he has been principal since 1905. On June 28, 1903 Mr. Peterson married Miss Eleanor Post, a native of Illinois and a daughter of Simeon Van Winkle and Mary (Kane) Post, the former of Holland descent. He was an accomplished musician and a veteran of the Civil War, having served in the Federal army as a major. Mrs. and Mrs. Peterson have six children: Pearl and Eleanor who are now attending school and Myrtle, Glenn, Dale and Arman. USGenWeb Project NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express written permission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist.