 and possibly daughters Ada, Beena and Amanda Myrtle .jpg)
Ellen was born in Birmingham in 1854, but, in 1856, shortly after her birth, her parents John & Sophia ASH were participants in the very first Mormon hand cart trek to Utah. At the time Ellen Matilda was just 2 years old.
Her parents settled in Richmond, Utah in 1860 where Ellen's mother died leaving four small children. Ellen, the eldest, was nine years of age. Later they moved to Logan where Ellen attended school and helped with the younger children. The motherless youngsters encountered many of the hardships endured by the early pioneers.
Ellen married Brigham NELSON on New Year's Day 1875. They had three children, two of whom died in infancy.
On 16 Dec 1885, she was married to Lars Peter Peterson, who was a widower with three small sons. The family moved to Amalga, Utah where Lars engaged in farming. They went through the privations of pioneer farm life, but were successful in their efforts to develop a fine farm.
In 1919 they retired and moved to Logan where they spent their declining years. Her husband died in 1935. She kept her own home until she was 88 then moved in with family.
When she died in 1954, aged 99, she was the eldest pioneer resident in Cache County. She is buried in the Logan, UT cemetery as Ellen Ash Peterson.
