Ida Mary Peterson Jaakola Peterson was the daughter of Andrew and Anna Peterson, their fourth child and the only one to live a long adulthood. She was born on September 28, 1892 in Comptche. She first married Isaac Jaakola, but he died of influenza in November of 1918 at the age of 27, leaving her with three young children: Irene, Oliver, and Sylvia. His dying wish was that his best friend, Jussi Luoto, take care of his family.
Peterson family of Comptche, c. 1912. Ida Peterson, center, stands between her parents, Anna and Andrew.
Luoto, who had changed his name to John when he came to the U.S., was born in 1885 in Nivala, Finland. He had been a tailor in his native land, but he had mined in Michigan and in the Salt Lake City area before he came to Comptche in 1911. Perhaps he made his way there because he had gotten to know members of the Little River Hervilla family in Utah.
He married his friend’s widow in September of 1919, and in 1920 they had a son of their own, Carl John. Since he had married a Peterson, and lived in a Peterson home [and had already changed his first name], Luoto changed his last name to Peterson. The old-timers, however, always referred to him as “Luoto Jussi.”
Ida’s father, Andrew Peterson, also from Finland, had a small business empire out in Comptche. On property purchased from William Kelley, he put up the Peterson Hotel and Stagestop. Across the road, he constructed a store that was connected to a blacksmith shop. He built a home/boarding house for Ida when she married Isaac. Ida and Isaac managed the store.
After her parents’ died [Andrew in 1917 and Anna in early 1918], Ida and Isaac moved back to the Peterson Hotel. They rented their boarding house (next to the current post office) to Nestor and Hulda Taskinen, who managed it. Over the years, Ida and John managed the store, ranched, raised livestock and vegetables, and brought up children. John sewed suits for his sons. He may have tailored suits for the Comptche gentlemen also, as ready-made suits were not widely available. He was also a tie maker.
Ida came to visit my grandma [Hilda Junttila] and mother [Mamie Junttila Stenback] frequently, with a little dog in tow. They would share the traditional “pulla” (sweetbread) and coffee at three o’clock. Grandma Hilda was short and round and had the sweetest laugh. She wore an apron most times and ladies’ logger-style boot shoes made by Makela’s in Fort Bragg. The toes were upturned in the Finnish style. [The upturned toe helps to keep a boot from sliding out of a ski binding, a much larger issue in Finland than Comptche.)
John Peterson gave me one of my first jobs. I was about twelve, and I was hired to drive his tractor (about two miles an hour) from haystack to haystack to bale hay! I got to practice driving and I felt very grown up; I earned a bit of change as well.
The Petersons were an integral part of Comptche. My thanks to my aunties in Comptche and to Carl Peterson for much of this information.
[John L. Peterson died on April 21, 1957 and was interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Mendocino, next to his old friend, Isaac Jaakola. Ida died on May 2, 1970 and was buried next to both of her husbands under one headstone that reads Peterson.]
— Reprinted and annotated from the March 11, 1993 Mendocino Beacon.
The Kelley House Museum will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. Historic District Walking Tours: 11AM on Friday, Nov. 29 and Saturday, Nov. 30. Haunted Mendocino Walking Tour: 7PM on Saturday, Nov. 30. Visit the Kelley House Event Calendar for tickets.