Love and marriage being what they are at the end of the 20th century, it may be hard for some minds to grasp the idea of staying together for nearly 82 years the way Peter and Celestia Peterson did. Both born in 1860 in what is now Fairview in Sanpete County -- Peter was the first boy born there, Celestia the second girl -- the Petersons set a record for the longest marriage on record in this country and maybe even the world.
Dreams and hopes, not records, of course, were on their minds when they set off to be married in the St. George Temple in 1878. By that time, Peter was a clerk in Swen Nielson's store in Fairview and jumped at the chance to take a load of grain to Silver Reef so that he could earn money to pay for his marriage and honeymoon trip. Celestia had gone to St. George two months earlier. The couple were united on Dec. 11, 1878.In family histories, Celestia remembered how they "cousined" all the way home. "In the days before hotels and motels, travelers stayed with friends, cousins or other relatives along the way. That's how we spent our eight-day honeymoon." She also recalled only one incident that marred the trip. A windstorm came up and blew Peter's hat away across the desert. Because they had no money to buy another one, he made the rest of the journey bareheaded.
The Petersons' lives were not only filled with devotion to each other but also encompass much of the history of Fairview. Peter was called on a mission to Virginia for the LDS Church in 1888. By that time the family had five children and $20 to their names. Upon Peter's return, they were called again to live in nearby Indianola, working there for 10 years. Otherwise, their lives were spent in Fairview.
Five more children were added to the family. They lived off the land as farmers, but Peter also worked as a shoemaker, dentist, schoolteacher, road supervisor and musician. At age 53, Peter survived being struck by lightning. At age 84, he retired from farming but kept cows and chickens until he was 88. He renewed his driver's license at age 96 -- and didn't even need glasses.
He died at age 100, six weeks shy of his 82nd wedding anniversary. Celestia died several months later, also 100. They were, by all reports, as devoted to each other at the end of their lives as they were at the beginning, and that lifelong love affair touched the hearts and minds of people everywhere. Their 80th anniversary was featured in a national magazine, and they received calls and letters from all over.
A year after their deaths, a "National Shrine to Love and Devotion" was unveiled in Fairview, featuring a larger-than-life sculpture of the couple by noted Utah artist Avard Fairbanks, a fitting tribute to the couple whose lives were so entwined with Fairview.
That shrine is now a centerpiece of the Fairview Museum of History and Art, considered by many (and not all of them from Fairview itself) to be one of the finest museums south of Provo, if not in the whole state. The two-building complex -- one the old school, the other a modern addition -- houses an extensive collection of art and artifacts important to the area, which is rich in history and artist endeavor.
Built along the confluence of the San Pitch River and Cottonwood Creek, the settlement was first called North Bend by settlers who noted its ideal location on the "long sweeping curve in the Wasatch Plateau as it bends in almost a half circle from Ephraim on the south, to Hill Top on the north." That was in 1859, when Brigham Young told settlers they could stay there as long as there was water enough for 30 families.
By 1864, enough settlers had arrived and were of the opinion that the high elevation provided a fair enough view that a name change was in order.
The surrounding area was the site of battles and skirmishes during the Black Hawk War. And the town was once a terminal of the Rio Grande Western railroad. But prosperity was fleeting; its it's high watermark as far as population occurred about 1900.
Fairview was and is largely an agricultural community, but by 1890 it could boast of four general stores, a furniture store, a harness shop, two hotels, a butcher shop, a planing mill, half-a-dozen stream sawmills, public schools and a number of large brick homes. Many of those homes and buildings remain, giving the town a timeless appearance. Today, population fluctuates between about 1,200 and 1,500.
The museum was started in 1966, when a committee of interested citizens was able to purchase the old school building for $25, and has largely grown up as a grass-roots community venture. Both the collections, gathered over the past 30 years, and the presentation are first rate. The museum is now run by a non-profit, private corporation, relying largely on donations, grants and volunteers, says museum director Ron Staker. But, he says, they accomplished a lot for a small town. "It's really a remarkable achievement."
The old school -- the museum's Heritage Building -- was constructed of local stone in 1900-01 after a Romanesque design by Richard C. Watkins. The Horizon Building, built at a cost of $1 million, was dedicated in 1995. Between the two buildings, it is possible to get a view not only of human history in the area but also of prehistoric animal life. The showpiece of the Horizon Building is a life-size replica of the Huntington Mammoth.
This ancient beast roamed the mountain area east of Fairview long before human history came along. Its delicately preserved bones were uncovered in 1988 during construction work on the Huntington Reservoir Dam. Research at the University of Utah, where the bones were taken, revealed it had died in a peat bog that had been covered by a layer of clay silt several feet thick. Dating procedures placed the death of the animal between 11,000 and 12,000 years ago, and DNA and amino acid testing show that the male mammoth was 65 years old when it died.
The replica here is one of about a half-dozen castings now exhibited worldwide, including museums at the College of Eastern Utah, as well as in Canada, Japan and Indonesia.
But longevity -- whether in marriage or in mammoths -- is not all you find at the Fairview Museum. Among the other holdings are:
Fairbanks sculpture: Avard Fairbanks once lived in Fairview and had a studio in the old school building. About 90 of his works are part of the collection here, including several Lincoln pieces, some portraying figures of Western history and a number relating to LDS history and from Fairbanks' sacred art collection.
Art: The Theodore Milton Wassmer collection, with more than 200 paintings by Wassmer, considered Utah's oldest still-producing artist, and other local and folk artists.
Miniature carvings: Tiny replicas of the Taj Mahal, Cinderella's carriage and balcony, a carousel and more made by Lyndon Grahame, a local self-taught artist who was one of the museum's founders.
American Indian artifacts: A small collection of tools, pottery and clothing helps tell of the presence of early tribes in the area. An exhibit on the Black Hawk War has just opened and will be expanded. A new book and video about the war are available at the gift shop.
Pioneer life: Everything from hand-made furniture, to textiles and lace, to fashionable clothes and complete room settings tell the story of early settlers. The museum also has an extensive written history collection.
Old photographs: Delightful portraits of early settlers look down from gallery walls, their faces telling a great deal about the pioneer experience. Storyboard collections of photos tell other stories: President Taft's motorcade driving through the town, for example, and the annual jackrabbit round-up and community gatherings.
Farm equipment: The grounds between the two buildings are covered with an extensive collection of wagons, machinery and other implements of mechanical life, including a gasoline-powered log cutter, old water pumps, grapples and hayforks, a steam engine from a coal mine in nearby Wales, oxen-drawn plows, pneumatic drills and poles from the original telegraph line.
And more: Geology, natural history, clocks, buggies, phonographs -- an almost endless array of the bits and pieces of the past.
"We're presenting history from the time of the mammoth to the present," notes Staker. And that's a lot of distance to cover. It is professionally and attractively presented in the two halls. But don't think this is a stuffy museum. There is also room for some wit and whimsy, he says. They have some very fine art and artifacts, but they have some of the homespun, small-town flavor, too. So, whether it's paying homage at the "National Shrine to Love and Devotion" or marveling that today's science can tell that a 12,000-year-old mammoth suffered from arthritis or viewing the life-size stuffed bears from the Goldilocks and the Three Bears exhibit in the folk-art gallery, have some fun along the way, he advises.
Another thing he hopes people find at the museum: a sense of possibilities. "Small towns can do great things. They can produce important creativity. If they are motivated and passionate about what they do, they can produce something of value. And that's what we've done here -- not just for our community, but for the whole state. Some people have the idea that all small towns are the same, but we are building a museum filled with a great deal of variety and creativity. And we're not finished yet. We have ambitious plans."
And that's just as it should be -- life being what it is as the end of the 20th century.
The Fairview Museum of History and Art is located at 85 N. 100 East, Fairview, and is open year-round, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6p.m.; Sunday 2 p.m.-6 p.m. For more information call 435-427-9216.