Peter and Amanda Pettyjohn

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Series

Prompt: Valentine

“Two buried in one grave aged man and wife together in death at Marysville.”[1]

This is a story of my two times great grandparents, Peter and Amanda Pettyjohn.  Peter and Amanda were married December 15, 1852, in Van Bruen County, Iowa. They spent their married life together living in Iowa and Missouri farming and raising eleven children.

On February 4, 1920, Peter passed away. Amanda was seriously ill at the time of her husband’s death but not so much that her death was anticipated. When the preparations for Peter’s funeral began that day, Amanda cried, “Wait only a short time and we will go together.”[2] Approximately twenty-one hours after Peter died Amanda departed to join him.

Peter and Amanda had spent sixty-seven years together in marriage and died very close to Valentine’s Day. I do not know what their day to day life was like but in the end, Amanda did not want to go on without Peter. This year on Valentine’s Day I will think of them.

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[1] “Peter and Amanda Pettyjohn,” obituary, Knoxville (Iowa) Journal, 20 February 1920.

[2] Ibid

Thank you for joining my search!
Dennis

Credit for this series to Amy Johnson Crow, Certified Genealogist