Anderson Family

The Anderson Family is a large, rather clannish group that includes the Carisle, Stirling, Pietersson, and Wittaker families. They can trace their ancestry back to William Harold Anderson and Thora Wittaker Anderson, who immigrated to Sylvania with their family from southern Idaho in the late 1890's.

Origins
Charles Ainar Andersen and his wife Loria Pietersson Andersen were Swedish immigrants living in the Danish port city of Alborg during the 1870's, trying to gather both money and their scattered family members to immigrate to America. In 1875, an LDS-chartered passenger ship arrived in port, offering a free berth to New York in return for the passengers to convert to Mormonism. Not very religious individuals, Charles and Loria agreed, and managed to bring along their immediate families on the trip. On arriving at port at New York, they got on the train, first to Provo and then to Boise.

After arriving in Boise, the LDS gave the Andersens (now Anderson after changing their name during immigration. The Andersens were prominent members of the unpopular antilabor movement in Sundsvall, and many Swedes were heading to the Northwest those days) a land grand near Parma, Idaho, where they settled for a time.