By Edres Bryant Barney
Wilford was born in Graham, Arizona, on Oct. 3, 1885, to Peter and Mary Anderson Peterson, the second son. At an early age, he was taught the value of hard work and to attend to his church duties. He grew up helping his father on the family farm.
His marriage to Mary Ann Bryce took place on Oct. 21, 1908. She was the daughter of George Alvin (Dick) and Sarah Carter Bryce, having been born in Bryce on Sept. 19, 1889. Mary Ann, with her older sister Sade (Talley) and a younger sister, Jennie (Jen Pollock), became “Dick’s boys,” helping on the farm, milking their cows; the things that took place on the farm that his sons filled later.
Sade, Ann, and Jen often told how they would do their chores early in order to go to Pima for a dance or Social — get all dressed up, walk to the river, take off their shoes and stockings, hike up their dresses, wade the river, get their shoes and stockings back on, and continue on to Pima for the event.
Wilford and Ann worked farming until 1938 when they moved to Pima. There, Wilford worked for the Mattice Brothers, was a Constable, and was a Justice of the Peace for several years. Wilford often said, “The happiest time of my life was when I was Bishop in Hubbard and Ann was Primary President.”
They have a huge posterity through their nine children, many who live in the Gila Valley: Ethel (Zeke McBride), Geneva (Guy Weech), Flora (William Ross Preston), Dwain Bryce (Wilda Gardner), Theola (Norman Glen Crawford), Gene (Donna Jean Sanders), Norman (Marcia Pace), and Darvel (Viola Joy Simmons).
Visit the Eastern Arizona Museum in Pima to learn more about the area’s history and view the countless artifacts they left for us Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
