• He was traveling with his mother, Anne, and siblings, Elsie Marie and Christian. Their mother died shortly before the overland journey. According to James' obituary, all three children crossed the plains with the 1855 Secrist/Guymon Company and, upon their arrival, were cared for by different families.

Jacob F. Secrist/Noah T. Guymon Company (1855)

• Age at Departure: 13
• Head of Household

Sources

• 2nd Company of 50 reports, 1855 May 31.
• Denmark, Baptisms, 1618-1923.
• "Funeral Services for J. C. Peterson," Mt. Pleasant Pyramid, 14 March 1919, 1. 
• Lever, W. H. History of Sanpete and Emery Counties, Utah: With Sketches of Cities, Towns, and Villages; Chronology of Important Events; Records of Indian Wars; Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens (Salt Lake City: Tribune Job Printing Co, 1898), 336