Augustin Peters
1889 Summerside, PEI – 1957 Van Nuys, California
Continuation of tree (1st child of Joseph Pitre/Marie Rose Arsenault); all known surname descendants:
9 Augustin 'Maurice' Peters b: 31 May 1889 Summerside, PEI; d: 16 October 1957 Van Nuys, Los Angeles, CA
+Harriet Estella Seligman b: 12 October 1887 St. Louis, MO; m: 14 July 1928 Los Angeles, CA [Joseph/Rosie Kohner]; d: 30 April 1978 Los Angeles, CA
Notes for Augustin 'Maurice' Peters:
Census
- 1891 PEI, Summerside: Joseph Peters 29 (sea captain), wife Mary R. 26, Augustine 2.
- 1901 PEI, Summerside: Joseph Peters 39, wife Mary B. 36, Augustin 11, Isaac N. 9, Emma J. 4, Mable A. 1.
- 1910 Flathead, Missoula, Montana: Gus Peters 21 (FCan - immig 1909) laborer/odd jobs.
- 1920
- 1930 Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA: Gus M. Peters 41, wife Harriet 42.
- 1940 Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA: Gus M. Peters 54 stage hand/motion picture studio, wife Harriet 54.
- 1950 Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA: Gus M. Peters 63 stage grip/film studios, wife Harriet 63.
WWII Records: Gus Maurice Peters, res. 5431 Fulton Ave., Van Nuys, CA; b. 28 May 1887 NYC, NY; contact George Zeigler (13941 Chandler Blvd., Van Nuys, CA); employed at Paramount Studios; 5'5 1/2", 195 lbs., blue eyes & gray hair, ruddy complexion, scar on lower left cheek near mouth; 26 Apr 1942 Van Nuys, CA.
Obituary: The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet (CA), Sunday, 20 October 1957: Peters, Gus M., age 71, of 5431 Fulton Ave., Van Nuys passed away Oct. 16. He is survived by his wife Hattie Peters. Rosary is being recited today, Sunday, Oct. 20, at 8 p.m., Praiswater Funeral Home, Van Nuys. Mass will be at 9 a.m. Monday at Saint June Frances DeChantal. Interment will be at San Fernando Mission Cemetery.
MISC: Sanders County Signal (Plains, MT), Friday, 25 October 1912: Gus Peters was in town yesterday. Gus was to have proved up on his homestead in Polson this week but he said the United States Marshall came along and scared his witness out of the country. Gus says that the Marshall came up to the Allard ranch and inquired of Knowles if a man by the name of Knowles lived around there. He was told that Knowles was around the hill after some bay and the Marshall started after him. When he was gone Knowles got his horse and has not been seen in the country since. Gus is going to prove up closer to home next time.
- Sanders County Signal (Plains, MT), Friday, 1 November 1912: (summary) The US Land Office has given notice that Gus Maurice Peters, of Camas, MT, had made homestead on 7 April 1911 (entry #03276).
- The Daily Missoulian (Missoula, MT), Sunday, 15 December 1912: A company composed of T. G. Demers, Charles Prongus, Martin E. Long, Gus Peters, Frank Richards, C. H. Warren and Edward Lamoraux last week purchased the imported Percheron horse of George S. Good. The horse will be kept for the present at the ranch of Martin Long. The Signal is very glad to see this fine animal kept here, as it means hundreds of dollars of increase in value in our horses. The price paid was $1400.
- The Daily Missoulian (Missoula, MT), Thursday, 17 April 1913: Gus Peters returned Saturday from Browning, where he has been employed all winter.
- Sanders County Signal (Plains, MT), Friday, 15 August 1913: Gus Peters has been spending the past week breaking horses to work for T. G. DeMers. "Hobo" is prepared to break horses to ride or drive and anyone having horses to break will do well to see him.
- Sanders County Signal (Plains, MT), Friday, 12 September 1913: A party consisting of Charles Allard, Hector McLeod, John Decker, Slim Inkstrom, Bill Lewis and Gus Peters stopped overnight in Pineville Wednesday, on their way to the Spokane Fair. They had with them 20 head of buffalo, which they will ship from Plains Friday. They will exhibit these animals at the fairs at Spokane and Walla Walla and also at the Pendleton Roundup in Oregon. They also had a few relay horses which they will put on the track at these places.
- Sanders County Signal (Plains, MT), Friday, 9 January 1914: Gus Peters was in from his claim in Garcon Gulch Tuesday. Gus says there are but four or five families in the gulch. Those there are putting in telephones, using the fence wire to carry the messages.
- Sanders County Signal (Plains, MT), Wednesday, 2 September 1914: Gus Peters and Albert Maillette returned Friday from the fair at Walla Walla.
- Sanders County Signal (Plains, MT), Friday, 18 September 1914: Lou Redfern and Gus Peters assisted Charles Allard in taking his herd of buffalo to the Fair.
- Sanders County Signal (Plains, MT), Friday, 1 January 1915: Gus Peters left last week for his old home in Canada, where he will spend the winter with his parents.
- Charlottetown Guardian (PEI), Wednesday, 12 May 1915: Mr. Gus Peters, Summerside, son of Baggage Master Peters, of the P.E.I. Railway, has volunteered with the Light Horse for overseas service. Mr. Peters has already a considerable experience in this business and has started into active training to be prepared to sail with the next Contingent for Europe.
- The Flathead Courier (Polson, MT), Thursday, 26 August 1915: Dr. A. H. Cheney received a card this week from Gus Peters who formerly lived around Polson saying that he was now at Otterpool Camp Kent County England serving in the English army.
- Sanders County Signal (Plains, MT), Friday, 10 March 1916: A letter was recently received by Al Benoit from Gus Peters who formerly homesteaded in Garcon gulch and is better known to the public as the "Hobo Kid" or "Bo," enlisted in the English army with the Canadian boys about a year ago and is now with the army in France, where he is driving an ammunition wagon and shoeing horses. He seems to enjoy the life and says in his letter to Mr. Benoit that he is now possessed of eighteen pairs of socks and adds, "which is many more than I had when on the ranch."
- Sanders County Signal (Plains, MT), Friday, 5 September 1919: Gus Peters, a former homesteader in Garcon Gulch, arrived here Monday from his home at King Edwards Island, Canada. Gus served with the Canadian boys, in the world's war, for almost four years. He brought an interesting collection of war trophies with him, which are on exhibit at the Wright & Rose store. Beau's many friends are glad to welcome him back.
- The Daily Missoulian (Missoula, MT), Saturday, 6 September 1919: "Hobo Kid" back after four years in service; Gus Peters One of 16 survivors out of 640. Plains, Sept. 5 - Gus Peters of Camas Hot Springs, familiarly known to most people as the "hobo kid" has returned after an absence of four years. He enlisted as a blacksmith in the Canadian army and was in France 3 years and six months. Out of 640 men that comprised the organization in which he enlisted, he was one of 16 men that returned at the end of the war. He saw continuous service at the front and was in all the large battles in which the Canadian forces took part. He was promoted to staff sergeant at headquarters. He brought back many souvenirs and has many interesting stories to relate of his many experiences at the front.
- Sanders County Signal (Plains, MT), Friday, 16 April 1920: Albert Maillett and Gus Peters returned Saturday from Butte, where they have been working in the mines.
- The Daily Inter Lake (Kalispell, MT), Friday, 16 July 1920: Realty Transfer: Gus Maurice Peters to James S. Spurgeon (the homesteaded parcel)
- The Van Nuys News (Van Nuys, CA), Monday, 21 February 1938: Mrs. Gus M. Peters of Fulton avenue was hostess to a group of friends and luncheon and Five Hundred Thursday in her home. (list of attendees)
- The Van Nuys News (Van Nuys, CA), Thursday, 16 June 1938: Gus M. Peters, 50, of 5421 Fulton avenue, and Richard M. Wamsoka, 21, of 413 North Madison avenue, Los Angeles, were injured Thursday evening when their car collided at Van Nuys boulevard and Woodman avenue, according to police.
- The Plainsman (Plains, MT), Thursday, 9 March 1939: Former residents met by C. H. Rittenours at California gathering: included...Gus Peters, also known as the "Hobo Kid", who used to live in Oliver Gulch and was reported killed while fighting with the Canadian army during the World War. He now holds a good position with Paramount Studios.
- The Van Nuys News (Van Nuys, CA), Friday, 17 October 1941: Happy Birthday today to Mrs. Gus M. Peters of 5431 Fulton Ave.
- The Van Nuys News (Van Nuys, CA), Tuesday, 14 July 1942: Congratulations today to Mr. and Mrs. Gus M. Peters of 5431 Fulton Ave., who are celebrating their 14th wedding date today.
- The Van Nuys News (Van Nuys, CA), Friday, 28 May 1943: Many happy returns of the day: Friday, Gus M. Peters of 5431 Fulton Ave.
- The Camas Hot Springs exchange (Hot Springs, MT), Thursday, 1 March 1945: article about origins of the paper. ... moved to Hot Springs in the early months of 1921. Gus Peters, a well known character in the valley was Mr. More' first publisher, but he stayed with it only a short time...
- The Camas Hot Springs exchange (Hot Springs, MT), Thursday, 8 January 1959: Mrs Fred Peeso writes us that a letter from Mr. Zeh, says Mrs. Zeh is in very poor health and that Gus Peters, known as Bo Peters had passed away. He was one of the early homesteaders homesteading in Garcon Gulch (we believe). Leaving here he went to California. She says he had married after leaving here.
[Having put together what seemed to be rather disparate nuggets of info that I believed all pointed to Augustin Peters, I came upon a tree on Ancestry (davidcdunbar) which had a note added by Rose Marie Rogers. I have copied that note in its entirety. I hope Rose Marie gets in touch so I can thank her for the family story about 'Gus'.]
Rose Marie Rogers about Gus: "I never knew Uncle Gus. I never met him. He was sort of a legend that occasionally came into awareness in my early years. During the depression years when I was a toddler and beginning school the family occasionally would receive packages containing nuts and oranges from California, but the substance of his person remained elusive. To a certain extent this is true in my elder years. However, I am impelled to write what I know so that family will understand that he lived as an elder son for my grandparents, a brother to my mother, and a sometime uncle to his nieces and nephews. Gus was born in 1887 to Joseph and Marie Rose Peters on PEI Canada. This was nine years before his sister Irene appeared in 1896. I know nothing about his childhood. He enlisted in the Canadian army and served in World War I. He cared for horses during the war but was gassed by the Germans but, served until the end of the war. He returned home briefly but soon left for the West, never to return. Details about his life in the next few years are fragmentary, sometimes legend, sometimes true. He apparently continued his skill working with horses in western Canada and northwestern United States. He occasionally maintained contact with the family. At one time he sent a paper weight to his sister Mabel from Fort Totten, North Dakota. It is now a museum set in the middle of a Native American community. I visited the Fort on my travels back from Alaska. It was related to me that he rode with an historic roundup of Buffalo. This herd was the last of the US Bison. It was rounded up and driven to Canada. Next he was running a Newspaper in Sandy County Montana. I have never been able to confirm this or locate the county. Legend has it that he was run out of town. Our next contacts found him working as an electrician for Paramount Studios. Once in a while we would receive pictures of Gus with Bob Hope, Barbara Stanwick, or Bing Crosby or some other star. My mother corresponded with him and his wife Hattie occasionally. Members of the family visited him in California from time to time: Grandpa and Grandma Peters traveled west on a Railroad Pass because he had been a railroad baggage master; Uncle George‘s visit is covered in his life story; Cousins Frances and Betty will have contributed to this to round out my sketchy information. Gus went to the store on an errand and was hit by a car. He had no identification on him so he was sent to a County hospital near Van Nuys where he received poor care until his identity was determined. My cousin Betty Dulebohne nursed him until he passed in 1987. He was buried in the San Fernando mission in his T shirt because Aunt Hattie said it was the only article of clothing he wore. His grave is not far from the memorial to Bob Hope and less than a mile from where my nephew Peter Dunbar has settled with Anna Whitlock. We visited his grave which is guarded by a statue of Saint Elizabeth."
Misc.: Charlottetown Guardian (PEI), Thursday, 11 August 1938: Celebrates 50th Wedding Anniversary - Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Peters, Summerside, are receiving congratulations on their 50th wedding anniversary which they celebrated quietly at their home on Milton Avenue with their family of eight children and their grandchildren. Four of the family came home from the States for the celebration. They are Mrs. Samuel Jones, with her husband and three children, Somerville, Mass.; Mrs. J. H. Gallant and little daughter, Portland, Maine; Ralph, of Hartford, Conn.; Augustin, of Los Angeles, California. Mr. and Mrs. Peters were very happy to have all their children home once more all together. Mr. Peters was born in Rustico 76 years ago and had the pleasure of being present at the recent celebration there of the founding of the Catholic parish. He came to Summerside with his parents when only three years old. His wife is a native of Mont Carmel. For many years Mr. Peters was the very efficient baggage-master of the C. N. R. at Summerside and was a favorite with the travelling public for his unfailing courtesy and faithfulness in his duties. He is now retired on his well deserved pension and is enjoying the evening of his life with his wife and the members of his family who remained with him in Summerside. Since his retirement, Mr. Peters had a most enjoyable visit to California, but he much prefers his old home town as a permanent home. The Guardian joins the many friends of Mr. and Mrs. Peters in hearty congratulations and all hope they will have many more years of happy wedded life.
Photo of Gus Peters also copied from above tree on Ancestry. This man led such an interesting life I wanted to ensure his memory was honored.
Back one generation to parents of Augustin Peters
Items in RED have been verified against parish register entries.
Last updated: 19 October 2025.