Peter Anderton served in Company H or the 76th Regiment of Pennsylvania from 15 October 1864 to 18 July 1865. He was born 6 April, 1844 at Wigan, Lancashire, England, the son of John and Mary Leather Anderton. He emigrated to America early in the year 1864 with his mother and brothers Thomas, Richard and Levi. They joined the family members who had come earlier at St. Clair, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The Civil War was "on" in America at the time. Peter had just turned twenty years of age. Upon arrival, he was approached by a rich man who had been conscripted and agreed to take his place a soldier in the Union Army for the sum of $800.00 in cash. Peter served one year for this amount of money. When the war was over, he was discharged from the service of the United States on 18 July 1865 at Raleigh, North Carolina. His discharge certificate says he was five feet, two and 3/4 tall, had a light complexion, hazel eyes, and brown hair. When he was enrolled his occupation was that of a miner. There is more to his story, of course, but I've just included this part about his service in the US Civil War while he was still a British subject. Following his discharge, he and brother Thomas Anderton returned to Ashton-Under-Lyne, Lancashire, England and married their women they had left behind there. Peter and his bride, Elizabeth Plant Anderton, immediately returned to Pennsylvania, where he worked in the mines for a time, returned to England another time and worked in the mines there, then came back to the US where he and his family remained and reared a large family.

[Sources: Research of Cloyd W. Anderton; Oral interviews of Raymond L. Carpenter, a grandson of Peter Anderton; and Discharge certificate, copy in possession of Lila C. Eubanks, Provo, Utah, USA]