Martin Petersen

PETERSEN JOHNSON

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 10/13/2010 at 19:18:44

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Martin Petersen
By Ellen Dunker

Martin Petersen came to Sergeant Bluff from Orslev, Denmark where he was born March 13, 1852. He arrived in America, April 22, 1975. He was from a family of ten, but only he and his brother, Hans, who settled in Nebraska, came to the United States.

On April 17, 1876, he married Mary Katherine Johnson who was born October 8, 1857, in Tylstrog, Denmark, and who had come to America with her parents and three sisters. Her parents went to Utah accompanied by one sister and joined the Mormon religion.

Martin and Mary Katherine worked for Albro Foster and Peter Iverson until purchasing a farm in 1880, five miles south of Sergeant Bluff, of 160 acres where they farmed and raised cattle. Fred Godfredson, a grandson of a near neighbor, lives there now, as his father purchased the farm in 1918.

Eleven children were born to this couple. Louise, the eldest, was born May 8, 1977 and married Chris Feldman, February 8, 1906. They were the parents of four children: Edna Thomson of Kingsley, and Esther, Mabel, and Clarence of Sergeant Bluff. Edna married Lynn Thomson, August 30, 1932, and to them was born, Carolyn, who married Robert Blighton on July 31, 1977. They have two children: Andrew and Christal. Louise died December 12, 1962.

Peter Carl, eldest son, married Clara Johnson, February 22, 1905. A daughter, Beverly, and a son, David, were born to them. Beverly married Darrell Jepson and to them were born, Chris, Charles, and Cheri.

Albert Petersen was born March 18, 1881, and married Josephine Nystrom, February 23, 1906. A son, Floyd, was born to this union, August 29, 1907. Floyd married Tempest Edwall. They had two sons, William, born in 1934, and Richard, born in 1936. William is a dentist in Florida and has seven sons and one adopted daughter, Richard, has no children.

George married Freda Nystrom on May 10, 1906. To them was born a son, Adolph, who married Bessie Hulse. George passed away March 28, 1941, and Adolph passed away January 15, 1962.

Hans was born November 7, 1885. He married Emelia Halverson on April 7, 1920. They farmed many years in Nebraska and Iowa. He passed away February 23, 1971.

Anna Marie Petersen was born December 10, 1888, and passed away June 1927. She married Nels Fries, January 26, 1911. The couple had three children. Everett lives in Salem, Oregon, and he and his wife, Bonnie, have two daughters named Terri and Pamela. Terri is married and has one child. Grace the oldest daughter, married George Norton and they were the parents of Barry, born June 3, 1933. Barry has two children, Steven and Holly. Florence, youngest daughter, married Albert Krommenhoek and they had three children: Joanne, who married George Walters and had two daughters, Lauri and Kerri; Robert Allen; and Carol, who married Robert Caldwell and had one son named Allen Robert.

William Petersen married Mina Fredrickson on March 11, 1914. Dora, their eldest daughter, married Roy Buchanan in February 1938. Richard was born to them in September 1959. He married in 1982. He married Crystal Pocan.

Donald was born July 31, 1917. He married Helen Ward and to them were born, Lynda, Donna, and William. Carol married Albert Houchinsand; to them was born, Doreen who has three children, named Debbie, Michael and Hope. Debbie has one son. Ray was born January 28, 1923. HE married Josephine Crooks in 1953. Ronald was selected to be the name of their first child and Anne was born June 11, 1965.

Emma Elena was born March 19, 1893. She married Carl Jepson, March 22, 1911. He died in April 1938. Emma was a seamstress for many years and passed away April 8, 1983.

Martin was born March 13, 1895. He married Charlotte Almstrum in March 1928. Mary Ellen, their daughter, was born February 1, 1929. She had three children, Connie, Debbie and Martin Day. Martin’s family lived in Washington state and he passed away November 1, 1980.

Harry married Elsie Lebeck, July 1926. He was born August 28, 1897, and passed away October 4, 1940. For a number of years, he ran a garage in Sergeant Bluff.

Ellen, the youngest of the eleven children and only one living, was born February 14, 1903. She married Henry Dunker in 1930. Three sons were born to them. Gordon was born November 21, 1930. He is a field engineer for Square D Company and resides in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He married Nancy Bethke on July 6, 1957. This couple has four children: Lori, Andy, Chris and Keri. Lori married Tom Vreeland and has three daughters: Jennifer, Angelique, and Heidi. Roger, the second son, was born February 18, 1937. He married Marilyn Erickson, November 26, 1961, and works with microfilming at Greenville, Illinois. His three children are Janine, Jon and Jerry. Donald, the youngest son, was born April 2, 1940, and married Katherine Meyers, April 17, 1960. They have four children: Daniel, Thomas, Patrick and Susan, and reside in Omaha, Nebraska.