FERDINAND PETERSEN

View Portrait of
Ferdinand Petersen and Family

Prominent among the agriculturists of Farmington township is Ferdinand Petersen, the owner of four hundred acres of valuable land in this county. His birth occurred in Holstein, Germany, on the 21st of May, 1847, his parents being Frederick and Christina (Hass) Petersen, who spent their entire lives in that country. Frederick Petersen passed away about 1883, having for a number of years survived his wife, who was called to her final rest in 1853.

Ferdinand Petersen acquired his education in the schools of the fatherland and also served in the German army for three years, participating in the war with France in 1870-1. In the spring of 1872 he crossed the Atlantic to the United States, making his way direct to Scott county, Iowa, and arriving in Davenport with a cash capital of but one dollar. Finding immediate employment a necessity, he secured work as a farm hand with Jack Bruce, a pioneer settler of Scott county, with whom he remained for five months. During the following five months he worked on farms in the vicinity and then came to Cedar county, here laboring as a farm hand for three years longer. On the expiration of that period he rented a tract of four hundred acres in association with his brother Christian, operating the place for two years, while subsequently they cultivated a rented farm on one hundred and sixty acres for one year.

At the end of that time Mr. Petersen of this review rented one hundred and sixty acres of the farm on which he now resides, later purchasing the property. His next purchase made him the owner of an adjoining tract of eighty acres, while from his wife he received a quarter section of land, so that his holdings in this county now embrace four hundred acres. He also owns one hundred and sixty acres of rich and productive land in Highland township, O’Brien county, Iowa, leasing the property. The many substantial improvements on his home place, which include a handsome new residence, barns and other outbuildings, all stand as monuments to his industry and enterprise. The land is under a high state of cultivation, and from his farming interests he derives a substantial annual income, supplying him with all of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.

On the 7th of February, 1877, in Davenport, Mr. Petersen was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Sophia Jockheck, born in Quincy, Illinois, October 17, 1851, a daughter of E. F. and Sophia (Steinhaugen) Jockheck, who took up their abode among the early settlers of this county and still reside in Durant. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Petersen have been born eight children, as follows: Ernest F., who makes his home in Sunbury, Iowa; Adolph F., of this county; Alma M. S., who gave her hand in marriage to Paul A. Lage, of Cedar county; Mabel L., who is the wife of Richard O. Petersen, of Scott county; George H., at home; Ferdinand H., a twin brother of George, who passed away on the 16th of April, 1906; and Viola S. and Mary E., who are likewise still under the parental roof.

Since becoming a naturalized American citizen Mr. Petersen has exercised his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the democracy. For two years he ably served his fellow townsmen in the capacity of road supervisor. He is president of the Sunbury Krieger Verein, a German society, and also belongs to the German Lutheran church, with which his wife and children are likewise identified. Arriving in the United States with practically no capital save a stout heart and willing hands, he realized the fact that while in this country labor is unhampered by caste or class, it is only by unfaltering diligence, guided by sound judgment, that success can be secured. By the exercise of these qualities he has made steady progress and has long been numbered among the substantial and esteemed residents of Farmington township.