Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1915
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 978
JOHN E. PETERSON

The success of men in business or any vocation, depends upon character as well as upon knowledge, it being a self-evident proposition that honesty is the best policy. Business demands confidence and where that is lacking, business ends. In every community some men are known for their upright lives, strong common sense and moral worth, rather than for their wealth or political standing. Their neighbors and acquaintances respect them and the younger generations heed their example. Among such men in Harrison county, Iowa, is John E. PETERSON, a large landowner and implement and auto dealer, at Persia. He is a man of modest and unassuming demeanor, is well-informed and a fine type of the reliable self-made American. He is a man who, in every respect, merits the high esteem in which he is universally held.

John E. PETERSON was born on December 21, 1880, at Sheffield, Illinois, the son of Andrew and Cenia (JORGENSON) PETERSON. Andrew PETERSON was born in Denmark and left there when about nineteen years of age. He settled at Sheffield, Illinois, working as a farm hand. He came to Shelby county, Iowa, in 1884, and rented land for a few years. He then bought eighty acres, six miles northwest of Shelby, which he still owns, although he has now retired and lives in Shelby, Iowa. His wife, the mother of John E. PETERSON, was born in Denmark, also, and is now living with her husband in a cozy home in Shelby. To Andrew and Cenia (JORGENSON) PETERSON six children have been born, John E., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Martha Paul, of Washington township, William, who is employed by his brother, John E., and three children who died in infancy.

John E. PETERSON was reared on a farm and, though he attended only the district schools, he was able to acquire a very good education and, throughout his life, has been a wide-awake business man. He began hard work at the age of sixteen as a farm hand and when twenty-one, rented farm land. At the age of twenty-four, he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land and made many improvements of this farm, including trees, fertilization, fences and outbuildings. Mr. PETERSON cultivated this land for nine years and now owns two hundred and fifty-seven acres in Washington township.

Mr. PETERSON came to Persia and started a garage in 1913, and later, branched out to the implement business and now carries a stock worth about eighteen thousand dollars.

John E. PETERSON was married in 1901 to Effie Maud SMITH, who was born in 1881 in Des Moines. To this union two children have been born, George and Virginia S., both of whom live at home.

The cares of business and agriculture have prevented Mr. PETERSON from taking an active part in politics. Nevertheless, he is an ardent Republican and is now a member of the Persia city council, a position which he is filling with credit to himself and to those who elected him. Mr. PETERSON and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has a wide membership in fraternal organizations. He belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, in all of which he is more or less active. John E. PETERSON is a man who, in every sense, merits the respect and high esteem in which he is universally held in the town, township and county where he lives. He is a man of public spirit, intellectual attainments and exemplary character.

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