For more than a quarter of a century Peter M. Pedersen has resided upon the farm on section 24, Hartland township, Worth County, which is still his place of residence and which he has brought under a high state of cultivation, converting it into one of the attractive farm properties of northern Iowa. He is a representative of that large number of citizens who have come to this state from Wisconsin and who have had their birth in or trace their ancestry to Norway.
Mr. Pedersen is a native of Dane county, Wisconsin, born November 23, 1863, his parents being Mr. and Mrs. Mathies Pedersen, who were both natives of Norway. The father crossed the Atlantic in a sailing vessel in 1859, arriving at length at the port of Quebec, whence he made his way to Rock county, Wisconsin. In 1869 he left the Badger state to become a resident of Iowa, settling in Bristol Township, Worth County, near Northwood, where he purchased a tract of land. For six years he continued to operate that farm and then removed to Humboldt county, Iowa, where he cultivated a rented farm. He next became a resident of Bristol township, Worth county, where he operated a rented farm for two years and on the expiration of that period he purchased eighty acres in Hartland township of the same county, upon which he made his home for twenty years. At length he retired from active business life in 1900 and took up his abode in Northwood, where his remaining days were passed in the enjoyment of a well earned rest. He died in 1915, at the age of seventy-eight years, and his widow now resides in New Richmond, Wisconsin, with her daughter, Mrs. Thomas Lee, and is now seventy-five years of age. She came to the new world from Norway with her parents, who after eight weeks spent upon the ocean reached the American shore and afterward located in Rock county, Wisconsin, where her father passed away. Her mother then removed with the family to North Dakota and died in that state in 1913, at the notable old age of ninety-four years.
The boyhood days of Peter M. Pedersen were spent in Worth county and its public school system accorded him his early educational privileges. He later spent four years in Traill county, North Dakota, and in 1891 he purchased his present farm, comprising one hundred and seventy-one acres of rich and productive land on section 24, Hartland township. To the further improvement and development of this property he has since given his attention and the results achieved are most satisfactory. He has today one of the valuable farm properties of the county and is numbered among the leading, successful and highly respected agriculturists.
In 1891, in Worth county, Iowa, Mr. Pedersen was united in marriage to Miss Maggie Enersen, a daughter of Ener S. and Nellie (Johnsen) Kvambeck, natives of Norway. On coming to the United States her mother first located in Chicago, Illinois, where she supported her family by keeping boarders, for at that time she was a widow and had three children. Subsequently she removed to Howard county, Iowa, where she married Ener S. Kvambeck, and later they located in Hartland township, Worth county, where she and her husband spent their remaining days on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. She died April 3, 1891, at the age of seventy-five years, and he passed away April 6, 1909, at the age of eighty-six years. Mrs. Pedersen was born in Howard county, Iowa, July 13, 1862, and by her marriage has become the mother of seven children, namely: Gilbert, Minnie, Arthur, Leona, Helen, Elmer and Wilford.
In his political views Mr. Pedersen has always been a stalwart republican since attaining, the right of franchise but has never been an office seeker. He and his family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church and in the community where they reside they are highly esteemed because of their fidelity to high standards. Mr. Pedersen has lived to witness many changes since he attended the old log schoolhouse in Bristol township and has borne his part in furthering the work of progress that has made Worth one of the leading counties in this great commonwealth.
Transcribed by Gordon Felland, Jan. 2002