CHRIS C. PETERSEN.
It is no small accomplishment to have immigrated to a foreign land and to one where the customs, manners and speech are unfamiliar, to have provided one's self with a splendid education in the schools of the adopted country and to have become the owner of ninety-four acres of land in the comparatively short period of twenty years. Yet this is what Chris. C. Petersen, a farmer of Exira township, Audubon county, has accomplished in that length of time.
Chris C. Petersen was born in Denmark, January 16, 1876. He is not yet forty years old, yet he has made wonderful progress in his adopted country. Mr. Petersen's father and mother are K. S. and Carrie (Swentsen) Petersen. Chris C. was educated at first in Denmark and after leaving school there, he worked as a farm hand for three years. When he was nineteen years old, he came to America, arriving in this country in 1895. He located at Elkhorn, Iowa, and after working at various positions for some time, he entered the Danish Lutheran College at Elkhorn, where he pursued his education. From the Danish Lutheran College at Elkhorn, Mr. Peterson went to Avoca, Iowa, and after living in Avoca for fifteen months and doing various work, he rented a farm. After this he purchased the farm on which he now lives. It is located in Exira township. Mr. Petersen has invested twenty-five hundred dollars in improvements upon the place. He raises about thirty-five acres of corn each year and sells from the farm approximately seventy-five head of hogs. Mixed farming has proved to be very profitable to him, especially as he has been able to raise live stock in connection with various grains.
Chris C. Petersen was married on October 22, 1898, to Lena Jessen, the daughter of Peter and Mary Jessen. To this union four children have been born, Marn, Hilda, Kate and Ruby, all of whom are living at home.
Mrs. Petersen was born in Germany and her parents were also natives of that country. They came to America in 1893, and located near Elkhorn, where they lived on a farm for one year. They then moved to Exira township and lived on a farm in this township until 1904, when they retired and moved to Exira. Mrs. Jessen died in July, 1914. Peter and Mary Jessen were the parents of nine children: Marten, Jens, Peter M., Chris, Andrew, Niss, Mary, Kate and Lena, all of whom are living. Mr. Jessen is still living in Exira.
Chris C. Petersen is an independent voter. Mr. and Mrs. Petersen are members of the Danish Lutheran church and active in the affairs of this denomination.
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Transcribed by Gunter Schanzenbacher, Waynesboro, PA, April 3, 2013 from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pg. 687.
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