Peter O. Peterson Biography

	This biography is from "Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated
	compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography,
	including biographical sketches of prominent old settlers and 
	representative citizens of South Dakota..." Published by G. A. 
	Ogle & Co., Chicago, 1898. Pages 471-472

	Scan, OCR and editing by Joy Fisher, jfisher@sdgenweb.com, 1999.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.

	This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside
	a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at

	http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm

PETER O. PETERSON is an honored resident of Brookings, where he is living in a 
comfortable home that is the center of true hospitality.  He is one of the 
oldest settlers of Brookings county, formerly being one of its successful 
farmers and business men.  He was born in Hadeland, Norway, January 20, 1849.  
His parents, Ole and Berthe (Gilbertson) Peterson, were both natives of 
Hadeland.  Ole Peterson learned the blacksmith trade in his native home and 
followed same for several years. He made a specialty of manufacturing mowing 
scythes. In 1852 he came with his jamily to America, spending eleven weeks on 
the ocean, from Christiana to Quebec, in a sailing vessel, encountering severe 
storms. He settled in La Grange township, Walworth county, Wisconsin, where he 
cleared a farm in the woods. His death, which was caused by the kick of a horse, 
occurred in January, 1874.  He was a member of the Lutheran church and a stanch 
Republican. His wife, Mrs. Berthe Peterson, died at Lake Preston, South Dakota, 
May 1, 1890. They were the parents of four sons and four daughters, three of 
whom died in infancy, of whom we have the following record: Peter O.; Randi, 
Mrs. H. A. Nyland, deceased, Cottonwood, Minnesota; Bertha, Mrs. Knute Lewis, 
Lake Preston, South Dakota; Anna, Mrs. Jacob Johnson, Lake Preston, South 
Dakota; and Carrie, Brookings, South Dakota.

P.O. Peterson, our subject, was about three years of age when he came with his 
parents to America.  At the age of eleven years he began to attend the district 
school, and, although his services were required on the farm, during the summer 
and much of the time in winter, he displayed more than ordinary perseverance 
and, by studying at home during his intervals of leisure, he succeeded in 
mastering the common-school course and subsequently attended the Palmyra high 
school and the state normal school at Whitewater, Wisconsin. He then taught 
several terms in Wisconsin, and a few months in Dakota, including a month to 
complete a term at Brookings.  In 1878 he moved to Lyon county, Minnesota, and 
the following spring to Brookings county, South Dakota, where he took a 
homestead claim of one hundred acres in Aurora township.  Canby, Minnesota, 
fifty miles distant, was then the nearest railroad town. He lived on this place 
three years and still owns it and now has eight hundred acres, mostly under 
cultivation.

In the fall of i88o he was nominated on the Republican ticket for county 
register of deeds and received one hundred and forty-five majority out of nine 
hundred votes. The returning boards, however, threw out several precincts and 
declared his opponent elected.  He instituted a suit to obtain possession of the 
office and the supreme court of the territory finally decided in his favor.  
This decision was not reached, however, until 1882, and in the meanwhile he had 
been re-elected to the office by a large majority and took possession of the 
office.  He was again elected in 1884, serving in all a little over four years.  
He was subsequently a partner of Judge J. O. Andrews in the real estate and loan 
business for two years, and, from January 1, 1891, to January 1, 1893, served as 
deputy register of deeds.  In 1892 he was nominated for state treasurer of South 
Dakota on the Populist ticket, and was defeated by W. W. Taylor, since notorious 
for his defalcations in office.

In April, 1887, Mr. Peterson was united in marriage to Miss Rachel Hovey, 
daughter of John and Gro Hovey.  Mrs. Peterson was born in Dane county, 
Wisconsin, and came to Brookings county, South Dakota, in 1885.  They are the 
parents of four children, upon whom they have bestowed the following names:  
Helen, Edith, Orvis and Ruth.  Mr. Peterson belongs to the Masonic order, 
holding memberships in the blue lodge and chapter.  In early life he was a 
Republican in political views.  In 1890 he was a delegate to the first Populist 
state convention, which was held at Huron, South Dakota, and ever since has 
identified with that movement.