Ancestor Spotlight: Martin Peterson

For a long time I’ve had an idea of featuring some of my ancestors from Scandinavia. Today will be the first. The following is a life sketch of one of my great-grandfathers, Martin Peterson. It was written by his son, Raymond. I love the little picture it provides of life in Denmark and also the idea of immigrant life in the United States. Enjoy!

Dad occasionally talked about his life in Denmark. He had to herd the pigs and the geese at the same time. Usually things went well, but at times a strong wind would blow. Geese by nature will always fly into the wind. The geese took off into the wind, but the pigs would not follow. You could feel the complete frustration he felt those many years before. Anyone who has tried to drive pigs can imagine trying to follow a flock of flying geese with a herd of hesitant pigs.

He told us of severe bone trouble in his legs. They had bothered him for some time. Then one day as he was herding the animals he fell asleep in a ditch. When he awoke because of pain in his legs, he could not get up or walk. Several hours later the family found him crying in the ditch. He was down for many months with bone decay in his leg. He said bone fragments worked out through the skin. He had deep, deep scars from these fragments. His legs always seemed to be his weakest body part.

He also told of one severe illness which he finally decided was appendicitis. He suffered the severe pain and general symptoms followed by severe bloating. He was sure he had had a ruptured appendix which must have somehow drained inwardly. Surgery for appendicitis was unknown at his time in Denmark.

He came to the United States about 1873 when he was 18. A brother and sister were living in Nebraska and one brother in Wisconsin. After a year or so here, he returned to Denmark because of illness in the family. He later came to Utah where his Uncle Cris Person lived.

Two of his sons remember their father going to Salt Lake to the fruit market to sell raspberries. All the boys took turns going with him and helping out. He was called the “Raspberry King of stall 46″ on Market Row. Jesse (a son) told me of the one trip he made when his father took him to a restaurant and ordered him a Salisbury steak. It was the first time Jesse had ever been to a restaurant. His father was very angry with him when he couldn’t eat all his food. He believed that nothing should be wasted. Along this same time, Dale (a son) remembers at one time all the raspberries could not be sold. They were getting old, so a house to house peddler finally bought them for $8. Dale asked him why he just didn’t dump them out at the point of the mountain. His father just looked at Dale’s shoes and said that $8 would buy a new pair of shoes for one of the boys.

At one time in his life, he tried to make a living out of the chicken and egg business. The price of eggs kept going down until finally he killed and dressed the chickens and that was the end of that venture.

He operated a successful fruit stand in downtown Pleasant Grover for some time after he quit making his trips to Salt Lake City.

Martin Peterson had many vocations. He was a good stone mason and built a number of stone houses. He was a well digger. He dug and walled many wells in his lifetime. He was also an expert on horses. Neighbors and friends called on him frequently to help take care of their sick animals. He was associated at one time in the buying and selling of stallions, but he felt his partner was not entirely honest in his dealings. So the partnership was dissolved.

He did not belong to any church. He always encouraged his family to attend church.

All of his boys remember their father and his pipe. He always had it in his mouth, but many times it was not lit. At one time he and some of his boys were cleaning up the yard. His pipe fell into the fire. He said he was too old to break in a new pipe, so he guessed it was time to quit.

The day he died he walked to town in the morning to get some cigars. He and George were eating dinner when he slumped over and that was the end of his life on this earth.