Andrew Petersen Family

Andrew Petersen Family

             The Andrew Petersen Family
Mathilda, Charles    Alma   Lena   Walter  Andrew
             Till
Taken about 1900 in Platte Co.

Who's Who

Andrea "Andrew" Petersen, a brother of Carsten Peteresen, Sr., was my grandmother Brunken's uncle. 

Andreas "Andrew" Petersen (1853 – 1920)

Mathilda Louise "Tillie" (Hansen) Petersen (1871 – 1944)

Charles Andrew "Carl" Petersen (1889 – 1944)

Alma Johannah Petersen (1891 – 1935)

Helene Mathilda "Lena" Petersen (1893 – 1970)

Mathilda Louise "Till" Petersen (1896 – 1994)

Walter Hans Petersen (1897 – 1973)

"Andrew and Mathilda had nine children but only five lived to adulthood. All but one were born in Platte County.  The last child [Andrew Alfred] was born in Antelope County, Nebraska."[1]

Not shown in the portrait were two children who had died before the photograph was taken -
Anna G Petersen (1895 – 1895) and Edward Petersen (1898 – 1899) and two children who were born after the photograph was taken - Infant Son Petersen (1901 – 1901) and Andrew Alfred Petersen (1902 – 1917).

Story

Andrew Petersen had acquired and lived on a farm adjoining the Carsten Petersen, Sr. home so the families knew each other fairly well. He sold the land to his brother, Carsten, and moved his family to Neligh, Nebraska. This explains the many references to Neligh in the postcard messages.

"Andrew brought his family to Antelope County in 1902. They came by train to Oakdale-the end of the line. Then they went by livery rig to the farm home of Hans Schutt in a blizzard. Mrs. Hans Schutt was the Esther Petersen that Mathilda had accompanied to this country. The family moved to a farm four miles east, one mile north and one-half mile east of Neligh where Andrew bought 320 acres from Theodore Cape."[1]

Date

Circa 1900. Walter Hans Petersen (born 12 Sep 1897) could be about three years old in the picture.

Location

Platte County, Nebraska - from the caption on the photograph.

Biography Notes

The following handwritten notes appear to be an addendum to the typed biography of Andrew Petersen.

The Children:  (In the order that they lived in the farm) 

Lena and her husband Carl Lorenzen moved from the home place in 1915 to the Hunt place about five miles east.  In about 1917 they purchased land southeast of Neligh across the road from his brother Tom.  (Tom's wife Margaretha (Margrata) and Lena were cousins.)  Here they built a new home.  They had no children.  Lena died in 1970. Carl now lives in Neligh. (1985) 

In 1915, Charles and Walter moved onto the home place.  In 1918, Walt married Hazel Applegate. They had one son Wallace (1919-1976).  Later Walt married Edna Koinjan[sp].  They had three children – Dale (1928), Richard (1931) and Marlene (1933). 

In 1920, after Andrew died, Mathilda kept house for her son Charles on the home place.  In 1921,  Till and her husband Leonard Sponhower moved to the farm, too.  For a time Charles (Chick) and his mother lived in the north part of the house and then they rented just the house on the farm one-half mile west.

Till and Leonard had two sons – Stanley (1921-1924) and Paul (1926) 

In 1923, Charles married Mary (Anna Maria) Lorenzen a sister of Carl. (See Petersen, Charles)

In 1919 Alma married William Bennett.  In 1926, they moved onto the family farm, living there until shortly before Alma's death in 1935.  They had two children  …. 

Notes

1. ANDREAS (ANDREW) PETERSEN - A biography.  Photocopies of associated family records including the portrait shown above were sent to me by Carolyn Petersen on August 27, 2014 [2]. 
2. Carolyn had obtained photocopies of genealogy records including this family portrait from Mathilda Louise "Till" (Petersen) Sponhower over 20 years ago.