The Petersen Families of Scott County, Iowa

The history of Theodore Petersen constitutes, an interesting and important chapter in the commercial records of Davenport for through forty years he was classed with the leading merchants of the city. His devotion to his business interests, his close application and his thorough reliability were features in his life that won for him the respect of his colleagues and associates and constituted an example that is well worthy of emulation.

He was born November 6, 1836, on the island of Fehmarn, Germany, and spent the period of his minority in his native country. But the opportunities of the new world constituted for him an irresistible call and in 1858 he severed the ties which bound him to Germany and crossed the Atlantic. For a year he remained a resident of New York and then came to Davenport, entering business circles in this city as a salesman in the employ of Otto Klug, with whom he continued for two years. He afterward went to Chicago where he remained for two years, being employed there by Sehn Brothers, the firm of Herzberg & Goodman and Kehoe & Company. On the expiration of that period he returned to Davenport and in 1872 formed a partnership with Fred Kruse at 310 West Second street. There they conducted business for many years and in that period developed an enterprise of large proportions, carrying an extensive stock and meeting the demands of the public in a liberal business policy and with progressive methods. Systematic and methodical in the conduct of the business, careful in management and reliable in all commercial transactions and relations he won an enviable reputation and was accorded a volume of business that made the undertaking one of substantial profit. After the death of Mr. Kruse in 1902 Mr. Petersen retired, turning over his interests to his son, Julius N.

It was in Davenport that Mr. Petersen was married to Miss Katherine Weis, and unto them were born five children: Theodore, who died in 1897 at the age of twenty-seven years; George P.; Julius N., junior partner in the firm of Petersen & Petersen; Olga, the wife of Louis E. Roddewig; and Elsa, the wife of Philip A. Sonntag.

Mr. Petersen passed away on the 18th of April, 1904. He was prominent among the German-American residents of Davenport and was one of the organizers of the Turngemeinde, of which he was a member for over a quarter of a century. He preferred to do his duty as a private citizen yet was never neglectful of his obligations to the public welfare but gave of his time and means to further municipal interests. As the architect of his own fortune he builded wisely and well. No vain hope alluded him to the new world. He had no untried standards but at all times recognized the fact that indefatigable labor is the basis of success and that commercial integrity constitutes an indispensable feature therein. He therefore labored earnestly to win his advancement and for a considerable period occupied a conspicuous and creditable place among the successful business men of this city.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

J. H. C. PETERSEN.

Perhaps no man in Davenport has done more toward advancing the mercantile interests of the city than J. H. C. Petersen, who has now retired from active life and lives in the enjoyment of well earned rest at No. 510 West Sixth street. He was born in Germany and as a young man crossed the Atlantic in 1860, determined to prove the truth of the reports which he heard concerning the opportunities of the new world and hoping that he might secure advantages which would lead to substantial progress in business lines. He came direct to Scott county and his limited financial resources made it imperative that he secure immediate employment. For a year, therefore, he worked as a farm hand but regarded this only as an initial step to broader and more important labor. In 1862 he turned his attention to merchandising and in that field continued for a long period, his labors being attended with a most gratifying measure of success. The beginning was a humble one and for a few years he was associated with a partner, to whom he later sold his interest. In the meantime the business had been substantially developed and his experience had brought him valuable knowledge concerning the best methods of conducting mercantile interests. In 1872 he established business independently, being then located at No. 219 Second street. The growth of his trade enabled him later to include No. 220 Second street as a part of his store and still later he utilized the building at No. 217- 2\yy2 Second street. His operations embraced many fields of activity. No potential demand of his patrons was unnoticed and while his own enterprise grew in size it was also advancing mercantile progress throughout Davenport. In time it became one of the foremost mercantile establishments of the city and largely set the standard for activity in his especial field. He is recognized as one who has contributed much toward the city's financial prosperity and commercial interests and up to the time of his retirement was regarded as one of the most prominent and honored merchants here.

In 1844 Mr. Petersen wedded Miss Johanna Elsbeth Hansen. They became the parents of ten children, five of whom are deceased. The living are: M.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

The simple narration of the incidents in the early life of Adolph Petersen and the struggles which disciplined him into usefulness in this community add to the weight of testimony that the stamp of leadership among men cannot be obscured by untoward circumstances nor obliterated by the marks of hardship. He is a native of Struxdorf-Angeln, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where he was born November 22, 1858. His father was principal teacher in the school of the village, and when he died circumstances caused the emigration to America of the widow and her five children in 1872. While in New York, on the very threshold of the new world of opportunity, the little family met with disaster, the loss of all their means by theft, and they reached Davenport with no resources whatever.

Upon Adolph, the eldest of the four brothers, then twelve years old, devolved the responsibility of contributing as liberally as possible to the support of his widowed mother and the younger children. His first work was in a sash and door factory and from there he went on a farm, doing plowman's work before he was fourteen. Back into town he came and worked as a painter and as handy boy in grocery stores. His education was forwarded as circumstances permitted. For one and a half terms he attended the public night school conducted by Principal Roderick Rose, afterward mayor of Davenport. The next chapter of his life has its setting in a printing office, where he engaged as inky devil and nimble footed carrier in 1876. Here he seemed to feel that he had discovered his calling and life work and learned the printer's trade in its various branches, taking up as a consequence newspaper work, particularly on the German press.

In July, 1884, he founded his own paper, the Iowa Reform. Soon after he was joined in partnership by his brother Gerhard and this business arrangement has continued to the present time. The Reform was at first a weekly paper but later was given semiweekly publication, and as such has been published regularly with growing favor. In 1909 occurred the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first appearance of this sterling German paper, the Iowa Reform. A splendid silver jubilee illustrated edition was issued to mark the occasion and this edition, going into thousands of homes, was greatly complimented and appreciated.

From its beginning until the present time Adolph Petersen has been manager of the newspaper enterprise. In the editorial and technical departments he has enjoyed the expert assistance of his brother Gerhard and also John Jebens, who has been associated with him for more than twenty years, August Westphal, and others.

Adolph Petersen has borne an important part in planning new enterprises for the welfare of Davenport and in forwarding them to success. His activity for public measures has had a wider scope than that bounded by corporation lines. It has been natural that the German portion of the community should have the major portion of his labor and his solicitude, and for the German people, especially of this region of his adopted country, he has toiled indefatigably and intelligently.

These efforts have been recognized in good measure. He is at this time president — first speaker — of the great Davenport Turngemeinde, also president of the German-American Press Association of the West, an organization covering the states of Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota and Nebraska, and in 1910 holding its annual convention in Omaha.

Adolph Petersen, a loyal and patriotic American, has found nothing inconsistent in cherishing a deep love for the land of his birth and an abiding admiration for her spirit, her traditions and her language. In his editorial writings he has steadily advised parents of German birth or descent to teach the noble mother tongue to their children, that their heritage in all that is best in the land beyond the sea be not lost to them.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

WALTER H. PETERSEN.

Although one of the younger members of the Davenport bar, Walter H. Petersen has made a creditable record as one whose ability enables him to successfully cope with the intricate problems of jurisprudence and to meet in forensic combat those who have long been established in practice. He was born in Davenport, October 6, 1877, "d is a son of Max D. and Caroline (Runge) Petersen, by whom excellent educational privileges were afforded him. After passing through consecutive grades in the public schools to his graduation from the high school with the class of 1895, he pursued an academic course in the State University and afterward entered the law school of the same institution, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Law degree in the class of 1901. He further prepared for his profession in the Harvard Law School at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he won his diploma in 1902.

In October of the same year Mr. Petersen opened an office in Davenport and soon formed a partnership with Victor L. Littig, under the firm style of Littig & Petersen. Subsequently he was associated with W. M. Chamberlin and the firm of Chamberlin & Petersen enjoyed a growing practice until June 15, 1907, when they severed their interests and Mr. Petersen has since practiced alone. Success has attended him and he credits any such favors of fortune to the habits of careful preparation, study of his cases from the side of law and evidence, the arrangement of the points of argument and strict attention to business. He possesses, moreover, superior oratorical ability, his fine voice giving power to his natural eloquence and thus he has won the reputation of being remarkably successful with juries and a skillful cross examiner. He is a young man of high ideals in his profession and in the seven years of his practice in Davenport has made steady progress. He is seldom, if ever, at fault in the application of a legal principle and his careful analysis enables him to readily determine the salient points in the case and to give relative value to each point in his argument before court or jury.

On the loth of June, 1903, Mr. Petersen was married to Miss Mary Cass, a native of Chicago. He belongs to the Commercial Club and to various social organizations, including the Rock Island, the Outing, Automobile and Arsenal Golf Clubs — associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and recreation. He is also identified with business organizations and he attends the Episcopal church. In his political views he is a pronounced republican and has done much active campaign work. He does with all of his might and with a sense of conscientious obligation whatever his hand finds to do and is a social, genial, generous man, enthusiastically devoted to the interests of his native city and taking a share in all of its business and social Hfe.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.