John H. Peterson

As printed in 1910

JOHN H. PETERSON.

John H. Peterson was but a boy when his father's family came to the colony of Bishop Hill, but he had some insight into the struggles that confronted those sturdy men and women, and throughout the period of his early manhood had to toil himself that he might raise the debt with which his land was burdened when the colony was incorporated into a village. The task that was set before him was accomplished through the application of determination united with unremitting industry, and now after having won a generous return from his labors, he has retired to enjoy the rest he so well deserves. The work of the farm, which is upon the outskirts of Bishop Hill, he has passed on to others, but he still makes his home in the house which holds many associations as the result of his own efforts to acquire it. He was born in Westmanland, Sweden, May 6, 1842. His father, Peter Ericson, who was a farmer, came to the United States in 1854 and joined the colony of Bishop Hill, with which he remained for about seven years. A man endowed with gigantic strength, he spent the greater part of his life working in the timber, and upon the dissolution of the colony received sixty-six acres in Galva township, to which he removed in 1861. At that time he was very poor, owing a debt to the colony more than twice the value of his farm, but he was not discouraged and set himself to accomplish the seemingly impossible and until his death, which occurred in his seventy-fifth year, he devoted himself assiduously to the cultivation of the soil.

John H. Peterson was not quite eighteen years of age when his father left the colony, and with a man's realization of the work that lay before him he called into play all his powers, his industry, his ambition and his determination to win success and a fair name from the cultivation of a farm heavily encumbered by debt. On his father's land he lived until 1897, having in the meantime not only cleared its title but also added twenty-nine acres to its area and made a number of valuable improvements which were a credit to his ability and foresight. In 1895 he bought a tract of one hundred and forty acres west of the village of Bishop Hill, to which he removed two years later, leading the home farm at that time. As for crops, he has raised corn and oats principally, and has also engaged somewhat in the stock business, raising annually from twenty to twenty-five head of cattle and from forty to sixty-five hogs, making a specialty of breeding Normandy hogs. Three years ago he retired from the active life and rents this farm, in addition to the old home one, with the exception of the house, barns and pasture, which he has retained for his own

JOHN H. PETERSON AM) l'A.Mir,Y

In Andover township, July lo, 1874, Mr. Peterson was united in marriage to Miss Johanna Johnson, a daughter of Nels Johnson, a farmer of Andover township. Four daughters were born to the couple: Emma, who is the wife of Ed Edson, a farmer of Osco township; and Julia, Esther and May, who are at home. On the 17th of September, 1906, Mrs. Peterson was released from the trials of this world. She was always a devout member of the Swedish Methodist Episcopal church, being very active in its work, and her life was brought to the close with the knowledge that as a Christian woman she was entitled to all the consolation which her faith was able to afford to those who had lived in obedience to its tenets.

Mr. Peterson has ever been a stanch adherent of the principles of the republican party, evincing a deep interest in local affairs. For three years he served as school director, and was overseer of the highways while that office was elective. He belongs to the Old Settlers Association and few among its members have a greater right to claim affiliation with it, for he knew the struggles and hardships of early days, and the success of his later years entitles him to the proud distinction of being numbered among the self-made men of this republic.

As printed in History of Henry County, Illinois (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.