Cowles Bog

V isolated labor at the spinning wheel. After his release, he was compelled to join the Huzzars, but in about three days he deserted and went to Antwerp, where he was engaged as hotel porter, on account of ability to speak French and German, until he made enough to take him to America, three months later. He soon went to work on the Sault Ste. Marie Canal at Lake Superior, then soon to Detroit, Chicago, then to different places, and on steamers on Lake Michigan. In 1854, he began work for Hiram Joy, the Chicago ice king, remaining nine years, when he bought land near Chesterton ; for a year was in Chicago, also at Lake Superior, where he made considerable money. For some time, he was Deputy Sheriff in Houghton, Mich., near Lake Superior. He is the originator of the present brick-yards at New Porter. Since 1875, He has farmed. For four years before, he kept store at New Porter. He has been a member of the I. 0. 0. F. Lodge. Since 1876, he has been Justice of the Peace. He was married November 15, 1855, to Elizabeth Foederath, a German. She died exactly ten years after her marriage. In 1868, he married Theresa Kuhn, also a German. He has five children living. He is Independent in politics, a public-spirited citizen and a live business man.

Passage source: Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana : Historical and Biographical, published 1882.

Peterson left home and came to the United States, and settled in Chicago, and was engaged in building the early Chicago "plank streets." In a short time, he went to Aurora, 111., and learned and worked at upholstering for about three years. He then went to Lyons, Iowa, and established his business there, but failed, and as he was but nineteen years of age, and lost all, he shipped on a steamboat as " roustabout " to St. Louis, where he was without work and food for about three days, but soon got work near, on a farm, for all winter. He afterward bought a team, and began farming in Madison County, 111. After two years, he moved to Westchester Township, and began farming in Waverly, remaining there eleven years, when he bought his present farm of 209 acres of fine land, near Chesterton, on which he lives in a beautifully situated brick, nearly hidden by a fine grove. He has altogether about three hundred and thirty acres, indicating him to be a successful farmer and financier. He has been a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church. He has always been a Republican, bjit in local affairs is liberal. He was married, in 1861, to Christina S. Carlson, a native of Sweden. They have four children - Charles A., Ida B., Arthur 0. and Cora M. In 1863, he went to Sweden on business, and on the way there and back he visited and traveled through Norway, Germany, France, Denmark, all Great Britain and Ireland, to see the countries.

Passage source: Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana : Historical and Biographical, published 1882.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Westchester Township - 16,139 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.