Peter Heinrich Petersen, Martha Krohn, and children
Peter Heinrich Petersen (named for his maternal grandfather) was born on January 25, 1884 in Nebraska, the second son of Hans and Catherina Petersen. His early years were spent in Hebron, Thayer County, where his parents and grandparents worked as farmers and laborers.
Around 1890 the family (which by then included a younger sister, Margaretha) moved to Chicago. By 1900 at age 16 Peter was working as a day laborer; his father Hans was a house painter and carpenter, though ill-health was soon to force older sons Louis and Peter to help support their parents and younger siblings.
Peter moved with his family to Wisconsin (where an uncle, Andrew Petersen, lived) and around 1906 he married Martha Krohn, daughter of John C. and Augusta Krohn, originally from Gorke, Pomerania. Martha came from a large family (she had ten siblings) and was born in 1889. In the 1910 census Peter is listed as a teamster, driving a cart for a furniture store. His uncle Andrew was also a teamster.
Peter and Martha's first daughter, Germaine, was born in 1908 in Wisconsin. Twins Margaret and Myrtle followed in 1911. Shortly afterwards the family moved back to Chicago where Evelyn (1913), Lawrence (1915) and their last child, Alvin (1917) were born.
Peter died unexpectedly of nephritis in September 1916 so he never knew his last son. He was buried at Mt. Greenwood cemetery in Blue Island.
Martha moved her family back to Milwaukee where she worked as a washerwoman to support the children. Son Lawrence died in 1928 and was buried in Pilgrim's Rest Cemetery in Brookfield WI. By 1930 Martha had remarried Herbert Allen (born in 1885 in Maine) and the children had a new stepfather.
Germaine married Erwin Zube, a Wisconsin native, and had a daughter Lorraine. Twins Margaret (Marge) and Myrtle married Albert Lehrmann and Harvey Doerr, respectively. Evelyn married Horton Leverenz. Throughout the decades the children stayed in close contact with their Petersen relatives in Chicago, sending regular photo updates as they grew up.
