Thursday, July 26, 2012

Ole Peterson & the Peterson Family (3)

Part Three - Olaus and the Next Generation
If you missed Part 1 of the story, go here . . .
If you missed Part 2 of the story, go here . . .

The family of Peter Olsen Moe and Anna Augundsdatter Lad came to Wisconsin from Norway in 1864 and eventually settled in the Town of Blue Mounds. Their eldest child Ole, who went by the name Ole Peterson had come over a couple of years earlier. After a brief stint in the Union Army, he would set down roots in Blue Mounds and would be a founding father of the Village of Mount Horeb. By the turn of the century, large parts of his farm would be absorbed into village limits. After his death, Ole would leave a large family in the Blue Mounds / Mount Horeb area to carry on. One of children, Olaus would build a house just a few doors down from the Peterson farmhouse, operate his own business and raise his family.

Present-day north-central Mount Horeb showing the heart of the former Ole
Peterson farm with the farmhouse (toward the top). Also note Ole's Main
Street house, the Olaus Peterson house and Peterson Plumbing and Heating.