BIOGRAPHY
CARSTEN PETERSEN, SR.
Carsten Petersen, Sr., engaged in general agricultural pursuits on section 9, Lost Creek township, is the owner of an excellent farm of four hundred and thirty-eight acres. He was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, near Bredstedt, September 19, 1849, a son of Carsten and Anna K. (Jacobson) Petersen, in whose family were ‘five children, of whom the subject of this review is the third in order of birth. The father followed farming and thus provided a comfortable living for his family.
Carsten Petersen left Germany to avoid military duty, coming to America in the fall of 1869, when about twenty years of age. He made his way to Racine county, Wisconsin, there spending the Winter, and in the spring of 1870 arrived in Platte county, after which he began work as a farm hand near Columbus, spending four years in that way. In the fall of 1870, however, he took up a homestead on section 8, Lost Creek township, securing eighty acres of land. He continued to work at farm labor, however, in order to acquire some ready capital, and at the end of four years became the occupant of his farm, to which he has since added from time to time until he is now the owner of a large and valuable property of four hundred and thirty-eight acres. In the early days he engaged extensively in raising cattle, but now devotes his energies entirely to general agricultural pursuits. However, he is practically living retired, having largely turned the management and operation of the farm over to his sons, while he is enjoying a rest that he has truly earned and richly deserves. In addition to his farming interests Mr. Petersen is a stockholder and director in the Platte County Bank of Platte Center and in the Monroe Independent Telephone Company.
Mr. Petersen has been married twice. In the fall of 1874 he wedded Margaret Holman, daughter of Diedriek Holman, but she passed away thirty years ago, leaving five children as follows: Anna. the wife of Henry Hagelman, a farmer living in Grand Prairie township; Tilda, the wife of Edward Arndt, a farmer of Lost Creek township; Emma, who became the wife of Otto Mueller, of Grand Prairie township. and died in 1913; Carsten, who married Alvin, Hoeffelman, resident farmer of Lost Creek township; and Mary, the wife of William Brunken, who follows farming in Oklahoma. On the 30th of Marsh, 1887, Mr. Petersen was again married, his second union being with Ida L Martinson, a daughter of B. P. Martinson. She, too, has passed to the home beyond, her death having occurred May 24, 1913. To this union were born the following: Minnie, the wife of Charles F. Grossnicklaus, a farmer of Shell Creek township; Lucy, who married William Griepentrog, who is farming in Lost Creek township; Celia, the wife of Frank Weber, also a farmer of Lost Creek township; and Chris and Freida, both at home.
In his political views Mr. Petersen is an earnest republican, ever loyal to the party because of his firm belief in its principles. For four years he filled the office of road supervisor and for forty-two years he was school treasurer. acting in that capacity for a longer consecutive period than any other known incumbent. He belongs to the German Lutheran church, of which he served as an officer for six years, and at all times he has been a generous contributor to its support and an active worker in its behalf. He is also accounted one of the most intelligent and progressive farmers of his community, ranking high in public regard, and that his life has been well spent and his labors carefully directed is indicated in the success which has crowned his labors and which finds visible evidence in his large, modern residence and improved farm buildings standing in the midst of highly cultivated and productive fields.
SOURCE: Pillips, G.W. “Past and Present of Platte County, Nebraska: A  Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement”, Volume II, 1915 page 438.