William Peter

From: Heron Lake, Minnesota The People 1989, by Gary Richter

William Peter Family

William Peter, son of August and Christiana (Matthews) Peter, was born in Germany on August 25, 1848. At age 5, he accompanied his parents to the United States and grew to manhood in Fond du Lac County of Wisconsin. In 1866 at eighteen he enlisted in the regular army for frontier service. His time was spent in Arkansas to preserve order during the Civil War, Kansas and Colorado as a detail to escort mail stages against the Plains Indians in Mexico and Arizona. After his service, he was employed by the government as a mail carrier on the plains in New Mexico. Returning to Wisconsin he soon decided to take up land and engage in farming. He homesteaded a claim in section 26 of Weimer Township in Jackson County, Minnesota in 1870.

William married Kate Dobereiner in Jackson County in February of 1875. Kate was born in Germany in 1857 to Christoph and Anna Dobereiner. To this couple were born nine children: Katie (Mrs. J.B. Johnson), Minnie, John, Etta (Mrs. Eugene Wood), Bertha (Mrs. Frank Lloyd), William Jr., Edward, Walter, and Arthur.

William and Kate (Dobereiner) Peter celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary on March 2, 1950. William passed away in 1951 at 101 years of age. Kate died in 1961 at age 103.

Since, William and Kate's family of nine has grown to number 26 grandchildren, 52 great grandchildren, 94 great-great grandchildren, and 21 great-great-great children. Of their nine children: Katie married J.B. Johnson and remained in the Heron Lake area. They raised nine children: Leona (Hecker), Mabel (Hecker), Ernest, William, Elsie (Marks), Frederick, Catherine (Hogan), and Bernice (Fritscher); Minnie never married, worked as a housekeeper, and took care of her parents; John married Clara Iverson, farmed, worked in an elevator, and moved to California in later life, raised four children: Lloyd, Wilbur, Dorothy Walker, and Darwin; William Jr. spent most of his life in Heron Lake, married Grace Erickson, was a beautician, and enjoyed hunting; Edward; Etta married Eugene Wood and remained in Heron Lake, raised five children: Ruby (Hanson), Wesley, Violet (Finke), Wilifred (Carlson), and Boyd; Walter and Bertha both died young. Bertha's two childred (Peter and Frances) were raised by Kate as her own; and Arthur married Gladys Anderson, operated a restaurant in St. Paul, and is the only remaining of the family of nine children.