John Peterson was born on 27 June 1874 near Malmö, Skåne, Sweden. His family were farmers. He emigrated to America at the age of 17 and arrived at Ellis Island on 18 June 1892. He moved to Litchfield, Minnesota, where his uncle’s family lived. He worked various jobs: dairy farming, logging and in the iron industry in Duluth. On a trip home to Sweden he met Esther Dahlstein, born near Orebro, Sweden, on 16 August 1881. She joined John in Minneapolis in 1904 and they were married a year later. The two moved to North Dakota and worked for three years trying to earn enough money to start a farm. He worked on the railroad, she sold bread and crocheted products. Finally John found 160 acres in Judson Township, North Dakota, which became their homestead. Mabel Marie was born in 1910. She went to Judson School No. 4, where John served on the school board for four years. She graduated from Williston High School in 1928 and attended Minot State Teachers College and became a teacher. John and Esther moved to Tacoma, Washington, in 1939 to be near their only child, Mabel. John worked for the Todd Shipyards for three years during WWII and then retired. John and Esther both died at age 86, he in 1961, she in 1968.