WAUPACA COUNTY POST

October 9, 2003

 

PEDERSON DESCENDANTS HOLD GATHERING

 

            All of the surviving second-generation descendants of Peder and Marie Pedersen, along with their only surviving aunt, gathered at the home of Irving and Gladys Petersen on September 20 for a day of reminiscing.

            The family has deep roots in Waupaca.  Grandfather Peder Pedersen emigrated from Denmark to Wausau in 1892 as a journeyman blacksmith.  He was followed the next year by Marie Hansina Hansen.  The two were married the same year.

            In 1902 Peder rode a bicycle to Waupaca and purchased a blacksmith shop located on north Division Street.  He operated this shop for more than 50 years.  He kept the horses shod, the plow shares sharp and the wagons in good repair.

            The blacksmith shop that Peder purchased was the first church constructed in Waupaca.  It was built around 1853 by the Methodist-Episcopal denomination.  Sometime between 1853 and 1892 the congregation built a new church on the corner of Water Street and Division Street and the old church was sold and converted to a blacksmith shop.  The second church still stands.

            Peder and Marie raised five children, Signe (Mrs. Earl Porter), Margaret (Mrs. Irving Petersen), Einar, Elmer and Harvey.  All are deceased, but Harvey’s widow, Marie, survives.

            The family were members of the Holy Ghost Lutheran Church and instrumental in the construction of the church located at Maple and Waupaca streets.  Peder was an active member of the Danish Brotherhood.