The subject of this sketch, although a native of the Buckeye state, has
been identified with Illinois all his life, having been brought here by his
parents in his infancy. He is a resident of Tonica, engaged in the stock
business, and is one of the substantial and leading citizens of the place.
Daniel Peterson was born in Harrison county, Ohio, April 21, 1835, a
son of Isaac and Mary (Bush) Peterson, natives of Ohio. In the Peterson
family were ten children, four sons and six daughters, six of whom are now
living, namely: Daniel, the direct subject of this review; Nancy Jane, the
wife of B. F. Whittaker, of Nebraska; John I., of Putnam county, Illinois;
William A., of Red Wing, Minnesota; Ruth, wife of A. S. Bickle, of North
Chillicothe, Illinois; and Elizabeth D., unmarried. Isaac Peterson, the
father, was a farmer. He left Ohio in the fall of 1835 and brought his
family west to Illinois, selecting a location in Putnam county and buying at
that time forty acres of land. To this tract he subsequently added until he
had a fine farm of two hundred acres and some timber land, and on this farm
he reared his family and passed the rest of his life. He died in January,
1875, at the age of sixty-eight years. His wife survived him five or six
years and at the time of her death was about seventy-four. In her religious
faith she was a Methodist.
Turning back another generation for a
glimpse of the grandparents of Mr. Peterson, we find that his grandfather,
Daniel Peterson, was of Holland-Dutch descent, was one of the early pioneers
of Ohio, and from there in the spring of 1835 came to Illinois and settled
in Putnam county, where he died at about the age of seventy-five years. He
was a farmer, and his family comprised five children. Grandfather Bush, Mr.
Peterson's grandfather on his mother's side, was a native of Ohio and lived
and died there, being well advanced in years at the time of his death. He
had several sons and two daughters, and he, too, was a farmer.
Daniel Peterson, the immediate subject of this sketch, as above stated, was
brought to Illinois in his infancy, and his life was spent in Putnam county
up to 1892, when he moved to Tonica. His educational advantages were those
only of the district schools. Reared a farmer, he naturally engaged in
agricultural pursuits when he reached his majority and started out in life
to do for himself. For four or five years he farmed some of his father's
land on the shares. Then he bought eighty acres of improved land, and later
he and his brother John bought out some of the heirs in the old homestead,
and they two farmed together from 1870 for a number of years. They now o\\n
four eighty-acre tracts and a forty-acre piece of land in Putnam county, and
have two hundred and eighty-one acres of timber land. In 1892 they rented
their farms, and Daniel moved to Tonica, where he has since bought a home,
located in the southwest part of town; and since the above date he has been
engaged in the stock business, dealing chiefly in hogs.
Mr. Peterson
has been twice married. November 6, 1856, he wedded Miss Mary J. Inks, a
daughter of Thomas and Matilda Inks, and their union was blessed in the
birth of six children, one son and five daughters, viz., Mary Matilda,
Martha Jane, Emma Ella, Isaac, Willetta and Edna. Mary Matilda died at the
age of thirty-three years. She was the wife of Donald Dagger and had two
children, Blanche and Cora. Martha Jane is the wife of George Ford, of
Putnam county, Illinois, and they have one child, Joy. Emma Ella married W.
L. Skeel and lives at Sandwich, Illinois. The other children, Isaac,
Willetta and Edna, died in infancy. The mother of these children passed away
May 12, 1870, at the age of thirty-six years, a Presbyterian. December 17,
1874, Mr. Peterson married Miss Elizabeth M. McClung, a daughter of William
McClung. There are no children by this marriage. Mrs. Peterson is a member
of the Congregational church.
Politically Mr. Peterson is a
Democrat, as was his father before him. While in Putnam county he served
four years as the supervisor of Hennepin township, and has always taken an
intelligent and commendable interest in public affairs.
Extracted 13 Jun 2019 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois, published in 1900, volume 2, pages 682-683.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
 |
Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
