Claus J. Peters
Claus J. Peters, who for nearly half a century has been a resident of Crawford county, during the greater portion of which time he was associated with the agricultural interests but is now living retired in Schleswig, is a native of Germany.
His birth occurred on the 2d of September, 1836, and he is the fourth in the order of birth and the only surviving child of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Peters. The others were as follows: Paul, Henry, Peter, Catrina and Beepke. The mother passed away while Claus J. was yet too young to remember her, but the father survived for some years and he, too, died in his native land.
Claus J. Peters spent his boyhood and youth and part of his early manhood in the fatherland, serving in its army in the year 1859-60, but in 1864 he decided that better opportunities awaited him in America than he could ever realize in the old country so took passage for the United States. He made his way westward almost immediately after his arrival and located in Davenport, Iowa, where he remained for two years and then removed to Crawford county. Here he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land and engaged in general farming and stockraising, which occupations he followed for a period of thirty-eight years. He was an energetic and thrifty man and during that period acquired a competence, which, combined with the amount realized from the sale of his farm in 1904, enables him to live retired.
Mr. Peters has twice married. His first wife was Miss Lizzie Lauman, and there were five children born to them, only two of whom, Henry and William, both of this county, are living. The wife and mother passed away in 1880 and on the 4th of March, 1881, Mr. Peters was married to Miss Emma Schroeder, a daughter of Henry and Margaretta (Kipple) Schroeder.
Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder were the parents of the following children: Andrews, deceased; Julius, living in Otter Creek township; Doris, deceased; Emma, the wife of C. J. Peters; Marea and Bertha, both deceased; and Johannes, living in Montana.
Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Peters: Minnie, the wife of Rudolph Kolls, of South Dakota; Bertha, who became the wife of J. Stott, of Montana; Hugo, also a resident of Montana; Anna, the wife of Thomas Hollander, of Otter Creek township; Ella, Julius, Amil and Herbert, all of whom are at home; and Eda, the youngest, deceased.
The family affiliate with the Lutheran church. For several years Mr. Peters was unable to discharge his own business, owing to an injury which he sustained when thrown from his wagon. Although the accident left no permanent physical effects it was some time before he recovered his memory, in fact it was several months before he remembered his name, but gradually his faculties were restored and now, although he has passed the Psalmist's alloted span, his health is good and his mind to all purposes is as clear as it ever was.
The men and measures of the democratic party always receive Mr. Peters support, and although he has never actively participated in political affairs, not aspiring to public office, nevertheless he is to be found at the polls on election day casting his ballot for the candidates of the party with which he affiliates. During the long period of his residence in the United States he has never regretted transferring his allegiance from his native land, although there are many customs and ideas of the old country to which he clings, believing they are superior to some American innovations.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.