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Portrait and Biographical Record of Northern Michigan
Record Publishing Company, Chicago - 1895

-131-

        JOHN M. PETERSEN, manager of the store and mill office of
     the BUCKLEY & DOUGLAS Lumber Company, and purchasing agent of
     the Manistee & Northeastern Railroad, with headquarters at
     Manistee, was born in Denmark, February 2, 1859.  The years
     of his boyhood were passed in the land of his birth, where he
     completed the studies of the common schools and attended college
     for two years.  At the age of nineteen he entered the army, and
     remained a member of the military organization of his country
     for one and a-half years, his time being devoted principally
     to drilling.
        When twenty-one years of age, Mr. PETERSEN emigrated to
     America, and soon aferward settled in Greenville, Mich., a
     place of which he had
     
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-132-

     heard prior to his emigration.  He became a workman in a
     shingle-mill near that town, and afterward was similarly en-
     gaged in Wisconsin.  At other times he was employed on farms
     and in lumber camps.  Returning to Greenville, he spent two
     and one-half years there, after which he entered the Grand
     Rapids Business College, fitting himself for business life
     by a commercial course in that institution.  Four and one-
     half months were spent there, at the expiration of which he
     was awarded a diploma.
        While still a student at Grand Rapids, Mr. PETERSEN accept-
     ed a position with the firm of BUCKLEY & DOUGLAS in Manistee,
     and to this city he came, entering the general office of the
     company, where he remained one year as bookkeeper.  He then
     took charge of the mill office, in which capacity he was em-
     ployed for seven years, being the head bookkeeper.  August 1,
     1894, he was given charge of the company's store on Ramsdell
     Street, near the mill, succeeding O. S. HAWES as store manager.
     He has three assistants in the office work, and four in the
     store.  There are two warehouses, and the stock on hand is
     valued at $25,000, the annual business aggregating $125,000.
        As purchasing agent for the Manistee & Northeastern Rail-
     road, Mr. PETERSEN buys all the supplies of the company, attends
     to the bills, and keeps a record of all purchases made for the
     road, including material bought.  A man of excellent judgment,
     cautious, conservative, yet energetic and progressive, he is
     very successful in his work, and his services have given great
     satisfaction to the general offices.  To such an extent is his
     attention engrossed by the demands of his business, that he has
     little time for outside matters.  However, he keeps intelligently
     posted concerning the great questions of the age, and has defi-
     nite opinions regarding the same.
        In his social relations Mr. PETERSEN is actively connected
     with the Masonic fraternity as a member of the blue lodge and
     chapter; also the Manistee Council and Commandery, being a
     Knight Templar.  He is prominent in the ranks of the Knights
     of Pythias.  As a neighbor and a citizen, he is honorable and
     charitable, and is ever ready to assist the poor and needy.
     He has never been an aspirant for political honors.  All in
     all, he is a capable, honest, successful business man; one who,
     by his own shrewdness and foresight, together with habits of
     industry and sobriety, and a character well known for its moral
     strength, has made his life a success.  In the management of
     his business affairs he has brought to it an intelligence and
     honesty of purpose that, in the end, are sure to bring their
     own reward.  On coming to this country he had but little; in
     fact, about all that he did possess was a strong constitution
     and an abundance of energy, but with these he has succeeded in
     carving out for himself a comfortable competence, and at the
     same time maintained a reputation for strict honesty and fair
     dealing.
     
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