From Farm Life to Service Life
By Gabriel Rosen
Clarence Herbert Peterson
4/16/1894 - 2/10/1983
Born on April 16, 1894, in DeKalb, Illinois, Clarence Herbert Peterson was the son of a Danish immigrant and an Illinoisan.[1] Records show that in 1900, he had 3 siblings, an older brother, Evans, born in 1891, a younger sister Irene, born in 1896, and a younger brother Raymond, born in 1899. His father, Ben, was born in 1867. Ben emigrated from Denmark and arrived in America in 1886, becoming naturalized by 1900. Ben is recorded as working as a shoemaker at the time of the 1900 census. His father could read and speak English but could not write. Clarence's mother, Mary, daughter of Swedish immigrants, was born in 1870 in Illinois and married Ben in 1890. She could read, write, and speak English.
Clarence served in the United States Army as a Private First-Class during WW1, from July 25, 1917, until his discharge on April 28, 1919. As a Private First Class in the Infantry, Clarence carried out basic orders from higher-ranking officers. This could include combat-related orders, such as attacking enemy positions, or, in the case of medics, administering medical aid and carrying stretchers for the wounded.
Following his military service, Clarence would eventually attend college for 6 years, at an unknown date. Around 1924, Clarence would marry his wife, Gertrude, born in New York. The pair had a son, Clarence, born around 1927, and a daughter, Nancy, born around 1934. At the time of the 1930 census, Clarence’s family was well off, with their house being worth 12,500 dollars. In 1940, he was recorded as living in Rockford, Illinois, working 50 hours a week as a private practice dentist. The census showed that, in 1939, he worked 52 weeks out of the year. In 1950, Clarence was still working as a dentist. Clarence passed away on February 10, 1983, in Denver, CO.
Footnotes ↓
[1] Information for this biography can be found at:
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602/records/11899169. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/88419101. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442/records/146033233. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/records/18848345. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3693/records/48491173. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2441/records/1441918.
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