Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Heinrich Muters

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Descendants of Heinrich Muters

6. LENA² MUTERS (HEINRICH¹) was born May 04, 1869 in Guttenberg, Ia., and died 1948 in Minneapolis, Mn.. She married FRANK PETERSON March 01, 1890. He was born Abt. 1865, and died 1938 in Firesteel, Sd..

Notes for LENA MUTERS:
            Lena Muters and Frank Peterson Family
      Lena Muters was born in Guttenberg, Iowa on May 4, 1869. She was the youngest of nine children born to Heinrich Muters and Marie Mueller. Her oldest brother, Henry, was almost twenty years older than her. She had three nephews, children of her brother Henry, who were older than her. They were Henry Jr. born in 1865, George born in 1867, and Fred born in march of 1869.
      Lena came to the Spencer area with her parents, her uncles, Henry, William, John Henry and their wives and children, when she was about thirteen years of age. She grew up on her parents homestead in Dakota Territory near what became the town of Spencer, SD.
      On March 1, 1890 she and Frank Peterson were married. Their first child, a daughter, Mildred was born about 1892; their son Wallace was born about 1894.
      They moved to Isabel, SD. About 1910, after the area was opened up for homestead. Frank was a business man and while he did not homestead land, he built a good business out of serving those who did homestead. About 1915 they moved nine miles east of Isabel to Firesteel also, in Dewey County, SD. Frank ran a lumber yard and a farm implement business. He also bought and sold hogs. At one time he was associated with the bank in Firesteel as the vice- president.
      Lena and Frank were charter members of the Congregational Church when it was organized and incorporated in march of 1916. They aided in the building project of the church in the mid 1920s.
      Frank and his son Wallace were among the men who chartered an Isaac Walton league. The league bought eighty acres of land outside of Firesteel, and built a large dam and a bathhouse to provide area recreation and wildlife habitat.
      Frank and Lena built a nice home in Firesteel and according to a local historian, Jack Bickel, the house was, in September of 1993, still a very nice home.
      Firesteel was South Dakota's only real coal mining center and accounted for 90 percent of all the coal mined in the state. When times were tough during the depression years, there were jobs in the several mines near Firesteel.
      Frank died of cancer in 1938. Lena remained in Firesteel only long enough to finish business and then went to live with her daughter Mildred in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
                              December 23, 1993 O.T.

Notes for FRANK PETERSON:
A letter from Lyn Marilyn Sherrard on March 22, 1997 gave a brief note about her grand father Frank Peterson. She remembers the story that Frank was an orphan and lived with Pennsylvania Dutch (Quakers) until he was 14 or 15 years old. He left home, rode the rails and landed in South Dakota. He was a long time Mason. He did very well in life, was a successful business man and was highly respected in the community.
Orvie Townsend 4-8-97

More About FRANK PETERSON and LENA MUTERS:
Marriage: March 01, 1890

Children of LENA MUTERS and FRANK PETERSON are:

MILDRED³ PETERSON, b. Abt. 1892; m. ASHLEY THOMAS D.D.S., September 17, 1919, Dewey Cty. , Firesteel, s.d.; b. Abt. 1891.

Notes for MILDRED PETERSON:
Mildred Peterson and Ashley Thomas
Mildred Peterson was born in 1899 in Spencer, SD., the only daughter of Lena Muters Peterson and Frank Peterson. She had one brother Wallace who was born about 1894 also in Spencer, SD. Mildred moved with her parents to Isabel, SD. in about 1910. In 1915, she, with her family moved nine miles east to Firesteel. On September 17, 1919 Mildred and Dr. Ashley Thomas, a dentist were married in Firesteel, SD. According to the only known available source of information, a close relative, Mildred was married at least five times. She did not have any children. After Mildred's father died, in 1938, her mother, Lena, came to live with her in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her mother, died at age eighty in 1948.
Pictured below are two photographs of Mildred as an attractive young lady, probably in her late teens or early twenties. Also, pictured is Mildred in her automobile.
December 23, 1993

Notes for ASHLEY THOMAS D.D.S.:
MILDRED PETERSON MARRIED A DR. THOMAS WHO WAS A DENTIST AND THEY LIVED IN MINNEAPOLIS. ACCORDING TO MINERVA HERMAN BOX 204 TIMBER LAKE South Dakota 57656-0204, MILDRED DID NOT HAVE ANY CHILDREN. ALTHOUGH THIS IS NOT KNOWN FOR CERTAIN. MINERVA HERMAN WAS A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY, BUT SHE LOST TRACK OF THE FAMILY AFTER FRANK DIED AND LENA MOVED TO MINNEAPOLIS TO LIVE WITH MILDRED.
DECEMBER 21, 1993 0.T.

More About ASHLEY D.D.S. and MILDRED PETERSON:
Marriage: September 17, 1919, Dewey Cty. , Firesteel, s.d.

21.

ii.

WALLACE PETERSON, b. February 19, 1893, Spencer, SD; d. September 07, 1974, Capitola, Ca..

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