More from Colorado

Roy Peterson (my grandfather) spent a short time in Colorado (click on Colorado label for more info.)  Talking with my late uncle, he remembered times when Roy and his wife Bertha (my grandmother) would go dancing.  They would always take him along, even though he was only a small boy.

Roy worked for a company named Woeber Auto Body and Manufactoring Company in Denver, Colorado.  Apparently this company had been around a while and has closed down in1969.  Roy worked there as a welder for a short time.

Here is a link to more information:

Woeber Brothers Carriage Co.

Botchers and Sweat Shops: Evolution of an Ad

Martin R. Peterson was a tailor.  He adopted/fostered Robert Peterson (Roy's brother).

As competition increases, ads get a little more personal.  

19 Dec. 1907, The Osawatomie Globe (KS)

"...worth more to you than a thousand in Chicago."

8 Oct. 1908, The Osawatomie Globe (KS)

"...imitators have not, they are nothing but botchers."

3 June 1909, The Osawatomie Globe (KS)

"Don't...fatten the Chicago sweat shops."

9 Feb. 1911, The Osawatomie Globe (KS)

Robert Peterson's Family History

My grandfather's life (Roy Peterson) has been documented in newspapers for a major portion of his life.  He wasn't famous or wealthy.  The main reason his story is laid out in newspapers is the sadness of his circumstances.

Prior to the World Wide Web and online access to newspapers, Roy's brother wrote a short biography of his parents, John Robert Peterson and Mary Thompson.  I was told by relatives that his story was mostly fiction but I've discovered that most of his facts were accurate.

I would recommend reading Robert's story before looking at my comments.  This will give you the full affect of how close Robert Peterson was to the truth (my comments are posted at the bottom of this post.)

Note that Robert Peterson (Roy's brother) signs his name as William Robert Arnold Peterson (WRA Peterson).  I am not sure of the origin of this name.  Was it his real name or did he add William & Arnold later?  

Biography with my annotations.

Carrying on the family business

Robert Peterson (Roy's brother) was adopted by Martin R. Peterson, a Swedish Emigrant.  Martin R. was in the tailoring trade and taught young Robert how to run a tailor shop.  How do I know this?  Robert Peterson and his brother, Roy Peterson (my grandfather) show up in Madison County, Arkansas in the late 1930s and early 1940s.  Robert Peterson starts up a tailor shop and keeps the family name as the company name.


Note:  At some point, Robert Peterson changed his name to William Robert Arnold Peterson (see Robert Peterson's Family History post)  Notice that the article states that Robert came from Versailles, MO where his adopted father died in 1935.

3 Oct. 1935, The Madison County Record (AR)

Here is the before-mentioned ad.

3 Oct. 1935, The Madison County Record (AR)

Martin R. Peterson

I have mentioned this before and I will again; newspaper research is probably my most favorite type of research.  I've invested in a newspaper.com subscription and it has been very fruitful for me.

Some advice I would give when doing research in newspapers is that "once is not enough."  Persistence is key to finding stories or clues.  Play around with name variations or misspellings.  Don't assume that because it doesn't come up in the search results it's not there.  I've been able to find stories about individuals in my family tree by thinking creatively and not giving it "one" shot.  It makes sense to go back to old searches when there are updates.

Case in point.  I thought I have found everything in Newspapers.com about my grandfather's brother Robert and his adoptive parent Martin R. Peterson (no relation.)  This post would be a waste of my time if I hadn't found some new information.  I found several items of interest and some not so interesting.  I'll share the interesting items here.


New information here:  Martin R. Peterson and his adopted son Robert Peterson moved from Nevada, Missouri to Osawatomie, Kansas.  It may be possible that they moved somewhere else in between, but I'm not sure as of yet.

29 May 1909, The Osawatomie Globe (KS)

Here is an advertisement of his business:

19 Dec. 1907, The Osawatomie Globe (KS)

Business seems to be going fine until a burglary.  Clothes over jewelry.  A well dressed thief.

13 Jan. 1910, The Osawatomie Globe (KS)

Tailoring a dangerous job?  Who would have thought?   Probably not work related.

29 Sept. 1910, The Osawatomie Globe (KS)

I wonder if competition was becoming an issue and it was time to move on.

30 Nov. 1911, The Osawatomie Globe (KS)

New Information again:  I had no clue that they (Martin & Robert) had lived in Moberly, MO either.  The Tailoring business must be easy to pick up and move.  The next article gives the actual location in Moberly.  Interesting that this simple move in 1911 was worth putting in the paper in 1961 (not a mistake.)

29 Nov. 1961, Moberly Monitor-Index (MO)

Final Destination-As you can see from the article below, Martin R. Peterson had moved his tailoring business for the FOURTH time.  His time in Moberly, MO was short.

25 April 1935, The Sedalia Democrat (MO)