Finding aid for the Jorgen Petersen Diaries

Biography of Jorgen Petersen

Jorgen Petersen was born in 1822 on the coast in Helsingor (also known as Elsinore), Denmark, which is located approximately 20 miles north of Copenhagen. He was the eighth of eleven children born to Mogens Petersen (1781-1850), a fisherman and sailor in the Danish navy, and Ellen Christine (Christina) Hagelberg (1784-1867). Petersen was educated in the schools in Helsingor and mastered many languages. In addition to Danish, he learned to speak English, German, and French and later learned Norwegian, Swedish, and Russian. Since Helsingor was a port city he became fascinated with ships and sailing at an early age. In 1838, at the age of sixteen, he went to sea serving as a cabin boy and a cook on the English brig "Susan of New Castle." The ship sailed to Norway and to the Baltic Sea ports of Sweden and Russia.

In 1842, Petersen shipped aboard the bark "Richmont of Plymouth" at Barnstable, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. On one voyage they sailed from Jamaica to New York City and on another they went to China and the East Indies by way of South America. Petersen is said to have crossed the Atlantic Ocean 27 times and had at least one narrow escape from death.

Petersen settled in New York City in 1847. He found employment with a fine cabinet maker who taught him his craft. Two years later, Petersen married Marie Veronica Petrine (Petrina) Miller (1828-1915). Born in Copenhagen, she migrated to America with her family in 1832. Petersen became a naturalized citizen of his adopted country in 1852. Three years later, he visited Peninsula, Ohio at the invitation of his friend, John F. Hansen, who moved there from New York years earlier, but returned home due to a homesick wife. After his visit, Petersen decided to move to Peninsula and build boats. He purchased Hansen's home on Orchard Street and moved his family there. By this time, the family consisted of four children and Marie's mother, then a widow.

For many years Petersen worked in the boat yard of L. Waterman, one of the several yards in the Village of Peninsula, which was the principal canal boat building town in Ohio. In 1854, Petersen enlisted in the New York State Militia and was called into service during the Civil War. Due to the large family he had to support, Petersen was not required to serve on the front lines, but instead was sent to Camp Perry near Sandusky, Ohio, where he cooked for the soldiers training there. His experience at sea enabled him to prepare food in the large quantities required. His military certificate was endorsed by his captain on May 20th, 1865, to indicate that he had "regularly and faithfully done duty to this date."

In 1864, Petersen purchased his own canal boat, named the "Scandinavia," at a cost of $950.00. He mostly hauled coal, iron ore, and merchandise for stores along the canal. Unlike most canal boat captains of his day, he did not allow any of his family to live on the boat except during the summer when one of the older girls would sometimes keep house and cook for the crew. Sometimes the younger children would be allowed to go along for a ride. During the school year; however, they all lived at home so they could attend school. Instead of his family, Petersen hired a man who helped him on the boat.

Petersen purchased a tract of land between his home and the river in 1882 and later sold a portion of it for the Valley Railroad, which later become a part of the B&O Railroad system. As railroads were extended across the country business on the canals declined. Therefore, on the land mentioned above, Petersen built a large two-story shop and did carpentry and painting. He also cut glass for people's windows and made rowboats that he rented for 25 cents per day for outings on the Cuyahoga River. He also built larger boats, including a 25 foot sailboat, which he used to take large groups on outings and picnics up the Cuyahoga.

In 1865, Petersen was admitted to the Masonic Lodge and was affiliated with the masons for many years. Although their parents were Lutherans, the Petersen's did not belong to any local church as there was not a Lutheran church in or near Peninsula. Some of the family belonged to or attended the Methodist Church and Petersen often had long talks with the minister. He was also a consistent reader of the Bible and the Apocrypha. At Christmas it was his custom to dress as Santa Claus for the celebration at the Methodist Church where he distributed gifts to the children.

Besides the many jobs mentioned above, Petersen served for 26 years as clerk of Boston Township, which was divided into seven school districts. He kept supplies of books for all the districts and maintained the kerosene burning street lights throughout Peninsula.

In addition to the four children the Petersen's had in New York City, seven more were born in Peninsula. Three of them died in infancy and one girl in her teens. Many survived however and lived long and prosperous lives. One of their children, Charles Mogens (1850-1949), held many public offices including mayor, councilman, village and township clerk, and school board member. Three of their daughters, Emma Ericksine (1851-1942), Ada May (1869-1917), and Sarah Elizabeth (1864-1939), were schoolteachers. Jorgen Petersen died in 1904. His beloved wife, Marie, survived him by eleven years, dying in 1915.

Information for this historical sketch was adapted from O. W. Petersen, "The Jorgen Petersen Family," on the rootsweb website, accessed November 2, 2012, http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ktohair/Families/ Petersen.html.

Scope and Content

The Jorgen Petersen Diaries (1864-1880) consist of 11 personal diaries kept by Jorgen Petersen during his days hauling freight by canal boat on the Ohio and Erie Canal. Entries in the diaries include canal work and travel, odd jobs (for whom and how long), persons hired/paid, chores, civic duties, purchases, towns visited, departure/arrival times and delays, health of the family, correspondence sent and received, boat repairs, and financial records. The diaries span 1864 to 1877 with 1865, 1870 and 1876 being absent. The majority of the diaries' entries begins in February or March (the 1872 diary starts in June) and run through November or December. Each diary has a typed transcript of its contents which have occasional gaps due to the age and illegibility of the writings. The 1873 diary contains a small number of entries dated 1878, 1879, or 1880.

The diaries do not give insight into the personal life of Jorgen Petersen nor does he share his personal feelings. However, there are a few entries that commemorate important events in the lives of the Petersen family, such as the sale of the "Scandinavia" and the death of Jorgen's son, Waldo. Other entries include some in handwriting other than Jorgen Petersen's as well as a passage quoting Thomas Payne.

The majority of the diary entries are a record of Jorgen's canal boat activities. All entries are short and succinct with frequent misspellings and abbreviations. There also is canal boat terminology which may be confusing to the reader that is not familiar with canal boats. The diaries are useful for research regarding canal boat travels on the Ohio and Erie Canal in the 1800s from a mostly day-to-day point of view.

Two published books were included with Jorgen Peterson's diaries. These have been physically separated from the diaries, cataloged in the University Libraries online public access catalog at http://library.uakron.edu/, and shelved in Library of Congress call number order with the rare books collection in the Archival Services' stacks.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to reproduce or publish materials in this collection must be secured in writing from Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron.

Restrictions on Access

No restrictions on access; except not available through interlibrary loan. Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to reproduce or publish materials in this collection must be secured in writing from Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

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Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], Jorgen Petersen Diaries, Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio

Detailed Description of The Collection