The Story of the Wedding and Marriage of John and Clara Peterson

On April 7, 1878, Clara Olson and her sister Josephine had a double wedding in the Strand School, one mile west and one mile south of Albaton. Clara married John Peterson, a Swedish immigrant farmer who had come to America six years before his wedding to Clara. Clara and Josephine were the daughters of Norwegian immigrants Jahannes and Johane Olson. Josephine married Oluf Fredrick “Fred” Johnson, an immigrant from Norway. This was the first generation of their families to be married in America.

Before the wedding, Clara worked in the Whiting area. Josephine carried the mail by horseback between Albaton and Whiting. Their father, Johannes Olson, was the postmaster in Albaton.

At their wedding, Clara was 22 which was twelve years younger than John, who was 34. Clara’s next younger sibling Josephine was 20. Her groom, Fred, was 24. The four to be married marched from the Olson home, which was west across the road, to the schoolhouse. The parents, Johannes and Johane (Jenson) Olson, came to the Sloan area in 1869. They lived on this same farm until 1897. 

Rev. Fogelstad, a Lutheran minister, performed the ceremony. It is thought that Cassie Dahl and her husband Chris furnished the music. Clara and Josie wore aqua dresses with accordion pleats. Clara’s granddaughter Irene inherited her grandmother’s dress.

John and Clara Peterson’s first two children Carl John and Oscar, were born in Iowa before they decided to homestead in South Dakota, joining Clara’s older sister Helen. Their granddaughter Leora remembered being told that the family lived in some kind of sod house and that heating and fuel for baking was a problem. They used hay and buffalo chips. Two of their children, Mabel and Palma, were born under these circumstances in 1883 and 1885 before the family returned to Iowa sometime before their next child, Clarence Newell, was born in Albaton, Iowa on April 29, 1888. Perhaps the death of their oldest son Carl John at age six influenced their decision.

To the best of their granddaughter Leora’s knowledge, the Peterson family settled on the farm one mile west of Albaton on the southwest corner. “The white house was near the corner and was longest east to west. On the east was a porch, there were the usual four rooms with upstairs bedrooms, and a wash house was attached to the kitchen. Ferns grew by the house and out by the east road fence. There were flowers and apple trees and a large garden.

Four more children were born in Iowa: Helen Clara, Laura, Charles Roy, and Hattie May. Their daughter Laura died at age two in 1894.

For a while, the Peterson children attended the same Strand School where their parents had been married. After John and Clara became Seventh Day Adventist, a young lady lived with the family and taught the children. The youngest children, Charles and Hattie, later rode to the Davis school with their cousin Ella Hennum, who was the teacher. They later returned to the Strand School.

A difficult time came when John and Clara’s daughter Mabel had typhoid fever and was confined to the front room. Her sister Palma cared for her, even slept with her. John was confined to his bed in the north downstairs bedroom. He had been in the hospital for a stomach disorder. He was operated on and was found to have cancer so extensively that nothing could be done. He was not initially told of the severity. He was home for a time when his wife Clara decided to tell him of the malignancy. She asked a neighbor to come by, and his greeting was, “So you have cancer of the stomach.” As recorded in the records of the Skien Lutheran Church of Albaton, John Peterson passed away on January 9, 1907 at the age of 63 and was buried two days later. 

Psalm 55:14 was engraved on John’s tombstone, “We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.”

John and Clara were married for 28 years, 9 months, and 2 days. It is said that they lived a harmonious home life. They were blessed with nine children, seven of whom survived to adulthood.

Clara lived many more years, living to the age of 89. She died on February 16, 1946 and was buried near her husband in the Fairview-Albaton Cemetery.

Clara’s granddaughter Clara Jane is photographed in the aqua dress with accordion pleats that Clara Olson Peterson wore for her wedding. If anyone has other photos of this dress, I would love to hear from you!

SMITH-BEEM NUPTIALS

Arthur and Irene Beem

The marriage of Miss Irene Beatrice Smith, oldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Smith of Sloan, Iowa, to Arthur J. Beem, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Beem of Hornick, Iowa, was solemnized at 8 o’clock Thursday evening [morning], March 12 [1931] by Rev. Miler of the Christian Church.

The bride was attended by her sister, Miss Leora Smith, as bridesmaid. Ernest Beem, brother of the groom, was groomsman, Clara Jane Smith, youngest sister of the bride, carried the ring in a white rose bud.

The bride was gowned in white crepe, princess style, with veil of tulle and lace, caught into a cap of pearls and orange blossoms.  She carried a shower bouquet of bride’s roses.  The bridesmaid was frocked in green chiffon and carried a bouquet of pink roses and sweet peas.

Leila Johnson, of Akron, Iowa, cousin of the bride, sang “I Love You Truly.”  To the strains of Lohengrin’s Bridal Chorus, played by Miss Saloma Swearingen, of Jefferson, Iowa, an intimate friend of the bride, the officiating clergyman followed by the groom and groomsman, took their places at the foot of an archway to await the coming of the bridal party.

This consisted of the ringbearer, bridesmaid and the bride who was brought in on the arm of her father.  The ceremony took place in an attractive archway which was decorated in the bride’s colors of nile green and white.  Palm leaves, ferns, and a white wedding bell adorned the archway.

A very dainty two-course lunch was served by the bride’s parents immediately after the ceremony.

The young couple left that night on a short honeymoon, but returned Sunday evening as Mrs. Beem will continue her school duties in Owego for the remainder of the year.

Out-of-town guests were: Mrs. Josephine Johnson and daughter, Leila, of Akron; Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Dubois and Mr. and Mrs. Earl Polly and family of Albaton; Mr. and Mrs. Archie McFarland, Mr. and Mrs. Vern Cummings, Roy Peterson, of Whiting; Mr. and Mrs. James Hennum, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Peterson and Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Peterson, of Sloan.

Mr. and Mrs. Lee Beem and family, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Metcalf and family, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Larsen, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Clift, Mr. and Mrs. Freeman Coover, Mrs. N. J. Lockwood, all of Hornick.  Miss Lois Boyer, of Sioux City, Mr. Ernest Beem of Ames, Saloma Swearingen, of Jefferson.

The bride is a graduate of the Sloan high school, later attending Morningside College and Iowa State Teacher’s College, at Cedar Falls.  The groom is a graduate of the Holly Springs high school.  The young couple will be at home to their friends on the groom’s farm north of Holly Springs after March 30.