Oscar Peterson, Juhl Peterson and Jacob Joramo: 52 Ancestors Prompt “Adventure”

Driving Uncle Jacob: Oscar and Juhl’s Mankato Adventure

            My father, Juhl Peterson, liked to tell my brother stories about his life while they were out in the soybean fields pulling weeds—it made a boring chore more interesting. My brother has shared some of the stories with me, including a funny one about my dad’s Uncle Jacob Joramo.


            Jacob married Jorgine “Stina” Lee when he was just 22 years old. By the time he was 34, he was a widower with four sons. Without a wife to keep him in line, he was known to drink and gamble and generally run a bit wild, at least in comparison to his more serious younger brother Paul Peterson, Juhl’s father. 


            Sometime in the late 1920s, my uncle Oscar Peterson, Paul’s second oldest son, got his first car. My father was only 11 or 12 at the time, and was very excited when Oscar invited him to ride along on a road trip to Mankato, Minnesota, about thirty miles from their farm near Hanska. This would be the furthest Oscar had driven his new Model A, so he was as excited as Juhl.

     Juhl and Oscar with his new Model A in front of Paul Peterson's original house


            Somehow, their Uncle Jacob found out about the trip. He turned up at the Peterson farm, and persuaded Oscar to let him ride along as well. The boys liked their uncle, who could be a lot of fun, so they were pleased to have him. The trip to Mankato was uneventful. When they arrived in town, Jacob took off, telling his nephews he’d be back in a couple hours. Oscar had some errands to run, and he and Juhl took care of them, returning to the car with their purchases at the appointed meeting time.

            To Oscar’s frustration, there was no sign of Jacob. Oscar and Juhl waited and waited, growing increasingly impatient. Suddenly, there was a shout. They turned to see Uncle Jacob running pell-mell down an alley, yelling at Oscar to “Start the car! Start the car!” Oscar and Juhl could see a mob of men following, yelling angrily at Jacob. 


            The Model A had a hand crank—I can imagine Oscar’s panic as he raced to crank the crankcase and start up the engine. I watched a You-Tube video on how to crank-start a Model A, and it is not a speedy operation! First you have to put the car in neutral gear, “retard the spark” (don’t ask me what that means!), advance the throttle, and turn the key. Then you start cranking. It often takes several cranks to get the engine to catch. I’m sure doing it under pressure was nerve-wracking!


            Oscar somehow managed to get the car running by the time Jacob reached them. Juhl climbed into the back so Jacob could throw himself into the front seat as Oscar hit the gas. Juhl recalled Jacob whooping in delight as he watched his pursuers disappear in a cloud of dust. 

                                  Jacob Joramo and oldest son Carl--approx. age 23


            Jacob refused to tell Oscar and Juhl what he’d done to upset all those men. Juhl assumed he’d either said something stupid while drinking, setting off a bar fight, or he’d cheated at cards. The details didn’t matter to Oscar, who was fuming. Oscar made sure to never, ever give his uncle a ride again. The trip to Mankato proved to be more of an adventure than Oscar wanted or expected!