A Young Man’s Life Literally Explodes: 52 Ancestors 2022 Prompt “High and Low”

Explosion at Lead Mine Cuts Short a Promising Life

Peter G. Peterson: 1882-1917 (Second Cousin Once Removed)

 

While tracking down my great-granduncle Gulbrand Olsen’s descendants (Gulbrand was Ragnhild Olsdatter Ve Syverson’s brother), I ran into a problem. Gulbrand’s daughter, who was saddled with the complicated name of Ragnhilda Rodia Gulbrandsdatter Hulsether Peterson, but that I shall refer to as Rhoda Peterson, had five children with her husband Andrew Peterson. I found records for three of them quite easily, and determined that the fourth died early in infancy. But what happened to Rhoda and Andrew’s second son, Peter G. Peterson? He seemed to simply disappear from the records in early adulthood. In a last-ditch effort to find information, I turned to Newspapers.com. I was at first delighted and then stunned by my discoveries. The first article I found was a lovely description of Peter’s marriage, but the second one covered his horrific death just three years later. His life trajectory exploded, crashing from the high point of his marriage to the low of his death and funeral at 34.

How are we related?

Peter G. Peterson was born in June of 1882, likely in Dane County, Wisconsin. Records from that era in Wisconsin are patchy, and I have yet to find his birth record. His parents were Andrew and Rhoda Peterson, who were farming first in Dane County near Black Earth, and then in Grant County near Wingville. Peter appears on the 1900 census as an 18 year old working with his father on the farm. He also appears on the 1910 census, still living with his parents at age 28. After that, I found no further records.

It appears that shortly after the 1910 census, Peter moved to the nearby community of Montfort. He may have acquired a farm of his own there. He met a young lady from the nearby community of Iowa, Wisconsin, and they were married on April 14, 1914. The charming wedding write-up can be read below. It was the first evidence I had that Peter was alive post -1910. The wedding date enabled me to track down the Wisconsin Marriage Record, verifying that Peter, age 31, had indeed married 24-year-old Verna Rule.

Peter was described in glowing terms in the news article as a “young man of sterling qualities, an intelligent, industrious and successful farmer and is well liked by everybody.” His young wife, Verna Rule, was said to possess “a pleasant and winsome disposition.” The young couple took a wedding trip to eastern Wisconsin before settling on Peter’s farm. Such a promising beginning to their lives!

The next news article I found took my breath away. It described the decision of the state industrial commission to provide financial compensation to the survivors of an explosion at the Hump Development Company mine in Montfort. One of the recipients was Verna Peterson, the widow of Peter G. Peterson who was killed in the blast. The commission penalized the company for violating safety orders regarding the storage of blasting caps and dynamite, which led to the explosion.

I immediately started researching the explosion, finding numerous articles state-wide about the disaster. Some of the articles are reproduced in this post. According to the reports, Peter was among a group of lead miners who had come up to the surface for their dinner break at midnight on April 13, 1917. They gathered in a break room called the “dog house” near the entrance to the mine pit.

“Several of the men brought their lanterns with them and placed the lights on a small table in the corner of the shack. Nearby stood a box of dynamite caps. After eating, two of the miners engaged in a friendly tussle, and upset the table, throwing the lanterns into the box of caps. The impact resulted in an explosion which knocked the men off their feet, and threw the fragile timbers of the shanty in every direction.”

Miners eating lunch in break/changing room at lead mine in 1940s Wisconsin

While Peter was the only one killed, a Mexican immigrant was gravely injured, another man lost both his eyes, and all eight other miners were injured. One of the articles noted that each blasting cap had the power to “lift 800 pounds” and that 1000 blasting caps were stored in the shed. The industrial commission had noted that mining companies were forbidden from storing explosive materials in areas used by employees for rest breaks and clothing changes, but did so anyway despite the obvious risk to the miners’ safety.

I was stunned to read in another article that the company insurance carrier offered Verna only $5000 for the loss of her husband, while the family of the blinded man was offered $4500. It seems like Peter’s life ought to have had more value than a mere $500 more than the loss of one’s eyesight. I hope the settlement arranged by the industrial commission was more generous.

Strangely, the local paper did not carry an obituary for Peter, but only printed a brief note in the community social news column that stated,

“Peter G. Peterson, one of our industrious and respected young men, was killed in the blast at the O.P. David mine at Montfort Friday night. The funeral was held here Monday at 1 p.m. and was attended by a large number of sorrowing relatives and friends.”

I found this brief coverage almost insulting. I suspect the local paper was a little too closely tied to the mine’s owners, and chose to downplay its coverage of what must have been the biggest tragedy the town ever faced.

Peter’s widow, Verna, remarried 18 months later. She eventually had a child with her new husband; Verna and Peter had been childless.

While a search of historic newspapers provided me with the answers I needed about the fate of Peter G. Peterson, they highlighted how quickly life can change from the happy high points to a heartbreaking low point. Peter died just one day short of his third wedding anniversary.

Sources:

Montfort Mail, Montfort Wisconsin.  April 23, 1914 and April 19, 1917 issues. Accessed through Newspapers.com.

Wisconsin State Journal. Madison Wisconsin. April 14, 1917 and April 15, 1917 issues. Accessed through Newspapers.com.

Marshfield News, Marshfield, Wisconsin. August 2, 1917 issue. Accessed through Newspapers.com.