Andrew Peterson

Andrew Peterson (Swedish: Anders Pettersson) was a Swedish immigrant, fruit farmer, and botanist who settled land near Parley Lake in Minnesota Territory (now Waconia, Minnesota) in Carver County. Peterson's farmstead is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is now a museum and interpretive center.

Early life and emigration Anders Petterson (later anglicized to Andrew Peterson) was born on October 20, 1818, on a farm in Sjöarp in Västra Ryds parish, Östergötland, Sweden. His family had financial ties to the church, so he and his brother received a better education than many farmers of the time. He had interests in music, and experimental agricultural and farm techniques. In 1850 age 32, Peterson immigrated to the United States, arriving in Boston on July 2, 1850. During his voyage, Peterson began keeping a daily journal. Peterson would continue writing for the next 48 years in his journal until two days before his death in 1898. Peterson's diary and papers are held by the Carver County Historical Society. Most of the early journals were unfortunately later lost. From Boston, he traveled west to Peru, Illinois, and then on to a settlement called New Sweden, near Burlington, Iowa. While in Iowa, Peterson “americanized” his name, from Anders Petterson to Andrew Peterson. Peterson continued to write in his daily diary, recording trips to town, work on the farm, visits with neighbors, and his thoughts on the Dakota War of 1862. His orchard blossomed, with the farm producing apples, pears, plums, grapes, and cherries.

Later life and death Peterson died on March 31, 1898 in Waconia, Minnesota. His body was buried at the Scandia Baptist Cemetery, now part of Laketown Township. His wife Elsa Peterson ran the farm with her children until her death March 8, 1922. As their children died with no heirs, his last daughter Emma gave the farm to Sarah Peterson, a neighbor who had cared for Emma in her old age. The farm then passed into the hands of the Holasek family of Waconia, Minnesota who renamed it Rock Isle Farm. In 2022 the CCHS was given a $250,000 grant from the Jeffris family Foundation for the restoration process.

Influence on Vilhelm Moberg

Peterson's diary entries and journals had a significant influence on Vilhelm Moberg and his famous Swedish novel series The Emigrants. Moberg's novels were eventually adapted into two different films; The Emigrants (1971), and The New Land (1972), both of which were directed by Jan Troell and both starred Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann. The main protagonist of the series, Karl Oskar Nilsson, a Swedish emigrant from Ljuders parish in Småland comes to Ki-Chi-Saga and establishes a settlement with his wife and children.