Petersons in Houston County, Minnesota

I have a very confusing line in my tree. I am pretty much going to start fresh with the line. Sorry if this gets confusing. I will try to explain this as best as I can. John Peterson Born Abt 1846 in Norway First to Ann(e) *Source* Elmer’s Social Security application* First child - Florence Peterson in 1880 or 1881 Second Child - Minnie Peterson in 1881 *note name is not short for anything* Third Child - Elmer Albert Peterson in 1883 ----- The First three were adopted by J.F. and Elizabeth Martin in Ridgeway, MN. Names changed to Martin. Florence and Minnie listed with them in 1895, Elmer was not listed. - All born in Rushford, Fillmore, Minnesota Second to Margaret A Nelson First Child Anna Sophie Peterson in 1897 Second Child Milton Peterson in 1901 Third Child Olga Peterson in 1904 Born in Houston, Houston, Minnesota Died 17 Nov 1926 *Source* Winona Newspaper* in Minnesota City, Winona, Minnesota at the home of Anna (Peterson) Rolbiecki. Buried. In Woodlawn Cemetery in Winona County. The Cemetery does not have an index for its “residents” and I have not been able to go down to there and search for myself. I have had some one else look for me but they did not want to put in the effort of browsing the cemetery themselves. I do NOT know for a fact who the parents of JOHN PETERSON are. I looked at the Minnesota Historical Society for a death record for JOHN PETERSON there is record but his parents are not listed. It says they were born in Norway and that is it. The informant on the record is his daughter. She didn’t know when he was born. It says month and date unknown, year 1846. The second one is different, It is a family photograph. It shows Swan and Karen and 8 Children, 4 boys 4 girls. Myrtle Lillian Northrup Parents: HENRY PETERSON born in Minnesota Selma Olson in Norway Born 17 January 1909 in North Dakota Died 13 July 1979 in Winona, Winona, Minnesota Now that I had Henry Peterson as her father I did some more search in the Winona Newspapers. I found hi obituary in the Paper Henry S. Peterson Born 9 June 1884 To Mr. and Mrs. Swan S Peterson Died 29 October 1964 in Houston, Minnesota Selma Olson. They lived in Hettinger, North Dakota for three years. Now this is where things get a little tougher. I did some searching in census records for Swan Peterson. 1900 living in Houston, Houston, Minnesota - With: Carolina -55 Emma - 18 Henry - 14 Swan was listed at age 64 It also said that he was born in Feb 1836 in Norway. AND IMMIGRATED IN 1858. Married in 1865. Well I did a search for a death record. Swan Peterson Born - 10 October 1836 Married 1865 Died 10 May 1923 in Houston, Houston, Minnesota Informant Mrs. Swan Peterson. Parents: Father: PETER PETERSON Maiden name of Mother: Not known Both born in Norway I know the birth dates don’t match from the census to the death record, but I think we all know how census’ can be wrong. I found his obituary in a Special section in the Winona-Republican form 15 May 1923. in his obituary I found and interesting sentence, “Deceased was one of the early settlers here.” Also it lists his survivors and his wife outlived him. So did some more death certificate searching and found Caroline/Carolina/Caren/Karen Peterson who died in Houston, Houston, Minnesota and found one. Karen Peterson Born 3 December 1843 Died 28 December 1928 Parents Ingebret Swenson Mother not known Both Born in Norway Informant. Tena Peterson Didn’t find an obituary in the Winona Newspapers but could possibly be one in a Houston County Newspaper. In Swan’s obituary it showed his children. One of the daughters was named Tena Peterson (Not married) I did a search in the Winona Newspapers again and found an article of family members coming to visit her because she was sick. It also said that she was a Registered Nurse. Well I looked for a death record and found her. Tena Peterson Occupation - Nurse Born - 31 October 1875 Died - 26 Jan 1939 in Money Creek, Houston, Minnesota Informant - Sam Peterson Parents listed as Swan and Caren. I now thought I had enough children’s names that I could do a more intense search in census records. I found an 1880 census record for Swan and Caroline Peterson with 7 children Two of which are Berthena and one is Samuel. The birth date for Berthena is abt. 1876 so that matches. It listed samuel as 1 year old. So i went and found an obituary for him in Winona Newspapers and it also matched. BUT!!!! the most interesting thing on that record is it lists Peter Halvorson. Peter Halvorson Age 68 Born - Abt 1812 in Norway listed as Father of the head of the house, which is Swan Peterson. He is also listed in 1885 as living with Swan and Karen in Houston, Minnesota. I have also found a Declaration of intent filed for Peter (Petter) Halvorson from Houston County. I have a cousin who would be able to get that for me. If anyone one thinks that may be helpful. On familysearch.org they have a death index for Minnesota and he is listed and Norway Baptisms Peter Halvorson Born - 23 Jun 1811 in Norway Christ - 25 Aug 1811 in Mo, Telemark, Norway Died - 21 September 1885 in Houston, Houston, Minnesota Father: Halvor Peterson Mother: Birgithe Olsdatter Both born in Norway With a quick search on familysearch.org it shows Halvor and Birgithe have 9 children in total. Now my assumption comes in. Father: Peter Halvorson - 1812 in Norway Son - Swan S. Peterson - 1836 in Norway *Son - John Peterson - 1846 in Norway Now Lyle Northrup and Robert Rolbiecki are cousins and have know each other for a long time they must be closely related so I wouldn’t think they would be and farther than 2nd cousins. I have little information on the other Children of Swan and Karen but nothing helpful. Here are my questions. When and Where did Peter Halvorson come to America? One Note * Minnesota became a state in 1858. Birth date and Place for John and Swan Peterson. Who Peter Halvorson Married, when and where. Halvor Peterson was born and lineage after that. When and Where did John Peterson come to America? Also When he was born. When and Where did Swan Peterson come to America? Can anyone help find more relatives related to any of these people. Should I get the Declaration of Intent for Peter Halvorson?