Grandfather Peterson

My grandfather must have been a prodigious worker in his prime. He was responsible for all the labor on the farm until the older children were capable of helping him. He must have been an individual of strong sexual drive to sire the 11 children he did. My sister Vivian recollects that my grandmother did not enjoy sex — probably the succession of childbirths were one cause of this dislike. I believe she was about 40 years old when aunt Laurine, the youngest of the children was born.

In 1915 my grandfather died and the family moved from the farm to the house in town. So the last half of her life was spent in comparative ease, enjoying the company of her children. The travail of childbearing in the first half of her married life results in this pleasant experience in the last half of her life. My sister related the graphic scene of my grandfather chasing my grandmother around the room after their marriage with his erect organ terrifying my grandmother.

When we were living on the farm Vivian would ride in with uncle Carl in the evening for a music lesson with my aunt Ruth. Vivian would share a bed with my grandmother overnight and my grandmother would talk to her about events of her past. Among these was the subject of my uncle George which Vivian carried with her to her grave. I will discuss this subject later.

My grandfather did not like doctors. I think this stemmed or was exacerbated at the time my uncle Serenus was born. It was a difficult birth and my grandfather drove to the nearby town of Callender to get a doctor. He would not come. It is not clear to me the immediate cause of my grandfather’s death. The family attributed it to cancer. Of the stomach? He in life had the habit of ingesting fruit pits, maybe this habit contributed. Anyway his last year was spent in considerable [pain] but he refused any contact or help from a doctor.

I look at my two grandfathers and I think that I am more like them than my own father. They were acquisitive of possessions (land) like I have been (though in my case land played only a part). I speculate that my maternal grandfather was a rather pro forma adherent of Christianity. I have similarly viewed the religion with a jaundiced eye and at this point in my life essentially rejected all of its theology. I have the mechanical aptitude of my grandfather Strand which my father lacked. And I share with them the capacity for work which of course was also present in the makeup of my father.