The Petersen Family

[Eva Elisabeth]

Hi Eva,
I understand. Thanks for explaining. It's so good to have your perspective. I hope you can return for the conference in April.
Kathy

Thanks, Kathy! I would love to, and the program sounds so fantastic, but don't know yet if I can.

Here are some statistics to illustrate:

Currently, 64 Pietersens live in Hannover. Hannover has 525.875 inhabitants => 0,012% are Petersens. The distance to the Danish border is 267 km = 165 miles.

To compare:
Hamburg: 721 Petersens, 1,799 million inhab. => 0,04% 145 km = 90 miles dist.,

Kiel: 258 Petersens, 242.041 inhab. => 0,11%, 74 km = 45 miles,

Flensburg: 398 Petersens, 89.357 inhab.=> 0,44%, directly at the Danish border.

Here you can see where the cities are located (FL = Flensburg):
   
(PS: Please apologize that I stick to spelling Hannover with "nn".)

---

Getzinger said Anna Klomann Petersen was originally from Hepe Darmstadt, Germany.

Hepe Darmstadt does and didn't exist, obviously this was a misreading. "ss" written in old German or Suetterlin letters easily look like a "p". Here's a key to the font:
http://germantranslationservices.org/ger...erlin-font
So I assume she was from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (in German actually: Hessen - Darmstadt).

[loetar44]

First of all, I want to say thank you (Lincoln Wonk) for your detailed and wonderful information and answering my questions. I have a few follow-up questions, kindly asking for your opinion.

Firstly: in some deathbed scenes (e.g. the Berghaus and the Kellogg engravings) a Tad-sized figure is included, depicted as “Young Petersen”, as if one of William Petersen’s sons was there witnessing the death of Lincoln. Also William Petersen’s grandson George Rector said in the October 1921 interview in The New York Times that members of the Petersen family were present at the deathbed. He also said that the entire family “was up all night doing everything possible for the dying President”. I think it may be true that William Petersen was in the room, but I doubt that a young son (approximately Tad’s age) actually would have been allowed entering the room. What is your opinion?

Secondly: were all children of William and Anna Petersen born in America? The List of the 143 passengers on board of the Ship Europa, under master J. H. Homann, from Bremen to Baltimore, Maryland (23 June 1841) only mention Wilhelm (William) and Anna Petersen, resp. 25 and 23 years old, from Hanover, occupation “talor” (tailor). No other Petersens (children) are mentioned. Are the birth years of the children known?

Thirdly: is it true that the Petersens had preserved the blood-stained pillow and bolster on which Lincoln died? And is it true that Mrs. Charles E. Rector (Charles’ second wife; Louisa Petersen was his first) after the death of her husband turned them over (along with the engraving of “The Village Blacksmith” that hung over the bed of Lincoln) to the United States Government?

Fourthly: George Rector said (in the October 1921 interview) that Lincoln died in his mother’s (Louisa) bedroom. She was however on the night of the assassination at a boarding school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. You said that one of the daughters (I suppose the eldest, Louisa) studied at the Moravian Seminary for Young Ladies in Pennsylvania. Was this Seminary in Bethlehem? You also said that Petersen rented every available inch of his house to boarders, so I suppose that Louisa's room was rented to William Clark. So in that case George Rector was right by saying that Lincoln died in his mother's bedroom ....

[Jim Garrett]

The Robert Bain book is too much narative and is a little rough around the edges. Bain writes it as a personal family history and is, for that reason, lacking evidence, but it does give insight. To give credit where credit is due, Kathy Canavan's research is just incredible. She has shared some interesting information with me that I feel priveledged that she has confided in me what she has uncovered. She's a true investigative reporter and an all round terrific person. I have to say, she is probably the most knowledgeable person on the Petersen family and the house.

[RJNorton]

Thanks, Jim. I always wondered about Bain's book. Kathy's research is outstanding.

[L Verge]

I have already signed Kathy up for the Surratt Conference in 2016 -- also John Elliott and KateH. We also have about five others under consideration. It is so nice to have new and excellent conspiratorial researchers in our midst.

[richard petersen]

Eva Elisabeth,
Thanks for the info on the name Petersen, did not realize some where from Germany. Actually the original name was Pedersen, but when they came over from Denmark it was explained in the USA Peder was spelled Peter, thus the name was changed. It has been a lifetime of misspelling for me.
Thanks again.

[Eva Elisabeth]

The spelling with "d" would absolutely speak for Denmark, it's way less common here. Currently, there are only 261 Pedersens, but13985 Petersens listed in all German telephone directories together, this is where they are located (left Pedersen, right Petersen):