12 Graves of Christmas - Charles Henry Petersen

Charles Henry Petersen, 1851-1904
Brickmaker
 
Buried in IOOF Cemetery, Block 12, Lot 1

(Grave marker photo courtesy of Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc.)

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Theodore Charles Heinrich Petersen was born on April 10, 1851, in Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia, to Jakob Petersen and Friederike Hansen. 
 
Although the Petersens were of Danish ethnicity, they had adopted some German customs, such as passing on the father’s surname unchanged. In 1866, Germany asserted full control over Schleswig-Holstein and began conscripting Danish men into the German army. That may have been why Petersen immigrated to the United States in 1874.
 
Family stories hold that Charles Petersen was working in Texas when he became a naturalized citizen. On October 30, 1888, he married Pauline Amalie Nissen, who was also from Schleswig-Holstein.
 
The young couple took up residence in Campus, Livingston County, Illinois. However, Pauline died less than a year later, two weeks after giving birth to a son named Paul. Although born a U.S. citizen, baby Paul was apparently sent back to Bredstadt, Schleswig-Holstein, to be raised by his grandparents.
 
1892 found Charles Petersen in Phoenix, Arizona, where he married his second wife, Ernestina Lena Yostina Popken, on September 15. They had several children in quick succession. Petersen was in the brickmaking business and owned a 20-acre brickyard south of downtown Phoenix. The Petersens lived on South Third Street, just a few blocks from Columbus Gray’s mansion. 
 
On November 6, 1900, Mrs. Petersen was at home alone with the children when noises in the back yard alerted her to the fact that a vagrant was trying to steal the family’s calf. Armed with a shotgun, she ordered him to leave; however, when he charged at her, she fired, killing him. The coroner’s jury reported that he had recently been released from jail.
 
While riding his bicycle down Washington Street on December 28, 1904, Charles Petersen turned in front of an oncoming streetcar, lost his balance and fell. He was crushed between the streetcar and the rail beneath. The newspaper reported that the widow’s grief was pitiful to behold; she was left with several children to raise, the oldest being only eleven, and she was nine months pregnant.
 
Petersen was buried in Block 12, Lot 1, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery. Just a day or so after his funeral, his widow gave birth to a posthumous daughter.
 
In 1909, Petersen’s son Paul returned to the United States to reclaim his American citizenship. He served during World War I in the 38th U. S. Field Artillery against Germany. It is not known whether he ever visited Arizona or had the opportunity to meet his half-siblings.
 
© 2025 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 28 December 2025.

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