Why Andrew Peterson Settled in Minnesota and How His Diaries Influenced Vilhelm Moberg

Wendy Biorn - Why Andrew Peterson Settled in Minnesota and How His Diaries Influenced Vilhelm Moberg

This presentation traces Andrew Peterson’s journey to Minnesota and the discovery of his diaries by Vilhelm Moberg, which later informed his classic novel The Emigrants.

About 2010, the Carver County Historical Society inherited a property once owned by Swedish immigrant Andrew Peterson.  Peterson immigrated from Ydre Sweden in 1850.  First arriving in Iowa, he moved to Minnesota in 1854 and homesteaded near Waconia, MN.  Here, he spent the next 45 years working to find a winter hardy apple tree.  Peterson died in 1898 and that may have been the end of his story if it wasn’t for Swedish author Wilhelm Moberg, who found Peterson’s diaries and used them as one of several primary sources for his Emigrant series books.  Those books were made into a movie, a Broadway show with music by ABBA and a short run TV series. Today, the farm is open to the public for tours and events.  Ms. Petersen Biorn will be presenting about Peterson’s journey from Sweden to the US and Moberg’s books which will forever keep Peterson’s story alive.

Wendy Petersen Biorn proudly grew up on a farm in SW Minnesota.  She has several degrees including one in radio broadcasting from Brown Institute, an AA from North Hennepin Community College, a BA in Business Administration/Marketing from Augsburg University, and a Masters in Public and Nonprofit Administration for Metro State University.  She started her career at the Minnesota Historical Society’s Oliver Kelley Farm where she worked as an interpreter for 10 years and where they still use programs she wrote. For the last 19 years she has been the Executive Director of the Carver County Historical Society.  She is the co-author of Two Wars on the Frontier, a nationally award-winning book about Swedish immigrant AJ Carlson and his time fighting in the Civil War and US Dakota War.

Free for members; $10 registration for non-members.  More information at www.sgsmn.org