Ferdinand C. PETERSON

 

Ferdinand C. PETERSON, engaged in the general insurance business at 57 California Street, is one of the older native sons of San Francisco, and is a member of a family that has carried heavy responsibilities in the commercial affairs since pioneer times.

 

His father, S. B. PETERSON, a native Lessoe, Denmark, was born in 1829, and came to California in 1850.  Prior to coming to California he had followed a seafaring life, eventually becoming a captain.  In California, after a brief trial at mining, he returned to San Francisco, and was in the shipping and commission business until his death in November 1905.  He accumulated a wide range of interests.  He was one of the original incorporators of the Alaska Packers Association, serving as a director for many years.  He and his son Ferdinand were among the organizers of the Nak Nek Packing Company and the Red Salmon Canning Company, operating canneries in Alaska.  His name was also associated with civic affairs, and he was active in the republican party.  His wife, Mary CLAUSEN, was also a native of Denmark, and they were married in New York in 1854.  She came to California with her husband across the Isthmus of Panama, and made her home in San Francisco until her death in 1887.  Mrs. S. B. PETERSON was one of the original incorporators of the Old People’s Home, starting what is now one of the notable institutions of San Francisco.

 

Ferdinand C. PETERSON was born at San Francisco, February 2, 1855.  He graduated from the Lincoln Grammar School in 1868, completed his high school course, and then took up the insurance business, with which he has been identified for nearly half a century.  For many years he was city manager of the Commercial Union Assurance Company of London, England, working his way through the different departments in the San Francisco office from office boy to city manager.  Severing his connection with this company in 1914, he opened an office as a general insurance broker, and has since continued in that line.  He is also a director and vice president of the Nak Nek Packing Company and of the Red Salmon Canning Company, two of the large companies operating in the Alaskan waters.  The S.B. PETERSON-FRIIS Company Estate, of which he is president owns large commercial and investment interests.

 

Mr. PETERSON was one of the early members of the Lincoln Grammar School Association, serving as its presidents during the year 1921-22, and is now a life director of that institution.  He has been one of the Board of Trustees of the Old People’s Home for a number of years, Mrs.  PETERSON being one of the Board of Woman Managers of that institution.  Mr. PETERSON has taken an active interest in republican politics, representing his party at county conventions in past years.  He is a member of the Commonwealth Club and the Belvedere Golf and Country Club, and his home has been at Belvedere for thirty years.  He is a member of the Boys’ Welfare Committee of the Young Men’s Christian Association of San Francisco, and a director of the Church Extension Board of the Bay Cities.  He and Mrs. PETERSON are members of the Howard Presbyterian Church, of which Mr. PETERSON is senior elder.

 

Mr. PETERSON and Miss Mae SOMERS were married in the Howard Presbyterian Church, October 9, 1889.  Mrs. PETERSON is a native daughter of San Francisco.  Her father W. J. SOMERS, was a pioneer of the city and a capitalist.  Mr. and Mrs. PETERSON have extensive property and other large interests in San Francisco.  Her brother is Dr. George B. SOMERS, of the Lane and Stanford University Hospital.  Mrs. PETERSON has been president of the Francisca Club, the most prominent woman’s club in the city.  She is a life member of the Century and Woman’s Athletic clubs, and one of the lady managers of the Young Women’s Christian Association; Mr. and Mrs. PETERSON have three children.

 

The oldest, F. Somers PETERSON, graduated Bachelor of Science with the class of 1912, from the University of California, and is in business as a manufacturer’s agent, representing large Eastern factories.  During the World war he enlisted in the military aviation service, and was stationed at North Island, Pensacola and Key West.  He received a commission as a first lieutenant, and was granted an honorable discharge after the armistice.  F. Somers PETERSON married Miss Helen HOLTON, of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, youngest daughter of W. A. HOLTON.  They have one son, Holton.

 

Kate PETERSON, the second child of Mr. and Mrs. PETERSON, is the wife of Ward MAILLIARD, of the firm of MAILLIARD & SCHMIEDELL, San Francisco merchants.  Their two sons are John W., the third and William MAILLIARD.

 

G. Baltzer PETERSON, the younger son, was born in San Francisco, graduated from the University of California in 1916,with the Bachelor of Science degree, and was an honor graduate of Harvard University in 1918.  Enlisting in the light artillery, he went to France with the Ninety-first Division toward the close of the war, having attended the Officers’ Training Camps at San Francisco and at Camp Lewis.  He was commissioned a first lieutenant.  Since the war he had been engaged in the salmon canning business, and he and his brother are members of the Bohemian Club of San Francisco.