Butler County Genealogy Trails Kansas Peder Paulson Bio

BUTLER COUNTY'S EIGHTY YEARS BIOS

PEDER PAULSON

(Transcribed by Lori DeWinkler)

Peder Paulson, one of the largest owners in Butler County, farmer, cattleman, oil producer , capitalist, county commissioner and leading citizen, was born in Mar Alborg, in the southern part of Denmark, October 4, 1849. He died September 13, 1927, in a hospital at Newton, where he was taken following a protracted illness at his home in El Dorado.

Few men in this section of Kansas have acquired the popularity and financial success of the late Mr. Paulson. The son of an emigrant, he came to America in 1867, during the perilous period following the Civil War. The family remained in New York but a short time, going direct from there to Chicago. It was only a matter of days until young Peder Paulson, strong, husky, and spirited boy of eighteen, had found lowly but honest employment in one of the street construction gangs of that city.

He remained in Chicago only a few weeks, afterwards explaining that he left because he was unable to speak English and that all his associate workers were Danish and likewise unable to speak other than their native language. The same sensible logic that was used throughout his after life was used at this time. He correctly reasoned that to make a quick success, it would be necessary to master the tongue of his adopted country. Consequently, he quit the Chicago job and went to Wilmington, Illinois, where he obtained employment on a farm. He received but $15 a month as wages, but he stayed steadfastly with the place until he had learned both the English language and the American methods of farming.

In 1870, he came to Kansas. This was thirteen years before a railroad entered Butler County, so he rode a stage from Emporia to El Dorado. He was in quest of a favorable location for a farm and, during the following year, selected a 160 acre tract near Towanda and homesteaded it. He applied himself diligently to the task of making a success and, suggestive of how well he succeeded, by 1916, when oil was discovered in this area, he had title to more than 2,000 acres and was one of the most extensive farmers and cattlemen in this entire part of the state. Much of this land was underlaid with oil and he reaped an immense fortune, generally estimated at millions. At the time of his death, he was among the richest men in the state.

Mr. Paulson was a thorough progressive. He was a member of the board of county commissioners, 1904-08, which supervised the erection of the new and ornate and strictly modern Butler County courthouse and his name is among other officials engraved in the great stones at the north of Central avenue entrance of that structure. He was a constant champion of road and bridge improvements and observed the changing times, as regards farming, marketing and other factors affecting the farmer and general welfare of a community, with a clear and comprehensive appreciation of the transition. He was philanthropic and patriotic. During his life he made generous contributions to churches, appropriated farms and cash to his children and to relatives, was a tremendous purchaser of government bonds during the late World War and a heavy contributor to the several Red Cross campaigns. He belonged to but two lodges, the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodman. In religion, he was a Lutheran; in politics, a Republican.

Mr. Paulson was the son of Paul and Anna (Neshbey) Anderson, and according to Danish custom, was given the name Paulson that being the Christian name and a part of the surname of his father. The family, on both the Anderson and Neshbey sides, were pure Danes and the lineage extended for centuries back into the Middle Ages of Nordic Europe.

Mr. Paulson was married twice. His first wife, whom he married in 1873, was Miss Ida Morgan, a member of a pioneer Butler County family. Five children were born of this marriage. There were: William I. Paulson, El Dorado, formerly a member of the El Dorado city commission; Charles H. Paulson, living at Whitewater; Pearl A. Paulson, of Newton, Kansas; Anna May, who married A. W. Lierle, and whose death occurred in April, 1927; and Emmet P. Paulson, now living at Newton. All of the sons are wealthy, influential and progressive citizens. Their mother died in February, 1885.

Mr. Paulson’s second wife, whom he married in the latter part of 1886, was Mrs. Martha (Jones) Woodward; she was the daughter of William and Elizabeth (Braden) Jones, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter of Ohio, but whose father, Edward Braden, was a native of Tennessee. William Jones and his family came to Kansas in 1876, settling in Butler County. Mrs. Paulson was the mother of two children by her former marriage. These children were Alpha Woodward, now the wife of William I. Paulson, and Edward, who died when sixteen years of age.