Bio: Bever, Peter (History - 1855)

Contact: Janet Schwarze

Surnames: BEVER BERGMAN

----Source: 1891 Bio. History Of Clark Jackson Co., Wisconsin, pg. 175-176

PETER BEVER, a farmer of section 7, township 24, range 4 west, Clark County, was born in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, March 5, 1855, the eldest of four sons of Peter Bever, Sr., in whose family there were no daughters. His father was born near Kell, Prussia, on the famous banks of the Rhine, and emigrated on a sailing vessel when a young man, requiring six months time, and immediately located at Milwaukee. A sister of his came afterward and settled in Walworth County, this State, after her marriage, bringing a large family of children who have grown up and settled in different States. The remainder of the grandparents children continued their residence in the old country. Peter Bever, Sr., died January 18, 1866. The brothers of the subject of this sketch were: John, born October 2, 1856, at Milwaukee Andrew, February 16, 1859, in Clark County and Nicholas, December 6, 1861, also in Clark County, and died October 20, 1873, in this county, at the age of about twelve years. Andrew, a man of a family, lives near by John near Otter Creek, in Clark County. He married Annie Weinstock, November 25, 1889.

Mr. Bever, whose name heads this sketch, married Dena Bergman, November 22, 1877. She is a daughter of Adolph Bergman, who had four daughters and four sons, namely: George, Adolph, Anton, Lena, Frank, Mary, Elizabeth and Theresa, all of whom are now living excepting Mary. Of this large family, one, Adolph, is a Catholic priest in Syracuse, New York George, the eldest, is a well-known architect in St. Paul, with a large and prosperous business and the other two are contractors and builders in the same city. The two living sisters are married and settled in the town of Mentor, Clark County. The parents came to this country from Westphalia about 1882, and the father's death occurred November 9, 1889, at the age of seventy-five years, and the mother is still living in the township above mentioned, at the age of seventy years. Mr. Bever has had five children, as follows: Elizabeth, born December 11, 1878 Theresa, December 2, 1880 Mary, December 18, 1882 Emma, January 9, 1885 and Peter G., December 27, 1889.

Mr. Bever came to the township where he now lives when it was entirely new, there being only seven families therein at the time. For breadstuff he had to take his grist to a mill at Sparta, the trip consuming four days. The many Indians here at the time were the source of great fear and anxiety, although they made no serious outbreaks. Mr. Bever is now busily engaged in farming and establishing a permanent home on a fractional eighty-acre tract of land, his house being on a commanding site, and in a few years he will have made it and its surroundings all that an independent farmer can desire.

1880 Mentor Township, Clark Co., WI Federal Census

Peter Bever @25, b. WI, Farmer, Parents b. Germany

Wife: Dena Bever @24, b. Germany, Keeps House, Parents b. Germany

Brother: Andrew Bever @21, b. WI, Parents b. Germany

Dau: Lizzie Bever @1, b. WI, Father b. WI, Mother b. Germany