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History |
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The house that is now The Roth House is an icon in
the village of Soldiers Grove. Built by one of the
village’s most distinguished and respected
citizens, Atley Peterson, it is a symbol of both a
proud past and a vibrant present.
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Atley Peterson
Atley Peterson is often
described as the person who did more to promote the
early growth and general welfare of the Village of
Soldiers Grove than any other man. He was born in
1847 in Erdahl, Norway, and came to America with his
family in 1852. The family briefly lived in Vernon
County, but moved to Crawford County in 1854,
settling in the Pine Knob area near Soldiers Grove.
Mr. Peterson attended local schools and the Madison
Business College before going into business in
Soldiers Grove at the age of 19. In 1869, he
married Christina Fortney.
The founding of Soldiers Grove is generally believed
to be between 1857 and 1858, the period of time in
which a man named Joseph Brightman placed a dam
across the Kickapoo River and built a sawmill. As
the town grew and was platted, his property, between
Pine Street and the north bank of the Kickapoo, was
referred to as “Block C.” Mr. Peterson purchased
the Joseph Brightman property and moved into the
existing dwelling. In 1869, he established the
village’s first post office in this house, and it
was also said that he maintained a small store
there. He later built a small building on the
property to house the store.
In addition to being a sawmill and lumberyard owner,
store owner, and part owner of the village’s grist
mill, Mr. Peterson’s business career also included
being a bank president and farmer. In 1907, he won
first prize for best tobacco grown in Wisconsin. He
was co-owner of the Electric Light plant, which
enabled Soldiers Grove to be the first village in
the Kickapoo Valley to have electric lights (at
$1.00 per month per residence). |
Atley Peterson |
Christina Peterson |
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He also had a brilliant political career and an
exemplary record of public service.
Atley
Peterson served as president or supervisor of the
Village of Soldiers Grove almost continuously until
his death. He held the office of postmaster for 17
years, from 1869 to 1886. His larger political
career included a number of years as a member of the
Crawford County Board, and most of those years he
served as its chairman. In 1879 he was elected to
the Wisconsin State Assembly, where he served until
1882. In 1886 he was elected Railroad Commissioner
for the State of Wisconsin and served in this
capacity from 1887 to 1891. He served as
Presidential Elector for Wisconsin in 1900, ran for
the office of Wisconsin State Treasurer in 1902, and
was a delegate to the Republican National Convention
in 1908.
Atley
Peterson died in 1909. Over 4,000 people attended
his funeral, including a large number of state
officials who came from Madison aboard a special
train. At his death, the State Legislature passed a
resolution of respect and praise for his
accomplishments. The paper described his passing as
“a calamity for the community,” and praised his
nobility.
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The Immediate Family |
The Peterson Family
Atley Peterson had two brothers who joined him in
Soldiers Grove. His older brother, Nels O.
Peterson, came to the village in 1881 to engage in
the mercantile business. In 1885 he built the Grand
Headquarters Hotel, operated it for eight years, and
then entered the real estate and insurance
businesses. He also built the Opera House and a
large dwelling on Pine Street. Tolev Peterson
operated a general store on Main Street until 1910,
when he moved with his family to Montana. |
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Atley and Christina Peterson had ten children, six
of whom lived. The oldest son, Carl, was manager of
the Bank of Soldiers Grove until his sudden death in
1905. Dr. Nels Alfred (Fred) Peterson, born in
1876, attended St. Olaf College and Marquette
Medical College. He practiced medicine in
Soldiers Grove from 1903 until his death in 1936,
and was a well-beloved physician. |
The Extended Family |
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Clarence (C.A.) Peterson also wanted to become a
doctor, but when his older brother Carl died, he was
called home at age 21 to run the Bank. Four years
later, when his father died, he also called upon to
manage the Peterson Estate. The Soldiers Grove Bank
was the first bank to fail in the Great Depression;
eventually all the small area banks, and many of the
larger ones, suffered the same fate. Clarence was
taken to trial twice by disgruntled stockholders for
mishandling of school funds. The first trial, which
found Clarence guilty, was appealed and found to be
null and void. The second trial absolved him of any
guilt. He left Soldiers Grove for a number of years
to work in real estate in La Crosse, but was
welcomed back in later years. During World War II,
he was Secretary of the Crawford County draft
board. He was born in 1885 and passed away in 1952.
Atley and Christina Peterson’s youngest son Alvin
practiced law in Soldiers Grove and Stoughton,
Wisconsin, where he lived at the time of his death.
The Peterson’s two daughters were Alma, the eldest,
who married James Chapman, a university professor in
Evanston, Illinois, and Helen, who married Samuel
Groom of Boston, Massachusetts.
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The House
Atley Peterson built this residence on Pine Street
in 1896. It is one of three stately Victorians in
Soldiers Grove. The others were the O.K. Himley
mansion built in 1900, now The Old Oak Inn. The
other is the N. O. Peterson home, across Pine
Street.
Like the Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien near the
Mississippi River, the house is built on a slight
elevation just above the flood plain, with the
ground sloping away from the house in all
directions. On the spacious grounds around the
house, the Petersons drilled an artesian well. |
Atley Peterson Residence |
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The wood for the home was likely milled at Atley
Peterson’s sawmill. The house was put together with
wood screws by a craftsman brought from Finland. It
was fully electrified, powered by the nearby
sawmill.
The main floor boasted large elegant rooms and there
were rooms for each of the six children on the
second floor. The top floor housed the servants’
quarters.
The house stayed in the Peterson family until 1946,
when Clarence Peterson sold it to Archie and Ethel
Maybee. The Maybees put on a new roof and put in a
new furnace, taking the house from coal and wood to
stoker coal and then to oil. In 1953 they sold the
house to Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Davenport, who owned
it for a decade and then sold it to Lawrence Shedd
in 1963. The house then passed to Larry and Chris
Steele, and to Andrew Knutson in 1998.
The Roths bought the
residence in 2007 and transformed it into a
bed-and-breakfast that speaks to the elegance of the
Victorian period.
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The Roth House
102 Pine Street
Soldiers Grove, WI 54655
608.624-3884
therothhousebb@yahoo.com |
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