Person:Percival Peterson (1)

He was only twenty years old at the time of his father's death in 1900. His mother knew nothing about business or finance. She was a loving mother and German Hausfrau, interested primarily in "Kuchen, Kirke, and Kinder". She, therefore, gave management of the family finances to young Percival.

After his fathers death, they moved briefly to California. He then went to Lower California where he bought several hundred thousand acres of ranching land. Tragically, the land was seized by Pancho Villa and most of the family fortune was lost. After this disaster, he was reluctant to return to Butte des Morts and went to Nicaragua where he got a job as a surveyor helping to lay out railroads to banana plantations. After a couple years, however, he decided to return to Butte des Morts and face the consequences. He threw stones at his sister's window to awaken her one night. When she came down stairs and opened the door both she and her mother welcomed him with open arms with no retribution whatsoever. They were simply thrilled to see him and have him home.

Thoughts and questions about this story/family legend by Lucius Donkle III 6/2021

- The historical timing of Pancho Villa and Percival Peterson both in the US Southwest is off by about a decade. Percival received the estate proceeds in 1901 and soon-after moved to California with his 15-year old sister, Francis. Pancho Villa, on the other hand, was a 20-something small-time bandit until making his name during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), well AFTER the family fortune had been lost. I also could not find evidence that Pancho Villa ever "seized" property in the US. Most of his activities were south of the border. The exception was a raid into the US in 1916 in Columbus, New Mexico, far away from California, and it was short-lived, with no land capture involved. It is thought to have been to gain military hardware for his "activities" in Mexico. Wikipedia - Battle of Columbus (1916)

- Francis was 15 when Percival took her to California and when married to Dr. Donkle at age 24 was nicknamed "Frisco" because she talked about San Francisco so much. So Percival was not ONLY in southern California. After Percival lost the family fortune, he went to Nicaragua for a couple years before returning home, but seems to have returned before Francis was married in 1910 since he knew which bedroom-window was hers to let her know he had returned. Again, well before Pancho Villa was a significant figure.

- In Mexico in the 1900 timeframe, apparently "Americans moved to Mexico in the largest numbers, but most to pursue ranching and farming themselves, and were the largest group on foreign nationals in Mexico. In 1900, there were only 2800 British citizens living in Mexico, 16,000 Spaniards, 4,000 French, and 2,600 Germans." Wikipedia - Economic History of Mexico This fact aligns somewhat with Percival's investment in "several hundred thousand acres of ranching land". So could it be that Percival was involved with land investments actually in Mexico (not in southern California) and lost them somehow? Or perhaps Pancho Villa, as a small-time bandit at the time, had played a roll in his losses? More research will need to be done.

- As for the family fortune, it came from the general store founded and run by his father, Cornelius. His wife, Bertha, remarried John Boe, the store proprietor, as a matter of convenience. Since his wife was still alive when he died, it seems somewhat unusual that she would have been forced into a marriage of convenience while her children took most of her husband's (their) estate. Perhaps that was customary at the time?

- This family story is told by my dad, Lucius Donkle Jr, but is very poorly sourced (i.e. none). However, this "family legend" provides interesting material for future family genealogy research. I hope to do so later in life, but others are welcome to join in!

Addendum 8/2022 - My cousin, Bonnie Baker Jones, suggested that perhaps Percival invested in Baja California, Mexico (actual name of the state in Mexico) rather than in California, USA. That makes sense and aligns with the Magonista rebellion of 1911 and its Magonism precursors dating back to 1905.

Between 1884 and 1900 Baja California, Mexico was attempted to be absorbed by the USA and later colonized by George H. Sisson and then Mexican Land and Colonization Company. It seems reasonable that if land was acquired in the early 1900's that it could have been taken by force or sold for a near-total-loss given the moves toward 1911 Rebellion being fostered by the Magonista during that time.

Via membership in the Butte des Morts Historical Society I have just received the probate for Peter C. Peterson. There was no will so the estate went through probate and his son, Percival, was the estate administrator. After all expenses were paid, the estate was valued at $34,580.20 and the proceeds were divided evenly between his widow, Bertha-age 48, and his children, Percival-age 21 and Francis-age 15, each one getting $11,526.66 less a 1% state estate tax. For perspective, the estate's value in 1901 of $34,580.20 calculates to $1,205,327.45 in 2022 using an online CPI calculator. This gives some perspective on how much money was at-stake, or lost, by Percival if family legend is to be believed.

The probate document is 57 pages long and consists of many legal forms but also many lists of accounts, assets, expenses, and property descriptions (p. 27) which may be interesting to anyone wishing to do more research. It is also interesting that Percival's mother, Bertha, received an allowance from the estate of $75/month (2,614.20 in 2022) while it was being settled.

LBDIII

He and his wife, Anna, were always present at Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities at the Donkle's on Christmas Eve and at the Peterson's on Christmas Day. As long as he lived the loss of the Lower California property was never brought up or discussed.

He worked the rest of his life as a salesman for the Midland Paper Co. and was much loved by his customers.

Tragically, he was killed by a CTA bus on the North Side of Chicago in 1960 at the age of 81. The estate sued the CTA and after 3 years succeeded in getting about an $18,000 settlement. He is buried on the Peterson lot in Plumber's Cemetery between Butte des Morts and Oshkosh.