Martin Peterson was the son of Peter O. Peterson, who in 1905 bought a section of land two miles east of Nome, North Dakota. Business was done in both Nome and Lucca. Martin became familiar with a girl named Fanny Strand. Originally named Anna Frederick Strand, Fanny was born on August 15, 1886 to Gullick and Carrie Ferguson Strand. Her birth place was in Raritan Township. Her father, tired of farming, purchased the hotel in the bustling village of Lucca and Fanny became a waitress. She became adept at filling a "half a cup of coffee" by putting potatoes in the bottom half and filling the rest with coffee, as the smart salesman would request.

Martin and Fanny were married in 1907 and homesteaded in Bowman County, then considered as the "wild and wooley west". Marvel, their oldest child was born here.

The family remained on the homestead until it was proved up and then headed for a small town near Grand Forks, where Martin operated an elevator. Later they moved to Nome where he also operated an elevator before moving to the family farm in 1912. Here the family farmed until Martin's death in 1942.

During this time, three girls and a boy were added to the family. Charlotte married Harry Toring; Dorothy married Albert Knudson; Frances, born in 1917, married Roy Swenson. The youngest, Lloyd, married Ruth Reitan of Hastings, North Dakota.

Marvel, the oldest, married Gladys Swenson of Nome and they have three children; all girls and all married. Marvel is State Superintendent of Schools and he and Gladys have resided in Bismarck since 1947.

Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 194