Carl Peterson (1870-1956)

Carl Peterson (June 21, 1870 - April 27, 1956) was the owner and operator of the Whiting Greenhouses in West Hartford.

Peterson was born in Stockholm, Sweden on June 21, 1870 to Hendrick Peterson, a farmer, and Charlotte Lenstrom. He was educated in the public schools of his native city, after which he attended a school for training gardeners. After completing his technical studies, he went to work on the estate of Ekman, who was the largest manufacturer of cannons in Sweden. He also served the required three years in the army, his branch being the cavalry. He came to the United States in 1893 and located in Cromwell, Connecticut, entering the employment of the A. N. Pierson Company, where he remained for three years. He then was hired under Thomas Young, a wholesale florist in New York City, whose greenhouses were in New Jersey, for nine months.

Peterson then removed to West Hartford in 1897 to take charge of the Whiting greenhouses under Alfred A. Whiting, the pioneer florist, as foreman. Upon Whiting's death, he managed the place for his daughter, Helen F. Whiting, for nine years. In July 1915, Peterson purchased the plant on Whiting Lane, including the original Whiting residence. He conducted over one hundred thousand square feet of glass with modern equipment. In 1929, Peterson entered his son, Carl E. Peterson, as a partner into the business.

The greenhouses continued to stand on the property adjacent to Whiting Lane School for many more years, finally being removed in the mid-1990s due to the expansion of the school.

Family
Peterson married Anna L. Matson, a native of Warberg, Sweden, on July 25, 1896. In addition to his own immediate family, Peterson had siblings - P. Gustave Peterson, John H. Hendrickson (who died in 1931), and two sisters who remained in Sweden.
 * Carl E. Peterson - m. Mildred Larson
 * Ruth H. Peterson - m. Frederick E. Chapman

Organizations

 * Served as Vice-President of the Connecticut Horticultural Society (up to July 1915 at least).