John Petter Olsen BJERKE

   Another name for John was Johan Petter OLESEN.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Biography: Chippewa County, Wisconsin: Past and Present, 1913, Chippewa County, Wisconsin, USA. JOHN BJERKE

Among the substantial farmers of Chippewa county is John Bjerke, who owns one hundred and twenty acres of land, forty of which have been cleared while the remainder is used for pasture. A native of Norway, he was born four miles north of Christiania, January 24, 1862, and is a son of Ole and Mary (Engelson) Bjerke, both natives of Norway. The father came to the United States in 1863, settling in Fillmore county, Minnesota, where he engaged in farming on rented land. Then years later he came to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, find employment as a lumber jack. Five years later he moved to township 31, range 5, and after working in the woods for a few years purchased one hundred and sixty acres of unbroken land covered with pine timber. There he built a home and lived until his death in 1905. His wife also passed away on the old homestead. In religious faith there were Lutherans. Their family numbered three sons: Gustav Peterson, who now lived on the old homestead nad uses the name of Peterson as it was the family name with the parents came to America, the father, however, adopted the Norwegian farm name for himself and his other children; Charles, who also live on a farm in this township; and John, our subject.

John Bjerke is the acquirement of his education attended the common schools near his father's home and subsequently remained on the homestead until thirty years of age, assisting in its operation and acquiring a good knowledge of agricultural methods. His father then transferred to him forty acres of unbroken land, upon which our subject built his home and where he has since resided engaged in clearing the property. He has also since acquired title to eighty acres which used as a pasture.

In Chippewa Falls Mr. Bjerke was married to Miss Bertha Bakke, who was born about fifteen miles north of Christiania, Norway, and came with her parents to America in 1881, when a child. She was reared in Taylor county, Wisconsin. She died July 18, 1904, leaving four children: Ole, who makes his home in Minnesota; and Elmer, Arne, and Minda, at home. Mr. Bjerke is a republican and serves at present as township supervisor. He is a member of the Lutheran church. He is respected by all who know him and has many friends in this locality.

[Chippewa County, Wisconsin: Past and Present : a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Volume 2, S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913, pp83-84]

• Cemetery: Yellow River Cemetery, Colburn, 1946, Chippewa County, Wisconsin, USA. John P. Bjerke
1862 - 1946