Fresno County, California Biographies

Source: History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of 
the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with 
its growth and development from the early days to the present (1919)

History By Paul E. Vandor 
Illustrated, Complete In Two Volumes 
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1919
 
Notes: Missing+page1185-1186

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm



S. BERG. � Among the well-known citizens of Fresno County must be 
mentioned S. Berg, one of the best-educated of his fellow countrymen, who 
is owner of a ten-acre ranch two miles south of Parlier. He was born at Ribe, 
Denmark, on June 21, 1869, the son of Nils Christian Berg, a shoemaker 
there, and Anna Christine (Christianson) Berg, a native of Schleswig. Of 
the eight children in the parental family our subject is the eldest. 

Brought up in the Danish Lutheran Church, in which he was confirmed, 
Mr. Berg attended both the common public schools and the Latin high school, 
and later, at the University of Copenhagen, he took a law course, and was ad- 
mitted to the practice of law. The legal field, however, attracted him but 
for a short time ; and having learned bookkeeping before he went to the uni- 
versity, he became a bookkeeper at the bank at Ribe. 

On November 23, 1903, Mr. Berg was married to Julia Kirstine Peter- 
son of Gording, Denmark, the daughter of Peter Hansen and Karen Chris- 
tianson who owned a good-sized farm. Mr. Hansen was a breeder of fancy 
horses and cattle and took several premiums for his exhibits. The parents 
had eleven children, and of these five girls and two boys are still living. One 
of the sons is Plans Christian Peterson, the well-known engineer, and to 
him is due the credit for Mr. and Mrs. Berg coming to America. He was 
foreman for the bridge-building department of the St. Louis. Minneapolis 
and Northern Railway, and later he became one of the construction en- 
gineers on the Panama Canal. Now he is farming at Hopkins, Minn. 

Mr. and Mrs. Berg sailed from Copenhagen, on January 14, 1909, on 
the steamship C. F. Tietken, and they landed at New York on the 29th of 
that month. On February 2nd they reached Hopkins. Minn., and for two 
and a half years Mr. Berg was busy keeping the books for the Minneapolis 
Threshing Machine Company. 

When he first came to California, Mr. Berg rented ranches near Selma ; 
but after some thirty months, he again took up bookkeeping, this time enter- 
ing the service of the Parlier Winery and the River Bend Gas and Water 
Company. In each engagement he gave such satisfaction that after another 
two and a half years he was able to secure a home and an exceptionally 
well-situated and equipped farm of his own. 

Mr. and Mrs. Berg attend the Danish Lutheran Church and participate 
in its many good works for the bettering of humanity. They are generously 
responsive to movements for the advancement of the neighborhood, and are 
especially interested in the public schools.