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


N. PETER JENSEN. � An enterprising business man who thoroughly 
understands the responsible work he has for years undertaken, that of build- 
ing and repairing public roads, and whose civic pride has inspired him to 
develop one of the most attractive of home places, is N. Peter Jensen, the 
kind-hearted and liberal Danish-American so popular with everybody since 
he first came to Fresno County in the middle eighties. He was born in Fyen, 
Denmark, in 1877, the son of Soren Jensen, a native of that country who 
was married there to Carrie Hansen. In 1883 Soren Jensen came out to Cali- 
fornia on a kind of prospecting tour, and he spent the first year in Fresno 
Colony; then he passed a year in San Luis Obispo, in the employ of Steele 
Bros., but later he returned to Fresno County. His wife and family of three 
children joined him in 1886, and the next year he bought a ranch in West 
Park. Here began his experiments in viticulture on a ranch of ten acres; 
and when he had progressed somewhat, he bought twenty acres more, so 
that eventually he owned thirty fine acres. These he managed until 1908, 
when he sold out and retired to a quiet life with his children. Six years later. 
full of years and honors, respected and liked by everyone, he died, having al- 
most reached his seventy-second year. Mrs. Jensen, who passed away in 
1910, was the mother of three children: Sena, who became Mrs. H. P. Lar- 
sen and resides in the Pomona school district ; N. Peter, of this sketch ; 
M anus, a rancher in Barstow, � and all are worthy of the family name. 

Brought up in Denmark until he came to America and Fresno County, 
Peter attended the public schools of West Park, and from a lad helped in 
the vineyard, assisting his father until he was twenty years old. Arriving at 
the threshold of manhood, he began to do for himself; and then, buying a 
farm outfit, with a harvester and eight mules, he leased land from the Bank 
of Central California. He put his hand to the plow in vigorous fashion, and 
soon he was planting some 2,000 acres to grain. This decidedly extensive 
farm he ran for three years, and although he harvested good crops, wheat 
was sold at such a low figure that he could realize no profit, and finding that 
his labor was in vain, he quit and turned to other fields. 

He then engaged in contract work, undertaking to level and check lands ; 
and he found plenty to do in Vinland, Empire, Barstow and other colonies, 
so that he continued in that line for four years. Then he bought a ranch in 
the Barstow Colony � forty acres of raw land requiring hard work in leveling 
and checking to make it ready for alfalfa-growing � and a fifteen-acre orchard 
of peaches. This time he was permitted to see a reward for his industry, and 
once more was on the road to prosperity. 

In the meantime Mr. Jensen had continued contract-leveling and check- 
ing, until he was appointed road-overseer under Chris Jorgensen, in January, 
1907 ; and this position he has held to everybody's satisfaction ever since. He 
used to work fifty-two head of mules on the roads, but lately he has been 
using two caterpillars in this district � a Holt of forty-five horsepower, and 
another of seventy-five. He also uses a truck and eight to ten horses. He 
works from the highway west for five miles beyond Kerman and from the 
river to McMullen Station. These caterpillars are owned by the county, and 
their use and upkeep alone involve care and responsibility. When Mr. Jensen 
took office, the roads were poor in this section ; and since then the best have 
been constructed, usually at the rate of about forty miles each winter. In 
1916 he worked about 220 miles of road, and in 1917 a good 250, and more 
each year, so that now he may point with pride to the excellent highways con- 
structed under his supervision. 

Having a chance to sell his forty-acre ranch at a good profit in 1907, 
Mr. Jensen did so, and the following year he bought his present home place 
of the same size, one mile south of Barstow. This he has devoted to vineyard 
purposes, setting out the vines himself; and he has thirty acres of Thompson 
seedless. He has also purchased another forty acres across the road, and most 
of this he has planted to alfalfa, reserving twelve acres for a vineyard of 
Thompson's. A member of the California Associated Raisin Company, Mr. 
Jensen both profits from the experience of others and contributes somewhat 
himself to the general advancement of California husbandry. 

While at West Park, Mr. Jensen was married to Mary Stahl, a charming 
lady from Iowa; and for years he has maintained a happy home typical of 
Californian hospitality.