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Below is a family biography included in The History of Benton County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Judge Peter Holsten, one of the representative citizens, and a successful farmer and stock-raiser of Williams Township, was born in Hanover, Germany, November 28, 1838, and is the son of Peter and Rebecca (Kley) Holsten, both natives of Hanover. The family immigrated to the United States in the fall of 1850, made a settlement in Morgan County, purchased a farm and there carried on agricultural pursuits for a number of years. Mrs. Holsten died in that county in 1863, and Mr. Holsten died in Benton County about one year later. Peter Holsten, Jr., is the youngest of three sons and four sisters, two brothers and one sister deceased. Another sister is living in Morgan County, and there are two in Benton County. Judge Holsten spent his boyhood days on the farm in Morgan County, and in 1861 enlisted in the Home Guards for about three months, and then enlisted in the Second Missouri Infantry, Company H, and served until June, 1865, when he received his discharge. He enlisted as a private, was promoted to the rank of corporal and participated in the following battles: Pea Ridge, Ark., Stone River or Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, and was in the Atlanta campaign. He was also in the Perryville, Ky., fight, and in the Franklin, Tenn., battle. At the battle of Perryville he received a flesh wound in the lower limb, and at the battle of Franklin he was taken prisoner, held about five months in Alabama, and was not discharged until the close of the war. He then returned to his home, and has since been engaged in farming and stock-raising. He was married in Benton County, Mo., September 21, 1865, to Miss Margaret Tobaben, a native of Hanover, Germany, and the daughter of Peter Tobaben, one of the early settlers of Benton County. To Judge Holsten and wife have been born three children: William H., Anna R. and Catherine J. Judge Holsten is a Republican in his political views, and has ever supported the principles of that party. He was elected county judge in the fall of 1880, at the expiration of his term was re-elected, and still again re-elected, serving in all six consecutive years. He and Mrs. Holsten are members of the German Lutheran Church.

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This family biography is one of 86 biographies included in The History of Benton County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Benton County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Benton County, Missouri family biographies here: Benton County, Missouri Biographies

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