Starting with August in the 1700's in Sweden.
This accounting was written by August Emil Peterson, great grandson of August. In Sweden, common people were forbidden by law to take a surname. Little is said about August except that he had a son Peters in 1808. Peters lived then until 1872 and had a son Johan.

Johan (Peters' Son)
Johan was born 7/30/1827 in the town of Bjorkuland, State of Jonkuping, a section of Sweden called Smoland. He later married Johanna in 1847 and they had four children. The first born son August Emil (who wrote this accounting) was born in Sweden in 1860. He lived more than 84 years and had a brother Andrew who was born in 1863. Johan and Johanna also had two daughters, Ida Mathilda and Christine. Johan and Johanna came to the U.S. without the boys in May of 1870. Their trip was paid for by a farmer in Connecticut who only paid to bring over people who could work for him. Upon entering the United States, Johan became John Peterson (because he was Peters' son) according to custom here. One year later, when the boys were 12 and 9, Johan and Johanna had saved enough to bring them to America. Andrew married and had five children; Aurther Emile, Jane (Jenny), Carl Andrew, Ira Ray, and Ruth Isabel. Andrew lived 57 years and died in 1920. Carl Andrew (my Grandfather) was born 8/20/1892. At 16 years of age, he left home to work with the New York Central railroad. He later married Alice May Roche (born 6/1/1896) and they had four children; Ruth was born in 1929, Warren Bruce born in 1930, Donald Carl born 1932, and my Father Raymond Richard born in 1934. Carl Andrew Peterson died at age 92 in 1983, Alice died 4 years later. She was also 92. Raymond Richard married Jeanne Kay Hand in 1956 and they had two children; Thomas (that's me), born 1958, and Kimberly, born 1960. I married Wendy in 1981 and we had two sons, Michael and Christopher.