US Navy. Residence: New London, Connecticut. Born 1839, the youngest of twelve children, at Midbrød near Egersund, Norway. Left Norway at age 17 as a cabin boy on a bark sailing from Stavanger. Came to the US in 1859 at age 20. Civil War: Age 23. Enlisted in the Navy as a Master’s Mate on 27 May 1862. Took part in several battles as commander of gunboats. In November of the same year he was appointed engineer in the US Marine Corps. Became a Lieutenant and a Captain and finally a Rear Admiral. He was married in Aug 1864 to Miss Wilson, a daughter of Henry Wilson of Brooklyn. Assersen became chief engineer of the Navy Yards at Brooklyn and Norfolk, specializing in building drydocks. He retired in 1891 and died in 1906. He is buried at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Sources: (Ulvestad p252) (“Norwegians in New York” by A. N. Rygg. Publ. The Norwegian News Company, Brooklyn NY, 1941. p50) (“Americans from Norway” by Leola Nelson Bergmann, publ. 1950 by J.B.Lippincott Co. p216) (Obituary, Brooklyn Standard Union, 7 Dec 1906) “Asserson, Peter”
