Peterman a third-generation American who was born and died in Shrewsbury Township, York County, Pennsylvania, made quantities of fraktur for children born in the mid-nineteenth century in York County. Most of the pieces he produced are similar in format. The text is bordered by two female figures that are sometimes given firstnames; a variety of flowers and birds usually completed the page. Peterman generally signed his work and sometimes indicated the place where he was living. Whenhand-milled paper could no longer be obtained, Peterman used commercial ruled sheets. He made fraktur well into the 1860s.Peterman was a schoolmaster in the Lutheran or Reformed churches in York County, perhaps for a time at the Jerusalem, or Fissel’s, Church. He was a member of the Reformed church, was married, and had a number of children. For his family, he made elaborate records in which he portrayed many objects—everything fromsailing vessels to pianos. The baptismal record he produced for a nephew named for him is decorated with a market house, chickens for sale, and a dog chasing after one chicken. Occasionally, he included figures of Adam and Eve on a fraktur certificate, and he made drawings of courting couples, probably for close friends or relatives. His colors are bright and arresting.
