When Selma Peterson was born on 16 February 1885, in Bosebo, Jönköping, Sweden, her father, Peter Johan Karlsson, was 62 and her mother, Christina Andersdotter, was 39. She married Esaias Johanesson on 6 October 1905, in Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 5 daughters. She lived in Söndra, Jönköping, Sweden for about 16 years and Hudson, St. Croix, Wisconsin, United States in 1910. She died on 30 September 1977, in Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, United States, at the age of 92, and was buried in Union Cemetery, White Bear Lake, Ramsey, Minnesota, United States.