Johann Wilhelm Petri was a "Pfannenschmied" (pan smith). Perhaps he was a traveling salesman, going from household to household selling his tin-products? In his death record, he is called a hawker. He died while on a journey in Ersen, Liebenau (Ersen). Ersen is about 7 km due east of Warburg; Warburg is located about 100km east of Olpe, but it is an awkward route through hills and valleys. The church record does not indicate where Johann Wilhelm Petri was buried. Since the family was poor, perhaps they could not afford to bring the body back home.

Additional research required for the death record of Maria (Zeppenfeld) Petri. She was alive in 1858.