Background
Pietersen was born in Elmina to Essuman and Nana Ambaam.
Pietersen was born in Elmina to Essuman and Nana Ambaam.
He was educated at the Dutch government school in Elmina, and was employed as a clerk for the Dutch governor of Elmina on 30 April 1864.
He is also remembered as a goldsmith and watch repairer. Early years in Elmina
He was however fired on 24 November of the same year because of unsuitability. Pietersen then became a trader and a personal clerk to Mr.
Stoové, before establishing himself as a goldsmith and watchmaker.
During the early 1870s, it became apparent that the Dutch would soon cede their possessions on the Gold Coast to the British, which led to protest among the Elminese and Ashanti, who feared an end to their substantial autonomy in a Gold Coast increasingly dominated by the United Kingdom. Pietersen, however, was part of the pro-British faction in Elmina led by George Emil Eminsang, who later became the first mayor installed in Elmina by the British.
He left Elmina after the British bombardment of the town in 1873, and moved to Cape Coast. Cape Coast
He also started his political career in Cape Coast, eventually becoming president of the Aborigines" Rights Protection Society in 1907.
Pietersen died on 6 January 1914 of cardiac failure, after having been ill for eight weeks.
He was buried the next day at the Old Wesleyan Cemetery.
Pietersen was a member of the Gold Coast Volunteers and took part in the Fante-Elmina war of 1868 and in the Third Anglo-Ashanti War. Among other things, he was superintendent of Sunday Schools, and a lay member of Synod.