USA > Iowa > Winneshiek County > Past and present of Winneshiek county, Iowa; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 29
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parents were among the first settlers in Winneshiek county and the father took up land in Fremont township, where the town of Kendallville now stands, engag- ing in the nursery business there during the remainder of his life. He served as a member of the county board of supervisors during the Civil war and was other- wise prominent in public affairs. His death occurred in 1878, he having survived his wife since 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Fifield have become the parents of ten children : Viva, the wife of William W. Howard, a farmer in Orleans township ; Laura, who married Ray Goldsworthy, engaged in farming in Minnesota ; Olive, the wife of Harry Goldsworthy, of this township: Linda. now Mrs. Andrew Elliott, of Monticello, Minnesota ; Ethel, Vesta. Edna and Clinton W., who reside at home : Harry, who died in 1872; and Julia, who passed away in 1876.
Mr. Fifield belongs to the Methodist church and is connected fraternally with the Grand Army of the Republic. He gives his political allegiance to the repub- lican party and from early manhood has been interested in public affairs. For thirteen consecutive years he served as township trustee and five years ago was again elected to this office, in which he is now serving. Ile has also been township assessor and in this and other positions of public trust and responsibility has proved conscientious, capable and reliable in the discharge of his duties. In Winneshiek county, where he has so long resided, he holds the respect and conti- dence of all who come in contact with him, being regarded as an able agriculturist and a progressive and public-spirited citizen.
REV. S. A. SCARVIE.
Rev. S. A. Scarvie is a minister of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran synod of America, now in charge of the Glenwood congregation. Almost his entire life has been given to the holy calling, in which he now labors, and his efforts have been of marked influence as a factor in the development of its success. He was born at Telemarken, Norway, July 16, 1863, and came to the United States with his parents in 1872, settling in Faribault county, Minnesota. He is a son of AAslak and Sigrid ( Vraali) Scarvie, who were also natives of Telemarken, the former born August 20, 1825, and the latter on the 7th of February, of the same year. They were married July 9, 1846, and in 1872 came to America. The mother died in 1875 and the father, who had made farming his life work, passed away September 7, 1902. In their family were eight children of whom two died in Norway, while six came to the United States and five are now living.
The Rev. S. A. Scarvie, who is the youngest, was reared upon the home farm in Minnesota, pursuing his education in the graded and high schools of Winnebago. Ile afterward took up the profession of teaching at the age of twenty-one years and was thus engaged both in his home county in Minnesota and in Winnebago county, Iowa. In 1884 he went to Norman county, Minnesota, where he engaged in teaching until appointed county superintendent of schools. Later he was elected to that position, serving for two and a half years. He then returned to Faribault county where he married Miss Magdalena Iverson. who was born in Nicollet county, Minnesota.
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For a year after his marriage the Rev. Scarvie and his young wife resided upon a farm which he had purchased and then removed to Delavan where he edited and published the Delavan Herald for four years. For three years of that time he also served as postmaster of the town. Wishing. however, to devote his life to the ministry, he entered the Luther Seminary at St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1898, there pursuing a three years' course which he completed by graduation in the class of 1901. He then went to Allamakce county, Iowa, where he took charge of the East and West Paint Creek congregations of the Lutheran church, continuing in that position for four years, until he came to the Glenwood congregation in October, 1906. He also acts as minister for the con- gregation at Canoe Ridge, in Pleasant township. His labors as a minister of the gospel have been far-reaching and beneficial and his zeal is untiring while his consecration to the work makes him one of the strong and able representatives of the Lutheran ministry.
Unto Rev. and Mrs. Scarvie have been born eight children, Stella R., Arla O., Stanley M., Walter B., Norman G., Theresa C., Esther V. and Vivian C. M .. all yet in school. Aside from his active work in the church Mr. Scarvie labors earnestly and untiringly along various lines for the public benefit. He has always been an active temperance worker and is president of the Law and Order League of Winneshiek county. In politics he was a republican until 1912. when he joined the progressive wing of the party. This was characteristic of him for his life has been actuated by a spirit of progress, advancement and im- provement and he does everything in his power to promote the moral, intellectual, political and social as well as material welfare of the community in which he . makes his home.
ALMOND WHEATMAN.
For the past fifteen years Almond Wheatman has been prominently connected with the agricultural and stock-raising interests of Calmar township, and is today one of the most representative and substantial farmers of that locality, own- ing and operating one hundred and sixty acres of fine land on section 2. He is a native son of that township, born September 20, 1868, his parents being Henry and Maria (Daniels) Wheatman, natives of England. The father came to America in the carly '6os and located in Winneshiek county, Iowa, where he purchased land in Calmar township. This he operated until 1896 when he retired from active life, moving two years later into Decorah, where he still resides. His wife passed away in 1892.
Almond Wheatman acquired his education in the district schools of his native township and in his childhood assisted his father with the work of the farm, becoming before he had attained his majority a practical and able agriculturist. When he was twenty-four years of age he rented land which he operated for five years, at the end of which time he purchased eighty acres on section 2, Calmar township. To this he later added another tract of eighty acres and thus owns today one hundred and sixty acres of valuable land. Upon this he has made substantial improvements in building and equipment and has steadily carried
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forward the work of development, making the farm today worthy of comparison with the finest agricultural properties in this section of the state.
On the 2d of March, 1893. Mr. Wheatman was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Fristad, a daughter of Haagen and Carrie Fristad, natives of Norway. The parents came to Winneshiek county at an early date and here the father engaged in farming, still making his home upon the property which he bought at that time. Mr. and Mrs. Wheatman have become the parents of three children : Myrtle, aged nineteen ; Elmer, seventeen ; and Beatrice, eight. Mr. Wheatman gives his political allegiance to the republican party and he takes an active inter- est in the affairs of the community where his entire life has been spent. He is a man of many fine qualities of character, strong and resolute in purpose, in- dustrious and enterprising ; and he is well known throughout the community for his uprightness and honesty, meriting and enjoying the respect and confidence of his neighbors and friends.
JOSEPH SCHISSEL.
Through well directed business activity and enterprise Joseph Schissel has gained recognition as one of the prosperous farmers of Winneshiek county. Hle owns an attractive homestead of two hundred acres on section 16, Military town- ship and since 1858 has lived in the county, during a great portion of which time . his labors have not only contributed to his own prosperity but have also proven effective forces in advancing the general welfare.
Mr. Schissel was born in Germany on the 15th of June, 1843, and is a son of Peter and Mary Schissel, who came to America in 1845. settling in Pennsylvania. In that state they resided for thirteen years and at the end of that time moved to Iowa, taking up their residence near Festina in Winneshiek county. The father purchased land in that locality and upon that property engaged in agricultural pursuits until shortly before his death which occurred in Ossian in 1907. He had long survived his wife who passed away in 1863. To their union were born five children : Barbara, George. Peter and John, who have passed away: and Joseph of this review.
When Joseph Schissel was fifteen years of age he accompanied his parents to Winneshiek county and he has remained a resident of this part of Iowa since that time, having won in the interval the respect, confidence and esteem of all with whom he has been associated. In his childhood he assisted with the work of the homestead, becoming a practical and able agriculturist, and at twenty- four he rented the home farm from his father, taking entire charge of its opera- tion for one year. At the end of that time he rented one hundred and sixty acres additional land and for more than two years and a half managed both proper- ties. his well directed labors being rewarded by a gratifying measure of success. Ile eventually purchased land of his own, buying two hundred acres upon which he resided for seven years, selling it at the end of that time and buying another farm similar in extent, the land lying on section 16, Military township. Five acres are in timber but upon the remainder he carries on general farming and stock-raising, both branches of his enterprise being profitable as a result of his
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energy, ability and industry. Upon his farm he has made substantial improve- ments, having remodeled the residence, erected a fine barn and the necessary outbuildings, and installed modern labor saving machinery. He has made it one of the finest agricultural properties in this part of the county, its appearance being a striking evidence of the care and labor he has bestowed upon it.
Mr. Schissel married Miss Carrie Bohardt and to their union were born six children: Joseph, who resides in Military township; Peter, of Calmar, lowa; Nicholas, of Military township; John, at home; Mary the wife of Antone Clerc: and Barbara, who married Henry Scheidemantel.
Mr. Schissel is a member of the Roman Catholic church and his political al- legiance is given to the democratic party. Having been a resident of this part of Iowa since his childhood, he has witnessed practically its entire development and he has to a great extent assisted in the work of advancement and progress along agricultural lines. Wherever he is known he is honored and respected for he is a man of many sterling traits of character, reliable in business, progres- sive in citizenship and at all times upright and trustworthy.
HANS T. LIQUIN.
No farmer in Winneshiek county has won greater success in agricultural pur- suits or stock-raising than Hans T. Liquin, whose fine property lying on sec- tion 2, Pleasant township, is a visible evidence of his life of industry and thrift. He was born in Os Po Bergen, Norway, on the 9th of August, 1860, and is a son of Torsten Nelson Moberg and Guro Knudsdotter Lekven, who spent their entire lives on a farm in Norway. They were the parents of eleven children, three of whom came to America; the subject of this review; Carrie, who mar- ried Peter Jolinson Thorbey, who died in Nebraska; and Lena, the widow of Ossef Harrison, a resident of Sheldon, North Dakota. Two sons in this family died in Norway. The name was Lekven in that country and is taken from the title of the farm held for many generations by representatives of the family. Hans T. Lekven's mother bore the same name and she was a sister of his wife's father, who came from the same farm in the mother country.
Hans T. Liquin remained in Norway until 1882 and then crossed the Atlantic on the State Line ship the State of Nevada, pushing westward immediately upon his arrival and settling in Winneshiek county, where he worked as a farm laborer for Knudt K. Liquin, who afterward became his father-in-law. For one year he was employed in Plymouth Rock but after his marriage he and his wife rented Knudt K. Liquin's farm for two years, afterward going to Tama county, where the subject of this review worked in an elevator for some time. Returning he took up his residence upon his present farm on section 2, Pleasant township, and he has given practically all of his attention to its development since that time. In 1908 he erected upon it a fine modern residence and he has built good barns and outbuildings and installed the necessary labor-saving machinery. Everything about the place reflects his careful supervision and intelligent man- agement and both the general farming and the stock-raising departments are important sources of income to him.
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In 1886 Mr. Liquin was united in marriage to his cousin, Annie C. Liquin, born in Pleasant township, June 23, 1857. She is a daughter of Knudt K. Liquin, whose birth occurred in Norway on the 4th of March 1824, he being a son of Knudt and Rachel Liquin, whose entire lives were spent in that country. Knudt K. Liquin and his brother Christian both came to America, the former arriving in 1852 and the latter two years later. In Norway Knudt Liquin had for a num- ber of years followed the life of a fisherman off the coast of that country but upon his arrival in the United States turned his attention to farming in Wiscon- sin, this occupation engaging his attention during the remainder of his active career. After a short period of residence in Wisconsin he came to Pleasant township, Winneshiek county, Iowa, locating on a farm of two hundred and forty acres, to which he gave his entire attention until his death, in 1901. He married in Illinois in the year of his arrival in America, Miss Carrie Williamson, who had made the journey to the United States upon the same ship. She was born in Norway in 1811 and died on the Liquin farm in Pleasant township in 1904. when she was ninety-three years of age. In their family were two children : Knudt, who lives in Montana ; and Annie C .. wife of the subject of this review. Mr. and Mrs Hans T. Liquin became the parents of six children. Carl was born March 1, 1887, and died September 25, 1010. He had completed a business course in the Upper lowa Business College. George was born on the 6th of No- vember, 1889, and died on the 14th of February in the same year. Cora's birth occurred on the 19th of July. 1890. Oscar was born May 2. 1893. Lily was born September 27. 1895. Fritchof, who completes the family, was born Febru- ary 12, 1898.
Although Ilans T. Liquin has been in America since he was a young man and has proven himself a loyal and patriotic citizen, he is nevertheless interested in the affairs of his native country and keeps abreast with its political and social development. At the time of the coronation of King Haakon he made the jour- ney across the Atlantic in order to witness that event. He is a devout member of the Norwegian Lutheran church and he gives his political allegiance to the republican party, taking an active interest in everything relating to the growth and advancement of the community where he has so long resided. In the course of years his contributions to the general agricultural development have been many and substantial and his successful career has only added to the high regard and esteem in which his name has long been held in this community.
JOHN E. DYRLAND.
John E. Dyrland, who owns and operates a well improved and productive farm of two hundred and fifty acres on section 3. Calmar township, is numbered among the worthy native sons of Winneshiek county, his birth having occurred in that township on the 27th of October, 1869. His parents, Engebert J. and Gertrude (Haugen) Dyrland. are both natives of Norway. The father emigrated to America in an early day and made his way direct to Winneshiek county, Iowa. Three or four years later he purchased land in Calmar township and after improving the property continued its operation until 1892. In that year he
BABY DYRLAND
JOUIN E. DYRLAND AND FAMILY
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leased the farm and purchased and took up his abode upon a tract of land belonging to his father-in-law, Ole Haugen, near Conover, , Calmar township, there carrying on general agricultural pursuits until 1909. For the past four years he has lived retired at Calmar with his wife, who also still survives. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dyrland are well known and highly esteemed throughout the community for their upright, honorable lives and many excellent traits of char- acter.
John E. Dyrland was reared and educated in this county, pursuing his studies in the district schools. He was twenty-three years of age when his father left his first farm and left him and a brother in charge, the two young men operating the place together for one year. Our subject then rented and cultivated the farm alone for nine years, on the expiration of which period he purchased the property, comprising two hundred and fifty acres on section 3, Calmar township. To the further cultivation and improvement of that place he has devoted his attention to the present time, and his well directed labors have been attended with a gratifying measure of success, his fields annually yielding bounteous harvests. Mr. Dyrland is a stockholder in the Calmar Creamery Company of Calmar and the Farmers Hog Company of Decorah.
On the 29th of November, 1893, Mr. Dyrland was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Bolger, a native of this county and a daughter of David and Evelyn (Vanpelt) Bolger. Her father was born in Pennsylvania and her mother in Wisconsin. They came to this county with their respective parents in an early day. and David Bolger followed farming in Canoe township throughout his active business career, with the exception of nine years spent near Mitchell in South Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Dyrland have five children, as follows: Edwin, a young man of eighteen; Walter, Hazel and Ethel, who are seventeen, eleven and eight years of age respectively ; and Melvin, who is in his first year.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Dyrland has sup- ported the men and measures of the republican party, while his religious faith is that of the Lutheran church. Both he and his wife have spent their entire lives in Winneshiek county and enjoy an extensive and favorable acquaintance within its borders.
THEODORE GULLIKSON.
Theodore Gullikson, the owner of one hundred and eighty-three acres of valuable land on sections 15 and 16, Lincoln township, devotes his attention to farming and stock-raising and enjoys an enviable reputation as one of the pros- perous and representative citizens of his community. That place has remained his home from his birth to the present time, his natal day being November 5. 1867.
His parents, Gullick Thompson and Sarah (Olson) Gullikson, were both . natives of Norway. They came to this county in the early '50s, locating on the farm in Lincoln township which is now in possession of our subject. The father devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits throughout his active busi- ness career and met with success in his undertakings. His demise occurred
Vol. II-15
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April 1, 1903, while Mrs. Gullikson was called to her final rest June 9, 1800. They had won many friends in the community and were deeply and sincerely mourned. Their children are seven in number, as follows: Ann, the wife of Gunder Olson, of Grafton, North Dakota; Ole, a resident of Lincoln township, this county; Caroline, who is the wife of Charles Jacobson and resides in Bismarck, North Dakota : Julia, living in Grafton, North Dakota; Theodore, of this review ; and Alfred and Anton, both residents of Buford, North Dakota.
Theodore Gullikson was reared to manhood on the old homestead place and early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agri- culturist as he assisted his father in the work of the fields. As above stated, he has always remained on the home farm, the property coming into his posses- sion when he purchased the place in 1894, being then a young man of twenty- seven years. At that time it embraced one hundred and forty-three acres but he has since extended its boundaries by an additional purchase of a tract of forty acres on section 16. His barns are up-to-date and substantial and he is now erecting a two-story modern residence. He cultivates the cereals best adapted to soil and climate and also devotes considerable attention to stock-raising. both branches of his business bringing him a gratifying annual income.
As a companion and helpmate on the journey of life Mr. Gullikson chose Miss Tilda Rue, by whom he has four children, Alice Beatrice, Grace. Olive Luella and Bessie, all at home.
In politics Mr. Gullikson is a stanch republican, while his religious faith is that of the Lutheran church. He has never figured conspicuously in local af- fairs, although he is not remiss in the duties of citizenship but gives his support to movements which will promote the welfare of the community. He is well known as a member of one of the old families of the county, and the work begun by his father in pioneer times has been continued by the son with the result that he is now the owner of an excellent farm, highly improved, and his labors are an element in the agricultural progress of this part of the state.
REV. KNUT SEEHUUS.
The record of the work of Rev. Knut Seehuus as minister of the Norwegian Lutheran church at Locust and Big Canoe is the record of a life great in its simplicity, high in its ideals and important and varied in its accomplishments in the cause of Christianity. For over twenty-seven years he has lived in Winneshiek county, aiding the work of religious expansion by beneficial and far- reaching activity in its cause and by the example of an honorable and upright life well and worthily lived.
He was born near Molde, Norway, on the 3d of May, 1859, and is a son of Christopher B. and Margaret Seehuns, also natives of that country, who crossed the Atlantic in the year 1872 and settled in Chicago. The father died in that city in 1875 and the mother now makes her home with the subject of this review. For a number of years she was a practicing midwife in Chicago and was one of the prominent Norwegian settlers in the city, her biography finding a leading place in a volume entitled "Prominent Scandinavians of Illinois."
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In this family were two children: Rev. Knut, of this review ; and Dr. O. M., who practiced in Highlandville, this county, from 1893 to 1902, building during that time a hospital in that city. In the latter year he removed to North Dakota and thence to Baronett, Wisconsin, where he is now in the active practice of his profession.
In the acquirement of an education Knut Seehuus attended Latin school in Norway, but after settling in Chicago was obliged to lay aside his books, the family being at that time very poor. With the intention of aiding them he learned the Morse system of telegraphy and worked for three years thereafter in a telegraph office. In the fall of 1875 he entered the Luther College at Decorah, Iowa, completing the prescribed course in 1881, after which he went to Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, completing a three years' course in theology in 1884. After he was graduated he was ordained to the ministry of the Norwegian Lutheran church at Chicago and entered upon his duties as immigrant missionary and assistant pastor in New York city.
After two years and a half he came to lowa and here in the fall of 1886 married Miss Elizabeth C. H. Stub, a daughter of Rev. H. A. Stub, a pioneer Norwegian clergyman of America. Mr. Seehuus became assistant to his father- in-law and pastor of the German congregation at Locust and he did such vital and far-reaching work that in 1893, when Mr. Stub went to Norway, he was chosen his successor as pastor of Big Canoe and Highland congregations. He has served these churches ably and well since that time and has steadily extended the field of his activities, founding in 1904 the congregation at Mabel, Minnesota, and building a church there in the following year. He is now serving that church and has also under his jurisdiction three Norwegian congregations and one German, he being the only Norwegian clergyman in America to preach steadily in three languages, English, Norwegian and German. The cause of religion in this section of Iowa finds in him an earnest, sincere and able ad- vocate, a man zealous and apostolic in his work of spreading the religious doc- trines in which he believes and in promoting that general religion of good will and honorable dealings. His doctrines find worthy exemplification in his life which, being upright, honorable and straightforward in all its relations, has brought him widespread honor and esteem with the people among whom he has so long lived and labored. He was in 1912 chosen secretary of the board of directors of the Lutheran Publishing House at Decorah. He is a member of the Missionary Commission for the Iowa district of the Norwegian synod and assistant to the president of that district, and he stands high in the councils of the church he has served so ably for more than a quarter of a century.
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