History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 69

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1919
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1343

USA > Minnesota > Houston County > History of Houston County, Minnesota > Part 69

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Edward Guttormson, a substantial and industrious citizen of Spring Grove township, was born on section 33, Black Hammer township, Feb. 19, 1873, son of Knut and Mari Guttormson, the pioneers. He was educated in the district school and was reared to farm pursuits by his father. In 1902 he purchased 80 acres from his father in Spring Grove township, sec- tion 4. In 1912 he bought 120 acres more, forty of which is timberland. He has good teams, tools and equipment, and successfully carries on gen- eral farming, making a specialty of Shorthorn cattle and Poland-China swine. He is a stockholder in the Spring Grove Stock and Grain Co. and in the Spring Grove Hospital. Mr. Guttormson was married June 7, 1912, to Rebecca Amondrud, daughter of Martin and Anna Amondrud, of Black Hammer township, and they have two children; Edwin, born May 30, 1904, and Clifford born March 26, 1913.

Knut Guttormson, a pioneer, was born in Norway, July 23, 1823. In 1848 he came to America, and for a while lived in Rock Prairie, Wisconsin. There he was married, his wife, Mari, who was born Dec. 26, 1829, having come to that vicinity with her parents when about eighteen years old. In 1854, Knut Guttormson and Tolliff Haagensen and their families set out for Houston county. They jointly purchased 160 acres of wild Govern- ment land in section 33, Black Hammer township, and put up a log cabin in which they lived the first year. Then they dissolved partnership, Knut

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Guttormson taking the north eighty acres. By working early and late, Mr. and Mrs. Guttormson developed a good farm, and added to their acreage until they owned 254 acres, eighty of which was in Spring Grove township. In 1877 they erected a substantial frame dwelling, then one of the best in the neighborhood. The lumber was all hauled from Houston village, the nearest railroad point. On this farm, Mr. and Mrs. Guttormson spent the remainder of their days, he dying March 29, 1905, and she Nov. 26, 1916. They were the parents of nine children; Torgen (deceased), Guttorm (de- ceased) ; Mari, now Mrs. Johannes Brakke, of Jackson county, Minn .; Guttorm (deceased) ; Torgen, deceased wife of Ilisaus Mueller, of Spring Grove; Olava and Gunhild who live on the home farm, Olaf a prosperous farmer of Esmond, North Dakota, and Edward, of Spring Grove township.

Amos Arnold Myhro, who occupies a prominent place among the younger farmers of Spring Grove township, residing in section 8, was born on the farm he now owns and operates, July 27, 1891, son of Arne O. and Annie Myhro. His parents were early settlers in this county and he was the youngest member of the family. He acquired his primary educa- tion in district school No. 55, and during the winters of 1909-10 and 1910-11 was a pupil in the Lutheran Academy at Albert Lea, Minn., working on the home farm during the summers. Here the father finally died and was sur- vived by his wife until 1913, when she also passed away. Before her death, and in the same year, the subject of this sketch rented the farm from her and has since operated it on his own account. He is cultivating 120 acres of productive land, and has a fine herd of grade Shorthorns, and another of Hereford cattle, besides some 75 or 100 Duroc-Jersey swine, with full- blooded sires for both cattle and hogs. His buildings are also in good con- dition and he has an adequate and modern operating equipment. Though young in years, he is thoroughly experienced and is making his farm pay. A Republican in politics, he has served for some time as clerk of his school district, and is a man who takes an interest in progressive movements and everything calculated to benefit the community in which he resides. On March 7, 1916, Mr. Myhro was united in marriage with Oline Vinge, who was born in Black Hammer township, Houston county, June 28, 1886, daughter of Ole and Maria (Onstad) Vinge. He and his wife are the parents of one child, Norman, who was born Jan. 10, 1917. Mr. Myhro was reared in the faith of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran church, and he and his wife are members of the Spring Grove congregation.

Ben L. Onsgard, who for the last 13 years has been proprietor of the Spring Grove Herald, was born near Beloit, in Rock county, Wisconsin, Sept. 29, 1871, son of Ole and Engsburg (Myhre) Onsgard. The parents settled in Rock county early in the sixties on their arrival from Norway. There, after developing a farm, the father died in October, 1885. The mother, who survived him, is still living at Beloit, having now attained the venerable age of 89 years. They had 12 children of whom three sons and two daughters are now living. Of these all with the exception of Ben. L., are now living in Wisconsin. Ben. L. Onsgard was educated in the com- mon schools of Rock county, Wisconsin, and at Stoughton Academy, Stoughton, Wis., where he was a pupil for one year. At the age of 18 he

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began to learn the jeweller's trade at Beloit, and was subsequently engaged in it for two years at Blooming Prairie, Minn. In 1889 he came to Spring Grove and worked in a jewelry store here for S. H. Ellestad for about two years. He then purchased the stock of Mr. Ellestad and conducted the same store until 1911, when he sold the stock to Ove Hoegh. Some years before giving up that business, however, he had entered the journalistic field, having in 1906 purchased the Spring Grove Herald, a weekly news- paper published in English, of which he has since been proprietor, and which now has a circulation of 1100, including many subscribers in the Dakotas. From 1906 to 1911 he conducted both the jewelry and newspaper business. Mr. Onsgard is in the employ of the state as county oil inspector. His politics are those of the Republican party. Since 1900 he has been a member of Spring Grove Camp, No. 4492, M. W. A., and has been its secre- tary for the last ten years. He is also a charter member of the local branch of the Brotherhood of American Yeomen, having joined the lodge in 1906 on its organization. The Farmers' Co-operative Elevator Co. at Spring Grove numbers him among its stockholders. Mr. Onsgard was married, Oct. 12, 1904, to Anna Erickson, daughter of Mickel and Engeborg Erick- son, of Spring Grove village, and he and his wife are living in the house in which she was born. They have been the parents of five children : Morris, born Aug. 25, 1905, now a student in the Spring Grove high school; Owen, born Sept. 21, 1907; Burnell, born Nov. 19, 1909; Iola, born Jan. 19, 1911, who died in infancy ; Inez, born Dec. 23, 1912, and Kenneth, born June 22, 1916. Mr. Onsgard and his family are members of the Spring Grove con- gregation of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran church.

Gunvald Ingvalson, who is now living retired on a small farm in section 27, Spring Grove township, was born in Norway in 1850, and came to this country in 1870, a youth of 20 years. He was subsequently married in Black Hammer township, Houston county, Minn., to Mari Tollefsrud, and began farming on a tract of 40 acres in that township, where he remained for about twelve years. He then moved with his family to Highland town- ship, Winneshiek county, Iowa, where he made his home until 1916. In that year he returned to Houston county and took up his residence in sec- tion 27, Spring Grove township, where he and his wife are taking life easily, having a small but comfortable house and ten acres of land. Mr. Ingvalson is now 67 years old and Mrs. Ingvalson 62. They have had a family of twelve children, of whom five are now deceased. Those surviving are: Ole Cornelius, a prosperous farmer in section 20, Spring Grove town- ship; Bernt, Leonard, Gunild, Louise, Gustine and Alfina. Gunild is now the wife of Sever Sacquitne of Winneshiek county, Iowa; Gustine is Mrs. Bernard Peterson of Blooming Prairie, Minn., and the other daughters are living at home with their parents.

Ole Cornelius Ingvalson, proprietor of a good 80-acre farm in section 20, Spring Grove township, was born in Black Hammer township, Houston county, Minn., Feb. 16, 1882, son of Gunvald and Mari (Tollefsrud) Ingval- son. He was educated in district schools, which he attended up to the age of 15 years. When he was about 11 his parents moved to Highland town- ship, Winneshiek county, Iowa. He resided with them until he was 17,

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O. B. NELSON

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and subsequently worked as a general farm hand until 1905, when he opened a restaurant in Mabel, Minn., and was thus occupied for two years. He was then engaged for one year in the agricultural implement business. On March 25, 1908, Mr. Ingvalson was united in marriage with Emma Louise Grindeland, daughter of Stone and Ingri Grindeland, of Highland, Winne- shiek county, Iowa, and at about the same time he began housekeeping on the Oscar Tollefsrud farm, in section 29, Spring Grove township, Houston county. There, however, he remained but two years, as in 1910 he pur- chased and moved to the Lee Copeman farm of 80 acres, adding thereto 40 acres in 1919, where he is now living, and which is situated in section 20, Spring Grove township, five miles southwest of Spring Grove village. Here he is profitably raising Shorthorn cattle and Poland-China swine, besides carrying on other farming occupations. He has a good five-room frame house, a frame barn, machine shed, poultry house, hog house, and other buildings, all in good or fair condition. His equipment also includes two working teams, with all necessary tools and machinery. As a stock raiser, dairyman and general farmer of good ability Mr. Ingvalson is favorably known in his township and the vicinity. Formerly a Republican, in 1916 he became a non-partisan. Religiously he was reared in the faith of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran church and belongs to the Spring Grove congregation. He and his wife are the parents of four children : Ilyn, born Aug. 7, 1910; Grant, July 27, 1912; Leslie, July 6, 1915; and Ervin, July 6, 1917.

O. B. Nelson, a member of the firm of Nelson & Johnson, of Spring Grove, ranking among the leading hardware dealers in Houston county, is a man who has taken a high place both in business and public life, having formerly represented this district in the State Legislature. He was born in Spring Grove township, Feb. 8, 1854, son of Nels Olson Blexrud and his wife, Anna (Skiftem) Blexrud. The parents came from Norway in 1850, settling first in Rock county, Wis., where they remained two or three years, their home being near the city of Beloit. In the summer of 1853 they drove with an ox team to Houston county, Minn., and bought government land in Spring Grove township, one mile north of the village. Their journey was broken by a few weeks' stop at Calmar, Iowa, the river being crossed at McGregor. After developing a good farm in Spring Grove township, both parents died, the mother surviving her husband seven years. O. B. Nelson was born in the log house which his father first erected on the farm. His primary education was acquired in the district school, but he later attended the State Normal School at Winona for four terms, and afterwards the Madison Business College at Madison, Wis. From the age of 21 to that of 24 years he was engaged chiefly in teaching school in Spring Grove and the vicinity. Then he took up the study of telegraphy and became agent at Newhouse for the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad, later holding a similar position at Mabel, Minn. After remaining with the railroad from 1879 to 1882, Mr. Nelson went to Clark, in Clark county, South Dakota, where he sold hardware and agricultural implements as a member of the firm of Snell & Nelson, his partner being Mr. Snell of Mabel, Minn. He remained there until 1887 and then sold out and returned to Spring Grove. Here he 33

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bought a half interest in a hardware business with T. T. Bergh, which was conducted under the style of Bergh & Nelson until 1888, when Mr. Bergh sold his interest to O. B. Tone. In 1906 Mr. Tone sold his interest to I. D. Johnson, Mr. Nelson's present partner, and the firm has since conducted business as Nelson & Johnson. The concern has retained the same location ever since Mr. Nelson and Mr. Bergh became associated together. A large stock of heavy and shelf hardware is carried, and there is also a furniture department in connection with the store. The firm enjoys a large patronage and its business is steadily increasing. Mr. Nelson was one of the organ- izers and has been president of the Spring Grove State Bank since 1904. He is a stockholder in the Farmers' Co-operative Elevator Company and the Root River Electric Company, and is a man who has long taken a prom- inent part in promoting useful enterprises in this part of the county. Though public spirited he is unostentatious and is highly respected and esteemed by his fellow citizens. In politics Mr. Nelson has always been a Republi- can. He served for years as township assessor and clerk and has been president of the village council, and in 1907 and 1909 he was representative from this district in the State Legislature. A member of the Spring Grove congregation of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran church, of which his father was one of the founders; he served for years as a member of its board and as treasurer. Mr. Nelson was married in April, 1879, to Anna, daughter of Embrick and Kjersti (Ruen) Benson of Spring Grove town- ship. Mrs. Nelson is an active and useful member of the same church as her husband and is a lady who has many friends in this community.

Nels Husemoen, who died on his farm in section 27, Spring Grove township, Nov. 8, 1916, had been a resident of this township nearly all his life and had made his mark as a successful agriculturist. He was born in Nes Hallingdal, Norway, Oct. 1, 1865, son of Gilbert and Marget Huse- moen, and came to Minnesota with his parents when six years old, the family settling directly in Spring Grove township, Houston county. In 1877 the parents bought 160 acres of wild land in sections 27 and 28, on which they erected a log cabin and began the development of a farm. Here young Nels grew up and when old enough contributed his share of labor to the upbuilding of the family fortunes. His education was obtained in the district school, which he attended up to the age of 15 years. On July 28, 1888, Mr. Husemoen was united in marriage with Caroline Qvern, daughter of Hans and Martha Qvern of Spring Grove township, and who was born in Norway and came to this country with her parents at the age of ten years. He and his wife began housekeeping on her present farm in a two-room log cabin, in which they resided until 1900, in which year Mr. Husemoen built a modern two-story frame house of nine rooms, consisting of an upright and wing, the former 16 by 28 and the latter 16 by 20 feet, with hot water heat and gas illumination. In 1909 he built a frame barn 36 by 60 by 14 feet, with a hip roof and a full stone basement of eight feet, cement floors and swing stanchions for 20 head of cattle and eight horses. He also built a tool shed 20 by 48; a log house 16 by 48, with two wings 16 by 20 on each side and cement floors; a granary 16 by 28 by 14; poultry house 12 by 14; a shop 12 by 12; well house 12 by 14; cream house 10 by 12; stave silo 12 .

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by 35, corn crib 10 by 30, double summer kitchen 14 by 18, and garage 10 by 12. Mr. Husemoen successfully raised grade Shorthorn cattle and Poland-China swine, keeping full-blooded sires for his herds to improve the stock, and at his death had 100 acres under the plow, the balance of the land being in pasture and timber. The farm is now operated by his widow with the assistance of her eldest son, Gustav, and is a productive and profitable piece of agricultural property. Mr. Husemoen was a Re- publican in politics and was a member of his district school board, but not otherwise active in public affairs. He was an industrious, persevering man, well liked and respected, and up to the last two years of his life en- joyed good health. He and his wife had the followed named children : Gustav, born March 18, 1889, now operating the home farm; Hannah, born Dec. 22, 1893, who married C. Grayburn of La Crosse; Manda, born June 7, 1896, now Mrs. Eugene Miner of Spring Grove township; Annie, born Dec. 11, 1899; Christian, born May 18, 1902; Maline, born Jan 6, 1905; Clarence Morton, born Oct. 17, 1907; Maurice Gerhardt, born Aug. 1, 1910; Florence Jeanette, born Jan. 15, 1913; and Esther Irene, born Aug. 23, 1915.

John Johnson Lommen, one of those intrepid pioneers who laid the foundations of the present wealth and prosperity of Houston county, was born at Valdres, Norway, Nov. 18, 1831. He grew to manhood in his native land and at the age of 13 years had lost both his parents. After that he had little chance for schooling, as he had practically to support himself. One. of his brothers, Cjermund, who had emigrated to the United States, having sent home a favorable report of this country, especially the north- west, three other brothers, Peder, Tosten and Thomas, together with John, determined to come here also, and accordingly in 1851 they set out, and in due time safely arrived. All of these brothers are now deceased. The first three years of John Johnson Lommen in this country were spent in the Wisconsin pineries. Then in 1854 he came to Spring Grove township, Houston county, Minn., and bought a tract of wild land in section 3, two miles northwest of what is now Spring Grove village. In the following year, on June 20, 1855, he married Marit Orsdatter Ristey, the ceremony being performed in Knute Keland's first log hut. This marriage was prob- ably the second to be celebrated in the township, that of Hans Nielson Myhra and Mary B. Anderson having taken place in February of the previous year. It resulted in five children, three of whom are now living, namely: Jorend Foskerud, of Wentworth, S. D .; Ole, of Spring Grove vil- lage, and Marit Narum of Shevlin, Minn. The mother of these children died April 24, 1867, and in the following year, on April 5, . Mr. Lommen married Kasperinde Erickson Oium, who was of Norwegian parentage. Of this marriage six children were born: Martin, Edward, Peter, Anton, Tosten and Johanna, the last mentioned of whom is now the wife of Alfred B. Halvorson, residing on a farm adjoining the old homestead in Spring Grove township. In the meanwhile Mr. Lommen was improving and de- veloping his farm and bringing it into good condition by breaking the land and erecting buildings. His early years on the place were full of hard work with little immediate compensation, but he was waging a successful battle

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with the forces of nature and in time obtained the mastery. He resided there until 1903, when he felt it was time to retire, and, selling the farm to his son Peter J., he took up his residence with his wife in Spring Grove village, where the rest of his life was spent. In 1909 he suffered a para- lytic stroke, an indication of his approaching end, which came at last Oct. 21, 1911. His wife survived him until Sept. 29, 1913, when she too passed away. She was then in her seventy-ninth year, having been born in Nor- way, May 28, 1835. They were people of sterling character, industrious and neighborly, and for many years active supporters of church and school.

Peter J. Lommen, the proprietor of a well improved and productive farm of 173 acres in section 3, Spring Grove township, was born on the farm he now owns and operates, Aug. 23, 1872, son of John J. and Kasperinde Erick- son (Oium) Lommen. He acquired his education in the district school, and until he was twenty-one years old remained on the home farm assisting his father. After that he worked out for a while as a farm laborer. On Oct. 21, 1895, Mr. Lommen was united in marriage with Ingeborg, daughter of Gjermund and Aagot Lommen of Wilmington township. On July 3, 1896, his wife was injured in a runaway accident near Spring Grove, and died two days later leaving no children. In the following year, on Aug. 5, 1897, Mr. Lommen married Maria Ronningen, daughter of Frederick and Anna Ronningen of Caledonia township, Houston county, and who was born in Norway, Oct. 25, 1874, and came to America with her parents at the age of seven years. In the spring of 1898 he rented the C. Lommen farm in Black Hammer township, which he operated until the spring of 1904. He then moved to Spring Grove village, where he built a house in which he and his wife resided for a year. In the spring of 1905 he traded his village property for his father's old farm in section 3, Spring Grove township, and took up his residence on it. It already had some good buildings, including a log house, log granary, a frame barn, 32 by 60 by 18 feet in size, with a full stone basement of nine feet, and since then Mr. Lommen has improved the barn, and erected a number of other buildings. These include a frame granary, double corn crib, machine shed, cook house for hog food, and a modern, two-story ten-room house, gas lighted, heated with hot water, and with a laundry in the basement. He has 140 acres of the farm under cultivation, the balance of thirty-three acres being in pasture and timber, while his equipment of teams, tools and machinery is of the best kind. In addition to raising bounteous crops, he is a successful breeder of grade Shorthorn cattle, keeping twenty-five to thirty head, with some twelve or fifteen milch cows, and he has a herd of fifty to sixty Poland-China swine. His other business interests include those of a stockholder in the Spring Grove Stock and Grain Company and the Farmers' Co-operative Creamery. Of Mr. Lommen's second marriage ten children have been born: James Ignatius, Dec. 16, 1897; Clarence Ferdinand, Feb. 5, 1899; Cora Adella, Nov. 28, 1900; Harry Mentol Percival, Jan. 11, 1903; Thomas Oswald, Nov. 3, 1904; Stella Dorothy, Oct. 27, 1906; Ruth Matilda, Nov. 30, 1908; Olga Georgiana, Oct. 12, 1909; Nels, who died in infancy; and Thora Belinda, April 1, 1914. Cora Adella is now a third-year pupil in the Spring Grove high school. James I. and Clarence F. in 1918, took a year's training

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in the agricultural college at St. Paul. Mr. Lommen and his family are members of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran church. In politics he is a Republican.

Christopher Vaaler, one of the earliest pioneer settlers of Spring Grove township, now deceased, was a native of Norway, from which country he came to the United States as a young man in 1853. He first located at Rock Prairie, near Beloit, Wis., but remained there but a brief time, coming thence to Fillmore county, Minnesota. He soon came to Houston county, buying 200 acres of government land in section 12, Spring Grove township, about one mile east of where the village now stands. In his native land he had followed the occupation of a timber hewer, and it was therefore no hard task for him to chop down a few trees and build himself a log house, after which he began the work of clearing and developing the land. He had come to this country a single man but was soon united in marriage with Rangel Johnson, who died, however, about 1864. By her he had two sons and one daughter: Olaus C., the present proprietor of the old home farm; B. C. Vaaler, now living at Mohol, Calif., and a railroad man by occupation; and Kaarn, now Mrs. Christ Steneroden of Red Wing, Minn. Mr. Vaaler in time developed and improved his farm into a valuable piece of property. His early years on the place were strenuous and full of hard work, though now and then lightened by an unexpected bit of good fortune or some humorous incident. There were many Indians in the neighborhood in those days, and on one occasion when Mr. Vaaler was engaged in hewing logs for a building, using a large old-fashioned broad-axe, finding the axe dull, he paused in his work and went into the cabin to grind it. It happened that an Indian had just previously gone into the cabin to warm himself, and the Red Man on seeing the axe took it for a monstrous tomahawk and thinking himself in danger of his life made a rapid exit from the cabin and took to his heels as fast as he could, in a moment being out of sight. Some time after his first wife's death Mr. Vaaler contracted a second marriage, of which union two sons and two daughters were born. Of these children one son. Karl, is now a prosperous farmer in Fillmore county, and one of the daugh- ters, Rosalia, is now Mrs. Gust Gubrud of Bagley, Minn. Mr. Vaaler con- tinued on his farm until his death, which occurred Dec. 28, 1888. He was a man well known and respected, one of that grand army of pioneers com- ing from various parts of the world who built up the great Northwest and established the reign of law and civilization in what had before been a wilderness inhabited only by wild animals and savage men, and as such deserves recognition and remembrance.

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History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 69

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1343

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1919
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1343