An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 184

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1172

USA > Washington > Skagit County > An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 184
USA > Washington > Snohomish County > An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 184

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Our subject was born September 9, 1810. He

received his educational discipline in the schools of his native land, also learned the rope making trade, working at it with his father at home. When eight- een years old he accompanied the rest of the fam- ily to the state of Washington, settling with them in the Stillaguamish country, where he worked as a farm hand for several years, his first employer being Nels Bruseth, with whom he remained a year. He is now in the dairy business in the vicinity of Sil- vana, keeping a fair-sized herd of cattle on his fine farm, which, though not large, is all cultivated, yielding bountifully under the influence of thorough and skillful tillage.

In Silvana, Washington, in 1892, Mr. Torske married Mrs. Annie Sorneson, daughter of Michael Thobrason, a native of Norway. Mrs. Torske is likewise a native of Norway, born in 1866, and was educated in the schools of her fatherland. She and her present husband, Mr. Torske, are parents of the following children: Nellie, born August 14, 1893; Reinhard, August 16, 1895, and Morris, Oc- tober 13. 1902, all in Silvana. In politics, Mr. Torske is a Republican, though of a very inde- pendent turn, and in all local elections, where it is possible to know the candidates personally, he votes for those whom he considers in all respects the best qualified.

SEVERT G. BRECKHUS, a farmer living a little over a mile southeast of Silvana, is one of the pioneers of this section of Snohomish county and has seen the wilderness converted into a prosperous, well-developed farming community. He was born in Norway in 1830, the son of Gulach and Enger ( Serveson) Breckhus, both of whom were born, raised and died in the old country. They were par- ents of nine children, of whom the subject hereof is third. Severt G. Breckhus received his education in the Norwegian schools. He remained at home on his father's farm until he was thirty years old, then took up the trade of the carpenter and worked at it for five years. In 1863 he came to the United States. Ile worked at this trade in Chicago for eleven years, coming then to Stanwood, Snohomish county, in August of 1874. He left his family in town, came up the river and pre-empted sixty-seven acres of land, forest at that time, but since con- verted by the labor and effort of Mr. Breckhus into a finely cultivated farm. He brought his family up in 1845, and has since lived there. Mr. Breckhus has a brother, Jacob G., in Snohomish county, of whom biographical mention is elsewhere made in this work.

In Chicago in 1866 Mr. Breckhus married Miss Louise, daughter of Olif and Lockers Scott, natives of Norway, who never left their native land. Mrs. Breckhms was born in Norway in 1811 and received her education there, coming to the United States in 1865. She and Mr. Breckhus have three children :

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John. born in Chicago and now living in Snohomish county ; Enger, also a native of the Illinois met- ropolis and living at home ; and Gilbert O., who is at home and in charge of his father's farm and busi- ness affairs.

The last mentioned was born in Snohomish conn- ty March 5, 1878. the first white child born on the Stillaguamish river. Ile attended the local schools and when nineteen years of age learned the trade of butcher, a line which he continued to follow for four years. He has also worked in the woods, but for the last year has operated his father's farm. At Mount Vernon in the summer of 1904 he married Miss Carrie Hatte, daughter of Severt J. and Annie Hatte, natives of Norway who, after coming to the United States settled in Dakota but are now living near Norman in Snohomish county. Mrs. Breckhus was born in Dakota in 1879 and was educated in Snohomish county. The Breekhuses are Repub- licans in politics and Lutherans in their church re- lations. The farm which Severt G. Breckhus slashed out of the original forest is now one of the pleasant places of Snohomish county. A small orch- ard was early set out and is now in good bearing, but attention is paid chiefly to the dairy department. thirty head of fine cattle constituting the herd. Mr. Breckhus is venerated as one of the early pioneers of this section whose life of hard work and fealty to principle are monuments to his character in the declining years of his active and busy life. The son is respected as a man of energy, who is rapidly tak- ing the place of his worthy father in the activities of life on the place selected by the father and de- veloped by his hands.

CLOUS JACKSON, farmer, whose place lies a mile and a half east and a mile and a half south of Silvana, is one of the prosperous men of this part of Snohomish county and one of the early settlers on the upper waters of the Stillaguamish. He was born in Sweden in the summer of 1844, the fourth of the eight children of Jacob and Stena ( Walgren) Jackson, who were natives of Sweden and lived and died there. Clous Jackson received the education afforded by the common schools of the land of his nativity, remaining at home until he became twen- ty-one years of age. He then engaged in farming for himself until he came to the United States in 1872. His first location in the new country was at Woodstock, Connecticut, where he worked for two years. The year 1874 was spent in Indiana at rail- road work and then he went to Illinois and engaged in ditch work. He next went to Michigan, where for two years he followed logging. In July, 1887, Mr. Jackson came to Washington and filed on a piece of land four miles southeast of Silvana, where was then the wildest kind of a wilderness. He cleared ten acres, and then sold out, and in 1890

homesteaded his present place. He has since added one hundred and sixty acres by purchase and now has a half section in all. It has been MIr. Jackson's policy to sell the

saw timber off his land, thus realizing financially and at the same time taking a step toward getting the land in shape for cultivation. In politics Mr. Jackson is a Republican, and in religion he adheres to the Lutheran church. He is esteemed by his neighbors and those who have business dealings with him as a man of integrity and of business acumen, a man capable of hard work and not afraid to apply his capacity. He has the reputation of being a shrewd business man, with eyes always open to business possibilities.

IIULDO IIEVELY, whose farm is three-quar- ters of a mile east of Silvana, is one of the pioneers of this section of the county, having secured his land by purchase in 1879, when it was still virgin forest. He has cleared his place and is now extensively en- gaged in the dairy and cattle raising business, as well as in general farming. Mr. Hevely was born in Norway, the youngest of five children of Ole and Maret ( Salther ) Hevely, farmer folk who never left their native land. The father died at the ad- vanced age of ninety-five years, and the mother when Huldo was but a year and a half old. Mr. Hevely attended the schools of Norway, remaining with his father on the old farm until he was twen- ty-four years of age. In 1869 he came to the United States and settled in Yankton County, South Da- kota, taking up a homestead and becoming one of the pioneers of that county. After a full decade in Dakota Mr. Hevely sold out, came to Washington and located in Stanwood. Almost immediately he came to the Silvana country and purchased of Iver Johnson eighty-five acres of land which was then in brush and timber, but it is all cleared now but nine acres. and much of it is in meadow. Then there was no road or trail leading to the place ; now it has ex- cellent buildings and easy approaches.

In 1882, while in Dakota, Mr. Hevely married Miss Ellen Hogan, daughter of Bengt and Beret Hogan. The father was a Dakota pioneer and died there, but the mother is still living, though now eighty-two years old. Mrs. Hevely was born in Norway and educated there and in Dakota. Twelve children have been born to this union: Mrs. Martha Hogan, wife of Deputy County Auditor John Hogan, living in Everett ; Matilda, a clerk in Everett ; Emma, an Everett dressmaker ; Hulda, Bertha, Martin, Olena, Manda, Edwin, Edgar, Leon and Chester. The family attends the Lutheran church. In politics Mr. Hevely is a Prohibitionist, and, being public-spirited and interested in the cause of popular education, has served as school director for a number of years. Eighteen cows at present

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constitute the producing end of the dairy of Mr. Hevely and he also has thirty-six head of stock cattle. Mr. Hevely is one of the prosperous and progressive men of the county, public-spirited, intel- ligent in all his acts, one of those who count for much in the development of any pioneer community.

FREDERICK W. KOCH is one of the pioneers of the Silvana district, having settled here in the late seventies. He has since hewed for himself a fine farm out of the woods and has been prosperous in all his ventures, one of which was in the hop in- dustry, he being the pioneer hop raiser on this river front. He was born in Erfurt. Prussia, in the fall of 1849. the son of Frederick A. and Anna ( Eckart) Koch. both of whom lived and died in Prussia. Mr. Koch received his education in the old country, at- tending the high school for a time. He remained at home until twenty years of age, then came to the United States and settled in Virginia, where he taught school and worked at farming for a number of years. In 1828 he came to Washington. He stopped at Seattle for a short time, but, leaving his wife with a great-aunt on Whidby island, he soon after came to Stanwood and filed on a pre-emption claim up the Stillaguamish, which he later turned into a homestead, and upon which he has lived ever since. When he came up the river the place was covered with forest ; half of it is now in a good state of cultivation, while the remainder is more or less open forest and adapted to use as pasturage. In July of 1878 Mr. Koch moved his family upon the place and five years later he produced the first crop of hops raised on the Stillaguamish.

In 1822. in Montgomery County, Virginia, Mr. Koch married Miss Lucy E. Barnett, daughter of Thomas Barnett. a Virginia farmer whose parents were pioneers of that section of the state. Mrs. Koch was born in the old Dominion in 1818 and re- ceived her education in a private school. She and Mr. Koch are parents of four children: Frederick A., Mrs. Annie R. Nelson, living near Everett : Mrs. Mary Roark, living at Silvana, and Mrs. Augusta Bursaw, living in Skagit county. The Kochs are Evangelical Lutherans. In politics Mr. Koch is a Democrat, but he habitually scans the list of nominees to weigh the character of the can- «licates before casting his ballot. He does

considerable in the way of dairying. keeping at present fifty head of that class of stock. He is one of the solid men of the com- munity, industrious, careful and conservative. a prosperous farmer and a substantial, influential citi- zen, one of the class most needed in the new state of Washington, where brawn as well as brain is necessary for the development of a rich, promising. but refractory country.

JACOB G. BRECKHUS, dairy farmer a little over a mile east of Silvana, is one of the solid citi- zens of Snohomish county who seized upon a por- tion of the primeval forest and converted it into a modern farmstead. Mr. Breckhus was born in Nor- way in the summer of 1811. the son of Gulach and Enger ( Serveson ) Breckhus, farmer folk of Nor- way who never left their native land. As a lad, young Breckhus attended the Norwegian schools. He remained at home until 1820, then left the land of fjords and came to the United States. He first settled in Chicago but soon after went to Iowa, where he remained seven years. Coming to Wash- ington in 1826 he entered the service of his brother, Severt G. Breckhus, a sketch of whom appears else- where in this volume, and three years later he filed on the land which he now occupies as a farm. It was then all in woods and brush, but he has it all cleared, the greater part being pasture land. Mr. Breckhus and his brother have ' frequently inter- changed work since they settled in the Silvana dis- triet, each assisting the other to mutual advantage whenever possible.

In 1868, while living in Norway, Mr. Breckhus married Miss Gure Jacobson, who died in Decorah, lowa, as also did a child newly born. Mr. Breckhus has never remarried and in 'reality makes his home with his brother. Of his original land twenty-four acres have been lost to him by the change in the bed of the river, the current washing away the soil and depositing it elsewhere. Mr. Breckhus has thirty head of dairy cattle and devotes his attention chiefly to dairying. Those who know Mr. Breckhus note at once his kindly and generous nature. He is in comfortable circumstances, a successful and pros- perous dairyman, enjoying the highest respect and esteem of those who know him.

Circumstances greatly changed since : has had lawsuits and financial losses, etc.

MARTIN J. FUNK, one of the prosperous dairymen and farmers of the Silvana district of Snohomish county, is recognized as an energetic. forceful man. He has always been active and hard- working. He was born in Denmark in 186;, the son of Rasmus Funk, a blackksmith by trade, who died years ago in his native land. The mother, Mrs. Kirsten ( Hansen) Funk is also a native of Den- mark and the mother of eight children. She is mak- ing her home with Martin Funk, who is her fourth child. Our subject attended school in Denmark until he was eleven years of age, when he was put out in charge of a farmer, with whom he remained for four and a half years. In the fall of 1882 he came to the United States and settled in Wisconsin. and for two and a half years thereafter did team work in connection with a lumber mill. In the spring of 1885 Mr. Funk came to Washington, but

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after a stay of but two months went to California, where he remained for two years, engaged in farm- ing. returning then to the Evergreen state. After his arrival here he first went to work for William McGee, but after a short time gave up logging for farming and he followed farm work for six months. In 1888 he took up a pre-emption near Arlington, at the forks of the Stillaguamish, and he lived there for two years and a half, then followed logging for eight years. In 1899 he rented the Iver Johnson place, near Silvana, where he has since lived. In the past few years he has taken up dairying and he now has twenty-three head of dairy cattle. In poli- tics Mr. Funk is a Republican, in fraternal affiliation a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and M. W. A., and in church membership a Luther- an. Mr. Funk is one of the respected men of the Silvana district, energetic, industrious, level-headed, conservative and in prosperous circumstances.

HALVOR THORSEN, successful farmer two and a half miles northeast of Silvana, is a man who thinks as well as works and is one of the well-read men of the community on all subjects and topics. He was born in Norway in the winter of 1853, the fifth of nine children of Gunder and Ingre Thorsen. farmer folk of the old country. The father passed away in the old country, but the mother came to Washington and died in Snohomish county. Hal- vor Thorsen obtained his education in the schools of his native land and commenced to work out there when fourteen years of age. This he continued for nine years, when he left farming for railroad work, which he followed in the old country for several vears, then taking up fishing. After three years at that calling he determined in 1887 to come to the United States. Locating in Michigan, he worked in the mines there for something over a year, then he went to Colorado and engaged in mining in the Cen- tennial state. In the spring of 1890 he went to Alaska, but remained only a short time. On his coming to the Puget sound country, Mr. Thorsen put in two years in a logging camp on the Stilla- guamish. then he purchased a settler's right to land. and on the property thus purchased and pre-empted he has made his home since, clearing up about twen- tv-five acres of his original purchase and adding more land to his holdings.

In 1890, in this county, Mr. Thorsen married Miss Hannah Green, daughter of Jonas Green, a Norwegian farmer who came to this country and passed away in Michigan. Mrs. Thorsen was born in Norway in 1875, but she came to this country with her parents when a girl and received her edu- cation in the Peninsula state. She and Mr. Thor- sen have six children, all born in Snohomish county : Carl, Emma, Peter, Mattie, Agnes and Homer. In politics Mr. Thorsen is a Socialist, and one of the

thinking men of his party, well read in all depart- ments of modern day thought. He has one hundred and eighty acres of land, thirty of which are under cultivation, and thirty head of cattle, most of them being dairy animals. He also keeps a flock of thirty sheep, and horses sufficient for the operation of the farm. Mr. Thorsen is an energetic, conservative man, industrious and thrifty.

JOHN BRECKHUS is one of the younger of the farmers living in the vicinity of Silvana and is also one of the successful men of the community. Without violence to truth, he may be called a prod. uct of Snohomish county, as he was only two years of age when he came here from Chicago with his parents. He was born in the metropolis of Illinois January 11, 1873, the son of Severt G. Breckhus, now one of Snohomish county's prominent citizens, a full biography of whom appears elsewhere in this . work. He obtained his education in the Snohomish county schools and when large enough to wield an axe or be of assistance to his father in clearing the home in the forest country turned to the work with a will. When he was seventeen years of age he commenced to work for farmers in the vicinity, clearing land and assisting in the work of erecting homes for others. He remained at this kind of pioneer work until 1901, when he went into business for himself. taking out shingle bolts. At this ven- ture he was successful, and in 1902 purchased with the proceeds his own place of fifty-one acres about a mile east of Silvana, where he has lived ever since acquiring the property.

In the summer of 1903. at the home of his father, Mr. Breckhus married Miss Agnes Tone, daughter of Theodore and Bertha Tone, Norwegian farmer folk, who are still living in the old country. Mrs. Breckhus was born in Norway and received her education in the schools of that country, coming to America in 1891 when but nine years of age. She and AIr. Breckhus have one child, Severt T., who was born September 5, 1904. In church adherence Mr. Breckhus is a Lutheran, and in politics a Re- publican. Eighteen of his fifty-one acres of land are under cultivation and, in addition to horses for oper- ating the farm, Mr. Breckhus has seventeen head of beef cattle. Though he has but recently commenced farming on his own account, Mr. Breckhus has proved by his application to work, his management and his business foresight that his farm is destined to be one of the fine places of Snohomish county. He is a hard worker, ever ready to take advantage of any opportunity for advancement for himself.

JOHN LANGSJON, a dairy farmer two miles northwest of Silvana, is one of the pioneers of this section of Snohomish county, having bought a pre-

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emption here in 1887 and developed his place from raw marsh land into a fine farm in a high state of cultivation. Mr. Langsjon was born in Norway in 1853, the son of Nels and Caroline Langsjon, who have passed their entire lives thus far in the old country. John remained with his parents until he had attained the age of twenty-four years, when he crossed the Atlantic, and in 1811 settled in Minne- sota. He rented land and farmed for ten years, sell- ing out at the end of that period and coming dircet to Stanwood, Snohomish county. He made the trip up the Stillaguamish in a canoe and purchased the pre-emption right to one hundred and sixty acres of land which was absolutely unimproved and con- sisted largely of marsh and bottom land. Mr. Langsjon was on his place, ditching and doing de- velopment work, for six years before he had a team of horses, oxen being the only work animals ob- tainable in this section of the county in those days. He has now thirty acres of land in meadow and as much more in pasture. His chief work is along the line of dairying and stock raising, his live stock num- bering fifty head of cattle and four horses.

In 1877, shortly before coming to the United States, Mr. Langsjon married Miss Johanna Knut- son, daughter of Knut and Molina Knutson, both of whom have passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Langsjon have eight children. Nels, who lives in Silvana ; Conrad J., who lives at Arlington ; Charles, Minnic, John, Henry, Cornelius and Hannah L. A. In politics Mr. Langsjon is a Republican, but has never sought office ; in church adherence the family is Lutheran. Mr. Langsjon is one of the energetic farmers of the community, successful as a farmer and dairyman, esteemed by the community and of good standing among his fellow men.

JOHANNES LANGSJON is one of the suc- cessful dairymen of the lower Stillaguamish valley. Coming to this valley in 1893, he has in the time which has elapsed since then converted a tract of alder bottom land into one of the finest of the smaller dairy farms in the vicinity of Silvana. He was born in Norway in 1857, fourth of the five chil- dren of Nels and Caroline Langsjon, both of whom are still residing in the old country. Johannes re- mained at home until he reached the age of twenty, then immigrated to the United States, locating first in Minnesota, where he engaged in farming. In 1893 he joined his brother John at Silvana. Upon arrival he purchased ten acres of wild land, prac- tically a marsh, which he has reclaimed by hard. skillful labor and converted into his present snug, valuable little estate. Cultivated Intensively, it is large enough for one man to handle with profit, and in his skilled hands is returning a comfortable liv- ing.

Christine Olson became the bride of Mr. Langs-

jon in 1883. Her parents, Easton and Ingborg Ol- son, came to Minnesota from Norway and in that state are living at present at advanced ages, the father having been born in 1826, the mother in 1832. Having come to Minnesota when only a girl of ten years. Mrs. Olson received the greater part of her education there. Mr. and Mrs. Langsjon have three children-Caroline, Edwin and Nels, all of whom are living at home. Politically Mr. Langsjon is identified with the Republican party, in which he is an active worker, and the family are attendants of the Lutheran church. Thrift, industry and atten- tion to details are the keynotes to the success of this substantial husbandman, while his sterling character commands the utmost respect of those around him.

LARS LARSEN (deceased) was one of the well known pioneers of the Silvana country, and his widow is to-day operating with marked success the farm which he ent out of the forest wilder- ness on South slough in the seventies. Since the death of Mr. Larsen, which occurred in 1893. Mrs. Larsen and her daughters have taken charge of the agricultural and dairy business and have gained for themselves the reputation of being shrewd managers of their af- fairs. Mr. Larsen was born in Norway in 1849, the first of three children of Lars and Ragnald Larsen, farmer folk of Hardanger, Norway. The mother died early in life ; the father remarried, and two sons of his second wife, Ole and Iver, are residents of the vicinity of Silvana. The elder Larsen continued to reside in Norway until his death in 1889. The subject of this biography received a common-school education in the old country and came to the United States when twenty-one years of age. settling in Iowa, but later went to South Dakota, where he lived a short time. Mr. Larsen came to Washington in 1876 and worked in the fisheries along the Colum- bia river for a number of years. Between seasons he came to the P'nget sound country and pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land a mile west of where Silvana has since grown up, to which claim lie removed permanently in 1878. At that time settlers were few between the Larsen home and Stanwood, where were the nearest store and the postoffice. Travel was by canoe on the river. the distance being fully eight miles.

In 1885 Mr. Larsen married Miss Randi Rors- tad. a native of Sonmor, Norway, the daughter of John and Carina Rorstad, who passed their entire lives in the old country, the mother dying many years ago, the father living until 1901. Mrs. Larsen commenced to make her own way in the world when but fourteen years of age. She obtained a good edu- cation and taught school for three years before leav- ing Norway. On coming to Minnesota she con- tinued in school teaching two years, then came to

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An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 184

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1906 Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1172

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1172