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Allamakee County >> 1913 Index Past and Present of Allamakee County Iowa E Unless otherwise specified, these biographies are submitted by Dick Barton. Thore
Engebretson, who passed away in Allamakee county at the age of
seventy-eight years, was one of its honored pioneers and successful
agriculturists, owning two hundred and eighty acres of rich and
productive land in Center and Paint Creek townships.
He was a native of
Barrum, Norway, and in that country wedded Miss Helena Marie Nelson, who
was born in the same province.
In 1851 they crossed the Atlantic to the
United States with their family of four children and for one year made
their home at Rock Prairie, Wisconsin.
In 1852 they came to Allamakee
county, Iowa, purchasing and locating on a tract of one hundred and
sixty acres of land on sections 35 and 36, Paint Creek township.
The
log shanty on the place, which had been built by a former resident,
remained their home for a time.
Later a stone house was erected which
is still standing and doing good service.
Mr. Engebretson prospered in
his undertakings as an agriculturist and subsequently purchased an
additional tract of one hundred and twenty acres, making his farm one of
two hundred and eighty acres, which is still in possession of three of
his children, who reside on the place.
At the time of the Civil war he
responded to the call for troops and for one year loyally served the
Union cause as a member of Company F, Ninth Iowa Cavalry.
He came to
the new world a poor man and experienced all the vicissitudes and
privations of pioneer life.
It was only by dint of persistent and
untiring labor that he won the success which eventually placed him among
the substantial and representative citizens of his community.
His wife
was called to her final rest at the age of seventy-five years.
They
were devoted members of the Lutheran church and their lives were in
consistent harmony with their professions.
In his political views Mr.
Engebretson was a stanch republican.
Mr.
and Mrs. Engebretson were the parents of the following children:
Anton, who resides on the old homestead on section 35, Center township,
with his two sisters, Emma and Christina; Mary, the wife of L. O.
Larson, of Taylor township, this county; Johanna, who is the widow of
George Bieber and resides in Rock county, Minnesota; Ludwig, who died at
the age of forty-five years; Edward, who is deceased; Olof, a resident
of Rock county, Minnesota; Christian, who was drowned in childhood; and
Emma and Christina, who reside on the old homestead farm with their
brother Anton, the former having been blind since the age of ten years.
Anton Engebretson carries on general agricultural pursuits
with good
success.
He is now sixty-four years of age and has lived here from
pioneer times to the present, having witnessed the wonderful
transformation that has occurred as early conditions have given way
before the onward march of civilization.
Thure
T. Ericson, who is now in the tenth year of his able service as
justice of the peace in Waukon, was born in Sweden, April 2, 1862.
He
is a son of C. J. Ericson, also a native of Sweden, who grew to manhood
there and married, his wife having been in her maidenhood Miss
Wilhelmina Charlotte Mattsson.
They came to America in 1867 and in June
of the same year settled in Center township, Allamakee county, where the
father purchased a small farm and turned his attention to agricultural
pursuits.
From time to time he bought more land and added it to his
original holdings until he owned five hundred acres well improved and
developed.
Upon that property he raised his family and there died July
3, 1908.
His wife survives him.
Thure
t. Ericson was reared upon his father's farm and in his childhood
aided in its operation.
He acquired his preliminary education in the
public schools of the section and supplemented this by a course in a
commercial school and one term under Professor Loughran.
After laying
aside his books he carried on general agricultural pursuits upon the
homestead for some time, afterward going to LaCrosse, where he secured
employment in the lumber mills.
While on the farm he gave a great deal
of his time to the manufacture of sorghum and during one fall made over
four thousand gallons.
He spent only two summers in the lumber mills
and was afterward for ten years manager of a farm belonging to Dr. W. C.
Earle.
This property comprised two hundred acres and was conducted as a
dairy farm, being equipped with all modern, sanitary and labor-saving
machinery.
There was a cream separator and a large churn.
The output
was from one hundred to two hundred pints of cream into butter each week.
He made an exhibit of his dairy products at the county fair and
took first premium on butter.
Mr.
Ericson moved into Waukon in 1902 and at first turned his attention
to the real-estate business, buying and selling town property and
Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota lands.
In the fall of the same year,
however, he was elected justice of the peace and has been reelected each
succeeding term for ten years, discharging his duties in an able,
conscientious and far-sighted way.
He still deals to some extent in
real estate and owns his own residence on Pleasant street which is
comfortable and attractive in every particular.
Mr.
Ericson married in Center township, March 16, 1892, Miss Hannah
Swenson, a native of Allamakee county and of Swedish parentage, her
father, P. J. Swenson, having been born in that country and having come
as a pioneer to Allamakee county.
Mr. and Mrs. Ericson are members of
the Baptist church of Waukon and are well known in religious and social
circles of the city.
Mr. Ericson is a musician of great talent and
ability and is entirely self-educated in this art, having studied it by
himself after he reached maturity.
He has been identified with several
bands which were well known in this section of the state and for years
was a member of a cornet band.
He was for three years with the band
connected with the Fifty-third Regiment of Iowa and was the organizer of
the Center Band, of which he was the director for nine years.
This was
composed of from twelve to sixteen musicians.
Politically Mr. Ericson
gives his allegiance to the republican party and is intelligently
interested in public affairs, although not a politician in the sense of
office seeking.
Having lived in this section since his childhood, he is
widely and favorably known here, and in the course of an honorable and
upright life has gained the respect and esteem of all who are associated
with him.
Jens
Espeland, carrying on general farming and stock-raising upon one
hundred and sixty-six acres of fine land on section 13, Paint Creek
township, is a native of Norway, born in the province of Hardanger, on
the 13th of November, 1859, his parents being Nels Larson and Christine
Espeland.
He spent his early life in his native country, acquiring his
education there, and at the age of seventeen he crossed the Atlantic to
America, coming immediately to Allamakee county, where for a time he
worked as a farm laborer.
In June, 1884, he married Ida Iverson and
took up his residence on the Iverson homestead, which he still owns and
operates.
His holdings comprise one hundred and sixty-six acres, all in
a high state of cultivation, and upon this fine property he carries on
general farming and stock-raising, both branches becoming under his able
management important and profitable.
In the course of years he has made
many substantial improvements upon his place, has erected the necessary
buildings and installed the needed machinery, and the farm is today one
of the finest and best equipped in this section of the state.
Mr.
and Mrs. Espeland became the parents of four children. Julia is
teaching two languages at Wild Rice Orphans Home in Twin Valley, South
Dakota.
She is a graduate of the Lutheran Normal School at Sioux Falls.
Christopher attended Luther College at Decorah, Iowa, for three years
and afterward spent one year at the Lutheran Normal College at Sioux
Falls.
Elsie is also a graduate of the Lutheran Normal College, having
received her diploma with the class of 1913.
Leo is attending district
school.
Mr. and Mrs. Espeland are people of the highest respectability,
enjoying in large measure the friendship of those with whom they have
been brought in contact, and a life of well directed activity has gained
for Mr. Espeland a creditable place in business circles.
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