Olaus Larsson




Olaus Larsson was born April 23, 1851, in Fröbbestorp, Kalmar Co., Sweden, and died November 11, 1920, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, at age 69. Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Farmington Twp., Waupaca Co., WI. He is the son of Lars Pehrsson of Fröbbestorp, Kalmar Co., Sweden, and Christina Olsdotter of Glosebo, Sweden.

Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina Larsdotter was born January 25, 1848, in Värna Parish, Östergőtland Co., Sweden, and died August 6, 1906, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, at age 58. Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. She is the daughter of Lars Fredrich Nilsson of Grebo Parish, Östergőtland Co., Sweden, and Gustava Wilhemina Ekman of Asby Parish, Linkőping District of Östergőtland Co., Sweden.

Olaus Larsson changed his name to Olaus Larson upon arriving in the United States.

Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina Larsdotter changed her name to Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina Larson upon arriving in the United States.

Olaus Larson (age 23), a bachelor, and Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina Larson (age 26), a maiden, were married August 13, 1874, in Marquette, Marquette Co., MI.

Olaus Larson and Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina (Larson) Larson had seven children:

  1. Emilia Sophia Larson: Born December 22, 1875, in Marysville, Yuba Co., CA; Died Sunday, August 6, 1905, in Sheridan, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI (age 29). Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. Married October 24, 1894, at Salem Lutheran Church, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, to Gustaf Alfred "Fred" Johnson: Born November 4, 1870, in Sweden; Died November 10, 1950, in Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI (age 80). Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.
  2. Oscar Emil Larson: Born August 15, 1878, in Marysville, Yuba Co., CA; Died July 21, 1893, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI (age 15). Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.
  3. Arthur David Larson: Born January 21, 1881, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI; Died January 16, 1968, at Riverside Community Memorial Hospital, Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI (age 86). Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. Married (1) April 6, 1904, in Rockford, Winnebago Co., IL, to Norma Victoria Nelson: Born March 23, 1880, in Rockford, Winnebago Co., IL; Died Monday, May 8, 1933, at Community Hospital, Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI (age 53). Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. Married (2) October 2, 1937, at the Arthur Larson residence near Sheridan, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, to Caroline Barbara (Schnacky) (Wetherbee) Vedner: Born February 16, 1891, in Oak Grove Twp., Barron Co., WI; Died March 2, 1983, in Minneapolis, Hennepin Co., MN (age 92). Buried in Saint Josephs Cemetery, Rice Lake, Barron Co., WI. Divorced.
  4. Edith Christina Larson: Born February 8, 1883, in Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI; Died November 5, 1971, at the State Veteran's Home Infirmary, Hot Springs, Fall River Co., SD (age 88). Buried in State Veterans Home Cemetery, Hot Springs, Fall River Co., SD. Married Easter Sunday, April 15, 1900, at the Salem Lutheran Church, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, to Clarence Cornelius Nelson: Born January 1, 1879, in Rockford, Winnebago Co., IL; Died May 28, 1967, May 28, 1967, at a local hospital, Hot Springs, Fall River Co., SD (age 88). Buried in State Veterans Home Cemetery, Hot Springs, Fall River Co., SD.
  5. Almo Joshua Larson: Born June 29, 1885, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI; Died November 19, 1962, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI (age 77). Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca, WI. Married September 6, 1911, at Wesley Methodist Church, Spokane, Spokane Co., WA, to Emma Jane Abbey: Born February 22, 1884, in the Town of Orion, Richland Co., WI; Died March 31, 1985, at Pine Ridge Manor, Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI (age 101). Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.
  6. Walter Emanuel Larson: Born June 6, 1888, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI; Died July 5, 1961, in Washington, DC (age 73). Buried in Washington National Cemetery, Suitland, Prince George Co., MD. Married October 11, 1916, in Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co., PA, to Helen McAdams Frazer: Born May 12, 1892, in Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co., PA; Died June 28, 1978, at a local nursing home, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Co., OK (age 86). Buried in Washington National Cemetery, Suitland, Prince George Co., MD
  7. Freeda Wilhelmina Larson: Born September 30, 1891, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI; Died December 5, 1991, at Wilson Health Care Center, Gaithersburg, Montgomery Co., MD (age 100). Buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington Co., VA. Married June 25, 1919, in Chicago, Cook Co., IL, to Robert Ash Lewis: Born October 23, 1891, in Ramona, Lake Co., Dakota Territory (SD); Died February 21, 1973, in Washington, DC (age 81). Buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington Co., VA.



TIMELINE

In Wisconsin, a town is an unincorporated jurisdiction within a county; Wisconsin towns are similar to civil townships in other states. All areas in the state that have not been incorporated as cities or villages are parts of towns. Towns provide a limited number of services to their residents.


       

       

Olaus Larson and Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina (Larson) Larson are buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. Thanks to Find-A-Grave for making these images available.


Our first relatives, Per Andersson and his wife Maria Nilsdotter, came to Fröbbestorp in 1691. When Per Andersson died in 1722, the farm was taken over by one of his sons, Anders Persson (1707-1785). Anders Persson had several children. Two of them, Per Andersson (1738-1790) and Lars Andersson (1746-1798), stayed in Fröbbestorp. The farm was split in two pieces...one piece to Per Andersson and the other piece to Lars Andersson. Per Andersson was succeeded by his daughter and his son-in-law. When they became too old to work the farm, they were succeeded by their son Nils Olofsson (1811-1879). His offspring still owns the farm.

Lars Andersson married Ingrid Nilsdotter (1754-1823). They had many children. The oldest son, Petter (sometimes he used the name Per) Larsson (1779-1821), took over the farm. He died at only 42 years old, and his widow then married Sven Larsson.


THE ANCESTORS LIFE IN FRÖBBESTORP

When our ancestors Per Andersson and Maria Nilsdotter arrived and settled down in Fröbbestorp in 1691 it was during a peace period in the Swedish history. Sweden had been involved in several wars that century. There was however a severe famine. Uneven weather was a major contributing factor. In 1695 was the Summer cold. The Autumn frost came early. In many places before an unusually late harvest had been salvaged. The crop failure was already a fact. The weather then switched to a mild autumn and the beginning of the winter was also warm. Fresh grass grew a finger’s length in the beginning of February. Trees and shrubs buds themselves and the Autumn sowing began to germinate. Then the cold and snow came. The Spring was exceptionally late and the Summer was extremely cold.

The late Summer of 1696 was visited by night frost. In many places were the majority of the fields fallow, since the starving population, the winter before, was forced to eat most of the seeds. Strawberries ripened only in September and raspberries in October. The harvest, in the places the crop matured at all, was of course disastrous. The winter that followed was severe and even in 1697, the Spring came very late. Winter cold was in some places so severe that it even was difficult to remove the bark from trees to make bark bread. Worst hit was northern Sweden. Its estimated that 100 000 died as a result. The failure of crops was a perennial scourge. There were small margins in the Swedish peasant society. The population rebounded, however, surprisingly fast.

Between 1697 and 1708 the harvest seems to have been fairly good. To pay for the war that began in 1700 the Swedish crown gave the farmers the opportunity to buy their farms. Per and Maria accepted the offer. But tell the happiness that lasts. 1708-1709 another failure of crops arrived. It was followed (1710-1712) by a very serious plague. Many of our ancestors died. 1/3 of Stockholm’s population died in the plague. Then occurred a few years of good harvests. However, it was only the calm before the storm. For in the year of 1716 the crop was shaken by hard rain, followed by two years of distinct crop failure.

In 1721 the peace came and also some years that were beneficial to the farmers. More and more farmers had enough money to buy their farms. There were low rates of mortality, peace, mild winters and good harvests. Those who survived the war years were relatively immune to epidemics and perhaps even unusually viable at all. There were, moreover, plenty of uncultivated land. But then the situation once again changed. In the 1730’s the mortality rate rose sharply, due to international epidemics and several bad harvests. Between 1741 and 1743 Sweden was once again in war with Russia. Southern Sweden was not affected by any direct acts of war.

But in 1741 the dysentery hit with devastating force. Hundreds of people died in “our” area. The cold winter was a significant factor. The heating was by modern concepts flawed and mortality was significantly higher in winter than summer. Especially devastating was the late winter and early spring strong temperature fluctuations that often broke the old and sick people. The winters were generally cold and long, until the 1800s. The second half of the 1700s also named the Little Ice Age. 20% of all children died during the first year of life.

In 1756 there was a widespread crop failure caused by extreme cold. New crop failures occurred in 1781 and 1783. They were caused by a combination of heat and cold. The Summers were exceptionally hot and dry, but in 1783 even the Winter was cold and the Spring came very late. In some parts of northern Sweden the snow remained well into June and it wasn't possible sowing before midsummer. The harvest had no time to mature before Autumn arrived. The winter feed had ended long before the new grass came up. As a last resort some farmers were forced to feed their cattle with roof straw.

The Swedish agriculture gradually became less and less sensitive to climate fluctuations and weather changes. Through land reclamations of forested areas, extensive clearing of stony soils and drainage of waterlogged land the cultivable area in the country increased. Technological advances further increased the production and the potato was also introduced. On a whole the production of cereals moved from deficit to surplus.

In the 1790’s the climate was very warm. But it changed. In 1799 and 1800 the Spring became many degrees cooler than normal. 1800’s and 1810’s were extremely cold. 1812 and 1814 were the worst years. The last time when the failure of crops arrived with devastating force was in 1867-1869. Our ancestor Lars Pehrsson and his family in Fröbbestorp however survived. But many Swedes weren’t that fortunate.

A short summary of our ancestors in Fröbbestorp

Per Andersson was, as was the custom, by his oldest son, Anders Persson. Per Andersson died in 1722. The son was only 14 years old. Probably the mother, Maria, who came to live with the son and his family, assisted in the day-to-day running of the farm. Anders Persson married Anna Olufsdotter and got ten children. Four of them died before the age of 5. The oldest sons (Per b.1738 and Lars b.1746) divided the farm, maybe, in the late 1760’s. Both sons had families and continued to stay and cultivate their farms in Fröbbestorp. On August 29, 1798, Lars Andersson died of diarrhea and was succeeded by his oldest son, Petter Larsson. He married Gertrud Persdotter and they got seven children. Five became adults. On December 4, 1821, Petter Larsson died of pneumonia. His widow remarried Sven Larsson.

When Petter’s and Gertrud’s oldest son, Lars, was old enough to take over the farm the mother and the stepfather moved from Fröbbestorp. It happened in the early 1830’s. Lars and Christina had eight children. But in 1856 Christina died. In 1858 Lars married Maria and they received four children. The family was devoted Lutherans. They frequently took part in the holy communion. Lars Pehrsson was suceeded by one of his son’s (not the oldest however) Magnus Larsson in the 1860’s or 1870’s. Magnus Larsson was succeeded by his son, Karl Oskar Magnusson, who ran the farm until 1931 when he sold it and moved to another village and farm. Then between 1931 and 1968 there were other owners. In 1968 the couple Bertil and Anna Lisa Johansson, actually descendants of Lars Pehrsson’s aunt Maria Larsdotter, bought the farm. They gave the farms to their four children; Jan-Erik, Lena, Lillemo and Bengt. Today Jan-Erik’s son Jens owns and lives on the farm. In other words it’s in the family. Hopefully you can put in your ancestors in their historical context.


Dear Leigh Larson!

The Olaus Larson family tree goes back to 1535, and a man Holme Bildt. There are one very interesting thing with him and his name. Because in the same time there is a Danish noble family who carries the same name. I haven't got any evidence that he belonged to that family. But according to a theory, he belonged to that family, who owned farms both in Sweden and Denmark. I've checked the Bildt family in a few books and the family's known history goes back to the time of the Vikings. But if we belongs to them is still a big riddle, which I somewhere in the future might get an answer to. Hopefully. What can I say more about this family tree? Much of the information have I got from other researchers, especially Tomas Alriksson, who have done an enormous research about the people living in the same area as your ancestors. But I also have got information from your webpage. There is one important thing. You will see that almost everything is written in Swedish, except from the title. That could be problem of course, but I don't think it will be. I will gave you some keywords, so you will better understand it. The words are:

far = father; mor = mother; född = born; vigd = married; död = died; barn = children; bonde = peasant or farmer

If there are more Swedish keywords I've forgotten to translate just let me know and I will translate them to you. I hope you will enjoy the family tree, and that I soon will hear from you.

Best regards, Per


Following below are reprints of two letters written by Arthur Larson:

Enclosed herewith is a letter from Cousin Oscar and Olga in Chicago. I wrote Oscar asking him for information on mother’s side of the family so here it is. Some facts about mother’s family I was not familiar with.

Mother lived to the age of 58 years, However, the last few years of her life she suffered (patiently) Rheumatism which compelled her to be confined to bed much of the time. Always cheerful enduring pain with patience. A living SAINT.

I, Arthur D. Larson, am feeling good. Last evening the Waupaca Red Cross Chapter held their annual meeting and I resigned as Chapter Chairman. I had selected a very capable man to be my successor and he was voted in unanimously by the Chapter. I had held the office 4 years, and am still a board member and Disaster Chairman.

Almo and Emma drove to Dodgeville yesterday. Her sister Maude has been at Almo's a few days but the care was too much for Emma so now one of the sons at Dodgeville is going to try his mercy luck. For her sake I hope it will last.

Say Bob, when you have completed your GENEALOGY you may jot me down as a customer. It will be fun to read about the people we descended from.

All for now, be good to yourselves and sleep tight every night. My typewriter runs ahead of my finger touch.

Lots of love to the whole family; even the pooch.

Your brother,

A. D.  

This is the Genealogy of the family on father’s sides.

Grandfather's family:

Grandfather, Lars Person     Died in Sweden      1886.

Grandmother, Christina Olsdotter    Died in Sweden      1856 (Lars Person’s first wife).

First family: 7 boys, viz. Aaron died as an infant, Peter (Froberg); Anders; Magnus ; Gustav; Olaus; Erick. Second wife’s name Maria, no date of her death. The following are the children with this marriage: Sven; Ingrid; Christina. Peter, Anders, Magnus, Ingrid and Christina died in Sweden; Erick in Oakland Cal.; Sven in Miles City, Montana. Olaus and Gustav in Waupaca Wis.

Peter (Froberg) family; 3 girls (names not available) and 2 boys (Joseph and Gustav); all lived in Karlskrona, Sweden.

Anders: wife’s name: Anna Karen; Children: Helena, age 96, lives in Stockholm Sweden. Christina, age 92, lives in Neshkoro, Wis. Amanda, age 82 and Matilda, age 86, live in Sweden.

Magnus: wife’s name unknown; Children: Karl; Emma; August and Erick. Karl and Emma live in Sweden, Erick in Mpls. Minn. August, single, died in Boyceville, Wis. where he owned a farm.

Gustav: wife's name: Juliana; Children, Albert, deceased in Waupaca; Edith; Ed; Elmer; Henry; Clara - living; Ruben; Phillip. Ed died in Bismark N.D. Elmer and Henry died in Tacoma, Wash.

Sven "Freeberg" died in Miles City, Mont., wife's name not available. Children viz. Alma deceased in Seattle Wash. Oscar deceased same city. Albert lives in Missoula, Mont. Gladys in Seattle and three others believed to be deceased.

Ingred and Christine (half sisters of my father Olaus Larson); one of these sisters is the mother of the Hawkinsons who came to Minneapolis from Sweden. If I recall correctly Freeda visited at the Hawkinsons in Minneapolis. Two years ago I called on Carl in a Rest Home in Oakland, California. He died shortly after from Cancer. Elof died in Mpls. Alfred still lives there. Others: unknown.

Erick Larson: Wife and 2 children names unknown. Lived in Oakland, California.

Olaus Larson: born April 23, 1851, Kalmar Lan, Smoland, Sweden. Deceased Nov 11, 1920. Wife: Catherina Olivia Wilhelmina, born Jan. 25, 1848, in Östergotland, Sweden; died Aug. 6, 1906. Married in Marquette Mich., 1874. Following are the children: Emily born Dec. 21 1875, in Sacramento, Cal.; Emil born Aug. 15, 1878 (same place as Emily). Emily (Mrs. Johnson) died Aug 5, 1905 in Town of Farmington. Emil died in same Township July, 1892. Arthur born Jan. 21, 1881; Edith born Feb. 8, 1883. Almo born June 29, 1885; Walter born June 6,1888; Freeda born Sept 30, 1891. Walter passed away in Washington, D.C. July 5th, 1961.

Father came to this country in 1872 and landed in Marquette, Michigan where he found employment with a Railroad Co. I do not know the exact year mother came to this country. However, it evidently was about the same year father arrived, although they never met until after arriving in Marquette, Mich. In 1875 there was a money shortage in Michigan. Father said the laborers were paid off with a purchase order on the Company's store. This system he did not like, so he corresponded with his brother Erick who was working in California and said the times were good out there. In 1875 Father left mother in Marquette and went to California to find a home for his wife and expected child. He hired out to a company of woodsmen operating in the foothills out some distance from Sacramento. Here they were when Emily was born. I recall mother telling about the many, many hours of labor pains she had to endure until father scouted around until he found a woman who was a mother with some experience in childbirth. She came to mother’s assistance and in a short time the baby was born and all were happy.

I can't recall that my parents ever told how long it took each one of them to travel from Michigan to California. However, coming from there to Waupaca with 2 lively youngsters and mother 7 months pregnant was not all pleasure; still they made it and shortly after arrival they bought an 80 acre farm with 15 acres under cultivation, a small frame house 12x14x20 and a shack 12x12 (not occupied) where my parents had to occupy because the people who had purchased this farm from Mrs. Hunt had the privilege to live in the larger house until April 1st. So yours, Arthur D., was born in that 12x12 Mansion. Father used this building for a granary a few years.

From then on Freeda is familiar with the family record. Our parents are entitled to a lot of praise for raising a family of seven children on a small rocky farm, and erecting a full line of commodious farm buildings. The fruit of good planning and hard labor. Their desire was for the children to receive a good education, which they acquired at our different institutions of learning.


FREEDA LARSON’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY

PART I – THE LARSON SAGA

(Written in 1973)

(Edited in 2002 by her son, Gordon Lewis)

There is a legend that goes back many years, to the early 19th century.  The story began in Sweden, with my great-grandmother.  In those days, it was not uncommon for a farmer’s daughter to be a milk-maid at one the nearby castles of royalty.  So, Gustava was hired as a milk-maid by the resident of a castle near her home.  She was a beautiful, flaxen-haired young lady, and was greatly admired by a young son of the royal family.

This admiration soon developed into affection, and they began having clandestine meetings.  Now, no person of royal blood should ever marry a farmer’s daughter. However, these two young folks, like many today, decided they wanted to get married anyway, so they went to a clergy in a neighboring village and were secretly wed.

When this marriage was announced to the royal family, the son was banished to America, and Gustava, now pregnant, returned to her family to await the birth of her little babe.  Lars sailed for America, promising to send for her as soon as he was established.  It was never learned whether he reached the promised land.  No trace was ever found, and Gustava and her baby remained in Sweden.

A little girl was born, and she was named for mother, Gustava Wilhelmina.  As was customary in those days, the female child’s last name took the first name of her father and added “dotter,” so she was christened Gustava Wilhelmina Larsdotter.

Years passed, and the next we learn is that Gustava married a Lars Fredrick Nilsson, and this union was blessed with six children – four daughters and two sons. My mother – Catherine Olivia Wilhelmina, the eldest, was born January 25, 1848. Then followed Mathilda, September 17, 1851;  Andrew Frederick, November 30, 1853; Carl, August 16, 1856; and the twins Sophia and Amanda, April 1, 1862. Actually, Sophia was born just before midnight on March 31st, and Amanda after midnight on April 1st.

The Nilsson family grew up in Sweden but, as the years went by, they one by one emigrated to the New World.  The girls then changed their last names to Larson, but it was a different story for the boys.  It was permissible for a young man to change his name as he came of age.  Since the family had lived on the Dahla estate [see Olivia Larson’s Biography], Andrew took on the name of Andrew Dahlquist, and Carl (or Charles, as he later preferred) became Charles Dahlberg.

My mother Olivia, as she preferred being called, came to the U. S. A. in 1873 as a governess for two young boys in a family that settled in Marquette, Michigan.  It was there that she met my father, Olaus Larson, who had come from Sweden in 1872.  On May 13, 1874, they were married in Marquette.

In 1875, there was a money shortage in Michigan. Father said the laborers were paid off with purchase orders good at the company store.  Not happy with that arrangement, he corresponded with his brother Erik, who was working in California and said that times were good out there.  So, Father left Mother, who was expecting a child, and went to California.  He hired out to a company of loggers operating on a ranch in the foothills some distance north of Sacramento.  Mother then followed him to California.  It took thirteen days to make the trip.  There were no dining nor sleeping cars, so hammocks were hung for sleeping, and stops were made at stations along the way to purchase food.  Because of fear of Indians and robbers attacking the train, Olivia had a money belt around her waist under her clothes in which she had $500 in gold.

Olaus – hereafter referred to as Dad - was the foreman of the ranch, and Mother was in charge of the ranch household.  The owners lived in the town of Marysville which, at that time, was a very small place.  Language proved a major hardship, since most of the men and women they had to deal with spoke only Spanish, and neither Dad nor Mother could speak English very well. 

Emily Sophia was born December 22, 1875 – with a mid-wife in attendance - and two years later Carl Emil blessed their lives.  Soon after Emil’s arrival, Mother was taken ill.  The doctor said she would have to go to a higher climate, so she went up in the mountains for a while, but it became apparent that life in California was unsatisfactory in many ways.

In the meantime, Dad’s brother Gustav had come to America, and had settled in Waupaca, Wisconsin, and Mother now had a brother who had settled in St. Paul, Minnesota. Since Mother and Dad had been advised to seek a colder climate, they decided to leave California and visit these two relatives before settling on a place to live. In 1880, with their two children, they started the long trip east, the first stop being Waupaca. 

Their plans were to spend a short time in Waupaca, then go on to St. Paul, where there was a large Swedish settlement. But they never made it to St. Paul. They ended up purchasing an eighty-acre farm three miles west of Waupaca. The farm had only fifteen acres under cultivation, a small frame two-story house about 14 feet by 20 feet, and a 12-foot by 12-foot shack. Mother and Dad occupied this shack through the winter of 1880-1881, because the purchase agreement permitted the current residents to occupy the house until April 1st. The next child, Arthur David, was born in this shack in January 1881. 

The Larson family continued to grow in numbers as the years went by. Edith Christina was born February 8, 1883; Almo Joshua, June 28, 1885; Walter Emmanuel, June 6, 1888; and Freeda Wilhelmina, September 30, 1891. We were a very close, Christian family.  Each of us, as we grew up, was assigned certain duties to helping the farming and household activities. Farming was very difficult, as more and more of the land had to be cleared of trees and stones before it could be tilled for crops. Potatoes were the cash crop, but corn, wheat, and oats had to be planted to feed the livestock through the long winter seasons. Wheat was also taken to the mill and ground into flour for home use.

The farm buildings were not adequate for the growing family, so in 1890 a major addition to the house was built.  Dad’s brother Gus Lewis (he had changed his name from Larson to Lewis because there were too many Larsons around) was a carpenter, so he assisted in the planning and building.  The addition provided large living and dining rooms, a large kitchen, and a bedroom downstairs; a large dormitory bedroom upstairs; and a cellar under all for storage of fruits, vegetables, and the potato crop.  The original part of the house provided a parlor-bedroom downstairs, and two bedrooms on the second floor.  This gave more privacy as to bedrooms, but they were still mighty cold in winter, as there was no central heat.

I was born in the “new” bedroom.  A good neighbor, Mrs. Johnson, came in to help with my arrival, as Emily was only 16, and Edith 8. When Dr. Sanders arrived, he expressed concern to Mother and Dad that I might not live, since I went through a series of convulsions. But I fooled them all, and here I am – 82 years old – to tell the tale.

All was not easy going for the Larson family. In the Fall of 1892, Mother was stricken with rheumatic fever, and was bed-ridden for several months. Dad had a niece, Christina Larson, in New York, who was a practical nurse. She came and cared for Mother until she was able to be up and about. However, this illness left Mother with a heart condition from which she never fully recovered.

Other troubles beset the home. Emil was stricken ill early in the summer of 1893. The first death in the family came in July when Emil – age 15 – was laid to rest in a little cemetery adjoining Salem Lutheran Church. The loss of this son, who had been the delight of the family, was devastating. He had aspirations of going into the ministry, as he was deeply religious and felt that was his calling.

Time marched on, and now Emily had a suitor. She was a beautiful, auburn-haired, brown-eyed girl, with a complexion like peaches and cream. She was greatly admired in the community, not only for her beauty, but also for her talent in voice and organ music. (We had a foot-pedal-pumped organ in the house on which Mother played, and she taught her girls to play, including me.). On October 24, 1894, Emily was married to G. Alfred Johnson – hereafter referred to as Fred – in a very lovely service in the Salem Lutheran church. The Reverend Dr. Lindholm performed the ceremony, with a reception following in the family home.

Each of the children started schooling in the little Farmington one-room schoolhouse. As Arthur and then Almo became ready for high school, they had to go into Waupaca each day. During the summer months, we were all busy with our chores. Edith and I had our assignments helping Mother; the boys were busy in the fields with Dad. In fact, in April, 1899, Dad added to the farm with a homestead claim on a nearby forty acres that were still “public land.”

Toward the end of the decade, Edith took a course in dressmaking with a Mrs. Hanson in Waupaca, and stayed with her while learning. Walter and I were now the only ones attending the Farmington school.

While Edith was in town, she met a young man who had just returned from the Spanish-American War – Clarence C. Nelson, from Rockford, Illinois. Clarence was working on the farm of Mr. and Mrs. John Erickson. He became very attentive, and they soon avowed to get married, although Edith was only 16 years old. Mother and Dad were very opposed to an early marriage, but a proposition by Clarence’s uncle, Reverend Rosander, our minister, provided a resolution. He had a farm in Prentice, Wisconsin – about 75 miles from Waupaca – needed a couple to run the farm, and offered this opportunity to Clarence and Edith. On Easter Sunday, April 15, 1900, they were married in Salem Lutheran Church, with a reception at the house. I can well remember the day – great excitement - but some of the family still felt disturbed about the marriage. Fred chose not to attend the wedding, but Emily did.

Arthur was now ready for more advanced education, and wanted to take a course in agriculture. The University of Wisconsin offered a short, two-year course; in 1902, Arthur went to Madison for his first year. It was also that same year that Mother and Dad felt they could afford to move the original section of the house to another part of the place, and to have a new ell built on the dining room part. 

Again, Dad’s brother Gus was called on to help design and build the new addition – a parlor, living room, and bedroom downstairs; and three bedrooms upstairs – all with central heating. What a joy that was in the long, cold, winter days! I now had my own room, and Mother had braided the prettiest green and white rug for the floor, and dainty white ruffled curtains for the window. And how happy Mother was to have a pretty, larger bedroom, with double doors into the living room, and also a door to the dining room. The old bedroom off the dining room was made into a large pantry and storeroom. Over the winter, Mother had woven large rag rugs for both the living room and bedroom, and commercial carpet was laid on the parlor floor.

For several years, times had been quite good so, from the sale of potatoes and dairy products, the family finances had prospered. Not only was the new section of the house built, but also a large barn. In those days, one did mortgage one’s house, but only built as one could pay for the labor and materials.

When Edith and Clarence were married, Clarence’s sister Norma came from Rockford to be one of Edith’s bridesmaids. We all fell in love with Norma, and Arthur was really smitten. Norma was a school teacher in Rockford, and Arthur would go to Rockford from Madison whenever he could. At first, Norma did not encourage him, as she didn’t want to be a farmer’s wife. But Arthur persisted, and on April 6, 1904, they were married in Rockford. (By this time, Clarence and Edith had moved to Rockford.). Arthur finished his two-year course at Madison, and was now ready to “go to farming.”. He rented a small farm about 1 1/2 miles from the home place, and it was there that he and Norma settled for a time.

In the meantime, Almo was completing his high school work, and graduated in June 1904, and Walter and I were now attending school in Waupaca. During the first half of the year, Mother had not been feeling well, such that she was not able to go to Rockford for the wedding. She did go to Walter’s graduation, but soon thereafter, she had a severe heart attack. Walter also was not well so, in January 1905, he had to be taken out of school with pleurisy and threatened tuberculosis. That same month, Mother – who was feeling much better – was summoned to Rockford, where Edith and Clarence were now living. Edith was expecting her third child, and Clarence was leaving for South Dakota to claim a homestead on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. When the baby was only a few weeks old, Mother came home, bringing Edith and three little children with her – Myrtle, Hazel, and Paul. It seemed the bottom fell out for a while.

Almo had entered the University of Wisconsin, and I was now the only one going to the Waupaca school. At times, when the snow was deep and the temperature below zero, I would drive with horse and cutter, or Dad would take me in. Somehow I made it till Spring when I could ride my bicycle. Mother stayed busy nursing Walter back to health, as well as tending to Edith and her family.

It never rains but what it pours. It seemed that troubles never ceased. Emily was pregnant with her second child, and doctors had cautioned that she could have serious complications with a kidney infection. On Sunday, August 6, 1905, Emily and the unborn baby passed away. Nothing the doctor and nurse could do to control eclampsia. This was a terrible blow to Mother, whose health was very precarious at the time. She made the remark, “I will be gone within the year; it is just too much to bear.” Mother and Dad brought Emily’s little five-year old daughter, Cora, to live with us for a while.

In September, Clarence sent for Edith and the children, saying he had a home for them. This home turned out to be a sod-house, but it was warm and did afford shelter for the family during that winter, and until a one-room house could be built.

All this was too much for Mother. She became bed-ridden a great deal of the time for the next several months. But the family carried on as best it could. Walter returned to high school, and I was finishing the elementary grades. Early Spring and Summer looked more promising, and we had great hopes that Mother would benefit from complete rest. The household was running smoothly, we had excellent help, and every one was well and happy. I should mention again that the family was very closely tied to the church, and was strong in its faith. In the Spring of 1906, I was confirmed at the Salem Lutheran Church, taking my vows in the Swedish language – which had continued to be used often around the house.

But then disaster struck. Two of Mother’s nieces from Chicago came for a visit to the farm in the summer of 1906. On a Saturday afternoon, Mother said she would take a walk in the garden. The raspberries and blackberries were hanging ripe on the bushes, and all of the vegetables looked so good to her. But this proved to be her last walk. The night of August 3rd, she had a massive stroke, and passed to her final reward on Tuesday, August 6th. This was a terrible blow to the Larson family. It seemed that the whole world had dropped away – and where would we go from there? But the Master of us all walked into our lives, and we all knew and felt that Mother was at rest – and that she had joined my sister Emily and brother Emil. She was laid to rest in the family plot on the grounds of the Salem Lutheran church.

A strange incident happened in connection with the funeral. A few years previously, Mother was given a baby Mastiff dog. Its mother had died when the puppy was only a few days old, so the owner – a neighbor – had two little motherless puppies. At the time, Walter and I were about 13 and 9 years old, respectively. Mother thought a little puppy would be a great playmate for us. Because the little fellow was so young, he had to be bottle fed and cared for very carefully – it was in the dead of winter, cold and snowy. We named him Sport. He was such a roly-poly, fluffy white with a few brown spots. In time he grew up to be a large, beautiful dog – but a “one-person dog.” Because Mother had fed him and cuddled him when he was a baby, he felt that he owed his life to her, and he became her constant companion. Of course, Cora was living with us at this time, and for a while, Sport was terribly jealous when Mother showed too much love and affection for Cora. However, as time went on, Sport realized that Cora was a permanent part of the household, so he accepted her and even looked out for her.

During the final summer that Mother lived, Sport felt more and more that he should protect Mother from anyone outside the family. He slept on the porch outside her bedroom every night, and was a real watch-dog for her. When Mother passed away, Sport knew something had happened – he would not eat and stayed outside her door day and night until the day of the funeral. He would let no one up on the porch outside her room.

As the funeral procession left the house for the cemetery at the Salem Lutheran Church, Sport walked beside the horse-drawn hearse all the way. When we entered the church, he remained on the steps outside until the service was over. Then he followed the casket to the grave-site. When all was over, Almo and Walter put Sport in the family carriage and took him home with us. About an hour later, someone asked, “Where is Sport?”. He was gone.  he boys drove back to the cemetery – about a mile and a half – and there was Sport lying beside Mother’s grave. He was brought home again, but to no avail – he would not stay. In the meantime, Cora had gone to live with her father and an aunt, about seven miles from our home.

Early one morning, about a week later, I received a phone call from my brother-in-law Fred, Cora’s father. He asked, “Freeda, do you know where Sport is?” “No.” “Well, I heard a whine on the porch early this morning, and there stood Sport, all wet and cold, and wanting to come in. Cora heard us and came running from her room, and what a reunion of a little five-year old girl and a dripping wet dog.”

The strange thing of it all was that Sport had never been to Cora’s home. He had to swim a river and cross many fields, but he found his new mistress, and that was what he wanted. Sport lived to be 22 years old, and he stayed close to Cora and remained faithful to her all those years.

September came, and it was time to start school again. Almo went back to the University of Wisconsin, and Walter was a senior at Waupaca High School. I should have started high school, but there was no help available, and no one to take over running the household. So it was up to me. I had my 15th birthday that year, and I had no choice but to stay out of school. It was a terrific undertaking for me – no one knows  what is involved in running a farm home unless she has had to do it herself. We had a large garden, with lots of fruits and vegetables, plus all the dairy implements and milk and cream to care for.

The silo fillers came for two days, and the neighbor men came to cut and haul the corn to the cutting machine. In all, there were 15 men to be fed noon-day dinner and afternoon coffee. Those dinners were no small matter, as the men worked hard and were hungry. Bread had to be baked, pies and cookies made, huge quantities of meat roasted, and lots of vegetables cooked. Fortunately, I did get lots of help from my sister-in-law Norma. And a boy who worked for George Madsen in the summer and in a bakery in Waupaca during the winter months came in and did all the bread and pastry cooking. Those two were a big help to me.

Then came potato-digging time. Dad went to town and got several men – “tramps,” we called them – to come out and help. They had to be fed and given a place to sleep. Fortunately, we had the large room over the dining room, with a back stairway leading up to it, that served as their dormitory. Luckily, we had no bad incidents with these complete strangers.

But we did have one unusual occurrence. One of the men Dad had hired was a very fine looking young man, well-bred and mannerly. It was quite unusual to get someone like that off the street. One rainy day, he stayed on the porch reading, so my curiosity got the best of me, and I asked Dou where he was from. He said, “Rockford, Illinois.” That whetted my curiosity even more, since I knew Norma was from Rockford and had taught in the schools there. I did not tell Dou that I knew anything about Rockford, but when I had the opportunity I called Norma and told her about him. I don’t recall his last name now, but Norma knew his family well, and he had been one of her students.

A few days later, we had a lot of rain, and the men wanted to go into town. Dad took them in, and all came back to the house early in the afternoon except Dou. Late that evening, he came sauntering in and, to our disgust, he had been drinking quite heavily. The next day it was still raining quite heavily, and when Dou came down for breakfast I noticed that something was radically wrong. As I was quite alarmed about him, I called the other men to come to the kitchen. He had developed delirium tremors, and needed help. One of the men knew just what to do – he gave Dou several cups of hot milk, got him quiet, and put him to bed.

Late that afternoon, Dou came downstairs, and said he wanted to leave. Then Dad took over, telling him that we knew who he was and that we had contacted his parents in Rockford. They wanted him to come home, and he was willing to go. Dad and one of the other helpers took him to Waupaca, and saw that he boarded a train for Rockford and home. I have often wondered whatever became of him.

Leigh Larson note: Dou is Douwe de Haan (1885 - 1962). Last residence was California. Born September 25, 1885, in Berlikum, Friesland, Netherlands; Died December 7, 1979, in Los Angeles Co., CA (age 94). Buried in Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum, Altadena, Los Angeles Co., CA. Married June 22, 1920, in Los Angeles Co., CA, to Alberdina Buma: Born December 1, 1889, in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Died February 4, 1979, in Los Angeles Co., CA (age 90). Buried in Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum, Altadena, Los Angeles Co., CA.

Winter, 1906 – the fall crops are all in, apples picked and packed in barrels, vegetables and fruit canned – and now for the long, winter days. There were only Dad, Walter, a cousin August Larson, and I at home that winter. But I stayed busy – after doing all the household and cooking chores, I did a lot of reading. And I looked forward to the day when I could go back to school – but when? At that point in time, it looked hopeless.

Walter – age 19 - graduated from high school in June 1907, but then had a recurrence of the lung involvement that he had in his first year of high school. The doctor advised going west, so he and Almo – age 22 – decided to go out to the state of Washington. That left me alone with Dad and August Larson. That summer was a very difficult one for me, but what could I do? And so another year went by. As the end of the summer of 1908 approached, there appeared little hope of returning to school.

The 1905 U. S. Census taken on June 1, 1905, shows Hans Soderlund (age 42) born in Wisconsin to Sweden-born parents, is an unmarried Farmer, and who owns his farm free of a mortgage, and is living in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. Living with him are: an unmarried Servant, Mary Olson (age 42) born in Sweden to Sweden-born parents, a Housekeeper; and an unmarried Servant, Albert Olson (age 20) born in Wisconsin to Sweden and Wisconsin-born parents, a Farm Laborer.

Leigh Larson note: Mary Olson was born April 1, 1861, in Sweden, and died September 4, 1950, in Wisconsin, at age 89. Buried in Salem Cemetery, Farmington Twp., Waupaca Co., WI. Never married.

But strange things can happen to open the door, if one is patient and has faith. In July, Dad had gone with Fred to see about some farm land near Boyceville, Wisconsin; and August and I were left to take care of the farm. Dad didn’t want me to stay alone in the house with August, so he asked Mary Olson, a near neighbor and spinster, to come and stay nights with me. Have you ever lived in the country during a terrible electric storm? Well, we had one the first night Mary was with me. At about nine o’clock, there was a loud rap on the front door and Oliver Anderson called to me, “Is Mary there?” Lightning had struck her home, and it burned completely to the ground. Mary was left homeless, and had lost everything she had.

This tragic circumstance provided an opportunity I had hoped for. Mary was offered a home with us, and that made it possible for me to go back to school. So to Waupaca High School I went in the Fall of 1908. I secured permission from the Board of Education to go through in three years. Thus I would graduate only one year behind the class that I had been with since the fifth grade.

In the Spring of 1910, everything was going well for me until one day, when Dad came to me and said he wanted me to take a trip immediately to South Dakota. My sister Edith was pregnant again, and he was worried that there was no one to help her. So, at 18 years of age, I went there by train by myself. When I got to the station nearest her home, there was no one there to meet me, so I took a room at the hotel next to the station. As I was eating breakfast the next morning, trying to figure out how to get to Edith’s house, a gentleman engaged me in conversation and told me that he was a traveling salesman and that he was going by the place where Edith lived. He offered me a ride in the horse-drawn wagon that he used for traveling from town to town. And that is how I ended up at Edith’s, where I stayed a short time to help after the birth of her fifth child on March 8th.

The 1910 U. S. Census taken on April 25, 1910, shows Olaus Larson (age 58) born in Sweden to Sweden-born parents, and having immigrated in 1872, and a Naturalized Citizen, is a widowed Farmer, and who owns his farm free of a mortgage, and is living in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. Living with him are: his unmarried daughter, Freeda W. Larson (age 18) born in Wisconsin to Sweden-born parents; and an unmarried renter, Marie Olsen (age 48) born in Sweden to Sweden-born parents, and having immigrated in 1882.

June 1911 meant a great deal to me – not only that I finished high school, but also that three very trying years were past. It was not easy to travel three miles to school and back every day – rain or shine or snow. Spring and Fall, weather permitting, I rode my bicycle. Sometimes, I drove with horse and buggy, but often in Winter, it was with horse and cutter, or Dad would take me with a team of horses and big sleigh if the roads were drifted with deep snow. But when I look back on those three years, they were very meaningful to me. They were stepping stones for a very eventful life later on.

Also, in 1911, Dad – at age 60 – became very restless. The work on the farm was becoming too much for him, and help was hard to get. I, too, was getting restless – I could see no future for me, staying there on the farm. So Dad decided to sell the “home place,” as it was often called. But, of course, he had a deep feeling for the home and farm, because of the many years he and the family had labored there to build it up to a lovely place. What should he do? There was no son at home to take over. Arthur was then the owner of two farms. Edith was in South Dakota with her large family of nine children, and Dad did not want Edith and Clarence to come here. Almo and Walter were settled in Spokane, Washington, and I definitely could not and would not take over. After much consultation with Arthur and me, Dad decided to offer the home to one of the boys. Walter announced that he was entering the University of Pittsburgh that September, so it was either Arthur or Almo. After much consideration and dickering, Almo decided that he and his wife Emma – whom he had married in Spokane – would come in the Spring of 1912. They purchased the farm complete, and Dad was to have his home there as long as he lived.

I was supposed to enter the University of Wisconsin in the Fall of 1912, but it didn’t quite work out that way. So many things happened over the summer. Dad went to South Dakota to visit Edith, and then on to Miles City, Montana to visit his half-brother – Sven Larson Freeburg – whom he had not seen in years. I accompanied Dad as far as St. Paul, and spent several weeks in St. Paul and Minneapolis, visiting relatives there. When I came home in July, I was stricken with a severe case of mumps and, at the same time, Emma was in bed following the still-birth of their first child. We had two nurses in the house at the same time – one downstairs and one upstairs. 

It was then that I made up my mind not to go to Madison to the University of Wisconsin, but would put in my application for entrance to the Illinois Training School for Nurses in Chicago. I was accepted for entrance September 3rd. In the meantime, I had to tell Dad of my change in plans, so I wrote to him in Montana and explained what I planned to do. A telegram came back, post-haste, saying, “Don’t leave until I come home.” Well, you can guess the outcome when he came home. On September 3rd, I got on the train for Chicago, and said goodbye to the home place and all that it had meant to me for so long a time. There were deep misgivings on the part of the whole family to see me enter training at Cook County Hospital. Then, there were many things lacking for a young lady to train in a public hospital.

Upon arrival in Chicago, I hired a horse-drawn cab to take me to the Nurses’ Home on Hanover Street. I was met at the door by one of the nurses, and ushered into a lovely “sitting room” to await further instructions. A Miss Van Alstine was sitting at the piano playing Dvorak’s “Humoresque.” When she finished, she came over and introduced herself to me and welcomed me. Then Mrs. Zangmaster came and ushered me into the office where I received my first instructions and assignments. There was a class of 50 probationers entering at this time. We were assigned rooms - sometimes three to a room. A Miss Bertha James from Utah and a girl from Kentucky - whose name I can’t remember – shared a room with me to begin with. (I want to say here that Bertha was my roommate for 2 1/2 years at County Hospital and then for 2 years in France.)

On September 5th, we were all indoctrinated, and assigned to classes for the first three weeks – before we could go into the hospital. Our instructions consisted of learning how to make beds, care for patients in bed, how to set up trays, etc. We also had to purchase several books for regular class work that continued all during the three years’ training. We were then taken in small groups on tours of many sections of the hospital, to familiarize us with what lay in store once we were given hospital duty. Our probation period was for three months. Then we were examined to determine if we could go on, or be dismissed as not suitable to go on. None of the 50 who entered that September were sent home.

I was assigned to help in Children’s Hospital, which pleased me very much. The regular nurses were all especially nice to us “rookies.” However, my stay there was short-lived – after only two days, I was stricken with diphtheria and taken to an isolation ward. (Several other nurses were in there with the same, as there was a mild epidemic at that time.) I must have had a severe case, because I was given several doses of anti-toxin. Only after six weeks was I told I could leave the isolation ward and return to the nurses’ home – Margaret Lawrence – to continue recuperation. After another 10 days, I was permitted to go home for a week. Dad and the family urged me to stay home, and later go to the University of Wisconsin, but I said no. I wanted to go back to I.T.S., so back I went.

Feeling fine, I went back on duty at the hospital, but only for a short time as again illness struck. This time, it was a virulent ear infection, resulting in a mastoid operation on Christmas Eve, 1912.

This is the end of the hand-written autobiography that Freeda Larson wrote in 1973. She never got around to finishing the story of her days at the Illinois Training School for Nurses. Suffice to say, she completed her training. The story of how her future husband – Robert Ash Lewis – traveled to Chicago in 1913 and met her while she was in training is covered in detail in his autobiography.

Some information included in the above was not present in her write-up. The additions have come from two main sources – verbal stories related by Freeda in later years, and excerpts from letters written to her by her brother Arthur.

The next chapter in Freeda Larson’s life – her service as an Army nurse in World War I – has been prepared from the notes she made for a talk she gave to the Rossmoor Woman’s Club at Leisure World, Silver Spring, Maryland, in 1975. 


Larson Family History Research

Prepared by Julia L. Renken

This information was garnered from records found at the Swedish Emigrant's Haus in Vaxjo, Sweden during a visit there in August, 1995.

Eva Helena Molsson was the mother of Gustava Ekman who was the mother of Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina Larsdotter.

Gustava Ekman (maiden name) was born in Asby Parish in the Linköping district of Östergotland on 11 March 1825. Asby Parish is along route 131, 20 kilometers southeast of Tranas.

Lars Fredrick Nilsson, the husband of Gustava Ekman and father of Catarina, was born in Grebo Parish in the Linköping district of Östergotland on 29 April 1820 and died on 24 June 1870 in Värna Parish. Grebo and Värna Parishes are along route 35, about 20 kilometers southeast of Linköping.

Lars and Gustava were married on 24 March 1844, at a place as yet unknown. They moved about 5 kilometers from Grebo Parish to Värna Parish in 1844.

Nils Johan Alfred Larsson, eldest son of Lars and Gustava, was born 21 February 1845 and died 14 January 1849.

Lars, Gustava, Nils, and Catarina were listed in the Värna Parish records as living on the Nergarden farm in the Kongsvik area of the Parish, which is southeast of the Parish church. Household census records indicate their presence in 1845, 1846, 1847, 1848, and 1849. (Attachment 1 and 2 are copies of page 117 of the Värna Parish household records for 1845-1849.)

In 1866 the family moved from Värna Parish to Grebo Parish and lived in the Tollstorp/Skalstorp area of the Parish. The family listing on page 227 of the household records of Grebo Parish shows that Lars was a farmer of less than 15 acres. All of the family were listed on the records (copy not made of the page). Children’s full name and birth date were listed as follows (all born in Värna Parish):

    Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina - 25 January 1848

    Fredrika Mathilda Gustava - 17 September 1851

    Anders Fredrik Leonhard - 30 November 1853

    Carl Johan Alfred - 16 August 1856

    Sofia Louisa - 31 March 1862

    Amanda Albertina - 31 March 1862

The Grebo Parish records show the death of Lars Nilsson on 24 June 1870. A line was drawn through his name.

The Grebo Parish records show that Catarina left Grebo Parish in 1868 when she was 20 years old. Date of departure was not noted. A line was drawn through her name as well.

Catarina moved to the Kongsvikstorp area of Värna Parish in 1868, apparently by herself. I did not write down in which household/farm she was listed.

In 1872 Catarina moved from Kongsvikstorp to the Bersbo Grufna area, all within Värna Parish (page 154 of Värna records).

On May 5, 1873 Catarina left Värna Parish for North America. Her name was deleted from the Parish records (page 178 of the records shows her name crossed out; she was the 75th person to depart Värna Parish in 1873). The designation pig. before her name on the records means that she was an unmarried maiden (piga).

The Swedish emigration records list Gustava Ekman Larsdotter as emigrating to North America in 1883 from the Torpa Parish. Torpa is just north of Asby Parish (where she was born). The records also list her status as "widow of a farmer."  

Bersbo Grufna

This copper mine was in its peak years in the 1850s. During the years 1852-1860 seventeen houses were built to house the workers and their families. Each house contained six rooms; four on the first floor and two on the second floor. Each room had an open hearth in one corner and was to house one family. Each room measured approximately 20' by 20'. Behind each house was a long shed with six doors, providing a place for each family to stack its firewood and supplies. The mine's production began to decrease in the 1870s. In 1871 alone there were 200+ people who left the village and emigrated to North America, primarily to Michigan, to work in the mines.

Of the 17 houses built, 10 are still standing and some are in the process of being renovated. The company which owns the mine began to sell the houses in 1993. We spoke to a gentleman who has purchased and renovated one of the houses. He told us most of the above information and allowed us to go inside his house. Apparently there are no records available which list the occupants of each house. I hope my further research next spring will reveal at least which household Catarina lived in and possibly suggest why she was living in the village. (Remembering that the occupants of the village were not wealthy people, perhaps she was hired to be a surrogate mother to the children of a miner whose wife had died.)


AUTOBIOGRAPHY of Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina Larsdotter

Translated by the Swedish Bible Institute, Minneapolis, Hennepin Co., MN, found the Swedish Family Bible now in the possession of Nancy (Lewis) De Jong.

I have many times thought of writing a biography but as I am not an important person what use would it be, but still the thought has not left my mind.

I was born in 1848 in Värna Parish in the province of Östergotland, grew up like other children and was used to going to church, learned to read morning and evening prayers, and had great ability to learn everything that was required at that time. I had a good memory and great interest in reading. When I turned eight I knew the catechism by heart. I read my bible lesson to my father every evening until I knew the catechism. I did not go to school until I was nine years old. Farmers did not get much schooling in those days. I went to school five semesters, only one or two days a week. Even the pastor felt that as long as you know how to read, school was not so necessary for you. But what I have missed of education in my life I have taught myself. At the age of 15 I was Confirmed but I was not ready for God's word. I was spiritually dead. But then Count Stackelberg took over Dahla Estate and he hired a bookkeeper, set aside a room for prayer in the main building, and there accountant Johnson gave a sermon every Sunday afternoon. Then the words got meaning. I regretted my sins and I began to seek Salvation. And I remember it as if it were yesterday when our Heavenly Father first let me be aware of a longing for Salvation. I began to pray and work to get peace and I wandered in distress and darkness for a long time until one day Our Father talked to me through a hymn. Only the one who has experienced it himself knows the kind of peace that filled my soul. Now I could no longer be sad. Music filled our hearts. There was in those days the Holy Spirits Pentecostal wind going through the land. But there have been other days when I could not live on feelings when I had to cross many dark valleys. But God has not abandoned me, but He has only hidden His face from me. I know that I did not always listen to God, and I also know that if I had not gone my own way, I would have avoided many difficulties in my life. In 1873 I went to America and then there was so much that caught my interest. Being a Christian became more of a habit than a daily part of my life. One year after arriving in America I married and the following year we went to California. We stayed there five years, but then poverty came. Oh, yes, God’s love is wonderful. Only He knows how to mend a harrowed soul.


Catharina Olivia Wilhelmina Larsdotter was born January 25, 1848, in Värna Parish, Östergőtland Co., Sweden.

Olaus Larsson was born April 23, 1851, in Fröbbestorp, Kalmar Co., Sweden.


The 1832 -1842 Household Census for Lars Pehrsson.


The 1853 -1861 Household Census for Lars Persson.


The 1861 - 1877 Household Census for Lars Pehrsson.


   

The house where Olaus Larsson was born. Located in the village of Fröbbestorp, situated south of Torsås, Sweden (population about 7,000). The village consists of four farms. Please note the similar architecture to the house Olaus and his brother Gustav Larson Lewis built in Wisconsin.

Hi, Leigh Larson! I've found the picture of the house where your great-grandfather Olaus Larson was born in. The village name is Fröbbestorp, situated south of Torsås (population around 7000), and consists of four farms. I am not sure whether the house looked like it looks today on the day when Olaus Larson was born. Probably, since it was 1851 it may has changed a little bit. But you will get an idea who it looks today. I shall say something about the history of the farm. Our first relatives, Per Andersson and his wife Maria Nilsdotter came to Fröbbestorp in 1691. When Per Andersson died in 1722, the farm was taken over by one of his sons, Anders Persson (1707-1785). Anders Persson's got several children, two of them; Per Andersson (1738-1790) and Lars Andersson (1746-1798) stayed in Fröbbestorp. The farm was split in to two pieces. One piece to Per Andersson and the other piece to Lars Andersson. Per Anderssons was succeced by his daughter and his son-in-law. When they get too old to work, they were succeed of the son Nils Olofsson (1811-1879). His offsprings still owns the farm.

Lars Andersson married Ingrid Nilsdotter (1754-1823). They've got many children. The oldest son, Petter (Sometimes he used the name, Per) Larsson, (1779-1821), took over the farm. He died only 42 years old, and his widow remarriage Sven Larsson. While waiting for the oldest son of Petter Larsson, Lars Pehrsson, Sven and Gertrud (Petter's widow) owned the farm. But when Lars Pehrsson became adult, he took over the farm and Sven and Gertrud moved out from Fröbbestorp. In 1832 Lars Pehrsson married Christina Olsdotter and the year after their daughter Ingrid was born. Together Lars and Christina got eight children. In 1856 Christina Olsdotter died, and Lars Pehrsson, now 50 years old, remarried Maria Månsdotter, age 35. Lars and Maria got four children. The last child, Ingrid Larsdotter, was my great-grandmother. When Lars and Maria became old, Lars' son Magnus Larsson (who had been away for some years) returned home to take over the farm. I can't give you an exact date, but in the 1870's. It was a turbulent time in the family. Many of the children moved out from the home, as far as US. Ingrid, Peter and Andreas had already build their own families. Peter Larsson, who had studied, took the name Fröberg and worked in the Swedish Navy. Andreas Larsson owned a farm not far from Fröbbestorp. Abraham Larsson might have commited suicide in 1871. Gustaf Larsson seems to be immigrated to US in 1872 together with Olaus Larsson. But before the immigration Olaus Larsson worked as a sailor. The year after, late 1873, Erik Larsson came to USA, and in 1879 the youngest brother Sven Larsson travelled to California, USA. But he didn't stay for long. He returned home to Sweden in 1880 and got married, settled down and worked as a farmer. But for some reason he didn't stay long in Sweden neither. With wife and two children he went back to US, around 1887, and finally settled down in Miles City, where he worked at the railway [Velma Fraley]. Probably this was one reason for my grandfather's brother Karl Svensson to settle down in Miles city. Where he also worked at the railway.

In Fröbbestorp, Magnus Larsson was succeed by his son Karl Oskar Magnusson (b.1874). But he was the last relative in a direct line from Per Andersson (who bought the farm in 1691) to cultivate the farm. Two of his children became farmers in another village, another son worked as a taxi driver and the daughter (who is still alive) owned a motel.

But this is not the end of the story, because several years later an another relative came back and cultivate the farm. It was an offspring to Maria Larsdotter (b.1786) - sister to Petter Larsson, whose name is Bertil Johansson. So today there are still two farms in Fröbbestorp owned by relatives. The farm where Per Andersson (1738-1790) owned and the one Lars Andersson owned.

While waiting for the oldest son of Petter Larsson (Lars Pehrsson), Sven and Gertrud (Petter's widow) owned the farm. But when Lars Pehrsson became an adult, he took over the farm and Sven and Gertrud moved away from Fröbbestorp. In 1832 Lars Pehrsson married Christina Olsdotter and the year later their daughter Ingrid was born. Lars and Christina had eight children. In 1856 Christina Olsdotter died, and Lars Pehrsson, now 50 years old, married Maria Månsdotter, age 35. Lars and Maria had four children. The last child, Ingrid Larsdotter, was Per Carlzon’s great-grandmother. When Lars and Maria in the 1870's became too old to work the farm, Lars' son Magnus Larsson (who had been away for some years) returned home to take over the farm. It was a turbulent time in the family. Many of the children moved away from home, as far as the USA. Ingrid, Peter and Andreas had already started their own families. Peter Larsson, who had studied, took the name Fröberg and worked in the Swedish Navy. Andreas Larsson owned a farm not far from Fröbbestorp. Abraham Larsson might have committed suicide in 1871. Gustaf Larsson seems to have immigrated to US in 1872 together with Olaus Larsson. But before immigrating Olaus Larsson worked as a sailor in the Swedish navy. The next year, late 1873, Erik Larsson came to USA, and in 1879 the youngest brother Sven Larsson traveled to California, USA. But he didn't stay for long. He returned home to Sweden in 1880 and got married, settled down and worked as a farmer. But for some reason he didn't stay long in Sweden, either. With wife and two children he went back to the USA around 1887, and finally settled down in Miles City, MT where he worked at the railway. This was probably one reason why Karl Svensson also settled down in Miles City, where he also worked at the railway.

Best regards, Per


In 1868, Catarina left Grebo Parish and removed to the Kongsvikstorp area of Varna Parish.

In 1872, Catarina removed to Bersbo Grufna, also in Varna Parish.

In 1872, Olaus Larsson emigrated to the USA from Sweden and arrived at the Port of Chicago, IL, in June, 1872.

Olaus Larsson changed his name to Olaus Larson upon arriving in the United States.


Brothers Olaus, Gustav and Erik, Marquette, Marquette Co., MI, about October, 1873


On May 5, 1873, Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina Larsdotter left Varna Parish for the USA. She was the 75th person to depart Varna Parish in 1873. Her Swedish designation was "piga," for being unmarried. She became governess for a Swedish family in Marquette, MI. She took the last name of Larson.  She immigrated to the United States in 1873 with a Swedish family who settled in Marquette, MI. She was a governess for their two boys.

Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina Larsdotter changed her name to Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina Larson upon arriving in the United States.

On February 23, 1874, Olaus Larson declared his intention to become a U. S. citizen.


The 1874 map of Farmington Twp., Waupaca Co., WI, shows M. Hunt owns 80 acres of land, located at the last "N" in FARMINGTON.


Olaus Larson (age 23), a bachelor, and Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina Larson (age 26), a maiden, were married August 13, 1874, in Marquette, Marquette Co., MI.


The Marriage Report for Marquette Co., MI, shows Olof Lorson (age 23) born in Sweden, a Laborer, and Olines Lorson (age 21) born in Sweden, were married August 13, 1874, in Marquette, Marquette Co., MI, by A. Walgreen, Minister. Witnesses were Carol Hagelstrom and J. Johanson, both of Marquette.


   

   

 Olaus about age 23, and Olivia about age 26.


Olaus and Catarina Larson moved near Marysville, Yuba Co., CA, in 1875, where Olaus worked as a farm manager, but they returned to Waupaca, WI, in 1880 when hard times came. They purchased an existing 80 acre farm in Farmington Township, and homesteaded another 40 acres.

Emilia Sophia "Emily" Larson was born December 22, 1875, Marysville, Yuba Co., CA.

Oscar Emil "Carl" Larson was born July 18, 1878, in Marysville, Yuba Co., CA.

The 1880 U. S. Census taken on June 10, 1880, shows Olaus Larsson (age 29) born in Sweden to Sweden-born parents, is a married Laborer, and is living in South Putah Precinct, Putah Twp., Yolo Co., CA. Living with him are: Catrina O. Larsson (age 31) born in Sweden to Sweden-born parents, a married House Keeper; his daughter, Emily S. Larsson (age 4) born in California to Sweden-born parents; and his son, Oscar A. Larsson (age 1) born in California to Sweden-born parents. Three laborers are also living in the household.

The 1880 U. S. Census taken on June 11, 1880, shows Mary Hunt (age 49) listed as the owner of land in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca, WI. She was born in Germany and is living alone. This is the farm that Olaus Larson purchased that year or the next.

Arthur David Larson was born January 21, 1881, on the family farm in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.

Edith Christina Larson was born February 8, 1883, on the family farm, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.

The 1885 Wisconsin State Census taken on June 20, 1885, shows Olaaus Larson is living in Farmington Twp., Waupaca Co., WI. There are 3 Males and 3 Females living in the household, with 4 having been born in the United States and 2 of Scandinavian birth.

Almo Joshua Larson was born at 11 p.m., June 29, 1885, on the family farm, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.

Walter Emanuel Larson was born June 6, 1888, on the family farm, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.


   

The Olaus Larson family, Waupaca Co., WI, about 1890.


On June 16, 1890, Olaus Larson took his oath of citizenship and became a naturalized citizen.


Olaus Larson Certificate of Citizenship.


The 1895 Wisconsin State Census taken on June 20, 1895, shows Olaus Larson is living in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co. WI. There are 7 Males and 3 Females living in the household, with 8 having been born in the United States and 2 of Scandinavian birth.


In 1899, Olaus staked a Homestead Claim for 40 acres of land adjacent to his farm. Accession Number W13690_.176 Wisconsin Volume 3690, Page 176, Document Number 3768. Land Office was Wausau. Aliquot Part Reference NWSW, Meridian/Survey Area: Fourth Principal Meridian; Miscellaneous Document No. 6569. The Act/Treaty authorizing the sale: Homestead Entry. Date signed: April 22, 1899. Acreage: 40. The Bureau of Land Management contains a signature.


The 1889 map of the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, shows O. Larson owns the 80 acres of land that M. Hunt owned in 1874, and that Mrs. Hunt owns 40 acres of land, located east of the 80 acre plat, separated by another owner (Fox River?). Please note the ownership of 80 acres of land to the north of the Olaus Larson land is owned by U. S.


Freeda Wilhemina Larson was born September 30, 1891, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.

Oscar Emil "Carl" Larson died July 21, 1893, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., Waupaca Co., WI, at age 15. Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.


   

The Olaus Larson family, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, about 1897.


Original picture of the Olaus Larsson farm, about 1899.

Close-up picture of the of Olaus Larsson farm, about 1899, for the purpose of reading the name on the end of the barn.


Larson farm, about 1900.


The 1900 U. S. Census taken on June 13, 1900, shows Olias Larson (age 49) born April, 1851, in Sweden to Sweden-born parents, and having immigrated in 1872, and a Naturalized Citizen, is a married Farmer, and who owns his farm free of a mortgage, and is living in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. Living with him are: his wife of 26 years, Olivia Larson (age 52) born January, 1848, in Sweden to Sweden-born parents, and having immigrated in 1873, and a Naturalized Citizen, and with six of the seven children born to her still alive; his unmarried son, Arthur Larson (age 19) born January, 1881, in Wisconsin to Sweden-born parents; his son, Elmer Larson (age 14) born June, 1885, in Wisconsin to Sweden-born parents; his son, Walter Larson (age 11) born June, 1888, in Wisconsin to Sweden-born parents; and his daughter, Freedia Larson (age 8) born September, 1891, in Wisconsin to Sweden-born parents.


     

Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina (Larson) Larson and Olaus Larson, ca. 1900.


   

The Olaus Larson children, Waupaca Co., WI, about 1901.


The 1901 map of the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, shows O. Larson owns the 80 acres of land that M. Hunt owned in 1874, plus the 40 acres he purchased as a Land Patent. The 40 acres owned by Mrs. Hunt, located east of the 80 acre plat, separated by another owner, is now owned by E. Larson. Arthur Larson owns 80 acres of land south of Sheridan.


The 1905 Wisconsin State Census taken on June 1, 1905, shows Olaus Larson (age 54) born in Sweden to Sweden-born parents, is a married Farmer, and who owns his farm free of a mortgage, and is living in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. Living with him are: his wife, Katharine O. Larson (age 57) born in Sweden to Sweden-born parents; his unmarried daughter, Edith C. Larson (age 22), born in Wisconsin to Sweden-born parents, who Does Housekeeping; his unmarried son, Elmer Larson (age 19) born in Wisconsin to Sweden-born parents, a Farm Laborer; his unmarried son, Walter E. Larson (age 17) born in Wisconsin to Sweden-born parents, a Farm Laborer; his daughter, Freeda M. Larson (age 13) born in Wisconsin to Sweden-born parents; his granddaughter, Myrtle Larson (age 3) born in Illinois to Illinois and Wisconsin-born parents; his granddaughter, Hazel Larson (age 2) born in Illinois to Illinois and Wisconsin-born parents; and his grandson, Paul E. Larson (age 4/12) born in Illinois to Illinois and Wisconsin-born parents.


Windmill near residence, Larson Farm, ca. 1905.


Emilia Sophia "Emily" (Larson) Johnson died August 6, 1905, in Sheridan, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co, WI, at age 29. Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.

Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina (Larson) Larson died August 6, 1906, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, at age 58. Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.


Catarina Olivia Wilhelmina (Larsdon) Larson Death Certificate.


The Republic, Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI, August 17, 1906

OBITUARY.

Mrs. Olaus Larson died at her home in the Town of Farmington Tuesday, Aug. 7th from a paralytic attack. She was born in Sweden the 25th day of Jan. 1848 and came to this country in 1873. In 1874 she was married to Olaus Larson who still survives her. The same year they moved to California where they resided for six years. In 1880 they came to Waupaca and settled on a farm where they still reside. Their union was made happy by the birth of seven children, four boys and three girls, Mrs. G. A. Johnson who died in August 1905, Emil who died in 1893, Arthur who resides on a farm near Sheridan, Mrs. C. C. Nelson who lives in South Dakota, Almo a graduate of Waupaca High School in 1904 and Walter and Freeda members of the High School who are all staying at home. Beside her family she is survived by two brothers and two sisters. She had always lived a true Christian life and taken an active part in church work. Her last and departing words were "Jesus is my Friend the best one", etc. The remains were laid at rest in the cemetery at the Swedish Lutheran church in Farmington, Sunday Aug. 12, in the presence of friends and relatives, Rev. C. A. Rosander, pastor of the church officiating.


Olaus Larson sitting in chair, with a dog, Larson farm, 1907.


The 1910 U. S. Census taken on April 25, 1910, shows Olaus Larson (age 58) born in Sweden to Sweden-born parents, and having immigrated in 1872, and a Naturalized Citizen, is a widowed Farmer, and who owns his farm free of a mortgage, and is living in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. Living with him is his unmarried daughter, Freeda W. Larson (age 18) born in Wisconsin to Sweden-born parents.  


The 1912 map of the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI shows O. Larson owns the 80 acres of land that M. Hunt owned in 1874, plus the 40 acres he purchased as a Land Patent. The 40 acres owned by Mrs. Hunt, located east of the 80 acre plat, separated by another owner, is now owned by E. Larson. Arthur Larson owns 80 acres of land south of Sheridan.


   

From Left to Right: Emma (Abbey) Larson; Wilbur Larson; Almo Larson; the Farm Dog; Norma (Nelson) Larson; Arthur Larson; Carl Larson; Mrs. Emil Nelson, and Mildred Wilson, at the Larson farm, ca 1914.


     

Olaus Larson, ca. 1915.


       

From Left to Right: Emma (Abbey) Larson; Wilbur Larson; Almo Larson; Norma (Nelson) Larson; Freeda (Larson) Lewis; Arthur Larson; Olaus Larson; and Carl Larson, at the Larson farm, ca 1916.


Standard History of Waupaca County, Wisconsin, Edited by John M. Ware, 1917.

OLAUS LARSON. One of the well-to-do families of Waupaca County is represented by Mr. Olaus Larson, who has lived in one locality of Farmington Township over thirty five years, and has long been enjoying the splendid fruits of his early toil and industry. Like the majority of Americans who were born in the Scandinavian countries, he started his career in the United States without special advantages or capital, and has relied entirely upon hard work and good judgment to put him ahead in the world.

Mr. Larson was born in Sweden April 23, 1851, a son of Lars Pehrsson and Christina Olsdotter. His mother died in 1856 and his father in 1886. The training afforded by the common schools of Sweden was the education Olaus acquired as a boy. He grew up with the habits of industry firmly fixed in his character, and was competent to make his own way when he reached America. In 1872 he located at Marquette, Michigan, but in 1875 went west to California, and remained in the Golden State for five years. In 1880 Mr. Larson came to Waupaca County and bought eighty acres of the farm which he now owns and occupies. At the same time he homesteaded forty acres nearby, and all of this land is now under improvement. The commodious buildings found on the farm are the product mainly of his own handiwork as a practical carpenter, and he has added some improvements or item of value to his farm almost every year since he located there.

He now has a complete lighting system installed for use in his home and outbuildings and has many of the comforts which are usually found only in city homes. Mr. Larson features the Holstein cattle as the principal revenue producers on his farm.

Having children growing up in his home, he has naturally been interested in the welfare of the local schools and served a number of years on the school board. For two terms he was supervisor of his township. He is a republican in politics and a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church.

In 1874 in Marquette, Michigan, he married Miss Olivia Larson. She was born in Sweden in 1848. Her father died in the old country and her mother subsequently came to America and lived at St. Paul, Minnesota, where she died at the home of a son in 1901. Mrs. Larson was a splendid companion and helpmate to her husband, and during the thirty years of their married life she reared a family to self-respecting manhood and womanhood. Her death occurred in August, 1906. There were seven children, a brief record of them being as follows: Emilia Sophia, who was born in California and died at Sheridan, in Waupaca County, in August, 1905; Emil, who died when fifteen years old; Arthur, who is a mail carrier and farmer at Sheridan; Edith Christine, wife of Clarence C. Nelson, living in South Dakota; Almo, who has bought his father's farm, married Emma Abbey, daughter of William Abbey, of Milladore, Wisconsin, and they have one child, Wilbur; Walter, who is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in the technical course, is now a successful young mechanical engineer at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Freeda is a graduate nurse, having taken her training in the Cook County Hospital, of Chicago, and is now practicing her profession in that city.


   

The Olaus Larson remaining family, except for Christine (Larson) Nelson, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, about 1918.


The 1920 U. S. Census taken on January 3, 1920, shows Almo Larson (age 34) born in Wisconsin to Sweden-born parents, is a married Farmer of a Farm, and who owns his farm with a mortgage, and is living in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. Living with him are: his wife, Emma Larson (age 35) born in Wisconsin to Canada and Pennsylvania-born parents; his son, Wilbur Larson (age 6) born in Wisconsin to Wisconsin-born parents; and his widowed father, Olaus Larson (age 69) born in Sweden to Sweden-born parents and having emigrated in 1871 and becoming a Naturalized Citizen in 1880, a Farmer.


The 1920 map of the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.


Larson farm, July, 1920.


   

Olaus, Almo and Wilbur Larson at the Larson farm, about 1920. This is one of the last known pictures of Olaus Larson, who died November 11, 1920.


Olaus Larson died November 11, 1920, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, at age 69. Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.

His Last Will and Probate Records are available on Ancestry.com: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/9088/007710390_00309?pid=1133491&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db%3DUSProbateWI%26h%3D1133491%26indiv%3Dtry%26o_vc%3DRecord:OtherRecord%26rhSource%3D1055&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true


Olaus Larson Death Certificate.


The Republic, Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI, November, 1920

OLAUS LARSON DIES AFTER SHORT ILLNESS AT FARMINGTON HOME

Olaus Larson of Town of Farmington passed away at his home last Thursday evening, November 11, 1920, after a brief illness of only three days. Deceased was born on Smaland, Sweden April 23, 1851 and came to this country in 1872. He located at Marquette, MI where he was united in marriage to Katherine Olivia Larson, May 13, 1874. During the same year they moved to Marin Co., CA where they lived for nearly six years. In 1880 Mr. Larson with his family came to this city and purchased the farm in Farmington, 2 1/2 miles northwest of this city, on which he lived until his death. To this union were born seven children, Emily, Mrs. G. Alfred Johnson who passed away in 1905; Emil, who died in 1892; Arthur, on Route 1, Sheridan; Almo, on the old homestead; Edith, Mrs. C. C. Nelson, living at Iona, SD; Walter, of Pittsburgh, PA; and Freeda (Mrs. Robert Lewis) now living at Birmingham, AL. The two oldest, Mrs. Johnson and Emil, were born in California and the other five were born in Farmington. Besides his five children he leaves to mourn his death five brothers, Gus Lewis of this city, Swen Freeberg of Miles City, MT, and three brothers in Sweden, fifteen grandchildren and a host of relatives and friends. After the death of Mrs. Larson, the home was maintained by the youngest daughter, Miss Freeda, until six years ago when the homestead was sold to Almo Larson. From that time Mr. Larson made his home at the old homestead to which he was so strongly attached. The funeral was held Tuesday afternoon at the home at one o'clock and at the Salem church in Farmington at two o'clock, Rev. F. G. Olson of Wisconsin Rapids, officiating. The relatives attending the last rites were Mr. and Mrs. Walter Larson and daughter Ellen of Pittsburgh, PA; G. Alfred Johnson and daughter Cora of Boyceville, Swen Freeberg of Miles City, MT. Deceased was a very true and active member of Salem Lutheran church of which he had been a member since 1880. For supervising the extensive improvements that have been made to the church during the past few weeks, Mr. Larson was appointed a committee of one and was on the job every day and was gratified to note that a day or two more would mark the completion of the work he was entrusted to supervise. The habits of thrift and industry which characterize so many of the Scandinavian people were deeply impressed upon the subject of this sketch and were the basic reasons for the success he attained after the purchase of eighty acres of unimproved land which, with forty acres that he homesteaded, were later turned from an unbroken tract into a splendid farm with most convenient and up-to-date home buildings. 


Larson farm from 1923 plat map of the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.


   

The Larson/Lewis Family Reunion was held Sunday, August 2, 1925, at the Almo Larson Residence, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. According to Freeda (Larson) Lewis, "All were related to either Gustav Larsson Lewis on my father's side of the family, or to Aunt Sophia Larsdotter Lundgren on my mother's side of family. Uncle Gust. was my father's brother. Aunt Sophia was my mother's sister."

All were related (related only through marriage shown in italics): Lars Pehrsson: Magnus Larsson, Lars Pehrsson: Gustaf Larsson Lewis, Lars Pehrsson/Lars Nilsson: Olaus Larsson, Lars Nilsson: Sophia (Larsdotter) Lundgren, Lars Nilsson: Fredrika (Larsdotter) Larson, Lars Pehrsson: Andreas Larsson, Lars Nilsson: Anders Larsson Dahlquist, Lars Nilsson: Amanda Albertina Larsdotter, Lars Nilsson: Carl Johan Alfred Larsson Dahlberg.

Shown below is the people list according to Emma Jane (Abbey) Larson (edited):

Back row left to right: Esther (Schlicting) Lewis - wife of Irving Lewis, Irving Lewis - son of Gustaf Lewis, Clarence Peterson - husband of Clara Lewis, Margaret "Peggy" Peterson - daughter of Clarence and Clara Peterson, Clara (Lewis) Peterson - daughter of Gustaf Larsson Lewis, Philip Lewis - son of Gustaf Larsson Lewis, Frank Lear - husband of Edith Lewis, Edith (Lewis) Lear - daughter of Gustaf Larsson Lewis, Ed Lewis - son of Gustaf Larsson Lewis, Carrie (Lye) Lewis - wife of Ed Lewis, Herbert Lear - son of Edith and Frank Lear.

Second Row from top: Clarence Norlin - son of August and Christine Norlin), Andrew Andersen (Julianne Andersen Lewis' brother), Olga M. (Larson) Swenson - daughter of Fredrika Larsdotter Larson and Lewis Larson, Karl Ludwig Swenson - Husband of Olga M. Larson, Verona Swenson - daughter of Karl Ludwig and Olga Swenson, Lucille Anderson - daughter of Lewis and Amanda Anderson, Olga (Dahlberg) Larson - daughter of Carl Johan Alfred Larsson Dahlberg and wife of Charles Oscar Anderson Larson - son of Lewis Anderson and Amanda Albertina Larsdotter, Cora (Johnson) Johnson - daughter of Alfred and Emily (Larson) Johnson, Helen (Fraser) Larson - wife of Walter Larson, Walter Larson - son of Olaus Larsson, Edith (Larson) Nelson - daughter of Olaus Larsson, Freeda (Larson) Lewis - daughter of Olaus Larsson, Almo Larson - son of Olaus Larsson, Emma (Abbey) Larson - wife of Almo Larson, Wilbur Larson - son of Almo Larson.

Third row from top: Cora (Wagner) Lewis - wife of Albert Lewis, Albert Lewis - son of Gustaf Larsson Lewis, Per August Magnusson Larson, son of Magnus Larsson, Christine (Andersdotter) Norlin - wife of August Norlin, August Norlin - husband of Christine Andersdotter, Gustaf Larsson Lewis, Charles Oscar Anderson Larson - son of Amanda Albertina Larsdotter and husband of Olga A. (Dahlberg) Larson - daughter of Carl Johan Alfred Larsson Dahlberg, Amanda Dahlberg - wife of Carl Johan Larsson Dahlberg, Sophia (Larsdotter) Lundgren - sister of Catarina Larson, Fred Johnson - husband of Emily Larson, Arthur Larson - son of Olaus Larsson, Norma (Nelson) Larson - wife of Arthur Larson, Evan Lewis - son of Robert and Freeda (Larson) Lewis.

Front row: Lorraine (Lewis) Arndt - daughter of Irving Lewis, Carol (Peterson) Callahan - daughter of Clarence and Clara Peterson, Juliann (Peterson) Harris - daughter of Clarence and Clara Peterson, Laurence Lewis - son of Albert and Cora Lewis, Edith Anderson - sister of Esther Anderson Larson, Esther Anderson (Larson) Pletenik - adopted daughter of Arthur and Norma Larson, Olive (Larson) Worthing - daughter of Walter and Helen Larson, Kenneth Lewis - son of Irving and Esther Lewis, Naomi (Lear) Harmacek - daughter of Frank and Edith Lear, Marian (Lewis) Neuman - daughter of Ed Lewis, Betty (Larson) Steele - daughter of Walter and Helen Larson, Gordon Lewis - son of Robert and Freeda Lewis, Clifford Lewis - son of Irwin and Esther Lewis, Jean Anderson - daughter of Signe (Dahlquist) Anderson, John (Bud) Anderson - son of Signe (Dahlquist) Anderson, Signe (Dahlquist) Anderson - daughter of Anders and Emma (Larsson) Dahlquist.


The Appleton Post-Crescent, Appleton, Outagamie Co., WI, Monday, August 3, 1925

A family reunion of the Larson and Lewis families was held at the home of Almo Larson in Farmington, Sunday.


Larson farm, about 1930.


Larson farm, about 1930.


Larson Barn, about 1935.


Larson farm, Rear of House, before Bathroom installation, about 1935.


   

Aerial photo of the Larson farm, August 18, 1938.


Larson farm, Joe Kunz, and Leigh Larson, with a horse and plow, May, 1944.


Larson farm, House Rear After Bath, about 1950.


Larson farm, Joe and Ruth Kunz on a hay wagon, about 1950.


Larson farm, Almo Larson with horses Nell and Tom, pulling a manure spreader, about 1950.


Larson farm, Almo with a manure spreader, about 1950.


Larson Barn, 1953.


Topographic Map of part of the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, June 1, 1957.


Larson farm, about 1960.


The former Almo Larson farm in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, about 1960.


Larson Barn, November, 1962.


Larson Barn, June, 1964.


The former Larson farm in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, about 2015.


The former Larson farm in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, about 2015.


The former Larson farm in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, about 2015.


The 1850 U. S. Census taken on August 23, 1850, shows Moses Hunt (age 55) born in New Hampshire, is a Policeman, and is living in the 5th Ward, City of New York, New York Co., NY. Living with him are: Maria Hunt (age 44) born in Massachusetts; his son, John E. Hunt (age 22) born in Massachusetts; his daughter, Elizabeth Hunt (age 18) born in New Hampshire; his son, Moses Hunt (age 13) born in Massachusetts; his daughter, Abby A. Hunt (age 7) born in New York; and his son, Henry C. Hunt (age 5) born in New York.

The 1855 New York State Census taken on June 21, 1855, shows Moses Hunt (age 59) born in New Hampshire, is a married Policeman, and is living in a brick home worth $5,000 and is living in the 5th Ward, City of New York, New York Co., NY. Living with him are: his wife, Maria Hunt (age 52) born in Massachusetts; his married son, John E. Hunt (age 24) born in Massachusetts, a Clerk; his unmarried son, Moses Hunt (age 18) born in Massachusetts, a Clerk; his daughter, Amanda Hunt (age 12) born in New York; his son, Henry C. Hunt (age 10) born in New York; his married son-in-law, Willm. B. Rabineau (age 24) born in New York, who works in Baths; his married daughter, Elizabeth Rabineau (age 22) born in New Hampshire; and his granddaughter, Ida M. Rabineau (age 3) born in New Jersey.

The 1860 U. S. Census taken on July 12, 1860, shows Moses Hunt (age 66) born in New Hampshire, and with personal estate of $100 is a Policeman, and is living in the 8th Ward, City of New York, New York Co., NY. Living with him are: Martha Hunt (age 56) born in Massachusetts; Michael Hunt (age 26) born in Massachusetts; and Henry E. Hunt (age 15) born in New York.

Maria Anna "Mary" (Fink) Frohner (age 27) born in Baden, departed Le Havre, France, aboard SS Admiral, and arrived March 19, 1861, at the Port of New York, NY.


Maria Anna "Mary" (Fink) Frohner 1861 Immigration Record.


The 1870 U. S. Census taken on July 12, 1870, shows Moses Hunt (age 74) born in New Hampshire, and with real estate of $1,200 and personal estate of $300 is a Farmer, and is living in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. Living with him is Mary Hunt (age 38) born in Baden, who is Keeping House.

The 1870 U. S. Census taken on January 10, 1870, shows Maria Hunt (age 65) born in Massachusetts, and is living at the Paiges Hotel, Spring Street, 8th Ward, City of New York, New York Co., NY.

Joseph Michael Frohner (age 15) born in Germany, arrived 1871, at the Port of New York, NY.


Joseph Michael Frohner 1871 Immigration Record.


The 1874 map of the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, shows M. Hunt owns 80 acres of land, located at the last "N" in FARMINGTON.


The 1875 Wisconsin State Census shows One White Male and one white female are living in the Moses Hunt residence in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.

The 1880 U. S. Census taken on June 15, 1880, shows Mary Hunt (age 49) born in Germany to German-born parents, is a widow, and is living in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI. Leigh Larson note: This is on the 40 acre land located to the east of the original Moses Hunt land.

The 1880 U. S. Census taken on June 7, 1880, shows Jos. Freenor (age 24) born in Baden to Baden-born parents, is a Farmer and is living in the Town of Carson, Portage Co., WI. Living with him are: his wife, Elle Freenor (age 21) born in Canada to Canadian-born parents, who is Keeping House; son Francis Freenor (age 1) born in Wisconsin to Baden and Canadian-born parents; and his unmarried uncle, Michael Freenor (age 40) born in Baden to Baden-born parents, who Works on Farm.

Moses Hunt died May 22, 1880, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, at age 84. Buried in St. Patrick Cemetery, Northport, Town of Lebanon, Waupaca Co., WI.

The 1880 U. S. Census taken on June 7, 1880, shows Maria Hunt (age 76) born in Massachusetts to Massachusetts-born parents, is a widowed or divorced Housekeeper, and is living at 301 West Street, New York City, New York Co., NY, a Housekeeper.

Maria (Rouse) Hunt died November 26, 1882, in Manhattan, New York City, NY, at age 77. Buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings Co., NY.


Moses Hunt was born November 9, 1795 in Jaffrey, Cheshire Co., NH, and died May 22, 1880, in Farmington Twp., Waupaca Co., WI, at age 84. Buried in St. Patrick Cemetery, Northport, Lebanon Twp., Waupaca Co., WI. Moses is the son of Nathan Hunt of Acton, MA, and Abigail Hale of Rindge, Cheshire Co., NH.

Nathan2 Hunt (Simon1) was born on 17 July 1760 in Acton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He married Abigail Hale, daughter of Moses Hale and Abigail Emerson, in 1787. He died on 18 July 1853 at age 93.

     Abigail Hale was born on 1 February 1768 in Rindge, Cheshire County, New Hampshire.

     The 10 known children of Nathan2 Hunt and Abigail Hale were as follows:

               i.     Abigail3 Hunt was born in November 1788. She married Reuben Streeter. She married Jonathan Webster.

              ii.     Nathan Hunt was born on 17 April 1791. He married Violentia Hodgman on 10 January 1814.

             iii.     Grata Hunt was born on 26 June 1793. She married Benjamin Cutter on 9 September 1819. She died on 5 November 1871 at age 78.

              iv.     Moses Hunt was born on 9 November 1795. He married Maria Rouse on 19 October 1825.

               v.     Harriet Hunt was born on 1 June 1798. She married Ezra Bennett.

              vi.     Sally Hunt was born on 3 September 1800. She married David French.

             vii.     Fanny Hunt was born on 3 December 1802. She married William H. Salisbury.

            viii.     John Edwards Hunt was born between 9 November 1805 and 24 November 1805. He married Elizabeth White. He married (--?--) (--?--). He married (--?--) (--?--).

              ix.     Elvira Hunt was born on 24 March 1808. She married George A. Willard.

               x.     Raymond Hunt was born on 18 May 1810. He married Maria A. Chapman on 25 November 1828.


WAUPACA REPUBLICAN

September 22, 1992

That Street Controversy

Our readers have been treated to more or less petitions of late in regard to a “street alleged to have been laid out in 1855 in the 1st ward” in fact that said street has been up and down before the Council ever since March 1885, but it has never materialized very far toward a street as yet.

The facts in the case, are that for the past quarter of a century or more there has been a road or several forks of them meandering from the Brainard Bridge around Mr. W. Scott’s land to the Mortensen (or old Blinn place) and to connect with the road near Mrs. Hunts’ place in Farmington. By a petition of W. Scott and others in 1885 a road was finally established and fences built running westward from the Brainard Bridge taking two rods from Alice Brainard’s land and two rods from W. Scott’s land, to the town line of Farmington, to Henry Mortensen’s place.  Nothing was done about making the new road until 1887. ‘88 the Council verbally let some party cut off the timber for the wood on the said street. In 1889 the town board of Farmington and the City Council jointly laid out a highway to intersect the west end of this alleged highway as above noted running northward on the town line between Waupaca and Farmington to intersect the highway near Mrs. Hunt’s land.

It seems after the timber was cut off it revealed a good sized stone quarry on that highway for twenty rods or more so there has been no street Committee imbued with sand enough to go ahead and attempt to work a road through it. The old road has served the only means for travel to the Mortensen farm. This year Mr. Mortensen got tired of traveling to the city with the old highway obstructed with gates nailed up, so petitioned earnestly and often to the city to work the road laid in 1885 and give him an outlet. Mr. McFall as Chairman of Farmington joined in the song and dance and threatened to bring action to compel the city to “open sesame” the byways and hedges in that direction. But the present Council felt that there was not money enough in the treasury to open a stone quarry this year. In the controversy the records were searched and it was found that the law had not been complied with nor the record of the action of the jury entered in laying out the said street, so the council decided that inasmuch as the law had not been complied with they had no legal rights in the premises; they voted that the Mayor get legal advice upon the matter, which he did of Henry D. Ryan city attorney of Appleton, who holds that the old road is the only legal highway and that the street supposed to have been (incomplete article).


Transcribed and submitted to the Waupaca County Website by Paula Vaughan, October, 2002
The original held by the Wisconsin State Historical Society in Madison, WI

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT AND DIRECTORY OF SCHOOLS
WAUPACA COUNTY, WISCONSIN
1899-1900

DISTRICT CLERKS

Town of Bear Creek

No. Dist. Name of Clerk Post Office
1 Steve McGinty Welcome
2 John Hofman Clintonville
3 P.H. Kasper Nicholson
4 Henry Borchardt Welcome
5 Gustav Schoepke Nicholson
Joint 2 Charles Zielkie Clintonville
Joint 5 Charles Delo Symco

Town of Caledonia
1 Robert Kiesow Readfield
Joint 2 August Shimke New London
3 Wm. Strelow Readfield
Joint 5 August Tews Readfield

Town of Dayton
1 A. E. Wilkins Waupaca
2 John A. Lewis Rural
3 Mrs. E. C. Poland Crystal Lake
4 Mrs. C. S. Ashmun Rural
5 Mrs. M. E. Barton Rural
6 G. M. Suydam Crystal Lake
7 Robert Pinkerton Crystal Lake
8 Amos Rice Waupaca

Town of Dupont
1 Mrs. F. A. Piehl Marion
2 Ed Elsner Marion
3 W. P. Nichols Marion
4 Emil Polzin Marion

Town of Farmington
1 C. Johnson Sheridan
4 J. Bucknell Waupaca
5 Olas Larson Waupaca
6 E. Emmons Waupaca
7 Lars Peterson Waupaca
Joint 1 Gilbert Gilson Scandinavia
Join 2 D. Morgan Scandinavia


Buried in Salem (Old Swede) Cemetery, Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI.

Salem Cemetery (Swedish Cemetery)
Part of the SE1/4 of SE 1/4 of Section 10 and
part of NE 1/4 of NE 1/4 of Section 15, Twp 22N, Range 11E
Town of Farmington, Waupaca County, Wisconsin
Located of Larson Road and Oakland Drive

www.wigenweb.org/waupaca/SalemCem/SalemCem.htm

This 2010 alphabetical update was submitted by Sandra Grenlie CMC, WCMC (Sexton)

49

1

JOHNSON

Alton

C.

(Father)

April

20

1913

Apr.

17

1986

 

40

1

JOHNSON

Anna

A.

 

   

1904

   

1904

 

81

1

JOHNSON

Carrie

 

 

Dec.

25

1863

Jan.

26

1930

Wife of Peter O. Johnson

40

2

JOHNSON

Christina

 

 

   

1871

   

1939

Wife of John

78

1

JOHNSON

Christine

 

 

   

No dates

     

Apparently the wife of Olaf

39

1

JOHNSON

Ella

 

 

June

2

1977

Jun

2

1977

Wife of Peter H. Johnson

18

2

JOHNSON

Emily

S.

 

Dec.

22

1875

Aug.

6

1905

Wife of G. Alfred Johnson

18

1

JOHNSON

G.

Alfred

 

Nov.

4

1870

Nov.

16

1950

 

18

3

JOHNSON

Infant

Buried together

 

           

Child of G. Alfred & Emily S. Johnson

18

3

JOHNSON

Infant

in one grave

 

           

Child of G. Alfred & Emily S. Johnson

40

3

JOHNSON

John

 

 

   

1865

   

1941

Husband of Christina

72

2

JOHNSON

John, Infant

 

 

           

 

51

2

JOHNSON

Leo

L.

 

   

1896

   

1980

 

78

2

JOHNSON

Olaf

 

 

Mar.

28

1840

April

30

1913

 

39

2

JOHNSON

Peter

H.

(Father)

   

1874

   

1945

Husband of Ella

81

4

JOHNSON

Peter

O.

 

Aug.

5

1866

Nov.

24

1956

Husband of Carrie

51

1

JOHNSON

Ruth

K.

 

   

1897

   

1974

Wife of Leo

49

2

JOHNSON

Viola

 

 

April

16

1916

June

11

2001

Wife of Alton

47

 

JORGENSEN

Andrew

Franklin

 

May

19

1889

May

25

1889

Son of Andrew & Mary Jorgensen

   

 

 

 

 

           

 

28

1

KNEPPER

Howard

 

 

   

1907

   

1912

 

   

 

 

 

 

           

 

21

4

LARSON

Almo

J.

 

   

1885

   

1962

Stone on Grave #3

7

4

LARSON

Anne

ANDERSON

 

June

5

1859

May

12

1886

 

28

4

LARSON

Arthur

D.

 

   

1881

Jan.

18

1968

Because of stone grave is in alley

12

2

LARSON

Christian

S.

 

   

1875

   

1952

 

70

2

LARSON

Elmer

 

 

   

1888

   

1950

Husband of Esther

12

1

LARSON

Emily

 

CARL

   

1883

   

1961

Wife of Christian

21

2

LARSON

Emma

J.

 

   

1884

   

1985

Wife of Elmo J.

70

1

LARSON

Esther

 

STOLTZMAN

   

1897

   

1929

Wife of Elmer

2

3

LARSON

Helen

M.

JOHNSON

June

24

1856

June

21

1923

Wife of Ole Larson

21

1

LARSON

Infant

 

 

           

Dau. of A. & E. Larson

28

2

LARSON

Infant

 

Stillborn

Jan

20

1923

     

Child of Arthur D. & Norma V. Larson

77

1

LARSON

Lars

 

(Father)

   

1869

   

1936

 

2

1

LARSON

Louis

M.

 

April

28

1881

Sept.

22

1911

 

28

3

LARSON

Norma

V.

NELSON

   

1880

   

1933

Wife of Arthur

19

3

LARSON

Olaus

 

(Husband)

April

23

1851

Nov.

11

1920

 

2

2

LARSON

Ole

 

 

Sept.

25

1853

Dec.

24

1928

 

19

2

LARSON

Olivia

 

(Wife)

Jan.

25

1848

Aug.

7

1906

Wife of Olaus Larson

19

1

LARSON

Oscar

Emil

 

Date not legible

   

July

22

1883

 

66

8

LARSON

Stena

 

OLSON

July

24

1873

Dec.

17

1922

 


Moses Hunt was born November 9, 1795, in Jaffrey, Cheshire Co., NH, and died May 22, 1880, in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca Co., WI, at age 84. Buried in St. Patrick Cemetery, Northport, Town of Lebanon, Waupaca Co., WI. Moses is the son of Nathan Hunt of Acton, MA, and Abigail Hale of Rindge, Cheshire Co., NH.

Georg Frohner was born about 1814 in Germany, and died Unknown. At age 40 he immigrated to the United States, arriving at the Port of New York August 15, 1854..

Michael Frohner was born September 14, 1838, in Baden, Germany; was Christened September 18, 1838, in Hemsback a/d Bergstraße (A. Weimheim), Baden, Germany; and died Unknown. He is the son of Georg Froehner, and Margaretha Leonhard of Unknown.

Maria Anna Fink was born February 16, 1825, in Laudenbach, Germany; was Christened February 17, 1825, in Laudenbach, Germany, and died February 11, 1910, in the City of Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI, at age 84. Buried in St. Mary Magdalene Parish Cemetery, Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI. She is the daughter of Georgius Fink, and Margaretha Kraus.

Adam Froehner was born April 8, 1848, in Germany; was Christened April 16, 1848, in Hemsback a/d Bergstraße (A. Weimheim), Baden, Germany; and died Unknown. He is the son of Georg Froehner, and Maria Anna Fink.

Moses Hunt and Maria Rouse were married October 19, 1825, in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA.


Moses Hunt and Maria Rouse Marriage Record.


The 1895 Wisconsin State Census taken on June 20, 1895 shows Mrs. Hunt born in Germany is a white female living alone in the City of Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI.

The 1900 U. S. Census taken on June 1, 1900 shows Mary Hunt (age 69) born April 1831 in Germany to Germany-born parents and having emigrated in 1861 with the only child born to her still living is a widowed Landlord owning her home without a mortgage on Grant Street, 1st Ward, City of Waupaca, Waupaca Twp., Waupaca Co., WI.

The 1905 Wisconsin State Census taken on June 1, 1905 shows Mary Hunt (age 74) born in Germany to Germany-born parents is a widowed Capitalist owning her own home free of a mortgage and living alone in the City of Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI.

Mary (Fink) (Freenor) Hunt died February 11, 1910, in the City of Waupaca, Waupaca Twp., Waupaca Co., WI, at age 78. Buried in St. Mary Magdalene Parish Cemetery, Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI, Waupaca. Services at St. Mary's Catholic Church.

Lot 32

HUNT, Mary, wife of Moses, Died Feb. 11, 1910

Maria Anna Fink was born February 16, 1825, in Laudenbach, Germany; was Christened February 17, 1825, in Laudenbach, Germany, and died February 11, 1910, in the City of Waupaca, Waupaca Twp., Waupaca Co., WI, at age 78. Buried in St. Mary Magdalene Parish Cemetery, Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI. She is the daughter of Georgius Fink, and Margaretha Kraus.

Mary (Fink) (Frohner/Freenor) Hunt died February 11, 1910, in the City of Waupaca, Waupaca Twp., Waupaca Co., WI, at age 78. Buried in St. Mary Magdalene Parish Cemetery, Waupaca, Waupaca Co., WI.


Stevens Point Daily Tribune, Stevens Point, WI, Monday, February 21, 1910

DEATH OF A RECLUSE

Mother of Conductor Joseph Freener Dies in Want Amid Riches.

Mrs. Mary Hunt, mother of Joseph Freener, a Soo line conductor well known in this city, died at her home in Waupaca on Feb. 11, aged 78 years. Many years ago, as the result of an estrangement between herself and son, she forbade him coming to the house and for over 20 years he had not even seen her. Since the death of her husband several years ago, no other person has ever been known to enter the house. She lived in a handsome home but never used any part of the house except the kitchen, which served as a sleeping room as well as all her other purposes. All the blinds were always kept closed and not a ray of sunlight had penetrated the house in years. She still retained her antiquated dresses and whenever she appeared on the street, which was seldom, she still wore the old hoop skirt and seemed utterly oblivious to the curiosity her appearance aroused. The day before her death the neighbors became alarmed because she had not been seen outside the house and there was no smoke from the chimney. They entered the house and found her ill in bed with no fire and no food in the house. Upwards of $3,000 in cash and bonds were found in an old pail in the sink and an $800 mortgage was picked up from the rubbish on the floor. Nearly $4,000 in cash, mortgages and bonds were found in the house. Her son and his wife, who now reside in Fond du Lac, responded at once to the message announcing his mother's illness and took charge of affairs. She was buried on Monday from St. Mary's Catholic church, Father Mortell officiating.


Stevens Point Gazette, Stevens Point, WI, Wednesday, February 23, 1910

DEMISE OF A RECLUSE

Mother of Well Known Engineer on the Soo Dies at Waupaca, Leaving Much Wealth.

Engineer Jos. Freenor, of Fond du Lac, is among the pioneer employes of the Central, now Soo, company. For several years when a young man Stevens Point was his home, and he was married here. The following, relative to the death of his mother, which is taken from the Waupaca Record, will therefore be of interest to a number of our readers: Mrs. Mary Hunt, one of Waupaca's most unique characters, passed away on Friday, at the age of seventy-eight years. She was found by her neighbors in an unconscious condition on Thursday morning and had evidently been ill several days. She lived alone in one room of a large house on Granite street and it is supposed to have been years since any human being entered the house but herself. The shutters on the house were all closed and not a ray of sunlight has penetrated the residence in years. About $3,600 in money and bonds were found lying about the house in different places, most of it in the kitchen sink in an old tin pail and stocking. The kitchen served her for sleeping-room, parlor, dining room and kitchen, and she retained the style of dress of the olden day even to the hoop skirt. Whenever she came down town the curious eyes of the public were turned upon her and she seemed very indifferent to the interest she created. Her husband died several years ago and she is survived by one son, Francis Joseph Freenor, who with his wife and family were present at the funeral. She became estranged from her son many years ago and forbade his coming home. He resides in Fond du Lac and is an engineer on the Soo line and his run has brought him through Waupaca daily, but he has not seen his mother in almost twenty years. The funeral was held from St. Mary's church on Monday morning at 9 o'clock, Father Mortell officiating, with interment in the Lakeside cemetery.


Leigh Larson comments: Strange that Mary Freenor immigrated in 1861, yet her son Francis Joseph Freenor did not immigrate until 1870. By 1870, Mary had already married a New York City policeman, Moses Hunt, who was probably recently divorced, and they moved to a farm in rural Waupaca. By 1880, Francis Joseph Freenor is married, and farming in rural Portage Co., WI. His uncle Michael Freenor also lives there, so it is likely that Francis emigrated with his uncle, not with his mother.

The 1910 U. S. Census taken on April 21, 1910 shows Joseph F. Freenor (age 54) born in Germany to Germany-born parents and having emigrated in 1870 and a naturalized citizen is a Locomotive Engineer Landlord owning his home without a mortgage at 82 West Division Street, 4th Ward, City of Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac Co., WI. Living with him is his wife of 33 years, Nellie Freenor (age 51) born in Massachusetts to Canada (French) and Massachusetts-born parents, with 6 of the 10 children born to her still living. Living at home are: their unmarried daughter, Susie Freenor (age 16) born in Wisconsin to Germany and Massachusetts-born parents; and uncle Michael Freenor (age 72) born in Germany to Germany-born parents, who has his Own Income.



Joseph F. Froehner was born March 15, 1856, in Baden, and was Christened March 17, 1856, in HEILIG GEIST KATHOLISCH, HEIDELBERG, HEIDELBERG, BADEN, and died December, 1917, in Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac Co., WI, at age 61. He is the son of Georg Frohner, and Anna Maria Fink of Unknown. His grandparents are Georg Froehner, and Margaretha Leonhard.


The Gazette, Stevens Point, WI, Wednesday, December 26, 1917

SOO ENGINEER DIES

Joseph F. Freenor, Former Stevens Point Resident, Dies at Fond du Lac

Joseph Francis Freenor, aged 61, a well known Soo line passenger engineer and for several years a resident of Stevens Point, died at his home in Fond du Lac last Thursday of cancer of the liver. He was taken ill last July and since then had been off duty. He was born in Baden, Germany, March 1, 1856, and came to this country when 15 years of age. He resided with his mother at Waupaca for many years. On April 7, 1877 he was married to Miss Nellie Fontaine of the town of Linwood, this county, and for several years thereafter this city was the family home. Mr. Freenor became identified with the old Wisconsin Central road in 1886 and since then made his headquarters successively at Chelsea, Waukesha and Fond du Lac, having lived in the last named city since 1901. He was well known in railroad circles. For many years he was engineer on passenger trains between Fond du Lac and Chicago. He was secretary of the Fond du Lac branch of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers for 13 years and was also a member of the Knights of Columbus council there. Besides his widow, Mr. Freenor is survived by two sons and three daughters, F. J. Freenor, Dallas, Tex.; Mrs Eric Peisker, Mrs. Schleger and John Freenor, Fond du Lac, and Mrs. Authur Faucher, Chicago. The funeral was held Monday morning from St. Louis' Catholic church at Fond du Lac.


John Freenor Born November 30, 1889, in Waukesha Co., WI. Married March 19, 1910, in Waukegan, IL, to Mayme Unknown. Divorced January 25, 1917, in Fond du Lac Co., WI. Children: Joseph (age 4), Muriel (age 3), and John Jr. (age 1-1/2).

Evrard D. Freenor Born October 5, 1891 in Waukesha Co., WI.

Joseph F. Freenor Born June 29, 1893 in Waukesha Co., WI.

 

1890-91 Waukesha County Gazetteer

Waukesha Village Directory.

Freenor, Joseph F, engineer, r 116 College av.

Freenor, Michael, bds 116 College av.

 

St. Matthias Church Records Index

1841-1889 Parish Register
Waukesha County Wisconsin Genealogy

Freenor

Oshkosh, May 10, 1911

Miss Pearl Freenor of Fond du Lac is soon to marry Phillip Schleiger, a Milwaukee druggist, the ceremony to be performed at Fond du Lac.