Chapter 4
-- Compiled by the Cumberland Women's Club
and Published by the Cumberland Advocate
1874-1974
(used by permission of the Cumberland Advocate)
Donated by Linda Mott
Please
Note: This page is information intense! Please be patient
while some portions are
loading -- it will be worth
your wait! Thank you.
History of the Early Norwegian Settlers
Cumberland and Section 10
by Helma Tyvol
Many of the early settlers
of Norwegian descent came as immigrants to the Cumberland area as early
as 1874. They left their
homelands seeking adventure
and opportunities in the new land. They endured many hardships, such as
crossing the ocean in
small, crowded unsanitary
boats, which took from 3 to 5 weeks.
They came as far as possible
on trains, then made their way to the Cumberland area through heavy forests
on foot or driving
ox teams. They knew there
was work in logging camps and land to be claimed for homesteads.
Ole Ritan and Gunder Dahlby, both born in Norway, were the first to file for claims on the Island later called Cumberland.
In 1875 records show other
Norwegians coming to this area and taking homesteads in what was then known
as the town of
Lakeland, but later became
the town of Cumberland. Lars Gunderson with
three sons, John, Gunerius,
and L.L. and Mr.
Eberhard
Christopherson walked through unbroken forests from St. Croix Falls.
The Gundersons took homesteads in the
north quarter of Section 10.
Ed Christopherson
whose wife was a daughter of Lars Gunderson claimed the east half of S.W.
quarter of Section 10. He
went to work as a blacksmith
in the lumber camps and later built a blacksmith shop across the road from
his house. This is
the place now occupied by
Mrs.
Lloyd Brown.
The Christophersons were the
parents of 8 sons and one daughter; they changed their name to Tappon.
LouisTappon
was
well known as one of the first
mail carriers for Cumberland. His son Bud Tappon
is a well known citizen of this city.
That same year 1875 shows Martin
Knutson taking the West 1/2 of S.E. quarter of Section 10 as his
homestead. He
immediately built a log cabin
in the S.E. corner of his claim. He had one daughter (Mrs.
John Oren) and three sons, Helmer,
Louis
and Sever. They helped their father develop
the land and later took homesteads of their own. Louis
Knutson became
well known for his well drilling
business. He was the grandfather of Walt Knutson.
The first post office was kept
in the home of Lars Gunderson located in the N.E. quarter of Section 10.
Mr. Gunderson
carried the incoming and outgoing
mail on foot from Rice Lake and distributed it among the settlers. Later
his son L.L.
Gunderson was appointed post
master and put up a small store building on the Island of Cumberland.
Others to take homesteads in the Section 10 were Martin and Hans Berg, Hans Christopherson, and Helmer Knutson.
Hans Berg sold his claim in
1885 to Sever Brun. Mr. Brun's daughter Minnie
Brown has made her home on this place until
last fall. Mr. Berg then purchased
the place on highway 48, now owned by Victor Cimfl.
Ninety years ago Mr. Berg built the
log house which is still inhabited.
Records show Ole
and Andrew Score coming to this area in 1875. They took homesteads
in Section 34, Town of Lakeland.
Andrew Score later sold his
claim to Nels Paulson and moved to Washburn,
Wisconsin. Ole and Andrew Score together with
O.A. Ritan and L.L. Gunderson,
felt the need of a place to worship, and with the help of a visiting pastor,
C.J.
Helsem,
formed what was called the
East Lakeland Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. Rev. Helsem
served this
congregation until 1881. They
met in the homes for services. Mr. Score was a charter member of the East
Cumberland
Lutheran Church and served
as secretary, deacon and Sunday School teacher for many years. Besides
this he served on the
Town Board and County Board
for several years. One daughter, Mrs. Leonard Tyvoll,
survives.
The Lakeland Norwegian Evangelical
Lutheran Congregation was reorganized in 1882 and named the East Cumberland
Norwegian Danish Evangelical
Lutheran Congregation under the leadership of Rev.
N.B. Olson. They met in the home of
Martin Knutson. The charter
members were Martin Knutson, Carl Iverson,
Ed and Hans Christopherson, Lars and John
Gunderson, Christ
and Fred Finsen, O.C. Lovaas, Hans
Almaas, Ole Guisness and Lars
Benson besides Ole and Andrew
Score, O.A. Ritan and L.L.
Gunderson. Services were held in the homes until a log school house was
built on Section 3
across the road from the present
East Cumberland Church. A church was built in 1893 on a tract of land consisting
of 5
acres in Section 2 donated
by Hans Hilstad and Ed Christopherson.
Others who came in the early
1870s were Nels and Andrew Paulson. Andrew's
son Paul still lives near Cumberland; another
son, John,
was killed in France in WWI.
In 1881 John
Johnson, known as "Well Digger Johnson"
came to this area. He erected a log cabin and his home was open to
friends and relatives coming
from Norway. He dug most of the wells in the Section 10 community. In those
days the digging
was done by hand and lumber
used to curb the sides of the well. His son Jim Johnson
still lives in this area.
In 1881 Bennet
Nelson, the father of Anna Solum, came
with wife and family from Norway northern, known as Hatjeldahlen.
They lived with Mr. John Johnson
until their log house was built. Mr. Nelson encouraged a brother and 3
sisters to come to
America. They all settled
in the Town of Cumberland. The sisters were Mrs.
(Hanson) Sparby, grandmother of Marvin
Hanson;
Mrs.
Christ Johnson, mother of Nels Johnson;
Mrs.
P.A. Johnson, grandmother of Hazel Johnson
and Esther
Poulter.
Mrs. Johnson became involved immediately as a mid wife and was in great
demand ushering the new arrivals into the
world. These sisters, as well
as many others were kept busy carding wool, spinning yarn and knitting
socks and mittens.
Ed Nelson,
the father of J.C. Nelson and the brother
of Bennet, was married in Norway to Ellen Roneson;
this in turn
brought her brothers Jacob
and Andrew Roneson.
Joseph
Johnson, the parents of Mrs. Bennet Nelson came in 1882. Their sons
Christ
and Sam, and a daughter, Mrs.
Lars
Tollefson
all came here as well as Mrs. Johnson's mother, Mrs.
Karen Oldsdatter, who died in 1906 at the age of 106 years,
5 months. She was the great
grandmother of Ted Thompson, age 90, who now
lives in the Extended Care Home.
By the year of 1884 the Section
Ten community had grown so that it became necessary to build a larger school.
This was
built on the Martin Knutson
property, now owned by Iver Esplin, with an
enrollment of over 50 pupils. Later another room
was added and two teachers
hired. The enrollment in the late 1890s was over 100 pupils.
Olav
Rolla and family came from Norway in 1882. He purchased the land
across from the school in Section 11. He was
interested in the progress
of the church and school. His son Edward and
granddaughter, Sally Alberg, live on this
place.
Since the school had no water
system or well, the pupils carried their drinking water from the Rolla
well. There was a roof
over this well with a pulley
fastened in the top. A rope with a large wooden bucket was used to pull
the water to the surface.
P.K.
Nelson came in 1883. He worked in the saw mill at first. The next
year he purchased a farm in Section 11, Town of
Cumberland. He married Minda
Olson in 1888. She had come from Norway and was a cousin of L.L.
Gunderson. Mr.
Nelson was a good carpenter
and built many of the large barns in this area. He also helped with the
building of the church.
Bennie and Minnie Nelson still
live on the home place. A son Jack and grandson
"Swede" own the Nelson Furniture Store in
Cumberland.
Hans
Solum had come from Norway about this time. He married another cousin
of L.L. Gunderson and settled in the same
community. His son Henry
Solum still lives on this farm.
Andrew
Thompson was born in Hatjeldahl, Norway in 1864. At the age of 19
he immigrated to America ad settled in the
Section 10 area. He married
a sister of John and Ole Agen who had come
from Norway about the same time. Mr.
Thompson was always active
in the East Cumberland Lutheran Church, serving as sexton, deacon and Sunday
School
teacher. His wife died in
1894 leaving him with three small children. Mrs.
Christ Mathison, a daughter, still lives in this area.
Mr. Thompson later married
Mattie
Orgedahl. Then children were born to this union. Those living in
this community are:
Otto,
Steve,
Thelma
Sandve,
Milla,
Jens
and
Bernard. Jens still operates the home
farm. Milla is at home after serving 15
years in Madagascar as a teacher
of Missionary's children.
Sever
Paulson came from Norway in 1888. He purchased 120 acres of wild
land in Section 26, Town of Lakeland. He was
married in Norway and had
a family of 7 children. He felt it was necessary to seek his fortune in
a more favored land, as
opportunities for advancement
in Norway were very limited. It was very expensive, but he managed to get
enough money to
bring the family with him.
Mike
Paulson was married in 1901 to Christy Lovaas.
Martin married Mary Wohler and lived on the
home place taking over
the farm and caring for the
parents. One daughter Paulina married Andrew
Flottum who had come from Norway in 1881.
Another daughter Gunhild
was married to Herman Peterson who operated
a hardware store in Cumberland for many years.
Mattie
married Morris Berklund and lived in McKinley.
Ole
Paulson was employed by S.W. Hines Mercantile Company for
many years and lived in the
city of Cumberland.
Christ
Anderson was a pioneer settler of the Lakeland Township. He came
from Norway in 1876. He brought his parents
and they lived on the place
now owned by great grandson Clarence Anderson.
A son Dave also farmed for many years in the
Lakeland area. Christ sold
his farm in Section 26 in 1897 to Charles Ness
whose grandson Marvin Ness still lives on
this
farm.
Another Norwegian farmer in
the Silver Lake area of Lakeland Township was Nels
Grant. He came from Iowa in 1901 and
bought a farm in Section 26,
Town of Lakeland. His sons Carl and Morton
live on the home place. Carl recently donated a
parcel of land on the south
side of Silver Lake for the County 4-H for a park.
Carl
Hanson who had been the head sawyer in the mill at Barronett, came
to the Section Then area in 1894 after the big fire
that destroyed most of Barronett.
He purchased the farm now owned by Mrs. Alfred Poulter.
He was a good carpenter ad
built the frame house on this
place. He made church furniture and helped with the building of the East
Cumberland Church
and was secretary of that
church for many years. Mr. Hanson sold this farm about 1899 and built a
house on the southwest
corner of Section 2, just
north of the East Cumberland Church. His family consisted of one son and
four daughters. Three of
these daughters married brothers,
Martin,
Ole
and Hans Jacobson. They were the sons of Mr.
and Mrs. Gustave Jacobson
who had come here from Sweden
in 1883. In 1902 the farmers built a cheese factory across the road from
Carl Hanson's
house. These farmers hauled
milk to the factory every morning. Mr. Hanson saw the need for a store
in this area. He added
an addition to his house and
operated a grocery store here for several years.
Many Norwegians in the city
and the surrounding area who had been members of the East Cumberland congregation
in 1882
formed a separate congregation
called the Cumberland Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church and later changed
to First
Lutheran. In 1886 a church
was built in the south part of town on 2nd Avenue. The deacons elected
were O.C. Lovaas,
Hans Almaas and L.L. Gunderson;
the trustees were O.A. Ritan, Fred Finsen and Andrew Guisness; secretary
was Hans
Amble;
treasurer was Lars Benson and Sunday School
Superintendent was O.C. Lovaas. Mrs. Laura Engesether
is the
daughter of O.C. Lovaas.
Lars Benson came here in the
early 1870s. He built the two story house on the northwest corner of 1st
Avenue and Elm
Street. He was noted for his
carpenter work and built many of the pulpits and altars for the Lutheran
churches. His wife was
a sister of Mart
Wick's mother.
John
Wick was also one of the first settlers. He worked in the woods
and lumber mills for many years and expressed a
concern over the disappearing
pine trees. At one time the area from the railroad tracks out to the bridge
east of town was
covered with rows and rows
of lumber. The smell from this lumber is something our youth will never
enjoy.
Thanks for stopping by!
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
to