Pioneer Recollections -Andrew E. Johnson

The Odebolt Chronicle
VOLUME FORTY, Number 16, MAY 19, 1927

Pioneer Days

Experiences of Early Settlers
Told by Odebolt People

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Andrew E. Johnson

Coming to Sac County in 1874 Mr. Andrew E. Johnson is one of the earliest settlers in Wheeler township and one of the few pioneers of this section who are still living on their homesteads. Mr. Johnson relates his pioneer history as follows:

Fifty three years ago last March I left Niagara Falls for New York to meet my cousin Henry Hanson. Together with him, his wife and infant baby, I boarded a train bound for the "wild and woolly West". Denison, Iowa, was our immediate destination. Our train was stalled more than twenty-four hours in a big snow drift near Glidden, Iowa. On the fourth day of our journey we arrived at Denison. It was already dark but we managed to find a nearby hotel called the Burk House, where we stayed over night. There were no modern conveniences,--an old fashioned couch served as a bed and a buffalo hide as a covering--but I managed to sleep well, keep warm, and dream pleasant dreams. The only thing modern about that hotel was the $2 bill which I was obliged to pay in the morning.

After a few days of rest and sightseeing in Denison, Mr. Hanson and I continued our journey northward, leaving Mrs. Hanson and baby in Denison until a suitable location for our future home could be found. A man with a mule team and sled was hired to take us to Kiron. One mile north of Deloit the mules went on strike and refused to budge an inch. We were forced to walk the remaining eight miles in snow drifts three and four feet deep.

Upon reaching Kiron, Mr. A. Norelius, the postmaster, was secured to guide us in our search for a suitable farm. Land in the southern part of Sac county was then selling for the "enormous" sum of $4.40 an acre. Farther north it was selling "as high as" $5.50 an acre.

After scouting around for a while we decided to buy the east half-section 19 in Wheeler township.

A small house was erected at once. There was only one other house erected to the northwest for a distance of sixteen miles to Ida Grove. One hundred acres of land were broken the first summer. My partnership with Mr. Hanson extended over a period of four years until 1878. In August, 1877, Mr. Hanson went to Odebolt to take up the grain business, which was made possible by the extension of the North Western R. R. through Odebolt.

The year 1878 I built a small dwelling house on the north quarter section of my farm at a cost of $180. Here I lived as a bachelor for two years until 1880 when I was married to Miss Augusta Lundberg.

We have been blessed with twelve children, two of whom both girls, have passed away. Six boys and four girls are living. Three of the boys, Emil, Elmer and Seth are farming, Elmer having charge of the home place. One son, Enoch, is a student in a Minneapolis Art School; another son, Henry, is a student at Chicago University, and still another son, Joe, is a practicing veterinary, located in Gowrie, Ia. Two daughters, Mabel and Esther are married, the former to Rev. M. C. Hamlin, Alcester, S. D., and the latter to Mr. Joe Samuelson. Two daughters, Minnie and Evelyn are at home, the latter being a school teacher.

From time to time new land has been purchased so that there are now 660 acres altogether, divided into three farms, all of them in Wheeler township.

Our farming operation consists chiefly in raising live stock and feeding. There is at present a herd of fifty full-blooded Aberdeen Angus cows and heifers.

This pioneer history would hardly be complete without adding a few words about the good old times when I sold hogs for as little as two cents a pound; when I shipped well fattened steers to Chicago and received $3.65 per hundred for them; when I hauled wheat eighteen miles to Denison and sold it for 45 cents a bushel; and when I could buy corn for 15 cents a bushel.

I will soon be eighty-one years old. I am enjoying fairly good health, although my eyes have been very poor of late. My wife at sixty-six is still hale and hearty. We are still living on the home farm which we love so dearly.

To see the tall corn grow, the clover blossom and the harvest of golden grain is still one of our chief delights.

And "there's no place like home", our dear old "Forest Hill". Pleasant are the recollections of the hours and days and weeks and years that I have spent in this haven of rest. Mrs. Johnson, who is a great lover of flowers, has by careful planning and hard work made the home and its surroundings a veritable paradise.

transcribed by B. Ekse from microfilm

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