Biography of

(From HISTORY OF MITCHELL AND WORTH COUNTIES, IOWA, 1883, Page 540)

In the summer of 1853, G. O. Mellem took a claim on section 32, which embraced a portion of the present site of the town of Northwood, and the waterpower adjacent, with the intention of opening up a farm and improving the power when circumstances permitted. Here with the aid of his two or three companions, he built a large cabin, comfortable and commodious within, strong and secure without. That summer he did some little toward tilling the land, ploughing up the virgin soil of the prairie that had lain untouched though the lapse of centuries. After the departure of the co-voyagers, who had come with them, for the settlement at St. Ansgar, Mr. Mellem and his your wife settled down to pass the long and dreary winter far from the haunts of man, far from the companionship of their fellow-creatures. Here in this log cabin, eighteen miles from their nearest neighbor, was born to them a son, the first child in the county. The little stranger was warmly welcomed and the name of Ole given to him. Now these fond parents no longer dreaded their loneliness, for the had the companionship of this child, whose infantile movements were a constant source of joy and content. The wind blew and whirled the snow in wreaths and drifts without , throughout that long and cheerless winter, but they heeded it not, for they were warm within and were content to watch, with tenderness, the growth of their boy.

Mr. Mellem is a native of Norway, and was born at Hollingdahl, in that county, the 13th day of November, 1829. For a few of the earlier years of his life he was a shepherd, among his native hills, but his parents having emigrated to this county, in 1845, set him thinking that he would like to follow suit, so in 1849 he se sail for the new World. His parents had, in the meantime settled in Rock Co., Wis., and thither he directed his steps. He staid with the old folks about a year, when, having a desire to see the world, he, during winter, worked on the Lower Mississippi river, rafting, etc., visiting the southern states of Mississippi and Louisiana in particular. During the summer months he was back in Wisconsin, working on a farm. In the fall of 1852 he united in marriage with Caroline Evanson, also a native of Norway, and in the following spring he came, with the Rev. C. L. Clausen and the Scandinavian colony, to St. Ansgar, Not liking show for a farm, he, in company with his companions, came on about eighteen miles further west and settled. He has made several removals since he has been in the county, but has always resided within its limits. He is still living on section 31, in Northwood township, as fine a specimen of landed proprietor and as genial a soul as one would wish to meet. Fortune has dealt fairly with him, and as the result of many years of toil and exposure, he can point to his many farms scattered throughout the county with pride.

Transcribed by Gordon Felland, August 31, 2005