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Houston County, Minnesota

Map showing location of Houston County, MN

Poem by Ivar Vaeting c. 1913

From "Telemark to America-Volume II"

page 58

It was in the 1850's

They came to Houston's vales

From Telemark's old homesteads

With all their chests and bales.

 

Here they found hills and valleys

With woods and brooks and streams

Resembling their old homeland,

They chose the best, it seems.

 

They built their simple cabins

Of woods with foreign names,

And it was cause for boasting

When they saw their first hearth flames.

 

No church was here for worship

Not a single town or street.

The boys learned independence

And to stand on their own two feet.

 

They thought about their choir,

Which had sung in days of yore:

"O let us have a church now,

We cannot worship Thor."

 

They built the church they wanted,

Hard labor they did not shirk;

It isn't boasting when we say

Its an impressive piece of work.

 

The Yankees, their first neighbors,
Complained about their speech;

They couldn't grasp the Telemaal --

And were too dumb to teach.

 

But the Telers didn't like "Yankee"

Which sounded whiny and shrill,

So they kept on speaking Telemaal

And we hope they always will.

We honor our old people,

Admire their courage and drive,

And when they sleep beneath the sod,

We must keep their faith alive. 

The Minnesota territory opened for settlement and in 1853 Tarje and Ole, their sister Aase and mother Kristi left Wisconsin and took up residence in Houston County.  By 1855 they were firmly established there.

Excerpt

from the

125th Anniversary History of Trinity Congregation

Spring Grove MN

 

Where they settled in Houston County

Thanks to Jim Skree for

the plat maps showing the

farmsteads of the "Buffalo River Folk"

back in Houston County

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The Stone Church

The Stone Church  

Both Gulbrand Kassenborg's family and the Grovers were original members of the Stone Church congregation, which was organized in 1855 and was one of the earliest Norwegian Lutheran Churches in Minnesota. Reference

 

A walk through the cemetery confirms the close connections between this church and the Buffalo River settlement in Clay County -  Familiar names abound!

 

More About Stone Church

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Tarje marries Geline Kassenborg

In 1857, Tarje married Geline Kassenborg in a civil ceremony in Houston. His sister Aase and either her father or her brother Gilbert were their witnesses.

From Book A, Page 48-49   Houston County Marriage Records

Copy of actual marriage record

    Be it remembered that on the 6th Day June AD 1857 in the Town of Houston Mr. Terry A. Grover and Miss Gelene A. Gilbertson both of the county of Houston and Territory of Minnesota were with their mutual consent Legal Joined together in holy matrimony which was solemnized by me in the presence of Aster Grover and Gilbert Gilbertson both of the county and Territory aforesaid.
Attending witnesses having been first satisfied by the oath of  Mr. Terry A. Grover duly administered by me that there was no Legal impediment to Such Marriage.


Given under my hand this 6th day of June AD 1857

Elihu Hunt

Justice of the Peace

 

"Terry"  is an Americanization of Tarje.  Geline uses the patronymic-derived "Gilbertson" rather than the surname recognized by her descendants, Kassenborg. "Aster" appears to be a variation of Tarje's sister's name, Aase.

More about the Kassenborgs

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At Home in Houston County

 

The 1857 Territorial Census shows that Tarje, Galene, Kristi and Aase were living in the town of Houston. Tarje's occupation is listed as merchant and hotel manager. According to a biography of their son Edward published in 1902, Tarje and Geline "engaged in commercial pursuits in Houston county, retiring to farm life about the date of the birth of Edward G. Grover in 1861."

The homestead document for Tarje's Sheldon Township farm shows that he registered his farm on April 2, 1857. In 1859, land records show that Tarje and Geline purchased a city lot in Le Crescent and sold part of their holdings in Sheldon Township to Tarje's brother Ole. The reason for purchasing the city lot and its use are not yet known. It may have been intended as a home for Kristi and Aase, or it may have been a commercial building of some sort. Although 1860 Census records indicate that Tarje and Geline and their family were living with her parents in Yucatan township, we know that Tarje and his family lived on their Sheldon township farm for most of the 1860's. 

 

Tarje's brother Ole filed homestead documents on two pieces of land on the same day as his brother - April 2, 1857. He and his family were living in Houston township, post office Looneyville, in 1860 according to the census.  A 12 year old girl, Ann Nelson, was living with them either under their care or as hired help. The Hendrickson family, recent immigrants, also lived on Ole's farm place. 

 

Tarje's Civil War Registration

 

Ole left his wife and children to enlist in the Wisconsin regiment. Oral tradition reports that he sent his soldier's pay home to Tarje to purchase additional land for his farm in Sheldon township.  Until Tarje moved his family to the Buffalo River Settlement in Clay County, the brothers were neighbors on what is now Township 9.

 

Tarje's farmstead no longer exists.  Ole's dairy farm has passed out of the family but is still in operation, although the original house and barn have been replaced.

 

 

The 1999 township map below shows the location of Tarje and Ole's farms

in section 14, along with the cemetery in section 23 where Ole's family graves sit atop a hill.

Asterisks designate other residences in the area.

Excerpt of Sheldon township Map showing Tarje and Ole's farms

Houston "E" Directory - Sheldon Township

T-103-104-N       R-6-W

 

History of Sheldon Township (pdf)

 

Descendants of Tarje and Ole qualify for membership in the

Minnesota Territorial Pioneers

 

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Census Records

Tarje and his family can be found in Houston County from the 1857 Minnesota Territorial census through the 1870 US Census.

1857 Minnesota Territorial Census

 

1860 US Census

 

1865 Minnesota Census

 

1870 US Census

The Census also show the Ole Grover Family living in Houston Township beginning in 1857. Ole died in 1891. His son Henry took over the farm and raised his family there.

 

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New Beginnings....

 

As early as 1860 there were published reports of the flat fertile land of the Red River of the North in both the Norwegian-American and Norwegian press. The fear and uncertainty caused by the Sioux Uprising of 1862 caused a delay in migration to this western frontier.  In the late 1860's, The Decorah (IA) Posten published a series of articles that once again created interest in the Red River Valley. Although the topography and climate of Houston County reminded the immigrant Telers of the Norway they had left behind, there was great interest in creating a Norwegian settlement to the North.

Geline's brother Andreas Kassenborg, Aanund Kragnes, and Tarje Grover saw opportunity in the reports about the valley.  From an account from the Clay County Historical Society:

"A. Kragnes, Andreas Kassenborg and his brother-in-law Targie Grover, and a Mr. Homme went to Clay County in 1869.  They went to Alexandria by train and hired a livery for the rest of the trip. The first night out near Rothsay, they turned the horses loose to graze.  The horses disappeared during the night and the men started walking.  Grover and Homme played out and Kragnes and Kassenborg kept going until they found water.  They returned to the others and all started again.  They walked until they reached the Red River Valley fur cart trail and were rescued by them."  

The story among the families is that Mr. Homme was a carpenter with some training as a surveyor, and he and Aanund continued their journey while Andreas and Tarje returned to Houston County.

 Ole Thortvedt and his family became the first Telemark settlers in what would become the "Buffalo River Settlement" in 1870. 

 

 

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Links

 

Minnesota

Minnesota Territory

Minnesota Historical Society

1857 Territorial Map
A Prairie Home Companion

The Minnesota Page

Minnesota State Website

 

Houston County

Houston County RootsWeb

Houston Veterans of the Civil War

 

Civil War

Wisconsin Regiment

Vesterheim Database

 

Ole and Lena Jokes

 

Telemark to America, Volume II

The source book for the poem on this page was published by Telelaget, the organization of descendants of immigrants from Telemark County, Norway.

Organization of descendants of Telemark immigrants

To learn more about Telelaget and its publications, visit their website:   http://www.telelaget.com/

 

 

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Display the Site Index in this window First stop, Wisconsin Top of Page Kristi and Aase move to Iowa to live with Tone

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