BIOGRAPHIES:  Ole ERICKSON, Vance Creek Township, Barron County, WI

====================================================================
USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information 
on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as 
this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may 
NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other 
persons or organizations.

Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes 
other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file 
contributor, or the legal representative of the contributor, and contact 
the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent.   The submitter 
has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently 
for free access.

This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by:  
Victor Gulickson <vic@indy.net>  14 March 2000	
====================================================================

Ole Erickson, a solid and substantial farmer of section 27, Vance Creek
Township, was born in Ringerike, four miles west of Christiania, Norway,
July 5, 1863, the son of Erick and Carrie Johnson. He attended school in
his native parish and grew to manhood there. As a youth he did farm work and
was also employed in the nickel smelters. In 1883 he came to America with his
brother, George. They found their way to St. Paul and from there came to this
region, where they entered the employ of Knapp, Stout & Co. Ole was sent to
Bear Lake, in Barron County, to take care of 200 head of oxen. Thereafter he
remained in the woods for many years, driving oxen in the lumber camps in the
winter and working on the river drives in the spring. In 1888 he bought his
present farm. That year he and his brother, George, sent for the parents, who 
came and spent the remainder of their lives in Vance Creek Township. When he 
secured the land it was all wild. A road had been chopped out but it was 
little more than a trail through the woods. Mr. Erickson put up a combination 
log and frame house and lived in it at intervals while still continuing his 
work as a lumberman. He started farming with a yoke of oxen and a few cows. 
His market was at Clear Lake and Eau Claire. A walk to Rice Lake was an 
ordinary stroll in those days. Gradually he has built up a good place from 
the wilderness. He has a good set of buildings and the land is well 
cultivated and suitably fenced. Here he successfully carries on general 
farming and dairying. He has a good herd of Holstein cattle which he is 
gradually improving. He sells cream to the Farmers Co-operative Creamery Co. 
at Clear Lake, in which he is a stockholder. Having come here when there 
were practically no good roads, he has naturally been interested in the 
betterment of highways and for ten years he has done most excellent service 
as pathmaster. He and his family are interested in the Norwegian Lutheran 
Church at West Prairie Farm, in which he has been a trustee for several years. 
He is respected throughout the community and esteemed by all who know him. 
Mr. Erickson was married at Prairie Farm on July 19, 1896, to Gusta Tobiason, 
who was born in Jackson County, Minn., Oct. 27, 1876, the daughter of Edward 
and Carrie Tobiason. This union has been blessed with three children: Edwin, 
Carl and Gerhard. Edwin was born May 23, 1897, and is at home. Carl was born 
Sept. 1, 1898, and is a railroad operator. Gerhard was born March 27, 1900, 
grew to young manhood of unusual promise and died Nov. 1, 1918.

--Taken from: History of Barron Co., Wisconsin, H. C. Cooper, Jr., &
Co., 1922, pg. 715.