BIOGRAPHIES:  Olaus HALVORSON, Sumner Township, Barron County, WI

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Olaus Halvorson, one of the most honored and respected of the early settlers 
of the county, was born in the northern part of Norway, Dec. 4, 1833, and
was there reared and educated. As a young man he married Ellen Jorgenson, the
daughter of a neighbor. There three children were born, Lizzie, now wife of 
L. 0. Melby, of St. Paul; Anna, the widow of Frank Caesar, and now living in 
the old home, and Olive, the widow of Axel A. Ahlroth, and living in Los 
Angeles. As the family began to grow, the parents determined to seek the 
wider opportunities of a newer country. Accordingly they set out, April 15, 
1869.  The voyage on water occupied twelve weeks, and during that time they 
were aboard seven different boats. They reached the States by way of the St. 
Lawrence river. Part of the land trip was made aboard a cattle train in the 
same car with some of the cattle, also some on boats. They reached their 
journey's end, July 4, 1869, at Eau Claire, Wis. Two years later, they drove 
to Barron County with an ox team, a son, Peter, being born on the trip. Here 
they secured 160 acres of wild land in Section 5, Sumner Township. The wife 
and children lived for a while with the family of an early settler, Ole 
Olson, at Colfax, before coming to Barron County. Mr. Halvorson at once began 
putting up a log cabin, the first on the north side of Rock Creek, a branch  
of Pokegema Creek. The ruins of this historic cabin are still standing. As  
soon as the walls were up and the roof completed the family moved in. The
first bed consisted of brush laid on the ground, for the cabin had no floor
except the native earth. A young heifer had been secured to supply milk for 
the children, but it died after three milkings. The family had no money, and 
the father had to work in the woods and the mills to support his loved ones 
before the farm became productive. The wife was thus left alone in a country
swarming with Indians, who looked with none too friendly eye on the coming of
the white settlers. Then, too, there were many rough characters among the 
whites who were wandering through the region. Often the lone mother, annoyed 
and frightened, would gather her four babies together and flee to the cabin 
of some far-away neighbor for protection and comfort. The younger generation 
of the present day little realizes the conditions here a half a century ago. 
There were no roads except the "tote" roads of the lumber companies. Stores 
were far away, and provisions were usually brought in on the settlers' backs. 
Mr. Halvorson carried on his back provisions from Eau Claire. This region 
was a wilderness, dreary in the extreme, with standing timber and brush. 
Wheat had to be taken to faraway places, the trip taking several days. There 
was  little of what we now call comfort. The cabins were rough and crude, 
there was little furniture, the women had little to do with in the way of 
household utensils, and the farms were worked with the simplest of tools. 
But the Halvorsons, like the others pioneers, had faith and courage, they 
were willing to work hard, and in time success crowned their efforts. They 
built up a good place, and are now numbered among the best and most useful 
citizens of the community. Mr. and Mrs. Halvorson are venerated for what they 
are and for what they have done, and are greatly revered by all who know 
them, especially the younger generations. In addition to the four children 
already mentioned, five more, William, Georgia, John, Elsie and Albert, were 
born in this county. William owns the home place. John and Albert are well-
known farmers operating places in the township. Georgia is the widow of
L. H. Montgomery, and lives on the old home place. Elsie is the wife of C. C.
Leslie,  of  Los  Angeles. There are twenty-five grandchildren and sixteen 
great grandchildren.

--Taken from: History of Barron Co., Wisconsin, H. C. Cooper, Jr., &
Co., 1922, pp. 407-408.