BIOGRAPHIES: Andrew JORGENSON, Almena Township, Barron County, WI

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This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by:  
Vic Gulickson <vic@indy.net>  10 June 2001	
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Andrew Jorgenson, early settler who has built up a good place on Section 2,
Almena Township, was born in Norway, Sept. 24, 1860, the son of Chester and
Anna Jorgenson. The father died in 1875, and in 1887 the mother came to
this country and took up her home with her son, Andrew, until her death in
1905. Of the six children in the family, there are now living five: John,
of Comstock, this county; Thomas, of Deer Park, Wis.; Anna, wife of Eric
Hanson, of Stone Lake, Wis.; Andrew, and Erland, who is in Norway. Andrew
was reared in Norway, attended school there, and as a youth did farm work.
In 1882 he came to Tracy, Minn., and worked for a year. He came to Barron
County in 1883, and for a time worked on the railroads and in the woods. In
the summer of 1886 he bought 40 acres in Section 2, Almena Township, from
Knapp, Stout & Co., the tract at that time being covered with timber. To
this he later added 80 more in the same section, making 120 acres in all.
He started clearing up the place in 1887, but for some years thereafter
continued to work in the woods and at his trade as a carpenter to get the
money with which to continue the improvements on his place. There was much
hard work to do to get things started. The timber was so thick that one day
he lost his way on his own farm. But gradually he cleared it up. He has 70
acres of his place under the plow, and the remainder in pasture land. He
also has a good set of buildings, nearly all the work for which was done by
himself. The home is a pleasant eight-room residence, the barn is 32 by 92
feet, and the silo, granary and other buildings are fully adequate for
their purpose. Mr. Jorgenson successfully carries on general farming and
dairying, and has a good herd of pure blooded and graded Guernseys, and a
satisfactory drove of Duroc-Jersey swine. The farm is well equipped with
tools, implements and machinery. Mr. Jorgenson has taken his part in the
affairs of the community, and has been a valued member of the school board
of his district for some twenty years. Mr. Jorgenson was married at
Comstock, April 9, 1887, to Sarah Johnson, the daughter of Christian and
Gunhild Johnson, natives of Norway, who came to the United States in 1868,
and settled at Woodstock, Ill., coming to Crystal Lake Township, this
county, in 1886, and remaining here for the rest of their lives. In the
family there were four children, of whom Mrs. Jorgenson is the only one
living. Mr. and Mrs. Jorgenson have a fine family of twelve children:
Jennie, wife of Carl Schelver, of Evanston, Wyo.; Chester, at home; Amelia,
wife of Ed. Horrick, of Rice Lake; Elliott, in Evanston, Wyo.; Rose, at
home; Pearl, a clerk at Almena; Florence, Melvin, Donald, Margaret, Lilah
and Katherine, at home. Chester trained eleven months at Camp Travis,
Texas, for service in the World War. The family faith is that of the
Norwegian Lutheran Church.

--Taken from: History of Barron Co., Wisconsin, H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co.,
1922, pg. 380.