BIOGRAPHIES: Christian E. Stephenson, Arland 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: Vic Gulickson 09 April 2001 ==================================================================== Christian E. Stephenson was born in Norway, and as a youth served an apprenticeship of seven years at the cabinet-making trade in Trondjem, Norway. He came to America in 1866, and located in Chicago, where on August 25, 1869, he married Lena Neilson, also a native of Norway. Oct. 1, 1880, they moved with their four children, Christine, Charles, Martin and Jennie, to Barron County, and purchased from Andrew Blodget, for $500 cash, the southwest quarter of Section 26, Township 33, Range 13, west, now Arland Township, then a part of Prairie Farm Township. His live stock at that time consisted of two cows, a heifer calf, two small pigs, two sheep and a dozen chickens. Soon he secured a yoke of oxen. It was evident to him that his small store of cash would not last long, so he entered the employ of Knapp, Stout & Co., in their camp near Hay River, as a sawyer, continuing in this work for ten winters. At the end of this period, he devoted his time exclusively to farm work. To facilitate the operations, he traded seven head of cattle, consisting of two ox teams, two cows and a two year old heifer, for a team of ten-year-old mares, weighing 1,100 pounds each. One of these animals was very balky and presented a serious problem for the family. A story is still told of one day when the family attended church service at Prairie Farm. The members of the family all climbed into the wagon in front of the place of holding the services, when the balky mare, instead of moving ahead, began to back, and stand upright on its hind legs, delaying the departure for half an hour, greatly to the confusion of the family and to the delight of the onlookers. But the mares were kept until they died of old age, and became great family pets. Many were the hardships encountered in the early days. Sometimes the roads were impassable, and in making a trip travelers had to carry an axe and saw, to clear the way of trees blown across the trail by the heavy wind. In the meantime, Mr. Stephenson was developing his farm. He made it a rule to clear at least two acres each year, and he continued until he had 80 acres under cultivation, and in shape to yield support for the large family. There was one field in particular, consisting of seven acres, in which he took much pride. For twelve years in succession this field was sown to wheat. The first five years it produced 30 to 40 bushels an acre, No. 1, hard wheat, gradually diminishing in fertility until it was producing but five bushels an acre. It was then put in clover, and the crops rotated, as on the rest of the farm. Produce brought but little in those days. Timothy was marketed at Barron for $4 a ton; basswood bolts with bark peeled off were delivered at that city for $1.75 a cord; and the finest oak logs sold there for but $5 a thousand. The Stephenson family prospered with the years. To the four children brought here, three more were added, Anna and Clara (twins) and John. In 1900, three of the daughters, Jennie, Clara and Anna, passed to the Great Beyond. Mrs. Stephenson died March 1, 1912, on the home farm, and shortly afterward the place was sold, and Mr. Stephenson passed his remaining days with his daughter, Christine, of Minneapolis, in which city he died Sept. 19, 1918. Four children. are now living. Christine, already mentioned, is in Minneapolis. Charles is in Two Harbors, Minn. Martin W. farms in Maple Grove Township, this county. John is in Minneapolis. The farm on Dority Creek remains as a landmark in memory of the sturdy family who never let any traveler pass by when hungry or tired, and the doors of whose hospitable home were always open to their friends. --Taken from: History of Barron Co., Wisconsin, H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co., 1922, pg. 575.