Maglie Raasdal Knutson ,-Mother-
was born May 3, 1844 at Evanger, near Voss, Norway ,
died November 3, 1908 at Lake Preston, South Dakota
Nels Bolstad Knutson -Father-
Born in Evanger, near Voss, Norway on August 21, 1839,
Died April 1,1917 at Lake
Preston, South Dakota.
In
1870 among other immigrants, were a party of friends who sailed from Voss,
Norway.
They
arrived in Chicago in July and two of those friends were married in August.
A courtship had evidently been carried on during the voyage.
This couple was my grandmother and grandfather, Nels B. Knutson.
--Ruby Knutson Remme
My grandparents lived on a farm near Chicago for ten years.
Adventure was still in their blood, so they set out for the West in a
covered wagon, which contained all their belongings and two oxen named Brick and
Brite. There were cows, sheep,
hogs, and chickens walking behind.
They pushed westward until my grandmother could no longer travel.
The North Preston Community was the site of their homestead which was
established on March 9, 1880.
This area was called Kinsbury (sic) County, Dakota Territory.
A family of ten children, except for one dying in infancy, were raised by
the couple.
Volga was the nearest supply center, as it was as
far as the railroad extended. A
trip to Volga took my grandfather at least a week and he secured provisions for
about six months.
Their buildings, frame structure, were built entirely by themselves. The house consisted of a wooden frame, the roof and sides of which were filled in with sod. The windows with a glass pane approximately in the center, were about two feet deep. The floor was wooden. These buildings were warm in the winter and cool during the summer months.
When the coal supply was exhausted, hay was twisted and burned.
Their crops made them self-sufficient.
The earthen cellar, a hole under the house, was the most important page
(sic) of storage.
. The wool from sheep was washed, corded (sic), and spun into yarn.
The
yarn was then knitted into clothing.
Game, such as rabbits, prairie chickens, and grouse were important sources of meat.
Most was preserved in salt brine
Coyotes
and wolves freely roamed the prairies and could be heard at night.
My grandmother was a midwife and aided in the treating of many sicknesses.
She had the first
sewing machine in North Preston.
During the blizzard of 1888, ropes were tied to the men when they went outside.
A hole had to be cut in
the roof of the barn to tend the animals.
The school was used for holding church services until enough settlers moved in to make it possible to build a church.
My dad, aunts, and uncles did not attend high school but went to
Brookings to State College for short courses in engineering and domestic
science. These courses lasted about
three or four months.
Back l. to r. Louie, Belle, Nutie, Bert
Knute, Lena, Nellie, Nels J. (missing Henry)
My
dad's family were:
Nels Knutson
Henry Knutson
Knute Knutson
Nutie - my dad Bell Stubjare
Lena Burlingame
Louis Knutson
Burt Knutson
Nellie Kopperud
All are now deceased. Ruby
Knutson Remme ~1978
NUTIE
KNUTSON FAMILY
Nutie
Knutson, born to Nels and Maglie Knutson at Newark, Illinois, on December 14,
1875, was a pioneer resident of Kingsbury County, having come to Dakota
Territory in the year 1879, at the age of four.
With his parents and three brothers they traveled from Illinois in a
covered wagon bringing all their belongings with them.
When they had come as far as what is now the Don Nelson farm, seven miles
northeast of Lake Preston, they decided to stay and on that land they
homesteaded.
This land remained in the family for about sixty years.
Nutie attended grade school in what was known as the "double
school" Baker No. 6. He also
attended school in Brookings taking a course in engineering.
As a young man he owned and operated various steam threashing (sic) rigs
and did many years of threashing (sic) in the community.
