Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1908-12-23
RARDSRIPS OF PIONEER LIFE
NJ. j. Sallander Tells Of Early Struggle
in Earning an American Home

At twelve years of age, with my
widowed mother, one sister older and
two brothers Younger, left Sax Godda.
Germany, the 18th of September. 1855,
bound for Springviile, Bad AK county,
Wisconsin, where one of my two older
brothers was working, they having come
to America before us. We embarked
at Bremen in a sailif G ship bound for
New Orleans. We were seven weeks
on board. At New Orleans we en-
barked on river boat hoping to land
at Badax City, now called Genoa, the
landing nearest to Springville. The
boat stopped at St. Louis, refusing to
go farther north so late in the year.
We then crossed TO Alton, that being
then the terminus of the Illinois Cen
tral railway. There we got tickets to
Milwaukee, where we stopped few
days visiting with old friends we had
known in Germany. We next took the
Chicago 4 Milwaukee road to Muscoda,
as the road was built almost there.
AT Muscoda we hired man with
| two horse team to haul us and our bag
gage. One of his horses was balky
and he had so much trouble with it, he
would go no farther than to Port An
drew Here we found Mr.. Ogden,
who lived between Readstown and Syl-
| van, who had come to market with an
OK team. We hired him to take us to
| Springville When we got to his home
he had to stop to get up some firewood.
| Before he was ready to start again,
snow storm came on and two feet of
snow blocked the roads. We had to
wait for them to be broken out again.
On December A. Mr.. Ogden took us
to Springville We got to Viroqua
about dark. There we stopped at John
| Dawson 8 store. the first one we came
TO. AS we could not talk English, Mr..
| Grieves, a German, was sent for. He
gave us directions, so we found the way
and where to put upwhen we got there.
! Mr. Strang kept hotel and MIR. Doerr,
a German, was running the Springville
mill He sent word to my brother, .yno
was at work two miles away, that we
had come He came down the next day
and we rented the rear part of Mr..
Rumsey's house. where we lived till
April 4, of the next year, when We
moved to the town of Webster, my
brother having bought 50 acres near
John Lyons place, who was thea the
only settler near there. i mere were
no improvements on cur land except a
small log house parity built.
We had left nea :, comfortable home
in Germany to better our financial con-
dition. When mother saw such a
house, surrounded by big woods with
no cleared land. and so many inconven-
itnees, she was about completely dis
couraged and felt like returning, But
that was impossible as our money was
used up My brother Andrew worked
in the mill at Springville; the baiSnce
of us worked on our land and for other
people as best we could to make liv-
ing and to improve our home That
year | was l3 and my Youngest brother
was IL. At that age we carried all the
-four our folks used on our backs from
Springville unit ,e made a little cart
to haul it on. We carried 80 lbs. and
made the trip in day.
After few months, Fred, my other
brother, came to US from York state.
1--WE were very glad Of his ,Yelp.
worked for Leonard Gnfett Then he
owned the land where Henry Gorsline
now lives. His brother was a black
smith and lived northeast of the coun-
ty poor farm.
When the war broke out was work
ing for Mr. McMynn, one mile east of
worked for Uncle Ike Spencer at
Springville His wife had lived in the
south, and when | talked of enlisting,
she cried like a child She knew the
southern people, and said: "0h! my
boy, you don't know where you are GO
ing" In the next four years realized
what she meant, and have ever since.
NJ j. SALLANDER.
| Retreat, Wis, Dec II, 1903