Guri Paulson, 1816- 1913

PAULSON, GROTH

Posted By: Emmet County IAGenWeb Coordinator (email)
Date: 3/5/2011 at 12:43:42

MRS. LEWIS PAULSON
Early Emmet County Settler
Estherville Enterprise, 31 Aug 1911

Mrs. Lewis Paulson is one of the oldest pioneer settlers of Emmet County. She has been a resident since June 20, 1860. Mrs. Paulson came here from Wisconsin with her husband and four children, Paul, Severt, Julia and Thora [Thuri], of which only the last two are still living. They made the journey with a yoke of oxen and a home made wagon, the wheels of which were made by cutting narrow pieces off the ends of large logs. On the 16th day of May, they left their home in Wisconsin, and arrived on the present site of Estherville on June 20th. At that time there was only one home on the village site. The hard times and hardships borne by the early settlers were by no means trivial in their nature, and Mrs. Paulson being one of the earliest pioneers met with her share of privations. During the first winter they subsisted on potatoes, butter, and milk for about a month, during which time the snow was so deep that they were prevented from going to market, which was in Blue Earth, fifty miles distant. But this was not all, the next summer she witnessed more privations and hardships. At that time the Indians came to Jackson, Minnesota, on a raid, and the settlers all gathered at Estherville, where they remained for a week, neglecting their farms and leaving them at the mercy of any ill disposed person who might come that way. From this time on for several years prosperous times visited the country until grasshopper raids, and then for several years crops were all destroyed and harvests amounted to nothing. Mrs. Paulson, who has been a widow since in 1893, lives with her daughters, Mrs. T. O. Berg and Mrs. H. K. Groth, and although being 95 years old at the present time she is active, and enjoys good health.

Contributed by: Ruth Hackett.

Interment in Wallingford cemetery
 

Emmet Biographies maintained by Lynn Diemer-Mathews.
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