Anders Nielsen Gaarde, 1835-1908

GAARDE

Posted By: Emmet County IAGenWeb Coordinator (email)
Date: 2/2/2009 at 17:54:37

Anders Nielsen Gaarde and family were early pioneers of Denmark Township, Emmet County, Iowa. Mr. Gaarde was born at Skydstrup, Denmark, October 3, 1835. the son of a farmer and wheelmaker, Niels Iversen Gaarde and his wife Marie Schjoth. In 1859 he married Anna Marie Petersen of Felsted, Denmark, daughter of Hans Tyson Petersen and his wife, Augusta Tomsen Petersen.

Three of the Gaarde's older children preceded them to America. In 1881 Anders N. Gaarde and his son Hans bought the Northwest Quarter of Section 15 in Denmark Township. The rest of the family had made the trip to this country in 1880 and after spending one year at Bellevue, Iowa and the following winter in Clinton, they arrived at their new home on the prairie in the spring of 1882.

Life on the prairie was hard, their tools were primitive and the sod had never been disturbed by man. They did not even raise enough food to eat, and the mother supplemented their income by going to Algona to weave rugs.

In 1889 a prairie fire swept across Emmet County destroying buildings and crops. Mrs. Gaarde was severely burned fighting the fire and died three days later. Mr. Gaarde continued to live in the area, farming and doing some carpenter work. He sold his farm to his son-in-law, J. J. Rovn, and spent his last years living with his children. He passed away July 10, 1908.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. A. N. Gaarde were: Niels Andersen Gaarde, Clinton, Iowa; Hans Andersen Gaarde, Estherville, Iowa; Augusta Marie Gaarde Wilson of Glade, Kansas; Katherine Marie Gaarde Ries, who remained in Denmark Township and farmed the Ries farm; Anna Marie Gaarde Christensen Thomsen of Sioux City, Iowa; Helena Marie Gaarde Rovn, Ringsted, Iowa; Peter Andersen Gaarde of Armstrong, Iowa; Christian Andersen Gaarde of Rapid City, South Dakota, and Hansena Marie Gaarde of Turner, North Dakota, the only one born in America.

Source: History of Emmet County, Iowa, Vol. III, 1976, Inter-Collegiate Press, Inc., Shawnee Mission, Kansas.