ELIJAH ALBERTSON, 1836-??

ALBERTSON, JOHNSON, SKEWIS, LADD

Posted By: Bahnson
Date: 4/24/2002 at 17:41:47

ELIJAH ALBERTSON.
Elijah Albertson came to Lyon county from Lafayette county, Wisconsin, in 1875. He was born in Norway in 1836, and when he was thirteen years old accompanied his parents to this country. They located in Wisconsin, where our subject had to work for board and clothes. They were poor in everything but a family of six sons and two daughters, all stout and rosy children, and all still living and in good circumstances, with the exception of one boy, who passed away years ago. The father lived to be sixty-eight, while the mother entered into her heavenly home at the early age of forty-five years.
Elijah Albertson came to Richland township, Lyon county, in 1875, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of choice farm land at the very low price of six dollars an acre, and began the improvement of what has proved to be his home for twenty years. During this time his crops never failed him, and though he had troubles of various kinds incident to life on the frontier, his progress towards competence and financial ease was unbroken. At first he sold his grain at LeMars, forty miles away, and hauled the lumber for his home from Sheldon, Iowa. His post office was twelve miles distant, and many things he patiently and even gladly endured would now be considered intolerable. But things have changed. His market is at his door, and the land which he bought at six dollars an acre is now well worth seventy-five.
Mr. Albertson came into Lyon county with little to help him beyond a sturdy will and a strong determination to succeed. He saw the opportunity of his life, and he determined to profit by it to the fullest extent. Now he can live a life of comfort and ease, and feel that his days of toil are ended.
Mr. Albertson has reared a large family, and given them a good education, and they are all doing well in those avocations to which they have turned their attention. He was married December 26, 1863, to Miss Isabel Johnson, by whom he has had the following family: Ann, who married Harry Skewis, of Seward; John a grain buyer in Montgomery, Iowa; Henry, a clergyman of the Methodist church; Clifton, now in the furniture business in Inwood; Joseph, in the land business in Montgomery, Iowa; William, who died at the age of six and a half years; Elsor, who died at four and a half years; Olive, the wife of William Ladd, a barber of Inwood; Elmer W., a druggist; Clarence, grain and stock buyer in Danbury, Iowa; Delia M., who died when only nine months old.
Mr. Albertson has always held as a sentiment the Prohibitionist ides, and with his excellent wife has been a member of the Methodist church for thirty-three years. In his earlier life he recalls that he was accustomed to drink intoxicating beverages, and both chewed and smoked tobacco, but when he became a Christian he put these things away from him, and has never indulged himself since. His long and useful career has been helpful both as an example and encouragement. In his early day when the need of churches was greatest in such centers as Hull, Rock Rapids, Rock Valley and Inwood, his aid for all was ready, and he did much to encourage a genial and kindly spirit in the community. For six years he was school treasurer, and for twelve years was a member of the town board. Now he lives in Inwood in a comfortable house with seven acres of land, where he keeps his own horses, cows and pigs, raises his own vegetables, and does such work as agrees with him. His good wife has charge of the chickens, and their home is full of peace and content.