Ole 0. Tveten

TVETEN, MIDBO, TVEIT, EBRECH, TORVALSON

Posted By: Gordon Felland (email)
Date: 7/4/2006 at 10:08:52

Ole 0. Tveten still holds title to two hundred acres in Center township and also owns land in Minnesota but is leaving the operation of his properties to others and is enjoying a well earned rest, making his home in Lake Mills. He was born March 12, 1840, in Nissedal, Norway, and is the youngest son of Ole Halvorson and Torbor (Johnsdatter) Tveten, lifelong residents of the land of the midnight sun.

Ole 0. Tveten was educated in his native country and remained there until he was twenty-two years old, when he brought his wife to the United States, settling in Dane county, Wisconsin. He remained there for two years and was for one year a resident of Goodhue county, Minnesota, and for two years of McLeod county, that state. His next removal was to Winnebago county, Iowa, and during the intervening period, or for more than a half century, he has continued to reside within its borders. He bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Center township and later two hundred and eighty acres and successfully engaged in farming until 1912, when he retired and took up his home in Lake Mills. He made many improvements upon his place and brought his land to a high state of cultivation. As the years passed his resources steadily increased, for his grain and stock brought good prices on the market and he managed his business affairs well. He is now in excellent circumstances. He retains title to his home farm and also owns land in Minnesota.

In 1862, in Norway, Mr. Tveten was married to Miss Susanna Abramsdatter Midbo, whose parents never came to America. To Mr. and Mrs. Tveten have been born ten children, as follows: Torbor, the wife of Olaf Tveit, of Mahnomen, Minnesota; Abram, who is married and resides in Center township; Gunhild, who died in infancy; Ole, whose home is in Lake Mills; Halvor, who is married and resides in Lake Mills; Gunhild, also of Lake Mills; Anne Helene, who died at the age of thirty-three years; Jacob, who is married and is a pastor at Lee, Illinois; Andrea, the wife of Torval Torvalson, of Center township; and Johanna, the wife of T. Ebrech, of Crosby, North Dakota.

Mr. Tveten has been a staunch supporter of the republican party but has never sought office. He belongs to the United Lutheran church and in its teachings are found the principles which have guided his conduct. Practically his entire life has been given to agricultural pursuits and during the years that he was actively engaged in farming he was a factor in the development of the county along those lines, for he was always ready to discard an old method for a new one that promised to be more effective.

Source: History of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, 1917, Volume II, page 542.