Gullik G. Belsheim

BELSHEIM, GILBERTSON, MICHAELSON, BRAEHL, JOHNSON, HERMONSON

Posted By: Peter Gausmann (email)
Date: 1/19/2010 at 17:30:25

GULLIK G. BELSHEIM

Gullik G. Belsheim, who is actively and successfully engaged in farming on section 6, Mount Valley township, Winnebago county, was born in Norway on the 12th of April, 1840, a son of Gullik and Anna (Gilbertson) Belsheim, who spent their entire lives in the land of the midnight sun. Gullik G. Belsheim pursued his education in the common schools of Norway and at twenty-one years of age he enlisted in the Norwegian army, with which he served for three years. In 1866 he came to the United States and established his home in Winneshiek county, Iowa, where for three years he worked for a cousin on a farm. On the expiration of that period he began farming on his own account and for a year continued to rent land in Winneshiek county.

It was in 1870, in that county, that Mr. Belsheim was married to Miss Ellen Michaelson and the following year he came to Winnebago county, while in the same spring he purchased the farm upon which he now resides. It was then a tract of wild land, on which he put up a little shelter until he could build a log cabin. He occupied the log house for sixteen years, after which he purchased a farm on section 7 of the same township and occupied that farm for sixteen years. He removed to that place in order to educate his children, for there was a schoolhouse upon the farm. He then returned to his original property, on which he has since resided. He owns one hundred and sixty acres in his home place, also one hundred and sixty acres on section 5 and one hundred and twenty acres on section 7 of Mount Valley township, together with one hundred and twenty acres in Center township. His holdings are thus extensive and from His farm properties he derives a substantial annual income. Formerly he was the owner of four hundred and twenty-five acres in Tennessee, which he held for sixteen years, but he has recently sold that land. In the early days he farmed with oxen and he bore all the hardships and privations incident to the settlement of the frontier. His nearest markets were at Albert Lea and at Mason City and from those points he had to haul his lumber and other supplies with ox teams. He bravely faced the difficulties of pioneer life, however, and as the years passed on time and man wrought many changes and he has benefited by these as the years have gone on.

Mr. and Mrs. Belsheim have become parents of four children: Anna, the wife of B. H. Braehl, of McLean county, North Dakota; Christina, who gave her hand in marriage to C. T. Johnson, of Center township, Winnebago county; Emma, who is the wife of John Hermonson, of Winnebago county; and Oscar G., who operates the home farm.

In politics Mr. Belsheim is a democrat and in religious faith he and his family are United Lutherans. His financial position is in marked contrast to his condition at the time of his arrival. When he came to Iowa he had but five dollars in his pocket and this he gave to a friend with which to buy a cow. Today he has large land holdings all free from indebtedness and a handsome bank account. His prosperity is the direct and legitimate reward of his labors and so honorably has he won his success that the most envious cannot grudge him his prosperity. His life record shows what may be accomplished when there is a will to dare and to do, and his history should serve to inspire and encourage others.

Source: History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II. Pioneer Publishing Company (Chicago), 1917. pp. 490-493.

Winnebago Biographies maintained by Cheryl Siebrass.
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