Hjerleid, Hans C. 1863 – 1947

HJERLEID, HAMRE

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 3/24/2015 at 11:42:14

HANS C. HJERLEID.
Various important corporate interests profit by the cooperation of Hans C. Hjerleid. He is recognized as a forceful business man who forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution. No obstacles are allowed to bar his path if they can be overcome by persistent and earnest effort and thus he has gradually worked his way upward until he now has important business connections in Decorah and this part of the state. He is the cashier of the National Bank of Decorah and figures prominently in other connections. His birth occurred in Jackson county, Wisconsin, in 1863, his parents being Syver and Helene Hjerleid, natives of Norway. The father came to America in 1852 and in 1854 purchased a farm in Springfield township, Jackson county, Wisconsin, which property is now owned by the Hjerleid Homestead Company. He was married in Chicago in 1860.

In the country schools near his father's home Hans C. Hjerleid pursued his early education and afterward spent two years as a student in the high school at Black River Falls, Wisconsin. He was afterward graduated from the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois, and thus qualified for life's practical and responsible business duties. In his youthful days he worked upon his father's farm, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. After pursuing his commercial course he secured the position of bookkeeper in the general store of Thompson & Johnson Brothers at Cresco, Iowa, where he remained for four years. He afterward spent eight years in the Cresco Union Savings Bank and has since been continuously connected with financial interests. In 1897 he became one of the founders of the National Bank of Decorah, of which he has since been cashier and thus has active voice in its management and shaping its policy. His name is indeed a prominent one in financial circles in the northern part of the Mississippi valley, for he has extended his efforts into various fields and in all places his worth and business ability are recognized. He is the president of the Home Bank of Blair at Blair, Wisconsin; president of the Coon Valley State Bank at Coon Valley, Wisconsin; a director of the Trempealeau Valley State Bank at Taylor, Wisconsin, the State Bank of Bowman at Bowman, North Dakota, the Bank of Scranton at Scranton, North Dakota, the First State Bank at Mineral Springs, North Dakota; and president of the Hjerleid Homestead Company. He is thoroughly acquainted with all phases of the banking business and so directs his interests and activities that splendid results have accrued.

On the 1st of January, 1889, Mr. Hjerleid was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Hamre, a daughter of R. K. Hamre. Their children are Helene, Raymond and Gavin. The family attend the Lutheran church. Fraternally Mr. Hjerleid is connected with the Masons and the Elks. He has always lived in the upper Mississippi valley and possesses the spirit of enterprise and progress which has been the dominant factor in the upbuilding of this section of the country. He possesses strong, sturdy qualities and admirable characteristics and his well spent life, in which his labors have been intelligently directed, has brought to him gratifying and commendable success. In his vocabulary there is no such word as fail and the methods that he has pursued have never been such as seek or require disguise.

Source: History of Winneshiek County, Iowa Vol. II Chicago the S. J. Clark Publishing Company 1913

Decorah Lutheran Cemetery gravestone
 

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