Hover, Edwin 1845 – 1916

HOVER, EVENSON, HOYME, LARSON, KESSEY, SHERVIN CHRISTIAN, CHRISTIANSON, QUISEL, NORDHEIM, LODAHL

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 3/26/2015 at 17:54:05

EDWIN HOVER.

It is the enterprise and character of the citizen that enrich and ennoble the commonwealth and Iowa is indebted in large degree to men of the type of Edwin Hover for her stability and prosperity. He is one of Norway's native sons, his birth having occurred in Valdres, on the 5th of February, 1845, a son of Hover Evenson and Bertha (Larson) Hoyme. The parents were also natives of the land of the midnight sun, the father having been born on the 15th of June, 1818, and the mother on the 14th of March, 1822. They were married in their native country about 1843 and in 1848 came to the new world, locating near Cambridge, Dane county, Wisconsin. There the father engaged in the blacksmithing trade, which he had learned in the city of Bergen, Norway, his time being thus occupied for three years. The year 1851 witnessed the arrival of the family in Iowa, the father settling on a farm on section 5, Pleasant township. Winneshiek county, where he spent his remaining days. In addition to general farming which he carried on during the daytime, he engaged at his trade in the evening hours, being the first blacksmith in the northern half of Winneshiek county. For a number of years the settlers of that district depended entirely upon him for all of their blacksmithing. At the time the family made settlement in Iowa, Winneshiek county was largely a frontier district and the family were confronted with many pioneer conditions. The father made all of the shoes and clothes for the family and it was a matter of two or three days' drive with ox teams to Lansing, the nearest trading post, which was thirty miles away. As he prospered he became the owner of three hundred and seventy-eight and a half acres which he brought to a high state of cultivation. He was a progressive man and was one of the first to purchase a threshing machine, which he hauled from McGregor. For a number of years he carried on threshing profitably and won success in his various undertakings, becoming one of the prominent and substantial residents of Winneshiek county. He gave his political allegiance to the republican party and held a number of township offices. He was one of the organizers and builders of the Methodist Episcopal church and was a liberal supporter and a faithful member thereof. He passed away on the homestead farm on the 17th of April, 1882, and his wife died on the 11th of October, 1892. They were the parents of fourteen children, of whom five are now living, namely: Edwin, of this review; Sarah, the wife of J. J. Kessey, of Forest City, Iowa; Isabella, who married J. J. Shervin, of Pleasant township; Lewis H., of Wadena, Minnesota; and Henry A., of Pleasant township.

Edwin Hover, the eldest in his father's family, was the only child born in Norway and was a little lad of three years when brought to the United States by his parents. His boyhood days were spent amid the pioneer conditions of a frontier district and consequently his opportunities for an education were limited. His practical training, however, was thorough, for at an early age he began working in the fields. Upon attaining his majority he wisely chose as his life work the occupation to which he had been reared and has since given his attention to agricultural pursuits. He is now the owner of two hundred and thirty-seven acres lying on sections 5 and 8, Pleasant township, a portion of this farm belonging to the old family homestead upon which his father located after his arrival in this county. It is in excellent condition, due to the well directed efforts of father and son, and is given over to general farming and stock-raising purposes, in both of which branches Mr. Hover is meeting with excellent success.

In 1868 Mr. Hover was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Maria Christian, who was born in Norway on the 17th of January, 1846. She was brought to the United States in 1857 by her parents, Christian and Anna Marie (Larson) Christianson, natives of Vardal, Norway, the father's birth occurring on the 20th of August, 1817, and the mother's on the 8th of January, 1821. The father was a farmer by occupation and was thus engaged until the time of his death, on the 6th of March, 1900. His wife survived until the 30th of July, 1905. In their family were eight children, two sons and six daughters. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hover were born nine children, as follows: Matilda, who was born February 5, 1870, and is now the wife of Edwin Quisel, a resident of Toronto, South Dakota; Clara Helena, born June 19, 1872, who is the wife of Edwin Nordheim, of Pleasant township; Amanda Elizabeth, who passed away in infancy; Edward H., who is mentioned elsewhere in this volume; Charles Elmer, born June 24, 1878, a resident of Newburg, Minnesota; Alice Sophia, born June 17, 1881, who is the widow of Albert Lodahl and with her daughter, Aletta Bernice, makes her home with her father; Lily Amanda, whose death occurred at the age of ten months; Idella Malvina, born February 14, 1886, who is a music teacher; and Alma Henrietta, who was born May 11, 1889, and engages in school teaching.

A man of much public spirit, Mr. Hover has never allowed personal affairs to monopolize his time and attention to the exclusion of participation in matters relating to the public welfare, and his efforts in behalf of general progress have been potent factors in the growth and development of the community. He is a stanch supporter of the republican party and by reason of his personal worth has been called by his fellowmen to fill various positions of trust. For eight terms or sixteen years he served as township assessor, acted as trustee and also as justice of the peace for a number of years and also served as school director for some time. He was county supervisor for one term of three years and during his term of office the new courthouse was built. He readily cooperates in all movements and projects instituted for the betterment of his locality and the county at large, and his public-spirited course has won him a place of prominence and influence among his fellow citizens. Reared in the Methodist Episcopal faith, he is an active member and one of the pillars of that church, doing all in his power to further its influence. Mr. Hover inherited as a birthright many of the strong characteristics of the Norwegian race, and it is these sterling qualities that have brought him the well merited success which he now enjoys, while upright manhood and honorable principles have won in large measure the confidence and high regard of his fellowmen.

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

Big Canoe Norwegian Methodist Cemetery gravestone
 

Winneshiek Biographies maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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