Istad, Tollef T. 1859 – 1931
ISTAD, VIK, BJERKE, HAUKEDAL
Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 3/30/2015 at 07:57:49
TOLLEF T. ISTAD.
Tollef T. Istad, carrying on general farming and stock-raising upon eighty acres on section 22, Madison township, is one of the many industrious and successful citizens whom Norway has given to Iowa, his birth having occurred in that country, July 21, 1859. He is a son of Tollef and Engrid (Vik) Istad, also natives of that country, who came from there to Winneshiek county in 1869. They settled in Madison township, where the father rented land which he operated until 1876, in which year he purchased a farm. The crops in that section of the state failing disastrously, however, he sold his property after one year and for six years thereafter farmed as a renter. At the end of that time he bought one hundred and sixty acres on sections 22, 23, 26 and 27, Madison township and improved and operated this property for seven years, selling it finally and forming a partnership with his two sons, Tollef T. and Andrew T. They purchased two hundred and forty acres of land on sections 22, 23, 26 and 27, Madison township, but the father was never active in the operation of this property. He now makes his home with A. T. Istad and is in the seventy-seventh year of his age. His wife has passed away, her death having occurred in 1902.
Tollef T. Istad was ten years of age when his parents crossed the Atlantic and he completed an education begun in Norway in the district schools of Winneshiek county and in the Breckenridge Institute at Decorah. When he was twenty-one years of age he went to work as a farm hand, spending two summers in this occupation, and at the end of that time he formed the above-mentioned partnership with his father and brother, aiding in the operation of the two hundred and forty acres in Madison township. They operated this place together for one year but at the end of that time Mr. Istad of this review rented out his share and became a tenant of another farm which he operated for a short time, eventually returning to the homestead. His holdings now comprise eighty acres on section 22 and the farm is well improved with substantial barns and outbuildings, all of which Mr. Istad erected. Understanding farming in principle and detail, he has made a success of his agricultural operations and is today one of the most progressive and substantial farmers in this locality.
In May, 1892, Mr. Istad was united in marriage to Miss Kjerste Bjerke, a daughter of Andrew and Sarah (Haukedal) Bjerke, natives of Norway, who came to America at an early date and located in Winneshiek county, Iowa, where the father engaged in farming during the remainder of his life. Mrs. Istad passed away after a long illness on March 2, 1907, leaving a son, Theodore, who is twenty years of age.
Mr. Istad is a member of the Lutheran church and gives his political allegiance to the progressive party, serving for two years as treasurer of the school board. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Creamery Company and the Farmers Hog Buying Company of Decorah. In the township where he has made his home for so many years his life has commanded the respect and esteem of all who have come in contact with him and his success has placed him in the front ranks of progressive agriculturists.
Source: History of Winneshiek County, Iowa Vol. II Chicago the S. J. Clark Publishing Company 1913
Union Prairie Cemetery gravestone
Winneshiek Biographies maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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