Severson, Kitle 1842 – 1936

SEVERSON, OREKAASE, MALAND, LUROS, TOLLEFSHORE, GARDEN, NELSON

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/2/2015 at 10:21:21

KITLE SEVERSON.

Kitle Severson is well entitled to be numbered among the pioneers of Winneshiek county, for he has resided on the farm which he now owns for forty years, having during that time not only witnessed the onward march of civilization but having done much toward bringing about the prevailing prosperous conditions. He owns two hundred and five acres principally located on section 36, Hesper township, sixty-five, however, lying on section 30, Highland township. There he has resided for about four decades, ever improving his farm and bringing his land to a higher stage of productivity. He was born in Norway, December 23, 1842, a son of Sever and Esther Orekaase, both of whom died in their native land, the father at the early age of thirty-five and the mother when seventy-five years of age. They were farming people of Norway.

Kitle Severson was the oldest of six children, and he and a sister, who subsequently died, were the only ones to come to the United States. He arrived in this country in 1869, locating in Wisconsin, where he made his home for about five years. He then came to Winneshiek county, where he has ever since been engaged in agricultural pursuits. He built two substantial barns upon his land, one of which was destroyed by the cyclone of 1906. He has installed the latest machinery and equipment and in every way has made his farm highly productive. The sturdy qualities of his ancestors have helped him to win a substantial place among new surroundings in a foreign land, and if his road has been harder than that of the average man, he enjoys the esteem and regard of his neighbors in a correspondingly higher measure.

In 1875 Mr. Severson married Mrs. Anna (Luros) Maland, a native of Waukesha county, Wisconsin, where she was born August 15, 1840, a daughter of Torger and Caroline (Tullefshore) Luros, natives of Norway, where they were married and whence they came to Wisconsin in 1839. In 1852 they removed to Winneshiek county, where the father secured government land, which he sold in 1853, moving onto the farm now owned by our subject. Both parents died on this place, the father in 1891, at the age of ninety-six, and the mother in 1861, at the age of fifty years. He owned about three hundred acres in the home place. Both the parents of Mrs. Severson were members of the Lutheran church. In their family were three children: Austin, who died leaving a widow and five children: Belle, the wife of Charles Nelson, of Grand Forks, North Dakota; and Anna, the wife of our subject, who has now resided on the same place since 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Luros left Norway on March 25, 1839, and arrived in Milwaukee on September 16th of the same year, coming via the Erie canal and by ox teams to the interior. Horses were scare and high priced at the time and he therefore went to Michigan, where he bought a team. One of the horses died, however, before he started on his overland tour, which was a heavy loss to him. He endured other hardships while pioneering in Wisconsin, losing his house by fire and having to begin all over again. The father often made mention of the fact that it cost a dollar to send a letter to his old home in Norway. He was a true pioneer of the early days, and the present prosperous conditions of the middle west were largely brought about by men of his stamp, who went out into the prairie and built homes where the timid dared not venture. By her marriage to John Maland, who died in 1873, Mrs. Severson was the mother of six children, one of whom died in infancy. The others were: Austin, who is a neighbor of our subject; Halver, of Thief River Falls, Minnesota; Mary, of Canton, Minnesota; Elizabeth, also of that city; and Torger, who died at the age of nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Severson became the parents of seven children, of whom two passed away in infancy. Those now living are: John, of Edmore, North Dakota; Theoline, who married Olaf Garden, of Lankin, North Dakota; Ida, the wife of Dr. H. E. Nelson, of Crookston, Minnesota; and Oscar and Clara, at home.

Mr. Severson is a devout member of the Big Canoe Lutheran church, in the work of which he takes an active and helpful interest. He gives his allegiance to the republican party, stanchly upholding its candidates. Although he is interested in all public matters and keeps intelligently informed upon all vital subjects that affect the government, he has never cared to accept public office, preferring to devote his whole time to his agricultural pursuits. Although he is nearing his seventy-first birthday, he is still active in the work on the farm and brings to all of life's questions a deep and understanding interest.

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

Transcriber’s Note: His gravestone shows the spelling of his first name at Kittle.

BIg Canoe Lutheran Cemetery gravestone
 

Winneshiek Biographies maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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