Henry Mickel Michaelson

MICHAELSON FOSSE

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/6/2010 at 23:35:30

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Henry Mickel Michaelson
By L H MIchaelson

Henry was the son of Hans Lars Michaelson and Christi Torgalsdatter Fosse. He was the second child of this large family. (See Hans Lars Michaelson.) He was born on the 11th day of June 1872 at Waukon, Iowa. He moved with his parents to Forest City and then to Sergeant Bluff in 1883 or shortly thereafter. He apparently was a good student at Sergeant Bluff School. In 1893 he was a Columbian Guard at the Chicago World’s Fair and was commended for putting out a fire in a warehouse on the fairground. In 1894 he taught school in Woodbury County and was paid $35.00 a month. In 1896 his salary was raised to $40.00 a month. He attained a First Class Teacher Certificate and continued teaching in 1896 and 1897. In 1898 he joined the expedition to go to Cuba. He wrote in December 1898 from Cuba to his mother of seeing the ‘Maine’ sunk in the harbor of Havana. In 1901 he worked in St Louis and alter went to sea working as a seaman. In 1902 he had visited the island of Martinque just prior to the eruption of Mount Pelee that destroyed the city of Saint Pierre. In 1904-05 he was a guard at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Saint Louis. In 1934 he was appointed by Franklin Roosevelt to the position of postmaster at Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. He served the community many years as the postmaster and he also served on the school board of Sergeant Bluff as the secretary. In 1932 he was the president of the Old Settlers Association. Henry retired form the postmaster position and became a local plumber working in Sergeant Bluff. He died on March 19, 1947 and is buried in the cemetery at Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. Pictured are three sons of Hans and Christi Michaelson. Henry is seated, Ishmael is to the right, wearing white shoes, and directly behind Henry is Leo. To the right of Leo is Louis, son of Ishmael. This picture was taken in 1938 at Sergeant Bluff.