Thomas Benson

BENSON

Posted By: Gordon Felland (email)
Date: 4/1/2005 at 09:01:19

Thomas Benson, who follows farming on section 30, Fertile township, Worth county, is widely known in this section of the state. He was born in Wisconsin, on the 29th of April, 1871, a son of Ben and Christina Thorson, both of whom were natives of Norway, where they were reared and married. In 1867 they came to the United States and took up their abode in Wisconsin. Later they removed to Iowa and after four years spent in Winneshiek county they came to Worth county, where the father made arrangements for a home by securing a farm, upon which he resided to the time of his death, which occurred in 1906. He had long survived his wife, who passed away in 1889.

Thomas Benson was educated in the district schools but his opportunities for attending school were limited, owing to the fact that his father was a semi-invalid and was largely incapacitated for farm work. Mr. Benson, being the eldest son, was therefore responsible for the operation of the farm and at an early age assumed the heavy duties in connection therewith. His youth, therefore, was largely a period of earnest and unremitting toil instead of a period of education and of playtime. After reaching manhood he continued upon the home farm, looking after his parents and operating the land. He now owns the place, which comprises eighty acres, and he is regarded as one of the successful and substantial farmers of Fertile township. His business affairs are wisely conducted. He employs the most progressive methods in tilling the soil and caring for the crops and his energy and labor are manifest in the substantial harvest which he annually gathers. He is also a stockholder in the Farmers' Cooperative Association of Joice.

Mr. Benson gives his political endorsement to the republican party, which he has supported since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, and he is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church, in the faith of which he was reared. Almost his entire life was spent upon the farm on section 30, Fertile township, where he still makes his home and his many sterling traits of character are recognized by the neighbors and friends among whom he has lived.

Source: History of Mitchell and Worth Couonties, Iowa, 1918, Volume II, page 497.