Thomas was born in Swanton, Vermont in 1834. When he reached his full stature, he was five feet ten inches tall. He had black hair, dark eyes and complexion. His occupation was a blacksmith.

Tom married Miss Phoebe A. Hall July 9, 1853, in Chazy, New York. The Rev. Ira Hall, Phoebe's Granduncle, performed the wedding ceremony. Chazy was on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. When one checks the map the distance from Swanton, Vermont to Chazy, New York is not very far. The two towns are on opposite shores of Lake Champlain.

The Miners started their family in New York. They had a daughter, Florence, born in 1854; a son, Edward, born in 1856; a second daughter, Dora, born in 1860, and a second son, Merrit, born in 1862. It has not been determined the name of the town where each of the children were born.

Thomas enlisted in the Union Army on November 17, 1863, in Plattsburg, New York. He became a member of Company B, 118th New York Volunteers. He was discharged July 3,1865 at Fort Monroe, Virginia. He received an honorable discharge. He was 31 years old.

The family was reunited in Nashua, Iowa that same year, 1865. The family continued to grow with the birth of a son, Herbert in 1869, another daughter, Pearl in 1871, and another son, Frank in 1875.

The Miner family seemed to prosper. There were a number of land transactions recorded in the Nashua area. Apparently, Phoebe had the business sense in the family. This conclusion was made because all the records examined requiring Thomas' signature were marked with an "X." His name was signed but the "X" was noted as his mark.

On January 24,1898 Phoebe passed away. Thomas was 64 years old. Phoebe was laid to rest in Greenwood Cemetery in Nashua. In a letter sent to the Clerk of Court, New Hampton, IA, William B. Perrin asked for a "report of the death of Phebe A. Miner. If there is such a report, please send a certified copy." The answer from M. H. O'Neill was: "There is no report of the death of Phebe A. Miner in our records." Signed by M. H. O'Niell, Clk.

The life of a widower was not long lasting for Tom. A Return of Marriage License To the Clerk of the District Court of Floyd Countv certifies that on the "31st day of August 1900 in St. Charles Township in said County according to law, and by authority, I duly joined in Marriage Thomas E. Miner and Emma Usher given under my hand this 31st day of Aug 1900." (signed) H. W. Troy, Pastor. She was a few years younger than Tom, and was born in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada.

The Clerk of the district Court, Willard Perrin filed a true copy of the Marriage Record in the marriage Record Book "H" page 473.

Thomas Eugene Miner, the blacksmith, passed away June 7,1906. He was laid to rest in Greenwood Cemetery next to Phoebe. He lived 71 years, 9 months and 7 days.

Andrina Oline was born October 29, 1873 at Saude in a log house where the Saude store later stood. She was the daughter of Norwegian immigrant parents, Ole Anderson Sjobakken (1837 - 1901) from Laerdal, Sogn and his wife, Synneva Anfinson Sjobakken (1841 - 1923) from Sogndal, Sogn. They migrated to the Norwegian settlement north of Lawler, Iowa in 1869, where they made their permanent home. Three of the nine children born to Ole and Synneva; Dorthia, Ingeborg Marie, and Anfin, passed away in early childhood. Andrew, Anna, Dorthia, Andrina, Sophia, and Rudolph grew to adulthood and established lives of their own.

Ole was a man of many skills. Besides caring for his farm, he also worked as a stone mason. He built the foundation for the first frame church (1875 - 1903) for the Little Turkey Lutheran Congregation now the Saude Lutheran Congregation. Some of the old homes in the area have sturdy stone foundations that, to this day, manifest his skill.

Grandmother was a true pioneer woman enduring many hardships in order to care for her family. She never lost her love for music and I can still see her sitting at the kitchen table singing Norwegian hymns and folk songs.

Mother and her siblings attended the rural schools then known as English school and the church school where the Norwegian language was used to teach religious subjects. She was a member of the last class of Pastor John P. Moses, first resident pastor at Saude and Crane Creek (now, Jerico) Congregations. Her brothers Andrew and Rudolph learned the blacksmithing trade and earned a reputation as excellent plow men (blacksmithing and repair). They both loved music and played the violin-fiddle.

On July 15, 1907 my mother, Andrina, married my father, Muns, in the home of her sister, Sophia, and her husband, Charles, in Cresco, Iowa. They lived in Cresco until the spring when they returned to the farm in the Saude area. I was born in 1909 and Sophia in 1911 to complete our family of four.

Mother was a woman of many skills. She managed her household well, did beautiful hand work, and drew accurate plans for our house and farm buildings in 1919 - 1920. In contrast, she did farm work and confidently drove three horses pulling farm machinery in the field. She was a life- long, active member of the Saude Lutheran Church. Records show she was an active member of the Saude Auxiliary of the Red Cross WWI.

My father, Muns Munson, was born September 1, 1858 near Madison, Wisconsin and baptized by Rev. Adolph C. Preus, on September 19, 1858, in the East Koshkonong Lutheran Church. This was the first Norwegian Lutheran Congregation organized in this country. His parents, Melchior and Martha, demonstrated the strong will and spirit of pioneers. Before he was three years old, he traveled with his family west to Crawford County, Wisconsin. In a short time, they moved in ox-drawn covered wagons, along with their cattle and belongings, across the Iowa prairies, to Elk Point, South Dakota. This necessitated the crossings of the Mississippi, Des Moines, and Sioux Rivers, difficult and brave feats. Fear of the Sioux Indians and poor crops forced them to once again pack up their belongings and move to Iowa, settling in Chickasaw County. These moves made lasting impressions on the seven-year-old boy. I remember Dad describing incidents, which occurred during these trips.

My sister and I did not know our father as a young man, so we learned of his younger years from what he and our mother told us, and from incidents told by our cousins. From the age of seven through manhood, he lived with his family on a small farm in what was called the Little Turkey Settlement of Chickasaw County, Iowa. He attended the county's rural schools with Norwegian, Irish and other children. The Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church, which had been established in the area in 1857, conducted a "Norwegian School" providing instruction in the mother tongue and also in religion. The teacher, Sjur Vikdal, suggested that Muns was the kind of young man who ought to go on to a higher school, namely, Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. This did not take place as his help was sorely needed on the farm. Pastor John P. Moses, from whom he received confirmation instruction, rated him as an excellent student. Because many of the farm youths had a deep desire for learning, a so-called "spelling" school was formed. Here Dad, with other young people, gathered, studied and exchanged information and ideas.

My father's sisters, Jane, Ellen and Mary, and his brother, Halvor, married and left home. Emma taught school for many years and also worked as a stenographer in Chicago. This left his youngest sister, Anna, and my father at home to care for their aging parents. After they died, Anna's health became critical, and she died in 1905. Our father was left alone. He acquired more land and now owned a 240-acre farm. He solved his loneliness by marrying Andrina Sjobakken, a neighbor girl, on July 15, 1907. The newlyweds lived for a short time in Cresco, Iowa, and then returned to the farm. They remodeled the old house, improved the farm buildings, and farmed prosperously. The old home had new life. Two daughters were born to them, Martha and Sophia. As always, my father was keyed to the times. I remember Sophia and my excitement when he bought a De Laval cream separator, so it was no longer necessary to haul milk to the creamery to have it separated. The cream was sold and made into butter and the skim milk hauled back to the farm and fed to calves and small pigs. About that time, Dad purchased a big Overland car and an Edison Phonograph. I also remember, on the 16-mile trip to New Hampton, Dad would point out fields and farms where he had helped break virgin sod with oxen and horses, and we would recognize the special emotions these memories evoked.

When well into his 60's, he felt the restlessness of the land boom of the 1920's. He sold the farm and acquired a good 80-acre tract of land for his retirement. A new set of buildings were erected on the eighty, one mile west from the old farm, and our family moved there in 1921. The buyers of the old farm were unable to fulfill their contract, and in a short time, the old farm reverted back to our father.

Mother was now Dad's constant companion and helper. At this time, our Grandmother Sjobakken, now in her 80's, came to live with us, and was cared for in our home until her death 18 months later. My father's health began to fail in 1932, but he would not give up the farm work. He said, "I want to die with my boots on". We remember him saying that he "abhorred idle uselessness." In the fall of 1933 his close friend and nephew, Hans Grimso, was killed in the collapse of the New Oregon bridge near Cresco. The shock added to his failing health, and he died at home January 6, 1934 at the age of 75. Burial was at the Saude Lutheran Church Cemetery.

Dad's desire for knowledge never ceased. He read a great deal in both Norwegian and English: church periodicals, farm periodicals, daily and weekly papers, especially enjoying the Decorah Posten and Ved Arnen. He acquired many shelves of books, including the classical and popular ones of the day.

In his mature years, he had acquired a good knowledge of civil law, the business of farming, and a firm understanding of the Christian faith. His fairness and quiet good judgment often placed him in the position of settling disputes in the neighborhood, acting as executor of estates, and sometimes as the spokesman for receiving an inheritance from the old country. He was a life-long member and faithful worker of The Saude Lutheran Church and one of three Trustees in 1903 when the present church was built. The former church had been struck by lightning and burned.