Mrs. John Tjaden

Mrs. John Tjaden is one of the few in Grundy county where were born here more than fifty years ago and lived here continually since that time. Her folks came to Grundy county the year after the close of the Civil war, which was in 1866. Mrs. Tjaden's father was Dorcas Huisman. He came here from Illinois. With him were his wife and two sons, John and Jerry, who have also resided in this county continuously for fifty-eight years. The Huisman family bought a farm two and a half miles north of Wellsburg is now and that farm is still in the hands of the Huisman family, J. B. Huisman being the owner of it. The original purchase price for this farm was $5.00 an acre. Mrs. Tjaden continued to make her home on this farm until she was married to John Tjaden forty years ago. The town of Wellsburg started in 1880 and this has been the home of the Tjaden family during the past forty years. When the Huisman family came to the county they had to drive to Cedar Falls to do their trading. A little later Ackley was made their trading point when the railroad had been extended to that point.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 28 February 1924, pg 10