Mr. and Mrs. Ole A. Lee
Gustave A. Lee is now living retired in Northwood, but for an extended period was connected with public office and with important business affairs in Worth county. For some time he served as sheriff and made an excellent record by the prompt and fearless manner in which he discharged his duties. Worth county numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred in Grove township, August 7, 1867, his parents being Ole A. and Tona (Grover) Lee. The father was born in Norway in June, 1821, and the mother's birth occurred in that country on the 6th of June, 1827. During his boyhood days Ole A. Lee left the land of the midnight sun with his parents and as passengers on an old sailing vessel they came to the United States, it requiring eleven weeks for them to reach Quebec, from which point they traveled by way of the St. Lawrence river and the Great Lakes to Milwaukee and then overland to central Wisconsin, where they lived for a time. They afterward removed to Mitchell county, Iowa, settling in St. Ansgar township, where the father purchased a tract of land which he improved and cultivated until 1855, becoming one of the earliest of the pioneer settlers of that region. He then sold his property to a Mr. Harris and took up his abode in Northwood. He lived for a time with G. 0. Mellem in a log house, near where the store of Holland & Paige now stands. Later he removed to Grove township, where he resided for a time, and then took up his abode in Bristol township, where he purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land. It was largely a wild and undeveloped region, which he at once began to improve, and throughout his remaining days he devoted his energies to its further cultivation, his labors bringing a marked transformation in the appearance of the place. He died February 9, 1879, and for a decade was survived by his wife, who passed away in April, 1889. They were married in Wisconsin. Mrs. Lee had come to the United States in 1851 with her parents, who sailed for New Orleans and thence made their way northward. residing for a time in Wisconsin, after which they removed to Mitchell county, Iowa, where her father follower farming for two years. In the spring of 1856 he came to Northwood and soon afterward located on the Shellrock farm in Grove township, Worth county, where he cultivated a half section of land, continuing the development of that place until 1877. He then purchased another half section, which he also improved and operated, continuing upon that farm throughout his remaining days. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ole A. Lee were faithful members of the Norwegian Lutheran church and his political belief was that of the republican party.
Gustave A. Lee Gustave A. Lee spent his boyhood upon the home farm in Worth county with the usual experiences of the farm-bred boy who divides his time between the work of the fields, the pleasures of the playground and the duties of the schoolroom. After mastering the branches of learning taught in the district schools he spent one year as a student in the Luther College at Decorah, Iowa, and later returned to the farm, assisting in its cultivation until 1891. He then removed to Chicago, where for a year and a half he occupied the position of deputy United States marshal. He was afterward connected with the police department of the city for seven years, under Mayors Swift and Harrison, and on the expiration of that period he returned to Northwood, where he lived for two and a half years. He was next elected sheriff of the county in 1900 and made so creditable a record that he was reelected to the position, in which he continued to serve until 1909. He then took up the contracting business, contracting largely in cement, but at the present time he is living retired, enjoying a well earned rest.
Transcribed by Gordon Felland - October, 2005 (pictures added 11/21/06)
