Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IV. Future Hopes—Farm Life—Norwegian Pioneers—The Condition of the Immigrant at the Beginning of the Fifties—Religious Meetings—The Growth of the Settlement—Vasa Township Organized—A Lutheran Church Established—My Wedding—Speculation—The Crisis of 1857—Study of Law in Red Wing—I am admitted to the Bar and elected County Auditor—Politics in 1860—War is Imminent
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IS 4.2 Story of an Emigrant.
Balingslof, near Kristianstad, whose family had just come
to Yasa from Sweden. Bv this union I found the best and
most precious treasure a man can find—a good and dear
wife, who has faithfully shared mv fate to this day. Rev. J.
\Y. Hancock, of Red Wing, performed the marriage ceremony
Horses being very scarce among us in thosedavs, the minister
had to borrow an Indian pony and ride 011 horseback twelve
miles—from Red Wing to Yasa. On the evening of our
wedding day there happened to be a severe snow-storm, through
which my young bride was taken from her parents’ home to
our log house, 011 a home-made wooden sled, drawn by a
pair of oxen and escorted by a number of our young friends,
which made this trip of about a quarter of a mile very
pleasant, in spite of the oxen and the snow-storm.
The next winter was very severe, and many of our
neighbors suffered greatly from colds and even frozen limbs. But
there was an abundance of provisions, and, as far as 1 can
remember, 110 one was in actual need after the first winter.
In the spring of 1856 several new-comers arrived in our
colony. That year marked the climax of the mad land
speculation in the Northwest. Cities and towns were staked
out and named, advertised and sold every wherein the state,
and people seemed to be perfectly wild, everybody expecting
to get rich in a short time without working. The value of
real estate rose enormously, and money was loaned at three,
four, and even five per cent, a month. Fortunately, very few
of the settlers in our neighborhood were seized by this mad
fury of speculation. I, however, became a victim. I bought
several pieces of land, and sold some of them very profitably,
and mortgaged others at an impossible rate of interest. And,
the world becoming toonarrow forme 011 the farm, I availed
myself of the first opportunity to trade away my land for
some property in Red Wing, which was a booming little town
at that time. We moved from the plain log cabin on theold
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