G. H. Atwood
G. H. Atwood one of the pioneers of Northwood was born at Oneida, N. Y. in 1831. In 1856 he came to Worth County and purchased a farm of Uncle Sam, which farm he still owns. After serving his active life on the farm he moved to Northwood which is his home.
Mr. Atwood was married in 1861 in Allamakee County, Ia., to Miss Martha Dunning who is still spared to share his sorrows and his joys. They are the parents of five children: Karl, now a resident of Oklahoma, Herbert living in Duluth; Mattie, wife of D. W. Bolton; Sarah, wife G. L. Bolton and Hinckley who resides in Minneapolis.
[Source: 1907 Northwood Semi-Centennial, transcribed by K. Torp]
William Draver
William Draver comes from a country from which we receive many of our most reliable citizens. He was born April 13, 1840, on the Isle of Westray off the coast of Scotland. Here he received his education and remained till the age of twenty-eight.
In 1861 he was married to Miss Ann Randal. His parents coming to the United States, he came with them and they all located in West county*, Iowa, remaining there five years.
Mr. Braver is one of the earliest settlers of Garfield county, coming here in 1873. He still lives on the old homestead. When one learns that he and his children now own about twenty-six hundred acres of land, they are tempted to forget the early privations endured by Mr. Draver's family - poverty, drought, and sickness - all met with true Scotch fortitude which must characterize one who overcomes.
[*William Draver, wife, Ann, son, Alex and daughter, Ellen, were residing in Hartland Twp., Worth Co., Iowa, in the 1870 Federal Census; all born in Scotland. The 1900 Federal Census for Garfield Co., NE, showed that they immigrated in 1868.]
[The Trail of the Loup, 1906, submitted by CD=FOFG]
G. N. Haugen, legislator and banker - Northwood - born 21 April, 1859, in Rock county, Wis. His parents came from Hallingdal, Norway, in 1846, and settled at his birthplace, being among the early Norwegian settlers in this country. They moved to Worth county, Iowa, in 1875.
Young Haugen received a common school education, attended school in Decorah, Iowa, for some time, and a business college in Janesville, Wis. After his school was finished he returned to farming for a few years.
In 1880 he started a hardware store at Kensett; soon added agricultural implements to his stock, and later began to import and sell line horses. During this time he filled various township offices, and, in 1887, was elected by the Republicans, county treasurer, which position he retained for six years.
In 1890 he was one of the organizers of the Northwood Banking Company, capital stock about $50,000, of which concern he became president in 1894. He also owns real estate in northern Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas.
In 1893 he was elected to represent his constituency in the state legislature, being one of the few Scandinavians in Iowa who have been honored with such a position. In 1895 he was re-elected.
In 1875 he was married to Bertha Elisha Evenson, of Winneshiek county; she died in 1892, leaving two children.
[History Of The Scandinavians And Successful Scandinavians In The United States;
By O. N. Nelson; Volume II, 1897]
Submitted by K. Torp
E. Hove, clergyman - Decorah (he moved to Mankato, Minn., in 1893) - born 25 March 1863, in Northwood, Iowa. His parents came from Norway and located in Northwood in 1855. He received a common school education, graduated from Luther College in 1884, and completed his theological studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo., three years later. The next four years he had charge of Norwegian Synod congregations in Portland and Astoria, Or.; then was located in Decorah, Iowa, where he also was assistant instructor of religion in Luther College. Hove was married in 1893 to Didrikke Wulfsberg, a daughter of Rev. E. Wulfsberg, the manager of Luther Publishing House.
[History Of The Scandinavians And Successful Scandinavians In The United States;
By O. N. Nelson; Volume II, 1897]
Submitted by K. Torp
Gulbrand O. Mellem, pioneer - Northwood - born 13 Nov., 1638, in Hallingdal, Norway; died 29 Aug. 1891. He came to America in 1849, and stopped one year in Rock county, Wis., where his parents had settled the year previous. After having worked on the lower Mississippi for several years, he settled, in the spring of 1853, where Northwood was afterwards built. He and his wife stayed there one year before any other white man settled in Worth county, and their oldest son was the first white child born in that county. Mellem was a prominent farmer in his neighborhood for nearly forty years. He was married to Caroline Ellingsen in 1852. They had twelve children.
[History Of The Scandinavians And Successful Scandinavians In The United States;
By O. N. Nelson; Volume II, 1897]
Submitted by K. Torp
Karina (Ellingson) [Moen] Mellem
Karina Ellingson Moen Mellem, she had lost her first husband (Moen) before marrying Gulbrand Mellem and already had a son by her first husband. The first (white) child born in Worth Co. was my Great Grandmother and their first child together, Caroline Mellem.
Submitted by Great Granddaughter Becca Parcher
Frank R. Molsberry, D.D.S.
There are many avenues open toward the goal of success for the young men of the present day. Not all who are called to enter the various lines of endeavor are rewarded with success. The learned and skillful professions have ever been attractive to the young individual who would seek to advance himself from among the average of mankind. Nowadays, where there seems to be a tendency to increase the numbers of those whose profession is to leaven and ease the sufferings of mankind, the successes are ofttimes notable and clearly defined. Though newcomers to Sac City, in a certain sense, Molsberry brothers, practicing dentists, have already established themselves as a component and useful part of the community body. Dr. F. R. Molsberry, with whom this biography is particularly concerned, is certainly entitled to a place of prominence in the pages of this history, plainly because of his sterling worth, educational attainments, pronounced ability in the practice of his chosen profession, and his general and specific usefulness as a citizen. F. R. Molsberry was born in Plymouth, Worth county, Iowa, June 11, 1876. His father was William P. Molsberry, a native of Ohio and the son of J. M. and Jane ( Jordan) Molsberry. W. P. was born on march 8, 1840 and migrated to Iowa with his parents in 1854. He was reared to young manhood on a pioneer farm in Worth county and there married Anna Heiny, a native of Bohemia, Austria, who emigrated to America with her parents when a young girl in her teens. The senior Molsberry followed farming as a regular occupation until of late years, when he was practically retired. Until recently he made his home in Wyoming, but spends the majority portion of his declining years in sojourning among his children, with whom he is always welcome. He moved from Worth county to Wyoming in 1904. He is the father of ten children, namely: Mary, wife of E. L. Smith of Kensitt, Iowa; Emma, wife of John McMurtrie, of Maley, Iowa; Minnie, wife of V. E. Pesak, of Manley Iowa; J. J>, a resident of Plymouth, Iowa; Effie, wife of J. F. Dostal of Minneapolis; Bertha, wife of James Crimmons of Grafton, Iowa; Irene, wife of A. R. Merrill of Thermopolis, Wyoming; Dr. F. R. and Dr. W. I. Molsberry, of Sac City. Doctor Molsberry was educated in the district schools and in the Plymouth high school and the high school of North Springs, Iowa. He entered the State University after the necessary preparation in the public and high schools and graduated from the dental department in 1905. For a period of three years he practiced his profession in the city of Sheldon, Iowa, and in 1908 removed to Sac City, where he was soon joined by his brother. He enjoys an extensive and lucrative practice and is one of the most popular young professional men of the city. His qualifications are of a varied order, he being an accomplished musician. This talent being inevitably discovered by his associates in the city, he was selected as manager and director of the Sac City Commercial Club Band, a position in which he is serving without pecuniary reward. This band was organized in December, 1912, and is composed of an excellent array of talented players and musicians. The credit of the efficiency of the band and its continual growth in popularity is due in a large measure to the excellent management and direction given it by Doctor Molsberry. He is a Republican in politics. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Sac City. Doctor Molsberry was married on June 1, 1911 to Elma Pearl Cooper, of Sac City. They have one child, a daughter, named Floris Evelyn.
History of Sac County, Iowa , Indianapolis, Ind. :: B.F. Bowen & Co.,, 1914, Pages 885 - 886
[contributed by: Jim VanDerMark - 2008]
Will I. Molsberry
The life of a young dentist and public-spirited man of affairs whose name appears above affords a striking example of well defined purpose with the ability to make that purpose sub serve not only his own ends but the good of his fellowmen as well. He is building up a distinctive prestige in a calling which requires for its basis sound mentality and intellectual discipline of a high order, supplemented by the rigid professional training and thorough mastery of technical knowledge with the skill to apply the same without which one can not hope to rise above mediocrity in ministering to dental ills. Dr. Will R. Molsberry, of the dental firm of Molsberry Brothers, of Sac City, Iowa, was born in Worth county, Iowa, February 14, 1884. His parents were William and Anna (Heiny) Molsberry, natives respectively of Michigan and Iowa. William Molsberry was born in 1842, the son of Benjamin Molsberry, one of the pioneer settlers of Worth county. The Molsberrys came to Worth county in 1850 and there made their permanent home. Mrs. William Molsberry died in 1887, and her husband is still living with one of his children in Worth county. They were parents of a family of ten children, all of whom are living: Mrs. Mary Smith of Worth county; Mrs. Emma McMurtrie, of Worth county; Jesse, of Worth county; Mrs. Effie Dostal, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Mrs. Minnie Peshak, of Worth county; Frank R., of the firm of Molsberry Brothers; Mrs. Bertha Crimmins and Mrs. Carrie Sanderson, of Cerro Gordo county, Iowa; Mrs. Irene Merrill, of Wyoming, and Dr. Will R., whose history is sketched in this connection. Doctor Molsberry was educated in the public schools of Worth county and then graduated from the manly high school of Nore Springs Seminary, of Floyd county. He the entered the University of Iowa, at Iowa City, and graduated from that institution in the department of dentistry in the spring of 1908. He then came to Sac City, where he and his brother formed a partnership for the practice of dentistry. Frank R. graduated from the State University in 1905 and practiced in Sheldon until joining his brother, Dr. Will R., in Sac City in the spring of 1908. The young men are rapidly building up a lucrative practice, because of their technical skill and courteous treatment of their customers. Doctor Molsberry is a Republican in politics, but the nature of his profession naturally prevents him from taking an active part in political affairs. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which he renders substantial support. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and also holds membership in the Easter Star. Doctor Molsberry was married in December, 1910 to Irene Brownell, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. R. Brownell. Doctor Molsberry is a man of energy and ambition, who is not afraid to work and within the short time that he has been a citizen of this community he has won the confidence and respect of those with whom he is brought in contact.
History of Sac County, Iowa , Indianapolis, Ind. :: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1914, Pages 583 - 584
[contributed by: Jim VanDerMark - 2008]
L. Walter Torgeson, lawyer - Lake Mills - born 29 Aug.1868, in Silver Lake township, Worth county. His father, Rev. T. A. Torgerson, is one of the most prominent clergymen in the Norwegian Lutheran Synod. In 1890 young Torgeson graduated from the Lutheran high school at Albert Lea. Minn., after which he attended the Iowa State University, graduating from the law department in 1892. Since the latter date he has practiced his profession at his present home. He is a Republican, and a member of the Norwegian Lutheran Synod. In 1893 he was married to Genevieve Ricord. They have one child.
[History Of The Scandinavians And Successful Scandinavians In The United States;
By O. N. Nelson; Volume II, 1897]
Submitted by K. Torp
