Bio: Holstrom, Ole E. (1923)

Contact: Stan.

Surnames: Holstrom, Clark, Scott, Sharkey, Olson, Anderson

----Source: History of Wood County, Wis. (1923) pages 562-563

Ole E. Holstrom, a pioneer settler of Sigel Township, was born in Sweden May 9, 1847, son of Johann and Anna Holstrom. The parents were natives of Sweden, in which country the father followed farming and subsequently operated a flouring mill until 1890, when he came to the United States; he made his home with his children here from then until his death in 1894; the mother died in Minneapolis in 1920 at the age of 99 years and four months. Mr. and Mrs. Johann Holstrom were the parents of six children, all of whom are now married and living in the United States; they are: Augusta, Sophia, Radena, Marie, Hannah, and Ole. Ole E. Holstrom was brought up in Sweden and worked there at carpentering and in the flour mill operated by his father. He came to the' United States in 1880; after spending his first summer here in the city of St. Paul, Minn., he came to Wood County in the fall of the same year and bought 52 acres of wild land from Clark & Scott. This property, located in Section 2, Sigel Township, was very heavily timbered, and the task of building from it the fine farm which Mr. Holstrom owns today was a tremendous one, handicapped as the work was by the inconveniences, hardships and privations of pioneer life. Mr. Holstrom, however, built a small log house and set to work. For six years he carried all his supplies from town on his back, there being no roads except the trails through the woods; and it was three years before he bought his first team of oxen, during which time he had no draft animals of any kind to help him in his work. In order to obtain money to carry on the development he worked at logging and in the sawmills during the winters, devoting only the summer months to the task of improving his farm. To build his first house, which still stands on the land, he carried the lumber and shingles a mile on his back, a fact that should give pause to those of the younger generation who may be inclined to complain of their lot. He later built a larger log house, which was "sheeted" up, and a barn, sheds, etc. The years of toil and hardship were worth while; Mr. Holstrom now has a splendid piece of property, with 35 acres under the plow, and can feel that the years of his life have been well spent, and that the respect that is accorded him is well merited. Mr. Holstrom was married in St. Paul, Minn., in 1880 to Hannah Olson, daughter of Ole and Tracy Olson. Mrs. Holstrom's parents were natives of Sweden and spent all their lives in that country. Mr. and Mrs. Holstrom had six children, of whom four are now living: Carl (first) is deceased, and one other child died in infancy. Those living are John, Carl, Hilda, and Anna. John lives in Port Edwards and Carl in Wis. Rapids; Hilda is the wife of David Sharkey, of Wis. Rapids; and Anna is Mrs. Ernest Anderson, of Wis. Rapids.