The New Farmhouse

1910 – Birth of Nelma Eveline Gulleson

1910 – Logging in Henning

Edward Gulleson did some logging in Henning, but the dates are not clear. I think it was between 1910 and 1920. William Rehm and his wife, the owners of the farm since 1965 to the present, showed me titles to the property. They pointed out that the farm had been mortgaged again and again during those years through a bank in Henning. Both Edward and Anna signed the mortgages. I think they may have mortgaged the farmstead in order to purchase stands of timber for this lumber camp.

Did the money made from the logging enterprise enable them to build the new farm house?

It is evident that Edward and Anna became quite prosperous. They built a very nice house around 1910, which would be equivalent to a $200,000 home in 2010. They also purchased an automobile in 1912. It seems they added another 120 acres to the farm during this period.

1910 – New farmhouse: From left to right: Thoralf, Ansger, Sophie, Jeffery, Gudrun, Anna (mother, holding Nelma), Edward (father).

New farm house from the back.

Jeff Gulleson, son of Ingolf Jeffery Gulleson, with Mr./Mrs. William Rehm in April 2010. The entrance on the right was not part of the original house. The original entrance was on the left. Mr. Rehm showed me how the walls were built. He was impressed on how the walls were put together.

The original front porch (right center with the roof addition and small window) was changed into an indoor bathroom. In one of the original photos you see the family standing and setting on this front porch. They were also sitting in two cars in front of the front porch (see 1914 photo).

In April 2010 I visited the farm. The present owner is William and Karen Rehm, 21807 485^th Ave, Henning, MN 56551. (Street names and house addresses were recently added to the rural roads in order to set up the 911 calling system.) William and Karen Rehm have owned the farm for approximately 45 years.

The farm house has been lived in for 100 years. Several changes have been made. The front porch has been walled in and changed into a bathroom. Some of the bottom windows have been changed. Mr. Rehm took me upstairs, and the floor boards looked like they had not been changed in 100 years.

The backside of the house. Notice the window on the top–it really looks like it was built to be a door. Were they thinking of an extension?

1910 – Cousins & friends of the Gulleson children.

Back row: Marie Peterson, Gudrun Gulleson, Clara Nyhus

3^rd row: Thorval d Nyhus, Inga Nyhus, Nora Stai, Oliver Haugen

2^nd row: Sophie Gulleson, Selma Braaten

1^st row: Jeffery Gulleson

From top to bottom on the water tower: Ansgar, Thorolf, and Ansgar; Sophie (in the middle), Gudrun on the right, Jeffery on the bottom.

Sophie, second from the left, with some friends in front of the smokehouse.

Sophie

1912 – New barn built.

In 1912 Edward built a new barn with a concrete foundation. The book on the history of Ottertail County stated that the barn was 68 by 38 feet. William Rehm showed me the old foundation for this barn, and he thought it was not quite that large. The barn had burned and had been rebuilt on the original concrete foundation before Mr. Rehm owned the property. Mr. Rehm tore it down and built a new milking barn near the site of the old barn. Part of the original concrete foundation of the old barn can still be seen.

Mr. Rehm mentioned that when he purchased the farm in 1965 the old grain storehouse was still being used. He told me that he remembered that the grain storehouse was quite advanced for its day–being somewhat automated. All of the other farm buildings have been destroyed, but he did show me the foundation of the old barn.

In front of the right side of the white building (present milking barn) is the remains of the cement foundation of the original barn.

1912 – Gullesons own an automobile

Newspaper clipping from 1912: Ed Gullekson, while out driving his new auto the other day, tried to run over an oak tree. It was a sturdy old oak and it still survives. The machine was somewhat damaged. (Historical Note: Remember, the first coast-to-coast car trip was made in 1903.)

John W. (John Wintermute) Mason wrote a History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries, and Institutions with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families (Volume 2, Page 108 of 111).

The biographical sketch of the Gulleson family ends as follows: Mr. Gulleson, who is a Republican in politics, votes an independent ticket locally. He is a stockholder of the creamery, the Fanners Warehouse (there was a Fanners Co-Operative Elevator Company) and the telephone company (possibly Midway Telephone Company). He has been for several terms and is at present a school director, having served also as school clerk (for District 140?). Both he and his wife are members of the Vining Lutheran church.

I talked with Jan Saetre of Vining who helped set up an historical display of the village of Vining in the local community building. She mentioned that only leading families were included in John Mason’s history. So it seems that Edward and Anna Gulleson, due to their farming (and logging), were quite prosperous.

1914 – Gulleson Family Off for a Ride — “Sophie in a 1914 lace-covered hat with parents, older sister Gudrun, younger brother Jeffery, and sister Nelma. Brothers Thoralf and Ansgar are in second car. Hope by this time Dad had mastered the driving!”

Confirmation, Sophia Gulleson, in Vining around 1913

Nelma and Gudrun (1920?)

Aerial view of the farm (around 1975?)

Mr. Rehm said that the building in the lower left was a chicken house and pig barn. The large barn is the one that was rebuilt on the old foundation of the original barn. The lower barn just to the right was built by Mr. Rehm. I believe Mr. Rehm said that the building in the center, back with darker color, was for grain storage.

Aerial view of the farm (1995?)

Note the old barn and the grain storage building have been torn down, and a silo built. The house is still evident on the left side of the photo.