My grandfather, Fred Stephenson, died shortly before I was born, so I never knew him. He spent his entire life in the area west of Denison, Iowa. But several years ago my Aunt Edna mentioned how her dad sold everything and moved to Windom, Minnesota, only to turn around when he got there - because of the deep snow. The story intrigued me, but I didn't have much to go on until I found some articles in some archives of the Denison Review found at a wonderful website, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, provided by the Library of Congress.
Here is the chronology:
January 26, 1916: Sale date of Wednesday, Feb. 9, reserved by Fred Stephenson on his farm near Dow City.
February 2, 1916: Sale bill published. Included are 9 head of horses, 36 head of cattle, and 50 hogs, and also a large amount of machinery. The sale bill states that he had decided to quit farming.
October 1916: He bought a couple of lots in Arion and gives them to his mother, Lillian Stephenson.
The next year, March 21, 1917, the Denison Review published that "The Fred Stephenson family, of near Arion, are moving to Windom, Minnesota. Their household goods were shipped last week and the family who are now at the home of Mrs. Stephenson's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Turner, will leave later".
Then, on March 28th, it published that he moved back to Arion. "When he reached Minnesota
he found such deep snow that he thought he could not move onto his farm for some time to come. Not in time for spring work so he decided to move back to Iowa."
On April 25, the paper published that he and his family moved to near Castana to farm. It said that "the Minnesota snowbanks looked discouraging to Fred so he feels more at home farming in Crawford county." And on May 2, the paper mentioned that he was farming the L.C. Butler and Dan Hemphill farm near Castana, where they had just shipped some cattle.
A little background is helpful in putting Fred Stephenson's actions into perspective. One observation I made is that he was a pretty successful farmer, judging from the sale bill, having lots of livestock and machinery. He had be born in 1886, so in 1916 he was only 29 years old at the time of the sale. And when he decided to start farming again in Minnesota in 1917 he was 30. He had been married since 1912 and had two children, my aunts Edna and Lois. My uncle Edgar was born in December of 1917 near Castana. My mother was born there in 1920 as well.
Fred farmed again for several more years, but never owned any land that I know of. The Windom decision was a turning point in his life and the life of his family, and future family. Had Windom worked out, their lives would all have changed. Perhaps owning land would have been a huge boon, or maybe it would have been lost in the great depression. And would his children have married the same people? My mother, Dorothy, probably wouldn't have met Russell Mesenbrink from Denison. But Edgar may well have met his wife in California.
Here is the chronology:
January 26, 1916: Sale date of Wednesday, Feb. 9, reserved by Fred Stephenson on his farm near Dow City.
February 2, 1916: Sale bill published. Included are 9 head of horses, 36 head of cattle, and 50 hogs, and also a large amount of machinery. The sale bill states that he had decided to quit farming.
October 1916: He bought a couple of lots in Arion and gives them to his mother, Lillian Stephenson.
The next year, March 21, 1917, the Denison Review published that "The Fred Stephenson family, of near Arion, are moving to Windom, Minnesota. Their household goods were shipped last week and the family who are now at the home of Mrs. Stephenson's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Turner, will leave later".
Then, on March 28th, it published that he moved back to Arion. "When he reached Minnesota
he found such deep snow that he thought he could not move onto his farm for some time to come. Not in time for spring work so he decided to move back to Iowa."
On April 25, the paper published that he and his family moved to near Castana to farm. It said that "the Minnesota snowbanks looked discouraging to Fred so he feels more at home farming in Crawford county." And on May 2, the paper mentioned that he was farming the L.C. Butler and Dan Hemphill farm near Castana, where they had just shipped some cattle.
A little background is helpful in putting Fred Stephenson's actions into perspective. One observation I made is that he was a pretty successful farmer, judging from the sale bill, having lots of livestock and machinery. He had be born in 1886, so in 1916 he was only 29 years old at the time of the sale. And when he decided to start farming again in Minnesota in 1917 he was 30. He had been married since 1912 and had two children, my aunts Edna and Lois. My uncle Edgar was born in December of 1917 near Castana. My mother was born there in 1920 as well.
Fred farmed again for several more years, but never owned any land that I know of. The Windom decision was a turning point in his life and the life of his family, and future family. Had Windom worked out, their lives would all have changed. Perhaps owning land would have been a huge boon, or maybe it would have been lost in the great depression. And would his children have married the same people? My mother, Dorothy, probably wouldn't have met Russell Mesenbrink from Denison. But Edgar may well have met his wife in California.
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