| Summary: | History of Farmers Mutual Fire And Lightning Insurance Co. A desire for farmers to get together for mutual betterment in a social and material sense, the Driscoll News has been requested to call a meeting of the farmers of this vicinity for next Saturday afternoon. A place for the meeting will be arranged. The object of this meeting to talk over matters pertaining to the tillers of the soil, and to see if something in the way of better environment can be suggested. This is in line with the national movement now underway which was inaugurated by President Teddy Roosevelt. And which has for its object the improvement of farm life, and bring to the farmer more of the pleasant things of life than they have now This local meeting should bring out a good attendance and be the nucleolus of other meetings which will be a benefit to those who wrest the living from Mother Earth. It will not trouble any farmer to come to town so you better be on hand. On January 13th about a dozen farmers met at the Grand Palace Hotel in Driscoll (on Saturday afternoon) and organized a Farmers' Club. The following officers were elected: K. A. Ersland president; E. P. Moynagh, vice president; J. E. Spaulding secretary. The Club met again on January 16th at the McCreedy Hall when the several committees reported and a full-fledged organization was perfected. The topic for next meeting was seed grain & farmers insurance. The Club met again in early February at McCreedy Hall, quite a number of farmers were present. Considerable interest was manifested in regard to organizing a Farmers Mutual Insurance Co. More time was granted the committee to investigate and report later on their findings. The topic of the next meeting was stock company farmers store and farmers telephone. It was decided that there were too many irons in the fire at one time so it was decided to concentrate on farmers insurance. Maybe a strong county mutual could be built. These farmers met again February 14th, the main topic was farmers insurance. Most of the farmers present were in favor of insurance but nothing definite was done. A special meeting was arranged for February 19. All farmers were requested to be present. On February 24th the farmers met at the McCreedy Hall and formed a temporary organization of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company. The organization was to meet again on March third for purpose of making a permanent organization. They had now pledged $18,000 to start with. All farmers that wanted to be insured in the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company were requested to be present at the next meeting, which would be held on May 29th. The Farmers Mutual Insurance met in December to complete their organization, adopting by-laws and electing the following officers: C. A. Swanson, Charles Sherman, C. C. Pilgrim, K. A. Ersland, L. A. Slaatenhus, H. H. Rice. The board organized and elected H. H. Rice president; H. A. Thomas, vice president; K. A. Ersland secretary; L. A. Slaatenhus, trasurer. MR. & MRS. HARAL CHRISTIANSON DRISCOLL, NO. DAK. 58532 Haral Christianson, son of George and Elle Christianson, was born in Helgeland, Norway, April 2nd, 1892. He came to this country with his parents in 1893. They lived in Minnesota for 2 years before moving to Osage, Iowa. He started school in Iowa and in 1907 he moved to Driscoll, No. Dak. with his parents and two brothers and sister. He finished school in Driscoll. He was confirmed with the first confirmation class at the Lutheran Church at Driscoll in 1908. In the spring of 1910 they moved to Lein Township where he farmed with his parents until 1928. In 1917 he helped with building the Zion Lutheran Church where he was janitor for many years. 1946—Gladys, Haral, Ruby, Priscilla, Marian I, Priscilla Olauson, daughter of Martin and Marie Olauson, was born at Sacred Heart, Minn., August 24, 1905 and came to Driscoll with my parents and a sister and brother in 1907 where my parents filed on a homestead near what is known as Stony Slough, where they lived for ten years. I attended school in Driscoll for about six years and finished school in Clear Lake after my parents moved into Clear Lake township in 1917. I was confirmed in the Driscoll Lutheran Church as were our three daughters. I remember a few of the hardships my parents endured and Mother often spoke of a few, like the first fall on the homestead when our house 12x20 was built and the siding and inside was not put up till late in the fall after snow came. There was no way to get coal except to wait till a neighbor could bring some out from town, as my parents did not have horses yet. Poor crops, dry years and the long illness and death of my father in 1925 were just a few of the many hardships our family had to endure. Leonard, Gladys, Priscilla, Haral, Marion, Gordon. 162 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
|
|---|