| Summary: | The original Oscar H. Anderson farmsite, now the residence of Erling Anderson, Ted and Gertrude Omoth. 1963 photo. ERLING ANDERSON Erling Anderson, son of Oscar H. and Hilda Swenson Anderson, was born November 6,1923 at his parents' home in Sec. 16 of Rock Township. He attended grade school at Plainview School No. 1 (Rock Twp. Hall) and graduated from there in May, 1937. The teachers who taught there during those years were: Elvira Moe (Mrs. John Stenberg of Minnewaukan), Edna Nordlund (Mrs. Lars Jenson of Fargo) and Agnes Aslakson, now living in Bowdon. After graduation from grade school, Erling has been farming on the homeplace ever since, except for the period between March, 1950 to November, 1953. During this time he operated the Sheyenne Theater and also was employed at Garnaas Bros, store for two winters. Ted and Gertrude Omoth, who had been with Erling since* his father's death in 1940, rented the farm during these years. After find out that show business was not a paying proposition and taking a good financial "shellacking" on top of it, he returned to farming and went into a partnership with the Omoths. Beginning in about 1961, Erling was an income tax practitioner for several years. Thru the years Mr. Anderson served on several local boards; clerk of Plainview School District for two years, township treasurer for several years, Oberon F.U. Elevator board, Community Credit Union of New Rockford and the Farmers Union Shipping Assn. of Sheyenne. OSCAR H. ANDERSON FAMILY Oscar H. Anderson was born in the province of Smaland, Sweden, on December 7,1887. At the age of sixteen he went to northern Sweden and worked in his uncle's general store for two years. In 1906 he decided to seek his fortune elsewhere and came to America. He worked in the Mr. and Mrs. Oscar H. Anderson's wedding picture -1921 Brandon, Minn, area for a few months. In the fall of the same year he came to Rock Township where two of his brothers, Emil J. Anderson and Fred Grondahl had homesteaded earlier. The next couple of years were spent working in the surrounding area. He worked in Grandfield Township, west of Sheyenne, for a while on the Seastrand, Mattson and A.G. Nelson farms. While in Grandfield he also helped during the building of the Augustana Lutheran Church. He clerked for a short time in Garnaas Bros. Store in Sheyenne and a few winters worked in the logging industry in Minnesota. In 1909, Oscar homesteaded on 40 acres in Sec. 15 and about the same time purchased a quarter of school land in Sec. 16 of Rock Township. He built his first farmsite in Sec. 15 and then settled down to cultivate his new land, dig rock and raise grain. Old timers' stories showed that the homesteaders life wasn't always a bed of roses. Many a cold winter morning found the fire out in the coal and wood heater and the temperature in the house not much higher than the temperature outside. The water pail often was frozen over. One story told of a homesteader frying pancakes for breakfast and at the same time the pancake batter was freezing on the water reservoir on the other side of the stove. Oscar told of that twice strong winds blew his little old shanty on the homestead off of its foundation and moved it a hundred feet or so. He told of another time he was home alone in the winter and had a rupture attack, the pain being so terrific he couldn't stand on his feet. In those days there wasn't any telephone to contact the neighbors, so he crawled and dragged himself for a quarter of a mile to the John K. Olson home. There they bedded him down in a sleigh and was taken to Sheyenne, a doctor gave him a shot of morphine to ease the pain and was then taken to New Rockford Hospital for an operation. Oscar H. Anderson farm Homestead shack of Oscar H. Anderson 417 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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