O.H. Monserud

O. H. Monserud, a prosperous and progressive farmer of Taylor township, owning in association with his wife three hundred and sixty acres of fine land on sections 7 and 8, was born here June 6, 1854, his parents being Ole and Sophia Hanson, natives of Norway. They came to America in 1851 and settled as pioneers in Allamakee county, where the father died in August, 1854. The mother afterward married Peter O. Monserud and the subject of this review took his stepfather's name.

O. H. Monserud was educated in the district schools of Taylor township and in Decorah College, and after laying aside his books he clerked for four years in a store operated by Nielander & Company and others at Lansing. Afterward he turned his attention to farming, buying one hundred and thirty acres of land from his father-in-law, Nils Bottolson. To this he has since added some of his wife's property and they own together three hundred and sixty acres of choice land on sections 7 and 8, Taylor township. This tract is well improved, provided with a beautiful brick residence, barns and outbuildings and the necessary labor-saving machinery. Mr. Monserud also owns one hundred and sixty acres in South Dakota and gives practically all of his time and attention to his agricultural pursuits, winning that success which always follows earnest and persistent labor.

In 1876 Mr. Monserud was united in marriage to Miss Mather Bottolson and they have become the parents of seven children: Nils Oliver, who is president of the bank at Humboldt, South Dakota, and a member of the state highway commission of South Dakota; Minnie, the deceased wife of J. M. Boardman; Joseph, who has passed away; Alfred M., who is married and lives in Chicago, where he is a fireman on the Chicago & Alton Railroad; Martha C., Walter H., and William, who live at home. Some time after the death of Mr. Bottolson Mr. and Mrs. Monserud moved from their home to that of Mrs. Monserud's widowed mother and here they now reside.

Mr. Monserud gives his political allegiance to the republican party and is interested in the cause of education, having been for thirty-two years a member of the school board. He was postmaster at Eldergson for seven years, an officer in the Scandinavian Mutual Insurance Company for thirty-five years, and for ten years president of the Farmers Cooperative Creamery at Waterville, Iowa. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church and are people of exemplary character, commanding and holding the respect and confidence of their neighbors and friends, among whom they have resided for many years.

-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Jan Miller

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