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ANDREW GILBERTSON

It is always pleasant and profitable to contemplate the career of a man who has made a success of life and won the honor and respect of his fellow citizens. Such is the record of the well known farmer whose name heads this sketch, than whom a more whole-souled or popular man it would be difficult to find within the limits of the township where he has his home.

Andrew Gilbertson, whose attractive and productive homestead is located in Clermont township, Fayette county, is a native of far-away Norway, where his birth took place on the 19th day of September, 1866. His parents,  Ole  and  Rachael (Anderson) Gilbertson, were also natives of Norway, the father having been born on August 12, 1835, and the mother on September 4, 1837. They came to the United States and to Fayette County in 1869 and settled on forty acres of land, to which the father devoted his energies with satisfactory results. As he prospered he added to his landed possessions until he became the owner of one hundred and ten acres. He was successful as a farmer and is now able to live in retirement from active labor, enjoying that rest which he has so richly earned. He is a Republican in political belief and he and his wife are members of the Lutheran church. They became the parents of three children, as follows: Julia, who died at the age of sixteen years; Gilbert, who died at the age of three years; and Andrew, the immediate subject of this sketch.

Andrew Gilbertson was reared under the parental roof and secured a good practical education in the public schools of this country, having been an infant of but three years when the family came to Fayette county. He early in boyhood took up his share of the farm work and he has never departed from that line of work, having had the discernment to foresee the wonderful possibilities open to the farmers of this country. He has given careful thought and intelligent direction to his efforts and his labor has been abundantly rewarded. He is the owner of three hundred and fifty acres of land, which he devotes to the raising of all the crops common to this section of the country, and he also, with good results, devoted considerable attention to the raising of livestock. His farm is characterized by improvements of a high order, including a comfortable and attractive residence, commodious barns and other necessary outbuildings, the general appearance of the place indicating the owner to be a man of good judgment and excellent taste.

In 1897 Mr. Gilbertson was united in marriage to Sarah Goth, who was born in Clayton county, this state, the daughter of Halsten and Rachel Goth. These parents were early settlers of this part of the state, having come to Clayton county in 1853. Her father died in Clermont in 1909, and he is survived by his widow, who is now eighty years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Gilbertson have been born four children, namely: Rose, Oscar, Roy and Helen.

The political creed embodied in the platforms of the Republican party have met with the approval of Mr. Gilbertson, who has given that party his support ever since attaining his majority. He takes a keen interest in public affairs, though not a seeker after public office. Religiously, he is a faithful member of the Lutheran church, to which the members of his family also belong. Public spirited and progressive in his views, Mr. Gilbertson has ever given his support to those measures which have promised to be of material benefit to the community and he is justly numbered among its representative citizens.

~transcribed for the Fayette Co IAGenWeb Project by Doris A. Smith