You Been Farming Long?

Remember the poster of the two little boys in their bib overalls? They were standing in the yard, about to kick a bit of gravel with the toe of one of their work boots. One of them had his hands in the pockets of his overalls. The one dimensional poster invited the viewer to imagine that one looked down a bit and then tilted his head back up and looked at the first little boy and asked, “You been farming long?”

The Norseland/New Sweden Community has quite a few little boys that grew into men and then farmed for quite a long time. Farms started over 100 years ago have been passed down from generation to generation. The Minnesota Century Farm program acknowledges those farms and a listing at the Nicollet County Museum indicates 21 farms in the Norseland/New Sweden Area that have been in the same family for over 100 years.
(These are the names of the farm owners at the time Century Farm designation was bestowed. Today, the farms may be officially owned by different family members.)
1. James Allerson
2. Hubert Anderson
3. Martin Annexstad
4. Marian Anthony
5. Robert Bjorklund
6. Wayne Bjorklund
7. William Brandt
8. Garfield Eckberg
9. Carroll Hermanson
10. Ernest Jonason
11. Harvey Johnson
12. Emily Lokensgard
13. Richard Nelson
14. Duane/Marilyn Olmanson
15. Valborg Pearson
16. Allen Quist
17. Warren Rodning
18. Howard Swenson
19. Ellis Thorson
20. Floyd Tungsvik
21. Don Webster
Several of these farms have been in the same family for 150 or more years. These farms will be highlighted in our book. Remember, HISTORY MATTERS.end