Washburn County WIGenWeb Project

People Histories

Erick Dahlstrom
(21 Nov 1855 - 20 Jan 1937¹)

-As transcribed from the "COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF THE UPPER LAKES REGION"

by J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, IL, 1905

pages 386 - 387

Erick Dahlstrom is one of the enterprising farmers of the town of Bashaw, Washburn county. He was born in Mora, Sweden, Nov. 21, 1855, son of Erick and Anna Dahlstrom, who came with their family to the United States in 1868.

Erick Dahlstrom, Sr., a blacksmith by trade, lived for a year or two in Minnesota, and then settled in Polk county, Wis., where he took up a homestead claim. About 1884 he moved to Shell Lake, where he died in 1898, aged seventy-two years, after a life of quiet industry. Mrs. Anna Dahlstrom is now living, aged nearly four score years, in Rusk, Burnett county, Wis. Of her seven or eight children only two survive, Andrew, a farmer in the town of Rusk; and Erick.

Erick Dahlstrom had little opportunity for schooling after coming to this country, but managed to acquire a good knowledge of English, and a fund of general information. When he was fourteen he began work as a farm laborer, and after about 1882 spent his winters in the woods, and his summers at carpentering. In 1886 he bought land in the town of Bashaw, where he now owns 270 acres, about sixty acres of which he has brought under cultivation. The farm is watered by a living spring, and a stream which he has stocked with trout; he has ample barns, and a good farm house, built by himself. When he first located on this farm he was obliged to clear his own road through the woods from Shell Lake. He has given much attention to logging and contracting, cutting considerable timber on his own land. He has built most of the roads in the township, and served as assessor for three years when the township was first organized. He was also for three years chairman of the town board. In politics he is a Republican.

In 1880 Mr. Dahlstrom married Bertha Nelson, who was born near Christiania, Norway, daughter of Hans Nelson, one of the early settlers in Polk county, Wis., where he located in 1869. Seven children have been born to this union, as follows: Anna, of Kalispell, Mont.; Hilda; Oscar; Harry; Mary; Jennie; and Melvin. The family is connected with the Lutheran Church.

1 - Editorial Note - Erick Dahlstrom's death date is derived from his death record, which is on file at the Washburn Co. Register of Deeds Office in Death Vol. 11, page 56. An obituary can also be found on this website, located here.