5/07/01
From: "Patti Gottschall Schuknecht" <gramsiepat-pinecrest@prodigy.net>
Irene [Mrs. Phil] Glimme Statz
W 9573 County Rd. K
Lodi WI 53555
608-592-3558
From: "Patti Gottschall Schuknecht" <gramsiepat-pinecrest@prodigy.net>
History of Columbia County WI 1914 - page 461:
L. H. Spilde. From no country has Wisconsin received a greater
proportion
of its population and no finer stock than from Norway. The
Norwegians
were among the early settlers in Columbia county, and one
of the families which
deserves mention in this history was that of
Spilde, which has been
identified with the towns of Dekorra and
Arlington since pioneer times.
Mr. L. H. Spilde is a son of the
original emigrant. with the exception of
four years in Iowa, he has
spent all his life in Columbia county, and is not
only a substantial
farmer, but has been honored with civic positions.
Born in the town
of Dekorra, February 9, 1854, L. H. Spilde is a son
of Hans and Anna
(Berguson) Spilde. both parents came from Norway. The
father was
twice married, the name of his first wife having been Madli Westrheim.
On coming to Columbia county, Hans Spilde first settled in the town of
Dekorra. He found land which had not yet passed from government
ownership, and settled on a tract of one hundred and sixty acres. Like
many other
early settlers, he had practically no money and depended
upon the labor of
his own hands to supply the necessities of life to
his family. His first home was in the
nature of a dugout, and from
that his household moved into a log building.
From Dekorra he
finally moved to Arlington, and was in debt
for practically the
entire amount which he proposed to pay for the land.
It was by a
process of long industry, continued through a number of years,
that
he rid himself of the burden of debt and established a home free from
obligation and containing the substantial comforts of life. The first
building put up on the land was a little house fourteen by sixteen feet,
and it served as a habitation for several years, until greater
prosperity
enabled him to give his family a better home. There the
father spent his
last years and died in 1893. He was a member of the
Lutheran church. The
mother is still living and has her home with her
son, L. H. Besides the
last named, there is a half-brother, Hans, and
a sister, Madli, who
married Peter Glimme, and her death occurred in
1898.
Mr. L. H. Spilde married Anna Davidson, a daughter of Goodman
Davidson. Their little family of children are mentioned as follows:
Alice, born May
8, 1876, died at the age of sixteen years; George,
born December 27, 1879,
died July 19, 1899; Edna, born March 17,
1883; and Lawrence, born December 2,
1895. Mr. L. H. Spilde now has
the management of four hundred and twenty
acres, a splendid estate,
both in size and in the resources and improvements.
Since he assumed
the burden of its management, he has improved it in many ways,
and
practically all the present buildings were erected by him. For several
years he
has served a chairman of the town board. In politics the
family has been Republican
for many years.
With the information I have received in the past couple of days, it
would appear that my great great grandmother was Anna Olavsd. Spilde
(1852-1871) unrelated or distantly related to her sister-in-law Madli
Hansd. Spilde.
To do: