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John
Thoreson and Ingeborg Sakariasdatter emigrated from Norway in 1877.
Although they crossed the Atlantic on the same boat, family lore has it that
they never really met on the boat. Ingeborg resided with the higher-priced
ticket-holders, while John remained below deck with the lower-fare
travelers.
After
settling in Suttons Bay, marrying, and starting their family, the Thoresons
loaded their belongings into a wagon and led their six cows to Port Oneida.
John drove the wagon, while his son Ole (Leonard’s father) “had to chase the
cattle." They “threw a little hay on the back of the wagon and hoped the
cattle would follow.” The first day “was a terrible day." The cattle were
fresh, running all through the woods.
In
addition to being a farmer, John Thoreson was “a lumberman, a
wood-chopper." He managed his work with a “crippled” hand. Some said he
burned it when one of the early power lines in the region came down, and he
chopped it with his ax. Others said "it was deformed from hanging onto the
ax" as he cleared his fields and worked the lumber woods. |
