Growing up, the farm next to ours--the only one in view from my family's home--was the Hartstrom farm. To me, the house had a grandness about it. My Mom's mother (a foster daughter of the Hartstrom's) was raised here for eighteen years. The original part of it was built in 1906 by Albert Hartstrom and his friend Gus Mattson--a two-story house with a cellar. This was enlargened in later years. It still stands, quite straight although in the past several years the porch area has started to cave in.
Albert (born in Sweden) and Katterena (born in Finland) Hartstrom immigrated to the United States in 1883. They lived in Ironwood, Michigan, and then on a farm near French Lake, Minnesota. Their oldest son, Carl William (Billy), decided to file a claim in North Dakota in 1905. The following year, his father Albert, and a few months later, his brother Fred, filed claims near Billy in Sikes Township.
Katterena was an experienced midwife, who continued to deliver babies in the area.
The back view of the Hartstrom house. (The view from our farm.)
The house from the west, with the collapsed barn in front of picture.
Jana investigating the decrepit porch.
In the attic. (Photo by Jana.)
I liked the wooden dowels in the door frame.
A door handle.
One of the out buildings near the house.
The roof of a granary.
A view from the yard toward the west.
#Hartstrom #NorthDakota #homestead #AlbertHartstrom #KatterenaHartstrom #FredHartstrom #BillyHartstrom #GusMattson
