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At 92 O. B. Stephens Recalls

Early Days of Kroghville Area

Lake Mills Leader 03 05 1942 (A-Z 1900-1949 V4)

We first made his acquaintance some weeks ago when he read an article about early Kroghville history. O. B. Stephens is one of the very few persons living who can remember early Kroghville because he often visited “the pond” where Mr. Krogh’s old woolen mill stood – and the grist mill, as well as several other nearby places.

And when he read about Kroghville as reported in the Eda MacArthur manuscript, O. B. Stephens decided to write a letter. So with stead hand, in spite of his 92 years, he wrote a letter of early Kroghville to the editor.

It isn’t very often that we get a letter from someone who is almost 92, and who knows so very much about the Civil War days. So our curiosity got the best of us and before long we were motoring to Deerfield where he lives today.

We were greeted at the door by O. B. Stephens, and had an enjoyable visit with Deerfield’s oldest man.

To be born in Wisconsin almost a century ago, means you know a lot of people. It means you have seen this state grow from a wilderness to a well-regulated state, and that one has been a charter member of a lot of organizations.

TRAVELED MUCH

He didn’t always stay in Wisconsin, but like the son of his Viking forbearers way back in Norway, he was restless and traveled to the west coast and also to Minnesota, where he spent some years of his life.

But now he is spending the twilight of his life back in the section of Wisconsin he has always known and loved. As he sits in the solitude of his Deerfield home, quite high on the hillside, O. B. Stephens lives with the rich memories of a well-filled life.

Although he is known as O. B. Stephens, Deerfield’s oldest citizen tells that the family name was HUSTVEDT – the name of the farm or “gaard” from whence the family came way back in 1843 to settle in Wisconsin.

“So you see, my name should be BJORN OLSON HUSTVEDT,” explained Mr. Stephens, “but because of confusion, and because there were so many Olsons, we just changed our name to Stephens after father came to America.”

CHARTER MEMBER OF TWO CHURCHES

As a charter member of the Lutheran Church in Liberty Prairie, near Deerfield, the name of the family is still listed as Hustvedt, and a number of relatives still carry the latter name.

The Liberty Prairie Church was founded in 1850-51 and observed its 50th anniversary last summer.

His family also were charter members of the West Koshkonong Church founded in 1843. When the Liberty Prairie Church was founded in 1850-51, the family joined there, because it was two miles nearer their home, although for many years they attended both churches, sometimes going by ox cart.

KIN OF ADMIRAL

For example, there is the well known Rear Admiral Olaf Hustvedt, in command on one of the Navy’s prize battleships, the U. S. S. North Carolina, who is a favorite nephew and carries on a regular correspondence with his Deerfield kin.

A brother of his, was the late Rev. H. B. Hustvedt of Decorah, IN., who, like O. B. Stephens, was the son of Norse immigrants and was born at Liberty Prairie. He was pastor of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church.

(Picture of O. B. Stephens) (article incomplete)

Dane county, who came from Norway in 1843. At the time his parents came to Wisconsin, this was a newly formed state and comprised not only its present terrain, but also what later became Minnesota, Iowa and parts of North and South Dakota. At that time not a mile of railway was located within its borders.

Although confronted with the usual hardships and struggles of pioneer life, these parents sent their sons to college.

O. B. Stephens lives only a few miles from his birthplace today. His early recollections are of Deerfield, Liberty Prairie, and Kroghville. He clearly recalls the laying of a capstone on one of the grist mills built by Mr. Krogh..

RECALLS KROGHVILLE POND

“I can’t say the year, but the building at Kroghville is still there and the property is the same,” he advised a reporter. “The Qually family purchased the property from the Kroghs and they still live in the vicinity of Deerfield.”

To help him recall the days when Kroghville was young, are two more old-timers in their 90’s, who “grew up on the shores of the Kroghville pond”, and they are NELS LARSON and GUNDER BERGLAND, Deerfield.

During his long life, he has traveled much. He crossed the Rockies six times going to the West coast. He lived in Bemidji, Minn., 15 years at Rice Lake 10 years, at Minneapolis, Minn., 10 years where he worked in a book store, owned land and speculated, and at Woodland, Cal., he farmed “long about in “74”.

KEEPS SCRAP BOOK

One of O. B. Stephens’ prized and cherished possessions is his scrap book, which roughly tells of his entire life and his family. Many of the articles are turned yellow with age and some are marked as far back as 1898. Many of the articles have been clipped from Norwegian papers and are written in the Norse script. Pictures of homes in Norway, the rugged mountains and steep hills, are often found in the pages.