Deep Roots Family Tree Blog

Part 1 – Lars Gullickson (my 3rd great-grandfather)

My moms side of the family has been pretty well documented not only by my Uncle Joe (my moms brother) but also those that came before him. Unlike my dads side of the family, there are many stories that have been passed down from generation to generation and most have been written and digitized in some way. I’m thankful to be able to build upon the work that has already been done.

In a previous post, we looked at the short life of Selma Gullickson (1888-1911), my 2nd great-grandmother. Now we are going to dive into the lives of her parents, Lars A. Gullickson (1863-1924) and Mary “Marie” Olson/Oxhovd (1869-1941). Even with only one photo of Selma, you can tell that she got most of her features from Lars, from his long, thin face and sunken eyes to the thick dark hair. My great grandmother, Ida, was raised by Lars and Marie after her mom, Selma, died in 1911.

Lars was born in Homer, Winona County, Minnesota on June 6th 1863 to Albert Gullickson and Ingeborg Halvorsdatter, both originally from Norway. Lars was an excellent blacksmith who was highly regarded by any community that he was in close proximity to at the time.

An article from the ‘Northwestern Souvenir’ in 1896 proves just that. The Northwestern Souvenir was a pamphlet devoted to the trade interests and natural resources. Below is a transcription.

“There is no branch of mechanical skill that needs more untiring industry and thorough study than the blacksmith business in all its multifarious details. The leading exponent of this trade was Mr. L.

Gullickson, the leading blacksmith, wagon maker, and expert horsehoer of Minnewaukan, who established his business there in April of 1894. Mr. Gullickson had a large and thorough experience in the business, and made a specialty of general blacksmithing, forging, repairing of wagons, road carts, buckboards, plow, etc. As a professional horseshoer he stood pre-eminently at the head, and made a special feature of setting horses to right afflicted with corns, ulcers, quarter cracks, forging or over reaching, contraction, badly adjusted shoes, etc. Mr. Gullickson hailed from Minnesota, and during his valuable and honorable career he succeeded in capturing the most lucrative business among his contemporaries. He was thoroughly skilled and reliable and guaranteed perfect satisfaction to all. In conclusion, he won a well deserved success. His place of business was on B Street, Block 44.

Lars Gullickson succeeded Samuel Chapman and in turn Fred Moltke took over the business. Gullickson moved to Maddock in 1900 and started a shop there. Mr. Gullickson was married and lived in the northeast quarter of the village, while in Minnewaukan.”

It gives me a great sense of pride knowing that someone in my family was such a prominent part of a community and was incredibly skilled at what he did. A blacksmith! Knowing the geography of the area, although a bit more populated today, the towns are incredibly small and I imagine many people travelled to Lars for his blacksmithing services. Lars did end up moving to and passing away in Cogswell, North Dakota, which is where my grandpa LeRoy was born. Stirum in 2025 likely has less than 70 people living there, and most of the family that I had living there are long gone. Grandpa’s oldest sister, Vune, was the last one from the family living there and she passed away in 2012. Last time I was there, Cogswell still had an operating post office, and a bar/grill.

I always look forward to going back and visiting the old, tiny town. Cosgwell is maybe a 12 minute drive to Stirum, which is were much of my mom’s maternal side of the family came from, and where we had the Bartl family reunions. Also close to Stirum and Cogswell is the cemetary where Great-grandpa Charlie and Grandma Ida were buried with the majority of their 17 children. I try to make an effort to go to both the Forman and Cogswell cemetaries when I visit just to say “Hi.”

I find it very peaceful.