Oscar Peterson Log Cabin Legend: 52 Ancestors Prompt "Legend"

52 Weeks, 52 Ancestors Prompt: Legend

Oscar Peterson House: The Log Cabin Legend

                My father’s brother, Oscar Peterson, owned the farm across the road from my father’s farm.  The farm had a large barn to house Oscar’s milk cows, a pasture and grove, and a small house with perhaps 5 rooms and a bathroom. Oscar and his wife, Mabel Mork Peterson, raised two children in this small home, my cousins Elaine and Roger Peterson.


                Aunt Mabel sometimes referred to her home as “the log cabin”. I hadn’t paid much attention to this claim. I thought she was joking about the house’s rather cramped and awkward construction. But this was no joke and no legend--Mabel was being serious. as I discovered to my shock years later When Roger and his wife Karen decided to replace the old house with a newer, more spacious and up-to-date home a few years ago, I discovered to my shock that beneath the house’s white siding and newer roof was a real log cabin. 

Roger had known about the cabin, and had hired a St. Peter-based company called Terrasol run by Angie Haack and Mark Johnson to dismantle the building. The company specializes in building new log cabins using wood salvaged from old buildings like Oscar’s cabin. Terrasol carefully deconstructed the cabin, saving the logs and other materials for reuse. The company constructs modern cabins for clients who want all the bells and whistles of new construction, yet appreciate history and want to use vintage materials. The salvage process was covered by the local paper.

So how did my uncle, aunt and cousins come to be living in a well-disguised log cabin? The property was originally owned by the Roland family, Norwegian immigrants who arrived several decades before my Peterson ancestors. Niels or Nels Christenson Roland was born in Norway around 1821, as was his wife, recorded variously as Oline or Olive, and his three oldest children, Peter, Christian and Mathias. According to local records, they live in Faaberg near Lake Mjosen.

From the 1880 census record below, we see that Mathias, age 15, was born in Norway in 1865, while daughter Mary, age 11, was born in Minnesota. Thus we can approximate their arrival in America as occurring between 1866 and 1869. The 1900 census states they immigrated in 1866. 

Roland family census record from 1900

According to a township history written by Ole Synsteby (see bibliography below), the Rolands first occupied a sod house on the land they were homesteading in Section 24 of Brown County in the late 1860s. Synsteby writes, “At first (Roland) also lived in a dugout, but later built a log house, and this log house happened to be right in the path of the cyclone that smashed up the Unitarian church, just built that summer; the roof was torn off Roland’s house, and some of the upper logs were dislocated, but none of the family were hurt.”

The Rolands’ youngest son, Nels, was born December 9, 1870, probably in the log cabin. By the 1900 census, Nels is 29, and is working as a teacher. He was still living with his parents, three siblings, and a niece. By this point, my grandparents are living across the road with the first three of their children, beginning a long period of friendship between the two families. 

By 1910, Nels’ brother Christian has moved out, and Nels has taken over as head of household and the main farmer in the family, helped by his 47-year-old brother Mathias. His parents are in their late 80s, so sister Mary was serving as the main housekeeper for the family. The census also shows that the Peterson household across the road has now added 7-month-old Oscar to the family.

By 1920, Nels’ situation has changed dramatically. His parents have died. His brother Mathias has ended up in the St. Peter State Hospital, which housed both mentally ill patients and also served as a sanitorium for tuberculosis patients. It is unclear which category Mathias fell into. Nels and Mathias’ sister Mary has married a cousin named Christian Roland and is living in Rapidan, Minnesota.  Nels has been left alone in the log cabin, running the farm by himself.

As Nels grew older, he realized he would need help, both to run the farm, and to cook and take care of the house. My uncle Oscar was courting Mabel Mork, and hoped to get married, if only he could find a way to buy a farm so he could support a wife and family. According to family legend, Nels and Oscar came to an arrangement. Oscar and Mabel would move into Nels’ home and would take over running the farm. They would care for Nels, who was now in his 60s, and in return, Nels would leave Oscar the farm at his death. 

                                      Mabel Mork/Oscar Peterson wedding

Oscar and Mabel married on March 6, 1931, and apparently moved into Roland’s cabin following the wedding. Ole Synsteby’s book, written in 1933, notes that in Section 24, “there is only one man of the old pioneer family living on his father’s old homestead and owning it, and that is Nels Roland Jr.”

Oscar and Mabel’s daughter Elaine was born July 2, 1932, and son Roger was born January 28, 1939. The 1940 census shows the four Petersons living at the Roland farm with Nels, who is listed as “owner” while Oscar is listed as “head” of the household, with farming as his occupation. Nels was 69 by this date. 

Nels eventually dies in 1955. I am not sure whether he was still living with Oscar and Mabel at this point, or if he moved in with his sister or another relative as he entered his 80s. The death record only lists the location of death as “Brown County”. I have found no record of his will or estate settlement, so I’m not sure exactly when Oscar became the actual owner of the farm and the log cabin.

At some point, the cabin was remodeled. An addition was built, the home was sided and storm windows were installed. An asphalt shingle roof was put on, and the interior had plumbing, electricity, central heating, insulation and wall boards added, completely covering up the log walls that lay beneath. The home I remember did not look like a cabin at all. 

Oscar died in 1966, and Mabel died in 1979. By that time, Roger had married and taken over the farm, and Mabel was living in a mobile home just east of the cabin/house.

                     House with Roger and Karen's daughters Brenda and Beth

I still find it hard to believe that there was a log cabin just across the road from my home all these years and I never realized it. What an exciting discovery. I am so grateful that my cousin made the choice to reuse and repurpose this little piece of area history.

Bibliography:

Interesting Tales of Pioneer Days in Lake Hanska and Vicinity by Ole Synsteby. Written in 1933, published in 1942, and reprinted by the Brown County Historical Society, Copyright 2017. Quotes from pages 37 and 39.