06/24/2026
NOW AND THEN
6-24-2026
Excerpts from the 1985 interview of Carl Larson by Sharon Saxton
I was born in 1902. I lost my parents when I was one month old. My mother first and then my dad. I was adopted by my mother’s parents Olaus and Karen Larson. Olaus and Karen had 9 children of their own, seven boys and two girls.
My grandpa Olaus immigrated in 1870 and came to Evansville in the autumn of 1871. He and my grandma Karen were married in March 1872. All seven of my uncles got to be farmers along with grandpa. They farmed 2200 acres of land with horses. We had around 32 horses besides the colts. We had lots of cattle, sheep and hogs. The barn built in 1905 was 58 feet by 86 feet with cows on one side, horses on the other and hay in the center. Hand sawed lumber from the pasture close by was used to build the barn. At threshing time, they hired a man who had a thresher. Threshing lasted about three weeks during good weather.
I like trees and nature. I used to trap gophers and other fur bearing animals. In the woods there were lots of lakes and ponds. I would trap to get extra money. I would get 25 cents for a nice muskrat pelt. I would get 3-4 dollars for a mink pelt. Mink were precious.
I walked 1 ½ miles each day to District #90 School. I didn’t like school, I graduated from 8th grade. My teachers’ names were Clara and Helen Olson, Takla Anderson, Ida Erickson, and Esther Skogg. They were all good teachers.
My grandma baked all her own bread. She’d bake 12-15 loafs at a crack plus cookies and doughnuts. I had a lot of privileges that my uncle’s and aunt didn’t have when they were young. I could eat cookies when I wanted to. I also got to eat more candy.
Cranberries grew in our little slough. Whey were wild cranberries. When the slough (bog) froze over, my uncles and I would go down and pick quart pails of them.
We cut ice for the icehouse by first finding a lake with good clean water, then when the ice was 24-36 inches thick, a saw was used to cut a cake about 3-foot square. We’d haul them home with 2-3 sleds and horses, stack them in the icehouse and put sawdust about one foot think around all the ice and then two feet of sawdust on top of the ice. It would last all summer.
We farmed mostly with Percheron horses. We had a few Belgians in the last years. The uncles took care of the horses. I was more interested in the milking of the cows. We milked 22 by hand. No milk was sold in those days, only the cream. The cream check used to buy groceries and paid for miscellaneous expenses on the farm.
I was told that in 1878 we had grasshoppers so thick they devoured everything. Grandma took her dress and covered her special apple tree. They ate up her dress, and all the leaves off the tree. They ate all the grass and the grain. When they left it was black, you couldn’t see the sun. The trees came back.
Grandpa said In 1878 – 1879 he got work building the railroad. They would build up the mounds for the track. He was paid $1.00 a day for working on the railroad. Other than that job, he was a farmer all his life. He kept buying land and then when my uncles got older, they started to buy land. The home farm was 400 acres. The big woods he bought for $5 an acre. There were 160 acres of woods.
I lived with my grandparents until I got married to Cecil Sauers in 1931. I was 29 years old. I was township supervisor for 30 years, we built, graveled and maintained roads. We settled disputes between farmers about water running from one place to another. We were responsible for 38-40 miles of new roads built during my 30 years as the supervisor.
I was on the school board for 12 years and the church board for 31 years. I’ve been and still am on the cemetery board and it’s now been 44 years. There’s been such a change in the cemetery since Alf Thompson helped us. There’s no comparison as to what it was then and is now. Back then everybody took care of their own lot. The vacant lots weren’t kept up so it looked bad.
Cecil and I have six children, three boys and three girls. Lorraine, Ronald, Harold, Janice, Dennis and Wanda. All graduated from Evansville and they are all married.
From March 1973 Evansville Booster – Carl found a large buffalo skull while plowing in a slough that he had drained this past summer. The skull was well preserved being covered with earth and water all these years.
The property Carl farmed was declared a Century farm in 2005. It was originally purchased in 1902. Two of Carl’s uncles owned it prior to he, and later by his son Harold, and now it is the home of Jeffrey and Karen Larson.
Cecil died in 1991 and Carl passed away in 1992. Carl’s obituary repeats his statement of liking trees and nature by indicating “Carl is a lover of trees and had planted many trees in the Evansville area. He cared for his own trees as well as helping others with their trees.
We are so thankful Carl was willing to share his memories for us to read about 40 years later.
Friday July 3 - As part of the Evansville 4th of July Celebration - Our buildings will be open 10 am – 3 pm for self-guided tours. Also catch the trolly here for Town Trolly Tours loading/departing on the ½ hour.
Summer hours: Monday - Thursday, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Additional hours are available by appointment.
