Scanning and OCR by Joy Fisher, jfisher@ucla.edu
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This book was produced by the Onida Watchman and is not copyrighted. Reproduction of all editorial and pictorial matter is explicitly permitted.
James C. Lomheim and his brother, Knute, came to Sully County in an emigrant car in 1885. They left Norway in 1883 for America, stopping at an uncle's in Lodi, Wisconsin, and working for him raising blooded horses for two years in order to get $50.00 to make the trip on to Dakota Territory. They brought one horse and an ox with them which was all the power they had to pull the plow. Knute filed on the Southwest of 12 in Hartford Township, now farmed by Kenneth Marsh, proved up on his land and after three years moved to Minot, North Dakota. He married and later moved to Alberta, Canada, where they raised a-familv of 12 children. Knute died in 1932. James C. Lomheim filed on the Northwest of 22 in Hartford Township as a homestead, and on the Southwest of 16, as a tree claim. He built a sod shanty and some other buildings. He and Knute worked together at their small farming operations, buying more oxen and later on more horses. Christopher Olsen Lomheim, father of James and Knute, arrived from Norway in 1886, a year after his sons came to sully County, bringing four of his younger children, Louis, Gertrude, Anna and Kristena. The family had lived on a farm named "Lomheim" in Norway and all relatives coming to America kept that name. Two sons of Christopher O. remained in Norway. Christopher Lomheim lived on the home farm of "Lomheim" and Ole Alme, who moved to the farm "Alme", hence took that name.
[photo - Christopher Olsen Lomhelm. First Generation of Lomheirns to settle in Hartford Township.] Christopher O. Lomheim filed on the Southwest of 21 in Hartford Township, one-half mile from his son James. He lived alone here, the four children having settled in Pierre, where Louis was a barber for a number of years. The sisters married and later moved to the state of Washington, as did Louis and family. Mr. Lomheim went to live for a time with his daughter, Anna Smith, in Lead, South Dakota, and returned to Norway in 1906, where he died in 1908, at the age of 78. [photo - Mr. and Mrs. James C. Lomheim, 1932. Pioneers of Hartford Township.]
James C. Lomheim and Louise Asmussen were married on Thanksgiving Day in 1891. There were 12 children born to them. Chas. Manford was born in the sod shanty. The next year a wood shack was bought and moved to the home site. Gertrude and Albert were born in this shack. At this time, the Brooking Schoolhouse was moved from the Northeast of 23 to the Northeast of 27. Later it was called the Walsh School. The following year, James moved his family and buildings to the Northeast of 26, where they now stand. Several additions were added as the family became larger, and he did most of the carpenter work himself. Anna, Margaret, Mary, Clarence, Alice (died at age three years), Marvin (died at three months), the twins (born prematurely) and Henry Christopher were all born on this place. All of the children in the Lomheim family attended the same school that their mother attended when she was a young girl. Her parents, the Mathias Asmussens, lived in Garner Township on Section Six at that time. There were six Lomheim children attending the Walsh School at a time for several years. Gertrude Lomheim taught her first term of school in the Walsh School in 1912-13. There were six pupils, all Lomheims, but one, who was Leonard Walsh. James became the largest land owner in Hartford Township and with the help of his children farmed a lot of this land, also raising many cattle, horses and hogs. Mrs. Lomheim was an excellent cook and buttermaker, shipping 60 pound tubs every week to Wayne & Low at Chicago, besides delivering butter and eggs to her regular customers and the stores in Onida for many years. The henhouse was a sod house and her hens laid eggs the year round. She was selling eggs when her neighbors were buying them. Many cows were milked by hand and there were no facilities for cooling the milk, cream and butter in those days. An outside cave and shallow well way down in the ravine served the purpose, entailing a lot of hard and tedious work. Water for household use was carried up this long hill, and soft water was hauled on a stoneboat with a barrel from the pond for washing and hogs. With all her sewing, cleaning, baking and caring for her large family, Mrs. Lomheim found time to bake for the bachelors in the neighborhood. Cow chips were gathered by Louise and the children to use as firewood, sometimes there were corncobs, and James, with the help of his sons, would make a trip now and then to the Missouri River to bring back logs that were made into stove wood, sawing them in the right lengths for the kitchen range, which was the only means of heating the house, until the later years. Somehow the family never froze, although the walls in the bedrooms sparkled with diamonds during the winter months. They had a straw burner that fit over the two front lids on the range, and even coarse hay was used in it for heating purposes.
Having no church in the community, Union Sunday School was held in the schoolhouse, and at times traveling ministers would hold services there. Farm families seemed to appreciate and enjoy the benefits of regular attendance at Sunday School in those days. Each small community furnished its own entertainment, have a Literary Society, home talent plays, programs, music and singing. For the most part the pioneers were a contented and happy people with visions for the future and ambitions to carry them through, often beyond their fondest hopes and expectations.
The Lomheim Children
Chas. M. Lomheim and Sopha M. Schreiber were married in September, 1921 They lived on a farm three miles north of Agar for a number of years where their four children were born; Carol Louise, who married David Zilverberg. They live on their ranch in Hyde County and have four children, Lynn, Timothy David, Lucinda Louise and Julia Faye. Kathleen Marie married Ward Doren and live near Madison, South Dakota. Manford Edwin and Sylvia Wittler were married and have a daughter, Monica Marie, living on the Albert O. Lomheim farm. Marcel Chas. married Mary Jean Thompson. They have a son, Garry Dean, and two daughters, Debra Marie and Kathy Marlene. They live on the old home place of J. C. Lomheim, now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Chas. M. Lomheim. Marcel operates the ranch, raising cattle and farming the land. Chas. M. remained at his parental home the longest of the children. During a severe winter with deep snow on the prairie and feed scarce, Chas. would set out on his skiis and travel miles in order to locate the horses which were turned loose to shift for themselves. He and Gertrude graduated from the eighth grade together the year that Jesse T. Hayes taught the Walsh School, and T. L. Mitchell was county superintendent. Sopha taught in the Sully County schools a number of years before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Lomheim are remodeling their house in Onida preparing to move into it this fall. Gertrude married Wilber Snell, in July, 1914, and Hved at Wolsey South Dakota, where he was assistant cashier of the Bank of Wolsey. They had a son, Kenneth Wesley, who died in infancy. They moved to Tulare in 1918, to accept positions in the Citizens State Bank, Wilber as cashier and Gertrude as assistant cashier. After two years Wilber became ill and resigned. Gertrude was appointed postmaster of Tulare, a position she held for over 13 years. Wilber was an invalid for over nine years, passing away in January, 1929. She came to live in Onida in 1944, where she farmed her land in Hartford and Garner townships. She owns the home she built in 1946, spending her time at many hobbies. She is serving her sixth year as City Councilman, having had the honor of being the only woman councilman in the state.
Albert O. Lomheim and his wife, Hazel, own the land which includes the original homestead of his father, J. C. Lomheim. Albert and Hazel now live in Onida but still farm a good share of the land. They have five children. Their oldest daughter, Doris Clark and her husband Jack and family live in Hughes county. James, the oldest son, and his wife Darleen are doing missionary work in South America. Albert, Jr. and his wife Shirley and family own and operate a farm in Richvalley Township. Lewis and his wife Ardis and children live in Rhode Island where Lewis is in the Navy Air Corp. Joan, the youngest daughter, is a high school student at the Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, Canada. Anna married Melvin J. Todd in 1916, and now live in McMinnville, Oregon. Margaret married George R. Harvey, and they have two sons, Kenneth and Walter. The Harveys live in San Diego, California. Mary married John W. Harvey in 1927. They have two sons and two daughters, Richard, Robert, Mary Ellen and Sara Jane. The Harveys own and operate an orchard at Selah, Washington, in the Yakima Valley apple country. Clarence took up the carpenter trade at an early age and did some farming in the thirties. On January 18, 1951, he married Texas Rucker-Lambert of Sweetwater, Texas. They own the home they built in Onida.
[photo - Daughters of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Lomheim. Back row, left to right - Mary (Mrs. John W. Harvey) and Gertrude (Mrs. Wilber Snell). Front row - Margaret (Mrs. George R. Harvey) and Anna (Mrs. M. J. Todd). Reunion in 1945.] [photo - Sons of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Lomheim. Left to right-Henry, Clarence, Charles and Albert. Reunion in 1946.]
The Henry C. Lomheim family live in the home formerly owned by Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Lomheim. Hank has remodeled the house and built on several rooms. There are seven children; Marcella, Alice (Mrs. Robert Porter), Charlotte (Mrs. Buell Buol), Roger, Lenn, Nadine and Harlow. Hank was a trucker for many years, also custom farmed, which he still does. He sold the trucking business a few years ago. Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Lomheim moved from the farm to Onida in 1927. There are 27 grandchildren and 44 great grandchildren in the family. Mrs. Lomheim passed away in May, 1936, and Mr. Lomheim, in November, 1941. Both are buried in the Onida cemetery. Kristene Lomheim-Roddle of Portland, Oregon, is the only one left to represent this generation of the Lomheim family. She is a sister of J. C. Lomheim and is 81.