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Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 176 |
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ELIAS MORKEN
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Well authenticated history now concedes that the Norsemen or Northmen were the first Europeans to visit the western hemisphere. Their leaders termed themselves sea-kings and the recital of their undertakings and adventures, both on sea and land, mark them as kings indeed. The new country visited by them in the year 1002, and named by them Vineland, is believed by some historians to be the coast of Labrador, by others to be the New England shore, but, wherever their Vineland may have been located, it is now generally conceded that they anticipated the discovery of Columbus by five hundred years. That they made no use of their discovery, other than to make a record of it in their annals, is the reason why 1492 is assigned as the date of the actual discovery of America. One of the worthy descendants of these hardy seamen is the subject of this review, Elias Morken, of Cherry Grove township. Elias Morken is a native of Norway, born December 26. 1840. He received a fair education in his native land and resided there the first twenty-two years of his life. Fishing and sailing was the chief occupation of the greater number of those years. Desiring to come to America and having the requisite amount to defray necessary expenses and leave him enough for a start in the new and strange land, he adjusted his affairs and in 1880 set sail for the United States. The voyage was a pleasant one, and in August, 1880, he set foot on American soil for the first time. Wexford county, Michigan, was his destination and he lost no time in reaching it. During the next years he engaged in various kinds of labor and then invested his means in forty acres of land, a part of section 17, Cherry Grove township. Before leaving his native land he wisely took the precaution to provide himself with a wife, as the 1st day of November, 1865, at her home in Norway, he was united in marriage to Miss Paulina Hanson, a native of Norway, born June 30, 1845. On first locating in Cherry Grove township, they established their home on section 20, where they resided eight years, while they were preparing their own little farm in section 17 for occupancy and cultivation. They have since established their home on their own land and have the greater part of it cleared and improved and are gratifyingly prosperous. They are the parents of six children, viz. Ellen, Peter, Hans, Axin, Gertrude and Hannah. Ellen is the wife of Loe Nelson, Gertrude is married to Roy Loveland and Hannah has been Mrs. A. Carlson for some time. The son Axin is postmaster at Axin postoffice, being appointed in 1899 under McKinley's administration. He is an expert in fancy embroidery, in silk and crewels and his handiwork is much admired. Since 1889 the family has resided on the farm in section 17, and have devoted themselves almost exclusively to agricultural pursuits. From his first location in Cherry Grove township Elias Morken has been much interested in all public affairs which concern it. He has advocated good roads, economy and retrenchment in the disbursement of finances and in the just and equitable levy and collection of taxes to defray expenses. He served seven years as highway commissioner, four terms as treasurer of the township and a number of times as member of the county board of review. The members of the family belong to the Lutheran faith, in which they were brought up, and are devout and sincere in the practices of that religion. The father is an enterprising, thrifty, progressive man, who is regarded by all as one of the most worthy citizens of this locality. |