This citizen of the town of Freedom, LaSalle county, was the son of the
late pioneer Thorbjorn Arentsen, who was born among the pine-clad hills of
that most picturesque of all northern European countries — Norway — in
Bergen, March 21, 1812. To better his condition he emigrated to America, in
1836, just after his marriage, and worked at day labor in his new home in
New York. He had led the life of a sailor in Norway, but came here to lay
the foundation for something more to his liking, and to gain a freedom not
once to be thought of in his native land. In his search for a spot to suit
his fancy, he left the state of New York and by water came to Muskegon,
Michigan, and from that point he wended his way overland to LaSalle countv,
Illinois, bv ox team. He found himself twelve dollars in debt, but by day
labor he supported his family and repaid this sacred debt. How our subject
came into possession of his first piece of American land may be of interest
in this connection. There were two young Norwegians in this locality who
wanted to become preachers. One of their chief qualifications was the
possession of the proper garb of a broadcloth suit and a plug hat. This
mantle neither of them had, but one of them owned twenty acres of wild land;
and Mr. Arentsen had in his possession, left over from his days of greater
prosperity and when his thoughts ran more to style, a broadcloth suit and
the coveted "tile;" and when it was proposed by the germinating reverend to
swap the land for the clothes he lost no time in agreeing to do so, and the
head of the Arentsen house became a freeholder of Freedom township. He
pursued his new occupation with renewed diligence and industry and made a
success of it. His accumulations came somewhat slowly, but as they did come
he found them in the form of additional area to his homestead, and when he
died he was the owner of a large farm.
Thorbjorn Arentsen was just
the type of man that made life valuable in that early day. He was not
endowed with selfishness; on the contrary, he had an unselfish interest in
all his neighbors and was especially awake to the needs of those who were in
distress. During the cholera scourge he aided in nursing the sick and buried
the dead, thus unavoidably exposing himself to the attacks of that deadly
plague, with no thought of its possible consequences to him. Wherever there
was needed a word of encouragement to the stricken, or bit of comfort to the
afflicted, he always had it ready, and his presence did as much good as the
old doctor's remedies. He was a Christian gentleman and prominent in the
Lutheran church. He passed on to his reward September 14, 1889. His devoted
wife, Caroline, died January 13, 1888. Their children were: Cecelia, wife of
Christ Olson, of Ottawa; Helia; Henry, who died in the army, during the
civil war; he was in Company D, Second Artillery, and died April 26, 1863;
Caroline, wife of Ole Thorson, of Freedom; David and Daniel Arentsen.
Our subject, Helia Arentsen, was born in Perry, Wyoming county, New
York, April 26, 1839, and was not favored with an excellent schooling, but
had to be content with what he could obtain in the little "log seminary," as
it was styled. However, he got sufficient book knowledge to enable him to
teach a district school one winter, but after that he became a farmer and
held to that without interruption, except as to the period he served his
country during the Rebellion. He came to Illinois with his parents in 1844.
August 25, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, Second Illinois Artillery, as a
private. His regiment was a part of the Fifteenth Army Corps, and he served
in the western army under General Logan, receiving his discharge September
24, 1864, at Nashville, Tennessee.
Mr. Arentsen was married at
Ottawa, Illinois, by Justice of the Peace Arthur Lockwood, to Julia
Thompson, a sister of Andrew Thompson, of Leland, Illinois. After his
marriage he began life with a team and wagon and the money he had saved from
his salary as a soldier. He went to housekeeping on the spot where the
handsome residence now stands and where he was the possessor of sixty acres
of land. His prosperity was attested by his final ownership of one hundred
and twenty acres, which he had made one of the most beautiful farms in all
his township. He claimed to be nothing, if not a farmer. He filled a small
town office or two, but he never permitted his friends to lead him off for
political crumbs, when he knew his success lay in the soil. He was, however,
a director on the school board for eighteen years. He was a stanch
Republican. He died January 20, 1900, a great loss to the community.
Of his family it may be added that his children are: Henry T., who is a
prominent young Republican and a member of the advisory committee of the
party for the town of Freedom; Joseph E.; Clara R.; William T., with Reed &
Co., of Ottawa; Annie C., a successful teacher of the county schools; Emma
S., a pupil at Dixon (Illinois) University; and Herbert L.
Extracted 13 May 2019 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois, published in 1900, volume 2, pages 621-623.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
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Kendall |
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