Many Norwegians came to Pope County. The U.S. Government, railroads and shipping companies advertised extensively in Scandinavia and across Europe about the opportunities of owning your own land and the freedoms that were available in the Midwest. The late 1860’s saw immigrants from many foreign nations arrive in Central Minnesota. This brought our subjects, the Wollan Family, to the U.S. and to North Eastern Iowa. Most came by sailing ship and to Quebec and then by train to the area around North Eastern Iowa and South eastern Minnesota. Many immigrant settlements arose in that area, Norwegian as well as others. But because of the earlier train service to those areas, most of the land was already spoken for. This led newer immigrants to look northward to Central Minnesota and the Red River Valley.
Benjamin & Beret Wollan lived in Stenkjaer, Norway. They had eight sons and two daughters; Ole B., Martha, Peter B., Ernest O., Andrew B., Nels B., Ellen, Bernt C., Michael A., and Casper.
The name Wollan in Norway means “renters of a grassy plot.” It is typical practice that Norwegian’s last names were the name of the farm they lived on. And most of course, practically all, did not own. Of these 12 Wollan family members, all came to near Decorah, Iowa and later Fillmore County in Southeastern Minnesota. But not all at the same time. The reason being that it cost $36.00 for sea passage and being that a Norwegian man made on average $12.00 per year and women $6.00, it took years to save enough to pay the fare to cross the Atlantic to the New World.
Ernest and Nels Wollan came in 1857, Peter and Bernt in 1859. In 1860 father and mother, Benjamin and Beret arrived along with Andrew, Ellen, Michael & Casper. Nels, at age 22, came to Winnesheik County in Iowa and worked there for ten years. A year later Peter and Bernt arrived there as well and both worked at various occupations, primarily as farm laborers. In 1860 the remainder of the family arrived and joined the brothers in Rushford, Fillmore County, Minnesota, where the others had relocated. Ole B. and wife, Johanna, and son Benjamin O. did not arrive until 1866. Rushford had become a Norwegian settlement and many Pope County families can trace a similar route of immigration.
In May of 1867 Nels and Bernt Wollan and a party of 17 others were bound for Northern Minnesota in search of their new homesteads. Nels drove two yoke of oxen, three cows, some young stock and camping gear. Five weeks later, on July 4th, 1867, they arrived near Glenwood. After several days scouting the area the majority decided to go north into Douglas and Ottertail Counties. Nels and Bernt and two others remained in Pope County. Nels settled in White Bear Lake Township, (just west of the present day Indherred Church), built a home, put up a stable and broke up 4 acres of land. In 1867, Glenwood had a store and a post office, and the closest railroad was at St. Cloud. By 1869 Nels Wollan hosted a post office at his home and by 1870 he and his brothers opened a store in his home as well. The Wollans were loyal Indherred Lutheran Church members and supporters.
In June 1868, 16 immigrant covered wagons left Rushford, MN, and after a month arrived at Pope County. Two wagons were drawn by horses the other 14 by oxen. This wagon group included the rest of the Wollans excepting Andrew who came later in 1873. Many homesteaded immediately. Others, still unmarried, worked on the family or neighbors’ farms. Earlier in 1868, Nels who had gone back to Rushford for the winter, returned with his brother Michael to White Bear Lake Township. They traveled part of the way by train, then stage and walked the leg of the trip from Sauk Centre. This family, the Wollans, were responsible for owning the first threshing machine in Pope County, and opened the White Bear Lake Township post office.
Nels Wollan held the elected offices of township treasurer, township constable, school board offices, Pope County Commissioner, and when the Village of Starbuck was formed he was active in securing its charter as well as serving as president of the village council and council member.
Michael Wollan was elected registrar of deeds for Pope County in 1870, was postmaster in Glenwood, was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1876 representing Pope, Grant, Stevens and Big Stone Counties. In 1886 Michael was elected as Pope County’s representative in the Legislature. He also served as County Auditor and member of the Glenwood City Council.
In 1872, Michael, Casper and Nels Wollan, moved store merchandise from Nel’s home and went in to the mercantile business in Glenwood on Franklin Street S., and in 1873 purchased the Sam Johnston hardware store across the street on the corner of Franklin and Green Streets.
In 1874 they reorganized the store as a stock company, the Fremad Association. (Fremad is a Norwegian word which translates as: Forward, onward, ahead, progressive!) The shares of stock were owned primarily by the Wollan brothers and sisters, and only a few others. By 1879, Nels and a partner erected a store on his father Benjamin Wollan’s property and operated a general mercantile store there until 1882 when it was purchased by the Fremad Association and moved to the new village of Starbuck. It was the first store in Starbuck. In 1887, Nels traded his Fremad stock in exchange for the Starbuck store which he and his family operated. Later his son, Ben had a Starbuck meat market. Wollan Street in Starbuck is named after them.
Casper, the youngest in the family, along with Nels and Michael founded what was noted in the 1924 Glenwood Herald as “a business institution that stands this day as a monument to their foresight and business ability.” The article noted that it was their 50th year in business and “a half century of success.” Casper filed a homestead claim in White Bear Lake Township and later served two years as a U.S. surveyor in Dakota Territory headquartered at Fort Abercrombie on the Red River near Breckenridge.
The Fremad Association was one of the first co-operatives of its kind in the Northwest. For the majority of its years, Casper was the president of the Association. Michael had charge of the Bank, which will be covered in a future article. He was a Glenwood village council member, schoolboard member, Glenwood Lutheran Church trustee, township clerk, member and president of the Tronderlaget, a national Norwegian organization.
Also instrumental in the Wollan story was nephew Benjamin O. Wollan. Ben O. was born in Norway (1852-1921) the son of Ole B. and Johanna Wollan and came to the U.S. in 1866 with his parents, and to White Bear Lake Township with the 1868 group. Ben grew up and worked on his father’s homestead. In 1879 he began working full time at the Fremad Store as a salesman. He later became secretary of the Association. Like his uncles, Ben served many civic duties: Glenwood village council member, Board of Education, and longtime member of the City Fire Department.
The first Indherred Church was built in 1873 on land donated by Nels Wollan. It was replaced by the present day church on that same site in 1896. The Indherred parsonage was built on Peter Wollan’s ground in 1876. Casper, Mike and Ben O. were founding members of Glenwood Lutheran in 1880. The Wollans were also steadfast supporters, both financially and promotionally, of the Glenwood Academy. In 1910 they donated $1,000.00 toward a new hospital. (That’s close to $32,000.00 today!) Nearly all of the immigrant Wollan Family are buried in either the Indherred or Glenwood Lutheran Church Cemeteries.
The Casper Wollan home still stands on the slight hill in the middle of the block on the south side of 3rd St. SW, a half block west of Franklin Street. The Ben Wollan home stands on Lakeshore Drive on the corner with 1st Ave SW. It is the white 2-story home with pillars and statues. The Michael Wollan home was razed years ago to enlarge the Sacred Heart parking lot.
These were the founders of the Wollan stores, the Fremad Association, and the Pope County State Bank. Along with their next generation, they led the village of Glenwood into the 20th Century.
In next week’s article we will cover the Fremad Association, its purpose, businesses and evolution as the cornerstone of early downtown Glenwood and how it became the “Wollan-Mart” of Pope County and the surrounding area.
We would like to thank the Steve Nestor for writing this series of articles about the history of the Fremad building, and the Pope County Tribune for initially publishing the articles.
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