August Krans History BATES TOWNSHIP LEGACY 1885-1985 centennial book "August Krans Family" page 94 August and Sofia Krans were farm workers in Sweden, who were married only a short time when they emigrated to the U.S.A. Hard times were upon Sweden and they saw no future living there. horsemeat, once a year at Christmas time, was considered a treat. August, born in Skaraborg on June 1, 1858, left his native Sweden in 1880, hoping to find a good future in America. He had been promised a job in the recently opened iron ore mine in Vulcan in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Sofia, born in Jarnbas on June 27, 1858, followed him in April of 1881 with their little son, Emil, who celebrated his 2nd birthday aboard ship. Accompanying them were Sofia's sister and young son, Tom. The sister died aboard ship and was buried at sea. With two small boys, Sofia came to Norway, Michigan, where August was staying. August was considering moving, as wages were low and layoffs seasonal. A childless couple wanted to adopt Tom and, faced with an uncertain future, the Kranses agreed. In April of 1881, August, along with three Swedish mining partners, Olaf Benson, Peter Nordin, and Chas. Gustafson, decided to journey to the frontiers near Iron River for the purpose of investigating the homestead lands available. The quartet immediately selected Sec. 23, T 43, R 34, which they divided equally and proceeded to make the necessary improvements required of all homesteaders to maintain their claim. Here, they hacked out the pine and hardwoods, cutting and burning virgin timber to make a small clearing between the stumps. Game was abundant and their diets consisted of deer, partridge, bear, and fish, all close at hand just for the taking as needed. Their lives were hard and the work was never-ending. When they came to immovable tasks, they went under or over or around and never gave up, making progress slowly with high hopes for a better future. The Krans' claim was on the south quarter of the south half of Sec. 21. After building a cabin and clearing some land, August walked back to Norway to fetch his family. On April 19, 1882, August, Sofia, Emil and three-month-old Conrad left Norway for the homestead. Trains only went to Quinnesec, so they hired a team and wagon to carry a cook stove and their belongings. A cow was tied behind the wagon. The 40 mile trek through the wilderness began. Settled into their new home, the family had trouble with a claim jumper, who ordered them off the homestead. August made three trips to the land office in Lansing to make sure his claim was valid. Finally, the land agent told him to order the claim jumper off the land at gunpoint, and if he didn't leave, to shoot him. It worked! When the iron ore was discovered near Iron River, August secured work at the Isabella Mine, the first mine in the area to ship ore to the docks at Escanaba over recently extended railroads. He left his family at the homestead. Wire hooks used as locks on the cabin's doors provided security for them. August earned one dollar a day for a 12 hour day. He lived in a boarding house in Stambaugh and walked home on weekends. Meanwhile, he cleared land, planted, harvested (after the deer and other animals had a share), and cut timber to sell. During the depression of 1893, any job was welcomed. The mines had closed and families were left almost completely dependent on their land. Shouldering the rifle, Krans, as well as his neighboring homesteaders, brought in all sorts of wild game to feed the hungry mouths in the little log cabin in Bates Township. Krans and his neighbors found occasional work cutting 4 foot hardwood for 65 cents a cord for the charcoal kilns near Manville Waite's farm earnings from 50 cents to 75 cents per day, which began before daybreak and ended after dark. At that, they were more fortunate than those living in town, for they were at least assured of potato soup made with venison or their own salt pork. Sofia often wondered why August had picked the biggest hill in the area to homestead when he could have chosen a site by a lake. She had enjoyed the lakes of her native Sweden. To get water, she had to visit a spring at the bottom of the hill about one-half mile from the cabin. This was a problem, in that she hesitated to leave the children alone and it was a burden to take them with her. She wore a shoulder yoke to carry the buckets of water. Once, upon returning from the spring, she found the boys had decorated everything within reach with flour. Fearing the wandering Indians, Sofia was alarmed when she saw piles of whittlings on the ground in various places. She told her husband about it and he talked to Chief Edwards, head of the local Ojibway Indian tribe. The chief explained that the Indians had been falsely accused of robbing and attacking some settlers. They knew Sofia and some of the other women were alone and so posted guards to keep watch over the pioneer women. It not only kept the families safe, but helped protect the Indian name. This led to a friendly relationship with the Indians and in later years, the Indians frequently stopped in the Krans' barn overnight enroute to their "lAnse camp. In 1887, the family sent for Sofia's mother, Caroline Johnson Flood. She rode the train to Iron River and walked 5 miles to the Helgemo School, where her grandsons joined her and escorted her to the homestead. She became a part of the ever-growing family and made her home with them until her death in July of 1901, at the age of 69 years. Despite the hard work and long hours spent on the farm and in the mine, Mr. Krans, like his neighbors, took time to serve on the township board and on the school board. Thirteen children join the family. All lived to maturity. All but one married and all but two remained in the Iron River area. Sofia died in 1935 in an auto accident at the age of 76. August made his home with his youngest son, Hilbert, on the Breezy Hill Farm until his death in 1943 at the age of 85 years. The children born to August and Sofia Krans were: Emil - (1879-1956) married Alice LeClair, and they had 2 daughters. Conrad - (1882-1962) married Jennie Peterson and they had 5 children. Emmanuel - (1884-1963) married Anna Johnson and they had 4 daughters. Lydia - (1884-1960) married Charles Johnson and they had 2 children. (Emmanuel and Lydia were twins) Aden - (1887-1966) married Clara Olson and they had 3 children. Ebba - (1888-1965) married John Anderson and they had 3 children. Arvid - (1890-1955) married Selma Peterson and they had 4 children. Enoch - (1892-1969) married Ella Sundeed and they had 3 children. Ellen - (1893-1937) married Arvid Anderson and they had 7 children. Dorothy - (1896-1933) did not marry. Clara - (1898- ) married Albert Ericsson and they have 2 children. Hildur - (1900-1974) married Larry Hartley and they have 3 sons. Hilbert - (1902-1980) married Hildegard Fredlund and they have 3 children. The Krans family held a family reunion in July of 1978 at the Bates Township Hall. More than 200 relatives attended. A booklet was prepared with the history of the Krans family with the names and addresses on all the descendents of August and Sofia Krans listed. At that time, there were 37 grandchildren, 86 great-grandchildren, and 64 great-great-grandchildren living. Clara Krans Erickson is the only living member of the 11 children born to August and Sofia Krans and continues to maintain her home on the Kellstrom road in Bates Township. Recognized by the Bates Township Centennial committee as the oldest woman living in Bates who was born in Bates, Clara Krans Erickson was named a "Native Daughter." She participated and thoroughly enjoyed the Centennial events, completed by dancing at Bates' Grand Finale Ball, December 28, 1985 at the age of 87. BATES TOWNSHIP LEGACY 1885-1985 centennial book pages 15-16 "Introduction To Family Histories" (excerpt) The first homesteaders in Bates Township were four young Swedish immigrants and their families. They were Olaf Benson, Peter Nordin, Charles Gustafson, and August Krans. All had come from their native Sweden seeking a better life for themselves and their families. The men were employed briefly at the iron ore mines in the Norway, Michigan area where they met and worked together and became friends. In the Spring of 1881, the four men decided to explore the possibilities of homesteading the land north of Norway, which they had heard was available through the Homestead Act of 1862. Pooling their cash, they hired a government surveyor, packed some provisions, and set off on foot for this new area, leaving their families in Norway. On the second night, they made camp at Chicagoan Lake. Going to the lake for water, August Krans saw a birch bark canoe tied to a tree. Lifting the blanket that was apparently covering something, they were shocked to see the body of a dead man lying in the bottom of the canoe. Fearing their own fate, they hurriedly moved west to Stambaugh, a small mining community. The local residents convinced them that the Indians were harmless and in the following years, the settlers did become friendly with Chief Edwards and the Ojibway tribe. The four men and the surveyor walked east to the area which later was to become Bates township, where they staked out 640 acres of land, each taking 160 acres for themselves. The four homesteads were adjacent to each other on Sec. 23, Town 43, Range 34. From north to south, it was Benson, Nordin, Gustafson, and Krans. The area of these homesteads is east of what is now known as Sec. 14 Road and north and south of the present U.S. 2 at the junction of Sec. 14 Road and Krans Road. It became known as "Little Sweden." Each cleared some land and built a log cabin. They found a spring for water and blazed trails to each others' cabins. Then they walked back to Norway to get their families. In 1882, each returned with their families settling into their new cabins. Household goods were hauled by horses on the Old Florence Road. At the end of the road, furnishings were carried on their backs to their log cabins. To obtain groceries, the homesteaders walked to Stambaugh and carried them in a sack on their back on the return trip. As a rule, the families were large and many hardships were endured in carving their homes out of the wilderness. The head of the family usually worked in the iron mines during the summer months, walking to and from the mine or boarding in the neighboring villages till the weekend. BATES TOWNSHIP LEGACY 1885-1985 centennial book "Final Patents of the First Homesteaders-1880's" page 17 (excerpt) While looking through some of the Iron County Courthouse Archives, we found some of the patented title dates recorded by the first Bates Homesteaders. These dates show the finalized deeds of the property the homesteaders live on five years prior to the date. Perhaps this will give the reader some idea when our forefathers in Bates Township became authentic owners of U.S. Public Property. In Section 23 "Little Sweden" August Krans Finalized 1890 120 acres There is a story why these homesteaders did not take the full 160 acres. Those homesteads not finalized were sold to others or passed on to family members who got their deeds recorded at the iron County Courthouse. "Patented Title" The Patented title meant that the homesteader who had applied for and followed the specific rules of the Homestead act was issued a government document or deed for that property. The patented title was recorded at the courthouse and it is proof that the Homestead is finalized and protects the landowner against anyone taking claim on that property. It is no longer public land. ~By Myrna Wikstrom Cook~ BATES TOWNSHIP LEGACY 1885-1985 centennial book "Earliest Property Owners" page 16 (extract) The earliest settlement was confined largely to Township 43, Range 34. Following is a list of the early families in Bates and dates of land purchased. Many of them had settled earlier than the date of the transfer of property indicates. 1888 August Krans 120 acres in Section 23 BATES TOWNSHIP LEGACY 1885-1985 centennial book "A Few Recollections of the Pioneer Days in Bates Township From the Nordin Family" page 138 On April 27, 1882, Peter William Nordin first set foot on the tract of land in Bates Township which he was to homestead. The ordinary homestead was a square, one-half by one-half mile in size; four "forties" as they were known in those days. However, Section 23 was divided into four 160 acre strips, and Peter Nordin, Ole Benson, Charley Gustafson and August Krans were the recipients. The reason they were not given square tracts is that the easternmost forty of each of these strips was swamp land, covered with giant cedars, which none of the four appreciated, so they let them go back to the government, which in turn sold them to the Longyear Company, a land and timber speculation group. Louis Reiman tells his book "Between the Iron and the Pine" that when Nordin, Krans, Gustafson and Benson were walking up from Iron Mountain to pick out their homesteads, they came to a stream where they found a canoe. In the canoe was the body of a white man. Being unarmed, they hastened out of that area in a hurry. In 1882, Florence, Wisconsin was quite a village. Iron was being mined in several small mines there and in Commonwealth. BATES TOWNSHIP LEGACY 1885-1985 centennial book "Olaf Benson Family" page 33 (excerpt) Olaf Bengtson (later Benson) moved north to Norway, Michigan in 1880. There, he worked in the iron ore mines until he and three other Swedes, having heard about the homestead lands open to the public north and west of Norway, set out on foot to claim for themselves a homestead in those primeval forests. The other Swedish immigrant miners were August Krans, Peter Nordin, and Carl "Charlie" Gustafson. Each claimed 160 acres on Sec. 23. The back 40 acres on each homestead was Emily Lake Swamp area, so all four returned that land to the government because it was useless to them. This area eventually became known as Little Sweden. Anyone who came into the area and did not speak Swedish was considered a foreigner. Mr. Benson cut his own wagon road through the tall hardwoods to his nearest neighbor, who was joined by the 2nd and the 3rd to complete this road for wagon travel. BATES TOWNSHIP LEGACY 1885-1985 centennial book "Ed Nicholson Family" page 137 (excerpt) After five years in shanties since their nice home in Carney, my parents longed for a better house for their family. The winter of 1917, my folks cut 120 cords of wood for August Krans for 80 cents per cord to get enough for a down payment on a home and 10 acres of land then owned by Axel Thunander. The parcel of land was off the Peter Nordin forty. A HISTORY OF IRON COUNTY by Jack Hill Chapter 20 "Bates Township" page 147 (extract) The first election was held in the home of Olaf Helgemo in the early part of July [1885] and the inspectors of this election were Mr. Helgemo, Alexander Leclair and Andrew Peterson. Officers elected at this time were Charles Olson, supervisor, Ferdinand L. Kleyenstober, clerk and August Krans and Ole Benson, Justices of the Peace. A HISTORY OF IRON COUNTY by Jack Hill Chapter 20 "Bates Township" page 147 (extract) The earliest settlement was confined largely to Town 43, Range 34. Here we find the homes of August Krans, Olaf Benson, Charles Gustafson and Peter Nordin families on Section 23. NEWS ARTICLE Iron River Reporter undated summer 1978 "Krans Family Holds Reunion" with photo More than 200 relatives of August and Sophia Krans attended a family reunion on Saturday, July 1. The reunion, originally scheduled for the Bates Park, was held at the Bates Township Hall because of rain. August and Sophia Krans were Bates pioneers, having emigrated from Sweden in 1880. Sophia Krans was one of the first three white women in the Bates area. Their son Emil, born in Sweden, celebrated his second birthday aboard ship. August had been promised a job in an iron ore mine in Vulcan, but because wages were low and lay-offs seasonal, he and three Swedish mining partners decided to explore the possibilities of homesteading new government lands which had opened up to homesteaders in the area now known as Bates Township. They hired a government surveyor and the four men walked from Norway, Mich. The second night, they made camp at Chicaguan Lake (then part of Marquette County). Going to the lake for water, August saw a birch bark canoe tied to a tree. The men saw something in it, covered with a blanket. Lifting the blanket, they saw a dead Indian lying on the bottom of the canoe. Fearing their own fate, they moved west to Stambaugh, a small town where the local residents convinced them that the Indians were harmless. The four men and the surveyor walked east and staked out 640 acres of land, each taking 160 acres. They found a spring, each built a cabin and then walked back to their families in Norway. Charles Gustafson, Gotfried Norden and Ole Benson were August's neighbors. Fearing the wandering Indians, Sophia was alarmed when she saw piles of whittlings on the ground in various places. She told her husband about it and he talked to Chief Edwards, head of the local tribe. The chief explained that the Indians had been falsely accused of robbing and attacking some settlers. They knew Sophia and some of the other women were alone and so had posted guards to keep watch over the pioneer women. It not only kept the families safe, but helped to protect the Ojibway name. This led to a friendly relationship with the Indians, and in later years, the Indians frequently used the Krans barn as an overnight stop while enroute from one camp to another. Thirteen children were born to August and Sophia: Emil, Conrad, twins Emmanuel and Lydia, Aden, Ebba, Arvid, Enoch, Ellen, Dorothy, Clara, Hildur and Hilbert. The two living children, Clara and Hilbert, still reside in Bates Township. Sophia died in 1935 in an automobile accident at the age of 76. August made his home with his youngest son Hilbert on the Breezy Hill Farm until his death in 1943 at the age of 85 years. The reunion committee consisted of Wilma Krans Footh and her husband Dick of Mercer Island, Wash., who printed and sent the unique invitations-the cover of which was a photograph of August and Sophia and their thirteen children. Other committee members were Clara Krans Erickson, Hilbert Krans, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Molle, Mr. and Mrs. Romeo Putz, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Westerdahl, Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Chester Karney, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Krans, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Lind, and Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Anderson. A booklet was prepared with a short history of the Krans family and the names and addresses of all relatives. There are 37 living grandchildren, 86 great-grandchildren, and 64 great-great grandchildren. A "Kaffe klatch," hosted by Hilbert Krans, Wilma and Dick Footh, Cynthia Krans Link, and Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Krans was held Saturday morning at the homestead, Breezy Hill Farm. During the afternoon and evening, organ music for listening and dancing was provided by Steve Amerson of Laona, Wis., son-in-law of Joyce Anderson Bunker. Clara Krans Erickson and Hilbert Krans, the two living children of August and Sophia, were presented with a corsage and a boutonniere. Gladys Krans Lawry of Pittsburg, CA, the oldest grandchild, was also presented with a corsage. Relatives attending were from California, Oregon, Washington, D.C., Minnesota, Maryland, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Iowa and Ohio. PHOTO CAPTION: "Children and Grandchildren of August and Sophia Krans"-Front row: Carol Krans Gembolis, Gladys Krans Lawry, Clara Krans Erickson, Hilbert Krans, Eunice Krans Leitch, Alma Anderson Lind. Second row: Roland Krans, Ethel Krans Wallace, Emily Krans Olson, Helen Krans Johnson, Mildred Krans Stang, June Anderson Curtis, Dorothy Krans Molle, Charlotte Johnson Karney, Joyce Anderson Bunker, Winnifred Westerberg Westman, Joann Erickson Miller, Fern Krans Ranta, Cynthia Krans Link, Gerald Krans. Third row: Lawrence Hartley, William Hartley, Muriel Krans Halick, Verna Krans Putz, Wilma Krans Footh, Bertil Anderson, Glenn Johnson, Margaret Krans Sharlein, Marvin Krans, Myrtle Krans Westerdahl, Carl Anderson, Donald Krans. Unable to attend the reunion were family members Avis Krans Vong, Eugene Anderson, Clarence Krans, Paul Erickson and Franklin Anderson. Photo taken by David Wallace of Flint, a member of the family. FUNERAL HOME RECORDS (Langenberg Funeral Home in 2003) say born June 1 1858 in Sweden; died Sep 10 1943 in Stambaugh; retired farmer; widowed; age 85years 3months 10days; son of August. SWEDISH MARRIAGE RECORDS 1879 from Järnboås, Örebro län, Sverige Lysning [translates to "lighting" which announces the couples' intention to marry (usually done for three weeks prior to the marriage)] No:6 Jun.29, Jul.6 and Jul.13 Dräng (farmhand) August Krans born.58 at fol.251 and Pigan (housemaid) Sofia Flod born.58 at fol.252. Both of his parents have approved and also her mother. Living at Gammelhyttan [about 115 miles west of Stockholm in a traditional mining area] Marriage No:5 on July 20th. OBITUARY of Sophia Krans 1935 says she came to US 1881 with her husband. INFORMATION FROM RELATIVE great-grandson David Wallace (david.wallace@comcast.net) of Flushing MI.