- HALVER L. SKAVLEM, late Sheriff of Rock County, was born
in the town of Newark, Wis., on
- the 3d of October, 1846, and is the son of Lars and Groe
(NELSON) SKAVLEM. He received a common-school education, was
reared to manhood on a farm, and on the 15th of December 1875,
was united in marriage with Miss Gunil OLMSTEAD, a daughter of
Hans and Gertrude (ODEGORDEN) OLMSTEAD. Mrs. SKAVLEM was born
in the town of Plymouth, Rock County, March 30, 1851 and her
mother was a daughter of Mrs. ODEGORDEN, the second settler in
the town of Newark. Her father was a farmer of Plymouth Township,
and died in 1861, his wife departing this life May 30, 1884.
Mrs. SKAVLEM's grandfather, Harold OLMSTEAD, was an early settler
of Newark, where he is still living at the advanced age of ninety-six
years.
- The union of our subject and his wife has been blessed with
four children, two sons and two
- daughters: Hannah Luella, born Oct. 13, 1875; Louis Norman,
Oct. 19, 1877; Gertrude Julianna, Feb. 15, 1879; and Henry Gilman,
Jan. 31, 1885. Prior to his marriage, Mr. SKAVLEM went to Webster
County, Iowa, where he was engaged in teaching school, and also
in hotelkeeping at Ft. Dodge. After his marriage, he settled
in his native town, Newark, and engaged in farming. In the fall
of 1879, he was elected Sheriff of Rock County, and entered upon
the duties of his office, Jan. 1, 1880, since which time he has
made his home in Janesville, engaged in the buying and shipping
of horses, and in the real estate business in Dakota. He is a
straight Republican in politics, and is liberal in his religious
opinions. With his family he attends the Unitarian Church.
- Mr. SKAVLEM has always had a taste for the study of natural
history in which he takes great
- delight, and which has led him to gather a large and varied
collection of birds and animals, numbering in all upward of 400
varieties. Being an expert taxidermist, he has them mounted in
elegant style, making a desirable collection. For the past five
years he has reported for the Ornithological Division of the
Department of Agriculture at Washington, D.C., and has been employed
in collecting scientific statistics for the same. He has a fine
library of standard historical and scientific works, and has
also been a great student in that direction. Gentlemanly and
courteous in manner, well informed on the topics of the day,
and an original thinker of the school of Darwin and Huxley, he
is always an entertaining companion and pleasant host.
-
- Taken from "The Portrait and Biographical Album of
Rock County, Wis." (c)1889, pp. 215-216.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
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