The History of Fuller Coulee
In the 1860s, the land that would become Fuller Coulee was a wilderness. Pigeon Creek Village (later named Pigeon Falls) and Old Whitehall, the nearest communities, were in their early stages of development. Much of the land near Pigeon Creek was owned by railroads and other investors who speculated the Pigeon Valley would be selected for a new connecting rail route. When these hopes were dashed and an alternate route won the competition, this acreage became available for purchase from these investors.
The doors to settlement opened wider with the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862. This granted adult heads of households as many as 160 acres to anyone who agreed to pay a small filing fee, farm the land and live on it continuously for five years. These two events made the dream of land ownership achievable for new immigrants who stepped on American soil with little but their desire for a better life. Between 1867 and 1900, all the farms in the coulee had been homesteaded by Norwegian immigrants—except one: Isaac Fuller.
Like many coulees in Trempealeau County, Fuller Coulee was named after its first settler. Isaac Fuller (1816-1871) spent relatively few years in the area, perhaps explaining why little is known about him. According to local lore, he was a German immigrant who came from Illinois and served in the Civil War. In fact, Isaac was the sixth generation of English Fullers living in America, the first of his ancestors having arrived in Salem, Massachusetts in 1638.[1]
In the Civil War, Isaac was a wagoner in Company A, the 12th Rhode Island Regiment and mustered out in 1863.[2] No record of his presence in Illinois was found, but it’s possible he spent post-war years with a brother there. He arrived in Trempealeau County in the fall of 1867 and explored the coulee west of the Pigeon Creek in search of a suitable homestead. He chose a piece of land about a mile northwest of the village of Pigeon Creek.[3] There he built a small farmhouse above the stream that flows through the coulee.
In 1868, Isaac married Sophronia (Hinkley) Slyter, the widow of Sgt. William Slyter, and brought the family to his farm. (Sophronia had moved from eastern Wisconsin to Whitehall to be near her sister, Sara Tucker, and family following her husband’s death in the Civil War.) Tragically, this chapter of their lives ended in 1871 when Isaac was struck and killed by lightening in their own bed.[4] He was buried on the farm, but later exhumed and buried in Lincoln Cemetery in Whitehall, next to Sgt. Slyter.
Sophronia left the coulee and sold their farm to Even Erickson in 1885.
Family histories, census data, obituaries and biographies from History of Trempealeau County, 1917 were used in effort to establish the years of these families’ arrivals in the coulee, but some are approximations between their year of immigration and purchase of their farm. Many families first lived in Coon Valley or Preston Township, Wisconsin, before resettling in the coulee.
During the 1800s, most Norwegians did not have permanent family names. They had a given first name, and a patronymic name. The given name often honored a grandfather, grandmother or sibling who died. For boys, “son or sen” was added to the father’s name. For girls, “datter” followed the father’s name. Farms, however, had permanent names. If the family moved to a different farm in Norway, the “last name” changed to the farm they were on, representing the location of the family. A woman’s name did not change when she married.
After immigration and the passage of time, family names became permanent. Men dropped or made permanent their fathers’ names. The last farm name was dropped or made a permanent surname, and sometimes both were used. Women eventually added a husband’s surname to their own. Challenges for genealogists and historians are many. Hans was such a common name that many of the men in the coulee arrived with the name Hanson but were unrelated. Many chose to retain the name of the farm from which they emigrated. The transitional period is evident in the settlers’ names who follow.
1868 - Christian and Lena (Olsdatter Karsrud) Stenslie[5]
1869 - Ole Hansen and Johanna (Didriksrud) Engen
1869 – Peter Anderson Tommerasen[6]
1870 – Hans Gunderson Hanson and Bertha Tangen
1871 – Hans Anderson and Andrine (Nilsdatter Klumsteen) Fremstad
1871 – Ole Anderson and Inger Marie (Kristiansdatter) Fremstad
1871 – Fredrik Olson and Goro (Bjonstugen Nielsen) Lovlien
1873 – Christopher and Karen (Haraldsrud) Olson
1874 – Andreas “Andrew” and Emilie Fremstad
1876 – Andreas K. and Anna (Olsdatter Toftumslokke) Skumlien
1876 – Anders and Anne (Stephansdatter) Nielson[7]
1878 - Mathias Johnson Taralsrud[8]
1880 – Andreas Hanson Raaumseie and Agnete (Andersdatter) Hasvold [9]
1880 – Ludwig Harlsrud Olson and Anne Skumlien Olson
1880 – Ole C. and Hannah (Martinsdatter Steen) Haraldsrud
1880 – Christ O. and Bastene (Moen) Fremstad
At least three settlers were known to have lived in primitive homes dug into the hillsides. Christian Stenslie and his brother, Peder, made a dugout sod home in the hillside above the site where they later built a small frame house.
Peter Bruvold, his wife and children lived in a dugout on their property which bordered the Christ Fremstad home. Sympathetic neighbors came together and built them a house. Peter was very interested in horticulture, and the farm’s current owner, Roger Fremstad, says that this legacy is still present on his farm.
Ole C. Haralsrud lived in a dugout about half-way between the H.A. Fremstad and Fuller farms. He later constructed the buildings that were on the farm when sold to Carl Skumlien.
Pioneer women planted gardens and orchards, picked wild berries, made butter and cheese, baked traditional breads, and butchered stock for meat. When the men left to work in the pineries of the north woods in winter, the women and children were responsible for milking cows and caring for the livestock. Once established, there was plenty of food to feed large families. When other supplies were needed, they would walk to the nearest markets in Coral City (five miles) or La Crosse (about 40 miles).
By the turn of the century, many of the farms were in the hands of the next generation. A 1901 plat map names descendants and later settlers in Fuller Coulee including: Andrew O. and Maren (Skelrud) Lovlien; Peder and Eline Marie (Hensen) Bruvold; Anton and Christine (Lovlien) Fremstad; Anton and Lena (Engen) Hanvold; Stephen and Janna (Gilbertson) Bjone Nelson; Ole and Agnete (Sveum) Myher; brothers Hans and Otto Engen; Hans P. and Elizabeth (Iverson)Fremstad; Ole and Clara (Larson) Skumlien; Carl and Gina (Hagen) Skumlien; Ole F. and Lena (Lindberg) Lovlien; John and Magda (Stenslie) Finstad, Nils J. and Eline Marie (Peterson) Hagen; Evan and Serena (Lundstad) Erickson; Christian Johnson and Olava (Hansdatter) Tangen; Andreas/Andrew Hanson and Milla Julia Tangen, and Mathias Tangen Hansen[10]
.
In 1891, coulee residents met at the Stenslie home to begin planning the building of a school for their children. They agreed on the location and the purchase of one acre from the corner of Mr. Stenslie’s farm. Before long, a building committee was formed. It included H.A. Fremstad, Even Erickson, Nils.J. Hagen, Andrew Lovlien, and Ole Skumlien. By the fall of 1892, the building was completed, a teacher was hired, textbooks shelved and nearly 50 children enrolled in No.4 Joint Pigeon and Hale School. Eventually, the school was named Fuller Coulee School, further solidifying the families’ new locational identity for generations to come. Children attended 1st through 8th grades. The schoolhouse was also the home of community clubs, parochial school sessions, and holiday parties that were the highlight of the year. The school closed in 1961, when enrollment dwindled and country schools throughout the county were closed.
Descendants of the first settlers still live on the Fremstad, Johnson, Nelson and Engen homesteads, and signs along Fuller Coulee Road memorialize other life-long residents. Regardless of our generation, we “Fuller Coulee kids” will always appreciate and respect the courage, hard work and cooperation it took to build the community we called home.
[1] North America, Family Histories 1500-2000, digital image s.v., Ancestry.com.
[2] U.S.Adjudant General Military Records, 1631-1976, digital image s.v. Isaac Fuller, Ancestry.com.
[3] History of Trempealeau County, 1917, Eben Pierce and Franklyn Curtis Wedge, p.875, 876.
[4] Ibid, p. 166.
[5] Their daughter, Magda, was the first white child born in the coulee.
[6] Mr. Tommerasen used only Anderson some years after immigration. Skumliens purchased land from his estate.
[7] They came from the Bjone farm in Norway and Bjonstuen or Bjone was retained for two generations, then Nelson.
[8] Taralsrud was dropped and the next generations used Johnson.
[9] The next generation used Hanvold.
[10] Son of Hans Gunderson Hanson and Bertha Tangen.
The doors to settlement opened wider with the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862. This granted adult heads of households as many as 160 acres to anyone who agreed to pay a small filing fee, farm the land and live on it continuously for five years. These two events made the dream of land ownership achievable for new immigrants who stepped on American soil with little but their desire for a better life. Between 1867 and 1900, all the farms in the coulee had been homesteaded by Norwegian immigrants—except one: Isaac Fuller.
Like many coulees in Trempealeau County, Fuller Coulee was named after its first settler. Isaac Fuller (1816-1871) spent relatively few years in the area, perhaps explaining why little is known about him. According to local lore, he was a German immigrant who came from Illinois and served in the Civil War. In fact, Isaac was the sixth generation of English Fullers living in America, the first of his ancestors having arrived in Salem, Massachusetts in 1638.[1]
In the Civil War, Isaac was a wagoner in Company A, the 12th Rhode Island Regiment and mustered out in 1863.[2] No record of his presence in Illinois was found, but it’s possible he spent post-war years with a brother there. He arrived in Trempealeau County in the fall of 1867 and explored the coulee west of the Pigeon Creek in search of a suitable homestead. He chose a piece of land about a mile northwest of the village of Pigeon Creek.[3] There he built a small farmhouse above the stream that flows through the coulee.
In 1868, Isaac married Sophronia (Hinkley) Slyter, the widow of Sgt. William Slyter, and brought the family to his farm. (Sophronia had moved from eastern Wisconsin to Whitehall to be near her sister, Sara Tucker, and family following her husband’s death in the Civil War.) Tragically, this chapter of their lives ended in 1871 when Isaac was struck and killed by lightening in their own bed.[4] He was buried on the farm, but later exhumed and buried in Lincoln Cemetery in Whitehall, next to Sgt. Slyter.
Sophronia left the coulee and sold their farm to Even Erickson in 1885.
Family histories, census data, obituaries and biographies from History of Trempealeau County, 1917 were used in effort to establish the years of these families’ arrivals in the coulee, but some are approximations between their year of immigration and purchase of their farm. Many families first lived in Coon Valley or Preston Township, Wisconsin, before resettling in the coulee.
During the 1800s, most Norwegians did not have permanent family names. They had a given first name, and a patronymic name. The given name often honored a grandfather, grandmother or sibling who died. For boys, “son or sen” was added to the father’s name. For girls, “datter” followed the father’s name. Farms, however, had permanent names. If the family moved to a different farm in Norway, the “last name” changed to the farm they were on, representing the location of the family. A woman’s name did not change when she married.
After immigration and the passage of time, family names became permanent. Men dropped or made permanent their fathers’ names. The last farm name was dropped or made a permanent surname, and sometimes both were used. Women eventually added a husband’s surname to their own. Challenges for genealogists and historians are many. Hans was such a common name that many of the men in the coulee arrived with the name Hanson but were unrelated. Many chose to retain the name of the farm from which they emigrated. The transitional period is evident in the settlers’ names who follow.
1868 - Christian and Lena (Olsdatter Karsrud) Stenslie[5]
1869 - Ole Hansen and Johanna (Didriksrud) Engen
1869 – Peter Anderson Tommerasen[6]
1870 – Hans Gunderson Hanson and Bertha Tangen
1871 – Hans Anderson and Andrine (Nilsdatter Klumsteen) Fremstad
1871 – Ole Anderson and Inger Marie (Kristiansdatter) Fremstad
1871 – Fredrik Olson and Goro (Bjonstugen Nielsen) Lovlien
1873 – Christopher and Karen (Haraldsrud) Olson
1874 – Andreas “Andrew” and Emilie Fremstad
1876 – Andreas K. and Anna (Olsdatter Toftumslokke) Skumlien
1876 – Anders and Anne (Stephansdatter) Nielson[7]
1878 - Mathias Johnson Taralsrud[8]
1880 – Andreas Hanson Raaumseie and Agnete (Andersdatter) Hasvold [9]
1880 – Ludwig Harlsrud Olson and Anne Skumlien Olson
1880 – Ole C. and Hannah (Martinsdatter Steen) Haraldsrud
1880 – Christ O. and Bastene (Moen) Fremstad
At least three settlers were known to have lived in primitive homes dug into the hillsides. Christian Stenslie and his brother, Peder, made a dugout sod home in the hillside above the site where they later built a small frame house.
Peter Bruvold, his wife and children lived in a dugout on their property which bordered the Christ Fremstad home. Sympathetic neighbors came together and built them a house. Peter was very interested in horticulture, and the farm’s current owner, Roger Fremstad, says that this legacy is still present on his farm.
Ole C. Haralsrud lived in a dugout about half-way between the H.A. Fremstad and Fuller farms. He later constructed the buildings that were on the farm when sold to Carl Skumlien.
Pioneer women planted gardens and orchards, picked wild berries, made butter and cheese, baked traditional breads, and butchered stock for meat. When the men left to work in the pineries of the north woods in winter, the women and children were responsible for milking cows and caring for the livestock. Once established, there was plenty of food to feed large families. When other supplies were needed, they would walk to the nearest markets in Coral City (five miles) or La Crosse (about 40 miles).
By the turn of the century, many of the farms were in the hands of the next generation. A 1901 plat map names descendants and later settlers in Fuller Coulee including: Andrew O. and Maren (Skelrud) Lovlien; Peder and Eline Marie (Hensen) Bruvold; Anton and Christine (Lovlien) Fremstad; Anton and Lena (Engen) Hanvold; Stephen and Janna (Gilbertson) Bjone Nelson; Ole and Agnete (Sveum) Myher; brothers Hans and Otto Engen; Hans P. and Elizabeth (Iverson)Fremstad; Ole and Clara (Larson) Skumlien; Carl and Gina (Hagen) Skumlien; Ole F. and Lena (Lindberg) Lovlien; John and Magda (Stenslie) Finstad, Nils J. and Eline Marie (Peterson) Hagen; Evan and Serena (Lundstad) Erickson; Christian Johnson and Olava (Hansdatter) Tangen; Andreas/Andrew Hanson and Milla Julia Tangen, and Mathias Tangen Hansen[10]
.
In 1891, coulee residents met at the Stenslie home to begin planning the building of a school for their children. They agreed on the location and the purchase of one acre from the corner of Mr. Stenslie’s farm. Before long, a building committee was formed. It included H.A. Fremstad, Even Erickson, Nils.J. Hagen, Andrew Lovlien, and Ole Skumlien. By the fall of 1892, the building was completed, a teacher was hired, textbooks shelved and nearly 50 children enrolled in No.4 Joint Pigeon and Hale School. Eventually, the school was named Fuller Coulee School, further solidifying the families’ new locational identity for generations to come. Children attended 1st through 8th grades. The schoolhouse was also the home of community clubs, parochial school sessions, and holiday parties that were the highlight of the year. The school closed in 1961, when enrollment dwindled and country schools throughout the county were closed.
Descendants of the first settlers still live on the Fremstad, Johnson, Nelson and Engen homesteads, and signs along Fuller Coulee Road memorialize other life-long residents. Regardless of our generation, we “Fuller Coulee kids” will always appreciate and respect the courage, hard work and cooperation it took to build the community we called home.
[1] North America, Family Histories 1500-2000, digital image s.v., Ancestry.com.
[2] U.S.Adjudant General Military Records, 1631-1976, digital image s.v. Isaac Fuller, Ancestry.com.
[3] History of Trempealeau County, 1917, Eben Pierce and Franklyn Curtis Wedge, p.875, 876.
[4] Ibid, p. 166.
[5] Their daughter, Magda, was the first white child born in the coulee.
[6] Mr. Tommerasen used only Anderson some years after immigration. Skumliens purchased land from his estate.
[7] They came from the Bjone farm in Norway and Bjonstuen or Bjone was retained for two generations, then Nelson.
[8] Taralsrud was dropped and the next generations used Johnson.
[9] The next generation used Hanvold.
[10] Son of Hans Gunderson Hanson and Bertha Tangen.