Emil Nels Sandstrom
Although Emil Nels Sandstrom is yet numbered among the younger residents of Stockholm township, his life span covering little more than three decades, he is nevertheless recognized as one of her most enterprising and progressive business men, his well directed efforts proving resultant forces in the acquirement of a substantial and gratifying success.
The old homestead which his father purchased in this county shortly after his arrival in the United States was the place of the son's nativity, his birth occurring on the 24th of August, 1880. His parents, S. N. and Mary (Oleson) Sandstrom, natives of Sweden are yet residents of Crawford county and are mentioned at length on another page of this volume.
Reared to farm life, Emil Nels Sandstrom acquired his education in the district schools near his home and when not busy with his text-books assisted in the work of the farm, being thus engaged until seventeen years of age. He then turned his attention from agricultural pursuits for a time and between the ages of seventeen and nineteen was employed as a clerk in a general store. He next accepted the position of assistant postmaster at Kiron, which he occupied for about three years, when, at the age of twenty-two years, he was married and again took up farming, to which he has since devoted his attention.
He removed to a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, the property of his father, located in Stockholm township, and this has continued to be his home to the present time. Besides the cultivation of cereals best adapted to soil and climate, he engages extensively in hog and cattle feeding, and with the passing years his efforts in both branches have met with substantial and gratifying success. In 1905 his farm was swept by a fire, which not only destroyed every building upon the place but also caused the loss of from six to seven hundred bushels of oats and about one hundred and seventy-five tons of hay. The buildings have since been replaced by new ones, which are up-to-date and modern in their equipment, and various other excellent improvements which he has made constitute his farm one of the valuable and desirable properties of Stockholm township.
Nor has the scope of his activity been confined to the boundaries of his well developed and highly improved farm, for as he has prospered he has given time and attention to other interests and he is now president of the Farmers Lumber & Coal Company and secretary of the Kiron Telephone Company, connections which indicate the enviable place which he has made for himself among the business men of the locality.
It was on the 4th of March, 1903, that Mr. Sandstrom was united in marriage to Miss Mabel Delphine Lundell, the eldest in a family of twelve children born to P. G. and Amanda (Berg) Lundell. Her brothers and sisters are as follows: Edna, of Des Moines; Abbie, with her parents in Sac county; and Edith, George, Martin, Elizabeth, Edmund, Mildred, Harold, Constance and Bayard, all at home.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Sandstrom has been blessed with three children, but the eldest, Wesley, passed away on the 20th of December, 1905, at the age of sixteen months. The surviving children are: Alice Loraine, born January 14, 1906; and Marvin Maynard, born January 6, 1908.
The religious belief of Mr. Sandstrom is indicated by his membership in the Lutheran church, while in politics he affiliates with the republican party. He has served as clerk of his township for the past eight years and takes a public-spirited interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare and upbuilding of the community in which he has resided throughout his entire lifetime. His circle of friends has steadily widened as the years have gone by until it is almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintance, and that many of his warmest friends are those who have known him longest is indicative of the fact that his life has ever been governed by those principles which command the respect, confidence and good-will of all.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.