In October 1848 Wilhelm and Elisabeth (Bohnen) Lorfeld and their sons, Henry 21, Wilhelm 18, and John 16 came to America from Rhenish Prussia, in the district of Kleve. They landed in Sheboygan, where they bought a stove, a cow and a bag of flour. They made application for 10 acres of land at $1.25 per acre, and were taken by cart to their land in Manitowoc County where the present-day Lorfeld Homestead is located. After paying for their trip, they were without money.
The three brothers and their father built a temporary shelter and later a sturdy hut and a shelter for the cow. The cow was fed tender maple tree growths because no other feed was available. Later native sweet-clover was found in the open areas where the land speculators had removed the choice trees, so by spring the cow was in good condition. Hunting and fishing were plentiful, and the family was able to barter with neighbors. By the end of the first year they had made enough money to buy another 10 acres of land.
Henry had a particular knack for making wooden shoes which he sold for six cents a pair. People came from Sheboygan, Sheboygan Falls, and Green Bay to buy his shoes.
The first sawmill in the town of Meeme was built by the Lorfeld family. They dammed up the Pigeon River, and dug a canal to the dam. Water power did the sawing. It was located in a wooded area south of the farm.The daily toll for sawing wood was ten dollars.
Henry was a very handy millwright and carpenter and later, he and John sold their interest in the sawmill to their father in order to pursue opportunity to build and set up sawmill operations in the timberlands of Minnesota.
In the 1860 US census, Henry was listed as a single male living in Carver City; occupation Millbuilder. By the 1880 census he was living with his brother John in Dahlgren, no occupation, and continued to live with John and his family in this fashion until his death. Henry never married.
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The three brothers and their father built a temporary shelter and later a sturdy hut and a shelter for the cow. The cow was fed tender maple tree growths because no other feed was available. Later native sweet-clover was found in the open areas where the land speculators had removed the choice trees, so by spring the cow was in good condition. Hunting and fishing were plentiful, and the family was able to barter with neighbors. By the end of the first year they had made enough money to buy another 10 acres of land.
Henry had a particular knack for making wooden shoes which he sold for six cents a pair. People came from Sheboygan, Sheboygan Falls, and Green Bay to buy his shoes.
The first sawmill in the town of Meeme was built by the Lorfeld family. They dammed up the Pigeon River, and dug a canal to the dam. Water power did the sawing. It was located in a wooded area south of the farm.The daily toll for sawing wood was ten dollars.
Henry was a very handy millwright and carpenter and later, he and John sold their interest in the sawmill to their father in order to pursue opportunity to build and set up sawmill operations in the timberlands of Minnesota.
In the 1860 US census, Henry was listed as a single male living in Carver City; occupation Millbuilder. By the 1880 census he was living with his brother John in Dahlgren, no occupation, and continued to live with John and his family in this fashion until his death. Henry never married.
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In October 1848 Wilhelm and Elisabeth (Bohnen) Lorfeld and their sons, Henry 21, Wilhelm 18, and John 16 came to America from Rhenish Prussia, in the district of Kleve. They landed in Sheboygan, where they bought a stove, a cow and a bag of flour. They made application for 10 acres of land at $1.25 per acre, and were taken by cart to their land in Manitowoc County where the present-day Lorfeld Homestead is located. After paying for their trip, they were without money.
The three brothers and their father built a temporary shelter and later a sturdy hut and a shelter for the cow. The cow was fed tender maple tree growths because no other feed was available. Later native sweet-clover was found in the open areas where the land speculators had removed the choice trees, so by spring the cow was in good condition. Hunting and fishing were plentiful, and the family was able to barter with neighbors. By the end of the first year they had made enough money to buy another 10 acres of land.
Henry had a particular knack for making wooden shoes which he sold for six cents a pair. People came from Sheboygan, Sheboygan Falls, and Green Bay to buy his shoes.
The first sawmill in the town of Meeme was built by the Lorfeld family. They dammed up the Pigeon River, and dug a canal to the dam. Water power did the sawing. It was located in a wooded area south of the farm.The daily toll for sawing wood was ten dollars.
Henry was a very handy millwright and carpenter and later, he and John sold their interest in the sawmill to their father in order to pursue opportunity to build and set up sawmill operations in the timberlands of Minnesota.
In the 1860 US census, Henry was listed as a single male living in Carver City; occupation Millbuilder. By the 1880 census he was living with his brother John in Dahlgren, no occupation, and continued to live with John and his family in this fashion until his death. Henry never married.
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The three brothers and their father built a temporary shelter and later a sturdy hut and a shelter for the cow. The cow was fed tender maple tree growths because no other feed was available. Later native sweet-clover was found in the open areas where the land speculators had removed the choice trees, so by spring the cow was in good condition. Hunting and fishing were plentiful, and the family was able to barter with neighbors. By the end of the first year they had made enough money to buy another 10 acres of land.
Henry had a particular knack for making wooden shoes which he sold for six cents a pair. People came from Sheboygan, Sheboygan Falls, and Green Bay to buy his shoes.
The first sawmill in the town of Meeme was built by the Lorfeld family. They dammed up the Pigeon River, and dug a canal to the dam. Water power did the sawing. It was located in a wooded area south of the farm.The daily toll for sawing wood was ten dollars.
Henry was a very handy millwright and carpenter and later, he and John sold their interest in the sawmill to their father in order to pursue opportunity to build and set up sawmill operations in the timberlands of Minnesota.
In the 1860 US census, Henry was listed as a single male living in Carver City; occupation Millbuilder. By the 1880 census he was living with his brother John in Dahlgren, no occupation, and continued to live with John and his family in this fashion until his death. Henry never married.
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