| Additional Information: | 2016 Survey Recommendation:
Rising from a fieldstone foundation, this two-story gabled T-plan house is sheathed with clapboard and also includes a one-story gabled wing to the rear (west), as well as a one-story, square bay projection with wooden bracket trim to the south. The home’s front entrance is sheltered beneath a one-story, open wraparound porch, and along the south side of the street-facing gabled wing. Four, one-over-one-light sash windows are symmetrically placed along the east elevation of the street-facing wing, two along the first floor and two along the second, each with a simple wooden surround with slightly raised trim along the top edge. Two additional and identical windows are located along the first floor, one each along the north and south side walls, while an additional single window rests in the space opposite the front door. Windows throughout the remainder of the house are one-over-one examples that are largely symmetrically arranged.
Deeds indicate that in 1883 this property was sold by Alonzo and Anna Colby to Thomas and Mary Thompson. The $200 purchase price, combined with the appearance of the home, suggests that the house had not yet been built and was built by the Thompsons. Therefore, a circa-1885 date of construction has been ascribed to the house. Thomas Thompson was born in 1852 in Norway and immigrated to the United States in 1867. After residing for eight years in La Crosse, he moved to Onalaska, where he clerked for two years for Richard Bailey, after which they became partners. The 1880 census enumerates Thompson in Onalaska, along with his Wisconsin-born wife Mary and their three-month-old son Richard. Thomas is identified as a dry goods dealer. His store, which was destroyed by a fire in January 1903, had been located at the corner of Main Street and Third Avenue South. Thomas and Mary, who wed circa 1879, raised four children in the home: Richard, Charles, Thomas and Esther. In 1889, Thomas was appointed Onalaska postmaster, a position he held until 1894. Following the 1903 fire, the Thomases sold their home to Charles Sjolander and Thomas, Mary and daughter Esther moved to Huron (City), Beadle County, South Dakota, where Thomas worked first as a clothing merchant and later as a bookkeeper at a cigar factory.
The C. (Charles/Carl) A. Sjolander family then owned the home from 1903 through 1944. Like Thomas Thompson, C.A., as he was often referred to, was born in Norway in 1851. He immigrated to the United States at the age of fourteen and resided in La Crosse County all his life. His obituary identifies him as the second registered druggist in the State of Wisconsin. After attending business college and residing in Holmen, Sjolander would be among the organizers of the Holmen Creamery, as well as the Holmen State Bank, the latter institution of which he would later serve as president. It is unclear if the house was rented for a time, as his obituary notes that he did not retire from the bank until circa 1931, “…since which time he has made his home in Onalaska.” Among the Sjolander family photos available online, it appears that one dated 1933 was taken along the south side of the house, as the one-story bay is evident. C.A. passed away in 1934 and his wife Karen died in 1940. The home then reverted to the heirs, specifically their daughter Hulda (Sjolander) Winbaugh, who sold it in 1944 to George and Ella Metzger of West Salem. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Citations for information below:
Biographical entry for Thompson (spelled Tompson) in Butterfield, History of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, 819; Alonzo and Anna Colby to Thomas Thompson, Warranty Deed, 22 August 1883, Book 57, Page 541; “Big Fire at Onalaska,” Eau Claire (WI) Leader, 20 January 1903, 3/3; Thomas and Mary Thompson to C.A. Sjolander, Warranty Deed, 30 March 1903, 104/315; U.S. Federal Census, Population, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and South Dakota State Census, 1905, All available online at www.Ancestry.com, Accessed May 2016; Dolbier, From Sawmills to Sunfish, 118, 123, 160, 163.
Biographical entry for Sjolander in Butterfield, History of La Crosse County, 842; Charles Sjolander to Karen Sjolander, et. al., Last Will and Testament, 28 August 1934, 191/307 (death date cited as 10 October 1934); “C.A. Sjolander, County Pioneer, Passes, Aged 83,” and “Aged Pioneer Passes,” unidentified newspaper articles (although likely the LaCrosse Tribune and the Onalaska WHAT), undated (but likely either August or September 1934), “Mrs. C.A. Sjolander, Pioneer Resident, Dies Suddenly,” unidentified newspaper article, undated (1940) and 1933 photo of Sjolander family south of the subject house, All articles and photo available online at www.sjolander.com, Accessed June 2016; Sjolander family information included in Dolbier, From Sawmills to Sunfish, 36-37; Wilbur and Hulda Winbaugh, Chicago, IL, to George and Ella Metzger, West Salem, Warranty Deed, 18 November 1944, 206/401, Doc. #457967. |
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