Harold was born on September 24, 1906
in Clay County, Minnesota. He was the seventh of eleven children born
to Emma and Joseph Rosenquist. His early experiences were those of
a young boy growing up on a farm in northern Minnesota in the early 20th century.
As a young man, Harold went to work in the gold mines with his brother
Archie in Central City/Blackhawk, Colorado. The gold was starting to
play out while he was there, but iron pyrite (fools gold) was abundant.
He liked to tell about the time the mine owners brought several investors
from New York City to visit the mine. He overheard one of the investors
tell another, "I now know what it is like to stand on pure gold." The
owners did not bother to inform the investor what he was really standing on.
During this period he also worked as a hired hand in the wheat fields
near Walla Walla, Washington. The area was extremely hilly, and they pulled
the harvesters with 20-mule teams. The harvesters were pulled around
the hills instead of up and down the hills because they were so steep.
Harold said that, in order to keep the operator’s platform on a harvester
level, the downhill side had to be raised up to 20 feet off the ground.
Around 1930 Harold moved to southern Minnesota where he worked as a hired
hand on farms in the area. This was during the depression, and he worked
for $10 per month in the summer and $5 per month in the winter plus board
and room. It was during this time that he met Fern Ruby Severson, daughter
of Victor and Minnie Severson, who were local farmers. Harold and
Fern were married on June 24, 1936 at Medo Lutheran Church near Pemberton,
Minnesota.
Fern and Harold rented a small farm near Pemberton from Fern’s uncle Albert
Severson. While living on this farm, all three of their children were
born: LaVonne (Berentson), Lauren and Lance Rosenquist. The farm house
was heated by a wood stove and did not have running water. In the winter
it got cold enough during the night to freeze a thin layer of ice on the
water bucket.
They lived near Pemberton until 1947 when they bought a 200 acre farm
near Mapleton, Minnesota. This farm did not have electricity, telephone
or running water and was also heated by a wood stove. Later, electricity
and telephones became available to the rural areas around Mapleton.
While living on the farm near Mapleton, Fern started teaching English at
Minnesota Lake High School. She continued teaching until she was in
her sixties.
Although Harold farmed during this time, he enjoyed carpentry more than
farming. He rebuilt or added several farm buildings while living on
the farm. One family story during this time is when Fern was chopping
corn stalks and the tractor caught on fire. When Harold saw the smoke,
he drove out to help Fern put out the fire. Fern was so excited that
she ran all the way to the house instead of driving the car. She then
used the phone, which was a party line with old crank style phone, to call
the operator. When the operator answered, she said, "Come quick the tractor
is on fire" and hung up. The operator recognized her voice and called
the fire department. They arrived in time to help Harold put the fire
out.
Harold and Fern moved to Mapleton, Minnesota, around 1960 and lived in
a house that he built. They rented the farm to tenants while Harold
worked as an independent contractor for the local lumber yard building farm
buildings sold by the lumber yard. During this time, Harold built two
additional houses, moving the family into each one after it was completed.
They located their third house on the site of Mapleton’s Opera House.
Harold constructed this last home using the materials from the demolition
of the old opera house.
Harold became quite interested in curling, which is a Scottish game played
on ice, while living in the Mapleton area. He skippered two teams for
several years: a men’s team and a mixed doubles team composed of 2 women
and 2 men. He played in several tournaments in the upper midwest area
and won a couple of them. Curling has just recently become an Olympic
Games sport.
Harold died peacefully on April 12, 1981 in their home in Mapleton.
He finished eating a piece of cake, placed the plate on the coffee table,
leaned back on the sofa and was dead.
Fern moved to Mankato, Minnesota, after Harold’s death and died on July
15, 1994.
Anger was something that Harold very rarely showed. The family knows
of only three instances when he lost his temper, and they agree that he was
probably justified in each case. One was when Lauren and Lance were
supposed to be keeping the sheep out of the crops. After the boys
started playing, the sheep got into the crops. Harold yelled to get
the sheep back, but Lauren and Lance started arguing about who should chase
the sheep. This was the only spanking that either one of them can
remember. Harold also got upset with Lavonne one time when she stepped
on several baby ducks that were on the farm. However, he completely
lost his temper with a buck sheep one time. When Harold opened the overhead
door of the machine shed, the buck sheep was waiting and knocked him flat.
He got up, grabbed a shovel, and straddled the buck sheep. The buck
sheep would take a step, then Harold would take a step and hit him over the
head with the shovel. The buck sheep would shake his head, and they
would repeat the process all over again. This continued all the way
to the barn where Harold’s arms got so tired that he had to quit. It
never seemed to bother the buck sheep in the least.
Harold is remembered by his family as a kind and gentle man, soft spoken
but very strong and self reliant. Fern had "A Kind and Gentle Man"
inscribed on his tombstone. Although the stone mason kept trying to
change it into "gentleman," Fern insisted. She was right; it is a perfect
description of him.
