Iowa, Births and Christenings Index, 1857-1947
John Lingscheit
born 20 Sept 1888, Rock Twp, Cherokee Co, Iowa
father: Joseph Lingscheit, 41
mother: Katherine Diedrich Lingscheit, 33
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, 5 June 1917, Hand County, South Dakota
born 20 September 1888, (Town is hard to read)Iowa.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
South Dakota Death Index, Hand County,Certificate #252751
John Lingscheit
9 April 1950
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Bring On The Pioneers! A History of Hand County" by Scott Heidepriem, @1978, pgs. 403 and 404.
(printed with permission of Scott Heidepriem)

John and Elizabeth Lingscheit

Elizabeth Nerland Lingscheit was born June 30, 1886 to Thorstein Nerland and his wife Johanna Falness Nerland. She lived on Fenno Island in a Fjord near Stavanger, Norway. Elizabeth and her brothers Peter and Thor grew up in Norway and remained there until they decided to sail to America. Peter left home first, followed by Thor, settling in Iowa. Elizabeth at age 19 set sail to visit her brothers, not knowing her visit would be a permanent stay in America with 61 years of it spent in Hand County, South Dakota. She might have changed her mind, as did her sister, had she known it would be 51 years before she would return to Norway for a visit.

Thor and Peter had left Iowa by this time and rented a farm near Parkston, South Dakota owned by their uncle. His joking advice to them was "look out for the big fat Dutchman living on the next farm". He was big – and he was also Joe Lingscheit, father of John Lingscheit, born September 20, 1887, Cherokee, Iowa, who proved to be a close friend and eventually brother-in-law of Thor. John's sister Louise married Thor. John, on seeing a portrait of Elizabeth, when she was still in Norway, told Thor he would wait until she came to America. John and Elizabeth were married March 9, 1910 in the Lutheran Church in Des Moines, Iowa.

In 1916 the two couples, Thor and Louise, John and Elizabeth, decided to sell and trade their land in Parkston for land near Ree Heights. At this time, John and Elizabeth had three daughters, Hazel born January 30, 1911, Norma, May 22, 1912, and Dorothy, January 5, 1915.

In 1917 they made the move in March, traveling by passenger train. John and Elizabeth bought a car in 1912 but left it in Parkston till the weather cleared. John and Thor had brought the cattle, machinery, and furniture earlier by freight. Elizabeth (now 92) has a vivid memory of leaving the train at the Ree Heights depot and climbing over drifts piled high in front of the café. John met them with horse and sled to take them to their new home 14 miles southwest of Ree Heights in what is now known as "Green Valley". The description was far from fitting that day. Luckily they were young and adventurous and came from sturdy stock because at that time the ranch was anything but inviting.

The hills looked cold and bleak as they approached what was known then as the "Mearns" land, coming over the hills from the east, having to stop to open and close gates as they came. There was no indication of the many trees they would plant later on the place. The house itself was a claim shanty used by Mr. Mearns. Elizabeth recalls the wallpaper hanging in strips. But not for long. She was immediately busy making a house a home. Both families, plus a hired man, lived in the small 2 bedroom house in the beginning. As expected there was no indoor plumbing, but the hydrant was handy being located just outside the kitchen door. All the water on the place is supplied by gravity from a spring located a short distance on the hillside. Later another similar house, located just around the hills to the east (it had earlier been occupied by the Lobbans, another pioneer family in the area) was moved to the home site and Thor and his family moved into it. In 1923 John and Elizabeth added carbide lighting in both house and barn. This was a welcome replacement for kerosene lamps. It also meant the convenience of a carbide iron for clothes, and a carbide hot plate. This lighting system was used until 1945 when they installed a Standby light plant. Except for emergencies this was to be used little as REA brought electricity in 1949.

Years before the family moved to the ranch, the original boundary line of the Crow Creek Reservation was located in a line between the present house and out building. After the boundary was changed by the government further south toward the river, Indians still came through with their teams and wagons usually stopping to ask for something to eat. Often the women were alone and frightened but they usually gave them food.

In 1929 John and Thor dissolved partnership and Thor moved a mile or two into Cedar Township and built a new home. John and Elizabeth stayed in Springhill Township and remodeled their home, adding a bathroom and running water in the house. John's son Wilbur and family still live on the place. Son, Joseph and family now own and live o Thor's ranch in Cedar.

John Lingscheit passed away in April 1950 after an extended illness. Elizabeth moved to Miller shortly thereafter and kept house for herself until her health failed at age 91. She now makes her home with her daughter Evelyn Froning in Miller.

They had six children and three still live in Hand County. Hazel, married to Clark Bottum, Wessington; Norma, married to E.F. Frary, Fair Oaks, California; Dorothy (deceased August 18, 1977), married Rolland Edberg, Great Falls, Montana; Joseph Lingscheit married Elaine Schmidt Hines, Ree Heights; Wilbur Lingscheit married Maxine Lutter, Ree Heights; and Evelyn, married Dick Froning, Miller.