August Victor Rosenquist

Victor was born in Clay County, Minnesota on March 13, 1905. The Rosenquist family was still living on their first Clay County farm, near Downer. During Victor's earliest years, the Rosenquists moved several times. Most of that time, they lived on farms, so the typical adventures with farm animals, chores, and country schools were very familiar to Victor. He had three older sisters and two older brothers. Three more sisters and two more brothers were added to the family as Victor grew, so when the family was complete, Victor was right in the center of the birth order.

An incident happened in 1913 that eight-year-old Victor probably never forgot. The family was living on a farm in Spring Prairie township. On a cold day in early March, a man came to the one-room schoolhouse and tried to kill the teacher. He shot her several times and then killed himself. Victor's older brother, Archie, when he wrote his autobiograpy in 1967, said that one of the bullets "hit Victor in the arm just enough to make it sore." The children went home on foot without coats in sub-zero temperatures. Archie also said this about Victor: "He froze both hands on the way home and I froze my ears. He didn't lose any fingers but all his fingernails came off."

Archie told about another adventure that took place after the family settled in southeastern Riverton township in 1913:

"Elna, Victor and I took a notion one time to dig a cave in the hillside. We weren't in very far when it caved in on Victor and me. Elna managed to dig us out before we suffocated. But we were sure scared. We didn't tell the folks."

Victor was still at home on the family farm in 1925, when he turned 20. A few years later, he took two extended trips to the state of Washington to work on railroad projects. The Great Northern Railroad was building a tunnel in Steven's Pass. It was designed to shorten the route by eliminating a long section of track. Previously, trains had crossed the mountains on the longer track using a dangerous and time-consuming method called "switch-back". Victor went to Washington in a Model-T and lived in a tent. He worked as a cook's helper, doing the kinds of things the cook didn't want to do himself. Victor also spent time working in Illinois, as his brothers did. Most of the time, Victor and his brothers were there to help with the seasonal harvest work. He was there when the Federal census was taken in April of 1930, staying with his first cousin, Ethel (Bodeen) Epperson, and her husband, Lloyd.

The 1930's were difficult times, but Victor was a hard worker. He wouldn't let the Great Depression stop him from moving on with his life. By 1933, he was working his own farm in Clay County. He had learned how to succeed in life, and he would soon have someone with whom to share it.
Ethel Helen Amundson was born in Clay County on August 15, 1915. Her parents were Ole and Bertha Amundson. She had one older brother and several older sisters. The farm where Ethel grew up was in Riverton Township, about two miles west of the farm where the Rosenquists lived between 1913 and the early 1920's.

Victor and Ethel were married in Moorhead, Minnesota, on June 2, 1934. The ceremony was performed by Lutheran minister Rev. T.A. Hagen. Witnesses were Victor's brother, Frithjof, and Ethel's sister, Olga.

Virgil, the first of Victor and Ethel's two children, was born on May 20, 1935. Their second, Alfred, was born prematurely on October 15, 1936.  Virgil tells about his brother's birth. He says Alfred was so small that he could easily fit "in a shoebox." Premature babies rarely survived in those days, but to the amazement of all, Alfred did.

Before the decade was over, Victor and Ethel moved to a farm in Clearwater County. Victor had owned land there since 1929. His property was in Minerva Township, where his parents, three sisters, and two brothers would all own homes. He lived there with his family for at least seven years. Many people had to live in poverty during those times, but Victor and Ethel were able to meet their most important needs, send their two sons to a good school, and have the close friendship and support of family members living in the area.

In the late forties, Victor began experiencing problems with pain in his left leg, caused by the cold, northern Minnesota winters. A doctor advised him to move to a warmer climate. So, in September of 1947, Victor sold his property and moved his family to Peshastin, Washington. They made another move in 1953, to nearby Cashmere. Victor and Ethel lived there the rest of their lives. Victor worked in a company that made wooden apple and pear boxes. When he started, he worked the night shift in the company's sawmill. His responsibilities changed over the years, but Victor remained with the company until about 1968, when he retired at age 63. During much of that time, he was a "lumber grader". His job was to categorize the "green" lumber that was produced in the sawmill.

On October 14, 1980, after 12 years of retirement, August Victor Rosenquist suffered a heart failure and died in Cashmere, Washington. He was 75 years old. He was buried in the Cashmere cemetery. Two years later, Ethel died of breast cancer. She passed away on October 16, 1982, and was also buried in the Cashmere cemetery. Victor and Ethel had four grandchildren.