My Genealogy Hound

JOHN HAMMERSTROM, saddle and harness merchant of Minden, Kearney county, is a native of Sweden and was born April 6, 1854. He came to the United States in 1869, and after a short stop in New York city went to Cook county, Minn., where he began work as a laborer on the railroad. Continuing there till 1878, he came at that date to Kearney county, Nebr., and took a homestead and settled down to farming. He followed farming till 1887, then moved into Minden, and opened a saddle and harness store, continuing at this since. Mr. Hammerstrom’s life has not been an eventful one, but it has been one marked by great industry and crowned with success far beyond that of the average man. When he landed in America he had only fifteen dollars; and this was soon consumed while looking for something to do. He literally began life in the new world on the bottom round of the ladder. His rise was slow, but steady. He worked hard and faithfully saved up all he earned. He applied himself industriously to the task of mastering the English language and the American ways of doing things. His first few years, although spent in unremitting toil and not without much hardship, brought him nevertheless, much experience, which he has since turned to good account. He is not only an industrious, economical man, but he possesses good intelligence and thorough-going business ways. He is highly esteemed in the community where he lives, and is pointed out by his admiring fellow-citizens as a splendid example of what one with sound head and strong heart, coupled with industry and frugality may accomplish in this land of peace and plenty.