Stor Gunnar T. Mandt and His Sons
TG Mandt was a man of early Wisconsin and Norsk pioneer history who was well-known for his wagons and his influence on the town of Stoughton, Wisconsin. What is not so well known is that he was only one from a talented family. I would like to share a little of what I have learned about this family. I will begin with TG’s father.
It was May of 1811 in Skafså parish, Telemark, Norway, that Gunnar Tarjeisson Mandt was born. He was the eighth of eleven children, and as he later had a brother also named Gunnar, he was known as Stor Gunnar (Big Gunnar), and his younger brother as Vesle Gunnar or Small Gunnar. Stor Gunnar married twice, first to his cousin Hæge Halvorsdtr who was also born in Skafså. They lived in Kviteseid parish, and had four children before Hæge died in 1844. They were Margit Gunnarsdtr, later known as Mary; Tarjei Gunnarsson, called Charlie; Halvor Gunnarsson who died as an infant; and Gro Gunnarsdtr, who was called Julia. Soon after Hæge’s death, Gunnar married again to Jorunn Tarjeisdtr Sinnes of Kviteseid. Two more children were born: a second Tarjei Gunnarsson, known as TG, and sister Hæge Gunnarsdtr, later called Hattie. In 1848 Stor Gunnar took his wife and 5 children to the new world. They traveled to southern Wisconsin, to the Koshkonong Prairie, where so many early Norwegian emigrants began their new lives. Gunnar chose land in Pleasant Springs Township, a few miles outside of Stoughton. There, Gunnar and Jorunn’s family grew to include Anna, Ingebjorg (Belle), Engel (Angeline), Peter who died at 6 months, Mikkel (Michael), Else (Ella), Dagne (Della), Gunner (Gunder), and Carrie. During these early years, he was known by several names: Gunder Torgerson, Gunder Aamli, Gunder T Lee, and finally as Gunder Mandt. They attended the West Koshkonong Lutheran Church. Gunnar was also one of the founders of the Bovre congregation.
Vesle Gunnar (also Gunder in the new world) had emigrated in 1843, also to Koshkonong Prairie, and several of their nieces and nephews eventually followed. The lives of Vesle Gunder, his wife and children, is well documented in a 1977 book by Paul H. Mandt titled “Relatively Speaking,” and also Vesle Gunder’s own account of his life published in the Decorah Posten in 1906, and reprinted at various times since. I am not going to cover the details of Vesle Gunder’s life here, except to say that his family lived in Koshkonong Prairie, and so of course was tightly enmeshed with the lives of his brother’s family and other family members as they joined these early emigrants.
The large family of Stor Gunder worked hard at farming in Pleasant Springs Township for nearly 25 years. Among the many outbuildings of the farm was a shop, where he built and repaired the wagon and farm equipment needed for his farm, and built furniture for his home. He also built and repaired equipment for his neighbors. His obituary states that he built “many a wagon and buggy that remained in use” at the time of his death in 1883. “It was here that his son, T.G. Mandt, the president of T. G. Mandt Mfg. Co, learned his trade as wagon-maker, the young man learning to make a wagon complete, wood-work as well as the iron-work.”
By 1875, Gunder sold the farm and had moved his family into Stoughton, but instead of retiring, he opened a furniture business which he ran for 6 years. A chair made by Gunder T Mandt is in the museum at Cambridge, Wisconsin, but other remaining pieces are privately owned. Gunder died at 72 years of age in Stoughton, and his wife Jorunn died in 1894. Gunder died a respected and esteemed man. Gunder’s sons all must have learned from their father these many skills and crafts, a truly rich heritage, and now I would like to share what I have learned about how they used these skills.
Charlie, the oldest son, was working as a butcher in the 1870 census, and he died in Michigan about 1920. Charlie was married and had two sons, John and George while still living in Stoughton.
Tarjei (Targe or TG) was the next oldest son, and his life as a wagon manufacturer, prominent citizen of Stoughton, newspaper publisher, etc, is a well-known tale within southern Wisconsin. He began a small wagon building business in 1865. TG developed and patented most of the improvements he made to his buggies and wagons, those patents listing over 50. His innovations included a ‘seat belt’, an extension to lengthen or shorten the chassis of a wagon, a system of interchangeable parts to increase uses of a wagon, and an oscillating mechanism to allow tighter cornering without tipping the wagon. These practical, comfort, and safety measures made TG’s wagon company successful, employing as many as 1,000 workers. Stoughton became known as a wagon manufacturing town. The Mandt Wagon was known for its quality, and the wagons traveled far and wide. TG also helped establish the first fire department for the town, and started “The Hub” a newspaper that exists today.
Next was son Michael. He was a blacksmith, a carpenter, a stonemason, and a builder. Michael built the Orphans Home, the Old Peoples Home and the Stoughton Post Office. The Orphans Home is still standing, a fine example of 1900 construction. He was the inventor and patent holder of the Mandt concrete building block, a cement interlocking block used mostly for industrial and commercial buildings. He was a partner in the Mandt-Powell Concrete Machine & Foundry Company. In “Oak Openings,” nephew Ferd Homme wrote that Michael was a huge man and that together with his two sons, O.G. and E.G., these three weighted 1,000 lbs. Michael was married to Andrea Halvorson from Primrose, Wisconsin, and they had Maude; Tekla, a concert pianist in Chicago; Obert G (O.G.); and Ellsworth (E.G.). O.G. became an industrialist and was president of Jaeger Machine Company in Columbus, Ohio. He invented and patented the conventional snow blower. He became wealthy, had servants and a limo, and enjoyed hunting, fishing, and golfing in his Florida retirement. He was married, but had no children. E.G. was a very successful salesman for Jaeger. He lived in Columbus and Birmingham, Alabama, also retiring to Florida. E.G. spoke with a southern drawl, was married, and had two children.
The youngest son, Gunder Jr., also had many interests and talents. He learned the art of furniture making, and worked in his father’s store in Stoughton. He learned photography, and worked as a photographer in both Stoughton and Mt Horeb. Gunder Jr worked at the OB Dahle merchantile. He owned a paint and carpenter shop. His photography took him into publishing, working at various times at the Blue Mounds Press, the Mount Horeb Sun, the Star in Daleyville, and the Dane County Sun. Gunder also sold real estate for a time. He worked at the Galloway Farm Equipment, in Keokuk, Ia., where he was known as a wagon maker and an expert on designing fertilizer spreaders for the fields.
This family of talented men left a huge mark on the Koshkonong Prairie and within the ranks of early Norwegian families. The women of this family were equal partners in the building of their communities, raising and inspiring and encouraging their children in artistic, creative and business endeavors, but of course, being women of this time, they were not given the same acknowledgement as the men. The daughters and granddaughters of Stor Gunnar married well, and were instrumental in the growth and success of the new communities. TG’s daughter Tilla was his business manager and accountant before her marriage, and continued in that capacity in her husband’s merchantile business in Manitowoc. Tekla, dau of Michael, was a concert pianist in Chicago. Della’s son, Ferd Homme, was the author of “Oak Openings, the Story of Stoughton”, and a woodcarver. His brother, Mandt Homme, was a master woodcarver, specializing in duck decoys. Robert Homme, a grandchild of Della, became a beloved Canadian children’s television host. There is no doubt about the impact this one family had on the Koshkonong Prairie and southern Wisconsin in these early years.
Lorna Mandt Robertson
May 2003