Historical Books for Homesteaders in Wisconsin

These historical books for homesteaders portray depression-era farm life in Wisconsin told through the eyes of those who lived it.

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One of my favorite thing to do is hear old stories about life long ago. When I was little, my grandma would tell me stories of her life in Kennan, Wisconsin as a girl. She’d share the stories of how her mother would bake seven loaves of bread each day and how her older brother would eat a whole loaf himself. She told the story of how she walked to school with her sugar sack lunch, only to find it to be the actual sugar instead. With permission from the teacher, she walked back home to get the actual lunch, and got chased by the bull as she tried to take a shortcut.

I was entranced with each story she told as she recalled her one-room schoolhouse, swimming in the creek near their home, and hard work of daily life on a small farm. It helped me paint a picture of what life looked like for her as a girl so many years ago.

As an adult, I’m still just as starry-eyed to sit and listen to the older generation tell their stories. These stories are important to tell; they are the window to the past that allow younger generations to see and appreciate what life had been like before our own existence. These are stories from the past that need to be told before there is no longer a voice here on Earth to share them.

I’ve been reading quite a few historical memoir books that center around life in Wisconsin in the early 1900s that I think any homesteader would love to hear. These stories come from the pen of those who lived it, some of them still living and others gone to their eternal homes. I’ve learned a lot to use on my own homesteading journey through these books. I really hope you enjoy these books as much as I have been!

Table of Contents

• #1 Farm Girl by Beuna Coburn Carlson
• #2 Every Farm Tells a Story by Jerry Apps
• #3 The Farm on Badger Creek by Peggy Prilaman Marxen
• #4 The Land Remembers by Ben Logan
• #5 That’s The Way It Was by Virginia Nielsen Lindow
• #6 When Horses Pulled the Plow by Olaf F. Larson
• Where to Find These Historical Books for Homesteaders
• More Homesteading Stories
• Save this Post

#1 Farm Girl by Beuna Coburn Carlson

Why have I recorded my memories, I, an elderly woman, known to friends and family, but unknown and unimportant to the rest of the world? Why should anyone read these stories of a time of great hardship and adversity in America? And why, in these times of relative prosperity, should anyone care about people who lived so differently nearly one hundred years ago?

Beuna Coburn Carlson, Farm Girl

This book was just a wonderful read. I talked about it with anyone who visited and to anyone who would listen.

In this story, Bunny, the author, shares what life was like growing up in the 1920s-1930s on a farm in western Wisconsin. As she tells her story in her elderly years, you can plainly see how much she loved her childhood and how much she loved her family. She tells her stories chapter by chapter, each their own tale about a memory she has of growing up on her farm during the Great Depression. The family, though they didn’t have much money, was never “poor” as Bunny is sure to point out. Instead, they faced their challenges head on, made do with what they had, and were rich in many other ways besides money.

This story reminded me a lot of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s annotated bibliography, Prairie Girl (another book I couldn’t put down and highly recommend!), which is Laura’s firsthand account of her life without the embellishments and extras added from publishers and her daughter.

#2 Every Farm Tells a Story by Jerry Apps

This one was another excellent read. There was so much I loved about this book- specifically that it resonated so much with how much it sounded like my own grandfather’s childhood. Author Jerry Apps is tells the story beautifully of life on a dairy farm in central Wisconsin during the Great Depression. Through this book, you experience the hardships of life on a farm and the reality of what advancements in farm technology has done to the people of the farming communities. This book brought me to tears more than once and it’s another that I talked about over and over with my family and friends!

Something I loved most about this book was Jerry’s recollection of how much of a role the community played to one another in farming communities. When work needed to be done, the farmers and their families came together to do it. When there were emergencies and disasters, the farmers and their families came together to face it. As technology slowly crept its way into the Apps farm and others in the community, work that had required many hands now only required one man. Apps does a beautiful job sharing about that challenging concept- that the new technology that had been introduced to the farming communities to make life easier had come at the cost of social connectedness to one’s neighbor.

#3 The Farm on Badger Creek by Peggy Prilaman Marxen

I think of home with the creak of a harness leather, the whinny of a horse, the call of a distant raven, the crack of an axe, the scent of soil in springtime ,and new-mown hay in summer–and the aroma of coffee at any time. The feel of flannel shirts and leather mittens. The sparkle of lantern light on a crust of snow.

Peggy Pilaman Marxen, The Farm on Badger Creek

Another lovely story of a childhood on a dairy farm, this time in the 1950s era and in northwestern Wisconsin. Peggy Pilaman Marxen recalls her life in a series of sections centered around farming, community, life within the seasons, life in a one-room schoolhouse, and childhood antics.

#4 The Land Remembers by Ben Logan

Once you have lived on the land, been a partner with its moods, secrets, and seasons, you cannot leave. The living land remembers, touching you in unguarded moments, saying “I am here. You are a part of me.”

Ben Logan, The Land Remembers

Author Ben Logan tells his story with beautiful imagery and description, full of dialogue, and almost poetic prose. The pages of the story come to life as he tells each tale, captivating the reader. Born in 1920 and the youngest of three boys, Logan has many vividly beautiful stories to tell of boyhood, community, and farm life in southwestern Wisconsin. Logan tells his stories season by season, telling of life within each. Through the book, you can feel his connection to the land and his true love for nature. If you’re looking for a story told with beautiful language, a dialogue that makes you feel like you’re a part of the story, and an incredibly-told view into what farms looked like in the 1920s and 1930s, then this is a book you’ll want to read.

#5 That’s The Way It Was by Virginia Nielsen Lindow

I’m writing this not from a sense of nostalgia, but from an urgency to tell the story of an era when children played with gay abandon, uninhibited in their pursuits and with safety. An era in which we learned the value of work and simple pleasures. An era of community and belonging and dignity of self. Also, so new generations might gain a greater perspective of a lifestyle that no longer exists before all of us are gone and no one will remember.

Virginia Nielsen Lindow

It feels like you’re listening to a grandmother tell this wonderful Depression-era memoir. Author Virginia Nielsen Lindow tells her story of her girlhood in the 1930s on a farm in Withee, Wisconsin. I thoroughly enjoyed her stories of adventures with her sister and cousin, berry picking with her mother, picnics around the Black River, and performances at their one-room schoolhouse. It’s a wholesome book full of wonderful stories of a time long ago.

This book is not available on Amazon, unfortunately. But, you can get it through your local library!

#6 When Horses Pulled the Plow by Olaf F. Larson

Olaf F. Larson put together his account of his childhood when he was 98 years old. How lucky are we to be able to hear his stories! He starts off his story by helping us visualize the setting of his life. Larson was born in 1910 in Fulton Township, Rock County, Wisconsin. He then moves on to share about the farmstead and farmhouse, the work that went into planting, maintaining, and harvesting crops, the reality of the labor that goes into farming, school experiences, and life as a boy living on a farm.

This book reminds me a lot of Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, except told in firsthand account and setting in Wisconsin. It’s a lovely story about a time that has long since passed- a time that so many yearn to have back.

Where to Find These Historical Books for Homesteaders

All of these historical books for homesteaders are available in the Wisconsin public library system (which is how I obtained the copy that I read!). But, if you’d like to purchase, you find most titles on Amazon as well.

• Farm Girl by Beuna Coburn Carlson (price $19.09)
• Every Farm Tells a Story by Jerry Apps (price $15.95)
• The Farm on Badger Creek by Peggy Prilaman Marxen ($19.15)
• The Land Remembers by Ben Logan ($18.18)
• When Horses Pulled the Plow by Olaf F. Larson ($19.95)

More Homesteading Stories

If you’re looking for more homesteading stories, check out this post about how these modern-day homesteaders got started!

You can also read about our homesteading stories here in Letters from the Homestead and our diary series. Another post that shares about our life from season to season is told here, and goes into what life looks like on our Wisconsin homestead throughout the year.

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If you have another book to add to this list of historical books for homesteaders, please leave a comment below! We’d love to have more books to read!