Mankell Family History
The Mankell Homestead
Lake Andrew Township, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota
NW Corner of Section 20
(This page is under construction.)
Part of the life story of the homestead can be told in pictures.
1886 plat map of homestead "HW Mankel"
(on this map look to left of center in lowest row)
Mankell Farm House, c1890, view is from the north looking south.
Left to Right: Oscar Mankell, Sophie Mankell Quam, Elizabeth Mankell, Otto Mankell, Austin Landquist, Esther Mankell Erickson, Amanda Mankell Landquist, Alfred Landquist
Wedding of Sophia Mankell and John Quam, 1893
Photo is of the farmhouse looking north.
The farm in 1913. The farmhouse had several additions, with the last finished in 1913.
Two views of the farmhouse in the 1930s.
Marjorie Larimer, daughter of Herman and Cora Mankell, writes about when the windmill was destroyed by a tornado which hit the farm. "It was about the mid-1940s. We were all in the house when strong winds hit! It lasted a few minutes and when we looked out, there lay our windmill across the yard, with the grapevine on it, almost to the top. We had been waiting for it to reach the top of the windmill. A modern day saying is 'so it goes!'"
View of the farm in the 1940s. Note that the windmill is gone, replaced by the pumphouse.
The farmhouse in 1968.
The barn in 1968.
The granary in 1968.
Moving the farmhouse, October 1991.
In 1991, 6 years after Herman's death and almost 30 years after Cora's death, the children of Herman and Cora sold the deteriorating house and contents at an auction. The kitchen on the west side of the house had to be torn down prior to the move. The Arends family purchased the house and in October of 1991 the house moved south 2.5 miles and now stands on the north side of Crook Lake.
In May 1991 Marlys Schilz wrote about her visit to the farm when the families were preparing the farmhouse for an auction.
I was at my old home today -- cleaning to prepare the house for sale or whatever. I was flooded with memories of 28 years ago when mom died. May 18, 1963. That day was also cold and windy. So much was the same -- the sounds were the same, the smell was the same and yet, everything was different. Oddly, I thought, that the project of washing floors and cleaning up actually started 28 years ago. That is when it really began. The beginning of the end.For more of Marlys' stories, click here.
Mary Ann said it is a grief process that we are going through. I can see what she means. I hate to go through the process of getting rid of the house and contents but I also feel a need for resolution too. The dead needs to be put to rest. Otherwise there continues to be suffering.
When Coral and I drive by her school on the weekend, I have said, "Your school looks so lonely with no little children. I see tears coming out of the windows." That is the same thought as looking at my old home. Mary Ann asked, "Where will Mom go? I can just see her in that kitchen. Where will Dad go? I see him reading tthe newspaper in the dining room." My answer is that they will never leave; they will always be there no matter what physical change takes place.
I was surprised that I remembered so much. I looked at the pantry shelves and could picture the location of items stored there: the cookbooks, cereal boxes with a bottle of homemake wine "hidden" behind them, oversized containers, the flour bin and a crock for homemade bread.
I was surprised that I had forgotten so much. Did the playroom always have a window close to the ceiling, to the hallway? Were the windows in the bedrooms upstairs always so close to the floor? Were the stained glass windows always so beautiful?
The barn was detroyed in a severe storm in the spring of 2001. Many farms in the area lost buildings in this storm.
In 2005 Kurt Mankell took aerial pictures of the farm from a motorized parachute. Here are some of the pictures.
An aerial view of the north part of the farm, looking east, 2005. The gravel road is visible to the left.
The south part of the farm, looking east, 2005. The township road (field road) is visible in the foreground.
The farm looking south, with the gravel road visible in the center of the picture.
In 1976 when the State of Minnesota was identifying century farms, the Mankell farm, along with many other farms in the state became designated as a Century Farm. For a list of other century farms in Kandiyohi County and Minnesota and to see the Century Farm application completed by Orlynn, see the Minnesota Farm Bureau web site.