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The Pioneer House

was built by the Norwegian emigrant Andreas Seem in Underwood, Otter Tail County in Minnesota. In 1869 he settled, together with his family and two other families from Trøndelag, as the first settlers here and became the founders of this town.

  • The pioneer home short time after its erection at Sletta

They were lucky, because in this area there were woodlands and there was no problem getting timber. In many other places, the settlers had to build houses from rammed earth and turf. The houses in Underwood were built in solid oak, and two of these houses are still standing; The Foss Cabin in Underwood and Seems Pioneer home at Sletta. Both tell the story of the first pioneer period.

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    Inside the Pioneer home Lena Eikeland Kutschera

The house of Karen and Andreas Seem was in use as a residence right up until 1956. By then it had been extended in several directions, and had at the most 6 rooms. Later, the extension was taken away, and the house was moved to another place on the property. The family of Andreas and Karen still lives on the farm in Underwood,  and gave the house as a gift to the Emigrant centre. They loved the idea of the house "coming home" to the country where their ancestors had migrated from.

Along with the house, the museum also got a crazy quilt made by the daughter of Karen and Andreas. Read more about the textile and the history of the settler family in this article(In Norwegian):

Museum24:Portal - 2025.02.14
Grunnstilsett-versjon: 2