Carlsons ‘king’ of Century Farms

Christian and Maria Carlson could never have imagined what they were starting back in 1867 when they purchased 40 acres of farmland in Marion Township near Stratford. Christian and Maria left Sweden to build a better life on the rich prairie sod of Iowa. Their descendants must have liked it here, because so many of them are still here — and still farming.

The Carlson name appears on more century and heritage farms than almost any other name in Hamilton County. While the Johnson name appears the most, with 11 century or heritage farms, it’s not known how many of the different Johnson families are related. With the Carlsons, it’s easier to trace.

If there is a family patriarch for the Christian Carlson family today it is Keith Carlson of Stratford. He verified for Farm News that all of the Hamilton County Carlson farms that have received either the century or heritage farm status can trace lineage back to Christian and Maria.

They include: Wendell and Ruth Carlson, Stratford, century farm, 1977. Roger and Vera Carlson, Stanhope, century farm, 1996. Brad and Karleen Carlson, Jewell, century farm, 2013. David Carlson, Stanhope, including siblings Ronda Nass, Steve Carlson, and Lori Hanson, century farm, 2015, and heritage farm, also 2015. Doug and Shelia Carlson, Stratford; two tracts, one century farm in 2022, and a separate tract, heritage farm, also in 2022. To clarify, not all of the Carlson farmland originated with Christian and Maria. Wives and mothers may have brought land into the different family branches, or it was acquired later by following generations, even through aunts and uncles. One thing seems certain, descendants of Christian and Maria Carlson know how to keep a farm in the family.

As awarded by the Iowa Farm Bureau and the Iowa Department of Agriculture, Century farms have been in one family for at least 100 years. Heritage farms have been in one family for at least 150 years.

For the Carlsons, it has not always been easy, but they offer little doubt that it was always worth the effort.

“Sometimes I wish they (Christian and Maria) had come to better land because this land needs to be tiled so much to make it work,” said Keith Carlson.

Now retired, Keith Carlson has been a long-time and very active community organizer in Stratford. He not only farmed, he founded his own business, Agri-Education. Carlson was instrumental in the establishment of the popular Athens Woods Estate in Stratford. He started his career as a voc- ag teacher and later became a journalist, serving as the first editor of Monthly Farm News in the 1970s, the predecessor of today’s Farm News.

“I always did a lot of other things besides farming, because I learned that I couldn’t just farm; I also had to depend on myself,” he said.

Carlson’s son and daughter-in-law, Doug and Shelia Carlson, today own and operate the family farm near Stratford. They collected both Heritage and Century designations on two different tracts of land at the 2022 Iowa State Fair.

The couple lives on the heritage farm, purchased in 1867 by Christian and Maria Carlson. The work ethic the couple brought with them from Sweden more than a century and a half ago has been handed down through the generations.

“My parents taught us to work hard, to try to be good neighbors, and give a helping hand when needed,” Doug Carlson said.

Doug’s parents, Keith and the late Martha Carlson, had one other son besides Doug, Michael Carlson, who passed away last summer. While Michael farmed for awhile, in later years his health did not allow him to work the farm.

This heritage farm tract was owned by Wendell and Ruth Carlson when it gained century farm status in 1977. At that time, Wendell Carlson noted on the application that the original price paid by Christian and Maria was $7.50 per acre. Selling prices for Hamilton County farmland in 2022 ranged from $10,900 to $16,700 with an average of $13,949.

While that’s an impressive capital gain, the investment made by Christian and Maria did not just grow capital, it grew children, sent them to college, and brought many of them back to be a part of their community, their church, and the local schools. The land generated not just income for generations of families, but it also paid more than a century of state, county, and school taxes. Locally owned farms contribute locally, and the Carlsons have always sought to be a part of their community.

Doug Carlson recalled Wendell Carlson as a good businessman, a kind farmer, and a person who cared about his neighbors.

“They were a very Christian-orientated family,” Doug said.

The century farm awarded to Doug and Shelia Carlson in 2022 actually came, not from the Carlson side, but from his mother’s side of the family, the late Martha Carlson.

Martha Carlson was the daughter of Clifford and Helen Carlstedt. This century farm originated from the maternal side, as Martha’s mother had been an Angstrom before marriage. Olof Angstrom, Doug Carlson’s great, great, great, great, grandfather, also came from Sweden and purchased 80 acres in Webster Township near Stratford in 1884.

The Carlsons, Doug noted, always had more family reunions than the Carlstedt/Angstrom family, so he was able to get to know more of them a little bit better. A good encouragement for readers to organize or attend family reunions this summer.

Keith Carlson looks back to previous generations and appreciates all that they taught him.

“My grandfather (Theodore Carlson) taught me how to drive a tractor, even though my dad told me explicitly not to ever drive that tractor,” Keith Carlson recalled. “It was a Farmall B, Grandpa said, ‘Get up there, you’re old enough.’ I was about nine years old.”

Today, things are a little different, but lasting lessons remain.

“I’m very proud of the century and heritage farm status,” Keith Carlson said. “It’s a tradition that shows quite a few generations have tried to teach their kids to invest in land, and to take care of the land.”

Around Stratford and Stanhope, the Carlsons are still doing just that.

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