Henry came to North Dakota as a young boy in 1887 from Addieville, IL, with his parents and settled with them eight miles northwest of New Salem in the Youngtown community. In 1902 he moved to a farm six miles northwest of town and farmed there, initially with his father, until retiring in 1931, when he moved to New Salem.

He was married to Emma Holle from late 1901 until her death early in 1936. Then he was married to Mollie Tellman from 1937 until his own death in 1954.

An unsigned source says this about those early days:

“The country was all open prairie, no cultivated land, no fences, no roads. They had no horses so they farmed with oxen to plow, seed and harvest. They first built some sod buildings which were used for a grainery and other purposes. During that time the Indians became discouraged and wanted to come and drive the white men out of the county. This was the Indian scare. The news came to them one afternoon by a man riding from one farm home to another, telling them to move out. They waited till evening but didn’t know what to do. After some discussion, they hitched the horse to a wagon and all drove to New Salem. When they got there, however, the town was dark; the people had boarded the train and gone to Mandan. So they returned home again, and nothing happened of the scare. Since at first there were no fences, they had to herd their cattle by day and bring them to a corral by the barn at night.


From a booklet created for a Klusmann family reunion in New Salem on June 18-10, 2005

Henry William Klusmann was born in 1876 in Addieville, Illinois. In 1887 he came to North Dakota from Addieville with his parents, Mr. And Mrs. William Klusmann, and his three younger brothers, Fred, John, and Charley. Three sisters -- Carrie (Mrs. Wm. Detring), Emma and Minette (Mr. F.H. Ellwein) -- were born in North Dakota. They settled on some land near Youngtown, North Dakota. He was eleven years old at the time he came here.

Henry spent most of his boyhood at home helping his parents get settled. The country was all open prairie, no fences, no roads, no cultivated land. With prayer and faith the family set out to break up land with one team of oxen; they also had a few head of cattle. When funds were available, they bought fence posts to build fences to keep their cattle in so the boys would not have to herd them anymore. They built some sod buildings for their cattle and a place to store their grain.

After living in North Dakota for a few years and seeing they were making progress, the “Indian Scare” came along and they thought for some time they would be driven out and everything would be taken away from them by the Indians. But it turned out well; the Indians did not get to New Salem.

Emma Louise Engel Holle was born on February 13, 1880, in Addieville, Illinois. In 1899 Emma, with her parents Carl and Henrietta Holle and her sister Emelia (Mrs. C.W. Wiegmann) and her brother George Holle, came to North Dakota from Addieville, Illinois. They settled on a farm seven miles northwest of New Salem. She had worked at various places in St. Louis before she came to North Dakota and also worked in New Salem after arriving.

On November 7, 1901 Emma and Henry Klusmann were united in marriage and settled on a farm close to her home place. They purchased this farm from Jack Seeger. Here they farmed for twenty-nine years and raised their family of four sons and one daughter. Their children are: Herbert, who married Lucy and lived on the home place; Ted, a twin of Walter, who married Stella and lived on a farm northeast of New Salem and later moved to New Salem; Walter who married to Dorthea and lived in New Salem; Robert who married Wilma and in later years lived in Mesa, Arizona; and Eleanor (Mrs. Edwin Henke) who lived on a farm near Hannover.

In 1931 Mr. And Mrs. Klusmann retired and moved to New Salem. On January 14, 1936, Emma passed away. On October 23, 1937, Henry was united in marriage to Mrs. Mollie Tellmann. They spent nearly seventeen years together until he passed away very suddenly on September 20, 1954 at the age of 78.

During the time Mr. Klusmann lived on the farm, he served his community as the President of the Caribou School District and Supervisor of the Caribou Township. He also served on the Peace United Church of Christ Church Council and as President of the church for a few years.

During his retirement he served as janitor of Peace United Church of Christ and caretaker of the cemetery for several years.