Nels and Lars Sesker were born in 1862 and 1865, respectively, in Cambridge, Iowa to John and Helga (Straatveit) Sesker.
Nels Sesker is the great-great grandfather of Stacie Sesker and Lars her granduncle. Nels and his wife, Johannah Ostrem, were the parents of 8 children. Lars and his wife Elizabeth Johnson were the parents of nine, 7 of whom grew to adulthood. The lived in Cambridge, Iowa which is very nearly the geographic center of the state of Iowa. Nels' property is shown in blue, Lars' in green. Three other brothers owned property nearby, F. John in dark blue, Carl in yellow and Jacob in orange. Their only sister, Elizabeth Ostrem, widowed in 1930 is shown as the owner of the property in pink. The Milwaukee Union St. Paul Railroad is shown in red. The Rock Island Railroad is shown in purple.
More on trains below the news article section.
Mid-1934 to mid-1935 would be a very bad year for this family. Nels and Lars died as well as three sons of Lars under very tragic circumstances. The button on the left will take you to the applicable news items.
On July 13, 1934 Eldon, age 28, died by suicide, although his girlfriend disputes the circumstances. Eldon Lewis was the 7th child of Lars and Elizabeth.
On November 23, 1934 Frank was killed after being hit by an eastbound Milwaukee freight train, he was 31. Luckily, according to the paper, the body was not mangled. Carl Francis Sesker was the 6th child of Lars and Elizabeth.
On April 12, 1935 Lars, age 70, died from pneumonia. His wife, Elizabeth, had died in 1931.
On June 14, 1935, Martin, brother to the aforementioned Frank, was killed after being hit by a Rock Island train, he was 41. Martin John Sesker was the eldest son of Lars and Elizabeth. His body was "crushed beyond recognition" and was identified by a check stub found in his pocket. Judging from the particulars one wonders if it wasn't suicide.
Finally, on August 7, 1935 Nels, age 72, died from complications of acute appendicitis. His wife Johanna had died at age 47 in 1913.
Kennon and her then friend Stacy Sesker tell of a very spooky family gathering late one night in Iowa. The "under 40's" were gathered in the back yard of the family home, sitting around a bonfire and perhaps having a few too many cocktails. Sometime, pretty late in the evening, the group could hear the whistle of a train not too far away. Oddly the noise did not seem to go away, as it might if the train were just passing through. After some time several of the group became curious because the whistle just didn't go away. They hopped in a car and headed to the nearby tracks and found.....exactly nothing.
