Anton T. Onsrud was a prominent farmer of Rutland in Dane county.
His parents, Thora Larsen Onsrud and Bertha (Gutormson) Onsrud, were natives of Ullensacker, Norway, where they were married and spent their entire lives. Of their four children, all except Allte, who died in Norway, came to America. Caroline married A. Halverson of Stoughton, and Morrison lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Anton T. was born May 11, 1848, educated in the common schools of Norway and there confirmed in the Lutheran church, with whose branch in Stoughton he is now affiliated. He was left an orphan while quite young and worked on farms in Norway until 1871, when he set sail for America. He first home was in Rock County, where he worked out for two years at Cooksville. Two years were spent in Minneapolis, after which he returned to Cooksville and rented a farm.
In 1874 he married Miss Marie Johnson of Rutland, whose parents, John and N. (Hanson) Johnson came to America from Norway in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Onsrud have eight children, all of whom attended school in Rutland and Stoughton. John, the oldest, married Miss Mamie Criddle, and operated the Criddle farm in Rutland and Ben was also a farmer on the Usher farm. Edon, Albert, William, Edward, Clarence and May are the younger children.
In 1882, Anton purchased 135 acres in the town of Rutland, section 11. On the acreage he built a house and made many improvements. The house which was burned in 1897 was rebuilt and made much more modern and commodious. He also purchased a farm in section 12, known as the Usher place.
Mr. Onsrud was a Republican but was never been active in politics.
Sources referenced:
1906 History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Western Historical Association, Madison, WI, p. 681-682 accessible at https://archive.org/details/historyofdanecou02keye