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Compiled By Robyn Ryan

If Walls Could Talk;
The history of a century old house.

"My grandparents, Alexander and Betsy Houston, came from Vermont in the Fall of 1852, locating in Wisconsin, where they lived until 1861 and then moved to a farm near Garden City, Blue Earth County in this state (MN), where they stayed until 1862 until driven out by the Indians.
Watson (Watt) Houston, my father, was a young man then and they took up government land and settled on a farm in Dodge County, one hundred and three years ago.
They built a log cabin where I was born and often in the winter, the snow would sift through onto the floor.
After a few years, they built a new frame house near the highway; the lumber was drawn by ox team from Red Wing. The new house had six bedrooms and a porch across the front. The house is now 93 years old and has been modernized inside and the porch taken off. It remains in the Houston family with my brother, Frank Houston, the present owner.
   In the winter when the blizzards came, my father would tie a rope from the kitchen door to the barn so that the hired help would not loose their way.
My brother, Frank, and sister, Adeline Houston Gardinier, and I walked to the country school two miles every day. In the winter my faather drove us in a bob sleigh. Usually about 30 pupils attended and when they wanted a drink, one of them carried the water pail around to each desk and gave each pupil a drink from a big tin dipper.
   After I finished rural school, I went to Kasson High School and graduated and then taught in this same little red schoolhouse.
   We had a county superintendent who visited school often. He came not by auto or bus, but on horseback. He was part Indian and his name was Anton Sperry. His small son named Little Willow, is buried in the Wasioja Cemetery and his monument can be seen there today.
My father had a large orchard and raised many apples. Every fall he would take his cider press to the County Fair and sell cider.
My mother (Melvina Kimall Houston) said she used to sit by her father and snuff candles while he read the paper. She also told of carrying her shoes to school so as not to wear them out."

WELCOME
I am pleased that you have found this site. The following pages are dedicated to my childhood home in Kasson, MN. Having many pleasing memories, and a limitless curiosity, I decided to research the history of the house that I loved so much. This site is currently a "WORK IN PROGRESS", as I continue to research the history associated with it. I hope you enjoy what you find here, and if you have any further information related to the house or its past owners, please feel free to contact me.

PAST OWNERS OF THE HOUSE
The first house on this property was a log cabin built in 1862, and the current house was built in 1872 by Alexander and Betsy Houston. Alexander and Betsy's son, Watson A. Houston (D. 5/23/1911 Dodge Co.) and Wife-- Melvina A. [Kimall] Houston (D. 2/8/1911 Dodge Co.) also owned the property. Watt and Melvina's son, Frank Alexander Houston (DOB 10/27/1871, D. 8/26/1967 Dodge Co.) and Wife-- Emma H. Houston (DOB 12/5/1877, D. 8/26/1967 Dodge Co.) then took over ownership. The next known owners were Harrison E. Norton (DOB 11/12/1892, D. 9/21/1958 Dodge Co.) and Wife-- Nadine H. [Goodrich] Norton (DOB 5/31/1895, D. 3/24/1985). After Harrison Norton died, Nadine sold the house to her mother, Julia E. [Houston] Goodrich
(DOB 9/26/1869, D. 5/6/1968 Dodge Co.)

This is where the sequence of owners gets a little hazy. My family moved into the house in 1979, and purchased it from John and Janet Wangen. It is not known at this time if the Wangens bought the house from Julia, or if another party had owned it in between.
My family sold the house in 1987 to a John and LoraLee Bray, and they have since sold the home to another party.

Above; Nadine's Obituary. Nadine was Julia's Daughter. Nadine's grand daughters came to the house after the funeral and gave my mom a couple old pictures of the house. These are posted on my pictures page, and can be viewed by
CLICKING HERE<<<<<<<<<<<

MORE TO COME SOON
All Pictures displayed on this page are property of Robyn Ryan and may not be reproduced, captured, or other wise used or displayed by any person or persons either for public or private use or internet sites without the express written permission of Robyn Ryan or persons authorized to act on the behalf of Robyn Ryan.

MEMORIES
By Julia Houston Goodrich
dated 1965.

click here for links

Or click on the picture of the house at the top of this page.

MEMORIES
by Dorinda M. [Beach] Randall
We bought the house from John and Janet Wangen in 1979. I think that they bought it from some one other than the original family.
I believe we actually made the agreement to buy the house in December of 1978, with a "move in" date of February 1, 1979. The Wangens were going to have an auction and be out by that time, but the weather was bad andwe had lots of snow so the auction was postponed. We stayed at the Ranch Motel in Kasson for probably six weeks before we could get possession of the house. I remember going to their auction and the snow bank by thedriveway came up to the front porch roof. It seems to me it was about March 15th when we moved in.
The only heat was a small furnace that heatted the kitchen, bathroom. pantry and laundry room. There was a Franklin stove in the living room and I think there was one in the library. It was so cold the week we moved in that we took our mattresses to the library (formerly a garage), put them on the floor, and pulled slabs of wood off the wall to burn for heat. The room had been torn apart at some time and there were planks of wood nailed to the walls. Everything was unfinished.
Peggy and Bud Poffenburger came to welcome us to the neighborhood a day or two after we moved in, and when they found out how cold we were, they came with a pickup load of wood to put in the library for us. There was a heck of a snowstorm going on at that time! Come to find out, the Wangens only lived in the four furnace-heated rooms. All the rest of the rooms were in bad shape and closed off. They needed sheetrock and finishing. Upstairs there was about a five inch difference in the floor by the time you came from the front of the house to the back. We worked steadily as we could afford it to fix the rooms up. We never finished until about a month before we moved out!
We had insulation blown into the attic and insulation added to the walls when we had the house sided. We replaced many of the windows; the wind blew right through the cracks around them. I used to stuff rags in the center between the two panes of glass and the wind would blow them right back out! One of these first few nights we spent sleeping upstairs I put a glass of water on the bedside table. In the morning there was a thin layer of ice on it! After we sided the house there was probably a difference of about 30 degrees warmer all over.

Is this house HAUNTED???
Click on the picture of the woman to read my thoughts on this subject.

Click on the picture of the house to see my pictures page