USA > Iowa > Dickinson County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 30
USA > Iowa > Emmet County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 30
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
In his youthful days E. J. Starkey became a pupil in the public schools and passed through consecutive grades to the high school of Ter- ril, while later he attended the Spencer (Ia.) Business College and the schools of Estherville. Following the completion of his studies he was for some years identified with his father's implement business and later he became manager of two grain elevators in Terril, to which business he devoted his attention for two years. In 1911 he entered the First National Bank of Terril as assistant cashier and is now serving in that capacity. He is well known in the city where he resides, the greater part of his life having here been passed, and his life history is as an open book which all may read.
In 1909 Mr. Starkey was united in marriage to Miss Laura Winslow, of Terril. In politics Mr. Starkey maintains an independent course, vot- ing for men and measures rather than party. He is now serving as town treasurer and is also treasurer of the school board. Fraternally he is connected with Richloyd Lodge, No. 612, F. & A. M., and he and his wife
E. J. STARKEY
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are members of Gloaming Chapter, No. 225, O. E. S. He likewise has membership with the Modern Woodmen of America, and both Mr. and Mrs. Starkey worship at the Methodist Episcopal church. He is one of the leading and representative young men of Dickinson county, highly esteemed wherever known and most of all where he is best known. He has attractive social qualities as well as marked business ability and thus he has become popular in the community in which he has so long lived.
S. B. REED.
S. B. Reed, of Dolliver, manifested marked enterprise and industry in the development of his fine farm in Lincoln township, Emmet county, and since his removal to Dolliver has been an important factor in insur- ance and banking circles here, being president of the Farmers Mutual Aid Insurance Company and being one of the organizers and also a director of the Dolliver Savings Bank. His birth occurred in Carroll county, Illinois, December 22, 1849, and his parents were William and Mary (Buckmaster) Reed, who removed from Ohio, their native state, to Illinois with an ox team in 1840. The father became the owner of a farm there and the primitive conditions of life in that locality are indi- cated by the fact that their first home there was a log cabin with a clapboard roof. In 1859 removal was made to Missouri, where they remained until 1861, when on account of the strong feeling engendered by the Civil war he left as the alternative to such a course was to join the rebel army. He returned to Mount Carroll, Illinois, where both he and his wife passed their last years. Five of their nine children still survive.
S. B. Reed attended the common schools of Carroll county, Illinois, in the acquirement of his education and remained at home until he became of age, when he purchased a farm in Carroll county, upon which he lived until 1888. In that year he sold the place and bought three hundred and twenty acres of raw prairie land in Lincoln township, Emmet county, which he brought under cultivation as soon as possible. As the years passed the place was transformed into a highly developed and well improved modern farm and he derived a gratifying annual income from the sale of his grain and stock. In 1901 he retired from farming and has since lived in Dolliver. He has not led a life of inactivity, however, as his duties as president of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company demand a good part of his time and attention. He is also a director of the Dolliver Savings Bank, which he aided in organizing.
Mr. Reed was married in 1876 to Miss Sylvia E. Bailey, who was also born in Carroll county, Illinois, and is a daughter of Elijah and Elmira (Holman) Bailey. The parents removed from Vermont to Illi- nois at an early day in the development of that state and there both passed away. To Mr. and Mrs. Reed ten children have been born, namely :
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Walter B., now a resident of Minnesota; Ruth, the wife of S. B. Caylor; Mira, who married Ben Trimble, a resident of Wyoming; James, who is also living in Wyoming; Mima, the wife of Roy Wertz, a resident of South Dakota; Alice, who married A. L. Koenecke; Bessie, the wife of Fred R. Dowden, a banker of Gruver, Iowa; Olive, the wife of Emil Eckhart; Bruce M .; and Sarah, deceased.
Mr. Reed is a republican and has served as trustee of his township. His record of official service in connection with the schools is unusual and highly creditable to his interest in the cause of education as for twenty years he was president of the school board. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and his wife is a member of the Baptist church.
JACOB K. BERVEN.
Prosperity has crowned the efforts of Jacob K. Berven in the operation of his home farm on section 36, Swan Lake township, to which he has given the name of the Instenes Farm for his father's old farm in Nor- way. He is a native of that country, born July 7, 1866, and is a son of Knute and Christi (Jacobson) Berven, who never left the land of the midnight sun. Both have passed away but with one exception all their nine children survive them.
In the schools of Norway Jacob K. Berven obtained a good practical education and early became familiar with farm work in all its phases. Believing he would find better opportunities for advancement in the new world he came to America in 1883 and first located in Lee county, Illinois, where he worked as a farm hand for ten years. At the end of that period he went to Montana, where he spent thirteen years engaged in railroad- ing and ranching. Since then he has made his home in Emmet county, Iowa, having purchased a farm on section 36, Swan Lake township. He has made many useful and valuable improvements upon the place, erect- ing good and substantial buildings and placing the land under excellent cultivation.
Mr. Berven was married in 1889 to Miss Bell Knutson, and to them were born seven chilren, namely: Kearney, George C., Clarence, Edmund W., Jacob A., Elmer L. and Emma C. The wife and mother died in Montana, June 10, 1903, and Mr. Berven was again married in 1906, his second union being with Miss Marie Peterson, a native of Denmark, by whom he has three children: Evelyn, Martin L. and Oscar J.
Mr. and Mrs. Berven are faithful members of the Lutheran church, and he is also identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having filled all of the chairs in the local lodge of the latter organization. The republican party finds in him a stanch supporter of its principles and he served as assessor of Swan Lake township for one term. He is now a school director, having been a
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member of the school board for the past ten years, and he always gives his support to any enterprise calculated to promote the moral, educa- tional or material welfare of the community in which he lives.
H. C. HANSEN.
H. C. Hansen, who owns and operates a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres on section 21, Denmark township, Emmet county, comes of a good old Danish family, his birth occurring in Denmark, June 12, 1858. He is a son of Mads P. and Karen Marie (Jensen) Hansen, in whose family were eight children. In 1880 they crossed the ocean and took up their residence in Story county, Iowa, where they lived for five years, and then settled on a farm in Palo Alto county, just across the line from Denmark township, Emmet county. Both parents have now passed away and are buried in St. John's cemetery.
H. C. Hansen was reared and educated in his native land, being twenty-two years of age when the family came to the new world. Com- ing to Iowa he worked as a farm hand in this state for ten years and has since engaged in agricultural pursuits on his own account. After his marriage he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land on section 2, Independence township, Palo Alto county, and continued its improvement and cultivation until 1900, when he purchased his present farm on section 21, Denmark township, Emmet county, which also con- sists of one hundred and twenty acres. In connection with general farm- ing he is raising registered Hereford cattle and finds that branch of his business quite profitable.
In 1890 Mr. Hansen was united in marriage to Miss Ellen C. Peter- sen, a daughter of Eric Petersen, of Muskegon county, Michigan, where he had homesteaded and where he continued to reside until his death in 1915. She lost her mother when quite small. Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hansen two died in infancy, the others being Anna, Carrie, Ruth, Eric and Julius, all at home. They hold mem- bership in St. Paul's Lutheran church, and Mr. Hansen is a republican in politics, taking a deep and commendable interest in public affairs.
PETER TORNELL.
Peter Tornell, who gained a competence through the operation of his farm in Armstrong Grove township and moved to Estherville in the spring of 1917, was born in Sweden in September, 1862. His parents, Olof and Carrie (Sundberg) Tornell, came with their family to America in 1865. The father became a landowner in Boone county, Iowa, and
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followed agricultural pursuits there until his death in 1896. Five years later the mother passed away.
Mr. Tornell received his education in the public schools of Boone county, Iowa, but when fourteen years of age was compelled to begin providing for his own support. He worked as a farm hand for several years and later cultivated rented land in Webster county, Iowa, for three years in partnership with a brother. In 1891 he came to Emmet county and bought three hundred acres of fertile land on section 30, Arm- strong Grove township, on which he resided with the exception of three years until his removal to Estherville. He took care to maintain every- thing about his place in good condition and followed such methods of cultivating the fields as would conserve the fertility of the soil. In the fall of 1916 he sold his agricultural implements and the greater part of his live stock and retired from farming in the spring of 1917.
Mr. Tornell was married in March, 1893, to Miss Lottie Gifford, by whom he has had six children: Leonard, who is twenty-three years old and is at home; Florence, who died in 1899, at the age of three years ; Gladys, who is nineteen years old and is clerking in a store at Halfa; and Robert, seventeen ; Harriett, thirteen ; and Luella, eleven years old, all of whom are at home.
Mr. Tornell is a republican and for ten years has been the trustee of Armstrong Grove township and for a still longer period has served on the school board. He holds membership in the Presbyterian church and his salient qualities of character are such as commended him to the respect and esteem of all who know him.
GEORGE FELKEY.
George Felkey, who carried on agricultural pursuits in Armstrong Grove township, had a large acquaintance in Emmet county and his demise was deeply regretted. A native of Illinois, his birth occurred October 29, 1847, and he was a son of Daniel and Florinda Felkey, an account of whose lives appears in the sketch of H. J. Felkey elsewhere in this work.
George Felkey was reared under the parental roof and received his education in the schools of Illinois and Iowa, the family home having in the meantime been established in this state. After attaining his majority he rented land in Mitchell county, Iowa, for three years but in 1871 took up a homestead in Armstrong Grove township, Emmet county. In 1873 when there were but few settlers. in this section he began carrying the mail from Algona to Swan Lake and was so employed for six years and nine months. He also took advantage of the tree claim act, thus acquir- ing title to another eighty acres, and subsequently bought forty acres, making his holdings in all two hundred and eighty acres. He brought all of his land under cultivation, erected substantial buildings and other- wise improved his place. He was at once energetic and progressive and
MR. AND MRS. GEORGE FELKEY
BUDI ~ LIBRARY
A- 107, L. TILDAN ELLI.D LONE
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it was but natural that he should meet with success. For a number of years he was a director of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company and was recognized as a man of business ability. He died after a long illness October 31, 1910, when sixty-three years of age.
In August, 1868, Mr. Felkey was married to Miss Mary Churchill, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Churchill, further mention of whom is made in the sketch of Charles S. Churchill elsewhere in this work. To Mr. and Mrs. Felkey were born eight children. Rose is the wife of F. M. Goldsberry, a farmer of Armstrong Grove township. Jesse J. is also a farmer of this township. John is a resident of Armstrong. Isabelle married Chris Peterson, a farmer of Lincoln township. Elmer, who is operating the home place, was married on the 14th of December, 1910, to Miss Addie Patterson, a daughter of John and Emma (Stewart) Pat- terson, of Kossuth county, Iowa, and has two children, Fay Leona and Ethel Fern. Mary is the wife of Chris M. Peterson, a farmer of Swan Lake township. Myrtle and Albert are both deceased. Mrs. Felkey still resides upon the home farm and has many warm friends throughout the county.
Mr. Felkey was an adherent of the republican party and held the offices of trustee and road supervisor. In religious faith he was a Pres- byterian. Those who knew him intimately still hold his memory in honor, for he was a man of sterling worth and of many attractive personal qualities.
ANDREW OLSON.
Andrew Olson, a farmer of Jack Creek township, Emmet county, was born in Norway, May 7, 1847, a son of Ole and Anna Olson, who spent their entire lives in Norway, their native land. They had a family of seven children, six of whom are yet living.
Andrew Olson was reared and educated in Norway but came to America in 1870. He made his journey across the continent to Rock county, Wisconsin, where he secured employment as a farm hand, work- ing there for six months. He afterward removed to Austin, Minnesota, where he resided for ten years and in 1882 he came to Iowa. Later he purchased his present farm, comprising eighty acres on section 5, Jack Creek township, and upon this place has since made his home, his time and attention being energetically given to the further development and improvement of his fields, from which he annually gathers good crops.
In 1877 Mr. Olson was married to Miss Ella Nelson, a native of Norway, who came to America in 1870 with her parents, Lars and Marie Nelson, both now deceased, the father having passed away at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Olson, at the very advanced age of ninety-nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Olson have become the parents of eleven children: Anna M., the wife of Ole Berkland; Lewis O., now living in South Dakota;
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Mary B., the wife of A. R. Hanson; Carrie A., the wife of Edward Holmes, a resident of Colorado; Ole O., living in Minnesota ; James U., of South Dakota; Andrew, also of Minnesota; Martin E., who is living on a farm near Fenton; Christina, deceased; John, at home; and Christine, now a pupil in the high school at Estherville.
Mr. Olson votes with the republican party and has served as a trus- tee in his township and also as school director but prefers to leave office holding to others and concentrate his time and efforts upon his farm work. All that he possesses he has made since coming to America, for he arrived in this country empty handed, and that he is a successful agri- culturist shows that his life has been well spent. Both Mr. and Mrs. Olson hold membership in the Lutheran church and the latter has been a member of the League for fourteen years. They enjoy the warm regard of all who know them and are numbered among the valued citizens of Jack Creek township.
CHARLES ROSENBERGER.
Charles Rosenberger, a prosperous farmer and influential citizen of Center township, Emmet county, claims Germany as the land of his birth, being born there June, 13, 1865. His parents were August and Kathrine (Untermann) Rosenberger, who spent their entire lives in Germany, and the father was a sea captain. In their family were four children of whom three are living. Like most boys living in Germany, Charles Rosenberger was given good educational advantages but later he believed he could better his financial condition by coming to America, and in 1881 he crossed the ocean and came direct to Iowa, first locating in Jackson ocunty, where he worked as a farm hand for a time. In 1892 he removed to Emmet county and purchased a farm on section 1, Center township, where he now owns two hundred and four acres of very valuable and productive land. He has made many improvements upon the tract and placed the land under a high state of cultivation, and in addition to general farm- ing has also devoted considerable attention to the raising of stock of all kinds.
In 1892 Mr. Rosenberger was united in marriage to Miss Noemi Ahrens, also a native of Germany and a daughter of Paul and Amelia (Ingwersen) Ahrens, who were born in the fatherland and came to the United States in 1880, taking up their residence in Clinton county, Iowa. Mr. Ahrens, who is a shoemaker by trade, is now living in the state of Washington, but his wife passed away in 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Rosen- berger have two children, August B., and Paul A., both at home.
Mrs. Rosenberger is a member of the Presbyterian church but Mr. Rosenberger is a Lutheran in religious faith. He is a stanch supporter of the republican party and is now serving as school director. He is a self-made man, for on coming to this country he was without capital,
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and the success that he has achieved is due entirely to his persistent efforts, for he is industrious, enterprising and progressive, his business methods are thoroughly reliable, and he usually carries forward to suc- cessful completion whatever he undertakes. He has traveled quite exten- sively and has spent a year and a half in California.
OLE AANONSON.
Ole Aanonson, a resident farmer of Emmet county, has for more than a half century lived within its borders, so that its history is familiar to him from the period of its early development down to the days of mod- ern progress. He is now engaged in farming on section 5, Jack Creek township, where he has an excellent property. He was born in Norway on the 15th of February, 1849, and is a son of Onond and Julia (Lewison) Christianson, who came to the United States in 1853. After two years spent in Dixon, Illinois, they removed to Iowa, settling first in Mitchell county, where they remained for a number of years, arriving in Emmet county in 1862. The father then homesteaded a quarter section of land in Swan Lake township but later there proved to be a flaw to his title and he received a deed for only eighty acres. He continued to reside upon that farm until his death, which occurred in 1884. His widow long survived him and passed away in 1902.
Ole Aanonson was but four years of age at the time of the arrival of his parents in the new world. His education was acquired in the com- mon schools of Iowa and after reaching young manhood he worked with his father upon the old homestead and also as a farm hand in the neigh- borhood, but at length he determined to start out in the business world on his own account and he also made arrangements for having a home of his own by his marriage on the 19th of November, 1880, to Miss Sarah Peterson, also a native of Norway, whence she came to the United States in the year of their marriage. In the spring of 1880 Mr. Aanonson purchased eighty acres of his present home farm. Upon that place he has since continued and in subsequent years he has added forty acres to his original holdings, so that he now has an excellent farm of one hundred and twenty acres which in its neat and thrifty appearance indicates the continuous care and labor which he has bestowed upon it. He has most carefully, persistently and wisely tilled his fields and everything about his place indicates his careful supervision and progressive effort.
To Mr. and Mrs. Aanonson have been born nine children, seven of whom survive, as follows: Julia, the wife of A. Stueland, of Estherville, Iowa; Onon, who follows farming in Swan Lake township; Anna, who is the wife of D. W. Lucas, of Estherville, Iowa; John, an agriculturist of Swan Lake township; Helen, who gave her hand in marriage to Vern Haines, of Estherville, Iowa; Peter, who cultivates the home farm; and Halvor, an agriculturist of Swan Lake township, Emmet county.
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In politics Mr. Aanonson is a republican, having supported that party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He has served as township trustee and for several years was a member of the school board. He belongs to the Norwegian Lutheran church and he is one of the well known and valued pioneer settlers of the county, with the history of which he is thoroughly familiar, his memory forming a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present.
LOUIS STOLTENBERG.
Louis Stoltenberg, president of the German Savings Bank of Lake Park, occupies an enviable position in business circles of Dickinson county and has been an important factor in the commercial and agricultural development of this section of the state. A native of Iowa, he was born in Scott county. December 14, 1863, and is a son of Hans and Louisa (Wiese) Stoltenberg, who came to this country from Germany at an early day and settled in Scott county, Iowa. The father purchased a farm in Blue Grass township and engaged in its operation for many years, finally passing away there in 1912. The mother died in 1872. Of the eight chil- dren born to them seven are still living.
Reared on the home farm in Scott county, Louis Stoltenberg began his education in the district schools near his home and later attended a . business college at Davenport, thus acquiring a good practical education. In 1884 he came to Dickinson county and here he has since made his home. During the first season he broke prairie and put under cultiva- tion some of his father's land in Minnesota, which he later purchased. For one year he clerked in a store at Lake Park and then turned his atten- tion to the grain business for seventeen years, during which time he met with excellent success. Mr. Stoltenberg has purchased land from time to time as his financial resources have increased until he now owns eigh- teen hundred acres of very valuable land, all improved and under culti- vation. In 1901 he became one of the organizers of the German Savings Bank at Lake Park and has since served as its president. He is also vice president of the State Bank of Round Lake, which was organized in 1906, and is quite prominent in financial circles.
In 1894 Mr. Stoltenberg was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Denk- mann, also a native of Scott county, Iowa, and a daughter of Frederick and Wilhelmina Denkmann. By this union two children have been born, namely: Walter F., who is a graduate of the high school of Lake Park and also a commercial college; and Arnold H., who is now attending com- mercial college.
Mr. and Mrs. Stoltenberg are members of the Lutheran church and he is a stanch supporter of the republican party but has never taken an active or prominent part in political affairs, preferring to give his undi- vided attention to his business interests. As the years have gone by he has
LOUIS STOLTENBERG
Or ALY
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steadily prospered for he is a man of sound judgment and good executive ability, usually being able to carry forward to successful completion what- ever he has undertaken.
D. A. DANIELS.
D. A. Daniels, one of the foremost citizens of Lloyd township, Dickinson county, who owns and operates a fine farm on section 28, claims Pennsylvania as his native state, his birth occurring in Crawford county, September 5, 1856. His parents were Henry and Mary (Reynolds) Daniels. The mother died in Pennsylvania and about 1870 the father, with his family of six children, came west to Iowa, locating in Webster county, where he purchased a farm and continued to reside until his death in 1890.
In the Keystone state D. A. Daniels passed the first fourteen years of his life and then accompanied the family on their removal to Iowa. During his boyhood he received a good common school education and after putting aside his textbooks engaged in farming in Webster county. There he was married in February, 1894, the lady of his choice being Miss Betsie Daniels, of Webster county. The following month he brought his bride to Dickinson county and located upon his present farm on section 28, Lloyd township, which he had purchased the fall previous to his removal. The place, which comprises one hundred and sixty acres, is one of the productive farms in the county, and its neat and thrifty appearance plainly indicates the care and labor he bestows upon it.
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