USA > Minnesota > Jackson County > An illustrated history of Jackson County, Minnesota > Part 53
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MIALECK K. RUE (1871) is treasurer of Jackson county and resides at the county seal. lle is a native of Norway and was born June 21, 1847, the son of Knute and Beckie Rue.
At the age of nine years, in 1856, Mr. Rue emigrated to America with his parents and located with them in Allamakee county, Iowa. There he resided on his father's farm, attend- ing the country schools and assisting with the farm work, until I871. That year he started ont in life for himself and came to Jackson county, taking as a homestead claim the north- east quarter of section 30, Hunter township. There he resided, engaged in farming, until the beginning of the year 1901, when he mov- ed to Jackson to accept the position of coun- ty treasurer, to which office he was elected the preceding fall, and in which capacity he has since served.
In an official capacity Mr. Rue has served many years. He was a member of the board of county commissioners eight years, was chairman of the board of supervisors of Hunt- er township a number of years, was postmas- ter at Orr eighteen years, was clerk of school district No. 52 during the entire time of his residence in the district, and has served as country treasurer nine years. Hle owns 640 acres of land in llunter township.
Mr. Rue was married in Allamakee county, lowa, November IS. 1870. to Isabelle Smaby. a native of Wisconsin. To this union were born the following named children: Hiram C., Benton O .. Lensing W .. Elmer B., Edith, Milo, Lottie, Mabel. May and Irvin.
HANS O. GILLIE (1878) is one of the well known farmers of Belmont township, his farm consisting of 220 acres on the west half of section 16, where he has resided for the past thirty-two years. lle is a native of Norway and was born fuly 23. 1843, the son of Ole Halverson and Sarah (Thorstenson) Halverson. The former died in Norway at the age of 96 years: the latter aged 50 years. Hans has three brothers and one sister living.
Until he was twenty-four years of age lans Gillie lived with his parents, working on the farm and at the carpenter's trade and serving one year in the army. He came to the United States in 1867. landing in Minneapolis on the nation's birthday. Minneapolis was his home eleven years, during seven years of which time he was employed in a sawmill and during four years of which he was employed as a team- ster in a paper mill.
Mr. Gillie gave up city life in 1878 and came to Jackson county. At that time he
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bought forty aeres of his present farm in Bel- mont and engaged in farming. Ile built a typical "dug-out" in which he lived several years and which is still on the farm. After having lived in this pioneer abode seventeen years, he ereeted liis present fine home. Pros- perous times came upon Mr. Gillie and he has added to the dimensions of his farm until he has today a place of 220 acres, all well in- proved. Besides his farming operations Mr. Gillie has other business interests. Ile is a stockholder of the Farmers Mercantile com- pany's store of Jackson, of the Belmont Creamery company and of the new elevator company and a telephone line. Ile has been assessor of his township for twenty-three years and has held several other offices. Ile was one of those instrumental in the forma- tion of school district No. 89, known as the Gillie school, and for seven or eight years was clerk of the district. Mr. Gillie is a re- publiean and is active in political affairs of his township. lle is a member of the Nor- wegian Lutheran church.
Mr. Gillie has been married twice. His first marriage occurred in Minneapolis in 1869, when he wedded Annie Thompson, a native of Norway. She died in June, 1876, after hav- ing borne him three children, named as fol- lows: Sarah (Mrs. Louis Anderson), Osear and Henry, the last named being killed by lightning April 28. 1896, aged 22 years. The second marriage of Mr. Gillie occurred in Jackson county May 1, 1880, when he wedded Louisa Grimsrud, who was born in Norway and who died December 17, 1908, aged 71 years.
OLE SEVERSON HARSTAD (1871) is a homesteader and one of the very early set- tlers of Christiania township. He was born in Norway July 22, 1831, and spent the first thir- ty-six years of his life in that country. He received a common school education and learn- ed the mason's trade. Later he engaged in the fishing business and while so employed made trips as far as the Russian coast.
In 1867 Mr. Harstad came with his family to America and located in Minneapolis. There he worked winters building piers and hooms, while he engaged in farming during the sum- mer months. In May, 1871, he drove from Minneapolis to Jackson county, being nine days on the road with his yoke of oxen. Ile took a homestead claim on section 26, Chris-
tiania township, upon which he has ever since lived. He owns a farm of 260 acres and has stock in the Jackson Telephone company and in the Christiania Mercantile company. He has served as road overseer and as supervisor of his township. He and his family are mem- bers of the United Lutheran church.
Mr. Harstad was married in Norway in July, 1858, to Mary Engan, who died in 1900. There are five children, named as follows: Betsy and S. O. Harstad, who reside on the home farm; Julia (Mrs. Gilbert Sogge), of Chris- tiania township; Tom O., who for several years has been manager of the Christiania Mercantile company's store; Anna Mabel (Mrs. l'eter Schjei), of Christiania township.
S. J. MOE (1878), ex-sheriff of Jackson county, resides at Lakefield, where he has been engaged in the well drilling business for many years. Mr. Moe was born in Norway April 1, 1850, the son of Jens and Severne (Bronken) Moe.
When our subject was one year of age the family emigrated to America and located in Potter county, Pennsylvania. One year later his mother died and he was adopted into a family by the name of Solburg, with whom he lived until 1867. When S. J. Moe was five years old he moved with his adopted parents from Pennsylvania to Albert Lea, Minnesota, and that was his home until IS61. That year another change in residence was made, when the family located in Blue Earth county, six- teen miles west of Mankato, and there he re- sided until 1867. Jens Moe, our subject's father, had in the meantime been discharged from the army, married again, and located in Blackhawk county, Iowa, and to that place S. J. Moe moved in 1867. There he worked on farms and attended school during the winter months until his father's death, which occur- red in 1869. He remained in Blackhawk coun- ty one year after his father died, and then, in company with a brother and Geo. Morgan, who now resides in Worthington, he started north with a view to homesteading and mak- ing his home in Minnesota.
The trip to Minnesota was made by team, by way of Spirit Lake, Jackson and Madelia, to Brown county. There the brothers filed on claims and then took employment with the construction forces on the St. Panl & Sionx City railroad, which was at the time being
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constructed from Lake Crystal to St. James. He spent the next winter in lowa, working on the Burlington & Cedar Rapids railroad, and the following spring returned to his claim. There he lived four years, passing through the terrible grasshopper scourge, eyclones and other unpleasant experiences incident to pioneer life in southwestern Minnesota.
In 1876 Mr. Moe gave up farming and took a sub contract for grading on the Minneapo- lis & St. Louis railroad in Scott county, Min- nesota. The next year he took a contract with the Blue Earth & St. James Railroad company, a . wildcat" concern. and received no compensation for his season's work. In the spring of ISTS he secured employment as grad- ing foreman on the Southern Minnesota rail- road, working out of Winnebago City, and in the fall of that year finished the line to Jack. son. t'ontinuing in railroad work. he the next year worked for the Dakota Central railroad (now the Chicago & Northwestern), which was building in Dakota territory to Fort Pierre.
In the fall of 1879 Mr. Moe returned 10 Jackson county, took a position at Jackson as track foreman, and remained in that position one year. He then went to Lakefield and for three years was section foreman on the South- ern Minnesota. Mr. Moe went to Lamberton, Minnesota, in 1883, and for two years ran the Exchange hotel. Returning to Lakefield in Iss6, he has ever since made his home there. He received the appointment of postmaster in 1886 and served four years. In 1890 he was elected sheriff of Jackson county and served one term. Ile was village marshal several years and has held other village offices, being Assessor at the present time. After serving hi- term as sheriff, he engaged in the well drilling business and has been engaged in that ever since. He is a member of the Lutheran church and of the 1. O. O. F. and M. W. A. lodge -.
Mr. Moe was married at Waterloo, lowa, May 16. 1870, to Tabelle Goldbrunsen, who was born in Norway and who came to the United States when sixteen years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Joe are the parents of ten living children, as follows: Clarence M., Howard J .. Albert, Edward, Ernest, William. Arthur, Min- nie, Jennie V. and Mabel.
JULIUS F. LIEPOLD (1875), mayor of Iler- on Lake and a druggist of that village, was born in Germany September 15, 1870. He is the son of Franz Liepold and Beatrice (Wink - ler) Liepold, who came from Germany in May. 175. and homestraded in Lacrosse township. They remained on the farm until 1903, when they moved to Heron Lake, where Mr. Lie- prold still lives it the age of G8 years, and where Mrs. Liepold died in February, 1900 at the age of 67 year -.
Julius is one of a family of six children, all living. He crossed the ocean with his parent- in 1875, and until he was eighteen years old lived on the farm in Lacrosse township, then moving to Heron Lake. He was educated in the schools of LaCrosse township and Heron Lake village, in the Mankato normal, the Breck school at Wilder, where he took a com- mercial course, and the College of Pharmacy of Minneapolis.
After removing to Heron Lake Julius at- tended school and worked at various occupa- tions. In 1897 he bought out the drug store of G. C. Cooley, for whom he had worked as a clerk, and has ever since conducted the store. Mr. Liepold was elected president of the village council in 1908 and was reelected in 1909. He is a member of the 1. 0. 0. F .. the K. P. and the M. B. A. lodges.
Mr. Liepold was married in Heron Lake June 1. 1905, to Miss Lizzie Svennes, a native of LaCrosse township and a daughter of Ben- jamin J. Svennes, one of the pioneer settlers of that township. Her father died in July. 1908. Her mother. Isabelle Svenne-, resides in Heron Lake.
OLE NELSON (1872) is one of the early day settlers of LaCrosse township, his farm leing only a short distance west of the vil lage of lleron Lake. He owns the southeast quarter of section 21. LaCrosse, and a quarter section of land in Lamoure county, North Da- kota. He is one of a family of five children. llis brother John died in 1882 and his eldest sister. Julia, died in 1890. Two sisters, Lent and Mary, me living.
Mr. Nelson was born in Norway July 31. 1856, the son of Nels Johnson and Christina (Olson) Johnson. Both his parent- died in .Jackson county, his father in the spring of 1881 and his mother in the spring of 1908.
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Ole was eleven years of age when he accom- panied his parents to the new world and lo. cated in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. In the old country the father of our subject had been a small storekeeper, stock buyer and an em- ploye in a factory, and when he located in the Wisconsin town he and his son worked out for farmers in the vicinity. The family came to Jackson county in June, 1872, and bought the farm now condueted by our sub- ject, the farm being known as the Ole Rognaes place, it having been owned by one of the first men to meet his death in the terrible win- ter storms of Jackson county.
During the grasshopper times the family encountered hard times, and only for the fact that our subject and his brother were able to obtain work on the section would have suf- fered greatly. Ole lived on his father's farm and worked on the section until 1886; then he married and moved to Heron Lake, having been promoted to seetion foreman. In all Mr. Nelson worked on the railroad fifteen years, but in 1890 he gave up railroad work and has since been engaged in farming and raising stock.
Our subject served six years as a super- visor of LaCrosse township, was road overseer two years and for many years was a director of sehool distriet No. 45. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Heron Lake and is one of the church trustees.
Mr. Nelson is a man of family, having been married at Okabena May 26, 1886, to Annie Christy, a native of Goodhue county. Min- nesota. Her parents were John and Jane (Halderson) Christy, early settlers of the conn- ty. Both parents died in the spring of 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are the parents of the following named children: Clara Johanna, born May 16, 1887; John Nellard, born April 22, 1890; Orville Goodwin, born August 20, 1893; Olga Addie, born May 30, 1896; Leland Ar- thur, born December 6, 1899; Ella Josephine, born December 20, 1905.
HENRY II. LEE (1865), Des Moines town- ship farmer, is one of the oldest settlers of that precinct, having resided in Jackson coun- ty sinee he was four years of age. He is the son of Halvor B. and Martha (Hansen) Lec and was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, June 4, 1861. He is next to the eldest of a family of eleven children, of whom the five named
are living: Brownell II., Henry H., Martin HI., Martinus and Emma (Mrs. Ed. Olson).
Henry accompanied the family to Jackson county when they made the trip by ox team from Wisconsin in 1865, the date of his ar- rival to the county being June 18. 1865. On account of Indian alarms the family spent the first four months of their residence in Jackson county in "Fort Belmont." Halvor Lee took as a homestead claim the southwest quarter of seetion 2, Des Moines township, and upon that farm Henry grew to manhood, re- siding there continuously until he was twen- ty-seven years of age. At that age he bought a farm in Belmont township, which he conduct- ed a short time. He sold out in 1899 and moved to Jackson, where for the next two years he engaged in the grain and stock bus- iness. Then he bought the old homestead, and with the exception of a short time spent in Jackson, he has resided on the place ever since. During the past ten or eleven years he has been engaged in the stock and grain business as well as farming. Mr. Lee owns a residence in the village of Jackson. Ile has held the office of director of school distriet No. 13 and he and his family are members of the Nor- wegian Lutheran church.
Mr. Lee was married in Jackson county Sep- tember 6, 1891, to Lena Anderson Rod, who was born in Normay May 20, 1875. She is the daughter of Hans Anderson Rod. now a resi- dent of Enterprise township, and Andrena An- derson Rod. deceased. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lee, as follows: Mabel A., born July 26. 1892; Emily H., born Jannary 13, 1894; Agnes J., born December 1, 1895; Henry O., born February 6, 1898; Ililda M., born April 26, 1900; Edward J .. born June 1, 1903; Eve- lyn O., born Angust 28, 1909.
JOHN BALDWIN (1879), now a resident of Spirit Lake, lowa, was for over thirty years a resident of Jackson county and one of its best known citizens, having been in public life dur- ing nearly the whole of that time. At the time of his removal from the county in the fall of 1909 he was a member of the Minnesota leg- islature, representing Jackson and Cottonwood counties.
Mr. Baldwin was born in Ontario, Canada, December 30, 1844, the son of William and Mary (Schlichter) Baldwin, natives of New York state and Canada, respectively. His fa-
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ther was of Irish descent; his mother was of old Pennsylvania Dutch stock. The family moved from the British Possessions to the Uni- ted States in 1816, when our subject was less than two years of age. From 1846 to 1853 the family lived in Saginaw City, Michigan, and then the home was made in Dubuque county, lowa. William Baldwin died there in 1859 at the age of 47 years; his widow died in 1885, aged 69 years. John is one of a family of ten children born to these parents, of whom five are living. The children are Isaac W., do- ceased; Samuel, deceased; Jacob E., deceased; Caroline, John, William. Elizabeth, Charles MI., Jared, deceased, and Stephen D., deceased.
John Baldwin was brought up on his fa- ther's farm, upon which he lived until the lat- ter's death in 1859. From that time until 1874 he was engaged in various occupations in Dubuque and Jackson counties, Iowa; then he located in Olmsted county, Minnesota, of which county he was a resident until he came to Jackson county in 1879. Upon his arrival he bought a farm on section 25, Minneota township, and was engaged in farming until the fall of ISSS. Then he moved to Jack- son to take the office of register of deeds and resided in the county seat until the year 1905. Returning to the farm, Mr. Baldwin engaged in farming two years, then sold out and again took up his residence in Jackson. He continued to reside in the county seat vil- lage until October, 1909, when he took up his residence in Spirit Lake, lowa.
Twenty-one years of Mr. Baldwin's life have been spent in public office, he having been successful in ten contests. For several years immediately following his twenty-first birth- day he served as township clerk in Jackson county, lowa, and was also postmaster in the same county two years, serving under ap- pointment by President Andrew Johnson. He was chosen county commissioner of Jackson county. Minnesota, in 1885 and served a three year term. In the fall of ISSS he was elected register of deeds on the democratic ticket and held the office continuously sixteen years, hav- ing been reelected on the democratic ticket each two years. In the fall of 1908, he was chosen representative from the fourteenth leg- islative distriet and his office had not yet ex- pired when he removed from the county and state. To Representative Baldwin and Sen- ator Il. E. Hanson, of Windom, Jackson coun. ty is indebted for the appropriation of $2,000
expended in the erection of a monument to the memory of those slain in the Inkpaduta massacre of 1857 and that of 1862. Mr. Baldwin is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders of Jackson.
On December 23, 1896, Mr. Baldwin was uni- ted in marriage to Mrs. Irena E. Gillis, a na- tive of Michigan. They have no children.
GEORGE R. MOORE (1868), president of the First National Bank of Jackson, is a pioneer resident of Jackson county and one of the county's best known citizens. For over forty- one years he has lived in the county and near- ly all of that time he has resided in the vil- lage of Jackson. During these years he has taken a prominent part in the business, social and political life of the county.
The subject of this biography descends from New England stock and is of Scotch-Irish an- cestry. Samuel Moore, great grandfather of our subject, the founder of the American branch of the fandly, came from county Antrim, Ire- land, in colonial days and settled in Vermont. The maternal great grandfather of our sub- jeet, Abijah Smith, was a resident of Lexing- ton and went out from his own home to fight in the battle of Lexington and was in the ser- vice throughout the revolutionary war.
The parents of George R. Moore were Sam- nel and Abigail (Wyman) Moore. Samne! Moore was born in the Green Mountain state and was a farmer by occupation. lle was married to Abigail Wyman February 22, 1841, and died when his son was fifteen years of age. George R. Moore was born to these par- ents at Barnet. Caledonia county, Vermont. March IG, 1849.
In the public schools of his native state George R. Moore received his education. lle left his eastern home in July, 1867, when eighteen years of age, and located in Fond du Lae county, Wisconsin, where he lived and worked on the farm of an uncle, George J. Bean, until the following spring. It was dur- ing the month of May, 18GS, that Mr. Moore came to Jackson county. His uncle had pur- chased a farm in Wisconsin township, two miles cast of the new village of Jackson, and upon that farm he resided two years. Taking up his residence in Jackson. he taught school one year, and then for several years worked at various employments. In the spring of 1875 he entered the county treasurer's office,
6
GEORGE R. MOORE
President of the First National Bank of Jackson and a Settler of 1868.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENCX AND TILDEN FOUNDAT ICIMA
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where he worked in various capacities for a time, serving one year as deputy treasurer. Ile was elected court commissioner in 1876 and served one term. He was elected clerk of the district court in the fall of 1878 and was reelected in 1882, serving eight years.
During the years he served the county in an official capacity Mr. Moore acted as finan- cial agent for different concerns and individuals and developed ability in that line. Upon re- tiring from official life, he opened a real es- tate office, which he conducted for a time. In 1887 he engaged in the banking business, founding Jackson's second financial institution, a private bank under the name of George R. Moore. Banker. He eondneted this until May, IS90, when he organized the State Bank of Jackson, the stockholders of which were nine of the leading business men of the village, namely: George R. Moore, Paul Berge, T. J. Knox, J. W. Cowing, M. B. Hutchinson, G. A. Albertus, A. H. Strong, F. W. Lindsley and Alexander Fiddes. Mr. Moore was presi- dent of the bank. A reorganization was brought about in 1901, when the state bank gave place to the First National Bank of Jackson, of which Mr. Moore has since been the president. He is also the president of the Jackson Land Credit company, capitalized at $35,000.
Besides the county offices Mr. Moore has served as a member of the Jackson village council and of the Jackson board of education. He owns a beautiful home in the city and has many broad and fertile acres of Jackson coun- ty land. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and of the Masonic and M. W. A. lodges.
MICHAEL MILLER (1868). Among the pio- neers of Jackson county who have a continu- ous residence of over forty years to their credit is Michael Miller, of Jackson, who has taken an active and interesting part in the county's history.
In Rushbach, Germany, Mr. Miller was born on February 24, 184I, his parents being John and Margarct (Klinefeller) Miller. At the age of six years, in 1847, he came to America and located at York, Dane county, Wisconsin. There he received his education and grew to man- hood on a farm. During the month of No- vember, 1868, he left the county where he had lived so long and came to the pioneer settle- .
ment of Jackson county. Ile secured a farm in Wisconsin township, two miles southeast of Jackson, and there engaged in agricultural pursuits many years. In IS84 he moved to Jackson, resided there two years, spent the next year on the farm, and then moved to town to reside permanently.
During his long residence in Jackson county Mr. Miller has taken an active part in the polities of the county. In the township he held the offices of constable and assessor and was deputy county sheriff from IS91 to 1897. Ile is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
In York, Wisconsin, on April 1I, 1863, Mr. Miller was united in marriage, to Anna Ger- lach. To them have been born the following named children: Mary, born March 17, 1864; Herman A., born August 14, 1866; John W., born November 19, IS68; Laura A., born June 19, 1874; William H., horn October 11, 1876; Daisy, E., born March 9, 1884, died January 1, I894.
JONAH H. WOOD (1874) is one of the early day settlers of Des Moines township. He owns the northeast quarter of section 27, a short dis- tance west of Jackson.
The parents of J. H. Wood were Ahimaaz E., and Mary (Salmons) Wood, of old New Eng- land stock and of Scotch and German de- scent, respectively. The father died in Onon- dago county, New York, in 1845, aged 45 years. The mother came to Minnesota in the fall of 1856 and made her home with her sons. She died at the home of her son, J. H. Wood, in March, 1885, at the advanced age of 96 years. Six children were born to these parents. Mary E., the eldest, died in 1906. Those Jiving are Ardell' (Mrs. Marcus Wescott), of Syracuse, New York; Jonah H., of this biography; Jesse S., of Fargo, North Dakota; Carrie J. Loop, of Eureka, Wisconsin; Ahimaaz E., of Fargo; North Dakota.
The subject of this biography was born in Onondago county, New York, December 8, 1833. Ile was brought up in the county of his birth and resided with his parents until his father died when he was twenty years of age. After his father's death he lived with his mother and worked at the trades of carpenter and joiner until he was twenty-two years old. In 1855 he came west, stopping one year near Del- ton, Wisconsin, with an uncle, Peter Fenton,
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