USA > Minnesota > Lyon County > An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota > Part 40
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Mr. Broughton took as a homestead claim the southwest quarter of section 12, Wester- heim, and another quarter section as a tree claim. Later he added to his holdings by purchase from the railroad company until he was the owner of 960 acres of land in Westerheim and Vallers townships. He has sold most of his farm lands to his children, but he is still the owner of 360 acres.
The gentleman whose name heads this review was born in Norway November 27, 1845. His father, Andrew K. Broughton, died in Norway in 1864, and his mother, Annie (Olson ) Broughton, died there in 1910. Knud secured a high school education in his native land, attending to his studies until twenty years of age, and later had the management of his father's farm. He then came to America, arriving June 5, 1868. He located in Dane county, Wisconsin, and for the next four years worked at farm labor for an uncle. He came to Lyon county in the spring of 1872, took his claim, and has ever since been a citizen of Westerheim township. He lived on the homestead until 1899 and then moved to his present farm on section 11.
Mr. Broughton was a member of the first Board of Supervisors of Westerheim town- ship and he has been assessor, road over- seer, and a director of school district No. 3. He has been prominent in church work, holding membership in St. Lucas United Norwegian Lutheran Church of Normania township, Yellow Medicine county. It was largely through his efforts that that church was organized, and his name was the first one attached to the papers that led to its being founded. For several years he was a church trustee and he was church repre- sentative a number of terms.
In Norway, on April 13, 1868, Knud A. Broughton was married to Martha Anderson,
who was born September 3. 1840. As a result of this union the following children have been born: Andrew, George, Anton and Annie (Mrs. O. J. Stensrud), all of Westerheim township, and Gertie (Mrs. Sever Erickson), of Vallers township.
LUCIUS E. TOWN (1871), a farmer of Rock Lake township, was born in Steele county, Minnesota, March 4, 1870, and is a son of Lucius and Mary (Clark) Town, pioneer resident of Lyon county. Lucius Town, Sr., in company with his three broth- ers, Julius, Ralph and Alvah S., came to this county in 1871. and each brother took a quarter section on 22, Rock Lake, as a home- stead.
Lucius Town, Jr., accompanied his par- ents to Lyon county, where his boyhood days were spent. His early education was acquired in the country schools of the town- ship and in Balaton. At the age of fifteen years he attended school for a time near Owatonna and later took a course in the Wilder Business College, graduating in 1895. Returning to Balaton, our subject followed the painting and paper hanging trades for eight years.
From 1903 until 1906 Mr. Town's residence was North Yakima, Washington, where he was engaged at the same work. Then he returned to Minnesota and has since been farming on the old Rock Lake homestead, working at the trade of painting in some of his spare time. Mr. Town has other busi- ness interests, being a stockholder of the Lyon County Co-operative Company and of the Current Lake Telephone Company. He is a member of the Presbyterian church of Balaton and belongs to the A. O. U. W. lodge.
Lucius E. Town was married to Lizzie Hughes, a resident of Blue Earth county, Minnesota. To them were born two chil- dren : Elbert, born December 28, 1899; and Leslie, born May 13, 1902. Mrs. Town died in North Yakima in 1903. Our subject's mother died in 1881 and his father is still living on the old homestead at the age of eighty-two years.
JENS B. JOHNSON (1873). A pioneer of Lyon county, a land owner and successful
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farmer, a former member of the Board of County Commissioners, and a man who has taken a leading part in the affairs of his community and county is Jens B. Johnson, of Nordland township. For the past forty- one years he has lived on the farm he now conducts, being one of a few men of the county who still live on the land they took as a claim in the early days.
Siljord, Telemarken, Norway, is the birth- place of Mr. Johnson and February 14, 1840, was the date of his nativity. His parents, Jens and Engebor (Jacobson) Johnson, were farmers and Jens was country raised. He attended school until fifteen years of age and was then obliged to shift for himself, his father having died at that time and his mother having passed away when he was nine years old. Until he was twenty-one years old he worked out at different jobs, and then, in 1861, he left his native land and journeyed to America.
The first home in the New World was the city of Chicago, where he resided a short time with a sister. In Rock county, Wis -- consin, Mr. Johnson worked at farm labor until 1871; then he rented land in Goodhue county, Minnesota, and farmed two years. The year of Mr. Johnson's arrival to Lyon county was 1873-the first year of the grass- hopper scourge. He took as a pre-emption claim the northwest quarter of section 2, Nordland township, just south of the future village of Minneota. At the time ten acres of the land were under cultivation and on the place was a small log house. Mr. John- son paid $200 for the claim and secured title later. On that place he has ever since had his home. He has added to his holdings until today he is the owner of 430 acres of well-improved land, having property in Eids- vold and Westerheim townships.
Mr. Johnson served a four-year term as a member of the Board of County Commis- sioners, has been chairman of the Nordland Township Board of Supervisors, and treas- urer of school district No. 71. He is a mem- ber of the Norwegian Lutheran church.
The marriage of our subject to Annie Kit- telson occurred in Rock county, Wisconsin, in July, 1864. She was born in Nommedal, Norway, December 26, 1839. Her parents, Kittel and Beret (Hellekson) Gundvoldson, died in the old country. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have been born the following named
seven children: Betsey, Engebor, Mary, Sina, Annie, John and Gilbert.
JOHN J. GRIFFITH (1870) has been a resident of Lyon county since he was nine years of age. His parents, David E. Griffith and Mary J. Richards, were natives of Wales and Pennsylvania, respectively, and came to Wisconsin in an early day. John was born in Columbia county, Wisconsin, October 6, 1862, and when three years old his parents moved to Blue Earth county, Minnesota, which was their home six years.
In 1870 the Griffith family moved to Lyon county, Minnesota, and located on the east half of the east half of section 12, Custer township, to which the father had bought the homestead right. There John received his schooling and assisted his father until twenty- six years of age, at which time he bought eighty acres on section 7, Monroe township, and commenced farming for himself. For five years our subject remained on that place, and then he sold his land and rented the north- west quarter of section 7, where he has since lived. He has a well improved piece of land and is prospering. He is giving much at- tention to the breeding of Percheron horses.
John J. Griffith and Katie Wunderlich were married July 4, 1891, in Custer. Mrs. Griffith was born in Wisconsin July 6, 1874, and is a daughter of George and Catherine (Young) Wunderlich, natives of Germany and France, respectively. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Griffith, as follows: Leon, born 1893; Fred, born 1895; Louise, born 1897; Irving, born 1898; Leslie, born 1900; Annie, born 1903; Morris, born 1905; and Merle, born 1908.
ANDREW NELSON (1868), of Marshall, is the earliest living settler in Lyon county. He was born in Denmark February 1, 1852, and when twenty-three years of age came to the United States. On arriving in his adopted country, Mr. Nelson settled in Wis- consin, where he resided until 1868.
The latter date marks the arrival of our subject to Lyon county, where he took as a pre-emption claim the northwest quarter of section 13, Lynd township, which later proved to be land which the government had granted to the railroad company: Mr. Nel-
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son, having done some work on the land, purchased it from the company. He later purchased the southwest quarter of the same section and built his first home, which was a log cabin with a thatched roof. He later hewed logs and built another house, 20x26 feet in dimensions, on the top of the hill about forty rods from the first house. Mr. Nelson traded at Redwood Falls and New Ulm, having to make the trip by ox-team. Our subject resided on the farm until 1908, or about forty years, when he moved to Mar- shall and has since led a retired life. He still owns the old farms on section 13, Lynd township, and 480 acres more in the county.
When Mr. Nelson came to Lyon county in 1868 there were but few people in the county. Among the settlers of that time were A. R. Cummins and his sons, James and George; Mr. Muzzy, Rev. Wright, Mr. Langdon and four sons, Mr. Ticknor and family, George and Hiram Marcyes. Our subject was treas- urer of his school district fifteen consecutive years and is a member of the Danish Luth- eran church. He has one brother living. Christian Nelson, of Lynd township.
On February 23, 1867, at Racine, Wiscon- sin, occurred the marriage of Mr. Nelson to Anna Matson, a native of Denmark. She was born September 18, 1845. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are the parents of the following children who are still living: Albert, Daniel, and Clara (Mrs. Fred Mannerman), of Lynd township. Those deceased were Clara A., Lois T., Mary J., William A. and Custer D.
ROBERT A. MITCHELL (1868) is one of the largest land owners in the township of Amiret and is one of the earliest residents, having come to the county with his parents forty-four years ago. At that time Robert was only three years of age. Mr. Mitchell owns 480 acres of fine farming land on sec- tions 30 and 16, and his home on the east half of the southeast quarter of section 30 is one of the finest in the township.
The father and mother of Robert Mitchell were natives of Scotland and the state of Maine, respectively. James S. and Martha (Lane) Mitchell came to Lyon county in 1868, and James Mitchell took as a home- stead the east half of the southeast quarter of section 30, Amiret township. The Mitch- ells were among the very first settlers of the
county. They had been living several years in Wisconsin prior to coming to Lyon coun- ty, and Robert A. Mitchell was born in Jef- ferson county of that state June 30, 1865.
Robert grew to manhood on the home farm in Amiret. He attended country school and finished his education with a year's attend- ance at the Marshall High School. He then assisted with the work on the home place, and in 1885, 1886 and 1887 the young man taught school in the southern part of this county and in Murray county. In 1890 he took charge of Bingham Brothers' grain ele- vator at Amiret, holding the position three years. In 1893 he erected an elevator of his own and conducted it two years, after which he sold and re-entered the employ of Bing- ham Brothers, having charge of their Amiret elevator ten years. At the close of that period, in 1905, Mr. Mitchell retired from the grain business and engaged in farming. He has a splendid farm and is having success in the raising of Red Polled cattle. He owns stock in and is a director of the Amiret State Bank, and he has two town lots in Amiret and a share in the company which owns the town hall.
The marriage of Robert Mitchell and Augusta Manke took place in Tracy on March S, 1892. She was born in Germany March S, 1873, and came to this country with her parents, William and Wilemina (Mack) Manke, in 1881. The family first located in Chicago, where they lived five years, and later moved to Tracy. There the father died in 1910; the mother is still a resident of the town. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Mitchell. They are Wil- liam R., born November 19, 1893, and Clar- ence C., born March 4. 1897.
Mr. Mitchell was clerk of Amiret township fifteen years and served on the township board from the time he was twenty-one years of age until 1908, when he retired. He also served several terms as treasurer of school district No. 13. He is a member of the Methodist church, and his lodge membership is in the A. F. & A. M. and the Modern Woodmen organizations.
E. M. HAMM (1871), secretary of the Western Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Balaton, is one of the very earliest settlers of Lyon county, having resided in Rock Lake
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township and Balaton since he was fifteen years of age. He is a homesteader of the township in which he has lived so long.
Mr. Hamm was born in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, August 2, 1855, and in July, 1865, he accompanied the family to Roches- ter, Minnesota, which was then the western terminus of the Northwestern railroad. He came to Lyon county with the family in May, 1871, driving through by ox team, and until he was twenty-seven years of age he worked on his father's homestead, the southeast quarter of section 24, Rock Lake, not far from the future village of Balaton. The usual lot of the pioneer was theirs, and for some years they lived in a little log cabin. During the grasshopper days it was impos- sible to raise enough to support a family. and, while the rest of the family remained on the claim, the father and our subject worked during the summer seasons in the counties to the east to earn the money neces- sary to support the family.
After coming of age E. M. Hamm took as homestead claim the northeast quarter of section 34, Rock Lake, but did not live on the place after proving up. When he was twenty-seven years of age Mr. Hamm started farming on his own account on land which he purchased on section 16. He resided on that farm until 1902 and then moved to Balaton. He has ever since been identified with the Western Mutual Fire Insurance Company and has been its secretary since 1907. He served as township treasurer of Rock Lake and has been a member of the Balaton Village Council for the past three years. He is a member of the A. O. U. W. lodge.
Mr. Hanım was married in Lyon county by O. C. Gregg March 20, 1882, to Ida Melissa Woodard, a native of Buffalo, New York, and a daughter of M. F. Woodard.
Our subject is a son of William and Mary ( Peu) Hamm, Pennsylvanians by birth. The father died about twelve years ago and the mother resides in Balaton. E. M. Hamm has two sisters: Inez (Mrs. B. P. Terry), of Balaton, and Lucy ( Mrs. Henry Searles), of Tracy.
DAVID STIEFEL (1869) has been a resi- dent of Lyon county for forty-three years, and with the exception of one year, 1869,
when he homesteaded in Lynd township, he has had continuous residence in Lyons town- ship. In January, 1910, Mr. Stiefel moved to Russell and has retired from active work.
Germany is our subject's native country. and he was born in Wurtenberg June 13. 1842. His parents were Charles and Chris- tina Stiefel. At the age of twelve years the young lad's term of education in the common schools was ended and he was put to work on his father's farm, where he did his share of the work for the next five years. The irresistible call of the great country across the Atlantic came to David, as it was doing to so many of his countrymen, and in 1863 he set sail for America and landed in Phila- delphia, where he found occupation for a few months at the shoemaker's trade. Mr. Stiefel worked at that and other labor until he enlisted in Company H, Ninety-first Regi- ment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. He served until the close of the war, taking active part in the battles of Petersburg. Hatches Run. Erlinda Railroad and the siege of Richmond. At the close of the war he was mustered out at Philadelphia and soon afterward returned for a nine months' visit to his native Ger- many. Returning to America, Mr. Stiefel settled in Illinois and worked with a brother one year. He came to Lyon county and homesteaded in Lynd township in 1869.
David Stiefel was married in 1881 to Jennie Jones, a daughter of E. C. Jones, Sr., of Russell. They are the parents of the follow- ing children: Charles, Christine, Louise. Jennie, Katie and Lovina. Two children, William and Katie, are deceased.
SAMUEL HALVORSON (1871) came to Lyon county when a boy and his period of residence here is exceeded by only a few men. He has lived in Nordland township forty-one years. He owns and farms 160 acres of land.
His parents, Andrew and Annie Halvorson, were born in Norway and at the time of their son's birth on September S, 1864, were living in Green county, Wisconsin. In 1871 the family came with the pioneers to Lyon coun- ty and the father took as a homestead claim the northwest quarter of section 28, Nord- land. In the nearby district school Samuel secured his education and on his father's farm he worked until his marriage in 1885.
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After his marriage Mr. Halvorson started farming for himself on a 240-acre farm on sec- tions 28 and 29 which he had received from his father. In 1902 he sold that property and bought his present farm. He engages quite extensively in stock raising and is a success- ful farmer. He is a member of the Congre- gational church and has served as a director of school district No. 24.
Mr. Halvorson was married in Nordland township December 5, 1885, to Betsey Helge- son. She was born in Winnebago county, Wisconsin, April 16, 1866, and is a daughter of Ole and Margaret Helgeson, of Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Halvorson have five children, Alma Marea, Andria Sofea, Oscar Melven, Helda Bertine and Edwin Clarence, all born in Nordland township.
JOHN SCOTT (1872) is a homesteader of Sodus township and one of the oldest set- tlers of that precinct, having lived on the one place an even forty years. In common with other pioneers of Lyon county, Mr. Scott endured many hardships in the days when the festive grasshopper harvested the grain and the fierce winter storms swept the un- broken prairies.
Our subject was born in Wayne county, New York, March 27, 1852, and he descends from an old New York family. His parents were Charles and Delia (Shaw) Scott. The father died when John was three years old, and soon thereafter he accompanied his mother to Michigan, where he was educated and grew to manhood. In 1872 Mr. Scott came to Lyon county and took as a home- stead the southeast quarter of section 24, Sodus township, on which farm he has ever since resided.
Mr. Scott was married in Marshall August 23, 1875, to Mary A. Lewis. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 12, 1853,. and is a member of one of the pioneer fam- ilies of Minnesota. Her parents, Lewis D. and Jane (Davis) Lewis, came from Wales in an early day and made their home at Pittsburgh. They settled in Blue Earth county, Minnesota, in 1857, and members of the family participated in the Sioux War of 1862. Mrs. Scott's father was wounded by the Indians, and an uncle, James Edwards, met his death at the hands of the redskins.
Mr. and Mrs. Scott have four children, all
married. They are as follows: Lewis, of Custer township; Jane, the wife of Henry Edwards; Irwin, of Sodus township; Mabel, the wife of Charles Edwards, of Custer town- ship.
CHARLES C. BELLINGHAM (1871), de- ceased. One of the most highly esteemed residents of Lyon county was the gentleman whose name heads this review. When Mr. Bellingham came to the county in 1871 and settled in the vicinity of the future village of Marshall, there were only a few scattered settlers in the county and Lynd, the county seat. was the only village; no railroad had yet penetrated the county and the country was almost barren of improvements.
Charles C. Bellingham's parents were Charles Thomas Bellingham and Martha (Long) Bellingham. They came to America from England in 1849, lived at Janesville, Wisconsin, until 1854, in Fillmore county, Minnesota, until 1871, and then moved to Lyon county. Both parents died here.
To these parents, in London, England, Charles C. Bellingham was born March 20. 1847. He was brought with the family to the United States when he was two years old and continued to make his home with his parents until after coming to Lyon county. He and his father and Charles Durst drove an ox-team from Fillmore county in the spring of 1871, camping on the night of May 25 on the site. of the city of Marshall. There were then only a few settlers in the vicinity, including C. H. Whitney and C. H. Upton, the first residents of Marshall. A few days after his arrival our subject se- lected a homestead three miles south of the future county seat of Lyon county and there made his home.
For eighteen years Mr. Bellingham lived on the homestead; then he moved to his home on the outskirts of Marshall, continued his agricultural career, and resided there until his death on January 10, 1910. He was a man held in high esteem and his life was one of activity. Mrs. Bellingham still makes her home on the farm adjoining the city.
Louisa Durst was married to Mr. Belling- ham in 1872. She was born in Maryland November 1, 1846, a daughter of Michael and Julia (Yeast) Durst. Her parents spent the winter of 1872 in Lyon county, but returned
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to Maryland. Mrs. Bellingham's mother died in that state; her father died in Fillmore county, Minnesota.
· Four children were born to Charles Bel- lingham and wife, namely: Alice (Mrs. Ray .D. Baldwin), of Forest Grove, Oregon; Ger- trude, deceased; Martha (Mrs. Roy W. Wil- liams), of Lake Marshall township; and Georgie, who resides at home.
OLE HELGESON (1871) owns and farms a good 160 acres of land, the northwest quar- ter of section 28, Monroe township. He was born June 14, 1870, in Fillmore county, Min- nesota, and when about a year old he ac- companied the family to Lyon county, the trip being made in a prairie schooner. The father, Ole Helgeson Brevig, took a home- stead on the quarter section where our sub- ject now lives, and resided on the place until his death in 1892.
Until his father's death Ole worked for him on the home farm, afterward farming the place for several years in partnership with his brothers, Helge and Louis. Later he took personal control of the farm and has been conducting the place with success.
Mr. Helgeson was married June 28, 1900, to Clara M. Helleson, the wedding occurring in Monroc township. His wife was born in Fillmore county, Minnesota, November 24, 1877, and came to Lyon county at the age of two years. Two children have been born to this union. They are Ingeborg Amelia, born June 26, 1902, and Oscar Julius, born April 7, 1905.
Our subject's father was born in Norway on November 9, 1840, and came to the United States in 1869, living a few years in Fillmore county, Minnesota, prior to coming to Lyon county in 1871. Ingborg (Olsdatter) Helge- son, mother of our subject, was born in Nor- way and died in 1903, aged seventy years.
For three years Ole Helgeson was treas- urer of school district No. 33, and he served as a member of the township board of Mon- roe one year. He is a member of the Hol- and Norwegian Lutheran Church.
SAMUEL W. GALBRAITH (1871), dealer in general merchandise and hardware in Balaton, is one of the oldest settlers living in Lyon county, having a continuous resi-
dence of forty-one years to his credit. He served as postmaster of Balaton under the two Democratic administrations and has been a prominent factor in the business life of his village.
Mr. Galbraith is of Scotch-Irish descent. His parents, William and Eliza (Woods) Galbraith, were born in Canada and died in Wisconsin. Our subject is one of a family of five children, the others being Charles and William J., of Adams county, Wiscon- sin, and Martha Manney and Jenette Tyrnel, of Waupaca county, Wisconsin.
The subject of this review was born at Rochester, New York, January S, 1841. At the age of one year he was taken by his parents to Logan, Ohio, and when sixteen years old moved with them to Wisconsin and lived on a farm until the Civil War began. He enlisted in Company I, of the Thirty- fourth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, on No- vember 25, 1862, and served until the close of the struggle.
After the war Mr. Galbraith spent one year in Wisconsin, farmed for some time in Dodge county, Minnesota, and later in Steele conIn- ty, and on the ninth day of June, 1871, be- came a resident of Lyon county. He drove from Steele county with an ox team, and on the date mentioned he filed a homestead claim to the northeast quarter of section 28, Lyons township. He still owns that farm and is one of the few homesteaders who still own the land they secured from the govern- ment.
Mr. Galbraith's experiences in the early days were not different from those remem- bered by most of the pioneers of Lyon coun- ty. He had trying times but weathered the storms of adversity and has lived to see the county develop into one of the most fruitful in the Northwest. His first home on the bleak prairie was a sod shanty, in which he lived two or three years. Then he built a more pretentious home, a 16×20 feet board house. The lumber contained in the new building was sawed from logs he cut on "Section 37", that being the name by which the early settlers designated a certain timber tract in Coon Creek township. the mill in which they were sawed being lo- cated at Camden. The shingles and outside lumber were hauled by ox team from Man- kato.
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