USA > Minnesota > Lyon County > An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota > Part 44
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Mr. Bills owns a ranch in Cuba and also some mining stock in Alaska. He makes his home with his niece, Mrs. Maggie Williams, at Lynd and works at his trade as wagon- wright and cabinetmaker.
EDWARD EDWARDS (1872), proprietor
of the Pacific Hotel at Garvin and owner of 320 acres of good farming land in Sodus and Custer townships, was born in Utica, New York, November 17, 1860. His parents, Thomas and Ellen (Williams) Edwards, came West, resided in Blue Earth county for a short time, and in 1872 took as a homestead the northwest quarter of section 34, Sodus township. The father and mother lived on the homestead farm until 1900, when they moved to Garvin, where Mrs. Edwards still resides. Mr. Edwards died in 1904.
Edward received his education in Blue Earth and Lyon counties, attending the com- mon schools. He engaged in farming at home until 1883, in which year he purchased eighty acres on section 33, Sodus township, and began farming for himself. a few years afterwards adding 160 acres to his holdings. In 1SS7 Mr. Edwards moved to Montana, where he lived two and one-half years, en- gaging in railroading. Returning to Lyon county in 1890, our subject resumed farming and during the next eight years increased his holdings to 320 acres. In 1898 he moved to Garvin and built the Pacific Hotel, which he has since conducted. He still owns his land and gives considerable attention to the farms in busy seasons, leaving the hotel in the care of Mrs. Edwards.
June S, 1884, Edward Edwards was mar- ried to Louanna Masters, a Rice county girl. She was born December 13, 1866, and is a daughter of Henry C. and Anna (Randall) Masters, the former of whom is dead and the latter living in Garvin. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards are the parents of three children: Maud (Mrs. John Holden), of Garvin: Thomas Henry, born June 24, 1890; and Maxson, born March 2, 1896. Mrs. Edwards is a member of the Congregational church of Garvin. Her husband is a member of the Elks lodge of Mankato. Mr. Edwards has held the office of constable and justice of the peace in Garvin most of the time since his residence in the town.
HENRY FREESE (1878). One of the most prosperous and widely known farmers of Lyon county is Henry Freese. of Lake Marshall township, who has been a resident of Lyon county over thirty years. He was born in the province of West Fahlen, Ger- many, September 6, 1839, the son of Herman
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and Minnie (Tosbach) Freese. He attended school in the land of his nativity until four- teen years of age, after which he worked out at farm labor two years. He then immi- grated to the United States, settling at Fort Madison, Iowa, where he worked as a wood- chopper and at farm labor eighteen months. Later he went to Madison, Wisconsin, where he worked three years in a nursery and at farm labor.
In 1862 Mr. Freese enlisted in Company D, Twenty-third Wisconsin Infantry, as a volunteer. He was mustered in August, 1862, and mustered out in May, 1865. He took an active part in several battles, in- cluding the battle of Vicksburg. After the war he moved to Minnesota, locating in Sib- ley county, near Le Sueur, where he pur- chased 240 acres of land, selling out six months later. He then purchased an eighty acre tract in the same county, later adding forty acres more, and making that his home until 1878.
In the last named year Mr. Freese moved to Lyon county and homesteaded land in Island Lake township, also taking a tree claim and a pre-emption, making him 480 acres of real estate. He farmed that eight- een months. He then purchased the eighty acres upon which the Marshall fair grounds are now located, on section 8, Lake Marshall township. Later he became the owner of section 7, Lake Marshall township, the west half of which he still owns, and the east half of which he sold to his sons, Noah Wal- ter and George Arthur. Mr. Freese is a member of the German Evangelical church and the G. A. R., D. F. Markham Post No. 7, of Marshall. He was a school officer in Sibley county for several years and also in Lyon county, of district No. 9. He is a shareholder in the Lyon County Agricul- tural Society and owns several lots in Long Beach, California, where he spends his win- ters.
Mr. Freese was married in 1868 to Sarah Schmitt, a daughter of Christian Schmitt, of Kasson, Dodge county, Minnesota. To Mr. and Mrs. Freese were born the following named children: William, Arthur, Mary (Mrs. L. C. Moyer), Lydia (Mrs. A. J. Aber- nathy), Lawrence, Noah, Edward, Rollin, Elsie and two who died in infancy. Mrs. Freese died May 4, 1911.
THOMAS NELSON (1872) is one of the Custer township farmers who came to the county in the early days, when the settlers were few and when the nearest trading points were New Ulm and Redwood Falls. He remembers how the farm work was done with the aid of oxen and that the trips to New Ulm after supplies took at least a week. Mr. Nelson of late years has been leaving much of the management of the farm to his son Edwin and has been enjoying a deserved rest from active cares.
Norway is the native home of Thomas Nelson and he was born in September, 1833, a son of Nels and Sarah (Yoe) Nelson, both of whom are dead. Thomas received his education in Norway and at the age of six- teen commenced to learn the carpenter's trade, which occupation he followed for sev- eral years. Later, for a period of years, the young man served in the army.
Coming to America in 1865, the subject of our sketch located in Decorah, Iowa, where he worked at his trade a few years; then he moved to Rochester, Minnesota, and followed the same line of work. In the spring of 1872 Mr. Nelson moved to Lyon county, locating in Custer township and tak- ing as a homestead the southwest quarter of section 34. In addition to general farm- ing, Mr. Nelson takes much pride in his herd of Hereford cattle and in his Duroc- Jersey swine. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Independent Elevator Company of Garvin and in the Garvin Telephone Com- pany.
In 1872 Thomas Nelson was married to Karen Evanson, a native of Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are the parents of four chil- dren, Henry, Neil, Edwin and Emma (Mrs. Christ Nelson), of Garvin. Mr. Nelson is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Monroe township, of which he was at one time treasurer.
JAMES J. THOMAS (1871), who now lives a retired life in Tracy, is one of the very oldest of the settlers of southeastern Lyon county. He came when a boy thirteen years old, forty-one years ago, and has spent the best part of his life as a resident of Lyon county. He has seen the country de- velop from a wild and almost. uninhabited
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prairie to one of the most prosperous com- munities of Minnesota.
In the county of Allegany, Maryland, on the twenty-seventh day of May, 1858, James J. Thomas was born. When a child he was - taken by his parents to Wisconsin, lived there a short time, and thereafter lived a few years respectively in Rock Island coun- ty, Illinois, and Blue Earth county, Minne- sota. In the spring of 1871 the family came to Lyon county and the father purchased from Zibe Ferguson a homestead claim on section 4, Custer township.
At the time of the arrival of the Thomas family there were only ten or twelve fami- lies in the vicinity, on the Cottonwood river. Among them were James Mitchell, Sr .. Charles Grover, Lafayette Grover, George Robinson, Ogan Johnson, Clark Goodrich, Landy Soward, John Avery, Henry Masters, Charles Dailey and Horace Randall. On the Thomas claim was a rude log shanty. Lumber was hauled from Mankato with ox teams and an addition was made and the shanty otherwise improved. This served as the family home until a modern building was erected in 1892.
James Thomas spent his early days on the claim. From 1880 to 1883 he was located in the western territories; then he returned and took the management of the home farm, which he and his brother Joseph had pur- chased. They later added to their holdings by purchase until they have a farm of 560 acres. Mr. Thomas remained on the old farm until 1910, when he retired from active pursuits and located in Tracy.
Olive A. Olson, a native of Wisconsin, be- came the wife of Mr. Thomas, the ceremony having been performed in Sodus township on August 16, 1893. Mrs. Thomas is the daughter of Tollef Olson, one of the early settlers of Sodus township and now a resi- dent of Balaton. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have two children, Grace and Lloyd.
Benjamin B. Thomas was the father of James Thomas. He was born in Wales and came to the United States when eighteen years of age. He married Catherine Jones, who was also born in Wales and who .came to America at the age of eight years. Both died on the Custer township farm. The children of this family are as follows: Mar- garet Hughes, of Garvin; Fen 'F., of Garvin ; Ruth (Mrs. Reese Price), of Tracy: James
J., Joseph B., of Garvin; and Anna (Mrs. Richard Hughes), deceased.
CHARLES W. GOODRICH (1876) has been a continuous resident of Grandview township since coming to the county in 1876.
He was born in Lake City, Wabasha coun- ty, Minnesota, August 26, 1861. His par- ents, William I. and Margaret (Boody) Good- rich, natives of Connecticut and Massachu- setts, respectively, settled in Wabasha coun- ty in 1856 and resided there until 1875. That year they moved to California for a residence of one year before coming to Lyon county.
In the spring of 1876 the father took a homestead on the southeast quarter of sec- tion 12, Grandview township. There the family made their home until 1891, when they moved to Marshall, and there made their home until Mrs. Goodrich's death in 1894. Since that time Mr. Goodrich has lived with a son in Louisiana. He is a vet- eran of the Civil War, having been a mem- ber of Company M, First Wisconsin Volum- teer Regiment. He served thirteen months and was honorably discharged on account of ill health.
The subject of this sketch attended the common schools of Wabasha county in his youth and later went to school in California one year. He resided with his parents after coming to Lyon county until 1882 and then purchased land in Grandview township and started farming for himself. After six years on the place he sold out and rented three years, later purchasing his father's farm. In 1903 he sold one eighty and has since that time conducted the remaining eighty acres. He has a well improved piece of land and raises considerable stock. For several years Mr. Goodrich was road overseer of the township.
On February 24, 1881, occurred the mar- riage of Mr. Goodrich and Lizzie Williams, a native of Grant county, Wisconsin. She was born August 4, 1863, and died March 4, 1904. To this union were born six children, two of whom, Ethel and John, are living at home with their father. The others died in infancy.
Mr. Goodrich is a member of the Baptist church of Minneota. Fraternally he is allied
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with the Modern Woodmen lodge of Mar- shall.
LOUIS RIALSON (1872), a business man of Tracy, is one of the oldest settlers of southeastern Lyon county, having resided there continuously for the past forty years. In the early days he took part in many of the history-making events, assisting in the organization of Monroe township and hold- ing several offices under the township gov- ernment, and in later years he has been identified with the political and business life of his community to a considerable extent.
The birth of our subject occurred in Green county, Wisconsin, January 11, 1851, and in that county he lived until coming to Lyon county in 1872 at the age of twenty-one years. He is of Norwegian parentage, both his parents, Rile and Lucy Evanson, having come from the old country. He has two brothers, Andrew and Ole. The former lives in Kandiyohi county and is a former mem- ber of the Minnesota Legislature.
Louis Rialson drove from his former home in Green county, Wisconsin, to Lyon county, arriving during the month of June, 1872, and at once filed a homestead claim to the southwest quarter of section 22, Monroe township, a short distance west of the pres- ent city of Tracy. But at the time of his arrival there was no Tracy, no railroad in the county, and the only settlers in the vicinity were the families of Ole Anderson, Ole Helgeson, Andrew Christianson and Kittel Christopherson. The first year our subject lived in a sod house which stood on the claim of his brother, Ole, on the southeast quarter of section 23. Ole Rialson had filed his claim in the spring of 1872 but did not make permanent residence there- on until that fall.
For some little time the trading point for these early settlers was Currie, but later, when the railroad was built, limited supplies could be procured at Saratoga, near the present site of Amiret, and within a short time Tracy was founded. Mr. Rialson as- sisted in the organization of Monroe town- ship and suggested its name, in honor of the county seat of Green county, Wisconsin. This occurred in January, 1874. During the dark days of the grasshopper scourge Mr. Rialson continued to make his home on the
claim and his family remained there con- tinuously, but he was obliged to seek work elsewhere to make both ends meet. Dur- ing the summer season he worked for his brothers, Evan and Andrew, at Norway Lake, north of Willmar.
From the time he took the claim forty years ago until 1906 Mr. Rialson lived on the place and he still farms it, although he now makes his home in Tracy. For a number of years before moving to town he had been engaged in the mercantile business in con- pany with A. R. Thompson and the part- ners also dealt in coal. He has continued the business since moving to Tracy and in August, 1911, he bought the Sleepy Eye elevator and now deals in grain, coal, feed and salt. When he engaged in the new line of business he admitted his son, Edward, as a partner and the business is now con- ducted under the firm name of Rialson & Son.
Of Monroe township Mr. Rialson served as assessor several terms. He has been alder- man of Tracy three terms and is now serv- ing his third term as a member of the Board of Education.
Mr. Rialson was married in Marshall in July, 1874, to Bertha Ellofson, a native of Norway. They have eight children, named as follows: George, Minnie, Ella, John, Freddie, Clara, Edward and Lilly.
GUSTAV LEDEL (1873) has lived in Nord- land township since he was a boy eight years of age. He was born in Namsos, Trondhjem, Norway, April 1, 1865, and the year following his birth was brought by his parents to America. The family farmed in Racine county, Wisconsin, four years, in Dallas county, Iowa, three years, and in 1873 they came in a prairie schooner to Lyon county.
The father took as a homestead claim the southeast quarter of section 24, Nordland township, and on that place Gustav grew to manhood and has ever since resided. He worked for his father until a man grown and for the past twenty years has had charge of the farm. For three years Mr. Ledel served as township assessor and he was road overseer for eight or ten years. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church. Ole A. Ledel, the father of our subject, died
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April 30, 1912, at the age of eighty-four years. Josepha (Spellum) Ledel, his mother, still lives on the old Nordland homestead and is sixty-eight years of age. Gustav is the oldest of a family of three boys and five girls. The other children are Matilda (Mrs. H. R. Hanson), Nellie, Josie (Mrs. Chris Bang), Annie M. (Mrs. Gus Peterson), Adolph, of Minneapolis; Annie and Olaf, who are deceased.
ANDREW HELLIKSON (1875), of Wester- heim township, is a pioneer of Lyon county and a man who is conversant with much of its early history. He has been a continuous resident for the past thirty-seven years and has seen his part of the county develop from a wild prairie state into one of the richest agricultural districts of Minnesota.
Norway is the native land of Mr. Hellik- son and he was born March 16, 1835. He came to America with his parents in 1842, lived for some years in Walworth county, Wisconsin, and later near Blue Mounds, Dane county, whence he came to Lyon county in 1875. Upon his arrival he took a pre-emp- tion and a tree claim on section 18, Vallers township, lived there two years, and then moved to his present location in Wester- heim.
'He paid $300 to Olaf Orsen for a tree claim, on which ten acres had been broken but on which no buildings had been erected. There were then only a few settlers in Wes- terheim and his nearest neighbor was Gula Peterson. Mr. Hellikson improved the farm and has ever since made his home thereon. He has prospered and is today the owner of 480 acres of fertile Lyon county soil. Many hardships were encountered in the early days. Mr. Hellikson remembers a trip he made in March, 1881 (the year of the deep snow) ; no trains were yet in operation and the ground was covered with several feet of snow. He made the trip from Ghent to Sleepy Eye on snow shoes, it taking him three days to make the journey.
Mr. Hellikson is a member of the Nor- wegian Lutheran church of Minneota. He is one who assisted in the organization of school district No. 3 and he was a director of the district one year ..
The parents of our subject were Hellik and Sarah Hellikson. They took a home-
stead claim in Jackson county, Minnesota, near the village of Brewster, in 1873 and resided on the farm until their deaths. They are buried in the Heron Lake cemetery.
The marriage of Andrew Hellikson to Inger Cliffgard occurred in Prairie town- ship, Dane county, Wisconsin, March 31, 1860. She was born in Norway and came to the United States at the age of twenty- two years. Eight children were born to this union, of whom the following named three are living: Sarah (Mrs. Knud Kjorness), of Minneota; Mrs. John E. Berg, wife of a farmer of Westerheim township; and Anton, who lives on the home farm.
VIRGIL B. SEWARD (1879) has been engaged in the practive of law in Marshall for the past thirty-three years. He was born on a farm near Larwill, in Whitley county, Indiana, October 4, 1853. When he was less than two years of age, in May, 1855, he accompanied his parents to Mankato, Minnesota, and practically his entire life has been passed as a resident of Southern Min- nesota. He was educated in the Mankato public schools and in the University of Minnesota. Later he studied law at Man- kato under M. G. Willard and at Stillwater under Congressman J. N. Castle. Mr. Sew- ard was admitted to the bar in September, 1878, practised at Mankato until the spring of 1879, and then took up his residence in Marshall.
He has served as president of the City Council, mayor and village recorder. He was county attorney of Lyon county four terms, having served during the years 1885, 1886, 1889 to 1892, inclusive, and in 1895 and 1896. He was elected state senator from the seventeenth district in 1906 and served one term.
The parents of our subject are the late Amos D. Seward and Pleiades (Barber) Seward, natives of Tallmadge, Ohio, and New York State, respectively. They were of old Connecticut stock, the family's set- tlement in America dating back to the six- teenth century. They were pioneers of In- diana, having located there in the late forties, and settled at Mankato, Minnesota, in 1855. The elder Mr. Seward erected the first gristmill and sawmill in that frontier village-a mill that met destruction in the
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Sioux War of 1862. Amos D. Seward moved to California in 1885 and died there in 1908 at the age of ninety-three years. Mrs. Seward, who is now ninety-three years of age, lives at Ventura, California.
Virgil B. Seward was married at Marshall October 22, 1893, to Edna Goodwin, a native of Illinois and a daughter of Joshua Good- win, an early settler of Lyon county. Mr. Seward is a member of the Blue Lodge, Chapter, Commandery and Shrine of the Ma- sonic orders, and of the Sons of the Revo- lution and the Royal Arcanum.
FRANK A. ADAMS (1877) has lived in Eidsvold township since he was a boy fif- teen years of age. He was born in Oneida county, New York, January 14, 1862. At the age of four years he was taken with the family to Plainview, Minnesota, and three years later to Redwood Falls. A little later the family located in New Ulm and there Frank attended school, his instructor being M. E. Mathews, the Marshall attorney. In 1874 the family moved to St. Paul and in that city young Adams continued his edu- cation.
He accompanied his parents to Lyon coun- ty in June, 1877, his father taking as a home- stead claim the west half of the southwest quarter of section 4, Eidsvold township. On that place our subject has ever since re- sided. His father left the farm in 1883 and since that time Frank has owned and farmed the old homestead. He has since purchased an additional quarter section and farms all his land. He feeds hogs and cattle quite extensively. Part of the old claim shanty erected by the father in 1877 still stands on the homestead, a reminder of pioneer days. In 1908 Mr. Adams erected a fine two-story, ten-room house and he has one of the fine homes of the vicinity. Mr. Adams has served as a director of school district No. 43. ' Mr. Adams descends from old New Eng- land stock, his ancestors having settled in the colonies prior to the Revolutionary War. His father, Francis R. Adams, was born in Massachusetts and is now a resident of St. Paul. Frances Louisa (Winchell) Adams, the mother of our subject, was born in New York State and died in St. Paul about 1892. There were seven children in the family, of whom the following five are living: Frank
A., of this biography; Hattie Munsell, of Redwood Falls; William, a conductor of the Northern Pacific, residing in St. Paul; Nell Voight, of St. Paul; and Charles, a dining car conductor on the Northern Pacific, re- siding in St. Paul.
Charlotte L. Conger became the wife of Mr. Adams on July 4, 1883, the ceremony being performed in Marshall. Mrs. Adams was born in Durand, Wisconsin, and is a daughter of Samuel Conger, who settled in Lyon county in 1880. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Adams, as fol- lows: Francis, Clara (Mrs. Ray Dillon), of South Dakota; Harry, William, Ralph, Stella, Roy and Kate.
HENRY D. MORGAN (1873) owns and farms the west half of the northeast quar- ter of section 12, Custer township. He was born February 22, 1873, in that township and is a son of James and Mary (Davis) Morgan, natives of Wales.
His parents came to the United States when children and settled in Blue Earth county, Minnesota. There they grew up in the same neighborhood and were married. In an early day they located in Lyon county. Henry received his schooling in Lyon county and grew up on the farm. His young man- hood was spent helping his father on the farm. In 1897 our subject went West, and the next three years were spent in Montana and Wyoming working in the mines.
Henry Morgan returned to Lyon county in 1899 and was given eighty acres of land by his father, which he has since conducted, and where he has made his home. He has been raising considerable stock on his farm and has invested in various enterprises, owning stock in the Farmers Elevator Com- pany of Garvin and being a stockholder and president of the board of directors of the Current Lake Telephone Company. Mr. Morgan has also been called upon to fill several of the township offices. He is chair- man of the Township Board of Custer, served one year as a member of the board, and was several years clerk of the school dis- trict. He is active in church affairs and is a member of the Congregational church. The county Y. M. C. A. work in the Garvin community is looked after by Mr. Morgan.
Margrette Hughes, a Lyon county girl, be-
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came the wife of Henry Morgan on May 11, 1896, and the ceremony was performed at Marshall. She was born April 10, 1874. Her people located on a homestead on sec- tion 12, Custer township. Her father, Rich- ard Hughes, a native of Wales, still lives on the old farm, at the age of seventy-two, and her mother, Ann (Thomas) Hughes, a na- tive of Maryland, died in 1894. Three chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Morgan: Louis M., born November 9, 1898; Herald G., born January 24, 1905; and Don- ald A., born July 22, 1908.
THOMAS E. DAVIS (1877), mayor of Marshall and an attorney of that city, is one of the best known men of Lyon county -a man who has played an important part in the affairs of his community. Although born outside the county, his parents were residents of Lyon county at the time, and he has spent his entire life here.
Thomas E. Davis was born in Judson, Blue Earth county, Minnesota, February 18, 1877. He was brought to Lyon county by his parents when a babe. He was graduated from the Marshall High School in 1894 and during the next year he worked at various occupations. He was a student at Macalester College in 1895 and 1896, pre- paring himself for the ministry, but he changed his plans and decided to become a lawyer. In March, 1898, he entered the law office of M. E. Mathews, where he read law during the next three years. In March, 1901, he entered the office of Senator V. B. Seward, completed his studies, and the same year was admitted to the bar.
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