USA > Minnesota > Lyon County > An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota > Part 48
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Lutheran church. She is a woman of un- usual educational attainments, having been graduated from the Advanced Course of the State Normal School at Winona with the class of 1897 and from the Classical Course of Gustavus Adolphus College at St. Peter with the class of 1906.
ERNEST S. SHEPARD (1894), auditor of Lyon county, was born in Worthington, Min- nesota, September 4, 1877. He is the son of C. P. and Anna V. (Cowan) Shepard, natives of New York and Maine, respectively, and now residents of Marshall.
Ernest received his education in the Worthington High School and in the Breck School at Wilder, Minnesota. At the age of seventeen years he moved to Marshall with his parents, and that city has ever since been his home. For a time he was a student at the Curtiss Business College of Minne- apolis, and for a short time he was a clerk in the United States Land Office at Marshall, of which his father was the register. For three years he worked in the office of the county treasurer and for eight years was deputy county auditor. In November, 1906, he was elected auditor and has since held the office.
At Marshall, on September 3, 1898, Mr. Shepard was united in marriage to Esther Harrison. She is a native of Lyon county and is the daughter of E. J. Harrison, a pioneer settler. Mr. Shepard is a member of the Masonic, Eastern Star and Modern Wood- men lodges.
PETER T. DAHL (1888) is the manager of the North Star Implement Company of Cottonwood and has resided in Lyon county since he was fifteen years of age. He is a native of Minnesota, having been born in Blue Earth county January 30, 1873. He is the son of T. A. and Emma (Oftedahl) Dahl, who were born in Norway and who came to America and settled in Blue Earth county over forty years ago. They reside on their farm in Vallers township. There are six liv- ing children in the Dahl family, namely: Carrie, Peter T., of this sketch; C. T., of Madelia; Barhard, of Yellow Medicine coun- ty; Ludvig, of Cottonwood; and Fred, who resides on the home farm. One child, Theo-
dore, died March 3, 1911, aged twenty-nine years, and another child, Bertha, died in 1907, at the age of twenty-seven years.
Peter accompanied the family to Lyon county in 1888 and until 1897 lived on the farm of his father, on section 1, Vallers township. In the year mentioned Mr. Dahl took a position as traveling salesman for the Champion Binder Company, served with that company two years, and during the next year was with the Deering Company. He then located in Cottonwood and with E. P. Kelly founded the implement business of Dahl & Kelly. The partners conducted the business until 1905, when the North Star Implement Company was formed and bought out the partners. Since that time Mr. Dahl has been the manager of the company.
Mr. Dahl was married in Madison, Minne- sota, October 26, 1905, to Lizzie Brown. She is a native of Rochester, Minnesota, but for twenty years before her marriage had resided in Madison. They have no children. Mr. Dahl has served as a member of the Vil- lage Council and for the last two years he has been village treasurer.
The North Star Implement Company is one of the important business enterprises of Cottonwood. The business is housed in the Bazaar Building, which the company bought. The company was organized and incorpor- ated in 1905 with a capital stock of $25,000 by a number of local capitalists. It handles a large line of farm implements and auto- mobiles. The officers and directors of the company are as follows: J. F. Gibb, presi- dent; J. B. Robertson, vice president; L. T. Reishus, secretary and treasurer; P. T. Dahl, manager; David Frank, T. A. Lende, Charles Catlin and I. T. Garry.
FRED W. MELLENTHIN (1879) is one of the most prosperous farmers of Lynd town- ship and Lyon county, as well as one of the largest land holders. He is a native of Ger- many and was born at Frainenwalde April 26, 1859. He is the son of William and Amelia Mellenthin, both deceased.
Fred received his early education in the land of his nativity, where he attended school until thirteen years of age. He also at- tended school near New London, Wisconsin. for two terms. He accompanied his parents to America when thirteen years of age and
R.M.NEILL, Treasurer .
E.S. SHEPARD, Auditor.
LYON COUNTY OFFICERS
M.E DRAKE, Register of Deeds.
M.E.GRANNAN, Sheriff.
LYON County Court House
J.H.HALL, County Attorney .
A.G.BUMFORD, Clerk of Court.
H.R.PAINTER , Superintendent of Schools.
THR NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ANTOA, LENOX ANO TILEA TOUSSAINAL
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
settled with them near New London, Wiscon- sin. Fred worked out at farm labor and at- tended school for the next seven years.
In 1879 Mr. Mellenthin came to Lyon coun- ty and, in company with his brother August, purchased the southwest quarter of section 9, Lynd township, which they farmed until 1882, when they divided the land. Fred im- proved his eighty acres and since that time has become the owner of $40 acres more, mak- ing him the owner of 920 acres of fine land. He operates between five and six hundred acres. Our subject is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. He has been an officer of school district No. 17 for several years and was road overseer for several years.
On February 12, 1883, Mr. Mellenthin was united in marriage to Amelia Schellin, a daughter of Ferdinand and Rika (Kruger) Schellin, former residents of Wisconsin. Both her parents are deceased. Mrs. Mellen- thin was born March 11, 1866. Mr. and Mrs. Mellenthin are the parents of the following named children: Ernest, born June 21, 1884; Lonis, born October 7, 1886; Emma, born January 16, 1889; Robert, born November 18, 1891; Alma, born August 7, 1894.
DR. C. E. PERSONS (1877) is the oldest was born in Spencerville, Allen county, . . Indiana, on February 27, 1847. He is the son of Salmon M. and Mary M. (Cutts) Persons, natives of Orwell, Vermont. They moved to Spencerville in the fall of 1846. At the close of the war they came to Min- nesota, locating at Northfield, where the mother died in 1875. The father died in Lyon county in 1880. When sixteen years of age, our subject accompanied his parents to Northfield, where he remained until 1877 and where he received his early edu- cation, graduating from Carleton College, Northfield. He was also graduated from Ann Arbor College in the spring of 1877.
In the latter year Dr. Persons came to Lyon county and engaged in the practise of his profession, and he has continued here since that date. He went through the " struggles of a young doctor in pioneer days in Lyon county, he being the oldest doc- tor, in point of service, of the county. He was county coroner several years, has been
United States pension examiner since 1880, and is local physician for the Northwestern Railroad Company. He has been county physician and has been treasurer of the school board a number of years, having been on the board at the time of the erec- tion of the new school building.
The first office of Dr. Persons was up- stairs in a little frame building on the south side of Main Street, where the City Meat Market is now, the lower floor being occupied as the postoffice. Later he had his office in a frame building where the Olson & Lowe store is now, and later he and James Lawrence built the two brick buildings on the same site, where our sub- ject was located a number of years. Dr. Persons built the residence now owned by F. J. Parker in 1891. He now has his office in his residence, which he built in 1906.
Dr. Persons was married in Marshall November 27, 1878, to Addie E. Gary, a native of Winona county, Minnesota. She was born June 12, 1858, the year Minne- sota was admitted to the Union, and came to Lyon county with her parents, H. B. and Nancy ( Woodard) Gary. The former died .in 1911, the latter in 1905. Mrs. Persons wa's a school teacher and taught in the Marshall schools several years. She is a .class of 1877. Dr. and Mrs. Persons are the parents of two children: Harris Ed- ward and Robert Wayne.
doctor in Marshall in point of service. He , graduate of the Winona Normal School.
Our subject's parents had six children, four of whom are living. They are as fol- lows: Dr. C. E., of this sketch; Emma A. (Mrs. C. C. Wagner), of Larimore, North Dakota; Orville E., of Clarkston, Idaho; Mary E. (Mrs. Albert Dresser), of New Salem, North Dakota.
Dr. Persons holds membership in the American, State, County and local physi- cians associations and is secretary of the last named.
MRS. CATHERINE MIELKE (1874) is the widow of Herman Mielke, one of the pioneer settlers of Lucas township. She lives on the farm, directs its management, and employs help to attend to the farm labor.
Herman Mielke was a native of Germany
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
and was born May 23, 1834. He received his bringing up in his home country and came to America in 1872, and it was two years later that he took a homestead in Lucas township, Lyon county. That was his home until his death December 26, 1910, and his widow is now living on the old homestead.
The subject of this sketch is a native of Canada and was born August 22, 1858, a daughter of William and Annie (Bell) Rose, both now deceased. Our subject accompanied her grandparents to the States when eleven years old, and the family were among the first settlers in Lucas township, the year 1870 being the year of their ar- rival. Mrs. Mielke received her education in the country school and resided with her grandparents until 1875.
That was the year of her marriage, the date being November 11, and the ceremony being performed at Marshall. Mr. and Mrs. Mielke were the parents of thirteen children, twelve of whom are living, as follows: Hermenne, of Minneapolis; Wil- liam, of Big Horn, Wyoming; Matilda (Mrs. William Thiel), of Stanley township; Augusta (Mrs. Edward Broberg), of Das- sell; August, of Canada; Elizabeth (Mrs. Sebert Lien), of Dassel; Elvine ( Mrs. Ed- ward Schultz), of Franklin; Bertha (Mrs. William Kahl), of Yellow Medicine county; Julius, of Fairfax; Hattie, of Franklin; and Mamie and Mabel, at home. Mrs. Mielke has long been a member of the Presby- terian church.
ANTON A. HELLICKSON (1876), of Westerheim township, has lived on one farm in that precinct since he was one year of age. He is a son of Andrew and Enger (Cliffgard) Hellickson and was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, May 8, 1875.
Anton accompanied his parents to Lyon county when one year old, in 1876, and has ever since made his home with his parents. He received a good education, taking a two-year course in the Minneota High School and attending the Madison Normal School after completing his pri- mary education. For a number of years he has been engaged in farming, operating 240 acres of his father's land in addition to his own land, the southeast quarter of
section 9, .Westerheim, which he bought in 1904. Mr. Hellickson has made a suc- cess of his farming operations and is classed as one of the successful men of his township. He raises Durham cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs.
Mr. Hellickson was married in Yellow, Medicine county February 22, 1897, to Anneta Brusven. She was born in that county November 29, 1877. Her parents, Olaus and Annie (Roeberg) Brusven, were born in Norway and are now residents of Yellow Medicine county. Mr. and Mrs. Hellickson have three children, Alice, Alvin and Amelia. They are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church.
FRED C. MARKS (1876) is a farmer and land owner of Clifton township who has lived in that precinct since he was five years of age. He was born in Plainview, Wabasha county, Minnesota, January 18, 1871. His parents are Charles and Mar- garet (Mengild) Marks, natives of Ger- many and now residents of Granite Falls.
When he was a little past five years old, in 1876, Fred Marks accompanied his par- ents to Lyon county. His father took as a homestead claim the northeast quarter of section 2, Clifton township, and on that place our subject spent his boyhood days. At fourteen years of age he began working out as a farm hand and was so employed . several years, spending one year working on a railroad in North Dakota. In the spring of 1891 Mr. Marks bought the north- west quarter of section 3, Clifton township, and on that place he has ever since made his home, excepting the year 1910, when his place was operated by a tenant.
Mr. Marks has stock in the Lyon County Fair Association. He served one year on the Board of Supervisors of Clifton town- ship and was treasurer of school district No. 42 three years. He is a Woodman by lodge affiliation.
The marriage of Mr. Marks to Jennie Nelson occurred in Marshall October 30, .1896. She was born in Denmark May 7, 1874, and died March 19, 1911. To this union the following named five children were born: Charles F., Helen, Alice, Ray- mond and Louis (deceased).
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
ANDREW J. SWENSON (1872) owns the southwest quarter of section 23, Mon- roe township, and is one of the prominent «farmers of the community. He is a warm advocate of the co-operative principle in business and was largely responsible for the formation of the Farmers Co-operative Elevator Company of Garvin and for the advancement of the co-operative idea in that village and vicinity.
Mr. Swenson was born in Norway Octo- ber 18, 1852, and at the age of nine years came with his parents, John and Mary (Syverson) Swenson, to America, the fam- ily locating in La Crosse county, Wiscon- sin, where the father died in 1861. An- drew resided with his family in his youth and received his education in the common schools. In 1872 he and a brother-in-law drove with an ox-team from La Crosse county to Lyon county, Minnesota. They camped on the way, and the journey was necessarily slow. The boys spent the spring and summer on the trip and looked the country over, returning that fall to Wis- consin, where Andrew remained until 1876.
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In 1876 our subject moved to Lyon coun- ty and was employed the next four years in farming and railroading. In the fall of 1880 he married, and then in company with John J. Holden he rented the Cutts farm in Custer township and farmed the place four years. Andrew's mother had remarried after the death of her first hus- band, and in 1872 she came to Lyon county and took a homestead and resided here until 1894, then going to Washington, where she died in 1901. After four years on the Cutts farm, Andrew moved to the homestead which his mother had taken and there made his home four years. He then purchased 160 acres in Murray coun- ty and farmed the place ten years, later adding to his possessions and making his total holdings 280 acres.
In the spring of 1901 Mr. Swenson re- turned to Lyon county and located on his farm, the southwest quarter of section 23. For four years he conducted the Sleepy Eye elevator at Tracy, and for about one year and a half he had charge of the farm- ers' elevator at Garvin, but for the most part Mr. Swenson has made his home on the farm on section 23 since 1901. Our subject has held various offices during his
residence in Murray and Lyon counties. He was chairman of the Town Board in both Murray and Lyon counties several years. During his entire residence in Murray county he was treasurer of his school district, and he has held the office of assessor.
Andrew Swenson was married Novem- ber 15, 1880, in Murray county, to Carrie Olson, a native of Wisconsin. She was born January 3, 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Swen- son are the parents of the following chil- dren: Hattie Matilda (Mrs. Peter O. Nas- vik), of St. Paul; Julia Mabel, Clara Amanda, Emma Sophia, Nina Louisa and Anna Ovida. Mr. Swenson is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church, and his fraternal affiliations are with the Modern Woodmen lodge.
DR. H. M. WORKMAN (1884), physi- cian and surgeon of Tracy, has resided in that city, engaged in the practice of his profession, for twenty-eight years. He is one of two children (the other being Mor- ris Workman, of Tracy) born to Daniel M. and Virginia (Gephardt) Workman, na- tives of Ohio.
Dr. Workman was born in Circleville, Ohio, May 14, 1855. After receiving a high school education he matriculated in Northwestern University of Chicago and was granted a diploma in medicine with the class of 1878. He practised in Chicago until 1880, when he located in Huron, South Dakota. A short time later he located in Sleepy Eye, and in 1884 he be- came a resident of Tracy, where he has ever since been engaged in practice.
The doctor is a member of the American Medical Association, the state association, the Lyon-Lincoln Medical Association, and the American Railway Surgeons Associa- tion. He is a member of the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery of the Masonic order, the Eastern Star, Modern Woodmen and A. O. U. W. lodges.
Dr. Workman was married at Mankato, Minnesota, January 27, 1887, to Nell M. Gleason, a native of Winona county, Min- nesota. They have one child, Warner Gleason Workman, who is a student in the Medical Department of the University of Minnesota.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
ALVIN L. BLANCHARD (1879) has continuously had his home in Lyon county thirty-three years. He owns a 235-acre farm on section 4, Rock Lake township, and is rated as a successful farmer. He raises Norman and Percheron horses, Here- ford cattle and Poland China hogs.
Mr. Blanchard is one of a family of four children, the others being Clarence A., of Blanchardville, Wisconsin; Kate ( Mrs. Sam- uel Corbin), of Lily, South Dakota; and William, of Blanchardville. The father of these children was Alvin Blanchard, after whom the city of Blanchardville was named. He was born in New York, settled in Wis- consin in an early day, and died in 1911. The mother of the children is Mary (Skiner) Blanchard, of Balaton.
Alvin L. Blanchard of this review was born in the city named after his father on August 6, 1858. When he was seven years of age he accompanied the family to Free- born county, Minnesota, and resided with them there until 1879; then the family came to Lyon county. Alvin farmed in Lyons township five years and has since been engaged in the same business in Rock Lake, for many years on his present farm.
Mr. Blanchard has stock in the Current Lake Telephone Company and the Lyon County Co-operative Company of Balaton. Ile has membership in the Masonic and Woodmen lodges of Russell, having been a charter member of the last named.
The marriage of Mr. Blanchard to Hat- tie A. Van Fleet occurred in Rock Lake township in December, 1884. His wife was born in Chatfield, Minnesota, June 14, 1859. Her parents, John A. and Nancy G. (Gere) Van Fleet, were pioneers of Lyon county, homesteaded a part of the land now owned by Mr. Blanchard, and are both dead. Mr. and Mrs. Blanchard have four children: Gertrude L., a school teacher of Berlin, North Dakota; Terresa H. (Mrs Henry Erickson), of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Gladys S. (Mrs. Milton S. Clark), of Rock Lake township; and Llewellis Van, who lives with his parents.
DAVID R. ROBERTS (1878), Lyons township farmer, has lived in the county and on the farm he now occupies since he was a child nine years of age. His parents,
Richard R. and Mary ( Prichard) Roberts, were born in Wales and he was born in Rutland county, Vermont, July 2, 1869.
When David was two or three years of age the family moved to Michigan, where the father worked at the slate maker's trade and in the copper mines several years. They came to Lyon county in 1878 and took as a homestead claim the southwest quarter of section 20, Lyons township. which place has ever since been the home of our subject.
Until 1901 David worked on the home farm and then he rented the place from his father and has since had the manage- ment. In his stock raising he makes a specialty of Aberdeen Angus cattle. Mr. Roberts owns stock in the Farmers Ele- vator Company of Russell. He has served ten years as treasurer of his township and is a member of the Workmen lodge.
Mr. Roberts was married in Russell on September 4, 1901, to Sadie Jones, a native of Illinois and a daughter of John N. and Jemima (Jenkins) Jones. The three chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Roberts are named Joe, Ethel and Mildred.
MRS. MARIE G. OLSON (1872) is the owner of the south half of section 30, Mon- roe township, a well-improved farm. She resides on the farm and is assisted in its management by three of her sons, Emil, Edward and John, who own land adjoin - ing and are successfully conducting the home place. They have large herds of Shorthorn cattle and Duroc-Jersey swine and a number of fine Percheron horses.
Mrs. Olson was born in Holand, Norway, November 27, 1844. She was married to John Matteson in 1866 and came to Amer- ica in 1869 and located in Fillmore county, Minnesota, where a few weeks after their arrival her husband died. Two sons were born to this union, Emil, who was born in 1867, and Martin J., who was born in 1869.
In 1871 our subject was married to Gunerius Olson, and the next year they moved from Fillmore county to Lyon coun- ty. They took as a homestead claim the southwest quarter of section 30, Monroe township, and later they bought the south- east quarter of the same section. Mr. Olson, who was born in Norway in 1840,
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
died in 1903. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Olson, as follows: Hilda A .. born 1872; Ragna S., born 1875; Olaf C., born 1878; Edward G., born 1881; John A., born 1884; Elma M., born 1889.
Mrs. Olson is a member of Holand Lutlı- eran Church, which is situated on her farm.
OLE RIALSON (1872). There are few people living in Lyon county today who were here when Ole Rialson came more than forty years ago. He is a veteran of the Civil War, a homesteader of Lyon coun- ty, and a man who has been prominent in the affairs of his community. He now lives a retired life in the city of Tracy.
Mr. Rialson was born in Norway Sep- tember 24, 1841. He accompanied the fam- ily to America in 1849 and the first winter in the New World was spent in Rock coun- ty, Wisconsin. The next year the Rialsons moved to Green county of the same state, where Rile Rialson, the father, pre-empted a quarter section of government land. The father died on that place and his wife, Lucy (Syverson) Rialson, died at the home of her son in Tracy.
Our subject was brought up on the farm and after growing up engaged in that pur- suit on his own account. On August 11, 1862, at Monroe, Wisconsin, he enlisted in Company G, Twenty-second Wisconsin In- fantry, and served in the army until the close of the war. From the time of the battle of Chattanooga until the war was over Mr. Rialson was in General Sherman's army and was one of those who made the memorable march to the sea. He was taken prisoner in Tennessee and for a time was confined in Libby Prison.
After the war Mr. Rialson returned to Green county and farmed until his removal to Lyon county in the spring of 1872. Upon his arrival he took as a homestead claim the southeast quarter of section 22, Monroe township, close to which the village of Tracy was founded three years later. He built a sod shanty on the claim and in the fall was joined by his family. Upon his arrival the only people living in Monroe township were E. W. Healy, David Staf- ford, Ole Anderson, Ole Helgeson, Asle Olson and Charles Christopherson.
In the spring of 1873 Mr. Rialson hauled
lumber from Walnut Grove and erected a small frame building. Later that was re- placed by a more pretentious structure, and Mr. Rialson and his family resided therein until 1892, when he moved to Tracy and retired from active life. While he was hauling the lumber for his first frame house, Mr. Rialson had his first view of the dreaded grasshoppers, which wrought such damage. He did not desert the coun- try, as did so many of the homesteaders, but has continuously made his home here since his first arrival.
The name of the township in which he has lived for so many years was bestowed by Mr. Rialson, after Monroe, the county seat of Green county, Wisconsin. At the election, which was held in his house, the name Monroe was suggested by Mr. Rial- son and the name Chelsea by Mr. Wells. The voters adopted the name suggested by our subject. Mr. Rialson was also one who took an active part in the organization of the township and he was the first township treasurer, as well as the first treasurer of his school district.
The marriage of Mr. Rialson to Gunild Olson occurred in Green county, Wiscon- sin, on New Year's Day, 1866. She was born in Norway and died in Tracy Febru- ary 12, 1902. Mr. Rialson has one child, Robert, who resides on the old homestead. Four sons born to the union have died. The second marriage of Mr. Rialson oc- curred March 26, 1903, when he wedded Mrs. Ingeborg Erlandson. .
JOHN JOHNSON (1876) has spent the entire thirty-six years of his life in Lyon county. He owns the southeast quarter of section 5, Westerheim township, has made all the improvements on that place, and has a fine home. He was born in Nordland township August 21, 1876, and after growing to manhood bought his farm and engaged in business for himself.
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