USA > Minnesota > Lyon County > An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota > Part 49
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Jens B. and Annie (Kittleson) Johnson, his parents, live on the old homestead on section 2, Nordland. They came from Nor- way early in life and were married in Wis- consin. Later they lived in Goodhue coun- ty, Minnesota, a short time, a few years in Yellow Medicine county, and in 1876 they bought a homestead right in Nordland
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township and have resided there ever since. There are six children in the family, as follows: Bessie (Mrs. H. B. Nelson), of South Dakota; Mary, Sina (Mrs. John Wahl), of South Dakota; Annie, John, of this review; and Gilbert, of Eidsvold town- ship.
John Johnson was married at Canby May 1, 1901, to Bessie Julia Severson. She was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, and is a daughter of Anton Severson, who has lived in Yellow Medicine county the past twenty years. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two children, Alice S. and Gladys J. The family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Minneota and Mr. John- son has been a member of the school board of district No. 80 for the past four years.
FRANCIS GITS (1883), of Ghent, hav- ing retired from active business life after a long and active career and having reached the good age of sixty-six years, departed with his wife in 1904 for Belgium with the intention of making the land of their birth the home of their declining years. The following year found the elderly couple safely back in Ghent, Minnesota, in the land of their adoption, fully decided that Ghent was home. Such was the love for this country that had been instilled into the minds of Francis Gits and his wife after they had made America their residence since immigrating to this country in 1883. It does not seem strange that here Mr. Gits should find contentment. It has been the field of his earnest endeavors, his busi- ness activity, his progress, his prosperity. His children are in business there and the community contains many friends.
Born October 6, 1838, a son of Louis and Natalie Gits, Francis was reared in Cortemork, Belgium, his birthplace. At the age of sixteen, his schooling being com- pleted, he learned the blacksmith's trade under his father and became proficient. He followed that calling in the old country and continued to do so after coming to America and locating in Ghent in the sum- mer of 1883. That year Mr. Gits also started a general store and opened a hotel in Ghent and continued to operate all three places during the following thirteen years. He added a hardware stock to his general
store. In 1901 Mr. Gits retired from active business. He has been very successful, both in business and in the field of invest- ment, making frequent purchases of real estate and selling at good advances. He is the owner of two residence properties in Marshall and three in Ghent, and is a stockholder of the First State Bank of Ghent.
The subject of our sketch is a loyal mem- ber of the Catholic church and has been a trustee of the Ghent church for twenty years. For several years he was a trustee of the village board and was for several years president of the council. For several terms he was on the school board.
January 15, 1863, Francis Gits wedded Louise Cornette, a native of Belgium. She was born June 22, 1836. The following children were born to this union: Paul, Julius, Joseph, Victor, Edmund, Arthur, Prudence (Mrs. Gustav Vergote), deceased, and Clemence (Mrs. Charles Foulon), of Ghent.
CASSIUS M. WILLFORD (1878) is an old resident of the county and has lived in Custer township thirty-two years. He was born in Winona county, Minnesota, August 14, 1861, and is a son of Daniel and Ma- linda (Joy) Willford, the former of whom is deceased and the latter being a resident of Balaton. His parents were early set- tlers in Lyon county, the father having taken as a homestead the northeast quar- ter of section 22, Custer township, where the family resided until the fall of 1891, when the parents moved to Balaton.
Cassius received his education in Wi- nona county, where he resided until sixteen years of age. In the spring of 1878 he and his brother, Clinton, came to Lyon . county and engaged in preparing the land which their father had taken the previous year as a tree claim. The lad continued to make his home with his parents until thirty years of age, at which time he mar- ried and took up his residence on the southeast quarter of section 15, Custer township, land which he had purchased in 1885 and where he has since resided, with the exception of five years spent in Tracy. Mr. Willford has increased his real estate holdings and now farms 240
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acres and engages quite extensively in stock raising.
The marriage of Cassius M. Willford and Laura Cutler occurred in Tracy January 14, 1891. To this union one child, John Cutler, was born March 21, 1892. Mrs. Willford is a native of Vermont, and her parents, John H. and Martha ( Fisher) Cutler, are both dead. They were early settlers of the county, coming to Custer township in 1881 and making that their home until their deaths.
Cassius Willford served several years on the Custer township board and is a stockholder of the Farmers Independent Elevator Company of Garvin. Fraternally he is allied with the A. O. U. W. lodge of Balaton, the Masons of Tracy, and the Modern Woodmen lodge of Garvin.
LOUIS HELGESON (1874) is one of Mou- roe township's successful farmers, owning the northeast quarter of section 28, which adjoins the quarter section belonging to his brother Ole. He was born April 3, 1874, on his father's homestead, the northwest quar- ter of section 28, Monroe township. During his boyhood days he worked for his father and attended the school of district No. 33. After completing his schooling he worked for neighboring farmers and at home until his father's death in 1892.
After the father's death Louis Helgeson, in company with his brothers Ole and Helge, rented a half section of land, and for several years the three boys farmed that and the homestead in partnership. In 1906 Louis withdrew from the partnership and bought the land which he now owns, which he has farmed since that time. He has a well im- proved piece of land and engages in raising cattle to some extent.
The marriage of Louis Helgeson and Elise Anderson occurred December 20, 1906, in Monroe township. Mrs. Helgeson was born April 25, 1885, and died October 18, 1908.
The parents of our subject were Ole Helge- son Brevig, born November 9, 1840, and Isabel (Olsdatti) Helgeson, both natives of Norway. They came to this country in 1869 and located in Fillmore county, Minnesota. They resided there a few years before com- ing to Lyon county in 1871 and taking a homestead in Monroe township. Both par- ents are now dead.
Louis Helgeson is a member of the Holand Norwegian Lutheran church. For two years he served on the Township Board of Super- visors of Monroe township.
A. C. CHITTENDEN (1878), a retired busi- ness man of Marshall and the owner of Opera .House Block, has played an important part in the history of that city, of which he has been a resident thirty-four years.
Mr. Chittenden was born in the town of Westbrook, Middlesex county, Connecticut, July 29, 1845, a descendant of old colonial stock. His paternal grandfather, Cornelius Chittenden, was a veteran of the Revolution- ary War and died in Westbrook, Connecticut, about 1857, at the age of ninety-three years. The subject of this review attended the funeral. The parents of our subject, Albert C. and Patience L. (Jones) Chittenden, were also natives of Middlesex county, Connecti- cut. The father died at Boulder, Colorado, in 1878, at the age of sixty-seven years. The mother died in Brooklyn, New York, in 1900.
In the Chittenden family, besides our sub- ject, are the following: Richard H., an attor- ney of New York, and Albert J., both de- ceased; Newton H., a Civil War veteran and an explorer, of Brooklyn, New York; Adelaide ( Mrs. James Turner), of Brooklyn ; Rev. Ezra P., an Episcopal minister and a graduate of Yale, of Clinton, Missouri, who is the author of "Pleroma," a poem of the Christ, published in book form in 1889; and Carolin (Mrs. J. Turner), of Brooklyn.
When A. C. Chittenden was thirteen years of age he accompanied his parents from the old Connecticut home and located at Ripon, Wisconsin, where he resided until twenty- one years of age. There he spent the sum- mer months working on his father's farm near Ripon and the winter months attending the Ripon High School. He completed his education in Ripon College. In the early seventies the family scattered, the parents moving to Boulder, Colorado. When he reached his majority our subject located at Milwaukee, where he was a bookkeeper in a commission house two years. He then located at Atwater, Minnesota, and engaged in business for himself. He put up a little building, opened a store, and made his start in life. Seven years after locating in Atwater, Mr. Chittenden moved to Boulder,
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Colorado. where he engaged in the real estate business. By a bank failure Mr. Chittenden lost $4400. He then went to Minneapolis, remained there a short time, and in 1878 be- came a resident of Marshall.
The year after his arrival in Marshall Mr. Chittenden erected the Opera House Block (in which he still maintains an office) and opened a store which he conducted a quarter. of a century. This old building has been used for many purposes-for a public hall, opera house and court house, the district court having been held therein before the new court house was erected. Mr. Chitten- den engaged in other business enterprises. He erected a hotel at Minnesota Junction, conducted a store at Watertown, South Da- kota, and a branch at Amiret. For a time he was also connected with the old Lyon County Bank. The double brick block now occupied by the Marshall Furniture Company and Dur- renburger's harness shop was erected by Mr. Chittenden. After retiring from active busi- ness Mr. Chittenden spent two years in Red- lands. California, where he put up a business block to rent. He is now the owner of about 1200 acres of farm land and devotes his ener- gies to their management and to real estate deals. Mr. Chittenden was the first no-license mayor of Marshall.
The subject of this review was married at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Agnes Hill. She is a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, and a daughter of John and Sarah Hill. The family came to the United States when Agnes Hill was about eight years of age and settled in Milwaukee. Mr. and Mrs. Chittenden have four children: Rodney, of Ritzville, Wash- ington: Walter, of Marshall; Florence (Mrs. Fred Shardlow), of Marshall; and Alice, a graduate nurse of St. Paul's Hospital, St. Paul. Mr. Chittenden is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
LEWIS C. PETERSON (1874) has been a resident of Lucas township since his birth, November 27, 1874. He is a prominent farm- er of the township, is the owner of 360 acres of its best land, and has all but forty acres under cultivation.
Our subject's parents, Christopher and Bertha (Berret) Peterson, were pioneer set- tlers of Lyon county, the father taking a homestead in Lucas township in 1872 and
residing on the farm until 1909, when he and his wife moved to Cottonwood to live. He died one year later and Mrs. Peterson still lives in that village. Christopher Peterson prospered during the many years of his resi- dence in the township and at the time of his death was the owner of several hundred acres of land.
Lewis received his education in the com- mon schools of the district and completed his schooling at the age of seventeen, after which he worked for his father until 1897; then he started farming for himself on the land which he now owns and where he has since resided. He engages in grade stock raising to a con- siderable extent and has succeeded in his undertakings. He is a stockholder of the Home Telephone Company of Cottonwood.
The subject of this sketch married Inga Slaan at Fergus Falls, Minnesota, February 15, 1906. She was born in Norway October 11, 1884, and her parents reside in Norway. By her marriage to Mr. Peterson she became the mother of three children, as follows: Alvena, born July 16, 1907; Betsey, born September 17, 1908; and Thorfin, born May 12, 1911. Alr. and Mrs. Peterson belong to Silo Norwegian Lutheran Church of Cotton- wood.
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GEORGE A. TATE (1889) is the former president of the First National Bank of Bala- ton, the proprietor of an elevator in that village, and a man prominently identified with the business interests of Lyon county. He has been a resident of Balaton a quarter of a century and has spent his entire life in Minnesota.
George A. Tate was born at Elba, Winona county, Minnesota, November 7, 1862, the second eldest of a family of five children born to George W. and Augusta (Day) Tate. The father, who was a native of Virginia, died April 17, 1890. The mother, a New Yorker by birth, is living. The other chil- dren of the family are Frank D., Fred, Nellie F. and Lelia A.
At Elba and St. Charles, Minnesota, young Tate spent his boyhood days and grew to manhood. He located in Balaton in May, 1889, bought grain for a few years, and then erected an elevator and engaged in business for himself, which he has since followed in addition to his banking interests. Mr. Tate
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was one of the organizers of the Citizens State Bank of Balaton in 1892 and was presi- dent of the bank. When the reorganization into the First National Bank was brought about in 1903 he was chosen president of the new concern and served as such until Febru- ary 1, 1912. He deals quite extensively in real estate.
Mr. Tate was a member of the Board of Education of Balaton six years, was village trustee one year and president of the Council one year. He is a member of the Maccabee and Workmen lodges.
Lillian M. Dickinson became the wife of George A. Tate at St. Charles, Minnesota. They have two children living, Harry A. and I.illian Georgia.
ANDREW A. CHRISTENSON (1872) is a former sheriff of Lyon county and one of its pioneer settlers. He served the county in the capacity of sheriff twelve years and was on the police force at Tracy five years. He is assistant sergeant at arms of the Minne- sota State Senate, having received the ap- pointment in January, 1911. He is a native of Norway, born October 19, 1863, and came to the United States when one and one-half years of age. He located in Allamakee coun- ty, Iowa, where he resided until 1872.
In the latter year our subject came to Lyon county and located in Monroe township, where his father homesteaded the southwest quarter of section 28, and resided there sev- eral years. He then started the struggle of life for himself, working at farm labor, on the section, and for two years was a fireman on the Northwestern railroad. He later served five years on the Tracy police force and was elected sheriff of Lyon in 1894 and served twelve years. He then spent four years on his farm in Monroe township and in 1910 moved to Tracy, where he has since resided.
Our subject is a son of Andrew and Annie (Thorson) Christenson, the former of whom resides in Tracy at the age of eighty-two years, and the latter is deceased. They were the parents of six children: C. A., of Roseau county, Minnesota; Andrew of this sketch; Christina, of Omaha; and Thomas, Ole. and Martin, all deceased.
The subject of this review is a member of the Blue Lodge, Chapter, Commandery, Shrine and Eastern Star of the Masonic
order. He also holds membership in the K. P. lodge of Tracy.
On December 23, 1890, occurred the mar- riage of Mr. Christenson to Mattie Hanson, who was born in Fillmore county, Minnesota, May 22, 1863.
LAWRENCE H. FREESE (1878) is a farm- er of Lynd township. He is a native of Sibley county, Minnesota, and was born July 23, 1876. The parents of our subject were Henry and Sarah Freese, the latter of whom died in May, 1911. The father is one of the early settlers in Lyon county and still re- sides in Lake Marshall township.
Our subject received his early education in Marshall, where he attended school until sixteen years of age. He then worked out for a while before he started farming for himself.
Mr. Freese is a member of the M. W. A. lodge. Besides farming, he engages in stock raising, including Duroc-Jersey hogs and Shorthorn cattle. He operates the southeast quarter of section 12, Lynd township. Our subject has five brothers and three sisters: Will, of Meadows, Idaho; Arthur, Noah, Ed- ward and Roland, of Lyon county; Elsie, of Lyon county; Lydia, of Seattle, Washington; and Mary, of Meadows, Idaho.
On June 1, 1900, Mr. Freese was united in marriage to Ada Orr, a daughter of Sumner and Celia Orr, of Marshall. Mr. and Mrs. Orr are pioneer residents of Lyon county and Mrs. Freese is a native of the county. They are the parents of the following chil- dren: Allie, Helen, Gertie, Ada, Eleanor.
LEWIS L. ROWELL (1878) came with his parents to Lyon county when one year old, and with the exception of about one and one- half years he has been a continuous resident of Amiret township since that time.
Lewis was born in Waukesha county, Wis- consin, November 5, 1877. The next year he was brought by his parents, Lewis and Pa- tience (Brooman) Rowell, to Lyon county, and the family settled on a farm in Amiret township which the father had purchased. The elder Rowell resided on the farm until his death. Lewis as a lad received the edu- cation afforded by the schools of the district and was kept busy at home helping with the
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farm work. At the age of twenty the boy went to South Dakota and made his home about one year near Huron, being employed as a farm laborer. Returning to Lyon county, he remained here one year before again making a trip, this time to North Dakota and Montana, where he spent several months.
After his return to Lyon county in 1899, Mr. Rowell took up farming for himself and is today the proprietor of the southeast quar- ter of section 10, Amiret township, which is the farm taken by his father as a tree claim. Besides his own farm Mr. Rowell operates the O. M. Covey half section in the same township, and he engages in stock raising in addition to his general farming. He raises Durham cattle and Poland China hogs. He is also a shareholder of the Farmers Co- operative Creamery Company of Tracy.
The ceremony which united Lewis Rowell and Maggie Montgomery in the holy bonds of matrimony was performed at Redwood Falls, Minnesota, December 18, 1902. To this union have been born the following children: Harold, born April 2, 1904; Lucile, born June -15, 1906; Donald, born April 6, 1908; and Mark, born February 24, 1910. Mr. Rowell's mother is still living and resides with her daughter, Mrs. William Berry, of Amiret. Mr. Rowell is a member of the Modern Woodmen and I. O. O. F. lodges.
HUGH H. JONES (1874) has been a farmer in Custer township since 1888 and has been on his present farm, the south half of sec- tion 13, the past two years.
Mr. Jones was born in Racine, Wisconsin, May 10, 1858. His parents, Richard R. Jones and Margaret (Hughes) Jones, were both na- tives of Wales. The former died thirty-six years ago in Lake Crystal, Minnesota, and Mr. Jones' mother is a resident of Garvin. Hugh lived in Racine until nine years old, and then the family moved to Lake Crystal, where they lived until 1874, coming then to Lyon county and making their home on sec- tion 10 in Custer township. Hugh received his education in the public schools of Lake Crystal and in the district school of Custer. He remained on the home farm until his marriage in 1888. .
Our subject was married February 13, 1888, in Custer, to Elenor Price, a native of Blue Earth county. Four children have been born
to the union: Ruth, born April 18, 1890; Mabel, born Angust 16, 1902; Richard and Reese, twins, born May 7, 1894.
After his marriage Mr. Jones began farm- ing for himself in Custer township, and has been a continuous resident there since that time.
M. SULLIVAN (1879), of Marshall, was one of the town's early business men and is a leading spirit in many local enterprises. He has been president of the Marshall Board of Education for the last twenty-eight years and was mayor of the city eight successive years. He is a Democrat and served four years as postmaster of Marshall during Pres- ident Cleveland's first administration.
Mr. Sullivan has been a resident of Minne- sota since 1868. He spent two years in Winona, and in the spring of 1870 he opened a lumber yard in St. Charles, where he re- mained until he became a resident of Mar- shall in 1879. Upon his arrival here he engaged in the lumber business in which he has ever since been interested.
Mr. Sullivan was married at Fort Plain. Montgomery county, New York, in 1865 to Sarah M. Frink. She died in January, 1901. The second marriage of Mr. Sullivan oc- curred in 1903, when he wedded Mary Voss. He has two sons, Earl Y. and Emmet M.
ROBERT CUMMINGS (1876) lives on the northwest quarter of section 32, Lucas town- ship, land he took as a homestead thirty-six years ago. He is a pioneer of that precinct and one of the few men there who still live on a homestead.
Scotland is the native land of Robert Can- mings. He was born January 8, 1855, and when one and one-half years of age was brought by his parents to America. The family home was made in Wabasha county, Minnesota Territory, and there our subject grew to manhood. Upon reaching his major- ity in 1876 he came to Lyon county and took his homestead in Lucas township. About the same time his parents located in Redwood county, and during the next ten years Mr. Cummings divided his time between his claim and his parents' home. During that decade he farmed his land part of the. time
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and the rest of the time worked out in Red- wood county.
Mr. Cummings took up his permanent abode on the farm in 1887 and has ever since resided there, engaged in its cultiva- tion. He is not married and keeps a Bache- , curity Bank in 1901, and two years later it lor's Hall. On numerous occasions Mr. Cum- mings has been called upon to serve in an official capacity. He was a member of the township board one year and was treasurer of his precinct seventeen years. For the past sixteen years he has been a member of the board of school district No. 41. Equity Lodge No. 220, A. F. & A. M., numbers Mr. Cummings among its members.
The parents of our subject are John and Isabelle (Steward) Cummings, now residents of Redwood county. Mr. Cummings is eighty- seven years old and his wife is eighty-two. Nine children were born to them, as follows: Annie, of Redwood county; Hugh, of Spo- kane, Washington; John A., deceased; Bar- bara (Mrs. William Burr), of Pueblo, Colo- rado; Donald, of Redwood county; Isabelle, Kate, deceased; Margaret and Robert.
JOSEPH H. CATLIN (1892) is president of the First National Bank of Cottonwood and is one of that village's leading citizens. He was born in New York State but has been a resident of Minnesota for more than fifty years. His parents were William and Sarah E. Catlin, also natives of New York State and pioneers of Goodhue county, Minnesota, in which county they both died. There were eleven children in the family, of whom the following named five are living: Joseph H., James, Nelson, Charles and Ellen.
In the county of Orleans, New York, on the eleventh of August, 1846, Joseph H. Cat- lin was born. When he was five or six years of age he accompanied the family to Green Lake, Wisconsin, and in 1861 located with them in Goodhue county, Minnesota. There the father bought government land, and on the farm Joseph remained until he attained his majority. Our subject then located in the little village of Cherrygrove, Goodhue county, where he conducted a general store four years. The next thirteen years of his life were passed as a merchant in the village of Roscoe, of the same county.
Mr. Catlin disposed of his interests in Ros- coe and in 1892 became a resident of Cotton-
wood, where he has ever since resided. Upon his arrival he erected a building and estab- lished Cottonwood's first financial institution, the Bank of Cottonwood, a private bank. The name of the institution was changed to Se- became the First National Bank. In addition to being president of the bank at Cotton wood Mr. Catlin has other interests. He is presi- dent of the Wood Lake State Bank and is a stockholder of the North Star Implement Company of Cottonwood. He owns 560 acres of farming land in the vicinity of Cotton- wood, to the management of which he gives his personal attention. For several years Mr. Catlin served as president of the Cot- tonwood Village Council and has taken an active interest in local affairs. He is a mem- ber of the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Eastern Star of the Masonic orders.
In Goodhue county, Minnesota, on the sec- ond day of April, 1872, Mr. Catlin was united in marriage to Catherine Miller, a native of Oak Grove, Dodge county, Wisconsin. They have two children: Charles, who is vice president of his father's bank, and Belle, who is now. Mrs. L. McKechnie, of Cotton wood.
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