USA > Minnesota > Lyon County > An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota > Part 69
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EDWARD P. KELLY (1898) is the pro- prietor of a furniture store and conducts an undertaking establishment in connection at Cottonwood. He is a native of the Gopher State and was born at Mankato November 22, 1873. His parents, Severt and Louisa Kelly, were born in Norway and came to the United States when very young. They were married in Blue Earth county, Minne- sota. The mother died in 1894, aged sixty- three years; the father resides at Mankato,
aged seventy-two years. There were four children: Edward P., of this sketch; Louis L., of Minneapolis; Mrs. O. J. Olson, of Man- kato; and Mrs. Charles Catlin, of Cotton- wood.
When five years of age our subject moved with his parents to a farm west of Lake Crystal and lived there until he reached his majority. He then moved to Madelia, where he conducted a furniture store one year. In 1898 he came to Lyon county and located at Cottonwood, where he engaged in the mer- cantile business as a member of the firm of Olson, Kelly & Laingen. He was in that firm five years, and then he assisted in the organization of the North Star Implement Company, of which he had charge of the furniture department five years. In 1908 he purchased the furniture department of that company and has since conducted the busi- ness alone. He is located in the Prestegaard Building and carries a full line of furniture, carpets, pianos and undertaking goods.
Mr. Kelly holds membership in the Ma- sonic, Knights of Pythias and Modern Wood- men lodges. He has served six years on the school board and two terms on the Village Council. He was the organizer of the Home Telephone Company and has since been its general manager and a director, and he was formerly president of the Commercial Club.
Mr. Kelly was married at Mankato Decem- ber 24, 1897, to Matilda Hanson, a native of Blue Earth county, Minnesota. They are the parents of three children: Olive, Ruth and Edith.
GEORGE REGNIER (1883) is the own- er of 24) acres of fine land located on sections 2, 3 and 23, Grandview township, and a modern home in the village of Ghent. He has made his home the past two years on the northeast quarter of section 3, and he farms the entire place with the assist- ance of his only son Albert.
Our subject is a son of Isaac and Mary (Touchette) Regnier, who were natives of Canada and who came to America in 1847 and settled in Kankakee county, Illinois. They were among the first settlers in that county and became owners of a small farm. They sold their interests there in 1883 and located in Grandview township, Lyon county, where they bought land.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Isaac Regnier died on his farm sixteen years ago, at the age of seventy years; his widow lives in Marshall with her daughter, Mrs. August Durrenberger.
George was born in Kankakee county, Illinois, August 27, 1864, and was brought up and educated in the country schools of that county. He lived with his parents until twenty-one years of age, and in 1883 he and his parents moved to Lyon county and located in Grandview township. A few years later George bought the north- west quarter of section 23 from the rail- road company. There he built a small shack and commenced farming. He was married soon after and continued to make his home on the place twenty years-until moving to his present farm in 1910, with the exception of two years, during which time he retired from active farming on account of his health and resided in Ghent. He was one of the incorporators of that village and served on the council one year.
The marriage of George Regnier and Cecile Caron occurred in Ghent November 25, 1891. Mrs. Regnier is a native of Kankakee county, Illinois. By her mar- riage to Mr. Regnier she became the mother of four children, Denage, Albert, Virginia and Alma.
Our subject is one of ten living children born to Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Regnier. The others are Joseph, Louis, Ambrose, John, Harry, Mary, Florence, Emma and Louise. The Regnier family are members of the Catholic church.
JOHN HARTZELL (1886), proprietor of the Lone Tree Farm of Coon Creek town- ship, was born in Sweden June 15, 1855, the son of Andrew and Nellie (Nelson) Johnson. At twenty years of age he came to the United States and located at Mon- mouth, Illinois, near which place he worked at farm labor summers and in the coal mines winters for three years. He then went to Chicago, where he worked for the Union Iron & Steel Company five years and for the Pullman Car Company three years.
In 1886 Mr. Hartzell moved to Lyon coun- ty and purchased the north half.of the north- west quarter of section 27, Coon Creek town- ship. The next year he bought the north half of the northeast quarter of section 28,
of the same township, and was the owner of that land until he sold in 1910. In 1897 he purchased the south half of the south- west quarter of section 22, and he is now the owner of 160 acres of Coon Creek's fer- tile soil.
Upon his arrival to Lyon county in 1886 Mr. Hartzell lived for nine months on the Charley Swanson place on section 32. Then he moved to Burchard and for the next two years worked for the Northwestern Railroad Company. During the next three years he rented the Carl Hanson farm on section 21, also farming his own place during that time. At the end of that time he built on his own farm and has ever since lived thereon. His place is now known as the Lone Tree Farm.
Mr. Hartzell was married at Pullman, Illi- nois, in 1883 to Emily Magnusen, who was born in Sweden December 14, 1867. She is a daughter of John and Mary (Bjork) Mag- nusen. Mr. and Mrs. Hartzell are the par- ents of the following named eight children: Annie, Joseph, Winnie, Edith, Adolph. George, Irene and Earl.
NELS ANDERSON (1882) owns 600 acres of land in Eidsvold township and he and his sons farm it all. The home place is the southwest quarter of section 10 and he owns in addition 160 acres on section 2, eighty acres on section 11, 120 acres on section 9 and eighty acres on section 16. Mr. Ander- son has an exceptionally fine farm and is one of the big farmers of Eidsvold township, being rated among the substantial men of northwestern Lyon county.
The birth of Nels Anderson occurred in Denmark November 16, 1857, one of two sons born to Nels and Sophia Anderson. His parents are deceased. His brother is Ras- mus Anderson, of Vernon county, Wisconsin. In 1872 Nels accompanied his parents to America. He lived in Allamakee county, Iowa, a few years and in Brookings county, South Dakota, a few years, and in 1882 be- came a resident of Lyon county. At that time he bought the home quarter section of his farm, which at that time contained as the only improvement a little shack built by a man who took the land as a tree claim. Mr. Anderson has lived on that farm thirty years and has prospered exceedingly.
Mr. Anderson was married in Eidsvold
-
YHUMBER
HOME OF NELS ANDERSON
Who Has Lived on This Farm in Eidsvold Township Thirty Years.
MR. AND MRS. JOHN HARTZELL
Of Coon Creek Township, From a Photograph Taken When They Started Farming.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
township in the fall of 1880 to Mary Fod- ness. She was born in Norway and came to the United States when a child. The fani- ily came to Lyon county in the early sev- enties. Following are the names of the chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson: John, who farms a quarter section of his father's land; Carl, a banker of Aneta, North Dakota; Ras- mus, who farms another of his father's farms; Edwin, who lives at home; and So- phia, a graduate of the Madison Normal School. The family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Minneota and Mr. Anderson has stock in the Farmers Ele- vator Company of Minneota.
SWAN A. DILLBERG (1897) is a promi- nent farmer and stockman of Coon Creek township and has resided in that township fifteen years. He owns the west half of sec- tion 25, a short distance from the village of Russell.
Mr. Dillberg was born in Sweden Septem- ber 13, 1857, the son of Anders and Matilda (Swanson) Dillberg, both of whom are buried in their native land. Swan was brought up on his father's farm and received his education in the Swedish schools. He served one year in the standing army and for four years belonged to a corps of sharp- shooters.
In 1881 Mr. Dillberg came to America. and from that time until he came to Lyon county in 1897 he resided in the city of Chi- cago. During those years he was employed by the Union Steel Mills Company, Blake Brothers Company, Gem Machine Repair Company, the Woolkfolk Manufacturing Grading Machine and Dumping Box Com- pany, and for two years was employed on the World's Fair buildings.
The year of arrival to Lyon county was 1897. For three years Mr. Dillberg rented and farmed the southeast quarter of section 31, Coon Creek township, and then moved to his present farm, which he had bought the year previous. He has a modern house and a fine set of outbuildings, all the improve- ments having been made by our subject. He raises considerable stock, and for the past eleven years he has bought and shipped stock. He owns stock in the Farmers Ele- vator Company of Russell and in the Farm- ers Telephone Company, having been one
of the organizers and a director of the latter. Mr. Dillberg affiliates with the Swedish Lu- theran church and the Woodmen and Work- men lodges.
The marriage of Mr. Dillberg to Dorethy Swanson occurred in Sweden on October 10, 1878. Their children are named Ernest. Fred, Harry, Gertie, Rose, Otto and Salma.
CHARLES A. LAUDENSLAGER (1878), in partnership with his father and brother, is engaged in the saloon and ice business in Marshall. That city has been his home since he was a boy seven years of age.
The father of our subject is John J. Lau- denslager. He is a native of Harrisburg. Pennsylvania, and a veteran of the Civil War. He enlisted in . Company C, Fiftieth Penn- sylvania Volunteers, and served with the eastern army. He was discharged on ac- count of injury, located in St. Paul, and later enlisted in the Fifth Minnesota Volun- teers. After the war he located in New Um, where he was married and where he re- sided until locating in Marshall in 1877. Upon his arrival in Marshall the elder Mr. Laudenslager founded the Pioneer saloon on the site of the present building and has since conducted the same-at the present time in partnership with his sons, Charles A. and Richard S. Another child of the family is Alice (Mrs. Herman Guttmann), of Man- kato. Addie died when fifteen months of age.
Charles A. Laudenslager was born in New Ulm September S. 1871, and when seven years of age he located with his parents in Marshall. He was educated in the public schools of that city and after growing up engaged with his father in the saloon busi- ness and ice business. The pioneer building was destroyed by fire in November, 1892, and the next year it was replaced by the present two-story building. The ice business was es- tablished in an early day from a small be- ginning. There were only four customers when the business was established and de- livery was made in a hand cart.
The subject of this review is not married. He makes his home with his parents. He is a member of the Odd Fellows order.
WILLIAM SCHULTZ (1884) is a farmer residing in Lynd township. He is a native
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
of Lyon county and was born at Marshall June 10, 1884. The father of our subject was Julius Schultz, an early resident of the coun- ty who died several years ago.
William received his early education in Marshall, where he attended school until fif- teen years of age. He then worked at farm labor until twenty-four years of age; later he rented a farm and "batched" for two - years. In March, 1911, the subject of our sketch rented the A. J. Tucker farm in Lynd township, which he operated one year and then moved to the C. R. Madden farm in the same township. Besides farming Mr. Schultz engages in stock raising, including Durham cattle and grade hogs. He is a successful farmer and stock raiser.
On March 9, 1910, Mr. Schultz was united in marriage to Elsie Lahman at Wautoma, Wisconsin. Mrs. Schultz is a daughter of Fred Lahman and was born January 25, 1890, at Wautoma.
ARTHUR J. MCGINN (1881) is the pro- prietor of a cigar factory in Minneota. He was born in New York February 21, 1875.
In May, 1881, Arthur accompanied his par- ents to Lyon county and located in Wester- heim township, where the father had pur- chased land. He resided on the farm and worked for his father until the latter's death in 1889. He then took charge of the farm, having bought the interests of the other heirs. He continued farming until 1899, when he moved to Minneota and learned the cigar maker's trade under his brother, James, who is now a county commissioner. He worked for his brother until 1908 and then worked for L. T. Thompson until the following spring.
In the spring of 1909 our subject pur- chased the Exchange Cafe and conducted it until May, 1911. On the latter date, in com- pany with M. J. Moore, he purchased the L. T. Thompson cigar factory. The following August he purchased Mr. Moore's interest and has since conducted the factory under his own name. Mr. McGinn holds member- ship in the Modern Woodmen, Knights of Columbus, Catholic Order of Foresters and Yeomen lodges.
At Seaforth, Minnesota, November 26, 1901, occurred the marriage of Mr. McGinn to Laura Cassady, a native of Lyon county. She
is a daughter of Ed. and Stella Cassady. Mr. and Mrs. McGinn have one child, Arthur J.
The man whose name heads this sketch is a son of Patrick and Sarah (McBeth) Mc- Ginn, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of New York City. Both are de- ceased, the father having been killed on his farm in 1889 by a well caving in on him. The mother died in May, 1890. They were the parents of nine children, as follows: Mary Ellen Grossburger of New York; Sarah Ellis, of New York City; James, of Minne- ota; Rachael Lumphrey, of Beardsley, Min- nesota; Rosabelle Walsh, of Bloomington, Illi- nois; Maggie Cassady, of Saskatchewan, Can- ada; Susie Schaeffer, of New York; Arthur J., Frances E. Milton, of New York City.
SOLOMON GREELEY (1898). One of the largest landholders in Lyon county is Solo- mon Greeley, who lives on the northwest quarter of section 23, Sodus township. He is the owner, together with his sons, of 1180 acres of land in Lyon county. He is a vet- eran of the Civil War, having enlisted Feb- ruary 3, 1864, served two years and three months, and having been discharged at Sel- ma, Alabama.
Solomon Greeley was born in Green coun- ty, Wisconsin, on December 3, 1847, a son of Solomon and Charity Arville (Chaffee) Greeley, natives of Vermont. They settled in Wisconsin in an early day. When our subject was only two years of age his mother died. In 1861 he accompanied his father to Worth county, Iowa, where he resided until he enlisted in the Civil War. At the close of the war he returned to Worth county, rented land, and resided there several years. Then he moved to Winnebago county, Iowa, where he bought land and farmed until 1898, the year of his arrival to Lyon county. He lived on section 27, Sodus township, until 1909, at which time he moved to his present resi- dence, the northwest quarter of section 23, Sodus township. He is a member of the Yeomen lodge and has served one term on the township board. He is a stockholder and a director of the Amiret State Bank.
On January 31, 1871, Mr. Greeley was united in marriage to Eudora S. Boynton, a native of Windsor county, Vermont, and a daughter of Freeman and Lois (Gannett) Boynton, also natives of Vermont. Mrs.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Greeley was born March 10, 1851. Mr. and Mrs. Greeley are the parents of the following children: George, F., Walter E., Otis M., Ray O. and Hazel M.
BERT L. ENGLISH (1888) is the editor and publisher of the Tracy Headlight, the successor of one of the early established papers of that city. He was born in Waseca county, Minnesota, September 26, 1883, the son of Michael and Matilda (Boydell) Eng- lish, natives of Vermont and Massachusetts, respectively, and now residents of Tracy.
In 1888 Bert accompanied the family to Tracy, resided there five years, and then re- turned with his parents to Waseca, where he remained several years. Returning to Tracy, Mr. English grew to manhood in that city. He received his education in the Tracy High School and during his school days learned the printer's trade in the office of the Tracy Republican, securing his first taste of news- paper work that was destined to shape his career.
When twenty years of age, in 1903, Mr. English went to Rolla, North Dakota, and took a position as bookkeeper in the State Bank of Rolla. Later he was assistant cash- ier of the Farmers Bank of Garrison, North Dakota, and later still was cashier of the Citizens State Bank of Douglas, North Da- kota.
In the spring of 1908 Mr. English gave up the banking business to engage in newspaper work. He moved to Parkers Prairie, Minne- sota, bought the Independent, and edited it until he moved to Tracy in May, 1910. At that time he purchased the Republican, on which he had learned his trade, changed the name to Headlight, and has since presided over its destinies. The Headlight is a Pro- gressive Republican paper. Mr. English has been president of the Tracy Commercial Club for the past two years. He is a mem- ber of the M. W. A. and K. of C. lodges.
Mr. English was married to Rosella J. Mich at Rochester, Minnesota, on June 23, 1908. She was born in Olmsted county, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. English have one child, Dorothy, born at Parkers Prairie June 9, 1909.
REINIER J. BOT (1886) owns and farms 300 acres of Grandview township's
best farm land and makes his home on the northwest quarter of section 22, where he has a very comfortable dwelling.
It was in Holland that our subject first saw the light of day, and the date of his birth was October 23, 1866. The boy was brought up on his father's farm, attended the country schools, and did his share of the farm work. In 1886 the family came to this country and the father bought land from B. F. Jellison in Lyon county. The boy was twenty years of age when the family located on the south half of section 11, Grandview township, and he made his home with his parents until he was married in 1896.
In November of that year he married Julia Maertens, the wedding occurring in Ghent. His wife is a native of Belgium. To this union nine children have been born, Henry, William, Anna, Edward, Ida, Emma, Bertha, Alfonsis and Maria.
After his marriage Mr. Bot bought a quarter section of land three miles south of Minneota and made that his home seven years-until buying his present farm nine years ago. He is conducting his farm with profit and is one of the community's progressive citizens. Mr. Bot and his wife are members of the Catholic church.
The subject of this sketch is a son of William H. and Debora (Schroeder) Bot. The father died on his Grandview township farın in 1907 and the mother lives in Ghent with her son Hero. The elder Bots were the parents of the following chil- dren: Hero, Bernard, Reinier J., Cath- rena, Henry, John and William.
JAMES A. McNIVEN (1883), vice presi- dent of the Marshall State Bank, is an early day settler of Southwestern Minne- sota and has been a resident of Marshall for nearly thirty years. He was born in Bruce county, Ontario, Canada, August 14, 1862, the son of Malcolm C. and Mary (McIntyre) McNiven. The father was born in Scotland, the mother in Pictou, Nova Scotia.
When our subject was a child, in 1873, the family moved to Redwood county, Minnesota, where the father homesteaded land. On the paternal farm James A. Mc- Niven grew to manhood, securing an edu-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
cation in the public schools and in Curtis Business College. At the age of twenty- one years he started out in life for him- self, moving to Marshall in 1883. For two years he was a traveling salesman for the Marder Bushell & Glessner Company, of Chicago, and for three years traveled for the Plano Harvester Company and the Easterly Machine Company.
In 1889 Mr. McNiven entered into part- nership with D. D. Forbes in the real es- . tate, loans, collections and insurance busi- ness, with offices over the Lyon County Bank, a business with which he was con- nected for many years. In the fall of 1905 S. Odell bought the interests of Mr. Forbes and the business was continued un- der the firm name of Odell & McNiven. On June 1, 1909, Messrs. Odell and Mc- Niven, in partnership with S. J. Forbes, established the Marshall State Bank, tak- ing over the business of the real estate firm. The officers of the bank are as fol- lows: S. Odell, president; James A. Mc- Niven, vice president; S. J. Forbes, cash- ier.
Mr. McNiven is affiliated with several Masonic orders-the Blue Lodge, Chapter. Knight Templar and Shrine.
LINCOLN L. ANDERSON (1887) is one of the largest farmers in the southern part of the county, renting the southeast quarter of section 12 in Rock Lake, upon which he makes his home, and farming in addition other land in Rock Lake, Sodus and Custer townships, bringing up his total farming acreage to 600 acres.
Mr. Anderson is a Lyon county product, having been born December 14, 1887, in Custer township. His parents, Charles A. and Mary (Erickson) Anderson, pioneer settlers of Custer township, are now re- siding on their farm in Rock Lake, near Balaton. Lincoln attended the country school in his district in Sodus when a boy and at the age of nineteen years he en- gaged in farming on the quarter section in 12, where he now lives. Our subject devotes much of his time to the raising of Hereford cattle, Chester White swine and sheep.
Lincoln Anderson is a member of the Modern Woodmen lodge of Balaton. He
was married June 2, 1909, in Custer town- ship, to Lorenta Gifford, a native of Lyon county. Her parents, George B. and Ruth (Hughes) Gifford, were pioneer residents of Custer. Mrs. Anderson was born De- cember 16, 1888.
EYOLFUR BJORNSON (1880), Wester- heim township farmer, was born in Iceland July 20, 1850. He came to America in 1880 and his home has ever since been in Lyon county. He worked out one year and in 1881 he bought the northwest quarter of section 16, Westerheim township, upon which he has ever since had his home.
At that time there were very few residents in his neighborhood, among them Joseph Josephson, A. Hellickson and the Orsens. Mr. Bjornson added to his original farm by the purchase of the east half of the north- east quarter of section 17, and he has one of the best improved farms in the neighbor- hood. His home, erected in 1905, is one of the finest in the county. Mr. Bjornson feeds cattle and hogs and raises sheep.
The marriage of Mr. Bjornson to Gudrun Goodmanson occurred in Iceland in October, 1875. They have one child, Adalbjorn, born February 8, 1888. He lives at home and assists in the management of the farm. The family are members of the Lutheran church.
WILHELM BURNS (1885) conducts a harness shop and restaurant in the village of Balaton. He was born in Sweden June 2, 1876, and when nine years of age came to the United States and settled in Balaton. There he has resided since, with the ex- ception of seven years spent in Rock Lake township. He is a son of John and Carrie Burns, the former of Murray county and the latter of Balaton. They are the parents of seven children: Sadie, Wilhelm, Ray, Vira, Anna, Alma and Lida.
In 1903 the subject of this review opened a restaurant and confectionery store in Bala- ton, which he has since conducted. He operated a harness shop in Marshall for several months, purchasing from Tom John- son, later moved the stock and tools to Bala- ton, and has since conducted a harness shop in connection with the restaurant. Mr. Burns is local agent for the Albert Lea Gas Light
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Company, the American Gas Machine Com- pany of Albert Lea, and the Bolte & Weyer Gas Light Company of Chicago. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen and Yeo- men lodges.
Mr. Burns was married on November 24, 1910, to Fannie Stowe, of St. Paul, Minne- sota. Mrs. Burns is a native of Minnesota.
HANS L. OFTEDAL (1891) is one of the prosperous farmers and land owners of Val- lers. township. He was born in Stavanger, Norway, November 10, 1864. His father, Lud- vig G. Oftedal, was a blacksmith by trade and followed farming also. His mother was Karn (Nesse) Oftedal.
Hans was twenty-one years old in 1885 and at that time he severed his home ties and im- migrated to the United States. He worked at odd jobs in Minneapolis two years, spent one year in Dakota county, Minnesota, and then located in Yellow Medicine county, where he worked out until 1891. That is the year of his arrival to Lyon county. He pur- chased 160 acres of his present farm on sec- tions 26 and 27, Vallers township, and has ever since resided there. He added to his farm by purchase and is now the owner of 280 acres. He raises improved Yorkshire hogs and grade cattle.
Mr. Oftedal has been active in local af- fairs. He served several years as a member of the Township Board of Supervisors and has been treasurer of his township, as well as treasurer of school district No. 71. He is a member of the United Lutheran church.
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