USA > Minnesota > Lyon County > An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota > Part 74
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DAN HASBARGEN (1895), in partnership with his brother-in-law, John H. Johnson, engages in farming on an extensive scale in Shelburne township. The partners own the northwest quarter of section 25, the south- west quarter of section 24 and the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 23, and they farm the entire tract.
The subject of this review was born in Iroquois county, Illinois, February 6. 1869, and resided on his father's farm in that county until twenty-four years of age. He then left home and for a couple of years was engaged in various occupations. He came to Lyon county in 1895, and for a year was employed as a farm hand and with threshing and hay baling crews. Mr. Has- bargen spent the next year in his old home, but in 1897 he returned to Lyon county with his brother-in-law to make permanent resi- dence. One quarter was purchased at the time of arrival and was improved by the partners; later they added by purchase the other property.
Dan Hasbargen is the son of Kayson D. and Elizabeth (Greenhoff) Hasbargen. The parents were born in Germany, came to America in 1864, were married in Iroquois county, Illinois, and have ever since resided on a farm purchased soon after their arrival. Mr. Hasbargen is seventy-six years of age, his wife seventy-four. Of eight children born to them the following four are living: Henry, Dan, Breke and Maggie.
Rachael Johnson became the wife of Mr. Hasbargen on March 30, 1899. She was born in Iroquois county, Illinois, and is the daughter of Henry Johnson.
PETER DIERICKX (1901) is one of the prosperous farmers and large land owners of
Fairview township. His landed possessions consist of 349 acres on section 7, Fairview, and 160 acres on section 8, Grandview. The home place, the northwest quarter of section 7, Fairview, is improved with fine buildings and is an exceptionally fine farm. A flowing well of soft water is on the place and the water is piped to the house and barn.
The gentleman who conducts this farm was born in Belgium October 9, 1846, a son of Engel and Emely (Deroo) Dierickx. In his native land he received his schooling and grew to manhood. At the age of twenty- five years, in 1871 Mr. Dierickx came to America and spent many years in Henry county, Illinois. The first five years he worked as a farm hand and then engaged in farming for himself. From Henry county, Illinois, he came to Lyon county in 1901, bought his Fairview farm at that time, and later added to his possessions by the pur- chase of the quarter section in Grandview. Mr. Dierickx raises Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs.
The marriage of our subject to Rosa Over- mire occurred in Illinois November 29, 1880. She was born in Belgium September 30, 1862. Her parents, Peter and Jane (Paquer) Overmire, died in Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Dierickx have four children: John, Ju- lia, Charles and Edward. The family are members of the Catholic church of Ghent.
GEORGE B. CALEY (1879), a missionary of the American Sunday School Union, has spent all except the first year of his life in Lyon county and now resides in Marshall. He was born in Dover, Racine county, Wis- consin, May 15, 1878, and the next year ac- companied his parents to Lyon county. He resided on the farm in Sodus township until 1895, when the family located in Marshall.
Mr. Caley received his education in the Marshall High School and thereafter en- gaged in several occupations. He took a home collegiate course and was ordained a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church at St. Paul in October, 1910. He has devoted much time to Sunday School and church work and is now a missionary of the Ameri- can Sunday School Union, his district em- bracing the counties of Lyon, Lincoln, Red- wood, Yellow Medicine and Lac qui Parle.
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He conducts services at the various churches throughout his district. Mr. Caley holds membership in the Masonic and Modern Brotherhood lodges.
The subject of this review is a son of the late Charles E. Caley and Martia E. (Cady) Caley, who resides in Marshall. The father was born in the Isle of Man. He came to Lyon county in 1879, took a tree claim on section 6, Sodus township, and resided there until 1895, when he located in Mar- shall. He died in September, 1910, at the age of sixty-six years. There are five chil- dren in the family, as follows: H. Delano, of Glenwood, who was formerly a merchant of Marshall; Lottie L. (Mrs. D. W. Harvey), of St. Paul; Harry E., of St. Paul; George B. and Edith Joyce (Mrs. Frank W. Case), of Marshall.
The marriage of our subject to Nettie S. Bates occurred in Marshall September 19, 1900. She was born in Grandview town- ship, Lyon county, March 17, 1881, and is the daughter of Lewis Bates, who came to the county in the early seventies. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Caley, as follows: Evelyn M., Marjorie R., G. Burdette and Millicent E. The last named died April 4, 1907, at the age of two and one-half years.
KAY C. HUMPHREY (1900) is a Sodus township farmer and land owner. He was born in Green county, Wisconsin, December 9, 1869, the son of Albert N. and Lina (Baldwin) Humphrey. The parents were born in New York State and settled in Wis- consin in an early day.
When Kay was four years of age the fam- ily moved to Monroe, Jasper county, Iowa, and there our subject received his school- ing and spent his boyhood days. In 1882 his father died, and Kay and his mother re- turned to Wisconsin, to the village of Broad- head. That was Kay Humphrey's home for the next fifteen years, during which time he was engaged as a store clerk and at farm labor. Two year were spent with an uncle in Grundy county, Iowa, and then in 1900 Mr. Humphrey became a resident of Lyon county.
Upon his arrival Mr. Humphrey purchased his present farm, the southeast quarter of section 16 and the west half of the south-
west quarter of section 15, Sodus township. He engages quite extensively in stock rais- ing as well as grain farming. He is clerk of school district No. 84 and has been town- ship clerk for eight years. Mr. Humphrey is a member of the Yeomen lodge.
In his native county in Wisconsin Mr. Humphrey was married on February 12, 1899, to Nellie Hulbert. She is a native of that county and was born on New Year's Day, 1870. Her father, John Hulbert, was born in New York; her mother, Lorinda (Smiley) Hulbert. in Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey have one child, Helen May, born May 30, 1911.
EDWARD MAERTENS (1883) commenced farming for himself in Grandview township in 1892 with little or no capital to start on, and by industry and intelligent farming he has accumulated 713 acres of the township's best land and made himself one of Grand- view's prosperous farmers.
He was born in Belgium October 2, 1864, and is a son of Henry and Anna (DeRuwe) Maertens, now deceased. The parents came to America and located in Lyon county in the fall of 1883. the father purchasing land in Grandview township. Edward received his early education in Belgium and later at- tended a country school in Lyon county until nineteen years of age. He then worked on his father's farm until 1892, in which year he married, purchased land, and started farming for himself. He moved to his present place in 1899 and is now suc- cessfully engaged in farming and stock rais- ing.
Our subject's mother died on the Grand- view farm in 1895. The father soon after returned to his native land, where he died June 26, 1908. Edward is one of eight chil- dren, six of whom are living, as follows: Clemence, of Belgium; Anna (deceased), Ed- ward, of this sketch; August, of Ghent; Ida (Mrs. B. F. Claeys), of Grandview township; Henry (deceased), Julia (Mrs. Regnier Bot), of Grandview township; and Hippolet, of Ghent.
Edward Maertens was married June 29, 1892, to Theresia Bot, the ceremony taking place at Ghent. Mrs. Maertens was born November 29, 1870, and died August 21, 1907. She was a daughter of William H. and
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Debora (Schrneder) Bot, of whom the former is deceased and the latter is a resident of Ghent. Her parents were early settlers of the township. To Mr. and Mrs. Maertens were born the following children: Gustave Joseph, born May 22, 1894; William Al- phonse, born October 26, 1896; IIero Jo- seph, born May 5, 1898; Henry Edward, born July 25, 1900; and Bernard Edward, born June 2, 1905. Another child died in infancy.
Mr. Maertens served six years as chair- man of the Township Board and several terms as road overseer. He was one of the organizers of and is a stockholder and secre- tary of the Farmers Elevator Company of Ghent. He is a member of the Catholic church of Ghent and was formerly one of its trustees.
GEORGE D. TRACY (1903) is a whole- sale dealer in poultry, eggs and butter at Tracy and carries on one of the largest busi- ness enterprises in the city. He handles more poultry than any other house in Min- nesota. During 1911 more than sixty car loads of poultry were shipped, representing a cash value of $100,000, and abont twenty- five car loads of eggs were handled. A large territory is covered, extending into South Dakota. The business is housed in a three- story 36x56 feet building erected in 1908.
The gentleman who carries on the busi- ness was born in Jesup, Iowa, April 5, 1874. At the age of fourteen years he moved to Spencer, Iowa, where he secured his educa- tion and grew to manhood. There in 1896 he engaged in the poultry business, which he has ever since followed. From the year mentioned until he moved to Tracy in No- vember, 1903, Mr. Tracy was a member of the firm of Culbertson & Tracy.
Mr. Tracy is a stockholder of the Tracy Garage Company and owns a half section farm in Shetek township, Murray county. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and Workmen lodges.
Albert G. and Angeline P. (Starkey) Tracy, the parents of our subject, were born in Ohio and moved to Jesup, Iowa, in the early seventies. Later they moved to Spencer, where both died. They were the parents of the following children: Addie, the wife of Dr. W. P. Woodcock, of Spencer, Iowa;
George D., of this biography; Minnie, the wife of A. J. Cnttell, of Spokane, Washing- ton; and Bert, of Peterson, Iowa.
George D. Tracy was married March 7, 1900, at Sutherland, Iowa, to Leonora M. Barry, a native of Iowa. They have three children, Margaret, Addison and Donald.
WILLIAM F. HAACK (1899), owner of the northeast quarter of section 24, Rock Lake township, was born in Germany May 18, 1865, his parents, Joahim and Mary Haack, being now deceased.
Our subject received his early education in Germany, in a graded school, and during the greater part of his teens he worked as a hack driver, continuing at that work until twenty-two years of age. He then enlisted in the German Army and served three years. In the fall of 1889 William immigrated to the United States and made his home for the next five years in the neighborhood of Redfield, South Dakota, where he worked as a farm hand. Young Haack was ambitious to get into farming for himself and made the first step in that direction when he rented land near Redfield and farmed three years, moving from Redfield to Waterville, Minne- sota, and again worked as a farm hand two years.
Lyon county was Mr. Haack's destination after leaving Waterville, and he located in Sodus township, where he rented land and farmed two years. He then purchased his farm in Rock Lake and has farmed there ever since. Mr. Haack raises considerable stock and ships Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs to the markets.
October 1, 1899, in Lyons township oc- curred the marriage of William Haack and Sophia Klucas, a native of Germany. Mrs. Haack was born October 18, 1878, and is a daughter of William Klucas, of Lyons town- ship. Mr. and Mrs. Haack have eight chil- dren, named as follows: Walter, Otto, Hel- mot, Hannah, Martha, Luther, Elsie and Arthur. Mr. Haack is a member of the German Methodist church.
LEE O. ALEXANDER (1885) is a farmer who resides in the village of Lynd. He is a native of Lyon county and was born in Lynd township on June 8, 1885. He is a
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
son of A. E. Alexander, a real estate dealer of Lynd. His parents are natives of New York State.
Lee received his early education in the district schools of Lynd township. Later he attended the Marshall High School, from which he was graduated in 1905, and then attended the Mankato Normal School one term. He is a member of the Lynd Metho- dist Episcopal church. He bought grain for the Northwestern Elevator Company at South Shore, South Dakota, and later at Lynd, working for the company about three and one-half years. He then engaged in the implement business for one year, at the end of which time he sold to O. M. Larson, who still conducts the business. Mr. Alexander was census enumerator for Lynd township in 1910.
He owns and operates what is known as the Gilman quarter (the northeast quarter of section 26), the Morgan Homestead (the northeast quarter of section 34), and the Judge Rice Grove, consisting of eleven acres, which was an Indian camping ground when the first white settlers came to Lyon county.
On July 8, 1908, Mr. Alexander was united in marriage to Susie G. Oliver, a daughter of Henry and Susan G. Oliver. Mrs. Alexander is a native of Lyon county and was born October 25, 1886. They have a daughter, Marian S., born Jannary 3, 1912.
HERMAN F. WEIDAUER (1906) is the owner of the southwest quarter of section 18, Lake Marshall township, where he has resided six years. He was born in Saxony, Germany, January 1, 1875, and is the son of August and Dakle (Derckle) Weidauer. When seven years of age Herman accom- panied his parents to America, locating near Philo, Illinois, where the father purchased land and farmed until 1892. At that time the father sold his Illinois land and moved to Calhoun county, Iowa, where he purchased land and has resided since.
Herman resided with his parents until he reached his majority, when he married, bought land, and started farming for him- self. In 1904 he sold his Iowa land and rented for two years. In 1905, while living in Iowa, Mr. Weidauer purchased the south- west quarter of section 18, Lake Marshall township, which he still owns and operates.
In 1906 he moved with his family to this place. Mr. Weidauer is a member of the German Evangelical church and is treasurer of school district No. 94.
In Calhoun county, on March 11, 1896, Anni R. Hout became the wife of Mr. Weid- auer. She is a native of Princeton, Illinois, and a daughter of Henry and Matilda (Cas- kup) Hout, the farmer born in Germany and the latter in Illinois. Mrs. Weidauer was born October 15, 1874. To Mr. and Mrs. Weidauer have been born the following named children: Matilda, born December 30, 1896; Bertha, born May 28, 1898; Laura, born September 19, 1899; Emma, born Octo- ber 18, 1900; Henry, born May 9, 1902; August, born October 16, 1905: Joseph, born March 31, 1909.
ERNEST SMITH (1893) is manager of the Willmar Milling Company's Elevator at Rus- sell. He was born in the Wolverine State, in Allegan county, October 10, 1868. When he was a child the family moved to Montcalm county, Michigan, where they resided until 1886. During that time our subject attended school and grew to manhood. In 1886 he moved to Brown county, South Dakota, where he farmed two years, and then en- gaged in the grain business at Port Emma, North Dakota, and at Yale, South Dakota, until 1893.
In the last named year Mr. Smith came to Lyon county and located at Russell, where he entered the employ of the Northwestern Elevator Company. He worked for that company five years. The next four years Mr. Smith was out of business, and in 1902 he entered the employ of the Willmar Milling Company.
The elevator now owned by the Willmac Milling Company was built in 1900 by An drews & McGandy, who conducted it two years and then sold to Reinke Brothers, of Iona Lake. Reinke Brothers operated it three years and sold to the present owners. The home office of the Willmar Milling Com- pany is at Willmar, Minnesota. Marcus Johnson, of Minneapolis, is president of the company. Their house at Russell has a ca- pacity of 15,000 bushels. They handle grain, fuel, flour and feed. Mr. Smith has had charge of the elevator since it was purchased in 1902 by Reinke Brothers.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
The parents of our subject were Stephen J. and Charlotte J. (Everest) Smith, natives of New York State. They came West when young and located in Michigan, where they were married. In 1886 they moved to South Dakota. Mrs. Smith died in 1895 at West Superior, Wisconsin, and Mr. Smith in Rus- sell September 8, 1909. Ernest Smith is the only child.
Mr. Smith was married June 4, 1894, at Iroquois, South Dakota, to Jennie Patton, a native of Lodi, Wisconsin.
Our subject is a member of the A. F. & A. M. and the A. O. U. W. lodges. He was one of the first members of the Village Conn- cil and served one term as village recorder.
WILLIAM LA VOIE (1892) owns the southeast quarter of section 32, Amiret town- ship, and - rents and farms the northwest quarter of section 16 of the same township, on which place he makes his home.
William La Voie was born in Kankakee county, Illinois, March 1, 1872. He is a son of Cyril and Sarah (La Rue) La Voie, na- tives of Canada, who came to the United States and located in Illinois during the Civil War. Cyril La Voie served in the Union army during part of the war, and afterwards the parents resided on their farm in Kankakee county until their deaths. William's boyhood was spent in Kankakee county and there he went to the country school and helped his father on the farm, and when his education was completed he assumed his share of the farm work until 1892.
Our subject had then reached his twen- tieth year, and he left home to make his own way in life. He located in Lyon county and was employed on John Craig's dray line for some months and worked on a threshing rig in the fall. M. D. Hahn then obtained his services for one year on his farm. Since that time Mr. La Voie has been farming for himself, having rented at different times farms in Amiret and Monroe townships. In the spring of 1911 he purchased the quarter on section 32, but he continues to farm his rented place on section 16. Mr. La Voie is devoting much of his time to stock raising and favors the Shorthorn cattle and the Duroc-Jersey and Poland China hogs. He is
a shareholder in the Farmers Co-operative Creamery Company of Tracy.
The marriage of William La Voie and Mary Van Dusen took place in Monroe town- ship February 24, 1895. Mrs. La Voie is a native of Rice county, Minnesota, and is a daughter of Charles and Fannie (Staley) Van Dusen. They were pioneer settlers of Lyon county, having located here in the spring of 1878. The former is deceased; Mrs. Van Dusen is a resident of Monroe township. To Mr. and Mrs. La Voie the fol- lowing children have been born: Marie, born April 8, 1896; Mark, born September 2, 1897; Lawrence, born August 5, 1902; Wil- liam, born January 6, 1906; Van, born Octo- ber 31, 1907; and Kenneth, born January 20, 1911. 'All the children are at home with their parents.
Mr. La Voie is a member of the Catholic church of Tracy. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen lodge.
MIKE STASSEN (1891) conducts a hotel and saloon in the village of Ghent. Mr. Stassen was born in Belgium March 27, 1873, and came to the United States in 1891. settling in Fairview township on his father's farm, where he resided until 1906. That year he moved to Ghent and purchased a half interest in his brother's saloon and hotel.
The subject of this review is a son of Loui and Elizabeth Stassen, who came to the United States in 1891 and located in Fair- view township, buying land on section 19, where they still reside. They have the fol- lowing ten children living: Jacob, Cathe- rine, John, Theodore, Mike, Joe, Mary, Mattie, Loui and Milline.
At Minneota, May 29, 1907, Mr. Stassen was married to Elizabeth Bankers, a native of Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Stassen are the parents of the following named three chil- dren: Helen, Louise and Loui.
LAWRENCE McDONALD (1882) owns a farm of 400 acres in Eidsvold township and has a well-improved place. He is rated as one of the substantial men of his precinct, in which he has resided thirty years. His home place is the south half of the south- west quarter of section 28.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Mr. McDonald was born in County Carlow, Ireland, February 5, 1842. His parents are Michael and Bridget (Breen) McDonald, both of whom died in the old country. Lawrence lived at home until fifteen years of age and his next three years were spent on the sea, as a hand on a sailing vessel. He landed in New York City June 3, 1860, and has ever since resided in America. Mr. McDonald worked as a farm hand in New York State until 1874, and thereafter until 1882 hewas foreman of a large farm in Essex county, Massachusetts.
While living in Massachusetts, Mr. Mc- Donald came in contact with literature sent out by Bishop Ireland, advertising the oppor- tunities to be found in the West and in that gentleman's colony in Lyon county in par- ticular. Mr. McDonald was impressed and in February, 1882, he left his employment in the East and came to Lyon county. At that time he purchased a homestead right to eighty acres in Eidsvold township for $625, sent for his family, and began farming on his own account. He experienced hard- ships incident to life in Lyon county in the early eighties, but he overcame all difficul- ties and has prospered.
Mr. McDonald and his family are members of the Catholic church of Minneota and he was one of the first members of that church. Several years he was road overseer of his dis- trict. He was one of the organizers of the Farmers Elevator Company of Minneota and he still has stock in the company.
At Lowell, Massachusetts, on September 15, 1874, Mr. McDonald was married to Rose Ann McGovern, also a native of Ireland. They have five children: Lawrence, Joseph and Margaret, who reside at home; John, of Hopkins, Minnesota; and Edward, of Poca- tello, Idaho.
HOMER R. SWIFT (1889) is the proprie- tor of the west half of the northeast quarter of section 7, Amiret township.
He was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, September 14, 1858, and is a son of Homer C. and Samantha (Wicks) Swift, natives of Connecticut. The former is deceased and the latter is now a resident of Waseca, Min- nesota. The father came to Lyon county in the early seventies and traded his team and wagon and $100 in cash for a quarter section
of land in Amiret township. He made his home in Lyon county several years.
Homer Swift received his early education in Pennsylvania, where he attended school until eighteen years of age. He then moved to Summit county, Ohio, and worked in factories in Akron several years. He was married in 1878 and bought land and farmed near Akron until the spring of 1889, when he moved to Lyon county and purchased his present land from the Winona & St. Peter Railroad Company. He has been a contin- nous resident of the county ever since. He is at present engaged in stock raising in ad- dition to his general farm work. Mr. Swift was a member of the Amiret Township Board of Supervisors one term.
August 4, 1878, Homer Swift married Sarah A. Snyder at Akron, Ohio. She is a native of that state and was born Feb- ruary 1, 1862. To this union have been born the following children: Mrytle (Mrs. Oliver Swift), of Minneapolis; Fay Ar- thur, May and Jay, at home; and Pearl, of Marshall. Mr. Swift has two broth- ers and three sisters living: Arthur, of Raymond, Minnesota; Frank, of Copley, Ohio; Rose (Mrs. Charles Whipple), of Wa- seca; Hattie (Mrs. Lobal), of Oil City, Pennsylvania; and Flora, of Chicago.
MICHAEL E. GRANNAN (1895), sheriff ot Lyon county, was born in Livingston county, Illinois, November 3, 1869. He re- sided on a farm in that county until seven- teen years of age and received a common school education. He lived in Streator, Illi- nois, one year, and then made his home in Chicago until coming to Lyon county in 1895. In Chicago he was engaged in sev- eral different occupations, being on the police force two years.
Upon his arrival to Lyon county in 1895, Mr. Grannan took employment by the month on the farm of Peter White. The next year he engaged in farming in Lynd township and was so engaged four years. He located in Marshall after quitting the farm, and that city has since been his home. He conducted a saloon one year and then formed a partner- ship with Peter White and engaged in buy- ing and shipping stock, the firm being styled White & Grannan. He was so engaged two years, and for the next two and one-half
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years was chief of police. He resigned that position to engage in the campaign for election to the office of sheriff, to which he was elected in the fall of 1906. He has been twice re-elected.
Sheriff Grannan was married in Marshall February 16, 1904, to Henrietta Riley. She was born near Dodge Center, Minnesota, and is the daughter of John Riley. Mr. and Mrs. Grannan have two children, Ethlyn Mary and Stephen Vincent. Mr. Grannan is a member of the Modern Woodmen and Knights of Columbus orders.
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