USA > Minnesota > Lyon County > An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota > Part 75
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The subject of this biography is a son of Bernard and Katherine (Conroy) Grannan. They were born in Ireland, came to America in their youth, and were married in New. York. They settled at Morris, Grundy coun- ty, Illinois, about 1859 and later moved to Livingston county, where they died. There are seven living children in the family, as follows: John, of Chicago; Stephen, of Streator, Illinois; Ellen, of Livingston coun- ty; Mary (Mrs. Bernard Kelley), of Liv- ingston county; Bernard, a police officer of Chicago; Daniel J., deputy sheriff of Lyon county; and Michael E. The oldest son, Joseph W., died in 1906.
LEON CARON (1883) has resided on the southeast quarter of section 4, Grandview township, ever since coming to the county twenty-nine year ago. He is the owner of 560 acres in the township and rents out all the land except the home quarter, which he conducts himself.
Theodore and Julia (Constantine) Caron, parents of our subject, were born in Canada and moved to Kankakee county, Illinois, in the early days. In 1883 they moved to Lyon county and the father bought the quarter where he now lives with his son Leon, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. His wife died several years ago. There were seven children born to Theodore and Julia Caron, as follows: Cecile Regnier, Lizzie Regnier, Bertha, Patriode, Maria, Leon and Phil. Maria and Phil reside on the old home place with their father and their brother Leon. There were two other children: Peter, who died in 1899, aged forty-four years, and George, who died in 1879 at the age of eight- een years.
The subject of this sketch was born in
Bourbonnais, Illinois, May 15, 1876. He came with his parents to Lyon county in 1883, has always lived at home, and of late years has had charge of the home farm. The Caron family are members of the Catholic church.
THOMAS F. WALSH (1880) is the pro- prietor of a blacksmith and repair shop in Minneota. He is a native of Illinois and was born in Bloomington March 6, 1872. His parents were Walter and Bridget (Donovan ) Walsh, natives of Ireland. They were mar- ried in Illinois and came to Lyon county in the spring of 1880. The father died in 1907 and the mother in August, 1901. They were the parents of the following children: Nel- lie, Maggie, Bessie (deceased), Annie, Wal- ter, Cornelius and Thomas F.
Thomas accompanied his parents to Lyon county in 1880 and has resided in the county since, with the exception of four years spent in North and South Dakota. He attended school and grew to manhood on his father's farm in Westerheim township, where he re- sided sixteen years. He then moved to Mar- shall and learned the blacksmith's trade, after which he worked at Watertown, South Dakota, and Fargo, North Dakota, four years. In 1896 he went to Taunton, where he con- ducted a blacksmith shop five years; then he went to Minneota and has since con- ducted a shop there. Mr. Walsh is a mem- ber of the M. W. A. and K. C. lodges. He was a member of the Minneota Village Coun- cil one year.
Mr. Walsh was married at Taunton No- vember 4, 1902, to Nellie Ahern, a native of Springfield, Illinois. She is a daughter of Garret Ahern, an early settler of Taunton. Mr. and Mrs. Walsh are the parents of two children, Thomas W. and Garrett F.
HANS J. BREDEVEIEN (1884) is the pro- prietor of the Garvin dray line and an early settler of Lyon county. He is a native of Norway and was born December 29, 1841, a son of John and Annie (Peterson) Larson, both of whom are deceased.
Our subject received his education in the land of his nativity, where he attended school until fourteen years of age. He then engaged as a farm hand. His first year's compensation was three dollars in cash and
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a suit of clothes, and the highest wages he received in the old country was fourteen dol- lars a year and a suit of clothes. In 1867 Mr. Bredeveien came to America and located in Fillmore county, Minnesota, where he purchased land and resided until 1884.
At that time our subject came to Lyon county and purchased land in Custer town- ship, buying 240 acres, which he later sold. In the spring of 1904 Mr. Bredeveien moved to Garvin, where he has since been engaged in the dray business. He is the owner of several lots and a fine residence and is the possessor of 160 acres of land in Northern Minnesota.
Mr. Bredeveien was marred July 15, 1868, to Annie Knutson, a native of Norway. She died in March, 1911. They were the parents of the following children: Annie (Mrs. Carl Holden), of Garvin; Betsey (Mrs. Evon Ron- ing), Lena (Mrs. Ole Peterson), Lizzie ( Mrs. L. Coburn), Julia and Christine, all of whom reside in or near Garvin.
GEORGE MOFFATT (1890) is manager and grain buyer for the E. S. Mooers Elevator Company at Lynd. He has held the office of justice of the peace in that village for three years and is a land holder in Lyons township and a property holder in the vil- lage of Lynd.
George is a native of Scotland and was born in Glasgow on November 22, 1872, a son of George Moffatt, a stock broker, and Isabella (Morton) Moffatt. The former died in 1905; the mother lives in Scotland. The other children of the family are Rev. James Moffatt, Annie, Ella, Winifred, all of Scot- land. George received his schooling in the land of his nativity, attending school until seventeen years of age. He attended Glas- gow Academy and Glasgow University. When seventeen years of age he took a posi- tion as bookkeeper for a firm of East Indian merchants and worked for them two years.
At nineteen years of age George Moffatt came to America and to Lyon county for a visit and, liking the country so well, he stayed with friends in Island Lake town- ship, for whom he worked several years. Later he farmed for himself in Lynd town- ship several years and then moved to the village of Lynd and entered the employ of the New London Milling Company as grain
buyer, serving as such two years. The firm sold to the E. S. Mooers Elevator Company, and our subject has worked for the firm since as manager and grain buyer. Mr. Moffatt is a member of the following lodges: Blue Lodge of Masons, Modern Woodmen and the Knights of the Maccabees. He was clerk of the Modern Woodmen lodge at Lynd six years.
On January 25, 1894, Mary A. Burr became the wife of Mr. Moffatt. To them have been born two children, George M. and Evelyn.
JOHN F. DE KIERE (1888) is manager of the Philhower Implement Company at Mar- shall. He was born on Faroe Island, Den- mark, March 31, 1869, and came to America in 1881. He spent four years at Alpena. Michigan, and three years in the city of Detroit, where he attended school.
Mr. De Kiere came to Lyon county in 1888 and in the vicinity of Minneota engaged in farming until 1890. The next five years were spent in the employ of the E. I. Leland Grain and Implement Company. Mr. De Kiere then returned to Detroit and there en- listed in the United States Infantry and saw service in Arizona. After his term of service expired he re-enlisted in the regular army and in June, 1898, went with his regiment to the Philippine Islands, where he had an extended service in the campaign against the Insurrectos. He was discharged at San Francisco with the rank of sergeant on Feb- ruary 15, 1901.
After his army service Mr. De Kiere re- turned to Lyon county. For two years he had charge of the Marfield elevator at Burch- ard and then for three years was in the employ of the Western Elevator Company at Marshall. From that time until March, 1911, Mr. De Kiere lived at Ceylon, Martin county, Minnesota, employed by the Mutual Elevator Company. On the last named date Mr. De Kiere entered the employ of L. H. Philhower as manager of the implement business in Marshall.
At Balaton, on June 5, 1903, Mr. De Kiere was married to Annie M. Peterson, of Burch- ard. Four children have been born to them, Leona, Irene, Irvin and John. Mr. De Kiere is a member of the Masonic, Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen lodges.
Joseph De Kiere, the father of our subject,
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was born at Roulers, Belgium, and died in this country. The mother, Amelia ( Paulson ) De Kiere, was born on Faroe Island, Den- mark, and now resides at Minneota. There are four children in the family, Mary, Vir- ginia, Gertrude and John F.
JOHN A. KARLEN (1892), Coon Creek township farmer, was born September 2, 1857, in Goteborg, Sweden. His parents were Andrew and Brigita Manson, both of whom are deceased. John received his schooling in the land of his nativity, where he attended school until fifteen years of age. He then worked at the carpenter's trade with his father, who was a contractor, until twenty-three years of age. In 1881 he came to America and located in Chicago, where he was employed by the Pullman Car Company eleven years.
In 1892 Mr. Karlen came to Lyon county and purchased land in Coon Creek township, which he farmed three years. Then he re- turned to Chicago, where he again worked for the Pullman Company, this time for eight years. He then moved to Langlade county, Wisconsin, where he purchased land and farmed until July, 1910. He sold out at that time and the following October pur- chased the land he now owns and operates in Coon Creek township, the southeast quar- ter of section 12. In addition to grain farm- ing, Mr. Karlen raises considerable stock, including Duroc-Jersey hogs, Shorthorn cat- tle and Plymouth Rock chickens. He is a member of the Masonic lodge and of the Independent Order of Svithiod of Chicago. Mr. Karlen was a member of the Town Board of Supervisors one year and is a stockholder of the Farmers Mutual Tele- phone Company.
On October 1, 1888, Elida Danielson be- came the wife of our subject. She is the daughter of Daniel and Annie (Anderson) Olson, both deceased, and was born March 19, 1863, in Wermland, Sweden. Mr. and Mrs. Karlen are the parents of two children: Arthur, born September 27, 1889, and Cecilia, born March 13, 1892. Both reside at home.
Mr. Karlen has two brothers and four sisters, namely: Otto, of Chicago; Albein, Ida, Annie, Tekla and Alma, all residing near Goteborg, Sweden. Mrs. Karlen has three brothers and two sisters: Edward, of
Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota, Emma, of Werm- land, Sweden; Andrew, Olaf and Nettie, of Christiania, Norway.
EDWIN C. STILWELL (1905) is the pro- prietor of the Tracy Sheet Metal Works. He is a native of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, and was born August 17, 1844. When a young man he moved to Dowagiac, Michigan, where he grew to manhood and learned the tinner's trade. He enlisted from that place in Company C, Twelfth Michigan Infantry, in 1861 and served four years and three months in the service. He participated in the following battles: Shiloh, Corinth, Vicks- burg, and many minor engagements.
After the war Mr. Stilwell returned to his home and was engaged in the tinner's trade several years. Later he was engaged in the business in several Ohio towns. He re- turned to Michigan and conducted a hard- ware and tin store in Schoolcraft ten years, after which he went to Clark, South Dakota, and engaged in the same business ten years. He then moved to Minneapolis and was en- gaged in the business there fourteen years.
In 1905 Mr. Stilwell came to Lyon county and located at Tracy, and in October, 1910, he started his present business. He does all kinds of tin and furnace contract work. Our subject is a member of the I. O. O. F. lodge and the Grand Army post.
The parents of our subject are Foster and Mary Ann (Townsend) Stilwell, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Penn- sylvania. They are the parents of the fol- lowing children: James T., George H., Ed- win C., Amanda E., Lydia A., Ida, Emma, Mertie.
Mr. Stilwell was married in Oxford, Ohio, in 1868 to Mrs. M. E. Olds, a native of that place. To them were born the following chil- dren: Newton H., of San Francisco, Cali- fornia: Abbie M. (Mrs. T. P. Hopp), of Bridgeport, Washington; and Maud E. (Mrs. R. E. Crosby), of Minneapolis. Mrs. Stil- well is deceased. Mr. Stilwell was married a second time, to Mamie Noss, in January, 1895, at Minneapolis.
JAMES EGAN (1899), farmer and stock raiser of Rock Lake township, came here from Illinois in February, 1899, and settled
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on his farm on the southeast quarter of sec- tion 24, land which he had purchased the preceding fall.
James Egan's parents are natives of Ire- land. Patrick S. and Johanna (Houlihan) Egan came to America and were early set- tlers of Illinois. James was born in Manteno, Kankakee county, December 9, 1865. His father is dead and his mother still resides in Manteno. The young boy received the customary country school education of the farmer lad, attending until the age of eight- een years; then he worked at home on the farm until 1895. In the latter year he started out for himself, rented land in the vicinity of his home, and farmed for himself four years. During the fall of his last year in Illinois he bought his Lyon county land and moved the next spring.
Mr. Egan has prospered on his farm. Be- sides farming he devotes considerable time to the raising of Shorthorn cattle, Poland China hogs and Percheron horses, special- izing in the latter. He is the owner of "Pap," a registered Percheron stallion which he raised himself. Mr. Egan is on the board of directors of the Farmers Elevator Com- pany of Balaton. He is a member of the Catholic church of Tracy.
February 13, 1895, James Egan was mar- ried at Manteno, Illinois, to Susanna Moat, a native of Kankakee county. She was born November 17, 1868, her parents, William and Mary (Story) Moat, being natives of Ireland and pioneer settlers of Illinois. Both par- ents are now living in Manteno. Mr. and Mrs. Egan are parents of six children. Their names are Marie Anita, James Harold, Law- rence Merrill, Elizabeth Lucilla, Gladys Helen and William Edward.
HERMAN ANDERSON (1884) is man- ager of the C. M. Youmans Lumber Com- pany's yards at Marshall and is an old resident of Lyon county. He was born in Sweden January 8, 1855, and that coun- try was his home until 1880. There he was educated and there he worked as a farm laborer, at the carpenter trade and as a coachman. Upon his arrival to the United States Mr. Anderson located in Winnebago county, Illinois, resided there four years, and then came to Lyon county.
The first two years of his residence in
the county Mr. Anderson farmed; then he entered the employ of M. Sullivan, the pioneer lumber dealer of Marshall, and he has been identified with the one yard for the past twenty-five years. The yard was established by Mr. Sullivan in 1879. Un- der the latter's proprietorship Mr. Ander- son had practical charge of the yards and the stock, and since 1905 he has had the management of the entire business. The present owners purchased from Mr. Sulli- van in May, 1899. The yard is the oldest and largest in the county.
Mr. Anderson is one of a family of three children living and he is the only one in America. The two children residing in the old country are Victor and Clara. Our sub- ject is a member of the Methodist church and of the A. O. U. W. and M. W. A. lodges.
In Marshall, on the sixth of March, 1889, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Sophia Carlson. To them have been born the following named children: Emory, Sel- ma, Ellis and Violet.
BEN F. VAN BREASEN (1904) is the owner of the west half of the northwest quarter of section 10 and the northeast quarter of section 9, Lyons township, which he purchased in company with his brother- in-law, I. Eben, in 1904. He is a native of Germany and was born June 29, 1867, a son of Fred and Himke (Daniels) Van Breasen. Ben received his schooling and grew to manhood in the land of his nativ- ity. He served six months in the standing army and then worked at day labor until twenty-seven years of age.
In 1894 Mr. Van Breasen came to Amer- ica, locating at George, Lyon county, Iowa, where he worked one year at farm labor and the next three years on the section for the Illinois Central Railroad Company in Hamilton county, Iowa. He then returned to Lyon county and rented land near George, which he operated seven years, after which he came to Lyon county, Min- nesota, and purchased the land above de- scribed. Mr. Van Breasen raises a great deal of stock and is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company of Lynd. He is a member of the Methodist church.
Onr subject was married in Germany on January 27, 1891, to Minnie Van Hoorn,
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a daughter of F. and Rixke (Dierks) Van Hoorn. Mrs. Van Breasen was born June 19, 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Van Breasen are the parents of the following named chil- dren: Hattie, born August 16, 1893; Tina, born September 4, 1895; Fred, born Sep- tember 14, 1897; Annie, born May 12, 1900; Freida, born November 18, 1902.
CHARLES L. DE REU (1887), junior member of the firm of Williams & De Reu, attorneys, is a rising young professional man of Marshall. Besides his legal work Mr. De Reu is actively interested in an effort to improve the farming conditions of the county in respect to its stock and industries. There is a large Belgian popu- lation in and around Marshall, and Mr. De Reu, owing to his splendid education and natural qualities, is prominent in Bel- gian circles, its societies, churches, etc. In December, 1911, he was instrumental in the organization of the Belgian Nether- landish Association, of which he is presi- dent. He is a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters and is agent for the Belgian newspapers in Marshall. He is a member of city and farmers' clubs.
Charles De Reu's parents, Felix and Mary (Steyaert) De Reu, natives of Bel- gium, came to the United States in 1882 and settled in Westerheim township. They now reside in town. In July, 1890, their Westerheim farm was visited by a tornado, and everything in the way of buildings and equipment was destroyed. The oldest son, Cyril, was killed. A sister, Bertha, and the mother were so severely injured that their lives were despaired of for a time, and another son, Julius, suffered a broken leg. The family could not bring themselves to resume farming on the place, and they rented a farm of James Williams for three years. During that time misfortune again visited them, three children dying from diphtheria. After three years on the rent- ed farm Felix De Reu bought section 35, Fairview, and the family made that their home until moving to Marshall several years ago. In the family were thirteen children, three of whom only, Charles, Bertha and George, are now living.
Our subject was born on the farm in Westerheim December 28, 1887. He at-
tended school in Marshall, later went to St. Michael's School in New Ulm, and then returned to Marshall and entered St. Jo- seph's Academy. When he was fifteen his parents took him to Europe, and he attended in turn the Little Seminary in Rouler, Belgium, and the St. Joseph Insti- tute at La Lauviere, French Belgium, learning at these schools to read and write Netherlandish, French and German.
Returning to Marshall, Charles was graduated from the Marshall High School in 1908, and in the fall he entered the State University with twenty-three full high school credits, gained in Europe and the Marshall High School. He was gradu- ated from the Law Department of the State University in 1911 and in April of that year entered into partnership with James Von Williams, a Marshall boy, and under the firm name of Williams & De Reu they have since practised law, having offices on the second floor of the Williams Building on Main Street. Both young men are well educated, young, hustling American citi- zens, and the firm's success seems assured.
HERMAN A. VAN UDEN (1892) is the proprietor of Riverside Farm, the north- east quarter and the north half of the northwest quarter of section 35, Shelburne township. Mr. Van Uden has lived in Lyon county since he was twenty years of age and all his business operations have been here. He started with nothing, but by hard work he has prospered and accumu- lated a nice little fortune. He is a true lover of Lyon county and its institutions.
By birth Mr. Van Uden is a Hollander, and April 27, 1872, was the date of his nativity. His father, John Van Uden, came to America in 1892, purchased land three miles west of Ghent, and resided there until his death in June, 1909. The mother, Anna (Hermsen) Van Uden, now lives in Ghent.
The boyhood days of our subject were spent attending school in Holland, and in 1892 he came with the family to America and Lyon county. For two years after his arrival he attended an English school near Ghent and then for several years worked on the farm for his father.
Mr. Van Uden started in business for
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himself, renting a farm near Marshall and conducting it three years. He then rented the two-section farm of Mr. Hamilton near Tracy and for a year engaged in stock raising. After that Mr. Van Uden bought a farm near Tracy and operated it five years. In January, 1910, he purchased his present farm and has since lived on it. He has erected new buildings on the place and has a fine little home. Mr. Van Uden makes a specialty of stock, raising graded cattle, Chester White hogs, Percheron and Clyde horses, Barred Plymouth Rock and Red Leghorn chickens and full-blooded Bronze turkeys. He has prospered and is rated among the substantial farmers of the vicinity.
In the county seat of Lyon county, on June 9, 1903, Mr. Van Uden was married to Mary Peters. She was born in Holland February 26, 1878, and came to America two years before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Van Uden are the parents of the fol- lowing children: Mary, born June 4, 1905; Minnie, born February 27, 1907; Herman, born March 12, 1911.
JOHN ZVORAK (1886) is one of Rus- sell's young business men who has built up a very satisfactory and well-paying trade during the four years since he pur- chased the confectionery and restaurant business of John Bengtson. He has been attending strictly to his business and to the wants of his customers-a sure guar- antee of success.
John Zvorak's parents, Frank and Jane (Roberts) Zvorak, were early residents of Lyon county. July 24, 1886, was the date that marked John's entry into the world. His boyhood days were passed on the farm in Lyons township, and he attended the Russell school until fifteen years old. The next seven years were spent on his father's farm; then the young farmer lad decided that he would make a venture into busi- ness life. Accordingly he bought the store of Andrew Bengtson and made a success of his business from the start.
October 28, 1909, occurred the cere- mony which joined John Zvorak and Jen- nie Hollgrenn in the holy bonds of matri- mony. The bride was a native of Sweden and was born October 1, 1883. This union
has been blessed with one child, Emery J., born May 13, 1911.
Mr. Zvorak has the following brothers and sisters living : Bertha, Sophia, Rachel, Bessie, Mary, Frank, Roy, George, Robert, Arthur and Wesley.
THOMAS MULVANEY (1898) owns the west half of the southwest quarter of sec- tion 18, Amiret township, which he farms and where he makes his home. In addi- tion to this eighty acres he operates his brother's eighty in the same township.
John and Julia (Cary) Mulvaney, the parents of our subject, were born near Dublin, Ireland, and came to America in an early day. They settled in Wisconsin, and in Dodge county of that state Thomas was born September 5, 1858. The boy was brought up and educated in his native state; at the age of fifteen years he hired out at farm labor and was employed at that work until 1898.
In the fall of the last named year Mr. Mulvaney came to Lyon county and located on his present farm, which he had pur- chased a year previous. He is now operat- ing a quarter section and is raising con- siderable stock for market.
The marriage of Thomas Mulvaney and Mary Bolger took place June 24, 1903, in Wisconsin. Two children have been born to this union: Margaret, born April 9, 1904, and John, born July 10, 1905. Mrs. Mulvaney is a native of Wisconsin. Mr. Mulvaney's father died in Wisconsin and in 1905 his widow came to Lyon county and lived two years with her son, the sub- ject of this sketch, afterward moving to Tracy, where she died February 10, 1909.
Mr. Mulvaney is a member of the Cath- olic church of Tracy. He served two years as a member of the Amiret Township Board of Supervisors.
CHRIST K. MELBY (1890) is a former member of the Minnesota Legislature and a dealer in hardware, farm implements and vehicles of Minneota. He has been a resident of Lyon county twenty-two years and has been prominent in the affairs of his community.
Mr. Melby was born in Norway January
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11, 1868. He immigrated to America with his parents in 1881 and the first three years of his life in the New World were spent in Goodhue county, Minnesota. He went with the family to Griggs county, North Dakota, and there grew to man- hood on his father's homestead, living in a sod shanty during the first three years. The parents now live in Wells county, North Dakota.
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