USA > Minnesota > Lyon County > An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota > Part 76
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After reaching his majority, in the fall of 1889, Mr. Melby left home and started in life for himself. The next year he located in Lyon county, which has ever since been his home. He became the owner of a 240-acre farm on sections 14 and 11, Nordland township, and farmed the place until 1910, adding to his farm by the purchase of a quarter section ad - joining. Although he continued to farm until 1910, Mr. Melby moved to Minneota in 1905 and has lived there. He served one year as cashier of the Farmers & Mer- chants Bank and then engaged in various occupations until he purchased W. A. Crowe's hardware store in May, 1911. He has one of the largest hardware stores in the county.
Mr. Melby has many times been called upon to serve in an official capacity. He was assessor of Nordland township nine years and was chairman of the Board of Supervisors two years. He served as a member of the Board of County Commis- sioners from 1903 to 1906, inclusive, and in the fall of 1906 was elected to the Lower House of the Minnesota Legislature, was re-elected in 190S, and served until 1911.
The marriage of Mr. Melby to Mary Lar- son occurred in Lyon county October 3, 1891. She was born on her father's home- stead in Nordland township. Her father, Arne Larson, settled in Nordland in the summer of 1872 and resided there until his death in 1886. Mrs. Larson, who is now sixty-nine years of age, resides with her daughter, Mrs. Melby. To Mr. and Mrs. Melby have been born twelve chil- dren, of whom the following nine are liv- ing: Clarence A., George M., Elmer J., Grace R., Orvin L., Clifford M., June A., Olga M. and Lillian R. The deceased chil- dren were named Julius O., Agnes G. and Kermit O.
Our subject is a son of Knute O. and Guri Melby, who reside on their homestead in North Dakota. They have ten children living, all married. They are Guri Ranum, Ole K., Christ K., Knute K., Nellie Wol- ding, Gilbert K., Mary Satterberg, Caro- line Anderson, Martin K. and Oscar J.
HARRY J. TILLEMANS is cashier and a director of the Farmers & Merchants National Bank of Minneota and a director of the First National Bank of Balaton. He is a son of John and Katherine (Hen- ricks) Tillemans, both deceased, They were the parents of the following named children: John, Diuphina, William, Har- ry J., Marie, Nellie, Katherine, Sophia and Leon.
Harry was born in Holland and when three years of age accompanied his par- ents to America. The family located in Lyon county, where our subject's early days were spent in a log cabin on the plains. His father purchased a farm in Nordland township, upon which Harry worked and attended a nearby school. Later he attended the Minneota High School and taught school one term. In 1904 he entered the Farmers & Merchants National Bank as bookkeeper at a salary of twenty dollars per month. The next year he was promoted to the position of assistant cashier and in January, 1906, became cashier, a position which he has since held.
Mr. Tillemans holds membership in the Knights of Columbus, Catholic Order of Foresters and Modern Woodmen lodges. He is chief ranger of the Foresters lodge and venerable consul of the Woodmen lodge. He was formerly clerk of the Board of Education and is treasurer of the dis- trict at present.
Mr. Tillemans was married in Boone, Iowa, to Lillian Hall, a native of that city. They were married on August 17, 1910. She is a daughter of Mrs. Kate Hall. Mr. and Mrs. Tillemans are the parents of one child, Katherine Hall Tillemans.
I. T. THOMPSON (1893) is a dealer in cigars, tobacco, confectionery, pipes and all kinds of smokers' articles at Minneota.
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He was born at Cambridge, Dane county, Wisconsin, December 17, 1869. He lived there a few years and then went to Chi- cago, where he resided until thirteen years of age. Our subject then moved back to Dane county and attended the public schools and Albion Academy. At twenty he returned to Chicago and attended the Metropolitan Business College. After fin- ishing the latter institution he was book- keeper two years for Murray & Company.
In 1893 Mr. Thompson came to Lyon county and located on his uncle's farm, known as the T. G. Thompson Ranch. This farm embraces 480 acres of land, and our subject operated the place twelve years. He spent one year traveling, after which he purchased the James McGinn cigar factory in Minneota. He had pool tables installed and moved the cigar fac- tory upstairs. He sold the cigar factory in May, 1911, to McGinn & Moore. Since that time our subject has conducted the pool hall and handles cigars, tobacco, con- fectionery and soft drinks. Mr. Thomp- son was assessor of Minneota two terms.
Mr. Thompson was married in Minne- apolis March 30, 1904, to Esther E. Wal- lander, a native of Sweden. She was, at the time of her marriage, a resident of Swanville, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are the parents of two children, Torger and Esther.
The parents of our subject are Knute and Belle (Anderson) Thompson, the for- mer a native of Wisconsin and the latter of Norway. The father died in 1905 and the mother in 1871. The father was mar- ried a second time. There was only one child by the first marriage, Lewis, of this sketch.
AUGUST PRINCEN (1883) is the pro- prietor of a jewelry store in Minneota, having bought the jewelry stock of C. J. Wimer, druggist, in 1902. Mr. Princen is a first-class hand engraver and dec- orator and makes a specialty of furnish- ing cut flowers for funerals, weddings, etc.
Our subject's parents, Hubert and Philo- mena (Vigen) Princen, came to Lyon coun- ty from Holland in 1883 and settled on a farm one mile north of Ghent, where they lived until moving to Ghent in 1901. After
a four years' residence in Ghent, and later a residence of two years in Minneota, they returned to Holland, which has since been their home.
August Princen was born in Limberg, Holland, February 6, 1881, and came to the United States and lived with his par- ents until they moved to Ghent in 1901. He then learned the jewelry business under Charles Johnson at Marshall and D. D. Smith at Pipestone, working as an appren- tice. Prior to entering business for him- self at Minneota Mr. Princen spent four months traveling, visiting Chicago and other points of interest.
Mr. Princen owns his store building and carries a complete stock of jewelry, silver- ware and novelties. He is a member of the Catholic church and of the Knights of Columbus lodge. Five winters ago Mr. Princen spent several months along the Gulf Coast, and in the summer of 1908 he was in Chicago and Indianapolis.
JOHN D. GRIFFITH (1891), a prosper- ous farmer of Custer township, is a native of Wales and came to this country at the age of nineteen years, locating near Utica, New York, where he worked on a farm. Blue Earth county, Minnesota, was Mr. Griffith's next home, and there he lived until 1891, renting land and farming.
It was in 1891 that our subject moved from Blue Earth to Lyon county and bought his present land, the northeast quarter of section 25, Custer. Mr. Griffith has greatly improved his farm and has gone into the stock raising business quite extensively. He is a shareholder of the Garvin Creamery Company, the Garvin In- dependent Elevator Company and the Cur- rent Lake Telephone Company. The past ten years he has served as a director of school district No. 72.
December 6, 1893, occurred the marriage of John Griffith and Maggie Williams, in Custer township. There are five children, as follows: Mary, born October 12, 1894; Hugh, born August 18, 1896; Milton, born July 6, 1898; Luther, born August 4, 1900; and. Rachael, born July 23, 1907. Mrs. Griffith was born in Blue Earth coun- ty, Minnesota, December 25, 1868.
The subject of our sketch was born in
CHRIST K. MELBY Minneota Business Man and Former Mem- ber of the Legislature.
HARRY J. TILLEMANS Cashier of the Farmers & Merchants Na- tional Bank of Minneota.
L. T. THOMPSON
Proprietor of a Billiard Hall and Cigar Store at Minneota.
AUGUST PRINCEN Who Conducts a Minneota Jewelry Store.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Wales December 17, 1865. His parents, Thomas Griffith
and Hannah ( Jones) Griffith, are both dead. Thomas Griffith was a farmer in Wales, and he and his wife were the parents of eight children, four of whom are living and only one of whom, the subject of our sketch, is a resi- dent of America.
Mr. Griffith is a member of the Welsh Methodist church of Custer township and is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen lodge of Garvin.
WILLIAM E. MAXSON (1877), of Marshall, is one of the early day settlers of Lyon county, having first come to the county when eight years of age. He was born in Winnebago City, Faribault county, Minnesota, August 11, 1869, and in 1877 came with his parents to Lyon county.
The family home was on section 20, Grandview township, where they became the owners of 480 acres of land. On that farm William E. Maxson lived until sev- enteen years of age. Then he began working out and finished his education with a course in the St. Paul Business College. He then located in Faribault county, bought a farm, and during the next five years conducted the place. His next place of residence was Winnebago City, where for five years he operated a pool hall and bowling alley.
Mr. Maxson sold out at Winnebago City in 1904 and since that time has been a resident of Marshall, engaged in a number of different enterprises. He and his broth- er Ed started the famous "Silver Spring" water well and established a factory on the site of the present Porter factory. Later they bought the Estey pop factory and merged it with theirs, conducting the business until the partnership was dis- solved six months later. The brothers also conducted a dray line which our subject's father and brother had operated pre- viously.
After retiring from business Mr. Maxson was employed in the Curtis pool hall one year and then worked for La Veau two years in the same business. Later he was in the same business at Granite Falls a few months. Mr. Maxson was on the Marshall police force one year. He is a
member of the fire department and of the M. W. A. lodge.
The marriage of Mr. Maxson to Carrie E. Rector occurred at Marshall September 20, 1894. Mrs. Maxson is a native of New York State. They have one child, Marjorie.
The father of our subject was W. T. Maxson, who was born in New York and died in Marshall; the mother of our sub- ject is Adelia S. ( Woodruff) Maxson, who was born in Vermont and now resides in Marshall. There are four children in the Maxson family, as follows: Mary (Mrs. R. F. Laythe), of Hanley, Canada; Ed, of Marshall; William E., of this biogra- phy; and Maud A., the wife of W. G. Wel- son, clerk of the district court of Red- wood county and a resident of Redwood Falls.
WILLIAM MOAT (1899) is a Rock Lake township farmer and owns 120 acres on the northwest quarter of section 27, where he does general farming and raises Hereford cattle, Poland China swine and Percheron horses. Mr. Moat is a stock- holder in the Farmers Elevator Company of Balaton ..
William Moat, a son of William and Mary (Story) Moat, was born in Kanka- kee county, Illinois, October 27, 1864. The parents were pioneer residents of Illi- nois and both are now living. William at- tended the graded schools in his native state until eighteen years of age and then worked on the farm for his father until he had reached the age of twenty-three, when he rented his father's place and farmed for himself until 1899. The year previous he had purchased the land upon which he now resides, and in 1899 our subject and his family came to Lyon county.
The wedding of Mr. Moat and Mary McMahon, a native of Illinois, occurred at St. George, Illinois, January 17, 1894. Mrs. Moat was born July 30, 1870, and her parents, Patrick and Julia (Cantillon) McMahon, early pioneers in Illinois, are both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Moat are parents of the following children: Gilbert, born December 3, 1894; Leonard, born February 18, 1896; Samuel, born July 14, 1897; Clifford, born April 8, 1899; Elmer,
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born November 18, 1900; Gordon, born November 8, 1902; William, born July 18, 1904; Joseph (deceased), born August 3, 1905; Bernard, born December 21, 1906; Harvey, born December 12, 1907; and Walter, born September 21, 1910.
Mr. Moat and family are members of the Catholic church and he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen lodge of Bala- ton.
DR. THEODORE THORDARSON (1897) is a physician and surgeon of Minneota and is president of the Board of Health of that village. He is a member of the Lyon and Lincoln County Medical Society, the Minnesota State Medical Association, and the American Medical Association.
Dr. Thordarson was born in Iceland in January, 1866, and secured a seminary education. When twenty-two years of age he came to the United States, located in Chicago, and for several years worked as an electrician. In 1891-92 he was a stu- dent in the Electrical Department of Cor- nell University, and a year later he took up the study of medicine in Chicago, grad- uating from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1897. In the latter year he moved to Minneota and has practised there continuously since. He is a member of the Masonic lodge.
At Minneota, on July 12, 1905, occurred the marriage of Dr. Thordarson to Sarah Benson, a native of Canada. They have two children, William and Mary.
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LEON M. TAYLOR (1882), proprietor of a Marshall jewelry store, is a native son of Lyon county, having been born on his father's homestead on the northwest quarter of section 22, Sodus township, on April 8, 1882. Until he was eighteen years of age he lived on the farm and attended the district schools and public schools of Marshall.
In March, 1902, Mr. Taylor entered upon the career which he has since followed. At that time he entered the jewelry store of C. H. Johnson and worked at the jeweler's trade under that gentleman for about three years. The next two years were spent work- ing at the trade in different places. Return- ing to Marshall, in January, 1907, he bought-
a half interest in the store of the gentleman under whom he had learned his trade, and two years later Mr. Taylor became the sole owner of the store. He conducts a repair shop in connection and has one of the up-to- date jewelry stores of Southwestern Minne- sota. His business is housed in the building formerly occupied by the Bank of Marshall. Mrs. Taylor, who is a graduate optometrist, has charge of the optical department which is conducted in connection with the store.
The parents of our subject are John C. and Mary A. (Bornes) Taylor, who reside on the farm in Sodus township. The father, a miller by trade, was born near Waukesha, Wisconsin, and after his marriage moved to River Falls, of the same state. The family came to Lyon county in 1880 and the home has ever since been in Sodus township. There are four sons in the family, as fol- lows: Charley B., of Sodus township; Leon M., of Marshall; Francis G., of Sodus town- ship; and Verner L., of Amiret township.
Leon Taylor was marred at Garvin August 19, 1908, to Mildred M. Coyle, who was born in Lake Sarah township, Murray county, De- cember 11, 1882. Mr. Taylor holds member- ship in the Masonic, Degree of Honor and M. W. A. lodges.
WILLIAM TOLZMAN (1906) purchased his 155-acre farm on section 36, Lucas township, in February, 1906, and has been a resident there since.
His parents, Carl and Augusta (Sper- ber) Tolzman, who now live at Redwood Falls, are natives of Germany and came to America in an early day and settled in Wisconsin, where they made their home two years. They then came to Minnesota and located first at St. Paul and later in Le Sueur county, where the family re- sided seven years. Moving then to Ren- ville county the Tolzmans made their home on a farm in that county thirty-two years, and in 1904 the father and mother moved to Redwood Falls, where they are living a retired life.
William was born in Le Sueur county February 11, 1869. The family moved to Renville county when the lad was young and his education was obtained in the lat- ter county. In his young boyhood days William herded cattle for his father and
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
neighbors two years and for three years was employed by Dr. Sherige, one of the county's physicians. During that time William accompanied the doctor on trips to Kandiyohi, Swift and Big Stone coun- ties and became well acquainted with the country. Later he worked for his father until thirty years of age, and during that time traveled quite widely throughout the United States.
When our subject was thirty years old he purchased land in Wilkinson county, Minnesota, where he lived but a short time before returning to Renville county and again working for his father. He pur- chased land in Yellow Medicine county, which he farmed six years, and in Feb- ruary, 1906, sold out and bought his pres- ent farm in Lucas township. He is farm- ing with success and is also successful in the raising of Durham cattle and German coach horses.
Mr. Tolzman is fraternally associated with the Masonic, Modern Woodmen and Eastern Star lodges. He is junior war- den of the former lodge in Cottonwood. Mr. Tolzman has served the past five years as constable of the township.
JOHN BLOMQUIST (1895) for the last fourteen years has conducted his farm, the northeast quarter of section 34, Rock Lake. Since coming to the county seventeen years ago with no property and practically no money, Mr. Blomquist has prospered until today he owns a fine farm and one of the nice homes in Rock Lake township. Mr. Blomquist raises Shorthorn cattle and Poland China swine in addition to his general farm- ing.
ยท Mr. Blomquist is a son of Christopher An- derson and Hannah (Jepson), natives of Sweden and both now deceased. John was born in Holmby, Sweden, September 4, 1856, and was reared in the old country, where he attended school until fifteen years of age. He then learned the brick and stone mason's trade and followed the pursuit eleven years. In the spring of 1882 Mr. Blomquist came to America and took a homestead in Spink county, South Dakota, where he engaged in farming until 1895.
In the fall of 1895 our subject came to Lyon county and rented the O. O. Loff farm
in Rock Lake for the next three years. Dur- ing the second year of his residence he bought his present farm and a year later moved to the place with his family. For the past four years Mr. Blomquist has been on the township board of Rock Lake. He has also become one of the stockholders in the Current Lake Farmers Telephone Company of Balaton. For many years he has been a member of the Swedish Lutheran church and is a deacon in the Balaton church.
John Blomquist married Elna Anderson at Harlosa, Sweden, September 14, 1878. Mrs. Blomquist was born June 2, 1851. Their children are Carl, Martin and Eda, all resi- ding at home, and Garda (Mrs. Albert Shutt), of Rock Lake township.
CARL NORDLI (1904) is a member of the firm of Nordli Brothers, blacksmiths, of Cottonwood, who have one of the finely equipped shops of Lyon county. He is a native of Norway and was born June 28, 1878. He learned his trade in the old coun- try and for several years was employed in a shop in Christiania.
Mr. Nordli came to America in the spring of 1904 and located in northern Lyon county. For a while he worked on a farm in the vicinity of Cottonwood and then began work in Casper Johnson's shop in that village. Two years later he went to Butte, Montana, but returned to Cottonwood at the end of two years. He and his brother Hans then bought the Johnson shop and they still con- duct it.
While still a resident of Norway, on De- cember 8, 1901, Mr. Nordli was married to Theoline Meland. To them have been born the following named three children: Col- bjorn, Amanda and Georgia. The family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church.
Hans Nordli was also born in Norway, on January 8, 1885. He learned his trade there and came to America in the fall of 1904. He is unmarried and makes his home with his brother. The parents of the Nordli broth- ers are Christian and Karen Arneson, who reside in Norway. There are eight living children in the family.
ANDREW NELSON (1890) is the propri- etor of Maplegrove Farm of Clifton town-
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ship and has lived in that township since he was eight years of age. He was born in Sweden August 17, 1880. His father, Peter Nelson, lives in Dudley; his mother, Ida (Mortenson) Nelson, died in 1910.
In 1884 the family came to America and for six years lived in Michigan. They came to Lyon county in 1890 and bought the east half of the northeast quarter of section 17. Clifton township. On that farm Andrew grew up and in the nearby district school he was educated. He assisted his father with the farm work until he reached his majority. Then, his father having given him the east half of the southeast quarter of section 8, Clifton, he started farming for himself. In 1908 he bought the home place from his father and an eighty-acre tract on section 17. He has a fine home and a well- improved farm. He raises stock and makes a specialty of the single-comb White Leg- horn chickens.
Mr. Nelson was married in Marshall June 28, 1907, to Ida Clay, who is also a native of Sweden. She is a daughter of Andrew and Mary (Clay) Johnson. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have two children, Florence M. and Iva A.
GEORGE BENSON (1894) is manager of the Western elevator and a dealer in imple- ments at Minneota. He is a native of Ice- land and was born July 10, 1872, the son of Bjorn (Hallason) and Sigurbjorg (Sigurdar- dottir) Benson. The father died in 1874; the mother resides in Minneota. There are five children: Hall, of Lyon county; George, of this sketch; Frank Peterson, of North Dakota; J. S. Peterson, a mining engineer of Guayaquil, Ecuador, South America; S. H. Peterson, a teacher of Corvallis, Oregon.
George came to America when six years of age and settled in Lincoln county, where his step-father homesteaded land. He re- sided there sixteen years and then moved to Minneota, where he has since lived. The first business our subject engaged in was draying. He then spent four years in the real estate business with the Globe Land and Loan Company. After that he clerked in the big store of Anderson & Company.
Some time later our subject engaged in managing the grain elevator and machinery business of the Mutual Elevator Company for one year. He then purchased the ma-
chinery end of the business and in 1910 sold a half interest to J. H. Jonathan, the firm nanie now being Benson & Jonathan. They handle a full line of farm machinery and wagons. In 1910 Mr. Benson entered the employ of the Western Elevator Company as buyer at Minneota and has held that position since. The Western elevator was built about twenty years ago by the Western Elevator Company. The main office of the company is at Winona.
Mr. Benson is a member of the Modern Woodmen lodge. He held the office of con- stable six years and was on the police force one year. He has been a member of the Village Council the past three years.
Mr. Benson was married in Minneota Sep- tember 30. 1906, to Ella Frost, a native of Minneota. They are the parents of two children, Donald George and Bjorn Frost.
MRS. NELLIE SMEDSRUD (1900) is the widow of the late Hans Smedsrud, of Coon Creek township. Hans Smedsrud was born in Norway in 1862 and when twenty years of age came to America and was engaged in farming all his life. He was the owner of 240 acres on section 7, Coon Creek town- ship, and the northwest quarter of section 30, Lyons township. Mr. and Mrs. Smeds- rud were the parents of five children, as follows: Henry, born February 8, 1891, who has had charge of the home place since the father's death; Emelia, born October 15, 1892; Melvin, born December 11, 1894; Jo- seph, born February 27, 1901; Hilda, born March 6, 1903. All reside at home.
Mrs. Smedsrud's maiden name was Nellie Paulson and she is a daughter of Peter and Maren Paulson, of Christiania, Norway, both of whom are deceased. Nellie received her schooling in Norway and in Clayton county, lowa. She then worked out until twenty- four years of age, and in 1890 she was mar- ried to Hans Smedsrud. After their mar- riage they lived in Winnebago county, Iowa, ten years, where they operated a farm which Mr. Smedsrud owned. In 1900 they moved to Lyon county and purchased 267 acres of land in Monroe township. They conducted that farm two years, when they sold out and purchased the present farm in Coon Creek township. Mr. Smedsrud died August 23, 1910, of cancer, after an illness extending
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
over two years. With his death, Lyon county lost one of its best citizens.
Since Mr. Smedsrud's death, their oldest son. Henry, has taken charge of the farm. In addition to general farming they raise some stock, including Chester White hogs, Polled Angus and Shorthorn cattle and Plym- outh Rock and White Leghorn chickens. Mrs. Smedsrud is a member of the Norwe- gian Lutheran church. She is a stockholder of the Farmers Elevator Company of Rus- sell and the Farmers Mutual Telephone Com- pany. Mrs. Smedsrud has two sisters, Anna (Mrs. Parry Juel), of Canton, South Dakota, and Martha (Mrs. Louis Saug), of Mitchell county, Iowa.
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