USA > Minnesota > Lyon County > An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota > Part 78
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Mr. Vergote was married in Ghent in June, 1885, to Prudence Gits, a daughter of Francis Gits, of Ghent. Mrs. Vergote died November 15, 1900, aged thirty-two years. To them were born seven children, named as follows: Julian, Albert, Emma and Julia (twins), Henry, Florence and Prudence. The family are members of the Catholic church.
Gustave Vergote is one of a family of nine children born to John and Urisule (DuPrey) Vergote. The five living children of the family are Jule, Mary, Palmyre, Charles and Gustave. The deceased children were Flor- ence, Alfonse, Peter and Odile.
CHARLES AAMODT, grain buyer at Cot- tonwood for the Anderson Elevator Company, is a native of Lyon county. He was born on his father's homestead, the southeast quarter of section 2, Vallers township, and continued to reside on that place until 1907. That year he spent on a homestead claim in Dunn county, North Dakota.
Mr. Aamodt was educated in the public schools of Cottonwood and in Toland's Busi- ness College of Mankato. After having re- turned from his claim, on August 6, 1909, Mr. Aamodt entered the employ of the An- derson Elevator Company at Cottonwood and has since been its local manager.
On October 23, 1910, in Lyon county, Mr. .Aamodt was married to Clara D. L. Nelson, . who was born in Pipestone county. Mr. Aamodt and wife are members of the Nor- wegian Lutheran church.
The parents of our subject are G. O. and Liv (Gullickson) Aamodt. They were born in Norway, came to America in the late seventies, and took a homestead claim in Vallers township, upon which they still re-
side. They have seven children, as follows: Hilda, Mary, Olie, Fred, Charles, John and George.
LEVI PRAIRIE (1886) is the proprie- tor of the southeast quarter of section 35, Westerheim township, the farm bought by his father in 1886.
Levi was born in Kankakee county, Illi- nois. February 14, 1876, and is a son of Clovis and Mary (Lord) Prairie, now de- ceased. The parents were of French de- scent and were born in Canada. They moved to Illinois, being among the early settlers, and for a number of years were residents of that state; later they lived in Missouri and Wisconsin. In the spring of 1886 they came to Lyon county and pur- chased the farm where Levi now resides. The elder Prairies moved to Ghent to live in 1902 and there resided until their deaths. The mother died in 1905 and the father in 1910.
Our subject accompanied his parents to Lyon county when ten years of age and resided with them until 1902, being brought up on the farm and educated in the district school. In the latter year Levi married and engaged in farming for himself on rented land in the township, and after his father's death in 1910 he be- came the owner of the home place. He has a fine place and is engaging profitably in general farming and in stock raising.
The marriage of Levi Prairie and Geor- giana Pilotte occurred at Ghent January 7, 1902. She was born in Kankakee coun- ty, Illinois, July 25, 1882, and is a daugh- ter of Lucian and Louise (Savoy) Pilotte, both of whom are living in the township. They came to Lyon county in 1900 and engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs. Prairie are the parents of one child, Howard Ru- dolph, born March 3, 1904. The boy is now attending the Sisters School at Ghent. The Prairies are members of the Catholic church.
Our subject has the following brothers and sisters living: Mary (Mrs. Raphael Supernaut), of Murray county; Clovis, of Momence, Illinois; Madrid (Mrs. Cyril Paradis) and Ambrose, of Fairview town- ship; Lizzie (Mrs. John Hollo), of Mar- shall; Joseph, of Oregon; Matilda (Mrs.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Charles Blodgett), of Ghent; Julia (Mrs. Ambrose Regnier) and Celia (Mrs. Felix Rivard), both of Lake Marshall township.
Fraternally Mr. Prairie is allied with the Modern Woodmen lodge of Ghent.
A. GORDON FORBES (1886), although a young man, is one of the prominent citizens of Marshall. He is a native of that city, having been born July 28, 1886. His education was obtained in the public schools and he was a member of the graduating class of 1905.
Our subject's family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, soon after the boy's graduation from high school, and D. D. Forbes, the father, became associated with the Bur- chard-Hulburt Investment Company. He was also the president of a manufacturing establishment in the city, and Gordon and his older brother, Malcolm, assisted in the management. D. D. Forbes died in May, 1908, and after the settling of the estate Gordon and his younger brother, Harold, engaged in the real estate business in Vancouver, Washington.
Mr. Forbes was a resident of Vancouver until 1911, when he and his brother sold their real estate business, and he has since been located in Marshall. He is engaged in real estate transactions and owns considerable farm land and town property, the overseeing of which takes much of his time. Mr. Forbes makes his office in the Marshall State Bank, of which institution his uncle, S. J. Forbes, is the cashier. He is popular among the young people of the town and is fraternally associated with the Elks lodge.
D. D. Forbes, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Canada January 9, 1856. At the age of twenty-four he came to Lyon county, locating in Fairview township. There he farmed until his mar- riage to Elizabeth A. McNiven November 2, 1883. His wife died September 14, 1895. One year after his marriage Mr. Forbes moved to Marshall and for five years worked for a machinery house; then he went into the real estate business.
For several years he was associated with his brother, and after the latter's death D. D. Forbes formed a partnership with J. A. McNiven, and for many years the firm of Forbes & McNiven conducted a
large real estate, loan and insurance busi- ness in Marshall. The senior partner re- tired from the firm in 1905 and moved to St. Paul, where he resided until his death. There were four sons born to Mr. and Mrs. D. D. Forbes. Bruce V., the young- est boy, died in St. Paul in 1907. The other boys are Malcolm C., a farmer re- siding near Marshall; A. Gordon, of this sketch; and Harold H., of Vancouver, Washington.
EMIL O. GREEN (1896) is one of the big farmers and fancy stock raisers of Shelburne township. He resides on the northeast quarter of section 32, which he rents from his father, and farms about 300 acres of land.
Emil O. Green is the son of C. F. and Mary (Carlson) Green, who now live a re- tired life in the village of Florence. The family were early settlers of Murray coun- ty, having located there in the early sev- enties. They took up their residence in Florence in 1896, where the elder Mr. Green erected the first hotel and where he later engaged in the lumber and fuel business.
To these parents Emil was born in Murray county November 11, 1884. He secured his primary education in the com- mon schools of Murray county and of Florence, which he attended until eighteen years of age. After his school days Mr. Green was in the hardware business with his father at Florence two years. In the fall of 1904 he attended the Superior ( Wisconsin) Business College three months, after which he entered Sioux Falls Business College, from which he was graduated May 11, 1905.
Mr. Green then rented his father's farm and has since conducted it. He engages extensively in stock raising, making a spe- cialty of sheep, which he raises, feeds and ships. He has a number of imported Shropshires. He also raises fancy poul- try, having White Holland turkeys and Buff Wyandotte chickens.
Hannah E. Sanden became the wife of Emil Green at St. Paul on July 5, 1911. She was born in Lyon county June 21, 1888, and is the daughter of Hans P. and Mary Sanden, pioneer settlers of Shelburne
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township. The family are members of the Current Lake Swedish Lutheran church and Mr. Green is a member of the Masonic lodge of Ruthton.
SHERMAN HILL (1907), Lake Marshall township farmer, is a native of Iroquois county, Illinois, and was born November 21, 1866. His parents are Joseph and Laura (Moffit) Hill, natives of Vermont who came to Illinois in an early day. Sherman received his education in the district schools near his home in Kanka- kee, Illinois, and in 1886 rented his father's farm. He operated that several years and later purchased the same.
Mr. Hill's wife died July 25, 1907, and that year he and the family came to Lyon county and rented the land in Lake Mar- shall township upon which he still lives. He raises a great deal of stock, including thoroughbred Jersey
cattle, Berkshire hogs and Percheron horses.
On March 30, 1886, at Kankakee, Illi- nois, occurred the marriage of Mr. Hill to Elizabeth Collins, a native of Hillsboro, Ohio. She was a daughter of Theodore and Leah (Leatherwood) Collins, the for- mer a native of Virginia and the latter of Ohio. Mrs. Hill was born March 5, 1867. To Mr. and Mrs. Hill were born the fol- lowing named twelve children: Bessie E. (Mrs. Arthur Manning), born Janu- ary 26, 1887; Mattie E. (Mrs. Henry Du- sharme), born April 10, 1888; Joseph T., born October 9, 1890; Ray M., born Au- gust 4, 1891; Harry H., born October 8, 1893; Neva&M., born March 16, 1895; Merrill V., born February 29, 1896; Ber- tha L., born December 26, 1899; George T. C., born October 29, 1900; Sherman S., born July 14, 1904; Shirley S., born July 14, 1904; Dortha N. S., born July 9, 1906.
A. C. PORTER (1904) is a resident of Marshall and the proprietor of the Mar- shall Bottling Works. He is a native of North Troy, Vermont, and was born June 15, 1852, the son of Eleazer and Mary Ann (Culver) Porter, also natives of Vermont.
At the age of sixteen years Mr. Porter moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he spent the next eleven years of his life.
There he completed his education and later learned the drug business and jew- eler's trade. There he also worked in the machine shops of C. C. & E. G. Smith, railroad contractors. Mr. Porter later had charge of the pile-driver that drove the piles in the bridge at Lake St. Croix for the West Wisconsin railroad in 1872.
In 1879 Mr. Porter located at Volga, South Dakota, where he conducted a drug and jewelry store and where he later en- gaged in the general merchandise business. When the St. Louis, Fort Scott & Wichita railroad was built in 1882 Mr. Porter was the purchasing agent and had headquar- ters at Fort Scott, Kansas. He was also paymaster and bookkeeper for the C. D. & M. railroad at Dubuque when that road was built.
From Volga Mr. Porter went to Water- town in 1902 to take a position as travel- ing representative for an eastern firm. Later he established the Watertown Car- bonating Company, Incorporated, but sold out in 1904 and located in Marshall. Upon his arrival to the capital city of Lyon county Mr. Porter purchased two small bottling works and established the Mar- shall Bottling Works, of which he has ever since been the head. He manufac- tures many kinds of carbonated beverages. Mr. Porter is also the proprietor of the famous Silver springs, which are located at the bottling works. There is a thou- sand barrel reservoir and there is ready sale for all the water. Samples of the water were taken to Washington by Oscar E. Meinzer, of the United States Geo- logical Survey, and analyzed by govern- ment officials. It was pronounced pure and soft and the very best spring water found in this section of the state.
Mr. Porter is a man of family, having been married at Ottumwa, Iowa, to Nellie A. Schriver, a native of Lincoln, Illinois, and the daughter of Henry Schriver. Mr. and Mrs. Porter have two children: Burt F., who conducts the Lyric Picture House, and Ethel C.
In several worthy fraternal orders Mr. Porter is identified. He has been a Mason since he was twenty-one years of age, having joined lodge No. 18 at Troy, Ver- mont, in 1873. He is a charter member of the Blue Lodge at Volga, South Da-
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kota, and a charter member of the Royal Arch Masons at Arlington, South Dakota. Mr. Porter also holds membership in the Elks, M. W. A. and United Commercial Travelers.
CHARLES FOULON (1883) is cashier of the First State Bank of Ghent and is president of the Village Council of that village. He has been a resident of Lyon county nearly thirty years and has taken a prominent part in the affairs of his com- munity.
Mr. Foulon was born in Belgium De- cember 7, 1856. His parents, E. Foulon and J. (Deleplanque) Foulon, died in the old country and our subject is the only one of the family residing in America. Charles made his home on a farm in the old country and received a college educa- tion. He came to the United States in 1883 and settled near the village of Ghent when there were only a few little buildings in the town.
Upon his arrival Mr. Foulon purchased the southwest quarter of section 4, Grand- view township, and farmed the place two years. During the next two years he was at Currie, working in the flour mill of Currie & Crowl. Returning to Lyon coun- ty, Mr. Foulon engaged in farming on sec- tion 1, Stanley township, until 1899. That year he moved to Ghent and for four years conducted the C. M. Youmans lum- ber yard. Then with several others he organized the Bank of Ghent and was made its cashier, a position he has since held. A reorganization was effected in 1908 and the institution became the First State Bank of Ghent.
Besides his banking interests Mr. Foulon devotes some of his time to the manage- ment of his Lyon county farns. He has prospered since coming to the county and is rated among the successful men of Lyon. Mr. Foulon has served as president of the Village Council a number of terms and has held other offices of trust, hav- ing been clerk and treasurer of the Board of Education and president of the Ghent Fire Department. He is a member of the Catholic church and of the Catholic Order of Foresters.
The marriage of Mr. Foulon to Clem-
ence Gits was solemnized at Ghent May 31, 1892. She is also a native of Bel- gium. To them have been born the fol- lowing named three children: Helen, a graduate of St. Catherine's College of St. Paul; Mary, a graduate of the same school; and Emma, who attends school in Bel- gium. All the children have studied French in Belgium.
EDWARD SCHREIBER (1884), proprie- tor of a hardware and implement store at Ghent, has resided in Lyon county all his life. He is a Lyon county product that has certainly "made good." Although a young man, he has built up an enormous business and is rated as one of the most successful business men of the county, accomplished through a strict application to business, an indomitable purpose and honest dealing. He has great faith in the future prosperity of his town and has done his share toward its present standing of one of the best little towns in Southwest- ern Minnesota.
Our subject was born on his father's farm, the east half of section 25, Wester- heim township, on May 11, 1884, and grew to manhood on that farm. After completing the course provided by the district school, he attended St. Michael's Convent at New Ulm three terms, the Marshall High School two years, the Mar- shall Business College one year, and com- pleted his education in St. Thomas College at St. Paul.
Mr. Schreiber located in Ghent in 1904 and the first year worked for Lerschen Brothers in the hardware and implement business. Then he bought the firm's business, including the buildings and grounds, and has since conducted the store. He has more than doubled the stock and business and has made the business a paying one. He deals in hard- ware, farm implements, wagons, buggies, gasoline engines, pumps, automobiles and furniture and buys and ships live stock.
For several terms Mr. Schreiber has served as a member of the Ghent Village Council. He belongs to the Catholic. church, the C. O. F. lodge, of which he is an officer, and the M. W. A. lodge, having been the first venerable counsel of the
CHARLES FOULON
Cashier of the First State Bank of Ghent.
THE LATE DR. E. F. ST. DENIS Former Medical Practitioner of Ghent.
EDWARD SCHREIBER Proprietor of a Ghent Hardware and Imple- ment Store.
ABEL D. SCHAEFFER Proprietor of a Ghent Harness Store.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
local lodge of the last named order. Mr. Schreiber is a stockholder of the Ghent Farmers Elevator Company and a charter member of the Ghent Fire Department. He is president of the Ghent Rural Tele- phone Company, owned by the business men of Ghent.
Mr. Schreiber was married in Ghent June 19, 1907, to Julia Dierick, a native of Illinois. They have two children, Alfred and Alice.
The parents of our subject were Jo- seph and Johanna (Brewers) Schreiber. They came from Germany to Lyon county in 1883, bought the east half of section 25, Westerheim township, improved the farm, and resided thereon until their deaths. Mr. Schreiber died in 1891 at the age of forty-six years and his wife in 1903, aged fifty-six years. To them were born the following named children, all born on the Westerheim township farm: Garhard, who resides on the old home farm; Edward, of this review; Louise (Mrs. Ed Gits), of Ghent; and Mary (Mrs. Philip Paradies), of Marshall.
ABEL D. SCHAEFER (1901) is a dealer in harness goods in the village of Ghent. He was born in Beveren Via Au- denaerde, Belgium, January 21, 1874, and is a son of Alfonso Schaefer, who re- sides in France. The mother died in 1883. Abel has two brothers and one sister in this country: Rev. Fr. Schaefer, of Lu- can; Camille, of Ghent; and Mary Philo- mena, of Lucan.
Our subject learned the trade of har- ness making and carriage upholstering from his father. When fifteen years of age he went to France, where he worked at his trade for some time. He then re- turned to Belgium and remained two years.
In November, 1901, Mr. Schaefer came to the United States and to Lyon county. He located at Ghent, where his brother. Rev. Fr. Schaefer, then resided. The fol- lowing January our subject lost all his belongings in a fire which destroyed the Catholic church and the priest's home. In February, 1902, Mr. Schaefer engaged in the harness business at Ghent. Since that time he has built up a fine business and has prospered. He carries a full line
of harness, trunks, bags, saddles and har- ness hardware. He purchased the building which he occupies in December, 1902, and in the summer of 1911 built an addi- tion, which he uses for a residence.
Mr. Schaefer is a member of the Catho- lic church and the Catholic Order of For- esters lodge, of which he is secretary. He is collector for the National Casualty Com- pany and secretary and treasurer of the Rural Telephone Company of Ghent. He is vice president of the Ghent Fire Depart- ment.
On May 22, 1894, in France, occurred the marriage of Mr. Schaefer to Mary C. Guesquiere. They are the parents of one child, Amandine.
DR. E. F. ST. DENIS (1906), deceased, was a physician and surgeon of Ghent. He was born at St. Anne de Bellevene, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, a son of An- thony and Angeline (La Marche) St. Denis, the former a resident of Canada, the latter deceased. They were the par- ents of ten children, all of whom are de- ceased.
Dr. St. Denis received his education in the land of his nativity and was graduated from the Medical Department of Laval University in 1896. The next year he came to the United States and located at Bradley, Illinois, where he practised his profession until 1906. Then he came to Lyon county and located at Ghent, in April, 1906, where he practised until his death in May, 1912. Dr. St. Denis was a member of the Minnesota State Medical Association and the County Physicians As- sociation. He was medical examiner for the M. W. A. and C. O. F. lodges and held membership in both orders. He was also health officer of Ghent.
Dr. St. Denis was married at Rockford, Illinois, May 15, 1906, to Mary DuBois, a native of Chicago. They had two chil- dren, Edward and Clara.
JOHN H. BOT (1886) is the owner of a fine farm in Grandview township, one mile from Ghent. His place is part of the original farm owned by his father. It is well improved, and besides conduct-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
two
ing a successful farm Mr. Bot is raising cattle and hogs for market.
William H. and Debora (Schrueder) Bot, parents of our subject, were Holland- ers and came to Lyon county in 1886, locating in Grandview township, on the farm now occupied by their son John. The father prospered and at the time of his death in April, 1906, was the owner of 1200 acres of Lyon county farm land. Mrs. William H. Bot lives in Ghent.
John Bot was born in Holland Septem- ber 13, 1879, and came to America with his parents at the age of seven years. He grew up on the farm in Grandview town- ship and was educated in the country school. After his father's death John and his brother, William H. Bot, rented the home farm two years, and then John took full charge and later bought the place, which he has since conducted. He is one of the progressive young farmers of the township and is well known through- out the neighboring country. Mr. Bot has served the past seven years as clerk of the township board and for several years has been clerk of school district No. 31.
Our subject has five brothers and one sister living. They are Hero W., Henry J. and William H., all of Ghent; Bernard H. and Regnier J., of Grandview town- ship; and Kate (Mrs. Joseph Senden), of Grandview township. John Bot is a mem- ber of the Catholic church and holds mem- bership in the Catholic Order of Fores- ters lodge.
J. N. WIESNER (1891) has for the past eight years been the proprietor of a confec- tionery, cigar and tobacco store in Tracy. From the time Mr. Wiesner moved to Tracy in 1891 until 1904 he was local agent for the John Gund Brewing Company of Milwaukee.
Our subject was born in Bohemia July 25, 1854, and when twelve years old start- ed out in life for himself. He first went to Vienna and two years later came to the United States with his uncle, John Wiesner, in the spring of 1869. The two men located in New Ulm, where J. N. . Wiesner worked for eight years. Thence he went to Owatonna and later to Alden, in Freeborn county, where he engaged in
the saloon business for the next years.
The John Gund Brewing Company en- gaged Mr. Wiesner's services at that time, and for the next few years he was in that company's employ, part of the time in Alden and part of the time in Owatonna. In 1885 J. N. Wiesner and his brother, J. J. Wiesner, started in the butcher busi- ness in the town of Wells, this state. This was continued for two years, the brothers then moving to Owatonna, where they con- ducted a meat market four years. In 1891 J. N. Wiesner again entered the John Gund Brewing Company's employ and located in Tracy as their local agent, which position he held for fourteen years prior to opening his confectionery and to- bacco store, which he bought from George Town.
The subject of our sketch was married at Owatonna on June 8, 1881, to Barbara Huffman. The young lady who became his wife came to this country with her parents when she was one year old. The Wiesners have two children. The son, Fred, is a civil engineer in the employ of the Great Northern Railroad Company and is located at Great Falls, Montana. Gladys, the daughter, lives at home.
Mr. Wiesner served on the City Council of Tracy four years. During three years of that time he was president of the coun- cil. Fraternally he is associated with the A. O. U. W. and the K. of P. lodges.
Two sisters of Mr. Wiesner are living in this country. Annie Wiesner lives in New Ulm and Kate Wiesner is a resident of Owatonna.
RASMUS B. SAMPSON (1902), farmer and land owner of Island Lake township, was born in Sonhorland, Norway, Febru- ary 13, 1873, and his parents still live in the old country. They are Sampson R. Bjelleboe and Britha (Aarthum) Bjelle- boe.
Rasmus received a common school edu- cation in his native land and at the age of sixteen years set out alone for Amer- ica to seek his fortune. He located at Story City, Iowa, where he had relatives, and for a number of years worked out as a farm hand, during the first year receiv-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
ing $12 per month. He rented land in Hamilton county in 1898 and farmed the next four years.
In 1901 Mr. Sampson bought the north- east quarter of section 16, Island Lake township, and the next year he and his family moved to their new home. He feeds and ships stock, making a specialty of Shorthorn cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs. Mr. Sampson has stock in the Farmers Elevator Company of Lynd and is justice of the peace of his precinct. He and his family are members of the Norwegian Lut- theran church.
The marriage of Mr. Sampson to Gu- rena Sunnoe occurred in Hamilton county, Iowa, June 16, 1896. His wife was born in Stavanger, Norway, November 14, 1868, and her parents were Narve and Gunhild (Sunnoe) Olson, both of whom died in the old country. Mr. and Mrs. Sampson are the parents of the following named chil- dren: Selmer B., Gerhart N., Alwin S., Gladys R., Richard O., Martha G., Bertha S. and Chris.
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