USA > Minnesota > Nobles County > An illustrated history of Nobles County, Minnesota > Part 51
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MIr. Pfeil was born in the province of Hesse Nassau, Germany, June 7, 1860. Both his parents died when he was an infant. He came to the United States in 1872 and lived in Benton county, Jowa, until he was thirty- three years of age. Until he was twenty- four he worked at farm work for wages, then he married, rented a farm and conducted it nine years. It was in February, 1893, that Mr. Pfeil came to Nobles county and bought eighty acres of land in Bigelow township- the start of his present large farm. It was then unimproved land; today it is graced by some of the finest farm buildings in the township.
At LaPorte, Iowa, on Oct. 16, 1884, Mr. Pfeil was married to Miss Lena Schuck. daughter of the Rev. Nicholas and Catherine (Ilammann) Schuck. She was born in Wash- ington county, Wis., April 15, 1859. They are the parents of seven living children, as follows: Walter, born Aug. 6, 1885; George, born March 16, IS86; Katie, born Nov. 7, 1992; Ruth, born Dec. 19, 1894; Roy, born Oet. 29, 1895; Sarah, born May 15, 1896; Phil-
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
ip, born Feb. 3, 1902. Two other children, Howard and Lilly, are deceased, the former having died at the age of five years and the latter aged three. Mr. and Mrs. Pfeil and family are enrolled as members of the Ger- man Evangelical church of Worthing.on. Mr. Pfeil is a member of the school board of dis- trict No. 28. For seven years prior to 1905 he served as a member of the Bigelow town- ship board.
FRANKLIN II. LYON (1839-1908) was one of the leading farmers and stock raisers of Worthington township, one of the pio- neers of the county and one of the best known farmers in the vincinity of Worthing- fon. lle resided here since 1874, coming with his parents from Kane county, Ill., in which county he was born Jan. 17, 1859. ile was the son of Burr W. and Emily (Haines) Lyon, now residing at Worthington.
Franklin received his education iu schools of Kane county and Worthington, attending the public schools in the latter place when they were held in the meuiorable Miller hall and also in the old eight-sided frame building which did duty for so many years. The first two years of his life in Nobles county were spent in Worthington. Then he moved onto the farm where he lived so many years, two miles north of Worth ington, and there he resided until his death on April 12, 1908.
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Mr. Lyon was married Feb. 22, 1882, at Worthington to Effie 1. Wilcox, whose parents resided at Zumbrota, Minn. To them have been born the following children: Nellie, Florence (deceased), Gladys, Clifford, Vernon.
After his marriage Mr. Lyon purchased the east half of the southwest quarter of section 10, Worthington township, and with that as a start added to his possessions until he owned 360 aeres in one piece of land. Until recently he also owned 40. aeres additional. He raised thoroughbred stock, and had some of the finest herds in the county. He raised Aberdeen-Angus cattle. Shropshire sheep and Poland Chin hogs.
During his residence in Worthington town ship Mr. Lyon served two years as town- ship supervisor and was treasurer of his school district for the last twelve years of his life.
FRED H. TIEMENS, ex-county commis- sioner of Nobles county and a resident of twenty years standing, is one of the well known farmers of Bloom township. lle owns and farms 320 acres of land on sections 10 and 15.
Mr Tiemens is of German birth, having been born in the province of Oldenberg, Feb. 13, 1867. llis father llenry Tiemens was a farmer. Ile died in the old country in ISSI aged il years. Our subject's mother is Fredericka (Doden) Tiemens who makes her home with her son. She is 67 years of age.
In his native country Fred received his carly training, being raised on a farm. In the fall of 1883, at the age of sixteen years, he set out alone for America. lle located at Milford, Iroquois county, III., where for a little over five years he worked as a farm laborer. le came to Nobles county in Jan- uary, 1889, and located on section 25, Will- mont township, where for two years he farm- ed rented property. In 1892 he bought his present place and has since made his home there.
Mr. Tiemeus has been married twice. His first marriage occurred in Willmont town- ship on May I, 1850, when he was maite in marriage to Mary Popken, who died in September, 1898. To this union were born the following children, all of whom reside with their father: Freda, Nettie, William and Ella. lle was married the second time in Bloom township on Sept. 11, 1903, to l'aula Mueller. To them have been born four child- ren-Annie, Paula, Alma and Frank.
In a political way Mr. Tiemens has taken quite an active part. He is assessor of Bloom township and is a director of school district No. 70, which office he has held for six years. For nine years he was clark of Bloom township. In 1898 he was elected county commissioner from the second dis triet on the republican ticket and was re- elected in 1902, being one of the county's law makers eight years. Ile is a member of the German Lutheran church of Pin. sten.
IRA TURNER (1817-1890) was one of the pioneer settlers of Elk township, in which he resided from 1872 until his death eigh-
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teen years later. Mr. Turner was born in Massachusetts May 1, ISI7. Early in life he moved to Oswego county, N. Y., where he resided until his removal to Nobles conn- ty in 1872, being engaged in farming and other occupations. There he was married April 13, 1843, to Miss Sallie M. Myers, who died about IST8.
Mr. Turner was a veteran of the civil war, having enlisted at Oswego, N. Y., in the 47th New York volunteers in 1862. He served fifteen months, taking part in the battle of Gettysburg and other noted engagements. Ile came west in May, 1872, and took as a homestead claim the northwest quarter of section IS, Elk township. There he lived and engaged in agricultural porsnits until his death on Jan. 30, 1890. He united with the Methodist church in 1850, and continned a member until his death.
PETER C. ANDERSON is a stockraiser and farmer of Bigelow township, having made his home there for the last twenty years. lle is the owner of 240 acres of land on sec- tions 8 and 5 and 200 acres in Kandiyohi county, Minn.
Mr. Anderson is a native of Skane, Sweden, where he was born Dec. 13, 1849. He was the son of Andrew Olsen and Catherine (Swenson) Olsen, both deceased. Ilis fath- er came to the United States in 1870 and located in Knox county, Ill. He later re- sided in Henry county, Ill., and after the death of his wife made his home with his son. Ile died in Nobles county in Novem- ber, 1894, aged 85 years. Our subject's moth- er died in Henry county in 1882, aged 63 years.
P. C. Anderson came to America in 1868 and settled in Ford county, Ill., where for nine years he worked at. farm work. During the next three years he farmed on ren- ted land; then he bought a farm and con- dneted it eight years. In 1888 he sold ont his Illinois property and moved to Nohles county, where he bonght a part of his present farm, and where he has ever since resided. He engages extensively in stock raising, making a specialty of cat- tle and hogs. Mr. Anderson is a member of the Bigelow township board, having held the office five years. He has also been treas- nrer of school district No. 80 ever since
the district was organized, and for three years served as township assessor.
At Gibson City, Ford county, III., on Feb. 10, 18.8, Mr. Anderson was united in mar. riage to Miss Fannie Larson, who was born in Sweden and who came to America in 1870. They are the parents of the follow- ing children: Albert, horn Jnne 30, 1878, now engaged in managing his father's Kan- diyohi county farm; William, born Aug. 23, 1879; Lynn, born Oct. 4, 188], in the imple- ment business at Pennock, Minn .; Victor, born July 5, 1884; sodie, born July 15: 1886; Chloe, born Sept. 3, 1887; George, born July 4, 1889; Harry, born Jan. 13, 1801; Amel, born Ang. II, 1895; Bennie, born July 25, 1898; Raymond, born May 3, 1902. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson and family are members of the Swedish Lutheran church of Worthing- ton.
ASIIER M. HAGERMAN, a Lorain town- ship farmer, has resided in Nobles connty for the last twenty-three years, during all of which time he has been engaged in farm- ing. IIe is a native of Pennsylvania, hav- ing been born at Williamsport, Lycoming county, of that state in 1854, the son of Jo- seph L. Hagerman and Mary (Ilafer) Hager- man. Both his parents were natives of the same state. His mother died in Pennsyl- vania in 1807; his father in Iowa in 1897. The Hlagermans are one of the old families of the Keystone state, and were among the first to settle in the Lycoming country. For several generations they have resided there, and many of the prominent people of that county bear the name of Hager- man.
Asher was brought up in the county of his birth and lived there until his twenty-sixth year. He received a common school ednca- tion, and spent his early years in work- ing on the farm and at logging. In 1880 he moved to Hndson, Blackhawk connty, lowa, and for fonr years was engaged in farming there. In the fall of 1884 he came to Nobles county and purchased the south- east quarter of section 3, Lorain township, and the following spring he came to the county to live. During the first four years of liis residence here he lived on the Dis- bro farm, one mile northwest of Worthing- ton. lle then moved to Lorain township,
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
purchased the northeast quarter of section 10, and has since made that place his home, farming the half section he now owns there.
During his residence in Lorain town ship he has served on the town board six years, has been township assessor five years and clerk of the school district for six scars. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hagerman are members of the Brewster Methodist Episco- pal church.
Mr. Hagerman was married at Williams port, Pa., Feb. 5, 1874, to Miss Slade. To them have been born three children-Albert, James and Charlotte -- all of whom are liv- ing at home.
OLE B. JOUL is one of the pioneer res- idents of Little Rock township, where he has made his home thirty-five years. He is a Norwegian by birth, having been born near the city of Christiana on Oct. 4, 1861. His parents were Nicholas and Bertha (Ulwin) Joul, both of whom died at the Little Rock home.
The father of our subject was born in Norway May 24, 1835. lle left his native country with his family April 22, 1867, and arrived in lowa county, Wisconsin, June 28, of the same year. There he continued to make his home until 1973, when the family moved to Nobles county. lle died in Little Rock township Jan. 21, 1886. Our subject's mother was born in Norway Oct. 11, 1834, was married there to Mr. Joul Dec. 26, 1859, and died in Little Rock town- ship Nov. 19, 1889.
It was as a boy twelve years of age inat Ole Joul first came to Nobles county. Gunder Joul, a brother of Nicholas Joul, had come to Nobles county and settled in Indian Lake township in 1871, and it was acting upon his advice that the family moved from Winconsin to the new country of Nobles county. The trip was made over- land with a team of oxen. The father, after looking the country over, decided to take his homestead in Little Rock town- ship and filed upon the northeast quarter of section 14. Sore were the trials and great were the hardships during the first few years. The family was the possessor of only about 75 cents in money, a team of oxen and three cows. They were with- out means to erect even a sod shanty dur-
ing the first summer and lived under the canvass covering which had afforded shelter for the prairie schooner. The father went to the harvest fields in the eastern part of the state, walking most of the way, and earned sixty dollars. With this a shanty was built and the family lived through the first winter. The terrible grass- hopper scourge came and for many years the family lived a precarious existence. For six years they lived in the sod shanty which did not boast a floor. Without the means to leave the country, the family contin- ned to reside on the claim, and in time brighter days arrived.
Ole Joul secured an education in the dis- trict schools of Little Rock township and grew to manhood on his father's farm. After his father's death, which occurred in 1886, he and his brother, Gust, farmed the home place until 1897. That year he moved onto his present place which had been purchased some time before. lle erected the buildings and otherwise improved the farm. His pres- ent place is on the southeast quarter of section 11. Besides a fine house he has an excellent grove and quite an orchard of apple and other fruit trees.
Mr. Joul was married in Humbolt county, towa, July 2, 1891, to Miss Tina Stensby, a daughter of John and Mary Stensby, who are now residents of lowa. Mrs. Joul was born in Norway April 14, 1887. They are the parents of the following children: Jo- seph, born April 18. 1892; Minnie, born April 10, 1894; Harry, born June 19, 1896; Pearl, born July 31, 1898; Viola, born Oct. 24. 1900; Oscar, born Nov. 24, 1902; Mil- lard. born Ang. 26, 1906.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Joul are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Little Rock township, Mr. Joul being one of the charter members of the church. Mr. Joul is clerk of the school board of district No. 11, and he has held the office twelve years.
JOHN D. ELY resides in Dewald town- ship, his home being on the southwest quar. tor of section 13, six miles west of Worth- ington, where he has resided for the last seventeen years. When he purchased his place in 1891 there were no building improve- ments and only a small part of the land had been broken; today his farm is finely im-
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proved and he has established himself as one of the substantial farmers of Dewald. He raises stock quite extensively and de- votes his energies principally to dairy cat- tle, believing that in them, rather than in beef stock, lies the future prosperity of Nobles county farmers.
Mr. Ely descends from French stock. Sometime in the eighteenth century the Elys were forced to leave their native country and seek a home in England because of strife between the Protestant and Catholic adherents, the Elys being Protestants. In the new home they encountered the same difficulties and were forced to leave Eng- land. The family, in company with others of their faith, migrated to a small island to the south of Ireland, where a permanent home was established. The island is now known as Ely, having taken the name from the family, the biography of whose descend- ant we are now writing. The American branch of the family was founded in an early day. Two brothers, one of them Nathaniel Ely, from whom descends the subject of this sketch, came to America and settled in New York state. The family became a prominent one, and when the revolutionary war broke out several of the name took part in the war for freedom. One of them served as a colonel in the American forces.
John D. Ely was born in Dekalb county, Ill., Oct. 6, 1856, the son of Joseph and Anna (Woodard) Ely. His parents were na- tives of New York state and are now liv- ing in Rock county, Wis. For only two years did the subject of this sketch live in his native state, his parents moving to Wal- worth county, Wis. Eight years of his life were spent there, and the following ten in Rock county, Wis. He left home in 1876 and for two years was employed on his un- cle's farm in Ogle county, Ill. Ile then rented his grandfather's farm in the same county and was in business four years for himself. He came west in the spring of 1882, took a homestead in Hand county, S. D., and engaged in farming there for nine and one-half years. He came to Nobles county in the fall of 1891, bought the southwest quarter of section 13, Dewald, and has made his home there since.
At Rochelle, Ill., on Oct. 23, 1880, occurred the marriage of Mr. Ely to Addie Eyster, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Billman)
Evster. The father died May 1, 1889, the mother on Feb. 4, 1867. Mrs. Ely was born in Rochelle March 26, 1861. To these parents have been born four children, as follows : Ollie Ann (MIrs. Arthur Boddy), born Aug. 27, 1881, residing in Saskatche- wan, Canada; Nettie Marr (Mrs. Henry Dilly), born Sept. 13, 1883, residing in Sum- mit Lake township; Addie Viola (Mrs. Richard Matheson), Elk township, born Sept. 26, 1885; Lois Irma, born Feb. 2, 1893, resid- ing at home.
During his residence in Nobles county MIr. Ely has been clerk or member of the school board of district 42 ever since becoming a resident here with the exception of the last three years. He has also held the office of road overseer for many years.
FRANCIS A. DURFEE is one of the big farmers of Summit Lake township, owning and farming all of section one. In addition to his general farming Mr. Durfee engages extensively in stock raising, making a spec- ialty of Shorthorn cattle. He has been a resident of the county fifteen years.
Mr. Durfee was born in Cayuga county, N. Y., May 23, 1846, the son of Jonathan and Mary Ann (Boucher) Durfee, natives of the state of Massachusetts. The father died in the state of New York in the spring of 1869, aged 47 years. The mother died in New York in 1890. The family moved to łowa in 1866, and in that state Francis Durfee lived until he moved to Nobles county, and engaged in farming. In 1803 he came to Nobles county and purchased section one of Summit Lake township, then in a wild state, and has since made his home there. His farm is now highly improved with buildings, fences, etc.
Mr. Durfee was married in Sioux county. Iowa, Sept. 12, 1884, to Miss Mary Rowe, a native of Ontario. Her parents were John and Mary (Crawford) Rowe. Her father was an Englishman by birth, came to 1m- erica when a young man and located in Can- ada, later becoming a resident of Sioux county, Iowa, where he died in 1900, aged 81 years. Mrs. Durfee's mother was born in the north of Ireland and came to America when a child. She is now living at Shellon. Jowa, at the age of 85 years. To Mr. and Mrs. Durfee have been horn three children:
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
William F .. born in Sjoux county, lowa, two miles west of Ellsworth, and a section June 6, 1885; John II., born in Sioux county, of land in Alberta. Iowa. April 30, 1587; Charlotte, born in Sum- mit Lake township June 12. 1900. Both Mr. and Mrs. Durfee are members of the Pres- byterian church.
Mr. Durfee is a Mason, being a member of the lodge at Fulda. He served several terms on the township board, and is at pres- ent township treasurer. He also has held membership on the school board of distriet No. 82.
FRED A. FINK, retired merchant of Flis- worth, is one of the pioneer residents of that town and has seen it advance from a prairie to one of the finest little villages in Nobles county.
Mr. Fink was born in Jefferson county, Wis., March 23, 1861. IJe was left an or- phan, his father dying soon after his son was born, and the mother dying near Sum- ner, Jowa. in 1870. From Wisconsin the fam- ily moved to Bremer county, Towa, when Fred was three years old, and in that county he was raised on a farm and lived until May 11. ISS2. In company with a brother he then left home and went to Mitchell, Dakota territory, where he remained only two months. From there he went to Rock Rapids, Towa, and spent the summer of 1882 work- ing at the corpenter's trade for Close Broth- ers. owners of large land interests in Lyon county, Jowa, and Rock county, Minn. Mr. Fink spent the fall and winter of 1882-83 working in Nobles county. JJe worked for 1. L. Bryan during the summer of 1883 on that gentleman's farm just over the line in Rock county. Returning to Rock Rapids, he worked during the next winter for his brother, who was in the hardware and grain business. Tle next went to Adrian. took em- ployment from James Cowin, where he work- el in the lumber and grain business until October 1, 1884.
On that date he moved to the new town of Ellsworth and opened a hardware store, the sixth business house in the town. He remained in the hardware business fourteen years, selling out in 1898. Since then he Das lived a retired life, looking after nis numerons land interests. He owns a fine residence property in Ellsworth, 560 acres of land in Kanaranzi township, Rock county,
Mr. Fink was married Sept. 2, 1885, near Ellsworth. to Kittie B. Bryan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. L. Bryan, now of Luverne, and early day settlers of Grand Prairie township. Mrs. Fink was born near Inde- pendence, Iowa. To them have been born one child, Gladys, one of the teachers of the Ellsworth public schools.
JAMES GREIG. One of the pioneer set- tlers of Nobles county and the oldest one now living in Olney township is James Greig, who resides on the land he took as a home- stead in 1872.
Mr. Greig is a native of Scotland, having been born there Oct. 12, 1850, and hav- ing made his home there during the first nineteen years of his life. His parents, Alexander and Jane (McCratehie) Greig, are still living in their native country, the former aged 85 years and the latter aged 78 years.
In ]S69 James Greig came to the Unit - ed States and located in Houston county, Minn., where he worked on a farm until 1872. In the fall of that year he, in com- pany with William Thom, J. C. Thom. A. Simpson and William Carr, eame to Nobles county and filed a homesicad claim to the south half of the northeast quarter of sco- tion 10, Olney township. It was on the sce- ond Tuesday of November. 1872,-election day, when Grant defeated Greely for the pre-ideney-that these gentlemen, while look- ing over the country, were caught in a severe blizzard on the northeast quarter of section 11, Olney township, and came near losing their lives. By taking two wagon boxes and placing them together they wore enabled to build a rude shelter and prevent fatal results. They were thus im- prisoned two days. Then the party packed up their goods, went to Worthington for a few days, and then returned to their old homes in Houston county, having reached the conclusion that Nobles county weather was too severe. Thereafter until 1879 Mr. Greig spent the greater part of his time in his old home, but after the grasshopper days he returned and made his permanent home in Olney.
On April 30, 1873, in Houston county, Mr. Greig was married to Miss Mary J. Mitchell,
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
a native of that county and a daughter of James Mitchell. They are the parents of the following children: James A., George T., Ida, Mabel (Mrs. W. W. Dunning), of Larkin township; Fred, Dan, Roy, Ralph and Lester. Mr. Greig is a member of the Presby- terian church and of the Workmen lodge. He was a school clerk from 1886 to 1907.
JOIIN N. LENZ. One of the big land owners and progressive farmers of Grand Prairie township is John N. Lenz, an old time resident of southwestern Nobles coun- ty. He owns 640 acres of land on sections 17, 16 and 18.
Mr. Lenz was born in Kenosha county, Wis., May 25, 1859, the son of Nicholas Lenz, who now lives near New Prague, in Scott county, Minn., and Gertrude (Rosen- planter) Lenz. who died in Scott county Aug. 1, 1906. When he was one year old the family moved to Scott county, Minn., and there he made his home on the farm until the early eighties. He came to Nobles county first on June 18, 1881. driving through from Scott county with an uncle. J. J. Lenz. He was here only six days, but returned in the spring of 1882 and began farming the south- east quarter of section 17, Grand Prairie town- ship, which had been purchased by his father. He broke out 45 acres of land and put it into crop as well as 30 acres. which had been broken before, and that fall har- vested it. Ile spent the winter of 1882-83 in his old home. Returning the next spring, lie erected a house, 16x24 feet, on the place, which had been given him by his father, and has made his home there ever since.
In Scott county, Minn., on Jan. 23, 1883, Mr. Lenz was united in marriage to Lizzie Geisin, a native of Scott county and a daughter of John and Helena (Hoffman) Geisin. To them have been born the fol- lowing children, all of whom reside at home: Nick, Charles, William. Henry, Frank. Rosie, George, Johanna and Arthur.
Mr. Lenz has held the office of treasurer of Grand Prairie township for the last seven years. He is a member of the Catholic church of Ellsworth, of the C. O. F. of Ellsworth, St. Joseph's society of Adrian, and Knights of Columbus, of Sioux Falls.
ARTHUR S. FIRTH. The subject of this sketch is a Lorain township farmer, his home being on the northwest quarter of section 6. There are not many people in the county who have to their credit a longer period of continuous residence than he, Lo- rain township having been his home ever since September, 1871.
Robert Firth, his father, also resides on the home place in Lorain. He was born in Leeds, England, June 21, 1828, and that was his home until 20 years old, when be came to America and located at Utica, N. Y. Residing at that place until just before the civil war, he then took up his residence at Whitewater, Wis. There he enlisted in the 28th Wisconsin infantry and served three years in the union army. Returning to Whitewater after the war, he engaged in the shoe business. On September 30, 1871, he arrived with his family at Worthington and became one of the county's earliest settlers. He took as a homestead the north- west quarter of section 6, Lorain township, and ever since has made his home there. He was married in New York state in 1850 to Patience Stephenson, who was born in Lancasbire, England, in 1832, and who died in 1901.
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