USA > Minnesota > Nobles County > An illustrated history of Nobles County, Minnesota > Part 66
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C. Il. KUNZE is a resident of Worthing- ton township, where he is engaged in farm- ing the west half of section 21. of which ho is the owner, as well as a quarter seetion in Elk town-hip. Mr. Kunze is of German birth, having been born in Hanover June 2, 1850. He is the sou of Henry Kunze and Mary (Luman) Kunze. His mother died in Germany in 1870; his father died in Craw- ford county, Jowa.
Mr. Kunze lived in his native conniry until sixteen years of age. Ile then set sail for America in company with a sister and located in Jackson county. Towa. There he resided eight years, six years of the time being spent in working for an unele, and the remaining two being employed in farm-
ing for himself on rented land. Hle removed to Crawford county, lowa, in IS74, bought a 200-acre farm, and made that county his home until IS95. Ile ihen sold out his interests there and came to Nobles county. purchasing land in Worthington and Elk townships. He did not at once move onio his land, but lived six months in Worthing- ton. then returned to his old home in Iowa. spent the winter there, and returned to his new home in Nobles county in the spring of 1896. He then moved onto his Worth ington township property and has resided there since that time. lJe has been treas- urer of his school district for the last ten years.
Mr. Kunze was married Feb. 15, 1876, in Germany. while on a visit to his native country. to Sophia Elss. To them have been born the following children: Henry. Worth- ington fownship; Willie. Christ, Frank, Bon- nie, Walter. Emma, Bertha (Mrs. Ben Grove), Worthington township; Martha and Lottie. All except Henry and Mrs. Grove reside at home.
HERMAN MOHR has been a resident of Nobles county for the last twenty years. He resides in Bloom township, where he owns 240 acres on rection S. Mr. Mohr was born in Germany April 19. 1838, the eldest of a family of five boys, sons of HIans and Wibke (Carpirsen) Mohr. The former died in Car- roll county. Iowa, in 1898, aged 54 years: the latter lives in that county and is 73 years of age.
Herman came to the United States with his parents in the fall of ISS1, after having served three years in the German army, and located in Carroll county. Iowa, where he resided six years. For a few years he work ed out at farm work, but after his mar- riage he rented land and engaged in farm- ing. Il came to Nobles county in 1888 and bought an eighty acre traet of land on spo- tion 9. Willmont township, where he farmed fourteen years. Ho then sold and bought the property in Bloom, where he has since lived.
Mr. Mohr was married in Carroll co inty March 25. 1886. to Margaret Ohrt, whe w .. born in Germany, but who came to Americ. with her parents when eighteen Von- 1 age. Iler father died in Carroll omnty lur
28
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ing the second year after his arrival from the old country, aged 51 years. ller mother died in the same county in 1902, aged 67 years, Mr. and Mrs. Mohr are the par- ents of five children: Willie, aged 19; Aman- da, aged 17; Amelia, aged 13; Ida, aged 11, Emil, aged 9. Two children died in infancy.
In Willmont township Mr. Mohr held the office of supervisor four years and was on the school board of district No. 63 for sev- cral years. Ile is now a member of the Bloom board and is serving his second year as director of school district No. 7-4.
WILLIAM MALCOLM. of Bigelow town- ship, owns and farms 327 acres on sections three and four. lle is a native of Aber- deen, Scotland, where he was born July 27, 1855. At the age of 26 years he left his native land and went to the island of Trini- dad, where for three and one-half years he held the position of overseer of a large sugar plantation. Hle then erossed South Amer- ica to the Panama canal, stopped there a short time, and then went to San Fran- cisco, Cal. In that city he was in the Hospital several weeks, his health having been broken down by his long residence in the tropics.
After leaving the hospital Mr. Malcolm went to Lemars, lowa, and engaged in farm- ing. During the month of December, 1886, he returned io Scotland, and on Jan. 27, 1888. was united in marriage to Miss Elsie . Iforne. To them were born the following children: Willie, Margaret and Mary. Mrs. Malcolm died Ang. 3, 1901. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm returned to the United States and took up their resi- dence in Jackson county, Minn., where Mr. Malcolm owned a quarter section of land. After farming there eighteen months, he sold out and moved to Nobles county, buying the Bigelow township farm where he has ever since resided. During his residence here ho has served ten years as director and treas- urer of school district No. 28.
EDWIN J. JONES, county attorney, has been a resident of the county since he was one year old. Ile is the son of James R. and Annie (Higgins) Jones, of Adrian, na- tives of Wales and Ireland, respectively.
Born in Dodgeville, Wis., March 12, 1875. he was brought with his parents when only one year old to Bigelow, Minn., where his father engaged in the mercantile business. After spending, four years in that little vil- lage the family moved to Adrian, where the eder Jones engaged in the mercantile bus- iness and founded the Bank of Adrian. Ed win spent his boyhood days in the west end village. He attended the Adrian publie schools, and in 1892 became a student at the Minneapolis academy, from which institution he was graduated in 1894. The next two years of his life were passed as a student in the law department of the university of Minnesota, from which he received his di- ploma in 1896.
Immediately after graduation he returned to Adrian and began the practice of his profession and assisting in the management of the bank. Ile completed his law stud- ies in 1897, when for six months he read law in the office of J. A. Town, of Worth- ington. Mr. Jones was elected county at- torney on the republican ticket in November, 1902, and served a two year term. After the expiration of that service he became a member of the law firm of Town & Jones, with which he was connected until Jan. 1, 1907. lle then again entered upon his du- ties as county attorney, having been elected in November, 1906, and he is now serving on that lerm.
Mr. Jones was married April 15. 1903, to Miss Eunice Cowin, of Adrian. To them have been born two children: Dorothy Lu- vile and Marjorie.
FREDERICK M. SADLER is the pro- prietor of Ellsworth's elertrie lighting sys- tem, which he installed during the current year. the work having been begun on May 144 1908, under a twenty-five year franchise granted by the village council. The plant is an up-to-date one of 650 light power and the machinery installed is all new.
Mr. Sadler was born in Tama City, Iowa, July 14, 1869, the son of Marion and Hulda (Aldrich) Sadler. At the age of seven years he went with the rest of the family to Franklin county, Jowa, which was his home four years. One year was spent in Toledo, lowa, where he began working in an iron foundry. Going to Cedar Rapids, he took
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employment in the blacksmith department of the Ogden Plow works. Giving up his position with that company he took a posi- tion in the shops of the C. R. I. & P. Ry., at which he was employed eight or nine years. Ile then served as city electrician two or three years. Securing the position of chief engineer and master mechanic of the lowa penitentiary at Anamosa, Mr. Sad- ler continued in that position two years, and then resigned on account of ill health. After some time spent as extra foreman in the Burlington shops, in February, 1903, he moved to Ellsworth, Minn., and for a time was division foreman for the Rock Island road at that point. Ile then bought out Barnes Bros.' machine and blacksmith shop there and conducted the business until May, 1908, when he sold the business to his broth- . er, Arthur M. Sadler, and commenced work on the electric lighting plant.
At Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on July 28, 1890, Mr. Sadler was married to Miss Clara Rosen- erants, a native of Iowa, and a daughter of Martin Rosenerants. To them has been born one child, Bertha. born March 18, 1892.
Mr. Sadler served three years as member of the Ellsworth village council prior to the spring of 190S. He is now chief of the Ellsworth fire department. Fraternally, Mr Sadler is a Mason, lwing a member of lodge No. 25, Cedar Rapids; a K. P., M. W. A. and A. O. U. W.
ADAM OLSON owns and farms the north- east quarter of section ], Ransom township, which has been his home for the last seven- teen years. He was born in Sweden Oct. 7, 1857, the son of Ole Johnson and Sarah (Anders) Johnson. His father died at the age of 40 years, two years after the birth of his son. His mother, who was the daugh- ter of a soldier of the Swedish army, died in her native country in the spring of 1885, aged 65 years.
The subject of this sketeh is the next to the eldest of three living children. A sis- ter, Johanna Olson, lives in Sweden. A brother, Fred, was born in Sweden, came to the United States in 1884, resided hore till 1904, when he returned to his native land, married and is now engaged in farming.
Adam Olson came to the United States in 1885 and for one year worked in the saw
mills and in the timber in Wisconsin and Michigan. In 1886 he went to Cherokee coun- ty, Jowa, where he was employed at farm work for several years. Ile came to Nobles county in the spring of 1891 and bought his Ransom township farm, where he has ever since resided. He is unmarried.
JOHN CHEPA resides in Graham Lakes township, where he owns and farms 121 acres in the southwest quarter of section 20 and the northwest quarter of seetion 29. He came to Nobles county thirty years ago and has ever since made his home here. He was born in Aultmolatien, in the province of Mahern, Austria, in February, 1865. His father, Frank Chepa, died in the fall of 1004. llis mother, Annie (Fox) Chepa, died in Nobles county during the severe winter of 1880-8].
When John Chepa was twelve years of age the family emigrated to America, and during the first year of their residence in the new world lived in Mankato, where the elder Chepa worked at the tailor trade. In the spring of ISTS the Chepa family came to Nobles county with the hope of bettering their condition. When they arrived they were practically without means and had not even sufficient to purchase a yoke of oxen. The head of the family took as a homestead elaim the southwest quarter of section 20. Graham Lakes township. and that has been the family home ever sinee. Until he was 27 years old John Chepa lived on his father's farm. Ile then hegan farm- ing the place for himself and has added to his possessions by purchasing a quarter in section 29, which he secured in IS98. He now has a finely improved farm and is in prosperous circumstances.
Mr. Chepa was married in June, 1891, at I'mlda to Mary King, a daughter of August King, one of the early settlers of Graham Lakes township.
Mr. and Mrs. Chopa are members of the Catholic church at Fulda. Mr. Chepa has hold several offices within the gift of the people of his township. Ile was a member of the township board four years and dur- ing the last four years has held the office of township treasurer. Ile is also clerk of school district No. 31, which office he bas held six years.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
PATRICK O'CONNOR, proprietor of the Commercial hotel of Wilmont, is an early day settler of Nobles county. He is a native of Westport, Ontario, Canada, where le was born Oct. 26, 1853, the eldest of a family of three children. His father was Ichn O'Connor, who was born in Ireland, and who emigrated to Canada in an early day. lle saw service in the Union army dur- ing the war of the rebellion and died in Canada in February, 1881. Our subject's mother was Annie (Cunningham) O'Connor. She was born in Ireland and died in Canada in the fall of 1906, aged 71 years.
Pat came to the states in the fall of 1877 and during the first three or four years was unsettled as to location. He moved to Worthington in ISS1, and has ever since been a resident of the county. During the first . six or seven years he engaged in the saloon business. Later he operated a dray line, was street commissioner of Worthington for many years, and for a time was a bridge carpenter in the employ of the Omaha railroad. He moved to Wilmont in the winter of 1904 and opened a saloon, which he conducted nine months. Ile then started the Commercial hotel, and has been its landlord ever since.
Mr. O'Connor was married at Worthing- ton in February, 1884, to Margaret Kennedy, who was born in Ireland and who came to the United States when a child. To Mr. and Mrs. O'Connor have been born four children- Mamie, Winnie, John and Raymond. The family are members of the Catholic church.
N. 11. COOK, stoekraiser and farmer of Loota township, is a homesteader of that precinet and one of its early day settlers. He owns 320 acres ou sections 8 and 17. lle raises thoroughbred hogs and sheep and is an extensive feeder of cattle and hogs.
Mr. Cook was born in Eastport, Maine, July 11. 1847, the only son of Alfis and Eliz- abeth (Runnels)
Cook. The father was born in Glasgow, Scotland, came to Amer ica when a young man, and located at St. Johns, New Brunswick, where he engaged in lumbering and milling businesses. Later h moved to Eastport, Maine, where he engaged in the lumbering business and became a ship builder. There he died in 1866 at the age of seventy years. Our subject's mother was a native of England. She died at East- port, Maine, about 1888.
In his native city Mr. Cook grew to young manhood, securing a good education. In 1565 he left home and located in Saginaw, Mich., where for four years he was foreman of a timber erew. From Michigan he went to Eau Claire, Wis., where he was an em- ploye of the Rust & Owen Lumber company for eleven years. In 1876, before severing his connections with the lumber company, Mr. Cook eame to Nobles county and filed a homestead claim to the southeast quarter of seetion S, Leota township. Thereafter until 1880 he divided his time between his Nobles county claim and the timber camps of Wis- consin. He made his permanent home on the farm in ISSO, and has ever since made his home there. Ile bought his 160 acres on section 17 soon after locating in the county. Mr. Cook was married at Gilford, Maine, to Miss Martha Adams, a native of the Pine Tree state and a daughter of Joshua and Zuba Adams. To Mr. and Mrs. Cook have been born the following children: Charles. Alvin, Alton, Sidney and Alfie.
For many years Mr. Cook served as a mem- ber of the Leota township board and on the school board of district No. 99. Ile holds a membership in many of the leading frater- nal organizations, being a member of the Ma- sonic lodge of Pipestone, and of the Odd Follows, Knights of Pythias and Woodmen.
THOMAS P. NOONAN. Among the older settlers of Lismore township is Thomas P. Noonan, who owns and farms a half sec- tion of land on sections 22 and 23. Ile ha- been a resident of the county twenty-seven ycars.
Mr. Noonan was born in the city of Phila- delphia. Pa., Dec. 13, 1857, in which city his parents had located some two or three years before, upon their arrival from Ireland. When the subject of this sketch was about two years of age the family moved to Fulton county, Ill., which was his home until his arrival in Nobles county in ISSI. There he was raised on a farm.
The elder Noonan was a carriage maker by trade. Ile served in the union army during the war of the rebellion. He enlisted in company (. of the 20th Ilinois infantry, in 1862 and served three years, taking part in three severe battles and many smaller ones, At the battle of Lookout Mountain he re-
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ceived a gunshot wound in the left shoulder. Ile died at Philadelphia in February, 1905. Our subject's mother died in the fall of 1898.
In the spring of ISSI Mr. Noonan came to Nobles county and located on the farm where he has ever since resided. He has a finely improved farm, and in addition to his gen- eral farming raises registered stock. He is a stockholder in the Lismore Farmers' Ele- vator company, of which he holds the office of president. He held the office of super- visor several years and at the present time is chairman of the board. He is also clerk of the school board of district No. 68.
Mr. Noonan was married at Luverne, Minn., June 2, 1888, to Catherine McGee, a native of Ireland. She came to the United States with her parents in 1876 and located at Providence, R. I. Iler father died in Sco .- land, and in 1880 she came to Nobles county and Lismore township with her mother and a brother. To Mr. and Mrs. Noonan have been born the following children: Anna, Bessie, Alice, Thomas, Lillian, Mary and Katie. Mary died at the age of fifteen years and Katie in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Noonan are members of the Catholic church.
PETER LENZ, JR., proprietor of a hard- ware store at Adrian, has lived in Nobles county since he was sixteen years of age. During the first ten years of his life in No- bles county he lived on a farm in Grand Prairie township; since 1903 he has made Adrian his home.
Peter Lenz is the second of a family of thirteen children, all of whom are residents of Minnesota, except Mrs. John Witt, who lives at Watertown, S. D. His father, the late John J. Lenz, was one of the large land- owners of southwestern Nobles county and an early settler of Grand Prairie township. John J. Lenz was a native of Germany and emigrated to the United States when twelve years of age. He first settled in Wisconsin. . where he lived a few years, and then lo- cated in Scott county, Minn., hecoming one of the pioneer settlers of that part of Min- nesota and taking his claim when the coun- try was yet occupied by Indians. He moved from Scott county to Grand Prairie town- ship, Nobles county, in 1883, where he be- came the owner of several fine farms. He
resided on the farm there until his death, which occurred in 1893. Several of his sons are now prominent farmers of that part of the county. Our subject's mother is Anna Maria (Klinkhammer) Lenz, also a native of Germany. She makes her home on the Grand Prairie township farm and is 68 years of age.
To these parents, at Belleplaine, Scott county, Minn., Peter Lenz, Jr., was born on the sixteenth day of January, 1866. In the connty of his birth he lived until ISS3, and came then with the family to Nobles county. Until 1903 he lived on the home farm (the northwest quarter of section 4, Grand Prai- rie), engaged in farming and threshing. He then took up his residence in Adrian, and that village has since been his home. There he continued his threshing operations during the fall months, spending the rest of the year traveling for the Minneapolis Threshing Viachine company. In these occupations he was engaged nntil Angust 26, 1907. On that date he went into the hardware, implement and engine business, buying a new stock throughout.
Mr. Lenz was married in Adrian May 29, IS94, to Helena l'int, a daughter of Matt Pint, deceased, and a native of Scott coun- ly, Minn. Mr. and Mrs. Lenz are the parents of the following living children: Odelia M., born June 12, 1895; Lucia A., born Jan. 6, 1897; Cecelia E., born Dec. 2, 1898; Norbert J., born July 7, 1900; Rainer G., born Aug. 17, 1902.
The family are members of the Catholic church, and )Ir. Lenz holds membership in the Catholic Order of Foresters, being Chief Ranger of this court, which is registered as St. Adrian's Court No. 1012. He was as- sessor and member of the township board in Grand Prairie for a number of years.
CHARLES MORTON CORY, Nobles coun- ty's judge of probate, has been a resident of this county since 1891. 1 perusal of the geneology of the Cory family discloses the fact that it is one of the first families in America. Away back in the year 1400 1. 1., nearly a hundred years before Columbus discovered America, there was born William Cory. in Norfolk. England. This is a fir back as the records go, and for The Text two hundred years only limitel data of the
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family's history has been preserved, buc enough has been preserved to show that the family was one of importance in England. Robert Cory, a son of Thomas Cory, and a descendant of William Cory, was knighted in 1012 and granted a coat of arms. Another member of the family, Thos. Cory, a son of John Cory, born in England in July, 1610, was made judge of the court of common pleas and chief prothonatory of the queen's temple. lle was knighted and granted a coat of arms in 1639 during the reign of King Charles H. The American branch of the family was founded by John Cory, who was born in England in 1600 and came to America in 1659, settling in New York. From this founder of the American branch the geneology of our subject can be traced direct. John Cory, Jr., was the first son of John Cory. lle was a resident of New Jer- soy and was a farmer and merchant. Elan- thon, son of John Cory, Jr., was also a resident of New Jersey, and died Jan. 4, 1785. One of his sons was Jeremiah Cory, a native of New Jersey. Noah Cory was the second son of Jeremiak. He was born in New Jersey March 20, 1770, and later be- came a resident of Ohio. In that state on Ang. 3, 1807, was born Jeremiah Cory, the father of our subject. lle was married to Mary A. Bennett and died April 1, 1874.
Charles Morton Cory was born Jan. 12, 1866, in Boone county, Indiana. Ilis boy- hood days were spent on the farm in his native state. In 1881 he entered a Quaker parochial school at Sugar Plain, Indiana, which he, attended for one year. He en- tered Wabash college, Crawfordsville, Ind., in 1882, taking a two years' course. lle eame to Minnesota in 1885, settling at Excelsior, and for two years was engaged in news- paper work, reporting for different twin city newspapers the Lake Minnetonka news. At the same time he was studying law in the offier of Hon. J. Il. T. James, of Excelsior. In 1887 he entered Carleton college, North- hell, Minn., and took a two years' course. Hle then entered the law department of the Minnesota state university, at which in- stitution he was a student for one year.
After leaving the university he was em- ployed as superintendent of the money order and registered letter department of the post- office at Mankato, Minn. He held that posi- tion until he was admitted to the bar, which
was in May, 1891. The following month he located at Adrian and began the practice of his profession. In March, 1892, he was elected village attorney of Adrian and served for three snecessive years. lle was elected judge of probate of Nobles county in 1892, and has been reelected seven times, serving continuously since that date. In 1895 lie removed from Adrian to Worthington, and has been a resident of the latter city since that time. In addition to that office Judge Cory has at different times held the office of deputy clerk of court, deputy register of deeds and deputy county treasurer. Poli- tically Judge Cory is a republican.
AMOS VAIL, of Seward township, is one of the pioneers of Nobles county, and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John P'. Vail, of Worth- ington, who were among the first settlers of Seward township.
In Boone county, Ill., Amos Vail was born on May 28, 1870. When two years of age he was brought by his parents to Nobles county, and until he was eight years of age lived on the Seward township homestead. The family then returned to the old home in Illinois, but five years later returned to Nobles county, and our subject has resided in the county continuously since. Amos lived on his father's farm until his marriage at the age of twenty-three years. He then be- gan farming for himself on the northeast quarter of section 22-land which his father had bought from Geo. llorton. After nine years there he moved onto the original homestead, and has since been engaged in firming that place.
The date of Mr. Vail's marriage was Dee. 27, 1893, when he led to the altar Miss Sa- lina Shanks, a daughter of William Shanks, now a resident of North Dakota. Mrs. Vail is of Scotch parentage, but was born in northern Ireland on Dec. 15, 1873. To these parents have been born the following chil- dren; Clarence, born Oct. 21. 1894; Edythe, born June 24, 1899; Dorothy, born Oet. 4, 1903.
Mr. and Mrs. Vail are members of the Presbyterian church of Fulda. Mr. Vail is a member of the Brotherhood of America. lle has served seven years as elerk and six years as treasurer of school district No. 37.
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NELS MOBERG. Among the pioneers of Nobles county whose date of arrival antedates the building of the railroad is Nels Moberg, who came with his parents when four years of age. His father was Jouas Moberg, who was born iu Sweden in 1835 and who died in Nobles county August 9, 1900. The mother of our subject is Elizabeth (Greenland) Mo- berg, who resides with her son in Bigelow township. To these parents in Hiarpen, Jemt- land, Sweden, was born Nels Moberg on the second day of November, 1867.
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