USA > Minnesota > Rock County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 102
USA > Minnesota > Pipestone County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 102
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In Lansing, lowa, on Sepemtber 15, 1872, Iver 1. Petercon was married to Lava Al- ette Hanson, a native of Norway who came to this country ten years after her birth, which occurred in 1856. In the Peterson family are the following four living chil- dren: Lula (Mrs. J. C. Bruner), of Globe,
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Arizona; Albert, a ball player in the Min- nesota-Wisconsin league; Clifford H., of Edgerton: and Walter. Two children, Henry and Mabel, died of scarlet fever at the ages of thirteen and four years respec- tively. Mr. Peterson owns residence prop- erty in Edgerton. A home erected in the early days was in 1909 remodeled and made thoroughly modern.
Mr. Peterson was for two years the as- sessor of Vienna township, and for the same length of time held the office of vil- lage treasurer. In the early days he serv- ed as constable. He took the 1910 census in Osborne township and the village of Ed- gerton. He belongs to the Norwegian Lutheran church and to the K. P. and M. W. A. lodges.
HOWARD J. FARMER (1884) is one of tlie well known and prosperous farmers and stock raisers of Sweet township, of which he has been a resident for the past twenty-seven years. The home farm, the northeast quarter of section 7, was wild, undeveloped railroad land when it came into the possession of Mr. Farmer in 1884. Improvements in the way of large and sub- stantial buildings and groves have wrought a marvelous change since then. He is also the owner of the northwest quarter of section 8 and eighty acres on section 35, range 47, Troy.
Howard is the oldest con in a family of five children. The four others, Judson L., Annie Malterner, Bertha M. Stiles and Frank B., reside in New York, the native state of our subject. He was born in St. Lawrence county on July 8, 1853. In that county his father, Loren J. Farmer, died in 1874, and his mother, Elizabeth (John- son) Farmer, in 1853. Both parents were born in Herkimer county, of the Empire state.
Mr. Farmer was educated and grew to manhood in the county of his birth. He taught school for awhile, farmed with his father until becoming of age, and then un- til 1884 was a St. Lawrence county farmer on his own account. Since the year men- ticned Pipestone county has been the scene of his rewarded labors. Mr. Farmer has served his township and county in an official way on several occassions. Ho
was a member of the township board for a number of years and is treasurer of school district No. 3. He represented his dis- trict on the board of county commission- ers in the early nineties, was elected to the office of county treasurer in 1896, and served one term. He is the secretary of the Airlie Elevator company, a successful co-operative institution. In a fraternal way Mr. Farmer is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, United Workmen and Modern Woodmen lodges.
On the first day of March, 1877, at Can- ton, St. Lawrence county, New York, was performed the ceremony which united Howard J. Farmer and Katie L. Farmer in the bonds of matrimony. Mrs. Farmer was born November 4, 1853, in Jefferson county, Wisconsin. They are the parents of five children, as follows: Myra (Mrs. George McCarter), of Grange township; Marion L., Annie G., a bookeeper in the general offices of the M. B. A., at Mason City, lowa; Alma, a school teacher; and William P., a student at the State Agricul- tural school.
JAMES TELFORD (1894) has farmed in Elmer township since 1894. He was born on a small farm in the north of Ireland June 12, 1848, the son of James and Mary. Ann (Dobson) Telford. He was only thir- teen years of age when he left his home in the Emerald isle and journeyed alone to America. He went to live with an uncle and aunt in New York state, re- maining there five years. He was for a time employed in a machine and iron work foundry.
In 1866, at the age of eighteen years, James Telford turned his eyes westward and located in Delaware county, lowa. For three years he was employed at farm labor; then he married and for a year farmed land on his own account in that lowa county. He moved to Madison county, Nebraska, in 1871 and pre-empted a quarter section of land. After a three years' struggle against the ravages of the grasshoppers, Mr. Telford deserted the Black Water state and once more became an lowa farmer. Eight years were spent in Hardin county, three in Franklin coun- ty, eight in Sac county; then Minnesota
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and Pipestone county became the scene of his labors. He moved to his farm, the southeast quarter of section 23, Elmer, which he had bought the year previous to his removal.
Mr. Telford improved his land but rent- ed and farmed the north half of section 19, Osborne, for eight years; then he farmed all of section 25, Elmer, until 1905, when he built on his own land, since which time he has lived there. In nearly every locality in which our subject has lived since becoming of age, he has served on either the township or school board. For four years he represented his district on the board of county commissioners. Fraternally he is a Knight of Pythias and a Modern Woodman, and with his family he belongs to the Methodist church.
In Delaware county, lowa, on September 26, 1870, James Telford was joined in mar- riage to Mary Ann Buck, a Canadian by birth. She was born in September, 1850, the daughter of John and Susanna (Win- sor) Buck, both natives of England. Four sons and six daughters have been born to this union, as follows: Ellen E., born Sep- tember 3, 1871; John, born September 26, 1872; W. James, born January 9. 1875; Ida M., born January 23, 1877; Mary A., born April 20, 1879; Jessie, born September 27, 1881; Bessie, born October 3, 1884; Zoe, born March 12, 1887; Charles, born June 15, 1891; and Shirley, born January 17, 1897.
GEORGE W. NASH (1880) has held the office of register of deeds of Pipestone county continuously since his first election to the office in the fall of 1894. He is one of the early settlers of the county, dating his residence from September, 1880, at which time he was stationed by the Omaha railroad as the second agent at their station of Woodstock. That position he held for twelve years, until 1892, when he engaged in the farm implement busi- ness at Woodstock. He was engaged in that business until elected to the office he now holds.
A native cf Wayne county, New York, George W. Nash of this review was born October 3, 1849, the son of John and Je- rusha A. (Johnson) Nash, both of whom
were also New Yorkers by birth. His mother died fifteen days after George was born and his father died in 1869. By a second marriage John Nash had two sons, one of whom, Oscar Nash, of Monroe county, New York, is still living.
George pasred the first twenty-three years of his life in the county of his birth. He then cast his eyes westward and locat- ed at Monticello, lowa, where he learned the telegrapher's trade. He was for sev- eral years assistant station agent at Lang. worthy and Sand Springs, Jowa, and then made his advent to Minnesota, accepting a position as assistant agent with the rail- road company at East Henderson. Blue Earth City was his last home before set- tling in Woodstock.
Mr. Nash was married in Wayne county, New York, on February 17, 1876, to Emma D. Fish, also a native of that county. They are the parents of three children: Thad- deus E., cashier of the Pipestone State Bank; Adah A. and Pearl A. Mr. Nash be- longs to the Blue Lodge and the Chapter of the Masonic order, and is also a mem- ber of the A. O. U. W. lodge.
WILLIAM ROSCOE (1887) has been well-known farmer of Altona township since 1887. His 160 acre farm is on sec- tion 26. A native of Green Bay, Wiscon- sin, he was born February 24, 1838, the son of Oliver and Mardeland (Campbell) Roscoe. The mother was a native Minne- cotan and was married in that state. The Roscae family is of French descent who made settlement in Canada, where the father of our our subject, Oliver Roscoe, was born.
William was an infant in his first year when the family moved from Green Bay to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. From there, after an eleven 'or twelve years' residence, they moved to Fort Snelling, Minnesota. At that army post the father, Oliver Roscce, was employed as black- smith by the government for eighteen years. The next move was to Red Wing. After a number of years the elder Mr. Ros- coe retired from the government service and engaged in farming between Lake City and Wabasha. Our subject assisted with the work on the home farm until
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he was twenty-two years of age. There- after for nearly ten years he was en- gaged in lumbering. He settled on his present Altona farm twenty-four years ago.
William Roscoe was married in Waba- sha county. Minnesota, on February 16, 1860, to Annie Niehart, a native of Ger- many. Mrs. Roscoe died in 1905. Four sons and four daughters were born to this union, as follows: Annie (Mrs. Frank Wright), of Moody county, South Dakota, born May 11, 1862; Oliver, of Lincoln county, born August 26, 1864; William J., of Altona township, born December 20, 1869; Ida (Mrs. John Rexroad), of Cass county, Towa, born April 28, 1871; Charles, of Altona, born September 29, 1873; Burt, of Altona, born May 10, 1877; Cornella ( Mrs. Thomas Moran), of Colorado, born October 28. 1880; Mabel, of Colorado, born April 8, 1884.
GILBERT G. GILBERTSON (1879). Among the substantial and progressive ag- riculturists of Aetna township is the gen- tleman whose name heads this review. He owns an entire section of choice land in that precinet and farms it all. As a stock raiser he has achieved eminent success. He makes a specialty of Red Polled cattle, his herd of cattle generally averaging sixty head. In addition he raises not a few hcgs, horses and sheep.
A Norwegian by birth, Gilbert was born December 8, 1865, the son of Christ Gil- bertson, now of Ruthton, and Bertha (Ol- son) Gilbertson, who died five years after the birth of our subject. When an in- fant, in 1867, he crossed the Atlantic with his parents and located with them in Flll- more county, Minnesota. and in the dis- triet schools of that county he commenced his education. Christ Gilbertson, the father, journeyed to Pipestone county in the spring of 1878, when the new country was just commencing to be opened up for set- tlement, and homesteaded in Aetna town- ship on section 28. The rest of the family first viewed the land of their future resi- dence in October, 1879.
Gilbert Gilbertson vividly recalls an inci- dlent of the frightful winter of 1880-81, in which he and P. J. Ruen were concerned. They were returning from Lake Benton on
snowshoes, pulling a hand sled loaded with provisions for the snow-bound bome, and were within a half mile of the home farm when they were suddenly enveloped in one of the most ferocious storms of the season. It was impossible to gain the house and they floundered abont in the open until near midnight. when Providence directed them to a vacant claim shanty belonging to a neighbor. There the young men rest- ed and warmed themselves as best they could. They were then about a mile and a half from home, and during the night they made two futile attempts to reach there. Finding the task of no avail, they camped in the rude shelter until daylight. By that time the fury of the storm was spent and they were able to reach their goal, though only by surmounting great diffi- (ulties. As a result of the severe experi- ence, Mr. Gilbertson's feet were badly frozen and he was laid up for the balance of the winter. His companion, Mr. Ruen, however, did not suffer any serious mis- haps.
Our subject attended the schools in the Thompson and Smith districts, in Aetna township, and continued to reside on the home farm until the spring of 1888. That season he went to Custer county, North Da- kota, and filed on a half-section homestead and timber claim. He passed four years in that country, working in the tie camps and on the railroads in the winter months and doing his best to raise a crop during the summer seasons, but the land was of a most unarable nature and unflagging in- dustry was not rewarded. Mr. Gilbertson took a tie contract in the winter of 1891-92, but the company failed, and in conse- quence he lost all his hard earned savings. He became disgusted with the ill-fortune which seemed to he the only thing the country offerred, abandoned his claim and sought a new location.
In the spring of 1892 Gilbert commenced to mend his fortune in Sheridan, Wyo- ming. That summer he freighted between the terminus of the B. & M. railroad and the towns of Sheridan and Buffalo. In the fall of the year he bought an interest in a Sheridan hotel, which he retained until the spring of 1893. He was a teamster connected with a tie camp in the Big Horn mountains for a year; then until he
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left Wyoming in the spring of 1899 he farmed near Sheridan.
On his return from the west Mr. Gilbert- son again located in Pipestone county. He became the partner of his brother, Ole Gilbertson, a liveryman of Ruthton, by buying out the interest of E. K. Gryte. The brothers conducted the enterprise two years; then Ole Gilbertson disposed of his interest to Nels Peterson, and this in- terest was later transferred to Charles Smith. After an association of a year and a half our subject bought out his partner, Mr. Smith, and until the spring of 1907 he was sole proprietor of the livery business, which he finally traded for land. Since the date last mentioned Mr. Gilbertson has managed his large farming interests in Aetna township. He is an ex-constable of that precinct. He is a member of the Nor- wegian Lutheran church of Ruthton.
Gilbert G. Gilbertson has been twice married. On April 14, 1898, he was wed- ded at Sheridan, Wyoming, to Ella Fryer, a native of Baltimore, Maryland. She was born August 2, 1879, and died in Ruthton August 14, 1899. One child, Bertha Julia. was born to this union, but lived only a few days. On October 7, 1905, at Ruthton, our subject was married to Ragna Emelia Halvorson, the daughter of Hans Peter Halvorson, of Ruthton, and Bertha Marie Halvorson, deceased. Mrs. Gilbertson was born in Mower county, Minnesota, June 2, 1884. These parents have had three chil- dren: Rudolph Gordon, born August 15, 1906; Harlon Clifford, born May 26, 1908; and Blanche Irene, who was born June 15, 1907, and died a short time after birth.
GARRISON L. JAYCOX (1873), of Sweet township, is an early day settler of both Rock and Pipestone counties, one who has experienced in full measure the trials and hardships incident to the life of a pioneer, the fighting of prairie fires, the suffering from death-dealing blizzards, and the bat- tłing against the ravages of the dread grass- hopper scourge. Mr. Jaycox holds the dis- tinction of having invented, with Ole Rolph, the first "hopperdozer" used in Luverne. With that contrivance more than twenty-eight bushels of the pests were taken in one day.
The father of our subject, Abraham Jay- cox, of Luverne, is a pioneer of two Min- nesota counties. He was married to Nancy LaForge and at an early day settled in Preston townsbip, Fillmore county. There Garrison L. Jaycox of this review was born July 16, 1858. The first fifteen years of his life were passed in the county of his birth. The family decided to establish a home in the new Rock county, and with that intent they made the journey over- land, arriving in Luverne June 7, 1873. For three days they camped in the park, but it was not long before Abraham Jay- cox was settled on the farm he bought just out of Luverne and which is his home to this day.
Our subject completed his education in the Luverne public schools. For a time he was engaged in freighting from Worth- ington to Luverne, worked as a thresher, and for two years was with the grading crew that laid the way for the building of the railroad to Luverne. Pipestone county was just opening for settlement in 1879 when Mr. Jaycox came to do the breaking on the tree claim of his father, the north- east quarter of section 28, Sweet township. The following year Garrison filed a home- stead claim to the southeast quarter of the same section. He lived on the place for eight years, during most of which time the crops were failures, occasioning hard times.
Mr. Jaycox retired from farming two years, during which time he resided in Luverne and engaged in draying, hauling sand and other manual labor. In 1890 he returned to his Sweet township farm, re- mained thereon two years, and then moved to the east half of section 24, Troy, land which he farmed for a decade. Burke township became the scene of his activi- ties for two years, then for a similar per- iod he was located in Troy. Mr. Jaycox established his present residence in Sweet seven years ago. He has farmed the northwest quarter of section 2 in that pre- cinct since 1905. Our subject is connected with four fraternal orders, the Modern Woodmen of America, Royal Neighbors of America, Sons of Veterans and Mystic Workers of the World.
Mr. Jaycox vividly recalls the time when' 500 Indians, in ugly temper, came from
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
Yankton and demanded that Pipestone be moved further to the south. The whites presented the savages with a fat ox, to which the redskins did justice in a spec- tacular barbecue, after which they peace- fully made their departure without com- mitting any outrage.
The subject of this biography was mar- ried at Luverue on October 2, 1882, to Hattie M. Wood, the daughter of J. E. and Emily (Bates) Wood, both deceased. Hat- tie MI. Wood was born at Athens, Illinois, October 28, 1866. To Mr. and Mrs. Jay- cox nine children have been born, all but one of whom, Garrison, who was born October 21, 1899, and who died the same month, are living. Their names are Char- les, born August 27, 1883: Etta, born June 22, 1885; Clair, born April 15, 1887; Nor- man, born January 23, 1889; Wilbur, born March 26, 1890; Hattie, born January 19, 1892; Rnby, born August 17. 1893; and Mil- dred, born October 5, 1902.
CHARLES F. DITMEYER (1886) is the owner of one of the finely improved farms of Gray township, the southeast quarter of section 19. He has a continued residence of twenty-five years in the county to his credit. A native of Illinois, he was born in Stephenson county April 7, 1864, the son of Richard and Thresie Ditmeyer, both of whom were born in Baden, Germany. They were early day settlers of Stephen- son county.
Charles was educated and grew to man- hood in the county of his birth. On sever- ing home ties, at the age of twenty-two, he at once commenced his career as a Pipe- stone county agriculturist. He worked in Elmer township for six months; then for eleven years he rented and farmed the northeast quarter of section 26, Eden township, land which belonged to his father. Since 1896 he has been located on his farm in Gray. Mr. Ditmeyer raises considerable stock. He owns stock in the farmers' elevator at Pipestone and is a director of school district No. 25. Frater- nallly he is a Modern Woodman.
Mr. Ditmeyer is man of family. He was married in Stephenson county, Illinois, September 6, 1885, to Elmetta Fryberger, a native of that county. She was born
November 20, 1864, the daughter of Wil- liam and Leah (Taylor) Fryberger. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ditmeyer. They are Bessie, born December 19, 1887; Floyd, born August 24, 1889; Marvin, born September 7, 1891; Ethel, born October 10, 1893; Earl, born August 11, 1895: Beatrice, born March 20, 1898; Leland, born March 1, 1900; and Wesley, born August 11, 1904.
W. H. DICKEY (1878) is one of the old timers whose experiences in Pipestone county date from the spring of 1878. Sparsely settled it was then, and among the few settlers in the future city of Pipestone were Dan Wigham, L. R. Ober, Robert Campbell, Dr. Taylor and Charles H. Bennett. Mr. Dickey has a distinct rec- ollection of hunting prairie chickens on the site of the present city hall, and in the fall of 18So he pursued five antelope over the prairies. With others he is not likely to forget the winter of 1880-81, when hay was precious as fuel and wheat for bread was ground in the kitchen coffee-mill.
A native of the old Pine Tree state, the subject of this biography was born in Bel- fast, Maine, November 20, 1841. He was a lad in his eleventh year wben his par- ents followed the tide of western emigra- tion. The family settled in Wisconsin and were located successively in the counties of Dane, Richland and Trempealeau. At the call for arms in the dark days of the sixties Mr. Dickey enlisted at Eau Claire in company C, Eighth Wisconsin volun- teer infantry. This was the company that carried old Abe's eagle through three years of the war and participated in thir- ty-two engagements, among them the bat- tles of Corinth and Pleasant Hill and the siege of Vicksburg.
Upon the declaration of peace Mr. Dickey returned to Wisconsin. He mas- tered the blacksmith's trade in .Jackson county and later followed that line of work in Trempealean county. He journey- ed to southwestern Minnesota in the early seventies to inspect the conntry.
He worked for a short time at his trade in Worthington and was in Luverne when Philo Hawes first located there. He did not make settlement at that time, how-
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ever, hut returned to Wisconsin and re- mained there until finally joining the pio- neers of Pipestone county in 1878.
Mr. Dickey homesteaded the northeast quarter of section 10, Gray township, in the spring of his arrival. He was the county's first blacksmith and machinist and did all the plow work for miles around in those early days. Even from Rock county farmers would come to "Harrison" Dickey, as he is familiarly known, to have their work done. For the first few years our subject alternated his time between his claim and his shop in the village. in the fall of 1884 he made permanent set- tlement in Pipestone, where he still con- tinues to ply his craft.
The marriage of Mr. Dickey to Julia Sherwood took place in Trempealeau county, Wisconsin, in November, 1864. To this union have been born the following seven children: Robert, Irvin, Leander, Harry, William, Ella and James.
PAUL SORENSON (1881), is one of the homesteaders and well-known residents of Aetna township. The son of Soren and Annie (Rasmussen) Paulson, he was born in Odense, Denmark, March 21, 1850. In the land of the Danes he acquired his schooling and passed the first twenty-one years of his life.
Mr. Sorenson immigrated to America in early manhood and made St. Louis his des- tination after arrival. He was employed several months in an iron foundry of that city, then was married and became a resi- dent of Minnesota. He worked on a farm near Winona one summer, then until 1881 was employed at agricultural labor at St. Charles. In the year mentioned our sub- ject became identified with Pipestone county interests. He homesteaded the southwest quarter of section 2, Aetna, and took as a pre-emption the southwest quar- ter of section 32. On the latter land he lived for several years, then established the home that is his today on the old homestead, one of the thoroughly improv- ed farms of the precinct. Mr. Sorenson devotes considerable attention to the breeding of high grade stock. He was a member of the township board four years.
He is a member of the Danish Lutheran church of Ruthton and is a Workman.
At Kirkwood, Missouri, on September 17, 1873, occurred the marriage of Paul Sorenson to Mary Johanson, who was born in Denmark April 5, 1854, the daughter of Johan and Margretta (Hanson) Peterson. Mrs. Sorenson died May 16, 1910. Two sons and two daughters were born to this union: Annie, born December 24, 1874; Mary, born May 16, 1877; John, born Jan- uary 17, 1885; and James, born October 22, 18SS. Since 1910 John Sorenson has rented and managed the home farm.
O. M. EDSILL (1881) is literally the builder of the town of Cazenovia, of which he is a leading merchant. Every building in the town, with the exception of the railroad property and the elevators, has been erected through his efforts. Mr. Ed- sill was horn in Summit county, Ohio, the first of September, 1859, and is the son of Vincent H. Edsill, of Laporte City, lowa. The mother of our subject, Mellisa (Bur- dick) Edsill, died in that lowa town when he was a boy of thirteen.
Six months after the birth of our sub- ject the Edsill family moved to Winnebago county, Illinois, and shortly after locating there the father, Vincent H. Edsill, enlist- ed in the union army and served to the close of the sectional struggle. At the restoration of peace the family moved to Laporte City, lowa, and there Mr. Edsill of this biography grew to maturity and received an education in the village school. At the age of twenty he returned to his former home in Illinois and was employed on a farm until settling in Pipestone county thirty years ago,
Mr. Edsill arrived in Pipestone county in October, 1881, and immediately rented land on section 15, Sweet township, which he farmed two years. He then bought of Close Bros. & Co. the east half of the southwest quarter of section 11, Troy, which he improved and upon which he made his home until 1899. Disposing of his farm property, he bought the Caze- novia general store of Frank Turk, a busi- ness he still conducts. Until 1910 he was also manager of the E. A. Brown elevator at that point. Mr. Edsill was assessor of
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