USA > Minnesota > Rock County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 103
USA > Minnesota > Pipestone County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 103
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121
688
PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
the town of Troy in 1908. He is a mem- her of the Pipestone Baptist church.
O. M. Edsill has been married twice. Della Warner, native of Winnebago county, Illinois, became his wife on Janu- ary 5, 1881. Della (Warner) Edsill was horn November 25, 1861, and died Septem- ber 30, 1893. Three children were born to this union, as follows: Cora Evelyn (Mrs. L. G. Hess), of Mary Hills, Washington, born October 10, 1881, in Winnebago county, Illinois; Fred Loren, of Stevenson, Washington, born December 8, 1883, in Pipestone county; Lee Everett, deceased, born January 2, 1886.
At Pipestone, on June 3, 1908, our sub- ject was married to Rose Chaney, who was born in Elgin, Illinois, December 27, 1879. By a former marriage Mrs. Edsill has two children, Ruth and Lillie.
ALEXANDER RAE (1887) is one of the prominent citizens of the thriving village of Jasper. It has been Mr. Rae's privilege to witness in the fullest degree the trans- formation of an ordinary expanse of un- improved prairie to a substantial and rapidly developing municipality, second in importance in Pipestone county only to the county seat. He located on the townsite of Jasper the year before the railroad was built to that point, and with his brother he was The first purchaser of town lots, upon which he immediately set out trees and which he otherwise improved.
In "bonnie" Scotland, on April 10, 1867, occurred the birth of Alexander Rae. He was educated in the land of his birth and there also mastered the stone mason's trade. At the age of twenty he severed home ties and became an adopted son of Uncle Sam. For a few months after his arrival to the United States Mr. Rae was located at Westerly, Rhode Island, and then set out for the west, making Dell Rapids, South Dakota, his destination. He was there only a short time when he cast his lot with the pioneers of Jasper. With the exception of a short season spent in the restaurant business at St. Cloud and a summer's residence in Pipestone, Mr. Rae has been permanently located at Jasper. He holds a responsible position at the quarries, and in addition, since the fall of 1909, bas
conducted an up-to-date restaurant and con- fectionery store. Our subject is a Modern Woodman and Knight of Pythias by fra- ternal affiliation.
At St. Cloud, on January 31, 1894, Alex- ander Rae was joined in marriage to Sarah Siscely, a native of that city. The follow- ing five children have been born to this union: Mary, Stella, Edith, Harold and Trene.
Alexander Rae is the son of George and Barbara (Farquhr) Rae, natives of Scot- land who came to America in 1891. Bar- bara Rae died the next July; George Rae resides in Jasper with his son, Andrew.
LEWIS H. WILSON (1886) is a progres- sive young business man of the little village of Ihlen, in Eden township. He is postmas- ter and president and manager of the Ihlen Mercautile company, a business institution incorporated for $11,000. The present offi- cers of the company, which deals in all kinds of general merchandise, are: Presi- dent and manager, L. H. Wilson; vice presi- dent, L. L. Dale; secretary, H. G. Wilson; treasurer, R. H. O'Connell. The board of directors consists of the officers mentioned, with the addition of Joseph Evenson.
Lewis H. Wilson was born in Hamilton county, lowa, April 13, 1882, and four years later settled in Pipetsone county with his parents. His father bought the northwest quarter of section 15, Eden township, upon which our subject grew to manhood. llis education in the Ihlen village school was spplemented by a course in the Red Wing preparatory college. In 1905 he entered the employ of the Ihlen Mercantile company as a clerk, and was with the concern only a year and a half when he was promoted to the responsible position he now holds. Mr. Wilson is also a stockholder in the South Dakota Rural Telephone company and in the Farmers Elevator company of Ihlen. He is one of the directors of the first named organization. He owns a half interest in a 240 acre farm, one-half mile west of Ihlen.
Lewis is the oldest in a family of eight children born to lacob F. and Martha (Sheldahl) Wilson. One of the children, James L., is dead, but the other seveu are all residents of the county. Their names are Gerard E., Anna C., Bessie M., Helen L.,
689
PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
Mabel F. and Martin B. Jacob F. Wilson was born in Norway in 1855 and came to this country at the age of fourteen years. He married Martha Sheldahl, a native of Story county, lowa, where he resided prior to settling in Pipestone county in 1886. Mr. Wilson died on his Eden township farm December 16, 1907. He is survived by his wife, who still resides on the old home farm.
At Hanley Falls, Yellow Medicine county, Minnesota, on June 30, 1908, occurred the marriage of Lewis H. Wilson to Hilda An- derson, who was born in the county of her marriage June 16, 1884. One son, Rufus J., was born to these parents, on July 16, 1909.
HOWARD W. FOOTE (1881) is the man- ager of the Coffey elevator and grain busi- ness at Trosky. He was born in Oxford, Herkimer county, New York, June 26, 1855, the son of Burton and Maria (Whitehead) Foote, both of whom are dead. The former was born in the Empire state and the lat- ter was a native of England. They were the parents of four children, who, besides our subject, are Asa, of Idaho; Edith (Mrs. C. O. Armstead), of Aitkin, Minnesota; and El- mira, of Fergus Falls.
Howard was four years of age when he moved with his parents to Green Lake, Wis- consin, and that was his home until after his twenty-sixth birthday, most of the time being engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1881 he settled in Pipestone county. He conducted a farm of Jay LaDue in Elmer township for two years, then filed a tree claim to the northwest quarter of section 26, of the same township, which he improv- ed and lived upon until 1896. That year he went to Aitkin county, Minnesota, home- steaded a claim of sixty-seven acres, to which he added eighty acres by purchase, and made that his home for eight years. He returned to Pipestone county in the summer of 1905 and located permanently in Trosky. For two years thereafter he was a cream buyer; then he commenced his present duties with the Coffey Elevator company.
Mr. Foote owns his residence and a block of ground in Trosky and retains possession of his Aitkin county farm. While a resident of Elmer township he served as a school
director, and he served in a similar capac- ity in Aitkin county. While there he was also township treasurer. Our subject is a member of the Methodist church and of the I. O. O. F. and Good Samaritan lodges.
In Edgerton, on December 10, 1894, was solemnized the marriage of Howard W. Foote to Mrs. Irena Rogers. Mrs. Foote is a native of New York. By her first hus- band she has the following named children: John, Rupert and Etta Rogers.
AMOS AUST (1879), of Pipestone, is the eldest son in a family of five daughters and two sons who were born to William and Berth (Kurth) Aust, pioneers and home. steaders of Gray township. The names of the children in the Aust family besides our subject are Clara, Katie, Henry, Josephine, Tina and Louise.
William Aust, the father, first beheld the things of earth in the land of the kaiser across the seas. When a youth of sixteen lie took passage for America, and for a num ber of years he was employed at farm labor in the vicinity of Fountain City, Wisconsin. From that locality he moved to Rochester, Minnesota, where he became the owner of a small farm, and it was there also that he was married to Betha Kurth, a native of Wisconsin.
The charms of Pipetsone county bad, dur- ing the late seventies, been heralded through the eastern part of the state, and in conse- quence had attracted the attention of many a prospective settler. Among those was William Aust, one of a small company who in the spring of 1878 acted upon a resolve to inspect the new land for themselves. The visit proved sufficient to impress Mr. Aust with the desirability of the region, and be- fore returning to his home in Rochester he pre-empted a quarter section of land in the vicinity of the future town of Holland.
In 1879 Mr. Aust, accompanied by his family, undertook the journey overland via the ox-team route and prepared to make a permanent settlement in the sparsely set- tled and undeveloped Pipestone county of that day. There was a surprise in store for the pioneer on arrival at his destination. His claim had been "jumped" during his ab- sence and it proved impossible to assert his right to the land. However, there was plen-
42
690
PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
ty of prairie land waiting to be taken, and, taking advantage of the homestead laws, Mr. Aust filed claim to the northeast quar- ter of section 12, Gray township, which was destined to be his home for many years. The covered wagon which had brought the family in the journey across the sea of prairie was converted into an abode until a sod covered shanty could be constructed on the claim. It was necessary to haul the lumber needed from Tracy, a distance of fifty miles. Eventually the harren plain was transformed into a blooming garden through the never ceasing efforts of indus- trious hands.
In 1889 Mr. Aust moved from the old farm and for eighteen months was a resi- dent of Pipestone. He then became the owner of an eighty acre traet on section 14, Gray, for which he paid $500. It was a pay- ing investment. The ground was broken and planted to flax, and the first year a crop, valued at $1200, was realized. At the end of three years William Aust retired from farming and moved to Kasota, Lesu- eur county, where he conducted a hotel for six years. He then returned to Pipestone county and the Gray township homestead, lived thereon a year, and then hecame a hardware and machinery merchant in Pipe- stone. This business he finally traded for a half section of land near Manchester, Kings- bury county, South Dakota, where he had previously acquired 900 acres. This land, which he purchased at bargain prices, was in after years disposed of for a handsome sumn. Mr. Aust farmed his half section in Kingsbury county for a number of years. In 1903 he returned for a visit to his old home in Germany. He returned to the United States in the spring following and shortly afterwards again journeyed to the land of his birth, where he remained and where he proposes to spend his declining years. Amos Aust of this review is a native of Fountain City, Wisconsin, where he was born May 27, 1878. When an infant in his first year he accompanied his parents to Pipestone county and settled with them on the Gray township homestead. He attended school in that precinct at a time when the task of directing the youthful mind was carried on in the farm homes of the neighborhood. Amos was later sent to the Pipestone public school. He was fourteen years of age when
the Aust family moved to Kasota. He left that place to return to *Pipestone county and moved to the homestead in Gray, which he conducted three years.
Mr. Aust was for a time engaged in the grain buying business. He managed the elevator at Gray's Siding for three years and was located for a year at Wilmont, Nobles county, where he was employed in a similar capacity. His father had moved to Kingsbury county, South Dakota, and there Amos went to live for a time. He in- vested in a half section of land, which he farmed for a year, and then once more es- tablished a home in Gray township on the farm which he had in the meantime bought from his father, and which our subject still owns. He continued to farm until the death of his wife early in 1909. During the fall of that year he bought grain at Colman, South Dakota, then settled in the city of Pipestone, where he is now engaged in the real estate business. He devotes especial attention to the sale of Texas lands. Mr. Aust has invested heavily in real estate in the Panhandle region of that state.
At Pipestone, on October 7, 1902, Amos Aust was joined in marriage to Hattie Riffel, the daughter of W. H. Riffel, of Pipe- stone. She was born near Burlington, Iowa, on August 22, 1881, and died January 3, 1909. The following four children were horn to this union: Lola, born July 16, 1903; Harold, born August 24, 1904; Ethel, horn October 20, 1905; and Gladys, born Septem- ber 27, 1907. During his residence in Gray Mr. Aust for several terms officiated as jus- tice of peace.
HARRY MINET (1878), Grange township farmer, has passed all except the first eight years of his life as a resident of Pipestone county. A native of Wisconsin, he was born in Juneau county, April 18, 1870, His fa- ther, Nelson Minet, was born in Vermont, and his mother, Margretta (Knudtson) Min- et, is a native of Norway.
Harry was eight years of age when the Minet famliy departed from the Badger state and joined the vanguard of Pipestone county pioneers. The elder Mr. Minet filed a homestead claim to the southeast quarter of section 24, Grange, the farm on which our subjeet was reared. His education was
691
PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
obtained in the district schools of his home precinct. At the age of eighteen our sub- ject came into possession of an eighty acre farm on section 24, which he conducted un. til 1904. That year Mr. Minet moved to the village of Holland, where he bought proper- ty, which he still retains, and operated a livery and dray line for five years. Since then he has rented and farmed the old homestead of his father in Grange.
In the village of Holland Harry Minet was joined in wedlock to Nellie Symens, who was born in Illinois, the daughter of Peter and Minnie Symens. To this union have been born three children, as follows: Min- nie, Nelson and Georgietta. Mr. Minet holds membership in the lodge of Modern Wood- men of America.
PERLEY H. SMITH (1878) has lived on the farm he now owns and conducts, the southwest quarter of section 28, Sweet township, since he was eleven years of age. The land was homesteaded in the spring of 1878 by his father, Ichabod Smith, who re- sided on the farm until called by death, January 1, 1908, at the age of seventy-three years. Ichabod Smith was a native of North Anson, Maine. He married Margaret A. Waddell, who was born in Portsmouth, Ohio. They were early settlers of Wiscon- sin, and later they were numbered among the pioneers of Pipestone county. Mrs. Smith died June 27, 1905. Perley H. has one brother, Daniel E., and a sister, Mary E. Telford.
Juneau county, Wisconsin, is the birth- place, and July 28, 1867, the date of the birth of Perley H. Smith. With his parents he moved to Pipestone county in 1878 and located on the Sweet township homestead. He attended the old school, which was lo- cated on the homestead, and for two years was a student in the public school of Lu- verne. In 1904 Mr. Smith went to Hinckley, Minnesota, and near that place farmed for three years: then he returned to take pos- session of his present finely improved farm. Mr. Smith is one of the township supervis- ors and is clerk of school district No. 35. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen lodges.
At Beaver Creek, Rock county, on Octo-
ber 9, 1889, our subject was married to Flora L. Hulett, a native of New York state. To these parents was born a son, Earl, on December 7, 1896.
FRED W. GILES (1880), of Holland, is the son of one of Pipestone county's settlers, the postmaster of Holland, Edwin Giles, who has served Uncle Sam in that capacity for the past eleven years. The mother of our subject is Anna E. (Pannock) Giles, who is also still living.
The birth of Fred W. Giles occurred in Oneida county, New York, on November 12, 1857. Three years later he moved west with his parents and located with them at Log- ansville, Wisconsin, and on a farm near that place he grew to manhood. The eldest son in a family of ten children, he was early forced to contribute towards his own sup- port. Fred became a resident of Pipestone county in 1880. For five years he was em- ployed successively at farm labor in Sweet and Troy townships and in the Pipestone quarries. He then was engaged in railroad work for several years, following which he set up in the well digging business, a line of work he followed for twelve years-in every corner of the county. He was later in the dray and transfer business at Lake Benton; Lincoln county, where he resided until August, 1906. Then he settled in Hol- land and bought the general merchandise business of his father, which he still con- ducts.
At Flandreau, South Dakota, on Septem- ber 27, 1884, Fred W. Giles was married to Mary F. Stanley, a native of Chippewa coun- ty, Wisconsin. She was born June 24, 1869, and when four years of age accompanied her parents, Havilla G. and Lucy A. (Fris- bie) Stanley, to Murray county, Minnesota, where they homesteaded. Two children have been horn to Mr. and Mrs. Giles: a son, Charles James, born April 11, 1888; and a daughter, Mattie L., born in October, 1886. Mattie is married to Rudolph Jolitz, of Lake Benton, and she is the mother of a daughter, Beryl Lillian.
Our subject was a member of the Holland village council four years. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen lodges.
692
PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
SAMUEL J. CARSON (1885), who owns and farms the south half of section 33, Troy township, on which he has made most of the improvements, is a native of Ver- mont. He was born in Vergennes, Addison conuty, on the seventh of September, 1855. Both his parents, James and Margaret (Preston) Carson, were natives of Ireland. The father died when Samnet was twenty- one years . of age and his mother passed away in 1897.
Five years after' the birth of our subject the Carson family moved to Canada. They remained there only a short time, returning to the old Vermont home, where Samuel passed his yonth. On attaining his majority he left his native state and went to·Massa- chusetts. He was employed for a time in the quarries at Springfield and later follow; ed agricultural pursuits in that state. Mr. Carson moved to Pipestone county in 1885. He bought a quarter section farm on section 32, Sweet, which he conducted fifteen years. On selling that place, he bought his present land in Troy and has since resided there. Mr. Carson is an ex-chairman of the board of supervisors in both Sweet and Troy town- ships and is now the treasurer of school district No. 57, an office which he also held in his former residence.
In Naperville county, Quebec, Canada, on January 2, 1882, the subject of this review was joined in wedlock to Mary Ann Stuart; a native of that province. Her birth occur red January: 2, 1861. Four sons and two daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Carson. Their names are Annie (Mrs. Or- ville Haines), of Troy; William, of Troy; Nina (Mrs. Edward Anderson), of Troy; James, Foster and Stuart, the. last three re- siding at home.
1
CEYLON E. TAYLOR (1881) is one of the earliest of Grange township settlers. He still resides on and operates his original homestead, the southwest quarter of section 14, to which he filed claim in 1881. fle has been unnsually successful as a hreeder of high grade stock. Mr. Taylor is an ex-mem- ber of both the board of supervisors of the town of Grange and the board of directors of his school district.
Samuel and Sarah J. (Dake) Taylor, the parents of our subject, moved from their
native state of Vermont to Wisconsin at a very early date. They settled in Oakdale, Monroe county, where on April 8, 1859, oc- curred the nativity of Ceylon E. Taylor of this review. He acquired a common school education and at the age of sixteen assumed control of his own course in life. He was employed for a number of years in the pin- eries of northern Wisconsin, and from that state came to Pipestone county thirty years ago. By fraternal affiliation Mr. Taylor is a Modern Woodman.
Mr. Taylor is a man of family. He was married in Pipestone October 4, 1888, to Louisa Arrowsmith, a native of England. She was born June 17, 1869, the daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth Arrowsmith. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are parents of the follow- ing named children: Belle, born July 19, 1889; George, born July 30, 1892: Ceylon, born November 28, 1894; Melvin, born Au- gust .21, 1897; Henry, born July 11, 1900; May, born October 26, 1902; and Clarence E., born May 25, 1905.
DANIEL E. SWEET (1874), deceased. The first man to locate permanently in Pipe- stone county and for some time the only settler within the confines of the county was Daniel E. Sweet, who played a most important -part in the affairs of his county and city.
Mr. Sweet was born in Pennsylvania Ap- ril 10, 1838. He moved to Wisconsin with his .parents when a child and in 1860 went to lowa. He was married to Amarancy Hatch, who died in 1870. Upon the outbreak of the civil war Mr. Sweet enlisted in the Eleventh lowa infantry and served until the close of hostilities. During his service he was promoted to color sergeant. After the war Mr. Sweet located in Cedar county, Jowa, where he resided until the spring of 1872, when he located in Lyon county, lowa. There he married his second wife, who is still living.
As has been told in the historical part of this volume, Mr. Sweet and his wife and child took up their residence at the Pipe- stone quarries in 1874 and there took a land claim upon which a part of the city of Pipestone now stands. He was very ac- tive in promoting the settlement of the county in the early days, and after that was
.
DANIEL E. SWEET AND FAMILY
Who Were the First Settlers in Pipestone County. The Lit- tle Girl Was the Second White Child Born in the County.
693
PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
hrought about he did much to boom his county and town. In company with C. H. Bennett, he platted Pipestone City, was the first postmaster, and served as county sur- veyor and prohate judge after the county organization was brought about. He donat- ed the school house site and the court house site.
Several days before his death Mr. Sweet moved to Jennings, Louisiana, where he had charge of a steamboat line and where he later engaged in other business enterprises. He died at Siloam Springs, Arkansas, Oc- tober 2, 1902, after only a few weeks' resi- dence in that place.
CHARLES H. KINGSBURY (1878), a farmer of Osborne township, is an early settler of Pipestone county and one of the very first residents of Osborne township, where he has resided thirty-three years. He is a progessive farmer and a man held in high esteem by his neighbors. Mr. Kings- bury has a fine family of grown-up sons and daughters.
FRANK E. DOUTY (1891) has for two years past been the highly esteemed presi- dent of the village council of Edgerton and is a banker of that thriving municipality. He is a native of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where he was horn April 21, 1871. Both his parents, C. E. and Almeda H. (Adams) Dou- ty, were natives of Maine. When a young man, the father, C. E. Douty, moved west and invested in land near Marshall, Minne- sota. He settled there just at the time of the dread grasshopper scourge, and after a few seasons replete with bitter experiences he sought a more favorable location and se- lected the country near New Hampton, lowa, where he bought land and lived until 1896. That year he came back to Minnesota and farmed in Battle Plain township, Rock county, until his death, which occurred Sep- tember 21, 1909, at the age of fifty-eight years. His wife died July 17, 1910. Two children besides our subject were born to these parents. They are Stanley D., of the home farm, and Cora (Mrs. Emery Lorenz), of Oshorne township.
Frank E. Douty of this biography was three years of age when he left Wisconsin
and located with his parents on a farm near New Hampton, lowa. There he passed his youth and received an education. At the age of twenty he moved to Rock county and farmed land owned by his father in Battle Plain township until 1896, when his resi- dence in Edgerton began. That year he was chosen assistant cashier of the Bank of Edgerton, and five years later he was pro- moted to the cashiership, his present posi- tion. He served on the village council sev. eral years before becoming president of that hody. He is a Mason and a Knight of Py- thias.
On July 26, 1899, Mr. Douty was joined in marriage to Elizabeth Langmack, a na- tive of Iowa, who was born October 27, 1880.
The State Bank of Edgerton is the suc- cessor to the old Bank of Edgerton, which was established in 1891 as a private institu- tion with the following officers: President, H. J. Thode; vice president, B. Ross; cash- ier, C. G. Brady. In 1896 F. E. Douty was elected assistant cashier.
These same officers continued to serve until 1901, when a change resulted as fol- lows: President, C. S. Howard; vice presi- dent, Ed. Yocom; cashier, F. E. Douty, which is the staff as it is today. On March 10, 1908, the original private financial house was reorganized into the State Bank of Ed- gerton, capitalized at $25,000. The institu- tion does a general banking, real estate, loans, collection and insurance business. It is the oldest bank in Edgerton and has en- joyed a prosperous career.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.