USA > Minnesota > Rock County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 104
USA > Minnesota > Pipestone County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 104
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The bank has had the following assistant cashiers since its organization: C. B. Math- er, W. C. Lee, S. A. Christianson, Elizabeth Douty, Myrtle Jones, Mabel Rud, F. N. Saun.
FRANK HILLARD (1892) is one of the prominent agriculturists of Altona township -a man who has reaped prosperity from Pipestone county's productive soil. His 360 acre farm, which comprises the northeast quarter of section 33 and the southwest quarter of section 28, is substantially and thoroughly improved. During the summer of 1910 Mr. Hillard erected an elegant farm residence, unexcelled in the precinct. He
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
is an extensive breeder of the highest grades of stock.
Alsace-Lorraine was French territory at the time the birth of our subject occurred there October 10, 1868. Two years later, as a result of warfare between the French and German nations, the territory hecame a German province. Both parents, Frank Hillard, Sr., a farmer by occupation, and Susanna (Benarde) Hillard, lived and died in the land of the kaiser. The father died on New Year's day, 1901, while the mother died in 1890.
Frank Hillard of this biography passed the first twenty-two years of his life in the land of his birth. He attended the German common schools and until immigrating to America he was employed on the fruit and truck farm of his father. On February 24, 1890, Frank landed at New York, and from that port he journeyed to Dubuque, Iowa, arriving there with very limited capital. For two years he was employed at farın labor in the vicinity of Dubuque; then com. meneed the successful career he has since pursued in Pipestone county and Altona township. He worked out for two years, then rented the land he now farms, of which he became the owner after four years' oc- cupancy. Mr. Hillard has been for several years a director of scohol distriet No. 31.
In Grange township, on Angust 12, 1896, Frank Hillard was wedded to Catherine Ackerman, the daughter of L. V. and Mary Ackerman, of Grange. Mrs. Hillard was born at Faribault, Minnesota, December 14, 1874. They are the parents of one living child, John, horn April 26, 1899. Two sons, Peter and Henry, are deceased. Peter was born February 18, 1899. Henry, born May 24, 1898, died at the age of nine months.
ORVILLE P. NASON (1880). In the city of Pipestone there is not a citizen more highly esteemed, or a man more closely identified with every worthy movement that has meant for a bigger and better Pipestone -and that from the earliest days,-or one that has contributed more of his means and energy to the promotion of the public wel- fare than the gentleman whose name heads this review. A busier man there never was, but it seems to be an almost universal rule that it is just such individuals that always
are ready and willing to give of their spare time and talent to aid others and the com- mon good.
At Osceola, Polk county, Wisconsin, on April 28, 1864, occurred the birth of this man of achievement, Orville P. Nason. He was sixteen years of age when, with his parents, he moved to Minnesota and Pipe- stone county, destined to be the field of his subsequent activities. The father, Crocker Nason, and his family lived on a farm in Gray township for two years, but in 1882 became permanent residents of Pipestone City.
On the first day of April, 1885, at the age of twenty-one, Orville P. Nason commeneed his business career in Pipestone. From the small beginnings of that date has developed a business organization of unusual magni- tude, another monumental success to be at- tributed to a self-made man, who has accom- plished great things through peserverance, attention to minute details, and a fortitude acquired only in the school of "hard knocks." On the date mentioned Mr. Nason established a dray line of limited propor- tions. A year later he assumed the man- agement of the interests of the Standard Oil company, in Pipestone, and today is the oldest agent, in point of continuous service, of that corporation in the Mankato distriet, which comprises the whole of southwestern Minnesota. Mr. Nason's bus- iness interests commenced to expand about twenty years ago, when he became a deal- er in wood and coal. Following that move- ment, he bought an elevator and now is also a grain merchant. Several years ago he became the operator of the Pipestone Granite quarry. In the conduct of these manifold interests of Mr. Nason's twenty men find employment.
To E. W. Davies, the pioneer banker of Pipestone, more than to any other man, Mr. Nason attributes his success. At the commencement of his business career a quarter of a century ago, Mr. Davies freely gave financial and moral support and of- fered valuable instruction in the most ap- proved methods of bookkeeping suitable to his business. That first set of books Mr. Nason still retains and prizes. He is now one of the stockholders of the Pipestone County Bank, of which Mr. Davies is the president.
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
The parents of our subject, Crocker and Evaline (Fenlason) Nason, are natives of Maine. They were married in Wisconsin in 1860 and resided in Osceola county, of that state, until establishing their present residence in Pipestone county thirty-one years ago. For two years the family re- sided in Gray township, but have lived in Pipestone since 1882. Crocker Nason is still hale and hearty and for the past twenty years has piloted the train bus of his transfer line. Besides Orville P., of this sketch, there are three other sons in the Nason family, namely: Ralph W., of Pipestone; Ross A., of Antlers, Colorado; and Mrs. Crocker Nason celebrated their schools at Vigan, Philippine Islands. Mr. and Mrs. Crocker Nason celebrated their golden wedding November 4, 1910, the event having been planned as a surprise by the Grand Army and Relief Corps of Pipestone.
On September 18, 1886, in Pipestone, oc- cured the marriage of Orville P. Nason to Isabella . B. Wilson, who was born in Will county, Illinois. Mrs. Nason is a sister of Andrew Wilson, of the firm of Wilson & Evans Bros .. and a daughter of Andrew and Isabella Wilson, of Scotch birth, and residents of Pipestone connty since 1885. One son, Forrest P., was born to these par- ents on July 13, 1900.
Among the organizations and enterprises in which Mr. Nason has been a guiding spirit must be mentioned the Pipestone Commercial club, of which he is a char- ter member, and its first and only presi- dent, an office he acceptably fills at the present writing. He is affiliated with the I. O. O. F. lodge and the Sons of Veter- ans. His father, Crocker Nason, served with distinction throughout the whole civil war as a member of company A, Forty-fourth Wisconsin regiment.
HARRY M. GRIFFIN (1884), who owns and farms a half section of land in Mur- ray county, just over the line from Os- borne township, lived in Pipestone county from the time he was a boy twelve years of age until the spring of 1911. He is the son of J. A. Griffin, of Trosky, a native of New Hampshire. The Griffins are of Eng- lish descent, the father of J. A. Griffin
having been the first of the family to set- tle in America. His mother came of old Pilgrim stock. The mother of our sub- ject was Isabelle (Gray) Griffin, who was born in Scotland and died Jnly 5, 1908.
Harry M. Griffin's birth occurred in Dela- ware county, Iowa, May 4, 1872. Twelve years later he moved with his parents to Pipestone connty, the family locating on a farm where the village of Trosky now stands. He was educated in the district schools and later attended the Trosky school. Mr. Griffin was married in 1895 and the same year commenced farming for himself on section 17, Osborne town- ship. Three years later he moved to sec- tion 30 and in 1904 located on section 24, where he resided until March 6, 1911. At that time he moved to his own farm, the south half of section 18, township 105, range 43, Murray county, which he bought from William Lockwood October 10, 1910. Mr. Griffin is a large stock raiser. He is the clerk of school district No. 44 and has served in that capacity since 1905. He is affiliated with the I. O. O. F. lodge of Trosky and the M. W. A. lodge of Edger- ton.
On January 12, 1888, Harry and two of his hrothers met with an unpleasant ex- perience in the never-to-be-forgotten bliz- zard of that year. The boys were caught in the storm while homeward bound from Trosky. The snow was so heavy and blinding that it was impossible for them to discern one another and it was only hy tightly holding to each other's coats that they were able to keep from being sepa- rated and lost. They walked eighty rods through the storm before finally reaching home and shelter.
Mr. Griffin was married in Osborne town- ship on September 25, 1895, to Hattie Butts, the daughter of R. J. and Catherine J. Butts, now of Bellingham, Washington. She was born in Rushford, Fillmore coun- ty, Minnesota, February 1, 1871, and moved eight years later with her parents to Pipestone county. The following six chil. dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Grif- fin: James A., born Angust 4, 1896; Rich- ard H., horn February 21, 1898; Thelma I., born August 31, 1899; Catherine 1., born August 12, 1901; and Hattie M. and Harry M. (twins), born January 3, 1905.
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
CHARLES LINDSAY (1883), president of the village council of Woodstock, is a pioneer merchant of that town, having been established there in the general mer- chandise business since 1883. He is one of a family of five children whose parents were George and Katherine Lindsay, both deceased. A native of Scotland, our sub- ject was born in Forfar shire October 13, 1859.
Charles received a careful education in his native land and came to the United States in 1883, at the age of twenty-four years. He was influenced to come to Amer- ica through the inducements offered by a company of Scotch capitalists, formed for the purpose of establishing a Scotch colony in the counties of Pipestone and Murray. This enterprise was launched in the early eighties, large tracts of land were pur- chased or options secured on them, and the country opened for colonization. The com- pany interested intelligent and successful young Scotch farmers in the venture, and among those was Charles Lindsay of this review, who is one of the remaining few of the original band of colonists now residing in this section.
For some reason or other the coloniza- tion project was a failure, and the mem- hers of the colony were thrown on their own resources shortly after making settle- ment in this country. Mr. Lindsay turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, and the year he became an American resident he established his present flourishing gen- eral mercantile business in Woodstock. He succeeded to the business of the Al- thorpe company, which has been materially increased in the twenty-eight years that have elapsed since 1883. Mr. Lindsay car- ries a full line of dry goods, groceries, shoes, hats, caps, etc. He owns his store building and residence property in the vil- lage.
In Pipestone, in June, 1895, our subject was jolned in wedlock to Mary Fleming, a native of the adjoining county of Murray. One daughter, Marian, was born io Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay, on May 17, 1898.
On repeated occasions Mr. Lindsay has been called upon to fill offices of trust in his home community. He is now and has been for many years the treasurer of the board of education and has also enjoyed
a long service on the village council, of which he is the present head. Fraternally he is a Mason, belongnig to the Blue Lodge No. 148 and Triune Chapter No. 51, of Pipestone; a Woodman and a Workman.
JOHN W. WEHRMAN (1888), a well known Eden township farmer and stock raiser, was born in Iowa county, lowa, October 2, 1862, the son of Henry and Sarah (Elder) Wehrman. The father was a German by birth, and the mother was a native of Peunsylvania.
John was educated in the country schools of his native county and until 1886 assisted his father on the home farm. In the year mentioned he rented land and commenced farming on his own account, and two years later he settled in Pipestone county. At that time he bought 240 acres on section 29, Eden, and later became the owner of another 260 acre tract on the same section. He has now 600 acres of well improved land, on which are substantial buildings. Mr. Wehrman breeds Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs. He is president of the Farmers Elevator company of Jasper. Our subject was for fifteen years a member of the township board, and he is now the treasurer of school district No. 26. With his family he belongs to the German Lu- theran church.
Mr. Wehrman was married in 1890, in Benton county, Iowa, to Annie Schield, who was born in that county March 24, 1868. She is the daughter of John and Dorthia (Budy) Schield, both of whom came originally from Germany. To Mr. and Mrs. Wehrman have been born eight chil- dren, as follows: Irene, born May 16, 1891; Iona, born September 11, 1892; Ruth, born September 18, 1894; Aurelia, born July 18, 1897; Esther, born June 18, 1899; Henry, born July 18, 1901; Dorthia, born January 19, 1907; and Robert, born Decem- ber 19, 1909.
ROBERT I. WHITEHEAD (1884) is one of the prosperous young farmers of Grange township, one whose entire life has been passed within the borders of Pipestone county. His father, William W. White- head, is one of the very earliest of Pipe-
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
stone county's pioneers. He came first in 1875, as a hoy of fifteen years, with his father, Joseph Whitehead (the grand- father of our subject), who filed on a tim- ber claim in Sweet township, spent the following winter in Lyon county, lowa, then returned to make permanent settle- ment. The Whiteheads helped haul the lumber with which the home of Daniel Sweet, the first erected in the county, was built. William W. Whitehead, who was born in Linn county, Jowa, August 17, 1860, married Jennie Wait, a native of Madison, Wisconsin, and to them four chil- dren were born: Robert l., of this sketch; Roy David, Ralph and Minnie Matilda. The parents still maintain a residence on section 2, Sweet.
Robert Whitehead was born
on the Sweet township farm February 18, 1884. He resided on the home place until twenty- two years of age. At that time, in com- pany with his father, he bought the north half of section 5, Grange township, which he has improved from barren land to a model farm. He is a large feeder of high grade stock. Mr. Whitehead's crop for 1910 was as follows: Oats, seventy-five bushels per acre from seventy-one acres; wheat, twenty-one bushels to the acre; bar- ley, thirty bushels to the acre; and a bumper crop of corn, thirty-five to forty bushels per acre, from a field of 140 acres.
On the same section where occurred his birth, on January 23, 1906, our subject was united in marriage to Sabina Danne- ker, the daughter of John and Julia Dan- neker. Mrs. Whitehead was born on the northeast quarter of section 28, Grange, on November 19, 1883. A daughter, Tressa, was horn to these parents December 12, 1908, and a son, Earnest, on January 6, 1911.
WILLIAM A. SWEET (1879), who owns and farms the southwest quarter of section 2, Troy township, is the son of one of the first homesteaders of that town- ship, William W. Sweet, who died in 1909. His wife, Nancy J. (MeLain) Sweet, the mother of our subject, is still living on the old farm. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet brought up a family of nine children, four sons and five daughters.
William A. Sweet was nine years of age when he accompanied his parents to the new Pipestone county from Cedar county, Iowa, where he was born November 13, 1870. He was educated in the district schools and resided on the home farm, the southeast quarter of section 2, Troy town- ship, until he was twenty-five years of age. He then rented land and commenced farm- ing on his own account. He bought and has lived on his present farm since 1907. Mr. Sweet owns stock in the farmers' eleva- tor at Cazenovia. He is treasurer of school district No. 9. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen, Royal Neighbors and Sons of Veterans orders.
The subject of this biography was mar- ried in Troy township August 7, 1895, to Euba Vogt, who was born in Illinois De- cember 14, 1876, the daughter of John and Mary (Young) Vogt. To this union have heen born the following named children: Winnie, born March 21, 1897; Violet, horn April 28, 1901; Byrdella, horn December 12, 1906: and Evelyn, born April 12, 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet are members of the Bap- tist church.
QUINCY E. KIESTER (1893). On the first of February, 1863, Quincy E. Kiester first beheld the things of earth, in Stephen- son county, Illinois. IJe was one of a fam- ily of three sons and two daughters, those besides our subject being William, John, Della and Jennie (deceased). Their parents were Uriah and Mary (Rocky) Kiester, Pennsylvanians by birth. The former died May 6, 1910, at the age of eighty-three years, while his wife died in August, 1898, and was sixty-three years of age at the time.
Mr. Kiester grew to manhood on his father's Illinois farm. After completing a common school education, he was a stu- dent at Carthage college, at Carthage, Illi- nois; then he began the profession of teaching. He taught school in Green coun- ty, Wisconsin, for two years, in Illinois for eight successive years, and in 1893 came to Minnesota and taught for six years in the schools of Trosky and Woodstock. He then took up carpentering and was engaged in building elevators for the Davenport Elevator company. In 1907 he
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
assumed the management of the company's business at Trosky. During a season of every year he goes over the line and re- pairs the elevators of the company. He holds membership in the 1. O. O. F. and M. W. A. lodges.
On repeated occasions Mr. Kiester has yielded to the wish of the voters and filled positions of trust in his community. He was the first clerk and recorder of the village of Trosky and has served on the council every year with the exception of two since his residence in Trosky began. He is now president of the council and has served in that capacity the past four years. He is a leading citizen of the town and the local manager of the Davenport Elevator company. He is also a member of the board of education. In 1900 and in 1910 Mr. Kiester was entrusted with the taking of the federal census in his pre- cinet.
Our subject was married in Orangeville, Illinois, October 21. 1891, to Jennie W Stair, who was born in the Prairie state December 10, 1871. Mr. and Mrs. Kiester have four children: Neli N., Ardath 1., Vida M. and George V.
JAIRUS HITCHCOX (1885), who has faithfully guarded the treasury of Pipe- stone county since January, 1899, is a native of Pompia township, Onondaga county, New York, and is the son of Asahel and Malinda (Davis) Hitchicox, both of whom were also natives of the Empire state. There are four sons in the family who, besides our subject, are Amos B., of Belvidere, Illinois; Harry H., of Pipe- stone; and Frank E., of St. Paul. The father, Ashael Hitchcox, served through the civil war in the One Hundred and For ty-Ninth New York infantry. In 1867 with his family he moved west and located in Kane county, Illinois. Coming to Pipe- stone county in 1882, he bought land and lived there until moving to Kettle Falls, Washington, in 1908. In that Washington town the venerable old man is still living and is now in his eighty-fourth year. His faithful wite died in Pipestone county on January 8, 1899.
The date of the birth of the subject of this biography was April 3, 1856.
Jairus was eleven years of age when the family moved to Kane county, Illinois, and in that county and later in the adjoining one of McHenry, he was educated and passed his youth and early manhood. He was engaged in farming and stock buying up to the time of settling in Pipestone eounty in the spring of 1885, and there he continued in the same occupation until ealled upon to assume the duties of county treasurer. He lived until 1889 on the northeast quarter of section 32, Troy town- ship, and on selling that land he bought 105 acres on section 7, Gray township, land within the corporate limits of Pipe- stone, which he still owns. Mr. Hitch- cox is also the owner of 228 acres of choice land in Swift county. He has lived in the city since holding his present of- fice.
Mr. Hitchcox has at all times been ac- tively interested in the affairs of local and county interest. For all but two years of his residence in Troy he served as chair- man of the township board of supervisors. He was also the clerk of school district No .- 57. On the removal of O. T. Gilson from the township he was chosen to fill that gentleman's unexpired term as a mem- ber of the board of county commissioners from the second district. Fraternally Mr. Hitchcox is affiliated with the Odd Fel- lows, Modern Woodmen, Workmen and Sons of Veterans orders.
The marriage of our subject to Ruth Wilson occurred in Huntley, Illinois, on January 7, 1880. She is a native of Mc- Henry county, Illinois. The following three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hitclicox: Myrtle (Mrs. Harry A. Gano), of Pipestone; Vera L. and Aura May.
II. C. GLOVER (1886), a resident of Pipestone county for a quarter century, owns and farms the northeast quarter and the east half of the northwest quarter of section 27, Rock township, upon which he has lived since 1901. For most of the im- provements on his farm Mr. Glover is direct- ly responsible. He raises considerable stock, especially throughbred Shropshire sheep, and engages extensively in dairying.
The birthplace of our subject is Wayne county, New York, where on May 20, 1867,
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
he first beheld the things of this earth. He was five years of age when death called his father, Conklin Glover, a farmer and a native of Long Island, New York. His mother, Sarah (Perkins) Glover, who died in June, 1901, was born in Wayne county.
Mr. Glover was reared on a farm and educated in the district schools of Wayne county, which continued to be his home until 1886. On March 17 of that year he arrived in Pipestone connty. He attended the Pipestone high school for a time, and for four years was employed on the farm of C. E. Cunningham in Sweet township. For two years he was absent from the state, farming the while near Woodlake, Nebraska. He returned to Pipestone connty and until his marriage was em- ployed on the Cunningham farm. For one summer he resided in the city of Pipestone and did carpenter work, then rented land in Troy, which he farmed seven years, moving from there to his own farm in Rock township. Mr. Glover holds member- ship in the Woodstock Presbyterian church.
At Pipestone, on April 12, 1893, the sub- ject of this sketch was joined in mar- riage to Annie Masek, who was born at Marshalltown, Iowa, October 9, 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Glover are the parents of the following ten children: Laura Belle, born March 5, 1894; Grace Jennie, born October 28, 1895; Harold Emery, born Angust 9, 1897; Walter Wallace, born August 27, 1899; Nellie Rose, born July 26, 1901; Ed- ward Arthur and Herbert Homan (twins), born May 26, 1903; Ralph Cecil, born July 30, 1905; Donald Rollo, born August 5; 1908; and Francis Laverne, born August 21, 1910.
CHARLES H. MAYNARD (1892), a pro- gressive farmer of Elmer township, is the son of two pioneer settlers of Butler coun ty, łowa, Curtis G. and Caroline (Hooper) Maynard, both natives of Ohio and of Eng- lish and Scotch descent. Our subject was born March 15, 1867. He was four years of age when the family moved from Butler to Marshall county. Ten years later the May- nards moved to Sac county, in the same state, and there Charles finished his school- ing and grew to manhood. In 1892, at the age of twenty-five years, he commenced his
career in Pipestone connty. At that time he bought the farm, the northeast quarter of section 35, Elmer, upon which he has since resided. Mr. Maynard is a large stock raiser, and he makes a specialty of Shorthorn cattle and Poland China and Duroc-Jersey hogs. He has been clerk of Elmer township for ten years. Fraternaliy he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen orders.
In Schaller, lowa, on March 12, 1892, oc- curred the marriage of Charles H. Maynard to Luella West, who was born May 18, 1874, the daughter of Edward and Elmira (Gere) West. To this union have been born two children: Edward L., born May 12, 1894; and Curtis D., born January 25, 1906.
FRIEND C. BRAKE (1893) is one of the prominent business men of Edgerton. He was one in a family of five children, four of whom are now living, whose parents were Charles and Harriet (Laravee) Brake, natives of Canada and New York, respect- ively, and both of French descent. The father died in August, 1907, at the age of seventy-eight years, but Harriet (Laravee) Brake is yet a resident of Edgerton. The living children in the Brake family besides our subject are Arthur, of Hancock, Minne- sota; Eugene, of Minneapolis; and Mary Atwood, of Fnlda, Minnesota.
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