USA > Minnesota > Rock County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 107
USA > Minnesota > Pipestone County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 107
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Mr. Marshall has also land interests that demand his attention. He owns land in Os- borne township and superintends the es- tate of his father in Gray township. He is an ex-recorder of the village of Trosky. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge. At Brookings, South Dakota, on March 26, 1901, Samuel T. Marshall was wedded to Margaret Murphy, a native of lowa.
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
A. V. W. BRUINS (1887) farms the west half of section 36, Fountain Prairie town- ship, land which he owns. His mother Aaltje (Rens) Bruins, who resides in Sioux county, lowa, was born in Holland in 1837. The father of our subject, J. W. Bruins, who died in Pipestone county in 1888, also came originally from The Netherlands, where he was born in 1835. He came to America twelve years later with his par- ents. The Bruins were pioneers of Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, and for many years they hauled their farm products to market at Milwaukee, eighty-five miles dis- tant.
In Fond du Lac county, on March 21, 1877, occurred the birth of A. V. W. Bruins of this review. He was ten years of age when the family moved to Pipestone county and located on the farm he now operates, which the father had bought. The elder Mr. Bruins died within a year, and soon after that unfortunate event the family re- turned to the old Wisconsin home. In Fond du Lac county our subject passed the next ten years of his life, attending the dis- triet schools and assisting with the work on the home farm. In 1898 he accompanied the family to Sioux county, lowa, and there lived for another decade. Mr. Bruins learn- ed the carpenter's trade, an occupation he followed for the greater part of his resi- dence in Sioux county. He settled on the Pipestone county farm and commenced farming in 1908.
In Sioux Center, lowa, on April 14, 1904, Mr. Bruins was joined in marriage to Hattie Mouw, who was born in Sioux county in 1884. To this union have been born three children: William J., born February 19, 1905: Bennie M., born November 18, 1906; and Alice Marie, born September 17, 1908.
HIERMAN H. HELLWINCKEL (1899) is a large farmer and stock raiser of Osborne township. He rents and farms the south half of section 30 and the north half of section 31 and is the owner of the south- west quarter of section 29, which he has also farmed since 1907. He is an exten- sive breeder and shipper of high grade stock, making a specialty of Durham cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs.
The subject of this biography was born
in Hanover, Germany, Angust 16, 1866, the son of Heinrich and Margretta (Sunder- mann) Hellwinckel. The father owned a farm of 300 acres, upon which Herman was . reared and worked until coming to America at the age of twenty-five years. He was educated in the village school near by the home farm. The date of his immigration to this country was 1891. He made the town of Missouri Valley, Iowa, his destina- tion, and near that place he worked for a year at farm labor. He then moved to the city of Council Bluffs and secured employ- ment in the Grand hotel. After a year, he became connected with the New Mayer hotel, in the same city, and served that hostelry in the capacity of bookkeeper for seven years, or until establishing his resi- dence in Pipestone county in 1899. Mr. Hellwinckel is a director of the Farmers Elevator company of Edgerton. He has been one of the township supervisors for the past seven years and is a member of the German Lutheran church.
At Council Bluffs, on February 6, 1895, our subject was joined in marriage to Lena Scheel, a native of Davenport, Iowa. She was born May 9, 1865, the daughter of Peter and Amalia (Hintz) Scheel, the for- mer a native of Germany and the latter of Illincis. To Mr. and Mrs. Hellwinckel the following five children have been born: Herman, born December 25, 1895; Carl, horn August 4, 1897; Emma, born Septem- her 3, 1900; Rose, born June 22, 1903; and Ada, born August 23, 1909.
W. J. DINGLER (1896), merchant and postmaster of Cazenovia, has been a resi- dent of the county for fifteen years. A na- tive Minnesotan, he was born at Rochester on September 23, 1866, the son of John Dingler and Carrie (Martig) Dingler, both natives of Switzerland. When our subject was two years old the family moved from Rochester to a farm in Dodge county, where the parents are still living.
Mr. Dingler was educated in the district schools of Dodge county and later attended Beaman's Business college at Red Wing. Until he was seventeen years of age he as- sisted with the work on the home farm. He then secured employment with a thresh- ing crew during the fall months and spent
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
eleven winters working in the pineries. He also engaged in farming and threshing for himself in Dodge and Morrison counties until selecting Pipestone county as his fu- ture residence in 1896.
Our subject was for the first two years engaged in farming the northwest quarter of section 6, Troy, then was a resident of Burke township, near Woodstock, for a year. Mr. Dingler returned to Troy and farmed half of section 5 until the fall of 1902, when he located in Cazenovia to ac- cept the management of the Davenport ele- vator, a position he held for seven years. On October 7, 1903, he bought the general inercantile business of Joseph Moore and has since conducted the store. He was for four years also engaged in the coal busi- ness, but sold out that line to the Farmers Elevator company in 1906. Mr. Dingler was commissioned postmaster of Cazenovia on December 23, 1903. He has been clerk of Troy township since 1904 and was first elected to the clerkship of school district No. 64 in 1905. He owns stock in the Farm- ers Elevator company 'of Cazenovia and has done considerable to advance its interests.
On August 30, 1896, at Fairpoint, Good- hue county, W. J. Dingler was joined in marriage to Rose Fellman, and to this un- ion two children have been horn: Florence, born March 30, 1898, and William, born March 12, 1905. Mrs. Dingler was born in Cherry Grove township, Goodhue county, June 15, 1879, the daughter of George and Christina (Sorn) Fellman, both natives of Germany and now residents of Pipestone. Mr. Dingler is an active worker in lodge circles. He was one of the organizers of the Modern Woodmen camp at Cazenovia in 1905, and he has been clerk of the lodge since. He also holds membership in Hope Lodge No. 89, 1. O. O. F., and in the En- campment and Canton branches of the I. O. O. F. lodge at Pipestone.
LLEWLLYN G. JONES (1879), one of the early day settlers of Elmer township, he- came the treasurer of Pipestone county on January 1, 1911, an honor conferred upon him by the voters of the county at the November election preceding.
The father of our subject was J. O. Jones,
a native Welshman who commenced an American residence in 1846. He was a pio- neer of the pioneers in Green Lake county, Wisconsin, his home for nineteen years. On quitting Wisconsin Mr. Jones made settle- ment in Fillmore county, Minnesota, where he died June 11, 1908, at the age of seventy years. J. O. Jones married Margaret A. Jones in Green Lake county, and to this union were born two sons and a daughter: Llewllyn G., of this review; Joseph F., of Northfield, Minnesota: and Maggie A. New- miller, of Granger, Fillmore county. The mother died October 19, 1908.
On the old Jones farm in Green Lake county, Wisconsin, on the tenth of Sep- tember, 1863, occurred the birth of our subject. Two years later he moved with the family to Fillmore county, Minnesota, and located with them on a farm near the town of Granger. In 1879, when but a youth of sixteen, L. G. Jones came to Pipe- stone county to take charge of the property his father had acquired in the then new and undeveloped country. The elder Mr. Jones purchased the southwest quarter of section 17, Elmer township, from the rail- road company, and that barren land the son transformed into a productive and val- uable farm, of which he came into posses- sion after a few years.
In 1884 Mr. Jones left Pipestone county for a period and spent the next four years in Spink county, Dakota territory, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits and in teaching school. On returning to Pipestone county he located once more on his Elmer township farm, which he sub- stantially improved and made his residence until called upon to serve his county in an official capacity, moving then to the city of Pipestone. For eleven years Mr. Jones, in addition to managing his agricul- tural interests, was employed as salesman and collector by the Pipestone plumbing and windmill supply firm of Reader Broth- ers, and found his field of activity in the county at large.
In Trosky, on November 19, 1890, the subject of this sketch was joined in the bonds of matrimony to Hattie E. Griffin, a native of Delaware, Iowa, and a daughter of J. A. Griffin, one of the county's stal- wart pioneers. To this union one daughter,
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
Byrma E., has been born. Mr. Jones is affiliated with the Masonic and Encamp- ment lodges at Pipestone, and the Odd Fel- lows and Modern Woodmen of Trosky,
CARL L. ENGEBRETSON (1879), one of Jasper's bankers, is a native of Rock coun- ty. Ile was born on his father's homestead, the northeast quarter of section 35, Martin township, on September 26, 1879. He is the son of Lars and Martha (Hanson) En- gebretson, both natives of Norway. They are now residents of Hills.
Carl grew to manhood on the home farm and was a valuable aid to his father in car- rying on the work. His education was re- ceived at the Larchwood (lowa) normal school and at Pleasant View college, Ot- tawa, Illinois. From the latter institution he was graduated in 1897. Then for sever- al years he was a resident of Chicago, en- tering the employ of E. B. Miller & Co., wholesale coffee dealers. For a time lie was cashier and then was promoted to a city salesmanship. After serving in such capacity for some time, he was given a larger territory, becoming the general salesman for the firm in South Dakota, with headquarters in Sioux Falls. For five years he made that his business. While in Sioux Falls he was married on October 15, 1905, to Margaret A. Steiner, whose birth occurred in St. Paul in November, 1879. To them one son, Carl L., Jr., was born, on October 15, 1908.
In September, 1909, Mr. Engebretson gave up his position with the Chicago firm and moved to Jasper, where he opened a real estate office in company with his brother Martin. In the same month he assist- ed in the organization of the Farmers State Bank of Jasper and was elected its first president. The bank opened for busi- ness October 2, 1909, the date of the grant of charter, with a capital of $10,000. It is now in successful operation and does a general banking business. The officers arc: (. 1% Engebretson, president; M. C. Nel- son, vice president; T. M. Alexander, cash- ier. These officers with the exception of Mr. Nelson, together with G. W. Vicker- man, A. G. Kartrude, W. L. Kartrude, H. G. Holter and John Rudd, constitute the board of directors.
Mr. Engebretson is a member of the Masons, the United Commercial Travelers and the Ancient Mystic Order of Bagmen.
CHRISTIAN 1. RING (1877), of Edgerton, has been the judge of probate of Pipestone county since 1901 and is one of the early settlers of both Pipestone and Rock coun- ties. He is a native of Norway and was born June 11, 1848, on a farm near the city of Christiania. After securing a com- mon school education he was a clerk in several of the leading stores in Christiania. His parents, Iver H. and Inga (Jacobson) Ring, are both buried in the old country. Besides Christian of this sketch, there are two other sons and one daughter living, as follows: Mary (Mrs. Torwald Bock), of Norway; Jacob I., of Norway; and Nels, of Ihlen, Pipestone county.
On attaining his majority in 1869 Chris- tian I. Ring immigrated to the United States and first located in Allamakee coun- ty, Iowa. For three years he was a farmer, then until 1877 he clerked in a store in Lansing, with the exception of six months in 1875, when he returned for a visit to his native land. On leaving Lansing, he went direct to Luverne and entered the employ of William Jacobsen, a pioneer merchant and banker of that place. At that time Pipestone county was unorganized.
For six months in 1879 Mr. Ring was lo- cated at Flandreau, South Dakota, then mov- ed to the new village of Pipestone. For two years he clerked in the store of his brother-in-law, H. L. Johnson, and then en- tered the employ of the John Paul Lumber company. Soon after he was transferred to Edgerton to manage the firm's interests at that point. In 1890 our subject bought his employer's lumber yard at Edgerton, trading his homestead in Eden township, which he had taken in 1878, for the same. After a successful business career of ten years he was forced to sell out on account of ill health. On resuming active labor he was for several years engaged in carpenter work and in the lumber yard of A. Pilling. In 1900 Mr. Ring was elected on the re- publican ticket to the office of judge of probate and has been re-elected at each election since then. Although the discharge of his official duties necessitates his pres-
C. I. RING
Pipestone County's Judge of Probate.
R. E. THOMAS
A Pioneer Settler of Osborne Township.
-
C. S. HOWARD
A Pioneer Merchant of Edgerton.
C. L. ENGEBRETSON
President of the Farmers State Bank of Jasper and of the Engebretson Land Company. 4
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
ence in Pipestone, he has maintained his residence at Edgerton.
Mr. Ring has at all times been a prom- inent participant in all matters of local and civic interest. He was a school clerk and justice of the peace in the early days of Eden township, and was also a clerk of Osborne township. He was the first vil- lage recorder of Edgerton and served in that capacity for a great many years. For a score of years prior to 1910 he meted out justice as the judicial officer of his home town. Mr. Ring is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church, the M. W. 1. lodge and the Bankers' Union.
At Lansing, Iowa, on the twenty-fifth of March, 1885, Christian I. Ring and Hokina Johnson were united in marriage. Mrs. Ring was born in Norway August 27, 1844, and came to this country with her parents eleven years later. One daughter, Violet M., was born to this union, October 28, 1889.
C. S. HOWARD (1878), a pioneer mer- chant of Edgerton and the proprietor of one of the leading department stores in Pipe- stone county, is a native of St. Lawrence county, New York. He was born December 8, 1842, the son of Adam and Luvica (Ram- sey) Howard, both natives of Vermont and of Scotch-Irish parentage.
Our subject was educated in the public schools of his native county and at the age of nineteen went to the then frontier coun- ty of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he la- bored in the woods and on the river for more than a decade. Minnesota was his next goal, and in Leota township, Nobles county, and in Murray county he filed on timber claims. That was until 1878, the year his long and prosperous residence in Edgerton began. In the infant community of those days Mr. Howard planted the seeds of his present extensive mercantile busi- ness. The commodious brick structure of two stories and a basement, 50x100 feet in demensions, was erected in 1902.
In addition to his mercantile business, Mr. Howard is actively engaged in the grain business and in the management of his large farming interests. He was one of the organizers of a farmers' elevator company, and in 1895 bought the elevator
and business of the company and has since personally conducted it. He is the owner of 1300 acres of farm land, which include the old tree chaim in Leota township. Mr. Howard is the president of the State Bank of Edgerton. He has been called repeated- ly to fill offices of trust in his town and has served as president of the council and pres- ident of the board of education on several occasions. He is affiliated with the Mod- ern Woodmen.
Mr. Howard was united in marriage in Edgerton on January 10, 1889, to Jessie Patterson, who was born in Elgin, Illinois. They have no children.
ROBERT E. THOMAS (1878) is an early settler of Pipestone county and has main- tained a continuous residence of thirty- three years on the southeast quarter of section 6, Osborne township, land he home- steaded in 1878. He is the son of Orrison and Isabelle (Brown) Thomas, natives, re- spectively, of New Hampshire and Massa. chusetts. They were early settlers of Ra- cine county, Wisconsin, where occurred the birth of our subject on July 2, 1850. Both parents died in Wisconsin within the past ten years.
In early boyhood Robert moved with his family to Sauk county, Wisconsin, where he received a common school education and grew to manhood. As he matured be as- sisted his father in the management of the home farm and at certain periods worked with a logging crew on the Wisconsin riv- er. Mr. Thomas was one of the very first to locate in Osborne township and has en- joyed a season of prosperity since estab- lishing his residence there. He is a large stock raiser and makes a specialty of breed- ing Shorthorn cattle. He has been the treasurer of school district No. 43 since its organization in 1885. Mr. Thomas was for five years a member of the township board of supervisors. He owns stock in the En- terprise Telephone company, and fraternal- ly he is affiliated with the Masonic order.
Mr. Thomas was married in Wisconsin on February 15, 1881, to LaEvora Hime- baugh, a native of Wisconsin and the daughter of Peter and Maria (Eastman) Himebaugh, the former of New York birth and the latter of Peunsylvania stock. Mrs.
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPIIIES.
Thomas died May 12, 1896. Two children were born to this union: Orrison B., born August 2, 1884; and Starr, born May 13. 1890.
PETER MADSEN (1893), who owns the north half of the southeast quarter of sec- tion 16, Aetna township, has a thoroughly improved piece of farm property which he has successfully cultivated since 1893. He raises stock quite extensively. A native of North Jyland, Denmark, he was born De- cember 23, 1867, the son of Anders and Christina (Jensen) Madsen. The former parent still conducts the old home farm in Denmark. but the mother died in 1894.
Peter passed the first twenty-one years of his life in the land of the Danes, and there he was educated. On arriving in America he journeyed to Shelby county, lowa, where for a year he was employed at farm labor. Then our subject went to Manilla, Crawford county, to accept employ- ment in a brick yard, and from there, a year later, he moved to Sioux City, where he became a laborer in one of the large packing plants. At the end of four years he moved from that city to his present Pipestone county farm. Mr. Madsen is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator com- pany and the Co-operative Creamery com- pany of Ruthton. He is the efficient road overseer of district No. 2. Our subject holds membership in the Modern Woodmen lodge and the Danish Lutheran church.
In Aetna township. on October 7, 1893, Peter Madsen was joined in marriage to Carrie Nelson, who was born in Denmark November 6, 1863, the daughter of Nels and Christina (Olson) Christianson. Five children have been born to these parents, whose names are Annie C., Etna J., Einer K., William and Nels P.
ERIC E. LARSON (1891) has farmed in Eden township for the past twenty years. lle now lives on the southeast quarter of section 2 and has a thoroughly improved farm. He is an extensive breeder of high grade stock, making a specialty of Short- horn and Durham cattle and Poland China hogs. Mr. Larson is a stockholder in the farmers' elevator at Ihlen and is treasur- er of school district No. 29.
Eric and Bertha S. (Egland) Larson, the parents of our subject, came to America as children from their native land of Nor- way and were married in Illinois. They lat- er moved to Story county, Iowa, where Eric E. Larson of this sketch was born on October 18, 1862. He received a district school education and lived on the home farm until twenty-three years of age, when he commenced the shaping of his own ca- reer. For a year he hought grain for the C. B. Christianson Elevator company at Story City, then rented land and farmed in Story county until making settlement in Pipestone county in 1891. At that time he bought the northeast quarter of section 4, Eden, which he sold after three years to become the owner of the northwest quar- ter of section 22. He sold that land after a three years' residence thereon and next bought the southeast quarter of section 16. He farmed that land until buying his pres- ent farm, with the exception of two years when he rented and worked the farm of his father on section 9.
Mr. Larson has been thrice married. His first wife was Sophia Christenson, whom he wedded in Hamilton county, Iowa, in 1886, and to them one daughter, Emma, was born June 26, 1888. Mrs. Larson was born March 4, 1861, and died September 11, 1888. His second wife was Helen Christenson, who died March 8, 1892. To that union were born two children, Mar- tin, on December 30, 1889, and Helen, on February 25, 1892. Eric E. Larson was married to Christina Michaelson on Janu- ary 25, 1893, and to them two daughters have been born: Ida, born December S, 1893, and Betsey A., born April 24, 1899. Mrs. Larson was born in Nos Hedemark- en, Norway, April 24, 1868, and is the daughter of Christian and Engebor (Meng- so) Michaclson. The family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church.
JOHN RUDD (1896) has been engaged in the mercantile business in Jasper since 1902. He is a member of the firm of As- lesen Bros. & Rudd. Since October, 1909, he has also served as cashier of the Farm- ers State Bank.
The first twenty-two years of Mr. Rudd's life were spent in Norway, in which coun-
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
try he was born November 28, 1850. His early education was received by private tutorship from officers in the army. His father had been a wealthy man hut lost his fortune when John was four or five years old. When a lad of eight he began to hustle for himself, his first work be- ing that of an office boy. Later he be- came connected with the civil engineering corps of the army and continued in the government service until the year of his departure for the United States. That was in 1872.
His first location was at Brownsville, Minnesota, where he worked on the rail- road until the following spring. Then he homesteaded in Minnehaha county, South Dakota, which was his home until 1896. During the first years of his residence in the then frontier country, Mr. Rudd lived in a small shack and hauled supplies over- land from Sioux Falls to Worthington.
On January 8, 1880, Mr. Rudd was mar- ried to Mary Ellen Erickson. Mrs. Rudd was born in Norway in August, 1862, and accompanied her parents, Erick and Mor- en Erickson, to the United States when a child six years of age. The family first settled in Blanchardville, Wisconsin, but in 1875 they removed to Minnehaha coun- ty, South Dakota, and there both of the parents died. Mr. and Mrs. Rudd have no children.
In 1896 Mr. Rudd left the scene of his lahors for twenty-three years and moved to Hills, Minnesota. There for a number of years he was employed as grain buyer for the Kansas City Grain company and also for E. A. Brown. In 1902 he changed to his present residence in Jasper, enter- ing into partnership with Aslesen Bros. in the general merchandise and clothing busi- ness, in which he is still interested. He was one of the organizers of the Farmers State Bank and became its first cashier. He is also a member of the board of direc- tors of the bank.
For two terms Mr. Rudd served as a member of the village council, and in 1908 he was elected its president. While a resident of Minnehaha county, Mr. Rudd held all the township offices in the gift of the electors. He holds membership in the Masonic and A. O. U. W. lodges.
SAMUEL H. WILSON (1894), of Troy township, owns 800 acres of Pipestone county land. Of this, all but a quarter section in Grange township, is located in Troy. Mr. Wilson devotes special atten- tion to the raising of high grade stock, which he ships to the large markets. He also buys stock.
The son of Hugh Wilson, a native of Ireland, and of Margory (Jameson) Wil- son, of Scotch birth, our subject was born January 6, 1861, in Scott county, Iowa, where his parents settled at an early date. Samuel was seven years of age when the family moved to Benton county, and there he received his schooling and grew to manhood on the home farm. At the age of thirty-one he received an eighty acre farm from his father, which he finally sold in 1894 and invested in his first Pipe- stone county real estate, the southwest quarter of section 12, Troy, which has ever since been his home. Mr. Wilson owns stock in the Farmers Elevator com- pany of Cazenovia. He has been a mem- ber of the township board for twelve years, is clerk of school district No. 62, and with his family belongs to the Methi- odist church.
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