USA > Minnesota > Rock County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 110
USA > Minnesota > Pipestone County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 110
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
was elected cashier in July, 1906, and has since filled that office.
In Mason City, Iowa, on October 23, 1901, our subject was joined in marriage to Elizabeth Rehm. Mr. and Mrs. Nash are the parents of three daughters. In a fraternal way Mr. Nash is affiliated with the Masonic, Knights of Pythias and Mod- ern Woodmen lodges.
WILLIAM RUDEBUSCH (1897), farmer and large stock raiser of Altona township, has been a subject of Uncle Sam since he was twenty-three years of age. He was born in Oldenberg, Germany, May 29, 1866, the son of Albert and Annie (Krye) Rude- busch. William was educated in the Ger- man public schools. On immigrating to America, he went to Dodge county, Ne- braska, where he followed agricultural pur- suits until 1897, the year of his settlement in Pipestone county. He has since owned and lived on the northwest quarter of sec- tion 2, Altona. Mr. Rudebusch owns stock in the Verdi creamery and in the local telephone company. With his family he belongs to the German Lutheran church.
On September 27, 1898, in Lincoln coun- ty, our subject was united in marriage to Mary Hanson, a native of Clinton county, lowa. She was born March 26, 1875, the daughter of August and Katherine Han- son. To Mr. and Mrs. Rudebusch have been born the following six children: Dor- thia, born September 28, 1899; Charlotte, born September 3, 1901; Albert, born Jan- nary 8, 1903; Louisa, born May 3, 1904; Helena, born May 2, 1906; and Carl, born August 2, 1909.
WILLIAM BREIHOLZ (1901) is one of the leading and most influential citizens of the village of Holland, where he is engaged in the general mercantile and furniture business. He owns and occupies two store buildings on Main street, ex- (Jusively for the accommodation of his flourishing line of trade. For five years he ably served on the village council and at present is president of the local board of education. NNo movement is inaugurat- ed for the betterment of Holland in which Mr. Breiholz is not an active participant.
William is the oldest in a family of four children born to Henry and Maggie Brei- holz. John, Edward and Annie are the other members of the family. Botlı par- ents were born in Germany, came to the United States at an early age, and were married in Davenport, Iowa. That city was the family home until 1872, when a removal to Belle Plaine, and later to Remsen, Jowa, was made. The elder Mr. Breiholz and wife settled in Holland in 1902, which is still the home of the latter, who is now in her sixty-seventh year. Mr. Breiholz passed away on July 23, 1909, at the age of seventy-two years.
William Breiholz was born in Davenport, lowa, on January 26, 1869, and two and one-half years later accompanied his par- ents in their removal to Belle Plaine. He commenced his education in the public schools of that town and later completed the course offered by the Remsen, Jowa, high school. For a time following his high school days, William was a student at Northwestern college, LeMars. He
of clerked in several stores in Remsen until locating in Holland in 1901. Since that year he has conducted his present line of business, having purchased the store of A. W. Dressel & Co. Mr. Breibolz car- ries a complete and up-to-date line of sea- sonable merchandise, dry goods, groceries, shoes, furnishings, etc., and in connection conducts his furniture business.
The marriage of our subject occurred at Remsen, Jowa, on the second of March, 1892, when he wedded Minnie Sievers, a native of Luzerne, Benton county, Jowa. Five children, Arthur, Walter, Esther, El- mer and Ethel, have been born to these parents. Mr. Breiholz is affiliated with the K. P. lodge of Jasper and is also a member of the Workmen order.
DAVID E. EVANS (1890), Osborne town- ship farmer, was born in Jowa county, Wisconsin, May 25, 1857. His parents, Ed- ward and Sarah (Davis) Evans, came to the United States from Wales at an early date and settled near Dodgeville, Wiscon- sin. Edward Evans died when our sub- ject was four years of age, and he was fourteen when he was left entirely an or- phan by the death of his mother.
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
David was educated in the district schools and grew up on the old family farm. After the death of his mother the place was rented out to some neighbors, but David and his sister remained thereon, the latter keeping house for the occupants. He worked out on different farms much of the time, and after marrying, at the age of twenty-six, he rented the farm of his uncle, which he worked four years. Following three years employment on the railroad, Mr. Evans, in July, 1890, located in Pipestone county. He worked at farm labor for a year, and after that for three years was employed on the railroad sec- tion at Edgerton. He returned to agri- cultural pursuits and rented the north- west quarter of section 20, which he farm- ed until moving to his present location, the southwest quarter of section 17, in 1904. Mr. Evans was a road overseer two years. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen lodge.
At Barneveld, Wisconsin, on January 22, 1884, our subject was married to Georg- iana Jones, of Welsh birth. She was born October 9, 1857, the daughter of John and Jane (Thomas) Jones. The following five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Evans: Sarah Jane, born December 31. 1884; Edward John, born March 7, 1886; William David, born September 28, 1887; Tra Milton, born October 24, 1890; and Bernice Edith, born June 22, 1894.
JAMES A. VINING (1884) carries the mail for Uncle Sam out of Jasper, over route one. His birth occurred December 6, 1865, in McLean county, Illinois. He is the son of Reuben and Mariah L. (Sack- ett) Vining, who are both natives of Dela- ware county, Ohio. In the early sixties they moved to McLean county, Illinois, be- ing among the pioneers of that section. Their next home was in Adair county, Jowa. There they bought land and lived until 1884, when they identified themselves with the interests of Rock county, Min- nesota. A home was established in Rose Dell township, and there Reuben Vining died on September 4, 1900, aged fifty-nine years. The mother lives in Jasper. They were the parents of seven children, five boys and two girls. They are James A.,
Almond, Lydia (Mrs. Hart Onan), Thomas, Edmond, Myrtle (Mrs. Dan Drawz) and Rufus. All the children with the exception of James, Mrs. Onan and Mrs. Drawz reside in Dakota.
James A., with whom this biography is concerned, at the age of five years moved with his family to Adair county, Iowa. There he secured his education and resid- ed until 1884, when the family came to Rock county. For four or five years he lived on the home farm in Rose Dell town- ship, and then for several years rented a place and engaged in farming for himself. Leaving the farm, he moved to Luverne and operated a restaurant until 1900. Sell- ing out, he lived for a year in various parts of Missouri and lowa. Returning to Minnesota in 1901, he settled in Jasper and for four years was employed by Dr. Bong. In 1905 he received the appoint- ment to his present position.
Captolia Jones, a native of Kentucky, and in earlier years a resident of Mis- souri and Iowa, became the wife of Mr. Vining on March 11, 1895, the marriage taking place at Greenfield, Iowa. Mrs. Vining died July 13, 1908, at the age of forty-two years. There were no children. Mr. Vining is associated with the Knights of Pythias lodge.
THOMAS EINUNG (1889), a farmer of Eden township, was born in West Fjord Dahlen, Norway, May 16, 1867. His par- ents, Hans and Aaget (Bhöle) Einung, were small farmers in that northern coun- try. Thomas lived on the farm of his birth until immigrating to the United States in 1889, at the age of twenty-two years. He made Jasper his destination, and for a number of years was employed at farm labor near that town. He then bought land in Rose Dell township, Rock county, which he farmed for three years; then he bought and located on his Pipe- stone county farm, the southwest quarter of section 22, Eden.
In Jasper, on July 9, 1905, our subject was married to Ida Bondal, also a native of Norway. She was born May 4, 1892, the daughter of Kittel and Margretta Bondal, who still reside in the old country. Two children have been born to this
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
union: Alma, on May 19, 1906, and Clara, on July 11, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Einung are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church.
ADOLPH ABRAHAM (1891) has for a score of years been engaged in farming and stock raising in Burke township. He is the owner of a quarter section of thoroughly improved farm land on section 9, of that precinct, and he breeds high grade stock on a large scale.
The subject of this review is the son of Carl and Frederica (Schultz) Abraham and was born in Brandenburg, Germany, on February 21, 1857. He received a com- mon school education in his native land and continued to make his home in Ger- many until his twenty-fourth year. Then, in 1881, he took passage for the new world and went direct to Henry county, Illinois, where he was destined to reside a decade. For fire years Adolph was employed at farm labor, and for the same length of time he farmed rented land on his own account in Illinois. He moved to Pipe- stone county in 1891 and at once settled on the farm he still occupies. Mr. Abra- ham has given fifteen years of service as a director of school district No. 32. He owns stock in the Farmers Elevator com pany of Woodstock, and with his family belongs to the German Lutheran church.
December 21, 1884, is the date, and Kewanee, Illinois, the place of the mar. riage of Mr. Abraham to Mary L. Furst, who was born in Germany September 1, 1854, the daughter of Carl and Augusta (Beyer) Furst. Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Abra- ham are the parents of the following five children : Carl, born November 7, 188 ;; Martha, born December 30, 1889; Augusta, born April 27, 1891; Mary, born February 11, 1894; and Anna, born March 1, 1896.
HORACE E. RIFFEL (1892), a well known farmer and stock raiser of Gray township, first saw the light of day in Des Moines county, lowa, September 24, 1875. He attended the district schools of that county and there lived until seventeen years of age. In 1892 he accompanied his parents, William and Harriet (Parvis) Riffel, in
their removal to Pipestone county. His father bought a 240 acre farm on sections 13 and 14, Gray, which he later sold to become the owner of the south half of sec- tion S, the farm which Horace now con- ducts. Mr. Riffel breeds Polled Angus cat- tle and Duroc-Jersey hogs. He is a member of the Catholic church and the Modern Woodmen lodge.
Horace E. Riffel was married at Pire- stone October 20, 1909, to Mary Manley, who was born in Erin county, Wisconsin, the daughter of Michael and Ellen (Min- nehan) Manley. One child, Leslie Edwin, was born to these parents, on August 2, 1910.
JOHN W. COOK (1892) conducts an ex- clusive drug and prescription business in Pipestone, of which he has been a resi- dent since 1892. On coming to the city at that time he entered the employ of T. F. Robinson, the druggist, who was located in the building now occupied by Nason's pool hall. Five months later Mr. Cook opened a drug store of his own and in 1902 he purchased the Dr. Taylor stock of drugs and has since conducted the combined stores in his present location.
Mr. Cook was born in London, England, on December 13, 1864. In that city were also born both of his parents, Joseph and Frances (Carter) Cook. They came to the United States and Minnesota in 1882 and located in Slayton, Murray county, which was their home until both were called by death. They left seven children, of whom John, the subject of this sketch, is the old- est. The names of the others are Lizzie, Cecelia, Alice, H. A., Josephine and Alfred.
At the age of sixteen John severed home ties and struck out to see the world. He made his own way to South Africa, and after a short sojourn there went to Sydney, Australia, where he secured employment as a pharmacist's apprentice, and there he learned the drug business. He was the manager of a store during the last four years of his residence there. He came to the United States in the fall of 1891 and at once made settlement in Pipestone. Mr. Cook is the possessor of a token, an ample proof of his efficiency as a pharma- cist. It is a gold medal, suitably inscribed,
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
which was presented to him by the presi- dent of the board of pharmacy of New South Wales at the annual board meeting in August, 1888. This medal was granted to Mr. Cook as a mark of recognition for his success in attaining the highest stand- ing of 224 candidates for licenses as phar- macists at the final examinations.
From April, 1894, until 1909 Mr. Cook was the Pipestone agent for the United States Express company, and since then has served in a similar capacity for the Wells Fargo Express company. For the past four years he has been a member of the board of edu- cation and is its present treasurer. He served as president of the board during the year commencing in 1908. Our sub- ject has filled chairs in both the Blue Lodge and Chapter branches of the Masor- ic order and in the Odd Fellows and En- campment. He has been chancellor com- inander of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias.
At Pipestone, on August 12, 1896, John W. Cook was united in marriage to Emma D. Petersmeyer, a former principal of the Pipestone high school. She is a native of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Cook have two sons : W. Kyrwood, born June 28, 1900, and Ken- neth Carter, born October 13, 1909. An only daughter, Ayleen, who was born March 6, 1902, died February 16, 1904.
GRANT E. RIPLEY (1899), a farmer of Eden township, is a native of New York, where he was born November 18, 1869. When a year old he moved from the Em- pire state with his parents and located with them in Lyon county, towa. In that county he lived until attaining the age of thirty years. He commenced at the age of eighteen to work ont, and after his mar- riage he rented land and commenced farm- ing on his own account. On coming to Pipestone county in 1899 he resided for six years in Elmer township, then moved to the place he now rents and farms, the north- east quarter of section 26, Eden. The par- ents of our subject, Eugene and Julia (Har- rington) Ripley, are residents of George, Iowa and are sixty-three and sixty-one years of age, respectively.
On July fourth, 1890, at George, Iowa, occurred the marriage of Grant E. Ripley
to Etta McNelly, the daughter of John Mc- Nelly, of Houston county. Mrs, Ripley was left motherless when a babe. Ten children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ripley, all but one of whom are living. Their names are: Rose, born August 7, 1891; Earl, born March 30, 1893; Alida, born Oc- tober 27, 1894; Wallace, born December 28, 1896; Alma, born October 23, 1898; Ernest, born January 26, 1901, died May 26, 1901; Gladys, born May 8, 1902; Edgar, born August 9, 1904; Harold, born August 20, 1906; and Kenneth, born December 17, 1909. Mr. Ripley holds membership in the lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America.
CLARENCE E. GRIFFIN (1884) is a sub- stantial Pipestone county farmer whose land lies within the incorporation of the village of Trosky. His parents were J. A. and Isabelle B. (Gray) Griffin, natives of New Hampshire and Scotland, respectively. The mother died July 5, 1908, at the age of sixty-five years. There were eleven children in the Griffin family, of whom four sons and three daughters are still liv- ing. The names of the living children are Clarence E., Arthur, Harry, John, Hattie (Mrs, L. G. Jones), Eva (Mrs. P. O. Wahl- ford) and Nellie (Mrs. J. A. Kieffer).
Clarence was horn on a farm in Delaware county, Iowa, June 21, 1863. He attended the public schools of his home county and assisted with the farm work until 1884, when he accompanied his parents in their removal to Pipestone county. He located with them on the northwest quarter of section 21, Elmer township, which has ever since been his home. He bought the place from L. P. Kenyon in 1902. In addition to his own land, he rents and farms a half of section 21 and a quarter on section 28. He is an extensive breeder of fancy cattle and hogs. He is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge and has occupied all the chairs in that order. Mr. Griffin is unmar- ried.
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PETER MYHRE (1882), of Aetna town- ship, farms the land on which occurred his birth. He is the son of Andrew and Annie Myhre, who came from their native land of Norway to the United States in
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
1878. They selected Pipestone county as the field of their endeavors, Andrew Myhre pre-empting the southwest quarter of sec- tion 20, Aetna, on which has since been the family home.
Peter Myhre, the fifth in a family of two sons and four daughters, was born August 28, 1882. He was educated in the district schools of Aetna township and assisted his father on the home farm until 1906, when he rented the place and has since success- fully conducted it.
ALTON E. BEAN (1882) is one of the younger business men of Woodstock. of which he has been a residence since 1900. He is a native Minnesotan and was born in Steele county the eleventh of December, 1875, the son of Arb. and Mary (Dietz) Bean, now residents of Milbank, South Da- kota.
The family moved to Flandreau, South Dakota, when that place was a frontier In- dian trading post. The journey from Steele county was made overland in an ox-cart. Alton was but an infant at the time of removal to South Dakota. His father es- tablished a flour and grist mill at Flan- dreau, hauling the Inmber from Luverne by ox-team. The family located in Pipe- stone, then a small village, in 1882, and there Alton secured an education in the graded schools. He spent his earlier va. cations as a herd hoy in the adjoining country. On leaving school he took up his residence with his grandfather, David Dietz, in Burke township. For the first six years after locating in Woodstock, Mr. Bean elerked in the general store of C. J. Meys and then established his present business, which has thrived from the start. lle carries in stock a full line of dry goods, groceries, shoes, hats, caps, etc.
Our subject was married in Pipestone on October 27, 1903, to Nellie Langmack, who was born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1877.
W. W. FLETCHER (1887), a leading grain, coal and live stock merchant of Pipestone, has since 1878 been in close touch with Pipestone county progress. At the age of fourteen years he became a resident of Moody county, South Dakota, where his
father homesteaded land just over the line from Pipestone county. On that farm our subject dwelt until becoming a resi- dent of Pipestone.
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, is the birthplace of our subject, his nativity having occurred February 22, 1864. He is the son of Thomas Fletcher, an Englishman by birth, who was married after coming to the United States to Ann Webster, also a native of Eng- land. They resided in Wisconsin until 1878, when settlement was made in Moody county, South Dakota, where his father died. His mother died in LaCrosse, Wis- consin, in 1870.
Mr. Fletcher, whom we are considering, was twenty-two years of age when he de- parted from the Moody county homestead and commenced his successful career in Pipestone. He at once secured employment with Ezra Rice, the pioneer grain merchant of Pipestone, and, following the disposal of that gentleman's business interests to E. A. Brown, our subject continued as the manager of the Pipestone elevator of that firm twelve years. He then engaged in the grain business on his own account and built the elevator now owned by O. P. Nason. That he conducted four years, then established himself in his present location, the elevator purchased from the Cargill Elevator company. Of late years he has also dealt in coal and live stock in con- junction with his grain business.
On November 25, 1886, in Pipestone, our subject was united in marriage to Emma Peart, who was born in Illinois. Three children, Walter, William and Alice, have been born to this union. Mr. Fletcher is affiliated with the Masonic and United Workmen orders.
JACOB II. WIENER (1897), a stock buy- er of Hatfield, was born in Germany on .January 30, 1866, and three years later im- migrated with his parents to the United States and located with them at Ashton, Lee county, Illinois. After fourteen years' residence in Illinois, the family mov- ed to Tama county, lowa. The father of our subject, William H. Wiener, now a resi- dent of Luverne, Iowa, bought land across the line from Tama county in Benton coun- ty. On that farm Jacob lived until he
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
was married at the age of twenty-two years. His mother, Anna C. (Schnell) Wiener, died August 20, 1890.
The year of his marriage Mr. Wiener es- tablisbed himself as an independent farmer in Benton and Tama counties, where he was located until coming Pipestone coun- ty in 1897. He located on the southeast quarter of section 35, Gray township, land he bought two years previous. In 1901 he began buying live stock for the Hatfield Grain & Lumber company, of which firm he became a member after six months' con- nection, and that prompted him to build a home and move to Hatfield. Shortly aft- er, Mr. Wiener drew out of the company, having bonght the live stock and general merchandise business. After two years, he disposed of his general store to Witliam Lockwood, and since that time has devoted his time exclusively to buying and shipping stock. He was postmaster of Hatfield for five years following 1901.
The marriage of Jacob H. Wiener to Liz- zie K. Pippert was solemnized at Dysart, lowa, on November 8, 1888. Mrs. Wiener was born in Lee county, Illinois, February 16, 1866. The following eight children have been born to these parents: William H., Lilly K., Fred B., Esther, Gertrude, Loran, Walter and Marain.
Mr. Wiener is the owner of a farm in Clark county, South Dakota. He has served as a justice of the peace for the past three years and is an ex-member of the board of school district No. 13. He is a member of the German Evangelical church of Pipestone and has been superintendent of the Hat- field Sunday school for a number of years. Our subject is clerk of Hatfield Camp No. 10,397, M. W. A. lodge.
THEODORE P. HERMANSON (1905) is the manager of the Ruthton branch of the Lampert Lumber company. He was born in Denmark February 8, 1871, but he has no recollection of his native land, as he accompanied the family the year of his birth to their new home in America. His parents, Peter A. and Bodil (Peterson) Her- manson, brought up a family of seven chit- dren, all of who are living. Their names are Andrew, Anna (Mrs. A. C. Frandsen), Hannah (Mrs. Ole Espe), Theodore P., Nels,
Walter and Mamie (Mrs. Louis Towns- wick). Peter A. Hermanson is still a resi- dent of Story county, lowa, where he set- tled in 1871 npon his arrival from Denmark. His wife, the mother of onr subject, died in 1898.
Theodore P. Hermanson was educated in the common schools of Story county, Iowa, and as a young man took up the study of pharmacy at Highland Park col- lege, Des Moines. After completing the course, he clerked for three years in a drug store at Goldfield, Iowa; then for twelve years he was a druggist of Roland, lowa. Mr. Hermanson became a resident of Ruth- ton in 1905. At that time he bought an interest in the First National Bank, of which he is still vice president. For the benefit of his health he discontinued ac- tive work in the bank and accepted his present position with the Lampert com- pany. He is the owner of a 250 acre farm in the close vicinity of Ruthton. Mr. Hermanson is the treasurer of the Ruthton board of education.
In Story county, Iowa, on Jnly 21, 1894, our subject was married to Bessie O. Townswick, who was born in Norway the thirtieth of November, 1870. Mr. and Mrs. Hermanson are the parents of three living children: Angie, Peter and Hazel. One son, Theodore, born March 20, 1906, died on March 10, 1908. They also have an adopted daughter, Frances Allen, who is now the wife of Hon. S. B. Duea.
GUSTAV BOEHMKE (1899) is the cash- ier and leading stockholder of the State Bank of Holland, a position he assumed in August, 1910, as a successor to P. M. Serrurier. He is the son of Emil and Anna (Weiben) Boehmke, natives of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. They were married in the United States and were residents of Benton county, lowa, until 1883, when they moved to their present home in Plymouth county, Iowa.
It was while the family were living in Benton county, on March 28, 1876, that Gus- tav Boehmke of this review was born. He was seven years of age when he moved with his parents to Plymouth county, where he grew to manhood on his father's farm. The education he received in the district
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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
school of his precinct was supplemented by a course in the LeMars normal school. In 1899 Mr. Boehmke became a resident of Pipestone county. For five years there- after he farmed the west half of section 17, Rock township, land he owned at the time. Later he disposed of that property and purchased a farm in Fountain Prairie town- ship, which he still possesses.
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