An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota, Part 119

Author: Rose, Arthur P., 1875-1970
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Luverne, Minn. : Northern History Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 924

USA > Minnesota > Rock County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 119
USA > Minnesota > Pipestone County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 119

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comprises eleven sub-branches. When he came to Pipestone in the spring of 1891, Mr. Pratt in company with his cousin, G. W. Pratt, established the Pipestone bottling works, which they still own, but the active management of the

plant is reposed in George G. Pratt, the son of our subject, and R. A. Gannon. Mr. Fratt is also an ice dealer.

A native of the Buckeye state, F. W. Pratt was born at Chardon, Geauga county, June 7, 1858. Nine months after the natal event he accompanied his parents to Green county, Wisconsin, where he was reared and grew to manhood on his father's farm, He later purchased the home farm and con- ducted it several years, but gave up farm- ing on account of defective eye sight and moved to Wahpeton, North Dakota, where he became familiar with the bottling busi- ness. After three years' residence there he located in Britton, South Dakota, where with his cousin he established a bottling works and lived until moving to Pipestone and establishing a similar enterprise.

At Madison, Wisconsin, July 7, 1878, Mr. Pratt was married to Sybilla Gannon, a native of that city. Two children have been born to these parents: Maud (Mrs. Earl Hallowell), of St. Paul, and George G .. of Pipestone. Mr. Pratt is affiliated with the Elks and the United Commercial Trav- elers.

ALBERT L. STEINKE (1904) has been a resident of Pipestone for the past seven years. He is a native Minnesotan and was born at Henderson March 16, 1882. The year following his nativity he moved with his parents to the town of Gaylord, where the father, Otto H. Steinke, engaged in the hardware and tinning business, the details of which our subject acquired in subsequent years under the tutelage of his parent. On leaving home Albert went to Westbrook, Cottonwood county, where he was employ- ed at his trade of tinner for three years. From that town he moved to Pipestone in 1904.

On locating in Pipestone Mr. Steinke en- tered the employ of the Laird-Norton com- pany, at that time dealers in both lumber and hardware. He was connected with thai firm for a period of three and one-half years; then until January, 1909, he was a tinner in the shop of L. R. Ober. On the date mentioned Mr. Steinke opened a tin shop of his own on a side street. Assured of success, he soon after moved to a more favorable location on the corner of Olive

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and Lowry streets and there laid the foun- dation for his present hardware business, He deals in stoves and hardware staples and also maintains the original tin shop. Our subject is a member of the Masonic and Modern Woodmen lodges.

The father of Albert, Otto H. Steinke, who was born in Germany December 3, 1854, married Elizabeth Hemberlie, a na- tive of Evansville, Indiana. She died May 13, 1888, at the age of twenty-eight years and Mr. Steinke died September 8, 1910. They left five children: Lanra, Albert, of this sketch; Emma, Metha and Elizabeth. By a subsequent marriage of his father, Al- bert has two half-sisters and a half-brother, Martha, Willie and Edith. Our subject was married at Windom, Cottonwood coun- ty, December 16, 1903, to Dorothy Moeller, of Davenport, Iowa, who was born in that city September 30 1883. One daughter, Bernice, was born to this union, December 26, 1904.

MARK D. WOOLSTENCROFT (1909), the editor of the Ruthton Gazette, has spent the thirty-two years of his life in twc adjoining Minnesota counties, Murray and Pipestone. His father, the late Judge Benjamin W. Woolstencroft, of Slayton, was prior to his death on October 17, 1908, one of the well-known and highly respected citizens and men of affairs in this section of the state. He was the third person to settle in Nobles county, back in 1867, and lived in that county until 1879, when he commenced ins eventful and useful career in Murray county. He held an enviable record as a public official. He was a com- missioner of Nobles county, commencing his term with the organization of the county in 1870. He was for six years the county surveyor of Nobles county, and sur- veyor of Murray county for eighteen years. He was elected probate judge of Murray county in 1894 and was serving in that capacity at the time of his death. Judge Woolstencroft married Susan D. Anscomb, and to them were horn seven children, the following six of whom are living: Minnie M., James, Mark, Belle ( Mrs. Charles Law- rence), of Madison, South Dakota; John and Lulu (Mrs. H. O. Johnson), of Currie. On the homestead of his uncle, Jack

Woolstencroft, in Murray county, on the first day of the year 1879, the subject of this biography was born. The home of his father had been destroyed by fire a short time previous to this event and the family were temporarily residing on the Jack Woolstencroft farm. Mark was a year old when the family located in Fulda, and in that town he acquired a high school educa- tion and grew to manhood.

In his boyhood days Mark D. Woolsten- croft learned the printer's art in the office of the Fulda Republican, over which his father presided as editor for many years. For five or six years Mark assisted at the case during the winter months and worked at the carpenter trade during the summer seasons. For two years he gave his whole attention as assistant on the Lake Wilson Pilot, following which he was engaged in the furniture business at Slayton for a year and a half. In 1909 Mr. Woolsten- croft moved to Ruthton and has since pre- sided over the destinies of the Gazette. He is recorder of the village and is a member of the M. W. A. lodge.

In Pipestone, on June 3, 1907, our subject was united in marriage to Isabella Krall, a native of Wabasha county, Minnesota. She was born October 16, 1879. Two children have been born to this union: Mark B., born June 16, 190S, and Arthur H., born August 11, 1909.

The Ruthton Gazette was established in 1897 by W. C. Smith as a six-column folio and was later changed to a five-column quarto. Mr. Smith was the active head of the paper until June, 1909, when he leased the plant and business to its present edi- tor, Mark D. Woolstencroft. The paper is now a five-column quarto. The Gazette espouses the doctrines of republicanism.

WILLIAM BAKER (1900), farmer of Os- borne township, is a native lowan. The son of Arthur and Catherine (Bearman) Baker, he was born in Marion county, Iowa, May 3, 1885. He was three years of age when the Baker family moved to Nebraska, where they remained ten years and then returned to Ringgold county, lowa. In the district schools of that county William completed his education. In 1900, after having lived two years in Sibley, Iowa, the

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family became residents of Pipestone coun- ty. Our subject assisted on the home farm until 1904, when he rented land and com- menced farming on his own account. He now lives on the southwest quarter of see- tion 25, Osborne, where he engages ex- tensively in stock raising, especially of hogs and sheep.

At Leota, Nobles county, on February 8, 1904, William Baker was joined in mar- riage to Marie Kallemeyn, who was born April 23, 1884, the daughter of Martin and Martha (Kooiman) Kallemeyn, of Leota. A son, William Arthur, was born to this union April 22, 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are members of the Christian Reformed church of Edgerton.

VICTOR F. FRANK (1898), Sweet town- ship farmer, is a native of LaCrosse, Wis- consin, at which place his birth occurred February 1, 1857. It was several years be- fore this natal event that his parents, Wil- liam and Nettie Frank, came from their native land of Germany and located in the Wisconsin city, where the father followed the occupations of butcher and carpenter. In the early boyhood of Victor the family moved to Lancaster, Wisconsin, where he was educated. He commenced his career as an agriculturist in Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, near Mason City. On leaving that place he established his present residence in Pipestone county in 1898. He rented different farms in Sweet township until the fall of 1909, when he located on the north- west quarter of section 24, which he now conducts.

At Lancaster, Wisconsin, on August 10, 1883, our subject was joined in marriage to Lorena Bartold, who was born in Homer, Wisconsin. Two sons, William and Bert, have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Frank. The family are members of the Congrega- tional church.

CLAIRE G. TABOR (1906), of the firm of Hall & Tabor, proprietors of a Pipestone meat market, was born in Clay county, Iowa, on February 5, 1878, the son of Os- car G. and Sarah MI. Tabor, natives of New York and Wisconsin, respectively. Oscar G. Tabor homesteaded land in Clay county,

Iowa, in 1865, and later moved to Garret- son, South Dakota, where he died March 20, 1910. The mother of our subject lives at Garretson.

At the age of four years Claire moved with his parents from lowa to the southern part of Missouri, where the family lived four years, and then settled in Garretson, South Dakota, Mr. Tabor lived on a farm in that vicinity seven years, and then for three years be was engaged in the hard- ware and implement business in Garretson with his father, under the firm name of Tabor & Son. In 1906 he became identified with Pipestone county interests. He bought a farm near Holland, which he conducted until moving to Pipestone in February, 1909, to engage in his present business. Mr. Tabor is a member of the M. B. A. and 1. O. O. F. lodges.

At Garretson, South Dakota, on June 6, 1900, Claire G. Tabor was united in mar- riage to Bertha Hanson, wbo was born in Lee county, Illinois, September 15, 1877. To this union have been born three chil- dren: Elmer T., born March 10, 1901; Cal- vin O., born September 28, 1903; and Aura, horn July 26, 1904.

EUGENE L. MEYERS (1899) is a hard- ware and harness dealer of Woodstock, a business he has carried on in that town since 1899. At that time he bought the since been conducted. Mr. Meyers carries F. D. Bennett, in which the business has since been conducted. Mr. Meyers carries in stock a full line of hardware, stoves, windmills, saddlery, etc., and does furnace and lighting work.

Eugene is one of a family of five chil- dren born to Reuben and Sarah M. (Lattig) Meyers, both natives of Northhampton county, Pennsylvania. At an early date they moved by the overland route to Free- port, Illinois, where the family resided un- til 1884, going that year to Osceola county, Iowa, where Reuben Meyers died in 1889. His wife is still living and resides in Steph- enson county, Illinois. The other children in the Meyers family besides our subject are Steven J., of Sibley, lowa; Annie (Mrs. T. M. Yorger), of Harris, lowa; Susie (Mrs. Eugene Bobb), of Dakota, Illinois; and Fred, of Cedar Rapids, lowa.

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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.

While the family were living in Free- port, Illinois, on August 22, 1860, Eugene L. Meyers was born. He received a coun- try school education in his native county, from which he moved, at the age of twen- ty-four years, to Osceola county, lowa. He owned and farmed land there for nine years; then for six years he was located in Kossuth county, of the same state, where he represented the Dr. Baker Medical com- pany. He left that locality in 1899 to es- tablish his residence in Woodstock.

In Sibley, Iowa, on October 25, 1892, Mr. Meyers was wedded to Rose Cloud, whose birth occurred in Johnson county, Iowa, January 7, 1873. This union has been blessed by three children, namely: Ruth, born November 2, 1893; Lola, born July 10, 1895; and Donald, born April 17, 1903.

Mr. Meyers has been honored on sev- eral occasions by election to offices of trust. He has served on the village coun- cil and board of education at Woodstock. He was largely instrumental in the organiza- tion of the Woodstock Rural Telephone company, in November, 1909, and is the . present executive head of the company. Other officers of the company are George Moline, secretary; James Jackson, treas- urer; and John Campbell, Adolph Abraham and Will Boese, directors. Mr. Meyers is a thirty-second degree Mason and also be- longs to the O. E. S. and A. O. U. W. lodges and the Presbyterian church.

WALTER W. HALL (1908), of Pipe- stone, who is associated with C. G. Tabor in the conduct of the Hall & Tabor meat market, is a native of the Badger state. He is the son of William Hall, a Vermonter hy birth, who died in 1905, and of Anna Hall, a native of Maine. The mother is still liv- ing and resides at Stevens Point. Wiscon- sin.

The date of the birth of our subject was August 5, 1869. He attended the schools of Portage county until was fourteen years of age. Then the family moved to Pierre, South Dakota, and there Walter grew to manhood. At the age of twenty he moved to Blunt, South Dakota, and for ten years conducted the butcher shop he established at the time of locating there. He then returned to Pierre, where he re-

mained six years, working at his trade and dealing in stock. We next find Mr. Hall at Bellefourche, South Dakota, where he was in business two years. Returning to his former tome at Blunt, he was a stock buyer for two years, then turned his atten- tion to the hotel business at Fort Pierre. He was the proprietor of a hotel at Clark, South Dakota, for two years prior to mov- ing to Pipestone in August, 1908. He at once established a meat market, and six months later the firm of Hall & Tabor was organized.

While living at Blunt, South Dakota, on March 20, 1889, W. W. Hall was joined in wedlock to Janet Hoover, who was born in Muscatine, lowa, November 15, 1870. Two children have blessed this union. Their names are Hazel, born February 13, 1890, and William, born March 9, 1897. Mr. Hall is a member of the K. P. and M. B. A. lodges.

WILLIAM THOMSSEN (1908), farmer and stock raiser of Elmer township, first saw the light of day in the province of Hol- stein, Germany, July 10, 1862. His father, Hans Thomssen, came to this country in 1888 and now lives with his son. His mother, Mary (Sahm) Thomssen, died in the old country when William was six years of age.

The subject of this biography was reared on the farm and educated in the common schools of his native land. He severed home ties at the age of nineteen years and immigrated to the United States. He was employed in a brick yard at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, for a year, then went to Dav- enport, Iowa, which was his home for the next ten years. He was employed the while in a syrup refinery. Mr. Thomssen's next move was to become a Minnesota farmer. For ten years following 1893, he was a resi- dent of Middletown township, Jackson county. While there he served eight years on the board of supervisors and for part of that period was chairman of the board. He also held office in his school district.

From Jackson county our subject moved to Mower county in 1903 and there farmed until making settlement in Pipestone coun- ty three years ago. He rents and farms the east half of section 19, Ehner. He raises stock of the best grade.

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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.

At Davenport, lowa, on March 22, 1884, Mr. Thomssen was married to Liza Rasch, who was born in Schleswig, Holstein, Ger- many, July 10, 1862, and who came to America twenty years later, Mr. and Mrs. Thomssen are the parents of the following named eleven children :

Mamie (Mrs. Henry Rosenbrook), of Beardsley, Minne- sota, born February 19, 1885; Freda, born August 7, 1886; Alfred born June 30, 1888; Willie, born March 19, 1890; Henry, born March 8, 1892; Annie, born March 21, 1894: Charlie, born October 12, 1895; Harry, born August 26, 1897; Arthur, born April 10, 1899; Ella, born May 12, 1901; and Emma, born April 27, 1903. The five eldest chil- dren were born in Davenport, the next five in Jackson county and Emma in Mow- er county. The family are members of the German Lutheran church of Trosky.

HENRY K. HOLVIG (1900). The story of the career of a self-made man is always interesting and is a source of inspiration to the youth born amid adverse circum- stances and forced to make his way through life by unaided efforts. Such is the case with Henry K. Holvig. The fam- ily were poor and there was a large num- ber of children dependent upon the sacrific- ing parents. From small beginnings Mr. Holvig has prospered and he now takes his stand among the successful business men of Jasper.

Henry Holvig is a native of Iowa and was born in Winneshiek county on August 3, 1874. His father, Knute, and his mother, Isabelle ( Holverson) Holvig, came to the United States from Norway in 1861. They homesteaded in Moody county, South Da- kota, in 1877, and there Knute Holvig died at the age of fifty-two years. His wife lives in Jasper with her son.

When a child of three years, Henry ac- companied his parents to the South Dakota home. The journey, long and tedions, was made in a prairie schooner. In that new country he grew to man- hood. He attended the district schools, and later through his own efforts for sev- eral years was a student at Augustana col- lege, Canton, South Dakota. His education was supplemented by a course in the St. l'aul Business college. His school days

over, for several falls he worked with a threshing company and then for one year was a street car.conductor in St. Paul.

In 1900 Mr. Holvig settled in Jasper. For a year he clerked in the store of Strnble & Teslow. As the result of frugal industry, in a few years he was able to buy them out, and he conducted the mercantile busi- ness under his own name until 1910. Then he organized the Farmers Co-operative Mercantile company and merged his busi- ness with the larger concern. The com- pany is capitalized at $6000. Mr. Holvig is the holder of the majority stock and is the active manager of the business. The other officers of the company are: Marcus Nel- son, president; John J. Aaker, vice presi- dent; C. Engebretson, treasurer; Eli Iver- son, secretary. The board of directors con- sists of Robert Iverson, Olie Eniong, H. Helgeson and T. Ausen. The large stone block which houses the business is the property of Mr. Holvig.

May 18, 1904, is the date of the marriage of Mr. Hovig to Hattie Olson, who was born in Minnehaha county, South Dakota, on August 5, 1880. The ceremony took place in Jasper. To them one son, Kennet, was born on January 28, 1910. For two terms Mr. Holvig served on the village council of Jasper.

FRED FORD (1899) farms the northwest quarter of section 30, Troy township, land which is owned by his father, John Ford, now of Wenatchee, Washington. His moth- er, Sarah (Batch) Ford, died in 1901 in Pipestone county.

Fred Ford was born in Yorkshire, Eng- land, May 16, 1884. He was nine months of age when the family located on Ameri- can soil, in Stark county, Illinois. Just before Fred's fifteenth birthday the Fords made settlement in Pipestone county, the father having become the owner of the land in Troy already described. Our sub- ject secured his education in the village school of Osceola, Illinois, and later in the district schools of Troy township. He lived on the home farm until after the death of his mother in 1901; then he went to illinois to be employed for a year at farm labor. The following two years we find him working in a livery barn and later

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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.

a machine shop in Newton, Iowa. Mr. Ford then returned to Pipestone county and since the spring of 1909 has farmed on his present location.

IRA LOUIS DEMARY (1907) is the man- ager of the business of the Farmers Co- operative company, of Pipestone, dealers in grain, coal and seeds. This company was organized and incorporated in 1905 with the following first officers and board of di- rectors: C. C. Cunningham, president; A. E. Rydell, vice president; G. E. Sellers, secretary; Corry Ridgway, treasurer; A. Barclay and W. P. Russell. The capital stock of $10,000, was divided into 400 shares of $25 each. The present officers are Charles Rebman, president; L. V. Ack- ermann, vice president; Thomas McQuoid, secretary; A. E. Rydell, treasurer; and these mentioned together with John, Mor- gan, J. E. Morgan and John Telford consti- tute the board of directors.

Our subject is the son of Alfred Demary and the second in a family of five children, the names of the others being Albert E., Alice M., Harry N. and Jennie E. Alfred Demary is a native of Canada, who, at the age of twenty-four, moved to LeMars, Iowa, where he married Harriett M. Redmond, a Minnesotan by birth. He now lives at Jackson, Nebraska.

It was at LeMars, on November 16, 1882, that Ira Louis Demary was born. He was educated in the public schools, later at Western Union college, at LeMars, then pursued a course in the mechanical depart- ment of Iowa State college, at Ames. He was employed for a time in machine shops in Sioux City and LeMars, followed other occupations, and then secured his first em- ployment in the grain business at LeMars. In August, 1907, Mr. Demary moved to Ihlen, Pipestone county, where he managed the farmers' elevator for two years prior to accepting his present position in Pipe- stone.

At Seney, Iowa, on December 4, 1907, Mr. Demary was married to Ina Penning, and to these parents have been born two daugh- ters: Luella J., who was born January 28, 1909, and Clara E., born January 9, 1910. Our subject is a member of the M. W. A., Yeomen and Masonic lodges.

JOHN S. JOHNSON (1905), of Eden township, was born in Tysnes, Bergen, Nor- way, on the second of April, 1868, the son of John and Christie (Eachland) Johnson. The year following his birth, when he was eighteen months of age, the Johnson fam- ily departed from the land of the Norse and made settlement in the new world, lo- cating in Clinton county, lowa.

The father secured employment on a farm in that lowa county but lived only until 1871. our subject being three years of age at the time of this family loss. With her family of six sons and one daughter, the widowed mother moved to Story coun- ty, lowa, where she rented land and, with the aid of her older sons, engaged in farm- ing. John assisted with the work on the home farm until 1897, when he became the owner of a 120 acre farm in Story county and set up in the occupation for himself. Disposing of his Iowa real estate in 1905, he moved to Pipestone county. For two years he farmed rented land, then bought the place whereon he now lives, the south- east quarter of section 16, Eden. Mr. John- son is an extensive breeder of high grade stock. He is a shareholder in the Farmers elevator at Ihlen and a member of the Nor- wegian Lutheran church.

In Eden township, on January 8, 1902, oc- curred the marriage of John S. Johnson to Julia Dalland, a native of lowa and the daughter of Oliver and Bertha (Olson) Dal- land. both of whom originally came from Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are the parents of three children: Clifford, Bea- trice and Herbert.

GUS M. PETERSON (1894) is the junior member of the firm of G. Peterson & Sons. general merchants of Jasper. He is one of a family of five children, the son of Gil- bert Peterson, a native of Christiania, Nor- way. The other four children of the fam- ily are Julius P., Clarence, Leonard A. and Mellie.

Gus was born in Granger, Minnesota, Or- tober 1, 1880, and that was his home until 1894, when he accompanied the family to Jasper. His early education was received in the schools at Granger, and his school- ing was completed in the public schools of Jasper. After leaving school, he clerked

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PIPESTONE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.

for a short time in a general store, and then for three years he was employed in the Journal office. In 1903 he was taken into the firm of G. Peterson & Sons, which prior to that time consisted of his father and brother, Julius P. Since then he has been actively engaged in the business.

In 1910 he was elected village recorder. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and in 1910 served as the chancellor com- mander of the lodge.

BRAMWELL A. TURNBULL (1908). shoemaker of Pipestone, is a native of the Isle of Man, as were also his parents, Rich- ard and Catherine (Collister) Turnbull. The former is of Scotch-English parentage, while the mother comes from a family who have for several generations inhabited the little island principality. Both parents are still living at the ripe old ages of eighty and seventy-seven years, respectively, and reside at Belle Plaine, Iowa. Our subject is the only surviving son in a family of two children. A brother. Edward, succumb. ed to a sunstroke in Tama county, Iowa, nineteen years ago.

Bramwell A. Turnbull was born August 25, 1860. He received an early education in the land of his birth and at the age of twelve immigrated with his parents to the United States. The family located on a farm in Tama county, Iowa, where Bram- well lived until after his twenty-second birthday. He then went to Belle Plaine, Towa. where he learned the trades of har- ness and shoe-making and conducted a shop of his own in that place for many years. On leaving that place, he went to Chicago, and from there two years later, to Winnebago City, Minnesota, where he was a shoe merchant. In 1908 Mr. Turnbull settled in Pipestone and took over the shoe shop of Barney Nedham, which he is now conducting.

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An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota, Part 119

Author: Rose, Arthur P., 1875-1970 Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Luverne, Minn. : Northern History Publishing Company Number of Pages: 924

Author: Rose, Arthur P., 1875-1970
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Luverne, Minn. : Northern History Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 924