USA > Minnesota > Rock County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 64
USA > Minnesota > Pipestone County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 64
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farm, as well as the others he subsequently came into possession of. He experienced to a full extent the numerous trials and dis- comforts incident to the few blizzardy sea- sons in the early history of the county.
Soon after making settlement in Luverne Mr. Drew established himself in the furni- ture business at that point and opened a branch store at Pipestone, shortly after the founding of that city. He erected a sub- stantial brick block in Luverne in 1885-the first stone building in the county. For sev- eral years during the early eighties, Mr. Drew, in company with his son-in-law, Frank Smith, was engaged in the banking business at Edgerton. In the spring of 1886 the Drew furniture store at Luverne was sold to Mr. Smith, who conducted the same until his death, which occurred but a few months after the transfer took place. The store has ever since been conducted by his widow, Inez Drew Smith. Since retiring from active business life Mr. Drew has man- aged his large real estate interests.
Mr. Drew is a stanch prohibitionist and has rendered noble aid in the furtherance of the principles for which that party stands. He attended the prohibition nation- al convention of 1896 at Pittsburg as a dele- gate from Minnesota, took a leading part in the deliberations of the prohibition state conventions of 1898 and 1900, and at the latter assemblage was chosen one of the presidential electors. For more than three score years our subject has been a devout follower of the Baptist faith and has a not- able record for faithful service in connec- tion with a long association with that re- ligious bodv. He served as a trustee of the Baptist church at Oshkosh, later in a similar capacity at Charles City, and for twenty-seven years has been a trustee of tbe Luverne church, in addition to which he can point to a record of twenty years continuous service as church treasurer.
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At Holderness, New Hampshire, June 1, 1852, Charles C. Drew was joined in the bonds of matrimony to Sarah Frances Fer- son. Mrs. Drew was born November 16, 1883, the daughter of John and Lucy (Woods) Ferson, and comes from an old American family that were originally from the highlands of Scotland, where they formed a part of the famous "Clan Chat- tan." The following three daughters were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Drew: Inez I. (Mrs. Frank Smith), who conducts a Luverne fur- niture store, was born March 26, 1857; Zil- lah E. (Mrs. William H. Wilson), a critic teacher at the Aberdeen, South Dakota, normal school, was born August 30, 1860; and Jenunie L. (Mrs. Walter M. Savage), of Watertown, South Dakota. Frank Smith died January 30, 1886. Mr. Savage is also deceased, having passed away at Water- town September 11, 1910.
CHARLES H. WALKER (1875), who has one of the up-to-date and most finely im- proved farms in Magnolia township and is a large breeder and dealer in fancy stock, is a native of Wilmington, Delaware, where his nativity occurred the second of Decem- ber, 1860.
His father, Henry Walker, was born and brought up on a farm in Ireland. Leaving the "ould sod" when a lad of eighteen, Hen- ry Walker came to America and made his home in Wilmington. After working for awhile in that city as a teamster, he became the proprietor of a successful dray and transfer business. The mother of our sub- ject was born in Media, Pennsylvania, of English descent. The family home was in Wilmington until 1869, when the summons to the west was heeded. For three years Blackhawk county, lowa, was made the place of residence, and then a removal to Butler county, in the same state, was made.
Charles H. Walker accompanied his par- ents in their journey to lowa and lived on his father's farms until fifteen years of age. On January 15, 1875, the youthful Charles arrived in Magnolia, prepared to make his own way in the world. For the next five years he hired out to different Magnolia township farmers. Three of these five years were passed in the employ of the Rock County Farm company, one of the big in- dnstries in operation during the early days of the county's history. The company was an organization of the extensive land in- terests of the Thompson family and had control of something like 23,000 acres, of which about 7000 acres were kept in cul- tivation.
In November, 1880, Mr. Walker Jeft Rock county, to be gone four years. The interim was passed in the city of his birth, Wil-
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mington, where until 1884 he was employed in the great pulp mills. That year he re- turned to Magnolia and has since continued to be one of the township's affluent citi- zens. He started in a small way as a rent- er; then in 1894 he was able to buy his present place, the northeast quarter of sec- tion 2 and the north half of the northwest quarter section 12. In addition to his own 240 acres, he farms a like amount of the Thompson land. Mr. Walker served his township as supervisor one year and for three years was the treasurer of school dis- triet No. 30. He is a member of Luverne Lodge No. 67, 1. O. O. F.
At St. Peter, Minnesota, on June 11, 1893, Mr. Walker was united in marriage to Mary L. Dranttel, who was born in that city on February 3, 1869. They are the parents of the following nine children: Bert, Eva, Mabel, Harvey, Grace, Stella and Stanley (twins), Emery and Russell.
NELS ANDERSON (1871). In the list of Rock county's pioneers there are few whose coming antedates that of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. The story of his life is an interesting one. He shared with others the bitter experiences of the first years of hardships and discourage- ments, but, undaunted and possessed of perseverance and pluck, he overcame all obstacles, and his career is an excellent example of the stamp of men who paved the way to Rock county's future greatness.
Nels Anderson is a Norwegian by birth and breeding, born October 1, 1843, in Nordland. He was left an orphan at a ten- der age by the passing away of his parents, John and Mary (Olson) Anderson. Left to struggle for himself, our subject sought his livelihood as a tiller of the soil. He crossed the Atlantic in 1868 and made his home for the first two years in Dane county, Wiscon- sin. While there he chose as his help-mate Gena Jacobson, and they were married May 1, 1870. She passed to her reward October 8, 1901.
After farming in Wisconsin for two years, plans were perfected for the removal to a new country further west. By rail they traveled as far as Fort Dodge, Iowa, and from there the young Norwegian and his plucky wife walked the entire distance of
fifty miles to the interior of Buena Vista county, where they remained two months. There Mr. Anderson came into possession of a yoke of oxen. With Andrew Anderson and Joseph Jacobson-friends found in Buena Vista county-the young couple drove to Rock county, arriving the first day of July, 1871.
The party of settlers found but one white person, John Martin, in the whole of what is now Martin township. It was in this lo- cality that the friends determined to estab- lish their homes. The pick of the land was theirs, and the three gentlemen-the Messrs. Anderson and Mr. Jacobson-all took homestead claims on section 24. Mr. An- derson's earthly possessions consisted of the span of oxen, three cows, and five dollars in cash, and with this capital he commenced his career as a citizen of Rock county. A little sod house was erected on the prairie, and that was the family abode for seven years, when a small frame house took its place. The grasshopper days came with their attendant hard times, and for a num- ber of winters there was always danger from the blinding blizzards which swept over the trackless prairies. On one occa- sion of this nature in January, 1873, Mr. Anderson with two companions were caught in a raging blizzard and were forced to spend the night in the open near the river. The experience nearly cost them their lives, But after darkness came sunshine; the winds of adversity were weathered; and today the hardy old settler enjoys peace and comfort on the beautiful farm on section 24, grown from the seed planted in the days of yore.
Twelve children were born to Mr. Ander- son and his faithful wife, of which three died when young. The living children are as follows: Andrew, who lives at home; John, of Enderlin, North Dakota: Annie (Mrs. John Johnson), of Martin township, Ricard and Nels, who live in North Dakota; Lena (Mrs. Walter Hildebrand), of Colman, South Dakota; Christina (Mrs. Arthur Hil- debrandt), of Colman, South Dakota; Jen- nie (Mrs. Will Stanton), of Sioux City, lowa: and Mary (Mrs. Carl Klingbile), of Lyon county, lowa.
Andrew B. Anderson, the eldest son, who since 1900 has farmed the old homestead in partnership with his father, was born in
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Sionx Rapids, lowa, May 9, 1871. A few months after his birth he accompanied his parents in the journey by ox cart to Rock county, and on the Martin township tarm his whole life has been spent. Nels An- derson and his son Andrew are both mem- bers of the Trinity Norwegian Lutheran church of Hills.
ANDREW INGELSON (1877) is the son of two of Springwater township's pioneers, Paul and Bertha (Erickson) Ingelson, and has been a resident of that precinct for all except the first seven years of his life, The parents, natives of Sweden and Nor- way, respectively, came to the United States in an early day and located near the town of Cahnar, Winneshiek county, Iowa, where our subject first saw the light of day December 3, 1870.
Andrew accompanied his parents to Rock county in 1877 and located with them on the homestead claim taken by his father, the southeast quarter of section 30, Springwater township. He attended the district schools and assisted with the work on the home farm until 1895, when he rented land of his father and commenced his career as an in- dependent farmer. Five years later he bonght his present productive farm, the northeast quarter of section 31, from his father, and has resided there to this date. Mr. Ingelson served as justice of peace for four years and is now a director of school district No. 20. He is an extensive breeder of Duroc-Jersey hogs. He is a director of the First National Bank of Beaver Creek, is vice president of the Farmers Telephone company, and owns stock in the Beaver Creek Farmers Elevator company. He is a Modern Woodmen by lodge affiliation.
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Andrew Ingelson was married at Sioux Falls June 22, 1898, to Millie Smith, who died in 1905. He was married a second time on September 3, 1907, to Annie Hagen, who was born June 15, 1888, the daughter of Ole and lda M. (Johnson) Hagen, now residents of Shellenfalls, Washington. There are five children in the Ingelson family, as follows: Howard, born July 24, 1899; Win- nifred, born March 24, 1901; Freeman, born December 2, 1902; Herman, born April 3, 1905; and Ruby, born January 7, 1909.
GEORGE W. KNISS (1870). There are few people who have lived longer in Rock county than has the gentlemen whose name heads this biography. Ite has been a resi- dent of Rock county since the month of May, 1870-a period of over forty-one years. At the time he arrived in the county the federal census showed a population in Rock county of 138 people, and he has seen the county develop from this sparsely set- tled region to the prosperous and populous conntry it is today. In many of the histori- cal events that have taken place during this time Mr. Kniss has taken a part, and a bio- graphy of his lite is richìy entitled to a place in this history of Rock county.
The parents of George W. Kniss were Jacob and Minerva (Taylor) Kniss, the former a native of Clearfield, Pennsylvania, the latter of Petersburg, Virginia. Jacob Kniss died at Defiance, Ohio, at the age of fifty-for years; onr subject's mother died in Luverne and was eighty-six years old at the time of her demise.
To these parents, at Fort Defiance, Ohio, on the twelfth day of October, 1839, George WV. Kniss was born, and in that place he had his home until 1865. He grew to man- hood at his parents' home, receiving his preliminary education at Defiance and sup- plementing it with a course in the Delton academy at Delton, Wisconsin.
Upon the outbreak of the civil war Mr. Kniss offered his services to his country, enlisting as a private at Antwerp, Ohio, in company G, Fourteenth Ohio volunteer in- fantry, for a three months' service. He was sent at once to the front and partici- pated in the battles of Cheat River and Carrick's Ford, in West Virginia. Upon the expiration of his first enlistment Mr. Kniss became a member of company C, Sixty- eighth Ohio volunteer infantry, and was commissioned the company's second lieu- tenant. Later he was made captain of company Il, of the same regiment. During the greater part of his service his corps commander was General McPherson and his division commander was General John A. Logan.
With his command Captain Kniss parti- cipated in many of the important battles of the western campaign, among them being Bayou Pierre, Raymond, Gibson, Jackson, Bolton Station, Edwards' Station, Black
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ROCK COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
River, Vicksburg, Mechanicsburg, luka, Can- ton, Meridan, Fort Donaldson, Purdy, Pitts- burg Landing, or Shiloh; Corinth, battle of the Hatchie river and Champion Hill. In the last named engagement Captain Kniss was wounded in the leg. He stopped fight- ing, dug out the bullet ( which he now has in his possession), and then resumed fight- ing, which he continued for an hour. Cap- tain Kniss took part in the grand review at Washington after the war and was dis- charged at Louisville, Kentucky, in. Angust, 1865.
Captain Kniss located in Portage City, Wisconsin, after the war and for one year clerked in a department store. Then he went to Wood county, Wisconsin, to look after a large tract of timber land owned by his brother-in-law, Hiram Hurlbut. He re- mained in Wood county until May, 1870, and then became a resident of Rock county, Minnesota. In Clinton township Mr. Kniss took a pre-emption claim, upon which he lived two years. His claim adjoins the present village of Ashcreek, and while he and his wife were living there the Ash- creek postoffice (the second postoffice in Rock county) was created and Mrs. Kniss was made postmistress, an office she held four years, the latter part of her term the office being in charge of her deputy, Mrs. S. M. Brown.
After leaving Clinton township Mr. Kniss located in Luverne township, taking an eighty acre homestead adjoining the pres- ent city of Luverne. There he formed a partnership with Judge E. D. Hadley, an attorney, and for eight years the firm en- gaged in the law and real estate business. During this time the firm made Rock coun- ty's first set of abstract books. After this partnership was dissolved Mr. Kniss enter- ed the Bank of Luverne, which had been organized by his brother, P. J. Kniss, and became the vice president of the institu- tion. Later the real estate firm of Kniss Brothers & Gray was formed, and as a member of this company Mr. Kniss devoted his energies to the real estate business un- til 1888. During the next four years he was engaged in the same business in partnership with A. F. Adams. Since 1892 he has been engaged in the real estate and insurance business alone.
During his long residence in Rock coun-
ty Mr. Kniss has held many offices of trust. At the first election held in Rock county, in the fall of 1870, he made out the election returns and acted as county auditor until his successor, Edward Mckenzie, qualified. He served one term as justice of the peace in the early seventies. He was treasurer of Luverne township in the early days and in the late seventies was elected court commissioner but did not qualify. Mr. Kniss is a member of the John A. Dix Post No. 96, G. A. R., and of the Odd Fellows lodge of Luverne.
While in the army, on October 17, 1863, Mr. Kniss was married at New Lisbon, Wis- consin, to Lina B. Older, who was born near Chautauqua, New York, August 9, 1839. Her parents were Jesse and Mary Older. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kniss: Lulu B. (Mrs. Frank N. DeForce), of Sioux City, lowa; Myrtle C. (Mrs. N. C. Schwartz), of Luverne; Ralph, of South Dakota.
B. E. ROSSUM (1874), a pioneer of Martin township, is by birth a Norwegian, his nativity occurring December 3, 1847. He is the son of Endre and Martha (Nass) Rossum and is the fifth in a family of seven children, of whom four were girls and three boys. The mother and father are both de- ceased, passing from this life at the ages of sixty-five and seventy years, respectively.
Our subject lived on his father's farm in his native land until 1869, when he immi- grated to the United States, going direct to Fillmore county, Minnesota. There he worked out on different farms for five years, until 1874, the date of his advent to Rock county. Bnying the southwest quarter of section 10, Martin township, he has con- tinued to farm his land up to the present time. As the clerk of school district No. 19, Mr. Rossum can point to a record of fifteen years of faithful service. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church.
On March 16, 1871, in Fillmore county, Minnesota, the marriage of Mr. Rossum to Mary Larson took place. Mrs. Rossum is the daughter of Lars and Engeborh (Dah- len) Larson, natives of Norway who came to this country in 1869. Her parents re- sided in Scott county, Minnesota, until their deaths, one at the age of eighty-three
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years, the other aged eighty-one. The fol- lowing children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rossum: Edward, on June 28, 1872; Engeborg, on May 6, 1874; Laura, on Febru- ary 9, 1876; Emma, on May 11, 1878; Lou- isa, on March 1. 1880; Oscar, on May 1, 1882; Menna, on April 27, 1884; Benhart, on August 19, 1886; Lewis, on January 17, 1889; Tilda, on June 17, 1891; and Mabel, on March 1, 1894. Of these, the eldest, Ed- ward, died April 6, 1896, and Louisa on June 3, 1901.
CHARLIE E. ROLPH (1872) is a Rock county pioneer, now the leading contractor and builder in the village of Magnolia. His birth occurred in Crawford county, Indiana, August 20, 1855. He was yet in his first year when he accompanied his parents to Minnesota and located with them in Fill- more county. He acquired an education in the village school of Forestville. The fam- ily in 1872 became residents of Rock coun- ty. On his father's farm in Magnolia town- ship Charlie lived until after he was twen- ty-two and then went to Luverne and com- menced the career he has since followed, that of a carpenter. He has lived in and around Magnolia since about 1875. Nearly all the buildings in Magnolia are the work of his skill. He was the builder of the village hall, the public school, and during the summer of 1910 erected an elegant thir- teen-room residence for himself. He is as- sisted in his contracting business by his sons, Edwin and Charles B.
The subject of this biography is the old- est son of Charles B. and Sarah A. (Doug- las) Rolph, both natives of Pennsylvania. Soon after their marriage they went to Crawford county, Indiana, and a year later moved to Minnesota, residing in Fillmore county until 1872, the year of their arrival in Rock county. Charles B. Rolph took as a homestead claim the northwest quarter of section 22, Magnolia township. Three years later he pre-empted a timber claim in Battle Plain township, and there the fam- ily lived up to the date of Mr. Rolph's death in 1896. His wife now lives in Magnolia and is hale and hearty at seventy- one years. There were nine other children in the family besides Charlie of this sketch, all but three of whom are living.
Charlie E. Rolph was married at Wor. thington on June 28, 1876, to Ella Phinney, a native of Wisconsin, born in 1859. To this union five sons and five daughters have been born, named as follows: Philey, Hun- ter, Nellie, Jessie, Edwin, Pearl, Charles, Myrtle, Robert and Eva. Three of the children are deceased.
ALFRED E. ERICKSON (1872) is a mem- ber of one of the first fifteen families to make settlement in Beaver Creek township, which they did in the historic days of the early seventies. Today he is a leading ag- riculturist and man of affairs of that thriv- ing community.
In Vermland, Sweden, on July 26, 1857, Alfred E. Erickson was born to Andrew and Carrie (Olson) Erickson, both deceas- ed. The father, whose memory is enshrin- ed with others of the illustrious and honor- ed pioneers of Rock county, was called to his reward in 1898, after a life of service to his fellow men. The faithful wife, who shared alike his trials and triumphs, sur- vived her husband nine years.
Alfred was eleven years of age when with his parents he crossed the broad Atlantic, the connecting link between native land and the newer country of America. The family resided four years in Carroll county, lowa, which was the starting point of a long, eventful overland journey to the new Rock county, which was reached on Octo- ber 6, 1872. The father took as a home- stead claim the south half of the north half of section 15, the home of our subject to this day.
In common with other poor families, the Ericksons experienced in full measure the trials and tribulations that surrounded the new comers in the initial stage of our coun- ty's making. A rude sod shanty, typical of many others that were a protection to val- iant and courageous men and women, was erected in the spring of 1873, and was the family abode until supplanted by a frame structure three years later. An existence and no more was eked out from the unwil- ling soil during the first few years, eight bushels of wheat to the acre being a "bump- er" crop. There was the ever constant dan- ger from blizzards and prairie fires. In one dread catastrophe the stable and granary
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were sacrificed to the vengeance of the devastating flames, and at the same time perished the major portion of the live stock and all the poultry.
Patient endeavor and indefatigable indus- try were rewarded, and the transition from the dark, calamitous days of hardship to the brighter noon-day of prosperity came de- servedly and in due season to the Erickson family. The subject of this biography from early boyhood contributed his share to the development of the home farm. In 1890 he took the active management, and after his father's death in 1898, he came into full possession of the property by buying his sister's interest in the estate, and he has since reaped many a bountiful harvest. Mr. Erickson is one who is a firm believer in the value of raising high grade stock and his efforts in that line have been well 're- paid. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator company of Beaver Creek, and with his family belongs to the Synod Nor- wegian Lutheran church of Luverne.
On August 25, 1894, at Luverne, Rev. Fossum tied the nuptial knot which made Alfred E. Erickson and Lucy Peterson man and wife Mrs. Erickson is a daughter of Ole Peterson and was born in Norway July 30, 1873. She came to the United States when twenty years of age. Her father still resides in his native land. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Erickson, as follows: Clara, born June 1, 1895; Arthur, born October 12, 1897; Albin, born October 8, 1899; Irwin, born April 14, 1902: Mabel, born January 3, 1904; Eddie, born May 19, 1909; Lillian, born January 30, 1908; and Elmer, born March 11, 1910.
AUGUST C. FINKE (1887). For sixteen years the name August C. Finke has been synonymous with the expression "useful citizen of Hills." As an editor, banker and real estate operator he has ever been an active participant in all that has tended to the development of the town and the wol- fare of the community.
The son of Christian and Mary (Eik- meier) Finke, natives of Germany, who came to the United States in 1858, August C. Finke was born in Dane county, Wis- consin, October 30, 1870. In 1887 the father landed with his family from an emigrant
car in Rock county and located on the northeast quarter of section 31, Clinton township, where he lived up to the time of his death in 1895 at the ripe old age of ninety-two years. His wife, the mother of our subject, still lives in Clinton township.
For two years August lived on the home farm; then after a year as a laborer on a farm near lona, Murray county, he com- menced farming for himself, leasing what was then known as the old Martin farm. The next year he purchased from his broth- er Chris the southwest quarter of section 7, Clinton township, which was later chris- tened the Pleasant View Stock Farm, from which the German church neighborhood aft- erwards derived its name of Pleasant View. Mr. Finke was an extensive breeder of heavy draft horses. In February, 1895, he abandoned farm life and removed to Hills and engaged in the livery business until the following December.
After pursuing a course at the Metropoli- tan Business college of Sioux City, in the spring of 1896, August Finke assumed the control of the Hills Crescent. Later in the year he invited Olaf J. Nash to joint him in the enterprise, and from that day to the time of disposing of their interests in the present year the honorable and influential career of the Crescent was guided by the two worthy gentlemen. Since 1906 the ac- tive management of the paper was in the hands of Mr. Nash because of the many other interests that demanded the atten- tion of the senior publisher.
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