An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota, Part 94

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 94
USA > Minnesota > Pipestone County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 94

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

While residing in Benton county, Iowa, on February 15, 1893, Henry Goettsch was joined in marriage to Tena Hanson, a na- tive of the county of her marriage. She was born February 13, 1875, the daughter of Carsten and Mary (Behrendberg) Han- son, natives of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Goettsch are the parents of the following seven children, four sons and three daugh- ters: Dora M., born December 10, 1893; Bennie C., born February 18, 1896; Arthur II., born September 18, 1897; Louis E., born April 1, 1900; Leonora C., born October 11, 1901; Ella T., born March 9, 1903; and Richard J., born May 27, 1908. The family are members of the German Lutheran church.

JOHN A. ALBERT (1905), of Luverne, is a native Minnesotan, having been born at Mankato and having received his education in the public schools of that city.' At the age of sixteen he moved to St. James, and there learned the trade of harness maker. Three years later, in company with his brother George, he set up in the harness and repair business in St. James. Their business grew from the start. The brothers established four other shops, in the towns of Hartley, Granville and Rock Rapids, lowa, and Adrian, Minnesota, operating them all from the headquarters in St. James. After a residence of ten years in St. James, Mr. Albert removed to Adrian and took charge of his shop at that point for a period of five years. At the time of the death of his brother he disposed of the firm's line of harness shops and returned

629

ROCK COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.

to St. James. For three years our sub- ject managed the Park hotel cafe, then in 1905 took up his residence in Luverne and engaged in business.

John A. Albert is the son of John J. and Christina (Vix) Albert. The father came to this country from Germany at the age of sixteen years and located in Buffalo, New York. On attaining his majority he went to Canada, and then in 1857 to Man- kato, Minnesota, where he was a promi- nent contractor and builder up to the time of his death, February 9, 1910. He was seventy-eight years old at the time of his decease. Mr. Albert served as a guard at the memorable execution of the thirty- eight Sioux Indians at Mankato, a conse- quence of the horrible and grewsome mas- sacres of the whites recorded in Minneso- ta's territorial history. Mr. Albert assist- ed in the construction of the fortifications built at Mankato as a necessary precaution in the troublesome times referred to. Dur- ing the growth of the city he was the builder of many of its prominent and sub- stantial buildings. He built the first Catho- lic church at Mapleton the same year that the James brothers succeeded in their dar- ing raid on the bank at Northfield. Mrs. Albert is still living at Mankato and is in her sixty-eighth year. They were the par- ents of ten children, eight of whom are now living.

Our subject was married at Davenport, Iowa, May 20, 1903, to Amanda Toll, a na- tive of that city and the daughter of Christian and Minnie Toll. The father, Christian Toll, has heen dead for some time, but Mrs. Toll is still living and re- sides at Los Angeles, California. Mr. and Mrs. Albert are the parents of two chil- dren: John E., born May 17, 1905, and Gerome G., born November 1, 1906. He is affiliated with the K. P. and Eagles lodges.

H. KUHNERT (1888) owns and farms the northeast quarter of section 34, Beaver Creek township. His parents are Ed. and Augusta (Nest) Kuhnert, who make their home with their son. The father was born in Truskastover, Verschleen, Germany, in 1843, came to America in 1866, and after living twenty years in Wisconsin came to Rock county, where he has since resided.

To these parents our subject was born in Marquette county, Wisconsin, on Sep- tember 11, 1871. His boyhood days were spent on a farm and he received a district school education. In 1887 he started on a trip with his parents through North Da- kota and Montana, and the following year came with them to Rock county. Until 1895 he made his home under the parental roof on the farm in Martin township; then he married and started out in life for him- self. He bought a farm in West Heron Lake township, Jackson county, and for the next eight years was engaged in farm- ing there. Then he returned to Rock coun- ty, bought his present farm, the northeast quarter of section 34, Beaver Creek town- ship, from T. P. Grout, and has since made his home there. He has made practically all the improvements on the farm, there be- ing only a small barn at the time of pur- chase, and he has a fine home. He raises stock, making a specialty of Durham cat- tle.

Mr. Kuhnert was married in Rost town. ship, Jackson county, September 21, 1895, to Emma Sievert, who was born in Illinois March 23, 1878. To these parents have been born the following named five chil- dren : Walter, born December 9, 1896; Elmer, born July 11, 1899; Eddie, born June 1, 1905; Estner, born July 25, 1906; Freada, born April 23, 1909. The two first named were born in Jackson county, the others in Rock county. Mr. Kuhnert and family are members of the German Lutheran church.

CARL OMODT (1901), the proprietor of a Hills meat market, is a native of Nor- way, where he was born February 18, 1879. He is the son of Otto and Olina Omodt, both of whom died in the land of the midnight sun. They were the parents of five children, all living, who, besides Carl of this sketch, are Amelia, Hannah, Kristine and Otto.

Carl received a common school educa- tion in his native land, and there learned the butcher's trade, at which he worked up to the time of his leaving for America in 1901 at the age of twenty-two. He came direct to Rock county and located in Luverne, where lie resided five years, spending most of that time as a clerk in a

630

ROCK COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.

store. He followed a variety of occupa- tions for awhile. In 1906 he settled in Hills, the same year purchasing the butcher shop of Stordahl Bros. and the building in which it was contained. He served as clerk of the village board dur- ing 1909. Mr. Omodt is a member of the M. W. A. lodge and of the United Nor- wegian Lutheran church.

At Luverne, on September 11, 1905, Anna Ellingson became the wife of Carl Omodt. Mrs. Omodt was born in Norway July 20, 1878. This union has been blessed by two children: Gladys, born June 20, 1906, and Signe, born October 4, 1907.

ISAAC W. TOWER (1896) is the man- ager of the Davenport Elevator company's interests at Luverne. He is the son of Isaac W. and Harriett A. (Holbrook) Tower, natives of Canada and Buffalo, New York, respectively. They were among the early day settlers of Fox Lake, Wisconsin, where they conducted a hotel for a num- ber of years. After à period spent as a farmer and grain buyer at Brandon, the same state, Mr. Tower and his family in 1866 became residents of Minnesota. The elder Mr. Tower conducted grain elevators at Spring Valley and Wykoff. The last few years of his life were spent with his son at Marcus, Iowa, where he died in No- vember 1894, at the age of seventy-two years. Mrs. Tower died at Spring Valley during her forty-eighth year. They were the parents of two children, our subject and a daughter, Hattie P. (Mrs. Richard Cunningham), of England.

The Tower family is of early English origin. Three brothers came to the United States during the colonial period and set- tled in New England. One of the brothers returned to his native land and it is from the other two that the American branch of the family has sprung. With the excep- tion of the families of Isaac W., above re. ferred to, and a brother, D. W., the Towers are to be found only as residents of the New England states.

It was during the residence of the fam- ily in Brandon, Wisconsin, that Issac W. Tower of this biography was born on July 10, 1863. He was three years of age when he accompanied his parents to Spring Val-

ley, Minnesota, and this state has since been the scene of his activities. Ever since his seventeenth birthday Mr. Tower has been more or less closely identified with the grain business, as was his father before him. He managed elevators for his father at Fairmont and Winnebago City. For eleven years he was connected with the firm of E. J. Edmonds & Co. as grain buyer at Steen, Rock county, and at Mar- cus, lowa. For three years thereafter he was stationed at Ellsworth for Cudahy & Butler. In 1902 he came to Luverne and engaged in farming and other occupations until October, 1909; since then he has ful- filled the duties of his present position.

Mr. Tower was married at Pipestone Oc- tober 23, 1885, to Teresa Maloney, who was born in Olmsted county, Minnesota, June 27, 1865, and is the daughter of Michael and Winefred Maloney. Mr. and Mrs. Tower are the parents of the follow- ing named children: Winnifred H., Harry L., Bernice D., Grace A., Perry W., Hope E. and Isaac W.

JACOB KOHN (1907), of Springwater township, has been a resident of Uncle Sam's domain since 1907 and of Rock county for the entire period which has intervened. His birth occurred in Hol- stein, Germany, August 27, 1861. His par- ent:, Chris and Amarinda (Mildenstein) Kohn, are both buried in the fatherland.

Jacob Kohn of this review grew to manhood on his father's farm. At the age of twenty-three he commenced farming for himself, continuing that occupation in the land of his birth until 1907, when he and his family immigrated to America and direct to Rock county. Two sons, Christ and Andrew, and a daughter, Emma, had preceded the rest of the family to this country five years and had been employed most of that time in Yellow Medicine county, Minnesota. In the spring of 1909 Mr. Kohn leased the farm he now con- ducts, the northwest quarter of section 22, for a term of four years.

Jacob Kohn is a man of family. He was married in Germany August 4, 1886, to Dora Detlif, who was born August 15, 1863, the daughter of Daniel and Dora (Reckert) Detlif. They are the parents

631

ROCK COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.

of the following named children: Chris D., born December 17, 1888; Andrew P., born April 19, 1890; Jacob, born March 10, 1894; Peter J., born March 14, 1898; Emma D., born Jannary 3, 1889; Cathrina D., horn September 21, 1899; and Wilhel- mina, born March 22, 1902. The family are members of the German Lutheran church.

KNUDT K. FLODEN (1903), a farmer of Rose Dell township, was born in Haug- sund, Norway, on the seventh day of March, 1884. He is the son of Knut and Catherine (Selde) Floden, who lived on a farm in Norway upon which our subject was reared. He was educated in the com- mon schools of his native land.

In 1903 Knudt severed home ties and made the ocean voyage to America. That same year he settled in Rock county, the scene of his subsequent activities. He hired out as a farm laborer until the spring of 1909, when he returned for a visit to his old home in Norway. Return- ing to Rock county in the fall of the same year, he hired out to Joseph H. Jones, and has since operated that gentle- man's farm, the west half of section 16, Rose Dell township.

In Boone, Iowa, on August 29, 1908, Knudt K. Floden was joined in the bonds of matrimony to Mary D. Fillmore. Mrs. Floden was born at Madrid, Iowa, No- vember 22, 1889, and is the daughter of Charles W. and Catherine (Long) Fill- more, both natives of the Hawkeye state.

BENJAMIN W. COOPER (1901) has been a farmer of Vienna township for the past ten years. He is of English birth, his nativity having occurred in Somerset- shire on January 16, 1879, He is the son of Charles and Sarah (Nuttycomb) Cooper, residents of Vienna township.

Benjamin was an infant in his first year when he accompanied his parents in their removal to the United States. The family were located in Onondaga county, New York, for seven years. Then, pushing westward. the family shrine was estab- lished in Henry county, Illinois, its loca- tion until 1901, when the move to Rock county was made. Our subject was brought

up on the old Illinois farm and was edu- cated in the district schools of that state. For the first two years of his residence in Rock county Mr. Cooper assisted his father on the home farm, then commenced his career as an independent farmer. He now rents and operates the west half of section 26. He is an extensive stock raiser and always maintains a large herd of high bred cattle, hogs and sheep. In 1909 Mr. Cooper was elected to the clerkship of school district No. 30. He is a member of the M. W. A. lodge of Magnolia.

Before leaving Henry county, Illinois, on January 8, 1901, Benjamin W. Cooper was married to Rosa A. Noe. She is a native of Henry county and was born No- vember 2, 1879. Two children have been born to these parents, Lucile, born, Octo- ber, 1908, and Eleanor Edith, born March 7, 1910.

OTTO K. STEEN (1877). In Rose Dell township there is no more prominent fam- ily than that of the Steens. Among them are the township's very earliest settlers and its most progressive farmers. In the promotion of every worthy enterprise that means for the advancement and enlighten- ment of the community none is more zeal- ous.

The representative of this desirable family whose name heads this review is the son of Knut K. and Karn (Bottolfson) . Steen, hardy Norsemen, who departed from native vales at an early date to be- come identified with progress in America. A landing was made at New York on June 7. 1853, Mr. Steen going direct from the metropolis to Chicago, where he secured employment for several months at rail- road construction work. It was decided to locate in Allamakee county, Iowa, and near the town of Lansing Mr. Steen was engaged in farming for nearly twenty years. There he was married to Karen Bottelfson on November 7, 1856.

Becoming interested in the new Rock county, Minnesota, in 1874 Knut K. Steen sold his Iowa land holdings and journeyed to this goal of his desire. He filed a home- stead claim to the southwest quarter of section 14 and took as a timber claim the northwest quarter of the same section, in

632

ROCK COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.

Rose Dell township. He lived for three years on his prairie claim before moving his family to the scene. The pestilence of grasshoppers came as a serious check to anything like a fruitful harvest, and, conse- quently, money was a scarce commodity. The nearest neighbors to Mr. Steen at the time of his settlement were at Pipestone, fourteen miles to the north; to the south, two miles; to the west, twenty-two miles; and to the east, fifteen miles. The nearest railroad was fifty miles away.

In 1877 the government established a postoffice, known as Meadow, on the Steen farm, K. K. Steen serving as post- master from that date until the office was discontinued in 1895. The first meeting of the Rose Dell Norwegian Lutheran church was held on his farm October 15, 1878, and the services were conducted by Rev. C. A. Naeseth, of Luverne. This valiant pioneer and man of energy, Knut K. Steen, passed away from the things of earth on May 14, 1901.

Otto K. Steen, the son and able suc- cessor of the man we have been consid ering, was born in Allamakee county Feb- ruary 20, 1872, but continuously since his fifth year his life has been passed in Rock county and on the old Rose Dell home- stead taken by his father. He was edu- cated in the district schools and early commenced to do his share in the opera- tion of the home farm. He was the ac- tive manager of the farm from 1890 to 1902. In 1902 and 1903 Otto bought the farm and also forty acres of the north- west quarter of section 14, which makes a total area of 200 acres of productive soil which he now farms. Ile is one of the largest stock raisers in the precinct.

Always deeply interested in the many affairs of local importance, Mr. Steen has been called upon repeatedly to serve in offices of trust. He was the clerk of Rose Dell township for five years, a supervisor for three years and was also for a time a justice of the peace. For five years imme- diately following 1890 he carried mail from the old Meadow postoffice and also from Trosky. Mr. Steen is a firm believer in the benefits of co-operation and carries ont his precepts, as he owns stock in the following concerns of that nature: Farm- ers Elevator company, Farmers Co-opera-

tive Mercantile company and the cream- ery, all of Jasper, and in the South Da- kota Rural Telephone company. He is also a stockholder in the First National Bank of Jasper, and is a director of the Rose Dell Mutual Insurance company, of which his father, K. K. Steen, was the first presi- dent.

Our subject was married in Rose Dell township on June 4, 1902, to Milla Nor- vold, who was born in Rose Dell township March 3, 1883, and who has always re- sided in that precinct. She is the daugh- ter of Peter H. and Maren (Saga) Nor- vold, natives of Norway, who settled in Allamakee county, Jowa, in 1861, and came to Rock county in the fall of 1877. One son, Kenneth P., was born to Mr. and Mrs. Steen, on November 7, 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Steen are members of the Trfoldighed Norwegian Lutheran church of Rose Dell.

ANDREW T. HAUGLID (1886) owns and farms the northwest quarter and the west half of the southeast quarter of sec- tion 17, Rose Dell township, and is a Rock county resident of twenty-five years' stand- ing. Born in Skedsmo, Norway, July 6, 1859, our subject was there educated and reared to manhood. His parents, Torger and Dorthe (Olcon) Hanson, were farmers in the old country.

Andrew departed from the scenes of his nativity and youth in 1886 and crossed the Atlantic to make settlement in the newer world. The same year he located in Rock county and the year following be- came the owner of the east half of section 26 and the northwest quarter of section 36, Rose Dell township. He held that land for three years, and after an experience as a renter he bought the northeast quarter of section 21, in the same township. Six years later he again changed locations, purchas- ing that time the southwest quarter of sec- tion 24. On disposing of this land after five years, he farmed in Springwater town- ship for a period, but in 1908 returned to Rose Dell and bought the land he now farms. He is a large raiser of high grade stock. Mr. Hauglid has served as school clerk for fifteen years and has been asses- sor eleven years. He owns stock in the

** 11

FARM HOME OF OTTO K. STEEN, ROSE DELL TOWNSHIP For Many Years the Home of the Late K. K. Steen, a Rock County Pioneer.

FAMILY OF ANDREW T. HAUGLID, ROSE DELL TOWNSHIP

633

ROCK COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.

Farmers Elevator company and the Jasper Co-operative Mercantile company.

Mr. Haugild is a man of family. He was married at Luverne on January 3, 1887, to Emma Larson, who was born October 3, 1867. She is the daughter of Anton and Susan (Schroeder) Larson, the former a native of Norway and the latter of Den- mark. Mr. and Mrs. Haugild are the par- ents of the following named fifteen chil- dren: Dagny S., born November 3, 1887; Thora A., born December 16, 1888; Albert E., born May 27, 1890; Marie E., born No- vember 11, 1891; Otto D., born January 29, 1893; Clara L., born August 3, 1894; Leon- ard N., born December 21, 1895; Ludvig T., horn October 4, 1897; Elmer J., born April 12, 1899, died October 30, 1899; Tigrud E., born October 30, 1900; Helen, born Decem- ber 4, 1902; Ella S., born October 8, 1904; Elmer J., born October 14, 1906; Milla, born October 16, 1908; Martha Christine Mildred, born December 7, 1910. The family are members of the United Norwegian Luther- an church.

ADOLPH STEINFELDT (1893 ) conducts a model blacksmithing, horseshoeing and general machine shop in Luverne. He was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, October 20 1877, where he lived for the first five years of his life. For ten years thereafter he lived with his parents on a farm in Au- rora county, South Dakota, and then was in the city of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, for one year. In 1893 the Steinfeldt family be- came residents of Luverne. The father became the owner of the blacksmith shop which Adolph now conducts. He was em- ployed in the shop with his father for twelve years, and since the latter's death has conducted it alone.

' lolph Steinfeldt, Sr., the father, and Harriett Steinfeldt, the mother of our sub- ject, were both natives of Germany. The elder Mr. Steinfeldt was a blacksmith in Dane county, Wisconsin, for many years and then homesteaded land in Aurora coun- ty, South Dakota. He moved to Luverne in 1893 and bought the shop of Andrew Enger, which he continued to conduct up to the time of his death, November 1, 1906. He was fifty-six years old at the time. His wife still lives in Luverne at the age of

fifty-four. Adolph of this review was the second oldest in a family of two sons and two daughters. Land which the elder Mr. Steinfeldt bought in Burke township, Pipe- stone county, in 1897, is now the property of his heirs.

Our subject was married in Luverne on October 27, 1909, to Alta I. Ackley, the daughter of I. L. Ackley, of Magnolia. Mrs. Steinfeldt was born in Indiana April 27, 1884.

Mr. Steinfeldt is a member of the Lu- verne fire department, of which he was the chief in 1906. Fraternally he is affiliated with the K. P. lodge, and he is a member of the Episcopal church. He owns his shop and residence property at Oakley and Luverne streets, which is known as the old Luverne hospital property.

ARNOLD SCHNECKLOTH (1895) is a Springwater township farmer who has re- sided in Rock county since he was a lad eleven years of age. The son of Carl and Mollie (Johansen) Schneckloth, natives of Germany, he was born in Scott county, lowa, October 15, 1884. In 1895 the family arrived in Rock county, settling in Mond township, where our subject received his schooling. In 1906 he commenced farming for himself, and two years later rented his present farm, the northeast quarter of sec- tion 25, Springwater township, which he successfully conducts.

In Vienna township, on March 13, 1907, Mr. Schneckloth was married to Martha Mann, who was born July 3, 1889, the daughter of Joe and Dora (Jarhardt) Mann, now residents of South Dakota. One child, Minnie, was born to this union, on March 14, 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Schneckloth are members of the German Lutheran church.

PHILIP C. ORDUNG (1907) has owned and farmed the northeast quarter of ser- tion 23, Luverne township, since 1907. Men- dota, Lasalle county, Illinois, is the place of his nativity, which occurred April 24, 1866. His parents, Conrad and Dora (Neist- cher) Ordung, natives of Germany, came to this country in 1840 and settled in Mendo- ta, Illinois, where the father followed the trade of carpenter.

636

ROCK COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.

who is sixty-eight years of age. They were the parents of eight children.

George Pautsch was married in Craw- ford county, Wisconsin, on March 22, 1900, to Minnie Lill, who was born in Crawford county January 24, 1879. They had three children, Clara, Leona and Lawrence. The family are members of the German Luther- an church.

EARL S. LESLIE (1888), a farmer of Beaver Creek township, has lived in that precinct since he was three years of age. He is a native of Tama county, Iowa, where he was born October 4, 1885. His parents, H. S. and Jenetta (Colaw) Leslie, now live in Luverne.

Earl accompanied his parents to Rock county in 1SSS. For a few years the family lived on rented farms in Beaver Creek township, but when our subject was a child his father bought the farm now conducted by the son, the southeast quarter of sec- tion 3, and upon that place Earl has ever since lived. He received a country school education and until 1909 worked for his father on the farm. Then he married, rent- ed the home place, and has since conducted it to his own account. The farm is well improved.

At Luverne, on October 6, 1909, our sub- ject was married to Fern Story, who was born in Lyon county, Minnesota, June 5, 1889. She is the daughter of Albert Lee and Sarah Elizabeth (Southwick) Story. Her father resides in northern Minnesota; her mother is dead.

ELI LEECH (1903), a farmer and stock raiser of Mound township, is a Pennsyl- vanian by birth and breeding. He was born at Gettysburg June 27, 1867. His father, Elijah Leech, was born in York county, Pennsylvania, of Irish parentage, and died in 1893 at the age of fifty-two years. He served for four and one-half years with the Pennsylvania Reserves in the mighty sectional struggle. He fought in many of the memorable battles of the war and for six months was confined in Libbey prison. After the war he engaged in agri- cultural pusuits; then for a number of years prior to his death he drove a hack

over the historic Gettysburg battle field for tourists. The mother of our subject, Eliza- beth (Mollison) Leech, still resides at Get- tysburg, her birthplace. She comes from old Pennsylvania Dutch stock.

Up to the time of his father's death, the life of Eli Leech was passed in Gettysburg and vicinity. He was educated in the schools of his home town, at Two Taverns and White Run. As a boy of sixteen he be- came a coal miner, was so employed at Reading three years, and at Shamokin two years. For eight years thereafter he as- sisted his father in his Gettysburg hack business.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota, Part 94

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