USA > Minnesota > Polk County > Compendium of history and biography of Polk County, Minnesota > Part 28
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HARRY L. MARSII.
Harry L. Marsh, vice president and manager of the First National bank of Crookston, is a native of New York, born at Bridgewater in 1881. He was reared in that village and there received his early education. After completing his preparatory studies, he entered Oberlin college and graduated from that institution in 1903. During the following year he held a position with the Citizens' Trust company at Utica, New York, and then came to Crookston, accept- ing the position of book keeper in the First National
bank. Here his able and efficient services have won him rapid promotion and as vice president and man- ager of the First National bank, he is prominently associated with the financial interests of the North- west. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Crookston commandery. He was married to Annie Miller, the daughter of A. A. Miller, a well known attorney and financier of Crookston. Mr. Marsh and his wife are members of the First Congre- gational church.
CARL RIEDESEL.
This pioneer shoe merchant of Crookston has a fun- damental knowledge of his business not possessed by every man who is engaged in it by reason of his hav- ing learned the trade of shoemaking in all its features and requirements under competent instructors in his native land of Germany, and he makes this knowl- edge tell to his own advantage and that of his eus- tomers, because he is able to distinguish between good and poor material and workmanship in the manu- facture of the goods he handles. His judgment in this respect is considered first rate and his work in reference to the quality of foot gear always carries great weight with the purchasing public.
Mr. Riedesel was born in Westfallen, Erndtebrueck, Germany, in 1854, where his parents, Henry and Louisa (Wiekel) Riedesel, passed the whole of their lives. The father was a shoemaker, a sturdy and ster- ling citizen, and devoted to the welfare of the working people. He rendered his country good service in the Revolution of 1848 in Germany, through which many men of prominence in the Fatherland were driven to
seek safety in foreign lands, some of the most eminent of them becoming residents of this country. Six sons and five daughters were born to the parents, but only two of the number are residents of the United States, Carl and one of his sisters, Lonisa.
Carl Riedesel remained in his native land until he reached the age of twenty-six and there learned his trade as a shoemaker. In 1880 lie eame to America, locating in Carver county, Minnesota, and finding employment on farms in the neighborhood of Waconia. On December 29, 1882, he became a resi- dent of Crookston, and here he worked at his trade for four years in the employ of Mr. Schwark, who carried on a harness and shoe business. In 1889 Mr. Riedesel purchased the shoe department of the busi- ness and this he has since conducted continuously, which makes him one of the oldest merchants in the eity in unbroken connection with the same line of trade.
Mr. Riedesel has given the eity valuable and ap- preciated service as a member of the city council and
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the school board. IIe is a Republican in party alle- giance hut not an active partisan, although he is always deeply interested in the welfare of his county, state and adopted country. Fraternally he is a Free- mason, and also belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. In each of these organizations he has held important offices and of the Camp to which he belongs in the Woodmen he has been secretary for twenty years.
In 1883 Mr. Riedesel was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Reinhardt, like himself a native of Germany, and by this marriage he has beeome the father of seven children, Frederick C., William E., Helen (now Mrs. Misner), Louisa, who is a school teacher, George M., Lillian and Anorma. The par- ents are members of the German Lutheran church. They are well and favorably known throughout Polk county and in other localities, and are everywhere held in high esteem.
FRANK A. GRADY.
Frank A. Grady, a well known attorney of Crooks- ton, was born in Olmsted county, Minnesota, Mareh 2, 1870, the son of James and Bridget (Towhey) Grady. The latter were natives of Ireland. They were married after coming to the United States and located in Olmsted county about 1854, in the early days of the settlement of the new territory. After living here for many years, in 1878 they removed to Brookings county, South Dakota, where they eon- tinue to make their home. Frank Grady received his early education in the country schools of Minne- sota and of Brookings county. He then entered the South Dakota State college where he received the degree of B. S. in 1889. The following four years he spent teaching sehool in Towa and Montana. On returning to Minnesota, he began to prepare himself for the legal profession in the law department of the
state university. He graduated in 1894, was ad- mitted to the bar and on June 8 of that year, began the practice of law at Anoka where he remained for a year and then went to Thief River Falls. In 1897 he located in Red Lake Falls, where for fifteen years he was a prominent member of the bar. During the years of his able and sueeessful practice in Red Lake Falls, Mr. Grady became widely known in northern Minnesota and made many friends in Polk county. IIe served as county attorney for Red Lake county for four years and was a member of the school board. In 1912 he came to Crookston and is one of the lead- ing attorneys in that city. His marriage to Harriet E. Ryan oeeurred December 29, 1897. Three sons have been born to this union, Clarion, Willard and Lowell. Mr. Grady and his family are communicants of the Catholic church.
CHARLES LORING.
Charles Loring, a lawyer of Crookston, was born in St. Croix county, Wisconsin, in 1873. His parents were Lyman and Eugenie (Hutchinson) Loring, the former a native of Maine and his wife of Vermont. Lyman Loring was a farmer, one of the sturdy pioneers who pushed steadily westward as more and more land was opened for settlement and eultivation. He located in Wisconsin in the fifties and in 1877 came to Clay county, Minnesota, and re- 12
sided here until 1890. He then removed to Missoula county, Montana, where he engaged in ranching until his death in 1898. His wife survived him several years and died in Crookston. He rendered his eoun- try valuable serviee in the Civil war, enlisting in Company G, Fourth Wisconsin volunteer cavalry, in 1861 and serving throughout the war. This regi- ment was with the army of the Potomae in its eam- paign. For a time he was transferred to naval duty
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and later accompanied his regiment on its western maneuvers, receiving his honorable discharge at the elose of the war. Charles Loring was the only child and was reared from early childhood in Min- nesota. He was educated in the Moorhead Normal school and in the Phillip's Exeter Academy. After completing his preparatory studies, he entered the law school of the State University and graduated in 1898. In the same year he was admitted to the bar in Montana by the supreme court of that state and practiced there for one year. He then returned to Minnesota to be associated for a year with Judge Nye of Moorhead. In 1900 he located in Crookston where he enjoys a large practice. For several years
he was associated in his professional interests with Halvor Steenerson. This firm was dissolved in 1905 and he formed his present partnership with Mr. G. A. Youngquist. Mr. Loring gives some attention to the management of his farm in which he takes great interest. He is also a director of the Seandinavian American bank. His political affiliations are with the Republican party. Ile has never sought political prominence nor run for any political office. Mr. Lor- ing was married in 1900 to Bertha Darrow, the daugh- ter of Dr. Darrow of Moorhead. They have two daughters, Helen and Genevieve. Mr. Loring is a member of the Masonic order and of the Elks lodge.
CAPTAIN PETER J. EIDE.
Diligent and enterprising in attention to one of the pursuits of peaceful industry, yet ever ready to move at his country's eall in armed resistance to its enemies, Capt. Peter J. Eide of Crookston, is a fine example of the citizen soldiery of the United States, and in all the relations of life he maintains the ster- ling and elevated manhood of the military spirit, ex- emplifying in private life all the devotion to the interests of his country that men exhibit on the battlefield.
The captain, who is now one of the leading busi- ness men of Crookston, was born in this county in 1878. He is a son of John P. and Albertina (John- son) Eide, who were born and reared, educated and married, and began their career of domestie life in Norway, but emigrated to the United States in 1877 and located on a homestead in the township of Roome, this county. They made their virgin land over into a good farm, and the mother died on it in 1898. The father remained on the farm until 1908, when he re- tired from active work and changed his residence to Crookston, where he died in 1913. They had two children, the captain and his sister, who is now the wife of J. E. Michael and has her home in the state of Oregon. The parents were zealous and serviceable
members of the Norwegian Lutheran church and took an active part in promoting all good agencies working for the benefit of the people around them. They were warmly esteemed wherever they were known.
Captain Eide grew to manhood in this county and obtained his education in the public school in Crooks- ton, a business college and the State Agricultural Col- lege at St. Anthony Park in St. Paul. For some years after leaving school he was employed as a clerk in Crookston. In 1905 he began business for himself as a manufacturer of ice cream and proprietor of a confectionery store in Crookston. He has continued his enterprise in these lines until now, and his business has grown to considerable magnitude. He ships ice cream all over this section, and his produet has a high rank wherever it is known, for it is made with intelli- genee and skill and of the best materials for the purpose which can be obtained.
On May 15, 1903, Captain Eide became a private in Company I, Third Minnesota National Guard. Ile has been constant and studious in attention to his duties as a member of the company from the time of his enlistment, and has risen by successive promotions on merit to his present rank as the head officer of his company, having been elected its captain on February
JEROME W. WHEELER
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22, 1911. He was the prime promoter of the move- ment for the erection of an armory at Crookston, and by persistent effort in spite of many discouragements and difficulties, he succeeded in obtaining the object of his desire in this respect in the erection of a build- ing that cost $40,000, and is a model structure for the purpose for which it was designed. It is a source of great pride to the community and he is entitled to the credit of having obtained it.
Captain Eide's company has never been called into active service, but on several occasions it has been put
in readiness for calls to suppress riots and was also prepared for an order to the Mexican border in 1914. The captain is a member of the Masonic Order, the Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America in fraternal relations. His church affiliation is with the English Lutheran sect. He has lived in Crookston from the time when it was an uncomely village of log shacks until now, and has aided materially in promot- ing its growth and improvement to its present condi- tion. The people of Polk county value his services and esteem him highly for his genuine worth.
G. A. YOUNGQUIST.
G. A. Youngquist, of Crookston, county attorney' and a prominent member of the bar in Polk county, was born in 1885, near Gothenburg, Sweden, and was brought to this country in his infancy by his parents, Andrew and Margareta (Abrahamson) Youngquist, natives of the same locality as their son. Andrew Youngquist brought his family to Bureau county, Illinois, in 1887 and worked at his trade of blacksmith in that place for two years and then removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, and with the exception of several years spent in Carver county, made his home in that city until his death in 1907. He is survived by his wife and seven children, of whom G. A. Youngquist is the only one not residing in St. Paul. He was reared there and received his early education in the city schools and in the schools of Carver county. He entered the St. Paul college of law in 1906 and com- pleted his professional studies in 1909, received his degree from that institution and was admitted to
practice before the supreme and federal courts. In the same year he opened a law office at Thief River Falls and in the following year located in Crookston where he has since been associated with Mr. Charles Loring in his professional interests. Mr. Youngquist is one of the younger attorneys of the county and has already attained a high reputation as an able and successful barrister and has earned the respect and confidence of the courts. He was elected county at- torney in 1914. He is widely known through his active interest in political activities and was a mem- ber of the state central committee of the Republican party during the campaign of 1912. He is a member of the Swedish Lutheran church and in fraternal cir- cles is affiliated with the Masonic order, Vasa Orden and Independent Order of Scandinavian Workmen. Mr. Youngquist was married June 29, 1915, to Scharlie M. Robertson, who is a native of Crookston.
JEROME WINTHROP WHEELER.
Long known as one of the most capable, enterpris- ing and sagacious bankers of Minnesota, Jerome Win- throp Wheeler, president of the First National Bank of Crookston since 1905, has a record in his chosen line of business which justly entitles him to the rank he holds and is a firm foundation for his high and
widespread reputation in financial circles in Minne- sota and all other parts of the Northwest. He has been a man of action and done things, leaving to others the pleasant task of talking about achievements. Mr. Wheeler was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Jan- uary 15, 1863, and is a son of J. B. and Kate (Dem-
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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY OF POLK COUNTY
ing) Wheeler. Ile began his education in the public schools of his native town and was graduated from MeMynn Academy, Racine, Wisconsin, in 1880. On leaving the academy he entered the employ of the Kenosha Bank and remained in its service for five years. From 1885 to 1892 he was bookkeeper and teller of the First National Bank of Crookston, and during the next three years was cashier of the Scan- dinavian-American Bank of that city. From 1895 to 1905 he served as cashier of the First National Bank of Crookston, and since 1905 he has been the president of that institution.
In addition to his elose and serviceable connection with banks already mentioned Mr. Wheeler has been president of the First State Bank of Humboldt, also Beltrami, Minnesota, and a director of the State Bank of Stephen, also in this state. Ile has been president of the Wheeler-Misner Loan company of Crooks- ton, Minnesota, and to each of these enterprises he has given the same careful and productive attention that
has distinguished him in all his business undertakings and everything else in which he takes an interest.
In 1912 Mr. Wheeler was chosen president of the Capitol Trust company of St. Paul, and since taking his place at the head of that enterprising and pro- gressive institution he has given every detail of its management his studious personal supervision, there- by promoting its welfare and quiekening its progress toward the great development and impressive financial influence it has attained with an impetus that keeps it ever on the move for the accomplishment of still greater results.
Mr. Wheeler has taken a sympathetic interest and an active part in the fraternal life of Minnesota as a member of the Masonie Order, the Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. While earnestly and loyally devoted to the abiding welfare of his state and country, political con- tests have had no attraction for him, and he has never sought or desired a political office of any kind. He was married August 24, 1886, to Miss Eva J. Ilill.
EDWIN F. KELLEY.
Edwin F. Kelley, sheriff of Polk county, was born at Jaekson, Michigan, November 22, 1872, and was brought to Minnesota in his early infaney by his parents, Andrew J. and Ella (Fleming) Kelley, na- tives of Indiana and Michigan. The father of Andrew Kelley was born in New York state and served in the War of 1812, later removing to Kelleys Ford, Virginia, and from there to Ohio. Andrew Kelley is a cabinet maker by trade and was employed in this work until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted in the defense of the Union in the Seven- teenth Michigan volunteer infantry and served with distinction during the great confliet, his valiant serv- jees being acknowledged by congress in the awarding of a medal. After the elose of the war, he was ap- pointed a keeper in the penitentiary and made his home in Jackson, Michigan, for some time. In 1873 he came to Minnesota and was the first settler in the vicinity of Crookston, loeating on government land,
one mile and a half east of the town, and this home- stead farm continues to be the home of Andrew Kel- ley and his wife. Edwin Kelley's earliest recollec- tions are of the pioneer life of the county and he has witnessed the rapid growth and the evolution of the wild frontier country into the modern agricultural and eivie communities and the interests and successes of his career have been identified with its history. Among the first playmates of his childhood were the children of the Indian tribes, before the increasing activities of civilization left no room for their wan- dering bands. He received his education in the county schools and engaged in farming, later removing to the coast where he owned a stone and timber claim for some time. In 1898 he enlisted in Company L. of the Fourteenth Minnesota regiment and served in the Spanish war from April to November of that year, completing the honorable military record of the services of three generations. On returning to Polk
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county, he again engaged in farming and for four years was deputy sheriff of the county. In 1911 he was elected to the office of sheriff and reelected in 1913 and has discharged the duties of his position with commendable ability, his services incurring a well merited popularity among his fellow citizens. He
has always been a faithful supporter of the principles of the Republican party and is a member of the Pres- byterian church. In fraternal circles, he is affiliated with the Elk lodge. Mr. Kelley was married in 1910, to Estella Barlow, of Iowa and they have two ehil- dren, Gordon and Dorothy.
L. D. FOSKETT.
L. D. Foskett, of Crookston, cashier of the Crooks- ton State Bank and prominent citizen, was born in Northfield, Massachusetts, in 1865, the son of Elmer C. and Celia M. (Darrin) Foskett. Elmer C. Foskett was a native of Massachusetts and his wife of New York. They have made their home in Iowa for a. number of years and now reside at Primghar in that state. L. D. Foskett was educated in Drake Univer- sity at Des Moines, Iowa, and upon leaving the uni- versity in 1898, he located in Marshall, Minnesota, where he engaged in the abstract and loan business for several years. In 1902 he removed to Crookston and promoted the organization of the Crookston State Bank and since that time has continued to be identi- fied with its successful transactions as cashier. In addition to his banking interests, Mr. Foskett is ex-
tensively associated with the agricultural enterprises of the county and devotes considerable attention to the operation of about two thousand acres of farm land. His career has been marked by worthy aceom- plishment and success and, although he avoids active interest in political matters, as a publie spirited eiti- zen, he is widely known and popular in all circles. He is a member of the Commercial club and in fra- ternal orders, is a Mason and member of the Com- mandery and a member of the Elks and of the Modern Woodmen of America. He was married, July 25, 1905, to Bernice Addison, who resided in Marshall, Minnesota, and they have two children, Florence and Elmer. Mr. Foskett and his wife are members of the Congregational elmreli.
WELLINGTON H. JEWELL.
When Wellington II. Jewell, the oldest employe in length of continuous service in the Northern Division of the Great Northern railroad, first saw Crookston in 1872 it was a straggling hamlet of a few log cabins and gave little promise of becoming a city of 8,000 inhabitants, alive with quiekened industrial, merean- tile and commercial activities and blessed with all the concomitants of modern municipal progress. He has been a resident of the city from that time to the pres- ent, and has contributed his share of the enterprise and force required to build and develop it to its pres- ent stature.
Mr. Jewell was born in the state of Maine in 1858, the son of Emanuel and Katharine (Houston) Jewell,
the former a native of England and the latter of Scotland. The father was a farmer and carpenter. He emigrated from his native land to Prince Edward Island. After living there for a number of years he moved to Maine, but later he took his family back to Prince Edward Island, and he and the mother died there. They were the parents of thirteen children and three of their sons are now residents of the United States.
Wellington H. Jewell remained on Prince Edward Island until he reached the age of fourteen, then came to Crookston with his uncle, Robert Houston, who owned a part of the townsite. For a number of years the unele conducted a popular and profitable grocery
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store in Crookston. Hle is now living in the city of Everett, Washington. The nephew found employ- ment in a modest capacity in the roundhouse of the Great Northern Railroad in 1875, and in October, 1880, was given an engine, and from that time until now he has been running one on the Northern Di- vision of the road. He is a member of the Masonie Order in several of its advaneed branches, including the Mystie Shrine.
Mr. Jewell was married in Crookston in 1886 to
Miss Annie Dreeland, who was born in Ottawa county, Province of Quebec, Canada. They have three chil- dren : Katharine, who is the wife of John Bow, of Crookston ; William E., who is in the railroad service, and Albert E., who is a machinist in the railroad shops in St. Paul. The parents are widely known and held in much esteem for their genuine worth and the cor- dial and helpful interest they manifest in every un- dertaking for the good of their community.
O. H. BJOIN.
O. H. Bjoin, of Crookston, well known citizen and pioneer of the county, was born in Dane county, Wis- consin, September 19, 1852. His parents, Halvor and Annie (Week) Bjoin were natives of Falamaskan, Norway, and prominent farmers of Dane county, Wis- consin, where they had extensive land interests on Coskland Prairie. The father came to this country in 1843 and the mother in 1844 and they were married in Wiseonsin where they reared their family of six sons and three daughters. Two sons, Thomas Bjoin and O. HI. Bjoin, are residents of Polk county. The latter remained in his native state until 1880 when he came to Crookston. For a year he engaged in farming and then for some time operated a livery business, working for his brother, Thomas Bjoin. In
1883 he filed on land and gave some attention to his claim, later serving for a time on the police foree of Crookston. Hle again engaged in the lively business in 1885, September 21, and has continued in this oceupation during the past thirty years and is widely known as the pioneer liveryman of the county. Throughout the many years of his business career and citizenship, Mr. Bjoin has maintained an active inter- est in public activities and in advaneing the rapid development of the country and justly enjoys the respeet accorded the worthy settlers of the eity and county. He was married at Red Wing, in 1886 to Lena Carlson, who was born in Norway and they have three eliildren, Anna, Cora and IIarold.
JOHN R. RASMUSSON.
Being one of the pioneers who helped to open the Red River valley to settlement and improvement, and having also tried his hand in the stirring engagements of the farther West, John R. Rasmusson of Crookston has had an extensive, varied and valuable experience among men.
Mr. Rasmusson was born at Kilbourn, Wiseonsin, in 1864. His parents, Halvor and Liv (Johnson) Rasmusson, were natives of Norway and eame to the United States in 1860, loeating in Wiseonsin, where the father taught school and elerked. In 1866 he
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