USA > Minnesota > Brown County > History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1) > Part 41
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BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
AUGUST VOGEL.
One of the stanch citizens of Milford township, Brown county, Minnesota, who has won his way to a pleasing com- petence from the smallest of beginnings, is August Vogel, living on his splendid farm of two hundred and sixty-three acres. Mr. Vogel is a native of Posen, Germany, born on August 27, 1854, a son of William and Henrietta Vogel. William was a laborer all his life and of the family of four children, only August and a sister, Jennie, now residing in Sleepy Eye, this state, came to this country. August was eighteen years of age when he emigrated to America and located near Laporte, Indiana, where he worked as a farm hand until 1880 when he came to this county. The follow- ing four years found him still laboring as a farm hand, and then he purchased a tract of one hundred and seventy-three acres and started farming for himself. He has wonderfully prospered, due to his good management and tireless energy. All his land is under cultivation and he puts in on an aver- age of one hundred acres to grains, meeting with the yield customary to this section. He has his farm well stocked and although his animals are not purebred, they are of good grade and he realizes good returns on them.
On October 10, 1883, August Vogel was united in mar- riage with Minnie Gehrke, born in Germany, a daughter of August and Ernestine (Kreigh) Gehrke. The father was a laborer and after his death in his native land the enter- prising mother brought her four children, Minnie, Bertha, Emma and August, to America and here they all became
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well established. Mr. and Mrs. Vogel are the parents of ten children, namely: Margaret, Bertha, William, Edwin, Minnie, Emil, August, Rudolph, Otto and Frieda. Mar- garet became the wife of Albert Werner and the mother of three children, Emil, Otto and Gertrude. Bertha married William Retless and has five children, Herman, Alice, Hilda, Elenora and Edna. Emil Vogel married Lena Ham- merow and has one child, August. Minnie married Otto Moll and has three children, Harold, Armand and Edgar.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Vogel are faithful members of the German Lutheran church and politically he is an independ- ent voter. He is considered one of the stalwart and sub- stantial citizens of his township and has won his way in life alone and unaided.
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BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
JOSEPH FRANK, JR.
One of the best-known farmers and stockmen of Mil- ford township, Brown county, Minnesota, is Joseph Frank, Jr., who was born in that same township on July 2, 1872, a son of Joseph and Theresa Frank, both natives of Germany.
Joseph Frank, Sr., came to this country as a young man and for a few years followed his trade of carpenter, which he had mastered in his own country. In 1868 he came to Minnesota and located in St. Paul, where he lived for two years and then, in 1870, came to Brown county. In Milford township he bought one hundred and sixty acres, later in- creasing his holdings to two hundred acres. He was ener- getic and a good manager and succeeded well in his under- taking. He continued to farm until 1905, when he retired from the active duties of life and took up his residence in New Ulm, where he is spending his declining years in quietness, peacefully enjoying the fruits of his active years.
Joseph Frank, Jr., is the eldest of a family of three, the other two being Alois and Benjamin. Joseph received his education in the schools of Milford township and later became his father's assistant on the homestead, remaining with him until twenty-five years of age. He at that time started out in life for himself, purchasing one hundred and seventy-three acres, which constitutes a part of his present farm. He has been successful and now owns two hundred and fifty-eight acres, his home being considered one of the best improved farms in this part. Of late years he has put about six thousand dollars on it in the way of buildings and improvements and the entire place presents a picture of
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prosperity and contentment. In addition to modern barns and outbuildings, Mr. Frank has a fine home. He has about one hundred and seventy acres under the plow and divides his attention between his general farming and the raising of live stock. He is a breeder of Shorthorn cattle, having more than a local reputation and usually has a herd of some thirty head on his farm. He prepares for the market an average of seventy-five hogs per annum and milks ten cows the year round. He does not sell his grain, but feeds it all on the place and the manner in which he is conducting the business of his farm is bringing him good returns.
In 1911, Joseph Frank was united in marriage with Meta Femeyer, who was born on October 10, 1888, in New Ulm, a daughter of Joseph Femeyer, of Nicollet county, Minnesota, and to this union two children have been born, Martha and Arthur. Politically, Mr. Frank votes inde- pendently and while never a seeker after office, is always interested in political matters as pertaining to local affairs. Mr. and Mrs. Frank are members of the German Lutheran church of New Ulm. Mr. Frank has long displayed a busi- ness ability above the average and is highly regarded by his large circle of friends and acquaintances.
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BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
CRONE BROTHERS.
No history of Brown county would be complete without some specific reference to the Crone department store at New Ulm, the oldest mercantile establishment in that city, which was founded by the late Theodore Crone in 1857, but two years after the creation of Brown county as a civic entity, and which has been conducted continuously since that time, Theodore Crone having continued in business until his death in 1891, since which time it has been con- tinued by his sons, Carl, Theodore and Ferdinand, who long have been looked upon as among the leading merchants of this section of the state.
The late Theodore Crone was born in Kloppenberg, Germany, July 6, 1824, and was trained there to the trade of a tanner. When a young man he came to the United States and for several years was located at Buffalo, New York, after which he went to Chicago and opened a general store in the hay market on Randolph street. In that city he married Gesine Benning, a native of Hanover, and in 1856, the year after the organization of Brown county, came to Minnesota and settled at New Ulm. The next year, 1857, he opened a general store in that, even then, promising vil- lage and remained in business there the rest of his life, ever being regarded as a leader in the commercial and general business life of the city. The Crone store was well estab- lished at New Ulm by the time the Indian outbreak in 1862 interrupted all kinds of business hereabout and after things settled down and this region began to fill up with settlers
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and the city develop as its founders expected it to do, Mr. Crone began to prosper. He was a man of great energy, enterprising and industrious, possessed of extraordinary business judgment, far-seeing and prudent, and from a small beginning built up a large business. Diligent in his own affairs, he ever found time to promote the wider inter- ests of the public at large and was ever known as a leader in all movements designed to advance conditions along all proper lines hereabout. In all his activities he had in his good wife a most valuable and competent helpmeet and both were held in the highest esteem throughout this whole sec- tion of the state. Theodore Crone died in 1891, at the age of sixty-six years, and his widow survived him until 1902, she having been eighty years of age at the time of her death.
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BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
ANDREW SAFFERT.
Andrew Saffert, proprietor of an extensive meat mar- ket in New Ulm, this county, owner of a valuable farm at the edge of that city, an enterprising citizen who is inter- ested in various other enterprises in and about the city, is a native of Bohemia, having been born in the town of Mut- terdorf, in that country, June 20, 1877, son of Anton and Elizabeth (Wernisch) Saffert, both natives of Bohemia, who are still living there.
Anton Saffert is the eldest of the three children of Dr. John Saffert, a veterinary surgeon, and wife, he having had a sister, Mary, and a brother, George. He served his time in the army of his native land and is a stone-mason by trade, and has held various town offices in Mutterdorf. He and his wife are Catholics and their children were reared in that faith. There were nine of these children, namely: Joseph, of Austria; Andrew, the subject of this biographical sketch; Frank, of New Ulm; Louis, of New Ulm; Anna, who is the wife of Joseph Parr, of Saxton, North Dakota; Theresa, a Sister in St. Mary's hospital at East St. Louis, Illinois; Mary, who is at home with her parents in Mutterdorf; George, a resident of Prague, the capital of Bohemia, and Frank, who died when two years old.
Andrew Saffert was fourteen years old when he came to the United States with a party of his fellow-countrymen in 1891 and settled at New Ulm. Upon locating there he began working for Joseph Schrobrielt, Sr., in the meat market, and there thoroughly learned the butcher business,
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beginning a career in that line in which he has become very successful. After a time he left the butcher shop and went to the country, where for three years he worked on a farm, later returning to New Ulm and taking employment with Charles Stuebe and still later with Joseph Epple, thus fur- ther familiarizing himself with the business of the retail meat trade in this section. In 1912 Mr. Saffert bought the old Epple stand and since then has completely remodeled the same until he now has an admirably equipped and thor- oughly modern meat market, his abbatoir and all buildings and equipment being in full harmony with the latest re- quirements of the state board of health's regulations, his meat being prepared according to the most minute details of the pure-food laws. Mr. Saffert is also the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres at the edge of New Ulm, where his rendering works are located and where he takes care of his live stock, only the best grades of which are displayed for sale in his market. Mr. Saffert has not confined his business transactions wholly to his meat market and was for some years one of the directors of the State Bank of New Ulm.
On May 7, 1901, Andrew Saffert was united in mar- riage to Anna Wiltscheck, who was born in New Ulm, daughter of John and Margaretta (Dietz) Wiltscheck, na- tives of Bohemia, and for years well-known residents of New Ulm, both of whom are now dead. John Wiltscheck and wife were the parents of eight children, Mary, Amelia, Anna, Rosa, Albert, Henry, the latter of whom died at the age of twenty years, and two others who died in early youth. Mrs. Saffert's paternal grandparents were John and Anna (Wiesner) Wiltscheck, who came from Anblatz, Bohemia,
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and were early residents of the New Ulm settlement, spend- ing the rest of their lives on a farm in this community, both living to a good old age. They had a good-sized family, John, Catherine, Anna, Mary, Barbara and Joseph. Mary and Barbara Wiltscheck, both now deceased, were Sisters in the convent. Mrs. Wiltscheck's maternal grandparents were August and Margaret (Sellner) Dietz, who were the parents of several children, three of whom are now living, Theresa, Anna and George. Mrs. Saffert's father died in 1908, being then past fifty-nine years of age, and her mother died on January 5, 1914, she also at that time being just past fifty-nine years of age.
To Andrew and Anna (Wiltscheck) Saffert five chil- dren have been born, Elmer, Cornelius, Rosa, Loretta and Marie. Mr. and Mrs. Saffert are members of the Catholic church and Mr. Saffert is a member of the Knights of Co- lumbus, the Catholic Order of Foresters and the St. Joseph Society, in the affairs of which organizations he takes a warm interest. He is a Democrat and gives a good citizen's attention to local political affairs, but is not included in the office-seeking class.
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BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
HENRY MOLL.
Henry Moll, one of the elder pioneer citizens of Milford township, Brown county, Minnesota, now living in quiet re- tirement on his one-hundred-and-sixty-acre farm, is a native of Germany, born in Wurtemberg on December 27, 1834. He is a son of Henry and Anna Moll, both natives of the same place. Henry, the elder, was a shepherd in his native land but after coming to this country in 1847 he devoted his energies exclusively to farming. He located in Wisconsin, where he passed the remainder of his life. Henry and Anna Moll were the parents of nine children, five of whom are still living. These are Daniel, Conrad, Margaret, Henry and Albert.
Henry Moll was thirteen years of age when his parents brought him to this country and in his native land had at- tended a good school. He studied in this country but a short time, and that in the primitive early schools of Wis- consin. He was of great assistance to his father in prepar- ing their newly acquired land for cultivation and worked in this manner until the outbreak of the Civil War. Early in that conflict he enlisted as a private in Company G. Ninth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served three years and three months with the Western division of the army under General Steele. He passed through his time of service with- out any serious injury, although participating in a number of skirmishes.
After his term of enlistment had expired, Henry Moll returned to his home and shortly afterward came to this
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MR. AND MRS. HENRY MOLL.
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county, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of land in Milford township, for which he paid eleven hundred dollars. It was partly improved, having some sod broke, but the buildings had all been destroyed during the Indian uprising. He set about putting up the necessary buildings and other- wise improving the place and farmed there until 1873 when he moved to Cottonwood county and pre-empted a claim of one hundred and sixty acres. After having proved up on that, Henry Moll returned to his former home in Milford township and continued farming there until the time of his retirement in 1911. Henry Moll was always considered one of the most progressive men and up-to-date farmers of his day and community and is eminently deserving of the suc- cess which has been his.
Henry Moll was married on August 19, 1866, to Caro- line Essig, a daughter of John and Louise (Granaman) Essig, that family being one of the prominent pioneer families and for further data regarding them, the reader will please refer to the sketch of John Essig, found else- where within these covers. Henry Moll and wife are the parents of fourteen children, eleven of whom are living at the present time. These are: Albert, Anna, Henry, Otto, Caroline, Jacob, Armanda, Leonard, Charles, Adolph and Arthur. Henry married Minnie Current and has five chil- dren, Wilmer, James, Laura, Lydia and Adeline. Anna married Clark Moorehouse and is the mother of six chil- dren, Samuel, Ora, Jacob, Leonard, Albert and Charles. Samuel Moorehouse married a Miss Anderson and has one child. Otto married Rosa Frankie and has four children, Genevieve, Everett, Alma and Rowland. Caroline became
(IIa)
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the wife of George Maha and has five children, Gladys, Georgia, Goldie, Germa and Glorandena. Jacob chose Ethel Osborn as his wife and has four children, Elmer, Louise, Alice and Germa. Armanda became the wife of Andrew Lebert and has a family of five, Edmond, Lottie, Iona, Lloyd and Opal. Arthur married Minnie Vogel and has a family of three children, Harold, Arman and Edgar.
Henry Moll is one of the faithful members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church of New Ulm and for a number of years he was superintendent of the Sunday school and also served as church treasurer. He is one of those consistent men who by virtue of their good qualities exert a beneficent influence on the community at large. Politically, Mr. Moll gives his support to the Republican party and has demon- strated his interest in local political matters in various ways. For many years he was road supervisor and that at a time when the question of good roads was first agitating this sec- tion. He is a member of Hagar Post No. 48, Grand Army of the Republic, and fills the office of sergeant. Mr. Moll has added his quota to the general development of this section of the state and as one of the older pioneers, is eminently entitled to representation in this volume.
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BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
J. ANTON OCHS.
J. Anton Ochs, proprietor of the popular "Bee Hive" dry goods store at New Ulm and one of the best-known and most enterprising merchants in this part of Minnesota, is a native son of Brown county, having been born at New Ulm, where he now resides, on July 5, 1870, son of Anton and Walburga (Drexler) Ochs, both natives of Wurtemberg, Germany, pioneers of this county, both of whom spent their last days in New Ulm. The father of the senior Anton Ochs was a small farmer and both he and his wife lived and died in the old country. Walburga Drexler's father was owner of a livery barn and a small farm in the old country. His wife had died and when his daughter and her husband came to this country he accompanied them and died soon there- after in New York, he then being upward of seventy years of age.
It was in 1851, two years after their marriage, that Anton Ochs and his wife came to the United States. For several years they made their home near Buffalo, New York. They came to Minnesota in the spring of 1856 and pre-empted a farm six miles west of where the town of New Ulm was then located, which farm Mr. Ochs worked until the Indian outbreak in August, 1862. During those trying days he joined the company of Captain Steinhauser and was one of the defenders of New Ulm until relief came. He then removed to St. Paul with his family, but returned to New Ulm a year later and engaged in the mason-contracting business until he retired in 1890. He spent his declining years in New Ulm, one of the best-known men in that city.
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He died in 1902, at the age of seventy-seven years, and his widow died in the following year, 1903, she being seventy- three at the time of her death. Anton Ochs and his wife were earnest members of the Catholic church and their chil- dren were reared in that faith. There were twelve of these children who grew to maturity, as follow: Cecelia, widow of Louis Schilling, of New Ulm; Rose, wife of John Man- derfeld, of New Ulm; A. C. Casimir, of Springfield, this county; Rudolph, of LeSueur, this state; Mary, wife of Emanuel Schotzko, of St. Peter, in the neighboring county of Nicollet; William, of New Ulm; Ida, unmarried, who also lives in New Ulm; J. Anton, the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Albert, of Faribault, this state; Louis, of Canby, this state; Matilda, wife of Edward Baer, of New Ulm, and Otto, of Rochester, this state.
J. Anton Ochs received his education in the parochial schools at New Ulm and early entered upon a commercial career, beginning as a clerk in a store in that city, thus becoming thoroughly grounded in the principles of mer- chandising. His father was only a fairly well-to-do man and as there were so many children in the family he had to rely from the very start of his career upon his own efforts as a means of earning a proper support. In 1888 J. Anton Ochs went to Faribault, where he presently engaged in busi- ness in partnership with his elder brother, William, who then was a teacher in the state school for the deaf, and this partnership continued for a number of years, the brothers gradually extending their business until they had stores in Faribault, Rochester and New Ulm. J. Anton Ochs re- mained at Faribault for about fourteen years, at the end of which time he returned to New Ulm and established his
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present "Bee Hive" store and has been thus engaged ever since, having built up a very flourishing business in general dry goods and women's ready-to-wear garments. Starting with practically nothing but a fine taste for the dry goods business and some practical experience in that line, he has prospered largely, as he deserves to prosper, and may very properly be referred to as a "self-made" man, in all that often abused term implies.
On September 16, 1896, J. Anton Ochs was united in marriage to Emma Thielmane, who was born at Faribault, this state, October 8, 1874, daughter of Leonard and Leo Cadie (Joachim) Thielmane, both natives of Belgium, who became residents of this section of Minnesota in the early days of settlement hereabout. Leonard Thielmane was born at Grande Hallet, Belgium, November 3, 1839, son of Leonard and Therese (Le Beau) Thielmane, the former a mason contractor, who were the parents of eight children, Leonard, Marie Therese, Rosalie, Lambertine, Charles, Arnold, Louis and Julia. In the early sixties the junior Leonard Thielmane and his brother, Louis, came to Amer- ica and in 1865, Leonard Thielmane located at Faribault, this state, where he married Leo Cadie Joachim, who was born at Thieuises, Belgium, October 11, 1849, and who was but eight years old when she came to this country with her parents, Dieu Donne and Marie Barbe (Charie) Joachim, from Thieuises, the family settling in 1857 in Rice county, this state, near the then rapidly growing village of Fari- bault. Dieu Donne Joachim and his wife were the parents of seven children, Louis, Joseph, Charles, Rosalie, Mary, Josephine and Leo Cadie. To Leonard Thielmane and wife five children were born, Dieu Donne, Leonard, Ellen, Emma
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and Edward. Mrs. Thielmane died on July 10, 1900, and Mr. Thielmane, who still survives, now makes his home in New Ulm.
To J. Anton and Emma (Thielmane) Ochs five chil- dren have been born, namely: Ferdinand A., born on Oc- tober 21, 1897; Ellen N., August 16, 1899; Anton J., April 13, 1901; Irene L., December 26, 1906, and Imelda, Novem- ber 20, 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Ochs are members of the Catho- lic church and take a warm interest in all good works in and about New Ulm, being held in high regard by their many friends hereabout. Mr. Ochs is a member of the Knights of Columbus; of the St. Joseph Society and of the Catholic Order of Foresters, in the affairs of which several organiza- tions he takes an active interest.
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BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
GOTTLIEB OSWALD.
Gottlieb Oswald, city treasurer of New Ulm, this county, a position which he has held since his election for his first term in 1908, having been re-elected at each succes- sive election since then, is a native of Germany, born on April 4, 1849, son of Leonard and Lavina (Gesile) Oswald, also natives of the Fatherland. Leonard Oswald was a con- tractor and builder and in 1853 came to the United States, seeking a new home. He began working at his trade in New York state and shortly afterward was joined there by his family. A year or two later the family left Buffalo and went to Chicago, where Mr. Oswald worked as a builder for a couple of years, at the end of which time he moved his family to New Ulm and there established his permanent home. He took an active part in early building operations in New Ulm and helped in the construction of the old Eagle roller mills. He was active in the defense of the city during the Indian massacre and at one time during that trying period had a close call for his life, having been one of a reconnoitering party, two of the members of which were slain by the redskins, he finding safety in flight. He entered a homestead at the edge of the town of Milford and there made his home until 1873, in which year he retired from the farm and moved back to New Ulm, where his death oc- curred the following year, 1874. He and his wife were the parents of sixteen children, of whom six, Joseph, Angelica, Kunigundi, Fred, Dorothy and Gottlieb, came to America, the elder children remaining in Germany.
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Gottlieb Oswald was about five years old when his par- ents settled in this country and was about ten years old when he accompanied them to New Ulm, which has been his home ever since. He grew up on the farm and early learned the brewer's trade, at which he worked for sixteen years, a part of the time at New Ulm and a part of the time at St. Paul. He then returned to his father's farm and after operating that place for some time again located in New Ulm and in 1908 was elected to the important and respon- sible office of city treasurer, which position he still holds.
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