USA > Minnesota > Brown County > History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1) > Part 49
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
Digitized by Google
291
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
ANDREW J. LEBERT.
Andrew J. Lebert, farmer and stockman, living on his fine place of two hundred and eighty-eight acres in Home township, Brown county, Minnesota, is of French parent- age, having been born in the township where he now resides on January 21, 1867, a son of Joseph and Anna (Vanderest) Lebert, both natives of France.
Joseph Lebert came to this country in 1850 and located in the state of Wisconsin. There he remained but a short time when he moved to St. Paul, relying the while upon his trade of carpenter for his livelihood. From St. Paul he came to Redstone, arriving here in 1867 and soon thereafter took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in Home township, same having no improvements whatever upon it. However, Joseph Lebert took up his residence there, making a comfortable home for his family, and con- tinued to farm there until the time of his death in 1885. There were nine children in the Lebert family, as follow: Frank, Louis, Mary, Joseph, Louisa, Andrew, John, Anna and Julia.
Andrew Lebert received but a limited education in his youth, having access only to the early schools of his native township and assisted his father with the work of the home place until eighteen years of age. He then took over the management of the home place, farmed that himself for a number of years and then bought other land, bringing the acreage up to his present holdings. He has put all the im- provements on the place, which run up into the thousands
Digitized by Google
292
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
of dollars and has set out about an acre of grove. Mr. Le- bert divides his attention between the raising of grains and live stock, feeding on an average of forty hogs for the market per year. His trading point is at Sleepy Eye, a distance of eight miles.
On October 19, 1898, Andrew J. Lebert was united in marriage with Amanda Moll, a daughter of Henry Moll, of New Ulm, and a resident of Brown county. To their union five children have been born, Edmund, Lottie, Ione, Lloyd and Opal.
Mr. Lebert attends the Congregational church and gives liberally of his means toward the support of the work of his organization. His fraternal affiliation is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Wood- men of America, through the local lodges of those orders at Sleepy Eye. Mr. Lebert is an independent voter, having no particular interest in things political, but anxious always to see the right man in the right place. He is one of the good citizens of Brown county, a man who has a host of friends, by all of whom he is held in great respect.
Digitized by Google
293
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
ADOLPH SCHILLING.
Close attention to detail has been the principal secret of the success of Adolph Schilling as a farmer of Brown county. He was born on July 5, 1860, in Lafayette county, Minnesota, and is a son of Adolph and Henrietta (Freeze) Schilling, natives of Germany, from which country the father came to the United States in 1855, first locating at Freeport, Illinois, but he did not remain there long, coming on to Minnesota and homesteaded eighty acres of land. He subsequently bought more land, developed an excellent farm on which he resided until his death, July 22, 1888. He fought against the Sioux in 1862, his family going to St. Peter with other settlers and there he eventually went, all remaining until the danger of another invasion was passed. The subject of this sketch was then only two years old and he remembers but one incident of those times and that was the family leaving their log cabin home and going to St. Peter. Four children were born to Adolph Schilling, Sr., and wife, namely: Adolph, of this review; August, who lives in Winthrop; Henry died in 1914, and William died on May 31, 1888, shortly before his father died.
The subject of this sketch lived on the old home place until December 2, 1913, carrying on general farming suc- cessfully, then retired and moved to town, he had bought the farm of his father two years previous to his death. As a boy, Adolph Schilling attended the rural schools near his home until he was thirteen years of age, and assisted his father with the farm work in the summer time. On July 2,
Digitized by Google
294
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
1886, in Lafayette county, he was united in marriage with Minnie Wellner, who was born on December 10, 1862, in that county, and is a daughter of William and Wilhelmina (Hellmann) Wellner, natives of Germany, from which country they came to the United States in February, 1857, coming direct to Minnesota. Here the father took an active part in the Indian war as a teamster and hauler of sup- plies. Mr. and Mrs. Schilling have one child, Adolph, who was born on May 14, 1887. He received a good education, passing through the public schools, then attending the col- lege at St. Peter, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1908. On September 17, 1913, he married Eva Brinkman, who was born on June 12, 1893, in Brown county, and is a daughter of Henry and Emily (Dietz) Brinkman. The father was born in Ger- many and the mother in Brown county, Minnesota. Adolph Schilling, Jr., and wife have no children; they live on his father's farm which he is successfully operating. Mr. Schilling and family are members of the Evangelical church .. He was treasurer of the school district in which he lived in Lafayette township for several years.
Digitized by Google
295
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
W. C. HEIMANN.
W. C. Heimann, postmaster at Essig and a well-known and enterprising merchant of that thriving little village, is a native son of Brown county, having been born on a farm in Milford township, June 12, 1874, son of August and Caro- line Heimann, natives of Germany and well-known resi- dents of that community.
August Heimann came to the United States when little more than a boy and for some time after coming here worked as a farm hand in the neighborhood of New Ulm. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted for service in the Union army and upon the completion of his term of enlist- ment returned home and married. He had a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Milford township and there he established his home, remaining there until his retirement from the active duties of the farm in 1901, in which year he and his wife moved to New Ulm, where they are still living. They were the parents of nine children, of whom eight are still living, those besides the subject of this sketch, who is the eldest, being Mrs. Emilia Rolf, Mrs. Bertha Dohmer, Fred, Albert, Louis, George and Charles.
W. C. Heimann was reared on the paternal farm in Milford township, receiving his education in the school in the neighborhood of his home, and remained on the farm until he was twenty years old, after which he began work- ing on his own account. After his marriage in 1897 he rented a farm in Home township and lived there for five years, at the end of which time he moved to the village of
Digitized by Google
296
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
Essig, where he and his brother Fred bought the general store of Backer & Sears and engaged in the mercantile business there. For a year this partnership continued and then Mr. Heimann bought the interest held by his brother, Fred, and has since conducted the store alone. He carries a general stock valued at above seven thousand dollars and has an extensive trade throughout the section of the county covered from that point. In addition to his store room, which is twenty-five by fifty feet in dimensions, Mr. Hei- mann also has a warehouse fourteen by forty. Mr. Hei- mann is a Democrat and on July 23, 1903, received a com- mission as postmaster at Essig and has since then been serving the patrons of that office in that capacity, the postoffice being conducted in his store.
In 1897 W. C. Heimann was united in marriage to Ida Wagner, daughter of Englebrecht Wagner and wife, and to this union two children have been born, Hazel and Leo.
Digitized by Google
297
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
MATTICE RAYMOND.
Mattice Raymond, a well-known building contractor at Sleepy Eye, this county, is a native of Canada, but has been a patriotic citizen of the United States since 1879. He was born at Montreal on March 8, 1862, son of Louis and Eliza- beth (Embark) Raymond, both natives of Canada, who spent their lives in the Dominion. They were the parents of nine children, eight of whom are now living, the subject of this sketch being the only one, however, who is living in the United States.
Mattice Raymond received his education in the schools of Montreal and was trained to the carpenter's trade. In 1879 he crossed the border into Michigan and for three years was engaged in carpenter work in and about the Calu- met mines. He then, in the latter part of 1881, came to Min- nesota and settled at Sleepy Eye, where for several years he was employed as a carpenter by the firm of Miller & Offerman. In 1885 Mr. Raymond married and started as a building contractor on his own account and for several years was successfully engaged in that business at Sleepy Eye. He then moved to Courtland, over the line in Nicollet county, where he operated a carpenter shop and wagon shop for four years, at the end of which time he moved to Sanborn, in Redwood county, where he followed the same line of business for three years, after which he returned to Sleepy Eye and for several years was engaged in general carpentering and wagon-blacksmithing, later selling his wagon shop and thereafter devoting his whole time to build-
Digitized by Google
298
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
ing. In 1907 he went to California, seeking betterment of his health in a change of climate, and for two years worked at San Francisco. Much improved in health he then re- turned to Sleepy Eye and resumed his contracting business and has since then been quite successfully engaged in that line in that city.
In 1885 Mattice Raymond was united in marriage to Mary McRae, daughter of J. D. McRae and wife, and to this union eight children have been born, six of whom are living, Harry, who married Elsie Essig and has two children, and Ethel, Arthur, Alice, Everett and Elizabeth. Mr. Raymond is an "independent" voter. He is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, a past noble grand of that order, and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, in the affairs of which organizations he takes a warm interest.
Digitized by Google
299
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
AUGUST J. BACKER.
August J. Backer, manager of the extensive plant of the Essig Co-operative Creamery Company at Essig, this county, and one of the best-known and most expert cream- ery men in the state, is a native son of Brown county, hav- ing been born on a farm in Milford township, August 26, 1874, son of John and Martha Backer, well-known and in- fluential residents of that part of the county, further details of the history of which family are set out in a sketch relat- ing to F. J. Backer, presented elsewhere in this volume.
August J. Backer was reared on the home farm in Mil- ford township and received his elementary education in district school No. 15, supplementing the same by a compre- hensive course in the Agricultural College at St. Anthony Park, following the regular agricultural course by the full dairy course, he having determined to give his attention to the dairy business. Upon leaving college he was engaged as assistant in the creamery at Lafayette, in the neighbor- ing county of Nicollet, and after four months of service there was engaged as manager of the creamery in Sigel township, this county, where he remained for three years and six months, at the end of which time he went to Lam- berton, where for a year he was employed in the agricul- tural implement store of F. H. Retzlaff. His services then were engaged by a creamery company at Florita, in Ren- ville county, where he remained one year and six months, or until he took charge of the creamery at Essig. When the co-operative plan was adopted by the promoters of the
Digitized by Google
300
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
Essig creamery in 1902, Mr. Backer was asked to draw the plans for the creamery. He was elected first manager of the plant, installed the machinery for the same and has been manager ever since the creamery was established, having created an enormous demand for the products of the Essig creamery. The first year the creamery was in operation it turned out sixty thousand pounds of butter. The annual output now exceeds one hundred and seventy-five thousand pounds, the whole of which product is shipped to the exclu- sive market of New York City, where it commands the highest prices.
In 1901 August J. Backer was united in marriage to Ella Hellman, daughter of Henry Hellman and wife, and to this union three children have been born, Albert, Edgar and Harold. Mr. and Mrs. Backer are earnest members of the German Lutheran church and take an active interest in the general good works of their home community. Mr. Backer is an "independent" voter.
Digitized by Google
801
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
FRED AUFDERHEIDE.
Fred Aufderheide, well-known manufacturer of brick and tile, president of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of New Ulm and one of the most energetic and enterprising business men in this section of the state, is a native of Ger- many, having been born near the town of Langerich, in Westphalia, December 8, 1853, son of Jacob and Sophia (Beineke) Aufderheide, both natives of that same district, the former of whom died in his native land in 1864, at the age of fifty-four years, his widow, twenty years later, in 1884, following her children to America and locating at New Ulm, whence she later went to Minneapolis, where her death occurred at the age of eighty-seven. She was the youngest of the four children born to her parents, the others having been Rudolph, Ernest and William. She had borne to her husband six children, namely: Adolph, deceased; Mrs. Marie Roosevelt, deceased; Bernardina, deceased, who was the wife of William Wiethoff; Sophia, wife of Frank Peterson, of Minneapolis; Ernest, of Wanda, this state, and Fred, the subject of this sketch.
In 1870, he then being seventeen years of age, Fred Aufderheide came to the United States and located in Cin- cinnati, where he perfected himself in a practical knowl- edge of brick-making. In 1875 he came to Minnesota and located at New Ulm, where he started a brick yard, which he ever since has operated and in which business he has been very successful. From a small plant, with which he began business in this section, Mr. Aufderheide has devel-
Digitized by Google
302
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
oped his brick and tile factory to its present extensive pro- portions, long having been recognized as one of the most important manufacturers in this line in this part of the state. There are fifty-eight persons on the pay-roll and the plant annually turns out about three million brick, besides a large quantity of tile amounting to about twenty-five mil- lion feet yearly. In addition to looking after his extensive manufacturing interests, Mr. Aufderheide has for years taken a warm interest in the general business affairs of the New Ulm neighborhood and has been more or less interested in several enterprises of consequence. He also has exten- sive land holdings and is regarded as one of the most sub- stantial citizens hereabout, owning a farm of three hundred and twenty acres in this county and a farm of four hun- dred and ninety acres in Murray county. In 1914 he aided in the organization of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of New Ulm, capital stock, fifty thousand dollars and sur- plus, ten thousand dollars, and was elected president of the new financial concern, a position which he now holds, in the administration of the affairs of which office he has gained a high position in financial and banking circles throughout this part of the state.
On May 25, 1881, Fred Aufderheide was united in mar- riage to Eliza Schapekalm, who was born in the town of Gertha, Hanover, October 9, 1857, daughter of Gerhardt and Maria Adelheit (Kaiser) Schapekalm, both natives of that same section of Germany and the parents of four chil- dren, Mrs. Aufderheide having a sister, Mary, and two brothers, Herman and Gerhardt. Mrs. Schapekalm died in her native land in 1862 and Mr. Schapekalm and his chil- dren then came to the United States, settling at New Ulm,
Digitized by Google
303
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
where Mr. Schapekalm spent the remainder of his life, being seventy-one years of age at the time of his death. Eliza Schapekalm was thirteen years old when she came to this country and she grew to womanhood at New Ulm, where she married Mr. Aufderheide. To this union five children have been born, as follow: William, who died at the age of seventeen years; Emma, who married Arthur Book, cashier of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank of New Ulm, and has three children, Norbert, Gertrude and Esther; Carl, a partner in his father's extensive business affairs, who married Clara Weddendorf and has one child, a son, Carl; Herman, also a partner in his father's business, and Hertha, who is at home. Mr. and Mrs. Aufderheide are members of the Lutheran church and their children have been reared in that faith. The family takes an active part in the general social and cultural activities of New Ulm and vicinity and is held in high regard throughout this whole region.
Digitized by Google
1
304
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
PHILIP LIESCH.
Philip Liesch, the well-known proprietor of the Liesch Printing Company at New Ulm, this county, and publisher of the Brown County Journal and the New Ulm Volks- blatt, two of the best-known and most widely circulated newspapers in this part of the state, is a native of Wis- consin, having been born in Wyalusing, Grant county, that state, August 23, 1868, son of Anton. F. and Magdalena (Nutt) Liesch, the former a native of Switzerland and the latter of the Austrian Tyrol, who came to this county from Iowa in 1876 and settled at New Ulm, where their last days were spent.
Anton F. Liesch was born in the canton of Grisons, in the republic of Switzerland, eldest of the two sons born to his parents, natives of that same canton, who spent all their lives there, he having had a brother, Andrew. About the time of the Civil War, Anton F. Liesch came to the United States and located in Wyalusing, Wisconsin, in which town he engaged in farming. There he married Magdalena Nutt, who had come with her parents, Casper and Rosalie Nutt, natives of Lichtenstein, in the Austrian Tyrol, in 1848, she then having been a babe in arms, the family set- tling in Guttenberg, Iowa, where she spent her girlhood days and where her parents spent the remainder of their lives, both living to good old ages. Casper Nutt and his wife were the parents of seven children, Mary, Magdalena, Joseph, Barbara, Theresa, Catherine and Louisa. In 1874
Digitized by Google
PHILIP LIESCH.
Digitized by Google
Digitized by Google
305
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
Anton F. Liesch and his family moved from Wisconsin to Iowa, locating at Sibley, where they remained for two years, at the end of which time they came to this county, settling in New Ulm, where Mr. Liesch and his wife spent the rest of their lives, becoming well-known residents of that then rapidly growing little city. Anton F. Liesch died in 1899, he then being sixty-six years of age, and his widow survived until 1912, she being sixty-three years of age at the time of her death. They were earnest members of the Catholic church and their children were reared in that faith. There were seven children, as follow: Philip, the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Ida, wife of August O. Berndt, of New Ulm, and George A., of New Ulm, the other four dying while young, Anna, when eleven years old and the second eldest being killed in the cyclone which swept over New Ulm in 1881.
Philip Liesch was six years old when his parents left the farm in Wisconsin and moved to Iowa and was eight years old when they came to this state, in 1876, and set- tled at New Ulm. He, therefore, has lived in New Ulm practically all of his active life, and has been a wit- ness of the extraordinary changes which those years have produced in this section of the state of Minne- sota. Philip Liesch attended the parochial schools of New Ulm and in 1883 entered upon an apprentice- ship to the printer's trade in the office of the New Ulm Review, with which newspaper he was thus connected until 1887, in which year he went to St. Paul, where for nearly eleven years he was connected with the Pioneer Press Company. In September, 1897, the month in which he (20a)
Digitized by Google
306
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
was married, he returned to New Ulm and bought the newspaper and the printing plant of the Volksblatt Pub- lishing Company and immediately took over the publica- tion of that paper, which he has continued ever since. On October 15, 1898, Mr. Liesch issued from the Volksblatt office the first copy of the Brown County Journal, a Re- publican newspaper, and has ever since continued the pub- lication of that paper, the latter being printed in English and the former in German. In addition to getting out his two excellent newspapers, Mr. Liesch is also extensively engaged in the job-printing business and has a wide pat- ronage in that department of his printing plant.
The Brown County Journal is stanchly Republican, faithfully reflecting its editor's views on the political ques- tions of the day, and both it and his German paper, the Volksblatt, wield a large influence for good hereabout. For a short time Mr. Liesch served as deputy oil inspector for Brown county, and on March 2, 1911, was appointed post- master of New Ulm, in which position he served with much satisfaction to the people of that city for a period of four years.
Mr. Liesch has been a member of the Republican county committee and for a number of years acted as treasurer and chairman. He was also a member of the Republican state central committee for a number of years and gratuitously has given liberally of his time to further the interests of the party.
On September 28, 1897, Philip Liesch was united in marriage to Clara Follman, who was born at Mankato, this state, April 28, 1875, daughter of John Nicholas and Bernardina (Schaefer) Follman, the father being a
Digitized by Google
307
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
native of Luxemburg and the mother was born in Iowa and came to Brown county with her parents in June, 1856, and lived on a farm in Cottonwood until 1874, when she moved to Mankato, where she was married to Mr. Follman, who was engaged in the drug business and where he died in 1875. Mrs. Liesch is the only child born to that union. To Philip and Clara (Follman) Liesch seven children have been born, Adelyn E., Robert P., Estella L., Aura H., Vic- tor E., Marie C. and Phyllis C. Mr. Liesch is a member of the Knights of Columbus; the Catholic Order of For- esters and of the German Catholic Aid Society, in the af- fairs of all of which organizations he takes a warm inter- est. He and his family are active in local good works and are held in high esteem by their many friends in New Ulm and throughout the county generally.
Digitized by Google
308
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
WILLIAM PFAENDER.
William Pfaender, head of the Pioneer Nursery Com- pany and proprietor of the extensive horticultural nurs- eries operating under that name at New Ulm, this county, and one of the most enterprising and energetic citizens of Brown county, is a native of Ohio, having been born in the city of Cincinnati, September 26, 1852, son of the Hon. William and Catherine (Pfau) Pfaender, later pioneer settlers in this community and for many years leaders in the common activities of this region.
The Hon. William Pfaender was one of the promoters of the German Land Association, organized at Cincinnati in 1856, which came here and took over the town site of New Ulm, shortly before that time laid out by the Chicago Land Verein, and began the active work of developing this section of Minnesota. Throughout his long and honorable career here he ever was a leader, a man of strong and cor- rect influence, whose name ever will be held in respect here- about. Commandant at Ft. Ridgely following the troublous days after the quelling of the Indian insurrection in 1862, he occupied a dominant position among those who were so wisely directing affairs here then and after that served in various public capacities, having been mayor of New Ulm, for years active in the councils of that thriving little city, member of the house of representatives of the Minnesota Legislature, member of the state Senate, state treasurer, and all the time helpful in pushing along the development of the industrial life of this region.
Digitized by Google
309
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
The elder William Pfaender was born and reared in Heilbronn, an important town of Wurtemberg, forty-six miles southeast of Stuttgart, on the left bank of the Danube, and was trained in mercantile pursuits. He was well edu- cated and when he came to the United States, as a young man, was well fitted to take his place as a natural leader among his associates. For some time after coming to this side he was located at Cincinnati, where he married, and while there became connected with the newspaper, Repub- licana. While thus engaged he, in association with a num- ber of other persons of German birth or affiliation, organ- ized the German Land Association, with a view to the de- velopment of home sites for German immigrants to this country. In 1856 Mr. Pfaender and the other leaders of this association came to Minnesota and after a brief nego- tiation took over from the Chicago Land Verein the town site of New Ulm and the lands adjacent thereto, which the Chicago association had shortly before opened up, and straightway began to promote the same in a systematic manner, it being but a short time before settlers began pouring into this section from all parts of the country, the German element naturally remaining dominant. William Pfaender selected as the site for his home a tract in Mil- ford township, which he presently enlarged to the extent of two hundred acres, and there he reared his family. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in behalf of the Union cause as a member of the First Minnesota Battery, Light Artillery, and was mustered into the service with the rank of second lieutenant, presently being promoted to captain, and was appointed to the recruiting service. While thus serving, the sad task of directing the burial of the vic-
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.