USA > Minnesota > Watonwan County > History of Cottonwood and Watonwan counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 10
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Mr. Schroeder was married in 1886 to Katherine Rempel, a native of Russia and a daughter of Peter and Anna (Penner) Rempel. To this union six children have been born, named as follow: Cornelius and Frank, twins, the former deceased; Peter, William, Bernhardt and Martha Marie.
Politically, Mr. Schroeder is a Republican and a member of the Mennonite church.
FREDERICK J. CARPENTER.
Frederick J. Carpenter, a well-known and well-to-do retired farmer of Cottonwood county, now living retired at Windom, a stockholder and for- mer director of the Windom National Bank and for years actively interested in the civic affairs of that city and this section of Minnesota in general, is a native of New York state, born at Hudson, July 20, 1848, son of Chauncey and Deborah (Worth) Carpenter, both natives of New York state, the former born on July 16, 1810, and the latter, March 28, 1819, who were the parents of six children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth, the others being as follow: Jane, deceased, who was the wife of Horace Goodill; Emily, who married William Lake and died in Chippewa county, Wisconsin; Margaret, who died at the age of fourteen years; Cornelia, who married Perry Norton, of Dodge county, this state,
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and now lives at Claremont, that county, and Hannah, now deceased, who was the wife of Eugene Newton of Minneapolis. Chauncey Carpenter was a merchant in New York and in 1854 he sold his store and with his family came West, settling in Green Lake county, Wisconsin, for a time living retired at Kingston, that county, and later moving to a farm in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, where he died in 1868. His widow afterward made her home with her son, the subject of this sketch, in Cottonwood county, where she died in 1878.
Frederick J. Carpenter was about six years old when his parents moved to Wisconsin and he received his schooling at Kingston, that state. He was eighteen years old when the family moved onto the farm in Fond du Lac county and there he remained for six years, assisting in the development of the same. In 1872 he came to Minnesota and homesteaded a tract of one hundred and sixty acres in section 8, Carson township, Cottonwood county, at the same time buying, for six dollars an acre, eighty acres of railroad land adjoining. The first season he put out forty-one acres of flax, being one of the first farmers in this region to sow flax, and the product of that first crop almost paid for his land. Mr. Carpenter prospered in his farming operations from the very first and it was not long until he was being looked upon as one of the leading farmers of that part of the county. In 1888 he bought one-half of section 8 in Lakeside township and in 1899 bought one-half of section 9 in the same township, near Bingham lake. In the fall of that latter year he retired from the active labors of the farm and moved to Windom, where he ever since has made his home and where he is very comfortably situated. Since moving to town Mr. Carpenter has sold all of his landholdings save the half section near Bing- ham lake and has made other investments. For years he has been a stock- holder in the Windom National Bank and was formerly a member of the board of directors of that financial institution. Mr. Carpenter is a Repub- lican and for years has given his close attention to local political affairs and has attended every county convention of his party in Cottonwood county. He was on the school board in Carson township when there were but four schools in that township. He was a member of the town board in both Carson and Lakeside townships and was treasurer of the school board at Bingham Lake; also a member of Windom school board for twelve years; also a member of the committee of five under whose direction the new school at Windom was established. He also superintended the building of the Masonic temple and Independent Order of Odd Fellow buildings. He
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attends the Presbyterian church, of which his wife is a member, and has ever taken a proper part in local good works.
In 1877 Frederick J. Carpenter was united in marriage to Clara McNeal, of Blue Earth county, this state, and to that union three children were born, Alice, May 9, 1884, wife of Edward Hartz, of Leeds, North Dakota; Hattie, born September 5, 1885, who died on January 28, 1911, at the age of twenty-six years, and Frederick Chester, born October 26, 1887, employed by the state as weighmaster, who for four years was located at Minneapolis, but who has had his headquarters at Duluth since 1911. The mother of these children died on January 29, 1889, and on September 10, 1890, Mr. Carpenter married Georgia Schofield, born December 28, 1866, in Iowa, daughter of Aaron and Rhoda (Smith) Schofield, the latter of whom was born in Indiana, a cousin of Whitelaw Reid. Aaron Schofield was a native of England. He moved with his family from Iowa to Minnesota in 1873 and homesteaded eighty acres in section 28, Carson township, Cot- tonwood county, and there made his home until 1881, when he retired from the farm and moved to Windom, where he and his wife spent the rest of their lives and where, on November 20, 1911, they celebrated their "golden wedding." Mrs. Schofield died on February 20, 1914, at the age of seventy- two years, and Mr. Schofield died on February 21, 1916, at the age of eighty-four years.
CARL JOHAN WENSTROM.
The late Carl Johan Wenstrom was for many years one of the leading business men of St. James. He began life poor in this world's goods, but rich in what is of far more value than material wealth-a sound mind and a sound body. He possessed concentration of purpose and energy that knew no restraint, keen foresight and the rare executive ability that made every- thing undertaken accomplish the purpose for which intended. He was also a man of uncompromising honesty.
Mr. Wenstrom was born in Sweden on July 14, 1861. He was a son of Swen Johan and Sophia Wenstrom, natives of Sweden, where they spent their earlier lives and were married. They came to America about 1867 and located at Rockford, Illinois, and in 1872 removed to Watonwan county, Minnesota, taking up a homestead, which they developed and on which they spent the rest of their lives, the mother's death occurring in 1883 at the age of fifty-five years. The father outlived her more than a
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quarter of a century, dying in 1909 at the advanced age of eighty-four years. They were the parents of the following children: Claus lives in Watonwan county; Carl Johan, subject of this sketch; Emma is the wife of Nels Nelson of Watonwan county; Otto lives in St. James.
Carl J. Wenstrom was six years old when his parents brought him to America and he was eleven years old when he came with the family to Watonwan county. He received his education in the public schools here and in Illinois. He assisted his father on the home farm until he was a young man. He came to St. James in 1889 and worked as a drayman for awhile, then engaged in the furniture business, which proved to be quite successful. Through his industry, good management and fair and courteous dealings he built up a large trade with the town and surrounding country and carried an extensive stock of everything commonly found in up-to-date stores of this kind, and he continued in this line of endeavor until his death, which occurred on January 31, 1911. Since then the family has continued the business along the lines he inaugurated, retaining the original firm name, The St. James Furniture Company. He was also a stockholder in the Security State Bank, of which he was vice-president. He left his' family well provided for, including a beautiful home. He was public-spirited and did much for the general welfare of his town and county. He served for some time as a member of the city council. He was a member of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran church, to which his family also belong.
Mr. Wenstrom was married in 1890, to Nellie Nelson, who was born in Sweden in 1865. Her parents brought her to Rockford, Illinois, in 1867, where the family remained six years, coming to Watonwan county, Minnesota, in 1873, the father buying eighty acres, to which he later added another eighty in Adrian township, and here he spent the rest of his life, dying in 1907. Mrs. Nelson still lives on the homestead, being now eighty- three years of age. Politically, he was a Republican, and he was treasurer of the township board for several years. He belonged to the Swedish Lutheran church, to which his widow also belongs. Their children were named as follow: Nels lives in Watonwan county; Nellie, widow of Mr. Wenstrom of this memoir; Andrew lives in Watonwan county; Anna is the wife of Nels Johan Nelson of Watonwan county.
To Mr. and Mrs. Wenstrom the following children were born: Rein- hold, whose birth occurred in St. James in 1892, was graduated from the local high school and the 'Commercial College at St. Peter, and he is now assisting very ably in the management of the St. James furniture store; Esther, the second child, was educated in the local schools and is living at
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home; Estella is now (1916) a junior in the St. James high school; Mabel is a sophomore in the St. James high school at this writing. Mr. Wenstrom died on January 31, 19II.
J. K. SONNESYN.
On of the most progressive citizens of Watonwan county is J. K. Sonnesyn, who has worked his way up from a modest beginning, having landed in the New World from a foreign strand, "A youth to fortune and to fame unknown." He has ascended the ladder step by step until he has reached a position of no mean importance, by his individual efforts, which have been practically unaided from boyhood.
Mr. Sonnesyn was born in Norway, April 15, 1858, and is a son of Christopher Nitter Sonnesyn and Ingrid Sonnesyn, both of whom lived and died in Norway. He grew to manhood and received his education in Nor- way. In 1882 he set sail for America, taking up his residence in Madelia, Minnesota, where he worked in the general mercantile establishment of Bisby, Olson & Boynton, remaining there until the spring of 1886, when he came to St. James and opened a general store and has been engaged in general mercantile pursuits ever since at the same stand. He was success- ful from the first and has enjoyed a large and steadily increasing patronage. He has carried at all seasons an extensive and carefully-selected stock of goods, and many of his first customers are still trading with him, which fact would indicate that they have received honest and courteous treatment. He has been very successful in a business way, and was one of the organ- izers of the First National Bank of St. James, and has been a heavy stock- holder and a director in the same since its organization, and is now presi- dent of the same. The pronounced success of this sound, conservative and popular institution has been due to his able management and commendable methods. In 1906 he organized the Twin-City Oil Company of Minneapolis and has since been president of the same, which has proven to be a most fortunate venture. He also organized the Sonnesyn-Sundt Company, a gen- eral mercantile corporation of Velva, North Dakota, in 1910, and has since been president of the same.
Mr. Sonnesyn was married in 1896 to Anna Sophia Fuhr, of Moor- head, Minnesota, and to their union four children have been born, namely : Carl. Ingrid, Ruth, Jenette. They are all living at this writing.
Politically, Mr. Sonnesyn is a Republican. He has been a member of
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the local board of education for eight years, and president of the same for the past five years. He has done much to encourage better schools, and, in fact, he is one of the most influential of our citizens for the general wel- fare and upbuilding of St. James. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and is a Knight Templar. He belongs to the Nor- wegian Lutheran church.
DAVID P. LANGLEY.
David P. Langley was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, February 5, 1840, a son of James and Jane ( Weston) Langley, who were both born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania. James Langley spent the early part of his life as a farmer in Erie county, Pennsylvania. In 1854 he moved to Macoupin county, Illinois, where he was engaged in farming until 1867, when he retired from active work and removed to Carlinville, where he spent the rest of his days. There were nine children in this family : Wilson S. died at the age of sixteen; John W., James W., Andrew J., Eunice Mary, David F., Russell L., Franceina L. and Cynthia A.
David P. Langley was educated in the public schools of Erie county, Pennsylvania, and also attended school after the removal of his father to Illinois. During his younger years he worked with his father on the farm and started farming for himself while a young man. In 1880 he left his Illinois home and came to Cottonwood county, Minnesota, and located on a farm one mile south of Bingham lake. He began farming this land and continued until 1900, when he bought a small tract of land within the cor- porate limits of Bingham Lake, which he cultivated until 1912. At that time he sold this land and removed to the village, where he has since con- tinued to live.
In April, 1870, David P. Langley and Nancy J. Jackson were united in marriage. Mrs. Langley is the daughter of Hiram and Ruth (Blasdel ) Jackson, of Dearborn county, Indiana, who later settled in central Illinois in 1855, where they remained all their lives. To this union nine children have been born: Minnie E., James W. died at the age of five years; Jessie E., Charles H., William P., Ernest J., Harry L., Erma L. and Florence. Mrs. Langley is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
On August 21, 1861; at the call of President Lincoln for volun- teers for the suppression of the rebellion, Mr. Langley enlisted in Com- pany A, Thirty-third Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served until
MR. AND MRS. DAVID P. LANGLEY.
THE NEW FOK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOP. . E.NAX
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December 6, 1865. This regiment was a part of the army under General Grant operating in western Tennessee and in Mississippi, in 1862 and 1863, an army that rendered a most distinguished service, and achieved some of the most noted victories in the history of the Civil War. Mr. Langley fol- lowed the fortunes of his regiment in all these campaigns and contributed a soldier's part in the battles and victories in which the regiment participated. Altogether, he participated in sixteen battles, and numerous minor engage- ments that were often sharp and exciting, but are not recorded among the great battles of the Civil War. Among the great battles in which Mr. Langley was engaged were the battles around Vicksburg, during the siege resulting in the capture of that stronghold; the battles of Jackson and Cham- pion's Hill, the battle of Mobile, and the many others in which that part of the army was engaged.
Mr. Langley's record as a soldier is one of which he has every reason to be proud, a heritage of honor conferred upon his children which cannot be too highly regarded, a service to his country which cannot be compen- sated by any pension allowance.
In view of this supreme manifestation of loyalty and patriotism in the hour of his country's need, it would seem superfluous to add that Mr. Lang- ley is a Republican and an ardent advocate of the party principles to which Lincoln devoted his life service. As a citizen, Mr. Langley is held in the highest esteem by the people of the community in which he lives. He served as county commissioner from 1894 to 1902, eight years. In this official capacity, as in all other duties to which he has been called, he was faithful and efficient. His fraternal associations are with the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is an active and influential member. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
DAVID A. NOBLE.
David A. Noble, for years a well-known retired farmer, of Windom, an honored veteran of the Civil War and one of the most substantial citizens of Cottonwood county, is a native of Canada, born on December 17, 1843, ยท son and only child of Robert and Mary (Collins) Noble, the former of whom died in Canada in 1851. His widow and her son came over into the United States about 1855 and settled in La Crosse county, Wisconsin, where she died in 1870, near Portage.
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David A. Noble was about eleven years old when he went to Wisconsin with his widowed mother, and he grew to manhood in La Crosse county, completing his schooling in the public schools of that county. On Decem- ber 17, 1861, his seventeenth birthday, he enlisted in Company B, Second Wisconsin Cavalry, for service during the Civil War, and served for two days less than four years, being mustered out at Austin, Texas, November 15, 1865, receiving his final discharge at Madison, Wisconsin, December 15, 1865. His mother died at her sister's home near Portage, Wisconsin, in 1870, and in 1874 he came over into Minnesota and settled in Cottonwood county, where he has made his home ever since. Upon arriving in this state Mr. Noble homesteaded a quarter section in Amo township, at the same time taking a timber claim on a quarter section adjoining, and set about developing the same. That farm of three hundred and twenty acres he still owns, as well as a fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres in Lakeside township, about three miles from Windom. In 1879 Mr. Noble married and established his home on his homestead place in Amo township. For about a year after their marriage, Mr. Noble and his wife lived in a sod house, but they presently built a more substantial home, and it was not long until their affairs began to prosper. When they started housekeeping they had neither chairs nor a table, boxes serving in lieu thereof, but that condition did not last long and after awhile they had a very comfortable home and were looked upon as among the substantial residents of that neighborhood. Mr. Noble took a proper part in the civic affairs of his home township and for years was active in Republican politics, serving for some time as assessor of Amo township. During his residence in Windom he also has served as a member of the council. In addition to the farm lands at present owned by Mr. Noble, he formerly owned two hundred and forty acres one-half mile out of Windom and twenty-seven acres within the corporation and at one time owned land in North Dakota. About 1895 he retired from the active labors of the farm and moved into Windom, where he ever since has made his home, long having been one of the best-known men in that city. For nearly fifteen years Mr. Noble has been superinten- dent of a part of the stock exhibit at the county fair. He has taken an active part in general agricultural affairs and for some time was in chrage of the Cottonwood county exhibit at the Minnesota state fair.
On March 12, 1879, David A. Noble was united in marriage to Mary Cuthbert, who was born in Carseburn, Scotland, daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth (Ogg) Cuthbert, who came to this country with their family in 1871 and located in La Crosse county, Wisconsin, later moving to Buena Vista county, Iowa, where they spent their last days, Alexander Cuthbert
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dying on May 17, 1900, at the age of seventy-nine years, and his wife, October 13, 1906, at the age of eighty-nine. Alexander Cuthbert and his wife were the parents of six children, of whom Mrs. Noble was the fifth in order of birth, the others being Isabel, William, David (deceased), Alexan- der (deceased) and Eliza. To Mr. and Mrs. Noble six children have been born, all of whom are living, as follow: Myrtle Eliza, Iva Mary, Jessie Isabel, a graduate of the Winona Normal School; Geneva Ida, Bertha Vera, also a graduate of the Winona Normal, and David Alexander, who was graduated from Ames College with the class of 1916. The Nobles are mem- bers of the Presbyterian church and take a warm interest in all movements having to do with the advancement of the best interests of the community at large.
Mr. Noble and a man named G. B. Rice, during the early settlement, in order to get trees for their groves, went to Mankato, Kasota and St. Peters and pulled the small trees to plant in their tree-claim, as they did not have money enough to buy trees. They were gone two weeks on this trip, and they secured enough trees for their claim.
REV. EDWARD SAVAGE.
The family of the late Rev. Edward Savage, for many years one of the best-known clergymen in this part of the state, is of French Huguenot stock, the first of that line in America having been Capt. John Savage, who crossed the water and established his family in the English colonies in America in 1690. Rev. Edward Savage was a native of New York state, but had lived in the West since his boyhood and was a resident of Windom and the neighborhood of that city almost from the day of the beginning of a social order hereabout. He founded the Presbyterian church at Windom and was widely influential in the missionary movement in this section of Minnesota in early days, continuing active in the ministry hereabout until his death on January 4, 1910.
Edward Savage was born at Ogdenburg, New York, September 16, 184I, son of the Rev. John A. and Eliza (Turner) Savage, both natives of that state, the former born in 1799 and the latter in 1802. The Rev. John A. Savage was a minister of note in the Presbyterian church and upon his election as president of Carroll College at Waukesha, Wisconsin, removed to that city in 1850 and there spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1866. His widow survived him many years, her last days
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being spent at Waukesha, where she died in 1883. Edward Savage was graduated from Carroll College in 1860 and on September 13, 1862, enlisted as a private in Company B, Twenty-eighth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until honorably discharged on March 26, 1863. In 1865 he entered the Western Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1868.
Following his ordination to the ministry of the Presbyterian church, the Rev. Edward Savage returned to Waukesha and in that same year was installed as pastor of the Presbyterian church at Jackson, Minnesota. In 1870 he married and the year following, in 1871, he came to this part of the state and located at the then growing village of Windom, where he organized the Presbyterian church, the date of organization being October II, 1871. For some years he remained as pastor of the church at Windom and after a number of years as an independent missionary he accepted. a call to Bingham Lake, where he remained for several years. In the mean- time he had homesteaded a tract of eighty acres near Windom, to which he presently added an adjoining "eighty," and there established his per- manent home. From the beginning of his pastoral service in this state, Mr. Savage ever was active in missionary work and his travels in that connection took him to points widely separated throughout this section of the state. In 1881 he temporarily retired from the pulpit and returned to Waukesha, but shortly afterward was made pastor of the Cottage Grove Presbyterian church there, remaining there until after his mother's death in 1883, after which for a time he was pastor of the church at Weyauwega, Wisconsin, but in 1886 he returned to Windom and resumed his residence on liis homestead, where he remained the rest of his life, filling meanwhile the pulpits at Red Rock and Bingham Lake, having been, with the excep- tion of the five years spent in Wisconsin, continuously engaged in the gospel ministry in Jackson and Cottonwood counties from the time of his ordina- tion until the day of his death. Politically, Mr. Savage was a Prohibitionist and was ever active in the cause of temperance and righteousness.
The Rev. Edward Savage was twice married. On October 13, 1870, at Delafield, Waukesha county, Wisconsin, he was united in marriage to Margaret A. Robertson, to which union were born four children, Donald R., John A., Eliza Turner and Edward W., all of whom are living. The mother of these children died on July 3, 1903, and on July 16, 1907, Mr. Savage married Nora A. Schofield, for years one of Windom's best-known school teachers, who survives him.
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JOHN E. NELSON.
John E. Nelson is a native Norwegian, born in Norway, August 30, 1863. He is a son of Ole and Inger (Danielson) Nelson, who were also natives of Norway.
Ole Nelson came to America in 1884 and located in Windom, Cotton- wood county, Minnesota. Here he opened a shop and engaged in the har- ness business, which he continued until his death, which occurred in Sep- tember, 1901, at the age of sixty-nine years. He was the father of eleven children : John (deceased), Matilda, Adolph Daniel, Carl, engaged in the hardware business in Windom, Minnesota; John E., Allta, died in Buffalo, Minnesota, in 1915, aged forty-eight years; Ohtda died in Norway, aged thirteen; Nels (deceased), Nels (deceased), Nels (deceased), and Rolf, living in Sioux City, Minnesota.
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