USA > Minnesota > Grant County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 12
USA > Minnesota > Douglas County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 12
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Doctor Gilkinson received his early education in the common schools of Wayne county, West Virginia. On October 8, 1882, he came to Minne- - sota and found employment on a farm near Kingston, Meeker county, work- ing on the farm in the summer time and attending school in winter. In 1884 he entered the Normal School at St. Cloud and was graduated from
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that institution in 1888. During the years 1888 and 1889 he served as superintendent of schools at Long Prairie and in the fall of 1889 he entered the medical department of the University of Minnesota. He completed the course and was .. graduated from that institution in 1893 and in that same year located at Osakis for the practice of his profession and has been continuously engaged in practice there since that time. In the fall of 1915 Doctor Gilkin- son and Doctor Hengstler established the Park Region Hospital at Osakis.
On January 30, 1894, Dr. A. J. Gilkinson was married to Grace I. Bliler, daughter of John H. Bliler, of Franklin, Minnesota, and to this union five children have been born, Ross E., Bryan A., Howard N., Cecil and Lucile. Doctor Gilkinson is a Democrat. He has served as mayor of the city of Osakis and also has served as president of the school board. His lodge membership is with the Masonic order. He is a member of the Park Region Medical Society and also a member of the Minnesota State Medical Association and of the American Medical Association.
FERDINAND SWENSON.
Ferdinand Swenson, of Brandon, one of the best-known and most progressive bankers in this part of the state, director and cashier of the First National Bank at Brandon, cashier of the Garfield State Bank at Gar- field and vice-president and director of the German-American State Bank at Millerville, is a native son of Minnesota and has lived in this state all his life. He was born at South Stillwater, April 30, 1876, son of Charles and Eva Swenson, the former of whom spent his last days on his farm in Chi- sago county, where his widow is still living.
Ferdinand Swenson was reared on a farm in Chisago county and re- ceived his schooling in the schools in the neighborhood. He remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age and then, having been one of the organizers of the Nessel Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Chisago county, was made president and manager of the same and con- tinued thus engaged for three years, at the end of which time he was ap- pointed assistant cashier of the First National Bank at Braham, in Isanti county, and remained there six months, or until December 1, 1905, when he came over into this part of the state and opened a bank at Garfield, under the name of the Garfield State Bank, of which he has ever since been the cashier. He presently helped to organize the German-American State Bank
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at Millerville and has ever since been a director and the vice-president of that institution. On September 1, 1915, Mr. Swenson located at Brandon, as director and cashier of the First National Bank, and has since then made his home in that pleasant village, dividing his time between the three banks in which he has a directing interest.
On June 3, 1908, Ferdinand Swenson was united in marriage to Selma Hokenson, of Urness township, Douglas county. Mr. and Mrs. Swenson have a very pleasant home at Brandon and take a proper interest in the various social activities of their home town, as well as in all neighborhood good works. Mr. Swenson is "independent" in his political views and gives a good citizen's attention to local political affairs, while living at Gar- field having served for several years as president of the village council.
TOSTEN T. CORDAL.
Tosten T. Cordal, one of the most substantial and progressive farmers of Stony Brook township, Grant county, director of the Farmers Cream- ery Association at Wendell, former president and organizer of the Stony Brook Telephone Company, for many years school director in his district and in other ways an active and influential factor in the development of the community in which he lives, is a native of the kingdom of Norway, but has been a resident of Minnesota since he was twenty-one years of age and of Grant county since the middle eighties, when he settled on a farm of his own in Stony Brook township and has ever since made his home there. It was on a farm in the stift of Bergen, in his native Norway, that Tosten T. Cordal was born, February 21, 1859, son of Tosten Ellefson and Ingeborg Tostensdatter, both natives of that same section of the country, the former born in 1824 and the latter in 1826, who grew up in the same neighborhood and were married there, establishing themselves on a farm, where Tosten Ellefson died in 1872. His widow survived him about twelve years, her death occurring in 1884, she then being nearly sixty years of age. They were members of the Lutheran church and their children were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, of whom the subject of this biographical sketch was the first-born, the others being as follow: Ellef, who came to this country and lives in Roberts county, South Dakota; Peter, who died at the age of fifteen years; Ole, who died at the age of one year ; Ole, who came to this country and is now a well-to-do farmer in the neigh-
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boring county of Ottertail, and Soneva, who also came to this country and spent her last days, unmarried, at the home of her brother, Tosten.
Tosten T. Cordal grew to manhood on the home farm in Norway, re- ceiving his schooling in the schools of his home neighborhood and was but thirteen years of age when his father died. As the eldest son, the larger part of the responsibility of maintaining the home farm fell upon his young shoulders and he assumed that responsibility, managing the place until he attained his majority, when, in 1881, he came to America and proceeded di- rectly to Minnesota, settling in Goodhue county, where he remained for two years and six months, working on farms and acquiring an acquaintance with the speech of his adopted country and with the methods of the land which he had selected as his permanent place of abode. At the end of that time he came over to this part of the state and for three years thereafter made his home with his uncle, Ole Thunselle, in Ottertail county, a well- established farmer of that county. During the first year of his residence there he bought a tract of eighty acres in Grant county, his present place of residence, as an investment and later began to develop the same. After working for his uncle about three years he began working for others and was thus engaged for an additional period of two years, at the end of which time, in 1887, about three years after his marriage, he moved onto his own farm in Stony Brook township and there established his home. He erected a comfortable farm house, good farm buildings, planted a grove and other- wise improved the place, later buying additional land adjoining the same until he now is the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and fifteen and three-fourths acres and has long been recognized as one of the most sub- stantial farmers in that neighborhood. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Cordal has given considerable attention to the raising of a high grade of live stock, Percheron horses, Durham cattle and Poland China hogs, and has done very well. From the very beginning of his residence in Stony Brook Mr. Cordal has given his thoughtful attention to local affairs and has been one of the most active factors in the development of the best in- terests of that community. He was the organizing spirit in the Stony Brook Telephone Company and for some time served as president of the same. For fourteen or fifteen years he served as director of the school in his dis- trict and is a director of the Farmers Creamery Company at Wendell.
In 1884 Tosten T. Cordal was united in marriage to Martha Onstad, who also was born in Norway and who came to this country with her par- ents, Mons Onstad and wife, in 1873, the family settling in Goodhue county, this state. Mons Onstad later moved to Cass county, North Dakota, where
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his last days were spent. To Mr. and Mrs. Cordal four children have been born, namely, Tosten, who died at the age of six moths; Ida, who married Andrew Rustand and lives in Grant; Thea, a teacher in the parochial schools, who lives at home with her parents, and Adolph, also at home. The Cordals are members of the Lutheran church and Mr. Cordal has been a trustee of the local congregation for the past eighteen years or more, he and his family taking an active and influential interest in all neighborhood good works.
JOHN S. SKINNEMOEN.
Jolin S. Skinnemoen, cashier of the Wendell State Bank at Wendell, proprietor of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Stony Brook township and formerly and for years one of the best-known school teach- ers in Grant county, is a native son of that county and is regarded as one of the most active and influential citizens of the northern part of the county, where he has lived all his life, with the exception of a few years spent in homesteading and in teaching school in North Dakota. He was born on the old Skinnemoen homestead farm in Stony Brook township, April II, 1877, son of Stener S. Skinnemoen and wife, pioneer residents of that town- ship, who settled there in 1871 and who are still living on the old home place. Stener S. Skinnemoen and his wife are natives of the kingdom of Norway and in a biographical sketch of the former, presented elsewhere in this volume, there are set out details of their pioneer experiences upon com- ing out here from Iowa in the early days of the settlement of Grant county.
Upon completing the course in the public schools of his home township, John S. Skinnemoen entered Park Region College at Fergus Falls and was graduated from that institution in 1896, after which he entered Luther Col- lege at Decorah, Iowa, receiving from that institution the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1901. He then, in 1901-02, took a special course in English, Latin and History in the University of Minnesota and thus admirably equipped for the teaching profession taught school for five or six years, one year of which he taught in Grant county and five years in North Dakota. During this service in the latter state Mr. Skinnemoen was selected as sup- erintendent of the high school at Starkweather, in Ramsey county. In 1908 he homesteaded a quarter of a section of land in Dunn county, North Dakota, fifty miles from a railroad, and there maintained his residence for two years, at the end of which time he resumed his calling as a teacher,
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teaching school until 1914 in different parts of North Dakota. He then returned to Grant county and bought his present fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres in section 4 of Stony Brook township. In December of that same year he married and in the spring of 1915 moved onto the farm, where he and his wife are now very pleasantly situated. Mr. Skinnemoen is a Republican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local civic affairs, but the only public office he has held was that of township assessor in the years 1906-07. He was one of the organizers of the Wendell State Bank and is cashier of the same, being recognized as one of the most active business men in that part of the county. Mr. Skinnemoen takes much in- terest in the history of his home county and of this section generally and has made an extensive collection of Indian relics, arrow-heads, stone ham- mers and the like and has in his collection one stone ax of rare design. On his farm stands the first house erected in Stony Brook township, a log house, which has been covered over, years ago, with siding, giving it now the appearance of a frame house. In pursuance of his design in the way of historic collections, Mr. Skinnemoen is making a collection of photographs of every house in Stony Brook township, a collection which undoubtedly will have great historic value in the generations yet to come.
It was on December 7, 1915, that John S. Skinnemoen was united in marriage to Emma Asleson, who also was born in Grant county, a daughter of Asle Asleson and wife, who located in that county in the late seventies. Mr. and Mrs. Skinnemoen are members of the United Lutheran church and take a proper interest in all neighborhood good works, being helpful factors in the promotion of all measures and movements having to do with the advancement of the common cause hereabout.
E. R. RUGGLES.
E. R. Ruggles, one of the well-known and prominent men of Douglas county and proprietor of the "Idle Wild" lake resort at Osakis, was born in Ogle county, Illinois, on February 16, 1856, the son of Liberty and Cath- erine (Ripley) Ruggles, natives of Mansfield, Ohio, and of the state of Connecticut, respectively, Mrs. Ruggles being a descendant of Governor Bradley of Connecticut. Spooner Ruggles, the grandfather, was a native of Massachusetts and a descendant of General Timothy Ruggles, the Ruggles family having settled in Hardwick, Massachusetts, in 1630. Spooner Rug-
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gles located in Ogle county, Illinois, in 1837 and there became a man of much prominence. He was elected to the state Legislature and later to the office of probate judge of the county. He, with Ebenezer -Peck and Abraham Lincoln, formed the committee that drafted the first Illinois state Republican platform in 1856, the first draft having been made by Mr. Ruggles. While a member of the Legislature he was the father of the drainage laws of Illi- nois. He and his wife reared a family of thirteen children, one of whom was Gen. James Ruggles, of Civil War fame.
Liberty Ruggles received his education in the public schools of Ohio and Illinois and in the latter state grew to manhood. In 1858 he came to Minnesota. locating in Chanhassen township, Carver county, and was living there during the time of the Indian outbreak, when, in 1862, he removed to Faribault, where he lived until 1892, in which year he went to live with a son in Virginia. He and his wife were the parents of four children, Walter P., Edwin R., Willis R. and Arthur H., all of whom are living.
Edwin R. Ruggles received his education in the public schools of Fari- bault, Minnesota, and after completing his schooling he removed to Gary, Deuel county, South Dakota, where he opened a law office and was at the same time a partner with his brother in a drug store. After a year and a half the drug store was removed to what later was known as Webster, in Day county. While there Mr. Ruggles helped organize the county and was the postmaster at Webster from 1881 to 1887. He was the first agent for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad at that point and was the first grain buyer in the town. In 1889 he was appointed custodian of the Ft. Sisseton Military Reserve, comprising the buildings and eighty-two thousand acres of land, and was in charge of the same for four and one-half years. In 1894 he returned to Minnesota and located on a farm at the head of Lake Osakis, in Todd county. In 1898 he opened a law office in the town of Osakis and continued in the practice there until 1902, in which year he purchased the "Idle Wild" lake resort, and has since then given that popular resort the greater part of his attention. In 1889 Mr. Ruggles was assistant chief clerk in the House of Representatives of the Legislature of South Dakota. In 1906 he was appointed secretary to Congressman Buckman at Washington and was with him for two winters. In 1911 and 1912 he spent the winter with Senator Clapp. In 1883 he was a delegate to the highway convention at Huron and in 1884 was a delegate to the constitutional con- vention of South Dakota, at Sioux Falls. Mr. Ruggles is at present con- ducting one of the delightful lake resorts of Minnesota. He has a beautiful
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place on the lake, where the beauties of nature are at their best. "Idle Wild" resort is one of the well-established recreation places in the state and is becoming more widely known each year. There may be found every convenience, with excellent facilities for bathing, fishing and boating. Mr. Ruggles knows well how to care for his guests and sees to it that they get every comfort.
On March 6, 1879, E. R. Ruggles was united in marriage to Amy Passon and to this union five children have been born, John Archibald, Sidney, Arthur Mellette, Jessie Mae and Frank L. Mr. and Mrs. Ruggles are held in the highest esteem by all who know them and they and their family have long been active in the social life of the com- munity. Fraternally, Mr. Ruggles is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and of the Modern Woodmen of America.
OLAUS A. PIKOP.
Olaus A. Pikop, a well-known and successful farmer of Elbow Lake township, Grant county, was born in that township, on the old home farm, on January 26, 1882, the son of Anders Pikop. a more extended biograph- ical sketch of whom may be seen elsewhere in this volume.
Olaus A. Pikop received his education in the public schools of Elbow Lake township, at Norman College, Minneapolis, and at Park Region Col- lege at Fergus Falls. Upon completing his schooling he returned to the farm and has since devoted his time to general farming and stock raising, being now the owner of two hundred and forty acres of excellent land in section 26 of Elbow Lake township. He has planted a large grove, one of the finest in that community; has erected good and substantial buildings and has one of the ideal country homes of the township. Mr. Pikop is a believer in intensive farming and in the most thorough cultivation of the soil, and his stock is of the best.
Politically, Mr. Pikop is identified with the Republican party and has always taken much interest in local affairs. He has served as a member of the school board and is now a member of the board of supervisors, giv- ing the same careful and thoughtful attention to the public .business that he does to his own. He is progressive in his views and is a strong advocate of such public improvements as tend to the betterment and growth of both the township and the county.
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On March 28, 1903, Olaus A. Pikop was united in marriage to Nick- olene Brevig, who was born in Stony Brook township, Grant county, in March, 1881, the daughter of Nils N. Brevig, a biographical sketch of whom is presented on another page of this work. To this union have been born seven children, Gladys, Norlin, Idella, Orville, Walter, Mildred and Laurna, all of whom are living save Walter. Mr. and Mrs. Pikop are active members of the Lutheran church and take much interest in church work. They are prominent in the social and religious life of the community and are held in the highest esteem by all who know them.
GEORGE L. TREAT.
One of the prominent and progressive attorneys of Alexandria is George L. Treat, who was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, November 14, 1859. He is a son of Hiram F. Treat, who was a native of Cayuga county, New York, born in November, 1816.
Hiram F. Treat learned the trade of a tailor when a young man, and later engaged in the clothing business in Boonville, New York. He was twice married, his first wife being Emeline O. Tuell, who died in 1855. To that union five children were born: Clarissa, who died in infancy; Clarissa Lucy, born in 1845, who died on October 26, 1878; Amasa H., Charles A., and Flora Adda, all deceased. Mr. Treat's second wife was Pamelia Sims, a daughter of George and Hannah (Cross) Sims, of Jefferson county, New York, where Mrs. Treat was born. To that union were born two children, George Lyman, the subject of this sketch, and Hannah Stella.
In 1857 Hiram F. Treat left his home in New York state and moved to Janesville, Wisconsin, and was the first tailor in that place who cut clothes to measure. About 1860 he removed to what was then St. Anthony, Min- nesota, now the city of Minneapolis. In 1863 the family moved to Afton, Wisconsin, where they lived for many years. Mr. Treat died at Madison, Wisconsin, November 2, 1876, and his widow passed away at Afton, Wis- consin, April 23, 1912.
The paternal grandfather of George L. Treat was Lyman Treat, who was born in Port Byron, New York, December 18, 1786. He was twice married and Hiram F. Treat was a son by his first marriage. His children by his second marriage were, Henry, Egbert and Clarissa. The paternal great-grandfather of George L. Treat was Ashbel Treat, who was born
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GEORGE L. TREAT.
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in Lenox, Massachusetts, May 13, 1764. He married Sarah Bell, and they reared a family of eleven children, of whom Lyman Treat was the eldest. Ashbel Treat died on April 14, 1842, his wife having passed away a few weeks prior to that date, on March 29, 1842. The founders of the Treat family in America were three brothers of that name who came from Eng- land in 1643, and settled in the vicinity of the Plymouth colony, in Massa- chusetts. Richard Treat was one of these brothers, and George L. Treat belongs to the ninth generation that has descended from that early pioneer.
The maternal grandfather of George L. Treat was George Sims, who was born in Connecticut, November 23, 1804, and who died on March 13, 1901. Mr. Sims spent his early manhood in Jefferson county, New York. He was a farmer, carpenter and a local preacher. In 1861 he came to Minne- sota and settled at St. Anthony Falls, which is now the east side of the city of Minneapolis. In 1863 he moved to Afton, Wisconsin, where he spent the remainder of his life. He married Hannah Cross, a daughter of Theo- dore and Susannah (Jackman) Cross, who was born on January 15, 1806, and was the youngest in a family of ten children. Her death occurred in Afton, Wisconsin, in 1891. George and Hannah Sims were the parents of the following children : Pamelia, born on April 8, 1828, who died on April 23, 1912; William, January 6, 1830, who died on October 4, 1866; Charles F., October 10, 1831, who died on May 8, 1910; George C., May 12, 1834, who died on October 22, 1898 (a twin sister of George C. died in infancy) ; Erwin W., September 30, 1836, now living in Oklahoma, and Lorenzo G., November 1I, 1838, who also is still living. The maternal great-grand- father of George L. Treat was Robert Sims, born in September, 1770, who died in September, 1822. The maternal great-grandmother was Lydia ( Hanks) Sims, who was born on April 6, 1768, and who died in March, 1860.
George L. Treat received his elementary education in the public schools of Afton, Wisconsin, after which he attended the Janesville classical acad- emy, and later was a student in Beloit College, at Beloit, Wisconsin. After leaving college he came to Minnesota, in 1880, locating at Alexandria, but only remained there a few months at that time, going thence to Fargo. North Dakota, where he remained for one year, at the end of which time he returned to Alexandria and has ever since been a resident of that city. With a view to preparing himself for the practice of law, Mr. Treat entered the law offices of George H. Reynolds as a student in 1881. Later he was a student in the law office of United States Senator Knute Nelson, who at (9a)
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that time was associated in practice with Mr. Reynolds. Mr. Treat then entered the law school of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, Mich- igan, and after completing part of the course in that institution, returned to Alexandria ; was admitted to the bar in Douglas county in 1883, and became associated as a partner in the law firm of Nelson & Reynolds, the style of the new firm being Nelson, Reynolds & Treat. In 1886 the firm was changed to Nelson, Treat & Gunderson, that partnership continuing until January, 1887, from which time, until 1890, Mr. Treat practiced alone. In 1890 the firm again became Nelson & Treat, which partnership continued until Mr. Nelson was elected governor of Minnesota in 1892, when the firm became Jenkins & Treat, and thus continued until 1897, since which time Mr. Treat has continued alone in the practice. For the last fifteen years he has also been largely interested in the real-estate and loan business.
On January 1, 1884, George L. Treat was married to Carrie E. Nellis, a daughter of Alexander and Cecelia Nellis, of Janesville, Wisconsin, and to that union three children were born: Alice Esther, born on January I, 1888; Francis Alexander, February 5, 1890, who died in infancy, and Kath- erine Beaucre, October 5, 1892, who died on April 19, 1895. The mother of these children died on November II, 1909.
Mr. Treat is a member of the Congregational church at Alexandria and is at present serving the same as deacon and as clerk. He is also a director of the Congregational conference of Minnesota. Politically, Mr. Treat is a Republican, and has always taken a more or less active part in local political affairs. He served as probate judge, by appointment, in 1912. He is secretary of the Commercial Club, of Alexandria; secretary of the Douglas County Humane Society and for years was secretary of the Doug- las County Agricultural Association.
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