USA > Minnesota > Grant County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 24
USA > Minnesota > Douglas County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 24
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PETER STREED.
Peter Streed, a native of Sweden and one of the successful and well- known farmers of Carlos township, Douglas county, was born on August 2, 1870, the son of August and Anna Streed, both of whom were natives of Sweden. The parents have spent their lives in their native country, where the father is engaged in farming. They are the parents of five children, Herman, Ida, Alfred, Anna and Peter. Herman came to the United States and engaged in mining in Colorado, where he died some years ago. The rest of the family, besides the subject of this sketch, are still residents of the land of their births. ·
Peter Streed received his early schooling in his native land and attended night school after coming to the United States. He was eighteen years of age when he decided to locate in America. On landing in this country, he came directly to Minnesota, locating in Chisago county, where he was en- gaged as a farm hand for a year. He then went to Idaho, with an uncle,
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and worked there as a miner for some years. During his experience as a miner he worked in. Idaho, Colorado and Utah and mined copper, gold and silver. In 1908 he returned to Minnesota and this time located in Douglas county, where he hought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in section 14 of Carlos township. He has made many improvements on the place, hav- ing remodeled and repaired the house, built a fine barn, thirty by fifty-two feet, and a silo, fourteen by thirty-three feet, the silo being one of the first to be built in the county. It is of tile blocks and was constructed in 1912. Mr. Streed now has some fifty-five acres under cultivation, the balance being in meadow and pasture, with some little timber. He is engaged in general farmning and stock raising and has been quite successful, being progressive and believing in intensive farming and thorough cultivation.
On August 22, 1908, Peter Streed was united in marriage to Mrs. Anna Dahlstrom, widow of Fred Dahlstrom. Before her marriage to Mr. Dahl- strom she was Anna Johnson, a native of Sweden, who came to the United States early in life. To Mr. and Mrs. Streed one child has been born, Edith Henrietta, whose birth occurred on July 10, 1909. By her first mar- riage Mrs. Streed was the mother of five children, Agnes, Freda, Minnie, Lillian and Edna, all of whom are at home. Agnes and Freda Dahlstrom are teachers, the former teaching at district No. 62 and the later in the con- solidated school at Miltona.
The farm now owned by Peter Streed was formerly the farm home of Fred Dahlstrom, and was purchased from the heirs by Mr. Streed. Long Prairie River runs through the farm and the house and barn are nicely sit- uated on the banks of the stream, giving a most pleasing effect. With the beautiful buildings, which are well kept, overlooking the beautiful stream of water, Mr. and Mrs. Streed have one of the pleasantest homes in the county. They take much pleasure in the upkeep of the place, and one has but to visit the home to know the pleasures of that family circle. Mr. and Mrs. Streed are active members of the Lutheran church and take much interest in church work.
Mr. Streed is alive not only to his own interests, but those of the town- ship and the county as well. Because of his wide experiences, and excellent judgment, together with his progressive spirit and honest dealings, Mr. Streed is a man of large influence in the community. In many respects he has demonstrated the fact that to be a successful farmer and stockman as well as a home builder, a man must be alive to the conditions with which he has to contend. Spending many years of his life in the mines and away
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from the finer influences of civilization, he has engaged in one of the most important occupations of man, and at a time when farming processes have been undergoing such wonderful changes; yet he has kept abreast of the most successful agriculturists and is meeting with success. He is an exten- sive breeder of fine Holstein cattle and is a member of the executive con- mittee of the Douglas County Breeders' Association. He is a stockholder in the Carlos Co-operative Creamery Company and has served as secretary and manager of the organization since 1911. He also has served and is now serving as clerk of the school board.
GUSTAF ANDERSON.
One of the pioneers of Douglas county who has had a varied and inter- esting career is Gustaf Anderson, a farmer of Belle River township. He was born in Sweden, May 23, 1846, and is a son of Andres Jonasson and Britta Larson, natives of Sweden in which country they farmed on a small scale and there reared their family. There the father died, after which the mother came to the United States, in 1878, to join her children, who were named as follow : John, who emigrated to America in 1854; Christine, Anna, Gustaf, August, Charlotta, Sarah and Clara.
Gustaf Anderson grew up in Sweden and attended school there. He came to Minnesota in 1863 to join his brother, John, who served in the Civil War, in the Third Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, as a corporal. During the war Gustaf Anderson was employed by the government to un- load steamships of war supplies, and while thus employed took sick and was confined for a protracted period. Upon his recovery he came to Douglas county and took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in Belle River township where he has since engaged in general farming. He now owns one hundred and twenty acres there, most of which he cleared and on which he put all the improvements. He has been one of our most industrious farmers for a period of forty-six years, having come here in 1870, and is thus among the early settlers. He also owns stock in the Belle River creamery.
Mr. Anderson was married on October 23, 1875, to Ida Nordquist, and to their union the following children were born: Charles, who served for some time in the Forty-fifth Regiment, United States Infantry, fought in the Philippines and is now farming in Canada; Samuel, who lives at In-
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ternational Falls, Minnesota; George, who lives in North Dakota; Julius, next in order of birth, and Jennie and Harry, both at home. Mr. Anderson is a Republican and served three years on the township board and was clerk of his township for fifteen years.
WILLIAM B. SCHMIDT.
William B. Schmidt, a successful business man of Herman, was born on January 24, 1868, at New Ulm, Minnesota, the son of Carl and Dorothy (Fenn) Schmidt, natives of Germany, who in 1855 came to the United States and for a time located in Chicago, where they were married. They later came to Minnesota where they homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in Brown county, four miles from New Ulm. That was in 1859 and they were soon to take part in the Indian trouble in that section. They were required to leave their home during the Indian uprising in 1862, and go to New Ulm and were nearly overtaken by the Indians on the way. After the massacre and the Indians had been subdued they returned to their home. They remained on the farm until the year of the last devastation by the grasshoppers when they left the farm and removed to St. Paul, where Mr. Schmidt engaged in blacksmithing for three years. The family then became residents of Menominee, Wisconsin, where Mr. Schmidt continued his work as a blacksmith until 1909. In that year his wife died and he re- turned to St. Paul, where he lives a retired life.
Carl and Dorothy Schmidt were the parents of the following children : Anna, Charles, Henry, Bertha, Minnie, William B., Lizzie, Clara and two who died in infancy. The older children of the family experienced many of the hardships of pioneer life. At the time of the massacre, Carl Schmidt took an active part in the battle at New Ulm and later enlisted as a soldier in the Civil War.
William B. Schmidt was educated in the schools of Wisconsin and at St. Paul. After completing his education he learned the blacksmith trade under the direction of his father and for a time worked with the latter. He later went to Chicago and then back to his father's shop at Menominee, Wis- consin, where he remained for a time. After some years he removed to St. Paul where he worked at his trade until 1890 when he came over to this part of the state and located at Herman, where he opened the shop which he
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has since conducted. In 1913 he enlarged his business opportunities by the erection of a building fifty by one hundred feet, which he uses as a garage. In connection with his work in the shop he is selling the Mitchell and Ford automobiles ; has been quite successful and has an extensive business.
In 1889 W. B. Schmidt was united in marriage to Julia Kochendorfer, who was born at Menominee, Wisconsin, and to this union the following children have been born, Wilbur R., Helen, Walter, Myrtle, Ruth, Marjorie, Stanley, Carl and Anna. The sons, Wilbur and Walter Schmidt, are engaged in business with their father, under the firm name of W. B. Schmidt & Sons. Fraternally, Mr. Schmidt is a member of the Modern Woodmen of Ameri- ca and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has always taken an interest in local affairs and has done much to advance the growth and busi- ness interests of his home town.
OLAUS O. BAH.
Olaus O. Bah, one of the well-known and successful farmers of Erdahl township, Grant county, was born in Norway on February 12, 1855, the son of Ola A. and Bertha Bah, natives of Norway, who continued to live in their native land until 1870, when they came to America. On their arrival in the United States they came directly to Minnesota and for a short time remained at Preston, Fillmore county, where they purchased an ox team and a wagon, with which to make the journey to Grant county, where Mr. Bah home- steaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 2 of Erdahl township. A small dug-out with a sod roof was constructed, and that was their resi- dence for the first year, after which a log house with a sod roof was erected. In time the farm was developed and better buildings erected. The first year there was no crop raised on the farm, but the second year some three acres of wheat was harvested. In time the place became one of the desirable farms of the township, and there Ola A. Bah engaged in general farming and stock raising until the time of his death in 1891, he then being sixty-nine years of age. His widow died the next year, at the age of sixty-eight years. They were the parents of six children, H. P., M. G., Sophia, Olaus, Minnie and Andrew, all of whom are now deceased, with the exceptions of Olaus and Andrew. Mr. and Mrs. Bah were active members of the Norwegian Lu- theran church, took much interest in church work and were prominent in the social and religious life of the community, where they were held in the
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highest regard and esteem by all who knew them. Mr. Bah always took a keen interest in local affairs and had much to do with the development and the growth of the township. He was a man of much ability and because of his wide experience and excellent judgment was often consulted in matters relating to the civic affairs of the township and the county.
Olaus O. Bah was fifteen years of age when the family came to this country. He received his education in the public schools of Norway and · attended school for four months in Erdahl township. He grew to manhood on the home farm, assisting his father with the farm work, and remained at home until 1881, in which year he was united in marriage to Mary Thonip- son, the daughter of Tosten Olson and Magdalena Aaskjer (Aaskjer being the Norwegian family name), who came to the United States in 1876 and made their home with their son, Ole A. Thompson, for some eight or nine years, at the end of which time they removed to Evansville township, where they homesteaded forty acres, which they developed and improved, and there made their home for some years. They later returned to Erdahl township, where they lived until the time of their deaths. They were the parents of the following children, Andrew, Ole A., Anna, Mary and Tosten. Anna is the widow of G. M. Bah, who was a successful farmer of the township; Ole A. Thompson is a prominent resident of Grant county; Andrew is deceased and Tosten is engaged in farming in North Dakota.
Soon after his marriage Olaus O. Bah homesteaded forty acres in sec- tion 12 of Erdahl township, and there he erected a frame house, fourteen by fourteen feet, which was the family residence for some years. The farm was soon developed and with much hard work Mr. Bah became one of the successful farmers of the township. He enlarged his farm to one hundred and seven acres and built a good and substantial house and barn. He plant- ed a splendid grove of three acres and made other valuable and substantial improvements. For many years he devoted his time to grain farming, but is now devoting much of his time to stock raising and has a fine herd of Short- horn cattle and many fine hogs. He is progressive in his methods and is a strong advocate of intensive farming and the thorough cultivation of the soil and the keeping of the best of stock.
To Olaus O. and Mary Bah have been born the following children : Ole, Martin, Anna, Clara, Leonard, Laura, Bessie and Laura, the last two of whom are now deceased. Ole is married to Tillie Johnson and is engaged in general farming and stock raising in Pelican Lake township; Anna is the wife of John Olson, a well-known farmer of Evansville township, Douglas
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county. They are the parents of three children, Myrtle, Orlan and Joseph. The other children are at home with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Bah are active members of the Norwegian Lutheran church, take much interest in church work and are prominent in the social and religious life of the com- munity. They are devoted to the interests of their family and are held in the highest regard by all. They are hospitable and take much pleasure in the entertainment of the friends and neighbors, their home often being the scene of happy gatherings. Mr. Bah has always taken an active interest in the affairs of the township and has had much to do with its civic life. He has been particularly interested in the development of the schools and has had much to do with the splendid system of education now established in the district. For the past twenty-one years he has been clerk of his home district, to which he has given care and attention. He is a supporter of all worthy causes that have a tendency to promote the best interests of the township and the county. He is a stockholder in the farmers elevator at Erdahl, in the affairs of which he has taken much interest.
HARVEY E. LINDSEY.
Harvey E. Lindsey, one of the well-known and successful farmers of North Ottawa township, Grant county, was born in Whiteside county, Illi- nois, on April 24, 1857, the son of Edwin and Lois (Hewett) Lindsey, who were born in Maine and in the state of New York, respectively, he hav- ing been born in 1816. Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey were pioneer settlers in Illinois, where they lived until 1866, when they removed to Tamo county, Iowa, where the mother died in 1867. The father died in Clinton county, Iowa, in 1884, while on a visit. Some years after the death of his wife, Edward Lindsey homesteaded in Osceola county, Iowa, and there made his home until the time of his death. Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey were the parents of the following children: Rose, Harvey E., Ophelia, Henry and Man- ville. Rose died in California in 1915; Ophelia is now a resident of Cali- fornia; Henry and Manville are deceased, the former dying in 1895 and the latter in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey were active members of the Methodist Episcopal church and took much interest in church work.
Harvey E. Lindsey received his education in the public schools of Illi- nois and Iowa, and grew to manhood on the farm, where as a lad he as- sisted his father with the farm work. As a young man he engaged in
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farming and operated his father's farm of one hundred and sixty acres, until the father's death. He later rented land and in 1908 came to Minne- sota, and here he and his sister Ophelia bought four hundred acres of land in North Ottawa township, Grant county, which they yet own. Mr. Lind- sey has placed many valuable improvements on the place, and is engaged in general farming and stock raising, in which he has been quite successful. Mr. Lindsey is identified with the Republican party and has always taken an active interest in local affairs. While residing in Iowa he was for a number of years a township trustee, and is now a member of the board of supervisors of North Ottawa township. He and wife are active members of the Evangelical church of North Ottawa township, Mr. Lindsey being one of the trustees of the same.
In 1884 Harvey E. Lindsey was united in marriage to Jessie R. Long. who was born in England on July 25, 1864, the daughter of George and Rebecca Long, the former of whom is now dead and the latter of whom still lives in that country. To this union the following children have been born : William, Lela, Florence, George, Ethel, Isabelle and Percy (twins), Charles and Gladys, all of whom are living. Florence married James Phillips of Wendell, and has one child, a son, Ronald.
In addition to his extensive interests on his own farm, Harvey E. Lindsey is the manager of twenty-five hundred acres of land in Grant and Traverse counties, the owners of which are for the most part Iowa people. As a general farmer and business man, Mr. Lindsey is recognized as a man of much ability and of the highest integrity.
ARTHUR C. CHRISTENSON.
Evansville township, Douglas county, has been a good enough place for Arthur C. Christenson, who is spending his life in his native locality, farm- ing for a livelihood. He was born on the old homestead there, March 27. 1874, and is a son of Nels C. and Henricka ( Kosen) Christenson, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
Arthur C. Christenson was reared on the home farm, and he received a public school education. When young he hired out three years to E. A. Morgan, a farmer in Erdahl township. Then, after spending some time at home, went to Colorado, where he worked about two years in a smelter. But before going West he purchased eighty acres in Evansville township,
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and while in Colorado bought another forty joining it. Upon his return to Douglas county he began farming on his own land, which he has since oper- ated and improved. In 1903 he built a comfortable dwelling, which he re- modeled in 1915 into a modern two-story frame house, equipped with bath, hot and cold water, furnace heat and acetylene lights. In 1903 he also built a good barn. He has planted a grove of about three thousand trees.
Mr. Christenson was married on November 11, 1903, to Lena Thomp- son of Grant county, and to their union five children have been born, namely: Walter, the eldest; Franklin, deceased; Earle, who died in in- fancy, and Gladys Mildred and Arley William, who are with their parents. The Christensons belong to the Norwegian Lutheran church.
NELS C. CHRISTENSON.
Nels C. Christenson, a retired farmer of Evansville township, Douglas county, was born in Denmark, December 1, 1845, a son of Nels and Anna Katherina (Nelson) Christenson, also natives of Denmark, where they grew up and were married and lived on a farm until emigrating to Amer- ica in 1885. They lived with their son Martin, in Douglas county, where they died.
Nels C. Christenson grew to manhood in Denmark where he attended school. He came to America in 1868, settling at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in the following year came on to Minnesota, and in May of that year took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in Evansville town- ship, Douglas county, which he improved to some extent, using an ox-team for some time. His first house was a dug-out. After two years he sold his right, and hired to Hendrick Kosen, later marrying one of the latter's daughters, and Mr. Kosen made his home with them in his old age until his death, at which time his farm became the property of Mr. Christenson. It consisted of one hundred and sixty acres. Mr. Christenson made all the the improvements and ran the place himself after taking up his residence there, owing to the ill health of the owner, who added to the place until at the time of his death it consisted of three hundred and eighty acres.
Mr. Christenson has been very successful as a general farmer. He also owns valuable property in the village of Evansville. He has been liv- ing in retirement since 1910. He was married in 1871 to Henricka P. Kosen, and to their union nine children have been born, namely: Henry,
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who is a merchant at Brandon; Arthur C., who is farming in Evansville towship; Emil, deceased; Dagmar, the wife of D. J. Davidson; Louisa, the wife of Albert Halmgren, who is in partnership with Henry Christenson in Brandon; Stella, the wife of M. A. Cole, of Sauk Center; Ida, the wife of J. C. Swift, who operates his father-in-law's farm: Herbert, who is in part- nership with Mr. Swift in farming the homestead, and Elma, who married J. B. Johnson, a restaurant keeper at Wendell. Mr. Christenson served as township supervisor for twelve years and also served as director and school treasurer in District No. 52. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church, of which he was at one time trustee.
CHARLES ANDERSON.
One of the best-remembered farmers of Lawrence township, Grant county, was the late Charles Anderson, an industrious and public-spirited citizen, who in every way merited the high esteem in which he was held by his neighbors and friends. He was born in Sweden, April 17, 1853. He was a son of Andrew and Johanna (Ormsen) Anderson, both natives of Sweden, where they spent their lives. Of their eleven children, four came to America, namely: Andrew, who lives in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota; August, deceased; Victor, also deceased, and Charles, the subject of this memorial sketch.
Charles Anderson grew up in his native land and there attended school. He emigrated to the United States in 1871, locating in Michigan, where he worked in the iron mines for many years. About 1880 he came to Minne- sota, settling in Grant county, working out on a farm by the month during the summer time and in the lumber woods during the winters. In 1888 he bought eighty acres and later another eighty in Lawrence township. He improved his land and became a successful farmer and stock raiser. He set out a large grove. He spent the rest of his life on the farm, dying in 1908. He was a member of the Swedish Lutheran church. After his death his widow and children put up a modern dwelling on the place.
Mr. Anderson was married in 1886 to Jennie Peterson, who was born in Norway, November 7, 1867, a daughter of Peter and Helen (Anderson) Johnson, the former of whom died in 1878 and the latter in 1877, who were the parents of four children, Sophia, Jennie, John and Annie, all of whom are living. To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson the following children were born :
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William, the eldest; Herman, who is operating the home farm; Nellie, next in order of birth; Alma, who died on January 26, 1910, at the age of fifteen years and six months; Allen, next in order of birth; Vernon, who died in 1915, at the age of fifteen years and six months, and Carl, the youngest.
CHARLES LOUIS JULIG.
One of the prominent German farmers of Leaf Valley township, Doug- las county, is Charles L. Julig, who was born in Carver county, Minneosta, on November 26, 1863. He is a son of John and Gertrude Julig, both of whom were natives of Germany.
John Julig was a brewer by trade in his native country, also followed the occupation of an engineer. He was married in Germany and in 1848 came to the United States, settling first in Chicago, Illinois, where he worked as an engineer in a roundhouse until 1856, when he removed to Carver county, Minnesota. There he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, eleven miles west of Chaska, and lived on that place until 1880, when he moved to Douglas county to live with his son, remaining there for several years, at the end of which time he came to live with his son, Charles L., with whom he remained until his death in 1895. His widow survived him about seven years, her death occurring in 1902. While living in this county, John Julig homesteaded forty acres of land in section 10 of Leaf Valley township. He and his wife were the parents of nine children, Joseph, Andrew, Mary, Henry, John, Charles L., Sophia, Gertrude, and one who died while young. Joseph was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War and was wounded at the battle of Nashville. He spent most of his life in Carver county, Minnesota, where he died a few years ago. It is believed that An- drew is also deceased, as the family have not heard from him for many years. Mary is the widow of John Kitter and lives in Minneapolis. Henry is a farmer living in Leaf Valley township, near where the subject of this sketch is living. John is a resident of St. Cloud, where he is employed in the car shops. Sophia lives in California. Gertrude is the wife of Andrew Schmidt, a resident of Ottertail county, Minnesota.
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