USA > Minnesota > Grant County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 30
USA > Minnesota > Douglas County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 30
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Ole A. Thompson received his education in the public schools of Nor- way and there grew to manhood, and there he continued to reside until he was twenty years of age, when he decided that he would come to America. Upon his arrival in the United States, in 1874, he came directly to Minne- sota and located at Grand Meadow, where he worked for J. H. J. Weeks, during which time he attended a term of school. In the fall of 1875 he settled in Erdahl township, and for six months was engaged on a farm in Douglas county. In the spring of 1877 he purchased forty acres of land in Erdahil township, paying for the same five dollars and fifty cents an acre, to which he later added another forty acres, at the same price, all of which was wild prairie. There he built a log house and began farming with oxen, thus beginning the development of his farm. He lost the greater part of
OLE A. THOMPSON AND FAMILY.
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his first crop by grasshoppers, but the wheat that he saved was of fine quality. As he developed his farm and became more prosperous he added to his hold- ings until he became the owner of two hundred and forty acres, the greater part of which he bought at from five to ten dollars an acre. He devoted his best efforts and ability in the development of the place and in time had one of the model farms of the township, engaging there in general farming and stock raising, in which he was quite successful. In 1903 Mr. Thomp- son went to Saskatchewan, Canada, where he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres and purchased two hundred and forty acres, all of which was wild prairie and brush land. The first season he built a two-story log house, sixteen by sixteen feet, to which he added the next year an addition, sixteen by fourteen feet. He also erected on the place a barn, granary and other buildings. He engaged, to a large extent, in the stock business and had some seventy-five head of fine cattle. He cleared some forty-five acres of his tract and used the rest for pasture. He remained there for four years. at the end of which time he rented the place, which he still owns, and returned to his farm in Grant county, which had been operated by his son the first two years of his absence in Canada and by his son-in-law the last two years. Upon his return to his farm in Grant county, in 1908, Mr. Thompson engaged in general farming and stock raising until March 4, 1915, when he retired from the active life of a farmer and stockman, sold his farm at eighty-seven dollars and fifty cents an acre and moved to Erdahl, where he now resides, after many years of an active and successful life on the farm.
In 1884 Ole A. Thompson was united in marriage to Mrs. Anna Solem, the widow of Knut Solem, who died in Norway. Mrs. Thompson was edu- cated in the public schools of Norway and there grew to womanhood and was married. After the death of her husband, Knut Solem, she came to Minnesota in 1883, joining her relatives in Elbow Lake township, Grant county, where she worked for one season, at the end of which time she became housekeeper for Mr. Thompson and was thus engaged a few months before their marriage. By her first husband she was the mother of four children, Mary, Austin, Knut and Ole, all of whom she reared to manhood and womanhood. By her union with Mr. Thompson she is the mother of three children, Matilda, Clara and Thorwald. Mary is the wife of Ole N. Lee, a well-known farmer of Erdahl township. Austin is in North Dakota. Knut is section foreman for the Great Northern railway at Erdahl. Ole is (20a)
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at home. Matilda married Albert Tostad and resides at Wendall. Clara is the wife of W. M. Redloazyk, a prosperous farmer of Canada, and Thor- wald is now deceased. In addition to their own children, Mr. and Mrs Thompson took Andrew Thorp, at the age of one year, and have cared for him until he is now nineteen years of age. He is known as Andrew Thompson and is engaged as a farm hand in the vicinity of the Thompson home. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are active members of the Norwegian Lutheran church and take much interest in church work, Mr. Thompson being a trustee and treasurer of the local society. They have long been prominent in the social and the religious life of the community, where they are held in the highest regard and esteem by all who know them. They are a most hospitable people and take much pleasure in the entertainment of their neighbors and friends.
Ole A. Thompson is an independent voter, has taken an active interest in local affairs for many years and has had much to do with the excellent system of education in the township, where he has been treasurer of the school board for the past sixteen years. He is a progressive citizen and uses his influence to further the best interests of the township and the county. He is a director of the Farmers Elevator Company at Erdahl and vice- president of the First National Bank at that place.
HENRY CHRISTENSON.
Henry Christenson, one of the prominent and successful merchants of Brandon, Douglas county, Minnesota, was born in Evansville township, on July 6, 1872. He is the son of Nels Christenson, a native of Denmark, for complete sketch of whom, see another page of this work.
Henry Christenson received his education in the public schools of Evansville township and at the town of Evansville. He grew to manhood on the home farm, where he assisted his father with the work until he was twenty-five years of age. Although successful in the work on the farm, Mr. Christenson felt that he was better adapted for another line of work. In 1897 he left the home farm and went to Colorado, where he remained for five years. During much of the time he was in that state he was engaged in smelting and during a part of the time he worked in a quartz mine. During his residence in Colorado he saw much of the beauty of that state and also gained experience in his work that has been of much value
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to him as a business man. After his return to Douglas county, he pur- chased one hundred and twenty acres, of land in sections 19 and 20, Evansville township, about thirty acres of the tract being then improved. After assuming possession, he proceeded to do much in the way of develop- ment, making many improvements that added to the beauty and value of the place. During the time he was devoting his energies to his farm, he remained at the home of his parents. After putting the place in good con- dition, he devoted his time and energies to general farming, until he came to Brandon, to engage in business. He now rents the farm, but takes much interest in its management and devotes a part of his time to looking after his interests there.
On March 7, 1912, Henry Christenson and Albert Holmgren pur- chased a stock of merchandise of F. W. Ruppelius and engaged in business in the town of Brandon. They carry a general line of merchandise, con- sisting of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, as well as a large stock of men's work clothes. The firm is doing a nice business and has the con- fidence and respect of the entire community.
On August 4, 1914, Henry Christenson was united in marriage to Louisa Anderson, a native of Moe township. To this union one child, Elda, has been born. Mr. and Mrs. Christenson are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church and are held in the highest esteem by all who know them. Mr. Christenson has always been interested in the local affairs of the town- ship and has ever been ready to assist in any worthy cause.
FRANK BUSCHER.
The percentage of native-born citizens of Douglas county, especially farmers, is very small for reasons too obvious to mention here. One of this number is Frank Buscher, banker and influential citizen of the village of Millerville, whose birth occurred in Millerville township, January 26, 1875. He is a son of John and Mary (Schlener) Buscher, the former born on May 9, 1840, and the latter on August 26, 1850. Henry Buscher, the paternal grandfather, was born in Westphalen, Germany, from which coun- try he immigrated to America, locating on a farm near Martinsburg, Mis- souri, where he spent the rest of his life. He had six children. George Schlener, the maternal grandfather, was a native of Austria. Upon coming to the United States he settled in Wisconsin, where he worked out, but not
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long thereafter he went to St. Martin, Minnesota, spending the rest of his life on a farm near there. John Buscher, the father, was nine years old when his parents brought him to America, and he spent his boyhood on the farm in Missouri. When a young man he left home and came to Stearns county, Minnesota, and while there enlisted for service in the Civil War, in Company G, Ninth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, in which he served from 1862 to 1865, taking part in a number of important campaigns and engagements. After the war he returned to Stearns county and was pro- prietor of a hotel at Richmond for about two years, then came to Douglas county, taking up one hundred and sixty acres of land in Millerville town- ship and buying forty acres adjoining. Here, by hard work and persever- ance, he developed an excellent farm, succeeding as a general farmer, and he died here on April 27, 1902, at the age of sixty-two years. His widow survived until December 2, 1913, dying at the age of sixty-three. They were parents of the following children: George; Mary, deceased; Frank, of this sketch; John, deceased: Anna; Joseph, deceased; Jacob, Henry, Ber- nard and Ferdinand. The father of these children became fairly active in local public affairs, serving as school director for sixteen years and was also supervisor of his township for several years. He was one of the organizers of the local Catholic church.
Frank Buscher grew up on the home farm and he received his educa- tion in the common schools. While still on the farm, when about twenty- four years old, he took a course in bookkeeping by mail. He then bought a general store at West Union, Minnesota, but later came to Alexandria to work for C. W. Colbertson Company, who conducted a clothing store, now known as the Eagle Clothing Company, remaining with this store six years, four years of which he was manager. In the spring of 1911 he went to Hoffman, Minnesota, as cashier of the Farmers State Bank, where he remained three years, being a stockholder in the same. In June, 1914, he, with others, organized the bank at Millerville, of which he became a stock- holder and has since been cashier. This has proved to be a successful ven- ture and the bank is enjoying a steady growth. He also owns stock in the Bankers Trust Company and the Savings Bank of Minneapolis. He writes considerable fire insurance, representing the Aetna Fire Insurance Company, the St. Paul Fire and Marine Company and the Minneapolis Fire Insur- ance Company.
Mr. Buscher was married, on June 30, 1898, to Justine Dobmeyer, a native of Douglas county, where she grew up and was educated. To this
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union four children have been born, George, Ferdinand, Alfred and Mark, who are all at home.
Politically, Mr. Buscher is a Republican, and is village treasurer and clerk of school district No. 34. He is a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters and the Catholic church.
MICHAEL KRAEMER.
Michael Kraemer, one of the prominent and successful business men of Alexandria, Minnesota, was born in Germany, on January 9, 1855, being the son of Nicholas and Mary (Thielen) Kraemer. Nicholas and Mary Kraemer were also natives of Germany and there lived their lives, he having died in 1902 and she in 1915. They received their education in the public schools. After completing his education, Mr. Kraemer engaged in farming, at which work he devoted his life and was very successful. He and his wife were the parents of four children, Peter, Michael, Catherine and Mar- garet. The family were highly respected in the community in which they lived.
Michael Kraemer received his education in the public schools of his native land and there grew to manhood. After coming to America, he attended night school at Minneapolis, Minnesota, during the winter of 1881 and 1882. On his arrival in the United States in 1881, he came direct to Minnesota, locating in Minneapolis, where he remained for three years. In the fall of 1884 he removed to Sauk Center, where he engaged in the soda water business in partnership with M. Robishon. He sold his interest to his partner in 1886 and purchased a soda water factory at Alexandria, and here he has since remained. In 1888 he rebuilt the factory and is now operating the Alexandria Soda Water and Bottling Works, in which he has been very successful. Here he manufactures all kinds of carbonated drinks and ciders, furnishing the local trade and shipping to all points within a radius of one hundred miles. His products are the best that can be made and are recognized as of the highest standard.
In October, 1883, Michael Kraemer was united in marriage to Julia Beining, who died on November 6, 1891. To this union three children were born, Mary, Carl and Theresa. On April 26, 1892, Mr. Kraemer was mar- ried to Gertrude Hendericks and to this union three children have been born, Lucy, Otto and Michael. The family are devout members of the
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Catholic church and are active in the social and religious work of the town- ship. Mr. Kraemer has always taken much interest in local civic affairs and has served for nine years as councilman of Alexandria and was mayor for fourteen months. He is a man of excellent judgment and his service, both in the council and as mayor, was productive of much good to the community. He is a believer in public improvements and has done much for the growth and prosperity of the town and county in which he lives.
BERNT TOLLEFSON.
Bernt Tollefson, a native of Norway and a well-known farmer of Peli- can Lake township, Grant county, Minnesota, was born on May 18, 1857, being the son of Tollef and Bertha (Gruthong) Egstad. Lars Egstad, the paternal grandfather of Bernt Tollefson, was a well-known farmer of Nor- way, where he lived on the farm that had been in the family for many years. He never came to America, but lived and died in his native country. He was a soldier in the war with Sweden. Thomas Egstad, the great-grand- father, was a farmer in Norway and was, perhaps one of the first to hold the family estate. Tollef Egstad lived on the family estate and there grew to manhood. He died in Norway in 1873 and several years after his death United States. The children of the family were, Lars, Ole, Jens, Anna, Ton- etta, Lauritz, Andreas, and Bernt. The family were prominent in their home community in Norway, where, the father, being a landowner, was of much consequence. The members of the family who came to the United States have here established themselves in the social, religious and business life of the community in which they live.
Bernt Tollefson received his education in Norway and there grew to manhood on the family estate. At the age of nineteen, he decided that he would come to the United States. On his arrival here he came direct to Minnesota, locating in Grant county, and was here at the time of the terrible plague of grasshoppers, when practically all the vegetation was destroyed. He and his brother, Lauritz, later purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 4. Pelican Lake township. This they developed and here farmed together until 1888, when Bernt bought the share of his brother and is now the owner of the entire tract. He has erected all the present substantial buildings and has in other ways added much to the beauty and value of the farm. Today he has one of the best farms in the township
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and is successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising. The tract at the time the brothers made the purchase was all wild prairie land, but has been transformed into well cultivated fields, dotted here and there with herds of fine cattle and droves of hogs.
Bernt Tollefson has always taken a keen interest in the local affairs of his township, and has served as assessor for two years. In addition to his other interests, he is the owner of stock in the Farmers Elevator Company at Ashby. He is a man of considerable prestige in the community, his advice being often sought on matters of public interest.
CHARLES DANEK.
Charles Danek, a well known and successful farmer of Lake Mary township, Douglas county, was born in Bohemia on October 25, 1852, the son of Thomas and Annie ( Hlavacek) Danek, natives of Bohemia and farming people. There the father died, the mother later coming to America to join her children. She took a homestead in Millerville township, Douglas county, where she lived for many years. Thomas and Annie Danek were the parents of two children, Catherine and Charles.
Charles Danek received his education in the public schools of Bohemia and lived there until he was fifteen years of age, when he came to America with his sister. They located in Dakota county, Minnesota, where Mr. Danek worked as a farm hand. After two years the mother came to America and took her homestead of one hundred and sixty-three acres, in Millerville township. Charles then went to live with her, and there he remained until 1877, in which year his mother sold the place. Mr. Danek then purchased his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in section 32 of Lake Mary township.
At the time Charles Danek purchased the farm it was all wild land, undeveloped and unimproved. With much hard work he has succeeded in making it one of the productive and well-improved farms in the community. He has erected all the substantial buildings and is engaged in general farm- ing, in which he has been most successful. He is a firm believer in intensive farming, thorough cultivation and the keeping of the best of stock. Having come, as a lad, to a strange land, among strange people and amid new con- ditions, he has accomplished much that is praiseworthy, and today is recog- nized as one of the substantial and influential men of the township. He has
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always taken much interest in local affairs; is possessed of an intense public spirit and has done much toward the development and improvement of the township, as well as of the immediate community in which he lives. He is a firm believer in all public improvements that have a tendency to add to the betterment and the growth of the state. Being broad-minded, he realizes the value to any community of good roads and the best of schools. He has served three years as township supervisor ; five years as assessor; as clerk of Lake Mary township for the past fifteen years, and as school district clerk since 1887, a period of twenty-nine years.
In 1881 Charles Danek was united in marriage to Louisa Kuklis and . to this union the following children have been born: Antonia, Mary, Joseph V., Charles A., Frank R. and Thomas H. The family have long been prominent in the social and religious life of the community, Mr. Danek having served as secretary of the local church organization. Mr. and Mrs. Danek are held in high regard by their neighbors and friends for their many noble qualities of manhood and womanhood. Their lives have been busy ones with their family and their work, yet they have ever found time to assist in sickness and trouble.
AMIL R. KIETZMAN.
Amil R. Kietzman, one of the successful and well-known farmers and stockmen of Macsville township, Grant county, was born at Herman on November 1, 1874, the son of Henry Carl and Wilhelmina (Schimmel- pfennig) Kietzman, natives of Berlin, Germany. The father was born on January 26, 1841, and grew to manhood in the Fatherland. The mother was born on August 8, 1850, and came to the United States, with her par- ents, as a girl in her teens. Henry Carl Kietzman remained in his native land until he was twenty-six years of age, when he came to the United States and located in Wisconsin, where he met and married Wilhelmina Schimmelpfenning, the daughter of August and Augusta Schimmelpfenning, who had located at Weyanwega. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Kietzman moved to Oshkosh, where Mr. Kietzman worked at the carpenter trade for a number of years. In 1872, after the birth of their first daugh- ter, they came to Minnesota and Mr. Kietzman homesteaded eighty acres of land in the northwest part of Herman township, Grant county. At that time the Great Northern railroad had been built through this section and
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at Herman there was a depot, a section house and a small shack that answered as a store room and postoffice. The greater part of the territory at that time was wild prairie, and after locating on his claim Mr. Kietzman constructed a sod house in which the family lived for some time. He at once began the task of developing his farm and soon secured one hundred and sixty acres more land, by pre-emption and tree claim, all of which was wild land. The family suffered many of the hardships of the early settler and endured the privations of early life on the plains. After having broken the sod and planted his crops, Mr. Kietzman suffered the loss of the greater part of his harvest by the grasshoppers, and would have left the county if he could have done so. During three years of those hard times, he worked on the Great Northern railroad and thus secured money to stock his farm. He purchased a cow and a yoke of oxen, and again began life as a farmer. He later purchased another yoke of oxen and completed the breaking of his land and erected more substantial buildings, which in later years were replaced by more modern buildings. As he began to prosper he broke the soil comprising the tree claim, and purchased three hundred and twenty acres in section 25, Macsville township. He continued to live on the old homestead until the time of his death, June 21, 1912. The wife had died but a month before, on May 20. Mr. and Mrs. Kietzman were active mem- bers of the German Evangelical church, and were among the early members of the local society. They were the parents of eleven children: Bertha, Amil, Viva, Adolph, Laura, Albert, Alice, Ella, Henry, Herman and Minnie.
Henry Carl Kietzman was a man of much ability and possessed of rare business acumen and excellent judgment. By hard work and good manage- ment he became the owner of some nine hundred acres of good land, all of which is still owned by the family. He started life as a poor man and became one of the substantial and prominent men of the township. He took much interest in local affairs and had much to do with the early civic life of the township. He believed in the highest standard of public improve- ments, and advocated the support of the best schools possible.
Amil R. Kietzman received his education in the common schools of his township. and was graduated from the high school at Herman. He was reared on the home farm and after completing his schooling he returned to the home farm and engaged in farming. In 1901 he left the home farm and moved to a three-hundred-and-twenty-acre farm in Macsville township, one hundred and sixty acres of which his father had given him, and .he pur-
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chased the other part of the tract. The farm at that time was unimproved and the first year he erected a substantial house and the next year a barn. He planted the grove and built the fences, in addition to making many other valuable improvements. There he is engaged in general farming and stock raising, and is successful. He is a stockholder in the elevator and the bank at Herman. He is independent in politics and has taken an active interest in the affairs of the township, having served on the board of supervisors, and has been treasurer of the school board.
CONRAD MEISTER.
Conrad Meister, a well-known and successful farmer of Carlos town- ship, Douglas county, was born in Switzerland, on April 17, 1858, the son of Jacob and Maria Elizabeth (Schweizen) Meister, natives of Switzerland, who were there educated in the public school and who there grew to man- hood and womanhood. Jacob Meister learned the mason trade, and as a young man came to the United States, but soon returned to his native coun- try, where he died in 1864. The widow who was born in 1823, died in 1885. Both the parents of Conrad Meister had been previously married. By her former marriage Mrs. Meister was the mother of one child, Fritz Byer, who is still a resident of Switzerland. By his former marriage Mr. Meister had one daughter, Margaret, who has remained in her native land. Jacob and Maria Meister were the parents of two children: Conrad and John, the later of whom died in Switzerland some years ago.
Conrad Meister received his education in his native land and there grew to manhood. As a young man he learned the trade of a locksmith. He later served in the army of his country. At the age of twenty-two he decided to come to America. After landing in this country he came west and began working in a machine shop at Baraboo, Wisconsin. He was there but a short time, and then went to St. Louis, where he was engaged in the rolling mills for two years. He then came to Minnesota and worked in a brick yard at Collegeville for one month, at the end of which time he went to North Dakota, where he worked in the harvest fields the rest of that season. He then came to Douglas county and worked for R. Zimmer- man for nearly two years. He was then married to Theresa Pichler, a native of Austria, who had come to the United States with her parents. After his marriage he worked for one year for Braun, in Belle River town-
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