USA > Minnesota > Grant County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 6
USA > Minnesota > Douglas County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 6
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On June 1, 1910, W. J. B. Moses was united in marriage to Annette M. Peacock, of Alexandria, daughter of Robert and Ruth (Wilson) Pea- cock, old residents of Pope county, who moved to Alexandria about 1904, and to this union one child has been born, a son, William Robert, born on December 24, 191I.
HARLAN S. CAMPBELL.
Harlan S. Campbell, manager of the St. Anthony & Dakota elevator at Alexandria, member of the common council of that city, and one of the best-known grain men in this part of the state, is a native of Minnesota and has lived in this state all his life. He was born in the city of Minneapolis, June 5, 1874, son of Arthur R. and Sarah H. (Smith ) Campbell, natives of the state of Maine, whose last days spent at Little Falls, this state.
Arthur R. Campbell was reared in Maine and early learned the trade of shipwright, working in shipyards in the East until his marriage in 1865 to Sarah H. Smith, immediately after which he came West and settled at St. Anthony ( now Minneapolis), where he worked on the erection of several of the large mills then being erected at that place. He later engaged in the grain business and presently was made manager of the Old Pillsbury elevator in southeastern Minneapolis, remaining thus engaged until in August, 1884. when he was transferred to Alexandria as the manager of the Pillsbury & Hulburt elevator at that place. There Mr. Campbell remained until 1904, in which year he was made inspector for the Northwestern Milling Com- pany, with headquarters at Little Falls, and moved to the latter place, where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in June, 1913, he then being sixty-nine years and six months of age. His widow survived him but a few months, her death occurring in September of that same year, she being sixty-five years of age at the time of her death. They were the par-
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ents of four children, those besides the subject of this sketch being Georgia, who died in September. 1914: Dennison, instructor in manual training in the schools at Jordan, this state, who married Bessie Burrell and has one child, a daughter, Janet, and Ralph, who died on March 7. 1916.
Harlan S. Campbell was ten years old when his parents moved from Minneapolis to Alexandria and his schooling, begun in the schools at Minne- apolis, was continued in the schools of Alexandria. He was graduated from the high school in the latter city in 1893 and then attended the academic department of the State University for a year, at the end of which time, in the fall of 1895, following his marriage, he was made manager of an ele- vator at Garfield. From the days of his boyhood Mr. Campbell had been acquiring a thorough acquaintance with the grain business under his father's careful direction, and after two years as manager of the Garfield elevator he was transferred to Erhard. in the neighboring county of Otter Tail, where he served as manager of the elevator at that place for four years. In the fall of 1901 Mr. Campbell was called back to Alexandria to take the position of manager of the St. Anthony & Dakota elevator at that place and has ever since continued in that responsible position, long having been recog- nized as one of the leading grain men in this part of the state. Mr. Campbell is a member of the Alexandria Commercial Club and has for years taken an active part in the general business affairs of his home town. He also takes a proper interest in the community's civic affairs, has been a member of the fire department since 1902, was the first president of the Fireman's Relief Association and for the past seven or eight years has been a member of the Alexandria common council, being elected on the non-partisan ticket.
It was on October 13. 1895, that Harlan S. Campbell was united in marriage at Alexandria to Florence E. De Frate, of that city, daughter of Sheriff A. W. De Frate and who was graduated with the same class and had taught school for a couple of years before her marriage to Mr. Campbell. To that union two children have been born, Arthur Ross, born on July 18, 1897, and Francis Colin, January 25, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are members of the Congregational church and take a proper interest in the various beneficences of the same, as well as in all local good works. Mr. Campbell is a past master of Constellation Lodge No. 81, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which lodge he served as master for three terms, and is past worthy patron of the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Campbell is past worthy matron of the same and is also a deaconess in the Congregational church and superintendent of the primary department of the Sunday school of the same.
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NILS ELLINGSON.
Nils Ellingson, a well-known pioneer farmer of Stony Brook township, Grant county, is a native of the kingdom of Norway, but has been a resi- dent of Minnesota since 1868 and of Grant county since 1878. He was born on a farm in the Sigdal district of Norway on June 11, 1852, son of Elling Nilson and Annie Ellenson, both natives of that same district, the former born in May, 1825, and the latter, March 23, 1823, who grew up in the same neighborhood and were married there, remaining in their native land until 1868 when they came with their family to the United States and pro- ceeded on out to Minnesota, settling in Houston county. Elling Nilson had been reared to the life of the farm in the old country and had there been a farmer, hence upon coming to Minnesota he rented a farm in Houston county and there established his home, remaining there until 1877, in which year, by wagon and ox-team, he made his way to Grant county and home- steaded one hundred and sixty acres in section 32 of Stony Brook township. He erected a small frame house, twelve by fourteen feet and eight feet high, and settled down to the difficult task of breaking the farm and bringing it under cultivation. He prospered in his farming operations and later bought an "eighty" adjoining his homestead and still later an additional quarter section, but before his death had disposed of most of his land holdings. On that homestead farm Elling Nilson and his wife spent their last days, his death occurring in 1903, he then being past seventy-eight years of age, and hers in the the following year, 1904, she then being eighty-two years of age. They were the parents of seven children, namely: Annie, who married Peter Erickson, a biographical sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume; Gunhild, who married Kittel Olson and died at her home in Stony Brook township in 1895; Nils, the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Hans, who is now living retired at Wendell: Martha, who married A. E. Dybdal and also lives at Wendell; Christine, who married C. C. Grinder and lives on a farm one and one-half miles east of Wendell; and Ellen, a farmer, who lives about one-half mile south of Wendell.
Nils Ellingson was about sixteen years of age when he came to America with his parents in 1868 and he grew to manhood on the home farm in Houston county, this state, remaining there until he was twenty-one years of age, when he began working on his own account and was thus engaged until 1878, when, with his wife (he having been married in the spring of 1877) and their infant child, he came over to this part of the state and settled in
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Grant county, buying a tract of eighty acres in section 29 of Stony Brook township. For his immediate occupancy at that time he erected a small log house on the adjoining farm of his brother, but later built on his own farm a small frame house, which is now used as the kitchen of his present dwell- ing. He gradually broke his farm and brought the same under cultivation ยท and as he prospered in his operations added to his holdings until he is now the owner of a fine farm of two hundred acres.
It was on March 26, 1877, that Nils Ellingson was united in marriage to Sigri Dybdal, who was born in Norway, a daughter of Ellen Dybdal and wife, who became early settlers in Iowa, where they spent their last days. To this union nine children have been born, namely: Elling, a grain buyer at Barrett; Ellen, who died in infancy; Annie, who married Ole Christenson and lives at Wendell; Ellend N., a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume: Bernard, who is engaged in the retail meat busi- ness at Wendell: Sam, at home, and Bertha, Edward and Albert, also at home.
CASSIUS CLINTON STRANG, D. D. S.
Dr. Cassius Clinton Strang, a well-known dentist and the mayor of Alexandria, was born in Hudson township, Douglas county, Minnesota, on May 24, 1879, son of George Jesse and Sarah Jane (Burgan) Strang.
George Jesse Strang was born in Prince Edward Island on February 22, 1845, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth ( Murray) Strang. Joseph Strang was born in Rhode Island and Elizabeth Murray Strang was born on Prince Edward Island. Joseph Strang received his education in the public schools of Rhode Island, and there grew to manhood. As a young man he engaged as a coast sailor, and during his cruises along the coast he met and married Elizabeth Murray, at her home in Prince Edward Island. Soon after their marriage, the young couple moved to Kane county, Illinois, and pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land, six miles from Elgin. Joseph Strang developed and improved that farm and there engaged in general farming until 1850. when he moved to Iowa and located in Fayette county, and there engaged in farming for five years, at the end of which time, in 1855, he came to Minnesota and pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land in Rice county, all of which was wild prairie. He built a log house and developed the farm, and there he resided until 1867, when he moved to Douglas county and took a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in
DR. CASSIUS C. STRANG.
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Hudson township. There he built a substantial frame house and with a team of oxen developed the farm. In time he became one of the substan- tial farmers of the township and there he resided for thirty-eight years, at the end of which time he retired from the activities of the farm life and moved to Alexandria, where he lived for twenty years before his death in December, 1905, he then being eighty-nine years of age. His wife had died nearly twenty years previous to that time. They were the parents of nine children, Mary, David M., Sarah Ann, George Jesse, Eliza. Penelope, Charles D., Lucinda and Louis D., the latter of whom died at the age of five years.
George Jesse Strang received his education in Iowa and in Rice county, this state, and grew to manhood on the home farm, where as a lad and young man he assisted with the farm work. He remained at home until, at the age of eighteen years, in 1863, he enlisted in Company A. Fifth Regi- ment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and was at once sent to Memphis, Tennessee. He was later in the two-days battle of Nashville, after which he was with the command that followed Hood to the east part of Tennessee, where they engaged in the decisive battles of Pulaski and Franklin, the latter battle being one of the most decisive battles of the war, and perhaps the only one in which an entire Confederate army was annihilated. He was then sent to Mobile, Alabama, after one month in Eastport, Tennessee. There he assisted in the capture of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. After that he was sent to New Orleans, and then on a month's campaign along the Gulf of Mexico; thence to Montgomery, Alabama, and then to Salem, that state, where he was discharged, after two years of most active service. After being mustered out of the service, Mr. Strang returned to Minnesota and the first winter thereafter he spent with the home folks in Rice county. Then in 1866, he, with his brother. David M. Strang, came to Douglas county, where each took a squatter's claim to one hundred and sixty acres of land, David Strang taking his claim in section 21 and George J. Strang, in section 16 of Hudson township. George Jesse Strang later learned that his land in section 16 had been set aside for school purposes, so he pre-empted the tract and paid one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre for the place. The brothers had driven through with oxen, and after having selected their land, returned and brought their parents to this county, and with them they brought horses, with which to assist them in their work. George Jesse Strang at once built a log house on his farm and began the task of clearing the place and planting his crops. The first year he had (5a)
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fifty bushels of oats and twenty-five bushels of wheat, wihch he had to market at St. Cloud, eighty miles distant. Those were trying times for the pioneers, yet they were determined, and in time became prosperous farmers. A substantial frame house presently was erected. which now stands on the farm, and other substantial and valuable improvements were made. More land was bought, and in time George J. Strang became the owner of some six hundred acres of valuable land, all of which was under high cultivation and well improved. Mr. Strang engaged in general farming. and stock raising and became one of the prominent men of the county. In 1904 he was appointed by Governor Van Sant, as a member of. the board of grain appeals. For two years a son operated the farm, after which he rented the place until 1910, when he sold the farm. He continued to serve on the board of appeals until 1908, when he entered the employ of the Atwood Larson Company, grain commission merchants at Duluth, in which capacity he served as a grain buyer in carload lots, his territory covering the northwest part of Minnesota, he continuing, however, to reside in Alex- andria, where he has a beautiful home.
In 1868 George Jesse Strang was united in marriage to Sarah Jane Burgan, who was born on February 3. 1849, at Jamestown, Indiana, and who came with her parents to Minnesota in an early day. To this union seven children have been born, Charles B .. George J., Lulu Elizabeth, D. M., Elva, Cassius Clinton, and Clive Joseph. George J. Strang, Jr., died at the age of five years. Dr. Charles B. Strang is a well-known physician at Lemmon. South Dakota: Lulu Elizabeth Strang married A. P. Nelson, a banker of Grantsburg, Wisconsin: Dr. D. M. Strang is a physician at Sprague, Washington, and is the father of two children, Pauline and Robert. Elva Strang married V. E. Hawley, a successful hardware merchant of Grantsburg, Wisconsin, and has one child, Grace. Clive Joseph Strang is a lawyer and at present county attorney of Burnett county, Wisconsin.
George Jesse Strang and wife have long been prominent in the social life of the community, where they are held "in the highest regard'and esteen by all who know them. Politically. Mr. Strang has always taken an active interest in local affairs, and was one of the organizers of the township of Hudson. He served as chairman of the township board of supervisors for a number of years and as justice of the peace, as well as constable. He was a patriotic citizen and was ever willing to assist in the civic growth of the township and the county. In 1895 he was elected to the state Legis- lature, and there rendered valuable service to his district as well as to the
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state. He won much prominence in the House and was recognized as one of the strong and influential men of the assembly. Fraternally, Mr. Strang is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and has always taken much interest in the work of these orders. Mrs. Strang is a prominent member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Both Mr. and Mrs. Strang have devoted much time to the interest of the community in which they have lived for so many years, and have had much to do with the substantial progress of this district. They are kind and indulgent parents and have ever devoted their lives to their family and to their friends. They have taken much interest in the development of the educational system of the county, and are strong advo- cates of the maintenance of the best of schools, and have given their children every possible advantage in the way of acquiring a good education.
Cassius Clinton Strang received his education in the rural schools of Hudson township and at the high school at Alexandria and grew to manhood on the home farm, where he assisted his father during the time he was not attending school. Even while later attending the University he spent his summers on the farm, assisting in the work of the same. During the time he was in the high school he taught two terms in the rural districts, and thus gained an experience that has been of much value to him during his active life. In the fall of 1902 he entered the dental department of the Minnesota State University, and was graduated with the class of 1905. Upon com- pleting his work in the university, Doctor Strang secured his state license to practice the dental profession and located at Alexandria, where he has since continued in practice with marked success.
Doctor Strang's first office was a small one over the People's Store, where he remained for three years, at the end of which time he moved to the rooms over the Hanson furniture store, where he remained for seven years. In November, 1915, he moved to his present magnificent offices where he has an excellent practice. The Doctor is free to admit that for more than a year after he began his practice at Alexandria he was not self- supporting, but now his practice demands his entire attention. His office is supplied with every modern appliance, and his instruments are of the most up-to-date character. His workship is so arranged as to handle all work quickly, accurately and in a sanitary manner, everything in his line having been installed for the comfort and benefit of his patrons. By expert work- manship and courteous treatment, Doctor Strang has won the confidence and the esteem of the people of the community, among whom he is held in the highest regard.
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On June 3, 1897, Dr. C. C. Strang was united in marriage to Marian Lillian Costello, of Stillwater, Minnesota, and to this union two children have been born, Virgie Adair, born on July 7, 1908, and Mary Elizabeth, Febru- ary 28, 1912. Doctor and Mrs. Strang are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take much interest in church work, and are also earnest participants in the social activities of the community. Fraternally, Doctor Strang is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and in the latter order has attained to the Temple degree of the York Rite, and is a thirty-second degree member of the consistory of the Scottish Rite, and a noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is senior deacon in the Masonic lodge at Alexandria and takes much interest in the affairs of that order. Mrs. Strang is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and is associate matron of the local chapter at Alexandria. Doctor Strang is also a member of the latter order and is now serving as sentinel of the local chapter.
Doctor Strang has always taken an active interest in the civic life of the community and has long been prominent in the governmental affairs of Alexandria. He is progressive in his views and has long advocated improve- ments and policies that would tend to the advancement of the best interests of the residents of the city. In March, 1916, he was elected mayor of the city and is now devoting his best efforts to the duties of that office.
TIDEMAN H. BURTNESS.
Tideman H. Burtness, one of Grant county's best-known and most substantial pioneer farmers and an honored veteran of the Civil War, is a native of the kingdom of Norway, but has been a resident of this country since he was thirteen years of age and of Grant county since the year 1871, thus being classed among the very earliest settlers of the county. He was born on the farm "Burtness," in the beautiful valley of Hallingdal, about eighty miles northwest of the city of Christiania, July 7, 1847, son of Helge and Leva (Maiermon) Burtness, natives of that same district, well-to-do farming people and owners of the farm "Burtness." Mrs. Burt- ness died in 1856 and in 1860 Helge Burtness disposed of his interests in Norway and, following the example of some of his older children who had come to this country and had settled in Wisconsin, came with his other
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children to the United States and joined the older children in Rock county, Wisconsin, settling there on a farm. After spending some years in that county he moved over into Minnesota and his last years were spent with those of his sons who previously had located in Houston county, his death occurring there in 1867. Helge Burtness had been twice married, six chil- dren having been born to his first wife, namely: Peter, who remained on the old homestead in Norway and who died there at the great age of ninety- five years; John, who died in Rock county, Wisconsin; Ole, who died in Waseca county, this state; Tideman, who also spent his last days in Rock county, Wisconsin; Osten, who died in Houston county, this state, and Peder, who joined an expedition seeking gold in California and after spending some time there never was heard from again. To Helge Burtness's second marriage seven children were born, of whom the subject of this biographical sketch was the sixth in order of birth, the others being as follow: Thora, who married Ole Olsgaard and is now living at Spring Grove, in Houston county, this state, past eighty-three years of age: Elling. who died in Houston county: Sven, who died in Emmet county, Iowa : Christien, who lives in Fillmore county, this state; Halvor, who lives in Clay county, this state, and Bergit, who lives in Fillmore county, widow of Knut Wold.
Reared on the ancestral farm in the valley of Hallingdal, Tiedeman H. Burtness received his schooling in the local schools there and was about thirteen years of age when he came with his father to this country. He spent his youth on a farm in Rock county, Wisconsin, and in 1864. when seventeen years of age, enlisted for service in Company D. Forty-third Regi- ment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served until the close of the Civil War, participating in the battle of Nashville and after that being stationed along the line of the Nashville & Chattanooga railway. doing guard duty. During his term of service Mr. Burtness was confined to the hospital for six weeks. Upon the completion of his mili- tary service he returned to Wisconsin, but shortly afterward joined his father in Houston county, this state, and there worked with his brother on a farm until his marriage in the fall of 1870, following which, in 1871, he and his wife drove over to this part of the state and located in Grant county, homesteading a tract of one hundred and sixty acres in section 14 of Elbow Lake township, which ever since has been their home. Upon entering upon his homestead Mr. Burtness hauled logs from the banks of Pomme de Terre Lake and built a log house, which provided a home until he later was able to erect a more commodious and comfortable
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dwelling. He passed through all the trials and privations of the pioneer period, but after awhile began to prosper in his farming operations and years ago became recognized as one of the most substantial farmers of that community, adding to his holdings until he now is the owner of four hun- dred and eighty acres in one body, surrounding his old homestead, besides a farm of one hundred acres in Sanford township. Mr. Burtness is a Republican and has served the public in the capacity of school director and assessor in his home township.
It was in September, 1870, in Rock county, Wisconsin that Tiedeman H. Burtness was united in marriage to Barbara Solem, who was born in that county, a daughter of Knut Solem and wife, who were among the earliest settlers of that county, and to this union eleven children have been born, namely: Leva, who died in infancy : Helge, who lives on a farm east of Elbow Lake; Leva, who married Sivert Nort and lives on a farm nearby the Burtness homestead; Hans, who lives in Canada: Theodore, who also lives in Canada: Tilla, who married Henry Hanson and lives near the old homestead; Peander, who, with his brother Pidolph, is now operating the home place for his father; Christine, who maried Andrew Vum and died in Elbow Lake township: John, who lives in Enderlin, North Dakota, where he is the owner of a garage: Torgen, at home, and Adolph, also at home, who is assisting his brother Peander in the management of the home farm. The Burtnesses are members of the United Lutheran church at Elbow Lake, for many years among the most active supporters of the same, and Mr .. Burtness was formerly a member of the board of trustees of the congre- gation, ever taking a proper interest in community good works.
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