USA > Minnesota > Grant County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 63
USA > Minnesota > Douglas County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 63
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John Bolin was but a small child when brought to Minnesota by his father, and he received his education in the public schools of Alexandria
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township. After leaving school he found employment on neighboring farms, and also worked one year in the electric-light plant at Alexandria. In 1905 he purchased the farm of eighty-six acres on which he lives, in section 2 of Alexandria township, and at once began the work of improving and cul- tivating the place, erecting a new barn and other buildings. There he engaged in general farming and stock raising, in which he enjoys a very commendable degree of success.
In June, 1905, John Bolin was married to Hilda Johnson and to this union five children have been born, Ethel E., Vernal R., Floyd E., Harold H. and John Reuben,
Politically, Mr. Bolin is identified with the Republican party, and takes an active interest in all matters pertaining to the general welfare of his community. He is now serving as a justice of the peace.
PETER FLODEN.
Peter Floden, a well-known and substantial farmer of Lawrence town- ship, Grant county, is a native of the kingdom of Sweden, but has been a resident of the United States since he was twenty years of age and of Grant county since 1889. He was born on a farm in the laen of Kalmar on August 2, 1861, son of Lars and Gergit (Oberg) Johnson, natives of that same sec- tion of Sweden, the former a farmer and life-leaseholder, both of whom spent all their lives in their native land. They were the parents of six chil- dren, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fifth in order of birth, the others being as follow: Kari, who remained in Sweden; John, who came to this country and is now living in the neighboring county of Otter Tail; Sophia, who died in Sweden; Christine, who continues to make her home in her native land, and Otto, who is a citizen of the United States.
Reared on the home farm, Peter Floden received his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood and remained at home, assisting his father in the labors of the farm, until he was twenty years of age, when, in the year 1881, he came to the United States and for a time made his home in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, later going to Michigan and locating in Schoolcraft county, where he remained until 1889, the year of his marriage, when he came to Minnesota and settled in Grant county, where he ever since has made his home. About 1892 Mr. Floden bought a tract of forty acres in section 13 of Lawrence township and there established his home. When he took
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possession of the place it was wild land and he broke the soil, put up all the farm buildings and made all other improvements on the place. As he pros- pered in his affairs, Mr. Floden bought adjoining land until he now has a well-developed farm of one hundred and sixty acres, all in one body. In addition to his general farming he has given considerable attention to the raising of live stock and has done very well. In his political views, on questions of national importance, Mr. Floden is a Republican.
In the year 1889 Peter Floden was united in marriage to Inga Kvilvang. a native of the kingdom of Norway, and to this union five children have been born, namely: Lars, Carrie, Margaret, John and Inga, all of whom are at home. The Flodens are members of the Union Lutheran church and take a warm interest in the various beneficences of the same, as well as in all neighborhood good works.
JULIUS C. OLSON.
Julius C. Olson, a well-known and successful farmer of Lien township, Grant county, was born in Vernon county, Wisconsin. December 23, 1868. the son of Christ and Mary (Moen) Olson, natives of Norway, who some sixty years ago, came to America, and located in Vernon county, Wiscon- sin, where they were married. They later purchased eighty acres of land in that county, to which they added forty acres, and there they engaged in general farming and stock raising for many years, afterward moving to Westby, Wisconsin, where they lived retired. The father died on December 25. 1912, at the age of seventy-three years. The widow is now living at her home in Westby, at the age of seventy-three years. They were the parents of the following children: Ole, Caroline (deceased), Christine (deceased), Julius, Peter, Mat, Samuel, Hannah, Caroline and Christine. The father and mother were active members of the United Lutheran church and took much interest in church work. The father was a Republican and took an active part in local affairs.
Julius C. Olson received his education in the public schools of Vernon county, Wisconsin, and grew to manhood on the home,farm, where as a lad and young man he assisted his father with the farm work. In early life he decided to be a farmer and devoted his energies to that end. In 1901 he came to Minnesota and purchased two hundred acres of land (41a)
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in Lien township, Grant county, to which he has added eighty acres. He has done much in the way of development and improvement, having made extensive repairs on the buildings and set out a large part of the grove. He is engaged in general farming and stock raising and has been quite success- ful. Mr. Olson is identified with the Republican party and has always taken much interest in local affairs. He and his wife are members of the Nor- wegian Lutheran church and are prominent in the social and the religious life of their community.
In 1894 Julius C. Olson was united in marriage to Mary Abrahanson, who was born in Vernon county, Wisconsin, in 1872, daughter of Andrew and Caroline Abrahamson, natives of Norway, who came to the United States and located in Vernon county, Wisconsin, later moving to Waseka county, Minnesota. Some years ago they retired from the activities of life and are now living in Minneapolis. To Mr. and Mrs. Olson have been born two children, Arthur, born on November 17, 1895, and Esther Clarissa, in November, 1898.
THOMAS QUINN.
It would be hard to find a more progressive tiller of the soil in Doug- las county than Thomas Quinn, of Belle River township. He was born in Scott county, Minnesota, February 3. 1857. He is a son of Frank and Bridget Quinn, who were natives of Ireland, where they grew up and mar- ried, later emigrating to America and locating near St. Louis, Wisconsin, on a farm. They later bought land in Scott county, Minnesota, where they spent a short time: then, in 1869, came to Douglas county and took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in Belle River township, which they developed and where they spent the rest of their lives, the father dying on March 23, 1881, at the age of seventy-eight years; his widow surviving until May 15, 1902, she dying at the advanced age of eighty-two. They were parents of the following children: James (deceased), Peter, Thomas, Frank, Edward, Mary, Sabina ( deceased) and Andrew. The elder Frank Quinn was one of the earliest pioneers of Douglas county; was one of the organizers of Belle River township and also assisted in organizing school district No. 41. He donated ten acres to the Catholic church in his town- ship.
Thomas Quinn grew up on the home farm and worked hard when a boy during the crop seasons, attending the pioneer public schools in the winter
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time. On June 24, 1889, he married Josephine Nabower, a daughter of Mathias and Mary ( Shindler ) Nabower, natives of Austria, from which country they came to Minnesota in 1880 and established the future home of the family in Douglas county. To Mr. and Mrs. Quinn eight children have been born. William, Mary, Henry, Frances, James. Alice, Andrew and Ruth. William, the eldest child, married Katherine Hagen and Mary. the second child, married Howard Jund.
In 1900, Thomas Quinn bought his present farm of two hundred and sixty acres, twenty acres of which lies over the line in Todd county. He Iras. made many important improvements and now has one of the choice farms of the township, on which he is carrying on general farming and stock raising successfully. Mr. Quinn has long been more or less active in local public affairs and is a member of the school board of district No. 41. He and his family belong to the Catholic church in Belle River township and take an active interest in the affairs of the same.
AUGUST SCHULZ.
Among the successful farmers of Leaf Valley township, Douglas county, is August Schulz, who is progressive in his ideas of husbandry. He was born on the old Schulz homestead in the above-mentioned locality, on April 25. 1877, a son of Henry and Elvina ( Krause ) Schulz, natives of Germany, who were married in their native land and came to America in 1869, locating in southern Minnesota, coming thence to Douglas county in April, 1870, and entering a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in section 35 of Leaf Valley township, all wild timber land. Henry Schulz built a log hut and began in typical pioneer fashion to carve out a new home. He had little capital and was compelled to carry his provisions many miles on his back. It was some time before he was able to purchase his first ox-team. The first few years, while clearing and improving his place, he hired out to neighbors at intervals to obtain ready cash. His first crop consisted only of a few potatoes, raised with the hoe; he not even having a plow with which to break up the sod. But he persevered and put his farm under good cultivation, built a good group of buildings and later bought eighty acres of school land, which he also cleared and improved. His son, Will, is now living on the latter place. The father's death occurred in 1911. His family consisted of eleven children, named as follow: Charles, Anna, Bertha, Will-
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iam, Tillie, Elricha, Henry, August, Paulina (deceased ), Emma (deceased) and Elvina.
August Schulz remained on the homestead, receiving his education in the public schools in Leaf Valley, and worked for his father, until his mar- riage, when his father signed the home farm over to him. He has made many important improvements on the same, including the erection of a comfortable frame residence. He also has cleared some of the land. In connection with general farming he raises considerable live stock.
In 1904 August Schulz was married to Mary Friedenberg, and to this union two children have been born, Eugene (deceased) and Cora. Mr. Schulz is a Republican and he and his wife belong to the German Lutheran church.
JOHN H. CLARK.
John H. Clark, one of Grant county's best-known and most substantial farmers and stockmen, president of the Delaware & Lien Telephone Com- pany, former chairman of the board of supervisors of Lien township and the proprietor of a fine farm of two hundred and forty-five acres lying in that township and in Delaware township, is a native son of Minnesota and has lived in this state all his life. He was born on a farm in Mower county, this state, February 3, 1862, son of Joseph Perry and Alice (Cun- ningham) Clark, the former a native of Wisconsin and the latter of Ireland.
Joseph Perry Clark was born on a farm near Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he grew to manhood and ahout the year 1860 came to Minnesota and settled on a farm in Mower county. There he married Alice Cunning- ham, who was born in Ireland and whose parents, when she was but a slip of a girl, started for Canada. The mother died on board ship while cross- ing the ocean and not long after arriving in Canada the father went South and never again was heard from by his daughter. After being left thus alone she came to Minnesota and joined an older sister, who was married and living in Mower county. At the time of the Indian outbreak in 1862 Joseph P. Clark enlisted for service in one of the Minnesota regiments and when the uprising was put down went South with his regiment and was captured by the enemy at the battle of Guntown, Mississippi, and taken to Andersonville prison, where he was confined from June to January, suffer- ing such hardships that he was not able to recover and he died at Florence, Tennessee, on his way home, in 1865. His widow presently married Cyrus
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Smith, who died in Mower county in 1886, and in 1899 she took up her residence with her son, the subject of this sketch, in Grant county, where she remained until 1906, when she went to Elbow Lake, where she lived with a daughter for two or three years, at the end of which time she went to Portland, Oregon, where she spent her last days in the home of another daughter, her death occurring there on February 7, 1912, she then being sixty-seven years of age. She was the mother of five children, three by her first husband and two by her second. Of these the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being Joseph, who died in infancy, and Winifred B., who married William Loucks and lives at Portland, Oregon. Laura Smith, the eldest daughter of the second marriage, married Edson Phillips and now lives in California, and Viletta, the second daughter by that marriage, died unmarried in Portland, Oregon.
John H. Clark was but three years old when his soldier father died and he grew to manhood on the farm of his stepfather, receiving his school- ing in the public schools of Mower county. When twenty-two years of age he became engaged in the breeding and training of driving horses and for eight years was thus engaged, during that time producing some excellent trotting horses in the 2:12 class and better, on his well-equipped stock farm in Mower county. He abandoned the race-horse business in 1897, sold his Mower county farm and in 1899 came up into this part of the state and located in Grant county, where he bought a tract of two hundred and forty- five acres in Lien and Sanford townships and there he and his mother estab- lished their home. He put up a new set of farm buildings on the place, erected a new dwelling, and it was not long until he was very pleasantly situated. In the fall of 1905 he married and has ever since made his home there. In addition to his general farming Mr. Clark continues to give con- siderable attention to the raising of high-grade live stock and makes a spe- cialty of Percheron horses and Guernsey cattle .. He is president of the Dela- ware & Lien Telephone Company, is clerk of his school district and for six years served as a member of the township board of supervisors, for five years of that time being chairman of the board. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that organization.
It was in the fall of 1905 that John H. Clark was united in marriage to Rose Marie Smith, who was born in Fillmore county, this state, a daugh- ter of George H. Smith and wife, old settlers there; and to this union five children have been born, Alice Mildred, Kenneth Joseph, Howard John, Richard George and Ralph Russell. The Clarks have a very pleasant home
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and take a proper part in the various social activities of the community in which they live, helpful factors in the promotion of all movements having to do with the advancement of the common welfare thereabout.
CARI, RITZSCHKE.
Carl Ritzschke was born in Germany in 1842 and there received his education in the public school and there grew to manhood, engaged in farm- ing. In 1868 he decided to come to America and after his arrival in the United States, came direct to Wisconsin and located at Oshkosh, where he remained for nine years. In 1877 he came to Minnesota, settled in Grant county and took a homestead in Macsville township. He homesteaded one lumdred and sixty acres, to which he later added another quarter section. The land was for the most part wild prairie and required much labor to bring under cultivation. The farmn was in time developed and improved, modern buildings were erected and a fine grove set out, and today the farm is one of the best developed places in the township. Here Carl Ritzschke engaged in general farming and stock raising and was quite successful. His wife died on February 22, 1911, at the age of fifty-six years. Mr. Ritzschke is still living on the farm. but has retired from the activities of farm work, yet he takes mnuch interest in the management of the place. He has always taken nmuch interest in local affairs and has had much to do with the civic life of the township. For some time he served as treasurer of the township and was for years a member of the board of supervisors.
To Carl Ritzschke and wife were born the following children: Charles, Theodore, Martha, Albert, Clara, Arthur A., Walter Alfred and Edward, the latter of whom died at the age of thirteen years. Mrs. Ritzschke was an active member of the Lutheran church, as is Mr. Ritzschke, and took much interest in church work, both early becoming prominent in the social and the religious life of the community.
Arthur A. Ritzschke received his education in the public schools of Macsville township and grew to mauhood on the old homestead, where he was born on January 9, 1883. Since completing his schooling he has devoted his life to farming, with the exception of four years spent as a rural mail carrier, out of Herman. He bought the old homestead of his father in 1915 and there he is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He has always taken much interest in the local affairs of the township.
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On September 17, 1912, Arthur .\. Ritzschke was married to Bertha (. Jones, who was born in lowa on May 21, 1889, daughter of Charles W. Jones and wife, later of Herman. To this union one child has been born, Charles Kenneth, whose birth occurred on November 6, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. Ritzschke are active members of the Presbyterian church at Herman and are prominent in the social life of the township, are held in the highest regard by all who know them.
Charles W. Jones, father of Mrs. Arthur A. Ritzschke, was born in Floyd county, lowa, on September 9. 1860, the son of Edward and Catherine ( Austin ) Jones, the former born in Canada in 1830 and the latter in Penn- sylvania in 1839. Hugh and Christine Jones, the paternal grandparents of Charles W. Jones, were natives of Canada, who later located in Floyd county. Iowa, where they spent the rest of their lives. When Edward Jones left his home in Canada he first located in Rockford, Illinois, where he remained for some years, after which he returned to Canada. He later came to Minne- sota, where he remained for one year and then removed to Floyd county, Iowa, where he and his wife spent their last days, his death occurring in 1905 and hers in 1908. They were the parents of the following children : Elizabeth, Charles W., Hugh ( deceased ), Albert, Newton, George, Minerva. John, Ernest. Mabel and Frances.
Charles W. Jones received his education in the public schools of Floyd county, Iowa, and there grew to manhood on the home farm. He later engaged in farming for himself and became the owner of one thousand and thirty-six acres of land. In 1901 he came to Minnesota and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 22 of Logan township. Grant countv. He improved the farm with excellent buildings and made that his home until 1913. when he retired to Herman where he now lives. He always took much interest in local affairs and was for some years supervisor of his township. He also had served as a member of the school board in Floyd county, Iowa. He and his family are active members of the Preshy- terian church and have long been prominent in the social life of the com- munity.
On October 4, 1885. Charles W. Jones was united in marriage to Mag- gie Bolan, who was born in Canada on August 9. 1868, daughter of John and Jennie ( Clark ) Bolan, both of whom, were born in Canada and settled in Floyd county, Iowa, about 1876. There John Bolan died in 1888, at the age of forty-five years. His widow died in 1909, at the age of seventy- four years. They were the parents of five children, Maggie. James, George.
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John and Carrie, all of whom are living. To Charles W. and Maggie (Bolan) Jones have been born four children, Walter, Bertha, Pansy and Malcolm.
JENS LEKANDER.
The late Jens Lekander, who for many years was one of the leading farmers of Solem township, Douglas county, was born in Sweden, April 15, 1842. He was a son of Jens Rose, mention of whom is made on another page of this work. He grew up in Norway and attended school there, immi- grating to America in 1868, bringing his wife. They reached McGregor, Iowa, in August of that year. There he and his wife worked for a man who had advanced money to pay their passage to the United States. In the spring of 1869 they came to Minnesota, where Mr. Lekander took up a homestead of eighty-five acres in Solem township. Douglas county, on which land his son, John E. Lekander, now lives. Later he purchased another eighty, and subsequently still another eighty, all in one body, and this land he developed into a splendid farm on which he carried on general farming and stock raising successfully until in January, 1913, when he removed to Nelson county, North Dakota, to make his home with his daughter, Mrs. Anna Nelson, and there his death occurred on May 14, 1913. His widow is still living there. To these parents the following children were born : John, born in 1852, who was drowned while the family was enroute to America from the old country; Carolina, is deceased; John E., who is living on the homestead; Emma and Lewis, deceased; Anna, living ; Mary, deceased. Carolina, Emma, Lewis and Mary all died of diphtheria in the fall of 1881.
John E. Lekander was born on the farm now occupied by his uncle, Lars Rose, in Solem township, Douglas county, August 16, 1869. He grew to manhood on the home farm, and attended the district schools. He has always lived on the homestead, which he now owns, the place consisting of two hundred and forty-five acres, which was brought up to a good state of development by his father : but the son put up the present group of buildings, erecting a new residence in 1909, and remodeled the barn in 1903. He has kept the place well improved in every respect and has been quite successful as a general farmer. He was married in 1895 to Mary Nelson, who was born in Sweden, from which country she came to America in 1887, locating in Nelson county, North Dakota. She is a daughter of Nels and Stena
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(Johnson) Sagfritzson, natives of Sweden, from which country they brought their family to America in 1887.
The following children have been born to John E. Lekander and wife: Mabel, Lillie, Esther and Edwin ( twins), Lewis and Ruth, all of whom are living. Mr. Lekander has served on the local school board, being treasurer of the same for six years. He belongs to the Lutheran church.
GILBERT J. THOMPSON.
A contented and prosperous farmer of Miltona township, Douglas county, is Gilbert J. Thompson, who was born on the place where he now lives, the place his father homesteaded in pioneer days. The date of his birth was January 16, 1874. and he is a son of Tolliff and Inger (Grondvold) Thompson. Ole Grondvold, the maternal grandfather, was born in Nor- way in 1812 and came to Minnesota in 1868, taking up a homestead in the neighborhood of Spring Grove. in Houston county, where he spent the rest of his life. Tolliff Thompson, the father. was a native of Norway, who came to Minnesota in 1867, first settling in Houston county, coming to Douglas county in 1871 and homesteading a tract of land in section 22 of Miltona township. He made several return trips to Norway and induced a number of his countrymen to come to Douglas county. He returned to his native land in 1900 and died in 1902 at Christiania. He and his wife were the parents of six children, namely: Mary, who married E. B. Lanager, who is engaged in the hardware business at Plummer, Minnesota; Herman T .. a barber at Alexandria, who married Amanda Stoffle; Gilbert J., the subject of this sketch; I. T., who married Jane B. Hove; Helen E., who is unmarried, and Lillian O., who married Halver H. Loken, a banker at Thief River Falls. Minnesota. While living in Douglas county, Tolliff Thompson took an active interest in public affairs. He served on the school board of district No. 46 and was township clerk for several years. He belonged to the Norwegian Lutheran church.
Gilbert J. Thompson grew up on the home farm, attending the local public school and a business college at Sauk Center. On November 22, 1915, he married Melvina S. Oberg. He has always followed farming on the homestead, which he purchased in 1894. He owns one hundred and fifty-four acres of the home place, one hundred and twenty acres in sections
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21 and 22, of Miltona township and one hundred and twenty acres in Kan- sas. He is a stockholder in the bank at Carlos, was vice-president of that institution for four years and has been assistant cashier of the same for the past three years. For twelve years he was engaged extensively in buying and shipping live stock and is well known as a stock buyer all over this locality. He is now giving his attention principally to the management of his farm which lies on the eastern bank of Miltona Lake. The Monmouth Club, of about fifty members, has been located there for twenty-eight years. Mr. Thompson has long been active in public affairs and has been assessor of his township for the past eight years, prior to which period he was town- ship clerk for seven years and chairman of the township board for four years.
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