History of Goodhue County, Minnesota, Part 114

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, H.C. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1264

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HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY

moving with his family to LaSalle, Ill., in 1852, came to Belle Creek in 1854 with his father and mother and four brothers, and preempted 160 acres of land, which he cleared and broke. Later he purchased 160 acres more, and now carries on general farm- ing. raising the usual crops and breeding horses and stock. In 1865 he enlisted in the 53rd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and served until the fall of that year under Captain A. A. Wood, holding the position of corporal. For several years previous to this he was captain of the Home Guards. Mr. Doyle was mar- ried. October, 1859, to Sarah E. Gilbert, also a native of Troy, N. Y., daughter of Lyman and Caroline (Gregg) Gilbert, the for- mer of whom was a railroad contractor who helped build one of the first railroads in America, called then the Camden & Amboy. He also had a contract on the Croton aquednet in New York City. They came west in 1850 and to Belle Creek in 1855. taking up a farm of 160 acres, on which they conducted general farming until the father's death in 1876. The mother died two years later. To Mr. and Mrs. Doyle have been born fourteen children : Lillian is the wife of Henry O'Neill of Belle Creek township; HIelen is the wife of Thomas B. Edward. of Idaho; Gilbert W. also lives in Idaho; Carrie L. is the wife of J. E. Ford. of Idaho; Charles is now a farmer, living in Belle Creek township; he was formerly employed as a railway mail clerk on the Northern Pa- cific ; Edmund died in 1884; Henry lives in North Dakota; Jose- phine E. is the wife of J. P. Pearson, of Goodhue; John V. lives in Washington; Vincent C. lives in Idaho; Ambrose A. lives in St. Paul; Frederick R. lives at home: Ebba E. is the wife of Daniel O'Reilly, of Goodhue: Virginia R. is the wife of Jesse Herrick, of Minneapolis. The family faith is that of the Catholic Church.

Walter Doyle and his wife, Johanna, were natives of Ireland. The former came to America in 1829, landing at Montreal, Canada, where he remained three years. He next moved to Troy. N. Y., and engaged in teaming and draying until from there he moved to Montgomery county, and then took his family to LaSalle. III. Ile later came up the river and. July 18, 1854, landed in Red Wing with his wife, five sturdy sons and one daughter, Mary Ann, who died in February, 1874. He at once came to Belle Creek and preëmpted 160 acres of land, upon which he carried on general farming until his death in 1888. His wife died in 1877. Of the five sons of this union, four served in the Civil War and one, Richard, furnished a substitute. Henry M. and John are now dead, Henry Mathias dying in 1893 and the latter being killed by lightning September 6, 1872; Richard died May 13. 1900; Michael and Walter, Jr., are still alive. The part taken by the Doyles in the upbuilding of the township and the names of some

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of the famous men whom they entertained at their home in the early days is related in the general history of Belle Creek which appears in this volume.

Mrs. Julia Bullard Nelson, of Red Wing, edneator, anthor, lec- turer and a prominent worker in the cause of women and tem- perance, has tanght in Texas. Minnesota, Tennessee and Con- nectieut, and lectured in almost every state in the union in the interest of the W. C. T. U. and woman's suffrage. She was born at High Ridge, Conn., May 13, 1842, daughter of Edward and Angeline Raymond Bullard, who came to this country from Eng- land in 1836 and settled in High Ridge, her father later being one of Minnesota's pioneers. She was educated in the public schools of Iowa and in an academy at Denmark, Iowa, later completing her studies at the Ilamline University, when that institution was located at Red Wing. From 1861 to 1866 she was engaged in teaching in Connecticut and Minnesota, being the first woman to hold a first grade certificate in Goodhue county. September 25, 1866, she was married to Ole Nelson, a soldier of the Civil War, who enlisted in Company F. Sixth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry August 1, 1862, and served until June 27, 1865, when he was honorably discharged. He was born in Norway and his parents came to America in 1848, his father having chartered a ship and brought a ship load of emigrants over to settle in the new country. Mr. Nelson died January 9, 1869, and after the death of her husband and child, Mrs. Nelson, who was then achieving note as one of the early advocates of woman's suf- frage, decided to consecrate her life to work among the lowly and downtrodden. She was sent by the American Missionary Association, in 1869, to teach the freedmen in Texas, where she labored until 1873. During the years 1875-77 she tanght a school for colored children at Athens. Tenn., and for the next four years was principal of the Warner Institute at Jonesboro, Tenn. Mrs. Nelson preached from 1883-88 and organized the Congregational Church at Jonesboro during that time, after which she engaged in Prohibition work in eastern Tennessee. From 1889 to 1890 she was the vice president of the Minnesota W. C. T. U., and lec- turer, and from 1890 to 1896 was president of the Minnesota Woman's Suffrage Association and lectured for the National Association of Woman's Suffrage. For four years she edited the "White Ribbon," a W. C. T. U. paper, and during all this time has written both prose and poetry for the press. She lectured on temperanee before there was a union, and led in a debate on the question of woman's suffrage in Red Wing, in Good Templars' hall, in 1869. Mrs. Nelson has financially assisted in ob- taining education for many young people who have sinee attained prominence in educational and religious endeavor. Although now

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retired, she takes an active interest in everything that tends to the betterment of city, county or nation, and her newspaper com- munications, in which she champions the cause of righteousness, a square deal and the working people, have now, as in the past, an important influence on local affairs.

Ralph Waldo Holmes, the talented editor of the Pine Island "Record," has made an excellent reputation for himself during lis period of service at the head of that paper. He combines business with literary ability, and is well suited by nature for the post he occupies. His paper exerts considerable influence on the affairs of the community and his opinions on all questions of the day are listened to with respect. Born in Roscoe town- ship, November 1, 1870. he was educated in the common schools of Big Stone county, later studied for three years at the Upper Iowa University at Fayette, Iowa, completing his education with a year at Hamline University. After finishing his studies he re- turned home and assisted his father on the farm in the summer and taught school in the winter. In 1895 he leased a large farm in Big Stone county, which he conducted for a time. After sell- ing out he moved to Pine Island and in March, 1901, bought the Pine Island "Record, " which he still publishes. Ile has been a member of Company D, Third Regiment M. N. G., since March, 1905, and holds the office of 'sergeant. During his residence in Big Stone county he held the office of constable and was jus- tice of the peace and clerk of the school board at different times, and is now clerk of Pine Island village, having served three years. Fraternally, he affiliates with the I. O. O. F., the M. W. A., U. O. F. and E. F. U. Mr. Holmes has been twice married. Octo- ber 23, 1895, he was married to Emma B. Hartkopf, who died August 20, 1900 leaving him two children, Estelle, born Novem- ber 10, 1896, and Alice, born April 2, 1898. On December 28, 1902, he was again married to Myrta B. Jewell, by whom he has one child, George Henry, born August 29, 1904.

John Henry L. Holmes, father of R. W. Holmes, was the son of John Holmes, a Methodist circuit rider in Ohio, and came to Illinois with the family in the early fifties, settling on a farm in Pine Island in 1857. He served for three years during the war in Company H. Eighth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. The mother, Emmeline E. Holmes, daughter of James Parker, was also born in Ohio, came with her parents to Minnesota in the late fifties, lived on a farm near Pine Island and afterwards moved to the village. The father died in Hopkinsville, Ky., in 1907.

Andrew Ellingson, retired merchant, living at 828 East ave- nue, Red Wing, is one of the men who were instrumental in hav- ing the Red Wing Seminary located in this city. He was born in Norway, January 9, 1840, son of Lasse and Jerrine (Nelson)

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Ellingson, who came to America in 1845 and located in Boone county, Illinois. In that county the family was saddened by the death of the mother, in 1848. The father continued farming on his 160 acres until 1865, when he came to Warsaw township, this county, after which he retired, taking up his residence with his children, from whom he received loving care and attention until his death in South Dakota in 1875. Left motherless as a young lad, Andrew received his early education in the schools of Boone county and farmed with his father until 1857. He came to Good- hue county in 1860 and worked by the day and month until 1864, when he commenced to improve his own farm. He moved to Red Wing in 1867 and his first employment was as clerk for Charles Betcher in the hardware business for about four years. Thomas Wilkenson then became his employer until 1876, when he became interested in a clothing venture with A. G. Henderson, the firm name being Henderson & Ellingson. This company did business on Plumb street until 1899, when the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Ellingson going to the village of Goodhue, where he carried on the elothing business until 1904, the date of his re- tirement from aetive business. Mr. Ellingson was a member of the Red Wing city council for two terms and served as justice of the peace in Warsaw township for one term. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Ellingson was married in 1865 to Margaret Hoyland, of Dane county, Wisconsin, and to this union were born three children. Louis Martin, the only one who survives, was born March 25, 1866. Ile has taken to himself a wife and makes his home in this city. Josephine, born at Warsaw, this county, in 1867 died in 1885. Henry Philip, born at Warsaw, died in 1871. Mrs. Margaret Ellingson died October 23. 1873. Mr. Ellingson was then married, May 23, 1876, to Signe M. Lindas, daughter of Hans and Carrie Lindas, of Marshall. Dane county, Wisconsin. Six children have brightened this union. Carrie was born in 1877 and died in 1878; Amanda, born in September, 1879, married the Rev. O. A. Anderson, of Dell Rapids, South Dakota. Clarence H., born in May, 1880, is a Chicago dentist. Lydia B. was born in 1881 and died in Decem- ber, 1908. Arthur M. was born in 1883 and died September 17. 1893. Evelyn E. was born in 1895. Mrs. Signe Ellingson died January 20, 1904. The family faith is that of the Norwegian Lutheran Church. Andrew Ellingson has two brothers and two sisters : Elem is married and lives in Capron, Boone county. Illinois; Nels is also married, and lives on a farm in Warsaw township, this county. Mrs. Sjure Holman lives at Deerfield. Dane county, Wisconsin, and Mrs. C. O. Peterson lives in Cam- rose, Alberta, Canada.

Joseph A. Thacher, of Zumbrota, the "farmer statesman" of

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Goodhue county, was a central figure around whom the rural population of the county were wont to rally. He had many of the characteristics of the New England puritan, but a long resi- dence in the West had modified their asperities. He had well de- fined views upon all public questions, and did not lack ability or inclination to vindicate his opinions when occasions offered for their expression. He served in the legislature of the state, and would doubtless have represented his district in Congress but for his rigid views of political ethics, which restrained him from adopting the methods in vogue and practiced by aspiring poli- ticians in his time. He early realized the substantial character of the resources and capabilities of the new country in which he had made his home, and hence had unlimited confidence in the possibilities of its future. He did much to advance the material interests of his immediate locality. and is gratefully remembered as one of the founders of that delightful community, cosily nestled in the charming valley of the Zumbro.

Martin Spencer Chandler, now deceased, many years sheriff of Goodhne county, and a man of prominence in the state, was born at Jamestown, Chautauqua county, New York, Feb. 14, 1824, son of Woodley W. and Phebe Winson Chandler. both of New England ancestry. The maternal great-grandfather of Mar- tin S. Chandler was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and his grandfather on the same side was in the War of 1812. The father was a woolen manufacturer and an extensive farmer, be- ing one of the leading men of Chantanqua county for many years. An unele, Spencer Chandler, from whom Martin S. was named, was city marshal of Nashville, Tennessee, for twenty- three years, and when the Civil War broke out was one of the few men in that city who stood nobly by the old flag. Martin was educated at the Jamestown and Fredonia academies. and learned the tanner and currier's trade. but preferred farming, which he followed in his native town until the fifties. when he came to Goodhne county and opened a farm in Pine Island. Dur -. ing the first year he was in the state he was elected one of the three county commissioners, serving until 1858; in the autumn of which year he was elected sheriff. taking office Jan. 1, 1859, in which position he served for nearly three decades. He was a stanch Republican and from the earliest days of the county was a leader in the party councils. He was a presidential elector in 1872 and was elected messenger to carry the vote of the state to Washington, but declined in favor of Wilford L. Wilson, of St. Paul. Mr. Chandler was several times urged to become a candidate for Congress and other honors were offered him. but many of these he declined. He served the state two terms as United States Surveyor General for Minnesota and in 1888 was

MARTIN S. CHANDLER

MIMIC HIRLARY

. , UN LINUX AND TILDEN POUNDATTOR"

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delegate at large to the Republican National Convention. Mr. Chandler was a fine type of pioneer, stanch of eharaeter, un- swerving of principal, and at the same time a man of the people, well liked and highly respected. He was married, on February 14, 1849, to Fannie F. Caldwell, of Jamestown, New York. To this union were born three children. Two died in infancy, and Florence C. became the wife of Ira S. Kellogg. Mr. Chandler died February 24, 1893, and his death was mourned as a loss not only to his family and friends but also to the county he had served so well, and whose peace and law he had assisted in establishing.

Prof. H. B. Wilson was born in Hingham, Somerset county, Maine. March 30, 1821. Ile came from that splendid English stock which at the very outset of the colonization of America es- tablished those principles of liberty and freedom of action which are today the priceless heritage of America. He traced his line- age back to the Mayflower. His parents were natives of Maine. Ile received his education in the district school and afterward attended the Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill, at that time one of the strongest academies of learning in New England. He con- tinued his studies four years in this institution, paying his own way by teaching and during the vacations doing other work. Shortly after he was twenty years of age, in 1841, he graduated from this institution. Born with that Anglo-Saxon spirit of wanderlust, which has back of it the personal desire to make the most of one's self and therefore seeks the newer country where man ean be a larger factor in the development that goes on about him, he went to the new West and at Cineinnati, began teaching. From here he went to Lawrenceburg, Ind., and took charge of Dearborn County Seminary, remaining two years, during which time he studied law and was admitted to the bar, although he never practiced his profession. In 1844 he removed to New Albany, Ind., and organized the first graded public school system in that city. He continued to teach and superintend sehools until 1850, and in 1858 came to Red Wing and took up the duties of professor in mathematics and civil engineering at Hamline Uni- versity, which was then at Red Wing. In July, 1858, the Asbury University of Indiana conferred upon him, unsolicited, the hon- orary degree of Master of Arts. In June, 1862, he enlisted in Company F, Sixth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and served until he was mustered out in the fall of 1865. He was captain of Company F, and took part with General Sibley in the eam- paign against the Sioux, following the terrible massacre at Wood Lake, Camp Release, witnessed the hanging of the thirty-nine Indians at Mankato and took part in the long march to the Mis- souri river in 1863. At the battle of Wood Lake he received a

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severe wound in the shoulder, from which he never fully recov- ered. After the Indian campaign had closed, in the spring of 1864, he was sent with his regiment to Helena, Ark., and after- ward transferred to the Sixth Minnesota, and attached to the Sixteenth Army Corps, and participated in the siege of Spanish and Blakely forts and the capture of Mobile. After the war he returned to Red Wing, where he made his home until his death. He was elected superintendent of schools for Goodhue county in 1866 and continued to serve until in 1870 when he became State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He was a member of the city council and served one term in the state legislature in 1877. He was an ardent Republican, allying himself with that party at its inception and voting for Freemont and every subsequent can- didate of the party. Ile was a member of the Masonie order, and the G. A. R. Professor Wilson was married in 1844 to Mary Jane Chandler, of Lawrenceburg, Ind., who died February 2, 1888. in Red Wing. The children by this marriage are: Hon. Frank M. Wilson, and Alice. wife of Hiram Howe, of Red Wing : Oliver and Mattie. of Minneapolis. In 1892 he married Flora M. Sar- gent, of Denver, Colo., who is still living. Professor Wilson also had one brother, Ovid T., to whom he was much attached and who resides in Cincinnati. Professor Wilson died JJanuary 31. 1908.

Carl F. Hjermstad, Red Wing banker, was born in Norway, May 4. 1865. son of Lars II. and Beathe N. ( Elstad) Hjermstad. He was educated in the private and high schools of his native place and at the age of fifteen years became clerk and afterward manager of a general store, remaining from 1880 to 1884. during which latter year he came to the United States and settled in Red Wing. being employed as bookkeeper for T. K. Simmons & Son from 1884 to 1888. In 1888 he entered the Bank of Pierce, Simmons & Co., and remained until 1897. when he became man- ager of what was then the Red Wing Gas and Electric Co. In 1899 he became cashier of the Goodhue County National Bank and on June 1, 1906, was promoted to his present position of vice president and manager. Among the offices which Mr. Hjermstad holds, aside from his position in the Goodhue County National Bank, are the following: Director. vice president and manager of the Goodhue County Savings Bank; director, president and treasurer of the Goodhue County Abstract Co .; director and treas- urer of the Red Wing Linseed Co .; director and treasurer of the Red Wing Brick Co .: director, secretary and treasurer of the Red Wing Boat Manufacturing Co .; trustee, treasurer and chair- man of the building committee of the Red Wing Lutheran Ladies' Seminary; trustee, secretary, treasurer and manager of the Red Wing Old People's Home ; director, treasurer and member of the board of managers of the Minnesota Scandinavian Relief Asso-

PUBLIC LIBRARY

THEX AND

ADOLPH REMMLER

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ciation ; chairman and treasurer of the legacy committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of America; trustee of Trinity Lutheran Church; trustee, treasurer and member of the building committee of the city cemeteries ; chairman of the executive com- mittee of the Civie League; member of the board of regents of the Red Wing Automobile Association ; member of the executive com- mittee of the Minnesota State Abstract Co .; vice president and director of the Red Wing Cigar Manufacturing Co. and director of the Commercial Club. Mr. Hjermstad was married in January, 1889, to Sigrid Ness, by whom he has seven children: Nora C., born in 1892; Sigurd L., born in 1896; Solveig M., born in 1898; Carl F., Jr., born in 1900; Borghild S., born in 1903; Otto C. T., born in 1905 and Lars B., born in 1909.

Adolph Remmler was one of those sturdy and substantial Ger- man pioneers whose sound common sense made his advice highly esteemed by all who knew him, and whose good fellowship en- deared him to seores of faithful friends. He was born May 28. 1838, in Baden, Weiler, Schwartzwald, Germany, son of Landolin and Mary (Kramer) Remmler; received his education in Baden, and came to St. Louis, Mo., when a young man, obtaining a po- sition in a wholesale house, where he remained from 1854 to 1858, when he became a traveling salesman for the same firm. He enlisted in Company A, Third Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and served until the elose of the war, afterward resuming his former employment. He was married April 18, 1867, to Helena Len- shaner, who died October 20, 1871, aged thirty-seven years, one month and ten days, leaving one son. Otto, born February 10, 1869. In the middle seventies, Adolph Remmler came to Red Wing and January 15, 1877, married Mrs. Christine Heising. Mr. Remmler, ably assisted by his wife, took charge of the Heising · Brewery, changed its name, and made many improvements, alter- ations and additions. He served as alderman of the eity and in other ways participated in many public movements for the benefit of the community, the interests of which he had deeply at heart. He belonged to the I. O. O. F. and the B. P. O. E. His death, October 29, 1908, at the age of seventy years, five months and one day, was sincerely mourned by a wide circle of friends. Mrs. Christine Remmler was born in Ritberg, Prussia, May 5, 1835, daughter of Christoph Batsher and his wife, Agnes Von Horst, her maiden name being Christine Batsher. She came to this country at the age of seventeen and one year later married Will- iam Heising. at Cincinnati. To this union were born three chil- dren : Mrs. Frank M. Wilson, of Red Wing; Mrs. Henri De Witt, of Red Wing, and Dr. Albert Heising, of Menominee, Wis. After living in Cincinnati for a short time, Mr. and Mrs. Heising moved to Rochester, Minn., and shortly before the Civil War came to

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Red Wing. Here they purchased the old Minnesota Honse from John Friedrich, and remodeled the hotel into a brewery. After Mr. Heising's death, December 12, 1874, at the age of fifty-four years, his widow conducted the place for several years, showing shrewd business ability. January 15. 1877, she was married to A. Remmler. Otto Remmler. son of A. Remmler, and now man- ager of the brewery. was born February 10. 1869. and on May 27, 1891, married Rosie Bremer, born May 27. 1873. by whom he has one daughter. Elsie, born November 23, 1892.

Benjamin Briggs Herbert was born May 3. 1843. on a farm near Cuba. Fulton county. Ill. With his parents, he moved to Henry county. Jowa, and from there, in 1856. to Minnesota. He was educated at Hamline University, completing the classical course in 1865. While attending school. he still lived upon a farm two and one-half miles from Red Wing, and walked that distance every morning and night and never missed a class. At the age of sixteen years, he joined the M. E. Church at Red Wing. For a year after graduation he was principal of the Rochester Sem- inary (M. E.) at Rochester. Minn .: then he entered the law de- partment of Michigan University. He was admitted to the bar in 1868 at Red Wing, and practiced law there for five years.

In 1871 Mr. Herbert was married at Red Wing to Mary E. Sweney of that city. She was enrolled as a student in Hamline University on the first day of the opening of that institution at Red Wing.

In 1873 he organized the first Red Wing Flour Mills and be- came the first secretary ; in the fall of the same year he entered the newspaper business. He organized the Red Wing Printing Company in 1877. and was president of the company until 1890, and editor of the papers published thereby until 1888. For five years he remained secretary of the Red Wing Building and Loan Association, which he organized in 1877. With the clay in a horse pail he solicited $25.000 with $10.000 cash paid in in ten days to start the Red Wing Pottery.

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History of Goodhue County, Minnesota, Part 114

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago, H.C. Cooper Number of Pages: 1264

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, H.C. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1264