USA > Minnesota > Houston County > History of Houston County, Minnesota > Part 53
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John J. Moe, who came to Houston county over thirty years ago has has since established himself as one of the prosperous and well to do farmers of Jefferson township, was born in Tronjem, Normay, Aug. 22, 1865, son of John and Christine Moe. Up to the age of 22 years he resided in his native land working for a bare living; but being an ambitious young man, home prospects did not satisfy him, and he resolved to seek a field of larger oppor- tunity in the great American republic. Some of his acquaintances had already emigrated to Houston county, Minnesota, and from them he had learned of the opportunities for obtaining cheap land, as well as of the wide- spread demand for labor. Accordingly in 1887 he said good bye to his friends and relatives in Norway and came alone to the United States, arriv- ing in Houston county in October. The expenses of the journey had ex- hausted his funds, and buying land was for the present out of the question, but employment was easy to obtain and he became a wage earner, living economically and saving his money with an eye to the future. During the winters of 1887, 1888 and 1889 he worked in the Wisconsin pineries as a sawyer, and the summers of 1888 and 1889 in the lumber mills of La Crosse. In the fall of 1889 he went to Washington territory, where he was connected with the lumber business for three years, working in the woods during the winters and in the mills in summer. In the spring of 1893 he returned to Houston county, Minnesota, and being by this time much better off finan- cially than when he had arrived in Houston county, a green Norwegian immigrant, he made preparations for embarking on the last stage of the road to progress by taking a wife, being united in marriage July 5, 1893, to Mary, daughter of Andreas and Berit Anderson of Jefferson township. In the same year he bought 200 acres of land in section 19, Jefferson town- ship, a small part of which tract was cleared, and it being also provided with an old log house of two rooms, and a barn. Though the improvements were so scanty, the land was good and only needed developing, a task to which Mr. Moe applied himself with vigor. His work in the woods and mills had strengthened his body and hardened his muscles, giving him just the sort of capital he needed with which to achieve success, but pioneer farming is no child's play, and many a night when he went to rest he felt as tired as though he had done a hard day's work in the woods. But gradually con- ditions improved and the work became less arduous. He and his wife occu- pied the original house for the first fall and winter only, after which he built a more comfortable log house, to which they transferred their home,
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and in which they resided up to 1907, when the erection of a two story modern frame house of nine rooms marked a still further advance in mate- rial circumstances, emphasized by the other substantial buildings which Mr. Moe has erected from time to time. These include a good frame barn, 32 by 84 by 18 feet in dimensions; a granary, 26 by 40 by 10 feet; machine shed, 20 by 40 by 10; hog house 20 by 40, with corn cribs and other out- buildings indispensable to a good modern farm. Mr. Moe has also increased the amount of his land by the purchase of 120 additional acres, and now has 150 acres under cultivation, the rest consisting of pasture and timber land. He has an adequate supply of tools, machinery and stock, his cattle and hogs being graded animals, and his farm, which is six miles north of New Albin, is productive and profitable. He also derives profit as a shareholder in the Co-operative Creamery, Co-operative Stock and Grain Co. and Co-operative Mercantile Co. of New Albin, and is a ready supporter of all commendable local enterprises. In politics he is a Republican, while his religious affilia- tions and those of his family are with the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran church. Mr. and Mrs. Moe are the parents of seven children, born as follows : Elmer, Sept. 15, 1894; Cecelia, Oct. 9, 1896; Elmer, Jan. 8, 1899; Walter, Nov. 13, 1901; Carl, Oct. 18, 1903; Mabel, Feb. 18, 1906, and Ida, May 7, 1908. It is interesting to note that in 1914, Mr. Moe made a three months' trip to Norway to visit his aged mother. He made the trip by way of Washington, D. C., visited England and France, and sailed through the English Channel and the North Sea to Christiania.
William Sandrock, who is extensively engaged in the nursery and fruit raising business in Money Creek township, is one of the leading pioneers in this industry in Houston county, having been engaged in it for some forty years. He was born in Saxe-Weimer, Germany, May 25, 1851, son of John and Bertha Erb, who were natives of the same German state, the father born in 1824, and the mother on May 2, 1828. The father, who was a jeweler by trade, died when the subject of this sketch was a young boy, and the mother in 1853 came to the United States, settling in Milwaukee, where she married a Mr. Salzer, by whom she had five children. Her son William was adopted by a family named Sandrock, and has since retained that surname. He attended school for 18 months in Germany, and later for some time in Milwaukee and in Columbia county, Wisconsin. At the early age of ten years he had to contribute to his own support and began industrial life in a paint shop in Milwaukee. Subsequently he followed other occupations, working in a tobacco warehouse and also in a drug store, where he was employed when the Civil War broke out. Toward the latter part of the war he tried to enlist but was refused on account of his youth, he being then only in his fourteenth year. He succeeded, however, in securing a job as sutler's assistant in a soldier's camp, and thus his craving for military ex- citement was partially satisfied. After that, for about seven years, he worked for a Mr. Hawkins at Wyocenia, Wis., then worked land on shares for one year, and finally, in 1873, came to Money Creek township, Houston county, taking the land that constitutes his present farm. It was then wild and covered with woods, and for the first year Mr. Sandrock, who was then married, resided with his brother-in-law. At the end of that time he
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MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM SANDROCK AND RESIDENCE
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built a house for himself, which was the first of his many improvements. In 1875 he engaged in the fruit raising business, in which he has since con- tinued. In 1880 he added the nursery business to the interests and has developed that also to considerable proportions, making a specialty of ever- greens and flowers. Among his trees are the Norway spruce, Colorado spruce, Douglas fir, balsam fir, Norway pine, Scotch pine, white pine, jack pine, Mocha pine, Austrian pine, American arborvitae, white spruce, tama- rack, and the cottonless cottonwood. In his orchard he has seventy species of apple trees and eleven of crab apples, and he also uses a small apple tree for shrubbery. Some of his cottonwood trees have attained a growth of eleven feet in one year. His estate, containing 123 acres, is known as Vine- gar Hill Nursery, that name having been bestowed on the hill by Mr. Sand- rock himself. He is a member of the State Horticultural Society, and keeps well informed as to all improvements and discoveries in his line of business. He is also a man of broad reading along many other lines and is a mem- ber of the National Geographical Society. A Republican in politics, he has served a number of years on the school board, of which he is now the clerk, but has declined other offices. Mr. Sandrock was married Dec. 5, 1871, to Emma Hawkins, who was born at Wyocena, Columbia county, Wisconsin, daughter of Henry and Louise (Spaulding) Hawkins, her father being a native of New York State and her mother of Vermont. Of this union five children have been born: Bertha, wife of E. Kingsley; May Frances, widow of Mel Foster, and residing at St. Charles, Minn .; Arletta, wife of Max Splittstoesser, farmer of St. Charles; Louis, who died in 1906 at the age of 26 years; and Emma, wife of Charles Houtz, residing in Wine- sap, the State of Washington. Mrs. Emma (Hawkins) Sandrock, died April 25, 1892, and for the past 22 years Mr. Sandrock's sister, Emma Salzer, has been his home keeper.
William F. A. Neumann, who is prosperously engaged in general farm- ing and stock raising in Jefferson township, residing in section 10, was born in Crooked Creek township, Houston County, Minnesota, Aug. 12, 1883, son of William F. F. and Margaret (Hanke) Neumann. His parents settled in Crooked Creek township in 1873, buying wild land in sections 3 and 34, where they subsequently developed a farm, and later they bought a con- siderable quantity of other land, most of which the elder Neumann has since divided among his children. He is still a resident of Crooked Creek township, but his wife is deceased, having passed away in 1913. William F. A. Neumann, who was the first born in a famliy of eight children, ac- quired his education in the district school and was early trained to agri- cultural work in various branches. He remained on the home farm until 1905, and then went to Dickey county, North Dakota, where he owned 160 acres of land, of which he broke 50 acres, also building a house and barn. In 1912 he sold out his farm there and returned to Houston county, Minne- sota. again taking up his residence on his parents' farm. In 1917 Mr. Neu- mann came to his present farm in sections 10 and 11, Jefferson township- a farm of 240 acres, of which he is the owner, 120 acres of it lying in sec- tion 10, in which also his house, a good frame building, and a new frame barn, are located. The farm is located six miles northwest of New Albin,
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Iowa, and is a desirable piece of agricultural property on which Mr. Neu- mann has already made a good start as an independent farmer, having an adequate equipment of teams, tools and machinery. Eighty acres of the land are already under the plow. Mr. Neuman is a member of the Crooked Creek congregation of the German Evangelical church. In politics he is a Republican. Young, ambitious and energetic, he has excellent prospects for the future and is a respected citizen of the community in which he resides.
William F. F. Neumann, a resident of section 34, Crooked Creek town- ship, where he is living on the farm established by his parents 45 years ago, and on which he has spent most of his life, was born in Pommern, Germany, April 17, 1855. He attended school in his native land and in 1871 accom- panied his parents to the United States and to Brownsville, Houston county, Minnesota, where the family resided for two years. In 1873 they bought 160 acres of land in sections 3 and 34, Crooked Creek township, a wild and very rough tract, of which they developed a part, also building thereon a two-story stone house, with good barns and other farm structures. There the mother of the subject of this sketch died in 1886, being followed to the grave four years later by her husband. They had four children, two sons and two daughters, the latter being now deceased. The other son, August, now resides next to the old home farm in Crooked Creek township. William F. F. Neumann has remained on the home farm since taking up his residence on it in boyhood, and on his father's death in 1890 he became its owner. Sturdy and strong, during his active career he was a hard worker and grubbed many an acre of land, besides doing much harvesting by hand. He did general farming, but gave his particular attention to stock raising, breeding from 100 to 150 head of cattle annually. He owned good teams and equipment and was successful in the line of business he undertook. The surface of his original homestead farm is of a hilly character, but he also accumulated a considerable amount of other land, including a farm of 720 acres, some timber land in Jefferson and Crooked Creek townships, and about 1,000 acres of Mississippi bottom land. These holdings he has divided among his children, retaining his residence on the old home farm. He is a prominent member of the Crooked Creek congregation of the German Evan- gelical church, and in politics is a Republican. Mr. Neumann was married Oct. 4, 1882, to Margarita, daughter of Julius and Katherine Hanke of Brownsville. She died in April, 1913, after undergoing an operation at Rochester, Minn. To Mr. and Mrs. Neumann were born eight children : William F. A., now a prosperous farmer residing in section 10, Jefferson township; Katy, deceased; Ferdinand, a farmer living in Crooked Creek township; Clara, now Mrs. Benjamin Pohlman of Jefferson township; Julius residing on the home farm; Henry, of Jefferson township; Anna, wife of George Colsch; and Rosa, now Mrs. Joseph Fink of Crooked Creek township.
Levi W. Corey, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits on a farm of 340 acres in sections 6 and 7, Money Creek township, was born in Wiscoy township, Winona county, Minn., Feb. 6, 1869, son of Gilbert M. and Esther (Todd) Carey. He was the second child in a family of seven and was edu-
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cated in district schools in Winona county. His parents being farmers, he was trained to agriculture from his youth, and until his marriage worked at intervals for his father and for other farmers, sometimes being away from home. For six years after his marriage he farmed for himself in Winona county. He then went to Emmons county, North Dakota, where he bought a farm, which he held for four years, though at the time residing in Wiscoy township, Winona county. At the end of that period he located on a farm in Money Creek township, Houston county, where he was profitably engaged in general dairy and stock farming until 1918, when he moved to a fine farm of 340 acres in sections 6 and 7, in the same township. He is a stock- holder in the Money Creek Creamery and the Houston Elevator. A Re- publican in politics, he is now serving his tenth year as treasurer of school district No. 7.
Mr. Corey was married January 6, 1897, to Tena Olson, who was born in Mound Prairie township, daughter of Peter and Hannah Olson. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Corey, namely : Gilbert (deceased), Myrtle, James A., Neal, and Robert E.
Gilbert M. Corey, father of Levi W., was born in Vermont, near the city of Montpelier, Aug. 9, 1839. His wife, Mrs. Esther Todd Corey, was a native of New York State, born in October, 1843. Emigrating to Minnesota previous to the Civil War, when that great struggle broke out, he entered the service as a private in Company D, Seventh Minnesota regiment, and was a soldier for nearly four years. On being honorably discharged he returned to Minnesota and located in Wiscoy township, Winona county, where he bought land and engaged in farming, spending many years in the improvement of his property. In 1907 or 1908 he moved from his farm to the city of Winona, where he is now living retired. During his active career he held various town and school offices and also served as represen- tative from his district in the State Legislature. He was also for many years overseer of the C. A. Butler lands. Peter and Hannah Olson, the parents of Mrs. Lee W. Corey, were born in Norway, but were married in this country. Peter Olson served in the Civil War in a Minnesota regiment, and subsequently became a land owner and farmer in Mound Prairie town- ship, Houston county. He died on his farm in December, 1915. His wife now resides with a daughter, Mrs. Henry Hanson, of Houston township.
Carl J. Weier, proprietor of the Freeburg Silver Star Creamery, was born in Germany, Dec. 12, 1880, son of Frederick and Emily (Hempt) Weier. He was educated in his native land, attending high school until reaching the age of 19 years, after which he entered a dairy school, where he learned butter making. He then engaged in the creamery business, which he followed in Germany until he came to the United States in 1904, being the only member of his family to come to this country. Locating at Freeburg, this county, he here found a run-down butter-making plant, which he purchased. It was practically dead property, but he succeeded in reviv- ing it, and has since built up the business to a production of 145,000 pounds of butter, and 7,000 gallons of ice cream. The old plant being destroyed by fire, he erected a new building, installed with a 15-horsepower engine and complete modern machinery both for butter making and ice cream freezing.
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His record has been in the highest degree creditable, and shows what can be accomplished by special training united with industry and determina- tion. He was obliged to adapt himself to new conditions, learn a strange language, and begin his operations with rusty and worn-out machinery ; yet the first year he turned out 100,000 pounds of butter, and instead of the 24 or 25 patrons with which he began he now has 175 or more. Mr. Weier married Emma Heitman, daughter of John Heitman, a pioneer of Houston county. He and his wife have three children, Arthur, Arnold and Ervin.
Henry A. Holmes, who owns and operates a small but choice farm of 115 acres adjoining the village of Clinton in Money Creek township, and also has other landed property, was born near Guttenberg, Sweden, Dec. 21, 1858, son of Andrew A. and Hannah (Orup) Holmes, who were natives of the same locality. The father came first to Houston county, Minnesota, and settled at Houston, lower town, being followed by his family eighteen months later. He worked out for others, having intentions of finally establishing himself on the land, but about a year or a year and a half after the arrival of his family, he and his wife and one of their younger sons died of typhoid fever. Henry A., who was eleven years old, or thereabouts, when he came to this country, had attended school for a while in Sweden, and after arriving in this county his education was continued for a while in the school on Swede Bottom, where he acquired his first knowledge of English. When about fourteen or fifteen years old he began working out and continued to be thus engaged until his marriage in 1885. After that event he was employed on the railroad at Winona for a few months, and then engaged in farming in Houston township, where he resided for a number of years. At last, selling his farm there, he purchased the one he is now operating, on which he has made practically all the improvements now standing, as he has remodeled the old buildings and made additions to them, and has a full and complete equipment. He is a stockholder in the Money Creek Creamery, and also owns city property in Houston, and a farm in Saskatchewan, Canada. Independent in politics, he served as school director for a number of years. His religious affiliations are with the Baptist church. Mr. Holmes was first married in 1885 to Ida Benson, who was born in Houston township, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Benson, who were early settlers in that township. Mrs. Ida Holmes died in 1898, leaving no children. In the fall of 1899 Mr. Holmes married Charlotte J. Benson, a cousin of his first wife, and daughter of Benjamin and Christine (Nelson) Benson, prominent residents of Sheldon township. Mr. and Mrs. Holmes have one child, Oliver W., who was born Feb. 4, 1902, graduated from the Houston high school in the class of 1918, and is now a student at Carleton College, Northfield, Minn.
Paul Peter Noel, proprietor of a blacksmith and woodworking shop in Freeburg, Crooked Creek township, was born seven miles below Dubuque, Iowa, Feb. 4, 1854, son of Anton and Mary (Hilkin) Noel. He was a boy of about thirteen years when he accompanied his parents to Crooked Creek township, Houston county, they taking land on the site of Freeburg. He finished his schooling in the neighborhood and was occupied with farm work on the homestead until reaching the age of twenty, at which time he began
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to learn the blacksmith's trade in the village of Freeburg. Here in time he built a shop and started in for himself. He has continued in the business up to the present time, having won a good reputation as a reliable black- smith, and also as a woodworker, for which he has all the necessary ma- chinery. His religious affiliations are with the Catholic church. Mr. Noel was married May 27, 1876, in St. Nicholas church, Freeburg, to Mary A. Jyohe, who was born in Shullsburg, Lafayette county, Wisconsin, Sept. 17, 1856, daughter of Lawrence and Sophia (Siley) Jyohe. Mr. and Mrs. Noel have been the parents of eleven children, whose record in brief is as fol- lows: Matilda, born March 3, 1880, who died at the age of five months and six days ; Joseph, born March 19, 1881, and now a resident of San Francisco; Anna, born June 24, 1883, who is the wife of Ed. Haslon of San Francisco; John, born Sept. 17, 1885, now a resident of Genoa, Wis .; Clara E., born May 10, 1888, who is the wife of H. Hoover of San Francisco; George, born July 28, 1890, who is residing at home; Dora, born Dec. 11, 1892, who is the wife of James Bond of San Francisco; Bernard, born July 21, 1895, and now serving in the United States navy; Frank, born April 1, 1897, who lives in St. Paul; Marie, born Feb. 17, 1900, who is now Mrs. Bert Harm of La Crosse; and Blanche, born Sept. 12, 1902, who is residing at home.
Lawrence Jyohe, an early settler in Houston county, was born in Vier, Germany, and when a young man emigrated to the United States, taking passage in a sailing vessel. During the sixty days he spent on the ocean he made the acquaintance of Sophia Siley, a native of Wurtemburg, and to whom he was married in New York. There he remained for five years working at the trade of woodworker and carver, and then, perhaps following Horace Greeley's advice, he came west, and settled on a farm in Lafayette county, Wisconsin. After twelve years spent in that locality, he came with his family to Houston county, securing a tract of land three miles from Freeburg, and taking possession of a log house which stood on the place. In Wisconsin he had used oxen for his farm work, but after locating in Houston county he made use of horses. He was one of the school officials of his district, and also served for some time as chairman of the town board. After an active and industrious career, he died here at the age of sixty-three years, and his wife at that of eighty-four. They had nine children, Frank, Lawrence, Louis, Stephen, Sophia, Mary, Lizzie, Anna and Clara. The re- ligious affiliations of the family were with the Catholic church.
George G. Miller, formerly proprietor of a fine farm of 320 acres in Money Creek township, who was also a veteran of the Civil War, in which he performed the part of a brave soldier, was born in the State of Pennsyl- vania, in December, 1848. He was quite young when death deprived him of his father, and a few years after his mother also died, leaving him and another child the surviving members of the family. He was reared in the family of a Mr. Crandall, and for a while was sent to the district school, where he obtained his education. At the age of eighteen years he enlisted in a Pennsylvania regiment for service in the Civil War and served four years, or until its close. Being wounded at the battle of Bull Run, he was confined for a short time to the hospital and then given a furlough, spending the time allowed him at home. He then returned to the army and served
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out his period of enlistment. At the close of the war he returned to Penn- sylvania, from which State he later accompanied Mr. Crandall to Houston county, Minnesota. Here he found employment working for others, but at the end of two years rented land and began farming. For a number of years he operated rented land, and then bought a farm in Money Creek Valley, which he improved by the erection of buildings and in other ways, and expanded to an area of 320 acres. After a successful career as a gen- eral farmer, he retired and took up his residence in the village of Money Creek, where his death occurred Sept. 25, 1909. He was one of the first stockholders in the Houston Creamery and was recognized as one of the township's enterprising and successful men, and as a reliable and useful citizen. In politics he was a Republican, but confined his political activities to casting his vote. He was a member of the G. A. R. post at Money Creek. Mr. Miller was married in January, 1861, to Melissa Jane Vance, who was born in the State of Vermont, May 22, 1853, daughter of William and Mary Elizabeth (Ricker) Vance. Her parents were among the pioneer settlers of Houston county, arriving here in the early fifties and locating on a farm near Money Creek village. After a number of years they retired and moved to La Crosse, but later returned to Money Creek village, where a few years later Mr. Vance died. His wife died about the year 1898. They had five children, of whom their daughter, Melissa Jane, was the second in order of birth. She was educated in Money Creek township.
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