History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 73

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1919
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1343

USA > Minnesota > Houston County > History of Houston County, Minnesota > Part 73

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Charles Wheaton, a pioneer settler in Caledonia township, long since passed away, was a native of New York State, where he was reared and married, and before coming west owned and operated a farm in Carroll township, Chautauqua county, and also for some years was engaged in

Digitized by Google

540

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

mercantile business in that county. In 1856 he turned his attention to set- tlement in the northwest. A friend of his, named Enos Smith, who was a lumberman, had bought a tract of 280 acres in Caledonia township, Hous- ton county, Minnesota, lying in section 26, on which was a log house with bark roof. Seven acres of the land had been broken. A payment of $500 had to be made on the farm, and Mr. Smith told Mr. Wheaton that if he would settle on the place and make the $500 payment he would join him there later and repay him the money, and in the meanwhile he could work the land for his own benefit. Having agreed to this proposition, Mr. Wheaton sold out his interests in New York State and set out with his wife Jane and their four living children, Eliza Jane, Mary L., Sally Ann and Charles J., for Minnesota. Proceeding by rail to Davenport, Iowa, then taking boat from that place to Brownsville, the most convenient town on the Mississippi River, they continued on their journey until they reached the farm. They found it all prairie land, except that here and there was a small grove. Having a span of horses, Mr. Wheaton began work on the place. Some time afterward Mr. Smith arrived and told Mr. Wheaton that, having met with financial losses, he could not repay him the $500 the latter had paid on the property, but instead would turn over the farm to him. Mr. Wheaton, seeing no other way of getting his money back, accepted the offer, and from that time, though not a strong man, worked energetically to develop the place. For about two years he and his family lived in the log hut, and then he built a one-and-a-half story frame dwell- ing with a lean-to, which was his home until his death on May 25, 1875. He had sold 21 acres of his farm to his brother Samuel, who had followed him from New York, and the rest of it, previous to his death, he divided into four parts, which he transferred respectively to his children. Mr. Wheaton was a man of varied accomplishments, being for one thing a great

hunter, and in New York and Minnesota he killed during his life over 1,500

· deer. He also possessed musical ability, and his violin, now more than 100 years old, is preserved by his son, Charles J., now of Caledonia village. Mrs. Wheaton survived her husband fifteen years, passing away Oct. 15, 1890. They had been the parents of six children, two of whom had died in New York State. Of the others, who have already been mentioned, Charles J., who was a prosperous farmer in Caledonia township, is now living retired in Caledonia village; Eliza Jane became the wife of Amasa Mason, of the well-known Caledonia family of that name, and her husband was subsequently killed by a train, Mrs. Mason herself dying some years ago; Mary L. is now Mrs. J. F. Bingham, of Caledonia; and Sally Ann is the widow of Benjamin B. Webster and at present resides in Tennessee.

Charles J. Wheaton, for many years a prosperous general farmer of section 26, Caledonia township, was born in Carroll township, Chautauqua county, New York, June 4, 1846, son of Charles and Jane (Fitch) Wheaton. He was about 10 years old when he accompanied his parents to Houston county, Minnesota, and settled with them on the farm in section 26, of which he later became proprietor and of a part of it the owner. He had attended common school for several years in New York State, and his edu- cation was continued in the local schools here, in select and public schools

Digitized by Google

MR. AND MRS. C. J. WHEATON

Digitized by

Google

Digitized by

Google - . . . .

541

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

in Caledonia, and later in Bryant & Stratton's Business College at St. Paul. In the meanwhile during the summers he worked on the home farm, of which he became active manager at an early age. On Sept. 1, 1870, Mr. Wheaton married Lucy A. Pope, daughter of Gershom and Marie (Taylor) Pope, who were near neighbors and old acquaintances, having been former residents of Carroll township, Chautauqua county, New York, and the subject of this sketch and his wife were schoolmates. The Popes had come to this region in October, 1854. After his marriage Mr. Wheaton took his wife to his parents' farm. About a year later his father divided the farm among the surviving children, of whom there were four, Charles J. and three sisters, and Charles J. received as his share 80 acres. He had previously, when 19 years old, bought 40 acres adjoining, and he had also 14 acres of timber about three-quarters of a mile to the west. He operated this farm, except for one year which he spent in La Crosse as manager for W. N. Fay & Co., merchants and auctioneers, until his retirement in 1918. From 1866 to 1876 Mr. Wheaton also wrote fire and life insurance. In 1882 he built the present house on the farm, which is lighted by gas and provided with furnace heat and other modern improvements. He is a stockholder and director in the Caledonia State Bank, a stockholder in the People's Co- ·operative Stock & Grain Company of Caledonia, the Farmers' Co-operative Creamery, the South Prairie Telephone Company, of which he has been secretary for sixteen years, and is also a stockholder in the Root River Light & Power Company. Though not a member, he has been affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church for the last twenty-five years, serving for various periods as a member of its governing board, choir master, trustee and treasurer. He has also been an ardent worker in the temper- ance cause and in other movements of high moral import calculated to benefit humanity or the community in which he lives. His fraternal society affiliations are with the Odd Fellows and Good Templars. To the former he has belonged for twenty years, passed through all the chairs, and repre- sented his lodge in the Grand Lodge, besides acting for years as district deputy. He has also passed all the chairs in the Good Templars' lodge. Mr. Wheaton enjoyed a prosperous career as a farmer and built up his farm to a high state of productiveness through his own exertions. He and his wife are popular members of the community, taking an active part in its social and philanthropic activities. In 1918 they retired from the farm and are now enjoying the afternoon of life in ease and comfort, surrounded by a large circle of friends. In the fall of 1918 he sold his farm for $200 per acre, it being the first farm in this community to sell at that price.

Capt. Gershom Pope, after whom Pope's Prairie in Caledonia township was named, was born in Cooperstown, Otsego county, N. Y., Aug. 27, 1810, son of Jedediah and Lucy (Angel) Pope. His parents had moved to that place from Carroll township, Chautauqua county, New York, where they were married. Gershom grew up amid the picturesque scenery of one of the most beautiful parts of the Empire State, and after attaining to man- hood followed for some years the occupation of a lumberman. On August 23, 1840, he married, and after that event continued to reside in his native state until 1854, when he came to Minnesota. Leaving Dunkirk, N. Y., on

Digitized by Google

542

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

the steamer Niagara with his wife Maria, two daughters, Emily Jane and Lucy Ann, and an adopted son, George W. Lore, he disembarked with his family at Toledo and proceeded thence by rail to Chicago. There he and his family separated for a time, his wife and the children going by rail and boat to Brownsville, Minn., and then continuing their journey by team to Caledonia township, while he, with a wagon and span of horses, and ac- companied by a dog, drove to Brownsville and thence to their place of set- tlement on South Prairie, to be later known as Pope's Prairie, where he arrived two weeks after his family. Two of his brothers, Jedediah and Timothy, the latter a doctor, came in the spring of 1854, took land and then returned east for their families, whom they brought back with them, in the party being an invalid sister-in-law of the subject of this sketch. Late in the year, about winter time, Mr. Pope secured on a land warrant 160 acres on Portland Prairie, on which he built a log house with a sod roof. The country was very wild; there was an abundance of deer and wolves, and also many Indians. Mrs. Pope's two daughters that winter counted more than 100 deer that came within sight of their cabin, and on one occasion saw a herd of 25 being chased by wolves. Mr. Pope remained in that loca- tion until the spring of 1855 only, when he sold his claim for $1,600 and moved five miles to the northeast, buying a tract of 240 acres lying in Wilmington and Caledonia townships, about four miles south of Caledonia. This also was a wild tract and was purchased for $1.25 an acre. Here he built first a log house, a small structure with a bark roof, in which he and his family lived until the fall of 1855, when he erected a board house, bat- tened, which was their home during that winter and for twenty-one years thereafter, it being at various times improved and enlarged. This place, now the Stadtler farm, he sold in 1877 and bought a small piece of land containing three acres, a short distance to the west, and on which he built a comfortable house and a full complement of outbuildings. There he took up his residence with his wife and subsequently lived retired until his death on May 5, 1885. His remains now repose in Evergreen Cemetery, Caledonia. After her husband's death Mrs. Pope lived alone for awhile, but subsequently made her home with her daughters, Mrs. Edwin Stuart and Mrs. Charles J. Wheaton. She was born at Jamestown, N. Y., Aug. 31, 1819, and died at Mrs. Stuart's residence in Caledonia, Minn., Oct. 17, 1903. The only children of Mr. and Mrs. Pope were the two daughters mentioned above: Emily Jane, born June 4, 1841, who married Edwin Stuart and is now deceased, and Lucy Ann, born Dec. 13, 1847, who married Charles J. Wheaton. Mr. Pope was a worthy and industrious citizen, and by the time of his death had improved about 200 acres of his land, following general farming. He was affiliated religiously with the Methodist Episcopal church in Caledonia, to which he gave of his means and served as a trustee. He was of a kind-hearted disposition and was highly respected. Though he never had any sons, he reared five boys, taught them habits of industry and put them in the way to make their own living.

Thorvald Thoresen, now living retired on a competency in Spring Grove village, is a man who has attained success in life through hard work and determination, and although not actually a pioneer of Houston county,

Digitized by Google

543

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

was among its early settlers. He was born near Christiana, Norway, March 9, 1852, son of Alf and Kjersti (Gulbransen) Thoresen, the father being a liveryman by occupation. Thorvald remained in his native land until 21 years old, acquiring his education in the common school. Then, being his own master, he resolved to seek his fortune in the "New World," and accordingly, early in the fall of 1873, he set out for this country alone, arriving in Spring Grove, Houston county, Minn., Nov. 3. Here he found employment on a farm two miles east of the village, and during the winter, anxious to acquire a knowledge of the English language, he attended the local school. In the spring of 1874 he entered the employ of Henry Wil- liams, an American farmer living near Newhouse, Spring Grove town- ship, with whom he remained three years. During the winter of 1874-75 he again attended the district school, and his size and age, together with his very imperfect knowledge of English, at first afforded amusement

to the younger children. This, however, though somewhat embarrassing at times, he did not mind much, especially as the teacher took pains to help him, as also did the Williams family and other Americans with whom he came into contact, and with this assistance he made gradual but steady progress. In the fall of 1876 he found himself in a position to begin inde- pendent farming, and accordingly rented a farm of 200 acres belonging to the estate of A. C. Onsted in Black Hammer township, north of Spring Grove village. At the same time he decided to begin domestic life, and having made the acquaintance of Marie Lunde, daughter of Amund and Sigrid Lunde, of Wilmington township, and found her to be just the woman with whom he would be willing to share the joys and sorrows of life, he paid her his addresses, and being accepted, was united in marriage with her on Dec. 3, 1876. On the Onsted farm in section 26, Black Hammer township, he and his wife remained until the spring of 1880. Then, being constantly on the lookout for opportunities to advance his fortunes, he went to Trail county, North Dakota, and bought a relinquishment of the claim of one Ellet Olson, near Mayville, seventy miles northwest of Fargo. It was a tract of 160 acres, of which 13 acres had been broken, and there was a log shack on the place, 8 by 14 feet in size. In this shack he and his wife took up their abode, with their infant son Alfred and daughter Sophia, and there they resided for the first year. Then Mr. Thoreson built a small frame house, a sod barn and a straw barn. He and his family remained there five years, by the end of which time he had 140 acres under the plow. He had also in the meanwhile bought another relinquishment of 160 acres in Briggs county, North Dakota, near Cooperstown. In the fall of 1886 Mr. Thoresen sold the Griggs county place to his brother Karl, and also rented to him the Trail county place, and in the following spring he re- turned with his family to Houston county and bought the Ole Blakstad farm of 80 acres in section 26, Black Hammer township, two miles north of Spring Grove village. On this farm there was a log house, a tobacco shed, small granary and small barn. Enlarging the tobacco shed by adding a lean-to on each side, he converted it into a barn, 48 by 52 feet in size. Hav- ing conducted farming operations there until 1891, he then made another removal, trading his farm in Trail county, North Dakota, for an improved

Digitized by Google

544

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

farm of 140 acres in section 8, Wilmington township, Houston county, on which was a small house. On this farm he made various improvements, erecting a frame barn, 32 by 60 by 16, with a lean-to 14 by 18 feet; a granary, 16 by 20, with a lean-to 14 by 20, for machinery ; and a hog house, 18 by 24. Then in 1912 he built a modern frame barn, 32 by 60 by 16, with a full stone basement of 8 feet and cement floors. This work, very thor- oughly done, marked the culmination of Mr. Thoresen's activities, as in the fall of the following year, finding himself in possession of a competency, he found a tenant for the farm and retired with his wife to Spring Grove village, where he owns a comfortable residence, with three acres of land. He is also the owner of 160 acres in northern Minnesota, twenty-five miles east of Thief River Falls, and a tract of six acres at Groveland, near Good- rich, in the same county. Altogether he owns 420 acres in this state, and besides these landed interests is a stockholder in the Spring Grove Stock & Grain Company, the Farmers' Co-operative Creamery, the Spring Grove Hospital, the Root River Electric Company and the Farmers' State Bank of Goodrich, Minn. For the past ten years Mr. Thoresen has not been in the best of health, and in 1917 he underwent an operation, from the effects of which he has not fully recovered. In politics he is an independent Repub- lican, and religiously a member of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran church, worshiping with the Spring Grove congregation. While residing in North Dakota he was trustee of the congregation there. He and his wife have been the parents of four children: Alfred, born in Black Hammer township, Aug. 30, 1877; Sophia, born in the same township, in September, 1879; Magnus, born in Trail county, North Dakota, Dec. 19, 1881; and Tora, born in Wilmington township, Houston county, Minnesota, Dec. 3, 1885. Alfred, who is unmarried and lives at home, is a prosperous young business man who operated a well-equipped feed mill of 700-bushel ca- pacity, but is now engaged in the implement business. Sophia is the wife of Albert Morken, a farmer of Black Hammer township. Magnus is a merchant in Goodrich, Minn. Tora is now Mrs. Halvor Olerud, of Wil- mington township.

Mons H. Fladager, who may well be called the father of the village of Spring Grove, and who was for nearly half a century one of its most active and leading citizens, was born in Valdres, Norway, June 7, 1826, son of Henrik Fladager. In his native land he learned the painter's trade and worked at it there until 1858. Then, early in that year, he came to America, locating first in Manitowoc, Wis., where he stopped and built a small wood- turning factory, which he operated until the fall of 1859. In that year he made his appearance in Spring Grove, Houston county, Minn. At that time but two families occupied the site of the present village-those of William Hinkley and Robert McCormick. The greater part of this site was a tract of forty acres which had been sold by Embrick Benson to William Fleming, who sold it to Peter Halverson. Mr. Fladager purchased it from Mr. Halverson, together with a small log hut which stood on it, 16 by 18 feet in size, which had been used as a tavern by Mr. Fleming. In this little building Mr. Fladager opened a general store, which he operated until 1864, when he erected a two-story frame building on what is now the corner of

Digitized by Google

545

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

Main street and Maple avenue, and into this latter building he moved his store in the fall. Later by an addition at the rear he increased the size of the building to 18 by 60 feet, the living apartments for himself and family being upstairs. In 1866 he built a frame residence, consisting of an upright and wing, on Main street, which building was occupied for some time after his death by his wife, three sons and a daughter. In 1879 the railroad came to the village and Mr. Fladager, quick to take advantage of the opportunity, platted out his land into lots that are now the site of the business section of the village, together with a part of the residence section. Two years later, in the summer of 1881, he erected on Main street a single-story brick build- ing with a full basement, 24 by 75 feet in dimensions, into which in the fall he moved his stock and established a new store. At or about the same time he tore down the original frame building and built on its site a two-story, double-front store building, 44 by 50 feet, that is now occupied as a men's clothing and ladies' ready-to-wear store by his two sons Henry and Peter. His own business he carried on in the brick store until his death, which oc- curred April 8, 1905, after a life full of activity, forty-six years of which had been spent in the village of Spring Grove, in the development of which he had been one of the most potent factors. In pioneer days he served as township treasurer. At one time he served as deputy postmaster under Embrik Knudson, who was one of the earliest postmasters of the village. This was in 1861-62, Mr. Knudson having succeeded James Smith, the first postmaster, about 1856. During President Cleveland's second administra- tion (1493-1897) he was appointed postmaster, but declined the office. In politics fe was always a Democrat, but not especially active as a politician, preferring to devote his time to his business and social interests. Few men, if any, did more to build up the community. He encouraged many of his fellow countrymen to settle here and secure village or farm lands, and some of the older residents here today credit him with the advice or assist- ance they received in making a successful start in life. He was also one of the founders of the Spring Grove congregation of the Norwegian Evangel- ical Lutheran church, of which he was a member to the end of his life. His remains now rest in the new cemetery west of the village. In May, 1863 Mr. Fladager married Jorend Lommen, daughter of Peter J. and Riste Lommen. Mr. and Mrs. Fladager were the parents of seven children: Henry, born March 9, 1865, now in partnership with his brother Peter in the clothing and ladies' ready-to-wear business in Spring Grove; Peter, above mentioned, born Sept. 5, 1867; Inga, who is housekeeper for her mother and her brothers Peter and Arnold; Edward, born in 1869, who died in 1887; John, born in 1875, who died in 1887; Martin, now in the department store business as a member of the firm of Langlie, Olson & Fladager of Lanesboro, Minn .; and Arnold, who resides with his mother, his sister Inga, and his brother Peter in Spring Grove. The two sons Edward and John, above mentioned as deceased, were carried off by the typhoid epidemic which raged in this village and vicinity in 1887, which was also the year of a great drougth and crop failure.

Henry and Peter Fladager, who under the firm name of Fladager Bros., are conducting one of the leading stores in Spring Grove village, dealing in 35

Digitized by Google

546

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

men's clothing and ladies' ready-to-wear clothing and millinery, are sons of Mons H. and Jorend (Lommen) Fladager, and were born in this village, Henry on March 9, 1865, and Peter on Sept. 5, 1867. The present business was started by Henry in 1892 in the second frame building erected by the father, located at the corner of Main street and Maple avenue; and it was conducted by him alone until after the father's death, when Peter became a member of the firm, since known as Fladager Bros. At that time improve- ments were made in the store and the business expanded, ladies' and misses' ready-to-wear clothing and millinery being added to the original stock. The store now occupies a double-front building on Main street of 44 by 50 feet, and is one of the best of its kind in the county. It is well patronized by the inhabitants of the village and the surrounding country, and the trade has rapidly increased. The younger brother, Peter, is unmar- ried. Henry Fladager was married June 22, 1887, to Caroline Hendrick- son, daughter of Nels and Bergit Hendrickson, of Spring Grove, pioneer settlers of this county, and the young couple began housekeeping in ap- partments over the store, which stood on the site of Henry's birthplace. These apartments they continued to occupy for four years, when he erected a frame residence of seven rooms on Pleasant street. This was later sold and a new and larger residence erected in the Hendrickson addition in the east part of town. Five children have been born to them, namely: Edith, born April 2, 1888, who conducted the millinery department in the store until her marriage to Gilbert Aseth, a farmer; Bertha, born August 2, 1889, who was graduated from the Spring Grove High School and later from the Winona Normal School, also taking a special course in 1915 at Columbia University, and who was engaged in teaching until her marriage to C. W. Muir, superintendent of schools at Manitou, Colo., where she now lives; Natalie, born Dec. 27, 1890, who enjoyed the same educational advantages as her sister Bertha, followed teaching for a number of years, but is now living at home; Maurice, born July 2, 1894, who was graduated from the Spring Grove high school, and was a clerk in Fladager Bros. store until April, 1918, when he enlisted in the U. S. aviation service, being later trans- ferred to the motor field artillery; and Harold, born Nov. 16, 1895, who died March 5, 1897. The two brother's, with Henry's family, are members of the Spring Grove congregation of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran church. Henry Fladager has served several terms as a member of the village council and as village treasurer, both he and his brother being Demo- crats politically. Sons of one of the most notable pioneers of the village, an early owner of most of the land on which it stands, and by whom a large part of it was platted, they have worthily maintained the family tradi- tions, and the name of Fladager is one of the best known and most respected in this part of the county.

Michael M. Sullivan, who owns and operates a good farm of 240 acres in section 2, Mayville township, was born in Union township, Houston county, Minn., Feb. 27, 1873, son of John P. and Hannah (O'Connor) Sul- livan. The parents, natives of Ireland, were married in the United States, the father coming to this country in 1849 and settling in Virginia, where he worked as a laborer. He came to Houston county in 1857, buying land from

- Digitized by Google- - -

547

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 73

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1343

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1919
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1343