History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 81

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

USA > Minnesota > Houston County > History of Houston County, Minnesota > Part 81

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Hans T. Tweten, one of the leading citizens of Wilmington township, proprietor of an excellent farm of 240 acres, his residence lying in section 4, was born in section 27, this township, Aug. 16, 1855, son of Tob Olson and Ingeborn Tweten. He was reared on the home farm, attending district school until the age of sixteen years. On his father's death in 1867 he bought a portion of the farm which he operated for four or five years. On Nov. 22, 1875, he assumed the responsibilities of domestic life, being united in marriage with Randena, daughter of Oscar and Valborg Qunnell of Wilmington township. For a while after his marriage Mr. Tweton operated a part of his parents' estate, consisting of eighty acres in section 20, but soon after he bought 120 acres in section 4, where he is now living. It was then a farm but slightly improved, the residence being a log house, but he has since developed it into a fine piece of agricultural property, having by additional purchases increased its area to 240 acres and erected an adequate set of buildings. The latter include a frame barn, 30 by 80 by 22 feet; a tool shed 20 by 60; poultry house 12 by 36; granary 14 by 26; double corn crib 20 by 46, with an eight-foot driveway; a stone hog house 12 by 50, with cement feeding floor, 14 by 50; and another hog house 14 by 26. His teams, tools and equipment are also first class, and the farm is well fenced and in a high state of cultivation, 200 acres being under the

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HANS T. TWETEN AND FAMILY

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plow and the rest in timber and pasture. Mr. Tweten is engaged in di- versified farming, including stock raising and dairying. For the last eighteen years he has been engaged in raising thoroughbred Hereford cattle, having at present a herd of thirty full blooded and twenty of high grade. He also breeds full blooded Poland-China hogs, from 100 to 150 yearly. Of late, however, he has been practically retired, exercising a general supervision over the farm and leaving to his son the active opera- tion. He formerly owned large land interests in South Dakota, but has sold them. In politics he is a Republican, and formerly served several terms as a member of the town board, for a number of years also acting as school clerk. His mother having been one of the founders of the Wil- mington congregation of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran church, he was the first child christened in that congregation, being then a year old, at a meeting held in the home of Olaus Somers. He has since served the church as a trustee and as one of its liberal supporters. On April 21, 1913, Mr. Tweten sustained a breavement in the death of his wife, Mrs. Randena Tweten, who had been to him a faithful helpmate. They had had seven children whose record in brief is as follows: Ida, born Jan. 28, 1876, who is now the widow of Andrew Kjome and resides near Spring Grove village: Emil, born March 11, 1878, who is a farmer at Solway, Minn .; William. born Feb. 22, 1881, who is manager of a lumber yard at Mabel, Minn .; Hannah, born Oct. 6, 1884, who is housekeeper for her father; Rudolph, born April 11, 1888, now residing on the home farm; Anna, born July 7, 1891, who is the wife of Carl Ruak, a butcher at Taylor, Wis .; Bertha, born Jan. 24, 1895, who is a trained nurse in the Augustana Hospital in Chicago.

Albert C. Bunge, who during the last ten years has developed a good farm in section 13, Wilmington township, was born in Eitzen village, Win- nebago township, Houston county, May 30, 1878, son of Christian and Dora (Wuemeke) Bunge. The parents were married in this locality, the father having come to this country from Germany when a boy. He is now dead but his wife is still living. Albert C. was educated in the Eitzen school and at Beloit Academy, Beloit, Wis., which he attended for two years. He then spent one season on the road as a salesman, and for a few months resided in Chicago with an uncle. After that he attended the Minnesota Agricultural College for two winters. Then returning to the home farm at Eitzen, he became associated with his father, whom he assisted until the latter's death, after which he managed the farm for a time. In 1908 Mr. Bunge bought his present farm of 200 acres, 162 acres lying in section 13, Wilmington township, and sixty-eight acres in section 18, Winnebago township, all being tillable land. On the Wilmington section there was an old frame house, and some straw sheds for cattle. The improvements Mr. Bunge has since made include the erection of a good set of buildings, namely: a house, frame barn, tool shed, granary, hog house, corn cribs, and tile silo. He has also good wells and a steel windmill. The house was erected in 1916 and is a beautiful, modern, two-story, eleven-room residence, with hard and soft water, both hot and cold, and bath and toilets. It is electrically lighted, as also are the barns. Mr. Bunge has 180 acres under

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the plow and is engaged in diversified farming along scientific lines, keeping Shorthorn cattle and Poland-China hogs. For the past ten years he has bred registered Shorthorns. His teams, tools and equipment are of the best. Aside from his direct farming interests, he is a shareholder in the Peoples Co-operative Stock & Grain Co. of Caledonia. On Oct. 16, 1907, Mr. Bunge was married to Mathilda, daughter of George and Minnie Deters, of Winnebago township. Of this union five children have been born: Paul G., Anna, Laura, Norma and Wilma. The family are members of the Eitzen congregation of the German Evangelical church.

William M. Shisler, a prominent representative of the agricultura interests of Wilmington township, residing in section 11, was born in Vernon county, Wisconsin, May 12, 1868, son of Martin and Nancy (Asbury) Shisler. The parents came to Houston county, Minnesota, when the sub- ject of this sketch was about fourteen years old, but remained only a year subsequently returning to Wisconsin. William M. accompanied them there, but later came back to Houston county and as a farm hand entered the employ of Charles Albee of Portland Prairie, Wilmington township, re- maining with him until the fall of 1890. He was then married, Nov. 12, to Evelyn, daughter of Cornelius and Elizabeth (Albee) Metcalf. She was born in Winnebago township, Feb. 20, 1868, her parents afterwards moving into Wilmington township. For the first six or eight years after his marriage Mr. Shisler rented and worked farms in Winnebago and Wilming- ton townships, and also the John Robinson farm just across the line in Allamakee county, Iowa. In 1898 Mr. Shisler bought 160 acres of improved land in section 11, Wilmington township, on which was a frame house, barn and granary, which is in all essential respects his present farm, though he has improved it since taking possession, his farm buildings and general equipment being all of good quality. The soil, of which he now has 115 acres under cultivation, is also good. Mr. Shisler's stock consists chiefly of Shorthorn cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs, his herd of the latter number- ing from eighty to one hundred head. Included in his equipment is a good Overland auto car. In addition to his direct farming interests he is a stockholder in the Wilmington Creamery Association and the Co-operative Stock & Grain Co. of Caledonia. In politics he is a Republican. He is affiliated religiously with the Portland congregation of the M. E. church. To him and his wife six children have been born, as follows: Myrtle, Sept. 23, 1891, who is now the wife of Phil Noben, a farmer of Caledonia township; Grace Vera, born June 20, 1893, who is residing at home; Archie Cornelius, born May 6, 1895, who served his country in the war with Germany; Lila Bernice, born April 26, 1897, residing at home; Kenneth Leroy, born June 10, 1902, who is a student in the Caledonia high school, and Leona Licinda. born Aug. 26, 1905, who resides at home with her parents. The military service of Cornelius in the recent war was as a member of the heavy artillery, with which he took part in several engagements, and, after the signing of the armistice, he was in the Army of Occupation with the Rain- bow Division. He was honorably discharged in May, 1919.

William F. Deters, proprietor of Portland Prairie Stock Farm, lying partly in Wilmington and partly in Winnebago township, was born ir

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A. B. JOHNSON AND FAMILY

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Allamakee county, Iowa, just south of Eitzen village, on Aug. 2, 1875, son of Henry and Mary (Buchholtz) Deters. He obtained a fairly good education after leaving the district school, attending Breckenridge Academy at Decorah, Iowa, for two winters, and afterwards pursuing a business course for two terms at Waukon, Iowa, where he completed his studies in 1894. From the spring of that year until the fall of 1897 he worked on the home farm, which he subsequently operated in partnership with his brother, Louis H., until the spring of 1903. He then bought fifty acres in section 13, Wilmington township and eighty-two acres in Winnebago township, the two tracts constituting the old Busitzky farm, of which 110 acres were then under the plow. In 1904 he bought an adjoining tract of forty acres in section 19, Winnebago township, and in 1908 another forty-acre tract adjoining on section 13, Wilmington township. Of his farm of 212 acres in one body, he has 150 now under the plow. The soil is of excellent quality, and there is a good set of farm buildings, provided with modern equipment. In 1915 Mr. Deters built a two-story, twelve-room house of tapestry brick, which he fitted up with hot and cold water, baths, and a hot water heating system, furnishing heat not only to the house but also to other buildings on the farm. The house is lighted throughout by the "Blaugas" system, but is wired for electric light. The situation is picturesque and commands a fine view of the surrounding country. Mr. Deters follows diversified farming according to scientific methods, making stock breeding his spe- cialty. Since 1904 he has been engaged in raising registered Shorthorn cattle, and he also breeds Poland-China hogs, having full-blooded sires for each herd. One of the leading stock farmers in the southern part of the county, he is president of the Houston county Agricultural Society, and is a shareholder in the Wilmington Creamery Co., the Eitzen Creamery Co., the Peoples Co-operative Stock & Grain Co. of Caledonia, and in the Eitzen State Bank of Eitzen, Minn., of which he is president. Enterprising and prosperous, he is one of the leading citizens of his township and is well and favorably known throughout the county. Mr. Deters was married Nov. 18, 1903, to Anna M. Bunge, who was born Dec. 13, 1874, daughter of Christian and Dora (Bunge), of Eitzen, Minn. He and his wife have four children: Martin B., born Feb. 15, 1906; John L., Nov. 20, 1909; Ruth L., May 10, 1912, and Martha M., Oct. 31, 1916. The family are members of the Eitzen congregation of the German Evangelical Lutheran church.

Hans Johnson, a pioneer settler of Wilmington township, now de- ceased, was a native of Norway who came to this country in 1860. About 1862 he bought a tract of forty acres in section 10, Wilmington township, to which he later added forty acres more, and of the eighty he developed an improved farm, which in 1898 he rented to his son, Alfred B., who purchased it in 1900 and is now the owner. Mr. Johnson died Feb. 14, 1916, after a long career of agricultural activity, having worthily per- formed a pioneer's part in the development of the county. His wife, Jorend, who came from Norway at about the same time as he did, survived him until Jan. 2, 1919, when she too passed away.

Alfred B. Johnson, proprietor of a good farm of 160 acres in section 10, Wilmington township, was born on a part of his present farm, March 1,

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1877, son of Hans and Jorend Johnson. In his boyhood he attended the district school, and as he grew older assisted his father to develop the home farm, on which he has always resided with the exception of about three years spent in Kanabec county, Minnesota, and in Caledonia as clerk. In 1898 he rented the home farm, containing eighty acres, from his parents, and two years later, in 1890, it became his property by purchase. Since then he has doubled its size, and now has 120 acres under the plow, the rest being in pasture and timber. He has added to the buildings, having in 1916 erected a modern frame barn, 34 by 80 by 14 feet in size, with a full eight-foot, cement-block basement, and it is equipped with a complete James system of pens, stanchions, mangers, box-stalls and crane litter carrier. The farm is in a high state of cultivation and yields a good return in crops, in addition to which it is well stocked with a good grade of cattle and Poland-China swine. Mr. Johnson's operating equipment in- cludes a good automobile, and in addition to his interest in the farm he is a stockholder in and president of the Wilmington Co-operative Creamery Co., and the Spring Grove Stock & Grain Company. A man of mark in his township, he has served two years as supervisor and the same length of time as town treasurer, in politics being a Republican. On Nov. 23, 1901 Mr. Johnson was united in marriage with Ingebor, daughter of Knut and Guri Buxengard of Wilmington township, where her father was an early settler, having resided on the same farm for sixty-three years. The family circle of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson has been enlarged by the birth of eight children, born as follows: Harry Kenneth, July 3, 1903; Gilbert Jorgen, June 14, 1906; Tilman Johan, Sept. 17, 1907; Olaf Burton, Aug. 6, 1910; Alice Isabelle, May 25, 1912; Ividia Dorothy, June 25, 1914, and Sylvia Mathilda, Aug. 22, 1916, and Orlando Clarence, born Sept. 22, 1918. The family are members of the Wilmington congregation of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran church.

William Schroeder, a successful farmer of Wilmington township, re- siding in section 23, was born in Hanover, Germany, Nov. 27, 1857, son of Christopher and Mary (Garfe) Schroeder. At the age of seventeen he came with his parents to Houston county, Minnesota, they settling at Eitzen in Winnebago township. He was then unable to speak English, but found work as a farm hand, being employed one year by Mr. Cardess, and then for two years by Mr. Albee, who allowed him to attend school two years in order to learn English. At the age of twenty he went to the Robinson farm near Eitzen and on the Iowa state line, on which he worked as manager for four years, his employer being Mrs. Robinson. This farm contained 300 acres and its management involved a large amount of hard work. In this and other agricultural employment he made steady progress, giving satisfaction to his employers and improving his own condition until he found himself able to assume the responsibilities of domestic life, and on May 4, 1883, was united in marriage with Amelia, daughter of Barney and Mary Brinker, who lived in Allamakee county, Iowa, near Eitzen village. After continuing in general agricultural work for some years in others' employ, Mr. Schroeder in 1891 bought eighty acres of land in section 23, Wilmington township, the tract being a partly improved farm,

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OLE J. TOSTERUD AND FAMILY

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with forty-five acres of broken land, a small log house, and a combined granary and stable. To this farm he has since added thirty acres, making a total of 110, of which ninety are under the plow, the balance being in pasture and timber. He has also greatly improved the place by the erection of new buildings, including a comfortable house; a frame barn, 32 by 70 by 16 feet, on a full stone basement of eight feet ; a granary 20 by 32 feet, built in the barn; a poultry house, three corn cribs, a hog house with cement floor and two feeding floors, a feed cook house for hogs, an ice house, smoke house, machine shed, wood house and a garage for his five-passenger Dodge car. All the buildings are painted and in good condition, while his teams, tools and other equipment are of the best. Mr. Schroeder's stock consists of Red Poll and Shorthorn cattle and Poland-China hogs, each herd having a full blooded sire. His other business interests include those of a stock- holder in the Wilmington Creamery Co. and the Peoples Co-operative Stock & Grain Co. of Caledonia. In politics he has always been a Republican, and with his family is a member of the Etizen congregation of the German Evangelical Lutheran church. To Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder eight children have been born: Gustav A., born May 20, 1884, now a farmer of Winnebago township; Otto, Nov. 19, 1886, who is a farmer in Wilmington township; William F., born Aug. 16, 1889, who for the last four years has been man- ager of the Farmers Co-operative Store at Eitzen; Elvina, born May 30, 1892, wife of Otto Meyer, a farmer of Winnebago township; Edwin, born Nov. 26, 1894, who is a farm hand; Ella, born April 23, 1896, who is house- keeper for her brother Otto; Henry, born June 16, 1899, who is associated with his father in working the home farm; and Albert, born July 28, 1903, who is a student residing at home. Mr. Schroeder has three brothers, Henry, Fred and Werner, all of whom are farmers in this vicinity.

Ole J. Tosterud, the owner of a good eighty-acre farm in section 11, Wilmington township, who has been a resident of Houston county for over thirty-five years, was born in Norway, May 11, 1847, son of Jens and Inga Johnestaater. His educational advantages were limited to the common school, while industrially he was trained as a farmer. On Dec. 28, 1874, he was married in his native land to Maren, daughter of Ole and Helene Johnson Bammerud. For eight or nine years after his marriage he con- tinued to reside in Norway, during which time four children were born to him. The family was very poor, the parents being able to save nothing, although Mrs. Tosterud in her spare time did weaving to add to their income. After a while they realized that their only future hope lay in emigration to a land of greater opportunities, but the expense of the journey was still an obstacle. However, they succeeded in borrowing enough from their friends and relations for this purpose, and in 1883 they left their native land with four children: Elsie Marie, born Feb. 15, 1876; Jens, born June 29, 1878; Oscar, born Dec. 17, 1880; and Inga, born March 29, 1883, the last mentioned, of course, being a baby in arms. Coming directly to Houston county, Minnesota, they first settled on Portland Prairie, Win- nebago township, Mr. Tosterud finding work as a farm hand. The wages for such labor in those days were not large and Mrs. Tosterud wove carpets to help pay their way. After remaining on their first farm until 1890

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they removed to the Sigri Engen farm in section 14, Wilmington township, where they remained three years, removing from that place to the Ole Engen farm, where they stayed two years, and then, in 1895, taking the Elling Burtness farm, where they spent one year. In 1896 Mr. Tosterud bought eighty acres of wild land in section 12, this township, on which he built a small house and took possession. Here he has since remained and has improved the farm. The land is rough but productive and is now nearly all under the plow, the children having helped to clear it. Mr. Tosterud has erected all necessary buildings, including a barn, granary, poultry house of frame construction. In 1917 the house was remodeled and en- larged and is now a comfortable six-room dwelling. It is located on a prominence in one of Wilmington's many pretty valleys, and is well stocked with grade Shorthorn cattle and Duroc-Jersey swine. The village and market of Caledonia lies seven miles to the north. Mr. and Mrs. Tosterud have worked hard for many years, but have met with their reward and are now enjoying a well earned leisure, as in 1908 Mr. Tosterud leased the farm to his son Julius, who owns one-half of the stock and equipment. In addition to the four children who accompanied the parents from Norway, the following were born in this county: Helen, born Dec. 30, 1884, now Mrs. Walter Restveldt of Fargo, N. D .; Julius, born Oct. 7, 1886, who is operating the home farm; Martin, born May 8, 1888, who in 1918 graduated in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, enlisted in the Medical Department of the U. S. army, and served with the Army of Occupation in Germany; Minnie, born Aug. 22, 1890, now Mrs. John Opsal of St. Paul, Minn .; Agnes, born Aug. 7, 1892, who resides in Fargo, N. D .; Emma and Tilla (twins), born Jan. 22, 1895, of whom Tilla died March 13, 1899, and Emma is residing on the home farm; Clara, born May 10, 1897, who graduated from the Central high school at St. Paul in 1918, and is now at home; and Tilla (second), born June 23, 1899, who is also at home, attends the Caledonia high school. All the children have received good educational advantages and the family is one of the most respected in this locality. Their religious affiliations are with the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran church of Wilmington.

Hans P. Wermager, who is one of the successful farmers of Wilming- ton township, operating a 165-acre farm in section 30, was born at St. Hill- aire, Red Lake county, Minn., Nov. 20, 1884, son of Peter Wermager and his wife Guri, whose maiden name was Guri Sned Kerpladen. The parents, who were married in Wilmington township, began domestic life in section 31 on a farm that belonged to Mrs. Wermager's father. Later he took a claim of 160 acres at St. Hillaire, and moving there, remained several years. Then selling out, he returned to Houston county and bought 120 acres of his father-in-law's old farm in section 31, which he operated until 1898. He then sold it and bought 125 acres of improved land of Julius Bondley in section 30, on which was a good two-story frame house and a frame barn 30 by 70 by 16 feet and basement. This place he operated until 1908, when he sold it to his son Hans P., and has since been retired, residing with his children. His wife died Aug. 2, 1900. Their children now living are : Hans P., the subject of this sketch; Ole, a farmer in Wilmington town-

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ship; Christine, wife of Henry Stoen, a farmer of Gary, Minn .; Gusta, now Mrs. Oliver Hauge of Caledonia, Minn .; Clara, wife of John Tilleraas, a farmer of Gary, Minn .; and Selma, whose husband, Alfred Skaare, is also a farmer at Gary. Hans P. Wermager, who was educated in the district school, has spent nearly all his life since he came to Houston county on the farm which his parents established, except that at the age of 17 he worked one summer for Lauretz Wolden, a farmer in the vicinity of his home. On July 2, 1908, he married Julia Thompson, daughter of John and Ingebor Thompson of Allamakee county, Iowa, and in the same year purchased his present farm from his father. He has remodeled the house and barn and now has a good set of buildings, including a stock and grain barn, 30 by 70 by 16 feet in size, with a 9-foot stone basement and cement floor; a machine shed, 32 by 50; single corn crib, 8 by 30; a poultry house, hog house, cream house and garage. The farm is favored with a fine soil and has a rolling surface, and about 100 acres are now under the plow. Mr. Wermager is profitably engaged in general farming, keeping grade Here- ford cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs, with full-blooded sires for his herds. His yearly shipment of cattle amounts to 30 to 35 head, and of hogs from 80 to 100 head. He has an excellent operating equipment, and the village of Spring Grove, four and a half miles distant, affords a convenient market. In addition to his direct farming interests he is a stockholder in the Spring Grove Stock & Grain Co., the Bee Creamery Association and the Spring Grove Hospital. He and his wife are the parents of three children : Grant Palmer, born Jan. 19, 1910; Irene Jeanette, born Oct. 31, 1914; and Orville Herman, Nov. 2, 1915. The family are members of the Norwegian Evangeli- cal Lutheran church of Spring Grove.

Gulbrand Gubrud, one of the pioneer settlers of Wilmington township, was, like so many of the hardy pioneers of this section of the Northwest, a native of Norway. Born Dec. 14, 1827, he came to the United States as a young man in 1852, and for some time was a resident of La Crosse, Wis .; working for wages at whatever he could find to do. After a while he crossed the river into Houston county, Minn., and in Spring Grove became ac- quainted with Malinda Skiflun, who, like himself, had been born in Valdars, Norway, though she was 12 years younger, having been born in 1838. When 11 years old she had set out from Norway with her parents bound for the United States, but during the long voyage of many weeks, both her father and her mother had died at sea. She, however, came on to Rock Prairie, Wis., and then to Spring Grove, Minn., to visit friends. Here, when she was about 18 years old, she met Mr. Gubrud, and after an acquaintance leading to mutual esteem, they were married in 1856. Mr. Gubrud, having now assumed the responsibilities of domestic life and having two to provide for, with the likelihood of a family in the future, thought it time to begin the establishment of a home, and boldly but wisely resolved to obtain his living from the soil. As there were then practically no improved farms in the county, and he couldn't have purchased them if there had been, he did the next best thing and bought 160 acres of wild land in section 4, Wilming- ton township, on which he built a log house as the first requisite, and then began the strenuous work of breaking his land and developing a farm. In

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History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 81

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

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