USA > Minnesota > Todd County > History of Morrison and Todd counties, Minnesota, their people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 21
USA > Minnesota > Morrison County > History of Morrison and Todd counties, Minnesota, their people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 21
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In 1913, shortly after the death of his father, John W. Hanson gave up his position with the railroad company and returned to Morrison county. here to take up the work of his father's farm and make a home for his younger half-brothers and sister. Since then he has had charge of the farm and its work and the one hundred acres which it contains are being cared for in a manner complimentary to Mr. Hanson. He does general farming as practiced in this section and in addition has a nice herd of dairy cattle.
On June 13, 1913, John W. Hanson was united in marriage with Julia Akre, born on October 12, 1892, at Enderlin, North Dakota, daughter of Nels O. and Helen ( Rengheim) Akre, natives of Norway. Mrs. Han- son was educated in the public schools of Enderlin, being graduated from
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the high school there, later becoming a student at the normal school at Valley City, North Dakota. She remained under the parental roof until the time of her marriage and came to Morrison county as a bride. To this union has been born one child, Helen. Mr. Hanson holds his religious membership in the Swedish Mission church, in the work of which he is sincerely interested, and his political support is usually given to the Repub- - lican party, though he is an independent voter. Mr. Hanson is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees.
Mr. Hanson possesses sterling qualities of manhood, which win and retain for him the highest respect of those who know him. He is succeeding also in a material way and doubtless the years hold in store for him not only worldly gain, but a still greater degree of trust and confidence from his fellow citizens.
PAUL JASCHKE.
One of the substantial citizens of Parker township, Morrison county, Minnesota, is Paul Jaschke, the respected subject of this sketch. Mr. Jaschke is one of the leading farmers of his community and is coming to have more than a local reputation as a breeder of live stock. He is also financially interested in the Randall Co-operative Creamery Company, and is in every sense of the word an upright and progressive citizen.
Paul Jaschke was born on June 21, 1878, in Germany, near the great city of Berlin, his father being a cobbler. He is a son of Carl and Mary ( Menzle) Jaschke, she being his second wife. By his first wife Carl Jaschke became the father of four children and by the second wife there was a fam- ily of eight, the immediate subject of this sketch being the second child in order of birth. The elder Jaschke was born in Germany on March 30, 1842, and was a cobbler by trade. In 1885 he left his native land and emigrated to America, bringing with him his entire family. They located in Carver county, this state, where he worked at the carpenter's trade until May 25. 1897, when they came to Morrison county. Here he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in section 26, of Parker township and set about clearing and cultivating the land. He later bought one hundred and twenty additional acres in the same section and was busily engaged in farming at the time of his death, in 1904. His wife, who was born in 1851, died in 1902. Carl Jaschke had served his time in the German army and was in the War of 1868 with Austria and also in the French campaign. While in
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active service he endured much hardship and exposure, which impaired his health and shortened his life.
Paul, the immediate subject of this sketch, was six years old when the family left Germany and was largely reared on a farm. He attended school only until eleven years of age, and was early trained by his father to assist in the work of the homestead. Since his parents first came to this county he has continued to make his home on the same farm, having fallen heir to the original tract of one hundred and twenty acres. He was fifteen hundred dollars in debt when he took the farm and since that time has succeeded so well that he has been able to discharge his obligations. He has an excellent strain of Shropshire sheep and is known as an intelligent breeder. He exhibited three head at the Little Falls fair and was given the second prize. He is also the owner of a fine Percheron stallion, which was exhibited at the same fair and took the third ribbon.
On October 19, 1908, Paul Jaschke was united in marriage to Gertrude Kampnich, born on January 16, 1889, near Long Lake, Minnesota, a daugh- ter of John and Barbara ( Bermal) Kempnich, both natives of Germany, but now residents of Parker township, this county, their farm being located in section I. To Mr. and Mrs. Jaschke have been born four children, namely : Thresa and Carl, deceased; Evelyn and Caroline, who are at home with the parents. Mr. Jaschke is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church, and in politics he votes independently. He has always taken a keen interest in community affairs and is now a member of the school board of district No. 53, of Parker township. Mr. Jaschke is one of the sterling citizens and representative men of his community who has lived and labored to worthy ends, and is therefore justly entitled to the high regard in which he is held.
JOHN WAIT.
Among the most prominent citizens of Long Prairie, Todd county, Minnesota, who are now gone from this world and whose work is finished, is the late John Wait, a member of the Minnesota Legislature for one term, the register of deeds in Todd county for three consecutive terms and a prominent business man of Todd county.
John Wait was born on December 8, 1841, in Canada, and was the son of Alexander and Euphemia (Colburn) Wait, who were natives of Scotland. They emigrated to Canada in pioneer times and settled in
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Kent, where Alexander Wait was a ship carpenter. He died in 1872, leav- ing two children, John, the subject of this sketch, and Anna, who is now Mrs. George Gray, of Dodge county, Minnesota.
John Wait remained in his native land until twelve years old. During this period of his life he attended the excellent common schools. When he was twelve years old he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he remained for two years. He then went to the northern shores of Lake Huron, where, for the next five years, he was engaged in fishing. In 1862 he moved to Minnesota and settled in Minneapolis. Shortly thereafter he enlisted in the Sixth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and served until 1865, receiving an honorable discharge in August of that year. He participated in the battle of Wood Lake and was with both of the Sibley expeditions. While on one of these expeditions he was an eye-witness to a most singular phenomenon. A soldier was killed by lightning from what appeared to be a perfectly cloudless sky. Mr. Wait also took part in the expedition from New Orleans to Mobile and was engaged in the last battle of the war, the battle of Blakely, in May, 1865. After the close of the war, Mr. Wait moved to Todd county, Minnesota, and located in Hartford township, where he took up land, upon which he later proved up. After residing in Hartford township for five years he moved to the village of Long Prairie and engaged in the general mercantile business, in partnership with Chandler & Fisher.
After some ten or twelve years, Mr. Wait, who in the meantime had been engaged in the grain business, purchased Mr. Fisher's interest and continued in partnership with Mr. Chandler for about one year. He then purchased a flouring-mill and operated it thereafter for a period of thirty- five years.
On October 29, 1871, John Wait was married to Emily Chandler, a native of Indiana and the daughter of Silas P. and Lydia ( Smith) Chandler, the former of whom was born on April 7, 1825, at Watertown, Washing- ton county, Ohio, where he lived until twelve years old. At that time, Silas P. Chandler moved with his parents to Randolph county, Indiana, and settled on a farm in Jackson township, which was then considered a frontier settle- ment. He was one of eight children and was left fatherless at the age of fifteen years. Upon him fell much of the care and responsibility which naurally belongs to the head of the family. At the early age of nineteen years, he was married to Lydia Smith, and to them were born four daugh- ters, one of whom died in infancy, and another at the age of thirteen. The two living daughters were Melissa, who married Jacob Fisher, and Emily, who married John Wait, the subject of this sketch.
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In 1863 Mr. Chandler and family moved to Olmstead county, Minne- sota, where he remained four years, after which he moved to Sauk Center, in 1867. There he opened a general store and in 1868 brought his stock of goods to Long Prairie, where he laid the foundation of a prosperous busi- ness in partnership with Jacob Fisher. Two or three years afterward the firm became known as Chandler, Fisher & Wait. For many years this has been one of the leading institutions in Todd county. When Mr. Chandler came to Long Prairie, there was but one family, that of Mr. Vennewitz. He became a member of the Baptist church and was an active member until the time of his death. For a time he was a member of the state missionary board. He was always a stanch supporter of temperance reform, and in his early manhood participated in the anti-slavery agitation. He was on the side of the persecuted race and once submitted to a fine rather than fulfill the duties of a township office to which he had been elected. He refused to take an oath to support the constitution of his state, since it prohibited giving aid and comfort to fugitive slaves. He participated in all movements for the promotion of moral, educational and religious enterprise, and in this com- munity was an active, thorough-going and unostentatious helper. He died on January 18, 1885.
To Mr. and Mrs. John Wait were born nine children, five of whom are living. The names of the children, in the order of their births, are as follow : Melvin S., who died at the age of twenty; Florence N., who is the wife of C. H. Henderson and lives at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Robert C., who lives at home and operates the home farm; he served in the Spanish-Ameri- can War and was a member of Company K, Fourteenth Regiment Minne- sota Volunteer Infantry, later re-enlisting in Company C, Forty-fifth Regi- ment. United States Infantry, and served in the Philippine Islands; Mar- garet, who is the wife of E. S. Boyd, of Alburg, Vermont: John R., who is a resident of Great Falls, Montana : Nell E., who is a teacher in Virginia ; l'aul C., who died in 1911 ; and two who died in infancy.
John Wait was elected to the Minnesota Legislature in 1876 and served one term in the house. From 1894 to 1900 he was register of deeds in Todd county, having ben elected three consecutive times. He was a Republican in politics, but was always broad-minded and liberal to all who saw different than he regarding political matters. In 1901 he engaged in the real estate business at Long Prairie and was still engaged in this business at the time of his death, May 14, 1903.
John Wait was not only a man of great ability, but he was a man who used his ability in behalf of all good things. He was possessed of remark-
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able courage and did not hesitate to express his opinion frankly, though he was broad-minded and tolerant. He lived a noble life during his many years in this community and performed many worthy deeds which will long endure in the annals of this county.
REV. THEODORE JOSEPH REKOSIAK.
Perhaps the best known among the Polish priests of Morrison county. Minnesota, is the Rev. Theodore Joseph Rekosiak, who has been pastor of the Polish church at Little Falls, Minnesota, since his ordination in 1902. Father Rekosiak preaches in the Polish church. He has a most enthusiastic and loyal following in this county, and is an earnest, zealous and well- informed churchman.
Born in Poland on October 22, 1872, Rev. Theodore J. Rekosiak is a 'son of Martin and Petronella Rekosiak, natives of Poland, who emigrated to the United States in 1881, settling first in Chicago. Mrs. Martin Reko- siak died in 1905, while her husband is still living in Chicago, where the family first located on coming to America.
Although only nine years old when his parents came to this country, Theodore J. Rekosiak had attended the elementary schools of Poland for one or two terms before leaving his native land. After settling in Chicago, he attended the Polish parochial school in that city, and while still a lad decided to become a priest. After finishing his studies in the common school, he was a student at St. Stanislaus College, at Chicago, where for two years he pursued his studies. Afterwards he attended St. Jerome College, Berlin, Ontario, for two years, a college conducted by the Resur- rection Fathers. Finally he attended St. Paul Seminary, at St. Paul, Minne- sota, five years, studying philosophy two years and theology for three years. He was ordained to the holy priesthood on November 28, 1902, by Bishop Thobec, of St. Cloud, Minnesota, and shortly afterwards took charge of the Polish church at Little Falls, of which he has since been the pastor.
Here at Little Falls. Father Rekosiak has one of the largest churches in Morrison county, and needless to say, his long service in this community is a proof of his popularity among his parishioners. He is an eloquent orator, a sympathetic, kind and loving pastor, devoted sincerely to the church and its work.
REV. THEODORE J. REKOSIAK
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MORRISON AND TODD COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
OSCAR E. SWANSON.
The great commonwealth of Minnesota has become populated to a greater extent with the sturdy, industrious emigrants from Sweden than is the case in any other state in the union. Sweden is a northern country and is extensively engaged in the production of lumber and iron; these same facts apply to the state of Minnesota, and in the evolution of working out their fortunes in the New World, these determined Swedish emigrants have more especially selected the state of Minnesota as a favorite section for their homes and business affairs, because of the similarity of climate to their native country. Universally they have made good, and the prosperity in state of their adoption bears tribute to their labors.
Oscar E. Swanson, a brief history of whose life is here recorded, was born on October 9, 1871, in Sweden, and is the son of Charles and Carrie (Iver) Swanson, to whom were born five children, three of whom are living. Charles Swanson was born in 1821, in Sweden, and was engaged in the occupation of a carpenter until his death, in that country on December 31, 1901. Carrie (Iver) Swanson was born in Sweden in 1831, and in 1902, one year after the death of her husband, left the land of her birth and joined her children in Morrison county, Minnesota, where she died on March 4, 1915.
Oscar E. Swanson received his education in the schools of his native country, and in 1887 came to America and located in Kittson county, Minne- sota, where he worked one year as a railroad employee. After this first introduction on American soil he was employed as a farm hand for a period of nine years, after which he spent several years working at various occupa- tions, including mining. For thirteen years Oscar Swanson had lived in this country, working with an object in view, had saved his wages and on December 2. 1902, at the age of thirty-one years, he felt prepared to begin business for himself, and with a determination that brooks 110 defeat, he and his brother, Alfred, came to Belle Prairie township, where they imme- diately launched into the mercantile business.
Prospering in all business connections, Oscar Swanson is the owner of a half interest in eighty acres of land and a stockholder in a creamery, in the town of Freedham, Minnesota, in which town he lives. At the present time he has under construction an ample, one-story store building, twenty-seven by sixty feet in dimensions.
(35)
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In his political life, Oscar E. Swanson is a Republican and is an ardent member of the Swedish Lutheran church. Although never seeking public office, he was selected by his many friends as township trustee, in which capacity he is now serving. His life has been one of constant application. guided by an honest heart, and he is admitted to be the personification of integrity and enterprise by all who know him.
HENRY SWANSON.
The great immigration from Sweden has been of marked value to the agricultural and industrial progress of the United States. Among those citizens of foreign birth who have contributed liberally to the growth and prosperity of the northern farming states is Henry Swanson, who occupies a prominent place in public respect. He is a man of impregnable integrity, of great civic loyalty and unsual force of character. He has given to his children not only the heritage of a good name, but an example of what is highest and best in the ideals which make for perfect citizenship. His career has been one of intense application to hard labor, and the various occupa- tions in which he has been engaged prove his ability to handle many kinds of work.
Henry Swanson was born in Sweden on the 5th of February, 1875, and was the son of Swan Swanson and Inga (Pearson) Swanson, both natives of Sweden. Both parents are buried in Sweden. The subject of this sketch received his education in his native land and assisted his parents until 1803, when he came to this country. After landing in New York he went to Worcester, Massachusetts, where he obtained employment in a wire mill. Six months later he went to Minneapolis and worked with a grading crew for some time. The life on a farm always appealed to Mr. Swanson, and his first employment of that kind in this country was in the wheat fields of North Dakota, and later he worked in a lumber camp in the North. Returning to Minneapolis, he was employed there by the park board until he received a position with the Great Northern railroad. A few years later he took a timber claim in the iron country of the North, not far from Duluth -the land at this time could be purchased for something over one dollar an acre.
The occupation of clearing the land proved to be difficult and required unceasing toil and perseverance. Owing to the abundance of wild growth
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and brush on the farm very little space could at first be utilized in real culti- vation. Mr. Swanson was not long in erecting a house and barn, and found time to cut over eighty rods of road. He was able to sell most of the timber later and decided to visit his ancestral home and see his parents. He found much satisfaction in renewing old acquaintances and revisiting old scenes in Sweden and remained for six months there with relatives.
Nothing could prevail upon Mr. Swanson to remain in his native land, however, and he returned to America in 1902, where he settled in Morrison county. In this county he bought forty acres of land from Gus Swanson, in Swanville township, section 31, range 128, and began at once to clear it of the timber. The next year he bought eighty acres from the Northern Pacific railroad. This land adjoined his first purchase. He has continued the occupation of removing the forest covering from the land and now has sixteen acres in cultivation, besides forty acres in meadow. A log house furnished shelter on the place for a few years, but has been replaced by a thoroughly modern frame residence of two stories and brick veneer. Mr. Swanson has twenty head of dairy cattle.
On the 6th of July, 1908, Henry Swanson was united in marriage to Ellen Mary Palm, a native of Morrison county, Minnesota. Three children have been born to the union, Minnie Victoria, George Roosevelt and Ebba Viole. Mr. Swanson is an independent voter. Fraternally, he is associated with Lodge No. 258, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
ALFRED P. SMITH.
Among the farmers of Parker township, Morrison county, Minnesota, who believe in following twentieth-century methods in conducting the labors of their farm, is Alfred P. Smith, the respected subject of this sketch. Mr. Smith may justly claim the title of being a "self-made man" and he has always been strong for right living, industrious habits, for education and morality and for all that makes for the best good of the commonwealth. He also has attained a pleasing degree of material success and is indebted solely to his own efforts and enterprise for what he has accumulated.
Alfred P. Smith is a native of Sweden, born on October 8, 1855, son of Gustav and Eva (Passion) Smith, and is one of a family of five children, all of whom, with the exception of the oldest, have become residents of the United States. Adolph continues to live in his native land; John is a
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resident of Tacoma, Washington; August is deceased, and William is a farmer living near Elgin, Illinois; and Alfred P., the subject of this sketch, was born in 1812 and passed his entire life in Sweden, where all his active years were spent as a farm laborer. His death occurred in 1894.
Alfred P. Smith attended school in his native land, having to walk a distance of about seven miles each day, and the earlier years of his manhood were spent in farm labor. In 1891 he left Sweden and came to this country, where, in McLean county, Illinois, he secured employment. For about five years he was engaged in laying tile and digging the ditches which have so effectively drained that county, and in July of 1896 he came to Little Falls and purchased forty acres of land in Pike township. He lived on the place one summer, but never farmed it, as he was employed elsewhere as a laborer at the time, and so continued until 1901, when he bought his present farm of sixty acres in section I of Parker township.
This land was all under brush at the time Mr. Smith obtained possession of it and he set about clearing it for cultivation. He cut a great deal of cordwood and hauled it to Randall, receiving but seventy-five cents per cord for the same. He has now all of his land cleared and his 1915 crops comprise about twenty acres in hay, with the rest of his land in corn and oats. He has a nice hierd of graded stock and had a few head every year prepared for the market. He milks a number of cows, disposing of this product to the Randall Co-operative Creamery Company, in which he was the fourth man to become interested and to which he has ever since given his intelligent support. The log cabin and log barn which he originally built have since been replaced with a large hay barn holding twenty tons, and other valuable outbuildings, and a comfortable five-room cottage has housed the family of later years.
Alfred P. Smith was married before leaving his native land, his mar- riage taking place in 1885, and his bride being Sarah Nystrom, born on October 9, 1867. Mrs. Smith accompanied him to this country and very shortly after he came, his mother came over to join hier children, who were living at that time in Illinois. She came in 1891 and died nine years later. at the age of seventy-seven, having been born in 1823. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have a family of nine children, namely: Bird (Mrs. Fick), living in Otter Tail county, this state: Gustav, deceased; Bertha, of Little Falls; August, residing at Gregory, this state; Amelia, at Little Falls. and Fred, Mabel, Albert and Ernest, at home with the parents.
Mr. Smithi is one of those responsible men who keenly appreciate the duties of citizenship, and since first becoming a resident of this county he
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has evinced a most commendable interest in all that pertains to the best interests of the commonwealth, and any movement calculated to advance the material, social or moral life of the community finds in him an ardent sup- porter. In politics, Mr. Smith votes the Republican ticket, and while not a member of any religious society, he is an attendant upon divine worship. In every relation of life he has proven himself to be a clean and honorable man, and as such is justly entitled to the respect and confidence which is accorded him by his fellow citizens.
JERRY C. NICHOLS.
A representative of one of the honored families of Morrison county, Minnesota, Jerry C. Nichols has well upheld the prestige of a name that has been linked with the agricultural life of that state for a period of over forty years, and has marked by distinctive personal accomplishment a place for himself among those who have given untiring energy to the betterment of conditions in his community. A man of unusual ambition and force of character, he has become widely known throughout his section of the state for his successful attainments in the field of agriculture.
Jerry C. Nichols was born in Clinton county, New York, on the 14th of August, 1855, and is the son of Eli and Lydia (Norton) Nichols. He is the youngest of nine children, two of whom are now dead, four of the children are girls. Eli Nichols was born in Connecticut, and when a young man went to New York, where he started a saw-mill. In 1872 he settled in southern Minnesota, and took up the occupation of farming. This line of work, owing to the immense possibilities of the soil in that locality, more than brought large returns, so that the father of the subject of this sketch remained on his farm in Blue Earth county until his death, which occurred in 1880, when he was about seventy-five years old. Lydia Nichols was a native of Vermont and lived to the advanced age of eighty-seven years, her death occurring in 1901.
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