USA > Minnesota > Todd County > History of Morrison and Todd counties, Minnesota, their people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 33
USA > Minnesota > Morrison County > History of Morrison and Todd counties, Minnesota, their people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 33
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
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Diedrich, both of whom were born in Wisconsin. Mrs. Vasaly is one of two children still living born to her parents, the other being Dr. Joseph W. Diedrich:
Peter J. Vasaly is a Democrat. He was on the Democratic electoral ticket from the sixth Minnesota congressional district in 1912 and was dele- gate to many conventions of his party. Mr. Vasaly is at present serving as chairman of the Democratic county committee of Morrison county. He is also a member of the state Democratic central committee. For a number of years he has been active in the Firemen's Relief Association and is first assistant chief of the Little Falls fire department. He served as treasurer of the relief association and fire department for a number of years. Mr. Vasaly is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Modern Brotherhood of America, the Mutual Benefit Associa- tion and the Improved Order of Red Men. In the latter lodge he is a past sachem. Mr. and Mrs. Vasaly are members of St. Xavier's Catholic church at Little Falls.
JOHN HEGG.
Among the citizens of Parker township, Morrison county, Minnesota, who have built up a comfortable home and surrounded themselves with good farming lands and personal property, few have attained a more pleas- ing degree of success than the respected subject of this sketch. With few opportunities except what his own efforts were capable of mastering and with many discouragements to overcome, he has made a good success in life and has the gratification of knowing that the community in which he has chosen to dwell has been benefited by his sincere efforts to lead a worthy life and discharge his full duty as a citizen.
John Hegg is a native of Sweden, born on December 7, 1864, a son of Samuel and Lena (Limberg) Hegg. There were originally eight children in the family, two of them now being deceased. Mr. Hegg received his educa- tion in his native land and while still a young man had mastered the trade of a tanner. In 1885 he emigrated to this country, coming directly to this section, and in Red Wing, this state, he secured a position working at his trade. He later worked for a time at his trade in Minneapolis, and in 1902 left the cities and came to this county, where he has since devoted his energies along agricultural lines. He owns eighty acres of well-improved
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land and has twenty acres under cultivation. He gives his best attention to the raising of a good grade of Guernsey cattle and each year has a goodly number ready for the markets. His residence contains seven rooms, is a story and a half high, painted brown, and the general appearance of the whole place is complimentary to the owner. Mr. Hegg can point with pride to his homestead, for as it now stands it represents many years of hard work and careful planning.
Samuel Hegg, father of the immediate subject of this sketch, was born in Sweden on June 20, 1839, and left there in 1896, about nine years after his son, John, emigrated. He settled in Minneapolis and worked in that city for several years as a laborer. He then came to this county, where he purchased a tract of eighty acres in section 36, of Parker township, which land he farmed for twelve years, making considerable improvements thereon. He then sold out and moved to North Dakota, where he and his wife (also a native of Sweden, born in 1842), are now living, engaged in farming.
In January, of 1888, John Hegg was united in marriage with Amenda Johnson, also a native of Sweden, born on March 17, 1867. She left her native land when a girl of seventeen and came to Minneapolis, where she met and married Mr. Hegg. They are the parents of seven children, as follow: Nellie (Mrs. Little), residing at Osgood, [owa; Stella, Paul, Enoch, William, Roy and Hazel at home. These young people move in the best social circles of the community and are promising young men and women.
Mr. Hegg is succeeding along all lines, as he deserves to, for he has brought to his labors the best of his brain and brawn. When he first came to this country, he and his little family lived in a little log house, with a small log barn and other small outbuildings, and he is justly entitled to be prond of the improvements he has been able to make. In politics, Mr. Hegg votes independently, and has satisfactorily served Parker township for one term as road supervisor. Although not a member of any church, he is an attendant upon divine worship and gives of his means toward the cause. Mr. Hegg is a man of many praiseworthy traits of character, being scrupu- lously honest in all his dealings with the world, generous and pleasant. He possesses good judgment, advocates clean polities. wholesome living and honesty in business. It is needless to add such a man has a host of friends and stands high in the estimation of those who know him. In addition to his private interests, Mr. Hegg is a shareholder in the Randall Co-operative Creamery Company.
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LYMAN WARREN AYER.
Few men living in Morrison county, Minnesota, have a more interesting personal history than Lyman Warren Ayer, who, by occupation or profes- sion, is an agriculturist, a surveyor, a cruiser and an author. Few men, at the age of fifty, possess the strength of body and mind which he possesses.
Born in what is now Pine county, Minnesota, at the Pokeguma Mis- sion, in 1834, he is now eighty-one years old. Lyman Warren Ayer is the son of the well-known and widely-beloved missionary, Frederick Ayer, whose wife was Elizabeth Taylor.
Frederick Ayer, who died shortly after the Civil War, was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, but, after reaching manhood, he went to Utica, New York, where he clerked for Mr. Whipple, the father of the late Epis- copal bishop of Minnesota. Mr. Ayer was in the employ of Mr. Whipple for several years but finally left Utica as a missionary, sent out by the board of foreign missions in 1830. He went to Mackinaw as a teacher of the Indian school, which was partly supported by the government. It was there that he met Miss Taylor, who was also a teacher and who shortly afterwards became his wife. They were married in Mackinaw. Elizabeth Taylor was born in Heath, Massachusetts, and, after growing to young womanhood, became prominent as a teacher and was the first assistant to Miss Lyons, the founder of the seminary at Mt. Holyoke, which is today widely known and recognized as one of the most prominent seminaries for girls in America
In 1832 or 1833, Frederick Ayer and his bride removed to what is now Pine City, in Pine county, where Mr. Ayer established the Pokeguma Mission. This mission was finally broken up by the Sioux Indians and Mr. Ayer established a mission at Sandy lake and at Red lake in 1842. In 1848 the family came to Belle Prairie, Morrison county. It was here that he established a school for the children of traders and the Chippewa children. It developed into a large and prosperous school.
Being a very energetic man he soon opened up a large farm, during the first breaking of land in Morrison county. This he did with oxen and a plow borrowed from the Hon. Henry M. Rice, but he never lost sight of his school nor what was being done. As long as he lived he kept his eye on the school. The school building which he erected was commodious and on Sunday was used for a church. Mr. Aver also erected a large home for himself, which is probably still standing.
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In 1863, during the War of the Rebellion, he was sent to Atlanta to take charge of the freedmen's bureau. It was while living at Atlanta that his useful life was ended. He died of pneumonia. His wife afterward came north and lived with her son, dying at the age of ninety-six years. Mr. Ayer gave his entire life to the education of the children of the pioneers of this section and the children of the Indians. He performed a most useful and honorable work and it may be said truthfully that the keynote of his career was service-service for all mankind.
It was in the environment of his father's school on the outpost of civilization that Lyman W. Ayer grew to manhood. Mr. Ayer received his entire education from his mother, with the exception of six months spent at Red river. This school was presided over at the time by a Scotchman.
After growing to maturity, Lyman W. Aver engaged in hunting, trap- ping and bronco "busting." In 1860 he was teaching school at the seminary at St. Cloud, where he met Laura Hill, who later became his wife and who was then a student. In 1861 Mr. Ayer enlisted in the Second Minnesota Battery of Light Artillery under Captain Hotchkiss. After being mustered into service at Ft. Snelling, the battery was sent to St. Louis, where it assembled and drilled. Finally it was sent down the river in boats and thence to Shiloh to take part in the battle, which was then in progress, but the battle was over when the battery reached that place. From that time, however. Mr. Ayer was in many engagements and saw active service throughout the War of the Rebellion. After the war he returned to Ft. Snelling. near St. Paul, and was mustered out of service on August 16, 1865.
Immediately after his discharge from the Union army, Mr. Ayer went south to Philadelphia, London county, Tennessee, where his young wife was then teaching school. She had followed her husband when he was in the army and her thrilling experiences in getting through the Confederate lines and finally into the Union lines seem almost incredible. After joining Mrs. Ayer, Mr. Ayer first found employment in a lumber yard. Later he taught school for some time and still later, his health being impaired, he and his wife moved to Atlanta, where his father was then stationed in charge of the freedmen's bureau. In Atlanta, Mr. and Mrs. Ayer both taught school for eighteen months. They then came north to St. Cloud. where they lived two years. While there Mr. Ayer was deputy county auditor for eighteen months. Coming to Little Falls, Mr. Ayer clerked for Hill Brothers in their general store for about one year. He then came to Belle Prairie, settling on the old homestead farm of six hundred acres. On this farm he spent considerable of his time, during the summer months espe-
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cially, and for two or three years in the winter he worked in the woods lumbering.
About 1873 Mr. Ayer went to work for the Northern Pacific railroad, collecting indemnity lands, surveying and cruising. He was connected with the Northern Pacific for twelve years and then went to the Mesaba range and worked for the Merritts, who were the first people to open up the iron business. He was only with them a short time, when he became connected with the Duluth and Iron Range Company. Mr. Ayer is now working for the state of Minnesota and is engaged in taking the Indian census, cruis- ing and surveying. His remarkable vitality at his advanced age is phenom- enal. He thinks nothing of walking forty or fifty miles in a day, cruising and surveying.
One of the first white children born in Minnesota. Lyman Warren Ayer. although eighty-one years old, has a perfect memory and is strong and active. It is doubtful if there is another man in the state of his advanced years, who can equal him in bodily strength and endurance. His mind is as clear as a bell and today he is one of the best-informed men in the state of Minnesota, particularly in matters pertaining to history from the Indian times to the present. He knows their language and speaks it fluently.
Mr. Ayer's wife, who before her marriage was Laura Hill, was a native of Maine, the daughter of Stephen and Hannah ( Phillips) Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Ayer have been the parents of two children, Ina F. and Agnes. The latter died at the age of seventeen. Ina F. married O. B. Sims and is the mother of five children.
HOKEN NELSON.
Someone has said that if every human life could be analyzed and offered for study it would prove of much benefit to mankind. This, no doubt, is true, although as a general rule we think only of those spectacular lives serving as examples to the young and ambitious. But this is not altogether the case, for in many lives which have presented to the world nothing of especial interest, there have been fought such battles on the field of honor and integrity as would appeal to the most indifferent. Much credit is due that man who has begun life on the low rungs of the ladder of success and who without the help of influential friends has won not only a pleasing degree of material success but has also made his influence for good felt in such manner as marks him one of his community's leading citizens.
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Such, in short, is the brief outline of Hoken Nelson, subject of this short biographical sketch.
Hoken Nelson is a native of Sweden, born on January 9, 1853, son of Nels Person and Buel ( Rasmusen) Person, both natives of Sweden, who passed their entire lives in their native land. Nels was a brick and stone mason by trade and lived to be about sixty-five years of age. Buel Ras- musen, mother of Hoken Nelson, was the third wife of Nels Person, and, like the first two, she died young. She was the mother of two children, Hoken being the younger. The other child died an infant. At the time of his mother's death, Hoken Nelson was but two years of age and his father married for his fourth wife a young lady by the name of Sisa Stalberg, who died at the age of seventy-four.
Hoken Nelson received his education in his native land, attending the common schools until fifteen years of age, and for the following six years he was employed in various ways. When twenty-one years of age he decided to master the carpenter's trade, and so apprenticed himself. He worked at that trade until the time of his marriage, when he was twenty- seven years of age. This was in December of 1880, and the following May he came to the United States, locating in the city of St. Paul, where he remained for ten years. He then came to Elmdale township, Morrison county, where he purchased forty acres of land and started in to farm. He later purchased an additional forty and is farming the entire tract of eighty acres at the present time, with the exception of the acreage which he keeps for pasture. Ile finds the raising of live stock a most lucrative side line to his general business, and generally has on his farm about twenty-five head of cattle, four horses and other stock.
Mrs. Nelson, before her marriage, was Carie Johnson, and to her and her husband have been born four children: Tillie, Dorothea, Mary and Frank. In addition to the demands upon his time incident to his farm and its business, Mr. Nelson is able to evince an interest in outside matters and is a stockholder in the Farmers Co-operative Creamery Company. He is one of those earnest men who feel the responsibility of citizenship and. consequently, is interested in anything which will raise higher the standard of civilization in the place chosen by him for residence. He is a member of the Congregational church and molds his life in accordance with its teach- ings, while he gives stalwart support to the principles advocated by the Republican party. He has made a place for himself in his community and is held high in the esteem of those who know him.
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MORRISON AND TODD COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
FRANK RENICK.
One of the best-known citizens of Morrison county, Minnesota, is Frank Renick, the esteemed treasurer of the county, making his home at Little Falls, the county seat. Mr. Renick has the distinction of holding the office in question longer than any predecessor, having been re-elected five times, the last time being for a term of four years. He is nominally the candidate of the Republican party, but his constituents are drawn from all parties, for he is personally well known and universally respected by men in all stations of life and of various political convictions. His repeated re-elections are a high tribute to the manner in which he has discharged the duties of his office, as well as an acknowledgment of the esteem in which he is universally held.
Frank Renick is a native of Wisconsin, born near the town of Henri- etta, in Richland county, on March 26, 1858, son of Lattimore and Lucy H. (Joslin) Renick. Lattimore Renick was a Kentuckian by birth, born on October 30, 1813, and throughout all the active years of his life he fol- lowed the carpenter trade in addition to his occupation of farmer. When nearing middle age, he located on a farm in Wisconsin, where he passed forty-four years of his life and died in October of 1896, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. Lattimore Renick was a man who was not only active as concerned his private affairs, but also took much more than a passing interest in matters pertaining to the general welfare of the com- munity in which he had chosen to make his home. For many years he was justice of the peace and was highly esteemed for the impartial manner in which he meted out justice. He wa's a stanch supporter of the Democratic party and in that capacity was active in educational affairs of his home township. For many years he was a member of the school board and at various times served as chairman and treasurer of the township board. Hc was a man of broad charity and liberal views and left the impress of his strong and honorable personality upon the life of the community, being especially active at the time of its early development. Lucy (Joslin) Renick was a native of the state of New York, born in 1826, and when a young woman came with her family when they settled in Michigan. However, they remained there but a comparatively short time, when they removed to Wisconsin, where Lucy became the wife of Lattimore Renick and passed the remaining years of her life. She died on December 18, 1903, at the age of seventy-seven years. Mrs. Renick was a woman of more than ordinary
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refinement, a faithful wife and mother and many of the excellent traits of Frank, the immediate subject of this sketch, are due to her own womanli- ness and careful training of her children. She was the mother of a family of eleven children, Frank being the seventh child in order of birth.
Frank Renick received his education in the common schools of Rich- land county. Wisconsin, district school No. 6, being located not far from the Renick homestead. After his school days were over he continued to assist his father in the work of the farm until he was twenty-two years of age, at which time he was married and started out in life for himself. His first business venture was the purchase of a tract of wild land located in Forest township, Vernon county, Wisconsin. This contained thirty-eight acres but he did not do much toward improving it and disposed of it a couple of years after purchasing. In March of 1885 Mr. Renick came into Morrison county and secured the rental of a farm in Buckman township. where he remained for the following five years. He then purchased a farm containing three hundred and ninety-eight acres in sections 32, 33 and 28, range 31, of Bellevue township, a small portion of which was improved. He set about getting the balance of his acreage under cultivation, and a few years later sold two hundred and forty acres, retaining one hundred and fifty-eight. There he made his home until 1906, having the reputation of being among the leading farmers of that section, and on December 6th of the year mentioned, he moved his family to Little Falls, there to assume the duties of county treasurer, to which office he had been elected that fall.
Frank Renick was married on November 29, 1880, to Flora M. Ayres, born on January 18, 1860, in Sauk county, Wisconsin, daughter of Tyler F. and Mary ( Fowler ) Ayres. Tyler F. Ayres was born in New York state in 1836 and when a young man ventured into the then far west in search of a good location, finding a suitable location in Sauk county, Wisconsin. There he married and reared his family, remaining there until 1897 when he moved to Royalton, Minnesota, where he passed his remaining days. He was a farmer and also a cabinet-maker, which trade he followed all the active years of his life. He was a veteran of the Civil War, having been engaged in some of the fiercest and most decisive battles of that struggle as a private in a Wisconsin volunteer infantry regiment. He suffered such privations and hardship while in service as practically ruined his health, preventing him from following his former active way in life, and for many years he oper- ated a hardware store in Union Center, Wisconsin. His death occurred at his home in Royalton, Minnesota. in 1908, when in his seventy-third year.
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Mary (Fowler) Ayres, wife of Tyler F. Ayres and mother of Mrs. Frank Renick, was born in Hancock county, Virginia, on August 28. 1842, and with her parents moved to Sauk county, Wisconsin, where she married. She became the mother of seven children, Mrs. Renick being the eldest of the family.
Mr. and Mrs. Renick are the parents of five children, one of which, Ernest A., died in early infancy. Those remaining are: Mary Winifred, Charles W., Flora M. and Lucy M.
Mr. Renick is a man of broad and ready sympathy and genial disposi- tion, and in addition to his popularity in political fields he is widely known as one of the most active workers in various fraternal circles. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in which work he has attained the chapter degree and is at the present time serving as treasurer of his blue lodge. He is a past exalted ruler of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and also of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mr. Renick is keenly inter- ested in the workings of the various orders named and has gone through the chairs in all of them. His personality is such as enables him to maintain the dignity of the various fraternal offices and his consistent manner of living is such as has won for him many close and admiring friends. Mr. Renick is a man and citizen of the highest type whose influence is given solely for the betterment of his fellow men.
CHARLES WINSCHER.
In the agricultural history of Buckman township. Morrison county, Minnesota, the name Winscher occupies a conspicuous place. Charles Winscher's father, until his death a few years ago, was one of the most prosperous farmers of the township. Charles Winscher himself is a pro- gressive, enterprising and persevering farmer, one who loves the out-of-door life, who is thoroughly in love with his chosen vocation. In his career in Buckman township he has proven to be an influential factor and is now a young man who enjoys the confidence and esteem of all his neighbors.
Charles Winscher, a native of Germany. born on June 14, 1881, is the son of the late Carl and Mary Winscher, also natives of Germany. Mr. Winscher's father served in the army for three years and was a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War. He had married before the war and was a
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highly educated man, having held a government position as an agricultural instructor because of his expert knowledge of farming. In 1882 he sold . the small farm he owned in Germany and brought the family to America. After landing in New York city, the family came at once to Clear Lake, Minnesota, where the late Carl Winscher purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Stearns county. It was all wild timber land. There he built a log cabin and lived for about one year, when he sold out to William Whipper.
The family then moved to Buckman township, Morrison county, where Mr. Winscher purchased eighty acres of land in section 1. Five acres of this was cleared and a small log cabin stood on the tract. The family moved into the cabin and set about to clear the remainder of the eighty acres which was accomplished in a few years. During these years the crops were wheat and oats and were sowed by hand and harvested with a cradle, Carl Winscher being an expert with the cradle. At the time there were practically no good roads in the section. Mr. Winscher helped to build many of the good roads now to be found in this locality. He kept adding to his farm until, at his death, he owned four hundred acres, all of which was in one body, and all of which was under cultivation except a small amount of pasture and meadow land. During the first two years, the family lived in the log cabin. Mr. Winscher later built an attractive two-storied brick house and erected other buildings in keeping with the magnitude of his farming interests. The old log cabin is still standing but is now used as a milk house. Mr. Winscher passed away at his home at the age of seventy- seven years and eight months. His beloved wife, who also was a native of Germany, who was educated there and who lived with her parents until her marriage, is still living with her sons on the home place.
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