USA > Minnesota > Todd County > History of Morrison and Todd counties, Minnesota, their people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 7
USA > Minnesota > Morrison County > History of Morrison and Todd counties, Minnesota, their people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 7
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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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and Christine. Mr. and Mrs. Schultz were members of the Congregational church.
George Schultz was educated in the public schools of Elmdale township. He lived with his father and assisted him in the farm work until about thirty- two years old. In 1914 George Schultz was married to Christine ( Mar- gritson ) Sundeen, a native of Sweden, who came to America with her par- ents. Mrs. Schultz's father, after coming to the United States, settled in Morrison county, Minnesota. Mrs. Schultz was born in 1887. She has borne her husband one child, Wynona Margarette.
After his marriage Mr. Schultz had charge for a time of the road build- ing in a part of Elmdale township, but in January, 1915, he leased a butcher shop in Upsala, and is still in charge of this enterprise.
Mr. Schultz is identified with the Republican party, but he has never been especially active in its councils. He is a member of the Yeomen.
AUSTIN F. KOSLOSKY.
Among the leading citizens of Morrison county, Minnesota, is Austin F. Koslosky, a well-known merchant of Little Falls.
Austin F. Koslosky is a native of Prussian Poland, where he was born on August 28, 1871. . He is the son of Martin and Pauline Koslosky, the former of whom was born in Russian Poland in November, 1835, and who, after serving in the Russian and Prussian armies, came to America in 1873. Ile settled first at Cheska. in Carver county, Minnesota, where he performed various kinds of work for six and one-half years and then moved to a farmi near Silverlake, in McLeod county. Minnesota. While living in McLeod county Mrs. Pauline Koslosky died suddenly in October. 1904. After giving his farm to his younger children and making his home with them until 1914, Martin Koslosky came to Little Falls and is now residing with his son, Austin F .. the subject of this sketch.
Austin F. Koslosky came to America with his parents in 1873. He . received his elementary education in the rural schools near Silverlake. Minnesota, and was graduated from a Normal School at Dixon, Illinois, in 1898. After working with a surveying crew for one year. he came to Little Falls and clerked in the St. Paul department store at Little Falls until 1903. when he removed to Royalton and became manager of the "Emporium" store there. After remaining at Royalton for ten months, he returned to
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AUSTIN F. KOSLOSKY
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Little Falls and organized a corporation known as the Victor Clothing Com- pany, which dealt in men's furnishings and clothing and which had a store on Broadway. Mr. Koslosky became the general manager of the store. The company did a thriving business and in a short time the general man- ager began to buy out the other shareholders. After purchasing all the stock and the building, he remodeled the buildings and since then has enlarged the stock until it is now double its former value. He not only has an up-to-date store building, but handles a complete line of clothing, shoes and men's furnishings, besides ladies' shoes, hosiery and underwear. He carries one of the largest stocks in the city and Morrison county.
On October 14, 1901, Austin F. Koslosky was married at Little Falls to Caroline Masog, who was born in Silesia, Prussian Poland, on Septem- ber 23, 1873, and who came to America with her parents when a small girl and settled with them at North Prairie, in Morrison county. Mrs. Kos- losky was educated at North Prairie, at Little Falls and St. Cloud, and after finishing her education, taught school for five terms. She also clerked in the St. Paul store at Little Falls and there became acquainted with her future husband. Mrs. Koslosky has borne her husband four children, Oswald, Loretta, Mildred and Ione.
Austin F. Koslosky is a member of both the German Catholic and the Polish Catholic churches. A Republican in politics, he has served as alder- man of Little Falls for two terms. He is a member of the Morrison County Fair Association and one of the directors. Mr. Koslosky is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Improved Order of Red Men and the Knights of Columbus. He is a member of the Little Falls Com- mercial Club and was the president of the club in 1914.
CHARLES GRAVEL, SR.
Perhaps very few men have had a larger part in the development of the great Northwest than the venerable Charles Gravel, Sr., now a resident of Onamia, Millelacs county, Minnesota, but who is interested in the flour mill at Pierz, Minnesota. Mr. Gravel is a native of Montreal, Canada, born on December 13, 1844.
Charles Gravel, Sr., was educated in the public schools of Canada and lived in the Dominion of Canada until twenty-one years old, having learned
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the carpenter trade under the direction of his father, who taught the trade to all of his seven sons. When Mr. Gravel was twenty-one years old he removed to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he worked in a railroad shop for six months. He then worked as a carpenter for the government for two years at Leach Lake, Minnesota, after which, in partnership with a Mr. Lee, father of Hon. William E. Lee, of Long Prairie, Minnesota, he built a saw-mill at Red Lake, Minnesota. He then returned to Little Falls and shortly afterwards to Long Prairie, Minnesota, where he purchased one hun- dred and sixty acres of land. After building a house and otherwise improv- ing the land, he sold this farm, returned to Little Falls and operated a drug store, a general mercantile store and built houses under contract until 1870.
In 1870 Charles Gravel. Sr., established himself at Brainerd, Minne- sota, where he took contracts for building the culverts and bridges for the Northern Pacific railroad. During the next two years he was engaged in building the culverts and bridges from Brainerd to Fargo, North Dakota. With Brainerd as headquarters he then supplied the Northern Pacific rail- road with ties and timber under a contract lasting two years. Upon leaving Brainerd he removed to Little Falls, where he received a contract for carry- ing the mail between St. Cloud and Brainerd, Minnesota, operating a stage line until the Northern Pacific railway was completed in 1876. In partner- ship with F. X. Goulet, Mr. Gravel then constructed a flour-mill at Gravel- ville, a town named for him. In this mill the old stone process of milling was employed. Later Mr. Gravel was engaged in the lumber business, build- ing a saw-mill, which he operated for eight or ten years. In 1883 he sub- stituted the modern roller system in his flour-mill and provided for a mill with one hundred barrels capacity. This mill was operated until the spring of 1905, when he sold out and completed the construction of a mill at Pierz. beginning operations on October 12, 1905, with a capacity of one hundred and twenty-five barrels. Charles E. Gravel. a son, was taken into the busi- ness as manager and partner.
Several years ago Mr. Gravel removed from Little Falls to Onamia, Minnesota, and in partnership with C. B. Buckman and a man by the name of McGee, engaged in the lumber and mercantile business. Later the part- nership was changed to Gravel & Robinson, but the company was operated as the Onamia Lumber and Mercantile Company. In 1913 Mr. Gravel pur- chased the interest of Mr. Robinson in the business, and took into the busi- ness with him his two sons, F. H. and E. A. Gravel, who now operate it.
Charles Gravel. Sr., is now a man past seventy years, but is remarkably well preserved for one of that age. His active life seems to have been good
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for him, and he is now able to walk faster and farther than most men of fifty, or even less. Although not at present a resident of Morrison county, he is very well known here for what he has done to promote the commercial development of this section of Minnesota. Essentially, Charles Gravel, Sr., belongs to the era of pioneer development, but unlike some of the men with whom he has been associated in this great work, he has lived to see the slow fruition of the many things for which he has striven in the upbuilding of this great commonwealth.
RUBIN ERICKSON.
Rubin Erickson, who is well known in Elmdale township, Morrison county, Minnesota, as a merchant, and who has enjoyed a very flattering measure of success since engaging in the mercantile business in 1911, is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, born on July 9, 1888.
Mr. Erickson is a son of Erick and Anna (Eschen) Erickson, the former of whom was born in 1854 in Sweden, and who came to the United States as a young man, settling in Minneapolis, where he followed the car- penter's trade and lived for eight years. He then removed to Elmdale township, Morrison county, where he purchased eighty acres of land, a part of which was under cultivation. He lived on this place for about twenty-four years, when he sold out, and in 1915 built a home in Upsala, and has since lived retired. His wife was also born in Sweden and is one year younger than her husband. She came to the United States alone and settled in Minneapolis, where she was married. The courtship between Mr. and Mrs. Erick Erickson started in Sweden. They are the parents of four children, Albin, Rubin, Edwin and Ethel. The mother of these children died on July 7, 1912, at the age of fifty-seven years. She was a faithful and devoted member of the Congregational church, as is her husband. Erick Erickson is an independent Republican in politics.
When a young man Rubin Erickson came to Upsala and here attended school, assisting his father on the farm until twenty-five years of age. On November 19, 1913, Rubin Erickson was married to Selma Hedin, the daugh- ter of Ole and Mary (Littleburg) Hedin. Ole Hedin was born at Yarpin, November 4, 1858, and after coming to America, settled at Escauaba, Michi- gan, where he was married to Mary Littleburg. She was born in Sweden, January 10, 1860, and came to America alone. Mr. and Mrs. Ole Hedin are the parents of the following children : Henry, John, Arvid, Selma,
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George, Christina and Emma. After his marriage Ole Hedin lived in Escau- aba for two years, working in the woods. Later he removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he engaged in the brick and stone business. After six years he came to Elmdale township, Morrison county, where he purchased forty acres of land in the woods. This land he cleared and put under culti- vation. Later he added forty acres, and then eighty acres. Subsequently he sold eighty acres of the farm to his eldest son, but is still farming the remaining part of the place. He is a member of the Congregational church, and is independent in politics.
After his marriage Rubin Erickson rented eighty acres of land in Elm- dale township, and operated this farm for one year. In 1914 he purchased the store building and lot, stock of dry goods and shoes owned by Esther Carlson, who had established the store in 1911. Mr. Erickson manages and operates this store and has met with a very commendable degree of success.
Mr. and Mrs. Rubin Erickson are the parents of one child, Walter, born on April 21, 1915.
Rubin Erickson is an independent Republican in politics. He is a mem- ber of the Yeomen, and has held most of the offices in this lodge.
AXEL MARTIN BORGSTROM.
It is the progressive, wide-awake man of affairs who makes the real history of the community. His influence as a potential factor in the body politic is difficult to estimate. The example such men furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity illustrates what every man may accomplish. There is always a measure of satisfaction in referring, even in a casual way, to the achievements of men who have been prominent in business and public life. Such a man is Axel Martin Borgstrom, an enterprising citizen of Upsala, and since April, 1915, cashier of the bank at that place. Mr. Borg- strom, with his father, platted the town of Upsala and promoted the sale of town lots.
Axel Martin Borgstrom was born on August 8, 1888, in Sweden, and is the son of John S. and Anna ( Martinson) Borgstrom, the former of whom was born on June 7, 1861, in Sweden and who was the son of Swan and Margaretta ( Erickson) Borgstrom, also natives of Sweden. Swan Borgstrom was a member of the Swedish standing army for thirty-five years.
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or until his retirement on a pension. He is now eighty-nine years old. His wife died in 1914, at the age of eighty-eight years. She was the mother of four children, Erick, Swan, Jr., Anna and John.
John Borgstrom was educated in the common schools of his native land and in the high school. He graduated from the military school at Carlsbyer and served in the army for nine years. In 1893 he came to the United States, landing in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Coming to Minnesota, he bought eighty acres of land in Elmdale township. After farming the land for three years, he opened a photograph gallery at Upsala, one at Swanville and another at Gilligan. After seven years he sold out and opened a con- fectionery store and was appointed postmaster, holding the office for nine years. In 1909 Mr. Borgstrom sold the candy store and bought a hardware store, which he operated until 1915, when he again sold out and bought a lumber and furniture store, which he still operates. Mr. Borgstrom is vice- president and director of the Farmers' State Bank at Upsala and one of its organizers. He is also a director and member of the board of the People's State Bank of Swanville. He is interested in the People's Bank at St. Paul, Minnesota. He has a sixteen-acre farm at the edge of Upsala. In 1886 Mr. Borgstrom was married in Sweden to Anna Martinson, who was born and reared in that country. To them have been born three children, Hilma, Esther and Axel. Mr. Borgstrom is a member of the Lutheran church. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Yeomen of America. An independent in politics, he has served as township treasurer for eighteen years. Among his other financial interests are the Farmers' Co-operative Company and the Elmdale Telephone Company, in both of which he is treasurer.
Axel M. Borgstrom was five years old when he was brought to the United States. He attended the public schools of Upsala and afterward the business college at Little Falls and Northwestern College at Fergus Falls, being graduated from the latter institution with the class of 1910. Finishing his education, he came back to Upsala and when twenty-two years old, opened a confectionery and millinery store, which he still operates.
On August 26, 1914, Axel M. Borgstrom was married to Carrie Borg- strom, a native of Sweden, who came to the United States with her parents, settling in northern Minnesota. Mrs. Borgstrom is the daughter of Erick and Mary Borgstrom, natives of Sweden.
In May, 1914, Axel M. Borgstrom was appointed assistant cashier of the Farmers Bank of Upsala, and in April of the present year was appointed
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cashier. He is a stockholder of the bank and one of its directors. Mr. and Mrs. Borgstrom own their own home in Upsala. Mr. Borgstrom has also been in the automobile business for some years.
JOHN H. PETERSON.
Elmdale township, Morrison county, Minnesota, may well take just pride in the fact that it can still number in the ranks of its citizens one of its original settlers. This is John H. Peterson, who first came to this township in 1872, and a story of whose life from that time on is interwoven closely with the history of his chosen township through its various stages of develop- ment. Mr. Peterson has seen the forests and scrub undergrowth gradually disappear, fields and farms take their places, roads appear and communities spring up in places which he can remember as clothed only with virgin growth. He has many interesting stories to relate of the hardships and privations of those early days, stories which now are pleasant to recall inas- much as conditions have so changed and those hardships and privations 110 longer necessary.
John H. Peterson is a native of Sweden, born in the eastern portion of that country on March 10, 1848, son of Peter Peterson and Hannah, his wife. Neither of Mr. Peterson's parents ever left their home country and both lie buried there. His father, who was a farmer, lived to the ripe old age of eighty-three years, his death occurring in the year 1909. The mother (lied at the early age of thirty-five, leaving five children, John H. being the third child in order of birth.
John H. Peterson got what little education he could when a boy and was only nine years of age at the time of his mother's death. While only a child himself, he was thus early loaded with responsibility, for he had a baby sister, whose care fell to his lot. He took care of her until she was able to look after herself, and then he started out in life for himself. He first went into the paper factory, there to master the art of paper making, and remained there four and one-half years. By that time he received his papers entitling him to recognition as a finished paper maker, and he next turned his atten- tion to learning the flour-milling trade. He worked in the mills for four years, mastering the secrets of making and blending flour, and his next employment was with a railroad company, with whom he worked until 1869. He was then twenty-one years old and decided to take up his life in the
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United States. He landed in New York in 1869 and then went over to New Jersey and remained there three months. He then started westward into the country where so many of his countrymen were, making Saint Paul his destination. However, he remained there only a short time, during which time he was employed by the railroad company. This probably lasted about a year and he next went to Mankato, where he worked as a stonemason, remaining there until the fall of 1871.
The following spring he was united in marriage with Hannah John- berg, born in Sweden on November 24, 1850. Hannah had come to this country with her sister-in-law and had been here about eighteen months previous to her marriage. To this union were born thirteen children, as follow : Tilda, Anna, Henry, Fred, Lena, Louis, Clara (deceased), Emma (wife of Charles Guthfort), Gust, Ahna, David, and two who died in infancy.
Directly after his marriage, Mr. Peterson brought his bride to Elmdale township and secured one hundred and sixty acres of land from the gov- ernment. This he homesteaded, proving up on it and securing his patent papers in due time. He built his first dwelling on the land in the fall of 1872, when he erected a small shack in which they lived for a few years. Their household goods had been freighted to St. Cloud and it was necessary for him to cover the distance between that point and his home (thirty-five miles) with a team of oxen in order to get his goods to their destination. There were no roadways at that time and he had to mark out a path for himself as he came along. He found his way so difficult that the short journey of thirty-five miles consumed three days. He brought with him in addition to the household supplies sufficient lumber to roof his new shack and then settled down to pass the winter as best they might. The next spring he was able to break up two acres and since that time he has broken new ground almost every year. He now has most of his land cleared, having about eighty acres under cultivation and the balance in pasture land and meadow.
In 1905 Mr. Peterson sold eighty acres, making his present holdings one hundred and sixty acres. Mr. Peterson divides his time between general farming and stock raising, having these two phases of agricultural work so planned as to properly balance each other. He is one of the stockholders in the Upsala Co-Operative Creamery Association, being one of the origina- tors of that organization. He is milking ten cows in the summer of 1915, disposing of his product to the creamery. He was at one time president of that company and is at the present time serving as its vice-president.
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Mr. Peterson holds his religious membership in the Lutheran church, being one of the faithful members of that society. He gives his support to the Republican party. He has served as a member of the town board for three terms and is one of those substantial citizens who can be counted on to give his support to any worthy movement. Mr. Peterson is also a member of the Elmdale Shipping Association, being among the first to be interested in same. Mr. Peterson possesses those qualities which gain friendships, and in the community where he has lived for so long a time he is held in the warmest regard. He has from the first been anxious to secure for his com- munity such improvements and bring about such conditions as would tend to make life's duties less burdensome, and many of the privileges today enjoyed are due to the influence which he set in motion.
HENRY EDWARD HOKENSON.
Henry Edward Hokenson, a prosperous hardware dealer of Upsala, Morrison county, Minnesota, has had much to do in advancing the commer- cial interests of Elmdale township. He is a representative of the business! men of Elmdale township and particularly typical on account of his cordial relations with his patrons and his high reputation for honorable dealings. Although he has been in business at Upsala only a few months. he has already proved his business ability. In addition to the hardware store, he owns a farm of eighty acres under cultivation in section 34, of Swanville township.
Henry Edward Hokenson was born on February 9. 1885, in Elmdale township, Morrison county, Minnesota. He is the son of Andrew and Betsy ( Nelson) Hokenson. Andrew Hokenson is a native of Sweden, who came to America about five years after his marriage and settled in this township. Here he bought one hundred and twenty acres of land and later added forty acres adjoining the original tract. He farmed until 1914, when he sold out and moved to Upsala, where he is now living retired. His wife is also a native of Sweden. To them have been born eight children, two of whom are deceased. The living children are : Jennie ; Ellen, wife of Mr. Goodwin: Ida, who married Fred Sall; Henry E., the subject of this sketch; Fred, and Esther, who married Ever Olson. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Hokenson and family are members of the Congregational church.
Henry E. Hokenson was educated in district school No. 15. and after
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finishing his education assisted his father on the farm until 1908, when he went to Minneapolis and for a time was foreman of the boiler room of the electric light plant. He remained in Minneapolis for six years, in the mean- time saving his money. On May 15, 1915, he purchased the hardware store owned by J. S. Bergstrom. Mr. Hokenson has no competition in the hard- ware business in this town.
A few months after establishing himself in the hardware business, on July 12, 1915, Henry Edward Hokenson was married to Olga Frisk, the daughter of Nels Frisk. She was born on July 20, 1890, at St. Paul, Minne- sota. When a mere infant she was brought by her parents to Upsala, where she was educated. When she was about seventeen years old, she went to Minneapolis and worked there until a few months before her marriage. Mrs. Hokenson's parents were both born in Sweden. They settled first in St. Paul and then purchased a farm in Elmdale township, where they still live. Mrs. Hogenson, who is the eldest child in her parents' family, has one brother and four sisters.
Mr. Hokenson is a past officer in the Yeomen of America.
CHARLES J. SWEDBACK.
A man's reputation is the property of the world, for the laws of nature have forbidden isolation. Every human being either submits to the con- trolling influence of others or wields an influence which controls, guides or directs others. If a man is honest and successful in his chosen field of effort and endeavor, his work may serve as an example for others to follow. The reputation of Charles J. Swedback, a prosperous young merchant of Upsala, and one of the leading citizens in this part of Morrison county, is altogether unassailable. His life has been one of honorable relations with his fellowsi and of large usefulness to them.
Charles J. Swedback, a native of Wright county, Minnesota, was born at Delano, July 20, 1874, and is the son of John and Erickka ( Anderson) Swedback, the former of whom was the son of John and Dorthia Swedback, and the latter was born in Sweden on March 9, 1841, the daughter of Arikka and Magdelina Anderson. Mrs. Erickka Swedback's father was born in 1803 in Sweden, and was a farmer by occupation. He died in 1876, at the age of seventy-three. Mrs. Swedback's mother was born in 1800 in Sweden. She lived to be seventy-eight years old, dying in 1878. Arikka and Magde-
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