History of Olmsted County, Minnesota, Part 45

Author: Joseph A. Leonard
Publication date: 1910
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 736

USA > Minnesota > Olmsted County > History of Olmsted County, Minnesota > Part 45

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CHARLES VAN CAMPEN, local agent at Rochester for the Chi- cago & Northwestern Railway Company, was born in Warren county, New Jersey, October 30, 1843, a son of Abraham and Mary (Depue) Van Campen, and a grandson of James Van Campen. This family is of old Dutch stock, and was among the early ones to settle in this country. The great-grandfather of Abraham Van Campen served the colonies in their struggle for independence. The Depues were also among the pioneers of America, Judge Nicho- las Depue being one of the first of that name in this country. Abraham Van Campen, the father of our subject, remained in New Jersey until 1856, then until 1872 resided in Lee county, Illi- nois, after which he went to Ames, Iowa, and engaged in agri- cultural pursuits until his death. His son Charles was reared and educated in Illinois and remained with his parents until August, 1862. He then enlisted in the Union cause in Company I, Eighty- ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Hodgkiss, was mustered into the service at Chicago, was ordered to Louisville and · assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, and served with that command to the close of the struggle. Mr. Van Campen partici- pated in the following named battles : Perryville, Stone River, Tul- lahoma, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, with Sherman from Chattanooga to and including Atlanta. His command then was de- tached to go in pursuit of General Hood's army and he participated in the Franklin and Nashville engagements. At the battle of New Hope Church, Georgia, he was wounded, and for three weeks lay on the battlefield before being taken to a hospital. June 23, 1865, at Chicago, he was honorably discharged by the war department of the United States government, and immediately returned to the old homestead in Illinois, where he remained a short time recuperating from his wound. After attending school for a while, he taught one term, and in 1867 went to Chicago in the employ of the Chi- cago & Northwestern Railway, with which corporation he has been connected ever since. In March, 1874, he came to Rochester, Min- nesota, and, with the exception of three years spent in Winona, has made this city his home ever since. In October, 1868, Mr. Van Campen was united in marriage with Miss Mary Elkins, daughter of William Elkins, of New York city, and to them have been born the following children : Cora, now Mrs. H. S. Adams, of Rochester; C. H., of Minneapolis; Elsie, now Mrs. Dr. Crewe; Mabel, now Mrs. John H. Kaler; Homer, with Chicago & Northwestern rail- way, at Rochester. In politics Mr. Van Campen is in principle a Democrat, but non-partisan in practice, and he has served as a member of the city council of Rochester. Socially he is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Masonic fraternity, of the latter organization being a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

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WILLIAM FRANCIS FLANARY, a practicing veterinary surgeon at St. Charles, and already well and favorably known in the com- munity, is the son of William J. and Margaret Flanary. His grandfather came to this country from Ireland and settled in the state of New York and there the father, William J., was born. The latter came West with his mother to Wisconsin and after residing in that state for a while, came in the early seventies to Olmsted county, where William J. and his brother Thomas bought a tract of 160 acres in Elmira township, to which was added at a later date 320 acres more in the same township. This large farm is yet owned by William J., who now resides in Chatfield, to which place he moved eighteen years ago, retired from the active duties of life. T. J. Flanary, son of William J. Flanary, resides on the old home farm. Mary and Nora Flanary reside with their father in Chatfield, the latter teaching music in Chatfield and Eyota. He is one of the well known, prosperous and prominent farmers of the eastern part of the county. He is a Democrat and from the start has been identified with the public affairs of the town- ship. His wife Margaret passed away in August, 1905, and lies buried at the Chatfield cemetery. William F., their son, was born on the home farm April 26, 1888, and during his minority attended the district schools and later attended the Chatfield high school. Upon attaining his manhood he attended the Ontario Veterinary College, took the full course and was graduated therefrom and re- ceived his diploma as veterinary surgeon. Succeeding this event he attended the university proper and in due time received his de- gree therefrom. He immediately began to practice his profession as veterinarian and has continued thus ever since with exceptional success. He is well known and has the confidence of the farming and stock raising community. He is a member of the Roman Catholic Church at St. Charles.

JOHN HALL, the present cashier of the Union National Bank at Rochester, is a native of Minnesota, his birth occurring May 27, 1872, at Winona. He was one of four children, all living, born to the marriage of George and Euphemia (Russell) Hall, who were natives of Scotland and there married. Shortly after the above union was solemnized the parents immigrated to Amer- ica and for a number of years resided at Winona, Minnesota, where the father followed his trade of carpentry. They subsequently moved to Rochester, where the elder Hall is now engaged as fore- man of pump repairs on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad. His son John was educated in the public and high schools of Winona, and after coming to Rochester clerked for a time in one of the business establishments here. In April, 1891, he entered the Union National Bank, as clerk, and by strict attention to busi-

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ness and careful observation has been steadily advanced to his present position. In September, 1908, he succeeded A. C. Gooding as cashier of that institution and has served as such ever since. In his political views Mr. Hall is a Republican and he takes an active interest in the administration of local public affairs. So- cially he is identified with the Knights of Pythia's and in religious belief affiliates with the Presbyterian Church. In 1897 he was united in marriage with Miss Johanna Mueller and they reside in Rochester.

WILLARD P. SAXTON has been for more than forty years one of the well-known farmers of Olmsted county. Benjamin R. and Sarah Saxton, his parents, were of English ancestry, the former of the family of which Mrs. McKinley, the wife of President McKin- ley, was a member. The advent of the Saxtons in America was about the time of the landing of the Mayflower and were descended from two brothers. Benjamin R. Saxton was a farmer by occu- pation. He moved to Wisconsin at an early day and there died February 15, 1898, at the age of eighty-eight years, one month and seventeen days. His wife died February 2, 1901, aged eighty- five years. Willard P. Saxton was born in Brookfield, Madison county, New York, March 19, 1848, and was taken by his parents to Wisconsin in 1853, where he assisted in the farm work and attended the district schools near Berlin during boyhood. He completed his school education at Ripon, Wisconsin, when twenty years old, and in 1868 came to Dover township, Olmsted county, Minnesota. For a time he was employed on a threshing machine, but soon rented an eighty-acre farm and in 1869 bought eighty acres of unimproved land. Purchasing a small house of a neigh- bor who had lost his place, he moved it on to his property and started in to grub, clear and break. As his means permitted he added to his original investment from time to time until he now owns 200 acres, all splendidly improved with buildings, trees and shrubbery. Mr. Saxton began life a poor boy and has made his own way in the world. Since 1901 he has resided in St. Charles, renting his farm, and dealing in horses and real estate. He was one of the organizers of the St. Charles State Bank, is a Re- publican, has held numerous local positions of honor and trust, and is a Royal Arch member of the Masonic fraternity. June 25, 1872, he married Miss Mary Augusta Childs, daughter of Isaac M. and Sarah R. Childs, who settled in Dover township, on Section 12, in 1856. Mr. and Mrs. Childs were among those who reclaimed the township from its primitive condition and who are remembered as being honest, industrious, God-fearing people. Mr. Childs died May 24, 1885, since which time Mrs. Childs, for the greater part, has lived with Mr. Saxton. Four daughters and two sons have

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been born to Mr. and Mrs. Saxton: Minnie S., died in infancy; George M., died when seven years old; Sarah Etta, died March 7, 1895, at the age of sixteen ; Willard I., a graduate of Winona Busi- ness College, now engaged in the grain business in Montana; Myrtle Alice, a graduate of the St. Charles High School and the Winona State Normal School, married to H. J. Edison, attorney at law at Kasson, Minnesota; her marriage took place June 16, 1909; and Gladys M., now in her third year of high school at St. Charles.

JOHN J. LAWLER was born in County Kerry, Ireland, on June 28, 1834, and is a son of Jeremiah and Margaret (English) Law- ler. He was reared to manhood in his native country and received a common school education. He assisted his father on the home farm, but in 1856, at the age of twenty-two years, he came to America in a sailing vessel, taking nine weeks to make the passage. At first he worked for a farmer in New York state for $8 per month. He then came West and for a while worked as a teamster on the construction of the Winona & St. Peter railroad. In the fall of 1857 he came to Olmsted county and preempted eighty acres of school land in what is now Haverhill township. This land he afterwards bought for $6 per acre. As time passed he kept adding to this tract until he owned a total of 540 acres, all in Haverhill ex- cept 160 in Marion.

On May 14, 1856, he married, at Dunkirk, New York, Miss Elizabeth McElligott, who was born in County Kerry, Ireland, in November. 1835. She came to America with her brothers and sis- ters in 1856, and all first settled in New York state, but a little later came to Olmsted county. Her parents were Patrick and Mary (Dore) McElligott, and they were the parents of ten children, as follows: Patrick, Jeremiah, Margaret (all three dying in early childhood of diphtheria), Mary, now Mrs. O. H. Cronin, of Tyler, Minnesota; John J., now bishop of St. Paul; Edward, married Anna Bowler and died in 1894, leaving one son-Archibald; Catherine, who became Mrs. John E. McGovern and died in 1892; Thomas R .; Michael A., who married Anna Kane and resides in Rochester; Elizabeth, who married Stephen M. Liddane and is the mother of one daughter-Lucile. The father of this family was a Democrat, but usually voted for the man and not for the party. For many years he was a member of the school board and also served in other offices in his township. He was a Roman Catholic, in which faith he brought up his children. He died September 24, 1904.

Thomas R. Lawler was born on the home farm in Haverhill township on May 6, 1870, and was educated in the common schools of the country, continuing thus until the age of fifteen years, when he took a business course in St. John's Parochial School, in Roches-

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ter. Later, for two years, he attended St. Thomas College, St. Paul. He then began business for himself as a clerk in a wholesale clothing establishment in St. Paul, but two years later entered a fur- niture store in that city. Later he took a course in the school of embalming in St. Paul, and in 1897 he embarked in the furniture and undertaking business at Rochester. He has thus continued with success ever since. On June 28, 1898, he married Miss Cath- erine V. Harney, and they have the following children : Ralph E., Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary. Mr. Lawler and family are of the Catholic faith.

MAURICE PALMER CHILDS, of Dover township, is a son of the old pioneer. Isaac Milton Childs, whose advent in Olmsted county, Minnesota, was in 1856, and his location on Section 12, Dover township. The Childs family originally came from England to America when this country was a colony of Great Britain, and cer- tain members participated on the side of the land of their adoption in the two wars with the mother country. Isaac Milton Childs was of New England nativity, his birth occurring in Connecticut in 1821, and was a farmer by occupation. Together with his wife, Sarah, he came to Olmsted county at a time when it was in its in- fancy, and together they lived and labored, endured the privations incident to pioneer life and became of the best citizens of the county. Mr. Childs died May 24, 1885, but his widow yet survives, and for the greater part of the time resides with her son-in-law, Willard P. Saxton, in St. Charles, and with Mr. Childs .. Maurice P. Childs was born in Dover township, this county, June 11, 1861, and until nineteen years old assisted in the work of the home farm and attended the district and St. Charles schools. His first tract was 160 acres on Sections 25 and 26, and to this he has since added eighty acres, making altogether 240 acres, all of which Mr. Childs has improved to such an extent as to become one of the best de- veloped, finely improved farms in Olmsted county. He owns also thirty-seven and one-half acres of timber land three miles west of Chatfield. In 1908 he removed to St. Charles and has since made his home there. Mr. Childs is a Royal Arch member of the Masonic fraternity and is a stockholder in the Citizens' State Bank of St. Charles. At Rochester, on May 21, 1889, he married Miss Phebe Sprague, and of the three children born to them Percy is the only living one. The other two died in infancy. Mrs. Childs is a daugh- ter of Amaziah and Phebe Sprague, who came from New York state to Minnesota in 1855 and settled at Chatfield. They were among the best people in that locality. Mr. Sprague was a farmer and died July 1I, 1878, aged fifty-five years. His wife died March 27, 1902, when sixty-four years old. Both are buried in the Chat- field cemetery.

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MARCELLUS G. HOLMES, who for years has most satisfactorily occupied the position of superintendent of the water works at Rochester, was born at Lomira, Dodge county, Wisconsin, Febru- ary 27, 1851, a son of Frank Holmes, of Genessee, New York, and Mary J. (Griffin ) Holmes, of Brandon, Vermont. The progenitors of the Holmes family in this country were two brothers, one of whom located on a farm in Connecticut, while the other followed the sea. All trace of the latter was lost. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Lester Holmes, early located in Genessee, New York, and there passed his life engaged in farming. Frank Holmes, the father of Marcellus G., settled in Wisconsin about 1849 and remained there eight years. He then came to Olmsted county, Minnesota, and engaged in the lumber business in New Haven town- ship. He built a saw mill on the Zumbro river, and continued in that line of business until 1864, at which time he removed to Rochester and followed contracting and building. In 1870 he embarked in the manufacture and sale of wind mills and pumps, and continued thus until 1887, when he retired from the active duties of life. Until 1900 he made his home in Rochester, but then moved to Minneapolis and remained there the rest of his days. He passed away May 24, 1906, greatly beloved and respected by all who knew him. To him and wife the following five children were born: Marcellus G., subject; Flora, deceased; Waldo, killed on C. & M. railroad; Mamie, now Mrs. J. W. Farnsworth, of River Falls, Wisconsin, and Edwin, of Seattle, Washington.

The oldest of the above named children, Marcellus G. Holmes, received his education in the public schools of Olmsted county, and after his schooling was completed remained some three years on the home farm. He then spent nine years in the pump business with his father, and the succeeding fourteen years assumed charge of the water supply and pumps of the eastern division of the Northern Pacific railroad. Later he was connected with Fairbanks, Morse & Company, at St. Paul, as foreman of construction of city and town water works, remaining thus employed seven years. He was then offered and accepted the position of superintendent of the Roches- ter Water Company, and has since filled this office in a most credit- able manner. The plant is located at the junction of the Zumbro river and Bear creek, and uses two Worthington pumps, each hav- ing a capacity of 1,500,000 gallons of water every twenty-four hours. The stand pipe, located on College Hill, about a mile from the water works, is 190 feet high, and, with a capacity of 240,000 gallons, gives a maximum pressure of 185 degrees, with a pos- sibility, in case of fire, of a much greater pressure. Rochester claims, and justly, too, as fine a water works as any in the state. On November 29, 1876, Mr. Holmes was married to Miss Kate Estella Batchelder, of Genessee county, New York state. She was

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a daughter of Leonard Anson and Lovicia (Daniels) Batchelder. Her father was a Civil war veteran and, after spending four years and nine months in the service of his country, came to Rochester and engaged in mason work until his death in October, 1905. To Mr. Holmes and wife the following children have been born: Menta, Jay H., Pearl, Neil and Kirk, the latter deceased.

WILLIAM COULSON is a son of Joseph and Harriet Coulson and has passed the greater part of his life in this county engaged in farming. He is located on a farm of 480 acres, of which 240 acres are in Elmira township and 240 in Dover township. His father passed away June 27, 1906, and his mother February 28, 1906. After their marriage in England the parents in 1853 came to this country, landing in New York, but at once coming west to Chicago, thence treking by ox teams to the La Crosse country in Wisconsin, near where they located on a wild farm and began their labor and trials. There they remained for sixteen years, or until 1869, when they came to the present farm in this county. Upon their arrival here they first built a small shanty of timbers obtained in the adjacent woods and of lumber hauled from Chatfield, but at a later date built a better structure. Joseph was a Republican and a member of the Methodist Church, belonging to the latter sixty- one years and serving as trustee and steward. Owing to his de- fective hearing he was compelled to forego all ordinary official posi- tions, though eminently qualified to fill any local office. He and his wife built up a splendid reputation here for good citizenship and excellent conduct.

William, their son, was born in Lincolnshire, England, on August 17, 1853, and when an infant was brought to America by his parents. He attended the district schools in Wisconsin, and after his arrival in this county continued to attend at the Elmira district school, near his father's residence. During his youth and early manhood he assisted his father on the farm, and from the start took more than ordinary interest in the success of all farm operations. He learned all the arts and mysteries of farming and stock rais- ing and ever since has been one of the most successful and up-to- date farmers of the county. Under his good judgment the build- ings have been remodeled and all things have been improved. He is at present engaged in building a fine new residence. He has taken a deep interest in public and political affairs and in all things relat- ing to good citizenship. He is a Republican and has served as a delegate at various conventions and recently was honored by ap- pointment from Governor Eberhart as delegate to the conservation convention at St. Paul. He is at present a justice of the peace and has occupied other important and responsible positions. He is a member of the Methodist Church and of the Woodmen, and is

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a Knight Templar and a Knight of the Scottish Rite. On June I, 1875, he married Miss Eliza, the daughter of Thomas and Lizzie Patterson, who were prominent farmers of Elmira township and among the first settlers. Thomas died in 1908 at the age of seventy- six years. His wife had died in 1875 at the age of forty-two years. William and Eliza Coulson have had six children, as follows : Josie, died at the age of seven years ; Nellie, married T. L. Phelps, auditor of Olmsted county ; Newell E., who has obtained a good education ; Frank W., a graduate of Rochester Business College ; Paul E., who is still at school; Leona, who is also at school and excels in drawing and painting. No people in the county are better known or more highly respected. All realize the great importance of education for the enjoyment and happy passage of life, and all are ambitious and are keeping step with the progress of events along modern lines.

SAMUEL DAY FAITOUTE, who for many years was a resident of Rochester and who died in December, 1874. is well remembered by the older citizens for his many excellent qualities of mind and heart. He was born in New York city on August 21, 1835, to the mar- riage of Jonathan Faitoute, of New Jersey, and Nancy Pierson Day, also of that state. Jonathan Faitoute was descended from one of the oldest families of Essex county, New Jersey, who came dur- ing the Revolutionary war with a band of Huguenots. He was engaged in the contracting, building and real estate business. Samuel Day Faitoute, the immediate subject of this memoir, re- ceived his early education in New York city and was later graduated from Burlington (New Jersey) College. Shortly after the com- pletion of his schooling he married Miss Abbie Frances Woodruff, of New Jersey, and in 1861, owing to failing health, came west with his wife and located in Rochester, Minnesota. Mr. Faitoute pur- chased a tract of land two and one-half miles west of town, in- vested in a large number of sheep, and was among the first in this section of the state to extensively engage in sheep raising. Con- tinued ill health eventually led to his retiring from the active duties of life and brought his life to a close. He was a man of bright in- tellect, thoroughly upright in all walks of life, and commanded the respect of all with whom he came in contact. Two daughters were born to his marriage with Miss Woodruff: Carrie, the wife of F. S. Haines, and Frances Day, now Mrs. A. C. Gooding. Mr. Faitoute was one of the founders of the public library at Rochester, and was noted for his generous aid and support in all laudable pub- lic undertakings. Mrs. Faitoute was born in Essex, now Union, county, New Jersey, a daughter of Noah and Mary ( Miller ) Wood- ruff, and is a lineal descendant of Lord Townley. The progenitor of the Townley family in America came here in 1684 with Lord Effingham-Howard and settled in New Jersey. Descendants fought

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on the side of the colonies during the Revolutionary war. The Woodruff records have been traced back to the year 1500. The immigrant ancestor was John Woodruff, who came from Fordwick, Kent, England, to Southampton, Long Island, in 1639. Later he became one of the founders of Elizabethtown, New Jersey (New Jersey was then a part of New York). In 1668 he was commis- sioned ensign by Governor Carteret and in 1675, during the Dutch occupation, was re-commissioned ensign of Elizabethtown militia by the council of war of New Netherlands. In 1684 he was ap- pointed high sheriff of the county. He was constable of the town in 1674. His descendant, Josiah Woodruff, and Mrs. Faitoute's great grandfather, born fifty years later, served in the colonial army during the Revolution as a member, at different times, of a com- pany of artillery, one of infantry, the Essex county militia, and a troop of light horse. John Woodruff, son of the emigrant, was high sheriff of Essex county in 1697. Mrs. Faitoute was largely instrumental in the organization of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Rochester, of which she has been regent since its inception. For three years she served as president of the Women's Rest Rooms, and is also an active member of the Monday Club. In many other ways she has endeared herself to the public in general.

ANDREW C. BERGAN was born in Rock Dell township December 29, 1862. (For an account of his parentage see sketch of K. C. Bergan.) His youth was spent, like that of other boys of the time, in getting a common school education at the old pioneer schools and in helping his parents to clear and cultivate the farm. Upon reach- ing manhood he started right by getting married, and soon bought an eighty-acre tract in Section 12, to which he afterward added another eighty-acre tract, thus giving him a fine farm of 160 acres. This place is now well improved and has good buildings and mod- ern machinery. Mr. Bergan is engaged in mixed farming and in raising live stock for the market. He is up-to-date in all his opera- tions and puts into effect many of the best scientific methods. His automobile is the first one owned in the township. He holds stock in the Zumbro Creamery Company, in the Farmers' Elevator Com- pany at Stewartville. In politics he is a Republican and has held the office of township assessor for two years, and clerk for twenty years, in his school district. He was confirmed in St. Olaf's church, of which he is a member and has been a trustee for several years. He is popular owing to his unfailing good nature and his genial companionship. His wife was formerly Miss Cora Sulland, daugh- ter of Soren and Christina Sulland, early settlers of Rock Dell township. To this union the following children were born: Caia, born November 19, 1888, who finished her education at the Ladies'

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History of Olmsted County, Minnesota, Part 45

Author: Joseph A. Leonard Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Number of Pages: 736

Author: Joseph A. Leonard
Publication date: 1910
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 736