History of Olmsted County, Minnesota, Part 59

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

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HANS PETER HANSEN was born July 8, 1875, in Rock Dell township, Minnesota. His birthplace was very humble, a little stone house sixteen feet square, dug in the side of a hill, and here he spent the first five years of his life, playing on the banks of Zumbro river and ever a constant companion to his mother, who

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was a great deal alone, his father being away to work. In 1880 he moved with his parents to their new home mentioned herein in his father's history. He was educated in the common schools of Olmsted county, and at the age of fourteen years was confirmed in St. Olaf's Church by Rev. A. J. Thorson, of which church he became a member, but later joined the United Lutheran church, with which he is still affiliated. He was always a good, obedient boy and as a young man never left his father, but stayed and helped him, until he saw fit to take unto himself a bride, and on the 18th day of May, 1899, married Miss Johanna Jensine Holm, whose parents also were pioneers of Rock Dell township. The happy couple took up the responsibility of farming, renting his father's farm. To this union the following children were born: Johney Arthur, born April 18, 1900; Elvin Victor, born Decem- ber 17, 1901 ; and Jehart Miller, born October 31, 1903. In March, 1908, Mr. Hansen purchased the farm of his father, and is now the owner of 197 acres of land, located in sections I and 12, Rock Dell township. He is one of the leading farmers of this portion of the county and has an abundance of good nature, and it is a pleasure to meet him and his excellent wife in their cosy home and enjoy their rare hospitality.

JOHN CLARK (deceased) was born in Ireland and was there reared and educated. Soon after reaching manhood he came to the United States and settled in Illinois and there engaged in farm- ing. In 1856 he sold out and came to Olmsted county and filed on a tract of 160 acres of government land in section 15, Pleasant Grove township, and here made his permanent home. He "proved up" in 1862, and his patent bears the name of Abraham Lincoln. Being one of the earliest settlers, he was forced to endure many inconveniences and hardships; but he was industrious and honest and in time secured a large and valuable property and also the high regard of all who knew him. He became prominent in local affairs and was one of the best citizens of the county. At the time of his death he was the owner of 500 acres of excellent land, all well improved with modern buildings, live stock and up-to-date equipment. He helped to build St. Bridget's Church, where he worshiped until his death. He passed away in 1888 and now sleeps his last sleep in the adjoining cemetery. In 1865 he mar- ried Miss Mary McGraw, whose parents were well known pioneers of this county, and to this union the following children were born: William resides in Canada and is engaged in farming; Kate, who married a Mr. Taylor; John, James, William, Edward, Charles, Franklin, George and Joseph. Edward is married and is working at the mason's trade, though living on the old place. John and George are farming the old homestead. The family are mem-

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bers of St. Bridget's Church. Mrs. Clark, though now seventy- five years old, is in full possession of all her faculties. She is one of the splendid women of the county, a loving wife, a kind, good mother, an obliging neighbor and a faithful Christian. In her home she is very hospitable, and she enjoys the companionship of her children and grandchildren.

MARK S. GOODE was born in Olmsted county in 1867 and is a son of Abraham J. and Huldah J. Goode, early settlers of this county. The father and mother were both natives of New York state, the father's birth occurring in 1827. In his early years the father moved to Pennsylvania, locating near Pittsburg, where he finished his education and learned the carpenter's trade. In 1849 he removed to Baraboo, Wisconsin, where two years later he was married to Miss Huldah J. Van Valkenburgh. To this union the following children were born: William B. (deceased) ; Lucy E., now Mrs. George Smith, of Tacoma, Washington; Cora E., of Pamona, California; F. Edwin (deceased) ; J. Paul, professor at University of Chicago; Martha R., now Mrs. A. E. Frost, of Pamona, California; Jane E. (deceased), and Mark S. In 1845 the family moved to Mississippi, returning to Wisconsin in 1856. In 1860 the father removed to Olmsted county, purchasing a tract of land in section 36, High Forest township, where he made his home. In 1864 he enlisted in Company C, Third Minnesota In- fantry, serving with credit until mustered out at the close of the war. While in the service his family lived in the village of Pleasant Grove. In 1868 he purchased a tract in section 2, Pleas- ant Grove township, and there passed the remainder of his days. He died August 16, 1893, and was buried in Marion Cemetery under the auspices of the I. O. O. F. He was prominent here in his lifetime and enjoyed the high regard of his friends and neighbors. Mark S., subject of this review, was born in the village of Pleasant Grove, his boyhood being spent on the farm which he now owns. He received a fair education at the district schools. At his father's death he bought the old home place and has owned the same ever since. He now owns 146 acres, all well improved, where he is devoting much of his time to the rearing of fine driving horses, registered Short-Horn cattle and Oxfordown sheep. On this farm, also, are produced Plymouth Rock and White Leghorn chickens. He is thoroughly up-to-date in all farming operations, being one of the best farmers of the county and one of its most prominent citizens. In 1895 he was married to Miss Mildred E. Pearson. He has two daughters. He takes the stand of a Republican.

MARTIN J. JOYCE was born in this county and is the son of James and Anne (Holland) Joyce. James Joyce, the father, was

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born in County Mayo, Ireland, in 1826, and came to the United States in 1856. After locating elsewhere for short periods he came to Olmsted county in 1859 and pre-empted a homestead in section 6 of the Panhandle of High Forest township, and here made his permanent home. On his journey to this county he crossed the Mississippi river at McGregor (McGregor's Landing), Iowa, and upon taking possession of his land cleared first a small plot, which was planted to potatoes and beans. He brought one cow with him, but his living at first consisted largely of wild game. In that early day all trading on a large scale was done at Winona, and usually the few neighbors would by agreement form caravans and go together in order to assist each other on the trip. Often they were gone for a week, during which time the women and children were left alone to care for the farm, stock, etc. In 1861 James Joyce married Anne Holland, who was born in 1838, her parents being pioneer settlers of Rock Dell township. During the Indian excite- ment of 1862 Mr. Joyce and wife took refuge against possible danger in the village of High Forest, where the settlers for miles around gathered for protection. Gradually as time passed the farm was cleared and put under a high state of cultivation until it was one of the best in the township. As the children grew up they were set at work to assist in raising grain and live stock. In time the family became surrounded with conveniences, comforts and were as happy as could be expected. To James and Anne Joyce were born ten children: Peter, who went west in 1885 to seek his fortune in the Dakotas, tried farming but later learned the butcher's trade; Mary, now the wife of Thomas R. O'Connor, a successful farmer of Pleasant Grove township; John, who married, has three children and is an up-to-date farmer in Mower county; James, who assisted in conducting the farm after the death of the father, which occurred February 13, 1889; in 1893 James bought the Pat Hol- land farm in section 6, township 104, range 15, and in 1894 he married Miss Elizabeth Montague, whose parents came from Canada and settled in Mower county at an early date ; he is a pros- perous farmer and has placed many dollars' worth of improvements on his place; Agnes, now the wife of Samuel Kent, a leading farmer and shipper of Norfolk, Nebraska, was graduated from the Academy of Our Lady of Lourdes and later from the Winona state normal, and for many years a successful teacher in the schools of Minnesota; Martin J. Joyce, now conducting the home farm, under whose supervision the log house and straw shed gave place to modern, well-equipped frame buildings, until now this farm-for beauty and productiveness-is one of the first country homes in Olmsted county; Anna Loretto, graduated from the Young Ladies' Seminary of Winona and took a teacher's course in the state normal school, was for several years a successful teacher in the schools

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of Minnesota and South Dakota; Francis, after finishing his junior year in the Stewartville high school, took a course in the Winona normal, taught one year in the schools of the county, then entered the Chicago College of Dental Surgery, graduating in the class of 1904; he is now enjoying a lucrative practice in Chicago; in 1906 he was married to Miss Celeste Cavanaugh, of Chicago; George attended the Howard and Chapman Industrial School and after finishing his course there he took preparatory work in Drake Uni- versity, Des Moines, Iowa, entered the Chicago College of Physi- cians and Surgeons and graduated with honors in the class of 1904; coming to Rochester, he entered into a partnership with Dr. Charles T. Granger; this partnership was dissolved by mutual consent in 1907 and Dr. Joyce located on South Broadway, where he has a large and successful practice; he was married to Miss Josephine Baier in 1906; Leo finished from the Faribault schools, took a post-graduate course there, then entered Gallandet College. Washington, D. C .; after finishing his course in this school he accepted a position in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, resigned after three years and is now in the office of the Rochester Daily Bul- letin. This family is one of the most prominent in the county. Its members are up-to-date in all things, are all ambitious and are all of good habits and character. They seem to be determined to get to the top and be among the leaders in progress, education, influence and enjoyment.

THOMAS ECKLES, one of Olmsted county's earliest settlers, now living a retired life in the village of Eyota, was born at York, county of Yorkshire, England, December 14, 1828, a son of Thomas and Margaret Eckles, both of whom were natives of that country. The father died in the old country in 1867, aged sixty- five years, but the mother came to America and made her home with two of her sons, Thomas and William, until her death in 1881. She was eighty-one years old when she passed away. The father was a farmer by occupation, being known in England as a "cottager." To him and wife the following children were born : William, of St. Paul; James (deceased), of Ripon, Wisconsin; George, who died in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1908, and Mary, who died in Brown county, Illinois, in 1908.

When twenty-one years old Thomas Eckles, in company with his brother James and wife, came from England to America and located at Ripon, Wisconsin, where he remained some six and a half years. The country was new and the times were hard, and for the first year Mr. Eckles worked for a farmer at the rate of nine dollars a month. At the end of the year the farmer was unable to pay him the wages due, and quite naturally Mr. Eckles was very much discouraged at his chances for success in the New

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World. Had he possessed the means he would have returned to England, but, being obliged to remain, he decided to secure further educational advantages and attended school for one winter. He says he was taught and learned more during that one year schooling than he had ever acquired in England. The year following he rented a farm and started out on his own responsibility. He dis- posed of his wheat at the rate of twenty-five cents a bushel, oats at ten cents, corn at twelve and one-half cents in trade, and at the end of the year concluded that farming in this country did not pay very well. For the succeeding three years he worked as a farm hand and then came to Olmsted county, Minnesota, located two and one-half miles southeast of the present village of Eyota, and resided thereon until 1907. The first portion of his farm, consisting of 160 acres, he bought for $185 and he turned in a land warrant which he possessed. In 1871 he added an adjoining forty acres and for this tract paid $1,700. This 200 acres of land Mr. Eckles developed into a fine farm, and this, when he retired from the active duties of life in recent years, he disposed of, and he is now passing his remaining years in the village of Eyota, enjoying the fruits of his many years of labor and toil. Mr. Eckles was a pioneer in bringing into this country from France the Percheron horse, and for thirty-three years was actively engaged in the importation of these animals. He expended during that time the sum of $20,000 for breeding stock, and his sales of young horses amounted to about the same. Altogether he realized about $26,000 from the breeding and sales of the Percheron horses. For eleven years he owned the horse "Winona," considered the best Percheron horse in the state. Mr. Eckles acquired a very skillful knowledge of veterinary medicines and treatments, and cured the first cases of glanders and putrid fever ever known, these diseases being then considered incurable. His successful treatment of horses caused much surprise and wonderment among the veteri- nary surgeons in this part of the country. Mr. Eckles was a charter member of the Olmsted County Grange Society, has long been a member of the Methodist church and in politics is a Repub- lican. On October 2, 1862, he was united in marriage with Miss Frances Jane Ware, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Jane Ware, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and to them were born two sons and one daughter, as follows: Charles T., a veterinary surgeon of St. Charles, Minnesota, who married Miss Harriet Wabby ; Mrs. Abbie Parsons, of St. Charles, and Augustus, who resides in Chicago. The mother of these children died in August, 1890, aged forty-six. and on September 21, 1899, Mr. Eckles wedded Miss Isabella Coulson, daughter of Joseph and Harriet (Hempstock) Coulson, natives of Lincolnshire, England, but who came to America in 1853 and settled near La Crosse, Wisconsin, and afterwards re-

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moved to Dover, Olmsted county, and there spent the rest of their days. Mr. Eckles was one of the very earliest settlers in Olmsted county, has experienced a very interesting career, and is now in a position to look back with justifiable pride to the struggle he made that brought him his present happiness and prosperity.

JAMES A. PETTEY was born in Jefferson county, New York, July 22, 1840, and is a son of Alphonzo and Melissa (Taylor) Pet- tey. Previous to the age of thirteen years, James A. lived with his parents in New York, and during that period received a limited education in the old-time schools. In 1853, when he was about thirteen years old, he was taken by his parents to Wisconsin, where, near Brillion, Calumet county, the father bought eighty acres of fertile timberland. Here James A. grew to manhood and added a little more to his education. While he was yet quite young he began to work in nearby sawmills and was thus occupied until he was twenty years old. He then left home and for some time worked as a farm laborer in the western part of Wisconsin, and later for six years worked various farms on shares. He then came to Olmsted county, where he bought forty acres in section 25, Pleasant Grove township, and here he has resided to the present day. As time passed he gradually added to his landed possessions until now he owns a fine farm of 120 acres, with good buildings and other valuable and modern improvements. He has made all his property by his own trials, hard work, self-denials and good judgment. In the meantime he has reared his children to correct, useful and honorable lives and given them good educations. He is well known and prominent. He is a Democrat and held the office of school director and treasurer for twenty years. He is a past master of the Masonic lodge at Pleasant Grove. His dwelling is in a beautiful grove, and around it are beds of choice flowers, show- ing the good taste and refinement existing in this country home. He was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Jones, a native of Wales, and to this union the following children were born: Hiram Austin, born December 20, 1864, in Wisconsin; Rosa Ellen, born December 10, 1867; Charles Richard, born March 20, 1872; Win- nie Belle, born November 25, 1877; Bertha Orilla, born October 8, 1879; the last four were born in Minnesota.

Alphonzo Pettey, father of James A., was born in Jefferson county, New York, January 29, 1806. He grew up in his native county and in 1832 married Miss Melissa Taylor, who was born in 1815. To this marriage the following children were born: (1) Phebe A., married, 1851, George Welch and had Althere, James, Oliver, George, Fred and Orrin; (2) Achsa A., married, first, George Johnson, had George W., married, second, George Pickard, had Don Alphonso, Delbert A., Sherman L., and Rollin R .; (3)

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George, died young; (4) James A., the subject of this sketch; (5) Charles W., married Martha J. Sumner and had Ira B., Asa J., Cordelia and James E .; (6) Hiram A., served in the Union army as a private in Company B, Thirty-sixth Wisconsin Regiment, en- listed at the age of seventeen years, was shot through the lungs at Cold Harbor and a month later died in Libby Prison; (7) John W., when four years old, fell overboard in Lake Michigan and was drowned; (8) Ira Floyd, born in 1851, married Eva West, had Hor- ace G., born in 1873; (9) Dwight J., married in 1874 Mary Powell and had William B., Alice D., Ida M., Henry S. and Hiram J .; (10) William H., married Elizabeth Kruger and had John E., Clara M. and Don, resides at Brillion, Wisconsin. Alphonzo and Melissa came to Calumet county, Wisconsin, in 1853, and bought eighty acres near Brillion and there passed the remainder of their lives. In his old age Alphonzo was blind, but was faithfully cared for; he was about eighty-eight years old when he finally passed away.

Alphonzo was the son of John Pettey, who was born near Bel- lows Falls, Vermont, October 16, 1779, and moved to the Black River country in New York about 1802. In February, 1800, he married Lorinda Coffeen, daughter of Rev. Michael Coffeen, a man of great ability, and one of the first Universalist ministers in the United States. He was an intimate friend and associate of Rev. Hosea Ballou, the great Universalist founder and preacher. Rev. Michael, when about seventeen years old, enlisted in the Colo- nial army, in Capt. Abel Wilder's company, Col. Ephraim Doo- little's regiment, and fought at Bunker Hill, April 19, 1775, being stationed during a part of the battle behind the famous rail fence where the Redcoats were so fearfully cut to pieces. Rev. Michael was in other battles and campaigns of the Revolution. His father, Capt. John Coffeen, commanded a company of Rangers in Vermont during the Revolution, and was the founder of Cavendish, Ver- mont; member of the constitutional convention which declared Vermont free of New York and independent of Great Britain in 1777, and member afterward of the Vermont General Assembly. Captain John married Susannah Goldsmith and was the son of Michael (1), who was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, came to the Colonies long before the Revolution, and settled at Topsfield, Massachusetts, where he married Lydia Lake, daughter of Eleazer; Rev. Michael married Sarah Preston and had Michael, John, Oliver, Alva, Andrew, Lorinda, Milatia, and Sarah. Lorinda Coffeen was born February 10, 1785, and died in 1845. After her death John married Mrs. Diadema (Wilcox) Shepard, but there was no issue to this union. To John and Lorinda the following children were born: (1) Hiram, born January 16, 1801, died 1880, married Mary Gillespie, had a large family, lived in Canada and Michigan; (2) Willard, born September, 1803, died 1866, married

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Nancy Perry, had a large family; (3) Alphonzo, see above; (4) Asenath, born in 1809, died 1886, married Foster Leonard Cun- ningham and had six children; (5) John C., born in 1811, died about 1895, married, in 1837, Louisa Sheldon, had thirteen children, lived in Michigan and Wisconsin; (6) Sarah, born in 1813, died 1869, married, 1830, John F. Allen, had seven children; (7) Laura, born in 1817, died about 1905, married, in 1838, Albert Williston, had four children; Charilla, born in 1822, married Charles Van Nostrand, had two children; (9) Cordelia, born Janu- ary 6, 1825, died July 31, 1906, married, September 21, 1847, Mar- shall Goodspeed, had eleven children, of whom Weston A. and Charles L. are the publishers of this History of Olmsted County, by Judge Joseph A. Leonard; (10) Collin M., born about 1828, died about 1903, in Minnesota, unmarried.

John Pettey, who married Lorinda Coffeen, was the son of Capt. John Pettey, who is said to have come from Wales about the year 1770 and settled first in Massachusetts and a short time before the Revolution in Vermont. There came over with him his brother Aaron, of whom all trace is lost. Captain John married Mary Phippin in Vermont, reared a family of children, and finally died during the War of 1812, probably at the house of his son Moses. Captain John commanded a company of Rangers in Vermont dur- ing the Revolution (see Vermont Revolutionary Records). To Captain John and Mary the following children were born: (1) Solomon, who married and had children; (2) Moses, who married Elizabeth Graves and had seven children; (3) John, who married Lorinda Coffeen; (4) Elisha, who married Polly Curtis and had five or six children ; (5) Levi, who married Fannie Cooper and had six children; (6) Catherine, who married Theodore Nott and had five children; (7) Ruth, who married Frank Nourse; (8) Esther, who married Samuel Lane. From the above record it will be seen that James A. Pettey and his children are eligible for membership in any of the Revolutionary societies and in most of the Colonial societies. In virtue of the military services of Capt. John Coffeen, his son, Rev. Michael Coffeen, and Capt. John Pettey, they can join the Sons of the Revolution, Daughters of the Revolution, Colo- nial Dames, and other similar societies.

JAMES DURHAM FULLER, who died June 16, 1909, was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, August 16, 1831, a son of Zachias and Eliza (Durham) Fuller, and grandson of Timothy Fuller. The Fullers and Durhams were of Colonial stock and for the most part were farmers. Timothy Fuller spent the early years of his life in New York, but later moved to Erie county, Pennsylvania, where he worked at his trade of wheelwright and at farming. Josiah Dur- ham, the grandfather of Mrs. Eliza Fuller, was descended from

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English ancestry, but served the Colonies in the War of the Revo- lution. Zachias Fuller was a soldier of the War of 1812, a farmer. and moved from Pennsylvania to Illinois, thence to Steele county, Minnesota, in 1857, and from there to Olmsted county, where he afterwards died. James Durham Fuller received the ordinary schooling advantages of his time in his native state and Illinois, but being desirous of securing a better education he subsequently studied those branches appealing to him, and was afterward con- ceded to be a man of more than ordinary attainments. He was particularly well versed in geology, and few had a finer collection of minerals, prehistoric relics and fossil remains than Mr. Fuller. In March, 1853, he married Mary McGuire, who was born in Indiana, September 5, 1836, and in March, 1853, located on a farm in Salem township, Olmsted county, Minnesota. Mrs. Fuller died December 13, 1866, leaving four children : James Z., Jessie, Owen Grant and Helen May. For his second wife, Mr. Fuller . married Lucia M. Felton, of Massachusetts, and the three children born to this union are named Ralph, Zoe and Paul C. Mr. Fuller continued to reside on the homestead farm until 1896, when he sold the property and moving to Rochester lived there the remainder of his life.

Paul Clifford Fuller, the youngest of the children of James · Durham Fuller, was born in Salem township, this county, December 3, 1878, and after attending the district schools and the high school at Rochester, entered the University of Minnesota, from which he was graduated in 1902. Having become a pharmaceutical chemist he was in charge of a drug store at New London, Minne- sota, and also one at Raymond, but since November, 1903, he has been engaged in the drug business for himself in Rochester. In 1904, he married Miss Bessie Maurine Newton, and they are the parents of one son, Newton Clifford Fuller, four years old. Mr. Fuller is a Knight of Pythias and a Royal Arch Mason. He has taken an active part in the good roads movement through the Rochester Automobile Club, of which he has been secretary and treasurer since its beginning in 1907. He is the chairman of the membership committee of the State Automobile Club.

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History of Olmsted County, Minnesota, Part 59

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

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