USA > Minnesota > Otter Tail County > History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota : its people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 10
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Prominent in the business life of Battle Lake, Minnesota, is Ole Chris- tian Nelson, who has been continuously engaged in the mercantile business at Battle Lake since the early eighties and who is now doing business in Battle Lake under the firm name of O. C. Nelson & Company.
Born on February 17, 1857. in Norway, Ole Christian Nelson is the son of Nels and Helena (Johnson) Nelson, also natives of Norway, who were born in 1827 and 1825, respectively. Mr. Nelson's father was a farmer by occupation, and died in 1899. On September 15, 1901, Mrs. Helena Nelson came to Battle Lake, Minnesota, and died here on October 16, 1901. They were the parents of five children, of whom two, both named Martenus, are deceased. The living children are, Ole Christian, Josephena and Hans.
Ole Christian Nelson was educated in the public schools of Norway and was confirmed in the Lutheran church at the age of fifteen years. He worked in the lumber-mills and on the railroads of Norway until the spring of 1880, when he came to America and settled at Stillwater, in Washington county, Minnesota. where he was employed by Isaac Staples until 1881, when he moved to Fargo. North Dakota. On July 6, 1881, Mr. Nelson moved to Battle Lake, Minnesota, and for a time, stopped with Hans Gil- bertson. He got employment here on the railroad and worked until Octo- her 8, 1881, when he returned to Washington county, Minnesota, to work for Mr. Staples. In March, 1882, Mr. Nelson came back to Battle Lake and has resided here ever since. In June, 1882, he bought a one-half inter- est in the Rustof & Dol meat market, and two years later, purchased the other one-half interest and operated the business for a period of twelve
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years. In the meantime he had erected several stores. He first embarked in the grocery business and then branched out in the clothing business and finally in the general mercantile business. His store was burned in 1906 and rebuilt in 1907. He has one store, twenty-five by eighty feet, and just north of that has erected another building, forty by ninety feet. In addi- tion to his private business interests, Mr. Nelson owns stock in the flour- mill and is one of the directors of the company.
On February 26, 1895, Ole C. Nelson was married to Matilda Nickel- son, who was born at Baldwin, St. Croix county, Wisconsin, January 31, 1876, and who is the daughter of O. M. and Serine ( Olsdatter ) Nickelson, natives of Norway, where they were born on September 30, 1844, and 1845, respectively. Mrs. Nelson's parents moved to Wisconsin during the sixties, but later returned to Norway. They immigrated to Battle Creek, Wiscon- sin, in 1885, and settled on a farm. In 1911 they sold their farm and moved to Battle Lake, where Mrs. Nelson's mother died on October 4, 1913. Mrs. Nelson was the eldest in a family of seven children, the others being, Gusta. Margaret, Eliza, Oscar, Josephine and Mabel. Mr. and Mrs. Ole Christian Nelson have been the parents of six children, Orville, Helmer S .. Cameron : deceased ), Helen. Robert and Carl.
Mr. Nelson has served as a member of the Battle Lake town council. He and his wife and family are members of the Lutheran church and take an active interest in religious affairs.
REV. DITLEF G. RISTAD.
Rev. Ditlef G. Ristad, president of Park Region Luther College at Fergus Falls, has won for himself a conspicuous position in the educational life of Otter Tail county and of the state of Minnesota. Educated in the schools of his native land and in the best colleges and universities of this country, he is a man of striking personality and by reason of his tolerant political, social and religious views enjoys the confidence of a large circle of friends in this section of Minnesota. He 'is a minister to and an educator of the people, in the broadest sense of the word and, as the president of the city improvement committee of Fergus Falls, has had much to do with the beautification of that splendid city.
Born in the province of Namdalen, Norway. the Rev. Ditlef G. Ristad is the son of George and Johanna ( Bergitte ) Ristad, the former of whom, a farmer by occupation, also had charge of the government forests. He died in his native land in 1004. His beloved wife, mother of the subject of this sketch, is still living. The Ristad family is a historic one in Norway and has an unbroken history of four hundred years in one locality. . \ part of the original house of logs, which has been clapboarded two or three
REV. DITLEF G. RISTAD.
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times, and where Ditlef G. Ristad was born, is still standing and is now four hundred years old. The first boards put on over the logs were fastened by means of wooden pegs, this being long before nails were in use. The last boarding was in 1812, but these boards were put on with nails.
Ditlef G. Ristad attended the public schools of Norway and subse- quently took a three-years course at the State Normal School, after which he taught in the high school for a time and served as a private tutor for three years. He served three years in the army and on September 1. 1887, left his native land for America. Upon landing he immediately proceeded to St. Paul, Minnesota, and for some time turned his hands to anything he could find to do. He worked in the streets and in the stone quarries and was planning to go to New Zealand, where he had relatives who were inter- ested in mining projects. About that time he received a letter from a cousin of his mother's, who had heard of his being in America. This cousin gave him a position in his general store at Mindora, Wisconsin, where he remained until 1880, in the fall of which year he entered the Lutheran Theological Seminary at St. Paul, from which he was graduated in the summer of 1892. He then accepted a call from the church at Koshkonong, Dane county, Wis- consin (a church that was dedicated in 1844 and had the first ordained pastor from Norway), where he served as pastor until 1900, in the meantime ( 1896-97) taking a post-graduate course in the University of Chicago. During the year 1894 and again in 1904 the Rev. Mr. Ristad traveled exten- sively in Europe. In 1900 he was elected principal of the Albion Academy at Albion, Wisconsin, and remained there until 1906, when he accepted a call from the Park Region Luther College at Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and has served continuously as president ever since. He is an efficient instructor and a man of splendid executive attainment, who by his own personal force has been instrumental in building up the college of which he is the honored president.
By his marriage to Sara Moltzau Johnson, a native of Milwaukee, Wis- consin, Rev. Mr. Ristad has had two sons, George Rolf and Robert Nicholas.
The Rev. Ditlef G. Ristad is what might be called a "number one" man and citizen, one who has worthily discharged his duties in all the rela- tions of life and who has meritoriously attained a position of honor and trust in the community of his residence. For years he has been a valued contributor to the leading Norwegian newspapers and magazines, both in this country and in Norway and has displayed a keen interest in the "Bygdelag" (provincial societies) movement. Mr. Ristad occupies a very high position in the councils of his communion in this country and served as a member of the committee which prepared the "Lutheran Hymnary," the (7b)
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official hymn-book of the Norwegian Lutheran church in America, and was one of the editors of the "Lutheran Hymnary, Jr.," a bilingual hymn-book for young people. He also has translated a number of the best English hymns into the Norwegian tongue and has translated the standard Nor- wegian hymns into English.
JENS P. JENSEN.
Jens P. Jensen, a prosperous farmer of Dane Prairie township, is a native of Tordenskjold township, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, where he was born on March 2, 1871. Mr. Jensen is the son of Peter and Maren Christine (Jensen) Jensen, who were born in Denmark and who came to America before their marriage, the father about 1867 and the mother about two years later.
Peter Jensen was eighteen weeks on the water in coming to America. Cholera broke out on the ship in which he made the voyage to America and about one-half of the people on the ship died and were buried at sea. The ship was quarantined in the New York harbor for many months before the survivors were permitted to land. After coming to Otter Tail county, Peter Jensen homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land and was then mar- ried to Christine Jensen and settled on the farm, living there until 1907. when he sold out and moved to Los Angeles, California, which has been his home since, with the exception of three years spent on a farm near Los Angeles. Peter Jensen was compelled to clear his land and cut off the tim- ber, before he could raise a crop on his homestead farm in this county.
The first white men who came to this country through Tordenskjold were Peter Jensen, his brother, Christopher, Jens and Hans Jacobson. Peter Jensen built a house immediately after coming to this county and a part of this house is still standing. He also built a log barn, but in later years before leaving the county erected a frame barn. He was a school director for many years and also held other important township offices. Ile was a Democrat in politics and one of the organizers of the Sverdrup Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Both he and his wife are devout members of the Lutheran church and he was one of the founders of the Tordenskjold town- ship church. They were the parents of nine children, of whom Anna mar- ried John M. Clark and lives in Los Angeles, California; Jens P. is the subject of this sketch; Hans is a farmer of Dane Prairie township; Anton is the general manager of the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Andrew is a farmer in Orphena, Idaho; Mary. who married Gust Sunday, resides at Ocean Beach, California; Alexander is a farmer in California; Andrea, who was the twin brother of Andrew,
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died at the age of fourteen years in 1892; and George Franklin died at the age of nine months.
Jens P. Jensen was educated in the public schools of Tordenskjold township and for many years attended school district No. 95. He was reared on the farm, and having learned the carpenter's trade followed this trade for some years, working in both the East and the West. After his marriage in 1906, Mr. Jensen engaged in farming. Previously he had pur- chased eighty acres of land in Dane Prairie township, and after his marriage settled on this farm. Shortly afterward he erected a modern house and barn and other substantial outbuildings. Mr. Jensen is interested in the local creamery and in the telephone company.
On May 26, 1906, Jens P. Jensen was married to Hannah Christiansen, a native of Dane Prairie township and the daughter of Peter and Mary Christiansen, who were old settlers from Denmark. Mr. and Mrs. Jens P. Jensen have four children, Pearl Marie, George Afton, Kermit James and Harriet Elizabeth Marian.
Although a Socialist in politics, Mr. Jensen has never aspired to office. He is known in this township as a successful farmer and an enterprising citizen.
HANS P. JENSEN.
Born on his father's farm in Tordenskjold township, Otter Tail county, September 26, 1872, Hans P. Jensen was educated in district No. 95, of Tordenskjold township. Mr. Jensen first attended school in a store build- ing and later in a small log school house. He was reared on the home farm, and when he had grown to young manhood removed to Wilkin county. where, for a number of years, he managed a farm near Foxhome which was owned by his father.
After remaining near Foxhome from 1892 until 1900, Mr. Jensen returned to Dane Prairie township, settling with his brother, Jens, on one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 13. Here he built a house and for the next six years lived as a bachelor. During the fall he was engaged in threshing and in the winter time was engaged in the operation of a saw- mill.
On April 6, 1904, Thomas P. Jensen was married and, although he is still engaged in threshing, he operates the farm. Mr. Jensen's wife, before her marriage, was Anna Christina Tollefson, a native of Sweden and the daughter of Carl A. and Britta (Ash) Tollefson, who are old settlers in Otter Tail county. Mrs. Jensen's grandfather, Andrew Tollefson, home- steaded land in Dane Prairie township about 1868. He died here in 1907. Mrs. Jensen's parents are still living.
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Mr. and Mrs. Hans P. Jensen have been the parents of four children, Blanche. Frances, Henry Arnold, who died at the age of nineteen months, and Margaret Amanda.
Hans P. Jensen has always been independent in politics. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. For many years he has served as supervisor of Dane Prairie township. Mr. and Mrs. Jensen are members of the Lutheran church. They are regular attendants at church services and are liberal supporters of the church.
OTTO E. SCHACHTSCHNEIDER.
Although a comparatively young man, Otto E. Schachtschneider, who was born in the northern part of Germany, October 6, 1884, has experienced many of the hardships of pioneer life and knows what it is to perform hard labor.
Mr. Schachtschneider is the son of Robert and Bertha (Perleberg) Schachtschneider. The former was the son of Johan and Fredericka (Schesser ) Schachtschneider, who was born in the northern part of Ger- many. Johan Schachtschneider was a laborer and died in his native land at the age of forty-eight. He was the father of fourteen children, of whom five came to America. The grandmother also came to America and died at the home of Mr. Schachtschneider's father in 1910. Of the five children who came to America, Herman is a farmer of Dane Prairie township; August is a laborer and lives at Canton, Ohio; Otto is a farmer and lives near Underwood, in Sverdruf township; Bertha married Max Miller; and Robert is the father of Otto E. Schachtschneider. The maternal grand- parents of Otto E. Schachtschneider were August and Fredericka Perle- berg, who came to America from Germany about 1895 and, three years later, immigrated to Otter Tail county, Minnesota. They died in Tor- denskjold township, after having reared a family of twelve children, all of whom came to America.
Mr. Schachtschneider's father was born in the northern part of Ger- many and his mother in the same part of the same country. They grew to maturity and were married in their native land. Like his father, Robert Schachtschneider was a laborer in his native land. In 1885 the family came to America and settled at Cleveland, Ohio. There he became a member of the Lumberman's Longshoremen Association and was engaged in loading boats until 1897. Tiring of city life and desiring a better opportunity for his children, he came to Minnesota, settling in Dane Prairie township, Otter Tail county, where he purchased a farm of one hundred and thirty-six acres of timber land in the southeast quarter of section 23. Although many people may believe that pioneering was a thing of the past in 1897. never-
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theless, a part of Dane Prairie township was an unbroken wilderness in those years. Robert Schachtschneider and his family experienced all of the trials of pioneer life. They first built a small house which is a part of their present, though much enlarged, home. As the farm was cleared a new barn was erected and finally, by industry and co-operation on the part of the whole family, the farm was sufficiently cleared to support the family and yield a profit besides. Both parents are still living on the farm. Robert Schachtschneider is an ardent Republican. He and his wife had four chil- dren, of whom Herman died in infancy; Otto E. is the subject of this sketch; Charles lives on a part of the home place; and Anna married Charles Drews and lives in section 7, of Dane Prairie township.
Otto E. Schachtschneider was educated in the parochial schools of Cleveland, Ohio, and was still a mere lad when his parents moved to Minne- sota. He experienced the hardships and inconveniences attendant upon clearing a large farmi and became accustomed to hard work. His father growing old in 1908, Mr. Schachtschneider began renting the place and has continued so ever since. He is a general farmer and raises very fine crops.
In 1910 Otto E. Schachtschneider was married to Bertha Boeder, who was born in Dane Prairie township. They have five children, Elmer, Arnold, Anna, John and Arthur.
No family deserves more credit for what it has accomplished in the face of adverse circumstances than the Schachtschneiders, and no young man in this township is more highly respected than Otto Schachtschneider, the subject of this sketch.
THOMAS LARSON.
The late Thomas Larson, who was a well-known citizen of Dane Prairie township, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, and who was prominent in the civic and political life of his community during his life time, was born at Chicago, Illinois, August 18, 1857.
Mr. Larson was the son of Peter and Christine Larson, who were natives of Norway and who grew to manhood and womanhood in that country. Peter Larson was thrice married. After coming to America he was married in Chicago, Illinois, to Christine Larson. Shortly after his marriage, he moved to Goodhne county, Minnesota, where he lived for a few years. In 1872 he moved to Otter Tail county, homesteading one hundred and sixty acres in the southern part of Dane Prairie township, which at that time was a wilderness. During the next few years, he improved the farm and erected modern buildings, living on the farm until his death in 1905. His widow is still living and makes her home with her son, Chris-
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tian. They were the parents of ten children, of whom Louis is a farmer in one of the western states; John lives one and one-half miles east of the Thomas Larson farm; Thomas F. was the third child; Carrie, who married Jens Peterson, is deceased; Christian lives on his father's homestead farm; Anna, who is a resident of Fergus Falls, has been twice married, the first time to Christian Dahl and the second time to Sorren Larson; Henrietta, who is deceased, was the wife of John McGrath, who is also deceased; Martin is a farmer in Tumuli township; Ludwig is a dentist at Finley, North Dakota; and Emma, who married Andrew Bollingmoe, lives in Fergus Falls.
Thomas Larson was e cated in the common schools of Fergus Falls and in the high school. H. was reared on the farm and in 1892 purchased about two hundred acres of land in Dane Prairie township, immediately thereafter erecting a new barn and a new house. He lived upon the farm until his death and was always engaged in general farming. Some years before Mr. Larson's marriage, he operated a threshing machine and a well- drilling outfit, and drilled many wells in Otter Tail county, but at the time of his marriage he sold his threshing machine and well-drilling outfit.
On March 26, 1892, Thomas Larson was married to Mary Thompson, a native of near Trondhjem, Norway, where she was born on December 25, 1862. Mrs. Larson is the daughter of Bernt and Inger (Guldseth) Thomp- son, who came to America in a sailing vessel in 1864. After living in Hud- son county for two years, they moved to St. Olaf township. Otter Tail county, in 1866. After living there for one year. they moved to Dane Prairie township, and homesteaded a quarter section of land in section 21. There they lived for some years and then sold out to their son, Nels B., purchasing one hundred acres of land across the lake, where Mrs. Larson's father died on August 16, 1902. The mother lived with her daughter, Mrs. Larson, until her death on July 3. 1904. They were the parents of twelve children, six of whom are living. Mrs. Larson's father was a man of retiring disposition. When he came to Otter Tail county. he traveled from Hudson county to St. Paul by rail and then up the Mississippi by boat to St. Cloud. From St. Cloud, he traveled by ox team to Otter Tail county, spending two weeks on the way. He was an ardent Republican.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Larson were the parents of two children, Cora, born on March 3, 1894, who was graduated from the Park Region Luther College in 1911 and, after attending the St. Cloud normal, has been engaged in teaching ; and Bernhard, January 6, 1807, who was educated in the public schools. The father of these children, the late Thomas Larson, died on March 15, 1908.
Mr. Larson was an ardent Republican and served in many positions
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of trust and responsibility. He filled the office of township clerk for fifteen years and was also a member of the school board from the time he was twenty-one years old until his death. He could always be found at Repub- lican conventions and was extremely popular in politics. Had he lived, he would have been a candidate for the Legislature. Mr. Larson was a mem- ber of the Swan Lake Lutheran church and his widow is an active worker in this church today.
LOUIS CORNELIUS OLSON.
Louis Cornelius Olson, a member of the 'm of Olson Brothers, who operate a retail business in clothing and men's furnishings at Battle Lake, Minnesota, is a native of Clitherall township, where he was born on March 22, 1883, on a farm.
Mr. Olson is the son of Christian and Louise ( Hanson) Olson, who were natives of Eidsvold, Norway. Mr. Olson's parents came to America separately about 1869 and, after arriving in America, settled in Goodhue county, Minnesota, where they were married. One year later they immi- grated to Otter Tail county, homesteading one hundred and sixty acres of land in Clitherall township, at a time and place where the nearest railroad station was at St. Cloud, sixty miles away. The Olson homestead farm was originally wild land.
Christian Olson built a dugout some forty rods away from the present house, and after two years replaced this dugout with a log house. From time to time, additional acres of the farm were put under cultivation and Mr. Olson came eventually to own two hundred and forty acres, some of which was covered with timber. Eventually, the log house was replaced with a commodious frame house, in which the family lived until the spring of 1907, when they sold the farm and moved to Battle Lake, where they have since lived retired. Christian Olson is seventy-one years old and his good wife, who is also still living, is only three years his junior. He has been prominent in the political and civic life of this county and, until recently, voted the Republican ticket, but is now identified with the Prohibition party. He and his wife are members of the Free Lutheran church.
Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Christian Olson, the eldest died in infancy ; Marvin R., who is the manager of the Dwight Farin and I.and Company and the Farmers' Elevator Company, resides at Dwight. North Dakota; Henry is the postmaster at Battle Lake and the partner of his brother in the clothing and furnishing business; Thorvald and Hans both died at the age of eight years; Louis Cornelius is the subject of this sketch: Thea is the wife of Charles Peterson, a farmer of near Mccluskey, North Dakota: Mary, who is unmarried and at home, is employed as assist-
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ant postmaster; Hattie, who taught for some years at Wadena and later at Battle Lake and lives at home.
Louis Cornelius Olson was educated in the public schools of Clitherall township and at the Park Region Luther College. He lived on the farm until 1910, managing the farm after his father had retired. In 1910 Mr. Olson homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in Meade county, South Dakota, and there he lived for eighteen months, when he returned to Battle Lake and became assistant postmaster under his brother, Henry. After serving one year as assistant postmaster, Mr. Olson engaged in part- nership with his brother. They purchased the H. L. Wagner clothing and furnishing business on Lake street and this business is now managed by Louis C. Olson.
On September 21, 1907, Louis C. Olson was married to Emma Peter- son, a native of Sweden and the daughter of Peter Nelson. Mrs. Olson came to America to join her brothers, who were already in this country. Mr. and Mrs. Olson have no children.
Louis C. Olson is independent in politics. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Free Lutheran church.
TOSTEN JACOBSON.
Tosten Jacobson, an enterprising farmer of Dane Prairie township. Otter Tail county, Minnesota, was born on the farm where he now lives in Dane Prairie township, November 1, 1876. Mr. Jacobson is the son of Hans and Mallena (Torstenson) Jacobson.
Mr. Jacobson's paternal grandparents were Hans and Mary Jacobson, who were natives of Denmark and who spent their entire lives in that coun- try. The grandfather was a soldier in the army and a farmer by occupa- tion. They were the parents of three sons, of whom Hans, the father of Tosten, was the eldest. The other two children were Sakereas, who died in Montana, where he was a farmer; and Jens, who was a tailor in Minne- apolis and died there. The paternal grandfather was twice married and had two daughters by his second marriage, who died in Denmark. Mr. Jacobson's maternal grandparents were Torsten Torstenson and Mallena Knutson, natives of Norway, who immigrated to America about 1868. settling in Tordenskjold township, where the maternal grandfather home- steaded one hundred and sixty acres of land and where hoth he and his wife died. They had two sons and four daughters. Of these, Martha died at the age of eighteen years in Norway; Brita, who married Albert Joseph- son, died in Tordenskjold township: Mallena is the mother of Mr. Jacobson ; Kari, who married Samuel Moklo, lives near Battle Lake; Martha. the widow of Jacob Thompson, lives near Underwood: Tosten, who lives in
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