USA > Minnesota > Otter Tail County > History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota : its people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 30
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Per Gustav Matson was educated in the public schools of Sweden, after which he came, in the year 1892, to America and located near Bertrand, Nebraska, where he bought eighty acres of land which he farmed until the year 1900, and then came to Otter Tail county, Minnesota, where he bought one hundred and thirty-one aeres of land in Lida township, bordering the beautiful Lake Lida, a few years later adding forty more acres, a place which Mr. Matson has greatly improved and where he now lives, engaged in general agricultural pursuits.
During the year 1802. shortly before leaving his home in Sweden, Per Gustav Matson was married to Marie Ellena Sundleng, who was born in Sweden, the daughter of Nils Frederick and Charlotta Johana (Johnson) Sundleng. Nils Sundleng being a farmer in Sweden, his wife, Charlotta, being deceased. To the marriage of Per Gustav and Marie Ellena Matson have been born twelve children. Olga Maria. Alma Wilhelmina. AAmy Augusta, Gustav Elmer ( deceased), Edla Erika, Victor Carl Bernard, Ver- ner Theodore. Gustav W. Alfred, Myrtle Lilian ( deceased). Emil Algot Renhold. Ethel Lilian and Leonard Raymond. Per Gustav Matson and his
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family are active members and workers in the Swedish Lutheran church of Lida township.
Per Gustav Matson has proved to be one of the best and most desirable citizens of Lida township, he being a man who has given much time and effort for the good of the community, not only during the time when he served his township most efficiently as a township supervisor, but in all mat- ters having for their object the betterment of general conditions in the county and more especially Lida township.
ANTON B. EVAVOLD.
Anton B. Evavold is a native of Norway and was born on June 6, 1885. He is the son of Claus Evavold, who emigrated to America from Norway when Anton B. Evavold was a child of three years. Anton B. Evavold received his education in the schools of Otter Tail county, Minnesota, and has been reared on the home place, having assisted with the cultivation of the same until the present time. He is the sole owner and manager of one hundred and forty acres of well-improved land, which he devotes to general farming and stock raising, making a specialty of Shorthorn cattle.
In 1912 Anton B. Evavold was united in marriage to Minnie Lang, daughter of Nels A. Lang, and a native of Lund township. Douglas county, Minnesota. Anton B. Evavold and his wife are the parents of one child, Arnold Wilton Mckay. They are active members in the Norwegian Luth- eran Free church and lend their earnest support to this denomination. Anton B. Evavold was appointed to act as road supervisor and has served in that capacity for a period of two years, discharging the duties of that office with dispatch and efficiency.
M. J. DALY.
M. J. Daly holds a place of sincere regard in the hearts of his fellow citizens, as is evidenced by the positions of trust to which he has been elected. He is the son of M. F. and Mary ( Malarky) Daly, both natives of Ireland, who emigrated to America in 1847. They located in New York City until 1856 and then removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, where M. F. Daly was employed as a bookkeeper. Some years later they removed to Carver county, Minnesota, where they both died. They were the parents of eight children.
M. J. Daly was born on March 13, 1861. in St. Paul, Minnesota, and his education was received in the public schools of Minneapolis. He was graduated from the Iowa State University in 1886, having studied law in that institution, and immediately began to practice law in Perham, Minne-
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sota. During the first seven years of his practice he was associated with a Mr. Baxter, but has since been independent in his vocation. He is con- nected with the First National Bank in the capacity of vice-president, and served as county attorney from 1891 until 1899. He also served as state senator from 1899 until 1903. His fraternal affiliations are with the Bene- volent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. Relig- iously, he is a devout member of the Roman Catholic church and a member of the Knights of Columbus.
In 1893 M. J. Daly was united in marriage to Emma Mohr, and to them have been born two children, whose names follow: M. J., Jr., and Lenora. Emma ( Mohr) Daly is a native of Perham, Minnesota, and is also a member of the Roman Catholic church. M. J. Daly is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in which order he is held in high esteem.
ASBJORN ASLAKSEN.
Having lived in this vicinity for twenty-seven years, during which time Asbjorn Aslaksen has become a well-known farmer, he has come to be considered one of the substantial citizens of Pelican township. Although born in the southern part of Norway, he has thoroughly identified himself with the life of the community in which he has lived for many years. His birth took place on March 12, 1860, but two years later he was left an orphan by the death of his father. Aslak Asbjornson, whose wife, Ingeborg Eliason, came to America in 1880, one year after the subject of this sketch settled in Pelican Rapids. Both of Mr. Aslaksen's parents were born in Norway.
The subject of this sketch was the only child born to Mr. and Mrs. Aslaksen. The former, who served in the Norwegian army, became ser- iously ill during a military drill and for the two years which preceded his death, was a helpless invalid.
Asbjorn Aslaksen's school days in Norway were followed by a period during which he worked on his father's farm, and in 1888, influenced by the glowing reports of friends in America, he started out for the new country and arriving in Pelican Rapids, worked as a farm laborer for the following two years. In 1802 he became the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land ten miles north of Pelican Rapids and to this he added other land until he had acquired three hundred and seventy acres. This property became his home until the fall of 1910, when he traded it for eighty acres in Pelican Rapids. His present home is a well-built modern dwelling Although living in town he still gives his attention to grain farming and stock raising. In
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the latter branch of industry he specializes in dairy and beef cattle, of which he raises mostly the Hereford breed.
In 1809 Asbjorn Aslaksen was married to Nettie Johnson, of Becker county. Minnesota. She came to this county with her parents, who entered a homestead claim near Cormorant about the year 1875. Her father was Nils Johnson, a native of Norway. The home life of Mr. and Mrs. Aslak- sen was enhanced by the adoption of two children whom they took into their home and hearts as their very own. The children are Emma Engel and Arthur Nygaart.
Mr. and Mrs. Aslaksen are devoted members of the United Lutheran church, of which the former is secretary. He has held the office of secre- tary for fifteen years, both of the church here and at Grove Lake. He has also been assessor of Scambler township and was for eight years the treas- urer of school district No. 30. These honors have been assumed by Mr. Aslaksen without solicitation on his part. for he has never aspired to be an office holder. Gifted with the ability to engage in continuous toil, and to concentrate all of his energies upon the task in hand, Mr. Aslaksen has made a success of life. He occupies a prominent place in the business and religious life of the community, while both he and his capable wife have made many warm friendships here.
ALBERT ELLWANGER.
Albert Ellwanger is a native of Clitherall township. Otter Tail county. this state, and his birth occurred on February 13, 1874. He is a brother of John and Mathias Ellwanger, who, for many years, owned the old home place together. The first agricultural venture of Albert Ellwanger was when the three boys, Albert, John and Mathias, purchased the home farm of their father and, together, cultivated it for many years. Albert finally selling his interest to John, and Mathias doing likewise. Albert Ellwanger then rented a farin in Eagle Lake township for a period of three years. In 1905 he purchased one hundred and thirty-eight acres of land in Eagle Lake township, Otter Tail county, and has continued to cultivate this place until the present time. He has made all of the improvements and put it under a fine state of cultivation. He has also erected all of the present buildings.
In 1001 Albert Ellwanger was united in marriage to Oliva Olson, daughter of Nels Olson, a native of Sweden and an early pioneer of Clith- erall township, and they are the parents of seven children: Floyd, Clar- ence, Norris, Eveline, Vernie, Hazel and William. Oliva (Olson) EII- wanger is a sister of Alvin Olson, and has been a very material help to her husband in his effort to gain an honorable competency. They are devout members of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Ashby, Minnesota, and are
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active worker, for the advancement of that denomination. Albert Ell- wanger is a good citizen and farmer, and is much liked by the people of his community.
W. E. THOMAS.
W. E. Thomas, one of the prominent business men of Otter Tail county. was born in Bloomington, Wisconsin, January 3. 1856, and is the son of Anson H. and Martha ( Cooley ) Thomas, natives of New York. His grand- father, John H. Thomas, was a native of New York, where he lived until he moved to Illinois in the early forties and engaged in farming. He later removed to Grant county. Wisconsin, where he purchased a farm near the village of Bloomington, and where he died in 1885. Anson H. Thomas was educated in the common schools after which he spent three years in the min- . ing districts of California, having made the trip overland to that state with an ox-team train of gold seekers in 1849. He was moderately successful in his mining ventures, and on returning to Wisconsin he purchased an improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and also eighty acres of timber land. He came to Fergus Falls, Minnesota, in 1898, and died there in 1901, the wife and mother having died in 1869. They were the parents of seven children : Luey E., W. E., Frank .A., Jesse E., Lora E., Linda E. and Mabel M. all of whom, at this writing, are living.
W. E. Thomas was educated in the common schools of Grant county. Wisconsin, and in Pittsfield, Illinois. During his early life he was engaged in farming, having been reared on the farm; agriculture has always appealed to him. He came to Otter Tail county on October 20, 1878 bringing with him two hundred dollars in cash which he had earned working out by the month on a farm in Illinois. He located at Fergus Falls, and for a few years worked out by the month, then engaged in the flour and feed business in Fergus Falls, and continued in that business until 1887, when he sold out the business and came to Maine township, and built a water power dam aeross the Red river, where the little burg of Phelps has since been built. He then took in a partner, E. P. Adams, and together they built the Maine roller mills, known far and wide as the "Maine Mills." They started the mill in December. 1889, and milled under the firm name of Thomas Adams until June, 1894, when Mr. Thomas bought out Mr. Adams' interest in the prop- erty and has since carried on the business alone. He has built to and increased the capacity of the mill. He has enjoyed a good trade and has been most successful in the business.
On September 7. 1885, W. E. Thomas was married to Liona Phelps. She was a native of New York, having been born in that state on February 23. 1860, being the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O. C. Phelps. Her father is
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still living in Otter Tail county. Her mother passed away in December. 1913. Mrs. Thomas died on October 5. 1906. She was a good and true helpmate and helped him to bear the many burdens and hardships which he encountered during the stringent times while he was building, starting in as he did with but little cash or capital to work on. Mr. Thomas attributes his success to the help and encouragement she gave him during those trying times and which she continued to give throughout the rest of her life.
In the summer of 1008 Mr. Thomas tore out the old dam, which had begun to leak and cause some trouble, and built in its place a stone and con- crete dam, and he now has one of the best water powers on the river. Aside from the water power and mill property Mr. Thomas has four good houses in Phelps which he has built and he owns one hundred and sixty acres of land near Phelps.
W. E. Thomas was married, secondly. to Ida C. Murk, January 26. 1910. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Murk, of Amor town- ship.
Mr. Thomas is a member of Maine Camp No. 4116, Modern Woodmen of America, and has been venerable consul of that camp ever since its organ- ization in 1896. He is also a member of the Royal Neighbors of America and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
ANTON THOMPSON.
Anton Thompson, a prosperous attorney and the present county attorney of Otter Tail county, is a native of this county, where he was born on February 8. 1870, son of Bernt and Inga ( Goldseath ) Thompson, natives of Norway and farmers in Dane Prairie township. this county. . Anton Thompson was reared on a farm in Dane Prairie township, and obtained his elementary education in the district schools of the township.
When Mr. Thompson was fifteen years oldl. he entered the seminary at Wilmar, Minnesota, and was later graduated from that institution. After teaching school for five years successfully in Otter Tail county, Mr. Thomp- son entered the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, in 1896, and three years later was graduated from the law department with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. The year following his graduation, he engaged in the practice of his profession at Henning. Mr. Thompson still retains his office at Henning, although in 1908 he formed a partnership with Clifford L. Hilton, under the firm name of Hilton & Thompson, and has since been engaged in the practice of law at Fergus Falls.
Having been elected as county attorney of Otter Tail county in 1908. Mr. Thompson has held the office continuously for the past seven years. He has proved to be a very capable and trustworthy counselor of the law
ANTON THOMPSON
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and is well versed in the decisions of all courts as well as the great body of common law, upon which our present statutory law is based.
In 1897 Anton Thompson was married to Ragnhild Vinje, daughter of Olof O. Vinje, of the town of St. Olaf, this county, and to this union seven children have been born, Marion B., Harriet G., Frances V., Innis M., Owen V., Anton R. and Helen M.
Mr. Thompson is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, of the Elks and of the Sons of Norway. He and his family are members of the Lutheran church.
AMOS MARCKEL.
Amos Marckel is a representative citizen in the commercial and civic circles of his community and has always been interested in the progress of the town and county. He is the son of John L. and Maria Marckel, and his birth occurred on June 11, 1862, in Columbiana, Ohio. John L. Marckel was a farmer, and both he and his wife died when Amos Marckel was a very young child.
After completing his education, which was received in the common schools of Columbiana, Ohio, he entered the services of a hardware con- cern, as a clerk, and remained in their employ for a period of five years. In 1886 he removed to the town of Perham, Minnesota, and engaged in the hardware and implement business independently. The first store was located just three doors west of his present location and the business was pur- chased from A. E. Luedke. In 1895 he purchased the present site, con- taining an excellent brick structure. He has engaged in the lumber and antomobile business in connection with his hardware and implement busi- ness, all of which he operated individually until 1914, when he incorporated the entire enterprise as The Marckel Company. His employees became the stockholders and he was elected as president. In 1906 a partnership was formed with A. H. Haut, and a business opened in Gackle, North Dakota. known as Haut & Marckel. They operate a store. similar to The Marckel Company. He also is the owner of a farm near Dead Lake, Minnesota, on which he breeds purebred Guernsey cattle. In 1913 he assisted in the organization of the Hall Hardware Company, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is vice-president and director of same. This company is engaged in the wholesale hardware business.
In 1888 Amos Marckel was united in marriage to Emma C. Coblentz. and they are the parents of one child, George E., who is now a student in the high school in Perham. Emma C. (Coblentz) Marckel is a native of Columbiana. Ohio. Both husband and wife are members of the Grace
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Reformed church. The lodge affiliations of Amos Marckel are with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and his membership consists of rela- tions with the blue lodge of Perham, the chapter in Detroit, the command- ery in Wadena, and the Shrine in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has served his community as mayor and village recorder.
OSCAR YOUNG.
The memory of the late Oscar Young long will be cherished in Amor township, this county, where for years he labored for the advancement of material conditions thereabout. Arriving in Otter Tail county in 1870, as the five-year-old son of a homesteader, Oscar Young became one of the most forceful citizens of Amor township, and at the time of his death, on Febru- ary 1.4, 1906. he was the owner of a fine farm of four hundred aeres, which he had helped to claim from the forest wilderness.
Oscar Young was born in Sweden on November 15, 1865, son of John N. Young. a Swedish farmer and carpenter, who came to America during the early childhood of Oscar, and after working on the railroad at that time being constructed in this region, entered a homestead elaim in Amor town- ship, this county, and there made his home. That was in the year 1870, Oscar Young being at that time but five years of age, and he retained a distinct memory of being carried a long distance on his father's back during the wearisome trip to this county from the nearest railroad point. John N. Young and Solomon Larson were homesteaders together, and during the time they were "prooving up" they lived in the same humble dwelling.
Reared on the homestead farm, Oscar Young grew up amid all the hardships attendant upon pioneer living, receiving stich meager education as was afforded in the primitive schools of that day, his schooling having been obtained in district No. 60, and here he was a farmer all his life. After his marriage, in 1890, he moved to the farm in Amor township, where the rest of his life was spent. and which he greatly improved during his oecu- pancy. In 1897 he built a commodious barn and in 1800 erected the com- fortable dwelling in which his widow and children are now living. As he prospered in his agricultural ventures he added to his farm by additional purchase from time to time, until he became the owner of a farm of four hundred acres. In addition to his extensive farming interests, Mr. Young found time to engage actively in civic affairs and for a time was a member of the town board, being regarded as one of the influential men in that see- tion of the county.
On May 24. 1800, Osear Young was united in marriage to Mary Bjorgaard, who was born in Norway on May 19. 1866. daughter of John and Sophia ( Erickson) Bjorgaard, and to this union six children were born,
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Mabel, John, Leonard, Donald, Alphild and Edna, all of whom are living at home, aiding their widowed mother in the management of the farm and are making a fine success of their labors. Mrs. Young came to America alone in 1882, proceeding at once to Otter Tail county, where she joined her brothers, Christian and Oliver, who had come here some years before. In 1883 Mrs. Young's parents came to this county from Norway, bringing with them the other children of the family, John, Oscar and Emelie. The Bjorgaards, as were the Youngs, were members of the Swedish Lutheran church and all these children, as were the children of Mr. and Mrs. Young, were reared in the faith of that church.
The late Oscar Young was devoted to his family, and his death, in 1906, was a great loss to his loving wife and family of young children, as well as to the whole community, for he was a man who was doing well his part in the community in which he had established so excellent a home and he will not soon be forgotten there.
ANDREW G. MURK.
When Andrew G. Murk, now one of the most substantial farmers, as well as one of the best-known citizens of Amor township, this county. arrived in Otter Tail county, he bought a quarter of a section of land. paying for the same five dollars an acre. He proceeded to improve the same and cultivated it with such profit that he presently was able to enlarge his holdings, until now he is the owner of five hundred and eighty acres of fine land, the most of which is under excellent cultivation.
Andrew G. Murk was born in the kingdom of Sweden, July 13, 1856, youngest son of Gabriel and Magdalena (Carlson) Murk, who were the parents of six children, those besides the subject of this sketch being Albert- ina, Matilda, Oscar, Frank and John. Albertina and John are deceased. Gabriel Murk was born on January 20, 1813. For twenty-nine years he served his king as a soldier and was a participant in the arduous campaign which marked the war between Germany and Denmark years ago, and in 1870 came to America. his last days being spent in the home of his son, Andrew, in this county.
In October, 1887, Andrew G. Murk was united in marriage to Clara Josephine Gustafson, who also was born in Sweden, and to this union four- teen children have been born, Oscar, Anna, Ida, Hanna, Beda, Amanda, Hulda, Gilbert, Emily, Arvid, Harold, Rolla. Carl and Clara. Oscar and Hanna are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Murk are members of the Swedish Lutheran church and their children have been raised in the faith of that church, the family being hekl in high esteem throughout the entire neighbor-
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hood. Mr. Murk for years has taken an active part in public affairs in Amor township and for fifteen years was treasurer of the school board.
As noted above, Andrew G. Murk's start as a farmer in this county was on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, for which he paid five dollars an acre. Since then he has increased his farm holdings until now he owns nearly six hundred acres of fine land, most of the improvements on which he has made himself, he having built the house and barn and numerous other substantial improvements. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Murk gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock, his Shorthorn cattle and Shropshire sheep showing an excellent strain. He is a good citizen and has many friends in Otter Tail county, all of whom hold him in the highest regard.
HERMAN GREFE.
Herman Grefe, bern near Hanover, Germany, January 4, 1866, is one of the successful farmers of Otter Tail county, Minnesota. Herman Grefe, the father of the subject of this sketch. was born in Hanover, Germany, May 17, 1831. Herman Grefe, Sr., was married to Mary Clasen, who was born near Hanover, February 24, 1836, and died in August, 1889. The senior Herman Grefe received his education in the common schools of his native land. He never came to America and on the completion of his school work engaged in farming on the farm that his father had owned. The farm had been in the possession of the Grefe family for over two hundred years. Herman Grefe, Sr., was the father of the following children: Loise, Her- man, Henry, Dick and William. Louise and William remained in Ger- many ; Henry, deceased, came to America in 1882; Dick came to America in 1880, direct to Otter Tail county, and Herman came to America in the year 1887. William is an officer in the German army at the present time. He has seen active service, and has been returned home for surgical treatment.
John Henry Grefe, the father of Herman Grefe, Sr., was born in 1802 and died in 1877. He was an extensive landowner and a prosperous farmer in the community in which he lived. John Henry Grefe was an active and respected member of the German Lutheran church.
Herman Grefe, on his arrival in America in 1887. first worked in Kan- sas and later, in 1895 came to Otter Tail county, Minnesota, where he has since resided, with the exception of a short visit to his native land. On his return to the United States he came direct to Otter Tail county, where he bought a farm of two hundred acres in Otter Tail township, sections to and 11. Ile has added to his first purchase until he now has a well-improved farm of three hundred acres.
Herman Grefe married Sophia Misegades, a native of Hanover, Ger-
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