USA > Minnesota > Otter Tail County > History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota : its people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 41
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Robson C. Atkinson, a well-to-do farmer of Newton township, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, was born in the state of Illinois, August 2, 1852. Mr. Atkinson's boyhood home was near Joliet, Illinois. He is the son of John and Sarah ( Robson) Atkinson, both of whom were natives of England and who were married in their native land.
After coming to this country from England. Mr. and Mrs. John Atkin- son settled in the state of Illinois, where they rented land for some years. Subsequently, they moved to Minnesota, and there homesteaded one hun- dred and sixty acres of land. Upon selling their farm, the family moved to Wabasha county, Minnesota, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land. Mr. Atkinson's father died in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1913. and his mother in Wabasha county, Minnesota, in 1877. They were the parents of eleven children, Mary Ann. Robson C., Sarah, Oliver, Fannie, Charlotte, Grace, Frank, Daisy, Hattie and Dorcas.
Robson C. Atkinson was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools. He accompanied his parents to Minnesota, and, when a young man, moved to Yellow Medicine county, Minnesota, and took a "tree claim" of one hundred and sixty acres. which he kept for about two years. After- ward Mr. Atkinson purchased sixty acres of land, which he owned for four years. After selling out, in 1877. he came to Otter Tail county and took a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in section 20, of Henning town- ship. Later he added eighty acres and had, at the time he sold the farm, two hundred and forty acres. Subsequently, he purchased two hundred and forty acres in section 5, and also forty acres in section 2, all of which was situated in Henning township. After selling this farm in October, 1903, Mr. Atkinson came to Newton township and purchased five hundred and fifty-two acres besides two hundred acres in Inman township. He has sold his land until he now owns ninety-two acres in section 20, where he lives. and one hundred and twenty acres in section 22. Mr. Atkinson is a general farmer and stockman and has been very successful, not only in farming. but in buying and selling land.
Many years ago Robson C. Atkinson was married at Lake Pappin, Wis- consin. to Minnie Oliver, who was born in Wabasha county, Minnesota, in
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1859, and whose father, Orris Oliver, was a pioneer of Wabasha county. Mr. and Mrs. Atkinson have been the parents of seven children, all of whom are living, Willie, George Harley, Fred, Ida, Hattie, Ray and Della.
Mr. Atkinson served as supervisor of Henning township for a number of years and was also clerk of the school board for some time. In Newton township, where he now lives, he is rated as one of the most successful farmers and business men. He is a popular citizen and has a host of friends in the community where he resides.
CHARLES S. JOSLIN.
Born in a log cabin in Cattaraugus county, New York, August 9, 1853, - Charles 'S. Joslin, a well-known farmer of Oak Valley township, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, is a son of Artemus and Charlotte (Grandy) Joslin. Mr. Joslin's father was a native of Pennsylvania, born on June 12, 1812. His mother, who was a native of Potsdam, St. Lawrence county, New York, was born in 1817.
The Joslin family settled in Cattaraugus county, New York, in an early day, and lived there for some years, and in 1869 came to Rice county, Minnesota, and after living at Fairban for one year, moved to LeSueur county, Minnesota, where they purchased a farm, and here Mr. Joslin's father died on August 7, 1881, at the age of sixty-nine years. His mother died in 1892, aged seventy-five years. They were the parents of eight chil- dren, of whom one, Adaline, is deceased. The living children are Sarah, Oscar, Edgar, Evaline, Charles S., Emma and Adelbert.
Reared on a farm in Cattaraugus county, New York, Charles S. Joslin received his education in the public schools of that county, and when seven- teen years of age accompanied his parents to Rice county, Minnesota, and then to LeSueur county, and in 1882 emigrated to Otter Tail county, and took a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in section 20, Oak Valley township. There he lived until 1896, when he sold out and purchased eighty acres in section 17, Oak Valley township, where he now resides. Mr. Jos- lin has erected good buildings on his farm, and has constructed a large silo for the storing of feed for his live stock, and has made many substantial improvements on the place. His farm is one of the most productive and fertile in the township, and here he carries on a general system of farming and stock raising, and for the past fourteen years has also been engaged in threshing, and in the operation of a saw-mill in connection with farming. He was one of the organizers of the creamery at Lyman, and is its largest stockholder.
In 1876 Mr. Joslin was married to Elizabeth Chantler, a native of England, and the daughter of William Chantler, who came to America in
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1852, and located in LeSueur county, Minnesota. Mrs. Joslin's father died in the latter county. His wife, before her marriage, was Harriet Bartho- amne, who died in LeSueur county, Minnesota, June 7, 1886.
Charles S. Joslin and wife are the parents of three children, Clarence, whose wife was Grace Burnet before her marriage, has two children, Leo and Ralph; Georgia, the wife of Mont McKellep, has four children, Ken- neth, Dorothy, Lola and Beulah: Chlours, the wife of Henry Wallingford, of Hubbard county, Minnesota.
Mr. Joslin has been prominent in the political and civic life of his town- ship for many years. He served a number of years on the township board as supervisor, and for some years was clerk of the school board. He is a highly-respected farmer and citizen of this part of the county, where he has made his home for so many years.
OLE M. SOMMERNESS.
Many of the men most influential in promoting the industrial affairs of Otter Tail county, Minnesota, trace their success to the inheritance of the Norwegian traits of character. The attributes of thrift, integrity and perse- verance which are inherent in the natures of the highest types of the citizens of Norway have found expression in the works of those men who came to the agricultural sections of Minnesota, when that state was in the earliest stage of her development. In the colony which settled in the county referred to above, probably no member has attained greater distinction than Ole M. Sommerness, whose business ability and firm convictions have won for him the respect of those with whom he has come in contact.
Ole M. Sommerness was born at Graso, Nordland, seventy-two miles north of Trondhjem, Norway, on the 9th of June, 1842, and is the son of Marcus Olson and Karen Jacobson. His father was a native of Denmark and his mother of Norway. Marcus Olson moved to Norway at the age of twelve years, and after reaching manhood followed the fisherman's occupa- tion which was not an uncommon form of employment in that locality where he lived. He married in his native land and for a number of years made part of his living from a small piece of land which he had purchased and on which he kept a few cattle. After his death, which occurred when he was just forty-two years old, his wife married Carl Olson, and lived to the age of sixty years. By her first marriage she became the mother of the following children: Marelius, who died in Norway; Gitlov, who became the wife of Syver Hammer, and who died in Otter Tail county; Ovidia, the wife of Lodvik Kran, who lives in Norway; Jacob. a resident of Norway, und Ole, who is referred to in this sketch. By her marriage to Mr. Olson, Mrs Olson became the mother of Martha, a daughter who died in Norway;
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Vidia and Annie, who are still living in Norway, and Marelius, who died when he was young.
Ole Sommerness was educated in the public schools of his native land. As a young man he became interested in the fishing industry, one of the most important industries of the country in which he was reared and as a result he followed the fisherman's trade until 1869, when he left Norway for this country. He settled, after arriving in America, in Goodhue county, Minnesota, where he worked for two years on the farms in that locality. His initial entrance into Otter Tail county was made in 1871, when he came to this section and bought a farm of eighty acres located in section 16, in Trondhjem township. The land was devoid of improvements of any kind. The nature of the land was rolling prairie. One of the first difficult pieces of labor with which the subject of this sketch was obliged to deal was the building of a log cabin. The house is still standing, north of the present residence and is a landmark of the simple achievement of a pioneer. After he had broken up a large part of the wild land, Mr. Sommerness began to add to his farm possessions until now he owns a place of over four hundred and forty acres, most of which is located in sections 15 and 16. To the original farm he has added a number of valuable improvements. The man- agement of the farm is devoted almost exclusively to general farming and stock raising. In 1905, Mr. Sommerness retired from active work on the farm and turned over its management to his son, Carl, who has rented the land for over ten years. Carl Sommerness has given evidence of his posses- sion of the same sterling attributes of character which were so characteristic of the business life of his father. He has discharged the duties assumed by him on the farm in a manner deserving of the highest commendation and trust.
In his political interests, Ole Sommerness has always been an independ- ent voter. He has taken an active part in those affairs for the welfare of the community and for a time served on the township school board. He attends the Lutheran church of which his wife is also a member.
The marriage of Ole Sommerness and Julia Anderstatter, a native of Tysmark, Sweden, was solemnized on December 18, 1873. She is the daughter of Andrew and Margaret Brynglson, and was married in this country, to which she came alone, in 1871. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Sommerness the following children have been born: Martin, a resident of Columbus, North Dakota; Caroline, the wife of Ole Rykkin, of Woburn. North Dakota; Antone, who is in business with his brother Martin, a dealer in hardware, furniture and farm implements; Mattie, who resides at home; Carl, who is manager of the home farm, and Albert, who lives in Glendive, Montana, where he is a druggist and a landowner. Mr. and Mrs. Sommer-
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ness have extended their filial devotion to two adopted children, Swen Hendrickson, a druggist of Annasa, North Dakota, whom they reared from the age of thirteen years and Clara Wick, who has made her home with them since childhood.
JOHN C. HAUCK.
John C. Hauck, widely known and highly respected farmer of Otto township, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, was born in Medina county, Ohio, on July 5, 1877, the son of Simon and Katherine (Schneider) Hanck, the former born at Toledo, Ohio, in the year 18.44, and the latter born in Ger- many, in 1850. Simon Hauck was the son of Alios and Arelia Hauck, both natives of Germany, who came to America and settled in Medina county, Ohio, where they lived for a time and then moved to Toledo, Ohio, after which they came, in the year 1880, to Otter Tail county, where Alios Hauck bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Pine Lake township, a place to which he later added eighty acres and where he lived until his death in 1891. His widow died in 1899. Alios and Arelia Hauck were the parents of two children, Susie and Simon.
Simon Hauck was educated in the public schools of Toledo, Ohio, after which he moved to Pine Lake township, with his parents, where he engaged in general farming until the death of his father, when he acquired the home farm, a place to which he added until he was the owner of two hundred and eighty acres of well improved and highly cultivated land. Simon Hauck died on June 2. 1914: his widow, Katherine is now living in Otter Tail county. Simon and Katherine Hauck were the parents of the following children : Mary (deceased), Lillie. Minnie, Alice (deceased), John, Julia, Joseph, George, Simon (deceased), Annie, Ida and Michael.
John C. Hauck, the subject of this sketch, received his education in the schools of Pine Lake township, Otter Tail county, and then became a farmer at twenty years of age, buying forty acres of land in section 33, Pine Lake township, to which he later added eighty acres in section 4, Otto township. forty acres in section 33. Pine Lake township, and ten acres in section 6, Homestead township, and eighty acres in the town of Otto. On his splendid farmof two hundred and ninety acres of well-cared-for land, John C. Hauck engages in general farming and in stock raising.
On April 16. 0001, John C. Hanck was married to Maggie Brown, who was born in l'ine Lake township, the daughter of John and Mary (Keidel) Brown, pioneer farmer of Pive Lake township, where John Brown lived wwtil his death in soo. and where his widow, Mary, is now living. To to: marriage of John C. stol Maggie Hanck have been born six children, James, Marcella, Fhina, Angie, Clarence and Marcus,
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GUSTAF S. INGWALD.
Gustaf S. Ingwald, who was born on November 6, 1863, in Sweden, owns ninety-four acres of land in Compton township, and in the community where he lives, is rated as a successful farmer.
Mr. Ingwald is a son of Swan Ingwald and Christine Anderson, both of whom were natives of Sweden, and who, after their marriage in their native land, came to America in 1881. Upon landing at New York city, the parents proceeded direct to Compton township, Otter Tail county, Minne- sota, where they shortly obtained eighty acres of land in section 19. They lived on this farm the remainder of their lives, but the farm had in the meantime, been increased to one hundred and twenty' acres. They were the parents of two children, Gustaf and Julian. The family were all faithful and devout members of the Lutheran church, and the father had received military training in his native country, and had served in the Swedish army.
Gustaf S. Ingwald received a part of his educational training in the schools of his native land, and upon coming to America, was a student for some time in the public schools of Compton township. Mr. Ingwald is now the owner of ninety-four acres of land, on which he built a nice home.
On May 7. 1892, Mr. Ingwald was married to Hulda Loine, a native of Sweden, and to this union have been born two children, Arvid and Bern- hard, both of whom are living at home with their parents.
Mr. Ingwald, who is an active member of the Lutheran church, has been a justice of the peace in Compton township for a number of years. He also served twelve years on the township board, but is not now a mem- ber of the board. Fraternally, Mr. Ingwald is a member of the Equitable Fraternal Union, in which he takes an active interest.
ANDREW A. PETTERSON.
A successful merchant of Battle Lake, Minnesota, is Andrew A. Petter- son, who was born in Fillmore county, Minnesota, July 17, 1863, and who is a son of Peter Anderson and wife, both natives of Norway, who came to the United States from their native land about 1862, settling in Fillmore county, Minnesota, where the former died in 1864. while his widow passed away in Otter Tail county, about 1880. Peter Anderson and wife were the parents of five children, of whom Andrew A. was the youngest born. The other children were Herman, Christian, Gusta and Dorothy.
Andrew A. Petterson received his education in the public schools of Otter Tail county, where the family came in 1870, and began on his own responsibility by renting a farm in Nidaros township. After following farm- ing for some little time, he was employed as a clerk in a general store at
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Clitherall, Minnesota, for one year. In 1904 Mr. Petterson came to Battle Lake. Minnesota, and for the next five years was manager of the Larson & Ilansen general store. In 1900 Mr. Petterson purchased this store, which has since been operated under the firm name of A. . 1. Petterson & Company.
In 1885 Andrew A. Petterson was married to Julia Holstemon, of Clay- ton county, Iowa, and to this union have been born four children: Gustav, a professor in charge of one of the departments of the Normal school at Mankato, Minnesota. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, and has also taken post-graduate work at the same institution. He was the first dean of Vaselen University at Mitchell, South Dakota. Adolph, the second son of Mr. Petterson and wife, who was a graduate of the Fergus Falls high school, and who would have graduated from the dental department of the University of Minnesota, in 1915, died in February, 1915, at the age of twenty-two years. His death was a severe shock to his parents and to his hosts of friends whose confidence he enjoyed in his home community and at school where he was very popular. Ella, who is a graduate of the State Normal School, at Moorhead, Minnesota, taught two years at Camp- bell. Wilkie county, Minnesota, and also taught in the schools of Appleton, Minnesota. Clarence, the youngest born of Mr. Petterson's children, is a student in the high school at Battle Lake.
Mr. Petterson and family are prominent members of the Lutheran church at Battle Lake, and are prominent citizens of this community, and have worthily discharged all the duties of life, both public and private.
AUGUSTUS G. BURGESS.
Augustus G. Burgess, prominent farmer of Dead Lake township, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, was born in Jefferson county, New York, on June 7. 1860, the son of Nathaniel H. and Abigail Jane ( Bossuet ) Burgess, natives of Canada and Jefferson county, New York, respectively. Nathaniel 11. Burgess went to Jefferson county, when a young man, where he married and then, in 1861. came to LeSueur county, Minnesota, and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, on which he lived for a time and then, selling his place, he bought another farm of eighty acres, which after a time he sold and then came to Otter Tail county, and located at Richville, where the elder Burgess lived until his death in 1911, and where his widow. Abigail Jane, now lives, aged eighty-one years. Nathaniel and Abigail Jane Burgess were the parents of six children, William, Elizabeth, Augustus G., Nathaniel, Henry and Nettie.
Augustus G. Burgess was educated in the public schools of LeSueur county, Minnesota, after which he learned the mason's trade which he fol- lowed for fifteen years. He came to Dead Lake township. Otter Tail
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county, in 1911. where he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 13, a place which Mr. Burgess has greatly improved and where he now engages in general agricultural pursuits.
On February 7. 1884. Augustus G. Burgess was married to Ida 11. Wynn, who was born in LeSueur county, in 1863, and to this marriage was. born one son, who now lives in Richville. Ida, the first wife of Augustus G. Burgess died on January 11, 1886. Augustus G. Burgess was married. secondly, on December 20, 1887, to Eva Randall, who was born in Crafts- bury, Vermont, in May, 1858, the daughter of Wilbur and Charlotte ( Drew ) Randall, who came to LeSueur county, in 1859, and settled near Ottawa on a farm of two hundred and twenty acres. land which Wilbur Randall later sold and then moved to Ottawa, where he died on March 13, 1911. Char- lotte, the widow of Wilbur Randall is now living in Ottawa, Minnesota. To the marriage of Augustus and Eva Burgess was born one child, Lola. who is now the wife of John M. Henderson, of Clitherall, Minnesota.
JOHN A. ANDERSON.
John A. Anderson, a prosperous farmer of Nidaros township. Otter Tail county, Minnesota, is a native of Eagle Lake township. Otter Tail county, where he was born on November 9, 1871.
Mr. Anderson is the son of John G. and Johanna Sophia Anderson. both of whom were natives of Sweden. Mr. Anderson's father was born in 1838 and his mother in 1844. They were married in Sweden and, in 1870, came to America, settling at Red Wing, in Goodhue county, Minne- sota. In the fall of 1870. they moved to Fagle Lake township, Otter Tail county, and took a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in section 1. Here Mr. Anderson's father worked as a farmer, improving his land until his death on January 23, 1913. Mr. Anderson's mother is still living on the old farm. They were the parents of a large family of children, Hilda. John, Frank, Godfred. Selma, Edward, Delia, William, Hulda, deceased, and one who died in infancy.
John A. . Anderson was reared on the old homestead farm and educated in the public schools of the township. He attended the old district No. 72 school and has always been engaged in farming. He formerly owned a farm in leaf Mountain township, but sold it in 1914. In January, 1908. he purchased one hundred and thirty-eight acres, to which in 1913. he added ninety-one acres. Mr. Anderson now owns two hundred and twenty-nine acres in sections 7 and 18, of Nidaros township.
In 1002 Mr. Anderson was married in the Eagle Lake church to Eliza- beth Brown, who was born in Sweden on July 15, 1870, and is the daughter of Frederick Leonard and Mary Brown. Mrs. Anderson's parents came
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to America in 1860, settling in Moline, Illinois, and three years later immi- grated to Otter Tail county, settling on the farm which their son-in-law, John A. Anderson, now owns. Mrs. Anderson's father died in 1877 and her mother married again, now being Mrs. Magnus Strobeck, and living in Clitherall village. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have three sons, Frederick, Richard and Lloyd.
Mr. and Mrs. John A. Anderson are members of the Swedish Lutheran church of Eagle Lake. Mr. Anderson's parents were active in the church, his father having been one of the first members of the church in his town- ship. The son has always been active in the church of Eagle Lake town- ship, also. Mr. Anderson has always been active in politics. He served as supervisor of Leaf Mountain township for seven years and six years as supervisor of Nidaros township. He has also served as a member of the school board in Nidaros township for six years.
THOMAS HORAN.
A resident of Otter Tail county since 1880, Thomas Horan, an ener- getic and industrious farmer of the Battle Lake neighborhood, in Maine township, is widely known throughout that part of the county and is highly respected for his many engaging traits of character. Upon coming to this county, he bought a farm in Maine township, which he has cleared and converted into a very comfortable home place.
Thomas Horan was born in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, both April 12, 1854, son of Martin and Catherine ( Dunleavy ) Horan, both natives of Ire- land. Martin Horan, who was born in Kings county, in the Emerald Isle, came to America in 1832 and plunged into the then practical wilderness of Illinois, locating first at Chicago, which at that time was but a small cluster of log cabins around the old Indian fort. For some years he worked in the lead mines of lowa, Wisconsin and Illinois, and in 1847. while living in the latter state, was married, after which he bought a quarter section of heavily timbered land in Jo Daviess county, that state, which he proceeded to clear and upon which he made his home during the rest of his life. He and his wife were the parents of eleven children, all of whom are living save Elizabeth and Martha, the others being, in the order of their birth, Mary, Michael, Thomas, the subject of this sketch: Bernard, Marcus, Cath- erine, James, Margaret and Ann. Martin Horan and his wife were devout members of the Catholic church and their children were reared in the faith of the mother church.
Growing to manhood on the old home place in Illinois, Thomas Horan poreived his early education in Jo Daviess county and there learned practical Farming. On March 22, 1880. he arrived in Otter Tail county and bought
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a tract of eighty acres of uncleared land in Maine township, which he pro- ceeded to render habitable. Ile found it pretty "hard grubbing," but he persisted until he presently had a well-tilled place, every furrow of which he broke himself. On October 2, 1894, he was united in marriage to Mary McNulty, who was born in Wisconsin, daughter of Michael and Angeline (McNulty) McNulty, and in 1897 he further improved his place by the erection of a new and substantial house and barn. In 1906 he bought an adjoining tract of forty acres, all of which he also has cleared with the exception of about seven acres, which still require grubbing. The home farm is situated in section 25, and is well known in the neighborhood for its genial hospitality.
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