USA > Minnesota > Otter Tail County > History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota : its people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 79
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OLE O. HOUG.
Ole O. Houg, a successful and prosperous citizen of Otter Tail county, was born in Norway on May 3, 1864, the son of Ole O. Houg and Gonner Gresby. The senior Mr. Houg was a farmer in his native country. He and his family made the long ocean voyage in 1869 and traveled direct to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where they lived for one year, the father working on a farm. The next year the little family left La Crosse with an ox team on their long journey of some four hundred miles to Otter Tail county, where Mr. Houg homesteaded one hundred and fifty-four acres of land in sections 26 and 27, of Oscar township. By the united efforts and hard work of the family the farm was developed and improved, good and sub- stantial buildings erected and here the father and mother lived until their death, some years ago.
Ole O. Hong was but five years of age when he came to the United States with his parents. He was reared on the home farm and received his education in the common schools of his home township. He has devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits. He was married in 1885 to Anne A. Lerbakken and they are the parents of the following children: Alfred, Clara, Olga, Otto, Frances, Regina, Arnold, Arthur and Godvin. Alfred and Clara are married. The family are all active members of the Lutheran church.
The family located on the present farm some twenty-two years ago,
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which Mr. Houg purchased after the death of his father. The original farm consisted of but one hundred and fifty-four acres. Mr. Houg now owns three hundred and thirty-nine acres of well-improved land, with well-kept buildings, the frame barn having been built in 1914. He does general farming and is a breeder of Shorthorn and Durham cattle and Poland China hogs.
Mr. Hong is a stockholder in the Carlisle Bank and the Farmers Ele- vator Company. He is progressive and takes a keen interest in all public, educational and religious work. He has been a school officer of his school district for the past ten years.
FRANCIS R. JACOBS.
Francis R. Jacobs, a native of Rice county, Minnesota, was born in Faribault, December 12, 1868, the son of Royal W. and Catherine ( Nichols ) Jacobs, the former being a native of southern Ohio and the latter having been born near Elmira, New York.
The paternal grandfather of Mr. Jacobs was Milo Jacobs, who, though born in Pennsylvania, spent all of his active life working as a millwright in Ohio. The parents of Francis R. Jacobs were married in South Bend, Indi- ana, and later the father served in the Civil War, enlisting in Company K, of the Twelfth Michigan Cavalry. His brother, Milo F. Jacobs, was in the Eighth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. He moved to Faribault, Minnesota, in 1855, and now at the age of eighty years lives in Portland, Oregon.
Royal W. Jacobs was left an orphan at the age of five years and was brought up by an aunt living in New York state. He attended school until his twentieth year, including a course in law at the seminary in Elmira, New York, and later he became a sawyer. His ambition to become a law- yer was thwarted on account of the Civil War. and after its close, in 1867, he came to Minnesota. He previously had gone from New York to Mich- igan, then to Illinois and from there to Rice county, Minnesota. Here he engaged in running saws until 1870, when he moved to his present location in Pelican Rapids. He followed the same occupation for three years, mean- time building the first dam in this locality. He early became a homesteader, taking a claim of one hundred and twenty acres one-half mile west of Pelican Rapids, which is called to this day the "Jacobs Place." When he first came to this locality it was in company with his uncle, Asa H. Jacobs, who had made the trip previously and who was the first white man to set foot on the soil of Pelican township. The claim which Royal Jacobs held for his uncle was part of the site upon which the town is now situated. As the uncle
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had no legal right to a homestead, having obtained all that was due him, his young nephew held the claim for him. In 1870, Asa H. Jacobs sold his claim, and Royal Jacobs homesteaded a claim for himself, one-half mile west of Pelican Rapids and to this he brought his family in 1871. Being an early settler, and capable, he held a number of the local offices. He died suddenly while engaged in harvesting grain, his death taking place on the farm now owned by Fred Damschen. To him and his wife were born three children. Alice, Catherine May and Francis. All were of the Protestant faith.
Francis R. Jacobs was educated in the village schools of Pelican town- ship. From his eighteenth to twentieth year he taught school, and then became a contractor and builder, a line of work which he has followed ever since. With the exception of two years during which he lived in Brainerd. Minnesota, and two years when he lived in Clay county, Minnesota, Mr. Jacobs has lived his entire life in this township.
Mr. Jacobs has had a number of business interests. He is interested in the First National Bank of Pelican Rapids and also in the telephone com- pany. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the United Work- men of America. He served his community by being for two years a mem- ber of the board of education. A man of excellent character, Mr. Jacobs has become a vital part of the business world of Pelican Rapids and has begun to reap his reward for his life of strenuous effort in which honor and integrity have been the guiding principles.
WILLIAM ZIMMER.
Descending from German lineage, the gentleman whose name heads the following brief biographical sketch bears out the reputation of his country- men for thrift and keen foresight along agricultural lines. They seem to possess that inborn ability to successfully conduct their farming interests. which is no doubt due to the fact that their ancestors for generations in the past have been skillfully trained to this life.
William Zimmer, farmer, Fergus Falls, Carlisle township, Otter Tail county, was born on April 14. 1854, at Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, and is a son of Joseph Zimmer. His early education was secured at the district schools of his native township and later he attended school at Menomonee Falls, and at Milwaukee, where he attended in company with the editor of the Milwaukee Neces. In 1873, he left home and found employment in railroad construction work at Winona, Minnesota, for a short time, at the end of which he went to Minneapolis, and from there to Oceo, where he worked on a farm for one season, and in the winter of 1873 he went to St.
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM ZIMMER.
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Paul, moving in 1874 to lowa, where he followed farming for five years. In 1881, Mr. Zimmer bought his present home place, consisting of one hundred and fifty-five acres, located in section 25, Carlisle township, Otter Tail county. He has put all the improvements on the place, including a commodious dwelling, which was erected in 1895, and a good, substantial barn, built in 1914, his entire real-estate holdings consisting of about three hundred acres. Politically, Mr. Zimmer is a stanch Republican.
Joseph Zimmer, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Ger- many, and came to New York City in 1824 as a young man, employing the first eight years of his time in America in a piano factory at that city, mov- ing in 1832 to Wisconsin, where he lived on a farm the remainder of his life, his death occuring in 1880. He was united in marriage with Mary Haerter, by whom he had two children, William and Henry, who still reside on the old homestead in Wisconsin.
William Zimmer was united in marriage, in 1881, with Louisa Klinger, daughter of Justin Klinger, which union has been blest with nine children, Justus, Lydia. Dora, Jennie, Ida, Hattie, Henry, Agnes and Alice.
Mr. Zimmer is a gentleman of splendid qualities, and is one whose presence wields a beneficial influence in his community, where he has gained a large circle of sincere friends.
ANDREW LIND.
Judging from the conditions which surround his attractive farm in Inman township, Andrew Lind is one of the most enterprising citizens of the township. Having started with nothing. Mr. Lind is now a prosperous and progressive farmer, and the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of splendid farming land.
Andrew Lind was born in Sweden, February 5. 1869, a son of Peter and Anna Monson, the former of whom died in Sweden in 1879, and the latter came to America and settled in Otter Tail county in 1889. Mr. Lind's mother died in 1910, at the age of about seventy years. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Monson were the parents of four children, of whom Andrew. the subject of this review, was the second in order of birth. Hannah, the eldest, is deceased. The other children are Ole and Ingre. After the death of her first husband, Mrs. Anna Monson married the second time, and by this marriage had one son, John.
Andrew Lind received his education in the public schools of his native land. He came to America in 1886, and in a short time thereafter settled in Battle Lake, Otter Tail county, Minnesota. For some time Mr. Lind worked by the month, and in fact, had worked to pay for his passage from Sweden to America. In 1898 Mr. Lind was able to purchase eighty acres
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of land in section 12, of Inman township, and to this tract he has since added eighty acres, of which forty is situated in section 12, and forty in section I, of Inman township. Mr. Lind is a general farmer and stock- man. All of his land is under a high state of cultivation and he has erected good buildings on his farm. In 1915 he constructed one of the best barns in the county.
About five years after coming to the United States, in 1801. Andrew Lind was married to Anna Rapp, who was born in Sweden in 1860 Mrs. Lind's parents died in Sweden. Mr. and Mrs. Lind are the parents of six children : Gust. Ida, Esther. Agnes, Otto and Hilda, all of whom are living.
Mr. Lind and family are active and faithful members of the Swedish Lutheran church. Mr. Lind has served on the school board of his town- ship, and also as supervisor. He is rated as a self-made man, a successful farmer and a congenial and popular citizen.
JONAS O. HALLAN.
One of the most prosperous farmers of Aurdal township, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, and one of its most intelligent and highly respected citizens, is Jonas O. Hallan, who was born on January 27, 1876, on the farm on which he now lives, and which he owns, consisting of three hundred and forty acres.
Mr. Hallan is the son of Ole and Helena ( Hanan) Hallan, both of whom were born in Norway. Mr. Hallan's father was born on July 16, 1837, and his mother on October 6, 1840. The former immigrated to Red Wing, Goodhue county. Minnesota, in 1865. and his wife to Houston county, in 1873. In the summer of 1860 Ole Hallan came to Otter Tail county and purchased eighty acres of school land, the north half of the southwest quarter of section 36, in Aurdal township. Later he added another eighty acres and later another forty, and another quarter was added by his son, Jonas, in 1902, and now has three hundred and sixty acres. This farm has been cleared and substantial improvements have been made upon it. Ole Hallan is now living retired on this farm.
Of the children born to Ole and Helena ( Hanan) Hallan, Jonas O. and Christian are twins; Ole, Jr., died in 1901 at the age of twenty-one years; Bena, who died in March, 1914, was the wife of Jacob Lyng and had three children, Harald. Helen and Jean. Christian, the twin brother of Jonas O .. is married and resides in Minneapolis. He is a civil engineer by profession and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota.
Jonas O. Hallan was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools and at the Park Region Lutheran College, of Fergus Falls. In
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1900 Mr. Hallan went to Oklahoma and took up a homestead fourteen miles west of Lawton, which he still owns. After living in that state for two and one-half years, Mr. Hallan returned to his old home and has since had charge of the farm. He keeps Holstein cattle and Berkshire swine. Mr. Hallan is a prominent member of the Lutheran church, holds many places of trust in local affairs, is a true booster of home development and is always willing to help a home enterprise. He likes to tell of Otter Tail county as the best place on earth to live to be happy, wealthy and wise.
THEODORE JACOBSON.
Theodore Jacobson, farmer. Pelican Rapids, Norwegian Grove town- ship, was born on October 9, 1854. in Vernon county, Wisconsin, and is a son of Jacob and Karen ( Olson) Torkelson. His opportunities for obtain- ing an education were extremely limited, and as a young man he began farming for himself on his father's farm. About 1883, he and his brother, George, became joint owners of the old home place, and, he now owns in his own name one hundred acres, farming, in all, about three hundred acres of land. Mr. Jacobson is an Independent voter and takes a deep interest in the public welfare of his township, being its present supervisor.
Jacob Torkelson, father of the subject of this sketch, was born on Janu- ary 12, 1821, in Norway, and his wife, Karen ( Olson) Torkelson, also a native of that country, was born on March 8, 1824. In his native land he followed the sea, which vocation he gave up in 1846 and came to America, settling at Chicago for a few years, where he was married. From that city he went to Vernon county, Wisconsin, and lived on a farm. In 1869 he came to Otter Tail county and located in Norwegian Grove township, buy- ing at first a soldier's claim of one hundred and sixty acres, and later he took up a homestead of forty acres, on which he put all buildings and other improvements, and where he spent the remainder of his life. Jacob and Karen Torkelson were the parents of four children: Mena, deceased; Theodore, the subject of this sketch : George, deceased, and Caroline. Mr. and Mrs. Torkelson were members of the Norwegian Grove Lutheran church, of which he was one of the trustees and to which he contributed liberally.
Theodore Jacobson was united in marriage, in 1882, with Gena John- son, by whom he has had the following children: Nathan, Clara, Alma, Inga, James, Clarence and Ella.
Mr. and Mrs. Jacobson are affable, genial people, holding the respect and friendship of the entire community in which they make their home, and where their success has been achieved.
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FRANK S. PUTNAM.
Frank S. Putnam was born in Wright county, Minnesota, February 17, 1859. the son of Luman and Levina ( Van Dwark ) Putnam, both of whom were born at Jamestown, New York; Luman Putnam being the son of Orin Putnam and wife, Orin Putnam having been, for fifty years, a minister in the Free Will Baptist church of New York state. Levina Putnam was the daughter of John Van Dwark, a farmer living in the state of New York.
Luman Putnam was educated in the public schools of Jamestown, New York, after which he became a farmer pursuing a general agricultural life in New York state until the year 1857, when he moved to Wright county, Minnesota, being one of the pioneers of that county, and living there until forced to leave as a result of the Indian uprising of 1862, the elder Putnam escaping to F't. Snelling, Minnesota, only as the result of warning that the Indians were on the warpath and moving in the direction of his farm. After some hardships, including a period of six weeks when the family was compelled to live entirely on tish, for which no salt could be obtained, Luman Putnam was able to make his farm a safe and productive place for farm life and pursuits, his land at a later time reaching a high value when it was sold by his widow some years after his death. Luman Putnam was a vet- cran of the Civil War, during the campaigns of which he contracted disease which resulted in his death, he being survived by his widow and six children : Mary, Celestia, Emily, Alvira. Frank S., the subject of this sketch, and Martha, deceased.
Following the death of her husband. Levina Putnam, in the year 1872, with five of her children, came to Otter Tail county, Minnesota, where the children homesteaded, on their father's right as a war veteran, one hundred and forty-three acres of land in section 4. of. Pelican township, a place which was improved with a log cabin with a sod roof, as a home, and a farm which was cultivated and later more modernly improved, where Levina Putnam lived for some years and then purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Scambler township, where she lived the remainder of her days.
Following his education in the schools of Otter Tail county, Minne- sota, Frank S. Putnam became a farmer on the old homestead in Otter Tail county, having purchased the interest of the other heirs, and on this farm he lived until the year 1903, having added to his holding until he now is the owner of two thousand five hundred acres of choice and desirable land in Otter Tail county, land which he cultivated'as a general farmer and stock raiser until, desiring to retire, in the year 1903. he purchased eighty-three acres of land about two miles northeast of the town of Pelican Rapids.
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Minnesota, on the Pelican river, a place on which, after nearly three years devoted to extensive improvement, Frank S. Putnam has moved and now makes his home.
In the business life of the community as well as in agricultural life, Frank S. Putnam has been successful, having, for a number of years, been a director of the First National Bank of Pelican Rapids, an institution in which he is now a stockholder, although he is not actively engaged in the work of the company.
On May 12, 1885, Frank S. Putnam was married to Hannah Robinson, of Scambler township, Otter Tail county, the daughter of John Robinson and wife, John Robinson being a well-known farmer of that locality. To the marriage of Frank and Hannah Putnam were born four children, Orin, Floyd, Worthy and Birdella.
Frank S. Putnam, though a man of public spirited nature and interested in the public welfare, preferred not to serve in any official capacity in the township, but it is only just to this valued citizen to say that his part in the development and progress of the community has been conspicuous and of a nature which has won for him respect and esteemed appreciation on the part of his fellow citizens and associates.
FERDINAND WISCHNAK.
Ferdinand Wischnak is one of the many agriculturists of Candor town- ship, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, who finds the soil of this locality par- ticularly adapted to their vocation. He is a native of Germany and his birth occurred on December 9. 1848, in West Prussia. His parents were Gottlieb and Caroline ( Engler ) Wischnak and they also were natives of Germany. Gottlieb Wischnak was employed as a day laborer until his death in 1852. Caroline (Engler ) Wischnak was married, after the death of her first husband, to Christian Boehmke, and in 1881 they immigrated to America and located near Young America. Carver county, Minnesota. Their deaths occurred in that place. To the first union were born two children : Ferdinand and Matilda. Matilda married William Hensel and died in Carver, Minnesota. The names of the children born of the second union follow: Carl, who lives in Dora township, near Loon lake; Rudolph is a farmer living in Carver county, Minnesota; Augusta married Oscar Kratis and lives in Superior, Wisconsin; Theresa married Fred Schlichting and lives in St. Paul, Minnesota; Paulina married Charles Bohn and they live in Wadena, Minnesota.
Ferdinand Wischnak was educated in the public schools of his native land, following which he was taught the trade of blacksmith and immigrated
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to America in 1879. Hle located in Carver county, Minnesota, where he followed his trade for one year, removing in 1880 to Otter Tail county. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, under the homestead law, in section 20, in Candor township. This farm was on the shore of Hook lake and was entirely unimproved, but a log house. sixteen by eighteen feet, was soon erected and the soil put under cultivation. During the first year, in connec- tion with his farm work, he also assisted others in the harvesting of their crops. He now has nearly sixty acres under cultivation and carries on gen- eral farming and stock raising. He also owns forty acres near the place on which he lives. In 1895 the present home was built and the barn was erected in 1900. Politically, Ferdinand Wischnak is a stanch Republican and served as supervisor for nearly three years.
In 1883 Ferdinand Wischnak was united in marriage to Bertha Zuehl, a native of Germany who came to America when a small girl, and to them have been born these children: Carl is a farmer in Candor township; Otto owns a farm in Candor, but is employed in other work; Annie married Henry Hannush and lives in Jowa; Fred is at home: Rudolph, Edward and Alma. Ferdinand Wischnak and his wife are devout members of the Lutheran church.
CARL O. SCHOENING.
Carl O. Schoening, farmer, Fergus Falls township, Otter Tail county. was born on March 11, 1875, at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and is a son of Christian and Elizabeth ( Ulrich ) Schoening. He was educated at the pub- lic schools of Otter Tail county, and as a young man started to farm for himself on his father's farm and is still living on the place, where he does general farming and owns in his own name one hundred and sixty acres of well-improved farm land, which has been acquired through thrift and indus- try. Mr. Schoening has always been a strong believer in the principles of the Republican party, but has never sought public office. He is a member of the German Lutheran church.
Christian and Elizabeth ( Ulrich) Schoening were both natives of Ger- many, and spent the last years of their lives in Otter Tail county, Minne- sota. \ more complete history of their lives will be found in the biographi- cal sketch of William F. Schoening, presented elsewhere in this volume.
Carl O. Schoening was united in marriage. November 4, 1897, with Sophia Meyer, daughter of William Meyer. The two children with which this union has been blest are Walter William F. and Clara.
Mr. Schoening possesses the highest qualities of integrity and human sympathy towards his fellow man, and has earned for himself a place of substantial prominence in Fergus Falls township, where he is well known.
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PETER M. KNOFF.
Peter M. Knoff was born near Bergen, Norway, October 27, 1868, the son of Peter C. and Lena ( Berge) Knoff, the former of whom was born in Norway on January 21, 1827, and the latter, born in Norway during the month of November, 1821. Peter C. Knoff was a carpenter in his native land, a trade which he followed in that country until the year 1870, when with his wife and six children, he came to America, settling in Trempealeau county, Wisconsin, where he worked in a saw-mill for some months. At a later time he moved to Martin county, Minnesota, there taking up a home- stead of eighty acres of unbroken prairie land, a place on which Peter C. Knoff built a sod house for a home and then proceeded to cultivate his land, later adding to his land until he owned two hundred acres of well tilled soil on which from time to time he added improvements. At the time of his death, in 1901, Peter C. Knoff had one of the most productive and best improved farms of that community.
Following the death of her husband Mrs. Lena Knoff moved to Fergus Falls. Minnesota, where she lived until her death in 1904. Peter C. and Lena Knoff were the parents of the following children: Herman, a furni- ture and fixture manufacturer of Mankato, Minnesota; Jacob, a harness maker of Fergus Falls, Minnesota; Gertie, who married C. J. Hanson, of Fergus Falls, Minnesota; Lizzie, who married Andrew Anderson and lives in Carlisle township, Otter Tail county; Christian, who is deceased; Peter M., the subject of this sketch, and one child who died in infancy. Peter C. Knoff and his wife were faithful and devout members of the Norwegian Lutheran church.
Peter M. Knoff, following his education in the common schools of Martin county, remained at home as an aid to his father until the year 1901, when the father died, and then Peter M. Knoff purchased the interest of the other heirs in the home place, farming there for about one year. Then selling his land he moved to Fergus Falls, Minnesota, where he lived until the year 1903, after which he came to Erhard, Minnesota, and erected a two story building. in size thirty-eight by sixty feet, in which he started a general store, one which has prospered until the stock carried now reaches the value of about ten thousand dollars. During the year 1913, Peter M. Knoff. with others, was instrumental in the establishment of the Erhard State Bank, an organization of which Mr. Knoff is a stockholder and also one of the directors, an office which he has held since the organization of the institution.
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