USA > Minnesota > Otter Tail County > History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota : its people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 96
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107
In 1875. Martin Erikson was united in marriage to Betsy Peterson, a
902
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
native of Norway and daughter of Elling Peterson, also a native of Norway. To this union have been born fifteen children: Anna, Carrie, Edward (deceased), Edward, Matilda, Hanna, Emma, Alfred, Julia, Selmer, Ella, Melvin, Clarence, Mabel (deceased ) and Mabel. Martin Erikson and his family are devout members of the Norwegian Lutheran Free church, and are very active in the support of this denomination. Betsy ( Peterson ) Erikson was reared on the farm adjoining the one of which Martin Erikson is the owner. Martin Erikson has been very successful as a farmer and as a citizen, and has many friends among the inhabitants of Otter Tail county.
HANS JENSEN.
Hans Jensen was born in Denmark, January 17, 1855, the son of Mar- tin and Maria (Christiansen) Jensen, both of whom lived and died in their native country.
Martin Jensen was a miller by trade and served in the War of 1848. He and his wife were the parents of three children, namely, Hans, the sub- ject of this sketch ; Anna, who died young, and Adolph, who went away on a sailing vessel as a sailor and who was never again heard of. Hans became a sailor just after his confirmation at the age of fourteen, sailing the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea. Traveling by steamboat and sailing vessels he made from ten to twelve trips to America and finally in 1873 decided to live here. He worked as a sailor up and down the coast and on the Great Lakes. Start- ing from Duluth, he worked on farms and drifted southward and in 1902 arrived in this county. Liking the looks of the land. he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Eastern township where he still lives. This is in the northwest quarter of section 32. At the time of the purchase it was covered with timber. The land has been cleared and cultivated and on it stand a number of good, substantial, modern buildings. Mr. Jensen is a well-known breeder of purebred White Leghorn chickens and of graded Holstein cattle and Poland China hogs.
Mr. Jensen has been twice married, his first wife being Carrie Sophia Thorsen, a native of Denmark, and to her he was married in St. Paul. She had come to America and located in that city in 1882. She died in 1800 leaving one daughter, two older children, Ophelia and Arthur having died in infancy. Vivian, the remaining daughter, was born in 1887. She is a violinist, having received her early training from her father, who started her on her musical career at the age of six. He modestly calls himself a "fiddler." Later Vivian received her musical education at St. Paul and Minneapolis. In the former city she was graduated from the high school and later attended college. She now has her own studio in Silver City. New Mexico, and has attained such prominence as to fill musical engage-
903
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
ments all over the country. Among these was her successful appearance at the fair in San Francisco in 1915. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Jensen, in 1892, married Minnie Schroeder, who was born in Germany and who came to this country with her parents in 1866 when she was only two years of age. This family are affiliated with the Lutheran church in which they take an active part.
Mr. Jensen has been painstaking, industrious, energetic and frugal, and has earned all the good fortune that has come his way.
ADOLPH JACOBS.
Adolph Jacobs was born in Carver county, Minnesota, April 1, 1860, the son of Mathias and Mary ( Bock ) Jacobs, who were natives of Ger- many, where they lived until the year 1849, and then came to America, locating in Dalgren township, Carver county, Minnesota, where Mathias Jacobs secured employment on the farm of a man named Gephart, who made terms with the elder Jacobs, that should he work on the farm for a period of two years, that at the end of this time Mathias Jacobs would be given a farm of one hundred and sixty acres of land in the township; but after working for the two years Mr. Jacobs learned that the land to be given was not owned by his employer, but that it would be necessary to buy the land from the United States government, paying for it the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, a thing which Mathias Jacobs was able to do only as the result of his fiancee coming with sufficient money to purchase the land.
Adolph Jacobs was not yet three years of age when the Indian massacre of 1862 occurred, the Jacobs family escaping in an old ox-cart, to which a cow was attached behind, making their way to Chaska, Minnesota, from where the women and children were sent to Ft. Snelling, Minnesota, while the adult male members of the community remained to fight the ravaging Indians in the district. Later, after the capture of the Indians, at which Mathias Jacobs was present, the family of the elder Jacobs returned to Carver county, Minnesota, where he farmed on his original homestead of one hundred and sixty acres of land, a place to which he later added two hundred and forty acres of land. In 1877 he made a trip to Otter Tail county and bought twelve hundred and five acres of land in sections 7 and 23, in Dora township, land for which Mathias Jacobs paid the sum of fifty- seven cents per acre, purchasing this land from the Northern Pacific Rail- way Company. Mathias and Mary Jacobs were the parents of seven chil- dren, Joseph, Andrew, Adolph, John, Henry, Phoebe and Anna. Mathias Jacobs and wife were communicants of the Catholic church.
Adolph Jacobs received his education in the public schools of Carver
90.4
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
county, Minnesota, where he attended classes for three months, and later in the German Catholic School, after which he helped on the farm of his father in Carver county, and then in the year 1878, with his father, Adolph Jacobs drove with four oxen and a wagon, together with sixteen head of cattle, to Otter Tail county, Minnesota, the journey requiring fourteen days. On their arrival in Otter Tail county the Jacobs family found but three settlers in Dora township, where they located, and where they proceeded to clear the land and prepare it for cultivation, building for a home only rude houses and for outbuildings sheds were made to serve the purpose of shelter for the stock and provisions. Adolph Jacobs, with the other male members of the family, devoted the winter months to the making of railway ties, the money earned being used for the payment of taxes and other neces- sary expenses, until such a time as the farm land could be cultivated to the point of a satisfactory income. During the fifteen years that Adolph Jacobs lived on the home in Dora township, he succeeded in clearing more than one hundred and ninety-five acres of land, bringing it to a good state of culti- vation.
In the year 1901, Adolph Jacobs moved to Pelican township, Otter Tail county, where he invested in one hundred and sixty acres of land which he has extensively improved and which he has highly culitvated until it is among the desirable places of the township for general agricultural pursuits.
During the year 1881, Adolph Jacobs was married to Geneva Bear, who was born in Dahlgren township, Carver county, Minnesota, the daughter of Gotlieb and Victoria (Oniser) Bear, natives of Germany. To the mar- riage of Adolph and Geneva Jacobs have been born nine children, Emma Mary, Bertha, Edward, Anna, Johnnie, William, Irvin, Ella Clara and James Adolph.
Gotlieb and Victoria Bear, in the year 1850. left their homes in Ger- many and came to America, where after their marriage in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, Gotlieb Bear homesteaded a claim in Carver county, Min- nesota, and later. in the year 1879. he bought a section of land located in Dora township, from the Northern Pacific Railway Company, which he farmed for some time and then he erected the first store building in Dora township, establishing there the first stock of general merchandise, a busi- ness in which he was engaged until the year 1891. when he died. The chil- dren of Gotlieb and Victor Bear are William, of Frazee, Minnesota : Henry, of Carver county, Minnesota; Gotlieb, of Frazee, and Geneva. wife of the subject of this sketch. Of these children, William and Gotlieb were for many years well-known merchants of Frazee, they conducting there a general store until the year 1913, when they traded their stock for eight hundred acres of land in Otter Tail county.
OTTER TAIL. COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
.Adolph Jacobs is a man who not only has overcome obstacles to the point of recognized success in the agricultural world, where he owns the farm on which he lives, together with one hundred acres of valuable land in Becker county, Minnesota, which he purchased in the year 1911, but Mr. Jacobs has served with notable efficiency on the township board and on the school board in the county, this with his ability and judgment in all public and general matters, as well as his work and effort for the promotion of the welfare and progress of the community, giving him a position as one of the leading and most valued citizens of the township.
WILLIAM JEZEWSKI.
William Jezewski, well-known merchant and prominent citizen of Rich- dale, Pine Lake township, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, was born in the city of Chicago, December 23, 1877, the son of Nicholas and Katherine ( Wardyn) Jezewski, both of whom were natives of Germany. Nicholas Jezewski was a picture-frame maker, of his native country, a business which he followed during his entire residence in Germany, with exception of three years when he served in the German army, having taken an active part in the Franco-Prussian War.
Nicholas Jezewski came to America in 1872 and located in Chicago, and in 1888 he moved to Pine Lake township, Otter Tail county, Minne- sota. Here he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he cleared and improved and a farm to which he later added land until he was the owner of three hundred and eighty acres of weil improved and highly pro- ductive land. Nicholas Jezewski engaged in general agricultural pursuits until his death on February 9, 1907. Katherine, the wife of Nicholas Jezew- ski, died in the year 1905. Nicholas and Katherine Jezewski were the par- ents of the following children : Ignatius, John, William, Frank, Anna, Joseph, and four children who died in infancy. Nicholas Jezewski was a communicant of the Catholic church.
William Jezewski was educated at district school No. 130, of Pine Lake township, Otter Tail county, where he attended classes until a young man, and then he became a farmer working on the farms of the neighbor- hood, for five years, after which he went to Frazee, Minnesota, and became an employee of the Nicholas & Chisolm Lumber Company, remaining with this concern for about five years. Later William Jezewski came to Rich- dale, Otter Tail county, in March, 1909, and purchased the general mer- chandise store of John Hempel & Sons, William Jezewski a few months later being appointed postmaster of Richdale, an office which he has since occupied. In addition to the sale of general merchandise and machinery, at his place of business, Mr. Jezewski has for more than three years been a
906
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
buyer of grain for the Perham Holding Company, as well as engaging in the operation of an elevator at Richdale, on his own account, and in the buying of potatoes.
During the year 1896, William Jezewski was married to Molly Smith, the daughter of Martin Smith and wife, Martin Smith having been a pio- neer settler in Pine Lake township, where he lived as a farmer on one hun- dred and sixty acres of land. To the marriage of William and Molly Jezew- ski, six children have been born, Raymond, Elsie, Margaret, Martin, Mamie and Lettie. William Jezewski served his township as assessor, as justice of the peace, as school clerk and as village councilman, while he was a resident of Frazee, Minnesota.
MARTIN H. STANG.
Much of the civil and industrial progress of Minnesota is traced to the activities of the citizens of Norwegian birth or lineage who form a large element in her population. Among the representatives of this element in industrial progress, is Martin Stang, who for over thirty years has been a resident of Otter Tail county, and who is known throughout that section for his ability and influence in business activities. By his well-directed efforts and high principles, he has achieved a place of distinction in the county.
Martin H. Stang was born in Sarpsborg, Norway, on the 11th of August, 1867, and is the son of Hans and Gunhild Stang, also of Norway. The father's occupation was that of a farmer and although he was unusually skilled at the blacksmith's trade, he never followed that line of work as a profession. The immigration of Martin Stang in company with his uncle took place in 1885. They landed at Philadelphia and the same year they came to Otter Tail county and settled in Dane Prairie township. Being min familiar with the language and customs of the people of this country, the subject of this sketch worked at any employment available at that time. The second year of his life in America was spent at the blacksmith's trade. Although moderately successful at this line of work, Mr. Stang was not content to spend the remainder of his life at that occupation. He was ambitious to learn more of the American educational system and set at work to study conditions, a move which was a large factor in his success later in life. He attended school after leaving the blacksmith work, and devoted his entire attention to study. Before coming to Fergus Falls, which he has made his permanent residence, he taught school for three terms. during the winter months. For four or five years after he came to Fergus Falls he worked as a blacksmith until he was stricken ill with a severe attack of typhoid fever. The illness left his system in a very weak condition and upon his recovery he was not able to resume his former occupation. In
MARTIN H. STANG
907
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
partnership with Julius Ryan he engaged in the grocery business, on West Lincoln avenue, and after a year he sold out to his partner. For a short time following he worked in the furniture store of Mr. Woodham, and dur- ing that time became interested in fire insurance. This led to his permanent affiliation with the insurance business, to which he added life insurance and real estate. He has quite an extensive business in the buying and selling of houses.
Mr. Stang married Mattie Utne, the eldest daughter of Oline Utne, one of the progressive farmers of Dane Prairie township. Although no children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Stang, they have reared an adopted daughter, Annie Flaten, with all the affection of their noble characters and the daughter in return has proved most worthy of the devotion and advan- tages given her. She is a graduate of the Fergus Falls high school where she showed marked ability as a student. She took a normal course and is now teaching at Henning.
JOHN P. LUNDIN.
One of the pioneers of Otter Tail county was John P. Lundin, a man whose zeal and ability added much to the material prosperity of the county. Although he was born, educated and married in Sweden, Mr. Lundin spent the greater part of his life as a citizen of the United States, coming here in 1875. His wife, also a native of Sweden, was before her marriage Charlotta Holmstrom. Mr. Lundin homesteaded the farm where his family now live. He added one hundred and eighty acres to the one hundred and sixty originally purchased. Ambitious to have his country home well equipped, he erected a good substantial residence and other buildings neces- sary to carry on his farm work. He was a stone-mason during the majority of his working years, having learned the trade in Sweden. He erected the building at Northwestern College. He and his faithful wife were members of the Swedish Lutheran church. The eight children born to them are Cort, Alga. Emil, Gottfred, who was a student in Northwestern College; Edwin, Emelia, Victor and Emma.
Edwin Lundin, a fine progressive young farmer, attended the schools of Otter Tail county and spent two terms at Northwestern College, located at Fergus Falls. With the exception of the last two years before his father's death, when the son was employed near Ashby, he lived at home and was a valuable assistant on the farm, for his father having another occupation was required to be away from home much of the time. His father died on Febril- ary 18, 1915, and since that time Edwin has had entire charge of the farm.
John P. Lundin was one of the best-known workmen in his occupation in this vicinity, and in all of the relations of life proved himself to be a man of estimable qualities. An honest workman, he was fair in all of his
008
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
business dealings; a God-fearing man, who sought to obey the Golden Rule; a patient father, he sacrificed much for his family; a kindly, considerate neighbor, he won and kept many friends.
AUGUST PETERSON.
Although deprived of early educational advantages, Angust Peterson has become a man known and respected by the citizens of the town near which he has farmed for many years. He was born in Sweden on Novem- ber 26. 1854, where both of his parents, John and Catherine ( Magnuson ) Peterson died, the former when August was only five years of age, and the latter over twenty years ago. The children born to them were Skiler, John, August and Sarah.
.August Peterson attended school in his native land and came to this country in the spring of 1874. He came directly to Otter Tail county where he bought what was then known as railroad land situated in Eastern town- ship. It extended over a quarter section. Retaining the farm, he worked as a lumberman on the St. Clair river for eighteen years. Leaving this work he resumed farming, a line of industry which he has followed up to the present time. On his splendid farm of two hundred and twenty acres he has erected many well constructed buildings.
Alma Lindquist, a native of Sweden, became Mrs. August Peterson in 1892. She is the daughter of Gust and Ann Linquist, natives of Sweden, who now occupy a farm in Spruce Hill township, Douglas county, Minne- sota. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are Helma, Hilda, Edward, Winfred and Dora. They are members of the Swedish Lutheran church. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson have won many friends in the county and their home is noted for its hospitality.
ANDREW DAHL.
Andrew Dahl, who has succeeded as a farmer and stockman of Everts township, Otter Tail county, is a native of this township, born on the farm which he now owns in section 17, on May 18, 1882.
Mr. Dahl was educated in the public schools and has always been engaged in farming. He owns the old homestead, which his father pur- chased on coming to this county. Mr. Dahl is the son of Ole H. and Karen ( Glende) Dahl, both of whom were born in Norway, the former in 1847 and the latter in 1848. They came separately to Otter Tail county, Min- nesota, in 1871. were married in 1873 and immediately thereafter pur- chased the farm, which their son, Andrew, now owns and occupies. Mr. Dahl's father died in 1882. His mother is still living and resides with her
909
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
son, Andrew. Andrew Dahl is youngest of three children born to his par- ents, the others being Mettie, the widow of Lewis Hansen, and Sophia, who is deceased.
Andrew Dahl is a general farmer and stockman. His father, during his lifetime, built a house which is still standing on the place and which is now used by the family. Mr. Dahl built a good barn in 1904 and has made other improvements on the farm.
In 1905 Andrew Dahl was married in Otter Tail county, Minnesota, to Josephine Hansen, who was the daughter of Peter and Christina (Henry ) Hansen, the former of whom was born in Denmark, April 29, 1843, and the latter born in Norway. April 4, 1852. Peter Hansen's parents were Hans and Mary Hansen, both of whom were natives of Denmark and who died in that country. Mrs. Peter Hansen's parents were Henry and Mary Peterson. Peter Hansen was educated in the public schools of Denmark and emigrated to America, settling in Portland, Maine, May 2, 1868. A little later he moved to Canada and for about six months worked in a brick yard at Detroit, Michigan. From that city, he immigrated to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where he lived for one year and then moved to Iowa, where he rented a farm. He was not able to make any money and left lowa. He came to Minnesota in 1871 and was employed by the Northern Pacific rail- road near Duluth. From Duluth he moved to St. Cloud and received employ- ment from the Great Northern railroad, taking a homestead in Otter Tail county. Peter Hansen and John Little were the first white settlers in Girard township. Peter Hansen took eighty acres of land, but later gave it up and took a claim in Gorman township. After living in that township for ten years, he sold out and purchased a farin in Everts township of one hundred and sixty acres, which he now owns. Here he has erected magnificent buikl- ings. In 1905 he moved to Battle Lake and built the house in which he now lives. He also has a farm of two hundred and forty acres in Girard township and has given forty acres of land to a son. He has a summer residence on Battle Lake, and a resort which he established in 1913. Peter Hansen assisted in the organization of the school district in his neighbor- hood and served on the school board for about seven years. He was assessor for Everts township and the first assessor of Battle Lake village.
Mr. Hansen's wife, who before her marriage was Christina Henry, and to whom he was married in 1873, moved to Goodhue county, Minnesota, in 1870, and the next year to Otter Tail county, Minnesota. She died in this county, after having been the mother of six children, Jennie, who is the wife of E. M. Nelson, of Freeburg, Houston county; Henry, who married Josie Olsen, of Everts township; Matilda, who is the wife of Hans Nelson, of Otter Tail county ; Josephine, who was the wife of Mr. Dahl, but is now
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
; Dewey, who married Emma Lee and lives on his father's farm s township, and Edward, who died in infancy. Peter Hansen is a member of the Lutheran church.
By this marriage to Josephine Hansen, Andrew Dahl was the father of two children, Esther Luella Christine, who was born on December 26, 1906, and Joseph, who was born on October 8, 1908. The mother of these chil- dren died on October 8, 1908.
MICHAEL DERTINGER.
A representative of one of the influential and prominent families of Otter Tail county, Minnesota, and exemplifying the sturdy characteristics and best traditions of his native land, Michael Dertinger has made a name for himself in the ranks of those who live up to the highest ideals of citizen- ship. He has long been identified with the lumber interests in the county in which he resides and has achieved success through his own individual effort. He was born on the 12th of August, 1872, in Buffalo, New York, the son of Andrew Dertinger and Barbara (Hepper) Dertinger, both of whom were natives of Germany, and came from Eltmann, Bavaria, to America in the spring of 1872 and went to Buffalo, New York.
Andrew Dertinger stopped for a few months in New York before coming to Otter Tail county, Minnesota, where he made his home. In the fall of 1872, he established his home in Otter Tail county, where he became a successful agriculturist and a valued citizen. His first place of residence in the county was in the township of Perham where he homesteaded forty acres of land near St. Joseph's church. He sold this land and moved to eighty acres in Edna township, where he spent some time before going to a farm in Silver Leaf township, Becker county. He sold the farm in 1904 and moved to Frazee, where he passed away. His death occurred March 4. 1913, aged seventy years, two months and fourteen days, cause of death being heart trouble and a complication of diseases from which he suffered for two years. He left a wife and thirteen children to mourn his loss. The funeral service was held at the Sacred Heart church and the remains were interred in the Catholic cemetery at Frazee. His first wife, Barbara Dertinger, died in the year 1890, at the age of forty-two, and was laid at rest in St. Joseph's cemetery, Otter Tail county. By his first marriage the following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dertinger: John, Fred, Michael, who is the subject of this sketch; Elizabeth, Regina, Andrew, Katherina, Chris- tine and Anna. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Dertinger married Katherine Krep. who became the mother of the following children : Joseph. Stephen, Frank, Sophia and Susie.
The early educational training of Michael Dertinger was received in
911
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
the common schools of Perham township and in St. Joseph's parochial school. Upon completing the course offered in the elementary schools he learned the carpenter's trade and in that field of endeavor became a work- man of unusual skill. He remained occupied with this trade for twelve years. In the spring of 1903 he became manager of the Marcel Lumber Company, and in this capacity has shown marked business ability and execu- tive qualities. He is now a member of the firm, and in Perham where the office is located, on the north side of the Northern Pacific railroad tracks, near the freight depot, is looked upon as a reliable authority in lumber affairs.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.