USA > Minnesota > Otter Tail County > History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota : its people, industries, and institutions, Volume II > Part 99
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OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
Homer C. Cook was reared in Ohio and received his education in the public schools of that state and at the Upper Iowa University at Fayette. He enlisted in the Union army and served as a soldier during the Civil War. After his first enlistment he became a member of Company I, First Regi- ment, Missouri Engineers and served in this capacity for three years. Mr. Cook was married in lowa to Mary J. Albright, who was born in Niles, Michigan, November 2, 1842, she being the daughter of Rev. William K. and Anna ( Ritche ) Albright. Mr. Albright was a native of Tennessee, having been born in that state in 1812, while Mrs. Albright was born in Indiana, May 24, 1823. Before their marriage they both went to Michi- gan and were married near Niles, after which they moved to Winnebago county, Illinois in 1845, and later moved to Fayette county, Iowa, in 1854. Mr. Albright died there in 1894. his wife having died on March 17, 1894. They were the parents of the following children: John Wesley ( deceased ), Mary Jane, Hannah Elizabeth, Philip Jefferson, Sarah Emeline. Richard Walsen ( deceased ), Joseph Fayette ( deceased ), Emma Malissa, Julia Adaline( deceased ), Wilbur Finley, Albert Harlin and Charles Sumner. who lives in Minneapolis and is connected with the department of the labor commission.
Mr. Cook and wife after their marriage lived in Clayton county, lowa, and later moved to Winnebago county, where they remained until 1878, when they moved to Detroit, Minnesota, where they lived for one year. In the spring of 1879 they came to Candor township, Otter Tail county, where they took a homestead of one hundred and forty-three acres, in section 2. The widow still makes her home here. Homer Cassius Cook having died on January 2. 1884. Mrs. Cook completed proving up the claim in 1892, and has had most of the land cleared and improved, with good buildings and substantial fences. They were the parent- of nine children, namely: Min- nie Alveretta, Lena May, Clarence Watson, Jessie Bright, Willis Kincade. Harlan Charles, Ambrose Philip, Julia Emma and Cora Pearl. Minnie Alverta, is the wife of J. H. Wise, a conductor on the railroad and they have three children, Herbert, George and Aileen. Lena May is the wife of George W. Nulp, of Keene, North Dakota. and they have the following children : William, Roy, Clarence, Hazel, Herbert ( deceased ). Iva Pearl ( deceased ), Ina Mary, Veda and Marvin. Clarence Watson lives in Mon- tana and is single. Jessie Bright married Benjamin Eaman, and they had three children, Gwendolin, wife of Arthur Nivey, they having four chil- dren, Eaman Arthur, Kenneth Rolland. Royal Delos, and Carrol Barr. Nita the wife of Abraham Weighand, they having two children, Lena Jessie and Dallas Leverne ( deceased ) : Homer Cyrie, who is still unmarried. Jessie Bright, married. secondly, John McAnley and they have two children,
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Neoma Olive and Iola Lucile. Willis Kincade lives in Minnesota. Harlin Charles is single. Ambrose Philip lives in Montana. Julia Emma is the wife of Henry Randolph, they having the following children, Marion Irene, Earl Vincent, Ruth Winnifred, Wayne Russell and Melvin Lambert. Cora Pearl died in infancy.
Homer Cassius Cook was of a family of six children, Hattie, deceased; Orrin, who died in Ohio, at the age of twenty-two years; George Washing- ton, Homer Cassius, Marvin and Emma Mahaley.
Mrs. Cook, the wife of Homer Cassius Cook, is a woman of refinement and education, having been educated in the public schools and at the Upper Iowa University at Fayette. She was a popular and efficient teacher in the schools of her state for a number of years.
JACOB BERNS.
Jacob Berns, prosperous farmer, stock raiser and man of business, in Rush Lake township, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, was born in Bavaria, Germany, September 27, 1848, the son of Jacob and Katherine ( Simmer) Berns, both of whom were natives of Germany. Jacob Berns, Sr., came to America in 1850, and settled in Mercer county, Ohio, where he bought a farm of eighty acres, on which he lived the remainder of his days. Jacob and Katherine Berns were the parents of two children, Katherine and Jacob.
Jacob Berns was educated in the public schools of Mercer county, Ohio, after which he went to the woods of Michigan and Wisconsin, where he worked until 1870, when he came to Otter Tail county, Minnesota, and located in Rush Lake township. After some time as a workman in the woods of Rush Lake township, Jacob Berns, with Victor Eifert, engaged in the manu- facture of lumber products, at the town of Perham, while following this line of work, these men erected the first building to be built in Perham. In his building, Mr. Berns started a blacksmith shop, taking as a partner Joseph Swabe, who was a blacksmith and who looked after that work, while Jacob Berns engaged in the sale of machinery, a business in which he continued for three years. After disposing of his interests in Perham, Jacob Berns went to the city of Minneapolis, where he was employed on the engineering feat of putting a concrete wall forty feet below the Mississippi Falls, a work in which he was engaged for one year, after which Mr. Berns went to the state of Ohio. On May 4. 1878, Jacob Berns returned to Perham and shortly afterwards bought a farm of one hundred acres in section 3, Rush Lake township, Minnesota, a place to which he later added eighty acres, as well as securing eighty acres east of Perham, twenty acres of timber land in section 23, Rush Lake township, five acres of hay land in Otto township,
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and forty acres in Perham township. On his land Mr. Berns now engages in general farming and in stock raising.
During the year 1878, Jacob Berns was married, in Mercer county, Ohio, to Catherine Weis, who was born in Mercer county, on December 15, 1858, the daughter of Stanus and Magdalena (Stuter ) Weis, natives of Germany. To the marriage of Jacob and Catherine Weis have been born nine children : Barney, who now lives near Los Angeles, California; and Jerome, Aurelia, Mary, Leonida, Leo, Henry, Ragena and Simon, who are residents of Otter Tail county. Jacob Berns and his family are members of St. Josephs church, at Perham.
Jacob Berns has been active in the business life of his community. he being one of the organizers of the Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany, of Perham, and he is now a stockholder of the Perham Creamery Company.
MAGNA SAMSON.
Magna Samson, one of the early pioneers of Otter Tail county, was born in Voss, Norway, November 3, 1838. His parents, Shure and Esther Sattre, were also born in Voss. The father of Magna Samson died in Nor- way at the ripe old age of one hundred; the mother died in Iowa at about the same age. One of the brothers of Mr. Samson lost his life in the Mexi- can War.
Magna Samson came to America with his parents in 1842 and located in Dane county, Wisconsin. He attended school in Deerfield township, in that county, from 1849 to 1853, and then attended school at Janesville. in the same state. At the opening of the Civil War, Mr. Samson enlisted as a private and served with this rank throughout 1861 and 1862. During 1863 he became a corporal and in the following year he was made a ser- geant. During 1865 he was doing scout duty for General Dodge, who at that time was in charge of the Fifteenth Army Corps. Among the different battles in which Mr. Samson was engaged may be mentioned the following : Mt. Zion Church, Ft. Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Resaca, Atlanta and all of the fighting which Sherman engaged in through Georgia and North and South Carolina. Mr. Samson was in the Grand Review in 1865 at Wash- ington, and soon afterward he was mustered out of the service in Dakota county, Minnesota. He has his two honorable discharges from the service and a special certificate which was granted him by the government in recog- nition of his long and faithful service.
Mr. Samson remained in Dakota county, Minnesota, until 1880, when he came to Otter Tail county and settled on his present farm near Clitherall, in Leaf Mountain township. He now owns two hundred acres of land,
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sixty acres of which is under cultivation. His place is called "Shiloh Farm." Here Mr. Samson has lived with his good wife and reared a large family of children. He was married on June 10, 1878, to Carey Anderson. She was born in Norway, August 22, 1836, a daughter of Endre and Carey (Forstro) Anderson. Her parents had seven children: Oley, Carey, Ran- day, Christina, Knute, Agnes and John G.
Mr. Samson was surveyor of different counties of Minnesota in the early days. He located settlers under the pre-emption law and later under the homestead law. In fact, Mr. Samson has taken a prominent part in the affairs of his community in several different ways. He was postmaster at Eureka, Dakota county, Minnesota, from 1855 until the opening of the Civil War. He has also served as township clerk and as supervisor. In all of these capacities he has done his work well and earned the commendation of his fellow citizens. Mr. Samson is a Republican. He has been a mem- ber of the Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a member of the Protestant Lutheran church, to which a large number of his countrymen belong.
Mr. Samson has a great fund of reminiscences of the early days in Minnesota and Dakota. He has some especially fine stories to tell about the Indians, whose language he learned. He is one of the few remaining pio- neers of the past generation, and few old settlers in the county can tell of more hair-breadth escapes or thrilling adventures. It is by such men as these that the farms have been developed and Otter Tail county brought to its present state of agricultural prosperity.
MONS ASKEROOTH.
Mons Askerooth, a well-known farmer of Everts township, was born in Sweden, June 8, 1855, and is a son of John Askerooth, who, with his family came to Minnesota, in 1869. John Askerooth settled in Meeker county, where they lived for a short time, and in 1870, removed to Tor- denskjold township, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, where they took a home- stead of eighty acres, in section 12. Here Mr. Askerooth's father died on April 7, 1884. His wife had died previously, in 1878, at the age of sixty- seven years. John Askerooth and wife were the parents of eight children, of whom Anne and Nels, the first and second in order of birth, are deceased. The other children are Andrew, Bertha, Betsey, Hannah, John and Mons.
Mons Askerooth, the youngest child in his parents' family, was edu- cated in the schools of his native land. He accompanied his father's family to America in 1869, and when old enough took up farming for himself. In the fall of 1889 Mr. Askerooth purchased one hundred and twenty-four acres of land where he carried on general farming and stock raising. Some
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years ago he disposed of eighty acres of his land, and now retains forty- four acres located in section 4, of Everts township, on Otter Tail Lake.
In 1885 Mons Askerooth was married to Mary Henkye, who was born in the state of Wisconsin, in 1861. She is a daughter of Fred Henkye, a native of Germany, who first settled in Wisconsin after coming to America, but later removed to Tordenskjold township. He owned one hundred and sixty acres of land, upon which he lived until his death. Mons Askerooth and wife are the parents of eight children, all of whom are living, as follow : Jesse, Louise, Karl, Alice, May, Edwin, Florence and Earl. Mr. Askerooth and family are prominent in the social life of the community in which they live, and are highly respected citizens of the township.
HENRY MAURIN.
Henry Maurin, merchant and president of the town of Elizabeth, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, was born on July 9, 1882, in the county where he now resides, and is a son of Peter and Anna ( Kaus) Maurin. His education was obtained at St. John, Minnesota. After his father's death, Mr. Maurin, in partnership with his brother, Mark, took over the management of the store, which is now the leading mercantile store in Elizabeth, in addition to which he is the owner of other valuable property in the town. Politically, Mr. Maurin is a Democrat, and for the past four years has been president of the village.
Peter Maurin, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1839 on a farm in Austria, and was a son of Marcus Maurin. He was reared on a farm and attended both the Slavic and German schools, coming to America at the age of nineteen years. He landed at New York City in 1859, going direct to Chicago, Illinois, where he arrived with . the magnifi- cent sum of twenty cents. Securing a stock of goods on time, he started out on a peddling tour through Minnesota with a horse and wagon, carrying a good line of goods, which he sold to the soldiers and Indians, and at the end of four years he engaged in a general mercantile business at Cold Springs in 1863, conducting the business under the firm name of Maurin Brothers for nine years. It was the largest store of the kind at that place. He located at Elizabeth in 1872, in pioneer days, when no railroads entered the village. This business was conducted in a log cabin for eight years, but at the time of his death Mr. Manrin was the proprietor of the largest store in Elizabeth. In addition to his mercantile interests, he also engaged in stock raising and farming, in which he was equally successful, and event- ually became the owner of about twenty-five hundred acres of land. He also has an interest in the grain elevator at Carlisle, Minnesota. He was united in marriage July 27, 1868, at Faribault, Minnesota, to Annie Kaus. She
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was reared at Lafayette, Minnesota, where she received a liberal education. Mr. Maurin was always a public-spirited man, taking an interest in the affairs of his home village, and holding a number of the village and township offices, among which were the following: President of the village board, chairman of the township board, postmaster for ten years, besides several other offices. Politically, he was a stanch Democrat, while his religious sympathies were with the Catholic church, and was one of the organizers of the church at Cold Springs. He died on August 14, 1914. Mrs. Maurin was born at Milwaukee, and is still living. She makes her home with one of her daughters at Elizabeth, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Maurin were the parents of seven children : Emma A., Martha J., Matilda J., Marcus P., Frank J., Antoinette J. and Henry F.
Marcus Maurin, the paternal grandfather, was a native of Austria, and came to America, settling in Wisconsin. He was engaged in the sale of goldsmith's tools, and had traveled over Europe, and made several trips across the seas to and from America. He and his wife were Slavs, and spoke in the Slavic language. They were the parents of nine children, of whom Peter was the third.
Henry Maurin was united in marriage, November 28, 1912, with Laura Rush, daughter of James Rush, a railroad division superintendent. She was born in Wisconsin. This union has been blest with one child, Dorothy, born in 1913. Mr. Maurin has always been regarded as a man of upright principles, and few men in Otter Tail county are better known. His manly qualities, genial disposition and earnest endeavor to keep abreast with the times entitle him to a position as one of the leading citizens of his home town.
ROBERT ALTNER.
Robert Altner, farmer, Elizabeth township, Otter Tail county, was born on December 27, 1886, in the county where he now resides, and is a son of Gustave and Sophia Altner. He and his sister, Tillie, still live on the old home place, and have cared for it ever since their father retired from an active agricultural life, and moved to Fergus Falls. Mr. Altner and his sister take their full measure of comfort out of a neat Ford machine, and with the assistance of an extra farm hand the work of looking after the home place is very much lessened.
Gustave Altner, father of the subject of this sketch was born in Ger- many. His wife, Sophia, was born on October 14, 1842, in Germany. He came to this country in 1862, and spent the first year at Washington, moving from there to Elizabeth township, Otter Tail county, Minnesota, where he purchased a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, in section 7, to
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which he afterward added two hundred acres more in Elizabeth township. About three years prior to his death, Mr. Altner moved to Fergus Falls, his death occuring about 1906. He put all the improvements on his farm, and was a very active man in the community, but never cared for public office. Religiously, he was a member of the Evangelical church, in the work of which he took a leading part, having been a well educated man. Mis. Alt- ner died on June 25, 1909. Seven children were born to this union, namely : Henry, John, Herman, Gustave, Sophia, Robert, Tillie. Henry was united in marriage with Elizabeth Schocht, now deceased, and Mr. Altner resides at Kermit, North Dakota; John was married to Anna Schneider, and lives at Fergus Falls; Herman was united in marriage with Martha Wissbrod, and lives at Noonan, North Dakota; Sophia became the wife of Harry Seibel, and lives at Emerson, Canada ; Gustave is with his brother, Herman ; Tillie is on the home place with her brother, Robert, and teaches school in district No. 80, during the winter months.
Mr. Altner has a host of warm friends throughout the county, where he has become an integral part of the agricultural world, giving at all times. a full measure of honest business dealing.
ALBERT FRAUTSCHI.
Albert Frautschi, farmer, Elizabeth township, Otter Tail county, was born on February 5, 1870, in Switzerland, and is a son of John P. and Katherine ( Frautschi) Frautschi. He came with his parents to America in 1872, landing at New York when he was two years old. He was educated at the public schools of Elizabeth, Minnesota, where he has always lived and where he has achieved an enviable reputation as a progressive and pros- perous agriculturist, his present farm consisting of two hundred and sixty acres, and containing substantial buildings of every description, all of which are well cared for and present a neat and attractive appearance, indicating the exercise of good management in every detail. Politically, Mr. Fraut- schi is a strong believer in the policies of the Democratic party, and has taken an active interest in local politics, holding the office of township treasurer. Religiously, he is an earnest member of the Lutheran church.
John P. Frautschi, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Switzerland, and was united in marriage with Katherine Frautschi, his second cousin. They came to America in 1872, landing at New York, coming at once to Minnesota, where they bought one hundred and sixty acres of good farm land in section 19, Elizabeth township, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. Frautschi was eminently successful in his agricultural vocation, owning, at the time of his death, four hundred and twelve acres. Religiously, he belonged to the German Lutheran
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church. This union was blest with three children, Albert, Henri and Eliza, deceased.
Abraham Frautschi, the paternal grandfather, lived and died in the old country, and was a member of the German Reformed church. He was a son of Isaac Frautschi, and was a soldier in the German army, but never participated in any battles. He was a farmer, and lived near Saanen. Isaac Frautschi, the paternal great-grandfather, was a guard for the pope in early days.
Jacob Frautschi, the maternal grandfather, was a soldier in the Civil War of Switzerland, and spent his entire life in that country. He was a son of Noritz Frautschi, who participated in the battle of Waterloo. Mr. Frautschi always followed farming, and was an earnest member of the German Reformed church.
Albert Frautschi was united in marriage, November 8, 1904, with Augusta Beske, daughter of Carl Beske. Mr. and Mrs. Frautschi have the friendship of a large circle of warm friends and neighbors, and are highly esteemed in the community in which they reside.
ROBERT BESKE.
Robert Beske, farmer, Elizabeth, Otter Tail county, was born on Jan- uary 14, 1890, on the farm which he now owns. He is a son of Carl and Alvina (Giese ) Beske. He was educated at the district schools of Elizabeth and later attended the parochial school. He bought his present farm in 1913, which is the farm formerly owned by his father, the place having had but three owners all told, the improvements of which were all put on the place by his father, including a house, built in 1890, and a barn, built in 1903. In all, Mr. Beske owns two hundred acres of land, located half a mile from the town of Elizabeth. He is a member of the German Lutheran church.
Carl Beske, father of the subject of this sketch, was born on April 14, 1851, in Germany, and was united in marriage with Alvina Giese. Mr. Beske was educated in his native land, coming to America at the age of thirty-two years, his marriage having taken place in Germany. In two weeks from the time of landing on American shores, he bought the place now owned by Robert Beske, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, on which he lived until his death, which took place on March 7, 1907. Five years after making his original purchase, Mr. Beske added forty acres more in Fergus Falls township, and in 1898, bought two hundred and seventy- five acres more in section 19, Buse township, owning in all, at the time of his death, four hundred and seventy-five acres. He united with the Lutheran church, in the work of which he always took an active part, officiating as
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treasurer for fifteen years Politically, Mr. Beske was a strong believer in the policies of the Republican party. The children born to Carl and Alvina (Giese) Beske were: Anna (deceased), Augusta, Albert, Martha, Elsie, Robert and Ada. Anna Beske was united in marriage with Max Kronne- man, and lived in Fergus Falls township: Augusta became the wife of Albert Frautschi: Albert was married to Clara Rossow, and resides in Buse town- ship: Martha was married to Rudolph Rossow, and lives at Orwell, Minne- sota.
August Beske, the paternal grandfather, was a native of Germany, and came to America in 1883, on the same vessel with his son, Carl, and was accompanied by his wife. He landed at New York and came immediately to Fergus Falls township, where he spent the remainder of his life.
Robert Beske was united in marriage on June 24, 1913, with Amanda Splittgerber, daughter of Charles Splittgerber, a farmer. She was born in Otter Tail county, Minnesota. Mr. Beske is a busy man, but manages to find frequent opportunity to inform himself as to what is going on in the world, and always has a pleasant word for each of his many friends.
ALFRED W. SUNDBERG.
Among the many sturdy farmers of Swedish birth or descent in Amor township, this county, few are better known or are regarded as more sub- stantial citizens than Alfred W. Sundberg, who was born at Fergus Falls, the county seat of Otter Tail county, on March 30, 1872, son of Olaf and Augustava ( Nordberg ) Sundberg, natives of Sweden, who emigrated to this country in the early days of the settlement hereabout and who became prominent in the development of this community. Further details of the genealogy of this family may be found in the biographical sketch of the late Olaf Sundberg, presented elsewhere in this volume. His widow, mother of the subject of this biographical sketch, is still living in this county, honored and respected by all who know her. Olaf Sundberg came to Amer- ica in 1865 and was married in this county.
Alfred Sundberg received his early education in district school No. 69. in Amor township, and was reared to the life of the farm. In 1902 he bought the farm of one hundred and twenty acres on which he is now living and his life since then has been largely devoted to bringing the place to its present state of excellent cultivation, he being regarded as one of the best farmers in his neighborhood. All the present substantial improve- ments on the place have been made by him and his present comfortable home was erected in 1903. the year of his marriage and the year following his purchase of the farm.
On March 16, 1903. Alfred W. Sundberg was united in marriage to
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Elma Murk, daughter of Oscar Murk, a well-known farmer of this county, son of Gabriel and Magdalena (Carlson) Murk, also natives of Sweden and old residents in this county, further particulars of which family also are presented elsewhere in this volume, and to this union has been born one child, a son, Herman E., who was born on November 9, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Sundberg have a pleasant home in Amor township and the rural free mail delivery and the telephone keep them in close touch with affairs. They display a proper interest in all good works in their neighborhood and are very popular with their many friends.
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