USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. II > Part 63
USA > Minnesota > Steele County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. II > Part 63
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1382 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
D. A. McLean was born in Canada, August 19, 1854. He is a son of Neil and Mary (Morgan) McLean, both natives of Can- ada, where they resided up to the time of the father's death. The mother died in the summer of 1909, at the age of eighty- nine years. Her father was captain of the dragoons when the rebels crossed the line at Prescott. Mr. McLean attended the public schools in Canada, and after leaving school he worked on his father's farm until he was eighteen years old, when he learned the blacksmith trade. In 1878 he came to Minnesota and located at Prairieville, Cannon City township, Rice county. Minn., where he purchased the blacksmith shop of Charles Ed- wards, and has continued in that business up to the present time. He was married, on December 24, 1883, to Minnie Orcutt, daugh- ter of Edward B. and Sylvia Orcutt. They have no children. Mr. McLean was one of a family of eight children. His brother George died when very young. Janett married James White- head and resided in Canada until her death. James residing in Canada : Katherine, now Mrs. Mark Ezard, of Canada ; Emma, now Mrs. Walter Adams, of Iowa: Mary, now Mrs. Collon McDonald, of Canada, and Agnes, also of Canada. In politics he is a Republican, and is at the present clerk of the town board of Cannon City. and has held the position for the past four years. He is also treasurer of school district No. 8, and is a stockholder in the Farmers' Elevator of Faribault. He is a member of the Baptist Church.
John H. Mather, proprietor of Orchard Hill farm, was born in Wisconsin. March 19. 1857. to John and Mary (Bedent) Mather, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of New York. The father, a carpenter by trade, moved to Wis- consin in 1847, and settled on a farm, and nine years later, in 1856, came to Richland township, Rice county, Minn., and pre- empted 160 acres in section 26, which he subdued and improved, and where he made his home. Later he sold his first purchase and bought in section 27. He carried on general farming and was prosperous and thrifty at the time of his decease, in 1875; he had 480 acres. The mother still survives. John H. acquired a common and high school education, and grew to manhood on the home farm, teaching district schools in Rice county severa! terms. A few years after his father's death he assumed the management of the home farm. In 1878 he came into possession of 160 acres in section 23, in Richland township, and there en- gaged in general farming. This he afterwards sold, and now owns 230 acres located in section 13, Warsaw township, and section 18, Walcott township. The farm is finely improved and well situated for general farming and dairying purposes, in which its proprietor is eminently successful. In July, 1879, Mr. Mather
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married Miss Anna B., a daughter of George W. and Sophia (Bradford) Fanning, natives of Illinois and Indiana, respectively. They settled on a farm in Wabasha county, Minnesota, about 1857, and removed thence, in 1869, to Richland township, Rice county. Mr. and Mrs. Mather have nine children : Walter A., who lives at home; Pearl, who is married to Mr. A. E. Achter- kirch, and lives at Artesia, N. M .; Sophia M., the wife of Mr. Walter Sanford, of Warsaw township: William E., who lives in Washington, and Mary E., Ruby M., Milton G., and Arthur J. and Lester, twins, all of whom live at home. Mr. Mather has served in various local offices and is held a leading man in his community. He is a Republican in politics and a loyal member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Mather died October 28, 1905.
George Molen, an honored citizen of Morristown, Rice county, Minn .. is of the seventh generation in direct ancestral line from Andreas Magnus Molen, who was born in the village of Molen, near Limbiden, Sweden, in 1623, and who married Anna Laemd, a native of Coburg. He was a shoemaker by trade and died May 12, 1687. His son, Conrad Molen, also a shoe- maker, was born at Siewitz, August 18, 1662. and married Anna Shiller, of Fribitz. Their son, George Molen, was born June 28, 1687, at Siewitz, was a shoemaker. and married Barbara Ott, of Turkendorf. They had a son, Otilie Molen, born April 4, 1733. Carl Erdman Molen, of the fifth generation from Andreas Magnus, was born October 6, 1790, at Siewitz, and settled at Crenssen, where he followed his trade as a shoemaker. He mar- ried Barbara Elisabetha Bandrich, of Wiedenburg, about 1818, and they had a family of eight children, the youngest of whom. Johann Wolfgang, our subject's father, was born at Crenssen, March 2, 1828. He married Elizabeth Eidelhousen, who was born October 28, 1828, and whose death occurred May 4, 1896. at Morristown, Minn., whither Johann brought his family in 1866, and where he followed shoemaking till 1878. The follow- ing year he settled on a farm on the present site of Big Stone City, S. D., but some four years later sold his claim for $5,000. and, returning to Morristown township, settled on a sixty-acre tract adjoining the village. While a resident in Morristown. he, in 1875, erected the building at the corner of Main and Divi- sion streets, now occupied as a drug store, and also his residence west of it. In this store he conducted a grocery trade as a part- ner with Jonathan P. Temple. In 1873 he served on the school board. He was a Democrat in political faith and active in the state and county affairs of his party. He was a member of Cannon River Lodge, No. 52, Free and Accepted Masons, of Morristown. Of six children born to him and his wife, Eliza-
1384 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
beth, the eldest, Erdman, born November 23, 1851, died August 14, 1861; John D., born March 26. 1853, died April 9, 1861 ; Henry Sophia, the fourth child, born December 4, 1858, is mar- ried to William W. Downey, editor of "Advance Herald," and lives at Milbank, S. D .; John Fredrick was born September 13, 1861. and Joseph Howard, the youngest, was born June 6, 1874. Our subject, the third child of this family in order of birthi, was born January 8, 1856, in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, and there received his principal schooling. though he attended school a term or two after the family settled at Morristown. When thirteen years of age, he learned the shoemaker's trade, and at the age of eighteen opened a harness shop in a building on the present site of the State Bank. Mr. Molen turned his attention to general farming in 1880. securing a tract of 120 acres in sec- tion 23, Morristown township, which he improved and cultivated some nineteen years, but in 1899 engaged in the live-stock trade. and has shipped an average of more than 100 carloads of stock per year. For nine years he was in business with H. W. Donald- son, under the firm name of Molen & Donaldson. Mr. Molen has served on the town board of supervisors. as a director of the Morristown Creamery, and president of the Sanitary Asso- ciation : and he is now a director of the State Bank of Morris- town. He is an active Mason and served sixteen years as mas- ter of Cannon River Lodge, No. 52, of Morristown. On April 28. 1880, Mr. Molen married Cora, daughter of Elisha and Susan (Ramig) Spaulding, of Morristown, Minn., a woman of fine accomplishments and charming presence. They have two chil- dren : Harry, born in 1892, and Gay, born in 1896.
H. B. Martin, a leading citizen of Northfield, was born April 7, 1833. near St. Johns. in the Province of Quebec. His parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Drew) Martin, were of Irish lineage and spent their lives in Canada, the father being a farmer by occu- pation. The subject of this sketch acquired a common-school education in Canada, and there learned the stone mason and bricklayer's trade, and when a young man went to Vermont and followed his trade several years. In 1857 he came to Minne- sota and lived four years at Hastings, in Dakota county; then. after visiting his boyhood home, returned, and for two years lived at Faribault, subsequent to which he took up his resi- dence at Northfield. where he has since made his home. Be- sides following his trade, Mr. Martin has done a vast amount of contract work and since 1895 has conducted a cement business at Northfield, still maintaining an office, but largely for the pur- pose of occupying his time. Since settling at Northfield he has spent three years on contracts at Fergus Falls, where he built the Grand Hotel and numerous other buildings. At Northfield,
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besides laying many of the city's sidewalks, he has had charge of the construction of many large buildings. Mr. Martin has dealt somewhat extensively in real estate, and at one time owned large tracts of land in Otter Tail county, where he still retains a farm. Ile also has owned valuable properties at Northfield, and now has a fine home. Though not a regularly enlisted sol- dier. Mr. Martin, in the early days, served with the organized troops on the frontier against the Indians, acting as first ser- geant and adjutant of the first company to reach Ft. Ridgely after the uprising of 1862. In his home city he is known as a public-spirited citizen, and has served as a member of the city council, and served two terms in the legislature-seventy-third to seventy-fourth and seventy-fourth to seventy-fifth. He is a Democrat in politics, an honored member of the Masonic order, and in his religious affiliations is an Episcopalian. In Novem- ber, 1869. Mr. Martin married Mary J. Henderson, whose father, William Henderson, settled on a farm in Faribault in 1855, and died October 29, 1909, at the age of ninety-three years. Mr. and Ars. Martin have two children, both of whom are alumni of Winona Normal School and attended Carlton College, teachers by profession. Gertrude is teaching in Montana, and Katharine in Seattle, Wash.
Donald F. Munro was born at Ingersoll, Ontario, February 28. 1855. After receiving his education in his native place, he came to Faribault at the age of twenty years, and started his career by learning the tailoring business. After some years, he established a plant of his own. which he still owns and conducts. Mr. Munro is a stanch Republican, and a high degree Mason, as well as a member of the Faribault Commercial Club.
John C. Nutting, president of the First National Bank, has been prominently identified with the financial and educational interests of this part of the county. He was born in Barnet, Vt .. August 9, 1828, and there received his early education, remain- ing at home until 1853, when he went to California. He went by the Nicaraguan route, which in those days was very little traveled. For about a year he worked in the mines in Colum- bia, Tuolumne county, and after that he built and operated a lumber mill near Grass Valley, Cal. Subsequently he spent ten years in lumbering in that vicinity. In 1865 he returned to his old home in the East, came to Northfield on a visit in 1866, and in 1868 located here permanently as a financier, making a busi- ness of loaning money. When the First National Bank was organized, Mr. Nutting was one of the incorporators. Ile served as vice-president and in 1874 was elected to liis present position as president. For many years Mr. Nutting has been one of the trustees of Carleton College and a member of the executive com-
1386 111STORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
mittee. He is also a member of Social Lodge, No. 48, A. F. & A. M., having taken his degree in Grass Valley, Cal., in 1862. September 26, 1870. the subject of this sketch was married to Calista J. Morse, born in Danville. Vt., October 1, 1838, a daugh- ter of David W. and Laura W. (Dole) Morse. To Mr. and Mrs. Nutting have been born two children: Laura M., born Novem- ber 8. 1873. and John D., born November 6, 1881.
The parents of John C. Nutting were Jonathan and Helen (Somers) Nutting. the former born in Francestown. N. H., and the latter near Glasgow, Scotland. They had three children : Mrs. Matthew Blair went from Hardwick, Vt .. to San Fran- cisco in 1861, and there ended her days. Mrs. Horace H. Bron- son went from Hardwick, Vt., in 1874, to Oakland, Cal., and is now deceased. The third child and only son is the subject of this sketch. The mother died July 13, 1856, and the father February 5, 1879.
Frank Nutting, now living a retired life at Faribault, was born in Amherst, Mass .. January 31, 1834, received his education in Amherst, Mass., and came west to St. Anthony in 1854. One year later he came to Rice county, and engaged in carpenter work. At the same time he took a claim of 160 acres, built a home and lived on the farm. Later he pre-empted 160 acres in Warsaw township. and then followed carpentering and farming until 1881, when he moved to Todd county, this state, and en- gaged in the milling business. In 1894 he came back to Fari- bault and became interested in the mercantile business with his son. In 1902 he went to the Sacramento valley, in California. and then again returned to Faribault in 1904. While in Todd county he was a justice of the peace and a township supervisor. He now owns forty acres in Todd county : a pleasant residence on Ninth avenue. South, Faribault, and also twelve fine building lots in the same city. Mr. Nutting was married March 20. 1858, at Faribault, to Sarah Jane Brown, of Granby, Mass. Six of the children are living: Frank B., of Clarissa, Todd county, this state: Arthur L., of Duluth; Ilarry A., of Winter, Wis .: John T., of Clarissa, Minn .: Albert L .. of Minneapolis, and Ethel, married to Harry P. Rising, of San Diego, Cal .; Irving. Fred. Warren, Lizzie and Maude L. are dead. Maude L. was Mrs. Darwin J. Mott. She left four children : Genevieve, of Minne- apolis; Hazel, now Mrs. Morton, of St. Paul. and Erma and Bessie, who live with the subject of this sketch.
Elijah Graves Nutting, Faribault manufacturer, was born in South Amherst, Mass., June 15, 1841, and came West with his parents at the age of thirteen years, in 1854. After completing his early education, he remained at home with his father until after he had attained his majority. He then went to Northamp-
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HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
ton, Mass., and secured a situation as patternmaker and mill- wright, remaining there until 1880, when he returned to Fari- bault and engaged in the mechanical business. In 1891 he and his son established the Nutting Truck Company, which has been successful from the start. The plant covers seven acres, and the output of platform trucks finds a ready market all over the United States. He is a director in the Citizens' National Bank of Faribault. Mr. Nutting was married November 19, 1867, to Emerette E. Pomeroy, of Southampton, Mass. Two children were born to them: Walter M .. born February 14, 1874, secretary and treasurer of the Nutting Truck Company, and Bertha L., now deceased. The family faith is that of the Con- gregational Church. Truman Nutting and his wife, parents of Elijah Graves Nutting, were of New England birth. They came to Minnesota in the spring of 1854. In that year the mother died at St. Anthony's Falls, now Minneapolis. The father then came to Faribault, followed farming and manufacturing until his death, September 19, 1891.
Walter M. Nutting, son of Elijah G. and Emerette E. (Pome- roy) Nutting, was born in Florence, Mass., February 14, 1874. He came to Faribault with his parents in 1879, entered public school and graduated from the Faribault high school in 1892. After school he became partner in his father's business-that of manufacturing floor trucks -- under the firm name of the Nut- ting Truck Company, which has grown to be one of the most important industries of the city. Mr. Nutting is interested in several other substantial business enterprises. He is a member of the Commercial and Automobile Clubs, and is active in all matters pertaining to the public good. Mr. Nutting was married March 2. 1899, to Ida M. Morris. born March 5, 1876, daughter of John Morris, Sr., deceased, of Faribault. Two children were born to them: Ada A., born November 2. 1904, and Ruth M., born February 22, 1908.
George W. Nelson, a substantial and successful farmer of Rice county, now retired, was born in Richland township, this county, July 31, 1865. He was reared on the farm, attended the public schools, and later was a pupil in the Central school, finish- ing with courses at the Shattuck school. After school days were over he remained on the farm, working with his father until 1889, when he took charge of the home place, which then consisted of 160 acres. His efforts prospered and by hard work and industry he added to his farm until he now owns 240 acres of rich land. the place being highly improved in every way. After his father's death, in 1907, Mr. Nelson came to Faribault and took up his abode on West Second street, where he now lives, engaged in looking after his real-estate interests. For some years Mr. Nel-
1388 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
son was a supervisor in Richiland township, and for a number of years he served as a member of the school board. In addition to his Rice county holdings, he also owns land in Iowa. Mr. Nelson was married in 1886 to Cora May Thompson, of Blue Earth county. To this union was born one daughter, Blanche W., a student at St. Mary's School. Mrs. Nelson died in 1890 and Mr. Nelson was married in 1893 to Sophia F. Ribstein, of Steele county. The two first born children of this union, twins. died in infancy. The third child is Marion E., now living at home. The family faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal Church. John and Mary W. ( Wells) Nelson were the parents of George W. Nelson. The mother was born in Connecticut. and came to Minnesota in the fall of 1856, where she became the bride of John Nelson. The father was born in Pennsylvania and came to Minnesota in 1860, locating in Richland township. where he farmed until his death in 1907. The mother is still living.
Thomas F. Newcombe, a thrifty farmer of Richland town- ship, was born in Cherry Valley, N. Y., November 21, 1844. to Ovando and Harriet Newcombe, who were natives of New York state. They came to Wisconsin in 1845 and located at Milford, Jefferson county, where they did general farming until his decease, which occurred February 3. 1886. The mother died November 6, 1891. Our subject acquired his education in the public schools of Wisconsin. Leaving school, he returned to the old homestead, where he remained until 1894. whence, on account of the ill health of their daughter Florence, they located in Cannon City, Rice county, where they farmed until 1907. when they moved on a farm in Richland township, where they now live. Mr. Newcombe was married June 24, 1879. to Jennie. daughter of Simon and Birdie (Connor) Healey, natives of Eng- land and Ireland, respectively, the father being a consin of Rob- ert Burns. They came to America and were married when very young. Mr. Healey enlisted in Company F, Twenty-ninth Regi- ment, in the Wisconsin volunteers, being in the service for three years. After the war he returned to Wisconsin, and about seven years later sold out and moved near Menominee, Wis., where he bought a small place, on which he lived until his death, which occurred August 24, 1902. The mother died January 11. 1897. Mrs. Newcombe was born in Rome, N. Y., October 19, 1856. In 1857 her parents came to Wisconsin and located in Aztalan. where they did general farming. She received her education in Wisconsin. After leaving school, she taught for several years. but owing to poor health she gave up teaching and stayed with her parents until her marriage to Mr. Newcombe. There were four children born to this union, viz .: Florence, born January
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26, 1881, and died October 16, 1897; Eolah, born June 19, 1884, now Mrs. Oliver Strunk, of Spokane, Wash .; Sumner, born 1887, who lives at home; David, born October 16, 1885, also lives at home. Mr. Newcombe affiliates with the Democratic party. He with his family belon ;; to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Newcombe is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps, in which she is a very prominent worker. She also is a member of the Modern Brotherhood of America, and of the Episcopal Guild, of Faribault.
John H. Orr, a native of Greenville county, Ontario, was born January 13, 1856, and is one of a family of ten children (nine of whom are living) born to William and Harriet A. (Anderson) Orr. The father died in Canada, and in 1868 the mother, with some of her children, settled at Dundas, in Ricc county, Minnesota, where she passed the remainder of her life, reaching the advanced age of cighty-one years. Our subject acquired his education in the public schools of Dundas, and began his business career as clerk in the general store of Mr. J. W. Huckins, of that place, with whom he remained continually fifteen years, with the exception of a short time spent clerking in a store in St. Paul. He then bought the business of his em- ployer and during the next ten years conducted it in his own name, with moderate success. Closing out his interests, Mr. Orr retired from mercantile business in 1898, purchasing a tract of ninety-five acres of land, and turned his attention to dairy farming, breeding and raising Jersey cows, and selling his cream to the local creamery and also shipping to St. Paul. This farm, fully equipped and improved with good buildings, including a fine dwelling house, is a model of its kind, lying partly within the corporate limits of Dundas, and being known as the River- side Stock Farm. Mr. Orr has another farm of eighty acres, located some three miles from the village. Mr. Orr is identified with the Masonic order, being a thirty-second degree Mason, and also holds membership in the Modern Woodmen of America. His wife and daughter are members of the Eastern Star. In 1883 Mr. Orr married Clare E., a daughter of William B. and Mary (Borthwick) Tailor, the former a native of England and the latter of Scotland. On coming to this country they settled first in New York, but later came to Dundas, where Mrs. Orr was born, being the first white child born in the village. Of three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Orr, George E., the eldest, is employed at Faribault ; Ethel, the second, is a student at the State Normal School at St. Cloud, Minn., while Earl W. is attending the high school at Northfield.
Nicholas Offerman, a self-made and prosperous business man of Faribault, Minn., was born in Bauler, Germany, February 2,
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HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
1852. He came to America with his parents at the age of five years and acquired his education in the public schools of Iowa and Minnesota. His school days over. he assisted his father on his farm near New Market, Scott county, Minn., until he attained his majority. Then the grocery business engaged his attention, and after gaining eighteen months' experience in that line in the store of Charles Brandt, of Faribault, he started in business for himself, October 9. 1874. December, 1875, he disposed of his interest, and the 26th of the following January he launched into the retail boot and shoe business, where he has met with a marked degree of success. He has a large stock of boots and shoes of high grade goods, and his store is known as one of the most modern in southern Minnesota. Mr. Offerman is a member of the Democratic party, but has never cared to enter politics as a candidate for office. He was the organizer of the St. Law- rence Benevolent Society, January 13, 1880, and has ever since been a member, and is also connected with the Catholic Order of Foresters. He was married. October 14. 1873, at Faribault. to Miss Annie Lechner, a native of the Fatherland. They have four children, named respectively, in order of their birth: Kath- arine B., born October 23. 1874, who married William A. Bieter. now of Heron Lake, Jackson county, Minn .; M. W., born Octo- ber 13. 1876, who, after completing his education in the public schools, went into the dry goods business. working for Ochs Brothers at Faribault for four years. Then he removed to St. Peter, 1901, and conducted a dry goods business of his own till 1907, when he sold out and entered into partnership with his father, at Faribault, in the retail boot and shoe line. The third child, Mary. born May 8, 1879. died in infancy, and the fourth. Rosie, born July 24, 1889, died December 8, 1898. Our subject's parents, Sab. and Katharina Offerman, also natives of Bauler. Germany, came to America in 1857, locating at Dubuque, Iowa. for seven years, and then removing to New Market. Scott county. Minn., 1864, where they continued their occupation of general farming till 1873. They then retired from active work and took up their home with their son on Third street and Fifth avenue, Faribault. The father passed away on March 5, 1878. and the mother followed, February 2, 1883 The family has always held to the tenets of the German Catholic Church.
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