USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. II > Part 77
USA > Minnesota > Steele County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. II > Part 77
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1508 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Frederick Willard Frink, the historian of Rice county, was for over half a century a prominent figure in Faribault. Being of a literary mind, and carly realizing the importance of historical records, he devoted his leisure moments to the writing of local history, and all Rice county historians of the future will be indebted to his writings. In 1868 he published a "Record of Rice County, Minnesota." three years later he issued a supplement ; in 1900 he published his "Reminiscences of a Pioneer" in the "Faribault Republican," and in 1901 his "Short History of Fari- bault" was issued. Aside from this he was the author of many speeches and newspaper articles. He assisted in organizing the county, was a member of the first elected board of county com- missioners, selected the site for the county court house. pre- pared the first charter of the city of Faribault, and was county auditor twenty-one years. The subject of this sketch was born in Rutland county, Vermont, June 24, 1828. His father was Calvin Frink, and his mother's name Lydia L. Avery. His paternal great-great-grandfather was from England and his maternal great-grandfather was a captain in the Continental army. When Frederick was ten years old the family moved to Green Bay, Wis., and one year later, in 1839, to Mineral Point, in the same state. There the family remained until September, 1841, when they removed to Sauk county, where Calvin Frink and two other men laid out the village of Prairie du Sac. There Frederick W. spent a pioneer boyhood. The first mail ever taken from Madison westward to Prairie du Sac was carried by him on horseback at the age of eleven years, a ride of more than fifty miles a day. All the road he had most of the way was a trail marked by "blazed trees," he assisting his father in the blazing. There Frederick remained ten years, farming and lum- bering. pursuing his education meanwhile at the Beloit Seminary in 1846, paying some attention to the classics as well as mathe- matics and other practical branches. In 1851 he went to Water- loo, Grant county, in the southwestern part of Wisconsin, and was there engaged in lumbering three years. In 1854 he came to Minnesota, and with three other men took the first claims on East Prairie, in the township of Richland. There Mr. Frink opened a farm, but his health failing, he moved to Faribault in 1856. In October of that year he started the "Rice County Herald," which he sold out in a short time and which is now the "Faribault Republican." About this time he purchased a fifth interest in Shieldsville village, but this proved a financial failure. After he had made and lost his fortune at Shieldsville he clerked three years in Faribault, was two years of this time deputy county treasurer, and was elected county auditor in November, 1862, serving until twenty-one years later, when he
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 1509
retired and purchased the county abstracts. He died March 15, 1906. Mr. Frink was chairman of the first elected board of county commissioners, but resigned at the close of the first year to devote all his time to the Shieldsville townsite. September 22. 1852, he married Julia E. Beach, of Grant county, Wisconsin, and to this union was born one son, Edward Lauman, now a Faribault merchant.
Edward L. Frink, hardware merchant. was born in Waterloo, Wis .. January 17. 1854, son of Frederick Willard and Julia Eliza- beth (Beach) Frink, the pioneers. He received his education in the public schools of Rice county and in Shattuck school, and then engaged in the hardware business, in which he has partici- pated thirty years in the store of Cavanaugh & Frink. Mr. Frink was married March 21, 1888, 10 Ida D. Kellogg.
John Grant, for many years an honored and respected public- spirited citizen of Faribault, Minn., was born in Glengary county, Canada, January 26, 1840. After attending the district schools of his native county until fifteen years of age he removed to Hartland, Vt., where he was a student in the public schools for two years. Returning to Canada, he remained a year, going back to Vermont in 1858, and migrating to Ohio in the fall of the same year and engaging in farming until 1865, when he came to Rice county, Minnesota, locating in Walcott township, and con- tinuing in farming, also devoting his attention to railroad con- tracting. In 1870 he discontinued farming operations and car- ried on railroad contracting exclusively until 1878, when failing health compelled him to seek an occupation less arduous. Accordingly he entered the grocery business at Faribault, remain- ing in this line two years and then returning to railroad con- tracting, in which he has ever since been engaged with much success. He constantly employs a large force of men, who are kept busy filling his contracts for grading, track laying and all kinds of railroad construction work. Mr. Grant has largely oper- ated in the states of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri. North and South Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Washington, but his home has been permanently located at Faribault since 1870. In politics he is a staunch Republican, serving as sheriff of Steele county during 1874 and 1875, and as county treasurer during 1888, 1889. 1890 and 1891. He is a high degree Mason. March 9, 1869, at Northfield, Minn .. he was married to Mary Ann Grant, by whom he has five children: Donald, who died in December, 1905; Mrs. Nellie Wood, of Faribault; Mayme, living at home ; Anna E., also living at home, a singer of considerable note; and George W., who is engaged in contracting with his father. The family home is located at 615 West Second street. They are loyal attendants of the Congregational Church.
1510 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Rev. D. C. Hauk, the beloved pastor of the United Evangelical Church, residing at Nerstrand, was born in Germany, February 9, 1867, son of J. D. and Henrietta Hauk, also natives of Germany. He received his education in Germany and in Chicago, and entered the ministry in 1894. His first church was at Charles City, Ia., and before coming to Nerstrand in the spring of 1908 he had charges at Le Mars, Big Stone, S. D., and Odessa, Minn. He was married, September 26, 1889, to Marie Haehlen, and to this union have been born five children : Wesley D., Esther S., Newton W., Mildred L. and A. Edna, all at home.
Stephen Jewett, treasurer of The Bishop Seabury Mission and Shattuck School, and financial agent of St. Mary's Hall, was born in New Haven, Conn .. May 20, 1844, son of Henry and Elizabeth (Gregory) Jewett, both descended from New England colonial ancestry. He attended Watertown Academy and the Cheshire Episcopal Academy, in his native state, and came to Minnesota October 15, 1865. just after the war. November 1 of the same year he came to Faribault. It is interesting to note that Mr. Jewett was drawn hither by the influence of Bishop Whipple, whom he had often met in the home of his grandfather, Stephen Jewett, rector of the historic old Trinity Church in New Haven, Conn. For many years Mr. Jewett recuperated his health, traveling extensively through the Northwest, including tours through the Dakotas in the earliest pioneer and frontier days. July 8, 1874, he was made treasurer of The Bishop Sea- bury Mission, and later he assumed the same relation with Shat- tuck and St. Mary's. In 1881 he purchased the real estate and insurance agency of H. A. Scandrett, and in less than a year George A. Weston became a partner, when the firm of Weston & Jewett was established. After twenty-six years, April 1, 1908, the company moved to its present commodious quarters, where it now maintains the largest office of its kind in southern Minne- sota. Mr. Jewett is also vice-president of the Security Bank. He belongs to the Society of the Colonial Wars, state of Minne- sota, and is deputy governor of that society in this state. He is a member of the New York chapter of the Mayflower Society and was formerly a member of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution. For forty years he has been a member and vestry- man of the parish of the Good Shepherd. While Mr. Jewett has never cared to mingle in politics, he accepted the honor of the position as mayor of Faribault two terms. He is interested in all historical and patriotic subjects and has had his share in the upbuilding of Faribault.
Philip Johnson, for many years a prominent and respected citizen of Faribault, whose decease occurred September 8, 1906. was born in Ireland, September 12, 1827. At an early age he
STEPHEN JEWETT
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 1511
emigrated to America, locating in New York with his brother and receiving a good education. He then removed to Wisconsin and engaged in the drug business in partnership with his brother Edward. remaining here until the rush to the recently discov- ered gold mines in California in 1849, being successful as a miner for the next ten years. Returning cast in 1860, he located at Jefferson, Wis .. and re-entered the drug business, continuing in this line of work after his removal to Faribault, in 1874, until his death, having won the esteem and respect of his large circle of friends and acquaintances as a man of sterling worth and chiar- acter. Mr. Johnson served for many years as assistant post- master and was bookkeeper in a bank for some time. In poli- tics he was a staunch Democrat and was an active member of the Faribault board of health for a number of years. He camne of a family of doctors, his three brothers all being prominent in the medical profession. May 12, 1856, he was married to Louise McMahon, who died June 12, 1858, leaving one child, Alice Louise, now the widow of William Ungers, who died August 18, 1899. Mr. Johnson was married a second time in January, 1867. to Catherine Conan, of Fox Lake, Wis., who survives him. Mr. Johnson was a faithful member of the Catholic Church, of which Mrs. Johnson is still a loyal supporter.
A. B. Irvine, retired and highly respected citizen of Faribault, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. August 15, 1849, and received his earlier education in the schools of that city. As a youth he spent two years in the British navy and in 1868 came to the United States. He remained a short time in New York and then spent ten years as an engineer and steamfitter in New Jersey. He came to Faribault in 1879 and became engineer at the State School for the Deaf. In this position he remained. faithfully performing the work incidental to his occupation, until the fall of 1908, when he retired. Mr. Irvine is a Republican in politics. He is a high degree Mason and also belongs to the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Red Men. The subject of this sketch was married while in New Jersey to Catherine Bergin, who died February 1, 1909. Two sons have blessed the Irvine home. James B. is a plumber in Faribault and Benjamin C. is a steamfitter in the same city.
William Kaiser, postmaster at Faribault and editor of the "Faribault Journal," was born during the days of the Civil War, April 4, 1864, at Stillwater, Minn., son of John and Barbara Kaiser, pioneers. Ile received his education in the public schools of Stillwater and Faribault, where he thoroughly mastered the common school branches. In the year 1880 he was apprenticed to the Lindeman Brothers, of Faribault, to learn carriage paint- ing. In 1883 he was engaged at this work in Minneapolis and
1512 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Stillwater and did car painting in the Omaha shops at Hudson, Wis., and for the Northern Pacific shops at Brainerd. Minn. In the spring of 1884 he went to Chicago and worked at sign paint- ing for five years for Murray & Baker. In 1889 he opened a grocery store at 1642 West Lake street, and the next year a meat market at 1644 on the same street. He sold out in 1891 and came to Faribault. In partnership with Martin Bieter he bought out the grocery business of L. D. Newcome. In 1899 he was appointed postmaster at Faribault, took possession of the office April 1, 1899, and has since served, greatly improving the service and giving general satisfaction. He was first appointed by President William Mckinley and the second and third times by President Theodore Roosevelt. He sold out his business to his partner. Martin Bieter, in 1900. In 1903, in the fall. in com- pany with Josel P. Heatwole and I. N. Stewart, he organized the Faribault Printing Company and purchased the "Faribault Jour- nal." In the same year Mr. Stewart sold his interest and retired. In November of that year the "Faribault Daily Journal" was started. April 14, 1906. Mr. Kaiser purchased the interests of Mr. Heatwole and others and became sole owner of the Fari- bault Printing Company and the "Faribault Journal." February 1. 1909, he became part lessee and manager of the Faribault Opera House with L. H. Dibble. In August of the same year he was elected president of the Faribault Co-operative Company. In 1893 he was elected an alderman of the First Ward of Fari- bault and served two years. Mr. Kaiser is a member of the Faribault Commercial Club and was one of the organizers of the Faribault street fairs, of which he was president five years. In the campaign of 1896 he was elected president of the McKin- ley Club. He also helped to organize the Minnesota Postmas- ters' Association and was elected first president of this associ- ation, serving eight years. He was also elected first president of the Tri-State Postmasters' Association, organized in 1909, and consisting of the postmasters of Minnesota. and North and South Dakota. He was a member of the building committee of the Faribault Opera House, was chairman of the fire department committee when a member of the city council, and was a member of the Faribault board of health three years, dating from 1896. Being of a sociable nature, Mr. Kaiser has allied himself with Enterprise Chapter. No. 50. Royal League, of Chicago, Ill. : Fari- bault Lodge. No. 9, A. F. & A. M .; Athens Chapter. No. 82. O. E. S .; Faribault Lodge, No. 16, K. of P .; Faribault Lodge, No. 1166. B. P. O. E., and the Faribault Automobile Club. The subject of this sketch was married September 15, 1886, to Alice Jane Brown, of Chicago, Ill., and to this union one son, William Martin Kaiser, was born October 30, 1891.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 1513
F. A. Kolling, a well known farmer of Wheeling township, Rice county, is a native of this county, his natal day being August 3, 1857. His boyhood was passed on his father's farm, meanwhile receiving his education in the district schools and later giving his entire time to assisting his father in the carrying on of the home farm. In 1885 he left the old homestead and purchased his present farm of a hundred and fifty-five acres in Wheeling township, on which he has ever since been successfully engaged in general farming. He is also prominent in several enterprises of local concern, acting as president of the Farmers State Bank of Nerstrand, secretary of the Wheeling Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and president of the Farmers' Co-operative Creamery. In politics he votes with the Republican party and is now serving as justice of the peace. In 1886 he was married to Caroline Mueller, daughter of William and Sophia (Shwake) Mueller, natives of Germany and early settlers of Wheeling town- ship, Rice county, where the father followed general farming up to the time of his death. The mother is also deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Kolling are loyal attendants of the German Evangelical Church. Il. C. and Dorothy ( llelberg) Kolling, parents of our subject, emigrated from their native land, Germany, in 1850, locating in Cook county, Illinois, where the father continued in farming until 1854. when he removed to Wheeling township, Rice county, Minnesota. purchasing a quarter section, on which he remained in the pursuit of farming until his death in 1895. The mother died a year later.
John Hoover Lewis was born in Birmingham, Guernsey county, Ohio, in 1867, during the reconstruction period of our nation's history. His father, Thomas H. Lewis, was born of Welsh Quaker parents and was a farmer by profession. The mother, Eliza J. Hoover, was of Dutch-Irish parentage. In the spring of 1868 Mr. Lewis' parents came west, travelling from Ilastings to Faribault by stage. The date of their arrival at Faribault happened to be the first anniversary of Mr. Lewis' birth, April 4, 1868. Mr. Lewis' early education was acquired in District No. 10. in the village of Cannon City. In 1887 he entered the high school of Faribault, from which he graduated in the English course in 1890. After teaching two years in the rural schools of the county of his adoption he entered the Uni- versity of Minnesota, from which he graduated in 1896. receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science. In addition to the regular academic work of the university Mr. Lewis completed the course offered by the department of pedagogy, in recognition of which he was granted a professional teacher's certificate for life.
Since 1896 Mr. Lewis has held several important educational positions, such as assistant principal of Cloquet high school.
1514 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
superintendent of the city schools of Hawley and Staples, all of the state of Minnesota.
Poor health compelled Mr. Lewis to leave the schoolroom. In the campaign of 1894 he was a candidate on the Republican ticket for the office of county superintendent for Rice county, but he failed to secure the nomination.
In the fall of this year the county treasurer of Rice county, S. I. Pettit, appointed Mr. Lewis as his deputy, which position of trust Mr. Lewis held for two years, when he became county superintendent of schools for Rice county. He is now entering upon his third term as county superintendent, having been twice nominated and elected to this important position without oppo- sition. It is generally conceded that the rural schools of the county have advanced greatly since Mr. Lewis has had over- sight of their interests. Mr. Lewis is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and of the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Congregational Church and has for several years been superintendent of various Sunday Schools of this denomination. For the past five years he has been president of the Rice County Sunday School Association. His father and brothers and he have always voted the Republican ticket, except in rare cases where the candidate seemed greater than his party. 1898 was an eventful year in Mr. Lewis' career. On July 7 of that year he was united in marriage with Miss Jessie A. Cowles, of Rice county, who graduated from Winona Normal school and who taught several years in the public schools of Minnesota. This union has been blessed with three children, Donald, Lowell and Dorothy, aged respectively eleven, nine and three years.
J. J. Lips was born in Wheeling township, where he now lives, September 19, 1865. He was educated in the district schools of Wheeling and subsequently went to South Dakota. where he took a claim of 320 acres, on which he farmed until 1901, when he rented the farm and returned to Wheeling, where he purchased eighty acres in section 15, and has since carried on general farming with much success. Mr. Lips is a Republican in politics and has served as school clerk for the past seven years. He is a stockholder in the Farmers' State Bank of Ner- strand. The subject of this sketch was married in 1889 to Augusta Schmidt, daughter of Conrad and Caroline Schmidt, and to this union one child. Irvin, has been born.
William N. Lockwood, an old and respected citizen of Fari- bault, Minn., was born in Watertown, Conn., June 7, 1832. His carly education was received in the public schools of his native place. Leaving school, he spent two and a half years in farming in Scoville county, Connecticut, subsequently going to Nauga- tuck, same state, and serving two years' apprenticeship in a ma-
1515
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
chine shop, after which he returned to Waterbury and followed his trade for nine months with the Scoville Manufacturing Com- pany, and then a year with the Ferrell Foundry and Machine Company. In 1852 be removed to New Britain, Conn., being connected with the Stanley Works till the spring of 1856, when he migrated west to Rice county, Minnesota, and homesteaded a hundred and twenty acres in Shieldsville and Kilkenny townships, on which he proved up and remained until the following fall. He then returned to New Britain and engaged in the hardware busi- ness, six years later disposing of his interest and became con- nected with O. B. North & Company, also of New Britain, re- maining with this company till their removal to New Haven, same state, shortly afterwards. From here he went to Campville, Conn. In 1891 he bought a home in Faribault, Minn., on Third street, and moved here with his wife. Ile is now devoting much of his time to looking after his real estate interests, enjoy- ing good health in spite of the fact of his rapidly approaching eightieth birthday. In politics he casts his ballot independent of party, always voting for the welfare of the community. While in Connecticut he served as justice of the peace. The Episcopal Church counts him a valued supporter. In 1860 he was united in marriage with Jane L. Alfred, of Harwinton, Conn., who died November 8, 1877, leaving three children : Herbert N., a real estate dealer of New Britain, Conn. ; William A., also of New Britain. and Franklin B. Two other children born to this marriage- Frederick and Charles-died in infancy. Mr. Lockwood was married a second time, March 3, 1889, to Mrs. Mary L. Shaw Clapp. She was a daughter of Henry and Ann (Ely) Clapp. Mrs. Lockwood acquired her education in the Lee County Acad- emy, Lee Center, Ill., later attending the Rockford Female Semi- nary, concluding with a course in Milton Academy, Massachu- setts. After school she was engaged as a teacher of French and German in a private school of New York city until her marriage, May 29, 1867, to Egbert D. Shaw, of Lee Center, 111. One child was born to this union, Alice Eva, who died February 16, 1880, at the age of seven years. Mrs. Lockwood was actively inter- ested in numerous social organizations, being a charter member of the Charter Oak Chapter of Faribault of the Daughters of the American Revolution, having served as registrar of that society since her entry into it, and was official musician of the Fair Oaks Circle of the Grand Army of the Republic, having convention at Philadelphia. Mrs. Lockwood was also prominent in the Episcopal Church Guild, having been secretary six years. She died December 17, 1909, and is buried in Oak Ridge Ceme- tery, Faribault, Minn.
Rev. Frank Arthur McElwain, the warden of the Seabury Divinity School at Faribault, was born at Warsaw, Wyoming
1516 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
county, New York, December 14, 1875. At an early age he came west with his parents, receiving his elementary education in the public schools of Corning, la., and of Brookfield, Mo., and at the high school of Middletown, Conn. Then entering Trinity Col- lege at llartford, Conn., he remained until he received his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1899. immediately thereafter enrolling in the Seabury Divinity School of Faribault, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1902, Trin- ity College conferring the degree of Master of Arts on him the same time. June 11, 1902, he was ordained a minister of the Episcopal Church, and February 6, 1903, was raised to the priest- hood at Lebanon, Mo. During the next two years he followed the call of his profession in Neosho, Kansas City, Marshall and Springfield, all in Missouri. In 1905 he accepted the position offered him as instructor in the Old and New Testament at the Seabury Divinity School, which he held until January, 1907, when, at the death of Dr. Davis, he was elected to his present position as warden of the institution, still holding the chair as instructor in Old Testament. He is universally esteemed and respected by the students, as well as by his fellow townsmen, being a strong power for good in the community. The prin- ciples of the Republican party have his support, but in casting his ballot he places the man before the party. His fraternal affiliations are with the Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Chi Rho fraternities. November 17. 1903, at Sedalia, Mo., he was mar- ried to Helen Demuth, daughter of Lient .- Col. H. C. Demuth and Dora (Lamy) Demuth, of Sedalia. Mr. and Mrs. McElwain have one child. Frank Arthur, Jr., born March 12, 1908. James F. and Mary S. (Arthur) McElwain, parents of our subject, are natives of New York, the father being born in Wyoming county and the mother in Brooklyn. In 1879 they migrated west, locat- ing at Fort Dodge, Ia., remaining two years, and then removing to Corning, Ia., where they remained nearly six years. They then came to Brookfield, Mo., where they are now residing. The father was a merchant all his life, but is now retired from active work.
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