USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. II > Part 81
USA > Minnesota > Steele County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. II > Part 81
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Dr. Theo. L. Hatch came to Owatonna May 5, 1880, the date of the arrival of Drs. Kelly, Cass and Aukes. He is still in active practice. Dr. Hatch was born in Broome county, New York, January 20, 1848. When he was two years old he was taken by his parents to Washington county, Wisconsin, where they resided until he was six years of age, when they moved to Plainville, Adams county, Wisconsin. Dr. Hatch received a good common school education, and at the age of twenty engaged
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in teaching. In the spring of 1867 he commenced the study of medicine at Neillsville, Wis., and took his medical degree at the University of Michigan, March 29, 1871. In the final exam- ination for his degree he stood at the head of his class in anatomy and physiology, and obstetrics and gynaecology. He practiced at Neillsville, Wis., during the summer of 1871, coming to Steele county in October of that year. During the winter of 1871-72 he taught school at Aurora station. engaging in practice outside of school hours. In the spring of 1872 he moved to Blooming Prairie and practiced medicine, engaging also with his brother, Lewis P., in the drug business. Dr. Hatch has served several terms as county physician. He was married Sep- tember 23, 1884, to Grace M. Illick, of Galesburg, Mich., and to this union have been born two children: Frederika G .. born December 8, 1887, married June 15, 1909, to Prof. J. C. Jones, professor of English literature at Pillsbury Academy ; and Theo. L .. Jr., born September 6, 1895.
Orlando Johnson, one of the first settlers of Steele county, was a native of Chenango county, New York, born in 1831, his parents being Smith and Elizabeth Carpenter Johnson. When twenty years old Orlando went to Wisconsin and a short time later to Kingsmur Grove, Whiteside county, Illinois, where he taught school during the winter of 1851. In the spring of 1852 he went to St. Paul, Minn., and a short time later to Faribault. In the summer of 1853, he came with a party of first settlers to what is now Steele county and took a claim for his father, Smith Johnson, Sr., on the present site of Medford village. In 1854 he turned the claim over to his father. He was here off and on until 1855, but his home was at Fari- bault. In 1853 he had bought a claim at Faribault, and in company with Mark Wells erected a cabin. In the summer of 1855 he went to California, where he was engaged in mining and lumbering. In 1861 he enlisted in the First Cali- fornia Volunteer Infantry, which remained in camp at Los Angeles, Cal., during the winter of 1861-62. In the spring they crossed the California desert. reaching the Rio Grande at Fort Thorn. Going down the river they were stationed at Franklin, now El Paso, Tex. The remainder of his service was passed at Santa Fe and Fort Union. During the time he was in Mexico his duty consisted chiefly in gathering Indians on the reserva- tion, and his last act was to station 113 red skins. He was honorably discharged at Fort Union, N. M., returned to Medford, Minn., in October, 1864. In 1870, he engaged in the general mercantile trade for a short time. In the spring of 1873 he erected the cheese factory which he still carries on, doing an extensive business. Mr. Johnson was married November 1,
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1865, to Miss Olive E. Ilulett. They have two children, Luke H., and Lloyd B.
Eden N. Leavens is one of the early pioneers still living in Faribault. He was born in Putnam, Conn .. August 3, 1826, and came to Faribault in October. 1855. He was postmaster for sixteen years, and served for a long period as assistant. He has occupied a number of important local positions, and is a veteran of the Civil War. Mrs. Leavens, who is prominent in Relief Corps circles, was Mary E. Winter, born May 2. 1838, and married April 24, 1866.
Clark Chambers is one of the carly pioneers of Steele county. He was born in Ellicottville, N. Y., January 2. 1839, and came to Owatonna in 1859 with his parents. Ile served as aide to his brother. Gen. Alex. Chambers, during the Civil War, has been alderman of Owatonna, sheriff of Steele county, and a member of the Owatonna hispital board. as well as a member of the state prison board.
K. O. Finseth, Nerstrand banker, was born in Holden, Minn., January 25, 1865, and came to Nerstrand in 1906, assuming his present position as cashier of the Farmers' State Bank. Mr. Finseth is a graduate of the law department of the lowa State University, and in his young manhood also studied two years at St. Olaf's, and four years at Luther College. Decorah, lowa.
Luther R. Weld, Faribault, was born in Franklin county, Massachusetts. May 9, 1825. Ile came to Faribault in 1857. and was one of the early planing mill men and money loaners. He was assessor of Faribault some time, and at one period was vice president of the Citizens' National Bank.
William F. Schilling, who has been prominently identified with the dairy and agricultural interests of the state, is an excellent type of the modern successful and scientific farmer. His "Spring Brook Farm," at Northfield, just outside of the platted city, is one of the show places of the county. As printer, editor, farmer and public speaker, he has displayed those quali- ties which go to make up a useful citizen. Mr. Schilling was born in Hutchinson. McLeod county, this state, son of William and Mary C. (Lallier) Schilling, the former a Pennsylvanian of German ancestry, and the latter of French birth, both pioneers who settled in Minnesota in the early days, and a nephew of Christian Schilling, a pioneer of Carver county, this state. Young William received his education in the common schools, learned his trade as printer with the Hutchinson "Leader," worked on the St. Paul "Dispatch," and the "Pioneer Press," was foreman for the Northwestern Stamp Works, and worked on the Appleton "Press." While visiting in Northfield he was so pleased with the place that he decided to make this his habitation, and
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accordingly he came here in 1894 as foreman for Joel P. Heat- wole on the Northfield "News." After a few months he was promoted to the city department, when Charles H. Pierce be- came superintendent of the house document department at Washington. At the foundation of Heatwole's dairy paper, now the Minnesota "Dairyman," he became its editor, in which capac- ity he still remains. After a few years he purchased a small farm in the rear of St. Olaf's College, and in 1904 leased the Spring Brook Farm, which. in 1910, he purchased from Mrs. J. P. Heatwole. During the Spanish-American War, Mr. Schilling was captain of the local military company. He is now president of the Minnesota State Dairymen's Association and of the Holstein-Friesian Association of America. Mr. Schilling was married August 23, 1899. to Margaret De Hannemann, whose parents were early settlers of Reed's Landing, Minn. This union has been blessed with six children : Mary C., Charlotte B., Jeanette, Dorothy, William and Louis. Mr. Schilling owes his greatest distinction to the introduction of community breeding of blooded cattle in America. His cow, of the Holstein-Friesian breed, Esther Piebe De Kol, Second, is the champion cow in the state, and has a record of 29.43 pounds of butter in seven days, 114 pounds in thirty days, and an average of 98 pounds of milk for forty-three days.
C. P. Carpenter was born in Connecticut, February 4, 1853. The family came to Minnesota in 1855. At sixteen he left home to learn the printer's trade, and was admitted to the bar Septem- ber 29, 1890. Mr. Carpenter served as assistant clerk of the house of representatives in the legislature of 1887, and as chief clerk of the house in 1889. In May, 1889, he was appointed as special judge of the Northfield municipal court, and was elected to that office in March. 1900. In March 1906, he was elected judge of the Northfield municipal court, and in March last was re-elected.
Charles Hart Pierce was born near Salem, Ind .. October 3, 1853. He came to Northfield in early manhood and was for a time enrolled as a student at Carleton College. his father, a Congregational minister. being connected with the college in some official capacity. Possessing considerable literary abil- ity, Mr. Pierce turned his attention to newspaper work, and devoted the greater portion of his life to that field. Associating himself with what was then called the Rice County "Journal," he finally became one of the proprietors, the "Journal," for a time, being published under the firm name of Wheaton & Pierce. Continuing through several newspaper administrations, Mr. Pierce became associated with Mr. Heatwole in the building up of the Northfield "News." For a time Mr. Pierce was superin-
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tendent of the house document department in Washington. In April, 1900, he was appointed postmaster at Northfield, and his efficiency and satisfactory service fully merited the reappoint- ments received in 1904 and 1908. Mr. Pierce was at all times interested in local public affairs. In a literary way he manifested a fund of quaint humor and an exceptional ability in picturing local happenings in an interesting way through his contribu- tions to the "News," written by "The Man on the Square." 11e died September 27, 1910.
PHYSICIANS.
Dr. F. S. Bodle was another of the old army surgeons. He came to Owatonna in 1866, immediately after the war, and practiced here two or three years. He then moved to Oakland, Cal. Dr. Daniel S. Harsha came to Owatonna from Waupun. WVis., in 1855, and after remaining a short time, went back to Waupun, practicing there until 1856, when he became a perma- nent resident of Owatonna. Dr. Harsha, upon coming to Owa- tonna, decided to abandon the practice of medicine which had impaired his health, and he and his father-in-law, Judge N. M. Donaldson, opened a drug and grocery store. Owing, however. to the lack of physicians, Dr. Harsha did considerable practicing for several years. He died about 1881. Dr. E. E. Everhardt located in Blooming Prairie in 1880. He remained there about two years and then went to Iowa. Dr. O. F. Way studied medi- cine with Dr. E. M. Morehouse in Owatonna, and located in Blooming Prairie in 1882. Later he removed to Claremont in Dodge county, where he is still engaged in practice. Dr. T. C. Caldwell, an eclectic physician, practiced at Blooming Prairie from 1882 to 1884. Later he practiced in various places in the northern part of the state. Dr. J. L .. Harrington was born in Windham county, Vermont. in 1840. In 1862 he graduated in medicine from the University of Vermont, and soon commenced to practice in Weston in that state. In 1864 he enlisted in Com- pany I, Fourth Vermont Volunteer Infantry, and was subse- quently promoted to surgeon in the First Vermont Heavy Artillery. In 1866 he went to Halifax, Vt., and resumed his practice, remaining there until 1881. During his residence there he was a member of the state constitutional convention in 1872. In 1878 he was elected to the legislature, and was chairman of the state board of supervisors of the insane in 1879 and 1880. February 2. 1867, he was married to Mrs. Catharine Tenny, a native of New Hampshire. In 1881, Dr. Harrington came to Owatonna and practiced until his death in February, 1893, at the age of fifty-three. A son, Dr. W. E. Harrington, is practicing
1548 1HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
medicine in Oklahoma. Dr. J. Palner Johnson was born in Windham county, Connecticut, February 22, 1839. He read medicine, and later attended the Rush Medical College, at Chi- cago. Ill., graduating in 1876. Previous to his graduation he settled in Blooming Prairie about May, 1874, and in 1876 took up his practice there. In September. 1892, he became a resident of Owatonna, and practiced here until 1902. He then went to Canon City. Col., where his wife died in December. 1903, after which he returned to Owatonna. He is the father of Dr. Charles B. Johnson, mentioned elsewhere. Dr. W. C. Hadley commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Morehouse in 1880, and in 1883 located in Blooming Prairie. After a year there, his office was burned and he moved to Utal. He died there, July 29, 1891, at the age of twenty-four years. Dr. D. H. Roberts, a homeo- pathic physician, was born near Richmond, Wayne county, In- diana, in 1824. He received his medical education principally in Indianapolis. After practicing a short time he accepted a chair of natural science in the Whitewater College, and later he was made superintendent of the Farmers' Institute near Lafayette, Ind. Subsequently he practiced in Pendleton, Ind. In 1869 he came to Minnesota and located in Plainview. In 1872 he came to Owatonna, and with the exception of one or two years prac- ticed until 1902, when he moved to California. He is still living. Dr. L. L. Bennett was born in Illinois and came to Owatonna in 1864. Shortly after entering the banking business in 1873, he retired from the practice of medicine. Dr. Bennett has distin- guished himself as a physician, a financier and a citizen. His biography appears elsewhere. Dr. George A. Rossbach came to Owatonna in 1871 and continued in active practice up to the time of his death, March 21. 1891, at the age of seventy-eight years. Dr. Rossbach was born in Moyenmoutier, France, in 1813. Graduating from Strasburg Medical College in 1833, he went with a regiment of French troops to Africa in the capacity of surgeon. He came to America in 1851, locating in Sauk county, Wisconsin. In 1861 he was made surgeon of the Third Wisconsin Cavalry, serving a year and a half with the troops and two years at a hospital in Fort Worth, Kan. Dr. W. A. Ware came to Owatonna from lowa in 1858, arriving with Austin Vinton, the father of Wilbur and W. HI. Vinton. He was engaged in the practice of his profession continuously until 1889, when he retired to his former home in New York state. He died at Ellington Center. Chautauqua county, New York, in 1893. Dr. Ware was a man of fine physique and presence and an exceedingly competent physician. He never was known to be- come disconcerted, no matter how trying the situation, while his presence in the sick room did as much for his patients as medi-
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cine. Dr. F. M. Smersh studied medicine with Dr. E. M. More- house and started in business in Owatonna in 1889. He became senior partner of the firm of Smersh and Kubat. He represented the Fourth ward several terms in the city council and is now serving as president of the city board of health. Dr. Christian Peterson began practice in Owatonna in 1884, and has served several terms as county physician. Dr. A. B. Stewart came to Owatonna in June of 1891, having graduated from the Univer- sity of Minnesota, and began the practice of medicine, in which he is still engaged. He also spent a year in Europe in post- graduate work. He was mayor of the city in 1897. Dr. R. C. Banks came to Owatonna in 1893, from Pine Island, Minn. He practiced for a number of years until failing health compelled him to abandon the arduous duties of his calling. finally remov- ing to Plainview, Minn., where he died. Dr. S. O. Francis came to Owatonna in January, 1893, from Wasioja. He remained about three months and then returned to Wasioja. He was a homeopathic physician. Dr. George Schultze came to Owatonna in October 1897, from Elysian, Minn., where he had been in practice for several years, and remained until the summer of 1910, when he returned to Germany for post-graduate work. Dr. B. M. J. Conlin began practice in Owatonna in January, 1895, having at that time been a resident of South Dakota for some years. He is still actively engaged in business. Dr. Eliza- beth Lewis, a homeopathic physician, came to Owatonna from Minneapolis and took up practice with Dr. D. H. Roberts. She returned to Minneapolis early in 1898. Dr. Florence C. Baier became a practitioner of medicine in Owatonna in May, 1898, and in the summer of 1900 moved to Minneapolis. Dr. W. C. Roberts was formerly a resident of Lincoln, Neb., and came to Owatonna in June, 1899, beginning at once the practice of medi- cine (homeopathic), in which he is still engaged. Dr. E. E. Hubbard began the practice of medicine in Medford in the early part of 1894, leaving in 1896 and going to Faribault. \ year or two later he moved to Kansas City. He is professor of pa- thology in the Medical Chirurgical College in that city, and also professor of pathology and bactatriology in the Woman's Med- ical College there. Dr. C. W. Kanne, a former resident of Deer- field, opened an office in Owatonna in the summer of 1900 and was here a few months, going to Arlington. Later he took spe- cial courses in Europe. Dr. Ira G. Beeman formerly lived on a farm in Blooming Grove township. He practiced in Medford for many years, until compelled by failing health to abandon work His death occurred at Owatonna in 1910. Dr. Guel Morehouse followed his father's footsteps in practice in Owatonna a few years ago. His biography appears elsewhere. Dr. C. C. Don-
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aldson came from Fairmont to Owatonna in 1898. He practiced here until the following summer, when he again went to Fair- mont. Drs. H. G. Bickford and J. W. Warren both located in Owatonna during 1909, but after remaining a few months de- parted; the former returning to Redwood Falls, Minn., and the latter to Blooming Prairie, this county, where he associated him- self in practice with Dr. H. G. Woods. Dr. Ole H. Bakke took up the practice of medicine in Blooming Prairic in 1896, after- wards removing to Minneapolis, where he is at present. Dr. W. S. Wood located in Blooming Prairie in 1901, and served as president of the village and in other public positions. After a year spent in post-graduate work in London and Vienna, he re- turned and, limiting his practice to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, opened offices in Faribault and Owatonna and also at Blooming Prairie. His health failed him in 1908 and he was obliged to relinquish work and seek health, which he never found. His death from pulmonary trouble occurred at his par- ents' home in Faribault in March, 1910. Dr. Harry G. Wood, a younger brother, became associated in business with him in 1905, and is still engaged in the practice of medicine at Blooming Prairie. Dr. Willis H. Twiford came to Steele county in 1864. locating on a farm in Somerset township. He later removed to the village of Geneva, in Freeborn county, where he remained in active practice until 1897, when he moved to Owatonna, re- signing his work shortly afterwards because of advancing agc. His death occurred in October, 1909. Dr. Solomon S. Blood came to Owatonna in 1866. He had been an army surgeon and obtained considerable reputation locally along this line after his arrival in Steele county. Dr. Blood was a man of great energy and perseverance. He died of cancer of the stomach, December 21, of that year, aged seventy-one years. Dr. W. H. Woods came to Steele county in 1856. Nine years later he moved to Le Sueur county and soon afterward took up the study of medicine, beginning practice at Madelia. While there, he was one of the physicians who attended the Northfield bank robbers who were captured near that place. Dr. Woods located in Blooming Prairie in November, 1891. In 1900 he came to Owatonna and practiced about two years. He died in Owatonna, in December, 1903, aged eighty years. Dr. George H. Terrell came to Owatonna from Lorain county, Ohio, in 1866, remained two or three years and then returned to his former home. Dr. E. W. Cooley studied medicine with Dr. E. M. Morehouse and located in Blooming Prairic in 1887, being still located there. Dr. W. C. Eustis came to Owatonna in October, 1891, from Farmington, Minn., where he practiced for several years, and has actively engaged in the duties of his profession ever since. Dr.
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Gowdy began practice in Owatonna in November, 1871, remain- ing until 1874. when he went to Blooming Prairie and practiced a month. Dr. Kelley, a lady physician, and Dr. Cass, a homeo- path, arrived in Owatonna, May 5, 1880. They remained about three months. Dr. E. E. Aukes came to Owatonna, May 5, 1880, and remained until the fall of 1884, when he moved to Beatrice, Neb. He was a graduate of the Guttenberg Univer- sity, and was a thoroughly educated and well equipped member of his profession. Dr. J. W. Andrist located in Ellendale in 1901, and continued in practice there until 1908, when, after a year spent in travel and study, he located in Owatonna, where he still resides. Dr. Frank L. Morehouse, a former resident of Steele county, and a nephew of Dr. E. M. Morehouse, moved from Chicago to Owatonna in May, 1902, and after a few months relinquished his practice and conducted a large dairy farm on the outskirts of the city. He later removed to Indiana and resumed practice, in which he is still engaged. Dr. Cooper practiced in Owa- tonna from November, 1903, to January, 1904, when he removed to Dent, Minn., where he still lives. Dr. W. W. Finch had been a practicing physician in Vermont before enlisting in the army. He came to Steele county in 1856, locating in Clinton Falls township. October 8, 1861, he was elected county treasurer of Steele county and served two years. He remained in this county for a number of years after the expiration of his term. and then moved to Santa Barbara. Cal., where he died. He was a man of natural and acquired ability, justly esteemed and respected by all with whom he came in contact. lle was an uncle of C. M. Finch, of Clinton Falls. Dr. T. M. Hammond practiced in Owa- tonna from 1874 to 1877. Dr. E. E. Bigelow came to Owatonna in 1877, and was actively engaged in practice until 1895. His biography appears elsewhere. Dr. Saulsbury, also an old army surgeon, located in Blooming Prairie carly in 1871 and left there late in 1872. Dr. C. Wilbur Ray began practice in Owatonna in the spring of 1892, and left during the winter of 1892-93. Dr. Charles J. Pillsbury, a homeopathic physician, came to Owa- tonna from Duluth in June, 1898, and remained just one year. From Owatonna he went to Faribault, remaining there about two years, and then returned to Duluth, where he died. For several years Dr. Pillsbury was a member of the State Board of Medical Examiners. Dr. Miner, another homeopathie physician, practiced in Owatonna from the summer of 1897 until carly in 1898. Dr. J. H. Bowers, also a homeopathic physician, came to Owatonna in 1897, and left during the latter part of 1899. Dr. J. Habenick, a Bohemian physician, became a resident of Owa- tonna in 1894 and remained fourteen months. Dr. J. Brown located in Medford about 1886 and was there nearly a year.
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HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Dr. J. W. Swedenborg came to Ellendale and remained in prac- tice till 1909, when he removed to Thief River Falls, Minn., where he still lives. Dr. Jacob Martin, a German physician, came to Owatonna in 1884 and remained here about a year, after which he went to Fountain City, Wis., where he died. Dr. George W. Powell became a resident of Medford in the winter of 1876-77, and left there in 1880. Dr. George E. Vaughn began practice at Blooming Prairie, June 18, 1895, and on February 26, 1897, removed to Hurley, S. D. Dr. Bingham practiced medi- cine in Medford between 1870 and 1880. Dr. McDonald, a Cana- dian, and a graduate of McGill University, practiced in Owa- tonna two or three months in the summer of 1882, going from here to western Iowa, where he still lives. Dr. E. P. Whitford moved to Medford, September 1, 1882. His wife died there in January, 1883, and he was remarried. September 4, 1884, to a Miss Hastings, a relative of the Hastings family of Owatonna. Dr. Whitford moved to Le Sueur county in April, 1886, and some years later took up practice in Westboro, Mo. Dr. L. F. Case studied medicine with Dr. E. M. Morehouse, who was his brother-in-law. He began practice about 1866 and retired early in 1880. He then became a resident of Minneapolis, removing from there to Los Angeles, Cal .. where he now resides. Dr. H. S. Hill came to Owatonna in 1875 and about ten years later moved to Springfield, Mo. While in Owatonna he was a mem- ber of the drug firm of Hill & Luers. Dr. J. G. Gilchrist, a homeopathic physician, practiced in Owatonna from 1866 to 1872, going then to Winona, and later to Iowa, where he died a few years ago. Dr. Flavel B. Tiffany located in Medford about 1876, and a year later removed to Kansas City, where he still resides. Ile is professor of ophthalmology in the University Medical College of that city, and has attained considerable prom- inence in his chosen field of work. Dr. J. H. Adair began to practice medicine in Owatonna in 1884 and is still actively en- gaged in the duties of his profession. lis biography appears elsewhere. Dr. E. M. Morehouse was the pioneer physician of Owatonna and Steele county, locating in Owatonna in 1855, with no other physicians nearer at that time than Rochester, Mankato, the Twin Cities and McGregor. His biography and portrait appear elsewhere. His practice comprised all of Steele and adja- cent counties for years, and he was everywhere known as the friend of the poor man. He gave of his time and efforts freely whenever asked, and his death, which occurred in 1891, was universally deplored. Dr. Theodore L. Hatch came to Owatonna in 1880, removing here from Blooming Prairie, Minn., where he had practiced for eight years. He is still in active practice. His sketch appears elsewhere. Charles B. Johnson, son of Dr. J. P.
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