USA > Minnesota > Wabasha County > History of Wabasha County : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc. : gathered from matter furnished by interviews with old settlers, county, township, and other records, and extracts from files of papers, pamphlets, and such other sources > Part 86
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money when he came, and was without a team of any description for over two years. By working for his neighbors he finally managed to buy himself a team (a couple of two-year-old steers). Mr. Charley now has his second wife ; he was married first time in Sweden, and his wife died before he came to this country. His second wife, Chris- tine Erikson, he also married in Sweden. Of the nine children born to them, but four of them are now living. Matilda, the eldest, is the wife of John Peterson, and now lives in Wisconsin. John, Alfred, and Ida are the names of the other three. Mr. Charley enlisted in Co. D, of the 5th Minn. Inf., and was mustered in at Memphis, Ten- nessee. He was in the battles of Nashville, Spanish Fort, Mobile, Vicksburg and Columbia. He was mustered out at Montgomery, Alabama. Mr. Charley lost his health while in the army, and has not been able to work a day since. He now draws a pension.
JAMES HOWAT, the subject of this sketch, was born in Banffshire, Scotland, March 24, 1824. His parents were John and Margaret (Bonnayman) Howat. His father being a farmer, James led the life of a Scotch country laddie until eighteen years of age, when he came to America, whither his parents had preceded him. He spent sev- eral years in the pineries of Canada, and also worked at Fort Wayne, near Detroit, Michigan. In 1859 he came to Highland, and home_ steaded the quarter-section (section 14) where he now resides, and to which he has added forty acres in section 21. He was married in Canada April 5, 1851, to Agnes Scott, danghter of a Connty Down, North of Ireland, farmer, James Scott, and his wife, Eliza- beth (Butcher) Scott. Two sons and two daughters have blessed their union, viz : John and Elizabeth, born in Canada, and Margaret and James, natives of Minnesota. Mr. Howat served one year in in the 3d Minn. Inf., and was honorably discharged at the close of the rebellion. The republican party has called him to serve on the township board of supervisors four years in succession. The reli- gious faith of the family is Presbyterian.
JOHN SCHAD is a prosperous Highland farmer. He was born in Germany, May 23, 1838. His parents were Michael and Margaret (Papper) Schad. Two brothers and a sister preceded him to America, whither he came in 1858. Going first to Fort Wayne, Indiana, he found employment in a brick-yard. In the spring of 1859 he came to Wabasha county, and located a squatter's claim on section 4 in Highland and 33 in Glasgow township. This place he sold in 1868, and immediately purchased one hundred and sixty
64
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HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY.
acres on section 26, in Highland, to which he has since added one hundred and twenty acres, and where he now resides. Miss Lena Ruff became his wife November 24, 1868. She was a native of Iowa, where she was born October 24, 1848. The following chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Schad : Frank, born February 10, 1870; Mary, September 2, 1872; Godfrit, September 9, 1874 ; John, December 31, 1876; Maggie, October 19, 1878; Henry, Sep- tember 23, 1880; Lena, Angust 7, 1882; Theresa, September 30, 1883. Before his marriage Mr. Schad worked several winters in the Wisconsin pineries, and also in St. Louis as a stonemason. His farm is under excellent cultivation, and in 1876 he spent two thou- sand dollars in the digging of a well and the erection of a windmill, the only one in the township of Highland.
JOHN HOWAT, farmer, and dealer in agricultural implements, is the eldest son of James and Agnes (Scott) Howat, and was born in Holdamond county, Canada, September 6, 1852. His parents re- moved to Minnesota in 1859. He led the life of a pioneer farmer- boy, and received a fair education in the winter schools. In 1873 he bought eighty acres of land from his grandfather Scott in section 15, where he has since resided. December 18, 1877, he was mar- ried to Mary Amelia Affeld. This lady was born at Mantella, Wis- consin, March, 1856. . Her parents were Godfred and Doretha (Schuelke) Affeld. The children of this marriage are James, three years old, and Louis G., one year. Mr. Howat deals in agricultural implements, Kellogg being his headquarters. He is a member of the Congregational church, and in politics a republican.
FRED ANDING, farmer, was born in Germany in 1845. When he was eight years old he came to this country with his parents, who settled in Wisconsin. In 1859 he removed to Glasgow township, Wabasha county, and after a residence there of six years he bought a farm in Gillford township, where he has since lived. He has one hundred and twenty acres of well improved land all under cultiva- tion, and sufficiently stocked to make it quite profitable. One of Mr. Anding's chief delights is to own the finest team of horses in the section of country in which he lives. He was married at Wabasha in 1866, to Louisa Umbreight, and seven children have been born to them. They are both members of the German Lutheran church at Jacksonville.
JOSEPH MEYER, manufacturer and dealer in boots and shoes, Main street, south side, midway between Alleghaney and Pem-
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broke streets. This business was established by Mr. Meyer in 1859, on Pembroke street, south of Main. In 1871 he purchased the lot he now occupies, fronting thirty feet on Main, and erected a two- story briek building 30×46. The east half of the lower story is his shoeshop, with workshop in the rear. The west half is the city eouneil room and recorder's office. The upper story Mr. Meyer oc- eupies as his dwelling. Joseph Meyer is a native of Westphalia, Prussia, learned his trade there, and followed it until 1856, when he eame to America, and the same season settled in Hastings, Minne- sota, where he remained until 1859, and then located in this city. He married Miss Henrietta Clouse. They have four children. two attending city school : Amelia, born October 18, 1864; William, born July 17, 1870; Bertie, born January 26, 1873; Lucy, born June 30, 1881.
L. TOWNSEND, dental surgeon ; office corner Main and Alleghaney streets, upstairs. Business established in this eity in 1865, in an office across the street, and removed to present location in 1882. Dr. Townsend is a native of Plattsburg, New York ; studied for his profession in the office of Bigsby & Howard, in his native place, and concluding his preparatory studies, established himself in prae- tice there in 1859, removing to this city in 1865, and establishing a practice here which has been increasingly snecessful for a period of eighteen years. The doctor was married in 1848, to Miss May Rey- nolds. They have one child, E. L. Townsend, who studied for his profession in his father's office ; at nineteen years of age eommeneed practice in Lake City ; continued there for five years, then went to Philadelphia, taking a partial course in medicine in Jefferson Medieal College and a full course in dental surgery at Pennsylvania College, graduating B.D.S. in 1877, and returned to Lake City ; resumed practice until the fall of 1880, when, his health failing him, he dis- continued office work for two years. Returning to Wabasha in 1882, he spent the following winter in the home office, and in the summer of 1883 took a trip into California to test the effeet of that climate upon his health. Dr. L. Townsend, during the eighteen years of his practice in this eity, has fitted five young men for the dental profession, besides a number of others who have taken only a partial course. P. H. Robinson, who is now the doctor's assistant, has just completed his studies in the office here, and taken a working interest in its business. It is his intention to take a full course in dental surgery by way of completing his preparation. Dr. Townsend, in
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HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY.
March, 1882, purchased a tract of forty acres of land within the corporate limits of the city, on the south, which he was converting into a fruit farm, when, July 19, 1883, one of the most terrific storms of wind and rain, accompanied by lightning, that ever visited this region broke over the city. A bolt of lightning came crashing through the roof of the doctor's house, at the southwest corner, passing clean through to the basement, and firing the house all along its passage. The shock partially stunned the doctor and his wife, and they were only fully aroused by the light from their burning dwelling in time to effect their escape with the loss of home and contents.
JOHN H. LEWIS, plumber and dealer in pumps ; shop on Second street, just west of Pembroke. This business has been established in this city since 1870, and employs from two to four persons. Mr. Lewis was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, November 5, 1825 ; bred to the tin and coppersmith's trade, at which he spent his time working in his native state and in Ohio until 1856, when he came to this section of the northwest, and settled at North Pepin in Wis- consin. Remaining there three years, he removed to Wabasha in 1859, and, with the exception of two years spent in the western part of the county, this city has since been his home. Mr. Lewis was in the service of the United States during the late war as a private in the 1st Minn. Heavy Art. In 1870, continued confinement at the tinner's bench having rendered outdoor work a necessity, he took up his present business, and has now prosecuted it thirteen years. Mr. Lewis was married September 21, 1848, at Zanesville, Ohio, to Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. James Gurley, of the North Ohio con- ference of the Methodist Episcopal church. Their children are : Lucy, Arthur, Ida, Marshall, Clara.
S. HIRSCHY & Sox, general merchants, Herschy's Block, corner Main and Pembroke streets. This business, established April 1, 1882, occupies the corner storeroom of the block, which was erected by S. Hirschy in 1874. The block fronts fifty feet on Main street and one hundred and ten feet on Pembroke. It is a substantial two-story and basement brick and stone structure, the side walls of the first seventy feet along Pembroke street rising forty-six feet above the water-table. The second story of this portion of the block is finished and furnished as a public hall. This hall is 50×70 feet, and has a seating capacity of five hundred, the ceilings being twenty-one feet between joists. The storeroom occupied by Hirschy & Son fronts
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twenty-five feet on Main street, seventy feet on Pembroke, with entrances on both. They carry a full stock of general merchandise, employ five clerks, and keep one wagon for the delivery of goods. The business of the firm is managed by C. C. Hirschy, the "Son " of the firm. C. C. Hirschy was born in this city March 20, 1859 ; was educated here and in St. Paul, finishing his course in the busi- ness college in that city in 1880. He then entered the engineer
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HIRSCHY'S OPERA HOUSE
STEARN'S
5 THIAS CHY L& SƠN
M.KENNEDY
department of the St. Paul & Manitoba railway, and was there until the fall of 1882, when he returned to this city and assumed charge of the business he is now so successfully managing.
SAMUEL HIRSCHY, agriculturist and dealer in real estate, and senior member of the firm of Hirschy & Son, is a native of Canton Vaud, Switzerland. After leaving school, in his seventeenth year, he was bred a tanner, served a term in the army, and at twenty-four years of age came to America and settled in Dayton, Ohio, in 1852. Worked at his trade in that city five years, during which time he married Miss Margaret Felker, and then in 1857 removed to Wabasha. Here he invested lis means in a tract of timbered land, oak, intending to engage in tanning business. The oak-bark was
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HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY.
found utterly useless for that purpose, and for some years he was engaged in cutting and hauling wood, and such other work as he could find profitable. In 1863 he commenced moving buildings, and finding that business profitable, followed it until 1874, when, his health broken by hard labor, he returned to Europe, and spent five months traveling over the continent and the British islands. In 1870 he bought the property on which he now resides, a tract of seventy acres in the southeast quarter of the city, which he is rapidly converting into a fruit farm. June 7, 1882, his dwelling was destroyed by fire, and he has since erected the comfortable home the family now occupy. A substantial frame, two stories in height, solid stone foundations, full basement, 28×36 feet, with an addition 16×24 feet, one story high. Mr. Hirschy has devoted some atten- tion to the raising of blooded Jersey cattle, of which he has twelve head thoroughbred, besides some other grades. He is also quite a successful bee-culturist ; has thirty-eight stands in a flourishing con- dition, and is now building a winter storeroom of stone capable of holding one hundred hives. His grapes, of which he has about fifteen hundred vines in bearing, are in good thrifty condition, as are also his fruit-trees and strawberry-vines. His eldest son, Lonis, born in Ohio, is now farming in the southwestern portion of the state. C. C., as before mentioned, was born in this city, and the remaining child, a daughter- now at home - Clara, was born on the home place December 17, 1870.
SAMUEL, son of John and Jane Robinson, was born in Bally- mana, Ireland, in 1828. He was raised on the farm, and received a common school education. In 1847 he came to Sullivan county, New York, where he remained till 1857, when he removed to Will county, Illinois, and in 1859 he came to this township, settling on section 36. He owns ninety acres of land. In politics he is a thorough democrat. He married Elizabeth Bailey, her parents being natives of Ireland. They have five children : Andrew, Thomas, John, Robert and Phebe.
HENRY C. BRANT, son of Adam and Rebecca Brant, was born February 4, 1824. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother of Virginia. He is a native of Ohio. He was educated at the common schools, and his youth was spent mostly on the farm. In the fall of 1857 he came to Fillmore county, this state, remaining there till 1859; then came to this county, settling in Gillford township, pursuing farming till 1877, when he removed to
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Ohio, and after five years came to this township (Zumbro), settling on section 25. He has twenty acres of land. During the winter of 1864 he enlisted in the Sth Minn., and accompanied Gen. Sully on his Indian expedition to the Yellowstone river. The next fall he was mustered out at St. Paul. He has been justice of the piece, town clerk, assessor, town treasurer, etc., for several years off and on. In politics he is republican, but not radical. He married Calista Martin, her parents are natives of New Jersey. Their living children are : Edgar F. and Louisa A., Charles being deceased.
CHARLES EARLY, Chester, was born in Kiltabrid, County Leitr In, Ireland, August 15, 1826, and was reared on a farm there, attending a common school till fifteen years old. In November, 1852, he landed in New York city, where he remained till June, 1856. He then went to Whiteside county, Illinois, and came thence to Chester in April, 1859. He entered the northeast quarter of section 10 as a homestead, and has dwelt thereon ever since, and has since acquired by purchase one-fourth of section 16. Mr. Early is reckoned among our most intelligent and progressive citizens. He is a member of Belle Chester Roman Catholic church, and a democrat. He was married in New York, January 7, 1855, to Jane Darcy, who was born in the same parish as himself. They have lost five children, and now have one son, born November 25, 1862, and christened Charles Edward.
ENOS B. RAYMOND, grain-buyer, was born in Orwell, Vermont, January 28, 1836. His grandfather, Joseph Raymond, was the first settler in the town of Warren, Vermont ; was the son of a revolu- tionary soldier. Ira, son of Joseph Raymond, married Laura Martin and settled on a farm in Orwell. The subject of this sketch was reared here. His education was completed at Brandon Academy. At eighteen he set out for the boundless west. After spending a winter at Omro, Wisconsin, he started with some land- owners for a trip through Iowa. After reaching the latter state he changed his mind and took the stage for St. Paul. Thence he made his way to Stillwater, and engaged as clerk in a store, remain- ing three years. He then spent two years at Lake City, buying wheat for Van Kirk & McGeogh. After traveling ten years for a Milwaukee wholesale grocery house, he returned to Minnesota, and dwelt at Lake City and Mazeppa. Since 1877 he has remained in the latter place, buying grain for P. Robinson. In August, 1866,
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HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY.
he was married here to Miss Cornelia L., daughter of Frederick Ormsby. Mrs. Raymond was born in Long Grove, Cook county, Illinois. They have one son, Charles Eddy, born April 8, 1872. Mr. Raymond is an enthusiastic democrat. He has never taken any active part in public affairs, although he is active in fostering schools and the general welfare. While not a member of any sect, he is a believer in divine authority.
O. P. CARRUTH, farmer, was born in Jefferson county, New York, September 8, 1829. He was one of eight children born to William and Eleanor Patterson-Carruth, natives of Springfield, Mas- sachusetts, and Fort Anne, New York, respectively. The subject of our sketch was raised in Jefferson county, and when twenty-one years of age he went to Anburn, New York, where he spent six years in a boot and shoe establishment. October 27, 1859, he was married to Mary Veeder, a native of that county, and a daughter to Dr. Veeder, one of the old residents of this township. Immediately after his marriage he located on his present farm in Mount Pleasant. His wife died March 19, 1879. She was the mother of four chil- dren, two of whom are living: Fred. H., who is running a flour- ishing newspaper at Estilline, Dakota, and Ellen B. January 3, 1880, he wedded Sarah L. Eastman-Gorton, of Athens, Vermont. Mr. Carruth is a member of Lake City lodge, No. 22, I.O.O.F. In politics he is republican, and since 1876 has been chairman of the board of supervisors.
HENRY S. SMITH, farmer, is a grandson of Joel Smith, who served in the colonial army during the revolution. Asaph, son of Joel Smith, was born in Vermont, and married a native of the same state, viz : Miss Abigail Couch. This couple dwelt on a farm in Poultney, Rutland county, Vermont, where was born on March 14, 1824, the person whose name heads this sketch. The latter was reared on this farm, and was a pupil in the common school adjacent. Arriving at maturity, he settled down on a farm of his own. In 1853 he married Jane S. Franklin, sister of G. B. Franklin, elsewhere mentioned. In 1859 he removed to this county, and settled on the farm he now occupies. The homestead of one hundred and sixty acres lies on section 32, Chester, and twelve acres of timber near by, on section 30. One hundred acres of this is now under the plow, and almost wholly tilled by its owner's individual labor. Mr. Smith is a hard worker, although his right hand is crippled. This is the effect of an attack of black erysipelas, which he suffered in 1875.
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His eyesight was also injured by this malady. The firstborn of this family, christened Charley, died when eight months old. The next, Volney L., was born May 30, 1856, and is now keeping books at Red Wing ; Altie A., 1861, married George Westphall, and resides in Mazeppa; Minnie H., telegraph operator on Midland railway.
NELSON B. SMITH, farmer, has dwelt since the spring of 1856 on section 29, Chester, where he has four hundred and forty acres of land ; his real property also includes twenty acres on section 30. His father, Squire Van Smith, was a native of Connecticut, and married Charlotte Ann Glover, of the same state. After serving in the war of 1812, he settled on a farm in Brookfield, Fairfield county, where was born the subject of this sketch, January 17, 1823. He was reared on the farm there, and completed his education by at- tending Newtown Academy one term. After teaching school four terms in Connecticut, he removed to New York in 1846, and taught one term there. During this year he met and won for his wife Miss Margery A. Mix, a native of that state. Next year he bought and began tilling a farm there. In the summer of 1855 he visited Min- nesota, and selected a claim south of Mazeppa. Returning to New York, his claim was "jumped," so when he came on with his fam- ily next spring he settled on his present location. He has always been a republican ; has been assessor two terms and collector one. He is not a believer in the gospel as now taught by any sect. In January, 1862, Mr. Smith enlisted in the 2d independent company of U. S. Sharpshooters, and was with the army of the Potomac from that time till the close of the war. The only engagements he missed were those of the first Bull's Run and Ball's Bluff. He was never in ambulance or in hospital. The only wound he received was in his haversack, a ball piercing a can of meat that was to serve as his rations. Thus his stomach was affected. In February, 1864, he re-enlisted, and received one month's furlough. Mr. Smith was robbed of his life partner by death on May 4, 1881. Their two children still reside with the father. Joseph Ladelle, born in January, 1850, is unmarried. Lottie Ann, born Jnne, 1857, married John McCabe, who assists in tilling the farm.
HENRY ROFF, farmer, Lake City, was born May 26, 1828, in Yates county, New York, and is the ninth child of Henry and Clem- entine (Brown) Roff, who became the parents of eleven children. In 1837 they removed to Crawford county, Pennsylvania, where the father died in 1841 and the mother in 1845. The early youth of our
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HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY.
subject was spent on the farm, where he enjoyed but a limited means of gaining an education. He was married in Crawford county, Penn- sylvania, September 28, 1852, to Miss Clarrisa Hotchkiss, a native of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, born January 28, 1837. Early in the spring of 1856 Mr. Roff decided to seek on the fertile prairies of Minnesota a better reward for his labor and investment than the sterile soil of the east then yielded, and at the same time secure for himself a home in a state where land in value was within his reach. He came by railroad to Chicago, bringing with him his team and wagon ; at that point he loaded his effects, with his wife and two children, in the wagon and drove through to Olmsted county, Minne- sota, three hundred and fifty miles, arriving there in May. He at once pre-empted a quarter-section of government land in Eyota township, on which he made final proof and paid for the same fall. Fearing the severity of a Minnesota winter on the prairie, he removed to Winona late in the fall, where he put in a profitable winter in the wood busi- ness, notwithstanding the deep snow and intense cold witnessed here during the winter of 1857. The next spring he concluded not to return to his farm, but came to Lake City, landing here on May 1. The next day he began to build a house, into which he moved six days later. That spring he started in the butcher business, open- ing the first meat-market in Lake City. In 1864 he sold out the market, and with his family went to Montana, where he engaged in mining two years, and again returned to Lake City a wiser if not a richer man. Butchering was again resumed and followed till 1876, when, on account of his own and his daughter's ill health, he sold out his entire business and took his family to New Mexico. On his return to Lake City he purchased a small farm near the city limits. and engaged in farming. In the spring of 1880 he bought a farm of two hundred and forty in Gilford township, on which his son now resides. He is a member of the three Masonic orders of this city. His children's names in the order of their birth are : Ellen, now Mrs. Frank Bouton ; Henry L., on the farm ; Mary L., wife of Henry Nelson, of Red Wing ; Clara B., Minnie C. and Julia.
WILLIAM A. HELT (deceased) was a son of Lewis and Elizabeth Helt, of German and American birth respectively. He was born in the city of Philadelphia March 30, 1832, and was reared there, receiving a good education. When eighteen years old he began an apprenticeship at fine shoemaking. For several years he kept a ladies' custom shop in Philadelphia, where he was married April 2,
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1854, to Miss Jane W., daughter of Robert Clifford, elsewhere men- tioned in this volume. In 1857 this couple came to Lake City, and returned to Philadelphia two years later. Here Mr. Helt joined the United States army, in 1863, in Co. G, 118th Penn. Vols. The principal engagement in which he took part was that of Antietam. He was sometime confined by illness in hospital, and himself took charge for several months of a smallpox hospital. He was discharged in September, 1865, and returned to Lake City, whither his wife had preceded him. The hardships and sickness endured in the army sowed the seeds of disease in his constitution, and from its effects lie was forced to give up the ghost November 22, 1880. The only child given him, a daughter, christened Rebecka Jane, preceded him to the other shore October 19, 1876. He was able to do little after the close of the war, on account of physical disability, and but for a pension from a generous government his widow would be but illy provided for. Mrs. Helt is blessed with considerable poetic genius, and has contributed many valuable productions to the local press. Both these people were always communicants in the Methodist church of Lake City.
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