USA > Minnesota > Illustrated album of biography of Southwestern Minnesota : containing biographical sketches of hundreds of prominent old settlers...:History of Minnesota, embracing an account of early exploration...and a concise history of the Indian outbreak of 1862 > Part 22
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in sharp fighting for several days, especially on June 27th, and on the 4th of July, 1864. July 20th witnessed the sanguinary battle at Peach Tree Creek, near Atlanta, and from this time on fighting continued until At- lanta was captured. At the battle of At- lanta, Georgia, the day that General Mc- Pherson was shot and killed, our subject was struck with a musket ball in the right side at the beginning of the battle. The shock of the shot threw him to the ground, but he recovered and started back toward the rear, moving sturdily on until he fainted from loss of blood. This was between one and two o'clock in the afternoon, and he lay on the battle-field until nearly night before he was picked up by the ambulance wagon. 'He was carried back to the field hospital and placed under trees. About this time the Rebels commenced throwing shells at this lo- cality, and all who were able retreated from the place. Our subject, not being able to retreat, remained for some time before he was found and removed to the field hospital near Marietta, remaining there until Septem- ber 18th. As soon as he was able to be moved he was put on board a freight train and sent North, being granted a furlough of twenty days. At the expiration of his furlough he joined the army at Snake Creek Gap, Georgia. Not being able to march with his regiment, he was ordered back to Chattanooga, Ten- nessee, and was there during the exciting times of the second election of President Lincoln. He remained there two weeks, and then joined Sherman's army, and had com- inand of his company during that famous march to the sea. He served until the close of the war, and then came northward with his company through Columbia, South Caro- lina; Raleigh, North Carolina; Virginia, and on to Washington, District of Columbia, where he participated in the grand review. He was then ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, where he was mustered out of the United
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States service, and then ordered to Chicago, Illinois, where he was paid off, and the regi- ment disbanded. He came home bearing the commission of captain of Company C, to which he had been appointed June 2,1865. For gal- lant conduct he was promoted to the various ranks as follows- March 23, 1864, he was made second lieutenant of Company F ; Octo- ber 10, 1864, he was appointed first lieutenant of Company C, and in June of the following year became captain of that company. In August, 1865, our subject came to Minnesota and located in Mankato, Blue Earth county, where he engaged in the livery business until 1867. He then operated a farm for some time near Garden City, and in May, 1871, came to Cottonwood county, and located his claim, where he now lives. In 1872 he moved his family to his new location, and has made that his home ever since.
Mr. Zuel was married to Henrietta Fran- cisco in November, 1867. She died in June, 1874. In November, 1875, Mr. Zuel was married to Cyrena A. Williams. Mr. Zuel has a family of three children, whose names are as follows-Robert W., Archibald S. and Grace E.
The subject of our sketch is one of the most public-spirited and highly respected citizens of Springfield township, and has made his influence felt in the local affairs of the republican party, with which he affiliates. His gallant service during the war entitles him to the high position which he holds in the Grand Army of the Republic. He is also a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He has held many official positions, among them being that of township treas- urer three years, and also chairman of the board of township supervisors.
ILLIAM O. KING is a prosperous farmer and stock-raiser located on section 6, Delafield township, Jackson
county, Minnesota. Mr. King was born in the State of Wisconsin, December 20, 1854.
The parents of the subject of this sketch were William and Catherine (Chadderdon) King. The father was a native of the State of New York, where he was reared and edu- cated. When a young man he came to Dodge county, Wisconsin, where he learned the carpenter's trade and engaged thereat for many years. In 1857 he located in Belle Plaine township, Scott county, Minnesota, and made that his home for some five or six years. He then settled in Le Sueur county, . Minnesota, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1873. The father was an intelligent and talented man and was local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church for many years. He was a man of great piety and was possessed of a charitable and lovable disposition. He had a host of warm friends, who deeply mourn his death.
The mother of our subject was a native of the State of New York, where she was reared and educated. She was the daughter of Jon- athan Chadderdon, a farmer by occupation. She now resides in Jackson county on a farm of eighty acres adjoining that of our subject, and where she located in 1879. Through her life, since sixteen years of age, she has been engaged in teaching, and has taught school in Jackson county for some five or six years.
William O. King was one of five chil- dren; the names of his brothers and sisters were-Henry, Hubert, Horace Greeley, Sophie E. and Mary C. Horace G. died in Windom at nineteen years of age. William O. was reared in Minnesota, receiving a common school education in Scott and Le Sueur counties. He also attended the Northfield College for some time, and, returning to Le Sueur county, was married in 1879. In 1882 he came to his present loca- tion in Jackson county.
January 12, 1879, Mr. King was married
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to Miss Luella Bolser, a native of Jennings county, Indiana, where she was born Sep- tember 24, 1862. This lady was the daughter of Henry Bolser, a native of Ohio, and a farmer by occupation. Her father died in Jennings county, Indiana, in 1862, while a member of the local home guards. He was an exemplary citizen, and a member of the Church of the Disciples. The moth- er's name was Eveline Thomas, who was reared in Kentucky and Indiana, and is still living. In the Bolser family there were fourteen children, six of whom are now liv- ing-Rachel, Jeannette, Derothy, Harriet, Henry and Luella. The last named-wife of the subject of our sketch-completed her education in Le Sueur county, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. King have two children-Eve- line and Clara.
The subject of our sketch is one of the leading citizens of his township, and is deeply interested in both the moral growth and financial development of his locality. Mr. King was fairly educated, and has taught several terms of school in Jackson and Cottonwood counties. November 9, 1880, Mr. King was ordained as a preacher in the Church of the Disciples, and has been following that vocation in connection with his farming ever since. He has charge of two other appointments besides the one in the vicinity of his farm. Mr. King is a man of deep piety and is highly esteemed, both as a man and a citizen.
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DWARD S. MILLS, of Worthington. Minnesota, was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, November 17, 1827. His parents were Samuel H. and Anna (Carpen- ter) Mills, the latter's father having been a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Samuel H. Mills, his father, was a lumberman, en- gaged in manufacturing, rafting and selling lumber at the different towns on the Alle-
gheny and Ohio rivers. He was taken sick and died at Cincinnati, in 1828. The subject of this sketch was carefully reared and edu- cated by an excellent Christian mother, and at the best schools which the country afforded at that day, following in due time the occu- pation of his father as a lumberman, rafting, boating and selling lumber on the rivers mentioned, and on the Mississippi as far down as Vicksburg. Eventually he made Memphis, Tennessee, the principal selling point, establishing a permanent business there in 1858 and 1859. At the commencement of the War of the Rebellion, in 1861, he had a large stock of lumber and coal on hand, and up to that time had been doing an extensive and lucrative business. At that time he had to choose between abandoning his property and leaving the country, or staying with it and aiding the cause of the Rebellion ; without the slightest hesitancy he decided to leave. The crisis came like a cyclone. There was not time for preparation, no possibility of settling or ar- ranging business. Yankees must go or take the oath of allegiance to the Southern Con- federacy. With hundreds of others he left Memphis the same day that the first gun was fired off Fort Sumter, and on the last train that was allowed to go North. His family had gone before him to the old home in West- ern New York. He took a very active inter- est in the preparations of the Union army for the overthrown of the Rebellion. He helped to recruit and organize the One Hun- dred and Fifty-fourth Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, was chosen captain of Company I, and was with his regiment in Virginia during a part of 1862 and 1863, in the Eleventh Army Corps, under the com- inand of Generals Sigel, Burnside and Hooker. On account of financial embar- rassment, caused by reverses and losses above referred to, and the burning of a planing mill and sash factory at a later date, friends who were surety insisted on his leav-
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ing the service as soon as there was a possi- bility of recovering, or of getting settlement for abandoned property at Memphis. He had enlisted and accepted a position in the regiment with a tacit understanding that he should be permitted to do so if his own financial interests and that of his friends seemed to require it. His resignation was accepted in time for him to be at Memphis when the city was retaken by the Union forces. The lumber which he had left there and people indebted to him were scattered and gone. Enough, however, was realized to relieve his friends from embarrassment, fifty barrels New Orleans molasses, a few bales of cotton and a half interest in a steamboat were taken in part payment. For several years he was engaged in handling coal and lumber on the rivers, buying mostly at Cincinnati and delivering at points below. In the spring of 1866 he had a contract to carry cotton from Albany and Columbus, Georgia, to Appalachicola bay, Florida. His boat, only a light river craft, was navigated safely down the Gulf coast from the mouth of the Mississippi river to the bay. He con- tinued doing a general freighting and pas- senger business on the Appalachicola river for nearly four years. He then closed up the business and returned to New York State. In 1871 he came to Minnesota, set- tled on the northwest quarter of section 32, township 101, range 40 (Bigelow township), Nobles county, in March, 1872. He was elected auditor of Nobles county in the fall of 1879, and removed to Worthington, where he now resides, in the spring of 1880. He was re elected auditor for four successive terms, as an independent candidate, and held the office for nine years by mutual sup- port of both political parties.
Mr. Mills was married in Cattarau- gus county, New York State, February 7, 1855, to Helen M. Horton, daughter of Sylvester J. and Emily (Strong) Horton.
She was born November 16, 1833, in Catta- raugus county, New York. Mr. Mills' family consists of five children-Horton S., born in March, 1856, married at Bigelow, Min- nesota, to Delilah Hevener. Three daughters bless the union-Ella M., Maud L. and Sarah A. They now reside at Millbank, Dakota. Henry E., born May 31, 1858, in Cattarau- gus county, New York, married at Fulda, Minnesota, to Alice Christman. They have two children living-Gertrude A. and Agnes. Mary B., died February 23, 1882. Grace L. died February 1, 1889, at Minneapolis, Minnesota. Anna D., born April 27, 1862, in Cattaraugus county, New York, married at Bigelow, December 25, 1879, to Hugh Mitchell. They reside on their farm in Bigelow township, and have two children, John E. and Mary M., living, besides Nettie, who died September 15, 1889. Mary H., born June 6, 1866, in Cattaraugus county, New York, married June, 27, 1888, to Elbert Christman, of Minneapolis, where they now reside. Addie L., born August 30, 1877, at Bigelow, Minnesota.
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RED BUSSEY is located on the north- west quarter of section 8, Fountain Prairie township, where he is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He lo- cated in Pipestone county in May, 1879, en- tering his land as a homestead and becoming one of the first settlers of the township. He assisted in the organization of the civil town- ship in June, 1879, the first meeting being held on the southwest quarter of section 28. Mr. Bussey was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1857, his father being Fred Bussey, a native of Germany. The parents are still living, engaged in farming in Wisconsin. In the father's family there are eight living children -Fred, Clara, Charles, Lewis, Emma, Julius, Christian and Elizabeth. Two children are
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dead ; William died when quite young, and a babe, unnamed, died in infancy.
When the subject of our sketch was be- tween three and four years of age, his parents left Chicago, and removed to Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, where they remained about a year. Leaving that city they went to Winona, Winona county, Minnesota, where our subject lived with his parents about twelve years, receiving in that city a good common school education. In 1871 he removed to Buffalo county, Wisconsin, from whence, after a few years' residence, he removed to Jackson county, same State, and engaged in farming for about two years. Then for a year or two he traveled exten- sively over the Northwest, prospecting for a permanent location, finally making his settle- ment on his present place, as was stated in the opening lines of this sketch.
Mr. Bussey was married June 18, 1875, to Miss Lisetta Smith, who was born in Wash- ington county, Wisconsin, where she was reared and educated until she was twelve years of age. At that age she removed with her parents to Trempealeau county, same State, where she received a good common school educaion. Mr. and Mrs. Bussey have four children-Frederick, Lily, Nettie and Claude, all of whom are residing with their parents.
The subject of our sketch is a man of much energy and push, and has accomplished con- siderable success on his farm. He has sur- rounded himself with pleasant and comfort- able circumstances and has built good farm buildings. He has a pleasant home and an agreeable family. In politics Mr. Bussey affiliates with the democratic party and is actively engaged in the furthering of all public matters. He has held several official positions, among them being that of assessor of the township, to which office he was elected in 1885, being the present incumbent, and also holding the office of clerk of the
school district No. 38. Our subject wields a strong influence for good in the township and is one of its representative citizens.
EORGE E. FRANCISCO is the lead- ing member of the firm of Francisco, Pride & Wing, proprietors of the Blue Earth City Roller Mills of Faribault county, Min- nesota.
Mr. Francisco is a native of Johnson, Fulton county New York, where he was born in the year 1848. His parents were Hiram and Phoebe (Van Northstrand) Francisco, natives of New York. The father was a tanner by trade and also dealt largely in boots and shoes. The family came West in 1853 and settled at Kenosha, Wisconsin, where the father engaged in work at his trade. Some time later he went to Clay township, Lake county, Illinois, and engaged in farm- ing. Removing to Iowa in 1864, he settled at Steamboat Rock, Hardin county, where he engaged in the harness and boot and shoe business. He is at present a resident of Marshalltown, Iowa, to which place he went in 1875 and where he is still engaged in his old business. In the father's family there were five children-Susan E., Harriet J., George E., Hiram S. and Charles E.
The education of the subject of our sketch was not neglected in his early life. Until seventeen years of age he was allowed to attend the district schools and obtained a thorough practical education. In 1865 he enlisted at the age of seventeen years in the One Hundred and Fifty-third Illinois In- fantry and continued in the service through- out the remainder of the war. He served his country bravely and gallantly, and upon his discharge went to Steamboat Rock, Iowa, where he learned the cooper's trade. He then engaged in railroad carpentering for about a year and then went into the Eldorado railroad shops and learned the business of pattern-
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making, continuing thereat until 1873. His next move was to Wells, Faribault county, where he found employment in the shops of the Southern Minnesota Railroad Company as pattern-maker. Two years were spent in this line, and then he moved to Hokah, to which place the Southern Minnesota shops were removed. He continued working for the railroad company until 1881, and then went to Minneapolis, where he and a Mr. Musser formed a partnership to carry on a pattern-making business. One year later he sold out, and accepted a position as foreman in the Union Iron Works, of Minneapolis.
In 1885, in company with his present partners, they purchased the business in which he is now engaged, and in 1886 he removed to Blue Earth City. He pur- chased several lots in the city, and built a fine residence.
Mr. Francisco was married in 1875 to Miss Flora M. Cobb, a native of Michigan, and daughter of Dr. H. D. Cobb. Two children have blessed this union -Harry L. and Ethel M.
The subject of our sketch is a man of strict temperance principles, and in politics affil- iates with the prohibition party. He is an Odd Fellow, having joined this order wlien twenty-one years of age, and with his wife is a member of the Presbyterian church. In every sense of the word Mr. Francisco is a self-made man, having had to do for him- self since twelve years of age. He has had many peculiar experiences, and has made a great many hazardous and yet profitable investments. He is a man of good business foresight, and is a good adviser. His first experience away from home was as cook on a lumber schooner on Lake Michigan in 1861. From this small commencement and humble work our subject has gradually worked his way into a fortune of comfort- able dimensions, and is doing a large and increasing business.
6 UDGE JAMES A. GOODRICH is one of the best known and most influential cit- izens of Jackson county, Minnesota, and is jus- tice of the peace in the village of Jackson, where he resides. He was born in Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts, May 25, 1825, and is a son of Dall- iel H. and Mahala (Newton) Goodrich, who were natives of Massachusetts and farmers by occupation. The father died about 1839, and the mother in 1868. Daniel H. Good- rich's grandfather (on his mother's side), Captain D. Hubbard, was one of the first settlers of the town of Pittsfield, Massachu- setts, was one of the first selectmen of that place, and one of the sixteen "foundation" or original members of the Congregational church of that town. The father of Daniel H. Goodrich was Jesse W. Goodrich, whose father was a colonel in the British army. One of our subject's uncles, Jesse W. Good- rich, was a lawyer and editor of Worcester, Massachusetts, and was instrumental in bringing out John B. Gough, the famous temperance lecturer. Our subject's brother, Alonzo E. Goodrich, was lieutenant-colonel of the Thirty-seventh Massachusetts In- fantry, and was selectman for the town of Pittsfield for eleven years, or until his death. James A.'s twin sister, J. A. Ayers, is living with her son, a merchant of Boston. His oldest sister, Elizabeth, died in Wisconsin in 1881. The next oldest sister, Naomi, died in Massachusetts in 1883. The youngest sis- ter, Charlotte, married the president of the Pittsfield Bank, and died three months after her marriage. James A. Goodrich's mother was formerly Mahala Newton. Her grand- father (Captain Newton), as well as her father and one of her brothers, were captains in the Revolutionary War. The brother referred to for many years represented his district in the Massachusetts legislature.
After the death of his father, James A. Goodrich resided with his mother on the farm for some two years, when he adopted
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a seafaring life and went on board a whaling vessel, in which he sailed four months. He visited the Azores Islands and various points along the coast of South America, his ship being condemned at St. Catharine. He then shipped on board an English merchant vessel and sailed to Valparaiso, Chili, at which place he shipped on board an American bark, and thence sailed to New York City. As a sailor he then took a trip to Cuba, re- turning to Philadelphia, and thence to New Bedford. At this time he changed his em- ployment and engaged on board a whaling vessel and took a cruise of four years, visit- ing Kema, Celebro Island - one of the group of the East Indies -and thence cruising in search of sperm whales for five or six months. The next objective point was the port of Apia, on one of the Samoan Islands, of late so prominent in the diplomatic affairs of the United States, England and Germany. The vessel touched at different places on the Friendly Islands.
After this, in the course of three years, our subject visited many ports in the Pacific ocean. During this cruise our subject was bowsman of the harpooning boat, and his party captured forty-seven whales, the larg- est being of the sperm species and yielding eighty barrels of oil. On completing their cargo, which consisted of twenty-eight hun- dred barrels of sperm oil, the vessel sailed for New Bedford and arrived in that port after having been gone four years. Then our subject, satisfied for a time with a seafaring life, returned to his home in Massachusetts, and remained from December, 1847, until the spring of 1848, when he removed to Mc- Henry county, Illinois, and made that his home for one year. Thence he went to Baraboo, Wisconsin, where he purchased a number of lots and put up several buildings, which, for a time, he rented. One year later he went to Richland county, Wisconsin, and there made some improvements in the build-
ing line and made that his home until 1854. Being somewhat of a roving disposition, he then started for the West, going to Nebraska and taking a claim about six miles from Omaha. He made that his home until 1857, and then removed to Washington county, Nebraska, purchased a farm of 450 acres, and made that his home for two years. Dur- ing this time he was one of the most prominent citizens of the county, and held the office of probate judge. At the end of the two years he sold out and removed to Onawa, settling on a farm in the vicinity of that place, where he resided until 1878. He then sold out and came to Jackson county, Minnesota, locating on a farm two and a half miles south of Jackson village, on the Des Moines river, where he owns a fine farm of 175 acres. He improved this farm, and made it one of the most desirable farms in the county, and resided thereon for three years, when he removed to the village of Jackson. He still continued to operate his farm, however, until the fall of 1888, when he rented it.
In 1863 Judge Goodrich served in the Indian expedition, holding the position of quartermaster-sergeant, remaining in the service for one year, and took part in the battle of White Stone Hills with the Indians. During the latter part of the expedition he was commander of Company I, and served gallantly and faithfully in that position, gaining the trust and confidence of all his fellow soldiers.
November 20, 1849, the subject of our sketch was married in McHenry county, Illi- nois, to Miss Mary White, a daughter of Hiram and Anna (Buckner) White, natives of Canada. Her parents and uncle built the Solon mills of McHenry county, Illinois, and laid out the village of Solon, naming it in honor of their uncle's son. Mrs. Goodrich was born in Canada, in March, 1833. The children of this union are as follows-Alfred
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A., died at seven years of age; Amelia and Adelia, twins, the latter dying at eightcen months of age; Alonzo, who died when six months old ; Henry, deceased, aged six years; Francis Irwin, died at two months of age; Clara was born in 1861, and lives in Jack- son, being now Mrs. Edward Odbert ; Harriet Beecher is a teacher in the public schools of Iowa; Augusta is a teacher in the North Bend high school, Nebraska, and Leon is a farmer of Iowa. Amelia married Fred Du Brava, a merchant at North Bend, Nebraska. This family is one of the most estimable and influential in the county, and exerts a wide influence in all matters of a social nature.
Throughout his life the subject of our sketch lias taken an active part in the polit- ical government of the various places in which he has lived. He has been justice of the peace for five years in Jackson, was justice for fifteen years in the State of Iowa, and also held an office on the county board of supervisors for five years. He is a man of pro- gressive ideas, and wields a strong influence in matters pertaining to the building up and establishment of projects which tend to the development of the financial and social con- dition of his locality. He is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic post and also of the Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, having been made a member of the latter society at Onawa, Iowa, in about 1868.
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