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 42

Author:
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago : Occidental Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 814

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 42

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Mr. Flage was married February 8, 1886, to Miss Isabel Christoferson, a native of Norway. This lady came to the United

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States when she was ten years of age, and from that time on she received her educa- tion and training in the State of Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Flage have two children-Julia and Oliver. - ELAH S. KING is the editor and pub- lisher of the Jasper Journal. Since coming to the village this gentleman has occupied a prominent and influential place, and was the first postmaster in the place. He is an able editor and courteous gentle- man, and has built up a large circle of warm friends.

Mr. King is of American birth, being born in Whitewater, Wisconsin, in October, 1864. He is the son of William V. and Antoinette (Porter) King. The father was a native of England and the mother of New York. The father is the present auditor of Jackson county, Minnesota, to which place he came in 1866. He is a man of large ability and wields a wide influence in the county in which he lives. In the father's family there were four children-William P., Nellie, now Mrs. E. W. Davies, of Pipestone; Selah S. and John L.

The subject of our sketch remained with his parents until he was twenty years of age, up to which time he was occupied principally in attending the public schools in Jackson county. At the age just mentioned he com- menced learning the art of printing in the city of Pipestone, and after continuing there- at for some time he concluded to find a loca- tion and open a paper for himself. On the 27th of July, 1888, he established the Jasper Journal. Since that date his paper has been devoted to the interests, financial and other- wise, of Jasper and the surrounding country. In company with Black and Davies, he built his present office late in 1888. July 4, 1888, he was appointed postmaster of Jasper vil- lage, the office being established on the 25th of that month. He is one of the stockholders

of the Jasper Produce Company, and is other- wise extensively interested in the financial welfare of his town. In politics he is a stanch republican and through his paper ably announces and expounds the principles of the republican party. He holds the office of school clerk, and is becoming one of the most popular business men of Jasper.

EORGE WESLEY DUSTIN. One of the leading and most important business enterprises of Faribault county, and one the loss of which would be keenly felt by the farmers of Verona township, and in fact of the entire county, is the Verona Roller Flouring Mills, located on the Blue Earth river, two miles south of Winnebago City. The gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch owns a one-half interest in this enterprise. The Verona Mills were built in 1879, by the father of our subject, at a cost of $9,500. Until its com- pletion the father was the sole proprietor of the mill, and then our subject purchased the same and operated it for six years. At the end of that time Mr. Dustin sold a one-half interest to Mr. Foss, and the partnership was continued for two years. Early in the year 1888 our subject bought the interest owned by Mr. Foss, and in May of that year sold a one-half interest to Mr. A. A. Williams, who is still in the partnership. This mill has seven sets of rollers, kept constantly busy by the excellent patronage received from all parts of the county, its capacity being fifty barrels per day. At present the firm is put- ting in a steam plant, which will cost about $2,500. This will put the mill in excellent shape, and the owners will be better prepared to take care of the large volume of business that comes to them.

The subject of our sketch was born in Winnebago county, Wisconsin, October 21, 1848. He was the son of Newell Dustin,

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a carpenter by trade. The father followed that business until 1840, and then turned his attention to milling, engaging in that business in Green Lake county, Wisconsin, where he erected a large mill and operated the same for four years. He then went to Winnebago county, Wisconsin, purchased a farm near Ripon and engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1854. He then sold and again turned his attention to milling, putting up a mill in Juneau county, and continuing in the business for twelve years in one place. At the end of that time, in 1866, he removed to Blue Earth county, Minnesota, erected a large mill near Garden City, and remained there for three years. He then sold out and in 1870 built a mill at Blue Earth City, Fari- bault county, and operated the business a num- ber of years. In 1879 the father built the mills now known as the Verona Mills, of which George W. Dustin is now the senior proprie- tor Our subject continued interested in the milling business with his father until the lat- ter's death, which occurred in January, 1885. The father was a member of the Wesleyan Me- thodist church, and during the early part of his life was a minister of that denomination in the State of Ohio. He was a native of New Hampshire, born December 25, 1801, and was reared and educated in his native State. Our subject's mother's name before her marriage was Ann McMichael, a native of New York, where she was reared and educated and where for some years of her early life she engaged in the profession of teaching. She was a member of the Baptist church, and was an estimable Christian lady. The children of the father's family were George Wesley, Fred W. and Fremont, the latter dying while still an infant.

The native county of our subject remained his home only until he was five years of age, when the family removed to Juneau county, Wisconsin, where our subject received a com- mon-school education. He followed the fam-

ily in its various moves, finally locating in Blue Earth City, where he completed his education in the public schools of that place, at the age of twenty years. He then com- menced working in his father's mill, and, in- deed, from the time he was large enough to do any work at all, he has been employed more or less in the milling business, becom- ing a thorough, practical workman in that line. Going to Faribault county, Minnesota, in the spring of 1870, and settling in Blue Earth City, he followed milling in that place for some time, and also engaged in the same enterprise in central Iowa for about a vear. Later he turned his attention to saw milling, and then operated a flouring mill in Dodge county, Minnesota, for one year. Returning to Blue Earth City, he worked in his father's mill for about three years, then engaged in business for himself, purchased his father's interest in the Verona Mills, and has been operating the same ever since. He has care- fully watched the business, and has made it a point not to turn out anything but first-class work, and has thus succeeded in making his mill one of the most popular in Southern Minnesota.

George W. Dustin was married, September 12, 1870, to Miss Emma Taylor, born near Menasha, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin. She was the daughter of Edward Taylor, a farmer and cooper by trade, and who came to Minnesota in 1864. He is still living in Brown county. Mrs. Dustin's mother's name before her marriage was Ellen Roberts. She is also living in Brown county. Mrs. Dustin was one of three children, the other two being Wilson and Janet. To bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Dustin have been born five children, three of whom are now living-Newell, Cad- wallader and Harry. Those deceased were, George, who died at one year of age, and an infant, who died at the age of six weeks.

The subject of this sketch is a man of ex- cellent business qualities, and is one of the

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leading public spirits of his township and county, affiliating in political matters with the republican party. He has held various offi- ciał positions, and in each instance has proven his efficiency, and has served his constituents with the highest degree of fidelity. At pres- ent he is clerk of the township of Verona, and has held that position since 1885. He is an Odd Fellow, and also a member of the United Workmen, being recorder in the latter lodge.

ENRY W. SINCLAIR is one of the foremost attorneys of Fairmont, Martin county, Minnesota. He is a native of England, where he was born July 1, 1851. His parents were residents of Cumberland, England.

Mr. Sinclair was educated in his native country and made that his home until 1876, in which year lie emigrated to America, and came directly to Martin county, Minnesota. For about three years he resided on a farm and occupied his time with agricultural pur- suits. At the end of that period he removed to the village of Fairmont, this being in 1880, and for about six years was cashier in the Martin County Bank. While in that posi- tion he served his employers faithfully, and built up an enviable reputation as an honor- able, painstaking business man. In 1886 he severed his connection with the bank and engaged in the loan and real estate business, and also in the practice of law. He is one of Fairmont's leading public-spirited citizens, and has built up a large and lucrative prac- tice.

The subject of our sketch was married in the year 187S, at Fairmont, to Miss Marga- ret Wollaston, daughter of Percy and Cath- arine Wollaston. Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair have had the following named children- Agnes Winnifred, Edith Margaret, John Archibald, Catharine Elizabeth and Nora Frances.

ACOB M. BUTTS is one of the wealthy and most prosperous farmers and stock raisers in Pipestone county, Minnesota. He came to the county in April, 1883, and purchased the whole of section 25 in Osborn township, and commenced making improve- ments in the way of cultivating his land and erecting large and commodious farm build- ings. He built the largest and finest barn in the township, the building being 40x154 feet, his other buildings being of good char- acter and of like pretentious dimensions. He has a large, well-built house, the upright part of which is 24x26 feet, and the wing thereto being 16x20 feet. He has turned his attention largely to the raising of blooded stock, and has some fine specimens of full-blooded Durham cattle, and one-half blood Clyde and Norman horses. He gener- ally keeps from sixty to one hundred head of cattle of the Durham breed. Mr. Butts has one of the finest farms in the county, and has met with excellent success in his farming and stock-raising operations.

The subject of our sketch is a native of Monroe county, Pennsylvania, where he was born August 1, 1835. He is the son of Michael and Catharine A. (Mann) Butts, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. The father was a blacksmith by trade, and followed that occupation in connection with farming. In about 1838 the parents re- moved to the State of Wisconsin, where the father died at about thirty years of age. The mother is still living in Wisconsin, being about eighty years of age. The parents were both exemplary Christian people and were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They reared a family of eight children, of whom the subject of our sketch was the fourth in order. Their names were-Theodore, Robert, Catharine, Jacob M., Charles, Mary, Rachel and Jerome.

Jacob M. Butts remained beneath the parental roof until he was about eighteen

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years of age, up to which time he had been given a good common-school education. On attaining the age just mentioned he left home and engaged in farm work for about three years, being employed by neighboring farmers. At the end of that period he took a farm on shares, and conducted it success- fully for some years. In 1863 he purchased a farm in Dane county, Wisconsin, and engaged in its operation until 1883, doing a general farming and stock-raising business. He also became quite an extensive tobacco grower, and for some three years made this his principal crop while in Wisconsin. As has been stated in the opening lines of this sketch, in 1883 he left Dane county and settled on his present place in Pipestone county. In August, 1864, our subject enlisted in Company G, Thirty-eighth Wis- consin Infantry, his regiment becoming part of the Ninth Corps. The captain in com- mand of this company was Reuben Beck- with, who continued in command until the close of the war. Our subject was in a number of battles and saw more or less hard service. Some of the engagements in which he participated may be named as follows : Battle of Peeble House, which occurred in October, 1864; Weldon railroad; engage- ment before Petersburg in the trenches around the city, charging the main works in front of Petersburg, and other smaller battles and skirmishes. He narrowly escaped death by being struck on the head by a piece of shell at the last-named battle. As a result of this blow he was unconscious for some time, but finally recovered and was able to join his regiment. After being discharged from the service our subject returned to his farm in Wisconsin and remained there until coming to Pipestone county.

Mr. Butts was united in marriage Decem- ber 31, 1857, to Miss Sarah A. Lumus, a native of Ohio. This lady remamed in her native State until about fourteen years of

age, when, with her parents, she moved to the State of Wisconsin, and resided in Dane county until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Butts have been blessed with six children- William, Rosa, Charles, Oscar, Bertie and Fremont. William is now married, and is a resident of Garden City, Kansas, and Rosa is the wife of Frank A. Meacham, a success- ful and enterprising hardware merchant of Edgerton, Minnesota.

The subject of our sketch holds an influ- ential place among the farmers of the town- ship. He is a man of good executive ability, well educated and possessed of wide practical knowledge. He is energetic and systematic, and to these qualities is traceable his eminent success in farming and stock raising. He is a pleasant man and a good conversationalist, and his surroundings betoken taste and thrift, and in his pleasant home the wayfarer is greeted with a hospitable welcome. In poli- tics our subject affiliates with the republican party, in whose principles he is a firm be- liever. He is a leading member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

On the 17th of February, 1859, Mr. Butts, in company with six other men, started over- land with horses and wagons for Pike's Peak, arriving at Council Bluffs, March 25. Three days later they left Omaha. At Elk- horn river, April 1, there was a foot of snow on the ground. On their way up the Platte river they found streams very high, but they managed to ferry them-using a wagon box for a boat-and reached Fort Kearney April 15. From there our subject crossed the plains and went up into the mountains. Not finding gold as plenty as supposed he returned to the plains and spent some time in hunting buffalo. While he was on the plains the Sioux and Pawnee Indians had a two days' battle over some stolen ponies, in which fifteen of the Pawnees were killed. In June of the same year Mr. Butts re- turned home and engaged in farming.

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Mrs. Butts is a leading member and active worker in the Women's Relief Corps. In fact, figuratively speaking, during the war she was as "good a soldier as ever swung a sword." While her husband was away in the army she carried on farming, took care of the stock, dug potatoes, husked corn, fed hogs, and, when they were ready for the market, drove them to the station from which they were shipped South to feed the army. To dress hogs for their own use, Mrs. Butts formed a company of "War Widows," and they drove their hogs to one place and killed and dressed them, Mrs. Butts being in command. It is true that there were some men left at home, but, as Mr. Butts expresses it, they were of the ' home-fire-side-loyal" and "secesh " order, and "no good on earth." The same company that Mrs. Butts had command of scraped lint, dried fruit, dried potatoes and made clothing for the soldiers, meeting every Thursday.

EV. EDWARD H. BRONSON, one of the most highly-esteemed citizens of Luverne, Minnesota, is engaged in the hardware and agricultural implement busi- ness. He was a native of Chemung county, New York, where he was born January 27, 1835.

Mr. Bronson is the son of Major T. and Matilda (Hotchkis) Bronson, both natives of Connecticut. The father was a blacksmith by trade, and in 1852 came West to Wisconsin and located in Fall River, Columbia county.

. In that place he engaged in farming, and was a prominent and influential citizen of that locality. Throughout the most of his life he was a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal, and later in the Wesleyan Meth- odist church, being ordained in the latter or- ganization as a traveling preacher. When he was a young man he entered this kind of

religious work and accomplished a great deal of good throughout his life. He con- tinued to serve his generation by the grace of God until attaining his eighty-third year, when he passed from this life into the great eternity, where, without doubt, his reward awaited him. Leaving Wisconsin, the father went to Dakota and located at Howard, in Minor county, living with the family of his son, Spencer H., who is editor of the Ad- vance. The mother died in Wisconsin in June, 1872. In the father's family there were six children, three of whom are now living-Rev. E. H., our subject ; Amanda, now Mrs. Hotchkis, of Howard, Dakota, and Spencer H.

The early years of the subject of our sketch were spent with his parents in the State of New York, where he was given good educa- tional advantages in the district schools. Re- moving with his parents to the State of Wis- consin, he again attended a public, and later a select school, acquiring a good common- school education. He remained with his parents until he was about twenty-six years of age, having for some years been engaged as a clerk in various stores in the city in which his family lived. In 1862 he enlisted in Company K, Thirty-second Wisconsin In- fantry, and at the organization of that com- pany was made first sergeant. Some time later he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant of his company and continued in the service about three years. For about a year previous to receiving the latter commis- sion he was a recruiting officer in Wisconsin for the Army of the Tennessee. He was mustered out of the service at Milwaukee, after having passed through a severe.military experience. Among the battles in which he was engaged were the siege of Atlanta, the various skirmishes in which Sherman's army was engaged on his march to the sea, the battles of Salkehatchie, Jonesborough, and numerous other battles of minor importance.

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On the 23d of December, 1864, he was taken prisoner by the Rebel forces under General Lyon, at Nolin Station, Kentucky. He was paroled the same evening and shortly after the close of the war returned to Wisconsin and engaged in the produce business and also in merchandising for some two years at Fall River. In 1867, feeling the call most heav- ily upon him, he entered the ministry, his first pastorate being in Pardeeville, Col- umbia county, Wisconsin, later in Greenbush and then at Cambria. In 1872 he removed to Luverne and joined the Minnesota confer- ence. He was the first English speaking clergyman in Rock county and was instru- mental in accomplishing a great amount of good among the English speaking people. Ile established the Methodist Episcopal church of Luverne, with the co-operation of T. P. Grout and James Gillard; also at Beaver Creek he established a Methodist Episcopal church society assisted by E. L. Grout, William Grout, F. Merricot and G. H. and C. R. Hinton. He organized the Methodist Episcopal church at Adrian and one at Ellsworth, where he was assisted by the families of James Birkett and Mr. Ingra- liam. He established a society of the same church at Ash Creek, in which enterprise he was assisted by Messrs. Joseph Knight, Mitch- ell, Olds and the Estes family ; also at Spring Water assisted by Messrs. Bark, Nobles, El- thorp, Givens and Chapin. He was the pio- necr preacher of the southwestern corner of Minnesota, and held the first Methodist ser- vices in Pipestone county June 25, 1875. He was in active service in the ministry until 1884, in which year he withdrew from active service, although he has been called upon to supply Jackson, Rushmore, Adrian, Luverne, etc., and frequently to perform the duties of the ministry since in the way of preaching and attending funerals. His ministerial work was given up with great reluctance, but this became a necessity on account of

failing health. In an early day he had trav- eled a great deal and had been exposed to all kinds of weather, all of which combined to undermine his constitution and to break him down in early life. His pioneer experience in establishing Methodism in Rock county was attended with many diffi- culties and privations. He traveled long distances, forded streams, faced the north- western winds and experienced blizzards, giving all this service freely and undergoing all these trials willingly for the sake of the good that might be accomplished, and the building up of the church organizations that would benefit the world after he was gone. Soon after coming to Rock county Mr. Bronson secured a homestead at Beaver Creek, which he improved and brought un- der good cultivation. In 1884 he traded this farm for lots and business property in Luverne. Mr. Bronson has identified him- self with all public matters and has served his constituents in various official positions. At present he is the president of the school board and of the city library association. He is a stockholder in the Red Jasper Stone Quarry Company and is also a stockholder in the Rock County News, a prohibition paper.

Rev. Bronson was married to Cornelia Silsbee. March 4, 1860. She died of con- sumption June 9, 1862. He was again mar- ried on September 27, 1865, to Mrs. Libbie Grout, of Madison, Wisconsin. This union has been blessed with six children, five of whom are now living-William S., Etheline, Edward M., Jessie, and Ruth. Eleanor died at six years of age on the 23d of December, 1887.

The subject of our sketch throughout the greater portion of his life believed in the principles of the republican party, advocated and defended its doctrines, and stood by its interests. Within a few years, however, he has considerably changed his political belief,

SOUTHWESTERN MINNESOTA.

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and being a strong temperance man and an advocate of temperance principles he has concluded that his affiliations can only be given to the prohibition party. He is a Mason and also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Bronson is a man of high character and is respected as an exemplary citizen by all who know him. Throughout his life he has publicly professed and practiced the principles of the great Master whose teaching it was his desire to promulgate. He has given his life heartily and earnestly to the moral and religious ele- vation of the people and can look back upon many years spent in a prosperous service on these lines. He has been reasonably success- ful in his various financial enterprises and has laid up a considerable fortune. He is now engaged in the hardware business and has built up an extensive trade. He has been throughout his life a loyal and active citizen, a consistent Christian man, and is held in high esteem by all with whom he has to do.

- ILLIAM C. CAMPBELL, is a' re- spected citizen of Winnebago City, Faribault county, Minnesota, where he lives a retired life. He is a native of Butler county, Ohio, where he was born March 3, 1821.

The parents of the subject of our sketch were John N. and Phoebe (Clark) Campbell, natives of Pennsylvania. The father was a farmer by occupation, and was the son of Enos Campbell, who served in the Revolu- tionary War and who was a native of Penn- sylvania. The father of our subject was a soldier of the War of 1812 and also served in the Black Hawk War. He removed to Illinois, locating in Sangamon county, in 1828; later removed to Dewitt county, where he lived a retired life until his death in 1887, at the age of ninety-four years. The mother

died at ninety-two years of age in 1883. The father was an old line whig, and later joined the republican party. Both parents were devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They had a family of nine children-Israel, Christian, William C., Enos, Brazilla, Lewis, John (deceased), Sallie A. (deceased) and Mary (deceased).

The subject of our sketch spent his early life in the midst of pioneer circumstances in Illinois, receiving his early education in the log school-houses of his district. He re- mained with his parents until he was twenty- three years of age, at which time his father gave him eighty acres of land and he pur- chased eighty acres more, making a farm of 160 acres. His father also gave him horses and cattle and established him in good shape on his farm. He engaged in agricultural pursuits in Illinois until 1867, when he came to Winnebago City, Faribault county, Min- nesota, and engaged in the grocery business. After following this line for two years he sold out and removed to Granite Falls, where he purchased property and resided for two years. At the end of this time he returned to Winnebago City, and soon after engaged in farming for five years. Again he returned to Winnebago City, and has since made this place his residence. He pur- chased a fine brick dwelling house on Main street, where he now lives. Our subject en- listed in the Union army during the war as lieutenant of Company C, Forty-first Illinois Infantry, and was in the service five months, going to Paducah, Kentucky, where he was taken sick. On account of severe sickness he was forced to resign his position and re- turn home. Throughout his life the subject of our sketch has been a prominent citizen, and has affiliated with the republican party. He is one of the leading residents of Win- nebago City.

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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 42

Author: Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Chicago : Occidental Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 814

Author:
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago : Occidental Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 814