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 53
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He was a man of large intelligence, possessed of broad, practical ideas, and was acknowl- edged to be one of the leading and most in- fluential citizens of Wenona. In life he was respected, and his presence has been sadly missed by his business associates and many warm friends. The funeral was conducted by the Wenona guards, the procession being formed somewhat as follows : first came the Wenona and visiting lodges of Independent Order of Odd Fellows, then the Wenona and visiting lodges of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and then' followed the hearse, after which came carriages of rela- tives and friends.
Mr. Southwell was married July 19, 1855, to Sarah A. Smith, a daughter of Orris and Mary (Morley) Smith. This union was blessed with the following-named children- Flora S., now Mrs. W. J. McAllister ; Mary S., now Mrs. A. Moore ; Jessie S., now Mrs. W. H. Winter ; and Sarah S., now Mrs. T. Lowe.
After the death of Mr. Southwell his widow remained in Wenona about five years. Then she came to Murray county, and, in March, 1884, located in the village of Slayton. Mrs. Southwell was appointed postmistress of the village in December, 1SS5. She has held the position ever since and has become exceedingly popular. She is a lady of excellent qualities and is well known and highly respected. She is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church.
CARTER DEAN is county attorney of Pipestone county, Minnesota. He came to Pipestone city on the 16th of April, 1880, and has ever since been engaged in the practice of his profession. He has been county attorney ever since November 28, 1880. He is a native of Bureau county, Illinois, where he was born March . 22, 1857. His parents were Jonathan P. and Julia A.
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(Durland) Dean, natives of New Jersey. His father was a farmer and miller at La- moille, Illinois.
The subject of our sketch spent his younger days on the farm and was given a good common-school education. He remained at home until he was sixteen years of age and then followed the profession of teaching. He was a teacher in the Clarion graded schools. At eighteen years of age he entered the University of Illinois and remained three years. In 1879 he graduated from the law department of the State University of Illinois, then taught one year in Illinois, and soon after came to Pipestone and made a permanent location. After coming to the county he took an active part in political affairs and became an able assistant in the management of the campaigns.
Mr. Dean was married in November, 1882, to Miss Minnie Lewis, of Lamoille, Illinois. She was a daughter of William and Char- lotte (Rix) Lewis, natives of Vermont and Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Dean have one son, William L.
The subject of our sketch is one of the prominent attorneys and leading citizens of Pipestone county, and has made an excellent official.
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JOHN L. CASS is the editor of the Lake Benton News. He has ably conducted the various departments of his newspaper enterprise and has built up for himself an excellent reputation as an editor and a large patronage for his newspaper. He has one of the brightest, newsiest sheets to be found in southern Minnesota, and through its columns reaches the minds and consciences of many of Lincoln county's prominent citi- zens and also prominent people in other and adjoining counties.
Mr. Cass is the son of Andrew and Fannie (Green) Cass, natives of New York. Ile was
born in Richmond, Walworth county, Wis- consin, April 14, 1851. His parents had moved to Wisconsin some time before our subject's birth. When he was a small boy his parents moved to Mauston, Juneau county, where our subject received the most of his education. In August, 1864, the family moved to Owatonna, Minnesota, and puachased a farm near Havana station. Here our subject was given good educational advantages in the district schools and later for a time attended the high school in Owa- tonna. He then taught school for some six terms and in 1876 he entered the law univer- sity at Ann Arbor, Michigan, remaining in that institution for two terms. He then taught one term of school in Michigan, and in the spring of 1877 returned to Owatonna. Entering the political field in the fall he was nominated by the democratic party for clerk of the court. He worked hard and faith- fully and only failed to capture the coveted prize by about one hundred votes, although at that time the county was from eight hundred to one thousand votes republican majority. In the winter of 1877-8 our subject taught school near Owatonna and spent some of his time in making collections until April 29, 1879. He then came to Lincoln county and engaged in the practice of law in Marshfield until September 14th, when he made his loca- tion in Lake Benton. He resumed his prac- tice of law on a small scale until March 4, 1880, when he was admitted to the bar. Af- ter this he made a specialty of the legal pro- fession and built up a large and profitable clientage. March 16, 1887, he purchased the newspaper outfit owned by Charles M. Morse and engaged in publishing a newspaper. Since 1887 our subject has devoted most of his time to his editorial work. Since making his loca- tion in Lincoln county Mr. Cass has become one of the most prominent and influential citizens of the county. He has taken an ac- tive interest in all public projects and is in-
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timately associated with the affairs of county government and also in the governmental affairs of the township in which he has lived. He has been deputy county treasurer and was county attorney one term by election and one term by appointment. He is a mem- ber of Lake Benton Lodge, No. 146, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he has been secretary for a long time. Mr. Cass has been quite successful in his financial af- fairs, being possessed of good business quali- fications, and has accumulated considerable means. He is an able and fearless writer, and with whatever subject he deals is noted for his discernment and for his decisive words, which cut along sharp lines between what he deems right and the wrong. In political matters he ably seconds and defends the principles of the democratic party and has become quite prominent in the local coun- cils of that organization.
Miss Hannah E. Cass is the owner of the paper, of which Mr. Cass is the editor.
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YRON BARR located in Cotton- wood county, Minnesota, settling on section 10, of Lakeside township, in 1870. He was born in Erie county, New York, February 3, 1834.
The gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch, is the son of Rufus B. Barr, a native of Shenango county, New York, where he lived until his death, in May, 1887. He was a cooper by trade, in early life, and later engaged in farming, and during the last five or six years of his life engaged in the hardware business. He was a leading citizen, and at his death was seventy-six years of age. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Myron Barr's mother's maiden name was Mary Blinebury, a native of Dutchess county, New York, and educated in Shenango county. She was an estimable Christian lady, a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and died in 1862. Our subject's grandfather was HIaran Barr, a miller by trade. The grandfather of our subject, on the mother's side, was David Blinebury, a native of the State of New York, where he was engaged in the furniture business. Our subject is one of five living children-Myron, Francis L., Mary Jane, Henry C. and Jasper N.
Until attaining his majority our subject resided in his native State ; received a good common-school education, and assisted his father. He apprenticed to learn the milling business for two years, and then purchased timber land in Chautauqua county and en- gaged in cutting out timber for the railroad. He continued in this line for six or eight- years and then went to Pennsylvania, where he lived until 1865, engaged in the same bus- iness. He then commenced working at inill- wrighting, and operated a machine business in Erie county, New York, for two years. This business he has followed to some extent ever since, giving perhaps more of his atten- tion to this than to his farming. After leav- ing New York Mr. Barr went to North Mc- Gregor, Iowa, and was foreman in a lumber yard for a year, then came to Minneapolis, where for one and a half years he was en- gaged in millwrighting and in working in a saslı and blind factory. In 1870 he came to his present place, and settled on eighty acres of land in Lake Side township, commenced making active improvements, setting out a fine grove of trees and preparing to make a permanent home. He has resided on the farm ever since, with the exception of three years, in 1881-82-83, when he was foreman for a lumber company in Cumberland, Wis- consin, for two years, the last year being spent in millwrighting in Hayward, working in a mill that turned out an immense amount of product. He then returned to his present place, where he has since lived.
Mr. Barr was married, June 20, 1861, to
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Miss Maggie Boss, a native of Chautauqua county, New York, where she was born De- cember 3, 1843. She was the daughter of George W. Boss, a farmer. Her education was received in the county of her nativity. Mr. and Mrs. Barr have 'one child, Nellie M., born in 1862, and married to Samuel P. Hyde, now located in Cottonwood county. Mrs. Barr died December 3, 1883. She was missed by a great many friends and relatives. A few months later a son, Frank E. Barr, aged sixteen years, died, leaving the family, as we have already stated, with but one living child.
Mr. Barr is a republican in politics, is a member of the Good Templars society, of which he is chief templar, and is one of the representative citizens of the township and county. He has been township clerk, justice of the peace, and has held various school offices. Our subject is a man of energy, and is always ready to act intelligently, when opportunity presents, for making money. When the Omaha railroad was built our sub- ject opened a boarding-house in Bingham Lake, and, when the road was extended, went to Bigelow, and there engaged in the same business, and the next spring followed the line to Sibley, where he kept railroad quarters until the business dropped off, owing to the completion of the road. Every win- ter, until 1889, Mr. Barr has operated a force of snow shovelers, and in this way has accumulated some means outside of his farm- ing operation.
RTHUR L. STOUGHTON is the foreman of the mechanical depart- ment of the Rock County News, located at Luverne, Minnesota. He is a native of Rock county, Wisconsin, where he was born on the 29th of September, 1855. He is a son of Dr. Guy and Clarinda (Stebbins) Stoughton, natives of Vermont. The father died in 1879, and the mother is still living in Lu-
verne. There are four children in the father's family-Thomas S., John M., Emma S., now Mrs. Gillham, and Arthur L.
The early days of the subject of our sketch were spent in school in Wisconsin, where he attended the State university for two years. At sixteen years of age he commenced learn- ing the printer's trade at Stoughton, Wis- consin, and remained three years, after which he removed to Jefferson, and there spent a short time in the printing business. His next move was to Luverne, to which place he came to take charge of the Luverne Her- ald, the proprietor of which was A. C. Croft, of Stoughton, Wisconsin. Continuing the management of the paper until the following spring, the proprietor then came to Luverne and took charge of the Herald himself. For some time our subject remained as foreman in this office, later purchased a half in- terest in the paper, and subsequently the remaining interest. He continued the pub- lication of the same for about a year, when H. J. Miller purchased a half interest in the business and Mr. Stoughton and that gentle- man formed a partnership which continued until 1883. During this time our subject attended the university at Madison in the years 1879 to 1881. In 1883 he turned his attention to mercuntile pursuits and followed that business until 1886, after which he was employed in the Herald office until 1888. He went to Winona in the fall of that year, and for a time engaged on the Winona Daily Herald as superintendent, and, later, as tele- graph editor. He had not continued long in Winona when he received a telegram from Luverne asking him to come to that city and take charge of the mechanical department of the Rock County News. He accepted this call and has since been located in that city. Our subject is a prominent democratic poli- tician, and is an influential member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows fraternities.
Mr. Stoughton was married in 1879 to
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Miss Rose Farry, a resident of Luverne. This union has been blessed with three chil- dren-Mabel, Guy and Kate.
1 DWIN T. FOWSER is a thrifty farm- er and resident of section 4, Slayton township, Murray county, Minnesota. He was born in Lockport township, Will coun- ty, Illinois, February 2, 1858. He is the son of Joseph J. and Esther (Ream) Fowser, both of whom were natives of Ohio. In 1854 the parents left their native State and settled in Illinois, locating on section 6 of Lockport township, Will county. There were eiglit children in the father's family, Edwin T. being the third.
Our subject remained with his parents until twenty-one years of age, up to which time he had been given the advantages for an education furnished by the district schools. He assisted his father in work on the home farm throughout his life, and be- came a practical farmer. At twenty-one he was married, and took charge of a portion of the father's farm, his brother, Daniel, of whom a sketch is given in another depart- ment of this work, having charge of the bal- ance of the home farm. Edwin continued operating this portion of the father's farm for four years, and during the last year of his occupancy moved to another part of the farm, and rented sixty acres more. Two years longer were spent in operating the farm, and, in the spring of 1885, he sold out and removed to Plainfield, where he operat- ed a corn-sheller and thresher during the fall months. In the spring of 1886 he came to Minnesota, and located where he now lives, in Slayton township.
Edwin T. Fowser was married to Sarah Salsgiver, February 4, 1879. This union has been blessed with one child, Pearl E., born April 27, 1887. Mrs. Fowser is a daughter of John and Maria (Wolfe) Salsgiver, both
of whom were natives of Ohio. Later in life her parents moved to the State of Iowa, where Mrs. Fowser was born. The father is still living, and a resident of the State of Indiana ; the mother died in 1866.
In early life our subject was given a good practical education, and is one of the most intelligent and progressive citizens of his township. Being a stanch advocate of tem- perance, he now affiliates with the prohibi- tion party. He has taken an active interest in public matters, and has held various offi- cial positions. He has been a member of the board of supervisors for two years, and is at present treasurer of the school district in which he lives. He is a member of the secret order of Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica, Minnesota camp, No. 169.
ORENZO L. SWEET, who resides with his son, William W. Sweet, on section
2, Troy Township, Pipestone county, Minnesota, will form the subject of our pres. ent article. He has to a great extent retired from the active cares of business, and is reap ing the rewards of a long, useful and well- spent life. The genealogy of the Sweet family is traced back to the pioneers of New England and particularly of New York State, but beyond that the thread is lost in the mist of years, and the lineage cannot be followed across the Atlantic. Whether the family is of English, Scotch or German extraction is impossible at this late day to state with any degree of certainty. The traditions and records of the present members of the family run back only three generations from the subject of our present article, and the writer is obliged to use that generation as a starting point upon which to base this sketch.
Elijah Sweet, grandfather of L. L. Sweet was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on the 29th of November, 1747. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serving as
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a volunteer in General Schuyler's commands, and won creditable mention in contempo- raneous history. An interesting anecdote in his army service was the fact that he was the soldier placed to guard the body of Jane Mc- Crea, the beautiful and accomplished daugh- ter of an American loyalist, who was killed by an Indian escort, July 27, 1777. Elijah Sweet died February 26, 1838. He married Elisabeth Wright, who was born in 1759,and who died July 14, 1838. Their marraige was blessed with the following named children- Elijah, Jr., who is in the direct line of an- cestry from our subject, and who is men- tioned at length hereafter ; Calvin, a soldier in the War of 1812, who died from exposure; William, who died in infancy ; Phebe, later the wife of Elder Asahel Holcomb ; Electa, who became the wife of John Hemmingway, and Anna, who married Nathaniel Hatch. The father of this family, Elijah Sweet, Sr., was quite a prominent man in pioneer days in the locality in which he lived, as he took and active part in all affairs of a public nature. He participated in the insurrection in Massachusetts raised by Daniel Shay against the court, he siding with the court.
Elijalı Sweet, Jr., one of the sons of Elijah and Elisabeth (Wright) Sweet, was the father of our present subject. He was born in Chenango county, New York, January 4, 1774, and upon attaining manhood married Taphene Kinney, who was born October 16, 1780. He died March 9, 1817, and his widow died May 11, 1853. Their union resulted in a family of the following named children- Lovice, who married Elisha Thurston, and who died April 7, 1876; Dimmis, who be- came the wife of Daniel Bancroft, and who is also deceased ; Rhoda L., who married David Strader, and died August 30, 1842; Betsey, afterwards Mrs. Daniel Morehouse, now deceased; Elijah W., who died in in- fancy ; Emily J., who married John Scudder, and died June 14, 1872 ; Laura, who died in
infancy; Lorenzo Luman, our subject; James K., married Hannah Wright; Rev. William C., a minister, now residing at Etna, Fill- more county, Minnesota, and Elijah P., who married Matilda Wright, and who died January 28, 1880.
We now come down to the personal his- tory of Lorenzo Luman Sweet, whose name heads our present article. He was born in Chenango county, New York, April 16, 1811. His childhood and youth were spent among the rugged hills of that locality, and as those were pioneer days, he underwent the same training in industry, economy and in- tegrity which are so characteristic of the people from that region. He received his education in the common schools of that time, and just before attaining his majority, on the 30th of October, 1831, he was mar- ried to Rachel H. Burr. She was born Sep- tember 5, 1812, in Connecticut. They re- moved to Pennsylvania, and from there to Wisconsin, where they remained for about eighteen years. In the meantime, in 1845, Mr. Sweet had been ordained to the ministry of the Free. Will Baptist church, and had been filling stations at various points in the States named. In 1860' they removed to Iowa. When the war broke out, although fifty-two years of age, he at once offered his services and tried to enlist, and was soon afterwards mustered into the service in the Thirty-seventh Iowa Infantry, commonly known as the Gray-Beard regiment. At that time four of his sons were wearing the blue in defense of our country, and two of them never returned. In 1864 our subject was disabled by the cars at Memphis, Ten- nessee, and was discharged the following April. After the war closed he settled at Tipton, Iowa, and there took a prominent part in public matters, and held sev- eral offices of trust-for two years rev- enue assessor, justice of the peace, trus- tee, etc., attaining a high place in
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the community, as a man of ability and un- impeachable integrity. He then filled vari- ous posts of duty for his church, including Sibley, Rock Rapids and other points, and in 1885 he retired and settled in Lyon county, Iowa. Later he went to McCook county, Dakota, where he remained about two years, preaching statedly, and then, in 1888, settled in Pipestone county, Minne- sota, where he makes his home with his son, William W. Sweet, in Troy township. There he is spending his declining years sur- rounded by members of his family and bear- ing the respect and esteem of all who know him. He is a member of Simon Mix post, Grand Army of Republic, No. 95.
The marriage of Lorenzo L. Sweet and wife has been blessed with the following- named children-William Wallace, John Orlando, Daniel E., Henry L. R., George A., Dayton M. and Mary E.
William W. was born July 2, 1832, in Otsego county, New York. On the 26th of March, 1858, he married Cordelia Hatch, who was born in 1829, and who died in 1861. leaving one son, Lorenzo R. At the beginning of the war William W. enlisted in the Sixth Iowa Cavalry, and served three years on the frontier in Dakota and Mon- tana. He was with General Sully in his campaigns after the Indians in 1863-64, and participated in the battles at White Stone Hills and in the Bad Lands. After return- ing from the service he married Nancy Jane McLein, who was born in 1844 in Pennsylvania. This marriage has been blessed with the following-named children- Esther Y., Clara I., William A., Sarah E., Bertha E., Rachel C., Thomas B. L., John G. and Lucy J. In 1879 William W. Sweet moved with his family to Pipestone county, and took a homestead where he now lives. He is an honored member of Simon Mix post, Grand Army of Republic, No. 95.
John O. Sweet, the second son of Lorenzo
L., was born in Pennsylvania. He married Lucinda L. Hatch. He now lives in Cali- fornia. His marriage was blessed with one son, Frank J.
It is unnecessary to refer at length to Daniel E. Sweet in this connection, as a biography of him will be found in another department of this work.
Henry Le Roi Sweet was born in Pennsyl- vania December 10, 1840. He served as a soldier in the Eleventh Iowa Infantry and died in camp hospital May 4, 1862.
George Alonzo Sweet was born in Wiscon- sin September 13, 1845. He enlisted in the Eleventh Iowa Infantry in January, 1863, and was killed in the battle of Atlanta in June, 1863.
Dayton Marks Sweet was born in Wiscon- sin July 12, 1849. Upon attaining manhood he married Anna Van Pelt, and their union has been blessed with the following children -Harriet M., Dolly R. and Lizzie. In 1885 they removed to Arkansas, thence to Tipton, Iowa, where Mr. Sweet still lives, engaged in well boring.
Mary Elizabeth Sweet was born April 14, 1852, in Wisconsin. She married James Simmons in 1877 and died October 31, 1880.
This ends the genealogical history of the Sweet family. Their lives have been char- acterized by integrity and sobriety, and they have been held in high esteem by all with whom they have come in contact as men of worth and also as exemplary citizens. Our principal subject, L. L. Sweet, is a man of much more than ordinary ability. A close observer, of extensive reading and wide ex- perience, he is possessed of an extensive knowledge of men and events. During his residence in Iowa he studied law, was ad- mitted to the bar, and for several years prac. ticed before the courts of that State. A genial, courteous gentleman, he is one of those men whom it is a pleasure to meet.
While in the army he preached nearly
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every Sunday to the boys in blue by the re- quest of the chaplain of the Thirty-seventh, and also Thursday evenings performing the duties of the chaplain, except drawing the pay. He was for nine years pastor of a church that he organized in Washington county, Wisconsin ; was about three years pastor of a church in Winnebago county, Wisconsin ; three years pastor of the Burnett church in Dodge county ; and meanwhile attended quarterly and yearly meetings in different parts of the State, often traveling thirty to sixty miles on foot.
ENRY MCKINSTRY is one of the prominent and most substantial men of Winnebago City, Faribault county, Minne- sota. He is a native of Windsor county, Vermont, where he was born in the year 1842. He is the son of Paul and Harriet, (Lillie) Mckinstry, natives of Vermont.
The parents of the subject of our sketch are still living, at a hale old age in Winne- bago City. The father is now eighty-two years of age, and with his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. They are highly esteemed for their many generous deeds and for their earnest religious work in Winnebago City and in the county. They have been members of the Methodist church for many years, in which society our sub- ject's father has held most of the church of- fices. In his early life Paul Mckinstry en- gaged in farming and came to Minnesota in 1868 and settled at Winnebago City, taking a farm a short distance south of the village. In 1878 he engaged in the mercantile busi- ness and followed the same until 1888, when he retired from active life. He is a stock- holder in the steam flouring mill and took an active interest in various other financial enterprises and assisted very materially in the building up and improvement of the vil- lage. There are four children in the McKin-
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