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 71
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in his native land, and followed that occupa- tion until his death, which occurred in May, 1868. The mother is still living in that country. In the father's family there were four children, our subject being the third in order of birth.
The subject of this sketch remained with his parents on the farm in his native country until he was eighteen years of age, up to which time he had been given good educa- tional advantages. When he reached the age just mentioned he concluded to leave his native land and come to America. This he did, and on landing at Quebec started west- ward, locating in Lansing, Iowa. Here he found work on a farm, which occupation he continued until 1877, in which year he came to Lincoln county and took up the claim where he now lives. He was one of the very first settlers of this part of Lincoln county, and has been intimately associated with its best interests ever since he made his location. He drove through from Iowa by team and on locating his claim commenced active farming operations.
The subject of our sketch was married October 20, 1879, to Miss Gertrude Reppe, a native of Norway. This union has been blessed with five children-James C., Mary C., Elmer M.(deceased), Gena C. and Elmer M.
In his early life Mr. Ramlo was given good educational advantages and acquired a good common-school education. He has there- fore been well fitted for the various duties in which he has been engaged. Being one of the early settlers of this locality, he assist- ed in the organization of the civil township and has held several offices of responsibility. He has been constable for two years, and for two terms has served on the board of supervisors, having also served as treasurer of the school district ever since the township was organized. At present he also holds the position of township assessor. Throughout his life in Lincoln county Mr. Ramlo has
conducted himself in such an upright and conscientious manner as to win for him the commendation of many friends. His char- acter is of the highest, and in whatever posi- tion he has been called to serve his constitu- ents he has proven his capabilities and trust- worthiness and has won the respect of all with whom he has had to do. Being a man possessed of qualities which were valuable to the public, he has been called upon several times to administer in the closing up of the affairs of several estates. Whenever he has thus served his administration, whether for real estate or personal property, he has given excellent satisfaction and has administered his trust with capability. In politics he af- filiates with the republican party.
OHN N. RIVERS is the present station agent of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minne- apolis & Omaha Railroad Company, at Avoca, Murray county, Minnesota. He was born December 10, 1864, in Winona county, Minnesota. His parents were Nich- olas and Ann (Assel) Rivers, both of whom were natives of Germany. The father came to America in 1857, and the mother followed him in 1859. They first located in Winona county in about 1860. In the father's fam- ily there were eight children, John N., the subject of our sketch, being the third child.
The early life of our subject was spent beneath the parental roof, where he assisted on the home farm, and was given a good com- mon-school education. At sixteen years of age he left home, and engaged in teaching for some two years, and then went to Janes- ville, Wisconsin. He then commenced studying telegraphy, continuing in that line in Wisconsin until 1884. He then came to Blue Earth City, Minnesota, remaining about five months ; thence to Winnebago City, where five months more were spent, and where, during the last month of his stay, he
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was given the entire charge of the local af- fairs of the railroad company. He was then transferred to the village of Amboy, whence, after a short time, he went to Lake Crystal. He was then stationed at various places until the latter part of 1885, among them being Winnebago City, Garden City and other towns. In November, 1885, he came to the village of Avoca, as the operator and station agent for the Omaha Railroad Company. He has identified himself with the better in- terests of the village, and has held various official positions. among them being that of justice of the peace and member of the vil- lage council. In politics he affiliates with the democratic party, and is secretary of the Murray county democratic central commit- tee. He has a good common-school educa- tion, and attended the State normal school at Winona for two years.
Mr. Rivers was married August 6, 1888, to Miss Anna McGarry. This lady was a native of England, and was the daughter of Thomas and Ann (Welch) McGarry, both of whom were natives of Ireland.
ZRA RICE is one of the leading finan- cial characters of Luverne, Minnesota. He is the vice-president of the Security Bank of that city. He located for a brief time in Rock county in 1868, and in 1871 became a permanent settler, locating on land four miles northwest of Luverne, where he pre- empted 160 acres of land. He made his home on this pre-emption for about four years, making good improvements and build- ing a house of rough boards and sod. He thoroughly cultivated the farm and set out a large grove of trees, and continued giving his attention principally to the raising of grain and stock until 1873. In the fall of this year he was elected sheriff of Rock county, to fill out the unexpired term of his brother James. He served two successive
terms in this office, and then engaged in the grain and machinery business. He contin- ued in this latter line for about six years, at the end of which time he gave his atten- tion exclusively to the grain business, in which he became largely interested finan- cially. He built eight warehouses on the Burlington railroad in 1884, and conducted the business at these places until in June, 1888, at which time he sold out all but two. He still owns a large elevator at Beaver Creek and one at Luverne, both of which are still under his control. He became one of the organizers of the Rock County Bank in 1882, and was a stock- holder and director of that institution for some six years. He then severed his con- nection with the Rock County Bank, and assisted in the organization of the Security Bank on the 8th of May, 188S. He was elected vice-president at that time and is the present incumbent of that office. It can therefore be seen that our subject has taken an active interest in the financial develop- ment of Luverne and vicinity, and has be- come financially interested in a number of important enterprises. Besides this he has taken an active interest in all public matters pertaining to the governmental affairs of the city and county. He has held various offices. In 1883 he was mayor of the city of Luverne.
The gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch is a native of Whitley county, Indiana, where he was born Decem- ber 23, 1845. His parents were Daniel B. and Rosana (Nickey) Rice, the father a na- tive of New York State, and the mother a native of Virginia. The father followed the occupation of farming principally, but, in connection therewith, also carried on an ex- tensive business in contracting and building. He came to Indiana in the early settlement of that country, and continued his residence there until coming to Minnesota in 1866.
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He settled in Martin county and is now liv- ing in the village of Fairmont. The mother died in Indiana in 1862. In the father's family were seven children, only two of whom are now living- our subject and Dr. Henry Rice, of Fairmont, Minnesota.
The first eightcen years of the life of the subject of our sketch were spent by him on the home farm, during which time he was given the educational advan- tages furnished by the district schools. In February, 1864, he enlisted in Company E, Seventeenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and remained in the service for ssme twenty months. His military experi- once was of an exciting and interesting na- ture. His regiment was attached to General Sherman's army in that wonderful Atlanta campaign. He was also with General Wil- son in his raid through Georgia and Alabama. Remaining with his regiment until about September, 1865, he was then discharged at Indianapolis, Indiana. He then attended the commercial college at Fort Wayne, and after completing his studies in that institu- tion, commenced teaching school, and after some years of occupation in that line, he came West and located at Fairmont, Minne- sota. He was engaged in various enter- prises, among them being farming, milling and merchandising. He continued his resi- dence in Fairmont until coming to Rock county in 1868.
Mr. Rice was married in 1871 to Miss Nettie A. Nichols, daughter of George S. Nichols. This union is blessed with four liv- ing children-Blanche, Harriet, Lotta and Cecil.
Mr. Rice is one of the prominent capital- ists of Rock county, and besides having in- terested himself largely in various financial projects in and about Luverne, has also given his attention to large investments in other localities. He has become interested in con- siderable property in California, Salt Lake
City and Sioux Falls, Dakota. In all these projects he has been highly successful and is at present the owner of a large amount of valuable real estate. He own some very fine properties in the City of Luverne, having built an elegant residence in 1884, which he has fitted with all modern improvements and surrounded with beautiful shade and orna- mental trees. He has a very pleasant, agree- able family, and is himself a man of excellent social and business qualities. In politics Mr. Rice affiliates with the republican party, is a Mason and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic Post. He is a man possessed of excellent business qualifications, and in whatever lines his attention has been di- rected he has met with merited success.
LON. JOHN PEMBERTON is one of the prosperous farmers of Osborn township, Pipestone county, Minnesota. He was born in Lancaster, Lancashire county, England, April 30, 1829. He was the son of James and Sophia Pemberton. When he was thirteen years of age he came with his mother and one brother, in 1842, to America, and located in the city of Buffalo, in the vicinity of which place they lived for about three years. Our subject found work on a farm for a part of the time, and otherwise worked in a cotton factory in the city. He had worked in this line prior to this time, commencing in the spinning department in a factory in England when he was seven years of age, and continuing in that factory until coming to America at the age of thir- teen. When he was sixteen years old he came with his mother and older brother to Walworth county, Wisconsin, where they settled on a farm and continued their resi- dence until coming to Pipestone county, Minnesota, in 1881. In Walworth county our subject became a man of much promi- nence, and, in company with his brother,
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owned 230 acres of land, well cultivated and well provided with buildings and other ap- purtenances. They were engaged largely in stock raising, at which they met with considerable success. In public affairs Mr. Pemberton occupied a prominent place, and held numerous positions of responsibility in the township in which he lived. For two years he held the position of treasurer, was supervisor for several years, and was a member of the county board of super- visors, being about the same time elected as chairman of the township board. In the fall of 1877 he was elected as a member of the State legislature of Wisconsin, from the Second district of Walworth county. He served his constituents well and ably during one year, and proved himself an able and conscientious official. For six years he also held the position of director of the township insurance company, and in all matters gave of his means and time liberally for the bene- fit of his fellow-citizens.
In October, 1857, Mr. Pemberton was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Mansur, a native of Maine, where she was reared and educated. This lady was a daughter of Da- rius Mansur, a farmer of considerable promi- nence in Wisconsin. Mrs. Pemberton died in the triumphs of Christian faith, December 24, 1SS1. She was an exemplary Christian lady, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. At her death she was fifty years of age. She was buried in the cemetery at Edgerton. Mr. and Mrs. Pemberton were the parents of six children-Ida J., Rose Elizabeth, Minnie A., Charles S., Cassius L. and Arthur J. Ida and Rose are both mar- ried.
The subject of our sketch is a stanch re- publican, having voted with that party ever since its organization. On the organization of the republican party and the nomination of Fremont he joined hands with the sup- porters of republican principles and cast his
ballot for the republican candidate, and since that time he has continually affiliated with the republican party. In February, 1865, he enlisted in the Forty-ninth Wisconsin Volun- teer Infantry as a private, and continued through the balance of the war, being dis- charged as corporal of his company. His discharge was dated November 14, 1865, at Benton Barracks, Missouri. His service was spent principally under Captain A. J. Cheney, who continued as a ranking officer of that company until the close of hostilities between the North and South. Our subject was sta- tioned at St. Louis, and also at Rolla, Mis- souri, and after being discharged returned home to Wisconsin and resumed his former occupation. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 80, of which he is the present adjutant. Mr. Pemberton is a man of good business ability, is thrifty and energetic, and is held in high esteem by all who know him. The circumstances of his early life were such as to practically pre- clude his receiving an education in the schools. His reading, however, has been extensive, and his self-education has been thoroughly carried on. He is a man of broad ideas, practical and progressive, and is one of the leaders in affairs of a public nature in the township in which he resides. He was elected county commis- sioner of Pipestone county in the fall of 1883 for three years, and re-elected in the fall of 1886 for four years; was chairman of the board in 1886, and is chairman of the board at the present time.
- EORGE REES is a retired farmer and influential citizen of Lake Side town- ship, Cottonwood county, Minnesota. He came to the county in 1871, and located his present homestead of ninety-six acres on sec- tion 30, three-fourths of a mile from Win- dom.
Mr. Rees was born in Worcestershire,
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England, June 5, 1817. He was the son of John Rees, a miller by trade, and a native of England, where he died in 1850. Our subject's mother's name was Mary (Jones) Rees, a native of England, and who came to the United States in 1856, locating with her son, our subject, with whom she lived until her death, which occurred in 1864. Both parents were exemplary members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In the father's family there were eleven children, eight of whom grew to man and womanhood-William, John, Phobe, George, James, Walter, Mary and Ann.
The early life of the subject of our sketch was spent in his native land, where he re- ceived a good practical education until nine- teen years of age, in the excellent schools in the vicinity of his parental home. When he reached the age just mentioned our subject engaged in railroading, in which business he continued for eight or ten years. He then followed various occupations until he was thirty-two years old, when, in June, 1849, he came to the United States, locating for a brief time in Newtown, Bucks county, Penn- sylvania. After a few weeks he went to New York State, and there engaged in agri- cultural pursuits for some two years. This period having expired he came West, locating in Winnebago county, Wisconsin, where he lived until 1871. Our subject then came to Cottonwood county, Minnesota, where he became one of the early settlers, there being but five other parties residing in this region at the time of his location.
Mr. Rees was married in April, 1857, to Miss Ruth France, a native of Yorkshire, England, and daughter of Charles France, a farmer, who came to the United States from England in 1821. He settled in Ohio for a few years, and then removed to Winnebago county, Wisconsin, where he died in Feb- ruary, 1865. Mrs. Rees' mother's name was Nancy (Baraclef) France, who died in Eng-
land. In her father's family there were six children-Edward, Alice, Mary, Martha, Ruth and Jonathan. Mr. and Mrs. Rees have six children-Will, Theodore, George, Mary, Celia and Richard, all of whom are married, and have homes of their own, ex- cept one, who lives with the father.
The subject of our sketch has been quite prominent in public matters, and has affiliated with the republican party for some years. He is a man of good character, excellent abilities, and is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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ARTIN A. MAZANY, Polak, is one of the leading and reliable citizens of Lincoln county, Minnesota, and is engaged in the mercantile business at Wilno, where he is also postmaster. Mr. Mazany is the son of Ignatius and Mary (Stupanski) Ma- zany, natives of Cerekwica, State Poznan, County Wongrowiecz, Prussian Poland, where our subject was born October 28, 1860.
The early life of the subject of our sketch was spent with his parents in his native land, where he attended the district school until about eleven years of age. At this time the family emigrated to the United States. There were but two children in the family- our subject and Michael S. Michael S. was born in Slembowo, August 29, 1864. On coming to America with the family he mar- ried, and is now a mail-carrier in Dunkirk, Chautauqua county, New York. When the family came to the United States they stopped in Dunkirk, New York, where they still reside. Our subject, Martin A., made that village liis home until 1884. In that place he attended English school for some two years and then engaged as a gardener for a railroad conductor, continuing with that employer for about a year. Then for a short time he worked for a Mr. Van Buren,
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a general insurance agent, as gardener, after which he found employment for four years as fireman and engineer in William Hepp- ner's tannery at Sinclairville, New York. At the end of that time our subject went to Pittsburgh and found employment in a foun- dry, where he worked for two years. He then engaged as brakcman on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, which line of occupation he followed for about a year. He then removed to Dunkirk and found employment in the Brooks Locomotive Works, where he remained two years. At the end of this period he returned to his em- ployment with the railroad for which he had already worked and continued in their em- ploy about six months, and then commenced an engagement as collector for T. R. Cole- man, banker of Dunkirk, New York, contin- uing with that gentleman until the fall of 1884. At that time he went to South Bend, Indiana, on a brief visit, from whence after two months he went to Stevens' Point, Wis- consin, and spent three months in that place, visiting with a merchant friend. At the end of that time he came to Wilno, Lincoln county, Minnesota, arriving here February 21, 1885. Since coming to the county our subject has identified himself with all inter- ests pertaining to the welfare of the general public and of the business of his own village. He has been quite successful in his various operations, and has accumulated considerable means. He is a man of good character and is respected and esteemed by all who know him.
OSEPH V. MATTHEWS is a farmer by occupation, and resides in Currie, Murray county, Minnesota. He was born in the city of Albany, New York, April 1, 1820. The father of the subject of our sketch was Caleb Matthews, who was born in the State of Vermont, and who emigrat-
ed to New York when he was sixteen years old. He remained in that State for fifteen years, engaged principally in work at the potter's trade. He was not confined in his occupation to the above-named trade, but engaged in various pursuits, among them being that of pump-maker and carpenter, in both of which lines he was quite successful. He finally settled in Chautauqua county, New York, where he died at the advanced age of eighty-four years. He was a respect- ed and representative citizen of the locality in which he lived. The maiden name of the mother of the subject of our sketch was Margaret Salisbury, a native of Schoharie county, New York, where she received her early training and education. She was a resident of the city of Albany at the time of her marriage, and was a consistent and exemplary member of the Free-Will Baptist church. She died some four years after the death of her husband. In the father's fam- ily there were twelve children, of whom our subject was the sixth in order of birth. Eleven of these children grew to man and womanhood-Betsey Elizabeth, Margaret A., Sabina, Mary, Joseph V., Benjamin, Hud- son, Charlotte, Mariam, Andrew Jackson and William H. Daniel died at the age of six months. Mary married J. Preston, and died in the State of New York at twenty- four years of age.
The subject of our sketch resided in the city of Albany with his parents for a short time and then went to Chautauqua county, where he remained until he was thirty-five years old. In the latter county he received his education in the common schools, and at twenty-one years of age commenced working for himself on various farms. Leaving that State he passed, after a brief stay, from Delhi, Delaware county, Iowa, to Roches- ter, Olmsted county, Minnesota, locating in the township of Cascade in 1855, and becom- ing one of the very first settlers of that
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township. Ile plastered the first house that . was built in the village of Cascade, engaging principally in farming until coming to Mur- ray county in 1872. Wherever he has lived the subject of our sketch has taken an active interest in public matters, and has efficiently filled various official positions. In Olmsted county he was a member of the board of supervisors, of which he was the first chair- man, and was also justice of the peace. Since coming to Murray county he has held various positions, and has taken an active interest in matters pertaining to the school district in which he lives. He has a fine farm, provided with good buildings, and the passer-by witnesses the evidences of pros- perity and thrift. A man of good educa- tion, of charitable ideas, he has taken prominent place before the people of his county. Coming in an early day, he has experienced all the trials as well as the triumphs which come to the life of the pioneer settlers. He was a
member of the first grand jury in Olmsted county, where he also officiated as an officer of the first county fair. His life in Murray county has been full of activity in public affairs. He assisted in the organization of Shetek township and held the offices of supervisor, justice of the peace, chairman of the board of supervisors, and various school offices. He left his farm in 1884 and re- moved to the village of Currie, where he is now living a retired life. In politics the subject of our sketch affiliates with the pro- hibition party. He is a loyal member of the Methodist Episcopal church and has been a class-leader in that organization for many years. He is a steward of the church and is also chairman of the executive board. In religious matters he is one of the most active and prominent of Currie's citizens. He is respected as a true citizen and loyal Christian gentleman by all who know him.
Mr. Matthews was united in the bonds of
matrimony September 21, 1844, to Miss Clarissa Chipman, a native of Genesee coun- ty, New York. This lady was reared and educated in Chautauqua county. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews have six children-James, a farmer ; Charles, a real estate dealer in Min- neapolis ; Marvin, a lawyer of Marshall, Minnesota ; Ellen J., now the wife of A. Aendersbe, a butcher and liveryman of Cur- rie; E. T. Matthews, a lawyer at Tracy, Lyon county, Minnesota, and Sidney, who is a law student in the village of Currie.
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EORGE W. DOEG, one of the reliable farmers and stock raisers of Verona township, Faribault county, Minnesota, now lives on section 8. He purchased his place in the spring of 1865, at which time he came to the county on a brief visit. He then re- turned to Wabasha county, Minnesota, where he made his home until 1867, in which year he to came Verona township and settled per- manently. He has striven hard to make his farm one of the best in the county, and has a fine grove of trees and also many varieties of fruit trees, apples, etc. He is one of the earliest settlers, and has always taken an active interest in all matters which tended to improve or develop his locality.
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