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 73
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The subject of our sketch spent his younger days on the home farm and received his early training in Canada. On becoming of age he engaged in farming for himself and followed the same for seven years. At the end of that time he sold out and purchased another farm of one hundred acres near the city of London, where he engaged in farming for about seventeen years. He then sold out and removed to Strathroy, where he resided for two years. Then, in 1886, he came to Pipestone county and made his settlement, as stated in the opening lines of this sketch.
Mr. Orvis was united in marriage, in 1862, to Miss Miriam Linton, a native of Canada. She was the daughter of Isaac and Mary (Stavely) Linton, both natives of England. In about 1840 her parents came to America, and settled in Canada, where the father fol-
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lowed the boot and shoe business until his death, which occurred in 1847. The mother is still residing in Canada. In the Linton family there were five children : Isaac, Eliza, William, Miriam (now Mrs. Orvis) and John. The parents of this family were exemplary Christians and leading members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Orvis have two children: Charles W. and Mary E., both of whom have been thoroughly educated in a collegiate institution.
The subject of our sketch is a republican in politics, and himself and wife are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which our subject is a member of the board of trustees. He is a man of excellent judg- ment, a systematic farmer, and is one of the substantial citizens of Pipestone county. Of the farm where he now resides he owns eighty acres and his son about 120, Mr. Orvis, Sr., working the place.
= ICHARD KENNEN, a thrifty and prosperous farmer and stock-raiser of Ash Lake township, Lincoln county, Minne- sota, homesteaded his present land on the northeast quarter of section 28, September 16, 1879. He was one among the early set- tlers of the township, and took an active in- terest in public affairs connected with the organization and establishment of the local government. He commenced operations by building a small house, 12x16 feet, with ten- foot posts, and also a sod stable, 10x16 feet. This stable accommodated his stock for about two years, when he put up a good barn. The first work he did during the summer was to put up hay to the amount of about ten tons. He also planted about half a bushel of corn. This was done by cutting holes in the sod with an ax and dropping the corn into the holes thus made. This manner of planting prevented the gophers from de- stroying the corn before it sprouted. The
first year brought our subject his first mis- fortune. After having stacked his hay, a prairie fire, which had been started by Rev. Mr. Wilson, destroyed his hay and came near destroying his house, too. His dwelling was partly completed, and in order to save it our subject had to plow a couple of furrows around the house some distance away. Mr. Kennen continued improving his farm, and the next year had four acres of a wheat crop, harvesting therefrom twenty-five bushels to the acre. He had also quite a quantity of potatoes and other crops. In 1880 he set out quite a grove of trees, cottonwood, etc., about his house.
Mr. Kennen was born in Upper Canada, September 15, 1852. His parents were James and Sarah (Moffett) Kennen, natives of the northern part of Vermont. They were farmers by occcupation, and went to Canada in an early day. The mother died when our subject was about eight years old. In the father's family there were eight chil- dren-Anna, Mary, John, Jennie, Lizzie, Maggie, Richard and James. The first three are now dead. The parents were exem- plary members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Richard Kennen's early life, up to ten years of age, was spent by him in Canada, where he received his early education. When he was eight years of age, at the death of his mother, he went to live with his uncle, Richard Kennen, who had a family of twelve children. Our subject lived with this uncle some two years when he began to think that he was in the way. He brooded over this matter for some time and finally con- cluded to run away. He went to the station and wandered about the trains with his mind filled with an indefinite idea that by means of these cars he might reach some place where he was not in the way. He was told gruffly by several parties to stay away from the train, but he persisted and
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finally climbed up on the cow-catcher of the engine and rode to a place called Caledonia, where he hired out to a farmer and continued in that occupation for about two years. He was not well taken care of, however, was seriously abused and received no money remuneration for his work. So when two years had ex- pired he went to an adjoining town, having been in hiding during the previous day in a hollow log. Reaching the village he re- mained in that vicinity for some three years, employed in work on a farm. When three years had expired he went back to where he was born in Canada, and during the sum- mers, for some years, worked on a farm, and in the winter found employment in driving oxen in the pine woods. This occupied his time until coming to Lincoln county, Minne- sota, in 1879.
Mr. Kennen was married September 18, 1879, to Miss Mary A. Marcellus. The wed- ding ceremony was performed by Rev. Wil- son, mentioned in the early part of this sketch as having started a prairie fire which proved very destructive to the property of our subject. Mary Marcellus was a native of Dundas county, Upper Canada, where she was born April 8, 1846. She was the daughter of Gerred L. Marcellus, an old settler of Diamond Lake township, Lincoln county, of whom a biography is given in another de- partment of this work. Miss Marcellus was reared in Canada until eighteen years of age, when she came with her parents to Minnesota, locating at Northfield, where she received her education. Mr. and Mrs. Kennen have one adopted son, Albert W. J.Mrs. Kennen is an exemplary Christian lady, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
EMUEL P. RICHARDSON is a lead- ing farmer and stock-raiser of Selma township, Cottonwood county, Minnesota. He is the son of Thomas and Rachel Rebecca
(Smith) Richardson, natives of New York. Our subject was born in Brasier Falls, New York, November 9, 1848.
When our subject was five years of age, the family moved to Berlin, Wisconsin, the mother dying after they had resided there a year. The father then bound our subject out to a Mr. Randall, with whom he lived a number of years. Mr. Randall lost his wife, married again, and again lost the second wife, and then broke up housekeeping, which obliged our subject to find a home with a brother, E. M. Randall. Our subject resided with this gentleman for two years, and then ran away and returned to his father's home, where he stayed for two years. Three years longer were spent in farm work for two farmers in his locality. He then purchased a team and wagon and came to Selma town- ship, Cottonwood county, Minnesota, in 1871, locating 160 acres of land as a pre-emp- tion. He soon paid for one-half of this land and homesteaded the other half. The first year he was here he did some breaking and the second year had a good crop. The third year the grasshoppers came and partially in- jured his crops. Since that time he has done fairly well and has accumulated considerable means, becoming quite well to do. In 1876 he sowed no crop, the following summer putting in a small acreage near Sleepy Eye. In 1877 he had a large yield. In 1878 he had heavy straw, but no grain to speak of on account of blight. For his wheat he ob- tained thirty-five cents a bushel.
Mr. Richardson was married in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, March 16, 1876, to Miss Edna A. Larrabee, daughter of Alvah S. and Amy (Humphry) Larrabee, natives of New York and Vermont. This lady was born in Winnebago county, Wisconsin, April 27, 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson have been blessed with the following children-Myrtle, Grace, Bert and Celia.
No man in the township takes a more act- ive part in public matters than does cur
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subject. He has been assessor and has held about all the township offices, and has been school clerk ever since the organization of the district. Commencing life as a poor orphan boy, he has by perseverance and continuous labor risen to extensive influence in his township, and has surrounded himself with circumstances betokening prosperity and success in life. On first coming to the township he was six miles from the nearest neighbor, and settled on the bare prairie. His home is now surrounded by a large grove of trees of his own planting. Mr. Richardson is a man of strong opinions, intelligent and progressive in his ideas, and is highly re- spected.
Richard Kennen is one of the representa- tive citizens of Lincoln county, and is as well one of the most prominent and well-to-do citizens of his township. He has been highly successful in the management of his farm, and has accumulated considerable means. He has excellent lands, under good cultiva- tion, and his farm is well supplied with good buildings. In politics he affiliates with the republican party, and has held several posi- tions of responsibility in the gift of his fel- low-citizens. While in Canada he was a member of the Orange lodge and also of the society of Young Britains, and wherever he has resided he has taken a prominent place among the people. He is a man of good character, excellent abilities, and is respected by all with whom he comes in contact.
IMON F. STILSON is one of the best known citizens of the immediate vi- cinity of Jasper village, Pipestone county, Minnesota. The most of the town of Jas- per is built on the farm owned by Mr. Stil- son, and he has therefore been doubly inter- ested in the development of the locality in which he resides. He located on his farm of 160 acres in 1880, and at once commenced
making first-class improvements. He is a thorough and therefore a successful farmer, and has surrounded himself with the evi- dences of prosperity. He is the proprietor of the Stilson addition to the village.
Our subject is a native of Pennsylvania, where he was born in the year 1819. He was reared in the family of a farmer, his father following that occupation during the most of his life. The parents were, by name, Jacob and Marinda (Taylor) Stilson. Our subject came to the State of Indiana in the year 1829, at a time when there were but three white men in a large scope of country in the vicinity of South Bend. Con- tinuing in that locality some five years, he then removed to Illinois. Thence, after a nine years' residence, he returned to Indiana. In 1850 he went to California, where, for four years, he worked in the gold mines and prospected among the mountains. Returning to Indiana he remained a short time, and then came to Minnesota, locating in Fillmore county, where he engaged in farming until coming to Pipestone county in the year 1880.
Mr. Stilson was united in marriage June 8, 1845, to Miss Nancy Henson, a native of Virginia, and a daughter of John and Eliz- abeth (Smith) Henson. By this union there have been ten children, seven of whom are now living - Martha E., now Mrs. Vicker- man ; Frances M., John, Mahala (also a Mrs. Vickerman), Alice, James and Schuyler.
The gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch is a man of wide in- fluence in the locality in which he resides. His has been a long and checkered career, but it has not been devoid of success, nor of those things which bring honor and respect- ability in old age. Our subject has lived a long life of usefulness, and now enjoys a high degree of prosperity, which has come to him by virtue of his honorable life. He has been a successful farmer and pioncer of
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the Western country, and gold-miner of Cal- ifornia, and wherever he has been, he has drawn to himself the respect and esteem of all with whom he has associated. He owns an excellent dwelling in Jasper.
DWARD J. JAEGER, one of the prominent farmers of Bondin town- ship, Murray county, Minnesota, is the son of John P. and Mary A. (Durr) Jaeger, na- tives of Germany. He was born in Milwau- kee, Wisconsin, August 4, 1853.
In 1855, the family removed to Winnebago county, Wisconsin, where our subject re- mained with them, assisting in work on the farm and being given a good common-school education until he was eighteen years of age. At this time he learned the cooper's trade at Waukau, still returning home to assist his father during the harvest time until he be- came of age. On reaching twenty-one years of age our subject went with his brother, William W., to Berlin, where they purchased a cooper shop and operated it for five years. He then sold out to his brother and went to Neenah, where he purchased a dwelling and followed coopering until 1884, when he sold out and came to Murray county, Minnesota, and bought 160 acres of land on the south- west quarter of section 12, Bondin township. Here he built a good frame house and barn and has made that his home ever since. He has an excellent farm with about seventy- seven acres under cultivation. He also owns five horses and five head of cattle. When our subject began work for himself he had nothing, but by hard work and economical habits he has acquired all that he now has, and is in very comfortable circumstances. Mr. Jaeger has always taken an active inter- est in public matters of his township and county and has held the office of township supervisor one year, and chairman of the board of supervisors for one year in Bondin
township. While in Neenah, Wisconsin, he was on the police force. Mr. Jaeger is a man of good character and is an upright and reliable citizen.
November 15, 1876, the subject of our sketch was married to Miss Emma A. Morri- son, daughter of John W. and Louisa (Dun- ton) Morrison, natives of Vermont. Miss Morrison was born in Winnebago county, Wisconsin, October 26, 1853. Her marriage also took place in that county, in the town of Omro. This union has been blessed with three children-Neil, Thadius, and Phillip.
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EORGE L. RICKERMAN, a pros- perous farmer of Grange township, Pipestone county, Minnesota, resides on sec- tion 22, where he owns a good farm of 160 acres. Mr. Rickerman is of German birth, having first seen the light of day in Baden, Germany, November 12, 1843. His parents were also natives of Germany, and were George L. and Leaner (Calbruner) Ricker- man. The family came to America in 1847, landed in New York City, and from thence went by way of the Erie canal and lake route to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A sad mis- fortune overtook the family while on this trip in that the mother was drowned at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The circumstances of her death were somewhat as follows: During the trip she was quite sick while the family were going up the Erie canal. The accident occurred at Milwaukee. It was nearly dark. Little thinking of the awful death that was before her, she started to walk on the dock to the shore. Suddenly the father and family, who were near at hand, heard a scream, and rushing forward found themselves stopped on the edge of the dock from which the mother had been plunged in the waters below. There they stood gazing into the thick darkness, but without result; no sight or sound of the
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mother could be obtained, and it became so intensely dark that search for the body was given up until the next day. The following day the body of the mother was found, and the family stopped long enough to lay the remains away in their final rest- ing place. The family located at Rome, Jefferson county, Wisconsin, where the father purchased a piece of wild land and engaged in farming. He remained on that farm until his death in 1874.
The subject of our sketch cast his fortune with those of his father until late in the summer of 1864. Up to this time he had been occupying his time with work on the farm and in attending the district school as much as practicable during the winter months of each year. In September, 1864, he enlisted in Company C, Sixteenth Wis- consin Volunteer Infantry, and was dis- charged in June, 1865. His military life, although short, was full of privations, such as were experienced by nearly all volunteer soldiers. He was with Sherman on the march from Atlanta to the sea. He was sent from the Oka river to Beauford, South Carolina, where he became an inmate of the hospital and where he remained until sent to the U. S. Grant hospital in New York. Af- ter six weeks he was again sent to the front and remained with his regiment until the close of the war, being mustered out of the service at the city of Washington. Soon af- ter he returned to his former home in Wis- consin. In 1866 he removed to Monroe county, same State, purchased a farm and engaged in farming on his own account. His residence in Monroe county was continued until 1884, when he went to Mauston, Juneau county, Wisconsin, and engaged in teaming for about four years. He then came to Pipestone county and purchased a farni where he now lives. He has 160 acres of good land and is successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising.
Mr. Rickerman was united in marriage April 23, 1864, to Jane Roassler, a daughter of John N. Roassler. Mr. and Mrs. Ricker- man have been blessed with five children- Adelia, Emma, Elmer, Cora and Oliver, all of whom, except Emma, are still living.
The residence of the subject of our sketch in Grange township has as yet been brief, but he has proven himself an exemplary citizen and a man in whom much reliance can be placed. He has a thorough common- school education, is intelligent and widely read, and has a pleasant home. In the de- tails of his farming interests he has been quite successful. In politics he affiliates with the republican party, and is a leading mem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is also identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and has a hearty sym- pathy with all the movements tending to the betterment of the condition of the labor- ing man.
ENNISON S. GREENMAN is a well- to-do farmer of Shetek township, Murray county, Minnesota, where he located . a homestead on section 20, in about 1870. His settlement was made, however, three years previously, in 1867. At this time there were but four other settlers in the county : D. Haddock, Thomas Ireland and Messrs. Aldrich and Marsh. Our subject was the third to locate in the town. He commenced active operations, breaking ten acres and putting up a considerable amount of hay, and residing in a log house which was built by a man by the name of Myers some time before the Indian massacre. Throughout the succeeding years our subject worked hard to make bis place one of the best in the township, and at this he has met with success. He owns an excellent farm under good cultivation and well provided with farm buildings. He was one of the
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very first settlers of the township, and under- went all the usual privations that come to the pioneer life. His market and postoffice were about seventy-five miles distant, at New Ulm. Many trips were made to this place under favorable circumstances, and more often under unfavorable circumstances. Mr. Greenman assisted in the organization of the township, and has held the office of school director of district No. 11 since its organization, holding that position at the present time. He has actively participated in all matters of a public nature, and has held various other local offices with great honor and credit. His farm is beautifully located on the shores of Lake Fremont, where his buildings are surrounded with a large grove of natural timber.
Mr. Greenman was born in Niagara county, New York, May 12, 1832. He was the son of William Greenman, a native of the State of New York, where for some years he followed agricultural pursuits. Re- moving from New York, the father settled in Illinois, whence, later, he went to Wis- consin, where he died. The mother's maiden name was Jane J. Johnson, a native of Ver- mont, where she was reared and educated. In the father's family there were ten chil- dren-Electa, Henry, Dennison C., James, John, Sarah, Mary, William, Alanson and Samuel.
Our subject followed his parents in their various moves from his native State to Illi- nois and thence to Wisconsin, receiving the educational advantages furnished by the district schools in those different States. He remained with his parents in Illinois some six years, and then located with them in Walworth county, Wisconsin, whence at the age of fifteen he went to Winnebago county. In March, 1865, he enlisted as a private in Company C, Fifty-third Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He was stationed at De Soto, Missouri, and for some time was
sick and in the hospital at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was discharged June 1, 1865. After his discharge he returned to Winne- bago county, Wisconsin, and in May of the following year came to Murray county Minnesota, where he has since lived. Many misfortunes have fallen to his lot, but he has kept steadily at work, and in spite of all these backsets is now in good circum- stances.
Mr. Greenman was married December 29, 1855, to Miss Emily Cook, who was born in Rutland county, Vermont, April 14, 1836. Her parents were Nicholas and Jemima (Maston) Cook, the former a native of Ver- mont, and the later a native of Maine. Her family emigrated to Wisconsin in an early day, where the father died in 1880. The mother died in Wisconsin in June, 1863. The parents were exemplary Christian people, and at their death were influential members of the Free-Will Baptist church. In the Cook family there were ten children- Mary, Harriet, Levi, Uriah, Caroline, Moses, Elzina, Leonard, Emily and Lydia. All of these are dead now except Emily, Uriah, Moses and Leonard. A biography of Moses is given in another department of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Greenman have seven children -- Orville, Ida, Charles, Bert, Frankie, Carrie and Willis.' Ida married Douglas Craig, who resided on a farm a short distance north of Tracy, Lyon county, this State.
The subject of our sketch is perhaps one of the best known and most influential citi- zens of the township. Having made his location in an early day, he has become in- timately associated with the history of the township and county, and has always been a willing supporter of all projects which tended toward the development of his locality. In religious matters he is an earnest worker, and with one son belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which society our sub- ject is a class-leader.
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ATTHEW M. GUNSOLUS is a reliable and prosperous farmer lo- cated in the southwest quarter of section twenty-eight, Osborn township, Pipestone county, Minnesota. Forty acres of this farm is located within the corporate limits of the village of Edgerton. Our subject came to Pipestone county in the fall of 1878, filed a soldier's warrant on his land and has made that his residence ever since. Our subject's family was the second to locate in the town- ship and make a permanent residence. Others had come to the township prior to this time, but only one family had preceded Mr. Gunsolus in making a permanent settle- ment. Our subject is the oldest living resi- dent settler of the township. His present dwelling-house, which is the best in the township, was built in 1883, and since that time he has been constantly adding to the improvements of his farm. He was one of the organizers of the county and the town- shi , and was one of the leaders in the first township meeting, which was held in the first school-house built in the town. Ever since making his location in the township Mr. Gunsolus has been intimately identified with all matters of a public nature and has filled numerous official positions. His principal occupation has been that of farming, although considerable of his attention has been given to stock raising and dairying. He has a fine herd of Durham and Jersey cattle, and in 1888 his dairy turned out 1,600 pounds of cheese, all of which was disposed of in the home market.
Mr. Gunsolus is a native of Montgomery county, New York, where he was born De- cember 12, 1833. He was the son of Matthew Emanuel and Sarah Jane Gunsolus. The father was a farmer by occupation and made his home in the State of New York through- out most of his life. He died June 13, 1886, in Steuben county, New York. The father was seventy-three years old when he died,
and had been for many years a conscientious member of the Methodist Episcopal church. The subject of our sketch and his son at- tended his father during his last illness in answer to notification by telegram of the father's sickness unto death. The mother passed from this life in 1870. She was sixty- nine years of age at her death. In the father's family there were eight children- John Henry, Susan, George, Catharine, Mary, Tunis, Joseph and our subject .. Of these there are but two living at the present time Matthew and his sister Susan.
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