Illustrated album of biography of the famous valley of the Red River of the North and the park regions of Minnesota and North Dakota : containing biographical sketches of settlers and representative citizens, Part 34

Author: Alden, Ogle & Company
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Alden, Ogle & Company
Number of Pages: 872

USA > Minnesota > Illustrated album of biography of the famous valley of the Red River of the North and the park regions of Minnesota and North Dakota : containing biographical sketches of settlers and representative citizens > Part 34
USA > North Dakota > Illustrated album of biography of the famous valley of the Red River of the North and the park regions of Minnesota and North Dakota : containing biographical sketches of settlers and representative citizens > Part 34

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).

Our subject remained with his mother, until 1863, on the farm, which he operated until he went into the employ of the old Minne- sota Stage Company, acting as their agent at Winona, St. Paul, New Ulm, St. Peter and other points. He remained in this capacity until 1874, then came to Moorhead and was in the employ of the American Ex- press Company until 1886. At this date he received the appointment from President Grover Cleveland as postmaster at Moorhead, which place he still holds. After his removal to this city he purchased city property and built a handsome residence on Third street.

Mr. Fay was united in marriage to Miss- Annie Fitzgibbon, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio .. She is the daughter of Patrick Fitz gibbon. This union has been blessed by six children-Thomas F., William P. (twins), Edward, Mary, Annie and James.

In politics Mr. Fay is a democrat, always having taken a leading and active part in all matters of public interest. Both he and his estimable wife are members of the Roman Catholic church.

ARRY H. SNELL. Prominent among the editors and publishers of the Red River Valley and Park Regions is the gentle- man whose name heads this biographical sketch, the editor of the Barnesville Review, published at Barnesville, Clay county, Minne- sota. He is a native of Canada, born in Ontario in 1860. He remained in his native land, attending the excellent common schools until he was eighteen years of age. He then commenced in life for himself, and for the . next eight years was in different localities and engaged in various occupations. In 1886 he removed to Breckenridge, Wilkin county, Minnesota, and with Mr. Gunn purchased the Mercury, a weekly paper published at Wah- peton, Dakota Territory. They moved the office to the village of Breckenridge and Mr. Snell remained there operating the paper until September, 1888. He then bought the Review and has since operated this paper at Barnesville. The paper was established in 1883, and, at the time Mr. Snell purchased it, was a democratic organ. He changed the political creed of the paper, making it more of an independent or republican publication. He has materially improved the paper, both in appearance and editorially, andzit has an extensive circulation. It has a circulation of over five hundred copies, and the publisher is rapidly adding to his patronage. The office does a good job and advertising busi- ness, and the paper is recognized as one of the best journals in Clay county.

ON. LUTHER L. BAXTER is judge of the district comprising the coun- ties of Otter Tail, Douglas, Todd, Pope, Stearns, Morrison, Benton, Sherburne and Mille Lacs. He is a native of Cornwall, Vermont, born in 1832, and is the son of Chauncey and Philena (Peet) Baxter, both of whom were natives of the State of Vermont.

298

RED RIVER VALLEY AND

The subject of our sketch was reared on the home farm, receiving a common school education until he was fifteen years of age. At that age he attended the Castleton Semi- nary at Castleton, Vermont, for one year, after which for a period of two years he was a student at Norwich University in that State. At the close of this two years' course he commenced reading law at Middlebury, Vermont, and most of his studies were prose- cuted under the instruction of Judge Horatio Seymour. He continued his studies for three years, and in 1854 was admitted to the bar in the supreme court at Ottawa, Illinois. After his graduation he went to Geneva, Wisconsin, this being in May, 1854, where he engaged in the practice of law, remaining until 1857. In this year he came into the State of Minnesota, settling at Chaska, Carver county, where he engaged in the practice of his profession until the breaking out of the war. He enlisted in Company A, Fourth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteers, receiving a commission as captain. In April, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of major. In the fall of 1862 he resigned his commission and returned to Minnesota, settling in Shakopee. Here he continued in the practice of law until 1864, when he accepted the position of major in the Minnesota Heavy Artillery. Later he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant- colonel, and continued in the service until the close of the war. He saw service in the siege of Corinth, in 1862, and was in the battle of Corinth in the same fall with the Fourth Minnesota. In his last service he participated in the battle of Nashville At the close of the war he returned to Shakopee, where he again commenced the practice of law, in which he continued until 1868. At this time lie removed to Chaska, continuing in the practice of his profession until 1882, when he removed to Fergus Falls, Otter Tail county, Minnesota. In 1858-9 he was judge of probate in Carver county, Minnesota, and

was appointed by Governor Sibley as prose- cuting attorney of the Fourth Judicial dis- trict. In 1863 and part of 1864 he was prosecuting attorney of Scott county, Min- nesota. In 1878-9 he was county attorney of Carver county. In 1864 he was elected sen- ator from Scott county and held that office until 1869. From 1869 to 1883, with the exception of the three years, 1876, '77 and '78, he was a member of the house or senate from Carver county, holding continuous office in the upper or lower branch of the legislature during that entire time. In March, 1885, he was appointed to his present judi- cial office, and in the fall of 1886 was elected thereto.

On the 10th day of September, 1856, Judge Baxter was married to Miss Emma Ward, of Geneva, Wisconsin, by whom he has one liv- ing child, Chauncey L., an attorney, located at Perham, Minnesota. Mrs. Baxter died on the 4th of June, 1872. His second marriage was to Miss Barbara Duchs, of Chaska, Min- nesota, by whom he has one living child, Bertha. His third marriage was to Miss Emma Child, of Glencoe, Minnesota.

Judge Baxter is a democrat in politics, is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the G. A. R. He has considerable money invested in Fergus Falls, owning a fine resi- dence in which he lives, besides other houses which he has rented. The judge is a man of marked legalability, genial, warm-hearted and social as a man, before whom all attorneys in the district like to practice, feeling that at all times their cases and themselves will receive just and proper consideration at his hands. In all his adjudications of cases that are brought before him he has been fair and impartial, and is without doubt one of the ablest of the judiciary of the State of Min- nesota. Although a democrat politically, he is not an offensive partisan, as will be seen by the fact that, although a democrat, he was elected to his office by the franchises of

299

PARK REGIONS OF MINNESOTA.

many republicans. As a man he is honored and esteemed in his home, and as a judge is respected throughout the district.

SA H. SNOW, retired, is a resident of Wahpeton, Richland county, North Dakota. He is a native of Pomfret, Wind- sor county. Vermont, where he was born July 26, 1823.

Mr. Snow's parents were Martin and Lydia (Hayes) Snow, the former a native of Pom- fret, and the latter of Windsor county, Ver- mont. Martin's parents were Samuel and Betsey (Perkins) Snow, natives of Bridge- water, Massachusetts, and farmers by occu- pation. Samuel's parents were Jonathan and Sarah Snow, the former being the son of Willian and Rebecca Snow. William Snow was born in England, in about 1624, and came to America in 1637, settling at West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He was one of the pioneers of the United States, and no doubt the entire Snow family in America came from this stock. Lydia Hayes, the mother of the subject of our sketch, was the daugh- ter of Philemon Hayes, a native of Sharon, Vermont, and of English descent. He wasa farmer by occupation, as were most of the ancestors of the Snow family. Martin and Lydia Snow had a family of four children, two of whom are now living - Eliza, now Mrs. Hewett, and Asa H., whose name ap- pears at the head of this sketch.

The subject of our sketch remained at home during his early life and was given excellent educational advantages. At four- teen he went to the military academy at Nor- wich, Vermont, from which institution he graduated in 1842. He then went to Mary- land and taught school for three years, removing at the end of that time to Boston, where he engaged in clerking off and on for ten years. Three years of this time, how-

ever, was spent more or less in gold mining in California. From Boston he went to Man- chester, where he engaged principally in clerking for two years. He then returned to Vermont, where he remained some three years. In June, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company D, Ninth Regiment, Vermont Volunteer Infantry, and remained in the ser- vice for three years. He was engaged in a num- ber of severe battles and was taken prisoner at Harper's Ferry, but was soon released. May 24, 1863, he was commissioned second lieutenant of his company, and for some time was provost marshal on detached duty in North Carolina. After the close of the war he returned to Vermont, locating soon after in Claremont, New Hampshire, where he engaged in the lumber business for ten years. From thence he went to Ilion, New York, where he remained in the employ of the Remingtons for eighteen months. He then removed to 'Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he engaged in clerking for four years. In 1880 he came to Wahpeton, North Da- kota, where he has resided ever since. For two years he clerked in the register of deeds' office, and then for five years worked in the treasurer's office, since which he has lived a retired life. He built his present residence on the corner of Pembina avenue and Fifth street. He was town clerk one year and has held other minor positions. Mr. Snow is a man of wide travel and extensive reading and is held in high esteem by his fellow- townsmen.

In 188% Mr. Snow was united in marriage to Mrs. Charlotte Cummings, daughter of Eben H. and Mercy (Brewer) Russell, na- tives of Windsor, Vermont. Her father was engaged extensively in farming. Her parents had a family of twelve children, four of whom are now living - Mrs. Snow, Ellen, now Mrs. Taylor; Melissa, now Mrs. Downer, and Belle, now Mrs. Billings. Mr. Snow has one son, Clarence A., who mar-

300

RED RIVER VALLEY AND

ried Jennie Dickerson. Mrs. Snow had two children by her former husband-Frank E., married to Miss Flora Taylor, and Herbert A. Mrs. Snow is one of the leading ladies of the city and is a consistent member of the Congregational church. She is also a mov- ing spirit in the Ladies' Aid Society.

Mr. Snow has been thrifty and economi- cal throughout his career and has laid by a good competency, and has now retired front active business to enjoy the blessings of a well-spent and useful life.

- K. OLSON, one of the prominent and leading citizens of Crookston, Min- nesota, is engaged in the sale of watches, clocks, jewelry, silverware, etc., in that city. He is one of the pioneers of this portion of the Red River Valley, having located on a farm in this county in May, 1873.

Mr. Olson is a native of Norway, born in 1836. Receiving his education in his youth in the excellent schools of his native land, he made his home in that land until he had attained the age of twenty-two years. Although the country of his birth has more liberty than any other in Europe, still the chances for the amelioration of his condition were far from satisfactory to him, and he determined, in 1858, that in the New World he would seek that fortune that seemed so difficult to overtake in his native land. Em- barking, he crossed the wide ocean, with many other adventurous emigrants, and upon landing upon the shores of the Great Republic, started at once for Minnesota. Locating in Fillmore county, he there found employment upon various farms, and resided there until 1864, when, in response to a call for more men to help suppress the unholy rebellion waged against "the best govern- ment the sun ever shone on," in June he enlisted in Company B, Fourth Minnesota

Infantry, and after being duly mnstered into the service of the United States, was forwarded, as a recruit, to the regiment in the field, which was then at Allatoona Pass, Georgia. With the gallant body of men of which he was a member, he participated in the unparalleled march through Georgia and the Carolinas, to the sea, under that matchless leader, W. T. Sherman, and played a valiant part in the various engagements of that glorious campaign. After taking part in the grand review at the National Capital, in 1865, at the close of the hostili- ties between the two sections of the coun- try, Mr. Olson was sent with the regiment to Louisville, Kentucky, and after waiting there for seven weeks, was transferred to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, at which place he was honorably discharged from the service, July 19, 1865.

On returning to the duties of peace, he located in Houston county, Minnesota, where he purchased a farm and settled down to agricultural pursuits. There he remained until 1871, when he sold his property and removed to Rushford, Fillmore county. In the latter village he made his home until 1873, when, hearing of the fertile soil and excellent advantages of the far-famed Red River Valley, he came hither in search of a new home.

On his arrival in this vicinity, the subject of this sketch settled in the neighborhood of Crookston, where he remained some eigh- teen months, after which he removed to Fisher, and there kept the boarding place for the men in the employ of B. Sampson, the railroad contractor for grading at that point. Several years was he thus employed, but in 1879 he settled on a claim which he had taken in 1874, about four and a half miles west of the village of Carman, Minne- sota, where he again resumed the cultivation of the soil. In 1882 he abandoned his agri- cultural labors and removed to the city of

30I

PARK REGIONS OF MINNESOTA.

Crookston and established his present jew- elry establishment, and has continued in that business ever since.

Mr. Olson is a respected and honored member of Cobham Post, No. 90, G. A. R., and one of the officers of that organization.

EORGE M. FABER, retired merchant, is a resident of Fergus Falls, Otter Tail county, Minnesota. He is a native of Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, and was · born December 14, 1827.

Mr. Faber is the son of George and Eliza- beth (Reinoehl) Faber. His parents were natives of Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, the father being a boot and shoe-maker by trade, but during the latter part of his life turned his attention to farming, in which occupation he continued until at sixty-five years of age, when he moved into Lebanon City. In that place he lived a retired life until his death in 1871. The mother died in 1880. The father was a democrat in politics ; a man of large ideas and extensive reading. He and his wife were members of the Luth- eran church, in which society the father was deacon and elder for many years. They had a family of five children,. two of whom are now living-Lucetta, and the subject of our sketch.

George M. Faber, whose name appears at the head of this sketch, spent his younger days on the farm attending school until seventeen years of age. He then commenced clerking in different business houses, con- tinuing in this line for ten years. When he was about twenty-seven years of age he engaged in the mercantile business for him- "self at Lebanon City, Pennsylvania. He built up a large and extensive business and continued in the same during 1867, when he sold out and started westward, coming

to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he en- gaged as clerk until 1869. At this time he went to Osakis in Douglas county, Minnesota, leaving his family in St. Paul. He took land in Todd county and improved it to a considerable extent, and at the same time was engaged in clerking in Osakis, where he remained until the fall of 1870. In November of that year he came to Fer- gus Falls, and soon after sent for his family, who joined him at that place. At this time there were only two log houses in Fergus Falls. In 1872 he put up a building nearly opposite to where the Parker hotel now stands, the building being twenty two by twenty-eight feet and two stories high ; the First National Bank did business in this building on the first floor, Mr. Faber living overhead. This was the first bank at Fer- gus Falls. The building was burned in 1876 and was the scene of the first fire in the city of Fergus Falls. This was quite a loss to the town because of the fact that this was the best building in the city at that time. Mr. Faber went to Winnipeg in 1875 and re- mained until 1878, and during his residence there was engaged as clerk in a large mer- cantile house. Returning to Fergus Falls, he engaged as clerk for six years and was also a clerk at Wahpeton, Dakota, and other places, but made his home at Fergus Falls. He built his present fine residence in 1882, on the south side of the river. He owns considerable city property, somne of which is quite valuable, namely, two lots on the corner of Lincoln avenue and Court street and several lots on Vernon ave- nue. Mr. Faber is a democrat in politics, and, although not offensive in his partisan- ship, stands firmly upon the principles of the democratic party. He is well read on the current events of the day, is a man of broad ideas and takes a leading place among the wealthy men of the city of Fergus Falls.

302

RED RIVER VALLEY AND

Mr. Faber was married in 1853 to Miss Louisa E. Siegrist, the daughter of Jacob and Louisa (Roland) Siegrist, natives of Leb- anon county, Pennsylvania. Her father was engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes, and they both lived in their native State until their death, which occurred,-the father's in 1848 and the mother's in 1874. They had five children - Mrs. Faber, Mrs. Sallie Beckwith. George W., who died at six years of age, Mary M. and Mrs. Emma Rauch. Mr. Siegrist was a democrat in poli- tics, and he and his family were members of the Lutheran church. Mr. and Mrs. Fa- ber have had five children, three of whom are now living-Alice A., now the wife of Mr. Brandenburg, the sheriff of Otter Tail county ; Laura L., now Mrs. Barcalow ; and George W. Alice A. was the first American young lady in the city of Fergus Falls, and Lake Alice, now in the city limits, was named after her by the mill men.

Many interesting stories are told by Mrs. Faber of the early days in this country. Some of them are interesting because of the curiosity they inspire, and others because of the terrible character of the suffering and exposure described. She tells of the death of a child about two miles from town, that there were no boards out of which to make a coffin and a rude box was made (if it can be called a box) out of rails, and when this rude coffin was placed in the grave the spectators could see the body of the child through the spaces between the rails. With others, the Faber family passed through much suffering in those early days, and were deprived of many of the real neces- saries of life. It is related that during the first spring the families of Fergus Falls were practically out of food, having only a few poor onions and a small quantity of milk from one cow. About this time the buffalo fish began running in the streams up towards the lakes, and the members of the family

succeeded in catching some of these fish. Having this meat from the buffalo fish they were able to make what was facetiousły called buffalo soup, which was a conglomera- tion of onions, milk and buffalo fish meat. Although this would seem to some to be a very unsavory mess, yet at the same time it was heartily enjoyed and joyously appre- ciated by the families of that place. Mrs. Faber states that the reality is not appre- ciated by people who know nothing of pioneer life. None but those who have per- sonally been through these scenes and ex- periences can know what they are. She has seen the bodies of two persons who were frozen to death, and has witnessed many other harrowing scenes. She with her hus band had left a beautiful home in the East, a home with all the comforts that heart could wish, surrounded with warm, loving friends, and then to come to this new coun- try and experience all the privations that necessarily surround the pioneer life, seemed for a time more than she could bear. But after all these hardships had passed and had become part of the bygone, she can say, as she looks back upon it, that, after all, there has been more or less pleasure, and the sting of these hard trials and hard times is re- moved when she sees that now she is sur- rounded with kind friends, has a beautiful home, and is in a prosperous city which has been built upon the ruin of these pioneer days.

OBERT BAIN, one of the represent- ative and substantial farmers of the Red River valley, is a resident of section 9, Fisher township, Polk county, Minnesota. Born in the suburbs of Glasgow, Scotland," he comes of that sturdy, determined Scotch race which has made the best citizens in the population of the Northwest, a race pro-

303

PARK REGIONS OF MINNESOTA.

verbial for their industry, integrity, economy and genial, hospitable temperament, for it is an old and true saying that "no man goes hungry from a Scotchman's door." The date of Robert Bain's birth was May 20, 1818. His parents were John and Isabella (McDonald) Bain, who were also natives of Scotland. The father was a carpenter. Both parents are long since deceased.

Robert Bain, whose name heads this arti- cle, spent his childhood in Scotland, and in 1827 came to America with his parents, who settled about seventy miles from Ottawa, Canada, where they were among the first

settlers. The country was very new and the pioneers had to endure many hardships and perils. It was a heavily timbered country and a great deal of hard labor was necessary before a farm was cleared large enough in extent to support the family. Robert Bain was engaged chiefly at farming in Canada, although he also followed coopering to some cxtent. He was married in Canada in 1842 and remained until 1849 in the neighborhood where his parents had located. He then removed to Perth county, and located on the banks of the river Thames. There he lived until 1868, when he came to Minne- sota and settled in Fremont, Winona county. For ten years he lived on a rented farm and then bought a farm in an Irish settlement near Winona. He finally, in 1878, sold out and came to Polk county, Minnesota, where he purchased all of section 12, in Lowell township. There he lived for two years, although the first land he worked belonged to Judge Stearns. At the expiration of that time he purchased 240 acres where he now lives, on section 9, Fisher township, and now owns 510 acres in all, a good share of which is under a high state of cultivation. He has comfortable and tasty building im- provements, and the farm is one of the most · valuable in the vicinity, as it includes both prairie and timber land.

The marriage of Mr. Bain occurred August 3, 1842, in Lanark county, Canada, when he wedded Barbara Furgerson, a na- tive of Scotland, and a daughter of Duncan and Barbara (Currie) Furgerson. Mr. and Mrs. Bain are the parents of the following children-John, Barbara, Duncan, Robert, Isabella G., James and Donald. John is engaged in farming in Winona county, Min- nesota. Barbara lives in Mallory. Duncan is a farmer near Mallory. Robert lives in Fisher, where he is engaged in the lumber business in company with C. P. Mallory. Isabella lives in Winona county, Minne- sota. James is a farmer and lives in Fisher. Donald is the only son who is still at home.

EORGE KETCHAM. In glancing over the biographies of the many in- cumbents of the county offices in the differ- ent counties comprised in the famous Park Regions of Minnesota, it will be seen that American-born citizens furnish a large part of the persons who fill their responsible posi- tions with satisfaction to all parties con- cerned. The subject of this article is the present incumbent of the office of county at- torney of Grant county, Minnesota, to which position he was elected in 1884, and re-elected in 1886 and 1888. He is a native of Mich- igan, born in Cass county on the 9th day of January, 1850, and is the son of Samuel and Abigail (Pullman) Ketchum, natives of New York State. The father of our subject was a Baptist preacher, and is now living at the advanced age of eighty-one years. The mother of the present subject died in Feb- ruary, 1888, at the age of seventy-five years. They were the parents of the following named children-Franklin, Lewis, George, and Elizabeth. The two first named are deceased, having died in infancy.

304

RED RIVER VALLEY AND

Mr. Ketcham attended school in his native State and graduated from the Hillsdale Col- lege in 1873. He then decided to enter the profession of law, and accordingly studied two years under Judge Coolidge and was admitted to the bar. He then commenced the practice of his profession at Cassopolis, Cass county, Michigan, and devoted his en- tire time to it for seven years. In 1882 he removed to Grant county, Minnesota, and on settling there at once engaged in the law business. 2

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Illustrated album of biography of the famous valley of the Red River of the North and the park regions of Minnesota and North Dakota : containing biographical sketches of settlers and representative citizens, Part 34

Author: Alden, Ogle & Company Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Alden, Ogle & Company Number of Pages: 872

Author: Alden, Ogle & Company
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Alden, Ogle & Company
Number of Pages: 872