The History of Redwood County, Minnesota, Volume II, Part 9

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1916
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 702

USA > Minnesota > Redwood County > The History of Redwood County, Minnesota, Volume II > Part 9

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WILLIAM MACK AND FAMILY

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1853, locating at Chicago, where he remained one year. He then moved to Brown county, Minnesota, where he bought 160 acres of land. In 1885 he retired from farming and moved to Winona. In 1905 he went to Canada, where he lived with his daughter until his death in 1910. He was buried at New Ulm, Minn. His wife was born in Germany in January, 1831, and now resides in Winona, Minn. Mr. and Mrs. Mack have the following children : Bertha, born March 25, 1883, who is teaching in North Dakota, where she has a homestead; Albert, born March 16, 1884, who resides on a homestead in North Dakota; Oleda, born February 28, 1886, who also lives on a homestead in North Dakota; Arthur, born June 11, 1888, who is farming on his sisters' property in North Dakota; and William and Lucy, twins, born May 15, 1894.

Benjamin H. Kuenzli, born in Honner township, January 20, 1882, is the son of Bernard Kuenzli, a farmer and a native of Switzerland, who came to America and was one of the pioneers of Honner township. Bernard Kuenzli died in 1908 at the age of eighty years. His wife, Mary (Lusher) Kuenzli, died in 1910 at the age of seventy-six. When twenty-one years old, Benjamin H. Kuenzli began working out among the farmers and continued to be thus occupied until 1910, when he bought a general merchan- dise store from S. J. Sampson in North Redwood, which he has conducted ever since. Besides being a successful merchant, he has held various positions of public trust and has been village clerk since 1912. He is affiliated with the I. O. O. F. Mr. Kuenzli was married March 23, 1910, to Belle Sampson, who was born March 12, 1882, in Goodhue county, a daughter of John and Martha (Onstad) Sampson. Her father, for many years a farmer in Franklin and a resident of Goodhue county for twenty-seven years, died in 1904 at the age of sixty-three.

Joseph R. Keefe, whose distinguished services as a member of the lower house of the Minnesota Legislature gave him a state- wide reputation, and who is now a member of the firm of Farrell & Keefe, was born in Birch Cooley township, Renville county, Minn., June 14, 1874. His father, Jeremiah Keefe, a native of Ireland, came to America at the age of fifteen, locating in Pennsyl- vania, whence, in 1868, he came to Birch Cooley township, taking a homestead in section 24. He moved to Morton in 1900 and died in 1901 at the age of seventy-five years. The mother, Mary (Deasy) Keefe, resides at Morton. Joseph R. Keefe acquired his early education in the local schools and graduated from the Northwestern Business college in Minneapolis in 1895. For two years he was a teacher, after which he worked in the hardware store of Linderman & Keefe Bros. at North Redwood, his two brothers being members of the firm. After two years with this firm he bought a store in company with P. R. Farrell and con- ducted it under the name of Farrell & Keefe. In 1905 it was in-

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corporated with a capital of $15,000, Mr. Keefe being the secre- tary and treasurer. They have an extensive patronage and do a large business in furniture, hardware, machinery and automobiles. Mr. Keefe has been actively engaged in public affairs and was village recorder five years. In 1910 he was elected state repre- sentative and served one term. He is director of the Mahnomen Land Company at Mahnomen, Minn., also of the Citizens State Bank of the same place, is manager of the Farmers Co-operative Creamery of North Redwood. He and his family are members of the Catholic church and he is a member of the K. C. and M. W. A. Mr. Keefe was married September 16, 1901, to Lena Hammer, born March 15, 1883, daughter of Frank F. Hammer, a grocer in Minneapolis and his wife, Martha Hammer. Their children are: Gladys E., Roland L., Robert J., Irene, Clarence and James.

Nels J. Schjenken, well-to-do land owner and prominent citi- zen of Kintire township, was born in Vardal, Norway, March 21, 1860, son of Jacob and Agnes (Hanson) Peterson. His parents spent their years in the old country, the father being engaged in the manufacturing business. Nels J. Schjenken attended the parish schools and as a young man worked in a paper factory. Determined to better himself, he came to America, landing in this country June 28, 1881, and at once finding his way to Swedes Forest, this county. When he reached here he was $50 in debt for his ticket. This he paid the first summer, working on farms in Swedes Forest township. That winter he went to Mankato, where he cut cord wood for sixty-five cents a cord and paid his own board and lodging. The next summer he came back to Swedes Forest and worked as a farm hand, and the following winter cut wood at Kilkinny, this state, at the same rate that he had worked the previous winter at Mankato. For several years he had devoted his autumns to assisting on threshing crews at seventy-five cents a day. He then engaged in the lumber business for some years, working in the pineries of northern Wisconsin during the winter months and in the saw mills at La Crosse in the spring and summer. In 1887 he came back to Redwood county and with his hard-earned savings purchased 40 acres in section 3, Kintire township. There he erected a crude shack, planted a grove, and started to develop his land. With this beginning he has built up a splendid farm of 240 acres in sections 3, 9 and 16, well tiled and fenced, and brought it to a high stage of improve- ment. Buildings have been erected as necessity has required. In 1900 the house was rebuilt so that it now is a sightly structure 18x28 feet with a 14x20 foot wing. In 1914 he erected a barn 34x35 feet, with a granary 16x24 feet. The groves have reached maturity, the lawns are well-kept and wide spreading, the stock is sleek and thriving, the crops are large and of the best, and everything about the place bespeaks the thrift,

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N. J. SCHJENKEN AND FAMILY

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DANIEL MCKAY AND FAMILY

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care, and good management of the owner. Beginning in this country, as he did, in debt for his passage, and now owning one of the best farms in the neighborhood, Mr. Schjen- ken is a splendid example of what hard work, pluck, and steady habits may accomplish in this land of boundless oppor- tunities. Mr. Schjenken was married May 2, 1885, to Dina Lar- son, who was born in Norway, February 24, 1865, daughter of Lars and Agnes (Knutsen) Duffenson. Her father, born in Nor- way in 1842, came to America in 1882, located at Galesville, Wis., and worked as a carpenter and farmed until 1910, when he was accidentally killed. Mr. and Mrs. Schjenken have eleven chil- dren : Josephine, Agnes, Lena, Berndt, Dina, Nettie, Lars (first), Lars (second), Knute, Antoine and Johannes. Josephine was born July 10, 1886; Lars (first) was born May 31, 1888, and died July 10 of the same year; Agnes was born March 29, 1890; Lena, June 27, 1892; Berndt, March 20, 1894; Dina, April 9, 1896; Nellie, January 9, 1898; Lars, May 10, 1900; Knute and Antoine, March 10, 1903; and Johannes, June 2, 1904. Knute is five hours older than his twin, having been born at 10 o'clock in the morning while Antoine was born at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

Daniel Mckay was born May 9, 1862, in Scotland, son of Archi- bald and Jeannette (McNaughton) Mckay. Both parents were natives of Scotland, and came, in 1875, to Canada, where the father died in 1881. The mother died in 1909 in Kintire town- ship at the age of eighty-one years. Daniel Mckay bought 100 acres in Chatam township, Kent county, Ontario, where he lived for eight years, then going to Rockford, Ill., where he rented a farm for five years. In February, 1888, he came to Delhi town- ship, Redwood county, Minnesota, where he rented a farm for one year and then bought 160 acres of land in the northwestern quar- ter of section 10, Kintire township, where he still resides. He is an ambitious and energetic farmer and has improved and devel- oped his farm. In 1900 he built a nice comfortable house, the main part being 26x16 feet, the wing 16x16 and the kitchen 16x12. In 1905 a barn was built, 36x48, with a concrete basement.

Mr. Mckay is greatly interested in politics and has served as assessor of the township for five years, township clerk for sixteen years and as a member of the school board for eighteen years. He is a director of the State Bank at Belview and of the Farmers Elevator Company. Mr. Mckay was united in marriage January 10, 1895, to Elizabeth H. Ralston, who was born June 10, 1872, at Roscoe, Winnebago county, Illinois, daughter of Thomas and Jean Ralston, both natives of Scotland. Mr. Ralston came to America in 1845 and died in 1885 in Roscoe, Ill., where his widow now resides. Mr. and Mrs. McKay have the following children : Jeanie, born December 17, 1895, who is a student at the Mankato State Normal School; Archie, born August 7, 1897; Belle, born August

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11, 1899, who is a student at Belview High School; Bessie, born September 23, 1901; Donald, born June 9, 1905; Elsie, born October 20, 1908, and Eunice, born January 27, 1912.

Augustus F. Rahn, cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Belview, was born September 27, 1866, in Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, son of Christian and Christena (Kuck) Rahn. Chris- tian Rahn was born in Germany, December 24, 1833, and came to America in 1851, locating in Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, where he lived for eight years, and then moving to Vermilion county, Illinois, where he bought 240 acres of land in Butler township. This he sold in 1884 and bought 160 acres of land in Redwood county, Minnesota, 80 acres of which are within the present city limits of Redwood Falls. He retired and died in 1914. He was married in 1865 to Christena Kuck, born in New York state, who died in 1903 in Redwood Falls. Augustus F. Rahn received his education in the common school of his neighborhood and attended Bryant and Stratton Business College at Buffalo, New York. He entered the dry goods store of C. W. Evert at Redwood Falls and clerked for two years. Then he bought 240 acres in section 23, Posen township, Yellow Medicine county, Minnesota, where he remained for two years. Then he clerked in a shoe store in Redwood Falls one winter and next went to Belview, where he clerked in the general store for a year. He then bought the stock of the Francois Estate and operated the store for three years. In 1896 he entered the grain and fuel business and still owns the elevator. In 1898 he bought a hardware store and harness shop. In 1891 he sold this and bought half a section land in sections 8, 9, 16 and 17 in Kintire township, which he still owns. He served as president of the village board for two years and for two years was its treasurer and a trustee. In 1910 the Farmers State Bank was organized by Mr. Rahn and others, he becoming cashier, which position he still holds. Mr. Rahn was married June 30, 1892, to Rosena Hanson, born June 14, 1866, in Wisconsin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nels Hanson. Nels Hanson was born in Norway and came to America, purchasing land in Swedes Forest township, Redwood county, Minnesota, where he died in 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Rahn have four children: Grant O. G., born May 7, 1893; Anna, born July 7, 1895; Carlyle R., born November 14 1897, and Norah L., born March 7, 1900.

Carl Christian Enestvedt, the efficient and popular cashier of the State Bank of Belview, comes of sturdy pioneer stock, and like his forebears before him, is taking his share in the develop- ment and progress of this portion of the upper Minnesota valley. He was born on the famous old Enestvedt farm in south Sacred Heart township, Renville county, December 9, 1871, son of that worthy settler, Ole O. Enestvedt, Sr., whose career is appro- priately mentioned elsewhere in this work. Carl Christian Enest-

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G. P. RAIN AND FAMILY

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PETER MCKAY

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MR. AND MRS. H. A. BEKKE

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vedt attended the district schools of his neighborhood, and took the commercial course in the Willmar Seminary, at Willmar, Minn. In the meanwhile he worked more or less on the parental farm. In 1892 he came to Belview, and with G. H. Kravik as a partner engaged in the general mercantile business, which firm was suc- cessfully continued until 1898 when it was dissolved and Mr. Enestvedt withdrew. Soon after coming to Belview, and while still engaged in the mercantile business, Mr. Enestvedt became local manager for the Interstate Grain Co. In 1898 he left this employ, and became local manager for the Farmers Grain & Fuel Co., a position he retained until 1907. From 1905 to 1912 he was a partner in the Belview Mercantile Co. In 1907, when he resigned from his successful connection with the Farmers Grain & Fuel Co., he became cashier of the State Bank of Belview, a position which he has since retained, with the exception of the year 1911. In this capacity Mr. Enestvedt has been most success- ful, and his wide friendship and pleasing personality have been among the factors that have contributed to the success of the institution. His standing in the community is shown by the fact that he has been assessor of Belview and served as clerk of the board of education for many years. For twenty years, since 1896, he has been secretary of the First Evangelical Luth- eran Church, of Belview, and in this capacity has given much satisfaction. He is also a member of the National Christian Asso- ciation of America. Mr. Enestvedt was married June 24, 1896, to Bertha Hoppenrath, of Kintire township, Redwood county, daughter of William Hoppenrath, who came to this county in 1880, lived in Redwood Falls ten years, then moved to Kintire town- ship, and now lives retired in Belview. Mr. and Mrs. Enestvedt have three children : Myrtell W., Carl Norman and Harold Roscoe. Myrtell W., who was born April 17, 1897, is now taking the domestic science course at the St. Cloud State Normal school. She is a graduate of St. Olaf at Northfield, this state. Carl Norman, born February 16, 1899, is a graduate of the Belview High school. Harold Roscoe was born April 26, 1907.

Hans A. Bekke, formerly a leading farmer of Swedes Forest township, now a respected resident of Belview, came to this county nearly forty-five years ago, and has seen it grow from a frontier region of a few scattered houses into the prosperous community that it is today. He has seen the railroads come and the villages built up, he has witnessed the present beautiful farm houses and convenient barns take the place of the early cabins and shacks, he has seen modern machinery take the place of crude tools in farm operation, and he has seen the oxen give way to the horse, and the horse to automobile. In all of this development, he, as a good citizen, has had his share and part. Hans A. Bekke was born December 26, 1832, in Norway, and was there reared. He

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MR. AND MRS. H. A. BEKKE

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was but little over twenty-one years of age when, in 1854, he came to America and located in Dane county, Wisconsin. After some six years there, he went to Columbia county in the same state and settled in Otsego township, where he first bought 80 acres in section 18, and later added 40 acres more. It was in 1872 that he decided to move still further west and grow up with a new country. So he sold out in Columbia county and came to Redwood county, Minnesota, securing a quarter section in section 26, Swedes Forest township. This was then indeed a pioneer country. The first settlers had located in Redwood Falls only eight years before. Scarcely ten years had passed since the Indian massacre had ravaged the valley. The village of Belview had not been thought of. The land was all wild, and the task of breaking was most difficult. Grain had to be hauled to Willmar or New Ulm by ox team, and there, too, lumber and supplies had to be obtained. The winters were hard and severe, the summer sun beat upon the treeless prairie, the mosquitos added to the discomfort of life, and for several years the grasshoppers almost ruined the crops. But in spite of all these discouragements, the hard work of Mr. Bekke and his wife had their reward, and in time success crowned their efforts. To his original quarter section he added another 200 acres in the same section. He planted a splendid grove, and as prosperity came erected a pleasant home and suitable farm buildings. In 1889 he retired and moved to the village of Belview, where he now resides. While in the township he served on the township board. For some years he was president of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Co. of Renville County. Mr. Bekke is the son of Andrew and Ingeborg (Johnson) Bekke. The father came to America in 1871, located near Hesper, Iowa, and died a few years later. Hans A. Bekke was married in 1854 to Emma Christopherson, who was born in Norway in 1832, came to Amer- ica a few months before her marriage, and died April 14, 1893. She bore to Mr. Bekke twelve children: Andrew (died in 1901), Christian, Mary, Ole (died in 1904), Hansina, Emma (died in 1871), Emma, second; Martin (died in 1891), Jartinus (died in 1889), Caroline, Anna and Martha. March 2, 1894, Mr. Bekke married Mrs. Esther Gunnelson, the widow of Gunnel Gunnelson, and the daughter of John and Carrie (Jurgenson) Johnson, the former of whom was born in Norway in 1817, lived in Chicago a while, then settled in Columbia county, Wisconsin, where he died in 1852, and the latter of whom came to America in 1842, and located in Columbia county, Wisconsin, where she died in 1881. By her marriage to Mr. Gunnelson, Mrs. Bekke has four children : Cora, Amanda, Agnes and Gunnel.

Adolph Leonard, pioneer, farmer and miller, was born in Saxony, Germany, November 18, 1839, son of Frederick and Johanna Leonard, and descended from a long line of sturdy

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German ancestry. He grew to manhood in the old country and in 1867 came to America, working for one year in a saw mill in Indiana. It was in 1868 that he came to Redwood county and took a homestead of 160 acres in section 22, Sheridan township. To this homestead he added, by purchase, an adjoining quarter section. Moving into a little frame house which stood on the place, he started farming with the most meagre equipment. Like the other pioneers, he used an ox team and a crude wagon. St. Peter was the nearest market place and the journey was long and tedious and during the winters even dangerous. From this humble start, toiling early and late, he gradually achieved pros- perity. For many years he carried on general farming, making a specialty of Percheron horses, Shorthorn cattle and a good breed of swine. His original home was burned, as was also the one which he built to replace it; but, undaunted by these two disasters, he, in 1880, built the substantial residence which now adorns the place. In addition to the home farm, he, in 1870, took a tree claim, of which he held possession until 1913. In 1893, after many years of hard work, he moved to Belview village, where the following year he built a flour mill. This he successfully con- ducted until 1903. He continued to live in Belview until 1913, when he sold the home there and purchased his present substantial residence in Redwood Falls. Mr. Leonard is an independent voter and has taken an active interest in public affairs. While living in Sheridan township, he served a number of years as treasurer and also as chairman of the town and as member of the school board of his district. After moving to Belview he served as president of the village council and also as chairman of the school board. In addition to his farm holdings, he was one of the stockholders of the Farmers Elevator at Seaforth. A devout adherent of the German Lutheran Church, he helped to build the edifice of St. John's congregation in Sheridan township and was one of its first trustees. The family now attends the church of that de- nomination in Redwood Falls. Mr. Leonard was married March 17, 1871, to Bertha Neuman, who was born in Germany, March 1, 1848, daughter of Gotfried Neuman, a German "Musik Meister," who came to America in 1868 and lived with his daughter until his death in 1895. The Leonard family has been blessed with eight children : Selma, now deceased; Louis, a hardware mer- chant in Belview, who married Bertha Froelich; Anna; Minnie, wife of B. P. Hallwich, of Granite Falls, Minn .; Robert, and Otto, who conduct a drug store at Currie, Minn. (Robert married Carrie Thorson) ; Helen, wife of Rev. Thomas McMellen of Des Moines, Iowa; Amelia, wife of Dr. Gilbert Gosslee of Moorhead, Minn., and Otto, whom we have already mentioned above.

Louis F. Leonard, an enterprising merchant of Belview, was born in Sheridan township, Redwood county, July 28, 1873, son

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of Adolph and Bertha (Newman) Leonard. He remained at home until twenty-three years of age and then worked as engineer in his father's mill. After eight years he engaged in a livery and dray business at Belview and conducted it for eight years. He then sold out and moved to Seaforth, Minn., where he was en- gaged in the same business for two years. In the spring of 1913 he traded his livery business for the stock and fixtures in the Belview Hardware Company and has conducted this business ever since. Mr. Leonard was married October 19, 1896, to Bertha Froelich, born March 28, 1883, in Nicollet county, Minnesota, daughter of Herman and Barbara Froelich. Her father was a native of Germany who came to America in 1867, locating in Sheridan township, this county, where he secured a homestead in section 18, of 160 acres. After a short time he sold his claim and moved to Courtland township, Nicollet county, Minnesota, where he engaged in farming. He married Mrs. Barbara Lemberger. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard have the following children: Adolph H., born October 8, 1899; Roland, born June 21, 1903, and Perry, born September 11, 1909.

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The History of Redwood County, Minnesota, Volume II, Part 9

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Number of Pages: 702

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1916
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 702