The history of Mower County, Minnesota : illustrated, Part 104

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago : H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co.
Number of Pages: 1246

USA > Minnesota > Mower County > The history of Mower County, Minnesota : illustrated > Part 104

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John E. Chaffee, the genial proprietor of the hotel at Lansing village, was born in Lamartine township, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, in November, 1849, son of Ithamer Stone and Eliza (Hall) Chaffee. Ten years ago he came to the picturesque village of Lansing, and has sinee successfully conducted an excellent hotel. The place is homelike and pleasant, and guests are sure of a cordial welcome and a good meal. Mr. Chaffee married Jessie Bassett, daughter of John and Olive (Jackson) Bassett, and they have six children : Guy, Nettie, Maude, Ray, Roy and Reed. Guy lives in Freeborn county ; Nettie married George S. LaBarr and they have one child, Clinton; Maude married Lee O. Thompson ; Ray married Hulda Hale and they have one child, John. Roy married Nellie Vaughan, and they have one child. Ithamer Stone Chaffee was born in Berkshire township, Vermont, in 1827, the youngest of seven children. He married Eliza Hall. He came west in 1849, located in Lamartine, Fond du Lac county, Wis- consin, and lived there until the spring of 1851, when he went to Newton township, where he ended his days, in 1877. His wife died in 1894. They were the parents of three children: Julius,

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John E. and Ella L. Julius died in 1860 and Ella L., the wife of J. S. Sweeney, died at Freeport, Illinois.

Henry Beach, a respectable farmer of Bennington township, was born in Portage, Wisconsin, May 5, 1854, son of William and Mollie Beach, both natives of Germany, who came to America in 1850, and to Minnesota'in 1861, settling in Bennington town- ship, this county, where William is still living, Mollie Beach having died in March, 1911. Henry was educated in the schools of his neighborhood and remained at home until twenty-seven years of age, when he began renting land for himself. Later he purchased 120 acres in section 12, Bennington township, where he now conducts general farming. He is a Democrat in politics, and has been road overseer for some terms. Mr. Beach was married October 1, 1886, to Minnie Swan Puntam, of Bloomfield, this state, and they have had four children: One died in early childhood in 1905; William is married and devotes his life to farming; Loudie lives in Mower county, and Walter is at home. The family faith is that of the Lutheran church.

Sam Start, a prosperous and representative citizen of Benning- ton township, was born in Iowa county, Wisconsin, April 23, 1870, son of John and Christina (Forthum) Start. He received a limited district school education, and at eighteen years of age started out in life for himself by purchasing 160 acres in Howard county, Iowa. After eight months he sold this place, making $800 on the transaction. He then purchased eighty acres in section 32, Bennington township, this county. To this tract he has added from time to time until he now owns 400 acres, all in Bennington township, 160 acres being in section 32 and 240 in section 29. This land is all in tillable condition, and Mr. Start has made many improvements, as well as erected many new buildings. He now follows diversified farming, raising grain and breeding live stock. He has a fine herd of about one hundred head of Herford cattle and a large drove of Chester White hogs. Mr. Start is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Lutheran church. He was married June 19, 1894, to Minnie Johnson, and they have four children : Lulu, Carl, Sanford and Lloyd.

John Start was born in Norway, and married Christina Fort- hum. They came to America and located in Iowa for a while, living there until 1878, when they took up their residence in the old town of LeRoy, where they remained a year. Then they rented land until 1882, when they purchased eighty acres in sec- tion 29, Bennington township, and followed general farming until John's death in 1894. His wife now lives in McIntyre, Iowa.

Carl H. F. Ziemer, for some thirty years an honored resident of Waltham, was an honest, honorable, hard-working man, and left a goodly heritage of integrity to his children and descend-

MR. AND MRS. GEORGE ZIEMER.

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ants. His death, which took place in 1911, was sincerely mourned by the community at large as well as by his large family of five sons, four daughters, forty-one grandchildren, six great-grand- children, and two brothers and one sister. Carl H. F. Ziemer was born September 29, 1833, at Nadelfitz, Pomonia, Germany, and was ten years of age when brought to America by his parents, who settled in Kirchhayn, Wisconsin, ten miles from Milwaukee. He grew to manhood there and was married at that place Novem- ber 2, 1855, to Bertha Koepke. In 1881 they came to Waltham, with their family, and purchased twenty-four aeres a mile north of the village of Waltham, where the subject of this sketch ear- ried on farming until his death, March 8, 1911, at the age of seventy-seven years, five months and nine days. His children are as follows: George, Frank, Henry and John, of Waltham ; Alfred, of Austin ; Mrs. F. C. Garbish, Mrs. John Lewis, and Mrs. Otto Kuchenbecker, of Waltham; and Mrs. Henry Pluckhan, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

George Ziemer, furniture dealer and druggist, of Waltham village, as well as secretary of the Waltham creamery, was born at Jackson, Washington county, Wisconsin, August 29, 1858, son of Charles H. and Bertha (Koepke) Ziemer. He received his education in Wisconsin and there grew to manhood, after which he served three years as an apprentice and worked as a car- penter. In 1878 he came to Waltham, purchased a quarter see- tion in the township, erected necessary. buildings and following general farming for about four years. Later he went to Browns- dale, and resumed his trade as a carpenter, at the same time engaging in the furniture business. His abilities were similarly employed in Waltham village, to which he moved in 1881. In 1890, however, he gave up his trade, and has since continued in the furniture business. About 1891 he purchased the lumber and eoal business at Waltham from Moses Boliou, and conducted this until 1899, when he sold to J. C. Brainerd & Son, of Blooming Prairie. In 1904 he added a drug department to his business. Mr. Ziemer has been active in township and village affairs. He served as treasurer of the township of Waltham ten years, and at the incorporation of the village in 1898 was one of the incorporators. He was elected trustee of the village at that time and has since served with much credit. He is secretary of the Waltham Co- operative Creamery Association, a position he has held for five years; is a stockholder and dircetor in the Farmers' Cooperative store at Waltham ; is agent for several insurance companies, and aside from the old homestead in Waltham township, he owns 120 aeres in Crow Wing county, Minnesota. Mr. Ziemer was married .June 13, 1880, to Emma Mayer, and this union has been blessed with nine children: Lydia married John Buek, of Waltham vil-

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lage; Louis H. graduated from the Martin Luther Seminary at Buffalo, New York, and is now a Lutheran preacher at Defianee, Ohio; Henry graduated from the Concordia Seminary, and is now a Lutheran preacher at St. Louis, Mo .; Clara M. is a book- keeper for her father; Arthur lives with his parents; Paul is on the old homestead ; George is an architect and mechanical engineer at Minneapolis; Ernest and Elmora are at home.

Alva S. Wheelock, carpenter of Rose Creek, was born at Port Leyden, New York, January 12, 1864, son of Dr. Obadiah and Celesta (Seymour) Wheeloek. He came west with his parents, June 22, 1872, and spent his early life on a farm near Rose Creek. At the age of twenty-one he learned the carpenter trade, and fol- lowed it for seven years in Minneapolis. He has sinee continued to reside in Rose Creek. He is a respected eitizen and belongs to the A. O. U. W. and the Degree of Honor. He married Annie Lewis, and they have one ehild, Lotta.

Obadiah Wheelock, M. D., an early physician of Rose Creek, was born in New Haven, Oswego county, New York, July 20, 1828. He received a good education, taught school, studied medi- cine, and in 1863 graduated from the Metropolitan Medieal Col- lege in New York city. After praetieing in New York state for a while, he came to Mower county and settled in the northwest quarter of seetion 35, Windom township. This land had been in his possession some fourteen years, but was without improve- ments when he arrived. He was married in 1856 to Celesta S. Seymour, who was born at Turin, Lewis county, New York, in December, 1827. Six children were born: Robin S., Henry L., Emerson W., Alva S., Charles E., and Philip.

Fred H. Schroeder, of Raeine village, assessor of Raeine town- ship, as he has been for the past seven years, was born in Dodge county, Wisconsin, February 15, 1853, son of Fred and Paulina Schroeder, who in 1864 brought him to Racine township, where they purchased 160 aeres south of the village. He received his education in the common sehools of Wisconsin and Minnesota, and as a young man, rented land for two years. Then he pur- ehased 120 acres. He made many improvements and conducted general farming, gradually turning his attention to dairying. In 1910 he sold his farm and moved to the village, where he now has a comfortable dwelling and four acres of land. Mr. Schroeder is a Republican in polities, and has served the town as chairman three years. He was married in October, 1899, to Mary Sehiess. of Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder attend the Evangelieal

Sherman Page. It is not the purpose of this history to give at length the story of those ineidents which disrupted Mower county and so greatly retarded her progress during the years from 1867 to 1881, generally known as the Page era. Sherman Page was

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born in Vermont and came to Mower county from Decorah, Iowa. Before that he had lived in Lancaster, Wisconsin. Possibly a true estimate of the man Page will never be made. In personal appear- ance he is a well built, strong man of imposing presence, carry- ing with him, everywhere, a look of dignity which commanded the respect of the masses with whom he associated himself. IIc was a shrewd, forcible and pleasant speaker, as well as a sar- castic, vigorous writer. He also was possesed of a remarkable, well trained mind. His political career here started when he became county superintendent of schools. Soon thereafter and for many years, the county was divided into the Page and anti- Page factions. The fight was bitter and personal, and kept the county in a turmoil. It extended not only into polites, but into church and social life. His controversy over school matters, his historie tearing up of the sidewalks, his arrest, his arrogant assumption of authority in the temperance fight, his election to the judgeship and his impeachment are touched upon elsewhere. He ruled with the despotism of a Russian monarch. Those who were not for him, he considered his enemies. There was no half way course. He removed from office those who would not bend to his will. He decided cases to suit his prejudice, regardless of law or justice. At last he was tried for misconduct on the bench. The lower house of the Minnesota legislature prepared articles of impeachment, but the vote in the upper house lacked the two- thirds majority necessary to convict. At the next election he again ran for office, but was defeated by John Q. Farmer, of Spring Valley. But the fight was not ended. Some time there- after he was shot at while reading in his home. Again the courts were occupied with Page matters. But the alleged assailant was acquitted and the Page influence waned. In 1882 Judge Page re- moved to California. There he became a prominent citizen, al- though he in no ways abandoned his arrogant character. He now lives in retirement, but though he is now of venerable age, the papers still tell of his broils with his neighbors. Thus loved by his friends, feared by many, and hated by some, lives the man who will never be forgotten in Mower county. Whether his in- fluence was for good or ill, only future generations can tell.

O. J. Simmons. It has been said that the man who conducts a model office and gives the best possible service to the public is a man possessed of all the attributes that are necessary to conduct any other business successfully. Ile is the man who can look at every question that arises and see both sides of it. He is one who takes all the facts into consideration before rendering a decision. Ile is one who sets a proper example for the employes under his supervision and then requires them to perform their duties in a thorough going and businesslike manner. Ile requires the proper

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discipline to maintain a high standard of efficiency, and treats each case of violation or infraction of the rules on its merits and without regard to who the individual may be. He must show some interest in the welfare of the employes and encourage them when- ever he can if he expects to have them exert themselves when occasion requires for the exigencies of the service demand it. In postoffices where the postmaster possesses these qualifications and puts them into practical effect, the service is always satisfactory to the public, the postmaster and the employes work in perfect har- mony, and, as a rule, the office is looked upon and referred to as a model one. Such a man is O. J. Simmons, postmaster at Austin. He was born in Rush county, Indiana, November 10, 1857, son of Joseph and Frances (Wilson) Simmons, of honored memory. In July, 1874, O. J. came to Minnesota with his parents, and after living in Rochester a year, came with them to Dexter. Like other boys of his period and circumstances, he attended school and worked on the farm. At the age of twenty-two he started work in a store in the village of Dexter, and later went to Rochester, and engaged in the insurance business. Later he returned to Dexter and conducted a hotel. He was later elected clerk of court for Mower county, and served from 1895 to 1907. March, 1907, was the date of his appointment as postmaster. In 1911 he was reappointed. Mr. Simmons is a staunch Republican, and it goes without saying that he has occupied many offices in the places wherein he has resided. He has been delegate to political conventions, and is now chairman of the Republican county cen- tral committee. In fraternal circles he is no less prominent. He has occupied offices in practically all the leading lodges in Austin, and is as well, a chapter Mason. He has been through the chairs of the Elks, Knights of Pythias and other orders, and has been delegate to many fraternal conventions. From July, 1904, to July, 1905, he was distriet deputy grand exalted ruler for the southern district of Minnesota in the B. P. O. E. under Grand Exalted Ruler J. O'Brien. The subject of this sketch was mar- ried February 17, 1881, to Mary W. Swan, daughter of Robert and Mary W. (Brooke) Swan.

John Rahilly, now deceased, was an Irish-American gentleman of the old school, and became one of the leading farmers in Mower county as well as one of the largest land holders. He was born in County Clare, Ireland, and came to America with his parents in 1849. After living in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, for seven years, they located in Olmsted county, Minnesota, and there John spent his early manhood. In 1880 he came to Grand Meadow . township, and settled in section 31, where he purchased 640 acres of land. This tract he improved, erected a large house and com- modious barns, and carried on general farming until his death,

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January 5, 1898. Mr. Rahilly was well and favorably known throughout the county. Ile was a man of many good qualities, and was noted for his generosity, hospitality and good cheer. A capable business man, he was very successful in the manage- ment of his business and his happy, cheerful disposition made him a pleasant companion and friend. The subject of this sketch mar- ried Ellen Twohey, who was born in County Cork, Ireland, was brought to Canada by her parents, came to the United States and lived in Iowa, subsequently moving with them to Olmsted county, this state, and settling some seven miles south of Rochester. Mr. and Mrs. Rahilly are the parents of nine children, six of whom are living. The children living are: Catherine, wife of Alexander MeDowell; Susie C., wife of Patrick MeGrevy; Hannah, wife of Henry Weber, Jr .; John H., living on the home farm; William P., who is married and lives on a farm near Dexter, and Richard, who is married and lives near Austin.

John H. Rahilly, chairman of Grand Meadow township, is the son of John Rahilly and Ellen Twohey, his wife. He lives on and operates the home farm, which contains 1,000 acres, one of the finest places in the county. The farm is fenced, tiled and in a very high state of cultivation, having an excellent set of buildings, sur- rounded by a large cottonwood grove. The farm house is now being remodeled, and all the modern improvements, such as hot water heat, and gas for lighting and cooking are being installed. When the work is completed the house will be one of the finest farm residences in southern Minnesota. On this farm are kept about fifty head of horses, 200 head of cattle and about 200 head of hogs, the latter of which are fatted and shipped to market. John H. and his brother, at the death of their father, took charge of the home farm, and since then two more farms have been pur- chased and added to the original one until now the farm is a very valuable piece of real estate. John H. is at present chairman of Grand Meadow township, one of the directors of the Mower County Fair Association, secretary and director of the Mower County Farmers' Telephone Company, and an officer of his school distriet. He has also taken an active part in the affairs of the church at Grand Meadow and is one of its trustees.

Andrew D. Brown, a territorial pioneer, with his brother, Hosmer A., came to Minnesota in 1856, and founded the town of Brownsdale. Mr. Brown, who four times eireumnavigated the globe, was born in North Stonington, Connecticut, in 1818, in the old homestead which had been in the possession of the family sinee the seventeenth century. He became master of a ship sailing to the East Indies, but in 1849 he went with the gold rush to Cali- fornia, where he established a trading post and prospered. After returning to Connecticut, for several years he located in Minne-

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sota, and with his brother, Hosmer A. Brown, founded the town of Brownsdale, where he lived until five years ago, when he moved to Minneapolis. He was married to Adeline Portlo, of Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1854. Mr. Brown engaged in the lumber and milling industry and became the owner of large tracts of land. He married Melissa E. Bacon, of Brownsdale, in 1871, four years after the death of his first wife. Mr. Brown is survived by a wife, and four children : Mrs. C. D. Holbrook, Brownsdale; Mrs. T. E. Doolittle, North Platte, Nebraska; Mrs. L. W. Powers, and Hos- mer A. Brown, of Minneapolis; and a brother, Hosmer A. Brown, Brownsdale. He died in Minneapolis in May, 1911, and is buried in Brownsdale.

Herbert L. Banfield, assistant cashier and director of the First National Bank of Austin, was born in Medford, Massachusetts, August 28, 1868, son of Francis Loring and Sarah Elizabeth Ban- field. He was educated in Wolfsborough, New Hampshire, and Worcester, Massachusetts, completing his early education in the high school of the latter city. February 27, 1886, he came from Worcester to Austin, and at once took up work with the First National Bank, with which institution he has now served for twenty-five years. Mr. Banford also served as treasurer of the city of Austin three terms. He was married June 15, 1894, to Addie Marie Cook, who died June 13, 1903. He has three chil- dren: Adelaide Cook Banfield, aged nine years; Herbert Loring Banfield, Jr., aged seven years, and Edward Sanborn Banfield, aged four years. Francis Loring Banfield is a physician and surgeon of Worcester, Massachusetts. Ira Banfield, father of Francis L., and grandfather of Herbert L., is now living at Wolfs- borough, New Hampshire, at the age of ninety-two years, having retired some years ago, owing to advancing years, from the posi- tion of treasurer of the Wolfsborough Savings Bank. Herbert L. Banfield, the subject of this sketch, has made a hobby of dairying, and owns a model dairy farm near the city of Austin.

Arthur West Allen, M. D., one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Mower county, was born in Austin in 1862, son of Aus- tin's first physician, Orlenzer Allen, M. D., and Esther Almeda Allen, his wife, who settled in Austin in May, 1856, and whose good deeds will ever be remembered in this county. Dr. A. W. Allen was reared in Austin and graduated from the Rush Medical College, Chicago, in the class of 1885. Since then he has been in continuous practice in Austin. He is a member of the American, Minnesota and Mower County Medical Associations, and in the latter has held various offices. He also belongs to the American Railway Surgeons, and to the Elks, Masons and other fraternal bodies. He is the surgeon of the Southern Minnesota and Iowa and Minnesota divisions of the C., M. & St. Paul Ry., and also

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of St. Olav Ifospital. For nine years he was surgeon major of the Second Regiment, Minnesota National Guards. For the past two years he has been president of the Austin Commercial Club. Dr. Allen is a man who will not accept the praise offered him, but his true worth is written in the hearts of the people to whom he has ministered. He is a good citizen, and a skilled practitioner. His wife, Nellie C., to whom he was married in 1905, is also a native of Austin.

Alvah F. Stiles, druggist of Racine village, was born in Buf- falo county, Wisconsin, January 26, 1862, son of William L. and Betsy E. (Hummison) Stiles, and a year later was brought by them to Mower county, where he was reared to manhood. At the age of twenty-one he started working out, and later in life went to Minneapolis and took a course in the Minnesota Institute of Pharmacy. After coming to Racine he entered busi- ness in partnership with A. W. Brown. This partnership was dis- solved by mutual consent, and then Mr. Stiles erected a building and engaged in the drug business. In February, 1908, the build- ing was burned, entailing a heavy loss. However, Mr. Stiles at once rebuilt and now has a fine briek bloek, which serves the pur- pose of store and residenee. The subject of this sketeh has been a member of the school board for nearly twenty years. He is a Mason, and a member of the B. A. Y. and the M. W. A. He was married April 20, 1891, to Grace E. Turner, daughter of Edward Turner, and this union has been blessed with four children: Luella, Sylvia I., Lester, and Kenneth. William L. and Betsy E. (Hummison) Stiles were born in Vermont, lived some years in Wisconsin, and in 1863 came to Mower county and located in sec- tion 24, Pleasant Valley township. W. L. Stiles is dead and his wife is still living.

George A. Franklin, superintendent of schools in Austin, was born in Rockford, Illinois, son of Stephen R. and Ann E. (Gillis) Franklin. He received a public school education and later attended the Illinois Normal University. He worked at the printing busi- ness a while, and served as superintendent of public schools in Delevan, Illinois, from 1888 to 1894. Then he came to Minnesota, and from 1894 to 1906 was superintendent of schools in Faribault. Since 1906 he has served in Austin, and his work has given gen- eral satisfaction. Professor Franklin ranks high as an educator. He has been justice of the peace and county superintendent in Winnebago county, Iowa. In 1904 he served as president of the State Teachers' Association of Minnesota. At one time he served as president of the Southeastern Association and he was also presi- dent of the Southern Association one term. For the past six years he has done summer school work and is a member of the faculty of the State Normal School at Mankato. He is a chapter Mason

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and also belongs to other societies. For one year he was vice president of the Austin Commercial Club, of which he is still a member. Professor Franklin was married February 28, 1884, to Emma Jenkins. She died June 26, 1896, leaving three children. Professor Franklin was married the second time, August 15, 1900, to Annie M. Willson, of Rochester, Minnesota. The children of the Franklin family are as follows: Joy E., was born September 13, 1888, and is a graduate of the University of Chicago; Camilla, is a student at Menominee, Wisconsin; G. Fred, was born August 31, 1892, and is a graduate of the Austin high school; Charles Willson was born August 15, 1900, and attends the public schools of Austin.

Hans J. Hansen, a progressive and popular farmer of Adams township, was born in Norway, August 30, 1846, and there re- ceived his early education. At the age of fourteen he became an apprentice in one of the largest machine shops in the city of Bergen, for four years. At the age of eighteen he, with his par- ents, sister and brother, immigrated to America, and left Bergen Harbor June 5, 1864. After a voyage of six weeks and two days they entered the harbor of Quebec, Canada, and from there went up the St. Lawrence river and via Montreal to Chicago and Mc- Gregor. He came to Calmar, Iowa, August 13, 1864. During the fall and winter he worked at his trade in Decorah and Calmar. In the spring of 1865 he went to Chicago, and from there to Muskegon, Mich., where he worked for two months in Foster's mill on Black river. From there he went back to Chicago, where he located and worked at his trade in the Union wagon works, corner of Canal and Adams street. In November, 1867, he came to Adams, Minnesota, and worked at his trade in partnership with his father, who built the first shop on the southwest corner of . Main and Fourth streets, and was the first blacksmith in the vil- lage of Adams in the fall and winter of 1867-68. In the spring of 1868 he filed on the north half of the northeast quarter of section 19 and built the first little frame house on that prairie in the fall of that year. He purchased this eighty acres at $9 per acre from the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad company, then called the Minnesota Central. May 8, 1868, he hired to Wagonmaker William I. Brown, of Austin, and was the first blacksmith that worked in his new built shop at the corner of Bridge and St. Paul street, where the new federal building is now located, opposite the Lutheran church. While working for Mr. Brown he ironed the wagon that took the first premium at the first county fair held in Mower county. He was married December 27, 1869, to Emma Petersen, a native of Norway, in the Little Cedar log church, by Pastor C. L. Clausen, "the first minister who preached the gospel for the pioneers." This union has been blessed with nine children,

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The history of Mower County, Minnesota : illustrated, Part 104

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago : H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co. Number of Pages: 1246

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago : H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co.
Number of Pages: 1246