USA > Minnesota > Mower County > The history of Mower County, Minnesota : illustrated > Part 107
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109
985
HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
namely, that Mr. Loe was a near relative of Mr. Hongestuen's wife. Knud Nelson Hougestnen came to America in 1851, landed in Quebee, Canada, and located in Dane county, Wisconsin. In 1854 he eame to Frankford township, this county, and settled on seetion 7, where he pre-empted 120 acres of wild land. ITis early life here was full of hardships. He made the trip from LaCrosse here on foot, and started life here with none of the convenienees. His first house was a log cabin, and his equipment was of the most primitive. He, however, set about with hard work and intelligence to improve the place. A frame house soon replaced the log cabin, the land soon blossomed with boun- teous erops, and at the time of his death, Angust 3, 1903, he owned 270 aeres of rich land, all under cultivation. The sub- jeet of this sketch was married January 12, 1858, to Julia Sohus, born in Norway June 14, 1836, daughter of Julius Loe and Merit Sohus. Mrs. Hougestuen proved a most able helpmeet to her husband in all his undertakings. Since her husband's death she has rented the land, but still lives on the old place. She is a capable business woman and is well liked in the community. It is worthy of note here that Mr. Hougestuen was a elose personal friend of C. F. Greening, of Grand Meadow, and transacted all his business through him. Mr. and Mrs. Hougestuen were blessed with eight children. Sarah is now Mrs. David Mink, of Wash- ington state. Julia M., wife of W. J. Emerson, is dead. Emma is now Mrs. J. M. Hall, of Tacoma, Wash. Nels lives at home. Bertha is a milliner in Tacoma, Wash. Julius married Martha Svenby and lives in Belgrade, Minn. Olive graduated from the Spring Valley high school and was teaching at the time of her death. Ardena married O. Finhart, of Frankford and is dead.
Morris E. Hessler, a hustling real estate, insurance and eol- leetion man, now residing in the village of Lansing, was born in Canaan, Wayne county, Ohio, September 11, 1850. 1Ie came to Lansing in 1889 and took up the business which he has sinee fol- lowed. For the past twenty years Mr. Hessler has been agent for the Mower County Fire and Lightning Mutual Insurance Com- pany, being now the oldest agent in the employ of that com- pany. The ancestry of Mr. Hessler is a most interesting one. The founder of the family was a native of Hesse, Germany, and was sent to America to fight with the British against the Colonists during the Revolution. Ile was captured by the Amer- ieans and after being paroled, settled down in New York as a tailor, being known as Henry Hessler, Sr. It is interesting to note that while following his oceupation in New York Henry HIessler, Sr., made a snit of clothes for the illustrious General George Washington. Henry Hessler, Jr., son of the first Henry, was born in New York city and moved to Canajoharie, Mont-
986
HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
gomery county, New York. George Hessler, Sr., was the son of Henry Hessler, Jr. He was born in 1809, and on October 5, 1830, was married by Rev. Zacariah Paddock to Anna Maria Pren- tiss. She was born in Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, and when a child her parents moved to Paris, Oneida county, New York. She was reared by Dr. O. P. Judd, an early governor of the Sandwich Islands. At the age of sixteen she started teaching at Casonovia, N. Y., and there met George Hessler, Sr. In 1840 George Hessler, Sr., and his wife went to Ohio and settled- at a place called Canaan Center. George Hessler, Sr., died at Wooster, Ohio, November 18, 1886, at the age of seventy- seven years. His wife, Anna Maria Prentiss Hessler, died in 1892 at the age of eighty-four years. Morris E. Hessler was mar- ried July 22, 1874, to May Gardner, daughter of John and Jennie Gardner. This union was blessed with two children: Anna Maude, married Albert Ackerman, of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Alice Lunetie married Henry Latham, of Independence, Kans., and they have four children : Lucille S., Ladorna May, John Wesley and Laurie Belle.
George W. Bassett, a native son of Mower county, farms on 185 acres in Udolpho, and has been very successful in his agri- cultural operations. He was born on the farm where he still resides August 1, 1862, son of Edward and Jane E. MeQuivey Bassett. Ile was educated in the district schools, grew to man- hood on the farm, and married Cora M. Elkins, daughter of John and Phoebe (Rieker) Elkins, and this union has been blessed with three children: Alva E., of Lansing township, and Wesley I. and Winfred R. at home. Mr. Bassett is a Republican in pol- ities and was for some time clerk of school district 76. At nine- teen years of age he started farming for himself on the home farm. He has erected some good buildings and all of his land except twenty-five aeres of timber is under cultivation.
Thomas Savage is a well-thought-of citizen of Windom town- ship, where he has lived since 1864. He has taken his share in the development of the county, has been justice of the peace, was on the school board a number of years and has done his town service in other ways. He is a genial, whole-souled gentleman and his memory in regard to events in Windom and surrounding townships is as clear as is usually that of a man half his age. Thomas Savage was born in County Dublin, Ireland, October 25, 1838, son of John and Elizabeth (Danne) Savage. He came to Ameriea with his father and brother in 1851 and lived in Rock- away, Long Island, N. Y., three years. From there they went to Middletown Point, Monmouth county, New Jersey, where they lived two years. Thomas came to Illinois in 1856 and two years later, in 1858, took up his residence in Iowa. In the fall of 1864
....
THOMAS SAVAGE.
EDWARD BASSETT.
987
HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
he came to Mower county and rented land on which was a log house in which he lived. Later he purchased land in Windom township. On this farm he erected a frame house and suffered the privations of pioneer life. The subject of this sketek mar- ried Elizabeth Guinney, daughter of Timothy Guinney. She died January 24, 1911, leaving seven children : Mary E., wife of An- drew Smith; Annie S., wife of George W. Smith; Nellie, wife of Frank Gerrard; Lillie, wife of Henry M. Rolfe; Thomas D .; Victoria, wife of Lew Lewis, and Ollie, a teacher in the Austin high school. The death of Mrs. Savage will long be mourned by friends and relatives. She was a loving and sympathetic wife and an affectionate and considerate mother. Iland in hand with her husband she faced the difficulties of life and lived to see her efforts crowned with the blessings of a contented life and happy family.
Edward Bassett was born in New York city, July 20, 1819. His parents moved to Michigan in 1828 and there died, the father in 1860 and the mother in 1882. Edward grew to manhood in Michigan and received a good common school education. He was twice married. In November, 1848, he married Levina Bruce, a native of Ohio, and moved to Dane county, Wisconsin, where his wife died in 1856. To his first marriage were born three children-Mary, William and Charles. For his second wife he married Jane McQuivey in July, 1857. She was a native of Ver- mont. In the same month Mr. Bassett came to Mower county to look at the country, and, being well pleased, took a claim and returned to Wisconsin. In the fall of 1858 he returned to his claim and the following July he was joined by his family, who moved into the house he had erected on the south half of sec- tion 21 in Udolpho. It is interesting to note that Mr. Bassett met the family at MeGregor with an ox team and brought them here in that conveyance. Jane McQuivey Bassett died November 2, 1864, leaving four children : Edson, of Washington; Judson, of Michigan; George W., of Udolpho, and Elbra J., of North Dakota. Mr. Bassett was interested in all public affairs and served in many township offices. He gave his religious affilia- tion to the Baptist church. Ile died June 24, 1897.
J. H. Smith, a successful farmer of Udolpho township, was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, March 2, 1861, son of Samuel and Emma (Sanford) Smith. At the age of three years he came with his parents to Mower county and located on section 33, Udolpho township, where he still resides. He married Jennie York, daughter of O. R. York, and this union has been blessed with three children: Oscar Samuel, Eleanor Elizabeth and Aliee Louise.
Samuel Smith, father of J. H. Smith, was a native of Vermont
988
HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
of English descent. His great-grandfather was the first settler of Windsor, Vt. The Smith family came from England in 1635 and settled in Hartford, Conn. Samuel Smith and wife first came to Mower county in 1857 and Samuel had much to do with the early history of Udolpho and Lansing as a religious and educa- tional leader. He taught the village school in Lansing when there were more than seventy-five pupils of all ages in one room. He knew what pioneer life was. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Ida, Mrs. Julia Bloss, James H., Mrs. Emma Ulleriek, Sophia and Mrs. Mattie Johnson. Samuel Smith died in December, 1870, at the age of thirty-six. His wife, Emma Sanford Smith, was born in Rockford, Ill., her father being a native of Connecticut and a minister of the gospel, riding a cir- cuit in Illinois and Michigan until his deafness caused his prac- tical retirement.
Oscar R. York was born in North Stonington, Conn., April 27, 1843, son of Reuben and Elizabeth (Brown) York, also of that place. He remained in his native village until 1866, when he came to Brownsdale and for two years worked for his uncle, A. D. Brown. Then he purchased the southwest quarter of sec- tion 2 and built on section 9. In 1874 he returned to Connecticut and on February 17 of that year married Sarah Stanton, of Volun- town, Conn. This union was blessed with one child, Mrs. Jennie Smith. Mr. York worked on his farm until after the death of his wife, November 29, 1905. In 1908 he went to Udolpho and took up his home with his daughter, Mrs. Smith. His wife, Sarah Stanton York, was born August 9, 1845, in Voluntown, Conn., daughter of Gen. William Stanton. Until the time of her death she was an active worker in the Baptist church and Sunday school at Brownsdale.
John Reding, assessor of the city of Austin, was born in Lux- emberg, Germany, March 15, 1863, the son of Peter and Mary Reding, who brought their family to America in 1869 and settled in Union township, Mitchell county, Iowa. Here Peter Reding farmed about eighteen years and here his wife died, May 24, 1881, after which he moved to Adams in this county and retired. John Reding came to America with his parents in 1869 and located in Mitchell county, Iowa. There he attended the district schools and later entered the Mankato high school. After completing his schooling he returned to the home farm. Later he engaged in the hardware business five years at Adams. Subsequently he again took up agricultural pursuits and farmed four years in Mitchell county, Iowa. Then he rented the farm and moved to Lyle, this county, where he once more engaged in the hard- ware business, at the same time conducting a farm near the village. In 1901 he came to Austin" and engaged in the land
989
HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
business, being connected for two years with Herbert St. Ledger in the Southern Minnesota Land Company office. In 1910 he was made assessor of Austin. The same year he erected a com- fortable residence on Freeborn street, where he owns ten lots. Aside from this property he has several other land holdings, among them a 240-acre farm in Mitchell county. He is still in- terested in farming and is one of the stockholders in the Austin Cement and Tile Company. Mr. Reding married Nellie Smith, daughter of Charles Smith, and they have three children : Marie L., Agnes V. and Esther E. The oldest is a milliner in Minne- apolis. The others are at home.
M. N. Clausen, city engineer of Austin, was born in Rock county, Wisconsin, oldest son of Rev. C. L. Clausen and Martha Rasmussen, his wife, natives of Denmark. His early education was received in the public schools, in Decorah college at Decorah, Iowa, and in the Cedar Valley seminary at Osage, Iowa. Ile was at the latter institution in 1867 when his father decided to visit the old country. M. N. accompanied his father across the water and entered a theological school in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he studied three years, twice translating the New Testament from the Greek to the Danish language. At the end of this period he entered the Polytechnic school in the same city and there studied civil engineering. Then for two years he taught language. In 1878 the steamship line of Copenhagen selected four men to come to America and look over the southern states, especially Texas, with a view to loeating Danish eolonies. Mr. Clausen was made chairman of the delegation. After complet- ing his task he went to New York city and then visited his parents in Virginia. Ile remained in the latter state three months. Then he took a trip with his mother to Washington, D. C., and subsequently returned to his childhood home. At the end of this trip he had a call from Osage, Mitchell county, to become county surveyor of that county. This he accepted and held the position nine years. In 1889 he moved to Austin, pur- chased two lots on the corner of Baldwin and Third streets and there erected a home. Ile was made city surveyor of Austin and has at intervals since served in that office, occupying the position at present. Ile has also served as county surveyor. In 1892 he sold his property here and purchased a traet of tim- ber land on Puget Sound, which he still owns. On May 20, 1911. the Austin Humane Society was organized through his efforts and he was made its president. In politics he is a strong advo- cate of prohibition. He is a member of St. Olaf church and was choirmaster of that congregation for many years. Mr. Clausen was married in 1886 by his father at St. Ansgar, Iowa, to Minnie Matheson, who died February 1, 1890, leaving one son,
990
HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
Clarence L., who is now in the office of his uncle, C. W. Clausen, at Olympia, Wash. Mr. Clausen has recently been made a mem- ber of the National Geographical Society.
Rev. C. L. Clausen, now deceased, the pioneer Lutheran preacher of Mower county and vicinity, was born in Denmark, November 3, 1820, and there received his education and was ordained to the ministry. There he was married to Martha Rasmussen and together they came to America in 1843. She died in November, 1846, leaving one son, M. N. Clausen, city engineer of Austin. Rev. Clausen next married Bergetha Peter- son, who bore him four sons: C. W., state auditor at Olympia, Wash .; L. F., an attorney in North Dakota; E. E .; and B. A., a druggist at Seattle, Wash. Mrs. Bergetha Clausen was born May 29, 1819, and died December 2, 1887. On coming to Amer- ica Rev. Clausen located at Muskeego, Wis., and began his pro- fessional career. He established and built of logs the first Scan- dinavian church there. The church stood until about five years ago, when it was taken down and removed to the Augsburg Seminary grounds, midway between St. Paul and Minneapolis, and preserved, log for log, as at first constructed. The expense of the removal was borne by the clergymen of the United Lu- theran congregations. In its interior is a life-sized oil painting of Rev. Clausen, as a mark of appreciation from the United Lutheran Society, showing by this honor their gratefulness for the valuable services rendered by him to the organization. Mr. Clausen preached at Muskeego only a short period, after which he removed to Rock Prairie, Wis., and there established and built another church, as well as a residence, all of limestone. In 1852 he went to Iowa and purchased a tract of government land on which now stands the village of St. Ansgar. In 1853 he returned to Rock Prairie and moved his family to his new location, making the trip by ox team. He established his new residence, organized a congregation and became its preacher. Shortly afterward he had the government surveyor plat the townsite of St. Ansgar on his property. He immediately erected himself a new residence on the townsite and was the prime mover and fountain head of what is now St. Ansgar. He con- structed a dam across the Cedar river, built a saw mill, sold lots and made various improvements. In 1861 he became chap- lain of the Fifteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and served until he received a partial stroke of paralysis, after which he was honorably discharged and returned to St. Ansgar, where he resumed his professional work. In 1872 he settled in Vir- ginia, thirty miles north of Richmond, on the Rappahannock. After recovering his health he came back in 1878 and took up his home in Blooming Prairie, Minn., preaching for several con-
REV. C. L. CLAUSEN.
991
HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
gregations. About 1887 he reecived his second stroke and re- signed. He then retired and took up his home in Austin. He made several visits to his sons in Washington and on his last trip received the fatal third stroke, which eaused his death Feb- ruary 20, 1892. He was brought back from Washington to Aus- tin for interment. Mr. Clansen's history is a part of the story of the growth of the Lutheran religion in America, and his ea- reer is told in the sketches of the various Norwegian ehnrehes of the county as presented in this present work. It is worthy of note that just after the close of the Civil war a controversy arose in the Lutheran Synod as to the right of slavery. Rev. Clausen held that it was wrong according to the Scriptures. Many other elergymen of the synod held that slavery was right. This caused no little trouble and discord in the congregation. In 1867 Rev. Clausen decided to take a trip to Christiana. There he consulted two of the leading theologians in the University of Christiana and they agreed with him on the question of slavery. This trip was partly for the above cause and partly for the purpose of visiting his old home and friends. The gov- ernor of Iowa, hearing of his intended trip, bestowed upon him the honor of representing that state at the Paris Exposition of 1867. The portrait of Rev. Clausen which appears in this volume was taken on his native island, Aero, in Denmark, at forty-seven years of age.
Erick Hanson is one of the modern farmers of Mower eounty. He owns a fine place in Marshall township, has a comfortable residence surrounded with trees and shrubs, and a suitable com- plement of barns and outbuildings. He was born in Norway in 1871, son of Hans Hanson and Gertrude Peterson, his wife, who eame to America in 1873 and in due time purchased eighty acres in seetion 25, Marshall township. Erick, who was brought to this country at the age of two years, was here reared to man- hood, working on the home farm and attending the public schools. When twenty years of age he purchased seventy-five and a frae- tion acres in seetion 13, Marshall township, and to this he has added from time to time until he now owus 192 and a fraetion aeres, the fraction being eaused by the fact that the farm is crossed by the right of way of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. Mr. Hanson has recently erected a large house and some excellent barns equipped with a windmill and gasoline engine, as well as with a fourteen-horsepower steam traction engine, which is used for feed grinding and various other work, both for himself and his neighbors. He was formerly interested in raising grain, but now devotes his attention largely to cattle for beef and dairy purposes, his favorite breed being the Aber- deen-Angus, of which he has a herd of some fifty or sixty pure
992
HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
bloods. The subject of this sketch is a Lutheran in religion and a Republican in politics. In 1894 he married Susie Slindee, daughter of Ole O. Slindee, of Marshall township. This union has been blessed with one bright son, Irving, who is making an excellent record in the public schools.
William Furlong, now deceased, one of the early pioneers of Windom township, was a man of solid worth and took his part in the development of the country in the pioneer days. He was born 'm Tipperary, Ireland, January 6, 1798, and there grew to manhood, devoting his time to agricultural pursuits. There he was also married to Sarah Carter, who was a native of the same county. In 1852 they left their native land and started for America, landing in New York, but locating at once in Dela- ware county, Pennsylvania, where they remained on a farm two years. In 1854 they went to Galena, Ill., where they rented a farm until the spring of 1857, when they came to Mower county and entered the northeast quarter of section 8 in what is now known as the town of Windom. Here he erected a log house and endured at first all the hardships incident to pioneer life. Gradually he improved his land and when prosperity warranted it, erected a new home and barns. He died March 24, 1879, and his wife passed away July 27, 1872. They were the parents of seven children : Thomas, Mary, Patrick, James, William, John J. and Ellen.
Hon. John J. Furlong. John J. Furlong, son of William and Sarah (Carter) Furlong, was born in Tipperary county, Ireland, February 2, 1849, and came to America with his parents in 1852. (See life of William Furlong.) He attended the public school in Austin, and like all the boys of those early days, spent most of his vacation and spare time in hard work on the farm. May 25, 1880, he was married to Agnes Ryan, daughter of John and Johannah Ryan, of Albert Lea. She died October 23, 1897, leav- ing four children, May V., Loretta D., William A. and Charles, the latter of whom died at the age of sixteen. There are few men in the state with a wider acquaintanceship than Mr. Fur- long. His success in agriculture, his natural aptitude in politics, his genial nature, combined with hard common sense, won him friends in all walks of life. A man of great will power and tire- less energy, he was a good fighter in politics and a good loser when the battle went against him, which was seldom. For ten years he represented his district in the legislature. He was the state treasurer of the World's Fair Commission in 1893. His success in thoroughbred stock raising won him prominent posi- tions in the various stock breeders' associations, a few of which we mention : President of the Swine Breeders' Association of Minnesota, president of the Minnesota Live Stock Breeders'
HON. J. J. FURLONG.
DAVID H. STIMSON.
993
HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
Association, member of the executive board of the Sheep Breed- ers' Association of Minnesota, president of the First Congres- sional Live Stock Breeders' Association, president of the Live Stoek Sanitary Board of Minnesota. He has also taken a great interest in agricultural fairs, and is a life member of the Mower County Agricultural Society, of which he was president for fif- teen years. He has been connected with the Minnesota State Fair Association and for two years was its vice-president and came within a few votes of being elceted president in 1910. Ile is now president of the Federation of County Fairs of Minne- sota. Mr. Furlong is a strong believer in mutual insurance and he has been president of the Mower County Farmers' Mutual Fire & Lightning Company for many years. This company ranks first of all the mutual insurance companies of the state. He has also been vice-president of the National Association of Insur- anee Companies. He is a life member of the Minnesota State Agricultural Society and was a member of the board of man- agers five years. He is also a member of the State Horticultural Society. In township affairs he has been chairman for a num- ber of years and is now a justice of the peace. While Mr. Fur- long has been prominent in these various roles of life, his great- est work for Mower county was on his 320-acre farm, "Colum- bian" stoek farm, which is located three and one-half miles east of Austin. This beautiful and well-kept farm won the $1,000 prize offered by James J. Hill for the best farm in the First Congressional district. Mr. Furlong is a breeder of registered Shorthorn eattle, Cotswold sheep, Poland-China swine and high- grade Pereheron horses. Mr. Furlong is past exalted ruler of the Austin Lodge, 414, B. P. O. E., a member of the Austin Lodge, A. O. U. W., Knights of Columbus, St. Augustine's Abstinence Society and was for a time a prominent member of Austin Lodge, I. O. O. F., and Austin Lodge, Knights of Pythias. Ile has held township offices and is interested in all movements for the up- building of Mower county and the state of Minnesota; is presi- dent of the Catholic Cemetery Association, which perpetuates continual care, and was secretary of St. Augustine's parish of Austin for a good many years, both during and for many years after its organization.
David Hopkins Stimson, deceased, was born in Danby, Vt., August 29, 1846, son of William and Aurora (Hopkins) Stim- son, prominent farmers of Bennington, Vt. The father was one of seven sons and seven daughters and the mother was one of six sons and six daughters. They, however, had but three sons, David, Wiliam and Homer, the latter two of whom are dead. David, the subject of this sketch, received his education in Danby and graduated from the Manchester college at Manchester, Vt.
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.