USA > Minnesota > Mower County > The history of Mower County, Minnesota : illustrated > Part 84
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HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
Le Roy high school. The family faith is that of the Norwegian Lutheran church.
Lars Ellingson, a substantial and well-to-do farmer of Adams township, now living in the village of Adams, is a fine example of a self-made man. Coming to this country as a poor boy, he has worked his way up with but little encouragement, and has fought his way through obstacles to well deserved success. He was born in Liekanger, Sogn, Norway, August 1, 1849, son of Ellingson Larson and Brynlda Larson. He received his education in the public schools of Norway, and came to America with his parents at seventeen years of age, arriving in Adams the following year. Here he filed on eighty acres of railroad land in section 19, Adams township, where he built a shanty, which he replaced five years later with a frame house. Here he followed general farming, own- ing at one time 640 acres, all but 120 acres of which he cultivated, breaking 240 acres himself. He erected a fine set of buildings, and developed his place into one of the best in the county, con- tinuing agricultural operations until 1910, when he retired and moved to Adams village, having now sold all of his farm land except 160 aeres which he rents. In addition to this he owns a comfortable residence and two building lots in the village of Adams. Mr. Ellingson is single, and attends the Lutheran church. He is an independent voter, has served the town of Adams as treasurer for a period of five years, and also in minor positions. Ellingson and Brynlda Larson, parents of Lars Ellingson, were natives of Husebo, Norway. They came to America in 1866, and located for two years at Calmar, Iowa, thence coming to Adams village, where the father worked on the railroad for one year. Then they moved on their son's farm in Adams township, where they remained for the remainder of their days, the father dying June 3, 1882, and the mother December 22, 1908.
Charles Henry Coats, one of the pioneer residents of Mower county, who has contributed much to its upbuilding, was born in McKane county, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1829. He received his education in the public schools of his native county and in an academy at Cowdasport, Pa., after which he assisted his father in the lumber business for a time, the business being closed out shortly afterward. Later he removed to Wisconsin and con- ducted a hotel and general mercantile business until 1857, when he came to Mower county and located in Brownsdale, where he kept the hotel, succeeding E. J. Stimson, and conducted a general dry goods store, having H. E. Anderson as a partner a part of the time. In 1868 he came to Austin, with a view to opening a railroad eating house, but these plans did not mature, and he devoted his time largely to purchasing furs, a vocation he had also followed in Wisconsin and in Brownsdale. For a short time
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HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
Mr. Coats engaged as a traveling salesman for Farnham & Love- joy, lumber dealers, of Minneapolis, this beginning a connection which lasted in all twelve years. Soon after he engaged with them he became a partner, and the firm established a shingle mill at Minneapolis, under the firm name of Farnham, Lovejoy & Co., Mr. Coats being the silent member of the firm. After his retire- ment from this firm he came back to Austin, where he had main- tained his home. Here he looked after his real estate interests for a time. He was also manager for some years of the Wasioja Stone Company. This quarry supplied the stone for the Chicago Great Western bridge at St. Paul, for the George A. Hormel plant at Austin, and for many other important structures. Of late years Mr. Coats has practically retired from active life. He was mar- ried January 8, 1856, in Wisconsin, to Mary Wheeler, a native of Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York. They were married as the result of a visit to the then Mary Wheeler to a sister in Wisconsin, where Mr. Coats met her. Levi and Safrona (Chapin) Coats, parents of Charles Henry Coats, were natives of New York, locating in Pennsylvania in the early days, where Levi followed lumbering, rafting, etc., on the Alleghany river. Later they removed to Wisconsin, where Levi died in 1871. His wife after- ward came to Austin and died at the age of eighty-nine years.
Dr. Rensselaer Soule, a pioneer physician of Lansing, came to Minnesota with the intention of retiring from the practice of medi- cine, but found the demand for his services so great that he was obliged to yield to the solicitations of his neighbors and take up practice in this county. He was born in Fairfield, Vt., was edu- cated in the University of Vermont, and practiced in that state and Canada. He came to Minnesota with his family in 1865, and purchased a large tract of land in Lansing township. His wife, Susan (Richardson), died in the spring of 1880, at the age of sixty-seven years. He died the following fall at the age of seventy- seven years.
Rensselaer Soule, Jr., son of Dr. R. Soule, was born in Fair- field, Vt., March 27, 1836, came to Minnesota with his family in 1864, and settled in Lansing village, some years later moving onto a farm, southwest quarter of section 10. His wife's maiden name was Cornelia L. Hawley, sister of L. Hawley. (See Lyman Hawley family.) There were four children : Herbert, Helen, Lil- lian and Bessie (wife of A. E. Beadell, Lansing, Minn.) ; Helen, who married F. A. Foote, died in St. Panl in 1905. Lillian died in Faribault in 1884. Rensselaer Soule, Jr., father of Herbert R., died in Lansing, March 5, 1904.
Herbert R. Soule was married to Alice Padgett, September 3, 1884. IIe has been engaged in various lines of business, among them farming, shipping live stock, and some real estate business.
RENSSELAER SOULE, JR.
MRS. RENSSELAER SOULE, JR.
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HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
Ile was town elerk of Lansing for eight years. At the present time he is committee elerk in one of the departments of the legis- lature, session of 1911. He belongs to the Masons, Woodmen, Court of Honor. Alice (Padgett) Soule was born near Beaver Dam, Wis., December 10, 1857. Her parents came to America from Lincolnshire, England, in the early fifties. Three of her brothers, William, John and Robert, enlisted in Wisconsin regi- ments, serving in the Civil war. Alice came with an older sister (Mrs. Mann) to Moscow, Freeborn county, in 1870. She was a successful teacher in the public schools for a number of years. This union is blessed with one son, Herbert P. Soule, born August 13, 1893, and is a student in Pillsbury Academy, Owatonna.
The Soule family traec their ancestry back to the Mayflower. Through the female line it is proud to elaim Miles Standish as an aneestor, and through the male line, George Soule, who was one of the peerless company who took possession of "New England's roek-bound coast."
Lyman Hawley came to Minnesota from Vermont in 1864. He was engaged in a general store for about five years; was one of the town supervisors, and taught school in the village of Lansing several terms. He owned several different farms in the vicinity of Lansing. His ancestors came to America from England and set- tled in Connectieut in 1666, and from there they moved to Ver- mont. One of his ancestors was a close friend of Ethan Allen. Ile moved to Faribault, Minn., February, 1878.
Orlando Clinton LaBar was born at Rockport, Carbon county, Pennsylvania, in 1846, his parents being Daniel J. and Susan (Dodson) LaBar, the former a native of Pike county, the latter of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. In 1856 the family moved to Wisconsin and settled at Berlin, Green Lake county, and from there went to Fond du Lac county. In 1865 they came to Mower county and settled in Lansing village. Orlando LaBar, who was the eighth of nine children, was raised on the farm, and received a good common school education, remaining at home with his parents until 1872, when he purchased a farm in section 28, Udolpho township, to which he removed in the spring of 1873, where both parents died. In 1891 he rented his farm and built. himself a home in the village of Lansing. where he now resides. IIe has become an extensive land owner and prosperous farmer. but has also at various times spent considerable energy in the grain business and in other enterprises. Although he has steadily refused to take an active part in politics, he has served five years as a member of the board of county commissioners and for two years was chairman of that body. The subject of this sketch was married, in October, 1869, to Mary Stokes, born near Oshkosh, Wis., the sixth daughter of the Rev. George and Delana (Forbes)
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Stokes. To Mr. and Mrs. LaBar three children were born; one died in infancy ; Jessie died at the age of nineteen years and George S. married Nettie Chaffee, by whom he has one son, Clinton J. LaBar.
Rev. George Stokes was born in Lincolnshire, England, and married Delana Forbes. They came to Mower county in the fall of 1865 and settled in Udolpho, where the wife died. Rev. Stokes remained until 1877, when he went to Utah, returning in 1884. He died in 1885 at the home of his son-in-law, O. C. LaBar, in Udolpho township, Minnesota. He was a true pioneer pastor, and held the first religious services and organized the first churches in a number of Mower county townships. He was the father of nine children.
Fred W. Smock, organizer and cashier of the Sargeant State Bank, was born in Benton county, Iowa, near the village of Vinton, March 6, 1874, son of C. and. Viola (Webster) Smock, who located in Iowa in 1865 and now live on a fine farm of 320 acres at Riceville, Iowa. Fred W. received his education in the public schools of Iowa, and engaged in farming at home until twenty-five years of age. Then he secured a position with the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank, of Riceville, Iowa, as bookkeeper. This position he faithfully filled until July, 1906, when he came to Sargeant and purchased the private bank of Schoonmaker & Blethen, which he at once organized into a state bank, becoming its first cashier. The bank has prospered, and is well equipped for business, one of the latest improvements being a burglar-proof vault safe. Aside from the banking business, Mr. Smock carries on an extensive business in insurance, real estate and loans. In 1908 the present brick bank building was erected. Mr. Smock has been treasurer of the village four years and is still serving in that capacity. He is much interested in his village and the sur- rounding country, and is doing all that he can to promote the prosperity of the community. The subject of this sketch is a high degree Mason, a member of the M. W. A., an attendant of the Congregational church and a Republican in politics. He was married August 29, 1900, to Addie N. Norton, of Charles City, Iowa, and they have one son, Morton C., born September 22, 1903.
Charles R. Boostrom, of whose lifelong dream the Southern Minnesota Normal College, of Austin, is a materialization, was horn in Oneida, Ill., March 1, 1864, the son of George and Aurelia (Madison) Boostrom, the former a native of Sweden and the latter of Washington county, New York. The elder Boostrom was fortunate in discovering coal on his farm, and this furnished the family with a substantial amount of this world's goods. Charles R., who was one of nine children, was brought up in a Christian home, and attended the public schools. Early in life
CHARLES R. BOOSTROM.
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HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
he conceived the plan of some day establishing a school where the young people of limited finances and opportunities might receive educational equipment for their work in life. In 1883 he entered the Western Illinois Normal College, at Bushnell, Ill., and graduated from the normal course there in 1884. Then in order to see something of the world, he spent five years in the west, mining, lumbering, ranching and teaching. In 1889 he returned to Illinois, and took a scientific course in the Northern Illinois Normal School, at Dixon, graduating in 1891. The following fall saw him daily installed as principal of schools at Rio, Ill., where he remained from 1891 to 1893. Then he was elected superin- tendent of schools at Wataga, Ill., and occupied that position until 1896, when he entered the Valparaiso University, in Indiana, and took a post graduate course. Then, in 1897, with E. M. Schelde and O. G. Jackman, he founded the Southern Minnesota Normal College, furnishing the credit for the institution and acting as its first vice president and treasurer, the school being the outcome of plans which he had long held. In 1900, when Dr. Schelde, the first president, retired, the subject of this sketch succeeded to the position which he now occupies, being the only one of the founders at present connected with the school. Presi- dent Boostrom's sphere of usefulness as an educator and ais a citizen has extended far beyond the bounds of his own school. In 1904 Professor Boostrom was appointed by John Olson, state superintendent of public instruction, as lecturer before state summer schools, which position he filled three years. In 1907 he succeeded O. W. Shaw as a member of the board of managers of the state public school at Owatonna, and immediately upon his appointment was made president of the board, a position he still occupies, having been reappointed January 1, 1909. He is presi- dent of the John Ericsson Republican League of Minnesota, an organization which includes all the Scandinavian Republican clubs of Minnesota, being elected in 1908, and re-elected in 1910. He was also one of the organizers of the Austin Progressive League. In February, 1911, Prof. Boostrom was appointed by Gov. A. D. Eberhart to the office of assistant public examiner. President Boostrom was married June 21, 1893, at Victoria, Ill., to Alpha E. Harpman, daughter of John and Margaret (Rosenleaf) Harp- man, natives of Sweden. Mrs. Boostrom graduated from the IIed- dling College, at Abingdon, Ill., in 1890, then entered the Val- paraiso University, and graduated from the musical department in 1897. She then became teacher of music and arts in the Southern Minnesota Normal College, remaining for seven years. When her health gave out the school lost an excellent teacher, but her kindly influence still extends through all the departments and is an inspiration to the students. She belongs to a number of
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HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
local clubs and organizations, and was one of the founders of the Era Club, of which she was president for several years.
Winfield H. Goodsell was born on the farm where he is now located in Frankford township, March 13, 1861, son of Naaman and Jane A. (Goodrich) Goodsell. Here he was reared, received a liberal district school education, and continued farming with his father until the latter's death in 1888, at which time he took entire charge. To the home place he has added other land until he now has 536 acres, all adjoining. Mr. Goodsell is a prominent Mason, belongs to the Blue Lodge at Grand Meadow, the Chapter at Le Roy, the Commandery at Austin, and the Mystic Shrine at St. Paul, and is as well a member of the M. W. A. at Grand Meadow. Winfield H. Goodsell was married in the old village of Frankford, December 25, 1889, to Lizzie Parker, daughter of William H. and Hannah (Wiseman) Parker, at one time prominent farmers of Frankford, where William H. Parker died in 1886. The Goodsell home has been blessed with eight children.
Naaman Goodsell, a pioneer of Frankford township, now de- ceased, was born in East Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York, in 1822, of old Vermont ancestry. He received a common school education and remained at home until attaining young manhood. After living in Indiana and Iowa, he came to Frankford in 1855, and took a homestead of 160 acres of land in section 23, erected a home and passed through all the hardships incident and necessary to pioneer days. He attained prominence and was treasurer of the township ten years. He was married June 17, 1847, to Jane A. Goodrich, of Geauga county, Ohio, and they were blessed with six children: George, of Grand Meadow village; James F., of Flandreau, S. D., where he has been state senator four years, county superintendent and county auditor; Lydia E., now Mrs. Cornelius W. Keck, of Fillmore county ; Eva C., now Mrs. Henry Bush, of Grand Meadow; Winfield H., of Frankford township, and Addie J., now Mrs. James Glynn, of Fillmore county. Naaman Goodsell died October 12, 1888, and his wife now makes her home with her son, Winfield.
Robert Dick, a scientific farmer of Le Roy township, was born in Green county, Wisconsin, May 19, 1869, son of John and Ferena (Isly) Diek, natives of Switzerland. He received his early educa- tion in the schools of his native county, and then engaged in farm- ing with his father until 1892, at which time he took up his resi- denee in Chester, Howard county, Iowa, and purchased a half interest in a half section of land. There he engaged in farming until 1895, when he sold out his interest and came to Le Roy township, where he farmed on rented land. In 1902 he returned to Howard county, purchased 250 acres in Chester township, and there followed farming until the spring of 1910, when he sold out
THOMAS KOUGH AND FAMILY.
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HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
and purchased 240 acres in section 27, Le Roy township, the place then being known as the Hayes place. Mr. Dick carries on gen- eral farming and stock raising in the most modern style. He is now breeding into Holstein-Fresians, having hitherto been a breeder of the Black Polled Angus. While in Iowa, Mr. Dick served as president of the school board of his district. He votes the Democratic ticket, attends the Presbyterian church and belongs to the M. W. A. of LeRoy. Mr. Dick was married October 19, 1893, to Lena Karlen, born in Switzerland, January 23, 1876, daughter of Christian and Katherene Karlen, who brought her to America in 1892. In the Dick family are five children : Olga O., April 16, 1894; Herman R., February 20, 1899; Martha M., September 10, 1904; Lorena, November 2, 1901 (died April 29, 1905), and Marie L., December 13, 1908. John Dick was born December 9, 1835, and his wife, Ferena Isly, April 3, 1840, both natives of Switzerland. They came to America in 1854, and located in Ohio, where they farmed four years. Then they went to Green county, Wisconsin, and purchased a 200-acre farm, where they farmed until 1901, when they retired and moved to Monticello. There they died, John, August 9, 1910, and Ferena, December 9, 1902. In their family were nine children : Ella is the widow of Gottfried Wittwer, and lives in Madison, Wis .; John lives in Monticello, Wis .; Mary is the widow of Albert Wittwer, and lives in Madison, Wis .; Robert lives in LeRoy ; Rosa is the wife of Samuel Wittwer, and they live in Monticello, Wis .; Louise is the wife of Henry Stedtler, and they now reside also in Monticello, Wis .; Jacob lives in Redfield, S. D .; Annie is the wife of John P. Klossner, and they live at Rice Lake, Wis .; Minnie is the wife of Detrich Marty, and they live at Monticello, Wis. Christian Karlen was born January 25, 1845, and his wife, Katherene Deiter, April 15, 1840. They came from Switzerland to America in 1889, and located in Green county, Wisconsin, where they engaged in farming three years. Then they came to Mower county, Minnesota, and farmed five years. Subsequently they went to Howard county, Iowa, and purchased a quarter section farm, where they farmed until 1911, when they retired and moved to LeRoy township. In their family are eight chil- dren: John C. lives in Lodi township, this county ; Albert lives in Columbia, S. D .; Emma M. is the wife of Samuel Meier, and lives in Verona, Wis .; Eliza, wife of Eleroy Hilton, died in September, 1893; Lena is the wife of Robert Dick, and they now live in LeRoy ; Edward lives in Taopi; Emil lives at Houghton, S. D .; Ida lives in Columbia, S. D.
Thomas Kough, extensive stock breeder of Lodi township, was born in Shrewsbury, England, November 1, 1841, son of Thomas and Catherine (Harley) Kough, both of whom died in England.
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HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
He came to America in 1861, and after a long and troublesome voyage landed in Quebec. Then he visited a brother in Owen Sound, Georgian Bay, Canada West of that time, but now Ontario, for a while, and subsequently located in Guelph, Canada, where he engaged as a farmer eight years. In 1867 he went to New York state and a year later came to Mower county and located in Lodi township, purchasing 120 acres in section 14. This he has now increased to 440 acres, all in a high degree of cultivation. In the early years of his residence here he raised grain, but later he began breeding Shorthorn cattle and Cotswold sheep. After studying the matter carefully he decided to intro- duce Hereford cattle into this part of the country, and accord- ingly, in 1881, went to Guelph, Canada West, now Ontario, where he and Conrad Hambrecht, of LeRoy, purchased four head of pure blooded Herefords for $1,630 and brought them to Lodi. He now ships his beef directly to Chicago, and sells pure blooded live stock as far away as western Montana. His herd consists of 125 head, several of which are prize winners, his bull and steers having taken $140 in premiums at the 1902 state fair. Mr. Kough has a comfortable residence, with all modern improve- ments, such as running hot and cold water, bath rooms, modern plumbing, acetylene, a heating plant and the like, his present residence being erected on the site of one which burned in 1902. Mr. Kough has taken a prominent part in the affairs of the com- munity from the time of his first arrival. Soon after he came here he attended a school meeting of district 67, and was elected school clerk at once. At that time the district had just been organized and the schoolhouse had been started but was not finished on the inside. This old schoolhouse was destroyed by prairie fire in 1871, when it was not yet paid for. Unfortunately, the records of this district were destroyed when the residence of Mr. Kough was burned, in 1902. In the spring of 1874, when the town of Lodi was organized, Mr. Kough was the first town clerk, and since then he has held some important local office nearly continuously. He has refused to run for county office, though often assured heavy support. He was first married in Canada, November 16, 1865, to Alice Maud Benham, who died in 1867, leaving one child, Catherine M., who now lives in England. September 4, 1873, Mr. Kough married Maggie Ann Wilsey, a native of Pennsylvania. This union has been blessed with four children : Nancy Maud, John Harley, Thomas William, the latter two being twins, and Sarah Calphernia, now Mrs. J. R. Culton. Nancy M. is widow of F. S. White, formerly for many years station agent at Taopi. John Harley married Lorene Fisher. Thomas William married Leona Fisher, and after her death, Bridget Murray.
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HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY
Axel Roe, an industrious farmer of Lodi township, was born in Norway in 1865, son of Ole and Katherine Larson Roen, both now deceased. Axel came to America in 1889, landed in New York and then came west to Praltar, lowa, where he engaged in railroading for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul for three years. Then he moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he worked for the B. C. R. N. railroad four years. Then he came to Adams and purchased 160 acres in Clayton township. After farming there for four years he sold out and then purchased 160 acres in Mitehell county, Iowa. After two years he sold out and pur- chased 160 acres in section 26, Lodi township, where he carries on general farming, raises Shorthorn cattle for beef and dairy purposes and has a drove of thirty-three Chester White swine, as well as twelve Percheron horses. In addition to his property in Lodi, he owns sixty-five acres in Mitchell county, Iowa. Mr. Roe is a Republican in politics and has been school director of district 80 for some years. He was married in 1892 at Cedar Rapids to Annie Jondal, of Norway, and they have six bright children: Otis, Conrad August, Arthur Segard, Theodore Clar- ence, Archibald Gerhard and Alma Senora. The five sturdy boys attend school. The family faith is that of the Norwegian Luth- eran church.
Engbret Rudlong, a substantial farmer of Lodi township, was born in Norway in 1857, son of Alex Rudlong, who died in Nor- way in 1908. Engbret came to America at twenty-seven years of age, landed in New York and came directly to Adams, where he worked out as a farm hand seven years. Then he purchased eighty acres in section 5, Lodi township, and made general im- provements, erecting a home and barn and raising a windmill to pump water. He has since followed intensive farming, and raises also Shorthorn cattle for beef and dairy purposes, selling cream to the Adams Co-operative Creamery, in which he is one of the stockholders and which he assisted in organizing. Mr. Rudlong is a Republican in politics and attends the Lutheran church. He was married in 1891 to Annie Weste, who was born in Norway and came to the United States in 1889. This union has been blessed with seven children: Mabel, Artie, Harry, Eddie, Eda, Nordine and Violet, all at home. Harry, Eddie and Eda attend school.
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