USA > Minnesota > Renville County > The history of Renville County, Minnesota, Volume II > Part 52
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Mr. Grellong is a member of the Red River Valley Dairy- men's Association. He is at present organizing a short course for the farmer boys in dairy feeding.
June 19, 1903, Mr. Grellong was married to Frances Il. Nehr- ing who was born Nov. 23, 1882, at Paynesville. Her father, L. F. Nehring, is a retired farmer, aged seventy. They have one child, Arvid La Mont, born May 25, 1906.
Peter H. Pederson, son of Hans and Britha (Mundahl) Peder- son, was born in Norway, April 30, 1865. His father was born July 5, 1837, and came to America in 1870, locating in Fillmore county where he remained for four years. Then he purchased 130 acres of land in seetion 1, Bireh Cooley township, to which he later added 37 acres. Here he lived until his death Nov. 2, 1913. The mother was born Jan. 1, 1836, and died Jan. 25, 1909. They had the following children: Anna, born Dec. 30, 1862, and died Ang. 3, 1911, wife of Christ Johnson, a carpenter of Minneapolis : Peter Il .: Sina, born Nov. 6, 1867, and died Nov. 27, 1900, who was married to Rev. A. M. Lunde, a Norwegian Lutheran minister of South Dakota; Lena, born May 12, 1870, who died March 16, 1913, wife of Christian Christenson, a farmer in Idaho: Andrew, born May 12, 1872, a barber in Franklin ; Nellie, born Oct. 24, 1874, and died Dee. 31, 1894; Henry, born Dee. 26, 1876, a farmer in Birch Cooley township; and George, born May 31, 1890, and died April 6, 1907. Mr. Pederson began working out on the farms of the county at the age of twenty years and continued in this work for about fifteen years. Then he operated a threshing machine with his brother Andrew for several years. Next he purchased the farm where he now lives. lle has erected good buildings and has built a silo with a capacity of a hundred tons. He raises Durham and Holstein cattle, Duroc- Jersey and Hampshire hogs and Belgian horses, and owns two registered Holsteins. In addition to his farm he has twenty aeres of timber land in Brown county.
Mr. Pederson is a stockholder in the mill, creamery and in the Farmers' Elevator in Franklin. He is a member of the Nor- wegian Lutheran church at Franklin.
Michael Murphy, a prosperous farmer in Birch Cooley town- ship, was born in Dodge county, Wiseonsin, Feb. 5, 1869, son of Peter and Margaret (Bagley) Murphy. The father, Peter Mur- phy, was born in Ireland and came to Ameriea at the age of twenty-one years and lived in Canada for five years. Then he lived in Wisconsin five years and came to Renville county in 1869, where he secured a homestead in section 4, Bireh Cooley township and remained there until his death in 1898, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife is still living at the age of eighty years in Minneapolis. Michael Murphy worked in a hardware
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store in Morton from 1894 to 1908. Then he rented the home farm and still lives there. Ile married Margaret Ryan, born Ang. 4, 1869. Her father, Philip Ryan, is a retired farmer, being born in Ireland and came to America in 1873. He is eighty-four years of age. Her mother, Bridget (Gleason) Ryan, died March 24, 1883. Mr. Murphy and his wife have eight children: Matilda, born March 22, 1894; Francis, born Oct. 21, 1895; Mary, born April 23, 1897; Ralph, born July 21, 1900; Margaret Jessie, born Ang. 13, 1902; Raymond P., born March 28, 1904; Florence C., born Oct. 10, 1907; and Bernard M., born Jan. 20, 1915. Mr. Murphy has been assessor of the township for four years and a member of the school board. He is also a member of the Mod- ern Woodmen of America at Morton and a member of the Cath- olie church.
Henry B. Pederson, owner of Breezy Point Stock Farm, was born in Bireh Cooley township on seetion 1, Dee. 26, 1876, son of Hans and Brithe (Mundahl) Pederson. Henry B. remained at home on the farm until 1899 when he purchased 160 acres in sec- tions 2 and 11, in Birch Cooley township, in company with his brother Andrew. Here he lived until Oet. 7, 1907, when he rented the farm where he now lives. After four years he bought this place of 160 aeres in sections 3 and 10, and made many improve- ments upon it in the years that have passed. lle now owns 240 acres and has built a barn, equipped with electric lights, 26 by 74 feet, and a silo with a capacity of 125 tons. In 1914 he also built a feeding shed 24 by 60 feet. lle has a fine seven-room house also equipped with electric lights. The farm and build- ings are near the edge of a bluff along the Minnesota river and the land is level and of good soil. Mr. Pederson feeds cattle for the market. shipping about two earloads every year. He has a small herd of Shorthorn cattle and breeds Duroc-Jersey and Hampshire hogs, of which he ships one carload every year. lle also raises Mammoth Bronze turkeys, Belgian horses and Letter Back Italian bees. Ile has thirteen acres which are set aside for the production of alfalfa. Mr. Pederson has been the town- ship treasurer for two years. lle is a stockholder in the Mill, Creamery and Farmers' Elevator Company in Franklin. Hle is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church. Mr. Pederson was married July 18, 1901, to Caroline Holter, born Sept. 22, 1878, daughter of Hans Holter, a carpenter of Minneapolis, born in Norway, who came to America in 1861, and Christine Erickson. who died April 7, 1890, at the age of forty years. Mr. and Mrs. Pederson have had the following children: Harold, born Dec. 13, 1902; Bernice, born Feb. 11, 1905; George, born Dec. 26, 1906; llelen, born Jan. 2, 1909, and died Jan. 13, 1909; Clara, born July 15, 1910; Edward, born May 11, 1912; and Eleanor. born May 11, 1912, and died Sept. 19, 1912.
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Samuel H. Smith, proprietor of the "Plainview Stock and Grain Farm, " was born in Bureau county, Ilinois, Ang. 28, 1868, son of William and Martha (Edwards) Smith. His father was born in Ireland and engaged in farming in Illinois, dying there in 1870 at the age of thirty-eight years. His mother died in 1899 at the age of fifty-two years. Mr. Smith began working out on the farms of the neighbors at the age of twenty-one years and continued for three years. Then he rented farms in Bureau and adjoining counties in Illinois until 1904, when he came to Ren- ville county and rented a farm in Birch Cooley township until 1912. lle then bought 160 acres in section 28, Birch Cooley town- ship, southeast quarter, where he still lives. He has one acre of fruit. Mr. Smith is a stockholder in the Farmers' Elevator Com- pany in Franklin. lle was married Aug. 12, 1890, to Esther Hubbard, born Dec. 28, 1872, daughter of Isaac Hubbard, born May 13. 1838, in Ohio, who engaged in farming and is now living with Mr. Smith, and Viranda ( Warkins) Hubbard, who died in 1900 at the age of fifty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have the following children: Alice, born Sept. 24, 1891, married to ller- man Bucholz, a farmer in Birch Cooley township; Harold, born Jan. 1, 1893, a farmer in Birch Cooley township: Claude, born July 14, 1897; Leonard, born Sept. 3, 1902: and Ina, born Jan. 23. 1911. The three youngest children are at home.
Andrew F. Mahowald, successful real estate agent and leading business man of Morton, was born in Scott county, this state, May 3, 1869, son of Mathew P. and Catherine (Schneider) Maho- wald. Mathew P. Mahowald was born in Zimmer. Luxembourg. was brought to Scott county in 1855 by his parents, became a . prominent farmer and died Oct. 19, 1900. Ile married Catherine Schneider who died Oct. 24. 1874, at the age of twenty-eight years. It is interesting to note that Mathew P. Mahowald was preceded to this country by his brothers, John and Mathias, stone-masons by trade, who came to St. Paul in 1851, and worked on many of the first stone buildings in that city, some of which are still standing. Andrew F. Mahowald was reared on a farm, and at the age of nineteen worked a year learning the harness- making trade with his cousin, N. H. Mahowald. at Lakeville, Minn. Then he worked For another cousin, Anton Mahowald, at Bird Island, for two years, following the same trade. Oct. 21, 1891, he came to Morton and opened a harness shop. In 1904 he built a brick building on the east side of Main street in block 9. This building was 25 by 65 feet, one story high with a full basement and cost $4,000. lle operated this shop until 1908, when he bought a building on the west side of Main street in block 10, known as the Charles Wolter Building. It is 25 by 65 feet, two-story with a full basement, made of solid brick and cost $5,000. lle then removed his shop to this building and is
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still there, occupying the basement and the first floor of this build- ing with a $4,000 stock and does business to the amount of $10,000 a year. Ile is also a dealer in real estate and does a very good business in local and western lands. He owns 960 acres in Henry- ville and Norfolk townships and also 320 aeres in Alberta, Can- ada. lle also deals in the Overland automobiles in Renville county and does a large business. He has built a fine home in Morton, ereeted in 1897, a 26 by 32 foot frame building, two stories high, with eight rooms and a Full basement. It is furnished with hot water heat, running water, electrie lights and is entirely modern, costing $4,000. Mr. Mahowald has served on the village eouneil for six years and is a member of the Catholic church in Morton. July 18, 1892, Mr. Mahowald was united in marriage to Catherine borge, a milliner of Morgan, Minnesota, born Angust 15, 1867, daughter of Nicholas and Catherine (Schons) Lorge. Nicholas Lorge was a well-known farmer of Nicollet county for several years, and later operated a hotel in Fairfax. Hle and his wife are now living in Morgan. Mr. and Mrs. Mahowald have five children : George F., born May 22, 1893, who works in his fath- er's shop ; heo A., born Oet. 31, 1905 ; J. Elsie, born April 25, 1898; Laura E., born Feb. 9, 1903; and Edward M., born April 20, 1910.
Rudolph Diekmeier, a progressive farmer of Birch Cooley township, was born in Germany, May 10, 1872. Ilis father, Fred- erick, came to America in 1878 and bought 120 acres in section 15, and 40 aeres in section 21, Sherman township in Redwood county, Minnesota, where he lived until his death Dec. 27, 191?, at the age of seventy-five years. Ile held the office of township treasurer for seven years. His wife, Angusta Fixsen, died June 13, 1909, at the age of sixty years. Rudolph Diekmeier remained on the home farm until he was twenty-five years of age. Then he worked out for six years and began farming in 1903. lle bought 160 aeres in Sherman township, Redwood county, in 1905, in partnership with his brothers, Herman and Fred. He also bonght 126 aeres in section 35 in Birch Cooley township, Septem- ber, 1909, with the same brothers, and is making his home there now, having been married Sept. 15, 1915, to Anna Christine JJen- sen. The three brothers now own 486 aeres. They have 125 Durham cattle and abont 100 hogs. They make a specialty of feeding rattle and hogs and preparing them for the market, ship- ping about two carloads of cattle and one of, hogs per year. The farms have good buildings. Mr. Diekmeier is a member of the Creamery and Milling Company in Franklin and has served on the Sherman township board for three years. He was also road overseer for three years.
There were the following children in his father's Family : John D., a farmer of Redwood county ; William F., a drayman in Franklin ; Rudolph, a farmer and stockraiser of Birch Cooley
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township; Otto F., a retired farmer living at Morton; Matilda, Mrs. William Revier, living on a farm in Sherman township, Red- wood county; Herman, a farmer of Redwood county; Fred, a farmer of Redwood county ; and Rose, Mrs. William Lussenhop, living on a farm in Paxton township, Redwood county.
Daniel J. McCartan, a prominent dentist of Morton, was born March 25, 1878, in Columbia county, Wisconsin. His father, John McCartan, aged sixty-five, is a retired farmer living at Portage, Wisconsin. His mother, Harriett (Hagan) MeCartan, died in 1911 at the age of fifty-five. Dr. MeCartan graduated from the Poynette High school in 1898 and from the Normal department of Story's Business College at Portage, Wisconsin, in 1899. Dur- ing the next two years he taught schoot, one year in Columbia county, and one year as principal at Brownsdale, Minnesota. IIe also spent one year selling school supplies for the National Pub- lishing Company. Thereupon he attended the Chicago College of Dental Surgery and graduated from that college in 1905. He located at Morton June, 1905, and has built up a very fine prac- tiee. At present he has offices both in Morton and in Franklin. At the Dentat College Dr. MeCartan was a member of the Psi Omega Fraternity. He is a member of three dentat societies and also a member of the C. O. F. and the Knights of Columbus, of which he is Chancellor, at Fairfax. Dr. McCartan has been the village recorder for four years and is at present the clerk of the school board. Nov. 24, 1909, he was married to Mary Kennedy who was born Sept. 29, 1889. She is the daughter of John Ken- nedy, a groceryman in St. Pant, and Bridget (Glenn) Kennedy. They have two children, John D., born Sept. 15, 1910, and Mary 11 .. born Nov. 12. 1911.
Martin Siegfried, a prominent farmer of Birel Cooley town- ship, was born in Winona, Minnesota, Nov. 9. 1870, son of John and Mary (Tice) Siegfried. John Siegfried was born in Luxem- burg and came to America in 1862, remaining in Winona until 1878, when he became a farmer and purchased 160 acres in the southeast quarter of seetion 10 in Birch Cooley township at $6.50 per aere. Hle remained there until his death. Ilis wife is still living at Bird Island at the age of sixty-eight years. Martin Siegfried remained at home until he was twenty-nine years of age. Then he rented a farm for four years. Next he bought 80 aeres and his father gave him 60 acres adjoining in section 15, Birch Cooley township, where he is now. He raises Durham cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs and has one aere of fruit land. IIe has hekl township offices, having been township clerk for two years and assessor two years. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus at Fairfax and is a member of the Catholic church. He is also director of the Citizens' Bank at Franklin and a stock- holder of the Farmers' Elevator and the mitt and creamery in
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Franklin. Mr. Siegfried was married June 20, 1899, to Barbara Kirchen, born Feb. 26, 1874, daughter of Matthew and Grace (Wadenspaner) Kirchen. Mr. Kirchen was a pioneer farmer of Norfolk township and died Jan. 26, 1914, at the age of eighty- four years and his wife is still living at the age of seventy-one years. Mr. and Mrs. Siegfried have five children: Elizabeth, born July 29, 1900; Grace, born July 10, 1902; Matthew, born March 6, 1904; Bernard, born Dee. 26, 1906; and Margaret, born Feb. 9, 1908.
Fred P. Galle, a substantial citizen of Morton, was born in Brown county, Minnesota, Nov. 23, 1886, son of Phillip H. and Marie (Gruber) Galle. His parents came from Germany in 1882 and settled in this county, the father dying in 1906 at the age of fifty. The mother now lives in Morton. Fred P. Galle clerked in a store in Morgan for five years, then he bought the restaurant of II. C. Quehl in Morton in company with his brother Henry. At present he is a manufacturer of iee cream. Mr. Galle is the vil- lage clerk of Morton and is a member of the German Lutheran church. April 24, 1913. Mr. Galle was united in marriage to Mable Wessell, born JJuly 28, 1890, daughter of R. C. and Wil- helmina (Henning) Wessell. Mr. Wessell operates a hardware store in Morgan.
Peter Keaveny, deceased, was born Dec. 1829, in County Mayo, Ireland, and died June 8, 1913. His father, Peter Keaveny, died in Lowell, Wisconsin, JJuly 1873, and his mother, Margaret (Ho- ran) Keaveny died in Lowell, February, 1873. Peter Keaveny, the father, came to America in 1849 and came to Renville county in 1879. He purchased 160 acres in section 20, Birch Cooley town- ship, where he lived until his death. Ile served for a time on the township board. Mr. Keaveny was married June 27, 1869, to Johanna Fleming, born Oct. 3, 1849, in Worcester, Massachusetts, and died on the home farm July 27, 1906. Eleven children were born to these parents: Peter, born May 6, 1870, a farmer near Ilannah, North Dakota, married to Rose Johnson and has six boys and two girls: James, born Feb. 7, 1872, a farmer near Bemidji, Minnesota, married to Mary Murphy, who died May 16, 1911, and has one daughter, Johanna Cecelia, born Dee. 1, 1909; Margaret, born March 29, 1874, at home; Mary, born July 7. 1876, married Nicholas Lanigan, a railroad man of Tacoma, Washington, having two daughters and one son; Patrick F., born Oct. 22, 1878, at home: Anna, born Feb. 14, 1881, married to Michael Murphy, a farmer of Norfolk township, and have two boys and one girl living and one girl dead ; Johanna, born July 21, 1883, a dressmaker, at home; Catherine, born Dee. 5, 1885, a teacher in Renville county; John, born Dec. 1, 1887, at home : Ellen, born March 25, 1890, a teacher; Elizabeth, born Ang. 27, 1892, a student at Mankato State Normal school. Margaret, Pat-
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rick and John now own and operate the home farm. They are famous as well-known potato raisers, having fifteen acres of that vegetable in 1915. The family are all members of the Catholic church at Morton.
John I. Johnson is one of the leading citizens of the county. He is widely known and has had his part in public life for many years. Now, after successfully farming in Wang township for many years he has retired to Sacred Heart village, where he has erected a pleasant home and where he plans to spend the re- mainder of his days. He was born in Sweden, Oct. 7, 1845, son of Isaac and Ella ( Anderson) Johnson, both natives of that con- try. The father was born in 1812, in his latter years came to America and spent five years with his son, John I. Johnson, in Wang township, this county, but later returned to Sweden and died in 1898. The mother was born in 1829 and died in 1899. In the family there were five children, Christine, Hannah and John I and two who died in their infancy. Christine came to the United States with her brother John and his wife in 1868. They landed at New York and traveled on to Minnesota, locating in Carver county where Mr. Johnson worked for the farmers wherever he could get work. The second year in America was spent in Minneapolis, working there in the Imber yards. In 1870 he worked on the farms around Hopkins. His wife died and in 1871 he secured a homestead in section 24 in Wang town- ship. That same fall he drove up from Hopkins with an ox team. During the summer he had hired three or four acres of land to be broken. During the first winter he lived with A. HI. Weflen, a neighbor, as he had not had time to ereet any buildings on his farm. The next spring he went back to Hopkins and worked on the farms again to earn more money to start over again. Late in the fall he bought an old team of horses and an old wagon and drove back to his homestead. That winter he lived in a cellar dug on the homestead. It was 14 by 16 feet and lay on the north side of his homestead. During this winter he hauled wood, fence rails and so on and in the spring began to improve the home- stead. For many years he lived alone. He built a small Frame honse which is now a part of the modern home erected sinee. During those early days he often ground the wheat in the coffee mill and many a time had to carry a sack of wheat on his back to the feed mill to be ground because the snow was so deep that the oxen could not wade through it.
Mr. Johnson has many interesting stories to tell of the early days and its hardships and privations as well as its joys. Dur- ing the first winter on the farm he lost his oxen by freezing. He and his partner, Isaac Olsen, were near the Minnesota river after a load of wood when a snow storm came up which gradu- ally became worse. They drove through the storm all afternoon
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and night and about 2 o'clock in the morning abandoned the oxen and walked. They afterwards found out that they were only three and a half miles from home but they could not find their way in the storm and became lost. Finally at two o'clock in the morning, a short time after leaving the oxen, they stumbled upon a stable owned by JJohn Fenlow. This was four miles from where they lost their bearings. They still were so Frozen and bewildered that they could not find the honse and remained in the barn until daylight when they went to the house. Mr. Fen- low took them in and gave them all the assistance he was able. Mr. Johnson was very much overcome by the exposure and was put to bed. Ile slept steadily till the next morning, and was then in a very weak condition. He had frozen his hands and feet and after coming to his own home was siek for a month.
Mr. Johnson has held several township offices, and has been the assessor and is now the present township treasurer. He has also held several county offices, having been county commissioner for one term, thirty years ago, and also serving one term during the county seat removal. He has served as the elerk of the school board for several years. He is a deacon of the Swedish Lutheran church.
Mr. Johnson was married in Sweden to Hannah Torkelson. She died in Minneapolis at the age of twenty-seven. leaving one boy. Andrew, now in North Dakota. In 1895 he was united in marriage to Charlotte Jacobson who was born in Sweden and came with her parents to Minnesota. Her father was Adolph Jacobson who settled on a homestead in Hawk Creek township. There were five children by this second marriage: Albert and Carl, who were twins and who died in infancy, Hannah, Alfred and Joseph. Joseph is a student in the University of Minnesota.
Patrick O'Brien, pioneer, veteran of the Civil war and Sioux Indian campaign, is one of the prominent men of the county, and his stories of the early days are of greatest interest. He was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, July 12. 1845, son of Stephen and Julia (Conway) O'Brien. grandson of Daniel O'Brien of Dunball, and great-grandson of an Irish hero who fought with the Irish troops in France and later came to Louisiana in this country where he died. Stephen O'Brien, born in 1800, was one of the four children, the others being James, John and Patrick. Stephen was the only one of the family to leave Ireland. He boarded the sailing vessel " Washington" with his family. in 1858, and after a voyage of eight weeks landed at the port of New York. From there he came to Rice county. Minnesota, coming from Reed's Landing to St. Paul by steamboat and from there to Shieldsville by ox team. Ilere he built a house of logs on the small farm and worked for the neighboring farmers until his death in 1862. He was a member of the Catholic church. He was married in
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IHISTORY OF RENVILLE COUNTY
Ireland to Julia Conway, there being the following children : Daniel, James, John and Patrick. By a second marriage, to Mar- garet Roach, there were the following children: Eliza, Thomas, Mary, Ella and Catherine. His second wife married again, after his death, to lohn Fitzgerald, a native of Ireland, and a farmer of Rice county, to whom were born Nora and William.
Shortly after their arrival to Rice county Patrick O'Brien, then only thirteen years old, started to work for the farmers in the neighborhood. In Angust, 1862, the Indian hostilities began and he and his brothers, Dan and John, joined the army, enlist- ing at Fort Snelling with Company II, Tenth Minnesota Volun- teer Infantry. Patrick fought the Indians under Gen. H. Il. Sib- ley and then was sent south to St. Louis, Missouri, and took part in the battles in Tennessee and other important engagements. While under General Sibley he was one of the guards on duty at the time of the execution of the thirty-eight Indians at New Uhn. The Tenth Minnesota was mustered out Ang. 19, 1865. at Fort Snelling. After his discharge Mr. O'Brien located in Dakota county, this state. Then he went to Desha county, Arkansas, where he became manager on a cotton plantation. In 1869 he went back to Dakota county, and engaged in farming in Vermil- lion township, obtaining a farm of 80 acres where he remained until 1878. Then he moved to Renville county and located on a tract of 160 acres of will land in seetions 5 and 9, in Flora township. In developing the place he ereeted his home on sec- tion 5, but when this home was burned he erceted his next resi- denee on section 9. Mr. O'Brien is a lover of trees and his work in setting out trees in Renville county will long be remembered. In all he has set ont some twenty-two acres of trees, including some 1,000 plum, apple and cherry trees. Around his 160 aeres he set the trees to be a land mark and a guide to travelers in snow storms, during which terrible storms in the early days peo- ple, for want of some mark to guide them, often perished only a few rods from shelter and warmth. Mr. O'Brien with shrewd- ness, intelligence and energy increased his hoklings to 828 acres. For many years he carried on general farming, including the raising of a good grade of stock. In 1904 he retired and moved to Renville where he is one of the prominent citizens. On his place here he has also set out many trees and made it a beanty spot indeed.
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