Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 117

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago, G.A.Ogle
Number of Pages: 1432

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Mr. Syverson was raised on the farm in Wis- consin and followed the plow at ten years of age. He attended the country schools and remained at home until twenty-two years of age, and in the spring of 1882 he went to Jamestown, North Da- kota. He located land in section 26, township 145, range 62, in Foster county, and built a sod shanty and hired two acres of land broke. In Au- gust he went with a surveying party through Fos- ter, Wells and Griggs counties, and during a four

months' trip did not meet a dozen people. They lived in tents and were out until December 11, and our subject spent the rest of the winter at home. He again went to Dakota in the spring of 1883 and bought two yoke of cattle, and had a wagon and a breaking plow, and his brother, Will- iam J., went into partnership with him in 1882 and they continued together until 1890, and his sister made her home with them after the first three months. His first crop from his own land was in 1884, and he used oxen until the spring of 1887, and paid three hundred and fifty dollars for the first team of horses. His residence was destroyed by a hurricane in the summer of 1890, but was vacant at the time. Mr. Syverson has engaged principally in grain raising, and has raised nine thousand six hundred bushels of grain in one season. He has a farm of six hundred and forty acres, with five hundred sixty acres under cultivation and the balance in pasture land. His residence is a commodious and substantial structure and is one of the best farm houses in the locality, and with barn, granary and other outbuildings forms a home of more than usual comforts. He has all machinery for the economical conduct of the farm, and has about twelve horses working in the busy season, and has as fine a farm as is to be found in the east end of Foster county.

Our subject was married, in February, 1891, to Miss Levina M. Bond, a native of Minnesota. Mrs. Syverson's father, Henry Bond, is a native of Virginia, of Dutch, Irish and Welch descent, and is an old settler in North Dakota. Her mother was born in Kentucky, and was of Dutch-Irish descent. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Syverson, as follows: Leila. born Feb- ruary 13, 1892; Olive, born October 24, 1895, and Ethel, deceased. Mr. Syverson is a Republican in political faith, but takes little interest in affairs of this nature, devoting his entire attention to his farm work. He has passed through all the dis- couragements incident to pioneer life, and during the early days hauled supplies and grain many miles to market, and encountered severe storms, but he has made a success of his career, despite these drawbacks.

THE HUNTER STATE BANK, of Hunter. North Dakota, was organized in March, 1891. with a capital stock of five thousand dollars. This was increased in 1893 to a capital of ten thousand dol- lars. The following officers were chosen at the or- ganization of the institution: E. H. Paine, presi- cent ; J. H. Gale, vice-president; A. H. Paine, cashier ; and directors, E. H. Paine, J. H. Gale, A. H. Paine, R. M. Pollock and Wallace Grosvenor. Mr. E. H. Paine continued president of the bank one year and was then succeeded by Mr. Gale, and Joseph Sayer was chosen vice-president, and W. H. Simmons, cashier. Mr. Grosvenor and Mr. Pol- lock also retired and E. W. Featherstone was elected

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director. The bank now carries an average deposit of eighty-five thousand dollars, and has a surplus and undivided profit of thirty thousand dollars. It does a general banking business, including for- eign and domestic exchange, and is one of the sound financial institutions of the locality.

WILLIAM H. SIMMONS, cashier of the above named bank, is a gentleman of prominence in social and financial circles. He has extensive interests in that locality and has acquired a fortune and a good reputation by his push and energy.

Mr. Simmons was born at Sacramento, Cali- fornia, March 20, 1858, and was a son of Nathan and Julia E. (Foster) Simmons, both of whom were natives of Vermont. He is a brother of F. B. Simmons, of Amenia, whose sketch appears on another page of this volume.

Our subject was reared and educated in Ver- mont and there began his business career as a clerk. He went to Cass county, North Dakota, in 1879, locating at Casselton, where he entered the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. and the following year he became agent at Hunter, Cass county, the first agent there after the sale of the road to the Great Northern Railroad Company. He continued as agent until 1891, when he resigned the office, and in 1892 entered the institution with which he is now connected. He has been associa- ted with this concern continuously since and has prospered as a business man and ably conducts the duties of his position. He is interested extensively in farming, is interested in general merchandising at Addison, Cass coutny, and is also president of the Kindred State Bank, which was founded in 1899.

Mr. Simmons was married, at Hunter, North Dakota, in 1885, to Marion E. Muir, a daughter of Walter Muir, a sketch of whom appears else- where in this work. Three daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Simmons, named as follows: Julia, Majoria and Dorothy. Mr. Simmons holds membership in the Foresters, and in political faith is a Republican. He is actively interested in the welfare of his community and has filled various local offices, and is deservedly popular with the people among whom he resides.

HON. JAMES N. WATSON, proprietor of the leading general store of Kensal, Stutsman county, is one of the prominent citizens of that locality. For many years he was engaged in other pursuits, and it is only comparatively few years that he has been a resident of Kensel, but he has become well known and highly respected and enjoys an ever-increasing patronage.

Our subject was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, October 26, 1850. His father, T. B. Watson, was from an American family and was of Scotch-Irish descent. He was a lumberman in Pennsylvania during his entire career. Our sub- ject's uncle, L. F. Watson, put down the first flow-

ing oil well in Pennsylvania in the early '6os. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Fannie Turner, was born and raised in the state of New York.

Mr. Watson was the seventh in a family of eleven children, four of whom are still living, and was raised on a farm in Pennsylvania. He at- tended the North Western State Normal at Edin- boro, that state, and later engaged in the mercantile business in Pittsfield, Pennsylvania, for six years. He disposed of his interests in that state in the fall of 1879, and went to North Dakota, and the follow- ing spring located in Cass county, where he pur- chased land and followed farming sixteen years. He became the possessor of twenty-five hundred acres of land, and engaged in wheat raising almost exclusively, but raised some cattle. His house was destroyed by fire in 1883. He sold his interests in Cass county in 1896 and removed to Kensal, Stuts- man county, and established his present business in partnership with H. A. Stinson. The business was started in a 24x40-foot building, and it has been necessary to double his space and increase his stock in order to meet the demands of his patrons.

Our subject was married, in 1875, to Miss Alice Little, who was born and raised in Pittsfield, Penn- sylvania. Mrs. Watson's father, Marvin Little, was an American by birth, and followed the occu- pation of a farmer. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Watson, as follows: Zoe, Lewis La Motte and John Carl. Mr. Watson is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He takes an active interest in the welfare of his community, and while a resident of Cass county was elected representative to the state legislature in 1890. Politically he is a Republican, and has attended most of the county and state conventions. He is a man of thoroughly practical nature, and is deservedly popular and successful.

EDWARD PIERCE. This gentleman, of whom a portrait will be found on another page, has ac- quired by the exercise of his abilities alone a busi- ness standing and professional reputation attained by few. He is a prominent attorney of Sheldon, and president of the State Bank of Sheldon, and the Enderlin State Bank, and is well known throughout Ransom and adjoining counties as a young man of exceptional business tact and broad mind.

Mr. Pierce was born in Huron county, Ontario, Canada, July 6, 1863, and was a son of Patrick and Mary (Cronan) Pierce, both of whom were natives of Ireland. They were laboring people and reared a family of eight children, of whom our subject was the eldest, and of necessity he was early thrown upon his own resources. The family moved to Marquette county, Michigan, when he was but two years of age, where the father worked in the mines, and when our subject reached the age of twelve years they located in Glyndon, Minnesota, where he began work with a construction gang on the St.

EDWARD PIERCE.

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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND · BIOGRAPHY.

Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba, now the Great Northern Railroad, and he followed that work four years, so that his boyhood was spent without oppor- tunity to acquire an education. He was injured during the summer of 1880, and while recovering obtained light work in a general store in Buffalo, and later in Jenksville, Dakota. He assisted in platting the town of Sheldon in 1881, and soon af- terward began the study of law in the office of S. N. Sanford, at Sheldon. He was admitted to the bar in 1888, and immediately established himself in his profession, in which he has met with unbounded success. He organized the State Bank of Sheldon in 1890, and was vice-president of the institution one year, when he became its president. He pur- chased the town site of Enderlin in 1892, and in company with the Soo Railroad established that flourishing little city. The Enderlin State Bank was established in 1892, and Mr. Pierce became president of the same, and still retains that position, and is the principal owner of the bank. In 1899 he organized the Ransom County Immigration Asso- ciation, and in less than one year succeeded in bring- ing over two hundred well-to-do farmers into the state from southern Minnesota and Iowa, locating them on lands in Ransom, Sargent and southern Cass and Barnes counties.

Our subject is well known in the fraternal world, and holds membership in the Ancient Order of United Workmen, Modern Woodmen of America, Knights of the Maccabees and the Elks. He is a member and prominent supporter of the Catholic church. In political sentiment he is a Republican, takes an active interest in and is well known in the councils of the Republican party of the state, al- though he has never been a candidate for nor held aught but honorary official positions.

HON. WALTER MUIR. Among the better class of agriculturists whose homes evidence re- finement and social culture, the gentleman above named stands in a foremost place. He is one of the pioneer settlers of Cass county, and has been identified with the growth and advancement in a financial as well as in a social way, and his own fortune has been acquired by diligent work and strict integrity. He resides near Hunter and has surrounded himself with all the comforts of a model country home, and engages extensively in farming.

Our subject was born on the Clyde, in Scotland, April 22, 1836, and was a son of William and Agnes (Strong) Muir, both of whom were natives of Scotland. His father was a ship-builder by trade, and came to America in 1847, locating at New York, and in 1852 removed to Chicago, where he followed his trade for some years. He died in Fremont, Lake county, Illinois. Our subject had one brother and one sister, and his brother now resides in Iowa and the sister is deceased.

Mr. Muir was reared and educated in Illinois,

having come to the United States in 1848, and he attended the Academy at Wauconda and later learned the ship carpenter's trade, which he fol- lowed some in New York, and afterward became foreman of the dry-docks of Chicago. He was pre- paring for the practice of law, studying at night and being occupied with his trade during the day, when the Civil war broke out, and he enlisted from Lake county, Illinois, in Company I, Fifteenth Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry, for ninety days, as a cor- poral. At the expiration of three months he vol- unteered. for the three years' service and was made sergeant and served in Missouri. He was trans- ferred to the Mississippi squadron by General Hal- leck in February, 1802, and was assigned duty at Cairo, Illinois. He was then promoted to master mate and assigned to the gunboat Chillicothe, and was soon afterward made fourth master. The gunbota flotilla was transferred from the army to the navy, and Mr. Muir was made an ensign and first lieutenant and executive officer, and served as such on board that boat three years, and was then transferred to the Cincinnati and given charge of her forward battery. He was in the battle of Island No. 10, Vicksburg, and Fort Pemberton, and in the last engagement half the crew were killed or wounded. He served in the lower Mississippi and in Mobile bay, and assisted in the taking of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, and resigned in 1865 with the rank of ensign, after a long and brave service. He re- ceived a slight wound at Pembernow, but other- wise lost no time from the service and can review his career as a soldier with justifiable pride.

Returning from the war, Mr. Muir went to Steele county, Minnesota, and there engaged in farming until 1879, when he went to Cass county, North Dakota and entered a homestead claim on section 8 in Hunter township, and at once began improving the farm. His family joined him there the following year, and he has made his home there continuously since. He is now the possessor of about eight hundred acres of choice land and has prospered in his chosen calling.

Our subject was married in Illinois, in 1863, to Louvisa L. Wheelock, a native of Vermont. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Muir. Those living are as follows: Marion, now Mrs. William Simmons; William C .; Edward S. and Robert W. Louis, Walter W. and Grace are deceased. Mr. Muir served in the legislature in Minnesota in 1876, '77, '78 and '79, and has taken an active part in public affairs since taking up his residence in North Dakota. He was nominated by the Prohibitionist and Independent parties for governor of North Dakota, and was the candidate of the Independent and Democratic parties for con- gress, and three times was a candidate for United States senator and the third time lacked four votes only of being elected. He is popular with every- one regardless of party affiliations. He is a mem- ber of the G. A. R. and served as president of the

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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

State Farmers' Alliance. For some years he was editor of the "Independent" of Grand Forks, and is a gentleman of intelligence and true worth. He affiliated with the Republican party many years, but is now a member of the Populist party and is a stanch advocate of reform principles.

EUGENE H. SPERRY, county treasurer of Burleigh county, and one of the most prominent citizens of central North Dakota, is a farmer by occupation and has achieved success for himselt, while at the same time rendering assistance in the development of a new country, and he has been an important factor in the shaping of the policy of his adopted county in many material interests.

Mr. Sperry is a native of Chautauqua, New York, where he was born in 1848. His father, Orville Sperry, was a contractor and builder, and also devoted attention to farming. The family was of Welsh descent and were early settlers of Con- necticut, and founded the village of Sperryville, in that state. They were of the Puritan faith. The Sperrys were a long-lived race, and the grandfather of our subject, a veteran of the war of 1812, lived to be ninety-six years old, and a brother lived to the advanced age of one hundred and nine years, while the father of our present subject is about ninety years old, and still hale and hearty. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Diantha Howard, was a native of New York, born at L'tica, and traced her ancestry many genera- tions back, all being Americans. Both the Howard and the Sperry families sent many members to the Civil war. The parents of our subject were mar- ried in the state of New York, and Eugene H. was the fourth in a family of eleven children born to this worthy couple. He attended the public schools and also took a course at the Academy at West- field, and received a teacher's grade certificate to teach in the schools of the state of New York. He worked for a time in a pail factory in Pennsyl- vania, and was then given the superintendency of the poor farm of Chautauqua county, holding that position about three years. In 1874 he built a cheese factory and manufactured butter and cheese. In 1877 he was made warden of the Chan- tauqua county asylum for the insane and held that position nine years.

In the spring of 1885 Mr. Sperry came to Bur- leigh county and rented a ranch, which is now his home farm. The family soon afterward joined him. He now owns about seven hundred and ten acres of land, and controls about three thousand acres for stock raising purposes. It is regarded as one of the best ranches in the county, and ac- commodates about four hundred head of cattle per year.

Mr. Sperry was married, in 1874, to Miss Mary Aylesworth. Mrs. Sperry was born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, her father being a lumber- man in that state. The family was of Welsh descent,

but had been domiciled in America for many gen- erations. Four of Mrs. Sperry's brothers served in the Civil war, one being a prisoner at Ander- sonville and another at Libby prison. Mr. and Mrs. Sperry are the parents of two children: Lynn W., born in May, 1877, and Mabel L., born in December, 1884. Lynn W. served in the First North Dakota Volunteers in the Philippines.

In politics Mr. Sperry is a Republican, and has taken an active and prominent part in the public affairs of Burleigh county. He has attended many state conventions, and was county assessor one term, and in 1898 was elected treasurer of Bur- leigh county. He is a member of the Masonic fra- ternity. His fine ranch is located eight miles northwest of Bismarck on the east bank of the Missouri river.

TORSTEIN ROBLE is one of the leading farmers of Wells county and is well known as an agriculturist who is doing a good business. His farm is well improved and furnishes a home of more than usual comforts, all of which he has accu- mulated by his own efforts. He resides on section nineteen in township 149, range 71, and follows grain raising with successful results.

Our subject was born on a farm in Valders, Norway, October 2, 1859. His father, Ole Roble, was a farmer and also teacher for thirty-seven years, and passed his life in Norway, where the mother of our subject still lives.'

Mr. Roble was the second in a family of eight children, and was reared on the home farm and at the age of sixteen years entered the high school and later took a course in the seminary at Hamar, graduating with a first-grade certificate. At the age of twenty years he began teaching, which he continued five years. He emigrated to America in 1886, landed at New York, and at once went to Minnesota. He taught in a Norwegian parish school six years in Goodhue county and was under the noted minister, Rev. B. J. Muus. Our subject was also musical director for the church and a sing- ing society there. He went to North Dakota in 1890 and took a pre-emption and tree claim, one in Foster county and one in Eddy county, and erected a claim shanty. He purchased horses with which to begin his farm work, and his nearest rail- road station was Cooperstown and New Rockford, thirty miles distant. He remained there until 1893 and then removed to Wells county, hauling buildings, machinery and personal effects to his homestead on which he now resides. Grain has grown abundantly and is of good quality and suc- cess has attended him in his present location. He now owns three hundred and twenty acres of good land two hundred acres of which is under cultiva- tion. His residence is a commodious and com- fortable structure, and with good barns, granary and other outbuildings, furnishes a good home.

Our subject was married, in 1884, to Miss G.

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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

Skogstad, who was born and raised in Norway, and was a daughter of Andrew Skogstad, a farmer and hotel-keeper. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Roble, but only five are alive now, as follows: Olaf, born November 17, 1886; Mary, born February 8, 1889; Gina, born September 24, 1892; Andrew, born June 30, 1897, and Malvin, born May 30, 1899. Mr. Roble is a member of the United Lutheran church and takes an active part in church affairs.

JOHN B. MEACHAM. The maturer years of this gentleman have been devoted almost exclu- sively to the duties of farming, and he has acquired a knowledge of his calling that enables him to give valuable information to others less favored by nature or less observing. He is a man of ability and push, and for many years he was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Ripon, Cass county, North Dakota, but of late years has resided on his farm in Wheatland township, which he conducts with much success.

Our subject was born in Monmouth, Warren county, Illinois, June 7, 1847. His parents, Jere- miah and Elizabeth (Cox) Meacham, were natives respectively of Kentucky and Illinois. His father was a miller by trade, and went to Illinois about 1834 and lived there until 1858, when he moved to Red Wing, Minnesota, and remained there until his death in 1884, excepting two years spent in Kansas. The mother died in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1886. Our subject has four brothers and one sister living, who reside in Minnesota.

Mr. Meacham was reared in Minnesota and re- ceived his education in Hamline University of Red Wing, Minesota. He enlisted July 25, 1863, in Company A, Hatch's Independent Battalion, and served three years in the Northwest, nghting In- dians and guarding wagon trains. He participated in several small engagements, and was discharged from the service in 1866, when he returned to Minnesota and worked at his trade, that of a printer. He worked on several of the leading papers of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and in 1882 came to Cass county, North Dakota, and in com- pany with William Staples established a general merchandise store at Ripon, and continued in busi- ness there eight years. He has since devoted his entire attention to the improvemnt of his farm in Wheatland township, and has met with marked success.

Our subject was married, in 1870, to Martha Staples, a sister of William Staples, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Meacham are the parents of one son, named Fred L. Mr. Meacham is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is steward of the church of Absaraka. He holds membership in the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. In local affairs he takes an active and prominent part and has served as supervisor of Wheatland township for

the past four years. He has been a lifelong Re- publican in political faith, and is a man who works earnestly for the better interests of his country. His success is well merited.

CARL F. ANDERSON, whose home is on section 29, Grafton township, has been a resident of Walsh county since the first great influx of set- tlers crowded into that region in 1880, and he has done his share toward the upbuilding and improve- ment of his adopted county.

Mr. Anderson is a native of Norway, and was born June 21, 1853. He remained in his native country until about twenty years of age, when he came to America. He located first at Big Rapids, Michigan, and was employed at railroad work for about five years, and then went to Mitchell coun- ty, Iowa, and engaged at farm labor until 1880. In the spring of that year he came to Walsh county, North Dakota, and took a homestead claim to a quarter-section of land in section 29, Grafton town- ship, and there he has since made his home. He has been successful in his farming operations and has gathered about him valuable property. He has erected good buildings and has a comfortable and commodious residence, besides many outbuildings for his stock and machinery and for the garnering of his crops.

Mr. Anderson was happily married, and the lady of his choice was Miss Bertha Olson. The wedding occurred in Mitchell county, Iowa. Mrs. Anderson was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, May 17, 1857, and she has been a true helpmeet to her husband in his many and arduous under- takings in pioneer days. They are the parents of eight living children, and two died in infancy. The names of the others are as follows: Albert, Oscar, Martin, Mary, Ida, Emma, Clara and Lillie.

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Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 117

Author: Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago, G.A.Ogle Number of Pages: 1432

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago, G.A.Ogle
Number of Pages: 1432