Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 131

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

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THE STATE BANK OF TOWER CITY was founded by R. P. Sherman, in 1880, as the Tower City Bank. It continued as a private bank until 1890, when it was incorporated as the State Bank of Tower City, with R. P. Sherman, president ; G. C. Ward, vice-president, and S. E. Sherman, cash- ier. The capital stock was five thousand dollars. They carry average deposits of fifty thousand dol- lars, and the institution has a surplus of two thou- sand dollars. They do a general banking business in foreign and domestic exchange, and the bank is one of the sound financial institutions of the state.

R. P. SHERMAN, founder of the State Bank of Tower City, is a man of practical experience and excellent capabilities, and the affairs of the institu- tion of which he is the head are ably conducted.

Mr. Sherman is a native of New York, and after attaining his manhood he went to Ionia, Michigan, where he spent fifteen years in the First National Bank, the last three years acting in the capacity of cashier. It was there he received his business train- ing and in 1880 went to Tower City, North Dakota, and founded the bank with which he has since been associated. He has devoted his entire attention to the management of this bank, and has placed it among the leading institutions of its kind. He is widely known, and during his long residence in Tower City has gained an enviable reputation as a worthy citizen, who earnestly labors for the better interests of his country.

FIRST SERGEANT HALSEY S. CURRY. This gentleman is a leading farmer of Cass county, wherein he was one of the pioneer settlers. He lias developed a fine farm and has a comfortable home and pleasant surroundings. His residence is on sec- tion 4 of Rochester township.

Our subject was born in Tompkins county, New York, July 23. 1841, and was a son of Edwin H. and Rachel (Updyke) Curry, who were natives of New York and Pennsylvania, respectively. His parents were farmers and removed to Kane county, Illinois, in 1842, and from there to Grant county, Wisconsin, where the mother died in 1882 and the father in 1896. The grandfather of our subject,

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James Curry, was a Methodist Episcopal divine and engaged in the ministry forty years, and passed away in the state of New York. Our subject had three brothers and two sisters, and his eldest brother was killed at Gainesville, Virginia, in 1862. He was a member of Company I, Seventh Wisconsin Volun- teer Infantry. He has one brother now in Cass county, North Dakota.

Mr. Curry was reared and educated in Illinois and Wisconsin, and July 8, 1861, enlisted in Com- pany I, Seventh Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served four years and one month. He was with the Army of the Potomac and participated in the following battles : Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Fitz Hugh Lee, Gettysburg, Wil- derness, Spottsylvania Court House, Laurel Hill, North Ann River, South Ann River and Cold Harbor. He was wounded by a shot in the left hand June 30, 1864, at Petersburg, and was discharged at Detroit, Michigan, in July, 1865, with the rank of first ser- geant. At the close of the war Mr. Curry located at Muskegon, Michigan, and remained there until the fall of 1880, when he went to North Dakota and located in Barnes county. He resided there until 1889 and then removed to his present home in Cass county. He raised the first crop in the portion of Barnes county in which he located, and was a prom- inent early settler. He now conducts the threshing business each season and has prospered in this line of work and has made some valuable improvements in implements and methods. He has a good farm with all necessary buildings which are of a substan- tial nature.

Our subject was married in Wisconsin, in 1864, to Miss Synthia A. Tyler, a native of Iowa. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Curry, as follows : Ulysses E., Edna E., Myrta A., Halsey S., Edwin C., William W., Lincoln C. and Lydia G., all of whom are living. Mr. Curry has served as chairman of the township board, and has held vari- ous school offices and is actively interested in pub- lic affairs. Politically he is a Republican, and is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He is promi- nent in Grand Army Republic affairs, and is senior vice-commander for North Dakota.

JOHN WADGE, a leading citizen of Park river, who is now living in retirement, was one of the early settlers of Walsh county, locating on a tract of land which he still owns in Kensington township, three and a half miles east of the village of Park River, in April, 1879.

Mr. Wadge was born in Cornwall, England, July 26, 1830. At the age of three years he ac- companied his parents to America. The family set- tled in the province of Ontario, Canada, where our subject was reared to manhood. He spent his boy- hood on a farm, remaining in Ontario until 1871, when he removed with his family to the western part of Ontario. In November, 1878, he came to Dakota territory, to what is now Walsh county,

North Dakota, and took up land in Kensington township. He made a success of farming, and in 1887 he retired from active life and has since lived retired in the village of Park River.

Mr. Wadge was married, in Ontario, November 16, 1853, to Miss Mary Wright. Mrs. Wadge was born in Ontario July 18, 1833, and was reared to womanhood in her native county. They are the parents of the following children: Elizabeth, now the widow of William Townsend; Thomas, John, who died from the effect of an injury received in a runaway accident when he was twenty years old ; Sarah J., now the wife of George. Nicklin ; Susan, the wife of Edward Code; Archibald E., Mary E .. now the wife of Dr. Waugh of Park River; and William E.

Mr. Wadge has taken an active part in local affairs of a public nature, and has been identified with the Republican party on all leading issues. Mr. and Mrs. Wadge have been devoted church work- ers, and hold membership in the Methodist Episco- pal church of Park River. The universal respect and esteem in which he is held by the community evidences his worthiness of character and the integ- rity and Christian spirit in which he has dealt wth his fellow men. His influence for good has made lıim a strong pillar in the church, and his circle of friends include all who have known him.

FRANK B. BRUNDAGE, one of the few suc- cessful farmers and stock raisers of township 140, range 72, in Kidder county, is a gentleman of ener- getic spirit and good management. He was born in Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, May 22, 1858.

The father of our subject, John N. Brundage, was an editor and publisher of several Wisconsin papers, including the "Wood County Reporter" and the "Grand Rapids Tribune." He served one year in the Civil war and was quartermaster in the Forty-fourth Wisconsin. The mother of our sub- ject bore the maiden name of Harriet Ingraham, and was born in Ohio. The parents of our subject were married in Wisconsin, and five children were born to them, of whom our subject was the second in order of birth.

Mr. Brundage was raised in Grand Rapids and graduated from the high school and State Univer- sity of Wisconsin in the classical department, and then taught school two terms, and in the spring of 1881 went to Kidder county, North Dakota, and located at Dawson. He entered claim to govern- ment land two miles north of Dawson and began farming. He built a small shanty and a board barn and his first farming was done with oxen. He con- tinted wheat raising until 1897, when he started sheep culture, and he has made a success of diver- sified farming. He now has a farm of three hun- dred and twenty acres, and operates six hundred and forty acres and on his home farm has a com- plete set of substantial buildings, and he also has all machinery for the economical conduct of the

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place, and about twelve work horses, and keeps twenty horses on the farm. He now has four hun- dred and fifty head of sheep, and has one of the finest farms in the vicinity of Dawson.

Mr. Brundage was among the very first settlers of Kidder county, and there were but three or four buildings in Dawson when he located near there. He is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees, and is a gentleman of broad ideas, and keeps pace with the times and stands for Democratic principles politically.

ROBERT CAMPBELL, one of the pioneer set- tlers of Cass county, now residing in Buffalo town- ship, on section 24, is proprietor of a fine estate, and is highly respected as a citizen and farmer.

Our subject was born in Sharon Springs, New York, April 19, 1839. His parents, Robert and Sa- rah (Wagner) Campbell, were natives of Edin- burgh, Scotland, and New York, respectively, and his father was a sailor in his younger days, and later followed the carpenter's trade. He emigrated to America in 1807, when six years of age, and in 1856 settled in Michigan, and passed his last years in Kalamazoo, that state. The mother survived him but one year. The grandfather of our subject, Rob- ert Campbell, died in the state of New York. Our subject had four brothers and six sisters. Two brothers, Charles S. and Andrew J., are also resi- dents of Cass county, North Dakota.

Mr. Campbell was reared and educated in New York and Michigan, and in 1861 went to Chicago and enlisted in Company I, Illinois Light Artillery. He served until 1862, when he was wounded at the battle of Shiloh, and was discharged in the fall of that year. He re-enlisted in the fall of 1863 in Company C, First Michigan Engineers and Me- chanics, and served until October, 1865, being em- ployed in bridge building and working on forts, etc., and was with Sherman on his march to the sea. He was at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and Shiloh, and also many similar engagements. After the close of the war returned to Michigan, where he remained three years, and then began railroad work on the Grand Trunk Railroad in Canada, and continued eight years, after which he went to Chicago and worked for the Lake Shore Railroad Company as yardmaster until 1878. In that year he went to Cass county, North Dakota, and settled in Gill town- ship, and later entered a homestead and tree claim in Howe township, where he lived until the spring of 1891, when he went to his present home in Buf- falo township.

Our subject was married in Michigan, July 4, 1863, to Mary E. Fuller, a native of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have no children living, but have one adopted daughter, named Iva. Mr. Camp- bell is a member of the Grand Army of the Re- public, Masonic fraternity. Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and several insurance orders. He has filled various official positions in his township, and

is actively interested in the welfare of his commu- nity, and occupies a high position in the minds of the people among whom he has passed so many years. Politically he is a Republican, and is firm in his con- victions.

JOHN A. WILLIAMS. Among the promi- nent men now living in Fessenden, Wells county, who have won an honorable name as business men and citizens none is more deserving of special men- tion than Mr. Williams. He has engaged success- fully in various enterprises since taking up his resi- dence in North Dakota, and is well known through- out that part of the state. Our subject was born on a farm in Hillsdale county, Michigan, January 22, 1842. His father, Henry S. Williams, was a native of Connecticut, and was a farmer during most of his career. The mother of our subject, who bore te maiden name of Susan B. Harde, was a native of Vermont.

Mr. Williams was the third in a family of seven children, and was raised on the farm and attended the public schools of Michigan and also a seminary for boys at Rockford, Illinois, and received a liberal education. He began for himself at the age of eighteen years, and learned the shoemaker's trade, and followed the same about two years, until 1862, in August of which year he enlisted in Company F, Fourth Michigan Cavalry. He entered the service at Louisville, Kentucky, and joined the Army of the Cumberland after the battle of Perryville. He par- ticipated in the battle of Crab Orchard, and then fol- lowed several skirmishes. After arriving at Nash- ville his regiment led the advance on Murfreesboro, and fired the first gun of that battle. They also followed the army to Chattanooga, and were in the saddle almost constantly. Our subject was in Gen- eral Stanley's Cavalry Corps from Nashville to Chattanooga, and participated in the fight at the lat- ter place. After this engagement they joined Sher- man's army, and were with him till after the fall of Atlanta, and after this campaign there were but seventy-five fighting men left in his regiment in line. The regiment was reorganized and joined the army after the battle of Nashville, and from that time to the close of the war saw active service. They were through Alabama, and assisted in the capture of Selma, Alabama, Columbus, Georgia, Montgomery, Alabama, and at the close of the war were at Macon, Georgia, and were there ordered back to Nashville. Our subject was discharged at Edgefield, Tennes- see, July 12, 1865, after three years of active and loyal service.

After the close of the war Mr. Williams returned to his home in Michigan, and followed his trade there a short time, and was then compelled to aban- don it on account of failing eyesight. He was then engaged in the patent right business, and later sold agricultural implements for several years, and then was engaged in railroading on the Illinois Central Railroad for several years, and in 1882 was in the

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government employ on levee work on the Missis- sippi river. He went from Texas to North Dakota in the spring of 1883, and was employed on the Dal- rymple farm in Cass county one season and then joined a coal exploring expedition to Winnipeg, Canada, and went as far west as the Rocky Mount- ains, finding large quantities of coal. He went to Sykeston, Wells county, in the spring of 1884, and entered claim to government land near the town and for the next five years was employed on the Dal- rymple farm as foreman in charge of the repair shops and elevators. Since 1896 he has followed the real estate and loan business, and has also been en- gaged in farming to a limited extent. He is em- ployed by the Wells County State Bank as collector, and in each of the enterprises in which he has em- barked he has been successful. He established the "Wells County News," in 1895, but owing to other business interests sold his plant. In April, 1900, he established a newspaper business at Bowdon, North Dakota, "The Bowdon Guardian." His family went from Michigan to North Dakota in 1884.

Our subject was married, in the fall of 1865, to Miss Annis Bowen, of Addison, Michigan, who was of Dutch-Yankee descent, and is of American birth. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Williams, as follows: Cora, Percy, Susie, Dot- tie and Bruce. Mr. Williams served as justice of the peace in early days, and later was appointed clerk of the district court of Wells county, and then elected to serve one term. He was elected county auditor of Wells county, in 1890, and was re-elected twice, serving three terms, and was an efficient and popular officer. He took an active part in the or- ganization of the county, and through his influence Wells county secured a delegate to the constitutional convention when the state was organized. He is a recognized man of public spirit, and well merits success. He has been closely identified with the growth and development of the county since 1884, so much so as to have obtained the sobriquet of "Father of Wells County." The public buildings in Fessenden, a $20,000 brick court house and a $10,000 brick school house, are due more to his untiring ef- forts than to any other single individual in Fessen- den or Wells county.

HON. AUGUSTUS H. KELLOGG, one of the early settlers of Walsh county, and one of its most prominent men from the first, has his home on sec- tion 28, Medford township, where he has resided continuously since 1881.

Mr. Kellogg was born in Litchfield, Herkimer county, New York, August 14, 1834. There he lived with his parents until the spring of 1847, when he removed with the family to Wisconsin. They settled in Dane county, near Madison, and there our subject grew to manhood. In the fall of 1854 he went to Minnesota, and took up land in the spring of 1856, in Olmsted county, under the pre-emption laws. He lived there and, in Goodhue county until

1881. In April of that year he went to Dakota Territory, to what is now Walsh county, North Da- kota, and located on the one-hundred-and-sixty-acre tract of land that is his present farm, and upon which he has since continuously resided.

Mr. Kellogg has always been a man who took a lively interest in all public questions, and has been prominent in political life. In 1861, October 10, he enlisted in Company D, Fourth Minnesota In- fantry, and was assigned to the Army of the Ten- nessee. For three years he served his country in its time of peril, and has been ready at all times to do his duty as a citizen or as a soldier. In the fall of 1894 he was elected to the legislature of North Dakota. He has been a justice of the peace for many years, and has served in many of the township offices. He has held a commission of a notary pub- lic since 1882. In 1890 he was appointed one of the enumerators of the census for the townships of Medford, Rushford, Eden and Vernon. He was again appointed in 1900 enumerator for the town- ships of Medford, Cleveland and Vernon.

Mr. Kellogg was married in Olmsted county, Minnesota, Mrs. Laura M. Baker, neeWorthing, be- coming his wife. They are the parents of five chil- dren, whose names are as follows: Annie L., now the wife of George W. Millhouse; Fred A .; Grace G., now the wife of Edward Adler; Boyd V. and Guy H. Mr. Kellogg is one of the best-known men in Walsh county and northeastern North Dakota, and is held in high esteem by all who know him because of his sterling integrity and native worth.

ALONZO O. RUPERT, of whom a portrait appears in this volume, is a well-known business man of Fargo, North Dakota, whose sound com- mon sense and vigorous, able management of his affairs have been important factors in his success, and with his undoubted integrity of character have given him an honorable position among his fellow men. He is a native of Michigan, his birth occur- ring in Adrian, that state, July 30, 1858. His par- ents, Adam and Barbara (Philmond) Rupert, were both born in Bavaria, Germany, and when young came to America, about 1842, and settled in New York, where their marriage was celebrated. In that state the father commenced railroading as a fire- man on the New York Central, and later was made engineer, one of the first on that road. Subsequent- ly he removed to Adrian, Michigan, and accepted a position on the old Lake Shore Railroad, with which he was connected for some years. He was next with the Michigan Central Railroad, and was pro- moted to the position of master mechanic at Chi- cago. He was afterward with the Northwestern in that city until February, 1878, when he came to Fargo, North Dakota, in the same employ, and was made master mechanic of the road at this place. La- ter he was with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and remained with them until two years before his death, which occurred in 1897. He was

ALONZO O. RUPERT.

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the engineer in charge of the train which carried the delegates from Detroit, Michigan, to the conven- tion in Chicago, in 1860, where Abraham Lincoln was nominated for president, and he also run the train which carried the remains of the martyr presi- dent from Lafayette, Indiana, to Michigan City, that state, on their way to Springfield, Illinois, for interment. He was one of the oldest railroad men in the country at the time of his death, and was well known in railroad circles throughout the United States. He had four sons, three of whom reside in Fargo, the other in Chicago, and one daughter, also a resident of Fargo, where the wife and mother is also living. He was a Mason, and one of the three original organizers of the Brotherhood of Loconio- tive Engineers at Detroit, Michigan.

The boyhood and youth of our subject were passed in Michigan and Chicago, and his education was completed by a course in a business college of Chicago. For some time he was employed in the State Saving Institution of that city, being assistant cashier of a branch office. In 1878 he came to Far- go, North Dakota, and was timekeeper and also storekeeper for the Dakota division of the Northern Pacific Railroad until 1884. He was then with the Fargo Southern Railroad in the same capacity until the road was sold to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, in 1887. The following year he was appointed city auditor of Fargo, and filled that office in a most creditable and satistac- tory manner for ten years. In 1898 he began the manufacture of the Western grain separators, and now, with C. H. Porritt, does a general jobbing busi- ness in agricultural implements under the firm name of Porritt & Rupert. They are also engaged in the storage and transfer business, and have built up a good trade in both lines.

On the 10th of June, 1891, Mr. Rupert led to the marriage altar Miss Minnie A. Colton, a native of New York. Socially, he is a member of the Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks, and, politically, has been a life-long Republican. He is a violin player of note, and occupies a prominent position in musical circles, being the leader of the Rupert or- chestra, which was organized in 1878, and is now the oldest and best in the Northwest.

HON. WILLIAM McKENDRY, one of the men who have made Dakota famous, is now a resi- dent of Mandan, where he conducts a blacksmithing business, and lives the life of a model citizen and member of his community.

Mr. McKendry was born in Scotland, in April, 1852. His father, James McKendry, was a con- tractor by trade, and came to America in 1874. The mother of our subject died when he was but five years of age. He grew to manhood in his native land, and learned the trade of blacksmith. At the age of twenty years he came to America, landing in New York in July, 1872. He first located at Roch- ester, New York, where he followed his trade until

1882. In that year he went to Fargo, North Da- kota, and entered the employ of the Northern Pa- cific Railroad Company as blacksmith. He left its employ in 1888 and took up land and farmed to some extent. During the first year he and present Gov- ernor Fancher bached together in a shanty on our subject's farm near Jamestown. In 1888 he went to Mandan to take charge of the Northern Pacific blacksmith shops at that point. He remained there in that capacity for four years, during which time he spent two months in Helena, Montana, in the interest of the railway company. In the fall of 1892 he returned to Mandan and formed a partnership with George Kemper in the blacksmithing business. The partnership was soon dissolved, since which time Mr. McKendry has carried on the business alone. It has grown steadily, and is now the most extensive in Mandan. His great experience has made Mr. McKendry thoroughly familiar with every detail of the trade, and few workmen have had the opportunities for observation and practice that he has, and the workmanlike products of his shop proves with what thoroughness he improved his op- portunities.

Mr. McKendry was married, in 1876, to Miss Emma E. Podger. Mrs. McKendry was born in England, and was the daughter of James Podger, who was formerly a farmer, but is now hotel pro- prietor in Buffalo, New York. The family came to America when Mrs. McKendry was an infant. Mr. and Mrs. McKendry are the parents of three children, named in the order of their birth, as fol- lows: Fred W., J. T., and Esther, deceased. Mr. McKendry is a Republican in political faith, and has been an active worker for his party. He lias served one term of two years as representative on the state legislature, having been elected in 1890. He was police magistrate in Manden for several years, and in 1898 was elected county judge of Morton county, and is now serving in that capacity. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Woodmen of the World. Mrs. McKendry as ever been an able second to his undertakings, and has aided greatly in his progress. She now oversees all his office work, and is a lady of good executive abil- ity. Mr. McKendry is well known throughout the county, and is highly respected and esteemed for his sterling worth and genuine integrity.

J. O. STENSRUD, a prominent citizen of Cass county, and a pioneer of Pleasant township, is a native of Norway, where he was born September 18, 1841. His parents were Ole and Marie (Julson) Stensrud, both natives of Norway. They came to America in 1868, arriving in July of that year, and proceeded west to Houston county, Minnesota, and located at Spring Grove. They afterward removed to Wisconsin, where they both died. They had two sons and three daughters, the latter all dying in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

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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 131

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