Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 141

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

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Our subject was married, in Hancock, Michi- gan, to Miss Phillippine Schnetter, who was born in Knox, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, December 24, 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Gresens are the parents of two living children, named Lena A. and Albert A. One daughter, Emma, chied at the age of five years. Mr. Gresens has served as justice of the peace and a member of the township board of supervisors and in various school offices. He is active in all matters of local importance and heartily supports every good cause or enterprise which looks to the general welfare of his community. He and family are members of the German Luth- eran church and are held in high esteem where they reside.

CHARLES E. BAILEY, who came to Benson county in those early days when courage alone enabled men to become permanent settlers, is a resident of Mcclellan township (township 154, range 68), on section I of which his pleasant home is located.

Mr. Bailey was born in Washington county, Iowa, October 20, 1865, and was the eldest of four children born to the union of Wesley A. and Martha S. (Cox) Bailey, who are now residents of Seattle, Washington. Of the children one sister and our subject are the only survivors. The family removed to Michigan when our subject was two years old, and there he grew to manhood, working mostly on the farm, later spending five years as clerk in his father's hardware store. In 1886 the family came to Benson county, and the father filed claim to lands which Charles E. Bailey now owns. The following spring Mr. C. E. Bailey took up government land, and two years later, when his parents went to the coast, he took charge of both farms and has since operated them. He came to Benson county when he had few neighbors and little to encourage a young man, and for the first few years crops were such as to render conditions

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anything but agreeable. In his own language he was induced to remain only because "walking was not good, and he would have had a long way to go." For two years he lived in a 10x12-foot shanty, and then erected a frame house 18x20 feet, to which he afterward made additions. He now owns a fine residence, with stone cellar, a two-hun- dred-and-fifty-barrel cistern, a fine barn and all conveniences and comforts of country life. His house is beautifully situated, commanding a view of a wide stretch of the most fertile region of Ben- son county, including ten villages and Devils Lake.

Mr. Bailey is a Republican in political faith, and is a valued citizen and member of the community. He was married, in 1898, to Miss Amarilla Johns. She died without issue May 29, 1900. By a former marriage Mr. Bailey has one son, Les- ter C.

No one in Benson county is more worthy a place in the annals of North Dakota than Mr. Bailey, coming as he did when the county was a wilderness and laboring with undaunted courage to develop the resources of the country. He is now the owner of eight hundred acres, six hundred and forty under cultivation, making one of the most valuable estates in Benson county. Among the improvements on the farm is a grove of ten acres, containing fourteen hundred trees, some of which are thirty-five feet high. This is undoubt- edy the finest grove in the county, and has grown in the last eight years.

DAVID K. BRIGHTBILL, county auditor, is one of the popular and efficient officials of Towner county. He has served in that capacity for several terms and enjoys the confidence of the people.

Our subject was born in Lebanon county, Penn- sylvania, June 18, 1865, and was the third in a family of ten children born to Abraham and Mary (Kreider ) Brightbill, who are now residents of Missouri. The Brightbill family is a well-known family of Colonial times, setting in this country in early days, two brothers coming from Germany. They were identified with William Penn, and the parents of our subject were the first of the family to leave the state of Pennsylvania. They settled in Missouri when our subject was a boy, and in 1884 Mr. Brightbill entered the Central Business College of Missouri. He went with an uncle to Dakota with some stock for speculation, and tak- ing a fancy to the country decided to remain there and accordingly entered claim to land in sections 19 and 20, in township 158, range 67, in Towner county. He and his uncle lived together and rented land and cropped about three hundred and twenty acres. In 1887 our subject confined him- self more strictly to cultivating his own land, and until 1892 he and his brother followed farming together, our subject owning three quarter-sec- tions and his brother owning two quarter-sections.

Success did not meet their efforts until after 1891.

Mr. Brightbill became identified with the ke- publican party in 1890 and was the successful nominee of the party for county auditor in 1894, and has held the office continuously since that date. He performs his duties as auditor faithfully and with a oneness of purpose most commendable, and is a gentleman of exemplary citizenship. He holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen of America, and as an all around prom- inent man of Towner county there is no one of its citizens who more justly deserves the title than Mr. Brightbill.

EDWIN SIMS, an active and influential citi- zen of the growing village of Omemeee, has won an enviable standing in Bottineau county and is regarded as a men whose personal character and business reputation are beyond reproach. He was born on a farm in Ontario, Canada, in 1855, and is a scion of a good old English family. His father, Thomas Sims, was born in London, England, and came to America when a twelve-year-old lad. Thomas Sims, his father and the grandfather of Edwin, brought the family to Canada, thinking that in the larger opportunities of the New World all his children might attain the dignity and com- fort fate seemed to deny them in old England. Sarahı Pettit, the mother of Edwin Sims, was born in Ontario and was of German descent. Her mother was born in New York.

Edwin Sims is the sixth in a family of four- teen children and was reared on the farm and at- tended the country schools until eighteen. At that age he took his own support upon himself, and left home to play a man's part in the drama of life. He worked at farm labor and spent the next two years in the lumber regions of Michigan, He was married, in 1879, to Miss Alice M. King. She was born in Ontario, and her father. Henry M. King, was a farmer. He was born in England, and her mother was a native of Scotland. The young husband and bride remained in Canada four years engaged in farming. In 1884 they came to North Dakota and settled in Bottineau county, near Lord's Lake. The first year Mr. Sims was alone, and lived in a claim shanty 14×20 feet. He drove overland with an ox-team from Devils Lake. His wife came on in the spring of 1885. She had spent the previous winter in Ontario. For a time they did not get on well, the gophers doing the harvesting for him. In 1887 he had a fine yield, and from that time on has made rapid progress. In 1885 he hauled his own goods with oxen from Devils Lake and slept out of doors. In 1888 late frosts ruined the crops and he had to buy feed even for his chickens. That stands in his memory as the hardest year he ever passed. In 1887 he took a homestead near Willow City, moved there and made it his home. In 1889 and

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1890 his crops were light, but in 1891 he had over twenty-five bushels of wheat to the acre. In 1892 it was twenty bushels to the acre, and the next year fourteen. In 1895 he had seven thousand bushels of grain, the wheat averaging forty-three and a half bushels to the acre. He owned at this time a half-section of land, had it under good cul- tivation and well fitted out for successful work. In 1897 he was appointed postmaster at Omemee. He sold out all machinery and cattle on his farm, rented the land and moved to the village. He keeps in addition to his duties as postmaster a small confectionery store, and is a popular and genial gentleman. He is a Republican and was elected justice of the peace in 1898, and is now serving in that capacity. He is quite a secret society man, and holds membership in the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Wood- men of America and the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. Mr. Simis is a successful man in the best sense of the word. He has a title to over six hundred acres of land, a pleasant home in the vil- lage. a charming home life, commands the respect of the community, and is a man of honor and in- tegrity.

HON. JOSEPH COLOSKY, proprietor of one of the fine farms of Ferry township, Grand Forks county, is one of the pioneer settlers of that region and is a citizen of whom the community may be justly proud. He is possessed of unbounded energy and a character of the highest integrity, and carries these characteristics into every detail of his work.

Our subject was born in Canada, January 25, 1845. His parents, Anthony and Margaret Colosky, were natives of Germany, and the father emigrated to Canada about 1831 and from there went to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1852, and remained there and in eastern Minnesota until his death in 1897. The mother died many years previous to this. They reared a family of five sons and six daughters and all are now residents of the United States.

Mr. Colosky was reared and educated in Minne- sota and followed farming and also driving a stage through Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. He went to North Dakota in 1873 in the employ of the Minnesota Stage Company, and drove a stage from Moorhead to Pembina. In1874 he entered claim to land in Ferry township, Grand Forks coun- ty, where he had charge of the stage station for many years, and also followed farming. He has resided there since that date and is one of the sub- stantial and well-known men of the locality.

Our subject was married, in 1873. to Kate Kraus. Mrs. Colosky died in 1896. Three chil- dren were born to this union, who are as follows: Jennie I., Charles D. and Lewis T. Mr. Colosky was married to Mrs. Abbie C. Clark, in March, 1898. Our subject assisted in the organization of his township and is the present chairman of the township board and has held numerous minor of-

fices. He has served as county commissioner one term and in 1891 we elected state representative and was re-elected in 1895, on the Republican ticket, attesting his efficient work and popularity as a pub- lic official. He is licarty in his support of public enterprise and his good name and active public spirit commend him to the people regardless of party affiliations.

CATHOLIC CHURCH OF DEVILS LAKE. The first Catholic services held in Devil's Lake were conducted in 1883 by Rev. Thomas M. Cahill and the second resident priest was Rev. Thomas J. Kee- lan, who was succeeded by Rev. P. M. McGinnis. Mr. McGinnis remained from May, 1885, to Novem- ber of that year and during his pastorate a frame church was erected and also a pastor's residence. From November, 1885, until July, 1886, Father Jerome Hunt, O. S. B., visited the parish at inter- vals, and in July, 1886, Rev. Father Claude M. Ebner assumed charge of the mission. Rev. Father Vincent Wehrle succeeded Father Ebner in 1889 and remained pastor until January, 1899. In 1893 he established St. Gall's Monastery on the north bank of Devils lake, which is the center of the Catholic missions of Ramsey and adjoining counties, from Michigan City on the east to Fort Buford on the west, and from the international boundary on the north to the Sioux Indian reservation on the south.

REV FATHER ALPHONSE HEIN, O. S. B., the present pastor of the Catholic church, succeeded Rev. Father Wehrle. He is a native of the grand duchy of Baden, Germany, and June 4. 1872, ar- rived in America. He was educated for the priest- hood at St. Clement's College, in Howard county, Maryland, where he remained twelve years and was ordained April 14, 1883. His first charge was in New York City in the Church of Our Lady of Per- petual Help, where he remained until 1892, and was then transferred to Chicago. He there assumed charge of St. Procopius church and remained until 1898, and was then transferred to Devils Lake and took charge of St. Joseph's church. The debt of the church has been paid since he took charge there, and the parish now contains about one hundred and thirty families.

St. Gall's College was established in connection with St. Gall's Monastery by Rev. Father Vincent Wehrle, the building being erected in 1895 and opened for the reception of students in November, 1896. St. Vincent De Paul Hospital was established in 1895 by the Sisters of Mercy.

MARTIN O. HOLT. Rugged Norway has furnished to the great plains of the Northwest the sturdy hands and earnest minds that have trans- formed it into the most prosperous and progressive region of the world. Of those whose labors and zeal for right principles have helped to work this

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transformation none is more worthy of mention than Martin O. Holt, whose valuable land lies in Grafton township, on section 10 of which he makes his home.

Mr. Holt was born in Norway, January 28, 1856, and lived there until the age of nine years, when he accompanied his parents to America. They proceeded at once to Fillmore county, Minnesota, and four years later moved to Ottertail county, Minnesota. The mother had died in Fillmore county. Our subject lived in Ottertail county until the spring of 1877, when he came to Dakota and took up land in Walsh county. He made improve- ments upon it at once and has continued to make it his home ever since. He has added many valuable improvements from time to time and to-day it is one of the most valuable farms in Walsh county. Mr. Holt is now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres and his success as an agriculturist has been proven. Mr. Holt's father died on his homestead in Ottertail county in 1899.

Mr. Holt was married to Miss Dorothy Ellefson, March 10, 1881. Mrs. Holt is a native of Norway and has been a constant aid and second to her hus- band's labors and endeavors. Their family con- sists of nine children, named in the order of their birth as follows: Ole, Elmer, Oscar, Matilda, Alice, Henry, Mary, Dedrick, William M.

Mr. Holt has always proven himself a substantial citizen and stanch supporter of the principles of good government. He takes an intelligent and active interest in all local matters of a public nature and he has often been called upon to serve his fel- low citizens in various public capacities. He has served as supervisor of Grafton township and has been school treasurer of his district for many years. He has never sought political preferment, however, and has been content to pursue the pleasant and honorable calling of an agriculturist.

KNUD, O. FJELD. one of the first settlers of Field township, Nelson county, is one of the most successful agriculturists of that region, and has a comfortable home in section 26. The township was named in honor of his family, who were the first settlers of the locality and our subject has always been wide awake to its needs and has striven to develop its resources and further its financial and social interests.

Mr. Fjeld was born in Sondre Aurdal Valders, Christian Amt, Norway, October 3. 1856, and was the eldest in a family of eight children born to Ole K. and Ingre ( Malum) Fjeld. The father owned the farm Fjeld and our subject worked at home and the father died when our subject was but seven- teen years of age. Ile continued on the home farm until 1878, when he was married and with his wife sailed to America and went to Kandiyohi county, Minnesota, where relatives lived, and he there worked at farm work until June, 1882, when he drove over- land to Dakota and stopped in Traill county a few

days, where he left his family and then went alone to Nelson county in search of land. He located on the land on which he now resides and built a small sod house and his family joined him on the farm in the fall of that year. He had a yoke of oxen and a few cows and some money and worked in Traill county during the harvest season and thus earned enough to keep his family during the winter and he also worked for others during the next sea- son. He has devoted his time to the development of his own farm since 1884 and has met with good success. He erected a frame and sód house on his homestead in 1885 and in 1896 this was supplanted by a comfortable and commodious dwelling, which forms a pleasant home.

Our subject was married, in 1878, to Miss Maria Gottenberg. Mr. and Mrs. Fjeld are the parents of eleven children, named as follows: Ole, engaged in farming in Field township; Carrie, now Mrs. Martin Hulberg, living in Scott county, Minnesota ; Ingvold ; Sever, deceased ; Selmer ; Olive ; Christian ; Martin ; Albert ; Christina, deceased, and Carl. Mr. Fjeld is a member of the United Norwegian church. He is a Republican politically and is prominent in party affairs and is a member of the county central committee. He is now township treasurer and school clerk and is active in local affairs.

WILLIAM FARLEY, one of the leading farm- ers of Stutsman county, is a pioneer settler of that region, and has met with eminent success in his call- ing after many discouragements. He now enjoys all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of a country home, and his estate is one of the finest in the county. He is engaged in general farming and stock raising, and also conducts dairying and butter- making. His residence, recently erected in town- ship 139, range 62, is one of the best dwellings in the locality, and bears evidence of prosperity and the artistic taste of its occupants.

Our subject was born on a farm in the northern part of Ireland in April, 1859. His father, Thomas Farley, was born and raised in Ireland, and was a farmer by occupation, as was also the grandfather of our subject, John Farley. Both the paternal and maternal great-grandfathers of our subject went to Ireland from Scotland. The mother of our subject, who bore the maiden name of Eliza Black, was a daughter of a farmer.

William Farley was the fourth in order of birth in a family of seven children, and was raised on a farm in his native place, and attended the national schools of Ireland. He left home at the age of twenty years and went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, landing there December 12, 1879, after a nine-days' voyage. He traveled through Lower Canada four months, and then worked at farm labor in Jackson county, Michigan, and April 14, 1881, located in Fargo, North Dakota. He soon afterward went to Valley City, and from thence to Jamestown. He filed claim to land in section 14, township 139.

WILLIAM FARLEY AND FAMILY.

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range 62, and then had but seventeen dollars, ten of which he afterward had stolen from him at Spirit- wood. He worked the greater part of three years on the farms of Cuyler Adams, near Spiritwood, and improved his homestead as fast as circumstances would permit. His 12x12-foot shanty was the first south of. Spiritwood, and there was but one other shanty in sight when he erected his. He made a trip to his native country in the fall of 1883, and re- turned to his farm in North Dakota, April 10, 1884, when he put in seventy-five acres of grain, and also erected a small dwelling. He had two horses, a wagon, and some second-hand machinery, and the following year lost all his grain by hail, and in 1886 the average yield was but ten bushels per acre. He lost forty tons of hay and one hundred and twenty acres of grain-his entire crop-by hail in 1887, and the winter following he had but the vegetables, meat, butter, eggs and chickens on which to depend for a livelihood; but these afforded a comfortable living, by careful management. During that winter he was returning from Jamestown the day of the great bliz- zard and stopped five miles from home. The fol- lowing morning he attempted to reach his home, and, after repeated efforts and great suffering, he found a familiar ridge of grass and was enabled to find his way to his starting place of the morning. It was three days before he could get to his home. An early frost in August, 1888, destroyed one hundred and forty acres of his crops, and in July of the fol- lowing year hail completely swept one hundred and seventy acres. 1890 was an excellent year, and the yield was bountiful, and our subject invested in ma- chinery and teams. He built up a meat business in that locality and was prospering, when, in the spring of 1892, the state veterinarian shot six of his horses on account of glanders, and quarantined his farm for three months, which so seriously interfered with his business that he decided to go to his native land and locate. After taking the trip there he decided that he could conduct farming more profitably in North Dakota, and accordingly returned, since which time he has continued farming and cattle raising. He now owns five quarter-sections of land, and culti- vates about five hundred acres. His residence, one of the largest in that vicinity, was erected in 1898, and he also has two commodious barns, one with basement below and granary above, and all other farm buildings necessary for conducting the farm, and which he keeps in the best condition in every particular. His home farm affords plenty of small fruits and other comforts, and on his place he also has a cream separator, and markets annually about five thousand pounds of butter and engages exten- sively in dairying.

Our subject was married, in 1883. to Mary Agnes McCann, who was born and raised in county An- trep, five miles from Belfast. Her people were of Scotch descent, and her father, John McCann, was a flax buyer. Mr. and Mrs. Farley have been the parents of ten children, as follows: Mary E., born December 5, 1884; Maud A., born July 23, 1886;

Margarette L., born November 1, 1887; Grace E., born March 8, 1889; Walter A., born September 16, 1890; Ruby W., born March 31, 1892 ; William, born November 13, 1893 ; Beatrice, born January 6, 1896; Chester Mckinley, born March 27, 1897, and Edith Frances, who was born March 6, 1899. A family group portrait appears on another page. Mr. Far- ley and wife are members of the Baptist church, and are active in church affairs, and Mr. Farley holds membership in the Ancient Order of United Work- men and Modern Woodmen of America. Politic- ally, he is a Republican, but lends his influence for the man who in his opinion will best serve his com- munity.

HENRY J. ELLINGSON, register of deeds of Pierce county, is one of the popular and rising young men of the county and of North Dakota. He has a valuable farm in the county and is now a resident of the city of Rugby, where he is also in- terested in the hardware business.

Mr. Ellingson was born in Adams county, Wis- consin, on a farm, August 23, 1872. His parents were born in Norway, his father, Elling Ellingson, having been a farmer all his life. The family came from Norway during the Civil war and located in Wisconsin.

Henry W. Ellingson was the youngest in a family of nine children and was reared to the age of ten years on the farm in Wisconsin, where he worked on the farm and attended the public school. The family came to North Dakota at that time and settled in Traill county. There they farmed for some time and then came to Pierce county, in 1887. They had looked over the county in 1885 and 1886 and the father took up government land six miles northwest of Rugby. They developed the farm, using oxen for several years and our subject had plenty of hard work and trying experiences during those early days. In the winter of 1892 their resi- dence burned down, the fire catching from the chimney, and the family was thrown out in the cold.

At the age of twenty-one years, Henry W. El- lingson started out for himself. He engaged in farm work and in 1892 took up government land and put up a shanty for himself. He finally took charge of his father's place and farmed the two tracts together. At the time of leaving his farm he owned one hundred and sixty acres, with all im- provements and machinery required in the successful prosecution of agriculture.

Mr. Ellingson was elected in the fall of 1894 to the office of register of deeds, re-elected in 1896, and again in 1898, and is now filling out the close of the third term in that office. He took up his resi- dence in Rugby in 1894. He is a Republican in political faith and has been active in public affairs since his arrival at the age of twenty-one years, having been elected to this important office when he was but twenty-two years old. He is a capable

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and trustworthy official and enjoys the esteem and confidence of the people of Pierce county.

Mr. Ellingson was married, in 1893, to Miss Annie Mellhose. Mrs. Ellingson was born in Good- htte county, Minnesota, and taught school for many years in North Dakota. Her father is a prominent farmer and old settler of Pierce county. Mr. and Mrs. Ellingson have three children, namely: Nettie, Hattie and Minnie, all born in North Dakota. Mr. Ellingson is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and is one of the early settlers of the county. He is thoroughly acquainted with the history of its development and progress and is des- tined to become a leader in his state.

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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 141

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