Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 166

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

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In 1883 he closed his school work and went to the Turtle mountains in North Dakota. Here he located a farm in the northern part of Towner coun- ty. He developed it rapidly and when Sidney post- office was established, received the appointment of postmaster. In 1889 he was placed in charge of the Rolla public schools, and soon after removed his family to Rolla. He continued in charge of the Rolla schools for six years, and in 1892 was elected county superintendent of schools of Rolette county, continuing his work in the schools of Rolla for two years thereafter. Educational matters in Rolette county were in a very primitive condition when Mr. Dunphy took charge of the school affairs of the county. There were then thirteen schools in the

county, the buildings being log shanties for the most part. There are now thirty-six schools, and the buildings, with a single exception, are all frame. No less a change has been made in the teaching forces employed. The grade of teachers has been greatly advanced, and the school work of the county is on a higher plane in every way. With great labor a regular course of study has been adopted through- out the county, thus increasing the efficiency of these rural universities.

Mr. Dunphy was married, in 1863, to Miss Phœbe Siple, and to this union twelve children have been born, eight of whom are now living. Their names are as follows : Blanche, deceased ; Grant, de- ceased ; Edna, deceased ; Cora, now Mrs. P. Dixon, of Rolette county; Maude, now Mrs. T. A. Cory; Hattie, now Mrs. R. A. Graham; Cowan, deceased ; Alberta, a teacher of Rolette county; Andrew, in charge of the home farm in Towner county ; Leon, Norma and Ruby. In political views Mr. Dunphy is a Republican. He has been active in all public affairs of the county, but his work in the interest of education has won for him the highest confidence and respect of the people of the county.

ERIK O. ENGESATHER, county treasurer of Nelson county, North Dakota, is a gentleman of foreign birth, but has become a thorough American citizen, and is devoted to the best interests of his adopted land. He was born in Sogndal, in Sogm, North Bergenhus, Amt, Norway, July 8, 1858.

Mr. Engesather and his twin brother had three brothers and sisters older than themselves in a fanı- ily of eight children, who were born to Ole S. and Johanna (Olson) Engesather. The mother died July 18, 1873, and the father survives and lives in the old country: Our subject worked on a farm and attended the common schools, and at sixteen years of age entered Sogndale Folkeshoi College, where he completed a six-months business course. He had subsequently clerked in a general store three years, and in the spring of 1878 he decided to try his fortunes in the New World, and accordingly emigrated to America, landing at New York. He at once went to Red Wing, Minnesota, and engaged at farm work two years near Kenyon, Minnesota, and in the spring of 1880 went to Grand Forks county, North Dakota, and entered a homestead claim to land, and then returned to Goodhue county, Min- nesota, where he worked during the spring of 1882, and then went to Larimore and engaged in clerking and during the summer of that year "squatted" on land in section 33, in Dahlen township, and in April, 1883, filed claim to the land and built a shanty thereon and went there to reside. He bought a yoke of oxen and worked on the farm summers and followed clerking in Larimore in the winters until 1890, and then owned a well developed farm of three hundred and twenty acres. He is now the fortunate possessor of one section of land in Dahlen township, upon which he has placed valuable improvements,

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and the place is entitled to rank among the finest farms of the locality. He devoted himself to his farm work until 1896, when he was elected county treasurer, and in the tall of 1898 he was again elected to the office, and is now ably discharging the duties of Itis position.

Our subject was married, in 1885, to Miss Anna Barsness, a native of Norway. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Engesather, who was born September 22, 1886, and bears the name of John. In 1896 Mr. and Mrs. Engesather adopted Karen M. Heland, who was born July 15, 1894, and is now known as Maria Engesather. Our subject is a mem- ber of the United Lutheran church of America, and politically he is a Populist, with which party he has been identified since its organizaton.

GUSTAV C. GETZLAFF. This well-known pioneer of McHenry county, North Dakota, owns a very complete farm in in township 159 north, and range 76 west. He is of German nativity, and was born November 5, 1860, in a little German hamlet close to the famous city of Stettin. Here his father, August Getzlaff, was the owner of a small farm and was a carpenter by trade.

Our subject was the third in a family of five chil- dren reared in the village. His father died when he was only five years old, and his mother brought her little flock to America in 1871, and made a home for them on a farm in Olmsted county, Minnesota. Here with the children of school house he received an English education, and grew up as his "mother's right hand man." When he was nineteen he left home and struck out for himself. He learned the brewing business in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He was there four years, and spent two years in Minneapolis in the same line. Meanwhile he learned engineering. In 1886 he came to North Dakota, and in McHenry county on his present farm he put up a shanty 12×14 feet and prepared himself in the simple fash- ion of the times for homestead farming. He had one hundred dollars with which to begin operations, and it was counted quite a fortune. In 1886 he did little but work out and the next year bought oxen, wagon and other necessities. That year he har- vested two hundred bushels of wheat, and the next year four hundred and fifty bushels. In 1888 he bought a threshing machine with complete outfit and has followed it every year since. His present outfit consists of a twenty-two-horse power engine and a magnificent separator. In 1889 and 1890 his farming operations were not satisfactory, but in 1890 he harvested two thousand four hundred bushels of grain from eighty acres. In 1895 he had his greatest year. He had eleven thousand bushels of wheat, running thirty-five bushels to the acre, two thousand bushels of oats, and four hundred of barley. In 1896 he had six thou- sand bushels : in 1897, one thousand six hundred and fifty bushels; in 1898, two thousand two hundred

bushels, and in 1899, four thousand one hundred birshels. He now owns three hundred and thirty acres. He did have two hundred acres more, but sold them in 1896. His is a well equipped farm with everything, house, barn, outbuildings and stock that is needed by its operators for success and comfort. His house is 18x28, with an addition of 18x32; his barn, 48x44, with attached sheds; a wagon shed, 16x24: machine shed, 18x36 feet, ample granaries, and other smaller buildings. He had an acre of forest trees, and a very good start towards an inval- uable supply of small fruit.

Mr. Getzlaff is a Democrat, and is keenly alive to everything that concerns the common welfare. He is a member of the German Lutheran church. Since 1896 he has done considerable traveling throughout the Northwest and to the Pacific coast. He means to enjoy himself, now that the stress and strain of pioneering is over, and to see and know something of the country in which he lives.

JAMES G. CAMPBELL, county judge of Stark county, holds a foremost place among the attorneys of North Dakota. He resides in Dickinson, where he has built up a remunerative practice and enjoys wide acquaintance and an enviable public record.

Our subject was born in the suburbs of Edin- burgh, Scotland, in 1828, and was a son of Blair Campbell, and his parents were Scotch. Mr. Camp- bell came to America in 1849, and settled in Illinois, where he followed farming until 1861. He then en- listed in Company F, Nineteenth Illinois Infantry, and entered the service of the state of Illinois in May, 1861, and the service of the United States June 17 of the same year. They drilled in Chicago three weeks, and were then sent to Missouri and served in different parts of that state, and during the summer went to Kentucky and from there, in September, to Cincinnati, and then back to Kentucky, and spent the winter at Bacon Creek. In February, 1862, they went to Bowling Green, Kentucky, and after its capture moved to Nashville, and then went to Hunts- ville, Alabama, and cut the rebel communication there. When General Buell with his army went north from his position in northern Alabama and middle Tennessee to head off General Bragg's army in its dash for the Ohio river, his regiment returned to Nashville, and formed part of the garrison under General Negley which held that city till relieved by the army of General Rosecrans after the battle of Perryville, and then were engaged at the battle of Stone River. They formed a part of the Army of the Cumberland under Rosecrans, and were with the Army of the Cumberland at Chickamauga, and next were part of the garrison at Chattanooga. Our subject was wounded through the body at the battle of Missionary Ridge September 25, and was sent to the hospital, and was on a leave of absence until the following March, when he joined his regiment in Georgia. He was with Sherman as far as Marietta, Georgia, and was then sent to Chicago, and was

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mustered out of the service July 9, 1863. He saw a little over three years of active service, and was mus- tered in as a sergeant and left the service with the rank of captain, his commission as such dating from the day his predecessor was killed at the battle of Stone River, January 2, 1863.

After his return from the war Mr. Campbell be- gan the study of law, and also followed the hard- ware business at Virginia, Illinois, and was admit- ted to the bar and began the practice of law at Mus- kegon, Michigan. He continued the practice of his profession there some ten or fifteen years, and in the meantime purchased and edited the "Muskegon Journal," which was published as a daily and weekly paper. Our subject went to Dickinson, North Da- kota, in 1882, and entered a homestead claim to land nine miles from Dickinson, which he continued to farm for three years. He moved to the town of Dickinson in 1886, and established his office there for the practice of his profession, and has prospered since locating there.

Our subject was married at Virginia, Illinois, in 1865, to Miss Martha Hitchcock, who was born in the state of New York. Mrs. Campbell was a daughter of Alvin Hitchcock, a lumber merchant. She died in Illinois, leaving one child named Archi- bald J. Mr. Campbell was married to Miss Alice Davis in Michigan, in 1878. Mrs. Campbell was born at Muskegon, Michigan, and was a daughter of Theodore Davis, a native of Maine. Nine chil- dren have been born to this union, who are as fol- lows: Clyde Leith, Glenlyon, died in childhood ; Alice Isabelle, Nina Lucy, Clarence Argyle, James Douglass, lone Genevieve and Theodore Blair. Mr. Campbell was appointed county commissioner by

Governor Ordway in the summer of 1883. He was appointed probate judge and afterward elected to the same office, serving two terms, and in 1888 was elected district attorney and served one term. He was elected county judge in 1890, and has been re- elected four times, and is now serving in that office. Mr. Campbell is a Republican in political sentiment, and is prominent in affairs of his party. He holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and Masonic fraternity. He was among the first settlers of the vicinity of Dickinson and well merits his high standing and success.

SIDNEY L. FARNSWORTH. Among the representative citizens of Grand Forks county who established their homes in this country in the pioneer days, none is more deserving of mention than the gentleman whose name heads this brief review. His present home is in Gilby township, where he owns a half-section of excellent land, and has sur- rounded himself with the conveniences of modern farm life.

Mr. Farnsworth was born in Washington, Sull- ivan county, New Hampshire, February 17, 1847. His parents were Joel and Mary ( Fairbanks) Farns- worth, both natives of Washington, New Hamp-

shire. The father was a farmer, and removed to Wisconsin in 1852, and now resides in that state near River Falls in Pierce county. Our subject's grand- parents, David and Martha ( Proctor ) Farnsworth, were also natives of New Hampshire, and spent their entire lives in that state.

Sidney L. Farnsworth was reared and educated in Wisconsin, and in 1864 enlisted in Company H, Forty-second Wisconsin Infantry. He served ten months, principally on guard duty in Illinois. At the close of the war he returned to River Falls, Wisconsin,, where he remained until 1867, when he went to Madison county, Illinois, and taught school. He was thus engaged in Illinois two years, and then went to lowa, where he taught four years. He then returned to Wisconsin and taught up to 1880, and finally closed his career as a teacher in the high school of Grand Forks, North Dakota. In 1879 he had come to East Grand Forks, and there took up a homestead claim in Sullivan township, Polk county, Minnesota. He proved up on the claim and resided there until 1888, when he came to Gilby township Grand Forks county, North Dakota, and purchased the half-section on which he now makes his home. For six years he purchased wheat at Gilby and sold farm machinery. He has been successful, and has one of the most valuable farms in the county, well improved and supplied with all conveniences.

Mr. Farnsworth was married, at Edwardsville, Illinois, in 1869, to Miss Alice Aldrich. Mrs. Farns- worth was born at Hudson, St. Croix county, Wis- consin. To this union two sons have been born, Frank L. and Orion G., both of whom are living. In political sentiment Mr. Farnsworth is a Republi- can and takes an intelligent interest in public affairs. He has served twelve years as justice of the peace, and has also filled the offices of township treasurer and school treasurer. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a worthy citizen, highly respected and esteemed by the people of Grand Forks county.

LAWRENCE F. TAVIS, a prominent and in- fluential citizen of Glen Ullin, Morton county, is engaged in mercantile pursuits, and has met with unbounded success. He was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, August 24, 1862, and his father, Lawrence Tavis, a gardener and blacksmith by trade, was a native of Germany, and came to Amer- ica in 1860. His brothers served in the United States army in the Civil war. He married Sophia Grante, in Germany, where she was born.

Lawrence F. Tavis was the seventh in a family of nine children, four of whom are now living. He was reared and educated at Wheeling, West Vir- ginia, and attended St. Alphonsus Parish School until fourteen years of age, and then assisted his father on the farm until nineteen years of age. Af- ter this he followed farming and gardening with his brother three years. He went to Glen Ullin, North Dakota, in 1885, and purchased a half-sec-

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tion of railroad land and began farming, and farmed with oxen two years and lived in a small shanty. The father and mother and two brothers went to Morton county in 1886, and all engaged in farming in common two years. Our subject continued farm- ing seven years, and accumulated three hundred and twenty acres of land, and erected a complete set of commodious and substantial buildings, and had all machinery for conducting a model farm. He pur- chased a half-interest in the mercantile establish- ment of E. Denzel, in Glen Ullin, in the spring of 1892, and has continued in the business since that date. Mr. Tavis continued with Mr. Denzel until August, 1892, when two of his brothers purchased his interest, and they continued together until 1897, when our subject became sole proprietor. He now has a commodious store building, and carries a stock of general merchandise valued at twelve thou- sand dollars, including hardware, etc. The hall over the store is used for lodge and entertaining pur- poses. Mr. Tavis has made a success of his busi- ness. He has a fine residence in the town, and in 1896 he and his brothers built the Glen Ullin Roller Mills, which they conducted under the firm name of Tavis Brothers one year, and the partner- ship was then dissolved, our subject conducting the store, L. A. Tavis taking charge of the mill, and H. J. Tavis assuming the stock interests.

Our subject was married, April 12, 1887, to Miss Emma Feser, who was born in Germany and came to America in 1881. Her father, Gregor Fe- ser, was a German by birth and was a nurseryman. Eight children have been born to Mr and Mrs. Tavis, who are named as follows: Argatta M., Joseph, John, Clemmens, Edward, Frank, Mary and Laura. Mr. Tavis is a member of the Catholic church and the Catholic Order of Foresters. He has been choir leader in the church for fifteen years, and served eight years as organist. While a resi- cent of Wheeling, West Virginia, he was a leader of the Excelsior Cornet Band four years, and has been leader of the Glen Ullin Band for two and a half years. fie is well known, and is active in social affairs of his town and community.

STEPHEN BRANCHFLOWER is an honored citizen of Lake township, Ramsey county, in section 6, of which he has a pleasant home. He conducts general farming with good results, and has accu- mulated a fine property. He is among the early set- tlers of Ramsey county, and is well known in social and business circles.

Our subject was born on a farm in Oxford, On- tario, Canada, May 21, 1842. He was reared in his native place, and continued his residence there until 1887. In March of that year he went to Ramsey county, North Dakota, and soon after his arrival there saw the advantages of farming Dakota land, and filed a claim to the farm on which he has since resided. He owns three hundred and sixty acres of choice land, and is prosecuting his work with the

most satisfactory results. The buildings of the place include a fine residence, commodious barns and other necessary farm buildings, and modern machinery and methods are employed in the opera- tion of the place.

Our subject was married, in Oxford county, On- tario, Canada, to Miss Mary Ann Kiteley, a native of Wellington county, Ontario. Mr. and Mrs. Branchflower are the parents of three children, who bear the names: Stephen P., Monroe and Henry A. Mr. Branchflower and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and are highly es- teemed in the community in which they reside. Since making his location in Ramsey county our subject has been actively interested in public matters, and he has done his full share toward the upbuilding of good local government. He has been called upon by the people to serve as township treasurer, and has always been found faithful and trustworthy in public as well as private affairs.

DR. JOHN FAWCETT, one of the most widely known and successful physicians and surgeons of Grand Forks, North Dakota, is a gentleman of ex- cellent education and broad mind, and well merits his success and enviable reputation. The reader will look upon his portrait with interest.

Our subject was born in Ontario, Canada, May 5. 1850, and is a son of John and Hannah (Bird) Fawcett. His parents were natives of the north of Ireland and came to America and settled in Canada in 1847, where they spent the rest of their lives. Eight sons were born to this worthy couple, of whom our subject and one brother are now in North Dakota.

Dr. Fawcett was reared in Canada and educated in Victoria and Manitoba University, taking the degrees of B. A., M. A., and M. D. He taught in the high schools of Canada nine years and dur- ing the summer months studied medicine in the Baltimore medical department, and in 1883 entered the medical department of the University of Mani- toba and graduated from that institution in 1886. He began the practice of his profession in Mani- toba and in 1888 came to Cando, North Dakota, and continued there until 1892, when he located in Grand Forks and has since conducted his prac- tice in this city. He has followed general prac- tice and also makes a specialty of surgery and women's diseases. He founded the North Dakota Surgical Institute in 1896, and now has control of the same. He strives to improve in his profession, and enjoys unbounded success in his work: The Doctor is also the proprietor of a steamboat and barges which are used in transporting grain for the Northern Pacific Railroad, on the Red river of the North.

Our subject was married in 1879 to Miss Anna M. Neilson, of Ontario. Seven children, five sons and two daughters, have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Fawcett. The Doctor is a member of the College

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of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba. He also holds membership in the Masonic fraternity.

Dr. Fawcett was for three years superintendent of the high and normal and public schools of the city of Winnipeg.

PETER R. FERGUSON was born on a farm in Ontario, Canada, in 1839, and has been a resident of Bottineau county for some fifteen years. Coming into North Dakota late in life, he feels that he has made his final move until he is called "home." Peter Ferguson, the father of our subject, was a farmer and blacksmith. He was a native of Scotland, and came to Canada when he was only twenty-two years old, bringing with him a wife and two children. Her name was Ellen Robinson, and she was also Scottish born and bred. Peter R. is their fifth child, ten of their children reaching maturity.

Mr. Ferguson left home when he attained his majority, and became a farmer for himself. He owned a small place, and continued in Canada for the next ten years. During that time he worked out to a considerable degree among neighboring farnı- ers. He was married, in 1865, to Miss Maria Ward, a daughter of the Reverend James Ward, a tiller of the soil, and a clergyman of the Methodist Episco- pal church, both in England and Canada. Mrs. Ferguson was born in Ontario, and had the usual experiences of what was then very close to frontier life. She has presented her husband with ten chil- dren : Hellen, Theresa, John S., Rhoda B., Emma, Peter B., Felicia, James, Edgar, Clarence and Coral. The family left Canada, after selling out the farm and other farm holdings, and entered Manitoba in 1872. For the next five years Mr. Ferguson was engaged in farming in that far away country. He was not satisfied, however, though he had a good farm west of Winnipeg. Three years of grasshop- pers was too much for his equinimity, and he retired from the farm, and entered a mercantile business, and combined certain important real estate invest- ments with it. He had a store, 25x75, and did a large business for some ten years, when he disposed of his Manitoba interests and sought a home in this state. He drove overland from Gladston, and set- tled in Bottineau county. He located upon govern- ment land, and procured his supplies at Devils Lake. In common with others in that early day he used oxen for several years after coming into the terri- tory ; they were so much better adapted to local con- ditions, and it is only at quite a recent period that they had retired in favor of horses. He put up a shanty, 18x24 feet, and in 1886 harvested his first crop, his wheat running fifteen bushels to the acre. He had an ample supply of oats, potatoes, and started off much better than the most of those who, like him, were trying to win homes from the prairie. He fought prairie fires, faced the blizzards, and feeling that he had reached what would be his final home, held on, and is now enjoying the fruits of adventur- ous years. He owns an entire section of land, and

in 1900 had four hundred and fifty acres under cul- tivation. It is a well-equipped farm with ample buildings and sufficient machinery.

Mr. Ferguson was elected county treasurer in 1886, and was twice re-elected, completing a continu- ous service of six years. In 1897 he left the farm, which continued to be his residence during his oc- cupancy of office, and moved to Botteneau. He put up a house in the village, 18x26 feet, with kitchen and other extensions, and one and a half stories high. He also erected a barn, 26x48 feet, with twelve-foot posts, and is now cosily fixed in one of the most pleasant homes in the county. He is a Populist, and takes much interest in party af- fairs. He attends numerous conventions and is a man of more than ordinary influence. He belongs to the Masons, and is deservedly popular in the mystic order.

JOHN HILLMAN, proprietor of one of the fine farms of Beaulieu township, Pembina county, re- sided thereon in section 34 for many years, but is now retired from active farm labors and enjoys a pleasant and comfortable home. He owns five hun- dred and twenty acres of land and rents it to others.

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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 166

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