Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 181

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

USA > North Dakota > Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life > Part 181

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Our subject is a native of Ashland county, Ohio, and was born August 21, 1852, and was the fifth in a family of eight children. He was about two years of age when the parents removed to Wiscon- sin and settled in Washara county on a farm, and there our subject grew to manhood. He entered Berlin high school in March, 1873, and was grad- uated in 1877. He taught school in Plainfield and Poysippi, Wisconsin, two years, and then with a four-horse team and covered wagon in the spring of 1880 drove overland to North Dakota. He at once entered a homestead claim in Harriston town- ship. Walsh county, where he began his farming operations, and has continued to reside. He has erected a complete set of excellent buildings on his farm, including residence, barns, granary, etc., and uses modern methods and machinery in the opera-

tion of the place, and is regarded as one of the solid men of his township.

Our subject was married at Steven's Point, Portage county, Wisconsin, March 1, 1882, to Miss Luella A. Perry. Mrs. Hanawalt was born at Pinc Grove, Portage county, Wisconsin, April 19, 1856. Mr. and Mrs. Hanawalt are the parents of six chil- dren, named as follows: Guy H., Maud E., Jay R., John J., Gladys L., and an infant unnamed. Mr. Hanawalt is a man of active public spirit, and has been called upon to serve in various local offices. Ile was the first chairman of the township board of Harriston township, and has served as assessor for several years, and justice of peace for some years, and has served some years in the capacity of town- ship treasurer. He holds membership in the Or- der of Foresters, and is identified with the Republi- can party politically. He has followed agricultural pursuits throughout his life, and has met with suc- cess in his business and social career.

WILLIAM W. LYNESS, one of the leading business men of Fessenden, conducts in company with J. A. Regan an extensive grain business, and he is also proprietor of one of the large farms of that vicinity, whereon he engages in grain raising.

Our subject was born on a farm in Winnebago county, Wisconsin, June 30, 1870, and was the youngest child of five born to William and Sarah (Gillespie) Lyness. His father was born in Ire- land, and was accidentally killed in the pineries when our subject was but eight months of age. The mother of our subject was born in America, and was of Scotch descent, but the family has been in Amer- ica many generations.

Mr. Lyness was raised on a farm and attended the country schools, and also attended Oshkosh Business College, from which institution he grad- uated in 1890. He was early given farm work to do, and after completing his education he assumed the management of the home farm, where he con- tinued till the spring of 1892. He then went to Wells county, North Dakota, and worked for Lloyd & Brown at Sykeston, in the machine business, and in the fall of that year operated a threshing ma- chine. He assumed charge of the elevator for the Royal Elevator Company at Fessenden, in 1893, and was with them two years, and in 1895 entered into partnership with Mr. J. A. Regan in the grain business, which business the firm still conducts. They have erected a twenty-five-thousand-bushel capacity elevator, one of the largest in the vicinity, and have an extensive trade. Mr. Lyness entered claim to land in township 148, range 70, in Wells county, as a homestead, in 1892, and has added to his possessions from time to time, and is now the owner of eight hundred acres of land, about six hundred aeres of which is cultivated. He has made a success of his business, both in the town and on his farm, and is among the substantial men of his community.

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Our subject was married December 9, 1897, to Miss ' Alma Link, a native of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Mrs. Lyness was of German parentage, and her fa- ther, August Link, was a farmer in Wisconsin. Mr. Lyness holds membership in the Knights of Pythias and Ancient Order of United Workmen. In po- litical faith he is a Republican, and is a man who keeps pace with the times in public affairs. He was one of the pioneer business men of Fessenden, and had watched the growth of that region and aided materially in its development and well merits his success.

HIRAM A. LIBBY. For so young a state. North Dakota can present a bar of which many an older state might be proud, and as a result a body of state and local law is growing up steadily which bids fair to render its reports as famous and as eagerly sought after as are those of one or two of the older states where the bench and the profes- sion have influenced the course of justice all over the Union. The bar is in no respect less responsi- ble for the jurisprudence of a state than is the bench, and therefore it is with pleasure that we meet in new communities men such as Mr. Hiram A. Libby, of Park River, in Walsh county, whose con- servative learning has helped to shape the policy and administration of the law in his adopted state.

Mr. Libby was born in Ashland, Dodge county, Minnesota. His father was the Rev. Thomas Libby, a clergyman of note. At the age of six years he moved with the family to Owatonna, Min- nesota, where young Hiram attended the public schools and gleaned from them such education as they afford, until he was about ten years old. He then went to Atwater, in the same state, where he entered the high school. He remained at that place during about seven years following. He then went to Aledo, Illinois, and began the study of law when he was about nineteen years of age. He remained there and in Rock Island county for about three years, and spent some time in teaching, keeping up his study in the meantime. In 1882, May 23, he was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of his profession at Crookston, Minnesota. He came to P'ark River, North Dakota, in 1884. opened an office and has continued in practice since. He has made a pronounced success of his profession, and has attracted much attention throughout the state. He was Park River's first mayor, and filled that office four years. He was states attorney in Walsh county for ten years, and city attorney for Park River fourteen years.

Mr. Libby was married, in 1881, at Atwater, Minnesota, to Miss Adella J. Towler. Mrs. Libby was born in Ohio, but removed with her parents to Minnesota at an carly age. To Mr. and Mrs. Libby four children have been born: Grace A., Florence D., Hiram Joy and Walter A. The family circle has been broken by the death of Florence D., a young girl possessed of all the Christian graces,

beloved by all and mourned by all who knew her. Her death occurred April 22, 1900, when she was nearing her fifteen birthday.

Mr. Libby has taken a leading part in public af- fairs since his arrival in North Dakota. He has al- ways acted with the Republican party, and has been honored with many proofs of the esteem in which he is held by his fellow men. As a lawyer he stands at the head of the profession, in Walsh county, and is well known to the legal fraternity throughout the state. His law library is one of the finest col- lections in the state, and he has always been a care- ful, painstaking and studions worker, and has earned the confidence and respect which he now enjoys. Mr. Libby and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and are faithful workers in the cause of morality and education.

DR. J. A. GREIG, a physician of high repute and a most successful practitioner, resides in the city of Bottineau and has been identified with the interests of the county from its earliest history.

Dr. Greig was born on a farm near Strathroy, Ontario, Canada, in 1851. His father, John Greig, was a farmer and was born at Kingston, Ontario. The Greig family have been in America for three generations and are of Scotch-Irish descent. Dr. Greig's mother bore the maiden name of Catherine McBain.

Dr. Greig was the eldest of a family of seven children. He was reared on the farm and attended the country and village schools. At the age of fif- teen years he began teaching and followed that vo- cation about fifteen years. A portion of this time he spent in college work, being exceptionally strong in class work. While teaching he thus attended the Sydenham high school and Toronto Normal, and re- ceived a first-class provincial certificate, upon which he taught for six years, his teaching ranging from the common to the high school.

In 1887 our subject graduated from the Mani- toba Medical College and came to Bottineau and established a practice. He had previously visited the county in 1883 and located land and placed his parents on a farmi. He has been successful in his practice and until he began recently to withdraw from general practice, and devote more attention to specialist work ; he had by far the largest practice of any physician in the county. He was the pio- neer doctor in the county and is well known and esteemed by all.

In addition to his valuable practice as physician, he has conducted agriculture and is the owner of four hundred and eighty acres of excellent land. two hundred and sixty of which is under cultivation annually. One hundred and sixty acres lie in the Turtle mountain district and is valuable for timber and hay. He has good buildings and modern con- veniences for the conduct of farming and has been remarkably successful in that line.

Dr. Greig has taken an active part in political and

J. A. GREIG, M. D.

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public affairs. He is a Democrat in political views and was elected superintendent of schools of Bot- tineau county, re-elected in 1892 and again in 1894. serving three terms in that office. He is deeply interested in educational matters and has done much to advance educational work in the county. He has been a member of the county board of health for several years. He has been state and county committeeman for his party for several years and has wielded great influence in politics in the county.

Dr. Greig was married, in 1895, to Miss Mary McBride. Mrs. Greig was born in Ontario, Can- ada, of Scotch-Irish parentage. She engaged in teaching school in Canada prior to her marriage. To Dr. and Mrs. Greig two children were born, John W. and William McBride, the latter of whom died June 13, 1900. The mother and wife died January, 1898. Dr. Greig is a member of the Bap- tist church and was active in the organization of the church of Bottineau. He takes an active part in the social affairs of the city and is deservedly pop- ular. His portrait, in these pages, shows an intelli- gent and kindly face.

JAMES W. MOFFET, a prominent and lead- ing farmer and stock raiser of Pierce county, re- sides in township 158, range 73, a few miles east of the city of Barton. He is one of the pioneers of the county, and of the state.

Mr. Moffet was born on a farm in Michigan, January 29, 1858. His father, Albert Moffet, was a machinist and farmer. He was of Irish descent, but his family had been many generations in Amer- ica. The mother of our subject, Mary (Lyon) Moffet, was American born and her parents were also native Americans. She died when our subject was but six or seven years of age.

James W. Moffet was the fifth in a family of nine children, though he has several half brothers and half sisters. He was reared on a farm in Ionia county, Michigan, whither his father had removed, and was employed in a machine shop and saw-mill. James worked and attended school in the district until he arrived at the age of twenty-one years, when he left home and came to North Dakota. He stopped at Fargo, reaching that point July 23, 1879. He filed a claim to land in Traill county in the fall of 1879, and spent the following winter in the Min- nesota pineries. The next spring he bought a yoke of oxen and started farming. He erected a shanty, which blew down within a month. He had many trying experiences. He camped out, sleeping un- der his wagon, and operated his farm until 1885. At that time he came to what is now Pierce county, and filed a claim to government land five miles southeast of where Barton now is, and for the sec- ond time became a pioneer. His first crop was practically a failure, but in 1887 he had a yield of twenty bushels of wheat to the acre. In 1891 he lost a barn, 24x32 feet, by a fire in the middle of the day, the origin of which is unknown. He also was

unfortunate in the loss of several head of stock at various times. Notwithstanding these reverses lie has prospered, and now owns six hundred and forty acres of land in his home farm and three hundred and twenty acres on the Mouse river, the latter fur- nishing hay and timber. His estate is well im- proved with good farm buildings and conveniences for farm work, including wind-mill, granary and other outbuildings for shelter of stock and storing of crops. He owns sixty head of cattle, twenty-five head of horses and all needed farm machinery of modern make. His home is surrounded by a grove of twelve acres, the largest and best in the county.

Mr. Moffet has taken an active part in public affairs, and is a Republican in political faith. He was elected a member of the board of county com- missioners in 1898, and is now serving in that ca- pacity. He has always been devoted to the best interests of his state and county, and his services are given with this object constantly in view. He has been selected to attend both state and county conventions of his party, and has wielded a strong influence in his county. He came to Dakota with but fifteen dollars, and by hard work and proper management he has become one of the substantial and prosperous citizens of the county, whose zeal and devotion have aided so materially in advancing the prosperity and development of its resources.

ANTON EGGE, busily engaged in digging out wealth and comfort from the soil of North Dakota, may be found steadily at work on his broad acres in township 160 north, range 75 west, Bottineau county. He was born on a farm in Norway, November 23, 1851, but has been so long a resident of this country that he is thoroughly imbued with its friendly and progressive spirit. He left Norway in 1880, and coming directly to this country, landed in the city of New York, and without delay made his way to Minnesota. In that state he had friends and ac- quaintances, and in Red river valley he engaged i. farm work for a number of years. In the spring of 1886 he entered Bottineau county, North Dakota, and filed two claims, putting up a shanty of sod and boards for his temporary dwelling place. For many years he lived a solitary and lonely life, doing his own housework, and pushing the improvements of his farm. His first crop was in 1887, and ran fif- teen bushels of wheat to the acre. He had that year but a small acreage. The good crops were al- most totally destroyed by frost the next year, and in 1889 and 1890 were poor. It was not until 1891 that he had his first really good harvest. Since that time he has been fairly successful.

Mr. Egge and Miss Paulina Sandberg were married in the spring of 1897. She was born in Norway, and with her mother and sister came in the spring of 1893 to this country. She is the mother of one boy, Arne. Mr. Egge is the owner of a handsome farm of three hundred and sixty acres of choice land, eighty acres in pasture and the

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rest under cultivation. There is a fine grove of forest trees on the place, and some fruit trees. It has good farm buildings, a farm house, a barn, 32x 50 feet, and other buildings. He has horses and sufficient machinery to do the work. He is among the early settlers of the county. He has made a home for himself and his family, and, as he thinks of the raw prairie on which he located not very long ago, he may well congratulate himself upon his in- dustry and thrift, by which the change in his cir- cumstances has become possible.

JOHN R. THOMSON. Among those whose influence and labors have made Walsh county the home of prosperity and enterprise, John R. Thomson is deserving of special mention. He is a prominent farmer of Walsh Center township, and his home on section 20 is one of refinement and genuine western hospitality.

Mr. Thomson was born in Bruce county, town- ship of Elderslie, Ontario, September 9, 1858. His parents, the Honorable Alexander Thomson and Margaret M. (Thomson) Thomson, were both born in Ottawa, Ontario. A sketch of Hon. Alexander Thomson appears on another page of this work. The subject of our sketch was the eldest of a fanı- ily of nine children, and was reared to manhood in his native county, and in the spring of 1879 he came to Dakota and took up a homestead claim in what is now Walsh Center township, Walsh county, North Dakota. He has added to his landed pos- sessions until he is now the owner of four hundred and eighty acres of the most valuable lands in the county. The improvements he has placed upon it are of the best and most substantial character and greatly enhance the value of his estate.

Mr. Thomson was married at'Owen Sound, On- tario, March 19, 1890, to Miss Annie Mckay. Mrs. Thomson was born at Owen Sound, May 10, 1866. She is a refined and intelligent lady, and has made their home one of comfort and happiness by her skillful and thoughtful management. Their two children, James A., born August 12, 1896, and John R., Jr., born November 7, 1898, complete their pleas- ant family circle. Mr. Thomson is an active par- ticipant in local political affairs, and has held a number of important positions. He has been super- visor of Walsh Center township for sixteen years, and clerk of his school district for a long period of time. He and Mrs. Thomson are members of the Presbyterian church, and are active workers in the cause of morality and education.

HON. FREDERICK W. McLEAN. This gentleman is one of the leading attorneys of Lang- don, North Dakota, and is serving as United States court commissioner. He is a young man of intel- ligence and true worth as a citizen and member of the legal fraternity and is rapidly rising to promi-

nence in North Dakota. His portrait appears as a part of this sketch.

Mr. McLean was born in Nova Scotia, May 18, 1869, and passed his early boyhood days there and at the age of ten years removed with his parents to North Dakota. His father, William McLean, for- merly was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Bath- gate, Pembina county, North Dakota. Our subject was reared in Bathgate and received his education there and came to Langdon, Cavalier county, in the spring of 1888, and engaged in the newspaper busi- ness. He formed a partnership with A. I. Koehm- stedt, and continued in business until the spring of 1893, when he disposed of his newspaper interests and the following year began the study of law. He graduated from the National University, at Washington, D. C., in 1897, and was admitted to the bar in September of the same year, and at once began the practice of his profession. in Langdon, where he has since followed a general practice and has built up an extensive and remunerative busi- ness. He was appointed by ex-Senator Roach as his private secretary, and acted in that capacity about four years.

Our subject was married in Langdon, North Dakota, to Miss Ellen Orton, a native of Ontario. Mr. McLean was elected to the North Dakota legis- lature in the fall of 1892 on the Democratic ticket, and served one term. In September, 1897, he was appointed United States court commissioner by Judge Amidon, of Fargo, in which capacity he now serves. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Knights of Pythias and Independent Order of For- esters and is prominent in social and business circles and has attained a standing in legal circles seldom reached by one of his years. July 19, 1900, Mr. McLean was nominated for lieutenant governor of North Dakota on the Independent Democratic ticket.

THEODORE SKOTLAND. This gentleman, whose home and business are in Willow City, Bot- tineau county, was born in Calmar, lowa, April 21, 1858. His father, Thore Skotland, was born in Norway, and came to America in 1834, and was in the very forefront of the great flood of Norwegian emigration that has poured such riches of brain and muscle into this country. He was the first white settler in Winneshiek county, and passed through Chicago when it was little more than a swamp. He spent a little time in Wisconsin, but northern Iowa pleased him best, and there he made his life long home. His great-grandfather came from Scotland into Norway, and the Skotland family have pre- served some of the best traits of the Scotch char- acter. He married Ingebor Land. She was born in Norway, and accompanied her husband and her father into this country. She died when Theodore was eight years old.

Mr. Skotland is the ninth in a family of ten children, and spent the first thirteen years of his

HON. FREDERICK W. MCLEAN.

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life on the farm. From the age of thirteen to seventeen he attended a college at Decorah, Iowa. For about a year he worked on a farm, and then took a place as a clerk in a general store at Barnes- ville, Minnesota. He was there some three years, and then secured a more remunerative engagement at Pelican Rapids, in the same state and in the same line, and was there some six years. In the spring of 1886 he came to Grafton, North Dakota, and es- tablished under his own name a general store in that thrifty village. In 1888 he disposed of it, and established himself in a similar line at Willow City. He is one of the pioneer merchants of Bottineau county. In Willow City he put up, in 1888, a build- ing 24x60 feet, and carried on his business in it until 1899. That year he constructed a store build- ing, 46x72 feet, with double front, with every con- venience the quick and profitable transaction of business may demand. He has an ice house, with refrigerator, a salt house, a flour house and sleeping room for his clerks. There is an ample store room in the rear of the main building, and a very neat office for himself. It is the largest general store in the town.

T. Skotland and Miss Bertha Torsen were mar- ried, in 1884. She was born in Goodhue county, Minnesota, and is of Norwegian parentage. She is the mother of six children. Walter, her oldest son, was born in Minnesota, and is a graduate of Park Region College at Fergus Falls. The others, Jasen, Arline, Lillian, Marvin and Mahlon, were all born in North Dakota. Mr. Skotland has engaged in farming and owns three farms and a tree claim. He is one of the directors of the Farmers and Mer- chants' Bank, and is interested in the Rossholt & Sunbery Investment Company, a new enterprise with a hopeful future. He is a Republican and served in the first city council of Willow City. He drafted the first ordinance passed by that body. He has been school director for four years or more. He has taken a leading part in local affairs, and is very popular in the community.

ALBERT P. WINSLOW, a successful farmer who has a home on section 26, Grand Forks county, has made his way to a very comfortable position in North Da- kota agriculture, and offers in his own ca- reer a living illustration of the success that at- tends persistent work and wise economy in this great state. He was born in Aroostook county, Maine, June 25, 1850, and was the eighth in a fam- ily of ten children born to John N. and Ann (Coombs) Winslow. They were of English and Welsh descent, and were of high character and more than the usual ability. Our subject grew to man- hood on his parents' farm, though when a boy he was carried away by patriotic devotion and when only thirteen years of age enlisted in Company K. First District of Columbia Cavalry. This was October 1, 1863, and the next year the regiment was

almost destroyed in a fierce battle, and our subject escaped probable death or wounds by being engaged on distant duty in the military expedition known as the Wilson raid, and it has always been his regret that he did not share that exciting trip even with all the danger that went with it. He served until the end of the war, and was discharged in 1865 with a good record as a soldier and a young man.

During the war the parents of our subject had removed to Stearns county, Minnesota, and our sub- ject sought them and applied himself as assiduously to farm work as if he had never been a dashing cavalryman. In 1881 he came to Grand Forks county, North Dakota, without money enough to pay for filing his land claim. But he worked and earned money so that when his wife and children joined him a little later he had about fifty dollars. Erecting a 12x16-foot shanty he made room for the family, and began business as a farmer on the Da- kota prairies. He worked out for some months, and in the spring of 1882 was able to buy a team and prosecute the development of his farm more vigorously. While he does not claim to have grown rich from his farming, he has certainly been greatly prospered. He has a good home, a fine farm, well stocked and equipped, and has the right to take life somewhat easy the rest of his life. He is a Republican and belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, the Masons and the Independent Order of Foresters. He was married, in 1870, to Miss Mary Uran, and six children are the result of this union : George H., Ida M., Numan S., Maggie E., Walter P. and Roy C.

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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 181

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