Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 183

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 183

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

LOUIS K. HASSELL, one of the widely known men of North Dakota, is now serving as chief dep- uty sheriff of Grand Forks county, and formerly served as clerk of court of the first district. He is a native of Norway, and was born near Hamar, August 19, 1862.

The parents of our subject. Christian and Oline (Fremstad)' Hassell, were natives of Norway, the mother being of German parentage. In 1881 the parents of our subject emigrated to the United States, and settled in Walsh county, North Dakota. The father still resides there, and the mother is de- ceased. They were the parents of four sons and one daughter, of whom two sons are now living.

Mr. Hassell was reared and educated in Nor- way and at the age of eighteen years came with his parents to America, and arrived in Grand Forks in June, 1881. He soon afterward entered the law

office of Major Hamilton, and after a short time in the fall of 1881 he was chosen editor of the "Grand Forks Tidende," a Norwegian paper, and he ed- ited the same until the fall of 1883, when he was appointed deputy city auditor and treasurer. He served one year in that capacity, and was then ap- pointed clerk in the office of register of deeds, and remained thus engaged until January 1, 1887. Then he founded the "Normanden," the only Scan- dinavian paper of Grand Forks, and operated the same a year and a half, and then disposed of the paper and worked for J. P. Bray in the county aud- itor's office until October 1, 1889. He was elected clerk of the district court, and was re-elected to that office four times, and since his retirement from that position has been employed as deputy sheriff. He is faithful in his duties and well merits the trust reposed in him by the people.

Our subject was married, in 1886, to Sophia A. Anderson, a native of Norway. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hassell, named as follows: Clarence L., Selma L., Olga O. and Agnes F., all of whom are living. Mr. Hassell is prominent in secret society circles, and holds mem- ' bership in the following orders: Masonic frater- nity. Elks, Knights of Pythias and Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is a stanch Republican, and has been identified with the movements of that party since he attained his majority. On another page will be found a portrait of Mr. Hassell.

THE STATE BANK OF PAGE. This insti- tution was founded as a private bank by Hon. L. B. Hanna, in June, 1886, and continued as such un- til September 1, 1891, when it was incorporated as the State Bank of Page with a capital stock of five thousand dollars. George Todd was the first presi- dent, and L. B. Hanna was cashier, and L. L. Hanna vice-president, the directors being the above named gentlemen. Mr. Todd continued as president until 1893, when he was succeeded by E. M. Lewis, who acted in that capacity until January 1, 1900, when he was succeeded by L. B. Hanna. L. L. Hanna is vice-president, and W. J. Morrish is cashier. The bank has an average deposit of fifty thousand dol- lars, and a surplus and undivided profit of five thousand dollars, and does a general banking busi- ness. Hon. L. B. Hanna, the president of the State Bank of Page, is a gentleman of exceptional business ability, and is interested to a greater ex- tent in the financial growth of that region than any other man in Cass county. He has met with un- bounded success in every enterprise in which he has embarked, and is widely known as one of the early settlers of North Dakota.

Mr. Hanna was born in New Brighton, Penn- sylvania, in 1861, and was a son of Jason R. and Margaret A. (Lewis) Hanna, natives of Ohio and Massachusetts, respectively. His father was in- terested in the iron trade in Pennsylvania, and was

L. K. HASSELL.

1279

COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

a soldier in the Civil war. He served in the Sixty- third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry as captain of Company I, and later as lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-third Pennsylvania. He served with the Army of the Potomac and saw ser- vice in Virginia, and at the close of the war died from the effects of his long and brave service.

Our subject was reared and educated in Mas- sachusetts and New York, and in 1881 went to Hope, North Dakota, and engaged in farming one year, and the following year went to Page, Cass county, and opened a lumber yard, which he con- ducted until 1886, and then engaged in banking. He was also interested in general merchandising and wheat buying. He became largely interested in the First National Bank of Fargo in May, 1899, and was elected vice-president of that institution, and he is also president of the First . National Bank at Cooperstown, North Dakota.

Our subject was married, in 1885, in Minneapo- lis, Minnesota, to Lottie L. Thatcher, a native of Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Hanna are the par- ents of two daughters, named Jean and Dorothy. Mr. Hanna is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is a Knight Templar. He represented the eleventh district as senator of North Dakota four years and two years as member of the lower house, and was a very efficient officer. He has filled nu- merous local offices and is one of the best-known and most highly esteemed men of the state.

CHARLES R. LYMAN, residing on his farm adjoining the village of St. John, Rolette county, devotes himself to farming interests, conducting a tract of two thousand one hundred and sixty acres, of which eight hundred and eighty acres is owned by him. He also follows a general real estate and loan business, and in his genial manner makes a success of the business and many friends in his community.

Our subject was born in Hartland, Waukesha county, Wisconsin, November 19, 1855, and was a son of Waldo F. and Ann L. ( Bartlett) Lyman. His parents are of old Colonial stock and of English extraction. Our subject resided in Fillmore coun- ty, Minnesota, from 1856 to 1876, and completed his education at Bishop Whipple's school in Fari- bault, Minnesota. He then devoted his attention to teaching, and was employed in Fillmore and Olm- sted counties about eight years, and was principal of the Pleasant Grove schools. He entered the em- ploy of the Goodrich Transportation Company in 1881, and was employed as wheelman on the lake steamers and later as billing clerk. His brother, Arthur Lyman, was appointed deputy collector of customs at St. Vincent, and-later at St. John, and owing to the ill-health of our subject he was in- duced to join his brother in Dakota. He drove overland and arrived at St. John November 14, 1884, where he took government land, and still owns

the same. He was appointed postmaster of St. John during the first winter of his stay there, but continued his farming, and in 1885 he was appointed deputy United States marshal. The same year he was appointed county register of deeds to fill the vacancy caused by his brother's resignation, and at the next general election he was returned to the office. He was appointed deputy collector of cus- toms at St. John in 1889, and held the position until 1894. Few men have been so closely identi- fied with the history of the country in such differ- ent capacities. As a practical farmer, county offi- cer and government employe he has become promi- nent in his locality. He became a member of Troop A, in the Cavalry Battalion, when it was organized in 1887, and at the first election he received the office of second lieutenant with command of the St. John contingent, and after several years of service he resigned as adjutant. The most excit- ing experience during the service was the "breed war" caused by an attempt to collect taxes from the half-breeds. The St. John contingent joined Troop A at Dunseith, but the governor's orders quelled the disturbance, fortunately for the troops, as the "breeds" were well entrenched in the foot- hills and outnumbered the militia ten to one.

Our subject was married, in 1886, to Miss Ella S. Rolfe, of Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Lyman are the parents of two children, named Edith M. and Ethel M. They are accomplished young ladies, and remained at home where every advantage for education and musical training is afforded, and the appointments of the home bespeak the culture and refinement of its occupants. Mr. Lyman is a mem- ber of the Modern Woodmen of America, and po- litically he is a Republican, and is a member of the county central committee, and has served as dele- gate to county and state conventions of his party.

GEORGE H. KNOWLES, proprietor of one of the best farms in Rochester township, resides in section 22, and has gathered about him all the con- veniences and comforts of modern farming. He is well known as an old settler of that region, and his earnest efforts to advance the interests of Cass county, are known to all, and he occupies a high po- sition as a farmer and citizen.

Our subject was born in Winona county, Min- nesota, October 29, 1863. His parents, Henry B. and Betsy A. (Huntley) Knowles, were natives of New York, and his father was a wheelwright by trade. He went to Minnesota about 1855 and set- tled in Whitewater valley, Winona county, where he now resides, retired from active pursuits. Five sons and two daughters were born to this worthy couple, of whom three sons and two daughters are now living. Two sons reside in Tower City, North Dakota. The grandfather of our subject, John Knowles, was a native of New York, and removed to Minnesota, where he passed his last years.

1280

COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

Mr. Knowles was reared and educated in Min- nesota, and followed farming there two years and then went to North Dakota in 1881. He located at Tower City, and the same year entered a pre-emp- țion claim to land in section 14, in Rochester town- ship, where he resided until 1887, and then moved to his present location in section 22, of Rochester town- ship. He has been successful in his calling, and now owns and operates three quarter-sections of land, all of which is well improved and has good buildings thereon.

Our subject was married in Minnesota, in 1880, to Jennie Monear, a native of LaCrosse, Wiscon- sin. Mrs. Knowles is a daughter of John and Betty (Germane) Monear, who were natives of Vermont. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Knowles: Grace L., George E., Mattie A .; Arthur A., deceased; Bert R., Effie F., Louie E., Eva M. and Leo. Mr. Knowles assisted in the or- ganization of his township, and has served on the town board and some local offices. He is a mem- ber of the Modern Woodmen of America, and in political sentiment is a Republican, but takes no part in political affairs.

HON. GEORGE E. INGEBRETSON. The oldest resident of Normania township, Benson county, remembers the presence of the gentleman whose name heads this review, and of his struggles at the beginning of Benson county's earliest settle- ment. However, his present prosperity marks progress and development of the wonderful re- sources of this region under the hand of an ener- getic and able worker and manager. His home is on section 15, township 155, range 67, and few farms in North Dakota equal it in value and facili- ties for conducting successful farming.

Mr. Ingebretson is a native of Norway, where he was born November 30, 1860. He was the sixth child in a family of nine children born to George E. and Walborg Ingebretson, who were also pioneers of North Dakota. The father still survives. In 1866 the family came to America, landed at Ports- mouth, New Hampshire, and located on the Isles of Shoals. The father, who had been a sailor, en- gaged in cod fishing. Young George was reared until he reached the age of fourteen on the islands, and up to that age had never set foot upon the mainland of America, nor seen a horse. In 1874 the family removed to Kittery, Maine, and there our subject received his first schooling and became ac- quainted with the world. In 1883 he entered a job printing office in Boston, but he desired to take up farm work, and in the following spring he started for the Pacific coast. At St. Paul he met some friends who induced him to change his route and look over Minnesota and Dakota. On his ar- rival in Benson county, after a two days' sojourn, he filed a pre-emption claim to part of the farmi which he now owns, May 15, 1884. He imme-

diately expended his entire capital, three hundred dollars, and contracted a debt of five hundred dol- lars in building a shanty and stocking his farm. He knew absolutely nothing about farm work and was compelled to hire men to teach him to harness his horses and to hold the plow. He was an apt pupil, however, and believed in the maxim, "What man has done man can do," and his energy and untiring efforts soon brought him success. His parents joined him in the autumn. Within four years he had four hundred acres under cultivation, and then followed three disastrous seasons, which somewhat shook his confidence in Dakota resources. This reverse plunged him deeply in debt, but he continued to in- crease his acreage, and in 1891 he was rewarded with a fine crop and good prices, and in 1896 suc- ceeded in lifting the last of his debts. Then im- provements followed rapidly. His present com- fortable residence was completed in 1897, and the following year he erected a barn that has few equals in North Dakota, and, it is said, none in Benson county. It is 52×80 feet, with stone basement, horses being on first floor, and affords shelter for one hundred head of stock and storage for one hun- dred tons of hay. A granary erected in 1899 lias a capacity of fifteen thousand bushels, and is equipped with a modern dump for unloading, and with a gasoline engine for elevating. Mr. In- gebretson now owns one thousand one hundred and twenty acres of lands and controls additional acre- age.

In political views Mr. Ingebretson is a Repub- lican. He is a member of the Lutheran church, of the Masonic fraternity, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of the Maccabees. He was chosen to the first state legislature of North Dakota, and there identified himself with the prohibition move- ment. He has been repeatedly chosen as a dele- gate to state conventions of his party. For sev- eral years his invalid sister made her home with him, and her two sons, Ingemar and Olaf, now re- side with him and are treated as his own sons.

ALBERT A. HOOD, a leading land owner and agriculturist, of Grand Forks county, resides on section 17, Fairfield township, where he has a com- fortable home surrounded by all the conveniences of modern farm life.

Mr. Hood was born near Wheeling. West Vir- ginia, December 5, 1859. His parents were Samuel and Elsie (Galiher) Hood, the former a native of West Virginia and the latter of Pennsylvania. They reared a family of seven children, of whom Albert A. was the sixth in order of birth. He was reared on his father's farm near Wheeling, and received a common school education. He was a pupil during the first term of free school held in the second pub- lic school house built in West Virginia outside the cities.

ALBERT A. HOOD.

1283

COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

Mr. Hood remained on the home farm near Wheeling until 1882, when he came to Dakota and filed a pre-emption claim to one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 32, Fairfield township, Grand Forks county, and the following year he filed a homestead claim to a quarter-section in section 17, of the same township, where he has since made his home. He has made substantial and convenient improvements and has greatly enhanced the value of the farm. He is now the owner of two thou- sand two hundred and forty acres of valuable land, all located in Fairfield township, and has been suc- cessful in his undertakings since locating in the county.

Mr. Hood was married in Wheeling, West Vir- ginia, to Miss Lillie Carnaham. Mrs. Hood was born and reared to womanhood in Wheeling. To Mr. and Mrs. Hood four children have been born, as follows: Naomi Lee, Louise, Josephine and Vir- ginia. Mr. Hood has taken an active part in pub- lic affairs and has held various township offices. He is president of the school board and takes much interest in educational matters. He enjoys the confidence and respect of the entire community, and has a host of warm personal friends. A portrait of Mr. Hood is presented on another page.

JOHN DINWOODIE. Mr. Dinwoodie was born in Berwick county, Scotland, in May, 1852, and has brought to the making of his Bottineau county home many of the best characteristics of his race. He is an honorable and industrious man, and by thrift and energy has won a very consid- erable standing in the world. He was the second in a family of ten children, and was reared on a farm. Penury stared them in the face, but they were all willing to work and endure, and they came through nobly. Mr. Dinwoodie partially supported himself from the time he was nine years old. In so busy a childhood and youth there was little room for education. The boy had to work early and late. At the age of eighteen he left home, and in 1881 went to London, Canada. He brought little money with him, and had five dollars only when he entered Ontario. The next year he traveled west to Manitoba, and worked at Brandon, while en- gaged in looking over the country. It was too far north to satisfy him. He came into Dakota and made settlement on the southwest slope of the Tur- tle mountains in March, 1883. He was the only man in Bottineau county with one exception at that time who is now residing within the county. He put up a log shanty, 12x14 feet, and spent the rest of the summer harvesting in the Red river val- ley. He saved what money he could, and came by railroad to Devils Lake, and then a-foot to his home. He spent the next winter in his log cabin, making the best shift he could to get along, as he had not money enough to buy him farming tools. His brother, David Dinwoodie, was with him at

this time, and in the following spring they were able to break a little land. In the fall of that year he worked for ex-Senator Roach at Larrimore, and spent the next winter at their log cabin home. In 1885 he harvested his first crop of any extent-fif- teen acres of wheat, yielding thirty-three bushels to the acre, and five acres of oats, yielding in all over three hundred bushels. They sold their grain at Minnewaukon, and bought a team of mules, and the brothers began farming in earnest. They were in partnership until 1889.

Mr. Dinwoodie and Miss Elizabeth Fletcher were married in 1889. She was born in Ontario, Canada, and her father, George Fletcher, is an old settler in Dakota. Mrs. Dinwoodie is of Irish de- scent and has five children: Annie P., George F., Eliza P., and the twins, Ruth and Esther. They have had the common experiences of pioneer life, but have worked and waited, and the "day has dawned." Blizzards have raged, and fires have swept the prairies, and droughts and floods have dis- mayed and overwhelmed the country, but they have clung to their home, and now they are counted among the most prosperous citizens of the county. When they first located the nearest postoffice was at Devils Lake or Delorain, Canada, and many a night Mr. Dinwoodie has slept under his wagon while engaged in hauling supplies or taking grain to market. He now owns a farm of five hundred and twenty acres. One-half of this is under culti- vation, and the rest is in pasture. He started in as a grain farmer, but is rapidly working into cattle raising. In the fall of 1885 he had one cow, bought with money earned in the harvest field. He now has a herd of nearly forty cattle, and proposes a considerable increase very soon. Upon his farm there are several acres of timber, and all the fruit trees that are suitable to the soil and climate. He has a comfortable farm home, good barns, suffi- cient machinery, and an abundance of good water from several living springs. He keeps twelve horses, and owns as fine a farm as is to be found in the county. Mr. Dinwoodie is a Democrat, and in former years took much interest in politics. He was chairman of the county central committee sev- eral vears. In 1896 he ceased his active labors in behalf of the party. To a very great extent the party workers became a part of the free silver move- ment in 1806. This did not include Mr. Dinwoodie. The gold Democrats had no presidential ticket in North Dakota that year so he did not vote. He is a member of the American Order of Foresters, and is popular in its fraternal circles.

IVER E. ACKER, a late acquisition to the popu- lation of Pierce county, and an energetic and indus- trious citizen, has begun to make his home on sec- tion 23, township 156, range 74. and is rapidly de- veloping his lands and making many improvements. Mr. Acker was born in Norway on a farm March

1284

COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

23, 1859. His father was Einar Acker, a farmer in Norway, now deceased. The subject of this arti- cle was the fifth in a family of six children, and was reared to the age of fourteen years on a farm in Trondhjem, Norway and attended the country schools. He began work on a railroad there when he was fifteen years of age, and from that time made his own living. He also worked in a paper fac- tory in that country. He married, in 1879, Miss Ingeborg O. Stilen becoming his wife. Her fa-

ther was a farmer, and an old settler in South Da- kota. Mr. and Mrs. Acker have had three children, of whom two are dead, and one child, Elmer, is still living. He was born at Hillsboro, Traill county, North Dakota, in 1891. In 1885 Mr. Acker and his wife came to America, landing at Philadelphia and coming direct to Traill county, North Dakota. There Mr. Acker rented land and farmed. He was com- pelled to buy machinery and a complete outfit for farm work, having nothing in the world but him- self and wife. He engaged in grain raising ex- clusively, and farmed there for twelve years, meet- ing with good success. In 1898 Mr. Acker and his brother, Nels Acker, in company with Jorgen Haar and Mr. Taylor, made a trip to the gold field of Alaska on the Yukon river. They traveled six- teen hundred miles on foot. They did some gold mining and found paying claims, but the Canadian government seized them. Many a night the party slept on the snow and endured hardships and ex- posure. They spent about nineteen months on the trip, returning in October, 1899.

In the spring of 1900 Mr. Acker came to Pierce county, and settled in section 23, township 156, range 74, and at once began breaking his land. He had visited the county in 1894 and was not unacquainted with its resources. He has a fine piece of land ; and will undoubtedly develop it into one of the most valuable farms in the county, as he is endowed with energy, perseverance and endurance, and is a good manager. He is thoroughly acquainted with North Dakota farming and is confident of success.

GEORGE H. CAPES, a prominent citizen of Lincoln, Bottineau county, belongs to that great army that the British Isles have nurtured and edu- cated, only to pour out upon the plains of America, to help in the conquest of the wilderness and the building of a great nation. He was born in Lin- colnshire, England, in 1861, and was brought to Canada by his parents when a child of two years. Thomas Capes, his father, was a farmer, and was married to Miss Mary Scrimpshaw, the daughter of a very prominent veterinary surgeon. Several members of the family, brothers of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Capes, are eminent in professional circles in Cleveland, Ohio.

George Capes is the third in a family of nine chil- dren born to his parents, and was reared upon a farm. There was much work and little play attend-

ing the boyhood of a farmer lad in western Ontario at that time, and young George was ready to man- fully meet his duties. He had but a limited country school education, and at the age of twenty left home to make a way for himself. He bought a farm of a hundred acres, and for two or three years lived by himself and carried on farming operations on a considerable scale. In 1885 he sold out and came to North Dakota to make a home for himself in a new country. In 1886 he settled in Grand Forks county where he found employment on J. M. Hub- bard's farm and worked there for some two years to learn the manner of farming in Dakota, which seemed to him different from the East. Meanwhile he had located a farm in Bottineau county, and in the summer of 1886 made his claims. He hired a few improvements put up, such as a claim shanty 12×12 feet. In January, 1888, he was united in mar- riage with Miss Christina MeHaney. She is of Irish parentage, and was born in Saginaw, Michi- gan, where her father, William McHaney, was a ship designer. She is the mother of four children : Lloyd W., Helen G., Cecil G. and Stella M., all na- tives of Dakota. In the spring of 1888 he settled with his wife on the farm, and began its cultiva- tion in earnest. Oxen furnished his first motive power, and all his resources were fifty dollars of borrowed money. In 1888 he had six acres of wheat, and this was destroyed by late frosts. He worked out at anything he could find to do, and this was as hard a year as he ever knew. For the next two years he had very fair crops, and in 1891 had a yield of twenty-three bushels to the acre, and put eighteen hundred bushels of wheat into his granary.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 183

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