Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 185

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 185

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FAYETTE M. SMITH, proprietor of one of the leading hotels of Hebron, Morton county, is one of the pioneers of North Dakota, and is widely and favorably known. He was born in Chemung county, New York, in 1846.

The father of our subject, Anthony D. Smith. was a lumberman and dairyman, and was of English descent. The grandfather, John Smith, and his two brothers, Claudius and Hoffmy Smith, came to America together. Claudius served in the war of 1812, and on account of dissatisfaction on his part with some of the army officers, organized a guerrilla band, and he was finally captured and hanged. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Polly Griswold. She was born in Chemung county, New York, and was of Dutch-Irish descent.

Our subject was the eleventh in a family of thirteen children, and he was raised on a farm and in the lumber woods. The father failed in business in 1857, and soon afterward went to Michigan, where his death occurred. Our subject attended the country schools and started for himself at the age of sixteen vears, and at nineteen years of age spent a summer in Michigan. He then spent two years in Starky Seminary, in Yates county, New York, and during vacation taught school to pay his way, and after leaving the school room bought a farm in New York, but did not meet with success. He and his brother-in-law established a saw-mill and lumber business in Chemung county, in 1872, and in 1874 our subject went to Williamsport. Pennsylvania, where he worked in the lumber mills about two years, and about 1876 began railroad work on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and was employed thus eleven years. He went to North Dakota in 1884.

arriving at Antelope, and worked at his trade that fall, and built a barn for T. S. Underlull, and he and his family lived in one corner of the barn during the winter, while two other families' occupied other parts of the barn, and they passed a very severe win- ter thus. In the following spring our subject en- tered claim to land and built a shanty and resided on the farm about seen years. He endured many hardships and made little success there, but had three hundred and twenty acres under cultivation when he disposed of the place in 1891. He then bought a ranch on the Knife river, twenty miles north of Hebron, and followed stock raising ex- tensively and profitably until the fall of 1898, when he removed to Hebron and purchased the Ewald Hotel, and is now conducting that business and meeting with good success. His son now conducts the ranch.

Our subject was married, in 1871, to Sarah Jen- nison, a native of Orange county, New York. Mrs. Smith is a lady of excellent education and was en- gaged in teaching in New York state. Four chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who are named as follows: Mabel, Clarence D., Lennice and Milly. Mr. Smith is a gentleman of broad ideas and is an independent voter. He has attended numerous conventions, and is one of the influential men of his community.

CHARLES F. WOOD, a farmer in township 162, range 76 west, was born in the town of Bay- field, Huron county, Canada, in October, 1854, and is proving himself a man of energy and ability. His father, Frederick Wood, was a man of fine charac- ter, and in early life followed the profession of school teaching. When somewhat advanced in years he became an artist. He was of pure English blood, and married Isabelle Scott, a native of Edin- burgh, Scotland. They came to America in early life, and had an honorable and creditable career upon the soil of the new world.

Charles F. Wood is the first born of a family of six children and was reared to manhood in Bayfield. When about thirteen years of age he was appren- ticed as a house and sign painter, and worked at the trade seven years. For some five years he worked around Bayfield, and then went to Toronto where he worked two years. He was married, in 1881, to Miss Sarah Craig. She is a native of Peel county, Canada, and is proud of a Scotch strain that runs through her lineage. Her father, Stephen Craig, was a farmer. She is the mother of two children, Maggie and William. In 1882 the newly married couple moved to Northwest territory, seek- ing a home in the far northwest. While there Mr. Wood lived with a brother already established in the country, and was able to give Manitoba quite a thorough investigation. His decision was to come south and settle in Dakota. Accordingly in the spring of 1883 he and his wife settled in Bottineau county on government land. They drove overland

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from the Manitoba country with an ox team and a covered wagon. He put up a log house and a log barn, and in 1884 began extensive farming opera- t'ons, having worked at his trade in Brandon the first summer of his stay in this county. In 1884 he broke twenty-seven acres, and the following year harvested his first wheat crop, which ran twenty-six bushels to the acre. His best crop of wheat was in 1891, when he harvested forty-one bushels to the acre. He has had all the trials and troubles that are incident to pioneer life. In the fall of 1886 he lost nearly forty tons of hay by prairie fire. But he persevered, and is now in very comfortable cir- cumstances. He is a grain farmer, but is working into stock, and now owns a fine farm of three hun- dred and sixty acres with over two hundred acres under cultivation. It has good buildings, and is provided with ample machinery. Mr. Wood is a Democrat, and is a prominent figure in his party.

REV. JOHN RINGSTAD, pastor of the Evan- gelical Lutheran churches of northeastern Nelson county, is also engaged in farming in Dahlen town- ship, in section 33, of which he has a pleasant home. He has prospered in his church work in Dakota and has endeared himself to his people.

Our subject is a native of Sondre Fron, Gud- brandsdalen, Norway, and was born June 16, 1858. He was the youngest in a family of six children born to John and Anne (Erickson) Ringstad. He came to America in 1873 with his mother, the father hav- ing been a resident of this country four years. They made a home in Wilkins county, Minnesota, and our subject worked five years among the farmers of that locality and attended two terms of English school. He entered the Lutheran College at Decorah, Iowa, in the fall of 1878 and remained there four years and then spent one year at Concordia Theological Seminary at Springfield, Illinois, and then entered the Lutheran Seminary at Madison, Wisconsin, gradu- ating from that institution in the spring of 1885 and the following fall he was ordained and at once sent to Nelson county, North Dakota, in charge of work in parts of Grand Forks, Walsh and Nelson coun- ties, a field fifty miles in extent, and for eleven years he labored in that extensive circuit. The congre- gations at that time in his territory numbered three and this he increased to six, and in 1896 he was placed in charge of four congregations, as follows : Zion congregation, which was organized by our subject in 1896, with a membership of fourteen families and now has a membership of thirty fam- ilies and a church building erected in 1897 at a cost of two thousand five hundred dollars; Petersburg congregation, organized by Rev. Svenungsen, in 1886, and now has a membership of thirty families and a church building erected in 1897, at a cost of two thousand dollars; West Forest congregation, with a membership of fifty-four persons, and Elk Valley congregation in Grand Forks county, with a membership of two hundred and ten persons and

a church building valued at two thousand five hun- dred dollars. These congregations are entirely free from debt and are in a flourishing condition. Mr. Ringstad purchased a homestead right in 1894 to land in Dahlen township and now conducts a farmi of two hundred and twenty acres, on which he has erected a comfortable home.

Our subject was married, in 1885, to Miss Gun- hild Ytterboe, who died in 1887, leaving one son, Ivan J., who is now deceased. Mr. Ringstad was married to Miss Sina T. Thorson in 1890. Mrs. Ringstad was born in Norway and came to America when eight years of age. One daughter has been born to this union, upon whom they have bestowed the name of Agnes. Our subject is a gentleman of broad mind and good education and is entitled to special mention for his good work in the church and his example as a citizen. He is a supporter of Republican principles and is firm in his convic- tions. His portrait, found on another page, reveals character and intelligence to a marked degree.

ERASTUS A. WILLIAMS, surveyor general of North Dakota, and now a resident of the capital city of the state, is a native of Connecticut, having been born in Mystic, New London county, October 13, 1850. His parents were David and Matilda (Appleman) Williams, and were also native to the soil of Connecticut. The father was a ship builder by trade, and removed to Wisconsin about 1856, and died in Freeport, Illinois, in 1873. Late in life he was engaged in the lumber business, and was a man of sterling worth and character. The mother also passed away in Freeport. They were the parents of three sons, and our subject and one brother are now living in North Dakota.

Mr. Williams was educated in the schools of Wisconsin and Illinois, and began reading law in Freeport in 1869, and later became a student of the law department of the University of Michigan. from which he received a thorough rooting and grounding in the elementary principles of the legal profession. He was admitted to the bar at Free- port in 1871, and the same year came to Yankton, South Dakota, spending about a year in legal work in that town. The following year he was called to what is now North Dakota by a chance to do busi- ness, and came to the ground on which the city of Bismarck now stands, making the journey overland with a wagon train of railroad graders and assist- ing in guarding against the unfriendly Indians. He took employment with the railroad company, and later was given a position as clerk in the land office. In the fall of 1872 he was elected to the lower house of the territorial assembly from Buffalo county, and at the next general election was made a member of the territorial council. As soon as the town had grown sufficiently to admit it, Mr. Williams began the practice of law. The settlement then hore the name of Edwinton, and in 1875, largely through the efforts of our subject, it was called Bismarck, and

REV. JOHN RINGSTAD.

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has become widely known under that name. Mr. Williams served as assistant United States attorney in 1874 and 1875 under Colonel William Rounds, and in 1890 was appointed surveyor general, and served four years in that capacity. President Mc- Kinley appointed him to the same position in 1898.

Mr. Williams and Jennie E. Hettinger were married in 1882. She was a native of Illinois, and died 1894. She was the mother of five children : Eva, Odessa, Matilda, Erastus and Alice J., all living. Mr. Williams is a member of the order of Knights of Pythias, and has always been a strong Republican. He has repeatedly taken the hustings during important campaigns, and is generally rec- ognized as one of the stronger political orators of the west. His forensic and parliamentary ability at once commanded respect as soon as he entered the territorial assembly. He was made speaker of the house, and he has been the recipient of many honors at the hands of his party. He is an able lawyer, and commands the respect and confidence of all who know him.

REV. GEORGE B. BARNES, pastor of the First Congregational church of Wahpeton, North Dakota, is one of the best-known workers in the cause of the church, education and temperance in the west.

Mr. Barnes was born in Lewis county, New York, and was educated at Oberlin College. He then attended the Oberlin Theological department of the same institution, and after completing his course there, held pastorates in various churches in southern Michigan for five years following. On account of ill-health he returned to New York, where he spent five years, when he accepted a call to the First Congregational church of Ottawa, Illmois, aft- er five years of faithful and valued service there, he came to North Dakota. He became pastor of the First Congregational church of Wahpeton shortly after its organization, being its third pastor, his predecessor being a Mr. Curtis. About five years afterward he resigned to accept the presidency of the Fargo College, which had just been organized, and to him, as it first president, fell the duty of originating and directing its policy and general course, and also the work of raising funds to develop and strengthen the institution in its various depart- ments. He served for five years in the capacity of president of the college, and during that time raised the sum of seventy thousand dollars for the institu- tion, put it in good working order and upon a solid basis, starting it in its successful career. He then returned to Wahpeton and again accepted the pas- torate of the First Congregational church, where he has since labored. This church was organized in 1881, and now has a membership of about one hun- dred and thirty.

Rev. George B. Barnes was married in Lewis county, New York, to Miss Henrietta A. Rich, a native of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes are the

parents of four children, namely: George B., Jr., Frederick R. and Arthur R. They have buried one daughter, Eloise, who died in 1897 at the age of about five years. Mr. Barnes has been since coming to North Dakota an active worker in the cause of temperance, and his name is known throughout the state as one of the stanchest and ablest supporters of that causc.

EUGENE M. PATTON, clerk of the district court for Cass county, is a native of Montgomery county, Ohio, where he was born March 8, 1857. His parents, Robert and Harriett (Moyer) Patton, were both natives of New York, and spent the greater part of their lives in that state where the senior Pat- ton died.

Mr. Patton grew to manhood under the par- ental roof in New York, and was educated in the neighboring schools. When he became a young man he entered a hardware store as clerk, and served in that capacity for some ten years. In 1882 he came to St. Paul, and was employed in that city for about a year when he was called to Fargo, North Dakota, to take place as an assistant in the United States land office, at that time a very busy institu- tion. He was employed here for some three years. After the completion of this term of service under the government he came to Casselton, and for ten years was bookkeeper for the firm of W. Stichlow & Company. In 1896 he was elected clerk of the district, and again in 1898, and is proving an able and popular official.

In 1888 Mr. Patton and Miss Grace Hartmell were married. They are the parents of three chil- dren, Robert. Earl H. and Eugene L., all living. He has been a life-long Republican, and is one of the leading men of the party in the state. He is a Ma- son and a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He came to this state as a young man, and by strict attention to the duties of whatever place he occupied, and a willingness to oblige, he has won many friends, and gained a very satisfac- tory competence.

EVAN M. HANSON, one of the most prominent and successful agriculturists of Barnes county, re- sides upon section 14. Thordenskjold township, where he has surrounded himself with the conven- iences and comforts of modern country life.

Mr. Hanson was born in Norway, January 8, 1859. He was the second child in a family of nine children born to Martin and Paulina (Everson ) Han- son, both natives of Norway. When our subject was ten years of age he accompanied his parents to America. They stopped a short time in Chicago, Illinois, and then went to Fillmore county, Minne- sota, where the father purchased a farm and where he still lives.

Evan M. Hanson remained on his father's farm, assisting in the farm work until he was of age. On

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May 4. 1880, he arrived in Barnes county, North Dakota, and filed a claim to the land on which he now resides. He improved his land and added many valuable conveniences from time to time, and although he was without means on his arrival in the county, he is now one of the most substantial farm- ers of the county, and his model home and farm bear evidence of the excellent taste and judgment of which he is possessed.

Mr. Hanson was married in . Barnes county, March 23, 1885, to Miss Lena Noyes, a native of Wisconsin, the date of her birth being November 25, 1864. To Mr. and Mrs. Hanson seven children have been born. Their home is one of comfort, and Mr. Hanson has proved himself a good citizen and a valued member of the community. In political sentiment he is a Populist, but has never sought any office.

HON. EDWARD F. PORTER, one of the most prominent men in the state of North Dakota, and an enterprising business man of Melville, in Fos- ter county, was born in Bath, New Hampshire, No- vember 26, 1858.

Mr. Porter was the younger of two children born to James C. and Adala W. (Framan) Porter. The father was a tanner by trade, and was pro- prietor of a large tannery in Bath, New Hampshire. He is now living in retirement in West Superior, Minnesota. The mother was born and reared in Bangor. Maine. The ancestors of both parents were Americans as far back as they can be traced.

Edward F. Porter was reared to the age of eight years in Bath, New Hampshire, when he accom- panied his parents to Stowe, Vermont, where he grew to manhood, though the greater part of his time was spent in school. He attended the St. Johnsbury Academy and then went to Yale, where he took a five-years course, graduating from the scientific and from the law courses in 1882. He then came west, first going to Montana, and then to Ellendale, North Dakota, where he took up gov- ernment land and put up a small claim shanty. He spent the winter of 1883-4 in Minneapolis, Minne- sota, and the following spring came to Melville and purchased the interest of Mr. C. K. Wing, of the firm of Leavenworth & Wing, in a store which had been established in 1882, it being the first store in Foster county, established before the railroad was built through. At the time Mr. Porter en- tered the firm the store was conducted in a build- ing 40x25 feet. It now occupies a building 40x40, with large storage rooms in the rear, and their butsi- ness is the largest in the city. They carry a general line of merchandise, and their trade is being greatly extended. Mr. Porter also engaged in farming up to 1899, and owned four hundred and eighty acres of land.

Mr. Porter is a Republican in political views, and has been active in all matters of a public nature. He was elected county treasurer in 1886, serving

one term. In 1894 he was elected to the state legis- lature and was re-elected in 1896. In 1898 he was chosen as a member of the state senate, and is now serving in that capacity. He has won the confi- dence of all worthy citizens without distinction of party lines, and has well deserved the high esteem in which he is held.

HON. HYPOLITE EDWARD DORVAL, county judge of Cavalier county, North Dakota, is one of the leading members of the legal fra- ternity of the state. He has been intimately asso- ciated with the development and growth of the city of Langdon and vicinity and is one of the well known and public-spirited citizens of his con- munity and is held in the highest esteem by all. He has a modern and commodious residence in Langdon and has extensive real estate interests in that lo- cality.

Our subject was born in Mendota, Minnesota, January 24. 1857, and is a son of Benjamin and Charlotte (Burrell) Dorval. When about two years of age he removed with his parents to Montreal, Canada, where he was reared and educated at St. Theresa College in the province of Quebec, and also attended Montreal College and St. Mary's for five years. He returned to Montreal and soon after his return his father died. The mother died when our subject was but twelve years of age. When he reached the age of eighteen years he left Mon- tral and went to Winnipeg, where he was engaged in teaching school and also began the study of law. He remained in Manitoba for some six years and in 1882 came to what is now Cavalier county, North Dakota, and located at Olga, where he taught school for a short time and then engaged in the land busi- ness at that place, where he resided until 1887. He then removed to Langdon, where he has since been a resident. He was appointed deputy register of deeds in 1885 and filled that position one year and was then elected county judge of Cavalier county. He was deputy register of deeds, deputy treasurer and deputy county clerk and filled the several po- sitions one year, when he received the election to the judgship and he has continued as county judge since 1886. He was admitted to the bar June 12, 1889, and is one of the well known attorneys of the state. His real estate amounts to about one thou- sand acres and in 1898 he laid out what is known as Dorval addition to Langdon, comprising some twenty acres.

Mr. Dorval was married, at Baie St. Paul, Manitoba, September 6, 1879, to Miss Georgiana Arbour, who was born and raised in Montreal. Eleven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dorval, nine of whom are living, and are named as follows : Hercules, George, Alberta, Oscar, Char- lotte, Benjamin, Joseph, Maria and Edward. Two children, Thomas and Agnes, died in infancy. Mr. Dorval is a man of firm convictions and in political sentiment is Democratic. He is a member of the

Nestorval.

Georgiana Doval.

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Knights of Pythias, Foresters, Ancient Order of United Workmen, Yeomen and Knights of the Maccabees.

In the death of Mrs. Dorval, February 26, 1899, the city of Langdon lost one of her most kindly known women and mothers. She was a woman prominent in the social circles ; a leader in Christian work; well and favorably known for her domestic virtues ; a natural musician and sweet singer. Pleas- ant memories remain of this beloved and pure wo- man, wife and mother. Portraits of the subject of this sketch and his lamented wife appear in this pub- lication and her face lends a melancholy interest to this life story.

COL. SAMUEL G. MAGILL, deceased, who was one of the most prominent men of Fargo and of North Dakota, was born in Meadville, Pennsylva- nia, June 2, 1832. He was reared and educated in Pennsylvania, and began life on his own account as a clerk in a general store in the city of New York. After a few years he went to Chicago, and then to Lyons, Iowa, where he engaged in the lumber and building business. In 1871 he went to Clinton, Iowa, and engaged in the same line of business up to 1879. In that year he went to Glyndon, Minnesota, where he began his career as a grain dealer, oper- ating an elevator at that place. Two years later, in 1881-82, Colonel Magill came to Fargo as a mem- ber of the firm of Barnes & Magill, G. S. Barnes being the other member, and they operated a line of elevators on the Union Pacific Railroad. This con- nection existed two years, when Colonel Magill re- tired from the co-partnership, and with his son, Henry E., began business under the firm name of Magill & Company, establishing and developing the large business now conducted under that firm name.

Colonel Magill was married in Erie, Pennsylva- nia, to Miss Harriet Riddle, who was a native of Erie. They became the parents of the following children, namely : Thomas W., Henry E., Helen D., John R., Samuel G., Jr., and Harriet E. Colonel Magill was a field officer of an Illinois regiment, and did valuable and gallant service during the Civil war. On coming to Fargo he became an honored member of John F. Reynolds Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of that city. He was also a member in good standing of the Masonic fraternity, and was held in universally high esteem by all who knew him. His death occurred at Chicago, December 21, 1899.

ALBERT W. BROUGHTON, whose well in- proved and valuable farm lies in Ypsilanti town- ship, was one of the early settlers of Stutsman county, there being but one house in sight of his first shanty at the time it was erected.

Mr. Broughton was born in Dodge county, Wis- consin, May 27, 1850. His parents were James and Louisa H. (Warren) Broughton, the former

of Scotch descent, and the latter a native of New York. They were married in Wisconsin, and the father served two and a half years in the Civil war.

Albert W. Broughton was the second child in a family of five children, and was reared on the farm. At the age of twenty-one years he started out for himself, but as his parents were not succeeding he turned a portion of his earnings to their aid. The parents having moved to Trempealeau county, Wis- consin, in 1856, our subject farmed in that county nine years after he became of age. In 1880 he came to North Dakota, bringing with him a team and wagon. He broke land and did other work for a time, and then in 1881 took up land and put up a shanty, 12X14 feet. His parents also came to the state and took up land in Ypsilanti township. The father died August 12, 1890, and the mother in December, 1893. £ With occasional reverses our subject has on the whole succeeded, and is now the owner of six hundred and forty acres of valuable lands, all but forty acres of which is under cultiva- tion. He operates annually seven hundred acres. He has a complete set of farm buildings, all neces- sary machinery, horses and other stock for the prose- cution of modern farming. Since 1880 he has suc- cessfully engaged in threshing, and now personally superintends that work each fall.

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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 185

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