Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 37

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 37

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Our subject was married, in 1889, to Miss Maria A. Griggs, a niece of Captain Griggs, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this volume. Mrs. Bangs died March 10, 1891. Mr. Bangs was mar- ried in North Dakota to Miss Xenia Gilbreath, a native of that state. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and at present is grand chancellor of the state. He also holds membership in the Order of Elks. Politically he is a Democrat, and is firm in his convictions, but takes little part in political movements. He is one of the learned members of his profession, and is deservedly popular with the people.

HON. JOHN H. WORST. Faithfulness to duty and strict adherence to a fixed purpose in life will do more to advance a man's interests than wealth or adventitious circumstances. The success- ful men of the day are those who have planned their own advancement and have accomplished it in spite of many obstacles and with a certainty that could have been attained only through their own efforts. This class has a worthy representative in John H. Worst, ex-lieutenant-governor of North Dakota. and president of the Agricultural College at Fargo. A portrait of President Worst is pre- sented on another page.

He was born in Ashland county, Ohio, December 23. 1850, and is a son of George and Margaret ( Mar- tin) Worst. natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania, re- spectively. The father, who was a farmer by occupa- tion spent his entire life in the Buckeye state, where two of his sons still reside. The paternal grand- father of our subject, Henry Worst, was a native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and a pioneer of Ohio, where he continued to make his home until called from this life.

The early education of our subject was acquired in the public schools of Wayne county, Ohio, and was supplemented by a course at Smithville Acad- emv. Ohio, at Salem College, Indiana, and Ashland University. In his native state he taught school and engaged in farming for ten years, and during the following four years edited the "Fairfield County Republican." of Fairfield. Lancaster county, Ohio, In September, 1883. he came to Bismarck, North Dakota, and the following year brought his family to this state, locating on land in Emmons county. When the county was organized in 1883 he was ap- pointed county superintendent of schools, and served

HON. JOHN H. WORST.

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as such for six years. In 1889 he was elected the first senator from the twenty-sixth district, compris- ing the counties of Emmons, Kidder, Logan and McIntosh, and filled that office for five years with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. At the end of that time, in 1894, he was elected lieutenant-governor on the ticket with Roger Allen, as chief executive, and served his fel- low citizens in that capacity for two years, during which time he was appointed president of the Agri- cultural College at Fargo. He has most capably filled that office ever since, and in connection with his son Clayton is engaged in cattle raising.

Mr. Worst was married, in 1872, to Miss Susan Wohlgamuth, also a native of Ohio, and three chil- dren bless their union: Olive J., Clayton L. and Lloyd W. During our recent war with Spain the elder son served as sergeant of Troop G, Third United States Volunteer Cavalry. Mr. Worst has been a life-long Republican, and has canvassed the state in the interests of his party during every cam- paign. He is a Scottish Rite Mason, wise master of Rose Croix ; prelate of the commandery, and past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias. He is one of the best known and most highly esteemed men of the state, and his popularity is well deserved, as he has always done all in his power to advance its interests and promote general pros- perity.

JOHN J. LIUM, a public-spirited and enter- prising member of the farming community of Rich- land county, has devoted the greater part of his life to agriculture, in the pursuit of which he has met with great success. He is proprietor of a fine estate in Walcott township, wherein he makes his home on section 21.

Our subject was born in Norway, July 7, 1850. He was reared on his father's farm, and resided in his native land until July, 1870, when he came to America in a sailing vessel, landing at Quebec, Canada. He at once went to Dunn county, Wis- consin, where he lived two years, and then went to Eau Claire, where he remained until 1875, going from thence to Richland county, North Dakota. He selected a farm on the Wild Rice river, in Wal- cott township, and has since made his home there. He now owns eight hundred and eighty acres of land, and is one of the substantial farmers of that vicinity. He has improved his estate, and the buildings upon it are substantial and convenient in construction and neat in design, and every comfort of rural life is supplied for the family and the stock, while ample storage is provided for the products of the farm.

Our subject was married in Richland county, North Dakota, to Miss Olena Branno, a native. of Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Lium have been the par- ents of twelve children, two of whom died in in- fancy. The surviving children bear the following names: Olena, Mary, Sophia, Julius O., Gustav

A., Mena, Amelia J., Olaf, Bennie and Elder L. Mr. Lium is a prominent member of his community, and works for the advancement of his township and county .. He has held various offices of trust in Walcott township, and is held in the highest esteem by his associates. He has become thoroughly identified with American progress and is a worthy citizen of Richland county.

JACOB LOWELL, an honored pioneer and highly-esteemed citizen of Fargo, pre-empted a part of the land on which the city now stands and has been prominently identified with its development and progress for almost thirty years. He has seen the wild lands of the state transformed into beauti- ful homes and farms, its hamlets grow into villages and flourishing towns, and all of the interests and evidences of advanced civilization introduced.

Mr. Lowell was born in Somerset county, Maine, May 7, 1843, a son of Jacob and Climena ( Thomp- son) Lowell, also natives of the Pine Tree state, where the father engaged in business as a lumber- man and was also collector of customs for some time. Coming to Fargo, North Dakota, in 1871, he took a claim near his son, but died in Stillwater, Minnesota, in 1884. The wife and mother died in Fargo. In their family were four children, three sons and one daughter, but our subject is the only one now living. The grandfather, Jacob Lowell, spent his entire life in Maine.

The subject of this sketch was but eleven years of age when, with his parents, he removed from Maine to New Hampshire, and in 1854 they became residents of Stillwater, Minnesota, where he grew to manhood. He completed his literary education at Hamlin University, Red Wing, Minnesota, where he was a student in 1861 and 1862, and in 1865 and 1866 attended a business college at St. Paul. In 1868 he entered the law department of the Mich- igan University at Ann Arbor, and on the com- pletion of the course was admitted to the bar.

In 1870 Mr. Lowell came to North Dakota, by way of St. Cloud and Abercrombie, and after spend- ing the winter on Elm river, came to the present site of Fargo in the spring of 1871. Here he pre- empted one hundred and sixty acres on section 18, Fargo township, and began to break and improve his land, but did not follow farming, most of his time being devoted to locating settlers in the neigh- borhood. Fargo was laid out in 1874, and he took an active part in promoting its interests. He en- gaged in the practice of law until 1882, when he re- tired from that business. He was the first county attorney appointed by the governor, and held that position a short time, and later served as county superintendent of schools. He was also a member of the constitutional convention in 1889. He has handled considerable real estate and has met with most excellent success in business affairs, becoming one of the substantial and prosperous residents of the city.

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In June, 1874. Mr. Lowell was united in mar- riage with Miss Lucy Dinsmore, a native of Maine, who died in August, 1878. Three children were born of that union, Anna L., Jacob, Jr., and Al- pheus J., but only Jacob is now living. Mr. Low- ell was again married. in September, 1892, his second union being with Etta M. Thompson.

Fraternally Mr. Lowell is a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine. In his political affiliations he is a Republican, but has never sought public office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business affairs. His father was one of the first county commissioners of Cass county, which was organized in 1873, and served one year. All of that body are now deceased. When our subject located in Fargo his nearest neighbor was fourteen miles away, and is the oldest settler now living in North Dakota with the exception of Martin Skow, who located here in June, while our subject came in October, 1870. He is widely and favorably known and is recognized as a valned citizen of the community with whose in- terests he has been long and prominently identified.

STEPHEN A. NYE is the well-known editor and proprietor of the "Times-Record," of Valley City, North Dakota, the leading journal of Barnes county and the official organ of the Republican party. He was born in Mt. Sterling, Brown county, Illinois, July 20, 1862, and is the eldest in a family of five children. His father, Stephen Nye, a native of Montpelier, Vermont, made the journey overland to California during the gold excitement in that state, and on his return east settled in the vicinity of Muscatine, lowa, where he engaged in farming for a short time, being one of the early settlers of that region. He wedded Miss Mary Pigman, who survives him, and is now living in Mt. Sterling, Illinois.

Our subject received a high-school education in his native city and at the age of fifteen entered the "Brown County Democrat" office as an apprentice to the printer's trade, which he subsequently fol- lowed in various cities of the East until coming to Fargo, North Dakota, in 1882. Here he worked on the "Daily Argus" for two years and then went to Devil's Lake, where he took up land. At inter- vals he worked on the "Inter Ocean" at that place, and in October, 1886, established "Churchs Ferry Sun." He left there to take charge of the "Devils Lake Inter Ocean" in the fall of 1899, and was con- nected with that paper until January 1, 1899, when he purchased the "Times Record" at Valley City, which he is now so successfully conducting. He is an able journalist and good business man and has already succeeded in making his paper one of the best published in this section of the state.

In 1896 Mr. Nye was united in marriage with Miss Anna E. Gundlach. of Menominee, Wisconsin, and to them have been born two children, Stephen G. and Ruth. Mr. Nye is a prominent member of

the Masonic order, belonging to Valley City Lodge, No. 7, F. & A. M .; Sheyenne Chapter, No. 5. R. A. M. ; Cyrene Commandery, K. T., of Devil's Lake ; Elzayne Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Fargo. He is also a member of Crofton Lodge, No. 3, I. O. O. F. ; the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the St. Paul Typographical Union.

ERICK G. ERICKSON. The maturer years of this gentleman have been devoted almost exclusively to the calling of a farmer, and he has acquired a valuable knowledge of this occupation in performing the duties and labors incident to the management of a large estate. He owns and occupies a pleasant and remunerative tract of land in section 3, of Nor- way township, Steele county, and enjoys a com- fortable home and enviable reputation.

Our subject was born near Christiania, Norway, January 5, 1840, and was the only child born to Gilbert and Marte (Hanson) Erickson. At the age of sixteen years he learned the carpenter's trade, and in 1862 he and his father came to America, the mother having died in their native land. They first resided in Spring Grove, Houston county, Minne- sota, and our subject plied his trade there for over ten years. He later resided in Allamakee county, Iowa, and about 1878 went to Dakota to make a home for his family. He went direct to Fargo, and during the working months for about six years followed carpenter work in that vicinity. He filed claim to his land in 1883, and in the spring of the following year removed his family to the new home, where they have since remained. His sons operated the farm for some time and our subject continued at his trade. From time to time he pur- chased additional land, and is now the owner of seven hundred and fifty acres, forming a fine property.

Our subject was married in 1862 to Miss Anne Olson. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Erickson, as follows: Gilbert, deceased ; Michael, now residing at home; Mary, now Mrs. O. Feld, of Mayville; Gilbert, residing at home; Emma, deceased; Christina, residing at home ; and Oscar, deceased. Mr. Erickson served as township clerk about seven years, and in the fall of 1898 was appointed county commissioner for the fourth dis- trict to fill the office made vacant by the election of O. W. Williams as county treasurer. Mr. Erick- son is an influential citizen and is held in high esteem by his fellow men. He is a member of the Lutheran church, and in political sentiment is a Republican.

SIDNEY B. CLARK, M. D. The medical fraternity has many able representatives in Cass county, North Dakota, and one who occupies a prominent position in this number is Sidney B. Clark. He has been engaged in the practice of his professor in Buffalo, Clark county, comparatively

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few years, but has gained a remunerative patron- age and the confidence of the people among whom he labors. He is a skillful practitioner, intelligent and possessed of untiring perseverance and ener- getic character.

Our subject was born in Fox county, Wisconsin, July 10, 1870, and was a son of Silas and Susan F. (Cooper) Clark, natives respectively of New York and Wisconsin. His father was a merchant and went to Wisconsin in an early day and engaged there in merchandising many years. He enlisted in 1861 in the Eighteenth Wisconsin Volunteer In- fantry, and served with the regiment until the bat- tle of Shiloh, where he was wounded in the thigh, and was later discharged from the service on ac- count of disability. He re-enlisted about one year later, and was commissioned captain, but had only gone as far as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when the war closed. He went to Fargo, North Dakota, in 1895, and founded the Clark Produce Company, of which he was the head until his death, June 25, 1899, aged fifty-three years. He was among the leading busi- ness men of Fargo, and was a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity and G. A. R. Our subject has two brothers, Clifford and Silas W., who now conduct the business of the Clark Produce Company at Fargo.

Our subject was reared and educated in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the high school and the State University, and began the study of medicine in Chicago in 1891, and the following year entered the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Chicago. He was graduated from that institution in 1895, and then spent one year in hospital work in Chicago. He went to Buffalo, North Dakota, in the spring of 1896, since which time he has conducted a gen- eral practice successfully. He is a member of the North Dakota State Medical Society, and was a member of the Cook County Medical Society, of Illinois. He is assistant county physician for his district.

Our subject was married, in 1897, to Miss Helen A. Young, a native of Vermont. Mr. Clark is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and Brotherhood of American Yeomen. He is one of the rising young men of North Dakota and is deservedly held in high esteem throughout Cass county.

SAMUEL G. ROBERTS, a prominent attorney of Fargo, North Dakota, who has borne an im- portant part in the development and upbuilding that city, was born in Brooks, Maine, March 10, 1843, and was reared and educated in that state, sup- plementing the knowledge he acquired in the com- mon schools by an academic course. In 1861, at the opening of the Civil war. he enlisted in Con- pany B, Seventeenth Massachusetts Volunteer In- fantry, and was in active service with that regiment until August 10, 1864, when he was mustered out. Coming to Stillwater, Minnesota, he again enlisted,

in 1865, in Company A, Ninth United States Vet- gan Volunteers, known as Hancock's corps, and was with that command on guard duty at Wash- ington, D. C., and Indianapolis, Indiana, for one year. During his previous service he took part in the battles fought in North and South Carolina, mostly small engagements, and was wounded at three different times. He rose to the rank of first lieutenant.

After his final discharge, Mr. Roberts remained in Indianapolis for over a year, and then returned to Minneapolis, where he studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1870. He was engaged in prac- tice there for two years, and then, in January, 1872, came to Fargo, North Dakota, taking up a quarter- section of land on which the city now stands. Forni- ing a partnership with S. G. Comstock, he engaged in the practice of law at Moorhead, Minnesota, for some time, and then returned to Fargo, where he has followed his chosen profession almost continuously since. He was interested in the founding of the First National Bank, and was one of its stockholders for years. He also assisted in starting the Fargo foundry and the Republican Newspaper Company, which have since gone out of existence.

In October, 1872, Mr. Roberts married Mrs. Jennie Baldwin, a native of Canada, and they have one daughter, Ruth, now attending the State Uni- versity. In his political views Mr. Roberts has been a life-long Republican, and he assisted in organizing the party in this state. He has ever taken an active and prominent part in public affairs, serving as a member of the territorial council in 1879 and 1883, a member of the territorial committee on emigra- tion in 1875 and 1876, states attorney for Cass coun- ty in 1877 and 1878, and county superintendent of schools for some time in the early '70s. He also served as municipal judge during the existence of that office in 1896, and has been a member of the city council three terms and city attorney three terms. He is one of the most public-spirited and enterprising men of Fargo, and has proved a very popular official.

HERMAN O. FJELDE, M. D. Although a man in his profession, and a resident of Abercrom- bie comparatively few years, this gentleman has gained a reputation which places him among the foremost practitioners of the county. He is a for- eign-born citizen, but has become thoroughly identified with American customs and progress, and has made a success in his adopted land.

Mr. Fjelde was born in Aalesund, Norway. April 13, 1866, and was reared in his native city and edu- cated in the Latin school, going from thence to Christiania in the fall of 1887. where he completed a philosophical course in the Royal University of that city. He graduated after a two-years' course in 1889 and in May of that year came to America. He at once proceeded to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he took up the study of medicine in the med-

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ical department of the State University, graduating with the class of 1895. He practiced with Dr. Knut Hoegh prior to his graduation and soon after- ward went to Martell, Wisconsin, where he practiced his profession until June, 1897. Since that time he has been a resident practitioner of Abercrombie, Richland county, and enjoys an ever-increasing and remunerative practice.

Our subject was married at Minneapolis, Min- nesota, April 18, 1896, to Miss Fredrikke Ander- sen, a native of Norway, who was born in Chris- tiania. Mrs. Fjelde took a course in her native land in massage treatment and is a graduate from Chris- tiania in Swedish movements and massage. She also belongs to the National Order of the Red Cross in the old country. She is the originator and owner of the Abercrombie Hospital, which is a credit to Richland county. She is also an adept on the piano and has no superior in North Dakota.

One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fjelde, who bears the name of Jakob H. Mr. Fjelde is prominent in social circles of the village and vicinity and is highly esteemed as a physician and citizen.

MARSHALL BRINTON, county judge of Wells county, North Dakota, is a gentleman of ex- emplary character, and is widely and favorably known. He is the owner of one of the finest farms in the vicinity of Fessenden, and until recently re- sided thereon and engaged extensively in general farming and sheep culture. He is a man of intel- ligence and active public spirit, and has been a potent factor in promoting the political and social welfare of that region. A portrait of Judge Brinton is pre- sented on another page.

Our subject was born on a farm near Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, in 1839, and represents the eighth generation descended from William Brinton, who went to Pennsylvania with William Penn in 1682. William Brinton participated in the battle of Brandywine. The father of our subject, Joseph E. Brinton, was a farmer by occupation, and the mother of our subject, who bore the maiden name of Mary Marshall, came from England in 1816, at the age of three years, and settled in Pennsylvania. The pa- ternal grandmother of our subject was of Irish descent.

Marshall Brinton was the eldest in a family of seven children, and was raised on a farm and at- tended the common schools and the high schools and received a liberal education. After leaving home he first worked in the milling business, and manu- factured flour for the city of Wilmington; then drifted westward and north and located in the cop- per mines of Michigan, and was connected with mining properties there several years. He taught school several terms in Michigan, and clerked in the office of the mining company, and then assumed charge of the surface work, and later furnished lum- ber, wood and fuel, under contract, for the mining

company. He was in Michigan from 1872-83, ex- cept nine months spent in the Black Hills, in 1879, and spent two thousand dollars prospecting and made nothing. He was postmaster at Delaware Mine, Michigan, several years, and was elected township superintendent of schools, and later made a member of the board of county school superintend- ents, or school examiners, as they are known in that state. He settled in Wells county, North Dakota, in township 146, range 69. in 1884, and his farm was one and a half miles from Sykeston. He took a pre- emption in 1883 and built a claim shanty and began farming, and the following year located perma- nently on the place. His buildings were the best in the county at the time and were destroyed by fire in 1890, the fire starting by accident. He then re- moved to the homestead on section 32 in the same township and range, where he continued farm- ing until 1896, and then removed to Fessenden. He was employed as clerk in the county offices there, and in May, 1897, was appointed county judge to fill a vacancy, and in 1898 he was elected to the same office, which he is now filling. He has three hundred and twenty acres of land in Wells county, on which he has arrangements for the operation of general farming, and his barn is a substantial, com- modious structure, 64x92 feet, while the land is equal to any in the county.

Mr. Brinton was one of the organizers of Wells county, and was the first public officer in the county, being appointed county commissioner by Governor Ordway. He was the first acting county superin- tendent of schools, and organized the first seven schools of the county, and was elected a second time as superintendent. He is a member of the Congregational church, and is active in church work, and organized Sunday-schools in northern Michigan while a resident of that state. He is prominent in secret society circles, has held all the chairs in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a Master Mason, and a member of the Knights of the Maccabees, and is record-keeper for the local lodge of the last named order. In politics he is a Republican, and during the 1896 campaign and since, he has taken a leading and active part in the affairs and interests of the Republican party of Wells county.

ALPHEUS F. NEYHART, one of the pioneer settlers of Cass county, living in retirement in Cas- selton, is well known and highly esteemed by all. He has various financial interests, including mining property in Idaho, and at the time this sketch was written he, with two of his sons, Frank and Ralph, are at Cape Nome prospecting for gold. He also owns a farm in Seneca county, New York. He is an ex-soldier and can review a brave and loyal service in defense of the Union, and his entire career has been well spent and he now enjoys a comfortable competence.

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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 37

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