Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 47

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 47

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Nathan Upham was reared and educated in his native land and in 1878 came to Dakota and first located on land near Drayton. He then spent some time in travel through the Northwest and British Columbia. In 1880 he came to Grafton and opened a lumber yard and also engaged in buying and ship- ping wheat. In 1880 he was appointed register to deeds of Walsh county, being the first person to fill that office in the county. He served in this ca- pacity six years, having been twice elected to the same position. In 1886 he served as a member of the lower house of the territorial legislature. He was also elected probate judge of Pembina county, prior to the division of the two counties, but resigned to accept the office to which he was elected in Walsh county. He afterward engaged in farming on the Red river and his farming operat- tions included in all sixteen hundred acres of land. He engaged largely in raising and handling of high-grade stock, especially Aberdeen Angus cattle. In 1897 he purchased the hardware business of J. Tombs & Sons, of Grafton, and has since conducted that business. He is one of the directors of the Grafton National Bank.

Mr. Upham was married, in 1886, to Miss Agnes McDugal, also a native of Nova Scotia. They are the parents of four children, one son and three daughters. Mr. Upham is one of the pioneer Re- publicans of North Dakota and assisted in organ- izing the party forces in the state. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar and a "Shriner."

PETER P. GOODMAN, a well-to-do and en- terprising farmer of Shenford township, Ransom county, is a man of much force of character and business ability. For many years he was one of the leading business men of Fargo, and since retiring from a commercial life has purchased an extensive farm and operates twelve hundred acres of land. He makes his home in the village of Anselm, and is one of the pioneers of that locality. A portrait of Mr. Goodman appears on another page.

Our subject was born in Star county, Ohio, June 29, 1846, and was the eldest son and fifth in order of birth in a family of ten children, born to Theobald and Catherine (Gulling) Goodman. The father came to this country from France in 1823 and engaged in farming in Ohio, where he cleared a farm, and was one of the earliest settlers of that state. At the age of twenty years our subject left his home, in 1866, and joined his brother-in-law, who was stationed on the Red river of the North at Georgetown, as agent of the Hudson Bay Com- pany. The following fall our subject took a con- tract from the Hudson Bay Company to cut cord wood on the banks of the Red river, and in 1868 be- gan flat-boating between Fort Abercrombie and Winnipeg, and his life during those days was full of adventures. He later went to Fargo, in 1871, when the Northern Pacific Railroad was built to

PETER P. GOODMAN.

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Moorehead, and in Fargo he worked in a restaurant owned by J. B. Chapin. He had invested in land along the Red river, and in 1875 disposed of the same and engaged with W. A. Yerxa in the gen- eral merchandise business. They were successful, and were known as the most extensive business men of the city. Our subject disposed of his interest in 1882 and invested in from three to four thousand acres of land in Ransom county. He soon had six- teen hundred acres under cultivation, and now con- ducts farming on an extensive scale. He entered claim to land in Cass county in November, 1868, and was the earliest settler of that county.

Our subject was married in 1877 to Miss Jannet Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Goodman have been the parents of five children, as follows: Emeretta, de- ceased ; Mary J .; Frank, deceased ; John, and Ruth. Mr. Goodman is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

KNUT E. FLAA, who is a potent factor in the prosperity enjoyed by Richland county, has been of great assistance in developing and extending its agriculture. He is an influential citizen and where- ever he has chosen his home has gained many friends by his upright character and industrious habits. He is proprietor of a well-improved es- tate and his home is on section 25, of Eagle town- ship, where he located many years since.

Our subject was born in Norway, March 16, 1848. He was reared on a farm in his native land and remained there until 1870, when he decided to try his fortunes in the New World, and accordingly, in the summer of that year, started to America. He located at Menomonie, Wisconsin, where he was employed eight years at farm labor and in a saw- mill. He then went to Richland county, North Da- kota, and settled in Eagle township on his present farm. He has erected good buildings and added valuable improvements and is now the fortunate possessor of about four hundred acres of well-im- proved land. He has made a success of his voca- tion and is one of the substantial men of his com- munity.

Our subject was married, in Menomonie, Wis- consin, July 26, 1873, to Miss Gurie Olson. Mrs. Flaa was born in Norway October 1, 1848, came to America in 1871, locating in Menomonie, Wis- consin. Mr. Flaa has been township assessor of Eagie township for several years and justice of the peace and a member of the board of supervisors. He and Mrs. Flaa are members and active workers in the Norwegian Lutheran church. They are well known and highly respected.

HANS P. GRINAGER, clerk of courts of Ransom county, is a man of capability and true citi- zenship. He has been associated with the public interests of Ransom county for the past fifteen years and in every in stance has proven his loyalty and is

held in the highest esteem by his fellows. He is one of the well-known residents of Lisbon, North Dakota.

Our subject was born in Gran, Hadeland, about fifty miles north of Christiania, Norway, June 30, 1844, and was the eldest in a family of thirteen children. He completed his education at an agri- cultural school in his native land and subsequently attended the high school in the city of Hamar, Nor- way, and assisted his father for some years in the pursuit of farming and the lumber business and lived two years at Gjovik, clerking in a saw-mill. In 1880, at the age of thirty-six years, he came to the United States, as did also his parents and sev- eral brothers and one sister. An uncle and two of the brothers of our subject were living in Minne- sota at the time. After one year spent in Minnesota near where his brother resided, our subject went to Iowa and in 1883 went to Lisbon, subsequently pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land in Sargent county, North Dakota, later going to Lis- bon, Ransom county, where he worked in the Lis- bon lumber yards. He became clerk in the county treasurer's office about 1884, and was there about four years, and in 1888 he was elected treasurer of Ransom county. After the expiration of his term he purchased wheat for two seasons and then served two years as deputy auditor. He was elected clerk of courts on the fusion ticket in 1806 and is now serving his second term in that capacity.

Our subject was married in 1876 to Miss Inge- borg A. Haug. Mr. and Mrs. Grinager are the par- ents of nine children, as follows: Peter, Martha, Lars, Adolph, Lizzie, Inga, Henry, Alma, and Ed- win, who died at the age of one year. Mr. Grinager is a member of the Lutheran church, and a member of the I. O. O. F .. He is one of the men in whose coming to America all who honor honest and faith- ful service can rejoice.

T. J. COOPER, now retired from active labors, is the possessor of extensive farm lands in the vi- cinity of Cooperstown, and makes his home in that city amid pleasant surroundings that are the result of a well-spent career. He was one of the pioneers of that region, and was associated with his brother many years in business enterprises, but for the past ten or twelve years has conducted his business alone. and is enjoying his declining years in retirement, al- though he personally oversees his land interests.

Our. subject was born in Vermont, September 3. 1830, and was a son of Thomas and Caroline ( Ba- ker ) Cooper. His father was a native of Vermont. and was a farmer by occupation, and was one of the pioneer settlers of Michigan, where he removed with his family when our subject was but two years of age. They resided there for a number of years, and then located in Minnesota.

T. J. Cooper was the third in a family of eieven children, and was reared in Michigan, and later en- gaged in farming in Minnesota. He went from there

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to Colorado and followed mining a number of years in company with his brother, R. C. Cooper, and they continued in business together till 1889, when the partnership was dissolved. Our subject owns two thousand acres of land in the vicinity of Coopers-' town, on which he has valuable improvements.

Our subject was married in Red Wing, Min- nesota, in 1858, to Miss Mary Washburn, a native of Illinois. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, as follows: Charles L., now a mining engineer of Victor, Colorado; and Julia L., now Mrs. Merriell, of Fruita, Colorado. Her hus- band is engaged in fruit growing and lumbering. Mr. Cooper is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He is a Republican in political sentiment, and is a man who keeps pace with the times, but does not seek public preferment.

JOHN DEWITT MCCONNELL, M. D., is en- gaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Fargo, North Dakota, and has that love for and de- votion to his profession which has brought to him success and won him a place among the ablest rep- resentatives of the medical fraternity in this locality. He was born in Leipsic, Putnam county, Ohio, No- vember 23, 1848, and is one of the four sons of John R. and Mary ( Hofsteater) McConnell, also natives of Ohio. The father, who was a farmer and hotel man, served for a year and a half in the Civil war as a member of Company K, Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, being discharged at the end of that time on account of disability. He died in Ohio in 1891.

The Doctor passed his boyhood and youth in Williams county, Ohio, and completed his literary education in the Bryan Academy. Subsequently he engaged in teaching school, being an instructor in the higher branches of learning. At the age of twen- ty-five he commenced reading medicine under Dr. J. G. Cameron, of ·Edon, Ohio, and devoted three years to preparation for the medical profession, in the meantime attending lectures at the Medical Col- lege of Ohio, at Cincinnati, from which he was grad- uated in 1877. He first engaged in practice at his old home in Ohio, but on account of failing health came west and settled at Clearwater, Minnesota, where he made his home for two years. In 1881 he came to Fargo, North Dakota, where he has since successfully engaged in general practice. In 1891 he took a post-graduate course in New York City, remaining there nine months, and constant study and close application have made him one of the best physicians of his adopted city. He is a member of the State Medical Society, has been connected with the American Medical Association since 1888, and is a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Mys- tic Shrine. He has met with success financially as well as professionally during his residence in North Dakota, and is now a stockholder and director of the Merchants State Bank of Fargo. Politically his sup- port is always given the men and measures of the

Republican party. In 1892 Dr. McConnell was unit- ed in marriage with Miss Sarah A. Brockett, a na- tive of Iowa. They occupy an enviable position in social circles and have a large circle of friends in the community where they make their home.

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF GRAND FORKS. The First National Bank of Grand Forks was founded in 1879 by J. W. Smith and S. S. Titus, first as a private bank, known as the Bank of Grand Forks, which continued until November, 1881, when and it was merged into the Citizens' National Bank, with Jacob I. Eshelman as president and S. S. Titus, cashier. The bank continued under that title until July, 1890, when the name was changed to the First National Bank, and has continued as such since. Mr. Eshelman was president until January 1, 1887, when William Budge was elected to succeed him and con- tinued president until January, 1889, when the pres- ent president of the institution, J. W. Smith, was elected to that position. The original capital stock was fifty thousand dollars, which was increased in 1884 to one hundred thousand dollars, and remains at that figure. The bank does a general banking business in foreign and domestic exchange, and is one of the substantial institutions of the city.

J. W. SMITH was born at Milwaukee, Wiscon- sin, March 15, 1858, and was the son of David and Agnes (Thom) Smith, both of whom were natives of Scotland, and came to America in an early day. They settled in Appleton, Wisconsin, where the fa- ther was engaged in banking business until his death in 1876.

Our subject was one of seven children, four sons' and three daughters, and was reared and educated in Wisconsin. At an early age he began earning his livelihood, and in 1879 went to Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he has been engaged in the banking business continuously since.

Mr. Smith was married in Grand Forks, in 1884, to Clara E. McIntosh, who is a native of Canada. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, as follows: Agnes M., and Dorothy E. Mr. Smith has exhibited much executive ability in the manage- ment of the intricate affairs of the banking institution of which he is the head, and to him is due largely the success which has attended the First National Bank. Politically he is a Republican.

WILLIAM S. MOORHOUSE, an honored vet- cran of the Civil war, and the present efficient and popular auditor of Burleigh county, North Dakota, whose home is in Bismarck, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. January 26, 1840. His par- ents, Edward and Margaret ( Lauson) Moorhouse, were both natives of Yorkshire, England, and came to the United States in 1829, locating in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where the father died in 1854. By occupation he was a coal merchant. The mother is still living at the advanced age of ninety-one years

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and makes her home in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. In their family were seven sons and four daughters, all living in Pennsylvania with the exception of our subject.

In his native state William S. Moorhouse grew to manhood and acquired a good practical education. On leaving home in 1857 he went to Atchison coun- ty, Kansas, where he clerked in a hardware store for a time. He took an active part in the border war- fare, and on the breaking out of the Rebellion he enlisted, in 1861, in Company B, Seventh Kansas Cavalry. He remained in the service for three years and six months and participated in the siege of Cor- inth, the Vicksburg campaign, the second battle of Corinth, the battles of Iuka and Tupelo, Mississippi, and a large number of smaller engagements. Fortu- nately he was never wounded nor taken prisoner, and at the close of the war, in 1865, was mustered out as captain of his company, to which rank he attained by meritorious service on field of battle.

Returning to Atchison Mr. Moorhouse resided there until appointed adjutant-general of Kansas in 1869, and while serving in that office during that and the following year he made his home in Topeka. Going back to Atchison, he continued to reside there until coming to Bismarck, North Dakota, in 1883. Here he engaged in the hardware trade for twelve years. In 1894 he was elected auditor of Burleigh county and is now serving his third term in that office. He was also on the board of county con- missioners one term, and has been a member of the city council. His official duties have always been discharged with the utmost promptness and fidelity, winning the commendation of all concerned.

While a resident of Kansas, Mr. Moorhouse was married, in 1863, to Miss Annie Holthorn, a native of England, by whom he has one son, Frank E., now serving as deputy auditor. Socially Mr. Moorhouse is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Knights of Pythias, and politi- cally has always been identified with the Republican party. He served as chairman of the county com- mittee for four years. He has always been found faithful to every trust reposed in him, so that his loyalty is above question, being manifest in days of peace as well as when he followed the old flag to vic- tory on southern battle fields.

ALBERT SCHMIDT. A prominent position as a citizen and member of the farming community of Abercrombie township, Richland county, is held by the gentleman above named. He is the owner of a fine estate and makes his home on section 10.

Mr. Schmidt was born in Prussia, Germany, April 17, 1840. He was reared in his native land and was employed from the time he was fourteen years of age until he reached the age of twenty years as clerk in a mercantile establishment. He served in the Prussian army four years, and in the summer of 1864 set sail for America. He landed in New York in September, and after three months

in that city went to Watertown, Wisconsin. He remained there a short time and then went to Co- lumbus, Wisconsin, and after six months to La Crosse, and three months later to St. Cloud, Minne- sota, where he remained three years employed in a saloon and billiard hall. He went to McCauley- ville, Minnesota, in 1869, and engaged in the mer- cantile business there some ten years, when he went to Richland county, North Dakota, and settled on section 10 in Abercrombie township, since which time he has given his attention to farming. He now owns two hundred and forty-eight acres of land, and has met with success in his chosen calling.

Mr. Schmidt was married, in St. Cloud, Min- nesota, September 30, 1869, to Miss Marie Tebing, who was born in Missouri, of German parentage. Mrs. Schmidt died in McCauleyville, Minnesota, in April, 1875, leaving four children, as follows : Mary, Anna, Herman and Louisa. Mr. Schmidt married Miss Magdalene Bauer, in McCauleyville, Minnesota, May 9, 1876. Mrs. Schmidt was born in Syracuse, New York, and when about four years of age came with her parents to Dane county, Wis- consin, where she grew to womanhood. Ten chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt, as follows : August, Otto, Bertha, Carl, Lottie, Leo, Lena, Paul, Olga and Albert. Mr. Schmidt takes an active part in local affairs, and was the first president of the school board in Abercrombie town- ship, and has served as a member of the board of supervisors. He is highly esteemed in Richland county, where he has made his home for so many years.

JACOB A. SORUM, county sheriff of Traill county, is extensively interested in farming in that county, and is one of the substantial and public- spirited citizens of the state. He has acquired his property and high reputation by his earnest efforts, and is a man of much energy and a capacity for well-directed labor. He has resided in Hillsboro but a short time, but has become well known and is highly respected by all. His farm consists of four hundred and sixty acres of choice land, upon which he has placed modern buildings, and it is a home of luxury and the farm yields abundantly and furnishes a comfortable competence.

Our subject was born in Allamakee county, Iowa, April 13. 1858, and was the eldest in a family of twelve children, born to Andrew and Bertha (Torgerson) Sorum, both of whom are living and make their home in Eldorado township, Trail coun- ty, North Dakota.

Our subject, with his father and sister, went to Dakota from the home farm in Iowa in the fall of 1879. and both father and son entered clain to land in Traill county, each in section 30. A log house was erected on each farm, and the following spring the remaining members of the family joined them in the new home. They broke the land and engaged in wheat raising during the first season,

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and hauled their grain to Fargo, forty miles dis- tant, the nearest railroad point. Mr. Sorum had but forty dollars on his arrival in Dakota, and the strictest economy and hard work were necessary to get a start on the pioneer farm. He put a small addition to the small log house and this was his home until 1896, when it was supplanted by a fine frame residence, and a 40x60-foot barn was erected in 1890, giving the place an appearance of thrift and care in its development. Our subject has added to his real estate as circumstances per- mitted, and now owns four hundred and sixty acres of land, which forms one of the best farms in the conuty. An artesian well furnishes an abundance of water, and also gives a supply of natural gas, which as yet can not be utilized.

Our subject was married, in 1881, to Miss Rin- dena Ekdalıl, a native of Norway. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sorum, as fol- Iows: Bertha, now Mrs. A. Dahl; John, now at- tending Agricultural College at Fargo; Turine; Julius ; Carl and Albert. The family reside in the county jail building, which is one of the most sub- stantial and imposing structures of the county, built of stone to a height of about twelve feet and the upper part of pressed brick. Mr. Sorum was elected county sheriff in 1898, and during the sum- mer of 1899 removed to Hillsboro. He served on the township board in his township three years, and during two of the time was chairman of that body. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and also the United Lutheran church. Politically he is a Republican, and is a firm sup- porter of party principles, but does not seek public preferment.

MILLARD F. WASHBURN, one of the earli- , est pioneer settlers of Griggs county, has resided in the township which bears his name for the past twenty years, and has been intimately connected with the history and development of that region. He has a fine farm in section 20, in which section he first settled, and is now enjoying the fruits of his labors in North Dakota.

Our subject was born on a farm in Lake county, Illinois. April 25, 1848, and was the youngest in a family of nine children, born to Seth and Ora ( Warren ) Washburn. His father was a native of Vermont, and settled in Illinois in the early '40s.

Millard F. Washburn, at the age of seven years, went with his parents to Red Wing, Minnesota, where he finished his education and grew to man- hood. He was engaged with the American Ex- press Company five years, and with the Red Wing Milling Company three years, and in the spring of 1881 went to Griggs county, North Dakota. He filed claim to land with the government surveyors, who were then working in the county, and he has lived on the original claim continuously since. He has met with success as a farmer and now enjoys a good income.

Our subject was married, near Cooperstown, in 1883, to Miss Maria Hussel, a native of St. Clair county, Michigan. Mrs. Washburn was born No- vember 10, 1855, and was a daughter of Andrew and Maria (Klingler) Hussel, who followed farming in Michigan. Her father was a soldier in a Mich- igan regiment during the Civil war, and served two years. Mrs. Washburn was one of the seven chil- . dren born to this worthy couple. Her father was a successful farmer, and is now living in retire- ment in St. Clair county, Michigan. Mr. Wash- burn is chairman of the board of supervisors of Washburn township, and has always taken an active part in local affairs, and the township of Washburn was named in honor of his services. He is a mem- ber of the Ancient Order of Umted Workmen.

ELLING K. SPOONHEIM, county superin- tendent of schools of Grand Forks county, is one of the leading educators of the state of North Dakota. He is a gentleman of excellent education, intelligent and possessed of excellent characteristics, and well merits his success and high standing as a public officer and'citizen.

Our subject was born in Norway, May 19, 1874, and is a son of Knudt and Margaret ( Hakestead) Spoonheim. His parents were natives of Norway and came to America in 1881 and settled in Grand Forks county, North Dakota, and the father still lives in that county. The mother died in July, 1899. Two sons and one daughter were born to this worthy couple, all of whom reside in North Dakota.

Mr. Spoonheim was reared in North Dakota and received his early education here. He spent one year at Bruflat Academy at Portland, North Dakota, and three years at Arvilla Academy, and then followed teaching several years and completed his education with a three years' course at Valpar- aiso, Indiana, taking the degree from that institu- tion of Bachelor of Science and Arts. Immedi- ately following his graduation he returned to North Dakota and accepted the principalship of the city schools of Haton, Traill county, and later engaged with the schools of Grand Forks. He was elected county superintendent of schools in 1898 and is now discharging the duties of that office faithfully and well. He is also interested in farming to some extent in the vicinity of Grand Forks, and has a pleasant farm, well improved and cultivated.

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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 47

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