History of Barron County Wisconsin, Part 135

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1922
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1767

USA > Wisconsin > Barron County > History of Barron County Wisconsin > Part 135

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Andrew Dramdahl, an early settler in Barron County, and now a respected resident of Crystal Lake Township, was born in Norway Nov. 22, 1858. He attended school in his native land and subsequently became a common laborer, being thus occupied until 22 years old. Then, resolved to seek a land of fuller opportunities, he came in 1880 to America, landing at New York and thence coming west to Pierce County, Wis. There he entered the employ of the Ols and Lord Lumber Co. and for three years worked in the woods and in saw- mills. In 1883 he came to Barron County and bought 80 acres of wild land in section 36, Crystal Lake Town, later adding to it 80 more. He was not yet ready, however, to settle on his land, but for several years worked for the Beaver Lake Lumber Co. In 1889 he began the development of his farm, a task that occupied him for many years, but which he effectually accomplished, breaking 100 acres and himself erecting a set of buildings. Here he is still engaged in mixed farming and dairying, keeping Guernsey cattle with a full blooded sire at the head of his herd. . He is also a stockholder in the Comstock Co-operative Creamery. For many years Mr. Dramdahl has been a man of mark in his township and at various times has served in public office. As early as 1888 he was elected supervisor of Cumberland Township, when it included what are now four separate townships, and served three years in that office. Subsequently he was supervisor of Crystal Lake Township several years and chairman of the board six years. Also for twelve years he has been treasurer of the school board of Joint District No. 9, including Cumberland and Crystal Lake townships. In these public positions he has shown good business capacity and a close comprehension of the needs of the community in which he resides. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran Church and of the Cumberland Old Settlers Association. Mr. Dramdahl was married at Comstock March 29, 1885, to Caroline Christopherson, who was born June 6, 1862, in Norway, and who, after eleven years of happy wedded life, passed away June 27, 1896. She was the mother of four children: Carl H., born July 15, 1886; Anna, born January 15, 1888, who died in May, 1889; Ragnhild A., born Nov. 21, 1889, and Alvin, born July 3, 1893. Ragnhild A. was married May 20, 1913, to Arthur Bloom and they make their home with Mr. Dramdahl. They have two

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NEWELL W. BAILEY ANNIE B. BAILEY A. PAULINE BAILEY

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children : Almena K., born March 15, 1914, and Annice E., born Dec. 22, 1916. Alvin Dramdahl was drafted into the United States service Sept. 3, 1918, be- coming attached to the medical department. He was sent first to Camp Green- leaf, Ga .; thence transferred to Debarkation Hospital No. 52, and afterwards to Richmond, Va. Later he was transferred to General Headquarters No. 43, National Soldiers' Home, at Hampton Roads. He was discharged at Camp Grant, Rockford, Ill., October 23, 1919.

Carl E. Overby, assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Rice Lake, and member of the Hoppe-Overby Orchestra, was born in Menomonie, Wis., April 6, 1885, son of Christian and Juliana Overby, who brought him to Rice Lake when he was two years old. He received a good education in the graded and high schools of Rice Lake. In 1903 he entered the First National Bank as clerk and bookkeeper, and is therefore now the oldest bank employee in point of service in Rice Lake. With this institution he has since remained, being promoted to second assistant cashier in 1908, and to his present position in 1914. He has won his way entirely on his own merits, and is one of the prom- ising young men of the city. His business holdings include stock in the First National Bank, in the Barron County Telephone Co., and in the Rice Lake and Northeastern Telephone Co. He is one of the twelve owners of the Rice Lake Dancing Pavilion. From boyhood he has been actively interested in music and is now regarded as one of the best trap drummers in the county. His services are greatly in demand, and his work on the drums, bells and xylophone has been an important feature in the success of the Hoppe-Overby Orchestra. Mr. Overby is an active member of the Rice Lake Commercial Club. His recreation is found in hunting and fishing and in music. He is well regarded throughout the community. His efficiency, his integrity, his wide acquaintance, his accommodating spirit, and his genial personality are im- portant factors in the upbuilding of the bank, and being yet a young man, his friends predict for him in future years a still wider success.

Newell W. Bailey, founder, and until his death, president of the Barron County Bank, the oldest bank in Barron County, was born in Higganum, Mid- dlesex County, Connecticut, the son of Alvin and Laura (Neff) Bailey, of old New England stock. He received his education in the common schools and the academy at his native place, and as a young man came west and located at Richland Center, Richland County, Wis., where he engaged in the mercantile business with his brother, Henry. After several years he sold out there, and devoted considerable time to traveling about the Northwest, studying con- ditions and looking for a desirable business location. In the course of his travels he reached Rice Lake. He saw the future possibilities of the busy little hamlet, and determined to locate here. He became a resident in 1880, and at once began to acquire real estate interests throughout the county. In 1882 he established the Barron County Bank at Rice Lake, the first bank in the county. The bank continued to grow, and in 1903 was incorporated. Mr. Bailey was president, his wife cashier, and A. Pauline Bernard vice president. In 1911 Mr. Bailey sold a part of his interests, but remained as president until Aug. 7, 1916. In the meantime Mr. Bailey had continued to be interested in real estate, buying, developing and selling. At one time he had six well im- proved farms and over 3,000 acres of wild land, all in this county. He was one of the real leaders in local affairs, not only as a financier but as a citizen, and his work is an integral part of the history of the whole region. A thorough business man, he was genial in personality and was held in the highest esteem as a man of probity and influence. His death, Aug. 26, 1917, was sincerely mourned. He was one of the original Masons of Rice Lake, and attained the Thirty-second Degree. At one time he was a member of the Knights of Pythias. He donated liberally to the various local churches and to other public enterprises. Mr. Bailey was married Dec. 20, 1883, to Anna B. Dutton, a native of New York State. Soon after their marriage, Mrs. Bailey entered the bank as cashier, and so remained until the reorganization of the institution

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in 1911. She was an able helpmate in all her husband's undertakings. She was active in neighborhood affairs, and prominent in the Eastern Star. Her death June 24, 1912, caused wide mourning. July 14, 1915, Mr. Bailey married A. Pauline Bernard, who was born in Dodge County, Wis., Jan. 29, 1868, the daughter of Anton and Mary (Heimerle) Bernard, natives of Germany who came to this country as children and were here married. Mr. Bernard settled in Dodge County a while, and later moved to Chippewa Falls. In 1874 he came to this county and bought 160 acres in Oak Grove Township, where he farmed until his wife died Jan. 4, 1896. Then he sold the farm. In 1904 he went to Canada, and there he died April 10, 1909. Mrs. Bailey, then Miss Bernard, entered the Bank of Barron. When it was organized as a state bank in 1903 she was made vice president, and so remained until the reorganization in 1911. She is one of the esteemed women of the community and is held in high regard.

Henry Halvorsen, an early settler of Arland Township, and one of the most respected of the older residents of the county, now living retired in Turtle Lake, was born in Norway Jan. 18, 1834, the son of Halvor and Christina Helgerson, also natives of that country. They came to America in 1875 and located in Prairie Farm Township, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying at the remarkable age of 106 years and the mother at the age of 96 years. Henry was reared and educated in his native land, and there married his wife, Caroline Elingson. He came to America in 1881 with his oldest son, Hans, and lived a year in Meeker County, Minn. In 1882 the two came to Barron County, and here he secured a farm in section 20, Arland Township. At that time there were only a few settlers in the vicinity. He cleared the land, erected suitable buildings, and in a short time sent to Norway for the wife and the other members of the family. In developing the farm, the family underwent all the experiences of pioneer life. Most of the provisions were brought from Prairie Farm Village, nine miles away, on foot. In time they developed a good place, and reaped the just reward of their hard work. Mrs. Halvorsen died in 1910. Mr. Halvorsen, at the good old age of 86 years, makes his home with his son, Hans, of Turtle Lake. Mr. and Mrs. Halvorsen had eight children, four boys and four girls, all of whom are now living. Martha is the wife of Simon Eckern, of Iron Mound, Mich. Hans lives in Turtle Lake Village. Christ is in Canada. Alex lives in Pennington County, Minn. Mary is the widow of William Powers, and lives in Canada. Charles lives in Duluth. Minnie married Henry Jenkins, of Buffalo, Minn. Christina is the wife of James Jenkins, of Anoka, Minn.

Hans Halvorsen, contractor and carpenter of Turtle Lake, was born in Norway July 11, 1866, the son of Henry and Caroline Halvorsen, the former of whom brought him to America in 1881, settling one year in Meeker County, Minn., and then in this county. At the time of reaching this county, young Hans was sixteen years of age. He assisted in developing the home farm, and was still a youth when he went to Arland Village in 1901, and for six years conducted a mercantile establishment there. In 1906 he came to Turtle Lake Village, and for ten years operated a blacksmith shop. In 1916 he engaged in business as a carpenter and contractor, which he has since continued to follow. In public life he has been village assessor four years and village trustee eight years, and is in every way doing his duty as a good citizen. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen and of the I. O. O. F. Mr. Halvorsen was married in Arland Township, Sept. 26, 1896, to Sina M. Miller, daughter of Peter A. and Serena Miller, who were born in Norway and settled in Arland in 1883. They were the parents of seven children. Charles, Martin and Peter are all farmers in Arland Township. Sina M. is Mrs. Hans Halvorsen. Martha, Peter and Anna are dead. Mr. Miller died Jan. 21, 1915, and Mrs. Miller is still living at the age of 77 years. Mr. and Mrs. Halvorsen have four children. Harry P. is a store clerk in Turtle Lake. Clarence H. is a student at the Wisconsin State Normal School at Eau Claire. Stella A. and

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ALBERT JOHNSON AND FAMILY

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Henry S. are doing well with their studies in the public schools. The family faith is that of the Norwegian Lutheran Church.

Andrew F. Wright, county judge of Barron County, was born in Franklin County, Mo., Dec. 25, 1851, son of Thomas F. and Rachel (Yokum) Wright. The father, Thomas F. Wright, was a native of England and in early manhood had followed the sea for seven years. After coming to the United States he served in the war with Mexico and returned home broken in health. In Illinois he married Rachel Yokum, a native of that state, and about 1849 they settled in Missouri, where Mr. Wright became foreman of a large plantation. In the early fifties, leaving his family in Missouri, he came to Prairie du Chien, Wis., looking for good land on which to settle, and finally took a farm in Columbia County, situated in the southwestern part opposite the village of Prairie du Sac, in the neighboring county of Sauk. To that place he brought his family about 1852. He died in 1862. His wife died at the age of 84 years in Buffalo, Mo., in 1903. They were the parents of nine children, of whom four are now living, namely : Charles D., of Leavenworth, Kans .; Sarah M., now Mrs. Alfred Satterlee, of Columbia, Mo .; Benjamin F., of Ontario, Calif., and Andrew F., of Barron, Wis. Andrew F. Wright acquired his education in various places, first attending common school in Madison, Wis., and in Illinois. After that he was a pupil at Hillsboro Academy, at Hillsboro, Ill., and then for two years at Asbury University (now Dupaw University) at Asbury, Ind. On Nov. 20, 1877, he was united in marriage with Helen M. Dewey, daughter of Dunning and Caroline Dewey, residents of Goodhue County, Minn., near Red Wing, and he and his wife began home making on a farm in Clinton Township, Barron County, which he had previously homesteaded. In June, 1881, he removed to Cumberland, this county, where he resided until 1888. During this period he began the study of law in the office of L. H. Mead of Shell Lake, Washburn County, and in 1888 he went to Ashland, where he was admitted to the bar in the following year. In Ashland he practiced his profession for eleven years. During the legislative session of 1899 he served as assistant sergeant-at-arms of the Senate. In the same year, 1899, returned to Cumberland, where he served as city clerk and became municipal judge, holding the latter position to 1917, when he moved with his family to Barron. Previous to this he had been appointed to fill out the unexpired term of the previous incumbent of the office of county judge, a position to which he was elected for the full term of six years in 1919, and in which he has up to the present time made a good record. Polit- ically he is a Republican. He belongs to Cumberland Lodge, No. 223, F. & A. M., at Cumberland, Wis., in which he has passed all the chairs, and is a Knight Templar, belonging to the Commandery at Spooner, Wis .; he also be- longs to the Knights of Pythias. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have been the parents of six children: Addie, Walter Floyd, Ernest F., Millie A., Fern, and one who died in infancy. Addie died Feb. 28, 1894, and Walter Floyd on Jan. 21, 1912. Ernest F. is now a contractor and builder at Cumberland. Millie A., who is a graduate of the Superior Normal School, is now teaching in the public school of Wauzeka, Wis. Fern, who also graduated from the normal school at Su- perior, and from the Rasmussen Business College at St. Paul, was a public school teacher five years and is now register in probate for Barron County. Mr. Wright and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Barron. They occupy a high social position and are well known throughout the county.

Albert Johnson, a well-known contractor and builder of Barronnett, to whose skill and fidelity most of the houses in Barronnett and vicinity bear testimony, was born in Sweden June 1, 1859, son of John T. and Cornellia (Lundstrom) Jacobson, both now deceased. He received his early education in his native land and there learned the carpenter's trade. In 1880, after attaining his majority, he came to America, and the first year, to accustom himself to the country and the language, he worked on a railroad. In 1881 he located in St. Paul as a carpenter. Then he went to Burnett County, this

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state, in 1884, and remained until 1900. In that year he came to Barron County and bought 80 acres in section 9, Lakeland Township, where he started develop- ing a farm. He erected a fine set of buildings by his own handiwork, cleared forty acres, and carried on general farming. This tract in 1912 he traded for eighty acres in Barronnett Village. Here he likewise erected a good set of buildings and cleared and stumped seventy-five acres. In 1920 he moved to a sightly house which he had built in the residence center of the village. In the meantime, ever since he first came to the county, he has been occupied as a contractor and builder. He is well thought of in the community, and has been justice of the peace for one year and treasurer of the school board for four years. His holdings include stock in the Mckinley Telephone Co., and in the Barronnett Co-operative Creamery. Mr. Johnson was married Oct. 21, 1882, to Christina Olson, who was born in Sweden April 5, 1857. This union has been blessed with nine children. Edward E. was born Aug. 7, 1883, and is now in Barronnett. William A. was born June 6, 1885, and is now farming in Washburn County, this state. Samuel was born Oct. 21, 1887, and is at home. Rosabelle was born Sept. 6, 1889, and is now the wife of Melvin Charleston. Esther was born Jan. 16, 1891, and is now the wife of Charles Wallace. David was born June 26, 1893, and lives in Barronnett. Anton D. was born Sept. 15, 1895, and operates the home farm. Gilbert, born Oct. 30, 1899, and Carl E., born Dec. 24, 1902, are both at home. The family faith is that of the Pentecostal Mission Church. Mr. Johnson was deacon of the Baptist Church for 12 years, has been deacon of the Pentecostal Mission since 1912, and takes active part in all church work.

Albert J. Hintz, proprietor of a business place in Rice Lake, and originator and manufacturer of the well-known and popular High Life Nectar and Hintz Medicated Sweat Baths, was born in Sweden Oct. 17, 1867, son of Magnus and Parnilla (Carlson) Hintz, who brought him to America in 1881, located on a homestead in Otter Tail County, Minn., cleared the land, erected log buildings, later replaced them with frame structures, carried on farming there success- fully for many years, and then sold out and moved to Battle Lake, Minn., the mother dying in New Jersey in 1913, and the father in Superior, Wis., in 1919. Albert J. received most of his education in the old country, and after coming to this country as a youth of fourteen assisted his parents in developing their pioneer farm and worked at various labor. In 1885 he went to Superior, Wis., where he engaged in the grocery and meat business while he and his wife conducted a boarding house. In 1906 he sold out and came to this county where he conducted a hotel at Barron for a year. He came to Rice Lake in 1907, and besides conducting a hotel, established the Hintz Bottling Works. In 1918 he started a lunch room which he still conducts, selling soft drinks, tobacco, confectionery and fruit in connection. While he has been successful here, he made one venture which was not a success. In the course of his business he acquired two good farms in this county, which he rented on a profitable basis. In 1916 he traded these farms for a bottling plant in St. Paul, where he planned a wider market for his excellent product. But con- ditions were not favorable, and within a year he had lost everything he had there. Since then he has recouped his fortunes, and is now one of the success- ful men of Rice Lake. Mr. Hintz was married Feb. 11, 1898, to Mrs. Olena H. (Due) Black, widow of Joseph Black. Mr. and Mrs. Hintz have two chil- dren : Hazel, born June 4, 1899; and Durina, born Nov. 4, 1901. By her former marriage Mrs. Hintz has four children: Agnes C., Alfred C. and Louis and George. Agnes was born May 29, 1885, married Albert Bradson, and lives in Haugen, this county. Alfred C. was born Dec. 13, 1888. Louis married Tillie M. Schmidt. They have two children: Leona Jenette, born May 5, 1914; and Merlyn, born June 8, 1920. George was born May 18, 1894.

Alpheus Keebaugh, a pioneer of Sumner Township, was born in Ohio Dec. 31, 1851, the son of John Keebaugh, a native of Pennsylvania, who in 1867 brought the family to Columbia County, this state, where the children

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were reared to adult years. Alpheus Keebaugh came to Barron County as a young man, and started work in a sawmill at the old village of Sumner. In the meantime he homesteaded 160 acres of wild land in Chetek Township, but he never made his permanent residence there. For fifteen years he farmed on a place about two miles south of Canton, in Sumner Township. Then he came to Canton and here spent the remainder of his life. He died Nov. 7, 1916. He was highly respected and enjoyed an excellent standing in the community. Mr. Keebaugh was married July 3, 1875, at Sumner, to Hattie Locke, who was born in Reedsburg, Wis., on March 21, 1850. To this union were born five children: Clinton, Nettie, Oze, Allen and Myrtle.

Oze Keebaugh, who is successfully farming on 40 acres of land on the out- skirts of Canton, was born on a farm in Sumner Township July 6, 1883, the son of Alpheus and Hattie (Locke) Keebaugh. He was reared on the farm, and as a young man was variously employed in sawmill and other work. For a while he operated a threshing outfit and portable saw outfit. In 1918 he purchased his present place. He is doing well with his farming operations and is well regarded by all who know him. His fraternal relations are with the Modern Woodmen.

Joseph B. Stearns, chairman of Sumner Township, and a well-to-do farmer owning 220 acres of valuable land in sections 19, 20 and 30, was born in a sod house on the homestead of his father in York County, Nebraska, Oct. 23, 1877, the son of John and Elizabeth (Crockford) Stearns, natives respectively of Ohio and Michigan. The father was of pioneer blood and inclinations. He left his native state as a young man and worked in various states in the Mississippi Valley. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in the First lowa Cavalry, and served within ten days of four years, proving his worth as a patriotic citizen and a courageous soldier. After living for many years in Nebraska he came back to Iowa, where he had previously lived, and settled in Lucas County, where both still make their home. Joseph B. spent his early childhood amid pioneer conditions in Nebraska and was brought to Lucas County, Iowa, by his parents in 1882. He was reared to farm pursuits and at the age of seventeen began his career by finding employment on neighboring farms. Later for a dozen years or so he was a renter in that county. In 1914 he came to Barron County and purchased 260 acres, forty acres of which he has since sold. He bought the land for $32 an acre and it is now believed to be worth more than $100 an acre, and during the high prices of 1920 went considerably higher. From the very first, Mr. Stearns has taken an interest in the affairs of the community, and his ability, his worth as a man and his qualities of leadership were at once recognized by his new neighbors here. He has served acceptably on the school board, and was honored with his present position at the head of township affairs in 1920. He is a good executive, he has sought the best interests of the town in public affairs, and he has also proven his worth in his duties as a member of the county board. He is a believer in everything that is for the betterment of the community. Especially has he been active in Farmers' Institute affairs, and has done much in behalf of the Institute that has been held at Canton for the past three years. He is also an enthusiastic supporter of community effort among farmers. He is also a member of the Canton Shipping Association. His fraternal relations are with Lodge No. 337, I. O. O. F., of Russell, Iowa. As a farmer Mr. Stearns believes in modern methods. His place is much larger than the average, but he conducts it in a scientific manner that simplifies its operation, and he is already well along the road of success and prosperity. Mr. Stearns was mar- ried in Lucas County, Iowa, to Delta Irvine, who was born in Lucas County, that state, May 18, 1882, the daughter of William and Margaret (Smith) Irvine, pioneers. William Irvine was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1851, and came to this country as a young man. He was married in 1858 to Margaret Smith, who was born in Ohio. In 1862 he enlisted in Co. B, 18th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served with valor in that organization for three long

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years. Later he settled in Iowa, where he died Feb. 19, 1918, at the good old age of eighty years, one month and twenty-one days. His wife is still living and is now 77 years old. Mr. and Mrs. Stearns have had seven children : Verlyn Lawrence, Guy Irvine, Chester, Hazel Margaret, Kenneth Walter, Erma Eliza- beth and an infant who died unnamed. Chester died in October, 1918, at the age of twelve years and some months.

Robert McLellan, for many years a resident of section 26, Stanley Town- ship, was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, and was there reared and educated. As a young man he became a coal miner, which he continued for several years. He married Lovina Rees, who was born in Canada. Eight children were born in Canada, Charles, Sarah, Mark, John, Ann, George, Robert and David. He brought the family to the States in the early eighties and located in Chippewa County, this state, where he worked in the woods. One child was born there, Alexander by name. In 1885 he brought the family to Barron County, and settled on land in section 26, Stanley Township, where he built up a good farm. There, four more children, Isaac, Grace, Arthur and Hazel, were born. Mr. Mclellan died on the farm at the age of 77, his wife at the age of seventy-one.

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History of Barron County Wisconsin, Part 135

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1767

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1922
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1767