Blue Earth County, Minnesota - Biographical sketches, 1901 (part 1 of 15)

Biographical sketches

ACKEEMAN, GEORGE G. - The colonial period of our country's history witnessed the arrival upon our shores of a large number of heroic, adventurous men, who aided in the early development of the untilled soil and whose descendants in their turn contributed to the gradual growth and prosperity of the nation. Such is the record of the Ackerman family, founded in the east prior to the war of the Eevolution and established on the bleak New England coast by a sturdy German. At a somewhat later date members of the family resided in the city of j\ew York and acquired property now occupied by the famous Trinity church. Through imperfect titles caused by the crude conditions of that era, the land passed out of their possession. Some fifty years ago the then representatives of the family made a contest for the real estate, but could not fully prove their claim.

Drifting a little further toward the unsettled regions of the frontier, John Ackerman removed from the vicinity of Saratoga to Jefferson county, jSTew York, and settled on the shores of Lake Ontario, where his son, Albert, became a sailor on the lakes. Civilization was rapidly building up the west and the call of the frontier came to Albert Ackerman, impelling him to seek a home far distant from the associations of his youth. For some time he remained in Ohio, whence he returned to New York for a brief sojourn, and in 3859 became a pioneer of Wisconsin. During June of 1864, he became a pioneer of Blue Earth county, Minnesota, where he bought a farm in Medo township. Three years later he bought land five miles west of Mapleton in the township of that name. Eetiring from agricultural pursuits about 1891, he removed to Mapleton and there his death occurred April 30, 1901. During the long period of his residence in this county it was his privilege to witness the gradual increase in population, the constant improvement of farm lands, the steady building up of the villages, and the increasing prosperit-y of the people; and to these results his own quiet, industrious and energetic life contributed.

The marriage of Albert Ackerman united him with Annis S. Burlingame, of Norway, Herkimer county. New York, and to their union were born five children. The eldest, Frederick E., carries on farm pursuits in Sterling township. Blue Earth count), and the fourth, George G., continues on the old homestead of the family in Mapleton township. The three other members of the family, ^YiIlis G., Edith (now Mrs. Frank Eoberts) and Harold, make their home at Millbank, Grant county, South Dakota. While the family were living in Jefferson county. New York, George G. Ackerman was born March 8j 1858. Being an infant at the time of the removal to Wisconsin, his earliest recollections cluster around what was then called the frontier. When six years of age he was brought to Blue Earth county and here he attended the district schools near the home farm. As a boy he alternated attendance at school with work on the home place, and thus gained a fair commonschool education and a thorough practical knowledge of agriculture. Continuing on the farm purchased many years ago by his father, he has maintained its high state of cultivation and has added such buildings as the equipment of the estate rendered necessary. During 1880 he brought a bride to the home, his marriage uniting him with Mis? Ella Eoberts, member of a ivell-known family represented elsewhere in this volume. They became the parents of seven children, namely : Burton, who i= employed in the .mail service; Josie E., Earl, Louis, Wilna, (deceased), Iva F. and Eay. In the social circles of the townpliip the family are well known and universally honored as people of substantial worth and intelligence.

Biogeaphical Histoey

ACKEEMAN, GEOEGE N. - During the early half of the nineteenth century the Ackerman family was founded in America by three brothers who emigrated from Germany, one settling in New York City, another going into Canada and the third, (John) proceeding to Jefferson county, JSfew York, where he took up a tract of raw land and developed an improved farm. Among the children of John Ackerman was a son, Mark C, bom and reared in Jefferson county, New York, and there married to Cynthia Kead, member of an old-established family ol that region. As early as 1853 Mark C. Ackermnn became a pioneer of Wiseonsia, whither emigration was rapidly drifting. From the age of fourteen years until he moved to the west he had been engaged as a sailor on the great lakes, but after hie removal to Wisconsin he became interested in farming in Adams county and developed an improved farm from a tract of raw land. Eemoving to Minnesota in June of 1864, he bought eighty acres on section fifteen, Medo township. Blue Earth county, the tract lying within the limits of the Winnebago Indian reserve. Eor more than twenty years he remained on that farm, meanwhile bringing it into a state of high productiveness, and here his death occurred in 1886 at the age of eighty years and nine months. His wife passed away in June of 1895 at the age of eighty-one years.

The youngest son of the eleven children of Mark C. and Cynthia Ackerman was the gentleman whose name introduces this narrative and whose birth occurred in Jefferson county, New York, May 14, 1853. During infancy he wafe taken to , Wisconsin and at the age of eleven years he accompanied his parents to Minnesota, where he attended the country schools near his home. December 1, 1878, he was united in marriage with Susan Eamsey, a native of Adams county, Wificonsin, and a daughter of William W. Eamsey of Ohio, whose father, James, was born in Pennsylvania and descended from an old and honored Scotch family. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman are named as follows: Amy, who married E. P. Davidson and lives on a farm in Medo township; Ennis and Luther, who reside in Lamoure county. North Dakota; Abbie and Mark, who are deceased; Wallace,

The original claim taken up by his father is now owned and operated by Mr. Ackerman, who has proved himself to be energetic in action, prompt in decision, industrious in disposition, and genial in temperament. Through his wise oversight of the property it has steadily increased in valuation by reason of improvements being made. The land is maintained in a high state of cultivation and crops are rotated in such a manner as to maintain the fertility of the soil. Considerable attention is devoted to stock-raising, a specialty being made of Poland-China hogs, Norman horses of good grades and shorthorn cattle of fine types of that breed. In addition to maintaining a close supervision of the homestead he has found leisure to mingle with acquaintances, identify himself with public affairs and contribute to the material growth of the community by his wise judgment and active cooperation in enterprises for the common good. For seventeen consecutive years he filled the position of township clerk, for twelve consecutive years he has served with the utmost efficiency as treasurer of the school board, and for a number of years he has been justice of the peace, in which capacity he has proved familiar with the laws and impartial in their administration. In fraternal relations he holds membership with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America.

ALLEN, SILAS LOCHE. - At a time when Blue Earth county was first attracting the attention of home-seekers the Allen family became established in this part of the country and since then have aided in the agricultural upbuilding of the county and state. The first of the name to come to the northwest was T. 0. Allen, who was born near Buffalo, New York, and now makes his home near Winnebago City, Minnesota, where he owns large and valuable landed interests. It was during April of 1856 that chance brought him to Blue Earth county while he was inspecting the country with a view to settlement. With him was a cousin, the two having come from Chickasaw county, Iowa. Soon after his arrival he pre-empted a claim threefourths of a mile northwest of old Shelby, but after a year or more he sold the claim and removed to Shelby, where he bought a log hotel from G. Shannon. The management of the hotel eno;aged his attention for some years and in time he replaced the log structure with a more substantial building of frame. For a number of years he also conducted a country store in his hotel building, and he became interested in sawmilling as a partner of N. W. Powell in the spring of 1861, where he continued until 1864, when he formed a partnership in the mercantile business with Captain Rhodes Crandall, an oSicer in the Union army. For some five years the partnership continued, after which Mr. Allen sold out and settled on section thirty-two, where previously he had taken up a tract of raw land. At the expiration of about six years he sold a part of the estate and moved to Woodland Mills, I'aribault county, but later he moved to a farm near Winnebago City, his present home.

In a family of nine children, four of whom am now living, Silas Loche Allen was second in order of birth, and was born January 84, 1858, in the frame house which his father had built for a hotel, at Shelby, Blue Earth county. Primarily educated in country schools, later he had the advantages of the high schools at Mankato, Minnesota, and Charles City, Iowa, after which he took a course in the Iowa Agricultural College, at Ames. Upon leaving college he began to teach school. For three years he had charge of ilie school at Lawler, Iowa, for one year taught at Fredericksburg, that state, and for a similar period had supervision of the Floyd school. Later for two years he was in charge of the high school at Amboy, Jlinnesota, and for one year taught at Sherburn, Martin County, after which he. went to Delavan, Faribault county, and for two years clerked in a store owned by his father. Next he went to Browns Valley, Minnesota, and resumed teaching, which occupation he followed there for a period of five years. Since resigning that position he has owned and occupied a farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section thirtytwo, Shelby township, Blue Earth county, where hp has engaged in agricultural pursuits. During April of 1896 he was united in marriage with

Maggie Brovm, a native of Delavan, Minnesota, and a daughter of William Brown, a farmer and painter residing in Delavan township. In the family of Mr. Allen there are two children, Beatrice and Jay. Always stanch in his support of the country schools, he has rendered efficient service as a member of the school board. In fraternal relations he is identified with the blue lodge of Zvlasonry, also the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.

ANDERSON, GEORGE. - For little less than one-half century the Anderson family has been identified with the agricultural and commercial development of Blue Earth county. Hither came Henry Carl Anderson as early as 1860, purposing to improve from the primeval wilds a homestead that would bring to his declining years independence and a competency. Both he and his wife, Sarah, were natives of Knoxville, Ohio, and traced their ancestry to England. Immediately after he arrived in this county he secured a claim of three hundred acres in Judson township. The land was in the raw state of nature; no attempt had been made at permanent improvement, but his was the pleasant though difficult task of erecting needed buildings, dividing the land into fields of suitable size by substantial fencing, placing the soil under cultivation and instituting a rotation of crops adapted to the land and the climate. The quiet cares of agriculture gave to his later years a strange contrast to the eventful happenings of his youth, when he followed the life of a sailor for a time and also had some experiences in mining for gold. His was a kindly disposition, generous to those in need, liberal toward enterprises for the community's good, and upright in every relation of life, and when death came to him, February 13, 1904, at the age of seventytwo 3'ears, he left many warm friends to mourn his loss.. Surviving him are his widow and eight of their ten children.

The second in order of birth among the ten children was George Anderson, who was born in Judson township. Blue Earth county, in 1865, and received a district school education, supple- mented by attendance at the high isehool of Lake Crystal. LTntii 1899 he remained on tlie home farm, but during that year he came to Manli:ato and entered a hardware store as clerk, remaining for three years. Next he took up the painter's trade under J. Manderfeld, with whom he continued until 1904. During that year he bought from L. W. Grant a paper-box manufacturing establishment, which he has since conducted at JSTo. 57U South Front street, meanwhile doubling the output of the factory. The products are sold to the local trade or shipped to neighboring towns, but it is the intention of the proprietor, if prosperity attends the plant, to increase its output sufficiently so that he may be able to supply demands from points in other parts of the state as well as in other states. In 1899 he was united in marriage with Amy, daughter of Daniel Edwards, of Judson township, and they have one son, Willard. In fraternal identification Mr. Anderson belongs toN;he Ancient Order of United Workmen, Modern Woodmen of America, Samaritans, National Ee- ' serves, and along the line of business organizations he gives stanch support to the Commercial Club, with whose ambition to promote the prosperity of the city he is in hearty sympathy.

Julius A. Anderson was educated in the common schools of the Badger State until he was fourteen years of age, w;hen he became self-supporting by "going out to work by the month." He entered into his first independent venture when, in December, 1899, he removed to Decoria township, this county, and was placed in charge of the large farm of Professor Searing, which ho successfully conducted for seven yoars. In 1906 he located in Mankato and purchassd the interest of John H. Macbeth in the livery firm of Macbeth & Harlin, in June of that year William B. Harlin's interest in the business being bought by John IST. Lang, thereby forming the partnership of Lang & Anderson. This lirm operated a first-class livery, creditable alike to their business judgment and their good t&'^te till disposed of.

Mr. Anderson was married on the 22nd of December, 1899, to Miss Mary Anderson, daughter of Hans Anderson, of Brooklyn, Minnesota, and she has borne him two children - George L., and Mildred D. A member of the fraternity, Modern Woodmen of America, Mr. Anderson is popular and straightforward, a credit to any order, and promises to advance in whatever field of endeavor he may enter.

ANDBESON, JULIUS A. - Sturdy of purpose, and energetic and enterprising of temperament, the Danish-Americans of Blue Earth County are coming into the front ranks of its business men and citizens, and of the younger generation none could be a greater credit to their Fatherland and the country of their adoption than Julius A. Anderson, of Mankato. He is an honest, industrious citizen, who has made the most of himself and his opportunities - ^and what more can be said of any man? A native of Denmark, born on the 22d of July, 1876, he is the son of Hans and Dorothea Anderson, also born in that country, who came to Brooklyn, Rock county, Wisconsin, when the boy was five years of age. Neither is now living, the mother having died in Iowa leaving the following children: Ferdinand, of Brooklyn, Wisconsin; Julius A.; and Charles M., also a resident of that Wisconsin town.

ANDERSEN, JENS C - Jens C. Andersen, engineer of the City Water Works, Mankato, presents a type of Americanism, in which natives of America take as much pride as those Scandinavian brothers who so enthusiastically and faithfully adopt the cities and institutions of the United States as their own. Often, in fact,^ those who come to this country from the Old World seem to have a more hearty appreciation of the extent of their . opportunities than those who are bom to them. Thus it is that it is a true pleasure to present a brief record of so intelligent, successful and grateful an American, adopted from Denmark, as Mr. Andersen. He was born August 31, 1865, son of Rasmus and Christena (Andersen) Andersen, his parents spending their lives in Denmark - the father dying in 1883, at the age of forty-seven, and the mother in 1905, sixty-nine years old.

ily of nine brothers and sisters, he being the only one to venture to America. In the Dajiish country schools he received two hours' daily instruction in both English and German, so that as a boy he vi^as in training for his future career in the United States. Until he was fifteen he was. an industrious farmer's boy and school boy, by which time he had made such progress in hit studies and general intelligence that he secured employment in the International Mail Service between Denmark and Germany, being thus engaged for eighteen months.

In 1884, when nineteen years of age, Mr. Andersen emigrated to the United States, first locating on a farm near Austin, Minnesota, and after a short time removing to Eochester, where for two years he was employed in a brick yard. He became a resident of Mankato in 1887 as an employe of the Hubbard & Palmer mill, his position - that of assistant engineer - being held for five years, while he has most creditably served as engineer at the City Water Works since 1893.

June 8, 1885, before he had reached his twentieth year, Mr. Andersen married Miss Christena Thyggeeon, also a native of Denmark, and the union has resulted in four children: Eliza A., Walter E., Harvey P. and Florence S. Eratemally he is a member of the A. 0. U. W. and Modern Samaritans, and his religious faith is Presbyterian.

ANDEEWS, JOHN WESLEY. - M. D. Many years ago there sailed on the high seas, under the command of Captain Andrews, a ship that bore the flag of England and carried her commerce to many remote harbors of the world. Little is known concerning the captain, but it may be inferred that he was a man of dauntless courage, close observation and unwavering loyalty. These qualities in his son, John E., led to another occupation in which they were no less necessary than on the ocean. As a pioneer Methodist preacher in the sparsely settled regions of the United States, he was called upon to endure untold privations. Within his home poverty was ever present, yet out of his scanty supply he was ever ready to help some unfortunate family or suffering pioneer, and no distance was too great and no road too dark for him to refuse to go to the aid of the needy. The duties of hie calling led him from Illinois to Minnesota in the autumn of 1856 and made him a pioneer of St. Peter. In the spring of 1857 he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres in what was known as the Big Woods district. Scarcely had he settled the family in their lonely home when the panic of 1857 came upon the country. During the two following years the family and their few neighbors suffered privation and want. Elour was $9 per barrel and other necessities were almost as high. Were it not for the high price paid for ginseng and the abundance of the root, many a time the children and the older ones would have gone hungry to bed. With the return of prosperity to the nation the family giadually entered into happier circumstances, yet tliey never became well-to-do, and it was not possible to give the children many advantages.

In the family of Eev. John E. and Delilah (Armstrong) Andrews there was a son, John Wesley, born at Eussellville, Lawrence county, Illinois, April 6, 1849, and brought to Minnesota at the age of seven years. While it was not possible for his parents to give him any advantages, such was his energy and determination that he met destiny with a brave spirit and carved out opportunities for himself. In 1868 he became a student in the Minnesota State Norman School at Mankato, but on account of suffering an attack of typhoid fever he was not able to continue his studies. On regaining his strength he secured a position as teacher in the St. Peter Jiigh school, where he remained for three years. ]\leanwhile he had become interested in the study of medicine and had determined to gain an education in that profession. This was made possible by his tireless exertions. After a course of lectures in the medical department of the University of Michigan, he entered Eush Medical College in Chicago and enjoyed the advantages offered by that renowned institution, from which he was graduated in February of 1877. After a preliminary practice of two years he sougM further advantages in the science of therapeutics by admission into one of the most famous institutions of the east, Bellevue Hospital Medical College, where he took the regular lectures in medicine^ surgery and allied branehee, graduatiag in March of 1880. On his return to Minnesota he resumed his practice at ilarshall, and alter three years located at Mankato, but again in 1886 he allowed himself a vacation in order CO prosecute medical studies in the hospitals and colleges of Berlin and Vienna. Since then it Jias been his custom, every two or three years, to spend six weeks or two months in study in the large hospitals of different cities, by which means he has kept in touch with every phase of development made in medicine and surgery.

Various professional associations, including the ilinnesota State Medical Society of which he was one time president, and the Minnesota Valley Medical Society, number Dr. Andrews among their members. Dr. Andrews has always voted the Eepublican ticket and he has taken great interest in politics. During 1893 his friends placed his name in nomination for mayor of Mankato and he lacked only seven votes of being elected. Two years later he was induced to take a seat in the city council as the representative of the fourth ward, and in April, 1907, was elected mayor by a large majority. In fraternal relations he is a Mason and for four consecutive years acted as master of Mankato Lodge No. 12, A. P. & A. M., besides which he was t'cnior warden for two years. The Mankato board of trade has his name enrolled among its members whom he served one term as president, as has also the Social Science Club. At the age of twenty years he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which faith he had been reared by his earnest Christian parents and to which he has since been a liberal contributor. April 4, 1878, he was united in marriage with Miss Jennie French, formerly of Wellsville, New York, but a resident of Marshall, Minnesota, at the time of their marriage. They have one son, Eoy N". Andrews, who was one of five who were elected to membership in the Honorary Fraternity Alpha Omega Alpha, the requirements of which are to be at the head of the classes in deportment as well as studies, and in 1908 was elected its president, he is also a member of the Phi Beta Pi. On July 12th, 1906, he was married to Mi.ss Florence Burgess of Minneapolis, and finished his course in medicine at the University of Minnesota in June, 1908.

ANNIS, EICHAED STEPHEN. - Very early iji the colonial history of our country the Annis. family crossed the ocean from England and established themselves among the farmers along the bleak coasts of New England. The family genealogy records that Solomon Annis, born at Lebannon, Grafton county. New Hampshire, November 8, 1765, was united in marriage March 12, 1791, with Susannah Botsworth, who was born February 28, 1770, and died August 14, 1832. In their family of ten children there was a son, James, who was born at Lebanon, New Hampshire, January 22, 1792 (?), ajid died at Chelsea, Vermont, July 31, 1830, while yet in the prime of manhood. While jnnking liis home at Chelsea he had married, December 16, 1811, Miss' Sally Clifford, who was born April 4, 1792, and died May 2, 1838. Eleven children were born of their union, among these being a son, Ira, whose birth occurred at Chelsea, July 12, 1816, (?), and who passed from earth October 10, 1882. His marriage took place November 25, 1844, and united him with Erilla J. Corey, who was born February 14, 1819, and died January 17, 1862. The ceremony v.hich united them in marriage was solemnized at Lowell, Massachusetts, by Eev. Lemuel Porter. The bride was a daughter of Stephen Corey and a descendant of a Eevolutionary hero.

Following the tide of emigration toward the west, Ira Annis in 1853, removed to Wisconsin, accompanied by two brothers, Azro and Darius, and they became pioneers of Eipon, Fond du Lac county. During 1856 Ira and his family and his brother, Azro, traveled with wagon and oxen to Minnesota, where they proceeded to Blue Earth county and joined the pioneers near the ]\Iaple river, arriving there on the 20th of June. Azro settled in Sterling township four miles west and two and one-half miles south of the present town of Mapleton. Ira selected as his location a tract of land four miles south and one mile west of Mapleton, the Maple river running through his farm. To his original homestead he added by purchase until he became the

The deep interest in religious affairs which Mr. Annis displayed throughout his entire life led him to aid generously in all work for the benefit of the church and the spiritual uplifting of humanity. In the building of the Free Baptist church at Mapleton he was a large contributor and afterward remained one of its strongest .supporters until his death. Of his ten children the two eldest -nere daughters and died in Ver- )nont. The third, Eichard Stephen, was born in Orleans county, Vermont, January 27, 1846, and i't an early age accompanied the family in their removal to the then frontier. When he was ten tlie family settled in Blue Earth county, where since he has made his home. The schools of those days were few and widely scattered, and it was not possible for him to attend school as regularly as might have been desirable, yet he managed to gain an excellent education through selfculture, close reading and habits of careful observation.

Prom the opening days of the Civil war Eichard S. Annis was staunch in his allegiance to the Union cause. August 26, 1864, at the age of eighteen years he enlisted in Company C, Eleventh Minnesota Infantry, under Colonel Gil- /iUian and Captain Theodore E. Potter. The company was mustered into service at Fort Snellmg and ordered to Tennessee, where they were detailed to guard trains on the road from Nashville to Chattanooga. A colored regiment that had engaged in guard duty on the Louisville & N"ashville Eailroad was annihilated by the guerillas, and the Minnesota regiment was ordered to take their place, with headquarters at Gallatin, Tennessee, where he remained until the close of the war, and July 10, 1865, was honorably discharged on his return to Fort Snelling.

Shortly after his return home from the war Mr. Annis purchased land four miles south and two miles east of Mapleton, and here he embarked in agricultural pursuits. .From time to time he added to his original purchase until now he has three hundred and sixty acres of fine farm land which he rents to tenants. During 1887 he sold his personal property and removed to Brainerd. Crow Wing county, Minnesota, where he engaged in the mercantile business. However, the confinement to indoor work proved unhealthful and after three years he sold the business, returning in 1890 to Mapleton, where he now makes his home. August 8, 1869, he married Melissa Foster, of Eipon, Wisconsin, a daughter of Warren Foster, who removed to Minnesota (luring the fall of 1865. Four children came to bless their union. The sons are Elwin E. and Chester A., the former of whom was employed in a drug business for a year, then attended the ]\linnesota State TTniversity, where he won the' degree of D. D. S. Since then he has established a growing practice at Winnebago City, Faribault county. The two daughters. Alberta and Laura E., were given excellent literary and musical educations, and became accomplished and popular vfiung ladies, beloved in the home circle and adjiiired by hosts of friends. Thc'r death in early ^\'omanhood was a bereavement from which their parents have not recovered, bringing to them the iieaviest sorrow of their otherwise happy wedded lives.

For several years Mr. Annis was a member of the board of town supe^^^snrs and was honored by being chosen chairman of the board.. During 1900 he took a census of the township and villagp of ilapleton, for some years he filled the office of town clerk, and he also has been a memhev of the town council and a director of the town schools. Fraternally he belongs to the Grand Vrmy of the Eepublic and has officiated as adjutant of the local post. Among the people of the town he is respected as a man of sagacious judgment, one whose careful economy has rendered possible his present prosperity, and whose interests, bound by a lifetime of association with those of the township, link him by ties of warmest friendship to the people and the com- I'lunity itself.

The family which Eichard S. Anna's represents of ten children, of whom six are now living. His sister, Irene, is married and lives at Minnesota Lake. Another sister, lona, is the wife of C. F. Wallace, of IMaploton township; ^frs. Flora E. Heath is a resident of Faribault ( 'ity, and Sarah married Judge J. H. Quinn and makes her home in Fairmont, Faribault county.

His only surviving brother, Ira D., is a resident of Weetbrook, Cottonwood county, this state. The early days of the residence of the family in Minnesota were marked by many hardships. The winters were bitterly cold and the cabins of the pioneers were illy fitted to withstand the rigors of the weather. Suffering fell to the lot of all, but was borne without a murmur and sacrifices were made cheerfully. No braver heroes ever fell on field of battle than those men and women who bore without a whisper of discontent the sufferings caused by cold and hunger. They had come hither to found homes where their children might live in happiness and prosperity, and they counted no sacrifice too great that would aid in Ihe accomplishment of their ambition. Long after their bodies shall have returned to the dust ihe memory of their privations, sacrifices and unceasing toil will remain to stimulate to greater ambition those who proudly trace their lineage to these brave pioneers.

When the Annis family found themselves in the midst of the desolate conditions prevalent during the '50's in Blue Earth county, they began the task of making a home. For a few months they lived in a tent. Meanwhile they built one of the first houses in Mapleton township. This was a crude structure, scarcely more habitable tiian the tent. When they moved in, December '', 1856, it was necessary to place the tent inside the house in order to withstand the extreme cold (if the winter. The cabin was plastered outside and inside with mud mortar mixed in a hole intended for a cellar. While the father applied the mortar to the outside of the building, the mother was similarly engaged inside of the cabin. Soon afterward it became necessary to secure flour. St. Paul, about one hundred miles distant, was the nearest market, and Hastings was an equal distance from the frontier settlement. With a neiglibor, Mr. Samuel Atkins, Mr. Ira Annis started with horses for Hastings, and accomplished the first half of their journey successfully. Mr. Atkins proceeded on to Wisconsin. On Mr. Annis' return alone he had reached old St. Mary's when he and another party were caught in a severe snow storm. All day they wearily pushed forward through the blinding enow, but the drifts became so deep that at night they were forced to return to the place they had left in the morning. About noon of the following day he alone .started out, unloaded hie fiour, piled it up against a small oak tree, and started onward as rapidly as the condition of the weather permitted. That night he was overtaken by a terrible blizzard. Unable to face the ptorm and darkness coming on, he tied his horses to the sled, wrapped blankets around his limbs and all through the long night ran around the sled to keep from freezing to death. By the next day the storm had passed and he was able to proceed to his home in safety. When spring came he returned and found his fiour under the tree where he had left it during the blizzard of the winter. This is a record of but one experience; were all related the present generation would realize to what extent they are indebted to their fathers and grandfathers, who endured such dreary isolation from civilizing influences, such exposure to the rigors of winter, and such continued hardships and privations, in order that the civilization of the twentieth century might be made possible to this part of our state.

AEEND, JOHN. - The fair degree of success i\hich came to Mr. Arend in the management cf his farm and the accumulation of land proves that he was a man of ability, for he was heavily iiandicapped for many years by ill health resulting from the hardships of army service during the Civil war. In spite of a constitution far from robust he continued the active supervision oi his interests and resolutely refused to permit himself to be relegated to the ranks of invalids. Notwithstanding the fact that he often worked beyond the limit of his strength, his life was prolonged to three score years and ten and he went to his grave in an honored old age. Among the people in whose midst he made his home for many years he is remembered as a capable man, progressive citizen and loyal to the welfare of his adopted commonwealth and country.

Mr. Arend was born December 30, 1830, in Luxemburg, Germany, where his parents, Nicliolas and Susanna Arend, were farmers and life long residents. On both sides of the family the ancestors had been long and intimately as- cociated with affairs in Luxemburg. After having received a fair German education in the Roman Catholic schools, John Arend began to earn his own livelihood by working on a farm, and in 1850 he crossed the ocean to America in search of better opportunities than awaited him in the old country. For some years he worked on farms in Wisconsin. During the year 1856 he became a pioneer of Minnesota and settled in Blue Earth County, where he pre-empted from the government forty acres of raw land. Not a furrow had been turned in the primeval soil and no attempt had been made at any improvement; thus his was the pioneer task of transforming the little tract into an improved farm.

While busily engaged in developing his land Mr. Arend responded to the call of his adopted country in her hour of need, and August 19, 1862, he enlisted as a member of Company K, Seventh Minnesota Infantry, which regiment he accompanied to the south. The hardships of forced marches and the other privations of army life impaired his health and when he was honorably discharged, at the expiration of the war, he went back to Minnesota with strength so feeble as to preclude active work for some years.

On regaining partial health he took up farm work and busily engaged in cultivating such crops as suited the soil and climate. March 4, 1868, he married Miss Mina Schlichting, who was born in Germany February 12, 1841. When she was a mere infant she last her father, who was a fanner by occupation. Some time afterward her mother married again, but in 1855 the mother, step-father, grandmother and younger fister died within one week of that dread disease, the cholera. Mina made her home for seven years in Germany with a family bearing Ihe name of Schwartz and she accompanied tliem to America, settling in Minnesota. The only son of her marriage, Louis, was born January 1870, and died June 15, 1888. An adopted son, John, now occupies and operates the Arend homestead, which was increased from its original size by the purchase of one hundred and thirtyfive acres and through the efforts of the owner was transformed into a valuable estate.

where she owns a comfortable home at No. 1005 North Sixth street. In religion she is identified with the German Lutheran church, while Mr. Ai'end adhered to the doctrines of the German Catholic denomination. In politics he always A'oted the Democratic ticket, but was not active in such matters and had not official aspirations. Possessed of a kindly, home-loving disposition, he was the happiest on his farm and busy vrith such work as his strength permitted, but he was always willing to aid in local enterprises and was especially interested in aiding the unfortunate and the needy.

ATCiSERSON, JOSEPH W. - Indians still roamed at vrill throughout the northwestern frontier, and Blue Earth county was yet a reservation, when, in 1863, W. J. Atcherson brought Ills family to Minnesota and took up a tract of raw land. The progress of the .Civil war had left the settlers of the northwest more or less at the mercy of the savages, and tales of depredations were heard on every hand, but this indomitable frontiersman was not dismayed by conditions; on the contrary, he patiently toiled and sowed and reaped, and at no time was he molested by the Indians, toward whom he always displayed a friendly consideration. Born and reared in Vermont, he had married a ynung lady from that state in early life and three children had been born to them, Frederick, Joseph W., and Julia, of whom the second son is the sole survivor. The wife and mother died while yet a young Avoraan and later he married Sarah Archer, who since his death in 1905 had continued to reside in the neighborhood endeared to her by years of associations. Of the second marriage there were three children, namely: Frank, a farmer of Medo township ; Mack, who is reprei-cnted elsewhere in this volume ; and Clara, Mrs. Frederick Aldrich, of Mankato, this county.

During the res'dence of his parents in Vermont Joseph W. Atcherson was born May 23, 1845, and from the east he accompanied the family to the frontier regions of the northwest, where he received such meager advantages as the locality and day afforded. At the age of nineteen years he enlisted under General Gerard in tlie Sixteenth army, corps, western division, and was stationed principally at Fort Spanish until lie was mustered out of the service, August 19, 1865. After his return to Blue Earth County he took up agricultural pursuits and in 1881 purchased a farm on section sixteen, Medo township, where he was engaged in stock-raising and general fanning with noteworthy success. His specialties have been dairying and the raising of Norman horses, Poland-China hogs and Shorthorn cattle. The farm comprises three hundred and twenty acres and represents his unaided efforts. The improvements bear testimony to his thrift, wise judgment and industrious application.

The marriage of Mr. Atcherson took place in 1878 and united him with Miss Mary J. Mc- Kibbon, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Quinn) McKibbon, natives of Ireland, but from early life residents of the United States, first sojourning in Pennsylvania and during 1863 becoming pioneers of Blue Earth county. For a long period Mrs. McKibbon has been dead, and he is now making his home with his daughter, Mrs. Atcherson. Another daughter, Isabelle, is deceased. There were two sons, William McKibbon, now a resident of Medo township; and James, who died in infancy. Five children comprise the family of Mr. and Mrs. Atcherson. The eldest, Olive, married Hilmer Hoverson and has one son, Kenneth. They reside at Lidgerwood, N". D., where he acts as manager of a creamery. The second son, Harry, resides with Ivs parents; Gertrude is engaged in educational Avork ; Elsie, a student of the Albert Lea, Minn., School of Music, and Sadie is a student in the Mapleton high school. For years Mr. Atcherson has been identified with the Grand Army of the Pepublic. Politically he affiliates with the Democrats and on the party ticket was several times elected a member of the board of supervisors, bf-sides which he has served as pathmaster and held office as school director.

ATCHEESON, MACK. - ISTo name in Blue Earth county carries Avith it greater weight in stock raising circles than that of Atcherson. The Shorthorn cattle, registered Percheron horses and Poland China hogs which attain maturity under the direction of Mack Atcherson, on his farm in Medo township, may be equalled but not surpassed by any breeder in this north country. Mr. Atcherson inaugurated his independent career in 1879 by purchasing a part of his present farm, . and he since has added to it, until he owns two hundred and eighty acres in one body. Practically all of his property is under cultivation, and he has the most approved of implements and general farm appliances.

Mr. Atcherson is a long way from his early surroundings in Vermont, where he was born Kovember 11, 1853. The Green Mountain state was the family work ground for many years, and in it were born W. J. and Sarah (Archer) Atcherson, parents of Mack, as well as the latter's paternal grandfather, Thomas Atcherson. The whole family came to Wisconsin from Vermont in 1854, or rather all were assembled there at that time, W. J. joining his sons who had immigrated a short time before. Location was made on a farm near Kilbourn City, Adams county, Wisconsin, where all remained but the father, who, in 1863, came to Minnesota and pre-empted the farm in Medo township, now owned and occupied by his widow. He had five children, of whom Mack was the fourth eldest, and the latter remained at home until moving to the farm he now owns and lives on.

October 14, 1887, Mr. Atcherson was united in marriage to Mary A. Doland, daughter of George Doland, who now lives at Waterville, Minnesota, and is one of the very early pioneers of Blue Earth county. Mr. and Mrs. Atcherson are the parents of the following children: Nettie C, now Mrs. Walter Bromaghim, of Waseca county; Clara L., now Mrs. Fremont Severance, of Medo township; Cleo M., living at home; and James M., also with his father. Mr. Atcherson possesses the qualities which insure success in any walk of life, and which particularly are appreciated in the upbuilding of farming communities. A pleasing address and invariable approachability add to his popularity, and tend, with his shrewd business ability and interest in general affairs to make him a factor of county as well as township importance.

ANTKY, ISAAC - The well directed life of Tfaac Antry spanned the years between his birth in Indiana in 1836, and his death in South Bend, the same state, in 1902. His name is enrolled among ' those self sacrificing pioneers of Blue Earth county who arrived about 1856, and whose calm acceptance of the dangers, deprivations and exactions of the frontier seem a marvel to we of a later generation. Those were the times that tried the souls of men, and either made or unmade them with its demand upon their strength and endurance. Isaac Antry proves his mettle on many occasions, but at no time more emphatically than during the Indian outbreak of 1862-3, when he was one of the bravest members of the local guard.

Mr. Antry had common school advantages in liis youth, but for the greater part he was a self made, well made man, learning more in the hard ichool of practical experience than from between the covers of books. In this county he was united in marriage in 1871, to Charlotte M. O'Connor, of Indiana, and of his large family, six sons and four daughters are living. Of the daughters, Alice is the wife of Albert Neeno, a farmer; Mary C, is now Mrs. Fox, wife of an employe of the Northern Pacific Eailroad Company; Laura is the wife of Mr. Maloney, a farmer; and Agnes is living at home. Of the sons, James is farming the home place; Charles is in California; Thomas is « resident of St. Paul, this state; John is a farmer in Dakota; and Paul and Felix T., are living at home.

To his farm of one hundred and sixty acres Mr. Antry devoted the best years of his life. He made many fine and expensive improvements, and his widow now profits by his enterprise and forethought. He was quite a politician, in the broader sense of the word, and while never seeking official honors, served as assessor twelve years^ and also was a member of the board of education. In religious atfiliation he was a Catholic, and always contributed generously towards the maintenance of the local church of that denomination. He lived a life of activity, integrity and worth, accomplishing much through honorable purpose and unflagging industry, and at the same time laboring for the public good

AXTELL, AYMBE D. - The farming contingent of Blue Earth county has no more respected and useful member than Aymer D. Axtell, engaged in general agriculture and stock-raising, and the owner of eighty-three acres of land in ilcPherson township. Mr. Axtell has gained experience in many parts of this continent, in Canada, where he was born July 22, 1849, in Illinois, where he lived with the rest of his family for ten years in Calumet county, Wisconsin, where also he lived ten years, and in Blue Earth county, Minnesota, to which he came in 1873.

Mr. Axtell is the oldest of seven sons of Jackson and Mary (Yoemanns) Axtell, the former of whom was horn in England and the latter in Canada. Jackson Axtell died in 1894, having devoted the active years of his life to general farming and mill-wrighting. In the fall of 1871 Aymer D. Axtell married Eliza J. Watrous of Wisconsin, and to whom has been born four sons and two daughters, all of whom are living, save one daughter, Mabel, who passed on at the age of two months. Of those living, Margaret is thirty-one years old, and now is the wife of Frank Slocum of Blue Earth county; Arthur is a farmer, twenty-nine year old and married; Eichard is twenty-seven years old and lives in North Dakota; Leon is twenty-four years old and if- a mail-carrier at Foley, this state; and Eobert aged twenty-one, lives with his father on the home place.

In political affiliation Mr. Axtell is a Eepublican, but he never has sought or been willing to accept official honors. With the rest of his family he finds a religious home in the Congregational church.

BABCOCK, MILEN E. - The man who goes into the real estate business ought to have a broad and varied experience, since he is to meet customers in all walks' of life and usually those whose circumstances are above the average breadth of view, elasticity of temperament and versatility in meeting objections, are primary requisites, as Mr. Babeock has found during the decade of his growing business in this line at Mankato. The record which follows indicates an unusually broad and varied experience as a business man; so that he has lived up to the well settled requirements of success in the field which he is so creditably occupying.

Milen E. Babeock is a native of Wisconsin, born to Chauncey and Fidelia (Tyler) Babeock, on the 4th of June, 1864. His New England parents came to Wisconsin in the 'fifties,' removed their home in 1889 to Mason City, Iowa, and in later years to Spokane, Washington, where they now reside. Milen is the third child of their family, and remained in Wisconsin. He passed his earlier years in that state, attending country school and working on the home farm, going to Iowa when a youth and attending the Osage High School, and afterward entering the employ of various mercantile establishments in that city. In 1887 he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was associated with a wholesale commission house and later, for six years, as a traveling salesman for a stationery establishment of the same city. This long experience both in the store and on the road gave Mr. Babeock an admirable insight into the mysteries of salesmanship, which are never divulged by lonely study or reflection; they only come to those who 'go out and hustle, and mix with people."

In 1898 Mr. Babeock located in Mankato to engage in the real estate business, his most important line being the sale of farm lands in Minnesota and North Dakota, although his transactions cover important deals in city property. Besides establishing this business he has become quite well known as a promoter of large enterprises, having organized the Mankato Malting Company and the German Land Company. Mr. Babeock votes the republican ticket, and that is as far in politics as his many other activities will allow him to go. He is a member of the jovial United Commercial Travelers of America, and is identified with the fraternities, Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen of America.

BAKEE, GENEBAL JAMES H. - To become distinguished in any field is the lot of but few and the ambition of many, but to achieve distinction in several walks of life, as has General Baker, is proof of earnest self forgetfulness and unusual talents. In his journalistic work, his military career and his public record generally an intensity of purpose, a facility of execution and a versatility of ability little short of phenomenal have been his distinguished traits. He is an Ohio man, born in Monroe, Butler county. May 8, 1829, son of Henry and Hannah (Heaton) Baker. His father was a cultured and able physician, born in Baltimore, Maryland, and engaged in practice for forty years in Ohio, while his grandfathers, William Baker and James Heaton, were Eevolutionary soldiers. When young Baker was three years old his parents moved to Lebanon, Ohio, whence, upon his mother's death, he was sent to his grandfather's home near Middleton, Ohio, and for two years attended Sherman Academy. An honored graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University, class of 1852, three years after leaving college he received a second degree of A. M. He then taught school for a time, but soon became proprietor of the Scioto Gazette, the oldest paper in Ohio, and, as a reward for his services to the Eepublican party, and a tribute to his ability and honorable character, he was elected secretary of state.

Upon the expiration of his term of office, as above, General Baker removed to Minnesota, in May, 1857, soon thereafter settling on a farm near Garden City, and, such was his faculty for inspiring confidence and drawing an enthusiastic personal following, that in 1859, and again in 1861, he again was elected secretarv of state for Minnesota. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war he resigned his office and offered his services to the government, and by Governor Eamsey was commissioned Colonel of the Tenth Minnesota Volunteers, November 16, 1862, and during that and the following year he assisted in the sup- pression of the Sioux outbreak. After the Indian war, being ordered South in October, 1863, he was assigned to the command of the post of St. Louis, which subsequently embraced seven counties in its jurisdiction, and finally was appointed by the Secretary of War, Provost Marshal General of the Department of Miss'^uri, For the able discharge of his duties in this important position, which virtually created him military governor of the state, he was made a Brevet Brigadier General, and was not mustered out of the service until October, 1865.

After the war. General Baker - returned to his farm in Blue Earth county, and in 1871 General Grant, then president of the United States, appointed him United States Commissioner of Pensions. After a faithful service in this capacity for four years, he resigned the office and was appointed by General Grant surveyor general of Minnesota, and at the conclusion of this term returned to his home, which in the meantime he had changed from the farm to Mankato. While surveyor general he did much through newspaper and magazine correspondence towards advertising the great iron deposits of the state. In 1879 he purchased the Union and Eecord, the two Eepublican journals of Mankato, united them into the Free Press, thereafter publishing the isame for two years. He then was elected and served two years as Eailroad commissioner, and subsequently, upon the creation of the Eailroad Commission, was -made its president.

General Baker for years has been recognized as one of the most brilliant orators in the state, and no man within its bounds has delivered more public popular addresses than he. He has long been a member of the State Historical Soriciy, mil has materially contributed to the history of Minnesota by his authorship of such papers as the "History of Lake Superior," "The Sources of the Mississippi Eiver," "The History of the Minnesota Valley," "Transportation in Minnesota," and "The Lives of the Governors of Minnesota. The last named volume is considered the most important of his literary undertakings, and it gives him a prominent place in the literature of the state. Some years since, the General retired from business, and in Mankato has devoted himself almost exclusively to literary pursuits. As a writer he has achieved enviable reputation, and takes front rank among those similarly employed in Minnesota.

Married in Delaware, Ohio, September 25, 1851, to Eose Lucia Thurston, General Baker has become the father of two sons. Dr. Arthur Heaton Baker, deceased, of Washington Cit]^; and Harry Adgar Baker, of Ogden, Utah. Mrs. Baker died at Washington City IMarch 20, 1873, and December 23, 1879, the General married his present wife, Zulu, daughter of George W. Bartlett, of Paris, Illinois, whose great-grandfather was the second signer of the Declaration of Independence. Of this union there is one son, James Henry Baker, now in college.

BAILEY, CHESTEE. - ITo county in the commonwealth of Minnesota surpasses Blue Earth in the fertility of its farms or the progressive spirit exhibited by its farmers, among whom mention belongs to Chester Bailey, the owner and operator of a valuable estate situated in Shelby township. ITearly forty years have passed since he came to this county and settled on the farm which since has been his home. The land lies three miles north of Amboy and two miles south of Vernon Center, so that he has the advantage of being within close proximity to two market towns. When he purchased the quartersection it was wholly unimproved and he has expended large sums since in the making of desirable improvements, including the erection of a neat set of buildings and the expenditure of $700 for a system of tiling. Diversified farming finds more favor with him than specialities, and we find him in exemplification of this idea, devoting some attention to the dairy business, engaging in the raising of Poland-China hogs, carrying a good grade of Shorthorn cattle in his pastures and also raising horses, besides raising such grains and other crops as suit the soil and climate.

Chester Bailey was born in Lacking county, Ohio, June 9, 1840, being a son of Chester, Sr., and Mary (Eoberts) Bailey, natives of the same county as himself. The paternal grandfather, who was of French extraction, was an early settler of Licking county, where he made his home Tintil death. The father started out in early manhood to settle on the cheap lands of the ¥'est, but after a brief sojourn in Illinois he returned to Ohio, where he married. Somewhat later he again removed to Illinois, where he took up farm pursuits. Shortly afterward he removed to Wisconsin and took up state land in Juneau county, where he improved a good farm, remaining there until his death in 1898. His wife passed away three years later. They were the parents of seven children, namely: Chester, of Minnesota ; Oliver, of Madison, Wisconsin; Herbert and Eachel A., deceased; Martha J., William, deceased; and John, a farmer who came to Minnesota and settled near Amboy.

Such advantages as country schools afforded fell to the lot of Mr. Bailey, but subsequent reading and observation have broadened his fund of information. On the outbreak of the Civil AVar his sympathy was with the Union cauee and with all the eagerness of his twenty-one years he offered his services promptly to th6 government. His enlistment gave him a place in the Tenth Wisconsin Battery, but soon he was transferred to the ISTinth Wisconsin Battery in the western division, stationed principally in Colorado, engaged in scout duty and Indian campaigning. At the expiration of three years he was honorably discharged and returned to his Wisconsin home, where he remained on the farm until 1869, the year of his removal to Minnesota. Since then he has risen to prominence among the farmers of Blue Earth county.

Sharing with Mr. Bailey in the confidence and respect of the people is his wife, whom he married in 1865, and who was Mary A. Kewen, a native of Juneau county, Wisconsin. Two sons blessed their union. Both are still living and' occupy farms adjoining the old homestead, so that the parents have the pleasure and satisfaction of entering upon the twilight of life's day surrounded by their loved ones. Both sons have homes of their own. Theodore married Margaret Shear and Ernest .was united with Anna Shear, members of a prominent family in the locality.

the war whoop of the Indian and the shot of the marksman which brought down big game. Little save the primeval trees intercepted the chill winds of winter or protected from the glare of the summer sun. They were truly men of purpose and well defined ideals who could thus leave settled communities and face not only desolation and deprivation, but the slow rewards which come to him who depends solely upon the products of the soil. To this class of toilers belongs Columbus Ballard, who arrived in this county April 1, 1854, and ever since has made this his home, devoting his energies to the accumulation of a competence as a farmer and stock raiser.

ilr. Ballard comes of old southern stock, and was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, September 27, 1829. He was one in a family of fourteen children, his father being twice married, and he early was obliged to contribute his share towards the family support. He was twenty-four years old upon coming to Blue Earth county from Kentucky, and he pre-empted a farm in Mankato township, which, with a few changes, always for the better, ever since has been his home. He has been interested in Democratic politics ever since the beginning of his voting days, and has served as Justice of the Peace and member of the board of education. In the early 'go's he was active in the last of the Indian wars. In religious affiliation he is a Baptist.

January 1, 1856, two years after coming to Minnesota, Mr. Ballard was united in marriage to Lois Gregory, of Michigan who died in 1878. Of this union there were eleven children, seven sons and two daughters, eight of whom are living. All of the sons are prosperous farmers. Mr. Ballard is a man of noble impulses and kindly d'sposition, and commands the respect and esteem of a large circle of friends and associates.

BANGEETEE, BENEDICT - On completion of his last term, Benedict Bangerter had given twelve years of continuous service as registrar of deeds of Blue Earth county. First elected in 1896, he has succeeded himself every two years, and his conscientious discharge of duty has won the approbation of all classes regardless of differences of political belief. Mr. Bangerter is; a stanch Eepublican, and as such has materially strengthened the local standing ol his party. His faithfulness to community interests has "been further evidenced during hie twenty-seven years' connection with the fire department, of which he now is first assistant chief.

The claims of Mr. Bangerter upon the confidence of his fellow townsmen does not rest solely upon his work in the political arena. He is a business man of strict integrity and progrcssiveness, and has for many years been identified with the boot and shoe and hardware business. The former occupation came to him naturally, and was learned from his father, Benedict Bangerter Sr., who established his family in Mankato in 18C8. The elder Bangerter was born in Switzerland, and came as a single man to America, locating first in Illinois, where he married Mary Sahli, also a native of Switzerland. The young people came soon after their marriage to Brown county, Minnesota, later settling on a farm at New Ulm, from which they were driven during the Indian outbreak of the early '60s. Mr. Bangerter learned the shoemaking trade in his native land, and in America was a journeyman for many years, finally establishing the boot and shoe business which he .still conducts in Mankato. He is a thrifty and successful business man, and a fair representative of the better class of Swiss sojourners who find congenial occupations and happy homes on this side of the water.

Benedict Bangerter Jr. had the many advantages of being reared in a large family, for his devoted mother sang and wept and prayed above thirteen cradles, and each child in turn became the guardian and helper of the one that followed. Benedict learned to handle tools as soon as he was old enough to be trusted with them, and when he had mastered the trade of shoe making, was variously employed thereat for several years. He finally gave up the bench and useful implements of his time honored trade and embarked in the hardware business with Gerhard LulsdorfE, remaining with him seven years, and continuing in the same business for eleven years more after the firm name had been changed to LulsdorfE & Son. January 29, 1887, Mr. Bangerter was united in marriage to Anna K. Eoss, daughter of George and Philipine Eoss, of Mankato, and four children have been born to the union : Benedict E., Margaret E., Marie E., and John G. The lengili ol his service in various capacities indicates the good judgment and dependability of Mr. Bang'erter. He is a quiet and unassuming man, utterly devoid of ostentation and' display, and finding always in his work much tlicit is pleasant as well as profitable.

BAENES, EEANIvLIN. - During the early portion of the nineteenth century John Barnes came from his native country, England, to the United States and settled in Vermont, where he became a farmer. Not many years after his arri\al he married a young lady of French birth and ancestry, and their son, Franklin, was born at Highgate Falls, Franklin county, Vermont, June 22, 1834, being one of a family of seven children, all but one of whom still survive. The parents remained in Vermont until their death. The common schools of Vermont afforded Franklin a fair education and while still quite young he was taught lessons of self-reliance and industry that aided him in later years. During 1852 lie came to the west and spent a short time in Kalamazoo, Michigan, later removing to St. Anthony's Falls, now known as East Minneapolis. The year 1857 found him among the pioneers of Blue Earth county, where during September he secured a tract of land one and onehalf miles from the present site of Vernon Center village. In addition to bringing this tract under cultivation he engaged in the mejcantile business for four years and for a similar period was interested in bujdng and selling grain.

After having conducted farm pursuits about thirty years, in 1890, Mr. Barnes relinquished agricultural activities and came to Lake Crystal. Purchasing what was known as the old Mitchell place, formerly the estate of a banker of the town, he remodeled the place and converted it into one of the most beautiful homes in the village. A natural grove adorns the grounds and 1he beauty of the place is heightened by its location on the northeast side of Lake Crystal. "While enjoying his beautiful home Mr. Barnes also has had the privilege of considerable travel throughout the United States, and has spent one year in the south^ one winter at Biloxi, Mississippi, and ten winters at San Diego, California, thus escaping the rigors of our Minnesota blizzards. While enjoying his travels he believes no state can surpass Minnesota and he remains intensely loyal to the commonwealth of his adoption.

During 1857 Mr. Barnes married Frances E., daughter of William and Frances (Doble) Reed, natives of Maine. As early as 1855 Mr. Eeed came west and settled at St. Anthony's Falls, Minnesota, where he followed the millwright's trade, building the second sawmill in the city of Minneapolis. The year 1857 found him joining the tide of emigration that had turned toward Blue Earth county. Here he took up land in Vernon Center Township and gave his attention to converting a tract into a productive farm. After ten years here he moved to Eenville county, Minnesota, and built a sawmill there, also erected similar plants at other places, including one at Vernon Center. During a visit to Minne^ apolis he died in 1883, and seven years later his wife also passed away.

The eldest son of Mr. Barnes is William E., T.'-ho is engaged in the mercantile business at Mankato and also deals extensively in lands as a trader and speculator. The second son, F. H., is represented elsewhere in this volume. The older daughter, Hattie L., was the wife of Ernest Gleason and after his death she married Edward Washburn, a merchant at Vernon Center. The youngest son, Edward A., married Sadie Warren and carries on a general store at Vernon Center. The youngest member of the family circle is Louise, wife of Frank Rich, a banlcer at Willow City, ISTorth Dakota. In addition to his attractive homo at Lake Crystal Mr. Barnes owns three hundred and twenty acres in Vernon township and has other property interests. Politically he votes with the Eepublican p^arty and in religion is identified with the Methodist Episcopal church. Public spirited and loyal to the welfare of his township, he has consented to serve as a school officer and pathmaster, and in other local positions where his services would promote movements of importance to the community. Aside from his agricultural and business interests, he has taken pleasure in saving specimens of shells and stones and by the work of years he has secured the finest collection of the kind in Minnesota. In an early day he bought tlie first steam-thresher in the vicinity of Vernon Center and for twenty-eight consecutive seasons he operated the same in his own fields and those of his neighbors. But his memory goes back further than the days of steam threshers, for he recalls the times when horse power and tread power were utilized, and he rejoices in the contrasts afforded by present methods with the slow processes of years gone by. Many years ago he invented the first zinc sieve for wheat and other grain to pass through and still later he invented a sieve of wood, these proving valuable aids in the work of facilitating the separation of the grain from the straw. As a pioneer he bore his share of the hardships and discouragements of frontier life, but he has lived to reap the benefit of his privations and now, in the twilight of his busy life, he enjoys the comfor.ts amassed during those days of toil and struggle.

BAENES, FEANK H. - The business interests of Vernon Center, Blue Earth county, have numerous and influential representatives in the members of the Barnes family, not the least successful of whom is Frank H. Barnes, since 188? proprietor of a lumbering and furniture business in the town. Upon coming to this place from the farm he embarked in business upon a very small scale, but success justified him in undertaking larger things and he has therefore built up an important establishment on a firm financial basis. Meanwhile for fourteen years he also acted in the capacity of contractor and builder, and during that period had the contract for the greater number of the houses erected in the village. In addition to his other interests he is the owner of Rve hundred acres situated about one and onehalf miles from town and representing the fruits of wise investment and industrious application to business.

The Barnes family is of eastern extraction. Franklin Barnes, a native of Highgate, Vermont, born in 1832, left his native locality in boyhood and after a considerable period spent in eastern states he came to the northwest, then an unknown and undeveloped region. He was one of the first settlers of Minneapolis, where he conducted a hardware store. From there in 1857 he came to Blue Earth county and settled at Vernon Center, where he took up land under the homestead laws. In 1892 he moved to the vicinity of Crystal Lake, this county, where he lived until 1907, at which time he bought a home in Vernon Center, where he now resides, being now the owner of one-half section of well-improved land. During the long period of his residence in the county he has proved a public-spirited citizen, solicitous to promote the general welfare, progressive in spirit and patriotic in devotion to commonwealth and nation.

The marriage of Franklin Barnes united him ivith Frances Eeed, who was born in Maine in 1837. They became the parents of five children, namely : William E., who is engaged " in the real-estate business at Mankato; Frank H., wBo was born at Vernon Center, September 23, 1860, and always has made his home in this township; Ilattie, wife of E. W. Washburn, proprietor of a general store at Vernon Center; Edward, also a well-known business man of this village; and Louise D., who married P. M. Eich, a banker in North Daltota. Born, reared and educated in the locality where he now resides, Frank H. Barnes is well-known by the people of the locality, and has a large circle of friends among the refined and progressive citizens. Fraternally lie is identified with Vernon Center Lodge No. '^28, A. F. & A. M., and Amboy Lodge No. 97, I. 0. 0. F., while in religious views he is in sympathy with the doctrines of the Methodist , Episcopal church. His marriage, in January of 1901, united him with Miss Jessie Dredge, daughter of Thomas and Margaret (McMillan) Dredge. The father came from England to America in boyhood and settled in Wisconsin, where he married. Later he removed to Minnesota and established a home on a farm in Blue Earth county. From there he removed to Lake Crystal on retiring from agricultural pursuits and since has made that place his home.

county were first attracting the attention of home-seekers, Asa C. Barney came hither from' the east and established himself in 1857 among the few courageous pioneers of the locality. For some years he labored as a struggling farmer, suffering the hardships incident to rigorous winters and insufficient protection from the inclement weather. The life was one of self-denial and struggle, and after some years he decided that he would remove to Mankato and identify himself with the business interests of this growing town, a decision which, he has had no reason to regret. A^arious vocations have provided for him a means of support, but during the major portion of his residence in tlie city he has engaged in the real-estate and insurance business.

From Summerhill, Cayuga county. New York, where he was born September 26, 1835, Asa C. Barney removed with his parents at the age of four years to Chautauqua county, and in the schools of the latter section he received a practical education, qualifying himself for the active duties awaiting him in manhood's years. When he attained his majority and sought a location for himself, he found that the great northwest was attracting hosts of thrifty farmers, and determined to seek a home in ilinnesota. On the rth of May, 1857, he arrived in Blue Earth county and secured a claim to a tract of unbroken land in Vernon township, continuing there until 1865, when he removed to Mankato. For three years after coming to the city he clerked in a dry goods store and for two years he held a position as bookkeeper at the Novelty works. In 1870 he first became interested in the real-estate and insurance business, in which much of his time has since been passed. Meanwhile he has represented various old-line insurance companies in this section and also has acquired a thorough knowledge of real-estate values, his judgment as to the worth of land being often sought by interested parties.

For years Mr. Barney has been an enthusiastic disciple of Masonry, in which he has been an active worker in Mankato Lodge No. 12, A. F. & A. M. and for some years officiated as recorder of Mankato Commandery, No. 4 Knights Templar. For some years after coming to this county he remained a bachelor, but eventually established domestic ties, being united in mar- .riage, September 12, 1870, with Miss Mary E. Wood, daughter of Abial C. Wood, of this county. They are the parents of three children, the eldest of whom is Mrs. Blache B. Carleton. The others are sons, Paul W. and Harry C. The family hold an honored place in social circles, and Mr. Barney ranks among those pioneers to whose self-sacrificing efforts the early growth and development of Blue Earth county may in large degree be attributed.

BAENEY, CHARLES. - The genealogy of the Barney family is traced back to the days of William the Conqueror, whom a representative of the Norman house of Barney accompanied to England and aided in conquering that country. For a number of centuries the family held positions of honor and influence in Great Britain. The first of the name to settle in the new world was Jacob, who in 1634 crossed the Atlantic ocean and joined the feeble colony planted along the eastern coast of Massachusetts. His descendants became connected by marriage with the descendants of Benjamin Franklin. The first of the family to seek a home west of the Mississippi river was Charles Barney, an honored pioneer of Minnesota now residing at Lake Crystal and well known throughout Blue Earth county, whose agricultural development he personally aided for years.

Bom at Summerhill, Cayuga county, New York, January 8, 1833, Charles Barney was a son of Judiah and Philurah (Cummings) Barney, natives respectively of Vermont and New York. The father died in 1855 at Chautauqua, New York; ten years later the mother died at Vernon, Minnesota. Upon completing the studies of common schools Charles Barney took a course in the academy at Westfleld, New York, and later engaged in teaching school two successive winters. Attracted to Minnesota by reports concerning fertile lands that could be secured at low prices, in 1855 he made the then long journey to the frontier of the northwest and settled in Blue Earth county, where Be preempted a claim of one hundred and sixty acres. By dint of persevering effort continued through many years, he brought the land under cultivation and made of it a valuable farm. The property is still owned by him, but of recent years he has rented it to others and has retired from active agricultural labors.

Ever since attaining his majority Mr. Barney has voted with the Democratic party and has been a staunch believer in its platform and principles, but has never sought official honors nor wielded political influence among others. His is the highest type of citizenship, giving and never asking, loyal without thought of special reward, patriotic from principles and sincere in the effort to promote the welfare of town and county. At the time of the trouble with the Sioux in 1857 he entered the military service and aided in subduing the savages after the massacre at Spirit lake. In religious belief he and his family are Universalists. His wife, whom he married in :1870, and who bore the maiden name of Carrie A. Moore, and shares with him the esteem of the community. They are the parents of a son and two daughters, the latter being twins. Mark T., who was born December 26, 1873, is married and has one son. Maude Helen and May Eliza were born May 6, 1878; the latter is the wife of Walton Friend and has one daughter.

During the long period of his residence in Blue Earth county Mr. Barney has witnessed many changes. The lands have been taken up and brought under cultivation. Towns have been planted; thriving villages with their neat churches and schools furnish an index to the prosperity of the region. Freight trains are filled with the products of the county. Wheat and other grains, stock of all kin3s, find ready sale in the great markets and their quality attests the skill of the farmers of Blue Earth county. It has been his privilege to contribute to the prosperity of the present age and as one of our honored pioneers his name deserves to be perpetuated in the annals of the county.

BAETLETT, HENBY C - No citizens stand higher in the esteem and veneration of their fellow-countrymen than do the veterans of the Civil War, who during a long and sanguinary struggle bravely served the cause of the Union and on many a bloody battlefield fought for the preservation of our nation. Numbered among these honored veterans is Henry C. Bartlett, a well-known farmer of Blue Earth county, residing in Lake Crystal, on the line of rural route jS'o. 1, out from Lake Crystal. At the opening of the war he was a stahvart }oung man, qualified to endure the severe physical strain incident to army service. Eager to serve his country, he offered himself in response to an early call for volunteers, and August 24, 1861, his name was enrolled in the Second New York (commonly known as Harris' Light) Cavalry. Eor almost four years he remained at the front and June 34, 1865, he was mustered out at Washington. The regiment of which he was a member took part in one hundred and sixty-five engagements, among them being Brandy Station, Culpeper, Winchester, Five Eorks, Appomattox, and Wilson's 'raid. In these battles the young volunteer proved himself eourageouB, devoted to duty and easily inured to the hardships of camp life. While fighting bravely at Winchester he was wounded and again at Gettysburg he suffered at the hands of the enemy, but neither wound proved serious, and he quickly returned to his place in his company. Long years have passed since those times of hardships and danger ; the step that then was quick has grown slow; the youthful form has bowed before the hand of time, but with all of his three-score years and more, the veteran feels young again as he tells of the exciting times when the life of the nation trembled in the balance.

Descended from English ancestors who early settled in Connecticut, Henry C. Bartlett, was born in Delaware county, New York, May 7, 1842, being a son of Charles and Harriet (Gager) Bartlett, who for years lived upon a farm in New York. Both died in that state, the father in 1860 and the mother in 1876. During the boyhood years of Henry C. Bartlett, he attended the common schools of Delaware county in the winter months and labored on the home farm in the summer seasons. At the age of sixteen he left the farm and went to town, where he secured employment in a general store, and from that time until the war he was busily engaged in gaining a knowledge of mercantile pursuits while filling a clerkship. L'pon his return from the ai-my he engaged in general merchandising in Delaware county and at Otsego, New York, but in 1864 he removed from the east and established himself in the northwest, taking up land in Blue Earth county. For some time he has resided on his present homestead and has devoted his attention assiduously to the improvement of the land, which has been brought under excellent cultivation and made to yield bountiful harvests in return for untiring labor. For years he has been interested in the Grand Army of the Republic and has been an active worker in A. J. Murphy Post No. 108, at Lake Crystal. Though not identified with any denomination he is in sjmpathy with all Christian work and contributes to the maintenance of the Presbyterian church, which his family attend.

While living in New York Mr. Bartlett was married at UnadiUa, Otsego county, that state, ill 1867, to Miss Mary E. Green, who died in 1876. Three sons and one daughter blessed that union ; two of the sons are engaged in ' business at Lake Crystal. In 1879 Mr. Bartlett was united in marriage with Miss Samantlia Mills, v^ho was born in 185i_). One pair of twins blessed their union namely: Harriet and Charlotte.

BASHAW, ALEXANDEE. - The world affords no finer example of manhood and filial affection than that a son should first follow in the footsteps of his father's honest labor and, with conscientious pride and industry, amid broader opportunities and more favorable conditions, improve upon the more modest but equally noble work of his sire. In the development of such a career there are blended that faithfulness and enihusiasm which converts work into consecration, and carries with it the invariable assurance of practical success. Alexander Bashaw, the widely known contractor and prominent citizen of Mankato, has the honor of thus continuing the record of his father and his family as being a large factor in the accomplishment of the useful and practical work which makes for the prosperity of communities, having, by the good fortune of American birth, been able to improve upon the scope of the paternal labors commenced so many years ago in the sister republic of France.

Biogkaphical Histoey

Mr. Bashaw was born in Franklin county, Vermont, September 9, 1857, the son of Perdinand and Edvesk (Goyette) Bashaw, both natives of that country. In 1848 the family first located in the province of Quebec, Canada, but, although the Bashaws found there many of their countrymen, they decided to venture across the border into Vermont, locating in Franklin county, in 1856. Ferdinand Bashaw was a master stone mason, and so skilled and honest in his work that after he had become a resident of the -Dominion he assisted in the construction of the great Victoria Bridge at Montreal. The great stone quarries of Vermont naturally appealed to him, and in Franklin County he lived and worked for many years prior to his death at the age of fifty-four years. His wife who lived to be seventy-six years old, was the mother of three children: Alexander, Clarissa, wife of P. Lucia, a resident of Boston; and Melvina, now Mrs. Peter Gowette, also of that city.

Alexander Bashaw obtained his sole schooling in a primitive establishment of mountainous Vermont, which he attended three months, and which entailed a walk of three miles, but commenced to engage in the work of the world at the age of eleven and has not since withdrawn from it. He labored as farmer boy and youth and worked as a mason, a blacksmith and a carpenter, and, following the biblical injunction, "whatever thy hands find to do, do with all thy might." Thus thoroughly fitted to make his way in a new unformed country, in the winter of 1880-1 the young man came to Minnesota, first working on a farm in Belgrade Township, Nicollet County, for Geo. W. Fletcher. Two years later he became interested in the old Empire Sione Quarries, in Mankato, and has since contiimed to develop them, with the prosecution of his important enterprises in masonry and quarry contracting. For two years of the intervening period, however, he was a non-resident, being engaged in the construction of masonry for bridges along the line of the Pennsylvania railroad in Jndiana, Ohio and Virginia.

Mr. Bashaw began his career as a regular contractor in 1894, under the name of Mankato Lime, Stone and Fuel Company, associated with him being George Pass, Albert Schipple and D.

V. Williams. In 1898 he purchased the interests of his partners, and, as president and manager, has virtually owned and conducted the business since that year, being one of the largest a ad most widely known stone and masonry contractors in the state. Among the numerous substantial foundations which he has laid for public and other buildings in Mankato are those of the 'rovernment Building, Public Library, the Third Presbyterian, Episcopal and M. B. Norwegian churches, the stores of the Wholesale Mercantile Company and the Landkamer Brothers. He has tlie further distinction of having constructed at Minneopa Palk, in 1906, the first concrete bridge built in Blue Earth County, which, with its graceful massiveness, is a credit to his workmanship.

Mr. Bashaw is a substantial Eepublican, and in 1896 represented the First Ward of Mankato in the City Council, proving a working, usdful member of that body. He has also served on the Charter Commission, and, did his large private interests- permit, would be called upon more often than he is to actively assist in the conduct of public aft'airs. He has been twice married to natives of his own Vermont county, first to Eunice Eussell, who died in 1883 leaving their daughter, Nellie, and secondly, to Evaline Hall, in 1888. Bound by so many close ties to the Green Mountain State, Mr. Bashaw indulged in a specially pleasurable journey in 1905, when as a prosperous, influential and honored citizen he visited the scene of hie struggling boyhood in Franklin County, reaching his old home twentyfour years to a day after he left his small opportunities for the broader fields of the west.

BEACH, ALVA D. - Alva D. Beach, member of the firm of Williams & Beach, manufacturers and repairers of wagons, at Mankato, this county, is descended from old New England forefathers, but later from substantial families of the Empire State. He himself is a true Westerner, although the far West of his early years was bounded by the Mississippi Valley and when he came to Mankato nearly forty years ago it was little more than a settlement. He has lived to see the valley become one of the most populous

Mr. Beach was born in Flint, Michigan, September 6, 1843, his parents Ashiel A. and Harriet (Day) Beach, being natives of New York State. His father was engaged in various mercantile pursuits to the last, and died in Denver, Colorado, at the age of fifty-seven years, while his mother spent her last days with him. Of the eight children born to Ashiel A. Beach and his wife, Alva D. was the fourth, and there ar# two living besides himself, viz. : John, who is living in California, and Seth, a resident of Toledo, Ohio.

Alva D. Beach was trained in the common schools and at the blacksmith's forge, as well as by the merciless dicipline of the Civil War. For three years he was connected with Company H Twenty-third Michigan Volunteers, and as a unit of Sherman's great army was promoted from the ranks of a sergeancy. After his honorable discharge he returned to his Michigan home and resumed his trade for three years. In 1869 he came to Mankato, the place being then a very small village, and opened a little blacksmith shop on the site of his present place of business at South Front Street. In November, of that year, he associated himself with Charles D. Williams, and, as Williams & Beach they have since developed a fine business in the manufacture of wagons, while still retaining the repair feature which was the basis of the original enterprise. Mr. Beach has been active in other ways than in this connection. His democracy has remained unshaken these many years, and he has been prominent as a local leader and a man of public affairs, his identification with the Fire Department as its Chief lasting from 1903 to 1906.

Mr. Beech's marriage to Miss Mercy McCarthy, of Corrunna, Michigan, occurred in November, 1869, and she has borne him two children - Emma, now the wife of George D. Eggabroad, of Winnebago County, Minnesota, and Laura. Mr. Beach has confined his fraternal relations to the A. F. & A. M. of which order he has been a, member for many years.

BEISB, AUGUST. - It is typical of German thrift and economy that almost invariably tlie people of that nationality who immigrate to America meet with gratifying success, and such has been the case witli August Beise of Blue Earth county. At the age of fifteen years he accompanied his father to the United States and for some time afterwards he gave his labors toward the work of establishing a home and farm for the family, later taking up the task of independent farming and always displaying prudence, energy and frugality as an agriculturist. Prussia is his native ' province and October 30, 1835, the date of his birth. His parents, Henry and Frederica (Steiven) Beise, were bom in Germany in 1813, and lived in their native land until attaining middle age, when they determined to seek a new home across the ocean. The year 1850 found them newcomers in Dodge county, Wisconsin, where the father cleared and improved a tract of raw land. From there he came to Minnesota in 1866 and settled on a farm in Winona county, where he remained until his death in 1876. His widow survived him many years, passing away in 1905. They were people of integrity and high principles, and their memory is revered by the eight survivors among their eleven children. In the early days of struggle they made every sacrifice in order to give their children educations fitting them for contact with the business world, and their sole ambition was to aid their sons and daughters in improving every opportunity for advancement.

At the time of the family's removal to Minnesota in 1866 August Beise took up a tract of raw land in Medo township. Blue Earth county, where he labored with the utmost patience and unwearied endeavor to transform the bare land into an improved farm, a task in which gradually he gained success. After many years of persistent labor as a farmer he sold his homestead and in 1901 moved to the village of Mapleton, where he purchased property in block eleven, lots nine and ten. Here he has a comfortable home, surrounded by well-kept grounds, and bearing evidence of the thrift and prosperity of the owner. A deep sorrow came into his life when the wile and mother was removed from the iiome by death during July of 1904. Mrs. Beise was born in the state of Aew York and bore the maiden name of iSopiiia Loder. The family genealogy shows that Jacob Loder was born and reared in li'ranee, where his ancestors had lived as far back as the records can be traced. During early manhood he left France and crossed the ocean to the United States, where for a time he sojourned in York state, but eventually became a pioneer of the northwest. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Beise comprised ten children, of whom Lizzie is deceased. The nine now living are Amelia, Edward, Ida, Charles, Emma, Henry, George, Rudolph and Mina. The sons and daughters share with their father the esteem and good-will of neighbors. Prom the time of attaining manhood until he retired from life's activities Mr. Beise followed agricultural pursuits, never permitting himself to change his interests to other occupations, and by steady and persistent dev.otion to duty he accumulated a competency. Early in life he became familiar with politics in the United States, but he never allied himself with any party and has always been independent in his vote. While not caring for official honors he consented to serve as a member of the town board and as a school director, but it is his preference to refrain from public activities and devote his attention solely to the conduct of private business, matters.

BEISE, GEORGE. - Although not one of the earliest settlers of Blue Earth county, Mr. Beise has risen to a position of prominence among the agriculturists of Medo township and has displayed such energy, perseverance and intelligent t^agacity as to win the confidence of acquaintance besides securing for himself a comfortable proportion of this world's goods. Shortly after his arrival in the county in 1878 he purchased a tract of land on section thirty-two, Medo township, lying along the northern shore of the Cottonwood lake and rounded in such a manner as to permit of thorough drainage, thus ensuring fair crops even in wet seasons. His place is improved with a handsome modern brick residence

Several of the most influential farmers of this county came from Germany and were born in Pommern, which is the native place of George Beise, the date of his birth being July 5, 1846. His father, Henry, was born and reared in the same place and married a Miss Stevens, also of Pommern. Years after their marriage, as they saw their children growing up around them and desired better advantages for their future years than Germany- could offer, they crossed the ocean to the United States in 1850, settling on a tract of raw land in Dodge county, Wisconsin. About 1866 they removed thence to Minnesota and settled in Winona county, where eventually they passed away, surrounded by the comforts "accumulated by years of ' toil, and esteemed by the neighbors to whom their kindly qualities had endeared them. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom five sons and three daughters are now living. George, who was the fifth in order of birth, was four years of age at the time of coming to the new world, hence his schooling was secured in American schools and in the English language.