Brown County, Minnesota - Biographical sketches, 1916 (part 9 of 9)

Five children have been born to Mr. Mickelson and wife, namely: Martin, born on November 1, 1876, married Lena Larson, and they live in Blue Earth county and have four children, Peter, Helma, Gladys and Marvin L.; Matilda, born on August 6, 1878, married Lars Erickson, and they live in Linden township ; Edward, born on January 13, 1880, married Anna Hustoft, and they live on the home farm; Minnie, born on March 12, 1881; Peter, born on April 6, 1883, lives in Penington county, South Dakota, where he has a homestead.

Mr. Mickelson and family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Linden township, which church was founded partly through the assistance of the parents of Mr. and Mrs. Mickelson, in the year 1867.

Chris Jensen

By close application and fair dealing with his fellow men, Chris Jensen, of Evan, Brown county, has built up a large and growing trade as a hardware and lumber dealer. He was born in Denmark, July 15, 1870, and is a son of Nels J. and Kirsten (Christensen) Jensen, both natives of Denmark, where they were married and established their home, the father devoting his active life to farming. He brought his family to the United States in 1883 and bought eighty acres in Prairieville township, Brown county, where he lived until 1908, when he retired and has since made his home in the village of Evan. His family consists of four children, a son and three daughters, namely : Mary, Anna, Chris and Carrie.

Chris Jensen spent his boyhood in Denmark, where he attended school until he was thirteen years old, when he came to America with his parents, and attended the public schools of Brown county, Minnesota, until he was twenty years old, then learned the butter-making business, at which he worked for three years, when he started in the hardware business in Evan with only an eight-hundred-dollar stock. Six months later he took in a partner and also started a lumber yard. The partnership continued until 1911, when he bought out his partner's interest and has since conducted both the hardware and lumber business alone, carrying about a five-thousand-dollar stock of hardware and a sixthousand-dollar stock of lumber. His trade extends all

Mr. Jensen was married in 1899 to Ida Anderson, a daughter of N. F. and Mary Anderson, both natives of Denmark, from which country they emigrated to Minnesota in an early day and were among the first settlers of Redwood county, where Ida Anderson was born. She is one of two children. To Mr. and Mrs. Jensen three children have been born, namely: Arthur, Mabel and Myrtle; the two eldest are attending school in Sleepy Eye at this writing.

Mr. Jensen is an independent voter. He belongs to the Masonic lodge at Sleepy Eye. He is also a member of the Danish Lutheran church, and has been a trustee of the same for three years.

Nathan Rowland

Nathan Rowland, well-known and progressive farmer and stockman, of Cottonwood township, this county, proprietor of a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres eight miles from New Ulm, where he has lived since he was sixteen years old, is a native of the gallant little land of Wales. He was born in North Wales in 1853, son of Hugh and Ellen Rowland, both natives of that land, farming people there, who came to the United States in 1859 and settled in Wisconsin, where they bought a farm and there made their home until 1869, in which year they came to Minnesota and settled in Wisconsin, where they bought a farm and there made their home until 1869, in which year they came to Minnesota and settled in Brown county. Hugh Rowland bought a farm of forty acres in Cottonwood township and there he established his family and he and his wife spent their last years there. He and his wife were the parents of two children, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Mrs. Ellen Wedwords, widow of William Wedwords, who makes her home with her brother in Cottonwood township. She has four children, Samuel, Hugh, George and Prank.

Nathan Rowland was about six years old when he came to this country and he received his education in the schools of Wisconsin, where he lived until he was about sixteen. After coming to Brown county he devoted his time to assisting his father in the development of the home farm and has continued to make his home there. Upon his father's death he bought the home place and has continued to add to the same until he is now the owner of a well-cultivated farm of three hundred and twenty acres, on which he has erected about five thousand dollars' worth of improvements, and is regarded as one of the most substantial farmers in that neighborhood. Mr. Rowland is a Republican and has ever given his earnest attention to local political affairs. For a number of years he held the office of director of his school district and also served for four or five years as supervisor of highways in his district. He and his sister are members of the Congregational church and take a proper interest in the various good works of the community.

George Foster

George Foster, a well-known and progressive farmer of Prairieville township, this county, proprietor of a wellkept farm of one hundred and sixty acres lying about two miles from the pleasant village of Evan, and who also is largely interested in various other enterprises, among which is the Evan Creamery Company, of which he is the president, and the Farmers ' Land Company, of Sleepy Eye, of which he is the secretary and manager ; as well as being the agent for two or three excellent makes of automobiles, is a native son of Brown county and is regarded as one of the most active and energetic men in the western part of the county. He was born on a pioneer farm in Prairieville township, not far from his present home, November 13, 1871, son of Thomas and Christina (Knudson) Foster, the former a native of England and the latter of Denmark, long well-known and influential residents of this county.

Thomas Foster was twelve years old when his parents emigrated from England to Canada and he grew to manhood in the Dominion. When about twenty years old he came over the border and for some time was engaged in the lumber woods in Michigan. In 1863 he came to Minnesota and settled in Brown county. He presently married a daughter of one of the pioneer families in this county, bought a quarter of a section of land in Prairieville township and there established his home, early becoming recognized as one of the most substantial settlers of that community. He was here during the troublous times attending the Indian uprising and did his part in the defensive operations of that period. In 1910 he retired from the active labors of the farm and moved to Evan, where he is now living in quiet comfort, enjoying the rewards of a wellspent life. To him and his wife ten children were born, of whom eight are still living, Joseph, George, Mary, Anna, John, Thomas, Emma and James.

George Foster was reared on the home farm in Prairieville township and received his education in the district school in the neighborhood of his home. At the age of sixteen he went to Minneapolis, where he entered one of the great engine works there and learned thoroughly the business of manufacturing both steam and gas engines, presently becoming one of the foremen in the plant employing sixteen hundred men. Later he served as a traveling expert salesman and collector for this same firm and after ten years of such service returned to Brown county and bought a quarter of a section of land in section 4, Prairieville township. In the meantime he had married and upon his return to this county, in 1903, established his home on that farm and there has lived ever since. His place is well improved and he and his family are very pleasantly and comfortably situated. Mr. Foster does not confine his operations wholly to farming. He is secretary and manager of the Farmers' Land Company, of Sleepy Eye, a concern which for the past ten years has averaged a sale of ten farms a year throughout this section of the state. He also is president of the Evan Creamery Company, a position he has occupied since 1910, and in addition to these activities acts as the local agent for the sale of Maxwell and Chalmers automobiles. He also takes a proper interest in local civic affairs

In 1898 George Foster was united in marriage to Mary Knudson, who also was born in Brown county, daughter of Hans J. and Mary Knudson, pioneer settlers of this county, who came there in 1863, and to this union five children have been born, Hannah, James, Mabel, Jeanne and Alice. Mr. and Mrs. Foster are members of the Presbyterian church at Evan and take an earnest interest in the various social and cultural activities of their home community. Mr. Foster is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that organization. He is an "independent" voter.

James Johnson

James Johnson, a well-known farmer of Eden township, this county, and one of the early settlers of the neighborhood in which he lives, is a native of the kingdom of Denmark, but has been a resident of the United States since 1862 and a citizen of Brown county since 1868. He was born on October 18, 1843, son of Ole and Carrie Johnson, both natives of Denmark, who came to this country in 1873 and settled on an eighty-acre farm in Eden township, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Ole Johnson died in 1895. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the fourth in order of birth, the others being Jens, Marron, Fred, Andrew, Margaret, Marcella and Chris.

James Johnson was reared on a farm in his native land. At the age of fourteen he quit school and went to work as a carpenter and was thus engaged, working in the neighborhood of his home, until he was eighteen years old, when, in

1862, he came to America. Landing at Quebec, he proceeded directly to Minia, Wisconsin, where for a year he worked on a farm. He then went to Greenbay, Wisconsin, where he resumed work at his trade and was presently, in

1863, employed by the government in the work of constructing fortifications and was thus employed until the close of the war, after which he went to Oshkosh, in the neighborhood of which city he was for a time employed at farm labor, presently going to St. Paul, where for three years he worked at his trade. He then re-entered the government service and for nearly a year was again engaged in the work of constructing fortifications, after which he returned to St. Paul, where he worked at his trade until 1868, in which year he came to Brown county and bought two hundred and f orty acres of land in Eden township, where, with the exception of about ten years, he has lived ever since, long having been regarded as one of the most substantial farmers of that neighborhood. In 1873 Mr. Johnson left the farm and moved to Sleepy Eye, where for two years he worked at his trade as a carpenter, after which he returned to the farm.

In 1870 James Johnson was united in marriage to Margaret Knudson. She died not long afterward, and in 1872 he married, secondly, Carrie Hansen, who was born in Denmark, daughter of Ole Hansen and wife, who came to this country in 1862, settling at Racine, Wisconsin, where they lived until 1866, in which year they came to this county, bought a quarter of a section in Eden township and there established their home. Ole Hansen and wife were the parents of twelve children, of whom Mrs. Johnson is the eldest. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson eight children have been born, as follow: Jacob, who married Hannah Hansen, and lives in Sleepy Eye; Albert, who married Lucy Nerma, and lives at Mankato; Julius, who married Miss Heth, and lives in Eden township; Anna, who married Everett Petersen and lives in Douglas county ; Sophia, who married Charles Lee and lives in North Dakota; Louis, who married Katie Morton and lives at Brook Park ; James married Emma Brent and lives at Evan ; Frank, who married Pracy Hass and makes his home with his parents on the old home farm, assisting in the management of the same. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of the Union church and take an interested part in all neighborhood good works. Mr. Johnson is a Republican and ever has given a good citizen's attention to local political affairs.