Jackson County, Minnesota - Biographical sketches, 1910 (part 3 of 13)

In the fall of 1879 Mr. Moe returned to Jackson county, took a position at Jackson as track foreman, and remained in that position one year. He then went to Lakefield and for three years was section foreman on the Southern Minnesota. Mr. Moe went to Lamberton, Minnesota, in 1883, and for two years ran the Exchange hotel. Returning to Lakefield in 1886, he has ever since made his home there. He received the appointment of postmaster in 1886 and served foiur years. In 1890 he was elected sheriff of Jackson county and served one term. He was village marshal several years and has held other village offices, being assessor at the present time. After serving his term as sheriff, he engaged in the well drilling business and has been engaged in that ever since. He is a member of the Lutheran church and of the I. O. O. F. and M. W. A. lodges.

Mi". Moe was married at Waterloo, Iowa, May 16, 1870, to Isabelle Goldbrunsen, who was bom in Norway and who came to^ the United States when sixteen years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Moe are the parents of ten living children, as follows: Clarence M., Howard J., Albert, Edward, Ernest, William, Arthur, Minnie, Jennie V. and Mabel.

JUI.IUS F. LIEPOLD (1875), mayor of Heron Lake and a druggist of that village, was born in Germany September 15, 1870. He is the son of Franz Liepold and Beatrice (Winkler) Liepold, who came from GJermany in May, 1875, and homesteaded in LaCrosse township. They remained on the farm until 1903, when they moved to Heron Lake, where Mr. Liepold still lives at the age of 68 years, and where Mrs. Liepold died in February, 1906 at the age of 67 years.

Julius is one of a family of six children, all living. He crossed the ocean with his parents in 1875, and until he was eighteen years old lived on the farm in LaCrosse township, then moving to Heron Lake. He was educated in the schools of LaCrosse township and Heron I^ke village, in the Mankato normal, the Breck school at Wilder, where he took a commercial course, and the College of Pharmacy of Minneapolis.

After removing to Heron Lake Julius, attended school and worked at various occupations. In 1897 he bought out the drug store of CI. C. Cooley, for whom he had worked as a clerk, and has ever since conducted the store. Mr. Liepold was elected president of the village council in 1908 and was reelected in 1909. He is a member of the I. O. 0. F., the K. P. and the M. B. A. lodges.

Mr. Liepold was married in Heron Lake June 1, 1905, to Miss Lizzie Svennes, a native of LaCrosse township and a daughter of Benjamin J. Svennes, one of the pioneer settlers of that township. Her father died in July, 1908. Her mother, Isabelle Svennes, resides in Heron I^ke.

OLE NELSON (1872) is one of the early day settlers of LaCrosse township, his farm being only a short distance west of the village of Heron Lake. He owns the southeast quarter of section 24, LaCrosse, and a quarter section of land in Lamoure county. North Dakota. He is one of a family of five children. His brother John died in 1882 and his eldest sister, Julia, died in 1890. Two sisters, Lena and Mary, are living.

Mr. Nelson was born in Norway July 31, 1856, the son of Nels Johnson and (ZJhristina (Olson) Johnson. Both his parents died in Jackson county, his father in the spring of. 1881 and his mother in the spring of 1008.

Biogiuphical History

Ole was eleven years of age when he accompanied his parents to the new world and located in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. In the old country the father of our subject had been a small storekeeper, stock buyer and an employe in a factory, and when he located in the Wisconsin town he and his son worked out for farmers in the vicinity. The family came to Jackson county in June, 1872, and bought the farm now conducted by our subject, the farm being known as the Ole Rognaes place, it having been owned by one of the first men to meet his death in the terrible winter storms of Jackson county.

During the grasshopper times the family encountered hard times, and only for the fact that our subject and his brother were able to obtain work on the section would have suffered greatly. Ole lived on his father's farm and worked on the section until 1886; then he married and moved to Heron Lake, having been promoted to section foreman. In all Mr. Nelson worked on the railroad fifteen years, but in 1890 he gave up railroad work and has since been engaged in farming and raising stock.

Our subject served «six years as a supervisor of LaCrosse township, was road overseer two years' and for many years was a director of school district No. 45. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Heron Lake and is one of the church trustees.

Mr. Nelson is a man of family, having been married at Okabena May 26, 1886, to Annie Christy, a native of Goodhue county, Minnesota. Her parents were John and Jane (Halderson) Christy, early settlers of the county. Both parents died in the spring of 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are the parents of the following named children: Clara Johanna, born May 16, 1887; John Nellard, born April 22, 1890; Orville Goodwin, bom August 20, 1893; Olga Addle, born May 30, 1896; Leland Arthur, bom December 6, 1899; Ella Josephine, bom December 20, 1905.

HENRY H. LEE (1865), Des Moines township farmer, is one of the oldest settlers of that precinct, having resided in Jackson county since he was four years of age. He is the son of Halvor B. and Martha (Hansen) Lee and was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, June 4, 1861. He is next to the eldest of a family of eleven children, of whom the five named

Henry accompanied the family to Jackson county when they made the trip by ox team from Wisconsin in 1865, the date of his arrival to the county being June 18, 1866. On account of Indian alarms the family spent the first four months of their residence in Jackson county in "Fort Belmont." Halvor Lee took as a homestead claim the southwest quarter of section 2, Des Moines township, and upon that farm Henry grew to manhood, residing there continuously until he was twenty-seven years of age. At that age he bought a farm in Belmont township, which he conducted a short time. He sold out in 1899 and moved to Jackson, where for the next two years he engaged in the grain and stock business. Then he bought the old homestead, and with the exception of a short time spent in Jackson, he has resided on the place ever since. During the past ten or eleven years he has been engaged in the stock and grain business as well as farming. Mr. Lee owns a residence in the village of Jackson. He has held the office of director of school district No. 13 and he and his family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church.

Mr. Lee was married in Jackson county September 6, 1891, to Lena Anderson Rod, who was born in Normay May 20, 1875. She is the daughter of Hans Anderson Rod, now a resident of Enterprise township, and Andrena Anderson Rod, deceased. Seven children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Lee, as follows: Mabel A., born July 26, 1892; Emily H., born January 13, 1894; Agnes J., born December 1, 1895; Henry O., born February 6, 1898; Hilda M., bom April 26, 1900; Edward J., born June 1, 1903; Evelyn 0., born August 28, 1909.

JOHN BALDWIN (1879), now a resident of Spirit Lake, Iowa, was for over thirty years a resident of Jackson county and one of its best known citizens, having been in public life diuring nearly the whole of that time. At the time of his removal from the county in the fall of 1909 he was a member of the Minnesota legislature, representing Jackson and Cottonwood counties.

Mr. Baldwin was born in Ontario, Canada, December 30, 1844, the son of William and Mary (Schlichter) Baldwin, natives of New York state and Canada, respectively. His fa- ther was of Irish descent; bis mother was of old Pennsylvania Dutch stock. The family moved from the British Possessions to the United States in 1846, when our subject was less than two years of age. From 1846 to 1853 the family lived in Saginaw City, Michigan, and then the home was made in Dubuque county, Iowa. William Baldwin died there in 1859 at the age of 47 years; his widow died in 1885, aged 69 years. John is one of a family of t«a children born to these parents, of whom five are living. The children are Isaac W., deceased; Samuel, deceased; Jacob E., deceased; Caroline, John, William, Elizabeth, Charles M., Jared, deceased; and Stephen D., deceased.

John Baldwin was brought up on his father's farm, upon which he lived until the latter's death in- 1859. From that time until 1874 he was engaged in various occupations in Dubuque and Jackson counties, Iowa; then he located in Olmsted county, Minnesota, of which county he was a resident until he came to Jackson county in 1879. Upon his arrival he bought a farm on section 25, Minneota township, and was engaged in farming imtil the fall of 1888. Then he moved to Jackson to take the office of register of deeds and resided in the county seat until the year 1905. Returning to the farm, Mr. Baldwin engaged in farming two years, then sold out and again took up his residence in Jackson. He continued to reside in the county seat village until October, 1909, when he took up his residence in Spirit Lake, Iowa.

Twenty-one years of Mr. Baldwin's life have been spent in public office, he having been successful in ten contests. For several years immediately following his twenty -first birthday he served as township clerk in Jackson county, Iowa, and was also postmaster in the same county two years, serving under appointment by President Andrew Johnson. He was chosen county commissioner of Jackson county, Minnesota, in 1885 and served a three year term. In the fall of 1888 he was elected register of deeds on the democratic ticket and held the office continuously sixteen years, having been reelected on the democratic ticket each two years. In the fall of 1908, he was chosen representative from the fourteenth legislative district and his office had not yet expired when he removed from the county and state. To Representative Baldwin and Senator H. E. Hanson, of Windom, Jackson county is indebted for the appropriation of $2,000 expended in the erection of a monument to the memory of those slain in the Inkpaduta massacre of 1857 and that of 1862. Mr. Baldwin is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders of Jackson.

GEORGE R. MOORE (1868), president of the First National Bank of Jackson, is a pioneer resident of Jackson county and one of the county's best known citizens. For over fortyone years he has lived in the county and nearly all of that time he has resided in the village of Jackson. During these years he has taken a prominent part in the business, social and political life of the county.

The subject of this biography descends from New England stock and is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Samuel Moore, great grandfather of our subject, the founder of the American branch of the family, came from coimty Antrim, Ireland, in colonial days and settled in Vermont. The maternal great grandfather of our subject, Abijah Smith, was a resident of Lexington and went out from his own home to fight in the battle of Lexington and was in the service throughout the revolutionary war.

The parents of George R. Moore were Samuel and Abigail (Wyman) Moore. Samuel Moore was born in the Green Mountain state and was a farmer by occupation. He was married to Abigail Wyman February 22, 1841, and died when his son was fifteen years of age. George R. Moore was bom to these parents at Barnet, Caledonia county, Vermont, March 16, 1849.

In the public schools of his native state George R. Moore received his education. He left his eastern home in July, 1867, when eighteen years of age, and located in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, where he lived and worked on the farm of an uncle, George J. Bean, until the following spring. It was during the month of May, 1868, that Mr. Moore came to Jackson county. His uncle had purchased a farm in Wisconsin township, two miles east of the new village of Jackson, and upon that farm he resided two years. Taking up his residence in Jackson, he taught school one year, and then for several years worked at various employments. In the spring of 1875 he entered the county treasurer's office, where he worked in various capacities for a time, serving one year as deputy treasurer. He was elected court commissioner in 1876 and served one term. He was elected clerk of the district court in the fall of 1878 and was reelected in 1882, serving eight years.

During the years he served the county in an official capacity Mr. Moore acted as financial agent for different concerns and individuals and developed ability in that line. Upon retiring from official life, he opened a real estate office, which he conducted for a time. In 1887 he engaged in the banking business, founding Jackson's second financial institution, a private bank under the name of George R. Moore, Banker. He conducted this until May, 1890, when he organized the State Bank of Jackson, the stockholders of which were nine of the leading business men of the village, namely: George R. Moore, Paul Berge, T. J. Knox, J. W. Cowing, M. B. Hutchinson, G. A. Albertus, A. H. Strong, F. W. Lindsley and Alexander Fiddes. Mr. Moore was president of the bank. A reorganization was brought about in 1901^ when the state bank gave place to the First National Bank of Jackson, of which Mr. Moore has since been the president. He is also the president of the Jackson Land Credit company, capitalized at $35,000.

Besides the county offices Mr. Moore has served as a member of the Jackson village council and of the Jackson board of education. He owns a beautiful home in the city and has many broad and fertile acres of Jackson county land. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and of the Masonic and M. W. A. lodges.

MICHAEL MHJiER (1868). Among the pioneers of Jackson county who have a continuous residence of over forty years to their credit is Michael Miller, of Jackson, who has taken an active and interesting part in the county's history.

In Rushbach, Germany, Mr. Miller was bom on February 24, 1841, his parents being John and Margaret (Klinefeller) Miller. At the age of six years, in 1847, he came to America and located at York, Dane county, Wisconsin. There be received his education and grew to manhood on a farm. During the month of November, 1868, he left the county where he had lired so long and came to the pioneer settlement of Jackson county. He secured a farm in Wisconsin township, two miles southeast of Jackson, and there engaged in agricultural pursuits many years. In 1884 he moved to Jackson, resided there two years, spent the next year on the farm, and then moved to town to reside permanently.

During his long residence in Jackson county Mr. Miller has taken an active part in the politics of the county. In the township he held the offices of constable and assessor and was deputy county sheriff from 1891 to 1897. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

JONAH H. WOOD (1874) is one of the early day settlers of Des Moines township. He owns the northeast quarter of section 27, a short distance west of Jackson.

The parents of J. H. Wood were Ahimaaz E., and Mary (Salmons) Wood, of old New England stock and of Scotch and (jrcrman descent, respectively. The father died in Onondago county, New York, in 1845, aged 45 years. The mother came to Minnesota in the fall of 1856 and made her home with her sons. She died at the home of her son, J. H. Wood, in March, 1885, at the advanced age of 96 years. Six children were bom to these parents. Mary E., the eldest, died in 1906. Those living are Ardeir (Mrs. Marcus Wescott), of Syracuse, New York; Jonah H., of this biography; Jesse S., of Fargo, North Dakota; Carrie J. Loop, of Eureka, Wisconsin; Ahimaaz E., of Fargo, North Dakota.

The subject of this biography was born in Onondago county, New York, December 8, 1833. He was brought up in the county of his birth and resided with his parents until his father died when he was twenty years of age. After his father's death he lived with his mother and worked at the trades of carpenter and joiner until he was twenty-two years old. In 1856 he came west, stopping one year near Delton, Wisconsin, with an uncle, Peter Fen ton, and the next year locating in Fillmore county, Minnesota, and for several years worked at his trade in Fillmore and Mower counties. When Windom was founded he moved to tliat town and was engaged in the lumber business there until the fall of 1874.

Selling out his interests in Windom in the fall of 1874, Mr. Wood came to Jackson county and located on the farm of his brother, A. E. Wood, on section 23, Des Moines township. He lived there several years and then moved onto the farm upon which he now resides - a farm which he had bought previous to coming to the county. Since then he has resided on the farm engaged in farming and working at his trade. Mr. W^ood is a member of the Masonic order.

In July, 1865, Mr. Wood was married in Jackson county to Helen Wheeler, a native of New York state and a daughter of Isaac Wheeler, who came to Jackson county in an early day and homesteaded the land upon which Leonard Ashley now lives, just south of Jackson. Mrs. Wood died May 5, 1878, at the age of thirty years. They were the parents of three children: Evalina (Mrs. William Rew), of South Dakota; Emmogene (Mrs. Bert Wilford), of Jackson county; Elmer, who lives in northern Minnesota.

JOSEPH E. THOMAS (1858), now a resident of Windom, was one of the very earliest residents of Jackson county, and there are few men living who gazed upon the country of Jackson county before he did. It was in the spring of 1858 that our subject, then a boy nine years of age, accompanied his parents to the all but deserted Jackson county country and settled on the Des Moines river within the present incorporate limits of the village of Jackson. He grew up with the country and took part in many of the thrilling events of pioneer days.

Joseph E. Thomas was born in New York state March 11, 1849, the son of those well known pioneers of the county, Joseph and Jane (Van In Wegin) Thomas. When he was three years of age the family moved to Freeport, Illinois, and in 1855 they came farther west and located at Newton, Iowa. In 1858 they pushed out farther onto the frontier and settled on what is now known as Thomas hill, across the river from the business section of Jackson. For a number of years the family

Our subject grew up amid the surroundings of typical frontier life. Four years after the family had established their home came the Sioux war and the Thomas family were obliged to temporarily desert their home, living one year in Spirit Lake. Joseph received a meager education in the frontier school and at the age of fifteen years began driving stage. For two years he drove the Jackson-Blue Earth City stage, and for six years drove the stage between Jackson and Madelia. During these years he gained a reputation as a stage driver excelled by no one. On only one occasion did he miss a trip, and then it was not his fault, but owing to the inability to cross Elm creek in the early spring.

After growing up Mr. Thomas engaged in farming. In 1890 he moved to the vicinity of Windom, where he engaged in farming until 1906, when he retired from active life, since which time he has lived in Windom. For ten years Mr. Thomas served as constable of Jackson and for two years he was a school director. He is a member of the Episcopal church.

Mr. Thomas was married September 22, 1878, to Ella M. Miner, a native of New Y'ork state and a daughter of Aiken Miner, a pioneer resident of Jackson and later of W^orthington. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have been bom the following named children: Lulu, deceased; Edgar, Nellie, deceased; Mae, Alice, deceased; Eva, deceased; Francis.

DR. CHARLES R. J. KELIAM (1879), proprietor of a Heron Lake drug store and a medical practitioner, is one of the well known residents of Jackson county, having been engaged in business at Heron Lake for thirty years. He was born at the Choctaw agency in Indian territory August 16, 1837, the son of Rev. Charles R. Kellam and Elizabeth (Person) Kel- 1am, natives of Vermont and Massachusetts, respectively. The father was sent in 1836 ns a missionary to the Choctaw Indians soon after their removal from Georgia.

The subject of this biography received his early education from his parents, there being no public schools at the agency. When twelve years of age he entered a school which is now known as the University of Arkansas, of Fayotteville, Arkansas, and was a student there two years. The death of his father caused young Kellam to leave school in order to support himself, and for several years he did tliis by teaching school. Afterwards he took up the study of medicine under a local physician. Anticipating the impending conflict between the north and south and his sympathies being with the north, Mr. Kellam, in the fall of 1859, left Arkansas and located at Peacham, Vermont. He conducted a book store there for a time and later worked for the Fairbanks Scale company at St. Johnsbury, Vermont. On April 15, 18fil, he enlisted as a member of company C, of the Third Vermont regiment of infantry, and took part in nearly all the battles of the army of the Potomac up to the evacuation of the peninsula. Because of illness he was discharged October 6, 1862, but later enlisted in the Ninth Vermont infantry. He was promoted to the position of hospital steward and served in that capacity until he was discharged on November 6, 1865.

Mr. Kellam spent the rest of the year 1866 and part of 1866 as a student in Harvard Medical college, of Boston, and later practiced medicine in Vermont and New Hampshire. He was graduated from Dartmouth Medical college in 1868 and soon after moved to Lynn, Massachusetts. Dr. Kellam was broken down in health, and in 1876 came west, locating at St. Charles, Minnesota^ where he practiced his profession until November, 1879. At that time he located at Heron Lake, since which time he has been engaged in the practice of medicine and in the drug business. Eleven years ago, owing to a breakdown in health. Dr. Kellam gave up active practice and confined his energies to the drug trade.

Dr. Kellam is a member of the state medical society and an ex-president of the Minnesota Pharmaceutical association. He has been a member of the Heron Lake board of education for the last twenty-five years and has served as a justice of the peace for the same length of time. Politically he is a republican, and in 1894 was the nominee of his party for the state legislature, but was defeated by the fusion candidate. He was the first commander of B. F. Sweet Post No. 149, G. A. R., is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Eastern Star and of the Odd Fellows lodge.

Dr. Kellam has been married three times. His first marriage was on August 16, 1856, when he wedded Sarah E. Carter, of Peacham, Vermont. Five children were born to this union, of whom the following three are living: W. L Kellam, druggist of Kilkenny, Minnesota; T. H. Kellam and A. C. Kellam, a grocer of Lynn, Massachusetts. Dr. Kellam's second wife was Emma M. Noyes, of Chelsea, Vermont. One daughter, Mrs. Alice £. Brooks, now residing at Springfield, Massachusetts, was born to this union. Dr. Kellam was married to his present wife January 1, 1880. She was Mary C. Schermerhorn, of Albany, New York. To them were born the following named eight children: Ansel B., of St. Paul; Alex S., of Duluth; Maud, a Jackson county school teacher; William H., mate on a Columbia river steamboat; Clarence W., of the United States navy; Herbert K., Ruth and Charles R. J. Kellam.

GUNDER A. HUSBY (1868), member of the firm of T. H. Stall & Co., which owns one of the general merchandise stores of Jackson, is an early day settler of the county. He was born in Trondjam, Norway, January 22, 1863, the only son of a family of five children born to Gunder and Sarah (Kyllo) Husby. The father died in 1882; the mother now lives on the old farm in Belmont township and is eighty -two years old.

The family emigrated to America in 1866, and located in Goodhue county, Minnesota. They came to Jackson county in the year 1868, and the father took a homestead claim on the north half of section 26, Belmont township. On that claim our subject grew to manhood. He received an education in the district school and upon the death of his father when the son was eighteen years of age he took the management of the farm. He conducted that until he moved to the village of Jackson and entered the mercantile business, having purchased an interest in the store two years previous.

Mr. Husby was married in .Belmont township October 7, 1885, to Lena Peterson, who was born in Norway and who came to the United States when a young woman. She is the daughter of Peter Peterson, an early Jackson county settler, ^o this union have been born seven children, as follows: Mark, Sena, Plume, Gilmore, Alice, who died at the age of one year; Blanch and Hazel.

Mr. Husby owns a farm in Belmont township and property in Jackson. He served four years as clerk of school district No. 79. He i3 a member of the Lutheran church and of the

HANS 0. SKINRUD (1870) is a homesteader and one of the pioneer settlers of Delafield township, having made his home on the farm he now occupies for the last forty years. Mr. Skinrud is a native of Norway and was born February 14, 1848, the youngest of a family of seven children bom to Ole and Martha Skinrud. The father of our subject died when Hans was one and one-half years old; his mother died when he was eight years old.

Hans grew to early manhood in Norway, attending school and working on a little farm. When eighteen years of age he came to America and spent the first few years of his life in Lafayette county, Wisconsin. He came to Jackson county in 1870 and took as a homestead claim the northeast quarter of section 8, Delafield township, upon which he has ever since lived. He hauled lumber from Mankato and St. James and erected a little frame building on the claim^ building a sod addition to it. He experienced hard times during the terrible grasshopper times that came upon the country soon after bis arrival and several summers was obliged to desert his claim to work in the eastern counties to earn enough money to meet the expenses of living. He remained with the country and has prospered, adding to his holdings about twenty years ago by the purchase of an adjoining quarter section of land.

l^ir. Skinrud was married in Lafayette county, Wisconsin, in May, 1870, to Louisa Tollofsrud, also a native of Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Skinrud arc the parents of five children, three of whom are living: Tillie (Mrs. Paul Molden), born December 11, 1876; Helen (Mrs. Albert Nestrud), born January 12, 1880; Henry, who conducts the home farm, bom April 29, 1884, married May 5, 1909; Bessie, bom March 26, 1871, died May 6, 1883; Olaf, bora Febmary 13, 1875; died March 27, 1875. The family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church. In the early days Mr. Skinrud served as a member of the township board of supervisors.

L. A. FOSS (Furuseth) (1869) is one of the pioneer settlers of Delafield township and one of the best known residents of that precinct. He owns a fine farm on the bank of Minneseka lake, one mile south of the village of Wilder. The home farm consists of 148 acres on the northwest quarter of section 18, and he owns in addition eighty acres on section 17 and a quarter section of land in Norman county, Minnesota.

Mr. Foss was born in Land, Norway, February 11, 1852, the son of Anton Mikkelsen Furuseth and Martha (Larson) Sveeom. The former died March 5, 1886; the latter October 10, 1898. Until he was sixteen years of age L. A. Foss lived in his native country, securing a good education and working on the farm. He accompanied his parents to America in 1868 and located in Olmsted county, Minnesota. There young Foss continued his schooling, taking a course in English, and working on a farm. In May, 1869, the family came to Jackson county, and the father of our subject took as a homestead claim eighty acres of his son's present farm, taking another eighty acres as a preemption claim. At this early day the nearest neighbor was seven miles away, on Heron lake, and lumber for the pioneer cabin of the Minneseka lake country had to be hauled from Lake Crystal. Wild game was plentiful in the neighborhood and the Fosses made their living for several years principally by trapping.

The rest of the family remained to make their permanent home in Jackson county, but L. A. Foss went back to his old home in Olmsted county, where for two years he worked on a farm. Returning to Jackson county in 1871, he took employment with the Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad company, which was then .extending its line through this part of the coimty, and for two years worked for that company. He again returned to Olmsted county, was married there in 1876, and for two years engaged in farming on rented land. Again he came back to Jackson coimty, this time to remain permanently. He bought 120 -acres of land on the northeast quarter of section 18, Delafield township, and engaged in farming. That was his home until 1905, when he located upon the present place - his father's old homestead. He purchased the eighty acre tract on section 17 in 1897 and his present farm in 1899. Mr. Foss rents most of his land and farms i)n1y a small part of it himself, having retired from hard work and active business.

stock in the creamery company of Wilder, in the Sontag Lumber company of Heron Lake and in the Jackson County Cooperative company's store at Lakefield. He served as treasurer of school district Ko. 28 for twelve years and was a Dclafield township supervisor four years. He and bis family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Delafield.

In Olmsted county, Minnesota, on May 24, 1875, Mr. Foss was married to Anne C. Evenson, who was bom in Olmsted county December 17, 1858. To these parents have been bom a large family of children, named as follows t Albert, born August 20, 1876, died December 23, 1894; John, of Weimer township, bom October 16, 1878; Oscar^ of Delafield township, born December 9, 1880; Mary Ella (Mrs. Otto Bailey), of Berlin, North Dakota, bom December 11, 1882; Tillie Bertina (Mrs. Martin Endeward), of Watertown, South Dakota, born August 28, 1885; Walter Levi, bom December 23, 1887, died June, 1889; Walter L., bom August 20, 1889; Lillie Amanda, bom December 3, 1891; Elmer, born January 30, 1894; Albert Clifford, bom April 27, 1896, died December 21, 1896; Manton, bom January 30, 1898; Verna C, bora March 31, 1901.

ROBERT H. LUENEBURG (1878) is the editor and publisher of the Lakefield Standard and an early day settler of Jackson county. He first saw the light of day in Krakow, Germany, on March 16, 1863. His parents, Ludwig and Caroline (Wicherd) Lueneburg, are both dead, the former having died March 16, 1906, aged 80 years; the latter on April 8, 1900, aged 76 years.

Robert accompanied his parents to the new world in 1872 and for two years lived at Hermann, Missouri. From 1874 to 1878 the family home was near Spring Valley, in Fillmore county, Minnesota, and in the year last named they came to Jackson county and located on section 10, Rost township, about six miles west of the present village of Lakefield. Robert remained on his father's farm until 1883 and then he went to Jackson and entered the oflice of the Jackson Republic as an apprentice, the paper then being under the management of Burt W. Day. One year later Mr. Lueneburg went to Edgerton, bought a half interest in the Enterprise and conducted the paper one year.

to Lakefield and bought the Minnesota Citizen. The next spring he changed the name of the journal to Lakefield Standard, presided over its destinies until the fall of 1891, and then sold out to Crawford Brothers. He ran a paper at Wliite Bear a short time after moving from Lakefield and then went to Brownton, Mc- Leod county, and founded the Bulletin. He disposed of his interests at Brownton, in the spring of 1896 and established the Free Press at Elgin, Wabasha county. He returned to Lakefield in the spring of 1900 and bought the Lakefield Herald, which he ran about two and one-half years, and then sold to C. S. Bell. He conducted a job office in Lakefield for about two years, and then in September, 1906, returned to his first love and purchased the Lakefield Standard, which had been consolidated with the Herald in May, 1904. At the time of making the purchase J. W. Daubney {^eciu^d a half interest.

The subject of this biography was married at Spring Valley, Minnesota, October 31, 1886, to Emma Kummer, a native of that village. Four children have been born to Mr and Mrs. Lueneburg, of whom the following two are living: Raymond, born October 27, 1890; Lois, bom April 25, 1905.

WILLIAM SCHUMACHER (1872), of West Heron Lake township, is a native Minnesotan and he has resided in Jackson county since he was two years old, moving at that age with his parents from Brown county, where he was born December 9, 1869. His parents are Henry and Caroline Schumacher, natives of Germany. The former came to the United States in 1853 and the next year took up his residence in New Ulm, Minnesota. There he was married and engaged in farming until 1872. That year he moved to Jackson county, took a homestead and tree claim in Alba township, and resided on the farm until 1905, when he moved to Heron Lake village. There he and his wife now reside. They are 77 and 73 years of age, respectively, and are the parents of seven children.

district school when a boy. In 1892 he married and moved to West Heron Lake township, where he botight the northwest quarter of section 7, and where he has since lived. He has made all the improvements on the place, and by industry and frugalty has prospered.

Mr. Schumacher was married on his father's old homestead on May 11, 1892, to Bessie Severson, a native of Wisconsin. They have five children, as follows: Clayton, born February 17, 1893; Sadie, born June 25, 1895; Herby, born April 29, 1899; Alice born May 6, 1902; Koy, born February 12, 1904.

FERDINAND K. HABERMAN (1872) is one of the successful farmers and pioneer settlers of LaCrosse township. He owns a 280 acre well improved farm on section 20 and has given to his sons 320 acres of farming land in the vicinity. Having had absolutely nothing when he arrived in the county, by hard work and frugality he has accumulated a small fortune and is in prosperous circumstances.

Mr. Haberman was born in Austria April 7, 1853, the son of John and Anna Haberman. The former lives in LaCrosse township; the latter died when Ferdinand was seven years of age. Our subject learned the weaver's trade in Austria and in 1872 came to America. After stopping a few weeks in Wisconsin he came to Jackson county. While on the road here he ran out of money and was obliged to walk from Winnebago City to Heron Lake, arriving in the latter village on the" third day. He at once went to work in the harvest fields and by saving his money was soon on his feet again.

The first two years Mr. Haberman lived with his parents on section 30, LaCrosse township; then he married and took as a homestead claim the east half of the northwest quarter of section 20 - a part of his present farm - erected a sod shanty thereon, and began farming. Later he built a sun-dried brick house with a straw roof. Because of crop failures during the grasshopper times he was obliged to work out in neighboring counties to make a living for himself and family. Staying with the country through the dark days, he weathered the storms of adversity and in time came upon prosperous times, and today is rated as one of the well-to-do farmers of the neighborhood.

Mr. Haberman served as treasurer of school district No. 33 for sixteen years. He and his family are members of the Catholic church of Heron Lake.

Our subject was married in Nobles county in the fall of 1874 to Mary Ninnerzhter, also a native of Austria. To this union have been born the following named children: Florian, born 1875; William, born 1877; Carl, bom 1878; Mathilda, born 1881; Mary, born 1884; Regena, born 1886; Ferdinand, born 1891; Frederica, born 1897.

JESSE F. ASHLEY (1866), a retired business man of Jackson, is a gentleman who-^c name is mseparably linked with the early history of the village in which he has lived so many years and with Jackson county. From the 29th day of June, 1866, when he first came to the county, up to the present time he has had continuous residence here and has taken part in many of the incidents of pioneer history.

Jesse Ashley was born in the county of Tioga, Pennsylvania, on the 14th day of August, 1849, the son of Welch and Margaret Ashley. Up to his seventeenth year he resided on his father's farm in his native county, where he secured an education in the common schools. Coming to the little settlement of Jackson in the summer of 1866, he took a position in his father's saw mill, at which he was engaged until he became of age. When his father platted the Jackson townsite. Jeshe assisted the survevor, James E. Palmer, in the work. In company with Lant Thomr.s and Peter Kingsley he went to Garden Citv, sixty-two miles distant, in 1867 for the purpose of bringing back flour to relieve the suffering of those who were in need. The country was flooded by melting snows and the party experienced much suffering on the trip. At Blue Earth it was found necessary to construct a boat to ferrv the teams over the swollen stream. The party was gone thirteen days, but was successful in bringing back the much needed article of food. Tlie flour sold for thirteen dollars per hundred weight, which was the actual cost of getting it in.

Upon reaching his majority the subject of this biography purchased a farm in Middletown townsliip and engaged in farming several years. Three years of this time he had a government contract and carried the mail be-

Giving up his farming operations, Mr. Ashley moved to Jackson and for about ten years conducted a store and meat market. Later he engaged in other mercantile pursuits and became the local agent for the Standard Oil company. A few years ago he gave up active participation in business affairs and now lives a retired life.

JOHN BESSER (1876) is one of the pioneer settlers of Alba township and owns the southeast quarter of section 14. He is a native of Ohio and was born July 16, 1858. He vras brought up and educated in his native state. His father died when he was a child and John worked out for neighboring farmers until he was nineteen years of age.

Mr. Besser came to Minnesota in 1876 and for a year worked on a farm near Brewster. He was married in 1877 and took as a homestead claim eighty acres of his present farm and has ever since lived on the place. He is a member of the German Lutheran church of Brewster and for several years served as treasurer of school district No. 102.

The marriage of Mr. Besser occurred at Brewster, Minnesota, in 1877, when he wedded Catherine Barton, who was born at Chaska, Carver county, Minnesota, October 30, 1855. Three children have been born to this union, as follows: Andre w, born November 24, 1879; Frank, born January 16, 1882; Fred, bom August 21, 1894.

Frank Besser^ the second son, was born in Hersey township, Nobles county, January 16, 1882, and has spent his entire life on the farm. He was educated in the school of district No. 102 and spent his early years assisting his father with the farm work. In 1907 he acquired eighty acres of land from his father and engaged in farming for himself, and in the spring of 1910 he rented and took the management of his father's farm. He is a member of the Grerman Lutheran church and is treasurer of school district No. 102. He is not married.

(Halverson) Fran t sen. His parents were born in Norway and came to America when young. They were married a year before their arrival and in an early day came to Jackson county and homesteaded in Belmont township, where they lived until their death. There are seven children of the family living: Ferdinand, Mrs. Nels Holsten, Carl, Mrs. George Lilleberg (deceased), William, Mrs. Paul Olson, Mrs. Obert Olson.

Carl was brought up on his father's farm in Belmont township, living with his parents on the old homestead on section 20 until he was twenty years of age. Then he started in life for himself and farmed rented land for about six years. In 1898 1ft bought his present farm, the west half of the northwest quar ter of section 29, then entirely unimproved, and has since made his home there.

Mr. Frantsen was married on the old Slaabaken farm' in Belmont December 29, 1898, to Obena Olson, who was bom in Belmont and who is the daughter of Ole Olson, deceased. Her mother is now Mrs. William Johnson. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Frantsen:' Juit, bom December 20, 1901; Bert, born January 30, 1905. The family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church and Mr. Frantsen is a director of school district No. 18.

ALBERT A. GRUHLKE (1869)> cement worker of Jackson, has lived in the county since he was a boy eight years old. He was born in Princeton, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, February 6, 1861, the son of August and Wilhelmina (Reisler) Gruhlke.

When Albert was a few months old the family moved to Waseca county, Minnesota, and there they remained until 1869. On June 20 of that year Albert accompanied his parents to Jackson county, and from that time until 1891 he lived on the farm in Petersburg township. Moving to Jackson, he engaged in the implement business four years and in the plumbing business nine years. Since then he has been engaged in the cement manufacturing business. During 1907-08 he was superintendent of construction of the Jackson county court house. Mr. Gruhlke owns property in Jackson. He is a member of the M. B. A. lodge.

HENRY THIELVOLDT (1883), county commissioner of Jackson county, representing the first district, and a prominent fanner of Middletown township, has been a resident of the county twenty-six years. He owns the southeast quarter of section 11, four miles south of Jackson.

Mr. Thielvoldt is of German birth, having been bora in the fatherland on the first day of December, 1849. His father, Hans Thielvoldt, was a bookbinder and printer by trade and after coming to America in 1855, worked at his trade in Davenport, Iowa, until his death four years later. Our subject's mother was Katrina (Muhs) Thielvoldt. She died in 1891. Henry is the only living child of eight children.

At the age of five years, in 1855, Henry Thielvoldt came to the new world with his parents and located at Davenport, Iowa. His father dying when he was nine years old, Henry was obliged to begin his struggle to help support the family at that tender age. In 1867 he moved with his mother to Walcott, Iowa, and later to Durant, Iowa. He made his home with his mother until he was twenty-two years of age, and then married and established a home of his own. He farmed rented land in Muscatine county, Iowa, two years and then moved to Scott county of the same state, where he engaged in farming nine years. Mr. Thielvoldt arrived in Jackson county in 1883, bought a farm on section 25, Sioux Valley township, which was his home for many years. He sold out there in 1904 and bought his present farm in Middletown, where he has since lived.

Henry Thielvoldt has served as county commissioner for the last seventeen years, and during that time has taken an active part in the history making of the county. Politically he is a democrat. He has frequently held township and school offices. He is a member of the M. B. A. lodge and was a charter member of the lodge at Jackson.

Germany and came to America when a child. She died December 24, 1892. Seven children were bom as a result of this marriage, as follows: John, born April 6, 1873; Willie, bora February 2, 1875; Amanda, bora February 14, 1879; Emma, bora August 12, 1882; Amelia, born January 3, 1887; Laura, born December 24, 1888; Hulda, bora Febraary 4, 1891, Mr. Thielvoldt was married the second time in 1895 to Mrs. Dora Wiese, also a native of Germany. To them have been born three children, as follows: Harry, born February 13, 1896; Gara, born June 10, 1898; Leonard, born May 2, 1900. By her first marriage Mrs. Thielvoldt is the mother of two children: Howard, born Febraary 12, 1891, and Emil, bora February 20, 1893.

SYVERT H. BERKNESS (1875), proprietor of a restaurant and confectionery store at Heron Lake, has resided in the county since he was a boy. By birth he is a Norwegian, the date of his arrival upon this earth being October 21, 1863. His parents were Hans G. and Annie (Gudmunsen) Berkness. The father came from Norway in September, 1872, and was followed by the family the next year. The family located in South Minneapolis and there the mother of our subject died one month after her arrival. Hans Berkness continued to make his home in Minneapolis until 1876; then he moved to Jackson county and homesteaded the east half of the northeast quarter of section 26, Heron Lake township. He died in the county March 25, 1888, aged 55 years.

Syvert came from the old country with his mother and the other children when ten years of age. He lived in Minneapolis imtil the spring of 1875 and then came to Jackson county. He worked one year on a farm in Heron Lake township and the next year in Mower county. Returning to Jackson county, he made his home with his father on the farm until the latter's death in 1888. Then he bought the farm and conducted it until 1893, when he sold out.

Mr. Berkness moved to Heron Lake village in the fall of 1893 and during the following winter worked at the carpenter trade. Thereafter until the spring of 1896 he worked at various occupations in Heron Lake. Then he rented a farm on section 25, Heron Lake township, which he conducted until the fall of

1902. Again taking up his residence in Heron T^ke, he bought the Nels Larson restaurant, known as the Comer restaurant, and has since managed it.

While living in Heron Lake township Mr. Berkness held office frequently. At the age of twenty-one he was made road overseer and held the office a number of years. Later he served as a supervisor for several terms and was township assessor one year. He was a member of the Heron Lake village council during the year 1906. Mr. Berkness is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church, holding membership in the Salem church of Heron Lake, and has held nearly all the offices in that society. He is now a trustee and treasurer and president of the Sunday school and young peoples' society. He is a member of the A. 0. U. W., holding the ofHce of receiver at present.

Mr. Berkness was married in Heron Lake township November 6, 18^6, to Mary Johnson, a native of Norway. To them were bom five children, of whom the following four are living: Henry, Carrie, Anna and John. The youngest child, Minnie, was born May 3, 1894, and died August 3, 1894. Mrs. Berkness died September 30, 1894, at the age of 37 years. Mr. Berkness was married the second time in Heron Lake village Jime 27, 1900, to Mrs. Sophia Robson, who was born in Norway and came to the United States in May, 1881. Slie is the mother of one child, Julius, of Minneapolis, who was born under her first marriage to John Robson.

JOHN H. REE (1872) owns 240 acres of land on sections 26 and 25, Belmont township, and is an extensive grain farmer. He has lived on that farm ever since he was a baby five months old. His parents are the lat-e Hans J. Ree and Bergetta (Kyllo) Ree, who came from Norway in 1872 and made their home in Belmont township. The father died there in 1900 at the age of 70 years; the mother lives with her son and is 72 years of age. There are five living children of these parents: Mrs. N. P. Alness, of Clark, South Dakota; Mrs. P. A. Olson, John H., Mrs. 0. Lillevik and Mrs. Ole Haugen, all of Jackson county.

ever since made his home on section 26, Belmont. He worked for his father until the latter's death in 1900; then bought the farm and has since conducted it. He holds the office of school treasurer of district No. 79. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church.

Mr. Ree was married at Farmington, Minnesota, June 20, 1908, to Miss Matilda Strate, a native of Rice county, Minnesota, and a daughter of the late Ebrahat and Karen Strate.

FRED J. SELEEN (1870), manager of the Heron Lake branch of the Western Implement company, has resided in Jackson county since he was an infant. He is a native of Sweden and was born December 7, 1868, the son of Ole and Stina (Anderson) Seleen.

These parents were born in Sweden. The father came to the United States in 1868 and the mother the following year. For a short time the family home was in Emmet county, Iowa, but in 1870 the family came to Jackson county and took a homestead claim in West Heron Lake township. Ole Seleen died in August, *1894, at the age of 60 years. His widow lives in Heron Lake and is 70 years of age. The subject of this sketch is the eldest of a family of nine children, of whom seven are living. The other children are Herman, who died at Pocatella, Idaho, November 28, 1899; Emil, of Spokane, Washington; Emma (Mrs. Emil Peterson), who died in July, 1901; Erick, of Minneapolis; Oscar, of Weimer township; Palmer, of Minneapolis; Nate, of Heron Lake.

Fred Seleen accompanied his mother to America when less than one year of age. After one year spent in Emmet county, Iowa, he came with the family to Jackson county in 1870. Until he was of age he lived with his parents on the farm in West Heron Lake township and in Heron Lake, securing his education in the Heron Lake public schools and working on the farm. He married in 1889 and engaged in farming four years on rented property. Then he moved to Oktibbeha county, Mississippi, engaged in farming in that southern state one year, and returned to Jackson county. He worked in the implement house of Frank Day, Heron Lake, four years, and then bought the west half of the northwest quarter of section 31, Weimer township, and engaged in fanning. During the past four years he has been the manager of the

Western Implement company's house at Heron Lake, while his sons conduct the farm. The oflficers of the company are Richard Lamb, president; B. B. Son tag, vice president; J. W. Benson, secretary and treasurer.

Mr. Seleen was married in Jackson county January 2, 1889, to Annie Johnson. She was born in Clay county, Iowa, November 2, 1868, and is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Johnson, both natives of Norway. Eight children have been born to this union, named as follows: Elmer, born September 11, 1891; Carl, born December 2, 1893; Stella, born June 19, 1897; Emma, bom February 19, 1899; John, born January 13, 1901; Paul, born December 25, 1903; Ruth, born August 25, 1905; Lester, born June 18, 1909.

The family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church, in which organization Mr. Seleen has held all the offices at various times. He is a member of the M. B. A. and I.- O. O. F. lodges. For two years he served as a member of the board of supervisors of West Heron Lake township.

and here one of the Wood brothers met his death in the Indian massacre of 1857. He was buried sixty rods north of the Frost home by Nathaniel Frost.

MOSES L. FROST (1871), of Jackson, is a breeder of thoroughbred stock. He was born in Jackson county on August 25, 1871, and is a son of those pioneer settlers, Nathaniel and Maryette (Root) Frost.

In 1874 the Frost family moved from the old homestead in Jackson to Mirabile, Missouri. After engaging in farming there four years, they returned to Jackson in 1878, and since that date Moses has made his home there. He was educated and grew to manhood in Jackson, and after reaching manhood engaged in the stock business. He makes a specialty of thoroughbred O. I. C. hogs and Shorthorn cattle and has large herds. At the world's fair at St. Louis in 1904 Mr. Frost exhibited his "Jackson Chief," No. 4759, Vol. 4, O. I. C, and that animal won the grand championship prize of the world for the best boar of any age.

Mr. Frost owns 100 acres of land in the iimits of the village corporation and eighty acres in section nine, Des Moines township. He served as a member of the village council from 1903 to 1907 and has held the office of constable. He is a member of the I. 0. 0. F. lodge.

ALEXANDER FIDDES (1869). A pioneer resident of Jackson and a man held in the highest esteem by the residents of that village is Alexander Fiddes, the postmaster. For over forty years he has been a resident of the town and during all of that time has been engaged in business. His life's history is full of interest.

Mr. Fiddes was born in Campsie, Sterlingshire, Scotland, on March 15, 1840, the son of James and Jessie (Nisbet) Fiddes. Until he was sixteen years of age he resided in his native village, securing an education. In 1856 he went to the city of Glasgow and served a five years' apprenticeship to the trade of engineer. The next five years were passed on the sea, cruising among the East Indies. At the time of the war between England and Abyssinia Mr. Fiddes was engaged in carrying dispatches between India and Abyssinia and was in the latter country at the time of the capture of King Theodore. Leaving his ship at Bagdad, on the river Euphrates, he proceeded to Bombay, thence up the Red sea to Suez, and across the desert to Alexandria. Taking ship there, Mr. Fiddes went down the Mediterranean to Marseilles, thence to Paris and London and his home in Campsie, Scotland.

Early in the year 1869 Mr. Fiddes left home and crossed the sea to Canada. After visiting there a short time with two brothers, he moved to the little village of Jackson, arriving in July, 1809. He took a homestead claim in Hunter township tvnd very soon after his arrival went into the general merchandise business in partnership with J. W. Hunter. He sold out in 1872 and started a hardware store, which he conducted until 1890, selling out at that time to W. B. Gillespie. Since that time he has devoted his time entirely to his duties at the postoffice. Mr. Fiddes owns his hom» in the city and 400 acres of land in Des Moines and Wisconsin townships.

During his long residence in the county Mr. Fiddes has often been called upon to serve in an official capacity. He served as postmaster of Jackson from October 4, 1877, to March, 1886; from August, 1889, to November, 1893, and from February 1, 1902, to the present writing. He was elected to the Minnesota legislature in 1877 and again in 1884. He was elected a member of the board of county commissioners in 1894 and served four years as chairman of the board. He was clerk of the district court a short time in 1874, having been appointed to fill a vacancy. Mr. Fiddes was a member of the republican state central committee, having been chosen to that position in 1895. He served four years as president of the village council and for twenty-five vears was treasurer of the Jackson school

Mr. Fiddes is a member of the Presbyterian church. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M. and a Knight Templar. He was made a Mason in Renfrew, Scotland, in 1865, becoming a member of Prince of Wales lodge No. 426, and five months later was made junior warden. He is also a member of the A. O. U. W. lodge.

Soon after his arrival to Jackson, on September 16, 1869, Mr. Fiddes was united in marriage to Agnes Hunter. To them have been born five children, all living. They are: Jessie (Mrs. A. B. Cheadle), of Jackson; James H., of Minneapolis; John S., of Jackson; David H., of Colfax, Washington; Alexander T., of Jackson.

JOHN M. OLSON (1S72), ex-county commissioner and a prominent farmer of Belmont township, is a native of Norway and was born October 12, 1845, one of a family of six sons bom to Ole H. Mosand and Kari (Storbudalh) Mosand, both deceased.

Our flubject resided with his parents in Norway until he was twenty-two years of age, and during this time he received his education and worked in his father's tannerv. He came to America in 1867 and first located in Winneshiek county, Iowa, where he spent the summer. During the next five years Mr. Olson worked in the pineries of Wisconsin and on railroads and farms in different parts of Iowa. He arrived in Jackson countv in 1872 and homesteaded the southeast quarter of section 10, Belmont township, upon which he has ever since lived. A number of years later he bought the south half of the southwest quarter of section 10, he now has a farm of 240 acres.

Mr. Olson has taken a prominent part in the affairs of the county. He served as county commissioner from the fifth district from 1899 to 1906, inclusive, during which time two of the hotly contested battles for the possession of the county seat were waged. During his incumbency the contract for the present handsome court liouse was let. He is clerk of the township board, an office he has held for many years, and for several years he was clerk of school district No. 39. Mr. Olson is a lifelong republican, having cast his first vote for U. S. (Jrant for president.

The marriage of Mr. Olson occurred in Allamakee county, Iowa, September 10, 1872, when he wedded Mary Anderson, a native of Norway. They are the parents of eight living children, named as follows: Cora (Mrs. N. H. Strand), Obert, Christie (Mrs. John L. Strom), Peter, Jiilia, Ida, James and Mebel. The family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Christiania township.

GEORGE E. NELSON (1876) is a member of the firm of Nelson Bros., clothing merchants and tailors of Heron Lake. He was bom in Norway August 3, 1876, the son of Herman and Bertha (Olson) Nelson. Herman Nelson was a carpenter and cabinet maker and followed those occupations all his life. He emigrated to America and to Jackson county in 1876 and died in Heron Lake in 1882, at the age of 34 years. The mother of our subject lives in Heron Lake and is 61 years of age. They were the parents of four children, of whom Mrs. Gilbert Johnson died September 18, 1906, aged 34 years, and George, Hugbert and Julia are living.

George came to Jackson county when an infant and this has been his home ever since with the exception of a year and a half, in 1901 and 1902. when he was engaged in farming in Becker county, Minnesota. He was educated in the schools of Heron Lake. After his school days he worked on the farm until after his marriage in 1897. Then he engaged in farming on his own account on rented land. He bought the southwest quarter of section 24, Weimer township, in January, 1902, and has since added to his holdings by the purchase of the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of the same section. He engaged in farming until 1908. In February, 1909, he formed a partnership with his brother, Hugbert Nelson, and embarked in the clothing and tailoring business in Heron Lake.

and the daughter of Ole Seines, a pioneer settler of Weimer township. Mr. Seines secured title to the southwest quarter of section 24, Weimer, under the first tree claim law. He now resides in his native country (Norway), where he went a year ago and where he expects to make his future home. To Mr. and Mrs. Nelson has been born one child, Gordon, born in 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are members of the Lutheran church. He served as road overseer of Weimer township one year.

D. W. PULVER (1871) is an implement dealer of Jackson and carries one of the largest lines of implements in Jackson county. He is a pioneer of the county and has lived here since he was ten years of age. He is the son of Martin V. Pulver, who died in 1884, and Sarah (Wolcott) Pulver, who died at her home in Lakefield, May 28, 1909, aged 80 years.

D. W. Pulver was born to these parents in Jackson, Michigan, May 14, 1861. Iii I860 the family moved to Oakfield, Wisconsin, and one year later to Martin county, Minnesota. Two miles east of the village of Fairmont the family located on a preemption claim and resided there until July, 1871. At that time the father of our subject located a homestead claim on section 2, Hunter township, two miles east of the present village of Lakefield, and in a sod shanty on that claim D. W. Pulver began life in Jackson county. In 1884 he left the farm and moved to Jackson, taking a position as local and traveling salesman for the Hubcr Manufacturing company, in which capacity he served four years. The next four years he held a like position with the Dowas;- aic Drill company. He severed his connection with that company in 1892 and for several years following was engaged in buying, selling and operating threshing machinery. In 1901 he opened a store of general implements and has built up an excellent business. Mr. Pulver owns 200 acres of land in Hunter township and property in Jackson. He is a member of the M. W. A. lodge.

Mr. Pulver was married August 7, 1887, to Carolina M. Arnesen. To them were born four children, only one of whom is living, Grace L., bom January 11, 1889. The second marriage of Mr. Pulver occurred February 15, 1906, when he wedded Bedina Volden.

WILLIAM CARLESTROM (1871) is the proprietor of a general merchandise store at Wilder. He has spent his entire life in Jackson county, having been bom in Delafield township October 21, 1871, the son of C. D. and Mariah Ghristiana Carlestrom. His parents, who were both natives of Sweden, came to Jackson county in 1871 and took a homestead on section 28, Delafield township. There C. D. Carlestrom and a ten year old son, Clarice, met death in a blizzard on January 12, 1872. The mother of our subject married August Linstrom and now resides in Wilder.

William dlarlestrom was educated in the district schools of Delafield township and in the Breck school at Wilder, in which institution he was a student one year. In 1894 lie left his mother's home and for three years worked out on the farm. He then rented a farm, which he conducted three years. In 1899 Mr. Carlestrom moved to the village of Wilder and has since made his home there. He conducted a dray line three years and then for three and one- half years was manager of the D. L. Riley lumber yard. In the spring of 1907 he engaged in business on his own account, opening a general merchandise store. In August of the same year he was burned out, but immediately bought his present place of business and put in a new stock.

Mr. Carlestrom was married in Weimer township in 1897 to Anna A. Knudson, who was bom in Sweden and who came to the United States when six years of age. At the age of seven she was adopted into the family of Chris Knudson. To Mr. and Mrs. Carlestrom have been born five children: Clarence, George A., Ansel, Velma J. and Myrtle. The family are members of the Swedish Lutheran church. Mr. Carlestrom was a member of the Wilder village council two years and served as street commissioner the same length of time.

JAMES B. MOSES (1877) is an early day settler of Jackson county and a pioneer of Minnesota, having come to the commonwealth ill territorial days. He owns a 240 acre farm in Middletown and Petersburg townships, three miles south of Jackson, his residence being in the former precinct.

Mr. Moses descends from Pilgrim and revolutionary stock. His parents, Shepherd and Sarah (Heriug) Moses, were born in the state of Maine, came to Minnesota with their fam- ily in 1855, and lived to advanced ages, bis father dying at the age of 95 years and his mother at the age of 92 years. Of nine children of this family five were veterans of the civil war. Seven of the children are still living.

The subject of this biography was born in Piscataquis county, Maine, on the second day of January, 1843. He lived in his native state until twelve years of age, and all the education he received in schools was obtained during the first twelve years of his life. In 1855 he accompanied his parents to Steele county, Minnesota territory, where his father took a preemption claim. His early ambition was to become a school teacher, but because of the lack of school facilities he was unable to secure the education he craved. But by home study and diligent reading he acquired a fair education, and after reaching his majority took up teaching as his profession.

In 1862 Mr. Moses enlisted at Faribault, Minnesota, as a member of company H, of the First Minnesota cavalry, and served until his muster out at Fort Snelling in December, 1863. He saw service on the frontier at Fort Hidgely and was in General Sibley's Indian expedition to Bismarck.

After his discharge from the army Mr. Moses began teaching school and was so engaged fifteen years. During the summer months for a large part of this time he was engaged with a government surveying party, his crew being engaged in making the survey of Chippewa, Lyon, Nobles and Rock counties in 1868. In 1871 Mr. Moses married and took a homestead claim in Ck>ttonwood county, where he resided until 1877. After having passed through the terrible grasshopper scourge of the seventies, he sold his claim and in 1877 came to Jackson county. He preempted the northwest quarter of section 12, Middletown township, and has made his home on that place ever since. Upon his arrival to Jackson county he engaged in farming and teaching school, having taught four terms in district No. 3.

Mr. Moses was married at Owatonna, Minnesota, November 7, 1871, to Lavinia Martin, a native of New York state and a sister of Mrs. G. A. Albertus, of Jackson. They are the parents of seven children, named as follows: Bert, Gertrude, Millie, Ernest, Ck)ra, Roy and Gaylord. Mr. Moses served as township clerk for fifteen years and was clerk of his school

CARL F. ROSSOW (1877) is one of the prosperous farmers of Heron Lake township, having a fine home on his 240 acre farm on section 15. He was bom in Germany May 24, 1868, the son of Carl and Fredericka (Berlin)

Carl came to the United States and to Jackson county with his parents in 1877 and until he was twenty-two years of age resided on the farm with his parents on section 8, Heron Lake township. He attended the district school and grew to manhood working on his father's farm. At the age of twenty -two he married and bought his present faun. There were no buildings on the place at that time nor was the land broken, all the improvements on the farm having been made by him. Mr. Rossow has served as a member of the Heron Lake township board of supervisors for the past sixteen years. He is a member of the German Lutheran church.

In Heron Lake township, December 10, 1889, Mr. Rossow was united in marriage to Rosa Miller, who was born in Cook county, Illinois. She is the daughter of Fred and Frances Miller, residents of Heron Lake township. To Mr. and Mrs. Rossow have been bom the following children: Arthiu*, bom January 7, 1894; Richard, born January 14, 1896; Harry, born February 14, 1898; Paul, bom March 16, 1900; Arnold, born June 27, 1904; Rosalia, born March 25, 1902; Lilly, born May 17, 1906; Alma, bom January 12, 1909. .

FRANK J. STENZEL (1877) is one of the successful farmers of Weimer township. He owns the southwest quarter of section 5 and the north half of the southeast quarter of section 20, LaCrosse township. He has a well improved farm and as fine a home as there is in the township. The farm has a fine grove and a splendid orchard. Mr. Stenzel engages extensively in stock raising and has a herd of four hundred sheep.

Mr. Stenzel is a native of Austria and was born April 22, 1871. He accompanied his parents to America in 1877 and grew to manhood on his father's farm on section 8, Weimer.

He lived with his parents, working on the farm, until he was twenty-six years of age. Then he married and bought the farm which he has since conducted. Mr. Stenzel is a member of the Weimer board of supervisors and has served in that capacity four years. He has been clerk of school district No. 32 for the past eighteen years and has been township assessor three years. Mr. Stenzel has other business interests besides his farming. He has been a director of the Farmers Cooperative Elevator company of Heron Lake since its organization and he has been a director of the Farmers State Bank of Heron Lake since that institution was organized. He is a member of the M. W. A. lodge.

The parents of our subject are Frank and Marie Stenzel, bqth of whom are residents of Weimer township. Frank, of this sketch, is the eldest of a family of nine children, the others being Clem, Mary, Annie, Rudolph, Emma, Julius, John and Eliza.

The marriage of Mr. Stenzel occurred at Heron Lake -November 4, 1897, when he wedded MoUie Mixner, who was born in Austria May 1, 1873. To them have been born the following named children: Raymond, born September 23, 1898; Herman, bom December 6, 1899; Stephana, born November 27, 1901; Willie, born August 19, 1903; Elmer, born April 16, 1905; Eddie, born February 14, 1907; Frank, born January 27, 1909.

GEORGE WITHERS (1870), Middletown township farmer, has lived in Jackson county since he was a boy twelve years of age. He is a son of the late Walter and Jane E. (Allen) Withers and was born in Fillmore county, Minnesota, August 18, 1857.

George lived with his parents in Fillmore county until 1870 and then came with them to Jackson coimty. Until he was past twenty-three years of age he lived with his parents on the farm - the southeast quarter of section 2, Middletown township - securing an education and assisting with the farm w^ork. In 1881 he married and engaged in farming on his own account, one year on a rented farm in Middletown, one year in Wisconsin township, and then he bought forty acres of his present farm and has since made his home on his present location; his farm consists of 160 acres.

During his long residence in Middletown Mr. Withers has taken an active part in local affairs. He was township assessor seventeen years and was a meml)er of the township board two years. He is now town clerk, an office he has held for eight years. For several years he served as clerk of school district No. CO. He is a member of the Yeomen lodge.

Mr. Withers was married in Jackson county February 22, 1881, to Carrie A. Yams. She was born in Olmsted county, Minnesota, January 5, 1860, a daughter of H. B. Yarns, deceased, an early settler of Jackson county. Mrs. Withers died in April, 1898. As a result of this union were born the following named children: Ernest O., born April 25, 1882; Harry W., born November 14, 1883; Jesse A., born June 22, 1887; Robert B., born December 16, 1888; Lillie, born March 16, 1893, died February 25, 1895; Clara E., born April 13, 1898.

The second marriage of Mr. Withers occurred July 26, 1900, when he wedded Mrs. Sophia Thompson, a native of Denmark, who came to the United States in 1881 and located at South Bend, Indiana. By a former marriage she is the mother of two children: Nels Thompson, deceased, and Emma Thompson.

PETER P. ELVERUM (1872), lineman for the Jackson Telephone company, is a native of the county, having been born in Christiania township on July 19, 1872^ the son of Peder O. and Beret (Ha gen) Elverum, he being the eldest of a family of three children. A sister, Mrs. Clarence Sether, resides in Christiania township, and a brother, Bernt Elverum, lives in West Heron Lake township. His eldest brother, Ole, died in 1894. Two sisters. Beret and Sarah, died when five and three years old, respectively. Our subject's parents were born in Stordal, Norway, were married there and came to the United States in 1870. They lived one year in Minneapolis and then came to Jackson count v and homes teaded land in Christiania. The father died in 1879 at the age of 45 years. The mother lives with her daughter, Mrs. Clarence Sether, and is 76 years old.

Peter P. Elverum spent the greater part of his life on the home farm. There he assisted in the farm work and in a nearby school secured his primary education. After quitting the country school he became a student at the Breck school of Wilder, which he attended three terms. After attending that school he engaged in teaching, which he followed six years. In 18D4, after his brother's death, he took the management of the home farm and conducted it several years. In 1902 he opened a blacksmith shop at Bergen and operated that two years. Then, in 1904, he moved to Jackson and took a position as lineman for the Jackson Telephone company. One year later he assisted in the construction of the telephone line between Jackson and Spirit Lake and the one from Blue Earth to Albert Lea. Returning to Jackson after the season's work, he again took a position with the telephone company and has since been employed as its lineman.

Mr. Elverum owns eighty acres of land in Christiania township. For several terms he served as assessor of that precinct. He is a member of the Lutheran church.

JOHX VV. MILLER (1868), farmer and breeder of Belgium horses, resides on the farm on section 30, Wisconsin township, upon which he was born and where he has spent the forty - one years of his life. The date of his birth was November 19, 1868, and his parents are Michael and Annie (Gerlach) Miller, now residents of Jackson. He is one of a family of five living children, of whom the others are Mary and Herman, of North Dakota, and Laura and William, of Washington.

John received his education in the school of district No. 14. He lived with his parents on the farm until he became of age and, with the exception of two or three years, has lived with his parents since that time. He bought the property in 1903 and has since made many improvements on the place. He owns 160 acres on sections 30 and 31, Wisconsin, and 40 acres on section 25, Des Moines. He has held the office of road overseer and has been a director of school district No. 14 for a dozen years. He holds membership in the A. O. U. W. lodge.

Mr. Miller was married at Jackson August 20, 1893, to Katie Bunderle, a native of Nebraska. They are the parents of ten children, as follows: Bert, Roy, Johnnie, Daisy, Anna, Laura, Eva, William, Louisa and Katie.

THEODORE E. SCHUMACHER (1872) has been engaged in the meat market business in Heron Lake for the past twenty-two years He is a native of Brown county, Minnesota, and was born November 30, 1861. His father, Henry Schumacher, who now resides at Heron Lake and is 77 years of age, is a pioneer of Minnesota. He was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1853. He lived one year south of Chicago and then located in New Ulm^ Minnesota. There he was married and engaged in farming until 1872. That year he moved to Jackson county, took a homestead and tree claim in Alba township, and resided on the farm until 1905, when he moved to Heron Lake. Caroline (Haner) Schumacher, our subject's mother, is also a native of Germany. She is now seventy-three years old.

Theodore is the eldest of a family of seven children. He accompanied his parents to Jackson county in June, 1872, and resided on the Alba township farm until the fall of 1887. He then moved to Heron Lake and opened a meat market, building his present place of business, and has ever since conducted the shop. In 1906 he admitted Chris Johnson as a partner in the business. Mr. Schumacher is a member of the Methodist church and of the Woodmen, Royal Neighbors, Knights of Pythias and Modern Brotherhood lodges.

Mr. Schumacher was married in Jackson county November 3, 1889, to Mary C. King, a native of LeSueur county, Minnesota. Her father, William King, was an early Minnesota pioneer who died when Mrs. Schumacher was six months old. Her mother, Catherine (Chatterden) King, now lives in Jackson county. To Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher have been born six children: (iertrude, Leon, George, Gretchen, Ned and Paul.

GEORGE H. SAWYER (1875), of Jackson, has been a resident of the county thirty-five years. He was born in Piscataquis county, Maine, July 14, 1853, son of Phineas and Adaline (Drake) Sawyer. Both these parents were also natives of Maine and spent their early lives in that state. Phineas Sawyer enlisted at Bangor, Maine, in company H, of the 22nd infantry, and served one year with the union forces during the war of the rebellion. In the east Mr. Sawyer engaged in farming and lumbering. He came west with his family in 1871 and homesteaded in Cottonwood county, Minnesota. The family came to Jackson county in 1875 and for three years lived in Jackson. Then Phineas Sawyer purchased a farm in Middletown township, where he en- gaged in farming until ten or twelve years ago. Retiring from active pursuits at that time, he located in Jackson and has since lived a retired life. He still owns his old farm south of town. Mrs. Sawyer, the mother of our subject, died September 29, 1907, at the age of 79 years. There are six children in the family, as follows: George H., Lucy (Mrs. J. D. Baughman), Charles Albert, Ethel (Mrs. A. H. Baughman) and. Fred. Charles and Al* bert reside in Nebraska; the others are in Jackson county.

George Sawyer lived with his parents until twenty-two years of age. He received his education in Maine and after coming west for several years worked for his father on the farm. At the age of twenty -two he engaged in farming for himself in Middletown township, buying a farm a short distance south of Jackson. He farmed there until 1892, when he took up his residence in Jackson. In 1894 he engaged in the fuel business, in which he was engaged for ten or eleven years. Since disposing of his business he has been engaged in various occupations, in addition to looking after his Middletown township farm. In the village he owns 65 acres of land, residence property and a business lot.

While a resident of Middletown Mr. Sawyer served as a member of the township board and as a school director for a number of years. In Jackson he served one year as a member of the village council and is now the street commissioner. He is a member of the M. W. A. and the M. B. A. lodges.

Mr. Sawyer was married in Middletown township in October, 1879, to Fannie Russell, a native of Dubuque, Iowa, and a daughter of Thomas Russell, one of the settlers of the late seventies. To Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer have been born five children, named as follows: Ethel C, born September 1, 1880; Frank A., born July 21, 1884; Susie M., bom September 23, 1890; Pearl, born July 14, 1894; Howard, bom March 18, 1897.

HENRY A. STALL (1879) owns and farms the northeast quarter of section 2, Des Moines township. He was born on that farm May 29, 1879, the son of Oliver and Helen (Skogen) Stall, of whom the former is now living in Jackson and the latter died in 1901. Oliver Stall was born in Norway, came to the United States when young and located in Illinois.

He served three years as a soldier in the union army, and immediately after his discharge came to Jackson county, in the spring of 1865, when there were less than 250 residents in the whole of Jackson county. He homesteaded the farm now owned by his son in Des Moines township.

Henry was educated in the district schools of Des Moines township and until he reached his majority worked for his father on the farm. Then he rented the farm and conducted it under the lease until 1907. That year he bought the farm.

Mr. Stall was married in Enterprise township in September, 1903, to Bertha Wiger, who was born in Jackson county February 24, 1880. She is the daughter of the late Ole Wiger, who was one of the early settlers of Enterprise township and who died in 1905. Three children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Stall, namely: Hayes, Bert and Gordon. Mr. Stall is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America lodge.

JACOB C. JACKSON (1879) is a Wisconsin township farmer and a Jackson county resident of thirty years standing. He owns 400 acres of land on sections 28 and 29, bis home being on the northwest quarter of section 28, and he is one of the big farmers of the township. Mr. Jackson was bom in Denmark May 22, 1851, the son of S. C. and Hasten (Nelson) Jackson, both of whom died in their native land. There were seven children in the family, namely, Trena, Peter, Maria, Jacob, Paulsiue, Carolina and Carl.

Until he was fifteen years of age Jacob attended the schools of his native country, residing with his parents, and thereafter working six years as a farm laborer. He came to America in 1872 and settled at Racine, Wisconsin; where he lived six years. After one year spent in Olmsted county, Minnesota, he came to Jackson county, arriving in 1879. He worked on Jackson county farms until 1882; then he married and moved to Sherbum, where he resided two years. Returning to Jackson county he worked at farm work until 1889, when he bought a quarter section of his present farm from Mrs. Preston and engaged in farming for himself. He has made all the improvements on the farm and has since added to his possessions by the purchase of the other acres described. He was chairman of the school board of district No. 9 for four years, and for several years was township treasurer. He is a member of the Danish Brotherhood lodge.

WILLIAM E. FREEMIRE (1874) owns and farms the northeast quarter of section 32, Weimer township, a short distance south of Heron Lake. He is an early day settler of Jackson county and a native Minnesotan, having been bom in Fillmore county January 6, 1858 - before Minnesota had been admitted as a state. His father, George H. Freemire, is a native of New York state and still lives on the old home farm, aged 87 years. The mother of our subject was Susan Maria (Pease) Freemire. She was a native of Vermont and died in Jackson county August 13, 1909, aged 82 years.

William spent the first seven years of his life in Fillmore county and then accompanied the family to Winneshiek county, Iowa. There he lived until 1874, when he came with the family to Jackson county. From the time of his aiVival until 1892 Mr. Freemire resided with his parents on their farm, the southwest quarter of section 32, Weimer township. Then he moved onto his present place, where he has ever since resided. He served nine years as clerk of Weimer township. He is a member of the M. W. A. and A. O. U. W. lodges.

At Windom in February, 1885, Mr. Freemire was united in marriage to Clara Howe, a native of Vermont. To them have been born five children, as follows: Erwin, Henry, Jennie, Frank and Susan.

S. O. HARSTAD (1871), Christiania township farmer, has lived in Jackson county ever since he was five years of age. He is the son of Ole Severson Harstad and Mary (Engan) Harstad and was born in Norway August 8, 1866.

in Minneapolis; then he accompanied them to Jackson county. He received a primary education in the district school and completed his education in the Breck school at Wilder. He received a second grade certificate and engaged in teaching, being so employed during the years 1896 to 1900, inclusive, and during 1907 and 1908. Mr. Harstad now has the management of the home farm and engages in stock raising quite extensively.

Mr. Harstad has taken an active interest in local business and political affairs. He has been secretary of the Christiania Creamery company for ten years, and has stock in the Farmers State Bank of Windom and in the Christiania Mercantile company. He was the first postmaster of the Bergen office and officiated eight years. He has been clerk of Christiania township for the past eight years, was supervisor two years and constable one year.

ANTON TEIQEN (1879), farmer of Des Moines township, has resided upon the farm he now owns since he was two years of age. He is the son of Ole L. and Breta (Brakke) Teigen. The former died in Jackson March 25, 1906, aged seventy-two years; the latter lives in Jackson and is seventy -five years of age.

Anton was born to these parents in Blue Earth coimty, Minnesota, February 12, 1877, and was a baby two years old when he accompanied his parents to Jackson county in a prairie schooner. The balance of his life he has spent on the farm which his father bought the year before coming to the county. He was educated in the district schools and in the Jackson public schools, which he attended two terms. Until he was eighteen years of age he worked for his father; then he rented the farm and engaged in business for himself. Several years ago his father moved to Jackson, and the year before that event Anton bought the farm. Since then he has added to the dimensions of his farm by the purchase of ninety acres in the vicinity.

Mr. Teigen was married in Heron Lake township January 16, 1907, to Lena Johnson, a native of the village of Heron Lake and a daughter of Peter and Matilda Johnson, of Heron Lake township. Two children, twins, have been bom to this union, namely: Valdemar and Harold, born November 17, 1907.

WILLIAM T. MUIR (1869), of Jackson, has spent the forty years of his life in Jackson county, having been born in Middletown township June 19^ 186^ the son of R. C. and Mary (McLain) Muir.

The first twenty-two years of his life William Muir spent on his father's Middletown township farm, receiving his education in the district schools. In 1891 he moved to Jackson and engaged in the dray and transfer business, which he conducted eight years. He then engaged in the land and implement businesSj and also ran a lumber yard, with which he was identified until 1908, when he sold to Jens Jensen. Mr. Muir now holds the office of boiler inspector. He owns an interest in the Jackson tow mill. He has 160 acres of farming land in Middletown township and 240 acres in Lamoure county, North Dakota. He is a member of the Woodmen lodge.

Mr. Muir was married in the fall of 1894 to Ella J. Davis, and to this union was bom one child, Edwill L., born October 7, 1896. Mrs. Muir died March 25, 1897. The second marriage of Mr. Muir occurred June 19, 1899, when he wedded Anna M. Davis. To them have been bom three children: Kenneth V., born August 26, 1902; Georgia E., born Febmary 22, 1906; Robert M., born April 19, 1909.

ANDERS R. KILEN (1867). One of the wealthiest and best known farmers of Jackson county is Anders R. Kilen, who has made his home in Belmont township for forty-three years and who has passed through many of the trying times of pioneer days. Coming to the county as a young man not yet of age with practically nothing in the way of earthly possessions, by frugality and strict attention to business, he has accumulated a fortune. His farm consists of one thousand acres of choice land in one body in Belmont township, of which he farms about one section. In addition to his Jackson county possessions he owns a section of Canadian land and has business property in Lakefield. As a grower of choice grain Mr. Kilen is perhaps better known than any farmer of southern Minnesota, because of his success in exhibiting cereals at Ihe world*s fairs and carrying away the highest awards. He won medals at the world's fail at Chicago, and at the Omaha fair he received the first premium on wheat, oats and barley, thereby receiving the gold medal, of which he is justly proud. Mr. Kilen also exhibited at the Paris exposition of 1900. The grain exhibit of the United States at that exposition was made up of contributions and samples sent in by farmers from all over the United States. Mr. Kilen was invited by the government to contribute to the exhibit and he sent in fifteen samples of different products. The exhibit of which these samples formed a part received the Grand Prix at this exposition, but the government took all the credit and there was no credit given to Mr. Kilen or the other farmers who contributed samples.

Mr. Kilen was bom in Norway November 18, 1846, the son of Erick and Johanna Kilen. In ttie family were thirteen children, of whom eight arc living, named as follows: Andrew, Anders R., J|imes, John, Erick, Bertha, Robert and Jennie. The parents of these children came to America in 1858, lived a few years in Dane county, Wisconsin, a few years in Fillmore county, Minnesota, and came to Jackson county in 1867. The father of our subject took as a homestead claim the east half of the northeast quarter of section 20, proved up on that and later bought land on the southwest quarter of section 16, Bi^elmont, where he lived until his death at an advanced age. His wife also died in Belmont township.