Lyon County, Minnesota - Biographical sketches, 1912 (part 6 of 17)

Paul Giese is the eldest of five children (the others being Minnie, Charles, Albert and Otto) born to Charles F. and Fredericka (Mellenthin) Giese, who reside on a farm in Murray county. He was born in the province of Pommern, Germany, October 29, 1870. On the twenty-second day of April, 1882, he arrived with the family from the old country in Tracy. There he lived a little less than eight years, during the last few years of which time he was employed as clerk by the railroad company.

In the fall of 1889 Mr. Giese took charge of a Murray county farm, not far from Tracy, which was owned by his father. Until 1895 he conducted that during the summer seasons, while working as second man in Tracy elevators and buying stock for E. L. Starr. He then located in Balaton, was employed as grain buyer for the Winona Mill Company until the failure of the company two years later, and then until August, 1900, he was employed in a like capacity for the Atlas Company, which was a company reorganized from the former company.

On the date last mentioned Mr. Giese formed a partnership with C. W. Candee and engaged in the grain and live stock business under the firm name of Candee & Giese until the death of the senior member of the firm in 1903. After the death of his partner Mr. Giese continued the live stock business. In 1905 he became the manager of the recently organized Farmers Co-operative Company, a position he has since filled. He still engages in the stock business on his own account and is the proprietor of a meat market which he established in September, 1910.

The Farmers Co-operative Company was incorporated with a capital of $5000 in July, 1905, for the purpose of dealing in grain, flour and feed, and the new elevator and other buildings were erected at that time. The present officers of the company are as follows: C. F. Norwood, president; H. G. Brockway, secretary and treasurer; Paul W. Giese, manager. The directors, made up from farmers of the vicinity, are as follows: C. F. Norwood, H. G. Brockway, James Egan, E: E. Johnson, Justus England, George Johnson, E. John Erickson, L. E. Peterson and B. M. Olson.

Paul Giese was married near Balaton on November 28, 1906, to Anna Smerling, a native of Murray county. They have two children, Sophia and Minnie. Mr. Giese is a member of the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen lodges. He served as assessor of Balaton for a number of terms.

JACOB J. JANSEN (1885) is one of the most prosperous farmers of Lake Marshall township and has been a resident of Lyon county over a quarter of a century. He is a native of Holland and was born at Bemmel September 15, 1867, a son of Albert and Annie (Boerboom) Jansen. The father, a tiller of the soil, came to Lyon county in 1885 and purchased land near Ghent, which he operated until his death ten years later. The mother died in 1893. Both parents are buried at Ghent.

Jacob resided with his parents until their deaths. He had received his education in the land of his nativity, where he attended school until seventeen years of age, at which time he accompanied his parents to America. After his parents' death, in company with his brother, he purchased 680 acres of land in Lake Marshall township, which they farmed together several years and then divided. Our subject engages extensively in stock raising. He raises Poland China hogs and Durham and Shorthorn cattle. He is a member of the Catholic church. He holds stock in the farmers' elevators of Ghent and Marshall and in the Lyon County Agricultural Association.

Mr. Jansen was married June 7, 1904, to Mary Senden, a daughter of Hebert and Mary (Fossen) Senden, old residents of Lyon county, both of whom are now deceased. Mrs. Jansen is a native of Holland and was born September 12, 1881, at Voerdaal. Mr. and Mrs. Jansen are the parents of the following children: Hebert, born March 6, 1905; Antonette, born

HERMAN J. ARNDT (1882) is the owner of the northwest quarter of section 8, Lyons township, and has lived in Lyon county thirty years. He is a native of , Germany and was born at Rogasen February 28, 1866, a son of Daniel and Susan (Helwig) Arndt. Both parents are deceased. The former died in 1901.

Herman received his education in the land of his birth, attending school until fourteen years of age, after which he worked for his father on the farm two years and then came to America. He located at Balaton, and near that place worked at farm labor. The next seven years of his life were spent at farm labor in Yellow Medicine, Murray and Redwood counties.

In 1897 the subject of this review purchased 200 acres of land in Lyons township and later bought a tree claim, which he sold in 1910. He has one of the finest improved farms in the county and raises a great deal of stock, including Poland China, hogs, grade cattle and Rhode Island Red chickens. Mr. Arndt is a member of the A. O. U. W. lodge and a stockholder of the Farmers Elevator Company of Russell. He has been director of school district No. 69 for twenty consecutive years and was road overseer in Lyons township two years. Mr. Arndt's undertakings have been very successful.

Mr. Arndt is a man of family. He was married December 3, 188 9, to Emma Bot, a daughter of Gustaf Hayes. Mrs. Arndt died October 22, 1896. On May 23, 1897, he was married a second time, to Pauline Degner, a daughter of Ludwig and Amelia (Hayes) Degner. Her mother died in May, 1881; the father resides at Gnesen, Germany. Mrs. Arndt was born September 2, 1877, at Rogasen, Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Arndt are the parents of the following named children: Anna Elizabeth, born March 3, 1898; Henry Ludwig, born November 17, 1899; Elsie Wilhelmina, born December 14, 1901; Natalie Gertrude, born August 22, 1903; Rudolph Ernest, born February 11, 1906; Theodore John,

HENRY J. PATTR1DGE (1878) is the senior member of the Tracy mercantile firm of Pattridge Brothers Company, the largest and one of the oldest business establishments of the city. The business was established in March, 1883, by Henry J. and Otis L. Pattridge and was conducted under the name of Pattridge Brothers until the spring of 1908. Then Clay B. Pattridge, son of the subject of this review, was admitted to the firm and Pattridge Brothers Company was incorporated. The officers are as follows: H. J. Pattridge, president; Otis L. Pattridge, vice president and treasurer; Clay B. Pattridge, secretary. The first home of the store was a small frame building on the site adjoining tbe First National Bank. The present structure, a double-front, two-story brick building, was erected in 1891 by H. J. Pattridge, the present owner of the building.

Henry J. Pattridge was born in Olmsted county, Minnesota, September 1, 1855, and O. L. Partridge in Maquoketa, Iowa, August 12, 1853. They grew to manhood on their father's farm, which had been taken as a pre-emption claim in an early day. They accompanied the family to Spring Valley in 1875. In 1878 H. J. Pattridge moved to Marshall and for a few years was employed as clerk in A. C. Chittenden's store. He moved to Tracy in the spring of 1883 and with his brother engaged in the business with which they have ever since been connected.

The marriage of Henry J. Pattridge to Minniett Savage occurred at Marshall May 11, 1880. Mrs. Pattridge is a native of St. Charles, Minnesota. They have three children, Clay B., now a member of the firm; Vivian and Walter H. Henry Pattridge has served as member of the City Council and of the Board of Education.

O. L. Pattridge was married to Martha Parks at Pleasant Grove, Minnesota, October 11, 1877. Three children were born to them, only one living, Mark O. Pattridge, a practising dentist of Minneapolis. Both brothers belong to the Masonic fraternity.

the founders and members of the firm of Pattridge Brothers Company, who conduct the leading mercantile establishment of Tracy, lie was born at Maquoketa, Iowa, August 12, L8.53.

At the age of one year he was taken with the family to Olmsted county, Minnesota, and there grew to manhood. Later he moved to Spring Valley, and in 1883 he located in Tracy and in partnership with his brother engaged in business. During the twenty-nine years the brothers have been in business in Tracy they have prospered. They are both interested in the Citizens State Bank and in partnership own several farms in Lyon county and one in Murray county. Otis Pattridge is a member of the Masonic lodge and has served on the Board of Education.

Otis Pattridge was married to Martha Parks, of Pleasant Grove, Minnesota. They have one child, Dr. Mark O. Pattridge, a dentist of Minneapolis.

The father of the Pattridge brothers is Albert Pattridge. He was born in Highgate, Vermont, October 22, 1829, and in an early day moved to Maquoketa, Iowa. There he engaged in farming and the blacksmith business. He pre-empted land in Olmsted county, Minnesota, in 1854, lived there twenty years, and then located at Spring Valley. He was in business in Minneapolis several years, and in 1891 moved to Tracy to make his permanent home. Although over eighty years of age, Mr. Pattridge is active and healthy and puts in regular hours as cashier at the store. He is a member of the Masonic lodge. The mother of the Pattridge brothers was Eunice Bradish, a native of Vermont. She died August 13, 1869. The two sons at Tracy are the only living children of the family. One daughter, Helen, is deceased..

ELLSWORTH E. DAVIS (1893) is a farmer and a member of the Board of County Commissioners residing in Lynd township. Mr. Davis is a native of Wisconsin and was born near Oshkosh May 7, 1862, a son of Shadrach and Louise (Sharatt) Davis, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The father is a native of Wales and the mother of Eng- land. The father came to America with his parents when he was eleven years of age, locating in Pennsylvania. After reaching maturity he went to Wisconsin, where he still resides.

Ellsworth received his schooling in Winnebago county, Wisconsin, where he attended school until eighteen years of age. He then entered the employ of his father, for whom he worked until twentyone years of age. Then he went to work in the pineries, where he worked five winters. He again took up farming, this time operating his father's farm. He continued working his father's place until he came to Lyon county in 1893. Mr. Davis purchased two hundred forty acres in Lynd township, which he still owns and manages. Besides farming, Mr. Davis raises considerable stock, among other breeds, Duroc-Jersey hogs and Shorthorn cattle, besides a great number of fowl. He is a successful farmer and stockraiser.

The subject of this sketch is a member of the M. W. A. lodge. He is a stockholder in the following enterprises: Farmers Elevator Company of Lynd, of which he is president; the town hall company of Lynd; Lyon County Agricultural Association. He was an officer of school district No. 1 for twelve years and was clerk of Lynd township. In the fall of 1910 he was elected county commissioner to represent the fourth district.

On September 2 9, 18 86, Mr. Davis was married to Jennie Fitzgerald, a daughter of James and Mary Fitzgerald, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald are natives of Ireland. Mrs. Davis was born in Wisconsin on Christmas Day, 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are the parents of the following children: Homer, born June 20, 1887; Belle, born October 14, 1888; Olive, born January 16, 18 90; Hazel, born May 6, 1891; Albert, born December 3, 1893; Bernice, born April 4, 1895; Mark, born July 22, 1897; Hugh, born January 31, 1899; Yesta, born September 12, 1900; Alma, born July 26, 1902; George, born December 8, 1904. All reside at home with their parents.

HENRY J. BURCKHARDT (1887), Coon . Creek township farmer, was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, April 29, 1874, the son of John and Albertina (Watzke) Burckhardt, natives of Germany. The father died two years ago; the mother resides on the old home place near the village of Russell. They came to Lyon county in 1894.

Henry attended school near his home in Illinois and when thirteen years of age came to Lyon county and worked for his brotherin-law, John Sullivan, for two and one-half years. Returning to Illinois, he worked for his father on the farm until 1894. Then his father sold out, came to Lyon county, and became a permanent resident, having purchased sections 23 and 26, Coon Creek township, in 1885. Later our subject purchased from his father the northeast quarter of section 26, upon which he has made all the improvements. He has a fine home. Mr. Burckhardt raises and ships a great number of cattle, sheep and hogs. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and the M. W. A. and R. N. A. lodges. He holds stock in the Farmers Elevator Company of Russell and in the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company.

On January 23, 1898, occurred the marriage of Mr. Burckhardt. in Coon Creek township, to Emma D. Henrichs, a daughter of Fred and Frederica (Trust) Henrichs, who now reside in Todd county, Minnesota. Mrs. Burckhardt was born in Bremer county, Iowa, January 23, 1880. To Mr. and Mrs. Burckhardt have been born the following named eight children: John F., born March 2, 1899; Gladys R., born February 11, 1900; Florence A., born April 13, 1901; Hazel M., October 17, 1902; Laura, born November 26, 1903, died when three months old; Walter, born June 24, 1905, died when two and onehalf years old; Orville, born January 7, 1909; Robert, born October 2, 1910.

THOMAS P. CULSHAW (1881) is a jeweler and optician of Minneota. He was bom in England October 14, 1877. His parents are Robert and Helen (Parker) Culshaw, who were early settlers of Lyon county. They came in 18S1 and were among Archbishop Ireland's colonists who purchased railroad land in Lyon county. They are the parents of eleven children: Mrs. Helen Buckley, of Lyon county; Joseph, of Wells, Minnesota; Mrs. Agnes Bolton, of Porter, Minnesota; Charles, of Minneota; Robert, of Hopkins, .Minnesota; Mrs. Winifred Bolton, of Porter, Minnesota; Theresa Broderick, of Ballard, Washington; Thomas P., of this sketch; Mary, who resides at home; John and William I., who reside near Minneota.

The subject of this sketch accompanied his parents to Lyon county in 1881. He resided with them on the farm until 1902, when he went to Minneapolis and learned the jewelry business. He then worked one year in Marshall and one year at Luverne, Minnesota. In 1906 he engaged in the jewelry business at Minneota which he still owns. He carries a complete line of jewelry, musical goods and pianos, and does all kinds of repair work in the jewelry line. Mr. Culshaw is a member of the Village Council. He holds membership in the Modern Woodmen. Yeomen, Catholic Order of Foresters and Knights of Columbus lodges.

Mr. Culshaw was married in Minneota June S, 1906, to Marie Princen, a native of Holland. To Mr. and Mrs. Culshaw have been born the following three children: Antoinette, Helen and Gladys. The last named died in infancy.

M. O. GORSETH (1881) is the proprietor of a general merchandise store in the village of Florence. He is vice president of the State Bank of Florence and ex-postmaster of that village. Mr. Gorseth is a native of Norway and was born November 30, 1861, a son of Ole and Brit Gorseth, both of whom died in the land of the midnight sun. He has one sister, Mrs. C. P. Myran, who resides in Lyon county.

When twenty years of age our subject came to the United States, located in Lyon county, and worked several years in Shelburne township as a farm hand. In 1891 he purchased the northwest quarter of section 18, Shelburne township, which he farmed ten years. In 1901 he moved to Florence and purchased the J. A. Martin general store, which he still conducts. He carried a complete stock of dry goods, groceries, furnishing goods, shoes, hats, caps and notions. He is a stockholder of the State Bank of Florence and a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church and of the Modern Woodmen lodge.

PATRICK FORD (1880) is a native of Ireland but has been a resident of this country since he was one year old. He has been a farmer of Amiret township since 1880 and owns 240 acres on section 31.

The subject of this sketch was born June 12, 1849. When he was one year of age his family came to America and located in New Jersey, where Patrick's father worked in a hat factory four years. At the end of that time the family moved to Marquette county, Wisconsin, where the father bought land. There young Ford received his education and grew to manhood amid the surroundings of farm life.

At the age of twenty-four Patrick Ford was married. The ceremony occurred in Wisconsin January 11, 1874, and the young lad\ who became his wife was Margrette Curley, a daughter of Peter and Rose (Mc- Errinany) Curley, natives of Ireland. Mrs. Ford was born October 7, 1852. By her marriage to Mr. Ford she became the mother of eleven children. Their names are Cathrine, Frank, Martha, Mary, Charles, Gertrude, Helen, Henry, Luella, James and Vincent.

After his marriage Mr. Ford started farming for himself, having bought eighty acres near Unity, Wisconsin. He lived in the Badger State until 1880, when he sold his interests there and moved to Lyon county. The journey was accomplished by ox team, and four weeks was necessary to make the trip. Mr. Ford bought eighty acres of land in Amiret township and later bought an additional quarter section, all of which land he has since farmed. He raises Red Polled cattle.

Michael Ford, father of our subject, and his wife, Cathrine (McDonough) Ford, were natives of Ireland. Both are dead. Mr. Ford is a member of the Catholic church.

HELGE K. HELGESON (1878) is one of the prosperous and up-to-date farmers of Eidsvold township and owns the northwest quarter of section 2. He is one of the substantial men of Eidsvold, in which precinct he has lived since he was three and one-half years of age.

The subject of this review was born in Juneau county, Wisconsin, December 14, 1874, the son of Knute and Martha (Forland) Helgeson. The former was bora in Roldahl, Norway, the latter in Suldahl, Norway. They came to America early in life and were married in Juneau county, Wisconsin, in 1869. Knute Helgeson died in Lyon county May 3, 1889, aged sixty-three years. Mrs. Helgeson resides with her son and is seventy-two years old. There are three children: Helge K., Sena and Annie (Mrs. Roy Hathland), of Clarkfleld, Minnesota.

In 1878 the Helgeson family came to Lyon county in one of the well-remembered prairie schooners and the father took as a homestead claim the northwest quarter of section 2, Eidsvold township, the farm now owned by his son. After their arrival in the new home the family possessions consisted of one horse and $100 in cash. The only improvement on the place was a claim shack erected by a squatter.

Ever since that time Helge Helgeson has resided on the old homestead, attending school and working for his father during his boyhood days. He has had charge of the farm during the past thirteen years and is now its owner. Within the last four years Mr. Helgeson has expended many thousands of dollars in improvements and he has one of the best-improved farms in the county. On the place is a two-story, nine-room modern residence, equipped with bath rooms, hot water heating system and waterworks. There is also a new barn, 48x60 feet, and a clay block silo, 16x32 feet, erected in the summer of 1912. It is the intention of Mr. Helgeson to feed stock on an extensive scale hereafter.

.Mr. Helgeson has a complete J. I. Case threshing outfit, an automobile, and other conveniences that form the equipment of the present up-to-date farmer. He served as a member of the Eidsvold Township Board of Supervisors four years and was assessor two years. He holds membership in the Modern Woodmen and Yeomen lodges.

Julia Bakken became the wife of Mr. Helgeson on May 16, 1900. She was born on her father's homestead on section 10, Eidsvold township, and is a daughter of Knute and Carina Bakken, pioneer settlers of the township. Mr. and Mrs. Helgeson have six children, as follows: Mildred, born

BERT WILLFORD (1879) has been a continuous resident of Custer township for thirty-three years and is the owner of 320 acres of well improved farming land on sections 15 and 22.

Mr. Willford's parents, Daniel and Malinda (Joy) Willford, the former of whom is deceased and the latter a resident of Balaton, came to Lyon county when Bert was ten years of age, taking as a homestead the northeast quarter of section 22, Custer township, where Bert Willford now resides. Bert grew up on his father's farm in Custer, attending the country school and assisting with the farm work. He has resided continuously on the one place since he came to Lyon county with his parents, with the exception of four years spent on his other farm on section 15.

Our subject was married June 2, 1896, at Tracy, to Mary Price, a native of Blue Earth county. She was born December 30, 1871, and is a daughter of Rees and Ruth (Thomas) Price, both of whom are residents of Tracy. Her parents came to Lyon county in the spring of 1872 and located on a homestead in Monroe township, where they made their home until moving to Tracy in 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Willford are the parents of two children, Danile, bom May 4, 1897, and George White, born March 15, 1902.

Mr. Willford has the following brothers and sisters living: Cassius M., of Custer; Clinton, of Saskatchewan, Canada; Hattie (Mrs. J. H. Call), of Birmingham, Alabama; and Mary (Mrs. J. C. Abernathy), of Willard, Montana. Mrs. Willford has two brothers and four sisters: Joseph F., William D. and Winifred, all of Tracy; Eleanor (Mrs. Hugh H. Jones), of Custer; Mabel (Mrs. Philip J. Hughes), of Mountain Lake, Minnesota; and Diana (Mrs. Reuben L. Harris), of Kerman, California.

Mr. Willford is a member of the Modern Woodmen lodge of Garvin. He is a stockholder of the Farmers Independent Elevator Company of the same village.

ROBERT G. MURRISOX (1882) is the proprietor of a livery barn at Balaton and has an auto livery in connection. He was born in Poweshiek county, Iowa, June 21, I^TS, and came to Lyon county with his parents, James and Rachael H. (Graham) Murrison, in 1882.

The father was born in Scotland and the mother in Canada, the former emigrating from Scotland when thirteen years of age. They were married in Poweshiek county, Iowa, and lived there until the spring of 1882, when they came to Lyon county and bought land in Lyons township, where they resided until they moved to Balaton in 1903. Mr. Murrison died July 6, 1908, aged sixtythree years. Mrs. Murrison resides in Balaton. Mr. and Mrs. Murrison were the parents of the following six children: Mrs. James Shand, of Garvin; Mrs. Henry Shand, of YYindom, Montana; Robert G., of this sketch; Isabella G., of YYindom. Montana, where she is postmistress; Maggie G. and Mrs. Alfred E. Anderson, of Rock Lake township. Mr. Murrison, St., was president of the Balaton Village Council one or two terms and a member of the School Board. He was one of the organizers of the Western Mutual Fire Insurance Company and was secretary of the company eight or nine years. He was an elder of the Balaton Presbyterian church for several years.

The subject of this sketch resided with his parents in Lyons township until 1903, when he took charge of the farm and operated it until the fall of 1908. In April, 1909, he purchased of E. G. Gifford the livery which he now owns and has conducted since that date. In the fall of 1908 he established an auto livery. He holds membership in the Modern Woodmen and Masonic lodges.

CYRUS P. SHEPARD (1894), city recorder of Marshall, is one of the prominent citizens of Lyon county and a man who has lived an eventful and useful life. For many years he served as register of the United States Land Office at Worthington and at Marshall.

The subject of this biography descends from an old American family that can -be traced back to the early days of the country's history. His great grandparents were

Thomas and Ann Shepard, whose children were Thomas, Phineas, Aaron, Anne, Judith. Rhoda and Orrel. Our subject's grandfather was Aaron Shepard, who was born in Connecticut, married a Miss Crocker, and became a resident of Hartford county, of his native state, in 1807. Later he moved to Georgetown, Madison county. New York, where he died at the age of eighty-four years. He was a soldier in the War of 1812.

The Shepards were well represented in the service of their country. There was handed down from generation to generation an old file which had been carried by members of the family in the French and Indian War. the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. This interesting instrument was lost in battle during the Civil War while being carried by another member of the family, Myron Shepard.

The father of our subject was Aaron Shepard, Jr., who was born in Connecticut and who became a resident of Nunda, New York. He was married -to Hattie Parker, a native of Naples, Ontario county. New York. Her father died when Mrs. Shepard was a child and her mother afterwards married Joseph Kibbee. Her grandfather was one of the first settlers of Liberty, New York, and was a soldier of the Revolutionary War. Aaron Shepard, Jr., died in Livingston county, New York, at the age of sixty-eight years, and his wife died in the same place at the age of forty-four years. They had nine children, of whom the following named seven are living: Parker, Melissa, Myron, Harvey, Cyrus P., James and Martha.

Cyrus P. Shepard was born in New York State November 13, 1839, and until he was twenty years of age resided on the home farm. In 1861 our subject started West with the intention of locating in Missouri, but he proceeded to Wisconsin and, manifesting the same loyal spirit as was shown by his ancestors, he joined the boys in blue. He was mustered in as an enlisted man in Company D, of the Fourteenth Wisconsin Infantry, under Captain Polleys, of La Crosse. He was in the service until his muster out at Mobile on October 11, 1865, and participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, luka. Tupelo, the siege of Vicksburg. Champion Hills, Edward's Ferry. Nashville, Mobile and many minor enagements. His promotion

At the close of the war Captain Shepard returned to his old New York home and rented his father's farm. In 1868 he located in Stillwater, Minnesota, where he engaged in the mercantile business several years. He settled in Worthington. Minnesota, in 1877 and for many years was a dealer in lumber, fuel and agricultural implements.

During President Cleveland's first administration, in 1886, Mr. Shepard was appointed register of the United States Land Office, then located at Worthington, his territory comprising the country between the Mississippi river and the South Dakota line. He held the office under the appointment until the office was moved to Marshall. During President Cleveland's second administration, in 1894. Mr. Shepard located in Marshall, having again received the appointment of register, in the interim the office having been held by L. M. Lange. Under the second appointment our subject held the government office ten years, until the office was moved to St. Cloud.

Since the removal of the Land Office from Marshall. Mr. Shepard has practically lived a retired life and has been one of the city's highly respected citizens. Several years ago, when the recorder's office needed the services of a competent man, he was called upon to take charge. Later he was elected to the office and has ever since held the position. It gives him light employment and a down-town office, which is the sole reason for his holding the office.

While a resident of Stillwater, Captain Shepard was married, on January 12, 1870, to Anna D. Cowan, a native of Oldtown, Maine. She is also a descendant from an old American family. Her grandfather, Thomas A. Cowan, was born in Maine October 14. 1794, and was married to Clementine Lovejoy, who was born in Vassalboro, Maine, June 4, 1800. Their marriage occurred April 14, 1820. The former died in Maine June 16, 1861; the latter in Stillwater January 27, 1890. They had six children, and Stephen L. Cowan, the father of Mrs. Shepard, located in Minnesota in an early day and for forty years was a prominent lumberman of Stillwater.

To Mr. and Mrs. Shepard were born the following named children: Cyrus, of Marshall; Eugene, who died in 1908; Ernest, who is the auditor of Lyon county; and Veda, who is a stenographer in the office of Governor Eberhart.

EDWARD P. ELMER (1888) is a farmer residing on section 3, Lucas township, about a mile from the village of Cottonwood, and is proprietor of the Cottonwood Dairy. He has under cultivation over 300 acres of land and engages extensively in dairying and stockraising, making daily deliveries of milk and cream in the village.

John Elmer, his father, came to America from Sweden in 1879, resided a number of years in Pullman. Illinois, and in 1S88 came with his family to Lyon county. He purchased the Lucas farm now owned by his son and became identified with the history of that part of the county. He erected the first store building in Cottonwood and conducted one of the first blacksmith shops of the village. He conducted the shop until 1908, when he moved to Swanville, Minnesota, near which place he has an eighty-acre farm, upon which he resides. The mother of our subject, Mary (Peterson) Elmer, is deceased.

To .Mr. and Mrs. John Elmer were born seven children, as follows: Helen (Mrs. R. H. Price), of Lucas township; Annie, Louise, Hulda and Clara, all deceased; Clara (.Mrs. Joseph Nelson), of Cottonwood; and Edward P., of this review.

Edward P. Elmer was born in Gothland. Sweden, September 17, 1876. He accompanied his mother and the other children to America in 1882 and joined the head of the family in Pullman, Illinois, he having come to the country in 1879. Edward attended school in Pullman and came with the family to Lyon county in 1888, completing his education in the district school at the, age of seventeen years. He worked on the farm for his father until twenty-two years old; then he married and began the cultivation of the farm for himself, buying the property from his father the year after his marriage.

Mr. Elmer was married at Cottonwood January 13, 1898, to Clara Jaenisch. She was born in Germany August 11, 1877. They have five children: Clarence, born June 1, 1900; Ella, born February 26, 1902; Ervin, born October 20, 1905; Alfred, born

March 25, 1908; and Dorothy, born April 25, 1910. The family are members of Silo Norwegian Lutheran Church of Cottonwood. For a number of years Mr. Elmer was treasurer of school district Xo. 19.

KXUTE K. MOHX (1892), chairman of the Xordland Board of Supervisors and the owner of the west half of the southwest quarter of section 3 of that precinct, has lived in Lyon county twenty years. The greater part of his life has been occupied working at trades and he has taken up farming in recent years.

.Mr. Mohn was born in Eggedal. Xorway, March 12, 1868, one of a family of four children. The others are Andrew, of Minneapolis; Ole, of Xorway; and Annie (Mrs. Jacob Euju), of Xorway. His father, Kittel Mohn, died in his native land; his mother, Groe (Knutson) Mohn, still lives in the land of the midnight sun.

Our subject attended the common schools of Xorway until fifteen years old. He worked two years at the shoemaker's trade and then was a farm hand until his departure for America in 1888. In the spring of that year he crossed the sea and located in Racine county, Wisconsin. After working as a farm hand there four years, in the spring of 1892 he came to Lyon county. He worked at farm labor near Cottonwood two years and near Minneota three years.

During the war with Spain, in the spring of 1898 Mr. Mohn enlisted as a member of Company I, Fourteenth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, was stationed with his regiment at Chickamauga Park, Georgia, and at Knoxville, Tennessee, and was mustered out at St. Paul Xovember 18, 1898.

After his discharge from the army Mr. Mohn worked in a livery stable in Minneapolis a few months and then took up his residence in Minneota. He worked at the carpenter's trade until August, 1903, and then became the first rural mail carrier out of that Lyon county village. Ill health caused his retirement on May 15, 1905, and thereafter until June, 1909, he again worked at his trade. On the date last mentioned he moved to his eighty-acre Xordland farm, where he has since been engaged in farming. Mr. Mohn has been a member of the township board the past two years and is

The subject of this biography was married at Minneota July 10, 1902, to Maria Hanson. She was born at Racine, Wisconsin, April 30, 1879. Her parents, Robert and Ellen M. (Klaith) Hanson, came to Lyon county in an early day and resided in Nordland township and Minneota until their deaths. The names and dates of births of Mr. and Mrs. Mohn's four children are as follows: Godfrey Kenneth, born May 29, 1904; Mildred Katherine. born September 21, 1905; Chester Andy, born March 27, 1907; Edgar Raymond, born September 4, 1909.

OLE OLSOX GORSETH (1881) is a homesteader of Lyon county and has a residence of thirty-one years to his credit. He owns and farms the southwest quarter of section 26, Shelburne township, land which he homesteaded.

Mr. Gorseth is a Xorwegian by birth, and the date of his nativity was December 9, 1851. His father, Ole Paulson, died in Menominie, Wisconsin, in 1872, and his mother, Sigrid (Johnson) Paulson, died at the home of her son in Lyon county in 1885.

Until he was seventeen years old Ole Gorseth attended school in his native land, and then he worked at farm labor for a few years. In 1871 the head of the family came to the Xew World and the next year our subject and his mother came. The first home was at Ishpeming, Michigan, but a year later the family moved to Wisconsin, where the father died. Ole and his mother lived there two years and then moved to Fillmore county, Minnesota. For several years Mr. Gorseth worked there as a farm hand and then, in 1881, he and his mother moved to Lyon county and he took his homestead claim.

Mr. Gorseth encountered many hardships in the early aays but perservered, and prosperity has been his lot. His mother died in 1885, and since that time Mr. Gorseth has lived alone. He is a genuine lover of Lyon county. He holds membership in the Xorwegian Lutheran church of Florence.

In 1877 Adolph accompanied his parents to Lyon county, his father homesteading land in Island Lake township. On that farm our subject resided twenty-five years and then moved to Minneota. He learned the blacksmith's trade under H. E. Knutson, with whom he worked three years. Then he and T. K. Thompson purchased the H. Halvorson blacksmith shop and conducted it three years. Our subject then purchased his partner's interest and has since run the business alone. Besides his blacksmith business, he conducts a wood yard and feed mill. Mr. Furgeson is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church.

The parents of our subject are Kittle and Margaret Furgeson, natives of Norway They came to the United States in an early day and located near Winchester, Wisconsin. They later moved to Freeborn county, Minnesota, where they resided until 1877, when they moved to Lyon county. The. father died in 1902; the mother is still living. They were the parents of the following children: Peter, of Canby: Charlie, of Valley City, North Dakota; Ole, deceased; Henry, of Island Lake township; ''arrie Strand, of Langmont, Colorado; Martin and Betsey Gjervold, of Nome, North Dakota; Annie Amundson, of Lyon county; Mary Haverson, of Ferndale, Washington; Adolph. of this sketch.

OLE P. SLETTE (1883) owns 200 acres of Lucas township's fertile land and farms in addition 250 acres which he rents. He resides on section 16; his own property is located on sections 22 and 28.

Mr. Slette was born in Guldbransdalen, Norway, June 14, 1866. His parents, Peder and Sara (Bergum) Slette, were the owners of a small farm in the old country, on which our subject grew to young manhood. He came to America in 1883 and direct to Lyon county. The first seven years were spent working at farm labor near Marshall. Then he bought the southwest quarter of section 22, Lucas township, engaged in farming on his own account, and resided on' that farm until 1905. At that time he moved to his present residence. Mr. Slette is treasurer

Mary Odden became the wife of Mr. Slette at Cottonwood on October 7, 1893. She was born in Norway November 25, 1868, a daughter of Amund and Kari (Sather) Odden. Mr. and Mrs. Slette have two children. Alfred and Leola.

WILLIAM R. EDWARDS (1887). For a quarter of a century W. R. Edwards has resided in Tracy and during all of that time was the publisher of a newspaper. His newspaper career covers a period of thirty-two years, and for fifteen years before that he engaged in teaching. He has served as postmaster of Tracy and has held many offices of trust within the gift of his neighbors.

Mr. Edwards was born at Ravenna, the county seat of Portage county, Ohio, September 4, 184 0, of Welsh descent. In 1849 he accompanied his parents to Oshkosh; Wisconsin, and there gr« w to young manhood. He was educated in a normal school at St. Louis and in the Bloomington, Illinois, Normal. After securing his education Mr. Edwards entered the teaching profession, with which he was identified fifteen years. He was superintendent of the Faribault, Minnesota, public schools in 18 7 0 and 18 71, and for four years was principal of the Osage, Iowa, schools.

In 1878 Mr. Edwards gave up teaching and became a journalist, which pursuit he followed until his retirement from active labors in 1910. He published the New Hampton Courier from 1878 to 1882, edited the Warren, Minnesota, Sheaf four years, was connected with a Minneapolis religious paper several years, and published the Hutchinson Leader for a time. He located in Tracy in 1887 and bought the Tracy Republican, added the Tracy Trumpet in 1900, and published the Republican-Trumpet until his retirement in 1910.

Mr. Edwards has always been an ardent Republican and has been active in the councils of his party. He has never sought office but on numerous occasions has been called to serve in offices of trust. He was a delegate to the St. Louis convention that nominated President McKinley, and when

Knute Nelson was governor of Minnesota he \v;is a member of the state central committee. In 1888 he was appointed county superintendent of schools to fill a vacancy and at the next election was chosen to a full term. For ten years Mr. Edwards was secretary of the Tracy District Fair Association, was at one time president of the Tracy Board of Trade, and for ten years was secretary of the Tracy Board of Education.

Mr. Edwards is a Presbyterian in religious faith and is an elder of the Tracy church. Fraternally he is associated with the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen lodges.

Richard and Anne (Jones) Edwards, the parents of our subject, were born and married in Wales. Upon their arrival to America they settled in Ohio and in 1849 made settlement in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where both died.' There were nine children in the family, of whom the only ones living are William R. Edwards and Mrs. Margaret Gittings, of Oshkosh. One child of the family, Richard Edwards, LL. D., D. D., born in 1822, had a national reputation as an educator and lecturer. The deceased children of the family were Richard, David.. Elizabeth, Isaac, Mary, John and Hugh.

William R. Edwards and Josie Bigelow were married at Charles City, Iowa, July 19, 1870. Mrs. Edwards is the daughter of Chauncey and Laura (Curtis) Bigelow, old New York State settlers, and she was born in Cattaraugus county of the Empire State. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Edwards, of whom the following named four are living: Josephine, the wife of George A. Pearce, Duluth; Vera L., the wife of Dr. Don Casselman, Tracy; Hazel, who resides at home; and Maurine, a graduate of the Mankato Normal School and a school teacher.

IVER A. OUSMAN (1886) is a farmer and land owner of Nordland township who has lived in Lyon county since he was a child. Iceland is his native land and he was born November 2 6, 18 80. Steffen Ousman, his father, died in 1907, and Rosa (Christenson) Ousman, his mother, lives in Minneota.

The family emigrated from the northland in 1886 and came to Lyon county. After residing a few years in Westerheim township, they took up their residence in Nordland, on the farm now owned by the son. Iver attended the district school until seventeen years old and worked for his father until he reached his majority. Then he purchased the east half of the northeast quarter of section 9 and commenced farming for himself. In 1909 he purchased the home place, the north half of the southeast quarter of section 4, and makes his home there. Besides general farming, Mr. Ousman raises cattle, horses, sheep and hogs. He is a member of St. Edward's Catholic Church of Minneota and of the Yeomen lodge of that village.

Mr. Ousman was married at Minneota June 24, 1909, to Catherine G. Donnelly. She was born in Yellow Medicine county March 20, 1888, a daughter of Charles and .Mary Donnelly, now residents of Nordland township. Mrs. Ousman died February 1, 1912. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ousman, as follows: Catherine Rose, born June 21, 1910, and Magdeline, born January 8, 1912.

Iver Ousman is one of a family of thirteen children, of whom five are living. His brothers and sisters are Arne, of Seattle; Sadie (Mrs. Maurice Hennessy) and John, of Two Harbors, Minnesota; and Johanna, of Minneota.

SAMUEL J. FORBES (1880) is cashier of the Marshall State Bank and has spent the greater part of his life in Lyon county. He is a native of Wingham, Ontario, Canada, and was born May 4, 1870. He accompanied his parents to Lyon county in 1880 and during the next ten years lived on the home farm, the southwest quarter of section 14, Fairview township, a few miles north of Marshall.

Mr. Forbes was graduated from the Marshall High School and thereafter for several years clerked in Marshall stores. He then took a position as traveling collector for the Milwaukee Harvester Company and the Champion Machine Company and in 1900 located in Gary, South Dakota, and engaged in the banking business. One year later he became associated with the First National Bank of Canby and was cashier of that institution until 1909. In the year last mentioned Mr. Forbes returned to Marshall and in partnership with Spurgeon Odell and J. A. McNiven founded the Marshall State Bank. He has since been cashier of the bank. - Fraternally, Mr. Forbes is affiliated with the Masonic, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Woodmen and Workmen lodges.

In the city of Marshall, on June 21, 1896, occurred the marriage of Mr. Forbes to Sonora M. Simons, a native of Platteville, Wisconsin. Her parents, Richard and Anna Simons, were born in Wales and settled in Lyon county in 1881. Mr. and Mrs. Forbes have two children, Vincent L. and Eleanor E.

The parents of the subject of this review were Alexander and Margaret (Dundas) Forbes, who were born in Canada and died in Marshall. They were parents of thirteen children, of whom the ten following are living: John, of Ontario, Canada; Rev. Robert, of Philadelphia; Isaac, of Amiret township; William, of Fairview township; Joseph G., an attorney of Wahpeton, North Dakota; Eleanor (Mrs. Isaac Clendenning), of Marshall; Mabel (Mrs. John Taylor), of Marquam, Oregon; Elizabeth (Mrs. James Springsteen), of Blenheim, Ontario; and Mary (Mrs. John Lamonby), of Toronto.

ALBERT L. BLANCHETTE (18 86) has been engaged in farming the one farm in Vallers township for the last twenty-six years. His farm is the southwest quarter and the west half of the Southeast quarter of section 31, a good farm and improved with substantial buildings. He has made the farm what it is, for when he came it was raw prairie land without a building on it.

Mr. Blanchette is of French descent and was born in Kankakee county, Illinois. February 27, 1868. Eli and Bessauger (Boulez) Blanchette, his parents, were born in Canada and settled in Illinois in the fifties. Albert received a district school education and lived in his native county until eighteen years of age. He came to Lyon county in 1886 and located on his present farm, which his father had bought three years before. Mr. Blanchette is a

In his native county, on February 1, 1888, Mr. Blanchette was united in marriage to Selina Bouchard. She was born in the city of Chicago June 11, 18 67, and is the daughter of Godfrey and Esther (Desleaurier) Bouchard, natives of Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Blanchette have been blessed with children, being the parents of the following named fourteen: George J., Louise, Leah, Agnes, Annie, Harry, Archie, Arbu, Neldeah, Blanche, Eli, Eba, Ella and Elmer.

HALVOR K. KVANBECK (1877) in partnership with his brother Jacob, farms the west half of section 14, Eidsvold township. He owns an eighty-acre farm in Burton township, Yellow Medicine county, and for several years he has been engaged in farming that land.

His father is Knute Kvanbeck, who was born in Norway April 5, 1853. The parent came to the United States in 1873, lived one summer in Minneapolis, and then took up his residence in Freeborn county, Minnesota. He was married in Iowa in 187 6 to Rosa Halvorson, the mother of our subject. She was born in Norway and came to America when four years of age. Knute Kvanbeck came to Lyon county in 1876 and took as a homestead claim the northwest quarter of section 14, Eidsvold township, where he has ever since lived. The first home was a little log cabin, and Mr Kvanbeck has made all the improvements on the place, now owning also the southwest quarter of section 14. Knute Kvanbeck has been prominent in the affairs of his township. For the past eighteen years he has been township clerk and he has been a member of the school board for a number of years.

There are four sons and two daughters in the family, as follows: Helen (Mrs. P. J. Thorson), of Swede Prairie township, Yellow Medicine county; Sven (married to Clara Hall), a carpenter of Kansas City; Jacob, who is one of the partners in the management of the home farm; Halvor K., of this sketch; Nellie (Mrs. Rasmus Anderson), of Eidsvold township; and Albert, of Minneota.

Halvor Kvanbeck was born in Lyon county and has always made his home here. The date of his birth was March 16, 1877, and the place was two miles southeast of Minneota. He is not married and has always resided at home. Besides farming his own land in Yellow Medicine county, he assisted with the work on his father's farm, and in the spring of 1912 he and his brother rented the half section owned by their father and are now engaged in its management.

HYPPOLIT MAERTENS (1883) since August 10, 1911, has held the position as buyer for the Van Dusen Elevator Company at Ghent. Previous to that time Mr. Maertens for three years held a similar position with the Mutual Elevator Company at Taunton.

Mr. Maertens claims Belgium for his native land and is a son of Henry and Annie (De Ruee) Maertens. Hyppolit was born September 25, 1875, and when only eight years old the family came to America, the father buying land in Grandview township, Lyon county. His father returned to Belgium in 1895, where he died four years ago. The mother died while the family were on the Grandview farm.

Hyppolit attended the Sisters' School two years in Belgium, and after coming to Lyon county he received a good education in the country school in Grandview. At the age of nineteen years he took up farming in Grandview and continued in that pursuit until 1907, when he returned to Belgium for a sojourn of six months. Returning to Lyon county, he was given the position with the elevator people at Taunton.

The marriage of Hyppolit Maertens and Marie De Langhe occurred November 6, 1907, at Minneota. Mrs. Maertens is a native of Belgium and she and her husband are members of the Catholic church. They are the parents of three children, Edward, Henry and Margaret.

GEORGE B. GIFFORD (1879), a farmer of Custer township, was born in Jefferson county, New York, November 3, 1862, and is a son of Willard W. and Jane L

George was brought up in his native state and there received his schooling. At the age of seventeen he accompanied his father and stepmother to Lyon county, where the father filed on a homestead in Custer township, the land which our subject now owns. Here the young man grew to manhood and assisted his father with the farm work until the elder Gifford's death in 18 92, since which time George has had charge of the place. In addition to the old homestead on the northeast quarter of section 18, Mr. Gifford owns 120 acres on section 17 of the same township. He raises considerable stock and has been farming successfully. Mr. Gifford owns shares in the creamery company of Balaton and is a director of the company. He is serving as treasurer of school district No. 52.

March 30, 1887, Mr. Gifford was married to Ruth Hughes, the ceremony being performed in Custer township. Mrs. Gifford was born in Blue Earth county, Minnesota, May 25, 1868, and is a daughter of Richard and Ann (Thomas) Hughes, natives of Wales and Maryland, respectively. Mrs. Hughes died in 1894 and her husband is still living at the age of seventytwo years. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. George Gifford: Lorenta R., born December 16, 1888; Elvridge, born April 23, 1890; Mark, born December 4, 1891; Willard, born March 5, 1894; Anna, born August 1, 18 97; Lydia, born June 15, 1902; and Celia, born February 19, 1905. Of the above children, Lorenta and Elvridge are married; the others are at home. Mr. Gifford is a member of the A. O. U. W. lodge.

A. ROSSLAND (1899) is the manager of the Cottonwood Hardware Company. He was born in the land of the midnight sun October 12, 1873. His parents died in the old country. They were Anders and Martha (Cleveland) Rossland and were the parents of four children: Andrew, of this sketch; Signey Tvedteras, and Maria Rongved, of Norway; and Anna Rossland, of Cottonwood.

Our subject obtained his education in the land of his birth, where he resided until nineteen years of age. Then he came to the United States and settled at Maynard, Minnesota, where he worked as second man in a grain elevator in the summer months; in the winter months he attended the Norwegian College at Madison. Mr. Rossland continued this two years, when he secured employment with the Northwestern Elevator Company. He worked for the latter company at Sherman, South Dakota, four years and at Corson, South Dakota, one year.

In 1899 Mr. Rossland came to Lyon county and located at Cottonwood, where he was employed by the above named grain company six years. He resigned in 1905 and was one of the organizers of the Cottonwood Hardware Company, which was established and incorporated in January, 1905. He has been treasurer and manager of the company since its organization.

The Cottonwood Hardware Company is the outgrowth of a company of the same name that was established several years ago by Thomas McKinley. He sold to Arneson & Anderson, who conducted it until 1905, when it was reorganized and incorporated. It is capitalized for $20,000. The following are officers of the company: President, A. E. Anderson; vice president, O. A. Anderson; secretary, O. C. Hovdesven; treasurer and manager, A. Rossland. The company handles hardware and implements. It owns the brick block in which the business is located, which was erected in 1904. The store and stock are a credit to the village of Cottonwood and is the largest and best stock carried by any little store in the county.

At Elk Point, South Dakota, July 11, 1901, occurred the marriage of Mr. Rossland to Mamie Holden, a native of Sioux City, Iowa. They are the parents of four children: Hazel Agnes Margaret, Arden Oliver, Dagny Marie and Clayton Holden.

a prominent farmer of Shelburne township. He owns the east half of section 36 and has one of the best improved farms of the county. He has lived in many parts of the country and engaged in many occupations, but he has found that Lyon county suits him better than any place he has found and he has prospered exceedingly.

By birth Mr. Etrheim is a Norwegian, having been born near Odda, Hardanger, on May 26, 1864. Both his parents are deceased, his father, Eilef D. Etrheim, having died in 1901, and his mother, Syneva (Tyssedal) Etrheim, having passed away in 1872. The boyhood days of our subject were passed in the land of his nativity. He received a good education in the common schools and high school, having been graduated from the Lofthus High School in 1881.

After his graduation Mr. Etrheim worked on his father's farm one year and then came to America, arriving April 11, 1882. For six years he worked at farm labor and other occupations in Lee county, Illinois, and then took up his residence at Ellsworth, Iowa. During the next few years he was employed in various capacities. For five months he worked as a farm hand, for two months canvassed in Hamilton county for the Fort Dodge Nursery Company, and during one season sold farm implements for W. W. Woods, of Ellsworth.

We next find our subject in Chicago, where he worked one winter for the Mc- Cormick Harvester Company. For one year he traveled over Iowa as a salesman for the Warder, Bushnell & Glesner Company, makers of the Champion binders and mowers. In the fall of 1890 Mr. Etrheim returned to Ellsworth and in partnership with Ole Cragwick purchased the W. W. Woods machinery business. After one year he sold his interest to Nels Sexe and then took a six months' course in a business college at Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Etrheim again took a position with the Warder, Bushnell & Glesner Company and for four years traveled in Iowa and Minnesota. During that period he spent one winter in the repair department in Chicago and one winter in the collection department in the office.

of 1895. Ten years before that date he and his brother Henry had purchased the northeast quarter of section 36, Shelburne township, and to that place our subject moved after his marriage. He has ever since resided on the farm and has added to his holdings.

For four years Mr. Etrheim was a director of the Balaton Farmers Co-operative Company and he is still one of the stockholders. He has been a county commissioner for the past four years and has held a number of local offices, including clerk of school district No. 68 for six years and justice of the peace.

Mr. Etrheim was married in Chicago March 7, 189 5, to Celia T. Prestegaard. She was born in Odda, Hardanger, Norway, February 25, 1862, a daughter of Torgels K. and Britta (Hildal) Prestegaard. The former lives' in Norway; the latter died in 1874. To Mr. and Mrs. Etrheim was born one child, Eilif, born February 20, 1896, and died March 1, 1896.

WILLIAM F. MTJLLANEY (1873), chief engineer of the Marshall Milling Company's plant, has lived in Lyon county since he was a baby one and one-half years old. He was born in Nicollet county, Minnesota, September 29, 1871.

The parents, Peter and Mary (Powers) Mullaney, were born in Ireland and came to America when children. They were married in Peoria, Illinois, and settled in Nicollet county in the early sixties. They took a homestead claim in Lynd township, Lyon county in 1873 and resided on the farm until 1907. They have since lived retired lives in Marshall. In the family are six children: Annie (Mrs. John McColer), of Tracy; Richard, who died in 1891; William F., of this biography; Alphonsus, of Minneapolis; Katie (Mrs. John Brennan), of Balaton; Leo, of San Francisco; and Charles, who lives at Fort Warden, Washington, and is a first sergeant of Company No. 125 of the United States Coast Artillery.

William Mullaney accompanied the family to Lyon county in June, 1873, and grew up on his father's homestead, the northwest quarter of section 14, Lynd township. As a boy he worked on the farm and operated threshing machines, getting his first experience in mechanics. In 1892 he moved to Marshall and took a position as fireman with the Sleepy Eye Milling Company, now the Marshall Milling Company, and has been connected with that firm's mill ever since.

He was soon made assistant engineer, the first six months of that service being given without pay, and in 1896 he was promoted to chief engineer. In 1904, when the company built the present mill - one of the largest in the southwestern part of Minnesota and one of the finest in the state - Mr. Mullaney superintended the installing of the mammoth 1000 horse-power engine of the cross-compound type, and he has since superintended the putting in of the other modern appliances. Mr. Mullaney is recognized as one of the best engineers and mechanical experts in this part of Minnesota.

During the past three years Mr. Mullaney has served as a member of the City Council, representing the second ward, and he is one of the valued members of the city's lawmaking body. He holds membership in the Modern Woodmen and Workmen lodges and Is one of the managers of each order.

The marriage' of Mr. Mullaney to Susie Lee was solemnized .at Marshall April 27, 1897. Mrs. Mullaney-, is a native of Illinois and a daughter of the late Richard Lee, a pioneer of Lyon county. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mullaney, named as follows: Irene, Margaret, Gladys, Carleton and Verna.

OLE O. DOVRE (1879) is a farmer and land owner of Eidsvold township. He owns the southeast quarter and the south half of the southwest quarter of section 33. a few miles southwest of Minneota. In the summer of 1911 he erected a house on the farm that cost $5000. It is modern in every respect and is one of Lyon county's fine farm homes.

Ole O. Dovre is a Norwegian by birth and first saw the light of day May 15, 1859. His father, O. N. Dovre, died in the old country in 1876, and his mother, Ragnhild (Thorson) Dovre, passed away there in 1910. After securing an education, Ole Dovre came to America, in the spring of 1877. He located at Northfield, Minnesota, and worked at the printer's trade there two years.

In the summer of 1879 Mr. Dovre first came to Lyon county. He spent eighteen months visiting and working and then went to Brown county, Kansas, where he resided one and one-half years. Returning to Northfield, he had his residence there until 1892, engaged in horse training and later in the mercantile business. Mr. Dovre then spent a year traveling through the South and West, and in the spring of 1894 he took up his permanent residence in Lyon county. He lived in Minneota and vicinity two years and in 1895 bought his present farm.

Our subject has stock in and for a number of years was a director of the Farmers Elevator Company of Minneota. He has been a director of school district No. 55 four years and he is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Minneota.

The marriage of Mr. Dovre to Inga Rye occurred at Watertown, South Dakota, August 7, 1896. His wife was born in Norway November 28, 1865, and is a daughter of Esten and Marit (Ranum) Rye, early settlers of and still residents of Nordland township. Mr. and Mrs. Dovre have the following children, all of whom reside at home: Knute, Nels Edwin, Ragnhild Marie, Irene Sophia, Hilda, Ruth Amelia, Odin Esten, Harold.

CORNELIUS HUISENFELDT (1893) is a farmer and land owner of Lynd township. He is a native of Wisconsin and was born November 1, 1853, at Depere. He is a son of Stephen and Wilhelmina Huisenfeldt, natives of Holland, who came to America in an early day and located in Wisconsin. It was there that our subject received his education and grew to manhood. He worked for his father until 1877 and then worked at the carpenter's trade and at the house moving business for several years. In 1880 he started in the business for himself, having in his employ from three to seven men. He worked at this trade in Wisconsin and in Lyon county for over thirty years.

In 1892 Mr. Huisenfeldt purchased the southwest quarter of section 4, Lynd township, and the following year moved with his family to the place. He has purchased more land since then and is now the owner of four hundred acres of fine land.

The subject of this review is a member of the Catholic church. He was a member of the Township Board of Supervisors in Brown county, Wisconsin, for several years. He is now treasurer of school district No. 17 and was road master for two years in Lynd township. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company at Ghent and a stockholder in the Lyon County Agricultural Association. He engages extensively in stock laising, specializing on Shorthorn cattle, Poland China hogs, Percheron horses and Barred Plymouth Rock chickens.

On May 15, 1877, Mr. Huisenfeldt was united in marriage to Ardena Van DeVoort, a daughter of Arnold and Mary (Barten) Van DeVoort. Mrs. Huisenfeldt is a native of Wisconsin and was born March 13, 1858. They are the parents of the following named children: Arnold, bora June 12, 1878; John, born September 3, 1880; Stephen, born November 27, 1882; Minnie, born October 8. 1888; Martin, born October 19, 1892; Joseph, born May 23, 1895; Annie, born October 18. 1897; George, bora December 13, 1900. Another child died when two and one-half years old.

MICHAEL B. FORD (1880), Sodus township farmer, is a native of Waseca county, Minnesota, where he was born March 25, 1871. His parents are Bernard and Catherine (Haney) Ford, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Canada. They settled in Waseca county in an early day.

When nine years of age our subject accompanied his parents to Lyon county and his father purchased land in Sodus township, the southwest quarter of section 25. There Michael received his schooling and grew to manhood, and he has resided on the home farm continuously since 1880. In 1900 he purchased the home farm from his mother and has since conducted it. Our subject is clerk of school district No. 83. He is a member of the Catholic church and the Catholic Order of Foresters lodge. He is unmarried.

BERNARD F. CLAEYS (1884) is one of the most prosperous farmers of Grandview township. He is the owner of 880 acres of fine land and for the past twelve years has also been operating a half section belonging

The subject of this sketch was born in Belgium September 18, 1859, and is a son of Louis and Xaveria (Vankersschaver) Claeys. When i lie boy was two years of age his father died. The lad grew up on the home farm and was well educated in the schools of his native land, having the opportunity of attending college two years. In 1884 Bernard and his mother came to America, and young Claeys bought land in Grand view township, Lyon county. There he has since lived and farmed. He has acquired considerable farm land and has prospered. His mother lived with him and his brother fourteen years on the Lyon county farm and then returned to her native land, where she died in 1904.

Mr. Claeys is a stockholder and director of the Farmers -Elevator Company of Ghent and was one of its organizers. He has served the past three years as treasurer of Grandview township and was a member of the Grandview Township Board of Supervisors nine years, seven years of the time being chairman. In the winter of 1903-04 Mr. Claeys enjoyed a four months' trip to the Fatherland, and with that exception he has been a continuous resident of his Grandview place since coming to the county.

On September 9, 1S90, Bernard Claeys was united in marriage to Ida Maertens, a native of Belgium. She was born March 30, 1868, and is a daughter of Henry and Anna (De- Ruwe) Maertens, now dead. Her parents located in Grandview township in 1883, and there the mother died. The father returned to Belgium soon after and made his home there until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Claeys are the parents of the following children: Louis, Anna (deceased), Andrew, Mary, Emmerence, Irma, Idalie, Margaret. Bernard (deceased), Bernadette, Eugenia, Ida and Alice. Anna and Andrew were twins. The children reside at home with their parents.

Mr. Claeys is a member of the Catholic church of Ghent and was formerly one of the trustees. He is also a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters and has held various offices in the local organization.

H. R. SEARLES (1879), proprietor of a livery and sale stable and a dealer in agricultural implements of Tracy, is one of the early residents of the county, having lived here a third of a century. He is a native of Steuben county, New York, and was born November 29, 1863.

In his native county our subject lived until ls7!»; then lie accompanied his parents to Lyon county. The father bought a half section of railroad land in Rock Lake township, and on that farm H. R. Searles lived until he was twenty-three years of age. Then he started out in life for himself. He worked in the woods in the north part of the state one winter and then returned and settled at Balaton. In that village he engaged in teaming and operated a dray line five years; then he bought a livery barn and conducted it five years.

Locating in Tracy at the end of that time, Mr. Searles rented a barn from Mr. Slover and when it was destroyed by fire a year and a half later he bought the lots upon which it had stood and erected a barn of his own. Later he sold out and erected a larger livery stable on the corner opposite Webb's store, which he conducted until it was destroyed by fire in March, 1910. Since that calamity Mr. Searles has engaged in the livery business in his own property on Third Street.

Besides the business enterprise mentioned Mr. Searles deals extensively in farming implements, carrying a large line of machinery, engines, wagons, automobiles, etc. He is one of the stockholders of the Tracy Automobile Company and owns two Lyon county farms. He served as alderman from the second ward for a number of years and is a member of the Masonic lodge.

Mr. Searles was married at Balaton June 6, 1895, to Lucy A. Hamm. She is a daughter of William Hamm, a Lyon county homesteader. Mr. and Mrs. Searles have one child, Gertrude.

The parents of our subject are J. W. and Kate (Bauter) Searles, who now reside at Balaton, aged eighty-one and eighty years, respectively. They came from New York State, where they were born, to Lyon county in 1879, and before retiring from active life, farmed in Rock Lake township. To them were born eight children, of whom seven are living. Their children are Rev. William Searles, of New York; J. D. Searles, of Minneapolis; Frank M. Searles, of New Brighton, Minnesota; Fred W. Searles, of Minneapolis; Mrs. Carrie Wheeler, of Okla-

FRED S. BARTLETT (1879) is a contractor of Balaton. He has been a resident of Lyon county for thirty-three years, having come here with his parents in the spring of 1879. He was born in Pennsylvania January 28, 1877, a son of E. D. Bartlett, now a resident of Balaton. The other members of that family are Rose, Minnie, Ella, Sadie and Lue.

Our subject attended school in Balaton, and, after completing his course, entered the employ of his father and learned the trade. When twenty-one years of age he started out for himself. He has put up the principal buildings in the village of Balaton, including the First National Bank, the Eng Block, the German church, Swedish church, and the Lake Avenue Hotel. He also erected the new building on the county poor farm and other buildings throughout the county. Mr. Bartlett is a member of the M. W. A. lodge and the Village Council.

Mr. Bartlett was married in Balaton December 26, 1900, to Anna Hall, a native of Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett are the parents of two children, Rachael and Maud.

JULIUS TEERLINCK (1892) came to the United States from Belgium, and when he settled in Fairview township in 1892 he was a poor man. He spent the first six years of his residence in the county working on farms near Ghent; then he rented the northeast quarter of section 18, Fairview township, and has been a resident on the place ever since. In 1902 he bought the place and has. recently acquired additional land, making him the owner of 260 acres. Hard work and perseverance have brought Mr. Teerlinck success ,and he is considered one of the substantial farmers of the township and the proprietor of one of its best farms. He has had great success in the raising of corn, and fattens hogs and cattle for market.

Our subject is the son of Jacob and Barbara (Parton) Teerlinck and is one of four children. His father died many years ago and his mother died nine years ago at the age of seventy-three years. Julius is the only child living in America, the other children, Charlie, Sylvia and Natilie, being residents of Belgium. Our subject was bora in Belgium January 20, 1857. He was educated in the Fatherland and then worked as a farm hand until coming to America in 1892. On May 3, 1881, Mr. Teerlinck was married to Barbara De Baker. Her mother, Mary Vermech, and two sisters, Leona and Valentine, live in Ghent, and a brother, Candle De Baker, is a farmer of Fairview township. Two other sisters, Natilie and Matilda, live in Belgium. To Mr. and Mrs. Teerlinck has been born one son, Frank. He is a young man and gives his father valuable assistance on the farm. The subject of this sketch is a member of the Catholic church.

PALMER O. FRENCH (1892), owner of several lots, two residence properties, a store building and hall in Minneota, is a retired farmer and business man who is enjoying years of quiet after an active and successful business life. He is a stockholder and for two years was secretary of the Farmers & Merchants Supply Company of Minneota. He has held the office of justice of the peace more than twenty years and was on the Village Council four years, three years of that period as president. Mr. French is a member of the Baptist church, of which he has been treasurer ten years. A charter member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges of Minneota, he is treasurer of the former and district deputy of the latter. D. F. Markham Post, G. A. R., of Marshall numbers Mr. French among its members.

Our subject first saw the light of day in Bennington, New York, October 6, 1837. His parents, Burton and Mary (Fargo) French, are both dead. Palmer was well educated, attending graded and high school and the Genesee and Wyoming Seminary at Alexander, New York, from which he was graduated at the age of twenty-three years. He then went two years to Hillsdale College in Michigan, after which he taught school at Litchfield, Michigan, one year.

In 1864 Mr. French enlisted in the Second New York Mounted Rifles and served until the war closed, taking part in the siege of Petersburg, capture of the Weldon railroad, etc.

Returning North at the close of the war, Mr. French spent some time at his old home and in Litchfield, Michigan, and in 1867 he engaged in the retail grocery business in

Chicago, being so employed the next two years. In 1S70 at Austin, Minnesota, Mr. French went into the wholesale and retail implement business and for four years had the state agency for the Hollingsworth hayrake and the Southwestern Minnesota agency for the Marsh harvester, the first machine of its kind on the market. Mr. French was on the Village Council and was mayor of Austin one year. He was also secretary of the Board of Trade. From the spring of 1877 until that fall our subject conducted the first stage line between Pierre and Deadwood, in the Black Hills district of South Dakota.

Returning to Minnesota Mr. French took a tree claim and homestead in Yellow Medicine county and in the spring of 1S78 broke up part of the land. The township of Burton was named for his father, and Palmer French was chairman of the Board of Supervisors. In 1879 Mr. French moved his family from Austin and they made their home on the Yellow Medicine farm until 1892, when they moved to Minneota. From that time until he retired in 1897, Mr. French was engaged in the machinery and pump business.

At Litchfield, Michigan, January 11, 1866, Palmer O. French married Nancy A. Wood, a native of that state. To this union was born one child, who died in infancy. Mrs. French died in 1868. Mr. French was married a second time, January 4, 1870, to Rhoda W. Gillett, of Bennington, New York.

NELS NELSON (1S86), of Coon Creek township, is a native of Jemtland, Sweden, where he was born December 31, 1858. He is a son of Nels and Mollin (Nelson) Erickson, the former being deceased and the latter residing in Sweden. Our subject received his schooling in the land of his birth, where he resided until twenty-eight years of age and then came to the United States. The first fifteen years of his life were spent in school, and from the age of fifteen until twenty-eight he worked out at farm labor.

In 1886 Mr. Nelson came to America, locating at Balaton, where he was employed for a year in a gravel pit. He then went to the northern part of Wisconsin, where he worked in a railroad camp four years. Then he returned to his old home in Sweden and remained a year. Returning again to America, he took up his residence in

Lyon county, buying the land in Coon Creek township upon which he still lives. He has a very fine home. In addition to general farming, he engages in stock raising, such as Shorthorn cattle, Duroc-Jersey hogs and Langshang chickens. Mr. Nelson is a member of the Masonic and Modern Woodmen lodges and has been treasurer of school district No. 92 five years. He is a stockholder of the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company.

In 1892 Mr. Nelson was united in marriage to Katherine Lindstrom, a daughter of Henry Lindstrom. She was born in 1865 in Jemtland, Sweden. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are the parents of the following children: Nels, born August 23, 1S92; Augusta, bom January 6, 1894; Oscar, born December 1, 1895; Ellen, born December 17, 1898; Mary, bom February 23, 1901; Eva, born March 9, 1903; Albert, born November 18, 1905. All the children except Augusta reside at home. Augusta is a member of the Royal Neighbors lodge, Nels of the M. W. A. lodge, and Mrs. Nelson is a member of the Degree of Honor.

Mr. Nelson owns 280 acres of fine land in Coon Creek township and is a successful farmer and stock raiser. He has two brothers and three sisters, as follows: Erick, of Pine county, Minnesota; Olaf, Mary, Ingeborg and Martha, all residing in Jemtland, Sweden. Mrs. Nelson has one sister, Mrs. Mathias Johnson, of Sweden.

ANTON HEYMANS (1892) is one of the progressive men of Nordland township, a successful farmer and a large holder of Lyon county real estate. He has devoted many years to business life and only recently has he engaged in farming.

In Weert Holland, Anton Heymans was born October 22,' 1867. He is the only one of a family of eight children residing in America, the others, Louis, Frank, Johanna (deceased), Delphine, Anna, Josephine and Dena, being in their native land. The parents of this family, Martin and Mary (Verhagen) Heymans, died in Holland.

Anton received a good education in his native country, attending the common schools and a Catholic college until twentyone years old, studying the Latin, Greek, French, German and Flemish languages. Aft-

Biogeaphical History

In 1892 our subject came to the New World and direct to Lyon county, his worldly possessions at that time consisting of sixty dollars. For one year he worked on a farm near Ghent and then bought land near Slayton, Murray county, and farmed three years. He was in the livery business in Avoca three years and in the real estate business in the same town one year; then he disposed of his interests in Murray county and in 1900 again became a resident of Lyon county. At Taunton he was in the real estate business eight years and at Minneota two years.

Mr. Heymans purchased the farm he now operates in Nordland in August, 1911, and began farming. The home farm consists of 240 acres on section 3, a short distance from Minneota, and he also owns 640 acres north of Minneota, making him the possessor of 880 acres of Lyon and Yellow Medicine county lands. He is also the owner of two quarter sections in North Dakota. As in his other business ventures, Mr. Heymans has been successful in his farming operations. He devotes a great deal 0f time to stock raising, specializing on Hereford cattle and Poland China hogs.

Mr. Heymans has taken a leading part in local affairs since coming to Lyon county. For several years he was treasurer of Taunton and he also served as a director of the Taunton school district two years. He is a former postmaster of Taunton and a former United States mail carrier. He is a member of the Catholic church of Minneota, of the M. W. A. lodge of the same village, and of the Knights of Columbus of Marshall.

Antoinette Princen, who was born in Weert, Holland, May 13, 1875, was married to Mr. Heymans at Ghent on July 17, 1895. Her parents are Hubert and Philomena (Vy-. gen) Princen. They were among the earliest of the Catholic colonists to locate in the vicinity of Ghent and lived there until two years ago, when they returned to the old country, where they now have their home. The following named six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Heymans >and reside at home: Alex, Hubert, Martin, Eugene, Joseph and Marie.

FRED M. HEALY (1879), proprietor of a book, stationery and sporting goods store in Marshall, has resided in that city for the past thirty-three years and is one of the oldest business men of the city. He has built up a successful business and has the largest store of the kind in Southwestern Minnesota.

Mr. Healy was born in Kendall county, Illinois, July 12, 1858. When he was ten years of age he moved to Faribault, Minnesota, and there grew to manhood and was educated. When he was seventeen he spent one year as a member of a bridge building crew at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but during most of the time of his residence in Faribault he was employed as a clerk in stores.

In 1879 Mr. Healy located in Marshall, which has ever since been his home. For three years he clerked in the grocery store of his brother, E. L. Healy, and in 1883 started a store of his own. the beginning of his present business. In October, 1909, Mr. Healy admitted his son, Charles, to partnership and the firm is now styled Healy & Son. Our subject served as mayor of Marshall one term and was city recorder two terms.

In the city of Marshall, on February 3, 1887, occurred the marriage of Mr. Healy to Caroline Strathers, who was born in Rice county, Minnesota, near Faribault. They have one child, Charles E.

The father of our subject is Lucius Healy, who was born in Massachusetts and now resides at Red Lake, Minnesota. Our subject's mother, Amelia (Boomer) Healy, died when Fred was only two years of age. There were four children in this family: E. L., of Red Lake, Minnesota; Emma, Charles and Fred M. Emma and Charles are deceased.

HENRY CHRISTENSON (1883) is the owner of a fine, well-improved 200 acre farm on section 33, Lucas township, and has one of the nicest homes in the precinct. He engages in stock raising and is one of the prosperous farmers of the vicinity. .

Henry Christenson was born near Copenhagen, Denmark, December 5, 1866, and is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Christian Jenson. Henry lived in Denmark until sixteen years of age and during that time received his schooling. It was in the spring of 1883 that the boy came alone to America, and for the first two years he lived at Marshall and was employed at various kinds of labor. J. W. Pike then hired the boy to work on his farm in Lake Marshall township, and there Henry spent three years. He left Mr. Pike's emploj to engage in farming for himself in Stanley township.

The subject of this sketch farmed in Stanley township four years. During that time his parents came over from the Fatherland, and they made their home with their son until they moved to Marshall, where they lived until their deaths. After his four years' residence on the Stanley farm, Henry bought the farm in Lucas township where he has since lived. He is a member of the Lucas township board and for the past seven years has been treasurer of school district No. 41.

Henry Christenson was married at Marshall July 1, 1892, to Josephine Engebretson, a native of Fillmore county. They have three children: Mabel, born July 20, 1895; Clarence, born January 3, 1898; and Alvin, born July 21, 1905. Mrs. Christenson was born January 23, 1872. The family are members of the Presbyterian church of Cottonwood, of which Mr. Christenson was for a number of years a trustee. Fraternally he is allied with the Modern Woodmen lodge.

HANS ANDERSEN (1889) is a prosperous farmer residing in Coon Creek township. He is a native of Denmark and was born October 11, 1858, a son of Anders and Kirsten (Adams) Sorensen. Hans received his schooling and grew to manhood in the land of his birth, where he resided with his parents until 1882, when he came to this country.

His first residence in America was in Grundy county, Iowa, where he worked as a farm hand four years and rented land three years. In 1889 he came to Lyon county and purchased the southwest quarter of section 28, Coon Creek township, which he still owns and operates. Since buying this farm, however, he spent four years in Tyler. He has a well improved farm and a fine residence in Tyler. Mr. Andersen also raises considerable stock. He is a shareholder of the Farmers Elevator Company of Russell and of the Tyler Lumber Company of Tyler, Minnesota. He is treasurer of Coon Creek township and a member of the Danish Lutheran church of Tyler.

Mr. Andersen was married in Coon Creek township December 4, 1891, to Annie K. Nelson, a native of Denmark and a daughter of Nels and Johannah (Bertelsen) Mortensen. Mrs. Andersen was born March 15, 1860. They have two children: Eiler C, born December 6, 1898, and Anton S., born July 29, 1903.

T. H. WEBB (1884) is the proprietor of an exclusive grocery store at Tracy and has resided in Lyon county twenty-eight years. He was born at North Bend, Wisconsin, June 12, 1861, and in that state he spent his boyhood days. He was educated in a college at Galesville, Wisconsin, and worked at the telegrapher's trade before coming to Lyon county.

In 1884 Mr. Webb became a resident of Lyon county and the first year taught school at Amiret. The next year he took the position of operator and station agent at Amiret and had charge of that station seven or eight years. About the same time he formed a partnership with his brother, the late F. W. Webb, and engaged in the mercantile business, the partnership continuing six or seven years.

Mr. Webb became the leading business man of the little village. He engaged in the lumber, coal and grain business and opened another store. He was appointed postmaster by President Cleveland in 1887 and. served until 1896, when he was succeeded by his brother. During his residence in Amiret Mr. Webb served as a justice of the peace of Amiret township.

In 1897 Mr. Webb sold all his interests at Amiret and became a resident of Tracy. There he engaged in the grain and stock business, erecting the grain elevator now owned by Louis Rialson, and conducted those enterprises several years. He branched out in business, opening a general merchandise store at Garvin, although he did not move to that village. He conducted the store alone for several years and then sold a part interest. to Norman S. Peterson. In 1902 Mr. Webb purchased the building at the corner of Fourth and Morgan Streets, put it in repair, and opened an exclusive grocery store, which he has since conducted. Mr. Webb

Mr. Webb is the father of two sons and one daughter, Roscoe, Orphia and Harry. Roscoe is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, having received the degree of B. A., and is now a student at Johns Hopkins University of Baltimore, taking a course in medicine.

Our subject is one of a family of three children, the other two being the late F. W. Webb and A. J. Webb, of Melrose, Wisconsin. Their parents were William and Mary Ann (Cannon) Webb, natives of England. They came to the United States when young and were married at Buffalo, New York. They located in Wisconsin in 1856 and in that state both died, the father in 1881 and the mother in 1888.

CHARLES F. WEDGER (1887) owns and farms the southwest quarter of section 23, Sodus township. Born in Germany September 27, 1872, he accompanied his parents when nine years of age to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where his father worked until 1887.

In the last mentioned year our subject accompanied his parents to Lyon county and his father purchased a quarter section of land in Sodus township. Charles resided with his parents until 1895, when he purchased the southwest quarter of section 23, Sodus township, and has resided there since. He has a fine improved farm and raises a great deal of stock in addition to his general farming. He is a member of the German Lutheran church and was director of school district No. 73 three years.

Mr. Wedger was married in Sodus township April 3, 1895, to Helen Wedger, a native of Germany. She is a daughter of Peter and Margaret (Schoer) Wedger and was born March 5, 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Wedger have no children.

The subject of this sketch was born in Odda, Hardanger, Norway, August 8, 1872, his parents being Eilef D. and Synneva (Tyssedol) Etrheim, both of whom are deceased. The boy Eilef received a high school education, being a student until eighteen years old. The next two years were spent as the driver of a tourist rig.

In the spring of 1891 Eilef came to America and went to work on a farm near Rochelle, Illinois, where he stayed for seven months, going then to Chicago and working for the McCormick Harvester Company one year. For the greater part of the next five years he made that city his home, working for the MdCormick company, for the West Side Street Car Company, and at various kinds of labor. Later he went to Washburn, Wisconsin, and worked in the woods for a time before locating in Minneapolis. Mr. Etrheim remained in Minneapolis and vicinity only a short time and in November, 1897, came to Lyon county and made his home with his brother, C. E. Etrheim, on his farm in Shelburne ten years.

In December, 1906, at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, occurred the ceremony which joined in the holy bonds of matrimony Eilef E. Etrheim and Dena H. Etrheim. In the spring of 1907 they moved to a farm on the northwest quarter of section 31, Rock Lake, which Eilef and C. E. Etrheim had purchased a short time before. Eilef later bought his brother's interest.

Mrs. Etrheim is a native of Norway. She was born July 25, 1883, and is a daughter of Haldor J. and Rognhild H. (Robbe) Etrheim, the former being dead and the latter residing in Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Eilef E. Etrheim are the parents of one child, Eilef E. Etrheim, Jr., born September 23, 1907.

EILEF E. ETRHEIM (1897) is a successful farmer of Rock Lake township. He is also a stock raiser, paying particular attention to the Shorthorn breed of cattle and Poland China swine. He is a shareholder of the Farmers Elevator Company of Balaton and has always been a progressive 'resident of the township. For one year he was road overseer.

E. H. CARSTENS (1878) is the senior member of the firm of E. H. Carstens & Son, general merchants of Taunton. He was born in Germany April 28, 1841, a son of U. A. and Ida (Remmers) Carstens, who died in Illinois. The mother was killed in a railroad accident.

ents to the United Stales and located in Will county, Illinois, where the family purchased land. He resided there until his father's death in August, 1S62, when he enlisted in Company 1), Eighty-second Illinois Regiment, and served during the war. After the war he returned to Illinois and farmed until 1869. In the latter year he came to Minnesota, locating in Renville county, where he settled on railroad land.

Mr. Carstens resided in Renville county until 1S78, when he came to Lyon county and pre-empted land in Eidsvold township. He built a small frame house, bringing the lumber from Cambria, Minnesota, on hand-cars. He resided on the farm four years. While living there he was elected road overseer, the position covering a whole township in those days. Mr. Carstens moved to Schokatan, Lincoln county, where he conducted a store three, years, and then moved to Tyler, Minnesota. He opened a general store in the latter place and conducted it nine years.

The next move of our subject was to Taunton, where he bought a building and opened a general store before the depot was built. At that time there were only two elevators and a store in the town, conducted by Fred Smuhl. Our subject remained in that building until 1902, when he put up the store building he now occupies. He carries the largest stock of general merchandise in the village. In 1908 he admitted his son, Harry E., as a partner in the business, and the firm has since been conducted under the name of E. H. Carstens & Son. Our subject has been a member of the Village Council, and he served thirteen years and four months as postmaster of the village.

Mr. Carstens was married in Renville county to Minnie Lopine. They are the parents of seven children: Mary, Ida, Willie F., Paul, Henry, Harry E. and Mabel.

AMBROSE A. REGNIER (1883), of Lake Marshall township, was born in Kankakee, Illinois, November 15, 1867, a son of Isaac and Mary (Touschette) Regnier. The parents are natives of Canada and moved to Illinois in 1847, where they resided until 1883, when they moved to Lyon county.

when he married and started fanning for himself. He farmed the northwest quarter of section 21 and forty acres on section 15, Grandview township, until 1895, when he moved to Ghent and worked for the Western Grain Company ten years. He also worked for the same firm and the Youmans Lumber Company in Marshall two years.

In 1907 Ambrose purchased forty acres on section 3, Lake Marshall township, where he now resides. He also owns four hundred acres in Sodus township, which he rents out. Mr. Regnier is assessor of Lake Marshall township, and he served as clerk and treasurer of the Grandview Township Board of Supervisors fifteen years. He also served on the Ghent School Board twelve years. He is a member of the Catholic church.

Our subject was married at Ghent October 20, 1896, to Judith Prairie, a native of Kankakee, Illinois. She is a daughter of Clovis and Mary (Lord) Prairie, natives of Canada, and was born July 30, 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Regnier are the parents of the following children: Maude, born November 28, 1898; Isabel, born July 19, 1900; Vivian, born May 15, 1907.

GEORGE I. LE BEAU (1883), of Ghent, is a land agent and owner of two well improved farms in the vicinity of Ghent. From 1899 until a few months ago he was in the grain business in Ghent, being the local manager and buyer for the Van Dusen Elevator Company.