Lyon County, Minnesota - Biographical sketches, 1912 (part 8 of 17)

William Gieseke, the father of the subject of this review, was 'born in Hanover, Germany, in September, 1831. He came to the United States when seventeen years of age and a few years later sent to the old country for the rest of the family. In 1861 he located in New Ulm and that was his home for the next twenty-two years. During his residence there he served nine years as sheriff of Brown county.

Sleepy Eye, and the next year he and others founded the Sleepy Eye Milling Company. He was president of the company many years and its guiding spirit. He became interested in the mill at Marshall in 1892 and became a resident of the city. He moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1901, and died there February 23, 1905. Matilda (Roternund) Gieseke, the mother of our subject, was born in Addison. Illinois, and now makes her home in Los Angeles.

In the Gieseke family are five children, as follows: William F.. Lydia (Mrs. F. J. Mclntyre), of Madison, South Dakota; Margaret (Mrs. Carl A. Plath), of Hood River, Oregon; Hugo H., who is bookkeeper and cashier of the Marshall Milling Company; and Blanche (Mrs. Paul Wagner), of Los Angeles, California.

William F. Gieseke was born in New Ulm, .Minnesota, March 5, 1869, and spent his boyhood days there. He was educated in the common schools and in Shattuck College, of Faribault, Minnesota, having been graduated from the last named institution in 18S8. After his school days Mr. Gieseke entered the office of the Sleepy Eye Milling Company and was with the company in Sleepy Eye until May 2, 1892. On that date he located in Marshall to take charge of the company's mill there. He became an officer of the Marshall Milling Company upon its organization a little later and is now the president of the company.

LOUIS N. REGNIER (1883), a well-to-do farmer of Grandview township, was born in Kankakee county, Illinois, August 15, 185S. He was brought up on the Illinois farm and in 1883 he accompanied his brother George to L5ron county. Louis bought 160 acres of railroad land on section 23, Grandview, and started farming. He improved the farm and in 1902 he bought the southwest quarter of section 24 in the same township, which is known as the James English tree claim. Mr. Regnier has done well since coming to the county and now farms 280 acres of his own and 185 acres, which he rents. He is ably assisted in the farm work by his sons.

Ishxjkaimiical History

The parents of our subject were Isaac and Mary (Tonscheke) Regnier, natives of Canada. They were early settlers of Kankakee county, Illinois, locating there at a time when Chicago was a mere hamlet. Coming to Lyon county in 1SS4, they located in Grandview township, where Mr. Regnier died in 1896. Mrs. Regnier is living with her daughter, Mrs. Gus Durrenberger, in Marshall. Besides the subject of this sketch the elder Regniers were the parents of the following children: Joseph, of Marshall; Mary (Mrs. Patrick Grant), of Kankakee; Florence (Mrs. Aime Bennett), of Kankakee; Emma (Mrs. O. Letournan), of Chicago: George, of Grandview; John, of Cottonwood; Ambrose, Harry and Louise (Mrs. Gus Durrenberger), all of Marshall.

On February 20, 1884, occurred the marriage of our subject to Elizabeth Caron, a native of Kankakee. She is a daughter of Theodore Caron, one of the early settlers of the county. To this union have been born Archie, Jerry, Philip, Eugenia, Zephyre, Robert. John, Henry and Sarah, the two last named being twins.

Mr. Regnier has been a member of the school board of district No. 21 for about twenty years and is road overseer. He is a member of the Catholic church.

CHARLES MILLER (1885), who farms the north half of section 4, Stanley township, has lived in Lyon county since he was a child. He is the son of William and Hulda (Mueller) Miller. The former was born in Wisconsin August 7, 1852, and is now engaged in farming in Lake Marshall township. The mother was born August 16, 1856, and died August 25, 1895.

Charles Miller was born in Wisconsin August 19, 1879. He came to Lyon county with his parents in 1885 and until he was sixteen years of age lived with them and attended school. He was handy with machinery and when only fourteen years of age began to work with engines. Two years later he was granted an engineer's license and became the youngest man in Minnesota to hold such license. During the next ten years he operated engines exclusively. Then he began farming and has been so engaged ever since.

Apfel occurred April 6, 1901, at Evansville, Wisconsin. Mrs. Miller's parents, H. Apfel and Fredericka Apfel, reside in Wisconsin. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born the following named five children: Jeanette, Violet, Melvin, Hazel and Hal.

ARTHUR H. ROWLAND (1881), postmaster of Tracy, has spent all except the first few years of his life in that city. He was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, April 5, 1874, and on January 11, 1881, he accompanied the family to Tracy. With the exception of the winter of 1881-82, when he was in Pierre, South Dakota, Mr. Rowland has ever since made his home in Tracy.

Arthur received his education in the Tracy school. When a boy he served one year as call boy in the employ of the Northwestern Railroad Company, and then for two years he was employed by the American Express Company. In 1897 he and his father opened a grocery store, which they conducted eleven years. Mr. Rowland received the appointment of postmaster on April 1, 1908.

Mr. Rowland was city recorder six terms previous to receiving the appointment of postmaster. He has been a member of the fire department since 1892 and is the second oldest member of that organization. Fraternally Mr. Rowland affiliates with the Masonic and Workmen lodges, holding membership in both the Blue Lodge and Chapter of the former.

The father of our subject is Richard Rowland, also of Tracy. He located in that village in 1879 and for more than thirty years was a conductor of the Northwestern Line. He was the first conductor to locate at the division and his first service was in charge of a construction train. His service has been confined to the Dakota division. The mother of our subject, Harriet S. (Parker) Rowland, is deceased. She was born at Janesville, Wisconsin, and was the daughter of Captain Parker, a member of Company M, Second Wisconsin Cavalry. He died in the service at Vicksburg. A. H. Rowland has three brothers and one sister, namely: Leonard, Robert, Hattie and Harlan. The last named is deputy postmaster.

LEWIS E. SCOTT (1880), of Amiret township, is a Lyon county boy, having been born in Sodus township July 29, 1880, and having been a resident of the county since his birth.

John and Mary (Lewis) Scott, parents of our subject, came to the county in 1874 aud located on a homestead in Sodus township, where they still reside. Lewis was born on the farm and grew up amid a farmer boy's environments. He attended the country school and later the village school in Amiret, and his education was completed when he was twenty-one years of age. He then worked for his father on the old homestead until October, 1905, when he engaged in farming for himself. During his Sodus residence Lewis held the office of road overseer for the township two terms.

The subject of this sketch farmed in Custer township six years, and in November, 1911, he moved to the farm he now operates, known as the Webb farm, on sections 17 and 20, Amiret township. He has since rented and farmed the place, having charge of a half section. He raises considerable stock, giving his attention to the Shorthorn and Hereford cattle and the Poland China hog.

.Mr. Scott married Ada Edwards in Tracy, Minnesota, October 18, 1905. To this union were born three children: Paul, born August 24, 1907; Clarence, born December 23, 1908; and William, born June 24, 1910. Mrs. Scott is a native of Sioux City, Iowa, and is a daughter of Edward and Agnes Edwards, formerly residents of Tracy and now of Sioux City.

GEORGE F. FIFIELD (1886) has lived in Lyon county since he was eleven years of age and is a farmer and land owner of Rock Lake and Shelburne townships. He engages quite extensively in stock raising, farms 380 acres in the two townships, and owns eighty acres in Shelburne township and 160 acres in Roseau county, Minnesota.

The parents of our subject were Ira A. and Emily E. (Rueber) Fifield, natives, respectively, of New Hampshire and New- York. They came to Lyon county in 1886, bought land in Lyons township,* and resided on the farm there until their deaths. The father died in 1903, the mother in 1909. They were the parents of nine children, as follows: Nellie (Mrs. William Buell), of Roseau county, Minnesota; May (Mrs. S. Goodmund), of Lyons township; Ella (Mrs. J. W. Andrews), deceased; Ann (Mrs. W. E. Magandy), of Tyler; George F., of this review; James, deceased; Charles, of Minneapolis; Walter and Elmer, of Lyons township.

The gentleman whose history we are chronicling was born in Wabasha county. Minnesota. October 10, 1875. He came to Lyon county with the family in 18S6, attended district school until nineteen years of age, and worked for his father on the Lyons township farm until after reaching his majority. Then he was married and engaged in farming in Lyons township three years. He conducted a meat market in Balaton six months and then went North, to Roseau county. Minnesota. There he secured a homestead and resided two years. Upon his return to Lyon county he engaged in farming in Shelburne and Rock Lake townships and has since been so engaged. He raises Durham cattle and Poland China hogs.

Mr. Fifield has stock in the Lyon County Co-operative Company of Balaton and he has been treasurer of school district No. 60 for the past six years. He is a member and one of the trustees of the Presbyterian church of Russell and holds membership in the Workmen and Woodmen lodges of the same village.

The marriage of Mr. Fifield to Mary L. Persons was solemnized in Rock Lake township June 28, 1899. She was born in the township in which she was married August 19, 1879. Her parents, Orville E. and Ella (Weeks) Persons, were among the first settlers of Rock Lake township and resided on their homestead until 1905. Then they moved to Clarkston, Washington, where they now live.

Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fifield, of whom four are living. Their names and dates of births are as follows: Arthur R., born November 24, 1901; Elsie, deceased, born November 6, 1902; Harold G., born April 12, 1906; Addie, deceased, born April 11, 1908; Beatrice, born January 23, 1910; Ethel, born June 13, 1912.

of Marshall. He is a native of Belgium, was horn October 13, L864, and resided in the land of his nativity until nineteen years of age. He is a son of Francis and Louise (Corielt) Gits, who reside at Ghent. The other children in the family are Paul, Julius, Joseph, Victor, Clement (Mrs. Charles Foulon), of Ghent; Edmund, of Ghent, and Arthur, of St. Paul.

Paul Gits learned the blacksmith's trade from his father, whose father and grandfather had also been in the same business. In 1883 the Gits family immigrated to the United States and located at Minneota, where they resided a few months and then moved to Ghent. At that place Francis Gits opened a blacksmith shop, and our subject worked in the place for a while, after which he went to Faribault and engaged in his trade two years. He then returned to Ghent and started a shop which he conducted until 1894, when he sold out and moved to Marshall, where he has since resided. Upon his arrival to Marshall Mr. Gits entered into partnership with Gustav Vergote, and started a blacksmith shop and a saloon. They built the Klondike saloon building and were in partnership two years, when they dissolved and our subject purchased his present place of business. Mr. Gits is a member of the Catholic church, the Catholic Order of Foresters and the Knights of Columbus lodges.

Mr. Gits was married at Ghent May 12, 1887, to Judith Vanhee, a native of Belgium. They are the parents of eighteen children, fourteen of whom are living. They are as follows: Albert, Mary, Ida, Julius, Louis, Edmund, Victor, Lucy, Louise, Gustav, Celia, Victoria, Julian and Margaret.

OLE S. DAHL (1892) owns 160 acres of farm land on section 35, Lucas township, and in addition farms 320 acres of rented land on section 25. He is one of the successful farmers and stock raisers of the township.

Oxendal, Norway, is the birthplace of our subject and the date of his birth was May 28, 1874. His father, Sigbjorn Dahl, died at the age of ninety years, and his mother, Anna (Jodestal) Dahl, is living in Norway at the age of eighty years. Ole received his education in Norway and attended school until fourteen years old, after which he worked out at farm labor until 1892. In the latter year he came to America and located first at Cottonwood, Minnesota, near which village he worked for some months. Then he went to Superior, Wisconsin, where he worked the following summer, and then returned to Lyon county.

The next four years found young Dahl working at farm labor in Blue Earth county, Minnesota, in Winnebago county, Iowa, and in Yellow Medicine county, Minnesota. At the end of that period he took up his permanent residence in Lucas township, where he has since resided. He has been active in the affairs of the township and served one year as road overseer. Mr. Dahl's church affiliations are with the Norwegian Lutheran denomination. He is a member of that church in Cottonwood and has been a trustee for several years.

On June 16, 1901, Ole Dahl was joined in marriage to Josephine Johnson, the wedding taking place at Cottonwood. His wife is a native of the township and was born December 28, 1877, a daughter of Joe and Martha Johnson, pioneer settlers of Lyon county. The father died in 1909; the mother lives on the farm in Lucas township. Mr. and Mrs. Dahl are the parents of the following children: Sam Oliver, born January 22, 1903; Anna Marie, born June 8, 1905; Stella Amanda, born June 9, 1910; and Norman Nordahl, born March 17, 1912.

DE ALTON PROUTY (1887) is a farmer and stock raiser of Amiret township and owns 240 acres on the north half of section 25, Amiret township. He raises Polled Angus cattle and Poland China hogs and buys and ships stock. He makes a specialty of sheep.

Mr. Prouty was born in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, May 11, 1869, and is a son of Fosdiek and Catharine (Blancherd) Prouty, natives of Vermont and New York, respectively. The parents moved to Wisconsin in the early days, about 1845, and were farmers. De Alton was brought up in the county of his birth and his earlier education was gained in the country school and in the high school in Brandon.

The family moved to Minnesota in the eighties and bought the west half of the southwest, quarter of section 25, Amiret township. The subject of this sketch came to Minnesota and entered the state university, where he took a two years' course, and later he took a six months' course in the Curtiss Business College of Minneapolis. Mr. Prouty then returned to Lyon county and taught school here and in Redwood county during the next ten years. It was in 1890 that he bought the northeast quarter of section 25, Amiret township, part of his present holdings, and the next year he made his home in Tracy. He then went to live on his mother's farm on section 25 and conducted both places and taught school until 1902. In that year he was married and since then has been farming his present place, but still makes his residence on his mother's farm.

Mr. Prouty was married at Marshall to Vera L. Leavitt, the wedding taking place March 21, 1902. Mrs. Prouty is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Leavitt and was born in Redwood county in April, 1881. Her parents live in Ashland, Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Prouty are the parents of five children, Catharine, Alice, Ethel, Charles H. and D. Alton.

Mr. Prouty served one term as a member of the town board and one term as treasurer of school district No. 36. Fraternally he is allied with the Modern Woodmen and I. O. O. F. lodges.

EVAN C. JOXES, JR. (1879), hardware dealer and undertaker of Russell, has grown to manhood in Lyon county, having lived here since he was eight years of age. He is a son of E. C. Jones, Sr., and Catherine (Goodman) Jones, an account of whose lives is found elsewhere in this volume.

Our subject was born in Rutland county, Vermont, May 1, 1871, and eight years later he accompanied the family to Lyon county. He grew up on his father's homestead on section 8, Lyons township, attended the district school two miles from home, and spent his boyhood days herding cattle on the prairies. When he became of age his father gave him an eighty-acre farm, and thereafter he engaged in farming on his own account, making his home with his parents. He bought the home place jn 1900 and farmed it until moving to Russell in the spring of 1904. He bought the Purdy stock of hardware and implements and has since

During his residence in Lyons township Mr. Jones served four years as chairman of the Board of Supervisors and for twelve years was clerk of his school district. He is a member of the Masonic lodge and is secretary of Coteau Lodge No. 244 of Russell.

Mr. Jones was married in Rock Lake township September 21, 1910, to Emma Goltz. She was born in the precinct in which she was married and is the daughter of Gottlieb Goltz, one of the early settlers of Rock Lake.

MRS. LUDOVICA H. ENGELS (1883), of Westerheim township, is the widow of Vincentius Engels. She is an early settler of Lyon county and the largest real estate owner of her precinct.

Mrs. Engels was born in Groede, Holland. October 21, 1859. She married Mr. Engels in 1880 and the day after their marriage they sailed for America. Their first home was in Henry county, Illinois, where they engaged in farming three and one-half years. They came to Lyon county in 1883 and bought the northwest quarter of section 26, Westerheim township, then bare of improvements. Today the farm is one of the best improved in the vicinity and with additions purchased later is the largest farm in the township.

Mr. Engels prospered exceedingly and before his death was the owner of 1160 acres of Lyon county soil, 920 acres in Westerheim and 240 in Fairview. He became one of the big farmers and substantial men of the township and was prominent in local affairs. He was one of the organizers of school district No. 44, gave the land upon which the school house is located, and was treasurer of the district until his death. He served as a member of the Board of Supervisors of Westerheim and was later township treasurer. He was a stockholder and a director of the Ghent State Bank.

Vincentius Engels was born in Caprycke, Belgium, July 26, 1850, one of a family of twelve children born to Dominico and Johanna C. (Van Hyfte) Engels. Only two of the children are now living: Frank, of Illinois, and John, of Belgium. Mr. Engels came to America in 1880 and to Lyon county in Ins::. He died at Eecloo, Melgium, February 13, 1 !tin, while in the old country for the benefit of his health, and he was buried in the cemetery at Ghent, Minnesota. He was a universally esteemed citizen. All good works found in him a generous helper and he was a father to the needy and the poor.

There are nine children in the Engels family, as follows: Amelia (Mrs. Mathew Hennen), of Westerheim township; Henry, who conducts his mother's farm on section 29; Levi, John and August, who assist in the management of the home farm; Elizabeth, Joseph. Aloysius and Vincent. The eldest child, August, died in Illinois at the age of eight months.

Since her husband's death Mrs. Engels, with the help of her sons, has managed the property. They have added to the farming lands until they now have 1560 acres. The family farms 880 acres of the farm and rent out the balance. They engage in stock raising extensively, feeding and shipping from three to five car loads per year. In 1912 they have 450 acres in small grain and about 200 acres in corn.

LEE SWIFT (1892) has been superintendent of the Tracy schools for the past twenty years, a record as a superintendent surpassed by only one other in Minnesota. Under his management the Tracy schools have attained a high standard of excellency.

Lee Swift was born at Cazenovia, Wisconsin, December 5, 1859. His father, Charles B. Swift, was born in Ohio and died in Wisconsin. He served throughout the War of the Rebellion, in Arkansas and Missouri, as a member of Company F, Third Wisconsin Cavalry. The mother, Caroline (Huntley) Swift, was born in Ohio and now resides at Ireton, Wisconsin.

The subject of this review received his primary education in the public schools of Cazenovia and Ireton and was graduated from Ripon College in 1886. After receiving his diploma Mr. Swift made teaching his life's profession. He taught the eighth grade of the public school of Elroy, Wisconsin, one year, was superintendent of the Hillsboro, Wisconsin, schools one year, of the Faulkton schools one year, and of the Clark, South Dakota, schools two years. Professor Swift took the superintendency of the

In addition to his school work, Mr. Swift is the owner and manager of the Tracy City Dairy, which he has conducted for the pas! ten years. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and of the Masonic and Workmen lodges.

At Ireton, Wisconsin, occurred the marriage of Mr. Swift to Carrie May Blanchard. She is a daughter of Orin C. and Hannah Blanchard, and she was born in the city in which she was married. Mr. and Mrs. Swift have three children, Carrie May, Vera Blanchard and Ernest Fremont.

JOHN P. NELSON (1887) is a Shelburne township farmer who has resided in Lyon county for a quarter of a century. His parents, Nels and Aluf Parson, are both deceased. John Nelson was born October 21, 1861, in Sweden, where he attended school until fourteen years of age. He then worked out as a farm hand two years, .when he went to Denmark and worked in a rope factory two years. Returning to Sweden, he worked at the* carpenter's trade, which he followed until 1887.

Mr. Nelson came to the United States in the year last mentioned and located at Balaton, where he resided about eight months. Then he moved to Burchard and worked on the section four years. Next he engaged in carpenter work for four years, two years for the Marfield Elevator Company, building and repairing elevators, and two years in Lyon county. He then purchased the eighty acre farm upon which his buildings now stand, and since that time has added 240 acres to his holdings. This land was all prairie when he purchased it, and he has improved it until now he has one of the finest farms in Lyon county. He raises considerable stock, including Poland China hogs, Shorthorn cattle and Plymouth Rock chickens. He is one of the most successful farmers in Lyon county.

Mr. Nelson is a member of the Swedish Lutheran church. He holds membership in the following lodges: the Blue Lodge and Chapter of the Masonic order; the United Workmen and the Eastern Star. Mr. Nelson has been a director of school district No. 49 nine years and was road overseer in Shel- burne township five years. He holds stock in the Florence Telephone Company, the State Bank of Florence, and the Farmers Co-operative Store Company of Balaton.

On November 28, 1S86, Mr. Xelson was united in marriage to Anna Sanquist. a native of Sweden. Mrs. Xelson was born November 7, 1S63, in Lunskroom. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are the parents of the following named children: Alfreada, born October 3, 1887; Charles, born February 4, 1889; Emil, born April 21, 1891; Edwin, born March 9, 1893; Lawrence, born May s. 1896. All except Charles reside at home. Alfreada is a graduate of the Shorthand Department of the Mankato Commercial College.

Mr. Nelson has two brothers and one sister: Andrew W. Nelson, of Rock Lake township; N. P. Nelson, of Two Harbors, Minnesota; Annie, of Rutledge. Minnesota.

WILLIAM B. PENISTON (1883), of Marshall, is proprietor of Sunnyside Feed Ranch and is an extensive dealer in horses. He has built up a prosperous business and conducts one of the big institutions of Lyon county.

Mr. Penistcn was born in Bermuda Islands, of English parentage, September 10. 1864. At the age of fourteen years he went to sea and led a seafaring life four years. He served as ordinary seaman, later as able seaman, and became second mate before he left the sea. For two years his service was on the George F. Seymour, which plied between the West Indies and London and back to the Bermudas, carrying English government supplies. The other years of his service were on the Eliza Bars, which carried cattle and horses from New Jersey to England for the English government.

In 1883 Mr. Peniston quit the sea and came to Lyon county. He was a perfect stranger in the county, and at the time of his arrival was possessed of only twenty-five cents. The first year he worked for Alonzo Peniston. to whom he was not related, on section 33, Grandview township. His wages were ten dollars per month, and at the end of the first year he had saved twenty dollars.

With that start Mr. Peniston began farming on a small scale. For two years he rented land in Camden. Lynd township: then he moved to Old Lynd and farmed two years.

At the end of that time he purchased the Charles Goodell farm in Lyons township, paying therefor $10 per acre, and farmed it for a number of years. He rented the Baker farm one year and in 1901 bought his present place in Marshall - the Van Fleet farm - then known as Sunnyside Stock Farm. He has resided on the place ever since. The first year Mr. Peniston fed cattle and hogs, and since that time he has dealt in horses exclusively.

Mr. Peniston's love for horses is doubtless inherited. His father was a veterinarian and his paternal grandfather, William Peniston. was a dealer in horses. His maternal grandfather. Nicholas Hinson, was also a horseman. Our subject is the largest dealer in horses in Lyon county, buying, feeding and selling F. O. B. Marshall. He has made shipments to New York, Boston, Catskill, Chicago, Omaha. Cincinnati, Sioux City. Fargo, Duluth, Tacoma, Seattle, St. Paul and Minneapolis. He buys in Minnesota, the Dakotas and Northern Iowa.

.Mr. Peniston's first shipment was made twelve years ago to the Bermuda Islands. To illustrate the increase in price: The average cost of the first load was $50 per head: at the present time he pays from $150 to $350 per head. Mr. Peniston claims to have sold the highest priced car of horses that ever went out of Lyon county. In 1902 an express load of sixteen head was shipped to Seattle, the average price of which was $365 per head. Among the number was a pair of matched roans weighing 3680 pounds. They were sold in the barn for $900, establishing the state record.

It is Mr. Peniston's estimate that Lyon county annually sells $100,000 worth of horses. This year his sales alone amount to $40,000. His business is one of the important industries of the county, and he has done more to raise the standard of breeding draft horses than any other agency in the county. In 1907 he sold nine draft horses in the county, from which nearly all the best draft horses here have originated. Mr. Peniston's farm of 320 acres adjoins the city. He raises crops as well as horses.

The parents of our subject were Henry M. and Mary Jane (Hinson) Peniston, both of whom died in England. There were five children in the family, as follows: Hulbert and Ada (Mrs. Nathaniel Vesey), of the Berniuda Islands; William B., of this biography; Alice, of St. Paul: and Henry, deceased.

William B. Peniston was married in Marshall in 1886 to Clara Bennett, a native of New London, Wisconsin. She died in 1906 at the age of forty-five years. Four children were born to the union: Helen (Mrs. Richard Whitney), of Oregon; George, Ada and Evelyn. The second marriage of Mr. Peniston occurred January 22, 1908, when he wedded Blanch Robinson. She was born in Centerville, South Dakota, and her parents are the late William Robinson and Roselle (Golden) Robinson, who resides in Marshall.

SOLOMON JOHNSON (1894) owns the southwest quarter of section 16, Shelburne township, a short distance east of Florence. He has resided on that farm only one year, but he has' been a resident of Lyon county eighteen years.

Mr. Johnson was born in Sweden September 7, 1859. After securing his education he learned the cabinet maker's trade and continued to reside in his native country until twenty years of age. He came to the United States in 1879 and his first home in the New World was at Lockport, Illinois. After a short residence there he moved to South Bend, Indiana, and for a year was employed in the Studebaker shops.

We next find Mr. Johnson in Pullman, Illinois, where for ten years he worked at his trade in the shops of the Pullman Car Company. The next three years were spent in the shops of the Wagner Car Company in Buffalo, New York, and one year in a shop in Minneapolis. Mr. Johnson gave up his trade in 1894 and turned farmer. He bought land in Coon Creek township and engaged in farming it until 1911, when he purchased and moved to his present farm.

During fifteen years of his residence in Coon Creek township Mr. Johnson was a member of the school board of district No. 56. He is a member of the Swedish Mission church and for fifteen years was superintendent of the Sunday School in Coon Creek.

Solomon Johnson is the son of J. N. and Marie (Orn) Johnson, who came from the old country in 1889. The father now resides with his son; the mother died March 6, 1912. There are five children in the family.

Mr. Johnson's first marriage occurred im Minneapolis June 24, 18S4, when he wedded Hilda Swanson. She died in Buffalo, Now York, December 4, 1891. Three children were born to the union: Elmer, who is deceased, Edla and Leonard. The second marriage of Mr. Johnson occurred in Marshall July 16, 1897, and his bride was Augusta Larson. They have four children, named Arnold, Winnie, Myrtle and Lilly.

KNUT LARSON (1899), of Lyons township, is a farmer and land owner. He was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, May 10, 1866. Knut received his early education in Wisconsin, where he grew to manhood. When nineteen years of age he moved to Lincoln county. South Dakota, where he purchased a quarter section of land, which he farmed until 1899, when he came to Lyon county. At that time he purchased the southeast quarter of section 32, Lyons township, where he has since resided. He raises considerable stock and has fine improvements on his place. Mr. Larson also has other interests. He is a stockholder of the Farmers Elevator Company of Russell and is treasurer of school district No. 93.

On March 27, 1887, the subject of this review was united in marriage to Ella Thompson at Lincoln, South Dakota. Mrs. Larson was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, July 30, 1861, a daughter of Falkver and Gurie Thompson, both natives of Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Larson have two children: Lula G., born April 29, 1890; Florence, born October 15, 1894.

GEORGE W. PURVES (1886) owns 115 acres of good farm land on the northeast quarter of section 9, Monroe township, and also a residence in Tracy, where he makes his home, though he gives personal attention to the management of his farm.

It was in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, that our subject first saw the light of day November 25, 1862. His father, Peter Purves, was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, and came to this country at the age of twelve years, living in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, until 1886, and following the occupation of a farmer. He came to Lyon county in 1886 and .made that his home until his death two years later. Elizabeth (Johnson) Purves, the mother of George W., was also a native of Scotland, coming to America at the age of twenty, and marrying Mr. Purves in Wisconsin. She died in 1898. Besides George W. there were four children in the family.

The first twenty-four years of our subject's life were spent in his native county in Wisconsin,' during which time he received his education in the country schools and worked for his father and for the neighbors. In 1886 the young man came to Lyon county and located in Amiret township, where he bought a farm and made his home eleven years. In 1897 Mr. Purves moved to Tracy, where he has since lived, but has spent much of his time on the farm. While a resident of the township of Amiret he served as a school director and as an elder of the Amiret Presbyterian church.

Our subject married Elizabeth Mitchell September 17, 1890, in Amiret township. Mrs. Purves is a daughter of Joseph Mitchell and Sarah Mitchell, of Amiret township, and was born at Elida, Illinois, June 19, 1872, coming to Lyon county when s child. Mr. and Mrs. Purves have the following children: Ada, born June 14, 1891; Elizabeth, born July 21, 1892; Vivian, born April 5, 1901; George Harland, born November 2, 1902; and Bertram Norcross, born February 13, 1907. Mr. Purves is a member of the Presbyterian church.

GEORGE ARTHUR FITCH (1884) is the pioneer piano dealer of Tracy. He was born in Lake Sarah township, Murray county, just over the line from Tracy, on March 25, 1882. When a child two years of age he accompanied his parents to Tracy and that city has ever since been his home.

Our subject is a graduate of the Tracy High School and he completed his education with a course in Hamline University. His father engaged in the piano business in Tracy in an early day and his son grew up in that business. After reaching mature years he became a partner in the business and continued so until 1908, when the elder Fitch withdrew from the firm, since which time George has conducted the business alone. He handles pianos, organs, sewing

Mr. Fitch was married to Alma Lloyd at Mankato on June 20, 1910. She is a native of Blue Earth county and a daughter of Peter Lloyd, a well-known resident of that county and a former county treasurer. Mr. Fitch holds. membership in the A. O. U. W. lodge and in the Illinois Commercial Travelers Association.

George D. and Louisa (Bach) Fitch are the parents of our subject. The former was born in Rochester, Minnesota, the latter in Wisconsin. They homesteaded land in Lake Sarah township, Murray county, in the seventies, moved to Tracy in 1884, and resided there until their removal to South Dakota in 1908. There are seven children in the family: Mrs. L. Hillman, of Livingston, Montana; George A., of this biography; Mrs. W. J. Priest, of Livingston, Montana; Caral, of Tracy; Lowell G., of Livingston. Montana, an employe of the Northern Pacific Railway Company; and Madge and Tracy, who reside with their parents.

ALDOR B. SWAXSOX (1896), a farmer residing in Coon Creek township, was born in Aby, Kalmarlane, Sweden, on March 2, 1871, the son of Adolph and Marie (Johanson) Swanson. The mother died some years ago; the father resides in Sweden. Aldor attended school in Sweden until fourteen years of age.

In 1892 our subject immigrated to America, locating at St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended school there for -some time and the next four years were spent engaged in the following lines of work: Digging cellars and grading lots at St. Paul, working on the Soo railroad in North Dakota, working at the blacksmith's trade in Minneapolis and at the same trade on the iron range between Virginia and McKinley, Minnesota; at Wahpeton, North Dakota, as a blacksmith; working for the government at Hastings, Minnesota, taking out rock from the quarries; cut ting brush along the Mississippi river for the government, in the lumber camps of Wisconsin as a blacksmith, on a government boat on the Mississippi, in the lumber camps near

In 1896 Mr. Swanson became a resident of Lyon county and hired out to Archie Steward, who lived north of Marshall, as a blacksmith. He worked there some time and then went to Marshall, where he worked for over a year in the machine shops. Then he returned to St. Paul and went to the woods for the winter. The next summer he returned to Marshall, where he worked a short time and then moved to Russell, where he operated a blacksmith shop two and onehalf years. The next ten years were spent in Marshall, two years in the machine shops and eight years conducting a blacksmith shop. He then moved to the farm he now operates in Coon Creek township, consisting of 560 acres. In addition to general farming, he raises considerable stock, among other breeds, Poland China hogs, Shorthorn cattle, Percheron and Coach horses and White Plymouth Rock chickens. Mr. Swanson is a member of the Swedish Lutheran church. He has one brother and one sister, both of whom reside in Kalmarlane, Sweden. They are Albin F. and Elvira Swanson. Mrs. Swanson has one sister, Ester, who resides at Kalmarlane.

On April 9, 1898, Ida Victoria West became the wife of Mr. Swanson. She is the daughter of Per August and Anna Christina West. The former is dead and the latter resides in Kalmarlane. Mrs. Swanson was born February 20, 1874. Mr. Swanson and his wife are the parents of two children: Carl Robert, born October 17, 1903, and Ruth, born February 10, 1909.

BERNER LEKXES (1908) is cashier of the First State Bank of Russell. His mother died when he was eight years old, and his father came to the United States from Norway and located in Renville county, Minnesota, where he still resides. Our subject has one brother, Ingvard, who is a banker at Bricelyn, Minnesota, and the following halfbrothers and sisters: Olaf, of Sacred Heart, Renville county; Anna, Edwin, Emma and Alma, who reside at home.

Berner was born in the land of the midnight sun July 1, 1875, and came to the United States with his father when nine years of age. They settled in Renville county, Minnesota, where our subject grew to manhood and attended school. He was a student at the Willmar Seminary and later, in 1895-96, attended the Namsos Academy in Norway. Returning to Renville county, Berner lived there until 1900, when he went to Blue Earth and engaged in the banking business. Later he went to Rake, Iowa, where he conducted a bank for the Ross Banking Company one and one-half years. He then went to Williston, North Dakota, where he was assistant cashier of the First National Bank.

In May, 1908, Mr. Leknes came to Lyon county and located at Russell, where he has since been cashier of the First State Bank. He is also a stockholder and director of the bank, which was organized as a state bank in 1903, with a capital of $15,000. It does a general banking, loan and insurance business. W. E. C. Ross is president of the institution

Mr. Leknes holds membership in Blue Earth Lodge No. 57, A. F. & A. M., at Blue Earth, Minnesota, and in Mt. Zion Lodge, R. A. M., at Blue Earth. He is also a member of the M. W. A. and A. O. U. W. lodges at Russell.

Mr. Leknes was married at Rake, Iowa, June 27, 1906, to Dora Engeseth, a native of Faribault county, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Leknes have two children: Thelma and Elbert

EMIEL DE SUTTER (1882) is one of Belgium's native sons who has achieved success and prosperity in his adopted country and his farm is one of the finest pieces of real estate in Westerheim township. He owns the southeast quarter and eighty acres of the southwest quarter of section 29 - 240 acres - and rents eighty acres in addition to his own land.

Emiel is the son of Charles and Mary (Pauw) De Sutter and was born in Belgium September 19, 1881. When he was one year old his family immigrated to America and located in Lyon county, on the quarter section where our subject now resides. The farm was then raw prairie land, and the skillful and progressive methods of its owner and his father have made it the splendid property which it is today.

since coming to America. He was educated in the township and was brought up with a thorough knowledge of farming. The boy's mother died on August 28, 1896, and the father a few years later moved to Ghent to live, where he died in 1905 at the age of seventy-seven years. Young De Sutter took charge of the farm after his father moved to Ghent and one year before the latter's death Emiel purchased the home farm.

The wedding ceremony which made Emiel De Slitter and Helen Van Hee man and wife was performed in Ghent June 22, 1904. She was born in Grandview township and is the daughter of An gel us Van Hee, one of the township's well known farmers. Emiel De Sutter has seven brothers and sisters living, Andrew, Nathalie. Camiel, August, Peter, Louis and Archie. One sister, Alphincine, is dead.

Archie J. De Sutter, brother of the above, was born in Belgium April 8, 1879, and came to America with his parents. He was brought up on the home farm and resided there until 1907. in which year he married and purchased the northeast quarter of section 29, Westerheim township, and has since been farming the place with profit. He also owns the east half of the northwest quarter of the same section. He has brought his farm from its original unimproved state to its present one of substantial buildings, well cultivated land and modern advantages. Mr. De Sutter has been road overseer and is the clerk of school district No. 54.

Archie J. De Sutter and Isabelle Moors, a native of Belgium, were united in marriage at Minneota on November 12, 1907. The De Sutter families are members of the Catholic church.

AMUND H. AMUNDSON (1882) owns and farms the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 20, Monroe township, besides renting and farming additional land. For the past five years he has been a director of the Garvin Farmers Independent Elevator Company.

Hallingdal, Norway, was the boyhood home of Amund Amundson, and he was born April 14, 1863. The lad was brought up, on a farm and received his education in the public schools and also received several months' schooling in America after he immigrated to this country in May, 1882. During his first year in the United States Amund made his home with an uncle, Ole Amundson, on section 20, Monroe township, Lyon county. The next year his parents came to this country and rented land in Lyon county, and Amund made his home with them. In 1888 the father took a homestead in Monroe township, the place which our subject now owns and which he bought from his mother in 1910. He has farmed the place himself since the father's death in 1895.

Helge Amundson, father of our subject, was born in Norway March 5, 1835. Amund's mother, Sigrid (Anfindson) Amundson, has lived on the farm and kept house for her son since the father's death. Amund Amundson is clerk of Monroe township, a position he has held ten years. For seven years he has served as clerk of school district No. 33, and he was for several years one of the supervisors of the township. Mr. Amundson is affiliated with the Holand Norwegian Lutheran church and is a member of the Sons of Norway organization of Tracy.

F. CHARLES BURCKHARDT (1895) is one of the successful and prosperous farmers of Coon Creek township, where he has resided the past seventeen years. He was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, November 3, 1871. His father was the late John Burckhardt and his mother is Albertina I Watzke) Burckhardt, both of whom woe born in Germany. The father came to America when four years of age and located in Illinois, where he resided until his removal to Lyon county in 1895. He died in March, 1908. The mother resides on the old home place near Russell.

Charles attended school in Illinois until nineteen years of age, after which he assisted his father on the farm until twentyfour years of age. In 1895 he accompanied his parents to Lyon county and took charge of the farm which he now operates, the northeast quarter of section 23, Coon Creek township. He owns 2S0 acres of land. He also owns village property in Russell. In addition to general farming Mr. Burckhardt raises a great deal of stock, including Duroc- Jersey hogs, Durham cattle and Plymouth Rock chickens. He is a member of the A. O. U. W. lodge and holds stock in the

Farmers Elevator Company of Russell and in the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company. He was the owner of the first automobile in Coon Creek township, a Maytag car.

Mr. Burckhardt was married December 18, 1896, to Rachael Nina Milner, a daughter of Thomas and Ella (Knapp) Milner, of Russell. The father is a native of Ohio and the mother of Wisconsin. Mrs. Burckhardt was born April 23, 1880, in Coon Creek township. To this union have been born two children: Allie, born June 26, 1899, died April 11, 1901; Allen, born May 20, 1901.

Mr. Burckhardt has four brothers and three sisters, as follows: Alfred, Henry, John, Oscar, Lizzie (Mrs. Fred' Henrichs), Ida (Mrs. Henry Siebert), all of Coon Creek township; and Annie (Mrs. John Sullivan), of Matlock, Iowa. Mrs. Burckhardt has one brother and one sister: Vernon, of Russell, and Jessie' (Mrs. Herbert Webster), of Aberdeen, South Dakota.

AUGUST DURRENBURGER (1892) is the proprietor of a Marshall harness shop and has lived in that city twenty years. - He is a native Minnesotan, having been born at Henderson February 10, 1870. His father, Gephard Durrenburger, was born in Germany, came to America when a young man, bought government land at St. Anthony Park, and made his first home in the new world at that point. Later he moved to Henderson, where he bought land and resided- until an old man. He died in Nicollet county in 1903 at the age of eighty-three years. Gephard Durrenburger was married in the old country to Tressie Miller. She now resides with a daughter at St. Peter and is seventy-six years of age. There are nine children in the family, as follows: Anton, Tressie, Gephard, Joseph, Lena, Theodore, August, Rose and Marie, all residents of Minnesota.

When August was three years of age he accompanied the family from Henderson to LeSueur county and on his father's farm there he grew to manhood. He learned the harness maker's trade at LeSueur and followed that occupation there until locating in Marshall in 1892. For five years after his arrival in Marshall Mr. Durrenburger conducted the harness shop of J. A. Cosgrove. Then he and Gilbert Johnson bought the

Mr. Durrenburger has made many improvements since he took charge of the shop, having installed the latest machinery and putting it in first-class shape. He manufactures all kinds of harness and other horse goods and carries in stock trunks and traveling bags. Mr. Durrenburger also owns a half interest in the Marshall hitch barn, one of the largest livery barns in the county. His partner in business is J. V. Williams, in partnership with whom he also owns a farm.

At Marshall, on October 20, 1896, Mr. Durrenburger was married to Louise Reigner, a native of Illinois and the daughter of Isaac Reigner, an early settler of Lyon county. Mr. and Mrs. Durrenburger have two children, Olivine, aged eleven years, and Horace, aged four years.

GRIFF. HUGHES (1885) is a retired farmer who makes his home in Garvin and who has been a resident of Lyon county twenty-seven years. He was born in Wales on the fourth of July, 1867, and when eighteen years of age, in 1885, he came to America and has ever since been a resident of Lyon county.

The first four years of his life in the county Mr. Hughes spent in the home of his aunt, Mrs. Benjamin Thomas, in Custer township. He worked on the Thomas farm for one year and on other farms in the vicinity three years, and then bought a 160-acre farm on section 9, Custer, and erected the first house on the section. Mr. Hughes maintained bachelor's hall on that place and engaged in farming continuously until he retired from active pursuits in October, 1910, and moved to Garvin. Besides his farm Mr. Hughes owns property in Marshall. He is a member of the M. W. A. lodge. At the present writing Mr. Hughes is visiting at his old home in Wales.

The only near relatives our subject has in America are one brother and two nieces, Mrs. Everett Harris, of Blue Earth county, and Mrs. Ole Olson, of Custer township. In his father's family are ten children, named as follows: Thomas, John, William, who died December 19, 1911, at the age of fiftytwo years; Owen, who lives in Utica, New York; Hugh, Griff., Richard (deceased), James, George and Jane. All the children except himself and Owen live in Wales. The parents of these children were William and Elizabeth (Williams) Hughes. The mother died in 1872, the father in 1907, at the age of seventy-five years.

THEODORE M. THOMAS (1874), proprietor of the Rexall drug store, of Marshall, is a native of Lyon county, having been born in Grandview township July 9, 1874. His parents were Jacob and Clara (Baldwin) Thomas, who were among the earliest settlers of Lyon county.

Jacob Thomas was born in Elmira. New York, and his wife in Warren, Pennsylvania. They came to Lyon county in 187:.'. before the railroad was built to the county, and they hauled their supplies from Redwood Falls. Homesteading in Grandview township, they lived the first winter in the usual sod shanty, and the next year Mr. Thomas assisted in making the survey for the Northwestern railroad. The family resided on the farm until 1890, when they located in Cottonwood and Mr. Thomas engaged in the drug business with his son. He moved to Sioux Falls in 1907 and died there November 22, 1909, at the age of seventy-one years. Mrs. Thomas died in Cottonwood in 1906. There were seven children in the family, of whom the following three are living: Frank, of Lemon, South Dakota; Mrs. A. M. DeLand, of Watertown. South Dakota; and Theodore M.

The subject of this biography spent the first eighteen years of his life on the farm in Grandview township. He completed his education in the Marshall High School and clerked in the drug store of W. W. Salisbury. He took a course in the Minneapolis School of Pharmacy and during the next four years was employed as a pharmacist in the West Hotel drug store. He then located in Wood Lake, Minnesota, where he conducted a drug store six* years. Mr. Thomas returned to Marshall in 1907 and established his present business in the Dibble Block. He carries a complete line of

Mr. Thomas was married at Cottonwood September 18, 1901, to Jean Lowe. She is a native of Lyon county and the daughter of George Lowe, a pioneer settler. Mr. Thomas is a member of the Masonic. Eastern Star, K. P. and M. W. A. lodges. For three years he was master of the Wood L^e A. F. & A. M. lodge. He has been treasurer of the city of Marshall for the past three years.

SANDER SANDERSON (1892) is tinowner of 340 acres of land on sections 29 and 28, Shelburne township, upon which he has resided for the past twenty years. He was born in Hollingdahl, Norway, May 6, 1847, the son of Sander and Turi (Larson) Olson, both of whom are deceased.

Sander lived in Norway until he was twenty-two years of age. He attended school until fourteen and thereafter worked at the tailor's trade. He came to America in 1869 and for the next twelve years worked in Olmsted county, Minnesota, as a farm laborer. He then moved to Lac qui Parle county, pre-empted eighty acres of land, and engaged in farming until the fall of 1892. At that time he purchased his Shelburne township farm and he has ever since resided on it. In late years he has turned the management of the property over to his sons.

Mr. Sanderson was a member of the Shelburne Board of Supervisors one year and has been a member of the school board of district No. 57 for about fifteen years. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran Synod church of Ruthton and was formerly a trustee of that church.

The marriage of our subject to Ingborg Starkson occurred in Olmsted county, Minnesota, March 17, 1882. She was born in the county in which she was married May 8, 1862, and is a daughter of the late B. Starkson, a pioneer of Olmsted county. The following eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson and all reside at home: Augusta Turina, born March 6. 1883; Berton, born August 12, 1885; Sander, born September 21, 1887; Louis, born July 29, 1890; William and Ida, twins, born March 28, 1893; Lina, born October 8, 1895; Simon, born October 20, 1900.

MICHAEL G. OFSTAD (1SS6) is a successful farmer and stock raiser of Shelburne township and owns L20 acres of land on the south half of section 19. His brother Andrew owns land on the north half of the same section.

.Michael Ofstad was horn in Trondhjein. Norway, in L853, the son of Gunder S. and Mary ( Holstad) Ofstad. Both parents are now dead. Attendance in the common schools in Norway occupied the first years of the boy's life, and, as was the custom, Michael had to help with the farm work. At the age of fifteen he discontinued his school work and gave his whole time to work on the farm.

Soon after passing his nineteenth birthday .Michael left his native land for the United States, and after seeing the wonders of the city of Xew York he journeyed to Michigan, where he had heard of the chances for work in the mines. Xear Ishpeming he found employment in the iron mines and remained two years. The underground work did not appeal to the young man who had been accustomed to work in the open, and he found something much more to his taste in the lumbering camps of Wisconsin, where he worked as teamster for the next five years. The next year found the subject of our sketch back in Ishpeming, which continued to be his home for the next five years.

During this residence in Ishpeming Michael was married, on January 6, 1881, to Ingeborg Henrickson, a girl who had come to America from Trondhjem, Norway. In the fall of 1886 the Ofstads came to Minnesota and located in Lyon county. Mr. Ofstad purchased the land upon which he now has his home and where the family has maintained an uninterrupted residence of more than a quarter of a century. Mr. Ofstad is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Florence. He was road overseer several years and was also member of the Board of Supervisors several terms.

Eleven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Michael Ofstad. Annie (Mrs. Mike Frink) and Gytia live in Faribault. Mary (Mrs. Mont English) lives in Marshall, where Carolina, another daughter, is a high school student. Minnie teaches school at Burchard. Lida, Gilbert, Ralph, Helma, Emily and Esther live at home with their parents.

JOHN TEGELS (1899) owns a quarter of section 24 and an adjoining quarter on section 25, Fairview township, and farms the' whole half section. He bought the place one year after he arrived in Lyon, made all the improvements on it, and now has a splendid place. He raises a great deal of stock in addition to his general farming.

Holland is .Mr. Tegels' native land, and he was born May 17, 1856. He came to America with his parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Beckers) Tegels, in 1863, and the family located in Wisconsin, where they lived about ten years. From there they went to Carroll county, Iowa, where the parents lived until their deaths. John received his schooling in' Iowa and was on the farm with his father about four years, after which he rented land in the county and farmed for himself several years.

In 1885 Mr. Tegels moved to Humphrey, Nebraska, where he lived three years and was employed on the section and in an elevator. His next residence was in Sheridan county, and there he took a homestead, proved up on it, and farmed until 1899. That year he came to Lyon county-, located in Fairview township, and one year later moved to his present place. Mr. Tegels is a director of school district No. 86 and has served since 1901, with the exception of one year.

The subject of this sketch was married June 17, 1879, to Elizabeth Horn, the wedding occurring in Carroll county, Iowa. She was born in Illinois October 25, 1857. To this union have been born the following children: Catherine (Mrs. George Raymond), born February 22, 1880; Matilda (Mrs. John Blake), born September 5, 1881; Frank, born August 21, 1883, died February 29, 1884; Anton, born December 1, 1884; Elizabeth, born June 20, 1887; Stephen (killed by train November 16, 1910), born December IS, 1888; Henry, born March 10, 189-0; Mathias, born October 11, 1892; May, born December 2, 1894; Joseph, born Fel> ruary 3, 1897; and Lawrence, born February 1, 1899. The last four children named are at home with their parents. The other liv- proprietor of a blacksmith shop and dealer in farm machinery in the village of Amiret. He was born at Racine, Wisconsin, May 18. 1S50, the son of William and Catherine (Gray) McLaughlin, natives of Scotland. They came to the United States in 1S48 and located at Racine, later moving to Sparta, Wisconsin, where the father died in 1899. The mother died in 1855, and the father was married a second time, to Catherine Hurley.

David came to Lyon county in 1888 and for the first eighteen months was stationed ;n ("amden, working on the grade for the Great Northern railway. He then moved to Amiret and opened a blacksmith shop, which he has since conducted, also dealing in implements in a small way. Eight years ago he put in a complete stock of farm implements in partnership with his son Louis, the firm name being McLaughlin & Co. Mr. McLaughlin is a member of the Yeomen ledge and was a school director for nine years.

Our subject was married in Steele county, Minnesota, April, 1869, to Hanna E. Ellis. They are the parents of the following children: Catherine (Mrs. William Huddeston), of Cottonwood; Alice (Mrs. William Curry), of Amiret; Agnes (Mrs. Fred Shaffer), of Amiret; Louis, of Amiret.

.Mr. McLaughlin has two brothers and three sisters: Margaret Ramsey, of Michigan; John, of Garrett City, Indiana; Anna Ellis, of Owatonna; Nettie Schaffer, of Sparta, Wisconsin.

DR. W. D. JAMES (1890) has been engaged in the practice of dentistry in Tracy for the past twenty-two years, having been the first resident dentist to locate in the city. He has taken an active part in the affairs of the city in which he has lived so long and was mayor in 1897 and 1898. Dr. James is interested in several Tracy institutions and has a farm in Lyon county and one in Murray county.

In Hudson, Michigan, on July 30, 1866, Dr. James was born. He attended the Hudson High School and then took a course in the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, from which he was graduated in 1889. In May of that year he and his brother, Dr. P. P. James, opened an office for the practice of their profession at Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. One and one-half years later, on October 1, 18 90, Dr. James opened his office in Tracy and has ever since conducted it. In 1905 he admitted as a partner his nephew. Dr. Don Casselman, and the business has since been conducted under the firm name of James & Casselman.

Dr. James is the son of William D. and Harriet D. (Perkins) James. They were born in New York State but were early settlers of Michigan, the father having located there in 1856. The mother still lives in Hudson, Michigan ; the father died October 27, 1897. Besides our subject there are three other children in the family, namely: Dr. Fred P. James, of Sleepy Eye; Mrs. Minnie Hume, of Hudson, Michigan; and Dr. Frank S. James, of Winona. -

The marriage of Dr. James to Susie M. Steel occurred in Tracy December 9, 1901. She is a daughter of G. M. and Lucy A. (French) Steel, of Scotch-English ancestry, and was born in Appleton, Wisconsin. Dr. and Mrs. .lames have two daughters, Eloise and Ruth.

HERMAN SHEUTZEL (1882) has been a resident of Lyon county for thirty years and for the last few years has been a farmer of Rock Lake township.

Mr. Sheutzel was born in West Prusen, Germany, June 27, 1854. His father was a farmer and he was raised on the farm and educated in the country school. At the age of fourteen the opportunity was given him to study music, and he devoted himself to this three years, afterward entering the army and serving five years. After leaving the army our subject farmed for himself in his native land until 1882. Then he came to the United States, located in Marshall, Lyon county, and worked on the railroad

I'.Mmjuaimiical History

Our subject's farming experience in Lyon county began when in 1903 he traded his Tracy residence property for forty acres of land in Rock Lake township. That he conducted six years, then trading it for a quarter section near Crookston, Minnesota. Mr. Sheutzel again traded, the last transaction finding him once more the owner of a Rock Lake farm, and he has since made his home on the north half of the southwest quarter of section 21.

Two years before leaving Germany, Herman Sheutzel was married, on December 10, 1880, to Augusta Weber, daughter of Julius and Albertine Weber. She was born February 2, 1855. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sheutzel: Martha, Gust, Lena, Frank, Harry, Augusta, Millie, Tillie. Adolph and Rudolph. Mr. Sheutzel is a member of the German Lutheran church.

JAMES WALTER AT WOOD (1S80) is the owner of the feed mill, wood yard and dray line in the village of Lynd. He was born October 4, 1861, a son of James L. and Mariah Atwood, natives of Pennsylvania. The father died in 1892 and the mother in 1869.

The subject of this sketch received his early education in Wisconsin, where he attended school until fourteen years of age. His time was then spent working in a chair factory in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, until he was nineteen years of age. In 1880 Mr. Atwood landed in Lyon county and worked out at farm labor near Lynd during the summer months and in the woods of Wisconsin winters. Mr. Atwood followed that work two years and then hired out as teamster at the Camden mill. In 1892 he went to South Dakota, where he homesteaded land fifteen miles from Watertown. He lived on that place six years, after which he returned to Lynd and purchased land in Lynd township, which he operated six years and then moved to the village. He conducts a feed mill, wood yard and dray line.

Mr. Atwood has been town treasurer and a director of school district No. 1 for five years and is treasurer of the Lynd Cemetery Association. He is a Modern Woodman and is banker of that lodge at Lynd.

On .March 29, 1S!K!, Mr. Atwood was united in marriage to Jessie Kiel, a daughter ol L. S. Kiel, who was a pioneer resident of Lyon county but who now resides at Rathdrum, Idaho. Mr. Kiel is a native of Pennsylvania and Mrs. Kiel was born in Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Atwood have the following children: Howard J., born January 11, 1895; Clair W., born November 7, 1897; Donald V., born September 20, 1902. All reside at home with their parents.

EUGENE B. KILEY (1887), manager of the Van Dusen Grain Company at Minneota, has spent the greater part of his life as a resident of Lyon county. He was born in Canada June 27, 1872, the son of James and Ellen (Donnahue) Kiley, natives of Ireland and Canada, respectively. The family settled in Lincoln county, Minnesota, in 1881 and later were residents of Lyon county. The father of our subject died in March, 1911, at the age of eighty-five years; his mother is still living. There are eight living children in the family: John, James, Eugene B., Cornelius, Martin, Margaret and Jeremiah and Mary Ann, who are twins.

Eugene came to Minnesota with his parents from Canada when nine years of age and for six years lived on a Lincoln county farm with them. The family home was then made in Westerheim township, Lyon county, where our subject grew to manhood and resided until 1904. That year he was married and engaged in farming on his own account and followed that occupation until 1909. Since that time he has resided in Minneota, acting as the local representative for the Van Dusen Company.

The date of the marriage of Mr. Kiley to Annie Mullen was October 25, 1904, and the ceremony was performed in Minneota. Mrs. Kiley is the daughter of Daniel and Ellen Mullen. She was born in England and came to Minneota with her parents in 1880. Mrs. Mullen is still a resident of Lyon county, living on the farm south of Minneota. To Mr. and Mrs. Kiley have been born four children, named as follows: Eugene B., Patrick T. and Daniel J. and Mary E. (twins).

Sweden January 18, 1871, a son of Swen and Anna (Carlson) Williams. Carl started to work out at farm labor when fourteen years of age. At twenty-one years of age he served thirty days in the standing army of Sweden, after which he secured a leave from the king of Sweden that he might come to America. He came in 1892 and located, at Aledo, Illinois, near which place he worked for his uncle on the farm one year. Later he went to Oakville, Iowa, where he worked at farm labor three years, and then rented land two years.

In the fall of 1898 our subject came to Lyon county. He worked at threshing that fall and purchased the northeast quarter of section 16, Lake Marshall township. Later he purchased the southeast quarter of the same section, making him the owner of the east half of section 16. He has a fine place, known as Pleasant View Farm. In addition to farming, Mr. Swonson raises a great deal of stock, among other breeds Shorthorn cattle. O. I. C. and Chester White hogs, Oxford Down Sheep, White Plymouth Rock chickens, White Pekin ducks, Bronze turkeys and geese. He has received several premiums at the fairs with his stock. Mr. Swonson is a member of the Maccabees lodge.

On March 8, 1901, at Marshall, occurred the marriage of Mr. Swonson to Gusta B. Swonson, a native of Sweden. She was born April 13, 1875, and is a daughter of Swan and Enrin Maria S. Williamson. Mrs. Swonson came to America in 1900. To Mr. and Mrs. Swonscn have been born the following named children: Esther E., born February 23, 1902; Emma M., born October 11, 1903.

CHARLES F. PAGEL (1886) has been a resident of Custer township the past six years, having purchased in 1906 the southwest quarter of section 8, where he now resides.

Mr. Pagel was born in Germany April 19, 1873, and the first thirteen years of his life were spent in the old country, where he received his early education. The family came to this country and settled in Amiret township, the father buying land and farming. Charles completed his education in the country schools and helped with the farm work. In 1897 he bought eighty acres on section 36, Sodus township, and commenced farming for himself. Nine years later he bought the land in Custer where he now resides. Mr. Pagel raises Hereford cattle and Poland China hogs and engages in general farming.

Charles Pagel and Martha Bollmann were joined in the holy bonds of matrimony in Balaton on May 3, 1903. To this union have been born two children, Arthur and Kermet. Mrs. Pagel is the daughter of Carl and Amelia (Teske) Bollmann and was born in Germany.

PETER HAXSEX (1887) is a prosperous retired Shelburne township farmer who has made his residence in Russell since the fall of 1909. Since making his home in town he has engaged some in stock buying and has operated two threshing outfits in the fall of the year. Last season he purchased a steam gang plow, which he operated some, and he will from now on do contract work. Mr. Hansen has a fine residence in town and still owns a well improved quarter section of land in Shelburne township.

Mr. Hansen was born August 18, 1876, in Iowa county, Iowa. His parents, Rasmus and Mary (Hansen) Hansen, were natives of Denmark who came to this country and located first in Iowa, moving to Lyon county in 1887. They bought land in Coon Creek township and resided there until their deaths. The father died in 1899, and Mrs. Hansen died in 1891. Besides Peter, there were five brothers and one sister, named, respectively, William, Julius, Henry, Louis, Charles and Christina. Charles died in 1911. The others are living in or near Russell. Peter lived en the home farm until the death of his father; then he purchased the quarter section in Shelburne which he now owns and which he farmed until moving to Russell.

Our subject was married October 14, 1900, to Carrie Peterson, a native of Denmark and a daughter of Hans and Ellen Peterson, who now reside in Russell. Mrs. Hansen was born April 3, 1882. She came with her parents to this country in 1883 and the family settled in Iowa, coming to Lyon county in 1887. Three brothers live in or near Russell, namely, Jay P., Hans C. and William C.

Ihookaimiical History

Mr. and Mrs. Peter Hansen have three children, whose names are Carl Wallace, born December 9, 1901; Harry Raymond, born November 24, 1903; and George Lewis, born January 22, 1906.

Mr. Hansen is a member of the Presbyterian church of Russell. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masons, Workmen and Degree of Honor lodges. He is master workman of the A. O. U. W. lodge. For several years he was clerk of the school district and at different times has served as justice of the peace and road overseer in Shelburne township.

JOHN BUCKLEY (1880) is one of the oldest settlers, in point of residence, of the township of Westerheim. He farms 240 acres of his own on sections 7 and 19 and 240 acres of rented land and is ably assisted in the work on the farm by two of his sons, Leo and Cyril. .

John Buckley is the son of George and Catherine (Terry) Buckley and was born in Birmingham, England, in 1862. He attended school in England and worked with his father, who was a contractor and builder. In 1880 the family came to America, and in May of that year George Buckley purchased the south half of the northeast quarter of section 19, Westerheim township. There the family made their home and there our subject has always resided, except one year when he was in St. Paul. The first home of the Buckleys was burned by a prairie fire and they endured many of the discomforts of the early days. The town of Ghent did not exist; it was simply a flag station. Among the few farmers in the township at that time were Knud Kjorness, O. J. Moe, Ole Orsen and M. Leeland.

Mr. and Mrs. George Buckley were the parents of three children: Mary, of St. Paul; Lizzie, of Fargo, North Dakota; and John, of this sketch. Mrs. Buckley died on the farm February 14, 1898, aged seventy-nine years. Her husband then sold out to his son and moved to Minneapolis with his two daughters, and he died there in May, 1906, at the age of eighty-two. John has since been successfully conducting the farm. He is active in township affairs and has served on the district school board.

in Minneota on January 21, 1885, to Helen Culshaw, and to this union the following children have been born: Edward ,)., of Eidsvold; Elizabeth (Mrs. Will McMahon), of Eidsvold; Rose, Leo, Cyril, Catherine, Lional, Vincent. Helen, Agnes and Bernard. His wife was born in Stafford, England. March 18, 1866, and came to the United States in 1881 with her parents, Robert and Helen (Parker) Culshaw. The father died in Minneota May 7, 1912, aged seventy-two years; Mrs. Culshaw died in 1907 at the age of sixty-six.

The Buckleys are members of the Catholic church of Minneota. That church was built by the subject of this sketch and his father, who constructed many of the houses in that village. They also erected the first building - a store - in Ghent, then called Grandview.

JAMES H. HALL (1897), county attorney of Lyon county, was born in Kankakee county, Illinois, in 1876. He is the son of James and Margaret (McGlade) Hall, of Balaton. Both parents were born in Ireland and came to America when children.

In 1883 the family moved to Hand county, South Dakota. Our subject received his education in the country schools of that county and in Wessington Springs Seminary. After his school days he taught one year in South Dakota, and in 1897 he located in Lyon county. After teaching two years in Lyon county Mr. Hall took up the study of law in the offices of O. E. Maxson, E. C. Patterson and V. B. Seward. He then attended the night school of the St. Paul College of Law, took the state bar examination, and was admitted to practice in 1905. He formed a partnership with E. C. Patterson, of Marshall, and was a member of the firm of Patterson & Hall from October, 1905, until January 1, 1910. Mr. Hall then opened an office in the Dibble Block. 'He was elected county attorney in 1910 and took office the first of the following year.

Mr. Hall was married December 31, 1905, to Rose Parfitt, of Sunnyside, Washington. He is a member of the Methodist church and of the Masonic order.

who has, in the true sense of the word, "made good." He is a native of the Badger State and was born in Greenville June 20, 1S69, a son of Louis and Mary (Lorenz) Ehlers. The father was killed in a runaway accident in 1873 and the mother died at the home of her son in Lynd township September 23, 1911. William received his education in the country schools of Greenville, which he attended until fourteen years of age.

After finishing school young Ehlers worked for his brothers on the farm for three years, moving with his brother Louis to Lyon county in 1887, where he spent eight years more in his employ. When twenty-three years of age he rented a farm, which he operated two years, and then he purchased the northwest quarter of section 6, Lake Marshall township. He farmed that three years and then traded the place to his brother Fred for the farm he now operates, the southeast cpiarter of section 2, Lynd township. Besides farming, our subject carries on stock raising. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company of Marshall. Mr. Ehlers is a member of the Evangelical Association church of Marshall, of the M. W. A. lodge, and is clerk of school district No. 9. He was road overseer in Lynd township one year.

Mr. Ehlers was married February 20, 1895, to Minnie C. Friend, a daughter of John and Sophia (Burmeister) Friend. To this union have been born the following children: Raymond L., born May 26, 1897; Lillian M., born October 27, 1902 ; Walter W., born February 11, 1906; Albert C. (deceased), born October 20, 1899.

HENRY J. CAIN (1889) is district manager of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York and a man who has spent the greater part of his life in Lyon and Redwood counties. He was born in the little village of Dundee, Osceola township, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, on the fourth day of April, I860. He received a common school education and was brought up on his father's farm, having the management of the farm two years before coming to Minnesota.

Cain left home and two days later arrived in Marshall. He did not remain in Lyon county at that time but located in Redwood Falls, where he held a position as hotel clerk until the following March. He then squatted upon the northeast quarter of section 24, Westline township, Redwood county, and the next year, having received word that his claim was valid, he made homestead entry to the land. He improved the farm and made his home there until he became a citizen of Tracy in 1889. He developed the farm until it came to be recognized as one of the finest in the county.

Upon his removal to Tracy Mr. Cain was made district manager of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, a position he has since held. He has made a success of the business and has won many state prizes. From November, 1903, to April, 1904, he wrote more insurance than any other agent of the company in Minnesota, and received as a prize a free trip to the St. Louis exposition.

Mr. Cain owns land in Texas and a beautiful home in Tracy. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus lodge. During his residence in Redwood county he served as assessor of Westline township.

The marriage of our subject to Sarah E. Hogan occurred at Tracy on November 22, 1887. She is a native of Illinois and was brought up in LeSueur county, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Cain have three children: Jay E., an employe of the Northwestern Railroad Company; Hazel M. and Harry P.

Henry J. Cain is a son of James and Mary Ann (Corcoran) Cain. They were born in Ireland, crossed the water to Canada in an early day, and were married there. Later they lived in New York State, and later still engaged in farming in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin. The father homesteaded in Redwood county and later became a resident of Tracy. He died in Redwood county, at the home of his son, John F. Cain, in 1908, at the age of eighty-nine years. Mrs. Cain died in Redwood county in 1888 at the age of sixty-nine years. There are five living children in the Cain family, as follows: John F., of Redwood county; Margaret (Mrs. Andrew Holmes), of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; James, of Staples, Minnesota; Edward, who is in the United States navy; and Henry J., of this sketch.

WILLIAM CULSHAW (1882), who owns and farms the southwest quarter and the north half of the southeast quarter of section 9, Nordland township, has spent the entire thirty years of his life in that precinct. His is one of the finest farms in the neighborhood and he is an experienced agriculturist. He specializes on Duroc- Jersey hogs and Shorthorn cattle.

The parents of our subject were Robert and Helen (Parker) Culshaw. They arrived in Lyon county May 3, 1881, purchased land in Nordland township, and spent the rest of their lives there. The mother died on the home farm June 8, 1907; the father moved to Minneota in the fall of 1911 and died in that village May 7, 1912. They were highly respected residents.

William Culshaw was born to these parents in Nordland township February 2, 18 82. He attended the district schools until sixteen years old and then received instruction from his parents, both of whom were former school teachers. He lived at home until 1908. Then he married, bought his farm, and engaged in agricultural pursuits independently.

Mr. Culshaw is a stockholder of the Farmers Elevator Company of Minneota. He served as road overseer two years, is a member of the Catholic church of Minneota and of the Modern Woodmen lodge of the same village.

The marriage of our subject to Carrie Jeremiason occurred at Minneota May 12, 1908. She was also born in Nordland township, the date of her birth being May 25, 1885. Her parents, Swen H. and Bertha (Bolsta) Jeremiason, came to Lyon county and homesteaded land in Nordland in 1872. They still live in that precinct. Mr. and Mrs. Culshaw have three children: Ignatius Robert, born November 30, 1909, and Blanch Mary and Beatrice Sophia, twins, born January 9, 1912.

After his graduation, Mr. Williams worked in a Marshall bank for a few months and then located in Fessenden, North Dakota, where he was admitted to the bar. There he was engaged in the practice of law, in abstracting, and in the insurance and real estate business for one year and eight months, at the end of which time he returned to Marshall. He has since practised his profession and engaged in the insurance business, making a specialty of collections.

Mr. Williams has been city attorney the last two years. He is a member of the Blue Lodge (being master of the local lodge in 1912) and of the Chapter of the Masonic orders and of the Modern Woodmen of America lodge. He owns land in Lyon and Lincoln counties and in Colorado, the cement block garage on Main Street, and a half interest in the Hitch livery barn, his partner being August Durrenburger.

The father of our subject is James W. Williams, who was born in Wisconsin, came to Marshall in the early seventies, and is still a resident of the city. For many years he engaged in the hardware business. He has served as a member of the Minnesota Legislature, as county treasurer and clerk of the district court. The mother of our subject is Ada Frances (Webster) Williams, a daughter of Captain S. Webster, a homesteader and early settler of Lyon county. There are three children in the family, the other two being Roy W., of Lyon county, and Helen A. (Mrs. C. E. Hall), of Gary, Indiana.

Mr. Williams was married at Cottonwood November 8, 1911, to Amelia Anderson, a native of Lyon county and a daughter of Gabriel Anderson, one of the county's early settlers.

JAMES VON WILLIAMS (1881), attorney at law, is a native of Marshall and has spent practically his entire life in that city. He was born March 2 6, 1881. After graduating from the Marshall High School he was a student at the University of Minnesota for six years. He was graduated

LEO HENNEN (1883), a Westerheim township farmer, was born in Holland January 3, 1870, and spent the first thirteen years of his life in his native country. He was brought up on his father's farm and received practically all of his schooling before the family came to America in 1883.

He is the son of Arnold and Helen Hennen. The family located in Ghent, Minnesota, soon after their arrival to this country, and after spending a few weeks in that village they moved "to Wisconsin, where they lived on a farm about six years. The Hennens then returned to Lyon county and bought a quarter on section 21. The father still lives on the place; Mrs. Hennen died in 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Hennen were the parents of seven children, of whom the following are living: Leo, of this sketch; Jacob J., Mary (Mrs. Anton Van Uden), of Westerheim; and Mathew.

Leo Hennen lived with his parents until about thirty-two years of age. Then he purchased the southwest quarter of section 32, Westerheim township, and he has since resided on the place. He has acquired additional land, and the original quarter, which was an unimproved place with no buildings on it, has been converted by our subject into a model farm, with buildings, fences, groves and modern conveniences. Mr. Hennen realizes the revenue to be derived from stock and every year feeds a carload of cattle for shipment to market. He deserves credit for the success he has made.

The subject of this sketch married Christina Van Uden in Ghent on May 24, 1904. She is a native of Holland and came to this country in 1892. Four children have been born to this union, their names being Annie, Leo, Dora and Gertrude.

F. W. RULIFFSON (1893) is cashier of the First National Bank of Balaton. He is a native of Lincoln county, Minnesota, and was born August 29, 1888, a son of C. P. and Alice M. (Sloan) Ruliffson, who were pioneer residents of Steele county, Minnesota. They located in Lincoln county in an early day, later moving to South Dakota, and still later to Lyon county, in 1893, locating near Russell, where they now reside.

Our subject accompanied his* parents to Lyon county in 1893. He attended the common schools until 1900, when he entered the Marshall schools, from which he was graduated in June, 1907. After completing his high school work, Mr. Ruliffson entered the First National Bank of Balaton as bookkeeper and was later made assistant cashier of that institution. In November, 1910, he was promoted to the cashiership, which position he has since held. He is also a stockholder of the bank.

Mr. Ruliffson is a member of the Congregational church of Marshall. He holds membership in the Masonic, Elks and A. O. U. W. lodges. He has stock in the Union Land and Credit Company of Balaton.

Mr. Ruliffson was married at Minneota May 23, 1912, to Amy T. Dahl, who was born at Granite Falls, Minnesota, December 2, 1890. Her parents, Herman N. and Anna (Hanson) Dahl, have been residents of Minneota since 1895. Mrs. Ruliffson was graduated from the Minneota High School in 1907, took a two-year course at Carleto.n College, Northfield, and was graduated as a nurse from the Chicago Baptist Hospital in October, 1911.

HANS VOLDEN (1893), who owns and farms 240 acres of land on sections 15 and 22, Lucas township, is a native of Guldbrans, Norway, and was born October 28, 1869, a son of Ole and Mare (Bergum) Volden. He grew to manhood in his native land, working at farm labor and for four years in a flouring mill.

In 1893 Mr. Volden crossed the Atlantic to make his home in the New World. He proceeded at once to Cottonwood, Lyon county, and his home has ever since been in that vicinity. For a number of years he worked out on farms and in 1902 began farming for himself. He has made all the improvements on the farm and has a good home and set of buildings. He raises Durham cattle and Poland China hogs. Mr. Volden was clerk of school district No. 7 4 one year and he and his family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church.

Mr. Volden was married to Johanna M. Peterson at Cottonwood June 24, 1899. She was born in Rice county, Minnesota, August 8, 1868, a daughter of Christopher and Keret (Slette) Peterson. Her parents came from Norway to the United States in 1 S t; 8, lived in Rice county a few years, and in 1S7i' came with the early settlers to I. yon county and took as a homestead claim the southeast quarter of section 22, Lucas township. Her father died in 1909; her mother lives in Cottonwood. Mr. and .Mrs. Volden have three children, Clark, .Mel vina and Oscar.

WILLIAM E. H EAGLE (1883) is a prosperous farmer of Lyon county and makes his home on the northwest quarter of section 9, Clifton township. He also owns 160 acres in Stanley township and 338 acres in Redwood county. Mr. Heagle is interested in stock raising and has been doing a profitable business in the shipping of Duroc-Jersey hogs and Durham cattle. He is a shareholder of the Farmers Elevator Company of Marshall and of the Lyon County Fair Association.

Mr. Heagle was born in Winnebago county, Illinois, September 7, 1862. His parents, B. J. and Clarisa (Sweet) Heagle, were natives of New York State and located in Illinois in an early day. The father was a farmer and was also interested in a flouring mill. William received his schooling and grew to manhood in Illinois, and in 1883 he came to Lyon county. He rented land on section 19, Lake Marshall township, which his father had purchased the year before, and farmed eleven years.

In 1894 Mr. Heagle sold his Lyon county place and returned to Illinois, where he bought land and farmed five years. His experience in Lyon county had given him a good impression of this region and he returned in 1899 and bought the place where he now resides. Mr. Heagle was chairman of the township board ten years, and for several terms he was a director of his school district.

The marriage of our subject to Sarah Carmichael occurred in Illinois December 21, 1882. She was born in Ogle county of that state August 19, 18 62, and is a daughter of Patrick and Jane (Graham) Carmichael, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Canada. To Mr. and Mrs. Heagle one daughter, Etta Josephine, was born February 25, 1889. She is the

NELS PEHRSON (1890) is the proprietor of the Model Clothing and Shoe House of Tracy, one of the progressive business enterprises of that city. Mr. Pehrson has been a resident of Tracy for many years and is a notable example of what can be accomplished by perseverance and application. He came to the country from Sweden when a young man without a dollar and he is now rated among the substantial men of the county.

Our subject was born in Malmo, Sweden, March 3, 1867. He received his education in his native land and there learned the goldsmith's trade. At the age of twentyone years, in 1888, he came to America and the first year of his life in the New World was passed with an uncle, Peter Swan, in Murray county, Minnesota. Then he secured his first experience in the mercantile business, clerking in a store at Currie.

Mr. Pehrson located in Tracy in 1890. One year he clerked in the clothing store of Jacobi Brothers and one year in Martin Thurin's store. In the fall of 1891 he accepted a position with Pattridge Brothers and for six years he had charge of the clothing and shoe departments. He set up in business for himself in 1898, establishing a clothing and shoe store in the old First National Bank building on Front Street. He erected his present handsome business block in 1903. Mr. Pehrson made a trip to his native land in 1896 and in 1909 he and his wife made another trip to the old country, visiting England, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and France. Our subject is a member of the K. P. lodge and the Tracy Commercial Club.

At Walnut Grove, Redwood county, on New Years Day, 1906, Mr. Pehrson was married to Laura Lund, a daughter of Charles Lund, one of the pioneers of Redwood county. Mrs. Pehrson was educated in Gustavus Adolphus College.

and Elna (Swanson) Pekrson. He died in his native land in 1896; she continues to make her home in the old country. There are six living children of the family, as follows: Anna, Nels, Ida, Ernest, Edward and Emil.

LOUIS E. PETERSON (1887) is a thorough believer in the value of Lyon county farm land, and his judgment should be good, for Mr. Peterson has prospered since locating on the west half of the southeast quarter of section 31, Rock Lake township. With the additional forty which he has charge of Mr. Peterson farms 120 acres and also raises considerable stock for market. He has outside interests, being a member of the board of directors of tbe Western Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Balaton and of the Farmers Co-operative Elevator Company of the same village.

Sweden is Louis Peterson's native country. He came to America in 1880, locating in Knox county, Illinois, where he worked as a farm laborer seven years. In March, 1887, he was married at Prophetstown, Illinois, to Nellie Olson, a native of Sweden. She was born December 25, 1854. Immediately after their marriage Mr. Peterson and his bride departed for Lyon county and located on the farm which he had purchased in Rock Lake township from the Winona & St. Peter Railroad Company. On that place they have since made their home. For the past fourteen years a boy, Leonard Johnson, has made his home with the Petersons.

Our subject has been clerk of the township board of Rock Lake the past five years and was chairman of the board for a "number of years. He has also been school clerk and assessor several years during his Rock Lake residence. Mr. Peterson is a member, and for the past twentyfour years has been secretary and a deacon, of the Swedish Lutheran church of Scandia township, Murray county.

Louis Peterson's parents were Peter and Ellen (Johnson) Larson, both of whom are now dead. Louis Peterson was born October 3, 1857, and was educated in Sweden. When seventeen years old he commenced work in a saw mill as engineer and held