Polk County, Minnesota - Biographical sketches, 1916 (part 4 of 15)

Jlarin was reared from early childhood in Polk county and was a member of the first graduating class of the Ci'ookston high school, in 1891. He spent some time as a teacher and for one year was the principal of the schools at Thief River Falls, but his ambitions centered on a legal career and he began his preparatory studies by reading law in the offices of ]\Iiller & Foote. He completed his law course with two years' attendance at the Universitj' of Minnesota and in 1898 was admitted to the bar and began to practice in Crookston, where he has established a high reputation as a successful lawj'er and is widely known in the state for his noteworthy professional attainments and efficient services in the public offices with which his ability has been recognized. He is actively associated with political matters and maintains independence in his opinions and vote, but is a forceful supporter of the principles advocated by the Progressive party, and as a presidential elector in 1912 cast the vote of his district for the candidate of that party. In local affairs, he has served the public interests in various offices, as chairman of the sinking fund committee, as alderman at large in 1902 and is at present the chairman of the charter commission. In 1910 Mr. Marin was a candidate for member.ship in the state legislature. He is i^rominently identified with the interests and activities of the legaf profession as president of the Northwestern Lawyers association, and is associated with the business enterprises of Crookston as a stockholder in the Scandia bank. Among the fraternal orders he holds membership in the Masonic fraternity and Elks lodge. Mr. Marin was married in 1899 to Emma Poelhler, of Minneapolis, and two daughters have been born to this union, Pauline and Adelaide. Mr. Marin and his family are members of the Episcopal church.

Andrew E. Wold

Andrew E. Wold, a farmer in Brandsvold township, is a native of Norway, born August 24, 1861. He was reared on his father's farm and came to the United States when twenty years of age, locating in Ottertail county, Minnesota, where his brother, Lars Wold, had settled in the previous year. Here he was employed in farm work for several years, his first wages being used to repay his passage money which he had borrowed. In 1887 he came to Polk county and bought a quaiter section of land in Brandsvold townshijj and entered upon the arduous task of clearing his land for cidtivation. The only investment in stock whicli his meager resources allowed him at that time was a Polled Angus calf which he bought in Ottertail county for twentyfive dollars and this purchase marked the standard for Mr. Wold's farming activities, his farm has always been stocked with finely bred animals. He devoted all his time to the clearing off of the timber on the tract and for .several months, his brother put in a crop and had it destroyed by the frost and in the following year suffered the same loss, saving but a small part of the crop for harvesting. This led to his determination to dispose of that place and secure a farm on higher ground and in 1891, he bought his present farm, the northeast quarter of section twenty-one of Brandsvold township, three miles and a half northwest of Fosston. This had been the former homestead of Sam Hanson, who had met his death by suicide and its primitive wildness had been practically undisturbed, a few acres having been cleared and a log shanty built on the claim. Mr. Wold was able to pay about half of the purchase price of $860 and with thrifty management, in a short time, cleared his property of debt. He now owned a number of head of stock and the work of developing the farm progressed steadily. The place was very advantageously located and included no waste land and required very little artificial drainage. He has put one hundred and thirty of the one hundred and sixty acres under cultivation and the rest is utilized for pasturage, Mr. Wold engaging quite extensively in stock raising in addition to his grain farming. He raises short horn and red poUed cattle, breeding to secure a strain best adapted to general farm purposes and keeps a herd of sixteen dairy cows, selling cream to the cooperative creamery at Fosston. The farm is well equipped for eflBcient and profitable operation, the bam has modern conveniences for the care of stock and accommodates some forty head. An excellent water system has been installed with tanks and troughs supplied by a gas engine from two spring wells. Mr. Wold r''- ealls that in the earlier days, in his Norwegian home, his fatlier had quite as convenient a plan in his barn for the watering of stock. The house which he first built on locating on this place, has been remodeled and included in the present modern structure which is pleasantly situated on a sightly elevation. I\Ir. Wold is associated with the business interests of the county as a stockholder in three important cooperative corporations, the creamer}^. Farmers Elevator and store companies at Fosston. He was actively identified with the organization of the Lutheran Brotherhood church at Fosston, of which the Reverend Gunhus is pastor and continues to be a faithful member of that congregation. His favorite recreation has been hunting, although he does not engage in this sport as much as formerly, making a frequent substitute for out-of-door pleasure with automobile trips. His marriage to Marie Joten occurred in Polk county, in 1887. She is a native of Norway and had been a resident of Ottertail county. Of the family born to them, eight children are now living, Inger, wlio married Andy Possett and lives in Enderline, North Dakota; Edwin, Olga, Melvin and Lena, who are students in the high school at Fosston; Alfred, Selma and Bennie.

Ole Mellesmoen

Ole Mellesmoen, a pioneer citizen and successful farmer of Brandsvold township, was born in Norway, September 26, 1859, and came to the United States when twenty-two years of age, the first of his family to seek a home in the western land. He came to Minnesota and a short time afterward was joined by his father, B. 0. Mellesmoen, who located in Wadena county where he lived until 1911 and since that time has made his home with his son, Ole Mellesmoen. After two years in the new home, the latter helped two brothers to secure their passage to this country. Ole Mellesmoen lived for two years in Ottertail county and in 1883 removed to Polk county, taking a homestead claim on section twenty-three of Brandsvoid township, the southwest quarter. This was timber land and his first home was built of logs cut from the place. To the development of this farm he has devoted the able efforts of many years and has been eminently .successful in all phases of his enterprise. It is one of the model farms of the region and one of the best locations, being situated on the main road north of Fosston, about three miles from that place. He has put over one hundred acres under cultivation, the remainder being in timber land and in productiveness and equipment the farm can be favorably compared with those in the older and famed agricultural districts of the middle west. He has good buildings, attractively situated in fine natural groves and in 1908, erected his comfortable countryhome. His farming interests have been directed to the raising of gi-ain and to daiiy farming, selling his dairj- produce to the cooperative creamery at Fo.sston. Mr. Mellesmoen has been identified with tlie affairs of the township since its organization and attended the first election which was held in one of the pioneer homes. He was one of the first members of the Brandsvold United Lutheran church, of which he continues to be a faithful supporter. Mr. Mellesmoen was married in 1899 to Tnga Sagmoen, who was born in Norway and accompanied her parents to Polk county in 1881. No children have been born to them but they have taken a girl and boy into their home, Clara, M'ho has made her home with them since her fourth year and is now sixteen years of age and

Ole, aged two and one-half yeai's. Jlr. Mellesmoeu is associated with the business interests of the county as stockholder in the Cooperative Creamery and in the Farmers Elevator companies in Fosston.

E. G. Eklund, well known farmer and prominent citizen of Polk county, has been for many years actively associated with its development and progress as public official, farmer and business man. He was born near Folland, Sweden, January 21, 1865. Here he attended school and as a young lad apprenticed himself to the trade of shoemaker. In 1882, at the age of seventeen, he came to the United States, joining an uncle who was then living in Alexandria, Minnesota. A year later he was able to financially assist his father on the journey from Sweden to a new home in the western state and some time later they were joined by his mother and half brother and sister. E. G. Eklund and his mother and half sister are the only members of the family now living. His first year was spent working on his uncle's farm and burning lime on the shores of Lake Carlos in Douglas county. During this time he devoted all the time possible to the study of English in the countiy schools. He formed a i^artnership with another boy who was ambitious to acquire a thorough training in the language of their adopted country and they lived in a sod shack, attending school and taking contracts from the settlers for grubbing the wild land. One of these contracts involved a daily wage of fifty cents. In 1888 he made liis first trip to Polk county and two years later located here. In the following year, 1891, he purchased eighty acres in Rosebud township for five hundred dollars. This was timber and prairie land and only a few acres had been broken for cultivation. He was able to pay one hundred and .seventy-five dollars of the purchase price and it took ten years of arduous labor and thrifty management to complete the payment. In the meantime he bought another eighty acres, a mile and a half from the first tract, and this is part of liis present farm, three miles south of Fosston, and was all wild land. After selling the first place at a profit of thirteen hundred dollars he bought one hundred and twenty acres of partially developed land, paying twenty-two hundred and now owns a fine farm of two hundred acres, all of which is under cultivation. He has reclaimed the low land with open ditches and the county ditch which crosses the farm has completed an excellent drainage system. For a number of years he devoted his attention to the raising of grain. He now keeps thoroughbred cattle and dairy cows, selling to the county cooperative ereameiy company in which he is an original stockholder. His pleasant farm home was erected in 1905 and is attractively situated in a large grove of poplar and other native trees. In 1915 he added to his fanning equipment a fine bam. The successful management of this property has not monopolized Mr. Eklund's efforts and he has devoted much time to the larger interests of the count}', generously supporting and promoting important business enterprises which are identified with the general prosperity of the community and giving many years of able service in public offices. He was active in the organization of a creamery company in 1896, an unsuccessful venture, and in its re-organization into the present county cooperative company which handles the dairy produce of over two hundred and fifty farmers. He was one of the organizers of the Farmers Elevator company at Fosston, a company that has been of great benefit to the agricultural district, insuring good prices at home. Mr. Eklund was the first president and has continued to be active in the administration of its transactions. Mismanagement on tho part of an agent in cliargo, caused the loss of several thousand dollars and Mr. Eklund served on the eonnniltee which reorganized and put the company on a substantial basis which has brought success. Tliey incorporated witli a capital of .$10,000 and appointed as manager an efficient wheat buyer. In 1914, this companj' handled 61,000 bushels of grain. Another important institution in which he is interested is the Farmers Cooperative company, which operates a general store in Fosston. He is the president of the corporation. It has a capital stock of $73,000 and receives an annual trade of $22,000. Since 1894 Mr. Eklund has given continuous and valuable service in pulilic affairs. In that year he was elected township supervisor on the Populist ticket and was made chairman of the board of supervisors. In 190.'! he was elected county commissioner from the Fourth district and held this office for twelve years, serving for a number of years as chairman of board, during which time he was active in promoting the construction of new roads and bridges. He is a member of the township board and has been chairman of it for over eighteen years. Sir. Eklund is now a member of the Republican party but has also been elected to office on the Populist and Independent tickets. He is that type of progressive and industrious citizen who are the chief factors in building up states aud is well known in the county. In 1890 he was married to Maria Hammergren, who was born near Alexandria, Minn., in 1870. They have raised a fine family of ten children, Harris Emil, Arnold Theodore, Alice Ruth, Raymond Wilfred, Hilma Viola, Eilert Jennings, Bertha Elvira, Stella Irene, Clarence Waldemar and Doris Evelyn.

Johannes R. Hove

Johannes R. Hove, of Queen township, a prosperous farmer and influential citizen of the county, was born in Norway, ]\Iarch 22, 1855. lie spent his boyhood on a farm and was educated in the public schools of his native land. In 1882 he came to the United States and lived during the first year in Worth county, Iowa, and then removed to Polk county. Here he preempted land on section seven of Queen township and after proving up on this land, six months later, in December, 1883, he took a homestead claim in section twelve of Brandsvold township, just across the township line from the first farm. With the exception of marsh tracts, all of this land was covered with heavy timber, for the most part, poplar, and with thrifty enterprise and unceasing industry, he has put practically all of the three hundred and twenty acres under cultivation. During the early stages of the development of the farm, he employed various means of support, working during the harvest seasons in Dakota and selling wood which he hauled to Fosston, receiving from one dollar and a quarter to two dollars a cord for it. Mr. Hove has devoted his life to his farming interests and witli intelligent study of every phase of his occupation and able management, has developed one of the finest farms in the county. He has installed an adequate ditching system which with a county ditch ha.s reclaimed some sixty-seven acres of slough land. The comfortable country home was erected eight years ago and in every particular, the farm demonstrates the successful application of modern and progressive agricultural methods. The large new barn is thoroughly equipped with especial regard for winter feeding: the extensive watering s.ystem including troughs in the barn. He gives his attention to grain and stock raising, breeding short horn cattle and has met with unvaried succes"S in every enterprise and has never known a crop failure, one field yielding, in 1904, forty bushels of wheat to the acre. He has established equally high records in the dairy business, in which he engages extensively, having realized, in one month, $173.40 from dairy produce, with a herd of fifteen cows, beside what was required for family consumption. He is the largest producer in the Olga cooperative creamery, of which he was an original stock holder. Mr. Hove has been prominently associated with the promotion of the best interests of the community in which he lives and was actively identified with the organization of both Queen and Brandsvold townships. He has been a faithful supporter of the Brandsvold United Lutheran church since its organization, in which he took an active part and has given efficient service for many j^ears as a church officer. His marriage to Betsy A. Yerstad was solemnized in his home in Queen township, in 1887, by the Reverend Rude of Fosston. She was born in Norway in 1858 and was reared in the same neighborhood with her husband. They have a family of six children, Lena, Sonva, Olaf, Roy, Hans and Johanna.

John E. Tuveng

John E. Tuveng, a prosperous farmer of Brandsvoid township, is a native of Norway, born September 10, 1860. He came to the United States and to Minnesota in 1880 and lived for a few years in Ottertail county, employed at farm work during the summer months and spending the winters in the Wisconsin lumber camps. In the fall of 1883 he came to Brandsvold township and filed a claim on the northeast quarter of section twenty-two and in the following summer, moved on his land and began the arduous task of developing wild timber land into a cultivated farm. He built a one room, two story, log house with timber cut from his land and devoted what time he could to the clearing of his fields, and meanwhile found employment on neighboring farms. During the first year he worked without a team and then purchased a yoke of oxen. A few years later he bought forty acres of railroad land in section fourteen about three-quarters of a mile distant from his homestead, paying four dollars an acre. This tract is drained by a county ditch and has all been put under cultivation. He has cleared one hundred acres of the home farm and engages in the raising of grain and hay and keeps about twenty head of stock. He erected his present home in 1910 and has provided his place with good buildings and an excellent water system, with a well ninety feet deep which supplies tanks in the yards and barn. Mr. Tuveng has always taken an active interest in the affairs of the community and has voted in all the township elections with the exception of the firet one. He was one of the organizers of the Brandsvold United Lutheran church, of which he is a faithful supporter. Mr. Tuveng was married in Norway, in 1898 to Lena Leiu and they have three children, Edwin, Palmer and Selma. Aside from his successful private enterprises, Mr. Tuveng is identified with the business interests of the county as stockholder in the Cooperative Creamery and Cooperative Elevator companies at Fosston.

Hans 0. Dunrud

Hans 0. Dunrud, a farmer in Brandsvold township, was born in Norway, June 10, 1858. He is one of three brothers who filed on land in Eden township in the spring of 1884, before that township was surveyed. The other brothers, Ole Dunrud and Peter Dunrud, still reside on their homesteads there. Hans Dunrud was educated in the common schools of his native land and came to the United States in 1880, his parents lending hiin the money for his passage. On landing in this country he went to Clay county, Minnesota, where he worked at various employment and managed to repay his passage money in the first year, saving from his meager wages. As a farm laborer, he received twenty dollars a month and for the strenuous work of clearing laud of brush and timber, seventy-five cents a day, with fourteen work- ing hours in the day. In the second year he was able to send money to his parents and later they joined him in the western land. His father, Ole H. Dunrud, took as a homestead claim, the land in section one of Brandsvold township which is the present farm of Ole Dunrud and this remained the parents' home until their death. Hans Dunrud embarked upon his farming enterprise in Polk county with a capital of seven dollars, a yoke of oxen and cow and from this start with thrift and industry, he has steadily made his way to success and prosperity. During the first years he worked in Dakota and at Ada, Minnesota, in thfi harvest seasons, meanwhile giving what time he could to the clearing of the land, which was covered with timber and draining the marsh land and ponds with ditches. The first home was a shack which was later replaced with a good log house which was in use until I'Jl^J when it was destroyed. He erected the present barn in 1905 and the modern frame house which is his home, was built in 1913. He has put all of the one hundred and sixty acres in cultivation except that reserved for pasturage, and aside from his general farming entei-prises is interested in dairy farming. Mr. Dunrud is identified with the important business interests of the section as stockholder in the cooperative creamery at Olga and in the Farmers Elevator and cooperative store at Fosston. As one of the organizei-s of the Zion United Lutheran church in Eden township, he has been actively identified in its interests. His marriage to Mattie J. Haugen, a native of Norway, was solemnized in 1885. They have four sons, all of whom reside with their parents, Oscar, who owns a farm in Clearwater county, Martin, John and AVilliam.

Martin Torgeson

Martin Torgeson, a well known farmer and thresherman of Brandsvold township, is a native of the state, born in Houston county, April 10, 1860. Bom in the pioneer days of the northwest, his life has been spent in the constructive work of the farm builder, who lays the foundation for the progress of civilization. From early childhood he was familiar with the vicissitudes and dangers of frontier life. In Jackson county, in 1862, the year of the Indian outbreak, the Torgeson home was under the fire of the warring bands for a whole day but owing to its advantageous location, the defendants were able to withstand the attacks. But many of the neighbors were killed and all the stock destroyed and although the government troops soon quelled the uprising, the Torgeson family left the scene of the massacre and returned east, to Fillmore county. After several years there, they again ventured into the more unsettled regions and in 1868 took a homestead claim in Ottertail county, near Dalton, and about eleven miles southeast of Fergus Falls. Martin Torgeson was reared on this farm and made his home with his father until 1883 when he went to Polk county and located on a claim in sections twelve and thirteen in Brandsvold township. He had been married three years previous, to Ingre Sonmor, who like her husband, had been reared in the hardy school of frontier life. She was born in Norway in 1858 and liad come to the United States with her parents, in early childhood. After spending some time in Wisconsin and Iowa, they located on land in Ottertail county, Minnesota, in 1868, being among the first settlers of that county. Ingre Torgeson accompanied her husband to the new home in the wilderness, cheerfully accepting her share of the hard labor and privations and during the first years when it was necessary for Mr. Torgeson to seek work in other places and to be absent for months, she bravely endured the loneliness and the moments of terror when even the solitude of nature .seemed filled with threatening dangers. ]Mai*tin Torgeson embarked upon liis farming enterprise without stock or team and could give little time at first to the development of his land, having to earn his support at whatever einplojmient he could find but unceasing industry steadily advanced liis success and in 1886, he became the owTier of an ox team and wagon, and in the same year began his operations as a thresherinan. He had threshed his first crops with a flail and was one of the first to engage in the thrashing business in the county. The first outfit which he operated was equipped with the first self traction engine used in the Thirteen Towns. In the fall of 1886, he covered seven townships, the season's crop being small and all the neighbors cooperating in their common interests, the crews eating and sleeping in one small cabin. On Christmas eve of that year, they were still threshing in Columbia township. For thirty-five years Mr. Torgeson was employed in this business, becoming widely known throughout the county and enjoying an extensive patronage and has handled millions of bushels of Polk county grain. He has been in charge of many different outfits, seven of which he has owTied and has employed crews of twenty-five men. For three seasons he operated an outfit in Dakota. Aside from the requirements of this eminently successful enterprise, Mr. Torgeson has devoted every interest to his farms. He lived on his homestead for many years, putting some sixty acres under cultivation and in 1905, sold the property for thirty-three hundred dollars. He then bought the land in section three of Brandsvold township, six and a half miles north of Fosston, which is his present home, paying two thousand dollars for the land, with no buildings. But a small tract had been cleared and he again engaged upon the arduous task of developing a productive farm. He now has seventy acres in cultivation and has erected good modern buildings and beside his general farming activities, is interested in dairy farming. His political affiliations are with the Republican party and he is a member of Brandsvold United Lutheran church. Mr. Torgeson and his wife have a family of nine children, the four younger children, Nina Pauline, Theodore, Hilda, Amanda, Ruth and Reuben William, still living with their parents. A daughter and two sons reside in Canada, Josephine Amelia, the wife of C. A. Larson of Saskatchewan, and Carl Oscar and Noble Peter who are farmers in the same region. Otto Torgeson is employed with a lumbering and railroad contracting firm and Melvin I. Torgeson is engaged in farming in North Dakota.

Ole Myklejord, a farmer of Brandsvold township, was born in Norway, January 19, 1864, the son of Ole Tollefson, his baptismal name being Ole Olson, but preferring a less common surname, he later changed it to Myklejord. He came to this country' when he was seventeen years of age and located in Becker county, Minnesota, where he remained for a year and then came to Polk county, taking a preemption claim on section ten of Brandsvold township in 1884 and on coming of age made it a homestead claim. In the same year, his father, Ole Tollefson, joined him taking land in section fifteen of the same township. He died here in 1890 and was survived by his wife, his son, Ole Myklejord, and three daughters. The former lived for several years after his death and made her home for some time with Mr. Myklejord. One daughter is a resident of Polk county, the wife of John Lee of Brandsvold township. Mr. Myklejord experienced all the privations and strenuous labor of the pioneer farmer who starts with no capital but a tract of wild land. He built a one-room log house which was his home for eight years and gave what time he could to the clearing of his land, working at farm labor and in the Dakota harvest fields and after a time bought a yoke of oxen which he broke for driving, himself. In 1899 he was married at Mcintosh to Anna Norgaard, who was born in Norway and had come to this country in 1885, just a few years later than Mr. Myklejord. She was ten years of age when she accompanied her mother and two brothers from Norwaj' to Polk county where they bought the old Mcintosh farm, one and a half miles east of the present village of Mcintosh. This place continued to be the home of the mother until six years ago when she removed to Brandsvold township where she lives with her younger son, Sam Norgaard. Ben Norgaard is a farmer in Eden township where he took a homestead claim. Jlr. Myklejord has developed his land into a prosperous and productive farm of two hundred acres. He has reclaimed much low land with ditching and a county ditch now crosses his place. He has eighty acres under cultivation, devoted niainlv to wheat. He also engages in dairy farming, selling cream to the cooperative creamei-y at Fosston. A comfortable modern home has been erected and the farm is pleasantly situated six miles and a half north of Fosston. Aside from his farming enterprises ^Ir. ]\lyklejord is associated with the business interests of the community as a stockholder in the Cooperative Creamerj' company and the Cooperative Elevator company at Fosston. ilr. Myklejord and his wife have five children, ]\Iary, Oscar, Albert, Selmer, and Harold. He and his family aie members of the Froen Synod Lutheran church of Brandsvold township.

John A. Widness

John A. "Widness, a successful farmer of Brandsvoid township, is a native of Norway, born March 2, 1865. His father, Arne J. Widness, has been a well known citizen and farmer in that township since 1884 when he located on the northwest quarter of section fourteen. He was born in Norway on September 11, 1835, and came to this country and to Rice county, Minnesota in 1880. He engaged in farming and spent the next few years here and in Goodhue and Ottertail counties. In 1884 he removed to Polk county and bought out the claim rights of a homesteader in Brandsvold township, acquiring the possession of a shanty, a few acres of cleared laud with the rest of the tract covered with brush and timber. The hard work and able efforts of the next twelve years were attested to by the rapid development of the property and the success of all his enterprises. One hundred and twenty acres of the land were cleared and put under cultivation and a new house and buildings erected. A county ditch which affords fine drainage for several farms was started by him and built across his farm in addition to the private ditches w-hich he installed ; the construction of the county ditch costing him $1,400. His sons, Hans C. Widness and John A. Widness, had taken claims and had joined their land and farming interests with his, making a farm of four hundred and forty acres, and were associated with him in the work of developing and improving the land. He also bought one hundred and sixty acres, located one-half mile from the homestead, and devoted his attention to the raising of grain on the two farms until 1896, when he retired. Mr. Widness has never acquired the use of the language of his adopted couutiy but has always been interested in the welfare and progi-ess of the community and gave active assistance in the building of the Brandsvold United Lutheran church, of which aU his family are members. His wife, Maren AVidness, died in 1910, a faithful companion during the fifty-two years of the trials and successes of their career. They had three sons, Andrew, who is the proprietor of a hotel in Seattle, Washington ; Hans C, who lived on the Brandsvold township farm for some time and is now engaged in the mercantile business at Windsor, Minnesota ; and John A. John A. Widness was fifteen years of age when the family removed to this country and he grew to manhood on the Polk county homestead. He took charge of the one hundred and sixty acres near the original tract which his father had purchased and remained here for eleven years, clearing the land and erecting farm buildings, and when his father retired, in 1896, he returaed to the home farm for a short time. But in the following year he withdrew from agricultural pursuits aud located at Shevlin, Minnesota, which was then enjoying a prospei'ous lumber trade. He engaged in the hardware business aud conducted a successful trade for five years, when the failure of a large lumber company brought disaster to the smaller business enterprises of the place. After spending a part of the year 1902 visiting in his old home in Norway, he returned to Minnesota and settled in Warroad, where misfortune again overtook him, when, after a year and a half residence, the town was destroyed by fire and his home and mercantile stock wiped out, he and his family barely escaping with their lives. However, his property was insured and he did not suffer a total loss. For some years he lived in eastern Washington, where he was employed in a hardware store and later removed to Seattle and invested in property in that city which he still owns.

The news of his mother's failing health brought him back to Minnesota. She died in the spring following his return and since that time he has operated the homestead in Brandsvold township which had been rented for a number of years. He has added eighty acres to the estate aud has remodeled the old home and lias all of the land under cultivation. He is particularly interested in dairy farming and keeps a large herd of cows, selling his produce to the cooperative creamery at Fosston, five miles distant. Mr. Widness was married in Polk county in 1889, to Anna Hogan, a native of Norway, from whom he was later divorced. They had two daughters, Minnie and Letta. During his visit to Norway in 1902, he was married to Christopha Torgesou and four children have been born to this union, Marvin, Arnel, Iva and Joyce.

John R. McKinnon, retired capitalist and ex-mayor of Crookston, has been notably identified with the business activities of that city for many years. He is a native of Scotland, born at Inverness, on September 13, 1850, and was brought to America when four years of age, by his parents, Archibald and Jeanette (GiUis) McKinnon, who came to Canada in 185J: and located in Glengarry county, Ontario, near Montreal. The father engaged in farming there until his death in 1884, having survived his wife twenty-one years. They reared a family of seven sons and two daughters and five of the sons became residents of Crookston. John R. McKinnon remained in his Canadian home, attending the public schools, until his seventeenth year, when he began to work in the lumber region of Michigan. He remained in that state for thirteen years, employed as a lumberman, and also mastered the trade of carriage maker, and in 1880 came to Crookston and joined his brothers, Alexander McKinnon and A. J. McKinnon, in the manufacture of wagons and carriages. The firm of McKinnon

Brothers was one of the pioneer industries of the county and conducted a thriving business as manufacturers and dealers in farm implements. In 1897 the company was disorganized and Mr. John R. McKinnon gave his attention to other enterprises until 1905, when he retired from active business pursuits. His has been an eminently successful career, which has included many able sendees in the promotion of the best interests of the community, and he has been actively associated with the development of Crookston since the first years of its growth. In 1887 he erected the McKinnon block, the first good business building to mark its progress from village to city. As a director of the First National bank, he has been interested in the direction of its affairs for thirty years. In 1895 Mr. McKinnon was elected mayor and capably discharged the executive duties during one term. He is a member of the Democratic party. His marriage to Henrietta McDonald, a native of Ontario, Canada, took place in Michigan, July 22, 1874. Her death occurred in March, 1909. Eight children were boru to this union, two of whom are father. Mr. McKionon is a member of the Catholic now living, Margaret, the wife of Mr. George W. church. Capser, and Henrietta, who makes her home with her

John A. Hagen

John A. Ilageu, a pioneer farmer of Queen township, is a native of Norway, born February 8, 1855. He was married there to Olava Guiiderson, and in 1883, in company with her father, Ole Gundersou, came to the United States, locating in Wisconsin. In the following year he was joined by his wife and three sons, August, Olaf and Julius. In the spring of 1886 John A. Hagen removed with his family to Polk county, taking as a homestead a quarter section which lay in both Queen and Eden townships and has continued to devote his interests to this farm. Since 1896 Ole Gunderson has also been a resident of the county and a member of the Hagen household, and has reached the advanced age of eighty-six years. Mr. Hagen contended with the usual privations and hard work of the pioneer farmer, with no resources but native ingenuity and untilled acres. It had taken his small capital to make the payment on his land and the first log shanty which he built was destroyed by fire before ever occupied by his family. The second house was also constructed of logs and was used as the residence until 1907 when the present farm home was erected. Mr. Hagen later bought an additional forty acres and now has two hundred acres, one hundred and forty of which he has put under cultivation. Although the land was not naturally adapted for most successful farming purposes, either by location or soil conditions, by intelligent study and able management, he has through his own efforts developed it into one of the most productive farms in that region. With an extensive drainage system he reclaimed some fifty acres of marsh for profitable use and has steadily advanced the efifieiency of his operations. He has erected a good barn, which stands in Eden township, but his home has always been on the Queen township land. He is a shareholder in the cooperative creamerj^ at Olga and a member of the Salem or Norwegian Synod Lutheran church at the same place, and during the many years of the faithful service of his membership has been actively identified with its interests. His wife died May 9, 1915, at the age of sixty-two years. Five children were born to Mr. Hagen and his wife after they came to this country: Helena, who married Andrew Alrick of Clearbrook, Minnesota ; Ingmar, a farmer near Williston, North Dakota ; and Orgine Josephine, Evan and Otto, who live with their father. Of the older sons, August Hagen is a well known farmer of Eden township, a sketch of whose life is included in this work; Olaf Hagen is engaged in the restaurant business in Crookston, and Julius Hagen resides in Clearwater county, where he is a farmer.

August Hagan

August Hagan, a prominent farmer and influential citizen of Eden township, has been a resident of the county since 1886, when a lad of eleven years, he accompanied his father to the old homestead in Queen township. August Hagan was bom in Norway, July 28, 1875, the son of J. A. and Olava (Gunderson) Hagan, and came to the United States with the family in 1884. He grew to manhood on the Polk county farm, assisting in its management, and was associated with his father's successful farming operations until 1908, dividing his work and interests between the home place and his own farm, which he had bought in 1898. He paid $950 for this land, which was in Eden township, and had been the homestead claim of

Tilda Ostliug. No buildings had beeu erected on the tract and but thirty-five acres cleared, and -there were a number of acres of useless slough land. With an adequate drainage system he has converted this into fine meadow land. Mr. Hagan has devoted his entire attention to the operation of this farm since his removal here in 1908 and with creditable industry and ability has made rapid progress in developing its resources, having put some ninety-five acres under cultivation, and equipped it with modern buildings and impi'ovements. He engages in general farming pursuits and dairy farming. Aside from his private enterprises Mr. Hagan is prominently identified with the advancement and success of important business activities in the county. He was one of the promotors of the organization of the cooperative creamery at Olga and has capably directed its aiifairs as president and treasurer of the company since its incorporation in 1906 with sixty-two stockholders. This enterprise has met with steady and marked prosperity and during the nine years of its operations has distributed a quarter of a million of dollars among its one hundred and twenty patrons. Mr. Hagan is also a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company at Posston; also president of Cooperative Live Stock Shipping Association. He is a member of the Democratic party and is actively interested in all questions of public moment and is giving his efficient services in the ofiSce of township supervisor. One of the original members of the Salem Lutheran church at Olga, he has continued to give it his faithful and genei-ous support. Mr. Hagan was married, June 30, 1910, to Mabel Clara Martinson. She was born in Clay county, Minnesota, in 1888 and is the daughter of Carl Martinson, a farmer of Eden township.

Andrew M. Eaton

Andrew M. Eaton, a well known farmer of Brandsvold township and one of the first settlers in the Thirteen Towns, is a native of Switzerland, bom May 6, 1852. He was brought to this country when two years old by his parents, who made their first home in Chicago and later removed to Milwaukee and then to Iowa. In 1862, just before the Indian outbreak of that year, they settled on land in Stearns county, between St. Cloud and St. Joseph. When he was seventeen years of age Andrew Eaton left his father's farm and went to Ottertail county, where he took squatter's rights to a tract of land but did not file on it. Some years later he went to Becker county, and was living in Frazee in 1878 when he was visited by John A. Flesch and Herman Eikens, who were enroute from their home in Douglas county to a new location in the section known as the Thirteen Towns, which had just been opened for settlement. A month later Mr. Eaton joined them in their new home, taking a claim on section nineteen of what is now Rosebud township. Of the eight men who were the first settlers of this district, four still reside here, Herman Eikens, John Flesch, Andrew Eaton and George Herschberger. Edward Lebree removed to Canada, W. J. HiUegoss now lives in Tacoma, Washington, and Jerome Thayer and Matt Portz are dead. Several others who took claims about this time gave up their land when the region was withdrawn from the market by the government. During the first years these pioneers struggled with all the privations and hard labor of frontier life. For a time they lived in the open, using their wagons for shelter, and a clock belonging to Mr. Flesch and fastened to a balm of Gilead tree, marked the passing of the days. Mr. Eaton hired a few acres of prairie land broken for cultivation and in the spring of 1879 brought his family to the wilderness home. The first house was built of oak logs, with the floor of hewed poplar, and roofed with elm bark. In 1883 the land was reopened and rapidly settled and a church and school established. Before that time a small store, known as the Wild Rice trading post, was kept on the Flesch farm by a hall' breed, Mon-do-ba-shika. Trading posts were also operated by Mr. Ilillegoss and Mr. Lebree. The local tribes of Indians from AVhite Earth and Red Lake were frequent and friendly visitors of the settlers and never threatened their .safety. Their name for Mr. Eaton was Wiud-de-go, signifying in their vernacular that his strength demanded their respect. ]Mr. Flesch was known as Mo-ko-gee, because of his alert manner and the quickness of his movenieuls. In 1883 Lewis Foss started a store and the postoffice of Fosston on the Flesch homestead, on the present site of the home of John Newton, a sonin-law of John Flesch. The following year he removed to the present location of Fosston, and another store was built by Jacob Hansen and the postoffice of Hansville started. Supplies were hauled from Detroit City, and the nearest wheat markets were Beltrami and Detroit. During the first years Mr. Eaton cleared about fifteen acres of his land and raised some wheat, and meanwhile industriously employed every means of supporting his family that the frontier country afforded. For two years he returned to Becker countj' during the harvest season, and in the spring and fall he trapped for muskrat, mink and otter skins. He also dug snake root, finding a good market for it, either dried or green. He often walked to Bolieu with his produce and packed the provisions home on his back in primitive fashion, and did not buy his first yoke of oxen until 1883, when he mortgaged his land to make tlie purchase. His wheat crops were thrashed by flailing over poles, laid over a cleared space. With ]Mr. Flesch he once thrashed two hundred bushel by this laborious method. "When T. B. Walker opened his lumber operations on Clearwater river Mr. Eaton worked in his employ, driving the teams in the winter, and during one summer was carrier for the camps, carrying mail and calks for the lumbermen's shoos from Detroit. It took a week's time to make the route, traveling all day and camping at any place that darkness overtook him, but the friendliness of the natives never failed him, and, although a police patrol was not established until later, he was never molested. With steady determination and liard work Mr. Eaton developed his farm, putting some forty acres under cultivation and erecting a comfortable home. The able qualities which brought him success in private enterprises prompted his efticicnt service and influence in behalf of the public welfare, and as a worthy pioneer of Rosebud township he was identified w'ith every phase of the history of its founding and development. He was present at the first election in 1883, held in the old house on the Flesch farm, which also housed the first school in the town- .ship, taught by A. D. Wishard, who later became superintendent of the schools at Red Lake Falls. Mr. Eaton was a member of the school board for many years and served as clerk of tlie school district, and for eight years was road supervisor. In political matters he maintains independence in his views and is allied with no party organization. He is a member of the Catholic church and attended the first mass, which was held in the Flesch home by Father Lozier of White Earth. The church at Hansville was built about seventeen years ago, and previous to that time occasional services were held in the liomes. In 1897 Mr. Eaton removed from his homestead to his present home on section eleven of Brandsvold township, six miles north of Fosston. Here he again undertook the work of the farm-builder, much of the land being uncultivated and the only buildings a log shanty and barn. He has developed a fine farm, with a pleasant home and good buildings, and with the exception of pasture land has every acre under cultivation. A county ditch crosses the place and furnishes good drainage. He gives some attention to dairj' farming, keeping a herd of twelve cows. He was married in 1876 at St. Joseph, Becker county, to Mary Brench, w-ho was born at St. Joseph in 1858 and is of German parentage. They have seven children : Veronica Mary, who taught in the Polk county schools for several years and married C. S. Richardson of Roseau, Minnesota ; Albert Stephen, a farmer near Davidson, Minnesota ; Joseph Lewis, residing in Montana ; Gertrude Louisa, living with her brother, Albert Eaton ;

Andrew Matthias, who has taken a claim in Montana ; makes her home with her parents, and Christopher Ida Agues, a teacher in the schools at Ashley; D., who William, who is in charge of the home farm.

R. J. Melquist, a well known farmer of Brandsvoid township, is a native of Minnesota, born in Freeborn county, June 10, 1872, the son of John and Randa (Jacobson) Melquist. John Melquist was born in Sweden and was married to Randa Jacobson in Norway, her native land. They came to the United States about the time of the close of the Civil war and located in Minnesota, in Freeborn county. Here his death occurred and she was later married to Ole Runhoug and in 1883 the family removed to Norman countv and in 1888 came to Polk countv.

left in his charge. For two years he worked at the clearing of his land without the assistance of a team and then became the owner of a yoke of oxen which he later exchanged for horses. The timber which he cut from his land he sold in Fosston and Mcintosh as cord wood, receiving from one dollar and a quarter to three dollars a cord. He has now seventy acres under cultivation and engages in the raising of grain, wheat being his principal crop. His farm is pleasantly situated six miles northwest of Fosston and about the same distance from Mcintosh. During

They bought a claim of Ole Trunson, paying five the years of his residence in this county, Mr. Melhundred dollars. A log house had been built on the place and but three acres of land had been cleared. Soon after settling here, the departure of his stepfather loft the management and development of the homestead to Mr. Melquist, then a lad of seventeen years. He capably shouldered the responsibility and has continued to devote his efforts and interests to the farm which with careful management and hard work, lie lias built from the primitive timber land quist has ever taken a public spirited interest in the welfare of the community and has given able serAdce as a member of the local school board. He takes keen pleasure in hunting and en.joys frequent trips, in pursuit of his favorite sport, in the deer country. Mr. Melquist has never married and his mother made her home with him until her death, April 4, 1912, at the age of eighty-six. He is a member of the Synod Lutheran church at Fosston.

C. P. Hole

C. P. Hole, the editor of the Erskine Echo, has l)een successfully associated with newspaper interests of the county for some twenty-five years. He is a native of Norway, born October 2, 1876, the son of B. K. and Mathea Hole, and when five years of age accompanied his parents to the United States and to Fargo, North Dakota. B. K. Hole was a graduate of Lille Hammer, a famous educational institution of Norway, and had taught for a number of years in the parochial schools of that country. After locating in Fargo he became employed in carpenter work, but also taught for several months in a school in the vicinity. In 1883, at the opening of the land of the Thirteen Towns for settlement, he took a homestead in King township, a few miles south of Mcintosh, and brought his family to the new home in the following spring. His activities as a pioneer fanner were of short duration, his death, from typhoid fever, occurring in the autumn of the same year. He was survived by his wife and three small children : C. P. Hole, who was then eight years of age; P. B. Hole, who is now a resident of Mcintosh, at the age of six, and Marie, then in her infancy. The latter is the wife of C. II. Hendrickson of Moorhead. After two years spent on tlie homestead the mother married Charles Johnson, a settler of Knute township, whose farm was three miles east of the present site of Erskiiie. He liad also been previously married, his wife having died in their pioneer home. The Hole claim was sold and the family received a pleasant home with their step-father on his homestead. He has now retired from farming and with his wife makes his home in Melntosh. C. P. Hole was reared on the Knute township farm and when fourteen years of age apprenticed himself to the printer's trade, entering the office of the Mcintosh Tribune in 1890 and continued in the employment of the editor, P. P. Bodine, for a time, Icannng the rudiments of his trade and then advanced to typesetting for Mr. McKenzie of the Crookston Times. After completing his apprenticeship he became the foreman of the Mcintosh Times under C. T. Lanman, who was the editor at that time. In 1903 he made his first independent venture in the publishing business and established the Mentor Herald, the first and ouly newspaper ever published in that village. This venture became a successful and prosperous enterpiise and Mr. Hole continued the sheet for several months after becoming the editor of the Ei-skine Echo and then consolidated the two papers and covers the combined circulation with the Echo. His plant is fully equipped with a power press and type setting machine and is one of the competent and popular country printing offices of the county. Mr. Hole has devoted every interest of his career to his paper and with intelligent appreciation of the responsibilities of his profession and the power of the press in public welfare is ably advancing the best interests of the county. He is also identified with public activities in an official capacity as recorder of the village, a member of the school board and the chief of the fire department. His marriage to Edna Wadekamper, of Mentor, occurred May 4, 1905. She is a native of Ottertail county and is of German and Norwegian parentage. Five children have been born to this union, Earl, Ethel, Loren, Ray and Kenneth.

Av. D. Hamilton

\V. D. Hamilton, a successful merchant of Fisher and a member of the firm of Hamilton Brothers, is one of three brothers who have been prominently associated with the commercial activities of the county. They were born at Hibbard, Ontario, and the first removal to Polk county was made by Frank Hamilton in 1878. In 1880 he was joined by the father, Francis Hamilton, who resided at Fisher for two years and then removed to Grand Forks county, North Dakota. Frank Hamilton engaged in carpenter and contracting work for several years, and in 1886 opened a furniture store at Fisher, in which prosperous enterprise his brothers, W. D. Hamilton and Donald Hamilton, later became associated with him. W. D. Hamilton first became connected w-ith the business in 1896 as clerk and continued in that position for two years and then became a partner, and in 1890 Donald Hamilton entered the firm. The latter retired from his mercantile relations in 1905 and has since engaged in farming near Fisher. The business met with marked success and a rapidly growing trade that early warranted the addition of a hardware stock and agricultural implements which have been further supplemented in late years with the harness trade. Frank Hamilton remained at the head of the firm and active manager of the store until 1898. when he withdrew from active cooperation in the business to devote his attention to the undertaking profession, locating at Grand Forks, North Dakota. After a year there and in Fargo, in 1900 he removed to Seattle, and haa since engaged in the undertaking biisiness at that place, retaining his interest in the store at Fisher, where he was succeeded as manager bj- W. D. Hamilton. The present store building was erected by Frank Hamilton in 1895 and is still his property. The commercial reputation of the firm has been capably upheld by "W. D. Hamilton, and under his direction its interests have steadilj^ prospered. From the original iuvestment of $2,000 the capital has increased to $20,000, with the annual sales amounting to some $30,000. Aside from his business activities Mr. Hamilton is interested in fann lauds, both in Polk county and in Dakota, one farm of one hundred aud sixty acres being near Fisher. The Hamilton brothers are all members of the Republican party and are well known in lodge cii'cles, where W. D. Hamilton is allied with the Elks, being a member of the chapter at Crookston, Frank Hamilton with the Masonic order and Donald Hamilton with the Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. W. D. Hamilton was ' married at Fisher to Mary Quigley, the daughter of Patrick Quigley, a pioneer farmer of Fisher township, who stiU resides on his old homestead near the town. Mr. Quigley located there in 1871 and recounts many interesting experiences of that time, recalling eventful trips for provisions to the trading station kept by Bob Ray, at Frog Point across Red river, when the skiff used as a ferry ofttimes proved a perilous and disastrous conveyance for their goods. Mr. Hamilton and his wife have three children, Helen, Douglas and Catherine.

Matt Rose

Matt Rose, a prosperous farmer of Brandsvold township, was born in Norway, January 30, 1859, the son of Peter and Olena Rose. His parents came to the United States when he was ten years old and settled in Freeborn county, Minnesota, where they bought forty acres of land. In 1875 Peter Rose removed with his family to Iowa, buying scliool land in Winnebago county and engaged in farming there for six years, during which time his crops were destroyed by the devastating chinch bug and his misfortunes culminated in the loss of all his property with the exception of his stock. He then returned to Minnesota, living in Faribault county for several years. In 1884 the family came to Polk county and Matt Rose and his brother, John Rose, bought the claim rights for the southeast quarter of section eight of Brandsvold township from a homesteader, for one hundred and fifty dollars. The parents made their home here until their deaths. The mother's death occurred in 1888 and the father survived her until his eighty-ninth year. The homestead land was undeveloped and a small log house with a sod roof had been erected on it. The brothers shared in the arduous labor of clearing the land and after proving up on the claim, divided the tract. They had put over one hundred acres under cultivation when the death of the older brother, John, occurred and since that time the farm has been under the management of Matt Rose, he having acquired the title to his brother's share after the latter 's death. On coming to Polk county, he owned a team of horses and was able to stock his farm with several head of cattle and during the first seasons before the land could be broken, he worked at farm labor in the neighborhood. He endured his share of the misfortunes and adversities which visit the pioneer farmer and with unfailing industry has won his way to his present prosperous position, building up one of the fine farm properties of the county. He has erected good buildings and in 1910 built the pleasant country home which occupies a well chosen and sightly location. The place is conveniently situated five miles north of Fosston and the same distance east of Mcintosh. Several small ponds have been drained with ditches and all the land has been made productive, with one hundred and forty acres under cultivation and the balance used for pasturing purposes. Mr. Rose has installed a fine water system, using a well fifty-eight feet deep, equipped with an engine which supplies the large water tanks. He is successfully engaged in stock raising, breeding high grade stock, and keeps a herd of dairy cattle, selling cream to the creamery at Fosston. As a citizen, Mr. Rose has given able and effective service in the office of township supervisor for seven j-ears. He is a member of tlie United Lutheran ehureh at Fosston, Jlr. Rose was married in Fariliault county, in 1888, to Gertie Giste, who was born in Norway in 1862, and seven children have been born to this union, Olena, Peter, Minnie, Hilda, Thorwald, Annie and Gina. The sous, Peter Rose and Thorwald Rose are now in charge of the Rose farm.

Palt, J. Hushagen

Paul J. Hushagen, a well known farmer and early settler of Eden township, was born in Norway, August 19, 1864. His mother died in his early childhood and his father, J. P. Hushagen contracted a second marriage and in 1876 brought his family to the United States, settling in Ottertail county, Minnesota, where he took a claim of one hundred and twenty acres and has since devoted his interests to this farm which is operated by his son, John J. Hushagen, the father being now in his eightieth year. Paul J. Hushagen was reared on the Ottertail homestead, attending the country schools during the few months that could be spared from the many duties and hard labor on the frontier farm. He continued to make his home there, assisting his father until he was twenty-four years of age and then embarked upon an independent career as a farmer. He came to Polk county in 1887 and located on land in Eden township, filing his claim in June of the following year when the region was opened for settlement. The first house was built of logs cut from the land with a sod roof but a good wood floor and he entered upon the responsibilities of a newl_y established home and the laborious task of developing a farm, with a capital of three dollars in cash, a yoke of oxen and wagon and a meager household equipment. From this start, with ambitious and able efforts and hard work, he has gained success and Imilt up a fine property with one hundred acres under cultivation. During the first summer on his claim, he worked in the harvest fields in Red river valley and was not able to give much time to the clearing of his own tract Init industry and thrifty management soon put his operations on a profitable basis. He has engaged in general farming activities, making wheat his principal crop and is interested in dairy farming and the raising of thoroughbred stock, having started a herd of thoroughbred Guernsey cattle. As a stock farmer, he also keeps sheep. The present home was erected in 1902 and the place is well equipped with good buildings, the large barn having been built in 1914. Mr. Hushagen has ever taken a public spirited interest in matters of public moment and has been actively identified with the affairs of the community, capably discharging the duties of citizenship in the elections of the township and in official capacity, having given service as poor master and in charge of road construction. He is associated with local business interests as a stockholder in the cooperative creamery at Olga, the Farmers Elevator and Store companies at Fosston and the Farmers Elevator company at Trail, on tlie Soo railroad. He is prominent in church circles as an active supporter of the Zion United Lutheran church, in which he has given faithful service as an officer for many years and it was largely through his influence that the initial etforts were made to effect its organization. ^Ir. Hushagen was married in May, 1888 during the first year of his residence in Eden township to Anne Anderson of Ottertail county. She is a native of Norway and was brought to Minnesota by her parents in her fourth year. A family of four sons and two daughters have been born to them, Jorgen ; Joseph ; Anton and August, who now live in Alberta, Canada, where they have land in Peace river valley; and Inga and Clara, who reside with their parents. Jorgen Hushagen was married to Petra Flathang, of Hill River townsliip and was a student in the agricultural college at Crookston for two years. He is now the proprietor of a flour and feed store at Trail. Joseph Hushagen is associated with his fathex' iu his farming interests and is the farm is located on section eighteen of Eden township, manager of the home farm. He was married to Caro- twelve miles north of Fosston and four miles from line Swenson, of Pelican Rapids. The Hushagen Trail.

Hans C. Sorby

Hans C. Sorby, for many years a prominent citizen of Hill River township, was one of four brothers who were associated in their farming operations in that township. He was born in Skane, Norway, May 11, 1852, and was reared in his native land. With his brother, Lewis, he went to sea, as a sailor on merchant ships, and it was on one of their voyages that Lewis Sorby received an injury, while in the port of Quebec, which disabled him for active duty for the time and he decided to visit a sister, who was then living in Stevens county, Minnesota. In 1881, he located in Minnesota and in the following year M^as joined by his brothers, Andrew and Christ Sorby. Hans Sorby came to Polk county in 1883 with his parents and three sistera, Margarita, Sophia and Jacobine, Margarita being now the only one living. She married Christ Olson, a fanner of Eden township. Sophia Sorby was married to B. A. Engebretson, a sketch of whose life is found in this work and died at her home in Eden township in 1911 and Jacobine Sorby became the wife of Lars Rasmusson of Stevens county, where her death occurred in 1915. The father erected the house which is the present farm residence and was associated with his sons in the management of the place until his death in 1888. His wife sui-vived him a number of years and died in 1903. The Sorby brothers continued to be associ- !ated in the management of the homestead, which is situated eleven miles north of Fosston, and in all their business interests, their joint enterprises meeting with unvaried success and prosperity. They made many profitable land investments, adding to the original tract and have displayed keen business ability in all their operations. Their agricultural interests have been devoted to general farming and they have engaged to some extent in dairy farming and are shareholders in the cooperative creamery. Hans C. Sorby was ever prominently identified with public interests of the county and gave almost continual sei'vice in official capacity from the time of the first election held in the township when he was made supervisor. He was later elected treasurer of the township and then returned to the office of township supervisor. His able services and unselfish response to other demands than those of private interests, together with his native geniality won him many warm friends throughout the county. He was one of the substantial and progressive citizens whose loss is deeply regretted by the community in which he lived. He died, July 25, 1915, in his sixty-third year, and is survived by his wife, Moneta (Paulson) Sorby and their five children, Melvin, Christopher, Selmer, Ilelga and Alvina. Hans C. Sorby was the only one of the brothers who married. In 1914, Andrew Sorby and Christ Sorby visited their native land and returned to Minnesota well pleased with the farm home which they have made for themselres in their adopted country.

With a longer record of continuous service in newspaper work and a more varied and spectacular experience in it than almost any other man now in the

Northwest, William E. McKenzie, founder and editor of the Crookston Daily Times, has had excellent preparation for the work in which he is so successfully engaged, and his career in it shows that he had

Mr. MeKenzie was born in Dunkirk, New York, in 1863, the son of James and Margaret (Laughlin) McKenzie, the former born in Glasgow, Scotland, aud the latter a native of Ireland. They were married iu this countiy, however, in the state of New York, and became the parents of two sons and five daughters, but William E. is the only member of the family now living in Minnesota. The parents died in Crookston, where they located in 1883. The father learned his trade as a machinist in his native city and was employed on boat construction there and on the Clyde until about 1845, when he came to the United States and obtained a position as assistant superintendent in the Brooks Locomotive Works at Dunkirk, New York, where he was employed for over a quarter of a century.

William E. McKenzie obtained his education in academic lines in schools in Ontario, where the family lived about four years; and iu Buffalo, New York, where he was graduated from the high school. He then pursued a course of special training at Bryant & Stratton's College in that city. He began liis newspaper career with Norman E. Mack, whom he helped to start the ^Morning Times of Buffalo, with which he was connected for a few mouths as reporter and part owner. When the Morning Times was discontinued and before the Evening Times, which is still in existence, was started, Mr. McKenzie came to Crookston. This was in the ^\anter of 1881, and after a stay of a week or two went to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he finished the winter, returning to Crookston in March, 1882. He was at once engaged as foreman on the Weekly Chronicle, which position he filled until the fall of that year. Then, in company with W. R. Dunn, he founded the St. Hilaire Spectator. The railroad had not yet reached St. Hilaire and the presses and other equipment for the Spectator had to be taken to that city from Crookston by ox teams. One year later Mr. ]\IcKenzie sold his interest in the Spectator to Harry Ives, who until four years ago owned and conducted the paper.

When he left St. Hilaire Mr. JIcKenzie again took charge of the Crookston Chronicle, which he published for J. G. McGrew until 1885. But in that year he joined hands with F. J. Rothpletz iu founding the Crookston Weekly Times. Mr. Rolhpletz soon parted with his interest in this paper and Mr. McKenzie continued to publish it only as a weekly until 1891, when the daily edition was started, and this is still in active aud increasing circulation. In 1905 a stock company was formed to take charge of the two papers, and on January 1, 1906, Mr. McKenzie retired from the active management of the publications, but retained a one-half interest in the business, which he held iu that way until the company was reorganized in its present form in 1912. When the stock company was organized Mr. McKenzie had retained as his own the job and book department of the Crookston Times, and had carried it on in partnership with E. W. Robbius under the name of the McKenzie-Robbins Printing company. Mr. Robbins had charge of the business while Mr. McKenzie went to Seattle, Wash., and founded a wholesale business under the name of the McKenzie-Hunt Paper company, and he continued to carry on that enterprise until June, 1911, when he sold out and after settling up his business affairs again returned to Crookston in 1912 and bought the interests of Mr. Dotson and others in the Daily Times company and consolidated it with the McKenzie-Robbins Printing company, and since then the two industries have been combined under the management of a stock company of which Mr. McKenzie is president and treasurer and Mr. Robbins is secretary. The Daily Times supports the Republican party in its political policy. It has a circulation of about 8,000, independent of the weekly edition, and is prosperous, wielding a strong influence throughout a considerable scope of country and standing well in newspaper circles in all parts of the Northwest.

Mr. McKenzie, in addition to his other work in the newspaper field, founded the Mcintosh Times at the town of Mcintosh, in this county, and the Michigan City Times, at Michigan City, North Dakota. In 1893 Mr. McKenzie bought the Grand Forks Plain Dealer, which was conducted for many years by W. J. ilurphy, now of the Minneapolis Tribune. In conducting the Plain Dealer Mr. McKenzie was associated with E. C. Carruth, and they were in charge of it until 1910, when they sold it. He is at present vice president of the Merchants National Bank of Crookston and a director of the Crookston Milling company, the Crookston Cordage company, and the Northern Townsite company, which founded the towns of Strathcoua, Middle River and Greenbush in this state. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order, the Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. In Freemasonry he is a Knight Templar and a Noble of the Mystic

Shrine. While firm in his loyalty to his political party he has never sought any of its honors or emoluments for himself. In 1883 he was united in marriage with Miss Emma Mason, a native of Wisconsin. They have three sons, Norman W., Glenn E. and Donald A., all of whom are associated with their father in conducting his business. He has won high and widespread regard for the success with which he has managed his business affairs but his chief title to public esteem, aside from his excellence as a citizen, is his conspicuous ability as an editorial writer, which has fixed his fame at a high mark throughout the Northwest.

Evan A. Engebretson

Evan A. Engebretson, a well known farmer of the county and one of the first settlers of Eden township, was born in Norway, November 26, 1868, the son of Andrew and Anna Engebretson. He was brought to this country by his parents in his early infancy. In 1869, they came to Goodhue county, Minnesota, later removing to Faribault, ^Minnesota, where they lived for eight years. In 1878 Andrew Engebretson located on frontier land in Ottertail county and the family made their home on that fann until 1886. In that year they came to Polk county, taking claims in the old Indian reservation land which had been opened for settlement. They located on land in what is now Eden township, this was before a survey of the land had been made and Peter Dunrud, Ole Edevold and John Erickson were the only other settlers in the township. Andrew Engebretson continued to make his home on his homestead in section thirty until his death in 1897, the farm having since been sold. His wife survives him and has lived at Clearbrook, in Clearwater county, ]\Iinnesota, during the past ten years. E. A. Engebretson and his sister Anna, who was married to Peter Dunrud, are the only members of the family now residing in the county. The maternal grandmother had accompanied them to the new home in Eden township and also took a homestead claim in section nineteen and adjoining that of her son-in-law. Evan Engebretson made his home with her in the little log cabin which she had built on the tract and which has long since disappeared. On his coming of age, she gave him the land, which with able effort and industry he has developed into his present valuable farm property. Mr. Engebretson has given his attention to general farming and keeps a herd of dairy cows, selling his dairy produce to the cooperative creamei-y at Olga, in which he is interested as a shareholder. He has met with success in all his activities and conducts his agricultural enterprises with the most modern and efficient methods. He has converted several acres of marsh into valuable fields by building ditches to which a county ditch gives outlet. His first home was a log house, in which he lived for eighteen years and which still stands on the place. He erected the present comfortable country home in 1906. Aside from the management of his private interests, he has aided in the promotion of important business activities and is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator and Cooperative store companies at Fosston and in the elevator company at Trail, located on the Soo railroad and about five miles north of his farm which is situated ten and a half miles northeast of Fosston. Mr. Engebretson has also given able service in public ofifice and has been a member of the township board for many years and for twelve years was chairman of the board. He is a member of the United Lutheran church. He was married to Sophia Sorby, the daughter of a promi. nent pioneer familj- of Hill River township and her death occurred February 14, 1911. A family of nine children was bom to this union, Alma, Laura, Clara, who is a student in tlie high school at Fosston, Amanda, Dagana, Carl, Ena. Esther and Lloyd. On January 10, 1912, Mr. Engebretson was married to Otilda Roas of Fargo, North Dakota, who had been a life long friend of the mother of his children and who has given them loving care.

Hans L. Hanson

Hans L. Hanson, a prominent citizen of Hill River township, was born in Mitchell county, Iowa, June 20, 1862. His parents were natives of Norway and were among the first of their countrymen to emigrate to the United States. The father located in Wisconsin in 1848 and a little later bought government land in Mitchell, Iowa, and was prominently identified with the early history of that section. The father devoted his life to his farming interests and was also one of the promoters of the organization and platting of the to\ni of St. Ansgar. Hans L. Hanson was reared in his native county and made his home there until 1884 when he came to Polk county and took a homestead claim on the southwest quarter of section twenty-nine of Hill River township. His first home was a log shanty in the woods which he later replaced with a more comfortable log house. The clearing of the land progressed slowly, as he owned no team and he had no crop during the first year. For several seasons, he worked in the Dakota hai*\'est fields and after a few years was able to purchase a team and to devote his attention to the development of his farm and has put the greater part of the place under cultivation, reclaiming some of the low land with ditches. He has also invested in land in Dakota and spent one year on that farm but with this exception has been a continuous resident of the county since 1884. He has engaged in diversified farming, raising grain and is particularly interested in clover culture, for which his land has proven peculiarly adapted, although, as is genprallj- the case in this section, his experiments with alfalfa have not been profitable. He keeps a large herd of dairy cows, sending the cream to the cooperative creamery at Mcintosh, about seven miles from his place. The fann is equipped Avith good buildings, tlie large barn having' been erected in 1895, and in 1902 lie built the pleasant farm home which is delightfully situated on the banks of a small lake. The Amundson homestead which adjoins his land is now part of his property, this having been taken as a preemption claim by his wife, Anna (Amundson) Hanson, to whom he was married May 10, 1889. She was bom in Dane county, Wisconsin, November 15, 1863, the daughter of Lewis and Ann Amundson, who had come to the United States in 1860. They removed to Minnesota, settling in Hill River township. The death of Lewis Aniundson occurred three years later and his daughter Anna filed on a claim and proved up on it. She is now the only surviving member of the family of Lewis and Ann Amundson, all of whom made their homes in this county. The eldest son, Lewis, died in October, 1912, in his fifty-sixth year and is survived by his wife wlio lives on their homestead in section nineteen of Hill River township. Ole Amundson also was a farmer in this vicinity until his death. Betsj- Amundson became the wife of Ole Thompson and lived during their lifetime on the farm now owned by their son, Oscar Thompson. The other daughter, Delia Amundson, was married to John D. Kuntson of King township, who survives her. Mr. Hanson is a member of the Democratic party and has been prominently identified with public affairs throughout the years of his residence in the county. He has generously recognized the responsibilities of efScient citizenship, having given able service in the various offices of the township ; as a member and chairman of the township board ; as clerk and as a member of the school board. He was one of the promoters and organizers of the cooperative creamery at Mcintosh with which he continues to be identified as a stockholder. He was active in the organization of the Vernes United Lutheran church in Hill River and has given further service to its interests as secretary of the church. Five children are now living of the family born to Mr. Hanson and his wife, Clarence, who is a farmer in Canada ; George, Edward and Mabel, students in the high school at Mcintosh ; and Edith, who remains at home ; Edward, has taken a course of study at Pargo, North Dakota. George Hanson graduated from the Mcintosh high school in 191i and subsequently attended the business college in Pargo. He is now employed in a real estate office in North Dakota.

Ole E. Sonstelie

Ole B. Sonstelie, a pioneer farmer and prominent citizen of Sletten township, was born in Valders, Norway, December 27, 1845, the eldest of the eight children born to Elling and Maret (Higden) Sonstelie. The Sonstelie family came to the United States in 1865 and located in Vernon county, Wisconsin, where they remained for about four years. They then removed to Chippewa county, Minnesota, and later to Dakota where the parents died at an advanced age, she in her eighty-fifth year and he living to the age of eighty. Ole Sonstelie went to Dakota in 1882 but only remained a year, being dissatisfied with conditions there. On hearing of the springs of "13 Towns" he came to Sletten township and although the land was not yet open for settlement, he located on the creek bottom meadows, making a squatters claim to the land. About a month later, July 13, 1883, this district was declared open to settlers and on August 8, he filed on his claim. His start in his farming enterprise was with thirteen head of stock and his first house was a sod-roofed dug out. He has interested himself particularly in stock farming, his first ventures being with sheep but he novi' confines his attention to the raising of blooded short horn cattle. He has been eminently successful in the stock business, the rich meadows which were his choice as a homestead, providing excellent grazing land. He now owns three hundred and sixty acres of land in Sletten township, all of which he has made productive. He has ei-eeted good farm buildings and his comfortable home commands a delightful view of the valley of Sand Hill river. He also engages in the dairy business and was one of the original shareholders in the Sletten cooperative creamery company. As president of this corporation, his capable services have done much to promote its rapid growth and success. The company was organized in 1902 with thirty-two stockholders. It now cares for the dairy produce of forty-five farmers and in the months of June and July, 1915, distributed over thirty-eight hundred dollars among its patrons. As an early settler of this region Mr. Sonstelie has been identified with every effort to further its welfare and prosperity, giving his services and support freely to every worthy cause and has earned the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens, who have invested him with various offices of authority in the local government. He was present at the meeting of October 10, 1883, at the home of Lars Saue, when the township was organized and was named Sletten in complimentary respect for Paul Sletten, at that time the incumbent of the land office at Crookston. He was elected chairman of the first township board, the other members being Lars Saue and James Vanvert. Aside from his private and public interests, Mr. Sonstelie has had charge of several estates to which he has been appointed administrator or guardian. Wlien the Sletten postoffice was established, he received the appointment of postmaster and served in this capacity until the innovation of the rural delivery which took away from Sletten township its only postoffice. Mr. Sonstelie pledges his allegiance to no political organization and maintains the independence of political opinion. He was married June 28, 1885, to Miss Gertrude Sorlien, wlioni he had met in Dakota. She, like her husband, is a native of Norway. Her parents, J. P. Sorlien and his wife are now living in

Sletten towTiship. Seven children were born to Mr. Sonstelie and his wife, three of whom died. The oldest daughter, Ragua, died in her twenty-second year and the four surviving children are at home, Emil, who was a graduate of Mcintosh high school in 1912, Maria, Julia and Gerhard. Mr. Sonstelie was one of the organizers of the Sand Hill Lutheran church and continues in active membership.

Tallef B. Laxdesverk

Tallef B. Landesverk, well known farmer and influential citizen of Sletten township, was born in Norway. IMay 12, 1864. In 1882, Mhen eighteen years of age. he came to this country and to Polk county in company with his brother, George Landesverk. These brothers were among the early settlers of Sletten township, who through years of hard labor and determined effort laid the foundation for present prosperity. Tallef Landesverk and George Landesverk, with Edwin McManus, ai-e the only pioneers in tliis region who still reside here. George Landesverk, after eleven .years on his Polk county homestead, died in 1894. His wife and three children, who survive him, are now living in Canada. On coming to Polk county the two brothers worked at farm labor and in 1883 filed on homesteads on the second spring at the "13 Towns," and Ole Landesverk secured another tract of land through the purchase of a relinquishment. Tallef B. Landesverk has endured all the hardships and trials which beset the settler of an undeveloped country and has steadily won his Avay to success and prosperity. For seven years he was compelled to fight in the courts for the title to his claim; during this time decisions were made and reversed and possession of the land shifted from one contestant to the other. ^Meanwhile all that he earned at farm work was required to meet the expenses of the law suit. After he succeeded in establishing the legality of his title he sold the laud and took another claim of timber land in Beltrami countv. In 1803 he bought the farm in section three of Sletten township, which is his present home. This farm comprises five hundred acres and is well equipped with good barns and a pleasant country home. He has paid as high as twenty-five dollars an acre for undeveloped land and floating bog which he has cleared and drained, developing valuable farming property. He installed a drainage system in one marsh tract of sixty acres, the reclamation of which for fine meadow land was completed by a county ditch. Mr. Landesverk himself took the contract for the con.struction of this ditch, which included the straightening of the course of Sand Hill river into which it empties. He did this work without the assistance of mechanical equipment, with hand labor and a scraper operated by a team. He engages in the raising of grain and stock and is a Iireeder of full blooded cattle. He is interested to some extent in the dairy business and is a stockholder in Sletten Cooperative Creamerj' company. Starting, a lad of eighteen, with no capital but the sturdy (|ualities wliich make success, he has progi'essed to the possession of large land interests, owning nearly one thousand acres, six lumdred and ton of which are in Polk county, his propertj- outside of Sletten township being near Erskine. The other tracts arc in North Dakota and Canada, where he and his neighlior, Edward McManus, are the owners of a section of JIanitoba land, located near Dominion City. Mr. Landesverk is a shareholder in the Farmers Elevator Company and store company and is on the lioard of directors of the latter enterprise. His political afBliations are with the Republican party and he has served on the township board and school board for a number of years. His marriage to Anna Dalle, who is a native

Edwin McManus, well known grain dealer and the superintendent of the elevators of the Superior Terminal Elevator Company, was born in Canada, Montcalm coimty, Quebec, November 23, 1859. His parents, Francis and Jane Louisa (Lindsay) McManus, were natives of Canada, he of Irish and English descent and she of Scotch parentage. His father was possessed of considerable inventive genius but died in his thirty-ninth year. As a lad Edwin McManus apprenticed himself to the carpenter trade in Montreal. In 1877, at the age of seventeen, he came to Fillmore county, Minnesota, and in Spring Valley began his association Avith the grain trade, a business to which he has devoted the greater part of his life with noteworthy success and achievement. In 1882 he was employed in bridge construction work for the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroad. The following summei-, accompanied by II. S. Leech, he spent six weeks in the vicinity of the "13 Towns," which was about to be opened for settlement, and later filed a preemption claim on the southwest quarter of section fifteen of Hill River township. His mother, who had joined him in Spring Valley in 1878, now took up the homestead in Sletten township which is his present home. In the spring of 1884 he erected a house for his mother on her claim, hauling the lumber from Wild Rice river, where a government sawmill liad been installed for the Indians. This first home is included in the present fann house. His mother lived here for several years and afterwards made her home with her son, Edwin, until her last illness, when she was removed to the hospital at Superior, Wisconsin, where she died May 19, 1913, at the age of seventynine years. After a year of possession he disposed of his claim and in the fall of 1881 again entered the grain business as assistant manager of an elevator at Nitche, North Dakota, and later was put in charge of an elevator at Devils Lake, North Dakota. He was also interested in a wood yard at Crookston, where a brother, George J. McManus, engaged in the real estate and insurance business. In 1888 Edwin McManus returned to Polk county as manager for the Red River Valley company of their elevator at Mcintosh, which was the first to be operated there. A year later his efficiency in his chosen field of work was recognized by his appointment to the office of state weighmaster by Governor Merriman. He served in this office for four j'cars, ably discharging his duties, which included the management of the weighing departments at Duluth and Superior and the direction of twenty-five deputies and some thirty employees. During this time the department handled three hundred million bushels of grain and installed numerous weighing equipments in new mills. He resigned from this office to accept his present position as superintendent of the elevators of the Superior Terminal company, grain receivers, storers and shippers. As superintendent he has entire management of the elevators which have a capacity of about five million bushels, and of the forty to one hundred men employed. Thorough application and steady industry as well as native ability have had their share in this successful career. Mr. McManus understands eveiy phase of the grain business and has superintended the construction of two large elevators. His main office is at Superior but for the last four years he has made his home in Sletten township on his mother's homestead. For many years he had assumed the management of this place and after the death of his mother he became its owner, purchasing the shares belonging to other heirs. This farm is conveniently located four miles west of Fosston and five miles and a half south of Mcintosh, on the northeast quarter of section ten, and is one of the attractive properties in this region. Sand Hill river crosses tlie land aixl affords natural drainage, and in 1913 Mr. McManus completed a flowing well, the first to be utilized in "13 Towns;'" this well is one hundred and seventy-si.x feet deep with force enough to carry it to all the farm buildings. He engages in general farming, raising grain and stock and keeping dairy cows. IMr. McManus recognizes readily the duties of citizenship and takes an active interest in public welfare and progress, giving every effort to promote the prosperity of the agricultural interests of Polk county. He is identified with township affairs and has served as township assessor.

He was married February 3, 1892, to Mary A. Hanson of Fillmore county, Minnesota. She is the daughter of Charles Hanson, a prominent citizen of that place, who was a member of the first constitutional convenliou of the state of Minnesota. He died in Duluth. .Mr. McManus has one son, Charles Bernard, who was l)orn in Superior. May 26, 1894. He was a student in the agricultural school at Crookston and is in charge of his father's farm. Mr. McManus is a member of the Crofton lodge of the I. O. 0. F. at Devils Lake, North Dakota, and is a past noble grand of that order. lie is a member of the Commercial club of Superior and the Pure Seed club at Crookston. ^Ir. McManus and his family are members of the Episcopal church of the Redeemer at Superior, Wi.seonsin.