Stearns County, Minnesota - Biographical sketches, 1915 (part 9 of 12)

Frank H. Boobar was born in Sauk Valley, Sauk Centre township, July 1, 1862, son of Calvin J. and Eliza H. (Merrill) Boobar. Soon after his birth he was taken to the old stockade in Maine Prairie, and shortly afterward to Minneapolis. While still less than two years of age, he was brought to Fair Haven. He attended the public schools, was raised to farm pursuits, and at the age of fourteen started farming with his brothers, George R. (better known as Ross), and Elmer. They purchased 160 acres in section 34, broke the land, erected the buildings, added forty acres, and farmed for about ten years. Then Frank H. sold out and engaged in the meat business in Fair Haven, at the same time buying young cattle for the Montana ranges. At the expiration of four years he engaged in general farming. In 1895 he erected a blacksmith shop and became the village blacksmith, which occupation he successfully followed until 1909 : In the meantime from 1903 to 1905 he had purchased the old store building and engaged in general merchandising, but in the latter year he disposed of this business. In 1909 his blacksmith business reached such proportions that he erected a large shop at South Haven, equipped with two fires and all the latest improved machinery. There he carried on general blacksmithing and practical horseshoeing, and had one of the finest shops on the ''Soo" line. December 14, 1913, he sold out, and in 1914 erected a new shop in Fair Haven. He has maintained his home in Fair Haven, going back and forth to his work at South Haven, missing in all that time but four days. He has served as supervisor of Fair Haven, has been town clerk for four years, has ibeen justice of the peace since 1902, and has been both director and clerk of the school district.

Mr. Boobar was married January 15, 1885, to Jennie Stevens, and they have had three children. Ivy, born November 27, 1885, was married June 29, 1909, to Jasper Gray, and they have two children, Alice and Marian. They live on a homestead at Scranton, North Dakota. Edith May was born February 14, 1893, and is an educator by profession. Amy Elizabeth was born January 4, 1895.

Benjamin Grinds, one of the best known men in the county, was born in West Otto, Cattaraugus county. New York, November 3, 1833, son of Daniel and Elsie (Tripp) Grinols. Daniel was born in Scotland, came to America, and for many years farmed in Cattaraugus county. New York. He was an old fashioned Whig in politics, and took an active part in the "upstate" New York movements of that party. Daniel Grinols died at the age of sixty-six, his wife at the age of eighty-three. In the family there were eight children : Amos, Phoebe, Desire, Benjamin, Ruth, Harvey, David and Esther. Benjamin Grinols came to Minnesota in 1856, landing in St, Paul, April 19. He took a claim in Oak Grove, Anoka county, and for a time before his marriage lived alone. In 1858 he was married, and the young people started life in what was practically the wilderness. They had many interesting experiences. In the family the story is still told of one exciting day when the babies, Clinton D. and Ernest, were left in the yard while the mother milked the cow. A flock of sand cranes alighted around the babies, and it was with some difficulty that the birds were frightened away and the boys saved. In 1865 the family located in Fair Haven. Here Benjamin Grinols erected a store in partnership with his brother-in-law, William Cooper. Mr. Grinols and Mr. Cooper secured a stock of general merchandise and started business together. Goods had to be brought in from Anoka by team. In 1878, Mr. Cooper died. Later Clinton D. and Ernest Grinols were taken into the store as partners, and the firm name became B. Grinols & Sons. The place was sold out in the spring of 1893. In addition to conducting this store Mr. Grinols was also a farmer. He operated the farm of 160 acres where his son, Ernest, now lives, erected a splendid house, and good barn, and outbuildings, and made the place one of the model farms of the neighborhood. He has held many township offices, and has been an important factor in shaping the thought of the community. He has contributed liberally of his time, means and property toward the upbuilding of the county. The site of the Star Hotel, conducted by C. R. Thorn, is his gift. He has also been open handed in regard to church matters. His own finances have suffered through his lenient and kindly nature, and throughout the many years when he was in business he gave credit extensively when there was no possibility of the payment of the obligations. Throughout the county he is lovingly known as "Uncle Ben," and few people are held in higher esteem. He is a useful citizen and is one of those men of whom it may truly be said that the world is the happier for his being in it. Mr. Grinols was married in 1858 to Isabella Cooper, daughter of James Cooper, who came to this country from Pennsylvania in 1857. She died in Fair Haven, in 1899, at the age of sixty-nine. There were three children in the family : Clinton D., Ernest and Elsie (deceased). Mr. Grinols was again married, December 24, 1912, to Sarah Jane Norton, born in New York, the daughter of Reuben and Anna (Ladd) Norton, the former being a native of Connecticut and the latter of New York. Sarah Jane Norton married for her first husband, John G. Tyler, a carpenter, of Grant county. Wis., who died after one month's service in Company C, Twentieth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, leaving one son, John Franklin Tyler, now of Minneapolis. For second husband she married Enoch Y. Ousley, a veteran of the Civil War, and a farmer of Grant county, Wisconsin. He died in August, 1910, at the age of eighty years, leaving five children, William Eugene, Marrietta, Sherman T., Hannah Adelia and Minnie.

Ernest E. Grinols was born in Oak Grove, Minn., November 15, 1861, son of Benjamin Grinols, who brought him to Fair Haven township, this county, in 1865. He attended the public schools of his neighborhood and had the ad- vantages of one year's training in the St. Cloud State Normal School. For a time he and his brother, Clinton D., and their father, Benjamin, were in partnership, the father and brother operating a store in Fair Haven village, while he conducted the farm. In 1899 he bought the home place, and on this he now successfully conducts general farming and stock raising. He has a place of 130 acres, well cultivated and well improved, and has become one of the substantial men of the community.

Mr. Grinols was married July 18, 1884, to Etta Gould, and they have three children: Earl L., Mildred lola, and Elsie Jessamine. Earl L. lives at Bemidji, and is general manager of the Great Northern Timber Co. He married Julie Hillie, of Fergus Falls. Mildred lola is the wife of Rev. H. P. Archerd, a Methodist Episcopal missionary in Peru, South America. They have two children, lola and Harvard. Elsie is attending Annandale High School.

Grant Graham, proprietor of the Fair Haven Flour Mills, was born in Springville, Vernon county. Wis., April 16, 1864, son of Jefferson and Maria (Schell) Graham, and grandson of John Graham. The family originated in Scotland. John Graham was born in Virginia. He was a millwright and miller by trade, and a true frontiersman. He was one of the first settlers of Vernon county, Wisconsin. His wife was Miss Reasoner. Jefferson Graham was born in Indiana. He married Maria Schell, a native of Ohio. Like his father he was a miller. For a time he operated a mill at Springville, Wis. It was about 1871 that he came to Minnesota. He lived successively in Mower, Freeborn and Swift counties. He and his wife now reside in California, both at the age of seventy-six. In the family there were three children: Marietta, Grant and Sherman. The family is a patriotic one, and has claims to Colonial, Revolutionary and 1812 honors. Grant Graham learned the milling trade from his father. For a time he operated a mill at Big Bend, Chippewa county, this state, and later one in Milan, in the same county. It was in 1899 that he came to Stearns county and located in Fair Haven. He turns out a good product and his ''XXXX" brand is widely known. He belongs to the I. O. O. F. and the M. W. A., of Fair Haven. Mr. Graham was married November, 1894, to Alma Olson, of Watson, Minn., daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Olson, natives of Sweden. They have four children: Viola, Hazel, Daisy and Ethel.

Henry C. Rickmeyer, a leading and useful citizen of Fair Haven, now deceased, was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1842, and came to America as a young man in his early twenties. He located in Manitowoc, Wis., where he acquired farm land, and where he also owned and operated a brickyard. While there he married Jane Cortens, who was born in Brunswick, Germany, in 1849; came to America in 1855. In 1878 he brought his family to Stearns county, and purchased the old Sturdevant farm in section 22, Fair Haven township. They moved into the log cabin that stood on the place, and here they resided until the present home was erected in 1901. Mr. Rickmeyer was a progressive intelligent farmer. He took an active part in the affairs of the neighborhood and served in various town offices. He was also a staunch Lutheran, and became one of the founders of the Concordia Lutheran Church of

Viola, Hazel, Daisy And Kthel Graham Mr. And Mks. Henry C. Rickmeyer

Fair Haven. Mr. Rickmeyer died in 1911. His wife died in 1906. Both were highly respected and their death was sincerely mourned. Of the four children born to this family there are now living three : William C, Emma J., and Henry M. Henry M. operates the home farm which he has named "Oak Dale." The place consists of 160 acres of good land, also twenty-eight acres in lot 2, joining Lake Lura. The house was erected by the father in 1900 and the barn by the children in 1913. The farm is well tilled and well cultivated. General farming operations are conducted and a specialty is made of fullblooded Shorthorn cattle. Emma J. keeps house for Henry M., and they have an ideal household.

William C. operates the farm in Wright county, where he is being very successful. Both young men are active, energetic farmers, and are well thought of throughout the community.

Joseph Schill, a prosperous farmer of Fair Haven township, was born in Evansville, Indiana, April 14, 1854, son of Remigius and Rosina Schill. The parents were natives of Germany. They came to America in 1852 and located in Indiana. In 1869 they came to Minnesota, and purchased eighty acres of land in section 10, Fair Haven township. They made a small clearing, erected a cabin, and started to establish for themselves a home in the wilderness. They broke and grubbed the land and brought it to a high stage of cultivation. Later they added forty acres adjoining in section 11, thus making a good place of 120 acres. They became successful farmers and occupied an enviable position in the community. Remigius Schill died in 1910 and his wife the same year. The children in the family were: Joseph, Nicholas, Sophia (deceased), Mary, Lena, Rosa (deceased), Henry, Anton, John (deceased), and an infant that died at the age of two days. Joseph Schill attended school in Indiana, and came with his parents to Stearns county in 1869. Here he completed his education in the district schools. For several years he farmed with his father, and for a time he also worked out for neighboring farmers. During these years he saved his earnings, and in 1889 he bought 159 acres in section 10. Only about twenty-one acres had been broken when he bought it. He cleared nearly all the remainder and developed a splendid place. He built a sightly residence and a good set of barns and outbuildings, and by working early and late he established himself as one of the leading men of the township. He is a good citizen and has a well equipped farm, and is regarded in every way as one who has achieved success. Mr. Schill was married in November, 1879, to Cecelia Kerstiens, a native of Stearns county, and they have had nine children : Anna, Joseph, Rosa, Theresa, Mary, John, Christina, Edward and Frank. Anna is the wife of August Wessleman. Joseph lives in St. Augusta township. Rosa lives in St. Augusta and is the wife of Christ Gohman. Theresa is the wife of Albert Voigt of Luxemberg township. Mary is the wife of Frank Hinkemeyer, of St. Augusta. John, Christina, Edward and Frank are at home. The family faith is that of the Catholic church at St. Augusta.

Rev. Henry William Weseloh, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Concordia congregation. Fair Haven township, was born in Westfield, Sauk county, Wisconsin, August 23, 1869, son of John and Catherine (Schroeder)

Weseloh, natives of Hanover, Germany, v^^lio came to the United States in 1863, and spent the remainder of their years on various farms in Sauk county, Wisconsin, the mother dying October 3, 1910, at the age of seventythree and the father October 2, 1912, at the age of seventy-five. The children in the family were : Henry, William, Dorethea, Fred, Edvv^ard, Henry W., Bertha, Minnie, Mary and Martha. Henry, Edvrard and Minnie are deceased, the two first named having died as infants. The father was a devout Lutheran, and a trustee of his congregation. Thus in a home of piety, Henry W. was reared. He attended parochial school until he was confirmed, and then entered the public schools. By hard work and close application he earned enough money to pay his way through a higher institution. Accordingly he entered Concordia College at Springfield, 111., and was graduated in 1900. Soon afterward he was ordained and was assigned to a charge in La Mour county, North Dakota. After doing good work there for six years and three months, he came to his present congregation in November, 1906. He is a deep student, a clear thinker, a faithful pastor, a good preacher, and a devout theologian. He has been identified in a general way with several progressive movements in the church and in the community. Rev. Weseloh was married November 25, 1900, to Minnie Elfers, and they have six children: Henry John, Martin Edward, Edward Julius, Adela Mary, Edna Emma and Walter Paul. Minnie Elfers was born in Washington township, Sauk county, Wisconsin, October 28, 1874, daughter of Henry and Catherine Elfers, natives of Hanover, the former born May 4, 1846, and the latter July 24, 1837. They were married in Wisconsin, and had the following children: Henry, John, Minnie, William and Julius.

Richard Morgan Van Dervort, of Fair Haven, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, February 4, 1842, son of Jonah and Eliza (Phillips) Van Dervort, and grandson of Paul and Elizabeth Van Dervort and Joshua and Lucinda Phillips. Paul Van Dervort came from Holland to New York, and thence to Clinton county, Ohio, where his homestead is still in the possession of his descendants. The Phillips family is prominent in Kentucky. Jonah Van Dervort spent the span of his years in Clinton county, Ohio. He was a practicing physician of the allopathic school. He and his wife had six children: Martha, Emmerson, J. B., Richard Morgan, Jennie and Mary.

Richard Morgan Van Dervort received his early education in Ohio, and as a youth became interested in the mercantile business. In 1861 he came to Minnesota and settled in Fair Haven township. At a cost of $450 he purchased 200 acres in sections 14, 21 and 28. Later he sold this tract and purchased a small farm of sixty acres adjoining the village. There he farmed until 1875. Then he bought cattle and drove them to Ft. Lincoln, near the present site of Bismarck, issuing meat to Custer's army. Subsequently he operated a market for N. P. Clarke at Winnipeg one year. Then he entered the employ of Grinols & Cooper, at Fair Haven. After eight years Mr. Cooper died, and Mr. Van Dervort was appointed the administrator. For two years R. M. and J. B. Van Dervort conducted, a mercantile establishment at Fair Haven under the firm name of the Van Dervort Brothers. When this concern was sold out, R. M. Van Dervort secured a position as the purchaser of the right of way for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad. Later he was claim agent for this company for four years, and at the completion of his service had charge of erecting a fence along the tracks of that road from Lowery to the Minnesota state line. Since 1893 he has been a veterinary surgeon, holding a license from the state. Mr. Van Dervort is justly proud of his war record. August 18, 1862, a messenger came through the valley for the purpose of securing volunteers to fight the Indians. Mr. Van Dervort started that very afternoon, and on reaching Kingston joined a company organized to patrol the frontier. In the skirmish at Green Lake, he was wounded in the ankle. In September he returned to Maine Prairie and became one of the guards in the stockade. In civil life he has been no less faithful. In politics a Republican, he has been town chairman, town clerk, justice of the peace, school director and school treasurer. For some years he was a member of the Christian (Disciple) church, but he is now a Baptist. He was married May 24, 1866, to Alma C. Webb, and they have two children. Homer "W. lives in Bemidji, Minn., where he is a log scaler. Charles H. is a traveling salesman for a commission house in Minneapolis.

Alma C. Webb was born in Lewis county, New York, April 21, 1848, daughter of Orrin D. and Esther E. (Northrop) Webb. Orrin D. Webb was born in New York state. He was a miller by trade, and built early mills in Sauk Rapids and Fair Haven, Minnesota. He located in Sauk Rapids in 1856, coming here from Illinois. Two daughters, Ella and Alma C, were born in Illinois. Emma was born in Sauk Rapids. Anna and Allison were born in Fair Haven.

Jacob Hamlin Lyons, a representative former of Fair Haven township, was born in Licking county, Ohio, August 5, 1850, son of Benjamin T. and Lydia (Wince) Lyons, who brought him to Stearns county when he was seven years old. He received a district school education, and early in life became a railroad helper. For four years he was employed on what is now the line of the Great Northern, from Big Lake, Minn., to St. Cloud. Before he was twenty-one he was a section foreman. For about seventeen years he worked in the lumbering regions, part of the time as lumber camp foreman for Thomas Steen. Before he had given up his lumbering career he had married, and had acquired eighty acres of land on section 16, Fair Haven. On this farm, he and his wife located. He cleared a large enough space to erect a small frame house one story high, and a straw barn, and gradually he cleared the land for crops. For the first two years he had neither oxen nor horses to assist him. He now owns 160 acres of good land, and is especially interested in dairying. At one time he was actively identified with the Maine Prairie Creamery Association, now out of existence. He is treasurer of School District No. 32, of which he has been a member eighteen years, and is serving his sixth term as assessor of Fair Haven township.

Mr. Lyons was married August 31, 1879, to Mary Ellen Spaulding, born June 25, 1860, daughter of Alexander Spaulding. Mr. and Mrs. Lyons have six children: Ernest, a North Dakota farmer, married Mary Brandt. Clarence, of Fort Dodge, Iowa, is a traveling salesman. Thomas Archie lives in

Grand Forks, N. D., and during the harvest season operates a threshing machine. Blanche, a former school teacher, is now Mrs. Fred Goodner, of Alberta, Canada. Hazel is now Mrs. Henry Stueck, of Fair Haven township. Ada is at home.

Oliver H. Knickerbacker, a modern and progressive farmer, of Fair Saven township, was born in Clearwater township, just over the line in Wright county, September 14, 1863, son of Herman and Jane (Hutcherson) Knickerbacker, and grandson of Herman Knickerbacker, the elder. Herman Knickerbacker, the elder, grandfather of Oliver H., was born in Holland, and settled in New York state. Herman Knickerbacker, father of Oliver H., was born in Schaghticoke, New York, and followed the sea as a ship captain for many years. In 1856 he came to Minnesota, and homesteaded 160 acres in section 32, Clearwater township, Wright county, where he farmed for many years. He died in 1894. His wife died in 1899. Oliver H. Knickerbacker attended the Murphy School in Clearwater village, and was reared to farm pursuits. In 1898 he bought 120 acres in section 36, Fair Haven township, where he lives at the present time. He is a genial gentleman to meet, progressive in every way, and is always in favor of improvement and development of farm conditions throughout Minnesota. His own splendid farm shows thrift, intelligence, and scientific management in every acre. The buildings are sightly and modern, and all are well adapted to the purpose for which they were built. His orchard contains 175 apple trees, and the pride of the neighborhood is a vineyard of one-half acre of Concord grapes. Such a vineyard is unusual in this part of the state, and has proven an innovation in fruit growing in central Minnesota. Mr. Knickerbacker is a popular member of the Modern Brotherhood of America. He was married to Mary Mooney, and they have four children : Harvey, Elic, Henry and James.

Edwin Higgins, a well-known farmer of Fair Haven township, was born in St. Anthony, Minn., December 31, 1867, son of John and Sarah (Newton) Higgins, and grandson of Edwin Higgins, the elder. Edwin Higgins, the elder, was born in Ireland. He sailed the oceans for many years, but eventually settled in Canada. John Higgins was born in Ottawa, Canada. He brought his wife to section 30, Lynden township in 1866, and built two log houses. He cleared the land and developed the farm, and in time erected frame buildings. Edwin Higgins, the subject of this sketch, received his early education in the Lynden schools, one of his teachers being Sophia Pratt. He was reared on the home farm, and started out for himself at the age of fourteen years. For seven summers he worked for J. H. Baldwin. In 1890 he went to Montana, and for three or four years devoted his time to various occupations such as herding cattle, railroad work and the like. After this he worked several seasons as a harvester. Mr. Higgins now has a splendid farm of 120 acres near the home of his parents. The place is in a high stage of cultivation, and everywhere bespeaks the thrift and energy of the owner. The residence erected in 1910 is home-like and comfortable and the other buildings are modern and commodious. Mr. Higgins is a most estimable man, he has a bright and active partner in life, and they are both proud of their interesting family of children. Mr. Higgins was married in 1894 to Mary, the daughter of Mar-

Willard C. Tufts, for many years an estimable citizen of Fair Haven, and an honored veteran of the Civil War, was born in Boston, Mass., and in that city and vicinity was reared and educated. Just before the Civil War he came to Minnesota and located in Fair Haven. At the outbreak of the conflict he enlisted in Company D, Fourth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and proved not lacking in valor in many a bloody battle, march, skirmish and siege, notably at the battles of Gettysburg and Second Bull Run, and with Sherman on the March to the Sea. After the war he came' again to Fair Haven and settled. He became a prominent farmer, and here lived until his death October 28, 1901. For many years he was a prominent member of the G. A. R. Mr. Tufts was married to Elvira Smith, who died September 29, 1909. In the family there were two children : John H. and Caroline.

John H. Tufts was reared on the home farm. When he was twenty-one years of age he drove the stage from Fair Haven and Kimball to St. Cloud. In this employment he remained some eighteen months. It was in 1905 he opened a livery at South Haven. He is a popular young man, and belongs to the I. O. 0. F. and the M. W. A. He married Hattie Mericle, and they have three children, Russell, Lewis and Eugene. Caroline Tufts married Alson Noyes, son of George and Laura (Abell) Noyes, and they have four clidren : Raymond, Ruth, lone and Ercel.

Lorenzo Baker Johnston, veteran and pioneer, was born in Harmony, Chautauqua county. New York, June 3, 1837, son of Thomas and Roxianna (McKay) Johnston, who were born in New York state and spent their declining years in Fair Haven, Stearns county, Minn. Lorenzo B. was reared in his native town and in 1860 married Ruth Grinols. In 1862 he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Sixteenth New York Volunteer Infantry, and served two years and ten months. When he enlisted he left his wife at home. Three months later, his daughter, Nettie, was born. Upon returning from the war Mr. Johnston set his affairs in order, and started for Minnesota. He secured 160 acres in Fair Haven township, two miles east from Fair Haven village. He erected a log house and log stable, and with two yoke of oxen started farming. The second year he secured some cows. After he had proved up on this homestead he sold out and moved to Minneapolis, where he lived two years. Subsequently he returned to Fair Haven township, and secured a farm of eighty acres on the St. Cloud road, a mile north from Fair Haven village. On this place a frame house had already been erected. Here the family lived until 1895, when Mr. and Mrs. Johnston retired and moved to Fair Haven village. There Mr. Johnston died in January, 1904, Mrs. Johnston, who was born in December 18, 1836, still resides in the village. Mr. Johnston was a prominent Republican. He was one of the organizers of the G. A. R. Post at Kimball, and was its first commander. He was a member of the Baptist church, Mr. and Mrs. Johnston had two daughters : Lillian May, is deceased ; Nettie married Clark Mitchell, of Tacoma, Wash. They have six children : Robert L., Velonia M., Clara Alberta, Lulu M., Raymond and Roy Lorenzo.

Fred R. Warner, a well-known farmer of Fair Haven township, was born in Spruce Creek, Penn., August 24, 1851, son of Conrad and Susan (Appleholz) Warner. The parents came to America from Germany in 1850, and located at Spruce Creek, Penn. In 1856 they moved to Randall Station, Wis., and farmed until 1860. That year they came to Minnesota and located on a farm in Fillmore county, in which county they were actively engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1880, when they moved to Sherburne, in Martin county, and there spent the remainder of their days in retirement. He died in 1906 and she in 1904. The children in the family were : Fred R., Gust, Kate and Louisa. Louisa is now Mrs. Fred Algrim, of Sherburne, Martin county, Minn. Kate is now Mrs. Frank Sanborn, of Minneapolis. Gust lives in California. Fred R. lives in Fair Haven. Fred R. Warner came to Minnesota with his parents in 1860, and attended the public schools of Fillmore county. It was in 1874 that he started out for himself by going to Martin county where he farmed for two years. But at the end of that period, the grasshoppers ate up everything and he returned to Fillmore county, where he farmed for another five years. Then he preempted 160 acres in Lac qui Parle county. He broke up the wild land, brought it to a high stage of cultivation, erected a sightly residence and other buildings, and became one of the representative farmers in his township. He served on the town board of supervisors, and for fifteen years was treasurer of School District No. 50. It was not until 1900 that he sold out his splendid interests in Lac qui Parle county, and purchased his present farm of 176 acres in Fair Haven township. In the fifteen years or so that he has lived here he has greatly improved his farm, and made it as good as any in the neighborhood. He follows general farming and stockraising along the latest approved lines, and has been most successful in his operations. He is doing good service as clerk of School District No. 79. Mr. Warner was married February 17, 1874, to Eliza Gahringer, and they have had five children : John M., born April 19, 1875 ; a son who was born in 1878 and died at the age of one year and seven months; Edward, born January 21, 1883 ; Henry, born October 2, 1887 ; and Emma, born October 22, 1896. The four are at home. Mrs. Warner is the daughter of Mike and Mary Gahringer, and was born in the state of New York in 1853. Her brothers and sisters are : Mary, Emma, Sarah, F. E., and J. M. J. M. died July 24, 1912.

John U. Anderson, the pioneer, now deceased, was born in Tin, Norway, in 1814, and came to Wisconsin, at about the age of twenty-one. After remaining in that state ten years he went back to Norway, and brought over his parents and most of his brothers and sisters. They all settled in Winchester, Winnebago county, Wisconsin, where about 1852 he met and married Juliana Larson Langum. In April, 1864, after selling his farm and other property, he immigrated with his family to Minnesota, going by rail to La Crosse and from there to St. Peter by steamboat, where he camped during the first part of the summer, making trips in various directions, west and northwest, looking for a suitable place to settle. About July he rigged out with two pair of oxen, half a dozen cows and a prairie schooner and moved west as far as Meeker county, where he built a log cabin near Hoop Lake, six miles south of Grove City and about two and a half miles southeast of Acton, where the first five whites were murdered at the beginning of the Indian outbreak, in August, 1862, where he lived over winter and from this place making trips further north and west looking for his future home, which he found in Big Grove, which later became North Fork township, Stearns county, Minnesota. He was the first man to buy land here and in the spring of 1865 he took up a homestead of 160 acres in sections 33 and 34, North Fork township. With the exception of Ellen Baalson and Hans Peterson Heieie, who had arrived the week before, he was the first settler. He built a pole shack, and covered it with marsh hay, and thus started life in the wilderness. When the terrific rain storms came, which seemed abundant especially that summer, the water came through the roof and the sides of the shack, and the occupants many a night waded in water ankle deep. The nearest railroad was the Great Northern at Big Lake, from where Nels Olson, the first Big Grove storekeeper, hauled with a pair of mules, merchandise, and not to forget a little whiskey, for the new settlers, a distance of about eighty miles. Mr. Anderson hauled flour from St. Peter, a distance of 100 miles. It was on one of these trips that he and his oldest son, Thomas J., then nine years old, who drove one of the ox teams, that the two lived for two days on a twelve-inch pickerel, which they caught in a little stream and fried in the ashes of their camp fire. In order to get seed wheat in the spring of 1866 Mr. Anderson, Ole Benken, Andrew Erickson, Kittle Strande, Ellen Baalson and Hans Heieie went to Spring Hill, fourteen miles east, and got it there at $2.75 a bushel, and each carried on their shoulders from a bushel and a half to two bushels, wading swollen streams and enduring many hardships. The flooded streams were an especially severe drawback to the early settlers as no bridges had been built, but they had enough Viking blood to stick it out, although they have all, at this writing, gone beyond to their forefathers. They all left prosperous descendants, many of whom yet reside on the old homesteads in and around Big Grove. Mail was brought once a month from Paynesville by Ellen Baalson, who in the winter made the trip on skis, an art which he had learned in the old country. Mr. Anderson had been well educated in a seminary in Norway, and being a friend of education he associated himself with Embrick Knudson, in starting the early schools in his neighborhood. When the town was organized he was elected the first assessor. Later he served in other positions. He died in July, 1869. His wife, Juliana, who was born in Arendahl, Norway, in 1833, died in January, 1902. Of the family of six children, all are living. They are : Geoline, now Mrs. Kittle Halverson, of North Fork township ; Thomas J., a merchant of Belgrade, and who has also off and on for nearly thirty years, operated stores at Minneapolis and Superior ; Amelia, Albert, Clara and Syvert. Clara married Thomas Kjeldahl, a graduate of Prof. D. J. Cogan's College at North Fork. Mr. Kjeldahl was killed in his best age by a runaway team of horses, while stacking grain on his farm.

Thoma,s J. Anderson, the oldest of the three boys, was born in Winchester, Winnebago county. Wis., December 5, 1855, and was reared on the North Fork farm and picked up his education in the first North Fork log schoolhouse and later at Sauk Centre, but Thomas thought walking after the plow was too slow and lonesome and at the age of twenty-one, he went to Willmar and entered the employ of C. F. Clark, who kept the postoffice, express office and drug store. The first year, 1876-77 he worked for $100 and board. So well did he attend to his duties that the second year he was paid $50 a month and board. After a year and a half with Mr. Clark he worked in Paulson & Larson's general store. In the fall of 1879 he started a small general store of his own in Big Grove, North Fork township. A year later he took in as a partner there E. E. Knudson, youngest son of old Embrick Knudson, then a druggist of Sauk Centre, and opened a branch store at Minneapolis. In 1886 when the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad came through this county Anderson and Knudson dissolved partnership and discontinued the North Fork store, Mr. Anderson building a large general store at Belgrade, where he has ever since done a large business and Mr, Knudson moving to Brooten, also starting a general store. At about the same time he sold out his Minneapolis interests, and opened a store at Superior, now one of the largest of its kind in that place. In the spring of 1914, however, he opened another store at Minneapolis under the firm name of Anderson Grocery Supply Co., where Thomas Coleman, his oldest son, is partner and manager. "T. J.," as he is familiarly known today to all his acquaintances, stands with his city retail stores squarely between the producer and the consumer. This together with the fact that he is a cash buyer, besides a large and close buyer, accounts for his success and puts him in a position to do well for all his patrons. He has always been a hard worker, attending very closely to business. He has ever since his location at Belgrade been a strong advocate of temperance and other measures tending to lift up mankind, and while he naturally has made some enemies by it he has the frendship and respect of those who have learned to know him of all nationalities. He says he hopes to live to see the American saloon banished, not only from Minnesota, but from every square foot of North American soil.

He married Mrs. Josephine Holt in 1883, and they have six children: Thomas Coleman, Lulla, Samuel Norman, Delia, Ruth and Mary, an adopted daughter. Thomas Coleman is in charge of the store at Minneapolis. He married Christine Johnson, and they have three children, Seigmund, Jerome and James. Lulla is the wife of Dr. Hendrick Shipstead, of Glenwood, this state. Samuel Norman has a dairy farm at Cloverland Station, on the Minneapolis and Superior branch of the "Soo," twelve miles south of Superior. The other children are at home. The family faith is that of the Lutheran church.

Ole C. Reiquem, a prominent citizen of Belgrade, was born in Norway, May 27, 1856, son of Ole and Olena Reiquem, who brought him to Wisconsin in 1872 and to Crow river township in 1874. Ole C. remained home until twenty-two years of age. After his marriage he farmed in Crow river township, and still later in Lake George township. In 1884 he moved to Belgrade, and gave considerable of his time to railroading. When the town of Crow River was organized, he was the first constable, a position he held for many years. He was the first marshal of Belgrade and served for thirteen years. For four years he was deputy sherifi". January 22, 1909, he was appointed postmaster at Belgrade by Theodore Roosevelt, and held that position until July 31,

1913. In addition to his interests in the village, he owned his father-in-law's homestead in section 31, Crow River, which is now operated by his son, Oscar. Mr. Reiquem married Betsey Wrolson, who was born near Stevens Point, Wis., the daughter of Torger Wrolson, a pioneer of Stearns county, who came to the United States about 1850. They have five children. Thea is the wife of Benjamin Babcock, of Minneapolis. Anna was assistant to her father in the postoffice. Albert was in the United States naval service and died March 6, 1914. Oscar operates the home farm. Adeline lives at home.

Ole Reiquem and Olena, his wife, were born in Norway. His parents were also called Ole and Olena. The older Ole was a veteran of the Bonepart wars. The older Ole and his wife died in America, fifteen years apart, each at the age of ninety-two. In the family were seven children: Olena, Mary, Ole, Martha, Nels, John and Alpha. It was in 1872 that the family set sail for America. In the family were: Ole and Olena Reiquem, the elder; Ole and Olena Reiquem, the younger; and the eight children of the latter: Lena, Ole C, Christopher, Mary, Anna, Andrew, Alpha, Lillian. After five weeks and two days on the Christopher Columbus, the party reached Quebec, Canada. Then by boat and by rail, they finally reached Eau Claire, Wis., from which place they drove to Bloomer, in Chippewa county. Wis., where two years were spent on a farm. In 1874 they came to Stearns county, and located on 160 acres of land in section 11, Crow River township. They erected a log cabin 16 by 26, over a cellar. As a barn for their pair of oxen and two cows, they dug a cellar and roofed it over with coarse hay. Ole Reiquem, the subject of this sketch, became a successful farmer. He increased his holdings to 400 acres, and replaced his primitive buildings with modern structures. For the sake of old time memories he erected his new two-story house on the cellar of the old log cabin that had been their original home. Finally he sold out. He consistently voted the Republican ticket, but never cared to seek office. He died in 1906 at the age of seventy-three years. His widow, who was eighty-two on April 16, 1913, is still living. The family adheres to the faith of the Lutheran church.

Enute P. Knutson, town clerk of Crow River township, was born in Michigan, January 26, 1853, son of Peter and Anna Knutson. As a boy of eleven years he was brought to Stearns county by his parents, and here grew to manhood. He now owns 240 acres of good land, 200 acres of which was formerly a part of his father's 400 acre farm. He has been very successful in his farming operations, and is one of the leading men in the community. For some years he was postmaster at Crow, and after the name was changed to Belgrade he remained for some years in the same capacity. He was the first town clerk of Crow River, and still occupies that position, though there have been intervals in which he has not served. Coming to this part of the county in pioneer times, he has made himself a useful citizen, and his opinions on important matters are often sought by his associates. By his good wife, Engeborg Maria, Mr. Knutson has had eight children: Peter A., Linnia, Colman, Ida, and Olaf C. are living, and Lewis, Lillie and Bertina are dead.

for a lumber company, Peter being employed in the mills and his wife in the cook-house. Some four years later they located in Waupaca county, Wis. From there they came to Crow River township, in Stearns county. They arrived just after the Indian outbreak. There were several periods of fright, and at one time the neighbors gathered for defense against the Red Men. But the fright passed and they were not injured. The family first lived in a log cabin, and conducted their farming operations as best they could with an ox team. Gradually they added to their equipment. Their original claim of 120 acres was increased to 400 acres, and the family became an influential one in the community. Mr. Knutson served for some years as treasurer of his school district. He died at the age of forty-seven. His good wife died at the age of eighty. Of their six children, four lived to years of maturity. They are: Knute P., Emma, Carl A., and Theodore M.

J. B. Wimmer, real estate man of Belgrade, is a son of Boniface Wimmer, grandson of Sebastian Wimmer, and grand nephew of the Right Reverend Abbot Boniface Wimmer, who in 1846 brought a band of monks of the Order of St. Benedict from Europe to Philadelphia, and founded a college from which the order has sent its devout followers throughout the United States. Boniface Wimmer, the pioneer, and father J. B. Wimmer, was born in Germany, and upon coming to America located in Albany township, Stearns county. J. B. Wimmer received a good education and then began clerking at Freeport, in this county. Soon he engaged in the general mercantile business for himself. For a time he was connected with a bank at Belgrade, and he was also manager for the Northern Trading Co., operating a line of elevators. He and Michael Schmitz are now partners in the Wimmer-Schmitz Realty Co., operating in Stearns, Pope and neighboring counties. This company is very successful and handles a large amount of real estate. Mr. Wimmer married Susan Stiechen, and they have three children, Mary, Genetta and Cattila.

Paul Bauer, one of the leading farmers of Wakefield township, was born in Germany, December 27, 1857, son of George and Anna (Vice) Bauer. The parents were married in Germany, and there had three boys, Joseph, Mathew and Paul. Joseph came to America in 1879, and found a location in Spring Hill, this county. The next year the rest of the family came. They secured a good tract of land and started to carve their fortunes as farmers. They made their home in a log house 16 by 24, with a kitchen 16 by 18 ; and housed their two yoke of oxen in a log barn thatched with hay and straw. Gradually the land was broken and planted to crops. George Bauer died at the age of 76 in 1885. His wife died in 1905 at the age of eighty-two. They died, as they had lived, in the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, and are laid to rest in Spring Hill. Paul Bauer left home as a youth, and worked in various places in the county as a farm hand. Finally he acquired eighty acres of land in St. Joseph township, this county. He was married in 1880, and subsequently he and his wife purchased 160 acres of the old Jacoby homestead near Cold Spring. Through hard work and frugality, they have attained unusual prosperit3^ Nothing but the smoke-house remains on the place as an evidence of its former occupancy. The residence, the barns, and the other build- ings are all new, and a complete complement of tools, implements and machinery has been secured. To the original purchase they have added 105 acres of the Lommel farm, 40 acres of the Atwood farm and another farm of 404 acres of which, 40 acres are in Wakefield township and 364 acres in Rockville township. Mr. Bauer is a good and useful citizen. He is known for his honor and integrity, and it is truthfully said of him that ' ' his word is as good as his bond." He is a Democrat in politics, has been town supervisor for nine years, and is now town treasurer. He served three years and three months in the standing army of Austria, being honorably discharged with rank of corporal. Paul Bauer and Mary Hagaman were married October 23, 1880. She was born in St. Joseph, this county, January 3, 1868, the daughter of Frank and Bertha (Hahn) Hagaman. The parents were born in Germany and came to Stearns county in the early days, settling first in St. Joseph township, and later in St. Martin. Frank Hagaman died at Cold Spring at the age of eighty-four. His wife died at St. Joseph at the age of seventy-five. Mr. and Mrs. Bauer have eleven children: Frank, Bertha, Elizabeth, Anna, Mary, George, Barney, Pauline, John, Paul and Maggie. Frank married Agatha Molitor. They live in the town of Rockville and have two children, Leo and Michael. Bertha married Stephen Salzer. They live in St. Cloud and have two children, Rosa and Edmund. Elizabeth married Adam Turk. They live in Browerville, Minn., and have two children, Edwina and an unnamed infant. The rest are at home.

Philip Thull, a supervisor of Wakefield township, was born in the township where he still resides, September 5, 1861, son of Simon and Eva Thull. The parents were born in Germany, and with their oldest daughter, Anna, came to the United States and located in Wisconsin. After a year in that state they came to Stearns county, and located on 160 acres in section 10, Wakefield township. They built a log cabin, 18 by 26 feet, and started farming with an ox team, a cow and a calf. Sometimes the cow was fastened with an ox and used for draft work. Often they were compelled to drive as far as St. Paul for provisions. The father died in 1863 at the age of forty-five. The children in the family were: Anna (already mentioned), Mary (deceased), Susan (deceased), Agnes (deceased), Lizzie, Philip and Christina. The mother stayed on the home farm for a while with the children. Then she married John Schuck, and they located on a farm in section 4, where a child, John, was born. Mr. Schuck was killed by lightning about a year and a half after his marriage. His widow long survived him and died in 1912 at the age of seventy-eight. Philip remained at home until about twenty years of age. Then he learned the trade of a carpenter. For several years thereafter he alternated work at his trade and labor on the farm. At the time of his marriage he settled down on the farm which he still occupies. He has been very successful, gets large crops each year, and raises a good grade of stock. The progress of the years is shown everywhere about his farm, and instead of riding after oxen, as his father did, he has a modern automobile. Mr. Thull is a Democrat and has served in several local offices.

Philip Thull married Mary Fuecker, daughter of Steven and Kate (Olsten) Fuecker, who came to the United States from Germany, separately, and were married on Jacob's Prairie, in Stearns county, in the late fifties, Mr. and Mrs. Thull have four children: Peter, Kate, Tillie and Edvina.

Christopher C. Brixius was born on the old homestead of his grandfather, Christopher Kock, in Wakefield township, October 6, 1860, son of Michael and Catherine Brixius. In 1853, Michael left Germany, his native land, and after a voyage of three months he reached the United States. As he was a blacksmith by trade, he had no difficulty in finding employment for four years in Cincinnati. In the meantime he was joined by his stepfather, Christopher Kock, and his brothers, Peter and Nicholas. In 1857 they came to Stearns county. Christopher Kock, and Michael and Peter Brixius each secured claims of eighty acres in the northeastern part of the Wakefield township, on the old trail to the Red River valley. Nicholas became identified with the Benedictines. Michael Brixius lived on his claim until his death. He erected a cabin of logs, 18 by 28 feet, and with his ox team began to cultivate the land. He was a hard worker, and after a while was enabled to add forty acres more to his farm. During the Indian uprising, the family went to St. Cloud. Michael was a well-known man in the community, served for a while as supervisor of the township, and assisted in building two successive churches, located on Jacob's Prairie. He died April 13, 1910, at the age of eightyone. His wife died in 1902 at the age of sixty-four. The ten children in the family were : Christopher, Anna, Jacob, Andrew, John, Margaret, Elizabeth, Michael, Michael (deceased) and Henry (deceased). Christopher the subject of this mention, was reared at home, and spent nearly all his early boyhood there. After his marriage in 1882, he and his wife moved to St. Cloud. For a few years he worked in a grocery store, and then for some time he was employed as a carpenter. Then he rented several farms, and finally purchased the old homestead where he still resides.

Christopher C. Brixius was married in 1882 to Kate Beck, born in Prussia, Germany, April 29, 1863, daughter of Andrew and Kate Beck, who brought their family to America in 1866, and secured a farm at the corner of sections 11, 12, 13 and 14, Wakefield township, on which they erected a log cabin. Andrew Beck was a Democrat in politics, and served several times as township supervisor. He died at the age of seventy-three. His wife was one year younger when she died. In the Beck family there were twelve children : Joseph, Mary, Matilda, Anna, Catherine, Agnes, Kate, Astromia, John, Tracia, Julius (deceased) and Carl (deceased). Mr. and Mrs. Brixius have nine children: Michael, Kate, Tillie, Anna, Albert, Margaret, Elizabeth, Aggie and Rosa.

John Fuchs, a successful farmer of section 14, Wakefield township, was born in St. Paul, January 28, 1855, son of John and Gertrude (Lochr) Fuchs. The father and mother were born in Germany, were there married in 1841, and the same year located in Wisconsin in the township of Calumet. In 1854 the family went to Milwaukee, and from there set out with an ox team to drive to St. Paul. They spent the winter in that place, and there the son, John, was born. The other children were Michael, Quirim, Mary Ann, Joseph and Elizabeth. In the spring of 1855 the family came to St. Cloud, then a little hamlet of log houses. After staying there a few days and looking about, they secured a quarter section in Wakefield township now occupied by the subject of this mention. There were then no roads but the stage track and the Indian trails. The nearest neighbor was over a mile distant. Samuel "Wakefield, from whom the town was named, lived two miles away. The Fuchs family built a log cabin and a log barn and with two yoke of oxen began to clear the place for cultivation. During the Indian troubles the family fled to St. Joseph for a short stay. John Fuchs, Sr., the father, added 100 acres to his original claim, and became a prominent citizen. For a time he served as assessor of the township. He died in the middle seventies at the age of sixty-six. His wife died many years later at the age of eighty-one. John, the subject of this sketch, has spent his life on the home farm, to which he has added forty acres. In 1894, the cyclone blew down his frame house located on the river bank, and he subsequently erected his present dwelling. He has also erected a good barn and other buildings. Mr. Fuchs has taken an active interest in the affairs of his township. For nine years he has served as chairman of the board of supervisors, and like his father he served for a time as assessor. For ten years he has been secretary of the "Wakefield Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Co,. Mr. Fuchs was married in 1880 to Anna "Witzman, who was born March 5, 1863, daughter of Michael "Witzman. Mr. and Mrs. Fuchs have nine children : Michael, Susie (deceased), Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Jeremiah, Tillie (deceased), Alfonse, Nicholas and Anna.

Nicholas Hansen, Sr., was one of the early pioneers of Wakefield township. He was born in Prussia, Germany, and came alone to the United States at the age of fourteen. For a time he lived in Illinois, where he was employed at railroad work and in other occupations. In 1855 he came to Stearns county, and secured a tract of eighty acres in Wakefield township. He built a log house, 16 by 20, with a cellar. Aided by his ox team, he started to break the land, and prepare the place for successful farming. He was on the high road to prosperity when the Civil War broke out. He accordingly went to Rockville and enlisted in Company G, Ninth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. He received a gold watch in recognition of his being the first to enlist in that regiment from Rockville. He followed the fortunes of his regiment for four years, and was at one time wounded in battle. After the war he returned to his farm. In time he purchased an additional eighty acres. He also built a frame dwelling to replace the log cabin, and as time passed he erected other buildings. He was a Democrat in politics, served the township of Wakefield for fifteen years as chairman, and the county for a term as county commissioner. He was a devout adherent of the Catholic Church, and had a part in the building of the Church of St. James, on Jacob's Prairie. He died January 2, 1910, at the age of seventy-five. His wife died in 1884 at the age of forty. Mr. Hansen married Rosena Bahner, who was born on Jacob's Prairie, the daughter of Peter Bahner, the pioneer. The children were : Theresa, Martha, Catherine, Lena, Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and Nicholas (deceased).

John Hansen was born on the homested where he still resides, March 10, 1877, son of Nicholas and Rosena (Bahner) Hansen. He is a successful man, has devoted his life to farming, and owns the old homestead of 160 acres. For his first wife, John Hansen married Anna Crever, a native of Stearns county, and the daughter of Casper Crever. She died in 1909 at the age of twentyfive, leaving five children: Edwald, Luella, Roman, Leo and Andrew. The present Mrs. John Hansen was Mary Sand, of St. Joseph. They have two children, Bernard and Olivia.

Mathew Jacoby, a well-known farmer of Wakefield township, was born in Germany, May 24, 1860, son of Peter and Mary Jacoby. There was also in the family a daughter, Susan, now the wife of Albert Radsky, of Chicago. At the age of nineteen, Mathew Jacoby set out for the United States. For about eighteen months he lived in Chicago, and then made his way to Iowa where he worked a few years. It was in 1884 that he came to Stearns county and for some time engaged in farming in the vicinity of Cold Spring. Then for three or four years he farmed in Meeker county. Later he bought the improved farm of 160 acres in Wakefield township, on which he still resides. To this he has added 170 acres in Rockville township. Mr. Jacoby was married November 12, 1895, to Mrs. Thresa (Beachel) Jacoby, the daughter of Peter and Mary Catherine (Krebsbach) Beachel, and the widow of William Jacoby. She was born December 26, 1861, in Stearns county. Her parents were pioneers, coming to Stearns county in the early fifties. Here they located on eighty acres in Collegeville township. Starting with almost nothing, they soon had a good place. Mr. and Mrs. Beachel had seven children: Margaret, Eliza, John, Joseph, Johan, Kate and Thresa. Mr. Beachel died in 1862. His widow married John Maselter, a prominent pioneer farmer of Wakefield township, Mathew Jacoby and his wife have five children: Gertrude, Rosa (deceased), Elizabeth, Magdalene and Louisa.

William Jacoby was the son of Nicholas and Anna Jacoby, who in the early days lived in a log cabin on the river bank in Wakefield township. Upon growing to manhood, William Jacoby acquired 160 acres of land, and carried on farming operations until the time of his death in 1893 at the age of forty-two. He married Thresa Beachel, and by this union had six children: John, Mary, Nicholas, William, Susan and Theresa.

Peter Kellner, a prominent farmer of section 4, Wakefield township, was born in October, 1850, in Jefferson county. Wis., a son of Michael and Frances (Obst) Kellner. The parents were married in Germany, and there one child, Kate, was born. In 1847 they came to America on a sailing vessel, the trip requiring sixty-seven days on the water. After landing they came west and located in Jefferson county, Wisconsin. There three children, Peter, Cresentia and Theresa, were born. In 1856 the family started out with an ox team for St. Cloud. After stopping for a week in that hamlet and looking about, they located on a claim in section 4, Wakefield township. Here they erected a log cabin, 18 by 22 feet, shingled with home made shingles hewn from logs. They started farming Avith two ox teams and a cow. Like the other pioneers they had many interesting experiences. The father drove to St. Paul to sell his grain and purchase supplies, as well as to get his corn and wheat milled. Sometimes on these trips he picked cranberries along the way, selling them at a good price in St. Paul, For many years the father worked hard to build up his farm. He became prosperous, and in time was enabled to purchase an extra tract of 100 acres located near Collegeville. He was one of the pioneers who helped to build the Church of St. James, on Jacob 's Prairie, in Wakefield township. Michael Kellner retired in his latter years and moved to the village of Cold Spring. He died in 1889 at the age of eighty-six. His wife died in 1906 at the age of eighty-nine. Peter, the subject of this mention, came to "Wakefield township with his parents and has always remained at home. He successfully operated the home farm for many years, and was so prosperous that he was enabled to purchase an additional 140 acres. Peter Kellner was married, in 1872, to Catherine Thelen, who was born in Prussia, Germany, the daughter of Matthew and Christina (Freund) Thelen, who in 1856 brought her to America, lived four years in Illinois, and then drove with ox teams to Stearns county and settled in section 10, Wakefield township. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Kellner have had a long and happy life together. They have built a new house and barn, and have taken a deep interest in, the training and education of their children. These children are five in number. Leonard and William have a market in St. Joseph village, this county. Peter is a farmer and makes a specialty of threshing. Kate is the wife of George Neis, of Cold Spring. Matthew operates the home farm for his father. He married Mary Klein, born in Stearns county, daughter of George Klein. Matthew Kellner and his wife have four children : Loretta, Alexander, Reynold, and Arzella.

John Maselter was born on the old homestead in Wakefield township, in 1866, son of John and Mary Catherine Krebsbach Maselter. The father came to America alone from German}^ as a single man, and settled near Cold Spring, Wakefield township, with a party of his fellow countrymen about 1855. There he secured eighty acres of land, and erected a log cabin and a log barn. Like so many of the pioneers he began with an ox team. He erected a frame building on the place and made many improvements. John Maselter, the father, died in 1883 at the age of sixty-six. His wife survived him for many years. She was the widow of Peter Beakle, by whom she had nine children. By Mr, Maselter there was but one child, John, the subject of this sketch. This John still lives on the home place. He has continued to make improvements, has erected a large barn, and has added 160 acres to the original farm. He married Barbara Salzer, daughter of George Salzer, a pioneer of Stearns county. They have seven children : John, Aloysius, William, Rosa, Mary, Susan and Leo. The family attends the Catholic Church at Cold Spring.

Michael Witzman, a supervisor of Wakefield township, was born on the place in section 11, where he. still resides, July 29, 1874, son of Michael, Sr., and Susannah (Theisen) Witzman. Michael, Sr., brought his wife and his two children, Mary and Nick, from Germany in 1860, and secured 160 acres in sections 3 and 4, Wakefield township. He there erected a log cabin and began farming. A few years later he moved to section 11, in the same township, where he had secured 300 acres. On this place some of the land was broken, and some log buildings had been erected. With the aid of an ox team he began improving the farm, and in time had as good a place as any in the township. He died in 1896 at the age of sixty-six. His wife died in 1911 at the age of seventy-nine. Six of their children, Nick, Paul, Anna, N. P., Michael and Elizabeth, were born in Stearns county. All the members of the family are devout Catholics, the parents in the early days having attended the old Church of St. James on Jacob 's Prairie. Michael Witzman has always remained on the home farm. He has served in various local offices, is interested in public affairs, and is now serving his twelfth year as town supervisor. He votes the Democratic ticket. Socially he is allied with the Catholic Order of Foresters, and he is a member of the Wakefield Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Co. The family are members of St. Boniface Church at Cold Spring. Michael Witzman was married, May 26, 1896, to Kate Thelen, and their children are : Benjamin, Rosa, Joseph, Lena, Tillie and Kate (twins), Clara (deceased) and Emma.

Hubert Rieland, a pioneer, was born in Germany, September 16, 1835, and died in Stearns county, Minn., October 5, 1912. He came to America at the age of twenty-one, in 1856, and lived at Louisville, Kentucky, and New Orleans, Louisiana, before coming to Minnesota. In 1863 he secured a home- Btead of forty acres in section 32, Oak township, and the following year brought his bride there. They lived in a log cabin and experienced the usual vicissitudes of pioneer life. They had to cut a road to the new home, and when in need of supplies drove to St. Paul with two yoke of oxen, carrying wheat and bringing back provisions. By hard work they prospered, and in time acquired 600 acres of land. They erected modern buildings, and became leaders in the community. Together with general farming they made a specialty of raising Shorthorn cattle. Mr. Rieland sat several terms in the lower house of the Minnesota Legislature, and did his district good service there. He was town assessor eighteen years in succession. For twenty years he was school clerk. He donated one acre of land for the school of district 117, and was ever interested in its progress. He was also prominent in church affairs. He helped cut logs for the first church at New Munich, helped select logs for the second church, and by donation assisted in the building of the present beautiful brick church.- During the Indian uprising he assisted in building the sod embankment about the church, inside of which the neighbors took refuge. After a useful and successful life he retired and moved to New Munich, where he died. Mr. Rieland was married, January 24, 1864, to Helen Thelen, who was born in Germany, July 24, 1845, was brought to Stearns county by her parents at the age of seven, and died December 2, 1913. The children are : Joseph, born November 1, 1864 ; Mary, born September 6, 1866 (died in August, 1868) ; Frank, born November 24, 1870; Diana, born February 17, 1872 (died January 17, 1876) ; Anna, born April 18, 1875; John, born January 8, 1877 ; Christina, born September 17, 1879 ; Anton, born June 19, 1880; Rosa, born October 29, 1882; and Helen, born September 1, 1886 (died the same month). Florence, born February 17, 1895, was adopted in June, 1899.

Herman J. Ricker, since 1903 teacher in School District No. 183, Stearns county, was born April 26, 1879, in Coesfeld, Westphalia, Europe. His parents, Herman Ricker and Anna Maas, were also born at the same place, the father on June 13, 1838, and the mother ten years later. In the old Fatherland, Herman Ricker followed the vocation of farming, and during the winter season he supervised a small sawmill in his home locality. In 1881, the family, then consisting of the parents and another son besides Herman J., Henry, now of St. Anthony, Stearns county, emigrated to America, and located at Loretto, Lawrence county, Tennessee, where they engaged again in farming. After having lived there ten years they removed to Minnesota living on a rented farm for some time, thereafter buying a farm in section 30, township of Krain, Stearns county. Two years ago the aged parents bought a house and lots in the village of Freeport, where they now reside, leaving the farm in charge of their second son, Henry. Besides the two boys mentioned the following children were born to the Ricker family: Joseph, now residing near Freeport; Anna and Lissie, deceased; Caspar of Ward Springs, Minn.; and Mary, now Mrs. Eutener of Krain township. Herman J. Ricker, the subject of this sketch, was at the time of their emigration to this country two years of age. "When becoming of school age he attended a common school in Tennessee which school was however of a very primitive nature and consisted of only two or three months' sessions during the year. Coming to Minnesota he received a fair common school education, some of his teachers having been the well-known Joseph B. Himsl and Judge A. H. Klasen of St. Cloud. After having helped clearing the farm he attended the St. Cloud Normal School during 1898 and 1899, and after that attended one year at St. Johns College and one year at the St. Francis Seminary, Milwaukee, Wis. He began liis career as teacher in District No. 40, town of Rockville, this county, in 1902. He engaged the school where he is now employed the next year, and has faithfully filled that position up to the present time, with prospects of many more years service there, if he chooses. He married Elizabeth Eiynck in 1903, and their union is blessed with one child, a son. Mr. Ricker has served the town of Millwood for the last nine years as assessor and holds that office at the present time.

King-slake Fruit Farm and Wilwerding's Nursery, located in Millwood township, two miles north of Freeport, were established in 1902, by Anton J. Wilwerding, who has resided here since 1886. Hardy fruit trees, grape vines and evergreens, most hardy shrubs and perennials, ornamental and small fruit plants are grown ; and new seedlings, especially prunes and pears, are originated. From a three-acre orchard, eighty to a hundred varieties of fruits exhibited at state and county fairs received high awards; and thousands of satisfied customers have had good success with stock planted according to advice given them by Mr. Wilwerding in his nursery or in their homes.

Anton J. Wilwerding, proprietor of the Kingslake Fruit Farm & Wilwerding's Nursery, was born at Kanach, Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, Europe, September 2, 1849, oldest son of Mathias Wilwerding and Anna Siegfried, his second wife, the former of whom died in 1866 and the latter of whom is still living and will be ninety years of age, January 18, 1915. Mathias Wilwerding was the father of nine children. By his first wife he had two sons, Nicholas, who gave up his life on a Southern battlefield as a soldier on the Northern side in the Civil war, and Michael, who now lives in St. Charles,

Minn. By his second marriage, Mathias Wilwerding had six children. Anton J. is the oldest. Mrs. Nicholas Goedert lives in St. Joseph, Minn. Nicholas lives in Finlayson, Minn. Nick. II lives in Esch, Sur d'Alzette, Luxemburg. John B. lives in Portland, Oregon. John lives in Minneapolis. Anne Mary is dead, dying the same day as her father during the cholera epidemic. Mrs. Victoria Volkmann lives in Buffalo, N. Y. Anton J. Wilwerding received his education in the school at Kanach, winning prizes every term of his school career, and finally completing the courses at the head of his class. He also took Sunday and evening music lessons, but he received his best teaching between his father's knees. His first horticultural training was received from his venerated grandfather, Anton Wilwerding, who was not only a famous blacksmith, but who also did grafting for his numerous customers, keeping on raising young trees until his death in 1863 at the age of eight-four years. At the age of sixteen, Anton J. Wilwerding worked as a teamster for Mr. Maas, saloon-keeper, grocer, vineyardist, and contractor, and there his homeacquired knowledge of distilling whiskey won much approval. Being well prepared to attain a governmental office, he next enlisted as a volunteer in the Luxemburger Jaeger (Hunter) Battalion, and in the winter school for volunteers again distinguished himself for his scholarship, receiving first prize in the third class, and third prize in the second class. Next he sojourned two years in France, where for a winter occupation he learned the trade of making wooden shoes. In his leisure hours he studied English, his knowledge of Latin and French giving him a good foundation for this study. After this experience he again returned to his native town. When he was but twenty-one years of age he became a choir leader. At one time his work in this capacity was rewarded with a "gratificat" of forty francs (eight dollars), and with the reward came the position of organist, the promotion to take affect as soon as an organ was purchased. The instrument, however, was never procured. This love of music has followed Mr. Wilwerding all his life. While at Lewiston, Winona county, this state, he was leader of the St. Charles and Lewiston choirs, and here at Freeport he has been elected president of the St. Caecilia Society, an organization for the promotion of sacred music. While Mr. Wilwerding was still in Germany, he became a candidate for the vacant position of guardian of forests for his home township and two adjacent villages. Lacking certain influences, however, he failed to secure the appointment from the minister. In 1883 he came to the United States with his mother and two sisters. Upon reaching Minnesota, he rented the farm of P. Peters, near Lewiston, in Winona county. There, in April, 1885, he was married to Amalia Johanna Roden, who was born in Delphus, Ohio, February 8, 1859, daughter of Nicholas and Elizabeth (Steffen) Roden, then living in Elba, Minnesota. In the fall of 1886, the Wilwerding family came to Stearns county, and settled on eighty acres in section 17, Millwood township, where they still reside. They moved into a log cabin, and started to develop a farm. The land was covered with heavy timber, and to convert it into tillable soil was no easy task. It required incessant hard labor, but with the help of his faithful wife and children he has succeeded in making a most valuable farm of it. While it was not until 1902 that Mr.

Wilwerding established his nursery he has been interested in fruit culture since he first settled here. For his first orchard planting he found on the place eighteen varieties of wild plums. With this beginning, Mr. Wilwerding has been a successful man, and the nursery which he has gradually developed is the only one of its kind in the county. Fruit growing is his hobby as well as his occupation, and he has done everything possible to interest others. He has promoted fruit culture through large displays of native fruits, and he has given his customers personal instruction in the art of grafting, caring for trees and grapevines, and taught them in general the best way to achieve good results. One of his pleasantest thoughts and memories is of the friendly welcome and many favors that he has enjoyed while canvassing throughout this and neighboring counties. He has served also as a newspaper correspondent, and his articles on fruit culture are of much value. In 1898 he joined the State Horticultural Society, and for a period served that organization as vice-president from the Sixth Congressional district. In public life he has been clerk of the town for six years, and has served on the grand and petit juries. He is also the United States crop reporter for this region.

Mr. Wilwerding 's career has been one of worthy effort successfully accomplished. His life has by no means been an easy one, and aside from the great inspiration that his family, his grandparents, his parents, his wife and his children have been to him, he has received little encouragement and oftentimes he has received actual discouragements and rebuffs. Originally he left home as a boy to go out in the unfriendly world to make room for his brother Mike. He was compelled to leave his promising career as a soldier in order to help his mother. A few years later he was compelled to go to France with no equipment in the way of a trade except his knowledge of farm work. In France he learned a trade which lost much of its value as a money-earner on account of the high price of wood in his home neighborhood. A musician of more than usual ability, a composer who might have made his mark in the world, he was finally forbidden by a jealous school teacher from practicing any more in school. Year after year he wrote chants and other musical pieces, and did his practicing without the aid of an organ. Here in Minnesota he has worked hard, early and late. During the time when he lived in Winona county when he had but recently arrived in America, he drove every fourteen days from Lewiston to St. Charles, no easy task in those days of bad roads and poor transportation. Now in the afternoon of life he is gradually turning his attention more and more to fruit raising and bee keeping, and in the years to come may not promote the nursery feature as much as formerly. But his fruit, his trees and his shrubs will always be in demand, the thousands who trade with him will long remember his encouragement and advice, and his children will never forget the old home orchard, where they have spent so many joyful days.

The family life of Mr. and Mrs. Wilwerding has been a most happy one, and they have been blessed with eleven children, the oldest of whom have already taken up the duties of life away from the old home : Elizabeth lives in Minneapolis. Anna is the wife of Albert Smith, also of that city. Nicholas is at home. Timothy is a carpenter in Barnesville. Mary is a clerk in Minne- apolis. Margaret is the wife of M. R. Dickinson, of Herman, Minn. Catherine is a teacher in this county. Anthony is dead. Celia, Rose and John are still at home. Besides this large family mentioned, Mr. Wilwerding makes a home for his honored mother, who in her old age of ninety years, finds with the family a home of happiness and contentment, a home where she is held in high esteem and respect, and where the good qualities of this venerable matron are duly appreciated.

Henry Benoelken, a retired farmer and merchant, now residing in section 16, Oak township, was born in McHenry county, 111., September 11, 1851, son of John and Margaret (Diedrich) Benoelken, natives of Germany. By a former marriage there had been four children and by this marriage there were seven children of which two died in their infancy. John Benoelken came to America in 1840 and located in McHenry county, Illinois, where he farmed until his death in April, 1860. Henry Benoelken was educated in Illinois, and farmed on his father's place until eighteen years of age. He then married, January 18, 1870, Fannie Revoir, a native of Syracuse, New York. They moved to Niles, Michigan, where he worked several years on the railroad. The wife died January 27, 1873, at the age of twenty, leaving one child, Julia. In 1878, Henry Benoelken first came to Minnesota. Afterward he returned to Illinois, but in 1880 he decided to make his home permanently in Stearns county. He taught school for two winters at Freeport. The schoolhouse was a little log cabin, 16 by 24, plastered with clay, and whitewashed by Mr. Benoelken himself, a wisp of hay being used for a brush. In this schoolhouse, Mr. Benoelken was married, June 21, 1881, to Teresa Hoppe, a daughter of Joseph Hoppe. This was the first marriage in the village of Freeport, and the Rev. Simplicius Wimmer, 0. S. B., performed the ceremony. After his marriage, Mr. Benoelken entered the general mercantile trade in Freeport. For a time he worked for John Hoeschen, later he became his partner. In 1894 he sold out to Mr. Hoeschen and again worked for him until April, 1897. He then purchased 226 acres in section 19, Krain township, where he farmed some eleven years. He was a good farmer, and took especial pride in his fine herd of Durham cattle. In 1906 he purchased twelve acres in section 16, the former home of his deceased brother, Frank, where he now lives in retirement. He has a substantial modern home, and is an influential man. He has the distinction of having been the first president of the village of Freeport when it was incorporated in 1893. For many years, at different times he was treasurer and assessor of the township of Oak. From 1894 to 1897 he was postmaster at Freeport. In 1910 he took the government census in this locality. By his first wife, there was a daughter, Julia, as already mentioned. To the second marriage there were born nine children, six of whom died in infancy. Those living are Frances E., Mary D. and Helen P. There are also three adopted children, Henry Kometich, M. J. Ringsmuth and Barbara Hoppe. Julia married Fred Wahnscoffe, who died in February, 1903, leaving six children. Her present husband is Gustave Sontag, and they live at Devil's Lake, North Dakota. Frances married C. H. Rademacher. They reside in section 19, Krain township, having purchased the 226 acre Benoelken farm. Of their nine children, eight are alive and one dead. Mary D. is a nurse. Helen is at home. Henry Kometich lives in Valley county, Montana. He is the son of John and Catherine (Gross) Kometich, the former a native of Austria and the latter of Germany. Mathias J. Ringsmuth is a graduate of the engineering department of the Southern Minnesota University. He is now in Minneapolis. Barbara Hoppe is the daughter of John and Cecelia (Barrut) Hoppe, the former a native of Stearns county and the latter of New York state. Barbara was born March 3, 1905.

Gotthard Harren, for nearly twenty-five years principal of the public school at Freeport, Stearns county, was born in Luxemburg, Stearns county, on July 27, 1860, the oldest of a family of twelve children. His father, Joseph Harren, emigrated from Hanover, Germany, in the year 1853, landing at New Orleans from where he came by steamboat up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, at which place he stayed for about a year. In those early days traveling, where possible, was on river boats, and for a time Joseph Harren took employment on a steamboat plying on the Ohio river between St. Louis and Cincinnati. A year later he came on one of these boats to Dubuque, Iowa. Coming from a family that had been reared on the farm in the old "Fatherland" he looked for a location along that line, and the country west of Dubuque offering a good opportunity for agricultural purposes, he purchased fifty-five acres on the site where the flourishing town of New Vienna, twentytwo miles west of Dubuque, now stands. In 1857, he disposed of this tract of land at a neat profit and came to Stearns county where he took a claim in section 25, township of Rockville, and obtained some adjoining land in section 30 in the town of St. Augusta. He, having some capital, had a fairly good log house and other buildings erected on the claim. After two years he married Magdalen Bauer, daughter of a neighboring family that had emigrated a short time before from Rhenisch Prussia, Europe. Of the fourteen children that were the issue of that marriage, one son, Joseph Anton, still occupies the old homestead. The community being made up chiefly of German Catholics, a thrifty Catholic congregation soon sprung up, that of St. Wendel, in the founding and maintaining of which Joseph Harren took a prominent part, having for years been one of the officers of the congregation as well as one of the school district, which was organized as District No. 36 of Stearns county in 1861. Miss Bauer, who, as stated above, married Joseph Harren, was the third daughter in the family and one of fourteen children, of which, especially the girls (there being six of them), were noted for their robust and strong constitutions and Magdalen was well suited to bear the hardships and trials of those earlier days. Indeed, much of his later success in life, the professor declared, was due to the lessons his good mother taught him by word and deed and more so by example, in fortitude, diligence and strict adherence to daily duties, she being ever busy and anxious for the welfare of her household, always giving exemplary lessons in diligence, honesty, frugality and self-denial. An especially exciting time was experienced in 1862, the time of the Sioux Indian outbreak, when that tribe devastated a part of Minnesota. Although the savages did not extend their atrocities as far as Stearns county excitement ran high, and rumors of approaching hordes caused the settlers to abandon their homes for a short time and take refuge in a fortification that had been erected at St. Cloud. Among the refugees that gathered in that fortification for a few days were also the members of the Harren Family, then consisting of the parents and the two oldest children, Gotthard and John Peter. Gotthard, the subject of this mention, was the oldest of twelve children. His early schooling was of a very primitive nature. Five months during the winter generally made up the annual term, and with the long intermission between school days one can imagine that the progress was a slow one. But Gotthard appeared to be destined to become an educator for after having attended the local school up to his fourteenth year of age, and thereafter diligently pursuing his studies privately, he, without, having attended any other institution of learning was licensed October 12, 1879, by the late Professor P. E. Kaiser, then superintendent of schools of Stearns county, to teach the school in District No. 91, town of Rockville. This school he taught during three terms of six months each, the present county attorney, Paul Ahles, a cousin of his, being one of his pupils. After these three years he became a student at the St. Cloud Normal School, thereby preparing himself fully for his life vocation. After leaving the normal he taught one term in Benton county and the next year in District No. 40. In the spring of 1883 he was engaged as teacher of the St. Nicholas School, District No. 17, which position he filled for six years. Here he entered in the employment of organist of the church, shortly after having become the teacher and this position he almost constantly filled for the thirty years preceding his death. The vocation as an organist he filled without any special preparation. But he had in his early days a tutor of great ability along the musical line, in the person of his father. The Harren family had been in the old country noticeable for their musical talent, and an uncle of Gotthard, Bernard Harren, was known far and wide as one of the most distinguished organists in the country. It has often been mentioned how he, being a somewhat eccentric bachelor, had a large pipe organ built to suit his taste, and that after the same arrived, an opening had to be cut in the ceiling of the house where he abode in order to make room for this instrument. Joseph Harren was an expert on the violin, one of the old school, and the lessons that he gave his first born were of a most thorough nature, laying thereby a good foundation for his later career. While engaged as teacher and organist in St. Nicholas he, in July, 1885, married Barbara Rausch, daughter of a prominent farmer of that place. The Rausch family had emigrated during the latter part of the fifties from Luxemburg, Europe, and first located on a farm near Pearl Lake, where Barbara was born. They later removed to a farm in the town of Wakefield near the former St. Nicholas Church. In the spring of 1887 Nicholas Rausch died and Prof. Harren took charge of the last named farm and, in connection with his duties as teacher and organist, supervised and managed that farm for the minors, brothers and sisters of Mrs. Harren. Mrs. Harren 's mother had died in 1881 and Mr. Rausch married a second time, but there were no children of this union and one year later the second Mrs. Rausch received from the other heirs of the Rausch estate her dower and removed to South Dakota. In 1890, the position as principal of the Freeport school being offered him, Prof. Harren accepted the same, and at the time of his death had been engaged to teach the higher grades of that school for the twenty-fifth year. This position which also included the office of organist having been filled by him for a quarter of a century in connection with ten years' former service, gave him the distinction of being one of the oldest educators in the county as to years of service, and he will be remembered for many years to come as a leader in musical circles. When the village of Freeport was incorporated in 1893, Prof. Harren was elected its first recorder, and he held this office for a term of eighteen years, when, owing to the volume of work connected with that office increasing to such an extent that it became too great to handle with his other position, he resigned. The family life of Gotthard Harren must be termed a most happy one. There are nine children living, one son, Conrad, having died in the spring of 1909. Of these, the two eldest boys are bank cashiers, the oldest daughter is becoming a trained nurse, the second daughter has for five years been a most successful teacher in the country schools, and another daughter has entered a convent as a religious. The four youngest children are still enjoying the days of their youth in their parental home. Prof. Harren died in the fall of 1914 and his death was sincerely mourned throughout the county.

Andrew H. Kessler, educator, was born near Richmond, in this county, April 29, 1870, son of Francis Xavier and Cecelia (Riehle) Kessler, and grandson of Othmar Kessler. Francis Xavier Kessler was a farmer by trade. Left an orphan at a tender age, he early learned to shift for himself, and became a man of self reliance at a time when most boys are still sheltered by the love and care of home and school. In 1836 he came to America, and located at Chillicothe, Ohio, where he remained many years. There he married Cecelia Riehle, who was born in Germany, and when less than two years of age was brought to Ohio by her parents, Bartholomew and Ursula Riehle, who afterward came to Stearns county. In 1860 Francis X. came to St. Paul. In 1864 he came to Stearns county and located one mile and a half east of Richmond, where he secured a quarter section of land. Thirty or forty acres had been broken, and a log cabin had been erected. With but poor equipment he started farming, using an ox team to help him to break the land. He was a quiet unassuming man who did his duty day by day, and with honesty and uprightness filled his little corner in life's affairs. He died at Uniontown, Wash., in 1894, at the age of seventy-five. His wife died in 1890 at the age of sixty-three. Andrew H. Kessler received his early education in the schools of his neighborhood, and subsequently took courses in St. Francis Teachers' Seminary, at St. Francis, Wisconsin, in the years 1889 to 1892. In 1892 he began teaching at Alton, 111., remaining there four years. In 1896 he became a teacher at Albany, in this county, staying there eight years. In 1904 he took a position as teacher in Watkins, Minn., where he remained one year, and in 1907 went to St. Paul, where he taught five years. In 1912 he came to Meire Grove, where he has since been engaged in teaching in the public school.

Mr. Kessler was married in 1899 to Susan Kascht, daughter of Mathias and Catherine (Mehr) Kascht, of Munson township. They have six children: Othman, Beata, Rose, Lydia, Urban (deceased) and Marie (deceased).

Michael Theisen, useful citizen and business man of Meire Grove, formerly a prominent educator, was born at Cold Spring, February 26, 1880, son of Anton Theisen, an early settler of Cold Spring, this county. Michael Theisen attended the district schools of his neighborhood, and subsequently took courses in several of the higher institutions. He was a student at the Pontifical Collegium Yosephinum, in Columbus, Ohio, for three years, and at St. John's University, Collegeville, this county, one year. Thus equipped he started teaching. He taught a year at Pearl Lake, Stearns county; a year in Freeport, Oak township, this county; and nine years in Meire Grove. In July, 1913, he engaged in the general mercantile business. He has already built up a good trade, and is far along on the road to prosperity and affluence. Mr. Theisen married Katie Heidgerken, of Stearns county, daughter of George Heidgerken, and they have four children: George, Hubert, Alice Matilda and Alvin G.

Fritz Hackmann, a business man of Meire Grove village, was born in Hanover, Germany, August 8, 1862, son of William and Angelia (Berheger) Hackmann. William Hackmann spent the span of his years in the rural districts of Germany. He was killed in 1893 at the age of sixty-five by falling from a building on which he was working. His widow came to the United States in 1895, and lived with her children at Quincy, Illinois, until her death in 1909 at the age of sixty-eight. In the family there were five children : Henry, Fritz, William, Agnes and Mary. Fritz came to the United States in 1880. He left home with $19.00. From his native land he went to several Holland cities, then visited Liverpool and London, in England. He crossed the ocean, landed at New York, and in due time was bound for Minnesota. He was possessed of a ticket to St. Cloud and a trade dollar. He did not, however, leave the train at St. Cloud, but was put off at Albany. From that point he walked at midnight to Freeport. After a week there, he joined his brother, Henry, in Meire Grove, where he worked some five years on a farm. In the meantime, Henry had gone to Quincy, Illinois, and there Fritz joined him at the end of the five years. A year later, however, he returned to Meire Grove, where he engaged in agricultural business until 1889 when he opened his present place. He has been prominent in the affairs of the community. In 1896 he made application, with others, for the incorporation of the village. The application was not granted. Later he fathered another application, which was granted, and resulted in the incorporation of Meire Grove. For eighteen years he has been clerk of the school board. Mr. Hackmann was married in 1892 to Anna Schulte, born in Meire Grove, January 27, 1870, and died December 7, 1898. They had five children: Henry, Louisa, Elenora and Rosa, living, and an infant that died with the mother. In 1901 he married Mary Mohr, born in Germany, daughter of Joseph Mohr, the blacksmith. This union has resulted in seven children : Joseph, Anna, Aloysius (deceased), Julia, Aloysius, William and Philip.