Blue Earth County, Minnesota

Biographies

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Walter H Johnston. Among the honored and respected citizens of Calistoga, Napa County, is numbered Walter H. Johnston, well known druggist at that place. Par­ticular interest is attached to his record from the fact that he now owns and lives in the house in which he was born and that he also owns the business establishment in which he started to work twenty-five years ago. Mr. Johnston was born in Calistoga on the 22d of October, 1885, and is a son of Richard P. and Helen V. (Lovejoy) Johnston.

Richard P. Johnston was born at Flushing, Long Island, New York, June 18, 1853, and was there reared to the age of thirteen years. The family then moved to Garden City, Blue Earth County, Minnesota, where they remained for two years, going from there to Madelia, Watonwan County, that state. Mr. Johnston had received a fair public school educa­tion, and he was subsequently engaged with his brother-in-law, B. G. Yates, working for three years in the latter's store. At the end of that time he returned to his father's farm, where he worked for two years, and in the spring of 1874 he went to Colorado and engaged in the stock business in association with his brother, Robert A. In the fall of that year he came to California, locating in Calistoga, where he found employment in the dry goods store of H. Getleson & Company, but in the autumn of 1876 he returned to his old home in the east. Soon afterward, how­ever, he again came to Calistoga and became head salesman for the Getle­son Company. He served as recorder for the Calistoga mining district and in the spring of 1881 was elected school trustee of the Calistoga district. On July 24, 1879, he was married to Miss Helen V. Lovejoy, who was born in Columbus, Michigan, February 1, 1860. Of the children born to this union, the following are living: Frank H., now of Fresno, California; Walter H., the immediate subject of this sketch; and Mrs. Grover Hill, of Fresno.

Walter H. Johnston secured his education in the public schools of Calistoga, and when he was fifteen years of age he entered the employ of the Armstrong Drug Company, beginning in an humble capacity, keeping the store clean and doing all the work that usually falls to the apprentice. Subsequently he began clerking, and he took up the study of pharmacy in his leisure hours, so that in the course of time he was able to pass the state examination, becoming a registered pharmacist. He has continued his identification with the same store to the present time. In 1921 he bought the business and is now conducting it tinder his own name. He carries a large and complete line of drugs and medicines and also carries the usual line of accessories and sundries to be found in an up-to-date drug store. By reason of his unfailing courtesy and accommodating man­ner, and the high quality of his goods, he has enjoyed a splendid trade and is numbered among the substantial and progressive merchants of Calistoga.

Mr. Johnston is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is a charter member of the Calistoga Rotary Club. On December 31, 1912, he was married to Miss Myrtle Irene Decker, who was born and reared in Yountville, Napa County, and they are the parents of three children : Helen, aged ten years; Marie, aged eight years ; and Robert, one year old.

History of Solano County, California

Hunt, Marguerite, S J Clarke Pub. Co., Chicago, 1926

Transcribed by Martha A Crosley Graham Pages 357 - 358

Christopher Mertens was born in South Germany, February 13th, 1843. He came to the United States of America in 1867 and located at Dunkirk, in the state of New York, where he engaged in the manufacturing of boots and shoes for one year, he then removed to Two Rivers, Wisconsin, where he carried on the same business. Two years later he removed to Algona, Kossuth county, Iowa, and engaged in farming and remained six years. He then came to Minnesota and located in Blue Earth county and engaged in the insurance business.

He was united in marriage with Miss Genevieve Geiger, July 29th, 1868, and to this union was born five children, viz: John, born July 16th, 1869; he graduated from Hamline University, Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1903, married Miss Alberta Galispia, came to South Dakota and commenced the practice of medicine at Lebanon, Potter County, the same year, where he now resides and enjoys a successful practice; Elizabeth, born December 22nd, 1870, died August 24th, 1871; Clara, born July 18th, 1872, she married Samuel Brown of Faulk County, November 6th, 1889, and died January 7th, 1903, leaving three children; Emma, born March 26th, 1874, she married John Gallagher, June 4th, 1902, they now reside at San Antonio, Texas; Louisa, born February 22nd; 1877, she was united in marriage in Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 26th, 1906, to William Simon, who was born February 16th, 1869, at St. Charles, Minnesota, and came to Faulk county in 1889 and located at Faulkton, where he has been employed in the meat market up to the present time.

Mr. Mertens continued in office and representing some of the most reliable insurance companies and collecting agencies in the United States, until his removal to Faulkton in 1888. After Mr. Mertens came to this county he continued to work at his trade as a boot and shoe maker for two years, at which time he was elected to the office he filled in Minnesota, that of justice of the peace, and to which he continued to be re-elected until the time of his death, at his home in Faulkton, South Dakota, on Sunday morning, October 20th, 1905 aged sixty-two. years, eight months and sixteen days. Mr. Mertens was educated in Germany, graduating from a military school and serving for a time in the German army. After completing his service in the army he was educated for the ministry of the Catholic Church, but on account of doctrinal difficulties he never entered the church. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, holding his membership at Gettysburg, in Potter County, and has represented his lodge at the grand lodge meetings of the state. He was a lover of art, music, and philosophy and had read and thought much upon these subjects. He was a kind and loving husband and father, a good neighbor and an honest man,, and the entire community sympathized with the family in their loss. The funeral service was conducted from the Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. McBeth preaching the sermon and the Odd Fellows having charge of the burial service. The burial was in the Faulkton cemetery.

History of Faulk County, South Dakota

Ellis, Captain C H - North Plains Press, Aberdeen, S D, 1909

Transcribed by Martha A Crosley Graham - Pages 443 - 445

Henry Gray Morris, M D - One of Jamestown's leading physicians, Dr. Henry Gray Morris, is a specialist in X-ray work and physiotherapy. Dr. Morris was born October 19, 1895, in Jamestown, New York, son of Dr. Josiah William and Mary (Gray) Morris. His paternal grandpar­ents were James and Christina (Harrison) Morris, his grandfather hav­ing been a farmer in the vicinity of Sterling Township, Blue Earth County, Minnesota. On the farm there Dr. Josiah William Morris was born on July 6, 1859; and he married in 1889. On the maternal side of his house, Dr. Henry Gray Morris' grandparents were Dr. Henry and Sarah Ann (Kinnie) Gray, old and highly respected residents of Bloom­field, Connecticut. Doctor Henry Gray graduated from Dartmouth Col­lege in 1847. The three children of Dr. Josiah William and Mary (Gray) Morris were: I. Dorothy Clift Morris, born September 7, 1892, attended the Jamestown schools and Mount Holyoke College and later studied nursing in Syracuse, New York. 2. Dr. Henry Gray Morris of further mention. 3. Sidney Elderkin Morris, born August 1, 1898, studied in the Jamestown schools, entered the United States Marine Corps on Septem­ber 3o, 1917, and served in that branch of the country's defense forces until he received his honorable discharge in June, 1919.

Both Josiah William Morris and his son, Henry Gray Morris, as \yell as other members of this distinguished family, were physicians. The father. Dr. Josiah William Morris, attended Minnesota schools and the State Normal School at Mankato, Minnesota, also going to Carleton College in Northfield, that State, for the first and second years of his course of studies. In 1885 he was graduated at Amherst College, Bach­elor of Arts, and in 1889 he took the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York City. In that same year he came to Jamestown to practice medicine, beginning his work July 6, 1889. To a large extent he specialized in obstetrics, and he was an avowed leader in the affairs of his profession and his community. Twice he was president of the Fourth District branch of the New York State Medical Association, before its merger in 1906 with the Medical Society of the State of New York. For eleven years he was secretary of the Chautauqua County Medical Society, and he was a delegate to the New York State Medical Society and a member of the American Medical Association. Politically he is an independent Repub­lican.

The son, Dr. Henry Gray Morris, attended the public schools of Jamestown, being graduated from high school here in 1914. He then studied at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, where he received his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1918 and the Doctor of Medicine degree at Cornell Medical College, New York City, 11 1921. In 1922 he was al New York City Hospital, Welfare Island, New York City. as an interne. He started his formal practice in Jamestown in the same year carrying on a predominantly general practice until 1928, when he began special­izing in X-ray work and physiotherapy. He has been situated in the same offices, at No. 15 East Fourth Street: Jamestown, since August, 1924.

In addition to his other activities, Dr. Henry Gray Morris is a member of a number of medical organizations, including the Chautauqua County Medical Society and the Jamestown Medical Society. In 1917 and 1918. during the World War period, he was a member of the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Army. He was early a member of the Con­gregational Church and still worships in this faith. In addition to these affiliations, he is a member of the American Medical Association, the Jamestown Skeet and Trap Club, the Celeron Rod and Gun Club, the Lakewood Rod and Gun Club, the Falconer Rod and Gun Club, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and several branches of the Free and Accepted Masons, including Mount Moriah Lodge, the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Consistory and the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

Dr. Henry Gray Morris married (first), in New York City, April 21, 1922, Theo Brennan. Two children were born of this marriage: 1. Mary Carol Morris, on June 12. 1924. 2. Althea Morris on May 30, 1927. Dr. Morris married (second), in Buffalo. New York, January 6, 1934. Ruth Strance, daughter of William and Katherine Strance.

The Historic Annals of Southwestern New York

Doty, William J Ed : Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc, NY

Transcribed by Martha A Crosley Graham Pages 240 - 241

 

 

Henry S. Bassett  was born April 21, 1841, in Ingersoll, Oxford, Canada West. His father, Gilbert Bingham Oscar Bassett, was born in Mid­dlebury, Vermont, February 19, 1817, and died June 8, 1878, in Carimona, Fillmore county Minnesota. He was a citizen and subject of the United States at the time of his son's birth. Gilbert Bassett's parents, Elnathan Bassett and Lydia Bassett, were both born in New England of colonial and revolutionary stock. Elnathan's father was a soldier in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and himself a soldier in the United States Army in the War of 1812. Lydia Bassett was the daughter of Daniel A. Buck, of Vermont, who when a mere boy in the Conti­nental Army at the battle of Bennington lost his arm. He was afterwards for many years congressman from that state.

Alary Smith Bassett, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was born in Ancaster, Canada West, August 1, 1816, and died July 29, 1911, at Washtucna, Wash. Her father, Samuel Smith, was born in New Hampshire and was a soldier in the regular army during the War of 1812. Her mother, Luvia Graves Smith, was born in the state of New York. The family of Gilbert and Mary Bassett consisted of six boys and four girls, of whom Henry was the third eldest child. Only four of this family are now living, who in the order of their ages are Henry S. Bassett, of Preston, Minn.; George W. Bassett, of Washtucna, Wash.; Gil­bert B. 0. Bassett, of Helena, Mont., and Samuel S. Bassett, of Spokane, Wash. George married Alice C. Lancaster; Gilbert, Sarah Andrews, and Samuel, Kate Hopp. Caroline A. Bassett, one of the daughters of the family, married John B. Palmer. She died in Carimona, February 9, 1893, leaving surviving her hus­band and four children, C. H. Palmer, of Benchland, Mont., E. L. Palmer, of Preston, Minn.; Virginia Palmer, of Ostrander, Minn., and Fannie Vailer, of Fresno, Cal. Mr. J. B. Palmer and his daughter are now residing in Ostrander, Minn. Mary Bassett, the youngest daughter, married William Harkness, of Walla Walla, Wash. She died in 1900 at Spokane in that state, leaving surviving her husband and four children, William, Charles, Mary and Marjorie Harkness.

Gilbert and Mary Bassett, with their family, then consisting of Henry and two daughters, moved from Canada West in 1844 and settled in Scott County in the territory of Iowa. At that time there was no railway westward out of Chicago and from that point the family made the journey to Rock Island, Ill., by stage and team. The country at that time was new, and few white inhabitants, and these as a general thing cultivated but a few acres, made their own clothing and depended for a living princi­pally upon the wild game, of which there was an abundance. Many Indians were still in the country. There was a trading post or so but no real stores, or mills, or roads in the country and no schools or churches. It was then the western frontier of the States. Though Gilbert Bassett was a printer by trade, he never worked at that business while living in Iowa, but during that time was principally engaged in farming and in mercantile busi­ness and a portion of the time in operating a daily line of four and six horse stages from Dubuque west to Independence in that state, for at that time, 1850-52, there was no railway running west from Dubuque. In 1853 he with his son Henry and a daugh­ter came to Minnesota, then a territory, to look up a location. Late in December of that year the family started in teams from Delhi, Iowa, for Forestville, in Fillmore County, Minnesota, the place selected for the new home. The family was delayed in their journey by cold weather and snow storms for some time in Burr Oak, Iowa, but finally arrived in Forestville on January 4, 1854, where a dwelling had been purchased and a store opened by Mr. Bassett. His son, Henry, then thirteen years old, walked and drove the cows on this journey. Forestville was not then platted as a village. Winona and Brownsville in Minnesota and Decorah, Lansing and McGregor in Iowa, were their nearest market places. After the family settled in Minnesota, Mr. Bassett continued in the mercantile and farming business. A district school was estab­lished in Forestville in 1855 and maintained about half of the time which Henry attended most of the time until December, 1858, when he went to Crawfordsville, Ind., to attend Wabash College, located at that place. Prior to his going to Minnesota he had attended private and district schools to a very limited extent, so when he entered upon his college course his educa­tion it may be said was mostly acquired by his study outside of the schools. He had a good knowledge of frontier life, farm­ing and mercantile business as carried on in a new country, and managing and caring for horses and other stock and was physi­cally strong, active and able to undergo great fatigue and ex­posure. Desiring to obtain a collegiate education, as above stated, he went to Wabash College, where he took up a regular classical course and studied from January, 1859, to early in May, 1861, when, on account of the Civil War then just under way, he returned to his home in Minnesota, in order that he might obtain his father's consent to enlist in the army. He had tried to enlist in Indiana, but being under age and not having his father's consent, the authorities would not accept him. Dur­ing the time he was a student at Wabash College he supported himself by his manual labor, cutting cord-wood, digging ditch, sawing wood, or doing whatever other work came to hand. After his return home he was obliged to delay entering the army until August 4, 1862. But in the meantime he aided his father in his business and taught a school of seventy scholars during the win­ter of 1861 and 1862 in the village of Fillmore. Having helped to raise men enough to form a company he entered the army August 4, 1862. About half of the members of the company were from Fillmore county and half from Houston county. The men rendezvoused at Fort Snelling, where they were organized as Company K in Sixth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, with W. H. Woodward as captain, W. W. Braden, first lieutenant, and H. S. Bassett, second lieutenant. Within a few days after the company was organized and before the different companies composing the regiment could unite, the Indian outbreak on the frontier and the massacre of the white settlers in the western part of the state occurred. Mr. Bassett served with his company in the campaign under General Sibley against the Indians for the relief of Fort Ridgley, the release of the white prisoners and protection of the frontier that year. In 1863 he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and took part that year in the sec­ond campaign against the Indians. During that year he was for some time adjutant at Fort Snelling under Colonel Morgan. In the spring of 1864 the regiment was sent south to IIelena, Ark., where during most of the summer of that year, Lieutenant Bas­sett served as assistant provost-marshal of the district of eastern Arkansas. In the winter of 1864 and 1865 his—regiment was sent to St. Louis, Mo., where, until February, 1865, it was on duty. In that month it was sent to New Orleans and placed in the Sec­ond Brigade of the Second Division of the Sixteenth Army Corps, commanded by Gen. A. J. Smith. Company K, with the regiment in this corps, formed a part of the forces under General Canby in the capture of Spanish Forts, Blakeley and Mobile, and in the campaign against Montgomery, in the spring of 1865. During these campaigns Lieutenant Bassett was in command of his com­pany, its captain being absent on detached service. The com­pany under the command of Lieutenant Bassett returned to the state after the war closed and was mustered out at Fort Snelling, August 19, 1865. Mr. Bassett, after his more than three years' service in the army, was still unwilling to give up his college course. After resting at home for about three months, in Jan­uary, 1866, he entered the University of Wisconsin and again took up his studies. In May he returned to his home in Minne­sota to assist his parents to fit out for their journey to the terri­tory of Montana. His parents and five of their children that month set out from Forestville in teams for Helena, Mont., where they arrived in September, 1866. Henry taught school in the village of Carimona during the fall and winter of 1866 and 1867. In the fall of 1867 he returned to the University of Wisconsin and resumed his studies. A military department had been estab­lished in the university, and at the request of the authorities of that institution he organized the students subject to military drill into companies, drew arms and equipments for them from the state and superintended their drilling and training during the four years he remained in the university thereafter. He not only took up and continued his regular classical course of studies in the university at this time, but also the studies of the civil and military engineering departments, and graduated on June 21, 1871, receiving his diploma and degree from each of the three departments.

 

He returned to his home in Fillmore County and in the fall of 1871, upon the Republican ticket, he was elected probate judge of that county. He continued to hold that office by election from January 1, 1872, to January 1, 1882, when he voluntarily declined to be a candidate for re-election and gave his attention wholly to the practice of law, having been admitted to practice at the bar in 1874. July 12, 1882, he married Mrs. Georgiana A. Smith, at the home of her parents, in Blue Earth County, Minnesota. Mrs. Smith, at the time of her marriage with Mr. Bassett, had one son, Everett R. Smith, who continued to live with them until his mar­riage to Mae O'Brien some years ago, since when he and his wife have lived in their own home adjacent.

 

Mrs. Georgiana A. Bassett, daughter of Rev. R. S. Armstrong, a Congregational minister, was born at Lisbon, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., in 1843, and received her education in the Academy of Potsdam, in that state. She engaged in teaching at the age of seventeen and followed that profession principally until she married Mr. Bassett in 1882. She spent some years in California, crossing the Isthmus of Panama on a pack horse in going to and returning from that country in the early sixties with her husband, Mr. Smith. She and her parents and family came from the state of New York and settled in Minnesota in 1868, where she has resided ever since. Her home has been in Preston in Fillmore County since 1879. She was an able and suc­cessful teacher, enterprising and public spirited and has taken an active part in all educational enterprises of her village, and other matters for the social and moral betterment of her village and the community. For the last fifteen years and more she has given much of her time to horticulture on the home farm, where she lives adjacent to the village of Preston, where she has a fine fruit orchard.

Mr. Bassett was appointed by Governor Johnson judge of probate of Fillmore County, in April, 1907, to fill out the unex­pired term of Judge Farrington, who died while holding that office, and served as such probate judge until January 1, 1909.

 

During his residence in Preston he was for ten years a mem­ber of the board of education of the high school. He has also served the village as mayor and village attorney. Since Decem­ber, 1872, he has been engaged in the study and practice of his profession, the law, in the village of Preston.

 

History of Fillmore County, Minnesota City of Publication: Chicago : 1912

Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn, Authors

Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham – Pages 534 – 538

 

Frank Oachs – Of the well known and successful farmers, of Macsville township, Grant County, is Frank Oachs, who was horn in Mountain Lake, Cottonwood County, Minnesota, on October 7, 1873, the son of Peter and Elizabeth (Stopelman) Oachs, natives of Wisconsin, who left the state of their nativity and came to Minnesota, locating at Mountain Lake, Cottonwood county, where they lived until 1875, when they moved to Blue Earth county, and there purchased forty acres of land, which they later increased to two hundred and twenty acres. That farm was developed and improved by Mr. Oachs and there he engaged in general farming and stock raising until the time of his death, which occurred on August 12, 1914, at the age of sixty-seven years. His widow is still living, at the age of sixty-seven years. They were the parents of eight children: Frank and Emma (twins), John, Ida, Annie, Willie, Edward and Milton, all of whom are living. Mr. Oachs was a man who took much interest in local affairs, and always used his influence for the advancement and the growth of the township and the county. He was a man who was universally honored and respected and his death was mourned by his many friends and neighbors.

 

Frank Oachs received his education in the public schools of Blue Earth County and there grew to manhood on the home farm, assisting his father with the duties of the farm. As a young man he engaged in farming for himself and owned forty acres .of land in Blue Earth county, which he sold in. 1899 and came to Grant county, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 16 of Macsville township. The farm at that time was for the most part wild prairie and required much labor to place it under its present high state of cultivation.. Mr. Oachs set out a beautiful grove and erected substantial buildings, and there, became successfully engaged, in general farming and stock raising. On June 1, 1914, his house burned and in August of the same year he and his family moved into their present beautiful home, which is one of the .most attractive in the community. Mr. Oachs is Republican, has always taken an active interest in local affairs and has been a member of the school board for a number of years. He is progressive in his views, believes in the, support of the. best possible schools and has had much to do with the perfection of the present system in his district.

 

In 1899 Frank Oachs was united in marriage to Jeannette E. Little, who was born in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, May 25, 1873, the daughter of Andrew and Euphemia (Hislop) Little, who were born in. Scotland, and in Janesville, Rock County, -Wisconsin, respectively. - Mr. Little received his education in the public schools of his native country, where he lived until he was eighteen years of age, when he came to the United States and located in Wisconsin. There he was married on June 7, 1865, to Euphemia Hislop, of Janesville. For one year after their marriage -they lived at Red Wing, Goodhue County,, Minnesota, after which they removed to Blue Earth County, where they purchased one hundred and sixty acres, to which they later added forty acres. That farm they -developed and improved and there Mr. Little has since engaged in general farming and stock raising, in which- he has been quite successful. Mr. Little was born on November 6, 1838, and his wife, December 3. 1842, and are both living on their home farm in Blue Earth county. They are the parents of the following children : John I)., Thomas W., Grace I., Euphemia J., Jeannette E. and Agnes C., all of whom are living. Mr. Little has always taken much interest in local affairs and is a man of much influence in his home community. He is the only survivor of six sons born to his parents.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Oachs are the parents of six children, Andrew P., Walter J., Bessie L., Dessie L., Alexander W., and Euphemia. The family have long been prominent in the social activities of the community and are held. in the highest regard by all who know them. Mr. Oachs is recognized as one of the most progressive farmers and stockmen in the county, and though he has been in the county but seventeen years he has won the confidence and the respect of all. He has ever used his influence to further the better and more substantial development of the county.

 

History of Douglas and Grant Counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions

Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1916

Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham - Pages 601 – 603

 

 

Frank Haegle, of Lismore Township, is one of the pioneer settlers of that township, having made his home there nearly thirty years. He is a native of Germany, having been born at Grafenhausen, Baden, on Dec. 14, 1863. He is the son of Joseph and Augusta (Mutschler) Haegle. The father was born in Germany April 27, 1832, and now makes his home with his son in Lismore Township. In the fall of 1907 he visited his old home in Germany, returning the next spring well satisfied with the farming conditions of this country. He enjoys good health and assists in the farm work. The mother was born in Germany in March, 1833, and died in. Nobles County Oct. 18, 1896.

 

The Haegle family emigrated to the United States in 1872 and located at Mankato, where they arrived October 16, with only $80 in their possession. The head of the family rented land near that city and engaged in farming on it four years, working hard during the time he could spare from the farm in the hardwood timber. At the end of the four years he bought an eighty acre tract eight and one-half miles from Mankato, put twenty acres of it into crop, and farmed it two years. Grain and wood were then very cheap on that market, and he concluded that the place was too small and that, as his two boys and one daughter were growing up, he would look for land in some new country.

 

Early in the spring of 1878 Joseph Haegle, accompanied by two other early settlers of Blue Earth County, William Kemach and Robert Heidwinkle, came to Nobles County to look the country over with a view to investing. They traveled over a large part of western Nobles County on foot, as there were no livery rigs to hire. On the first noon out they took lunch by the side of a huge boulder, which stands opposite the farm of Rufus Doe, on the line between Olney and Westside townships. This was the third day of March, 1878. The prairie grass of the year before had just burned off and the country along the Kanaranzi creek looked very rough and bluffy, and Mr. Haegle's companions decided that they would not locate in the country. Twenty-eight years later these two gentlemen again visited the country and expressed their surprise at the wonderful development.

 

Joseph Haegle was not discouraged by the looks of the country, he being a hard working man, and decided to locate. He purchased from Peter Thompson for $300 that gentleman's tree claim to the northwest quarter of section 24, Lismore Township, then nothing but wild prairie land with no improvements. He broke forty acres of land that spring with two horses that he had brought with him and erected the old claim shanty that can be seen today standing in the middle of the yard of the home place. During the months of June and July he erected a frame dwelling house, and in October, of the same year, the family came down from Mankato, locating on the farm which has ever since been the family home.

 

The family was poor when they came to the county, and for some time suffered all the hardships of pioneer life. Forty acres of wheat were planted in the spring of 1879, and when the hoppers came that year they ate it almost to the ground for five rods around the whole forty acres. This was a severe blow to the new arrivals, and for the first few months in 1879 they lived on starvation fare. Their condition was relieved on July 28, 1879, by the arrival of $303, Mrs. Haegle's sham of her father's estate. The family continued to battle with the hardships and in. time came upon prosperous days. There were some well to do homesteaders in the Haegle neighborhood who lost several thousand dollars during the unfortunate time in Nobles county's history. They were discouraged on account of the dry weather and the ravages of the grasshoppers and left the country, and today some of them are in very poor circumstances.

Frank Haegle secured three years' schooling in Germany and three years in the schools of Mankato. Until he was twenty-one years old he lived with his parents. At that age he rented the home farm- and has been engaged in farming since. In 1885 he bought eighty acres of his present farm in section. 13, Lismore, and two years later he bought the other eighty of the quarter.

 

Mr. Haegle was married at Adrian March 10, 1890, to Miss Ida Sieren, who was born eight miles east of Mankato on March 23, 1864. Her father, John Sieren, settled in Blue Earth County in 1856, and resided there until 1902, when he moved to St. James, where he now lives. Mrs. Haegle's mother was Margaret (Wagner) Sieren, who died June 2, 1906. To Mr. and Mrs. Haegle have been born the following children: Mary M., born Oct. 18, 1891; Appalona A., born Nov. 30, 1892; Joseph H., born March 28, 1894; John M., born May 4, 1896; Susan B., born Sept. 12, 1898, died June 2, 1899; Anna K., born April 15, 1900; Rosen% A., born Sept. 10, 1901; Edward M., born Nov. 9, 1903; Francis K., born Sept. 8, 1905. The family are members of the Catholic church of Lismore.

 

An illustrated history of Nobles County, Minnesota 

Rose, Arthur P : City of Publication: Worthington, Minn. :1908

Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham - Pages 456 – 457

 

 

REV. H. F. C. Mueller was born in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, and is one of seven living children born to Rev. Henry Julius and Dora (Dagefoerde) Mueller, the father being one of the pioneer ministers of southwestern Minnesota. On August 7, 191o, the father celebrated the anniversary of his fortieth year in the ministry, at the age of seventy-three, while at Brewster, Minnesota. There was a large attendance of friends and brother clergymen, all of whom marveled at his unusual freshness, youthfulness and vigor. Rev. Henry Fred. Charles Mueller in his early age determined to devote his life to the Master's work. He accordingly was given every opportunity to secure the education necessary for this important labor. He received seven years' parochial school training at Lester Prairie, Minnesota; three years at Concordia College, St. Paul, Minnesota; three years in Concordia College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and three years in Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. In 1904 he was duly ordained to the ministry, and at once took charge of the Lutheran congregation near Kimswick, Jefferson County, Missouri. This he held for three years with much credit to himself and with much benefit to the congregation. At a financial loss to himself he finally gave up this field and accepted the urgent call to come to Stewartville, Minnesota, where there was a broader field of labor and usefulness. Here he has pursued his holy calling ever since and has continued to grow in the hearts of the people. He is a member of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States. On July 6, 1904, he wedded Miss Matilda Hagamann, of Minneapolis, and they have three children: Henry F. W., born December 19, 1905; Renatus T. P., born July 16, 1907; Adelbert C. E., born December 21, 1909.

 

History of Olmstead County, Minnesota
Leonard, Joseph A : Goodspeed Historical Association, Chicago, 1910
Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham - Page 487

 

DR. Elmer H. Argetsinger (1898), a prominent dentist of Pipestone, has been engaged in the practice of his profession in that city since 1898. A native of New York State, Dr. Argetsinger was born the thirteenth of May, 1873. Early in life he accompanied his parents in their removal to Minnesota, the family first settling in the city of Faribault and later establishing themselves at Mapleton, Blue Earth County. Graduating from the dental department of the University of Michigan with the class of 1896, our subject immediately thereafter located in his home town, Mapleton. Two years later Dr. Argetsinger commenced his residence in Pipestone. In 1903 a partnership was formed between Dr. Elmer H. Argetsinger and his brother, Dr. Ernest E. Argetsinger, in the conduct of their profession. Their offices are located over the State Bank of Pipestone.

 

G. W. and Mary Jane (Maricle) Argetsinger, the parents of Dr. Argetsinger, were natives of the Empire state and descended from early colonial stock. The mother died in September, 1907, and since that time G. W. Argetsinger has resided with his daughter at Mapleton, Minnesota. There are ten children in the Argetsinger family, all living. They are George F., of Pipestone; Mrs. John Burgett, of Faribault; Albert H., of Willets, California; Mrs. Joseph Stevens, of Mapleton; Ulysses G., of Mapleton; Norman E., of Oakes, North Dakota; Edward A., of Missoula, Montana; Elmer H., of Pipestone; Ernest E., of Pipestone; and Mrs. E. E. Newcomer, of Minneapolis.

 

On June 29, 1898, Dr. Argetsinger was joined in marriage to Carrie Lawrence, and to this union three children have been born: Genevieve, Elmer Erland and Alfred Glenn. The doctor holds membership in five different branches of the Masonic order, the Blue Lodge, Chapter, Eastern Star, Scottish Right and Shrine, in the Modern Woodmen and the Modern Brotherhood of America. He is a member of the Pipestone Library board.

 

An Illustrated History of Rock & Pipestone Counties, MN

Rose, Arthur P : Northern Publishing Co., Luverne, MN : 1911

Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham – Page 747

 

George F Argetsinger  (1901), a Pipestone contractor and builder, is a native of the Empire state. He was born in Steuben County, New York, January 24, 1860, the son of George W. and Mary J. (Maricle) Argetsinger, both of whom were also New Yorkers by birth.

 

Our subject was fourteen years of age when he moved west with his parents. The family located near Faribault, Rice County, Minnesota, where the father bought land and engaged in farming. After eight years Mr. Argetsinger went to Mapleton, Blue Earth County, where he was destined to reside nineteen years. He followed the building trade and. also was employed in a lumber yard in that town prior to 1901, when he selected Pipestone for his future home and built a  residence in which he has since lived.. Our subject is a member of the Baptist church and of three fraternal orders, the Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen and Sons of Veterans.

 

George F. Argetsinger was married at Mapleton, Blue Earth County, on October 14, 1884, to Ella Bowman, a native of that town.. Mrs. Argetsinger is the daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Dezell) Bowman, natives of New York, and she was born October 14, 1865. The following five children have blessed this union: Elsie E., born October 14, 1885; George Leslie, born March 7, 1887; Mary J., born August 21, 1890; G. Winnifred, born February 20, 1893; and Francis M., born May 9, 1898.

 

An Illustrated History of Rock & Pipestone Counties, MN

Rose, Arthur P : Northern Publishing Co., Luverne, MN : 1911

Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham – Pages 754-755

 

Charles J. Sigmond  (1899), veterinary surgeon of Pipestone, was born in Cook County, Illinois, on the third of February, 1867. His father, Charles Sigmond, was born in Lorraine, Germany, which at the time was French territory. He came as a boy to the United States and settled in Cook County, Illinois, his home until called by death in June, 1869. Mr. Sigmond, Er., served for three years and ten months in •the civil war with company A, Sixteenth Illinois regiment. He married Louisa Goebel, a native of Cook County. To these parents were born three children: Emma (Mrs. Frank Hawkins), of Aberdeen, South Dakota; Charles J., of this sketch; and George A., of Minneapolis. Frank Horton, of Minneapolis, is a half-brother of our subject.

 

Charles was not yet three years of age when he was left fatherless. Several years later the family moved to Minnesota, residing two years in Stearns County, and then went to Hennepin County. He finished his grammar school education in Minneapolis and for a number of years was employed in drug stores of that city. He was graduated from the Ontario Veterinary college of Toronto in March, 1893. Immediately thereafter he located in Duluth for the practice of his profession. A year later he moved to Austin, Minnesota, and remained there until 1899, when he established his present residence in Pipestone.

 

Dr. Sigmond was united in marriage at Mapleton, Blue Earth County, on November 29, 1898, to Anna L. Brooks, a native of Waseca County. Our subject holds membership in the Masonic, Yeomen and Modern Brotherhood of America.

 

An Illustrated History of Rock & Pipestone Counties, MN

Rose, Arthur P : Northern Publishing Co., Luverne, MN : 1911

Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham – Pages 764 – 765

 

David Will, a successful farmer of Huntsville Township, is a native of Wisconsin and came to Polk County in 1882. He was born in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, July 29, 1862, and at an early age removed with his parents to Blue Earth County, Minnesota, where he grew to manhood. On coming to Polk County, he worked at whatever livelihood the country afforded, at Fisher for a time and for several years on the farm of Mr. Gilmour in Nesbit Township. After six years of steady labor he had accumulated a small capital which enabled him to finance a farming enterprise on rented land, where he remained for three years and then bought the quarter section in section two of Huntsville Township, which is his present home. This tract contained no buildings and but a few acres of cultivated land and Mr. Will entered upon his operations under the handicap of debt. He erected buildings and began the development of his property and has worked his way to success through determination and unfailing industry, energetically overcoming failure and discouragement. In the first year he suffered the loss of his crops and for a number of years was able to make but little progress toward prosperity but able management and hard work have brought him to the goal of the successful agriculturist. He later bought eighty acres of railroad land and for many years has rented land and operates two hundred and forty acres aside from the home quarter. He engages principally in grain farming, harvesting some 8,500 bushels in 1915 and also is interested in stock and dairy farming, and selling dairy products to private customers in Grand Forks. Mr. Will is interested in all matters of public moment and community welfare and is a township supervisor. His marriage to Mary Ferguson occurred in 1892. She is the daughter of Donald Ferguson, a farmer in Winona County, Minnesota.

 

Compendium of history and biography of Polk County, Minnesota

Minneapolis: W.H. Bingham & Co., 1916

Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham – Page 314

 

 

Hughes, Thomas, is one of the leading lawyers of Southern Minnesota, and has been practicing his profession in Mankato since 1882. He is a native of Ohio, and was born in Minersville, Meigs County,  September 23, 1854. His father, Henry Hughes, was born in Monmouthshire, South Wales, in 1833, and came to this country in 1851, settling at Minersyille, where, two years later, he was married to Eliza Davis, a native of Cardiganshire, Wales, who had emigrated to this country the same year as her husband. Mr. Hughes moved with his family to Minnesota in October, 1855, and settled on a farm in the present town of Cambria, Blue Earth County, and was one of the first settlers in that section of the state. He retired from his farm in 1889, removing to Mankato, where he now resides in fairly good circumstances. He always took an active interest in all matters of a public nature, has been a leader in local affairs, and held a number of town and school offices. The subject of our sketch enjoyed the best educational advantages the country schools afforded, and when twenty years of age went to Northfield and entered the preparatory department of Carleton College, graduating in the regular classical course in 1880; with first honors. He then took up the study of law in the office of the late Judge F. H. Waite, of Mankato, Minn., and was admitted to the bar in 1882. He farmed a partnership with Mr. M. Z. Willard in 1884 under the firm name of Willard Hughes, which continued until 1887. For the past ten years his brother, Evan Hughes, has been associated with him, but the firm name has been "Thomas Hughes." He enjoys an extensive practice and has the respect of his clients and fellow-members of the bar in a high degree. He has been attorney for the First National Bank of Mankato, the Mankato Mutual Building and Loan Association, and several other corporations, for a number of years. During his practice he has handled a large number of important cases, and with very good success. In 1896 he was elected county attorney of Blue Earth County and was re-elected by a large majority in 1898. His record in that office is acknowledged to have been second to none in the state. In politics he has always been a Republican and a consistent supporter of Republican principles, taking an active interest in the party's welfare. He has been identified with every public enterprise tending to build up and promote the best interests of his adopted city, and has been a director of the Mankato Mutual Building and Loan Association for a number of years. He is also a member of and on the board of directors of the Mankato Board of Trade, is a director of the Y. M. C. A. of that city, and is connected with a number of other associations. The only fraternal organization with which he is connected is the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Congregational Church of Mankato, a trustee and deacon, and superintendent of the Sunday school. November 25, 1885, he was married to Miss Alice O. Hills, daughter of Amos B. and Sybil Hills, of Faribault, Minn. Their union has been blessed with two children, Burton E. and Evan Raymond. Mrs. Hughes is a graduate of Carleton College in the class of 1881.

 

History of the great Northwest and its men of progress  

Minneapolis: Minneapolis Journal, 1901

Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham  - Pages 162 – 163

 

Clark Puffer -  In the afternoon of one's life no greater compensation can be afforded than the sense of having at all times exemplified high and honorable principles, and of having aided to the best of one's ability in the struggle for the betterment of mankind in general. Able to enjoy this consolation, by virtue of a well spent and useful life, Clark Puffer found peace and comfort in his well appointed home at Riverside during the last days of his career. He was born in Tioga county, N. Y., February 6, 1834, into the family home of Timothy and Catherine (Howe) Puffer. He spent his boyhood on his father's farm and attended the common school during the winter months, and later worked as a farm hand on the various farms in his neighborhood. At the age of twenty he went to La Crosse County, Wis., and purchasing eighty acres of land, carried on general farming for some years. After disposing of this land he moved to Blue Earth County, Minn., and four years later we find him in Otoe county, Neb., where he improved a farm and continued farming until 1893, when he disposed of his holdings and moved to Riverside County, Cal., to enjoy the comforts and prosperity of a favored location of which he had heard naught but the highest praise. He purchased twenty acres on the corner of Victoria Avenue and Mary Street, and from that date began its improvement from sage brush and greasewood. He erected a modern house a little later and planted his place to the finest qualities of oranges, which yielded him a handsome profit as they began to come in bearing. He also threw himself into the civic development of his adopted home city and county and never was found to be backward about lending support to every movement brought to his attention that had for its ultimate object the best interests of the citizens and the upbuilding of the city he called home. His one pride was the beautifying of Victoria Avenue and he labored unceasingly towards that end, as all who knew him willingly testify.

 

Mr. Puffer was thrice married. His first wife, Miss Polly A. Gillespie, to whom he was united on May 16, 1857, passed away leaving one son, Jesse C., a well-known resident of Riverside. His second marriage, with Lucy McManus, resulted in the birth of two children: Carroll A., now a resident of Redlands; and Ira J., who died at the age of twenty-four years. Mrs. Lucy Puffer died in Riverside and left to mourn her passing a large circle of friends who had been drawn to her for her many kindnesses shown during her residence in the city. In April, 1899, in San Bernardino, occurred the last marriage of Mr. Puffer and united him with Mrs. Mary (McAlpin) Krahl. Together they labored to make a happy and comfortable home in their declining years. Mr. Puffer passed away after a short illness, April 21, 1912, leaving to mourn his death his widow and his two sons, Jesse C. and Carroll A. Never robust, yet he was possessed of an energy and courage that were displayed many times, a kindly consideration for others was always uppermost in his mind and he never neglected the opportunity to assist his more unfortunate fellowman. At all times he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all with whom he came in contact. He was a Republican in political belief and gave his hearty support to the party at all times. As a member of the Christian Church of Riverside his religious life was both serene and practical.

 

History of Riverside County, California   

Holmes, Elmer Wallace : Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic Record Co., 1912

Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham – Pages 423 – 424

 

Paul Riedel (1898) established the first meat market in the village of Magnolia. At present he is engaged in farming and lives on the southeast quarter of section 12, Magnolia Township. Germany is his native land, and it was in Zechin on the tenth of February, 1867, that he was born. He is the son of William and Emelia (Zimmerman) Riedel. The father was a prominent merchant and trader in his hometown.

 

The first eighteen years of Paul Riedel's life were spent as a subject of the Kaiser, and in the fatherland he secured his education. In 1885 he crossed the Atlantic and made his first home in the new world at Mapleton, Minnesota, with an uncle. For a number of years he hired out on different farms in that vicinity, and in 1890 he entered the employ of a butcher, from whom he learned the trade. In 1892 he removed to St. Clair, Blue Earth County, where for two years he managed a shop for Charles Dumbeck. Abandoning the meat business for a while, he worked as a carpenter until 1898, the date of his arrival to Rock County. He made Magnolia his home, and there he conducted a meat market for the next four years. At the end of that time he disposed of his business and moved to the farm where, he still resides.

 

At St. Clair, Minnesota, Mr. Riedel was united in marriage to Eda Kohler. Two sons and one daughter have blessed this union. The children were born as follows: Willie, on December 17, 1895 (died the following September); Flossie M., on September 27, 1897; and Otto W., on Independence day, 1898 (died at the age of eight years). Mr. Riedel is a member of the Modern Woodmen lodge.

 

An Illustrated History of Rock & Pipestone Counties, MN

Rose, Arthur P : Northern Publishing Co., Luverne, MN : 1911

Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham – Pages 578 – 579

 

Hoerr, John, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, February 6, 185o, and is the son of William and Elizabeth Hoerr. After graduating from the Polytechnical School at Carlsruhe, Germany, at the age of eighteen, he immigrated to the United States in 1868, landing in New York City, and later locating in Mankato, Minnesota. There he was first employed as clerk in the county treasurer's office of Blue Earth County, where he remained two years. In 1871 he located in New Ulm, Minnesota, and engaged in business on his own account as manufacturer of and wholesale dealer in mineral waters. In September, 1872, he located in Denison, Texas, and engaged in similar business also in Dallas, Hempstead and Austin, which he conducted ten years. In 1882 he disposed of his mineral water interests in Texas and located in St. Louis, Missouri, and engaged in the manufacture of a proprietary article known as Phosphatic Lemon Rye, Which business he conducted five years. In 1887 he engaged, in St. Louis, in the manufacture and sale of what is known as Condensed Phosphorus Water, with branch stores in Boston, Massachusetts, New York City, Altoona, Erie and Williamsport, Pennsylvania ; Corning and Rochester, New York ; Chillicothe and Springfield, Ohio ; Thomaston, Connecticut, and other cities. Condensed Phosphorus Water is a specific for rheumatism, gout, indigestion, liver and kidney disorders. Mr. Hoerr is a Republican in politics and independent in religious views. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. He married Miss Mary Bergman, of New Ulm, Minnesota, January 9, 1875. They have six living children—Louis A. Hoerr, Henry W. Hoerr, Esther Hoerr, John Hoerr, Jr., Arthur. Hoerr, and Roland Milton Hoerr.

 

Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis

New York: Southern History Co., Haldeman, Conard & Co., Proprietors, 1899

Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham – Page 1035

 

 

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