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Allamakee County >> 1913 Index Past and Present of Allamakee County Iowa B Unless otherwise specified, these biographies are submitted by Dick Barton. E. E. BAKKUM submitted by Mary Beth Eldridge In the rich fertile agricultural state of Iowa there is no section more fertile than that of Allamakee County, and in that county no farm which bespeaks more thorough methods or returns better yields than that of E. E. Bakkum, who farms 190 acres in Center Township. Son of a pioneer who was born on the farm his father settled on February 5, 1861 , a son of Erick Bakkum. E. E. Bakkum attended district schools, Waukon school and completed training at Breckenridge Institute in Decorah. He learned agri cultural methods from his father, who when he was old enough, gave him 150 acres where he made valuable improvements with modern machinery. His farming included grain raising and livestock. He was successful and added 40 acres later. He married Miss Isabelle Sevatson, daughter of Severt Sevatson. He had five children— Ida K, Melinda G., Selma T., Egbert R., and Emily I. They were members of the Lutheran Church . Political alliance to the Republican party. He was interested in education and served as school director. Of an old pioneer family, he has preserved the family tradition by a worthy career and is highly respected and esteemed in community, enjoying the confidence and good- will of all who know him. H. E. BAKKUM submitted by Mary Beth Eldridge H. E. Bakkum was born on the farm on which he now resides on January 9, 1856 and is to be numbered among the more substantial agriculturists of Center township, where he owns a valuable farm of 174 acres. He is the son of Erick Bakkum a native of Norde Land , Norway who camp to the U. S. in 1851, after spending 1 year in Rock County , Wisconsin . In 1852 he located on the land upon which his son now resides. He first acquired title to 80 acres of wild land, where he erected a log shanty in which the family lived until 1869, when his present home was built. The father added to the land from time to time until he was able to give each of (his) sons a good sized farm. He was prominent in his locality and highly esteemed, passing away on May 23, 1897 . He had married Miss Gunel Engen, who passed away on the farm about 13 years later then her husband on June 1, 1910 . The parents were members of the Lutheran Church and the father gave support to the Republican Party. In their family there were 6 children. Andrew E. of Paint Creek Twp.; Sophia the deceased wife of Peter Paulson; Carrie Martha, who died at the age of 18; H. E., our subject Hannah Orogsett, deceased and E. E. of Center Twp. H. E. Bakkum was reared under the parental roof and grounded by his parents in the old fashioned virtues of honesty and industry. In the acquirement of his education he attended the district schools and early began to assist his father with the work on the farm. He has always remained at home and subsequently came into possession of the old farm residence and 174 acres of land. He has done much towards improving this property. He has installed modern machinery and implements and in every way has increased the yield of his land. In Allamakee Co. Mr. Bakkum was united in marriage to Mis Matilda Ericson, who was born in this county and is a daughter of Andrew Ericson. They have four children: Gusta, Annette, Eilert, and Eleanor. Mr. and Mrs. Bakkum are members of the United Lutheran Church and his political allegiance is given to the Republican Party. While Mr. Bakkum has attained individual prosperity he has never lost sight of the general welfare and has done as much as any other citizen in promoting worthy public enterprises. He enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who know him and is considered a serviceable factor in his community. H. R. BAKKUM submitted by Mary Beth Eldridge H. R. Bakkum, well known agriculturist in Center Township , Allamakee County , was born on the farm he now owns and is of Norwegian stock. His father Andrew A. Bakkum, native of Norde Land , Norway , came to America when young locating in Allamakee County in 1852 or 53. Bought 120 acres of wild land, erected a log house and later a brick house, which still stands. He spent all his active life in agricultural pursuits and died highly respected at the age of 78 years. He was married in Allamakee County to Miss Bertha Reiarson, native of Norway . They had six children—Mrs. Olans Peterson of Swift County, Minn., H. R., C. M. of Ulen Minnesota, Albert of Kerkhoven, Minn., G. A. of Fosston, Minn., and Hannah Gilbertson of Makee Twp., Allamakee County. H. R. Bakkum was reared under the parental roof, attended schools in the neighborhood of their homestead. He assisted his father with farm work. He came into possession of the home farm and owned cultivated 162 acres in section 30. He was prosperous and made many improvements. In Allamakee County , Mr. Bakkum united in marriage to Carrie M. Larson, daughter of Ammund Larson of Makee Twp. Three children were born to them— Arnold, Roy, and William. They were Republicans, and of Lutheran denomination. He was school director and interested in education. He was public spirited and progressive in his tendencies and the success which has come to him is but the natural outcome of incessant energy and industry and is highly merited. Upon
the roll of Allamakee county's honored dead appears the name of
Nils Bottolson, who was numbered among the best known pioneers in Taylor
township and a man who in promoting his individual interests made many
substantial contributions to the general growth and development.
He was
born in Nordrehang presteggeld-benefice-Ringerige, Norway, June 22,
1826, and is a son of Bottolf and Martha.
He grew to manhood in his
native country and there acquired his education, crossing the Atlantic
at the age of twenty-four years.
He made the journey with his parents
and his sister Karen, who later became Mrs. Knute Steen, and the party
embarked at Drammen, Norway, May 30, 1850, on a sailing vessel.
They
arrived at New York city seven weeks later and went by canal and
steamboat to Milwaukee and by post horses to Beloit, Wisconsin.
In
the fall of the same year Nils Bottolson came on foot to Allamakee
county, Iowa, where he settled in pioneer times, sharing with the other
early settlers the privations and hardships incident to life in the
wilderness.
He remained an honored and respected resident of this
locality until his death and bore a worthy and honorable part in the
work of upbuilding, facing the stern and hard conditions of his life
with confidence and courage and steadily carrying forward the work of
improving and developing his farm.
He joined Ole Larson in the purchase
of a breaking team of four yoke of oxen and with this broke the
tenacious blue joint sod and prepared his land for cultivation.
His
efforts were finally crowned with success and with the passing years he
prospered materially, adding to his holdings from time to time and
becoming the owner of an extensive acreage, his land lying on section 7,
Taylor township.
Upon this property he passed away July 23, 1912, at
the age of eighty-six years, and his death deprived the township of a
worthy, valuable and useful citizen as well as an honored pioneer.
On
the 7th of November, 1856, Mr. Bottolson was united in marriage to
Miss Maren Lovise Larson-Sjellebek, and they became the parents of a
daughter, Mrs. O. H. Monserud.
Mrs. Bottolson survives her husband and
is well and favorably known in Taylor township, where her many excellent
qualities of mind and character have gained for her an extensive circle
of friends.
In
the early days of his settlement in Allamakee county Mr. Bottolson
became affiliated with the democratic party, and the Allamakee journal,
espousing also the doctrines of that organization, was for more than
thirty years his news medium.
He was a Lutheran in religious belief and
during his active years regularly attended the divine services in the
United Lutheran church of Center township, never vacillating in
religious or political matters.
A biographer writing of him at the time
of his death says:
"I
have never heard my early friend and comrade speak an ill word of any
person nor have I heard a word spoken derogatory to his moral worth.
He
was possessed of a God-given boon, a genial and equable temperament and
never allowed himself to be ruffled by adverse fate.
He held himself
aloof from base and profane language but instead spoke kindly words and
had a pleasing was of expressing himself.
In his dealings with his
fellowmen he was scrupulously honest and upright and his word proved
better than gold as it did not tarnish.
He was a kind and desirable
neighbor, always ready when called on for aid.
He was of a robust and
healthy physique and endurance in labor, never evincing signs of fatigue
in creating wealth that other generations may enjoy comforts and
advantages that the early settlers had not in their ceaseless toil and
drudgery.
He preferred the company and relationship of laborers and
mingled principally with those who 'ate their bread by the sweat of
their brow;' was a benefactor to the needy in giving employment to them
on his extensive land possessions and none ever left his doors penniless
or hungry.
"The
remembrance of his life of usefulness and many good deeds while
incarnate - his honest features were met by us all - will live longer in
the hearts of the Paint Creek prairie's people than monuments of
chiseled granite or molded bronze, for he was truly a good man and a
good man is better and more desirable than a great man - in this life as
well as the next."
John
Brennan, now retired, though for many years a representative and
prosperous farmer of Paint Creek township, owns eighty acres of valuable
land on section 34.
He was born in County Carlow, Ireland, in December,
1841, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (McDonald) Brennan, also natives
of the Emerald isle.
John Brennan spent his early life in his native
country and as a young man emigrated to the United States with his
parents.
He settled first in Wisconsin, where he engaged in various
occupations, spending great deal of time in railroading, and in 1861 he
enlisted from that state for service in the Civil war.
He spent four
years as a member of Company D, Sixth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry,
reenlisting at the expiration of his first term as a member of the same
company and regiment.
He was with the Army of the Potomac and took part
in all the engagements in which his regiment participated, these
including some of the most important and hotly contested battles of the
Civil war.
He was on the field at Gettysburg and attended the fiftieth
anniversary of that engagement.
After
the close of hostilities Mr. Brennan returned to Wisconsin and
there remained until 1873, when he came to Allamakee county, Iowa,
purchasing his present farm.
This was at that time slightly improved,
the buildings being all of logs, and through the passing years he
steadily carried forward the work of development, erecting a modern
residence and excellent barns and outbuildings.
Of late years he has
rented his land and lives in retirement, his leisure rewarding an
active, honorable and useful life.
At
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, July 12, 1867, Mr. Brennan was united in
marriage to Miss Elizabeth Johnson, a native of Ireland and a daughter
of Robert and Catherine (Chogren) Johnson.
Mr. and Mrs. Brennan have
one daughter, Mary, who is now the wife of M. J. Hart, of Waterville.
They are devout members of the Roman Catholic church and Mr. Brennan is
a democrat in his political beliefs, taking an active and intelligent
interest in community affairs without being an office seeker.
He is
widely known in Paint Creek township, where he has resided for forty
years, and his substantial characteristics have gained for him the warm
regard and unqualified trust of his fellow citizens.
In
pioneer times the Bryson family was founded in Iowa and ever since
the name has stood as a synonym for integrity, honesty and steadfastness
of purpose combined with a determination and energy which always result
in success.
From 1851 until his death John Scott Bryson remained an
active and honored citizen of Paint Creek township and through the years
of an active and honorable business career he commanded the respect and
enjoyed the confidence and good-will of all with whom he came in
contact.
His work formed an important element in the development and
upbuilding of this section of the state, his life measured up to the
full standard of upright manhood in all things and his death deprived
Allamakee county of one of the earliest and greatest of her pioneers.
John
Scott Bryson was born in Dundee, Scotland, June 13, 1831, and was a
son of James Bryson and a grandson of Alexander M. Bryson, natives of
Redgorton, Braehead, Perthshire, Scotland, the former born August 26,
1802.
The family is of ancient origin and its history is definite as
far back as 1700.
When James Bryson, the father of our subject, was
seven years of age he was left an orphan and dependent upon his own
resources.
As a boy he herded cattle and sheep in Perthshire, later
becoming errand boy for a fashionable lady and still later obtaining
employment in the linen and woolen mills of his native country.
On the
1st of March, 1824, he married Miss Margaret Scott and in April, 1835,
the family emigrated to America, settling in Canada on the St. Clair
river.
There the father took up two hundred acres of dense timber land
and after enduring great hardships and privations founded a home, in
which they continued to reside until 1840, when they removed to the
United States, settling in Thompsonville, Connecticut, where the father
and children obtained employment in the factory of the Thompsonville
Carpet Company.
After nine years they removed to Rock county,
Wisconsin, but a year later went to Auburn, New York, where they again
worked in a factory.
In April, 1850, the family again started west and
in May of the same year landed from a horse ferryboat on the west side
of the Mississippi river at McGregor's Landing, Iowa, a state which had
been their objective point for several years.
On the 11th of May, 1851,
they settled in what is now Paint Creek township, Allamakee county, the
father taking up land on sections 17 and 18 and developing there a
profitable and productive farm.
This property he sold in 1866 and
removed to Elgin, Illinois, but after one year returned to Paint Creek
township, continuing to reside here until his death.
The mother died on
the 1st of September, 1873, and the father passed away at the home of
his son, John Scott, November 30, 1889.
Both the Brysons and Scotts
were representatives of old Scotch families and for generations were all
church members and good Christian people.
John
S. Bryson was twenty years of age when he came with the family to
Allamakee county and amid pioneer conditions then prevailing he spent
his early manhood, assisting in clearing, improving and developing a new
farm and beginning a career in this state which, always intimately
connected with the interests of this section, has been one of the
greatest individual forces in its upbuilding.
Working together, he and
his brother each secured good farms, the subject of this review
acquiring one hundred and sixty acres on section 17, where his widow and
children now reside.
Upon this property he carried on the work of
improvement for many years, developing it from a raw tract into a
productive farm, and he continued to reside upon it until his death,
which occurred on the 1st of July, 1905.
Each year of his life
witnessed his increasing success, for he understood farming in principle
and detail and worked earnestly and steadfastly in the cultivation of
his holdings, prosperity steadily attending his well directed labors.
He became known as one of the prosperous and substantial farmers of the
county but was not interested in wealth as an end in itself.
He was
more especially interested in the development of his township, where he
built the first mill and aided in the establishment of other equally
necessary institutions, and his cooperation could always be counted upon
to further projects and movements for community advancement.
Until 1894
he made all the reports to the Iowa Agricultural Society and for the
agricultural department at Washington from the time it was organized
until 1900.
For twenty years he helped settle estates as guardian,
trustee, administrator and executor, accomplishing a great deal of
important work and bringing to a final settlement over twenty-six large
estates.
He was never known to take advantage of the interests of his
fellowmen in any business transaction and he had great respect and
sympathy for those in distress or trouble.
A
man of excellent moral character, Mr. Bryson was an earnest worker in
the cause of temperance and, having taken the pledge himself when he was
twelve years of age, faithfully kept it until his death.
He remained
almost continuously upon his farm but in 1892 made a trip to the Pacific coast,
visiting relatives there and returning in the following year by
way of Winnipeg, Canada.
Before his death he published a book of one
hundred and seventy-five pages containing the history of the Bryson,
Scott and allied families, spending many years and no small amount of
money in collecting the material for the volume, which was widely
circulated among his friends and relatives.
For a man of limited
education and no other experience in that kind of work this was a very
able effort and is highly prized by those who own a copy as a valuable
contribution to Allamakee county's history.
On
the 11th of January, 1865, Mr. Bryson married Miss Tilda C. Rema, who
came to this county with her parents in 1851, and they reared a family.
Mr.
Bryson was an active religious worker, helping to organize the
Sabbath school in Paint Creek township and acting as superintendent and
class leader for a number of years.
He gave his political allegiance to
the republican party and was an unsuccessful candidate for the state
legislature, consenting to make the race merely to help the ticket,
knowing that the democratic majority was too large to overcome.
However, he held various other positions of trust and responsibility,
never seeking to evade the obligations of citizenship and serving with
credit and distinction as township clerk and secretary of the school
board.
He was public-spirited and loyal in all matters of citizenship,
taking a deep interest in the advancement and progress of the section to which
he came as a pioneer, and thus it was that in his passing
Allamakee county lost one of its
most representative and valued
citizens.
E.
M. Busness is a worthy representative of one of the honored pioneer
families of Allamakee county.
He was born in Paint Creek township,
October 9, 1870, a son of Ole O. and Martha (Djonne) Busness, both of
whom were natives of the province of Hardanger, Norway.
The family home
was established in Allamakee county in 1859, and here the father engaged
in farming throughout his active business career and passed away here in
1908, when he lacked but a few days of having reached the eightieth
anniversary of his birth.
The mother departed this life in the same
year. In their family were seven children, as follows:
Olena, a native
of Norway and now the wife of Harold Hanson, of Paint Creek township;
Julia, who was also born in Norway and is now the wife of O. N. Hegg, of
Lansing, this county;
Caroline, who was born in Allamakee county and is
the wife of Bernt Michelson, of Clear Lake, South Dakota;
H. J., who is
engaged in farming in Paint Creek township;
Nels, who resides in Fort
Dodge, Iowa;
and Mrs. J. M. Anderson, also of Paint Creek township; and
E. M., of this review.
E.
M. Busness acquired his education in the district school near his
home and during the periods of vacation he was trained to the work of
the farm.
He remained under the parental roof until he had reached the
age of twenty years, when he spent two years in Pipestone, Minnesota.
He subsequently returned to Allamakee county, working for two years for
his brother on the old homestead.
He then farmed for himself, renting
land for several years, but about six years ago, in partnership with his
brother-in-law, O. N. Hegg, of Lansing, he purchased one hundred and
forty acres of well improved land on section 13, Paint Creek township,
which was known as the old Peter Pederson farm.
Here he has since been
engaged in general farming and is meeting with well deserved success in
his undertakings.
Mr.
Busness was married in this county April 15, 1895, the lady of his
choice being Miss Matilda Anderson, a daughter of Martin Anderson, who
is mentioned elsewhere in this work.
Mrs. Busness was born in Jefferson
township, this county, and by her marriage has become the mother of six
children,
Alice,
Esther,
Elmer,
Clarence,
Gladys and Lester.
Mr.
Busness had always given his political support to the republican
party and he and his family are members of the East Paint Creek Synod
church.
He is an honest and industrious man and fully merits the esteem
which is accorded him by his neighbors and friends.
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