Lyon County Biographies
"An Illustrated History of Lyon County"
Below are biographies from the 1912 "An Illustrated History of Lyon County".
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*The date in parentheses following the name of each subject is the year of arrival to Lyon county.
GARY J. WIMER (1883) is the proprietor of a drug store in Minneota and one of that village's pioneer business men, having been engaged in business there nearly thirty years. During his long residence in Minneota Mr. Wimer has taken an active part in the affairs of his village and community, having served as president of the Village Council and held other offices of trust.
Mr. Wimer descends from two old American families who established residence in the colonies prior to the American Revolution. His paternal grandfather, John Wimer, was born in Maryland in 1785. His maternal great-grandfather, Daniel Ansley, came from England before the war and served in the American Army under General Washington, taking part in several engagements with the British forces commanded by his brother.
The parents of our subject, Thomas R. and Melinda A. (Ansley) Wimer, were both born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania. After their marriage, they moved to Granville, Ohio, where the former studied for the ministry and was later ordained as a Baptist minister. He enlisted in the Forty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Company I, of which regiment he was a hospital steward arid later chaplain. He died while taking part in Sherman's march to the sea and was buried in the National Cemetery in Georgia. Mrs. Wimer resides in Dayton, Pennsylvania. They were the parents of the following three children: Gary J., of this sketch; Ida M. (Mrs. Thomas J. Starr), of Kittanning, Pennsylvania; Thomas H., who died in Marshall April 17, 1907.
To these parents Gary J. Wimer was born October 6, 1854, in Indiana county, Pennsylvania. Gary spent his boyhood days at home and attended school, fitting himself for a teacher. He attended the Dayton and Glade Run Academies one term each and spent two summers in the State Normal School in-Indiana county. He then taught a number of years in Pennsylvania and one year in Kansas. He spent the winter of 1881 studying medicine, and the next year, in company with his brother, Thomas H., he purchased a drug store at Plumville, Pennsylvania. A year later the brothers sold out and moved to Minneota, where they purchased a drug store. In the meantime, our subject was teaching school and studying pharmacy through correspondence with the National Institute of Pharmacy, from which he was graduated.
The Wimer brothers conducted the store in partnership two years. Then Gary purchased his brother's interest and has conducted the store alone since. He has one of the largest drug stores in the county and carries a complete, up-to-date stock. He also has other interests. He is a stockholder and a director of the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Minneota, owns a farm in Yellow Medicine county, and a quarter section of land in Kanabec county, Minnesota. He has been a school officer of Minneota for the past twelve years and has served as justice
of the peace. Mr. Wimer is a member of the Masonic and Modern Woodmen lodges.
Mr. Wimer was married near Frostburg, Maryland, June 23, 1886, to Alice M. Durst, a native of that state and a daughter of Michael Durst, who settled near Marshall in grasshopper days. Michael Durst returned to his native state and a number of years later came back to Minnesota and died at the home of his son near Preston, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Wimer are the parents of the following named five children: June L., Eva F., Leon A., Homer E. and Alice C. Their daughter June L. attended Carleton College and is now a music teacher; Eva F. is a school teacher and also attended Carleton College; Leon A. is a student in the Pharmacy Department of Highland Park College, of Des Moines, Iowa.
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LUDVIG E. LARSON (1876), who owns and farms the southeast quarter of section 18, Lucas township, has lived in Lyon county since he was three years of age. He is a prosperous farmer and has taken a leading part in the affairs of his community.
His parents, Haldor and Engel Marie (Anderson) Larson, were born in Norway in 1849, came to the United States when children, and were married in Wisconsin. They came to Lyon county in 1876 and homesteaded the farm now owned by their son. The mother died on the homestead in the spring of 1880 and the father two years later. There are two other children in the family, Theodore, of Broderick, Saskatchewan, Canada, and Bergene (Mrs. Julius Anderson), of Tacoma, Washington.
Ludvig was born in Jackson county, Wisconsin, July 28, 1873. He came to Lyon county with his parents in 1876 and until their deaths made his home with them.
Thereafter until he was thirteen he lived with an uncle, John Anderson, and two years after that with another uncle, George Anderson. At the age of fifteen he began to make his own way in the world and has since been farming except for a time when he worked at the livery and dray business and in a hardware store in Cottonwood.
The homestead had remained in the family and in the spring of 1896 Ludvig and his brother began its cultivation. The partnership continued until 1911, when our subject purchased his brother's interests and became sole owner of the farm. All the improvements the farm has were made by the brothers.
Mr. Larson was one of the organizers of school district No. 89 and he has been clerk of the district since its organization. He served as assessor of his township two years and was a member of the township board four years, three years as its chairman. He is now serving his second term as township clerk. He and his family are members of the United Lutheran church. Mr. Larson was married in Cottonwood November 28, 1895, to Amelia A. Roberts, who was born in Yellow Medicine county February 13, 1876. Her father is Louis Dibble, but she was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. John Roberts. Mr. Larson and his wife have eight children, named as follows: Harvard Eugene, born October 29, 1896; Alfred Leslie, born March 10, 1898; Amy Luella, born July 5, 1900; Hazel Eunice, born March 15, 1903; Edward Ludvig, born February 20, 1905; Walter John, born March 6, 1907; Mildred Ruth, born February 14, 1909; Elfreda Marie, born December 18, 1911.
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MRS. C. A. JOHNSON (1878) is the widow of Charles A. Johnson. She has lived in Lyon county thirty-four years and resides on the old homestead, the northwest quarter of section 2, Coon Creek township.
Mrs. Johnson was born in Vallers, Norway, September 28, 1850, the daughter of Nels and Mary (Olson) Nelson, both of whom died in this country. Miss Betsey Nelson attended school in her native country until sixteen years of age and then, in 1866, accompanied her parents to America. The family located in Winona county, Minnesota, and there two years later Miss Nelson became the wife of Charles A. Johnson, the date, of the marriage being October 22, 1868.
Charles A. Johnson was born in Stockholm, Sweden, May 4, 1840. At the age of twelve years he came to America, spent two years in Chicago, and then until the outbreak of the war resided in Winona county, Minnesota. He enlisted in 1861 in the First Minnesota Light Artillery and served three years and nine months in the service. After the war Mr. Johnson again settled in Winona county, bought land there, and farmed until
moving to Lyon county in 1878. He took a homestead in Coon Creek township and engaged in farming continuously until his death on July 25, 1908.
Since the death of her husband Mrs. Johnson has made his home on the farm, which is conducted by her sons, Carl and Harry. They raise Jersey and Shorthorn cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs. The family owns 250 acres of land in Coon Creek. Mrs. Johnson has stock in the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company.
Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, as follows; Mary Ann, born September 14, 1869; Emma, born May 25, 1872, died May 11, 1908; Lillie, born February 19, 1878; John, born December 17, 1580; Carl, born February 20, 1885; Oscar, born May 8, 1886, died May 10, 1901; Harry, born March 24, 1892.
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ARTHUR FREESE (1879), of Lake Marshall township, was born in Sibley county. Minnesota, November 15, 1872. His parents were Henry and Sarah (Schmidt) Freese. The latter died in May, 1911, and the former resides in Lyon county part of the year, spending the winters in California. Arthur attended the Marshall schools until twenty years of age, after which he worked for his father on the farm nine years.
In 1902 he purchased from his father the southeast quarter of section 7, Lake Marshall township, where he has resided continuously since. In 1910 he erected a fine residence on his farm and in 1911 a fine barn. Mr. Freese is chairman of the Township Board of Supervisors, to which he was elected in March. 1911, and was a member of the board previous to that time. He was road overseer in Lake Marshall township several years. He holds membership in the Masonic lodge of Marshall. In addition to farming, Mr. Freese raises considerable stock, including full-blooded Shorthorn cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs. He makes a specialty of selling-blooded stock for breeding purposes.
On October 12, 1910, occurred the marriage of Mr. Freese to Minnie E. Mellenthin, a daughter of August and Anna Mellenthin. Mrs. Freese was born November 12, 1885, in Lynd township. She is the second of a family of three children.
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BJORN B. GISLASON (1879) is a lawyer and real estate dealer of Minneota and has lived in Lyon county for the past thirty-three years. He was county attorney in 1905 and 1906. Mr. Gislason is a native of Iceland and was born May 29, 1873, coming to Lyon county with his parents in 1879 and locating in Westerheim township. He is a son of Bjorn and Adalborg (Johnson) Gislason. The former died in July, 1906, aged seventy-nine years; Mrs. Gislason resides on the old home place with her son, J. B. Gislason. They are the parents of nine children, six boys and three girls, as follows: Eyjolfur Bjorason (Mrs. John Snidal), of Westerheim township; Olive and Walter, of Badger, Minnesota; John B., Mrs. S. J. Holm, Bjorn B., Haldor B., a teacher in the University of Minnesota; and Ami B.
Bjorn made his home with his parents on the farm for several years, attending the country schools, the Minneota schools and the Marshall High School. He served in the Spanish-American War, in Company A, Thirteenth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and saw service in the Philippines, his regiment participating in thirty-two engagements.
After his discharge from the army Mr. Gislason again took up his studies, graduating in 1900 from the Law Department of the University of Minnesota. After his graduation from the university Mr. Gislason located in Lake Benton and practised his profession for one and a half years. He
then moved to Minneota, where he has since been engaged in the practice of law. In
1900 he assisted in the organization of the Globe Land and Loan Company, capitalized at $50,000. This is one of Minneota's principal enterprises, the firm doing a thriving business. In 1900 its land sales amounted to half a million dollars. There are two branch offices, one at Elbow Lake and one
at Badger, Minnesota. The law firm has been conducted under the name of Gislason & Gislason since January, 1911, when our subject admitted A. B. Gislason. The subject of this review is a member of the Masonic, Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen lodges.
Mr. Gislason was married in Minneapolis October 7, 1904, to Joan T. Peterson, a native of Iceland. They have three children, Bjorn B., Rose and Harry Sidney Payson.
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JOHN J. LAUDENSLAGER (1877), of Marshall, is one of the oldest business men of that city, having conducted a saloon there for the past thirty-five years. Besides his saloon business he engages extensively in the ice business with his son, Richard S. He and his sons own 400 acres of Lyon county real estate and he owns his residence in the city, the ice houses with twenty-seven acres of land, and other lots.
John Laudenslager was born in Gratz. Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, August 24. 1845, and resided there until he was sixteen years of age. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Fiftieth Pennsylvania Regiment, at Harrisburg, and served a two-year enlistment. He located at St. Paul in 1863 and re-enlisted in Company A, Fifth Minnesota, and served as a member of that regiment until the close of the war. He took part in the battles of Gettysburg, the second battle of Bull Run and Fredericksburg and participated in the campaigns in Missouri and Tennessee.
After the war Mr. Laudenslager located at New Ulm, Minnesota, to which place his parents had in the meantime removed, and there he resided until 1875, engaged in the saloon business. He settled in Winona and conducted a saloon and hotel until burned out two years later. He lost everything he had in the fire and moved to Marshall in 1877 with just $2.00 to his name. Until February, 1878, he tended bar in a Marshall saloon, and the next month he engaged in the saloon business on his own account in a little shack on the site he now occupies, the building being destroyed by fire in November, 1892. He built his present building in 1893. Soon after locating in Marshall he engaged in the ice business in a small way, the beginning of his present prosperous business. Mr. Laudenslager's son Charles conducts the saloon and his son Richard S. is his partner in the ice business. Mr. Laudenslager is a member of D. F. Markham Post, G. A. R.
Our subject comes from an old Pennsylvania family of English origin. The parents, Jonas and Sarah (Smith) Laudenslager, were born in Pennsylvania and their ancestors had lived there for several generations. The family located at New Ulm, Minnesota, on January l. 1863, only a few months after the town had been attacked during the Sioux War, and both parents lived there until their deaths. Mrs. Laudenslager died June 11, 1872, the anniversary of both her birth and marriage. Jonas Laudenslager was a prominent citizen of New Ulm. He was probate judge of Brown county several years and was one of those instrumental in the organization of the first Lutheran church in the city. He died at New Ulm in 1899.
In the Laudenslager family were thirteen children, of whom the following named eight are living: Harry, John J., Wilhelmina (Mrs. Conrad Hamm), of St. Paul; Elizabeth (Mrs. Richard Pferle), of New Ulm; Mary (Mrs. Peter Penning), of New Ulm; Sarah (Mrs. Tobias Pferle), of New Ulm; Jonas, of St. Paul; Riley (Mrs. John Sigler), of Brookings, South Dakota.
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ARNE SWENNES (1875) owns and farms 400 acres of land in Eidsvold township and Burton township, Yellow Medicine county, the home place being the southeast quarter of section 2. He has been a resident of Lyon county thirty-eight years and is rated as one of the substantial farmers of his township.
Mr. Swennes was born in Nordre Amdal, Vallers, Norway, September 10, 1S58, and in June, 1870, he came with his parents to America. The family lived in Walworth county, Wisconsin, five years and came to Lyon county in 1875. The northwest quarter of section 2, Eidsvold township, was taken as a homestead, and on that farm Arne lived with his parents twenty-five years.
In 1900 Mr. Swennes moved to his present farm, which he had purchased eight years before. He built a home on the place, otherwise improved it, and has since resided there. With the help of his five sons he farms his entire holdings. During the Alliance and Peoples Party days Mr. Swennes took a prominent part in local politics. He has held several township and school offices.
On the old homestead in Eidsvold, on June 8, 1892, Mr. Swennes was united in marriage to Effie A. Doane. She was born in Pepin county, Wisconsin, June 16, 1870. Mr. and Mrs. Swennes have five sons, Sidney, Olaf, Harold, Arne and Lee.
Ole A. and Ingrid (Ulvstad) Swennes were the parents of our subject. The father died in Eidsvold in 1906 and the mother in 1908.
They were pioneer settlers of the township and prominent in its social, business and political affairs. There are five living children of the family.
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EDWARD ANDERSON (1879) is one of the early day settlers of Shelburne township, having lived continuously on the one farm for a third of a century. His home is on section 5, a couple of miles north of Florence.
Mr. Andersen was born in Norway February 14. 1848, and he lived in his native land until attaining his majority. He came to America in 1869 and lived ten years in Fillmore county, Minnesota. Upon his arrival to Lyon county in 1879 he purchased, from the railroad company the west half of the southeast quarter of section 5, Shelburne township, and later he bought the west half of the northeast quarter of section 8. He was the purchaser of the first railroad land sold in the township and it cost him $4.00 per acre.
When he came to make his home in Shelburne township it was largely prairie land, the township had not been organized, and the nearest postoffice was Marshfield, on Lake Benton. His first home was a little 14x16 feet shack. He has prospered and become one of the substantial farmers of the community.
Mr. Anderson has served as a member of both the Board of Supervisors of his township and of his school district. The credit for the establishment of rural mail route No. 2 out of Tyler belongs to Mr. Anderson, he having spent time and money in bringing about the service. He also assisted in securing the establishment of the first telephone line in the vicinity. Mr. Anderson is a member of the Masonic, Woodmen and Workmen lodges.
Edward Andersen is the oldest child in a family of six children born to Andrew and Karen (Evenson) Christenson, who carne to America in the seventies and died in their adopted country. The other children of the family are Karen (Mrs. Bore Larson), of Florence; Evan Berg, Christina (Mrs. Hans Benson), of Shelburne: Andrew Anderson Berg and Carl Anderson.
Our subject is a man of family. He was married in Fillmore county, Minnesota. August 7, 1869, to Mathea Johnson, a native of Norway. As a result of this union seven children have been born, as follows: Karen (Mrs. Chris Miller), Olaus, Amelia (Mrs. W. Innes), of Tracy; Anton, of Florence; Edwin, Martin and John, who reside at home.
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ORVIN J. REA (1877) is editor and proprietor of the Tracy Weekly Herald and a former postmaster of that city. He is an old-time newspaper man of Lyon county and has devoted his entire life to the printing and publishing business. He has taken a leading part in the affairs of his county and city and is rated one of Tracy's most progressive citizens.
In Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on March 7, 1862, occurred the nativity of Orvin J. Rea. He is one of a family of eight children, the others being Ida (deceased), Art A., Lilly (deceased), Merch C., Clyde W. (deceased), Pearl E. and Jesse G. The parents of these children were James A. and Lucinda (Barber) Rea, the former born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and the latter near Akron, Ohio. They were pioneers of Oshkosh, having settled there in the fifties. The father died March 31, 1894; the mother August 20, 1883.
In the spring of 1870 Orvin accompanied his parents from Oshkosh to Sparta, Wisconsin, and there he spent his boyhood days. He was educated in the Sparta High School and among his classmates were John J. Esch, now a congressman; James Gillette, later governor of California; Judge Bunn and other men distinguished later in life. After his school days young Rea worked at the printer's trade for-a time in the office of the Monroe County Republican and in 1877 he accompanied his parents to Lyon county and located with them in Marshall.
When the Lyon County News was established in Marshall by Todd & Edes in the spring of 1879 he became the first printer on that paper, and a little later he went to Carrie, then the county seat of Murray county, and accepted a position on the Currie Pioneer. He removed to Marshall in the winter of 1881 and for the next three and one-half years worked for C. F. Case on the Marshall Messenger. He had charge of the Temperance Review job office at Minneapolis for a time, worked over a year for C. C. Whitney on the Marshall News-Messenger, and spent one summer in Chicago, working in printing offices and as a substitute printer on the Times when Story was the editor.
It was in February, 1885, that Mr. Rea located in Tracy and first became a publisher. At that time he bought the Tracy Trumpet in partnership with Harry C. Buckingham. Six months later the firm was dissolved and Mr. Rea became sole proprietor, continuing the publication until 1892, when he sold to V. W. Lothrop. In September, 1894, Mr. Rea founded the Tracy Weekly Herald and has ever since conducted it.
During his long residence in Tracy Mr. Rea has been identified with many local enterprises. He was made postmaster during the second administration of President Cleveland and served a four-year term, and he was president of the City Council in 1892. He was one of the organizers of the Tracy Saving and Loan Association, was elected its first president, and has ever since held that office. He was also one of the incorporators of the Houston Pen Company, formed to manufacture the fountain pen invented by W. H. Houston, of Tracy.
Mr. Rea is a man of family. He was married at Tracy on May 19, 1888, to Clara I. Bates. She was born in Dudley, Massachusetts, and is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alien Bates, who homesteaded land in Monroe township in 1876. Six children—three boys and three girls—have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rea, as follows: Nona, Elgin A., Doris, Noel B., Lois and Leon D.
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NIELS F. LARSON (1883) is the proprietor of a general merchandise store at Lynd, carrying dry goods, groceries, crockery, glassware, shoes, etc. He has been a resident of Lyon county since he was fourteen years old, and until buying the store in the present year he has been engaged in farming.
Mr. Larson was born in Denmark on the last day of the year 1869, the son of Peter and Stine (Peterson) Larson, now residents of Nordland township. In 1883 he came to America with, his parents, and his first home in the New World was in the old town of Lynd. For two seasons he herded cattle and then for several years he worked out as a farm hand. In 1893 Mr. Larson was married and started fanning for himself. For two years he rented land in Lyons township and then he bought the northwest quarter Of section 2 of that township. On that place he farmed and made his home until 1910. He then moved to section 33, Lynd township, having bought 200 acres of land there the year before, and his home is still there. In May, 1912, he traded 431 acres of land in Lyons and Lynd townships for the stock of goods in Lynd and is now in charge of the store. He also conducts his farm on section 33 and raises and ships cattle. He raises thoroughbred Polled Angus cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs. His farm is a place of great historic interest, having been the place designated as the first county seat of Lyon county, known as Upper Lynd. There the first court house was built and there Rev. Ellis had his store.
In the city of Marshall, on March 15, 1893, Mr. Larson was married to Lottie G. Watson. She is a native of the county and was born July 4, 1874. Her parents, Gordon and Mary Watson, natives of Ohio, were among the very early settlers of Lyon county. Mr. Watson came in 1869 and took as a homestead claim the northwest quarter of section 2, Lyons township. The family moved to the claim the following year and lived in the county until their deaths. The following named seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Larson: Oliver G., Olive F., Iva E., Ida P., Elva M., Loyal W. and Ruth.
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FERDINAND AMUNDSON (1878), farmer of Nordland township, is a native of Lyon county and a son of pioneer settlers, Gregar and Annie (Furgeson) Amundson. He was born in the township of Nordland March 9, 1878, received a district school education, and grew to manhood on his father's homestead. Two years were spent working in the Furgeson blacksmith shop in Minneota; except that he has always lived in his native township. In the fall of 1911 he rented the west half of the southwest quarter of section 27 from his father and started farming. He now has charge of a 160-acre farm and is meeting with success.
Mr. Amundson was married in Island Lake township June 27, 1905, to Cora Christenson. She was born in that township May 17, 1884, and is a daughter of Peter and Alma (Russel) Christenson. Her parents were born in Denmark and Wisconsin, respectively, and now live in Island Lake township. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Amundson, as follows: Vivian, born April 11, 1907; Arlo, born June 10, 1908; and Laneda, born October 13, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Amundson are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Minneota.
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OLUF ANDERSON (1876) has been a continuous resident of Monroe township, on the southeast quarter of section 28, since his birth on February 26, 1876. His parents, Ole and Thora (Olson Bjerkrud) Anderson, were both natives of Norway and came to America in 1869, residing in Fillmore county, Minnesota, two years before locating in Lyon county, on the land which Oluf now owns. The trip from Fillmore county was made in a prairie schooner, and most of the summer of 1871 was spent in looking for a suitable location.
Oluf received his education in the country schools of the township and at the age of fifteen completed his schooling, but remained on the farm, helping his father. At the age of twenty-three he rented the place and in company with his brother Anton ran the farm, afterward renting it alone until coming into full ownership when his father died. He has since been successfully managing the farm and engaging in stock raising.
The marriage of Oluf Anderson and Ida Amalia Anderson occurred October 30, 1901. To this union were born three children: Oscar Edgar, born July 6, 1902; Ruth Christine, born June 12, 1904; and Theodore Arthur, born December 3, 1905. Mrs. Anderson is also a native of Lyon county and was born October 13, 1882, a daughter of Ellef and Christi Anderson, pioneer settlers of Monroe township.
Mr. Anderson is a member of the Farmers Club of Tracy, and belongs to the Norwegian Lutheran church of Monroe township. One sister of our subject is living, Bertha (Mrs. H. C. Olson), of Petersburg, North Dakota. His mother died in 1909.
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CHARLES F. TIBBIT (1873), a well-to-do farmer of Island Lake township, was horn in Wabasha county, Minnesota, November 12, 1861. He lived on the Tibbit farm in that county twelve years, and during that time received several years' schooling in the district.
When the boy was twelve years of age, in 1872, his parents moved to Lyon county, Minnesota, and the father took as a homestead the south half of the south half of section 6, Island Lake township, and there Charles finished his education and assisted his father with the farm work. At the age of twenty years he bought a pre-emption claim of eighty acres on section 8, later changed it to a homestead, and proved up on the same. He has since lived on the place and has recently purchased an additional eighty acres on section 6 and eighty acres on section 5, making him the owner of 240 acres of the township's best land. He has devoted much time to the raising of Durham cattle and Poland China hogs. Mr. Tibbit has a fine home.
The subject of this sketch was married in Lyon county to Eliza McCurdy, the wedding occurring March 25, 1884. She was born in New York and is a daughter of James and Anna McCurdy. Pour children have been born to the union: Lee E., Mae E., Ada C. and Flora A.
Mr. Tibbit was clerk of school district No. 45 twenty years and is now a member of the township board.
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FREDERICK K. WEIKLE (1878), prominent in the life of the town for more than thirty years, is a retired business man of Marshall. During the last ten years Mr. Weikle has erected four residences in the city, all of which are occupied by tenants. He looks after this property and oversees the work on his farm in Stanley township. The Weikles are members and active attendants of the Congregational church.
Our subject is a son of David and Sarah (Harnais) Weikle, natives of Germany and Maine, respectively. He was born in Allentown, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, March 7, 1843. The father was a butcher and Fred learned the business at an early
age. When the war broke out he enlisted at Philadelphia as a team driver in the Ninth New York Battery for three months' service. Later he served as watchman for the government over the warehouses and docks at Acqui Landing on the Potomac, eventually joining the civil engineer corps and driving teams until the close of the war. Returning home after the war, our subject was in the cattle and hog business for six months and then went to Chicago and ran a butcher shop for a Chicago firm.
Mr. Weikle left Chicago in 1866 and returned to his native town. November 10, 1866, he married Barbara Kinckiner, of Mertztown, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Henry and Julia Ann (Pierpont) Kinckiner, the ceremony taking place at Allentown. He then engaged in the tobacco manufacturing business for a few years, later opened another butcher shop, sold out in 1876, and went to Dixon, Illinois, for the winter. The next spring he worked for his brother in Plainview, Minnesota.
In the spring of 1878 Mr. Weikle moved to Marshall and bought a little frame building on the present site of Richtmyer's pool hall, in which he conducted a meat market several years. Mr. Weikle then conducted a shop in Redfield, South Dakota, one year. Returning to Marshall, he opened a shop on the north side of Main street and when the Great Northern road came he took the contract for furnishing the construction crews with meat, which he held until the road reached Sioux Falls. Then he went to Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky, and was meat contractor for the L. & N. railroad two years. Returning to Marshall, Mr. Weikle bought the brick building he now owns, and his son Harry ran a market there for a time. Mr. Weikle meanwhile engaged in buying and shipping stock, a business which he followed until ten years ago, when he retired from active work.
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Weikle are the parents of the following children: Harry O. and Frank M., of Sturgis, Saskatchewan, Canada; George E., of Dickinson, North Dakota; Anna L. (Mrs. Harry Addison), of Marshall; and Malcolm T., cashier of the First National Bank of Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Weikle also brought up from infancy the two sons of Mrs. Weikle's sister, Margaret Crabtree, who died in Marshall when the boys were little. The boys are Sam H. and Will T. Crabtree, now of Enid, Montana.
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HENRY NELSON (1876), a farmer of Lucas township and a continuous resident of the county since 1876, was born in Fillmore county, Minnesota, March 20, 1870, and is a son of Evar and Aase (Olson) Nelson, both of whom are now deceased.
The parents were natives of Norway, and some idea of the times in which they immigrated to this country can be gained from, the fact that Mr. Nelson was on the ocean nineteen weeks when coming to this country. He landed in New Orleans in 1845 and served five years in the Mexican War, afterwards coming North and locating in Wisconsin. On his journey he visited St. Anthony Falls, Minnesota, and at that time Minnesota was still a territory and there was a single store on the present site of St. Paul. Evar Nelson was married in Wisconsin, and after a few years' residence in Fillmore county, Minnesota, he moved to Western Minnesota and purchased land in Yellow Medicine county and resided there four years.
In the spring of 1876 the Nelson family came to Lyon county and took a homestead in Lucas township. There the parents resided until their deaths, and the old homestead is now operated by their son Iver. The subject of this sketch came to Lyon county with his parents when six years old, and he attended the district schools until seventeen years of age. Afterward the boy helped his father until twenty-two years of age and then engaged in farming for himself on the place which he now owns, the northeast quarter of section 11. He has a well-improved place and is making a decided success of stock raising in addition to his general farming. Mr. Nelson has served several years as assessor of the township, as a director of school district No. 19, and for several years he was road overseer.
On November 11, 1891, our subject was married at Cottonwood to Minnie Prestegaard, a native of Yellow Medicine county. She was born November I5, 1871. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson, are the parents of the
following children: Adelia Louise, born October 24, 1893; Gerhardt, born June 29, 1895; Hulda, born November 16, 1897; and Rudolph, born December 5, 1899. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are members of Silo Norwegian Lutheran Church of Cottonwood.
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PETER ELBERS (1883). One of the old residents of Lyon county and a merchant of Ghent is Peter Elbers. He came to Lyon county in 1883 and spent several years working on farms near Ghent. He then went to Marshall and in partnership with Will Boerboom conducted a meat market three years. Returning to Ghent, he opened a meat market, later adding a stock of merchandise, and has since conducted the business.
Peter Elbers is a son of Theodore and Johanna (Tichlovan) Elbers and was born December 13, 1853, in Holland. There are seven children in this family living, namely: Bernard, Dena, Mena, Dora and Johanna, all of whom reside in Holland, and Peter, of this sketch. A daughter, Mary, is deceased. The parents died in the old country. Our subject is a member of the Catholic church and the Catholic Order of Foresters. He owns the southwest quarter of section 12, Amiret township, a quarter section of land near Aberdeen, South Dakota, and several buildings and lots in the village of Ghent.
On July 3, 1889, Rosa Lee Decock became the wife of Mr. Elbers at Ghent. She is a native of Belgium. Mr. and Mrs. Elbers are the parents of four children, as follows: Annie, Leo, John and Henry. Another child, Mary, died in infancy.