Lyon County Biographies
"An Illustrated History of Lyon County"
Below are biographies from the 1912 "An Illustrated History of Lyon County".
Included are biographies of OLE E. RYE; JAMES McGINN; W. R. GREGG; JAMES C. BURCHARD; MARTIN C. LARSON; JOSEPH VERHAAKE; CHARLES C. RICHARD; OLAI AAMODT; CHARLES H. MIDDLETON; CARL O. SKOGEN; CHARLES C. BREENING; EARLE S. MILLER; JOSEPH M. MITCHELL; KNUTE O. BAKKEN; G. A. DALMANN; CHARLES J. SPONG; WILLARD J. VAN DUSEN
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*The date in parentheses following the name of each subject is the year of arrival to Lyon county.
OLE E. RYE (1879), one of the large land owners of Eidsvold township and a successful farmer of that precinct, has lived in Lyon county since he was a child eight and one-half years of age. He has taken a leading part in the affairs of his community and is rated among the substantial men of northwestern Lyon county. He started without a dollar and has won his way to the top. He is the owner of 560 acres of land in the township, on sections 22, 23 and 33. For a number of years he farmed his entire holdings, but the present year he has rented out a part of his land.
The parents of our subject, Esten and Margaret (Ranon) Rye, came to Lyon county from Norway in 1879 and took as a homestead claim the southwest quarter of section 34, Nordland township, where they have ever since resided. He is eighty-seven years old and she is eighty-one. There are in the family the following named six children: Andrew E., who farms the old homestead; Annie (Mrs. Charles Furgeson), of Barnes county, North Dakota; Inger (Mrs. O. O. Dovre), of Eidsvold; Mary (Mrs. A. B. Ruksted), of Florence, South Dakota; Julia (Mrs. Harry W. Hecket), of Spokane, Washington; and Ole E., of this review.
Ole E. Rye was born at Norde Urdhal, Valdres, Norway, December 7, 1870. He came to America and to Lyon county with his parents in 1879 and until he was seventeen years old lived on the Nordland township homestead. In 1887 and 1888 he was in Barnes county, North Dakota, working on farms. Returning to Lyon county in the fall of 1888, he rented the farm in Eidsvold where he now lives, the southeast quarter of section 22. Two years later he bought the farm, and he has since added to his holdings until he has become one of the largest land owners of the precinct.
Seventeen years ago Mr. Rye was elected a member of the Township Board of Supervisors and served two years. Eight years ago he was again elected to the office and has held it continuously since, having been chairman of the board four years of that time. For the past two years he ha's been a member of the Lyon County Republican Committee. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen lodge and of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Minneota.
Inger Swennes became the wife of Ole E. Rye on June 28, 1894, the ceremony taking place at the Swennes home in Eidsvold township. Mrs. Rye was born in Norway and came to America with her parents when a child. The family lived in Wisconsin five years and came to Lyon county in 1876, taking homestead and tree claims in Eidsvold township. Ole A. and Ingred Swennes, her parents, are deceased. Eight children have been born to
Mr. and Mrs. Rye. They are Knute, Ernest O., Harold, Ida, Lloyd, Evelyn, Bjorn and Mabel.
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JAMES McGINN (1881), of Minneota, is a dealer in real estate, makes loans and writes insurance. He is a member of the Board of County Commissioners, an office to which he was elected in November. 1910. James McGinn was born in Ireland on January 11, 1863. His birth in Ireland came about in this way: His father and mother, who were natives of Ireland, came to America when children and settled in New York City, where they were married. In 1863 they returned to Ireland to take charge of the old home place and while in that country the subject of this review was born.
Before returning to the United States Mr. and Mrs. McGinn, Sr., visited Scotland and England. They again located in New York City, but in 1867 moved to California, where they resided until 1872, at which time they returned to New York City. The family remained in the metropolis until 1881, when they moved to Lyon county, locating near Minneota. The parents of our subject were Patrick and Sarah (McBeth) McGinn. They settled on a farm in Westerheim township, where the father was accidently killed in 1889; the mother died the following spring.
James McGinn received his early education in New York and when eighteen years of age accompanied his parents to Lyon county, where he assisted his parents on the farm until 1892. That year he moved to Minneota, where he conducted a general store four years, during which time he was postmaster. After his term expired he went to Flandreau, South Dakota, where he worked a year. Then he returned to Minneota and opened a cigar factory. In 1908 Mr. McGinn disposed of the factory and engaged in the real estate, loan and insurance business with Anton Heymans, the firm name being Heymans & McGinn.
When a young man and before he had left the farm for good, Mr. McGinn conducted a cigar factory at Spencer, Iowa, which he sold in 1889. He also worked one and one-half years in a cigar factory at Watertown, South Dakota.
Mr. McGinn was married at Minneota on June 20, 1893, to Margaret Kiley, a native of Canada and a daughter of James Kiley, who settled in Lincoln county in 1881. Mr. and Mrs. McGinn are the parents of the following five children: Patrick, a graduate of the Minneota High School; James, Ellen, Sarah, Arthur.
Mr. McGinn is a member of the Minneota School Board and was president of the Village Council in 1907. He is a member of the M. W. A., Yeomen and K. C. lodges.
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W. R. GREGG (1880) is one of the early business men of Lynd and postmaster of that village the past seventeen years. Mr. Gregg is a native of Vermont and was born at Valatia July 30, 1854, a son of Rev. Oren C. and Betsey (Mosher) Gregg, natives of Vermont. Our subject spent his early days in several places in Vermont, accompanying his parents to the different pastorates which his father held. He received a good education, attending high school, the Montpelier, Vermont, Seminary and Fort Edward Institute of New York. His father died in 1902 and the mother in the fall of 1879.
In 1880 Mr. Gregg, at the age of twenty-six years, came to Lyon county, to the farms of his brothers, O. C. and Leslie Gregg, in Lynd township. His first summer in the county was spent working at the carpenter's trade. He worked for F. S. Wetherbee at Marshall for a short lime and then went to Minneapolis for a short sojourn.
Returning to Lyon county, Mr. Gregg conducted a store at Camden for Fred Healy, of Marshall, later buying it and running it for five years. The following eight years he was employed on the Coteau Farm in Lynd township. In November, 1895, he moved to Lynd and purchased the F. W. Cowham store, which he has since conducted. His commission as postmaster dates from January, 1896.
Mr. Gregg has two half-brothers, Oren C., of Lynd township, and David A., of Boston, Massachusetts. He is unmarried.
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JAMES C. BURCHARD (1878) is the general land agent for the Chicago &
Northwestern Railroad Company, with headquarters at Marshall. His territory embraces Minnesota and North and South Dakota east of the Missouri river. He is a pioneer of Lyon county and has spent over thirty years of his life in the employ of the railroad company which he now represents.
In Clinton, New York, on August 13, 1851, James C. Burchard was born. His parents were Henry M. and Eliza H. (Clark) Burchard, both natives of New York State. On his father's side he descends from one of the oldest American families, a Burchard having come to America in 1635 and made settlement in Connecticut.
In the fall of 1866 young Burchard accompanied his parents to Winona, Minnesota, and a few years later the family home was made in Northern Illinois. After securing his education James began work for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company in a clerical capacity, and he has been connected with that corporation ever since. He located in Marshall in the fall of 1878, remained one year, and then for a year was station agent at Watertown, Dakota Territory, opening the station when the railroad reached that place. He then made his home in Chicago and for several years was in the general office of the Chicago & Northwestern Company.
Mr. Burchard again became a resident of Marshall in 1884. At that time he entered the land office of what was then known as the Winona & St. Peter Railroad Company as cashier. His father was at the time the general land agent for the railroad at that point and had been since the office was opened. Upon the death of his father in July, 1898, James Burchard succeeded him as general agent and he has since held the position. The railroad land office was established on the site it now occupies in 1876. For a number of years the office was located in a two-story frame building which was burned. Then the present brick block, which also housed the United States Land Office, was erected.
For several years Mr. Burchard served as a member of the City Council and he was mayor of Marshall two terms. He is a prominent member of the Masonic orders, holding membership in the Shriners; Scottish Rites and Royal Arcanum. He is a Thirty-second degree Mason and is the grand commander of the state organization.
Mr. Burchard was married in Chicago in 1879 to Sidonia M. Schupp, a native of that city. They have three children: Simeon J., of St. Paul; John E., Jr., and William S., of Marshall.
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MARTIN C. LARSON (1877) in partnership with his brother, Anton S. Larson, farms 540 acres of land in Monroe township, 320 acres of this being the estate left them by their father, Hans T. Larson, who died August 7, 1908.
Hans T. Larson was born in Norway April 11, 1846, and came to the United States in 1866, locating in Fillmore county and making that his home until 1871. Then he came to Lyon county and took as a homestead the west half of the northeast quarter of section 10, Monroe township. The next year he took the southeast quarter of section 10 as a tree claim. He experienced the hardships of the early days, the grasshopper scourge and the terrible blizzards of the early eighties. He prospered and was well off at the time of his death. He was active in township affairs. Turi (Gullickson) Larson, his wife, was born in Norway June 16, 1848, and came to America in 1870, where she was married two years later, in Monroe township. She died in 1893.
Martin C. Larson was born on the Monroe township homestead March 5, 1876, and has lived on the farm ever since. He was educated in the school of district No. 35 and in the Tracy High School. He remained on the farm and worked for his father until the latter's death, since which time Martin and his brother have had charge. Martin was township assessor four years. He has stock in the Farmers Elevator Company of Tracy and in the telephone company. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge of Tracy.
Anton S. Larson, brother of the above, was born on the Monroe homestead January 28, 1879, and was brought up and educated in the township. He was married May 29, 1907, in Tracy, to Adelia Montgomery. To this union have been born four children. Mildred and Manly, the eldest, are twins. The other children are Frances and Gertrude Clara. Mrs. Anton Larson was born in Redwood county March 25, 1878, and is a daughter of George and Julia (Steves) Montgomery, natives of Canada who settled at Walnut Grove just after the Indian outbreak. The father is dead and the mother lives with her daughter. Anton Larson is at present on the school board of his district and he has served on the township board.
Martin and Anton Larson have the following brothers and sister living: Louis, of Braham, Minnesota; Hans T., of Crosby, North Dakota; Tien, of Hastings, Minnesota; and Clara M. (Mrs. Ben Cole), of Amiret.
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JOSEPH VERHAAKE (1879), a farmer of Island Lake township, was born in Rock Island county, Illinois, December 31, 1863, and is a son of Andrew and Rose (De Buscher) Verhaake, natives of Belgium.
Joseph's parents came to America when young and settled in Illinois, where our subject was born. When he was thirteen years of age, in 1879, the family moved to Lyon county and the father bought the northwest quarter of section 26, Westerheim township. While Joseph was living there with his parents he finished his schooling in the district and attended school one year in Marshall.
Our subject remained on the farm with his parents until 1898, when he entered the employ of the Great Northern Railroad Company, and he was in the service three and one-half years in the yards at Marshall. He then rented land on section 21, Grandview township, and farmed there until 1907. Then he moved to his present farm, the southeast quarter of section 2, Island Lake township, and for several years he rented and farmed 480 acres of land on that section and on sections 1 and 11. He then bought the property and has lately sold at a handsome profit. Mr. Verhaake is a breeder of blooded stock and owns one of the best Belgian stallions in the county. He is also interested in the Farmers Elevator Company of Marshall and in the Lyon County Fair Association. He was clerk of school district No. 12 five years.
The marriage of Joseph Verhaake and Minnie De Belser occurred at Ghent February 18, 1903. She was born in Belgium and is a daughter of Peter De Belser. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Verhaake have two children: Leona C., born November 7, 1904, and Lizzie V., born August 1, 1906. The Verhaakes are members of the Catholic church.
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CHARLES C. RICHARD (1881) is the proprietor of Richard's Department Store of Tracy. Although a young man, he has attained prominence in the commercial circles of Tracy. He is strictly a self-made man, having arisen to his present position through his own resources, without financial assistance.
Mr. Richard has lived in Tracy since he was one year old and secured his education there. When eleven years of age he began working in the store of J. D. Owens as delivery boy and continued to work in stores during the summer months, attending school winters, until sixteen years of age. Thereafter for six years he devoted his entire time to clerking in the store of C. P. Hewitt. At the end of that time, in January, 1902, he purchased his employer's store, conducted it at the old stand until 1911, when he erected his present store building. This structure is the most modern building in Tracy. Its dimensions are 24x130 feet. The business is carried on under the title Richard's Department Store. He deals in dry goods, crockery, shelf hardware and tools, wall paper, paints, toys and five- and ten-cent goods.
During 1909 and 1910 Mr. Richard was mayor of Tracy and he was president of the Commercial Club four years prior to 1911. He is a stockholder and a director of the Tracy Savings and Loan Association. Fraternally he is a Mason, holding membership in the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Eastern Star.
Our subject was married at Tracy on March 27, 1903, to Emogene Rogers, a native of Iowa and a daughter of H. A. Rogers. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Richard: Lester J., who died March 27, 1911, at the age of six years; and Maurine, who was born in November, 1910.
Charles C. Richard is one of a family of five children, the others.being Lillian May, Almeda Belle, Malcomb M., who died in 1909; and Stanley J. The parents of these children are W. J. and Alice Richard. The former was born in Ohio and settled in Tracy in the spring of 1881. He lived in that city until 1902; then he moved to St. Cloud, where he has since been foreman of construction in the employ of the state. During his long residence in Tracy Mr. Richard was a prominent contractor and built many of the best business houses and residences there after the big fire. He erected the First National Bank building, the J. D. Owens store building, the J. W. Beedle store building, several business houses on Front Street, the D. H. Evans residence, and many others. When the Lyon county court house was built Mr. Richard was employed by the county commissioners as building inspector.
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OLAI AAMODT (1879) is the owner of the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter and the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 12, Vallers township. He is a Lyon county product, was born May 30, 1879, and is a son of Gulick and Liva Aamodt, who were early settlers of the county.
Our subject received his education in the district schools and grew to manhood on the home farm. He assisted his father with the farm work and remained at home until 1905. That year Olai, in company with his brother Fred, rented 700 acres of land in Vallers township, and the boys started farming for themselves and were in partnership three years. Olai then bought his present place and has since been located on section 12. Since 1900 he has been engaged in the threshing business.
The marriage of Olai Aamodt and Caroline Kolhei occurred in Yellow Medicine county January 2, 1907. She was born in that county June 29, 1879, and is a daughter of Ingebret and Corine Kolhei, natives of Norway. They were early settlers of Yellow Medicine and now live in Cottonwood. One child, Carla L., was born to Mr. and Mrs. Aamodt, on January 6, 1912. The Aamodts are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church.
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CHARLES H. MIDDLETON (1882) is a farmer and land owner of Lake Marshall township who has lived in Lyon county many years. He is a son of John Middleton, an Englishman by birth, who for many years was a boatman on the Erie canal. In 1880 the family moved to Walworth county, Wisconsin, where the father rented land and resided two years. In 1882 a new home was established, in Lyon county, John Middleton buying the north half of section 34, Lake Marshall township. The father died September 30, 1898, at the age of seventy-four years. The mother of our subject, Martha E. (Sheffield) Middleton, was born in New York State, the descendant of an English family. She is now eighty-four years of age and resides with her son. The other members of the family are Fred W., of Canada; Hannah Jeanette (Mrs. H. J. Benson), of Syracuse. New York; and John J., of Marshall.
Charles H. Middleton was born in Oswego county, New York, November 19, 1863. He resided with his parents until 1890, when he was married and engaged in farming on his own account. At that time he bought 200 acres of land on section 3, Lake Marshall township, upon which he has ever since resided. Later he added to his landed possessions by the purchase of 120 acres on section 2 and now has a finely improved half section farm, adorned with substantial buildings. He engages in stock raising and is a feeder and shipper. He raises Shorthorn cattle, Oxford sheep and Poland China hogs. He is a member of the Masonic lodge of Marshall and the family are regular attendants of the First Presbyterian Church of Marshall.
In Oswego county, New York, on February 17, 1890, Mr. Middleton was united in marriage to Martha J. Loser, a native of Missouri and a daughter of Peter and Caroline (Spaulding) Loser, both of wh,om are deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Middleton have been born the following named six children: Mae L., born December 11, 1892; Glen C., born February 16, 1894, died April 22, 1908; Elsie M., born December 24, 1895; John L., born April 24, 1899; Frank, born September 7, 1907; and Robert, born February 28, 1909.
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CARL O. SKOGEN (1879), who makes his home in Minneota and who farms land close to that village in Westerheim township, is a native of the county and a son of Ole O. and Engeborg (Sheldrew) Skogen. His parents were born in Tellemarken, Norway, came to America in 1867, lived near Neenah, Wisconsin, a few years, in Boone county, Iowa, a short time, and located in Lyon county in the early seventies. They took as a homestead the southeast quarter of section 30, Westerheim township, close to which the village of Minneota was later founded.
On the homestead Carl Skogen was born August 21, 1879, and there he grew to manhood, working for his father. He spent one and one-half years in the Dakotas, and in 1905 he rented from his father the northwest quarter of section 31, Westerheim, and engaged in farming. Three years later he moved to section 4, of the same township, farmed there one year, and then moved to Minneota, where he purchased a residence and where he has since lived. He now rents from his father the northwest quarter of section 31.
Mr. Skogen was married at Porter November 7, 1904, to Eliza Crogness. She was born in the village in which she was married September 1, 1886. Her parents, Bersven and Engebor (Nelson) Crogness. were born in Sonmor, Norway, came to America in the seventies, and bought a homestead right to land in Yellow Medicine county, near Porter. The parents both died on the homestead in 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Skogen have two children: Leola C. and Olinda B. Our subject and his wife are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church.
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CHARLES C. BREENING (1880) is one of the big farmers of Rock Lake township and has lived in Lyon county thirty-two years. He owns the southeast quarter of section 9 and rents other land, farming 840 acres. He engages extensively in stock raising and feeding for market, making a specialty of Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs.
The subject of this review is one of a family of six living children, the others being Mary (Mrs. William Darger), of Tracy; William, of St. Paul; Fred, of Balaton; John H., of Marshall; and Henry C., of Balaton. The parents of these children, John and Elizabeth (Schenck) Breening, came from Germany in 1869, lived in Du Page county, Illinois, until 1880, and then came to Lyon county. The head of the family had charge of the section at Balaton for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company five years and then purchased land in Rock Lake and engaged in farming until his death.
Charles C. Breening was born in Verben, Germany, November 20, 1862, came to America with the family in 1869, and spent his boyhood days in Illinois, attending school and working for the Northwestern Railroad Company. He came to Lyon county in 1880 and for the next fifteen years worked for the railroad company, with headquarters at Tracy and Brookings, South Dakota. Since severing his connection with the railroad company Mr. Breening has been engaged in farming in Rock Lake township and has been very successful.
Mr. Breening served several years as a member of the Township Board of Supervisors, for eight years was assessor of his township, and during the last three years he has been clerk of school district No. 60. He holds membership in the Masonic lodge of Russell and the Workmen lodge of Balaton.
Anna M. Olson, a native of Norway, became the wife of Mr. Breening April 12, 1888, the ceremony being performed at Balaton. His wife was born April 12, 1871, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Olson, pioneer settlers of Murray county. Mr. and Mrs. Breening have thirteen children, all of whom reside at home. Their names are Arthur J., Edna E., Richard O., George W., Carl, Alice, Ora, Bessie, Maude, Eva, Dorothy, Luella and Irene.
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EARLE S. MILLER (1869), of Tracy,
was one of the very first of the present residents to visit Lyon county. He first came in 1869, but his permanent residence did not begin until some years later.
Mr. Miller was born in Cook county, Illinois, May 25, 1847. His parents. Charles D. and Mary M. (White) Miller, were born in New York and Vermont, respectively, and both are deceased. Earle attended the schools of Illinois until 1866 and then accompanied his parents to Winona county, Minnesota, and resided with them until 1869. That year he came with the Mitchell and Scriven families to Lyon county, remained a short time, and then located in Jackson county, Minnesota.
In that county, a few miles east of the present city of Worthington, Mr. Miller took a homestead claim, on which he resided two years. He then returned to Winona county, bought land, and engaged in farming there until 1876. He again came to Lyon county at that time and the same year took a pre-emption claim in Pipestone county, which he held three years and then sold. He was one of the crew that surveyed the line of railroad from Tracy to Pierre, being thus engaged one year. Mr. Miller bought grain in Tracy two years and has since been engaged in the real estate business there.
Mr. Miller was married in Wabasha county, Minnesota, November 24, 1887, to Jennie Paine. She was born in England October 11, 1857. Mr. Miller is a member of the Masonic lodge of Tracy.
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JOSEPH M. MITCHELL (1880) is the owner of a fine eighty-acre farm and comfortable home in Amiret township, and he is today a prosperous farmer after more than thirty years' residence in the county. Mr. Mitchell's introduction to Lyon county was perhaps not one to lend enthusiasm to the mind of a new settler, inasmuch as his first winter in the county was the one of deep snows, blizzards and blockades. Our subject, however, is one of many who regrets not that he has made his home in Lyon county.
Mr. Mitchell took an active part in the Civil War. He enlisted January 5, 1864, as a private in Company A, Thirty-fifth New Jersey Infantry, and was mustered out July 20, 1865. During that time he took part in General Sherman's campaign in Georgia and in the famous "March to the Sea." Mr. Mitchell is a member of D. F. Markham Post No. 7, G. A. R., of Marshall, and has held at different times the office of post commander, senior vice and junior vice.
Joseph Mitchell was born in Glen Gardner, New Jersey, December 13, 1847, and is a son of George and Lydia (Narcross) Mitchell, both deceased. His parents located in Illinois in 1871 and resided there until their deaths. Joseph received a common school education in New Jersey and during the later years of his residence in that state worked out at farm labor. He came to Illinois with his parents and worked out in Ogle county two years. He then married and rented land in Winnebago county, where he farmed eight years.
In March, 1880, our subject came to Lyon county and purchased the land he now owns on section 23 from the Winona & St. Peter Railroad Company. It is one of the nicest farms in the township, and thirty-two years ago Mr. Mitchell paid for it the small sum of $6 per acre.
In various capacities Mr. Mitchell has been called upon to serve in an official capacity. He was a member of the Township Board two years ago and served one year as chairman. For three years he was clerk of the township, and for the past ten terms he has been the assessor. He was road overseer several years and was for eighteen years the clerk of school district No. 23. In 1895 and 1905 he was census enumerator.
Our subject's marriage to Sarah Seal occurred at Elida, Illinois, August 12, 1871. She was born August 18, 1847, in New Jersey, and is a daughter of John and Jane (Bellis) Seal, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell are the parents of the following children: Elizabeth (Mrs. George Purves), of Tracy; Eleanor (Mrs. Eleanor Gary), of Marshall; Lydia (Mrs. M. D. Bair), of Amiret township; Agnes (Mrs. C. J. Armstrong), of St. Paul; and Belle, who lives at home.
The Mitchells are members of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Mitchell was for a number of years a trustee.
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KNUTE O. BAKKEN (1876) is a homesteader of Eidsvold township and has lived in that precinct thirty-six years. He has lived in a sod shanty, fought grasshoppers, burned hay, and performed other feats that were required of the pioneers of Lyon county. He owns a quarter section of land. His homestead is the north half of the southeast quarter of section 10, and the east half of the northwest quarter of section 15 was purchased from the railroad company.
His parents, Ole and Annie (Knutson) Garlibakken, died in Norway. He has a brother and sister: Knute O. Garlibakken, who still lives in Norway; and Carrie K. T. Monum, of Pope county, Minnesota.
In Norway, on the seventeenth of August, 1851, Knute O. Bakken was born. He came to the United States in 1868 and settled in Manitowoc county, Wisconsin. There he resided until coming to Lyon. county in 1876, working on farms and in the pineries. Mr. Bakken came to Lyon county in the spring of 1876 and filed upon his homestead. He erected a board and sod house, in which he resided several years, and he has lived on the homestead ever since. The grasshoppers took the best part of his first crop and he met other discouragements, but he persevered and in time came upon more prosperous times.
Mr. Bakken served as director and treasurer of school district No. 79 many years. He and his family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Minneota.
The marriage of Mr. Bakken to Caroline Olson occurred in Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, in April, 1876. His wife is a native of the county in which she was married. Mr. and Mrs. Bakken are the parents of seven children, as follows: Ole, of North Dakota; Julia (Mrs. Helge Helgeson), of Eidsvold township; Gusta (Mrs. Herman Esping), of Burton township, Yellow Medicine county; Annie (Mrs. Charles Peterson), of Minneota; Hattie (Mrs. Selma Quickstad), of Deuel county, South Dakota; Christina (Mrs. Martin Erickson), of Yellow Medicine county; and Emma, a school teacher.
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G. A. DALMANN (1879), a prominent and influential business man of Minneota, has resided in that village thirty-three years and has been identified with the growth and development of the town as have few others.
Mr. Dalmann was born in Iceland September 19, 1856, the son of Grimur and Rose (Davidson) Dalmann. He was the youngest member of a family of five children, all of whom except himself are deceased. His parents died when he was a child and he grew to manhood without school privileges and without aid from relatives. He is a self-made man in every respect and has reached his present standing by unaided effort.
Our subject was brought up on a farm in his native land. He came to the United States in 1879 and direct to Minneota, where he has since had his home. One year he worked on the railroad and then clerked in the store of T. D. Seals and later in that of Coats & Davidson. In 1886 he engaged in business for himself, conducting a fruit and confectionery store and restaurant for about two years. Then he added a line of groceries and has since been engaged in that line of business.. He now handles groceries and crockery exclusively and has a model store. His motto is: "The Best of Everything." He located in his present commodious quarters in 1909. In 1894, 1895 and 1896 Mr. Dalmann was on the road buying produce for a Winona company.
On many occasions Mr. Dalmann has been called upon to serve his village in an official capacity. He has held the office of president of the Village Council, member of the Council, assessor and street commissioner. He has been active in school matters and has taken a leading part in all movements for the betterment of the public schools. He was president of the Board of Education when the schools were moved to the present location and he was one of the organizers of the independent district. In fraternal circles Mr. Dalmann is also prominent. He holds membership in the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Woodmen lodges. He was the first master of Equity Lodge No. 258 of Minneota and has the distinction of being the first Icelander to hold the office of worshipful master of the
Masonic lodge in this country, so far as is known.
In Minneota, on April 1, 1883, Mr. Dalmann was united in marriage to Sarah Peterson. She is also a native of Iceland and came to the United States in 1877. Four children have blessed this union, as follows: Rose, of Aberdeen, South Dakota, the wife of R. C. Domehower, who is the assistant superintendent of the Milwaukee railroad at that point; Baldur J., a traveling salesman for Scott & Dillon, tobacco manufacturers, married October 4, 1911, to Zelpha Hall, of Smith Mill, Minnesota; Christine, who clerks for her father; and Walter, who clerks in the transfer office at Aberdeen, South Dakota.
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CHARLES J. SPONG (1883) located in Clifton township immediately upon coming to Lyon county in 1883. He purchased the southeast quarter of section 2 in partnership with his brother August and soon after bought the brother's interest. Later Mr. Spong bought the southwest quarter of section 1, eighty acres on section 11, and sixty-four acres on section 13, and he is now the owner of 464 acres of Clifton township's choicest farming land. Stock raising is also claiming much of Mr. Spong's attention. He is partial to Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs and he has a splendid flock of Shropshire sheep.
Mr. Spong came to the county from Illinois. He was born in Sweden August 5. 1855, and was brought up in the old country. In his young manhood he learned the carpenter's and cabinet maker's trades and worked at them some time in Sweden. It was in 1879 that he came to America and located in De Kalb county, Illinois, where he worked at farm labor three and one-half years. In 1883 he came with his brother to Lyon county and bought land, and he has since then been a resident of Clifton township. He is a director and shareholder in the Farmers Elevator Company of Milroy. For ten years he served as a member of the school board of district No. 42, and his church affiliations are with the Evangelical Association church. He has been a class leader since the Clifton church was organized and Sunday School superintendent for the past fifteen years.
Charles Spong's marriage to Gustava C. Grip took place in De Kalb county, Illinois, March 3, 1883. She was born in Sweden February 13, 1853, and died May 3, 1889. By her marriage to Mr. Spong she became the mother of two children, John W., born February 21, 1884, died January 14, 1911, and Oscar M., born July 29, 1886.
On December 24, 1889, our subject was married at Marshall to Augusta M. C. Dahl. She is a native of Sweden and her parents, Peter and Caroline (Johnson) Dahl, still live in the old country. She and Mr. Spong are the parents of the following children: Harry B., born October 25, 1890; Paul H., born May 13, 1892; Frank A., born January 4, 1894; and Ruth E. A., born August 19, 1898.
The parents of our subject are Christopher and Johanna (Swenson) Spong, and they are still living in the Fatherland. Besides his fine farm land Mr. Charles Spong owns a house and seven lots in Marshall.
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WILLARD J. VAN DUSEN (1879) farms the south half of the southwest quarter of section 4, Monroe township. He has lived on the place ever since his father took it as a homestead thirty-three years ago, and since the father's death in February, 1907, Willard has had charge of the place.
Willard's father and mother were Charles E. Van Dusen and Fanny E. (Staley) Van Dusen. The father was born at Canton, Ohio, January 17, 1843, and was brought up on a farm. At the age of sixteen years he moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he made his home several years and where he married in the fall of 1865. In 1866 the young couple located in Medford, Minnesota, where they lived several years, then moving to Lyon county and taking as a homestead the farm where our subject now resides. Mrs. Charles Van Dusen was born in Kalamazoo May 24, 1845, and is living on the old homestead in Monroe with her son Willard. The Van Dusens and the Staleys are both descendants of old colonial families, and the family histories date back to the earliest settlement of the colonies.
Willard Van Dusen was born in Medford, Minnesota, August 24, 1867, and lived on the farm near that town until 1879, when he came with his parents to Lyon county. He has lived on the Monroe township homestead practically ever since. Willard had some interesting experiences during his early days in the county. During the blizzardy winter of 1880-81 he teamed between Tracy and Sleepy Eye for Tracy merchants and carried passengers. He made five trips that winter, one trip taking him fourteen days.
June 8, 1893, Willard Van Dusen was married to Annie Lee, who was born in Norway, March, 1876, and came to this country at the age of ten years. She died February 6, 1904. To Willard Van Dusen and his wife three children were born, Albert E., Clarice E. and Frank E.