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CHRISTIAN F. KALASS, of Minneola township, a
native born son of this state, comes of sturdy old pioneer
stock, his parents being Christian and Sophia (Grindwald)
Kalass, who came to America from Germany in 1856. After a year
in Illinois, they came to Scott county, Minnesota, farmed for
nine years, and then moved to Minneola township in 1866. To a
quarter section which he originally purchased he later added
one and a half section. He developed and improved this land,
and carried on general farming until the time of his death,
August 7, 1907. The mother is still living on the old
homestead. The subject of this sketch attended the schools of
Minneola township, and then took up farming with his father
until twenty-five years of age, when his parents presented him
with 160 acres in Section 2. This property he has greatly
improved, erected a number of buildings and brought the place
to a high degree of cultivation and productiveness. Recently he has become
interested in scientific forestry, and has set out 1,080
Norway poplar trees, from which a heavy financial benefit will
be received many years hence. In spite of his busy life, Mr.
Kalass has found time to serve the town of Minneola as
supervisor, a position he occupies at the present time as he
has several times in the past. He has been clerk of his school
district for the past fifteen years. Aside from his farm
holdings, he owns stock in the Zumbrota Clay Manufacturing
Company, and is also interested in the Zumbrota Farmers'
Elevator Company. Mr. Kalass was married November 21, 1894, to
Lena Aldag, a native of Germany, by whom he has had issue as
follows: Verona, Arnold, Hulda and Christian. The family worships at
the Lutheran church.
JOHN G. KAPPEL, city mail carrier, is a native
born son of Red Wing, who has chosen to make his home in this
city the whole of his life. He was born October 11, 1869, when
the country had begun to recover from the ravage of the Civil
War, and Red Wing was beginning to show some indications of
modern industrial growth. His father, John Kappel, married to
Margaret George, a native of New York state, was born in
Worfelden, Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, and came to America in
the early fifties, locating for a time in Wisconsin. He came
to Red Wing in 1864, and engaged in the wagon-making business
until 1888, when failing health necessitated his retirement
from active business. John G. Kappel attended the public
school and business college of this city, and started in life
as a dry goods clerk. January, 1888, he entered the civil
service as city mail carrier in Red Wing, and in this capacity
he still remains. He is a member of the Independent Order of
Foresters, Knights of Pythias and Yeomen. He is an independent
voter. The family attends the German Lutheran Church. J. G.
Kappel was married May 30, 1895, at Featherstone, this county,
to Anna D. German, daughter of Henry and Rosena German, of
that township, natives of Germany. They came to America and
located first in Indiana, later coming to Featherstone in the
early sixties and engaging in general farming. Both parents
are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Kappel have been born five
children-Florence, born March 12, 1896; Ruth, born March 12,
1898; Herbert J., born March 10, 1900 (deceased), Harriet,
born July 30, 1903, and Sivilli, born April 22, 1907. The
family residence is at 723 Central avenue, Red Wing. Mr. Kappel is the oldest of four children. Lillian,
born August 11, 1872, died August 11, 1893. Frederick, born
March 13, 1875, is a barber residing at Albert Lea, Minn., and
is married to Gertrude Towle, a native of Goodhue county.
Emily, born May 6, 1878, is married to S. H. Moody, of
Excelsior, Minn., and resides at Minneapolis, Minn.
A. HENRY KELLETT, painter and paper hanger, came
to Zumbrota as a boy with the earliest settlers, having been
born in Lowell, Mass., March 4, 1854. His father, Thomas P.
Kellett, was a member of the Stafford Western Emigration
Company and of the Strafford Western Immigration Company, kept
the first store in Zumbrota, was the first postmaster, one of
the early chairmen of supervisors, and in many ways was
prominently identified with the early growth and prosperity of
the town and village. A. Henry Kellett attended the early
schools of Zumbrota township and village, and clerked for
several years in his father's store. Later he engaged in his
present occupation. He has built up a profitable business and
has a large list of customers, his work being of the kind that
commends itself to all.
He is a justice of the peace, and a number of important
cases have been brought before him. Mr. Kellett was married at
Zumbrota to Ida Leonard, daughter of Samuel Leonard, a native
of Wisconsin, who settled in Zumbrota, where he took up
farming. Both Mr. Leonard and his
wife are now deceased. One son, Everett A., born March 27,
1873, has blessed the Kellett home. He is married and lives in
Minneapolis, where he conducts a real estate office. Mr. and
Mrs. Kellett are well regarded in Zumbrota, and their home on
Third street has been the scene of many a pleasant gathering
of friends. The family faith is that of the Congregational
church.
H. J. KELLS, of Hay Creek township, was born in
Columbia county, New York, October 3, 1833, son of Henry H.
and Caroline (Avery) Kells, natives of New York, who moved to
Wisconsin late in life and spent the remainder of their days
there. H. J Kells was educated in the common schools of New
York and later attended a commercial school in Wisconsin. He
came to Minnesota in 1857 and settled in Wacouta township,
where he worked at his trade of blacksmith for several years.
Afterward he moved to Hay Creek township, where he has since
resided, and carried on general farming and stock raising,
also devoting a part of his time to blacksmithing, having a
well equipped shop on the farm. He owns 200 acres of
land, of which eighty-three are under cultivation, the place
being managed by his son. Mr. Kells was married in Wisconsin
to Naomi Stewart, a native of Maine. The mother died when her
daughter Naomi was small, and the father moved to Wisconsin,
where he died. Mr. and Mrs. Kells have seven children: James,
of Minneapolis, and Alice, Alfred, Henry, Sarah, William, and
George, all of whom live at home. Mr. Kells is Republican in
politics, and lias served as town supervisor and justice of
the peace for a number of years. He belongs to the Masonic
Lodge of Red Wing.
PETER A. H. KEMPE is another one of Red Wing's
progressive business men. Well educated, far-seeing and
genial, he has kept his hand upon the pulse of the city's
commercial activities for many years. Born April 3, 1856, in
Westergotland, Sweden, he had excellent home advantages, being
the son of Aaron and Hedwig (Lunden) Kempe, the former of whom
was a Swedish Lutheran clergyman of devout character and great
learning. The father died in 1885, the mother having preceded
him to his grave in July, 1866. Peter received some of his
tuition at home, attended the public schools and graduated
from the college of Skara in 1874, after which he was engaged
for one year as a tutor. Desiring to see something of the
world, he went to Hamburg, Germany, where he acted as clerk in
a ship-broker's office.
In 1878 he came to America,
landing at Red Wing in September of that year. His career in
this country began with a clerkship in the grocery store of
John Kempe & Co., where he was employed until 1883, when
he embarked in a grocery business of his own. Prosperity
crowned his efforts in this establishment, and in 1894, he
became vice president of the wholesale grocery firm of
Friedrich & Kempe Company, Inc., a position which he still
occupies. Mr. Kempe votes independently, and being a great
reader, thoughtfully considers the issues of each campaign
before casting his ballot. Mr. Kempe was married in Belvidere
township, this county, June 22, 1882, to Mary H. C. Dablow,
daughter of George and Augusta (Grosse) Dablow natives of
Germany, who settled in Goodhue county in the early days. The
father is still living. To Mr. and Mrs. Kempe has been born
one son, Walter, born June 13, 1892, now a pupil in the Red
Wing high school. The family faith is that of the Methodist
Episcopal church.
OLE KITTLESON, of Zumbrota township, son of
Kittie and Berit (Loken) Kittleson, was born in Norway,
November 25, 1843.
His parents died in Norway, the father in 1884 and the
mother in 1845. Ole received his education in Norway, and came
to America in 1859, locating at Rock county, Wisconsin, where
he worked on a farm for two years. He then went to Illinois,
and engaged in farming, remaining six years, after which he
came to Pine Island township, where he purchased 100 acres of
improved land and folloAved general farming until 1881, when
he removed to Zumbrota and purchased a farm of 231 acres in
section 34. Here he built a home and other outbuildings and has
followed a general iine of farming. May, 1872, Mr. Kittleson
Was married to Julia Lee, daughter of Nels and Arnbor
(Torkelson) Lee, natives of Norway, also came to America in
1865, locating in Wisconsin and later removing to Pine Island,
where they engaged in farming for six years, when they came to
Clay county, where the father died in March, 1887, and the
mother in 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Kittleson have had ten children :
Bessie, married to Gustaf A. Nelson, of Minneola township;
Nels, Cornelius and Julia, living at home; Josephine, married
to Elba C. Harper, of Pine Island; Henry, of Cherry Grove;
Theodore, of Spokane, Wash.; Emma and Emma (deceased), and
Olaf, a medical student at the University of Minnesota. Mr.
Kittleson is a Republican in his politics, but has never
sought public office. He is a stockholder in the Farmers'
Elevator of Zumbrota, and the family attend the Lutheran
church.
A. T. KJOS, of Holden
township, was born in Skien, Norway, March 5, 1849, and came
to America the same year with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas
Anderson Kjos. They settled in "Walworth county, Wisconsin,
where they lived until 1856, when they moved to Minnesota and
settled in section 23, Holden township, where the family still
reside. A. T. Kjos was the only son and was obliged to assist
his father at an early age. When he was ten years of age he
drove a string of four yoke of oxen before a breaking plow,
and at twelve years hauled wheat to Red Wing with a yoke of
oxen, the trip taking three days. In 1869 he was married to
Karen Marie Ulvigen, and fifteen children have blessed this
union, nine boys and six girls, all of whom are living. In
1887 a Washington Territory colony, with a membership of 35
families was organized and Mr. Kjos was chosen to go out and
locate for the colony; but finding the country and conditions,
there, altogether different from what was expected, Mr. Kjos
concluded to still continue his residence in Goodhue county,
and advised his followers to keep away from Washington. In 1888 Mr. Kjos was
elected county commissioner, of the Third district, and has
held that office for 16 years. He has also held other minor
offices, such as town supervisor, town assessor, district
school clerk, etc. Mr. Kjos was prominent in organizing the
Farmer's Elevator company of Kenyon, and served the first six
years, as secretary of the company. The family are members of
the United Lutheran church of Holden of which Mr. Kjos is a
trustee, and has several times been elected to represent the
church at the annual meetings.
WILLIAM F. KOESTER, farmer of Hay Creek
township, is the son of Bernard and Annie (Becker) Koester,
natives of Westphalia, where he was born in 1872. The family
came to America in 1884, and while looking about for a
suitable location lived for one year in Red Wing, where
William F., then a boy of twelve, attended the public schools
and began to learn the English language, he having previously
attended school in Germany. In 1885 the father purchased a
farm of 200 acres on Section 2, Hay Creek township, the place
being the one now occupied by the subject of this sketch.
Father and son at once set about improving and developing the
homestead, which is now well kept and about half under the
plow. Upon the place general farming and stock raising is now
carried on, and dairying is conducted on a somewhat extensive
scale. In politics Mr. Koester is a Republican, but he has
never sought public office, although his interest in education
has caused him to accept the position of clerk of his school
district. He was married in 1892 to Annie Sweney, daughter of
Michael Sweney, of St. Johns, New Brunswick, Canada. Her
father, an early settler of Minnesota, went to California in
the early days, and upon his return farmed in Goodhue and
Wabasha counties, remaining until his death in Wabasha county
in 1899. To Mr. and Mrs. Koester have been born three
children, George, Angeline and Roland. Bernard Koester, father
of William F., served several years in the German army before
coming to this
country.
F. W. KOHN, of Florence township, was born in
Hay Creek township April 24, 1856, son of Frederick and Sophia
(Vesphal) Kohn, natives of Mecklenburg, Germany, who came to
America in 1853 and located in New York state, remaining three
years. In 1856
they came to Hay Creek township, where they took up a
homestead, which the father cleared and improved, and carried
on general farming until a few years before his death, when
they moved to Florence township. The father died in 1900 and
the mother in 1906. F. W. Kohn received his education in the
public schools of the township, and after being employed by
others for a while, engaged in farming for himself on a place
of 264 acres, of which 140 is under cultivation. He has made
many improvements on the place, built a fine house and barns,
and carries on general and diversified farming, also dairying.
He was married March 14, 1882, to Louise Isensee., daughter of
Henry and Caroline (Opperman) Isensee, natives of Brunswick,
who came to the United States in 1852, remaining in New York
for one year, after which they came to St. Paul. They remained
only a short time in St. Paul, and then went to Florence
township, where the father engaged in his trade of plasterer
and stone mason.
He plastered the first house in Red Wing. He carried
all his supplies to Florence from Red Wing, sometimes using ox
teams. Mr. and
Mrs. Kohn have three children living: Clara married John
Steffenhagen ; Caroline and Fred live at home. Louis, the
oldest, died in 1898, at the age of fifteen years. Mr. Kohn is
a Republican in politics, has served on the town board four
years, and has been clerk of school district No. 93 for the
past twenty-two years.
BENJAMIN A. KOLBE, a well known shoe merchant of
Zumbrota, was born in Minneola township, March 27, 1867, and
received his education in the public schools, engaging in
farming until the year 1898, when he removed to Zumbrota and
engaged in the ice business for one year. Receiving the offer
of a good position with the Plano Harvesting Company, he
entered their employ, remaining with them for four years,
afterward becoming agent for the International Harvesting
Company, for whom he worked for two years, and then traveled
two years for the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company. Being
ambitions to get into business for himself, he purchased the
boot, shoe and harness business of W. E. Mosher & Son,
which he has since conducted with great success, being one of
the prominent merchants in Zumbrota and making it his aim to
carry only high-grade and standard goods. Mr. Kolbe was married
October 15, 1891, to Anna Maher. Having no children of their
own, they adopted a little girl, Marie, still living at home.
Mrs. Anna Maher Kolbe died January 27, 1900, and Mr. Kolbe was
married October 22, 1901, to Anna Zetzman, by whom he has two
daughters: Myrtle, born in June, 1904, and Ruth, born in
February, 1907. Mr. Kolbe is an independent Republican. Both
he and his wife attend the Lutheran church. His parents were Henry and
Marie (Zimmerman) Kolbe, natives of Germany, who came to
America, locating in Red Wing in 1859, removing to Hay Creek
until the fall of 1865, when they purchased a farm in Minneola
township, cultivating and improving it. In 1869 Mr. Kolbe met
with a serious accident, having his leg cut off by a threshing
machine and dying before medical assistance could reach him.
Mrs. Kolbe was left with seven small children, whom by her
thrift, industry and hard labor she educated, besides managing
her farm and paying off; a large mortgage, thus making a home
for herself and little ones.
OTTO W. KOLSHORN, a former school teacher, now a
progressive farmer of Hay Creek township, was born in
Featherstone, this county, December 6, 1872, and in this
county has spent his life up to the present time. His parents,
Henry and Mary (Teitge) Kolshorn, came from Germany to the
United States in 1852 and to Minnesota in 1856, where they
were married in 1869. For a time they farmed in Hay Creek
township, after which they moved to Featherstone, where O. W.
was born. Later they returned to Hay Creek, where the father
continued to carry on farming until his death in 1900. The
mother now lives on Seventh street, in Red Wing. O. W. was
early sent to the district and private schools of his
neighborhood and proved an apt pupil. He was also an extensive
reader, and a close observer, and started teaching school at
the age of eighteen years. He continued to teach for twelve
years in the schools of this county, assisting with the farm
work in the summer time. For four years he was a lumber and
implement salesman at Red Wing. Mr. Kolshorn now farms 320
acres of good land in sections 19 and 20, and carries on
general farming and stock raising. He served in the state
militia eight years, being artificer of Company G, First
regiment, at Red Wing. In politics a Republican, he has served
several terms as a school officer and nine years as justice of
the peace. He is a director of the Hay Creek Mutual Fire
Insurance Company. In 1904 Mr. Kolshorn was married to Marie
Bang, also a well known teacher of this county for a
considerable period. She was the daughter of Henry and
Fredericka (Horstmeyer) Bang, early settlers of Featherstone
township, both now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Kolshorn have
been born two sons, Vernon Bang and Bernard H., who first saw
the light of day in Hay Creek township.
LOUIS H. KOPPLIN, of Minneola township, was born
in Red Wing, February 1, 1865, son of Ales F. and Julia
(Koenig) Kopplin, both natives of Germany. In 1853 they
emigrated to America, locating in Wisconsin, where Alex F.
attended college. After finishing his collegiate education he
taught school and later came to Red Wing and entered the
employ of Frederick, Kempe & Co. In 1870 he removed to
Minneola township, where he purchased eighty acres of land,
which he broke and cultivated, erecting a substantial home and
farm buildings. In addition to his Goodhue county property he
owns land in Canada, Lac qui Parle county, Minnesota, and two
sections in Pan Handle, Texas. He continued farming until
1893, when he removed to Bellingham, Lae qui Parle county,
Minnesota, where he still lives, engaged in the hardware,
lumber and land business. His wife passed away in June, 1896.
Louis H. acquired his education at Minneola. After leaving school
he remained with his father until 1893, when he purchased
eighty acres of land adjoining the old original homestead,
which his father gave him. This consisted of eighty acres in
section 2, making him in all a valuable farm of 160
acres. He has
built a substantial home, also a large new barn 70x40, and
erected several other farm buildings. Mr. Kopplin takes great
interest in forestry, and has planted 1,000 Norway poplar
trees, which will mature in future years. In June, 1893, the
same year he started out for himself, he was married at
Zumbrota to Anna G. Koch, born April 10, 1870, daughter of
Henry Koch, born in 1836, and Margarita (Engel) Koch, born in
1843, both natives of Germany, who came to America, settling
at Evansville, Ind. They moved to Hay Creek in 1873, and in
1886 came to Zumbrota and engaged in farming. The father is
still living in Litchfield, Minn., and the mother died April
9, 1902. Mr. and
Mrs. Kopplin have three children, Selma, born April 11, 1894;
Stella, born August 21, 1901, and Hildegarde, born February 5,
1904. Mr. Kopplin is a Democrat, and has held the office of
school director for several years. He has acquired his present
prosperity by hard work and honest toil, and is an honored
citizen in every respect. The family attends the Lutheran
Church.
GISLE J. KYLLINGSTAD,
manager of the Goodhue County Abstract Company, Red Wing, has
seen life in three, continents-Africa, Europe and North
America. He is one of the very few people now living in the
United States who was born in Africa, his natal place hWing
been at the mission station in Eschowe, Zululand, where he
first saw the light of day June 13, 1870. His parents, John L.
and Anne M. (Hansen) Kyllingstad, were natives of Norway. They
went to South Africa as missionaries in 1863, and pursued
their labors of love and faith in that country until 1879.
They then returned to Norway, and in 1881 came to America,
John L. Kyllingstad having received an appointment as a
professor in the Red Wing Seminary. After a year's service
there he again resumed his work as teacher and preacher, until
1890, when failing health caused him to retire. He died at Red
Wing August 7, 1890, and his widow now makes her home with her
son, Gisle J. Gisle J. received his early education at the
mission station in Zululand, and in Norway, also attending the
Red Wing public schools. In 1888 he graduated from the Red
Wing Seminary, then engaged in bookkeeping until 1902.
Subsequently, for four years, he engaged in the retail coal
business in this city, and in 1906 sold out and accepted his
present position. Mr. Kyllingstad is a Republican in politics,
and belongs to the Norwegian Lutheran church. He also
affiliates with the Red Men. He is unmarried. Of his two
brothers and one sister, Bertha N. lives in Red Wing, John A.
M. at Lexington, Miss., and Peter A. at
Minneapolis.
The information
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