Trails-to-the-Past-Minnesota-Jackson-biographies

The Date in the ( ) is the date that the person became a resident of Jackson County

OLE AAS (1872) is a farmer and thresherman who owns 180 acres of land on sections 4 and 9, Belmont township. He is the younger of two sons born to Ole A. and Carolina (Lilleberg) Aas. His parents were born in Norway and came to America before their marriage, becoming early settlers of Jackson county. The father died in Jackson in 1906, aged 80 years: the mother now lives in Jackson and is 77 years of age.

To these parents Ole Aas was born on the Belmont township farm February 13, 1872. There he received his education and there he has ever since lived. Until his father moved to Jackson in 1901 Ole worked on the home farm; then he began farming it on his own account, and after his father’s death in 1906 he fell heir to the property. He farms the whole 180 acres and for the past seven years has also been engaged in the threshing business. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church.

Mr. Ass was married in the county in October, 1901, to Grace Arnston, who was born in Norway and came to the United States when one year of age. She is the daughter of Olof Arnston, of Belmont, Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Aas, as follows: Orville and Gladys.

LEONARD ACKERMAN (1903) is a Rost township farmer. He was born in Livingston county, Illinois, July 3, 1874, one of a family of seven children born to Hiram and Rempke (Leenderas) Ackerman. His parents were of German birth and came to America in 1854. They lived, respectively, near St. Louis, Missouri, in Adams county, Illinois, and in Livingston county, of the same state. His father now resides in that county and is 87 years of age. His mother died in 1884.

Leonard spent nearly his entire life in Livingston county, Illinois, receiving his education in the district schools and working for his father until nineteen years of age. At that age he took the management of his father’s farm and conducted it until the year 1903. That year he came to Jackson county and located upon his present farm in Rost township the southeast quarter of section 10.

Mr. Ackerman was married in Livingston county, Illinois, February 20, 1895, to Dorothea T. Post. She is the daughter of Albert J. Post and was born in the county in which she was married. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman, as follows: Harin, Albert, Reinhard, Theodor, Frances, Paulus and Annie. Mr. Ackerman served as justice of the peace of his precinct during 1906 and 1907.

WILLIAM ADAMS (1900). proprietor of a Jackson dray line and agent for the Standard oil company was born in Nobles County Minnesota January 27, 1884, the only son of George and Jane (Philbour) Adams. Both his parents located in Nobles county in the seventies. His mother died there when William was six years of age; his father moved to Jasper county Indiana, and died several years later.

After his mother’s death our subject went to Rensselaer, Jasper county Indiana, where he resided with his grandparents four years. Then he began working out on farms and earning his own living. When sixteen years of age he moved to Wabash county Illinois, to make his home with an uncle and two years later located in Lawrence county, Illinois, and worked as a farm hand. Three years were spent in central Illinois after that, and then, in February 1900, he located in Jackson, where he has since lived. The first two years in the village he worked out, and in 1902 he established the dray business which he has since conducted.

FRED S. C. AHRENS (1889). until recently a hardware merchant and manager of the Western Implement company’s business at Okabena, is now engaged in the hardware business at Brewster. He is a native of Germany and was born May 23, 1870, the son of Christ and Wilhelmina (Mundt) Ahrens.

Fred came to America with his parents in 1880 and located in Will county, Illinois. On the first day of March, 1889, he arrived in Jackson county and this was his home until July 1909. Until 1893 he lived with his parents on the farm in West Heron Lake township, one and one-half miles south of Okabena. That year he bought a farm in the same precinct, and for ten years engaged in farming, in 1902 he located at Okabena and in partnership with several others he engaged in the hardware business. He was one of the organizers of the Western Implement company, which was organized January 28, 1904, and began business March 1 following. The house at Okabena was established at that time. In addition to his business interests, Mr. Ahrens owns a quarter section of land in West Heron Lake township and village property. He is a member of the German Lutheran church and was township assessor five years.

Mr. Ahrens was married at Lakefield July 9, 1892, to Miss Sophia Sievert. They are the parents of the following named children: Rosa, born June 26, 1893; Bertha, born October 29, 1895; Alma, born March 3, 1897; Anna, born January 11, 1898; Albert, born December 9, 1903.

HENRY W. AHRENS (1890) is one of the successful young farmers of West Heron Lake township, in which precinct he owns the northwest quarter of section 21 and all of section 16 south of the Milwaukee railroad. He farms all his land and engages quite extensively in stock buying and shipping.

Mr. Ahrens, of this sketch, is a son of Christ and Minnie (Mundt) Ahrens, of West Heron Lake township, and was born in Germany, January 7, 1873. Henry accompanied his parents to the United States at the age of seven years and lived with the family in Will county, Illinois, until they came to Jackson county. They arrived here in 1890 and until he was twenty-four years of age he lived on the home farm—the northeast quarter of section 19, West Heron Lake township—working for his father. At that age he married, bought the land on section 21, and engaged in farming. Nine years later he moved to Okabena and for two years was engaged in the stock business. Then he returned to the farm, and that has ever since been his home. He bought the property on section 16 in 1901. In addition to his farm properly he owns a house and several lots in Okabena.

At the German Lutheran church on section 18, West Heron Lake township, on November 12, 1897, occurred the marriage of Mr. Ahrens to Alvena Lick, who was born in Germany July 28, 1879, and who came to America with her parents in 1881. Her father died in Rost township July 7, 1902; her mother now resides with her daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Ahrens have no children of their own, but they have an adopted daughter, Doris, born July 7, 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Ahrens are members of the German Lutheran church and he is treasurer of the church society. He is also interested in the West Heron Lake Farmers Telephone company.

JOHN A. ALBERT (1908) is the proprietor of a restaurant and pool hall at Okabena. He is a native of Germany and was born November 6, 1882, the son of Zacharias and Tina (Edzards) Albert. In 1893 he came to America with his parents and located in Cumberland, Cass county, Iowa. There he continued his schooling, which had been begun in the old country. In 1895 he moved to Laurens, Iowa, and two years later to Fonda. In 1906 he located at Round Lake, in Nobles county, and in December, 1908, located in Okabena, where he engaged in the restaurant and pool business. Mr. Albert is a member of the German Lutheran church and of the M. W. A. lodge. He was married at Round Lake September 23, 1908, to Miss Sena Koster, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Koster, of Round Lake, Minnesota.

ALBERT ALBERTSON (1891), Ewington township farmer, was born in Logan county, Illinois, February 18, 1872 and in that county grew to manhood, securing an education and working on his father’s farm. In 1891 he came to Jackson county with his parents and for ten years lived with his parents on their Ewington township farm. Mr. Albertson was married in 1901 and engaged in farming, having bought 160 acres of land on section 15. Four years later he sold that farm and bought his present place, the north half of section 16, where he has since lived. He is beginning to breed thoroughbred cattle and hogs and intends to engage in this business extensively in connection with his general farming.

The parents of our subject are Henry and Hannah Albertson. They were born in Germany, came to America when young and were married in Logan county, Illinois. They came to Jackson county in 1891 and have since lived on their farm in Ewington township. Albert is the oldest of a family of three boys—Albert, Fred and Theodore.

Albert Albertson was married in Ewington township February 28, 1901, to Lena von Behren, daughter of Henry von Behren, of Ewington. Mrs. Albertson was born in Illinois in 1883. Four children have been born to this union: Minnie, born April 3, 1903; Sophia, born November 7, 1906; Mary, born October 21, 1904; George F., born October 28, 1908. The family are members of the German Lutheran church.

FRANK G. ALBERTUS (1899), proprietor of the Albertus Clothing company’s store at Jackson, was born in Owatonna, Minnesota, February 14, 1881, the son of G. F. and Elizabeth (Hoefer) Albertus, the former being a pioneer merchant and real estate dealer of Owatonna, who died at that place October 21, 1909.

Frank spent his boyhood days in his native city being educated in the high school of that city and in Pillsbury Military academy, having been graduated from the latter school. In 1898 he moved to Worthington and for one year was employed as clerk in the clothing store of his brother A. R. Albertus. He moved to Jackson in 1899 and for a little less than three years clerked in the store of Burnham Bros. & Co. He organized the Albertus Clothing company in 1902, opened the store and has since been at the head of that institution. He holds membership in Good Faith Lodge No. 90, A. F. & A. M.

Mr. Albertus was married in Jackson August 24, 1904 to Mina O. Matteson a native of Jackson county and a daughter of Benjamin and Jannett Matteson, pioneers of the county. To Mr. and Mrs. Albertus has been born one child, Gladys, who was born on June 30, 1908.

BERT ALDRICH (1902) is a Middletown township farmer who resides three miles south of Jackson. He was born near Hastings, Michigan, December 12, 1882, the eldest son of Brice and Lydia (Smith) Aldrich. His parents resided in Jackson county several years and are now residents of Colorado, where they have recently taken a government homestead.

Bert was three years of age when his parents moved from Michigan to Springfield, Missouri, which was the family home sixteen months. Seven years were spent in Sac county, Iowa, and then the family located in Wright county, Iowa, where Bert grew to manhood. He secured a country school education and worked on his father’s farm in Wright county until 1902. Coming to Jackson County in 1902, Bert continued to work for his father in Middletown township until the fall of 1908. Then he married and rented the farm on section 1 from P. H. Sawyer.

The date of the marriage of Mr. Aldrich was August 20, 1908, when he led to the altar Esther A. Johnson, a native of Chicago. One child has been born to this union, a son born June 28, 1909.

FREDERICK W. ALEXANDER (1901) farms the Herman Miller farm on sections 30 and 31, Wisconsin township. He was born in Germany May 25, 1861, the son of Frederick and Annie (Clausen) Alexander. His father is dead: his mother lives in the old country. Frederick received his education in the old country and until he was twenty-two years of age worked on his father’s farm. He then came to America and located in Olmsted county, Minnesota. Two years later he went to Clinton county, Iowa, which was his home about seventeen years. For several years he worked in the town of Clinton, and after that worked at farm work near the town. He arrived in Jackson county in 1901, and has since been engaged in farming the place upon which he now lives. He is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge.

Mr. Alexander was married in Olmsted county, Minnesota, in October, 1883, to Catherine Young, who was born in the county in which she was married September 24, 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander are the parents of eight children, as follows: Peter Frederick, born February 25, 1884; Wilhelm H., born June 20, 1886; Johan Ferdinand, born May 22, 1889; Theodore Otto, born November 27, 1891; Frederick Carl, born August 28, 1897; Frederick Adolph, born August 28, 1903; Wilhelmina Magdalena Elisabea, born January 4, 1906; Frederick Wilhelm, born May 4, 1908.

ETHAN W. ALLEN (1866) is one of the oldest settlers of Middletown township, having lived in that precinct since he was six years of age. His parents were William and Clarinda (Arms) Allen, who were born and married in New York state. Afterwards they lived in Wisconsin and Winneshiek county, Iowa, and came to Jackson county in 1866. The mother died in 1885 and the father in 1890. Ethan is one of a family of eleven children.

To these parents Ethan W. Allen was born in Winneshiek county, Iowa, January 21, 1860 and in 1866 he accompanied his parents to Jackson County. The head of the family took as a homestead claim the southwest quarter of section 32. Middletown. and upon that farm our subject lived until 1881. He then sold and bought the southwest quarter of section 28— part of the farm now owned by the son—and upon which Ethan has ever since lived. Upon the death of his parents he fell heir to the farm, and he has since added to his holdings by the purchase of the northwest quarter of section 33.

Mr. Allen has been a member of the township board for nine years and has held the offices of director, treasurer and clerk of school district No. 60 for fifteen years. He is a member of the Methodist church.

Mr. Allen was married in Jackson county October 6, 1885, to Miranda Lucas, a native of Emmet county, Iowa, and a daughter of John Lucas. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have a family of five children: George H., born June 23, 1886; Clyde H. V., born February 14, 1888; Albert E., born May 22, 1890; Grace M., born August 23, 1893; Lawrence W., born September 5, 1897. Another child, Bessie, died of smallpox April 19, 1908, aged sixteen months.

WILLIAM ALLEN (1908) is an Enterprise township farmer who farms the northeast quarter of section 14. He was born at Morris, Illinois, March 17, 1867, the son of Dewitt and Dorothy (Talbott) Allen, On his father’s side Mr. Allen descends from an old New York state family. His mother came from England when a small girl. She died September 19, 1880.

When William was two years old the family moved to the city of Joliet, and that was the home of our subject for twenty-six years. There he received a common school education and after growing up worked at various occupations. For six years he worked in a wire mill as a wire drawer, and during the last nine years of his residence there was a street car motorman. In 1905 he moved to Martin county, Minnesota, and for three years residing in the adjoining county. He moved to Jackson county February 12, 1908, and has since been engaged in farming in Enterprise township. He is a member of the M. W. A. lodge No. 6383 at Alpha.

Mr. Allen was married in 1895 to Miss Sophie Meyer, who was born November 14, 1872. To them have been born the following named children: Ina. born October 15, 1895, died December 4, 1903; Luverne, born August 27, 1897: Bertha, born August 19, 1899, died November 28, 1903. Floyd, born August 10, 1901; Elsie, born August 20, 1903; Alva, born October 12, 1905; Florence, born September 10, 1908.

EDWARD F. ALLERS (1885) is one of the successful young farmers of Sioux Valley township, where he and his father and an uncle own and farm in partnership three quarters of a section of fine land.

Ed Allers is a son of Fred and Catherina (Stoltenberg) Allers, of Sioux Valley. He was born in Benton county, Iowa, December 6, 1874, and in 1881 moved to near Walcott, Scott county, Iowa, where he resided until coming to Jackson county with his parents in 1885. He secured his education in the schools of Walcott, in the district schools of Sioux Valley Township and in the German Lutheran school of Spirit Lake.

In the spring of 1885 the family moved to Jackson county and were among the first of the German families to take up a residence in Sioux Valley township. After Ed grew up he entered into partnership with his father and uncle and has since been engaged in the management of the three farms which they own. He lived with his parents on the home place until 1901, then he married and located upon the northeast quarter of section 26. The Allers’ engage in general farming and stock raising and farm a half section of land, renting out the other quarter. Ed has stock in the Sioux Valley creamery, the farmer’s elevator of Lake Park and the Midland Telephone company. He is a member of the German Lutheran church and of the Odd Fellows lodge.

Edward Allers was married at Spirit Lake, Iowa, July l, 1901 to Dina E. Wellhausen a daughter of Ernst Wellhausen of Sioux Valley. Mrs. Allers was born in Hildesheim, Hanover Germany, November 15, 1876, came to the United States and to Eldridge, Iowa, in 1882, and to Jackson County in 1887.

FRED ALLERS (1885), who, in partnership with his brother, William Allers, and his son, Edward Allers, farms three quarters of a section of fine land in Sioux Valley township, is a native of Mecklenberg, Germany, and was born February 24, 1848. His father, Fred Allers, was a miller in Germany and a farmer after he came to the new world. He died in Scott county, Iowa, January 9, 1887. The mother of our subject, Inger Allers, died in 1889, also in Scott County, Iowa.

Fred Allers of this sketch came to America with his parents in 1852—when he was only four years of age. Upon their arrival in the United States they set out for the west and arrived in Chicago, beyond which railroads did not at the time extend. The family and Henry Knock, an uncle of our subject, who accompanied them, bought a team in Chicago and set out overland on a three hundred mile journey to Davenport, Iowa. On the trip they came upon only one settler, and when they arrived in Davenport they found it to be a little village of only three business houses. Upon arriving in this new country the head of the family bought a forty acre tract of land situated one-half mile north of the present site of Walcott, Iowa, paying therefor one dollar per acre. On that farm, which was later increased to 240 acres, our subject grew to manhood. There were no schools in that pioneer country and the only schooling Fred Allers received was obtained one winter in the Davenport school when he was seventeen years of age. After growing up he engaged in farming on his own account.

It was on the first day of March, 1885, that Fred Allers, accompanied by his brother, William, arrived in Jackson county. For three years the brothers rented land in Sioux Valley township; when they bought the northwest quarter of section 25, in that township, which is still the home place. Later they bought other property until today they own 480 acres of choice land. When Edward Allers, the son of our subject, grew up he entered the partnership, and since then the three have conducted the farms in partnership. The land was all unimproved when they bought, excepting a house— 14.x24 feet—on the home place and a little barn covered with hay. They have made all the improvements and have fine homes, surrounded by large groves. They raise stock quite extensively and are successful farmers.

Mr. Allers was married at Walcott, Iowa, February 2, 1873, to Catherina Stoltenberg, daughter of the late Jochim Stoltenberg. Mrs. Allers was born in Holstein, Germany, September 1, 1844, and came to the United States in 1872. Two children were born to this union, as follows: Edward, born December 6, 1873; Emelia, born July 22, 1875, died February 22, 1879.

Mr. Allers is a member of the German Lutheran church of Sioux Valley township and of the Germania Verein. He was a director of school district No. 50 during the years 1888-1891.

JOHN H. ALLERS (1906) is one of the progressive young farmers of Sioux Valley township. He is a native of Benton county Iowa, and was born May 4, 1886. When he was five years of age his parents moved just across the line into Tama county and on his father’s farm in that county he grew to manhood. John continued to make his home with his parents and to work for his father until 1906. That year he married and moved to Jackson county, taking possession of his father’s farm, the northeast quarter of section 34, Sioux Valley township, where he has since resided. He has up-to-date ideas in regard to farming and he is carrying them out in the management of the place.

Mr. Allers is one of a family of three children, the others being Vena and Minnie. His father was born in Scott county, Iowa, November 13, 1860 and was married at Davenport January 5, 1882, to Minnie Anderson, who was born in Mecklenberg, Germany, February 17, 1865. The parents of our subject are now residents of Tama county, lowa.

John Allers was married in Benton county, Iowa, December 10, 1906 to Emma Ehrnestein. She was born in Germany October 28, 1880, and is a daughter of Fred and Louisa Ehrnestein who live in Benton county, Iowa. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Allers, Agnes Clara, born September 15, 1908. Mr. Allers is a member of the German Lutheran church and of the Germania lodge.

ALFRED AMBROSE (1884), a Wisconsin township farmer and stock raiser, is a native of Austria and was born September 5, 1874. His father Paul Ambrose, died April 5, 1900, his mother is still living and resides with her son.

Alfred came to the United States with his parents when only two years of age and until the spring of 1884 resided at Earlham, Madison county, Iowa. On April 9, 1884, the family moved to Jackson county, and upon his father’s Wisconsin township farm Alfred worked until he reached his majority. After becoming of age he took the management of the home farm, the west half of the southeast quarter of section 33, which he still farms in addition to his own property, the east half of the southeast quarter of section 4, Petersburg township. Mr. Ambrose owns stock in the Farmers’ Cooperative Elevator company, of Alpha. He is a member of the M. W. A. and Z. C. B. J. lodges of Jackson.

On September 24, 1901, Mr. Ambrose was married to Miss Josie Skalsky. To these parents have been born the following named children: Bennie, born December 7, 1902; Albert, born October, 1904: Agnes, born November 7, 1906; baby, born January 16, 1908.

JOHN AMBROSE (1884). Wisconsin township farmer and stock raiser, owns eighty acres in section 33, Wisconsin, and eighty acres in section 4, Petersburg. He is a native of Austria and was born August 8, 1861, the son of Paul and Mary Ambrose.

In 1874 our subject came to America with his parents and located at DeSoto, Iowa, where he received his education. In April. 1884, Mr. Ambrose came to Jackson county with his parents, with whom he continued to reside on the farm until he was twenty-seven years of age. He married in 1889 and then began farming for himself on a place one mile east of the Jackson depot. A little later he bought a farm one mile south of the present location of the village of Alpha, farmed that place three years and then traded it for his present farm.

Mr. Ambrose was married March 4, 1889, to Miss Fannie Najt, of Jackson, and to them have been born these children: Annie, born December 1, 1889; John, born October 19, 1891; Edward, born January 5, 1893; Elenora, born October 1, 1894; Lloyd, born August 25, 1896: William, born July 14, 1898: Rose, born June 27, 1901: Leonard, born July 24, 1904, died November 21, 1905; Paul, born July 26, 1909. Mrs. Ambrose was born August 12, 1871, and died August 10, 1909.

In addition to his farming Mr. Ambrose has other business interests. He owns stock in the Farmers Cooperative elevator and in the Alpha Creamery association. He is a Methodist and a member of the M. W. A. and Z. C. B. J. of Jackson.

OLE AMUNDSON (1881) is a West Heron Lake township farmer who owns the northwest quarter of section 30, upon which he has resided twenty years. He was born in Norway December 15, 1859, and is one of a family of six living children born to Amund and Mary (Nelson) Amundson. His father is dead; his mother lives in the old country and is 82 years of age.

Ole lived in Norway and worked on farms until he was twenty-one years of age. He came from the old country direct to Jackson county in 1881. The first two years of his life in the new world were spent as a section hand, working out of Heron Lake and Okabena. He then married and rented a farm on section 21, Alba township, and began farming. Six years later he bought a homestead right to his present farm, proved up on it, improved the place, and has ever since made his home there.

Jackson county was the place and May 15, 1883, was the date of the marriage of Mr. Amundson. He was wedded to Jennie Olson, who was born in Norway February 3, 1852. Two children, Alfred and Hans, have been born to this union, both assisting their father in conducting the farm. The family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Heron Lake.

ADOLPH ANDERSON (1897), blacksmith of Jackson, was born in Sweden March 13, 1874. His parents are Andrew and Christina Anderson, both of whom are living in their native land. Adolph received a common school education in Sweden, and at the age of fourteen years began working at the blacksmith trade, which he has followed all his life. He left home in 1893 and came to the United States, locating first at Howard, South Dakota. He worked at his trade there two years, at Corning, Iowa, one year, and again in Howard, South Dakota.

He located in Jackson in 1897 and that village has since been his home. He worked in the shop of Ludvigsen Brothers four years, in that of George Sawyer two years, and in 1903 he bought a shop of L. A. Moon, and has since been in business for himself. He bought his present shop from Gus Thompson. Mr. Anderson is a member of the Odd Fellows and M. W. A. lodges and of the Consolidated Casualty company. He is a member of the Swedish Lutheran church. He has been connected with the Jackson fire department for the past eight years.

At Jackson, on September 5, 1902, Mr. Anderson was married to Theresa Weiland, a native of Wisconsin, to them has been born one child, Antonette Anderson.

CHARLES ANDERSON ( 1872) . Delafield township farmer, has spent all except the first year of his life in Delafield township. He was born at Hastings, Minnesota, March 22, 1871, the son of Lars and Maria (Johanson) Anderson. His father was born in Sweden in 1837, came to the United States in the spring of 1870, and located at Hastings. He came to Jackson county in the spring of 1872, homesteaded the west half of the southwest quarter of section 20, Delafield, and resided upon that farm until his death, August 30, 1902. The mother of our subject died in Delafield township when Charles was nine years of age.

The subject of this biography came to Jackson county with his parents in March, 1872, when one year old. He secured a country school education and until he was seventeen years of age, worked on his father’s farm. At the age of seventeen he went to Windom, where he lived three years, working in a hotel. When he was twenty years of age diphtheria attacked the family and carried off two brothers, one sister and two half sisters. This disaster necessitated his return home to take the management of the farm. After his father’s death Charles rented the home farm, which now consists of the south half of section 20, and he has since conducted it to his own account. He also rents 25 acres of land adjoining.

Mr. Anderson was married at Jackson June 14, 1905. to Gertie Danielson, daughter of Daniel Hoog and Christina (Hokanson) Hoog. The former resides in Sweden, the latter is dead. Mrs. Anderson was born in Sweden April 23, 1874, and came to America in 1895. To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson has been born one child, Wallace Milford, born September 27, 1909. The family are members of the Free Mission church of Windom.

GUSTAF A. ANDERSON (1896), proprietor of a photograph gallery in Jackson, was born in Sweden September 22, 1873, the son of Andrew and Sophia (Jonason) Anderson. His father died when our subject was three years of age and thereafter during his residence in the old country he lived with an uncle.

In 1891 Mr. Anderson came to the United States and located at Estherville, Iowa, where for several years he lived at the home of an uncle, attending school during the winter months and working on the farm during the summer months. In the fall of 1895 he began learning the photographer’s trade in Estherville and the next year moved to Jackson and opened a gallery, renting the Roberts’ studio. He remained in that location eight years and then bought his present property. He built the operating room and made other improvements and now has one of the finest studios in southwestern Minnesota. Miss Louie Babcock has been employed as retoucher by Mr. Anderson for the past twelve years.

The subject of this review was married in Jackson June 22, 1904, to Julia B. Lewis, a native of Jackson county and a daughter of Christian Lewis, of Wisconsin township. Mr. Anderson is a member of the A. F. & A. M. and the Chapter.

HANS ANDERSON (1881), farmer and landowner of Enterprise township, is a native of Norway and was born August 5, 1841. His parents, who are both dead, were Anders and Oleana (Larson) Ulrickson.

Mr. Anderson lived in Norway until he was forty years of age. He received a common school education, and after growing up engaged in farming. He came to the new world in 1881, and in October of that year arrived in Jackson county. The first four years he lived on section 18 Wisconsin township. Two years after his arrival he took as a tree claim the north half of the southeast quarter of section 20, Enterprise township, and in 1886 moved onto that place, where he has ever since resided. He now owns 120 acres on that section. In April 1871, Mr. Anderson was married to Andrena Anderson, was born September 4, 1845, and died December 10, 1887. Seven children were born to this union, as follows:

Alma C, born September 19, 1872: Lena, born May 20, 1875; John and Andrew (twins), born April 17, 1878; Hans, born October 28, 1880; Arthur and Enery (twins), born May 10, 1885. Mr. Anderson and children are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Belmont.

HENRY G. ANDERSON (1886). president of the Jackson National Bank and chairman of the board of county commissioners, has lived in the village of Jackson twenty-three years and has taken a leading part in the affairs of his village and county. Mr. Anderson first saw the light of day in Lafayette county, Wisconsin, on November 17, 1857. His parents, Gilbert and Olina (Olsen) Anderson, were born in Norway and came to the United States before their marriage. They are now residents of Dickinson county, Iowa: the father is 74 years of age, the mother 70 years.

Henry lived on his father’s farm in Lafayette county Wisconsin, until he was fifteen years of age. In the district schools of his native county he was educated, supplementing that schooling with a two years’ course in Emmet county, Iowa. In 1872 he accompanied his parents to Dickinson county, and in that county lived on the farm until 1886. He then took up his residence in Jackson and engaged in business, having traded his Iowa farm for a stock of hardware. After having conducted the hardware store eleven years he sold out and engaged in the implement, harness and livestock business five years, in partnership with F. W. Lindsley. For several years thereafter he devoted his time and attention to the management of his farms, which now include 1400 acres of improved Jackson county soil. In addition to this farming property Mr. Anderson owns considerable valuable village property.

In company with eight others Mr. Anderson organized the Jackson National Bank on January 1, 1904 and has since served as president of that financial institution. The bank in capitalized for $30,000 and the present officers are: Henry G. Anderson, president; Dr. W. C. Portmann, vice president; W. D. Hunter, cashier: Asher O. Nasby, assistant cashier. In an official capacity Mr. Anderson has often been called upon to serve. He has been a member of the village council and was president of the council in 1894 and 1895. and Is now a member of the board of education. He was elected county commissioner from the Second district in 1906 and was made chairman of the board at the first meeting after he qualified. Each year since that time be has been elected to preside over the county law makers. Fraternally he is associated with the Odd Fellows and Sons of Norway orders.

Mr. Anderson was married at Jackson March 10, 1886, to Julia Berge, daughter of H. H. Berge one of the county’s early day settlers. To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have been born three children, as follows: Giles H., Anna and Lida.

JOHN A. ANDERSON (1886) is a solicitor for the Woodmen Casualty company and resides at Lakefield. He was born in Norway October 6, 1866, and is the next youngest child in the family of Andrew Johnson and Catherine (Peterson) Johnson. The other children of the family are Jennie, of Belvidere, Illinois, and Johannes and Peter, who still reside in the old country.

John was educated in his native land and resided on his father’s farm until twenty years of age. He came to America in 1886 and located in the village of Jackson. Five years later he became a resident of Lakefield where he has since made his home. During the first eight years of his residence in the new world and in Jackson county Mr. Anderson worked on the railroad. Then he started a restaurant and confectionery store in Lakefield, which he conducted until July, 1908. Selling out at that time, he took a position with the Woodmen Casualty company, and has since been engaged in securing members for the order. He has served two terms as a member of the Lakefield village council and holds membership in the following fraternal orders: I. O. O. F., M. W. A., Royal Neighbors, Encampment and Rebekas.

Mr. Anderson was married in Lakefield February 22, 1893, to Nellie Hauge, a native of that village. To them have been born two children, Gertie and Myrtle.

JOHN M. ANDERSON (1882), of Enterprise township, has lived in that precinct since he was a child. He was born in Norway April 17, 1878, the son of Hans and Andrena Maria Anderson. His mother died about twenty years ago, his father lives in Enterprise township. Our subject was only two and one-half years of age when the family came to America. They resided in DeSmet, South Dakota, one year and came to Jackson county in 1882.

John grew to manhood in Enterprise township, where the family home was made. For five years he lived with his parents on section 18, Wisconsin township; then his father took as a tree claim the north half of the southeast quarter of section 20, Enterprise, and there our subject resided with his father until 1901. That year he married and began farming and has ever since made his home on the farm. He has engaged in threshing eleven years in addition to his farming operations. Mr. Anderson is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church.

Mr. Anderson was married January 14, 1901, to Sena Nelson, who was born in Illinois September 8, 1876. To them have been born the following named four children: Clara A., born November 2, 1902; Hans A., born May 12, 1904; Clifford A. born May 28, 1905; Lloyd S., born January 11, 1909.

OLE ANDERSON (1861). There are only a few people living in Jackson county whose arrival antedates that of Ole Anderson, of Jackson. For nearly fifty years he has lived in the county, playing a part in many of the events described in the historical section of this volume. More than any person living is he acquainted with the details of the early Norwegian settlement of Jackson county and the terrible times during and succeeding the Belmont massacre of 1862. He has always taken an interest in preserving the accounts of the early times, and except for his interest in the matter, much of historical interest contained in this volume must have remained unrecorded. It was largely through Mr. Anderson’s persistence in demanding an appropriation from the Minnesota legislature that the handsome shaft in memory of the killed, in the Indian massacres has recently been erected in the village of Jackson.

Mr. Anderson was born in Norway June 11, 1852, the son of Anders Olson and Annie (Engebretson) Olson. When five years of age he came to America with his parents and located at Spring Grove, Houston county, Minnesota, where he lived until the spring of 1861. In the month of June of that year he arrived in Jackson county, the family having driven through by ox team. The head of the family preempted a claim on section 3, Des Moines township, and on that place the family lived until the following summer, Anders Olson having died there in April, 1862.

The Belmont massacre took place in August, 1862, and the Olson family, together with all other residents of Jackson county, were forced to flee for their lives. Ole, accompanied by his mother and three sisters, returned to their old home in Houston county. After hurriedly leaving their home in Jackson county they stopped for a short time in Estherville, Iowa,—long enough for some of them to come back and secure their personal effects, which had been left. After securing these, they resumed their journey, making the trip by ox team and deviating considerable from a direct course because of fear of Indians, who were supposed to be in great numbers all over southern Minnesota.

The family remained in Houston county until the spring of 1864 and then returned to Jackson county, being the first and only family in the county at the time. They located on the land claim Mr. Olson had taken and the mother of our subject proved up on the place. Ole made his home with his mother until 1866, when he was fourteen years of age. Then his mother remarried and he started out in life for himself. From that time until his marriage in January, 1872, he made his living by hunting, fishing, trapping and teaming.

After his marriage Mr. Anderson moved onto his mother’s old claim, built a house on it and engaged in farming. There he remained until 1880, with the exception of eighteen months during the grasshopper times, when he lived in Capron, Boone county, Illinois. His health failed in 1880 and he was obliged to give up farm work. He then located in Lakefield, then just founded, where he resided two years. In 1882 he bought a farm on section 16, Des Moines township, where he engaged in farming until he was elected sheriff of Jackson county in 1892. Then he moved to Jackson, where he has since lived, having been engaged in several different business enterprises. Anders Olson, the father of our subject, was a shoemaker in his native land. He came to America in 1857, lived in Houston county, Minnesota, until 1861, and then came to Jackson county. He enlisted in the Union army in 1861 and served until his death, which occurred in hospital at St. Louis, Missouri, in the spring of 1862. His widow remarried and lived in Jackson county until her death, which occurred in 1904 at the age of 84 years. There were four children in the family: Bertha, Christina, Bertha and Ole, of whom the first two named are dead.

Mr. Anderson was married in Belmont township January 23, 1872, to Eliza Hanson, who was born in Boone county, Illinois, November 17, 1847. Her parents were Hans and Eliza (Triam) Hanson, who were born in Norway and who came to America before their marriage and settled in the (then) village of Chicago. They were married in Chicago, later moved to Boone county, Illinois, where they died.

To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have been born five children, all born in Jackson county. They are: Ella (Mrs. C. A. Stromme), of Kenyon, Minnesota, born December 4, 1872; Hannah (Mrs. A. B. Frederiekson), of Balfour, North Dakota, born September 30, 1874; Hattie (Mrs. F. A. Brown), of Fairmont, Minnesota, born September 23, 1878: Wallace, who is married and a resident of Wilbur, Washington, born August 25, 1881: Pearl, who resides at home, born January 31, 1887.

PETER O. ANDERSON (1868) is one of Jackson county’s native sons, having been born on his fathers old homestead in Belmont township September 13, 1868. He is the son of the later Ole A. Aas and Caroline (Lilleberg) Aas, who came from Norway when young and who were married in Jackson county soon after their arrival in 1866. His father died in Jackson in 1900; his mother lives in Jackson.

Our subject took the name Anderson in preference to that of Aas when a young man on account of the similarity of names in the neighborhood. Until his marriage in 1896 Mr. Anderson lived with his parents on the old homestead on section 4. He then bought his present farm on section 9, where he has since resided. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church.

Mr. Anderson was married in Jackson county April 12, 1896, to Annie Hanson, a native of Belmont township and a daughter of Jonas Hanson that pioneer settler of the township. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, as follows: Clara, Joseph, Obert, Maurice, Pearl, Henry.

FRANK J. APPEL (1874), agent for the Hamm Brewing company, resides at Heron Lake, in the vicinity of which town he has lived since he was eleven years of age. He is an Austrian by birth and was born June 29, 1863. He is the son of the late Thomas Appel and Tracy (Hager) Appel, who came from Austria in 1874 and settled in LaCrosse township. Thomas Appel homesteaded the south half of the southeast quarter of section 8, and upon that place the family resided until 1904, when they moved to Heron Lake. There our subject’s father died on August 12, 1907, at the age of 78 years, and there his mother, who is now 70 years of age, resides.

Frank is next to the eldest of a family of seven children, all of whom are living. They are John, Frank, Fred, Louis, Joseph, Vincent and William. Coming to America with his parents in 1874, Frank lived on the home farm until 1889 attending the country schools and assisting with the farm work. Then he married, bought the northwest quarter of section 16, LaCrosse township, and engaged in farming for nine years. He conducted a saloon in Kimbrae one year and then, in 1899 located in Heron Lake. Starting a saloon at the time he located in the village Mr. Appel conducted it until the spring of 1909, when he sold to Barney Grave. He has been the local representative of the Hamm Brewing company ever since he located in Heron Lake. In connection with his saloon business Mr. Appel was engaged in the implement business four years, selling out in the fall of 1906.

Our subject was married in Heron Lake September 21, 1889, to Agnes Hager, a native of Austria and a daughter of Frank Hager. a former resident of LaCrosse township, now living at Princeton, Minnesota. To Mr. and Mrs. Appel have been born the following seven children: Hilda, Eda, John, Alma, Elsie, Agnes, Raymond. The family are members of the Catholic church and Mr. Appel belongs to the Catholic Order of Foresters. While a resident of the country Mr. Appel served five years as township clerk and the same length of time as justice of the peace.

MARTIN ARNDT (1896) is a farmer and landowner of Des Moines township, having a fine home on section 31. He owns the southeast quarter of that section and the west half of the southwest quarter of section 29. He is a native of Germany and was born October 18, 1861, the eldest of a family of five children born to Anton and Rosa (Kantback) Arndt, both deceased.

The first twenty-three years of the life of our subject were spent in his native land. He attended school and worked for his parents and spent two years in the German army. In 1884 he came to America, worked on a farm near Milbank, South Dakota, until the next spring, and then located at Fairmont, Minnesota. He resided there two years, working as a farm hand one year and on the railroad one year. He worked on the railroad at Huntley, Minnesota, four years and then rented a farm in Faribault county, which he conducted until 1890. That year he came to Jackson county and located upon his farm in Des Moines township, which he had bought before coming to reside permanently. Later he bought his other farmland on section 29.

Mr. Arndt was married at Fairmont, Minnesota, February 14, 1886, to Susana Wiacorack, who was born in Germany and who died October 6, 1901, at the age of thirty-eight years. Six children were born to this union, named as follows: Anna, Martha, Paul, Joseph, John and Bruno. The family are members of the Catholic church at Jackson. He was a township supervisor two years and is at present a member of the school board of district No. 11.

ANTHONY A. ARNOLD (1887) is one of the successful farmers and stock raisers of Sioux Valley township. He owns the southwest quarter of section 32.

Mr. Arnold was born in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, December 23, 1860, and resided in that county until he was twenty-one years of age. His father dying when he was six years of age, Anthony made his home with his mother and stepfather until he was fifteen years old. Then he started in life for himself, working as a farm laborer for several years. During the winter of 1880-81 he completed his education with a course in the schools at Dubuque, Iowa.

In the spring of 1882 Mr. Arno1d moved to Osceola county, Iowa, was married that fall and then engaged in farming rented land. He soon gave up farming and located in the village of Lake Park. He built the Lake Park house in the fall of 1883 and conducted it two and one-half years. In the spring of 1887 he traded the hotel for his present farm and has since made his home in Sioux Valley Township, with the exception of a year and a half when he was on the plains of Commanche county, Oklahoma, (1903-05). When Mr. Arnold located on the farm the improvements consisted of a few primitive shacks left over from homesteader days. All the present up to date improvements on the place have been made by the present owner. He is a breeder of pure bred Jersey cattle, Duroc-Jersey hogs and White Plymouth Rock chickens.

Henry and Augusta (Schapp) Arnold were the parents of our subject, both were born in Germany and came to America when young, having been married in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, and having spent the remainder of their lives there. The father died in 1866; the mother in 1895, aged 62 years.

Mr. Arnold was married in Jo Daviess county. Illinois, October 23, 1882. to Laura Wiekler, who was born in the county in which she was married in 1861. To these parents have been born the following named eight children: George A. born November 18, 1883; Clyde B., born June 10, 1886; Carl H., born March 8, 1889; Loretta F. born July 4, 1892; Leona M., born May 21, 1894; Pearl A., born June 23, 1896; Ervin P., born June 22, 1896; Clayton E. born May 30, 1903. Mr. Arnold says that one of the best crops on the place have been his children. He has an interesting family. Loretta and Leona are splendid musicians.

Mr. Arnold has been a member of the school board of district No. 64 for the past eighteen years, he was a member of the township board one year and a justice of the peace two years. He is a stockholder and director of the Farmers Cooperative Creamery company of Lake Park. Iowa, and has stock in the Midland Telephone company of Milford. Iowa, and the Farmers Exchange company of Lake Park. Mr. Arnold is a member of the Methodist church of Lake Park and of the M. W. A. lodge.

HERMAN J. ARNOLD (1885) has conducted a harness shop in the village of Heron Lake for the past twenty-four years. He is a native Minnesotan and was born near the village of Mankato during the perilous times of the Sioux war. A few months after his birth the thirty-eight Indians were hung near his home for their part in the massacres.

The parents of our subject are Adam Arnold and Ernestine (Mararuf) Arnold. Both parents were born in Germany and came to America in the late fifties. They located near Mankato, taking a claim that was originally entered by Mrs. Arnold’s stepfather, Christian Klotzky. Mr. Arnold still lives upon land adjoining his old homestead and is 77 years of age. Mrs. Arnold died in 1880. To them were born nine children, of which five are yet living, and of those Herman is the oldest born May 25, 1862.

Until he was eighteen years of age Herman Arnold lived on his father’s farm, attending the schools during the winter months. He then left home and started learning the harness maker’s trade in Mankato. He worked at the trade there five years and then, in 1885, moved to Heron Lake, where he opened a harness and repair shop, which he has ever since conducted. .Mr. Arnold served as president of the council of Heron Lake one term in the early nineties and was a councilman several terms. He is a member of the Lutheran church and of the K. P. lodge.

Mr. Arnold was married at Mankato December 20, 1885, to Josephina S. Lentz, a native of the city in which she was married. Two children have been born to this union, named Verda C. and E. Olive M.

OLOF ARNTSON (1881) owns 280 acres of land on sections 4 and 10 Belmont Township all of which he and his sons farm. His parents are the late Arnt Swenson and Gracie Swenson, who came from Norway in 1899 and made their home with our subject. The father died September 15, 1908, aged 81 years; the mother still lives and is 77 years of age. Olof is the eldest of a family of three children and was born in Norway September 19, 1853.

There he grew to manhood, working on his father’s farm with the exception of seven years spent in the army, he came to America in 1881, locating in Jackson, where he worked on the railroad three years. The next two years were spent in farming on section 6, Enterprise township. He then bought the southeast quarter of section 4, Belmont township from Paul Hanson, who had homesteaded it in 1864, and has ever since made his home there buying his other property later. He has been treasurer of school district No. 89 for the past five years and has been made overseer of his district, he is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church.

Mr. Arntson was married in Norway January 22, 1876, to Mary OIena who was born October 6, 1853. They are the parents of six children: Gust, Gracie (Mrs. Ole Aas), Oscar, Albert, Julian and Bennie.

J. B. ARP (1885), superintendent of schools of Jackson county, since securing his education has devoted his life to educational work, he is a German by birth and was born at Wendtorf, near the city of Kiel, November 13, 1869, the son of Claus and Margarethe (Wellendorf) Arp.

When the subject of this review was fourteen years of age the family emigrated to America and located at Rock Island, Illinois, and one year later, on March 10, 1885, arrived in Jackson county. J. B. Arp received his elementary education in Germany and after arriving in Jackson county attended the district schools, making his home with his parents in Petersburg township. In 1892 Mr. Arp became a student at the Breck school at Wilder and was graduated from that institution in 1895. During his last year in that school he was an assistant teacher in the business department. After his graduation from the Breck school Mr. Arp took a position as principal of the public school at Morton, Renville county, Minnesota, which he conducted two years. In 1898 he became the principal of the schools at Morgan, Redwood county, and in 1901 was chosen superintendent of the high school at Breckenridge. Professor Arp was called to Jackson in 1903 to accept the position of superintendent of the Jackson high school and was at the head of that school three years. He was elected county superintendent of schools of Jackson county in the fall of 1900 and was reelected in 1908. Professor Arp owns his home in the city. He is a member of the Presbyterian church.

On August 20, 1895, at Estherville, Iowa, Professor Arp was married to Miss Edna Middaugh, and to this union have been born the following named children: Bessie M., born June 20, 1896; Harry E., born February 24, 1898, Mildred M., born June 12, 1900; Gladys L. born September 10, 1904.

DR. HERBERT L. ARZT (1901) is a practicing physician in the village of Jackson, where he has resided for the last eight years. He is a native of the city of St. Paul, where he was born June 22, 1875 the son of Christian and Caroline (Erkle) Arzt.

The father of our subject was born in Germany, his mother in the city of Paris. Coming to the United States when young and before their marriage, they lived respectively in New York City, in Ohio, and in St. Paul, where they were married fifty-five years ago in the first brick building erected in that city. Christian Arzt whose life occupation was contracting, still lives in St. Paul and is seventy-nine years of age. Caroline Arzt died in St. Paul in 1908 at the age of seventy-eight years. Herbert is one of a family of ten children, of whom the following four are living: E. A. Arzt. of Sioux City, Iowa: Mrs. James W. Turner and Mrs. Thomas L. Smith, of St. Paul, and the subject of this biography.

Dr. Arzt was graduated from the St. Paul high school and look a scientific course in the Minnesota state university. After securing his general education he matriculated in Rush Medical college of Chicago, from which institution he was graduated in 1901. After a short service in the Presbyterian hospital of Chicago, in the fall of 1901, Mr. Arzt moved to Jackson and began the practice of his profession, and that village has since been his home. In the fall of 1909 he took a postgraduate course in the New York Polyclinic Hospital, Dr. Arzt is coroner of Jackson County, having been elected in the fall of 1908; is medical examiner for the M. W, A. lodge, and is a director of the Jackson Building & Loan association. He is a member of the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen lodges.

In Jackson on July .3, 1907, Dr. Arzt was united in marriage to Miss Blanche J. Paddock, daughter of G. B. Paddock, of Jackson, one of the county’s pioneers. Mrs. Arzt is a graduate of the Jackson high school, and for seven years before her marriage was principal of one of the schools in the city of Meriden, Connecticut.

BENJAMIN W. ASHLEY (1866) deceased. Among the men who took the lead in affairs in Jackson in the early and later days, and one whose name is inseparably linked with that of the county seat village, was Benjamin W. Ashley, who came to the little village at the time of its birth and continued to make his home in it until his death, which occurred December 19, 1905.

Benjamin W. Ashley was born in Sylvania, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, June 16, 1839. He came to Jackson county in 1866 and in company with his father built the first saw mill that was operated. In 1870, in company with his father, he erected the Ashley house and was its proprietor many years. Mr. Ashley was a man held in the highest esteem and had a host of friends.

In 1864 Mr. Ashley was united in marriage to Juliet Robbins. She died August 29. 1004, aged over sixty-two years. They were the parents of the following named children: Mark D., Otis M., Mrs. Maud Wold, Virginia, Will W., Mrs. Neva Burnham, Benjamin W., Jr.

JESSE F. ASHLEY (1866), a retired businessman of Jackson, is a gentleman whose name is inseparably linked with the early history of the village in which he has lived so many years and with Jackson county. From the 29th day of June 1866 when he first came to the county, up to the present time he has had continuous residence here and has taken part in many of the incidents of pioneer history.

Jesse Ashley was born in the county of Tioga, Pennsylvania, on the 14th day of August 1840, the son of Welch and Margaret Ashley. Up to his seventeenth year he resided on his father’s farm in his native county, where be secured an education in the common schools. Coming to the little settlement of Jackson in the summer of 1866 he took a position in his father’s sawmill, at which he was engaged until he became of age. When his father platted the, Jackson townsite, Jesse assisted the surveyor James E. Palmer, in the work.

In company with Lant Thomas and Peter Kingsley he went to Garden City, sixty-two miles distant, in 1867 for the purpose of bringing back flour to relieve the suffering of those who were in need. The country was flooded by melting snows and the party experienced much suffering on the trip. At Blue Earth it was found necessary to con-struct a boat to ferry the teams over the swollen stream. The party was gone thirteen days, but was successful in bringing back the much needed article of food. The flour sold for thirteen dollars per hundred weight, which was the actual cost of getting it in.

Upon reaching his majority the subject of this biography purchased a farm in Middletown township and engaged in farming several years. Three years of this time he had a government contract and carried the mail between Jackson and St. James. During the time he lived on the farm he held the offices of township clerk, assessor and other offices. Giving up his farming operations, Mr. Ashley moved to Jackson and for about ten years conducted a store and meat market. Later he engaged in other mercantile pursuits and became the local agent for the Standard Oil company. A few years ago he gave up active participation in business affairs and now lives a retired life.

LEONARD F. ASHLEY (1866), who owns and conducts a farm just south of the corporate limits of the village of Jackson, has made his home on that farm since he was thirteen years of age. His parents were Leonard and Mary Jane (Wilbur) Ashley, both natives of Pennsylvania and both deceased.

In the year 1853 these parents started from their Pennsylvania home for Illinois, where they intended to make their future home, a homestead claim having been previously entered through a brother Frank Ashley. While traveling through Michigan, enroute to their new home, Mr. Ashley died. Mrs. Ashley continued the journey and made her home on the homestead, upon which her brother-in-law was living. On this homestead, near the town of Peoria, Illinois, on June 19, 1853, Leonard Ashley, of this sketch, was born. When he was six months old his mother returned to her old home in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, and there Leonard lived until the fall of 1866.

On the second day of October, 1866, he and his mother arrived in Jackson county to make their future home, an uncle of our subject, Welch Ashley, having preceded them six months. For a couple of years he attended school—the first season in the school taught by Mrs. B. H. Johnson at the home of her husband, a log building on the east side of the river. In 1868 Leonard began working on the farm of his step-father, Isaac Wheeler, his mother having remarried. This farm is the one now owned by Mr. Ashley and is on the southeast quarter of section 26, Des Moines township. When Mr. Wheeler became too feeble to care for the farm Leonard took the management and conducted it on shares. Before he had yet reached his majority Leonard purchased a forty acre tract of the 240 acres of the original farm, and upon the death of his mother he became the owner of the rest of the home place, except 80 acres which had been sold.

Mr. Ashley was married in Jackson January 13, 1870 to Mary Thomas who with one exception, is the oldest living settler of the county. She is the daughter of the late Joseph and Jane Thomas, who became residents of the county in 1858. Mrs. Ashley was born in Montague, Sussex county, New Jersey. To Mr. and Mrs. Ashley have been born the following children: Louis W.. Leslie N., Solon, who died at the age of nineteen years; Henry, Allison. Mary, Arthur, who died at the age of eleven months.

LOUIS W. ASHLEY (1879), proprietor of a dray line in the village of Jackson, was born in Des Moines township, Jackson county, September 20, 1879, the oldest son of Leonard and Mary (Thomas) Ashley, who reside just south of Jackson, and who are old settlers of the county.

Louis received his education in the Jackson schools. He worked on his father’s farm and at different occupations until reaching his majority. He moved to Jackson in 1900 and for two years worked with the telephone company. In 1902 he engaged in the dray business, which he has since followed. He is a member of the M. W. A. lodge and of the Equitable Fraternal union.

Mr. Ashley was married in the county June 12, 1907, to Lydia Raasch, daughter of the late Carl Raasch and Mrs, Raasch. One child has been born to this union, Floyd, born January 21, 1909.

MARK D. ASHLEY (1867), proprietor of the Ashley house, Jackson, came to that village with his parents when less than one year of age and the greater part of his life of forty-two years has been spent there. He was born in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, August 21, 1866, son of the late Benjamin W. and Juliet (Robbins) Ashley. The next spring he came with his mother to the site of the future village, his father and grandfather having come out the year before and platted the village.

In the pioneer village Mark grew to manhood. He was educated in the Jackson public schools, completing his studies with a two years’ course in the Curtis Business college of Minneapolis and Bowers’ Shorthand school of the same city. For a number of years after graduation he was employed in different parts of the country. His first position was with George M. Van Leuven pension attorney at Lime Springs, Iowa. Later he went to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. where he was a clerk in a lumber, mining and milling company’s office. His next position was with the C. B. & O. railroad, holding a clerkship for a time in the offices at Burlington, Iowa, and later being transferred to the offices at Hannibal, Missouri. From this work he returned to the twin cities and for a number of years held clerkships in different offices in St. Paul and Minneapolis. During the last five years of his residence there being cashier for the Lehigh Coal & Iron company.

In 1898 Mr. Ashley returned to Jackson and for three years engaged in the real estate and insurance business. In 1901 he leased the Ashley House for a term of three years and at the expiration of the lease bought the property and has since conducted the business. The Ashley house is one of the oldest and best known hostelries of southwestern Minnesota. The original Ashley house was built by Benjamin W. Ashley and his father in 1870. It was then a frame building constructed of native lumber. The Ashley house of today is a handsome brick building, well appointed and modern in every way. Mr. Ashley is the owner of the hotel property and Jackson county farmlands. He has held the office of village recorder and for a number of years was justice of the peace. Fraternally, he is a Mason, Workman and K. P.

In Waseca, Minnesota, on May 13, 1903, Mr. Ashley was united in marriage to Miss Dora M. Child, daughter of the Honorable James E. Child, of that city. To Mr. and Mrs. Ashley have been born two children, Juliet Marcia and Miriam Constance.

MENZO L. ASHLEY (1866). With the exception of a little less than three years the gentleman whose name heads this sketch has lived in the village of Jackson over forty-three years and has seen it grow from a grass covered prairie to the substantial city it is today. During these many years spent in Jackson Mr. Ashley has taken a prominent part in the affairs of his village and county and has participated in many of the stirring events of pioneer days.

On July 5, 1847, in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, Menzo L. Ashley was born to Welch and Margaret (Smith) Ashley. In that county he passed his boyhood days, attending the district schools winters and working on the farm during, the summer months. At the age of sixteen and one-half years he entered the army and took part in the closing events of the war of the rebellion. Being underage he was required to secure the consent of his parents before enlistment January 7, 1864, he enlisted in the Seventh Pennsylvania cavalry, and later became a member of company B, of the 97th Pennsylvania volunteer infantry. He served until his muster out at Weldon, North Carolina, August 28, 1865, being finally discharged at Philadelphia a little later.

After his discharge from the army Mr. Ashley returned to his old home in Tioga county, remained there ten months, and then came to the site of the village of Jackson, arriving during the month of July, 1866. Here he joined his parents, who had come out the year before. Soon after his arrival Mr. Ashley was engaged in carrying the mail between Jack-son and Estherville, Iowa, over the first route opened in the county after the Sioux war. When the second mail route was opened into the county—from Madelia to Jackson—he carried the mail on contract with the government three years. In those days there were no bridges or beaten paths on the routes and it was necessary to ford streams and undergo other hazardous risks in the discharge of his duties. In the way of a pioneer “tree blazer” he was considered among the best, and many tales are still told of his exploits and deeds of heroism in those days. After giving up the Madelia route Mr. Ashley carried the mail for some time between Jackson and Sioux City. When the Sioux City and St. Paul railroad was built through to Windom, B. W. Ashley, our subject’s brother, took the government contract to carry the mail from Windom to Jackson, and Menzo Ashley opened and operated the line.

In 1869 Mr. Ashley bought an eighty acre farm in Des Moines township and later bought an additional ninety acres in the same town ship, property which he still owns. In addition to his other occupations he engaged in farming these tracts part of the time. After giving up his mail contracts Mr. Ashley devoted his time to teaming, farming and other occupations. He resided at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a little less than three years, from 1889 to 1891. He owns his home in the city in addition to his farming land. Mr. Ashley served as deputy sheriff of Jackson county five years during the eighties. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was the captain of Jackson’s first fire department, organized in 1874, and he has been a fireman ever since. He is an honorary member of the Minnesota State Fire Department association. Mr. Ashley was married in Jackson July 5, 1872, to Hattie O. Benton, a native of Columbus. Ohio, and a daughter of Porter W. and Harriet Benton. To Mr. and Mrs. Ashley have been born four children. Of these Porter W. lives in the state of Washington and Benjamin H. lives at home. Alice B., the eldest child, died March 22, 1805, aged 20 years and 11 months; Dallas C. was born May 15, 1870, and died April 11, 1901.

OTIS M. ASHLEY (1870), proprietor of a transfer line in Jackson, has been a resident of that village from the time when he was less than one year old. He is the son of the late Benjamin W. and Juliet (Robbins) Ashley, pioneer settlers of Jackson. While his mother, who had come to Jackson county several years before, was visiting at her old home in Mainesburg, Pennsylvania, on the eighteenth day of November, 1869, Otis M. Ashley was born.

The spring following his birth he was brought to the home in Jackson county. Otis was educated in the Jackson public schools and grew to manhood in that village. At the age of twenty years he went to Duluth and for one year worked in a meat market. Returning to Jackson, he worked one year in an elevator and then for two years drove the mail and passenger bus for his father. At the end of that time he bought the bus line and has ever since conducted it. In addition to this business he clerked in the hotel several years during the time his father was the proprietor. For a number of years he was also the proprietor of a livery stable, but sold out in 1903.

Mr. Ashley was married February 28, 1907, to Stella May Crane, a native of Iowa, and a daughter of the late V. B. Crane, at one time publisher of the Jackson County Pilot and later postmaster of Jackson.

WELCH ASHLEY (1865), deceased, was one of the founders of the village of Jackson and one of the town’s prominent men in the early days. The Ashley family is one of the old American families, Robert Ashley having come to the new world from England in colonial days and settled in Massachusetts. Welch Ashley’s grandfather, David Ashley, was born in Westfield, Massachusetts. He was a soldier in the French and Indian war, serving eighteen months. He also served seven years in the revolutionary war and was with Colonel Ethan Allen at the capture of Ticonderoga. He rose to the rank of major.

Welch Ashley was born in Hancock, Delaware county, New York, on the first day of the year 1807, the son of Forest and Harriett (Welch) Ashley. Forest Ashley was born June 2, 1771, at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and died in Mainesburg, Pennsylvania, August 15, 1856. He was married in Hancock, Delaware county, New York, in 1794. He was a carpenter by trade. At an early age Welch Ashley moved with his parents to Troy, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, where he lived a number of years. He served as sheriff of Bradford county a number of years.

Later he moved to Tioga county, in the same state, where he was married and where he lived until he came west and settled in Jackson county. Mr. Ashley was always very patriotic and a strong union man during the civil war. He contributed to the cause and three of his sons were in the union army. It was during the month of September, 1865, that Welch Ashley came to Jackson county and bought the old Wood homestead, upon which had been enacted the tragedies of the Inkpaduta massacre more than eight years before. At the time there were only a few families living in the whole of Jackson county, and these only recently returned after the fear of the Indians had been removed. In 1860 Mr. Ashley and Major H. S. Bailey laid out the town of Jackson, Mr. Ashley being the proprietor of all that portion of the town included in the original plat lying north of White street. About the same time he built the first sawmill erected in the county, which was located on the cast side of the river at the site of the present dam. At this mill much of the lumber used for the construction of the first buildings erected in the new town was sawed and prepared.

From the first Mr. Ashley entered into the business life of the town, taking an active part in every movement for the advancement of its interests. In company with his son, B. W. Ashley, he built the Ashley House, which ever since has been the principal hotel of the village and is now owned by his grandson, M. D. Ashley, and, for many years he was its owner. Much of the material used in the construction of this hotel was hauled by team from Mankato. He was also engaged at various times in the mercantile business and in farming. He retained his mental vigor, and in great degree his physical strength until a few days before his death, and his interest in the town which he had founded continued to the last. Mr. Ashley died at his home in Jackson February 23, 1885.

Mr. Ashley was always a strong friend of religion and was a member of the Methodist church. For many years the local Methodist church was largely supported by him and his excellent wife. It was mainly through his efforts that the present church building of that denomination was erected, he being not only the largest individual contributor to the fund subscribed for its erection, but also devoting much of his time to looking after its construction and in the collection and management of the funds subscribed for that purpose, in which matters his experience and sound judgment were invaluable.

Welch Ashley was married in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, to Margaret Smith, who survived her husband nearly twenty years and died February 17, 1905. To these parents were born seven children, as follows: George G., Benjamin W., Mrs. Margaret Hill, Menzo L., Jesse F., Mrs. Julia F. Downey and John C, all of whom are living except Benjamin W. and George G.

WILLIAM F. AUTEN (1897). grain buyer for the RIppe Grain and Milling company and manager of the elevator at Jackson, was born at Grand Meadow, Mower county, Minnesota, March 21, 1877, his parents are the late Charles L. Auten and Mary (Collins) Auten, both natives of New York state. Both his father and mother came to Minnesota in an early day, before their marriage, the former locating in Mower county, the latter in Olmsted county. The elder Auten was engaged in the grain business at Grand Meadow for many years, and in 1885 moved to South Dakota, where the family lived twelve years. They came to Jackson in 1897, and in that village Mr. Auten, Sr., died May 24, 1904, aged 64 years. The mother of our subject lives in Jackson.

William Auten resided with his parents until he was a man grown. He was educated in the schools at Willow Lake and Howard, South Dakota, and at an early age began working at the grain business in fact, with the exception of three years spent in clerking in general stores at Andover and Willow Lake, South Dakota, he has spent his whole life at the business. He accompanied the family to Jackson county in 1897 and took a position with the Rippe Grain and Milling company, having charge of the elevators at Alpha and Jackson. For the last two years he has devoted his time exclusively to the management of the company’s business at Jackson. The Rippe company has elevators in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa and a large flouring mill at Fairmont.

Mr. Auten was married at Jackson September 2, 1904 to Charlotte Halstead Ellsworth, a native of Jackson and a daughter of William and Bertha (Ellingson) Ellsworth. To these parents one child—a son—was born April 16, 1908. During his residence in Alpha Mr. Auten served one year as a member of the village council. He is a member of the K. P. and M. W. A. lodges.

VIRGIL W. AVERY (1872), undertaker and furniture dealer of Jackson, is one of the early day residents of that village, having come to Jackson county when a boy of fourteen years. He was born in Walworth county, Wisconsin, May 7, 1858, the son of Simeon and Martha (Chamberlin) Avery.

From his Wisconsin home Virgil came to Jackson county with his parents, arriving March 20, 1872. From that time until 1884 he lived in the county with his parents, and then went to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After a short residence there he moved to Pipestone, but one year later returned to Sioux Falls and engaged in the grocery business, which he followed several years. One year was spent in Sioux City, and then in 1892 he returned to Jackson. For the next thirteen years he was engaged in the fuel business. He sold out in 1905 and opened a furniture store, which he has since conducted. He holds membership in the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Workmen lodges.

Mr. Avery was married in Jackson in March, 1883, to Marie Davies, who died August 14, 1884. Mr. Avery’s second marriage occurred at Sioux Falls in September, 1889, when he wedded Grace Sharp. To this union has been born one child, Eloise, born in 1890.

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