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ROBERT H.
WADE (1871). Among the
earliest settlers of Kimball township is Robert H.
Wade, who has lived on his present farm thirty
nine years he is not only a pioneer
of
Jackson county, but of Minnesota as well, having
come to Minnesota in territorial days and having
fought in the union army with a Minnesota
regiment.
Robert H. Wade is a son
of David and Johanna (Wade) Wade, both natives of
New Jersey. They came west in 1854 and died at
Trempealeau, Wisconsin. There are four living
children of this family—William T., of Sumner,
Iowa, aged 90 years; Robert H., of this sketch,
aged 80 years; Stephen T.; of Trempealeau,
Wisconsin, aged 75 years; Edward F., of Fairmont,
Minnesota, aged 70
years.
The subject of this
biography was born in Essex county. New Jersey,
May 18, 1830. There he lived until twenty-four
years of age, learning the carpenter’s trade and
following that occupation during his residence
there. In 1854 he moved to Johnstown, Wisconsin,
and two years later located in Dakota county,
Minnesota territory, where he worked at his trade
until 1871. On March 1, 1864, Mr. Wade enlisted in
the Third Minnesota light artillery and served
until February 27, 1866. After the
war Mr. Wade located at Shakopee, Scott county,
where he followed carpentering until he came to
Jackson county in 1871. Arriving in this then new
country, he took as a homestead claim the
northeast quarter of section 24, Kimball township,
and as a tree claim the southeast quarter of the
same section, and that farm has been his home ever
since. Very hard times were encountered during the
great grasshopper scourge, and during a part of
this time Mr. Wade was obliged to be at Shakopee,
working at his trade. For a number of years after
coming to the county he worked at his trade as
well as engaging in farming, and many of the
buildings in the neighborhood in Kimball township
and Martin county were erected by him. For his own
home Mr. Wade hauled the lumber from Shakopee and
erected a 14x16 foot building with a
lean-to.
During his long
residence in the county Mr. Wade has
always been held in high esteem, and he has often
been called upon to hold offices of trust. He
served on the jury during the years from 1875 to
1879, inclusive, and has seen jury duty before
every judge holding court in the county. He took
the government census of Kimball, Belmont and
Enterprise townships in 1880, the state census of
1885, the government census of 1890 and the state
census of 1895. He served as chairman of the
Kimball board of township supervisors five years,
was township treasurer one year, justice of the
peace twenty years and was clerk of his school
district from the second year after its
organization until a few years ago. He is a member
of the society of Minnesota Territorial Pioneers,
of the John A. Myers Post No. 60, G. A. R., of
Jackson, and of the Presbyterian church of the
same village. Robert H. Wade
was married at Newport, Minnesota, in October,
1859, to Hannah Parker, who was born near Rutland,
Vermont, April 29, 1829. She died May 26, 1897. To
them were born three children, as follows: Charles
H., William F. and Frank H.
The last named has charge of
his father’s farm. He is married to Mary A. Allen,
a native of Minnesota, and they have seven
children: Sylvia M., Lucy A., Mabel A., Henry A.,
Susan H., Frank H., and Helen
E.
MICHAEL WAGNER (1899) is a
farmer and stock raiser of LaCrosse township. He
owns a half section farm, the home place being the
southwest quarter of section 26, and he has a nice
home.
Mr. Wagner was born in
Luxemburg, Germany, September 9, 1853, the son of
Philip and Barbara (Thome) Wagner. He is the
oldest of a family of seven children and his
parents both died in the old country. Michael
resided in his native land until he was
twenty-four years of age. His father was a
carpenter by trade and Michael learned the trade
under his father’s instruction and worked for his
parent until coming to America in 1877. He first
located at Dubuque, Iowa. Near that city he worked
on a farm several years and at his trade three
years. In 1886 he bought a farm in Ransom
township, Nobles county, Minnesota, where he
engaged in farming until 1899. That year he sold
out and located in Jackson county, buying a part
of his present farm in LaCrosse township, and has
since made his home there.
Mr. Wagner is a man of
family, having been married in Grant county,
Wisconsin, February 16, 1887, to Mary A. Dietzel,
who was born in Grant county in 1865. Twelve
children have been born as a result of this union,
of which there are nine living as follows:
Catherina, born November 25, 1887; John, born
April IC, 1889; Bertie, born December 17, 1890;
Dorothy, born December 27, 1892; Julia, born May
12, 1897; Mary, born July 30, 1899; August, born
March 18, 1904; Lawrence, born November 25, 1905;
Henry, born December 30, 1907. The children who
have died are: Helena, born August 21, 1894, died
August 26, 1895; Michael and Frank, twins, born
July 1, 1901, died July 1, 1901. The family are
members of the Catholic church of Heron
Lake.
OLE J. WAGNILD (1893),
Lutheran minister and ex-register of deeds of
Jackson county, is now engaged in farming at his
beautiful home on the banks of Heron lake in Heron
Lake township. He was born in Norway, June 25,
1859, the son of John and Oloug (Inseth) Wagnild.
His father died in Norway several years ago. His
mother still lives at an advanced age at the old
home in Norway with her son Sivert. Ole J. Wagnild
is one of a family of six children, as follows:
Sivert and Oloug, of Norway; Ole and Sarah, of
Duluth, Minnesota; John, who died in Duluth, and
Ole J., of this sketch.
Our subject received his
primary education in his native country, making
his home with his parents and working out part of
the time. He came to
America in June, 1881, and located at Eau Claire,
Wisconsin. After working in a saw mill there one
year he located in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin,
where for three winters he was employed in a
pannery. Mr. Wagnild
next located in Minneapolis. There he worked
at carpenter work part of the time, and for six
winters was a student at the Red Wing seminary,
graduating from the theological department in
1890. During these years he taught school at
various places during the vacation periods to earn
the money with which to continue his studies. In the winter
of 1891 Mr. Wagnild attended the Minneapolis
academy and was ordained a minister of the gospel
in 1890. He received a call from Brainerd and
occupied a pulpit there one year.
Rev. Wagnild came to Jackson
county in 1893 in response to calls to fill four
pulpits, and he served these four churches until
1904. He resided in
Jackson for a time and later made his home in
Belmont township. In the spring of 1904 he moved
onto his present farm in Heron Lake township,
which he had bought some time before, and that has
been his home since. Rev. Wagnild was elected
register of deeds of Jackson county on the
republican ticket in 1904 and was reelected in
1906, serving four years. During this time he made
his temporary home in Jackson, but moved back to
his farm again in the spring of 1909. He is now a
member of the board of education of independent
school district No 3, Lakefield. Rev. Wagnild
was married in Heron Lake township September 6,
1893, to Miss .Josephine Nestrud, who was born in
Heron Lake township. She is the
daughter of John Nestrud, one of the early day
settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Wagnild are the parents of
the following named eight children: Palma, Olga,
Magda, Selma, Sherman, Juukl, Parker and
Harlow.
JOHN I. WALLACE (1885),
proprietor of a tow manufacturing plant at
Jackson, is a native of Spafford township Onondago
county New York, and was born on August 1, 1841.
The parents of our subject were John and Mercy R.
(Woodworth) Wallace. The father came from Ireland
in 1832 and after a, residence of a year or two in
Washington county moved to Onondago county. New
York, where he engaged in farming for a number of
years, later moving to the. little village of
Spafford Corners, where he died May 24, 1893, aged
82 years. Mercy R. Wallace was born in New York
state. Her family was of English descent, her
parents having been born in Connecticut. She
married Mr. Wallace in November. 1840 and died
in August, 1865 aged 43 years.
Our subject lived in his
native township in Onondaga county until ten years
of age and then moved with his parents to Otisco
Township, of the same county. There he secured a
district school education and worked on his
father’s farm until the outbreak of the civil war.
On September 25, 1861, Mr.
Wallace enlisted in Company A, of the 75th New
York volunteer infantry, at Auburn and served
until after the close of the war. Early in the war
his regiment was sent to Santa Rosa island, off
the southern coast of Florida, and from there was
transferred to Pensacola, Florida, upon the
evacuation of the navy yard there by the
confederate forces. In September, 1862, Mr.
Wallace accompanied his regiment to New Orleans,
Louisiana, and in that state took part in several
severe engagements, among others the battle of
Camp Bisland. He was on the skirmish line of the
forces that captured the gunboat Cotton on Bayou
Teche. After spending
the winter of 1862-63 in New Orleans, the forces
to which Mr. Wallace belonged started out under
command of General Banks on a campaign through the
state.
They went to Alexandria and
then to Port Hudson, where the forces arrived May
26, 1863. The day following Mr. Wallace took part
in the charge on Port Hudson. Thereafter for
forty-four days the 75th regiment engaged the
enemy in siege, fighting almost continually and
losing about two-thirds of the command in killed,
wounded and captured. On June 1, Mr.
Wallace was wounded by being struck in the right
hip by a piece of a shell. For the next three
months he was off duty, part of the time being in
a field hospital and the rest of the time at home,
having secured a sixty days furlough. He rejoined
his regiment at New Iberia, Louisiana. His period of
enlistment having expired, Mr. Wallace
reenlisted in the same regiment on the last day of
the year 1863, received a thirty days veteran’s
furlough, spent that length of time at home, and
then reported for duty at Washington. He received
orders to report to bis regiment, then stationed
at New Orleans, and in that southern city remained
until July 1864. Then he accompanied his regiment
to Petersburg, Virginia, to become a part of
General Grant’s army. The latter part of the same
month his regiment became a part of the forces
under General Sheridan, then stationed at
Tanleytown, near Washington. His fighting
thereafter was done under the dashing Sheridan,
taking part in the battles of Winchester, Fisher’s
Hill and Cedar Creek, the last named occurring
October 19, 1864. Late in the year 1864 he was
ordered to Savannah, Georgia, where he was on
provost duty until August, 1865. Then orders were
received for the discharge of the regiment, and
after a trip to Atlanta and Augusta and back to
Savannah, he was mustered out in the last named
city, the regiment finally disbanding at Albany,
New York, September 24, 1865.
After the war Mr. Wallace
returned to Onondaga county New York, and located
in Tully township. From that time until 1882 he
engaged alternately in farming and working at the
cooper’s trade. In the last named year he moved to
Elliott, Ford county, Illinois, and engaged in the
manufacture of tow. His plant was burned in the
spring of 1885, and on July 10, of that year, he
arrived in Jackson, determined to seek his fortune
in Jackson county. During the year
of his arrival he erected a plant in the village,
and has ever since been engaged in the manufacture
of tow. His product is upholstery tow and the
capacity of the plant is about one and one-half
tons of fine tow per day.
In addition to his other
business: Mr. Wallace is quite extensively engaged
in the cultivation of ginseng and was the first
man in the county to begin the cultivation of that
product. He began on a small scale in 1901 and has
enlarged the ground each year until now he has
under cultivation thirty-five square rods. From
one square rod of ground he has sold $109 worth of
dried ginseng roots. The crop is a very profitable
one, but one hard to raise and it takes time and
labor to get results. Mr. Wallace
owns his home and business property in the city.
He is a member of the Christian church and of the
Grand Army of the Republic.
Mr. Wallace has been married
twice. His first marriage occurred in Tully
township, Onondaga county, New York, in March,
1875, when he wedded Miss Julia Thompson. She died
November 1, 1880. The second marriage occurred in
the same county June 14, 1883, when he married
Miss Eva Donaldson, of French descent and a native
of Eastern Canada.
ALBERT W. WARD (1886) owns
and farms a half section of land in West Heron
Lake township, midway between Lakefield and
Okabena. He is a native
of Cattaraugus county New York, and was born June
7, 1858. His parents were Luther and Mary J.
(Ward) Ward, also natives of the Empire state, who
resided there until they moved to Martin county,
Minnesota, in 1871. Mr. Ward, senior, was a stone
mason by trade, and worked at his trade in
Fairmont until his death, which occurred September
18, 1893, at the age of 67 years. His wife died
December 23, 1898, aged 69 years.
Albert attended the school of
his native county and resided on his parents’ farm
until he was thirteen years of age. He then
accompanied the family to Martin county, lived
with them on the farm two years, and then in
Fairmont. After a residence of several years in
the county seat town, Albert went to Sherburn and
began working for the Milwaukee railroad company,
holding the position of section foreman until
1886. That year he moved to Lakefield and for the
next five years was foreman of the section at that
point. In 1891 he bought the southwest quarter of
section 22, West Heron Lake township, and began
farming, and he has followed that occupation ever
since. When he bought the farm only a limited area
had been put under cultivation and the only
building on it was a little claim shanty. Later
Mr. Ward bought the northwest quarter of section
27, adjoining, and now farms a half section.
Mr. Ward was married at
Fairmont July 4, 1883, to Loist M. Wood, who was
born in Stark county, Illinois, October 20, 1864.
To Mr. and Mrs. Ward have been born four children,
as follows: Montie L., born May 10, 1884; Elmer
L., born November 9, 1889; George B., born January
1, 1893; Charles H., Born January 8, 1902.
Mr. Ward has held various
offices of trust within the gift of the people of
his precinct. He was chairman
of the board of supervisors four years, township
treasurer one year, and clerk of school district
No. 90 for ten years.
CHARLES H. WASHBURN (1883) is
one of the successful farmers of Wisconsin
township and owns a 100 acre farm on sections 18
and 8. He descends from old American stock of
English ancestry. According to family tradition a
member of the family was one of the passengers of
the Mayflower. The ancestry is traced direct back
to Hope Washburn, who was born in 1750, married
Tabitha Ward of Scotch descent, in 1774, and died
in 1827. He had seventy grandchildren.
The parents of our subject
were Lorenzo and Caroline (McLean) Washburn, both
born in Jay township, Essex County, New York, and
both dying there. To these parents
Charles H. Washburn was born in Essex county. New
York, on the 21st day of January, 1843. He made
his home on his father’s farm until twenty-six
years of age; then he moved to Chicago and that
city was his home for a number of years. He came
to Jackson county in 1883 and bought the southeast
quarter of section 8, Wisconsin township, from the
state, paying $1,200.00 for the quarter. He lived
on the farm a few years and then took up his
residence in Jackson. He moved onto his present
farm in 1901, but has moved back and forth between
the farm and town several times. He owns village
property in addition to his farming lands. While a
resident of Jackson Mr. Washburn served on the
village council, and has held the office of
treasurer of school district No. 1. He is a member
of the M. B. A. lodge.
Mr. Washburn was married at Au
Sable Forks, Essex county New York. June 27,
1882. to Anna Lewis,
who was born in Essex county February 18, 1844.
Her father was John Lewis and her mother is Jane
(Forker) Lewis, who still lives in Essex county
and is 92 years of age. Two children were born to
Mr. and Mrs. Washburn both of
whom have died. They were Lewis L., who died at
the age of eight years, and Jane, who died in
infancy.
ALFRED WATLAND (1897), in
partnership with his brother, Bert, owns and farms
540 acres of land on sections 10 and 15, Des
Moines township, two and one-half miles northwest
of Jackson. The brothers are extensive feeders and
shippers of cattle, hogs and sheep and raise
thoroughbred Hereford stock.
The father . of our subject
was Bjorn J. Watland, who
was born in Stavanger, Norway, March 12, 1854. He
came to the United States with his parents in 1873
and located near Leroy, Mower County, Minnesota,
where his parents homesteaded government land. He
engaged in farming there until 1886 and then moved
to Emmons county, North Dakota, where he conducted
a sheep ranch ten years. During his residence
there he had a government contract to supply the
troops at Fort Yates with meat, wood and hay. He
returned to Mower county, lived there one year,
and in 1897 took up his residence in Jackson
county. He bought the Des Moines township farm
where his sons now reside, made most of the
improvements on the place and engaged in farming
there until his death, which occurred May 13,
1904.
While a resident of Leroy,
Bjorn Watland was married to Elizabeth Spande, who
was born in Fillmore county, Minnesota, December
27, 1862, and who now makes her home with her sons
on the Jackson county farm. Seven children were
born to these parents, as follows: Alfred, born
May 4, 1885; Berl, born July 19, 1887; Mamie, born
February 22, 1890; Anna, born March 13, 1893;
Cecelia, born August 15, 1894; John, born June 24,
1896; Ella, born September 19, 1899.
Alfred Watland is the eldest
of these children and was born in Leroy, Mower
county, Minnesota. While yet a baby he accompanied
his parents to Emmons county, North Dakota, and
there he spent his boyhood days. After residing
ten years in Dakota the family returned to Mower
county and located near Adams. One year later, in
1897, Alfred came with his parents to Jackson
county, and has since resided on the farm his
father bought at that time. Until his father’s
death he worked on the place, and after that event
he and his brother took the management of the
farm. He has served as clerk of school district
No. 7 for the past two years and is president of
the Des Moines River Telephone company.
FRANK WAZLAHOWSKY (1874), one
of the early settlers of LaCrosse township, was
born in Moravia, Austria, October 10, 1855. His father,
Frank W. Wazlahowsky, was born in 1829, came to
the United States in 1874, and now makes his home
in Owatonna, Minnesota. The mother of our subject,
Josefa (Elgner) Wazlahowsky, was born in 1828 and
died in Jackson county in 1897.
Frank lived in Moravia until
he was nineteen years of age. His father was a
blacksmith by trade, and he began working in the
shop when a child and learned the trade.
John Haberman, who came from
the same part of Austria as did our subject, had
come to America and to Jackson county a year or
two before, and it was because of the letters he
wrote back that the Wazlahowsky family decided to
come to the new world. They came over in 1874,
arriving in Jackson county April 30. The father of
our subject bought the northeast quarter of
section 32, LaCrosse township, and on that place
Mr. Wazlahowsky has ever since made his home. A
little frame house was built on the place at the
start, and in 1878 our subject erected a frame
building —a part of his present house.
Until 1878 Frank worked for
his father, then he married and engaged in farming
for himself, his father giving him eighty acres of
the home farm at that time. Later Frank bought the
other eighty and has since added to the dimensions
of his farm by the purchase of forty acres
adjoining. Mr. Wazlahowsky has held the offices of
chairman of the township board, supervisor, town
clerk, assessor and other offices. He has always
taken an active interest in school matters, he and
John T. Haberman building the first school house
in the district. He was the first clerk of
district No. 33 and served many years.
Mr. Wazlahowsky was married in
LaCrosse township November 20, 1878, to Annie
Belzl, who was born in Moravia, Austria, and who
came to the United States in 1876. They have three
children, Fred W., Mary T, and John A. The family are
members of the Catholic church of Heron
Lake.
REINHOLD C. WEGNER
(1891) is a school teacher now located at Cass
Lake, Minnesota, his permanent home being in Heron
Lake township. He is a
native of Buckley, Illinois, and was born May 10,
1884. At the age of seven years he accompanied his
parents to Jackson county and grew to manhood on
his father’s farm, the southwest quarter of
section 22, Heron Lake township. He was educated
in the district schools, in the German school at
Lakefield, in Concordia college of St. Paul and in
the Addison German Lutheran seminary of Addison,
Illinois, from which he was graduated in 1908.
Since his graduation he has been employed as a
teacher in a German Lutheran school at Cass
Lake.
Our subject is the son of
Albert and Minna (Giertz) Wegner, natives of
Germany. They came to the United States when young
and, before they came to Jackson county in 1891,
lived at Buckley, Illinois. The family lived on
their farm in Heron Lake township after coming to
the county. Mr. Wegner died June 21, 1900, aged 68
years. Mrs. Wegner still lives on the home place,
the farm being conducted by her two sons, Albert
and Louis. There are five children in the family,
namely: Reinhold, Charlie, Martha (Mrs. C. J.
Marquardt).
of Princeton, Wisconsin; Albert and
Louis.
NICK W. WEIS (1909).
proprietor of a blacksmith and machine shop at
Lakefield, was born in Luxemburg, Germany.
September 7, 1873 the son of Philip and Mary
(Schmidt) Weis, who still live in Germany.
In Germany Mr. Weis was
educated and learned the machinist’s trade, living
with his parents until he emigrated to America in
1895.
Upon his arrival to the new world he
located at Omaha, Nebraska, where he worked three
years and two months. He then located at
Petersburg, Nebraska, where he opened a machine
shop of his own, which he conducted four years.
Selling out there, he moved to Ladysmith,
Wisconsin, where he bought a farm and engaged in
agricultural pursuits three years, working in a
sawmill part of the time. The next two
years of his life were spent in Ladysmith in
charge of the electric lighting plant. We next
find our subject at Rose Creek, Minnesota, where
he conducted a machine shop until he located in
Lakefield in February, 1909. He bought the James
Rost machine shop and has since conducted it.
Besides his business property in Lakefield,
Mr. Weis owns a farm
in the state of Wisconsin.
At Underwood, Iowa, December
12, 1900, Mr. Weis was united in marriage to
Rebecca M. Church, a native of Missouri Valley,
Iowa. Three children,
named Rosa, Charles and Florence, have been born
to this union. The family are members of the
Catholic church and Mr. Weis belongs to the Odd
Fellows and Workmen
lodges.
JOHN C. WENDELSDORF
(1882), Petersburg township farmer, was born in
Greengarden, Illinois, March 25, 1879, and is the
son of John and Mary (Week) Wendelsdorf, of the
same township.
John Wendelsdorf, the father
of our subject, was born in Germany October 13,
1845, came to the United States when twenty-one
years of age, and located in Greengarden,
Illinois, where he lived fifteen years. He then
came to Jackson county and located on section 17,
Petersburg township, where he has since
lived. He was married
to Mary Week June 29, 1868. He owns 360 acres of
land in Petersburg.
John C. Wendelsdorf of this
sketch accompanied his parents to Jackson county
in the spring of 1882. He received a common school
education and until he was twenty-five years of
age lived on the home farm. Since that time he has
been engaged in business for himself, farming the
southeast quarter of section 19.
Mr. Wendelsdorf was married
October 25, 1905, to Miss Mary Heser. To them have
been born two children: Mabel, born October 11,
1906; Irene, born August 5,
1908.
BALSER WEPPLER (1902),
saloon keeper of Lakefield, was born in Germany
August 22, 1865, the youngest of a family of six
children born to Adam and Elizabeth (Wenk)
Weppler. Both his parents died in Tazewell county,
Illinois.
Balser came across the ocean
with his parents when eight years of age. The
family located on a farm in Tazewell county,
Illinois, and that was the home of our subject
until he reached his majority. He then started out
in life for himself and for four or five years
worked as a farm laborer near Gilman, Iroquois
county. After his marriage, which occurred in
1891, he rented a farm in Iroquois county and
farmed seven years. He then moved to the village
of Gilman, where he bought and conducted a saloon
three years. He came to Jackson county in 1902,
bought a saloon in Alpha, and operated it two
years. Moving to Lakefield in 1904, he purchased
the saloon of Ed. Kolander, and has since
conducted it. Mr. Weppler
owns his home in Lakefield.
On the 29th day of December
1891 Mr. Weppler was married to Mary Brill at
Gilman, Illinois. Five children have been born to
this union: Carl, Frank, died April 8, 1909, at
the age of 14 years; Ernie, Lizzie and
Martha.
AUGUST WERNER (1893), a
farmer and stock raiser of Petersburg township,
was born in Bornteen, Germany, December 25, 1853,
the son of Carl and Maria (Shueman) Werner, both
deceased.
August spent his boyhood days
in Germany, but emigrated to the United States
with his parents when less than eighteen years of
age. The family
sailed from Hamberg for the new world on August
28, 1871, and the next year located in the city of
Chicago, soon after the terrible fire. During the
winter of 1872-73 August worked in the country
near Chicago, and then moved to the city, where he
resided one year. During the next sixteen years he
lived in and in the vicinity of Chicago. Then in
March, 1893, he moved with his family to Jackson
county and has ever since made his home in
Petersburg township.
Mr. Werner owns the southwest
quarter of section one and the east half of the
southeast quarter of section two, Petersburg. He
owns stock in the Farmers Elevator Co., of Alpha,
in the Alpha Creamery Co. and in the Alpha Horse
company. He is a member of the German Lutheran
church.
In Chicago, Illinois, on July
9, 1877, Mr. Werner was
married to Marie Pasal, who was born July 26,
1852. To these parents have been born the
following named children: Paulina, born June 7,
1878, died June 1, 1882; Augusta, born May 28,
1879; Emma, born May 20, 1880; Herman, born
November 26, 1882; Martha, born December 5, 1883;
Henry, born September 17, 1885: Eddy, born May 1,
1887: Lizzie, born April 13, 1891; Otto, born June
7, 1894. All the children except Otto were born in
Evergreen Park, Illinois.
MIKE WHISNEY (1891), of
Des Moines township, is a native of Slovis,
Austria, and he was born November 25, 1865, the
son of Andrew and Mary (Zepi) Whisney. The first
sixteen years of his life were spent in his native
land, attending school and working for his parents
on the farm.
He came to the United States
in 1881 to make his fortune in the new world, his
earthly possessions at the time of his arrival
being a five-cent piece. Mr. Whisney
worked as a teamster a few months in Hazletown,
Pennsylvania, drove a team in a stone quarry a
couple of years at Marble Head, Illinois, was in
Chicago a few months, worked in the coal mines of
Streator, Illinois, for a time, worked as a farm
hand near Sibley, Iowa, several years, and again
took up his residence in Streator for a short
time.
He came to Jackson county in
1891 and with the savings of former years bought
the northwest quarter of section 30, Des Moines
township, and began farming. Later he added to his
holdings until today he has a fine farm of 206
acres, all of the improvements upon which he has
made. The boy who landed in America twenty-eight
years ago has prospered. He is vice president of
the Des Moines-Hunter Telephone company, is a
member of the school board of district No. 11, and
has served six years as road overseer.
Mr. Whisney was married at
Streator, Illinois, May 10, 1887, to Annie Riko,
also a native of Austria. They are the parents of
six children, named as follows: John, Joseph,
Mary, Julia, Mike and Lawrence. The family are
members of the Lutheran church and Mr. Whisney is a
member of the M. W. A.
lodge.
CLAUS WIEBENER (1887)
owns and farms a half section farm in Sioux Valley
township, where he has lived many years. He is a
German by birth and was born July 8, 1865, in the
province of Holstein. He spent his early years
attending school and helping his father, who was a
brick mason by trade.
At the age of nineteen years
Claus emigrated to the United States and located
in Cedar county, Iowa, where he worked as a farm
hand three years. He came to Jackson county in
1887.worked out in Sioux Valley township two
years, and then bought the northwest quarter of
section 20, of that township, and engaged in
farming. He made all the improvements on that
farm, which was his home until 1904. That year he
bought the southwest quarter of section 20 and
moved onto his new place. He still owns his old
farm and farms the whole half section. Mr.
Wiebener raises considerable stock and is an
extensive hog feeder. He raised 2,500
bushels of corn during the year l909. Mr. Wiebener
is a member of the German Lutheran church and of
the Masonic and Woodmen lodges. He has held a
school office during nearly all the time he has
lived in the county.
Claus is the youngest of a
family of four children, his brothers and sisters
being Gretchen, Fritz and John all living in
Oklahoma. His parents
were Peter Christian Wiebener and Anna (Struve)
Wiebener The former died in Sioux Valley township
in 1905. his mother having died in 1895.
Mr. Wiebener was married on
his farm in Sioux Valley township in 1894 to Mary
Diederich, who was born in Germany December 12,
1875. They are the parents of the following named
seven living children: Christiana, born October
10, 1894; Anna, born October 11, 1896: Marie, born
September 6, 1898: Lilly, born April 10, 1901:
Harry, born March 12, 1902: Elza, born September
10, 1907: Christina, born September 8, 1908. One
child, Claus, has died.
GUSTAV WIESE (1895) is
one of the progressive farmers of Sioux Valley
township, where he owns and farms 200 acres of
land. He engages
extensively in stock raising and has large herds.
He has a nice home and a well improved farm.
Mr. Wiese was born in
Schonberg, Holstein, Germany April 25, 1872, the
son of C. H. and Maggie (Harder) Wiese. His father
was a veteran of the Danish war (1848-51) having
served four years in the German army. He was a
jeweler by trade and followed that occupation in
his native land forty-three years. He died at
Schonberg, Germany September 8, 1902, at the age
of 79 years the mother of our subject died in
Germany in October, 1890, aged 65 years.
Gustav Wiese spent the first
fifteen years of his life in his native town,
receiving his education in the public schools. In
the spring of 1888 he came to the United States
and located at Holstein, Ida County, Iowa, where,
however, he remained only three months. He then
went to Ewing, Holt county, Nebraska, where he
lived a year and a half, working on the farm of
his brother-in-law. The next three years were
spent working on a farm in Shelby county, Iowa.
This brings us up to the year 1893, when he
returned to his old German home for a six months’
visit. Returning to America in the spring of 1894,
he again located in Shelby county, Iowa. In the
fall of 1894 he came to Jackson county and bought
120 acres of his present farm in Sioux Valley
township. In the spring of 1895 he returned to the
county to make permanent residence. For two years
he worked at the carpenter trade in Lakefield and
in the vicinity of Lake Park, Iowa, and then, in
1897, he located upon his farm and has ever since
been engaged in farming.
Mr. Wiese was married in
Sioux Valley township February 16, 1897, to Emma
Untidt, daughter of Henry and Alvina Untidt.
Mrs. Wiese was born
in Scott county, Iowa, July 7, 1878. To Mr. and
Mrs. Wiese have been born the following named
children: Hellmuth, born February 23, 1899;
Rudolph, born December 14, 1901; Alvina, born
August 30, 1903; Bertha, born October 20, 1905;
Norma, born June 25,
1907.
G. E. WIGER (1886). On
his father’s farm, on the east half of section 18,
Enterprise township, G. E. Wiger was born January
15, 1886. His parents
came from Norway in 1870 and located in Blue Earth
City, Minnesota, coming to M. Johnson, whose wife
had just died and who had six small children. Ole
Wiger, our subject’s father, was a tailor in the
old country and his services were useful at this
time, for there was no ready made clothing there
at that time.
In 1872 the family came to
Jackson county and located a homestead in
Enterprise Township, and on that place Mr. and
Mrs. Wiger ever after lived. All the property they
owned when they moved to the county was a span of
oxen and a cow. They had five dollars, with which
they bought lumber to use for the inside of a sod
shanty. During the first years they did not raise
much because they had no machinery, and the
grasshoppers destroyed their crops.
In later years misfortunes
also came. In 1886 lightning struck the house,
killing Gerhard Wiger, ten years of age, and
striking Ole Wiger so that he was ill for a half
year. Six months later a kick from a horse injured
him so that he was blind in one eye ever after. On
October 20, 1903, the house and all its contents
burned to the ground, and that fall, while the new
home was being built, the family were obliged to
live in the granary. Mr. Ole Wiger
died September 2, 1905, after an illness of nine
months. He left a widow and nine children, of whom
one has died. Following are the names of the
living children: Mrs. H. H. Stall, of LaMoure,
North Dakota; Mrs. H. A. Stall, of Des Moines
township; Mrs. P. Peterson, of
Minneapolis; Mrs. E. Westgord, of Windom; Gilbert
O. Wiger, G. E. Wiger, Miss Christina Wiger and
Obert W. Wiger, of Enterprise township.
Our subject received a common
school education and was brought up on his
father’s farm, engaging in farming the home place
after his father’s death. In partnership with his
brother Gilbert and J. Paulson, Mr. Wiger owns a
threshing machine, he is a member of the Norwegian
Lutheran church, in which he was baptized and
confirmed.
ALBERT WILEY (1868).
Among the pioneers of the county is Albert Wiley,
janitor of the high school building at Jackson,
who has resided in the county since he was
fourteen years of age The parents of our subject
were William and Ann (Garvin) Wiley. William Wiley
came to the county and homestead in Heron Lake
township in 1867, moving there with his family the
following year. He was the first man to file on a
claim in that township and when he arrived the
only other while man there was a trapper by the
name of Benjamin Harrison. Immediately after his
arrival, however, quite a number of families came
and made their homes in the township. Mr. Wiley
Sr., lived on the farm in Heron Lake township
until 1884. From then until 1892 he lived in
Jackson and then moved to Boone county, lowa,
where he died in 1894. aged 71 years.
His wife died in Jackson In July, 1907, aged 71
years.
To these parents Albert Wiley
was born in Ohio on January 25, 1854. When ten
years of age he moved with the family to Dane
county Wisconsin until May 1868, came with them to
Jackson county. On his father’s farm on section
28, Heron Lake township. Albert lived until he was
twenty-two years old. Then married, bought a farm
in the same township, and engaged in farming until
1884. That year he sold out and, after spending
several months in Iowa, took up his residence in
Jackson, where he has ever since lived, he engaged
in carpenter work, which he followed continuously
until 1903. That year he was made janitor of the
high school building, which position he has ever
since held. Until 1906 he engaged in carpenter
work during the summer months, but since that date
has given up his trade and devotes his whole time
to his duties at the school house. During his
residence in Heron Lake township Mr. Wiley held a
township office from the time he was of age until
he moved from the precinct, the offices held being
supervisor and clerk. He is a member of the
Methodist church and of the M. W. A. lodge.
Mr. Wiley was married in
Weimer township March 29, 1875, to Carrie A.
Willford, who was born in Wisconsin and came to
Minnesota when seven years old. Her father, Joseph
Willford, was frozen to death in a blizzard at
Spirit Lake in February, 1865. To Mr. and Mrs.
Wiley have been born the following children:
Minnie M., Nellie A., Alice A., Mary E. and Orlie
W.
BERT WILLFORD (1890) is a
Hunter township farmer residing two and one-half
miles southeast of Lakefield. He is a native of
Cottonwood county and was born October 13, 1871,
the son of John and Nancy (Allison) Willford. His
father was born in Ohio January 2, 1824, and died
September 20, 1881; his mother was born in
Illinois May 5, 1828, and died May 18, 1892. They
were the parents of eleven children, of whom Bert
was the youngest.
When our subject was five
years of age he accompanied his parents to
Colorado, and that state was his home seven years.
He then took up his residence in Spirit Lake,
Iowa, where he lived until he came to Jackson
county in 1890, Since his arrival here he has been
engaged in farming, having rented the farm on
section two Hunter, where he now lives, in the
spring of 1909. While a resident of Des Moines
township Mr. Willford served four years as clerk
of school district No, 7 and for six years he was
constable of his precinct. He is a member
of the M, W, A, lodge.
Mr. Willford was married at
Jackson March 25, 1894, to Emmogene Wood, a native
of Hamilton, Fillmore county, Minnesota, and a
daughter of J. H. Wood, of Des Moines
township. To Mr. and Mrs.
Willford have been born seven children, named as
follows: John G., born April 23, 1895; Elmer R.,
born November 9, 1896; Arthur C, born August 5,
1899; Isabelle G., born July 3, 1901; Donald A.,
born April 4, 1906; Vernon L., born January 22,
1909; Violet V., born January 22,
1909.
CHARLES WINZER (1869).
Among the substantial and influential farmers of
Jack son county and one of the county’s pioneer
settlers is the gentleman whose name heads this
biography, who resides in Weimer township on the
east bank of Heron lake. He has an elegant home
and is one of the large landowners of the
vicinity, owning over a section of fertile land in
one body. He has lived on his present place over
forty years and was the first to file a homestead
claim to land in Weimer township as well as the
first to make settlement in that precinct.
Mr. Winzer was born in
Saxe-Weimar, Germany, June 14, 1845. the third of
a family of eight children. His father,
Christopher Winzer. was a weaver by trade. He died
in his native land in 1867, aged 56 years. The
mother of our subject, Barbara (Hoffman)
Winzer. was one of an
old German family whose ancestry can be traced
back to the thirteenth century. She died in 1893
at the age of 76 years.
Charles Winzer spent his
boyhood days in his native land, attending the
mechanical school at Weimar and learning the
carpenter’s trade. At the age of seventeen he left
home and came to America. He showed his patriotism
for his adopted country by enlisting from the city
of New York, one week after his arrival, in the
union forces. He was mustered in as a member of
company K, 173rd
regiment of New York volunteer infantry, and was
in the service until after the close of the war.
His regiment was ordered south and he participated
in a number of severe engagements in Louisiana
under General Butler. During the
second day of the engagement at Port Hudson. on
May 27, 1863, Mr. Winzer was so severely wounded
that he was in hospital nine months. After a
partial recovery he was transferred from the New
York regiment to the Invalid corps, and later,
being of a musical turn, he was transferred to the
famous Twenty-second regiment veteran reserve
corps band, and as such served the balance of his
enlistment. He was honorably discharged November
2, 1865, at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio.
After his army service, early
in the year 1866, Mr. Winzer located at Fond du
Lac, Wisconsin, where he was married the same year
and for a few months worked at the carpenter trade
there. He then moved to Chicago and in partnership
with his father-in-law, Carl Peter, engaged in the
grocery business. In 1869 he gave up that business
and started on a prospecting trip through the
west, touring Missouri and Kansas and finally
landing at Duluth, then just starting, where for a
few months he assisted in erecting some of the
first buildings of that future city. In the fall of
1869 Mr. Winzer came to Jackson county and decided
to make his future home here. He filed a homestead
claim to the southeast quarter of section 26 of
what is now Weimer township, on the east bank of
Heron lake, his being the first entry made to land
in that township. He did not pass the winter of
1869-70 on his claim, but returned with his family
the next April and became the first resident of
the precinct. For two years he and his wife lived
in a dugout in the bank of the lake, and there on
June 20, 1871, their first child, and the first
white child born in the township, was given birth
and named Charles. Very hard times were
encountered during the first decade of his
residence in Jackson county, but he weathered the
storms of adversity, and is today rated as one of
the substantial men of the county. In 1873, other
settlers having located in the vicinity, Mr.
Winzer circulated the petition asking for the
organization of the township and did all the
preliminary work incident to the township
beginning an existence, and to him was given the
honor of naming the new township. He gave it the
name Weimar, in honor of his old German home. The
spelling of the word was changed to Weimer through
error, although the name was correctly spelled on
the original petition.
In addition to his other
interests, Mr. Winzer is a director and
stockholder of the First National Bank of Heron
Lake and is a director of the Farmers Bank of
Wilder. He was one of the first to make use of the
lake front as a hunting resort. Heron lake having
a state wide reputation as a hunter’s
paradise. During his long
residence in Weimer township Mr. Winzer has been
often chosen to responsible positions within the
gift of his neighbors and he has taken an active
interest in all matters pertaining to the public
welfare. He was chosen
the first chairman of the Weimer township board
and served two terms. For many years
he has served as either a member of the township
board, township clerk or justice of the peace. For
many years he was clerk of school district No. 30.
Mr. Winzer is associated with a number of lodges.
He is the commander of the G. A. R. post at Heron
Lake and has held the office for a number of
years. He is also a member of the A. O. U. W., the
I. O. O. F., the M. B. A. and the D. of
H.
At Fond du Lac, Wisconsin,
May 20, 1860, Mr. Winzer was united in marriage to
Ida Peter, who was born in Germany March 22, 1848,
and came to the United States and to Fond du Lac,
Wisconsin, when seven years of age. To Mr. and
Mrs. Winzer have been born the following named
children: Charles, proprietor of the Winzer hotel
of Sibley, Iowa, born June 29, 1871 ; Ernest, who
manages the home farm, born February 22, 1875:
Minnie (Mrs. Gerhard Kuhnau), of Weimer. born May
17, 1879; Dasie (Mrs. Rudolph Kuhnau), of Weimer,
born September 21, 1885; Lena, born October 14.
1887.
CHARLES W. WITHERS
(1870), of Jackson, has lived in the county since
infancy and has been identified with several
different lines of endeavor. His birthplace was
Fillmore county, Minnesota, where he first saw the
light of day on October 25, 1869, the youngest
child of Walter and Jane E. (Allen) Withers.
Walter Withers, the father,
was one of the well known early settlers of
Jackson county. He was a native
of England and came to the United States at the
age of sixteen years. He married Jane Allen and in
an early day they located in Fillmore county,
Minnesota. Mr. Withers served
during the war of the rebellion in the Second
Minnesota infantry and was wounded and discharged
just before the expiration of his term of
enlistment. The family came to Jackson county in
June, 1870, and the father took a homestead claim
on section two, Middletown township, just a short
distance south of the village of Jackson. There
the family resided many years, when they moved to
Jackson. Walter Withers died there March 3, 1907,
aged 78 years. His wife died several years
before.
Charles Withers was only
eight months of age when he came to Jackson county
with his parents. He received a country school
education and lived on the farm until he attained
his majority. Then moving to Jackson he began
learning the butcher trade, working for Gruhlke
& Brown six years. He then purchased the meat
market now owned by H. W. Jackson and conducted it
several years, being engaged in the ice business
in connection with the shop. Selling out his
interests in Jackson, he purchased farming
property in North Dakota, and has since added to
his land holdings in that state. He also owns
village property on the east side of the river in
Jackson. He is a member
of the Odd Fellows and Woodmen lodges.
Mr. Withers was married in
Enterprise township on April 5, 1898, to Mary
Nissen daughter of C. P. and Mary Nissen, of
Jackson, Mrs. Withers was born in Chicago March
19, 1876.
GEORGE WITHERS (1870).
Middletown township farmer has lived in Jackson
county since he was a boy twelve years of age. He
is a son of the late Walter and Jane E. (Allen)
Withers and was born in Fillmore County Minnesota,
August 18, 1857.
George lived with his parents
in Fillmore county until 1870 and then came with
them to Jackson county. Until he was past
twenty-three years of age he lived with his
parents on the farm—the southeast quarter of
section 2, Middletown township—securing an
education and assisting with the farm work. In
1881 he married and engaged in farming on his own
account, one year on a rented farm in Middletown,
one year in Wisconsin township, and then he bought
forty acres of his present farm and has since made
his home on his present location; his farm
consists of 160 acres.
During his long residence in
Middletown Mr. Withers has taken an active part in
local affairs. He was township
assessor seventeen years and was a member of the
township board two years, he is now town clerk, an
office he has held for eight years. For several
years he served as clerk of school district No.
60. He is a member of the Yeomen lodge.
Mr. Withers was married in
Jackson county February 22, 1881, to Carrie A.
Yarns. She was born in Olmsted county, Minnesota,
January 5, 1860, a daughter of H. B. Yarns,
deceased, an early settler of Jackson county. Mrs. Withers
died in April, 1808. As a result of this union
were born the following named children: Ernest O.,
born April 25, 1882: Harry W., born November 14,
1883; Jesse A., born June 22, 1887; Robert B.,
born December 16, 1888; Lillie, born March 16,
1893 died February 25, 1895: Clara E., born April
13, 1898.
The second marriage of Mr.
Withers occurred July 26, 1900, when he wedded
Mrs. Sophia Thompson, a native of Denmark who came
to the United States in 1881 and located at South
Bend, Indiana. By a former marriage she is the
mother of two children: Nels Thompson deceased,
and Emma Thompson.
DR. W. W. WOLD (1894),
dentist of Jackson, was born in Luverne,
Minnesota, August 10, 1873, the son of B. S. and
Margaret (Olson) Wold, natives of Iowa and Norway,
respectively. Both are
deceased. They were the parents of the following
named children: Stephen, Belle, Louis, Carrie,
Albert, Lillian and William.
William Wold, the subject of
this biography, attended the public schools and
grew to young manhood in Rock County. At the age
of fifteen he entered Sioux Falls university and
was a student there two years. The next two years
were spent in collegiate work in Iowa City, Iowa,
and he then entered the dental department of the
Iowa state university, from which he was graduated
in the spring of 1894. Immediately after
graduation Dr. Wold located in Jackson and began
the practice of his profession, where he has since
resided. In 1900 he erected his present neat and
commodious building, one block east of the court
house, which he has equipped with all modern
improvements and appliances for his
profession.
Dr. Wold was married at
Jackson June 1, 1898 to Maud Emily Ashley,
daughter of Benjamin W. and Juliet Ashey, who were
among the very first residents of Jackson. Four
children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Wold,
named Lillian, Gladys, Edna and William. Dr. Wold
is a member of the A. F. & A. M., Royal Arch
Commandry, Shriners, Eastern Star, and M. W. A.
orders.
CHARLES F. WOLFF (1887),
a Middletown township farmer, was born in the city
of Chicago September 16, 1873, the son of Charles
and Hannah (Lindeburg) Wolff, now residents of
Jackson. His parents were born and married in
Germany, coming to America soon after their
marriage. They lived in Cook county, Illinois, for
several years, and since 1887 have been residents
of Jackson county. Charles is one of a family of
eight children, named as follows: Otto, Anna,
Hattie, Charles, John, Frances, Henry and
Sophia.
When our subject was about
one year of age the family moved from Chicago onto
a market garden farm near the city, and that was
the home of our subject until he came to Jackson
county with his parents in 1887. One year was
spent on the farm in Petersburg township, and then
the elder Wolff moved to his farm in southern
Middletown township, where he resided until 1898
when he located in Jackson. Charles worked for his
father on the farm until he was twenty-five years
of age. Then he rented
the home farm, consisting of 8 half sections on
sections 35 and 36 and has since been engaged in
business for himself.
Mr. Wolff was married in
Jackson January 10, 1906. to Marie Olson, a native
of Jackson county. She is the daughter of Andrew
and Margaret (Haverberg) Olson, who are pioneer
settlers of the county and who now live in
Jackson. Two daughters have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Wolff: Viona, born October 19, 1906 and
Margaret, born September 12, 1909.
CLARK A. WOOD (1872),
ex-sheriff of Jackson county and ex-postmaster of
Heron Lake, is a resident of thirty-six years
standing and now lives a retired life in Heron
Lake. He is of English descent, his grandfather
having come from the mother country and settled in
New York state. Both his parents, Nelson and
Elizabeth (St. John) Wood, were natives of the
Empire state. The former died there in 1878; the
latter moved to Jackson county a few years after
the death of her husband and made her home with
her son until her death in 1900.
Clark Wood was born in
Schoharie county New York, October 25, 1843, and
made his home with his parents until 1866. During
the civil war he served twenty-two months as a
member of company B, Sixth New York heavy
artillery. After his discharge from the army Mr.
Wood engaged in farming one year in Rensselaer
county New York. Then he and a brother, Louis C.
Wood, engaged in the coal and lumber business at
Stillwater, New York, for five years. He came west
in 1872 and has ever since that date been a
resident of Jackson county. He took as a homestead
claim the northwest quarter of section 10, Alba
township, and resided there until 1875, engaged in
farming for a few years and in the hotel business
in Heron Lake for a time. After leaving
the farm in 1875, Mr. Wood located in Heron Lake,
and that village has since been his home. He has
taken part in county affairs and has several times
been called upon to serve in an official capacity.
He was the first justice of the peace chosen in
Alba township, and when the village of Heron Lake
was incorporated he was chosen to serve as the
first president of the council. He also served on
the board of education for several years in the
early days. Mr. Wood was elected sheriff in 1884
and was reelected two years later. Again in 1894
he was chosen to the same office and was reelected
in 1896, making a total of eight years he served
as Jackson county’s executive officer. He was
appointed postmaster of Heron Lake in 1900 and
held the office eight years, retiring from active
pursuits at the expiration of his last term.
Mr. Wood owns a
quarter section of land in Aitkin county,
Minnesota, and village property. He is a member of
the Methodist church and of the Masonic, Odd
Follows and Knights of Pythias lodges.
In Schoharie county, New
York, on the 15th day of April, 1866, occurred the
marriage of Mr. Wood to Lucinda 0. Briggs. She
died in 1882. As a result of the marriage five
children were born, as follows: Nettie J., Bertha
M.. Frank N., Leroy C. and Hattie G., all of whom
are living. Mr. Wood’s second marriage occurred at
Stillwater, Minnesota, December 25, 1884, when he
wedded Mary E. Lammers, a native of Taylor’s
Falls, Minnesota and a sister of Attorney L. F.
Lammers, of Heron Lake. To Mr. and Mrs. Wood has
been born one child, Mable
E.
GEORGE H. WOOD (1899),
deceased, late proprietor of the Wood hotel at
Lakefield, was born in Erie county, New York, May
24, 1852, the son of George W. and Martha
(Stocker) Wood, natives of England and
Connecticut, respectively. Three years after his
birth the family moved to Illinois, resided there
two years, and then returned to the Empire
state. George was
reared in the family of an uncle and lived in New
York until 1866.
He then came west and until
1869 lived on his father’s farm near Rochester,
Minnesota. For a short time he lived in South
Dakota, and in 1872 or 1873 moved to Mower county,
Minnesota, where for several years he engaged in
farming in partnership with a brother. He took a
homestead in Richland county, North Dakota, in
1878 and resided on it until 1884. Returning to
Mower county. Mr. Wood bought a farm and engaged
in agricultural pursuits several years. He next
went to Dexter, Minnesota, where he engaged in
grain buying two years and in the hotel business
several years. Mr. Wood located in
Lakefield in 1899 and bought the leading hotel
there from Winter Brothers. Two years later
he built the brick front and established one of
the finest hotels in southwestern Minnesota. He
conducted the hotel until his death, which
occurred in the spring of 1909.
During his residence in
Lakefield Mr. Wood served a part of the time as a
member of the village council. He was a member of
the Masonic order, of the Elks, Workmen, Modern
Woodmen, Modern Brotherhood and Yeomen. Mr. Wood was
married at Grand Meadow, Mower county Minnesota,
February 23, 1882, to Ella Funderhide, a native of
Rochester. Minnesota, and
a daughter of John M. and Amelia M. Funderhide.
Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wood,. as
follows: John H., Martha I. (Mrs. Frank Marrs), of
Wolford, North Dakota; Mary F. and Grace
A.
JONAH H. WOOD (1874) is
one of the early day settlers of Des Moines
township. He owns the northeast quarter of section
27, a short distance west of Jackson.
The parents of J. H. Wood
were Ahimaaz E., and Mary (Salmons) Wood, of old
New England stock and of Scotch and German
descent, respectively. The father died in Onondago
county, New York, in 1845, aged 45 years. The mother came
to Minnesota in the fall of 1856 and made her home
with her sons. She died at the home of her son, J.
H. Wood, in March, 1885, at the advanced age of 90
years. Six children
were born to these parents. Mary E.. the eldest,
died in 1906. Those living are Ardell (Mrs. Marcus
Wescott), of Syracuse, New York; Jonah H., of this
biography; Jesse S., of Fargo, North Dakota;
Carrie J. Loop, of Eureka, Wisconsin; Ahimaaz E.,
of Fargo, North Dakota.
The subject of this biography
was born in Onondago county, New York, December 8,
1833. He was brought
up in the county of his birth and resided with his
parents until his father died when he was twenty
years of age. After his father’s death he lived
with his mother and worked at the trades of
carpenter and joiner until he was twenty-two years
old. In 1855 he came west, stopping one year near
Delton, Wisconsin, with an uncle, Peter
Fenton. Until the next
year locating in Fillmore County, Minnesota, and
for several years worked at his trade in Fillmore
and Mower counties. When Windom was
founded he moved to that town and was engaged in
the lumber business there until the fall of
1874.
Selling out his interests in
Windom in the fall of 1874, Mr. Wood came to
Jackson county and located on the farm of his
brother. A. E. Wood, on
section 23, Des Moines township. He lived there
several years and then moved onto the farm upon
which he now resides—a farm which he had bought
previous to coming to the county. Since then he
has resided on the farm engaged in farming and
working at his trade. Mr. Wood is a member of the
Masonic order.
In July, 1865, Mr. Wood was
married in Jackson county to Helen Wheeler, a
native of New York state and a daughter of Isaac
Wheeler, who came to Jackson county in an early
day and homesteaded the land upon which Leonard
Ashley now lives, just south of Jackson. Mrs. Wood
died May 5, 1878, at the age of thirty years. They
were the parents of three children: Evalina (Mrs.
William Rew), of South Dakota; Emmogene (Mrs. Bert
Wilford), of Jackson county: Elmer, who lives in
northern Minnesota.
WILLIAM WOOD (1856),
deceased. The first white man to make a permanent
home in Jackson county was William Wood, who came
during the month of July, 1856, and in partnership
with his brother, George Wood, built a home and
established a trading post on the Des Moines river
where the village of Jackson is now located. Here
also, in a primitive way, they laid out a
townsite, which they called Springfield. As the
story of the lives of William and George Wood
after they came to Jackson county is told in an
earlier part of this work, this sketch will
briefly outline their earlier history.
William Wood was one of a
family of fifteen children born to Samuel and
Elizabeth (Thomson) Wood, and the date of his
birth was about 1830. He descended from colonial
stock. One of his ancestors was a Holland Dutch
patroon of the then New Netherlands; another was
Smith Thompson, secretary of the navy and a judge
of the supreme court: his paternal grandfather
James Wood, was a revolutionary soldier, his
maternal grandfather, Smith Thompson, was a
veteran of the war of 1812.
The father of William and
George Wood died in 1847, leaving his wife and a
large family of children. Being thus early thrown
upon his own resources, William Wood became
self-reliant. Early in the fifties he left his
mother’s home in Ridgeville, Randolph county,
Indiana, and located at the little village of
Mankato, Minnesota, where he took a position as
Indian trader with Robert Wardlow, a
merchant. While engaged
in his work he had occasion to visit the Des
Moines river country and selected the site now
occupied by Jackson village as a place to make his
future home. During the
month of July, 1856, William Wood, accompanied by
his brothers, George, Charles, came to the site,
engaged in business with a small stock of Indian
trinkets and supplies, and made his home there
until he was killed by the Indians in the massacre
of March, 1857.
George McEIroy Wood, who also
took a prominent part in the affairs of the little
community about Springfield before the massacre,
was born in 1827. After his father’s death he
became the head of the family and assisted his
mother in supporting the family in various ways.
He engaged in school teaching, which in that early
day and country was considered quite an
accomplishment. He was a religious and serious
minded young man and was devoted to church and
Sabbath school work. He came to Jackson county
with his brother in 1856 and was killed on the
same day his brother met his fate. Both brothers
were buried where they fell.
Charles Wood, the younger
brother who also came in the fall of 1856, was
sixteen or seventeen years of age at that time. He
had gone to Mankato a few days before the massacre
and so escaped the fate of his brothers. He later
enlisted and fought for the union cause during the
war of the rebellion, meeting his death at Pea
Ridge, Arkansas, in the line of duty. Five of the
Wood boys took part in the
war.
 JOHN
S. WOOLSTENCROFT (1868) editor and publisher of
the Jackson County Times of Heron Lake, is a
pioneer of southwestern Minnesota and one of the
best known residents of Jackson County. He is a
native of Clayton county, Iowa, and was born
December 23, 1848, the son of Benjamin and Mary
Ann (Keer) Woolstencroft. The father of our
subject was a soldier of the regular army, being a
sergeant of company K, First U. S. infantry, and
participated in the Blackhawk war, Florida war,
Mexican war and the war of the rebellion. John was raised
on a farm in his native county in Iowa. In the
spring of 1864 although he was then only a little
past fifteen years of age he enlisted as a union
soldier, becoming a member of company L, of the
Sixth Iowa cavalry. With his regiment he took part
in the memorable campaign against the Sioux
Indiana in 1864, engaging in two pitched battles
with the Indians in the Bad Lands. In 1865 he
started again with the forces against the Sioux,
but owing to sickness was left in hospital at Fort
Rice. While there he was in three engagements with
the hostile Indians. Mr. Woolstencroft was
mustered out with his regiment at Sioux City,
Iowa, in the latter part of October, 1865, and the
regiment was disbanded at Davenport.
After his discharge from the
army Mr. Woolstencroft returned to his home and
engaged in farming. He arrived in Jackson county
on the 29th day of May, 1868, and located in the
Graham Lakes country in Nobles county, when there
were only five or six families in the whole
county. He resided in that frontier settlement
until June 19, 1869, and then returned to his old
home, where he was married. He came north again in
1872 and took a homestead claim on section 34,
Belfast township, Murray county, and upon that
claim he lived until March 22, 1881.
On the date last mentioned
Mr. Woolstencroft located in Heron Lake, where he
went to superintend the large farming interests of
J. T. Smith. On
the 17th day of November of that year he was
caught and wounded in some shafting and so
severely injured that he was incapacitated for
physical labor. In May, 1882, he engaged in the
saloon business in Heron Lake 1891 built the
Wavertree hotel, which he conducted seventeen
years. In partnership with C. W. Selmltz he
founded the Jackson County Times in 1895 and in
July of the next year he took exclusive charge of
the management and editorial department. He has
ever since been the editor and publisher.
Mr. Woolstencroft was married
March 3l, 1870, in Clayton county, Iowa, to
Elizabeth Ann Abel. Two children were born to this
union: Carry D., born July 28, 1877; Mary H., born
December 11, 1880.
WESLEY WORSHEK (1891) is
one of the successful farmers of Belmont township,
in which precinct he owns a half section of land
—the northwest quarter of section 28 and the
northwest quarter of section 36. He is one of a
family of five children and his parents were
Joseph and Mary Worshek. They came from Bohemia to
the United States in 1866 and located in Iowa.
Mrs. Worshek died in that state in 1889, and after
her death Mr. Worshek came to
Jackson county, where he lived until his death,
February 28, 1905, at the age of 83 years. The
other children of the family are Annie, Joseph,
Mary and John.
Wesley Worshek was born to
these parents in Bohemia November 1, 1860. At the
age of six years he accompanied his parents to
America and located in Jones county, Iowa. Six
years later the family home was made in Guthrie
county, Iowa, and there our subject lived until
1891. That year he moved to Jackson county and
bought his present farm of Nicholas Olson, and
that place has ever since been his home. He added
to his real estate holdings in 1903 by the
purchase of the quarter on section 30. Since
buying his farm he has added greatly to its value
by the erection of new buildings and other
improvements. He is a stockholder of the Belmont
Creamery company and of the Jackson County
Elevator company. For several years he served as a
director of school district No. 5. He and his
family are members of the Catholic church of
Jackson and he belongs to the M. W. A. lodge.
Mr. Worshek was married in
Guthrie county, Iowa, to Barbara Benda, a native
of Bohemia. Nine children
have been born to this union as follows: Frank,
born May 2, 1887; Tillie, born June 29, 1888:
Laura, born August 8, 1891; Joseph, born February
12, 1893: Eddie, born February 18, 1895; Henry,
born July 1, 1898: Louie, born April 27, 1901;
Blanche, born April 20, 1903; Agnes, born January
24, 1906.
Since this sketch was
prepared Mr. Worshek, on December 7, 1909, sold
his place to John Erickson, of South Dakota, after
a residence in the county of eighteen
years.
WILLIAM WREDE (1886),
farmer of Enterprise township, was born on the
farm where he now lives February 1, 1880, the son
of John and Amelia (Schonfield) Wrede. John Wrede
came from Germany in 1870, lived, respectively, in
Cairo, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; Rock Island,
Illinois; and in Jackson county, where he died in
1900. During the time he lived in Rock Island he
was employed in a sawmill; otherwise he engaged in
agricultural pursuits all his life. Our subject’s
mother lives in Enterprise township and owns the
southeast quarter of section 10, which her son
farms. William
received a common school education, graduating
from the school of district No. 107 in 1902. He
helped his father with the farm work during his
younger years, and after the latter’s death
assumed the management of the place. He is a
member of the German Lutheran church. He holds the
office of road overseer of his
district.
GEORGE B. YARNS (1874) is
an early day settler of Middletown township,
having come to the county when ten years of age
and having spent nearly all of the rest of his
life here. He owns a quarter section farm on
section 3.
Mr. Yarns is a native
Minnesotan, having been born in Fillmore county
July 12, 1864, the son of Henry B. and Louisa
(Green) Yarns, who were born and married in Broome
county, New York. When George was nine years of
age the family moved from Fillmore county to
Dickinson county, Iowa, and the next year, 1874,
came to Jackson county. The head of the
family filed a homestead claim to the land now
owned by our subject, but on account of the
grasshopper scourge the family were obliged to
move away for a period of three years and they
were unable to prove up on the claim. Returning to
the county the land was reentered as a tree claim,
but before the time came for proving up Henry B.
Yarns died, and the son made a homestead filing to
the land and finally secured title.
George worked for his father
on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age,
and then, because of the feebleness of his
father’s health, he took the active management of
the farm. His father died in 1888 and his mother
in 1891. Mr. Yarns has conducted the farm ever
since becoming of age. Our subject has held a
number of local offices in his township. He was elected
road overseer when twenty one years of age, has
held the office of supervisor and town clerk and
is now township assessor. He is a member of the
Yeomen lodge.
Mr. Yarns was married in
Jackson county February 19, 1890, to Alice Danby,
a native of Rock Island county Illinois. The
following named five children have been born to
this union: Maurice D. born November 26, 1890;
Harry A., born April 22, 1893; Ethel M., born
April 30, 1895; Brian L., born November 14, 1897;
Percy A., born March 14,
1903.
HERMAN J. YEADICKE
(1880), of Petersburg township, is one of the
prosperous farmers and stock misers of this
precinct and has been a resident of the county
nearly a quarter of a century, he was born in
Germany March 23, 1856, the son of Carl and
Caroline (Smith) Yeadicke, both deceased. At the
age of two years he was brought with his parents
to America and the family located in Chicago. A few years
later the family moved to Kankakee, Illinois, and
there our subject grew to manhood, engaging in
farming after growing up.
Mr. Yeadicke came to Jackson
county, arriving March 1, 1880 and ever since that
date has been engaged in farming and stock raising
in Petersburg township. He has taken an active
interest in, and invested money in, many local
enterprises. He and Ole Mikelson were the
principal organizers of the Alpha Creamery
company, and from the time of organization until
he disposed of his dairy interests Mr. Yeadicke was
the heaviest patron of the company. His average
yearly checks during this period were as follows:
1897, $200.79; 1898, $:380.44; 1899, $432.21;
1900, $540.32; 1901, $478.57; 1902, $438.49; 1903,
$661.71; 1904, $426.35; 1905, $549.47; 1906,
$809.20; 1907, $789.27.
Besides having stock in the
creamery company Mr. Yeadicke is interested
financially in several other industries. He has
stock in the Farmers Elevator company of Alpha and
was vice president of the organization four years.
He was president of the Jackson Fire & Marine
Insurance company seven years, was president of
the Alpha Horse company four years and has been a
director of the Jackson County Fair association
for many years. He owns 400 acres of land.
Mr. Yeadicke was one of the
organizers of school district No. 78 and has been
clerk of the district twenty-two years. He served
as township assessor six years, was town treasurer
one year, member of the board of supervisors one
year and road overseer eighteen years.
The marriage of Mr. Yeadicke
occurred March 30, 1880, when he wedded Mary
Miller. They are the parents of the following
children: Barbara, born January 1, 1881; Katie,
born May 30, 1882; Herman, born September 12,
1883; Annie, born November 23, 1889; Eddy, born
September 28, 1899.
CARL O. YOUNGREN (1897),
of Alpha, is a native of Martin county, Minnesota,
where he was born May 1, 1888, the son of Swen and
Carrie (Nelson) Youngren. Carl lived in Martin
county with his parents until nine years of age
and then accompanied them to Jackson county, in
the spring of 1897. With the exception of one year
spent in Groton, South Dakota, this has been his
home ever since. Mr. Youngren is a member of the
Swedish Lutheran church.
LELAND L. ZENOR (1907),
real estate dealer and broker of Heron Lake, is a
native of Story county, Iowa, where he was born
April 12, 1870. In his native county he lived
until he was thirty years of age. After receiving
a common school education he attended Iowa State
college at Ames and completed his education with a
business course in Drake university, Des
Moines.
After his school days Mr.
Zenor engaged in the hardware and implement
business at Ames, Iowa, and four years later he
opened a real estate office in the same city. He
conducted the business at Ames until the year
1900, when he moved to Crookston, Minnesota, and
there engaged in the real estate business until
1907. That year he moved to Heron Lake and opened
a real estate and brokerage office, which he has
since conducted. He deals
principally in Texas, Montana, North Dakota and
Minnesota lands, and does a thriving business. In
partnership with L. F. Lammers Mr. Zenor owns a
large ranch in Texas and he personally owns a
large ranch in Montana, besides several farms in
Jackson county and village property in Heron Lake
and Windom.
Mr. Zenor’s grandparents were
among the early settlers of Iowa, having located
there in 1849. His parents are W. J. and Mary
E. (O’Brien)
Zenor, who were born in Indiana and married in
Iowa in 1868, and who now live retired lives at
Ames, Iowa. Leland is the eldest of a family of
three children, the others being Celand C, who is
in his brother’s employ, and Gretta (Mrs. C. E.
Holmes), of Ames, Iowa.
Mr. Zenor of this sketch was
married at Ames May 22, 1894, to Cora P. Skelton,
a native of the town in which she was married and
a daughter of William and Anna Skelton. Two children
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Zenor: Marie, born
April 30, 1895; Helen, born May 30, 1899. Mr.
Zenor is a member of the Odd Fellows, Knights of
Pythias and Elks lodges.
LEONARD F. ZINSER (1903),
retired evangelist and minister of the gospel, is
now engaged in farming in Hunter township, a short
distance west of Lakefield, where he owns a farm
on section 6. Rev. Zinser was born near Tiffin,
the county seat of Seneca county, Ohio, August 27,
1866, the son of A. F. and Mary C. (Miesse)
Zinser. He is of German descent, his grandfather
having established the American branch of the
family. The father of our subject was born in Ohio
in 1839 and now lives at Storm Lake, Iowa. The
mother of our subject was born near Lancaster,
Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1840 and is living.
These parents had eight children, of whom six are
living, of which Leonard is the eldest.
At the age of eighteen months
our subject accompanied his parents from his
native state In El Paso, Illinois, at which place
he grew to manhood. He was brought up on a farm
and early in life engaged in farming, which he
continued until 1894. After receiving his primary
education he became a student at the Illinois
Wesleyan university of Bloomington and for the
next three years engaged in evangelistic work as a
gospel singer. He next entered the ministry and
for six years had charge of churches in Illinois,
two years at Hennepin, two years at Tremont and
two years at Flanagan. In 1903, on account of poor
health, Rev. Zinser was obliged to give up his
chosen profession, and that year he came to
Jackson county. He bought a farm on section 6,
Hunter township, and has since been engaged in
farming. During the first three years of his
residence in the county he occupied the pulpit at
Welcome, but for the past three years has devoted
his time exclusively to his farming operations. He
is at present a local minister of the Methodist
Episcopal church.
Rev. Zinser was married at
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, June 1, 1896, to Barbara
E. Paul, who was born in Canada November 4,
1867. Her father, E.
S. Paul, lives with his daughter; her mother,
Elizabeth (Strayer) Paul, died in February, 1900.
Two children have been born to Rev. and Mrs.
Zinser, Fern F., born April 23, 1899; Pauline,
born August 29,
1900.
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