Bio of THORPE, Joseph, Thorpe Township, Hubbard Co., MN ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Robert Thorpe Pearson ========================================================================= THE THORPE'S OF THORPE The Thorpe's of Thorpe Township, Hubbard County, Minnesota The Thorpe family immigrated to the United States from the community of Ashopton, Derbyshire, England and landed in New York in June 1881. (Ashopton is about 10 miles west of Sheffield.) The family consisted of father Reuben, born in 1831; daughters Martha, born in 1862; Mary, born in 1864 and Sarah, born in 1868; and son Joseph, born in 1874. Reuben's wife Ruth Mettam (Mithane) and an infant daughter died before the family left England. After arriving in the United States, the family settled in Dixon County, NB; across the Missouri River from Vermillion, SD. In 1897 Joseph moved into and was the first permanent resident of the area that was subsequently named for him. Thorpe Township is located nine miles north of Nevis in central Hubbard County, MN. Joseph established a 160-acre homestead in the forests of Thorpe Township and was followed into the area by his father and sisters Martha and Sarah. Reuben and Martha also established homesteads in Thorpe. Mary had married Charles Claessens in the Vermillion area; later they moved to Hubbard County and homesteaded several miles northwest of Nevis. Martha and Sarah never married and lived together in Thorpe with their father on the land he had homesteaded. Sarah died in 1915, Reuben in 1921, Mary in 1931 and Martha in 1946. All are buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Nevis. Thorpe Township was heavily forested with old growth White and Norway Pines and was just being opened to logging by the large timber companies when Joseph moved into the area. One of the largest that worked in the Thorpe area was the Red River Lumber Company owned by T.B. Walker, for whom Walker, MN is named. Joseph worked for the timber companies as a bookkeeper during the late 1890's and early 1900's. In 1905 he married Josephine Giles, who had come to Thorpe Township as the first teacher in the one-room school. Josephine came to Hubbard County from her childhood home in Danforth, Maine. Josephine was born on May 30, 1885, at her Grandfather Aaron Mc Kenney's farm near Fosterville, New Brunswick, Canada. Later, the Giles family also settled in Thorpe. Joseph and Josephine had six children who lived to adulthood. First was daughter Helen, born in Park Rapids, MN on June 10, 1906. The family moved to Oregon and daughter Ruth was born in Portland on May 18, 1908. The family then moved to Washington state and son Giles was born in Hoquiam on April 16, 1911. The family then returned to Thorpe where three other children were born. Daughter, Marjorie was born on December 4, 1914; son Carlton Wayne was born on January 16, 1918; and daughter Betty Jean was born on January 23, 1922. After returning to Thorpe, Joseph cleared much of the land on the homestead and farmed until he died in 1954. In 1960, Josephine moved to Bremerton, WA, where she married Leo Claessens, who had been widowed in 1958. Leo was a son of Mary Thorpe Claessens and a nephew of Joseph. Leo died in Bremerton in 1968 and Josephine died in Ellensburg, WA in 1973. Joseph and Josephine are buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Nevis. Leo is buried with his first wife, Bessie Coburn, in Everett, WA. Helen married George Pearson of Nevis, MN in 1934, at Everett WA. They had two children, Robert born 1935 and Mary Jo born 1941, both in Everett. George died in1974, Bremerton, and Helen died in 1996, San Jose, CA. They are both buried in Bremerton. Ruth married Ray Pauly of St. Bonifacius, MN in 1934 at Walker, MN. They had a son, David, born in 1935 at Walker. Ruth lives in Stillwater, MN and Ray lives in Hudson, WI. Giles married Gladys Niedermeier in 1933 at Akeley, MN. They had three sons, Duwayne born in 1934 at Hibbing, MN; Allen born in 1936 at Thorpe; and Kenneth born in 1941 at Akeley. Gladys died in 1943 at Wadena, MN. Giles married Dorothy Lehrke Ellis in 1945 at Perham, MN and they had three sons, Richard born in 1946 at Wadena, MN; Gregory born in 1953 at Park Rapids; and Fred born in 1954 at Alexandria, MN. Giles died in 1975 at Seattle, WA. Dorothy lives in Des Moines, WA. Duwayne died in 2000 at Park Rapids. Marjorie married Ralph Bucklen, of Bemidji, MN, in 1941 at Riverside, CA. They had a son, Ralph Jr., born in 1943 at Bemidji and in 1948 had twin daughters who died shortly after their birth in Bremerton, WA. Ralph died in 1972 and is buried in Burien, WA. Marjorie lives in Maple Valley, WA. Ralph Jr.died in 1979 and is buried in Kent, WA. Wayne married Winifred Webster of Ellensburg, WA in 1946 at Ellensburg. They had nine children; a son Carlton Wayne Jr born in 1947 at Ellensburg; a son Joseph born in 1948 at Ellensburg; a son William born in 1950 at Ellensburg; a daughter Rebecca born in 1952 at Seattle; a son Michael born in 1954 at Seattle; a daughter Molly born in 1956 at Mt. Vernon, WA; a son Robert born in 1958 at Mt. Vernon; a son Jeffery born in 1959 at Mt. Vernon; and a son Walter born in 1963 at Ellensburg. Wayne died in 2000 at Ellensburg. Winnie lives in Ellensburg. Betty Jean married John Wall in 1959 at Kent, WA. They had two children, a son John II born in 1962 and a daughter Melody born in 1965, both in Everett, WA. John died in1982 at Everett. Betty Jean lives in Everett. There are at least two succeeding generations of Thorpe descendants, but I have not attempted to include them in this history. Also for those interested in a history of Thorpe Township and the people who lived there in the early 1900's, there is a book titled "Thorpe" that was written by Manita L. Kromer (Rosengren) copyright 1968. Compiled by Robert Thorpe Pearson using information from Joseph's descendents. July 2001 ========================================================================= Copyright Robert Thorpe Pearson 2001. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm =========================================================================