Memorial Record of Southwestern Minnesota
1897
Lewis Publishing Company
Chicago, Illinois
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This file contains transcriptions for:
Sidney W. Davis
Stephen H. Briggs
Willard Thayer
Hon. Asa Cheadle
Isaac Davis
Alexander Pettis
Nelson Goldsmith, Jr.
George R. Moler
George W. Studley

Still to do:
William H. Rounseville
Hon. Redden H. Everett
J. H. Doty
Jacob W. Gish
Mahlon R. Everett


SIDNEY W. DAVIS

Sidney W. Davis is numbered among the honored pioneer settlers of Lesueur 
County, Minnestoa. He has not only been an eye witness of its growth and 
development but has also taken an active part in its progress and has been 
a leading factor in the promotion of its material interests. His name is 
inseparbly linked with its history, and in this volume he well deserves 
prominent mention.

Mr. Davis was born in Lower Canada, sixty miles from Montreal, June 11, 1825
a son of Orange R. and Adelaide (Barlow) Davis, who were also natives of 
Lower Canada. When our subject was eight years of age his parents removed to
New York, spending the winter of 1837-8 at Sackett's Harbor. In 1839 they 
emigrated to Pike county, Illinois, locating on a farm three miles from 
Pittsfield, the county seat. In 1853 the father came to Lesueur county, 
where the following spring he was joined by his family. They settled on the 
shore of Lake Emily, two miles east of St. Peter, the first to make a claim 
in that locality. Indians were numerous in the neighborhood, far 
outnumbering the white people, and the family, situated thus on the extreme 
frontier, had to endure all the hardships and privations of pioneer life. 
The father improved one hundred and sixty acres of land and carried on 
general farming until 1880, when he removed to St. Peter. His death occurred
in 1881, in his eighty-second year. His wife died in 1887, in her eighty-
fifth year. They were well known people in the county, respected by all. 
Sidney W. Davis is the second of their eleven children, seven sons and four 
daughters. All reached mature years and seven are now living, namely: 
Ebenezer R.; Isaac; Henry C.; Louisa, wife of Alex. Pettis; Sarah, wife of 
Solomon H. Pettis, of Lesueur county; Caroline, wife of John Hartew, of 
Aberdeen, South Dakota; and Harriet, widow of John L. Pettis.

Sidney W. Davis spent the greater part of his school life in Pike county, 
Illinois, being educated in the primitive schools of that period. He 
assisted in the cultivation of the home farm until he had attained his 
majority, when he began farming on his own account in Pike county. He was 
married in 1846 to Miss Mary O. Pettis, of that county, a daughter of 
Stephen Pettis. They lived a happy married life until July, 1851, when Mrs. 
Davis died of cholera, leaving two children: Lillian, now wife of William 
McQuat, of Lesueur county; and Hon. C. R. Davis, a prominent attorney at St.
Peter.

In 1853 Mr. Davis came to Minnesota, settling in Lesueur county. He 
pre-empted a claim of one hundred and sixty acres two miles east of Kasota, 
and with characteristic energy began the development of his land. For 
several years he successfully carried on general farming and stock-raising, 
and in 1857 removed to St. Peter, where he opened a meat market. His 
buisness steadily increased until it had assumed extensive proportions. He 
not only had a large general trade, but also had a contract to furnish the 
meat for the State Hospital for the insane for a period of ten years, 
supplying about nineteen thousand pounds per month. In addition to 
conducting his store he was also largely engaged in buying and shipping 
live stock, sending many car-loads of hogs and cattle to Chicago annually. 
When the time of his contract with the State Hospital had expired he sold 
his market and devoted his energies alone to the live-stock business, as a
member of the firm of Pettis & Davis, his partner being Alva Pettis, and 
they being the largest live-stock dealers in the Minnesota valley. He also 
owns two hundred acres of valuable land, which he rents. He is a man of 
excellent business and executive ability, possessed of sound judgment, keen 
discrmination and foresight. His efforst in consequence have been crowned 
with success, and although in earlier years he experienced the trials of 
pioneer life in Lesueur county he is now one of the substantial citizens of 
St. Peter.

Mr. Davis was again married in 1875, his second union being with Mrs. Lydia 
Cole, widow of Sylvanus Cole, They have in St. Peter a comfortable and
commodious residense in the midst of pleasant surroundings. Mr. Davis served
one term as county commissioner of Lesueur county, and was assessor for a 
number of years. In politics he is a Republican, wamrly supporting that 
party. He is also a prominent Mason, belonging to both the blue lodge and 
chapter of St. Peter.
(pages 251-252)


HON. CHARLES R. DAVIS

Hon. Charles R. Davis - Whatever may be said of the legal fraternity, it 
cannot be denied that the members of the bar have been more prominent 
factors in public affairs than any other class of American people. This is 
but the natural result of causes which are manifest and require no 
explanation. The ability and training which qualify one to practic law also 
qualify him in many respects for duties which lie outside of the diametrical
line of his profession and which touch the general interests of society. The
subject of this record is a man who has brought his keen discrimination and 
thorough wisdom to bear not alone in professional paths, but also for the 
benefit of the community in which he makes his home, and with whose 
interests he is thoroughly identified. He holds and merits a place among the
representative legal practicioners of Nicollet county and is a prominent 
citizen of St. Peter.

Mr. Davis was born September 17, 1849, upon a farm near Pittsfield, in Pike 
county, Illinois, and is a son of Sidney W. and Mary (Pettis) Davis. His 
mother, who was a native of Ohio, died in Pike county, Illinois, in 1851. 
On the paternal side he is of Welsh descent, his great-grandfather coming 
from Wales, but his grandfather, Orange Davis, was born in Lower Canada, 
near Quebec. The wife of the latter was born in Montreal, of French 
parentage.

Sidney W. Davis, the father of our subject, was born in Kingston, Canada, 
in 1825, and with his family removed to northern New York, in 1837, where 
he remained one year, and then went to Pike county, Illinois, locating upon 
a farm just outside the corporation limits of Pittsfield, the county seat. 
On the 10th of May, 1853, with his family he came to Minnesota, and settled 
upon a farm in Lesueur county, where he continued to engage in general 
farming and stock-raising until 1867, which year witnessed his arrival in 
St. Peter. Here he has since resided and for ten years was actively engaged 
in Merchandising.

The boyhood of Charles R. Davis was passed upon the home farm in Lesueur 
county, and his early education in the village schools of Kasota. Later he 
pursued his studies in the high school of St. Peter, which at the time was 
taught by Porter & McGill, the latter subsequently governor of Minnesota. 
Afterward he was taught at a private school by Professor creary, a noted 
educator, where he was a classmate of Lieutenant John A. Lundeedn, professor
of mathematics at West Point, and in 1857 he took a complete commercial 
course at the St. Paul Business College.

For the ensuing two years he was engaged in teh grocery and produce business
at St. Peter, Minnesota. Then, selling out his interest in that business, 
he took up the study of law, under the preceptorship of Hon. Alfred Wallin, 
the present chief justice of North Dakota. March 6, 1872, is the date of his
admission to the bar. At once he formed a partnership with his former 
preceptor, under the style of Wallin & Davis, and they engaged actively in 
general practice, having offices in both St. Peter and New Ulm.

Mr. Davis early began his official career, being elected county attorney in 
1872, in which capacity he faithfully served for six years. In 1878 he was 
also elected city clerk and attorney, which former position he has 
acceptably filled for the alst sixteen years and still continues to do. On 
the 25th of April, 1888, he was commissioned captain of the National Guards 
of Minnesota, serving four years. In 1888 he was also elected to the 
legislature, on the Republican ticket, to represent Nicollet county for a 
term of two years, and subsequently was made state senator from the 
seventeenth senatorial district of Minnesota, serving in the sessions of 
1891-3. He took a prominent part in the work of those bodies, being a member
of several very important committees, among which was that on the judiciary.
He took and expecially active part while serving on the committee for the 
hospital for the insane, and was chairman of that committee. His 
investigations aroused much antagonism among those who had charge of the 
financial affairs of that institution.

In 1874 Mr. Davis was united in marriage with Miss Emma Haven, who was born 
and reared in the city of Chicago, and is a daughter of Aaron Haven. Mr. and
Mrs. Davis have two children, namely: Isabel H., a graduate of the State 
University of Minnesota; and Russell.

In his social relations, Mr. Davis is connected with Nicollet Lodge, No. 34,
F & A. M.; St. Peter Chapter, No. 22, R. A. M.; Mankato Commandery, No. 4, 
K. T.; Oris Lodge, Scottish Rite, of Mankato; The Mystic Shhrine, Ozman 
Temple, St. Paul, Minnesota; and also St. Peter Lodge, No. 12, I. O. O. F. 
He takes quite an active part in politics, local state and national, and has
often made speeches throughout his district in behalf fo the Republican 
party. During the time he served the public in an official capacity he made 
an admirabel record, and as a lawyer he stands high with the profession.
(pages 305-307)


STEPHEN H. BRIGGS

For many years this gentleman has resided in southwestern Minnesota, and his
name is inseparably connected with the agricultural and commerical interests
in this region. His thoroughly American spirit and his great energy have 
enabled him to mount from a lowly position to one of affluence. One of his 
leading charactersitcs in business affairs as his fine sense of order and 
complete system, and the habits of giving careful attention to details, 
without which success in any undertaking is never an assured fact. He is a 
man of intrinsic worth, esteemed in all the relations of his life, and in 
this volume well deserves mention.

Stephen H. Briggs was born in Broome county, New York, on the 22d of April, 
1836, and comes of a family of English origin that was founded in America at
an early day. His grandparents were Abiathar and Johanna Rounsville Briggs, 
New England people who removed to New York and spent their last days in 
Cortland county. The former died at the age of seventy-eight, the latter at 
the age of seventy-five. The parents of our subject were Abiathar and Huldah
Coombs Briggs. The father was a native of Middleboro, Massachusetts, and 
served as one of the minute men in the war of 1812. In 1859 he came to 
Minnesota and died in Traverse at the age of seventy-five. His wife, who was
born in Vermont, died in New York, at the age of sixty-seven.

Teh first year after the arrival of the family in Minnesota, Mr. Briggs, of 
this review, engaged in teaching school. He then rented a farm. He had 
acquired a good education in Cortland Academy of New York, and had 
successfully followed teaching for one term in the Empire state, three terms
in Wisconsin and two in Minnesota, but wishing to acquire some property he 
at length bought forty acres of land and began its cultivation.

As a companion and helpmeet on life's journey he chose Miss Cynthia Doty, 
and their marriage was celebrated October 28, 1862. The lady was born in 
Tompkins county, New York, and by her marriage became the mother of nine 
children, but only three are now living, namely: Frank, who was born in 
Minnesota and is now managing an elevator and a creamery at Traverse; George
A. is operating the home farm; and Mary E., the youngest, is also at home.

Upon his marriage Mr. Briggs took up his abode in his present home, but the 
residence has since been greatly enlarged and remodeled. To his farm he has 
added from time to time, purchasing an additional forty acres of land as his
means would permit, until he now owns a valuable tract of two hundred acres.
His business ability is by no means limited to one line of endeavor and he 
has been the promoter of a number of interests which have added materially 
to the welfare and advancement of the county. He was manager of a large 
creamery for five years, and established the grain business which is now 
conducted by his son. He began buying grain in 1880 and for some years did 
an extensive business in that line. He carries to successful completion 
whatever he undertakes, and his connnection with any enterprise therefore 
insures its presperity. He has steadily worked his way upward from a lowly 
position to one of affluence, and today is practically living retired in the
enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil.

In 1875 Mr. Briggs was appointed to the position of county surveyor and 
filled that position for five years, discharging his duties in a manner most
satisfacotry ot his constituents. He has also held a number of township 
offices, is the present township treasure, has served on the school board 
for a third of a century and is the present postmaster at Traverse. In his 
political adherency he is a stalwart Republican and has warmly advocated the
principles of that party since casting his first presidential vote for 
Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He and his family are alwasy numbered among the 
active supporters of any measure calculated to advance the best interests of
the community and are people of sterling worth whose may excellencies of 
character have won them the high regard of all.
(pages 392-393)


WILLARD THAYER

Willard Thayer came to Minnesota forty years ago, while this state was still
a territory, and here he has maintained his home ever since, aiding in the 
development and progress made in his locality during these four decades. Now
well advanced in life, he is comfortably situated in a pleasant home in the 
town of Cleveland, Le Sueur county. He was one of the brave men who during 
the dark days of civil strife in the '60s "donned the blue" and fought for 
the Union. Both as a pioneer citizen and war veteran is he entitled to 
personal consideration in this work, and briefly a resume of his life is as 
follows:

Willard Thayer was born in Lebanon township, Madison county, New York, July 
14, 1827, and is of English and Scottish descent. Israel Thayer, his father,
was born in Massachusetts, traced his origin back to England, and was a part
icipant in the war of 1812, having served as a member of a heavy artillery,
and participated in the battle of Sackett's Harbor. He married Sally Tinsey,
a native of New York and a member of a Scotch family. In 1831, accompanied 
by his wife and children, he moved west as far as Ohio, selecting a location
in the deep forest of Medina county, where he cleared a farm and reared his 
family. By trade he was a hatter. The latter part of his life, however, was 
spent in the quiet pursuits of the farm. He was sixty-eight years of age at 
the time of his death, and his widow survived him a number of years, living 
to the advanced age of eighty-two. They were people of honest worth, 
Episcopalian in their religious creed, and stood high in the community in 
which they lived. Their twelve children received the following names, given 
here in order of birth: Polly, Stephen, Israel, Susan, Dan, Charlotte, 
Willard, Catharine (first), Jonathan, Catharine (second), Malvina and 
William. Three of this number became residents of Minnesota, viz.: Israel, 
now deceased, Mrs. Malvina Halleck, a resident of this township; and Willard
, whose name heads this article.

Willard Thayer was a small boy at the time of their emigration to Ohio, and 
on the farm above referred to he passed his boyhood and youth, his lessons 
being conned in a log schoolhouse hard by and all his home training being 
conducive to habits of inducstry, honesty and piety. March 13, 1851, in 
Medina county, he was united in marriage to a Miss Livingston [handwritten 
over as Zimmerman], who for forty-five years has been the partner of his 
joys and sorrows. She was born in Wayne county, Ohio, in the year 1839, and 
is a daughter of Sebastian and Elizabeth (Hoover) Livingston, the former a 
Pennsylvanian of German descent and the latter a native of Maryland. Mr. 
Livingston was reared and educated in acounting house in the city of 
Philadelphia and was in business for himself for many years. He died in 
Mortville township, Medina county, Ohio, at the advanced age of eighty-nine 
years. Politically, he was a Whig and his religion was that of the Christian
church. He and his wife were the parents of three children, namely: Rebecca,
Daniel, and Sarah.

In the year 1856 the subject of our sketch and his family came west by boat 
and rail to St. Paul and thence by ox team across the country to the 
vicinity of Cleveland, Le Sueur county. Here he settled on a tract of eighty
acres, devoted his energies to its improvement and cultivation and made a 
comfortable home, and here was quietly living when the civil war came on. 
As the war continued to rage and more troops were needed, Mr. Thayer left 
his home and family in 1864 and enlisted as a member of the Second Minnesota
Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Bishop. Going south, he joined Sherman's 
army at Atlanta, was on that memorable march from Atlanta to the sea, thence
went up through the Carolinas to Richmond and Washington, and was among the 
victorious soldiers who participated in the grand review at the capital city
The war over, he was honorably discharged and returned home. He continued to
reside on his farm until 1889, when he moved into the village of Cleveland, 
his present home. Here he has an ideal place, nice residence, good barn, 
orchard, and other improvements all first-class and well kept. His residence
was built at a cost of one thousand six hundred dollars.

Mr. and Mrs. Thayer have two children: Lucius Daniel, and Sarah Elizabeth, 
wife of George Davis, of this township.

Politically, Mr. Thayer is a staunch "silver" Democrat, and in these latter 
years which mark the close of the century sees no reason to change his 
politics. Both he and his wife are members of the Church of God.
(pages 400-401)


HON. ASA CHEADLE

Hon. Asa Cheadle - Among the prominent citizens of Lesueur county and old 
pioneers of this part of Minnesota, none are better known or more worthy of 
biographical honors than the venerable gentleman whose name adorns this page
and to whose life history we know take pleasure in reverting. He dates his 
identity with Minnesota from April, 1855.

Asa Cheadle was born in Washington county, Ohio, October 1824, and is 
descended from English ancestors who established their home on American soil
long previouis to the revolution. Cyrus Cheadle, his father, was a native of
Vermont, and a son of Asa Cheadle, also of New England birth, the latter a 
veteran of the Revolution and a prominent early pioneer of the Northwest 
Territory, his settlement in Washington county, Ohio, being in the year 1800
three years before Ohio assumed the dignity of statehood. In Washington 
county he reared his family and lived and died. Cyrus, his son, was a lad of
fourteen years at the time of their settlement there, and on his father's 
frontier farm he passed from youth to manhood, early becoming familiar with 
every detail of farming as carried on then and there. Arrived at mature 
years, he was united in marriage to Miss Abigail Vanclief, a native of the 
state of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Peter Vanclief, a Revolutionary 
soldier and a Pennsylvanian of Holland descent, whose arrival in Washington 
county, Ohio, was four years previous to that of the Cheadle family. Cyrus 
Cheadle and wife became the parents of a large family of children, namely: 
Louisa, Mary Ann, Cutler, Peter, Alfred Vincent, Asa and Chrisotpher C., 
only thwo of whom, Peter and Asa, are residents of Minnesota. Peter had two 
sons, M. S. and S. K., who were Union soldiers during the late war. The 
parents of our subject spent their lives and died at their home in 
Washington county, Ohio, the father apssing away at the age of sixty-six and
the mother at eighty-five. He was a farmer all his life, was a man of broad 
and liberal views, and in politics held himself independent of party lines. 
The mother was a Methodist, a devoted Christian woman, and was loved by all 
who knew her.

Asa Cheadle, the immediate subject of this review, was reared to farm life 
in his native county, receiving a common-school education and early being 
taught that honesty and industry are at the bottom of all true success. In 
his early manhood he worked at the carpenter's trade for a time. He was 
married in Washington county, Ohio, February 4, 1846, to Miss Jemima Witham,
a woman of unusually bright intellect and a member of a good family, and one
in whom he has found all the best qualities belonging to an ideal wife and 
helpmate.

Mrs. Jemima Cheadle was born in Washington county, Ohio, October 5, 1820, 
the daughter of early pioneers of that state. Elisha Witham, her father, was
a native of Maine and was eight years of age when he accompanied his mother 
to Ohio, his father, a sea captain, having previous to that time been lost 
in the deep. Later the widowed mother became the wife of a Mr. Wright, a 
pioneer of Ohio. In Ohio Elisha Witham grew up and was married to Miss 
Zilpha Rice, a native of Vermont and a daughter of Nathan Rice, also a 
native of that state, and who, when a youth of eighteen years, rendered 
valiant service as a Revolutionary soldier. His wife was near Bunker Hill at
the time of the memorable battle there and was an eye witness to it. Elisha 
and Zilpha Witham were the parents of seven children, viz.: Luceba, Henry, 
Jemima, Nathan, Amos, Lucy Aromantha and Joshua M. Their father died in 
Allen county, Indianda, near Fort Wayne, at the age of forty-five years, 
being taken away in the prime of life. He was by occupation a coooper, in 
politics a Jackson Democrat, and was Methodistic in his religious faith. His
wife died in Washington county, Ohio, in 1875.

Returning to the subject of our sketch, we record that after his marriage he
continued work at the carpenter's trade in Ohio until 1855, when he came 
west and took up his abode in Minnesota, making the journey by rail to 
Galena, Illinois, and by boat the rest of the way to his destination in this
state. His first settlement here was on one hundred and fifty acres of land 
near Cleveland, where he built a log house sixteen by twenty feet in 
dimensions, the floor being made of boards which he sawed by hand. This 
rude cabin served him for a home for eight years. Then he sold out and moved
to a place two miles above Kasota. In 1888 he again sold out, this time in 
order to go back to Ohio, where he had in charge the settlement of some 
business, and where he sojourned for about six years, at the end of that 
time returning to Minnesota and purchasing his present property, eighty 
acres of land in section 34 of Kasota township, Kasota his post-office 
address, and here he has lived and prospered the past two years. This place 
was formerly known as the James Randolph farm. It is one of the most 
desirable farms in its locality, well improved and highly cultivated, its 
large frame house and attractive surroundings, good barn and other farm 
buildings, wind pump, etc., all giving evidence of thrift and prosperity and
at once stamping the owner as a man of intelligence and good judgment as 
well as industry.

Mr. and Mrs. Cheadle are the parents of six children, whose names in order 
of birth are as follows: Mrs. Sarah Peel, of St. Paul, Minnesota; Charles, 
a resident near Windom, Minnesota, is married and has one daughter; Mrs. 
Angeline Reed, who became a resident of Blue Earth county, Minnesota, the 
mother of thirteen children, and died November 13, 1896; Adalaide, wife of 
William Moses, of this township, has seven children; Abigail, wife of a Mr. 
Skmpton, has five children; and Lucy, wife of W. H. Ennis, is a resident of 
Toledo, Ohio. Three of the daughters, Adalaide, Abigail and Lucy, were 
before their marriage engaged in teaching and were popular and successful in
that profession.

Mr. Cheadle has long been an enthusiastic Republican, and has at different 
times filled varous official positions. He served in a number of township 
offices, was county commissioner, and in 1860 represented his district in 
the state legislature of Minnesota, performing his duty in this last named 
honorable position in such a manner as to reflect credit both upon himself 
and his constituents. Time has dealt gently with him, and although he has 
passsed his seventy-second milepost he is still strong and erect and 
presents a fine physique, being six feet high and weighing two hundred and 
twenty pounds. Plain in speech, unassuming in manner, strictly honest in all
his dealings, frank and jovial in his intercourse with his fellow man, - 
these qualities combined in his make-up render him one of the most desirable
of neighbors and friends and entitled to the high esteem in which he is held
by the entire community.
(pages 406-408)


ISAAC DAVIS

Isaac Davis, one of the highly respected pioneer citizens of Lesueur County,
Minnesota, is a Canadian by birth and comes of ancestry which is traced 
back to the Welsh and french. He was ushered into life near Montreal, Canada
March 20, 1835.

Orange Davis, his father, was born in Canada, the son of a Welsh father and 
American mother, and passed his youth and early manhood on a farm in that 
dominion. He was united in marriage there to Miss Adalaide Barlow, who like 
himself was a native of Canada, her parents being William Barlow and wife, 
the latter a French woman. In 1838 Orange Davis and family left their home 
in the British province of Canada and sought a new location in the United 
States, making the journey by the lake, canal and river to Pike county, 
Illinois, that being before there was a railroad within th eborders of that 
great state which has now a perfect network of railway lines. He settled 
near Pittsfield, where he improved a farm and where he resided until 1853, 
at that time coming up into Minnesota and locating on one hundred and fifty-
seven acres of land near Lake Emily, where he developed a fine farm. The 
last two years of his life were spent in St. Peter, where he died at the 
age of seventy-five years. His good wife lived to be eighty. They were 
members of the United Brethren Church, stood high in the several communities
in which they lived and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all who knew 
them. His whole life was devoted to agricultural pursuits, and in politics 
he harmonized with the Republican party. They were the parents of eleven 
children, namely: Thomas, deceased; S. W., of St. Peter, Minnesota; Orange 
R., deceased; Isaac, deceased; Ebenezer, of Kasota, Minnesota; Louisa, wife 
of Alexander Pettis, of Kasota township, Lesueur county, Minnesota; Isaac, 
the second in the family to be given this name and the subject of this 
review; Sarah, wife of S. H. Pettis; Carline Hartew, of North Dakota; 
Harriet, deceased; and H. C., of this township.

Having thus briefly referred to his ancestry, we turn now for an outline of 
the life of Isaac Davis. He was reared on his father's farm in Pike county, 
Illinois, and received his education by attending the public schools, by 
home study and by actual business experience. He was nineteen at the time 
they moved to Minnesota, and he remained a member of the home circle until 
his marriage, which important event in his life was consummated in December,
1855, the lady of his choice and whom he wedded being Miss Catharine Pettis.
She was born near Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, a daughter of New England 
parents and a representative of a family long resident in this county and 
prominent and influential. Her father Charles Pettis, was a son of Col. 
Stephen Pettis, of the war of 1812; was born in Vermont, became a pioneer 
of eastern Ohio, and from there moved to Pike county, Illinois. Her mother, 
whose maiden name was Sarah Horsford, was a native of Connecticut, and a 
member of a prominent early family of that state. Charles and Sarah Pettis 
were parents of nine children, viz.: Stephen, Catharine, John, Eliza, Olive,
Malissa, Emily, Charles and Henry. The father of this family was by 
occupation a farmer and carpenter and in his political views was a 
Republican. He died at the age of forty-eight years. The mother lived to be 
seventy-four, a member fo the Advent Church, and a deeply religous woman.

After his marriage young Davis and his bride began housekeeping in a little 
log cabin on a forty-acre tract of land, were industrious and frugal, and as
a result of their early years of toil are now in possession of a competency 
and are surrounded with all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. 
Today he is the owner of three hundred acres of land, one of the finest 
farms in the community; has a commodious and attractive residence, beautiful
for situation and surroundings; large barn, sixty-five by fifty-four feet 
in dimensions, built on rock foundation; modern windmill for pumping water 
for house and stock,-in short, a model farm.

Mr. and Mrs. Davis had twelve children, of whom nine are living, namely: 
William, Winslow, Charles, Clarence, Edith Glover, George, Cordelia, John 
and Harry. Edith Glover and Cordelia are engaged in teaching. The three 
deceased were Orville, who died at the age of twenty-eight; Earnest, at six 
months; and Stephen at four months.

Mr. Davis is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and affiliates
with the lodge at St. Peter. Mrs. Davis, like her mother, is a devoted 
Christian woman and holds to the creed of the Advent Church.
(pages 414-415)


ALEXANDER PETTIS

Alexander Pettis bears a name that belongs in the list of prominent early 
settlers of Lesueur county, the date of his arrival here being May, 1855. 
His present home is on a fine farm on section 24, Kasota township, and St. 
Peter is his post-office address. Thus as a pioneer and leading citizen of 
his locality his history is of interest in this work, and briefly is as 
follows: Alexander Pettis was born in Albany, Vermont, March 21, 1823, and 
comes of a family of Scotch descent, long resident in this country, 
prominent in peace and valiant in war. His father, Stephen Pettis, a colonel
in the war of 1812, was a native of Connecticut and a son of Scotch parents 
who had settled in New England previous to the Revolutionary war. Their 
household of faith was Presbyterian. Colonel Pettis married a Miss Olive 
Hutchins, a native of Vermont and a member of a family long settled in New 
England. She was a most excellent woman, bright in intellect, amiable in 
disposition, and loved by all who knew her, and her untimely death in 1830, 
in the prime of life, was a sad blow to her family and many friends. She 
died at Mecca, near Warren, in Trumbull county, Ohio, and left a family of 
four little children, namely: Alexander; Almira, now Mrs. Judds, of Iowa; 
Matilda, now Mrs. Wing, of Pike county, Illinois; and Mary, who married Mr. 
Davis, and died in Pike county, Illinois. Previous to his removal to Ohio 
Colonel Pettis lived for some time at French Mills, Canada, where he built 
a mill. He left Ohio in 1835 and moved to Pike county, Illinois, settling 
upon a large tract of land he had purchased, becoming one of the pioneers 
of that county and developing there a fine farm. He died in Illinois, 
settling upon a large tract of land he had purchased, becoming one of the 
pioneers of that county and developing there a fine farm. He died in 
Illinois, aged seventy-six years, having lived out more than the average 
life of man. For many years he was identified with the Masonic fraternity 
and was prominent in the circles of that high order. Of high intellectual 
powers, wide business experience, broad and generous nature, he was an 
important factor in his locality and was as highly esteemed as he was well 
known.

Alexander Pettis was a boy of twelve when he accompanied his father and 
other members of the family to their new home in Pike county, Illinois, and 
there he was reared and educated, and was for a time engaged in teaching. 
He was married in Pike county, in 1850, to Miss Louisa Davis, whose life 
has been blended with his for a period of forty-six years and who still 
presides over his home, her presence and cheerful companionship having made 
bright many of the dark places along their pathway in life. She was born in 
Canada and reared and educated in Pike county, Illinois, her parents being 
Orange and Adalaide (Barlow) Davis, natives of Canada and pioneers of 
Illinois. Both her father and mother lived to a ripe old age, the former 
being eighty and the latter eighty-five at the time of death.

In 1855 the spirit of emigration led the subject of our sketch to seek a 
home in Minnesota, and in the spring of that year he came up the river by 
boat to Lesueur county, selecting a location on section fifteen, Kasota 
Township, and there building a cabin and establishing himself and family in 
pioneer style. Subsequently he sold this place and purchased his present
farm, one hundred and twenty acres of valuable land on section 24 of the 
same township, and with the exception of ten years, when he resided in St. 
Peter in order to give his children the benefit of good educational 
advantages, he has maintained his home on this farm. Here he has a beautiful
rural home, carries on general farming and stock-raising, and is c
omfortabley situtated to enjoy life.

Mr. and Mrs. Pettis have three children: Orange Stephen, of Chicago, 
Illinois; Mary, wife of R. Volk, of St. Peter, Minnesota; and Cornelia May. 
Both of the daughters were formerly engaged in teaching and Miss Pettis is 
now at her parental home.

In his political views and affiliations Mr. Pettis is strongly Republican 
and in favor of the "gold standard." For years he served as justice of the 
peace and as such rendered general satisfaction. He is a man of broad views,
firm convictions, progressive spirit, and has a character that is above 
reproach, his word ever as good as his bond. His genial manner and his fine 
conversational powers make him companionable and welcome wherever he goes.
(pages 434-435)


NELSON GOLDSMITH, JR.

For a period of 32 years the subject of this sketch has made his home at 
his present location in Cleveland township, Le Sueur Co., Minn., he having 
come here at the close of his army service in 1864.

Mr. Goldsmith is a Kentuckian by birth, ushered into life in Bullitt Co., 
Ky. April 11, 1844 and is descended from an old Virginia family. His father,
Nelson Goldsmith, Sr., was born in Virginia, and when a young man came west 
to Indiana, where he was subsequently united in marriage to Miss Nancy Davis
a member of one of the pioneer families of Kentucky that had moved up into 
Indiana. After their marriage they located in Bullitt county, Kentucky, 
where they made their home until 1864, most of their numerous progeny being 
born and reared there, and that year they came to Minnesota settling in Le 
Sueur county, where the closing years of their life were spent and where 
they died, each having attained a ripe old age, she being seventy-nine and 
he ninety at death. By trade he was a bricklayer and plaster, which he 
followed during the early part of his life, but later gave his attention to 
the quiet pursuits of the farm. He was identified with the Masonic order and
both he and his good wife were consistent members of the Christian church, 
in which for years he was a deacon. In their family were fifteen children, 
twelve of whom grew to maturity, viz.: Anna, Matilda, Mary A., James D., 
David, Abigail, Millie, Lucinda, John Thomas, Nelson, Owen, and Nancy. One 
of their children died in infancy and two in childhood.

Nelson, whose name adorns the pages of this work, was reared on his father's
farm in Kentucky, brought up to the habits of honesty, industry, and piety, 
and with no other educational advantages than those of the common schools. 
In July, 1862, in response to the call made by the nation's executive for 
more troops to swell the Union army, he enlisted as a member of the Fourth 
Kentucky Cavalry, under Colonel Bales and Captain Barnett, and was in the 
service until the following year, when he was honorably discharged on 
account of disability. During several months of his army life he was sick 
and in hospital in Louisville. He was at the battle of Chickamauga, but was 
sick and unable to take part in it, being then in a horizontal position and 
able to only witness the great battle. Mr. Goldsmith was in the battle of 
Murfreesboro and all the following battles to that of Chickmauga.

In 1864, the year following his honorable discharge, he came to Minnesota, 
settled in Le Sueur county, and here he has ever maintained his home. Here 
he owns eighty-three acres of good land, well improved; has a cozy and 
attractive residence, built at a cost of twelve hundred dollars, surrounded 
with forest trees and pretty lawn; and is successfully engaged in farming 
and stockraising. A tubular well run by a windmill furnishes water for stock
In short, his is a delightful rural home.

Mr. Goldsmith was married in January, 1873, at Kasota, to Miss Mary Helen 
Miller, a lady of education and culture and previous to her marriage a 
teacher. Mr and Mrs. Goldsmith have five children, viz.: Huldah Maud, Ralph 
M., Elmer L., Melville S., and Henry E.; and they have one deceased, -- 
Winfred, who died at the age of eighteen months.

Like most of the survivors of the Union army, Mr. Goldsmith is identified 
with the Republican party and the G. A. R., his membership in the latter 
being the A. K. Skaro Post, No. 37, of St. Peter. He is a man of broad views
well posted on the topics of the day, and interested in all that pertains to
the good of the country. For some years he has been a member of the school 
board.
(pages 468-470)


GEORGE R. MOLER

George R. Moler figures as one of the respected citizens of Clevelan, 
Lesueur county, Minnesota, and is veteran of the late war. Following are 
some of the salient points in his life history, briefly touched upon.

George R. Moler claims Ohio as the state of his nativity, his birth having 
occurred in Gallia county, October 18, 1839, and is of German and English 
extraction. His father, Alfred Moler, was a Virginian by birth and a son of 
John Moler, who was born of German parents. In Gallia county, Ohio, to which
place Alfred Moler went in early life, he was married to Miss Nancy Watkins,
a native of that state and a daughter of James Watkins, who was of English 
descent. After their marriage they moved to Gallipolis, Ohio, later to Cass 
county, Indiana, still later to Jackson county, Iowa, and finally to 
Minnesota, making these various moves with an ox team and wagon. Their first
location in Minnesota was in Olmsted county, near Rochester; later they 
spent two years in Ellysian, Lesueur county, and at this writing we find the
venerable Mr. Alfred Moler, now eighty years of age, a resident of Cordova, 
Lesueur county. He is a cabinetmaker by trade, at which he worked for may 
years. To him and his wife twelve children were given, viz.: George R., 
Alfred J., Malissa, Rebecca, Ozias, William, Anna, Alice, Sarah, Louisa, 
Mary Jane and Ruth,--all still living except Ruth and Ozias. The family was 
well represented in the Union army, three of the sons marching forth in 
defense of their county and rendering valiant service as gallant soldiers. 
Alfred J. was in the Fourth Minnesota Infantry and Ozias in the Second 
Minnesota Cavalry. The latter died in July, 1894, in Waterville, Minnesota.

George R., the direct subject of this review, was a boy of thirteen years 
of age when he accompanied his parents on their emigration to Iowa, and at 
the time they came up into Minnesota he was fifteen. Here he passed from 
youth to manhood. Reared to farm life on the frontier, he of a necessity 
had limited educational advantages, but he improved his opportunities, 
attended the public schools and studied at home, and by the time he was 
grown acquired a fair range of useful information. Early in life he turned 
his attention to the carpenter's trade, became a first-class mechanic, and 
has worked at this trade most of the time since reaching adult age.

During the war he was in the same company and regiment with his brother, 
Alfred J.,--Company I, Foruth Minnesota Volunteer Infrantry, under Captain 
J. H. Parker and Colonel John Sanborn, and was a participant in many of the 
prominent engagements of the south, a detailed account of which would cover 
much of the history of the war. Suffice it to say in this connection that 
his whole service was characterized by true bravery and soldierly conduct, 
and that, having accompanied General Sherman across the country to Savannah 
and to the sea and thence north to Richmond and Washington, and having 
participated in the grand review at the capital city, he returned to 
Minnestoa, via Louisville, Kentucky, and at Fort Snelling was honorably 
discharged. With the exception of about eighteen months he spent in 
Chillicothe, Missouri, he has been a resident of Minnesota ever since the 
war, and now has a pleasant home in the suburbs of Cleveland.

Mr. Moler is a man of family. His first marriage was to Miss Cordelia Heath,
daughter of J. M. Heath, and their unio was blessed in the birth of two 
children, --Ed Riley and Edson A. She died in 1866 and in 1868 he wedded 
Miss Philena Baker, a native of Michigan and a daughter of James and Nancy 
Baker. By his present wife Mr. Moler has had five children, three of whom 
died in childhood of diptheria. Those living are Estella May, wife of George
Thayer, of Lesueur county, and Celestia Louisa Gray, wife of Lincoln Gray, 
of Wisconsin.

In his political affiliations Mr. Moler is Democratic, in favor of the free 
coinage of silver and a strong supporter of William J. Bryan. Mr. Moler is 
identified with the G. A. R., having his membership in this order at St. 
Peter, and both he and his wife are devoted and consistent members of the 
Christian church. He is now constable of Cleveland, giving to the office his
best service and performing his duty in a manner creditable alike to himself
and those whom he serves.
(pages 477-478)


GEORGE W. STUDLEY

During the dark days of civil war in this country Minnesota, which had only 
a few years before been admitted into the Union of States, wasnot slow to 
show the material of which her pioneers were made and sent to the Union 
ranks her quota of soldiers. Among those of ther citizens who "donned the 
blue," marched under the stars and stripes, came home veterans and victors 
and still maintain their home within the borders of this state, is found
the subject of this review, Mr. George W. Studley, whose pleasant rural home
is on section 18, Cleveland township, Lesueur county, St. Peter his post-
office address.

Mr. Studley is not a native of this country. He is an Englishman by birth, 
an American by adoption, a Canadian by early association, and for the past 
forty years has been a resident of Minnesota, having arrived in Lesueur 
County in 1856. He was born in Somersetshire, England, July 15, 1821, son of
Benjamin F. Studley, a son of Scotch parents and born in Scotland, the 
Studley family having long been resident of that country. The mother of our 
subject was by maiden name Miss Fanny Gale. She, too, was a native of 
Scotland, born in Aberdeen, and her people also had long resided there, her 
ancestors prominent in peace and patriotic in war. The parents of George W. 
Studley were residents of Somersetshire, England, until 1833, when they made
the Atlantic voyage to the new workd and took up their abode in Canada, near
Ottawa, settlignin the deep forest where the father engaged in the lumber 
business. There he passed the rest of his life and died, being eighty-five 
years of age at the time of his death. He was inearly life a member of the 
church of England, but later became identified with the Baptist church, of 
which he was a consistent member till death, and for years was honored with 
the office of deacon. His wife survived him ten years, her age at death 
being ninety, and her father before her lived to be a hundred. She, too, 
was a Baptist during the latter part of life, and in that faith they reared 
their family. Of their children, we record that George W., the subject of 
our sketch is the oldest; and that he and his brother, Henry, now a resident
of Colorado, are the only ones of the family born in England, the others 
being natives of America, and named as follows: Elias, who lives at the old 
home place; Silas, a resident of Canada West; Simon, who died in Washington 
territory; Rhoda, Elizabeth and Lydia.

George W. Studley was twelve years old when he landed in Canada, and on the 
frontie grew to manhood, assisting his father in the forest and there 
developing a strong muscle and a fine physique. Later he learned the trade 
of millwright, which he followed for a few years in New York and 
Massachusetts. Also he became an expert carriage, wagon and sleigh maker, 
and returned to Canada to engage in this buisness. Ill health, however, 
prevented him from carrying out that intention, and instead he came, in 1856
to Minnesota, hoping for benefit from this climate, and in it he was not 
disappointed. He settled in Traverse des Soiux, then the leading town in 
that part of the state, that being before St. Peter sprang into existence; 
and there he worked at his trade until the outbreak of the civil war.

In the winter of 1862 Mr. Studley tendered his service to the Union, and 
fell in line with Company B, First Minnesota Volunteer Infrantry, with which
he served in the Army of the Potomac, his officers being Captain Houston and
Colonel Tester. He was in the Wilderness campaign, at Petersburg and 
Gettysburg, and at Hatcher's Run fell into the hands of the enemy, by whom 
he was held for twenty-four hours. The rebels, however, had to flee, and in 
making their escape they were compleeted to leave their prisoners behind, 
and thus he was released. At the close of the war, in July 1865, he was 
honorably discharged, coming out of the ranks with the record of a brave, 
gallant solider who had done his duty well.

Returning from the army, Mr. Studley settled at his present location, on 
section 18, Cleveland township, Lesueur county, here buying a pre-emption 
claim from which had a few acres broken, and a shanty, and from the time of 
his settlement here began to accumulate. For severla years he caried on 
contracting and building. His own residence, modern and complete in every 
respect, and beautiful both for interio and exterior surroundings, he build 
at a cost of about two thousand five hundred dollars. His other farm 
buildings and improvements are of the best, and his farm now comprises two 
hundred and forty acres. Savage Lake, adjacent to it, furnishes water for 
stock purposes, and to the stock business Mr. Studley has given considerable
attention, keeping a good grade of all kinds of stock and making a specialty
of Holstein cattle.

Mr. Studley was married in 1854 to Miss Anna Scott, who has been his 
companion and helpmate for over forty years and who still presides with her 
charming grace over his pleasant home. She was born near Montreal, Canada, 
daughter of John and Catharine (McClarren) Scott, natives of Scotland, who 
came to America in early life and were married in Canada, where they reared 
their family. Mrs. Studley is one of four daughters, her sisters being Jane,
Catherine and Elizabeth. They were reared in the Presbyterian faith. Mr. and
Mrs. Studley have five children, namely: Elizabeth, wife of W. F. Davis, was
before marriage a teacher; La Grange, who died at the age of twenty-three 
years; Henry, on the home farm, married Miss Lillie Forsyth; Alice, at home;
and Lucinda, wife of Charles Forsyth. All have been fairly educated and are 
useful and respected members of society.

Politically, Mr. Studley has been a Republican all his life; fraternally, 
he has membership in the G. A. R., A. K. Skaro Post, No. 27, of St. Peter; 
and religiously, he and his family are identified with the Christian church.
(pages 511-513)


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