Nobles County MN Archives Biographies.....Durfee, Francis A. 1846 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com October 21, 2006, 11:11 pm

Author: Arthur P. Rose (1908)

  FRED A. FINK, retired merchant of Ellsworth, is one of the pioneer residents

of that town and has seen it advance from a prairie to one of the finest little

villages in Nobles county.



  Mr. Fink was born in Jefferson county, Wis., March 23, 1861. He was left an

orphan, his father dying soon after his son was born, and the mother dying near

Sumner, Iowa, in 1870. From Wisconsin the family moved to Bremer county, Iowa,

when Fred was three years old, and in that county he was raised on a farm and

lived until May 14, 1882. In company with a brother he then left home and went

to Mitchell, Dakota territory, where he remained only two months. From there he

went to Rock Rapids, Iowa, and spent the summer of 1882 working at the

corpenter's [sic] trade for Close Brothers, owners of large land interests in

Lyon county, Iowa, and Rock county, Minn. Mr. Fink spent the fall and winter of

1882-83 working in Nobles county. He worked for L. L. Bryan during the summer of

1883 on that gentleman's farm just over the line in Rock county. Returning to

Rock Rapids, he worked during the next winter for his brother, who was in the

hardware and grain business. He next went to Adrian, took employment from James

Cowin, where he worked in the lumber and grain business until October 1, 1884.



  On that date he moved to the new town of Ellsworth and opened a hardware

store, the sixth business house in the town. He remained in the hardware

business fourteen years, selling out in 1898. Since then he has lived a retired

life, looking after his numerous land interests. He owns a fine residence

property in Ellsworth, 560 acres of land in Kanaranzi township, Rock county, two

miles west of Ellsworth, and a section of land in Alberta.



  Mr. Fink was married Sept. 2, 1885, near Ellsworth, to Kittie B. Bryan,

daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. L. Bryan, now of Luverne, and early day settlers of

Grand Prairie township. Mrs. Fink was born near Independence, Iowa. To them have

been born one child, Gladys, one of the teachers of the Ellsworth public schools.



Additional Comments:
Extracted from:



AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF NOBLES COUNTY

MINNESOTA

BY

ARTHUR P. ROSE



NORTHERN HISTORY PUBLISHING COMPANY 

WORTHINGTON, MINNESOTA 

PUBLISHERS

1908



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