Bio of Appel, Stephen Wabasha 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: Barbara Timm and Carol Judge
=========================================================================
This bio comes from "HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY" 1920.
Check out Barbara's site for more great information on this book:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mnwabbio/wab3.htm
There are also some pictures and information from descendents for some 
of the bios on her pages.

Appel, Stephen (page 428), one of the early settlers and developers of
Highland Township, now passed away, was born in Germany and came to this
country with his mother when twelve years old, settling in Pennsylvania.
In 1859, as a young man, he came to Wabasha county, Minnesota, after
reaching La Crosse, Wis., making the journey on foot to Wabasha county.
Here he homesteaded 160 acres of land in section 9, Highland Township, the
tract being partly prairie and partly timber land, and without
improvements. The Indians were quite numerous in the vicinity, but gave
him no trouble. He met with one early discouragement, however, after
building his first residence, a small one-room house. He was baking bread
one day, when the house caught fire and burned down, all the money he had,
about $15, being consumed in the flames. He replaced the building with a
larger house, which now forms a part of the present residence, occupied by
his son, Frank J. The rest of his life was spent on the farm, where he
followed general farming, and he died in 1914. In the seventies he bought
what was known as the Watkins Mill, which he operated as a grist mill for
many years, it becoming known as the Appel Mill. He was a public spirited
citizen of his township, serving as a member and clerk of the board of
supervisors, and as a member of the school board. He was an advocate of
good roads and of everything else calculated to benefit the community in
which he lived. Mr. Appel married Elizabeth Hillenbrandt, who also was a
native of Germany, their marriage being celebrated in Wabasha village.
They spent fifty years of happy wedded life together and in 1913
celebrated their golden wedding. Mrs. Elizabeth Appel survived her husband
about six years, dying in 1920. Of their family of eleven children, eight
are now living: Katie, wife of John McMillin, of Theilman; John A., a
farmer in Plainview Township; William, who is now in San Francisco; Edward
and August, who reside at Metaline Falls, Washington; Ida, wife of Arthur
Melzner; Amanda, residing at Butte, Mont., and Frank J., the present
proprietor of the old homestead in Highland Township. Of the three
children deceased, Louis died when a baby, Stephen, Jr., died of influenza
in 1919, and Elizabeth, who married Gordon Campbell, of the state of
Washington, died in 1919. All are buried in the family lot in Conception
Cemetery.