Obit for HENDERSON, Martin (b.1848 d.1932), Watonwan 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. 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The Hendrickson family emigrated to the United States in 1852 locating first at Muskego, Wisconsin, where they spent one winter, then moved to Dane County in the same state, where they resided for a year. They then moved to Vernon county, where they bought a farm and lived until 1866. In 1866 the Hendricksons decided to move to the then new state of Minnesota, where there was an unlimited quantity of fertile agricultural lands open to settlement. They came to Watowan county and on July 19, 1866, arrived on the banks of Kansas Lake, where they located the homestead which has been in the Hendrickson family ever since. It may be proper to note here that the original family name, as it came from Sweden, was Hendrickson, but a clerk in the U. S. land office entered the name as Henderson, and, it was under this name that the homestead was taken, so Henderson it remained even to this day, with the Scottish rather than the Scandinavian sound. The Henderson family were the first settlers in the Kansas Lake neighborhood, although others came that same summer. The elder Henderson (or Hendrickson) preempted 125 acres of land and, in a ddition bought 50 acres of railroad land. Mr. Hendrickson built up a fine farm and a comfortable home, dying just thirty years to a day from the time he reached the land which he selected for his future home. He wife died on June 19, 1897, one year after the death of her husband. Martin Henderson, the subject of this sketch, spent his younger years on the farm assisting his father. He received an education of a superior kind for that day, having attended the public schools of Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the Curtiss Business College in Minneapolis. For fifteen years Mr. Henderson was engaged in railroad contract work, doing grading for various lines. His first job of this kind was in Canada in 1875. He preempted 160 acres of land in Cottonwood county, but lived on it only long enough to prove up. Mrs. Henderson died about eight years ago. In 1892, four years before his father’s death, Mr. Henderson returned to the Kansas Lake family homestead, and began the active operation of the farm. He purchased more land, and finally became the owner of 230 acres of as good farm land as the sun ever shown upon. Mr. Henderson made many improvements upon his farm, and built up one of the finest places in the county. His line was general farming with live stock as specialty. He was a stockholder in the old St. James Farmers Elevator Co. Mr. Henderson was married on August 4, 1883, to Miss Christine Erickson, a native of Sweden, who came here in 1888. To this union eight children were born, seven of whom survive their parents. One son, Arthur, is dead,; the survivors are Henry Walter, Mathilda, who is the wife of Louis Boen; Marie, Phillip, Rodger, Thomas and Mrs. Ernest W. Guggisberg, St. Paul. There are two grand children and one surviving sister, Mrs. Kate Johnson. Mr. Henderson had for some years been retired from active life, and lived with his son’s family on the old homestead. He and all the family were members of the Lutheran church. During his active life he was one of the most prominent and successful farmers in the county, and during his residence here has seen the county progress from its pioneer stage to its present well settled and well farmed state. Sixty-six years is a long time. Mr. Henderson saw Kansas Lake for the first time when he was eighteen years old, and lived upon its shores until he was nearly 84. Funeral services were held on Monday, August 1 at the home at 1 p. m. and at Long Lake church at 2 o’clock Rev. N. I. Evenson officiating.