BIOGRAPHIES: Nicholas GASPER, Arland Township, Barron County, WI ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, or the legal representative of the contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Vic Gulickson 24 June 2002 ==================================================================== Nicholas Gasper, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, who has a well improved farm in Arland Township, was born in Germany, Feb. 27, 1873, son of Pete and Anna (Schmidt) Gasper. The parents are deceased, the mother having passed away Oct. 15, 1881, and the father Feb. 14, 1902. They had three children: Nicholas, Fred and Maggie. Maggie died in 1903 and Fred is living in Germany. Nicholas acquired his education partly in Germany and partly in the United States. In his native land he worked for a while in an iron foundry. In 1890 he came to this country, landing at New York, whence he proceeded to St. Paul, Minn. There he worked for one year in a soap factory, after which he was engaged for two years in farm labor. He then rented a farm at Hampton, Minn., for a year. Then he took up farm labor for others again, also working in the Wisconsin woods in winter. In 1898 he enlisted in the United States army for service in the Spanish-American War, and was attached to Battery I, Fourth Artillery. From Fort Snelling he went to Fort Mott, N. J., and from there to Cuba. On the completion of his service in the island he returned to Philadelphia, went from that city to Fort Trumbull, Conn., and thence to Minnesota, where he was discharged March 22, 1899, after about a year's service. Once more a civilian, Mr. Gasper found employment as an engineer in the Twin City brick yard at St. Paul and continued in that position for six years, with the exception of time spent in proving up a homestead in Burnett County, Wis. This homestead he had taken in 1896. He proved up in 1901, clearing ten acres and erecting a small set of buildings. In 1905 he sold the property, and in the same year settled on 60 acres of land in section 4, Arland Township, Barron County, which he had bought in 1903. In 1906 he bought 40 acres in section 9, thus acquiring the farm of 100 acres on which he is now living. Here he has erected a fine set of buildings, the barn measuring 32 by 60 feet and installed with the James equipment. Like the majority of farmers in Arland Township, he does general farming and dairying, his cattle being mixed but with a pure bred sire. Through intelligent industry he has advanced far on the road to prosperity and is numbered among the substantial citizens of his township. He is a stockholder in the Farmers' Co-operative Store at Poskin and in the co-operative creamery at Barron. For six years Mr. Gasper served as clerk of the school board of district No. 2, and in 1919 he was elected supervisor on the town board. He is a member of the Catholic Church. Mr. Gasper was married May 5, 1903, in Hampton, Minn., to Mary Rischette, who was born Dec. 7, 1868, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Zeien) Rischette. Her parents were natives of Luxembourg who came to America in the early sixties, settling near Hampton, Minn., where Mr. Rischette died March 15, 1914. His widow is now residing near Hampton. To Mr. and Mrs. Gasper three children have been born: Mamie N., Feb. 18, 1904; Nicholas P., June 25, 1906, and Frank J., Jan. 14, 1913. --Taken from: History of Barron Co., Wisconsin, H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co., 1922, pg. 906.