Fifty Years In The Northwest
wounded at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, was confined in
the hospital nine months, and discharged with the brevet rank of
colonel.
Col. Hersey spent two years in New Orleans, engaged in the shipping
and commission business, and in the spring of 1867 came to Stillwater
and thence to Lake City, where he had charge of the lumber and
mercantile business of Hersey, Staples & Co. in that city for five
years. In 1872 he returned to Stillwater, entered the firm of Hersey,
Brown & Bean, dealers in lands, lumber and merchandise. In 1877 he was
elected state senator and served one term. He has held many
responsible positions. He married Eva C. Wardwell, of Bangor, Maine,
Jan. 4, 1864. They have one son, Clinton, an enterprising, public
spirited man, inheriting much of his father's will power.
DUDLEY H. HERSEY, the second son, was born in Bangor, Dec. 25, 1847.
He was educated at Westbrook Seminary, Maine, and came to Stillwater
at an early age in the employ of his father. In 1872 he became one of
the firm of Hersey, Bean & Brown. Mr. Hersey was married to Estella
Wardwell, of Bangor, Maine, in 1870. They have one son, Samuel F.
EUGENE M. HERSEY, the third son, was born in Bangor, Maine, May 6,
1850. He was educated at the high school in Bangor. With his brother
he has been interested in milling and lumbering operations. He was
married in 1876.
EDWARD L. HERSEY, the youngest son, was born in Bangor, Maine, April
29, 1852; graduated at Westbrook Seminary in 1871, and was married to
Mary L. Merrill, of Chicago, in 1877.
JACOB BEAN was born in Upper Stillwater, Maine, in 1837. In that
centre of the lumbering interests he early and easily took to
lumbering, and pursued the business continuously until 1863, when he
came to Stillwater, where he became an active member of the firm of
Hersey, Staples & Bean, and of Hersey, Bean & Brown.
CHARLES BEAN was born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, in 1827; removed to
Orono, Maine, in 1835; followed lumbering on the Penobscot river for
a few years. He came to Stillwater in 1863, and some years later sent
for his aged parents, giving them a home until their death. In 1865 he
became one of the firm of Hersey, Staples & Bean, dealers in pine
land. He is at present with his oldest son in California, where both
are interested in real estate and irrigation enterprises. Mr. Bean has
been twice married and has a family of eight children. The oldest
daughter married Jerry Brown, now deceased. Mr. Bean moved to
California in 1887.
RUDOLPH LEHMICKE was born in Prussia in 1822. He learned the trade of
cabinet and organ making; came to America in 1849, and to Stillwater
in 1854, working at his trade until 1858. He served one year as
justice of the peace, and having studied law was admitted to practice
in 1859. In the fall of 1859 he was elected county auditor and served
until 1874. He was elected judge of the probate court, in which
position he continued until 1881. He has served as inspector of the
prison, superintendent of public schools, and member of the board of
education. Judge Lehmicke was married in 1853, in Coldwater, Michigan,
to Jane Tackeberry. They have a family of five sons and two daughters.
HOLLIS R. MURDOCK was born in Governeur, New York, Aug. 15, 1832. He
graduated at Williams College, Massachusetts, in 1854, came to
Stillwater in 1855, and was admitted to the practice of law in 1856,
since which time he has been in continuous practice. He has held many
offices of trust. Has been judge of the probate court and member of
the legislature from Washington county, and director of a bank and
railroad company. Mr. Murdock was married to Sarah A. Rice, Nov. 3,
1857.
GEORGE M. SEYMOUR was born in Onondaga county, New York, March 26,
1829. Part of his early life he spent on a farm, but later he learned
the carpenter's trade and became a builder and contractor. While in
Syracuse he engaged for some years in the manufacture of lumber and
staves, and later, of salt. He was married to Anna B. Kingsley in
1851. In 1858 he came to Stillwater, and in 1861 was awarded the
prison contract, and engaged in making cooperage. He was one of the
founders of the firms of Seymour, Webster & Co. and Seymour, Sabin &
Co. (the Northwestern Car Company). He was sheriff of Washington
county for two years.
FRANK A. SEYMOUR, only son of George M., was cashier of the First
National Bank of Stillwater for four years, and subsequently cashier
of the Merchants Bank, St. Paul.
MARION O., only daughter of George M. Seymour, graduated from Mount
Holyoke Seminary in 1880.
LOUIS HOSPES, for many years identified with the Schulenberg-Boeckeler
Lumber Company, and father of A. C. Hospes, surveyor general of logs
and lumber, E. L. Hospes of the Schulenberg-Boeckeler Company, and
Otto G. Hospes of the hardware firm of A. C. Hospes & Co., died April
9, 1888. The deceased was born in the landgravate of Hesse-Cassel,
Germany, Feb. 8, 1809, and attended school in the city of Witzenhausen
until he was sixteen years old. He then became a farmer, which
avocation he followed for four years. He then entered the University
of Gottingen, where he made a special study of the theory and practice
of agriculture and of veterinary medicine and surgery. Retiring from
the university, for two years he took charge of the farms on some
large estates. In 1832 he sailed from Bremen for America, arriving at
New York on September 4th of that year. Leaving that city on the
eleventh of the same month, he arrived in St. Louis on October 18th.
From that city he went to St. Charles county, where he engaged in
agriculture and other pursuits until 1840. During his residence there
he married Elvira Wurdeman, who survives him. In 1840 he removed to
Green county, Southwest Missouri, where he made his home for the next
six years among the Ozark mountains, where he and two brothers engaged
in the distilling business. In 1848 Mr. Hospes went to St. Louis and
entered the employ of Schulenberg & Boeckeler, where he remained until
Oct. 21, 1854, when he came to Stillwater to take charge of the
business of his employers here. In 1856 he became a partner in the
concern, and continued so until 1874, when the firm reorganized as the
Schulenberg-Boeckeler Lumber Company. When he retired, his son, E. L.
Hospes, succeeded to his interest, which he now holds. In 1871 Mr.
Hospes visited Europe with his family, spending a year abroad. In
1862, with his associates, he organized the First National Bank of
Stillwater, of which he has been president for twenty years. His life
in this city has been that of an active, energetic and generally
successful business man, and though conservative in his business
operations has always been ready to lend a helping hand to any
deserving or practical business enterprise. He was marked for that
fixed and reliable character which made his name a tower of strength
to any enterprise with which he was connected, and his integrity,
extending to little things, became proverbial. Besides the sons named
he left two daughters, Mrs. H. E. Mann, of Milwaukee, and Mrs. J.
Schlenk, of St. Paul.
DAVID TOZER was born in Miramachi, New Brunswick, in 1823. His early
opportunities for obtaining an education were somewhat limited, and he
obtained only three months' schooling. He came to Stillwater in 1856
and engaged in lumbering, working by the month for five years, and
afterward independently or in partnership with his brother Albert, and
in the firm of Sauntry & Tozer, cutting and rafting lumber. He was
married in Canada, in 1867, to Margaret McKay. Mr. Tozer has been an
industrious and successful man.
DAVID BRONSON was born in Anson, Maine, in 1834. He clerked in Boston
from 1850 to 1855, when he came to Stillwater, where he has since been
engaged in selling goods, lumbering and manufacturing. He was married
in 1861 to Ianthe Davis.
JOHN MALOY is of Irish descent. He was born in Ireland, and emigrated
to New Brunswick. He came to Stillwater with his family in 1853, and
engaged in lumbering. His family consisted of nine sons and three
daughters. The daughters are married. Four of the sons are living; two
of them. Patrick and William, in Oregon, and the others, James and
Robert, in Stillwater.
MRS. SUSANNAH TEPASS, _nee_ Burkhart, was born in Germany, Aug. 10,
1824. Her parents emigrated to America in 1847 and settled in
Freeport, Illinois, where she was married, in 1849, to N. Kimmick, and
the same year came to Stillwater. Mr. Kimmick died in 1857. In 1860
she was married to Frank Aiple. Mr. Aiple died Nov. 10, 1868. Dec. 9,
1869, she was married to her present husband, Herman Tepass. Her
children are Mary, Herman and Frank Aiple.
WILLIAM E. THORNE came to Stillwater in 1853. He has been an attentive
and successful merchant, a polite and honorable gentleman, and a good
citizen.
EDWARD J. BUTTS was born in Delaware county, New York, in 1832;
graduated at the Albany Normal School in 1853, and taught school
awhile during his minority, and some years after studied law (in
1861), and was admitted to practice in Broome county, New York. In
1862 he enlisted in a New York regiment and served his full time of
enlistment. In 1864 he was appointed clerk in the third auditor's
office, Washington, which position he resigned in 1865 and came to
Stillwater to practice his profession. He served some time as justice
of the peace, and for ten years as judge of probate in Washington
county. He was collector of internal revenue one year, and was eight
years postmaster in Stillwater, completing his term of service in
1886. Mr. Butts was married to Augusta Miller in 1856. Mrs. Butts
died in 1869, leaving one son and one daughter. Mr. Butts married Ida
Ellsworth in 1878. They have one son and two daughters. His oldest son
is in the military school at West Point.
A. B. EASTON was born at Mesopotamia, Trumbull county, Ohio, March 1,
1828. His parents were natives of Massachusetts, tracing their lineage
to the Pilgrim Fathers. At the age of fourteen years he was clerk in a
store, but at the wish of his parents, left the store and attended
school, finishing his studies by a course at the high school. Soon
after he again assumed the position of clerk, in which he continued
two years, when, in 1855, he took charge of his father's hotel. Two
years subsequently he came to Stillwater, beginning work as a
compositor for the Stillwater _Messenger_, A. J. Van Voorhes,
proprietor. During the absence of the proprietor Mr. Easton was
manager. Finally, in 1863, he and A. B. Stickney rented the paper,
which they operated one year, then carried it on alone until 1865.
During this time Mr. Van Voorhes had been filling the position of
quartermaster, and on his return made Mr. Easton foreman, where he
continued until 1868. The St. Paul _Dispatch_ had just been
established, and he was connected with the interests of this paper
until his return to Stillwater in 1869. Aug. 6, 1870, he issued the
first number of the Stillwater _Gazette_. His son William E. was taken
as a partner in 1876. Mr. Easton and son have through their ability
and industry made the _Gazette_ a readable, reliable and popular
paper. Mr. Easton was married to Julia Burke, Oct. 14, 1849. They have
four sons and three daughters.
EDWIN A. FOLSOM was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, June 30, 1833. He
spent most of his youth with his parents in Bangor, Maine, where he
was educated in the common schools. In 1856 he came to Stillwater and
for six years was book-keeper for Hersey, Staples & Co. In 1862 he
enlisted in Company C, Eighth Minnesota Volunteers, and was
commissioned as captain. He left the service at the close of the war
with the rank of brevet colonel. Returning to Stillwater, he served