Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/977

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HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY 839 farming and makes a specialty of stock raising and dairying, shipping considerable quantities of cream. Il«' has a record of having made as high as 1,400 pounds of butter a year. Mr. Lewis was married, in 1877 to Helen E. Thomas, daughter of Tyler Thomas and Eliza A. Sprake, the father ;i native of Massachu- setts and the mother of New Hampshire. They spent the larger part of their lives in Hudson, X. II.. where the father was first

i mechanic and later a farmer. Both father and mother are

now deceased. To .Mr. and .Mrs. Lewis have been born two chil- dren. Berdena is the wife of Israel Ward, a farmer of Long Prairie, Todd county, Minnesota. Harry still lives at home. .Mr. Lewis believes in a general way in the platform of the Re- publican party, bul to a large extenl votes independently. He affiliates with the G. A. R. at Red Wing. Michael Ackerman. of Frontenac village, was horn in Ger- many, August 12, 1834, son of Jacob and Annie (Messenschmidt), unlives of Germany, where they both died. Michael received his education in Germany and in 1852 he eame to this country and settled in Old Frontenac. He was a carpenter by trade, and was employed by Gen. Garrard, with whom he remained for 28 years. He also owns 80 acres of land in Florence township which he rents and spends his time equally with his son at Frontenac and his daughter at Missoula., Mont. He had another son William who is now deceased. In 1862 Mr. Ackerman enlisted in Co. G, 2d, Minn. Vol. Inf., and served in all the battles in which that regiment participated. Mr. Ackerman was married in 1859 to Barbara Katzenberger. and three children blessed this union. Anna, married to Mr. Drefford a wheelwright of Missoula, Mont. ; Edward of Frontenac, and William, (deceased). Mr. Ackerman is Republican in his polities. He is a member of the G. A. R. of Lake City, and attends the German Lutheran church. 0. J. Bakko, one of the honored old pioneers, of Holden town- ship, whose name will live in the county whenever is told the story of those sturdy Norsemen who came into this section in the early days was born in Norway, May 26, 1832, son of Gjergin and Kirsten Bakko, the former of whom died in 1846 and the latter in 1872. The subject of this sketch received his education in the schools of. his native country and took up farming with his father until coming to America in 1852, when he located in Green Bay, Wis. June 3, 1855 he came to Holden township, and pre-empted 160 acres of land. He was among the earliest pioneers, and the story of the part he took among the first settlers is found in the general history of Holden township appearing in this volume. After arriving here, Mr. Bakko lived in an old pioneer ox-w r agon until completing a 12x14 log cabin which for some years he made his home. From this early beginning he developed a farm equal