Compendium of History and Biography
of North Dakota
Published by George A. Ogle & CO. in 1900

 JAMES BARRETT, whose home is on section 29, Chester township. Grand Forks county, is still in the prime of life, and well deserves an honorable place among those whose brains, courage and endurance have converted a wilderness into the great state of North Dakota.

He is active and industrious, and his integrity has commanded respect. He was born on a farm in St. Croix county, Wisconsin, August 15, 1862, where he was reared and educated, receiving such educational advantages as the common schools of the community afforded him. He lived at home until 1890, and the fall of that year struck out in life for himself. He came to North Dakota, and for two years was employed as a farm laborer. He settled in 1892 on the farm where he now lives, and by unremitting care and attention has made it one of the most complete in this section of the county. He owns four hundred and eighty acres, and operates nine hundred more, and as may be imagined is an exceedingly busy man.

Mr. Barrett and Miss Theresa Pash were married in Bell River, Minnesota , July 3, 1891. She has ably seconded all her husband's efforts, and as she was born and reared in Minnesota , she knows the requirements of a western home. They are the parents of two children, Henry J. and Alice, and have a delightful home. Mr. Barrett is a man of considerable influence at home, and has been a member of the township board for several years. He is a member of the Catholic church, and is highly esteemed in that society.

EDWARD C. BATES. In the various financial enterprises of Grand Forks, North Dakota, the Grand Forks Mercantile Company takes a leading place, and the gentleman above named is one of the important factors in the success enjoyed by this company, having held the office of president of the same since its establishment. He is also president of the Northwestern Fire & Marine Insurance Company of Grand Forks, and in each of the enterprises in which he has embarked he has met with unbounded success, and is one of the substantial business men of North Dakota.

Our subject was born at River Falls, Wisconsin, February 20, 1860. His parents, Luther M. and Mariah (Wilcox) Bates, were natives of Vermont, and the father was engaged in business there many years. He removed to Wisconsin in the early '50s, and then returned to Vermont in 1864, and is now a resident of the latter state.

Mr. Bates was raised in Vermont, and received a high school education there, and later taught school two years. He came to North Dakota in 1880, and engaged in the general merchandise business in Forest River, Walsh county, and continued there three years, and then removed to Ardoch and continued there until 1892, when he came to Grand Forks, and January 1. 1893, founded the Grand Forks Mercantile Company, with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, and the following officers: C. F. Williams, vice-president, W. A. Currie, treasurer, and F. S. Lycan, secretary, and our subject president. The capital stock was later increased to sixty-six thousand dollars, and they now conduct nearly a million dollars' worth of business annually in North Dakota and Minnesota. Mr. Bates is also secretary and treasurer of the Rav Mercantile Company, of Crookston, Minnesota. He was one of the organizers of the Northwestern Fire & Marine Insurance Company of Grand Forks, and was elected the first president of the company.

Our subject was married, in 1882, to Miss Christina Anderson, a native of Canada. Four sons and one daughter have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bates. Mr. Bates is a member of the Masonic fraternity.

DAVID H. BEECHER, president of the Union National Bank, was born in Rushford, New York, March 15, 1852. and is a son of Norman and Lois (George) Beecher. both of whom were natives of New York. His father was a farmer and followed that calling in Allegany County, New York, where he died, in Tioga County, in 1878. The grand-father of our subject, Joseph A. Beecher, was a native of Connecticut, and a farmer and teacher by occupation. He was a man of good education and was superintendent of schools in his County. He removed from Connecticut to New York and died in Tioga County in l868. Our subject's great-grandfather, Amos Beecher, was a clock-maker by trade, and made the first clock used in Yale College.  Our subject has three brothers who live in Massachusetts and New York. Mr. Beecher was reared and his early education was received in Rushford, New York, and at the age of eighteen removed to Binghamton, New York, where his education was completed. In 1873, in company with his brother, H.  M. Beecher, he purchased a wholesale supply house and conducted business until 1883, when he disposed of his interest to his brother and came to Crookston, Minnesota. He there engaged in the wholesale and retail drug business for four years, and in 1884 went to Park River, North Dakota, and in company with Sidney Clarke organized the Park River Bank, with a capital stock of $20,000.  The following year that institution merged into the First National Bank of Park River, with a capital stock of $50,000. The bank has prospered, now having a surplus equal to its capital, and during the panic of 1893-94 stood unshaken. The officers of the bank also own the bank at Milton, North Dakota, established in 1889 as the State Bank of Milton, also the Forest River State Bank, of Forest River, North Dakota, and Mr. Beecher is president of all of the banks. He is also treasurer of the Northwestern Fire & Marine Insurance Company, organized in 1899, with a capital stock of $100,000.  He also handles a large amount of eastern capital and does a general investment business. 

Mr. Beecher was married in 1878 to Effie Gifford, a native of New York. One daughter has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Beecher, Ethel Lois, who died at about one year of age. Mr. Beecher is a man of excellent business ability, having met with eminent success in all of the business enterprises in which he has embarked, he is a man of strict integrity, and has made many friends by his push and energy. In politics he is a Republican. 

PATRICK BERRIGAN, an agriculturist of prominence in Levant township, is deserving of mention in the history of Grand Forks county, as he was one of its pioneer settlers. His home is on section 31, where he has surrounded himself with the comforts and conveniences of modern country life.

Mr. Berrigan was born in Quebec, Canada, January 15, 1835. His parents, Patrick and Mary (Cullen) Berrigan, were natives of Ireland. The father came to America about the year 1818, and passed the remainder of his life in Quebec. He had a family of five sons and one daughter, three of the sons being now deceased. Our subject and sister are residents of the United States.

Mr. Berrigan was reared in Quebec, and worked on the farm until 1878. In that year he came to Grand Forks county, North Dakota, and took a homestead claim on section 24, Levant township, filing his claim in 1878, thus becoming a pioneer of the township. He located on his claim the following year, and resided there until 1885, when he occupied his present home on section 31. He made many valuable improvements and is the owner of one of the best homes in the county.

Mr. Berrigan was married, in 1858, to Mariah Lahey. Mrs. Berrigan was born in Ontario, Canada. Her parents, Thomas and Mary (O'Connor) Lahey, were natives of Ireland, and emigrated to Canada in 1812. Mr. and Mrs. Berrigan are the parents of nine children, named as follows: Thomas, Stephen, Cecelia, Theresa, Jennie, Margaret, Elizabeth, Minnie and Annie. The members of the family are communicants of the Catholic church. Mr. Berrigan, while doing his duty as a citizen and member of the community, has never entered actively into political affairs. He has established for himself and family a good and comfortable home, and he is well known and esteemed for his integrity and upright character. Mr. Berrigan assisted in the organization of the first school in the district in which he lives, and has been a member of the school board since that time, fourteen years.

JOHN BIRKHOLZ, one of the leading and wealthy business men of Grand Forks, North Dakota, went to that state with limited means, and by persistent effort and judicious management has be- come the owner of a fortune. He is a man of excellent business qualifications, methodical and careful in all details, possessed of a conservative disposition and a character of the highest integrity, and is esteemed highly by all with whom he has to do.

Our subject was born in Trenton, New Jersey, December 2, 1855, and was a son of Henry and Barbara Birkholz. His parents were born in Germany and came to America in 1850 and settled in New Jersey, and there our subject was reared and educated to the age of fifteen years, when he entered the banking house of E. H. Murphy & Company, of Trenton, New Jersey, and remained with them five years, and thus received a thorough business training. He then went to Chicago and entered the employ of the McCormick Harvester Company in the collection department and remained there nine years, and in March, 1883, went to Grand Forks and established an insurance, collection and loan business. He continued the insurance and collection business until about 1891, since which date, he has followed the investment business entirely. He.  founded the Ardoch Bank in 1891. The Farmers' Bank, of Emerado, North Dakota, was founded in: 1892, and has a capital stock of $20,000, and the capital stock of the Ardoch bank is $15,000. The Kittson County State Bank of North Dakota was founded in 1896. The Bank of Thompson, North Dakota, and purchased by Mr. Birkholz in 1890, and the Bank of Conway was founded by him in 1898. Mr. Birkholz is president of all of the above named institutions, and he is also interested largely in farming in North Dakota and Minnesota, and has prospered in each of the business enterprises with which he has been associated.

Our subject was married, in 1881, to Miss Andrews, of Mitchell, South Dakota, and a daughter of Dr. Andrews. Mr. Birkholz does not lead a public life and has never sought or filled public office. He is devoted to his business affairs and is heartily interested in the welfare of his community and keeps abreast of the times. 

LOUIS BLANCHETTE. For over twenty years this gentleman has been associated with the agricultural interests of Grand Forks county, North Dakota. He has accumulated a good property in Rye township, where he settled in the early days of that locality, and is widely and favorably known throughout the county as a man of industrious habits and good principles.

Our subject was born in Canada, February 19, 1845, and was a son of John and Lucy (Larvier) Blanchette. His parents were natives of Canada and moved to Massachusetts in 1855, where they remained five years and then returned to their native place and spent the remainder of their lives there. They were the parents of eleven sons and three daughters, of whom our subject is the only one in the west, the others locating in the eastern states.

Mr. Blanchette was reared in his native place and in 1855 went to Massachusetts with his parents and there learned the shoemaker's trade, beginning his apprenticeship at the age of ten years. In 1865 he enlisted in the Thirteenth Ohio Cavalry and became a member of Company I. He enlisted at Cincinnati under the name of Louis White, the translation of the name Blanchette being White, he served about seven months and saw some service in Virginia and was at the battle of Petersburg, Virginia. He was discharged from the service in 1865 and returned to Massachusetts and followed his trade there until 1880. He then went to Grand Forks county, North Dakota, and entered claim to the land upon which he has spent the intervening years. He has added to his possessions and now has a section of choice land, all of which is improved and tillable, and on his home farm he has a set of good buildings and is one of the prosperous men of his township.

Our subject was married, in Massachusetts, in 1872, to Miss Meresline Sivaliar, a native of Canada . Nine children, eight of whom are now living, have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Blanchette, and are as follows: Ella, now Mrs. J. Jarvis; David; Frank ; Eva. deceased; Louis; Charles; Josie; Benjamin and Leo. The family are members of the Catholic church. Mr. Blanchette has served on the township and school boards and has been chairman of the latter for the past eighteen years. He is a Republican politically and is earnest in his convictions.

AMUND A. BOE, is a prominent pioneer of Brenna township, Grand Forks county, wherein he owns an elegant farm of two and a quarter sections of land. Since his residence thereon Mr. Boe has placed upon his farm such improvements as entitle it to rank among the finest pieces of property devoted to agricultural pursuits to be found within the limits of Brenna township, and he has been instrumental in developing and promoting the growth of that section of the country. 

Our subject was a native of Norway and was born in the mountains of that country .March 8, 1846. His parents, Amund B. and Ingrea (Trumsdatter) Boe, lived and died in Norway, and were the parents of seven children, five sons and two daughters. Our subject is the only member of the family in the United States.

Mr. Boe was reared in Norway and resided there until 1868, when he went to Quebec, Canada, and from there to the United States, locating in Wisconsin. He moved from there to Goodhue county, Minnesota, and in 1878 went to Grand Forks county. North Dakota. He entered claim to land as a pre-emption in Brenna township, and was among the first to settle in the township. He has resided there since that date, and has added to his possessions from time to time as circumstances permitted and has accumulated a line farm, on which he has a home of more than usual comfort.

Our subject was married, in Dakota, in 1897. to Karen Leine, a native of Norway . Mr. and Mrs. Boe are the parents of two children, named Amund and Annie. The family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church and have a host of friends where they reside. Mr. Boe assisted in the organization of his township and has served twice as chairman of the township board, and as an educational worker has served on the school board. He is a Republican politically, and is a man who keeps abreast of the times and lends his influence for the up building of good local government, he is one of the citizens of Brenna township who settled there when the country was entirely undeveloped and he had no means aside from his own energetic spirit and honesty of purpose, and he is now one of the substantial and highly esteemed farmers of his locality.

WILLIAM BUDGE, the efficient postmaster of Grand Forks, North Dakota, is a pioneer settler of that region. He was born in the north of Scotland, October 11, 1852.

The parents of our subject. John and Jean (Budge) Budge, were natives of Scotland, and the father was a farmer and died in Scotland and the mother afterward emigrated to America, and died in this country. 

Our subject remained in his native place until he was sixteen years of age, and in 1869 came to Northwest territory, with the Hudson's Bay Company, and was employed by that company one year in the Northwest territory. He went to Pembina, North Dakota, in 1870, and began work for W. C. Nash, in the brick yard and after the summer went to Turtle river, and there built a station for the stage company with George Winship, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere. They operated the place three seasons, and in 1874 he went to Grand Forks, and has since made his home in that city. He went to the Black Hills in 1876. and was engaged in freighting from Bismarck, and was thus engaged two years.  He started a store at Kelly's Point, and conducted the same for some time, and then returned to Grand Forks and engaged in the real estate business. He was chairman of the county board in 1875. and in 1880 was appointed sheriff and resigned after six months' service in that capacity. He has served as a member of the board of trustees of the State University, and was appointed postmaster at Grand Forks in July, 1898. He also conducts a grain and commission business in Grand Forks and is well-to-do. He was one of the directors of the Citizens' National Bank, and was president of the same for some time. He was also once interested in the First National Bank.

Our subject was married in 1890 to Miss Minnie Grow, a native of New York. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Budge, who bear the names of Alexander and Jean. He was a member of the constitutional convention, and holds membership in the Masonic fraternity, Knights of Pythias and Elks. He is a stanch Republican politically.

CHARLES H. BURKE, a prominent agriculturist and influential citizen of Grand Forks county, resides on section 31, Johnstown township, and was one of the pioneers of that township.

Mr. Burke was born in Penobscot county, Maine, April 17, 1850. His parents were Daniel and Sarah (Ellis) Burke, and were both natives of New Hampshire. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, moved to Maine after marriage, and passed the remainder of his life there, dying in 1873. The grandfather, James Burke, was a native of Massachusetts, afterward removing to New Hampshire, where he died. His father was born in Ireland.

Charles H. Burke had two brothers and four sisters. One brother enlisted in Company A, Thirtieth Maine Volunteer Infantry, and died in the service in 1865. Besides our subject, the only one of the children living in North Dakota is Mrs. Hazen B. Eastman, of whom mention will be found on another page of this volume. Charles H. Burke was reared and educated in Maine, and followed farming there until 1882. In that year he came to Grand Forks county. North Dakota, and filed a claim to land in section 31. Johnstown township. The land was in its wild and native state, but he set to work courageously to develop its resources, and by good management and constant energy he has today one of the most valuable estates in the county. He is the owner of five and a half quarter-sections, and has added improvements and conveniences and modern equipment adequate to the demands of farming in the northwest.

Mr. Burke was married in Big Rapids. Michigan, January 24, 1889. to Mrs. Elizabeth Owen, formerly Miss E. Seitzinger, who is a native of Canada. To Mr. and Mrs. Burke one child has been born, namely, Daniel H. Mr. Burke is independent in his political views, supporting such men and measures as he deems best adapted to the general welfare. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is held in high esteem for his many virtue's and his adherence to justice in all the details of life.

JOHN K. BUTTERY, superintendent of the Emery farm at Emerado, Grand Forks county, is a typical North Dakotan, and shows in his own career the possibilities of life on these great prairies. 

He was born in Peterboro county, Ontario, April 19, 1853, and grew to manhood under his father's roof. He spent his boyhood on the farm and had such schooling as fell to the lot of farm lads of his time. He remained with his parents until the month of April, 1879, when he struck out in life for himself. He came to this state and in the spring of 1880 effected a location on section 18, Oakville township. He made himself a home there and manifested such ability as a farmer that his services were demanded by those able to pay for them. In the spring of 1895 he was called to the management of the Emery farm. This well known place consists of forty-three hundred and eight acres and its rapid development under his management has been a source of much satisfaction to the proprietor. In his own home farm there are six hundred and forty acres. It has good buildings and is in fine condition.

Mr. Buttery was married, in Grand Forks, October 18, 1893, to Miss Wilhelmina J. McLeod. She is a native of Ontario and is the mother of three children: Gordon A., Muriel A. and Wilma E. Mr. Buttery has been treasurer of the township and has taken an active part in church matters. He is one of the officials of the Methodist Episcopal church at Emerado and is also interested in the work of the fraternal societies. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Independent Order of Foresters and the Modern Woodmen of America and wherever found is a reliable and honorable man.

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