John Compton

John Compton, general manager of the Ballard Trumble Lumber Company, at Eed Wing, has shown much executive ability in the various positions in which he has been engaged. He was born in Sweden, October 18, 1858, son of John Magnuson and Mary E. Larson, both natives of that country. The father, a general merchant and hotel proprietor, is still living. The mother Hied in December, 1897. While a school boy in Sweden, John managed to pick up many of the details of his father’s business, and this, together with one years’ schooling in Eed Wing, to which city he came in 1881, fitted him for a business career. His first employment was in the hardware store of Charles Betcher, where he worked two years. In 1884 he went to Minneapolis for Mr. Betcher, working in his store there five years. His work in this capacity won the confidence of his employer, and in 1889 he was given charge of Mr. Betcher ’s lumber yard and store at Wheaton, Minn. Here, he remained eleven years. During this time he became a prominent citizen of Wheaton, serving as a member of the village board as school treasurer and as a member of the village council. Prom 1900, when he returned to Red AVing, until 1903, he was employed as bookkeeper in the office of Charles A. Betclier, afterward taking charge of the retail department of that company until 1906. During that year this department was sold to the Ballard Trumble Lumber Company, at which time Mr. Compton became associated with the latter company as general manager, a position he has since retained. He is an independent voter and belongs to the Swedish Mission Church. Mr. Compton on December 17, 1884, was married at Red AVing to Augusta Anderson. Her father died in Sweden and her mother now makes her home with the Compton family. To Mr. and Mrs. Compton have been born three children — Miriam, June 23, 1894; Ruth, December 27, 1896, and Elmer, June 23, 1899.

Charles S. Dana, clerk of the district court of Goodhue county, is descended from eastern parentage, his father, Charles, being a native of Vermont, and the mother, whose maiden name was Sally Ann Lawrence, of Alleghany county, N. Y. The father was a, prominent and successful merchant of Belvidere, Boone county, Ill., and also lived in Roscoe, in that state. In 1856 he came to Goodhue county and settled in Roscoe township, being one of the earliest settle'rs of that place. To him belongs the honor of naming Roscoe, the name being that of his former residence in Illinois. He homsteaded 160 acres, and in the short time he lived became a prominent pioneer citizen. He died in 1859. Llis widow survived until 1904, when she lived in the state of Washington. Charles S. was born in Belvidere, Boone county, Ill., September 25, 1851, and was brought to this county by his parents when a young boy. He attended the common schools in Roscoe township, and then took a commercial course in the Bryant and Stratton College at St. Paul. For a time he clerked in Roscoe township, and then taught school in this county from 1874 to 1880. The following year he came to Red AVing as bookkeeper for the Red AVing Iron AVorks. During the succeeding six years his acquaintance with Red AVing people increased and on January 1. 1887, he started his public office holding as deputy county auditor. In 1906 he was elected to his present position, in which he has served with much credit. In politics, Mr. Dana is a Republican, and he belongs to both the Odd Fellows and the Royal Arcanum. Charles S. Dana was married in October, 1883, to Lida Pilcher, of Belvidere, Ill., daughter of John and Frances Pilcher, natives of England, who after living for a time in Ohio moved to Belvidere, Ill., where they lived many years. Both parents are uoav deceased, the mother having died in 1886, and the father in February, 1909, at Pierce, Neb. To Mr. and Mrs. Dana lias been born one son, Everett C., who first saw the light of play in Re,d Wing, August 17, 1892. The family religion is that of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

As printed in History of Dakota and Goodhue counties, Minnesota / (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.