Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/1074

 926 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUXTY five years. From 1900 to 1905 he was secretary of the Cannon Falls Telephone Company, of which he was also one of the originators and organizers. In addition to all of this, he has been a successful farmer, and has found time to serve as chairman of the town board of Stanton several years. He was born July 9, 1858, in Stanton township, received his schooling in Fond du Lac, Wis., and in 1879 took charge of the home place. Upon this farm he made many improvements, remodeling the house and other buildings and erecting a large, sanitary barn, 40x50 feet. His farm Avas one of the finest in the township, and his farming operations were conducted on a large scale until 1906, when he came to the village of Cannon Falls, where he now lives retired. Mr. Slocum is a mason and votes an independent ticket. John F. Slocum, father of Harrison M., was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1803, and came with his father, Isaac Slocum, to Ohio in 1821. He subsequently lived in Fond due Lac. AVis.. and in 1855. after a short stay in St. Paul, came to Cannon Falls and built a store, the second one in the place. About the same time he pre-empted a farm in section 14, and the old land deed signed by President Lincoln is still one of the cherished possessions of the family. On this place the family erected a cabin, and were on the high road to prosperity when a fire swept the prairie, and during Mr. Slocum 's absence in Red Wing, destroyed the cabin and all its contents. The family then returned to St. Paul, spent the winter there, then returned to the claim, lived there until 1861. then went to Fond du Lac, Wis., and lived there until 1874, afterward returning to this county. Barbara E. Morrell, who married John F. Slocum May 1, 1849, was born in England March 9, 1820, and died January 25, 1899. John E. Slocum died June 29, 1879. To this union were born three children, Sarah E., Mary H. and Harrison M. Sarah E. was born August 15, 1851,. and died December 27, 1905. Mary H. was born September 30, 1853, and keeps house for her brother. Arthur T. Clifford, veteran of the Civil War and retired farmer, of Cannon Falls, was born in Prospect, Waldo county, Maine, and after receiving his education worked with his father, coming west with his parents and settling in Stanton township in 1855. He pre-empted a quarter-section of land, brought the wilderness under cultivation and carried on general farming until his retirement, in 1893, at which time he rented his farm and moved to the village of Cannon Falls, where he now resides. In the month of February, 1864, he joined Company I, 1st Min- nesota Heavy Artillery, and served under Colonel William Col- vill until discharged at Fort Snelling at the close of the war. Since then it has always been his delight to associate with the good old comrades of those days, and he has served as chaplain