Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/845

 EISTORY OF <;<>ODHUE COUNTY 735 plemented this with studies at the Red Wing Seminary and at the Ourtiss and Rosenberger Business College at Red Wing. For one year he taught school, and in 1888 engaged in the general mercantile business at Ksdaile, Wis. In 1895 he opened a grocery establishment in Red AYing, which he conducted until 1907, when he accepted his present position with the Goodhue County Bank. P. J. Lundquist, sheriff of Goodhue county since 1894. P. J. received his education in the schools of Sweden and worked as a mail driver. In 1869 he came to America and located at once in Vasa, this county, where he farmed and worked on the rail- road until 1872, when he purchased a farm, upon which he carried on general farming until 1883. He then came to Red Wing and was appointed deputy sheriff, serving four years. In 1887 he was elected constable and served until 1891, when he was ap- pointed chief of police of the city of Red Wing. In politics a Republican, he is a member of the Elks, the Modern Woodmen and the Commercial Club. Thor Erickson, jeweler, is one of those men who. without seek- ing notoriety or display, quietly pursue their own path in life, and by their honesty and industry make up the solid and con- servative elements of the communities wherein they reside. He was born in Xannestad Prestgjeld, Norway, February 13, 1843, son of Erick Thorson and Karn Hawkinsdater, both natives of Norway, the former of whom was a shoemaker by trade. The mother died in 1869 and the father in 1870. The schools of Norway afforded Thor his early education, after which he learned the jewelers' trade. He came to America in 1865, and for two years Avorked in Fillmore county, Minnesota, removing in 1867 to Bloomingdale, Vernon county, Wiscinsin, where he worked at his trade three years. From 1870 until 1893, a period of twenty- three years, he lived in Melvina. Monroe county, Wis. In 1893 he opened a jewelry store in Red W T ing, and here he has since re- mained, his hard work, his square dealing and his uncompro- mising honesty having won for him an enviable position in the city. He carries a heavy stock, enjoys a large trade and does an extensive repairing business. He is a Republican in politics. and while at Melvina served many terms as road overseer. Mr. Erickson was married April 13, 1867, at Bloomingdale, Wis., to Mary M. Olson, a native of Norway. Her parents came to Amer- ica in the early days and located at Coon Valley, Wis., later going to Bloomingdale in the same state, where the father engaged in farming. After his death the mother went to Melvina, Wis., where she lived to the good old age of ninety-five years. To Mr. and Mrs. Erickson have been born seven children — Edward, deceased; Alice, of Minneapolis; Charles, a Minneapolis jeweler; Anna, married to J. M. Billo, of Red Wing; Herman, deceased;