Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/887

 HISTORY (>F GOODHUE COUNTY 767 carrying on general farming; He added to his original purchase until he retired in 1897, being at that time the owner of one of the finest farms in the country, containing 520 acres of land, all under cultivation, and all in Minneola township. Mr. Lexvold has been a hard working man all his life and by his untiring energy become one of the prosperous farmers of Minneola town- ship. He is now residing in Zumbrota village, enjoying the fruits of his honest endeavors. He was married in November, 1868, to Gunel Thompson, who came to America in 1865. Mr. Lexvold has four sons, all engaged in farming. They are: Sever, Ole, Christ and Halbert. Five daughters, Martha, Anna, Sarah, Martina and Bertha, are all living. Mr. Lexvold is a Republican, has held the position of road overseer, and is a good citizen, taking an interest in the welfare of the county and village in which he lives. He is one of the members of Land's Lutheran Church. Ira D. Warren, of Zumbrota village, hardware merchant and former miller, is a native New Yorker, born March 22, 1842. son of Sheldon H. and Sally (Calkins) Warren, also natives of New York state. The father, who was a shoemaker and farmer by trade, came with his family to Goodhue county in 1867, and located in Roscoe township, where he followed farming until his retirement in 1893. Three years later he died. His widow sur- vived until 1903, when she, too, passed to her eternal reward. Ira D. had scarcely left school when the Civil War broke out. He consequently enlisted at Herkimer county. New York, in Company B, One Hundred and Twenty-first New York Volunteer Infantry, in the fall of 1862, and served until June, 1865. when he was dis- charged at Annapolis, Md. He participated in the bloody carnage at South Mountain, Antietam, First and Second Fredericksburg, Rappahannock, Battle of the Wilderness and Spottsville. In the latter battle he received an ankle wound and was captured. For ten months he was imprisoned at Andersonville, but was later ex- changed. Upon his return to New York state he farmed for a year and then came to Roscoe township with his parents and re- mained four years. Subsequently he spent eighteen years as a miller in Zumbrota. During that time he was a prominent and popular citizen, and when he became an aspirant for the position of postmaster, the people were almost unanimous in desiring his appointment. He served in this capacity over five years, and then conducted the Forest Mills elevator four years, after which he became manager of the Wabasha Riller Mills elevator at Zumbrota for three years. He then purchased a 175-acre farm two miles from the city, and managed this for three years. In 1908, in company with his son, he purchased the hardware busi- ness of W. F. Bevers & Son, which has since been conducted under the name of Ira D. AVarren & Son. Mr. Warren stands hisrh in ■ - ■