Rolette County Biographies JOHN CAIN, deputy collector and inspector of customs at the sub-port of Turtle Mountains, located at St. John's, is one of the most widely known and influential citizens of Rolette County. He is a native of Ontario, Canada, and was born March 23, 1853. Our subject was the third in a family of eight children born to John and Ann (McGuire) Cain. His father was of Irish parentage and is still living. The mother was of Scotch-German descent and both parents were natives of Canada. Our subject's earliest memory is of stone picking and stump grubbing, at which he was engaged until 1873. At the age of twenty years he began a three year apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade and in 1874 he went to the United States and joined his brother in California, where he followed his trade. Some years later he returned to his old home and in April, 1883, went to Rolette County, North Dakota. He "squatted" on land and established the pioneer blacksmith shop of that region and work came to him from great distance and was mostly plow work. Mr. Cain also followed farming and in 1888 erected the first livery barn of Rolla. He was deputy sheriff under Sheriff Flynn and in 1894 was elected sheriff of the county and served two terms, with the exception of a short time at the last of his second term, when he resigned to accept the appointment to his present office. In the uprising of the Turtle Mountain Indians, in 1895, our subject was made a deputy, and with the other officers performed his duties in compelling about two hundred Indians and half breeds to surrender unconditionally. Mr. Cain was married, in 1873, to Miss Elizabeth Duff, who died in 1881. One child was born to this union, named George, who is now a resident of St. John's. Our subject was married to Miss Sarah A. Hamblin in 1880. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cain, who are as follows: Anna E., a teacher; Margaret H., a teacher; Jesse S., Isabelle, Warren N. and John. Mr. Cain served as a member of the first board of county commissioners. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and Knights of the Maccabees, and politically is a Republican. History Biography of North Dakota. Transcribed by Laurel Durham ARTHUR DIXON, Rolla, of the nineteenth legislative district, was born at Brighton, England, May 14. 1872. Came to the United States in 1893. Received his education in the common schools and St. Mark's College, Chelsea, Eng. Came to North Dakota in 1893 and engaged in the business of farming and abstracting of titles. He is unmarried. Was elected representative as a democrat. [Source: North Dakota Blue Book, 1913 Legislative Manual, Published under the direction of Thomas Hall, Secretary of State, 1913. Submitted by Linda R.] COURTLAND R. GAILFUS, state's attorney and United States commissioner at Rolla, has won for himself an enviable position among the business and professional men of North Dakota. He stands in the front ranks of the Rolette county bar and is well known throughout the state. Mr. Gailfus is a native of Ontario, Canada, born October 28. 1866. He was the youngest of the three children born to B. and Elizabeth (Winkler) Gailfus. When he was a small boy he lost his father by death, and his mother removed to Manitoba in 1879, and in the spring of 1885 the family settled in Towner county, Dakota. As soon as our subject reached the age of maturity he began to take up government land. He secured three claims, a pre-emption, a tree claim and a homestead claim. He made his residence upon his homestead in 1890 and about this time began teaching school, having secured a fair education by private study. He taught during the summers and attended the university at Grand Forks during the winter months. He later entered the University of Minnesota and took up the study of the law. In 1893 he went to Chicago and took a course in the Kent College of Law, at the same time working in the office of W. B. Keef. He graduated with the class of '95 from that institution and was admitted to the Illinois bar June 26, 1895. I" the autumn of that year he came to Rolla and engaged in wheat buying. He was admitted to the bar of North Dakota October 7, 1895, and began the practice of his profession. He was elected state's attorney that same fall and still holds that office. On July 2, 1897, he was appointed United States commissioner at Rolla, which office he also holds at the present time. He entered the legal field against competition experienced and well established, but made his way rapidly to the front and has maintained his position. He is also part owner of fourteen hundred and forty acres of land in Towner and Rolette counties, his partner being Guido Widmeyer. This vast acreage is devoted exclusively to wheat raising. Mr. Gailfus was married, in 1896, to Miss Ella May Paupst, and to this union three children have been born, named in the order of their birth as follows : Lorna, Manila and one infant unnamed. Mr. Gailfus is a Republican in his political faith and has taken an active part in the public affairs of his county and state. He is a member in good standing of the A. O. U. W. and the M. W. A. He is a worthy citizen and valued member of the community. Source: Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota, Publ. 1900. Transcribed by Dena Whitesell JOHN C. HUNT. Among the leading citizens and early pioneers of northern North Dakota, no one is more deserving a place in history than John C. Hunt, a well-to-do farmer living on his home farm on section 17, .Mount Pleasant township, near the city of Rolla. Mr. Hunt was born in Ontario, Canada, March 19, 1861. He was the second child and oldest son of the Rev. David and Agnes (Fury) Hunt. At the age of seventeen years. John C. Hunt began working at cheese making, and followed that occupation till he was twenty-one years of age. In the spring of 1882 he started with a company for Manitoba, and then down to the Turtle mountains, and there settled in what is now known as Fairview township. He and his party of ten were the first to settle in that region. The Indians, claiming that they were on reserve land, refused to allow them to cut wood in the mountains, and in the month of July a band of twenty Indians called upon them, and through an interpreter, gave them two days notice to leave the country, threatening to shoot their stock and hinting at more serious results if they did not move. The seven settlers then at home, held a consultation and decided it was best to cross over to the Canadian side, where they camped until the arrival of troops. As soon as the matter was settled they returned to their lands. Our subject began the development of his farm, the post office being twenty-five miles distant, and the nearest market was Church's Ferry. His main source of income the first few year's was the sale of vegetables and seed grain to the arriving settlers. In 1887 he removed to the farm he now occupies, which he took as a homestead. Rolla was soon afterward built, and in the fall of 1892 Mr. Hunt was elected county judge, in this capacity he served three terms. Much valuable work has been done by Mr. Hunt toward the development of the resources of the county. He erected a cheese factory in 1894, with a capacity of five thousand pounds of milk per day, and in this movement he has enlisted the interest of the farming community, to the great benefit and profit of the individuals, and the enterprise is increasing in favor. Mr. Hunt was married, in 1887, to Miss Martha Maloney, and to this union four children have been born, namely: Eva A., Harris. Wilfred and Ethel. They have a pleasant home surrounded by all the conveniences of modern farm life. Mr. Hunt can be classed as one of the actual pioneers of the region, and he recounts many of the early experiences with which he met. He recalls with a mixed degree of pleasure his "baching" days, the frying of "bannocks," and preparing of other dainty bachelor dishes. In February, 1887, he and one companion were coming from the mountains with wood, when they lost their way and wandered many hours before they again found the home trail. Source: Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota, Publ. 1900. Transcribed by Dena Whitesell A. L. NELSON, (Rolette), of the nineteenth legislative district, was born May 24. 1874. at Litchfield. Minn. Received his education in the Litchfield high school and at the Columbia university law school. Washington. D. C. Came to North Dakota in the fall of 1905. Was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1912, and was elected to his present position as a progressive republican. He is married. He has been a lawyer and publisher for the past eight years. [Source: North Dakota Blue Book, 1913 Legislative Manual, Published under the direction of Thomas Hall, Secretary of State, 1913. Submitted by Linda R.] W. A. SMALL, Mylo, of the nineteenth legislative district, was born at La Crosse, Wis., August 2, 1868, and received his education in the common schools of Minnesota and Fargo. Came to North Dakota March 9, 1881, and has been engaged in the business of farming for the past eighteen years. He is married and has three children. He was elected representative as a republican. [Source: North Dakota Blue Book, 1913 Legislative Manual, Published under the direction of Thomas Hall, Secretary of State, 1913. Submitted by Linda R.] HOME ©Genealogy Trails