"History of Cottonwood and Watonwan Counties of Minnesota, 1916"



Scattered here and there among Minnesota's population are men and women who claim, with a degree of pride, as well they may, the state of Indiana as the place of their nativity, for the Hoosiers have always been noted for their good citizenship, being, as a rule, thrifty and intelligent. Of this number is Elmer E. Rank, farmer of Great Bend township, Cottonwood county. He was born near Rochester, Indiana, November 11, 1861. He is a son of Amos and Sarah H. (Meek) Rank, natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia, respectively, Each came with their parents, when young, to Indiana, in which state they rnet and married and continued to make their home until 1866, when they removed to Minnesota, locating in Rice county, the father buying land near Faribault, and there resided until 1869, when he sold out and in 1870 moved to Cottonwood county, and took up the homestead where his son, Elmer E. Rank, now resides. This place he reclaimed from the wild prairie. It consisted of eighty acres, to which he later added another eighty. Here he and his wife spent the rest of their lives, his death occurring in 1885, she surviving until 1914, reaching the advanced age of ninety years. Their family consisted of seven children, namely: John W., Catherine, Jennie, Elizabeth, Amos Minor (deceased), Samuel L. and Elmer E.

The subject of this sketch grew up on the home farm and assisted his father to improve the place on which buildings had to be erected, fences built and the wild growth on the fields subdued. He received his education in the district schools. He has remained on the homestead and is now owner of three hundred and twenty acres here, which he has placed under a high state of improvement and cultivation. He built one of the finest residences in the county in 1910, and everything about his place denotes thrift and good management. In connection with general farming he raises various kinds of live stock, especially hogs in large numbers, specializing in Poland-Chinas.

Mr. Rank was married on May 20, 1897, to Caroline Larson, who was born in Christiana, Norway, in 1869. She is a daughter of Segar and Inger Larson, natives of Norway, from which country they came to America in 1869, when their eldest child, Caroline, was four years old. Their other children were Lewis, John, Ludwig and Anna, who is now the wife of Carl Herg. The Larson family located in Walworth county, Wisconsin, near the town of Sharon, where they remained two years. In October, 1871, they removed to Weiner township, Jackson county, Minnesota, the father taking up a homestead there, where he spent the rest of his life; dying on October 27, 1910, his wife having preceded him to the grave on May 8, 1906.

Politically, Mr. Rank is a Republican. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and attends the Presbyterian church.