Yesterday I posted a photograph of Lelah (Lee) Ward Pease, of Redwood Falls, MN. I found this young man's photograph along with Lelah's portrait. He is identified on the back of the photo as "Fred Pease." It was taken at the C. S. Peck studio in Zumbrota, Minnesota. It's fairly easy to date the photo because, according to the Minnesota Historical Society's Directory of Minnesota Photographers, the studio was only in business from 1882-1883.
Fred looks like he is about 11 or 12 years old in the photograph. I recall from my Lelah and Edward Pease research, that there was a Fred S. Pease living with them in their Kintire home in 1895. I operated on the assumption that Fred was probably Edward's brother. I confirmed this with a search of the 1880 Census. I found Edward A. Peas, 17, with his younger brother Frederick, 9, living in Zumbrota, MN with their parents Columbus and Mary Peas, and youngest brother, Gilbert H. Peas, 5. Frederick was born in Missouri.
In 1870 the family lived in Breckinridge, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Frederick hasn't been born yet.
I don't find anything in the US records for this particular Frederick Pease after the 1910 US Federal Census, but I do pick him up in the 1916 Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, living in the Lethbridge district (Milk River) with his wife Anna, 40, and children, Fay, Lynn, Francis, Roy and Maxine. I consulted the local history book Milk River Country by Alice A. Campbell to find a four-page history on the Fred Pease family, which confirmed the above information. It also provides details into their lives in Minnesota, and Fred's journey to Canada, where he ran a successful farming operation. He was dubbed "The Mustard King of North America" in 1950 after producing a mustard crop unrivalled by any producer in the US or Canada at the time.
According to the write-up Fred Pease died August 17, 1951 in Milk River. He was survived by his wife, Anna Muetzel Pease.
I am the grand daughter of Frederick Pease. My mother was Maxine Pease Croteau. He was the mustard king in l950. He was also interested in Single Tax.
ReplyDelete