THE MINNESOTA 



HORTICULTURIST. 



VOL. 35. JUNE, 1907. No. 6. 



Xr^ JVTen^oriani. 



WILLIAM SOMERVILLE, 



ROCHESTER, MINN. 



Died October 21, 1906, aged 87 yrs. 



After ten years of suffering with a* fatal ailment, our friend 

 and brother passed away on Sabbath morning just at dawn, and 

 was at last at rest. He died at the home of his son, L. E. Somer- 

 ville, in Rochester. 



"William Somerville was born in Beaver county, '^a., in the 

 year 1819. He came with his parents to Ripley county, Ind., at six- 

 teen years of age, where he worked at the carpenter's trade for a 

 period of five years. He then bought forty acres of land in the tim- 

 ber and began clearing a farm, adding thereto from time to time 

 until he became the owner of 200 acres. His wife's health becoming 

 impaired, and a change of climate being deemed desirable and to 

 her advantage, he sold his farm and removed to Viola, Olmstead 

 county, Minnesota, in the spring of i860, purchasing two claims, 

 partly of smooth prairie and partly of grub land. In the spring 

 branch lay twenty apple trees that had been purchased the preceding 

 fall from Mr. A. W. Sias, who was then canvassing in that part of 

 the country for a New York nursery. He grubbed out the hazel 

 brush and set the trees, the varieties being Talmon Sweet, Golden 

 Russet, Wine Sap and one Duchess of Oldenburg. (The last 

 mentioned tree is still alive and in bearing condition.) Being re- 

 solved to grow fruit, if possible, he prepared the ground and in 

 1862 gave Mr. Sias an order for two hundred more trees, including 

 fifty of the Duchess. The latter were set in his orchard in the form 

 of a square, where they still stand in a healthy and thrifty condition. 

 The other varieties have long since disappeared. 



"In the winter of 1872-3, he was a member of the state legisla- 

 ture. In the years 1874 and 1875, he was employed by the Hon. L. 



