The Dodge Family Association

Albert Alonzo Dodge was born in Oswego County, New York, on August 19, 1845. At the age of six he moved with his family to Illinois.

At the outbreak of the Civil War he was only 16 years old, and his father thought him too young to enlist; however, young Dodge thought differently. The farm work was done for the season, so he enlisted in the 52nd Illinois Infantry, and served for the duration.

After the Civil War he headed west where he worked on the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, and spent some time in California. His experiences gave him occasion to learn the use of a revolver, with which he was probably more expert than any other man in this part of the country.

He returned to the parental home in Illinois and moved with the family to Waseca, Minnesota, in 1876. Mr. Dodge remained only a short while, moving in 1877 to Pipestone County where he filed a homestead on the northeast quarter of Section 28, Osborne township.

He married Mathilda E. Kruger in Lake Crystal, Minnesota, in 1879, and brought her and her son, Edward, to the home site where they lived until 1918. At that time they moved into town to rest from their many years of labor on the farm. Mr. Dodge died in 1925, his wife died in 1928. They were survived by four children: Ellen (Mrs. John A. Fay), Minnie (Mrs. J. L. Baldwin), Clara (Mrs. E. Jacobs) and William.