Mini Bios of People of Scots Descent
Biography of John Hyslop

In the legislative session of 1874, I. M. Westfall, of Rochester, anti-Monopolist, was a senator and the representatives were John Hyslop, of Marion township, anti-Monopolist; Charles T. Shellman, of Viola township, anti-Monopolist; Michael Dosdall, of Farmington, Democrat, and Frederick T. Olds, of Rochester, Democrat. John Hyslop was a native of Scotland. He immigrated to America in 1852 and in 1855 settled in Marion township, near Chester, and developed a valuable farm. He was again a representative in 1878. He died in 1897, at the age of sixty-seven years. He was a strong minded and forceful man.

The death of John Hyslop in 1897 marked the passing of one of Olmsted county's earliest pioneers. He was a Scot by nativity, his birth occurring September 9, 1829, in Lochratton, and he was the son of Robert Hyslop, a farmer of that country. He was educated in the public schools of his native country and there reared to early manhood, but at the age of twenty-one he decided that better chances for success could be had in America, and accordingly immigrated to this country. For a time after his arrival here he remained in New York and New Jersey, and then, in 1855, came West to the rough and unsettled fields of Minnesota, in search of home and fortune. He secured 160 acres of land from the government in Marion township, and from that time he resided in Olmsted county. About one year previous to Mr. Hyslop's advent in this country, the first settlement had been made, and as yet little had been done in the way of cultivation, but he possessed the sturdy disposition characteristic of the Scotch race, and went to work with a will, clearing, grubbing, and farming, and in time became one of the successful farmers and stock-raisers of the county. Gradually, as his means permitted, he added to his real estate holdings, until, with 320 acres in Dodge county, he became one of the largest landowners in southern Minnesota. On April 13, 1859, he was united in marriage with Miss Lucy F. Kelly, who was born in New Hampshire, November 3, 1840, the daughter of Joshua Kelly, a deceased pioneer family of Marion township, and to them a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters, were born, as follows: Robert; Mary, now Mrs. Dr. McKittrick, of Burlington, Iowa; John; Jeanette, wife of E. A. Erickson; Henry, deceased; James, deceased; Lucy. In his political views Mr. Hyslop was originally a Republican, later a Populist. He always took an active interest in public affairs, and served two terms as a member of the State Legislature. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, and when death halted his career at the age of sixty-eight years, he was greatly beloved and respected by his fellowmen. His memory will long linger in the hearts of his many friends and relatives.