| Not much is known about my grandfather before he came to the U.S. What is known is that he was a gentle, quiet man, who had a heart of gold. He worked in an underground iron mine just a short distance from his home in the Belgrade Location outside of Biwabik Minnesota. He also farmed to allow his family to survive. He and his family kept cows and had a horse to assist in the chores on the farm. I heard stories about the difficult times back in the early part of the 2oth Century. Matt was often sick because of working in the cold, damp mines. At one time, while the unions were trying to organize in the area, there was a strike. Most people left the worksite and stayed home. Someone from the mine stopped by his house and said that the strike was over. When he went back to work, he found that there were only a few workers who were tricked into going to work. Returning home, he found that his horse had been killed to punish him for crossing the picket line. The information about his parents and grandparents came from his birth and baptismal certificate. | 
