The Sebeka Review, September 22, 1911
Colonel Askew Is Dead
Col. Joseph Askew died yesterday afternoon in a hospital at Fargo, N.N., of injuries received in a runaway last Saturday forenoon. Mr. Askew was driving home to his farm near Mapleton, N.D., when his team ran away and he was thrown from the rig, sustaining serious injuries. He was taken to the Fargo hospital where he died yesterday afternoon.
Col. Askew was one of Wadena county's pioneers and was closely identified with the county's early days. He conducted the hotel at Menahga from fifteen to twenty years ago and was also landlord of the Commercial Hotel at Wadena for several years, and was planning on buying back that hotel again when the unfortunate accident caused his death. His death will be deeply mourned by all of his old friends throughout the county. He was past 70 years of age.

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The Sebeka Review, September 29, 1911

The funeral of Colonel Joseph Askew was held at the Episcopal church in Wadena Sunday afternoon and was largely attended.
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Source: Compendium of History, and Biography of Northern Minnesota, 1902, George A Ogle & Co., page 320-323; submitted by Robin Line

Joseph Askew, justly termed the Father of Menahga, was until 1901 one of the most enterprising and consequently successful business men of that thriving town. He is now the proprietor of the Commercial Hotel, at Wadena, the best hotel of the town, and fitted with all modern conveniences. He is a pioneer of Wadena county, having spent a quarter of a century there, and is widely known and esteemed as a citizen of genuine worth.
Mr. Askew was born in the village of Swanton county of Cumberland, England, April 11, 1840. His father, Joseph Askew, was a contractor and bridge builder, having charge of the county bridges. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Ann Turner, was also of English birth and descent. Of a family of ten children, our subject was the sixth in order of birth. He grew to manhood in the village of Gosforth, Cumberland county, and attended the common schools of that locality. At the age of seventeen years Mr. Askew went to Scotland, where he worked on the Glasgow water works and assisted in laying the first pipes in the Dum-Barton water works system. He also visited Edinborough, where he saw the crown of Scotland, a guarded treasure, and other relics of Scottish history, and also visited other places of interest. He then went to Newcastle on Tyne, England, where he was employed on the water works and spent about one year in that part of England. He then went to London, where he was engaged several months on the sewerage system. From there he went to France and was there engaged in tunnel work on the railroad south of Paris for six months. After attaining his majority he began work in the iron mines of Frizington county Cumberland, England, deciding to make his home there, and was thus employed fourteen years, becoming very proficient in the work of the mines and for six years held the position of sinker and shaftman. He followed the mining business in England until 1875, and in the spring of that year came to America, landing at New York. He went direct to Wadena county, Minnesota, via Duluth, and entered a homestead claim to land in section 2, Wadena township, in the spring of 1875. He began farming on a brush prairie, without means, his small savings being exhausted during the summer of that year. He built a small lumber shanty, where he lived the first year, and during that season did little farming, and had to get all supplies to his home on his back. He then engaged in breaking land for himself and others, breaking about seventy-five acres annually for several years and spent his winters in the pineries until 1887. In the fall of 1876 he bought an interest in a threshing outfit and engaged in this business each season for twenty years. During those early days he endured many privations and hardships, finally developing a valuable estate, and remained on this tract of land until 1890, when he disposed of his farm and moved to Menahga, a new village in the northern part of Wadena county, on the line of the Great Northern Railroad. He built the Arlington Hotel, the first frame building in the town, and conducted the same with success. In the same year he bought another farm in Leaf River township, consisting of two hundred acres, in section 25, about half of which was under cultivation, and on which he built a complete set of farm buildings. Mr Askew established the first livery barn in Menahga, which business he still conducts with good success. During the early days there he engaged extensively in buying and selling horses and cattle. In the spring of 1901 he rented the Wadena House and changed the name to the Commercial Hotel. It is a large brick structure, situated in the business center of town, and there he is doing a very successful business. To whatever enterprise he has turned his attention he has met with unbounded success and is one of the truly self-made men of Wadena county. He can recount many interesting experiences and dangerous ones of his life as a pioneer in the wilderness of Minnesota, since first coming to the state.

Mr. Askew was married August 25, 1862, to Miss Jane Eilbeck. Mrs. Askew was born in Egermont county Cumberland, England, and her people were of English descent. Her father was a millwright by trade. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Askew: Elizabeth A., William H., Isabelle B., Henrietta, Samuel, Wilfred L., Samuel C., Fannie H., Charles H., Alice M., Jennie, Julia and Joseph. Mr. Askew has always taken a most hearty interest in public affairs of his community, and in 1886 was elected county commissioner and again in 1888, serving a year and a half, when he resigned the office on account of his change of residence. He has served as mayor of the village of Menahga for several terms, and took an active part in the organization of the village. He is also interested in school work and served in various school offices several years and was active in getting the public school system established in Menahga. He is an ardent worker for the principles of the Populist party, having been associated with the Farmer's Alliance. He was president of the County Alliance, and was county lecturer and organizer. He was the candidate of this party for state representative, and of the Populist party for state senator. No citizen is more widely known and respected and none have done more to develop and advance the interests and resources of Wadena county than Mr Askew. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and Ancient Order of United Workmen.