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Title: Fifty Years In The Northwest - With An Introduction And Appendix Containing Reminiscences, - Incidents And Notes
Author: Folsom, William Henry Carman
Language: English
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FIFTY YEARS IN THE NORTHWEST.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND APPENDIX
CONTAINING
REMINISCENCES, INCIDENTS AND NOTES.
BY W. H. C. FOLSOM.
EDITED BY S. E. EDWARDS.
PUBLISHED BY
PIONEER PRESS COMPANY.
1888.
TO THE OLD SETTLERS
OF
WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA,
WHO, AS PIONEERS, AMIDST PRIVATIONS AND TOIL NOT KNOWN TO THOSE OF
LATER GENERATION, LAID HERE THE FOUNDATIONS OF TWO GREAT
STATES, AND HAVE LIVED TO SEE THE RESULT OF THEIR
ARDUOUS LABORS IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE
WILDERNESS--DURING FIFTY YEARS--INTO A
FRUITFUL COUNTRY, IN THE BUILDING
OF GREAT CITIES, IN THE
ESTABLISHING OF ARTS
AND MANUFACTURES,
IN THE
CREATION OF COMMERCE
AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR, W. H. C. FOLSOM.
PREFACE.
At the age of nineteen years, I landed on the banks of the Upper
Mississippi, pitching my tent at Prairie du Chien, then (1836) a
military post known as Fort Crawford. I kept memoranda of my various
changes, and of many of the events transpiring. Subsequently, not,
however, with any intention of publishing them in book form until
1876, when, reflecting that fifty years spent amidst the early and
first white settlements, and continuing till the period of
civilization and prosperity, itemized by an observer and participant
in the stirring scenes and incidents depicted, might furnish material
for an interesting volume, valuable to those who should come after me,
I concluded to gather up the items and compile them in a convenient
form.
As a matter of interest to personal friends, and as also tending to
throw additional light upon my relation to the events here narrated, I
have prefixed an account of my own early life for the nineteen years
preceding my removal to the West, thus giving to the work a somewhat
autobiographical form. It may be claimed that a work thus written in
the form of a life history of a single individual, with observations
from his own personal standpoint, will be more connected, clear and
systematic in its narration of events than if it were written
impersonally.
The period included in these sketches is one of remarkable
transitions, and, reaching backward, in the liberty accorded to the
historian, to the time of the first explorations by the Jesuits, the
first English, French and American traders, is a period of
transformation and progress that has been paralleled only on the
shores of the New World. We have the transition from barbarism to
civilization; we have the subjugation of the wilderness by the first
settlers; the organization of territorial and state governments; an
era of progress from the rude habits of the pioneer and trapper, to
the culture and refinement of civilized states; from the wilderness,
yet unmapped, and traversed only by the hardy pioneer in birch barks
or dog sledges, to the cultivated fields, cobwebbed by railways and
streams furrowed by steamers. It is something to have witnessed a
part, even, of this wonderful transformation, and it is a privilege
and a pleasure to record, even in part, its history.
I have quoted from the most correct histories within my reach, but the
greater part of my work, or of that pertaining to the fifty years just
passed, has been written from personal observation and from
information obtained directly by interview with, or by written
communications from, persons identified in some way with the history
of the country. To those persons who have so freely and generously
assisted me in the collection of material for this work, I hereby
express my thanks. I have relied sparingly on traditions, and, where I
have used them, have referred to them as such.
INTRODUCTION.
While genealogical tables are of interest chiefly to the families and
individuals whose names are therein preserved, I still deem it not
amiss to insert here a brief account of my ancestry. Among the
emigrants from England to the New World in 1638, came John Foulsham,
then twenty-three or twenty-four years of age, and his wife, to whom
he had been married about a year and a half. They came from Hingham,
England, to Hingham, Mass., with a colony that probably named the
settlement in loving remembrance of the town they had left. They came
on account of certain ecclesiastical troubles; their rector, with whom
they sympathized, having torn down the altar rails and leveled the
altar, an act of irreverence that called down upon them the wrath of
their superior, Bishop Wren, and resulted in rector and people selling
out their real estate at half its value and emigrating to America.
John received a grant of land consisting of four acres and built
himself a house, the frame being constructed of sawed oak timber. This
house, built in 1640, stood until 1875, two hundred and thirty-five
years, when it was taken down and manufactured into canes and chairs,
which were distributed as relics to the American descendants of the
family. The family, however, had increased so greatly that the supply
was not equal to the demand.
The wife of John Foulsham was Mary Gilman. From this couple the
American Folsoms and their allies from marriages with the female
descendants of the family have sprung. The ancestors of John Foulsham
may be traced backward a period of near six hundred years, and many of
the family have honorable mention in English history. The earliest
mention is concerning John Foulsham of Foulsham, prior of a Carmelite
monastery in Norwich, and "præses provincialis" of all England. This
Foulsham is spoken of in Bayle's catalogue of eminent worthies as "no
mean proficient in controversial theology, knowing how, by means of
syllogystic tricks, to turn white into black and men into donkeys." He
died in the great plague at Norwich in 1348.
A certain John de Foulsham is spoken of in Blomefield's History of
Norfolk as an "eloquent, unflinching opponent of the corruptions of
the times." It is possible that this may be the Carmelite prior above
mentioned, though the prefix _de_ leaves the matter somewhat in doubt.
As to the original derivation of the family name, Hon. George Folsom,
of Philadelphia, in one of the manuscripts left by him, says: "It
arose upon the adoption of surnames in England, from the town of
Foulsham, a village in the county of Norfolk, six or eight miles north
of Hingham, in which county the family was seated for many centuries,
possessing estates in fifteen different places." Thus John de, or John
of Foulsham, became John Foulsham.
The orthography and pronunciation of the name have varied in the
family itself, as well as among those writing and pronouncing it. The
first Anglo-American bearing the name spelled it "Foulsham." His son,
Deacon John, spelled it "Fullsam" in 1709, and it is signed "Foullsam"
in his last will--1715. In one instance, in the Hingham town records,
it is spelled "Fulsham," but always afterward, "Foulsham." In the
Exeter records it is written uniformly "Folsom" with but one
exception, when it is written by the town clerk "Foulshame." In the
records of the first parish, Haverhill, Massachusetts, it is written
"Foulsham," "Foulsam," "Folsham" and "Fulsom." Originally it was
doubtless spelled "Foulshame," its etymological significance being the
_fowls' home_, a breeding place or mart. It was probably at first
written with a hyphen, as Fouls-hame, but the final syllable was
eventually shortened. Everywhere it is now written _Folsom_ by those
having the name, and is pronounced like _wholesome_.
The characteristics of the family have been quite uniform. Far as
known they were a religious family, and prominent as such in both
Catholic and Protestant circles, with a strong disposition toward
dissent from the established order of things. Thus John de Foulsham
wrote a treatise quite at variance with the doctrines of the church,
advocating the marriage of priests. John Foulsham, the Anglo-American,
left England on account of his dissent, preferring a home in the
wilderness with freedom to worship God, to dwelling under the rule of
a haughty and tyrannical bishop. Many of the family espoused the
doctrines of Whitfield. Many of them became Baptists, becoming such at
a time when the Baptists were most unpopular, and afterward becoming
Free Will Baptists, in which communion more of the family may to-day
be found than in any other.
The occupations of the family were mostly, in the early days,
mechanical. Many were joiners and millwrights. The children and
grandchildren were farmers, landholders and lumbermen. Of the many who
removed to Maine, after the Revolution, most engaged in lumbering, but
turned their attention also to milling and storekeeping.
The family have also shown a military tendency, and during the various
wars visited upon the country since the early colonial times, this
family has borne its full share of the dangers, toils and expense.
My father, Jeremiah Folsom, was born in Tamworth, New Hampshire, Sept.
16, 1780, and was married to Octavia Howe, April 5, 1805. My mother
was born in Machias, Maine, Oct. 12, 1786. My father was a prominent
business man, and was engaged in shipping and mercantile pursuits, he
owning vessels that plied from St. Johns to Machias and other American
ports. To facilitate his business, St. Johns was his home four years,
during which time he was associated with William Henry Carman. This
temporary residence and business association account for my being born
on British soil, and for the names by which I was christened.
According to the record in the old family Bible, I was born at St.
Johns, New Brunswick, June 22, 1817. When I was six months old my
parents moved to Bangor, Maine, thence to Foxcroft, Maine, thence to
Ascot, Lower Canada.
When I was five years old my parents moved to Tamworth, New Hampshire.
Young as I was, I am still able to recall events that occurred while I
lived in Canada. I remember falling into a well and being badly
bruised. I remember also an adventure with a bear. My parents had gone
to church, leaving me at home, greatly against my will. I attempted to
follow, but missed the road and wandered off into a wood, perhaps
three miles away. When my parents returned they were much alarmed,
and parties immediately went in pursuit. When I knew I was lost I set
up a vigorous screaming, which had the effect of attracting attention
from two very different parties. The first was a huge bear in quest of
food, and doubtless delighted at the prospect before him. The second
was one of the rescuing parties in quest of the lost boy. Both
simultaneously approached the screaming youngster and Bruin fought
stubbornly for his prey, but was vanquished by the clubs of my
rescuers, and I was carried home in triumph. I do not clearly recall
all the incidents of this scene, and, strangely enough, do not
remember seeing the bear. Perhaps the terror of being lost drove out
every other impression. An excuse for the narration of this apparently
trifling incident may be found in the fact that but for the prompt
arrival of the rescuing party, this history would never have been
written.
When I was ten years of age my parents removed to Bloomfield, Maine.
While in Tamworth I had excellent opportunities of attending school,
which I improved to the utmost. After leaving Tamworth my school
privileges were well nigh ended, as I never received from that time
more than six months' schooling. My father followed lumbering on the
Kennebec river. During the first winter in Maine, he took me to the
logging camp as camp boy. During the second winter he hired me to
Matthew and Lewis Dunbar as a cook for their wood camp. I cooked for
six men and received five dollars a month. I was used very kindly by
the Dunbars, but that winter in the woods seemed a long, long winter.
The only book in camp was the Bible. There were, however, newspapers
and playing cards. In the spring my father used the fifteen dollars
received for my three months' work to purchase a cow. I served the
Dunbars the third winter, as cook, for six dollars a month, and worked
the ensuing summer on farms at about twenty-five cents per day. During
the fourth winter I worked for the Dunbars and Timothy Snow at seven
dollars per month, and the summer following worked on a farm for
Benjamin Cayford at seven dollars. Cayford was a merciless tyrant, and
sometimes compelled his men to work in the field till nine o'clock at
night. These details of wages paid and work done, uninteresting in
themselves, serve to show the value of a boy's work (I was not yet
fifteen) and what was expected of the average boy, for mine was no
exceptional case nor was my father more exacting than others in his
station in life. He was in poor health, and had a large family of
boys. We were eight in number, and of these I was one of the most
robust and able to assist in the support of the family.
This year I persuaded my father to sell me my time, which amounted to
five years, which he reluctantly did, accepting two hundred and fifty
dollars as an equivalent. It was my ambition to go West. Horace
Greeley had not uttered the talismanic words, "Go West, young man,"
but I believed that by going West I would be better able to advance my
own interests and assist my parents. My father signed the necessary
paper relinquishing my time, which was printed in the Skowhegan
_Clarion_. From this time until I was nineteen years old I worked on
the river and on farms, worked continuously and beyond my strength. I
worked another summer for Cayford, but have no pleasant recollections
of him, for on his farm I was sadly overworked, being often called to
work before sunrise and kept at work after sunset. I worked two
winters cooking in the woods for Capt. Asa Steward, of Bloomfield, one
of the best men I ever served, a kind hearted, honest Christian. He
gave me good counsel and good wages besides. In the fall of 1835 I
went into the woods to work for Capt. Eb. Snow, of Madison. Like
Cayford, he was a merciless tyrant and abusive to his men. I left his
camp before my engagement closed, not being able to endure his abuse
longer. This is the only time in which I failed to keep a labor
engagement. I finished the winter with Capt. Asa Steward, but my eyes
became so inflamed from the smoke of the camp that I was obliged to
abandon cooking.
During this winter occurred an incident that came near having a
serious and even fatal termination. There were three of us, Simeon
Goodrich, Jimmie Able and myself, who went down the Kennebec to the
Forks, a distance of twelve miles from camp. A deep, damp snow had
fallen the night previous, and through this snow, reaching above our
knees, we trudged wearily till Able gave out. We carried him a short
distance, but becoming exhausted ourselves, laid him down in the snow.
To remain with him would be to imperil the lives of all; by hurrying
on we might be able to send a party to bring him in. We carefully
made for him a bed of fir boughs and placed loose garments over him
and under him, and as he was sick, weak and faint, gave him a draught
of liquid opodeldoc, and leaving the bottle with him, hurried on. We
traveled the last mile through an opening. Snow drifted deeply. We
dragged our bodies through the drifts in the direction of a glimmering
light, which proved to be Sturgis' hotel, which we reached at 11
o'clock P. M. A team was sent back immediately for the lost Able by a
road of which we knew nothing. The rescuing party met him trudging
along with all his baggage. The opodeldoc had revived him, and he had
traveled a full mile when he met the rescuing party. At two o'clock
the team returned bringing the lost wayfarer.
Another adventure terminated more disastrously than this. In the
spring of 1835 I was employed in taking logs across Moosehead lake.
The logs were in booms, and were moved by a capstan and rope. This was
before the days of steamboats, and the moving of the booms was no
light task. On this occasion a gale of wind struck us and drifted us
across the lake. We threw out an anchor, hoping to check the course of
the boom and swing it into Cowan's bay. In one of our throws the
anchor tripped, or caught fast, and suddenly tightened the line. Our
whole crew were in an instant hurled headlong. Some were thrown into
the water. One man (Butler) had his ribs broken. All were more or less
injured. The capstan went overboard. The old boom swung on and on,
and, passing Spencer's bay, broke and went to pieces on the shore. The
logs were with great difficulty regathered, but were finally brought
to the outlet of the lake July 4th, the last raft of the season.
After river driving in the spring of 1835, I went to the Penobscot
river and found employment at twenty dollars a month at East Great
Works, building a dam. John Mills, our superintendent, was a good man.
There was a lyceum here, the first I ever attended. In December I
returned to the Kennebec, and in the spring of 1836 went to Dead river
to drive, but an attack of the measles and general ill health, with
symptoms of pulmonary derangement, compelled me to abandon the work. I
had lived nine years on the Kennebec, years of hard labor and exertion
beyond my strength, and in that time had earned enough to pay my
father two hundred and fifty dollars. I had been able to purchase a
small library, and had two hundred dollars in cash to defray my
expenses to the West.
REMINISCENCES.--He that leaves the home of his youth for a strange
land carries with him memories, pleasant to recall, of scenes and
incidents, the influence of which he feels to the latest hour of life.
There are some things he can not forget. They may not be an essential
part of his own life history, but still they have found a place in his
mind and seem a part of himself, and he recurs to them again and again
with ever increasing delight. There are other things, may be, not so
pleasant to dwell upon, which still have a place in his memory and may
be profitably recalled. No one who has ever lived in Maine can forget
its dark pine forests, its rugged hills, its rushing streams, cold and
clear as crystal, its broad lakes, the abundant game of its forests
and the fish in its waters. The Minnesota and Wisconsin pioneers, who
with the author of this book claim Maine as an early home, will not
object to the insertion in this chapter of a few of these
reminiscences.
MOOSEHEAD LAKE.--My first visit to Moosehead lake was in the early
winter of 1834. At that time it was still in the wilderness, only two
settlers having found their way to its shores. We were going with a
six ox team to a camp on the Brasua and our road led us across the
frozen lake. Emerging from a beech and maple grove on the margin near
Haskell's, our sled plunged downward, and in a moment we found
ourselves on the gray ice of the lake, with a wonderful panorama
spread out before us. The distant islands and the shores, hilly and
mountainous, stood out plainly between the winter sky and the ice
covered lake. The mirage added its finishing touches to the picture,
increasing the brightness and apparent size of distant objects, or
lending them brilliant hues, the whole scene sparkling in the frosty
sunlit air, making a vision of beauty that could not fade. On we
trudged over the ice, the sled creaking, the ice emitting a roaring
sound, not unlike the discharge of a park of artillery, sounds
produced by the expansion of the ice. We trudged on past islands and
craggy, rock-bound shores, passed Burnt Jacket, Squaw and Moxey
mountains in the east, Lily and Spencer bays at the southeast, Misery
and other mountains in the west, while far away to the north of east
towered white old Katahdin. Before us loomed up the flint rock Kinneo,
its perpendicular face fronting west, on the lake; at the base a
beautiful maple interval extending toward Spencer bay.
The following spring our boom lay wind-bound at the base of Kinneo,
and we seized the opportunity of climbing the vast pile of flinty
rocks composing it, and obtained thence a view of unparalleled beauty,
including the broad, bright lake, fairy islands, mountains and hills
and vast stretches of pine forests. The tourist might seek far and
wide, vainly, for a landscape rivaling this.
MOOSE HUNTING.--The lake and surrounding country offer unrivaled
attractions to the sportsman. The lake abounds in fish, of which the
lake trout is the most abundant in number and delicious in flavor.
Specimens are frequently taken weighing from ten to fifteen pounds.
The forests at that time abounded in wild animals, chief of which was
the moose, the largest and the homeliest of the deer family. With his
long, narrow head, small eyes, donkey-like ears, pendant lips, the
upper one curling like a small proboscis, with his high shoulders and
giraffe-like hips, with his short, round body, long and clumsy legs,
he is as distinguished for his want of grace and comeliness as the red
deer is for its presence. No animal is better adapted for its own home
and mode of life. Their heavy coat of hair adapts them to high
latitudes. With their curved upper lip they take hold of the branches
of the trees, and with their strong teeth and paws they are able to
peel off the tender bark of saplings and small trees. The moose, when
attacked, is fierce, resolute, defiant, and defends himself in a
masterly manner, striking with his fore legs with such precision that
the hunter is obliged to keep at a respectful distance. The male moose
wears a remarkable pair of horns of annual growth, to which each year
a prong is added. The home of the moose is the northern part of the
North Temperate Zone.
Moose hunting is a healthy though laborious pastime. The hunter must
be an expert, and it requires years of practice to become skillful. He
must build his camp in the wilderness, packing thither his food,
blankets, camp utensils and gun. With his pack of dogs he starts out
in search of a moose yard. This is generally in some well timbered
district. The snow in winter is generally from three to six feet deep,
but the moose has broken paths through this to facilitate his
movements through the forest, and here he roams about in fancied
security, browsing on the young shrubs, but the hunter finds his
hiding place. In such case he conceals himself in the snow near one of
these paths and waits patiently till the moose passes, when he fires
upon him. If the moose is killed at once the hunter waits patiently in
his hiding place till another and another comes up to share a like
fate. If the moose is only wounded he starts off as rapidly through
the snow as his long legs will carry him, pursued by the hunter and
his dogs. The hunter has all the advantages of the position, being
mounted on snowshoes, thus being able to move with comparative
swiftness, while the moose plunges heavily through the snow, and at
last, weakened by loss of blood, he is overtaken and easily killed.
MOUNT BIGELOW.--This is a noble, grand, historical mountain, situated
on the south side of Dead river, in Franklin county. For years it had
been my strong desire to make the ascent, and in May, 1833, the desire
was gratified. With six others, I left camp, and by evening reached
Green's hotel, where we obtained lodgings for the evening. At early
dawn, having supplied ourselves with lunch, tin cup and hatchet, we
began the ascent on the northeast side. We soon passed the thrifty
timber and aided our ascent of the craggy sides of the mountain by
clinging to the shrubs that found roothold in the crevices of the
rocks. It may not be amiss to say that we rested, that we rested
frequently, for mountain climbing is no light work for those
unaccustomed to it. While toiling wearily upward we found ourselves
enveloped in mist, or a cloud, from which we soon emerged to find the
heavens above us clear and bright, while leaden clouds shut out the
landscape below. At twelve o'clock, noon, we were on the summit. By
this time the clouds had been dispersed. The air was clear and cold
and beneath us lay, as in a beautiful panorama, the lands and lakes of
Maine. There are two peaks, about half a mile apart, between which is
a valley and a small lake. From the highest of these peaks the view
was magnificent. In the far north we imagined we saw Canada. The vast,
northern expanse was all unoccupied save by a few farms at the foot of
the mountain, and by a few camps of lumbermen, hunters and trappers.
Looking to the northeast, we saw in the blue distance, glittering with
snow drifts, Mount Katahdin. A little north of the divide line to
Katahdin lay Moosehead lake, the largest, most beautiful lake in
Maine.
At this season of the year the snow had disappeared from the valleys
and hills, but the summits of the mountains were still white. In all
directions the scene was grand and inspiring. We could trace the
Kennebec river in its windings to the sea and fancied we could see in
the dim distance the blue Atlantic. To the southwest mountains seemed
piled on mountains, while here and there in intermediate vales bright
lakes reflected the blue of the upper deep. In this direction there
were farms, but they looked like mere dots on the face of the earth.
Lake Umbagog lay coiled in the shade of distant mountains in the
southwest. We fancied that we could see the ragged crest of the white
mountain still further beyond. The scene had also its historical
associations. Along the base of this mountain, on the northwestern
side, ere his name had been sullied by the foulest treason in our
country's history, Benedict Arnold bravely led the Colonial troops in
the campaign against Canada. With him, as an aid, was Col. Bigelow,
whose name is given to the mountain. The gallant little army halted on
the banks of Dead river at the base of the mountain, and made their
camp. While the army was resting at this camp Lieut. Col. Bigelow
ascended the mountain and planted his country's flag upon the highest
peak, doubtless the first white man who made the ascent, and the
mountain is his monument to-day. Around the site of the camp was
planted the colony of Flagstaff.
While we were gazing on the magnificent scene, musing upon its varied
beauties and recalling its historical associations, the sun set, and
reluctantly we set out on our return, a descent the more perilous
because it was growing dark. Extreme caution was necessary;
nevertheless we made good headway, as we found ourselves sometimes
sliding and even rolling down the path that we had ascended with so
much difficulty in the forenoon. It was long after nightfall that,
tired and hungry, we reached Wyman's hotel on the banks of Dead river.
LUMBERING IN MAINE.--The practical lumberman did not usually start his
teams for the pineries until snowfall and the freezing of the lakes
and rivers. The first thing was to select a place for operations. This
was done in the open season. When the winter had fairly set in the
lumberman, with his ox teams, generally six oxen to a sled, the sleds
laden with camp plunder, would start for the pineries. The slow ox
teams would consume many days making the journey. The crew of men
employed for the winter generally met the teams in camp. The snow
would be cleared away for the camp, and a fire built. The cook would
prepare a supper of fried pork, fritters or pancakes, tea, syrup and
New England apple sauce, the crew meanwhile cutting boughs, wood,
etc., and preparing for permanent camp. Supper over, the cattle were
tied to trees and fed. Water was secured for evening use only. A
glowing fire would be kept up, around which the crew would gather to
spend the evening in talking over the adventures of the day,
discussing plans for the morrow or singing camp songs. Thus the
evening would pass merrily and swiftly. At the hour for retiring
parties of two would spread their blankets on a couch of fir or cedar
boughs, and lie down to rest. Next morning the cook would rise at four
o'clock to prepare breakfast, which over, as soon as it was light
enough the crew would commence the work of the day. Every man goes to
his assigned duties, the _boss_ in charge having the general
oversight.
The life of a lumberman is one of exposure to the elements, yet it is
not necessarily unfriendly to the development of character. With a
well ordered camp and gentlemanly crew the winter may pass away
pleasantly, and the young man engaged in the comparatively hard toil
of the camp, may, with books and papers and cheerful converse with the
more thoughtful of his elders, improve the long evenings spent around
the camp fire. Many a Maine boy has received here the greater part of
his training for the duties of after life.
Sunday was usually occupied in reading, singing, and doing some of the
lighter work of camp, such as repairing sleds, shoeing oxen and making
axe helves or visiting neighboring camps. It was a day of rest only so
far as the heavier work of the camp was suspended. Sanctuary
privileges there were none. The work would often close in the sunny
days of March. The men would mostly depart for home. A few would
remain to drive the logs with the first water from the melting of the
snows late in April.
Driving logs in the rapid waters of Maine is hazardous work. Scarcely
a day passes without imminent risk to life and limb of the hardy and
venturesome men engaged in the work of breaking log landings and jams,
and running boats. Men are exposed to wet and cold from dawn till
dark. This work requires active and vigorous men, constitutionally
fitted and carefully trained to the work. They are usually sociable,
lively and wide awake, these qualities enabling them to endure, and
even to enjoy, the life of hardship which they lead, and to which they
become so accustomed that they are unwilling to leave it until worn
out by its inevitable hardship.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
W. H. C. Folsom Frontispiece
James S. Anderson opp 55
Martin Mower 60
John McKusick opp 68
Edward White Durant 74
William M. Blanding 114
Reuben F. Little 121
Oliver Wendell Holmes Hospital 157
John Comstock opp 170
Hans B. Warner opp 207
Rev. Wm. T. Boutwell 273
Devil's Chair 301
Frank N. Peterson 320
Rev. E. E. Edwards 348
Smith Ellison 351
Isaac Staples opp 413
Jacob Bean 416
Louis Hospes 418
Fort Snelling 498
William D. Washburn opp 517
John S. Pillsbury opp 528
St. Anthony Falls 531
Birdseye View of St. Paul opp 536
Henry H. Sibley opp 553
Alex. Ramsey opp 555
Henry M. Rice opp 558
Edmund Rice opp 560
Wm. Rainey Marshall opp 568
Wm. H. Fisher 571
John B. Sanborn opp 577
H. P. Hall 589
Hon. G. W. Le Duc 594
Lucius F. Hubbard opp 597
Home of the Author 614
State Seal 658
Seal of Old Settlers Association 732
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
Genealogy of the American Folsoms VII
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.
Parentage IX
Time and Place of Birth IX
Earliest Recollections IX
Removal to Bloomfield, Maine X
First Essay at Logging X
Commencing Life XI
Lost in the Snow XI
Adventure on Moosehead Lake XII
On the Penobscot XII
Reminiscences of Maine XIII
Moosehead Lake XIII
Ascent of Kinneo Mountain XIV
Moose Hunting XIV
Mount Bigelow XV
Lumbering in Maine XVI
CHAPTER I.
GOING WEST. 1
Lakes Huron and Michigan 3
Chicago and Milwaukee 5
On Foot to Galena 6
The Northwestern Territory 7
Arrival at Dubuque 7
Reminiscences of Dubuque 8
Arrival at Prairie du Chien 9
Early History of Prairie du Chien 9
Ancient Document 10
Forts Shelby--McKay--Crawford 11
First Commissioners at Prairie du Chien 11
Organization of Crawford County 12
Indian Troubles 12
Running the Gauntlet 13
Fort Crawford Robbed 13
Early Justice 14
A Southward Journey 15
New Orleans, Vicksburg 15
Return to Prairie du Chien 16
Privations 16
A Perilous Journey 17
Return to Maine--Mountains of New Hampshire 17
Marriage 18
Prairie du Chien in 1837 18
American Residents 19
BIOGRAPHIES.
James Duane Doty 19
James H. Lockwood 20
Indian Troubles 21
John S. Lockwood 22
Samuel Gilbert 23
Michael Brisbois 23
Pierre La Point 24
Joseph Rolette 24
Hercules Dousman 24
Rev. David Lowry 25
Chief Justice Charles Dunn 25
Rev. Alfred Brunson 26
Ira Brunson 27
John H. Folsom 28
Ezekiel Tainter 28
Judge Wyram Knowlton 29
Robert Lester 29
Thomas Pendleton Burnett 30
General Henry Dodge 30
General George W. Jones 31
S. G. and S. L. Tainter, John Thomas 31
CHAPTER II.
STILLWATER AND ST. CROIX COUNTY.
From Prairie du Chien to Stillwater 32
Stillwater in 1845 33
St. Croix County 33
First Settlement in 1838 34
Dismemberment of St. Croix Valley from Crawford County 34
Judge Irwin's Court in 1840 35
Events in 1840, First Commissioners' Meeting 35
Election Precincts in 1841 36
Early History of Stillwater 37
The First Saw Mill 37
Copy of Agreement of Mill Company 38
Agreement of Land Claims 40
Bateau Voyage up the St. Croix 41
Indian Drunks 42
Skiff Voyage to Prairie du Chien 42
Mail Carrying 43
Claim and Mill at Arcola 43
Stillwater in 1846, Events 44
Overland Trip to Prairie du Chien 44
Return, Adventure 45
A Pioneer Cat 45
Stillwater in 1847 46
Territorial Election 46
Arrest of Nodin and Ne-she-ke-o-ge-ma 46
Visit to Sunrise, Connor's Camp 47
Murder of Henry Rust 47
Funeral, Indignation Meeting 48
First District Court in Stillwater 48
Nodin and Ne-she-ke-o-ge-ma Acquitted 49
Steamer War Eagle and Raft 49
Society Ball in Stillwater 49
Stillwater in 1848 50
CHAPTER III.
BIOGRAPHIES.
Joseph Renshaw Brown 52
Paul Carli 53
Dr. Christopher Carli 53
Lydia Ann Carli 54
Phineas Lawrence 54
Jacob Fisher 55
James S. Anderson 55
Emanuel D. Farmer 56
Col. John Greely 56
Mrs. Hannah Greely 57
Elam Greely 57
Himan Greely 57
Aquilla Greely 58
Elias McKean 58
Calvin F. Leach 58
Socrates Nelson 58
Mrs. Socrates Nelson 59
Edward Blake 59
Walter R Vail 59
John E Mower 60
Martin Mower 61
William Willim 61
Albert Harris 61
Cornelius Lyman 62
David B Loomis 62
William E Cove 63
John Smith 63
John Morgan 63
Anson Northrup 63
Robert Kennedy 64
Harvey Wilson 65
Andrew Jackson Short 65
James D McComb 65
William Rutherford 66
Albion Masterman 66
Joseph N Masterman 66
Mahlon Black 66
Morton S Wilkinson 67
William Stanchfield 67
Thomas Ramsdell 68
Charles Macey 68
Jonathan E McKusick 68
John McKusick 68
William McKusick 69
Noah McKusick 69
Royal McKusick 69
Ivory E McKusick 69
Charles E Leonard 69
Daniel McLean 70
Robert Simpson 70
William H Hooper 70
James H Spencer 71
John T Blackburn 71
Joseph T Blackburn 71
Horace McKinstry 71
Seth M Sawyer 71
Henry Sawyer 72
Alvah D Heaton 72
John McKenzie 72
George McKenzie 72
Henry Kattenberg 72
Julius F Brunswick 73
Henry McLean 73
Hugh Burns 73
Sylvanus Trask 73
Ariel Eldridge 73
Edward White Durant 74
Oliver Parsons 75
Albert Stimson 75
Abraham Van Voorhees 75
Michael E Owens 76
Joseph Bonin 77
Marcel Gagnon 77
Sebastian Marty 77
John Marty 77
Adam Marty 77
Michael McHale 77
George Watson 78
Rev Eleazer A Greenleaf 78
J B Covey 78
John Shaesby 78
John S Proctor 78
Barron Proctor 79
Henry Westing 79
Thomas Dunn 79
Charles J Gardiner 79
Samuel Staples 79
Josiah Staples 80
Joel M Darling 80
Early River Pilots 80
Joe Perro 80
James McPhail 80
John Cormack 81
John Hanford 81
John Leach 81
Stephen B Hanks 81
Samuel S Hanks 81
CHAPTER IV
POLK COUNTY
Description and History 82
Franklin Steele, the First Pioneer 82
His Account of the Settlement 83
The St Croix Falls Lumbering Company 83
Organization and History 83
St Croix River, Origin of Name 84
Treaty and Purchase of 1838 85
History of Polk County 85
County Seat located at St. Croix Falls 86
First Election County Officers 86
First Happenings 87
The Liquor Traffic 87
Melancholy Results 88
Death of Hall and Livingston 88
Indian "Jamboree." 88
Frontier Justice 89
Balsam Lake Murders 89
Execution of an Indian 89
Population of St. Croix Falls in 1848 90
Natural Language 90
Drowning of H. H. Perkins 90
A Quailtown Murder 90
Mineral Permits 91
Marriage under Difficulties 91
An Indian Scare 92
The First Fire Canoe 92
Mill Building 92
More Indian Murders 93
Indian Battle of Stillwater 96
The First Loggers 96
The First Rafting 97
An Indian Payment 98
Indian Dancing and Theft 99
Other Thefts 99
Hard Times 100
Puzzled Indians, "Ugh! Ugh!" 101
Mrs. Worth and Muckatice 101
CHAPTER V.
POLK COUNTY--CONTINUED.
BIOGRAPHIES.
Gov. William Holcombe 103
William S. Hungerford 104
Caleb Cushing 104
Judge Henry D. Barron 105
George W. Brownell 107
Col. Robert C. Murphy 108
Edward Worth 109
Mrs. Mary C. Worth 109
Maurice M. Samuels 109
Joseph B. Churchill 110
John McLean 110
Gilman Jewell 110
Elisha Creech 110
James W. McGlothlin 110
Andrew L. Tuttle 110
John Weymouth 111
B. W. Reynolds 111
Augustus Gaylord 111
James D. Reymert 111
William J. Vincent 112
Thompson Brothers 112
William Amery 112
Lewis Barlow 113
Levi W. Stratton 113
Elma M. Blanding 113
Blanding Family 113
Frederick G. Bartlett 114
Michael Field 115
Alden 115
Rev. A. B. Peabody 115
V. M. Babcock 117
Apple River 117
Balsam Lake 117
Beaver 118
Black Brook 118
Clam Falls 119
Daniel F. Smith 119
Clayton 120
Reuben F. Little 120
Clear Lake 122
Pineville 123
Frank M. Nye 123
Eureka 123
Charles Nevers 123
Farmington 124
Harmon Crandall 125
Samuel Wall 125
William Ramsey 125
Hiram R. Nason 126
Joel F. Nason 126
John McAdams 126
Charles Tea 126
Garfield 126
Georgetown 127
A Double Murder 127
George P. Anderson 128
Laketown 128
Lincoln 128
William Wilson 129
Loraine 129
William W. Gallespie 130
Luck 130
William H. Foster 130
Milltown 130
Patrick Lillis 131
Osceola 131
Scenery 132
First Happenings 132
Change of Name 133
Osceola Village 134
Daniel Mears 134
Nelson McCarty 134
William O. Mahony 135
Richard Arnold 135
William Kent, Sr. 135
Robert Kent 135
Andrew Kent 135
William, James, Thomas, and John Kent 136
Samuel Close 136
Ebenezer Ayres 136
Dr. Carmi P. Garlick 137
John S. Godfrey 137
William A. Talboys 137
Charles H. Staples 138
J. W. Peake 138
George Wilson 138
Samuel B. Dresser 138
Frederic A. Dresser 139
Oscar A. Clark 139
Oscar F. Knapp 139
Mrs. Elisabeth B. Hayes 140
Cyrus G. Bradley 140
W. Hale 141
Edgar C. Treadwell 141
St. Croix Falls 141
St. Croix Falls Village 141
West Sweden 142
Sterling 142
Dr. Samuel Deneen 143
William W. Trimmer 143
Arnold Densmore 143
CHAPTER VI.
ST. CROIX COUNTY.
Organization, 1840 144
Division, 1848 144
County Seat Located at Buena Vista 145
First Election 145
Division of the County, 1853 146
Present Limits 146
General Description 146
Monument Rock 147
Towns and Date of Organization 148
St. Croix County Agricultural Society 148
Pomona Grange 148
Agricultural Statistics 148
Manufactures 149
St. Croix Poor Farm 149
First Tax Roll of County, 1848 149
Hudson City 152
Original Claimants 153
First Survey, etc. 153
First Deed Recorded 154
City Government 155
Mayors of the City 155
City Schools 155
Military Institute 156
Mills and Manufactories 156
Banks 156
Oliver Wendell Holmes Hospital 157
Water Works 158
Hotels, the Great Fire, 1866 158
Social and Benevolent Organizations 159
BIOGRAPHIES.
Louis Massey 159
Peter Bouchea 160
William Steets 160
Capt. John B. Page 160
Dr. Philip Aldrich 160
The Nobles Family 161
James Purinton 161
Ammah Andrews 162
James Walstow 162
James Sanders 162
J. W. Stone 162
Joseph Bowron 163
Moses Perin 163
John O. Henning 163
Moses S. Gibson 164
Col. James Hughes 164
Daniel Anderson 165
Alfred Day 165
Dr. Otis Hoyt 165
S. S. N. Fuller 166
Miles H. Van Meter 166
Philip B. Jewell 166
John Tobin 166
Horace A. Taylor 167
Jeremiah Whaley 167
Simon Hunt 167
John S. Moffatt 167
James H. Childs 168
William Dwelley 168
James M. Fulton 168
Marcus A. Fulton 168
David C. Fulton 168
N. S. Holden 168
William H. Semmes 169
Sterling Jones 169
D. R. Bailey 169
Henry C. Baker 169
Mert Herrick 169
D. A. Baldwin 170
John Comstock 170
Lucius P. Wetherby 170
John C. Spooner 170
Thomas Porter 171
Herman L. Humphrey 171
Theodore Cogswell 172
Frank P. Catlin 172
Charles Y. Denniston 173
A. E. Jefferson 173
Samuel C. Symonds 173
John E. Glover 173
Lemuel North 173
Edgar Nye 173
William T. Price 173
E. B. Bundy 174
TOWNS AND BIOGRAPHIES.
Baldwin 174
Baldwin Village 174
Woodville Village 175
Cady 175
Cylon 175
Eau Galle 176
Emerald 176
Erin Prairie 176
Forest 177
Glenwood 177
Hammond 177
Hammond Village 178
John Thayer 178
Rev. William Egbert 178
Hudson 178
James Kelly 178
Daniel Coit 179
James Virtue 179
Theodore M. Bradley 179
William Dailey 179
Robert and Wm. McDiarmid 179
William Martin 179
Paschal Aldrich 180
Kinnikinic 180
Duncan McGregor 180
W. B. and James A. Mapes 181
Pleasant Valley 182
Richmond 182
Boardman Village 183
Gridley Village 183
New Richmond Village 183
New Richmond City 183
Bank, High School 184
Benjamin B.C. Foster 184
Robert Philbrick 185
Linden Coombs 185
Eben Quinby 185
Lewis Oaks 185
Henry Russell 185
Joseph D. Johnson 185
Joel Bartlett 185
Francis W. Bartlett 186
George C. Hough 186
Silas Staples 186
Dr. Henry Murdock 187
Steven N. Hawkins 187
Rush River 188
Somerset 188
Somerset Village 189
Gen. Samuel Harriman 189
St. Joseph 190
Houlton Village 191
Burkhardt Village 191
Springfield 191
Hersey Village 191
Wilson Village 192
Stanton 192
Star Prairie 192
Huntington Village 192
Star Prairie Village 192
Hon. R. K. Fay 192
Troy 193
James Chinnock 193
William L. Perrin 193
Warren 194
James Hill 194
Village Plats 195
CHAPTER VII
PIERCE COUNTY.
Descriptive 196
History, First Events 197
County Seat Changed to Ellsworth 198
Railroads 199
Miscellaneous Statistics 199
Village Plats 199
Organization of Towns 200
Clifton 200
George W. McMurphy 201
Osborne Strahl 201
Charles B. Cox 201
Ephraim Harnsberger 201
Diamond Bluff 202
Capt. John Paine 202
John Day 202
Sarah A. Vance 203
Allen R. Wilson 203
E. S. Coulter 203
James Bamber 203
Jacob Mead 203
Charles Walbridge 203
Charles F. Hoyt 203
Enoch Quinby 203
The First Settler 203
El Paso 204
Ellsworth 205
Ellsworth Village 205
Anthony Huddleston 206
Perry D. Pierce 206
Hans B. Warner 207
Gilman 207
Hartland 208
Isabelle 208
Maiden Rock 209
Christopher L. Taylor 209
Martell 209
Oak Grove 210
Lewis M. Harnsberger 210
Prescott City 210
History 211
Platted in 1857 212
First Official Board 212
Statistics, First Events 212
Churches 212
Fair Grounds 213
Cemetery 213
Destructive Fires 213
Philander Prescott 214
George Schaser 214
William S. Lockwood 215
James Monroe Bailey 215
Adolph Werkman 215
Joseph Manese 215
Hilton Doe 215
Lute A. Taylor 215
John Huitt 216
John M. Rice 216
An Indian Battle 216
River Falls 217
First Happenings 217
Water Powers 217
Schools at River Falls 218
River Falls Academy 218
Churches 219
Associations 219
Bank, Railroad 220
Fires 220
River Falls City, Organization 220
Falls of Kinnikinic 220
The Cave Cabin 221
The Fourth State Normal School 221
Joel Foster 224
Jesse B. Thayer 224
A. D. Andrews 224
Joseph A. Short 225
Prof. Allen H. Weld 225
Allen P. Weld 225
George W. Nichols 225
W. D. Parker 226
William Powell 226
Lyman Powell 226
Nathaniel N. Powell 226
Oliver S. Powell 226
Nils P. Haugen 227
H. L. Wadsworth 227
Rock Elm 227
Salem 227
Spring Lake 228
Trenton 228
Trimbelle 229
M. B. Williams 229
Union 229
CHAPTER VIII.
BURNETT, WASHBURN, SAWYER AND BARRON COUNTIES.
BURNETT COUNTY.
Location and Description 230
Organization 231
Pine Barrens 231
Murders 232
Old Geezhic 233
The First Mission 234
The Chippewas of Wood Lake 236
Grantsburg 237
Canute Anderson 237
The Hickerson Family 238
The Anderson Family 238
Robert A. Doty 238
The Cranberry Marshes 239
WASHBURN COUNTY.
Description, Town Organization 240
First Events 240
Shell Lake, Summit Lake 241
First Board of County Officers 241
Shell Lake Lumber Company 241
Sawyer Creek 242
Spooner Station 242
Veazie Village 242
SAWYER COUNTY.
Organization, Description 242
County Indebtedness 243
Town of Hayward 243
Village of Hayward 243
First Events, Schools, Churches, etc. 244
Bank, Lumber Company 244
Malcomb Dobie 245
Milton V. Stratton 245
BARRON COUNTY.
Description, Organization 245
Turtle Lake, Town and Village 245
Barron, Perley Village 246
Cumberland Village 246
Sprague 246
Comstock and Barronett Villages 247
Charles Simeon Taylor 247
CHAPTER IX.
ASHLAND, BAYFIELD AND DOUGLAS COUNTIES.
ASHLAND COUNTY.
History, Location, Description 248
Isles of the Apostles 248
Claude Allouez at Madeline Island 249
Early History of La Pointe 249
Remarkable Epitaph 249
La Pointe County Election 249
John W. Bell 250
Ashland 250
History, First Events 250
Asaph Whittlesey 251
J. P. T. Haskell 251
G. S. Vaughn 251
Dr. Edwin Ellis 252
Martin Beaser 252
Hon. Sam S. Fifield 252
BAYFIELD COUNTY.
Location and History 253
Bayfield Village 253
Washburn, Drummond, etc. 254
DOUGLAS COUNTY.
Description and History 254
First Election 254
Superior City 255
History 255
Early Speculation 256
Period of Depression 257
West Superior 258
The Bardon Brothers 258
William H. Newton 258
Judge Solon H. Clough 258
Vincent Roy 259
D. George Morrison 259
August Zachau 259
CHAPTER X.
PINE COUNTY.
History 260
Description 260
First Events 261
Finances, Railroads 261
Losses by Fire 262
Pokegama Lake and Mission 262
Thomas Conner's Trading Post 262
Presbyterian Mission 263
Mushk-de-winini 263
Battle of Pokegama 264
Cannibalism 265
A Noble Chief 267
Frank Confessions 267
A Cowardly Deed 268
An Unjust Accusation 268
Indian Magnanimity 269
Rev. Frederic Ayer 269
Rev. William T. Boutwell 272
Discovery of Itasca 274
Mrs. Hester C. Boutwell 276
Chengwatana 276
First Settlers 276
Chengwatana Village Platted 277
Chengwatana Town Organized 277
Louis Ayd 277
Duane Porter 277
S. A. Hutchinson 277
Hinckley, Town of 278
Hinckley, Village of 278
James Morrison 278
Sandstone Village and Quarries 279
Wm. H. Grant, Sr. 279
Kettle River, Town of 279
John C. Hanley 280
Mission Creek 280
Pine City, Town of 280
Pine City, Village of 281
Richard G. Robinson 281
Hiram Brackett 281
Randall K. Burrows 281
John S. Ferson 282
Samuel Millet 282
Rock Creek 282
Enoch Horton 282
Royalton 282
Windermere 283
Neshodana, Fortuna, St. John's 283
A Rock Creek Murder 283
Burning of a Jail 283
A Disfigured Family 284
Indian Faith Cure 284
Indian Graves 284
Indian Stoicism 285
Old Batice 285
An Indian Dance 285
CHAPTER XI.
KANABEC, ISANTI, AND MILLE LACS COUNTIES.
KANABEC COUNTY.
History, Boundaries, etc. 286
Description 286
First Settlers, First Election 287
First Events 287
Arthur 288
Mora, Village of 288
Stephen L. Danforth 288
N. H. Danforth 288
Alvah J. Conger 288
Ira Conger 288
Bronson, Village of 288
Brunswick, Town of 289
Brunswick, Village of 289
Ground House City 289
James Pennington 289
George L. Staples 289
Daniel Gordon 290
Grass Lake, Town of 290
ISANTI COUNTY.
Organization 290
Cambridge 291
North Branch, Town of 291
Oxford, Town of 291
Stephen Hewson 291
George W. Nesbit 292
Rensselaer Grant 292
MILLE LACS COUNTY.
Description 292
Mille Lacs Reservation 293
County Organization in 1860 293
First Election and Officers 293
Milacca, Village of 294
Bridgman, Village of 294
Princeton, Village of 294
Samuel Ross 296
Joseph L. Cater 296
M. V. B. Cater 296
Edwin Allen 296
John H. Allen 296
A. B. Damon 296
C. H. Chadbourne 296
CHAPTER XII.
CHISAGO COUNTY.
Location, Surface, Scenery 298
Chisago Lake 298
Dalles of the St. Croix 299
Origin of the Formation 300
The Devil's Chair 300
The Wells 301
Settlement and Organization 302
Joe R. Brown to the Front 303
Prehistoric Remains 303
Robinet in Possession 303
Robinet Bought Off, First Improvements 304
Death of B. F. Baker 304
The First Log House Built 305
First Crops Raised 305
First Election 305
Chisago County Named 306
First Commissioners 307
County Seat Located at Taylor's Falls 307
Removed to Centre City 307
Amador 307
First Supervisors 308
Thornton Bishop 308
William Holmes 308
James M. Martin 309
Branch 309
North Branch Station 309
Henry L. Ingalls 310
Mrs. Lavina L. Ingalls 310
Chisago Lake, First Settlers 310
First Crops 311
Swedish Lutheran Church 311
Centre City 312
Andrew Swenson 312
John S. Van Rensselaer 312
Axel Dahliam 313
Nels Nord 313
Join A. Hallberg 314
Charles A. Bush 313
Lars Johan Stark 313
Frank Mobeck 313
Robert Currie 314
Andrew N. Holm 313
Cemetery and other Associations 314
Incorporation 314
Indian Dance 314
Lindstrom Village 314
Daniel Lindstrom 315
Magnus S. Shaleen 315
Chisago City 315
Otto Wallmark 316
Andrew Wallmark 316
Fish Lake 316
Peter Berg 317
Benjamin Franklin 317
Franconia 317
Franconia Village 318
Ansel Smith 318
Henry F. and Leonard P. Day 318
Henry Wills 318
The Clark Brothers 319
David Smith 319
Jonas Lindall 319
William Peaslee 319
Charles Vitalis 319
August J. Anderson 320
Frank N. Peterson 320
Harris 321
Harris Village 321
Lent 322
Nessell 322
Robert Nessell 323
Stephen B. Clark 323
Rush Seba 323
Rush City 323
Thomas Flynn 324
Patrick Flynn 324
Rufus Crocker 324
Frank H. Pratt 324
Voloro D. Eddy 325
F. S. Christianson 326
Shafer 326
Jacob Shafer 326
Peter Wickland 327
Tuver Walmarson 327
Andros Anderson 327
Eric Byland 327
Jacob Peterson 327
Ambrose C. Seavey 327
Sunrise 328
Sunrise Village 328
Kost Village 329
Chippewa 329
Dronthiem 329
Nashua 330
Washington 330
John A. Brown 330
Patten W. Davis 330
James F. Harvey 330
Floyd S. Bates 330
Isaac H. Warner 331
Charles F. Lowe 331
Wells Farr 331
John G. Mold 331
George L. Blood 331
Joel G. Ryder 332
John Dean 332
Taylor's Falls 332
First Post Office and Mail Service 332
Mills, First Events 333
Religious Organizations 333
Bridge Company 334
Banks, Mining Companies 334
CHAPTER XIII.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
Jesse Taylor 336
Joshua L. Taylor 336
Nathan C. D. Taylor 337
Thomas F. Morton 337
Henry N. Setzer 337
Patrick Fox 338
William F. Colby 339
Oscar Roos 339
Samuel Thomson 339
Susan Thomson Mears 339
George De Attly 340
Jacob Markley 340
John Dobney 340
William Dobney 340
Henry H. Newbury 340
Emil Munch 340
A. M. Wilmarth 341
Lucius K. Stannard 341
James W. Mullen 342
David Caneday 342
George B. Folsom 343
Aaron M. Chase 343
Peter Abear 343
Levi W. Folsom 344
Eddington Knowles 344
Dr. Lucius B. Smith 344
William Comer 344
E. Whiting and Brothers 345
Frederic Tang, Sr. 346
Ward W. Folsom 346
George W. Seymour 346
James A. Woolley 346
Patrick Carroll 347
Joseph Carroll 347
E. E. Edwards 347
Stephen J. Merrill 348
Noah Marcus Humphrey 348
Royal C. Gray 349
John P. Owens 349
Andrew Clendenning 350
Smith Ellison 350
Wyoming--Settlement and Organization 350
Wyoming Village 352
Deer Garden 352
L. O. Tombler 352
Dr. John Woolman Comfort 353
Isaac Markley 353
Joel Wright 353
Randall Wright 353
Frederic Tepel 353
Charles Henry Sauer 354
CHAPTER XIV.
WASHINGTON COUNTY.
Organization in 1849 355
First Board of Officers 355
Afton 356
Afton Village 357
South Afton 357
Valley Creek 357
St. Mary Village 357
Joseph Haskell 358
Lemuel Bolles 358
Taylor F. Randolph 358
Elijah Bissell 358
Andrew Mackey 358
Baytown Settlement 359
Baytown Village 359
Bangor 360
Middletown 360
South Stillwater 360
Mills, etc. 360
Docks, Factories, Cemeteries 360
Cottage Grove 361
Cottage Grove Village 361
Langdon 362
Joseph W. Furber 362
Samuel W. Furber 362
Theodore Furber 363
James S. Norris 363
Lewis Hill 363
Jacob Moshier 363
William Ferguson 363
John Atkinson 363
Denmark 364
Point Douglas 364
Levi Hertzell 365
Oscar Burris 365
David Hone 365
William B. Dibble 366
George Harris 366
Harley D. White 367
Thomas Hetherington 367
James Shearer 367
Simon Shingledecker 367
Caleb Truax 367
Abraham Truax 368
George W. Campbell 368
Forest Lake, History of 368
Captain Michael Marsh 369
Forest Lake Village 369
Grant, History of 369
Dellwood 370
Eagle City 370
Mahtomedi 370
Wildwood 370
William Elliott 371
Frederick Lamb 371
James Rutherford 371
Jesse H. Soule 371
Lakeland, Description and History of 372
Lakeland Village 372
Henry W. Crosby 373
Reuben H. Sanderson 373
Newton McKusick 373
Captain John Oliver 373
Captain Asa Barlow Green 374
L. A. Huntoon 374
Marine, Origin of Settlement 374
First Settlers 375
The Mill Completed 375
Marine Mills Village 376
First Lawsuit 376
Churches, Improvements 377
Losses by Fire 378
Vasa Village 378
Orange Walker 378
Lewis Walker 379
Samuel Burkelo 379
Asa S. Parker 379
Hiram Berkey 380
George B. Judd 380
James Hale 380
John Holt 380
George Holt 381
William Town 381
Matthias Welshance 381
Benj. T. Otis 382
William Clark 382
James R. Meredith 382
John D. and Thomas E. Ward 382
Samuel Judd 382
Frederic W. Lammers 382
James R. M. Gaskill 382
Newport, Town of 383
Isle Pelee 383
Red Rock 383
Mission at Red Rock 384
Gray Cloud City 385
Newport Village 385
John Holton 385
John A. Ford 385
Daniel Hopkins, Sr. 385
William R. Brown 386
William Fowler 386
Oakdale, Town of 386
Lake Elmo Village 387
E. C. Gray 387
Arthur Stephens 388
Oneka, Town of 388
Oneka Station 389
Shady Side Village 389
Daniel Hopkins, Jr. 389
Stillwater, Town of 389
Oak Park 390
David P. Lyman 390
Henry A. Jackman 390
Frederic J. Curtis 391
David Cover 391
John Parker 391
Woodbury, Town of 391
Jacob Folstrom 392
Alexander McHattie 393
John McHattie 393
The Middleton Family 393
Newington Gilbert 394
Ebenezer Ayers 394
CHAPTER XV.
WASHINGTON COUNTY--CONTINUED.
CITY OF STILLWATER.
Stillwater in 1850 396
The Freshet of 1850 397
A Real Estate Movement 397
Incorporation of Stillwater 398
List of Marshals 398
Post Office, Mail Routes 398
Statistics 399
Hotels 399
City Banks 400
Board of Trade, Water Company 402
Fire Department 402
Gas Light, Telegraph, Telephone 403
Elevator, Express Companies, Bridge 403
Lumbering Interests, Flour Mills 404
Manufactories 404
Building Association 405
Churches, etc. 406
Public Buildings 408
Societies, etc. 409
Cemeteries 410
Agricultural Society 410
State Prison 410
Fires, Bonds, Indebtedness 412
BIOGRAPHIES.
Isaac Staples 413
Samuel F. Hersey & Sons 415
Jacob Bean 416
Charles Bean 416
Rudolph Lehmicke 417
Hollis R. Murdock 417
George M. Seymour 417
Frank A. Seymour 418
Louis Hospes 418
David Tozer 419
David Bronson 420
John Maloy 420
Mrs. Susannah Tepass 420
William E. Thorne 420
Edmund J. Butts 420
A. B. Easton 421
Edwin A. Folsom 421
John B. H. Mitchell 421
Joseph Schupp 422
Clifford A. Bennett 422
Samuel Mathews 422
John and James Mathews 423
Peter Jourdain 423
James Rooney 423
James N. Castle 423
Abraham L. Gallespie 423
John C. Gardiner 423
V. C. Seward 424
Ralph Wheeler 424
Edward S. Brown 424
William Lowell 424
Albert Lowell 425
Nelson H. Van Voorhes 425
Andrew J. Van Voorhes 425
Henry C. Van Voorhes 425
C. A. Bromley 426
Charles J. Butler 426
Levi E. Thompson 427
George Davis 427
William M. McCluer 427
John N. Ahl 427
Samuel M. Register 428
J. A. Johnson 428
Gold T. Curtis 429
Harley D. Curtis 429
Francis R. Delano 429
Henry W. Cannon 430
Dwight M. Sabin 430
CHAPTER XVI.
STEARNS, ANOKA AND SHERBURNE COUNTIES.
STEARNS COUNTY.
Organization and History of 432
St. Cloud 434
Newspapers and Post Office 435
Village and City Organization 435
Land Office, Expenditures 435
The St. Cloud Dam, Improvements 436
Banks, Public Buildings 436
St. John's University 437
La Sauk, Town of 438
Peter Schaeler 438
John L. Wilson 438
Charles T. Stearns 438
Henry G. Fillmore 438
Nathaniel Getchell 438
James Keough 438
Loren W. Collins 438
Henry C. Waite 439
Gen. S. B. Lowry 439
A. and Joseph Edelbrock 439
John Rengel 440
Louis A. Evans 440
Ambrose Freeman 440
Nathan F. Barnes 440
Nehemiah P. Clark 441
Oscar E. Garrison 441
Charles A. Gilman 441
Other Citizens 442
ANOKA COUNTY.
Organization 442
First Settlers, Commissioners 443
Anoka, Town of 443
Anoka, City of 443
Incorporation 444
Fires, Public Buildings 445
Manufactures, Banks 445
Bethel, Town of 446
Blaine, Town of 446
Burns, Town of 446
Centreville, Town of 446
Centreville Village 446
Columbus, Town of 447
Fridley, Town of 447
John Banfil 448
Grow, Town of 448
Ham Lake, Town of 448
Linwood, Town of 448
L. S. Arnold 449
S. Ridge 449
J. G. Green 449
S. W. Haskell 449
M. M. Ryan 449
Hurley Family 449
Oak Grove, Town of 449
Ramsey, Town of 449
St. Francis, Town of 450
An Indian Riot 450
Jared Benson 451
James C. Frost 451
A. J. McKenney 451
John Henry Batzle 452
John R. Bean 452
A. McC. Fridley 452
William Staples 452
Capt. James Starkey 453
SHERBURNE COUNTY.
Description 453
Organization 453
Towns of Sherburne County 454
Villages of Sherburne County 455
Orono, Elk River 455
East St. Cloud 456
Clear Lake 456
Becker 456
Big Lake 456
J. Q. A. Nickerson 456
Henry Bittner 456
Francis DeLille 457
Mrs. F. DeLille 457
Howard M. Atkins 457
B. F. Hildreth 458
Samuel Hayden 458
Joseph Jerome 458
Joshua O. Cater 458
J. F. Bean 458
J. H. Felch 458
James Brady 458
Joshua Briggs 458
Robert Orrock 458
John G. Jamieson 458
A. B. Heath 458
Dr. B. R. Palmer 459
Judge Moses Sherburne 459
Charles F. George 459
Royal George 459
W. L. Babcock 459
CHAPTER XVII.
BENTON, MORRISON AND CROW WING COUNTIES.
BENTON COUNTY.
Description 460
First Settlers, Organization 461
Towns of Benton County 461
Villages 461
Sauk Rapids, Incorporation 461
Dam and Public Buildings 462
The Cyclone of 1886 462
Watab Village 462
Philip Beaupre 462
David Gilman 463
James Beatty 463
Ellis Kling 463
George W. Benedict 464
J. Q. A. Wood 464
William H. Wood 464
Mrs. Wm. H. Wood 465
A. DeLacy Wood 465
P. H. Wood 465
Rev. Sherman Hall 465
Jeremiah Russell 466
Edgar O. Hamlin 467
MORRISON COUNTY.
Description 468
History 468
Indian Feuds 469
Organization 469
Winnebago Indiana 470
Towns of Morrison County 471
Little Falls Village 471
Little Falls Water Power 472
Incorporation 473
Schools and Churches 473
Royalton Village 473
Incorporation, First Officers 473
Peter Roy 473
William Sturgis 474
James Fergus 474
Nathan Richardson 475
Moses La Fond 475
O. A. Churchill 475
John M. Kidder 476
Warren Kobe 476
Ola K. Black 476
Ira W. Bouch 476
Robert Russell 476
Peter A. Green 476
Rodolphus D. Kinney 476
John D. Logan 476
CROW WING COUNTY.
Description 477
First Settlers 477
Organization 478
Reorganization 478
Murderers Lynched 478
Brainerd 478
First Settlers 479
Northern Pacific Sanitarium 480
The Kindred Dam 480
L. P. White 480
Allen Morrison 480
Charles F. Kindred 481
CHAPTER XVIII.
AITKIN, CARLTON, ST. LOUIS, LAKE AND COOK COUNTIES.
AITKIN COUNTY.
Description 482
Organization, Officers 482
Aitkin Village 483
William A. Aitkin 483
Alfred Aitkin 483
Nathaniel Tibbett 484
CARLTON COUNTY.
History and Organization 484
Towns of Carlton County 485
Thomson Village 485
Cloquet Village 485
Moose Lake Station 485
Barnum Station 486
Mahtowa Station 486
North Pacific Junction 486
Francis A. Watkins 486
ST. LOUIS COUNTY.
Description 486
Picturesque Scenery 487
Commissioners' Meetings 487
List of Commissioners 488
Duluth, Early History 488
Growth, Population 489
Mills, Warehouses, Shipments 489
Duluth Harbor 490
Fish Commission 490
Fond du Lac Village 491
Oneota Village 492
Clifton Village 492
Portland Village 492
Endion Village 492
Middleton Village 492
Montezuma Village 492
Buchanan Village 492
St. Louis Falls Village 492
Fremont Island 493
Tower 493
George R. Stuntz 494
George E. Stone 494
Charles H. Graves 494
Ozro P. Stearns 494
Lake County.
Description 495
Two Harbors 496
COOK COUNTY.
History and Organization 496
CHAPTER XIX.
HENNEPIN COUNTY.
Organization and History, Towns 497
Fort Snelling 497
Treaty of 1837 499
First Land Claims, 1838 499
Cheever's Tower 500
St. Anthony Village Platted 500
First Marriage in the Territory 500
First Courts, School, Post Office 501
Church Organizations 501
The Suspension Bridge Built 502
St. Anthony Incorporated 1855 502
Annexation to Minneapolis, 1872 502
St. Anthony Falls 502
La Salle's Description 502
Minneapolis, Early Settlers 502
Early Land Claims 504
Business Enterprises 505
Mills Erected 505
St. Anthony Water Power Company 506
Minneapolis Named, Land Office 506
Incorporation as a City, 1867 506
Annexation of St. Anthony 506
List of Mayors 507
Water vs. Steam 507
Terrific Explosion at the Flour Mills 508
Suburban Resorts 508
List of Public Buildings 509
Post Office Statistics 510
Lumber Manufactured 511
Bonded Debt, Taxes, Expenses 511
West Minneapolis 511
BIOGRAPHIES.
Calvin A. Tuttle 512
Cyrus Aldrich 512
Dr. Alfred E. Ames 514
Dr. Albert A. Ames 514
Jesse Ames 515
Cadwallader C. Washburn 515
William D. Washburn 517
Joseph C. Whitney 517
Charles Hoag 518
Franklin Steele 518
Roswell P. Russell 519
Horatio P. Van Cleve 520
Charlotte O. Van Cleve 520
Ard Godfrey 520
Richard Chute 521
Lucius N. Parker 521
Captain John Rollins 521
John G. Lennon 521
John H. Stevens 522
Caleb D. Dorr 522
Rev. Edward D. Neill 522
John Wensignor 523
Robert H. Hasty 524
Stephen Pratt 524
Capt. John Tapper 524
R. W. Cummings 524
Elias H. Conner 524
C. F. Stimson 524
William Dugas 524
David Gorham 525
Edwin Hedderly 525
Louis Neudeck 525
Andrew J. Foster 525
A. D. Foster 525
Charles E. Vanderburgh 525
Dorillius Morrison 526
H. G. O. Morrison 526
F. R. E. Cornell 526
Gen. A. B. Nettleton 527
Isaac Atwater 527
Rev. David Brooks 527
Prof. Jabez Brooks 527
John S. Pillsbury 528
Henry T. Welles 528
David Blakely 528
William Lochren 528
Eugene M. Wilson 528
R. B. Langdon 529
William M. Bracket 529
Thos. B. and Platt B. Walker 529
Austin H. Young 530
Henry G. Hicks 530
John P. Rea 530
John Martin 520
John Dudley 531
CHAPTER XX.
RAMSEY COUNTY.
Organization, First Officers 532
St. Paul in 1840, Known as Pig's Eye 532
First Settlers 532
Father Ravoux, 1841 533
Henry Jackson Established a Trading Post 533
Accessions of 1843 533
Accessions of 1844 534
First Deed 534
Accessions of 1845 534
First School 535
Second Deed, Phalen's Tract 535
Accessions of 1846 535
Reminiscences 536
Accessions in 1847 536
St. Paul Platted 537
Miss Bishop's School 537
First Steamboat Line 537
Accessions of 1848 538
Progress in 1849 539
St. Paul Made the Capital of the State 539
The First Newspapers 539
Early Items and Advertisements 540
Pioneers of 1849 540
Some Comparisons 541
Statistics of Population, Schools, Buildings 542
List of Mayors 543
West St. Paul 544
Towns of Ramsey County 544
White Bear 545
First Settlers 545
Indian Battle Ground 546
Town Organization 547
White Bear Lake Village 548
Hotels and Cottages 548
Daniel Getty 549
South St. Paul 549
North St. Paul 550
Population of St Paul 550
Post Office History 551
CHAPTER XXI.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
Henry Hastings Sibley 553
Alexander Ramsey 556
William H. Forbes 557
Henry M. Rice 558
Edmund Rice 560
Louis Robert 561
Auguste L. Larpenteur 562
William H. Nobles 562
Simeon P. Folsom 563
Jacob W. Bass 563
Benjamin W. Brunson 564
Abram S. and Chas. D. Elfelt 564
D. A. J. Baker 565
Benjamin F. Hoyt 565
John Fletcher Williams 566
Dr. John H. Murphy 566
William H. Tinker 567
George P. Jacobs 567
Lyman Dayton 567
Henry L. Moss 567
William Rainey Marshall 568
David Cooper 569
Bushrod W. Lott 570
W. F. Davidson 570
Wm. H. Fisher 571
Charles H. Oakes 572
C. W. W. Borup 572
Capt. Russell Blakely 573
Rensselaer R. Nelson 573
George L. Becker 574
Aaron Goodrich 575
Nathan Myrick 575
John Melvin Gilman 576
Charles E. Flandrau 576
John B. Sanborn 577
John R. Irvine 579
Horace R. Bigelow 580
Cushman K. Davis 580
S. J. R. McMillan 581
Willis A. Gorman 581
John D. Ludden 582
Elias F. Drake 582
Norman W. Kittson 583
Hascal R. Brill 583
Ward W. Folsom 584
Gordon E. Cole 584
James Smith, Jr. 584
William P. Murray 585
Henry Hale 585
James Gilfillan 585
Charles Duncan Gilfillan 586
Alexander Wilkin 586
Westcott Wilkin 587
S. C. Whitcher 587
T. M. Newson 587
Alvaren Allen 588
Harlan P. Hall 589
Stephen Miller 589
CHAPTER XXII.
DAKOTA, GOODHUE, WABASHA AND WINONA COUNTIES.
DAKOTA COUNTY.
Description 591
Hastings 591
Farmington 591
Ignatius Donnelly 591
Francis M. Crosby 592
G. W. Le Duc 593
GOODHUE COUNTY.
Red Wing, Barn Bluff 595
Cannon Falls 595
Indian Burying Ground 596
Hans Mattson 596
Lucius F. Hubbard 597
William Colville 599
Martin S. Chandler 599
Charles McClure 600
Horace B. Wilson 600
WABASHA COUNTY.
Wabasha Village 601
Bailey and Sons 602
Nathaniel S. Tefft 602
James Wells 602
WINONA COUNTY.
Scenery 602
Winona City 603
Daniel S. Norton 603
William Windom 603
Charles H. Berry 604
Thomas Wilson 604
Thomas Simpson 605
Wm. H. Yale 605
CHAPTER XXIII.
MISCELLANEOUS BIOGRAPHIES.
Pierre Bottineau 606
Andrew G. Chatfield 606
Hazen Mooers 607
John McDonough Berry 607
Mark H. Dunnell 608
James H. Baker 608
Horace B. Strait 609
Judson Wade Bishop 610
John L. McDonald 610
Thomas H. Armstrong 611
Augustus Armstrong 611
Moses K. Armstrong 611
James B. Wakefield 611
William Wallace Braden 611
Reuben Butters 612
Michael Doran 612
Andrew McCrea 613
John W. Blake 613
Knute Nelson 613
William R. Denny 613
APPENDIX.
MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS, INDIAN TREATIES, ETC.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 616
Spanish Claims 616
French Claims 617
Louisiana in 1711 618
Settlement of Marietta, Ohio 618
Ohio Territory 619
Statistics 619
BOUNDARY QUESTION 625
Wisconsin Constitutional Convention, 1846 625
Wisconsin Constitutional Convention, 1847 626
Some Resolutions 627
Under What Government? 628
H. H. Sibley Elected Congressional Delegate 628
Queries 629
Minnesota Territory Created 629
Land Office at Stillwater 629
INDIAN TREATIES 629
Treaty with the Sioux (Mendota) 1805 629
Treaty with the Chippewas (Mendota) 1837 630
Treaty with the Sioux (Washington) 1837 630
Treaty with the Winnebagoes (Washington) 1837 631
Treaty with the Chippewas (Fond du Lac) 1847 631
Treaty with the Pillager Band (Leech Lake) 1847 632
Treaty with the Sioux (Traverse des Sioux) 1851 632
Treaty with the Sioux (Mendota) 1851 632
Treaty with the Chippewas (La Pointe) 1854 634
Treaty with the Pillagers (Washington) 1855 634
Treaty with the Chippewas (Red Lake River) 1863 634
GEN. PIKE AND THE INDIANS 635
Treaty of 1805 636
Pike's Address to the Council 636
Details of Treaty 636
Pike Hospitably Entertained 637
UNITED STATES SURVEYS IN THE NORTHWEST 637
Establishment of Land Offices 638
Establishment of the Present System of Surveys 638
The First Surveyor General's Office at Marietta, O 638
UNITED STATES LAND OFFICES IN THE NORTHWEST 639
List of Registers and Receivers, Wisconsin 639
First Entries 640
First Auction Sale of Land 641
List of Registers and Receivers, Minnesota 641
List of Wisconsin Territorial and State Officers, Governors,
Senators, andRepresentatives from St. Croix Valley 641
Legislative Representation 642
First and Second Constitutional Conventions 643
Governors of Wisconsin 643
United States Senators 643
United States Representatives 644
District Judges 644
State Legislature 644
List of Minnesota Territorial and State Officers 647
Census of the Territory in 1849 647
First Territorial Legislature 648
First Prohibition Law 649
Constitutional Convention 649
List of State Officers and Judicial 649
Senators and Representatives 650
Minnesota State Legislatures 651
Constitutional Convention of 1857 654
Division of Convention 654
Union of Conventions on a Constitution 656
Have We a Constitution 656
First, Minnesota State Legislature 657
Protests Against Legislation 657
Five Million Bill Passed and Adopted 657
State Seal Adopted 658
State Seal Design 659
Adjourned Session of Legislature 660
Protests Against Recognizing Gov. Medary 660
Reports on Protests 661
Land Grants--Railroad Surveys and Construction 665
Northern Pacific Railroad 665
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad 667
St. Paul & Duluth Railroad 668
Minnesota & Manitoba Railroad 669
Stillwater, White Bear & St. Paul Railroad 670
St. Paul, Stillwater & Taylor's Falls Railroad 671
Wisconsin Central Railroad 671
Taylor's Falls & Lake Superior Railroad 672
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad 672
A Memorial for "Soo" Railroad 673
Organization of Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic
Railroad 674
Mileage of Railroads Centring in St. Paul and Minneapolis 675
Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railroad 675
Congressional Appropriations 675
Inland Navigation 676
George R. Stuntz on Lake Superior and St. Croix Canal 680
Waterways Convention, 1885 682
E. W. Durant's Valuable Statistics 683
Resolution for St. Croix and Superior Canal 685
Early Steamboat Navigation 686
Steamboat Accommodations 687
First Mississippi Steamboat Officers 689
First Mississippi Steamboat Organizations 689
List of Steamboats 690
Later Navigation on Northwest Rivers 691
Steamboating on the St. Croix 692
Ice Boats 693
James W. Mullen's Reminiscences, 1846 694
St. Croix Boom Company 696
Surveyors General of Logs 696
Organization 696
Conflict over State Boundary 697
Language of Logs 698
Logs Cut from 1837 to 1888 700
Chartered Dams 701
Lumbering and Lumbermen in 1845 702
Lumbering and Lumbermen in 1887 705
St. Croix Dalles Log Jams 706
Population of Northwest Territory in 1790 709
Population of Wisconsin Territory in 1836 709
Subsequent Census 709
Population of Minnesota in 1849 709
Minnesota State Capitol 710
Burning of State House 711
Selkirk Visitors 712
Cyclones 713
Isanti and Chisago Cyclone 713
Cottage Grove and Lake Elmo Cyclone 715
Washington County and Wisconsin Cyclone 717
St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids Cyclone 718
Curious Lightning Freaks 721
Asiatic Cholera on the Royal Arch 721
First Decree of Minnesota Citizenship 722
International Hotel, St. Paul, Burned 723
Grasshoppers 723
Ancient Mounds 724
Lake Itasca, Schoolcraft and Boutwell Form the Name Itasca.
Description of Itasca 726
Elk and Boutwell Lakes 727
Capt. Glazier's False Claim 727
Copper Mining on St. Croix 728
Rev. Julius S. Webber; Reminiscences 729
Judge Hamlin--Amusing Incident 730
Minnesota Old Settlers Association 731
St. Croix Valley Old Settlers Association 740
Newspaper History 741
Gen. Scott, Maj. Anderson, and Jeff. Davis 752
Jeff. Davis' Marriage at Fort Crawford 753
Dred Scott at Fort Snelling 754
Incidents in Dred Scott's History 755
Old Betz and Descendants 757
ADDENDA.
Military History of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1865 759
Gov. Alex. Ramsey's Address to Loyal Legion 759
Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Legislative Sessions
of Wisconsin 762
ERRATA.
[Transcriber's note: Errata corrected in the text.]
Chapter II, page 32, read Stillwater and St. Croix County, instead of
Counties.
Page 140, read Cyrus G. Bradley, instead of Cyrus Q.
Page 166, read Philip B. Jewell, instead of Philip P.
Page 422, read Clifford A. Bennett, instead of Clifton.
Page 432, read Stearns, Anoka and Sherburne Counties, instead of
Stearns, Anoka and Morrison Counties.
Page 420, read Edmund J. Butts, instead of Edward J. Butts.
CHAPTER I.
Going West.--In June, 1836, I again visited the Penobscot in quest of
employment, in which I was unsuccessful. At Stillwater, above Bangor,
I met my kind friend Simeon Goodrich, also out of employment. After
mature deliberation we concluded to go West. Returning to Bloomfield,
I collected the money held for me by Capt. Ruel Weston and was soon in
readiness for the journey. But a few days before the time agreed upon
for leaving, I received a letter from Simeon Goodrich, which contained
the unpleasant information that he could not collect the amount due
him and could not go with me. Truly this was a disappointment. I was
obliged to set out alone, no light undertaking at that early day, for
as yet there were no long lines of railroad between Maine and the
Mississippi river. The day at last arrived for me to start. My
companions and acquaintances chaffed me as to the perils of the
journey before me. My mother gave me her parting words, "William,
always respect yourself in order to be respected." These words,
accompanied with her farewell kiss, were long remembered, and, I doubt
not, often kept me from evil associations.
The stage took us directly to the steamboat at Gardiner. The steam was
up and the boat was soon under way. It was the New England, the first
boat of the kind I had ever seen. I felt strangely unfamiliar with the
ways of the traveling world, but observed what others did, and asked
no questions, and so fancied that my ignorance of traveling customs
would not be exposed. It was sunset as we floated out into the wide
expanse of the Atlantic. The western horizon was tinged with fiery
hues, the shores grew fainter and receded from view and the eye could
rest at last only upon the watery expanse. All things seemed new and
strange. Next morning a heavy fog hung over the scene. The vessel was
at anchor in Boston harbor and we were soon on shore and threading the
crooked streets of the capital of Massachusetts. I was not lost in the
wilderness maze of streets, as I had feared I should be, but on
leaving Boston on the evening train I took the wrong car and found
myself uncomfortably situated in a second or third class car, crowded
and reeking with vile odors, from which the conductor rescued me,
taking me to the pleasant and elegant car to which my first class
ticket entitled me. On arriving at Providence I followed the crowd to
the landing and embarked on the steamer President for New York, in
which city we remained a day, stopping at the City Hotel on Broadway.
I was greatly impressed with the beauty of part of the city, and the
desolate appearance of the Burnt District, concerning the burning of
which we had read in our winter camp. I was not a little puzzled with
the arrangement of the hotel tables and the printed bills of fare, but
closely watched the deportment of others and came through without any
serious or mortifying blunder. Next morning I left New York on the
steamer Robert L. Stevens for Albany, and on the evening of the same
day went to Schenectady by railroad. Some of the way cars were hauled
by horses up hills and inclined planes. There were then only three
short lines of railroad in the United States, and I had traveled on
two of them. At Schenectady I took passage on a canal boat to Buffalo.
I had read about "De Witt Clinton's Ditch," and now greatly enjoyed
the slow but safe passage it afforded, and the rich prospect of
cities, villages and cultivated fields through which we passed. At
Buffalo we remained but one day. We there exchanged eastern paper for
western, the former not being current in localities further west. At
Buffalo I caught my first glimpse of Lake Erie. I stood upon a
projecting pier and recalled, in imagination, the brave Commodore
Perry, gallantly defending his country's flag in one of the most
brilliant engagements of the war, the fame whereof had long been
familiar to the whole country and the thrilling incidents of which
were the theme of story and song even in the wilderness camps of
Maine.
The steamer Oliver Newberry bore me from Buffalo to Detroit. From
Detroit to Mt. Clemens, Michigan, I went by stage and stopped at the
last named place until October 14th, when, being satisfied that the
climate was unhealthy, fever and ague being very prevalent, I returned
to Detroit, and on the fifteenth of the same month took passage on the
brig Indiana, as steamers had quit running for the season. The brig
was aground two days and nights on the St. Clair flats. A south wind
gave us a splendid sail up the Detroit river into Lake Huron. We
landed for a short time at Fort Gratiot, at the outlet of the lake,
just as the sun was setting. The fort was built of stone, and
presented an impressive appearance. The gaily uniformed officers, the
blue-coated soldiers, moving with the precision of machines, the whole
scene--the fort, the waving flags, the movement of the troops seen in
the mellow sunset light--was impressive to one who had never looked
upon the like before. A favorable breeze springing up, we sped gaily
out into the blue Lake Huron. At Saginaw bay the pleasant part of the
voyage ended. The weather became rough. A strong gale blew from the
bay outward, and baffled all the captain's skill in making the proper
direction. Profane beyond degree was Capt. McKenzie, but his
free-flowing curses availed him nothing. The brig at one time was so
nearly capsized that her deck load had rolled to one side and held her
in an inclined position. The captain ordered most of the deck load,
which consisted chiefly of Chicago liquors, thrown overboard.
Unfortunately, several barrels were saved, two of which stood on deck,
with open heads. This liquor was free to all. The vessel, lightened of
a great part of her load, no longer careened, but stood steady against
the waves and before the wind. It is a pity that the same could not be
said of captain, crew and passengers, who henceforth did the
careening. They dipped the liquor up in pails and drank it out of
handled dippers. They got ingloriously drunk; they rolled unsteadily
across the deck; they quarreled, they fought, they behaved like
Bedlamites, and how near shipwreck was the goodly brig from that day's
drunken debauch on Chicago free liquor will never be known. The vessel
toiled, the men were incapacitated for work, but notwithstanding the
tempest of profanity and the high winds, the wrangling of crew and
captain, we at last passed Saginaw bay. The winds were more favorable.
Thence to Mackinaw the sky was clear and bright, the air cold. The
night before reaching Mackinaw an unusual disturbance occurred above
resulting from the abundance of free liquor. The cook, being drunk,
had not provided the usual midnight supper for the sailors. The key of
the caboose was lost; the caboose was broken open, and the mate in the
morning was emulating the captain in the use of profane words. The
negro cook answered in the same style, being as drunk as his superior.
This cook was a stout, well built man, with a forbidding countenance
and, at his best, when sober, was a saucy, ill-natured and impertinent
fellow. When threat after threat had been hurled back and forth, the
negro jumped at the mate and knocked him down. The sailors, as by a
common impetus, seized the negro, bound him tightly and lashed him to
a capstan. On searching him they found two loaded pistols. These the
mate placed close to each ear of the bound man, and fired them off.
They next whipped him on the naked back with a rope. His trunk was
then examined and several parcels of poison were found. Another
whipping was administered, and this time the shrieks and groans of the
victim were piteous. Before he had not even winced. The monster had
prepared himself to deal death alike to crew and passengers, and we
all felt a great sense of relief when Capt. McKenzie delivered him to
the authorities at Mackinaw.
Antique Mackinaw was a French and half-breed town. The houses were
built of logs and had steep roofs. Trading posts and whisky shops were
well barred. The government fort, neatly built and trim, towered up
above the lake on a rocky cliff and overlooked the town, the whole
forming a picturesque scene. We remained but a few hours at Mackinaw.
There were ten cabin passengers, and these, with two exceptions, had
imbibed freely of the Chicago free liquor. They were also continually
gambling. Capt. McKenzie had fought a fist fight with a deadhead
passenger, Capt. Fox, bruising him badly. What with his violence and
profanity, the brutality of the mate and the drunken reveling of crew
and passengers, the two sober passengers had but a sorry time, but the
safe old brig, badly officered, badly managed, held steadily on its
course, and October 30th, fifteen days from Detroit, safely landed us
in Chicago.
After being so long on the deck of a tossing vessel, I experienced a
strange sensation when first on shore. I had become accustomed to the
motion of the vessel, and had managed to hold myself steady. On shore
the pitching and tossing movement seemed to continue, only it seemed
transferred to my head, which grew dizzy, and so produced the
illusion that I was still trying to balance myself on the unsteady
deck of the ship.
Chicago, since become a great city, had at that time the appearance of
an active, growing village. Thence I proceeded, November 1st and 2d,
by stage to Milwaukee, which appeared also as a village, but somewhat
overgrown. Idle men were numerous, hundreds not being able to obtain
employment. Here I remained a couple of weeks, stopping at the
Belleview House. After which I chopped wood a few days for Daniel
Wells. Not finding suitable employment, I started west with a Mr.
Rogers, December 2d. There being no other means of conveyance, we
traveled on foot. On the evening of the second we stopped at Prairie
Village, now known as Waukesha. On the evening of the third we stopped
at Meacham's Prairie, and on the fifth reached Rock River, where I
stopped with a Mr. St. John. The evening following we stopped at an
Irish house, where the surroundings did not conduce to comfort or to a
feeling of security. Several drunken men kept up a continuous row. We
hid our money in a haystack, and took our turn sleeping and keeping
watch. We ate an early breakfast, and were glad to get away before the
men who had created such a disturbance during the night were up. We
moved onward on the seventh to Blue Mound, where we found a cheerful
resting place at Brigham's. The eighth brought us to Dodgeville, where
we stopped at Morrison's. On the ninth we reached Mineral Point, the
locality of the lead mines, where I afterward lost much time in
prospecting. Mineral Point was then a rude mining town. The night of
our arrival was one of excitement and hilarity in the place. The first
legislature of the territory of Wisconsin had been in session at
Belmont, near Mineral Point, had organized the new government and
closed its session on that day. To celebrate this event and their
emancipation from the government of Michigan and the location of the
capital at Madison, the people from the Point, and all the region
round about, had met and prepared a banquet for the retiring members
of the legislature. Madison was at that time a paper town, in the
wilderness, but beautifully located on Cat Fish lake, and at the head
of Rock river. The location had been accomplished by legislative tact,
and a compromise between the extremes. In view of the almost certain
division of the Territory, with the Mississippi river as a boundary,
at no very distant day, it was agreed that Madison should be the
permanent capital, while Burlington, now in Iowa, should be used
temporarily. Milwaukee and Green Bay had both aspired to the honor of
being chosen as the seat of government. Mineral Point, with her rich
mines, had also aspirations, as had Cassville, which latter named
village had even built a great hotel for the accommodation of the
members of the assembly. Dubuque put in a claim, but all in vain.
Madison was chosen, and wisely, and she has ever since succeeded in
maintaining the supremacy then thrust upon her.
In my boyhood, at school, I had read of the great Northwest Territory.
It seemed to me then far away, at the world's end, but I had
positively told my comrades that I should one day go there. I found
myself at last on the soil, and at a period or crisis important in its
history. The great Northwest Territory, ceded by Virginia to the
United States in 1787, was no more. The immense territory had been
carved and sliced into states and territories, and now the last
remaining fragment, under the name of Wisconsin, had assumed
territorial prerogatives, organized its government, and, with direct
reference to a future division of territory, had selected its future
capital, for as yet, except in name, Madison was not. In assuming
territorial powers, the boundaries had been enlarged so as to include
part of New Louisiana, and the first legislature had virtually
bartered away this part of her domain, of which Burlington, temporary
capital of Wisconsin, was to be the future capital.
Two more days of foot plodding brought us to Galena, the city of lead.
The greeting on our entering the city was the ringing of bells, the
clattering of tin pans, the tooting of ox horns, sounds earthly and
unearthly,--sounds no man can describe. What could it be? Was it for
the benefit of two humble, footsore pedestrians that all this uproar
was produced? We gave it up for the time, but learned subsequently
that it was what is known as a charivari, an unmusical and disorderly
serenade, generally gotten up for the benefit of some newly married
couple, whose nuptials had not met with popular approval.
At Galena I parted with Mr. Rogers, my traveling companion, who went
south. On the fifteenth of December I traveled to Dubuque on foot.
When I came to the Mississippi river I sat down on its banks and
recalled the humorous description of old Mr. Carson, my neighbor, to
which I had listened wonderingly when a small boy. "It was," he said,
"a river so wide you could scarcely see across it. The turtles in it
were big as barn doors, and their shells would make good ferryboats if
they could only be kept above water." Sure enough, here was the big
river, but covered with ice, scarcely safe to venture on. Several
persons desiring to cross, we made a portable bridge of boards,
sliding them along with us till we were safe on the opposite bank. I
was now at the end of my journey, on the west bank of the Mississippi,
beyond which stretched a vast and but little known region, inhabited
by Indians and wild beasts.
As I review the incidents of my journey in 1836, I can not but
contrast the conditions of that era and the present. How great the
change in half a century! The journey then required thirty days. It
now requires but three. I had passed over but two short lines of
railroad, and had made the journey by canal boat, by steamer, by
stage, and a large portion of it on foot. There were few regularly
established lines of travel. From Michigan to the Mississippi there
were no stages nor were there any regular southern routes. Travelers
to the centre of the continent, in those days, came either by the
water route, via New Orleans or the Fox and Wisconsin river route, or
followed Indian trails or blazed lines from one settlement to another.
The homes of the settlers were rude--were built principally of logs.
In forest regions the farms consisted of clearings or square patches
of open ground, well dotted with stumps and surrounded by a dense
growth of timber. The prairies, except around the margins or along
certain belts of timber following the course of streams, were without
inhabitants. Hotels were few and far between, and, when found, not
much superior to the cabins of the settlers; but the traveler was
always and at all places hospitably entertained.
DUBUQUE.
Dubuque was a town of about three hundred inhabitants, attracted
thither by the lead mines. The people were principally of the mining
class. The prevailing elements amongst them were Catholic and Orange
Irish. These two parties were antagonistic and would quarrel on the
streets or wherever brought in contact. Sundays were especially days
of strife, and Main street was generally the field of combat. Women
even participated. There was no law, there were no police to enforce
order. The fight went on, the participants pulling hair, gouging,
biting, pummeling with fists or pounding with sticks, till one or the
other party was victorious. These combats were also accompanied with
volleys of profanity, and unlimited supplies of bad whisky served as
fuel to the flame of discord. Dubuque was certainly the worst town in
the West, and, in a small way, the worst in the whole country. The
entire country west of the Mississippi was without law, the government
of Wisconsin Territory not yet being extended to it. Justice, such as
it was, was administered by Judge Lynch and the mob.
My first employment was working a hand furnace for smelting lead ore
for a man named Kelly, a miner and a miser. He lived alone in a
miserable hovel, and on the scantiest fare. In January I contracted to
deliver fifty cords of wood at Price's brickyard. I cut the wood from
the island in front of the present city of Dubuque, and hired a team
to deliver it.
While in Dubuque I received my first letter from home in seven months.
What a relief it was, after a period of long suspense, spent in
tediously traveling over an almost wilderness country,--amidst
unpleasant surroundings, amongst strangers, many of them of the baser
sort, drinking, card playing, gambling and quarreling,--what a relief
it was to receive a letter from home with assurances of affectionate
regard from those I most esteemed.
Truly the lines had not fallen to me in pleasant places, and I was
sometimes exposed to perils from the lawless characters by whom I was
surrounded. On one occasion a dissolute and desperate miner, named
Gilbert, came to Cannon's hotel, which was my boarding house while in
Dubuque. He usually came over from the east side of the river once a
week for a spree. On this occasion, being very drunk, he was more than
usually offensive and commenced abusing Cannon, the landlord, applying
to him some contemptuous epithet. I thoughtlessly remarked to Cannon,
"You have a new name," upon which Gilbert cocked his pistol and aiming
at me was about to fire when Cannon, quick as thought, struck at his
arm and so destroyed his aim that the bullet went over my head. The
report of the pistol brought others to the room and a general melee
ensued in which the bar was demolished, the stove broken and Gilbert
unmercifully whipped. Gilbert was afterward shot in a drunken brawl.
I formed some genial acquaintances in Dubuque, amongst them Gen.
Booth, Messrs. Brownell, Wilson and others, since well known in the
history of the country. Price, the wood contractor, never paid me for
my work. I invested what money I had left for lots in Madison, all of
which I lost, and had, in addition, to pay a note I had given on the
lots.
On February 11th I went to Cassville, journeying thither on the ice.
This village had flourished greatly, in the expectation of becoming
the territorial and state capital, expectations doomed, as we have
seen, to disappointment. It is romantically situated amidst
picturesque bluffs, some of which tower aloft like the walls and
turrets of an ancient castle, a characteristic that attaches to much
of the bluff scenery along this point.
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN.
I reached this old French town on the twelfth of February. The town
and settlement adjacent extended over a prairie nine miles long, and
from one to two miles broad, a beautiful plateau of land, somewhat
sandy, but for many years abundantly productive, furnishing supplies
to traders and to the military post established there. It also
furnished two cargoes of grain to be used as seed by the starving
settlement at Selkirk, which were conveyed thither by way of the
Mississippi, St. Peter and Red rivers. The earliest authentic mention
of the place refers to the establishment of a post called St.
Nicholas, on the east bank of the Mississippi, at the mouth of the
Wisconsin, by Gov. De La Barre, who, in 1683, sent Nicholas Perrot
with a garrison of twenty men to hold the post. The first official
document laying claim to the country on the Upper Mississippi, issued
in 1689, has mention of the fort. This document we transcribe entire:
"Nicholas Perrot, commanding for the king, at the post of the
Nadouessioux, commissioned by the Marquis Denonville, governor and
lieutenant governor of all New France, to manage the interests of
commerce amongst the Indian tribes and people of the Bay des Puants
(Green Bay), Nadouessioux (Dakotahs), Maseontins, and other western
nations of the Upper Mississippi, and to take possession in the king's
name of all the places where he has heretofore been, and whither he
will go.
"We, this day, the eighth of May, one thousand six hundred and
eighty-nine, do, in the presence of the Reverend Father Marest, of the
Society of Jesus, missionary among the Nadouessioux; of Monsieur de
Borieguillot (or Boisguillot), commanding the French in the
neighborhood of the Ouiskonche (Wisconsin), on the Mississippi;
Augustin Le Gardeur, Esq., Sieur de Caurnont, and of Messeurs Le
Sueur, Hibert, Lemire and Blein:
"Declare to all whom it may concern, that, being come from the Bay des
Puants, and to the lake of the Ouiskonches, and to river Mississippi,
we did transport ourselves to the country of the Nadouessioux, on the
border of the river St. Croix, and at the mouth of the river St.
Pierre (Minnesota), on the bank of which were the Mantantans; and
further up to the interior to the northeast of the Mississippi, as far
as the Menchokatoux, with whom dwell the majority of the Songeskitens,
and other Nadouessioux, who are to the northeast of the Mississippi,
to take possession for, and in the name of, the king of the countries
and rivers inhabited by the said tribes, and of which they are
proprietors. The present act done in our presence, signed with our
hand and subscribed."
Then follow the names of the persons mentioned. The document was drawn
up at Green Bay.
There is little doubt that this post was held continuously by the
French as a military post until 1696, when the French authorities at
Quebec withdrew all their troops from Wisconsin, and as a trader's
post or settlement, until the surrender in 1763 to the British of all
French claims east of the Mississippi. It was probably garrisoned near
the close of the latter period. It remained in the possession of the
French some time, as the English, thinking it impossible to compete
for the commerce of the Indian tribes with the French traders who had
intermarried with them, and so acquired great influence, did not take
actual possession until many years later.
The post is occasionally mentioned by the early voyageurs, and the
prairie which it commanded was known as the "Prairie du Chien," or
praire of the dog, as early as 1763, and is so mentioned by Carver. It
was not formally taken possession of by the United States until 1814,
when Gov. Clarke with two hundred men came up from St. Louis to
Prairie du Chien, then under English rule, to build a fort and
protect American interests at the village. At that time there were
about fifty families, descended chiefly from the old French settlers.
These were engaged chiefly in farming, owning a common field four
miles long by a half mile wide. They had outside of this three
separate farms and twelve horse mills to manufacture their produce.
The fort, held by a few British troops under Capt. Deace, surrendered
without resistance, but soon after the British traders at Mackinaw
sent an expedition under Joe Rolette, Sr., to recapture the post,
which they did after a siege of three days, the defenders being
allowed to withdraw with their private property on parole. They were
followed by the Indians as far as Rock Island. Meanwhile, Lieut.
Campbell, with reinforcements on his way from St. Louis, was attacked,
part were captured and the remainder of his troops driven back to St.
Louis. Late in 1814 Maj. Zachary Taylor proceeded with gunboats to
chastize the Indians for their attack on Campbell, but was himself met
and driven back. The following year, on the declaration of peace
between Great Britain and America, the post at Prairie du Chien was
evacuated. The garrison fired the fort as they withdrew from it.
The fort erected by the Americans under Gen. Clarke in 1814 was called
Fort Shelby. The British, on capturing it, changed the name to Fort
McKay. The Americans, on assuming possession and rebuilding it, named
it Fort Crawford. It stood on the bank of the river at the north end
of St. Friole, the old French village occupied in 1876 by the
Dousmans. In 1833 the new Fort Crawford was built on an elevated site
about midway in the prairie. It was a strong military post and was
commanded at this time by Gen. Zachary Taylor. Many officers, who
subsequently won distinction in the Florida Indian, Mexican, and late
Civil War, were stationed here from time to time. Within a time
included in my own recollections of the post, Jefferson Davis spirited
away the daughter of his commanding officer, Gen. Taylor, and married
her, the "rough and ready" general being averse to the match.
Prairie du Chien derived its name from a French family known as du
Chien, in English "The Dog." By this name the Prairie was known long
prior to the establishment of the French stockade and post. By that
name it has been known and recognized ever since. It has been
successively under the French, English and United States governments,
and lying originally in the great Northwestern Territory, in the
subsequent divisions of that immense domain, it has been included
within the bounds of the territories of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, and Wisconsin. Gov. Wm. H. Harrison, of Indiana Territory,
recognized Prairie du Chien by issuing commissions to Henry M. Fisher
and ---- Campbell as justices of the peace, the first civil
commissions issued for the American government in the entire district
of country including West Wisconsin and Minnesota east of the
Mississippi. Prior to this time, about 1819, the inhabitants had been
chiefly under military rule. In 1819 the county of Crawford was
organized as a part of Michigan Territory, and blank commissions were
issued to Nicholas Boilvin, Esq., with authority to appoint and
install the officers of the new county government. Gov. Lewis Cass
established by proclamation the county seat at Prairie du Chien, and
John W. Johnson was installed as chief justice of the county court.
The entire corps of officers were qualified. In January, 1823,
Congress passed an act providing for circuit courts in the counties
west and north of Lake Michigan, and James Duane Doty was appointed
judge for the district composed of Brown, Mackinaw and Crawford
counties, and a May term was held in Prairie du Chien the same year.
INDIAN TROUBLES.--There were some Indian troubles, an account of which
is given in the biographical sketch of J. H. Lockwood. There were
other incidents which may be worthy of separate mention. In 1827 an
entire family, named Methode, were murdered, as is supposed, by the
Indians, though the murderers were never identified. The great
incentive to violence and rapine with the Indians was whisky. An
intelligent Winnebago, aged about sixty years, told me that
"paganini," "firewater" (whisky), was killing the great majority of
his people, and making fools and cripples of those that were left;
that before the pale faces came to the big river his people were good
hunters and had plenty to eat; that now they were drunken, lazy and
hungry; that they once wore elk or deer skins, that now they were clad
in blankets or went naked. This Indian I had never seen drunk. The
American Fur Company had huts or open houses where the Indians might
drink and revel.
At an Indian payment a young, smart looking Indian got drunk and in a
quarrel killed his antagonist. The friends of the murdered Indian held
a council and determined that the murderer should have an opportunity
of running for his life. The friends of the murdered Indian formed in
a line, at the head of which was stationed the brother of the dead
man, who was to lead in the pursuit. At a signal the bands of the
prisoner were cut, and with a demoniacal yell he bounded forward, the
entire line in swift and furious pursuit. Should he outrun his
pursuers, he would be free; should they overtake and capture him, they
were to determine the mode of his death. He ran nearly a mile when he
tripped and fell. The brother of the dead Indian, heading the pursuit,
pounced upon him and instantly killed him with a knife.
Considering the fact that the Indians were gathered together under the
guns of a United States fort, and under the protection of a law
expressly forbidding the sale of intoxicating liquors to them, the
people of the United States were certainly justified in expecting
better results, not only in regard to the protection of the frontier
settlers but for that of the Indians themselves. All came to naught
because of the non-enforcement of law. Liquors were shamelessly sold
to the Indians and they were encouraged to drunken revelry and orgies
by the very men who should have protected and restrained them.
The prosperity of Prairie du Chien depended upon the Indian trade, and
upon government contracts which the presence of a military force
rendered necessary. The Indians gathered here in great numbers.
Here the Winnebagoes, part of the Menomonies and some Chippewas
received their annuities, and here centred also an immense trade from
the American Fur Company, the depot being a large stone building on
the banks of the Mississippi, under the charge of Hercules Dousman.
FORT CRAWFORD ROBBED.
Two discharged soldiers (Thompson and Evans) living at Patch Grove,
thirteen miles away, visited the fort often. On a morning after one of
their visits a soldier on guard noticed a heap of fresh earth near the
magazine. An alarm was given, an examination made, and it was found
that the magazine had been burst open with bars and sledge hammers,
entrance having been obtained by digging under the corner picket.
Three kegs of silver, each containing $5,000, were missing. The kegs
had been passed through the excavation underneath the picket. One keg
had burst open near the picket, and the silver was found buried in the
sand. The second keg burst on the bank of the Mississippi, and all the
money was found buried there except about six hundred dollars. The
third keg was found months after by John Brinkman, in the bottom of
the river, two miles below the fort. He was spearing fish by
torchlight, when he chanced to find the keg. The keg he delivered at
the fort and received a small reward. On opening the keg it was found
to contain coin of a different kind from that advertised as stolen.
Brinkman, however, made no claims on account of errors. Thompson,
Evans, and a man named Shields were arrested by the civil authorities
on suspicion; their trial was continued from term to term and they
were at last dismissed. One man, who had seen the silver in the sand
during the day and gone back at night to fill his pockets, was seized
by a soldier on guard, imprisoned for a year, and discharged.
EARLY JUSTICE.
A Frenchman shot and killed a couple of tame geese belonging to a
neighbor, supposing them to be wild. Discovering his mistake, he
brought the geese to the owner, a Dutchman, who flew into a great
rage, but took the geese and used them for his own table, in addition
to which he had the goose-killer arrested and tried before Martin
Savall, a justice of the peace. The defendant admitted the killing of
the geese, the plaintiff admitted receiving them and using them for
food, nevertheless the justice gave judgment in favor of plaintiff by
the novel ruling that these geese, if not killed, would have laid eggs
and hatched about eight goslings. The defendant was therefore fined
three dollars for the geese killed, and eight dollars for the goslings
that might have been hatched if the geese had been permitted to live,
and costs besides. Plaintiff appealed to the district court which
reversed the decision on the ground that plaintiff had eaten his
geese, and the goslings, not being hatched, did not exist. Plaintiff
paid the costs of the suit, forty-nine dollars, remarking that a
Dutchman had no chance in this country; that he would go back to
Germany. The judge remarked that it would be the best thing he could
do.
A SOUTHWARD JOURNEY.
My original plan on leaving Maine was to make a prospecting tour
through the West and South. I had been in Prairie du Chien for a
season, and as soon as my contract to cut hay for the fort and my
harvesting work was done. I started, with two of my comrades, in a
birch bark canoe for New Orleans. This mode of traveling proving slow
and tedious, after two days, on our arrival at Dubuque, we sold our
canoe and took passage on the steamer Smelter for St. Louis, which
place we reached on the seventeenth of October. We remained five days,
stopping at the Union Hotel. St. Louis was by far the finest and
largest city I had yet seen in the West. Its levee was crowded with
drays and other vehicles and lined with steamers and barges. Its
general appearance betokened prosperity. On the twenty-second, I left
on the steamer George Collier for New Orleans, but the yellow fever
being reported in that city, I remained several days at Baton Rouge.
On the second of November I re-embarked for New Orleans, where I found
a lodging at the Conti Street Hotel. New Orleans was even then a large
and beautiful city. Its levee and streets were remarkable for their
cleanness, but seemed almost deserted. Owing to a recent visitation of
the yellow fever and the financial crisis of 1837, business was almost
suspended. These were hard times in New Orleans. Hundreds of men were
seeking employment, and many of them were without money or friends. It
was soon very evident to me that I had come to a poor place to better
my fortunes. After a thorough canvass, I found but one situation
vacant, and that was in a drinking saloon, and was not thought of for
an instant. I remained fifteen days, my money gradually diminishing,
when I concluded to try the interior. I took steamer for Vicksburg,
and thence passed up the Yazoo to Manchester, where I spent two days
in the vain search for employment, offering to do any kind of work. I
was in the South, where the labor was chiefly done by negroes. I was
friendless and without letters of recommendation, and for a man under
such circumstances to be asking for employment was in itself a
suspicious circumstance. I encountered everywhere coldness and
distrust. I returned to Vicksburg, and, fortunately, had still enough
money left to secure a deck passage to the North, but was obliged to
live sparingly, and sleep without bedding. I kept myself somewhat
aloof from the crew and passengers. The captain and clerk commented on
my appearance, and were, as I learned from a conversation that I could
not help but overhear, keeping a close eye upon me for being so quiet
and restrained. It was true that the western rivers were infested with
desperate characters, gamblers and thieves such as the Murrell gang.
Might I not be one of them. I was truly glad when, on the fifth of
December, we landed at St. Louis. It seemed nearer my own country; but
finding no employment there, I embarked on the steamer Motto for
Hennepin, Illinois, where I found occasional employment cutting
timber. There was much talk here of the Murrell gang, then terrorizing
the country; and I have good reason to believe that some of them at
that time were in Hennepin. After remaining about two months, I left,
on foot, valise in hand or strapped upon my back, with J. Simpson, for
Galena, which place we reached in four days. Finding here Mr. Putnam,
with a team, I went up with him on the ice to Prairie du Chien, where,
after an absence of five months of anxiety, suspense and positive
hardships, I was glad to find myself once more among friends.
During the summer of 1838 I cultivated a farm. I had also a hay
contract for the fort. My partner was James C. Bunker. I had worked
hard and succeeded in raising a good crop, but found myself in the
fall the victim of bilious fever and ague. I continued farming in 1839
and furnishing hay to the fort, but continued to suffer with chills
and fever. Myself and partner were both affected, and at times could
scarcely take care of ourselves. Help could not be obtained, but ague
comes so regularly to torture its victims that, knowing the exact hour
of its approach, we could prepare in advance for it, and have our
water, gruel, boneset and quinine ready and within reach. We knew when
we would shake, but not the degree of fever which would follow. The
delirium of the fever would fill our minds with strange fancies. On
one occasion I came home with the ague fit upon me, hitched my horses
with wagon attached to a post and went into the house. Banker had
passed the shaking stage, and was delirious. I threw myself on the
bed, and the fever soon following, I knew nothing till morning, when I
found the team still hitched to the post, and, in their hunger, eating
it.
In November of this year I made a somewhat perilous trip with team to
Fort Winnebago, at the portage of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. The
weather was cold and the military road, much of the distance, covered
with snow. There was scarcely a trail over the rolling prairie to
guide me. Exposure brought on the chills as I was returning. Fatigued,
sick and suffering, I coiled myself on the top of the load. The second
day, as the sun was setting, I came in sight of Parish's Grove, but
the horses were unwilling to obey my guidance. Coming to a fork in the
road they insisted on going to the right. I pulled them to the left.
Had I been guided by their "horse sense" they would have brought me in
a few moments to the door of Parish's hotel. As it was, I drove on
until far in the night, when we came to a steep hill, two steep for
descent in the wagon. I unhitched the team, loaded them with the
portable things in the wagon to keep them from the wolves that were
howling around, mounted one of the horses and descended the hill and
found myself at Parish's door, the very place I had been trying to
find for a day and a night. Lieut. Caldwell, quartermaster at Fort
Crawford, received the load, and learning something of the perils of
the journey, gave me eighty dollars instead of the forty he had
promised.
RETURN TO MAINE.
During the spring and summer of 1840, I fulfilled heavy hay and wood
contracts for the fort, and in the autumn of that year concluded to
revisit my early home in Maine. I set out September 23d, and reached
Chicago in seven days, traveling with a team. I traveled thence by
steamer to Buffalo, by canal boat to Rochester, by railroad and stage
to Albany and Boston, by railroad to Lowell, and by stage to Tamworth,
New Hampshire. After spending four years amidst the prairies of the
West it was indeed a pleasure to look again upon the grand ranges of
mountains in this part of New England. When eleven years of age I had
lived where I could look upon these mountains, and now to their
grandeur was added the charm of old association. I looked with
pleasure once more upon "Old Ossipee," Coroway Peak, and White Face.
Time had written no changes upon these rugged mountains. There were
cottages and farms on the mountain side. Sparkling rivulets gleamed in
the sunlight, as they found their way, leaping from rock to rock, to
the valleys beneath. Tamworth is situated on beautiful ridges amongst
these mountain ranges. Near this place is the old family burying
ground containing the graves of my grand parents and other near
relatives. These mountain peaks seemed to stand as sentinels over
their last resting place. I remained at Tamworth a short time, visited
the graves of my kindred, and on October 20th pursued my journey to
Bloomfield, Maine, my old home. I found great changes. Some kind
friends remained, but others were gone. The old home was changed and I
felt that I could not make my future home here. The great West seemed
more than ever attractive. There would I build my home, and seek my
fortune. I found here one who was willing to share that home and
whatever fortune awaited me in the West. On January 1st I was married
to Mary J. Wyman, by Rev. Arthur Drinkwater, who gave us good counsel
on the eve of our departure to a new and still wilderness country. On
February 16th we bade adieu to our friends in Maine, visited awhile at
Tamworth, and March 20th reached Prairie du Chien, having traveled by
private conveyance, stage and steamer, passing through New Haven, New
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Frederick City, Maryland, over the
National road to Wheeling, Virginia, by steamer down the Ohio and up
the Mississippi to our destination. Here we made our home until the
autumn of 1845, I continuing in the business in which I had been
previously engaged. At this time a failure in my wife's health
rendered a change of climate necessary.
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN IN 1836-37.
Our history of Fifty Years in the Northwest commences properly at
Prairie du Chien in the years 1836-37. The entire country west and
north was at that time but little better than a wilderness. Prairie du
Chien was an outpost of civilization. A few adventurous traders and
missionaries had penetrated the country above, planting a few stations
here and there, and some little effort had been made at settlement,
but the country, for the most part, was the home of roving tribes of
Indians, and he who adventured among them at any distance from posts
or settlements did so at considerable peril. Prairie du Chien, as we
have shown, had been for an indefinite period under various
governments, at first a French, and later an American settlement,
generally under the protection of a military force. It was a primitive
looking village. The houses were built for the most part of upright
timber posts and puncheons, and were surrounded by pickets. There was
no effort at display. Every thing was arranged for comfort and
protection.
AMERICAN RESIDENTS.
There were living at Prairie du Chien in 1837 the following Americans
with their families: Alfred Brunson, Thomas P. Burnett, Joseph M. and
Thomas P. Street, Ezekiel Tainter, John Thomas, Milo Richards, John H.
Fonday, Samuel Gilbert, and William Wilson. The following were
unmarried: James B. Dallam, Ira B. Brunson, William S. Lockwood, and
Hercules Dousman. In addition to these were perhaps near a hundred
French families, old residents. Among the more noted were the
Brisbois, La Chapelle, Rolette and Bruno families.
We include in the following biographical sketches some names of
non-residents, prominent in the early territorial history, and others
who came to Prairie du Chien later than 1837.
BIOGRAPHIES.
JAMES DUANE DOTY.--The life of this eminent citizen is so interwoven
with the history of Wisconsin that it might well claim more space than
is here allotted to it. The plan of this work forbids more than a
brief mention, and we therefore give only the principal events in his
life. Mr. Doty was born in Salem, Washington county, New York, where
he spent his early days. After receiving a thorough literary education
he studied law, and in 1818 located at Detroit, Michigan. In 1820, in
company with Gov. Cass, he made a canoe voyage of exploration through
Lakes Huron and Michigan. On this voyage they negotiated treaties with
the Indians, and returning made a report on the comparatively
unexplored region which they had traversed. Under his appointment as
judge for the counties of Michigan west of the lake, which appointment
he held for nine years, he first made his home at Prairie du Chien,
where he resided one year, thence removing to Green Bay for the
remainder of his term of office, at which place he continued to
reside for a period of twenty years. In 1830 he was appointed one of
the commissioners to locate military routes from Green Bay to Chicago
and Prairie du Chien. In 1834 he represented the counties west of the
lake in the Michigan legislative council at Detroit, at which council
the first legislative action was taken affecting these counties. At
that session he introduced a bill to create the state of Michigan,
which was adopted. The result of this action was the creation of the
territory of Wisconsin in 1836. In 1838 Mr. Doty was chosen
territorial delegate to Congress from Wisconsin, in which capacity he
served four years, when he was appointed governor. He served as
governor three years. He acted as commissioner in negotiating Indian
treaties. In 1846 he was a member of the first constitutional
convention. In 1848 he was elected member of Congress, and was
re-elected in 1851.
Somewhere in the '50s he built a log house on an island in Fox river,
just above Butte des Mortes, and lived there with his family many
years. There he gathered ancient curiosities, consisting of Indian
implements, and relics of the mound builders. This log house still
stands and is kept intact with the curiosities gathered there by the
present owner, John Roberts, to whom they were presented by Mrs.
Fitzgerald, a daughter of Gov. Doty, in 1877. The cabin overlooks the
cities of Menasha and Neenah, and the old council ground at the outlet
of Lake Winnebago, where the Fox and Sioux Indians held annual
councils, also the old battle ground where the Fox Indians routed the
Sioux in one of the hardest fought battles on record.
In 1861 Judge Doty was appointed superintendent of Indian affairs, and
subsequently was appointed governor of Utah Territory, which place he
held until his death in 1865. Wisconsin had no truer friend nor more
faithful and efficient servant. His aims were exalted, and he
deservedly held a high place in the affections of his fellow citizens.
JAMES H. LOCKWOOD.--Mr. Lockwood was the only practicing lawyer at the
organization of Judge Doty's court. He was the pioneer lawyer in
Prairie du Chien, and the first lawyer admitted to the bar in what is
now Wisconsin. He practiced in Crawford, Brown and Mackinaw counties.
He was born in Peru, Clinton county, New York, Dec. 7, 1793. He
married Julia Warren in 1822. She died at Prairie du Chien in 1827.
He married his second wife, Sarah A. Wright, in St. Louis, Missouri,
in 1834. She died at Prairie du Chien in 1877, much esteemed as one of
the pioneer women of the Upper Mississippi, and respected as a devout
Christian, whose faith was proven by her works. The early years of Mr.
Lockwood were spent on a farm. He had not the privileges of a
classical education, and he may be said to be self educated. In 1810
he commenced the study of law. In 1814 he was sutler in the United
States army, and in 1815 at the post at Mackinaw. From 1816 to 1819 he
was an Indian trader, his home being at Prairie du Chien. In 1826
orders came to abandon the fort at Prairie du Chien. The soldiers were
transferred to Fort Snelling, but arms and ammunition were left in
charge of John Marsh, sub-Indian agent. Mr. Lockwood's family was the
only American family at the post. On June 25th of the ensuing year he
left for New York by the Wisconsin River route, Mrs. Lockwood
remaining at home. The Winnebagoes were a little troublesome at this
time, the more so as the soldiers were removed from the post, but no
serious disturbance was anticipated. The first night after leaving
Prairie du Chien Mr. L. met some Winnebagoes, and all camped together
for the night; but the Indians, under their chief, Red Bird, left the
camp stealthily before morning, and, proceeding to Prairie du Chien,
entered the house of Mr. Lockwood with loaded rifles. Mrs. L., greatly
frightened, fled to the store, then in charge of Duncan Graham, an old
English trader. The Indians followed Mrs. L. into the store. Graham
counseled with them and they left. As they were acting suspiciously a
messenger was sent after Mr. Lockwood in haste. He returned on the
twenty-seventh and found the inhabitants assembled, but without
ammunition or means of defense. The Indians told the people not to go
into the fort, as they would destroy it. As the day passed pickets and
embankments were built around an old tavern. About sundown a keelboat
came down the river and landed, bearing three dead bodies and several
wounded. The sides of the boat had been riddled by bullets. This
ghastly arrival increased the panic. Mr. Lockwood urged organization
for defense. He was selected as captain but declined, and Thomas
McNair was chosen, who ordered an immediate removal to the fort.
Repairs were made and preparations for successful defense. On the day
the fighting commenced Red Bird and his companions shot and killed
Gagner and Lipcap. Mrs. Gagner, with rifle in hand, held Red Bird at
bay till she escaped with one child into the rushes, whence she was
rescued by a soldier on patrol duty. The soldier went to the house,
where he found Gagner and Lipcap lying dead upon the floor, and an
infant child, scalped and with its throat cut, lying under the bed.
Gov. Cass, of Michigan, arrived on the fourth of July, greatly to the
relief of the besieged garrison, which he mustered into the service of
the United States, appointing Mr. Lockwood quartermaster. Another
company, under Capt. Abner Field, was sent from Galena to their
relief. Mr. Lockwood sent a messenger to Col. Snelling at Fort
Snelling, who promptly sent down a company in a keelboat. The force
thus concentrated at the fort was sufficient to overcome the Indians,
who were in no plight to engage in a war with the United States. As
the result of a council held by the Winnebagoes in the presence of the
officers of the garrison, the Indians agreed to surrender Red Bird and
Kee-Waw to Maj. Whistler, the Indians asking that the prisoners should
not be ironed or harshly treated. Maj. Whistler promised that they
should be treated with consideration, and Red Bird, rising from the
ground, said, "I am ready," and was marched off with his accomplice,
Kee-Waw, to a tent in the rear and placed under guard. The prisoners
were handed over to Gen. Atkinson, and given into the hands of the
civil authorities. They were chained and imprisoned, which so chafed
the proud spirit of Red Bird that he drooped and soon died of a broken
heart. Kee-Waw was afterward pardoned by the president of the United
States. For this and other outrages perpetrated upon the settlers, not
a single Indian suffered the penalty of death, excepting Red Bird,
whose pride may be said to have been his executioner.
Mr. Lockwood continued in mercantile business at Prairie du Chien many
years. He held many positions of honor and trust, acquitting himself
with credit. He built the first saw mill north of the Wisconsin river,
on the Menomonie river. The famous Menomonie mills now occupy the same
site. A small mill had been commenced prior to this on Black river,
but the Indians had burned this mill before it was completed. Mr.
Lockwood died at his home, Aug. 24, 1867.
JOHN S. LOCKWOOD.--John S., the brother of James H. Lockwood, was
born in 1796 in New York; came to Prairie du Chien in 1838, and
thereafter engaged in merchandising. He was a man of exemplary habits
and a member of the Presbyterian church most of his life. He raised an
interesting family. He died at his home at Prairie du Chien in 1858.
SAMUEL GILBERT settled at Prairie du Chien in 1830. He was of Kentucky
birth, a blacksmith by trade, and a model man in habits. Mr. Gilbert,
in 1842, became one of the proprietors of the Chippewa Falls mill. He
afterward lived at Albany. He followed Mississippi river piloting,
removed to Burlington, Iowa, and died in 1878. Mr. Gilbert left four
sons, Oliver, lumberman in Dunn county, Wisconsin, John and I. Dallam,
lumber merchants at Burlington, Iowa, and Samuel.
MICHAEL BRISBOIS.--We find the names of Brisbois and some others
mentioned in the proceedings of the commission held by Col. Isaac Lee
in 1820, to adjust claims to land in Prairie du Chien and vicinity.
Michael Brisbois testified that he had been a resident of the Prairie
thirty-nine years, which would date his settlement as far back as
1781. Mr. Brisbois lived a stirring and eventful life. He died in
1837, leaving several children. Joseph, the oldest, became a man of
prominence and held many offices in state and church. Charles, the
second son, while yet a boy went to McKenzie river, British
possessions, in the employ of the Northwestern Fur Company, where he
lived thirty years beyond the Arctic circle, and raised a large
family. In 1842 he returned to Prairie du Chien, but his children,
reared in the cold climate of the frozen zone, soon after his return
sickened, and most of them died, unable to endure the change to a
climate so much milder. Bernard W., a third son, was born at Prairie
du Chien, Oct. 4, 1808. He was well educated and grew up a leading and
influential citizen. As a child he had witnessed the taking of Fort
Shelby by the British in 1814, and its recapture as Fort McKay by the
United States troops in 1815. During the Red Bird Indian war he served
as second lieutenant, and for several years was stationed at Fort
Crawford. He was also a prominent agent or confidential adviser in the
fur company which had its headquarters at Prairie du Chien. He was
sheriff of Crawford county and held the office of county treasurer and
other positions of trust. In 1872 President Grant appointed him consul
to Vernier, Belgium, but ill health compelled an early return. Mr.
Brisbois married into the La Chapelle family. He died in 1885, leaving
an interesting family.
PIERRE LAPOINT was also before the commission of Col. Lee as an early
resident, having lived at the Prairie since 1782. The testimony of
these early citizens served to establish the ancient tenure of the
lands by French settlers, a tenure so ancient that no one could
definitely give a date for its commencement. Mr. Lapoint was a farmer.
He reared a large family of children, and died about 1845.
JOSEPH ROLETTE.--Joseph Rolette was at one time chief justice of the
county court of Crawford county. He was of French descent and was born
in Quebec, L. C., in 1787. He was educated for the Catholic
priesthood. In 1804 he came to Prairie du Chien. In the early part of
his mature life he was an active and successful trader with the
Indians on the Upper Mississippi. He was a man of keen perceptions and
considerable ambition. He joined the British at the siege of Detroit,
and was an officer at the capture of Mackinaw. He was in command of a
company in the campaign of the British from Mackinaw to Prairie du
Chien, and aided in taking the American stockade. His early education
and associations inclined him to espouse the British cause during the
war of 1812, which he did with all the ardor and enthusiasm of his
nature. To his family he was kind and indulgent, giving his children
the best education possible. One daughter, married to Capt. Hoe, of
the United States army, was a very superior woman. One son, Joseph,
received all the aid that money could give, and might have risen to
distinction, but he early contracted intemperate habits which became
in later life tenaciously fixed. This son was at one time a member of
the Minnesota legislature. Joseph Rolette, Sr., died at Prairie du
Chien in 1842.
HERCULES DOUSMAN.--The leading Indian trader of the Upper Mississippi,
the prominent adviser at Indian treaties and payments and the trusted
agent of the American Fur Company, was Hercules Dousman, a keen,
shrewd man, and universally influential with the Indians, with whom it
might be said his word was law. He understood all the intricacies
involved in the Indian treaty and the half-breed annuities and
payments. His extended favors and credits to the Indians, properly
proven, of course, would be recognized and paid at the regular
payments. He accumulated through these agencies great wealth, which
he retained to his dying day. He came to Prairie du Chien, in the
employ of Joseph Rolette, in 1828. He afterward married the widow of
Rolette. He died in Prairie du Chien in 1878.
REV. DAVID LOWRY.--A noble, big hearted Kentuckian, a minister of the
Cumberland Presbyterian church, he was located by the government as
farmer and teacher of the Indians on Yellow river, near Prairie du
Chien, in 1833. For years this good man labored with unquestioned zeal
for the welfare of the untutored Indian. Mr. Lowry informed me, while
at his post, that he was fearful that all his labor was labor lost, or
worse than useless. The Indian pupil learned just enough to fit him
for the worst vices. The introduction of whisky was a corrupting
agency, in itself capable of neutralizing every effort for the moral
and intellectual advancement of the Indian, with whom intoxication
produces insanity. He felt quite disheartened as to the prospect of
accomplishing any good. He died at St. Cloud some time in the '50s.
CHIEF JUSTICE CHARLES DUNN.--When Wisconsin Territory was organized in
1836, Charles Dunn was appointed chief justice. He served as judge
until Wisconsin became a state in 1848. He was of Irish descent and
was born in Kentucky in 1799. He studied law in Kentucky and Illinois,
and was admitted to practice in 1820 at Jonesboro, Illinois. He was
chief clerk of the Illinois house of representatives five years. He
was one of the commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan canal. In
1829 he was one of a party which surveyed and platted the first town
of Chicago, and superintended the first sale of town lots there. He
was captain of a company during the Black Hawk War in 1832, and was
severely wounded through mistake by a sentinel on duty. In 1835 he was
a member of the Illinois house of representatives. In 1837, as judge,
he held his first court in Crawford county. In this court, in 1838,
indictments were found against certain individuals for selling liquor
to whites and Indians contrary to law, when, by evasions, continuances
and technicalities, the suits would go by the board. In one case the
charge given to the jury by this dignified and courteous Judge Dunn
was as follows: "Gentlemen of the Jury: Unless you are satisfied that
the defendants in this case did deal out, in clear, unadulterated
quantities, intoxicating drinks, it is your imperative duty to
discharge them." The jury, of course, discharged the defendants.
Aside from his drinking habits, which interfered much with his
usefulness, he was a genial gentleman and regarded by his associates
as an eminent jurist. He sometimes kept the court waiting till he
should become sober, and on one occasion came near losing his life in
a drunken spree. He jumped through an upper window of Tainter's hotel,
and escaped with only a broken leg. Judge Dunn was a member of the
second Wisconsin constitutional convention. He was state senator in
1853-4-5 and 6. He died at Mineral Point, April 7, 1872.
REV. ALFRED BRUNSON, a distinguished pioneer preacher in the West, was
born in Connecticut, 1793, and received there a common school
education. His father died while he was yet a minor, and with
commendable zeal and filial love he devoted himself to providing for
his mother and her bereaved family, working at the trade of a
shoemaker till he was seventeen years of age, when he enlisted as a
soldier under Gen. Harrison and served under him until the peace of
1815, when he entered the Methodist ministry, in which, by industry
and close application, he became quite learned and eminent as a
divine. His active ministry extended to the long period of sixty-seven
years. He was the first Methodist minister north of the Wisconsin
river. In 1837 he established a mission at Kaposia and thence removed
to Red Rock (Newport), in Washington county, Minnesota. In 1840 he was
a member of the Wisconsin legislature. In 1842 he was Indian agent at
Lapointe, on Lake Superior. Mr. Brunson was very prominent in the
councils of his own church, having represented his conference several
times in the general conference of that body. He is also the author of
many essays and other publications, among them "The Western Pioneer,"
in two volumes, a most entertaining and instructive account of life in
the West.
Mr. Brunson was married to Eunice Burr, a relative of the famous Aaron
Burr. She was a woman of great intelligence and of excellent qualities
of heart as well as mind. Her heart overflowed with sympathy for the
sick and distressed, and she won by her care for them the affectionate
title of "Mother Brunson." She died in 1847.
Rev. Alfred Brunson, though an itinerant, was so favored in his
various fields of labor that he was able to have his permanent home
at Prairie du Chien, where he lived from 1835 until the time of his
death in 1882.
Many incidents in Mr. Brunson's career are worthy of permanent record.
He was among the most hardy and daring of the pioneers. He came down
the Ohio and up the Mississippi in a barge to Prairie du Chien in
1835, the barge laden with household furniture and the material for a
frame building which, on landing, he proceeded immediately to erect.
This house, which he and his family occupied till his death, is still
standing.
When he established his mission at Kaposia he was greatly in need of
an interpreter. An officer at Fort Snelling owned a negro slave who
had been a Methodist before going into the army in the service of his
master. Afterward he had married a Dakota woman and by associating
with the Indians had learned their language. This young negro, James
Thompson, was a slave, and Mr. Brunson could only secure his services
by purchasing him outright, which he did, paying the price of $1,200,
the money for which was raised by subscription in Ohio. "Jim" was
presented with his "free papers," and was soon interpreting the Gospel
to the Indians at Kaposia. This is the only instance on record of a
slave being sold on Minnesota soil. It will be remembered, however,
that the historical "DRED SCOTT" was also the property of an officer
at the Fort, Surgeon Emerson. James Thompson resided in St. Paul in
the later years of his life, and died there in 1884.
IRA BRUNSON.--Ira, the eldest son of Rev. A. Brunson, was born in Ohio
in 1815, and came to Prairie du Chien in 1836. He was a member of the
legislature during the years 1837-38-39 and 40. He was also postmaster
many years. He was continuously in office in Crawford county until his
death in 1884. In 1840 he was appointed special deputy United States
marshal for the purpose of removing the settlers from the Fort
Snelling reservation. These settlers were mostly from Selkirk,
Manitoba. They had been driven out by the grasshoppers and, fleeing
southward, had settled about Fort Snelling to be under the protection
of the Fort. The government, however, considered them intruders and
ordered Mr. Brunson to remove them outside the reservation, and to
destroy all their dwellings and farm improvements, which disagreeable
duty he performed as well, perhaps, as it could be performed; he, as
he afterward told me, being satisfied in his own mind that the
removal would be for their ultimate good, the influences of the Fort
and of the associations of the motley crowd of hangers on around it
being somewhat demoralizing. At any rate the eviction of these western
Acadians has never aroused the sympathies of the poet and
sentimentalist as did that of the Acadians of the East.
JOHN H. FOLSOM, brother of W. H. C. Folsom, was born in Machias,
Maine, Dec. 27, 1813. He was engaged during his youth in clerking. In
1835 he made a voyage as supercargo of a vessel to the Congo coast. In
1836 he came to Michigan, and in 1837 to Prairie du Chien, where he
has since continuously resided. He was married in 1839 to Angelica
Pion, who died in 1878, leaving no children. He has a very retentive
memory, and is quoted as an authority in the local history of Prairie
du Chien. The writer is indebted to him for many particulars referring
to the early history of that city.
EZEKIEL TAINTER.--Mr. Tainter came to Prairie du Chien in 1833 from
Vermont. He had at first fort contracts, but afterward engaged in
merchandising, farming and hotel keeping. He also served as sheriff.
He was eccentric and original in his methods, and some amusing stories
are told of his prowess in arresting criminals. On one occasion he was
about to arrest a criminal. Having summoned his _posse_, he followed
the man until he took refuge in a cabin with one door and two windows.
Stationing his men before the door, he thus addressed them: "Brave
boys, I am about to go through this door. If I fall, as I undoubtedly
will, you must rush over my dead body and seize the ruffian." Giving
the word of command, he plunged through the door and captured the
criminal, apparently much astonished at finding himself still alive.
At his tavern, one morning, a boarder announced that he had been
robbed. Uncle Zeke quieted him, and, quickly examining his rooms,
found one boarder missing. It was gray twilight. He ordered all to
retire but the man who had been robbed. The two sat quietly down as
they saw a man approaching the house from the bluffs. To their
surprise it was the absentee approaching. As he stepped on the piazza,
Uncle Zeke dexterously tripped him up with his stiff leg, and seizing
him by the throat, shouted to the astonished miscreant: "Where is the
money you stole? Tell me at once, or you will never get up." The
prostrate culprit, thoroughly frightened, tremblingly answered, "I
hid it in the bluff." They marched him to the spot, recovered the
money and generously allowed the thief his freedom on the condition of
his leaving the country. Uncle Zeke lived to a good old age, and died
at the residence of his son Andrew, in Menomonie, Wisconsin.
WYRAM KNOWLTON.--Mr. Knowlton was born in Chenango county, New York,
in 1816, came to Wisconsin in 1837, and commenced the study of law. He
was admitted to practice in Platteville, and in 1840 came to Prairie
du Chien and opened a law office. In 1846 he enlisted and served in
the Mexican War, after which he resumed practice. In 1850 he was
appointed judge of the Sixth Judicial district of Wisconsin, and
served six years. He held the first court in Pierce county in 1854. He
was a man of fine ability. He died in the north part of the State in
1873.
ROBERT LESTER.--A melancholy interest attaches to the memory of this
man on account of his early tragical death. He had come to Prairie du
Chien in 1840, and in 1842 had been elected sheriff. Next year his
official duties called him to the Menomonie and Chippewa valleys. On
his return he had left Lockwood's mills on the Menomonie, and had
passed through Trempealeau and was coasting along the west shore, when
an Indian hailed him, calling for bread. Lester passed on without
responding. As he reached a point of land the Indian ran across the
point and, awaiting his approach, shot him through the heart. Lester
rose as the ball struck him, and fell overboard. Mr. Jean Bruno,
proprietor of the Chippewa mills, was on his way up river in a canoe,
and witnessed the whole transaction. Mr. Bruno described the whole
tragic scene. Popular excitement ran high at Prairie du Chien. A party
of men volunteered to search for Lester's body, which was found at the
place of the murder and brought back for interment at Prairie du
Chien. The Indian, a Sioux, was arrested and kept in jail a long time,
and although he had acknowledged to some of his Indian friends that he
had killed Lester, he was acquitted. It was a cold blooded and
atrocious murder, and the proof of the Indian's guilt was
overwhelming, as he was, by his own confession, the murderer; still he
was not punished. In this case the prisoner did not languish and die
in jail of a broken heart as did Red Bird, the murderer of Gagner and
Lipcap. As a rule the courts dealt very leniently with Indian
criminals.
THOMAS PENDLETON BURNETT was born in Virginia in 1800. He studied law
and was admitted to the bar in Paris, Kentucky. He was appointed
sub-Indian agent under J. M. Street, in 1829. He came to Prairie du
Chien in 1830 and entered upon the duties of the agency. He also
practiced law. In 1835 he was a member of the Michigan territorial
council and its president. In 1836, after his term of office expired,
he married a daughter of Alfred Brunson and, continuing the practice
of law, became quite eminent for his skill, and acquired an extensive
practice. He was a fluent speaker, well skilled in the management of
the cases intrusted to his care. In 1840 he removed to a farm at Patch
Grove, Grant county. He was a member of the Wisconsin constitutional
convention which met in 1846. He served but a few weeks when he was
called home by the death of his mother and the sickness of his wife.
The fatigue of a twenty-four hours' ride of eighty-five miles in a
rude lumber wagon was too much for his not very rugged constitution,
and four days after his mother's death he followed her to the world of
spirits. His devoted wife survived him but three hours. Under
circumstances of such unusual sadness did this brilliant and promising
lawyer and citizen take his departure from earth. His death created a
profound sensation throughout the entire Northwest, where he was so
well and favorably known.
HENRY DODGE, the first governor of Wisconsin Territory, was born in
Vincennes, Indiana, Oct. 12, 1782. He came to the lead mines of
Wisconsin in 1828. In 1832 he took part in the Black Hawk War, an
uprising of the Sac and Fox Indians against the United States
government. Mr. Dodge participated as a general at the battle of Bad
Axe, his regiment occupying the front rank in that battle. April 30,
1836, he was appointed governor of Wisconsin by President Andrew
Jackson, reappointed in 1839 by President Van Buren, and by President
Polk in 1845, serving three terms. From 1841 to 1845, during the
presidency of Harrison and his successor (Tyler), he served as
territorial delegate to Congress. In 1848 he was elected United States
senator for the short term, and re-elected in 1851, Senator Walker
being his colleague. On the occasion of the motion to admit
California, the Wisconsin senators were instructed by the legislature
to vote against the measure. Senator Walker disregarded the
instruction and voted for the measure. Senator Dodge, although
extremely ill at the time, had himself carried to the senate chamber
that he might record his vote adversely to the bill. Gov. Dodge rose
to the highest position in his State, and chiefly by his own unaided
efforts. As a soldier he was brave and efficient, as a governor,
congressional delegate and senator he was clear headed, cautious and
wise, and altogether a citizen of whom the State might justly be
proud. He died in Burlington, Iowa, June 19, 1867.
GEORGE W. JONES was born in Vincennes, Indiana. He graduated at
Transylvania University, Kentucky, in 1825. He was educated for the
law, but ill health prevented him from practicing. He, however, served
as clerk of the United States district court in Missouri in 1826, and
during the Black Hawk War served as aid-de-camp to Gen. Dodge. In 1832
he was appointed colonel of militia, and was promoted to a major
generalship. After the war he served as judge of a county court. In
1835 he was elected delegate to Congress from the territory of
Michigan, or from that part of it lying west of Lake Michigan, and
remained a delegate until the formation of Wisconsin Territory, in
1836, when he was elected delegate from the new territory. In 1839 he
was appointed surveyor general for Wisconsin. He was removed in 1841,
but reappointed by President Polk, and continued in office until
elected senator from the state of Iowa, which position he held for six
years, and was then appointed by President Buchanan minister to New
Granada. During the Civil War his sympathies were with the South and
he was imprisoned for awhile at Fort Warren under a charge of
disloyalty. He has resided in Dubuque, Iowa, since the formation of
Iowa Territory. He still lives, a hale and hearty old gentleman, and
served as a delegate to the waterways convention held in St. Paul,
September, 1880.
S. G. AND S. L. TAINTER AND JOHN THOMAS (father of Hon. Ormsby Thomas,
representative from Wisconsin in the Congress of 1887-88) with their
families came to Prairie du Chien in 1837. The Messrs. Tainter and
Thomas died many years ago.
CHAPTER II.
STILLWATER AND ST. CROIX COUNTY.
In September, 1844, reluctantly I bade adieu to Prairie du Chien with
its picturesque bluffs and historic associations, and embarked on the
steamer Highland Mary, Capt. Atchison, to seek a home and more
salubrious climate further north. The voyage was without incident
worthy of note, till we reached St. Croix lake, in the midst of a
crashing thunder storm and a deluge of rain, which did not prevent us
from eagerly scanning the scenery of the lake. The shores were as yet
almost without inhabitants. The home of Paul Carli, a two story house
at the mouth of Bolles creek, was the first dwelling above Prescott,
on the west side of the lake. A few French residences were to be seen
above on the west side. On the east bank, below the mouth of Willow
river, where Hudson is now situated, were three log houses owned by
Peter Bouchea, Joseph Manesse, and Louis Massey. On the high hill
west, nearly opposite Willow river, stood the farm house of Elam
Greely, and on the same side, on the point, in full view of
Stillwater, stood the farm house of John Allen. With the exception of
these few dwellings, the shores of the lake were untouched by the hand
of man, and spread before us in all their primitive beauty. There were
gently rounded hills sloping to the water's edge, and crowned with
groves of shrubby oak, amidst which, especially at the outlet of
streams into the lake, the darker pines stood out boldly against the
sky. We passed on over the clear, blue expanse of water on which was
no floating thing save our boat and the wild fowl which were scared
and flew away at our approach, till we reached the head of the lake at
Stillwater, the end of our journey. November 30th my family arrived on
the steamer Cecilia, Capt. Throckmorton.
STILLWATER IN 1845.
We landed just in front of the store of nelson & co. just below the
landing was a clear, cold spring, bubbling out of the earth, or the
rock rather. It was walled in and pretty well filled with speckled
trout. On the opposite side of the street Walter R. Vail had a house
and store; north of Vail's store the house and store of Socrates
Nelson. Up Main street, west side, stood Anson Northrup's hotel and
Greely & Blake's post office and store. One street back was the
residence of John E. Mower, and north of this the mill boarding house,
and in the rear the shanty store of the mill company, where the Sawyer
House now stands. Up a ravine stood the shanty residence of John
Smith. In a ravine next to Nelson & Co.'s store was the residence of
Wm. Cove. On Main street, opposite Greely & Blake's store, was the
residence of Albert Harris. On the shore of the lake, north of
Chestnut street, was John McKusick's saw mill. Sylvester Stateler's
blacksmith shop stood just south of the mill. In Brown's Dakotah, now
Schulenberg's addition, near the old log court house, was a log hotel,
kept by Robert Kennedy. This was Stillwater in 1845.
ST. CROIX COUNTY.
From 1819 to 1836 this valley was under the jurisdiction of Crawford
county, Michigan, there being no white inhabitants save Indian
traders. There was no law dispensed in this region, excepting the law
that might makes right. In 1836 the territory of Wisconsin, comprising
all of Michigan west of the great lakes; also all that portion of
Missouri Territory out of which was formed the state of Iowa, which
was organized as a territory in 1838, and admitted as a state in 1846;
also that portion of Minnesota which lies west of the present
state--yet unorganized--known as Dakota, was organized.
The year 1837 forms a new era in our history. Gov. Henry Dodge, of
Wisconsin, on the part of the national government, was appointed to
negotiate with the Ojibways. They met at Fort Snelling. A treaty was
made, the Indians ceding to the United States all their lands east of
the Mississippi, to near the headwaters of the St. Croix and Chippewa
rivers.
A deputation of Dakotas at Washington, the same year, ceded all their
lands east of the Mississippi to the parent government, thus opening
to settlement all this portion of Minnesota and Wisconsin. But few
adventurers made their way into this far off region, however, for many
years. A steamer once in two months was the only mode of travel,
excepting by birch canoe.
In October, 1837, at Prairie du Chien, I met a party who had ascended
the Mississippi and the St. Croix as far as St. Croix Falls. According
to their account they had found the place where creation ended, where
a large river, capable of bearing a steamer, burst out of a rock like
that which Moses smote. They had seen "the elephant with his quills
erect," and were returning satisfied to their New England home. They
had entered the since famous Dalles of the St. Croix, located at the
head of navigation on that river.
In the year 1838, being the year succeeding the purchase of the lands
bordering on the St. Croix river and a portion of her tributaries, may
be dated the commencement of the settlement of the St. Croix valley;
but with the exception of the Hon. Joseph R. Brown, the parties that I
shall enumerate as opening business, came here for the purpose of
lumbering, and in no instance as permanent settlers. The valley was
considered too far north and the soil too sterile for cultivation, but
many of those who came here in 1838 found out their mistake and made
choice of the valley for their permanent homes. They were afterward
abundantly satisfied with the healthfulness of the climate and the
fertility of the soil. Several companies were formed this year for the
ostensible purpose of lumbering, many members of which became
permanent settlers.
The first dismemberment of the St. Croix valley from Crawford county
was by the organization of the county of St. Croix. Joseph R. Brown
was elected representative to the legislature, from the north part of
Crawford county. His residence at that time was Gray Cloud, now in
Washington county. Mr. Brown introduced the bill for the organization
of St. Croix county, which passed and was approved by the governor of
Wisconsin, Jan. 9, 1840. The writer of these sketches was employed by
Messrs. Brown and Brunson (the representatives from this district), in
December, 1839, to take them with a team from Prairie du Chien to
Madison. One of the indispensable requirements for traveling in those
days was a large "Black Betty," which was the butt of much wit and
humor. Mr. Brown said the contents of Old Betty must establish a new
county away up in the Northwest. The deed was done--the act did pass.
I don't know whether Old Betty came back to assist in organizing the
county or not. It is well to say Mr. Brown acquitted himself with
honor to his constituents, and was successful in the one great object
for which he sought the election. This was the precursor to coming
events--a shadow cast before. For it was under this organization that
Northwest Wisconsin and Minnesota first obeyed the mandates of law and
order.
Under the provision of the act of organization, Hazen Mooers, of Gray
Cloud, Samuel Burkelo, of Marine, and Joseph R. Brown, of Dakotah,
were constituted a board of county commissioners with county seat
located at Dakotah.
This town was located at the head of Lake St. Croix, on the west side,
on unsurveyed government lands, known as "Joe Brown's Claim." When the
Wisconsin legislature of 1840 made this the county seat of St. Croix
county it was named Dakotah.
JUDGE IRWIN'S COURT IN 1840.
The first district court north of Prairie du Chien was called at
Dakotah, St. Croix county. This county had been assigned to Judge
Irwin's district (Green Bay). The time assigned for the court was
June, 1840. Judge Irwin wended his way up Fox river to the portage,
down the Wisconsin to Prairie du Chien, up the Mississippi to St.
Paul, and across from St. Paul to Dakotah with guides. At Dakotah the
regular officers were all absent, but he found at the court house two
young men named Brown and six Frenchmen from St. Paul and Little
Canada, summoned as jurors by Sheriff Lawrence. Judge Irwin remained
one night, slept in deer skins in the county building, subsisting
meanwhile on venison and bear steak. No calendar was to be found and
the judge and jurors left for home.
The first commissioners' meeting was held Oct. 5, 1840. At this
meeting much important work was done. An acre of ground at the county
seat was selected for county buildings. A contract to erect a court
house according to specifications was let to J. R. Brown, he to
receive for the same eight hundred dollars. The parties agreed upon a
deed or conveyance of ground, a synopsis of which we append. The
conveyance cites and reiterates a Wisconsin legislative law
establishing St. Croix county, giving to the people the right to
locate the county seat by vote and to the county commissioners power
to erect county buildings, the selected location to be the permanent
seat of justice of said county. It further provides that the county
commissioners shall carry into effect the law of Congress of the
United States, entitled "An act granting to counties or parishes, in
which public lands are situate, the right of pre-emption to one-fourth
section of land, for seats of justice within the same." Approved May
20, 1824. It then cites the vote taken Aug. 5, 1840, locating the
county seat at "Brown's warehouse, at the head of Lake St. Croix."
Further conditions are set forth in compliance with the law,
confirming the location on Joseph R. Brown's land claim. This is the
first recorded deed in St. Croix county.
Thirty dollars was allowed to J. R. Brown and W. B. Dibble, each, for
carrying election returns to Prairie du Chien. The first abstract of
votes polled in St. Croix county was for delegate to Congress and for
county officers. For delegate to Congress the following vote was cast:
Henry Dodge, seventeen; Jonathan E. Arnold, ten. Samuel Burkelo, Hazen
Mooers and W. B. Dibble were elected county commissioners; William
Holcombe, county treasurer and register of deeds; Phineas Lawrence,
sheriff; J. R. Brown, county clerk and clerk of court, and Philander
Prescott, assessor.
The first recorded deed of property in Stillwater was from Walter R.
Vail to Rufus S. King, transferring for a consideration of $1,550 a
tract bounded east by Lake St. Croix and south and north by lands
owned by Churchill and Nelson.
Three election precincts had been established in this portion of
Crawford county prior to the organization of St. Croix county:
Caw-caw-baw-kank, embracing the county adjacent to St. Croix Falls;
Dakotah, the county at the head of Lake St. Croix, and Chan-wak-an the
Gray Cloud settlement, on the Mississippi.
On July 5, 1841, the commissioners held a meeting and established
voting precincts as follows:
_Gray Cloud_--Judges of election, Hazen Mooers, David Howe, Joseph
Haskell.
_Mouth of St. Croix Lake_--Judges of election, P. Prescott, Oscar P.
Burris, John Burke.
_Marine Mills_--Judges of election, Asa Parker, Samuel Burkelo, T.
Harrington.
_Falls of St. Croix_--Judges of election, Joseph W. Furber, Joshua L.
Taylor, Jesse Taylor.
_Pokegama_--Judges of election, Jeremiah Russell, E. Myers, E. L. Ely.
Feb. 2, 1844, St. Paul and Stillwater were made election precincts by
the Wisconsin legislature, and Stillwater was made the county seat.
The constituted authorities were not successful in making out
assessments and collecting county revenues. The first estimate of
expenditures for the county was for 1842, and amounted to $482. This
included the estimate for holding one term of court. Up to the time of
changing the county seat to Stillwater much dissatisfaction existed as
to the manner in which the county finances had been managed, and there
was a general revolt, a refusal to pay taxes. In consequence, the
county building at Dakotah remained unfinished and was finally
abandoned by the county authorities. J. R. Brown lost on his contract
on account of this failure and abandonment. The first successful
collection of taxes in St. Croix county, considered legal, was in
1845. Capt. Wm. Holcombe acted during this period as clerk of the
commissioners, and register of deeds. In 1846 he deputized W. H. C.
Folsom as deputy clerk and register of deeds, and transmitted the
records from St. Croix Falls to Stillwater.
[A]
EARLY HISTORY OF STILLWATER.
In the spring of 1843 Jacob Fisher made a claim on unsurveyed lands at
the head of Lake St. Croix, immediately south of Dakotah, spotting and
blazing the trees to mark the limits of his claim. Mr. Fisher thought
it a good site for a saw mill, and made an offer to Elias McKean and
Calvin F. Leach of the entire claim on condition that they would build
a mill. McKusick and Greely were looking for a mill site; Mr. Fisher
referred them to McKean and Leach. It was agreed that the four should
take the claim and erect the mill. Greely improved and held the
claim, while McKusick went to St. Louis and procured mill irons and
supplies. McKean and Leach operated in the pinery. By April 1, 1844,
the mill was finished and in operation. This was the first frame
building erected in Stillwater. It stood on the lake shore, east of
Main street, lot 8, block 18. The second frame building was McKusick's
boarding house, west of Main street, on block 18. John Allen's family
was the first to locate in Stillwater. Mr. Allen came in the spring of
1844, and subsequently removed to California. The second family was
that of Anson Northrup coming soon after. Mr. Northrup built a public
house on the west side of Main street, just north of Nelson's alley.
Soon afterward came widow Edwards and family from Ohio, relatives of
the Northrups; Mrs. Northrup being a daughter of widow Edwards.
Socrates Nelson came about this time and built the first store in
Stillwater. His family joined him soon afterward. The first marriage
was that of Jesse Taylor and Abbie Edwards, J. W. Furber, Esq.,
officiating justice. The second marriage was that of William Cove to
Nancy Edwards in May, 1845. The first white child born was Willie
Taylor, son of Jesse Taylor, in 1845. A daughter, Maud Maria, was born
to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Carli in Dakotah (Schulenburg's addition to
Stillwater), in 1843.
Stillwater derives its name from its appropriate location on the banks
of the still waters of Lake St. Croix. A post office was established
in 1845, and Elam Greely was appointed postmaster. The first business
partnership was that of the saw mill company, already noted. We give
here in full the articles of agreement as the first written and the
oldest on record in Washington county. This document is important not
only as fixing a date for the origin or founding of Stillwater, but as
an important event, as it thus early laid the foundation of the future
prosperity of the city, and indicated the direction in which its
energies should be chiefly turned:
[_Copy of Agreement._]
This agreement, made and entered into this twenty-sixth day of
October, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and forty-three, by the
following named individuals, viz.: John McKusick, Elias McKean, Elam
Greely, and Calvin F. Leach, for the purpose of building a saw mill
near the head of Lake St. Croix, Wisconsin Territory, and for carrying
on the lumbering business in all its various branches.
_Article first_--It is understood by this agreement, that the
heretofore named individuals form themselves into a company to
continue and exist by the name of the Stillwater Lumber Company.
_Article second_--It is agreed to by the heretofore named individuals,
that the whole amount of property owned and business done by the
aforesaid company shall be included in fifteen shares, and to be
divided and owned by each individual of the aforesaid company as
follows, viz.: John McKusick, five-fifteenths; Elias McKean,
three-fifteenths; Elam Greely, four-fifteenths; and Calvin F. Leach,
three-fifteenths.
_Article third_--It is furthermore understood, that each proprietor of
the aforesaid company shall pay his proportion of all the expenses
arising from all the business done or transacted by the aforesaid
company, and to continue the same ratio, so long a time as said
company shall exist and continue to do business under the present
form, and likewise any gain or loss, arising or accruing from any or
all of the business done by the aforesaid company, shall be shared or
sustained by each proprietor of the aforesaid company, in the same
ratio as above named, in proportion to each above named proprietor's
share of stock owned in the aforesaid company.
_Article fourth_--It is furthermore agreed to, that the whole amount
of money or property that each or either of the proprietors of the
aforesaid company shall invest, advance, or pay for the benefit or use
of the aforesaid company, the same amount shall be credited to the
separate credit of the proprietor or either of the proprietors of the
aforesaid company making such investments, on the books of accounts
kept by the aforesaid company.
_Article fifth_--It is furthermore understood, that for the amount of
money or property that any one of the proprietors of the aforesaid
company shall invest, advance, or pay for the benefit or use of the
aforesaid company, more than his proportional share of the whole
amount of money or property invested by the aforesaid company, the
same amount of money, with interest, shall be paid or refunded back to
said proprietor by the aforesaid company, out of the first proceeds
arising from the business done by the company aforesaid.
_Article sixth_--It is furthermore understood, that in case any one of
the aforesaid proprietors should at any time hereafter be disposed to
sell, transfer or dispose of his share of stock owned in the aforesaid
company, he shall first pay to said company all the liabilities or
indebtedness of said share of stock, and then give said company the
preference of purchasing and owning said share of stock, at the same
rates by which said proprietor may have an opportunity to sell said
shares of stock.
_Article seventh_--It is furthermore understood that the proprietors
of the aforesaid company, individually, shall have no right, or power,
to sign any obligation or due bill, make any contract, or transact any
business of importance in the name of, or binding on, the aforesaid
company, except some one proprietor of the aforesaid company should
hereafter be fully authorized by the aforesaid company to act and
transact business as agent for the aforesaid company.
In testimony whereof, we hereunto set our hands and seals this
twenty-sixth day of October, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and
forty-three.
JOHN MCKUSICK,
ELAM GREELY,
ELIAS MCKEAN,
C. F. LEACH.
Attest: C. SIMONDS.
This agreement and dates are taken from the original book of records
in the possession of John McKusick.
After this agreement was signed, until Mr. McKusick became the sole
owner, the business was conducted by mutual agreement, there being no
constituted agent, except in case of an emergency.
The mill boarding house, a two story building, erected in 1845, was
burned in 1846, and immediately rebuilt. In 1846 J. H. Brewster built
a small store. McKusick's store was built the same year, on the
southwest corner of Main and Myrtle streets. Some smaller buildings
were erected this year.
In 1845 a verbal agreement was made with regard to land claims, by
which Brown's claim was recognized as extending along the lake shore
north of Battle Hollow, where the Minnesota state prison now stands.
South of Battle Hollow, along the lake shore to Nelson, extending
three-fourths of a mile west, was the claim of the mill company,
originally held by Fisher. South of Nelson's alley, one-half mile down
the lake, three-fourths of a mile west, was S. Nelson's claim. When
the government survey was made these claims and lines were amicably
adjusted and confirmed. A congressional law was in existence making
provisions for villages and cities built on unsurveyed lands, that
such lands should be equitably divided and surveyed into lots, and the
actual settler or occupant should be protected in his rights.
In May, 1846, a desire was expressed by citizens of St. Paul and
Stillwater for the opening of new roads between these cities. The
traveled road up to that time was by Haskell's and Bissell's Mounds.
Louis Roberts and the writer examined a route by White Bear lake. A
road was established south of this route in June.
In July I started up the St. Croix river with Joseph Brewster, in a
batteau, to put up hay for Elam Greely on Kanabec river. We poled our
batteau with outfit and camped where now stands the village of
Franconia. The next morning early we entered the picturesque Dalles of
the St. Croix, then cordelled our boat over Baker's falls, and landed
at the village of St. Croix Falls. This village, the first American
settlement on the St. Croix, had one large mill with six saws. The
water power was utilized by means of a permanent dam with massive
piers. A warehouse was perched in a romantic situation amidst the
cliffs of the Dalles and furnished with a tramway or wooden railway
extending to the summit of the cliffs, for the transportation of
goods. A boarding house dubbed the "Barlow House," another the "Soap
Grease Exchange," and a few small tenement houses, constituted the
village. The leading business men were James Purinton, Wm. Holcombe,
Joseph Bowron and Lewis Barlow. We spent half a day in making a
portage around the St. Croix falls. The wind being fair, on the third
day we sailed as far as Sunrise island. At Wolf creek we passed an
Indian trading post. In front of Sunrise island and on the west side
of the St. Croix river, a little below the mouth of Sunrise river,
stood the trading post of Maurice M. Samuels, long known as one of the
most remarkable and notorious men on the frontier. He was a Jew, but
had married a Chippewa woman, claiming that he had married one of his
own people, the Indians being, according to his theory, descendants of
the Lost Tribes of Israel.
On the sixth day we came to the farm of Jeremiah Russell, on Pokegama
lake. We found him a pleasant gentleman, engaged as an Indian farmer.
We paddled across the lake to the Presbyterian mission. Mr. Boutwell,
the superintendent, was absent. The mission was pleasantly located,
the management was excellent, the crops were in fair condition, and
well cultivated. Everything about the mission betokened good
management. Next day we went to a hay meadow opposite the mouth of
Ground House creek, where we put up on this and adjacent meadows sixty
tons of hay. We left on the twenty-fourth, camping the first night at
Chengwatana. On the morning of the twenty-fifth, while passing down
Kanabec river, our ears were greeted with some most horrible and
unearthly noises. On turning a bend in the river we saw a large body
of Indians cutting indescribable antics, in the river and on the
shore, chasing each other, reeling and staggering to and fro, yelling
and firing guns. They seemed a lot of Bedlamites turned out as if to
dispute our passage down the river. Pass them now we must. It was too
late to retreat. Our batteau was light. I was in the bow, Brewster was
in the stern. The yelling and uproar grew each moment more horrible.
Brewster said: "Keep the bow in the best water and pass them in a
hurry." He was of great strength; every set of his pole would almost
lift the boat from the water. While we were passing several guns were
leveled at us, but such was the noise that if any were fired we did
not hear them. We were glad when we passed out of range and hearing.
While passing we caught a glimpse of the cause of the unusual
disturbance, some whisky barrels, and drunken savages around them,
staggering, fighting or lying on the ground in drunken stupor. Landing
at Samuels' camp, we learned of him that one Myers had hidden a couple
of barrels of whisky on Kanabec river, that the Indians had found
them, and the jollification we had witnessed would last till the
whisky was all gone. We arrived at Stillwater without further
adventure.
In July I made another visit to Prairie du Chien. The mail packet for
Fort Snelling, on which I expected to return, broke her shaft and
returned to St. Louis for repairs. The postmaster at Prairie du Chien
offered me seventy dollars to carry the mail to the Fort, which offer
I accepted. I bought a skiff, blankets and provisions, hired one man
and started. We poled, paddled and rowed against a strong current, the
low water compelling us to keep near the centre of the river. We
arrived at Bully Wells' on Lake Pepin on the fifth evening and
politely asked the privilege of stopping with him and were promptly
refused. It was raining very hard at the time. We drew our skiff up on
the shore, turned it over for a shelter, and crawled beneath it with
the mail. As it was a cold, wet night, we suffered severely. As we
were passing an island above Red Wing, the day following, we saw some
Sioux Indian wigwams, and, as we had no firewater and no food to spare
we kept close to the opposite shore. We were, however, observed. An
Indian appeared on the shore near the wigwams and beckoned to us to
cross over. We made no reply but kept steadily on our course,
observing, meanwhile, that the Indian, with his gun, was skulking
along through the brush, apparently bent on overtaking and waylaying
us. We kept a respectful distance, and fortunately were able to
increase it, but not till we were beyond rifle shot did we dare to
pause for rest. That night we camped without striking a light, and
next day arrived at Point Douglas. I went no further. The hardship and
exposure of this trip brought on a severe illness. Mr. David Hone, at
whose house I remained for two weeks, under the care of Dr. Carli, of
Stillwater, took the mail to Fort Snelling. Soon as able I returned to
Stillwater.
In May of this year I had made a claim of government unsurveyed land,
covering springs sufficient for a water power. While I was sick at
Point Douglas, Joseph Brewster, Martin Mower and David B. Loomis
formed a company to build a mill and carry on a logging business. They
had agreed upon me as a fourth partner and to build on my claim; Mower
and Loomis to attend to getting logs, Brewster and Folsom to build the
mill. We moved to our claim Oct. 6, 1846, and went to work in earnest.
We agreed upon the name of Arcola for the new settlement. The mill was
not finished until April 3, 1847, at which time Brewster and Folsom
sold out their interest and returned to Stillwater.
STILLWATER IN 1846.
Living in Stillwater, Jan. 1, 1846, were the following married men:
Cornelius Lyman, Socrates Nelson, Walter R. Vail, Robert Kennedy,
Anson Northrup, Albert Harris, John E. Mower, William E. Cove, John
Smith, and W. H. C. Folsom. Among the unmarried men were: John
McKusick, C. Carli, Jacob Fisher, Elam Greely, Edward Blake, Elias
McKean, Calvin F. Leach, Martin Mower, David B. Loomis, Albion
Masterman, John Morgan, Phineas Lawrence, Joseph Brewster, John
Carlton, Thomas Ramsdell, William Rutherford, William Willim, Charles
Macey, and Lemuel Bolles.
Here follows a list of the pioneers of the St. Croix valley, in 1846,
not mentioned elsewhere: Nelson Goodenough, who became a river pilot
and settled at Montrose, Iowa; James Patten, Hugh McFadden, Edwin
Phillips, a millwright, an ingenious, eccentric man, who left the
valley in 1848; Joseph Brewster, who left in 1848, and settled in
Earlville, Illinois; Sylvester Stateler, blacksmith, who removed to
Crow Wing county, Minnesota, and O. H. Blair, who followed lumbering,
a man of talent, but eccentric. He died in 1878. The first school was
taught in 1846, by Mrs. Ariel Eldridge, formerly Sarah Louisa Judd.
The second school was taught in 1847, by Mrs. Greenleaf; the third in
1848, by Wm. McKusick. A school house was built in 1848. Rev. W. T.
Boutwell, a Presbyterian minister, preached occasionally in the
reception room of Northrup's hotel. Rev. Eleazer Greenleaf, an
Episcopalian, came the next summer and established regular services.
Prior to the organization of Stillwater, Rev. J. Hurlbut, a Methodist
minister, had preached in Dakotah, St. Croix Falls and Marine, but
organized no societies.
The winter of 1845-46 was very open. All teaming business was done on
wheels, except for a few days in December, in which there was snow
enough for sledding. A new feature in the trade of the valley this
year was the rafting and running of logs to St. Louis.
In December, 1845, Dr. Borup, of La Pointe, and others went by ice and
overland with teams to Prairie du Chien, I accompanying them. The
first day we came to Point Douglas, at the confluence of the St. Croix
and the Mississippi. Between Stillwater and Point Douglas, on the
route we followed, some distance west of the lake, we found but one
settler, Joseph Haskell. At Point Douglas there were David Hone, a
hotel keeper; Hertzell & Burris, merchants, and Wm. B. Dibble, farmer.
We reached Red Wing the second day. At this place lived the famous
Jack Frazier, a Sioux half-breed and Indian trader, one Presbyterian
missionary, Rev. ---- Denton, and a man named Bush. James Wells, more
familiarly known as "Bully Wells," lived with an Indian squaw on the
west shore of Lake Pepin, where stands the town of Frontenac. On the
third day we went as far as Wabasha, on the west side, three miles
below Lake Pepin, where we found several French families. We stopped
at Cratt's hotel. On the fourth day we reached Holmes' Landing, now
Fountain City. There were then but two houses, both unoccupied. About
noon we passed Wabasha prairie, now the site of Winona. It was then
covered with Indian tepees. At Trempealeau, in the evening of the
fifth day, we found two French families. On the next day we reached La
Crosse and found there two American families. Two days more brought us
to Prairie du Chien. On the way we passed a few French families, and
these, with those previously named, constituted the entire white
population between Stillwater and Prairie du Chien.
We started on our return with four two horse teams. We took the river
road, passing over the ice. In our company was one Tibbetts, from Fort
Crawford, and Jonathan E. McKusick, emigrating from Maine to St. Croix
valley. They were a social, jovial pair. At Capilaux bluff, Dibble's
team was ahead, and my team second. At this place all halted to allow
the thirsty an opportunity of liquoring up, which was done at the rear
team. Dibble, in going back, left his team unfastened, and while he
was "smiling" with his jovial companions the team ran away. The horses
soon broke loose from the sled. One horse made for the shore, the
other plunged into an air hole in the ice. The entire company rushed
to the rescue, and with ropes and poles managed, at last, to float the
horse upon the ice in an unconscious condition. All the whisky left by
the "smiling" throng was poured down the horse's throat, but in vain.
The animal was dead. No other event of interest occurred except some
difficulties experienced in the transportation of the first cat ever
brought to Stillwater. "Tom" was caged in a narrow box, and the
confinement so chafed his proud spirit that he sickened and at one
time was reported dead. At the inquest held over his remains by Capt.
McKusick, signs of life were discovered, and by liberal blood-letting
the cat was restored to consciousness and lived several years
afterward, a terror to the rats in Stillwater.
STILLWATER IN 1847.
For about a year the writer had been officiating as justice of the
peace with but little official business, but now and then a marriage
to celebrate. On one occasion I walked to Marine to marry W. C. Penny
to Jane McCauslin. The marriage was celebrated at Burkelo's boarding
house. The wedding supper consisted of cold water and cold pork and
beans. The following morning I did not wait for breakfast but returned
to Stillwater as I had come, on foot. Another day I rode to Bissell's
Mounds and united in marriage John Kenny and a mulatto woman. Friend
Kennedy threatened to disown me for thus aiding miscegenation. "Such
things are intolerable," he said, but from aught I have ever known to
the contrary the couple were well assorted.
TERRITORIAL ELECTION.
On the sixth day of April an election was held for the ratification or
rejection of the constitution adopted by the late territorial
convention for the anticipated state government; also a resolution
relative to negro suffrage, and an election was ordered for sheriff.
The vote resulted as follows:
For the constitution, 65; against, 61. For equal suffrage to colored
persons, 1; against, 126. For sheriff, Walter R. Vail, 58; W. H. C.
Folsom, 72.
There were five precincts that held elections--Stillwater, St. Paul,
Gray Cloud, Marine, and St. Croix Falls.
I immediately gave bonds and qualified as sheriff, and the same day
took charge of two criminals, Chippewa Indians, who had been committed
by me for murder, while acting as justice. I had previously deputized
Ham Gates to take care of them. While in Stillwater they were confined
in the basement of the post office building. Their names were Nodin
and Ne-she-ke-o-ge-ma. The latter was the son-in-law of Nodin. They
were very obedient and tractable, and I treated them kindly, for which
Nodin repeatedly told me he would show me a copper mine on Kanabec
river. Nodin died not long after his trial, and before he could redeem
his promise. The copper mine is yet undiscovered. Fort Snelling was,
at that time, the receptacle for criminals in this region, and to the
Fort I carried these prisoners with a team,--Ham Gates being
driver,--unshackled, unbound, my only weapon a pistol without a lock.
In May I summoned jurors and visited Kanabec river to procure
witnesses in the case against Nodin and Ne-she-ke-o-ge-ma for the
murder of Henry Rust. The first night I stopped with B. F. Otis, on
the St. Croix, where Taylors Falls is now situated. On the second day
I crossed the river and proceeded up the east side to Wolf creek,
thence crossing to the west side, up as far as Sunrise river. There
was no inhabitant, Samuels having vacated his shanty. I crossed the
river with great difficulty. The water was high, the current was
strong and swift, and I could not swim. I found a fallen tree, partly
under water, cut a pole, waded out as far as I could into the current,
and then by the aid of the pole floated down some distance, until by
pawing and splashing I was able to reach the other shore. That night I
stopped with an old Indian trader, Mr. Connor, who, with his Indian
wife, welcomed me to his bark shanty, divided into rooms by handsome
mats, and made me quite comfortable. He had plenty of good food, and
entertained me besides by a fund of anecdotes, incidents in Indian
history, and adventures of traders, trappers and missionaries in the
Lake Superior and St. Croix region. He was a very intelligent and
genial man. Next day I went to Russell's farm, paddled a canoe to
Ground House river, and traveled thence on foot to Ann river, where I
found the parties of whom I was in quest, Greely, Colby, Otis and
others, a jolly log driving crew, with whom I spent a very pleasant
evening. On the return journey, about two miles above the mouth of
Ground House river, I saw the ruins of the trading house in which
Henry Rust was killed. Rust, at the time of his murder, was selling
whisky for Jack Drake. Rev. W. T. Boutwell gives the following account
of the murder: "In the winter of '46 and '47 I visited the camps of
Kent & True and Greely & Blake. On one occasion I met Rust, and asked
him to come and hear me preach. He did not attend. On this day I
preached at three camps. On the following night, at Greely's camp,
came a midnight visitor with word that Rust had been shot.
Seventy-five men armed themselves with all kinds of weapons, proceeded
to the scene of the tragedy, removed the body of Rust and all
valuables from the house, knocked out the heads of two whisky barrels
and fired the house, the whisky greatly aiding the combustion. I
removed the body to Pokegama and buried it there. Forty men attended
the funeral. They held a meeting and resolved to clear the country of
whisky. They commenced by destroying two barrels of it for Jarvis. He
begged hard for his whisky, saying he was a poor man, and in debt to
Frank Steele at Fort Snelling. The response was, 'Out with your
whisky,' and it was destroyed before his eyes. The whisky of two other
trading stations followed. For a brief period there was peace, but the
whisky soon put in an appearance again."
The first term of district court held in Minnesota, then Wisconsin,
was convened in Stillwater, the county seat of St. Croix county, June
1st. It was held in the upper story of John McKusick's store,
southwest corner of Maine and Myrtle streets, Hon. Charles Dunn
presiding. The session lasted one week. The bounds of St. Croix county
then included Crawford county, Wisconsin, on the south, Brown county,
Wisconsin, and the Lake Superior country on the east, the region as
far as the British possessions on the north, and to the Mississippi
river on the west. The jurors were found within a circuit of a hundred
miles.
The grand jury was composed of the following gentlemen:
Jonathan McKusick, J. W. Furber, J. L. Taylor, W. R. Brown, Chas.
Cavalier, J. A. Ford, Hazen Mooers, C. Lyman, C. A. Tuttle, Hilton
Doe, Elam Greely, Martin Mower, Jr., Edward Blake, W. B. Dibble,
Harmon Crandall, Jerry Ross, James Saunders, Joseph Brown, J. R.
Irving, J. W. Simpson, John Holton, Pascal Aldrich, and Albert Harris.
Joseph R. Brown acted as clerk of court, Jonathan E. McKusick as
foreman of the grand jury, and Morton S. Wilkinson as prosecuting
attorney.
The attorneys present were: M. S. Wilkinson, of Stillwater; A.
Brunson, of Prairie du Chien; Ben C Eastman, of Platteville, Crawford
and Frank Dunn, of Mineral Point. There were but few civil cases.
Nodin and Ne-she-ke-o-ge-ma were indicted for murder, tried and
acquitted on the ground that the killing was the result of a drunken
brawl.
This season, in addition to attending to my duties as sheriff, I went
to St. Louis with a raft of logs. The steamer War Eagle, Capt. Smith
Harris, towed through the two lakes, St. Croix and Pepin, a fleet
containing ten acres of logs. During the winter of 1847-8, I was
engaged in logging. It was difficult to get supplies to the pineries
before the swamps were frozen over. This season my goods were taken by
batteaus from Stillwater to Clam lake.
AMUSEMENTS.--SOCIETY BALL IN STILLWATER.
A writer in the Stillwater _Lumberman_, April 23, 1877, gives a
sketchy account of an old time ball, from which we select a few items:
Anson Northrup kept what we called a first class hotel. If a man had
blankets he could spread them upon the floor and sleep till the bell
rang. If he had none he spread himself on the floor and paid for his
lodging by tending stove and keeping the dogs from fighting. It was
one of the aristocratic rules of the house that a man who slept in
blankets was not to be disturbed by dogs.
At one time our popular landlord got up a ball. He sent round a copper
colored card,--a half-breed Indian boy,--to tell all the folks to
come. Everybody was invited. At the appointed hour they began to
assemble. Soon all in town arrived except one Smith. Frequent
inquiries were made for Smith, and at last a deputation was sent to
inquire the cause of his absence; when it transpired that he had
broken his leg. He said he was helping the landlord roll a barrel of
whisky from the landing when the barrel slipped, and, rolling back on
his leg, broke it. Northrup said that he had bet him one gallon of
whisky that he could not lift the barrel to his lips and drink from
the bung. In attempting to do this the barrel had slipped from his
grasp with the result before mentioned. The wife regretted the
accident very much, and said that if it had not been for that barrel
of whisky, or some other whisky, they might have both attended the
dance. She could have put out the fire, locked up the house, tied up
the dog and taken her nine days' old baby with her. "There would be
younger babies at the dance," she said.
Everything was ready. The ball opened with three "French fours," or
two over. They danced a French two, the music consisting of one old
violin with three strings, played by a half-breed from St. Croix
Falls. He played but one tune and called it, "Off she goes to
Miramachee." This carried a "French four" well enough, but when we
danced a cotillion or hornpipe there was a great deal of rolling
around instead of dancing. We often called for a new tune. "Oh, yes,
gentlemen, you shall have him," but when we got him it was the same
old "Off she goes." He worked hard to please the company and the sweat
rolled down his manly cheeks like the droppings from the eaves of a
saw mill; but all this would not do; it was the same old "Off she
goes." There were twenty-four couples at the ball. The ladies brought
with them their babies, fourteen in number, and ranging from six weeks
to six months old. The night passed merrily, uproariously, but without
tragic incident. The fiddler became at last so tipsy that he could no
longer play "Off she goes to Miramachee," and staggered off to that
locality himself. The only thing direful occurred at the breaking up,
about five o'clock in the morning. The fourteen babies had been laid
to sleep on a bed, but some malevolent genius during the dance mixed
them up and changed their wraps, so that the mothers, in the hurry of
their departure, gathered and took home with them each one some other
mother's darling, and this deponent saith not that the snarl has ever
been untangled and the babies restored to their rightful mothers.
With the year 1848 a new era dawned upon Stillwater and the valley of
the St. Croix. Great changes had taken place in the little town. There
were many new citizens, new buildings had been erected and the streets
were much improved. Slabs had been placed over the quagmires on Main
street. A stage route had been established to St. Paul, on which
stages ran regularly. This was the first stage route in Minnesota.
The correction lines of the government survey had been run in 1846-7,
chiefly in the latter year. Township, range and section lines were run
in 1847, and in the early part of 1848. Prior to this claims had been
made and were held subject to the limitations of the first legal
survey. The creation of the new state of Wisconsin and the
prospective organization of Minnesota Territory, the development of
the lumbering business and the formal opening of the government lands
to entry, gave an impetus to immigration. Stillwater profited largely
by this immigration, it being an objective point. Population
increased. The village was regularly surveyed and platted in the fall
of 1848, Harvey Wilson, surveyor. Stillwater, although it never
aspired to be the future capital of the Territory, became a
headquarters for political characters and a place for public meetings
for the discussions of territorial and other public questions. It was
convenient of access, and contained up to that time a greater
population than was to be found in St. Paul, and it seemed likely to
become the commercial metropolis of the Territory.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] For the facts in this history I am indebted to John McKusick,
Jacob Fisher, Elias McKean, and Elam Greely.
CHAPTER III.
BIOGRAPHIES.
JOSEPH RENSHAW BROWN, one of the best known of the pioneers, came to
Dakotah, Schulenberg's addition, in 1839. For items in his history I
am personally indebted to him. He was born in 1805, and, when old
enough, apprenticed to a printer. On account of ill treatment he ran
away and enlisted in the United States army at the age of fourteen
years, serving as a drummer boy. He came with the army to the
Northwest Territory in 1819. After enlistment he made his first home
at Gray Cloud on the Mississippi, where he married a half-breed woman.
Wisconsin history says she was the daughter of Robert Dickson, Indian
trader and friend of the English in 1812. He learned and spoke the
Chippewa and Sioux languages fluently. In 1839 he founded the town of
Dakotah, at the head of Lake St. Croix, and erected some log
buildings. Through his influence, in part, St. Croix county was
organized, and the county seat located in Dakotah.
He built here a two story log court house, which, the county failing
to pay for, was left upon his hands. He kept a trading station, was
clerk of the county court and county commissioner. He filled several
offices of trust and was by far the most important and universally
serviceable man in the new county of St. Croix. In 1843 he left
Dakotah, and returning to Gray Cloud, continued his Indian trade at
that point and further west by means of branch houses. He was a member
of the territorial Wisconsin legislature two sessions at Madison. He
returned to Stillwater in 1848, left again in 1849, and in 1850
removed to St. Paul, where, in 1852, he purchased of Mr. Goodhue the
_Pioneer_, then the leading Democratic paper of the Territory. Mr.
Brown was chief clerk in the Minnesota territorial legislature during
the sessions of 1849, 1850 and 1851. In 1854 and 1855 he was a member
of the territorial council. In 1857 he was a member of the Democratic
wing of the constitutional convention. During his residence in St.
Paul he was interested in building up the town of Henderson, to which
place he ran a stage line from St. Paul. About this time, also, he
busied himself with the invention of a steam wagon, calculated to
traverse the western plains and drag after it trains of cars.
Financial and other difficulties prevented the completion of his
design, which, however, he never entirely abandoned during the
remainder of his life. In fact he went East in 1870 expressly to get
his invention perfected, but from this journey he never returned. He
died somewhat suddenly in New York in that year.
Mr. Brown was a man of iron will and muscular frame. He owed but
little to schools, but was a close observer of men and of the times in
which he lived. He was a genial companion and true friend, and a man
of honorable principles. His was a rugged but generous nature. He was
public spirited, far seeing and far reaching in his plans. He believed
in the great Northwest. He predicted its future greatness as a wheat
growing and agricultural country, and, as far back as 1839, predicted
that a great city would rise at the head of Lake St. Croix or at the
Falls of St. Anthony. Yet so little schooled was he in the wisdom of
the speculator that he sold the property in St. Paul now known as
Kittson's addition, and worth several millions of dollars, for one
hundred and fifty dollars, and a lot on Third street, now valued at
$25,000, for a box of cigars.
PAUL CARLI.--Mr. Carli was of German and Italian descent. He was born
in Italy, July 25, 1805. His father was a merchant. He was married in
Chicago, in 1834, to a sister of Joseph R. Brown, and moved in 1841 to
the outlet of Bolles creek, on the west side of Lake St. Croix, to a
place near the site of Afton. In 1846 he was accidentally drowned in
the lake, within sight of his dwelling. His children, Joseph R. and
Maria, are residents of Stillwater.
CHRISTOPHER CARLI, brother of Paul, was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main,
Germany, Dec. 7, 1811. The youth of Christopher was devoted to study.
He was educated at Heidelberg University, and studied medicine. He
came to America in February, 1832. The March following he located in
Buffalo, where he practiced medicine three years, and returned to
Europe where he remained two years. Returning to America, he practiced
a year in Chicago, a year in New Orleans and another year in Chicago.
He came to Dakotah, St. Croix valley, May 24, 1841. March 12, 1847, he
was married to the widow of Paul Carli, Joseph R. Brown officiating as
magistrate. He was the first practicing physician north of Prairie du
Chien. His home was at Dakotah until the organization of Stillwater.
He opened his first office on the west side of Lower Main street,
block 28. His practice extended from Lake Pepin to Lake Superior and
from Menomonie Mills, Wisconsin, to the Mississippi river. His mode of
travel was by birch canoe, on horseback, on skates and on foot. He was
a member of the first city council in Stillwater and has been city and
county physician. He opened the first bank in Stillwater when
fractional currency was in demand. His floating scrip was all
redeemed. Two children, Christopher and Socrates N., are married and
residents of Stillwater. Dr. Carli died Nov. 6, 1887.
LYDIA ANN CARLI.--Mrs. Carli has passed through many stirring scenes,
and is one of the first female settlers in the St. Croix valley. A
fluent and interesting talker, her recitals of early incidents and
adventures are heart enlivening. Lydia Ann Brown was born in
Lancaster, Penn., March 18, 1818. In 1834 she came with friends to
Chicago, where in 1839 she was married to Paul Carli. She came to
Dakotah in 1841, and lived there until 1844. The village was
surrounded by Indians and there was no white woman nearer than Marine,
twelve miles distant. In 1844 the Carlis removed to the mouth of
Bolles creek, near Afton, on Lake St. Croix, where they built
themselves a two story house commanding a picturesque view of the lake
and the adjacent prairies and hills. It was a lone tenement, midway
between Prescott and Stillwater. Mrs. Carli having lost her husband as
before narrated, in 1847 was married to his brother, Dr. Christopher
Carli.
[Illustration: James S. Anderson]
PHINEAS LAWRENCE.--But little is known of the early life of Mr.
Lawrence. He had been a river pilot. He was the first sheriff elected
in the St. Croix valley, or northwest of Prairie du Chien. He was
elected and qualified in 1841. On serving the first and only summons
he was ever called upon to serve, he approached the party summoned,
holding up to view the documents, and exclaimed: "I, Phineas Lawrence,
high sheriff of St. Croix county, in the name of the United States and
of the Immaculate God, command you to surrender." He was a robust,
fleshy, cheerful man, and felt in all their force the responsibilities
of the position in which he was placed. His name has been given to a
creek in Chisago county, where he once logged. He died in Stillwater
in 1847.
JACOB FISHER.--Jacob Fisher, a millwright, came to St. Croix Falls in
1842, and being a skilled mechanic found employment at once on the old
mill at the Falls. He made the first land claim and framed the first
building in Stillwater. The building framed was the mill of which
mention has been made. This establishes his claim to priority as the
first white man who made a movement toward the settlement of
Stillwater. Others were before him in the settlement of Dakotah or
Schulenberg's addition. Mr. Fisher is a plain, frank, outspoken man,
who has no trouble in making his hearers understand exactly what he
means. He was born in Canada in 1813, and still resides in Stillwater.
He has a wife and one son in California.
JAMES S. ANDERSON was born at Marshalltown, West Virginia, on the
fourth of February, 1826. When he was twelve years old his parents
removed with him to Burlington, Iowa, where he lived for eight years.
He came to Stillwater in 1846, where he has since resided. In 1852 he
was married to Miss Harriet T. McDonald, at St. Louis, by whom he has
had four children, three of whom are now living--Robert M. Anderson,
prominently known in lumber circles, and Misses Sibella S. and Ella P.
Anderson. Upon Mr. Anderson's arrival at Stillwater, he engaged in the
employ of Elias McKean, then a prominent lumberman, now a resident of
Washington county. In 1869 Mr. Anderson formed a partnership with
William McKusick, John A. Nelson and Alexander Johnson, under the firm
name of McKusick, Anderson & Co., which firm built and operated the
large saw mill opposite Stillwater. Four years ago Mr. McKusick
retired from the firm, since which time the firm has been J. S.
Anderson & Co. In 1874 Mr. Anderson became the senior member of a
heavy logging firm known as Anderson & O'Brien, of which the other
members were the well known lumbermen J. S. and John O'Brien. In
connection with his other business interests Mr. Anderson was a heavy
owner of pine lands, and a stockholder and director in the Lumberman's
National Bank. There were two other well known lumber firms of ancient
date with which he was connected, and these were McComb, Simpson &
Co., organized in 1850, and also Delano, McKusick & Co., organized in
1857. From 1857 to 1869 he was also a heavy logger alone. Mr. Anderson
died May 8, 1885. His death resulted from a mill accident, his rubber
coat having caught in the belting of a shaft revolving at a rapid
rate. His body was frightfully mangled, but he survived two days,
exhibiting, under the circumstances, the most remarkable composure,
dictating his will and arranging his business matters as calmly as he
might have done on an ordinary occasion.
EMANUEL DIXON FARMER was born in Tennessee in 1828, and came to
Stillwater in 1845, where he has resided ever since, engaged in the
lumbering and saloon business. He was married to Parmelia A. Collier,
in Stillwater, 1848.
COL. JOHN GREELY.--Col. Greely was sixty years of age when he came to
the West, and although a strong, active and enterprising man in the
earlier part of his life, owing to advancing years and ill health was
rather a spectator than an active participant in the stirring scenes
of his new home. He was born at Southampton, Massachusetts, April,
1777. He was married to Hannah Greely, a second cousin, at Hopkinton,
New Hampshire, Oct. 5, 1801. He followed the lumbering business on the
Merrimac river in early life. He furnished the timber used in erecting
the first factory in Lowell, Massachusetts, cut on the mountains of
North New Hampshire. In after life he moved to the west end of Sebec
lake, Maine, where he founded the town at first named Greely, but
afterward Willimantic, now the site of extensive manufactories where
the famous Willimantic thread is made. Col. Greely came to Stillwater
in 1847.
Born during the Revolutionary struggle, he lived to witness the
marvelous growth and prosperity of his country and died during the
first year of the war of the Rebellion. Aged as he was, having entered
upon his eighty-fifth year, he was intensely interested in the issue
of that struggle, and ardently desired to live long enough to witness
the triumph of his country's cause. It was not to be. He sank
peacefully to rest, Oct. 30, 1861, dying as he had lived, an honest
man, his memory revered by all who knew him, and cherished by three
generations of descendants. His children were three sons and five
daughters--Sarah, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Greenleaf, and Phebe and Servia,
wives of John McKusick. Miss Sarah alone survives.
MRS. HANNAH GREELY.--Mrs. Greely, the wife of Col. John Greely, was
born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, October, 1787, came to Stillwater in
1847 and died May, 1878, at the advanced age of ninety years. For
sixty years she and her husband walked side by side. She survived him
seventeen years, and, after a life well spent, resignedly folded her
hands and sank to her last repose.
ELAM GREELY.--Elam, son of Col. John Greely, was born in Salisbury,
New Hampshire, Aug. 13, 1818, and, with his parents, moved to Maine,
where they made their home on Sebec lake. In 1840 Mr. Greely came to
St. Croix Falls, where he was employed by the St. Croix Falls Company
the greater part of the time until 1843, when he became a settler at
the head of Lake St. Croix. He was one of the original owners of the
first mill at Stillwater. In 1844 he sold his interest to John
McKusick. The same year he was appointed postmaster at Stillwater. The
office was located at the southwest corner of Main and Chestnut
streets.
Mr. Greely filled many offices of honor and trust meritoriously. He
was a member of the third and fourth Minnesota territorial councils.
In 1845, in company with Edward Blake, he did an extensive pine log
business, running the logs to St. Louis, in which business he
continued until the death of Mr. Blake in 1848.
Mr. Greely early identified himself with the interests of Stillwater,
of which he was one of the founders, and which owes much of its
prosperity to his efforts. He was married in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in
1850, to Hannah P. Hinman, who, with three children, a son and two
daughters, survives him. His oldest son died Oct. 21, 1876. Mr. Greely
had many severe reverses in business, but by indomitable energy
recovered from them, and was able not only to care for his aged
parents, to bring them from Maine and keep them with him until
separated by death, but to leave his family well provided for. He died
suddenly away from home, Sept. 14, 1883. His body was brought to
Stillwater for burial.
HIMAN GREELY.--Himan, son of Col. John Greely, was born in Franklin,
New Hampshire, October, 1828. He came to Stillwater in 1846, where he
followed the business of lumbering. In 1850 he was married to Lucia
Darling. After a brief residence in Stillwater, he removed to
Beauford, Blue Earth county, where he remained until his death in
1882. His wife survived him but a few months. The bodies of both were
removed and buried in Fairview cemetery, Stillwater. Mr. Greely
applied himself closely to business, and was an honest, upright and
intelligent man. His education was derived chiefly from reading and
observation. He left two sons.
AQUILLA GREELY.--Aquilla, the youngest son of Col. Greely, was born in
Greely, Maine, June, 1831. During his youth he spent several years
with friends in Canada, where he learned the art of surveying. He came
to Minnesota in 1849, and followed surveying and lumbering. He died in
Stillwater, April 25, 1857.
ELIAS MCKEAN.--A thorough business man, an eccentric man, notably so,
an apt man, ready in reply, somewhat harsh, if irritated, but kind in
heart and forgiving in spirit, is Elias McKean. He was born in
Bradford county, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1817, and received a practical
education. His father was a man of some note, and for twenty-eight
years a circuit judge in Pennsylvania. Elias McKean came to St. Croix
Falls in 1841, and for a year was in the employ of the Falls Company,
but afterward engaged successfully in business for himself. He was one
of the original proprietors of the Stillwater mill, and one of the
founders of Stillwater. In 1850 he settled on a farm on the west side
of Lake St. Croix. In 1855 he was married to the widow of Calvin F.
Leach, and a family of six sons has grown up around them.
CALVIN F. LEACH.--We are not able to give date or place of birth. Mr.
Leach came to St. Croix Falls in 1842 and soon after came to the head
of Lake St. Croix, and became one of the original owners of the mill,
and a founder of the city of Stillwater. In 1850 he was married to
Miss ---- Smith, of St. Anthony. He died in St. Louis in 1853. He was
modest and retiring in his demeanor, correct in his deportment and
respected by all his acquaintances.
SOCRATES NELSON.--Mr. Nelson was born in Conway, Massachusetts, Jan.
11, 1814, received an academic education, was married to Mrs. Bertha
D. Bartlett in 1844, at Hennepin, Ill., and the same year came to
Stillwater, and engaged in selling goods. Previous to his removal to
Stillwater he engaged in merchandising in Illinois, in 1839, and in
St. Louis from 1840 to 1844, where he established a trading post on
the Mississippi nearly opposite Reed's Landing, at a place since known
as Nelson's Landing. Mr. Nelson was the first merchant in Stillwater.
His store stood on Main street. He built a substantial dwelling and
lived in it until his death, May 6, 1867. He filled many public
positions, was territorial auditor from 1853 to 1857, and was a
senator in the second state legislature. As a merchant he was very
successful, being fitted by nature for commercial pursuits. In 1853,
he, with others, built a saw mill in South Stillwater and engaged in
lumbering. He was of a free and generous disposition in all his
relations of life. He conveyed, as a donation to Washington county, a
half interest in the block of land on which the court house stands.
His liberality and public spirit did much for the prosperity of
Stillwater. His wife and one daughter, Mrs. Fayette Marsh, survived
him, but Mrs. Marsh died in 1880. She was a woman of great sweetness
of disposition, and beloved by all who knew her. His widow died in
1885.
MRS. SOCRATES NELSON.--Bertha D. was born at Conway, Franklin county,
Massachusetts, Sept. 6, 1813. She was married to Geo. A. Bartlett, of
Conway, in 1838, and removed with him to Knoxville, Illinois, where he
died. She returned to her parents in Massachusetts, and removed with
them to Hennepin, Illinois. In the fall of 1844 she was married to
Socrates Nelson, and came with him to Stillwater. She died Oct. 8,
1885. She was the last of her family, husband and daughter having
preceded her to the world of spirits. The large attendance of old
settlers from Washington county and elsewhere at her funeral, and the
beautiful floral tributes contributed by her friends, attested but
partially the respect and veneration in which she was held.
EDWARD BLAKE.--Of Mr. Blake's early history we have no data. He came
to the St. Croix valley in company with Elam Greely in 1840, engaged
in lumbering, and died in 1849.
WALTER R. VAIL.--Mr. Vail, the second merchant in Stillwater, came
West in 1844. He built a store, with dwelling attached, just south of
Socrates Nelson's store, which buildings are still standing and
occupied (1886). Mr. Vail was not successful in business and moved
away in 1848.
[Illustration: MARTIN MOWER. A PRACTICAL AND SUCCESSFUL LUMBERMAN OF
STILLWATER.]
JOHN E. MOWER.--Mr. Mower was born in Bangor, Maine, Sept. 15, 1815.
He was married to Gratia Remick, in Keokuk, Iowa, in 1842, and removed
to St. Croix Falls, where he entered the employ of the Falls Lumbering
Company. Two years later he removed to Stillwater, where he built the
second frame dwelling, still standing. Mr. Mower was a millwright and
carpenter, but was engaged in lumbering most of his time. He purchased
an interest in the mill property at Arcola, in 1847, which place he
made his home until his death, which occurred June 11, 1879. He left a
widow and three daughters, Helen, wife of the late Louis Torinus;
Emily, wife of Henry Van Voorhees; and Mary, wife of ---- Richardson.
One son died after arriving at manhood. Mr. Mower was a pleasant,
reliable man, a kind husband and loving father. He was honored by his
fellow citizens with an election to the fifth and sixth territorial
councils, and to the seventeenth state legislature (house). The
territorial legislature affixed his name to a county.
MARTIN MOWER.--Martin, brother of John E. Mower, came to St. Croix
Falls in 1842, and worked in the employ of the Falls Company.
Afterward he engaged in lumbering and became one of the original
proprietors of the Arcola mill. He was also engaged in manufacturing
and merchandising in Stillwater. He built a fine block of buildings on
Chestnut street, recently burned down and rebuilt on a larger scale.
He has been one of the managing owners of the St. Croix Boom Company
from its origin. His business interests have been divided between
Stillwater and Arcola, but he has made the latter place his home since
1846. As a business man he is capable and shrewd, giving close
attention to his business; in his manner somewhat eccentric. He has
done in much to improve the farming and other interests of the
country.
WILLIAM WILLIM.--A firm, consistent, worthy citizen and true friend of
his adopted country is William Willim. He was born in the parish of
Woolhope, Herefordshire, England, June 26, 1821; came to America in
1838, and to Stillwater in 1844. He was married in 1847 to Clara G.
Haskell, and, after her death in 1850, to Joanna W. Hinman. Mr. Willim
is a stonemason, plasterer and contractor. He was a member of the
sixth Minnesota territorial legislature, and has filled many
responsible positions in Stillwater. Mr. Willim's was the first
naturalization that occurred in the limits of Minnesota. The oath of
allegiance, a somewhat unique and original document of its kind, bears
date of June 18, 1847, Stillwater, St. Croix county, Wisconsin
Territory, and is signed by Joseph R. Brown.
ALBERT HARRIS.--Mr. Harris was a native of Maine. He was born in 1815
and married to Miss Greenleaf in 1841, who died in 1853. He came to
Stillwater in 1845, where he died in 1856, leaving one daughter, wife
of the late Levi Thompson, attorney at law in Stillwater, and one son
in California. Mr. Harris was a house carpenter and much respected by
his neighbors.
CORNELIUS LYMAN.--Mr. Lyman is of the seventh generation of the Lyman
family that came over from England in 1631. He was born in Brookfield,
Vermont, Aug. 11, 1792. He was married in Brookfield to Betsey Cushman
and came to Illinois at an early date, whence he removed to Marine
Mills, in 1842, where he kept a boarding house until 1844, when he
removed to Stillwater, where he kept a boarding house until 1848. He
then removed to his farm three miles above Stillwater, where, by
industry and economy, aided by his faithful wife, he was able to build
a comfortable home, in which they continued to live until at a good
old age they were removed by death, which claimed them in the same
year, the husband dying January, 1864, and the wife in April. They
were members of the Presbyterian church from early life, and respected
as citizens, honored as Christians. Mrs. Lyman was one of the
excellent of the earth. Mr. Lyman had an inexhaustible fund of humor,
and was rather fond of practical joking. Many of his jokes were of the
rarest description. They left two sons, Cornelius Storrs and David
Pride.
DAVID B. LOOMIS.--Few men have been more active in business and public
life than David B. Loomis. He was born in Wilmington, Connecticut,
April 17, 1817. In 1830 he came with his parents to Alton, Illinois,
where, at the age of fifteen, he engaged as clerk in a store and
served in that capacity five years. Mr. Loomis was in the building in
Alton in which Lovejoy was shot and killed for the expression of
sentiments which the nation has since been compelled to adopt. In 1843
he came to the St. Croix valley and engaged in lumbering. In 1846 he
was one of the four original owners of the Arcola mill, but in 1849
sold his interest to Mr. Mower, and for four succeeding years was in
charge of the St. Croix boom. In 1847 he was surveyor general of logs
and lumber. In 1851 he was a member of the Minnesota territorial
council, and was re-elected in 1853, serving in all four years, during
one of which he was president of the council. In 1853 he was one of a
company that built a mill in South Stillwater. He sold out in 1859. In
1861 he entered the army as lieutenant, Company F, Second Minnesota
Volunteers, and was promoted to a captaincy. He served three and a
half years. Stillwater has been his home since the war. In 1873 he
represented Washington county in the legislature.
WILLIAM E. COVE.--The year of Mr. Cove's birth is not known. He came
to Stillwater in 1844. His marriage to Nancy Edwards, elsewhere noted,
was the second marriage in the village. He was by trade a house
carpenter. He removed to Minneapolis in 1864.
JOHN SMITH.--Of the eight first families, that of John Smith was one.
Of this particular "John Smith" little is known, except that he was
sober and industrious, and, in 1848, moved to parts unknown.
JOHN MORGAN.--We have no account of the early days of Mr. Morgan,
except that he was a native of Pennsylvania. He was living in
Stillwater in 1845, in the employ of Churchill & Nelson. In 1848 he
was elected sheriff of St. Croix county, Wisconsin. In the same year
he was married to Hannah Harnish. He settled on a farm and kept a
"half way house" on the road from Stillwater to St. Paul, when the
pioneer stages of Willoughby & Power were placed on this route. In
1848 he obtained a charter from the Wisconsin legislature for a ferry
across Lake St. Croix at Stillwater. This ferry changed ownership
repeatedly and was discontinued when the bridge was built.
ANSON NORTHRUP.--This gentleman, whose name was borne by the first
steamboat ever launched on the Red River of the North, and who brought
the first drove of cattle through from Illinois to St. Croix Falls,
deserves a conspicuous place in the annals of the Northwest. He was
born in Conewango, Cataraugus county, New York, Jan. 4, 1817. His
education was limited, but he was a man of more than ordinary native
ability and energy. He lived in Ohio some years, and came West in
1838. In 1839 he drove the first herd of cattle through a wilderness
country from the Wisconsin river to the St. Croix. In 1841 he removed
his family from Ohio to St. Croix Falls. He came by way of St. Louis,
from that point embarking on the steamer Indian Queen for the Falls.
The steamer was three weeks making the trip. Above Prairie du Chien
crew and passengers were obliged to cut wood to run the boat. Mr.
Northrup had married Betsey Edwards, daughter of widow Edwards, one of
the pioneers of Stillwater. Charles H., their eldest son, was the
first white child born at St. Croix Falls. In the spring of 1844 he
moved to Stillwater, where he built and kept the first hotel in that
place. From 1847 to 1848 he was part owner of the Osceola saw mill
along with Mahony and Kent. In 1849 he removed to St. Paul, and built
the American Hotel on Third street, east from Seven Corners. In 1851
he removed to St. Anthony Falls and built there the St. Charles Hotel.
In 1853 he removed to Minneapolis, and built the Bushnell House, the
first brick building in the city. Subsequently he became a resident at
Long Prairie, Swan River and Duluth. Although Mr. Northrup's genius
tended chiefly in the direction of hotel building, his abilites in
other directions were beyond question. With equal facility he turned
his hand to lumbering, steamboating and statesmanship. His great
steamboat enterprise was the attempted transfer of the steamer North
Star by water from the Mississippi to the Red River of the North. The
boat was one hundred feet long by twenty wide, and of light draught.
Starting from St. Cloud in the spring of 1859 he performed the
wonderful feat of ascending the Mississippi as far as Pokegama Falls,
hoping to ascend further, and during a high stage of water to float
the boat over the height of land into some of the tributaries of the
Red river. The water was not sufficiently high. The winter following
he took the boat to pieces, and removed it by land to Red river,
opposite the mouth of the Cheyenne, where it was reconstructed and
launched, taken to Fort Garry and afterward sold to Mr. Burbank. This
boat, its name being changed to Anson Northrup, was the first
steamboat on the waters of Red river.
Mr. Northrup's political career commenced and closed with the first
Minnesota legislature, 1857-58, he representing the counties of
Morrison, Crow Wing and Mille Lacs in the senate.
During the Rebellion he served as wagon master. He lived in Texas
three years, returned to St. Paul, where he lived in 1874-75-76, and
now lives in Bismarck, Dakota.
ROBERT KENNEDY.--Mr. Kennedy, in 1839, located at Holmes' Landing, now
Fountain City, on the banks of the Mississippi, above Winona. In 1844
he removed to Dakotah, where he kept a hotel in the old tamarack court
house, built by Joseph R. Brown. In 1846 he kept a hotel in the
Northrup House, Stillwater; in 1848 he kept the American Hotel,
Shakopee. Subsequently he returned to St. Paul and kept a boarding
house, and for three years the hotel known as "Moffett's Castle."
Afterward he kept the Snelling House, and last the Bernard House.
From 1853 to 1856 he was collector of customs for the port of St.
Paul, and during that time the fees amounted to the enormous sum of
forty six dollars and forty-two cents. Mr. Kennedy spent about thirty
years as a landlord, in which capacity he was very popular.
HARVEY WILSON.--Mr. Wilson was born in Corinth, Saratoga county, New
York, December, 1815. He resided in his native county twenty-five
years, then removed to St. Louis, where, for three years, he engaged
in surveying. He came to St. Croix Falls in 1843 and to Stillwater in
1847. He acted as J. R. Brown's deputy clerk of court, June term,
1847. He was appointed clerk of the first Minnesota territorial term
of court, Aug. 13, 1849, in which office he continued until his death,
Nov. 3, 1876. Mr. Wilson was married in 1851 to widow Mary
Stanchfield.
ANDREW JACKSON SHORT.--Mr. Short was born in St. Clair county,
Illinois, in 1818. He came thence to the St. Croix valley and located
at Marine in 1843, and commenced running rafts with W. B. Dibble. In
1857 and 1858 he gathered logs as agent in Lake St. Croix, rafted and
run them below, but lost heavily and was in fact financially wrecked.
He afterward engaged in the logging and hardware business in
Stillwater. In 1868 he built the famous Dudley mills at Point Douglas,
at a cost of $35,000. Mr. Short made Stillwater his home until 1862,
when he removed to Hastings. Much credit is due him for what he has
accomplished. When he came to the St. Croix valley he could neither
read nor write, but by energy, industry and native force of character,
notwithstanding a few reverses, he has done far more than many other
men in his position could have done. As a man he is genial and social.
JAMES D. MCCOMB.--Mr. McComb was born in Washington county,
Pennsylvania, Feb. 13, 1827, came to Stillwater June 10, 1846, and
engaged in mercantile business with John H. Brewster three years, when
he entered the firm of Anderson, McComb & Co., Robert Simpson being
the third member. They did an extensive business for years. They built
the large stone store on the corner of Main and Myrtle streets. Mr.
McComb in 1860 became clerk in the surveyor general's office, which
position he held ten years. He was surveyor general of logs and lumber
four years, his accurate knowledge of the various marks used admirably
fitting him for the position. He served as deputy sheriff in 1846
under James Fisher, of Prairie du Chien, and in 1847 under W. H. C.
Folsom, of Stillwater. Mr. McComb has passed all the degrees in Odd
Fellowship. He was married to Eliza T. McKusick in Stillwater, March
4, 1851. Mrs. McComb died in Stillwater Sept. 17, 1885.
WILLIAM RUTHERFORD.--Mr. Rutherford was born in 1823, in Stanton
county, New York, and came to Stillwater in 1844. He married Christina
J. Holcombe, at Jackson, Mississippi, in 1849. In 1848 he removed to
his farm near Stillwater, where he has since lived. He has been quite
successful as a farmer. Mr. Rutherford died March 15, 1888. His name
will be remembered with honor.
ALBION MASTERSON.--Mr. Masterman has also prospered as a farmer. He
was born in Franklin county, Maine, in 1823; received a common school
education; was married to Eliza Middleton in 1848; came to Stillwater
in 1844, and in 1850 removed thence to his farm, where he died, Aug.
8, 1886. Mr. Masterman's life has been an industrious and exemplary
one.
JOSEPH N. MASTERMAN.--Mr. Masterman came to Stillwater, September,
1848. He engaged in lumbering and scaling continuously. He was born in
Franklin county, Maine, in 1814, and spent his youth at home, but his
education was somewhat limited. At the age of sixteen years he moved
to Schoodic, lived there fourteen years, when he married Alice M.
Prescott, and four years later came to Stillwater. His two sons,
Wellington and Joseph P., reside in Stillwater. Wellington is auditor
of Washington county.
MAHLON BLACK.--Mr. Black is of Scotch descent. His grandfather was a
naval officer during the war of the Revolution, and a soldier in the
war of 1812. Mahlon Black was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, Oct. 4,
1820. He spent his youth on his father's farm, and received a common
school and academic education. When seventeen years of age he began
the study of medicine in Cincinnati Medical College, but did not
complete the course. In 1842 he came to Menomonie Mills, Wisconsin,
and engaged in lumbering until 1846. In 1847 he was connected with
government surveys, and the same year located in Stillwater. He was a
representative in the first, third, and last territorial legislature,
also a member of the extra session in 1857. He was mayor of Stillwater
in 1860-61. In 1862 he enlisted in a company of sharpshooters, which
was assigned to the Army of the Potomac. He was promoted to be
captain, and provost marshal in the second division of the Second Army
Corps, and one of Gen. Gibbon's staff officers. He was in fifty-four
battles and skirmishes, in some of which over 100,000 men were engaged
on each side. He was wounded four times, once severely, by a bayonet
thrust received in a charge at the battle of Petersburgh. He served
until the close of the war, and received a special and honorable
discharge from his commander, Gen. Smyth, on the face of which are
recorded the names of the battles in which he participated. In 1867 he
removed from Stillwater to Minneapolis, where he has held the
positions of land examiner and auditor of Hennepin county. He has the
distinction of being the first Odd Fellow initiated in Minnesota.
Sept. 21, 1850, he was married to Jane M. Stough, of Pennsylvania.
MORTON S. WILKINSON.--The record of Mr. Wilkinson, though brief, is
brilliant. He was born in Skaneateles, Onondaga county, New York, June
22, 1819; received an academic education in his native town; read law;
was admitted to the bar at Syracuse, New York, in 1842; commenced
practice in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, and in 1847 came to Stillwater.
Mr. Wilkinson was the first practicing lawyer northwest of Prairie du
Chien, was the prosecuting attorney at Judge Dunn's court in
Stillwater, June, 1847, and was a member from Washington county of the
first territorial legislature in 1849. He removed to St. Paul in 1850,
to Mankato in 1857, and in 1859 was elected United States senator. In
1860 he was one of the commissioners to compile the state statutes. In
1868 he was elected representative to Congress and at the close of the
term was re-elected. From 1874 to 1877, inclusive, he served as state
senator from Blue Earth county. Mr. Wilkinson is an eloquent and
forcible speaker, and a man of unusual ability, a sound and logical
reasoner, and withal fluent. He has been twice married. His first wife
was a daughter of Rev. Lemuel Nobles, of Michigan. Mrs. Wilkinson died
in Michigan. He married a second wife before coming West. They reside
in Wells, Minnesota.
WILLIAM STANCHFIELD.--Mr. Stanchfield was a native of Maine, born in
the year 1820, was married to Mary Jackins, in Bangor, Maine, in 1840,
and came to Stillwater in 1846, where he engaged in keeping a hotel on
Main street, which was burned while he was in charge. Mr. Stanchfield
died in 1850, leaving a widow who subsequently married Harvey Wilson,
and an infant daughter, who became, years after, the wife of George
Davis.
THOMAS RAMSDELL.--Mr. Ramsdell was born at Falmouth, England, Dec. 28,
1820. He married in England and came to this country with his wife in
1843. He settled in Stillwater in 1844, and removed to his farm in
1846, where he has been successful in raising apples and smaller
fruits. His wife died in 1851. His second wife was Jane Willey. Mr.
Ramsdell has been a quiet, good citizen, reliable and trustworthy.
CHARLES MACY.--An orphan at thirteen years of age, Mr. Macy's early
life was full of changes, adventures and vicissitudes. He was born in
Canada East in 1821. He lived a somewhat wandering life until 1845,
when he came to Fort Snelling, and shortly after to Stillwater, where,
in 1846, he made a claim which became his permanent home. He was
married in 1854.
JONATHAN E. MCKUSICK.--There was no more genial, pleasant, off-hand
man than Jonathan E. McKusick. He was the life of public gatherings.
His remarks, full of wit and sentiment, would keep his audience in a
pleasant frame of mind. At old settlers' meetings his fund of
anecdotes, historical incidents and reminiscences were in the highest
degree interesting and entertaining. Mr. McKusick was born in Cornish,
Maine, in 1812; was married to Minerva King in 1836, and came up the
Mississippi on the ice, in December, 1845, to Stillwater, which he
made his home until his death, which occurred Aug. 21, 1876. He took
an active interest in the welfare of the city and held many offices of
trust. He served his country during the war of the Rebellion, and in
1863 was appointed quartermaster with the rank of captain, which
position he held until mustered out at the close of the war.
JOHN MCKUSICK.--Prominent amongst the pioneers of the St. Croix
valley, and deserving of special mention for his enterprise and public
spirit, is the subject of this sketch. He was born in Cornish, Maine,
in 1815; received a common school education; came to Illinois in 1839,
and to St. Croix Falls in 1840, where he engaged in the lumbering
business, getting logs to the Falls mill, and sawing them. Through
industry and economy he saved enough to enable him to become part
owner and builder of the first mill in Stillwater. He has held many
positions of trust. He served as state senator in 1863-64-65 and 66.
He was active in aiding to secure the land grant to build railroads
into Stillwater, in the welfare of which city he has ever manifested
the deepest interest. He has been one of the largest proprietors, and
most liberal in improving and adorning the city, has encouraged a
sound system of finances, and has steadily opposed the bonding system.
Mr. McKusick was married to Phebe Greely in 1847, who soon afterward
died. He married his second wife, Servia Greely, in November, 1849. He
has three children living, Newton, Chester and Ella. Mrs. McKusick
died Feb. 18, 1887.
[Illustration: John McKusick]
WILLIAM MCKUSICK, a younger brother of Jonathan E. and John McKusick,
came to Stillwater in 1847, and engaged in lumbering. He was a member
of the fifth territorial house, and a senator in the second, sixteenth
and seventeenth state legislatures. In 1870, with the firm of
McKusick, Anderson & Co., he built the large saw mill at Houlton,
opposite Stillwater. In 1882 he made his home upon a farm at Big Stone
Lake.
NOAH MCKUSICK, another brother, came to Stillwater in 1847, followed
lumbering some years, removed to Oregon, and died there in 1886.
ROYAL MCKUSICK came to the valley in 1848, and died a few years later,
leaving a large and respectable family.
IVORY E. MCKUSICK.--Ivory E., brother of John and J. E. McKusick, was
born in Maine, July 2, 1827. In 1847 he came to Stillwater, with which
city he has since been permanently identified. He spent two years
working in the old mill, the first built at Stillwater, and then
engaged in lumbering until 1859. In 1862 he was appointed prison
guard, and served two years. In 1864 he was in the service of the
government, and helped build Fort Wadsworth, Dakota. He served as
surveyor general several years, and later has engaged in the
forwarding and commission business. He was married to Sophia A.
Jewell, Feb. 9, 1854. He is a man of probity and merit.
CHARLES E. LEONARD.--The subject of this sketch was born Feb. 25,
1810, at Worthington, Massachusetts. His father died when he was four
years old. In his early life he experienced some vicissitudes. He
tried farming and hotel keeping, but owing to poor health was obliged
to give up these employments. He started West in 1846, remained awhile
in Hancock county, Illinois, and in 1847 came to Stillwater, where he
engaged in mercantile pursuits. He removed to St. Anthony in 1850, to
St. Paul in 1855, to Point Douglas in 1866, to Sioux City in 1880, and
to Princeton, Mille Lacs county, in 1881. Mr. Leonard has held several
official positions. In 1852 he was appointed territorial treasurer,
and in 1857, serving four years; was a member of the Democratic wing
of the constitutional convention. He did some military service during
the Indian outbreak in 1862. He was married to Catherine Yendes, of
Rodman, New York, January, 1835.
DANIEL MCLEAN.--Mr. McLean was born in the north of Ireland in 1800
and came to America in his youth with his brothers. He lived
successively in Philadelphia, Indianapolis and St. Louis, whence he
embarked for St. Croix Falls in 1839, in the employ of the Falls
Manufacturing Company. He came to Stillwater in 1848. Through industry
and economy he accumulated a handsome fortune, which, at his death, he
left to his heirs in Stillwater. He was an upright christian man. He
died in Stillwater in 1873.
ROBERT SIMPSON.--Mr. Simpson was born in Sussex, England, in 1815. He
married Mary Ann Shelley in 1840 and came the same year to the United
States. After spending two years in New York and other places, he came
to St. Croix Falls in 1842, where he followed lumbering until 1850,
when he came to Stillwater. He belonged to the firm of Simpson,
Anderson & McComb, lumbering and merchandising, and engaged in other
branches of business. He was a member from Stillwater of the first
state legislature. He is a quiet, unobtrusive gentleman, greatly
esteemed by those who know him. Mrs. Simpson and an only child died in
Stillwater in 1856.
WILLIAM H. HOOPER.--This gentleman attained considerable notoriety in
later life as an influential Mormon and a delegate to Congress from
Utah from 1859 to 1868. He was a man of unquestioned ability and an
eloquent speaker. His plea for "religious liberty," made against the
Cullom bill, is said to have been one of the most eloquent speeches
ever delivered in Congress. Mr. Hooper was born in Warwick Manor,
Maryland, Dec. 25, 1813. In 1835 he moved to Galena and engaged in
mercantile business. In the panic of 1838 Mr. Hooper and his partner
failed to the amount of $200,000, but, after years of struggling, the
debt was entirely paid. In 1843 Mr. Hooper engaged in steamboating as
clerk on the steamer Otter, on the Upper Mississippi and its
tributaries, and was well known at Stillwater. His boat in 1843 landed
the mill irons for McKusick & Co.'s mill. In 1844 he built the steamer
Lynx and several other boats, the last being known as the Alex.
Hamilton, of which he was part owner. This was burned at St. Louis in
1849, which left him again penniless. In 1850 he emigrated to Salt
Lake and there in his business enterprises greatly prospered. Although
he espoused Mormonism and became one of its leaders, he was opposed to
polygamy. He died in Salt Lake City.
JAMES H. SPENCER.--James H. Spencer came to Stillwater in 1845, a boy
of sixteen. His educational privileges had been limited, but he was
ambitious and studious, and by his own unaided exertions acquired a
practical business education. He followed lumbering and exploring, and
was employed as state timber agent for fifteen years. He was born in
Boone county, Missouri, in 1829, and was married to Rose M. Winters,
in Stillwater, in 1869.
JOHN T. BLACKBURN.--The brothers Blackburn were born in Cincinnati,
Ohio, John, the elder, in 1823. He came to Stillwater in 1844, and has
since been actively engaged in lumbering. His home has been at
Stillwater, Marine, Taylor's Falls, and Shell Lake, where he now
resides.
JOSEPH T. BLACKBURN.--Joseph, the younger brother, was born in 1834,
and in 1847 came to Stillwater. He has followed lumbering and Indian
trading. He has made his home at Stillwater, at Taylor's Falls, and,
since 1860, on Totogatic river, in Douglas county, Wisconsin, ten
miles from Gordon. Mr. Blackburn enjoys wilderness life, is eccentric
in manner, and attends strictly to his own business.
HORACE K. MCKINSTRY.--We have no data of Mr. McKinstry's early life.
He came to Stillwater in 1846. His family consisted of his wife, three
daughters, and son, John, who afterward married the eldest daughter of
Anson Northrup. Mr. McKinstry was a justice of the peace in 1847 and
1848, and was engaged in mercantile business the two succeeding years.
He removed to Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, a year or two after and died
there March 12, 1884.
SETH M. SAWYER.--Mr. Sawyer was born in Skowhegan, Maine, in 1822. He
came to Stillwater in 1846, followed lumbering, and afterward engaged
in building a saw mill in the firm name of Sawyer & Heaton. In 1850 he
was married to Eliza McKinstry. Mr. Sawyer left Minnesota in 1866 for
an extended sojourn in the Southern States, and engaged in business
there, but nothing is known positively of his present whereabouts.
HENRY SAWYER.--Henry, the younger brother of Seth, came from Skowhegan
to Stillwater in 1849, and engaged in mercantile pursuits for two
years in partnership with Horace McKinstry. In 1856 he built the first
stone block in Stillwater, on lot 2, block 27. In 1857 he built the
Sawyer House, a four story hotel. Mr. Sawyer married Lucy Noyes. He
died in Stillwater, Dec. 27, 1865, and his remains were buried in the
Kah-ba-kong cemetery, at Taylor's Falls.
ALVAH D. HEATON.--Mr. Heaton was the partner of Seth Sawyer in
building the second saw mill in Stillwater. He came to St. Croix in
1847 and worked at the Osceola mills some time. He was a partner in
logging with O. H. Blair and afterward with Wm. Kent. He was a
brother-in-law to Hon. Cyrus Aldrich, representative in Congress from
Minnesota. In after years he removed to Idaho.
JOHN MCKINZIE.--Mr. McKinzie was born at Inverness, Scotland, in 1818,
and came to America in 1841. He located in Stillwater in 1846, and
followed lumbering until 1856, when he removed to a farm in the Lyman
settlement. He married Rose Carlton in 1872 and removed to Miles City,
Montana, in 1879.
GEORGE MCKINZIE, a younger brother of John, came to Stillwater in
1851, and engaged in lumbering and exploring. In 1885 he was adjudged
insane and sent to the St. Peter's hospital, from which he was soon
released. He afterward visited California, where he was drowned in San
Francisco bay. He was unmarried.
HENRY KATTENBERG.--Mr. Kattenberg was born in Prussia in 1821, and
married to Arnebia C. Silova, at Kemper, on the banks of the Rhine, in
1844. He came to America in June, 1847, and to Stillwater in 1848. Mr.
Kattenberg opened a shop and engaged in the tailoring business. By
industry and close application to business, he prospered and secured a
pleasant home. By liberality and kindness in extending credits, and an
unfortunate venture in lumbering, he lost $14,000, which effectually
closed his business operations. With characteristic honesty, he
turned over to his creditors his homestead and all he had to meet his
liabilities. In 1880 he removed to Taylor's Falls and commenced
keeping hotel at the Falls House, on Bench street. In October, 1886,
he purchased the Dalles House of Mrs. C. B. Whiting.
JULIUS F. BRUNSWICK.--Mr. Brunswick was born in Switzerland in 1826;
came to this country in 1846, remained a year in Illinois, and came to
Stillwater in 1848, where he engaged in lumbering, farming,
merchandising, and dealing in pine lands. Mr. Brunswick applied
himself closely to business and was successful. Feb. 29, 1859, he
married Margaret Darms, of Stillwater. He died at his home in
Stillwater in 1874, leaving a widow and seven children.
HENRY MCLEAN.--Mr. McLean was born in Washington county, Maine, in
1828, and in 1848 came to Stillwater, which has since been his home.
He is engaged in lumbering. In 1851 he married Caroline Cover.
HUGH BURNS.--Hugh Burns came from Ireland to America in 1830, when he
was but eight years of age, lived in the province of New Brunswick
until 1848, when he came to Stillwater, where he has since been
engaged in lumbering and farming. In 1850 he removed to St. Anthony,
in 1855 to St. Paul, and in 1856 to Stillwater.
SYLVANUS TRASK.--Mr. Trask was born in Otsego county, New York, Nov.
16, 1811. He secured a liberal education, and taught school several
years in the state of New York. He came to Stillwater in 1848, and in
1852 was married to Euphenia Turner, of St. Paul. He represented the
Stillwater district in the first and second territorial legislatures,
1849-51. For many years he has been a surveyor and scaler of logs.
ARIEL ELDRIDGE.--Mr. Eldridge was born in Hartford, Vermont, June 10,
1815. He was reared during his minority by an uncle, at Cambridge, New
York. In 1844 he came to the Wisconsin lead mines, at Platteville, and
in 1848 to Stillwater, where he worked afterward at his trade of house
carpenter until 1862, when he opened a book and stationery store. He
has held several city and county offices. In 1849 he was married to
Sarah L. Judd. Mrs. Eldridge died in Stillwater, Oct. 12, 1886, aged
eighty-four years. Mrs. Eldridge taught the first school in
Stillwater.
[Illustration: E. W. DURANT. A PROMINENT MINNESOTIAN OF RENOWNED
REPUTATION.]
EDWARD WHITE DURANT.--Mr. Durant is of Huguenot descent. During the
eighteenth century his ancestors lived in Massachusetts and were
active participants in the agitation against English oppression.
Edward Durant, Jr., an ancestor five generations from the present, was
a delegate to the Provincial Congress of 1774 and 1775, and chairman
of the committee on commercial correspondence. He died in 1782. Others
of the family filled prominent places, and were noted for their
whole-souled patriotism.
Mr. Durant was born at Roxbury, Massachusetts, April 8, 1829. He
received a common school education, and a year in the academy. He came
to Cincinnati in 1838, and in 1844 we find him with his parents in
Albany, Illinois. In 1848 he left his parents and came to Stillwater,
where he worked three seasons on the river, running logs. He then
became a pilot on the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers and continued
in this business about sixteen years. He acted as salesman for Hersey,
Staples & Co. some years. He has been since then engaged in lumbering
and a portion of the time as a member of the firm of Durant, Wheeler &
Co. The annual sales of this firm amount to over half a million
dollars. In 1874 he was a candidate on the Democratic ticket for
lieutenant governor and in 1876 was president of the state Democratic
convention. He represented his district in the fifteenth, seventeenth
and twenty-fourth state legislatures. He was several years grand
master of the Masons of Minnesota. He has served as mayor of
Stillwater, and often as a member of the council. Mr. Durant, as his
record shows him, is one of the most industrious men of the time, and
possessed of good executive and business abilities. Mr. Durant was
married Dec. 29, 1853, to Henrietta Pease, of Albany, Illinois.
OLIVER PARSONS.--Mr. Parsons was born in South Paris, Maine, and is
also descended from Revolutionary stock. He came to Stillwater in
1848, where he engaged in merchandising and farming. He removed to
Minneapolis in 1876, where he is at present engaged in selling goods.
He was married to C. Jewell, April, 1855. Mr. Parsons has ever been an
exemplary man.
ALBERT STIMSON.--A native of York county, Maine, Mr. Stimson spent
there his early life, and, after a few years in New Brunswick, came to
Stillwater in 1849. He followed lumbering in his native state and on
the St. Croix. He served as surveyor general of the First district,
Minnesota, three years. He was a member of the Minnesota territorial
councils of 1854 and 1855 and a member of the house in 1853. He was
mayor of Stillwater one year, alderman two years, and was also a
supervisor of Washington county. From 1870 to 1872 Mr. Stimson was a
citizen of Kanabec county, which county he helped organize, and of
which he was one of the first commissioners. His present residence is
Anoka.
ABRAHAM VAN VOORHEES.--Mr. Van Voorhees' ancestors were patriots
during the Revolution, and lived in New York and New Jersey. He was
born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, Dec. 2, 1793. He was reared
as a farmer. His school privileges were limited. "The Major," as he
was familiarly styled, once told me that the educational advantages he
had received in youth were very few, and that his desires and
ambitions were far beyond his means to satisfy and fulfill, and he
remarked with justifiable pride: "And what I am now, if I amount to
anything, I owe to strong nerves and will power; God has always
sustained me, and I have always acknowledged allegiance to Him." The
major had an ingenious and inventive mind. Being studious and
industrious, he accomplished much without scholastic training, and
became well versed in the sciences, and an acute reasoner. In 1832 he
removed to Athens county, Ohio, where for five years he devoted
himself to mechanical pursuits and the study of the sciences. In 1837
he removed to Athens, and became editor and proprietor of the _Hocking
Valley Gazette_, and retained the editorship six years. While living
in Ohio, he served as county treasurer, county surveyor, member of the
legislature, and state senator. In the latter position he served four
years. In 1849 he was appointed by President Taylor register of the
United States land office at Stillwater, which place he held until
1853. In 1852 Gov. Ramsey appointed him territorial auditor. He was a
representative in the territorial legislature of 1856 and of the state
legislature of 1859-60. He was one of the commissioners for locating
the capitol and university lands. He was postmaster in Stillwater many
years, and when he was eighty years of age acted as surveyor of
Washington county. Such is a brief record of an unusually active and
useful life. Maj. Van Voorhees was a thoroughly good citizen and
christian gentleman. In politics he was Whig and Republican. His
church membership was in the Presbyterian church, of which he became a
member in 1832. In 1817 he was married to Mary Workman Voorhees. He
died at his home in Stillwater, Jan. 24, 1879, aged eighty-six years,
and was buried with christian and masonic honors.
MICHAEL E. AMES, an attorney from Boston, came to Stillwater in 1849,
and became one of the leading lawyers of the Territory. He was urbane
and dignified, both in society and at the bar. He was a charming
conversationalist, and such a ready and fluent speaker that it was a
pleasure to listen to him. Many of his witty sayings will long be
remembered. He was twice married, but his domestic life was by no
means a happy one. He died in St. Paul in 1861, his life, no doubt,
shortened by intemperate habits, but he was polite and genial and
witty to the last.
JOSEPH BONIN is of French descent. He was born in Montreal, Canada,
Aug. 26, 1820. He was married to Margaret Bruce in 1851. The writer
first met Mr. Bonin in Stillwater in 1845. He was then in the employ
of John McKusick. He had spent much of his life on the frontier as an
employe of the fur companies, and could relate many stirring incidents
and perilous adventures. Mr. Bonin located at Baytown at an early day.
During the Rebellion he was a member of Company B, First Minnesota
Heavy Artillery.
MARCEL GAGNON.--Mr. Gagnon was born in Lower Canada, Aug. 17, 1825. On
arriving at manhood he came to the United States, and was an employe
of the American Fur Company several years. He removed to Stillwater in
1845, engaging in lumbering. In 1863 he enlisted in the Minnesota
Volunteer Independent Battalion, and served three years. Mr. Gagnon is
a polite, pleasant, hard working and independent man.
SEBASTIAN MARTY was born in Switzerland in 1809, came to America in
1836, to Stillwater in 1845, and located on a farm in section 32, town
of Stillwater, now known as the Jackman homestead. In 1850 he made his
home in section 30, town of Lakeland, where he resided until his
death, Nov. 3, 1885. His widow was formerly Christine Mamsche. He was
a quiet, unobtrusive, thoroughly honest and reliable man.
JOHN MARTY was born in Switzerland in 1823. He learned the art of
manufacturing straw goods in France. He came to America in 1846, to
Stillwater in 1848 and not long after settled on his farm in Baytown.
He was married to Anna M. Henry, in St. Paul, 1852.
ADAM MARTY.--Mr. Marty was born in Switzerland in 1839. In 1846 he
came with his grandparents to America and located at St. Louis. In
1849 he came to Stillwater and learned the printer's trade. He was
employed one year by John McKusick. He enlisted April 29, 1861, in
Company B, First Minnesota Volunteers, was severely wounded at the
battle of Gettysburg, and honorably discharged. He resides in
Stillwater, where he has held responsible positions, and has taken a
deep interest in the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has been
post commander.
MICHAEL MCHALE.--Mr. McHale came from Ireland in 1836; located first
in Quincy, Illinois; then, 1840, in Galena; in 1842 in Potosi,
Wisconsin, and in 1849 at Stillwater. He was interested in a saw mill
(McHale & Johnson's), and operated also as a contractor in prison
work. He was married to Rosanna McDermott in Wisconsin, 1847. She died
in 1856.
GEORGE WATSON.--Mr. Watson is, in common parlance, a self-made man.
Left alone in the world and dependent entirely on his own exertions
for a livelihood, he learned the carpenter's trade, learned it well,
and followed it industriously through life. Mr. Watson was born in
Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, Sept. 13, 1823, and came to the St.
Croix valley in 1849. He lived a few years in Hudson, and then removed
to Stillwater, where he has the credit of building many fine
structures. He was married in 1860 to Frances Lyman, of Stillwater.
REV. ELEAZER A. GREENLEAF was educated at Bangor Theological Seminary.
He came to Stillwater in 1846, and became pastor of the first
Protestant Episcopal church organized north of Prairie du Chien,
excepting at Fort Snelling and some Indian mission charges. Mr.
Greenleaf was married to Susan P. Greely, of Williamsburg, Maine, in
1838. He became a great sufferer in the later years of his life. He
died in Stillwater in 1878. Mrs. Greenleaf died in Minneapolis in
1881.
J. B. COVEY.--Dr. J. B. Covey came to Stillwater in 1844. He was born
in Duchess county, New York, in 1784. He practiced medicine many years
in Missouri. He died in Stillwater in 1851.
JOHN SHAESBY was born in Warwick, England, in 1811; came to America in
1836, to Stillwater in 1848; removed to St. Croix county in 1850,
thence to St. Joseph, to Rush River and to Baldwin in 1874, where he
died in 1880, leaving two children and his widow in comfortable
circumstances. His eldest daughter was the wife of Capt. Isaac Gray.
JOHN S. PROCTOR.--Mr. Proctor is of English descent, and was born in
Cavendish, Windsor county, Vermont, Feb. 26, 1826. He was favored with
a common school education. In 1846 he came to St. Louis, Missouri, and
served as mercantile clerk until 1849, when he came to Stillwater and
engaged in lumbering and mercantile pursuits. He was a member of the
firm of Short, Proctor & Co., hardware merchants. In 1860 he was
appointed warden of the Minnesota state prison, which office he held
until 1868. In 1860 he was also appointed secretary and treasurer of
the St. Croix Boom Company. He performed the duties of both positions,
but continued to serve the boom company twenty years. His experience
and reliability made him almost the umpire of this company. He was
appointed surveyor general for the years 1881 to 1884, inclusive. Mr.
Proctor was married to Caroline Lockwood, daughter of John Lockwood,
of Prairie du Chien, in 1854. They have one son, Levi.
BARRON PROCTOR, brother of John S. Proctor, came to Stillwater when a
young man, but after a few years removed to New Orleans, whence he
returned to Stillwater, and in 1873 engaged in flour manufacturing as
one of the firm of Cahill, Townshend & Co. He disposed of his interest
in 1880. Mr. Proctor was married to Hettie Carson, adopted daughter of
Socrates Nelson and widow of John A. Hanford. He lives in St. Paul.
HENRY WESTING is a native of Hanover. He emigrated to America in 1840
and came to Stillwater in 1848. He commenced his business career as a
day laborer and by industry, perseverance and tact, rose to a position
of wealth and influence. He died in Stillwater, Feb. 26, 1885, much
esteemed by his associates for his sterling qualities of character.
THOMAS DUNN was born in 1823, in Queens county, Ireland. He emigrated
to America in 1826, locating at Miramachi, on the northeast coast of
New Brunswick. He came thence to Maine, where he spent two years. He
came to the St. Croix valley in 1846, located in Stillwater, where he
has since lived and been engaged in lumbering. He is the owner of a
valuable land property at Yellow Lake, Burnett county, Wisconsin. He
has been a member of the Catholic church since infancy.
CHARLES J. GARDINER was born at Charlotte, Maine, in 1826, and came to
Stillwater in 1849, where he followed lumbering and farming. He served
as surveyor of the First Minnesota district five years. He was married
in 1853 to Pamela Jackman. They have five children.
SAMUEL STAPLES was born in Topsham, Maine, September, 1805. He came
west from Brunswick, Maine, in 1854, and located in Stillwater, where
he died, Dec. 26, 1887. He is the elder brother of Isaac, Silas and
Winslow Staples. He leaves a widow (his second wife), two daughters,
Mrs. E. A. Folsom and Mrs. G. M. Stickney, and two sons, Josiah and
Winslow, besides a step-son, William Langly.
JOSIAH STAPLES, son of Samuel, was born in Brunswick, Maine, June 20,
1826. He received a good common school education. At the age of
thirteen his family removed to Penobscot county, and later to the
province of New Brunswick, but returned to Maine in 1840. In 1848 he
came to Stillwater, and has since been continuously engaged in milling
and lumbering operations, and, latterly, in steamboating. He was
married to Lydia McGlaughlin in 1853. His children are six sons and
one daughter.
JOEL M. DARLING was born in Madison county, New York, in 1842. He came
to Galena, Illinois, in 1840, and to Stillwater in 1848, where he
engaged in farming. He served three years during the Civil War in
Company F, Seventh Minnesota, and has since been pensioned for
disabilities incurred in the service. He is unmarried. He lives in
South Stillwater.
EARLY RIVER PILOTS.
JOE PERRO.--"Big Joe" as he was familiarly called, was large of frame
and big-hearted as well, honest, manly, of good report for courage and
honesty. He was fearless and prompt in taking the part of the weak and
oppressed. We were once passing together up Broadway, St. Louis, when
we passed a peanut stand. A small negro boy was crying piteously and
begging the peanut vender to give him back his money, to which appeal
the peanut vender was obdurate. We halted. Joe Perro organized a
court, heard the testimony of man and boy, and satisfied himself that
in making change the man had wrongfully withheld a dime due the boy.
Joe decided in favor of the boy and ordered the vender of peanuts to
pay him the ten cents. He replied insolently: "It is none of your
d----d business." That was enough to kindle the magazine of Joe's
wrath. A sudden blow of his fist, and the man was prostrate on the
sidewalk and his peanuts and apples scattered. The last seen of the
discomfited street merchant he was on his hands and knees scrambling
with the boys for the possession of his scattered fruits, and casting
an occasional vengeful glance at the towering form of "Big Joe"
departing slowly from the scene of conflict. Mr. Perro is of French
parentage, and a native of Kaskaskia, Illinois. He has been a resident
of Stillwater since 1844.
JAMES MCPHAIL.--Mr. McPhail, as his name indicates, is of Scotch
parentage. He was born in Inverness, Scotland, in 1824, and came to
America in early life. He was one of the first log pilots on the
waters of the Mississippi and St. Croix. He settled in Stillwater in
1848, was married to Eliza Purinton in 1849, and died in St. Louis in
1857. Mrs. McPhail died in Stillwater in 1885. They left no children.
JOHN CORMACK.--Mr. Cormack commenced piloting on the St. Croix in
1845. He was married in 1860 to Miss Jackins. He made his home in
Stillwater continuously for thirty years, during which time he served
as pilot. He died at Princeton, Mille Lacs county, in 1885.
JOHN HANFORD.--Mr. Hanford was a St. Croix river pilot in the '40s. He
married an adopted daughter of Socrates Nelson, of Stillwater. He died
at Stillwater. Mrs. Hanford subsequently married Barron Proctor.
JOHN LEACH.--Mr. Leach made his home at Marine many years, during
which time he engaged in piloting on the St. Croix; subsequently he
removed to Stillwater. In the later years of his life he has been
blind.
STEPHEN B. HANKS.--Mr. Stephen B. Hanks, formerly of Albany, Illinois,
piloted the first raft from St. Croix Falls to St. Louis in 1842. He
followed piloting rafts and steamboats until 1885.
SAMUEL S. HANKS.--Samuel, a brother of Stephen B., commenced piloting
in the '40s, and is still active.
Among the early pilots on the St. Croix and Mississippi
rivers were Antoine Lapoint, Augustus Barlow, Richard
Whiting, James Hickman, George M. Penny, and Daniel McLean.
CHAPTER IV.
POLK COUNTY--DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY.
Polk county contains 700,000 acres of land, well diversified with
timber and prairie, uplands and valleys, rivers and lakes, and fertile
enough to sustain a large population. The county was established by
the Wisconsin legislature in 1853, and originally included much more
territory than it now contains, new counties having been formed north
and east of its present domain. Indian traders had visited it at an
earlier period, but the first permanent white settlement was made in
1837, and the first pioneer who came with the serious intention of
making permanent improvements was Franklin Steele. As Mr. Steele's
history is in a great part the history of the early settlement, we
insert it here, and very nearly in the language of Mr. Steele himself,
as he communicated it to the writer some years since:
"I came to the Northwest in 1837, a young man, healthy and ambitious,
to dare the perils of an almost unexplored region, inhabited by
savages. I sought Fort Snelling (which was at that time an active
United States fort) as a point from which to start. In September,
1837, immediately after the treaty was made ceding the St. Croix
valley to the government, accompanied by Dr. Fitch, of Bloomington,
Iowa, we started from Fort Snelling in a bark canoe, also a scow
loaded with tools, supplies and laborers, descended the Mississippi
river and ascended the St. Croix to the Dalles. We clambered over the
rocks to the Falls, where we made two land claims, covering the Falls
on the east side and the approach to it in the Dalles. We built a log
cabin at the Falls, where the Upper Copper trap range crosses the
river and where the old mill was afterward erected. A second log house
we built in the ravine at the head of navigation. Whilst building,
four other parties arrived to make claim to this power. I found the
veritable Joe Brown on the west side of the St. Croix, trading with
the Indians, a few rods from where Baker & Taylor built their mill
(near the end of the present toll bridge). Brown had also cut pine
logs, part of which, in 1838, were used by Baker & Taylor, but most of
them were burned by forest fires on the ground where they were felled.
In February, 1838, I made a trip to the Falls with a dog team for the
relief of one Boyce, who was cutting logs at the mouth of Snake river,
and had had some trouble with the Indians. I helped him until he left
the country. Peshick, a chief of the Chippewas, said, 'We have no
money for logs; we have no money for land. Logs can not go.' He said
he could not control his young men and would not be responsible for
their acts.
"In the spring of 1838, from Fort Snelling we descended the
Mississippi river to Prairie du Chien in bark canoes, thence by
steamer to St. Louis, Missouri, where a co-partnership was formed by
Messrs. Fitch, of Muscatine, Iowa, Libbey, of Alton, Illinois,
Hungerford and Livingston, of St. Louis, Hill and Holcombe, of Quincy,
Illinois, and myself. We chartered the steamer Palmyra, loaded her
with all the materials with which to build a saw mill, including
mechanics to do the work, and started for the scene of operations.
Plans for procedure, rules and by-laws were discussed and adopted
during the journey on the steamer, and the new organization was
christened the St. Croix Falls Lumbering Company. Calvin A. Tuttle was
the millwright."
The trip was made in safety, our immediate plans executed, and the
Palmyra was the first steamboat that ever sailed the St. Croix river
and lake. Mr. Steele made an estimate for the construction of the mill
and dam at $20,000, which he submitted to the company. It was
accepted, and Calvin A. Tuttle, a millwright, was placed in charge of
the work, but Mr. Steele sold his interest to the company before the
mill was completed. On examination of the records we find that W.
Libbey was the first agent of the company. We find also from the same
record that Libbey knew little or nothing of the business he had
undertaken. With a few barrels of whisky and one of beads he busied
himself trading with the Indians. This was the first whisky sold in
the valley, and it was sold in defiance of government law.
Much could be written about this old pioneer company of the Northwest,
and its history, could it be truly written, would contain many
thrilling incidents and scenes worthy of remembrance; but much is
already forgotten and many of the most prominent actors have passed
away, leaving no record of their lives. The company, as a corporation,
passed through many changes of name and ownership. Its history would
be a history of litigations, of wranglings and feuds, of losses and
gains, of mistakes, of blunders and of wrongs. In the first place, the
mill was planned by men practically unfitted for such work,
inexperienced in lumbering and unacquainted with the vast expenditures
requisite for the opening up of a new country, hundreds of miles from
labor and the supplies needed for manufacturing. There were three
requisites present, a splendid water power, abundance of timber at
convenient distances and a healthful climate; but these alone did not
and could not make the enterprise a success. Had practical,
experienced lumbermen been employed the result might have been
different, but impractical methods, enormous expenses, with no profits
or dividends, caused most of the company to withdraw, forfeiting their
stock in preference to continuing with the prospect of total
bankruptcy. Goods were brought annually, at great expense, from St.
Louis by the large steamers which then controlled the trade of the
Mississippi and the St. Croix. The navigation of the St. Croix grew
annually more difficult, the immense number of logs floated down since
1838 wearing away the banks and increasing the number and area of sand
bars and not infrequently obstructing the channel with jams.
It is not known exactly how or when the name of St. Croix came to be
applied to the beautiful river bearing it, but La Harpe, in his
"Louisiana," gives the most plausible account of its origin: "This
name is not ecclesiastical in its associations, but named after
Monsieur St. Croix, who was drowned at its mouth." Le Sueur, who
explored the Upper Mississippi in 1683, says he left a large river on
the east side, named St. Croix, because a Frenchman of that name was
drowned at its mouth. As Duluth was the first white man to embark in
the waters of the St. Croix, descending it in canoes, from near Lake
Superior, which he did in 1680; and as Hennepin and La Salle ascended
the Mississippi the same year, the name could not have had an earlier
origin, but may be fixed as given sometime between 1680 and 1683. An
old map in my possession, one hundred and twenty-five years old, gives
the present name of the river and lake. The St. Croix valley embraces
an area of territory from 20 to 90 miles in width, and about 120 miles
in length. Its northern water, Upper Lake St. Croix, is about 20 miles
from Lake Superior. The southern portion is a rich prairie country,
interspersed with groves of hardwood timber. The more northern portion
is interspersed with groves of pine, tamarack, cedar, balsam and
hardwoods. The whole district, with a small exception, is a cereal
country. It abounds in wild meadows, and much of the swampy portion
will ultimately be utilized by ditching, which will transform it all
into a good stock raising country. About eight-tenths of this entire
valley is fitted by nature for agriculture.
Wheat, the leading cereal, averages ten to thirty bushels per acre;
the growth of tame grasses can not be excelled; vegetables grow to
wonderful size; native wild fruits abound; cultivated fruits are being
successfully introduced; cranberries are being cultivated in the
northern part. Wheat, stock, and pine lumber are the principal
articles of export. The southern portion is well watered by the St.
Croix and its tributaries--Kinnikinic, Willow, Apple, Sunrise, and
smaller streams, lakes and springs. The northern portion is abundantly
watered by the St. Croix and tributaries--Wolf, Trade, Wood, Clam,
Yellow, Namakagan, Rush, Kanabec and Kettle rivers. Small streams and
lakes are numerous, of which only the largest are named on the maps.
The valley is abundantly supplied with water power, capable of running
enough manufactories to work up all the products of the country. The
soil is, as a general thing, dry and arable. April and May are the
seeding months. Crops mature, and are seldom injured by frosts. The
whole country adjacent to this valley will answer to this general
description.
On the twenty-ninth day of July, 1837, our government purchased the
valley of the St. Croix of the Indians at a treaty held at Fort
Snelling, Gov. Henry Dodge and Gen. Wm. R. Smith acting as
commissioners. The purchase was ratified in Congress in the spring of
1838. Polk county, originally a part of Crawford, in 1840 became a
part of St. Croix, and in 1853 received its present organization and
name, the latter in honor of James K. Polk, eleventh president of the
United States. This country occupies the eastern part of the valley
of the St. Croix lying between Burnett and St. Croix counties on the
north and south, and Barron on the east, the St. Croix river forming
its western boundary. The surface is agreeably diversified with forest
and prairie land, and is supplied with excellent springs, rivers and
lakes. Most of the underlying rock is sandstone. This rock crops out
along the banks of the St. Croix and is extensively used for building
purposes. Lime rock is also found along the river banks, some of which
is of a superior grade, notably that below Osceola, which is
manufactured into lime and exported. The natural scenery can scarcely
be surpassed in the West. The towering, precipitous bluffs along the
St. Croix, the picturesque trap rocks of the Dalles, and the bright
clear lakes of the interior have long been an attraction to the
tourist. The lakes and smaller streams abound in fish, and the latter
are famous for their abundance of brook trout.
The county seat at the organization of the county was located at St.
Croix Falls. The first election held in the limits of the present
county of Polk, prior to its organization, was at St. Croix Falls,
then a voting precinct, known as Caw-caw-baw-kang, a Chippewa name,
meaning waterfall. The returns of this election were made to Prairie
du Chien. I was present at the canvassing of these returns. They were
found to be accurate. Annually since then elections were held at this
point and returns made, first to Prairie du Chien, Crawford county,
then to Stillwater, St. Croix county, to Hudson, St. Croix county, and
to Osceola Mills, Polk county. By an election held in Polk county just
after its organization the county seat was removed to Osceola Mills,
by a unanimous vote. The records of the first elections can not be
found, they having been stolen from the safe in 1864. The following
county officers were elected in 1853: Isaac Freeland, clerk of court
and register of deeds; E. C. Treadwell, sheriff; Oscar A. Clark,
surveyor; Wm. Kent, county treasurer; Harmon Crandall, coroner; Nelson
McCarty, district attorney; J. Freeland, clerk of board of
supervisors. The first meeting of the board of supervisors was held in
Osceola, in Isaac Freeland's building, where the offices were located
for many years. The first court was held in the school house, Wyram
Knowlton presiding. Both petit and grand juries were in attendance.
Isaac Freeland was the first attorney admitted to practice. Isaac W.
Hale was the first county judge. The first marriage was that of Lewis
Barlow to ---- ----, at St. Croix Falls. The first birth in the county
was that of Charles Northrup, son of Anson Northrup, at St. Croix
Falls (1844). The first death was that of John Kelly, by drowning
(1839), at St. Croix Falls. The first school in the county was
established at St. Croix Falls by Miss Tainter, from Prairie du Chien,
in 1848. The first school house was built in Osceola in 1852, the
second at St. Croix Falls in 1861. The first mail, established in
1840, was carried up the St. Croix river by batteaus in summer and by
sleds over the ice in winter. The mail was weekly; the carrier was Dr.
Philip Aldrich. The first land mail route was in 1847, from Willow
River to St. Croix Falls. The mail was carried by Dr. Aldrich through
the woods. The first stage route was established in 1855. The first
deed we find of Polk county property is recorded at Prairie du Chien
Sept. 2, 1845, from James Purinton to John Witherell, of St. Louis,
Missouri, for $4,933,--a deed of trust covering a saw mill at St.
Croix Falls. The second deed is from Benj. T. Otis to Edmond Johnson,
conveying an undivided interest in a pre-emption claim, known as the
Northrup or Jerusalem claim, about one mile east of St. Croix Falls,
for $200. The first deed recorded in the county of old St. Croix was
Sept. 29, 1845, from James Purinton, of St. Croix Falls, to John H.
Ferguson, of the city of St. Louis, Missouri,--consideration
$1,552,--of St. Croix Falls water power property. The first store was
built in St. Croix Falls in 1839 and stocked with goods by the St.
Croix Falls Company. The first blacksmith shop and the first hotel
were built at St. Croix Falls. The first grist mill was built at
Osceola in 1853. The first crops were raised at "Jerusalem," the first
farm in the county, in 1839. "Jerusalem" was the farm now owned by Wm.
Blanding, and was early noted as a resort for pleasure seekers, as a
place for picnics and base ball games. The first pre-emption and entry
of land was made in 1848, by Harmon Crandall, of Farmington. Settlers
came into the county slowly until about 1866, since which time the
population has more rapidly increased.
THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.
Undoubtedly the greatest curse to the pioneers of a new settlement,
and to the aborigines as well, is the liquor traffic. The Indians,
under the influence of whisky, became infuriated and were capable of
committing any atrocity; the effects upon the whites were not so
violent but just as surely demoralizing, and in time as fatal. Among
dealers in the vile fluid there was no one more persistent and
unscrupulous than Capt. M. M. Samuels. During the summers of 1848 and
1849 there was no other whisky selling house at the Falls. The
character of the whisky sold was vile beyond description. Mrs. H----
and son informed me that they were employed by Samuels during the
summer in compounding various roots with tobacco and boiling them, for
the manufacture of a strong drink that was sold for whisky. Many, both
whites and Indians, were poisoned by this compound. As an emphatic
evidence against the vileness of the liquor, I append some of the
blighting results:
A talented young lawyer, Hall by name, from Philadelphia, became
infatuated with the peculiar whisky furnished by Samuels, and when
insane from its effects ran from Barlow's boarding house to a high
rock overhanging the St. Croix river, just below the falls, plunged in
and was drowned.
Another, named Douglas, under the same influence, tried repeatedly to
drown himself, when his friends bound him securely with cords. He then
managed to stab himself.
Alexander Livingston, a man who in youth had had excellent advantages,
became himself a dealer in whisky, at the mouth of Wolf creek, in a
drunken melee in his own store was shot and killed by Robido, a
half-breed. Robido was arrested but managed to escape justice.
Livingston, once, when on his way from Wolf creek to Clam falls,
sought refuge in my camp, having with him two kegs of whisky. The
Indians soon collected at the camp in fighting trim and sung and
danced madly about the door of the cabin, and clamored for
scoot-a-wa-bo (whisky). I refused to allow any whisky to be issued.
The Indians were furious. Livingston cowered with fear. Foreseeing
trouble I ordered Nat Tibbetts and Jonathan Brawn to take the kegs and
follow me. The Indians stopped their gymnastic performances and gazed
intently. With an axe and with a single blow on each keg I knocked in
the heads, and the whisky was soon swallowed up in the snow. The
Indians sprang forward with demoniac yells and commenced licking up
the saturated snow, after which they danced around me, calling me
"Oge-ma" (captain). I gave them food and they went away sober and
apparently satisfied.
FRONTIER JUSTICE.
In the spring of 1848 there were two rival whisky sellers at or near
Balsam lake. Miles Tornell, a Norwegian, was located midway between
the lake and the Falls. Miller, a German, had his post at the lake.
Miller was an older trader, and claimed exclusive rights. A bitter
feeling sprang up between them, which resulted, as the testimony
afterward proved, in the murder of Tornell. His house was burned, and
his body found concealed in a coal pit. One McLaughlin, who was
stopping with Tornell, was also murdered. An investigation was set on
foot. Samuels and Fields acted as detectives, and fixed the crime upon
an Indian, whom they arrested on an island in Blake's lake, and
brought to the Falls for trial. H. H. Perkins acted as judge, a jury
of good men was impaneled, and the trial was held in Daniel Mears'
store. A prosecuting attorney and counsel for the accused were
appointed. The Indian frankly confessed the killing, and said that he
had been hired to do the bloody work by Miller. Another Indian
testified to being present on the occasion of the murder. After brief
remarks by the lawyers, the jury brought in a verdict of guilty. There
was no formal sentence. The Indian was kept under guard till next
morning, when, by the unanimous consent of all present, he was hanged
to a tree, since blighted, that stood near the old burying ground
(later Louisiana street), and was hanged, Samuels officiating as
sheriff. The Indians present were permitted to take the body, which
they buried with Indian rites. Toward Miller, who ought to have been
held as principal, the crowd were unexpectedly lenient. Instead of
being hanged upon the same tree, he was merely lashed to it, and
flogged, Pat Collins administering fifteen strokes on the bare back
with a beech withe. He was then placed on a steamboat and ordered to
leave the country, never to return. Of the more active participants in
the hanging, Pat Collins, who officiated as hangman, and who flogged
Miller, was undeniably a hard citizen. He had a bitter grudge against
Miller, and administered the strokes with a will. He was himself
hanged some years later in California for highway robbery. Chas. F.
Rowley, who assisted in the hanging, lived for some years on a farm
at Wolf creek, enlisted in 1861 in the Union army, and was killed in
battle.
POPULATION OF ST. CROIX FALLS IN 1848.
The following heads of families resided in St. Croix Falls in 1848: H.
H. Perkins, Edward Worth, G. W. Brownell, Otis Hoyt, J. Saunders, R.
Arnold, L. Barlow, A. L. Tuttle, M. M. Samuels, Geo. De Attley, Moses
Perin, and W. H. C. Folsom.
The following single men claimed this as their home: D. Mears, J. L.
and N. C. D. Taylor, P. Kelly, A. Romain, J. and W. R. Marshall, W. F.
Colby, Dr. De Witt, W. J. Vincent, C. Dexter, A. Youle, H. H.
Newberry, J. and O. Weymouth, Geo. Field, W. W. Folsom, J. H. Tuller,
J. Dobney, J. Paine, and some others whose names I can not readily
recall.
NATURAL LANGUAGE.
The Indians, when unable to talk English, nevertheless managed to
express themselves intelligibly by gestures, picture writing, and
vocal utterances, imitating the sounds which they wished to describe.
A kind old Chippewa occasionally visited my camp. He would sit by the
camp fire and mark out in the ashes the outlines of lakes and streams.
In tracing South Clam river, at a certain point he drew a line across
the stream, and blew his breath between his teeth and lips in such a
way as to perfectly imitate the sound of falling water. Sometime
afterward, in exploring Clam river, on rounding a curve I heard the
sound of falling water, and found the fall just as he had located it.
THE DROWNING OF HAMLET H. PERKINS.
Mr. Perkins had been in the village since 1847, acting as agent for
the Falls company until the winter of 1850-51, when he was
accidentally drowned while attending to his duties. He was engaged in
repairing the dam, and was standing on a block of ice. In an unguarded
moment he lost his foothold and was carried by the swift current under
the ice. It was two days before his body was recovered. His family
left the valley, taking the body with them.
A QUAILTOWN MURDER.
St. Croix Falls. The buildings consisted of a dwelling house, whisky
shop, bowling alley, Indian house and stable, the whole
inappropriately styled Quailtown, as the name was a gross slander upon
the innocent birds. The quails in this "Partridge" nest were evil
birds. The resort was noted for its riotous disorder. The worst
classes met there for revelry and midnight orgies. In the summer of
1849 Alfred Romain and Patrick Kelly met at Quailtown, disputed,
fought, were parted, and the neat day met by agreement to continue the
fight with pistols. They were to meet at sunrise in front of Daniel
Mears' store. An attempt was made to pacify them, but in vain. Only
Romain appeared at the appointed place, and not finding Kelly, hunted
through the village for him. About 9 o'clock A. M. he found him at the
house of Kimball, a mulatto man. Romain shot him at sight, fatally. At
the inquest, held by Dr. Hoyt, it was proven that Romain fired four
shots into the body of Kelly, each taking effect, and then crushed his
skull with the pistol, and that Kelly fired one shot at Romain. Romain
was held for murder, but was never brought to trial. After two years'
confinement he escaped from the jail at Prairie du Chien.
Romain afterward removed to St. Louis, reformed his mode of life and
became a steady and respectable man. Kelly was a native of Ireland,
and at the time of his death was engaged to be married to an estimable
lady, one of the corps of teachers sent out by Gov. Slade.
MINERAL PERMITS.
In 1846 a party of speculators, composed of Caleb Cushing, Rufus
Choate, Robert Rantoul, and others, located a mineral permit, one mile
square, covering part of the site of the two towns of St. Croix and
Taylor's Falls, with the water power as the centre. Their permit was
filed in the general land office at Washington. They located another
permit at or near the mouth of Kettle river. As no money was ever
expended in improving them, these permits were never respected.
Subsequently the government resurveyed the lands and sold them. The
present title to these lands is perfectly good.
MARRIAGE UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
In the olden time officers could not always readily be found to
execute the laws. Parties desiring to be married, being unable to
secure the services of a minister or justice of the peace, would seek
for an officer on the other side of the river, get on a raft or boat,
cast off the fastenings and under the concurrent jurisdiction of the
state and territorial authorities, would be pronounced "man and wife."
Parties have had the same rite performed in the winter season while
standing on the ice of the St. Croix midway between the two shores.
AN INDIAN SCARE.
During the excitement following the Indian outbreak, there was a
general feeling of insecurity and alarm. The half-breeds were
especially apprehensive of some kind of violence. One bright moonlight
evening, at St. Croix, a surveyor was taking some observations, and as
his instrument glittered brightly in the moonlight, the half-breeds
saw it and fled, badly frightened, fancying a Sioux behind every bush.
The whites seeing them running, as if for their lives, caught the
panic, and fled over to the Minnesota side. The Taylor's Falls people
were aroused from their peaceful slumbers to find, soon after, that it
was a false alarm. Some of the fugitives hid underneath the bridge and
clung to the trestle work till morning.
THE FIRST FIRE CANOE.
I am indebted to Calvin A. Tuttle for the following reminiscence: In
July, 1838, the steamer Palmyra, Capt. Middleton, of Hannibal,
Missouri, in command, the first steamer on St. Croix waters, brought
me to St. Croix Falls, landing in the Dalles, east side, opposite
Angle Rock. The snorting of the Palmyra brought many curiosity seeking
Indians to the Dalles. They gathered on the pinnacles of the trap
rock, peered curiously over and jumped back, trembling with fright at
the "Scota Cheman" or "fire canoe," the first that had ever floated on
the placid waters of the St. Croix. I had been employed as millwright
to erect mills in the new, and, as yet, almost unknown settlement. On
the Palmyra came the proprietors, Steele, Fitch, Hungerford, Libbey,
Livingston, Hill, and Russell, with mill irons, tools and provisions
for the enterprise.
MILL BUILDING.
After climbing over the cragged rocks we came to an Indian trail which
led to the Falls, where we found two men, Lagoo and Denire holding
the claim for Steele. The fanciful scheme of building a mill up in the
wild land looked now like a reality. The men lived in a log cabin just
below the Falls, in a small clearing in the timber, near a copper rock
range. Boyce and his men had been driven in by Indians from above.
Andrew Mackey and others of Boyce's men went to work with us.
Thirty-six men had come from St. Louis on the steamer Palmyra. We
moved our machinery from the Dalles to the Falls by water and
commenced work immediately. Steele's men had been hindered by the
Indians from procuring timber for the building of the mill. We
obtained a supply from Kanabec river, which arrived September 15th.
Building the mill and blasting the rock occupied our attention during
the winter. The mill was soon completed and running. During this
period the work was often interrupted and the men were greatly
demoralized by the threatening behavior of the Indians. Many of them
were frightened into leaving the settlement, but their places were
supplied by the company whenever practicable. During 1840 we received
some reliable accessions, among them J. L. Taylor, John McKusick,
Joseph Haskell, Elam Greely, J. W. Furber and A. McHattie. Some frame
houses were built near the mill. Washington Libbey was our first
agent, Darnes our second (1839), Capt. W. Frazer our third (1840),
Capt. Wm. Holcombe our fourth (1841). The first death was of a man
drowned in 1840. The first white woman who visited the Falls was Mrs.
David Hone. Rev. Boutwell preached here in 1839. A. Northrup and
family came in 1840.
INDIAN MURDERS.
In 1840 Jeremiah Russell, the Indian farmer at Pokegama, Pine county,
Minnesota, sent two Chippewa Indians to St. Croix Falls for supplies,
who arrived in safety. A band of fifty Sioux Indians were concealed at
this (St. Croix Falls) settlement for some days. Within an hour after
the arrival of the two Chippewas, the settlement was surrounded by
these Sioux. The whites, seeing that trouble was brewing, secreted the
Chippewas for two days, the Sioux closely watching. The white men were
restless, and afraid to go to work. Capt. Frazer, Rev. Ayers and
myself held a council and explained the situation to the Chippewas,
who replied that they would not expose the whites to trouble. They
resolved on leaving and started in open day north over the trap rock
ridge, thence through the bushes, where they discovered two Sioux. The
Chippewas were armed and fired on the Sioux, killing them instantly.
The Chippewas then started to run. The report of the guns brought
squads of Sioux immediately in pursuit, who, firing on the Chippewas,
killed one. The two dead Sioux were sons of Little Crow. They were
placed by the Sioux in a sitting posture, with backs to a tree, facing
the enemy's country, on the second bench near where the mill dam was
subsequently built, a double barreled gun standing on the ground
between them. They decorated the corpses with war paint, ribbons and
mosses. The two Chippewas who killed Little Crow's sons bore the
titles Julius and Wezhaymah. The Sioux in pursuit killed Julius, and
his head was hung up in a kettle before those he had slain. His body
was chopped in pieces and scattered to the four winds.
From an historical letter, written by Mrs. E. T. Ayer, who lives at
Belle Prairie, Minnesota, and whom we have elsewhere mentioned, we
have the following description of the death of the sons of Little
Crow:
"Julius was of medium height, stout build, very neat, and when in full
dress very few Indians would favorably compare with him. Being a good
hunter he had the means of gratifying his taste. His hair was long and
abundant, and was kept clean and shining by the frequent use of comb
and brush, with the help of a little marrow or bear's oil. Three or
four of his numerous long braids, studded with silver brooches, hung
gracefully on both sides of his face and over his arms--the rest of
his dress in a manner corresponding. His hair, like Absalom's, did not
save him from his enemies. The Dakotas may dance around it for
generations and never see its equal.
"Wezhaymah made his appearance at Pokegama. As he drew near the houses
he gave a salute from his double barreled gun. The Ojibways were much
frightened. They believed the Sioux had returned to make another trial
for scalps and plunder. The first impulse of the women was to hide.
The chief's wife and oldest daughter being at the mission house, went
through a trap door into a dark cellar. But when the supposed dead
stood before them, alive and well, there was great rejoicing.
"Wezhaymah said that Julius killed both of Little Crow's sons; that
the Sioux followed him but a short distance, then all turned after
Julius. He took a circuitous route home, traveling in the night and
hiding in the day. Julius' parents, Joseph and Eunice, and other
members of their family, were members of the mission church. He and
his wife made no profession, though they sometimes attended religious
worship."
About twenty days after, about one hundred Sioux came from little
Crow's band at Red Rock for the bodies of their dead comrades and the
gun, having first, by means of spies, satisfied themselves that there
were no Chippewas in the vicinity. One morning, as the whites were
going to work, they were surprised by the sudden appearance of these
Indians, who rushed suddenly down upon them from different trails,
gorgeously painted and without blankets. Their movements were so
sudden that the whites were completely surprised, and at the mercy of
the Indians, who, however, satisfied themselves with searching the
camp and appropriating all the victuals they could find, ostensibly
searching for the gun which was not to be found where they had left
it. Complaining bitterly of its loss, they withdrew to a trap rock
ledge near by, where they formed a circle, danced, sung and fired
several guns into the air. They then asked to see "Oge-ma," the agent,
and formally demanded the gun. Everyone in camp denied any knowledge
whatever of the missing article. The Indians were at first much
dissatisfied, but finally Little Crow advanced, smoked a pipe and
offered it to. Capt. Frazer, shook hands and withdrew, apparently in
peace.
As it is not the custom for Indians to molest the dead, they firmly
believed a white man had taken the gun. Little Crow applied to Maj.
Plympton at Fort Snelling, charging the theft upon the whites. The
major in turn wrote to Capt. Frazer at the Falls to make an
investigation, as a result of which the gun was found in a tool chest
belonging to Lewis Barlow, concealed under a false bottom. Barlow
professed entire innocence and ignorance of the matter, suggesting
that his brother must have placed the gun there. Capt. Frazer severely
reprimanded him for imperiling the lives of all the whites in the
settlement by his foolish and thievish act. The gun was sent to Maj.
Plympton, who wrote to Capt. Frazer cautioning him to be on his guard,
as the Indians were much irritated. Barlow had earned the contempt and
dislike of his fellow workmen.
INDIAN BATTLE OF STILLWATER
Mr. Tuttle was at the Falls at the time of the famous battle between
the Sioux and Chippewas, which was fought in the ravine where the
Minnesota state prison now stands, July 3, 1839, and has given me the
following account:
The Chippewas of the St. Croix had been invited by the officer in
command at Fort Snelling to a council, the object of which was to
effect a treaty of peace. Two hundred and fifty or three hundred
Chippewas, including their women and children, passed down the St.
Croix in canoes, rested in fancied security in the ravine near the
present site of Stillwater, and made a portage thence to Fort
Snelling, where, under protection of government soldiers, the council
was held. The pipe of peace had been smoked and the Chippewas were
quietly returning home, and had encamped a second time in the ravine,
expecting to re-embark the next morning on the waters of the St.
Croix. Just at the dawn of the ensuing day, and while they were still
asleep, a large body of Sioux, who had stealthily followed them, fell
upon them suddenly, and with wild yells commenced an indiscriminate
slaughter. The Chippewas rallying, drove the Sioux from the ground,
thereby retaining possession of their dead, to the number of about
thirty. After the smoke of peace at Fort Snelling it was reported that
a Sioux had been killed. This incensed them so that they followed in
two parties, one party pursuing the St. Croix band and another the
Mille Lacs band up Rum river. The latter party overtook the Chippewas
at the point where Princeton is now located, and slew sixty of their
number. It was afterward ascertained that the Sioux killed near Fort
Snelling was killed by a Pillager of the Upper Mississippi, an Indian
of a band that was not in the council. The Sioux and Chippewas, it is
true, are bitter, relentless, hereditary foes, but this slaughter
occurred through a grievous mistake. The Chippewas, on their return,
rested at the Falls. Capt. Frazer gave them medicine, dressed their
wounds and fed them. The Indians gave way to the wildest grief at
their losses, and when they heard of the sixty killed of the Mille
Lacs band, their mourning cries and moans baffled description.
THE FIRST LOGGERS.
The first logs were cut by J. R. Brown on the Taylor's Falls flat in
the winter of 1836-37, but the first regular outfit and camp was that
of John Boyce, who came up in a mackinaw boat from St. Louis with
eleven men and six oxen, landing at St. Croix Falls late in the fall
of 1837. Mr. Andrew Mackey, who was in his party, has furnished me
with some items regarding this adventure. The boat was cordelled over
the rapids, and, with poles and lines, taken as far as the mouth of
Kanabec river, where a camp was established. Boyce had considerable
trouble with the Indians. Little Six, a Chippewa chief, came to the
camp with two hundred warriors in a defiant, blustering manner,
telling him to "go away," to "go back where they came from." Boyce
proceeded to the Indian mission at Lake Pokegama and invoked the aid
of Rev. Mr. Boutwell, Ely, Ayers and Seymour, who came back with him
to the camp and had a "talk" with Little Six, who claimed that the
whites had paid no money. Mr. Seymour explained to them the provisions
of the treaty, of which they would soon hear; that under its
provisions the whites had a right to the timber; that they were not
usurpers, that they would live peaceably and not disturb their game.
The Indians granted assent, but refused to allow the whites to remove
any of their chingwack (pine). Mr. Seymour, apprehending trouble,
advised Mr. Boyce to leave. He determined to remain. The Indians being
still troublesome, Mr. Boyce descended the river to the falls, the
Indians following. On going over the falls the boat filled and Mr.
Boyce lost nearly all he had. The Palmyra shortly after broke the
silence of the Dalles with its shrill whistle and brought the news of
the ratification of the treaty by Congress. Boyce sent his boat down
the river, built small boats and made haste to return to his camp on
Kanabec river, where he remained through the fall and winter cutting
logs.
THE FIRST RAFTING.
In April and May of 1839, Boyce rafted his logs with poles and ropes
made of basswood strings. The high water swept them away. He gathered
from the broken rafts enough for one raft, made it as strong as
possible, and continued the descent. The raft struck upon the first
island and went to pieces. Boyce saved the canoe and a part of the
provisions. Boyce was by this time in a furious rage at his want of
success, but tried a third time to make a raft. The crew, tired and
hungry, refused to work. A new contract was made and written on a
slate, there being no paper. The logs were left in the river. Some of
them floated down and were sold to the Falls company and to the
company at Marine. Boyce lost all his labor and investment; the men
got but little for their work. Frank Steele had assisted in supplying
provisions and clothing for the men, the value of which he never
received. Boyce was disgusted and left the country.
AN INDIAN PAYMENT.
Levi W. Stratton, who came up on the Palmyra, July, 1838, gives a few
reminiscences from which we select an account of a payment made to the
Chippewa Indians the year of his arrival. The crew and passengers of
the Palmyra had been greatly annoyed by the Indians, who expected
their first payment in July, and besieged the boat in great numbers,
demanding it at the hands of the first whites who had come up the
river, unable to understand the difference between the regularly
constituted authorities and those immigrants who had nothing to do
with the payments. It was not until the first week of November that
their goods came for payment. The place where Stillwater now stands
was selected as the place where they should assemble.
The old stern wheel Gipsey brought the goods and landed them on the
beach. The Chippewas came there to the number of 1,100 in their
canoes, nearly starved by waiting for their payment. While there
receiving it the river and lake froze up, and a deep snow came on;
thus all their supplies, including one hundred barrels of flour,
twenty-five of pork, kegs of tobacco, bales of blankets, guns and
ammunition, casks of Mexican dollars, etc., all were sacrificed except
what they could carry off on their backs through the snow hundreds of
miles away. Their fleet of birch canoes they destroyed before leaving,
lest the Sioux might have the satisfaction of doing the same after
they left.
Many of the old as well as the young died from overeating, they being
nearly starved. Thus their first payment became a curse rather than a
blessing to them, for their supplies soon gave out, the season for
hunting was past, they were away from home and had no means of getting
there, except by wading through deep snow. Many perished in the
attempt. As is usual in such cases, I suppose, no one was to blame,
but the poor Indians had to suffer the consequences of somebody's
neglect. The old Gipsey had scarcely time to get through the lake
before the ice formed.
INDIAN DANCING AND THEFT.
In the rough log cabin at St. Croix Falls were three females, the
wives of Messrs. Orr and Sackett, employes of the company, and Miss
Young, daughter of a widower of that name. Life in that cabin was by
no means a dream of bliss, for in consequence of the mosquitoes, more
relentless persecutors than the Indians, a smudge had to be kept
burning night and day, or at least by day when the sun was not
shining. The old cabin served for a kitchen, while an arbor was
improvised outside for a dining room. Shortly after the arrival of the
immigrants, and before they had learned all the peculiarities of
Indian character, they were visited by a party of fifteen or twenty
braves, who set about adorning themselves, and spent the forenoon in
painting and getting themselves up in gorgeous rig, regardless of
expense, preparatory to giving a free entertainment. Just before
dinner was called, they arranged themselves near the table and gave a
dance, which was very much applauded, after which they were given
presents of bread and meat, and dismissed, apparently highly pleased
with the success of their exhibition. The household gathered about the
table to enjoy their repast, but to their consternation, not a knife,
fork or spoon could be found. While the majority of the Indians were
riveting the attention of the new comers by their extraordinary
antics, the remainder were quietly abstracting the tableware. They
were afterward charged with the theft, but protested innocence. The
missing articles were never heard of again. A pig of lead, left
outside, disappeared at the same time. The poor Indians denied ever
having seen the lead. Mr. Stratton remarked, however, that all their
war clubs, pipes and gun stocks had been lately and elaborately
ornamented with molten lead.
OTHER THEFTS.
At another time, shortly before payment, when the Indians were
unusually hungry and troublesome, two barrels of pork and one of
butter mysteriously disappeared. The pork barrels were found empty in
the river, and also the butter barrel with one-third of the contents
missing. The Indians lay all day in camp sick, but protested their
innocence. Nevertheless, at payment day a claim of two hundred dollars
for the pork and one hundred and fifty for the butter was allowed and
kept back. They made no objections to paying for the pork, but
protested against paying for the butter, as it did them no good and
made them all sick.
In September, an old Indian came to the cabin, begging for something
to eat. The agent went to the pork barrel and held up a fine piece of
pork weighing about twelve pounds, to which the tail was still
attached. At sight of this his countenance fell and he went away
silently and sullenly.
Shortly afterward a yoke of oxen was missing. They had been driven off
over some bare ledges of trap to break the trail. An Indian was hired
to hunt for them. He found that this same beggar who had been so
disgusted with the offer of a piece of pork with the tail attached had
driven them off and slaughtered them. Payment day made all right, and
the Indians were compelled to pay a good price for rather poor beef.
HARD TIMES.
Mrs. Mary C. Worth communicated to the writer the following incidents,
illustrating some of the vicissitudes of the early settlers:
It was in the fall of 1842. There were about two hundred people in the
village, most of them in the employ of James Purinton, company agent.
They were already short of provisions and the winter was rapidly
coming on, and the expected boat, with its cargo of provisions for the
winter supply, was long delayed. September passed, October came and
nearly passed, and still no boat. Snow covered the ground, and thin
ice the river. The ice, in finely broken pieces, floated down the
rapids and was beginning to gorge in the Dalles, and still no boat.
Provisions were allotted to the resident families, and the gloomiest
anticipations filled all minds at the prospect of the long, dreary
winter without food; when, on the twenty-eighth of October, the long
expected whistle was heard from the coming steamer. The people rushed
frantically down to the old warehouse, but the ice was so gorged in
the Dalles that no boat could make the landing. No boat was in sight,
nor was the whistle heard again. Had it all been an illusion? The
eager throng were again in despair. Another night of cold would
blockade the river. Just then the voices of white men were heard from
the rocks of the Dalles, and to their great joy they perceived the
boat's officers and passengers clambering down from the rocks, with
the glad tidings that the boat had reached the landing, half a mile
below, and was then unloading her cargo. The boat, as soon as
unloaded, hurriedly departed to avoid being frozen in. The winter
passed merrily enough, but clouds and darkness gathered in the spring.
Provisions were again short, and had to be apportioned sparingly and
equally. Occasionally a deer or a fish eked out the supply, but
starvation was again imminent. On this occasion they were relieved by
the reception of condemned pork from Fort Snelling. The St. Louis
proprietors sent up another boat load of supplies after the opening of
navigation, and all seemed well, when, during the prevalence of high
water, the boom and mill race gave way and the logs, their main
dependence, were swept down the river and beyond their control. This
important occurrence, as it then seemed to be, opened up for the
company and people a new trade from the valley below, which has been a
source of immense profit. It suggested the idea of booming and rafting
their logs for points down the river, and led to the building of the
first saw mill at Stillwater.
UGH! UGH!
Mr. Purinton at one time invited a few noted Indians who were begging
for food to be seated at his table. He politely asked them if they
would have tea or coffee. "Ugh! Ugh!" (equivalent to yes, yes) replied
the whole party. So Mr. Purinton mixed their tea and coffee.
MRS. WORTH AND MUCKATICE.
Muckatice, a Chippewa chief, heard that a barrel of whisky had been
stored for safe keeping in the cellar of Mrs. Worth, at Balsam Lake.
Muckatice forced himself into the house and attempted to raise the
cellar trap door. Mrs. Worth forbade him and placed herself upon the
door. Muckatice roughly pushed her aside. He raised the trap door,
and, while in the act of descending, fell. While falling Mrs. Worth
suddenly shut the trap door upon him, by which one of his legs was
caught. Mrs. Worth held the door tightly down. When at last Muckatice
was released, gathering a crowd of Indians he returned and demanded
the whisky. Thayer, with ropes, managed to get the barrel out of the
cellar and out upon the ground, and seeing the peril of giving so much
whisky to the Indians, knocked in both heads of the barrel with an
axe, and the earth drank the poisonous fluid. Muckatice then shook
hands with Mrs. Worth, called her very brave, and departed.
CHAPTER V.
BIOGRAPHIES.
The biographical histories of the early settlers of Polk county
considerably antedate the organization of the towns to which they
would be referred as at present belonging, and we therefore group
together those earliest identified with the history of the valley, and
its first settlement at St. Croix Falls, referring also some, such as
Joseph R. Brown, Gov. W. R. Marshall and Frank Steele, to localities
in which they had been more intimately connected.
GOV. WM. HOLCOMBE was one of the active resident proprietors and agent
of the St. Croix Falls Lumber Company from 1838 to 1845. He was born
at Lambertville, New Jersey, in 1804; left home when a boy; went to
Utica, New York, where he learned the wheelwright trade. He married
Martha Wilson, of Utica; moved to Columbus, Ohio, and was successful
in business, but lost all by fire, when he moved to Cincinnati, and
from thence to Galena. While in Galena he embarked in steamboating on
the Mississippi. Mrs. Holcombe died in Galena. From Galena he came to
St. Croix Falls, where he devoted his time as agent to selling lumber
and keeping books. Mr. Holcombe took a deep interest in opening the
valley to public notice and improvement. He traveled over the
wilderness country from Prairie du Chien to St. Croix Falls before
there was a blazed path, driving horses and cattle. He helped locate
the two first roads in the valley from the mouth of St. Croix lake,
via Marine, to St. Croix Falls and from St. Croix Falls, via Sunrise
and Rush lakes, to Russell's farm, on Pokegama lake. He supervised the
cultivation of the first crops raised in Polk county, at Jerusalem.
He settled in Stillwater in 1846, where he became an active worker in
behalf of education, and did much to establish the present excellent
system of schools. In 1846 he was a member of the first constitutional
convention of Wisconsin Territory, representing this valley and all
the country north of Crawford county. He was a faithful worker on the
boundary question, and effected a change from the St. Croix to a point
fifteen miles due east, from the most easterly point on Lake St.
Croix, from thence south to the Mississippi river and north to the
waters of Lake Superior. His course was approved by his constituents.
In 1848 he took an active part in the formation of Minnesota
Territory, and was secretary of the first convention called for that
purpose in Stillwater. He was receiver of the United States land
office at Stillwater four years. He was a member of the Democratic
wing of the constitutional convention for Minnesota in 1857, and was
honored by being elected first lieutenant governor of Minnesota in
1857. The name of Gov. Holcombe will long be remembered in the valley
of the St. Croix. He died in Stillwater, Sept. 5, 1870, and was buried
with masonic honors. He left two sons, William W. and Edward Van
Buren, by his first wife. He married a second wife in Galena, in 1847,
who died in 1880.
WILLIAM S. HUNGERFORD was born in Connecticut, Aug. 12, 1805. He was
married to Lucinda Hart, at Farmington, Connecticut, in 1827. He came
to St. Louis, Missouri, at an early age and engaged in mercantile
pursuits in the firm of Hungerford & Livingston. In 1838 he became one
of the original proprietors of the St. Croix Falls Lumbering Company,
and gave his time and talents to its welfare. He was of a hopeful
temperament, and even in the darkest hour of the enterprise in which
he had embarked, cherished a most cheerful faith in its ultimate
success.
Hon. Caleb Cushing, whose name was to be associated intimately with
that of Mr. Hungerford in the future history and litigation of the
company, recognizing St. Croix Falls as a point promising unrivaled
attractions to the manufacturer, in 1846 purchased an interest in the
company, which was at once reorganized with Cushing and Hungerford as
principal stockholders. The acute mind of Gen. Cushing recognized not
only the prospective advantages of the water power, but the
probability of the division of Wisconsin Territory, which might result
in making St. Croix Falls the capital of the new territory, and
formed plans for the development of the company enterprise, which
might have resulted advantageously had not he been called away to take
part in the Mexican War and thence to go on a political mission to
China. During his absence there was a complete neglect of his American
inland projects and the enterprise at St. Croix suffered greatly; the
new company accomplished but little that was agreed upon in the
consolidation. Cushing had inexperienced agents, unfitted to attend to
his interest. He furnished money sufficient, if judiciously handled,
to have made a permanent, useful property here. Conflicting questions
arose between Hungerford and Cushing's agents, which terminated in
lawsuits. The first suit was in 1848, Hungerford, plaintiff. Different
suits followed, one after another, for over twenty years, which cursed
the property more than a mildew or blight. During this time the
parties alternated in use and possession, by order of court.
Hungerford, during these trials, pre-empted the land when it came in
market. For this he was arrested on complaint of perjury. Hungerford,
by order of court, was, on his arrest, taken away in chains. He was
soon after released. Hungerford was an indefatigable worker. The labor
of his life was invested in the improvements of the company. Cushing,
being a man of talent and influence, could fight the battle at a
distance. He employed the best legal talent in the land; he met
Hungerford at every turn, and Hungerford became a foe worthy of his
steel. They unitedly accomplished the ruin of their town. Mr.
Hungerford had an excellent family, making their home at the Falls
during all their perplexities. On the occasion of his arrest he was
manacled in presence of his family, who bore it with a fortitude
worthy the name and reputation of the father and husband. The
litigation ended only with the death of the principal actors. The
perishable part of the property, mills and other buildings, has gone
to ruin. The whole history is a sad comment on the folly of attempting
to manage great enterprises without harmony of action and purpose. Mr.
Hungerford died in Monticello, Illinois, in 1874. Mrs. Hungerford died
in Connecticut in 1880. Mr. Cushing died in 1876.
HON. HENRY D. BARRON.--Henry Danforth Barron was born in Saratoga
county, New York, April 10, 1832. He received a common school
education, studied law, and graduated from the law school at Ballston
Spa, New York. He came to Wisconsin in 1851; learned the printer's
trade, and was afterward editor of the Waukesha _Democrat_. In 1857 he
removed to Pepin, Wisconsin, and in 1860 received the appointment of
circuit judge of the Eighth district.
In September, 1861, he came to St. Croix Falls, as agent for Caleb
Cushing and the St. Croix Manufacturing and Improvement Company.
He was elected to the lower house of the Wisconsin legislature in
1862, and served as assemblyman continuously from 1862 to 1869, and
for the years 1872 and 1873. During the sessions of 1866 and 1873 he
was speaker of the assembly. A portion of this time he held the
responsible position of regent of the State University, and was also a
special agent of the treasury department. In 1869 President Grant
appointed him chief justice of Dakota, which honor was declined. The
same year he was appointed fifth auditor in the treasury department,
which office he resigned in 1872 to take a more active part in
advancing the interests of his State. He was chosen a presidential
elector in 1868, and again in 1872, and served as state senator during
the sessions of 1874, 1875 and 1876, and was at one time president
_pro tem_. of the senate. In 1876 he was elected judge of the Eleventh
Judicial circuit. During his service as judge he was highly gratified
that so few appeals were taken from his decisions, and that his
decisions were seldom reversed in higher courts. He had also held the
offices of postmaster, county attorney, county judge, and county
superintendent of schools.
Although formerly a Democrat, at the outbreak of the Rebellion he
became a Republican. Of late years he was a pronounced stalwart.
Throughout his life he never received any profit, pecuniarily, from
the prominent positions in which he was placed, his only endeavor
seeming to be to advance the interests, influence, worth and ability
of the younger men with whom he was associated, and hundreds who
to-day hold positions of prominence and responsibility, owe their
success and advancement to his teachings and advice. Of a disposition
kind, courteous and generous, he was possessed of a remarkably
retentive memory, which, with his intimate associations with leading
men, and familiarity with public life, legislative and judicial,
afforded a fund of personal sketches, anecdotes and biographies, at
once entertaining, amusing and instructive.
The judge was twice married, his first wife having died at Waukesha,
leaving him an only son, Henry H. Barron, who was with him at the time
of his death. His second marriage was to Ellen K. Kellogg, at Pepin,
in 1860. For some time she has made her home with her mother in
California, on account of ill health. At the time of his death, which
occurred at St. Croix Falls, Jan. 22, 1882, he was judge of the
Eleventh Judicial circuit. His remains were buried at Waukesha.
GEORGE W. BROWNELL.--Mr. Brownell, though not among the earliest of
the pioneers of St. Croix valley, yet deserves special mention on
account of his scientific attainments, his high character as a man,
and the fact that he was an influential member, from the St. Croix
district, of the Wisconsin territorial constitutional convention, he
having been elected over Bowron on the question of establishing the
new state line east of the St. Croix.
Mr. Brownell was born in Onondago, New York, and when a youth lived in
Syracuse, where he learned the trade of a carriage maker. He was a
resident of Galena, Illinois, over thirty years, where he engaged in
mining and geological pursuits. He spent two years in the lead mines
of Wisconsin. He was connected with the Galena _Gazette_ some years.
In 1846 he visited the Superior copper mining region for a Boston
company. He formed the acquaintance of Caleb Cushing, Rufus Choate,
Horace Rantoul, and others, and located for them mineral permits at
St. Croix Falls and Kettle river, and became, this year, a resident of
St. Croix Falls. In 1847 he was married to Mrs. Duncan, of Galena. He
was elected this year to the constitutional convention. In 1851 he
returned to Galena and engaged in the grain trade and cotton planting
near Vicksburg, Mississippi, in which he was not successful. In 1865
he visited Colorado and made investments there. When on a trip to
Colorado, in 1866, the stage was attacked by Indians. Brownell and
another passenger alighted to resist the attack. He was armed with a
rifle, and, if properly supported, would probably have been saved; but
most of the passengers remained in the stage. The driver, getting
scared, whipped his horses and drove rapidly away, leaving Brownell
and companion, who were overpowered and killed. Their bodies were
recovered, shockingly mutilated. His remains were forwarded to Galena
for burial. Mr. Brownell had a scientific mind, and passed much of
his life in scientific studies and practical experiments. He attained
a good knowledge of geology, mineralogy and chemistry. The foresight
of Mr. Brownell on the Wisconsin boundary, and in other public
matters, has been, in time, generally recognized. He was a good
neighbor and kind friend.
COL. ROBERT C. MURPHY.--Col. Murphy, a man of fine address and
admirable social qualities, made his home at St. Croix Falls in
1860-61 and 62, during which time he was in charge of the Cushing
interest and property, which position he left to accept the colonelcy
of the Eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. His military career was
not fortunate and its abrupt termination was a sad disappointment to
himself and friends. An article in the Milwaukee _Weekly Telegraph_,
from the pen of one who knew Col. Murphy well, thus sums up some of
the salient points in his character and career. We make a few
extracts:
"Col. Murphy was educated and accomplished. He had been instructed in
the Patridge Military School, and was possessed of some experience in
Indian fights on the plains with Burnside, bearing scars of that
experience, and a recommendation of skill and courage from Gen.
Burnside to Gov. Randall. His great intuitiveness, his ready manner,
his cultivation of mind, gained for him the respect and charity of his
superiors, and brought him the respect and confidence of his regiment.
His father, a native of Ireland, was a successful practicing lawyer
and politician in Ohio, without much education; a man of strong
natural talent and integrity. Upon his son he showered all his
earnings, in the form of that which the father lacked the most--books,
schooling and polish. Judge Murphy (the father) was the bearer of
important dispatches to Texas from the Tyler and Polk administrations
in connection with the annexation of that republic to this country,
and is referred to in Benton's 'Thirty Years' as Tyler's 'midnight
messenger.' Young Murphy was appointed by President Pierce American
consul in China, while Gen. Caleb Cushing was minister to that
country, and he discharged important consular and judicial duties
there with credit to himself and his government. Upon his return Gen.
Cushing selected him to take charge of the Cushing interest and
property at St. Croix Falls, in this State. From there he went 'to the
front,' and his military career was cut short by his failure at Iuka
and Holly Springs. Gen. Grant dismissed him in brief, terse words, but
was willing afterward that he should be heard by a board of army
officers detailed for that purpose. Stanton was inexorable and
refused."
After his dismissal from the army he removed to Washington and
accepted a clerkship in the post office department where he still
remains. It is due to him to say that his own version of his military
troubles is ingenious and plausible, and would, if sustained, quite
exonerate him from the charges that have pressed so heavily upon him.
EDWARD WORTH.--Mr. Worth came to St. Croix Falls from New York State
in 1842, where he continued to reside the remainder of his life,
experiencing the vicissitudes of pioneer life to their fullest extent.
He died in 1863, leaving a widow, an only son (Henry) and two
daughters, Myra, wife of W. T. Vincent, and Sarah, wife of John
Blanding.
MRS. MARY C. WORTH.--Mrs. Worth was born Oct. 14, 1812, was married to
Edward Worth, Dec. 24, 1835, and came to St. Croix Falls in 1842,
where she lived till Jan. 12, 1886, when she peacefully passed away.
She was a woman of rare mental ability, untiring industry and skill in
managing her household affairs, and unquestioned courage, as many
incidents in her St. Croix experience will evidence. She was a member
of the Episcopal church and went to her grave with the respect and
admiration of all who knew her.
MAURICE MORDECAI SAMUELS, better known as Capt. Samuels, was born in
London, of Jewish parentage. It is not known exactly when he came to
this country. I first met him in 1844, at Prairie du Chien, at which
time he was a traveling peddler. In 1846 I found him in the Chippewa
country, living with an Indian woman and trading with the Indians at
the mouth of Sunrise river. In 1847 he established a ball alley and
trading post at St. Croix Falls, where he lived until 1861, when he
raised a company (the St. Croix Rifles) for the United States service,
received a commission and served till the close of the war. After the
war he became a citizen of New Orleans, and in 1880 changed his
residence to Winfield, Kansas. While in St. Croix he reared a family
of half-breed children. He was a shrewd man and an inveterate dealer
in Indian whisky. Capt. Samuels was sent as a government agent to the
Chippewas of St. Croix valley and the southern shore of Lake
Superior, in 1862, to ascertain and report their sentiment in regard
to the Sioux war. It may be said of Capt. Samuels that, however
unprincipled he may have been, he was no dissembler, but outspoken in
his sentiments, however repellant they may have been to the moral
sense of the community. He died at Winfield, Kansas, in 1884.
JOSEPH B. CHURCHILL was born in New York in 1820; was married in New
York to Eliza Turnbull, and came to St. Croix Falls in 1854. He has
filled various offices creditably, and has the respect and confidence
of his acquaintances. His oldest daughter is the wife of Phineas G.
Lacy, of Hudson. His second daughter is the wife of Joseph Rogers. He
has one son living.
JOHN MCLEAN.--Mr. McLean was born 1819, in Vermont; was married in
1844 to Sarah Turnbull and settled on his farm near St. Croix Falls in
1850. Through untiring industry and honorable dealing he has secured a
sufficiency for life, a handsome farm and good buildings. A large
family has grown up around him, and have settled in the county.
GILMAN JEWELL came from New Hampshire; was married in New Hampshire
and came to the West in 1847. He settled on a farm near St. Croix
Falls. He died in 1869. Mrs. Jewell died January, 1888. One son,
Philip, resides on the homestead. Ezra, another son, resides at the
Falls. The other members of the family have moved elsewhere.
ELISHA CREECH was born in West Virginia, 1831. He came to St. Croix
Falls in 1849, and was married to Mary M. Seeds in 1863. They have
four children. Mr. Creech has been engaged much of his life in
lumbering. Through industry and temperate habits he has made a good
farm and a pleasant home.
JAMES W. MCGLOTHLIN was born in Kentucky; came to St. Croix Falls in
1846, and engaged successfully in sawing lumber at the St. Croix mill
in 1846 and 1847, but in 1848 rented the mill, being sustained by
Waples & Co., of Dubuque, Iowa, but by reason of bad management, he
failed and left the valley in 1849. He afterward went to California,
where he met a tragic fate, having been murdered by his teamster.
ANDREW L. TUTTLE.--Mr. Tuttle came to St. Croix Falls in 1849, and was
engaged many years as a lumberman and as keeper of a boardinghouse. He
settled on his farm at Big Rock in 1856, where he made himself a
comfortable home. He went to Montana in 1865, and died there in 1873.
Mrs. Tuttle still resides at the homestead, an amiable woman, who has
acted well her part in life. One of her daughters is married to Wm. M.
Blanding. One son, Eli, died in 1883, another son, Henry, died in
Montana. Perly, John and Warren are settled near the homestead.
JOHN WEYMOUTH was born at Clinton, Maine, in 1815, and came to St.
Croix Falls in 1846, where he followed lumbering and made himself a
beautiful home on the high hill overlooking the two villages of St.
Croix Falls and Taylor's Falls. By frugality and industry Mr. Weymouth
has accumulated a competence. He was married in St. Croix Falls in
1850, to Mary McHugh. One son, John, is married to Miss Ramsey, of
Osceola, and a daughter, Mary J., is married to Samuel Harvey, of St.
Croix Falls.
B. W. REYNOLDS, a tall, thin, stoop-shouldered man of eccentric
manners, was receiver at the St. Croix land office from 1861 to 1864.
He was a native of South Carolina, and a graduate of Middlebury
College, Vermont. He had studied for the ministry, and, if we mistake
not, had devoted some years of his life to pastoral work, but devoted
later years to secular pursuits. At the close of the war he returned
to South Carolina as a reconstructionist, but in two or three years
came North, and located at La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he edited the
La Crosse _Star_. He died at La Crosse Aug. 17, 1877.
AUGUSTUS GAYLORD.--Mr. Gaylord was a merchant in St. Croix Falls prior
to the Rebellion. In 1861 Gov. Harvey appointed him adjutant general
of the State. In this office he acquitted himself well. He was an
efficient public officer and in private life a high minded, honorable
gentleman.
JAMES D. REYMERT.--Mr. Reymert was born in Norway in 1821, and came to
America and settled in Racine in 1845. He was a practical printer, and
editor of the first Norwegian paper west of the lakes, if not the
first in America, and was a man of recognized literary ability. He was
a member of the second Wisconsin constitutional convention, 1847, from
Racine. In 1849 he was a member of the Wisconsin assembly. He came to
St. Croix Falls in 1859, and served two years as agent of the St.
Croix Falls Company. He was the organizer of a company in New York
City, known as "The Great European-American Land Company," in which
Count Taub, of Norway, took an active part. This noted company
claimed to have purchased the Cushing property, a claim true only so
far as the preliminary steps of a purchase were concerned. For a time
there was considerable activity. The town of St. Croix Falls was
resurveyed, new streets were opened, and magnificent improvements
planned, but failing to consummate the purchase, the company failed,
leaving a beggarly account of unpaid debts.
WILLIAM J. VINCENT.--Mr. Vincent is of Irish descent. He was born June
10, 1830, and came West when a youth. In 1846, at the age of sixteen,
he enlisted in Company H, Mounted Rifles, and served through the
Mexican War. In 1848 he came to St. Croix Falls, where he followed
lumbering and clerking. He was married to Myra Worth in 1855. In 1861
he enlisted in Company F, First Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, of which
company he was appointed second lieutenant. He resigned in 1862. He
has held the office of county commissioner eleven years, that of
county clerk seven years, that of state timber agent four years. In
1879 he served as representative in the Wisconsin assembly. In 1880 he
commenced selling goods with his son-in-law, under the firm name of
Vincent & Stevenson. He erected the first brick store building in St.
Croix Falls in 1884.
THOMPSON BROTHERS.--Thomas Thompson was born in Lower Canada, Nov. 11,
1833, and was married to Eliza Clendenning in 1861. James Thompson was
born in Lower Canada, Nov. 11, 1840, and was married to Mary A. Gray
in 1871. The brothers came to the Falls in 1856 and engaged in
lumbering about ten years, and then in merchandising, jointly, but in
1868 formed separate firms. Thomas built the first brick dwelling
house in St. Croix in 1882. Mrs. Thomas Thompson died in 1886. James
erected a large flour mill in 1879.
WILLIAM AMERY was born in London, England, in 1831. He learned the
carpenter's trade in London and came to America in 1851, locating at
first in Stillwater, but the ensuing year removing to St. Croix Falls.
He pre-empted the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of
section 31, township 34, range 18, and adjoining lands in 1853, and
this has been his continuous home since. He has served as county
treasurer four years and held many town offices. He was married to
Sarah Hackett in 1855. The town of Amery is named in honor of this
respected man. Mr. Amery died Sept. 4, 1887, leaving a widow, two sons
and three daughters.
LEWIS BARLOW.--Among the first immigrants to St. Croix Falls was Lewis
Barlow, an eccentric, sensitive man. He was a millwright, and, being
of an unhappy disposition, led a troubled life. He was the first man
married at the Falls. In 1847 he moved to the Minnesota side, where he
owned considerable land. He lived here until 1852 when his family left
him. He sold his interests and followed and reunited them at Rock
Island, Illinois. Here he suffered much and became blind. He traveled
with a panorama and so earned a scanty livelihood. In later life he
revisited his old home at the Falls, but broken and dejected in
spirit. He died at Rock Island in 1872.
LEVI W. STRATTON.--Mr. Stratton was one of the passengers of the
Palmyra in 1838. He worked for the St. Croix Company two years. After
leaving the Falls, he changed his residence several times, and finally
settled at Excelsior, Hennepin county, Minnesota, where he died in
1884. Mr. Stratton wrote for the Minneapolis papers many interesting
reminiscences of pioneer life on the St. Croix.
ELMA M. BLANDING.--Mr. Blanding was born in Harford, Susquehanna
county, New York, Feb. 14, 1800. He was married to Eliza Tuttle in
1826. He settled on a farm near St. Croix Falls in 1856, where he
died, Sept. 16, 1871. Father Blanding, as he was affectionately called
in the later years of his life, was a man of exemplary habits, of
strong religious convictions, and a consistent member of the
Presbyterian church. He left a widow, five sons and three daughters.
Mrs. Eliza Blanding died Jan. 18, 1887. Wm. M. Blanding, the oldest
son, owns a fine farm near the Falls, formerly known as "Jerusalem."
He is a surveyor, lumberman and farmer, and a prominent citizen. He
was married to Eliza Tuttle. A family of thirteen children has grown
up around him. In 1887 he was appointed receiver in the St. Croix land
office. John, the second son, is also a farmer in St. Croix Falls. He
was married to Sarah, daughter of Edward and Mary C. Worth. Eugene E.
is engaged in the drug business at Taylors Falls, and is also surveyor
and express agent. He married Joanna Ring, of Taylors Falls, in 1871.
Fred, the fourth son, was married in 1885 to Emma Sly. He was
appointed United States land receiver at St. Croix Falls in 1887. He
died in California, Jan. 30, 1888. Frank, the youngest son, was
married to Annie McCourt, and lives on the homestead. Josephine, the
oldest daughter, is the wife of Wm. Longfellow, and resides in
Machias, Maine. Flavilla, the widow of Charles B. Whiting, lives at
St. Paul, Minnesota. Her husband died in 1868. Mrs. Whiting was
executrix of the will of Dr. E. D. Whiting, and successfully
controlled a property valued at about $80,000. Mary, wife of Wm.
McCourt, died in 1880.
[Illustration: WILLIAM M. BLANDING.]
FREDERICK K. BARTLETT was a native of New England. He came to St.
Croix Falls in 1849, as attorney and land agent for Caleb Cushing. He
was candidate for judge of the district court in 1850, but was
defeated. He subsequently settled in Stillwater, and later in Hudson,
where he died in 1857, leaving a wife and one son, who became a civil
engineer and died in St. Paul in 1885, and one daughter, Helen, who
achieved some reputation as a writer for periodicals.
MICHAEL FIELD was born June 8, 1806. He came from a New England
family, his father and mother having resided in Connecticut. In early
life he removed to New York and resided awhile at Rochester. He
engaged principally in transportation business. The earliest work he
ever did was on the Erie canal. He was married in 1833 to Miss
Reynolds, who died in 1874. His children are Capt. Silas Wright Field
(mortally wounded at Shiloh), Norton, a resident of Racine, Wisconsin,
Mrs. Fanny Nason, wife of Hon. Joel F. Nason, Phebe and Mary,
unmarried and resident in Brooklyn. Mr. Field was married to his
second wife, Mrs. Harriet Lee Bracken, in 1882. He was appointed
register of the land office at St. Croix Falls by President Lincoln in
1861, and served twenty-six years. Though over eighty years of age he
retains his faculties and general health, and his mind is a store
house of the early history of the country.
ALDEN.
The town of Alden embraces township 32, range 17, and twenty-four
sections of range 18. It has both prairie and timber land, and is
abundantly supplied with water. Apple river traverses it from
northeast to southwest. There are many tributary small streams, and a
large number of small lakes, of which Cedar lake is the largest. This
lies only partially in Alden. The surface is gently undulating.
The town of Alden was organized in 1857. The first board of
supervisors were Stephen Williams, William Folsom and H. Sawyer. The
first post office was established at Wagon Landing in 1862, V. M.
Babcock, postmaster. The first settlers were Wm. Folsom, V. M.
Babcock, V. B. Kittel, I. L. Bridgman, Charles Vassau, Jr., and
Humphrey Sawyer, in 1856. Mr. Bridgman raised the first crops in 1857.
The first marriage was C. Vassau to Alma Kittel, in 1858, by Rev. A.
Burton Peabody. The first white child born in Alden was P. B. Peabody,
July 28, 1856. The first death was that of a child, Nicholas W.
Gordon, June 10, 1857. Alden has two post towns, Little Falls and
Alden.
REV. A. BURTON PEABODY was born May 22, 1823, in Andover, Windsor
county, Vermont. He was the youngest of four minor children, and was
left fatherless at eight years of age, and motherless at fifteen. He
obtained a good English education in the common schools, and at
Chester and Black River academies. The winter terms he spent in
teaching. In 1844 he came to Janesville, Wisconsin, where he spent two
years, partly on a farm and partly in a law office, as a student and
clerk. In 1847 he went to Iowa county, and taught school through the
winter at Mineral Point. The next year he went to Clarence, Green
county, Wisconsin, where he spent four years in teaching. In 1852 he
entered the Nashotah Theological Seminary, where he completed the
course, and was ordained deacon in the Protestant Episcopal church,
June 3, 1855, by the Rev. Bishop Kemper, and took temporary charge of
Grace church, Sheboygan. He was married to Charity Esther Kittel,
Sept. 22, 1855, at Clarence, by the Rev. Wm. Ruger. In November of the
same year he removed to Mississippi, spending the winter at Jackson.
In February he went to Middleton, Mississippi, to take charge of a
mission work, including several appointments. He came, the June
following, to Polk county, Wisconsin, and spent the summer at Wagon
Landing, on Apple river, where his wife's friends had made a
settlement, but in the winter returned to his mission work in the
South, and there remained until 1857. Owing to the troubled political
condition of the South, he did not deem it advisable to remove his
family thither, and so returned to Wagon Landing and obtained mission
work, visiting at intervals Foster's Mills, now New Richmond,
Huntington, Cedar Valley, and St. Croix Falls. The intervening country
was, much of it, an unbroken wilderness, and he was obliged to make
his journeys not infrequently on foot, to cross the swollen streams
and dare all the perils of the winter storm. In 1859 Mr. Peabody
accepted a call to the rectorship of St. Paul's church, Plymouth,
Sheboygan county, but in 1862 returned to the valley of the St. Croix,
and settled on a farm, undertaking meanwhile ministerial work at
Prescott and other points, in a line extending as far north as St.
Croix Falls. Three years later Prescott and River Falls were made
independent, another man taking charge. In 1879 Mr. Peabody undertook
additional work on the North Wisconsin railroad, including a large
number of places, to be visited monthly. In 1882 his railroad work was
limited to Clayton, Cumberland and Hayward. He still has charge, as
rector, of Star Prairie and Wagon Landing. Few men have led more
laborious lives or been more useful in their calling. He has witnessed
the erection of eight churches on the field in which he labored,
though concerned directly in the building of only four. Mr. Peabody's
family consists of seven sons and seven daughters. One of the latter
died in infancy.
V. M. BABCOCK settled at Wagon Landing, town of Alden, in 1856. He was
born in Rensselaer county, New York; married his first wife in New
York and his second wife at Somerset, St. Croix county, Wisconsin.
They have four children. He has held town offices ever since the
organization of the town. He has been sheriff, and was county
superintendent of schools for seven years.
APPLE RIVER.
The town of Apple River includes township 34, range 16, and derives
its name from its principal river. The town is well watered by Apple
river and its tributaries, and it also has numerous lakes, the most
considerable of which is White Ash lake. The surface of the town is
gently undulating, and was originally covered with pine, interspersed
with hardwood groves. There is good wheat soil, and natural meadows
are found in some parts. The town was organized Jan. 22, 1876, having
been set off from Balsam Lake. There are two post offices, Apple River
on the west, and Shiloh on the east town line.
BALSAM LAKE.
The town of Balsam Lake embraces township 34, range 17, and takes its
name from a lake within its bounds. It has an undulating surface,
covered with heavy oak, pine, and maple timber principally. Balsam
creek, the outlet of Balsam lake, flows through it in a southerly
direction, affording fine water powers. About one-sixth of the surface
is covered with lakes. The largest of these, Balsam lake, in the
Indian language An-in-on-duc-a-gon, or evergreen place, gives name to
the town. Deer, Long, Wild Goose, and Mud lakes are fine bodies of
water with bold, timbered shores, and abundance of fish. The town is
near the geographical centre of the county. The first white man, prior
to the organization of the town, to locate within its present bounds
was a disreputable trader named Miller, who in 1848 built a shanty on
Balsam lake, from which he dispensed whisky to the Indians. This man
was not long afterward driven out of the country. (See history of St.
Croix Falls.) The town was organized in 1869. The first board of
supervisors consisted of Geo. P. Anderson, Wright Haskins, and Joseph
Loveless. The clerk was H. J. Fall; the treasurer, F. R. Loveless. The
first school was taught by Jane Husband. Aaron M. Chase built a
shingle mill at the outlet of Balsam lake in 1850, and he seems to
have been the first actual settler or the first man to make
improvements. As he had neither oxen nor horses, the timbers for the
mill were hauled by man power with the aid of yokes and ropes. Other
persons came to the mill and lived there awhile, but the first
permanent settlers came in in 1856. They were J. Shepherd, Joseph
Loveless, Joseph Ravett, and John M. Rogers. Mr. Rogers raised the
first crops in the town; Joseph Ravett was the first postmaster. The
first marriage was that of J. K. Adams to Miss L. A. Millerman, by W.
H. Skinner. The first white child born was a daughter to R. S.
Haskins. The first death, that of a child, occurred in 1870. A first
class flouring mill has been erected at the outlet of Balsam lake. It
is owned by Herman Corning; a saw mill is also in operation at this
point. A Methodist church, 30 × 40 feet ground plan, was erected at
Balsam Lake by the Methodist society in 1886.
BEAVER.
The town of Beaver includes township 34, range 15. It was set off from
Apple River and organized Nov. 15, 1885. The name was suggested as
being appropriate from the work of the beaver in past ages. Beaver
dams are numerous on all the creeks. These ancient works will mostly
disappear with the progress of agriculture. The town is drained by
streams flowing into Apple river. Horseshoe lake, in the northeast
corner, is three miles in length.
BLACK BROOK.
The town of Black Brook includes township 32, range 16. Apple river,
with its tributaries, supplies it with abundant water privileges.
Black Brook, the principal tributary, gives the town its name, and
drains the southern portion. There are many small lakes. The surface
is undulating and most of the soil good. The post office of Black
Brook is in section 32. The North Wisconsin railroad passes through
sections 25, 35 and 36. This town was originally a part of Alden, but
was organized and set off as a new town Aug. 5, 1867. J. C. Nelson
and G. H. Goodrich were the first supervisors. The first settlers
(1863) were John Gorsuch, John Reed and Jacob Polwer; the first
postmaster was ---- Gates; the first school teacher, Tina
Starkweather; the first marriage that of S. D. Starkweather and Mary
Danforth; the first death that of Mrs. Ben Gilman.
CLAM FALLS.
Clam Falls comprises township 37, range 16, and derives its name from
the falls on Clam river. The surface is rolling and timbered with
hardwood and pine. It is well watered by South Clam creek and its
tributaries. Somers' lake, in section 27, is the only lake. An
upheaval of trap rock on Clam creek has caused the waterfall from
which the town has taken its name. It is a fine water power. A dam for
collecting tolls on saw logs has been placed just above the Falls.
Good specimens of copper ore are found in the trap. The town was set
off from Luck and organized Nov. 15, 1876. The first town meeting was
held April, 1877. The first supervisors were Daniel F. Smith, John
Almquist and John Bjornson. D. F. Smith was the first settler, built
the first saw mill, and raised the first crops.
Daniel F. Smith, a peculiar and eccentric man, was born in Chautauqua
county, New York, in 1813; emigrated to Michigan in 1834, where he
married Eliza Green the following year, and moved to Racine county,
Wisconsin. In 1842 he engaged in lumbering on the Wisconsin river, his
home being at Stevens Point. He was of the firms of Smith & Bloomer
and Smith & Fellows. Mr. Bloomer was accidentally killed, on which
account the business of these firms was closed, Mr. Smith removing to
Galena to facilitate the settlement of their affairs. In 1852 he
removed to St. Louis; in 1853 to Memphis, Tennessee, where he engaged
in the wholesale grocery business, losing heavily, in fact all the
accumulations of his life. In the spring of 1855 he leased the St.
Croix Falls saw mill, and operated it for two years, when trouble
arose and litigation ensued, in which Smith obtained a judgment
against Cushing for $1,000. In 1860 he removed to Clinton, Iowa, and
thence in the same year to California. He traveled much, visiting
mines. He spent some time in mining, and also manufactured shingles.
In 1862 he returned to St. Croix Falls and engaged in lumbering for
three years. In 1868 he built a saw mill at Butternut Lake,
Wisconsin. He did much to open that country to settlement. He was the
founder of a town which he called "Luck." In 1872 he was the first
settler at Clam Falls, where he built a saw mill with but one man to
assist, and around that mill has sprung up a flourishing settlement.
Dan Smith, with undaunted perseverance, has battled his way through
life, and has come out victorious over difficulties and opposition
that would have discouraged and turned back other men. Mr. Smith is a
plain, direct, outspoken man; a man of energy and ability. He has ably
and satisfactorily filled many places of trust. For many years he has
been a commissioner of Polk county.
CLAYTON.
Clayton includes township 33, range 15. The town was set off from
Black Brook. The surface of a great part of the town is level and was
originally marshy, but these marshes have been gradually drained, and
fine farms and hay meadows have taken their place. The town was
organized Nov. 10, 1875. The first supervisors were Morris De'Golier,
Worthy Prentice and H. D. West. The first homestead entries were made
in 1865 by Peter Bouchea and John McKay, a Frenchman, both Indian
traders, who established a post at Marsh lake, but in six months
abandoned it and never returned. The next settlers were Vandyke,
Morehouse and Tanner, near the west line of the town, about 1870. The
first improvements were made by Elam Greely in 1862, who dug a canal
into Marsh lake to get water to float logs out of Beaver brook,
thereby draining great tracts of swamp land. The laying of the North
Wisconsin railroad track gave a fresh impetus to business, and
conduced greatly to the building of the village of Clayton in section
24. The first sermon in the town of Clayton was preached by Rev. W. W.
Ames, a Baptist; the first school was taught by S. M. De'Golier; the
first store was opened by A. M. Wilcox, 1874. D. A. Humbird was the
first postmaster. The North Wisconsin railway passes through the
southeast part and the Minneapolis, Soo & Atlantic passes from the
west side to the northeast corner of the town, and has a station,
Gregory, in the west part.
REUBEN F. LITTLE was born June 13, 1839, in Topsham, Devonshire
county, England. At ten years of age he began to care for himself,
working for sixpence per week, carrying pottery in a moulding house.
Before leaving England his wages had increased to three shillings per
week. In the spring of 1853 he had saved three pounds sterling, and
his grandfather gave him two pounds sterling. This five pounds paid
his passage to Quebec and Montreal, where he got four dollars per
month. Soon after he apprenticed himself for five years to learn the
baker's and confectioner's trade at London, Upper Canada. Subsequently
he took a homestead from the British government at Trading Lake, Upper
Canada.
[Illustration: REUBEN F. LITTLE.]
In the spring of 1861, at Detroit, Michigan, he enlisted in the United
States infantry, regular army, and was promoted successively to first
sergeant, to sergeant major, to second lieutenant, to first
lieutenant. He resigned in September, 1865. During the war he served
continuously in Gen. George H. Thomas' division, and took part in all
the engagements under him, from Miles Springs, Kentucky, to Nashville,
Tennessee. On the twenty-second of September, 1863, Mr. Little had the
honor of being the last man to leave the Rossville Gap in front of
Chattanooga after the disastrous fight of Chickamauga. He was wounded
in the battle of Hoover's Gap and Smyrna, and at the siege of Corinth.
Mr. Little was married in 1865, and divorced in 1869, and re-married
in St. Paul in 1878. He lost his Canada homestead, and took another
homestead in Lincoln, Polk county, Wisconsin, in 1866. Afterward he
went to St. Paul and became one of the firm of Little & Berrisford in
the wholesale confectionery business. In 1879 he returned to Clayton,
formerly part of Lincoln, and reclaimed a swamp of over six hundred
acres, making it a productive meadow and tillage farm. Mr. Little has
served several years as Clayton's town supervisor.
CLEAR LAKE.
Clear Lake embraces township 32, range 15. It derives its name from a
beautiful clear lake on the western boundary near Clear Lake village.
The west part of the town is timbered principally with hardwood, and
is good farming land. The eastern part is more diversified, and there
are some large groves of pine. Willow river runs through the town. The
North Wisconsin railroad traverses the town diagonally from northeast
to southwest: The town was organized June 20, 1877; S. D. Mann, J. C.
Gates, and W. R. Ingalls, supervisors. The first settlers were John
Hale, L. P. Nash, S. D. Starkweather, and Perry Clark. Lawrence
O'Connor was first postmaster; Mr. Starkweather carried the mail on
foot. Israel Graves, in 1875, built the first saw mill in Clear Lake
village and the first house. There is now at the village a stave mill
owned by Symme & Co. Jewett Bros. own a saw mill on Willow river,
three miles from the village, which has a capacity of 8,000,000 feet.
The lumber is delivered to the railway at the village by a wooden
tramway. The lots for the village were purchased from the government
by A. Boody and A. Coventry, in 1856. The plat was made by Symme,
Glover & Co. The survey was made by G. W. Cooley. Thomas T. McGee was
the first settler (1875), and Stephen H. Whitcomb the second. The
first school house was built in 1875, and the first school was taught
by Clara Davis in the same year. The village has now a good graded
school with three departments, Charles Irle, principal. Its two church
buildings, Congregational and Methodist, were destroyed by the cyclone
of 1884, but are being rebuilt. The Swedish Lutherans have a church a
mile from the village. Chas. Decker was the first postmaster; A. Symme
& Co. were the first merchants; P. Gates, M.D., the first practicing
physician; F. M. Nye the first lawyer. The first marriage was that of
John C. Gates and Ella Scovill. The first birth was Chas. W. Whitcomb,
and the first death that of a child of Hans Johnson.
PINEVILLE.
The town of Pineville, a railroad station and village in section 9, is
a lumbering centre. The Pineville Lumbering Company have here a saw
mill with a capacity of 7,000,000 feet. The logs are brought on wooden
railways three to ten miles. P. B. Lacy & Co., of Hudson, are the
proprietors.
FRANK M. NYE was born in Shirley, Piscataquis county, Maine, in 1852.
His parents removed to Wisconsin in 1854. He was educated at the
common schools and at River Falls Academy. He came to Clear Lake in
1879, and was elected district attorney for Polk county in 1880, and
representative in the Wisconsin assembly in 1885. He removed to
Minneapolis in 1887.
EUREKA.
Eureka embraces township 35, range 18 and a fractional part of range
19. The west part is somewhat broken by the St. Croix bluffs; the
remainder is undulating and capable of agricultural improvement. There
are many good farms in this town. There are a few small lakes in the
eastern part. Eureka was set off from St. Croix Falls, and organized
Dec. 16, 1877. The first supervisors were Lucius A. Harper, Jens
Welling and William Booth. The first settlers were L. A. Harper, John
C. Beede, Henry Cole and others. There are three post offices in the
town,--Harper, Cushing and North Valley. At the mouth of Wolf creek,
in the extreme northwestern section of this town, J. R. Brown had a
trading house in the '30s, and Louis Roberts in the '40s. At this
place Alex. Livingston, another trader, was killed by Indians in 1849.
Livingston had built him a comfortable home, which he made a stopping
place for the weary traveler, whom he fed on wild rice, maple sugar,
venison, bear meat, muskrats, wild fowl and flour bread, all decently
prepared by his Indian wife. Mr. Livingston was killed by an Indian in
1849.
In 1855 Carma P. Garlick surveyed a quarter section here and laid it
off into town lots, and had lithograph maps published, calling the
prospective village Sebatanna, an Indian town signifying "Water
Village."
CHARLES NEVERS settled here about 1860, and has now a fine farm and
good buildings.
FARMINGTON.
Farmington was organized as a town in 1858. It contains forty-two
sections of land, in township 32, ranges 18 and 19, with some
fractions of sections on the St. Croix. It is a rich agricultural
town, well diversified with prairie and timber land. Its western
portion, along the St. Croix, has the picturesque bluffs common to
that river, with some unusually beautiful cascades and hillside
springs, of which the most notable are the well known mineral spring
and the springs at the lime kiln. The mineral spring is situated on
the St. Croix river, at the base of the bluff, and about one mile and
a half below Osceola Mills. A beautiful hotel was built in 1876 on the
cliff above, at a cost of about $20,000, which became quite a popular
place of resort until 1885, when it was burned. It has not been
rebuilt. The property was improved by Currant & Stevens, but afterward
sold.
The following analysis shows the chemical constituents of a gallon of
the water of the spring:
GRAINS.
Chloride of sodium .053
Sulphate of soda .524
Bicarbonate of soda .799
Bicarbonate of lime 11.193
Bicarbonate of magnesia 7.248
Iron and alumina .492
Silica .265
Organic matter a trace
-------
Total 20,565
South Farmington Corners has a prosperous cheese factory, owned and
operated by Koch Brothers, erected in 1883, turning out in 1884
sixteen tons of cheese and in 1885 over twenty tons. South Farmington
has a Catholic church building.
The first crops in Farmington were raised by Wm. Kent on a farm near
Osceola in 1846, and the same year Harmon Crandall and Richard Arnold
improved land and raised crops not far from the present village of
Farmington. Here, owing to the sandy nature of the soil, well digging
proved rather perilous to the two farmers. Mr. Arnold attempted to dig
a well in a depression, a sinkhole, in the prairie. As he dug deeper
the sides of the well caved in, almost burying him. He managed by his
own utmost exertions and those of his friend Crandall to escape, but
left his boots deeply imbedded in prairie soil.
In 1887 the Soo Railroad Company bridged the St. Croix, at the cedar
bend at the south point of the leaning cedars, and extended their
grade along the base of the precipice overlooking the river above, and
commanding an extensive view of bold, picturesque and beautiful
scenery.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
HARMON CRANDALL.--The Crandall family were the first to settle in
Osceola Prairie, in the town of Farmington. Mr. Crandall moved to his
farm in 1846, and lived there many years; sold out and removed to
Hudson, where, in later life, he became blind. He had three sons born
in Farmington. In 1882 he moved to Shell Lake, Washburn county, where
he died, Aug. 8, 1886. Mrs. Crandall died May 11, 1888.
SAMUEL WALL.--Mr. Wall was born in 1824, in Shropshire, England; went
as a British soldier to the West Indies in 1840; two years later came
to New York City; one year later to St. Louis; in 1844 to St. Paul and
in 1846 to the St. Croix valley, where he made a permanent home at the
lime kiln, which he bought of William Willim. He was married to Anna
Maria Moore in 1857. They had been educated as Episcopalians, but are
now Catholics and have educated their children in that faith in the
schools at St. Paul. Mr. Wall served five years in the British army
for thirteen pence a day, but West India rum was cheap, only ten pence
per gallon, and this, Mr. Wall pathetically remarked, "was an
unfortunate element for the lime-kiln man." After twenty-six years of
struggle Mr. Wall came out victorious and now strongly advises all
young men to "touch not, taste not, handle not," anything that can
intoxicate. The writer trusts he may stand firm.
WILLIAM RAMSEY was born in Ireland in 1814, and came to America with
his parents in his youth, first settling in Nova Scotia. In 1834 he
came to Washington county, Maine. In 1839 he was married to Sarah
Stevens, at Crawford, Maine. In 1849 he went to California. In 1850 he
returned, and located on his farm in Farmington, Polk county, where he
still resides, an efficient citizen, who has borne his full part in
the organization of town and county, and filled various offices.
HIRAM W. NASON.--Mr. Nason was born in Waterville, Maine, in 1792.
When of age he settled in Crawford, Maine. In 1852 he was married. He
came to Polk county, and settled in Farmington in 1853. Mr. Nason died
in 1859. Mrs. Nason died some years later. They were members of the
Baptist church. Their children are Joel F., Levi, Merrill, Crocker,
Albert, James, Maria, wife of Thos. Ford, of Farmington, and Frances,
wife of Moses Peaselee, of Farmington. Mr. Ford died in 1880. He was a
well to do farmer. Mr. Peaselee, also a farmer, has served as sheriff
of Polk county.
JOEL F. NASON.--Mr. Nason was born Aug. 31, 1828, in Washington
county, Maine. He was married to Bertha Hanscomb, of Crawford, Maine,
in July, 1851. Their children are Everett, Fred, Louisa, wife of
Albert Thompson, and Bertha. Mrs. Nason died in 1862. Mr. Nason was
married to Mary Ann Godfrey, of Osceola, in 1867. Mrs. Nason died
February, 1885. He was married to Miss Fanny Field, of St. Croix
Falls, in 1887. Mr. Nason settled in Farmington in 1852. He engaged in
lumbering many years, and was called by his fellow citizens to fill
several important offices. He served eight years as county clerk. He
was appointed receiver of the United States land office at St. Croix
Falls in 1871, which office he resigned in 1884, when he was elected
state senator.
JOHN MCADAMS was born in Tennessee in 1808. He was employed for many
years on the Louisville (Ky.) canal. He was married to Eliza Robinson
in 1840. Mrs. McAdams died in 1844, leaving one son, Melville, born
1842, who came with his father to the St. Croix valley in 1849. He
first located at Osceola, but in 1854 removed to Farmington, where he
died in 1883. Mr. McAdams was a mineralogist of some ability.
CHARLES TEA was born in Pennsylvania in 1817; came into the St. Croix
valley in 1849; was married in 1850 to Mary McAdams, sister of John
McAdams, and in the same year settled on a farm in Farmington. In 1880
he removed to Southern Iowa.
GARFIELD.
Garfield includes thirty sections of range 17, and six sections of
range 18, township 33. It is well watered and has many small lakes,
while Sucker lake, a lake of considerable size, is about equally
divided between its own territory and that of Lincoln. Garfield was
organized in 1886. The first supervisors were Abraham Sylvester, James
T. Montgomery and Martin Hanson. In 1887 the Minneapolis, Soo &
Atlantic railway built through the town from west to southeast and
established one station, Deronda, in the southeast corner of the town.
The post office of El Salem is in Garfield.
GEORGETOWN.
Georgetown comprises township 35, ranges 15 and 16. This town is
abundantly supplied with water by Apple river and its tributaries, and
numerous lakes, some of them of considerable size. The largest are
Bone, Blake, Powder and Pipe. The timber is hardwood and pine
intermingled. Immense quantities of pine have been taken from this
town, and still much remains. Wild meadows are plentiful. Georgetown
was set off from Milltown and organized Nov. 15, 1879. The first
supervisors were David H. Smith, Elisha E. Drake and August Larbell.
George P. Anderson was the first settler (1873), and his christian
name was affixed to the town. The first school was taught in 1874 by
John Burns. A post office was established in 1881 at Bunyan, G. P.
Anderson, postmaster. The first sermon was preached by Rev. C. D.
Scott, a Methodist. The first birth was that of Lucy Anderson; the
first marriage that of Henry King to Etta Clark. The first death was
that of August Larbell.
TWO MEN MURDERED.
Oliver Grover and Harry Knight, two prominent lumbermen of Stillwater,
on July 2, 1864, were exploring for timber and hay on Pipe lake,
section 10, in Georgetown. Not returning to their camp, two miles
distant, the watchman at the camp, after waiting two days, went to St.
Croix Falls and gave the alarm. Many parties went in pursuit of the
lost men. Some traces of their presence were discovered on the shore
of this lake, but the search was finally abandoned. After some months
the Indians confessed that two of their young men shot the two men,
disemboweled them, burned the entrails and sunk the bodies in the
lake. Their bodies were never found. We append the following newspaper
clipping:
"FINALE.--The friends of the two Indians that shot Grover and Knight,
last Tuesday delivered to P. B. Lacy, of St. Croix Falls, the
valuables that were taken from the bodies of the murdered men. They
consisted of $113 in gold, $282.05 in greenbacks, $160 in silver, one
silver watch, one wallet and one pocket knife. This is probably the
closing act of the bloody tragedy which cost two innocent men their
lives at the hands of Indians steeped in liquor, and who, fearing the
vengeance of the white man, committed suicide."
The two murderers had confessed the crime and shot themselves.
GEORGE P. ANDERSON.--Mr. Anderson was born in Fulvana county,
Virginia, 1825; was educated in the common schools; lived in Ohio
eighteen and in Indiana fifteen years, and came to Balsam Lake in
1866. Few men have been more active in the opening up of a new
settlement. Mr. Anderson has been several times elected to office in
the new county, and was a principal actor in the establishment of the
Polk County Agricultural Society in 1886. He has a family of fifteen
children living.
LAKETOWN.
Laketown includes township 36, range 18. It is named from the lakes
that dot almost every section in the town. Trade lake, with its
tributary from Butternut lake, are the principal streams. The town was
set off from Sterling and organized April 6, 1875. The first
supervisors were L. Bell; S. P. Heard and N. Fornell. The town was
settled largely by Swedes, Norwegians, Danes and Alabamians. The
latter settled in the northwestern part of the town. In 1869 Caleb
Cushing bought the agricultural college lands in the town to the
amount of 7,200 acres. The first school house was built in 1870, in
section 8. P. Tierney taught the first school. Lindsey McKee was the
first settler. He was also the first to sell out and leave. Daniel
Swensbarger, a German, bought him out, and a number of his countrymen
settled near him. Jacob Swensbarger started a store. N. Grondund built
the first blacksmith shop. Peter Olsen built the first saw mill, at
the foot of Long lake, in 1875. The first marriage was that of L.
McKee and Mary Addington, by L. Bell, Esq.
LINCOLN.
Lincoln includes township 33, range 16, and the eastern tier of
sections of township 33, range 17. It is abundantly watered by Apple
river and its tributaries, and has numerous lakes of which Sucker
lake is the largest. The soil is well adapted to the culture of wheat.
There are many fine farms in this township. The surface, originally
covered with timber, is undulating. The town was organized in 1860,
being set off from Osceola. The first town meeting was held April,
1861. A. A. Heald, M. C. Lane and John Hurness were the first
supervisors. The post town is at Lincoln Centre. The Polk county poor
farm is pleasantly situated on a lake in Lincoln, and has been well
managed for a series of years by Capt. Wilkie.
AMERY village is located on Apple river, at the crossing of the "Soo
Line" railway. It has two saw mills and a stave factory. The
Minneapolis, Soo & Atlantic railway passes through Lincoln from
southwest to east, and has a station at Apple River crossing, named
Amery, in honor of William Amery, one of Polk county's best citizens.
WM. WILSON was born in 1828, at Armagh county, Ireland. At four years
of age he came to America with his parents, who located at Canada
West, where he learned the baker's trade. In 1849 he came to Osceola
and followed lumbering eight years. He was married at Osceola to Leah
Moody and located on his homestead in Lincoln in 1870. He has three
sons. Mr. Wilson has been a useful citizen and has done his full share
of pioneer work.
LORAINE.
Loraine includes townships 36 and 37, range 15. It is a heavily
timbered district, with hardwood and pine interspersed. The surface is
undulating and the soil is much of it good. It is well watered by
South Clam creek and tributaries, and has a multitude of small lakes.
There are some fine farms in the northern part of the township.
Loraine was organized Nov. 14, 1872. The first town meeting was held
April, 1873. The first supervisors were, Frank J. Williams, George
Phelps and John Klinch. Wm. Gallespie built the first hotel and opened
it in 1873. The first school was taught by Georgia Lacy. The first
marriage was that of James Lago and Almeda Johnson. The first white
child was George Phillips; the first death that of a child of J. L.
Ellis.
The first settler was C. Loraine Ruggles. He was somewhat eccentric.
He published a book embodying his own adventures during the Rebellion,
which he called "The Great American Spy." The town was named after
him. N. B. Bull and Chas. Anderson were the next settlers.
WM. WALLACE GALLESPIE was born in Louisville, Kentucky; lived in his
youth in Illinois and came to Marine Mills in 1844. In 1851 he married
Cecilia M. Ring, widow of Charles Turner, of Taylor's Falls. In 1878
he moved to his homestead in Loraine, where he has a good farm and
hotel. He has two sons and one daughter.
LUCK.
Luck includes township 36, ranges 16 and 17. It is a good agricultural
region and contains already many valuable farms. The eastern half of
the town was originally a rich pine wood region. Much of the timber is
yet standing. The town is well watered by Upper Trade and Straight
rivers and has many beautiful lakes, the principal of which are
Butternut and North. Luck was organized as a town Nov. 9, 1869. The
first supervisors were Wm. H. Foster, M. C. Pederson and J. J. Bille.
The first settlers were Wm. W. Gallespie, W. H. Foster and D. F. Smith
(1857). The first marriage was that of W. H. Foster, and his oldest
child was the first white child born in Luck. Wm. Gallespie raised the
first crops. D. F. Smith built the first saw mill. W. H. Foster was
first postmaster. At present there are two post offices, one at the
village of Luck, the other at West Denmark. Laura Jones taught the
first school in Luck. The town has been settled chiefly by Danes,
mostly direct from Denmark. A Danish high school was established in
1884, K. Noregaad, principal, at which different languages are taught.
The building cost $3,000. It is beautifully located on Butternut lake.
The Lutherans have three flourishing church organizations in this
town.
WILLIAM H. FOSTER was born in Bangor, Maine, in 1828; came to St.
Croix valley in 1844; settled in Luck in 1857 and engaged in farming
and lumbering. He served in the army during the Rebellion, and was
postmaster at Luck for eighteen years. His father, Daniel Foster, came
with him to the St. Croix valley in 1844 and died in 1876. His native
place was New Hampshire.
MILLTOWN.
Milltown includes township 35, range 17. It is a good agricultural and
stock growing town. It is watered by the small streams flowing into
Balsam, Half Moon and other lakes. The timber is mostly hardwood.
There is pine in the eastern part. The Patterson post office is
located in section 7, Milltown in section 36. Milltown was set off
from St. Croix Falls Dec. 20, 1869. The first town meeting was held
Jan. 8, 1870. The first supervisors were John Lynch, M. Fitzgerald,
Sr., and John Hurley. The Roman Catholic church was organized here in
1864. Their new house of worship was built in 1870. The first settlers
were James and John Rogers. The first school (1865) was taught by
Maggie Crawford. The first school house was built in 1866. A grange
was organized in 1884. The town has now a good brick school house and
a saw and flour mill.
PATRICK LILLIS was born in Ireland in 1807. He came to Polk county in
1856, and, with his amiable wife and enterprising sons, made a claim
on what was afterward styled Milltown, an inappropriate name, but
given by Mr. Lillis himself, as he humorously remarked, "because there
was not a stream large enough for a mill site in the town," and
Milltown it remains to this day. Mr. Lillis prospered and made himself
a good home. He died Feb. 26, 1886. Mrs. Lillis died December, 1885.
They left six sons. John C. is in Greene county, Texas, Simon C. is in
Southern California, and Richard is in Memphis, Tennessee. Henry, the
youngest, aged twenty-nine years, has for the past six years been a
resident of Tacoma, Washington Territory. The residence of Martin and
James is not known.
OSCEOLA.
Osceola contains all of township 33, range 18, except the eastern tier
of sections, and ten whole sections and some fractions of range 19,
made somewhat irregular by the St. Croix river boundary, and the
obtrusion of three sections of Farmington in the southwestern part. It
is a rich agricultural town, consisting chiefly of prairie, the whole
forming a tableland, terminating westward on the precipitous bluffs of
the St. Croix. It has a good steamboat landing and two good water
powers, Osceola and Close's creeks. These are both fine trout brooks.
The bluffs overlooking the St. Croix are bold and high, and, for a
great part, precipitous. Most conspicuous of these bluffs is the
promontory known as Eagle Point, situated just below the Osceola
landing. An escarpment of limestone, about two hundred feet above the
river, projects over its base, not much unlike the celebrated table
rock at Niagara Falls. A tall and solitary pine tree stands upon the
extreme verge of this rock, the whole forming a conspicuous landmark,
visible to a distance of several miles down the river. The cascade on
Osceola creek, a few rods above its mouth, has scarcely a rival
amongst the waterfalls of the West. It has sometimes been called the
Minnehaha of Wisconsin, but while it resembles somewhat in the lower
part of its descent that celebrated cascade, the scenery around it is
much wilder, perpendicular rocks towering over it to a great height,
while the upper part of the fall is over an inclined plain, broken
into steps. It is a favorite haunt for artists and photographers.
There are several minor waterfalls of great beauty in the vicinity.
The trap rock formation crops out in the eastern and northern parts of
the town, rich in specimens of copper and silver. Silver is also found
in ledges at East Lake.
The first land claim in the town, made May 14, 1844, by Milton V.
Nobles and Lucius N. S. Parker, included the cascade and the present
site of the village. The claim was made with the intention of building
a saw mill at the outlet of Osceola creek. The mill company, organized
in 1841, consisted of M. V. and W. H. Nobles, Wm. Kent, Wm. O. Mahony
and Harvey Walker. Mr. Nobles sold his interest and removed to Willow
River; Wm. Parker removed to St. Anthony. The mill commenced cutting
timber in 1845. It was run at first with a small flutter wheel, which
was replaced by a an overshot wheel, 30 feet; that by another, 45
feet, and that by one 50 feet in diameter. In 1845 the company built a
two story boarding house, also a shop and office, near the mill. After
the completion of the mill Walker withdrew from the firm and Anson
Northrup was for a short time a member. Kent & Mahony for a number of
years operated the mill, selling lumber in Galena and St. Louis.
Mahony left for California in 1852. Around this mill, as a nucleus,
the settlement of Osceola and the village were built up. The mill,
with its immense water wheel, for so many years a conspicuous object
on the river, has long since disappeared.
Osceola has had many enterprising business men engaged in
merchandising and manufacturing. The first flouring mill was built by
Kent Brothers in 1853, just above the cascade. This mill changed
owners several times, and was burned in 1880. It was rebuilt by
Lovejoy & Sutton in 1883. Its present capacity is one hundred barrels
per day. The second flouring mill was built by Dresser & Wilson in
1867. It is situated on the same stream, a few rods above the first.
It has also changed owners several times. Its capacity is fifty
barrels per day. The first merchants were Wyckoff and Stevenson, in
1856. These have been succeeded by Rice, Webb, Clark Brothers,
Armstrong & Co., Talboys & Staples, Dresser & Wilson, Lacy & Johnson,
W. A. Talboys, Gridley & Co., Heald & Thing, Dresser Brothers, and
others. Dr. Gray was the first practicing physician. After him, at
different periods, came Drs. Hilton, Brooks, Gaskill, Garlick,
Marshall, Searles, Cornbacker and Clark. The first deed recorded of
Osceola property was a quitclaim from Wm. H. Nobles to Anson Northrup,
consideration $3,250, in 1847. The first lawyer settled here was I. P.
Freeland. His successors were Button, Dowling, Dyke, McDill, and
others. The first sermon preached in Osceola was by Rev. Lemuel
Nobles, a Methodist minister, in 1851. There are two church
organizations; each has respectable church buildings. The first
Baptist preacher was Rev. S. T. Catlin, in 1854. The Baptists built
the first church in the county in Osceola, 1856. The first log house
in the town was built by Richard Arnold in the locality of the famous
Drake Troutmere springs. This house was built in 1848. Mr. Arnold
raised the first crops in the town of Osceola. The first school house
was built in 1852. A high school building was erected in 1868. W. A.
Talboys taught the first public school in 1852. Until 1861 the schools
were under the town system. In 1875 a free high school was
established. The first post office was established in 1854, and W. C.
Guild was postmaster for twenty years. The first town election was
held April 5, 1853, when the following supervisors were elected: Wm.
Ramsey, chairman; Nelson McCarty and W. C. Guild. At this meeting the
town voted a tax of thirty dollars for school and fifty dollars for
town expenses. The first Sunday-school was organized by W. A. Talboys
in 1852.
The first marriage, that of John Buckley to Elizabeth Godfrey, was in
1853. The first white child born was John Francis, in 1847. The first
death was that of Leroy Hubble, by accident, in 1845.
CHANGE OF NAME.
The name of the town was originally Leroy, in honor of Mr. Hubble
above mentioned. It is to be regretted that this name was not
retained, inasmuch as Osceola, though the name of one of the most
celebrated Indians in American history, is shared by a post town in
the eastern part of the State. It was therefore necessary to call this
post town Osceola Mills, a distinction that correspondents and
postmasters are not always careful to note. Osceola village remained
unorganized until Aug. 10, 1887. The first officers were: President,
H. B. Dyke; trustees, W. C. Reilly, R. S. Sutton, G. W. De Long, H. E.
Cornbacker, Paul Filzen, S. C. Benjamin; clerk, S. Rowcliff;
treasurer, C. W. Staples; supervisor, G. D. McDill; justice of the
peace, George Wilson; police justice, T. Post. The village has a
splendid situation upon the bluffs overlooking the river, and
communicates with points on the river by boat, and with overland
points by the Minneapolis, Soo & Atlantic railway, completed to this
place Aug. 21, 1887. There is also a branch road from Dresser's
station to St. Croix Falls. The village was visited by destructive
fires at various times. Most prominent of these was the burning of the
Freeland Hotel in 1857, the Western Hotel in 1878, and the first
flouring mill in 1880.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
DANIEL MEARS.--Mr. Mears was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1819. His
first wife, Emeline Mendon, died in 1850, leaving three sons, Charles,
David, and Daniel. In 1852 he was married to Susan Thompson. They have
one daughter, Lulu, now Mrs. Wheeler, of Stillwater. Mr. Mears came
West in 1848, and sold goods one year at Taylor's Place (since
Taylor's Falls). In 1849 he removed his store to St. Croix Falls,
where he continued merchandising and lumbering until 1852, when he
went to Willow River as agent in building the first saw mill in what
is now Hudson. In 1860 he made himself a permanent home on a farm near
Osceola. He served as state senator from the Twenty-eighth district in
1858-59, and as state timber agent in 1874-75. As an officer Mr. Mears
acquitted himself well. In politics he is a Democrat, and while in the
senate took an active part in debates. The oldest son, Charles, is
editor and proprietor of the _Polk County Press_. The three sons are
married.
NELSON MCCARTY.--Mr. McCarty was born July 4, 1819, in Pike county,
Pennsylvania; in 1834 was married to Mary McKune, and came to St.
Croix valley in 1846, where he engaged in piloting and lumbering. In
1847 he made him a farm on Osceola prairie. He died in 1856. His
brother Philip came to Osceola in 1850, and settled on Osceola
prairie.
WILLIAM O. MAHONY, a native of Ireland, born about 1810, came to
America while he was yet a minor, and to St. Croix Falls in 1843. He
had learned the trade of a baker, but in 1844 became one of the
proprietors of the saw mill at Osceola, and sold his interest in 1860.
He was a man of original and eccentric mind. He went to California in
1862, and died there in 1866.
RICHARD ARNOLD is of Illinois birth. He came to Osceola in 1845, and
moved to his farm near the village in 1848. In 1852 he removed to
Taylor's Falls and built the Cascade House. In 1855 he was the first
farmer in the town of Amador, Chisago county. In 1859 he left the
valley for Pike's Peak, Colorado.
WM. KENT SR., was born in Scotland sometime in 1790. He was married in
Scotland, and, with his wife and two eldest children, came to America
in 1823. He seems to have lived awhile in New Brunswick, probably till
1829 or 30, when he removed to Eddington, Maine, whence he removed to
the West and made his home at Osceola in 1852, where he and his wife
died at an advanced age, honored by all who knew them. His family of
six sons and five daughters all grew to mature age, and, except
Andrew, who located in Farmington, had homes in Osceola The daughters
are Anna, wife of Curtis Guild; Agnes (deceased), wife of I. W.
Freeland; Jane, wife of Jerry Mudget; Mary (deceased), wife of Chapin
Kimball; and Eva, wife of Henry C. Goodwin.
ROBERT KENT, oldest son of Wm. Kent, Sr., was born in Scotland in
1819; came to Galena, Illinois, in 1840, and to Osceola in 1848, where
he has filled many responsible public positions. His first wife, to
whom he was married in Galena in 1841, died in 1847, leaving four
children. In 1859 Mr. Kent was married to Susan Babb, of Osceola.
ANDREW KENT was born in Scotland in 1821. He was married in New
Brunswick in 1838, but his wife died soon after. He came to Osceola in
1852 and was married to Esther Hill, of Osceola, in 1855. Mr. Kent
followed lumbering for many years but finally settled on a beautiful
farm in Farmington, where he still resides, an industrious, thrifty
farmer.
WILLIAM KENT, JR., was born in New Brunswick in 1824; came to Galena
in 1843 and to St. Croix Falls in 1844. He was one of the original
owners and builders of the first mill at Osceola. From time to time he
purchased the interests of other partners until he became sole owner
of mill and town site. In 1853 he sold the mill to B. H. Campbell, of
Galena. Mr. Kent engaged in steamboating for many years and was a
popular commander. He built the Nellie Kent, the Helen Mar and Maggie
Reany. Of late years he has been engaged in mercantile pursuits. He
was married to Nellie Kidder in 1855. They have no children. Mr. Kent
is an influential member of the masonic order, and has filled many
positions of public trust.
JAMES KENT was born in Frederickton, New Brunswick, in 1826; came to
Wisconsin in 1850; and was married to Mary Jane Wilson at Osceola in
1858. In 1874 he removed to Ashland, Wisconsin, where he died in 1878,
leaving a wife and five children.
THOMAS KENT was born in Richmond, New Brunswick, in 1828. He came to
Osceola in 1849 and was married in 1856 to Achsah Hale. He was a
practical lumberman and a very active man. He was accidentally killed
in 1847, while breaking a jam of logs in Clam river. He left a wife
and one child.
JOHN KENT was born in Eddington, Maine, in 1831. He came to Wisconsin
with his parents in 1852. He was married to Jennie Kidder in 1866. He
was a house carpenter. Lived in Duluth some years but returned and
settled in Osceola.
SAMUEL CLOSE in 1845 made a land claim for a mill at the falls of
Close creek. Shortly after he abandoned the claim and left the
country, leaving his name to the creek and slough.
EBENEZER AYRES came from Maine to the St. Croix valley in 1850, and
settled on a farm in Osceola, where he made his home during the
remainder of his active life. During his last years he became very
feeble and partially insane, and his friends placed him in the asylum
at Madison, where he died, Aug. 20, 1876. His wife, familiarly known
in later years as "Mother Ayres," and greatly esteemed for her
excellence of character, died two years later. They reared a family of
four sons and seven daughters. The sons Charles, Seth and Andrew are
farmers on typo for Osceola prairie. Warren, a fourth son, died in
Iowa. The daughters were married--Elizabeth to Ambrose Sevey, Ruth to
Walter Carrier, Mary (deceased) to Frank S. Eddy, Sarah to E. R. St.
Clair, and to a second husband, H. H. Newberry, all of Taylor's Falls;
Abigail to Wm. E. Doe, and to a second husband, the distinguished
phrenologist, O. S. Fowler, of New York; Almena to ---- Clough, of
Osceola prairie, and, after his decease, to Wallace, of Osceola; and
Emma to Charles P. Fenlason, of Pipestone, Minnesota.
CARMI P. GARLICK was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, in 1818; was
married in 1842 to Elizabeth Thompson, of Ohio, and come to Amador,
Chisago county, Minnesota, in 1854, where he built a saw mill. Not
succeeding as he had expected, he betook himself to farming and to the
practice of medicine while in Amador. In 1858 he removed to Osceola,
where he practiced medicine until he entered the United States service
as surgeon during the war of the Rebellion. He died at Milwaukee, Jan.
12, 1864, while in the United States service. He was educated in
Columbus (Ohio) Medical College. He left a wife, one son (Louis), and
one daughter, wife of Henry Jones, of Osceola.
JOHN S. GODFREY was born in Sackville, Halifax county, Nova Scotia,
Dec. 18, 1809; was married to Sarah Wright, in Stonnich, Nova Scotia,
in 1832; came to Easton, Wisconsin, in 1849, to Taylor's Falls in
1851, and to their beautiful homestead in Osceola in 1852, where he
still lives, respected and honored by all his neighbors as an honest,
worthy and industrious man. He has sometimes engaged in lumbering, but
his chief success has been as a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey are
members of the Baptist church. They have four sons and five daughters.
Of his sons, George died in 1872. Of his daughters, Mary Ann, wife of
Joel F. Nason, died in 1885. John, the youngest son, was married to
Mamie Maxwell, and died January, 1888. The daughters are
married--Elizabeth to John Buckley, Charlotte to S. B. Dresser, Eunice
to George Clark, and Sarah to Joseph A. Brown. The two oldest sons are
married--James to M. Fenlason, Arthur to Mary J. Daniel.
WILLIAM A. TALBOYS was born in Bristol, England; was married to Mary
Rowcliff, in London, in 1845; came to America in 1845, and to Osceola
in 1851, where for some years he clerked for Kent Brothers. He taught
the first school in Osceola and served four years as county treasurer.
He has held many positions of trust. For many years he has been
engaged in lumbering and merchandising. In 1874 he built an elevator
for handling wheat. Mr. Talboys and his wife are members of the
Methodist church. They have three children living. The oldest, W. E.,
is editor of the Grantsburg _Sentinel_, Burnett county. Frederic C. is
in St. Paul. Adelaide E. was married to Benj. Knapp, captain of the
steamboat Cleon. Her husband died in 1887.
CHARLES H. STAPLES.--Mr. Staples was born in Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, in 1824. In 1848 he came to Bunker Hill, Illinois, and in
the same year was married to Hannah Garland. He was engaged seven
years in the milling business, and in 1856 came to Osceola, where he
engaged in lumbering, selling goods and medicines. He has filled
several county offices. Of their four children, Charles W. was married
to May Foster, of Osceola, in 1878, Eva is married to H. B. Dyke, and
Frank to Ella Fiske.
J. W. PEAKE was born Dec. 2, 1822, in Schoharie county, New York. At
the age of twenty-one he settled near La Salle, Illinois, and kept a
hotel. He came to Osceola in 1854, and settled on a farm. On July 15,
1862, he enlisted in the Tenth Wisconsin Battery, and served till the
close of the war. He served several years as town supervisor and
assessor. He died at his home, March 13, 1886.
GEORGE WILSON was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, in 1836.
His privileges for education were good. He taught school in
Pennsylvania; came to Osceola in 1857; followed clerking and teaching
school; was nine years in flouring mill and merchandising; was two
years register of deeds, and has filled minor offices. He was married
to Emma R. Fiske in 1854, at Osceola. They have two sons and two
daughters, one the wife of Capt. George Knapp.
SAMUEL B. DRESSER.--Mr. Dresser was born in Buxton, Maine, in 1832.
During his youth he lived with his parents, chiefly at Bangor, where
he received the rudiments of a good education in the common schools,
and in Kent Seminary at Readfield. He came to Taylor's Falls in 1851,
and followed lumbering and merchandising until 1862, when he settled
on his farm homestead on Osceola prairie. Mr. Dresser was a member of
the Twenty-third Wisconsin assembly. He was married to Charlotte M.
Godfrey, June 23, 1859. They have one daughter, Helen A., and six
sons, Elma T., William A., Lester B., Wyman H., Mark S., and Frank E.
FREDERIC A. DRESSER, brother of Samuel B., was born at Moscow, Maine,
Nov. 2, 1841, came to Taylor's Falls, Minnesota, in 1858, and remained
some years, when he removed to Osceola. He served three years during
the Civil War in the Thirtieth Wisconsin Infantry, and left the
service with the rank of quartermaster. After the war he was married
to Mary E. Thoms, of Biddeford, Maine. During his subsequent residence
in Osceola he engaged in mercantile pursuits, served as county
treasurer four years and as register of deeds five years, which office
he held at the time of his death which occurred Oct. 23, 1886.
OSCAR A. CLARK came to Taylor's Falls in 1881, settled on a farm in
Osceola in 1852, and brought hither his parents from Vermont, both of
whom have since died. Oscar was a surveyor. He engaged also in the
lumbering and commercial business. He was of the firm of Clark
Brothers. He enlisted in a Wisconsin regiment during the Rebellion,
and served till mustered out, but never returned to his home, and as
nothing has since been heard from him, his friends have concluded that
he must have been murdered after his discharge, possibly on the way
home. Cornelius, a brother, lives at the Clark homestead; George, a
brother, married a daughter, of John S. Godfrey. He died in 1873. The
widow was subsequently married to Cornelius. Leman, a brother, settled
on a farm in Osceola, and died in 1879, leaving a large family.
Andrew, another brother, of the firm of Clark Brothers, died in
Osceola.
OSCAR F. KNAPP.--Capt. Knapp has been conspicuous as a steamboat
maker, owner and captain for the last thirty years. He was born in
Clinton county, New York, in 1831. At the age of fifteen years he came
West and located in Delavan, Wisconsin. In 1852 he removed to Osceola,
Wisconsin, where he engaged in lumbering for about four years. In 1856
he was married to Miss Angeline Hayes, of Osceola. In the same year he
engaged in the business of steamboating, with which he has been since
identified more or less. His first steamboat was the H. S. Allen,
which, in company with E. B. Strong, he bought of H. S. Allen, of
Chippewa Falls, in 1856, for $5,000. In 1862 he built the Enterprise,
a small but serviceable boat of light draft and fair speed. In 1864
Capt. Knapp built the Viola, owned by a stock company. In 1866 he
built the G. B. Knapp, in 1879 the Jennie Hayes, and ran these two
boats fourteen years. In 1877 he entered the employment of the United
States government, improving the navigation of the St. Croix river, in
which work he is still engaged. His two sons, Ben and George,
succeeded him in the steamboat business. Ben, the oldest son, was born
in Osceola in 1857; George, the second son, in 1859. These two boys
spent their childhood and youth on the river, and have grown up to be
expert pilots and captains, and inherit their father's popularity as
river men. Ben was married to Addie Talboys, June, 1880; George to
Claribel Wilson, in 1883. Capt. Knapp has two other children, Viola,
now Mrs. Arthur Johnson, and Guy, still a minor. Mrs. Angeline Knapp
died at her home in Osceola, March 6, 1883, respected and lamented by
all who knew her. Capt. Ben Knapp died Oct. 5, 1887, leaving a wife
and two children.
MRS. ELISABETH B. HAYES.--Mrs. Hayes was born in 1811, in Dundee,
Yates county, New York. In 1854 she removed with her husband to
Missouri. After his death, in the fall of the same year, she came with
her children to Osceola, where she built the Osceola House, which she
kept a number of years. The daughters were Angeline B. (Mrs. O. F.
Knapp), Mrs. Hubbell and Mrs. Milroy, of New York, and Mrs. Truman
Foster, widow, since the wife of Capt. C. G. Bradley. Her sons were
George, Frank and David. Capt. George Hayes followed piloting and
steamboating, excepting during the Rebellion, when he served as a
soldier in the Fourth Wisconsin Volunteers. In the latter part of the
war he served as a scout for Gen. Canby. At the present time he has
the appointment of steamboat inspector, with office in St. Paul. David
has been prominent as a steamboat captain. He now resides in Iowa.
CYRUS G. BRADLEY was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois, in 1825. In 1845 he
came to the lead mines in Wisconsin and to Osceola in 1848. He was
married in 1846 to the widow of Truman Foster, of Osceola. Mr. Bradley
engaged in lumbering, became a river pilot, running rafts to St.
Louis, with stems and blades, called oars and sweeps, before steamboat
towing was in vogue. When steamboats became useful in running rafts,
he built two steamers especially for raft towing. He had much to do in
introducing the steamboat towing business. Mr. Bradley moved to his
farm near Osceola in 1874, where he still resides.
W. HALE.--Judge Hale's early life was spent on a farm. He commenced
lumbering in 1822, and followed that business and piloting on the Ohio
and Alleghany rivers until 1851, when he came to Osceola prairie and
opened a farm. Mr. Hale was the first county judge of Polk county, and
held the position eight years. He has also served as county
superintendent of schools. He was born in Harmony, Susquehanna county,
Pennsylvania, in 1802; was married to Nancy McKeene, of Orange county,
New York, in 1826. They have four sons, John, Isaac, Silas F., and
Reuben W., and three daughters, Esther (Mrs. Treadwell), Malvina (Mrs.
Merrick), and Achsah (Mrs. Thomas Kent).
EDGAR C. TREADWELL was born March 29, 1832, in Susquehanna county,
Pennsylvania. He came with a team from Pennsylvania to Osceola in
1846, where he engaged in lumbering and piloting until 1863, when he
enlisted in Company D, Second Wisconsin Cavalry. He was wounded at
Yazoo river. He returned to Osceola in 1865 and was married to Esther
Hale in 1866. Mr. Treadwell was the first sheriff of Polk county, and
has filled other places of trust. Since the war he has resided on his
farm.
ST. CROIX FALLS.
Extended mention has already been made of the village of St. Croix
Falls in the general history of the first settlement of the county.
The town includes township 34, range 18, and two partial sections of
range 19. It was organized in 1854, but unfortunately no records of
its organization can be obtained. The surface is agreeably diversified
by hill and plain, and is supplied with many species of timber,
including maple, elm, and several varieties of oak. The St. Croix
river forms its western boundary, and presents here some of its
wildest and most beautiful scenery, including the trap rock ledges of
the Dalles.
ST. CROIX FALLS VILLAGE.
The buildings of the Falls company formed the nucleus of a village
which took the name of the Falls. Its history has been given somewhat
at length in the history of the settlement, and in "Reminiscences." It
is situated on the east bank of the river, between the upper and lower
falls. It contains one first class flouring mill, owned by James
Thompson, one wagon and plow factory, owned by Comer Brothers, one
agricultural warehouse, two livery stables (Harvey & Co., and Lillis
& Co.), two excellent hotels (J. W. Mullen, and C. C. Fiske), one
United States land office, one church building (Presbyterian), costing
about $2,500, one graded school building, costing $6,000, one town
hall and several commodious stores and dwellings. The village was
platted in 1857, by Marion T. Chandler. The post office was
established in 1844. Harvey Wilson was the first postmaster. The
Minneapolis, Soo & Atlantic Railway Company have a branch road
extending to this place from Dresser's station, a distance of three
miles. The village was incorporated Feb. 21, 1888, with the following
board of officers: President, J. H. McCourt; trustees, John Comer,
Jacob Berger, George Thompson, Charles Amery, Barney O'Neal, Sidney
Wall; clerk, Thomas Peck; treasurer, A. Hoagland; assessor, P. B.
Jewell; supervisor, S. W. Blanding; constable, Hoover Christopher;
justice of the peace, W. B. Bull; police justice, Thomas Peck. St.
Croix village has suffered from fires. The heaviest losses were
without insurance. The flouring mill was burned April 30, 1863; loss,
$8,000. The company's hotel was burned May, 1880; loss, $3,000.
Fiske's hotel was burned Sept. 16, 1885; loss, $6,000.
WEST SWEDEN.
West Sweden embraces township 37, range 17. This is almost exclusively
a hardwood timbered district, with some pine in the north. The soil is
rich and well watered with Spirit creek and Upper Wood river. The
surface is undulating. The north part has numerous lakes and meadows.
There is an upheaval of trap rock in section 2 and copper specimens
abound. The principal settlers are Swedes. The town was organized Nov.
10, 1875. The first supervisors were N. C. Johnson, A. Larson and A.
Dolberg.
STERLING.
The town of Sterling is composed of township 36, ranges 19 and 20. The
east part is heavy hardwood timber land, with rich soil suitable for
wheat; the west portion is very sandy and covered with a few
scattering oaks and black pines. The whole town is well supplied with
hay meadows, which afford great advantages to the stock raiser. The
first actual settlers were Samuel Deneen and William Trimmer, who came
in the fall of 1855. The year following William Lowell, from
Stillwater, entered three hundred and twenty acres in sections 14 and
15, range 19, and made extensive improvements. Daniel F. Smith took up
the same amount of land in section 9, same town and range, and made
improvements. The first white child born was the son of James Cragin,
August, 1858. The first white couple married was John Berry and Emily
Stout, in 1859. The first death was that of Mrs. Dunlap, sister of
William Trimmer, in 1859.
The town was organized in 1855. The first town meeting was held at the
residence of William Lowell, and Samuel Deneen was the first chairman
of the town. The town was called Moscow, which name was changed one
year after to that of Sterling. It was the largest town in the county
then. It was organized into two school districts, but District No. 1
not being able to build a good school house, an old log shanty was
fixed up for school purposes, and in this Miss Fanny Trimmer taught
the first school. The first saw and grist mill was built by Dr.
Deneen. Olaf Strandburg established the first blacksmith shop and with
it a gun shop. In 1849 Charles F. Rowley built a "stopping place," so
called in those days, on the banks of Wolf creek, at the old crossing,
half a mile west of Deneen's, and cultivated a few acres of land. This
house was burned one night by a lot of teamsters in a drunken orgie.
DR. SAMUEL DENEEN, the first white settler in Sterling, was born Dec.
27, 1801, in Youngstown, Ohio. He was married in 1825 to Margaret
Conly. He studied medicine in Michigan, and came to Wisconsin in 1854,
and to Sterling in 1855. Dr. Deneen practiced his profession, made him
a farm, built a saw and grist mill on Wolf creek, established a post
office and took an active part in the interests of the new settlement.
He and his wife still live on the homestead which they have held for
the past thirty years. Mrs. Deneen was born in 1800.
WILLIAM W. TRIMMER came to Sterling in 1855 and made a home, building
and occupying what was for many years known as "Trimmer's Hotel." Mr.
Trimmer died in St. Croix Falls in 1874.
ARNOLD DENSMORE was born in Nova Scotia, in 1822; was married to
Matilda Wallace in 1845, and came to Sterling in 1867, where he died,
Jan. 20, 1886, much respected as a neighbor, citizen and Christian.
CHAPTER VI.
ST. CROIX COUNTY.
Jan. 9, 1840, the Wisconsin legislature created a new county out of
Crawford county, including territory west of the Chippewa river,
extending northward to the British possessions, and named it St.
Croix. By the same act, a day was designated for an election, at which
a county seat was to be chosen and county officers elected. "Mouth of
St. Croix," now Prescott, and Caw-caw-baw-kang, now St. Croix Falls,
were designated as voting places. Two places only were voted for,
"Mouth of St. Croix," and Dakotah, Brown's claim, now Schulenberg's
addition to Stillwater. Dakotah was chosen by a vote of forty-five to
thirteen. The returns were made to Prairie du Chien, county seat of
Crawford county, and certificates issued to the county officers
elected by C. J. Leonard, clerk of Crawford county. The legislature
had at the time of creating the new county made it a probate district,
Philip Aldrich being appointed judge.
The history of the county until 1848 has been given elsewhere, as
connected with the early history of Stillwater.
The admission of Wisconsin Territory as a state in 1848 divided the
county, giving it the St. Croix river and state line as its western
boundary. The Wisconsin portion of the old county was consequently
left without a county seat, while the portion west of the St. Croix
had a county seat, but was without state or territorial jurisdiction.
Congress, however, declared Wisconsin territorial laws to be still in
force in the excluded territory, and they so remained until the
organization of Minnesota Territory. Soon after the admission of
Wisconsin, that part of St. Croix county within its limits was
reorganized for county and judicial purposes, and a new county seat
chosen, located in section 24, township 29, range 19, at the mouth of
Willow river. This county seat was at first called Buena Vista. On
Sept. 9, 1848, the county commissioners, under the law creating the
county, held their first meeting at the county seat, in the house of
Philip Aldrich. The commissioners present were Ammah Andrews,
chairman; W. H. Morse, and W. R. Anderson, clerk. Philip Aldrich was
appointed treasurer. Four voting precincts were established, Mouth of
St. Croix, Willow River or Buena Vista, Osceola, and Falls of St.
Croix. These early commissioners performed duties of the most varied
character incident to the government of a new county. There was as yet
no county seal, and they were required to draw with the pen upon legal
documents a scroll representing a seal, and to use other forms,
appliances and devices without legal precedent.
At the second meeting of the county commissioners Osceola was
represented by Harmon Crandall, he having been absent at the first
meeting of the board. Moses Perin was appointed collector. License for
selling intoxicating liquors was fixed at twenty dollars per annum.
The rate of taxation was fixed at seven mills on the dollar. The first
state election in the county was held at Buena Vista, Nov. 7, 1848.
One hundred and fifteen votes were the whole number cast in the
county. The following officers were elected: Senator, James Fisher, of
Crawford county; representative, Joseph Bowron, Buena Vista; county
commissioners, Wm. H. Morse, Ammah Andrews, Harmon Crandall, Buena
Vista; county clerk, W. Richardson, Buena Vista; register of deeds, W.
R. Anderson, Buena Vista; judge of probate court, Alvah D. Heaton,
Osceola; county treasurer, Philip Aldrich, Buena Vista; coroner, Wm.
O. Mahony, Osceola; surveyor, Alex. S. Youle, St. Croix Falls.
At the commissioners' meeting, Feb. 28, 1849, the county was divided
into the following towns: St. Croix Falls, Buena Vista, and Elisabeth.
At an election held Sept. 3, 1849, Hamlet H. Perkins received
forty-nine votes for judge, and Joel Foster forty-one. Mr. Perkins was
drowned at St. Croix Falls soon after, and the governor appointed Mr.
Foster to fill the vacancy. Judge Foster held his first court at Buena
Vista. Daniel Noble Johnson was appointed prosecuting attorney in
1849. James Hughes was appointed in 1850. The first district court was
held in August, 1850.
At a special meeting of the commissioners in 1849, James Hughes and J.
M. Bailey were appointed a building committee to make estimates for
the erection of a courthouse and jail. At the special meeting of the
commissioners, Jan. 15, 1851, the town of Kinnikinic was organized.
They had also under consideration the erection of county buildings,
and appointed Ammah Andrews to erect the same. Otis Hoyt, for
non-attendance at this meeting of the board, was fined fifty dollars,
but the fine was subsequently remitted. The legislature of 1851
changed the name of the town of Buena Vista to Willow River, also of
the town of Elisabeth to Prescott. At a subsequent meeting the
contract with Ammah Andrews to erect public buildings was rescinded,
and Daniel Mears was made special agent to build a jail, and three
hundred and fifty dollars was appropriated for that purpose. The town
of Rush River was organized Nov. 13, 1851. At the request of
petitioners, the town of Leroy (now Osceola) was organized Nov. 9,
1852. A day was fixed in 1852 to vote on the change of name, Willow
River to Hudson. The name Hudson was adopted by a two-thirds majority.
The legislature of 1853 created from the territory of St. Croix county
the counties of Polk, St. Croix and Pierce, Polk being located on the
north, Pierce on the south, and St. Croix occupying the central
portion of the original St. Croix county, and retaining the county
seat.
St. Croix county, as at present constituted, lies on the east bank of
the river and Lake St. Croix, forming, but for slight irregularities
on the western line, a parallelogram. It includes townships 28 to 31,
and ranges 15 to 19, with fractions of range 20 on the west. The
surface varies from gently undulating to hilly. The bluffs along the
lake are not precipitous, as on the Upper St. Croix, but are even and
continuous, with gently rounded slopes. From the river, eastward, the
country is broken and somewhat hilly; the central portions are rolling
prairies on which are fine farms, and the eastern portions are level
and originally heavily timbered. The eastern tier of townships is
covered by a heavy growth of timber known as the Big Woods. The timber
is composed of basswood, maple, butternut, several species of oak, and
a sprinkling of white pine. The soil is a rich clayey loam and well
adapted for grass, grain and root crops. Good building and limestone
crop out in places. The county is well drained by the St. Croix and
its tributaries, Apple, Willow and Kinnikinic on the west and Rush
river on the east. Of these tributaries Apple river is the largest. It
rises in Polk county, where it is supplied by numerous lakes, enters
St. Croix county and passes diagonally across the northwest corner and
empties into the St. Croix river a few miles above Stillwater. Willow
river rises in Cylon township and empties into St. Croix lake, just
above Hudson. This river passes through a deep gorge in the limestone
rock, a few miles above its mouth, falling in its passage over several
ledges of rock, producing falls famed far and near for their wildness
and grandeur. Kinnikinic river in the south part of the county is
famed also for the beauty of its scenery and for its waterfalls. It
passes into Pierce county and then, uniting with its southern branch,
flows into Lake St. Croix. Rush river rises in Eau Galle, and turns
and flows thence to Lake Pepin. These streams have unfailing supplies
from springs and small lakes. There is a remarkable formation in the
Kinnikinic valley about seven miles above River Falls, called the
Monument. It is a ledge of pure white sandstone rock, nearly circular,
and rising to a height of sixty feet. It stands on a natural elevation
far above the level of the valley and so forms a very conspicuous and
curious object. The base is forty or fifty feet wide, and the summit
is a turret-shaped mass of rock about fifteen feet wide and as many
high. The part upon which the turret rests is dome-shaped, its sides
worn by the rains into deep furrows. Years ago a tree grew upon the
summit. The soft sandstone is being gradually worn away by the winds
and rains.
HOW THE SCHOOL LANDS WERE SELECTED.
Philip Aldrich was appointed commissioner in 1848 to locate the state
school lands in St. Croix county, at that time including Polk and
Pierce counties. It is said that Dr. Aldrich would climb to the
summits of the highest mounds, and, casting his eyes east, west, north
or south, would proclaim such and such numbers or sections as school
lands. Where all were so arable and fertile there was no use in
discriminating. At the division of the county in 1853 the part
designated as St. Croix county was subdivided into three towns, Buena
Vista or Hudson, Willow River and Kinnikinic or Troy. As the
population increased these towns were divided and subdivided until
they numbered twenty-three. We append their names and dates of
organization. Where more than one name is given the last is the
present name:
Buena Vista, Willow River, Hudson 1849
Malone, Troy 1851
Rush River 1851
Pleasant Valley 1851
Somerset 1856
Hammond 1856
Star Prairie 1856
Dayton, Malone, Kinnikinic 1857
Cold Spring, Richmond 1857
Erin Prairie 1858
Brookville, Eau Galle 1858
St. Joseph 1858
Cylon 1859
Warren 1860
Springfield 1860
Emerald 1861
Stanton 1870
Cady 1870
Baldwin 1872
Forest 1881
Glenwood 1885
Some changes were also made in the boundaries of the towns. No
progress was made in the erection of county buildings until 1856, when
a contract was made by the commissioners with Ammah Andrews to build a
court house for $14,300 on the ground originally purchased of Moses
Perin. The final cost was $20,045.
ST. CROIX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
An important event to the county was the organization of the St. Croix
Agricultural Society, in 1857. Beautiful grounds were chosen on the
bluffs one-half mile south of the city of Hudson. The annual fairs of
this association, formerly held in rotation at various points in the
county, now limited to the grounds south of the city, have always been
well patronized and successful.
POMONA GRANGE.
The Pomona Grange of St. Croix county holds quarterly meetings at
various points, alternately. There are subordinate granges at Hudson,
Richmond, Hammond, and Warren. There is a co-operative store in the
city of Hudson which is well sustained. These granges are in a
flourishing condition.
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.
At the taking of the last census there were 2,289 farms in St. Croix
county, containing 202,588 acres of improved land, valued at
$7,015,198. The farm implements were then placed at a valuation of
$346,374; live stock, at $810,525; and all soil products at
$1,815,266. The stock numbered 6,272 horses, 319 mules, 442 oxen,
5,624 cows, and 6,149 other cattle.
The average yield of products throughout the county can be fairly
placed at these figures: Wheat, 1,375,000 bushels; oats, 800,000
bushels; rye and barley, 35,000 bushels; corn, 200,000 bushels;
potatoes, 150,000 bushels; hay, 20,000 tons; cheese, 180,000 pounds;
butter, 350,000 pounds.
During the past few years agriculture has steadily increased while
rapid strides have been made in manufactures, so that the totals would
be quite materially enlarged now over those of 1885.
MANUFACTURES.
In manufactures the statisticians have the county down for 112
establishments with a capital of $740,197, utilizing materials to the
amount of $1,105,203, evolving products to the sum of $1,488,192, and
paying $107,469 in wages per annum.
As to manufactures, in round numbers there is produced in the county:
Lumber, 50,000,000 feet; shingles, 18,000,000: laths, 7,000,000;
furniture, $120,000; barrels, 125,000; flour, 160,000 barrels.
ST. CROIX POOR FARM
Is located in the northwest part of Kinnikinic, section 11, on each
side of the Kinnikinic river. It was purchased in 1870 for $1,000, and
the probable present value is $10,000.
FIRST TAX ROLL OF ST. CROIX COUNTY, 1848.
ST. CROIX FALLS.
===========================================================
NAMES. | AMT. PROPERTY. | TOTAL TAX.
----------------------------+----------------+-------------
John McKusick | $1,500.00 | $10.50
Leach & McKean | 5,400.00 | 37.80
Edward Johnson | 1,115.00 | .81
Falls of St. Croix Company | 59,700.00 | 417.90
Dexter & Harrington | 2,585.00 | 18.09
A. W. Russell | 405.00 | 2.83
Edward Worth | 199.00 | 1.39
Peter Lombair | 40.00 | .28
Serno Jonava | 75.00 | .52
J. McLanglin | 2,204.00 | 15.43
Wm. Town | 144.00 | 1.01
J. Cornelison | 75.00 | .52
George De Attley | 50.00 | .35
S. Partridge | 418.00 | 3.37
Dan Foster | 30.00 | .21
A. Livingston & Kelly | 185.00 | 1.29
John Powers | 21.00 | .14
Thos. Foster | 10.00 | .08
George Field | 45.00 | .31
Adam Sebert | 240.00 | 1.68
Weymouth & Brother | 130.00 | .91
S. S. Crowell | 150.00 | 1.05
Lewis Barlow | 103.00 | .72
I. S. Kimball | 30.00 | .21
Philip B. Jewell | 7,235.00 | 50.64
Kent & Mahoney | 3,631.00 | 25.42
H. Crandall | 219.00 | 1.53
Daniel Coite | 85.00 | .57
M. M. Samuels | 375.00 | 2.62
W. H. C. Folsom | 800.00 | 5.60
W. W. Folsom | 210.00 | 1.47
J. Sanders | 207.00 | 1.45
G. W. Brownell | 1,755.00 | 12.28
Richard Arnold | 205.00 | 1.45
Wm. R. Marshall | 15.00 | .10
Dr. Palmer | 10.00 | .07
Joseph Lagroo | 25.00 | .17
J. Bascan | 25.00 | .17
B. Cheever | 1,100.00 | 7.70
H. H. Perkins | 2,000.00 | 14.00
Levi Lagoo | 50.00 | .35
M. Shults | 2,000.00 | 14.00
+----------------+------------
Total | $94,801.00 | $1,642.72
------------------------------------------------------------
WILLOW RIVER.
===========================================================
NAMES. AMT. PROPERTY. TOTAL TAX.
----------------------------+----------------+-------------
James Purinton | $800.00 | $5.60
Wm. R. Anderson | 75.00 | .52
Samuel Clift | 15.00 | .10
Joseph Kelner | 15.00 | .10
P. D. Aldrich | 195.00 | 1.36
Moses Perin | 240.00 | 1.68
Ammah Andrews | 409.00 | 2.86
John B. Page | 1,128.00 | 7.89
Lewis Massey | 185.00 | 1.29
Joseph Lagrew | 190.00 | 1.33
Wm. H. Nobles | 299.00 | 2.10
Lemuel Nobles | 40.00 | .28
Milton E. Nobles | 339.00 | 2.37
John Collier | 125.00 | .87
Philip Aldrich | 361.00 | 2.52
Peter F. Bouchea | 136.00 | .96
A. Smith | 105.00 | .73
McKnight | 149.00 | 1.03
Wm. Steets | 143.00 | .79
Joseph Abear | 38.00 | .24
+----------------+------------
Total | $4,949.00 | $38.71
------------------------------------------------------------
MOUTH OF LAKE ST. CROIX.
==================================================================
NAMES. |AMT. PROPERTY. | TOTAL TAX.
----------------------------+---------------+----------------------
Thomas M. Finch | $176.00 | $1.23
Mrs. Lockwood | 1,181.00 | 8.27
Freeman, Larpenteur & Co | 300.00 | 2.10
Frank Trudell | 50.00 | .35
Louis Barlow | 600.00 | 4.20
Fog & Crownenbald | 2,625.00 | 18.39
I. L. Minox | 183.00 | 1.26
J. R. Rice | 545.00 | 2.81
G. W. McMurphy | 425.00 | 2.97
H. Doe | 340.00 | 2.38
Wm. Kimbrough | 60.00 | .42
W. H. Morse | 135.00 | .61
Wilson Thing | 385.00 | 2.69
W. C. Copley | 50.00 | .35
Willard Thing | 164.00 | 1.15
George Shagor | 1,000.00 | 7.00
George Barron | 180.00 | 1.26
Joseph Monjon | 235.00 | 1.64
Joseph Monjon, Jr. | 60.00 | 42.00
Henry Thaxter | 75.00 | .52
Aaron Cornelison | 325.00 | 2.27
James Cornelison | 265.00 | 1.85
Lewis Harnsberger | 75.00 | .52
----------------------------+---------------+------------------
Totals | $9,434.00 | $68.91
==============================================================
The above roll was published in pamphlet form, certified to by Wm. R.
Anderson, clerk of board of county commissioners, and an order issued
to Moses Perin to collect such taxes, and pay over to the treasurer of
St. Croix county. The amounts were duly collected.
HUDSON CITY.
The first settlement in St. Croix county was made on the present site
of Hudson city in 1838 by Peter Bouchea, Louis Massey, Wm. Steets and
Joseph Lagroo, Frenchmen, who subsisted chiefly by hunting and
fishing, but who also raised garden crops of corn, beans and other
vegetables. These people were contented and jovial, fond of dancing
and social enjoyment. Beyond the mere pleasure of living they seemed
to have but little care and were without enterprise or ambition. More
enterprising and industrious people followed them to the new
settlement, and as the public lands were not open for entry until
1848, settled upon the lands and made some improvements, awaiting
patiently the time when they could acquire a legal title. The original
claimants of the town of Buena Vista in 1848 were Peter Bouchea, Louis
Massey, Wm. Steets, Joseph Lagroo, Joseph Lenavil, ---- Revere, Ammah
Andrews, W. H. and M. V. Nobles, John B. Page, Philip Aldrich, and W.
R. Anderson. These parties, after the survey and prior to the entry of
the land, made an equitable division of their claims. Peter Bouchea
and Louis Massey were then delegated to purchase the lands, which they
did, Bouchea purchasing the southwest quarter of southeast quarter of
section 24, township 29, range 20, and Massey, the northwest quarter
of the southeast quarter of section 24, township 29, range 20. Deeds
were then made to the various claimants according to the original
agreement. The first individual survey of lots was made on Massey's
entry, Harvey Wilson, of Stillwater, being the surveyor. The village
thus platted was at first called Buena Vista, but some confusion
arising as to the title of lots in 1851, the legislature changed the
name of the town and village to Willow River, which, by vote of the
people in 1852, was changed to Hudson. The original proprietors of the
village of Buena Vista were Paschal Aldrich, James Sanders, Moses
Perin, James R. Patten and Joseph Abear. Additions were surveyed in
1849 and 1850 by Gibson, Henning and others. To avoid confusion we
shall discard the earlier names applied to what has since become the
city of Hudson and speak of it solely by its later and better known
name.
In 1840 the locality, as seen from a passing steamer, seemed a
wilderness of orchard oaks and maples, filling the valley of Willow
river, and clothing the slopes of the hills. A closer view might have
revealed an occasional shanty, a cabin of the first French settlers,
with small gardens, the whole inclosed by high picket fences as a
protection against strolling Indians. Seven years later loggers were
at work on Willow river under Capt. J. B. Page. The same year a couple
of frame houses appeared in the oak openings. The first was built by
W. H. Nobles, which is still standing and is occupied by Mrs. Col.
James Hughes. The second was built by Ammah Andrews and is now
occupied by Horace Champlin. In 1848 James Purinton commenced a saw
mill and dam at the mouth of Willow river, which were not, completed
until 1850. In 1848 Wm. H. Nobles started a ferry over the lake. James
Purinton opened a store and Moses Perin built a hotel and boarding
house, which stood opposite Champlin's present livery stable. In 1849
Miss Richards, from Prairie du Chien, taught the first school. Mrs. A.
M. Richardson, the wife of the Methodist minister, the second. A
school house was not built until 1855. John G. Putman built the
Buckeye House, corner of First and Buckeye streets. Horace Barlow
built a residence. Mr. Stone also put up a store building. The first
attorneys, Daniel Noble Johnson and Col. James Hughes, commenced
practice in Hudson in 1849. The first public building stood on the lot
now occupied by the Methodist church. It burned down in the spring of
1851, and an account of the fire, as published at that time, stated
that the "court house, Methodist, Baptist, Congregational and
Episcopal churches, together with the high school buildings, were all
consumed." It is but fair to say that there were no regular church
organizations at this time, but occasional services by local and
transient ministers. Rev. Lemuel Nobles, a Methodist minister,
preached the first sermon in 1847. The first society organization was
that of the Baptists, Rev. S. T. Catlin, pastor, in 1852. In the same
year Rev. A. M. Richardson was regularly appointed as pastor of the
Methodist Episcopal church. In 1855 the First Presbyterian church was
organized under the pastorate of Rev. Chas. Thayer, and Rev. Wilcoxson
became the first rector of the Episcopal church. In 1856 Rev. Father
McGee took charge of the Catholic church. In 1857 Rev. C. H. Marshall
was called to the pastorate of the Congregational church. A Norwegian
Lutheran church was organized in 1876. All of these church
organizations have good church buildings, and the Catholic church has
a flourishing school connected with it. School interests were not
neglected by the early settlers. A good school house was built in 1855
and graded. The first deed recorded covering Hudson property was by
Louis Massey and Frances, his wife, to Wm. H. Nobles; warranty;
consideration, $67.18; situate in east half of southwest quarter of
section 24, township 29, range 20.
CITY GOVERNMENT.
Hudson was incorporated as a city in 1857, and the first municipal
election was held in April of that year. The city was divided into
three wards. A. D. Gay was the first mayor. The following were the
first aldermen: First ward, James B. Gray, Milton V. Nobles, J. M.
Fulton; Second ward, Alfred Day, R. A. Gridley, Chas. E. Dexter; Third
ward, Chas. Thayer, N. P. Lester, N. Perry. The remaining city
officers were: City clerk, O. Bell; city attorney, Cyrus L. Hall;
surveyor, Michael Lynch. At the first meeting of the city council,
after the appointment of committees on by-laws, bond sales, salaries,
etc., license for selling intoxicating liquors was fixed at fifty
dollars per annum for hotel keepers, two hundred dollars for wholesale
dealers, with various grades for retail saloons. The first license
issued was to John Cyphers, for keeping saloon and billiard hall.
MAYORS OF HUDSON CITY.
1. A. D. Gray,
2. Alfred Day,
3. Silas Staples,
4. John Comstock,
5. S. N. Clough,
6. A. D. Richardson,
7. C. R. Coon,
8. H. L. Humphrey,
9. J. H. Brown,
10. Simon Hunt,
11. Lemuel North,
12. C. H. Lewis,
13. H. A. Wilson,
14. A. J. Goss,
15. P. Q. Boyden,
16. D. C. Fulton,
17. M. A. Fulton,
18. Samuel Hyslop,
19. Sam. C. Johnson, M. D.
20. Wm. H. Phipps.
CITY SCHOOLS.
Graded schools were established in 1859. They have ever maintained an
excellent reputation. In 1860 Charlotte Mann was chosen principal, and
taught the eight ensuing years. A new school building was completed in
1887 at a cost of $25,000. This building is devoted to high school
purposes. The schools of the city are graded. There are eleven
departments and twelve teachers. Each ward of the city has a separate
building. The school fund amounts to about $5,000 per annum. The
schools are under the control of six commissioners.
A MILITARY INSTITUTE
Was organized at River Falls by Prof. J. R. Hinckley, and shortly
afterward removed to Hudson, and a building worth $7,000 erected for
its accommodation. In 1880 it was purchased by the Catholics, and it
is now known as St. Marys Academy.
MILLS AND MANUFACTORIES.
The first saw mill, as already noted, was completed in 1850. It was
known as Purinton's saw mill. Other saw mills were built, but
destroyed by fire. We have no record of ownership and losses, but
estimate the aggregate of the latter as near $100,000. The Willow
River mills, built in 1867, consist of two flouring mills, with a
capacity of four hundred barrels per day. Connected with these are a
large elevator and cooper shop. The present proprietors are Cooper,
Clark & Co. The invested capital is $150,000. The Hudson Lumber
Company, in 1883, built a saw mill, below the steamboat landing. This
mill has a capacity of 18,000,000 feet per annum, and has a planing
mill attached. It is complete in all its departments, manufacturing
all classes of lumber, from timber to mouldings. The capital stock
amounts to $100,000. The officers are H. A. Taylor, president; C. R.
Coon, vice president; M. Herrick, secretary; F. D. Harding, treasurer;
S. W. Pierce, superintendent. The Hudson Foundry and Machine Shop was
established in 1870. The North Hudson Foundry and Car Shops are doing
a fine business. The Hudson Carriage Works were established in 1885,
and the Hudson Furniture Manufactory in 1883. The amount invested in
this enterprise is $180,000, and it furnishes employment to one
hundred men. C. R. Coon is president of the company. There are two
breweries--Moctreman's, established in 1857, and Yoerg's in 1870.
BANKS.
The St. Croix Valley Bank was organized in 1855. It was a bank of
issue, payable at Gordon, Wisconsin. It closed in 1857. The Hudson
City Bank, organized Sept. 10, 1856, went into operation under the
general law of Wisconsin, capital stock $25,000, secured by Michigan
and Missouri state stocks. J. O. Henning was president and M. S.
Gibson, cashier. It soon closed. The Farmers and Mechanics Bank, a
state bank, went into operation in 1857 and closed the following
year. The Hudson First National Bank was organized in 1863, with a
capital of $50,000. The first officers were John Comstock, president;
Alfred J. Goss, cashier. The officers in 1888 are John Comstock,
president; A. E. Jefferson, cashier. The surplus fund is $53,000. The
directors are H. A. Taylor, H. L. Humphrey, John C. Spooner, A. L.
Clark, F. D. Harding, A. T. Goss, and W. H. Crowe. The Hudson Savings
Bank was organized in 1870, with a capital stock of $50,000. Alfred
Goss, president; A. J. Goss, cashier. Alfred Goss died in 187--, but
the bank is in successful operation, the son still retaining his
father's name as head of the firm.
THE OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES HOSPITAL.
[Illustration: OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES HOSPITAL.]
The beautiful private hospital which takes the name of America's
popular poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes, was opened June 7, 1887. The
credit of this hospital scheme is entirely due to Dr. Irving D.
Wiltrout, of Hudson, who for some years has been assiduously at work
maturing the plans. The owners are Dr. Wiltrout and the Johnston
Brothers, of Boardman. The site is upon a beautiful wooded slope of
Willow river, about a mile from its mouth, overlooking Lake Mallalieu,
an expanse of the river, and a broad sweep of the St. Croix with its
undulating banks, commanding the most delightful and extensive views.
The building is lighted by the Mather self regulating, incandescent
system of electricity. The dynamo, engine and boilers are located in a
fireproof brick structure, some distance from the building proper,
communicating with the hospital by an underground passageway. The
hospital is under the direction of the following board: President, A.
J. Goss; first vice president, John Comstock; second vice president,
John E. Glover; secretary, Thomas Hughes; treasurer, Rev. M. Benson.
WATER WORKS.
The Hudson water works, supplied from Lake St. Croix, are situated
upon Liberty Hill, in the rear of the southern part of the city. They
are owned by W. S. Evans. The hill is two hundred and seventeen feet
above the lake, and commands a magnificent view of the surrounding
country. The summit is easily accessible. The city is also well
supplied with water from artesian wells, which were sunk to a depth of
five hundred feet, and afford a flow of two hundred gallons per
minute.
HOTELS.
The principal hotels are the Chapin House, first built in 1867, but
twice destroyed by fire. The last structure was erected in 1879, by H.
A. Taylor. The Tracy House was built in 1867, the Seely House in 1873,
the Commercial Hotel in 1875, and the Central House in 1876.
THE GREAT FIRE.
May 19, 1866, Hudson city was visited with a destructive
conflagration. Sixty-four business houses and twenty-five residences
were destroyed. It was probably the result of accident or
carelessness. It commenced in the rear of H. A. Taylor's furniture
rooms and printing office, and spread with such rapidity that it was
with the greatest difficulty that merchants and others were able to
save their valuable papers. The wind blew a gale and the flames spread
and caught in every direction. The fire occurred fortunately in the
daytime or it might have been attended with a frightful loss of life.
As it was, there were many narrow escapes. The total losses from this
fire were $325,000, on which there was but $75,000 insurance. A
destructive fire occurred in 1872, destroying the Chapin Hall House,
valued at $50,000, and other property to the value of $35,000, on
which there was but $15,000 insurance. During the same year another
fire occurred, destroying 30,000 bushels of wheat and the furniture of
the Chapin Hall House, which had been saved from the previous fire.
The loss was estimated at $60,000 with $16,355 insurance.
SOCIAL AND BENEVOLENT ORGANIZATIONS.
St. Croix Lodge, A. F. and A. M., founded 1855; Colfax Lodge, No. 85,
I. O. O. F., founded 1856; Hudson City Lodge, No. 486, I. O. G. T.,
founded 1867; Ladies' Library Association, founded 1868; St. Croix R.
A. Chapter, founded 1874; Y. M. C. A., founded 1875; Nash Lodge, I. O.
G. T., founded 1877; Temple of Honor, founded 1877; St. Croix
Commandery, founded 1879; St. Croix Lodge, A. O. U. W., founded 1880;
Equitable Union, founded 1880. In addition to the foregoing there is a
volunteer fire company, a boat club, an old settlers' club, a bible
society, a building and loan association, and a cemetery association.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
LOUIS MASSEY came of a long-lived French-Canadian family. His father
lived to the age of one hundred and seven and his mother to one
hundred and five and he himself lived to the age of ninety-nine years.
He was born in Canada, near Montreal, in 1788. In 1805 he left home to
enter the service of the British fur traders at Detroit. In his
eventful life he had many adventures and passed through many perils.
He was once arrested with his employer by the American authorities and
once made prisoner by the Indians. In 1812 he entered the employ of
the notorious Col. Dickson, and, while with him, made a trip from
Detroit by way of Mackinaw, Green Bay, Fox and Wisconsin rivers to
Prairie du Chien in a birch canoe. He made two trips in mackinaw boats
from Prairie du Chien to New Orleans and return. In one trip he was
four months making his way from New Orleans to St. Louis. He made one
voyage in a birch canoe from Montreal via Ottawa river, Georgian bay,
Lake Huron, St. Marie's river and Lake Superior to Fond du Lac, at the
mouth of St. Louis river, via Sandy lake and the Mississippi river to
Lake Winnibagoshish, and another from Fond du Lac to Brule river,
across to St. Croix river, thence to the Mississippi, and by way of
St. Peter's river to Lake Traverse by canoe. In 1818 he entered the
service of the American Fur Company, and lived at Fond du Lac, the
headquarters of the company, for ten years. There he was married to a
sister of Peter Bouchea. In 1828 he settled on the reservation near
Fort Snelling, where he was held in such estimation that, on the
expulsion of the settlers, the officers of the Fort assisted him in
his removal to Willow River, whither he came in 1838 with Peter
Bouchea. Wm. Steets and Joseph Lagroo soon followed them. These four
were the first settlers in Hudson. Mr. Massey lived at his old home
with a son-in-law, Richard Picard, until his death, Oct. 14, 1887. His
only child living is Mrs. Picard.
PETER BOUCHEA was born at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, about 1815. He
spent his early life in the neighborhood of Lake Superior, was married
to a daughter of ---- Bruce, and came to the mouth of Willow river in
1838. Mr. Bouchea had been educated for the Catholic priesthood. He
was a truthful, intelligent, reliable man and filled some positions of
responsibility. He had many stirring adventures and was once wounded
by Indians and cared for by Gov. Cass, of Michigan, at Detroit and
Fort Gratiot. He died in 1875, at Fort Edward, on the north shore of
Lake Superior.
WILLIAM STREETS came to Willow River in 1838, a refugee from the Fort
Snelling reservation. He was frozen to death in the winter of 1851.
CAPT. JOHN B. PAGE came from Piscataquis county, Maine, to the St.
Croix valley in 1844, and engaged for awhile in cutting pine logs on
Willow river. While rafting on the Mississippi he met, and after a
brief courtship married, a woman who returned with him to his home on
Willow river and who survives him. Mrs. Page had some reputation as a
(Thomsonian) physician. They made their home in Hudson in 1847. Their
daughter Abigail was the first white child of American descent born in
Hudson. Abigail married George Bailey, and their sons, George W. and
David, were for a long time residents of Hudson, and have but lately
deceased. Mr. Page died Feb. 11, 1865.
DR. PHILIP ALDRICH, although not a permanent settler till 1847, was an
occasional or transient visitor, and had made a land claim in section
24. He took a deep interest in the affairs of the pioneer settlement,
and at his house many of the public gatherings, political and social,
were held. He was the first postmaster, and, in the exigencies of the
service, sometimes carried the mail on foot. While a resident of St.
Croix Falls in 1844, he was appointed probate judge. In 1848 he was
appointed treasurer of the county of St. Croix, and at the election in
November of the same year, elected to that office. Dr. Aldrich was
born in New York in 1792, and died at his home in Hudson, March 16,
1858.
THE NOBLES FAMILY settled in Hudson in 1847. Rev. Lemuel Nobles, the
father, was a Methodist local minister, and in 1847 preached the first
sermon at the mouth of Willow river. He came originally from New York,
lived a few years in the valley and removed to Michigan, where he
died. His children were William H., Milton V., John, Mrs. Battles and
Mrs. Morton S. Wilkinson, deceased. Wm. H. became a resident of
Minnesota and a noted man. His biography is given elsewhere.
MILTON V. NOBLES was born in New York in 1818; removed to Michigan;
was married to Matilda Edwards, Sept. 2, 1846, in Stillwater, and came
to Hudson in 1847, where he followed lumbering until 1860, when he
returned to New York and located at Elmira, where he resided until his
death. While at Elmira he became an inventor and took out several
valuable patents. His fortunes varied, and as is frequently the case
with inventors, at one time he was wretchedly poor. In the midst of
his galling poverty he sold one of his patents for a beautiful
homestead in Elmira. Mrs. Nobles had not been informed of the
transaction, but with her husband had visited the occupants of the
homestead. Mrs. Nobles could not but contrast this pleasant home with
her own poverty stricken surroundings, and in inviting her
entertainers to return the call, told them plainly that she lived in a
very humble home, and feared she could not make a visit pleasant to
them. At this point the host stepped forward, and, by a preconcerted
arrangement, presented her a deed to the mansion and grounds--a joyful
surprise.
JOHN NOBLES, the youngest son, returned to Michigan and New York,
where he became a Methodist minister. Some time subsequently he
removed to Colorado, where he died.
JAMES PURINTON was born in 1797, in Tamworth, New Hampshire. He was
married to Mary Mann, in Sandwich, New Hampshire. He afterward removed
to Maine. He came to St. Croix Falls in 1842, and leased the St. Croix
mills, and some time after became part owner. This venture not being
successful, he removed to Willow River in 1847, where he built a large
dam across the river, and with others erected a saw mill on the point
of land between the lake and river. This venture was not successful
and the mill property passed into other hands. Mr. Purinton was an
experienced lumberman and an active, energetic man. The north side of
Willow River, in which he was so much interested, became afterward
quite valuable on account of the centralization of shops, depots and
business of the West Wisconsin and North Wisconsin railroads. Mr.
Purinton died in Hudson in 1849, leaving two married daughters--Mrs.
----Graves and Mrs. James McPhail.
AMMAH ANDREWS was born in Herkimer county, New York, in 1801, and
passed his early life in that place. In 1829 he was married to Laura
Andrews, and in the same year moved to Michigan. He came to Hudson in
1847. Mr. Andrews was a carpenter and took some important building
contracts. He was one of the first commissioners of St. Croix county
under the state government, and also one of the first school
directors. He has been an active and influential member of the
Methodist Episcopal church the greater part of his life. He has three
sons, now living in Nebraska, and one daughter, the wife of F. D.
Harding, of Hudson, Wisconsin. Mr. Andrews died Jan. 5, 1888.
JAMES WALSTOW.--Mr. Walstow was born in Nottingham, England, in 1815;
was married there, and came to Hudson in 1849. He removed to Nebraska
in 1863.
JAMES SANDERS was born in Devonshire, England, in 1818; came to
America in 1841, and lived for years in New York. In 1844 he married
Mary Walstow, removed to St. Croix Falls in 1845 and to Hudson in
1850, where he opened and improved the first farm in the present St.
Croix county. Mrs. Sanders died in 1873. She left two sons, William
and Walstow. Mr. Sanders removed to Osceola in 1880.
J. W. STONE was born in Connecticut in 1800. He came to Hudson in 1849
and opened the first store the same year. He died in 1860.
JOSEPH BOWRON was born Aug. 1, 1809, in Essex county, New York. His
parents were from Newcastle on the Tyne, England. His mother was a
member of the Society of Friends. She died when Joseph was five years
old, and he was reared by his aunt until nineteen years of age, when
he engaged in business for himself in Lower Canada. Some time
afterward he removed to the United States and obtained work on the
Illinois canal. He next removed to St. Louis, and from thence, in
1841, to St. Croix Falls, where he acted as clerk, scaler of logs and
mill superintendent. He was a member of the first state legislature of
Wisconsin, in 1848. W. R. Marshall had received the certificate of
election, but Mr. Bowron successfully contested the election. Mr.
Bowron removed in 1848 to Hudson, where he attended to general
collections, and served as justice of the peace. In 1849 Mr. Bowron
was married to Celia Partridge, of Columbia county, Wisconsin, who
died three years later. In 1854 he was married to Rosanna Partridge,
who died in 1863. Mr. Bowron died April 10, 1868, leaving two
children, who now reside in Kansas.
MOSES PERIN was born in 1815; came to St. Croix Falls in 1847 and to
Hudson in 1849. He was the first collector of St. Croix county. In
1853 he built a warehouse and saw mill at Lakeland, Minnesota. The
warehouse was burned, and the saw mill removed. In 1847 Mr. Perin
removed to San Diego, California.
JOHN O. HENNING was born at Bellefonte, Centre county, Pennsylvania,
in 1819. His great grandfather was the first settler in that county.
In 1825 his father removed to Ithaca, New York, and there the youthful
Henning received his education at the academy. During the excitement
of the Jackson administration he became an ardent Democrat, and, that
he might enter more fully into the political strife of the day,
learned the printer's trade and devoted himself more or less to
newspaper work. He visited the Mississippi valley in 1838, remained
some time at St. Louis, Missouri, Springfield, Illinois, Burlington,
Iowa, and some other places. In 1846 he established the _Journal_ at
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and in 1849 removed to Hudson, Wisconsin,
where he still resides. He served eight years as register of the
United States land office at that place. He represented St. Croix
county in the assembly of the Fourth Wisconsin legislature and has
held many other positions of trust. Mr. Henning was married, Jan. 29,
1840, to Fidelia Bennet. Mrs. Henning died June 27, 1886, aged
sixty-six years.
MOSES S. GIBSON was born in 1816, in Livingston county, New York. He
received the rudiments of a common school education. He was engaged in
mercantile pursuits a large portion of his life. He settled at
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1844, but afterward moved to Fond du Lac. He
represented Fond du Lac county in the constitutional convention in
1847. He was appointed receiver of the United States land office at
Hudson in 1849. In 1856 he was married to Carrie F. Gilman. During the
Rebellion he acted as paymaster, United States army, and was assigned
to the department of Missouri, with headquarters at St. Louis. In 1878
he was appointed assistant in the sixth auditor's office, Washington,
District of Columbia. Mr. Gibson has led a busy and useful life and
has acquitted himself well in the various positions of responsibility
to which he has been called.
COL. JAMES HUGHES.--Col. Hughes was born in Prince Edwards county,
Virginia, Oct. 12, 1805. He received a classical education at
Hampdon-Sydney College, Virginia, studied law, and was admitted to
practice in Virginia. He came to Ohio in 1835, and was elected to the
legislature in 1838 and 1839. He was married in 1839 to Elisabeth
Mather, in Jackson county. He remained in Ohio until 1849, publishing
successively the _Jackson Standard_ and the _Meigs County Telegraph_,
both Whig papers. In 1849 he came to St. Paul and brought with him the
first printing press and outfit in that city, and established the
_Minnesota Chronicle,_ which subsequently united with the _Register_.
The first number bears the date June 1, 1849. In November of the same
year he sold his interest in the _Chronicle and Register_ and removed
to Hudson, where he established the _St. Croix Banner_, the first
paper printed and issued in the St. Croix valley. Mrs. Hughes was
associated with him in its management. They subsequently published the
Hudson _Republican_. Mr. Hughes died at Hudson in 1873, leaving a
widow and eleven children, seven sons and four daughters. Of the sons,
Eleazer is a farmer in St. Croix county; Geo. R. is engaged in the
real estate business in St. Paul; Edward P. is a lawyer in Anoka;
James S., a surveyor; Chas. V. is manager of the Western Telegraph
Company; and Lucius A. is a telegraph operator in St. Paul.
DANIEL ANDERSON was born in 1806, in New York; received a common
school education, and removed with his parents to Macoupin county,
Illinois, in 1820; was married in 1831 to Eliza Hoxsey; lived in
Dubuque in 1847 and 1848, and moved to Hudson in 1849, where he
followed merchandising until 1876. He was county treasurer in 1877 and
part of the year following. He died July 1, 1878: Mrs. Anderson died
in September of the same year, leaving a daughter, Medora, wife of
Alfred Day, of Hudson, and one son, Jarret, now a resident in Montana.
ALFRED DAY was born in 1824, in Vermont, and came to Hudson in 1849,
where he engaged in the real estate, farming and livery business. Mr.
Day was married in Hudson, to a daughter of Daniel Anderson. He died
in St. Paul, Nov. 18, 1880, leaving a widow, three sons and two
daughters.
DR. OTIS HOYT.--Dr. Hoyt was born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, Dec. 3,
1812. His parents were George and Mary Hoyt. Both grandfathers were
soldiers in the war of the Revolution. He received a common school
education; prepared for college in the academy at Fryburg, Maine;
graduated at Dartmouth in 1833, and from Jefferson Medical College, at
Philadelphia, in 1836. He practiced his profession at Mason, New
Hampshire, and Framingham, Massachusetts, until 1846, when he entered
the service as surgeon in the United States army during the Mexican
War. In 1849 he came to St. Croix Falls, and practiced medicine. In
1852 he removed to Hudson. The same year he was elected to the Fifth
Wisconsin legislature, as assemblyman. In 1862 he entered the United
States service as surgeon of the Thirtieth Wisconsin Volunteer
Infantry, but was on detached service most of the time. For awhile he
had charge of the hospital at Camp Randall, Madison, Wisconsin. He was
examining surgeon of 11,000 recruits, and was medical director at
Bowling Green and Louisville, Kentucky. He was eminent in his
profession, yet public spirited, and engaged at times, successfully,
in real estate and railroad enterprises. As a physician, it is said,
to his credit, that he was impartial to the last degree, and as prompt
and punctilious in visiting the log cabin of the poor man as the
parlor of a state or government official. He was married in 1837 to
Mary King. Two children were born to them, Charles and Mary (Mrs. H.
A. Wilson, deceased). Mrs. Hoyt died at Framingham. In 1843 Dr. Hoyt
was married to Eliza B. King, sister of his first wife. Their
children are Ella Frances, married to Dr. Chas. F. King, Hudson;
Annie, married to Dr. Eppley, of New Richmond; Hattie, married to
----Wyard, Crookston, Minnesota; Ida, a teacher at Stillwater, and
Lizzie, married to Rev. W. R. Reynolds, of Hudson. Dr. Hoyt died at
his home in Hudson, Nov. 12, 1885. Mrs. Hoyt died Oct. 1, 1886, in
Boston, Massachusetts. Her remains were brought to Hudson for burial.
S. S. N. FULLER.--Mr. Fuller was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, in
1814. He removed to Harford, Pennsylvania, with his parents when six
years of age. He was educated at Harford. He studied law and was
admitted to practice at Montrose. He practiced at Great Bend,
Pennsylvania. He came to Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, in 1844, where
he was seven years district attorney. He came to Hudson in 1857,
removed to Iowa in 1865 and died at Logan, Harrison county, Iowa, in
1851. He was married to Clarissa A. Day in 1841, who with one son and
four daughters, all married and resident in Iowa, survives him. He was
district judge some years for the St. Croix Valley district.
MILES H. VAN METER was born in Kentucky in 1810. He received a common
school education and learned the trade of a builder. He was married to
Mary P. Litsey, in Kentucky, in 1830, moved to Illinois in 1836 and to
Hudson in 1850. He has six sons and two daughters. Abe C. is editor of
the _St. Croix Republican_ at New Richmond. Two of his sons are in
Illinois, three in Dakota. Mrs. Van Meter died in 1875.
PHILIP B. JEWELL was born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, Oct. 25, 1816;
was raised on a farm; obtained a common school education; in 1841 was
married to Hannah J. Fuller, and in 1847 came to St. Croix Falls,
where he lived until 1851, when he removed to Hudson. He engaged in
lumbering and piloting on the St. Croix. At the beginning of the late
war he enlisted in the Twelfth Wisconsin Infantry and served during
the war. In 1874 he was appointed inspector of logs and lumber of the
Fourth district. Mrs. Jewell died in 1875. He married, as his second
wife, Ellen Restiaux.
JOHN TOBIN.--Mr. Tobin was born in Ireland in 1818. His father died in
1830, and he came with an uncle to this country. He settled at Marine
in 1842, and in 1853 came to St. Joseph's township, where he resided
until his death, Jan. 22, 1880. He was married in Illinois in 1848 and
his widow still lives at the old homestead. Of twelve children seven
are now living.
HORACE A. TAYLOR, son of Rev. Adolphus Taylor, of Norfolk, New York,
was born in 1837. His father died in 1842. At the age of ten years
Horace was earning his living on a farm. At thirteen he came to River
Falls. Some time after he returned East and spent four years on a
farm. Returning to Wisconsin he established a stage line between
Prescott and Hudson. In 1857, with his brother Lute A., he established
the River Falls _Journal_, and, in 1860, purchased the Hudson
_Chronicle_ and changed its name to the Hudson _Times_. Four years
later the _Times_ and the _North Star_ were consolidated under the
title of the _Star and Times_. Mr. Taylor is a man of energy and
enterprise and has engaged in real estate transactions on a large
scale. He is a man of quick perceptions and of ready wit and has been
honored with some important public positions. He was for some time
state agent of railroad lands. He was appointed consul to Marseilles
by President Garfield in 1881, but resigned the position in 1884. In
1860 he was married to Lizzie Madden, of Chicago.
JEREMIAH WHALEY was born in 1818, in Castile, New York. His father
dying he aided in caring for his widowed mother. He was married in
Pike county, New York, in 1839, and came to Hudson in 1851, where he
engaged in the mercantile and real estate business and acted as
postmaster. Mr. Whaley died in Hudson in 1884, leaving a widow, two
sons in Michigan, one in Pipestone, Minnesota, and four daughters.
SIMON HUNT was born in Camden, Maine, in 1826. He lived at home until
seventeen years old; acquired a common school and academic education;
served an apprenticeship of five years at boot and shoe making in
Georgetown, Massachusetts, and came to Hudson in 1851. He was married
to Jane C. Arcy in Maine in 1854. Mr. Hunt has served as mayor of
Hudson and was for several years superintendent of schools. Mrs. Hunt
died in 1880.
JOHN S. MOFFATT was born in Tompkins county, New York, in 1814. He
received a common school and academic education. In 1844 he was
married to Nancy Bennett. He removed to Hudson in 1854, and was in the
land office several years. He is a lawyer by profession; has served
thirteen years as police justice, and eight years as county judge.
JAMES H. CHILDS was born in Montear county, Pennsylvania, in 1825;
came to Wisconsin in 1848; settled in Hudson in 1849, and engaged in
the real estate and lumbering business. He was married to Elisabeth
McCartney, in Hudson, 1860.
WILLIAM DWELLEY was born in Foxcroft, Maine, in 1816; came to the St.
Croix valley in 1850, and settled in Hudson in 1854. Mr. Dwelley was
an explorer, scaler of logs, and surveyor. He died April 8, 1885.
JAMES M. FULTON--The ancestors of Mr. Fulton came from Scotland and
settled in New York about 1770. His father served in the army during
the war of 1812 and died while in the service. James M. Fulton with
his family came to Hudson in 1854, where he died, March 30, 1858, aged
about forty-six. Mrs. Fulton still lives in Hudson.
MARCUS A. FULTON, oldest son of James M. Fulton, was born in Bethel,
Sullivan county, New York, in 1826. He came with his parents to Hudson
in 1854, and engaged with his brother in the mercantile and real
estate business. He was elected to the state senate in 1866 and 1867.
In 1878 he was elected mayor of Hudson. He has also served on the
board of education, and as alderman. He was married in 1863 to Augusta
Ainsley, who died in 1876. In 1877 he was married to Adelia Frances
Ainsley.
DAVID C. FULTON, second son of James M. Fulton, was born in New York,
February, 1838. He came to Hudson with his parents, and, after
completing a common school and academic education, engaged in
mercantile and real estate business. Mr. Fulton has been elected to
various important positions. He was mayor of Hudson one term,
supervisor of St. Croix county three years, member of the board of
education, alderman, and member of the state assembly (1873). He
served three years during the Civil War as captain in the Thirtieth
Wisconsin Infantry, and was promoted to position of major. Since the
war, he served six years as one of the board of managers of the
National Home for Disabled Soldiers, and is now serving, by
appointment of President Cleveland, as United States marshal for
Western Wisconsin. Mr. Fulton was married in 1866 to Minnie Champlin.
N. S. HOLDEN was born in 1822; was one of the early settlers of the
St. Croix valley, and for many years a citizen of Hudson. He followed
surveying and scaling. He died suddenly, July 4, 1882. He left a
widow, two sons and four daughters.
WILLIAM H. SEMMES was born in Alexandria, Virginia. He came to Hudson
in 1851, and practiced law, as a partner of Judge McMillan, in
Stillwater. He was a young man of great promise, but died early and
much lamented, Sept. 13, 1854.
STERLING JONES was born in Steuben county, New York, in 1812. He
removed to Indiana in 1833, and in 1835 was married to Elisabeth
Sines. They removed to Beloit, Wisconsin, in 1847, and to Hudson in
1850. Mr. Jones died in 1874. Mrs. Jones, five sons and two daughters
are still living. Edwin B. married a daughter of Rev. W. T. Boutwell.
Jerome B. married a daughter of Rev. Wm. Egbert, of Hammond, and
resides in Hudson. He has been sheriff and treasurer of St. Croix
county and has held town and city offices. The remaining sons, George
R., Henry B. and Harvey J., and the daughters, Eunice M. and Sarah E.,
are married and reside in Hudson.
D. R. BAILEY was born April 27, 1833, in Vermont. He attended Oberlin
College, Ohio, and graduated in law at Albany Law School, in 1859. He
was collector of customs at Highgate, Vermont, from 1860 to 1864. He
practiced law at St. Albans, Vermont, ten years, and was state
representative in 1866 and 1867. He was a delegate to the Republican
National convention in 1878, and a member of the Vermont senate from
1870 to 1872. He made his residence in St. Croix county in 1877, where
he resided till 1883, when he removed to Sioux Falls, Dakota. While in
St. Croix county he engaged in farming, lumbering and manufacturing.
HENRY C. BAKER was born in 1831, in Genesee county, New York;
graduated at Albany University, New York, in 1854, and was admitted to
the bar in 1858, and came to Hudson in 1859. He has practiced law
continuously since; has also held many town and county offices; has
been attorney of the various railroads centring in Hudson, and is now
attorney of the Minneapolis, Soo St. Marie & Atlantic railroad. He was
married in 1860 to Ellen M. Brewster.
MERT HERRICK was born in Orleans county, New York, in 1834. He
received a common school education. He came to St. Croix in 1857; was
married in 1859 to Lois P. Willard; enlisted at the beginning of the
Civil War in the Thirtieth and later in the Fortieth Wisconsin
Volunteer Infantry, and served during the war. He has held the office
of treasurer of St. Croix county for six years. He is at present a
member of the Hudson Lumber Company.
D. A. BALDWIN, president of the West Wisconsin railroad, built a fine
residence on the shore of the lake, north of Willow river, in the
latter part of the '50s, and did much to promote the interests of
North Hudson, which he surveyed into village lots in 1873. D. A. and
H. A. Baldwin erected a commodious hotel in North Hudson in 1873. The
hotel was subsequently sold to H. A. Taylor and removed to Hudson,
where it was known as the Chapin Hall House. Mr. Baldwin removed from
Hudson when the West Wisconsin railroad passed into other hands.
JOHN COMSTOCK was born in Cayuga county, New York, in 1813. When he
was twelve years old his parents removed to Pontiac, Michigan. He here
served an apprenticeship of three years to a millwright, and afterward
engaged in business at Pontiac until 1851. He came to Hudson in 1856,
and was city contractor six years. In 1863 he founded the First
National Bank of Hudson, in which he has ever since been a director.
Mr. Comstock has been engaged in many public enterprises and has been
uniformly successful. He is one of the most reliable and substantial
of the business men of Hudson. He was married in 1844.
LUCIUS P. WETHERBY was born in Onondago county, New York, October,
1827. At eighteen years of age, he went to Weston, New York, where he
studied law with Martin Grover and W. J. Angell. He was married in
1849 to Sophia Antremont, and in 1856 removed to Hudson. In 1860 he
was elected judge of the Eighth district, Wisconsin, and served six
years.
JOHN C. SPOONER.--Mr. Spooner was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, Jan.
6, 1843. He was educated at the district schools until 1859, when his
father, Judge Spooner, removed to Madison, Wisconsin. This removal
afforded the son an opportunity of entering upon a course of classical
instruction in the State University, which he would have completed but
for the Civil War. In 1864 he enlisted as a private in the Fortieth
Wisconsin Infantry. He did honorable duty at the front until compelled
by sickness to retire from the army. After having served a short time
as assistant state librarian, and having been restored to health, he
raised a company which was attached to the Fiftieth Wisconsin
Regiment, and became its captain. His regiment was sent to the
Missouri river to do service among the Indians, and was stationed at
Fort Rice, Dakota. In July, 1866, it was mustered out of the service.
He then returned to Madison and commenced the study of law.
[Illustration: John Comstock]
When Gen. Lucius Fairchild was elected governor, Mr. Spooner was
chosen as his private and military secretary. He held this position
for eighteen months, when he resigned and entered the office of the
attorney general of the State as assistant. In 1870 he removed to
Hudson and began a general law practice. The following year he was
elected a member of the state legislature. While a member of this body
he vigorously championed the State University, which institution was
at that time in sore trouble. His service in this matter was afterward
recognized by the governor, who appointed him a member of the board of
regents of the university, which position he still retains. He was for
twelve years general solicitor of the West Wisconsin Railroad Company
and the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Company. In May, 1884,
he resigned. Mr. Spooner stands deservedly high in his profession, and
has acquired eminence also as a political speaker.
The Wisconsin legislature elected him to the United States Senate,
January, 1885, and he at once took rank among the most eloquent and
able members of that body. He is of small physique, not weighing over
one hundred and twenty-five or one hundred and thirty pounds, has a
dark complexion and a smoothly shaven face, and is possessed of great
bodily as well as mental energy.
THOMAS PORTER.--Mr. Porter was born in Tyrone, Ireland, in 1830;
received a common school education, and learned the trade of
wagonmaker. He came to America in 1855; served three years during the
Civil War as a private in Company A., Thirtieth Regiment, Wisconsin
Volunteers; moved to Hudson in 1871, and represented St. Croix county
in the assembly in 1885.
HERMAN L. HUMPHREY was born at Candor, Tioga county, New York, March
14, 1830; received a public school education, with the addition of one
year in Cortland Academy; became a merchant's clerk at the age of
sixteen, in Ithaca, New York, and remained there for several years;
studied law in the office of Walbridge & Finch, was admitted to the
bar in July, 1854, and removed to Hudson, Wisconsin, where he
commenced practice in January, 1855; was soon after appointed district
attorney of St. Croix county, to fill a vacancy; was appointed by the
governor county judge of St. Croix county, to fill a vacancy, in the
fall of 1860, and in the spring of 1861 was elected for the full term
of four years from the following January; was elected to the state
senate for two years, and in February, 1862, resigned the office of
county judge; was elected mayor of Hudson for one year; was elected in
the spring of 1866 judge of the Eighth Judicial circuit, and was
re-elected in 1872, serving from January, 1867, until March, 1877. He
was elected a representative from Wisconsin in the Forty-fifth
Congress as a Republican, and was re-elected to the Forty-sixth
Congress. During the past three years he has devoted himself to his
profession in Hudson. Mr. Humphrey has been twice married. In June,
1855, he was married to Jennie A. Cross, in Dixon, Illinois. Mrs.
Humphrey died in January, 1880, leaving two sons, Herman L., Jr., and
William H., and three daughters, Fanny S., Mary A., and Grace J. Mr.
Humphrey was married to Mrs. Elvira Dove, at Oswego, New York, October
1881. In 1887 he served again as a member of the assembly.
THEODORE COGSWELL was born in 1819, at Whitehall, New York. He
received a common school education and learned the trade of a painter.
He removed to Stillwater in 1848 and to Hudson in 1861 and to St. Paul
in 1882. He was married to Augusta B. Kelly in 1855. His son was for
many years editor of the Hudson _Republican_.
FRANK P. CATLIN is of Revolutionary and Connecticut stock. His father
entered the war of the Revolution at eleven years of age as a
musician. He served seven years. His discharge is signed by George
Washington. Mr. Frank P. Catlin is the youngest of fourteen children.
He was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, in 1815. He was
married in 1840 to Elizabeth Dubois, who died in 1852, leaving three
sons, Charles L., Frank E. and Fred. Mr. Catlin was married to his
second wife in 1857, who died in 1872, leaving one son, William W. Mr.
Catlin moved to Green Bay in 1840, to Green Lake in 1844, and to
Hudson in 1849, having been commissioned by President Taylor as
register of the Willow River land office. This position he held four
years. Mr. Catlin spent some time traveling in foreign lands. In 1868
he removed to Ripon, Wisconsin, but returned in 1870 to Hudson, where
he still lives.
CHARLES Y. DENNISTON was born in Orange county, New York, in 1832;
graduated at University of Vermont in 1852; studied law in Iowa in
1853-54, and came to Hudson in 1855, where he engaged in real estate
and insurance business, in which he has been quite successful. He was
married in 1856 to Maria A. Coit, of Hudson. Mrs. Denniston died Aug.
31, 1886.
A. E. JEFFERSON.--Mr. Jefferson came from Genesee county, New York, to
Hudson in 1859. For the past fifteen years he has officiated as
cashier of the Hudson First National Bank.
SAMUEL C. SYMONDS was born in 1831, in Hooksett, New Hampshire. He
graduated at the University of Vermont in 1852 and the ensuing year
came to Hudson, where he taught school and studied law for three years
and afterward engaged in the real estate business and subsequently
officiated as county judge four years. He was married in 1860 to Mary
C. Bloomer. In 1886 he was commissioned postmaster of the city of
Hudson by President Cleveland.
JOHN E. GLOVER, an old citizen and successful lawyer of Hudson, has
gained a prominent position amongst the solid business men of the city
by his untiring industry, combined with rare judgment and knowledge of
men. In addition to his law business he is an extensive operator in
real estate, flouring and lumber mills.
LEMUEL NORTH, a reliable merchant of Hudson, a public spirited citizen
and a kind hearted man, merits the respect which his townsmen accord
him. He has been successful in business.
EDGAR NYE, much better known under his _nom de plume_ "Bill Nye," was
born in 1846. When a boy he came West with his parents to the
Kinnikinic valley. Mr. Nye studied law and practiced some years in
Laramie City, Wyoming Territory, where he obtained a national
reputation as a wit from his connection with the Laramie newspaper
known as the _Boomerang._ Mr. Nye's mirth-provoking sketches have been
published in book form. His parents still live at River Falls.
WILLIAM THOMPSON PRICE.--Mr. Price was born in Barre, Huntington
county, Pennsylvania, June 17, 1824. After receiving a fair education,
he came West, and in 1845 settled in Black River Falls, Wisconsin,
where he at once entered upon the occupation of a lumberman. In 1851
he was elected to the assembly as a Democrat, but on the organization
of the Republican party in 1854, he united with the organization, with
which he remained during the balance of his life. In 1853 and 1854 he
was judge of Jackson county; in 1855 he was under sheriff. He was a
member of the state senate in 1858, 1870, 1878, 1879, 1880, and 1881;
a member of the assembly in 1882; was collector of internal revenue
from 1863 to 1865, and held many local offices in his county. For many
years he was president of the Jackson County Bank. In 1882 he was
elected to the Forty-eighth Congress; was re-elected in 1884 to the
Forty-ninth, and in 1886 to the Fiftieth. He died at his home at Black
River Falls, Dec. 6, 1886. He was a man of immense energy and
endurance; and was ever ready to do his full share of labor in all
places. As a public man he acquitted himself well. In addition to
business tact and energy, and practical common sense, he was a public
speaker of unusual readiness and ability. In private life he was a
generous hearted man, strongly attached to his friends, and greatly
respected for his sterling qualities of character.
E. B. BUNDY.--Judge Bundy was born in Broome county, New York, in
1833. He received a common school and academic education and attended
one year at Hamilton College. He came to Dunn county, Wisconsin, where
he practiced law until 1877, when he was elected judge of the Eighth
Judicial circuit, to which position he was re-elected and is still
serving. He stands high in the estimation of his associates and the
people as a judge, and not less high in social life.
BALDWIN.
This town is coextensive with township 29, range 16. It was set off
from the township of Springfield and organized Dec. 3, 1872. Wm.
Whewell was chairman of the first board of supervisors.
BALDWIN VILLAGE,
Located on the West Wisconsin railroad, on the west boundary of the
township, has a population of eight hundred, about evenly divided
between the Norwegian and American elements, the latter being
principally from Vermont. The _Bulletin_, a lively weekly paper,
established in 1873, is published by B. Peachman. The graded school
has three departments, with two hundred and twenty-five scholars,
under the control of Prof. J. E. Brainard. The school building cost
$4,000. A state bank, organized in 1883, has a capital stock of
$25,000, and a surplus of $12,500. F. A. Decker is cashier. Baldwin
has one elevator, of 750,000 bushels capacity, two flour mills--one
with a capacity of two hundred and fifty barrels per day, built at a
cost of $55,000; the other of one hundred and twenty-five barrels, at
a cost of $20,000; one creamery, one cheese factory, one tannery, a
good town hall, capable of seating six hundred persons, four good
church buildings--Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopal and
Congregational--and over thirty stores or shops. The water supply is
ample, the village being furnished with public cisterns and wells, and
having an excellent fire department, with hook and ladder company. The
village is surrounded by a rich agricultural country.
WOODVILLE VILLAGE
Is situated four miles east of Baldwin, on the West Wisconsin
railroad, at the junction of a branch road extending into Pierce
county. It is the centre of heavy lumbering operations, and is a
flourishing village. It has one church.
CADY.
Cady is the southeastern township in St. Croix county, and occupies
township 29, range 15. It is drained by Eau Galle waters. Amongst the
first settlers were Irving Gray, Charles, John, and Brazer Bailey. A
post office was established near the centre of the town in 1860. D.C.
Davis was first postmaster. A branch railroad traverses the town from
northwest to southeast. There are two lumber mills. The town was
organized in 1870. The supervisors were William Holman, Charles Palmer
and Mead Bailey. The village of Brookville is on the west line of the
town.
CYLON,
Including township 31, range 16, lies on Willow river. It is a rich
and populous township, consisting originally of mixed prairie and
timber lands. The first settlement in this town was made in 1855. The
early settlers were Otto Natges, J. Smith, H. Fouks, E. Johnson,
George Goodrich, S. W. Beel, and J. Tomlinson. The town was organized
in 1859. The supervisors were C. A. Hall, chairman; John Sweet and
John Gibson. A post office was established in 1861, Mrs. John B.
Gibson, postmistress. The Wisconsin Central railroad passes through
the southwest, and the North Wisconsin through the northwest part of
the township. There are four church buildings, one on section 18, one
near Cylon post office, and two in Deer Park village. This village, a
station located on the North Wisconsin railroad, is a wheat buying
centre of considerable importance, and has several business houses.
The school house is one of the best buildings in the county outside of
Hudson. The Catholics and Methodists have churches here.
EAU GALLE,
Township 28, range 16, is drained by the Eau Galle and Rush rivers. We
have not the date of the first settlement, but it was amongst the
earliest in the county. The first settlers were William Holman, Andrew
Dickey, Joseph Barnish, and Uriah Briggs. The town was organized in
1858, with the following as supervisors: Wm. Holman, ---- Babcock, and
---- McCartney. A post office was established in 1853, of which W.
Holman was postmaster. Mr. Holman built a saw mill the same year, the
first in the region. There are now six, mostly lumber mills. The
township is traversed from north to south by a branch of the West
Wisconsin railroad. Wildwood, a thriving station on this road is the
headquarters of the St. Croix Land and Lumber Company, a stock company
with a capital of $300,000. The town of Eau Galle has one church
building belonging to the evangelical society.
EMERALD
Includes township 30, range 16. It is drained by the waters of Willow
and Menomonie rivers, and was originally covered with pine and
hardwood timber. It was organized in 1861. The Wisconsin Central
railroad passes through the northeast part of the township and has one
station, Emerald. A high mound is a conspicuous object near the centre
of the township.
ERIN PRAIRIE.
Erin Prairie, township 30, range 17, lies on Willow river. John Casey
entered the first land in 1854. The first house was built on section
17, in May, 1855, by John Ring. Among the settlers of 1855, of whom
there were about twenty families, we have the names of Michael Hughes,
Peter Queenan and James, Michael and Thomas McNamara. The town was
organized in 1858, with the following board of supervisors: Richard
Joyce, chairman; Alexander Stevens and Peter Queenan, and Wm. McNally,
clerk. Richard Joyce was first school teacher and first postmaster.
There are now two post offices, one at Erin Centre village, and the
other at Jewett's Mills, two and a half miles apart. There are at Erin
Centre one store, one wagon shop, one blacksmith shop, and a Catholic
church; at Jewett's Mills a store, a saw, a planing and a flour mill,
all run by water. There are six good school houses in the township. It
is traversed by the Wisconsin Central railroad.
FOREST,
Embracing township 31, range 15, occupies the northeast corner of the
county. It is heavily timbered with pine and hardwoods, is a new town
and is fast being converted into an agricultural district. Willow
river has its sources in this town. It was organized Dec. 10, 1881,
with S. D. Love as chairman of the first board of supervisors.
GLENWOOD,
Set off from the town of Emerald at its organization in 1885, embraces
township 30, range 15. It was originally a pine and hardwood region.
Its waters flow eastward into the Menomonie. The Wisconsin Central
railroad crosses the township from east to west. Its only station is
Glenwood. It is being rapidly settled and has already some good farms
and several saw mills. H. J. Baldwin was the chairman of the first
board of supervisors.
HAMMOND
Includes township 29, range 17. It is drained by tributaries of the
Rush river. Of the first settlers were the Peabodys, James R. Ismon,
Rev. Wm. Egbert, Rev. George Spalding, Mert Herrick, John Thayer, Mrs.
Adams, John Nelson, and Thomas Byrnes. The town was organized Sept.
16, 1856, with A. G. Peabody as chairman of supervisors and John G.
Peabody, clerk. It is now a prosperous farming town. The West
Wisconsin railroad passes through the south part of the township.
HAMMOND VILLAGE,
Located on the line of this road, in sections 27 and 28, has seven
hundred inhabitants. It is situated on a commanding elevation, giving
an extended view of the rich farming country surrounding it. It has a
school house, built at a cost of $2,500, with rooms for three grades,
and one hundred and seventy-five scholars, one elevator of 20,000
bushels capacity, one first class hotel, the Gardiner House, Odd
Fellows', Good Templars' and Grangers' halls, and three church
buildings, with parsonages--the Catholic, Congregational and
Methodist. The village contains about twenty-five stores and shops.
The water supply, on account of the elevation, is from wells and
cisterns. Rev. George Spalding preached the first sermon and was the
first merchant in the village. Hammond was incorporated Sept. 20,
1880, with J. B. Fithian as president of supervisors and John W. Owen,
clerk.
JOHN THAYER was born in 1809, in Worcester county, Massachusetts, from
which place he moved to Ohio, and, after residing there fifteen years,
came to Wisconsin and settled at Hammond village. He has been twice
married, his second wife still living, and has one son, Andrew P. The
father and son are engaged in merchandising in Hammond.
REV. WM. EGBERT was born in 1815, in Oneida county, New York. He
obtained a common school and academic education. He spent his early
life in New York City; came to Indiana in 1837 and to Hammond,
Wisconsin, in 1856. The first trial in Hammond was before Mr. Egbert,
as justice of the peace, in 1856. He has been for forty-one years a
local minister in the Methodist Episcopal church. He has been twice
married, his second wife still living. He has four children.
HUDSON.
Hudson includes sections 7 to 36, inclusive, of township 29, range 19.
Willow river flows through the northwest part. The North Wisconsin and
West Wisconsin railroads pass through the township. It is one of the
handsomest and richest farming townships in the State. It was
organized as a town in 1849. Its history is given in that of the
county of St. Croix and in the biographies of its early inhabitants.
JAMES KELLY was born at Osnabruck, Ireland, where he grew to manhood.
In 1850 he came to Hudson and located on a farm, where he prospered,
and became an honored citizen. In 1857 he married Catherine, daughter
of Wm. Dailey. He died at Turtle Lake, Barron county, Wisconsin, of
injuries received from a rolling log, Feb. 19, 1888, leaving a widow,
three sons and one daughter.
DANIEL COIT was born in Vermont in 1801. He learned the trade of a
house carpenter; came West as far as Galena, Illinois, in 1845, to St.
Croix Valley in 1848, and to Hudson in 1850. He died in Baldwin in
1884. He was a man of eccentric manners, but upright life.
JAMES VIRTUE came to Willow River Mill in 1849, settled in the town of
Hudson, and died in 1874.
THEODORE M. BRADLEY was born in 1831, in Jackson county, Illinois. He
lived three years in Lafayette county, Wisconsin; came to Osceola
Mills in 1850, and to Hudson in 1867. He has engaged chiefly in
farming. In 1857 he was married to Margaret Wilson. They have two sons
and three daughters. Mr. Bradley died in 1887.
WILLIAM DAILEY was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1800; came to America in
1819, and settled in Hudson in 1849, where he lived, a successful
farmer, until his death in 1867. He left five sons--William, Guy W.,
Jacob, Edward, and Asa, all farmers, industrious and prosperous, all
good citizens, and church members, all married and settled in St.
Croix county. Guy W. represented St. Croix county in the state
assembly of 1877. In 1866 he was president of the St. Croix
Agricultural Society.
ROBERT AND WILLIAM MCDIARMID, brothers, came from St. Stevens, New
Brunswick, and settled in Hudson in 1851, on a farm in sections 10 and
14. By industry and perseverance they have become independent, and own
fine farms, with blooded stock, improved agricultural implements, and
all the appliances for successful farming. Robert married in 1857, and
has three sons and three daughters. William married Laura Rabold, in
1860, and has three sons and four daughters. William has been chairman
of the county board of supervisors several years.
WILLIAM MARTIN was born in Vermont, in 1800. In 1846 he moved to
Janesville, Wisconsin, and in 1851 to Hudson, where he engaged in
farming. He was an exemplary christian man, and a member of the
Baptist church. His son, Geo. W. Martin, succeeds him on the farm. He
died in 1885.
PASCHAL ALDRICH was born in the state of New York, in 1820; came to
Illinois with his parents in 1826; was married in Illinois, to Martha
Harnsberger, in 1841, and came to Marine in the same year. He
returned, for a short time, to Illinois, and again moved to the valley
of the St. Croix, settling at Hudson in 1846, where he died in 1860,
leaving three sons and five daughters.
KINNIKINIC
Originally included nine towns of townships 27 and 28, from St. Croix
lake east. By the setting off of Pierce county from St. Croix, the
towns in township 27 were stricken off, and the territory has since
been reduced until comprised in township 28, range 18. It is a wealthy
agricultural township. Its surface is agreeably diversified with
undulating prairies and high hills. The Kinnikinic, a beautiful and
clear winding stream, drains it from the northeast. The famous
Monument Rock, an outlying sandstone formation, is in the centre of
this township. From the summit a magnificent view may be obtained of
this fine farming region. The farmers have fine dwellings and barns,
and the town has numerous school houses; one church is located on
section 15. The history of the town, as far as we were able to obtain
it, may be found in the biographies of the Mapes brothers.
DUNCAN MCGREGOR was born in Perth, Scotland, in 1821. His educational
advantages were limited. He emigrated to Canada while yet a youth,
served seven years in the British Army, and was one year in Canada
during the Papineau Rebellion. He was married to Jane Morse, in
Canada, Jan. 31, 1848, and in 1849 removed to the United States and
settled at River Falls, where he still lives on the homestead which he
pre-empted. Mrs. McGregor was the first resident white woman, and Mr.
McGregor the second person who settled at the Falls.
His mother, an aged lady living with him at the Falls, at one time
found the house surrounded by over a hundred Sioux Indians, who
commenced plundering the garden of everything eatable. Mrs. McGregor
bravely confronted and drove them away. The only crops in the valley
at the time were those of Messrs. Foster and McGregor.
Mr. McGregor learned in early life the trade of a mason. While a
resident of River Falls he followed farming except during a few years
in which he kept a hardware store. He was three years county
commissioner of St. Croix county. He has three children living,
Roderick, Malcolm and Neville.
W. B. AND JAS. A. MAPES, brothers, from Elmira, New York, landed at
Willow River Sept. 7, 1849. They proceeded at once with an ox team and
cart, on which last was placed all their worldly goods, to the valley
of the Kinnikinic. Having selected a claim and erected a temporary
shanty, William B. returned by river as far as Galena, for a breaking
team, wagon and plow, and other farm furniture and provisions, while
James remained to make hay. After the brother's return, a substantial
winter cabin was built. The ensuing spring they broke ground and
raised a fair crop, consisting of 80 bushels of oats, 200 of
buckwheat, 100 of corn and 100 of potatoes. The winter of their
arrival, Duncan McGregor came to the settlement and spent the winter
with Judge Foster. In the fall of 1850 came Ira Parks and family, and
settled on lands adjoining the Mapes farm. This family and others were
entertained by the Mapes brothers, with genuine frontier hospitality.
Among the families coming in at this time were those of Dr. Whipple,
Mrs. Sprague, Lorenzo Daggett, and the widow of Josephus Medley, of
Stillwater. This year came also the Pomeroy brothers, Luke and Frank,
from New York State, and J. G. Crowns, James Penn, and William Tozer,
from Illinois. During 1851 several families settled in the valley,
among them James Chinnoch and Elisha Walden, from Ohio; Alanson Day
and John Scott, from Pennsylvania; the brothers W. L. and J. E.
Perrin, single men, from New York State, and Mrs. Lynch, from
Illinois. Previous to the settlement of these families there were no
young ladies in the town. The arrival of fifteen young ladies, mostly
marriageable, produced a flutter of excitement among the lonesome
bachelors of the colony, and the services of Rev. S. T. Catlin were
soon called into requisition. The first couple married was James A.
Mapes and Eunice E. Walden, in 1852. The next year W. B. Mapes and
Catherine Scott were married. In 1852 J. W. Mapes, a younger brother,
joined the colony. In 1857 G. W. Mapes located a Mexican War land
warrant on adjoining laud. W. B., J. A. and C. W. Mapes had also
Mexican War land warrants.
In 1860 J. W. Mapes sold his farm and returned to New York, enlisted
in the One Hundred and First Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served
through the Peninsular Campaign under McClellan, and afterward in
North Carolina, where he was captured at Plymouth, April 23, 1864, and
taken to Andersonville, where he died, June 30, 1864. W. B. Mapes sold
his farm to Chas. Davies and removed to Macon county, Mississippi, in
1866, at which place he died in 1877. His widow and five children
still reside there. C. W. Mapes sold his farm to G. I. Ap Roberts, and
kept store for awhile in the village, and in 1879 removed to Sussex
county, Virginia, where he still resides. He has four children living.
Jas. A. Mapes still resides on the old homestead. Mr. Mapes was
honored with an election to the office of treasurer for St. Croix
county in 1883 and 1884.
PLEASANT VALLEY.
Pleasant Valley includes the west half of township 28, range 17. It is
drained by the headwaters of the Kinnikinic. The first settlement was
made Sept. 19, 1856. Among the first settlers were Sheldon Gray, Asa
Gray, S. W. Mattison, and Allen Webster. The town was organized March
30, 1857, with Peleg Burdick as chairman of supervisors. The first
school was taught in 1857, by Miss Mary Munson. A post office was
established in 1866 with Peter Hawkins as postmaster.
RICHMOND.
Richmond is a rich agricultural township, consisting chiefly of
undulating prairie land. It is included in township 30, range 18.
Willow river flows diagonally through it from northeast to southwest.
The following persons settled within the present limits of the town
prior to 1855: Eben Quinby, Lewis Oaks, James Taylor, Harvey Law,
Norman Hooper, J. J. Smith, A. S. Kinnie, W. R. Anderson, Francis
Kelly, Clinton Boardman, S. L. Beebe, the Beal brothers, E. P. Jacobs
and E. W. Darnley.
The town of Richmond was organized in 1857, with the following
officers: Supervisors, Robert Philbrick, chairman; C. A. Boardman and
Harvey Law; clerk, W. M. Densmore; assessor, W. R. Anderson;
treasurer, G. W. Law. The first post office was established at the
house of Joel Bartlett, who served as postmaster. This post office was
known as the Richmond post office. It was a small affair. The first
mail, brought on a mule's back from Maiden Rock, contained but one
letter. The first quarter's commission amounted to but one dollar and
fifty-nine cents. The post office case contained but four boxes, five
by six inches in size. This case is preserved at the _Republican_
office, as an interesting relic. Small as was the office, and meagre
as were the receipts, the postmaster was able to employ a deputy, F.
W. Bartlett. By way of agreeable contrast we give the commission for
the first quarter of 1886 as $674.89.
BOARDMAN VILLAGE
Is located on the east bank of Willow river and near the western
boundary of Richmond. It is a flourishing village. Its public
buildings are a Methodist church and a large school house. Boardman
has a good flour mill. Everything in the village bespeaks enterprise
and thrift.
GRIDLEY VILLAGE
Was platted by Gridley & Day in 1857, and, together with Fremont
village, platted by Henry Russell, was incorporated in the village of
NEW RICHMOND
in 1878. The first officers of the new village were: President, F. W.
Bartlett; trustees, B. C. B. Foster, Wellington Pierce, Thos. Porter,
Peter Schore, S. M. Bixby, Geo. C. Hough.
NEW RICHMOND CITY
Was incorporated in 1884. It includes the northwest quarter of section
2 and the northeast quarter of section 3 of township 30, range 18, and
the south half of section 36, township 31, range 18. This latter half
section originally belonged to Star Prairie, but is now attached to
New Richmond. The first election was held April 8, 1884, at which the
following officers were elected: President, Ward S. Williams;
aldermen, First ward, F. W. Bartlett, Geo. A. Gault, Th. Gaskell;
Second ward, A. L. Greaton, A. H. Stevens, J. C. Sabine; Third ward,
John Halversen, D. H. Dodge, H. F. Fall; treasurer, L. Taft; clerk, W.
F. McNally; assessor, D. A. Kennedy.
The city is beautifully located on a level prairie. The streets are
from eighty to one hundred feet wide and bordered with maple, elm and
boxwood trees. The city lots and grounds attached to the residences
are beautifully adorned with shrubbery and flowers and are without
fences. The commons and unoccupied spaces in the city are covered
with a luxuriant growth of white and red clover, filling the air with
its pleasant odor, and suggesting the title of "Clover City." It has
many fine business buildings and tasteful residences. It is in the
midst of a fine farming country, on the banks of a beautiful stream,
Willow river, and two railroads, the North Wisconsin and Wisconsin
Central, furnish abundant means of communication with the outer world.
It has one steam saw mill with a capacity of 60,000 feet per day, and
a water power flour mill with a capacity of one hundred barrels per
day.
The Bank of New Richmond was organized in 1878, with a paid up capital
of $35,000. In 1885 the bank did a business of about $8,000,000. The
bank had a surplus in 1886 of $9,000. It has an extensive agency in
flour, wheat and other agricultural products, also in lumber and real
estate. The officers are: President, F. W. Bartlett; vice president,
Mathias Frisk; cashier, John W. McCoy. The annual business of the city
amounts to $12,000,000.
The city has a high school, established in 1884, with six departments.
The building cost $12,000. The Baptists, Catholics,
Congregationalists, Episcopalians, and Methodists have church
buildings.
There are several fraternities here, including the Masonic, the Odd
Fellows, Good Templars, Women's Christian Temperance Union and
Catholic Knights of St. John. There are also a hook and ladder company
and a library association. There are two cemeteries, one belonging to
the masonic order.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
BENJAMIN B. C. FOSTER was born in New Portland, Maine, in 1816. When
seventeen years of age he bought his time of his father and commenced
life for himself. He lived eight years in Atkinson, Maine, where he
taught school and engaged in farming. In 1842 he was married to
Charlotte S. Gilman. In 1852 he went to California where he remained
three years. He came to New Richmond in 1855 and built a saw mill and
dam, and a board shanty in which he lived with his wife and two
children. Around the mill has since grown up the beautiful city of New
Richmond. The first school taught in New Richmond was taught at the
house of Mr. Foster by Amanda Dayton. In his house was organized the
first Sunday-school, the first sermon was preached in it and the first
school meeting was held there.
ROBERT PHILBRICK was born in Old Town, Maine, in 1814. He learned the
trade of a millwright, and in 1847 moved to North Hudson. He was
married in 1851 to Frances Cook. They stood on a raft, afloat in the
St. Croix river, just below the Falls, while Ansel Smith, of Taylor's
Falls, performed the ceremony. Mr. Philbrick removed to New Richmond
and built a frame house in 1855. The house is still standing. One
daughter of Mr. Philbrick is the wife of D. L. Nye. Amaziah, a son by
his first wife, is a stonemason. Alice M., daughter by his first wife,
is married to John McGregor. Mr. Philbrick died prior to 1865.
LINDEN COOMBS came to New Richmond in 1855, built the first hotel in
1856, and some years later moved away.
EBEN QUINBY was born in Lisbon, New Hampshire, in 1809, and came to
New Richmond in 1849, where he has since continuously been engaged in
farming. In 1865 he was married to Mrs. Philbrick, widow of Robert
Philbrick.
LEWIS OAKS was born in Sangerville, Maine, in 1826; came West in 1846
and to New Richmond in 1854. He is a farmer.
HENRY RUSSELL was born in Vermont in 1801. His ancestors took part in
the Revolution. He was married in Vermont, lived seventeen years in
New York, came to Hudson in 1853, and to New Richmond in 1857, where
he bought the pre-emption made by Robert Philbrick, and had it
surveyed and platted as the village of Fremont. He died in 1878. Mrs.
Russell survives him and is now (1886) eighty-five years of age. Their
sons Alexander and Austin are prominent citizens of New Richmond.
JOSEPH D. JOHNSON was born in Huron county, Ohio, May 12, 1829. From
eight years of age he was thrown upon his own resources. The greater
part of his youth was spent in Michigan. In 1848 he removed to
Winnebago, Illinois, where he married Marcella L. Russell. He settled
at New Richmond in 1853. One son, Ezra O., is editor of the
_Northwestern News_, at Hayward, Wisconsin, and one daughter is
married to Frank F. Bigelow.
JOEL BARTLETT was born in Hebron, Maine, in 1804. He received an
academic education and became a teacher. He was principal of a high
school in Bath, Maine, before he was twenty-one years of age. In 1825
he went to Harmony, Maine, where he was engaged in lumbering until
1848. In 1830 he was a member of the Maine legislature; in 1849 and
1850 he followed lumbering in Fairfield, Maine, and then removed to
New York where he lived six years. In 1858 he came to New Richmond,
where he has since led an active business life. Mr. Bartlett was
married in Maine in 1826. One of his sons, J. A., is a Presbyterian
clergyman in Centreville, Iowa. He graduated at Waterville College,
Maine, and practiced law three years in New York City before entering
the ministry.
FRANCIS W. BARTLETT, the second son of Joel Bartlett, was born in
Maine in 1837. He received an academic education, and has been an
active and successful business man. He came to New Richmond in 1858,
and served as register of the land office at Bayfield from 1861 to
1867. He was married in 1867 to Mary J. Stewart, of Pennsylvania. He
was engaged in the coal trade in Milwaukee three years, and two years
at Detroit and Toledo, but returned to New Richmond and is now
president of the New Richmond Bank, and dealer in furniture, hardware,
etc.
GEORGE C. HOUGH was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, in ----. He has
led a somewhat adventurous life. He served awhile as a soldier in the
Black Hawk War under Gen. Dodge. Afterward he went to Missouri,
graduated at the State University, and engaged in lead mining and
prospecting. He went to California in 1862, where he practiced law. He
returned in 1876, and located in Richmond where he still resides.
SILAS STAPLES was born in Lisbon, Maine, Sept. 18, 1814. He came to
Hudson, Wisconsin, in 1854, took charge of the Willow River mills,
buying a quarter interest at $20,000, including 5,000 acres of land on
Willow river. In 1856 he sold his interest to Jewell and Bodie, of
Maine, for $55,000, and for three years carried on a banking business
in Hudson. In the winter of 1859-60 he removed to New Richmond. In
1861 he returned to Hudson and put up a shingle and lath addition to
his saw mill. He built a flouring mill at New Richmond in 1864. He
built large dams on Willow river for driving logs, and carried on
lumbering operations until 1868, when he removed to Canada and carried
on milling and lumbering enterprises four years, at Collins' Inlet,
Georgian bay. In 1872 he returned to Hudson and to a farm, and was
also engaged with Mr. Gibson in mercantile business. In 1873 he
returned to New Richmond, and, buying a half interest in the mill,
took charge of it for one year, then removed to Stillwater and took
charge of his brother's (Isaac Staples) saw mill.
In 1875 he removed to Elk River, Minnesota, and took charge of a farm.
The next year he returned to New Richmond, where he settled his family
and bought a half interest in a saw and grist mill at Jeweltown. He
also built an elevator there with a capacity of 20,000 bushels.
Mr. Staples was married in 1837 to Hannah Williams, of Bowdoinham,
Maine, who died in 1838. He was married in 1841 to Abigail Ann Rogers
of Oldtown, Maine, who died in the spring of 1845. He was married in
the fall of 1846 to Nancy D. Gilman, who died in 1873. He was married
to Mrs. Nancy B. Jamison in the fall of 1874. He has six children,
Charles A., Silas G., Nellie B., Nettie, Edward P, and Lizzie G.
HENRY M. MURDOCK.--Dr. Murdock was born at Antwerp, New York, in
October, 1823. His father, Dr. Hiram Murdock, moved to Gunning, at
which place the son attended school till he was fifteen years of age.
The father moved to Pulaski, New York. Henry studied medicine with his
father until he was nineteen years of age, then attended medical
lectures at Castleton, Virginia, where he graduated at the age of
twenty-one. After practicing three years at Dexter, and after a
co-partnership of seven years with his father in a drug store at
Pulaski, he came West and settled in Stillwater, where he bought the
drug store and business of Dr. Carli. In 1858 he went to Taylor's
Falls and practiced medicine until the spring of 1860, when he removed
to Hudson and formed a partnership with Dr. Hoyt. In the fall of 1861
he accepted the position of assistant surgeon of the Eighth Wisconsin,
and served during the war, having been promoted meanwhile to the
position of brigade surgeon. In 1866 he removed to New Richmond, where
he has since resided, having now retired from business. He was twice
married, in 1845 to Cornelia A. Sandford, who died childless, and in
1865 to Sarah J. Allan. His children are Cornelia A. and Henry A.
STEVEN N. HAWKINS was born in Galway, Ireland, Dec. 26, 1846, but
while he was a mere child his parents emigrated to America; remained a
few years in Connecticut; came West in 1855, and made their home in
Pleasant Valley, St. Croix county. His early life was marked by the
usual vicissitudes of life in a new country. He tried for a time
various occupations--farm work, rafting, sawing lumber, teaching, and,
during the later months of the war, was a volunteer soldier. He
managed to secure a good education in the common schools and at the
River Falls Academy. He studied medicine and surgery a few months, but
devoted himself chiefly to teaching until 1872, when he engaged in a
mercantile enterprise at which he continued four years, but at the
close of that period found himself obliged to suspend, with an
aggregate of $5,000 against him. This he afterward paid, but he
concluded, perhaps wisely, to change his occupation. He studied law,
and was admitted to the bar, July, 1876. In this profession he has
achieved an enviable success. In 1872 he was married to Margaret
Early, of Alleghany county, New York. They have had four children, the
first of which died in infancy.
RUSH RIVER
Occupies the east half of township 28, range 17. The first settlement
was made in 1850. The following came in 1850-51: Daniel McCartney,
Amos Babcock, Joseph King, Stephen Claggitt and Z. Travis. The town
was set off from Kinnikinic and organized in 1851, with Daniel
McCartney as chairman of the board of supervisors. At his house was
held the first election.
Woodside has one church and several buildings, is near the centre of
the town, and New Centreville in the southern part. The date of
settlement is second to that of Hudson. It was traversed by the old
Hudson and Prairie du Chien stage route. It was originally a mixed
timber and prairie district.
SOMERSET
Occupies sections 1 to 18, inclusive, of township 30, range 19, two
sections of township 30, range 20, and all of township 31, range 19,
lying east of the St. Croix river. The surface is generally
undulating, but along the St. Croix and Apple rivers abrupt and hilly.
The first settlers were French colonists at Apple River Falls in 1851.
They built a school house and Catholic church upon the bluffs below
the falls. The latter is a conspicuous object as seen from the St.
Croix river. The falls of Apple river, about one and a half miles
above its junction with the St. Croix, is one of the finest of the
Wisconsin waterfalls. Apple river traverses the county from northeast
to southwest. The Wisconsin Central railroad crosses the southern
part. The town of Somerset was organized Sept. 19, 1856, with Thomas
J. Chappell as chairman of supervisors. Mr. Chappell was also
appointed postmaster in 1854 at Apple River Falls.
SOMERSET VILLAGE,
Located about three miles above the Falls, has a good improved water
power, a flour mill with a capacity of one hundred and fifty barrels
per day, and a saw mill, built and owned by Gen. Sam Harriman, the
founder of the village. In 1856 a church and school house were erected
at a cost of about $12,000.
SAMUEL HARRIMAN.--Gen. Harriman was born in Orland, Maine. He spent
four years in California, engaged in mining and lumbering, and dug the
second canal in the State for sluicing purposes. He came to Somerset
in 1859, and has ever since made it his residence. He is one of the
founders and platters of the village, and built most of the houses,
including the hotel and two stores on the east side of Apple river,
and all the dwelling houses on the west side. He has been remarkably
successful in the various pursuits to which he has turned his
attention, and may well be considered a man of remarkable executive
ability. He has a farm of five hundred and fifty-five acres, and his
agricultural and stock products are second to none. As a lumberman he
has cut 3,000,000 feet per year. He has a rotary saw mill with a
planing, lath and shingle mill attached, and under the same roof he
has a flouring mill and six run of stone; he has a large store in
which he keeps a general stock of merchandise; he has also a cooper
shop, where he makes his own barrels, a warehouse and a blacksmith
shop. He has also an excellent stone quarry on his premises.
We look in vain for his name in the Wisconsin blue book, or among the
list of office holders. He has been too busy to turn aside in quest of
political preferment. We believe, however, that he was commissioned as
notary public by Govs. Taylor and Smith. When men were needed for the
defense of the country he left his interests to enlist as a private.
His military record is brilliant. He enlisted in Company A, Thirtieth
Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, June 10, 1862, was made captain on the
organization of the company, which position he held till Feb. 16,
1864, when he was commissioned colonel of the Thirty-seventh
Wisconsin Infantry. This regiment was recruited by Col. Harriman, he
having been commissioned for that purpose. Its services on many a hard
fought field, and especially about Petersburg, is a matter of well
known history. Its most memorable action occurred on the thirtieth of
July, just after the explosion of the mine under the enemy's fort.
Col. Harriman, with the Thirty-seventh Wisconsin, was ordered to
occupy the dismantled fort, which he did under a heavy fire, and the
walls had been so leveled as to afford but slight protection from the
enemy's batteries. While in possession they repelled all attempts to
dislodge them until four o'clock the next morning, when, receiving no
support, the Thirty-seventh Regiment,
"All that was left of them,"
fell back to the line. At roll call that evening, of two hundred and
fifty men that answered to their names before the action, only
ninety-five responded. The remnant of the regiment was attached to a
new brigade, of which Col. Harriman was commissioned commander. On the
tenth of September, the war having ended, the tattered flag of the
Thirty-seventh was returned to the governor of the State and Brig.
Gen. Harriman returned to private life and his business enterprises.
The general is a genial, kind hearted man, fond of a good joke and
story, even though they are at his own expense. He narrates of
himself, that when mustered out of the service at Washington he was
addressed as _General_ Harriman; on his way home he was saluted as
_colonel_; when nearing Wisconsin, he was hailed as _major;_ in the
State, as _captain_; in St. Croix county and at home as Mr. Harriman;
when met by the boys, they greeted him with "_Hello, Sam._"
ST. JOSEPH
Includes the three lower tiers of sections of township 30, range 19,
fractions of range 20, and the six upper sections of township 29,
range 19. Willow river traverses the southeast corner. The surface
varies from undulating to hilly. In the eastern part of the town is
Balsam lake, a picturesque body of water two miles in length. There
are also two high elevations of land, or ridges, that serve as
conspicuous landmarks. The earliest settlers came in 1850, and located
on farms in different parts of the town. St. Joseph was organized in
1858. The North Wisconsin railroad passes through the southeast corner
of the town.
HOULTON.
Opposite Stillwater, on the shore of the lake, is a platted village
known as Houlton, which has improved much during the last few years.
J. S. Anderson & Co. built a large saw mill at this place, which has
changed ownership several times. The residences of the village are on
the high bluffs overlooking the lake, and commanding from a point two
hundred feet above the level of the water a most magnificent view,
including Stillwater, Hudson and Lakeland.
BURKHARDT VILLAGE
Is situated upon Willow river, just above the Falls. Joseph Bowron and
others built a mill here in 1851. The mill property changed hands many
times, and finally passed into the hands of Burkhardt. In March, 1887,
the mill was consumed, with a loss to Mr. Burkhardt of $100,000, an
immense loss, representing the earnings of a lifetime; but with
tireless energy Mr. Burkhardt went to work rebuilding, and, it is to
be hoped, will soon re-establish his thriving business. There is one
church near Burkhardt.
SPRINGFIELD,
At its organization in 1860, embraced its own territory and that of
Baldwin, set off in 1872. It now includes township 29, range 15. It
was originally covered with pine and hardwood timber. Within the last
few years it has been improved and much of the timber land is used for
farming. It is drained by the headwaters and tributaries of Rush and
Menomonie rivers. The West Wisconsin railroad passes through the
southern tier of sections, and a branch road, leading southward into a
pine district, has a junction at Hersey. Most of the early settlers
were Union soldiers. Among them were S. T. Adams, Thomas Ross, Isaac
Burgitt and Capt. Rogers. Springfield was organized Nov. 15, 1860,
with J. R. Ismon as chairman, and Perrin and Hall as supervisors.
HERSEY.
The village of Hersey, located on section 28, is a station on the West
Wisconsin and branch railroad, has a lumber mill, and is a flourishing
village.
WILSON VILLAGE,
Section 35, is also a station on the West Wisconsin road, and an
important manufacturing place. The village is owned and controlled by
the Wilson Manufacturing Company, which has a capital stock of
$150,000. There is one church in the village.
STANTON
Was set off from Star Prairie and organized Dec. 30, 1870, with
Trueworthy Jewell as chairman of supervisors. It is a rich prairie
town, well drained by the waters of Apple and Willow rivers, and well
cultivated. The North Wisconsin railroad passes southwest to northeast
through this town. Star Prairie village lies partly in this town and
partly in the town of Star Prairie. There are two church buildings in
the town of Stanton.
STAR PRAIRIE,
Township 31, range 18, was organized Jan. 28, 1856. At its
organization it included township 31, ranges 17 and 18, and north half
of township 30, ranges 17 and 18. The first election was held at the
house of B. C. B. Foster, in New Richmond. Apple river flows through
the town from northeast to southwest. Cedar lake, in the northeast
part, furnishes at its outlet a good water power. Among the first
settlers were the Jewell brothers, Ridder and sons.
HUNTINGTON VILLAGE
Is located near the outlet of Cedar lake and on the stream by which
the waters of the lake are borne to Apple river. It has a large
flouring mill.
STAR PRAIRIE VILLAGE,
Lying partially in sections 1 and 12 and partially in Stanton, has a
saw and flouring mill, a hotel, a school house and two churches, with
some fine residences.
HON. R. K. FAY, born in 1822, came from New York to Wisconsin in 1849,
locating at Princeton, where he resided for nine years, most of the
time engaged as the principal of the high school at that place. He was
a man of sterling character, who is remembered as an able teacher and
public spirited citizen. He has been assemblyman from Adams and St.
Croix counties, and a county superintendent of schools, and has taught
school forty-nine terms. When a member from St. Croix county, he
introduced the bill requiring the constitutions of the United States
and of Wisconsin to be taught in the common schools. He died at his
home in Star Prairie, Jan 5, 1888. Five sons and five daughters
survive him. His wife died about three years ago.
TROY,
Township 28, range 19, and fractional township 28, range 19,
consisting of about three sections, lying along the shore of Lake St.
Croix, has a fine frontage of bluffs overlooking the lake, with rich,
level prairie lands stretching away eastward. The Kinnikinic river
flows through the southeast corner of the township. It was organized
in 1851 as Malone, the name having been chosen by the Perrin brothers,
who came from Malone, New York, in 1851. The name, some years later,
was changed to Troy. The Hudson & Ellsworth railroad passes diagonally
through the township from northwest to southeast.
The village of Glenmont, section 25, township 28, range 20, lies on
the shore of Lake St. Croix. It contains a large saw mill, built by
the Lord brothers. It has since changed hands.
The village of East Troy, in section 36, has recently been annexed by
legislative enactment to the city of River Falls.
JAMES CHINNOCK, the first settler in Troy, was born in Somersetshire,
England, in 1810. He officiated twelve years at Bristol Harbor,
England, as superintendent of docks and vessels. He was married in
England to Harriet Owens; came to America in 1841, lived in Ohio until
1850, when he came to Hudson and immediately located a claim within
the present limits of Troy. He raised the first crop in the town, and
built the first house, of stone, for greater protection from the
Indians. Mr. Chinnock made his home upon this farm until his death in
1870. He left a widow and four sons, three of them farmers in Troy.
One son, James T., has been register of deeds for St. Croix county
from 1885 to 1888.
WILLIAM LEWIS PERRIN was born in 1825, and with his brother came to
Troy in 1851, where he has since lived. He has been a successful
farmer and public spirited citizen, and has filled offices in the town
organization. He was married in 1855 to Julia F. Loring. They have
three sons and one daughter.
WARREN,
Township 29, range 18, is a rich prairie town, drained by the
tributaries of Kinnikinic and Willow river. George Longworth and
family, of Waukegan, Illinois, settled here in October, 1855. In the
year following, Lyman and David Sanford, brothers, came from Ohio, and
made their home here. Mr. Longworth, in 1856, broke the first ground
on land now within the limits of Hudson. Henry M. Sanford came in the
spring of 1857.
Warren was organized as a town in 1860, with the following
supervisors: Beach Sanford, George Frissell and Seth Colbeth; L. J.
Sanford, clerk. A post office was established in 1860, and Mrs. Beach
Sanford was appointed postmistress, at Warren village, now Roberts.
The village of Roberts is located on the West Wisconsin railroad,
which traverses sections 19 to 24, inclusive, of this town. It
contains one elevator, one storage house, one feed mill, one cheese
factory, one machine shop, one syrup mill, several stores and shops,
one hotel, one school house, one public hall, and one church building
belonging to the Congregationalists.
No intoxicants are sold in the village. The first school was taught in
1859, by Jane Sanford.
JAMES HILL was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, Feb. 15, 1825, and
settled in Warren, St. Croix county, in 1863, where he engaged in
farming and dealing in grain. He represented St. Croix county in the
Wisconsin assembly of 1878-79-80.
TOWN PLATS LOCATED IN ST. CROIX COUNTY.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME OF | TOWN | DATE OF PLAT. | SURVEYOR. | PROPRIETORS.
VILLAGE. | LOCATION. | | |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buena Vista |Hudson | In 1849 | Harvey Wilson |Louis Massey &
| | | | Co.
New Centreville|Rush River | Mch. 26, 1856 | Geo. Strong |Daniel
| | | | McCartney.
Hammond |Hammond | July 15, 1856 | A. W. Miller |Hammond &
| | | | Spaulding.
De Soto |Hudson | Aug. 15, 1857 | |Aptemards
| | | | Burkhart.
Somerset |Somerset | Aug. 28, 1857 |Geo. Strong |Harriman & Reed.
Glenmont |Troy | Jan. 5, 1858 |C. N. Bates |M. Bank, Lake
| | | | St. Cx.
Huntington |Star Prairie| Sept. 24, 1858|E. W. McClure |John Brown.
Gridley, New} | | | |
Richmond and} |Richmond | 1857 | |Gridley & Day.
Fremont } | | | |
Troy |Troy | Dec. 29, 1859 |J. A. Short |Cox & Powell.
Boardman |Richmond | July 5, 1866 |W. R. Anderson |Beebe &
| | | | Boardman.
Star Prairie |Star Prairie| June 15, 1870 |John McClure |Simonds &
| | | | Millard.
Baldwin |Baldwin | Mch. 14, 1873 |H. J. Baldwin |D. R. Bailey.
Roberts |Warren | Jan. 4, 1875 |Geo. Strong |Comstock, Platt
| | | | & Co.
Deer Park |Cylon | Jan. 25, 1879 |J. W. Remmington|J. A. Humbird.
New Saratoga} | | | |
Springs } |Stanton | Sept. 17, 1878|John McClure |A. P. Muggey.
Hersey |Springfield | Dec. 24, 1880 |Geo. Strong |L. T. Adams.
Cylon |Cylon | Sept. 16, 1884|Alfred Pierce |Beebe &
| | | | McNarama.
Emerald |Emerald | July 13, 1885 |Alfred Pierce |Hurd Brothers.
Glenwood |Glenwood | Jan. 2, 1886 |H. J. Baldwin |Glenwood Manf.
| | | | Co.
Wilson |Springfield | 1886 | |West Wis. Manf.
| | | | Co.
Woodville |Baldwin | 1886 | |Woodville Lumber
| | | | Co.
Wildwood |Eau Galle | 1886 | |St. Cx. L. &
| | | | Manf. Co.
Brookville |Eau Galle | 1886 | |Wood & Decker.
Houlton |St. Joseph | Not recorded | |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER VII.
PIERCE COUNTY.
This county, named in honor of President Pierce, was separated from
St. Croix county in 1853, and organized by the same act that created
Polk county, and gave to St. Croix its present limits. It contains
about six hundred square miles of territory, lying east of the
Mississippi river and Lake St. Croix. It is somewhat triangular in
shape, the river and lake forming the hypotenuse, and St. Croix, Dunn
and Pepin bounding it by right lines on the north and east, Pepin also
forming a small part of its southern boundary.
The scenery is picturesque and varied. Along the river and lake is a
series of limestone bluffs, broken at intervals by ravines and
valleys, and leaving the impression upon the mind of the traveler on
the Mississippi of a rough, broken and inhospitable country, than
which nothing could be further from the truth. Beyond these rugged
escarpments of limestone and out of sight of the traveler, the country
stretches away toward the interior as an undulating prairie, with
meadows and rich pasturelands, with occasional forests, the whole
watered and drained by an intricate network of streams tributary to
the lake and river, and the three larger streams, the Kinnikinic,
which empties into the St. Croix and Big rivers, Trimbelle and Rush,
that empty into the Mississippi. Some branches of the Chippewa also
take their rise in this county. These streams uniformly have their
source in springs and their waters are consequently pure, cold and
invigorating, flowing over beds of white sand or pebbles, and in their
downward course forming many ripples, rapids, cascades and some
beautiful waterfalls. Their total descent to the bed of the
Mississippi is about four hundred feet. Pierce county has no inland
lakes within its limits, nor any indications of their previous
existence. The soil is formed chiefly from decomposed rocks or ledges
worn down by the abrading forces of water and wind, of frost and heat.
The rivers in their downward course have excavated broad valleys,
having originally precipitous bluffs on either side, and even bluffs
once islands in the midst of the streams. These, by later agencies,
have been smoothed to gentle slopes and rounded into graceful mounds,
towering sometimes as much as eighty feet above the valley or plains.
In some places mere outlines of sandstone or limestone rock are left,
turret-like, on the summit of a mound, as monuments on which the
geologist may read the record of ages gone. As the character of the
soil of a country depends upon the composition of the rocks underlying
it, and those removed from the surface, reduced to soil and widely
distributed, we give what may be considered as the section of any one
of the mounds near Prescott in the order of the superposition of
strata:
At the base--Lower magnesian limestone 250 feet.
Above the plain--Upper sandstone 50 feet.
On the summit--Trenton, or shell limestone 30 feet.
Over a great part of the county the Trenton and limestone are worn
almost entirely away, and their former existence is attested only by a
few mounds, bluffs and outlines. Drift is not often met with. The soil
may be considered as formed out of drift, now removed from its
original position, and out of the sandstone and limestone. It is,
therefore, soil of the richest quality.
By the same act that created the county of Pierce, passed March 14,
1853, Prescott was declared the county seat. The town board of
Prescott was constituted the county board. The commissioners were
Osborn Strahl, chairman; Silas Wright and Sylvester Moore. At the
first county election, Nov. 15, 1853, one hundred and ten votes were
cast. The following were the officers elected: County judge, W. J.
Copp; sheriff, N. S. Dunbar; treasurer, J. R. Freeman; clerk of court,
S. R. Gunn; clerk of board, Henry Teachout; coroner, J. Olive;
district attorney, P. V. Wise; surveyor, J. True; register of deeds,
J. M. Whipple. Mr. Whipple was authorized to transcribe the records of
St. Croix county up to date of the organization of Pierce.
The first assessment in the county, in 1853, amounted to $24,452. At
the meeting of the supervisors, Jan. 18, 1854, the district attorney
was allowed forty dollars per annum as salary. Courts were held
wherever suitable buildings could be obtained. During this year Judge
Wyram Knowlton, of Prairie du Chien, held the first district court at
Prescott. The first records of the court were kept on sheets of
foolscap paper, and fastened together with wafers. The first case
before the court was that of "The State of Wisconsin, Pierce County,
Wm. Woodruff _vs._ Chas. D. Stevens, August Lochmen, and Chas.
Peschke, in Court of said County. In Equity." On reading and filing
the bill in complaint, in this case, on motion of S. J. R. McMillan
and H. M. Lewis, solicitors for counsel, J. S. Foster, it was ordered
that a writ of injunction be issued in the case, pursuant to the
prayer of said bill, upon said complainant. Some one, in his behalf,
filed with the clerk of said court, a bond for damages and costs in
the sum of $1,700, with surety to be approved by the clerk or judge of
said court. The first document recorded in the county is an agreement
between Philander Prescott and Philip Aldrich, wherein Aldrich agrees
to occupy lands adjoining Prescott's, at the mouth of St. Croix lake
on the west, and David Hone on the east. The second document is a
deed, conveying a tract of three hundred and twenty acres of land from
Francis Chevalier to Joseph R. Brown, the land lying near the mouth of
Lake St. Croix, and marked by stakes planted in the ground, and
adjoining Francis Gamelle's claim, dated July 20, 1840.
In 1857 County Treasurer Ayers became a defaulter to the county in the
sum of $2,287.76, and to the Prescott Bank, $4,000. In 1861, by act of
the legislature, the question of changing the county seat from
Prescott to Ellsworth was submitted to the people. The vote as
declared was six hundred for removal and three hundred and
seventy-three against it. Technical objections having been raised as
to the legality of the vote, the subject was submitted to the people a
second time in 1862. The vote for removal was confirmed. In 1863 the
district system was adopted and three districts were established by
legislative enactment, but in 1870 the county returned to the original
system by which the board of supervisors was made to consist of a
chairman from each one of the town boards. A poor farm was established
near Ellsworth in 1869, at a cost of $3,600. The county board also
appropriated $31,000 for county buildings at Ellsworth.
The finances of the county have been admirably managed. In 1885 there
was no indebtedness, and a surplus in the treasury of $5,000. The
educational interests are well cared for. There are over one hundred
school districts in the county, with well conducted schools, and
generally with good substantial buildings. The school lands of St.
Croix, then including Pierce county, were appraised in 1852 by Dr.
Otis Hoyt, ---- Denniston and James Bailey, and the lands at once
offered for sale. Settlers' rights were respected. The county issued
$5,000 in bonds to aid in establishing the normal school at River
Falls.
RAILROADS.
River Falls has direct communication with Hudson by a branch of the
Chicago & St. Paul railroad. In 1885 the Burlington & Northern
railroad route was surveyed and established, entering the county on
the shore of Lake Pepin, and running nearly parallel with lake and
river to Prescott, where it crosses Lake St. Croix near its mouth, on
a bridge, the total length of which is 520.5 feet, with one draw span
367.5 feet in length, and one piled span of 153 feet. This bridge was
completed, and the first train entered Prescott, May 31, 1886. The
grade of this road does not exceed fifteen feet to the mile.
MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS.
The Grand Army of the Republic have posts at the following places:
No. 72, A. W. Howard Post Rock Elm.
No. 117, I. M. Nichols Post River Falls.
No. 118, Ellsworth Post Ellsworth.
No. 189, R. P. Converse Post Prescott.
No. 204, U. S. Grant Post Maiden Rock.
No. 209, Plum City Post Plum City.
The following are the village plats of Pierce county, with date of
survey and location:
Prescott, town of Prescott 1853
Kinnikinic, town of River Falls 1854
Monte Diamond (Diamond Bluff), town of Diamond Bluff 1854
Saratoga, town of Isabelle 1855
River Falls (Greenwood and Fremont), town of River Falls 1856
Maiden Rock, town of Maiden Rock 1856
Warren, town of Maiden Rock 1856
Trimbelle, town of Trimbelle 1856
Franklin, town of Trimbelle 1856
Martell (Rising Sun), town of Martell 1856
Beldenville, town of Trimbelle 1857
Trenton, town of Trenton 1857
Plum City, town of Union 1858
El Paso, town of El Paso 1858
Esdaile, town of Hartland 1870
Rock Elm, town of Rock Elm Centre 1876
Hogan, town of Trenton 1886
Bay City, town of Isabelle 1887
ORGANIZATION OF TOWNS.
The following is the chronological order in which the towns of Pierce
county were organized:
Prescott[B]. 1853
Greenwood (now River Falls) 1854
Martell 1854
Isabelle 1855
Trimbelle 1855
Diamond Bluff 1855
Clifton 1855
Oak Grove 1856
Perry (Ellsworth) 1856
Spring Valley (Maiden Rock) 1857
Trenton 1857
El Paso 1858
Hartland 1859
Union 1861
Salem 1862
Rock Elm 1862
Deerfield (Gilman) 1868
Spring Lake 1868
CLIFTON,
Situated in the northwestern part of the county, contains a little
over thirty full sections of land, those on the St. Croix having a
somewhat irregular boundary. The surface is somewhat broken where
traversed by the Kinnikinic and its tributaries. It includes
twenty-four sections on the west side of township 27, range 19, and
fractional township 27, range 20. It was established in 1855. Its
first board of officers were: Supervisors--Geo. W. McMurphy, chairman;
Osborne Strahl and G. W. Teachout. C. B. Cox was the first postmaster,
in 1852, at a place called Clifton Mills, from which the town
afterward derived its name. This post town is situated on the
Kinnikinic, in section 18, township 27, range 18 west. It has one
grist mill and two saw mills, belonging to Cox, King & Goodsall. No
intoxicants are sold here. The Glenwood saw mills, having a capacity
of 3,000,000 feet, are located on the lake shore. In 1868 a limestone
quarry was opened on the lake shore, by Oakley & Nichols. In 1881 the
firm became Oakley & Hall. They have a patent kiln and good machinery,
and some seasons have manufactured as much as 5,000 barrels of lime.
GEORGE W. MCMURPHY was born at Newcastle, Delaware, in 1821. In 1845
he came to St. Croix Falls, and in 1848 to Clifton, where he
pre-empted the beautiful homestead which he still holds, and where he
has successfully followed the business of farming. He has been
repeatedly elected to town and county offices. In 1848 he was married
to Maria A. Rice. Their children are Augustus (resident of St. Paul),
George (a physician living in Ortonville, Minnesota), James A.,
Robert, Albert and Edward, and two married daughters. Mr. McMurphy is
a member of the Congregational church.
OSBORNE STRAHL was born in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1818; came to
Galena, Illinois, in 1838, in 1845 to Mauston and Stevens Point,
Wisconsin, and to Chippewa Falls in 1847. During these years he
followed lumbering. In 1850 he came to the town of Elisabeth, St.
Croix county, which on subsequent division of towns and counties left
Mr. Strahl in Clifton, where he has been engaged in farming. He was
married in 1860 to Rebecca McDonald. They have two sons, Wm. Day,
living in Dakota, Howard P., in River Falls; three daughters, Mabel,
wife of Joseph M. Smith, banker at River Falls, and two daughters
unmarried. Mr. Strahl filled various town and county offices.
CHARLES B. COX was born June 25, 1810, in Chenango county, New York.
He learned the trade of a miller, lived in Ohio seventeen years and
came to Clifton in 1849. He built at Clifton the first saw and grist
mill in the Kinnikinic valley, in 1850. He changed his residence to
River Falls in 1854, where he lived till 1874, when he removed to
California. During the year 1851 he ground three hundred bushels of
wheat, the sole product of the valley.
EPHRAIM HARNSBERGER was born in Kentucky, Nov. 21, 1824, moved with
his parents to Illinois in 1832, and to Prescott in 1847, where he
pre-empted a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres. He was married
at Alton, Illinois, in 1858, to Lizzie Johnson. Their children are
Charles, Sarah Etta, and Jennie.
DIAMOND BLUFF
Is a triangular shaped town, the hypotenuse being formed by the
Mississippi river. It contains ten sections and three fractional
sections in town 25, range 18, and five sections and five fractional
sections in town 25, range 19. It is traversed in the eastern part by
Trimbelle river. The town was established in 1857, and the first town
meeting was held that year at the home of David Comstock. The town
board consisted of: Supervisors--James Akers, chairman; Wilson Thing
and C. F. Hoyt; justice, S. Hunter. Susan Rogers taught the first
school. This town has the honor of claiming the first white settler,
aside from traders, in the Upper Mississippi valley. He came to the
site of the present village of Diamond Bluff in 1800, and named it
Monte Diamond. We give elsewhere a somewhat extended account of this
ancient pioneer, with some speculations concerning him and his
descendants that are plausible enough to warrant their insertion. In
historic times a post office was established here in 1854, called at
the time, Hoytstown, from C.F. Hoyt, the first postmaster.
On the organization of the town the name was changed to Diamond Bluff.
Quite a village has since grown up around it. The first frame house
was built in 1855, by Enoch Quinby. The first sermon was preached by
Rev. J. W. Hancock, a Presbyterian minister, for some years a
missionary among the Indians. The first birth was that of Mary Day, in
1851, and the first death that of Daniel Crappers, in 1854.
CAPT. JOHN PAINE.--Jack Paine, as he is familiarly called, was born in
England, and for the greater part of his life has been a seafaring
man. For the past thirty years he has been a steamboat man on the
Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers. He has been married three
times: first in Rhode Island, second to Mrs. La Blond, of St. Louis,
and last to Miss Ressue, of Diamond Bluff. He came to Diamond Bluff in
1848, with four children of his first wife, his second wife having
died childless. He is now living with his third wife in La Crosse.
They have three children.
JOHN DAY was born in Martinsburg, Virginia. In 1850 he and his wife
and three children, with Allen B. Wilson and his wife, came to Diamond
Bluff. Mr. Day is well known as a fearless and enthusiastic hunter. In
1852 he had a close encounter with a large black bear, which, after a
desperate struggle, he killed with an axe. The Indians considered Mr.
Day as "waukon," supernatural, averring that their bravest warriors
would not have attacked singly so large an animal.
SARAH A. VANCE, the wife of Mr. Day, was born in Kentucky. The Vance
family were famous pioneers, and some of them were noted Methodist
preachers. Miss Vance's first marriage was to John R. Shores, by whom
she had two children, one of whom, Isabella, became the wife of A. R.
Wilson.
ALLEN R. WILSON.--Mr. Wilson was born in Kentucky; spent his early
boyhood in Shawneetown, Illinois; was married to Miss Shores at
Potosi, Wisconsin, April 16, 1848, and in 1850 came to Diamond Bluff.
Mr. Wilson took great interest in politics, was an ardent Republican,
and was among the first to volunteer his services for the suppression
of the Rebellion in 1861. He enlisted in Company B, Sixth Regiment,
Wisconsin Volunteers, and fell in battle, Sept. 14, 1862, at South
Mountain. Mr. Wilson was well informed, a close observer of political
events at home and abroad, and was a brave and efficient soldier. He
left five children.
E. S. COULTER.--Mr. Coulter is a Virginian by birth. In early manhood
he traveled extensively as a book agent, and finally settled at
Diamond Bluff, where he successfully engaged in farming and dealing in
wheat and merchandise.
JAMES BAMBER, ex-musician in the British and United States armies.
JACOB MEAD, ex-shoemaker, ex-soldier and miner, a man of superior
natural and acquired talent.
CHARLES WALBRIDGE came to Diamond Bluff in 1852.
JACOB MEAD died in 1884, leaving a large property.
CHARLES F. HOYT, with his wife and one child, came to Diamond Bluff
from Illinois, in 1853.
ENOCH QUINBY was born at Sandwich, New Hampshire; was married to
Matilda Leighton, originally from Athens, Maine. Mr. Quinby and his
wife came from Pittsfield, Illinois, to Diamond Bluff in 1854.
THE FIRST SETTLER.
There is a pretty well grounded tradition that the first white man who
found his way to Diamond Bluff was a French Vendean loyalist of the
army of Jacques Cathelineau; that he fled from France in 1793 or 1794,
landed at Quebec, and was traced by his enemies to Mackinaw and
Chicago, where they lost his trail. He came to Diamond Bluff in 1800,
and named it "Monte Diamond." He had for his housekeeper the daughter
of an Indian chief. He died here about 1824. After his death the
Indians always called the place the "Old White Man's Prairie." E.
Quinby, of Diamond Bluff, to whom we are indebted for this account,
adds: "All the additional evidence I can give in regard to this
pioneer is that prior to 1793 his wife died, leaving him one daughter,
who was deformed. A former friend of his had a beautiful daughter of
about the same age of his own. After the uprising and defeat of the
Vendeans, they became enemies, and he, to save his life, took his
former friend's daughter, instead of his own, and fled to this
country. The father pursued them as far as Chicago, where he saw his
daughter in company with some Indian girls, and having on her person
some ornaments once worn by her mother. He at once seized her and
carried her back with him to France, and the old Frenchman found his
way to Diamond Bluff." Faribault's son,[C] now living somewhere in
Minnesota, wrote me a few years since, inquiring about the old
Frenchman, saying that his grandmother claimed that her husband was a
French nobleman, and that he lived near Lake Pepin. He believed the
old Frenchman was his grandfather. The above statements were
communicated to the late Capt. Orin Smith, of Galena, Illinois, Allen
B. Wilson and myself, in 1854, or in 1855, by an old Frenchman then
residing at Potosi, Wisconsin, who claimed to have seen and gathered
these facts from the old man himself. Capt. Smith was well acquainted
with the Frenchman at Potosi, and gave the fullest credence to his
account.
EL PASO
Occupies township 26, range 16. It is drained chiefly by Rush river
and its tributary, Lost creek, on the west. The two post villages in
this town are, El Paso, located in section 5, and Lost Creek, in
section 3. George P. Walker was the first settler. He built the first
house and raised the first crop; Thomas T. Magee came in 1855. In 1860
the town was organized, Thomas Hurley and Geo. P. Walker being
supervisors. In 1862 Mr. Magee built a saw and flour mill in section
5, and platted the village of El Paso. In 1875 he removed to Clear
Lake, Polk county, of which town he was the first settler. Clara
Green taught the first school in El Paso, in 1861. There is one
Catholic and one Lutheran church in the village. The name El Paso
signifying a crossing, is of somewhat obscure derivation.
ELLSWORTH
Was organized under the name of Perry, March 3, 1857, but in 1862 it
received its present name. It occupies a central position in the
county and includes township 26, range 17. This is a rich farming
town, originally timbered with hardwood. The surface is elevated and
gently undulating. It is drained on the east by the tributaries of
Rush river, but has no large or important streams. The first
supervisors were: P. M. Simons, chairman; Caleb Bruce and Wilson
Kinnie. The first settler was Anthony Huddleston, who came April 23,
1856, and pre-empted the southeast quarter of section 20. On November
26th, of the same year, came Caleb, Elihu W. and Eli T. Bruce, who
pre-empted farms on sections 18 and 19. During the same year Wilson
and Norris Kinnie and David Klingensmith pre-empted farms in sections
18 and 19. Lilly, Miscen, Russ, and Campbell came also in 1855. The
first log house in the town was built by Anthony Huddleston in 1855.
Norris Kinnie built the first in what was afterward the village of
Ellsworth. The first school house, a log building, built was in 1857,
and Mary Filkins, now Mrs. G. H. Sargeant, of Minnesota, taught the
first school. The first marriage was that of Charles Stannard and Mary
Leonard, in 1855. The first birth, that of the twin children of
Wilson. Both died. The first death of an adult was that of Mrs. Jacob
Youngman in the winter of 1855. The post office was opened in 1860,
with Seely Strickland as postmaster.
ELLSWORTH VILLAGE.
The original owners of the southern half of section 18, and the
northern half of 19, Norris Kinnie, Eli T. Bruce, Henry P. Ames, and
Wm. Crippin laid out and platted the village of Ellsworth in 1862. Wm.
Crippin, built a frame hotel there in 1860. C. S. Dunbar opened a
store in 1861. The prospect of Ellsworth becoming the county seat gave
a great impetus to business enterprises. This was decided by a popular
vote in 1861, but owing to some technical defects was resubmitted to
the people of the county in 1862, and then definitely decided. In the
year 1862 the citizens of Ellsworth built a log house in which the
first terms of court were held; meanwhile the county officers had
their offices in the basement of Crippin's hotel. The permanent county
buildings were not erected until 1869. They are built of stone and
cost $60,000. In 1863 a frame schoolhouse took the place of the old
log structure, and in 1874 a commodious brick building was erected, at
a cost of $5,000.
The Methodists, Lutherans and Catholics have church buildings. There
is one newspaper, the _Pierce County Herald_, edited by E. F. Case and
E. S. Doolittle. The Barnes saw mill built in 1867, burned down and
rebuilt, has a capacity of about 5,000 feet per day. A branch
railroad, built from Hudson to River Falls, was extended to Ellsworth
in 1885. The depot is one mile from the village. The Pierce County
Central fair grounds, containing seventeen acres, are located near the
village. The grounds are inclosed and are covered with a fine maple
grove, in the midst of which is a large flowing spring. D. W.
Woodworth was first president of the fair association. Ellsworth has
two handsome cemeteries, Maplewood and the Catholic.
The village itself is beautifully situated on an elevated plateau
originally covered with hardwood timber. The streets are tastefully
adorned with maple trees.
ANTHONY HUDDLESTON.--Mr. Huddleston is of Irish descent. He was born
in West Virginia in 1804; had but limited educational privileges;
lived for a part of his life in Ohio and Indiana, and settled in
Ellsworth in 1855, being the first settler in the town. He was a house
carpenter for over sixty years. He was a member of the Dunkard church
sixty-two years. He was married in 1826, in Ripley, Indiana, to
Susannah Whetstone. They have three sons and six daughters living.
PERRY D. PIERCE was born in Harpersfield, Delaware county, New York.
He traces his lineage to ancestors who came across in the Mayflower
and landed at Plymouth Rock. He received an academic education,
studied law with A. Reckor, Oswego, New York, and was admitted to
practice at Cooperstown in 1843, practiced in Albany three years, and
in 1854 came to the St. Croix valley, locating first at Prescott,
where he served as district attorney for four years, and county judge
eight years. He was married in 1860, to Lua E. Searsdall. He is now a
resident of Ellsworth.
[Illustration: _Very Respectfully Hans B. Warner_]
HANS B. WARNER, of Ellsworth, Pierce county, was born at
Gulbrandsdalen, Norway, July 12, 1844; received a common school
education; is by occupation a farmer; emigrated and settled in Dodge
county, Wisconsin, in 1853, and thence removed to Pierce county in
1855, where he has since resided. He enlisted in March, 1864, as a
private, in Company G, Thirty-seventh Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer
Infantry; was wounded and captured in front of Petersburg, Virginia,
July 30, 1864, and was held a prisoner of war in Danville and Libby
prisons until paroled, September, 1864; was discharged from service on
account of wounds received in battle July 18, 1865. He has held
various local offices, and the position of county clerk of Pierce
county from January, 1869, to Dec. 21, 1877, when he resigned, to
assume the duties of secretary of state, to which office he was
elected in 1877, and was re-elected in 1879, serving in all four
years. He was elected to the state senate in 1882 and served until
1886. His home business is farming and real estate. He was married in
1866, to Julia E. Hudson.
GILMAN.
The town of Gilman includes township 27, range 16. The postal villages
are Gilman, section 10, and Olivet, section 36. Gilman was organized
as the town of Deerfield, in 1868, but in 1869 the name was changed to
Gilman. The first supervisors were Oliver Purdy, Caleb Coon, Bardon
Jensen. The first school was taught in 1870, by M. L. Maxgood. A
Norwegian Lutheran church was built in 1883, at a cost of $1,500.
There are six school houses with an aggregate cost of $2,000. The
first marriage was that of Caleb Coon and Cenith Preston, in 1867. The
first birth was a child of this married couple. The first death was
that of Mrs. Rufus Preston. The first post office was at Gilman, U. F.
Hals, postmaster. The first settlers were B. F. Gilman, in 1859, still
a resident; N. B. Lawrence, soon after, now removed; Rufus Preston and
family; Joseph and Caleb Coon and families, in 1865, still resident.
J. R. Maxgood, B. Jensen and son, E. B. Jensen, the Matthieson
brothers, Z. Sigursen, H. Bredahl, S. J. Goodell, Nels Gulikson, M. O.
Grinde, Albert Martin, P. Vanosse, and T. B. Forgenbakke are among the
oldest citizens.
HARTLAND.
Hartland occupies township 25, range 17. It has one post village,
Esdaile. It has one saw mill and a factory for the manufacture of hubs
and bent wood work, operated by Charles Betcher, of Red Wing,
Minnesota, which gives employment to seventy-five men and ten teams
the year round. The village of Esdaile has also two general
merchandise stores and a hotel. Hartland was organized in 1859. The
first supervisors were A. Harris, chairman; Joseph Sleeper and R. M.
Sproul. Amongst the first settlers were Augustus E. Hodgman, section
24, 1854; James Buckingham, section 28, 1854; Lewis Buckmaster,
section 1, 1853. The first school was taught in 1858, by Mary Ann
Stonio. The first post office was at Esdaile, Hiram Patch, postmaster.
There are three church organizations, Presbyterian, Methodist and
Lutheran (Norwegian), with buildings valued at from $700 to $1,000.
There are nine school houses, ranging in cost from $500 to $1,400. The
Good Templars have an organization.
ISABELLE.
Isabelle consists of the two upper tiers of section 7, township 24,
range 17, the lower tier being much broken in outline by Lake Pepin on
the south. It contains also fractions of sections in the third tier.
Bay City, on the shore of the lake, is the postal town. It was
organized in 1855. In 1869 it was annexed to Hartland, but in 1871 it
was re-established. The first chairman of supervisors was John
Buckingham. The election was held at the house of Abner Brown. Charles
R. Tyler and Lorenzo D. Philips settled here in 1854, and built a saw
mill where now stands the thriving village of Bay City. Saratoga plat
was laid out upon this ground in 1856, by A. C. Morton. A. J. Dexter
was the original claimant of the land. Mr. Morton purchased the land
which covered a part of Bay City from the government. A surveyor named
Markle was employed by Morton to run the lines, which Mr. Dexter
considered an intrusion upon his rights, and he shot Markle. Dexter
was tried before Judge S. S. N. Fuller, in 1855, was convicted, and
sentenced to prison for life. After a few years he was pardoned by
Gov. Barstow.
MAIDEN ROCK.
Maiden Rock occupies the four upper tiers of sections of township 24,
ranges 15 and 16, except such portions on the southwestern corner as
are cut off by Lake Pepin. It contains about forty sections. The town
was organized under the name of Spring Valley, in 1857. Its postal
villages are Maiden Rock, on the lake shore, section 15, range 15, and
Warren, also on the lake shore, section 7, range 15. The site of
Maiden Rock village was purchased from the government in 1853, by
Albert Harris and J. D. Trumbull. In 1855 they erected the first
house, and in 1856 built a saw and shingle mill. J. D. Trumbull
platted the village in 1857, and christened it Maiden Rock, from the
celebrated rock of that name a few miles further down the lake. Among
the first settlers in the village were J. H. Steel, J. D. Brown, John
Foster, and Joseph B. Hull.
The first hotel was run by G. R. Barton, in a house built by J. D.
Trumbull. This hotel has since been enlarged and is now the Lake View
House. The first marriage was that of A. J. Smith and Corinda
Eatinger, in 1857; the first birth was that of Ida Trumbull, in 1858,
and the first death that of William Trumbull, in 1858. The first
school was taught by Lottie Isabel, of Batavia, Illinois. The first
sermon was preached by Rev. James Gurley, a Methodist preacher from
North Pepin.
A post office was established in 1856, of which J. D. Trumbull was
postmaster. The receipts the first year were eleven dollars, the
expenses, fifty dollars, paid by the postmaster. The town of Maiden
Rock has six school houses, one saw and one grist mill.
CHRISTOPHER L. TAYLOR was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1829;
came to Chicago at an early day, and to Maiden Rock in 1868, where he
engaged in manufacturing. He served as county supervisor for eight
years, and as member of the Wisconsin legislature in 1876. He removed
to St. Paul in 1880, where he still resides. He is a dealer in real
estate.
MARTELL.
Martell occupies township 27, range 17. Joseph Martell, John Dee,
Louis Lepau and Xerxes Jock, Frenchmen, were the first settlers. They
located here in 1847, and remained till 1860, when they moved further
west, allured by the attractions of frontier life. Martell was
organized in 1854, with the following supervisors: Amos Bonesteel,
chairman; M. Statten and R.J. Thompson. The first school was taught in
1857, by W. Bewel. Martell is the postal village. The first postmaster
was O. Rasmunson. There are two evangelical Lutheran churches in the
town, built at a cost of $3,500 and $5,000. There is also a good town
hall, valued at $600. The Martell Mutual Insurance Company is in
successful operation.
OAK GROVE.
Oak Grove includes township 26, range 19 (with the exception of
section 31 and parts of 30 and 32), and six sections of range 20, in
all about forty sections. It is drained by Big river. It was set off
from Clifton in 1856. Hart Broughton was the first chairman of
supervisors. It contains a flouring mill on Big river; Catholic,
Lutheran, and Methodist church buildings; that of the Catholic cost
$4,000, and has a school attached. There are seven school houses. Big
River is the postal village. John Berry was first postmaster. The
first settlers were (1848) the Thing brothers, the Harnsberger
brothers, the Cornelius brothers, Rice, Schaser, McMurphy, Rissue, and
the Miner brothers.
LEWIS M. HARNSBERGER was born in Kentucky, April 18, 1822, and moved
with his parents to Illinois, where he lived nine years. He came to
Prescott in 1846, and pre-empted a farm in Oak Grove, where he has
since continuously resided. He has filled many public positions
creditably. He was married to Annie Jeffreys, of Illinois, in 1860.
Their sons are Ephraim, Lewis and John.
PRESCOTT CITY
Is beautifully located at the junction of the St. Croix and
Mississippi rivers. The business portion of the city is on a terrace
at the base of the bluff, and between it and the river and lake. The
public buildings, churches, school house and residences are chiefly on
the upper terrace, or bluff, and command an extensive view of the
valley of the two rivers, the whole forming a landscape of unrivaled
beauty. The advantages of the position are by no means limited to its
picturesque surroundings. Prescott, from its position at the junction
of the two rivers, was early recognized as an important point for the
reshipping of freight and re-embarkation of passengers. The St.
Croix, which comes in from the north, rises within a few miles of Lake
Superior, and after running a course of two hundred miles, empties its
waters into Lake St. Croix, twenty-four miles above its outlet. The
lake is navigable at all times to Stillwater and to Taylor's Falls at
the Dalles. The Mississippi comes in from the northwest, and is
navigable to St. Paul, a distance of thirty miles. The two channels at
the junction are each about 1,000 feet wide, with an average depth of
fifteen feet, and the banks slope to the water's edge, or stand in
some places in vertical ledges, thus forming a natural quay along the
entire front of the city. The quay, or landing, is semicircular in
shape, the upper terrace, or bench, about one hundred feet in height,
is likewise semicircular, the convexity being toward the river and
lake. The crest of the terrace is worn down by the rains into ravines,
leaving rounded points, or promontories, on the summit of which the
ancient mound builders have left traces of their peculiar art. The
first settlement of Prescott was made by Philander Prescott, Col.
Thompson, Dr. Emerson, and Capt. Scott, the three last named being
army officers at Fort Snelling. Mr. Prescott, acting as agent for the
others, made the claim in 1836, remaining three years to hold it, when
it was left in the care of Joseph Mosier until 1851.
In 1837 seven acres were broken and fenced, constituting the entire
landed improvements within the present bounds of Pierce county. In
1849 one hundred and fifty acres were improved. Geo. Schaser and H.
Doe were the first resident farmers. From 1838 to 1849 a trading post
for Indian supplies was kept by persons holding the claim. W. S.
Lockwood opened a store in 1842, and other improvements were made. As
the army officers were called to other fields of labor, Mr. Prescott
soon found himself in sole possession of the original claim, he
purchasing their interests, and in 1849, when the lands had been
surveyed by the government, he entered sixty-one acres. In 1853 Dr. O.
T. Maxon and W. J. Copp purchased a greater part of the town site and
surveyed and platted it as the city of Prescott. A charter was
obtained in 1857. A post office had been established here in 1840,
called the "Mouth of St. Croix," but it was removed across the lake
and named Point Douglas. The post office was re-established at
Prescott in 1852. Dr. O. T. Maxon was first postmaster. The number of
persons who came that year to Prescott is estimated at about one
hundred and fifty.[D] Mr. Schaser platted an addition to the city of
sixty-one acres in 1855. When the city received its charter the
following officers were elected: Mayor, J. R. Freeman; aldermen, First
ward, N. S. Dunbar, Thomas Dickerson and Seth Ticknor; Second ward,
Hilton Doe, George W. Oakley, N. A. Miller; president of the council,
Seth Ticknor; justices of the peace, I. T. Foster, O. Edwards; city
attorney, P. V. Wise; city surveyor, Wm. Howes; superintendent of
schools, Thomas Dickerson.
Wm. Schaser built the first frame house, and Mrs. Wm. Schaser was the
first white woman. Their daughter Eliza was the first white child born
in the new settlement. The first marriage was that of G. W. McMurphy
to a daughter of Mr. Rice, April 24, 1848. The first death was that of
W. S. Lockwood, in 1847.
When the county of Pierce was organized Prescott was designated as the
county seat, and so remained until 1862, when, by popular election,
Ellsworth was chosen.
In 1856 Messrs. Silverthorn & Dudley started a saw mill, which they
operated until 1861, when Mr. Dudley purchased his partner's interest,
and erected a flouring and saw mill.
A wagon and carriage manufactory was established by F. Menicke, in
1862, the Prescott brewery in 1866, by N. P. Husting, and the Prescott
machine shops in 1876, by H. B. Failing. The City Bank of Prescott was
organized in 1858, Charles Miller, president; W. P. Westfall, cashier;
capital stock, $50,000. It closed in 1862. The National Bank was
established in 1877, by W. S. Miller. The first school in Pierce
county was taught by a missionary named Denton, at Prescott, in 1843.
In 1851 Miss Oliver taught a private school. In 1853 the first
district school was established. The school board were: Directors, M.
Craig, George W. McMurphy; treasurer, N. S. Dunbar; clerk, Dr. O. T.
Maxon; teacher, Miss Matthews. The first school house was built in
1854. A building for a graded school was erected in 1859. A high
school building was erected in 1847, at a cost of $20,000.
The first religious society was that of the Methodists, organized in
1853, under the labors of Rev. Norris Hobart. Their first building
was erected in 1856. Its dimensions were 20 × 32 feet, ground plan. In
1868 they erected a building 40 × 70 feet, ground plan, at a cost of
$4,000.
In 1854 the Baptist church was organized by Rev. E. W. Cressy.
In 1854 the Congregationalists organized, with Rev. P. Hall as pastor,
and in 1855 built a brick church, 40 × 50 feet, ground plan.
In 1855 the Presbyterians organized, and in 1866 built a church.
The Lutheran church was organized in 1865, by Rev. C. Thayer.
Under the preaching of Rev. M. Guild the Episcopal church was
organized in 1872. Previous to this date Revs. Breck, Wilcoxson and
Peabody had labored from time to time. The Catholic church was
organized by Rev. Father Vervais in 1860. In 1868 a church edifice was
built.
The following social and benevolent orders have organizations in
Prescott:
Northwestern Lodge, A. F. and A. M organized 1856
Prescott Lodge, I. O. O. F " 1868
Lodge No. 319, I. O. G. T " 1876
Prescott Juvenile Temple, No. 108 " 1877
Prescott Temple of Honor " 1878
Converse Post, G. A. R. " 1884
Pierce County Agricultural Society, O. T. Maxon, president " 1859
The Agricultural Society has fair grounds just east of the city, well
arranged, with a half mile race track, and buildings in good
condition. Fairs are held annually. Pine Glen cemetery is situated on
the bluff half a mile below the city. It was established in 1856.
Nature has done much for the site. The view of the Mississippi valley
is unobstructed for a distance of from twelve to twenty miles on the
south, and to the bend of the river bluffs above Hastings. The grounds
are handsomely laid out and adorned with shrubbery.
DESTRUCTIVE FIRES.
Prescott has suffered severely from fires. The following is a partial
list of losses:
Lowry & Co., saw mill loss $3,500
Todd & Horton's mill " 2,000
Stevens, Lechner & Co. (1854) " 3,000
Fire on Main street (1871) loss $22,000
Fire on Main street (1872) " 12,000
Fire on Main street (1874) " 12,000
Redman, Cross & Co., flour mills (1877) " 40,000
The latter was insured for $20,000. Total loss, nearly $75,000.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
PHILANDER PRESCOTT was born in 1801, at Phelpstown, Ontario county,
New York. Late in the year 1819 he came to Fort Snelling and remained
there, or in the vicinity, the greater part of his life. From his
constant association with the Indians, especially with the Sioux, he
learned to speak their language. He was also related to them by his
marriage with a Sioux woman. This fact, added to his influence among
them, and being a man not only of a high character for integrity, but
well educated and intelligent, he was able to render the officers of
the Fort much service. He made a translation into the Sioux dialect of
a number of English and French hymns for the use of the mission
schools near Prescott. He gave his children an English education. In
1835, while acting as Indian interpreter, he came to the present site
of Prescott, and in conjunction with several officers of the Fort, he
acting as their agent, laid claim to considerable territory, and made
some improvements in the shape of log buildings. When the army
officers were sent to other posts, Mr. Prescott purchased their
interests and held the claim. In 1849, after the government survey, he
pre-empted sixty-one acres and laid out what he called the city of
Prescott. He resided here and at the Fort alternately until his death,
which occurred in 1862. He had been sent by the government on a peace
mission to the Indians in rebellion, met them at a point near Mankato,
and was cruelly assassinated by those to whom he had ever proven a
true friend, and whom he had every reason to suppose friendly to him.
GEORGE SCHASER is a native of Austria, and came to the mouth of the
St. Croix in 1841. In 1842 he returned to St. Louis and married
Christine Bucher. Mrs. Schaser was the first white woman resident in
Prescott. Mr. Schaser built the first frame house in the settlement,
in 1844. This house was regarded for many years as the finest house
between Prairie du Chien and St. Paul. In 1855 Mr. Schaser surveyed an
addition to Prescott on land he had pre-empted in 1849. In 1858 he
built the brick hotel known as the St. Nicholas. Mr. Schaser died May
3, 1884, leaving a widow, three sons and one daughter. His sons are
Henry, Edward and George A. His daughter Emma was married to Capt.
John E. Ball (deceased 1881). An older daughter, Eliza, the first
child born in Pierce county, was married to E. W. Haviland, and died
in 1880, near New Orleans.
WILLIAM S. LOCKWOOD, a native of New York State, came to Prairie du
Chien in 1833, and to Prescott in 1842. The year following his family
followed. Mr. Lockwood died in 1847. His widow, Georgiana Barton, was
married to Orange B. Walker, of Marine Mills, and died at Marine, Oct.
9, 1885.
JAMES MONROE BAILEY was born in 1824, in Sullivan county, New York,
where his youthful days were passed. He came to Prescott in 1849,
where he has since been engaged in farming, mercantile and real estate
business. He was married in 1856, in Prescott, to Nettie Crippin. They
have one son, Victor, and two daughters, Myrtle, wife of E. L.
Meacham, of Prescott, and Jessamine. Mr. Bailey has a very pleasant
home in Prescott. He has filled various offices, among them that of
treasurer and clerk of St. Croix county, prior to the organization of
Pierce.
ADOLPH WERKMAN was born in Germany in 1826; came to America in 1847,
and to Prescott in 1848. He was married at Prescott in 1856.
JOSEPH MANESE (alias Joseph Abear) was of French extraction and a
native of Lower Canada. While yet a youth he came into the Lake
Superior region, where he was employed most of his time in hunting and
trapping by the fur companies. His history, if written in full, would
abound in stirring incidents and adventures. He was a man of unusual
strength and activity, and in disposition light hearted, vivacious and
gay even to hilarity. He died in Prescott in 1884.
HILTON DOE was a native of New York State, and came to Red Wing, as
Indian farmer, about 1840. He settled in Prescott in 1844, in sections
9 and 10, pre-emptions subsequently surveyed into town lots. Mr. Doe
married Miss Daily, in Illinois, in 1844. Mrs. Doe died in 1860, Mr.
Doe in 1884.
LUTE A. TAYLOR, a young man of decided talent, a good classical
scholar, a brilliant writer and humorist, came to River Falls in 1856,
and in 1857, with his brother Horace, established the River Falls
_Journal_, which they continued to publish jointly for three years,
when Horace removed to Hudson and established the _Times_. Lute A.
removed to Prescott, taking with him the material of the _Journal_
office, and established the Prescott _Journal_, which he edited and
published until 1869, when he removed to La Crosse and published the
La Crosse _Leader_ until his death, which occurred in 1872.
Mr. Taylor was a correspondent of various papers and an entertaining
lecturer. As a conversationalist and wit, he was without a rival. A
slight impediment in his speech, if anything, added to the humorous
effect of his pithy sayings. He is well remembered in the valley of
the St. Croix. A volume containing his biography and some
characteristic sketches has been published since his death.
JOHN HUITT, a Canadian, came to Prescott in 1847, and erected the
first blacksmith shop in the village. He was married in Prescott to a
daughter of Joseph Mosier, and subsequently pre-empted a quarter
section of land on Prescott prairie. He built a saw and planing mill
on Trimbelle river. He died at Trimbelle in 1873.
JOHN M. RICE was born in Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1805; was married
in 1828, in Massachusetts, to Mary A. Goodenough; came in 1837 to
Marine, Illinois, and in 1847 to Prescott. Mr. Rice was a house
carpenter, but followed also the business of farming. He was an
upright man and a member of the Congregational church. He died in
1878, leaving one son, David O., living in Prescott; a daughter, Maria
A., wife of G. W. McMurphy, of Prescott, and a daughter in Illinois.
AN INDIAN BATTLE.
The feud between the Sioux and Chippewas originated in prehistoric
times and from causes not now known. It has been a tribal vendetta,
continuous and relentless, with the advantages in favor of the
Chippewas, who, in the course of time, have steadily forced the Sioux
westward from the Sault Ste. Marie to the Mississippi at Prescott. We
give the following account of one of their battles, being an Indian
version, translated and written out by Philander Prescott. This fight
occurred in 1711, on the site of the city of Prescott. As the Indians
had been supplied by the French with firearms as early as 1700, there
is nothing improbable in their alleged use on this occasion. But for
the story:
"The Chippewas, a thousand strong, attacked a camp of
eighteen Sioux lodges by night and killed most of the
warriors. The women and children fled to the canoes, and,
jumping in, pushed from the shore, but, in their hurry,
without paddles. A large eddy in the river carried the
canoes round and round, and, as they swept near the shore,
the Chippewas seized them, pulled them to the shore and
butchered the women and children. A few Sioux warriors had
fled up the bank of the lake, where they hid in crevices and
caves of the rocks. The Chippewas discovered their hiding
places and killed all but one, who rushed from his retreat,
and, diving again and again in the lake, swam for the
opposite shore. As often as his head appeared above the
water the Chippewas fired a volley of bullets, which fell
around like hail, but harmlessly. The bold swimmer finally
reached the opposite shore unharmed, when he gave a whoop of
joy and disappeared in the thicket. The Chippewas, filled
with admiration at his daring exploit, returned his farewell
whoop with interest."
RIVER FALLS
Occupies township 27, range 18, and a tier of two sections from range
19. Trimbelle river drains the eastern portion and the Kinnikinic the
northwest. Its early history is identified with the history of River
Falls city, its first settlement. It was organized in 1854, as
Greenwood, but in 1858 the name was changed to River Falls. As River
Falls city was not incorporated until 1885, we shall give its early
history in connection with that of the town.
The first settler was Joel Foster, in the fall of 1848. In 1849, came
D. McGregor, James and Walter Mapes; in 1850, Messrs. Hayes, Tozer,
Penn and Parks, and not long after the Powells and Clark Green. These
early settlers chose locations at, or near, the present site of River
Falls city, and along the banks of the Kinnikinic, which here, owing
to its numerous waterfalls, offered unusual facilities for milling and
manufacturing. The first crop was raised by Joel Foster, in 1849. The
first saw mill was built in 1851 by the brothers N. N. and O. S.
Powell, just below the site of the present Greenwood mill. This was
burned in 1876. In 1854 the Powell brothers platted the village of
River Falls, called at first, Kinnikinic, setting apart for that
purpose two hundred acres of land. This plat included the upper
waterfalls within the present city limits. The largest water power
they donated to C. B. Cox as a mill site, to encourage settlement in
the village. The brothers co-operated in building up the village,
amongst other things building a frame store and stocking it with
goods. This was the first store in the Kinnikinic valley. They dealt
also in real estate and lumber. The name of River Falls, as applied to
the village, dates from the establishment of the first post office, in
1854. Charles Hutchinson was the first postmaster, and the office was
held in this pioneer store. J. S. Rounce, in 1870, built the first
foundry in Pierce county.
The water powers of River Falls have been extensively utilized, many
saw and flouring mills having been erected at various times on the
Kinnikinic. Of these, in 1886, the more notable are, the Junction
mills, owned by Freeman, Rhyder & Co., with a capacity of 400 barrels
daily, and a barrel manufactory attached, which gives employment to 40
men and turns off from 300 to 400 barrels daily. The Greenwood mills,
owned by Geo. Fortune & Co., capacity 50 barrels; the Cascade mills,
owned by the Baker estate, capacity 50 barrels; the Prairie mill,
built by C. B. Cox in 1858, and now owned by J. D. Putnam, capacity
150 barrels.
In educational matters River Falls has taken and maintained an
advanced position. The first school house was built in 1854, by seven
men, at a cost of five hundred dollars. Helen Flint taught the first
school. In 1856 a joint stock association was incorporated as "The
River Falls Academy." A building was erected, 36 × 66 feet, ground
plan, and two stories in height. Prof. Wilcox was the first principal.
This school was maintained as an academy until 1860, at which time it
was superseded by the free schools. In the fall of 1879 the building
was destroyed by fire. Subsequently a commodious brick structure was
erected in its place at a cost of $15,000. Excellent private schools
were maintained by Hinckley, Cody and Baker, for five years during the
'60s. The State Normal School, of which a more extended account is
given elsewhere, was established here, and a building erected in 1874,
at a cost of about $65,000, the people of River Falls and other towns
contributing to this fund $25,000, with private subscriptions to the
amount of $12,000, and a donation of ten acres of land. Of the $25,000
River Falls gave $10,000, Troy $4,000, Clifton $3,000, while Pierce
county contributed $5,000, and Kinnikinic, St. Croix county, gave
$3,000. The building, a handsome brick, four stories high, including
the basement, stands on an elevated plat of ground in the southeastern
part of the city. The first board of instruction consisted of W. D.
Parker, president, with the following assistants: J. B. Thayer,
conductor of teachers' institute; A. Earthman, history, geography,
music; Lucy E. Foot, English literature, reading, spelling; Julia A.
McFarlan, mathematics; Margaret Hosford, Latin and English literature.
Model department, Ellen C. Jones, teacher, grammar grade; Mary A.
Kelley, teacher, intermediate grade; Lizzie J. Curtis, teacher,
primary grade.
The following are the churches of River Falls, with date of
establishment and name of first pastor when known: Congregational,
1855, Rev. James Stirratt; Baptist, 1857, Rev. A. Gibson; Methodist,
1858; Episcopal, 1871, Rev. Chas. Thorpe; Catholic, 1875, Rev. Father
Connelly; Seventh Day Adventist, 1881.
With the exception of the last named, these church organizations have
good buildings. The Congregational church building erected in 1857 was
superseded by a building in 1867 that cost $10,000. This was destroyed
by a tornado in 1868, but has since been rebuilt at the cost of the
building destroyed, and a parsonage has been added at a cost of
$2,000.
A Sunday-school was established in River Falls in 1853, and the first
sermon was preached, in 1850 or 1851, by Rev. Julius S. Webber, a
Baptist missionary. Rev. John Wilcoxson, an Episcopalian, held
occasional services as early as 1859.
ASSOCIATIONS.
The following are the social and benevolent associations of River
Falls, with dates of organization: Masonic Lodge, June, 1859; I. O. O.
F., 1872; I. O. G. T., March 15, 1877; Juvenile Temple of Honor, March
15, 1877; Temple of Honor, March 31, 1878; A. O. U. W., 1878. The
hall, fixtures and charter of the Odd Fellows Lodge was destroyed in
the fire of 1876, but the lodge was rechartered the same year.
THE BANK OF RIVER FALLS
Was organized Jan. 1, 1874. ---- Bartlett, president; Joseph M. Smith,
cashier. Capital, $15,000. It was reorganized in 1883, under state
law, R. S. Burhyte, president; W. D. Parker, vice president; J. M.
Smith, cashier. Capital stock, $35,000. Total business in 1885,
$5,770,733.98.
HUDSON & RIVER FALLS RAILROAD.
This road was built in 1878, the people of River Falls contributing
$60,000 to its construction. The road is ten miles in length. In 1885
it was extended to Ellsworth, a distance of twelve miles.
RIVER FALLS BOARD OF TRADE
Was established in 1884. A. D. Andrews, president; C. H. Keys,
secretary.
FIRES.
In 1875 the Metropolitan Hotel, costing $15,000, and other buildings
were burned; loss $30,000. The insurance was light. In 1876 a large
portion of the town was destroyed by fire.
RIVER FALLS CITY.
River Falls was incorporated as a city in 1885. At the first election
for city officers, held April 7th, three hundred and nineteen votes
were cast, and the following persons were declared duly elected to the
positions named: Mayor, A. A. Andrews; treasurer, G. E. Pratt;
assessor, E. H. Daniel; aldermen, First ward, W. W. Wadsworth; Second
ward, L. M. Rosenquist; Third ward, R. N. Jenson; Fourth ward, L.
Styles; marshal, R. N. Bevens; city clerk, Allen H. Weld. The license
for the sale of intoxicants was fixed at $200. The population of River
Falls in 1886 was 1,700. It is a lively, prosperous city, planned on a
liberal scale, with wide streets, well shaded with ornamental trees.
The mills have reservations by which they are separated from the
business part of the city. The beauty of the original waterfalls is
somewhat marred by the mills and their debris. Originally they were
very beautiful and picturesque, and were widely celebrated, and much
visited by the lovers of Nature. Of these falls there are four, two on
the south branch, one on the north branch, and one some rods below
the junction of the two streams. The falls were not noted for their
grandeur, but rather for their quiet beauty, the water falling over
ledges but a few feet in height, and so broken in two of them as to
present the general appearance of a succession of stairs, or steps, of
unequal elevation, over which the water falls. An interesting feature
at the junction of the two rivers is the cave in which the pioneer
settler, Judge Joel Foster, with his negro boy, spent the winter of
1848-49. From his cave cabin he had full view of the falls on the two
streams, no less beautiful in their winter dress of gleaming icicles,
with the frost-whitened boughs of the willow and alder drooping over
them, than in their summer brightness. The judge has told me that he
loved, almost worshiped, this spot. The cave cabin stood about one
hundred feet from the sparkling stream. There, in the early morning,
he could cast his line, and have for his regal breakfast the speckled
trout. Above him towered a precipice crowned with evergreen trees, and
around him, on the borders of the streams, were the elm and maple, and
an undergrowth of alder and birch. There certainly could have been no
fairer scene in the West. To-day no traces remain of the old cave
cabin. The Junction mills have effaced the more beautiful and poetic
features of the scene. The judge has passed away, and found a grave on
an elevation overlooking his old home and the scenes he loved so well.
The judge, although a friend to progress, and active in advancing the
material interests of the locality in which he lived, was unalterably
opposed to the movement to incorporate River Falls, and did all he
could to defeat the measure. When the incorporative act had been
passed, he moved outside of the city limits, declaring that he would
neither live nor die within them; but having been fatally injured by
an accident, he was brought back to his old home, and died within the
city.
THE FOURTH STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT RIVER FALLS--HISTORY.
The constitution of the State, adopted in 1848, provides "that the
revenue of the school fund shall be exclusively applied to the
following objects:
"_First_--To the support and maintenance of common schools
in each school district, and the purchase of suitable
libraries and appurtenances therefor.
"_Second_--That the residue of the income of the school fund
shall be appropriated to the support of academies and normal
schools, and suitable libraries and appurtenances therefor."
No effort was made to take advantage of this provision of the
constitution for the endowment of normal schools until 1857, when an
act was passed providing "that the income of twenty-five per cent of
the proceeds arising from the sale of swamp and overflowed lands
should be appropriated to normal institutes and academies, under the
supervision and direction of a 'board of regents of normal schools,'"
who were to be appointed in pursuance of the provisions of that act.
Under this law, the income placed at the disposal of the regents was
distributed for several years to such colleges, academies and high
schools as maintained a normal class, and in proportion to the number
of pupils in the class who passed satisfactory examinations, conducted
by an agent of the board.
The law under which these schools are organized provides that "the
exclusive purpose of each normal school shall be the instruction and
training of persons, both male and female, in the theory and art of
teaching, and in all the various branches that pertain to a good
common school education, and in all subjects needful to qualify for
teaching in the public schools; also to give instruction in the
fundamental laws of the United States and of this State, and in what
regards the rights and duties of citizens."
REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE NORMAL SCHOOLS.
Tuition is free to all students who are admitted to these normal
schools under the following regulations of the board of regents:
_First_--Each assembly district in the State shall be
entitled to eight representatives in the normal schools, and
in case vacancies exist in the representation to which any
assembly district is entitled, such vacancies may be filled
by the president and secretary of the board of regents.
_Second_--Candidates for admission shall be nominated by the
superintendent of the county (or if the county
superintendent has not jurisdiction, then the nomination
shall be made by the city superintendent) in which such
candidate may reside, and shall be at least sixteen years of
age, of sound bodily health and good moral character. Each
person so nominated shall receive a certificate setting
forth his name, age, health and character.
_Third_--Upon the presentation of such certificate to the
president of a normal school, the candidate shall be
examined, under the direction of said president, in the
branches required by law for a third grade certificate,
except history, theory and practice of teaching, and if
found qualified to enter the normal school in respect to
learning, he may be admitted after furnishing such evidence
as the president may require of good health and good moral
character, and after subscribing to the following
declaration:
I, ---- ----, do hereby declare that my purpose in entering
this State Normal School is to fit myself for the profession
of teaching, and that it is my intention to engage in
teaching in the schools of the State.
_Fourth_--No person shall be entitled to a diploma who has
not been a member of the school in which such diploma is
granted, at least one year, nor who is less than nineteen
years of age; a certificate of attendance may be granted by
the president of a normal school to any person who shall
have been a member of such school for one term; provided,
that in his judgment such certificate is deserved.
As an addition to the work of the normal schools, the board of regents
are authorized to expend a sum not exceeding $5,000 annually, to
sustain teachers' institutes, and may employ an agent for that
purpose. Institutes are regarded as important auxiliaries and feeders
to the normal schools. At present one professor from each normal
school is employed conducting institutes every spring and fall.
The normal school fund now amounts to over $1,250,000, and yields an
annual income of about $100,000. It will be increased by the further
sale of swamp lands, and will prove ample for the objects for which it
is set apart.
In 1865 the legislature divided the swamp lands and swamp land fund
into two equal parts, one for drainage purposes, the other to
constitute a normal school fund. The income of the latter was to be
applied to establishing, supporting and maintaining normal schools,
under the direction and management of the board of regents of normal
schools, with a proviso that one-fourth of such income should be
transferred to the common school fund, until the annual income of that
fund should reach $200,000. During the same year, proposals were
invited for extending aid in establishment of a normal school, and
propositions were received from various places.
In 1866 the board of regents was incorporated by the legislature.
JOEL FOSTER.--Judge Foster was born at Meriden, Connecticut, Dec. 15,
1814. He was liberally educated. He came to Edwardsville, Illinois, in
1830, and to Hudson, then known as Buena Vista, in 1848. After a
careful exploration of the country he made choice of the valley of the
Kinnikinic, and made him a home in the fall of 1848, at the junction
of the two branches of that stream, and within sound of its beautiful
cascades. He was the pioneer settler of the River Falls of to-day. He
built the first dwelling house, raised the first crops, and ever
proved himself a worthy citizen, first in every good work and
enterprise. He was a man of far more than ordinary intelligence and
moral worth, was temperate, industrious, public spirited, sagacious
and independent. He has filled many positions of responsibility,
amongst them that of judge of St. Croix county. During the Mexican War
he served as a quartermaster in Col. Bissell's Second Illinois
Regiment. Judge Foster was married at Chicago in 1856 to Charlotte
Porch. He died at his home in River Falls, Aug. 9, 1885.
JESSE B. THAYER was born Oct. 11, 1845, in Janesville, Wisconsin; was
educated at Milton College in 1870, and is by profession a teacher.
During the Rebellion he served in the Fortieth and Forty-ninth
Wisconsin Volunteers as a private. He served five years as principal
of the public schools in Menomonie, and since 1875 has been connected
with the State Normal School at River Falls as conductor of
institutes. In 1885 he was elected to represent Pierce county in the
state assembly.
A. D. ANDREWS.--Dr. A. D. ANDREWS was born in Lowell, Maine, Sept. 21,
1830. He graduated at the Chicago Medical College in 1860, and in 1861
was commissioned assistant surgeon of the Sixth Wisconsin Infantry, of
the famous Iron Brigade, with which he served up to the battle of
Gettysburg. After retiring from the army he came to River Falls and
engaged in milling, in which business he successfully continued until
1880, when he retired. He was elected state senator in 1878. He was
appointed a regent of the Fourth State Normal School in 1877. He died
at his home an River Falls, after a short illness, July 23, 1885. He
was mayor of the city at the time of his death.
JOSEPH A. SHORT.--Mr. Short was born in Madison county, New York,
April 16, 1806. He learned the trade of a millwright. He visited the
East and West Indies. He came to Milwaukee in 1842. In 1849 he went to
California, but returned in 1854, and settled in River Falls, where he
built a saw and planing mill, laid out an addition to the village and
in various ways promoted the interests of the settlement. Mr. Short
was a member of the Methodist church sixty years, and of the Masonic
fraternity fifty years. He was married Aug. 25, 1831, in New York, to
Olive Prossen. He died at his home, May 6, 1886, aged eighty years,
leaving a son and three daughters.
ALLEN H. WELD.--Prof. A. H. Weld, widely known as a pioneer educator,
and as the author of an excellent grammar, was born in Vermont in
1810. He graduated at Yale College. He came to River Falls in 1858 and
taught the first graded school in the village. For two years he was
principal of the high school at Hudson, and for six years was
superintendent of schools in St. Croix county. He was a member of the
state board of regents nine years, and was prime mover in securing the
location of the State Normal School at River Falls. The excellent
character of the schools in St. Croix county, and the high educational
position of River Falls, are due to his untiring effort and wise
direction. Mr. Weld was a member of the Congregational church and a
consistent Christian as well as a progressive, public spirited man. He
died in 1882, at his home in River Falls, leaving a widow and one son,
Allen P.
ALLEN P. WELD was born in North Yarmouth, Maine, in 1839. In 1859 he
graduated at Dartmouth College. He studied law and was admitted to
practice in 1867, at Albany, New York. He taught school at Albany
three years, and came to River Falls in 1859, where he is a dealer in
real estate. He was married in 1872 to Alice Powell, daughter of Lyman
Powell.
GEORGE W. NICHOLS was born in 1795, at Braintree, Vermont. His father
was a soldier in the Revolution. At the age of seventeen he enlisted
and served in the war of 1812. He lived in Vermont fifty years, in
Massachusetts ten years, and in 1855 came to River Falls, where he
engaged in farming until he was eighty years of age. He was married in
Vermont to Deborah Hobart, who died in 1874. His sons George H. and
William H. reside in River Falls. They were soldiers during the war of
the Rebellion. His son Isaac N. was a member of Capt. Samuels'
company, and was killed at Perrysville, Kentucky. The Grand Army of
the Republic post at River Falls has his name. He died in 1887.
W. D. PARKER--Prof. Parker was born in Bradford, Orange county,
Vermont, in 1839. He received a common school and academic education.
At the age of sixteen years he entered the Janesville High School, and
four years later graduated. He taught two years in Janesville, four
years at Delavan, and one year in Monroe, Green county, Wisconsin. In
1867 he visited Europe, after which he taught two years at Lake
Geneva, Wisconsin. He was superintendent of schools five years at
Janesville. In 1875 he was elected to the presidency of the Fourth
State Normal School at River Falls. In 1886 he was elected state
superintendent of public instruction. Prof. Parker was married to
Justine B. Hewes, of Chicago, in 1869.
THE POWELL FAMILY.--William Powell, the father, came to River Falls in
1849, where he lived with his sons until his death, Nov. 30, 1865. His
second wife was the widow of ---- Taylor, and the mother of Horace and
Lute Taylor, the well known journalists. Mrs. Powell died in July,
1884.
LYMAN POWELL came to River Falls with his family in 1855. He was
married to Lucinda Taylor, sister of Horace and Lute Taylor. Mr.
Powell died at River Falls, Nov. 9, 1872, leaving a wife, two sons and
five daughters.
NATHANIEL N. POWELL, the second son, born May 11, 1827, in St.
Lawrence county, New York, came to River Falls in 1849, and pre-empted
the northeast quarter of section 1, now a part of the site of River
Falls city. He was married to Martha Ann Hart, Sept. 28, 1842, at
Hudson. He died at River Falls, Sept. 28, 1862, leaving one son and
one daughter.
OLIVER S. POWELL, the youngest son, was born June 19, 1831, and came
to Hancock county, Illinois, in 1843, where he lived eight years. He
had no great opportunities for gaining an education. He came to
Stillwater in 1849, bringing with him the first threshing machine
north of Prairie du Chien. He threshed the first grain threshed in the
county in the fall of that year, for Fiske, on a farm three miles
below Stillwater. In November, 1849, he located in River Falls,
pre-empting the south half of the southeast quarter of section 36,
town 28, range 19, lands lying just north of those claimed by his
brother, and which afterward became a part of River Falls. Mr. Powell
was a representative in the state assembly in 1870-71-72, and was a
county commissioner many years. He was married in 1860 to Elmira
Nichols. They have three sons, Harvey C., Newell N. and Lyman T., and
four daughters, Lucy M., Sarah H., Amy E., and Miriam.
NILS P. HAUGEN was born in Norway in 1849; came to America in 1853 and
to River Falls in 1854. He graduated in the law department of Michigan
State University in 1874. Mr. Haugen was phonographic reporter of the
Eighth and Eleventh Judicial circuits for several years, and a member
of the assembly from Pierce county in 1879 and 80. He was elected
railroad commissioner for Wisconsin in 1881, and re-elected in 1884.
In 1886 he was elected representative to Congress.
H. L. WADSWORTH was born July 10, 1821, in Erie county, New York. He
learned the trade of a shoemaker, came West in 1846, and settled at
River Falls some time in the '50s, and engaged in farming. He has
filled many positions of trust in the St. Croix valley, and in 1867
represented St. Croix county in the assembly. In 1841 he was married
to Miss A. R. Baldwin. Eight children have been born to them.
ROCK ELM
Includes township 26, range 15. It was organized as a town Nov. 16,
1866. The first town meeting was held at the house of J. Prickett. The
first commissioner was Sylvester Fox, chairman. The post offices are
at Rock Elm, on the western line of the town, section 19, and Rock Elm
Centre, sections 16 and 17. At the latter place is located Rock Elm
Institute, a school of high grade, founded in 1880. Harrison Lowater
is the principal. The town is well supplied with schools, there being
as many as nine within its limits. Among its first settlers were
Loomis Kellogg, Charles A. Hawn and Sylvester Fox.
SALEM.
Salem occupies township 25, range 16. It is drained by Rush river. It
was organized as a town Jan. 13, 1862. First board of supervisors, C.
C. Carpenter, Eben White and J. H. Shults. The first school was taught
in 1857, by Thompson McCleary. The first marriage was that of Harvey
Seeley and Kate McKinstry. The first child born was Sarah Fuller. The
first death was that of John McCleary, Sept. 2, 1863. The first post
office was established at Rush River, May 1860, Joseph Seeley,
postmaster. The first settlers were Jeremiah Fuller, from Ohio, and W.
Wells, 1846; Harvey Seeley, 1848; Thomas Boyle and James White, 1854;
John F. Davis from Ireland, 1856 (town clerk twenty years); John H.
Brasington, from Pennsylvania (town treasurer fifteen years); Eben
White, James Walsingham, John Strong, H. M. Hicks, from Pennsylvania,
1858; John Foley and brothers, from Ireland, 1856; James H. Shults,
Joseph Seeley, H. C. Brown, John McClure, from Ireland; C. C. and Ira
W. Carpenter, from Connecticut, 1858.
Mrs. Fuller, the wife of the pioneer, was here over six months, during
which time she did not see a white woman.
SPRING LAKE
Is the extreme northeastern town of the county, occupying township 27,
range 15. The post offices are Oak Ridge and Spring Valley. The town
was organized Nov. 10, 1868. The first town meeting was held at the
house of A. M. Wilcox. The first supervisors were: W. D. Akers,
chairman; Jonas Nebb; Levi Hess, clerk. The first school was taught in
1866, by Agnes Harriman. The Methodist and Baptist churches have
organizations, and the Methodists have a building worth five hundred
dollars. The first marriage was that of H. M. Wilcox to Mrs. Kate
Rice, of Lake City, by W. D. Akers, justice of the peace. The first
child born was a daughter of Ole P. Gardner. The first death was that
of Leota Wilcox, in 1864. The first postmaster was B. H. Preston,
1871. The first settlers in the order of their coming were James
Gilmore, O. P. Gardner, George Wilcox, John Francisco and W. D. Akers.
TRENTON.
Trenton contains about twenty-eight sections, those on the Mississippi
having very irregular boundaries. Twenty-four whole sections lie in
township 25, range 18, and the remainder in township 24, range 18.
Trenton, in section 33, township 25, is its post village. Trenton was
organized in 1857; James Akers, chairman of supervisors. Wilson
Thing, the pioneer settler, came in 1848.
TRIMBELLE.
Trimbelle includes township 26, range 18. Its post villages are
Trimbelle and Beldenville. It was organized March 2, 1855. Its
supervisors were F. Otis, chairman, and Aaron Cornelison. Among its
earliest settlers were the Cornelisons, F. Otis and M. B. Williams. It
has four saw mills and one flouring mill, five school houses and one
church (Methodist).
MARTIN B. WILLIAMS was born in New York in 1812. He received a common
school education, and at the age of sixteen years was thrown upon his
own resources. He learned the trade of blacksmith. He was married in
New York, and has four sons, Clark M., Frank T., G. Glen and A. Judd.
Mr. Williams is one of the pioneer settlers of Trimbelle, and has held
many public town and county positions. He served as treasurer of
Pierce county four years. He has been a local preacher in the
Methodist Episcopal church for over thirty years.
UNION.
Union consists of township 25, range 15. It is drained by Plum creek.
It has two post offices, Plum Creek, in section 24, and Ono, section
6. It was organized Aug. 15, 1863. Among its first settlers were
Eleazer Holt, Hiram N. Wood, and Capt. Horst, who made their homes
here in the early '50s.
FOOTNOTES:
[B] In 1849 the town of Elisabeth was organized by St. Croix county,
and included what is now Pierce county. The first board of supervisors
were William Thing, chairman; Aaron Cornelius, and L. M. Harnsberger;
clerk, Hilton Doe; treasurer, Geo. W. McMurphy. In 1851, by
legislative enactment, the name Elisabeth was changed to Prescott.
[C] A member of the well known Faribault family, after whom the town
of Faribault has been named.
[D] NOTE.--When I touched at Prescott in 1845, it was generally known
as the "Mouth of St. Croix," though by some called "Prescott's
Landing." The residents were Hilton Doe, a farmer; Geo. Schaser,
boarding house keeper; W. S. Lockwood, merchant; Joseph Mosier, an
Indian trader or storekeeper. The principal trade was with Indians.
CHAPTER VIII.
BURNETT, WASHBURN, SAWYER AND BARRON COUNTIES.
BURNETT COUNTY.
Burnett county was named in honor of a genial, kind hearted and
eccentric lawyer, Thomas Pendleton Burnett, of Prairie du Chien. It is
somewhat irregular in outline, and is bounded on the north by Douglas,
on the east by Barron, on the south by Polk and Barron counties, and
on the west by the St. Croix river. It includes townships 37 to 42,
range 14; from 38 to 42, range 15; from 38 to 41, ranges 16 and 17;
from 37 to 40, ranges 18 and 19; from 37 to 38, range 20. Seven of
these townships bordering on the St. Croix are fractional. Much of the
soil of the county is a sandy loam admirably suited to cereals and
vegetables. Some townships in the southeast are first class wheat
lands. The timber is mostly a thicket-like growth of small pines,
constituting what is called pine barrens. The southeast portion of the
county is timbered with hardwoods. It is drained by the St. Croix,
Trade, Wood, Clam, Yellow, and Namakagon rivers, with their
tributaries, and with the Wood lakes (Big and Little), Mud Hen, Trade,
Yellow, Spirit, and numerous other lakes. There are besides many
thousand acres of marsh land. These marsh lands are by no means
valueless, as they have given rise to a very important industry--the
growing of cranberries. There are fine deposits of iron. Large tracts
of bog ore are found in townships 38 to 41, ranges 16 to 19. There is
an abundance of wild meadow land, easily drained and profitable to
stock growers.
The settlers of this county are, for the greater part, Swedish and
Norwegian emigrants, an intelligent, moral and religious class of
people who, while they cherish the traditions, manners, customs and
language of their native country, still readily adapt themselves to
American institutions, taking kindly to our common school system and
to other distinctive features of their adopted country. A liberal
spirit has characterized these people in building roads, bridges,
school houses, churches, and making other public improvements. They
have succeeded well also in their private enterprises, the cultivation
of farms and the building of homes.
ORGANIZATION.
The county, originally a part of Polk, was set off March 1, 1856, and
included also at that time, and till the year 1877, the present county
of Washburn. It was organized in 1865. The first county officers,
appointed by the governor, were: Judge, Nimrod H. Hickerson; clerk of
court, Canute Anderson; register of deeds, Peter Anderson; treasurer,
S. Thompson; sheriff, Martin B. Johnson; district attorney, Jacob
Larson. Grantsburg was selected as the county seat. The first county
supervisors, consisting of Michael Jenson, chairman, Thore Ingebritson
and Peter Anderson, met Jan. 24, 1865. The first election was held at
the house of Nimrod H. Hickerson, Nov. 7, 1865. The first frame house
in the county was built at Grantsburg in 1865, by W. H. Peck. The
first crops were raised in township 39, range 18, by Charles Ayer. The
finances of the county have been managed discreetly. The state
drainage fund was judiciously expended. The first deed recorded in
Burnett county was a tax deed from Polk county to Simon Estonson, of
the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 35, township
38, range 19. It bears date Jan. 20, 1866.
THE PINE BARRENS.
So prominent a feature in Burnett and other counties in Northwest
Wisconsin, consist of sandy stretches of undulating, though sometimes
of level lands, sparsely covered with a growth of young pines,
generally of the Black Prince variety. In some places, where the trees
are crowded thickly together, they are not unlike immense cane-brakes.
The trees, from their proximity, have grown very tall and slender. The
lateral branches, crowded together and deprived of sunshine, have
perished early and the growth of the young trees is chiefly vertical.
The lower dead limbs remaining attached to the trunks give the young
forest a peculiarly ragged and tangled appearance. There is abundant
evidence to prove the existence of ancient pine forests where these
pine barrens are now the only growth. In fact some of the larger trees
are still standing, and the charred trunks and decaying remnants of
others. The gradations from the younger to the older growth may be
very plainly seen. Fire is undoubtedly the efficient cause of the
stunted and irregular growth of the pine barrens. The matured forests
are destroyed by fire, and are succeeded by the young pines which are
further reduced and injured by annual fires. It is a mistake to
suppose that the soil of these barrens is necessarily poor. Many of
them have a black, sandy soil, capable of producing fine crops. In
most of them there is a dense undergrowth of blueberry bushes,
producing annually millions and millions of bushels of their small but
luscious fruit.
MURDERS.
Burnett county is not without the traditions of lawlessness and murder
that tarnish so many frontier settlements, and here, as elsewhere, the
primal cause of most of such crimes is whisky. Whisky maddens the
brain and nerves the arm of the assassin. Whisky hardens the heart and
blinds the eyes to what is right, and the sale of whisky on the
frontier, authorized or unauthorized, in nearly all cases the latter,
is the bartering of the human life for gold. The money received for it
is the price of blood, although in some instances the seller himself
may be the victim. It is whisky that does the work.
Jack Drake, a whisky seller at Wood Lake, whose outfit was supplied by
Samuels & Partridge, naturally of a quarrelsome disposition, was
especially so when under the influence of liquor. On one of these
occasions he was killed by a half-breed known as Robideau, and his
body was buried on the shores of Little Wood lake. Robideau was
imprisoned a short time at St. Croix Falls, but being carelessly
guarded, easily made his escape and was not heard of afterward. What
did it matter? It was only the result of a drunken row.
The body of a murdered stranger was found by a crew of men working on
Little Wood river, in the spring of 1843. He had left Superior City
with an Indian guide for St. Paul, and was not afterward seen alive.
His land warrants and watch, which had been taken from him, were
afterward recovered, and the Indian who had been his guide was
himself mysteriously assassinated the following spring.
GEEZHIC.--At Wood Lake, Burnett county, Wisconsin, lived in 1874 an
aged and blind Indian woman who calculated her pilgrimage on earth by
moons. All traces of her traditional beauty as an Indian maiden had
long since departed. Shriveled, decrepit, bent, she was the
impersonation of all that is unlovely and repulsive in age. Taciturn
and sullen, her mind lethargic and dull, she seemed but little more
than half alive, and could not easily be aroused to the comprehension
of passing events, or to the recognition of those around her. She must
have been very old. When aroused to consciousness, which was but
seldom, she would talk of things long past. A light would come into
her sightless eyes as she recounted the traditions, or described the
manners and customs of her people, and spoke with evident pride of
their ancient power and prowess when her people planted their tepees
on the shores of the "Shining Big Sea Water" (Lake Superior) and drove
their enemies, the Dakotahs, before them. Her people wore blankets
made from the skins of the moose; elk and buffalo, with caps from the
skins of the otter and beaver. There was then an abundance of "kego"
(fish) and "wash-kish" (deer). There were no pale faces then in all
the land to drive them from their tepees and take their hunting
grounds. Of course there had been occasional whites, hunters, trappers
and missionaries, but the formidable movements of the now dominant
race had not fairly commenced. Counting the years of her life on her
fingers, so many moons representing a year, she must have numbered a
score beyond a century, and she had consequently witnessed, before her
eyes were dimmed, the complete spoliation of her people's ancestral
domain.
The physical features of the country have undergone a change. The
towering pines have decayed or been leveled by the woodman's axe. Some
of the small lakes have receded, and tall grasses wave and willows
grow where once the "kego" sported in the clear blue waters. "The sun
drew the waters up into the heavens," but the old shores may still be
traced, by the fresh water shells that are crushed by the foot of the
explorer, and by the ineffaceable mark of the water breaking upon the
beach and undermining the rocky ledges.
A few Indians still linger on the old hunting grounds and about the
graves of their fathers, but as a race they are doomed, and the time
is not far distant when their only memorials will be the printed or
striped rocks that are found along the streams and lakes, and here and
there the sunken graves of the vanquished race.
THE FIRST MISSION.
In the autumn of the year 1833 the first mission was established in
the St. Croix valley, at the outlet of Yellow lake, in Burnett county.
This may be considered the first actual movement in opening the way
for white settlements in the St. Croix valley. The good and
indefatigable laborers, who came away into these western wilds, spent
many years in this valley endeavoring to improve the benighted
aborigines. Their labors were successful, until the bane of the human
family--alcoholic drinks--was introduced by the corrupt border
traders. Rev. Fred Ayer (since a resident of Belle Prairie, Minnesota,
and a member of the convention that framed our constitution), Mrs.
Ayer, with Miss Crooks (afterward Mrs. Boutwell) as teacher, arrived
at Yellow Lake Sept. 16, 1833. Miss Crooks opened her school on the
twenty-fourth, with eight scholars. This was evidently the first
school in the St. Croix valley. This mission was under the patronage
of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Thirty or
forty Indians came to the trading house, a mile from the mission, for
the purpose of obtaining ammunition and moccasins for making what is
called the fall hunt. During their visit at the traders', Mr. Ayer had
the opportunity of explaining the object of his mission--schooling
their children, and aiding them in agriculture, planting their
gardens, and furnishing them with seeds. To the objects of the mission
all listened with interest, but, as the chiefs were not present, no
reply was made to Mr. Ayer. After obtaining their supplies from the
traders, they dispersed for their fall hunt. The school in the
meantime progressed, and frequent opportunities occurred for giving
religious instructions to adults during the winter. In April some
twenty-five families encamped near the mission; many were interested
in the objects which the mission proposed. In the spring of 1834 four
families made gardens by the mission and schooled their children;
three of the families belonged to the influential in the band. One of
these, the chief who visited Washington during the administration of
Adams, was Gis-kil-a-way, or "Cat Ear."
The Indian mind is suspicious of the white man. Waiingas, "The Wolf,"
another chief of considerable note, was prejudicing the minds of his
friends against the whites. He openly declared that if the Indians
would join him, he would burn the mission house and drive the teachers
from his country. On one occasion a party of Indians, including this
hostile chief, passed the evening at Mr. Ayer's. The chief closed his
speech at midnight with these words: "The Indians are troubled in mind
about your staying here, and you must go--you shall go; not only I say
so, but all here present say so!" The next morning all the Indians
assembled. The trader, the late Dr. Borup, and his wife were present.
The Wolf and his party were determined to expel all the whites. The
friend of the white man, Cat Ear, took the floor and shaking hands
with Dr. Borup and Mr. Ayer, began a speech of half an hour's length.
Pointing to The Wolf and to two other chiefs sitting side by side, he
says: "I speak for them. Look at them. To them belong this land. Since
last evening we have considered this subject. We have changed our
minds. The Great Spirit made us all--made us red--you white. He gave
you your religion, manners and customs--he gave us ours. Before we saw
white man we dressed in skins and cooked with stones. You found our
land on the map and come--since then you have clothed and provided for
us. Why should we send you away? We only should be the sufferers--all
of us tell you to stay--again we say, stay. We do not wish you to go;
no, no--we say to you all, stay; you may plant and build, but the land
is ours. Our Great Father has sent you here--we are glad--we will tell
you why we fear the whites--we fear you will get our land away. If
this room were full of goods we would not exchange our lands for them.
This land is ours and our children's; it is all we have."
The mission at Yellow Lake had been in progress two years. Several
families had listened with glowing interest to religious instruction,
schooled their children, and cultivated gardens near the mission, when
Mr. Ayer visited the band of Indians at Pokegama. Here were some
thirty-five or forty families in the year 1835. The chief and two or
three families expressed to him a desire to settle down and school
their children. They requested him to come and bring all with him who
wished to come from Yellow Lake. The reasons that induced him to
Pokegama were, first, the means of subsistence were more abundant,
both for the Indians and the mission family--wild rice and fish in
particular; this being the case the Indians could be more stationary
and send their children to school. Second, the soil for agricultural
purposes was superior to that of Yellow Lake. As one of the leading
objects of the mission was to induce the Indians to settle down and
adopt habits of civilization, this object could be better attained at
this place than at Yellow Lake, where it was comparatively sterile and
sandy. A third object gained would be to locate in the midst of a
larger number of Indians, with whom we could come in more frequent
contact, and last, but not least, put the mission in a nearer point of
communication with St. Peter, from whence all the family necessaries
were obtained at that day. These reasons, together with the
solicitation of one of the chiefs, and his permission to build on his
land, and use his wood, water and fish, led Mr. Ayer, in the fall of
1835, to remove to Pokegama.
For the continued history of this mission the reader is referred to
the history of Pine county.
CHIPPEWAS OF WOOD LAKE.--A small band of Chippewas, as late as 1870,
lingered about Big Wood lake, unwilling to leave their old hunting
grounds. Though brought directly in contact with civilization, they
adopted its vices, otherwise remaining savages, taking no part in
cultivating the soil or educating their children, contented to live
and die in the old fashion of their race. They subsist, as far as
possible, by hunting and fishing, and are by no means above begging
when occasion may offer. They retain their annual dances and
festivals, at the occurrence of which other bands join them from a
distance. A dance with its accompanying feasts occupies generally
about ten days, and is conducted according to rigid formulas. These
dances are intended as representations of hunting, fishing or
fighting, and are honored accordingly. They are accompanied with music
upon rude instruments, and a weird chant in guttural and nasal tones,
which may be understood as a poetic recital of their deeds or
expression of their feelings. Their dead are buried in conspicuous
places. The graves are decorated with splints of timber. A pole with
rags and trinkets is planted near the graves. There is nothing that
can long mark their resting places or keep them from being desecrated
by the share of the plowman.
GRANTSBURG
Was founded by Canute Anderson, in 1865, in section 14, town 38, range
19. He built a flour and saw mill, the first in the county, a good
hotel, and opened a store. It became the centre of trade for the
county, prospered continuously, and now (in 1886) contains a good
court house, built at a cost of $7,000 (burned December, 1887), a
school house, four churches, two hotels, five stores and numerous
shops and dwellings. There are two resident lawyers and one physician.
Grantsburg is the terminus of the St. Paul & Duluth (branch) railroad,
completed in 1884. The scheme of building a branch road to connect
with the St. Paul & Duluth railroad at Rush City was long cherished by
Canute Anderson, and through his efforts the road was finally built.
The county voted $20,000 bonds, at seven per cent interest, which
bonds the state of Wisconsin cashed. The road was graded from
Grantsburg to the St. Croix river in 1878, from Rush City to St. Croix
in 1882. The St. Paul & Duluth Railroad Company built the railroad and
assumed the bonded indebtedness, payable in fifteen annual
installments. Cars ran to the St. Croix river in 1883. The bridge over
the St. Croix, completed in 1883, cost $20,000. The road was opened to
Grantsburg Jan. 22, 1884. At this opening over a thousand persons were
present, five hundred of whom came in on the train. Canute Anderson
made an address of welcome, followed by James Smith, president of the
road. Congratulatory letters were read from Hons. S. S. Fifield, Henry
M. Rice, and W. H. C. Folsom, the tenor of which was highly
complimentary to Mr. Anderson, and full of hope for the future of the
railroad and its terminus.
CANUTE ANDERSON was born in Norway, 1830. He came to America in 1851,
and three years later settled in the northeast quarter of section 2,
township 37, range 19, making a large stock farm, part of it being a
fine natural meadow, with running stream. In 1858 the first post
office in the county (called Anderson) was established at his house,
and he was appointed postmaster. In 1878 he represented Ashland,
Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, and Polk counties in the
legislature. He is and ever has been a master spirit in his county,
using all his influence to further the interests of his adopted home.
Many of the early settlers were poor,--strangers in a strange
land,--and for them Mr. Anderson's house was ever a resort. It was
also an intelligence office, where the inquiring immigrant could
obtain reliable information as to the country and its resources, and
facilities to the settler. In 1860 Mr. Anderson was married to
Catharine Nelson, daughter of Magnus Nelson, one of Burnett county's
first settlers.
THE HICKERSON FAMILY came from Ohio to Wisconsin. Nimrod H., the
oldest brother, settled on Wood river in 1859, built a saw mill, kept
a hotel and established a post office on the St. Paul and Bayfield
stage route in 1860. Mr. Hickerson went to California in 1875, and
died there. Joel, the second brother, is a merchant at Grantsburg. He
served during the later years of the Civil War as a soldier, Company
C, Seventh Minnesota Volunteers, and was pensioned for disabilities.
He was married in 1868 to Mary Anderson. Perry D., the third brother,
keeps a hotel in Grantsburg. He was also a member of Company C,
Seventh Minnesota Volunteers, and with his brother was mustered out at
the close of the war, and has received a pension for disabilities. He
was married to Ellen M. Anderson, daughter of Peter Anderson. They
have eleven children. Newton, the fourth son, lives in Grantsburg. He
was a soldier in Company D, Twenty-first Ohio, during the war. Was
wounded and totally disabled. He has no pension. He is unmarried.
THE ANDERSON FAMILY.--The four brothers, Peter, George, Hans and
Martin, with their aged parents, came from Norway and settled in
Grantsburg in 1883. The father but recently died. The mother is still
living, having reached the extreme age of ninety-seven years. During
the last six years she has been blind. Peter Anderson was married in
Norway in 1846. His wife died in 1877, leaving three sons and four
daughters. He was married to his second wife in 1878. Peter has served
as county supervisor, and filled other offices. The brothers have been
active in promoting the interests of their town and county.
ROBERT A. DOTY was born in Niagara county, New York; lived some years
in Genesee county, Michigan, and settled in Sterling, Polk county, in
1865. He subsequently became the first settler in the town of
Marshfield, Burnett county. He was accidentally killed in 1879 by
being thrown from his wagon. His widow and two sons live in
Grantsburg. John H., the oldest son, resides on the old homestead in
Sterling.
THE CRANBERRY MARSHES.
The cultivation of the cranberry is an important industry in Burnett
county. The berry is raised chiefly in townships 38 and 39, ranges 17
and 18. The writer of these sketches visited the localities named in
1873, and although there have been many changes and improvements since
then, the description quoted from an essay read before the
Horticultural Society will still be generally applicable:
"The scene on approaching these marshes, where the native
cranberry was found, before the white man had commenced to
improve them, was picturesque in the extreme to those who
have a taste for Nature's handiwork. There are extensive
tracts of land covering thousands of acres, dotted here and
there with islands of young pine and points of highland
projecting in various shapes into the marshes. It reminded
me of an ocean bay, in a calm, only changing the ocean water
color to endless green. There are in these marshes somewhere
from one to two townships of land, on which cranberries were
then growing, or susceptible of being improved so that
cranberries can be raised thereon. One township contains
23,040 acres. The parties operating on the marshes I visited
already have some 30 or 40 miles of ditch made, averaging 5
feet at the top, 3 feet at the bottom, with an average depth
of 4 feet, at a cost of about 75 cents per rod. These
ditches are to drain the water from the marshes when
desired. They have dams across these ditches, to flood the
marshes when desired. The flooding of the marshes aids in
subduing the wild grasses and other incumbrances, also is
essential to the growth of the berries. On these marshes,
wherever the flowage is killing the grass, the vine is
rapidly spreading, without transplanting. Undoubtedly they
would yield a quicker return by transplanting. Large tracts
of these lands, which, at this time have no vines, are
bought by companies, mostly from the cranberry lands in
Eastern Wisconsin, who are experienced in this business, and
know what they are doing. They openly declare that vines can
be grown on these marshes, where sufficient water can be
obtained and controlled to flow the lands. Mr. Irvine
informed me that this flooding process, and the manner in
which it was controlled, was the key to success. I examined
the effect which one year alone had accomplished, as these
companies commenced operations in 1872. It surprised me when
I saw the mode, and heard it explained, that so little was
generally known of this business. After the marshes are
subdued, dams and ditches built, there is comparatively
small cost in raising the fruit until the harvest, when men,
women and children flock in from the farming countries to
pick, to pack, to store, to dry, to box, and convey to
market. An expert will pick from five to ten bushels per day
by hand, no rakes being allowed. In 1873 these marshes had
an abundant yield. These companies paid to outsiders one
dollar and fifty cents per bushel. There are several
companies operating in Burnett county. They have made and
are making substantial improvements, in building roads, dry
houses, dwelling houses, etc. The past year a saw mill was
erected for sawing staves for barrels, lumber for boxes,
etc. These marshes are about twenty miles east of the
Superior railroad."
WASHBURN COUNTY.
Washburn county was organized in 1883, and embraces townships 37 to
42, inclusive, and ranges 10 to 13, inclusive, a total of 24
townships. It is drained by St. Croix waters with the exception of the
southeast corner, which is drained by a branch of the Chippewa river.
It has been a rich timbered region and large forests of pine still
remain. The greater part of the county is adapted to agriculture, and
is settling rapidly. Two lines of railway traverse the county, one
from south to north, and the other from southwest to northeast, giving
the county excellent facilities for transportation and marketing of
products. The county is divided into two towns, Bashaw in the south
and Veasie in the north. These towns were organized in 1877, while
Washburn was a part of Burnett county. The first supervisors of Bashaw
were: L. E. Thomas, chairman; John Arbuckle and John McMullen. The
town of Bashaw was the first settled. John McMullen settled in
township 38, range 13, in 1872, in Bashaw valley. He married a member
of the Hart family, old settlers of the town. He died in 1878. L. E.
Thomas was the second settler in Bashaw and in Washburn county, and
has been officially connected with the town and county organization.
He is a native of Michigan, and has followed lumbering and farming. L.
E. Thomas built the first house. Nellie Raberge taught the first
school in Bashaw, in 1881. Miss Raberge has since become the wife of
Milton Stratton. The first post office was established in 1880, Mrs.
Malcolm Dobie, postmistress. The first sermon was preached by Rev.
Ellingwood. G. P. Pearly was the first physician; A. L. Bugbee, the
first lawyer. Messrs. Hart, Baker, Gardner and others have large farms
in Bashaw valley. By the act organizing the county,
SHELL LAKE
was made the county seat. It is beautifully located on the shores of
Summit lake. It has a court house, built at a cost of $11,000, in
1885, one of the most tasteful buildings of the kind in the St. Croix
valley. The town is built on railroad lands, purchased by the Shell
Lake Lumber Company, and by them surveyed into lots. The streets are
from sixty-six to eighty feet wide. A restriction in the deeds to the
lots and lands against the sale of alcoholic drinks has been
continuously violated. In 1883 the town board fixed license at five
hundred dollars, a plain violation of the original agreement.
A fine school building with four apartments was built in 1885, at a
cost of $5,000. Prof. Halphyde is principal of the schools. The
Episcopalians and Catholics have church buildings. The Baptists,
Methodists, Lutherans and Presbyterians have church organizations. The
Masons, Good Templars and Knights of Labor have organizations.
Summit lake, on the west bank of which the town is situated, is about
two and a half miles broad by three and a half long. It has bold,
gravelly shores. The water is deep, clear and pure. The slopes
surrounding it are covered with evergreen, and hardwood timber. One
small steamer floats upon its waters.
The first board of county officers was as follows: Treasurer, Leander
E. Thomas; clerk, Frank B. Nelson; sheriff, James Wynne; attorney,
Frank Gudette; register of deeds, Albert L. Bugbee; judge, L. H. Mead;
clerk of court, A. Gibson; superintendent of schools, Clara Stratton;
surveyor, Patrick Kelly. The first circuit court was held in June,
1883, Hon. S. S. Clough, presiding. The county has two court terms for
the year, in June and December.
The Shell Lake Lumber Company was organized in 1880, under Iowa laws.
It is composed of C. Lamb and David Joice and sons, of Clinton, Iowa;
Laird, Norton & Co., of Winona; Weyerhauser & Dinkeman, of Rock
Island, Illinois; S. T. McKnight, of Hannibal, Missouri; D. R. Moore,
Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Their mills are located on the northwest side
of Summit lake. They have a capacity of 50,000,000 feet per year. The
capital stock amounts to $500,000. Employment is furnished to 250 men.
In 1880 the hour system of labor was adopted. A narrow gauge railroad,
twelve miles long, supplied with two locomotives and fifty cars, is
used for bringing logs to mill. This road has a steel track and 3,000
feet of piling. The refuse burner of the mill is 20 feet in diameter
and 102 in height. There are 63 tenement houses to accommodate the
laborers. A. H. Earle superintends this vast concern.
Sawyer creek obtained its name from Seth M. Sawyer, of Stillwater.
This stream flows into Yellow river, five miles from Summit lake. It
rises from springs three hundred feet from the lake, and one hundred
feet lower down, and may be considered its subterranean outlet, as
visible outlet there is none. The lake, literally a summit lake, the
receding and descending slopes, the springs uniting to form a larger
stream, form a peculiar landscape, quite park-like in some of its
features, and worthy of being converted into a park.
SPOONER,
In the township of Veazie, on the north branch of the Yellow river,
township 39, range 12, is a dinner station on the North Wisconsin
railroad. The railroad company have fitted up an elegant eating house,
and a few neat buildings, the nucleus of a much larger village,
cluster around it.
VEAZIE VILLAGE
Is in township 41, range 10, and has a post office. The town of
Veazie, occupying the northern part of the county, was organized in
1877. Millions of feet of pine timber have been gathered and marketed
from this town, and it is estimated that 150,000,600 feet still
remain. Ames and Sinnot station are in the township of Veazie.
SAWYER COUNTY.
Sawyer county was organized March 9, 1883. It is comprised of
townships 37 to 42, and ranges 5 to 9, inclusive. Of these townships
twenty-five are drained by Chippewa waters and five by Namakagon
river. The county is heavily timbered with pine, though vast
quantities have been taken and marketed. The county seat was located
at Hayward in the bill organizing the county. The county officers,
appointed by Gov. Rusk, were: Sheriff, A. Blaisdell; clerk, C. H.
Clapperton; register of deeds, H. E. Ticknor; treasurer, R. L.
McCormack; county judge, H. W. Hart; attorney, N. E. Ticknor;
superintendent of schools, Miss M. Mears; surveyor, W. J. Moulton;
coroner, E. G. Gregg.
The court house was built in 1885, at a cost of $18,000. The county at
its organization assumed the following indebtedness:
To Ashland county $25,000
To town of Ashland, Ashland county 1,870
To town of Butternut, Ashland county 2,050
To Chippewa county 1,900
To town of Flambeau, Chippewa county (disputed claim) 5,000
To town of Big Bend, Chippewa county 3,000
To town of Sigel, Chippewa county 2,000
Outside indebtedness, total $40,820
All this indebtedness, with the exception of the unsettled claim of
Flambeau, Chippewa county, has been paid. Since its organization the
county has expended $30,000 on roads to Chippewa waters. This, added
to the cost of the court house, $18,000, a school house for the town
of Hayward, $6,500, town hall for Hayward $5,000, makes a total of
expenditures for the county within the past three years of $106,420, a
remarkable sum for a new county with so sparse a population to pay,
but not so remarkable when we take into account the immense value of
its lumber products and standing timber.
Hayward is the only town in the county. Its first board of supervisors
were: A. J. Hayward, chairman; Thos. Manwarin and Michael Jordan. A.
L. McCormack was first treasurer, and C. C. Claghorn, clerk. The
village is situated in sections 21 and 22, township 41, range 9, upon
a level pine plateau on the north side of Namakagon river, a tributary
of the St. Croix. The village was platted in 1883, but a post office
had been established the year before, C. H. Clapperton being the first
postmaster. The first marriage in the town of Hayward and county of
Sawyer was that of Fred Emmons and Mary Lindmark, in 1883. The first
birth was that of a daughter to Al. Blaisdell. The first death was
that of Nels J. Eggin. Rev. A. Safford preached the first sermon. Anna
Shafer taught the first school. E. G. Gregg opened the first store.
H. E. Ticknor was the first lawyer and J. B. Trowbridge the first
physician.
The first school house, built at a cost of $5,000, was burned. There
was an insurance of $4,500. A new building was erected at a cost of
$6,000, with three departments, and with steam heating apparatus.
Prof. F. A. Nichols was the principal.
The Congregational church at Hayward is one of the finest church
buildings in the Northwest. It is built in the Queen Anne style, with
circular seats, the whole finished in exquisite taste. Senator Sawyer,
after whom the county was named, contributed a town clock and bell
worth $1,000. The Catholics have a church here, and the Lutherans an
organization. The Odd Fellows and Knights of Labor have organizations.
The Sawyer County Bank was organized March 9, 1884, with a capital
stock of $200,000, divided equally between three stockholders, R. L.
McCormack, A. J. Hayward and E. H. Halbert, the latter being general
manager and cashier. The bank deals in real estate, abstracts,
insurance and general monetary business. The business transacted for
the year ending June 6, 1886, amounted to $3,000,000. The bank
building is a substantial brick. The Hayward Lumber Company has a mill
on the Namakagon river. The water power has a fall of eighteen feet
and a flowage of about three miles. A sixty foot channel has been left
through the flowage for slucing logs. The saw mill has a capacity of
35,000,000 feet per annum. It has a planing mill attached. The company
is composed of T. F. Robinson, Weyerhauser & Dinkeman and R. L.
McCormack. Mr. Weyerhauser is president of the company. Mr.
Weyerhauser is also president of the Rock Island Lumber Company and of
Weyerhauser, Dinkeman & Co., of Rock Island, and is a stockholder in
Renwick, Crosset & Co., Cloquet, Minnesota, Shell Lake, Barronett,
Masons, White River, and Chippewa Falls Lumber companies, and is
president of the Beef Slough Boom and Chippewa and Mississippi Logging
companies. Mr. Weyerhauser is the most extensive holder and owner of
unoperated pine lands in the West, or probably on the continent. The
stockholders of the Hayward Lumber Company are all men of wealth
accumulated by their own industry. Mr. R. L. McCormack, the resident
stockholder and manager, is admirably adapted for the position he
holds. Mr. McCormack was a citizen of Minnesota for fourteen years,
and a member of the Minnesota legislature in 1881. He was born in
Pennsylvania in 1847.
Dobie & Stratton, contractors for pine stumpage on the Lac Oreilles
Indian reservation, reside in Hayward. They cut 28,000,000 feet of
logs in the winter of 1885-86.
MALCOMB DOBIE, of this firm, is a native of Canada. He came to the St.
Croix valley in 1864, and was married to Harriet Stratton, at St.
Croix Falls, in 1874.
MILTON V. STRATTON, brother of Mrs. Dobie, was raised at St. Croix
Falls, and engaged in business with Mr. Dobie. In 1886, his health
failing, he removed to California.
BARRON COUNTY.
Barron county was formerly a heavily timbered tract of country, but is
now being rapidly cleared and settled. It is well watered by the Red
Cedar and its tributaries, and has many beautiful lakes, among them
Turtle, Beaver, Chetek, Red Cedar, Rice, Bear, and Long lakes. The
county was first established as Dallas county, in 1859, and attached
to Polk for judicial purposes. In 1868 it was organized for county and
judicial purposes, and the county seat was changed from Manhattan to
Barron, section 26, township 34, range 12. By act of legislature in
1869, the name of the county was changed to Barron, and the county
seat was called by the same name, in honor of Hon. Henry D. Barron,
then judge of the Eleventh circuit. It comprises townships 32 to 36,
inclusive, and ranges 10 to 14, in all 25 townships. Barron county has
three railroads, on the lines of which thriving settlements have
sprung up. The railroads are three, the North Wisconsin, a branch line
of the Omaha, and the Minneapolis, Soo Ste. Marie & Atlantic. The
North Wisconsin railroad passes through the northwestern part of the
county. The Chippewa Falls & Superior City branch of the Omaha enters
the southeast corner, and traverses the county in a direction west of
north. The Minneapolis, Soo Ste. Marie & Atlantic passes through the
middle of the county in a direction from east to west.
TURTLE LAKE TOWN
Was organized in 1879. The village of Turtle Lake is situated in
sections 30 and 31, township 34, range 14. It contains a large saw
mill with a capacity of 40,000,000 feet per annum; a union depot, used
by the North Wisconsin, and Minneapolis, Soo Ste. Marie & Atlantic
railroads, and stores, shops and dwellings, all new. The Minneapolis,
Soo Ste. Marie & Atlantic railroad was built through the county in
1885, and completed in 1887.
BARRON,
The county seat, is a growing lumber town, with farming lands to the
south. It has a population of over 1,000. The "Soo Line" railway has a
station here.
PERLEY VILLAGE
Is located also in Turtle Lake town, in section 8, township 34, range
14, and on the line of the North Wisconsin railroad. It has a large
saw mill with a capacity of 16,000,000 feet per annum. The village is
beautifully located on Horse Shoe lake.
CUMBERLAND VILLAGE
Is situated in the town of Cumberland, section 7, township 35, range
15, on Beaver Dam lake. It is pleasantly situated, and is the largest
village on the line of the Northwestern railroad. Its appearance gives
evidence of enterprise and thrift on the part of its citizens. The
Beaver Dam Lumber Company have here a saw mill with a capacity of
24,000,000 feet per annum. Cook & Co. have a saw mill (burned and
rebuilt) with a capacity of 6,000,000 feet. The village has a bank and
one newspaper, the Cumberland _Advocate_, first issued in 1880 as the
_Herald_.
Cumberland was organized as a village in 1881, and organized under a
city charter in 1885. The population is now about 1,700. The
mercantile business will aggregate about $500,000 annually. The
aggregate output of lumber is 30,000,000 feet, while other industries
aggregate $200,000 per annum. There are four churches, one graded
school of five departments in which students are prepared to enter
college. There is here one banking house.
SPRAGUE
Is a village in Cumberland, on the Northwestern railroad. It has a saw
mill with a capacity of about 15,000,000 feet per annum.
COMSTOCK,
In Cumberland, on the Northwestern railroad, has a shingle mill and
saw mill, the latter having a capacity of about 5,000,000 feet.
BARRONETT,
In Cumberland, is located in township 36, range 13, in the midst of a
well timbered region. Its saw mill, directly on the county line, has a
capacity of 25,000,000 feet. M. Bowron has a farm adjoining the
village of 250 acres, improved and yielding tame grass.
De Graw and Granite Lake Mills are also located on the Northwestern
railroad.
Turtle Lake, Scott's Siding, Cosgrove, Barron, the county seat,
Cameron and Canton, are on the Minneapolis, Soo Ste. Marie & Atlantic
railroad.
Chetek, Cameron Junction, Rice Lake and Bear Creek are located on the
Omaha branch.
CHARLES SIMEON TAYLOR.--Mr. Taylor was born in Geneva, Wisconsin,
October, 1851; graduated at the Wisconsin State University; studied
law and settled at Barron, Barron county, in 1876, where he practices
his profession and edits the _Barron County Shield_. He was elected
member of the Thirty-seventh Wisconsin assembly in 1885-86 and
represented the counties of Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, and
Washburn.
CHAPTER IX.
ASHLAND, BAYFIELD AND DOUGLAS COUNTIES.
ASHLAND COUNTY.
Ashland was originally a part of Crawford county, afterward of St.
Croix and La Pointe, and was set off from the latter March 27, 1860.
It is bounded on the north by Lake Superior and Montreal river, on the
east by Oneida, on the south by Price and Chippewa, and on the west by
Bayfield and Chippewa counties. It includes townships 41 to 47, ranges
1, 2, and 3 east of the fourth principal meridian, and townships 41 to
48 west of the same; the northern towns bordering on Montreal river
and Lake Superior are fractional. The group of Apostle islands belongs
to this county. The surface is generally level except where broken by
the iron and copper ranges in the middle and southern part of the
county. The Gogebic range, southeast of Ashland, is especially rich in
iron. A railroad along this range connects Ashland with the Michigan
roads. The soil is somewhat varied, ranging from sandy loam in the
interior, to red clay on the lake shore. The county is drained by Bad,
White and Montreal rivers and their tributaries, and the headwaters of
the Chippewa. The timber is pine, fir, birch, etc.
The Apostle islands, situated in Lake Superior at the mouth of
Chequamegon bay, form a fine natural harbor. The group consists of
twenty-two islands, the most considerable of which are Madeline,
Oatez, Oak, Hemlock, Rice, Basswood, Presque, Bear, Sand, and
Michigan. The islands range in area from a very few acres up to
14,804. They are heavily timbered with hardwood, have fertile soil,
and are well adapted to farm and garden culture. The largest of these
islands is Madeline, situated directly at the entrance to Chequamegon
bay, and noted as containing the oldest settlement on the lake. Claude
Allouez, a Jesuit missionary, landed at Madeline island Oct. 1, 1665,
and erected a bark chapel at the place now known as La Pointe, and
commenced instructing the Indians of the Algonquin and Huron tribes.
Since that time the island has been held by missionaries and trading
companies, with some pretty long intervals of abandonment. In 1800, M.
Cadot, a French trader, came to La Pointe, erected fortified dwellings
and lived here till his death, in 1837. At the commencement of the
present century the American Fur Company made its headquarters on the
southern part of the island, and occupied a post there until 1835,
when they removed to La Pointe. Rev. Sherman Hall, of the Presbyterian
church, established a mission here in 1830. In 1835 Rev. Father
Baraga, a Catholic missionary, arrived, and built a church which he
occupied until 1841, when he built a better one, which still stands in
the inclosure of an ancient burying ground. This church contains a
painting said to be over two hundred years old. Some of the graves are
quite ancient, and have quaint inscriptions upon their tombstones. One
that has often been copied and commented on by tourists is as follows:
"ERECTED
TO THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM BEAULIEAU
WHO WAS ACCIDENTALLY SHOT
AS A MARK OF AFFECTION
BY HIS BROTHER."
These islands are becoming a fashionable resort for tourists, and many
of them have been utilized as pleasant summer residences. Some of them
are occupied by lighthouses of which there are five in all. The
islands abound in brown stone, which is being quarried extensively for
building purposes. The stone for the Milwaukee court house was taken
from the quarries on Basswood island.
LA POINTE COUNTY ELECTION.--In 1848 La Pointe county was set off from
St. Croix county, and at an election held Nov. 10, 1848, John H. Wells
and Leonard Wheeler were elected justices of the peace, and J. F.
Hughes was elected clerk of the board of county commissioners. Returns
of their election and that of members of the legislature were made to
Hudson, county seat of St. Croix county.
HON. JOHN W. BELL, born in New York City in 1805, in his eighth year
went to Canada with his parents, learned to be a watchmaker, a ship
builder and a cooper, and came to La Pointe in 1835, where he has
since resided. He carried on the coopering business first, for the
American Fur Company, and then for himself established a trading post,
became interested in mining stocks, and filled various county offices,
having served as county judge and register of deeds a great many
years. In later life he was postmaster at La Pointe. He was married in
1837 to Miss Margaret Brahant, in the Catholic chapel, by Bishop
Baraga. He died in 1888.
ASHLAND
Is situated on a plateau of about thirty feet elevation, on the south
shore and near the head of Chequamegon bay. The first house, a cabin,
was built in 1854. Other cabins were added the same year. In the cabin
erected by Mr. Asaph Whittlesey, in the winter of 1854-55, was
preached the first sermon in Ashland by Rev. L. H. Wheeler, of the
Odanah mission. A post office was established in March, 1855, Mr.
Whittlesey, postmaster. The first American child born was the second
daughter of Asaph Whittlesey. The name of Ashland was conferred upon
the town by Martin Beaser, an ardent admirer of Henry Clay, it being
the name of Mr. Clay's homestead. The village and post office was
first known as Whittlesey, but on the organization of the county in
1860, the name of Ashland was applied to both. The new town was not
destined to immediate and continuous prosperity, and at one time, in
1863, had decreased so much in population that its post office was
discontinued for a period of nine years. After that date it entered
upon an era of prosperity.
Julia Wheeler taught the first school in 1859. The Methodists
organized the first Protestant society in 1872. The Catholics
commenced a church building in 1873. In 1872 the first newspaper in
Ashland, the _Press_, was established by Sam S. and Hank O. Fifield,
under whose charge it remained until 1874, when S. S. Fifield bought
his brother's interest in the paper and has since published it
continuously, and in 1888 established a daily.
In 1872 the Wisconsin Central railroad commenced work at the bay, and
the outlay for improvements that year amounted to $244,800. The
Wisconsin Central railroad built the Hotel Chequamegon in 1877. It is
built in the form of an L, 120 feet front and 80 feet deep with 400
feet of veranda, and accommodations for 100 guests. There are numerous
other hotels in the city, and several boarding houses receive guests
during the summer season. Ashland has vast lumber interests. The
Ashland Lumber Company built the first mill, in 1872, which had a
capacity of about 15,000,000 feet per annum. The Union mill, built in
1878, has a capacity of about 18,000,000 feet. Mueller & Richie's
mill, built in 1881, has a capacity of about 20,000,000 feet. There is
also a planing mill belonging to Geo. White. Ashland has become a
railroad centre. The Wisconsin Central, St. Paul & Omaha, Milwaukee &
Lake Shore and Northern Pacific concentrate a heavy freight for their
elevators and lake docks. The largest dock in the world was built in
Ashland in 1887. It was built almost expressly for iron ore shipments
from Penoka and Gogebic ranges.
ASAPH WHITTLESEY selected the site of Ashland in 1854, and in
conjunction with George Kilborn built the first dwelling. He was the
first postmaster. He was appointed in 1855. He represented Ashland,
Burnett, Douglas, La Pointe, Polk, and St. Croix in the Wisconsin
assembly in 1860.
J. P. T. HASKELL was the second settler in Ashland. He came with his
wife, Nov. 2, 1854, but did not long remain.
S. S. VAUGHN was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, Sept. 2, 1830. He came
with his brother to La Pointe in 1852, and engaged in the fishing and
fur trade until 1855, when he returned to Ohio. After taking a course
in a commercial college, he returned to Wisconsin in 1856, took a
claim of one hundred and sixty acres at Ashland and opened a store at
Bayfield. In 1856 he surveyed and platted what is known as Vaughn's
addition to Ashland. In 1871 he represented Ashland, Barron, Bayfield,
Burnett, Douglas, and Polk counties in the Wisconsin assembly. At
Ashland he built docks, warehouses and a store, and in later years
dealt largely in iron mines and in lumber. He was married to Miss E.
Patrick, of Ohio, in 1864. He died at Ashland, February, 1886. He
induced the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company to make Ashland their
lake terminus. He did more for that city than any other man.
EDWIN ELLIS, M.D., was born in Oxford county, Maine; was educated in
Farmington Academy, Colby University and Bowdoin College, where he
graduated and afterward completed a medical course at the University
of New York. He came West in 1854, and located first at St. Paul, but
in 1855 removed to Ashland where he made a claim, which, in part,
became in 1873 Ellis' addition to Ashland. He practiced his profession
at Ashland and Ontonagon, Michigan. He was married in 1850 to Martha
B. Baker, of Sharon, Maine.
MARTIN BEASER, one of the pre-emptors of the site of Ashland, was born
in Erie county, New York, Oct. 22, 1822. For many years he was a
seafaring man. He spent seven years in whaling, at the close of which
time he came to Ontonagon in a sailing vessel, and thence with three
companions in a dog sledge to Ashland, arriving February, 1856. Here
he pre-empted land, and assisted in laying out the village. He engaged
in the mercantile business. He was drowned in November, 1866, while
trying to cross Chequamegon bay in an open boat during a storm. Mr.
Beaser was a public spirited man and freely used his wealth in
attempting to build up Ashland. He never lost faith in the ultimate
prosperity of his adopted home.
HON. SAM S. FIFIELD was born in Corinna, Penobscot county, Maine, June
24, 1839. His early days were spent in Bangor, and he had but limited
school privileges. He was early thrown upon his own resources and
learned lessons in the rough school of life. He spent his time
variously, as errand boy, hotel clerk, night watch on a steamboat,
toll keeper; but finally, having served a brief apprenticeship in a
printing office, he became the proprietor of the _Polk County Press_
in 1862. In 1872 he and his brother Hank O. established the Ashland
_Press_, of which he is now sole editor and publisher. Mr. Fifield
entered the political arena as a Republican and has been remarkably
successful. His record from the Wisconsin blue book is as follows:
1868-69--Assembly proof-reader and assistant sergeant-at-arms.
1871-72--Assembly sergeant-at-arms.
1874-75-76--Member of assembly from Ashland, Barron, Burnett, Douglas, and
Polk counties.
1876--Speaker of the assembly.
1877--Member of the senate.
1880-81--Member of the senate.
1882-86--Lieutenant governor.
Mr. Fifield was married to Stella Grimes, at Prescott, 1863.
Considering the disadvantageous circumstances of his youth, Mr.
Fifield's career has been a notable one.
BAYFIELD COUNTY.
Bayfield county includes townships 43 to 52, except as affected by the
irregular outline of its lake boundary on the north, and ranges 5 to
9. It has seventy-five miles of lake shore, with some fine harbors,
the finest of which are those in the shelter of the Apostle islands,
on the northeast. The country is covered with dense growths of
evergreen and hardwood timber. Numerous streams flow into the lake on
the north, and into the tributaries of the St. Croix on the south. The
Chippewa Indians formerly occupied the country. The Red Cliff Indian
reservation is located at Buffalo Bay, a short distance north of
Bayfield City. The territory of Bayfield county has been successively
in the bounds of Crawford, St. Croix and La Pointe. By subsequent
subdivisions Douglas and Ashland counties were set off from La Pointe,
and the Apostle islands given to Ashland, and the remaining part of La
Pointe was organized as Bayfield county, with the county seat at
Bayfield, in 1868. Aside from traders and adventurers and the
occasional advent of a missionary, the first settler was Elisha Pike,
who came with his family in 1855, and settled in section 21, township
50, range 4, not far from Bayfield. Bayfield was named in honor of
Admiral Bayfield of the British Navy, who made a survey of Lake
Superior in 1822-23.
BAYFIELD.
The village of Bayfield was platted in 1856, by H. M. Rice. It has
since been incorporated. It is beautifully situated. The site slopes
gently from high timbered regions to the shores of the bay. The waters
of the bay are deep, clear, and, from the shelter afforded by the
Apostle islands, almost unruffled. The harbor thus afforded is among
the best on the lake. Bayfield was made a port of entry in 1858. The
city is well supplied with stores, mills, hotels, school houses, and
churches. There are many pleasant homes, with fountains playing in
front, lawns, shade trees and ornamental shrubs. The landscape,
especially to those residing in the rear of the city on the higher
grounds, is exquisitely beautiful. There are many beautiful trout
brooks and ponds in the suburbs. As a summer resort Bayfield is
becoming every year better appreciated. The Bayfield _Press_,
established in 1874, is the local newspaper. It is edited and
published by Currie C. Bell.
WASHBURN
Is a new town on the west side of Chequamegon bay. It is the lake
terminus of the Omaha railroad. It has a fine harbor, large mills and
other enterprises that mark it as a growing town.
DRUMMOND, PRATT AND MASON
Are prosperous manufacturing villages, with large saw mills, located
on White river, on the line of the North Wisconsin railroad.
CABLE STATION,
On the railroad, in township 43, range 7, contains about a dozen
buildings. Mathews, Olson & Co. are working a silver mine near Cable
which yields twenty-three dollars per ton. There are several other
villages and stations on the line of the two railroads passing through
this county.
DOUGLAS COUNTY.
This county occupies the extreme northwestern corner of the State,
having a frontage of six townships on the lake by six on the Minnesota
state line, making a total of thirty-six whole townships and five
fractional, the latter lying along the lake. The northern part of the
county is drained by the tributaries of St. Louis river and Lake
Superior, the principal streams being the Nemadji, Middle and Brule
rivers. The southern part is drained by the St. Croix and tributaries.
The Omaha railroad intersects the county from south to north, having
its northern terminus at West Superior. The Northern Pacific crosses
the upper tier of towns, having its principal station at Superior.
Thriving villages are growing up along these lines of railroad, and
the county is being rapidly settled. It was organized as a county in
February, 1854, from territory originally belonging successively to
Crawford, St. Croix and La Pointe counties.
The first election was held Nov. 7, 1854. The following officers were
elected: County judge, J. A. Markland; sheriff, Asa A. Parker;
district attorney, R. R. Nelson; register of deeds, F. A. Whitaker;
county treasurer, Bradley Salter; supervisors, Frank Perfect, Chas. H.
Kimball and Alexander Paul; supervisors' clerk, C. H. Kingsbury;
superintendent of schools, J. J. Post; coroner, R. H. Barrett. Judge
J. A. Markland held the first term of court, June 4, 1854. The first
deed filed in the county was from William Herbert to Geo. L. Becker,
being a warranty in section 14, township 47, range 14. Consideration,
$250. The deed was recorded February, 1854. At the organization of the
county, Superior was made the county seat.
SUPERIOR CITY.
The site is on a beautiful plateau originally covered with pine, lying
on the southern shore of Lake Superior, separated, however, from it by
the waters of Superior bay, a fine natural harbor shut in from the
lake by tongues of land called Minnesota and Wisconsin Points. These
approach within a half mile of each other, the space thus left being
the original outlet of the bay. Between Wisconsin Point and the main
land lie the waters of Allouez bay, extending in length a distance of
three miles, and in width in its widest part about one mile. The
Nemadji river flows into Superior bay near its outlet. The bay of St.
Louis finds an outlet into Superior bay between Rice's Point and a
tongue of land a mile or more in length, projecting from the Wisconsin
main land. Minnesota Point, which separates Superior bay from Superior
lake, is a strip of land seven miles in length, with an average width
of seven hundred feet, beautifully fringed with pines. At the outlet
of Superior bay two piers have been constructed, extending into the
lake three-fourths of a mile. On one of these piers is a forty-day
lighthouse, constructed by the government. The bay forms one of the
finest harbors in the world.
The plateau on which Superior City is located is about thirty-five
feet above the waters of the bay. The site occupies the triangular
space lying between St. Louis bay and the bays of Allouez and
Superior, and has at least eleven miles of frontage on these bays,
along which numerous docks and piers have been built and projected,
some of them costing as much as $200,000. The government surveys were
made in 1853, by George R. Stuntz. In July of the same year J.
Addison Bulmer made a location on Allouez Point. In August, John T.
Morgan settled at the mouth of the Nemadji river. They were followed
by Wm. H. Newton, George E. Nettleton, Benjamin Thompson, Col. D. A.
Robertson, R. R. Nelson, and D. A. J. Baker, of St. Paul. In September
the Roy brothers and ---- Cadott came. The same autumn Frank Roy,
Abraham Emmuit and Louis Souvenard made pre-emptions of frontage on
Superior bay. Several buildings were erected. Mr. Roy and others give
to Col. Robertson the honor of building the first house in Superior.
It is still standing.
In the fall of 1853 mineral explorations were made, and mines were
worked during the ensuing winter. An Indian trail was widened and a
road opened into the St. Croix valley by which supplies were brought
from St. Paul. This road was not wide enough for wagons, but was
traveled during the winter in dog sledges and on snowshoes. The winter
following the opening of the road, Messrs. Robertson, Nelson and Baker
went over it to St. Paul on foot. In the spring of 1854 Newton and
others made additional surveys of the town site of Superior City, and
the same was recorded Nov. 6, 1854. Settlers came in rapidly. O. K.
Hall built a hotel. At the organization of Douglas county, in 1854,
Superior was made the county seat, the proprietors donating twelve
acres of land for county buildings. Two lots for every eight blocks
were donated for schools, twenty lots for churches, and a square for a
park. A weekly mail to and from St. Paul was established in July of
that year. A saw mill was erected. A land office was established at
Superior that year. Rev. David Brooks, a pioneer Methodist minister,
preached the first sermon, using a carpenter's shop as an audience
room.
An old settlers' association was organized September, 1855, known as
the Fond du Lac Historical Society. Its officers were: R. B. Carlton,
president; W. H. Norton and E. F. Ely, vice presidents; E. W. Perry,
secretary. The Superior _Chronicle_ issued its first number June 12,
1855. It was the first newspaper published at the head of Lake
Superior. Ashton & Wise were the publishers. The second number
contained the announcement of the opening of the Ste. Marie canal and
the passage through it of the first boat, the steamer Illinois. It
contained also the astonishing announcement, from the St. Anthony
_Express_, that a salt lake had been discovered by W. H. Ingersoll,
one hundred and fifty miles west of St. Cloud. The salt was said to
be of good quality, and in such quantity that it could be gathered by
the bushel. Large beds of coal had also been discovered near the lake.
The _Chronicle_ was discontinued in 1863 and succeeded by the Superior
_Gazette_ in 1864. The _Gazette_ has been succeeded by the Superior
_Times_, now edited by J. Lute, Thomas Bardon, proprietor.
Superior City has passed through periods of depression as well as of
advancement. At an early period speculators were lured to the spot by
the manifest advantages it presented for the building of a great city.
The favorable site attracted attention throughout the Union. Wealthy
men and men prominent in the political history of the country invested
largely. Amongst these we find the names of W. W. Corcoran, of
Washington; Robert J. Walker, of New York; G. W. Cass, of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania; Horace S. Walbridge, of Toledo, Ohio; the Breckenridges
of Kentucky; the Rice brothers, of St. Paul; and James Stinson, of
Chicago. With the influence of these names, and the means furnished,
the new city had a rapid, if not healthy growth. The prosperity was
short lived. The adjacent country was not sufficiently developed, the
shipping interests languished, and those who had been attracted hither
by dreams of becoming suddenly rich, were discouraged and moved away,
till, in 1858, the city was half deserted. The period of depression
continued through the Civil War, and for years afterward, until, by
the building of railroads and the consequent development of the
country, the claims of Superior as a centre of trade were again
acknowledged, and the tide of emigration was turned back. With
Allouez, Superior and Duluth bays for its harbor, with its railroads
already built, building or projected, its enterprising people are
ready to contest with Duluth for the sovereignty of the Unsalted Seas.
Superior, being a combination of Old Superior and West Superior under
one municipality, was organized as a village Aug. 27, 1887, and held
her first village election Sept. 24, 1887, with a population of 6,000
people. It was organized with the following officers: President, L. F.
Johnston; trustees, Wm. Munro, Neil Smith, L. G. Moran, A. Lederman,
A. A. Cross, and Howard Thomas.
WEST SUPERIOR
Was platted in 1884. The first buildings were erected in October of
the same year. The city has now a population of 3,000. It has
excellent graded schools, under the supervision of Prof. G. Glen
Williams. The Catholics, Presbyterians and Congregationalists have
church buildings, and the Methodists are about to build. A hotel is in
process of building that will cost when completed $100,000. West
Superior is supplied with water works, the electric light, extensive
coal docks and elevators, and has three newspapers, the Superior
_Inter-Ocean_, established June 3, 1886; the West Superior _News_,
established June 24, 1886; and the _Sunday Morning Call_, established
July, 1887.
THE BARDON BROTHERS.--James, Thomas and John A. Bardon came early to
Superior City and upheld her doubtful fortunes in the days of trial,
never losing faith in her prospective greatness. They have not toiled
and watched and waited in vain. The expected railways have been built;
the improved harbor, with dredge boats, well built piers and
lighthouse, has been completed. Surveys and terminal approaches of
other roads insure the commercial prosperity of the city. Thomas has
for some years been a resident of Ashland, Wisconsin.
WM. H. NEWTON, an early citizen of Superior City, is among those who
have never lost faith in its future prosperity, believing the head of
the lake to be the natural terminus of European trade and a centre of
American commerce. He is an engineer, surveyor, real estate dealer,
and is interested in some of the converging lines of railroad at
Superior City.
SOLON H. CLOUGH.--Mr. Clough was born in Madison county, New York,
Aug. 31, 1828; was educated at Fulton Academy, since known as Falley
Seminary, Oswego county, New York. He attended for a short time
Hamilton College, New York, studied law, and was admitted to the bar
at Syracuse in 1851. He came to Hudson, Wisconsin, in the fall of
1857; in 1861 was elected mayor of Hudson; in 1864, judge of the
Eleventh circuit, and removed to Osceola. In 1869 he removed to
Superior City; in 1876 returned to Hudson, but removed again to
Superior in 1881, where he still resides. He was re-elected circuit
judge in 1870, and in 1882 was appointed by Gov. Rusk to fill the
vacancy caused by the death of Judge Barron. At the conclusion of his
term he was re-elected for the ensuing term. Judge Clough was married
in 1851 to Kate Taylor, of New York.
VINCENT ROY, a brother of Peter Roy, well known among the pioneers of
the Northwest, was born in Fort Francis in 1825; came to La Pointe in
1839; attended school a few terms, and engaged in the fur trade. In
1854 he came to Superior, where he still resides, and is an active,
enterprising merchant.
D. GEORGE MORRISON, a son of William Morrison, the discoverer of the
source of the Mississippi, resides at Superior City, where he has
served as register of deeds for Douglas county since 1856, a period of
thirty-one years. He came to Superior an 1854.
AUGUST ZACHAU came to Superior in 1852, from Chicago, where he had
been for three years, working at the carpenter's trade. He was then
twenty-seven years of age, and a Prussian by birth. He was engaged by
the Superior Town Site Company to superintend the building
improvements going on at what is now the East End. When he came up, no
Ste. Marie canal had been dug, and a portage was necessary between
Lakes Superior and Huron, involving a change in the line of vessels.
He built the first hotel in Superior, the old Pioneer House, which
burned in 1857, and also the present Nicollet House, which was built
of logs, cut on what is now Tower Slip. He also built the Quebec pier,
the first dock ever built at the head of Lake Superior. He also
assisted in cutting the old government trail through to the St. Croix
river. He was an active participant in the defense of the town site
people in their battles with the claim jumping pre-emptioners, who had
settled on the lands adjoining, and who filed contests on much of the
town site as soon as the plats were returned to the land office at
Willow River, now known as Hudson. In cutting the sixty miles of trail
to the St. Croix, every able-bodied man turned out, except enough to
guard the homes and cut kindling wood. The axemen ground their axes at
Fond du Lac, the only trading station of importance at that time on
the St. Louis river. He pre-empted, in the interest of his fellow
sufferers on the town site, eighty acres of land, now part of
Superior. He has always led a quiet, laborious life; now runs a small
general store at the East End, and does a little general contracting
for ties and bridge timbers and dock piling. He has a family of five
boys and one girl now living, all in Superior.
Among the first settlers were Judge Hiram Hayes, ---- Ritchie and ----
Gates.
CHAPTER X.
PINE COUNTY.
Prior to the organization of Minnesota Territory, in 1849, Pine county
was included within the limits of St. Croix county, Wisconsin. Until
the organization of Chisago county, in 1852, it was within the limits
of Ramsey, and from thence until 1854, within the limits of Chisago,
when it was organized under its present name. Until 1858 it included
the territory of the present counties of Kanabec and Carlton. It is
bounded on the north by Carlton county, on the east by the St. Croix
river and the state line, and on the west by Aitkin and Kanabec
counties. It is well watered by the St. Croix, Kettle and Kanabec
rivers with their numerous tributaries. There are many fine lakes
within its borders. The finest of these are Cross, Pokegama, Pine and
Sturgeon lakes. This county was originally heavily timbered with pine,
from which fact it derived its name. Though immense quantities have
been removed, the supply is still great enough to make this region a
lumberman's paradise for years to come.
The facilities for floating logs to the St. Croix are scarce equaled
elsewhere. Since 1837 the Kanabec river has been a principal feeder to
the lumber trade of the St. Croix valley. In some of the forests a new
growth has succeeded the old, and should the land be not otherwise
used, the lumberman may yet reap successive harvests in periods
ranging from eight to fifteen years. Much of the land in this county
is well adapted for agriculture. The soil is chiefly a sandy loam with
clay subsoil. Much of the county will eventually become a good grazing
and cereal growing region. The southern townships are heavily timbered
with hardwood and are rapidly being converted into good wheat farms. A
large quantity of cordwood, piles and ties is annually marketed by
means of the railroad. Kanabec river is navigable from Chengwatana and
Pine City to Brunswick, in Kanabec county. The same steamboat that
since 1881 has navigated the Kanabec, also makes trips, six miles up
the Rice and Pokegama rivers. The first crops raised in the county,
except those raised by traders and missionaries, were raised on the
Greeley farm, Kanabec river, near the western limits of the county, by
Royal C. Gray.
At the organization of the county, Herman Trott, George W. Staples and
Royal C. Gray were appointed commissioners. The county was attached
for judicial purposes to Chisago until 1872, at which date the county
seat, located at Chengwatana by legislative enactment, was changed by
a popular vote to Pine City. The first district court was held in
October, 1872, Judge Crosby, presiding; John D. Wilcox, clerk; Edward
Jackson, sheriff.
The first marriage license, issued in 1872, was to John Kelsey and
Mary Hoffman. The first board of county officers, after the removal of
the county seat, were: Commissioners, Hiram Brackett, George Goodwin
and Edward Jackson; auditor, Adolph Munch; register of deeds, Don
Willard; county attorney, treasurer and superintendent of schools,
John D. Wilcox. The first article recorded by the register of Pine
county was a military land warrant, No. 12702, in the name of Prudence
Rockwell, located by William Orrin Baker upon the southeast quarter of
section 32, township 38, range 20, subject to forty days' pre-emption,
dated Stillwater, June 19, 1855; T. M. Fullerton, register. Assigned,
June 14, 1856, to Enos Jones. The second record is of a warranty deed
from John F. Bradford to W. A. Van Slyke, of Ramsey county, of the
west half of the northwest quarter of section 30, township 39, range
19, and the west half of the northwest quarter of the same section.
The finances of the county were in good condition until 1872, from
which time, owing to heavy expenditures for new roads, with possibly
injudicious management, and two defalcations of county auditors,
considerable embarrassment ensued. In 1876 the state legislature
bonded the county indebtedness of $10,000, in ten year bonds, at ten
per cent interest. These bonds were readily received by the creditors,
and the county is now free from debt. During the last year a bridge
800 feet long was built across the Kanabec river near Pine City, at a
cost of $3,350, for which the State appropriated $1,500 and the county
$1,850.
The Lake Superior & Mississippi railroad was completed to Kanabec
river in 1868, and in 1869 extended northwest to the county line. The
building of this road was speedily followed by the erection of
numerous mills along its line, a list of which is appended, with the
very remarkable statistics of the losses by fire, from which but four
of these mills were exempt:
North Branch, Swenson & Co., flour mill; burned; loss,
$8,000.
Rush City, Taylor & Co., capacity 1,000,000 feet yearly;
burned; loss, $3,000.
Rock Creek, Edgerton & Co., capacity 2,000,000 feet yearly;
burned; loss, $8,000; rebuilt.
Rock Creek, Strong & Co., capacity 1,000,000 feet yearly;
burned; loss, $1,500; rebuilt.
Rock Creek, Long & Co., capacity 1,000,000 feet yearly;
removed.
Pine City, Ferson & Co., capacity 10,000,000 feet yearly;
burned; loss, $50,000; rebuilt.
Pine City, Ferson & Co., capacity 10,000,000 feet yearly;
burned; loss, $25,000; rebuilt.
Pine City, Munch & Burrows, stave mill; burned; loss,
$10,000.
Pine City, Brackett & Co., capacity 3,000,000 feet yearly.
Mission Creek, Taylor & Co., capacity 3,000,000 feet yearly;
burned; loss, $12,500; rebuilt.
Mission Creek, Taylor & Co., capacity 3,000,000 feet yearly;
burned; loss, $12,500.
Hinckley, Grant & Co., capacity 1,000,000 feet yearly;
burned; loss, $3,000.
Hinckley, McKean & Butler, capacity 3,000,000 feet yearly;
burned; loss, $7,000; rebuilt.
Miller Station, Robie & Co., shingle mill; burned; loss,
$3,000.
Kettle River, S. S. Griggs & Co., capacity 3,000,000 feet
yearly; never operated; loss, $5,000.
Moose Lake, McArthur & Co., capacity 2,000,000 feet yearly;
burned; loss, $30,000.
Barnum, Cooley & Co., capacity 1,000,000 feet yearly;
burned; loss, $5,000.
Barnum, Bliss & Co., capacity 10,000,000 feet yearly.
Northern Pacific Junction, Payne & Co., two mills burned;
loss, $50,000; rebuilt the third time.
POKEGAMA LAKE.
This beautiful lake lies in township 39, range 22. It is about five
miles in length by one in breadth and finds an outlet in Kanabec
river. It is celebrated for its historical associations. Thomas
Conner, an old trader, informed the writer of these sketches, in 1847,
that he had had a trading post on the banks of this lake thirty years
before, or about the year 1816. This was before Fort Snelling was
built. Mr. Conner said that there was a French trading post at
Pokegama long before he went there. It was in the spring of 1847,
after a wearisome day's tramp, that I made his acquaintance and shared
his unstinted hospitality. His post, at that time, was located at the
mouth of Goose creek, Chisago county, on the banks of the St. Croix.
His rude, portable house was built of bark, subdivided with mats and
skins into different apartments. Although at an advanced period in
life, his mind was clear and he conversed with a degree of
intelligence which caused me to ask him why he lived thus secluded,
away from all the privileges of a civilized life. His reasons, some of
them, were forcible; he liked the quiet of the wilderness, away from
the turmoils of the envious white race. I learned from him many
interesting facts connected with travelers, traders and explorers of
our St. Croix valley. This was the last season he spent on the river.
In 1847, when I visited Pokegama, Jeremiah Russell, an Indian farmer,
had a very pretty farm on a point of land on the southwest side of the
lake, and between the lake and the river. A Frenchman, Jarvis, lived a
short distance from Russell. Across the lake from Russell's were the
neat and tasteful log buildings and gardens of the Presbyterian
mission. The mission was established in the spring of 1836, by Rev.
Frederic Ayer and his associates, under the auspicies of the American
Board of Foreign Missions. Mr. Ayer had been laboring at Yellow Lake
mission, but, owing to the growing unfriendliness of the Indians, had
been removed to Pokegama. Much pertaining to the mission work, both at
Pokegama and elsewhere, will be found in the biographies of the
principal missionaries. We mention here only such incidents as may be
of more general interest. For many of these incidents we are indebted
to Mrs. Elisabeth J. Ayer, of Belle Prairie, the widow of Rev.
Frederic Ayer, for a long time missionary to the Ojibways. This
estimable lady has passed her eighty-fifth year, but her mind is still
clear and her hand steady, her manuscript having the appearance of the
work of a precise young schoolmistress. She mentions an old Canadian,
who had been in the country sixty years, and for seven or eight years
had been entirely blind. He was known as Mushk-de-winini
(The-old-blind-prairie-man), also the old trader, Thomas Conner, the
remains of whose mud chimney and foundation of the old trading house
may still be seen on the southern shore of the lake.
Franklin Steele was the first white man to visit the mission. In the
spring of 1837 the mission aided three or four families in building.
February, 1837, Rev. Mr. Hall, of the La Pointe mission, visited
Pokegama, and organized a church of seven members,--three of whom were
natives,--administered the ordinance of baptism to eight persons, and
solemnized two marriages, probably the first in the valley of the St.
Croix. Revs. Boutwell and Ely came to the mission in 1837. A school
had been opened, some Indian houses built, and gardens enlarged, and
the future of the mission seemed assured. Mrs. Ayer relates the
following account of the
BATTLE OF POKEGAMA.
In 1811 the Sioux selected this settlement as the place to avenge the
wrongs of the Ojibways--some of recent date; the principal of which
was the killing of two sons of Little Crow (done in self defense)
between Pokegama and the falls of the St. Croix. The Sioux arrived at
Pokegama in the night, and stopped on the opposite side of the lake,
two miles from the mission. The main body went to the main settlement,
and, after examining the ground where they intended to operate, hid
among the trees and brush back of the Indian gardens, with orders that
all keep quiet on both sides of the lake till a given signal, when the
Indians were busy in their gardens, and then make quick work. But
their plans failed. Most of the Ojibways of the settlement had, from
fear of the Sioux, slept on an island half a mile out in the lake (I
mean the women and children), and were late to their gardens. In the
meantime a loaded canoe was nearing the opposite shore and the few
Sioux who had remained there to dispatch any who, in time of battle,
might attempt to escape by crossing over, fired prematurely. This gave
the alarm, and saved the Ojibways. The chief ran to Mr. Ayer's door
and said, expressively: "The Sioux are upon us," and was off. The
Indians seemed at once to understand that the main body of the enemy
was at hand. The missionaries stepped out of the door and had just
time to see a great splashing of water across the lake when bullets
came whizzing about their ears, and they went in. The Sioux had left
their hiding place and the battle commenced in earnest. Most of the
women and children of the settlement were yet on the island. The house
of the chief was well barricaded and most of the men gathered in
there. The remainder took refuge in a house more exposed, at the other
end of the village. The enemy drew up very near and fired in at the
window. One gun was made useless, being indented by a ball. The owner
retired to a corner and spent the time in prayer. The mother of the
house, with her small children, was on her way to the island under a
shower of bullets, calling aloud on God for help.
The missionaries seeing from their windows quantities of bloody flesh
upon stumps in the battle field, thought surely that several of their
friends had fallen. It proved to be a cow and calf of an Ojibway. The
mission children were much frightened and asked many questions, and
for apparent safety went up stairs and were put behind some well
filled barrels. In the heat of battle two Ojibways came from the
island and landed in front of Mr. Ayer's house. They drew their canoe
ashore and secreted themselves as well as the surroundings would
permit. Not long after three Sioux ran down the hill and toward the
canoe. They were fired upon and one fell dead. The other two ran for
help but before they could return the Ojibways were on the way back to
the island. Not having time to take the scalp of their enemy, they
hastily cut the powder horn strap from his breast, dripping with
blood, as a trophy of victory. The Sioux drew the dead body up the
hill and back to the place of fighting. The noise ceased. The battle
was over. The missionaries soon heard the joyful words, quietly
spoken: "We still live." Not a warrior had fallen. The two school
girls who were in the canoe at the first firing in the morning were
the only ones killed, though half the men and boys in the fight were
wounded. The Sioux women and boys who had come with their warriors to
carry away the spoils had the chagrin of returning as empty as they
came.
The Ojibways were careful that no canoe should be left within reach of
the Sioux. From necessity they took a canoe, made by Mr. Ely, and
removed their dead two miles up the river, dressed them (seemingly) in
the best the party could furnish, with each a double barreled gun, a
tomahawk and scalping knife, set them up against some large trees and
went on their way. Some of these articles, including their
head-dresses, were sent to the museum of the American board, in
Boston.
In the closing scene the missionaries had the opportunity of seeing
the difference between those Indians who had listened to instruction
and those who had not. The second day after the battle the pagan party
brought back to the island the dead bodies of their enemies, cut in
pieces, and distributed parts to such Ojibways as had at any time lost
friends by the hands of the Sioux. One woman, whose daughter was
killed and mutilated on that memorable morning, when she saw the
canoes coming, with a head raised high in the air on a long pole,
waded out into the water, grabbed it like a hungry dog and dashed it
repeatedly on the stones with savage fierceness. Others of the pagans
conducted themselves in a similar manner. They even cooked some of the
flesh that night in their kettles of rice. Eunice (as she was named at
her baptism) was offered an arm. At first she hesitated; but for
reasons, sufficient in her own mind, thought best to take it. Her
daughter-in-law, widow of her son who had recently been killed and
chopped into pieces by the Sioux, took another, and they went into
their lodge. Eunice said: "My daughter, we must not do as some of our
friends are doing. We have been taught better," and taking some white
cloths from her sack they wrapped the arms in them, offered a prayer,
and gave them a decent burial. About this time a Mr. Kirkland was sent
from Quincy, Illinois, by a party who wished to plant a colony not far
from the mission station. He arrived at Pokegama very soon after the
battle. Notwithstanding what had happened he selected a location on
Cross lake, just where a railroad has now been in operation for some
years. He worked vigorously for two or three weeks, and then went to
consult the Indian agent and the military at Fort Snelling. They gave
him no encouragement that the two tribes would ever live in peace; and
he went home. The Ojibways lived in constant fear, and the place was
soon deserted. This was a great trial to the missionaries; but they
did not urge them to stay. They separated into small parties and went
where they could get a living for the present and be out of danger.
The teachers remained at their post, occasionally visiting the Indians
in their retreat, hoping they might soon think it safe to return to
their homes. In this they were disappointed. These visits were not
always very safe. On one of these trips Mr. Ayer was lost, and from
cold and hunger came near perishing. Not finding the party he sought,
he wandered about for a day or two. In the meantime the weather became
much colder. Not expecting to camp out he took only one blanket and
food enough for one meal. In crossing Kettle river on a self-made
conveyance, and there being ice on the opposite shore, he got wet. The
Indians, anticipating his visit, had sent a young man to the mission
station to guide him to, their new locality. He returned in haste,
fell on Mr. Ayer's track, and a light sprinkle of snow enabled him to
follow it until he was found.
Mrs. Ayer relates several incidents illustrative of Indian character.
As her husband had been stationed at Yellow Lake, and afterward at Red
Lake, these incidents are not necessarily located at Pokegama:
A NOBLE CHIEF.
The Red Lake Indians were a noble band--they had a noble chief. In
civilization he led the way, in religion he did not oppose. He
shouldered a heavy axe, and could be seen chopping on one side of a
large tree, in perspiration, while his wife was on the other side,
helping all she could with her hatchet. This chief was also an
advocate of temperance. Not that he didn't love whisky, but he hated
the effect of it on his band. He dictated a letter to the president,
begging him not to let the white faces bring any more firewater to his
people, giving as one reason that they had teachers among them who
must be protected, and if they had whisky he did not know what might
happen.
FRANK CONFESSIONS.
In the church there was much childish simplicity. Once when Mr. Ayer
was lecturing on the eighth commandment, he paused, and without
expecting an answer, said: "Now who is there among you who has not
stolen?" One woman began to confess--another followed, then another.
One thought she had stolen about seven times. Another entered more
into particulars, mentioning the things she had stolen, till the scene
was quite amusing. Another rose to confess, but was cut short by her
husband, who said: "Who knows how many times he has stolen? We are a
nation of thieves." And with a few remarks the meeting closed.
A COWARDLY DEED.
After a medicine dance, according to Indian custom, they proposed a
feast, but there was nothing on which to feast. There was a large
company and all were hungry. Mr. Ayer's cow was in the barnyard near.
Three daring fellows sitting by themselves began to taunt each other
in regard to their comparative prowess. After an excitement was
created, one of them, to show his bravery, shot the cow. Mr. Ayer was
in his garden and witnessed the performance. Two or three of the
leading men in this pagan party came immediately to Mr. Ayer to learn
whether he would take the cow for his own use. While they were talking
(perhaps twenty minutes) the cow was cut in pieces, and in the
Indians' kettles preparatory to a good time. After the Indians had
sold their land they paid for the cow.
AN UNJUST ACCUSATION.
Indians are said to be revengeful. They are. So are white men. They
fight for their rights. So do white men. They are thieves and liars.
So are white men. Quarrelsome, envious, jealous. So are white men.
Experience teaches that according to their knowledge they compare
favorably with Anglo-Saxons. Sin is none the better, nor less
mischievous, for being civilized.
A missionary, a good man, too, he was, accused an innocent woman of
stealing his shirts that were laid out on the snow to whiten. His
wife, not remembering that she had brought them in early in the
morning, asked him to go out and get them. But they were not to be
found! "Who has been here this morning?" was asked. "Ekwazans; I don't
remember any other." "Well, she shan't have those shirts. I'll
overtake her before she gets home." He followed her four miles,
determined to have his shirts. The woman declared her innocence, and
told him to search the wigwam. He did so, but said himself that it was
done rather roughly. In the meantime the wife espied the shirts just
where she had put them. This affair was ever after a source of regret
to them.
Some of the Indians laughed heartily; others made remarks rather
sarcastic. The woman herself felt disgraced by the accusation, but
never manifested signs of wanting to "pay back," or in any way to
avenge the wrong.
INDIAN MAGNANIMITY.
An employe of the American Fur Company, a "green hand," was crossing a
portage. The load on his back was topped off with a bag of flour. The
hill was steep and long. Steps were cut in it like a flight of stairs.
As he reached the top a mischievous Indian touched the bag, and it
went tumbling to the foot of the hill. The Frenchman immediately sent
the Indian tumbling after it. Some of the company advised the
Frenchman to run away, for the Indian might kill him. He told them
boldly that he would not run away. The Indian gathered himself up,
came to the top of the hill, told the Frenchman he had done just
right, offered his hand and they were firm friends. Magnanimous had it
been a white man.
REV. FREDERIC AYER was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1803.
When he was two years old the family moved to Central New York. His
father was a Presbyterian minister, and they intended that their son
should follow the same profession; but before he was prepared his
health failed and he turned his attention to other business.
He commenced his labors for the Indians in 1829, by teaching the
mission school at Mackinaw, under the superintendency of Rev. M.
Ferry. The pupils of this school were not all Ojibways but were from
many different tribes, and spoke different languages. Mackinaw was
then a general depot of the North American fur traders. They brought
not only their own children to the school but such others as parents
among whom they were trading wished to send. They were gathered from
Lake Winnipeg, British America north, to Prairie du Chien and the head
of Lake Michigan south. They were taught in English only.
In the summer of 1830 Mr. Ayer went to La Pointe, Lake Superior, with
Mr. Warren, opened a school and commenced the study of the Ojibway
language. In 1831 he met at Mackinaw, Revs. Hall and Boutwell, who
were sent out by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions to the Indians, and he returned with Mr. and Mrs. Hall and
their interpreter to spend another winter at La Pointe.
The next year, 1832, Mr. Ayer wintered with another trader at Sandy
Lake. He opened a school there and completed a little Ojibway
spelling book which was commenced at La Pointe. In the spring of 1833
he left Sandy Lake for Utica, New York, to get the book printed. Mr.
Aitkin, with whom he had wintered, gave him eighty dollars, and with a
pack on his back and an experienced guide, he started on his journey.
Before they reached Sault Ste. Marie the ice on Lake Superior was so
weak that Mr. Ayer broke through and was saved only by carrying
horizontally in his hands a long pole to prevent his sinking.
Mr. Ayer hastened on to complete the object of his journey, that he
might return to Mackinaw in time to go up Lake Superior with the
traders. Mr. Ayer, hitherto an independent worker, now put himself
under the direction of the "American Board," and was sent to Yellow
Lake, within the present bounds of Burnett county, Wisconsin. Miss
Delia Cooke, whose name should never be forgotten among the early
missionaries of the American board to the Indians, and Miss Hester
Crooks, a girl educated at Mackinaw, and who had some experience in
teaching, were among the number who coasted up Lake Superior in a
Mackinaw boat; the former to La Pointe mission, the latter to Yellow
Lake with Mr. and Mrs. Ayer. They wintered in Dr. Borup's family. Mrs.
Borup also had, for some years, been a pupil at Mackinaw. The next
year Miss Crooks married Rev. Mr. Boutwell and went to Leech lake, and
J. L. Seymour and Miss Sabrian Stevens, also Henry Blatchford, an
interpreter from Mackinaw, were added to Yellow Lake mission. When Mr.
Ayer told the Indians his object in coming among them, they gave him a
welcome. But six months later, seeing two or three log houses in
process of building, they were much troubled, and met in a body to
request him to go away. A Menomonie from the region of Green Bay had
stirred them up, not against the missionaries, but against the general
government.
The speaker said: "It makes the Indians sad to see the white man's
house go up on their land. We don't want you to stay; you must go."
Further on he said: "You shall go!" Mr. Ayer answered him. The party
left at midnight, and the missionaries went to bed with heavy hearts,
thinking they might be thurst out almost immediately. But before
sunrise the next morning about two-thirds of the same party returned,
and said they had come to take back what they said the night before.
The war chief was speaker, but his words were mild. "Why," said he,
"should we turn these teachers away before they have done us any
harm?" They would like to have us stay, he said, but added that they
did not want any more to come, for the result might be the loss of
their lands. We might use whatever their country afforded, but they
would not give us any land, or sell us any. "For," said the speaker,
"if we should sell our land where would our children play?"
Mr. Ayer finished his school house, and went on with his work as
though nothing had happened. But evidently things were not as they
should be. The chief seemed to "sit on the fence," ready to jump
either way. The war chief was always friendly, but he had not so much
control over what concerned us. He did what he could without giving
offense, and was anxious that his daughter of fourteen years should be
taken into the mission family. Mr. Ayer remained two years longer at
Yellow Lake. In the meantime the chief of the Snake River band sent
messages inviting the teachers to come and live among them.
Accordingly in the spring of 1836 the mission was removed to Pokegama
lake, eighteen miles up the river. The chief did all he had promised,
and showed himself a man. Nothing was said here to remind the
missionaries that they were using the Indians' wood, water and fish.
On the contrary, when they sold their land, it was urged that the
teachers' children should be enrolled for annual payment, the same as
their own. The chief said that as they were born on the land it was no
more than right, and he wished it might be done.
In 1842 Mr. Ayer went with his family to the States; and in Oberlin
was ordained preacher to the Ojibways. He soon returned to the Indian
country, and David Brainard Spencer, an Oberlin student, with him.
They spent the winter of 1842-3 in traveling from one trading post to
another, selecting locations for missionary labor. For their own field
they chose Red Lake. When Mrs. Ayer, with her two little boys, six and
eight years old, went to join her husband at the new station, Alonzo
Barnard and wife and S. G. Wright, all of Oberlin College, went with
her. Other missionaries soon followed, and that station was for many
years supplied with efficient laborers. More recently the work there
was assigned to Bishop Whipple, and is still carried on.
Mr. and Mrs. Ayer, in 1865, offered their services to the freed-men of
the South and were employed at Atlanta, Georgia.
Mr. Ayer organized a Congregational church and a baptistry connected
with the house of worship, that he might baptise by immersion or
otherwise, according to the wishes of the candidate. He also formed a
temperance society, which some months before his death numbered more
than six hundred members.
There was great grief at his death amongst all classes. An aged man,
who had lost a small fortune in his devotion to the Confederacy,
embraced the corpse, and said: "If he had not holpen me, I should have
before gone him." Many others, in word or action, expressed a similar
feeling. All classes of people were represented at his funeral. His
remains were buried in the Atlanta cemetery, Oct. 1, 1867. Thus passed
away one who had spent a life for the benefit of others.
Mr. and Mrs. Ayer in some instances taught three generations of
Ojibway blood, and North and South, they were, in the course of their
labors, associated for a longer or shorter time, with more than eighty
different missionaries,--a noble band,--with few exceptions worthy the
name they bore. Most of them have passed away, and their graves are
scattered here and there from British America to Georgia.
REV. WILLIAM T. BOUTWELL, who figures so prominently in the history of
the early missions in the St. Croix valley, was born in Hillsborough
county, New Hampshire, Feb. 4, 1803. He was educated at Dartmouth and
Andover colleges, and in 1831, the year of his graduation at Andover,
he came to the Northwest as a Presbyterian missionary. He spent one
year at Mackinaw, learning the Chippewa language, under the
instruction of Rev. W. M. Ferry, father of Senator Ferry, of Michigan.
In 1832 our government sent an embassy of thirty men, under the
control of the Indian agent at Ste. Marie, Henry R. Schoolcraft, to
tranquilize the tribes and effect some advantageous treaties. The
embassy was accompanied by an outfit of soldiers under the command of
Lieut. Allen, Dr. Houghton, physician, George Johnson, interpreter,
and Mr. Boutwell. The embassy had a liberal outfit of provisions,
equipages and trinkets for the Indians, and was conveyed in a large
bateau of several tons capacity, and some birch canoes, the largest of
which was thirty feet long, and capable of containing nine persons. On
arriving at Fond du Lac, the head of navigation on the St. Louis
river, Mr. Boutwell wrote as follows to the missionary board:
[Illustration: WILLIAM T. BOUTWELL.]
"On arriving here I was not a little surprised to find four hundred
souls, half-breeds and white men. The scene at our landing was such as
I never before witnessed, and enough to fill one, unaccustomed to the
like as myself, with wonder, if not with fear. The yelling of Indians,
barking of dogs, crying of children, running of the multitude,
discharge of musketry, and flourish of flags, was noise in the
extreme. At ten o'clock I preached to about forty in English, the
first sermon ever preached here, and at 4 P. M. I addressed, through
Mr. Johnson, more than twice that number of French, half-breeds and
Indians; many of the latter of whom for the first time listened to the
word of Life. All listened with attention and interest. My interpreter
sat on my right, while a chief occupied a seat at my left. Around and
below me, on the floor, sat his men, women and children, in a state of
almost entire nudity, many of whom had no more than a cloth about the
loins, and a blanket, but some of the children not even a
blanket,--all with their pipes and tobacco pouches, painted with all
the variety of figures that can be imagined."
From Fond du Lac he proceeded with the expedition up the St. Louis
river, crossing the falls by a portage, and ascending to the point
nearest Sandy lake, which was reached by a portage. The expedition
proceeded up the Mississippi to Leech lake. Learning from the Indians
at this point that Cass lake, the reputed source of the Mississippi,
was not the real source, the expedition proceeded, under the guidance
of a chief and a number of his tribe, to ascend the river further.
When they reached the lake, now known as Itasca, five of the party,
Lieut. Allen, Schoolcraft, Houghton, Johnson, and Boutwell, were sent
in canoes with Indian guides to explore the shores of the lake. No
inlet being found the party came to the conclusion that this was, as
the Indians claimed, the true source of the Mississippi river. Mr.
Schoolcraft being satisfied as to the correctness of the observations,
landed his party on an island near the middle of the lake.
He was puzzled to know what name to give the lake, and asked Mr.
Boutwell if he knew of any word that would express the term "true head
of the river." Mr. Boutwell said he could think of no single word that
would express it, but there were two Latin words that would answer the
purpose, and those were _veritas_--true, and _caput_--head. Mr.
Schoolcraft immediately wrote on a piece of paper the two words, and
then erasing the first syllable of the first word and the last
syllable of the latter, joined the remaining syllables. He then
planted the stars and stripes on a little eminence, and formally
christened the lake "Itasca." They then proceeded to descend the
Mississippi. "As we were passing through the outlet of the lake," said
Mr. Boutwell, "I stopped my canoe on the shore and jumped across the
Mississippi. I considered that a great thing to relate in after
years."
The party with their own boats descended the Mississippi, distributing
tobacco, medals and flags to Indians on their way.[E] "When I see the
great cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul now," said Mr. Boutwell, "I
have to reflect that when we made our memorable trip down the river in
1832 we stopped at St. Anthony falls, and I stood on the east bank and
looked across the river in profound admiration of the most beautiful
landscape I had ever seen, with only a few head of government cattle
belonging at Fort Snelling grazing upon it. The whole country on both
sides of the river was as God had made it. When we passed the locality
of St. Paul there was not even an Indian tepee to be seen."
The party halted at a Sioux Indian village at Kaposia, a few miles
below St. Paul, and after a short consultation proceeded to the mouth
of the St. Croix, and ascending the St. Croix to its source, made a
portage of two miles to the source of the Burnt Wood river, which they
descended to Lake Superior, and thence returned to their starting
place. In the following year Mr. Boutwell established a mission at
Leech lake. In giving an account of his reception by the Indians, he
says: "When I arrived the men, with a few exceptions, were making
their fall hunts, while their families remained at the lake and its
vicinity to gather their corn and make rice. A few lodges were
encamped quite near. These I began to visit, for the purpose of
reading, singing, etc., in order to interest the children and awaken
in them the desire for instruction. I told them about the children at
Mackinaw, the Sault, and at La Pointe, who could read, write and sing.
To this they would listen attentively, while the mother would often
reply: 'My children are poor and ignorant.' To a person unaccustomed
to Indian manners and Indian wildness it would have been amusing to
have seen the little ones, as I approached their lodge, running and
screaming, more terrified, if possible, than if they had met a bear
robbed of her whelps. It was not long, however, before most of them
overcame their fears; and in a few days my dwelling, a lodge which I
occupied for three or four weeks, was frequented from morning till
evening by an interesting group of boys, all desirous to learn to
read, sing, etc. To have seen them hanging, some on one knee, others
on my shoulder, reading and singing, while others, whether from shame
or fear I know not, who dared not venture within, were peeping in
through the sides of the cottage, or lying flat upon the ground and
looking under the bottom, might have provoked a smile; especially to
have seen them as they caught a glance of my eye, springing upon their
feet and running like so many wild asses colts. The rain, cold and
snow were alike to them, in which they would come, day after day, many
of them clad merely with a blanket and a narrow strip of cloth about
the loins. The men at length returned, and an opportunity was
presented me for reading to them. The greater part listened
attentively. Some would come back and ask me to read more. Others
laughed, and aimed to make sport of both me and my mission."
He continued to labor here until 1837, when the Indians becoming
troublesome, and having murdered Aitkin, an agent of the fur company,
he deemed it advisable to remove the mission to Pokegama lake. He
labored here faithfully, much respected by the Indians for his
firmness and christian devotion. In 1847 he removed to Stillwater and
settled on a farm near the city, where he is spending the remainder of
his days, cared for by his affectionate daughter Kate and her kind
husband, ----Jones. Though infirm in body on account of advanced age
his mind is clear and his memory retentive. He enjoys the respect
accorded to venerable age, and that which pertains to an early and
middle life spent in unusual toils and hardships in the noblest work
intrusted to the hands of man.
MRS. HESTER CROOKS BOUTWELL deserves honorable mention as the early
companion of the devoted missionary. She was the daughter of Ramsey
Crooks, of New York, an Indian trader. Her mother was a half-breed
Ojibway woman. Hester Crooks was born on Drummond island, Lake Huron,
May 30, 1817. Her father gave her a superior education at Mackinaw
mission. She was a woman of tall and commanding figure, her black hair
and eyes indicating her Indian origin. She was a fluent
conversationalist, and careful and tidy in her personal appearance.
She died in Stillwater in 1853, leaving a family of seven children.
CHENGWATANA.
This town derived its name from the Chippewa words, "cheng-wa" (pine)
and "tana" (city), applied to an Indian village which from time
immemorial had been located near the mouth of Cross lake. This
locality had long been a rallying point for Indians and traders. When
the writer visited it, in 1846, it had the appearance of an ancient
place of resort. Half-breeds and whites with Indian wives settled
here, and in 1852 there were several log houses, and a hotel kept by
one Ebenezer Ayer. There was also a dam built for sluicing logs. Among
the early settlers were Duane Porter, George Goodwin, Herman Trott,
John G. Randall, Emil, Gustave and Adolph Munch. Mr. Trott built a
fine residence on the shore of Cross lake, afterward the home of S. A.
Hutchinson. The Munch brothers built a store and made other
improvements. John G. Randall, in 1856-7-8, manufactured lumber, ran
it down the Kanabec and St. Croix rivers to Rush Seba, Sunrise and
Taylor's Falls. In 1852, and soon after the building of the government
road to Superior City, a post office and a stage route from St. Paul
to Superior City were established. The dam, to which reference has
been made, was built in 1848, by Elam Greely. It is at the outlet of
Cross lake and has ten feet head. The flowage covers many thousands of
acres. The ownership has changed several times. The tolls levied
amount to from ten to fifteen cents per thousand feet. The chartered
operators control the flowage completely, opening and shutting gates
at their pleasure. Many of the first settlers removed to other
localities. Mr. Trott and the Munch brothers to St. Paul, J. G.
Randall to Colorado, and Louis Ayd to Taylor's Falls.
In 1856 an effort was made to found a village on the site of the old
Indian town of Chengwatana. Judd, Walker & Co. and Daniel A. Robertson
surveyed and platted the village of Alhambra, but the name was not
generally accepted, and the old Indian name of Chengwatana superseded
it. The town of Chengwatana was organized in 1874. The first
supervisors were Duane Porter, Resin Denman and Ferdinand Blank.
LOUIS AYD was born in Germany in 1840; came to America in 1852 and
settled in Chengwatana. He served three and a half years as a soldier
during the Rebellion, and was seriously injured in the service. On his
return he settled in Taylor's Falls. He is a well-to-do farmer and
dealer in live stock for the meat market. He has been a member of the
Roman Catholic church from childhood. He was married to Rosabella
Hoffman, of Hudson, Wisconsin, in 1871.
DUANE PORTER, the son of a surgeon in the United States Army in the
war of 1812, was born in Washington county, New York, in 1825; came
West as far as Illinois in 1852, and to St. Croix Falls in 1844. He
was married in 1848 to Mary Lapraire, and in the same year located at
Chengwatama. His occupation is that of an explorer and lumberman. He
has ten children living.
S. A. HUTCHINSON.--Mr. Hutchinson was a native of Maine, and while
yet a youth came to the valley of the St. Croix, and located at
Chengwatana, where he married a Chippewa woman, and raised a family of
half-breed children. "Gus" Hutchinson, as he was familiarly called,
had many noble traits of character and was very popular with his
associates. He had a well trained mind; was skilled as a lumberman and
explorer, and was of a genial disposition, honest in heart and true in
his friendships. He was elected sheriff of Pine county, and served
four years. On the night of Aug. 16, 1880, he was found in a sitting
posture on his bed, lifeless, a rifle ball having pierced his heart.
It appeared, on investigation, that his oldest son wanted to marry an
Indian girl, to which his father objected. On the night after the
murder the marriage took place in Indian style. Suspicion pointing
strongly toward mother and son, they were arrested, and an indictment
found by the grand jury against the son. He was tried and acquitted.
HINCKLEY.
The township of Hinckley was organized in 1872. It includes a large
area of land; heavily timbered with pine and hardwood. The soil is
varied, consisting of black and yellow sand loam with clay subsoil. It
abounds in meadows, marshes, tamarack swamps, pine and hardwood
ridges, and is capable of cultivation.
THE VILLAGE OF HINCKLEY
Lies midway between St. Paul and Duluth, on the St. Paul & Daluth
railroad. It was founded soon after the completion of the road. The
Manitoba railroad passes through the village, running from St. Cloud
to Superior. It was incorporated in 1885. The following were the first
officers: President, James J. Brennan; recorder, S. W. Anderson;
trustees, James Morrison, Nels Parson, John Perry; treasurer, John
Burke; justices of the peace, John Brennan, A. B. Clinch; constable,
Andrew Stone. Prior to this incorporation, Hinckley had suffered
considerably from the lawlessness of its occasional or transient
residents and visitors, and the large majority of the vote in favor of
incorporation is justly considered as a triumph of law and order. The
village has a saw mill doing a large business, a good depot, round
house, four hotels, several stores, shops, and fine residences, a
commodious school house, and two churches--a Lutheran and Catholic.
The Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad connects here with the St. Paul &
Duluth railroad, and is being extended to Superior.
JAMES MORRISON was born on Cape Breton island in 1840. Mr. Morrison
was one of the first settlers of Hinckley, having come to the
settlement in 1869, in the employ of the St. Paul & Duluth railroad.
He has followed farming and hotel keeping. He is an active and
industrious man, the proprietor of a large hotel, and a member of the
Presbyterian church.
SANDSTONE VILLAGE
Is located in the northwest quarter of section 15, township 42, range
20. It contains about forty dwellings, three large boarding houses,
two stores, one hotel and a stone saw mill with diamond-toothed saw,
built by Ring & Tobin, at a cost of $30,000. The stone quarries of the
Kettle River & Sandstone Company are located on sections 3, 10 and 15,
in township 42, range 20, and extend two and three-quarters miles on
each side of Kettle river. The first work in opening the quarries was
done Aug. 22, 1885. The village plat was surveyed in June, 1887, and a
post office established there the February preceding, W. H. Grant,
Jr., being the first postmaster. The saw mill and the quarries give
employment to about four hundred men. Sandstone is located on the old
site of Fortuna. The Kettle River railroad was built to the quarries
in 1886, from the St. Paul & Duluth railroad, a distance of five
miles. The Manitoba railroad, running to Superior, passes through the
village.
WILLIAM H. GRANT, SR., one of the founders of Hinckley, and the
proprietor and founder of the Sandstone enterprise, was born Dec. 23,
1829, at Lyndborough, New Hampshire. He received his education at
Hancock Academy, New Hampshire, and Yates Academy, Orleans county, New
York. He studied law and was admitted to practice in 1854 at
Hillsborough, New Hampshire. He came to St. Paul in 1859, where he
still resides, his property interests at Sandstone being immediately
under the super vision of his son, W. H. Grant, Jr. He sold his
interest in May, 1888, for $100,000. He was married to Martha McKean
in New Hampshire, January, 1855.
KETTLE RIVER.
The town of Kettle River, including townships 43 and 44, lying on the
west line of the county, was organized in 1874. S. S. Griggs was
chairman of the first board of supervisors. The town contains but one
school district. The first settler was S. S. Griggs, who, in company
with John S. Prince, of St. Paul, built a saw mill at the St. Paul &
Duluth railroad crossing on Kettle river, in 1871-72. This was not a
successful venture. A post office was established at the mill, and S.
S. Griggs was appointed postmaster. The Manitoba and St. Paul & Duluth
railroads pass through the town from south to north. The township now
has no settlement except about twenty-four families at the station and
village. It is heavily timbered with pine and hardwood. There are
meadows, marshes and tamarack swamps, fine streams and beautiful
lakes, and much excellent farming land besides. The Pine lakes in
township 43, range 21, are beautiful sheets of water. There are no
good roads or public improvements.
JOHN C. HANLEY was born in Covington, Kentucky, and was educated at
Oxford College, Ohio. He came to St. Paul in 1849, as a machinist and
millwright. He was married in 1853, at St. Anthony, to Sophia
Ramsdale. In 1862 he enlisted in Company M, Minnesota Mounted Cavalry,
a company recruited principally at Sunrise, Chisago county, by Capt.
James Starkey. He was commissioned second lieutenant and was with Gen.
Sibleys expedition against the Sioux. Subsequently he received a
captain's commission, and recruited Company M, Second Minnesota
Cavalry, stationed on the frontier. He was mustered out in 1865. He
resides at Kettle River.
MISSION CREEK
Was organized as a town in 1880. The first supervisors were M. Thomas,
T. Johnson, Wm. McKean; Messrs. H. A. Taylor and Philip Riley & Co.,
of St. Paul, were the first operators here. They built a saw mill with
a capacity of 3,000,000 feet per annum. This property has changed
owners, and is now held by the John Martin Lumber Company, of St.
Paul. It was burned down in 1885, but was immediately rebuilt.
PINE CITY.
The town of Pine City was organized in 1874. The first supervisors
were Hiram Brackett, H. B. Hoffman and James Griffith. The village of
Pine City was platted in 1869. The original proprietors were James and
Stephen H. Petrie, Catherine Sloan and Luther Mendenhall. The survey
was made by B. W. Brunson. Wm. Branch acted as attorney and the
acknowledgment was made by J. J. Egan, notary public, of St. Louis
county. The village was organized in 1881, but the officers did not
qualify until the following year.
The oldest settler was probably a Mr. Kirkland, of Quincy, Illinois,
who worked for some time on the banks of Cross lake, on the present
site of Pine City, hoping to be able to plant a colony there, but,
according to the testimony of Mrs. E. T. Ayer, the missionary became
disheartened by the Indian troubles, and left in 1841, abandoning his
scheme. The completion of the railroad which crosses the Kanabec river
at this point gave a great impetus to the prosperity of the village
and neighborhood. It now contains a fine court house, built at a cost
of $8,000, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian and Lutheran churches, good
buildings for graded and common schools, and three hotels. Pine City
has besides a pleasant park, the gift of Capt. Richard G. Robinson,
which has been adorned and embellished and named after the donor,
"Robinson Park."
RICHARD G. ROBINSON was born in Jackson county, Iowa, in 1829; he
moved thence with his parents to Illinois, and to St. Croix Falls in
1848, where he followed lumbering, scaling, surveying and exploring.
He lived at St. Croix and Taylor's Falls until 1872, when he received
the appointment of land examiner for the Lake Superior & Mississippi
Railroad Company. He was in the employ of the company twelve years,
making his home at Pine City, where he still lives, engaged in
lumbering and real estate. He was married to Catharine A. Fullenwider,
of Iowa. Mrs. Robinson died at Pine City in 1885.
HIRAM BRACKETT was born in 1817, in China, Maine, and came to Pine
City in 1868 from Aroostook county, Maine. He was among the first to
make improvements. He built a hotel and was the first postmaster in
the town. He died in 1883, leaving an estimable widow, three sons,
John, Albert and Frank, and two daughters, Emily, married to Henry A.
Linn, of Milwaukee, and Louise, married to Henry D. Crohurst, of Pine
City.
RANDALL K. BURROWS, a native of Connecticut, came to Pine City in
1869, and, with Adolph Munch, built a large stave mill on the shores
of Cross lake. This proved an unfortunate investment, resulting in
litigation, during the progress of which the mill was destroyed by
fire, in 1878. Mr. Burrows was an active, enthusiastic man, and worked
hard for the interests of Pine City, filling many positions of trust.
He was elected to the state senate from the Twenty-eighth district, in
1874. His seat was contested by John Hallburg, of Centre City. The
Senate referred the question to the people, but in the election that
followed (1875) he was defeated. In 1879 he removed to Dakota, where
he died three years later.
JOHN S. FERSON came from Michigan to Pine City in 1869. During that
and the succeeding year he was principal in building a first class
steam saw mill. It was located on a bay in the western part of the
city. This mill was burned in 1872, rebuilt and burned again. Mr.
Ferson has since removed to Dakota.
SAMUEL MILLET settled in Pine City in 1869, and in 1870 erected the
Bay View House, on an elevated plateau commanding a fine view of Cross
lake and Kanabec river. Mr. Millet died in 1879, leaving a widow, two
sons and three daughters.
ROCK CREEK
Was organized March, 1874. The first supervisors were Enoch Horton,
Frank England, and S. M. Hewson. Obadiah Hewsom was town clerk. Enoch
Horton and C. W. Gill were justices of the peace. Mr. Horton was the
first settler, he having come to the county in 1872. The year
following he raised the first crop. Mr. Horton was from Colchester,
New York. He was born in 1811, and came to Minnesota in 1862. He was
the first postmaster at Rock Creek. Other settlers came in slowly.
Edgerton, Gill & Co. built a saw mill in 1873, with a capacity of
3,000,000 feet. This property has changed hands several times.
CAPT. ENOCH HORTON commenced official life at the age of twenty-two
years, in New York, where he served twenty-eight years as justice of
the peace and county judge. He served during the Rebellion as captain
of a company of sharpshooters.
ROYALTON
Was organized in 1880. The first supervisors were Edward Peterson,
Alexis Kain and Joseph Heiniger. It is a good farming township with
many good farms. The first settlement was made by Elam Greely, in
1849, who made a farm and built a large barn, hauling the lumber from
Marine Mills, a distance of seventy miles. The town was named in
honor of Royal C. Gray, who located on the Greely farm in 1854, in the
northwest quarter of section 15, township 38, range 22, on the banks
of the Kanabec river.
WINDERMERE
Was organized as a town Jan. 3, 1882. The first supervisors were
August Schog, William Champlain and Frank Bloomquist.
The towns of Kettle River, Hinckley and Pine City were organized, and
Chengwatana reorganized by special act of the legislature in 1874, and
at that time embraced all the territory in the county. Since 1874,
Mission Creek, Rock Creek and Royalton have been set off from Pine
City and Windermere from Kettle River.
The following villages were platted at the dates named: Neshodana, by
Clark, Cowell & Foster, in townships 41 and 42, ranges 15 and 16, in
1856; Fortuna, by W. A. Porter, surveyor, at the crossing of Kettle
river and the military road, January, 1857; St. John's, by M. L.
Benson, surveyor, in section 26, township 41, range 17, October, 1857;
Midway, by Frank B. and Julia L. Lewis, proprietors, in the northwest
quarter of section 34, township 40, range 21, September, 1855.
A ROCK CREEK MURDER.
A man passing under the name of Harris had been arrested for stealing
horses. George Hathaway started with the prisoner to Sunrise. Five
days afterward Hathaway's dead body was found, and the inquest decided
that he probably met his death by stabbing or shooting at the hands of
his prisoner, who made his escape, and was never again heard from.
Hathaway was a native of Passadumkeag, Maine.
THE BURNING OF A JAIL.
March 22, 1884, a couple of young men, John Cope and William Leonard,
were arrested for drunkenness and disorderly conduct, and confined in
the Pine City jail, a wooden structure. About three o'clock the next
morning the jail was found to be on fire. All efforts to extinguish
the flames or rescue the unhappy prisoners were unavailing. The fire
originated from within, in all probability from the careless action of
the prisoners themselves in striking matches, either for the purpose
of smoking or of exploring their cells.
A DISFIGURED FAMILY.
Mr. Redman, the agent at the Kettle River railroad station, called my
attention to the fact that old Batice is singularly disfigured. He was
born without thumbs or big toes. The fingers and remaining toes
resemble birds' claws. Two of the fingers of each hand and two of the
toes on each foot are united to the tips but have distinct nails. Of
his four children three are disfigured like the father. His
grandchildren are many of them worse than himself, one having but one
finger.
INDIAN FAITH CURE.
A woman at Pokegama was badly burned by the explosion of gunpowder
while she was putting it in a flask. Her face became terribly swollen
and black. The missionaries did what they could for her, but thought
she must die. After two days the Indian doctors held a medicine dance
for her benefit. After they had gone through with their magic arts the
woman arose, and, without any assistance, walked around distributing
presents to the performers of the ceremony. It was truly wonderful.
She recovered rapidly.
INDIAN GRAVES.
The Chippewas bury their dead much as the whites do. The body is
deposited in a grave and covered with earth. A low wooden covering,
somewhat like the roof of a house, is reared above it, the gables
resting on the ground. The roof is covered with white or bleached
muslin, and surmounted by a board cross. An aperture about six inches
square is left in each end of the structure. The head of the grave is
toward the west, and here are deposited offerings of fruits and
trinkets of various kinds. We found at one grave a broken saucer, an
oyster can filled with blueberries, a large red apple, and a pair of
old shoes. Friends of the deceased visit the graves for one or two
years, renewing their tributes of affection, and bringing offerings of
fruit according to the season, and various foods, from acorns to dried
venison, but in time these visits are discontinued and the graves are
neglected and forgotten.
STOICISM OF THE INDIAN.
On the banks of the Kettle river a five-year-old boy burned his hand
badly. The mother, after examining the wound, decided that it was
incurable, ordered the boy to place his hand upon a block, and by a
single blow from a common hatchet severed it from the wrist. The boy
endured the suffering without flinching.
OLD BATICE, _alias_ "Kettle," lived on Kettle river in 1880. Counting
by moons he claims to have lived there ninety-nine years. He is
certainly very old. He says that he has always been a friend to the
whites, and that in the Sioux outbreak of 1862 he counseled his people
to remain quiet; that he was the enemy of the Sioux, three of whom he
had killed and scalped. To commemorate his warlike deeds in
slaughtering his enemies, he wore three large eagle feathers in his
gray hair. He claims to be half French.
AN INDIAN DANCE.
In June, 1880, the Indians were practicing a new dance near the Kettle
River railroad station, part of which it was my privilege to witness.
The dance house was a rudely constructed pole frame covered with birch
bark, fastened down with willow twigs. About thirty dancers, male and
female, and of all ages, were crowded in the dance house, sweating,
grunting, hopping and bounding at the tap of a deer skin drumhead, and
the "chi-yi-chi-yi-chi-hoo" of a quartette of boys and girls, squatted
in a corner of the bark house. The din was incessant, the chant of the
singers, or howlers, monotonous and wearisome, yet the dancers stepped
and bounded to their rude music as readily as do civilized dancers to
the more exquisite music of stringed instruments. This dance was the
same that so frightened the Burnett county people, and required at
least ten days for its complete performance. A few minutes'
observation amply satisfied us, and we gladly withdrew.
FOOTNOTES:
[E] Several years prior to this William Morrison had a trading station
upon the shores of this lake, and is probably the first white man who
visited it, but it does not appear that he identified it as the source
of the Mississippi.
CHAPTER XI.
KANABEC COUNTY.
Kanabec county, prior to 1849, was included in St. Croix county,
Wisconsin; thence until 1852 it was a part of Ramsey county,
Minnesota; until 1854 a part of Chisago county; and thence until its
organization in 1859, a part of Pine county. It was attached for
judicial purposes at various times to Chisago, Isanti and Pine
counties. In 1882 it was organized for judicial purposes, Judge Crosby
holding the first term of court at Brunswick. The second term was held
at Mora in 1884, in the new court house.
The writer, when a member of the Minnesota senate in 1858, selected
the name and introduced the bill for the formation of the county. Its
boundaries are Aitkin county on the north, Pine on the east, Isanti on
the south, and Mille Lacs on the west. It is well watered and drained
by the Kanabec and its tributaries. This river is navigable to
Brunswick, and one of its tributaries, Rice river, is navigable six
miles from its mouth to Rice lake. The soil is a rich, sandy loam,
deep, strong and productive. One-fifth of the entire surface was
originally covered with pines. About 25,000 acres are natural meadows,
while much of the remainder is covered with hardwood, and a small
portion is brush prairie, which can be easily rendered fit for
cultivation. The best crops are wheat, oats and potatoes, but Indian
corn can be grown profitably as compared with other localities in
Minnesota. Small fruits, wild and cultivated, grow luxuriantly.
Cranberries have been shipped in considerable quantities. Redtop,
clover, and timothy grow rank, and are profitably cultivated. Upward
of 5,000 tons of hay are cured annually. The lumbering interests are
still important, about 75,000,000 feet of logs being annually driven
to the Stillwater boom. This county is spotted with lakes and abounds
in streams capable of being utilized as water powers. Good building
granite is found on the Kanabec river above Mora, which will
eventually be quarried and exported.
The first permanent settlers were George L. Staples and James
Pennington, who came in 1855. They were followed by Stephen W. Tolman,
Alvin De Wolf, John L. Spence and others. Gov. Sibley appointed the
following as the first board of officers, June 10, 1859: County
commissioners, Geo. L. Staples, chairman; Daniel Gordon, Benj. L.
Gifford; clerk and register of deeds, James C. Morrison; treasurer,
Alvah Lougee; sheriff, Benj. L. Gifford. The first election was held
in October, 1859. The following were elected county officers: County
commissioners, Geo. L. Staples, chairman; James Pennington, Geo.
Morrison; auditor, Benj. Bill.
In the bill organizing the county, Brunswick was designated as the
county seat, and so remained until 1882, when by popular vote Mora was
selected. In 1883 the county built a court house at a cost of $5,000,
and a jail costing $2,000. In 1874 the county built a bridge across
the Kanabec at Brunswick, the bridge and its approaches being 1,300
feet in length, at a cost of $5,000. In 1879 the county built a bridge
across the Kanabec at Grass Lake at a cost of $4,000. As this bridge
obstructed navigation in 1884, the county, at a cost of $4,000,
rebuilt it in such a way that steamers could pass underneath. In 1883
another bridge was built across the Kanabec in the town of Arthur at a
cost of $4,000.
The first post office was established at Brunswick in 1859, Geo. L.
Staples, postmaster. The first mail was from Anoka via Cambridge to
Brunswick. In 1847 Rev. W. S. Boutwell preached the first sermon
within the present limits of the county. The first deed recorded was a
warranty deed from Ralph Potter to John A. Snyder, both of Illinois,
in June, 1857, conveying lands in sections 3 and 10, township 38,
range 25. The second deed recorded was from David Bagley to Hersey,
Hall, Whitney and Fenno, of Boston, and Isaac Staples of Stillwater,
conveying the northeast quarter of section 1, township 38, range 24,
and other lands.
ARTHUR.
The town of Arthur includes township 39, ranges 23, 24 and 25. It was
organized in 1883. The first supervisors were: Ira A. Conger, Andrew
E. Westling and Charles A. Staples; clerk, Stanton D. Seavey. The
village of Mora was the first settlement. Anna C. Larson was the first
child born in the town. The first marriage was that of Frederick G.
Turner and Edith Perkins. The first death was that of Henry Rust, in
1847, killed by Indians. There is one house of worship, at what is
known as the Swedish mission.
MORA,
A village, platted in 1882, is located in section 11, township 39,
range 24, on the Hinckley branch of the Manitoba railroad. Myron R.
Kent, owner of the town plat, made the first improvements, building a
hotel and post office, of which he became postmaster. Alvah J. Conger
opened the first store in 1882. The village now contains a court
house, school house, two hotels, five stores, three saloons, and many
fine residences. Lake Mora, a lovely sheet of deep, blue water, about
one hundred and fifty acres in extent, is located within the village
limits. The village is beautifully situated on a plateau on the east
side of Kanabec river.
STEPHEN L. DANFORTH lived in the county of Kanabec during the '70s.
His occupation was that of a farmer or lumberman. He died in
Stillwater in 1884.
N. H. DANFORTH, brother of S. L., also settled here in the '70s, and
still resides here, an active business man.
ALVAH J. AND IRA CONGER are cousins. They came from Maine to Minnesota
in 1850. Alvah J. kept the Tombler House in Wyoming. Subsequently he
removed to Cambridge, where he kept a hotel and store, and thence
removed to Pine City, where he kept a store until 1882, when he moved
to Mora. He was married to Charlotte Pennington. They have no
children. Ira Conger has been actively engaged in business at
Cambridge and other places, and moved to Mora in 1883, where he is
proprietor of a hotel and store. His oldest son, John, has charge of
his business interests.
BRONSON.
This village is yet unplatted. It is located in section 21, range 24,
on the line of the Manitoba railroad. A post office was established
here in 1884, of which Frank P. Burleigh is postmaster. Adjoining and
including this village is the large farm of Isaac Staples, including
2,000 acres, of which six hundred and fifty acres are under
cultivation. The improvements on the farm are two large barns, one
store, one blacksmith shop, one wood working shop, and commodious
dwellings for employes. This farm is headquarters for the lumbering
interests of Mr. Staples in Kanabec county.
BRUNSWICK
Includes township 38, ranges 24 and 25. The town was organized in
1883. The first supervisors were Eric Hokansen, John Rines and Haquin
Ekman. The first school was taught by Charlotte Pennington, in 1856.
The first death was that of ---- Cowan, killed accidentally, in 1857.
There are two church organizations, Swedish Baptist and Swedish
Lutheran. Stephen E. Tallman built a saw mill in 1870, and a flour
mill in 1879. The village of Brunswick is located in the southwest
quarter of section 1, township 38; range 24. It was platted in 1856,
by Isaac and George Staples. It was originally designated as the
county seat.
GROUND HOUSE CITY
Was platted by Isaac Staples for Hersey, Staples & Co., Jan 17, 1857,
in section 7, township 38, range 24.
JAMES PENNINGTON was born in Queensborough, New Brunswick, in 1799. He
lived in Houlton, Maine, fifteen years, and came to Kanabec county in
1854 with his family, who were the first permanent settlers in the
county. Mr. Pennington farmed and lumbered. He died in December, 1887.
Mrs. Pennington died in 1878. Six sons and three daughters are living.
The sons are residents of Minnesota. The daughters are married as
follows: Elisabeth to ---- Grant, of Detroit, Minnesota; Charlotte to
A. J. Conger, of Mora, Minnesota; Augusta to B. C. Newport, of
Pipestone, Minnesota.
GEORGE L. STAPLES settled in section 1, township 38, range 24, in
1855. He lived there eight years and filled various responsible
offices. He was an upright, conscientious man, much respected by all
who knew him. In 1863 he removed to Monticello, Minnesota, and died in
1877, leaving a widow, five sons and a daughter. Mr. Staples raised
the first crop in the county, opened the first store, and gave the
name of Brunswick to the town. Isaac Edwin Staples, son of George, was
the first white child born in the county. He was clerk of court in
Morrison county in 1887.
DANIEL GORDON was born in Readfield, Maine, in 1809. In 1856 he
settled in the southeast quarter of section 1, township 38, range 24.
He was married to widow Tallman in Brunswick. This was the first
marriage in the town. Mrs. Gordon died in June, 1885.
GRASS LAKE
Includes township 38, range 23. It was organized in 1883. It is
thickly settled, mostly by Swedes. They have good farms, roads and
schools. The first settler was Solomon Anderson; the second, Benjamin
Norton; both were farmers. There are in this town three houses of
worship, two belonging to the Swedish mission, and one to the
Baptists. There are five school houses.
The remainder of the county, consisting mostly of pine lands, and
including nine townships, is without organization or township
government. It is divided into three assessment districts over which
the county exercises jurisdiction, making levies and collecting taxes.
ISANTI COUNTY.
Isanti county lies directly west of Chisago and south of Kanabec. It
is bounded on the west and south by Sherburne, Mille Lacs and Anoka
counties, and contains about fourteen towns. The soil is well adapted
for agriculture. The county has no large lakes, but is well watered by
tributaries of Rum and Sunrise rivers. It is well timbered in the
north with sugar maple. The settlers are chiefly Scandinavians, who,
by their industry, have made the plains and oak ridges to blossom with
clover and the cereals. The county was organized Feb. 13, 1857. It
took its name from a tribe of Indians who some time ago occupied the
country about Mille Lacs. The first board of county commissioners
consisted of Oscar Smith, Hugh Wylie and Elbridge G. Clough. The first
county officers were: William Tubbs, auditor; F. H. Moon, treasurer;
G. G. Griswold, register of deeds; Stephen Hewson, judge of probate;
H. M. Davis, clerk; George L. Henderson, sheriff. The first court was
held by Judge C. E. Vanderburgh in October, 1871. Prior to this time
Isanti had been attached to Auoka county for judicial purposes.
CAMBRIDGE,
The county seat of Isanti, was incorporated as a village in 1876. It
is pleasantly located on the west side of Rum river. It has one
flouring mill, a newspaper office, and several stores, shops,
dwellings and churches. The county buildings are neat and convenient.
The new court house cost $7,000. It is worthy of mention that B. A.
Latta, as county treasurer, paid the first money into the hands of the
state treasurer for war purposes. The first postmasters in the county
were Van Vliet Ainsley, of Spencer Brook, and G. G. Griswold, in 1858.
NORTH BRANCH TOWN
Lies on the headwaters of the Sunrise river. It was settled, as early
as 1855, by John P. Owens, W. A. Hobbs, B. T. Huntley, and John
Schinler. It was organized as a town in 1858, John P. Owens being
chairman of the first board of supervisors. John Schinler raised the
first crop, in 1857. Schools were established in 1860.
OXFORD.
Rensselaer Grant, M. Hurley and Stephen Hewson settled within the
present limits of this town in 1855. At that time the town was not
organized. In 1865 it was included within the limits of North Branch,
but in 1878 the town of Oxford was set off as now defined. The first
supervisors were John Bachelor, P. Lillygrin and P. Berg. Stephen
Hewson was town clerk, and has retained the office ever since. A post
office was established in 1863. Stephen Hewson was postmaster, and has
held the office continuously ever since. The town is well settled by
farmers. In 1870 a cyclone passed through the town, destroying
everything in its track, which was about twenty rods wide. Not a
building was left on the homestead of Mr. Hewson. His fine large barn
was torn to pieces and the fragments scattered for the distance of a
mile.
STEPHEN HEWSON is a native of England, which he left in 1844. He
resided in Canada a few years, then came to Chicago, and later to
Minnesota. He was for awhile a partner in the publishing firm of E. S.
Goodrich & Co., then proprietors of the St. Paul _Pioneer_. He made
his present home in Oxford in 1855, and has since that time been
intimately identified with its history and that of the county of
Isanti. He was a representative from the Fourth district in the
legislature of 1865. He has filled the offices of county auditor,
county commissioner and judge of probate court. As an ordained
minister of the Methodist church he takes an active interest in
religious matters, serving as superintendent of the Sunday-school, and
occasionally filling the pulpit. Five of his daughters are school
teachers, one of whom, Mary, in 1870, taught the first school in
Oxford. He remains hale and hearty in his seventy-seventh year.
GEORGE W. NESBIT was born in 1828, in Delaware county, New York. He
received an academic education. He came in 1856 to St. Francis, Anoka
county, Minnesota, and in 1863 to Isanti county. He has been engaged
in farming and selling goods, and is an energetic, busy man. He made
the first pre-emption timber claim on the Mille Lacs reservation,
which was rejected. Mr. Nesbit was married in New York and has a
family of six children.
RENSSELAER GRANT was born in New York in 1816. His father was a native
of Scotland but emigrated to the United States and took part in the
war of 1812. Mr. Grant was married in Saratoga county, New York, in
1837, to Libiah Mitchell. The Grants moved to Illinois in 1850, and to
Isanti county in 1856. Mr. and Mrs. Grant died at North Branch, in
1886, leaving, three married sons, two living in Isanti county, and
one at Rush City, and three daughters, the eldest married to J. W.
Delamater, the second to W. H. Hobbs, the third living in St. Paul.
MILLE LACS COUNTY.
This county is bounded on the north by Mille Lacs lake and Aitkin
county, on the east by Isanti, Kanabec and Aitkin, on the south by
Sherburne and on the west by Morrison and Benton counties, and
includes about 17 townships extending from south to north a distance
of 48 miles, and having a breadth of 12 miles, excepting the two upper
series of towns, which have a width of 18 miles. It is, excepting two
agricultural towns in the south, heavily timbered, chiefly with pine.
It is well watered by Rum river and its tributaries, and by the body
of water known as Mille Lacs, a large picturesque lake, which covers
over one hundred and five sections of Aitkin, Crow Wing and Mille Lacs
counties. The tributaries of the St. Croix also drain the
northeastern part of the county. The southern townships consist of
prairies and oak openings, the northern and central parts being
covered with hardwood and pine. Immense quantities have been already
marketed. The hardwood ridges and flats offer good farming lands, and
the wild meadows, scattered over the county, excellent hay and
pasturage.
Mille Lacs lake, the largest inland lake in Minnesota, is a beautiful
and picturesque sheet of water, with receding wooded shores, with but
little low land adjoining. The waters are deep and clear and
abundantly supplied with fish. This lake, when reached by railways,
will be one of the most pleasant summer resorts in the Northwest. It
already attracts the attention of the tourist. A steamer built in 1885
floats upon its waters. The lake is about eighteen miles long by from
twelve to fifteen wide, and covers about six townships. Three small
islands gem its surface, one of which, from its columnar appearance,
seems to be of volcanic or igneous formation.
The Mille Lacs reservation covers about four fractional towns,
bordering the southern shore of the lake. Since the treaty these lands
have been covered by pre-emptions, soldiers' warrants and half-breed
scrip, but are held by a doubtful tenure owing to the uncertain and
various rulings of the land department. Under the provisions of the
treaty, the Indians, a band of Chippewas, were allowed to retain
possession until ordered to remove. In anticipation of this order
settlements have been made at various periods, and patents have been
issued to the pre emptors in a few cases, but in many cases refused.
Half-breed scrip has been laid upon thousands of acres under one
administration at Washington, the permission to be countermanded by
another. Meanwhile the Indians, not having received the order for
removal, claim to be the owners of the land, and with some show of
justice. In 1882 the Manitoba Railroad Company built a road through
the county from east to west, through township 40, ranges 26 and 27.
In the early divisions of Minnesota into counties, the territory of
Mille Lacs was included in Ramsey and Benton counties. Prior to its
present organization, a county called Monroe, covering the territory
of Mille Lacs, was established but never organized. By legislative
enactment in 1857 Mille Lacs county was established and organized by
the people in 1860, the counties of which its territory was originally
a part concurring, and Princeton was made the county seat. In 1859
there had been effected the organization of one town in the county,
known as Princeton. This has since been subdivided into Princeton
Greenbush, and Milo. The officers of the town organization in 1859
were: Supervisors, C. W. Houston, Charles Pratt, Joseph L. Cater. The
first county election, held April, 1860, resulted in the election of
the following officers: County commissioners, Joseph L. Cater,
chairman; Samuel Orton, C. S. Moses; auditor and register of deeds, W.
W. Payne; clerk of court, S. M. Byers; treasurer, E. J. Whitney;
sheriff, Wm. McCauley; probate judge, Samuel Ross. The first term of
court was held June 3, 1861, E. C. Vanderburgh, presiding judge. The
first recorded deed was from E. J. Whitney to Isaac Staples, and bears
date Aug. 4, 1854.
MILACCA
Has a pleasant site on the Manitoba railroad, on the banks of Rum
river at the crossing of the Manitoba & Superior and the junction of
the Elk River & Princeton railroad. The Manitoba Company have a good
saw mill here, with a capacity of 125,000 feet per day, built at a
cost of $50,000. A planing mill is attached. There is a good three
story hotel, well kept, here.
The village was surveyed and platted March 24, 1886; Chas. Keith,
surveyor; James J. Hill, president of the Mille Lacs Lumber Company,
proprietor. It is located in the town of Greenbush.
BRIDGMAN VILLAGE,
Located in the town of Milo, has a steam saw mill, spoke and hub
factory, around which are several residences.
PRINCETON.
The village of Princeton is located at the junction of the two
branches of the Rum river, on a beautiful prairie, surrounded by rich
prairie and timber lands. The first log house was built in 1849, and
kept as a stopping place by a mulatto known as "Banjo Bill." This
house is still standing. The first permanent settlers were A. B.
Damon, O. E. Garrison, C. H. Chadbourne, Edwin Allen, John W. Allen,
Chas. Whitcomb, Joseph L. Cater, W. F. Dunham, and Samuel Ross. They
were also the first settlers in the county, and came in 1853-7. In
1855 Messrs. Damon and Allen farmed on the present site of the
village. The village was surveyed and platted Feb. 11, 1859, by S.
Ross & Co. S. Ross also built a hotel where the North Star Hotel now
stands. This year the first frame building was erected and used as a
store. W. F. Dunham built a steam saw mill. The first school house was
built, although school organization was not effected until 1858. James
M. Dayton taught the first school. A post office was established with
O. E. Garrison as postmaster. Samuel Ross brought the mail once a week
from Anoka. A Congregational church was established, of which Rev.
Royal Twichell was chosen as pastor. The Methodists organized a
society the following year.
The village was incorporated March 13, 1877, by legislative enactment.
The commissioners appointed under the organic act were E. C. Giles, H.
B. Cowles, C. H. Rines, B. F. Whiting, and Charles Keith. At the
election ordered by them the following officers were chosen:
President, C. H. Rines; trustees. F. M. Campbell, Isaiah S. Mudgett,
Thomas F. Caly; recorder, Silas L. Staples; treasurer, D. H. Murray;
justices of the peace, Scott M. Justice, Charles Keith. The Princeton
_Appeal_ was established by Rev. John Quigley in 1873, but
discontinued in 1875. In December, 1876, Robert C. Dunn started the
Princeton _Union_, which he still publishes.
The Manitoba branch railroad from Elk River to Milacca village passes
through Princeton. The first train arrived Nov. 30, 1880. The county
contributed $47,000 in bonds at five per cent interest for twenty
years, to aid in building the road. The St. Paul, Mille Lacs,
Brainerd, Leech Lake & Crookston railroad will, when completed, pass
through Princeton. An excellent school building was erected in 1885,
at a cost of about $7,000. Guy Ewing is principal of the school, which
is graded. The Grand Army of the Republic have a post here known as
the Wallace Rines post. The Masons have an organization, with a
splendid hall. A three story hotel, built by Samuel Ross, is kept by
his only daughter, Mrs. Barker. A two story brick hotel, the
Commercial House, Henry Newbert, proprietor, a handsome structure, was
built in 1887. The Mille Lacs County Bank, located here, has a paid up
capital of $20,000. Charles Erickson is president; L. P. Hyberg, vice
president; Frank Hewse, clerk. Princeton has one steam saw mill, two
flouring mills, one feed mill, two elevators with a capacity of 60,000
bushels, and one brewery. A court house and jail are in process of
erection at an estimated cost of $10,000.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
SAMUEL ROSS was born Aug. 22, 1812. He attended Western Reserve
College, but through ill health did not graduate. He came to Iowa in
1839, where he was married to Mary Vaughn in 1841. He came to
Princeton in 1855, where he took an active part in building up the
town and county, filled many prominent and responsible positions in
the village and county, and served as representative of the first
state legislature. Mrs. Ross died in 1851; Mr. Ross died in 1881,
leaving an only daughter, Olive R., widow of A. P. Barker, who was a
prominent lawyer of Princeton. Mrs. Barker was elected superintendent
of schools in 1880, to which position she has been re-elected and is
at present filling the office efficiently. She was the first female
superintendent elected in Minnesota.
JOSEPH L. CATER was born in Strafford county, New Hampshire, in 1828.
He came to Princeton in 1855 and engaged in farming. His name appears
in all the original organizations of town and county. M. V. B. Cater
and sons have also been active and prominent citizens of Princeton. M.
V. B. Cater died some years since.
EDWIN ALLEN, originally from Welton, Maine, came to Princeton in 1855
and engaged in farming.
JOHN H. ALLEN came from Maine to Princeton in 1854, engaged in farming
and became prominent as a public spirited citizen. He held various
positions of trust in the county and was appointed receiver of the
land office at Fergus Falls by President Hayes, and resides there.
A. B. DAMON came from Maine to Princeton in 1853 and made the first
claim on the town site.
C. H. CHADBOURNE was born at Lexington, Massachusetts. At the age of
sixteen he embarked in a seafaring life in which he continued nine
years. Mr. Chadbourne, wishing to abandon his seafaring ways, and to
put himself beyond danger of resuming them, came to the centre of the
continent and located on a farm near Princeton in 1856. He has since
followed farming continuously. His farm consists of 900 acres under
cultivation, 500 of which is devoted to tame grass and pasturage, on
which he feeds 150 head of blooded stock. He has a large dairy which
nets him $1,200 annually. He was a member of the state legislatures of
1874-5 and was seven years county commissioner of Sherburne county.
Mr. Chadbourne was married in 1852 to Deborah Crowell. They have three
sons and two daughters.
CHAPTER XII.
CHISAGO COUNTY.
LOCATION--SURFACE--SCENERY.
Chisago county, located on the west bank of the St. Croix river,
between the counties of Pine on the north and Washington on the south,
the St. Croix river on the east and the counties of Isanti and Anoka
on the west, presents an agreeable variety of surface, upland and
generally undulating, covered with hard and soft wood timber, well
watered by lakes and streams. Its principal streams are the St. Croix
and its tributaries, Rush and Sunrise rivers and Goose creek, and its
principal lakes are Chisago, Sunrise, Green, Rush, and Goose lakes.
Its lake scenery is unsurpassed in beauty. The county takes the name
of its largest and most beautiful lake. In its original, or rather
aboriginal, form it was Ki-chi-sago, from two Chippewa words meaning
"kichi," large, and "saga," fair or lovely. For euphonic
considerations the first syllable was dropped.
CHISAGO LAKE.
This lake is conspicuous for its size, the clearness of its waters,
its winding shore and islands, its bays, peninsulas, capes, and
promontories. It has fully fifty miles of meandering shore line. Its
shores and islands are well timbered with maple and other hard woods.
It has no waste swamps, or marsh borders. When the writer first came
to Taylor's Falls, this beautiful lake was unknown to fame. No one had
seen it or could point out its location. Indians brought fish and
maple sugar from a lake which they called Ki-chi-sago Sagi-a-gan, or
"large and lovely lake." This lake, they said, abounded with "kego,"
fish.
In 1851 the writer, with Bart Emery, made a visit to this beautiful
sheet of water. We found it what its Indian name imports, "fair and
lovely water." The government had, the year before, completed a survey
of the lake, and it was high time that it should be given a name by
which it should be designated on the map and recognized by civilized
visitors. What name more beautiful and appropriate than that which the
Indians had already given it. That name we at once recognized and used
all our influence to perpetuate under somewhat adverse influences; for
Swedish emigrants having settled in its neighborhood, a strong effort
was made to christen it "Swede Lake," but the lake is to-day known as
Chisago, and Chisago it is likely to remain. We believe in the policy
of retaining the old Indian names whenever possible. As a rule they
are far more musical and appropriate than any we can apply. The
Indians have left us their lands, their lakes, their streams; let us
accept with them the names by which they were known. Some have been
translated into English and appear on the maps as Goose, Elk, Beaver
and Snake. By all means let us retranslate them in memory of the race
that once owned them.
DALLES OF ST. CROIX.
Chisago county shares with Polk county in the ownership of the wildest
and most peculiar scenery in the valley of the St. Croix. At Taylor's
Falls, the head of navigation, the river flows between ledges of trap
rock, varying in height from fifty to two hundred and fifty feet, for
the most part perpendicular, but wildly irregular, as is common in
trap rock formations. These ledges are crowned with pine trees and a
dense undergrowth of bushes and vines. The prevailing color of the
rock is a cold or bluish gray, but broken occasionally by brilliant
patches of coloring, red, yellow or green, as they may be stained by
oxides of the metals, or covered with lichens and mosses. This
formation is known as "The Dalles," sometimes improperly styled
"Dells." The rocks composing it are porphyritic trap, an igneous rock
forced upward from the interior of the earth through crevices in the
crust while still in a liquid state and then solidifying in masses,
sometimes prismatic but oftener in irregular polygons, and broken by
parallel lines of cleavage. Some geological experts claim that these
rocks are "in place" as forming a part of the original crust of the
earth, but the balance of evidence seems to be in favor of their
having been erupted at a comparatively modern period. This is
evidenced by the presence of water-worn boulders and pebbles, imbedded
in the trap, somewhat like plums in a pudding, while it was yet
plastic; and now forming a species of conglomerate as hard and compact
as the trap itself. These rocks are supposed to be rich in copper and
silver, and miners have spent much time in prospecting for these
metals.
Whatever the origin of the rocks, it is conceded that they were once
plastic, at which time this region could not have been a safe or
pleasant dwelling place for such beings as now inhabit the world. The
theory of a comparatively recent eruption of these rocks is not a
pleasant one, for the suggestion forces itself upon the mind that that
which has been, at least in recent times, may occur again. The
occasional recurrence of earthquakes on our western coast, and the
recent severe disturbances in South Carolina and Georgia, raise the
query whether this region may not again be visited with an outburst
and overflow of trap, terrible and destructive as the first. The
foundations, however, seem firm enough to last forever. The rocks are
of unusual hardness, and the crust of the earth is probably as solid
and thick here as elsewhere. The Dalles proper are about one mile in
length. The river, in its passage through them, varies in width from
one hundred and fifty to three hundred feet. It was formerly reported
unfathomable, but in recent years, owing to a filling up process
caused by the debris of the log drivers, it is found to be not more
than a hundred feet in its deepest place. The river makes an abrupt
bend about a bold promontory of trap known as Angle or Elbow Rock. To
the first voyageurs this seemed to be the end of the river, and gave
rise to the story that at this point the river burst out of the rocks.
Much of the frontage of the rocks upon the river is smooth and
perpendicular, and stained with oxides of iron and copper. In places
it is broken. The upper rocks are disintegrated by the action of rain
and frost, and, where far enough from the river, have fallen so as to
form a talus or slope of angular fragments to the water's edge.
[Illustration: THE DEVIL'S CHAIR.]
THE DEVIL'S CHAIR.
There are some instances in which, by the breaking away and falling of
smaller rocks, larger rocks have been left standing in the form of
columns. Most notable of these are the "Devil's Pulpit," and the
"Devil's Chair." The former, owing to surrounding shrubbery, is not
easily seen. The latter is a conspicuous object on the western shore
of the river a few rods below the lower landing. It stands on the
slope formed by the debris of a precipice that rises here about 120
feet above the river. Its base is about 40 feet above low water mark;
the column itself reaches 45 feet higher. It is composed of many
angular pieces of trap, the upper portion bearing a rude resemblance
to a chair. It is considered quite a feat to climb to the summit. The
face of the rocks is disfigured by the names of ambitious and
undeserving persons. The nuisance of names and advertisements painted
upon the most prominent rocks in the Dalles is one that every lover of
Nature will wish to have abated. To spend an hour climbing amongst
these precipices to find in some conspicuous place the advertisement
of a quack medicine, illustrates the adage: "There is but one step
from the sublime to the ridiculous."
THE WELLS.
A more remarkable curiosity may be found on that bench or middle
plateau of the Dalles, lying between the upper and the lower Taylor's
Falls landings, in what has been not inaptly styled "The Wells." These
are openings, or pits, not much unlike wells, in places where the trap
is not more than 50 feet above water level, varying in width from a
few inches to 30 or 40 feet, the deepest being from 20 to 25 feet.
These seem to have been formed by the action of water upon pebbles or
boulders, much as "pot holes" are now being formed in the rocky
bottoms of running streams. The water falls upon the pebbles or
boulders in such a way as to cause them to revolve and act as a drill,
boring holes in the rock proportioned to the force of the agencies
employed. Some of these boulders and pebbles, worn to a spherical
shape, were originally found at the bottoms of these wells, but have
been mostly carried away by the curious. Some of the wells are cut
through solid pieces of trap. The walls of others are seamed and
jointed; in some cases fragments have fallen out, and in others the
entire side of the wells has been violently disrupted and partly
filled with debris. The extreme hardness of the trap rock militates
somewhat against the theory of formation above given. It is, however,
not improbable that this hardness was acquired after long exposure to
the air.
SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION.
In the history of St. Croix Falls mention has been made of some of the
pioneers of Chisago county. St. Croix Falls and Taylor's Falls, the
pioneer settlement of Chisago county, though a river divides them
which is also the boundary line of two states, have much that is
common in their early history. The inhabitants were always greatly
interested in what was going on over the river. We may add, that
although they now stand in the attitude of rival cities, their
interests are still identical, and we believe that, but for the unwise
policy of making St. Croix river a state line, they might be to-day
under one city government, and as compact and harmonious as though no
St. Croix river rolled between them. The river is their joint
property; both have the same heritage of trap rocks and pines, the
same milling privileges, the same lumbering interests, and, it must be
confessed, they remain up to the present time about equally mated. J.
R. Brown was unquestionably the pioneer of the settlement. Frank
Steele says he found J. R. Brown trading, in 1837, on the spot now the
site of Taylor's Falls.
He was not, however, the first white man upon the soil. There is some
documentary evidence of the establishment by the French of a fort
forty leagues up the St. Croix some time between the years 1700 and
1703. This fort was in all probability erected on the plateau below
the Dalles, the distance given, forty leagues, being exaggerated after
the fashion of the early voyageurs. It was called Fort St. Croix.
There was also a prehistoric settlement, the ruins of which the writer
noted as early as 1851, on the school land addition to Taylor's Falls.
These were the foundations of nine houses, plainly visible. Over some
of them trees two feet in diameter were growing. The rock foundations
ranged in size from twenty to thirty feet, with the hearth containing
ashes underlying the debris of ages, on smooth hearthstones showing
years of service, being apparently a century old. These were the
homes, undoubtedly, of a civilized people, and we may claim for
Taylor's Falls, Chisago county, one of the first improvements made by
whites in the limits of Minnesota.
During the last half of the last century a prominent trading post was
established and maintained for many years on the St. Croix river,
which was founded by Pierre Grinow, and during the close of the last
century it was in the charge of one James Perlier, who afterward
became one of the most useful citizens of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Lawrence Barth was also here in 1793. The evidence of the existence of
this trading post rests upon traditions and the ruins referred to.
Recurring to the pioneer Brown, the most irrepressible of all the
advance guard of civilization, we find him only a transient
inhabitant. He stayed long enough to cut 200,000 feet of pine logs
from the present site of Taylor's Falls, when the neighborhood lost
its attractions. These were the first pine saw logs cut in the St.
Croix valley.
In 1838 a French trader, Robinet, was located at the same place, but
in the summer of the same year came Mr. Jesse Taylor from Fort
Snelling where he had been following the business of a stonemason. He
had heard of the ratification of the Indian treaty by Congress, and he
greatly coveted some of the rich lands brought into market by that
treaty. Mr. Taylor, with an Indian guide, came to the Dalles of the
St. Croix. As Mr. Steele had already claimed the east side, Mr. Taylor
concluded that he would claim the west side. Returning to Fort
Snelling he reported to an associate, Benjamin F. Baker, formed a
partnership and returned with men, boats, provisions and building
material, but on his return to the falls he found Robinet, the trader,
in a bark shanty (at the present junction of Bridge and River
streets). Robinet was in actual possession of the coveted acres.
Robinet having no other function than that of a trader, and
consequently having no serious designs on the lands was easily bought
off, and Baker & Taylor, in August, 1838, commenced improvements,
building a log house, a blacksmith shop, a mill, and commencing a mill
race which had to be blasted. They also built piers and a wing dam
just above the present location of the bridge. The mill was located at
what has since become the upper steamboat landing. Mr. Taylor named
the lower falls Baker's falls, and the settlement, Taylor's Place.
When the town was platted, in 1850, it was called Taylor's Falls. The
name came also to be applied to the lower falls.
The mill enterprise was a melancholy failure. The builders were not
practical mill men. The improvements were expensive. The work of
blasting rock and building made slow progress. There was no income as
long as the mill was in process of building. In the midst of these
embarrassments, in 1840, Mr. Baker died. Mr. Taylor took entire
possession with no other right than that of a squatter sovereign. In
1843 Mr. Taylor sold the unfinished mill to parties in Osceola, and in
1844 everything movable was transferred to that place. The double log
cabin remained, and there Mr. Taylor lived for eight years on the
proceeds of the sale, performing in all that time no work more worthy
of the historian's notice than fixing his name upon the settlement and
falls. Many of the later residents query as to why it was ever called
Taylor's Falls. It takes a keen eye to discover any fall in the river
at the point named. The falls indeed were once far more conspicuous
than they are now, owing to the fact that a large rock rose above the
water at the ordinary stage, around which the crowded waters roared
and swirled. That rock, never visible in later days, was called Death
Rock, because three hapless mariners in a skiff were hurled against it
by the swift current and drowned.
The old log house, the sole remnant of the Baker and Taylor project,
if we may except some holes in the rock made by blasting, and some
submerged ruins of the wing dam and pier, has passed through various
changes. It has been used as a store, as a boarding house, as a
warehouse, as a church, as a school house, and as a stable. Part of it
still remains and is habitable. It is located on lot 18, block 15. In
1846 Jesse Taylor sold his claim to Joshua L. Taylor for two hundred
dollars. This claim, like most of the claims made prior to the survey
of government lands, was not accurately defined. It included, however,
all the lands, on the west side of the river, extending northward to
the St. Croix Company's claim, at the upper falls, and including the
present site of Taylor's Falls.
Aside from mill building, nothing was done in the way of improvements
until 1846, when Jerry Ross and Benjamin F. Otis commenced farming on
what was subsequently known as the Morton and Colby farms. Both raised
potatoes and garden vegetables and built houses. This was the first
cultivation of the soil in Chisago county. In 1847 Mr. Otis sold his
improvements to Wm. F. Colby, who, in that year, raised the first corn
grown by white men in the county. In 1846 Thornton Bishop commenced
improvements on a farm at the head of the rapids, six miles above
Taylor's Falls. J. L. Taylor, in 1848, built a pre-emption shanty
midway between the upper and lower falls. In 1849 he proved up his
pre-emption to lots 5, 6 and 7, section 30, township 34, range 18. N.
C. D. Taylor pre-empted the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter
of section 25, and the west half of the same quarter section; also lot
1, section 36, township 34, range 19.
In 1849 Lewis Barlow and Wm. E. Bush became citizens. An abstract of
the canvassed returns of an election held November 26th shows but six
votes in the settlement. In 1850 W. F. Colby pre-empted the northeast
quarter of section 25, township 34, range 19, and W. H. C. Folsom the
southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of the same.
At a regular meeting of the St. Croix county board, held at
Stillwater, April 2, 1850, the following judges of election were
appointed within the present limits of Chisago county: St. Croix Falls
precinct, Wm. F. Colby, Wm. Holmes, N. C. D. Taylor; Rush Lake
precinct, Levi Clark, Walter Carrier and Richard Arnold. At a meeting,
held Oct. 7, 1850, the petition of Lewis Barlow and ten others, of St.
Croix Falls precinct, was presented, asking for a special election, to
elect two justices of the peace. Their petition was granted. The poll
was: Wm. E. Bush, one vote; John H. Reid, six votes; Ansel Smith, five
votes. Reid and Smith were declared elected. The first survey of town
lots was made in 1851, by Theodore E. Parker, of Stillwater, and under
this survey the village was legally established as Taylor's Falls. The
first deeds recorded in Chisago county were transcripts from
Washington county of lands consisting of town site property, dated
1851, conveyed to W. H. C. Folsom by J. L. and N. C. D. Taylor.
The movement for the organization of a new county from the northern
part of Washington commenced in the winter of 1851-52. A formidable
petition to the legislature to make such organization, drawn up and
circulated by Hon. Ansel Smith, of Franconia, and the writer, was duly
forwarded, presented and acquiesced in by that body. The writer had
been selected to visit the capital in the interest of the petitioners.
Some difficulty arose as to the name. The writer had proposed
"Chi-sa-ga." This Indian name was ridiculed, and Hamilton, Jackson,
Franklin and Jefferson were in turn proposed. The committee of the
whole finally reported in favor of the name, Chisaga, but the
legislature, in passing the bill for our county organization, by
clerical or typographical error changed the last "a" in "saga" to "o,"
which, having become the law, has not been changed.
The eastern boundary of the county was fixed as the St. Croix river;
the southern boundary, the line between townships 32 and 33; the
western, the line between ranges 21 and 22, for three townships south,
and the line between ranges 22 and 23 for the remaining townships
north. To show how little was known of the geography of the section we
refer to the record of the county commissioners of Washington county,
dated Dec. 15, 1848, at which St. Croix district, the present Chisago
county, was established as "bounded on the north by Sunrise river and
on the west by line between ranges 21 and 22"--an utter impossibility,
as the Sunrise river flows in a northerly direction entirely through
the county and at its nearest point does not come within three miles
of the range line mentioned.
The election for the first board of county officers was held at the
Chisago House, Oct. 14, 1851. Twenty-three votes were polled at this
election. The following officers were elected: Commissioners, Samuel
Thomson, chairman; N. C. D. Taylor, Thomas F. Morton; clerk of board
and register of deeds, F. W. Abbott; treasurer, W. H. C. Folsom. The
bill establishing the county provided that "the seat of justice of the
county of Chisago shall be at such point in said county as the first
board of commissioners elected in said county shall determine." In
accordance with this law, at the first meeting of the commissioners,
held at the office of N. C. D. Taylor in Taylor's Falls, Jan. 5, 1852,
the town of Taylor's Falls was chosen as the county seat, "agreeable
to the Revised Statutes, chapter 1st, section 14th."
As the population of the county increased the project of moving the
county seat to a more nearly central position was agitated. In 1858 a
vote was taken which resulted in favor of its removal to Centre City.
The matter of the legality of the vote was referred to the court, and
decided by Judge Welch adversely, on the ground that a majority of the
voters of the county had not voted. The county seat consequently
remained at Taylor's Falls. In 1861 another vote was taken by which
the county seat was removed to Chisago City, and there it remained
under somewhat adverse circumstances. Chisago City having but a small
population and no conveniences for such a purpose, and being for
several years without even a post office, repeated efforts were made
for another removal, until in 1875 a vote to remove it to Centre City
carried. In January, 1876, the records were removed. The county
authorities issued $5,000 bonds for a court house which was erected on
a point of land extending into Chisago lake, a beautiful situation.
The bonds have been paid and the county is without indebtedness, and
has a surplus of about $10,000.
The town of Amador comprises two eastern tiers of sections of township
35, range 20, and two fractional sections of township 36, range 20,
fractional township 35, range 19, and one fractional section of
township 36, range 19. The St. Croix river forms its boundary on the
north and east. The surface is undulating. The western and southern
part is covered with hardwood timber and has rich soil. The northern
part has oak openings and prairie, with soil somewhat varied, in some
places more or less sandy. It is well watered and drained. Thornton
Bishop, the first settler, came in 1846, and located a farm on the
banks of the St. Croix, at the head of the rapids, in section 34.
Richard Arnold settled on Amador prairie in 1854, and was followed by
James P. Martin, Carmi P. Garlick and others. Garlick was a practicing
physician, but engaged in other work. He built a steam saw mill and
made many other improvements, among them laying out the village of
Amador in section 9, township 35, range 20. H. N. Newbury, surveyor,
not succeeding in his undertaking, issued the prospectus of a paper to
be called the _St. Croix Eagle_ and to be published at Taylor's Falls.
This failing he removed to Osceola.
Amador was organized in 1858. The first supervisors were C. P.
Garlick, R. Arnold and James Martin. A post office was established in
1857; Henry Bush, postmaster. Mr. Bush had a small farm at the mouth
of Deer creek, where he built a large public house, two stories high.
This house burned down. He established a ferry across the St. Croix.
He had a large family of boys who roamed the woods freely until one of
their number was lost. The other boys came home as usual but of one
they could give no account. Parties were organized for the search,
which at last was given up as unsuccessful. A year afterward the bones
of the missing boy were found some miles away, by the side of a log,
where the little wanderer had doubtless perished of starvation and
exposure. Mr. Bishop raised the first crops of the town. The first
marriage was that of Charles S. Nevers and Mary Snell, by John Winans,
Esq., Feb. 23, 1860.
THORNTON BISHOP was a native of Indiana. He came to St. Croix Falls in
1841 and was married to Delia Wolf in 1842, by Rev. W. D. Boutwell, at
the Pokegama mission. This wife was a well educated half-breed. They
raised a large family of children. He came to Amador in 1846 and
farmed for some time at the head of the rapids, when he sold his farm
and moved to Sunrise. In 1880 he removed to Kettle River station. In
1883-84-85-86 he served as commissioner for Pine county.
WILLIAM HOLMES came to Amador and settled on a farm at the head of the
rapids in 1848. The farm is now held by John Dabney. Mr. Holmes
married a sister of Mrs. Thornton Bishop. She was educated at
Pokegama mission. They raised a large family of children. In 1852 Mr.
Holmes removed to Sunrise and thence to Trade River, Wisconsin, in
1875, where he sickened. His brother-in-law, Bishop, came to his
relief, removed him to his own home and cared for him till he died,
May, 1876.
JAMES M. MARTIN was one of the first settlers in Amador. He came
originally from Missouri, where he was married. He died July 17, 1887;
Mrs. Martin dying some years prior. Their sons are James M., Harvey,
Charles, Isaac, and Theodore. Their daughters are Mrs. Cowan, Mrs.
Wilkes, Mrs. Nordine and Mrs. Lanon.
BRANCH.
The town of Branch, occupying township 35, range 21, was set off from
Sunrise, and organized in 1872. The first supervisors were William
Winston, Peter Delamater and Frank Knight. A post office was
established in 1869; Geo. W. Flanders, postmaster. The surface is
mostly undulating, and the soil a sandy loam. There are oak openings,
and along the course of the north branch of the Sunrise river, which
flows through the town from west to east, there are many excellent
wild meadows. The north part originally contained pine forests; about
5,000,000 feet have been cut away. Branch contains some pretty and
well cultivated farms. The St. Paul & Duluth railroad traverses the
town from south to north.
NORTH BRANCH STATION.
The only village in the town of Branch was platted in January, 1870,
the proprietors being the Western Land Association, L. Mendenhall,
agent. The plat includes the north half of the northwest quarter of
section 21, and the northeast quarter of section 20, township 35,
range 21. The first settler was G. M. Flanders, who opened a store
here in 1868, which was burned in 1869. Henry L. Ingalls erected a
good hotel and other buildings. In 1870 Gurley & Bros. established a
store; B. F. Wilkes built a hotel; Winston, Long & Co. established a
store. In 1874 J. F. F. Swanson built a flouring mill, which was
burned in 1878. The loss was about $6,000, with but little insurance.
The village now contains two elevators, three hotels, six stores and
the usual proportion of dwellings. There are two churches, the
Episcopalian building, erected in 1883; and the Congregational, in
1884. There is also a good school house. The village was incorporated
in 1882. In December, 1884, the store of Singleton & Bonnafon was
burned; loss estimated at $15,000, with but little insurance.
HENRY L. INGALLS was born in Abingdon, Connecticut, in 1804. In 1832
he was married to Lavina L. Child, of Woodstock, Connecticut, and with
his wife and younger brother emigrated to Illinois, settling at
Chandler, Cass county. There he remained seventeen years, when, his
impaired health necessitating a change, with his son Henry he went to
California. In 1853 he returned and settled on Sunrise prairie, then
an unbroken wilderness. For seventeen years he lived on his farm and
kept a popular country hotel. In 1870 he removed to North Branch and
built a large frame residence, where he lived until his death, which
occurred Sept. 2, 1876. Mr. Ingalls left three sons, Ephraim, Henry
and Van Rensselaer.
MRS. LAVINA L. INGALLS, whose maiden name was Childs, was born in
Connecticut in 1806; was married as above stated in 1832, from which
time she cheerfully and uncomplainingly shared the fortunes of her
husband in the West, undergoing the usual toils and privations of the
pioneer. While at Sunrise, during part of the time she had no
neighbors nearer than Taylor's Falls. The first post office in Chisago
county north of Taylor's Falls was at her house, and was known as
Muscotink. She and her husband, during the later years of their lives,
were Spiritualists, and derived great comfort from their peculiar
phase of belief. Mrs. Ingalls was a talented and kind hearted woman,
charitable in act and beloved by her associates. She died Dec. 29,
1879.
CHISAGO LAKE.
The town of Chisago Lake includes the four western tiers of sections
of township 33, range 20, and township 34, range 20. A permanent
characteristic of this town is its unrivaled lake scenery, rendering
it not only attractive for residences but a favorite resort of
visitors. Its principal lake has already been described. The first
settler was John S. Van Rensselaer, who located on an island opposite
the present site of Centre City in the spring of 1851, and raised a
crop of corn and vegetables. He built him a cabin and lived there
three years. Eric Norberg, a prominent Swede, came to the lake from
Bishop's Hill, Illinois, in April, 1851, and being pleased with the
locality, came back with a colony of Swedes, including Peter Berg,
Andrew Swenson, Peter Anderson, Peter Shaline, Daniel Rattick, and
others. They came by steamboat, landed at Taylor's Falls June 24,
1851, cut a road to Chisago lake and took undisputed possession of its
shores, finding no trace of human occupancy save some deserted Indian
tepees and the claim cabin of Mr. Van Rensselaer on the island. Mr.
Berg settled on the west part of lot 3, section 35, and southwest
quarter of southwest quarter of section 26, township 34, range 20.
Peter Anderson on the east part of lot 3, and northwest quarter of
northeast quarter of section 35, township 34, range 20. Andrew Swenson
on lot 5, section 27, township 34, range 20. Mr. Norberg had come
first to the country at the invitation of Miles Tornell, who was
murdered in 1848, near St. Croix Falls, by some Indian assassins,
hired to commit the deed by one Miller, a whisky seller. Mr. Norberg
originally intended to make his home at Chisago Lake, but died at
Bishop's Hill, Illinois, while on a visit in 1853.
The colony in 1852 raised the first rye, barley and flax in the
county. They also raised potatoes, green corn and vegetables, cut out
roads, cleared timber, and made other improvements. Peter Berg raised
flax and made linen thread in 1852, the first made in Minnesota.
Settlers came in rapidly. Among the arrivals in 1852 and soon after
were the Petersons, Strands, Johnsons, Frank Mobeck, Dahliam, Porter,
and others. A post office was established in 1858; A. Nelson,
postmaster. The town was organized in 1858. The first supervisors
were: Ephraim C. Ingalls, chairman; Frank Mobeck and Daniel Lindstrom.
The first church organization in the county was that of the Swedish
Evangelical Lutheran, in 1854. Here was built the first church edifice
in 1855, a frame structure subsequently enlarged, but in 1882
superseded by a fine brick building, costing $30,000. Its dimensions
are 116 × 66 feet, ground plan, and the spire is 135 feet in height. A
fine organ was purchased at a cost of $1,500. This church building is
an ornament to the town and the State, and would be creditable even to
our great cities. The first pastor was Rev. P. A. Cedarstam. His
successors are Revs. C. A. Hedengrand and John J. Frodeen, the present
incumbent. The communicants number about 1,300.
In 1880 the St. Paul & Duluth railroad extended a branch road from
Wyoming to Taylor's Falls. This passes through the town of Chisago
Lake, from west to east, crossing three arms of the lake. To secure
this road the town gave $10,000 in twenty year bonds. It obtains in
exchange an outlet for the products of its farms and forests. The
bridge across Chisago lake was built in 1857, at a cost of $1,500. It
has since been made an embankment bridge at an additional cost of
$1,600. Of this the State furnished $1,000 and the county $600.
CENTRE CITY,
The county seat of Chisago county, was platted May, 1857, on lot 5,
section 27, township 34, range 20; Andrew Swenson, proprietor; Alex.
Cairns, surveyor. It is located on a peninsula midway on the east
shore of Chisago lake. Few villages are more beautifully situated. It
contains two hotels, three stores, a saw and feed mill, two church
buildings, a Swedish Lutheran and Swedish Methodist, a school house
and many pleasant residences. The court house was built in 1876, at a
cost of $5,000, on a promontory commanding a fine view of the lake.
The depot of the branch of the St. Paul & Duluth railroad is located
half a mile south of the village. Summer excursionists assemble here
in goodly numbers, and the location bids fair to become very
attractive as a summer resort. During the Indian outbreak in 1862, and
the period of uncertainty as to the probable attitude of the Chippewa
Indians, the people of Chisago Lake built breastworks for protection,
on the isthmus connecting Centre City with the mainland, and planted
cannon upon them for defense. The remains of these old fortifications
may still be seen.
ANDREW SWENSON.--Mr. Swenson, the founder of Centre City, came to the
shores of the lake in 1851, and made his home on the present site of
the city. He was born in Sweden in 1817; came to America in 1850, and
remained a short time in New Orleans before coming to Minnesota. He
was a farmer and a member of the Methodist church. He was married to
Catharine Peterson in 1838. He died in July, 1887, leaving two sons
and two daughters.
JOHN S. VAN RENSSELAER came to Chisago Lake in the spring of 1851, and
settled on an island, where he lived three years in hermit-like
seclusion, raising corn and vegetables. His cabin, always neat and
tasteful, was furnished with a choice library. In 1854 he removed to
Sunrise Lake, where he lived fifteen years, engaged in farming. He
removed thence to Sunrise City. Mr. Van Rensselaer was the founder of
the first cheese factories in the county, at Sunrise City and Centre
City. He is an honorable and upright man, whose high aim is to
exemplify the golden rule in his life and deportment.
AXEL DAHLIAM settled on the west shore of East Chisago lake in 1852.
Mr. Dahliam had been an officer in the Swedish Army. He was a
cultivated gentleman. He died in 1869.
NELS NORD was born in Lindhopsing, Sweden, in 1819. In his eighteenth
year he enlisted in the Swedish Army and served twelve years. He came
to America in 1855 and located on Chisago lake, in the northeast
quarter of section 32, township 34, range 20. He was married in Sweden
to Lisa Anderson. They have one son, John P., who has been for seven
years the popular and efficient auditor of Chisago county. He was
married in 1878 to Hildah, daughter of Rev. C. A. Hedengrand. They
have one daughter.
JOHN A. HALLBERG was born at Smolland, Sweden, in 1830. He came to
America in 1853 and to Centre City in 1854. In 1872 he purchased a saw
and feed mill of Shogren Brothers. In 1876 he built a hotel. He has
held the office of justice of the peace many years and has served four
years as county commissioner. He was married to Matilda E. Carlson in
1870.
CHAS. A. BUSH is of German descent. His father, Wm. H. Bush, lived in
Wyoming. His great grandfather came to this country in 1765 and fought
on the side of the colonies. Chas. A. came to Minnesota in 1869 from
Pennsylvania. He has served as treasurer of Chisago county four years.
LARS JOHAN STARK was born in Sweden in 1826; came to America in 1850,
and settled at Chisago Lake in 1852. He was married in 1865, and again
in 1870. He has eleven children living. In Sweden he served as clerk
ten years. In his American home he has followed farming chiefly. He
has served as justice of the peace and county commissioner, and has
filled some town offices. He was engrossing clerk of the house of
representatives in 1864. He was a member of the house in the sessions
of 1865 and 1875. In 1868 he moved to the town of Fish Lake, and in
1877 to Harris.
FRANK MOBECK was born in Sweden in 1814. He came to America in 1851,
and in 1853 to Chisago Lake, where he settled on lot 5, section 34,
township 34, range 20. His home is on a beautiful elevation, on a
point of land projecting into the lake. Mr. Mobeck served in the
Swedish Army seventeen years. He has raised a large family of
children, all of whom are good citizens.
ROBERT CURRIE was born in Ayrshire, Scotland. After reaching manhood
he was employed many years as superintendent of a fancy manufacturing
company. He was married in Scotland. In 1854, after the death of his
wife, he came to America, and in 1855 selected a place for a home on
the north shore of west Chisago lake, where he lived till his death by
drowning in 1883. The site of his home was well chosen. It commanded a
beautiful view of the lake, and in the summer months was luxuriantly
adorned with flowers. Mr. Currie was a man of fine intellect, well
cultivated, and an ardent admirer of his countryman Burns, from whom,
and from Shakespeare and other masters of English literature he could
quote for hours. Mr. Currie's occupation was farming, but he filled
several offices acceptably. He was superintendent of schools, judge of
probate and clerk of district court. Though somewhat eccentric, he was
a social, kind hearted man.
ANDREW N. HOLM, formerly Andrew Nelson, his name having been changed
by legislative enactment in 1867, was born in Sweden in 1829. He
learned the trade of carpenter, came to America in 1855 and located in
Centre City in 1857, of which city he was first postmaster. He served
as a soldier during the Civil War and at its close removed his family
to Taylor's Falls, which is still his home.
LINDSTROM VILLAGE,
Located on the line of the Taylor's Falls branch of the St. Paul &
Duluth railroad, on lot 4, section 33, town 34, range 20, was platted
in 1880 by G. W. Sewall, surveyor. The proprietors are James and
Elisabeth Smith. It is situated on high ground and almost surrounded
by the waters of Lake Chisago. It would be difficult to find a
lovelier site. Maurice Tombler built the first store and elevator
here, in 1881. There are now three stores, one hotel, one railroad
station and several shops and dwellings. A post office was established
at Lindstrom in 1880; Charles H. Bush, postmaster.
DANIEL LINDSTROM was born in 1825, in Helsingland, Sweden. He had no
early advantages for obtaining an education, and spent most of his
youth herding goats amongst the mountains in the north part of Sweden.
In 1854 he came to America and located on Chisago lake, choosing a
beautiful location, which has since been laid out as a village, and
bids fair to become a place of popular resort. Mr. Lindstrom was
married first in Sweden, and now lives with his second wife, the first
having died in 1864. He has a family of three children. He has filled
official positions in his town acceptably.
MAGNUS S. SHALEEN was born in Sweden in 1796; came to America in 1855,
and made a homestead near Lindstrom in section 29, town 34, range 20,
where he died in 1869. Mrs. Shaleen died in 1873. John, the oldest
son, resides on the family homestead. He has served as sheriff of
Chisago county six years, and state senator eight years. Peter, the
second son, has served as postmaster of Centre City fourteen years,
and clerk of the district court five years. Sarah, the eldest
daughter, married John Swenson. They have three sons, John H., Henry
A. and Oscar, industrious, reliable young men, all in the employ of
the St. Paul & Duluth Railroad Company. Mary married Andrew Wallmark
at Chisago Lake, in 1856. One daughter is unmarried.
CHISAGO CITY.
The village of Chisago City is located on a hardwood ridge, between
Chisago and Green lakes, in sections 6 and 7, township 34, range 20.
It was platted by Isaac Bernheimer & Co., of Philadelphia, on lot 4,
section 7, township 34, range 20, in 1855. They built a hotel, several
dwellings, and a saw and grist mill on the banks of Chisago lake, at
an expense of about $7,000. These mills were burned in 1872. A stave
factory was built on the site of the burned mills, which was operated
successfully for many years under the management of George Nathan,
Otto Wallmark, W. D. Webb and others. This stave mill gave a new
impetus to the prosperity of the village, under the influence of which
the county seat was transferred to it. Its subsequent growth, however,
did not justify expectations. It was for many years without even a
post office. In 1875 the county seat was removed to Centre City. The
Lutherans have here one of the finest church buildings in the county.
The branch railroad depot is located one mile north, and quite a
village has grown up around it.
OTTO WALLMARK was born Dec. 7, 1830, in the province of Halland,
Sweden. In his minority he was nine years clerk in a store. He
received a common school education. In 1854 he came to America and
directly to Chisago City, where he lived many years, making a
homestead, which has since been his permanent home. He served eighteen
years as Chisago county auditor. He served several years as postmaster
at Chisago City, and in 1886 was elected state senator for four years.
His first wife was Mary Helene, his second wife, Eva Palmgreen. They
have one son and one daughter.
ANDREW WALLMARK, brother of Otto, was born in Sweden in 1826; received
a liberal education, and came to Chisago Lake from Sweden in 1854. He
has filled several town offices; has been register of deeds for
Chisago county nineteen years; was married to Mary Shaleen in 1856.
They have two sons and three daughters.
FISH LAKE.
The town of Fish Lake includes township 36, range 22. It was
originally well timbered, chiefly with hardwood, but 25,000,000 feet
of pine timber has been cut from it and mostly manufactured in the
town. There are some fine lakes in the town, of which the largest and
finest are Horseshoe and Cedar. The soil is black clay loam with
subsoil of clay. The town was cut off from the town of Sunrise and
organized in 1868. The first supervisors were Chas. F. Stark, Benjamin
Franklin and John A. Hokanson. A post office was established in 1868;
Benjamin Franklin, postmaster. The first settlers were Peter Olaf and
Peter Bergland, in section 25. The first school was taught by Miss
Mattison. The first marriage was that of John Hokanson and Matilda
Samuelson. The first death was that of John Erickson. The population
is mostly from Sweden. There is a good Swedish Lutheran church built
near the centre of the town. There are also a Swedish Methodist and a
Swedish Baptist society. The people are a well-to-do, independent
class. Fish Lake has a saw mill with a capacity of about 1,000,000
feet. In 1877 Hosburg, the watchman of this mill, was killed by
Priestly, an Englishman. Hosburg, in accordance with the rules, had
ordered him not to smoke on the premises. The Englishman was arrested,
tried for murder and acquitted.
PETER BERG was born in Sweden in 1801; came to America in 1850, and
settled at Chisago Lake in 1851. Some time subsequently he settled on
the north shore of Fish lake. In 1886, at the age of eighty-five
years, he is still a vigorous, active man. Mr. Berg was married in
Sweden. He has one daughter, Katharine, who married Sam Hamilton, of
Taylor's Falls. Mr. Hamilton died in 1871. She married as her second
husband Swain G. Yongren.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, though he bears the name of America's most
illustrious philosopher, is a native of Sweden, whence he came with a
Swedish colony in 1852, settled at Taylor's Falls, and subsequently
removed to the northern shore of Fish lake. By way of explaining how
he came by his American name we add that soon after his arrival he
came to the writer somewhat puzzled as to how he should write his
Swedish name in English. He gave it as "Ben Franz Norel," but
pronounced it in such a way that it sounded rather like Benjamin
Franklin. We suggested that name as a happy solution of the
difficulty, telling him something about the illustrious man who had
made it honorable. He adopted it at once, and has never disgraced it.
He is still a worthy, industrious and honorable citizen of Fish Lake.
FRANCONIA
Includes the two eastern tiers of sections of township 33, range 20,
and fractional township 33, range 19, including about fifteen whole
sections, and four fractional. The soil is good, and originally
supported a growth of hardwood. The surface is undulating. It is well
watered by Lawrence and several other small creeks tributary to the
St. Croix, and has several small but clear lakes. Ansel Smith was the
first settler of the town and village, which he named after Franconia
in the White mountains. He came here in 1852, and located a claim on
the present site of the village, on the St. Croix river, section 10,
township 33, range 19. He did much for the prosperity of the village
and town. He raised the first crops and was the first postmaster
(1854). The town was organized in 1858. The first supervisors were
Ansel Smith, Leonard P. Day and A. J. Adams. The town is now well
settled and has many excellent farms. The branch St. Paul & Duluth
railroad has a depot three-fourths of a mile from the village of
Franconia. A German Methodist church is located near the centre of the
town.
FRANCONIA VILLAGE
Was platted in 1858, by Ansel Smith. It was incorporated in 1884. Paul
Munch, in 1860, erected a first class, three storied flouring mill on
Lawrence creek. A saw mill, erected in 1854 by the Clark brothers and
Ansel Smith, has passed through many changes of ownership. It is now
the property of Matthews & Jourdain. Henry F. and Leonard P. Day built
the first good dwelling in the village, on the banks of the St. Croix,
just above the steamboat landing. Margaret Smith taught the first
school. The first death in the village was that of Neil Monroe.
ANSEL SMITH came from Vermont to St. Croix Falls in 1850 and engaged
in teaching. In 1851 he helped erect the Chisago House in Taylor's
Falls. In 1852 he made a claim on the St. Croix river, in section 10,
township 33, range 19, and there platted the village of Franconia,
clearing away the worst of the timber with his own hands. He was an
energetic, active business man, and took an interest not only in the
affairs of his town and neighborhood, but in the country at large. He
represented his district in the fifth, sixth and seventh legislatures.
He was appointed register of the United States land office at Duluth
in 1870 and served till 1872. Mr. Smith died at his residence in
Duluth in 1878, leaving a wife and three promising sons, two of them
practicing attorneys in Duluth; one cashier of a bank in Duluth.
HENRY F. AND LEONARD P. DAY.--The Day brothers came from St. Lawrence,
New York, to the St. Croix valley in 1849, and settled in Franconia in
1852. Henry married Margaret Smith, daughter of David Smith. During
the Rebellion he served in Company C, Seventh Minnesota Volunteers. He
moved to Florida in 1886. Leonard P. was married to Mary Mitchell in
1856. He died in 1874, leaving a widow, two sons and two daughters.
His widow (in 1886) is the wife of Henry Wills, of Osceola.
HENRY WILLS was born in 1829, in Illinois, and married his first wife
in Missouri in 1856, who died in 1878, leaving nine children. Mr.
Wills was one of the first farmers in Franconia, and has been active
in promoting improvements in his town and county. He moved to Osceola
in 1886.
THE CLARK BROTHERS came from Maine and located in Franconia in 1854,
where they built the first mill in the village. Subsequently they
became citizens of Taylor's Falls, engaging in the mercantile, livery,
saw and stave mill business. James, the oldest, married Carrie
Jellison in 1863, and moved to Windom, Minnesota. Rufus, the next in
age, married Kate Strand in 1860, and died May, 1880, leaving a widow,
three sons and one daughter. Charles, the youngest, was married to
Martha J. Gray in 1868, and removed to Fergus Falls.
DAVID SMITH was born in Scotland. He came to Franconia in 1855, where
he has now one of the best farms in Chisago county. His youngest son,
James, lives on the old homestead with him. His second son, John, has
made his home in Rush City. Andrew, his oldest, served during the
Rebellion in company C, Seventh Minnesota. His oldest daughter,
Margaret, is the wife of H. F. Day. His daughter Nancy is the wife of
N. H. Hickerson and resides in California,. Barbary, the third
daughter, is the wife of John Grove of Burnett county.
JONAS LINDALL was for many years an enterprising and prosperous
business man in Franconia. He opened up an extensive wood trade with
St. Paul, in which C. J. Vitalis is his successor. Mr. Lindall
represented his county in the senate of the fifteenth and sixteenth
state legislatures. He was accidentally drowned from a barge of wood
at Hastings in May, 1872. His widow is married to Chas. J. Vitalis.
WM. PEASLEE came from Maine to the St. Croix valley and settled in
Franconia in 1857, and followed mercantile pursuits at that place and
at Taylor's Falls. He died at the latter place in 1876. Mr. Peaslee
was married at Palmyra, Maine, to Sophia E. Harriman, who, with
Clarence, an only son, survives him. His widow resides in Taylor's
Falls and superintends a millinery and fancy store. Clarence succeeds
his father in the grocery and dry goods business at Taylor's Falls. He
married Rosa, a daughter of Patrick Fox.
CHARLES VITALIS was born in Smolland, Sweden, in 1843; came to America
in 1868 and settled in Franconia village. He was for five years
employed as clerk. In 1873 he embarked in the mercantile and wood
business. In one year he shipped 13,000 cords of wood, and has
averaged for the last 14 years 7,000 cords, making a total of 100,000
cords. He was married to Josephine Nelson, widow of Jonas Lindall, in
1873. They have three children. Elof, John, Elias and Hans are
brothers of Charles Vitalis, residing in the town of Franconia.
AUGUST J. ANDERSON was born near Wexico, Sweden, in 1860; came to
America with his parents in 1869, and to Franconia. At thirteen years
of age he commenced clerking for C. Vitalis, with whom he continued
until 1873, when he associated himself with him in the mercantile
business. He visited Europe in 1883.
FRANK N. PETERSON.--Mr. Peterson came to America in 1865, and in 1866
settled in the valley of the St. Croix. He attended school at Carver,
Minnesota, one year, when he became a traveling salesman for Leopold &
Co., of Chicago, and in 1881 settled in Franconia. He organized the
lumbering firm of Borens Brothers & Peterson, which continued until
1886, when a new organization was formed, called the Franconia Lumber
Company, consisting of P. Jordan, Sam Mathews, of Stillwater, and the
subject of our sketch.
[Illustration: FRANK N. PETERSON.]
Mr. Peterson has been the president of Franconia since its
incorporation. In 1869 he married Miss Ingur Johnson, daughter of Eric
Johnson, a pioneer of St. Peter, Minnesota, and is the father of two
children, Axel, a promising son, who died in February, 1885, at
fourteen years of age, and Maria, now a student in the Ladies'
Seminary at Faribault, who is developing marked ability as a pencil
artist. Mr. Peterson owns one of the finest houses in the valley,
romantically situated, which is supplied with pure spring water. It is
a pride to the village and attracts general attention. He is also the
inventor and patentee of the Lindholm & Peterson adding machine.
HARRIS.
The town of Harris contains twenty-four sections of township 36, range
21, the four western tiers of sections. The soil is a sandy loam with
clay subsoil. The town is well watered and drained by Goose creek,
which entering the town from the northwest, and bending at first
southward, then eastward, leaves the town near its southeastern line
in section 22. The timber consisted originally of oak openings and
pine; 10,000,000 feet of the latter have been removed from the
southeastern portion. Luxuriant wild meadows are found along Goose
creek. The first improvement was a farm, made by W. H. C. Folsom in
sections 21 and 22 in 1854. The first permanent settler was Henry H.
Sevy, who located on this farm in 1856. The town of Harris was
organized in 1884.
HARRIS VILLAGE.
A charter organizing Harris village was granted by the district court,
under the general law, in 1882. A question arose as to the legality of
the act. A subsequent legislature, by legislative act, confirmed all
similarly organized villages in the State. The supreme court decided
the organization of such villages illegal and the legislative act
sanctioning it unconstitutional. It was subsequently organized
legally. The village was surveyed by A. D. Miller and platted in May,
1873, in the south half of section 21, township 36, range 21, Philip
S. Harris and N. D. Miller, proprietors. It derived its name from
Philip S. Harris, a prominent officer of the St. Paul & Duluth
railroad. Fred Wolf was the first settler, in 1870, and first merchant
and first railroad agent, in 1873. He acted as postmaster subsequently
and filled other offices of trust. His interests are intimately
blended with those of the village. Isaac Savage was the second settler
and merchant. He was the first postmaster, in 1873. The first school
was taught by Mary Gwinn, in 1873. The first marriage was that of M.
P. Smith and Charlotte Swenson. The first child born was Brague, son
of W. D. Sayers. The first death was that of Isaac Morrill. A good
school house was built in 1877. The village is rapidly growing. It has
an extensive trade in hay, wood, ties and piles. Wheat shipments are
large. It has four stores, two hotels, three elevators, three hay
presses, two wagon and smith shops, one agricultural warehouse, one
skating rink, one livery stable, two saloons, one meat shop and a
railroad depot.
LENT.
This town includes the whole of township 34, range 21. It is well
watered and drained by Sunrise river, but has no lakes. The soil is a
sandy loam; the timber chiefly oak openings. The early settlers were
Harvey Lent, from whom the town derived its name, William Robinson,
James Buchanan, who raised the first crops in 1855, Joshua Dawson,
Jesse Moore and others. The town was organized in 1872. The first
supervisors were Dawson, Moore and Robinson. The first post office was
established in 1875, at Stacy, a railroad station on the St. Paul &
Duluth railroad, which traverses this town from south to north. Frank
Dawson was the first postmaster.
NESSELL.
Nessell includes township 37, range 22. The surface was originally
covered with a growth of hardwood, with some pine. Of the latter,
about 10,000,000 feet has been cut. The soil is adapted to wheat
culture. It is well watered. Rush lake occupies a nearly central
position, and is a beautiful sheet of water with about fourteen miles
of meandering shore line, crystal clear, and deep, well stocked with
fish, and bordered with groves of maple, oak and linden. The town was
set off from Rush Lake and organized in 1870. The first supervisors
were Wm. H. McCray, John H. Breit and Matts Colleen. The town is
settled by a class of industrious, upright people. There are three
churches, with prosperous societies, the Swedish Baptist, the Swedish
Lutheran and German Lutheran. Martin Linnell was the first child born.
The first marriage was that of Wm. Vanetta and Anna Johnson, in 1861.
Alice Draper taught the first school. Rev. Cedarstam preached the
first sermon.
ROBERT NESSELL was the oldest settler. The town was named for him. He
was born in Germany in 1834; came to America in 1847, and to Minnesota
in 1854. He was married at Sunrise to Kate Torbert, of Shafer, in
1856, and the same year located his present home. Other early settlers
are John H. Breit, John Lindsey, P. Kelley, and the Jarchow brothers.
STEPHEN B. CLARK made Nessell his home in 1867. Mr. Clark was born in
Vermont in 1830; came to Marine in 1851. He served three years during
the Rebellion in the Second Wisconsin Cavalry. He removed to Rush City
in 1856.
RUSH SEBA.
Rush Seba comprises township 37, range 21, and fractional part of
township 37, range 20, consisting of about ten sections, irregularly
bounded by the St. Croix river. It is timbered with hardwood, has good
soil, chiefly a black clay loam, with clay subsoil, and is well
watered by Rush river and Rock creek and tributaries. Wild meadows and
marshes are intermingled with the timber. The town was organized in
1858, with George B. Folsom, Robert Newell and Timothy Ward as
supervisors. A post office was established in 1859, in section 14,
George B. Folsom, postmaster. George B. Folsom was the first settler,
raising the first crops in the town in 1855. The St. Paul & Duluth
railroad traverses the town from south to north. It was built in 1868,
and a branch road to Grantsburg, Wisconsin, was built in 1884.
Josephine Blanding taught the first school, in 1856. The first death
was that of James Ward, who died from accidental poisoning.
RUSH CITY.
In 1868, at the completion of the St. Paul & Duluth railroad, a depot
was built and a station established at the crossing of Rush river,
around which rapidly grew up the village of Rush City. It was surveyed
and platted by Benjamin W. Brunson, surveyor, in January, 1870, in the
northeast quarter of section 21, township 37, range 26. The Western
Land Association, L. Mendenhall, agent, was proprietor. Thomas Flynn
was the first settler, he having in 1857 pre-empted the land which
afterward became the site of the village. Among the improvements in
1869 was a steam saw mill, built by Taylor & Co. This mill was burned
in 1879, at a loss of $13,000. Rush City was incorporated in 1874.
Frank H. Pratt was president of the first village council. Rush City
has now a commodious town hall, an exchange bank, one elevator, one
foundry, a good school house, built at a cost of $3,000; a good graded
school, under the supervision of Prof. V. D. Eddy; a lodge of Ancient
Order United Workmen (No. 42), a board of trade, a Woman's Christian
Temperance Union Association, a Sons of Temperance lodge, a post of
the Grand Army of the Republic (Ellsworth Post, No. 58), and a masonic
organization (Jasper Lodge). The following denominations have churches
and societies: Catholic, Episcopalian, German Lutheran, Swedish
Lutheran, and Swedish Evangelical. The Catholics are building a church
at a cost of $10,000.
THOMAS FLYNN was born in county Mayo, Ireland, 1828. He came to
America in 1831, and lived in Canada East until 1857; when he located
in Minnesota, pre-empting the northeast quarter of section 21,
township 37, range 21. His farm became the site of the village of Rush
City in 1868, and in 1869 he built the first frame house in its
limits. Mr. Flynn has been married three times, losing each of his
wives by death. He has two sons living, James H. and Frank A.
PATRICK H. FLYNN was born in county Mayo, Ireland, in 1829; came to
America in 1831; lived in Canada East until 1857, and coming to
Minnesota pre-empted the northwest quarter of section 21. He was
married in 1857 to Margaret Kelly, of Illinois. They have two sons and
two daughters living. Mr. Flynn, in 1880, erected the Globe Hotel in
Rush City, where he now resides.
RUFUS CROCKER was the second settler in Rush Seba. He was the first
justice of the peace and held other offices. Mr. Crocker was married
to Miss Mercy Hewson, of Isanti county. He is now a citizen of Rock
Creek.
FRANK H. PRATT was born in Skowhegan, Maine, in 1836. His father,
Henry P. Pratt, a veteran editor, who had served twenty years on the
Kennebec _Journal_, and later was connected with the Somerset
_Journal_ and Skowhegan _People's Press_, came to St. Paul in 1854
with his family, and was associated with John P. Owens as assistant
editor of the St. Paul _Minnesotian_. On Sunday, May 6, 1855, Mr.
Pratt went on board the steamer Royal Arch, which had landed at the
St. Paul levee that morning with a cargo of passengers, sick, dying
and dead of cholera. Thirteen had already died on the boat. Mr.
Pratt, Sr., went on board to alleviate the sufferings of the sick and
dying, and in consequence, within two days, himself sickened and died.
The writer and his family were passengers on the Royal Arch, and
witnesses to these scenes of suffering and death and Mr. Pratt's
heroic self-devotion. After his father's death Frank continued in the
office of the _Minnesotian_ as printer. He worked also in the offices
of the St. Paul and St. Peter _Tribune_ and the Prescott _Transcript_.
In 1858-59 he served as local editor and foreman in the _Transcript_
office. In 1860 he removed to Taylor's Falls, and established the
Taylor's Falls _Reporter_, the first newspaper published in Chisago
county. In 1862 he enlisted in Company C. of the Seventh Minnesota
Volunteer Infantry; was commissioned second lieutenant, and served
until he resigned his office in the latter part of 1864, having been
promoted to the captaincy of Company C. After the war he located in
Sunrise City, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1872 he removed
to Rush City, continued in mercantile business, and took an active
part in all enterprises looking to the welfare of the city. He built a
store, elevator and a fine residence, which was burned in 1881. Mr.
Pratt represented his district in the sixteenth legislature. He was
married to Helen A. Bossout, at St. Paul, in 1858. They have one son,
Fred, and three daughters. Mr. Pratt moved to St. Paul in 1882, where
he died, March 25, 1884. Fred, his son, succeeds him in business in
Rush City. He is married to a daughter of Jonathan Chase, of East
Minneapolis.
VOLORO D. EDDY was born in Java, Wyoming county, New York, Sept. 7,
1840; received a common school education supplemented by two years'
attendance at Griffith Institute, Springfield, New York; gave up his
school to enlist in his country's service, as a member of the
"Ellsworth Avengers" (the Forty-fourth New York Volunteers). The
regiment was mustered into service at Albany, New York, Aug. 8, 1861.
He served in this regiment until June 5, 1864, when he was taken
prisoner at Old Church, Virginia. He endured the horrors of prison
life until Feb. 26, 1865, and was discharged from service May 20,
1865. In 1868 he came to Taylor's Falls and engaged in teaching, which
he has made his profession, having taught continuously since 1869. He
has been county superintendent of schools for twelve years, during
which time he has resided at Rush City. Mr. Eddy was married to
Frances Cowley, at Taylor's Falls, Sept. 30, 1868. Mrs. Eddy died
June, 1881. He was married to Anna R. Olmstead, July 25, 1883, at
Arcadia, New York.
FERDINAND SWEEDORFF CHRISTIANSON was born in Copenhagen, Denmark,
April 18, 1837; came to the United States in 1866, to Minnesota in
1868, and to Chisago county in 1870. He was married to Selma A.
Willard, at Red Wing, Minnesota, Dec. 12, 1869. He represented Chisago
county in the legislature of 1878. He was assistant secretary of state
from 1880 to 1882. In 1882 he established the Rush City Bank. In 1883
he was appointed member of the state board of equalization, and in
1885 was one of the committee for selecting a location for the Third
Hospital for the Insane.
SHAFER
Comprises all of the territory of township 34, range 19, excepting the
plat of Taylor's Falls, and fractional sections in the northeast
corner of the township. It was at first heavily timbered with
hardwood, interspersed with marshes and meadows. The soil is good.
Lawrence and Dry creeks drain the greater part of the township. It is
now well settled, and has many fine farms. A Swedish colony settled
here in 1853, consisting of Peter Wyckland, Andros Anderson, Eric
Byland, Tuver Walmarson, and others. The town organized first as
Taylor's Falls, but the name was changed to Shafer in 1873. John G.
Peterson, John Nelson and John Carlson were the first supervisors. The
first school was taught by Ella Wyckoff, in the Marshall district, in
1859. The first marriage was that of Peter Abear to Kittie Wickland.
The branch St. Paul & Duluth railroad passes through the southern part
of this township. The township contributed to this road $3,000 in
bonds. A railroad station in the southwest quarter of section 32 bears
the name of Shafer, derived, together with the name of the township,
from
JACOB SHAFER, who, as early as 1847, cut hay in sections 4 and 5. He
seems to have been in no sense worthy of the honor conferred upon him,
as he was but a transient inhabitant, and disappeared in 1849. No one
knows of his subsequent career. The honor ought to have been given to
some of the hardy Swedes, who were the first real pioneers, and the
first to make substantial improvements.
PETER WICKLAND came from Sweden in 1853, and settled in the northeast
quarter of section 26. He moved to Anoka in 1860, and was drowned in
Rum river in 1880. His son Peter is a prominent merchant in Anoka.
TUVER WALMARSON was born in Sweden in 1812. He was a member of the
Swedish colony of 1853, settled in the northwest quarter of section
26. Mr. and Mrs. Walmarson reared a fine family of children. Nelson
Tuver Walmarson, the eldest son, inherits the industry and frugality
of both parents. By hard work and close attention to business the
family has prospered abundantly.
ANDROS ANDERSON came also from Sweden in 1853 and settled in the east
half of the northeast quarter of section 34. Mr. Anderson moved to
Taylor's Falls in 1859 and died there in 1873. He left but one child,
the wife of Daniel Fredine, of Shafer. Mr. Anderson was a born
humorist and fond of practical jokes. On one occasion his ready wit
was exercised at the expense of a man to whom he had mortgaged his
farm. Deeming the house in which he lived his own, in the absence of
the mortgagee he removed it to Taylor's Falls. The mortgagee, E. W.
Holman, told him that he had stolen the house and must replace it.
Anderson told Holman to take the house and replace it himself, but if
he took his (Anderson's) family along with it he would have him sent
to the penitentiary. Mr. Holman did not see his way clear and the
house was not disturbed.
ERIC BYLAND, another of the Swedish colony, settled in the west half
of the southeast quarter of section 23. In 1860 he sold out and moved
further west. The farm he left is now owned by John Nelson and is one
of the finest farms in Chisago county.
JACOB PETERSON was born in 1847 and came with his parents to Chisago
county in 1854. They located on a beautiful spot in Franconia, on the
shore of a small lake, where they made a farm and where Jacob passed
his boyhood and youth. In 1881 he commenced business at Shafer station
as a merchant and dealer in wood. He was the first postmaster at
Shafer. He was married in 1881 to Mary Heline.
AMBROSE C. SEAVEY was born in Machias, Maine, in 1824; was married to
Elizabeth Ayers, in Crawford, Maine, in 1846, and came to St. Croix
Falls in 1848. In 1852 he removed to Taylor's Falls, and opened the
first blacksmith shop. He was absent two years in Colorado, and when
he returned settled on a farm in the town of Shafer. He has a family
of four sons and six daughters.
SUNRISE.
The town of Sunrise includes the two eastern tiers of sections of
township 36, range 21, one whole and eight fractional sections of
township 36, range 20, and all of township 35, range 20, except the
two eastern tiers of sections. It is well watered by the St. Croix and
Sunrise rivers and their tributaries. The latter river rises in
Washington county, having for its principal source Forest lake, and
flows through the town in a northerly direction into the St. Croix. It
has three considerable tributaries from the west known as North,
Middle and South branches. St. Croix river has, as tributary, Goose
creek, which flows through the northern part of the town. The soil
varies from a rich sandy loam to a sandy soil. The town contains many
fine farms. The old government road from Point Douglas to Superior
passes through the town.
Sunrise was incorporated as a town Oct. 26, 1858; Isaac A. Parmenter,
David Lovejoy and A. C. Mattison, supervisors. A post office was
established in 1856; George S. Frost, postmaster. The first marriage
was that of Robert Nessell and Kate Torbert, by J. D. Wilcox, Esq. The
first child born was Joshua Taylor Gallaspie. The first death was of
an unknown man who died from the kick of a horse. Wm. Holmes, the
first settler, located on Sunrise prairie in 1853, and raised crops on
fifteen acres that year. John A. Brown and Patten W. Davis cultivated
thirty-five acres the same year on Sunrise prairie. Messrs. Brown,
Davis and Ingalls made a wagon road from Sunrise to St. Paul in 1853.
John A. Brown, in the same year, built a hotel and opened a store. The
hotel was built of logs, the store was a frame, the first erected in
Sunrise. In 1855 he built a saw mill. His hotel was burned in 1856.
These buildings were the nucleus of Sunrise village.
SUNRISE VILLAGE
Was platted July, 1857, in the north half of the northeast quarter of
section 8, and the west half of the southwest quarter and the
northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 4, and the
southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 9, all of
township 3, range 20. The proprietors were John A. Brown, J. S.
Caldwell and C. L. Willis; surveyor, W. F. Duffy. It contains a first
class roller flour mill, a saw mill, both owned by Caspar Spivac, two
stores, a school house and several shops and dwellings. In 1857 a
colony from Western New York settled in and around Sunrise village.
The Wilcoxes, Wilkes, Collins, Gwynne, Smith, and others were of this
colony. The village has suffered greatly from fires. The buildings
lost at various times were one flouring mill, valued at $10,000, four
hotels and several private dwellings. The flouring mill was the
property of Mrs. J. G. Mold. Two lives were lost at the burning of the
mill.
In the fall of 1862, immediately after the Sioux outbreak, and while
considerable apprehension was felt as to the attitude of the Chippewas
toward the white settlers, a company of volunteers under Capt.
Anderson was stationed at Sunrise. This company built temporary
quarters of logs, and were very comfortably fixed during the winter.
They had presumably a very good time, but repelled no savage foes.
KOST VILLAGE
Is located in the west half of section 32, township 35, range 20. It
has a first class roller flouring mill, owned by Ferdinand A. Kost,
erected in 1883 at a cost of $13,000, and a saw mill, also owned by F.
A. Kost, erected the same year. It has two stores, a number of shops
and dwellings and a post office, established in 1884, of which F. A.
Kost is postmaster.
CHIPPEWA
Was platted March, 1856, by Benj. Dinsmore, surveyor, in the northwest
quarter of section 2, and the west half of the northeast quarter of
section 2, township 36, range 21. The proprietors were James Starkey,
Charles S. Patteys, Michael E. Ames, Isaac Van Etten, and Moses
Sherburne. It makes a fair farm.
DRONTHEIM
Was platted in 1856, in the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter
and the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 1,
township 36, range 20; C. C. P. Myer, proprietor. It is still a brush
and swamp plat.
NASHUA
Was platted July, 1857, H. H. Newbury, surveyor, on lots 6 and 7 of
section 33, and lot 5 in section 34, township 34, range 20.
Proprietors, N. F. Taylor, W. H. C. Folsom, L. K. Stannard and N. C.
D. Taylor. It has made two fair farms.
WASHINGTON
Was platted August, 1856, W. F. Duffy, surveyor, in the south half of
section 35, township 35, range 21. Proprietors, James Y. Caldwell and
L. C. Kinney. On this site the Starkey Indian battle was fought.
JOHN A. BROWN.--Mr. Brown, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Sunrise
in 1853, and was for awhile quite prominent, building a store, hotel
and other buildings. In 1855 he was married to Emeline Hartwell. He
prospered in business, but owing to some domestic difficulties, in
1857 left suddenly for parts unknown. His property was sacrificed to
meet obligations, and his wife left helpless. Mrs. Brown died in
Minneapolis in 1880.
PATTEN W. DAVIS was a native of Virginia. He came to Stillwater in
1848, and soon after removed to Osceola Mills, where he lived two
years. In 1853 he removed to Sunrise, and was associated in business
for two years with John A. Brown. He has held the positions of
postmaster, town clerk, treasurer, county commissioner, supervisor,
and assessor. In 1876 he married a Virginia lady, and returned to his
native state.
JAMES F. HARVEY was born in 1820, in Penobscot county, Maine. He came
West in 1847 and settled at Marine Mills. In 1854 he removed to
Sunrise and located in the northeast quarter of section 14, township
36, range 21, at what was known as Goose Creek crossing. His first
wife, whom he had married in Maine, died shortly after their arrival
at Sunrise, leaving one daughter, Maria, wife of Leonard Clark, of
Stillwater. Mr. Harvey was married in 1856 to widow Patience Knight,
the mother of Mrs. Floyd S. Bates, Albert S. and Frank E., of Taylor's
Falls, and Ella Medora Harvey, wife of J. A. Shores, of Minneapolis.
Mr. Harvey died at his home in 1864. Mrs. Harvey died at Taylor's
Falls in 1871.
FLOYD S. BATES, originally from Maine, has been since 1854 a prominent
lumberman on the St. Croix, living first at Sunrise, and in later
years at Taylor's Falls. He owns an extensive farm in Cass county,
Dakota. Of his three brothers, E. Hines resides in Taylor's Falls, and
J. Herrick and Charles in Dakota Territory.
ISAAC H. WARNER was born in New York in 1830, was married in 1852 and
came to Sunrise in 1854, where he followed farming and selling goods.
He has served as postmaster, justice of the peace and held other
positions. He has three children. His eldest, a daughter, wife of
Samuel McClure, a lumberman of Sunrise, died February, 1885. Mr.
Warner removed to Dakota in 1883.
CHARLES F. LOWE was born in 1815 in Concord, New Hampshire, received a
collegiate education and came to Sunrise in 1855. He interested
himself in real estate but devoted about one-half of his time to
travel, of which he was passionately fond. He made one trip around the
globe, writing back interesting letters descriptive of what he had
seen. He made his last annual tour in 1873, and, while sailing in a
small boat in some of the waters of Florida, the boat was struck by a
squall, capsized and Mr. Lowe was drowned. Mr. Lowe was a member of
the Minnesota constitutional convention.
WELLS FARR came from New York State to Sunrise prairie in 1854, where
he has since lived in a comfortable home, a successful farmer. He has
a family of four sons and two daughters. His oldest daughter is the
wife of Ephraim C. Ingalls. His second daughter is the wife of Frank
Dawson, of Lent. Mr. Farr died in March, 1888.
JOHN G. MOLD came to Sunrise in 1854, where he engaged in milling,
hotel keeping and mercantile business. He was the proprietor of the
Sunrise City mills, since burned. He died in 1873, aged fifty years,
leaving a widow, two sons and two daughters.
GEORGE L. BLOOD, during his early life, was a seafaring man, spending
many years upon the ocean, and visiting during this time many foreign
ports, keeping a daily record of his journeyings. Mr. Blood had
learned the trade of house joiner, but coming to Sunrise in 1854,
attempted farming, at which he was not successful. In 1864 he removed
to Taylor's Falls, where he died in 1869. His life was an exemplary
one, and his death that of a Christian. His family returned to their
old home in Connecticut. His two sons reside in St. Paul.
JOEL G. RYDER came from New York to the St. Croix and settled in the
town of Sunrise, near the village, about the year 1855. He was
energetic and able, and was called to fill many town and county
offices. He was a representative in the fifteenth state legislature.
In 1860 he was married to Lizzie Perkins.
JOHN DEAN was born in 18--; was married to Mary Draper in 1860; came
to Minnesota in 18--; served some time as river pilot, and settled on
his farm near Sunrise City in 1860. Mr. Dean represented his district
in the house of the twenty-first and twenty-second legislatures.
TAYLOR'S FALLS.
The village of Taylor's Falls was platted in 1851, a survey of lots
having been made at that time by Theodore S. Parker, of Stillwater.
Additions were made from time to time as the increasing population
demanded. A year before the survey a frame building was erected on
what was subsequently the northwest corner of River and First streets.
In 1851 and 1852 some streets were opened, but with considerable
difficulty, on account of the trap rock, which to be removed required
blasting. Bowlders that could not be removed were buried. The work of
cutting a street to the upper steamboat landing was specially
difficult. There were no roads to the village, and the only means of
travel was by steamboat, bateaux, or birch bark canoes, until the
government road was opened sometime in 1856. A post office was
established in March, 1851, and a weekly mail was ordered from
Stillwater. Prior to this time a semi-monthly mail had been carried
between the points named. Of the office established in 1851, N. C. D.
Taylor was first postmaster. The office was in W. H. C. Folsom's
store, Folsom acting as deputy postmaster. The successors of Mr.
Taylor have been, Porter E. Walker, Edward P. Wyman, Thomas Holmes,
Oscar Roos, George W. Seymour, and N. M. Humphrey; not a long list for
thirty-five years. The location of the office was changed with each
successive incumbent. The mail carrier in 1851 was the Hon. Warren
Bristol, since then four times a representative and senator from
Goodhue county in the state legislature, and United States judge in
Arizona. The mail service has passed through all the gradations from a
semi-monthly to a semi-daily mail. The mail has been carried in canoes
or bateaux, on foot, on horseback, on steamboat and rail car. It is
now carried by rail. Of the Baker & Taylor mill an account has been
given elsewhere. The next mill, a grist mill, was built by N. C. D.
Taylor, W. H. C. Folsom and the Day brothers, in 1852. It was several
years later remodeled and changed into a carding mill, and is now the
property of Jonas Gray. Kingman Brothers built a saw mill in 1857,
with a capacity of 12,000 feet per day. Several parties succeeded to
the ownership and control of the mill, but, after doing good service
for many years, it was abandoned. Clark Brothers built a lumber and
stave mill in 1868. After ten years this mill was removed.
The first merchant was Daniel Mears, who sold goods as early as 1848.
W. H. C. Folsom opened a store in 1850; Taylor & Fox in 1852. The
Chisago House was built by Thomson & Smith in 1852, on the corner of
Bench and First streets. In 1870 the name was changed to Dalles House.
It has changed landlords many times, the last being Henry Kattenberg.
The Cascade House was built in 1853, on the corner of Walnut and Bench
streets, by Richard Arnold. It is no longer used. The Falls House was
built in 1870, on Bench street near Walnut, by Erastus Guard, and
converted into a hotel in 1880, with Henry Kattenberg as proprietor,
by whom it was conducted as a temperance house. It is now in charge of
Eugene Fitzgerald.
The first physician was Lucius B. Smith. Susan Thomson taught the
first school. The first marriage was that of Charles D. Turney and
Cecilia Ring, Ansel Smith, justice of the peace, tying the knot. Wm.
Colby was the first white child born in the village. The first death
was that of a three-year-old daughter of Ansel Smith, in 1852. Rev. W.
T. Boutwell preached the first sermon, in 1851. In 1852 three young
Episcopal ministers, Revs. Breck, Myrick and Wilcoxson, alternated in
holding services, but did not organize a society. Rev. Julius S.
Webber, Baptist, preached occasionally in 1852 and 1853; Rev. W.
Miner, Congregationalist, in 1856 and 1857 became the first resident
minister. In April, 1859, Rev. Silas Bolles, a Methodist, organized a
society, the first in the village. In June, 1859, Rev. A. M. Torbet
organized a Baptist society and served as pastor four years. The
society built a church in 1861 at a cost of $3,000.
In 1860 the Swedish Evangelical Lutherans built a church on the corner
of Mulberry and Government streets, at a cost of $1,500. Rev. C. A.
Cedarstam was pastor in 1871-72-73, Rev. ---- Tornell the three
succeeding years, and three other pastors have served since. In 1866
Rev. John G. Hall organized a Presbyterian society, and built a church
in 1868, on the corner of River and Chisago streets, at a cost of
$1,500. Mr. Hall served as pastor four years. The Roman Catholics
erected a church on the corner of Walnut and Centre streets in 1873,
at a cost of $1,000. They have as yet no settled priest or parish
school.
The St. Croix Bridge Company was organized in 1854. The incorporators
were W. H. C. Folsom, Patrick Fox, Joshua L. Taylor, W. S. Hungerford,
Wm. Kent, Nelson McCarty, John Dobney, W. F. Colby, Orange Walker,
Fred W. Lammers, and N. C. D. Taylor. The bridge was built in 1856; W.
S. Sewall, St. Paul, was the engineer. The capital stock amounted to
$4,925, and was divided into 197 shares at $25 each. The bridge was
rebuilt in 1870, on the same plan, and in 1884 was replaced by an iron
bridge, at a cost of $6,253. The bridge has a span of 150 feet and is
a light and graceful structure. It was the first bridge that spanned
the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers.
The Chisago County Bank was organized in 1858, under the state banking
law; capital stock, $25,000; Levi W. Folsom, president; S. C. Gould,
cashier. It was closed in 1859.
The Taylor's Falls Copper Mining Company was organized Dec. 15, 1874;
W. H. C. Folsom, president; George W. Seymour, secretary; L. W.
Folsom, treasurer; D. A. Caneday, mining agent. The operations of this
company extended to sinking a shaft to a depth of one hundred and
thirty feet.
The Kahbakong Cemetery Association was organized in 1853. The first
board of officers were W. H. C. Folsom, president; Joshua L. Taylor,
secretary. The cemetery is located a mile and a half from the village
and contains fifteen acres of ground beautifully located.
Zion Lodge, No. 55, A. F. &. A. M., was organized March 3, 1866.
Sherman Post, No. 6, G. A. R., was organized in July, 1882, Caspar
Hauser, commander. Taylor's Falls Library Association was organized
Oct. 8, 1871, E. D. Whiting, president; J. A. McGowan, secretary.
Within two years the library numbered 1,000 volumes and since that
time the number has been increased to 1,500.
In 1858 the village of Taylor's Falls was regularly incorporated with
the following board of officers: Trustees, Patrick Fox, president; W.
H. C. Folsom, E. D. Whiting, L. W. Folsom; recorder, H. H. Newbury;
treasurer, Wm. Comer.
AN INDIAN DANCE.
The last Indian dance in Taylor's Falls was given by a party of
Chippewas in 1856. They had come down the St. Croix in birch canoes
with furs and cranberries to exchange with Samuels in St. Croix
village for "scootawabo," or whisky. They remained about a week,
drinking and carousing in their peculiar style. One Sabbath, and when,
for a wonder, they were quite sober, they visited Taylor's Falls and
gave a series of grotesque and laughable dances in the street,
opposite Folsom's store, after which they called for presents as
tokens of friendship and appreciation, kindly and gravely shook hands
and recrossed the river.
"Thus departed Hiawatha."
CHAPTER XIII.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
JESSE TAYLOR, the first permanent settler of Taylor's Falls, came to
the Falls in 1838, as narrated in the general history of the village.
Nothing is known of his life before coming to the Falls, except that
he was originally from Kentucky, and lived at Fort Snelling, where he
was employed as a stonemason. By the death of his associate, B. F.
Baker, he came into possession of the mill property and its
belongings. This he sold to Joshua L. Taylor in 1846, and removed to
Stillwater, where he took a contract for stone work on the prison
walls. His name appears as a member of the house from Stillwater in
the territorial legislature for 1851 and 1852. He was married in 1844
to Abigail, daughter of widow Edwards, of Stillwater. He left
Stillwater in 1853.
JOSHUA L. TAYLOR was born in Sanbornton, New Hampshire, in 1816. In
1836 he removed to Alton, Illinois, where he lived until 1840, when he
came to Taylor's Falls in the employ of the St. Croix Falls Lumber
Company. In 1846 he purchased the property of Jesse Taylor. He engaged
in logging until 1849, meanwhile pre-empting portions of the site of
Taylor's Falls. In the fall of 1849 he went to California, and was
fairly successful in his mining ventures. He returned to Taylor's
Falls in 1852, where he has since resided. He was married in October,
1856, at Skowhegan, Maine, to Clarinda Wyman. Mrs. Taylor died May 4,
1860, leaving no children. Mr. Taylor built a fine residence in 1856,
on block 1, River street, Taylor's Falls, commanding a beautiful view
of the river. Mrs. Gilmore, a sister of Mr. Taylor, and her daughter
Mary, lived with him many years. Mrs. Gilmore died in 1868. Mary
Gilmore was married to D. G. Sampson in 1881 and now lives in Ashland.
Mr. Taylor had many opportunities of entering public life, but, with a
solitary exception, declined them. At the organization of the
territory of Minnesota, in 1849, he was appointed United States
marshal, but declined. He was afterward appointed warden of the
penitentiary at Stillwater, and served two years.
NATHAN C. D. TAYLOR, elder brother of Joshua, was born in Sanbornton,
New Hampshire, in 1810; removed to Alton, Illinois, in 1832 and was
for several years in the employ of Godfrey, Gilman & Co., merchants of
Alton. Mr. Taylor came to St. Croix Falls in 1846. He was one of the
original pre-emptors of the site of Taylor's Falls. In 1852 he engaged
with Patrick Fox in the mercantile business. They carried on an
extensive trade in goods and logs until 1858. The firm of Taylor & Fox
erected a good store building on lot 16, block 15. He was a member of
the house in the fifth and seventh territorial legislatures, and
speaker of the fifth. In 1866 he was elected county treasurer of
Chisago county, and thereafter to the same office continuously for ten
years. Mr. Taylor never married. He died at Taylor's Falls, March 20,
1887.
THOMAS F. MORTON was born in South Carolina. He came to St. Croix
Falls in 1840. In 1850 he settled on a farm adjoining Taylor's Falls,
known as the Jerry Ross claim. He pre-empted the southwest quarter of
section 25. In 1852 he was married to Mrs. Margaret Boyce, his second
wife, mother of Silas Boyce, of Amador. He followed farming
successfully a few years, and in 1862 enlisted in his country's
service, as a private in Company C, Seventh Minnesota Volunteer
Infantry, and along with his friends Colby and Guard did noble
service, participating in several battles, in one of which, the battle
of Nashville, he was wounded by the bursting of a shell. He remained
with the regiment, however, until, disabled by his wound and by
sickness at the siege of Spanish Fort, he was compelled to return
home. He never recovered his health, but in 1867 peacefully passed
away. He was a good man, a brave soldier, and an exemplary Christian.
HENRY N. SETZER.--Mr. Setzer is a descendant of a North German family.
He was born in Montgomery county, Missouri, Oct. 6, 1825, and received
his education at home, which he left at the age of fourteen years,
and afterward at St. Charles College, Missouri. In 1843 Mr. Setzer
came to the St. Croix valley, where he engaged in lumbering for
himself and others, and devoted some time to public affairs. From 1843
to 1854 he resided alternately at Stillwater, Marine, Taylor's Falls
and Chengwatana. Mr. Setzer represented the Fourth district, including
Marine, Rush Lake, Rice River and Snake River precincts, in the house
of the first territorial legislature, and the First district,
including the counties of Washington, Itasca, Chisago, Superior and
Doty, in the council of the seventh and eighth territorial
legislatures. He was a member of the Democratic wing of the
constitutional convention in 1857. In 1857 he was appointed warden of
the state prison at Stillwater, which position he held until 1860,
when he was appointed register of the land office at Cambridge, Isanti
county. He held this position until April,1861. Having devoted his
leisure time to the study of law, and having been admitted to practice
in the supreme court of Minnesota, he concluded to devote himself
entirely to practice. He established a law office in Taylor's Falls
with L. K. Stannard. He removed to Superior City in 1869, to Duluth in
1874, and returned to Taylor's Falls in 1877. He has served as town
and county attorney in Chisago county for many years, and has an
extensive practice in the higher courts.
PATRICK FOX was born in Tipperary county, Ireland, in 1819; came with
his parents to America in 1823, and to Davenport, Iowa, in 1836. In
1841 he came to St. Croix Falls, where he lived three years, moving
thence to Stillwater, where he engaged in logging until 1851, when he
removed to Taylor's Falls and engaged in lumbering for a year, then
entered into a mercantile partnership with N. C. D. Taylor. The firm
closed business in 1858. Mr. Fox has been a public spirited citizen,
contributing freely of his means for the improvement of the village,
aiding in opening roads, building levees and bridges, and school
houses, before such enterprises could be paid for out of tax revenues.
Mr. Fox represented Chisago county in the second legislature, 1860.
Mr. Fox is a good neighbor, industrious and temperate. He was married
at Davenport, Iowa, to Elisabeth Riley. They have three sons and two
daughters. The eldest daughter is the wife of Clarence Peaslee; the
second daughter became the wife of Winfield P. Larcy, of Dakota, in
1886.
W. F. COLBY was born in Whitefield, Maine, June 12, 1818. In his early
life he was a sailor. He came to St. Croix Falls in 1843. He was
married to Salina De Attly in 1849, and removed to the west side of
the river, where he located on the Otis farm which he had previously
bought. He followed lumbering and farming and kept a lodging house for
travelers. He built a good house, and the first frame barn in Chisago
county. He sold his property, consisting of one hundred and sixty
acres and improvements, for $8,000. In 1862 Mr. Colby enlisted in
Company C, Seventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and served until the
close of the war as sergeant. Mr. Colby is a bluff, square, outspoken
man, hearty in his manner, and somewhat sailor-like in his expressions
though almost a lifetime has passed since he trod the deck of a
vessel.
OSCAR ROOS was born in West Gothland, Sweden, in 1827. He came to
America in 1850, and located in Taylor's Falls, where he has since
resided continuously, taking an active part in public affairs, and a
deep interest in everything pertaining to the growth of the village
and county. Mr. Roos was postmaster at Taylor's Falls 8 years,
register of deeds 8 years, register of the land office 5 years, and
county treasurer 8 years. He is engaged in exchange, loaning money,
etc., and has a branch office in Centre City. He was married to Hannah
Swanstrom in 1870.
SAMUEL THOMSON, a Pennsylvanian by birth, came to Taylor's Falls in
1851, and in company with Ansel Smith built the Chisago House, a
notable enterprise at that time, as neither the resources of the
village or surrounding country had been developed in such a way as to
give any assurance of success. Mr. Thomson removed in 1854 to Polk
county; and settled on a farm in Osceola, where he made himself an
attractive and pleasant home. His farm has long been celebrated for
its trout pond. Mr. Thomson has given much attention and been quite
successful in fish culture. The farm was sold in 1885, and Mr.
Thompson removed to Arkansas, where he died Nov. 5, 1886.
SUSAN THOMSON, sister of Samuel Thomson, taught the first school in
Taylor's Falls, in 1852. She had just come from Pennsylvania, and had
traveled on horseback from Stillwater, there being no carriage roads
above Marine. She was married to Daniel Mears, of Osceola, in 1852.
GEORGE DE ATTLY, a native of Virginia, came to St. Croix Falls with
his family in 1847, and removed to Taylor's Falls in 1851, locating in
section 25, and making a pre-emption. He was a carpenter. He raised a
large and respected family. One son is in the Black Hills, Dakota
Territory. His oldest daughter is the wife of Wm. F. Colby, of
Taylor's Falls. His second daughter was the widow of Jacob Markley.
His third daughter is the wife of Alvah Brown. One son, George,
resides in Taylor's Falls. Mr. De Attly died in Nebraska.
JACOB MARKLEY came from Virginia to the St. Croix valley in 1847,
settling first at St. Croix Falls, and in 1851 locating at Taylor's
Falls, where he pre-empted the northeast quarter of the northeast
quarter of section 24. He went to Montana in 1869, where he died a
tragic death. His widow and two children reside in the Black Hills,
Dakota.
JOHN DOBNEY was born in England in 1820; came to America when a child,
to Stillwater in 1845, and to Taylor's Falls in 1852. He followed
logging for many years, and made himself a permanent home on a farm in
Amador, on the banks of the St. Croix river, in 1858. He was married
to Eveline Page, in Michigan, in 1859.
WILLIAM DOBNEY, younger brother of John, came to Taylor's Falls from
Michigan in 1852, and engaged, with characteristic energy, in
lumbering and selling goods until his death, which was the result of
an accident, he having been thrown violently from a wagon which he was
driving, in the spring of 1871. He was married in 1855 to Fanny M.
Gray, who with two children survives him. The oldest, a son, is
married and resides in Minneapolis. The daughter is the wife of Dr.
Greely Murdock, of Taylor's Falls.
HENRY H. NEWBURY came to St. Croix Falls in 1849, and to Taylor's
Falls in 1852. Mr. Newbury is a practical surveyor and explorer. He
served as county surveyor and commissioner many years. He was married
first to Sarah Ayers, widow of E. R. St. Clair, who died in 1874. In
1880 he was married to Fanny M. Gray, widow of Wm. Dobney.
EMIL MUNCH was born in Prussia in 1831; came to America in 1849, and
to Taylor's Falls in 1852, where, until 1857, he worked at the
carpenter's trade, when he removed to Chengwatana, Pine county, and
engaged in lumbering and dealing in pine lands. He served as register
of deeds in Pine county, and represented Washington, Chisago, Pine and
Kanabec counties in the house of the third legislature in 1861. He
enlisted at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, Oct. 16, 1861, as a private in
the First Minnesota Battery, and was chosen captain on the following
month; was wounded at Shiloh, April 5, 1862; returned to his battery
in September of the same year, took part in the battle of Corinth,
October 4th and 5th, and in the after campaign was appointed chief of
artillery, in October, 1862, and from effects of exposure on the march
was forced to resign in the December following, but again entered the
service to fight the Sioux Indians on the Minnesota frontier in May,
June and July, 1863. He entered the Veteran Reserve Corps in August,
1863. At the close of the war, in 1865, he settled in St. Paul and
acted as deputy state treasurer. In 1868 he was elected state
treasurer and held the office until 1872. Mr. Munch lost most of his
property in a long litigation, in consequence of some unfortunate
ventures in buying pine lands. Subsequent to his term of office as
state treasurer he removed to Lakeland and engaged in the lumber
business. In 1875 he removed to Afton where he took charge of a
flouring mill. He was married in 1865 to Bertha Segar. He died Aug.
30, 1887.
ALVIN MASON WILMARTH.--Mr. Wilmarth came from Massachusetts to the
valley of the St. Croix in 1849, and to Taylor's Falls in 1852. He has
followed lumbering and farming. Mr. Wilmarth is a steady, temperate
man.
LUCIUS KINGSBURY STANNARD was born in Franklin county, Vermont, July
6, 1825. He had good educational advantages and improved them. He
completed his literary course at Barkersfield Academic Institute,
Vermont, afterward studied law at St. Albans, and was admitted to the
bar in 1850. In 1852 he came West and located at Taylor's Falls, where
for some years he had charge of the business of Taylor & Fox. In 1857
he was a member of the territorial legislature, representing in the
house the counties of Washington, Itasca, Chisago, Superior, and Doty.
He was a member of the Republican wing of the constitutional
convention of 1857. He represented Chisago, Pine and Isanti counties
in the state senate of 1859-60. He was a member of the house of the
thirteenth legislature, 1871, representing Washington, Chisago, Pine
and Kanabec counties. He held the position of receiver in the United
States land office at Taylor's Falls from 1861 to 1870. He was the
first lawyer admitted to practice in the courts of Chisago county. He
was associated in his law practice for several years with H. N.
Setzer. He has served as prosecuting attorney and probate judge. He
served several years as county surveyor. He has, in later years, been
engaged in the lumbering and mercantile business, in the firm of
Ellison & Stannard. In October, 1884, he was appointed register in the
land office, which position he now holds. Mr. Stannard has a very
pleasant home within the village limits, but some distance beyond the
settled portion. He is a man of sound judgment, of grave and almost
severe demeanor, outspoken and positive in his views, but withal a
reliable citizen and kind neighbor. He was married in 1858 to Harriet
Stevenson, in St. Louis. They have one son, Luke.
JAMES W. MULLEN was born in Nova Scotia in 1830. He came to Davenport,
Iowa, in 1843. He commenced life on a steamboat at the age of fourteen
years. He was employed on the steamer Boreas, plying between St. Louis
and Keokuk, and followed river life most of the time until 1878. In
1885 he built the Vincent House, St. Croix. Taylor's Falls has been
his home at different times since his marriage in 1854. He was married
to Margaret Riley, of Davenport, Iowa. Their children are William,
Edward and Elsa.
DAVID CANEDAY was born in Vermont in 1830, and settled in Taylor's
Falls in 1853. Mr. Caneday has devoted much of his time to prospecting
as a mineralogist. During the years 1861-62 he edited the _St. Croix
Monitor_, and from 1881-84 the _St. Croix Dalles_. In 1862 he enlisted
in Company C., Seventh Minnesota Infantry, and served till the close
of the war. His record as a soldier was good. After the battle of
Tupelo he volunteered to remain with the wounded, of whom there were
about sixty, in the hands of the enemy. Two of these wounded were
comrades and friends in Company C., Andrew J. Colby and John S.
Swenson. The former died. Mr. Caneday remained at great personal risk,
and saw the inside of several prisons before being exchanged. After
his return Mr. Caneday engaged in mining and prospecting, except such
time as he edited the _St. Croix Dalles_. He is now mining on Kettle
river, in Pine county, Minnesota, and in Burnett county, Wisconsin. He
was married in 1865 to Laura, daughter of Judge N. M. Humphrey.
GEORGE B. FOLSOM was born in St. Johns, New Brunswick, April 9, 1815.
He was married to Deborah Sawyer, October, 1842, and came to Taylor's
Falls in 1853, where he engaged in lumbering. In 1855 he removed to
Rush Seba, locating in section 14. He was the first settler in the
town and raised the first crops; built the first log and the first
frame house, and was prominent in advancing the educational and other
interests of the town. He was appointed postmaster in 1856, and held
the office fourteen years. He held the office of county commissioner
ten years. In 1875 he was appointed receiver of the land office at
Taylor's Falls, which office he held for ten years, since which time
he has resided in the village.
AARON M. CHASE was born in Machias, Maine, April 7, 1813. He received
a home and common school education. In the fall of 1848 he came to St.
Anthony and engaged in lumbering. He and Sumner Farnham ran the first
logs down the Mississippi from Rabbit river to Fort Ripley and St.
Anthony, in 1849. In the spring of 1849, in company with Pat Morin, he
built a tow boat, clearing for that purpose a tow path on the eastern
side of the river a distance of eighty miles. He carried freight for
the American Fur Company, but the introduction of steamboats put an
end to this enterprise. In the fall of 1849 he went to St. Louis and
remained there till August, 1850, when he returned North, locating at
the outlet of Balsam lake, Polk county, Wisconsin, where he built a
saw mill. He built a dam and mill, bringing the materials together
without other team than himself and five men. After completing the
mill he engaged for some years in lumbering. He located at Taylor's
Falls in 1853. In 1869 he supervised the building of a series of dams
on streams tributary to the Upper St. Croix, the water collected by
them to be used at low stages to float logs to the St. Croix and down
that stream to Stillwater. These dams are operated under a charter
from the state of Wisconsin, and have proved a great benefit to the
lumbermen. Mr. Chase is president of the company. He is a man of
strong, clear mind, deliberate in action, positive in his opinions and
pointed in his expressions, and withal a kind hearted, generous and
true man. Mr. Chase is unmarried.
PETER ABEAR was born in Canada East in 1830; came to Stillwater in
1850, but subsequently removed to Taylor's Falls where, in 1855, he
was married to Kitty Wickland, who died in 1860, leaving a son,
Franklin E., merchant at Anoka. Mr. Abear married again. His second
wife died in 1868, leaving a daughter, Mary. Mr. Abear married a third
wife, who died in 1874, leaving no children. Mr. Abear is a machinist
but has given much of his attention to farming.
LEVI W. FOLSOM was born in Tamworth, Carroll county, New Hampshire,
Sept. 25, 1821. He was fitted for college at Gilmanton, entered Penn
College at Gettsyburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated in 1848. Returning
to New England, he studied law at Cornish, Maine, with Caleb R. Ayer,
and was admitted to practice in the county of Carroll, New Hampshire.
He came to Taylor's Falls in 1854, and was admitted to practice in the
supreme court of Minnesota, and practiced law for a period of fifteen
years, when he engaged in real estate and other business. He is a
pleasant and agreeable speaker, stands high in the masonic fraternity,
is an ardent and uncompromising Democrat, a positive man with strong
home and social feelings. He has been vice president of the Taylor's
Falls branch of the St. Paul & Duluth railroad since its organization.
He was married in 1859 to Abbie Shaw, in St. Paul.
EDDINGTON KNOWLES was born in Kentucky in 1821; came to St. Croix
Falls in 1844, and followed lumbering. He was married to Ann Carroll
at Taylor's Falls in 1854, and made his residence at Taylor's Falls.
He enlisted for service during the Rebellion in the Third Minnesota
Volunteers, but was discharged for disability before the close of the
war. He died at Hayward, Wisconsin, in 1883, leaving a widow and three
children. His oldest daughter is the wife of Douglas Greely, of
Stillwater. His body was brought to the Taylor's Falls cemetery for
interment.
DR. LUCIUS B. SMITH.--Dr. Smith was the first regular physician in
Taylor's Falls, having located here in 1854. He was born in Berlin,
Erie county, Ohio, in the year 1824. He was married in 1849, and after
some years' practice of medicine in his native town he came West and
located in Taylor's Falls, where he resided until 1862, when he was
appointed surgeon of the Seventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, in
which regiment were many of his friends and associates. He performed
well his duties in that position, but was killed on the day preceding
the battle of Tupelo, the division to which he belonged having been
ambuscaded by Forrest's troops. His remains were carried to the field
of Tupelo and there buried, but have since been removed to Kahbakong
cemetery, at Taylor's Falls. Dr. Smith was a tall man, of fine
presence, with the air of an officer, for which reason, doubtless,
some sharpshooter singled him out for destruction. Dr. Smith left a
widow, one son, Charles, and one daughter, Mary, the wife of J. W.
Passmore. His widow was married to E. D. Whiting. Both are deceased.
WILLIAM COMER was born in Cheshire county, England, in 1812; was
married to Elisabeth Davis; came to America in 1846 and located in St.
Louis, where he remained until 1852, when he removed to Pike county,
Illinois. In 1854 he removed to St. Croix Falls and in 1855 to
Taylor's Falls, where he has since resided. He has been treasurer of
Chisago county two terms, and four years register of the United States
land office. For a number of years he has held the position of town
and bridge treasurer. He and his two sons, George and William, are
engaged in the mercantile business. His daughter, Eleanor, is the wife
of Benj. Thaxter, of Minneapolis.
DR. ERASTUS D. WHITING.--The Whiting family, consisting of three
brothers, Erastus D., Selah and Charles B., came to Taylor's Falls in
1855, and for many years were prominent merchants and business men in
the village. Erastus D. Whiting was born in Vernon Centre,
Massachusetts, in 1811. He was educated in the common schools and at
Westfield Academy. At the age of sixteen he commenced reading medicine
and graduated at the Ohio Medical College in 1832. He practiced three
years in Ashtabula, Ohio, and twenty years in Pike county, Illinois.
When he came to Taylor's Falls he retired from practice and engaged in
the mercantile and lumbering business until 1867. During this time he
served in two sessions of the Minnesota legislature as representative,
1860-61. In 1869 he visited Europe. He died in Taylor's Falls in 1880.
He was twice married; first in 1837, to Emily Bradley, who died in
1866; and second in ----, to Mrs. Smith (widow of Dr. L. B. Smith),
who died in 1872.
SELAH WHITING was born in Connecticut; came West to Pike county,
Illinois, in 1836, and to Taylor's Falls in 1855. He engaged in the
mercantile business. His wife died in 1867. He died in 1868.
CHARLES B. WHITING was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut; came to
Pike county, Illinois, in 1836, and to Taylor's Falls in 1855. He was
associated with his brothers in the mercantile business. He was
register of the land office four years and served as United States
marshal during the war. His first wife died in Taylor's Falls. He was
married to Flavilla Blanding in 18--. Mr. Whiting died in 1873.
FREDERIC TANG was born in Prussia in 1819. He learned the trade of
house carpenter and served in the Prussian Army one year. He was
married in Germany, in 1850; came to America in 1852 and to Taylor's
Falls in 1856. He served three years in Company C, Seventh Minnesota,
during the Rebellion. One son, Frederic, resides at Taylor's Falls,
engaged in lumbering. His oldest daughter, Pena, is the wife of Ernest
Leske, of Taylor's Falls. His second daughter, Bertha, is the wife of
David Bowsher, of Dakota. Mr. Tang died in November, 1887.
WARD W. FOLSOM was born in 1822, in Tamworth, New Hampshire; was
married to Matilda Stedman in 1844; came to Taylor's Falls in 1856,
where he kept a boarding house for several years. He died at his home,
Sept. 28, 1884. His eldest son, Charles W., was editor of the Taylor's
Falls _Reporter_ for several years. He was married to Luella Gray in
1865. He died in 1872. Edward H., his second son, for some years has
edited the Taylor's Falls _Journal_. He started and conducted for some
years the Stillwater _Lumberman_. He was married to Susie Way, in
September, 1868.
GEORGE W. SEYMOUR was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, in
1828, and came to Taylor's Falls in 1857, where he has since resided,
following the occupation of druggist, but occasionally holding a town
office. Mr. Seymour held the positions of postmaster and justice of
the peace for several years, and has been secretary of the Taylor's
Falls & Lake Superior railroad since its organization. Mr. Seymour is
an active member of the masonic fraternity, an ardent Democrat and
thoroughly trustworthy and reliable as a man and friend. He is
unmarried.
JAMES A. WOOLLEY, a native of England, came to Taylor's Falls in 1857.
He was an engineer and in my employ as engineer and foreman in the
pinery for fourteen years, during which period our association was
quite intimate, and I learned to know him and esteem him as a true
friend, and faithful to all his obligations as a man. He was a true
Christian and died in full hope of immortality. He promised, when he
knew himself to be dying, to return to earth and revisit me if
possible, but so far has not returned. He died in 1874. His family
removed to Dakota. His oldest son, John Alley, was killed in
Washington Territory by a premature explosion of a blast in a mine, by
which nineteen others were killed at the same time. Alida married
William McKenzie and resides at Grand Forks, Dakota. Frank W. F., the
youngest son, also lives in Dakota.
PATRICK CARROLL, was of Irish birth. His wife is a sister of Patrick
Fox. He is about ninety years of age. They have had two sons, Joseph
and one drowned, and three daughters, one the wife of E. Knowles,
deceased, the other two becoming respectively the first and second
wife of John O'Brien. Mr. O'Brien has two daughters, Minnie and
Lizzie, and three sons, William, Joseph and Daniel.
JOSEPH CARROLL was born at Davenport, Iowa, in 1840; came to St. Croix
when a boy, early in the 50's, and worked for his uncle, Patrick Fox,
in the pinery; was married to Mary Cotter at Davenport, Iowa, in 1858.
He resided at Taylor's Falls until 1861, when he enlisted in a Kansas
regiment. He was severely wounded at Springfield, Missouri. He was
subsequently transferred to a heavy artillery company of colored
troops from Tennessee, and commissioned a lieutenant. He was at Fort
Pillow during the massacre, was taken prisoner and confined at
Andersonville eighteen months. After his dismissal he went to Memphis
and was employed in the police service until 1867, when he and his
wife died of yellow fever, leaving two daughters, one the wife of
Edward St. John, of Marine, the other of Geo. W. Booth, of Taylor's
Falls.
REV. E. E. EDWARDS was born in Delaware, Ohio, Jan. 26, 1831; was
educated at Indiana Asbury University, and has been employed most of
his life in educational work, serving as president of Whitewater
College, Indiana, professor of Latin in Hamline University, professor
of natural sciences at St. Charles and McKendre colleges, and
president of the Colorado State Agricultural College. Mr. Edwards came
to Taylor's Falls in the winter of 1860, and remained two years as
pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church, and teacher in the Chisago
Seminary. During the last year of the war he was chaplain of the
Seventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. In the winter of 1885 he again
became pastor of the Taylor's Falls Methodist Episcopal church. He was
married in 1854 to Alice L. Eddy, of Cincinnati, Ohio. His family
consists of four sons and one daughter.
STEPHEN J. MERRILL was born in Schoharie county, New York, in 1827;
came to the St. Croix valley in 1848, and to Taylor's Falls in 1861.
He was married to Caroline Nelson in 1861. They have six sons and one
daughter. He has a beautiful and well improved homestead within the
town limits, adjoining the cemetery.
[Illustration: REV. E. E. EDWARDS.]
NOAH MARCUS HUMPHREY was born in 1809, at Goshen, Smithfield
Connecticut. He removed to Ohio in 1833, served in the Ohio
legislature in 1852 and 1853, and was for six years judge of probate
court in Summit county. He was married twice, the second time to Mrs.
Young, in 1840. His first wife left two children, Mark, for some time
a resident of Taylor's Falls, now deceased, and Laura, wife of David
Caneday. Judge Humphrey has been justice of the peace in Taylor's
Falls for twenty years, and postmaster for as many more. He was judge
of probate court for ten years, and has recently been re-elected to
that position.
ROYAL C. GRAY was born in Bakersfield, Vermont, October, 1832. He
spent his early life in Vermont and Massachusetts. He came West in
1850, and located in Kanabec county, where he farmed and kept a public
house at Greely station, on Kanabec river, until 1860, when he
returned to Massachusetts. In 1864 he returned to the St. Croix valley
and located in Taylor's Falls, where he still resides. He has been
employed by the St. Paul & Duluth Railroad Company for ten years as
surveyor and explorer, and holds some valuable pine lands. In 1861 Mr.
Gray was married to Ann Eliza Johnson, in Massachusetts. They have one
son, Orin.
JOHN PHILIP OWENS.--William Owens, the father of John Philip, came to
America from North Wales, and served as a soldier in the war of 1812.
John Philip was born Jan. 6, 1818. His father died seven years later,
and the son was brought up on a farm by a stepfather. He received an
academic education at Cincinnati, Ohio. At the age of seventeen he
commenced learning the printer's trade, served as an apprentice four
years, and graduated on his twenty-first birthday. Having some means
inherited from his father, he commenced a newspaper enterprise at
Cincinnati, invested and lost all his money. For several years he was
engaged as a reporter and assistant editor on various papers in
Cincinnati, Louisville, Vicksburg and New Orleans. In 1849 he formed a
business partnership with Nat. McLean, of Cincinnati, to establish a
paper at St. Paul. He arrived at St. Paul May 27th of that year. The
first number of the _Minnesota Register_ was printed in Cincinnati and
brought to St. Paul for distribution in July. In October the paper was
united with the _Minnesota Chronicle_, and so published until July,
1850, when it was discontinued. In 1851 Mr. Owens and G. W. Moore
started the _Weekly Minnesotian_, adding in 1854 a daily and
tri-weekly edition. The _Minnesotian_ was ably edited, and was
Republican in politics. Owing to poor health, Mr. Owens sold his
interest in the _Minnesotian_. In 1862 he was appointed quartermaster
of the Ninth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. This regiment did service
in the State during the Sioux War, but in 1864 was ordered South and
attached to the Sixteenth Army Corps. Mr. Owens served as regimental
and brigade quartermaster until the close of the war. In April, 1868,
he was appointed register of the United States land office, which
position he held until his death, Sept. 11, 1884. He was first Grand
Master of the I. O. O. F. in Minnesota; He left at his death an
unpublished manuscript, "The Political History of the State of
Minnesota." His first wife was Helen McAllister, whom he married in
Ohio in 1848. She left an only daughter, Mary Helen. Mr. Owens' second
wife was Frances M. Hobbs, whom he married Oct. 26, 1853, in New York
City.
ANDREW CLENDENNING was born in 1798, in the north of Ireland. He was a
Protestant, united with the Methodist church when a young man and
proved ever after a consistent Christian, strong in his religious
convictions and a faithful worker. He crossed the ocean in 1835,
locating first at New Brunswick. In 1855 he came to Michigan, in 1859
to St. Croix Falls, in 1870 to Taylor's Falls, where he resided until
his death, in 1875. He left three sons in Taylor's Falls, Andrew,
James and George, and one son in Oregon. One son, Joseph, died in the
service of his adopted country, having enlisted in Company C, Seventh
Minnesota. One daughter, the wife of Thomas Thompson, of St. Croix
Falls, died in 1886.
SMITH ELLISON was born in Marine, Madison county, Illinois, March 15,
1823. He came to Marine Mills in 1844. For two years he was in the
employ of Judd, Walker & Co. The next three years he spent at Osceola,
Wisconsin. In 1849 he engaged in logging and continued in that
business for many years. In 1856 he settled on and improved a farm in
Sunrise. In 1868 he removed to Taylor's Falls and formed a partnership
with L. K. Stannard in the mercantile and lumbering business. Mr.
Ellison was a representative in the eighth legislature, and served as
county commissioner eight years. In late years he has been interested
in a saw, planing and flour mill at Stillwater. He is a stockholder
and director in the First National Bank at Stillwater and owns large
tracts of pine lands. He has applied himself closely to business, is
energetic, cautious and thoroughly reliable. Mr. Ellison is unmarried.
WYOMING
Includes township 33, range 21. The eastern half is well timbered, the
west has oak openings. Sunrise river flows in a northerly direction
through the township, and with its tributaries and numerous lakes
supplies it abundantly with water. There are some wild meadows and
tamarack swamps. Green lake, in the eastern part of the township, is a
picturesque sheet of water, five miles in length by one and a half
broad, with sloping timbered shores and cedar points projecting into
the lake, in one place forming a natural roadway nearly across, which
is connected with the mainland opposite by a bridge.
[Illustration: SMITH ELLISON.]
A colony from Eastern Pennsylvania settled the western part of the
township in 1855. The colony was composed of L. O. Tombler, Dr. John
W. Comfort, E. K. Benton, and some others, in all ten families. The
eastern part had been previously settled by Swedes. The township was
organized in 1858. The supervisors were J. W. Comfort, L. O. Tombler
and Fred Tepel. A post office was established at Wyoming with J. Engle
as postmaster. The Catholics and Methodists erected churches in 1864.
The St. Paul & Duluth railroad was completed in 1868, and in 1879 the
branch road to Taylor's Falls. The township was settled rapidly after
the completion of the railroad. At the junction of the two roads there
is a good depot, two stores and a fine hotel, the latter kept by L. O.
Tombler.
WYOMING VILLAGE
Was surveyed and platted by Ben. W. Brunson in 1869, in portions of
sections 17, 19 and 20, township 33, range 21; proprietors, Western
Land Association, L. Mendenhall, agent.
DEER GARDEN VILLAGE
Was surveyed and platted by Alex. Cairns, October, 1856, in sections 1
and 12, township 33, range 21; proprietor, Erastus S. Edgerton.
LUCIUS O. TOMBLER was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1823. His
ancestors were Moravians, who, driven from Germany in the eighteenth
century, came to America, and founded the colony of Bethlehem, a
colony famed for its thrift, advancement in educational matters, and
high morality. Mr. Tombler and his wife, Christiana Brown, to whom he
was married in 1845, were educated in the Moravian schools. They came
with the colony from Bethlehem to Wyoming in 1855, and built a two
story log hotel on the St. Paul and Lake Superior stage road, which
was long noted as a rest for the weary traveler and a home for the
invalid. Mr. Tombler was an energetic, worthy man, genial in his
manners, a good farmer, a good landlord, and an accomplished musician
besides. Mrs. Tombler possessed superior endowments as a landlady, and
the house soon gained widespread popularity with the traveling public.
The first hotel was burned in 1876, but the year following a more
commodious building was erected on the grounds, which, with its modern
improvements within, and its park-like surroundings, is more popular
with the traveling public than its predecessor. The Tombler family
consists of Charles A., the father of Lucius O., born in 1800, but
still hale and vigorous, in the possession of all his faculties, two
sons, Maurice and Milton, and one daughter, Laura. Charles A., the
grandfather, has received the thirty-third degree Scottish Masonic
rite.
DR. JOHN WOOLMAN COMFORT was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in
1804. He graduated at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in
1836, and practiced medicine continuously, and, although an
accomplished graduate of an allopathic school, was a zealous advocate
and exponent of the Thompsonian system, in favor of which he published
several works. He was also for some years editor of the _Thompsonian
Medical Journal_. As a physician he was untiring, and impartial in the
performance of his duties, never refusing a medical call on account of
the poverty of the patient. He was especially kind to the poor. He
came to Wyoming with the colony in 1855, and died there Feb. 9, 1881,
leaving a widow, since deceased, one son in Philadelphia, and two
daughters, Mrs. Markley, of Wyoming, and Mrs. Carter, of Melbourne,
Australia.
ISAAC MARKLEY was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, April 2,
1822. In the spring of 1849 he came westward, and engaged in
steamboating. He commanded the Uncle Toby, and in October, 1850, ran
his steamboat from St. Louis to Taylor's Falls for the writer of this
work. He engaged in mercantile pursuits for some time in St. Paul, and
in 1871 came to Wyoming and located on a farm. He was married to
Frances, a daughter of Dr. Comfort. He died at his home, February,
1883.
JOEL WRIGHT was born in Pennsylvania in 1800, and came to Wyoming with
the Bethlehem colony in 1855. He is a blacksmith by trade, but has
also devoted himself to hunting and trapping. Mr. Wright has been
married three times, and has three children.
RANDALL WRIGHT, second son of the foregoing, was born in Pennsylvania
in 1828; was married to Anna Montgomery in 1850, and came to Wyoming
in 1855. He is a house carpenter by trade.
FREDERIC TEPEL was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1824; received a fair
education and learned the trade of blacksmithing. He came to America
in 1843, lived in New Orleans one year, in St. Louis ten years, in St.
Paul one year, and settled in Wyoming in 1855. In 1847 he was married
to Fredrica Wilmina, of St. Louis. They have seven children. Mr. Tepel
has held many town offices to the satisfaction of his townsmen. He has
been for forty years a member of the Methodist church. CHARLES HENRY
SAUER was born in Germany in 1824; served as a soldier in the German
Army three years, and in the twenty-fourth year of his age came to
America. The year following he returned to Europe and was married. In
1851 he took up his residence in Chicago, and in 1855 came to Wyoming,
and engaged in farming. He has three sons, Fred, Henry and Harvey, and
a daughter married to a Lutheran minister.
CHAPTER XIV.
WASHINGTON COUNTY.
The early history of Washington county is to be found in the history
of St. Croix county, Wisconsin, of which it was a part until the
organization of Minnesota Territory in 1849. At the first session of
the territorial legislature Washington county was established in full
for county and judicial purposes. It included all that part of the
Territory lying east of the range line between ranges 21 and 22 and
north of the Mississippi as far as the British possessions and
fractional parts of townships 29 and 30, range 22.
The courts held prior to this organization are referred to elsewhere.
The first territorial court in Washington county was held Aug. 13,
1849, Judge Aaron Goodrich, presiding; Judge David Cooper, associate.
It continued in session six days. There were sixty cases on the
calendar. Harvey Wilson was clerk of court; A. M. Mitchell, of St.
Paul, United States marshal; Henry L. Moss, district attorney; John
Morgan, sheriff. The lawyers present were H. L. Moss; M. S. Wilkinson,
M. E. Ames, A. M. Mitchell, L. Babcock, and David Lambert. The second
court house (the first under the new organization) was built in
Stillwater, corner of Fourth and Chestnut streets, in 1849, at a cost
of $3,600. This was the first court house in the territory of
Minnesota. The lot was donated by John McKusick. In this building were
held all the courts from 1849 to 1867. In that year Churchill & Nelson
donated a city block on Nelson Hill, a fine location overlooking the
city and lake, and the county erected upon it a fine stone structure
costing $60,000, including jail and ground improvements.
The first election was held Nov. 26, 1849. The following board of
county officers was elected: Commissioners, John McKusick, Hiram
Berkey, Joseph Haskell; treasurer, Socrates Nelson; register of deeds,
John S. Proctor; judge of probate, Harvey Wilson; sheriff, Jesse
Taylor. At the same election the following persons were elected
justices of the peace in their various precincts: St. Croix Falls,
Jerry Ross; Point Douglas, Martin Leavitt; Stillwater, Albert Harris
and H. K. McKinstry; Marine, James Moore and W. H. Johnson.
The territory of the county has been from time to time divided and
subdivided for the organization of new counties. Washington county,
however, was divided but once. In 1852 the county of Chisago was set
off in the north, since which time its boundaries have been, Chisago
on the north, the St. Croix river and lake on the east, the
Mississippi river on the south, Anoka and Ramsey counties and the
Mississippi river on the west. It includes the following townships:
From 27 to 32 inclusive, ranges 20 and 21, and fractional parts of
townships 31 and 32, range 19, and fractional part of township 26,
range 20.
AFTON
Was organized as a town in 1858. Joseph Haskell, G. W. Cutler and H.
L. Thomas were the first supervisors; Minor H. Thomas, clerk. It
includes a fractional part of township 28, range 20. It is well
watered by Bolles and Valley creeks, streams tributary to the St.
Croix. The southwestern part of the township is rolling prairie, the
remainder somewhat broken. The soil is all productive and the streams
afford good water powers. The township had French settlers as early as
1837,--Baptist Fornier and others. Joseph Haskell commenced his farm
in 1839. Prior to 1850 A. Mackey, L. Bolles, P. J. Carli, T. F.
Randolph, E. Bissell, N. H. Johnson, James Getchell, and A. McHattie
located in the town.
The first crops were raised by the French settlers. The first marriage
was that of Andrew Mackey to Mrs. Hamilton, in 1844. The first child
born was Helen M. Haskell, daughter of Joseph Haskell. The first death
was that of Paul J. Carli, in 1844, accidentally drowned in the lake.
The first road was located between Stillwater and Point Douglas, in
1847. A military road was surveyed from Point Douglas to Superior
through this town in 1850. Lemuel Bolles erected a flouring mill on
Bolles creek, in the winter of 1845-46, the first to grind wheat
north of Prairie du Chien. The old mill was long since replaced by a
new one, and the mill property has changed owners many times, Emil
Munch being the last owner. The present mill is a fine structure with
a capacity of fifty barrels per day. The first post office was at the
old mill; L. Bolles, postmaster. The first organized school was in the
Haskell district, in 1855. The Scandinavian Methodists have a church
in section 18, built in 1885. The German Lutherans have a church in
section 6, and a parochial school.
AFTON VILLAGE.
In May, 1855, Afton village was surveyed and platted by Haskell,
Getchell & Thomas, in section 23; Emerson & Case were the surveyors.
The village is beautifully located on the shore of the lake and
contains one hotel, one church (Congregational), one school house, an
academy building, and several stores, shops and dwellings. The
academy, known as the St. Croix Academy, was established in 1868, and
the building, a handsome three story brick structure, erected the same
year. Mr. Gorrie was the first principal. Simon Putnam was the first
pastor of the Congregational church.
SOUTH AFTON
Is located one mile south of Afton, on the shores of the lake. It has
an elevator, store, warehouses and other buildings. A saw mill was
built by Lowry & Co., between Afton and South Afton; in 1854, and
rebuilt in 1855 by Thomas & Sons. The Getchell Brothers built a mill
in 1861, which was burned.
VALLEY CREEK
Is a small village on Bolles creek, in sections 9 and 10. Erastus
Bolles located here in 1857, and improved the water power, built a
machine shop and manufactured edge tools. He sold out to his son, C.
E. Bolles, who further improved the property by building a corn and
feed mill. In 1860 Gilbert & Buswell erected a flour mill with three
run of stone. The post office in this village was established in 1874,
with Erastus Bolles as postmaster.
ST. MARY VILLAGE
Was platted in 1855, on lots 1, 2 and 3, section 14. Thomas W.
Coleman, proprietor; James A. Carr, surveyor.
JOSEPH HASKELL was born Jan. 9, 1805, in Kennebec county, Maine.
During his minority he worked with his father on a farm at Skowhegan,
Maine. In 1837 he came West, stopping two years in Indiana. July 24,
1839, he arrived at Fort Snelling on the steamer Ariel, obtained
employment of Frank Steele for whom he, with others, rowed a mackinaw
boat from Fort Snelling to St. Croix Falls. While at the falls he
worked on the dam and mill, then in process of building. In the fall
of 1839 he made a trip to Fort Snelling and returned to the Falls,
carrying the mail in a birch canoe to Catfish bar, and then across by
Indian trail to the Fort. While on this trip he made the claim for his
homestead in Afton. In 1840 he put three acres under cultivation,
raising corn and potatoes. This was the first attempt at farming,
except by the French pioneers, who raised only garden crops, north of
Prairie du Chien. September, 1844, he made a trip to Maine, and
returned bringing three sisters with him. They kept house for him
until he married. Mr. Haskell was married to Olive Furber, sister of
J. W. Furber, in 1849. They have four children, Helen M., Mary E.,
Henry Pitt and Hiram A. Mr. Haskell was a representative in the state
legislatures of 1869 and 1871. He was of most exemplary habits. He
died at his home Jan. 23, 1885.
LEMUEL BOLLES was born in New York. He came to St. Croix Falls in
1840. In 1843 he opened a grindstone quarry in the soft, coarse
sandstones, a short distance below the Dalles. In 1844-45 his
grindstones were much used. He made Stillwater his home in 1844-55,
when he removed to Afton. He was industrious, ingenious and eccentric.
He died in Stillwater in 1875.
TAYLOR F. RANDOLPH was the first school teacher in Washington county.
He and his wife taught at Red Rock in 1837-38-39-40, under the
supervision of the Methodist mission at that place. In 1842 he settled
on a farm in a valley near Bissell's Mounds, Afton, where he and his
wife died in 1846.
ELIJAH BISSELL, in 1842, located a farm near the three mounds in
section 8, which now bear his name. He left the county in 1850.
ANDREW MACKEY.--Mr. Mackey, of whom some mention is made in the
chapter concerning the early history, is one of the first pioneers,
having come in 1837 with John Boyce to the valley of the St. Croix in
a mackinaw boat, towed from St. Louis to the mouth of Lake St. Croix
by a steamer, from which point they poled their boat up to the St.
Croix falls, where they landed on the west side. From this point they
made a portage and cordelled their boat, and with poles and lines
ascended to Snake river. He engaged for some time in lumbering, and
worked at the falls until 1841, when he settled on a beautiful farm,
on a part of which Afton is now situated. Mr. Mackey was born in
Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1804, and (in 1888) is still living. His wife
died in 1873.
BAYTOWN
Comprises the north half of fractional township 28, range 20. The
surface is somewhat uneven and broken, owing to the lake bluff
formation, but there is much good farming land. Originally it was
covered with oaks or oak openings. It derives its name from a bay
indenting the western shore of Lake St. Croix. At South Stillwater
village a considerable stream, known as Spring creek, flows from some
large springs and forms a good water power in its descent to the lake.
Two flour mills are located on this stream. In 1842 Francis Bruce
built a house on the present site of the office of the St. Croix
Lumber Company. In the same year Norman Kittson built a trading post
at what has been since known as Kittson's Point. Both of these parties
left in 1844 and John Allen built a house and cultivated a field on
the east side of Kittson's Point. Allen sold the place in 1846 and
removed to California. He raised the first crops in the town. In 1847
Joseph Pero became a prominent settler and made him a good home on
Spring creek. Other parties made claims and abandoned or sold them.
Fiske & Marty located here in 1848. In 1860 came Ambrose Secrest and
some others. In 1852 Nelson, Loomis & Co. built a steam saw mill on
the bay. In 1854 Secrest & Booth built a flour mill on Spring creek.
In 1858 Baytown was organized as a town. The first supervisors were
Ambrose Secrest, John Parker and W. H. Crosby; John J. Hale, clerk.
BAYTOWN VILLAGE.
Socrates Nelson, D. B. Loomis, Levi Churchill, Daniel Mears, and James
W. Hinton, in February, 1856, platted the village of Baytown. Harvey
Wilson was the surveyor. The location was on the lake shore, lots 3
and 4, section 11, and lot 7, section 2. In 1872 a post office was
established called South Stillwater; William Graves, postmaster.
BANGOR VILLAGE
Was platted May. 1857, by C. I. and J. E. Whitney, Albert and Edwin
Caldwell, Wm. Hollinshead, Isaac Staples, and A. J. Short; J. J.
Carleton, surveyor. It was situated on the shore of the lake south of
Baytown.
MIDDLETOWN VILLAGE
Was platted in July, 1857, in parts of sections 2 and 3, by William
Holcomb; Myron B. Shepard, surveyor.
SOUTH STILLWATER
Was platted in January, 1873, by the St. Croix Railway Improvement
Company; Peter Berkey, president; A. B. Stickney, secretary; J. S.
Sewall, surveyor. South Stillwater was made to include the platted
villages of Baytown, Bangor and Middletown. It has prospered greatly
as a manufacturing village. In 1854 Torinus, Staples & Co. built a
steam saw mill, to which from time to time they added various
manufacturing establishments. Subsequently the firm became the St.
Croix Lumber Company. In the spring of 1876 this company sustained a
loss by fire on their mill and appurtenances to the value of $70,000,
which was not insured: With indomitable energy they rebuilt, and
prospered. The two leading business men in this firm were Louis
Torinus and William Chalmers. Turnbull's steam saw mill, on the lake
shore, has a capacity of 100,000 feet per day. The property is valued
at $70,000. The South Stillwater Lumber Company has a mill with a
capacity of 90,000 feet per day, with planer and other machinery
attached, in which they have invested $70,000. The firm consists of D.
Tozer, A. T. Jenks, H. McGlinn, E. W. Durant, and R. Wheeler. The
mills of the Herschey Lumber Company, valued at $70,000, have a
capacity of 100,000 feet per day. The proprietor, ---- Herschey, lives
in Muscatine, Iowa.
The Stillwater Dock Company was organized in 1877. The company
consists of Durant, Wheeler & Co., St. Croix Lumber Company and Jonah
Bachelder. They have built many fine steamers and barges. Their
repairing docks are a great convenience to steamboat lumbermen. The
South Stillwater Soap Factory, owned by McKenzie & Co., deserves
honorable mention. The construction of the branch railroad from
Stillwater in 1872, and the St. Paul & Milwaukee railroad, built in
1883, have greatly increased the prosperity of the village. Aside from
mills and manufactories there are many private residences, one hotel,
stores, shops, a Lutheran church, and a school house. There are three
cemeteries in the village limits known as Hazlewood, St. Michael's,
and the potter's field. The block for the former was contributed by
Secrest & Pero, in 1858. St. Michael's was established by the
Catholics in 1873. The potter's field was established by the city of
Stillwater in 1873. The first death in the limits of South Stillwater
was that of Sylvester, son of Joseph Pero. South Stillwater was
organized in 1881. First board of officers were: President, B. E.
Meigs; clerk, Edward Ivison; councilmen, Richard Burns, C. M.
Anderson, Charles Kregor; justice of the peace, Ambrose Secrest. South
Stillwater has a graded school with four departments.
COTTAGE GROVE
Includes township 27 and a fractional part of township 26, range 21.
It was organized as a town in October, 1858; James S. Norris,
moderator; William Watson, clerk; John Atkinson, Jacob Moshier, Joel
Munger, judges of election; William Watson, John Atkinson, B. Winant;
supervisors. Wm. Ferguson, Lewis Hill, James S. Davis, Jonathan Brown,
and Jacob Moshier were the first settlers, locating here in 1844. The
first marriage was that of Henry W. Crosby to Hannah Waterman, in
1854. The first child born was Nathan, son of John Atkinson, in 1846;
the first death was that of Mehitable, wife of P. P. Furber, in 1851.
A post office was established at Cottage Grove village in 1850; J. W.
Furber was postmaster. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad was
completed through the town in 1871. With its fine natural advantages
of soil, and its convenient access to markets, Cottage Grove is well
settled and prosperous.
COTTAGE GROVE VILLAGE
Is situated in section 12. It is a pleasant inland village, well
supplied with stores, shops and dwellings. It has one hotel, one
school house and three churches, Congregational, Evangelical German
Lutheran and Methodist. The Congregational society was organized in
1858, Rev. B. Hall, pastor; the Evangelical in 1874; the Methodist
some years later. The Universalists also have an organization. The
village was platted in April, 1871, by John P. and S. W. Furber, James
A. McClusky, Margaret M. Ellwell and Clarence Smith, in the southwest
quarter of the northwest quarter of section 12; J. W. Furber,
surveyor.
LANGDON VILLAGE
Was platted in December, 1871, in the southwest quarter of section 21,
on the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. It contains
an elevator, hotel, three stores, a school house, Catholic church and
other buildings. The Catholic church was erected in 1873. Father
Huxley is the officiating clergyman. The village was platted by Joseph
J. Dodge; C. B. Lowell, surveyor.
JOSEPH W. FURBER was born in New Hampshire in 1813. His ancestors came
to this country with the early colonists of New England. His father
was a soldier in the war of 1812. During his minority he worked at
farming, obtaining, meanwhile, an education in the common schools and
at Foxcroft Academy, Maine. He emigrated to the valley of the
Mississippi in 1838, locating at Alton, Illinois, where he remained
for two years. In 1840 he came to St. Croix Falls and engaged in
lumbering until 1844, when he located in Cottage Grove. In 1846 Mr.
Furber represented Crawford county in the Wisconsin legislature as
representative. He traveled on foot as far as Prairie du Chien on his
way to the capital of the Territory. He represented the First district
in the first Minnesota territorial legislature and was elected speaker
of the house; was again a representative in the eighth territorial
legislature in 1857; was a member of the tenth and seventeenth state
legislatures. In 1857 he was commissioned major general of Minnesota
militia. He was also appointed United States marshal of Minnesota by
President Fillmore. He died at his residence in Cottage Grove in 1883.
He was a man of strong intellect, sound judgment and high moral
character. His widow, Sarah Wimples, to whom he was married in 1843,
one son, William W., and two daughters survive him.
SAMUEL W. FURBER was born in Stafford county, New Hampshire, in 1819.
He removed with his parents to Milo, Maine, and came to Cottage Grove
in 1860.
THEODORE FURBER was born in 1817, in Farmington, New Hampshire; came
West in 1845 and located at St. Croix Falls. In the following year he
moved to Cottage Grove. Mr. Furber was married to Sarah J. Hale in
1843, in Skowhegan, Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Furber visited California in
1867. In 1885 they removed to California.
JAMES S. NORRIS.--James S. Norris was born in Monmouth, Kennebec
county, Maine, in 1810. He was married at Newport in 1845 to Miss
Haskell. Mr. Norris came to St. Croix Falls in 1839, removed to
Washington county in 1842, where he settled on a farm at Cottage
Grove, and lived continuously till his death, March 5, 1874. He raised
the first crops in Cottage Grove, and though he made farming his chief
business, his abilities were such that his fellow citizens intrusted
him with many official positions, in all of which he acquitted himself
with honor. He acted as county commissioner, was a member of the first
territorial council, member of the sixth and seventh territorial house
of representatives, and speaker of the sixth, a member of the
Democratic wing of the constitutional convention, and of the twelfth
state legislature (house).
LEWIS HILL was born at Hollis, Maine, in 1822. In 1843 he came to the
valley of the St. Croix and located at St. Croix Falls. In 1844 he
came to Cottage Grove and engaged in farming, and, excepting a few
years spent in Dakota county, has resided there since. He was married
to Abbie Welch in 1854. Their living children are Emma C., Jessie L.
and Frederick E. G.
JACOB MOSHIER was born in Nova Scotia in 1820. He removed with his
parents in 1829 to Canada West. In 1839 he removed to Illinois, in
1843 to St. Croix Falls, and in 1845 to Cottage Grove, where he still
resides. He is a house carpenter, and has also been engaged in
farming. He was married in 1854 to Maria Shatto. Their children are
Annie F., Mahala, William, Addie, Grant, Laura, and George.
WILLIAM FERGUSON came to Cottage Grove in 1844, and made a claim in
section 26.
JOHN ATKINSON was born in Lewiston, Maine, April 4, 1805. He remained
in his native town until 1833, resided in Pittsfield until 1844, when
he came West and located in Cottage Grove. He pre-empted eighty acres
of land, purchased additions to it from time to time, and made for
himself a very attractive home, where he resided thirty years. Mr.
Atkinson was twice married, first to Hannah Moore, at Lewiston, Maine,
who died in 1874, then to Mrs. A. B. Fiske, of Baytown, at which place
he now resides, an aged, much respected citizen. His first wife left
four sons and two daughters.
DENMARK.
This town is located on the point of land between the Mississippi
river and Lake St. Croix, and includes the territory lying south of
Afton, and between Cottage Grove and Lake St. Croix, fractional
townships 26 and 27, range 20. The surface is elevated, somewhat
rolling, without lakes or streams, and the soil rich and well adapted
to agricultural purposes. The early history of the town is
substantially that of its earliest settlement, Point Douglas. It was
organized in 1858. Supervisors, John Shearer, Thomas Wright and David
Hone.
POINT DOUGLAS.
Levi Hertzell and Oscar Burris, young men, located in 1839 on the
extreme point of the delta between the Mississippi and St. Croix lake,
where they cut wood and sold it to the steamboats. They built a log
cabin and store, under one roof, and traded with Indians, discharged
soldiers and French settlers. They were diligent and industrious, and
prospered. In 1846 they built a frame store building. Their trade
increased and they grew wealthy. Messrs. Levi Hertzell, Oscar Burris
and David Hone, in 1849, platted the village of Point Douglas, Harvey
Wilson acting as surveyor. It was named in honor of Stephen A.
Douglas.
The following settlers came to Point Douglas prior to 1850: Wm. B.
Dibble, the Truaxes, Harley D. White, David Barber, E. H. Whittaker,
James Shearer, Martin Leavitt, Simon Shingledecker, H. A. Carter,
Thomas Hetherington, Geo. W. Campbell, John Allibone, Mark Wright,
John H. Craig, John O. Henry, and George Harris. The first post office
north of Prairie du Chien was established in 1840, on the site of
Prescott, at that time known as "Mouth of St. Croix." This office was
removed to the opposite side of the lake in 1841, and Levi Hertzell
was appointed postmaster. The first school was taught in 1850, by
John Craig. Rev. Joseph Hurlbut, a Methodist minister, preached here
in 1848. In 1656 Rev. T. Wilcoxson, Episcopalian, established "St.
Paul's Parish." Mr. Woodruff erected a saw mill in 1851. The
enterprise was not successful. A. J. Short built a saw mill in 1858,
which eventually passed into the hands of John Dudley. The first road
to Point Douglas was the Stillwater county road, located in 1847. The
Point Douglas and Lake Superior military road was built in 1849. A
ferry was established in 1851 from Point Douglas to Prescott, which
was chartered in 1856, and controlled by W. B. Dibble, who also
established a ferry from Point Douglas to Hastings in 1857. The first
marriage was that of Oscar Burris to Amanda M. Henry, Nov. 14, 1847.
The first birth was that of Emmet M. Hone, born in 1845, son of David
and Mary G. Hone.
LEVI HERTZELL came to Point Douglas in 1839, and was quite successful
in business. In 1846 he was married to Rhoda C. Pond, an adopted
daughter of Cornelius Lyman, of Stillwater. In 1849, in company with
Burris and Hone, he platted the village of Point Douglas. In the
spring of 1856, while in New York, whither he had gone to purchase
goods, he mysteriously disappeared, and nothing has since been heard
from him. Mrs. Hertzell and her three children were left in a
dependent condition, she being able to realize but little from the
property held in Point Douglas. She soon after married again. Of her
subsequent history nothing is known.
OSCAR BURRIS, associated with Levi Hertzell as one of the first
settlers of Point Douglas and pioneer merchants and traders, left in
1849 for California.
DAVID HONE.--The following statement was given me, on request, by Mr.
Hone himself: "I was born in Cherry Valley, Otsego county, New York,
April 5, 1808, and was married to Mary Henry in 1835. We came by stage
over the mountains of Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh and by steamboat from
there to Cairo, Illinois, and stopped at the Marine settlement until
Sept. 10, 1838. At that time I embarked on the steamboat Ariel, at St.
Louis, and in twenty-five days reached the head of Lake St. Croix,
from which point I proceeded on a flatboat, propelled by poles, to St.
Croix Falls, the trip occupying two days. I made a pine timber claim
on an island opposite the mouth of Kettle river. On my return, which
was made with eight companions in birch canoes, I stopped at Marine
and made a claim where the Marine mill now stands, intending to build
a saw mill. We then proceeded in our canoes to Galena, where we took
passage on the Ariel for St. Louis, landing there November 10th, after
an absence of two months, more than half of which had been spent on
the water. We reported favorably, and, organizing a company of
thirteen at Marine settlement, Illinois, with a capital of $26,000,
got our material together at St. Louis during the winter, and embarked
on the Fayette, May 4, 1839, for the point afterward known as Marine
Mills, Minnesota. We arrived May 13th and commenced at once to work
upon the projected mill, which was completed Sept. 1, 1839. I remained
at the mill until March, 1841, when I removed to Gray Cloud. I made a
claim at Point Douglas in 1843, and moved upon it in April of that
year. In 1844 I built the Union House, the first frame house built in
the territory now embraced in Minnesota. At Gray Cloud I acted as
justice of the peace. I was appointed deputy sheriff by Sheriff R. D.
Lester of Crawford county, and held the office until Minnesota
Territory was organized. My first wife died in November, 1864, leaving
three sons, Edwin A., John H. and Emmet M. In 1865 I was married to
Electa Barnes, of St. Paul. In 1872 I removed to Hastings, my present
home." Mr. Hone died at Hastings, July 11, 1887.
WILLIAM B. DIBBLE was born in the state of New York in 1815. He spent
part of his early life in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama and Illinois.
He came to the St. Croix valley in 1839, and was one of the founders
of Marine, Minnesota, from whence he removed to Point Douglas in 1844,
and established ferries across Lake St. Croix to Prescott, and across
the Mississippi river to Hastings. He also engaged in farming. He was
twice married, first in 1844, to Eliza McCauslin, who died in 1847,
then to Mary Wright, who, with nine children, survives him. Mr. Dibble
died in 1884.
GEORGE HARRIS was born in Pennsylvania in 1824. In 1827 his father
removed to Illinois and was killed during the Black Hawk War while
acting as sentry. At the age of eight years George commenced working
on a farm, and continued nine years. He then removed to Missouri and
remained until 1845, when he came to Stillwater and engaged in
lumbering. Soon afterward he settled on a farm near Point Douglas,
where he still resides. His family consists of a wife (formerly Alice
White) and seven children.
HARLEY D. WHITE was born in Orange county, Vermont, in 1812; came to
Prairie du Chien in 1840 and engaged in selling goods; removed to Red
Rock in 1844 where he sold goods in partnership with Daniel Hopkins,
and settled on a farm at Point Douglas in 1847. Some years later he
removed to Beattie, Kansas. He was married to Mrs. E. Tainter, of St.
Croix Falls, in 1849. She died in 1850, leaving a daughter, who was
adopted into the family of W. H. Tinker, of St. Paul. This daughter
became a teacher and taught in the public schools of St. Paul for a
period of eighteen years, and with her earnings purchased a home for
her foster parents. Mr. White married a second time and reared two
sons, one an editor, now residing in Alameda, California. The other is
engaged in farming in Kansas. Mr. White died in April, 1888.
THOMAS HETHERINGTON was born in Northumberland, England, in 1818; came
to Canada at the age of sixteen years and to Point Douglas in 1849 and
settled on a farm at Basswood Grove, where he died in 1885, leaving
his family in good circumstances. He was held in great esteem as an
upright man by those who knew him.
JAMES SHEARER was born at Palmer, Massachusetts, Oct. 30, 1815. He was
engaged in the mercantile business from 1837 to 1843, when he sold out
and went to Canada. He came to Point Douglas May 8, 1849, and engaged
in farming. He held various offices of trust in the county and town.
He served as county commissioner for 6 years, postmaster 2 years,
chairman of town board of Denmark for 4 years, and town treasurer 12
years. Mr. Shearer was married to Minerva J. Taylor, March 6, 1866.
Their children are Marcus, Martha and Irvin.
SIMON SHINGLEDECKER was born in Germany in 1815; came to America in
1831 and located in Ohio, where he worked nine years as a farmer. He
removed thence to Illinois, then to St. Louis, and in 1845 came to
Hudson, Wisconsin, where he engaged in lumbering. In 1848 he located
on a farm near Point Douglas, which is still his home. In 1850 he was
married to Margaret Truax. They have eight children.
CALEB TRAUX was born in Mohawk valley in 1810. He became a citizen of
Montreal and was there married to Elisabeth Morehouse. He removed to
Point Douglas in 1849, where he followed the business of farmer and
house carpenter. He was a representative in the fourth territorial
legislature. He died at his home in 1878, leaving seven sons and three
daughters.
ABRAHAM TRUAX was born in Brooklynn, Canada West. He came to Point
Douglas in 1848; removed to Hastings in 1850. While there he was
elected sheriff of Dakota county. He returned to Point Douglas in
1859, where he still resides. He was married to Mary Lahey in 1859.
Mrs. Truax died in 1867, leaving five children.
GEORGE W. CAMPBELL was born in Canton, New York, April 8, 1810. He
received a common school and academic education. His father died in
1826, leaving to George W. the care of the family and the management
of the estate. He was married in 1832, at Cornwell, Canada West, to
Margaret Harriet Robinson. He came to Point Douglas in 1848, where he
has lived since, engaged in farming and lumbering. He was a
representative in the first state legislature, 1857-58. Mrs. Campbell
died at her home in Point Douglas in 1886, aged seventy-four years.
She had been a member of the Episcopal church for sixty years. Six of
her seven surviving children with the aged husband and father attended
the funeral. Mr. Campbell died in 1887.
FOREST LAKE.
This town includes township 32, range 21. The surface was originally
covered with hardwood timber, interspersed with wild meadows; the
western part with oak, maple, poplar and tamarack. The first settlers
were Louis Schiel, Wilson, Rice and Cyrus Gray. Later came Simmons,
Posten, Marsh, York, and Banty. The first marriage was that of Francis
Cartwright to Mary Long, in 1865. The first child born was Rebecca
Simmons. The first death was that of Frederic Veith, in 1867. In 1873
the first school district was organized. A Methodist church was
organized in 1876 by Rev. Adam Ringer. The Forest Lake Lodge, I. O. G.
T., was organized in 1879. A post office was established in 1868;
Michael Marsh, postmaster. The town of Forest Lake was organized in
1874; W. D. Benedict, A. C. York and George Simmons, supervisors;
Louis Schiel, clerk.
FOREST LAKE VILLAGE
Was platted May, 1869, in the northwest part of the town, by Luther
Mendenhall, agent of the Western Land Company, and surveyed by B. W.
Brunson. It is beautifully located on the shore of Forest lake and is
rapidly becoming a popular place of resort for summer tourists and
pleasure parties. The lake is almost separated into three distinct
parts by points or capes. It is five miles from the northwest to the
southeast extremity and is nearly two miles wide at the widest point.
Its shores are well timbered and approach the water's edge in gravelly
slopes. The indications are that the lake was once much larger. In the
south lakes the water is deepest, averaging twenty feet. The south
lakes have also higher banks. The lake covers territory in sections 8
to 15, inclusive, of township 32, range 21.
CAPT. MICHAEL MARSH is a native of Wesemburg, Germany, and has resided
at this lake nineteen years. He has done much to make it attractive as
a place of resort. He has built a hotel with seventy-five rooms for
the accommodation of summer visitors, and has placed a steamer, the
Germania, upon the lake. Capt. Marsh was married in Germany and has a
family of two sons and three daughters.
GRANT.
This town was organized in 1858, under the name of Greenfield. In 1864
the name was changed to Grant. It comprises township 30, range 21. The
soil is a sand and clay loam, with clay gravel subsoil. The surface
varies from undulating to rolling, and was originally well timbered
with white, black and burr oak. White Bear lake lies partly within the
township, occupying about 1,200 acres. Other and smaller lakes are
Pine, Stone Quarry, Deep, Ben's, and Long.
The first officers of the town were: Moderator, Joseph Crane; clerk,
Jesse H. Soule; supervisors, Albion Masterman, James Rutherford and
Joseph Crane. The first settlers were Albion Masterman and William
Rutherford, in 1849. Soon after came James Rutherford, Thomas Ramsdell
and George Bennett. Albion Masterman built the first house, and his
wife, formerly Eliza Middleton, was the first woman in the settlement.
The first public highway through the town was the Rum river road. The
first child born was Castinea O. Rutherford. The first death was that
of James, son of James Rutherford. The first school house was built in
section 1, in 1856. Joseph Crane taught the first school. The first
sermon was preached by Rev. ---- Hamlin, a Free Will Baptist, but the
first religious organization was that of the German Protestant
Lutheran. Rev. Siegrist was the first pastor. The church building is
in section 2, and was built in 1872. The Spiritualists had an
organization in 1868, of which Jesse H. Soule was president, and
George Walker secretary. Summer meetings were held, and lecturers from
abroad invited to address them.
DELLWOOD VILLAGE
Was platted in September, 1882, on the line of the Stillwater & White
Bear railroad, on the shore of White Bear lake; Augustus K. and Carrie
Barnum, proprietors; Simon & Morton, surveyors.
EAGLE CITY
Was platted in 1854; proprietors, K. Starkey and Chas. G. Pettys;
surveyor, Daniel S. Turpen. It is located in the southwest quarter of
section 27.
MAHTOMEDI
Was platted in July, 1883; proprietors, Mahtomedi Assembly; surveyors,
Hone & Holland. White Bear lake has become a noted resort for tourists
and pleasure parties. A steamboat plies regularly upon its waters
during the open months, and the Stillwater & White Bear, the St. Paul
& Duluth and the Wisconsin Central railroads render it easy of access.
It is made attractive by the beauty of its scenery, the clearness and
brightness of its waters and its convenient distance from St. Paul,
Minneapolis and Stillwater. The Mahtomedi Association have erected
here a fine hotel, assembly houses and numerous cottages for the
accommodation of summer visitors. Summer schools are held here under
the auspices of the Chautauqua Association. The grounds are also
adapted to camp meetings, conventions and military parades.
WILDWOOD PARK
Was platted in 1883, by the Park Association; Elmer & Newell,
surveyors. It is located on White Bear lake, on the line of the
Stillwater & White Bear railroad.
WILLIAM ELLIOTT was born in Ireland in 1825. His parents removed to
New Brunswick in 1830, whence he came to Minnesota in 1850, and
located in Grant in 1862, devoting himself to farming. He had been a
pilot and a lumberman. His second wife was Mary Crawford. They have
eight children.
FREDERICK LAMB was born in Prussia in 1825; served three years in the
Prussian Army, traveled some time for a manufacturing firm in Germany
through Switzerland, France, England, and Italy; came to America in
1848, and to Stillwater in 1849. For some time he was unsettled as to
his location, but in 1852 made his home in Stillwater, where he
remained until 1866, when he located in Grant. He was married in 1851
to Lena Laroche. A son and a daughter lost their lives by accident.
Three daughters are living.
JAMES RUTHERFORD was born in the parish of Elsdon, Northumberland
county, England, in 1812. In 1818 he came with his parents to America.
In 1849 he came to the valley of the St. Croix and located in what is
now the town of Grant. He built a flour mill on Brown's creek. He
engaged in farming and also in lumbering for many years. He was
married to Elisabeth Smith in 1836. He died at his residence Sept. 14,
1874. Four children survive him.
JESSE H. SOULE has been a prominent and enterprising citizen of Grant
since 1854. He was born at Avon, Franklin county, Maine, in 1823. Mr.
Soule came to Grant when there were but six families in the town, and
pre-empted one hundred and fifty acres of land, where he made him a
pleasant and attractive home. He has held many positions of trust,
having been elected town clerk, which office he held twenty-two years,
justice of the peace, assessor, superintendent of schools and county
commissioner. He represented his district in the house of the sixth
state legislature in 1864. Mr. Soule has been married three times. His
first wife left one daughter, his second wife two sons, twins, Osmar
and Winfield; his third wife, who still lives, Rachel Michener, to
whom he was married in 1871, has three children, Alice, Olive and
Reuel.
Albion Masterman and William Rutherford, the first settlers of Grant
township, are mentioned among the biographies of the chapter on
Stillwater.
LAKELAND.
This town includes the south half of fractional township 29, range 20,
and comprises about 65,920 acres. The surface is quite diversified,
ranging from undulating prairie land to hills. Before settlement there
were prairies and oak openings. The soil is productive and is well
cultivated.
The first settlers were French, who located along the lake shore in
1838-39. These early settlers raised the first crops, but were
gardeners rather than farmers, and were transient. The first American
settler was Henry W. Crosby, who came in 1842, and located on the site
of the present village of Lakeland. George Clark, a young man, came
with him and made a claim near the ferry, but was drowned not long
afterward. This was the first death in the town of which we have any
mention. The first marriage was that of Wm. Oliver and Mrs. Mary
Davis, a sister of Joseph Haskell, in 1848; the next was that of A. B.
Green to Eliza M. Oliver, Oct. 1, 1851.
A ferry was established in 1848. Moses Perrin built a hotel and saw
mill the ensuing year, and platted the village of Lakeland. Another
mill was built by Ballard & Reynolds. In 1857 Stearns, Watson & Co.
built an extensive saw mill at a cost of $45,000. This mill changed
hands many times, finally passing into the hands of C. N. Nelson, who
enlarged it to a capacity of 20,000,000 feet per annum, a $50,000
investment. The St. Paul & Milwaukee railroad traverses this town near
and parallel to the lake shore. The town contributed $5,000 in ten per
cent bonds to the building of the road, for which they received an
equal amount of railroad stock. The St. Paul & Omaha railroad crosses
the lake and a part of the northeastern part of the township of
Lakeland. The railroad bridge has its western terminus in Lakeland, a
short distance above the village. Lakeland was organized as a town
Oct. 20, 1858. The first board of supervisors consisted of Charles A.
Oliver, Elias Megean and A. D. Kingsley.
LAKELAND VILLAGE,
Situated on the lake shore, nearly opposite Hudson, Wisconsin, was
platted in 1849 by Moses Perrin. A school was taught in 1852 by
Harriet E. Newell. A post office was established in 1854; Freeman C.
Tyler was the first postmaster. Lakeland has the following benevolent
and social societies: Masons, Golden Rule Lodge, No. 65, organized in
1867; Temple of Honor, organized 1877; the Independent Order of Good
Templars, No. 200, organized in 1876. It has a Baptist and
Congregational church.
HENRY W. CROSBY was born in Albany, New York, in 1819. He spent his
youth in Buffalo. In 1840 he came to St. Croix Falls, and in 1842 to
the banks of Lake St. Croix, and located on the site of the village of
Lakeland where he resided ten years. During the ensuing thirteen years
he followed his trade as machinist at various places, besides serving
three years as a volunteer in the Eighth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry.
He was married in Cottage Grove in 1845, to Hannah Waterhouse. He has
four sons.
REUBEN H. SANDERSON.--Mr. Sanderson was born in Genesee county, New
York, in 1831. He received a common school education and studied one
year in Brockport Collegiate Institute. He came to Lakeland in 1855,
and followed the business of a house carpenter. Mr. Sanderson has
filled many town offices, and was a member of the Democratic wing of
the state constitutional convention in 1857.
NEWTON MCKUSICK, the oldest son of John McKusick, was born in
Stillwater in 1850. He received a good education in the city schools,
completed at the Minnesota State University, and located on a farm in
Lakeland in 1871. He was married to Jennie L. Green, of Stillwater,
June 6, 1872. His home and farm display taste and thrift worthy of
commendation.
CAPT. JOHN OLIVER.--John Oliver was born March 9, 1796, at Land's End,
England. He was bred to a seafaring life, and the early part of his
life was well spiced with adventure. He escaped from the British
service to enter the American, but was twice captured, and after the
second capture suffered a rigorous imprisonment at Dartmoor, England.
At the close of the war he came to the United States and became a
Boston harbor pilot, a responsible calling which he followed for
thirty-three years. He came to the West in 1848, and settled in
Lakeland. In 1819 he was married to Sarah Spear, whose father was one
of the celebrated Boston Tea Party in 1774. Capt. Oliver, after his
removal to Lakeland, busied himself in farming. He died on the
homestead in 1869, leaving a widow who survived until 1883, and five
sons, two having died prior to 1869. Of his seven sons, six were in
the Union Army in Minnesota regiments during the Rebellion: Wm. H.,
Thomas E., Charles A., George A., Walter J., and Howard F. Walter J.
died in the army.
ASA BARLOW GREEN.--The name of Capt. Green was once familiar on the
St. Croix. He was a man of varied talents and striking
characteristics, who, in a public life extending over a period of many
years, figured as a lawyer, sheriff, probate judge, steamboat captain,
minister, chaplain, and missionary. He was born at Warren, Vermont,
1826, and during his minority lived at home. He had a common school
education, and by his own efforts attained a knowledge of the law and
was admitted to practice in Minnesota and Wisconsin in 1858. He served
as sheriff in Washington county, held the office of probate judge, and
some minor offices. He commanded the steamer Equator in 1859, when
that boat was wrecked on Lake St. Croix. He was part owner of the
boat. In 1860 he was ordained as a minister of the Calvinist Baptist
church. In 1862 he entered the United States service as chaplain of
the Third Wisconsin Volunteers, and served three years, after which he
devoted himself to ministerial and missionary labors. He died in
Whitewater, Wisconsin.
L. A. HUNTOON located in Lakeland in 1857, and engaged in mercantile
pursuits. He served as town clerk and postmaster, filling the latter
position fifteen years. He represented his district in the house of
the seventh and nineteenth legislatures. He died suddenly at his home
in 1879, leaving a wife and three children. His oldest son, Samuel, a
promising young man, principal of the Hammond high school, and fitting
himself for the medical college, was drowned Oct. 9, 1872, in Cutter's
lake, at the age of twenty-one. He was much esteemed and lamented.
MARINE.
The town of Marine includes townships 31 and 32, range 20, and
fractional townships 31 and 32, range 19. The surface is somewhat
rolling, and before settlement was timbered chiefly with hardwood. It
is dotted with beautiful lakes, some of which have abrupt and hilly
shores. The more noted of these lakes are Big, Carnelian, Square,
Bony, Terrapin, Long, Fish, and Hay.
Next to St. Croix Falls, Marine contains the earliest settlement in
the valley. In September, 1838, Lewis Judd and David Hone were
deputized by a company of men residing in Marine, Illinois, to visit
the Northwest and examine the region recently secured by treaty from
the Chippewas, and to return the same year and report upon its
advantages of climate, soil and other resources. They were authorized
also to locate a claim for a future settlement, if they found one
entirely suitable. They embarked on the steamer Ariel at St. Louis,
September 10th, and were twenty-five days reaching the head of Lake
St. Croix, whence they proceeded in a flatboat propelled by poles up
the St. Croix as far as the falls, and thence to the mouth of Kettle
river. Returning by birch canoes, they stopped at the site of the
present village of Marine, and there made a mill claim. They then
returned to Marine, Illinois, where they arrived November 10th, and
reported favorably on the location chosen.
During the following winter a verbal agreement was made by thirteen
persons, all of Marine settlement, to start in the spring and build a
saw mill on the distant St. Croix. On April 27th this company left St.
Louis on the steamer Fayette for the new settlement, which they
reached on the thirteenth of May. The Fayette was chartered expressly
for this voyage. They took with them mill irons, farming tools,
household goods, three yoke of oxen, and cows.
The members of the party were Lewis, George and Albert Judd, David
Hone, Orange Walker, Asa S. and Madison Parker, Samuel Burkelo, Wm. B.
Dibble, Dr. Lucius Green, Joseph Cottrell, and Hiram Berkey. When they
landed they found Jeremiah Russell and Levi W. Stratton in possession
of the claim, they having taken possession during the preceding
winter. These men demanded and received three hundred dollars for
relinquishing the claim to its rightful owners.
The colonists set to work immediately to build a log cabin as a
temporary shelter, which being completed, they commenced the mill, and
worked with such energy that it was finished in ninety days. The first
wheel used was a flutter wheel, which, not proving satisfactory, was
replaced by an overshot with buckets. This mill sawed the first lumber
in the St. Croix valley.
Orange Walker was the first clerk and chieftain of the concern, and
when anything was wanted a call of the company would be made, and the
members assembled. No article of agreement existed. Only one book was
kept for a series of years--a unique affair, no doubt. The first
installment was $200; second, $75; third, $50; all within two years,
after which the company became self sustaining. No partner forfeited
his stock. One by one the partners sold out their interest, until
Orange Walker and G. B. Judd were the owners. The company was first
known as the Marine Lumber Company. In 1850 the name was changed to
Judd, Walker & Co., the firm consisting then of the Judd brothers,
Orange Walker, Samuel Burkelo, Asa Parker, and H. Berkey. In 1863,
when Orange Walker was sole owner, he associated with him Samuel Judd
and W. H. Veazie, and the firm name has since been Walker, Judd &
Veazie.
The colonists raised, during the first year, corn, potatoes and garden
vegetables. They found the Indians peaceably inclined toward the
settlers, though the Chippewas and Sioux kept up a constant warfare
with each other. During the winter of 1839-40 four members of the
company, Parker, Berkey, Green and Dibble, were sent to the mouth of
Kettle river to cut logs. Marine was organized as a town in 1858, with
the following supervisors: J. R. M. Gaskell; John E. Mower and B. F.
Allen.
MARINE MILLS VILLAGE.
The settlement gradually grew into the village of Marine Mills, which
was not platted, however, until 1853, nor incorporated until 1875. The
following was the first board of officers: President, Orange Walker;
councilmen, J. R. M. Gaskell, Ola Westergreen and Asa S. Parker. Until
1842 the mail was received from Ft. Snelling by private conveyance,
when a monthly mail service was established from Point Douglas, and
Samuel Burkelo was appointed postmaster.
The first jury trial in the St. Croix valley was held at Marine, in
1840, before Joseph R. Brown, justice of the peace. The case was that
of Philander Prescott against Chas. D. Foote, plaintiff charging
defendant with jumping a claim. The jury consisted of Samuel Burkelo,
Orange Walker, H. Berkey, David Hone. J. Haskell, J. S. Norris, A.
McHattie, A. Mackey, H. Sweezy, Francis Nason, and two others. The
claim in dispute was located near Prescott. The court adjourned to
allow the jury to visit Prescott to ascertain if the claim had been
made in accordance with custom. On viewing the premises the jury
failed to agree, and the matter was compromised by Prescott allowing
Foote eighty acres of the claim.
The first white child born in Marine was Sarah Anna Waterman, in 1844.
Dr. Wright, the first physician, located in Marine in 1849. The first
marriage was that of Wm. B. Dibble to Eliza McCauslin, in 1842. The
first death was that of a child of W. H. Nobles, in 1843. The first
sermon preached was by Rev. J. Hurlburt, a Methodist missionary, Jan.
1, 1844. The first school was taught by Sarah Judd, in 1849. The
Swedish Evangelical Lutherans built the first church in the town of
Marine, in section 27, in 1856, a log structure afterward used as a
school, its place being supplied by a new structure in section 14 in
1858. In 1874 a large church 50 × 80 feet, ground plan, and with
steeple 80 feet high, succeeded the second structure. A fine parsonage
was attached. This church was blown down by a cyclone in 1884, but was
rebuilt.
The Swedish Methodists built a church on the south side of Long lake
in 1856; C. P. Agrelius, pastor. The Congregationalists commenced the
first church and perfected the first organization in Marine village,
in 1857. The church was completed and dedicated in 1859. Rev Geo.
Spaulding was the first pastor. The second Congregational church was
erected in 1878, in section 21. The Swedish Lutherans have a church
and congregation in the village of Marine. The church was built in
1875. Rev. L. O. Lindh was the first pastor. Oakland Cemetery
Association was organized in 1872 and the cemetery located near Marine
village.
IMPROVEMENTS.
A passable road was opened from Stillwater to Marine in 1841. The
government road from Point Douglas to Superior was built through
Marine in 1852-3. The company built the first frame dwelling, on a
point above the mill, in 1848. The mill company built a frame store in
the same year. This building was burned in 1863; loss, $4,000. The
only hotel until 1850 was a log building, when the Marine store was
built. The Lightner House was built in 1857, the St. Croix House in
1858. The Marine flour mill was built in 1856 by Gaskell & Co. The
first flour was manufactured in 1857. The mill is four stories high
and is furnished with a turbine wheel. The water is brought a distance
of 1,000 feet by an elevated race. The Arcola saw mills were built in
the winter of 1846-7, by Martin Mower, David B. Loomis, Joseph
Brewster and W. H. C. Folsom. They were located on the river shore
three miles below Marine Mills. The motive power is an overshot wheel,
propelled by water from two large springs. The mill is now the
property of Martin Mower. The losses by fire in Marine have been:
The Marine saw mill, Sept. 16, 1863, loss $6,000; Judd &
Gaskell's store, Jan. 9, 1864, loss $4,000; Samuel B. Judd's
dwelling, April, 1884, loss $12,000;
W. H. Veazie's dwelling, April, 1885, loss $6,000.
A heavy financial failure occurred in the winter of 1885-6. The firm
of Walker, Judd & Veazio were compelled to make an assignment;
indebtedness, $250,000. In the ensuing May, by order of the court, the
mill property with its assets passed into the hands of a newly
constituted organization, styled the Marine Lumber Company. This
company was composed of the creditors of Judd, Walker & Veazie; B. C.
Keater, president; Ed. St. John, superintendent; capital stock,
$750,000. In 1888 the property passed into the hands of Anderson &
O'Brien.
VASA VILLAGE
Was platted in 1856, in section 30, township 32, range 19, by B. F.
and Mary Jane Otis and John Columbus; W. P. Payte, surveyor. James
Russell, James Cilley and Frank Register in 1857 built a steam saw
mill. James Russell built a three story hotel. A saloon and other
buildings were erected, but the village did not prosper, and the site
is now abandoned. There are several ancient mounds in the town site
which have been utilized to some extent as burial mounds. One in the
rear of the school house contains the remains of Caroline Reid, a
sister of Mrs. B. F. Otis, and Hiram Otis, a son of the latter. A
mound on the farm of John Copas contains the remains of John Columbus,
buried there at his own request with the body of his favorite dog. A
post office was established at Scandia, in the northern part of
Marine, in 1878; John M. Johnson, postmaster. The upper part of the
town of Marine was at one time organized as a town called Vasa, but
has since been merged in Marine.
ORANGE WALKER was born at St. Albans, Vermont, Sept. 1, 1801. His
ancestors were of English stock and Revolutionary fame. He received a
good common school education, and at the age of sixteen entered as an
apprentice in a tanner and currier's establishment in St. Albans.
After learning the trade he worked at it some time in Milton, Vermont.
In 1834 he came West, and located at Jacksonville, Illinois, where he
worked at his trade and also engaged in farming until 1839, when he
became a member of the Marine Lumber Company, and came with them to
Marine, where he resided a period of forty-eight years. During that
time he has been the most active and influential man in the company,
having been in almost constant service as its president or principal
agent. Mr. Walker was well known to the earlier dwellers in the St.
Croix valley as a hale, hearty, well informed man, prompt in
fulfilling his engagements, and liberal in everything that pertains to
the general good. Mr. Walker filled many public positions. He was
county commissioner ten years, postmaster twenty-five years, and
represented his district in the house of the Second Minnesota
legislature in 1859-60. He was married Sept. 16, 1848, to Mrs.
Georgiana Lockwood, of Prescott, formerly Miss Barton, a native of
Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Walker died Oct. 9, 1885. Mr. Walker
died Aug. 17, 1897.
LEWIS WALKER, brother of Orange Walker, was born in St. Albans,
Vermont, in 1811; in early life removed to Marine, Illinois, and in
1853 came to Marine Mills, Minnesota. He spent many years at the St.
Croix upper boom, and the last fifteen years of his life he lived in
Osceola. He was a quiet, peaceable citizen, exemplary in his habits
and respected by all his acquaintances. He died in Osceola in 1882.
Mr. Walker was married in 1853 to Calphrunia White, who, with two
daughters, survives him. The oldest daughter, Ella, has been for many
years a teacher in the Minneapolis and St. Paul and other schools.
Emma is the wife of Henry Fifield, a printer and journalist of
Northern Michigan.
SAMUEL BURKELO was born in Kent county, Delaware, March 31, 1800. He
came to Marine in 1839, being one of the thirteen constituting the
Marine Lumber Company. He remained with the company ten years, removed
to Stillwater and engaged in the mercantile business. In 1858 he
removed to a farm in Lakeland, where he died in 1874. He was one of
the commissioners appointed in 1840 to organize St. Croix county, and
represented his district in the council of the first and second
territorial legislatures. He was married Dec. 7, 1844, to Susan
McCauslin, at Point Douglas. Four children survive him.
ASA S. PARKER was born in Windsor county, Vermont, July 11, 1812. His
youth was spent in Vermont, New York and Illinois. He was by trade a
brickmaker. He joined the Marine Company and came to Marine in 1839.
He continued a member of the company until 1858, since which time he
has been engaged in farming and selling goods at Marine. Mr. Parker is
a quiet, unobtrusive gentleman, well posted in general matters. He was
a very useful member of the company. He was eight years county
commissioner, and has filled responsible town and county positions. He
was married in 1859 to Isabella Thompson. Archie I., an only son,
living with his parents, was married to Lena Smith in 1883.
HIRAM BERKEY was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, Oct. 22, 1813.
He came to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1819, but made Collinsville,
Illinois, his home, and engaged in farming. He came to Marine Mills in
1839, and was one of the original company that founded Marine. He sold
his interest in 1860, since which time he has been engaged in hotel
keeping and farming. He served as county commissioner four years, and
filled local offices. He was married to Jennie McCarty, of
Pennsylvania, Oct. 23, 1860. They have one son, John R.
GEO. B. JUDD was born in Farmington, Connecticut, Oct. 19, 1799. In
1832 he came to Illinois and engaged in farming and merchandising. In
1839 he became a member of the Marine Company, and came up on the
Fayette, but did not make his residence there until 1862. He retained
his interest in the company until about 1863. He removed to St. Louis
in 1844, and became a member of the enterprising commission firm of
Judd & Hammond. After his removal to Marine he engaged in the
mercantile and lumbering business. Mr. Judd died at his home in Marine
in 1872.
JAMES HALE was born in 1822, in Putnam county, Indiana; lived five
years in Illinois, and came to Marine Mills in 1844, where he engaged
in farming. He was married to Mary Finnegan in 1855. Mr. Hale died
Feb. 9, 1888.
JOHN HOLT was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, in 1818. He came to
Marine in 1846. In 1852 he was married to Mary Jane Ward, and removed
to Stillwater, where for two years he kept the Minnesota House, at the
southwest corner of Main and Chestnut streets. Returning to Marine in
1853 he followed lumbering and farming many years. During the latter
portion of his life he was afflicted with partial blindness. He died
Jan. 12, 1874, leaving two children.
GEORGE HOLT, brother to John Holt, was born in Kentucky in 1822, where
he spent his early life. After spending a year at Prairie du Chien, in
1846 he came to Marine and obtained employment with the Marine
Company. In 1850 he removed to Stillwater, and engaged in the livery
stable and hotel business until 1853, when he returned with his
brother to Marine. He claims to have carried, in 1851, the first
leathern mail pouch from Stillwater to Taylor's Falls. During the
Rebellion he served one year in Company G, Fourth Minnesota Volunteer
Infantry. While residing in Marine he has been engaged chiefly in
farming, rafting and lumbering. In 1851 he was married to Melinda
Ward. They have five children.
WILLIAM TOWN was born in Rome, N. Y., 1814. In 1836 he removed to
Warren county, Illinois, and in 1838 he was married to Louisa
Robinson. He came to Marine in 1846; removed to St. Croix Falls in
1847; to Osceola Prairie in 1852, and to Taylor's Falls in 1860, where
he died in 1870. His first wife died at Osceola in 1855, leaving three
daughters, one the wife of W. J. Seavey, of Taylor's Falls, one the
first wife of Henry Mallen, of Farmington, Wisconsin, and one the wife
of E. Hines Bates, of Taylor's Falls. Mr. Town was married in 1857 to
Mrs. Mary Collins, formerly Mary Talboys. A daughter of Mrs. Town, by
her first husband, is the wife of N. P. Bailey, of Taylor's Falls. Mr.
Town's aged mother came to Osceola Prairie in 1856, and died in June,
1886, aged ninety-seven years. Mrs. Abbott, of Moorhead, and Mrs.
Richmond, of Farmington, are her daughters.
MATTHIAS WELSHANCE was born in 1818, in Pennsylvania, where he lived
during his minority and learned the carpenter's trade. In 1843 he
removed to Galena, Illinois, in 1847 to St. Croix Falls and in 1848 to
Marine Mills, where he worked at his trade until 1856. From that time
until his death, May 19, 1886, he was engaged in hotel keeping. He was
for nine years keeper of the Marine Hotel and has since been
proprietor of the St. Croix House. He was married Nov. 12, 1848, to
Mary J. Hooper. They have five children living. One daughter, Mrs.
Tolan, met a tragic death at the hands of an insane husband, in 1881.
Mr. Welshance died in 1886.
BENJAMIN T. OTIS was born in Fairfield, Maine, in 1816. He came to St.
Croix Falls in 1841, and engaged in lumbering. In 1846 he located on
what is known as Colby Flat, on the site of Taylor's Falls, and
improved a farm. In 1849 he removed to Marine. His first wife died
suddenly at Marine. He was married to Mrs. Church, of Stillwater, in
1859. Henry F., a son by his first wife, enlisted in 1862, in the
Seventh Minnesota Volunteers, was wounded in 1864, and honorably
discharged.
WILLIAM CLARK was born in New Brunswick, July, 1815. He came to Marine
Mills in 1848, and since has followed lumbering. He married Elisa Jane
Nelson in 1861. Mrs. Clark died in 1879, leaving two daughters.
JAMES R. MEREDITH was born Aug. 22, 1812, in White county, Illinois,
where he lived until eighteen years of age, when he removed to Galena,
where he spent five years in mining. He went thence to Burlington,
Iowa, and in 1849 located in Marine, and was employed by the Marine
Company several years. In 1860 he located upon his present farm. In
1847 he was married to Eleanor Freeman. They have three children
living.
JOHN D. AND THOMAS E. WARD. The Ward brothers are natives of
Massachusetts. They came to the St. Croix valley with their
brothers-in-law, John and George Holt. They have engaged chiefly in
steamboating and river business.
SAMUEL JUDD, son of Lewis Judd, was born in Illinois in 1840. He
graduated at McKendrie College, Lebanon, Illinois, and came to Marine
in 1863, and became a member of the firm of Walker, Judd & Veazie. In
1874 he was married to Amelia D. Flaherty, at St. Louis. Their
children are Orange W. and Lucille M. In 1886 he changed his residence
to St. Paul.
FREDERIC W. LAMMERS was born in Germany in 1829. He came to America in
1843, locating first at St. Louis, where he remained two years. In
1845 he removed to the St. Croix valley, and for several years engaged
in lumbering. In 1852 he settled on a farm in Taylor's Falls, and was
married to Helen C. Nelson, of Marine. In 1865 he sold his farm and
removed to Big Lake Marine. Mr. Lammers has been a public spirited and
excellent citizen. His family consisted of fifteen children; of these
thirteen are living.
JAMES R. M. GASKILL was born in Madison county, Illinois, in 1820;
graduated from McKendrie College in 1843; graduated from the medical
department of the Missouri State University in 1854; practiced
medicine a short time at Centralia, Illinois, and came to Marine in
1855, where he practiced medicine and interested himself in milling,
lumbering and merchandise. He represented his district in the house of
the first legislature of Minnesota, 1857-58, and of the fourteenth and
fifteenth, 1872-73. He served during the Rebellion as surgeon of the
Forty-fifth Illinois Volunteers. He was for many years a trustee of
the Minnesota State Prison. In 1861 he was married to Clara E. Hughes.
They have one son and one daughter.
NEWPORT.
The town of Newport includes fractional townships 27 and 28, range 22,
and part of sections 34, 35 and 36, in township 29, range 22: It was
organized as a town Oct. 20, 1858. The first supervisors were William
Fowler, E. B. Schofield and John Willoughby. The surface is mostly
prairie. This town has some points of great historic interest. Gray
Cloud island, in the southern part, in the Mississippi river,
separated from the mainland by a slough, is the place where, according
to some historians, Le Sueur planted a French fort in 1695. It was
styled the "Isle Pelee," and was described as a beautiful "Prairie
Island."
The description of the island tallies precisely with that of Gray
Cloud, and is applicable to none of the other conjectured localities.
It is mentioned by many antiquarian writers as a place of rendezvous
for French traders during the French domination in this part of the
continent. Gray Cloud has been known as a trading post for the last
hundred years, and has the credit of being the first white settlement
in Washington county, and probably in Minnesota. Here came Joseph R.
Brown in 1838, and here he married the daughter of Dickson, the
trader. Hazen Mooers, one of the commissioners of St. Croix county in
1840, Joseph Boucher and others were living at Gray Cloud when the
Methodist mission was established at Kaposia in 1836. Gray Cloud is
the translation of the Indian name of the island. It was also borne by
an Indian maiden, who became the wife of Hazen Mooers, who seems to
have been a man of excellent repute and considerable influence. The
Browns cherished for him a very warm feeling of regard.
Red Rock, another historic locality, derives its name from a painted
rock which seems to have been held in great reverence by the Sioux
Indians. According to Rev. Chauncey Hobart, a veteran pioneer and
preacher still living in Minnesota, it was the custom among the Sioux
to worship the boulders that lie scattered along the hills and
valleys. When a Dakotah was in danger, it was his custom to clear a
spot from grass and brush, roll a boulder upon it, paint it, deck it
with feathers and flowers, and pray to it for needed help.
The peculiarity of the painted boulder from which Red Rock took its
name is that it was a shrine, to which from generation to generation
pilgrimages were made, and offerings and sacrifices presented. Its
Indian name was "Eyah Shah," or "Red Rock." The stone is not naturally
red, but painted with vermillion, or, as some say, with the blood of
slaughtered victims. The Indians call the stone also "Waukan," or
"mystery." It lies on a weathered stratum of limestone, and seems to
be a fragment from some distant granite ledge. The Dakotahs say it
walked or rolled to its present position, and they point to the path
over which it traveled. They visited it occasionally every year until
1862, each time painting it and bringing offerings. It is painted in
stripes, twelve in number, two inches wide and from two to six inches
apart. The north end has a rudely drawn picture of the sun, and a rude
face with fifteen rays.
Red Rock is noted as the site of a mission planted here in 1837 by the
Methodist Episcopal church, by Alfred Brunson, a distinguished pioneer
preacher and missionary. The mission was originally established at
Kaposia, on the western bank of the river, in 1837, but removed by
Alfred Brunson in the same year to Red Rock. Rev. B. T. Kavanaugh, of
this mission, and afterward a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal church
South, superintended the erection of the first buildings. Taylor F.
Randolph and wife were teachers here, as assistants in the Indian
school, and also in a school of mixed bloods and whites. B. T.
Kavanaugh was postmaster in 1841. John Holton was mission farmer in
1841, under a commission from Maj. Taliaferro, of Fort Snelling. The
mission was discontinued in 1842. Mr. Randolph and wife made them a
home in the town of Afton, where both died in 1844.
The first marriage was that of John A. Ford to Mary Holton, daughter
of John Holton, in 1843. The first birth was that of Franklin C. Ford,
September, 1844. The first death was that of a child of Rev. B. T.
Kavanaugh. The village of Newport was platted in 1857. W. R. Brown's
addition was platted in 1874. A steam saw mill was built in 1857 by E.
M. Shelton & Brothers. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1874. A flour
mill was built in its place by Joseph Irish. The first Baptist church
was organized Jan. 18, 1858. The first commodious house of worship was
built in 1878. The Red Rock Camp Meeting Association was organized in
1869. A plat of ten acres, beautifully situated in a natural grove
near the village, and on the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
railroad, was donated to the association by John Holton. These grounds
have been improved, and adorned with tasteful cottages. The camp
meetings held during the summer are largely attended.
GRAY CLOUD CITY
Was platted in June, 1856, by J. R. Brown and Truman W. Smith, and
surveyed by J. Donald McCullom.
NEWPORT VILLAGE
Was platted May 2, 1857, by Joseph H. Huganin, R. C. Knox, Wm. and
James Fowler, and surveyed by B. Densmore.
JOHN HOLTON came to Red Rock in 1831, with the Methodist missionaries;
served some years as Indian farmer under Maj. Taliaferro, Indian
agent, and afterward settled on a farm just above the mission ground.
He donated ten acres of this farm to the Methodists for camp meeting
grounds. Mr. Holton died in 1884, leaving two children, Mrs. Ford and
Mrs. Winters.
JOHN A. FORD was born in Utica, New York, in 1811. He learned the
trade of edge tool and rifle making, and in 1834 came West with his
father, locating a land claim where Chicago now stands. In 1841 the
son came to Red Rock and erected a store building in which he sold
goods for twelve years. Subsequently he engaged in farming. With the
exception of the traders Mr. Ford was the first merchant in Washington
county. Mr. Ford was a representative in the second territorial
legislature. He was married to May Holton in 1843. Their children are
Franklin and Willis. Franklin, the eldest son, was married to Addie
Witherspoon in 1870, and resides in Newport.
DANIEL HOPKINS, a native of New Hampshire, came West at an early age.
He was a gunsmith by trade. He located in Green Bay in 1836, and
removed to Prairie du Chien in 1838, where he built a stone shop with
a large double window over his workbench and overlooking a spot where
he kept his money buried. A large mullein growing over it sufficiently
indicated that his treasure was still undisturbed. Growing somewhat
doubtful of the security of his hoard, he removed and placed a
thousand dollars in a stone quarry as a safer place of deposit.
Unexpectedly to him, the quarry was reopened and a well placed blast
scattered the old gentleman's treasure to the four winds. He recovered
but a portion of it. In 1844 he left Prairie du Chien and came to Red
Rock. He was three years associated with John A. Ford in selling
goods, after which, in 1848, he removed to St. Paul, where he opened a
store. He died in 1852, aged sixty-five years.
WILLIAM R. BROWN was born in Urbana, Ohio, in 1816. He spent his
boyhood at home on a farm and served as an apprentice to a carpenter
in Mt. Carmel, Illinois. In April, 1848, he came to Red Rock mission
in company with Rev. B. T. Kavanaugh, Charles Cavalier and Julia
Bosnell. He lived upon a farm until 1854, when he sold out and removed
to St. Paul, where he dealt in real estate. During the Rebellion he
served three years in Company C, Sixth Minnesota Volunteers. He was
married in 1841 to Martha Neuman. He died Nov. 25, 1874.
WILLIAM FOWLER settled in Newport in 1852 and has become a prominent
farmer and successful stockman. His farm, which originally cost him
$2,500, he sold in 1887 for $80,000. He was for two years president of
the Minnesota Agricultural Society, and five years of the Dairymen's
Association. He was a member of the house of representatives in 1872.
During the war he served as lieutenant in the Eighth Minnesota
Volunteers.
OAKDALE.
Oakdale includes township 29, range 21. Originally it was covered with
white, black and burr oak timber; the surface is rolling, and the soil
well adapted to the cultivation of wheat. It is well watered and has
numerous lakes, among which Lake Elmo is favorably known as a summer
resort.
Oakdale was organized as a town November, 1858. The first supervisors
were E. C. Gray, John Bershen and E. L. Morse. The clerk was W.
Armstrong.
The first settler was B. B. Cyphers, who kept a hotel or stopping
place on Sun Fish lake in 1848. The year following John Morgan built a
more commodious house a mile and a half west on the stage road, and
this was afterward known as the "Half-way House," it being nearly
midway between St. Paul and Stillwater. At this well known station the
pioneer stages of Willoughby & Powers changed horses at noon, and the
passengers took dinner. In 1855 the property passed into the hands of
E. C. Gray. The Malones, Lohmans, Grays, Day, Stevens, and Gardiner
located here in the '50s.
The first post office established was in 1857, in the south part of
the town, in section 35. Arthur Stephens was for ten years postmaster.
The office was called Oakdale, and was discontinued and another
established at the Half-way House, and called Lohmanville post office.
In 1873 it was transferred to the Oakdale station on the railroad. It
was discontinued in 1876, and re-established at Bass Lake station,
where it has since remained but is now known as the Lake Elmo post
office.
The St. Paul & Stillwater railroad passes through this town from east
to west. It has three stations, Lake Elmo, Oakdale and Midvale.
The churches of Oakdale are the St. John's Lutheran and the Church of
the Holy Angels. These churches have fine buildings and good
congregations. The buildings are located on the line of the old stage
road, and have spacious burial grounds attached.
Lake Elmo is the only village in the town. It is handsomely located on
Lake Elmo. The company that platted the village has expended over
$65,000 on improvements. The hotel is an elegant and spacious
building, and a favorite resort for summer tourists. The lake was
originally known as Bass lake, and the station was known as Bass Lake
station. In 1879 the lake and station were rechristened Elmo, a name
certainly more musical and charming than the original, and inferior
only to the aboriginal name, which ought to have been retained.
E. C. GRAY came originally from Pennsylvania, and located in Oakdale
in 1855, having purchased the Half-way House of John Morgan. He died
in 1874, leaving a large family of children. Two of his sons, M. P.
and W. H., remain on the family homestead. Others are in St. Paul. All
are known as men of good business ability.
ARTHUR STEPHENS was born in Scotland in 1830. He came to America in
1839, lived awhile in Illinois, learned the trade of a mason and
plasterer, came to St. Paul in 1849, worked at his trade until 1854,
when he removed to Oakdale, where, with the exception of six years'
residence at Stillwater, he has since lived. Mr. Stephens served as
postmaster ten years, as county commissioner three years, and has
filled town offices. He was married to Marie Payden in 1852. Their
children are Harris S., Arthur, Elizabeth and Emma.
ONEKA.
The town comprises township 31, range 21. It was organized as a town
in 1880. A. J. Soule was the first moderator, George Walker the first
clerk and treasurer. The eastern and southern portions are
diversified, being quite rugged and uneven. The western part is quite
level, and was originally timbered with burr oak and poplars. The town
abounds with lakes. Bald Eagle lies partly in the town; Oneka; Rice,
Egg, Eagle, Horseshoe, and others are within the town. Small springs
and rivulets abound. A tamarack swamp, varying in width from a few
rods to a half mile, traverses the town from north to south, forming a
natural barrier between the eastern and western divisions. The
principal lake is Oneka, located in sections 9 and 16. Rice lake has
been celebrated as the resort of Indians from Mendota, who camped here
annually to gather wild rice for the St. Paul and Minneapolis markets.
The first settlers were Fayette Tainter and John Chester, young men
who came together in 1850 for the purpose of locating claims and
baling hay. They carried on a stock farm for five years. The next
settlers, Lewis Sempler and his son-in-law, Joseph Freeman, came in
1855. They were followed by Dunn, Barnum, Hatch and Beecroft.
The St. Paul & Duluth railroad passes through the western part of the
town, entering in section 31, and leaving in section 5. There is but
one station upon the road, Centreville, a thriving little village,
having a hotel, store, school house, etc. Its post office was
established in 1874.
The first school district was organized in 1867. Ruth Miller taught
the first school. The first marriage was that of Joseph Lambert and
Mary Courtone. The first child born was Hoyt E., son of O. L. Kinyon,
Dec. 27, 1863. The first death was that of Herbert, son of O. L.
Kinyon, May 30, 1869.
ONEKA,
Located in the northeast quarter of section 8, was platted May, 1847,
by Franklin Jones; Chas. B. Lowell, surveyor.
SHADY SIDE VILLAGE,
Located on Bald Eagle lake, was platted in 1880, by Chas. P. Hill;
Brinckerhoff & Phillips, surveyors.
DANIEL HOPKINS, SR., son of Daniel Hopkins, of whom biographical
mention is made in the history of Newport, was born in New Hampshire.
He came to St. Paul in 1850, and engaged in the mercantile business on
Third street until 1852, when he removed to a farm between St. Anthony
and St. Paul, and dealt extensively in blooded stock until about
1855-56, when he purchased the farms of Austin and Tainter, on Rice
creek near the railroad. His farm consists of about 600 acres. The
railroad has a flag station at the farm known as Hopkins station.
STILLWATER.
Stillwater comprises fractional township 30, range 20, excepting the
site of the city of Stillwater. The surface is rolling and the soil
good. It is well watered with rivulets and small lakes. The first
settlers in the town outside the city limits were the Lymans,
consisting of the father (Cornelius) and two sons, C. Storrs and D.
P., Charles Macy, W. T. Boutwell, Sebastian Marty, Wm. Rutherford, J.
J. McKenzie, Albion Masterman, and Dr. James Carey. The first white
child born in the town was Emily S., daughter of C. S. Lyman, in 1846.
The first death was that of Betsey, daughter of C. S. Lyman, in 1846.
The first marriage was that of Abraham Click and Jane Sample, in 1853.
The first school was taught by Cynthia Pond, in 1852. The first road
through the town was from Dakota village via Carnelian lake and Marine
to St. Croix Falls. Messrs. Rutherford & Booth in 1857 built a flour
mill on Brown's creek, which empties into the St. Croix near the head
of the lake. The mill was located above McKusick's lake, and has been
for some years abandoned. Brown's creek originally passed through
sections 18, 19, 20 and 21 to the river, but was turned in 1843 from
its natural course, and made to connect McKusick's lake with the St.
Croix by a new channel cut through sections 28 and 29, thus giving to
Stillwater its initial advantages as a manufacturing centre. The
Washington county poor farm, consisting of 207 acres of improved laud
with good buildings and other conveniences, was located in this town
in 1858.
OAK PARK
Was platted May 27, 1857. It is situated between the city of
Stillwater and South Stillwater, with frontage on the lake. The
proprietors were John Parker, Wm. Dorr, Gold T. Curtis, Mary Curtis,
Olive A. B. Anderson, and Wm. M. McCluer. The surveyor was A. Van
Voorhes.
The township of Stillwater was organized April 3, 1860, with the
following board of officers: Moderator, Cornelius Lyman; judges of
election, H. Packard, W. T. Boutwell, D. P. Lyman; supervisors, C.
Storrs Lyman, H. Packard, Henry A. Jackman; clerk, Sylvanus Trask.
DAVID P. LYMAN was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, in 1822. In
1844 he came with his parents to Marine. In 1846 he removed to his
present residence in the town of Stillwater. He was married to Anna J.
Hannah, at Farmingdale, Illinois, in 1850. They have five children.
Mr. Lyman is an upright, reliable citizen, and a consistent member of
the Presbyterian church.
HENRY A. JACKMAN, a native of Robbinstown, Maine, was born July 30,
1819. He was married to Sarah Blanchard in 1848. Mr. Jackman, with his
family, his father and his wife's parents, came West in 1849 and
located in Stillwater. In 1851 he removed to his farm. He has since
engaged in farming and lumbering, and has filled several important
positions. He served as school trustee for 30 years, as county
commissioner 8 years, as warden of state prison 4 years, as state
prison inspector 20 years, and was a representative in the territorial
legislature of 1856, and the state legislature of 1867. Mr. Jackman's
father, a native of Brunswick, Maine, died at his son's residence in
Stillwater, April, 1867, aged seventy-four years. He was a man honored
for his kindness and sterling integrity. His wife, the mother of Henry
A., died in Maine in 1844. Three sons and four daughters survive them.
The children of Henry A. Jackman are Mary E. (Mrs. Russell Pease),
James E. and Alice (Mrs. Wm. A. Boxwell).
FREDERIC J. CURTIS, a native of Ireland, was born in 1818. Before
coming to America he learned the trade of boot and shoe making. He
came to America in 1843, and spent two years in New York City working
at his trade. He also spent two years in St. Louis and New Orleans. He
came to Stillwater in 1848 and settled on his farm in section 9, where
he has since lived. He held the office of sheriff two years. He was
one of the first police of the city of Stillwater and has been town
treasurer and school director. He was married to Bridget Fenton in
1849. Their children are Daniel, Thomas, James, Elisabeth, Mary,
Maggie, and Ellen B.
DAVID COVER was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, May 22,
1826. In 1844 he came with his parents to St. Louis, Missouri, where
he became a river pilot, and engaged in lumbering for eight years,
when he came to Stillwater, and for some years gave his attention
largely to selling logs and lumber between Stillwater and St. Louis.
During the years between 1860 and 1870 his business transactions were
heavy, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, and from
some injudicious movements, due to lack of experience, resulted in
disastrous failure. After his failure he devoted himself to farming
and fire insurance business. He was married in 1850 to Elisabeth
Harrold. They are the parents of three sons. Mr. Cover was
accidentally drowned in Lake St. Croix Sept. 14, 1884. His life was
insured for $17,000.
JOHN PARKER came from Vermont to the valley of the St. Croix in 1848,
located for a couple of years at St. Croix Falls, and came to Oak
Park, town of Stillwater, about 1850. In 1848 Mr. Parker was married
to Susan, daughter of David Cover, who bore him three children: Edwin
E., the oldest, killed by the explosion of the boilers of the steamer
Penn Wright, near Winona; John E., living at home with his mother, and
Ella, wife of Henry Pevey, of Stillwater. Mr. Parker was a kind
hearted, genial man. He was one of the early river pilots, and came to
his death in June, 1867, while in the performance of his duties as a
pilot. In handling a line to "snub" a raft, he was caught in its coils
and so bruised that he died.
WOODBURY,
As at present organized, includes township 28, range 21. At the date
of its organization, in 1868, it was named Red Rock, and made to
include a little over two sections of fractional township 28, range
22. This fragment contains the famous painted rock, now included in
the town of Newport, and from this rock, familiarly called Red Rock,
the town received its first name. The first board of town officers
consisted of John Colby; moderator; David Little and C. Schmeiding,
judges of election; John Colby, John A. Ford, J. J. Miller,
supervisors; Ebenezer Ayers, clerk.
The town held the name of Red Rock until 1859, when, by notification
from the legislature that another town bore the same name, the board
changed the name to Woodbury, a name given in honor of Judge Woodbury,
of New Hampshire, a particular friend of Mr. Colby, at that time
chairman of the board. The fraction containing the painted rock was
set off by order of the board of county commissioners, meeting at
Stillwater in 1861, and added to Newport. It is said that this act did
not meet with the hearty approval of the citizens of the town.
The town was originally timbered with various species of oak. The
surface is undulating, and in the western part there are abrupt hills
or bluffs. It is a fine agricultural town, well watered with creeks,
springs and small lakes.
The first settlers were the McHatties, Middletons, Robert Cummings,
John Towner, and Joseph Cooper. The first marriage was that of John
McHattie and Jane Middleton, Jan. 15, 1847. The first child born was
Sarah Middleton, afterward the wife of Anthony Fritz, of Newport. The
first death was that of Sarah Middleton, May 4, 1849. The first
traveled road in the town was from Stillwater to St. Paul via
Bissell's Mound. The first post office was established in 1850, at
Oakdale, in the northern part of the town; G. Hartoung, postmaster.
The first school was taught in 1855 by Miss A. F. Colby. The German
Methodist church was organized in 1855; Rev. Jacob Young, pastor. The
church and parsonage are built of stone. The Salem Evangelical
Lutheran church was organized in 1865; Rev. J. W. Huffman, pastor.
JACOB FOLSTROM.--The history of Jacob Folstrom reads like a romance.
He was born in Sweden June 25, 1793, and when he was nine years of age
left home as cabin boy on a steamer commanded by his uncle. The
steamer was wrecked on the coast of England. He escaped with his uncle
to London, and there lost sight of him. What was his uncle's fate he
never knew. He understood nothing of the English language, and
applied to the Swedish consul for aid. Lord Selkirk was then raising a
company of men to go to his settlement on Red river, British America,
and Selkirk, who could speak Swedish, spoke kindly to the friendless
lad, and offered to take him with him to the New World. He, not
knowing what else to do, consented to go. After his arrival he found
employment with the Hudson Bay Company for a time, and subsequently
came down to the Fort Snelling reservation. When the settlers were
driven from the reservation in 1839; he made a farm in what is now
Woodbury, Washington county. At Lake Superior, in 1823, he had been
married to Margaret Burgo, a woman of fine mind. With her limited
educational privileges, very few of any age or race can be found her
equal. Mr. and Mrs. Folstrom were both consistent Christians, and
members of the Methodist church for many years. He lived a stirring,
adventurous life, and, during his service as mail carrier between
Prairie du Chien and Fort Snelling, he had many hairbreadth escapes
from hostile Indians. He died in July, 1859. His wife survived him
till Feb. 6, 1880.
ALEXANDER MCHATTIE.--At the age of sixteen Mr. McHattie left his home
and worked as a teamster and farmer for about five years; and in 1833
came from Scotland, his native country, to America. He lived a couple
of years in Vermont, a short time in New York, Ohio and Indiana. In
1839 he came to Galena, Illinois, and migrated thence in the same year
to St. Croix Falls. He also made a short stay at Gray Cloud island;
was in Prescott in 1840; in 1841 made a home in Afton, and in 1845 at
Woodbury. He married Margaret Middleton in 1848.
JOHN MCHATTIE.--John, the oldest brother of Alexander McHattie, came
from Scotland to this country in 1833, and settled in Woodbury in
1841. He was married in 1846 to Jane Middleton.
THE MIDDLETON FAMILY.--James Middleton, Sr., with his wife, three
sons, William, Samuel, and James, and five daughters, came to this
country from Ireland. William, the oldest, inspired by filial duty,
came first, it being his ambition to secure for his parents a home on
American soil. He was not of age when, in 1838, he left Ireland, full
of hope and enthusiasm for his project. He found his way to St. Louis
in 1842, and came thence with Hungerford & Livingston to St. Croix
Falls. He remained with them two years and then, removing further
south, made a claim on unsurveyed government land in what is now the
town of Woodbury. During the succeeding year, 1845, he and his brother
Samuel worked for John McKusick, and by diligence and self denial
succeeded in earning enough to pay the passage of his father and his
family to the United States, and to bring them to their claim on the
prairie. It was a joyful day when the parents arrived, and since then
the united family have their home at and near the selected homestead,
a model family in their unity of purpose and affectionate regard for
each other. William visited California. He died at his home in 1855.
Samuel enlisted and did gallant service in the Union Army during the
late Civil War as a member of Company E, Tenth Minnesota Volunteers,
and died in the hospital at Memphis, Feb. 29, 1865. James, a younger
brother, was born in 1833. He made a claim near that of his brother,
and is prominent in the community, in which he lives. He was
sergeant-at-arms in the legislature, a member of the house in 1876,
and served five years in Washington county as county commissioner. Mr.
Middleton removed to St. Paul in 1880, where he now resides. The
father died in 1854, the mother in 1876.
NEWINGTON GILBERT was born in Onondaga county, New York, Feb. 17,
1815. Mr. Gilbert settled in Woodbury in 1851. In company with Mr.
Buswell he built the North Star flouring mill in 1860. He operated
this mill eleven years. Mr. Gilbert was a member of the Democratic
wing of the constitutional convention in 1857. He was married to
Celestia Bangs in 1860. They have two children.
EBENEZER AYERS was born in Herkimer county, New York. His early life
was devoted to hard labor, still such was his zeal for study and the
acquisition of general knowledge, that he managed to acquire a very
respectable and thorough education. In 1856 he came with his parents
to Fort Wayne. He commenced teaching school soon after and taught
eight years. In 1844 he removed to Shelby county, Kentucky. He was
married in 1846 to Lucy Connelly, of Shelby county. He removed to
Buffalo, New York, in 1850, and sold goods until the spring of 1854,
when he located in Woodbury and engaged in farming. He was a man of
energy, and possessed of great will power. He took a deep interest in
town and county affairs, and served as town clerk in Woodbury eleven
years. He was a representative in the Minnesota state legislature in
1867 and 1872, and while in that capacity proved himself a ready
debater. He had natural ability as an organizer. He was an active
member of the Greenback party, and was rigidly opposed to monopolies.
He died in 1883.
CHAPTER XV.
WASHINGTON COUNTY--CONTINUED.
CITY OF STILLWATER.
The organization of the territory of Minnesota in 1849 naturally gave
a new impetus to settlement, and marked an era in the progress of the
settlements already made. None profited more by the new order of
things than did Stillwater. The future metropolis of the St. Croix
valley, though yet unorganized even as a village, and governed by town
and county law, in 1850 presented a scene of unwonted activity. Out of
nearly a hundred arrivals we find the names of John C, Gardiner,
Samuel M. Register, H. C. Van Voorhees, John N. Ahl, Ralph Wheeler,
Dr. E. G. Pugsley, Dr. Morey, dentist, and Theodore E. Parker, a
lawyer. This year was rendered notable by the establishment of a
livery stable, by Holcomb & Johnson, a new store by Burkelo & Mower, a
bakery by R. Hersey, by the building of the second saw mill by Sawyer
& Heaton, by the commencement of Remmick's brewery, by the advent of
Antonio Brothers' circus, and the occurrence of a remarkable freshet,
on which occasion the steamer Lamartine, taking advantage of the high
water, made a pleasure excursion up the river, and over the shallows
at the mouth of Apple river and a short distance up that stream.
Morton Wilkinson and Michael Ames were amongst the excursionists, and,
looking out from the steamboat upon the broad, deep expanse of the
swollen river, congratulated their fellow passengers upon the
discovery of a hitherto unknown navigable stream, tributary to the
majestic St. Croix. The Swiss Bell Ringers were on board, and added
greatly to the pleasure of the occasion by their weird and peculiar
music. The Lamartine, on returning to Stillwater, found the shores
and levees submerged, and passing over them landed her passengers
directly from the boat upon the floor of the Minnesota House, on the
southwest corner of Chestnut and Main. The water was four or five feet
deep in the street before the hotel. The streets in the lower part of
the city have since been raised several feet, so that a flood of the
same dimensions would not overflow them as it did then. There has,
however, in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, been no other flood
equal to that of 1850.
Allusion has been made in the history of Stillwater town to the
diversion of the waters of McKusick's lake by a new outlet to the
river. This device, so beneficial to the city of Stillwater in other
respects, came near resulting in disaster. The old outlet of the lake
had been obstructed by a dam, while the waters were conducted by a new
outlet down a deep ravine and confined to their channel by dikes
consisting of a mixture of clay, sand and gravel. This extended to
within six hundred feet of the mill on the lake shore. On May 14,
1852, during a terrible storm, the dam at the new outlet gave way and
a tremendous body of water, carrying with it the debris of dikes and
dams, rushed tumultuously down the ravine, covering the low shores of
the lake beneath, and depositing a new geological stratum of drift
over a surface of at least six acres to an average depth of about ten
feet. It was wittily said at the time that such an extraordinary
movement in real estate had never before been known; but, although a
downward movement, that seemed very much like ruin to all concerned,
especially to the mill, the machinery of which was completely buried,
it nevertheless heralded a rise in prices. Quagmires were filled,
unsightly obstructions buried or swept away and a fine plateau for
buildings was formed along the lake.
The dam was replaced and greatly strengthened, and the water was
conducted through pipes and hydrants to the city. Occasionally, for
years afterward, the diggers of cellars or cisterns in the buried
region would unearth interesting antediluvian relics. Three barrels of
pork were exhumed from the cellar of McKusick's store, and found in a
good state of preservation. Some years later remains of a far more
ancient character were also unearthed near the corner of Third and
Myrtle streets. The tusk of a mastodon was brought up from a depth of
thirty-six feet below the surface.
CITY GOVERNMENT.
Stillwater was incorporated as a city in 1854. The following officers
were elected on the first Monday in April of that year: Mayor, John
McKusiek; recorder, C. D. Gilfillan; treasurer, W. H. Mower;
Councilmen, J. C. York, J. N. Masterman, C. Carli. We append a list of
mayors from 1854 to the present time: John McKusick, 1854; John
Fisher, 1855; Wm. Willim, 1856-66-67; Albert Stinson, 1857; A. B.
Gorgas, 1858; T. M. Fullerton, 1859; Mahlon Black, 1860-61; F. R.
Delano, 1862; David Bronson, 1863-64; Wm. Grover, 1865; C. J. Butler,
1868; Wm. Holcombe, 1869-70; Wm. McKusick, 1871-72; A. K. Doe, 1873;
Wm. G. Bronson, 1874-75-76; E. W. Durant, 1877; John S. Proctor,
1878-79-80; Samuel Mathews, 1881-82-83-84; Hollis R. Murdock, 1885;
Isaac Staples, 1886; George M. Seymour, 1887-88.
CITY MARSHALS.
The following is a complete list of city marshals since 1854: Jonathan
E. McKusick, 1854; John Parker, 1855; John Cilly, 1856; Dennis
Sullivan, 1557; Robert Hasty, 1858; Thomas Sinclair, 1859; Duncan
Chisholm, 1860-61-62-63; John Shortall, 1864-65; John May, 1866, six
months; P. E. Keefe, 1867; John May, 1868, six months; John Shortall,
1869; H. McIntyre, 1870; Duncan Chisholm, 1871; John Lyons, 1872-3,
eighteen months; Mathew Shortall, 1873, and continuously to the
present time. Mr. Shortall's long term of office proves him an
effective and popular officer. F. L. McKusick is police court officer.
He is a veteran of the police force and has acquitted himself to the
satisfaction of the people of Stillwater.
THE POST OFFICE,
Established in 1845, was located first at the corner of Main and
Chestnut streets. The first postmaster was Elam Greely. His successors
were John McKusick, John S. Proctor, Harley D. Curtis, Mahlon Black,
Abraham Van Voorhes, H. D. Cutler, E. J. Butts, and ---- McCarthy.
During 1845 a citizens' mail was brought from Point Douglas. Its
regularity depended somewhat on the season. During the winter it was
brought some times as infrequently as once a month. In 1846 a
government line was established from Point Douglas, and the mail was
brought with greater regularity. In 1848 a mail coach line was
established between Stillwater and St. Paul. The year following a
weekly mail was established. The rapid increase of settlements on the
Upper Mississippi created a demand for more frequent mails;
consequently from 1850 to the completion of the railroad leading into
Stillwater, a daily mail was brought into Stillwater during the summer
by steamboats, and by the Wisconsin overland route during the winter.
RAPID GROWTH.
As an evidence of the growth of the city we append post office
statistics of salaries, expenses and income for the year 1885:
RECEIPTS.
Sales of postage stamps, envelopes,
newspaper wrappers, postal cards, etc. $12,693 34
Box rent received 2,166 25
-----------
Total $14,859 59
EXPENSES.
Postmaster's salary $2,400 00
Expenses for rent, fuel, lights, clerk
hire, etc. 3,300 00 $5,700 00
----------
Net income $9,159 59
MONEY ORDER BUSINESS.
Received for domestic orders $30,305 62
Received for fees on same 131 50
Received for international orders 1,518 81
Received for fees on same 24 95
----------
$31,980 88
Money orders paid $24,140 88
Certificates of deposit 7,840 00 $31,980 88
REGISTRY BUSINESS.
Domestic and foreign letters and packages registered 1,621
Registered matter in transit 2,327
-----
Total pieces handled 3,948
Number of pouches dispatched daily 24
Number of pouches dispatched semi-weekly 2
Number of pouches received daily 24
Number of pouches received semi-weekly 2
HOTELS.
The following hotels were built in Stillwater prior to 1850:
Northrup House, built by Anson Northrup, northwest corner
Main street and Nelson alley, 1844.
Stillwater House, built by Anson Northrup, lot 2, Main
street, 1845.
Minnesota House, built by Elam Greeley, southwest corner
Main and Myrtle, 1846.
Lake House, built by John W. Brewster, east side of Main
street between Nelson and Chestnut, 1849.
Of the hotels built subsequently to 1850, the most popular and well
known is the Sawyer House, on the northwest corner of Chestnut and
Third streets. It was built in 1857, by Henry Sawyer, opened by G. E.
B. Whitcher, and kept in succession by J. and A. Lowell, Isaac
Staples, A. Lowell and A. K. Doe. The other hotels built during this
period were the Liberty House, by John N. Ahl, 1856; Farmers Home,
1867; Williams House, 1870; Wexio Hotel, 1870; the Keystone House,
1872; the Mansion House, 1872; Central House, 1879; Elliott's Hotel,
1883.
CITY BANKS.
To Christopher Carli is due the honor of conducting the first banking
operations in Stillwater. In 1855 he issued and redeemed fractional
currency. Darling, Caswell & Scheffer, Jan. 27, 1857, opened a private
banking house, and from 1859 to 1865 operated it as a state bank, when
it was changed into the
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
of Stillwater. The capital stock was $50,000. The first officers were:
Charles Scheffer, president; O. R. Ellis, cashier. The officers in
1886 were: Louis Hospes, president; C. N. Nelson, vice president; F.
M. Prince, cashier. The capital stock is $250,000. The gross amount of
debits and credits during the year closing June 3, 1886, were
$20,000,000. We append the annual report of 1886:
RESOURCES.
Loans and discounts $727,286 70
Overdrafts 1,745 82
United States bonds to secure circulation 50,000 00
Due from approved reserve agents $30,999 72
Due from other national banks 4,266 85
Due from state banks and bankers 3,491 48 38,758 05
Real estate, furniture and fixtures 12,000 00
Current expenses and taxes paid 11,108 56
Premiums paid 9,000 00
Checks and other cash items 1,662 91
Bills of other banks 1,295 00
Fractional paper currency, nickels and pennies 77 07
Specie 33,392 00
Legal tender notes 17,440 00 53,866 98
Redemption fund with United States treasurer
(five per cent of circulation) 2,250 00
-----------
Total $906,016 11
LIABILITIES.
Capital stock paid in $250,000 00
Surplus fund 60,000 00
Undivided profits 25,617 60
National bank notes outstanding 45,000 00
Dividends unpaid 20 00
Individual deposits subject to check $236,095 72
Demand certificates of deposit 6,305 93
Time certificates of deposit 224,223 41
Cashier's checks outstanding 679 95
Due to other national banks 3,507 67
Due to state banks and bankers 5,266 78 476,079 46
Notes and bills rediscounted 49,299 05
----------
Total $906,016 11
LUMBERMAN'S NATIONAL BANK,
Organized Jan. 10, 1871. Capital stock, $150,000. First officers:
Isaac Staples, president; H. W. Cannon, cashier. In 1886 the bank had
in capital stock $250,000 and a surplus of $50,000. The present
officers are: President, Isaac Staples; vice president, R. F. Hersey;
board of directors, Isaac Staples, R. F. Hersey, E. S. Edgerton, David
Tozer, E. W. Durant, David Bronson, J. McKusick, Matt Clark, Wm. G.
Bronson, E. L. Hersey, R. S. Davis.
STILLWATER SAVINGS BANK,
Organized Jan. 10, 1873, under an act of the legislature of 1867, with
the following board of trustees: Isaac Staples, president; David
Bronson, Dwight M. Sabin, Lewis E. Torinus, Wm. Willim, I. E. Staples,
and H. W. Cannon.
ST. CROIX LUMBERMEN'S BOARD OF TRADE
Was incorporated March 8, 1867. The first officers were: President,
David Cover; vice president, Louis Hospes; secretary, E. W. Durant;
treasurer, David Bronson, Jr.; surveyor, Ivory E. McKusick.
STILLWATER BOARD OF TRADE.
The board was organized in January, 1871. The first officers were:
President, David Bronson; vice president, C. J. Butler; secretary, D.
W. Armstrong; treasurer, C. N. Nelson; board of directors, John
McKusick, Isaac Staples, J. E. Schlenk, J. O'Shaughnessy, M. Moffatt,
E. W. Durant, J. N. Castle, B. G. Merry, G. M. Seymour, L. E. Torinus.
STILLWATER WATER COMPANY.
The site of the city abounds in beautiful springs. Charles Hathaway,
while excavating on his lot near Third street, struck a large vein
capable of supplying 1,000 barrels per day. He constructed a reservoir
with an elevation of about fifty feet above the street, and from this
source supplies the city with water for sprinkling streets and other
purposes.
The Stillwater Water Company was organized April 15, 1880, with a
capital stock of $100,000, and commenced at once the work of
improvement. This company has never yet declared a dividend, having
applied all its surplus earnings upon improvements. They have now 8
1/2 miles of water mains, 88 hydrants and about 260 taps. The water
supply is obtained from Lake McKusick, which is supplied from Brown's
creek. The lake is 155 feet above the business portion of the city and
is about a mile distant from the same. The water is pumped into a
reservoir on the highest spot of ground in the city, which is 110 feet
above the lake. The system is similar to that of St. Paul, the city
being supplied in part by gravitation, and in part by direct pressure.
The elevation of the reservoir results in a saving to the city in the
matter of fire engines, etc. Any fire in the business part of the city
can be extinguished with the use of hose alone. One fire engine
answers the purposes of the city. The first board of officers were:
President, Edward Durant; vice president, R. F. Hersey; secretary and
treasurer, H. W. Cannon.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Futile efforts had been made as early as 1859 for the organization of
a fire department. In 1872 a fire company of sixty was organized and
an engine worth $7,500 was purchased. The first officers of the
company were: Chief engineer, David Bronson; first assistant, B. G.
Merry; second assistant, H. P. West; engineer, C. C. Johnson;
secretary; N. T. Lee; treasurer, Fayette Marsh.
THE ST. CROIX HOOK AND LADDER COMPANY
Was organized in 1872, by the election of the following officers:
Foreman, Charles McMillan; assistant, D. B. Loomis; secretary and
treasurer, A. K. Doe. The company has received awards of honor for
meritorious performance of duty.
STILLWATER GASLIGHT COMPANY.
This company was organized May 12, 1874, with a capital stock of
$25,000 and the exclusive right to the sale and manufacture of gas for
a period of forty years. Their buildings are located on Third street.
The first officers were: President, Isaac Staples; manager, H. W.
Cannon; board of directors, John McKusick, D. M. Sabin, Isaac Staples,
David Bronson, L. E. Torinus, H. W. Cannon, C. H. Nash.
TELEGRAPH OFFICE.
In 1863 a telegraph office was located in Stillwater by a A. C. Lull,
and a line extended to St. Paul. The office is on Main street between
Chestnut and Myrtle.
THE NATIONAL BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY
Established a line from Stillwater to St. Paul in January, 1880. It
has a branch to Marine.
UNION ELEVATOR COMPANY
Built an elevator near the Stillwater & White Bear depot in 1870-71.
It has a capacity of 300,000 bushels. The officers are: President,
Louis Huspes; secretary and treasurer, H. W. Cannon.
EXPRESS COMPANIES.
The first office was established by the Northwestern Express Company,
in 1855; Short, Proctor & Co. were agents. This company was succeeded
in 1858 by the American, and in 1869 the United States also
established an office here.
THE STILLWATER BRIDGE.
A charter was obtained from the legislature in 1875 to build a bridge
across Lake St. Croix, from Stillwater to Houlton. The bridge was
completed the ensuing year at a cost of $24,000. It is 1,500 feet
long, and is furnished with a pontoon draw 300 feet in length,
operated by an engine.
LUMBERING INTERESTS.
Stillwater is the metropolis of the lumbering interests of the St.
Croix valley, and is indebted to them chiefly for its welfare. These
are considered separately in other parts of this history. The local
interests are centred chiefly in mills and manufactories, of
themselves an important element in the prosperity of the city. The
principal proprietors of the saw mills since the first settlement of
Stillwater have been McKusick & Co., Sawyer & Heaton, McHale. & Co.,
Schulenberg & Co., Hersey, Staples & Co., Hersey, Bean & Brown, Isaac
Staples, Seymour, Sabin & Co., Herschey Lumbering Company and Turnbull
Lumbering Company.
FLOURING MILLS.
In 1872 J. H. Townshend and W. F. Cahill erected a flouring mill on
Third street. It was run by water brought from McKusick creek, the
motive power being an overshot wheel forty-five feet in diameter. In
1880 D. M. Sabin became interested in the firm. The capacity of the
mill was increased from fifty to three hundred barrels per day. A
Corliss engine and other improvements were added, and the mill was run
on the Hungarian roller system. The firm name was changed to Townshend
& Co.
The St. Croix flouring mill was built in 1877, on Upper Main street,
near the lake, by Isaac Staples. Its dimensions were 40 × 50 feet. Its
capacity was two hundred and fifty barrels per day. It was removed to
make way for the buildings of the Car Company.
The Stillwater Flour Mill Company was organized under state laws in
1878, and mills were erected on the lower levee, 50 × 70 feet, ground
plan, and five stories high. These mills were run on the Hungarian
roller system. The cost was $100,000. Their capacity is four hundred
barrels per day. The motive power is a Corliss engine of one hundred
and seventy-five horse power. The principal owners are R. F. Hersey,
Smith Ellison, D. M. Sabin and L. Hospes.
MANUFACTORIES.
Swain's machine shop, D. M. Swain, proprietor, was established in
1873, on Third street between Myrtle and Chestnut. Geo. Swain
established a foundry on Third street in 1874. His manufactures
consist chiefly of engines, mill machinery and farm utensils. The St.
Croix Iron Works, Door, Sash and Blind Factory, established originally
as a machine shop in 1865, on the river bank, near the Chicago & Omaha
round house, has been owned by various parties. A foundry was added in
1874, and in 1878 Isaac Staples added a sash and blind factory.
CARRIAGE MANUFACTORIES.
Richard Daw established the Novelty Carriage Works in 1875, one door
east of the Sawyer House.
D. J. Sullivan established the Stillwater Carriage Works in 1878, one
door east of the Sawyer House, but afterward removed to a better
location on Second street.
Wm. Miller erected the Pioneer Carriage Manufactory in 1866, on Main
street.
Albert Saeker in 1872 established a wagon shop on Second street
between Myrtle and Chestnut.
Frederick Steinacker commenced the manufacture of brick in 1859, in a
yard located in Ramsey & Carter's addition, but afterward removed to
the lower end of Sunfish lake.
It is claimed that Herman Tepass' brewery is the outgrowth of the
first in the county, if not in the State, a still having been located
at the corner of Third and Chestnut streets in 1851. The present site
is on Lower Main street. Joseph Wolff's brewery is located on the
corner of Main and Nelson streets, and was established in 1868.
Heitman & Becker established a bakery in 1879. Messrs. Muller Brothers
established a boat factory in 1873. A vinegar factory was commenced by
Ciopac & Tuor in 1875, and is continued by the latter. Of the several
livery stables in Stillwater the first was established by C. A.
Bromley in 1853.
The Stillwater Building Association, organized under the laws of the
State, March 23, 1887, has done much for the prosperity of the city,
affording as it does to persons of limited capital an opportunity of
building suitable homes and business houses. Private enterprise has
done much in the erection of substantial blocks for business purposes.
Henry Sawyer, in 1856, built the first stone block in the city. It is
located on Main street. Other fine blocks were built by McComb,
Eldridge, Bernheimer, Elam Greely, Wm. Holcombe, Schlenk, L. E.
Torinus, Hersey & Staples, McKusick, and others. Many of these blocks
are fireproof and built of stone, and are fine specimens of
architecture, convenient and commodious.
CHURCH SOCIETIES AND BUILDINGS.
Stillwater has sixteen church organizations and fifteen buildings, the
latter having a total valuation of $315,000.
The Ascension church (Episcopal) originated in the labors of Rev. E.
A. Greenleaf, in 1846. The corner stone of the first building was laid
in 1851. Rev. Joseph A. Russell was the first rector. In 1873 the
corner stone of the present edifice was laid by Bishop Welles of
Wisconsin. This building cost $10,000, and was burned in 1886 and
rebuilt in 1887.
The First Presbyterian church grew out of the missionary labors of
Rev. W. T. Boutwell, in 1847 and 1848. The church was organized in
1849; Rev. J. S. Whitney, pastor. The first building was erected in
1851, and the second, the armory, in 1857. The present edifice,
located on the corner of Myrtle and Third, was built in 1884, at a
cost of $22,000, and the total value of building and ground is
$30,000.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Dates its beginning from a society formed by Rev. James Harrington in
1850. It was organized regularly in 1853 by Rev. T. M. Fullerton. The
first house of worship was a small frame on Myrtle street, between
Second and Third streets. It was enlarged and improved in 1862. The
present edifice on Third street near Myrtle, with the parsonage
adjoining, cost about $4,200. The church has a membership of two
hundred.
ST. MICHAEL'S (CATHOLIC) CHURCH
Was organized in 1853, the first services being held by Rev. Father
Peyragrosse, a missionary. The first edifice was built on Fourth and
Mulberry streets, and Rev. Father Fisher was the first clergyman in
charge. The building was enlarged and improved in 1857. The present
commodious edifice was commenced in 1872 and dedicated in 1875. The
church property, including the school parish buildings and cemetery of
twelve acres in South Stillwater, is worth $130,000. There are now two
resident clergymen, Revs. Murphy and Gaughan.
ST. MARY'S (CATHOLIC) CHURCH,
Rev. P. Alphonse Krusle, pastor, was organized in 1865, and owns a
church building on Fifth street, near Pine, valued at $25,000. The
total value of church and parish buildings, and of the six lots on
which they are located, amounts to $55,000.
THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
Society was incorporated June 6, 1868, and the first preaching was by
Rev. E. A. Hodsdon, of St. Anthony. The edifice is on Third street
South; cost about $15,000.
SWEDISH LUTHERAN.
The society was organized in 1871; the church building was erected in
1882-83, at a cost of $15,000. The pastor is Rev. A. F. Tornell.
THE FIRST GERMAN LUTHERAN
Church was organized in 1871. The church building and parsonage are on
Third street, near Olive, and are valued at $4,500. The pastor is Rev.
J. J. Weiss.
THE NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN
Society uses the German Lutheran church buildings, corner of Olive and
Fourth streets.
THE GERMAN METHODIST
Congregation worships in a frame building, corner of Linden and
Everett streets.
THE SALEM GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH
Was formed by the withdrawal of a part of the members of the First
German Lutheran church for separate worship. The Swedish church and
school, on the corner of Olive and Fourth streets, were purchased for
$2,150. To this a parsonage was added at a cost of $2,150. Rev. L. F.
Frey is the pastor.
THE DANISH LUTHERAN CHURCH
Has a cosy frame edifice on Laurel, between Williams and Owen, but is
not holding services at present. The edifice cost $7,000 and the
membership is one hundred and fifty.
SWEDISH CONGREGATIONAL.
The Swedish Congregational church occupies a frame building on Fourth
street, between Hickory and Elm streets, which cost $2,000 and has
sixty members.
THE ST. JOSEPH'S (CATHOLIC) CHURCH
Was organized by the present pastor, Rev. Father E. Roe, in 1882, with
seventeen members, which has since been increased to eighty families.
A frame edifice was erected in 1884, with a seating capacity of four
hundred, costing about $8,000, corner of Olive and Greely streets. The
church property consists of the edifice and the priest's house, and
cost $11,000.
THE SWEDISH METHODIST CHURCH
Was organized in 1880 by Rev. C. S. Carlander. The church building is
located on Myrtle and Fourth streets, and cost $2,000.
THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
Has a membership of seventy-five and a frame building erected in 1872
at a cost of $1,200.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
The court house and other public buildings of the city are creditable
specimens of architecture, rooms convenient and well adapted to the
purposes of their construction. The present court house building is
the third erected. Its cost, including that of the jail buildings, the
wall around them and other improvements, has been something over
$75,000. The city hall, at the corner of Myrtle and Third streets, is
a substantial and convenient building. It contains also room for the
city officers. The public school buildings have kept pace with the
growth of the city. In the summer of 1887 the city erected a high
school building at a cost of $60,000. The engine house is a good
building, centrally located. An elegant union depot was built in 1887,
of brown stone from the Apostle islands, at a cost of $30,000.
THE OPERA HOUSE.--The opera house occupies the site of the old Lake
House, on Main street between Nelson and Chestnut streets. It was
commenced in 1880 and finished in 1881, under the supervision of L.
W. Eldred, architect. Its size is 90×120 feet, ground plan, and four
stories in height, or seventy-one feet from lower floor to cornice.
The style of architecture is a blending of the Queen Anne, Victoria
and Gothic. The entrance to the upper part of the building is by a
stairway twelve feet wide, in a lofty, ornamental turret. The
auditorium is 64×120 feet, and beautifully and elaborately finished
and furnished, and is capable of seating over 1,200 persons. It is
well lighted, being supplied with 130 gas jets, warmed by steam, and
well ventilated. The stage is 39×64 feet, complete in all its
appointments, and supplied with all the necessary stage scenery,
wings, border bridge, balcony, interior and other decorations. The
ceiling of the auditorium is superbly frescoed and the cornice is
adorned with medallions of Shakespeare, Haydn, Schiller, Goethe,
Dickens, Handel, Scott, Longfellow, Mozart, Tennyson, and Beethoven.
The parts of the building not occupied for stage purposes are
appropriated to halls, offices and stores.
SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS.
I. O. O. F.--Lodge No. 1, organized June, 1849; Stillwater Lodge, No.
51, organized January, 1876.
Masonic.--St. John's Lodge No. 1, organized 1849; Washington, Royal
Arch Chapter, No. 17, organized March, 1868; Bayard Commandery, K. T.,
No. 11, organized March, 1878.
Knights of Pythias.--Stillwater Lodge, No. 7, organized November,
1872.
A. O. U. W.--St. Croix Lodge, No. 11, organized July, 1876.
Sons of Herman.--Stillwater Lodge, No. 3, organized January, 1876;
Concordia Lodge, No. 19, organized January, 1881.
Temperance Societies.--I. O. G. T. Lodge of Stillwater, organized in
1859; L'Etoile du Nord Lodge, No. 57, organized May, 1866; Temple of
Honor, No. 10, organized September, 1876; Father Matthew Temperance
Society, organized November, 1872.
Miscellaneous.--St. Ann's Society, organized November, 1866; St.
Vincent de Paul Conference, organized October, 1870; St. Joseph
Benevolent Society, organized November, 1879; Y. M. C. A., organized
in 1878; Washington County Bible Society, organized in 1851;
Northwestern Benefit Society, No. 1, organized in 1879; Subordinate
Union Penn Equitable Association, No. 165, organized in 1880;
Stillwater City Hospital, organized March, 1880; Stillwater
Mannerchoir, organized in 1875; the Stillwater Turnverein, organized
in 1859; G. A. R., Stillwater Post, No. 13, organized March, 1868.
CEMETERIES.
The first burial ground was selected in 1846. Ten years later, by a
survey of the city, these grounds were included in what is now known
as block 3. These grounds were used until the organization of the
Fairview Cemetery Association in 1867, when the bodies were removed to
the new cemetery in the burial ground in South Stillwater. Fairview
cemetery is beautifully located on undulating or hilly ground and is
adorned with shrubbery and made attractive by the hand of art. Its
location is within the city limits, near the corner of Orleans and
Fourth streets.
WASHINGTON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
An attempt was made at organization in 1856, but it proved premature.
The present society was organized in February, 1871, at Cottage Grove,
and incorporated the same year. The first board of officers consisted
of J. W. Furber, president; J. S. Norris, vice president; T. Elwell,
secretary, and James Middleton, treasurer. In 1873 the fair grounds
were established near Stillwater, under the joint control of the
Agricultural Society and the Driving Park Association. In 1875 the
fair grounds were established at Lake Elmo. But one fair had been held
there when a cyclone struck the grounds and swept away all the
improvements. The society again effected an arrangement by which their
fairs were held on the grounds near Stillwater.
MINNESOTA STATE PRISON.
At the organization of Minnesota Territory Congress appropriated
$5,000 for a territorial prison. The legislature expended the money
thus appropriated in building a prison at Stillwater. The site was
located by a commission appointed by the legislature in 1849,
consisting of John McKusick, E. A. C. Hatch and Lewis Robert. The
commission was also authorized to locate the Territorial University
and select a site in St. Paul for the capitol. Their task was not
completed until the ensuing year. Their selection of a location for
the university and of a site for the capitol were satisfactory, but it
was generally conceded that the site for the prison was badly chosen.
The ground, nine acres, was mostly quagmire, and was, moreover,
crowded in a ravine between high bluffs. However, it was convenient to
the lake and steamboat landing, and was well watered with pure spring
water.
In 1851 Jesse Taylor, F. R. Delano, Martin Mower, J. E. McKusick, and
Jacob Fisher entered into contract with the commissioners, under the
firm name of Jesse Taylor & Co., to build one stone wing of the prison
building, to be inclosed with a stone wall. The dimensions of the wing
were 30 × 40 feet and three stories high. In 1853 an addition was
built, and Francis R. Delano was appointed warden. Until 1858 the
expenditure of the public money used in building and other expenses
was under the control of the warden. Under state rule the warden was
relieved of this burden of responsibility. The legislature had
provided that prisoners might be received in the penitentiary not yet
convicted of crime, on condition that their board should be defrayed
by the counties from which they were sent. When this expense was not
promptly met by the counties the prisoners thus held were set at
liberty. The Washington county grand jury investigated the matter and
memorialized the ensuing legislature, which effected a change in the
laws regarding such commitments. Wings were added to the prison, walls
were built, shops and other accessories added from year to year, and
appropriations were made from time to time. In 1870 an appropriation
of $74,000 was made for extending the building. Outside companies were
permitted to build shops and manufactories within the prison limits
that they might avail themselves of convict labor.
The following are the wardens who have served since the prison was
built: Territorial, F. R. Delano; state government: Francis O. J.
Smith, appointed March 4, 1858; Henry N. Setzer, Aug. 4, 1858; John S.
Proctor, Jan. 1, 1860; Joshua L. Taylor, Feb. 16, 1868; A. C. Webber,
March 16, 1870; Henry A. Jackman, Oct. 10, 1870; John A. Reid, Aug. 3,
1874; H. G. Stordock, 1887.
The following table shows the number of convicts each year up to the
present time:
1853 0
1854 2
1855 8
1856 1
1857 0
1858 2
1839 5
1860 16
1861 12
1862 7
1963 8
1864 7
1865 11
1866 29
1867 36
1868 31
1869 47
1870 39
1871 60
1872 59
1873 64
1875 93
1876 90
1877 145
1878 218
1879 254
1880 254
1881 247
1882 279
1883 301
1884 356
1885 395
1886, Mar. 31 416
The prison on the whole has been well and humanely managed. There have
been occasional outbreaks, easily suppressed, or cases of individual
insubordination, two or three with fatal results to the
insubordinates.
The prison buildings have been several times visited by damaging and
disastrous fires. The most serious were in 1884. The first occurred
January 8th, by which the large workshop and machinery owned by the
State and the Northwestern Car Company were destroyed. The second
occurred January 26th, and destroyed the main prison buildings,
including the cells, from which the prisoners were rescued with the
greatest difficulty. One perished of suffocation. On this occasion
guards, prison officials and some of the convicts displayed heroism
worthy of the highest commendation. The convicts on the whole behaved
well. Mr. Reid, the warden of the prison, behaved with great coolness
and decision, and so averted what might have been a fearful disaster.
FIRES.
Stillwater has suffered occasionally from fires. The first house
burned was the McKusick boarding house, in 1846. The Northrup hotel
was burned in 1847. In 1866 a fire occurred on the west side of Main
street, between Myrtle and Chestnut, in which twelve buildings were
burned, principally frame structures. In 1872 the Lake House and four
adjacent buildings were burned. The Schulenburg mill was burned in
1878. Two great fires occurred in the penitentiary in 1884. The
Episcopal church building and the mills of Hersey & Bean were burned
in 1887. Numerous smaller fires occurred at intervals, but owing to
the efficiency of the fire companies they were easily suppressed.
BONDS AND INDEBTEDNESS.
Up to 1886 the bonded indebtedness of the city has aggregated the sum
of $345,000. The bonds were issued at various times for railway and
levee improvements, city bridge, city buildings, water works and
current funds. The interest on these bonds has always been promptly
met, and the expenditures for improvements have been more than repaid
to the taxpayers by the increased valuation of property within the
city limits.
ISSAC STAPLES, son of Rev. Winslow Staples, was born in Topsham,
Maine, Sept. 25, 1816. At eighteen years of age he bought his time of
his father for three hundred and sixty dollars. He found employment on
the Penobscot river at lumbering for two years, when he engaged in
selling goods at Old Town, but soon after went into the lumbering
business with S.F. Hersey. In 1849 Mr. Staples was appointed agent for
the Penobscot Indians living at Old Town, twelve miles above Bangor,
on the Penobscot. In October, 1853, Mr. Staples came to Minnesota for
the purpose of purchasing pine lands, and located at Stillwater,
moving his family here in 1854. Mr. Staples represented a wealthy
company, composed of himself, S. F. Hersey and some Massachusetts men,
who furnished all the money needed to buy pine land or make any other
investments deemed advisable. They, through the agency of Mr. Staples,
purchased immense quantities of pine timber. They built a large saw
mill in Stillwater, and dealt in any and all branches of business
considered remunerative. The advent of Isaac Staples in Stillwater
gave to the city new life. Mr. Staples was indefatigable in his
labors, full of vigor and in prime health. His ambition was unlimited,
his judgment good. Backed up by a successful lumbering experience in
Maine, and with money sufficient to meet all necessary calls, he was
financially progressive and prosperous. In after years Messrs. Staples
& Hersey purchased the entire interest of the firm of Hersey, Staples
& Co. Subsequently the firm changed to Hersey & Staples and Hersey,
Staples & Bean, and finally a division of property was agreed upon.
Since the division Mr. Staples has been just as extensively engaged in
the name of Isaac Staples in doing business as at any period in his
past life.
In 1887 Mr. Staples purchased the property of the Cushing Company,
located at St. Croix and Taylor's Falls, for $50,000. This property
has long been in litigation and consequently has been unimproved. The
advent of Mr. Staples, as proprietor, opens a new era in the history
of the two villages at the head of navigation on the St. Croix.
In addition to his lumbering and real estate interests, Mr. Staples
has also engaged in farming and stock raising on an extensive scale.
He owns one farm of six hundred and forty acres within the limits of
Stillwater. This farm is well stocked and supplied with stores, barns,
shops and other buildings. It is used as a stork farm, and as a
headquarters for supplying his lumbering camps.
Mr. Staples has another farm located on the line of the Minneapolis,
Soo & Atlantic railway, eleven miles northwest of Stillwater, known as
the Maple Island farm, which contains 1,400 acres of land, inclosed
and supplied with barns, farm houses and other buildings. There are
fine wells and lakes and some well stocked fish ponds. He owns a
flouring mill on this farm.
Mr. Staples has a third farm at Bronson, Kanabec county, containing
2,000 acres of land, well under cultivation. Ann river flows through
this farm, and is supplied with a dam to facilitate the driving of
logs into Fish lake. The farm is also made a fitting-out place for the
lumbering camps. These three farms are valued at $250,000.
Mr. Staples has lived an unusually busy life, and has been unusually
successful. Though past the ordinary limit of human life, he is still
active, and will probably continue to plan and work as long as he
lives. He is happiest when most busily employed. His mind is of the
active type. He is restless, alert, far-seeing, systematic, and
persistent. Without these qualities he never could have achieved the
success that has crowned his career. He has been twice married; first
in 1839, to Miss Caroline B. Rogers, of Old Town, Maine, by whom he
had one child, who is still living. Mrs. Staples died in 1810. He was
again married, Jan, 31, 1841, to Miss Olivia J. Pettengill, of Old
Town, Maine, by whom he has had eight children,--four sons and four
daughters,--four of whom are living.
SAMUEL F. HERSEY, of the late firm of Hersey, Staples & Co., was born
in Sumner, Maine, in 1812. At an early day he became a citizen of
Bangor, Maine, and wisely invested in pine timber lands on the
Penobscot waters, when lands were cheap. Their true value was not
appreciated by many. The business interests of the county had not been
developed and lumber dealing was not profitable. The increase in value
on his investments made him a wealthy man. He was a banker, merchant
and lumberman. His investments always yielded a rich return. His
associates and townsmen often elected him to posts of honor and trust.
In 1842-57-65-67 and 69 he was in the Maine state legislature. When he
died, Feb. 3. 1875, he was serving his second term (four years) as
representative in Congress, from the Bangor or Fourth district of
Maine. He died at his home in Bangor. Both houses of Congress paid
fitting tributes to his high business, social and christian standing,
and his worth as a legislator and statesman.
Mr. Hersey was not a citizen of Minnesota, but as early as 1851 became
a member of the firm of Hersey, Staples & Co., of Stillwater, and
interested himself greatly in Minnesota and Stillwater enterprises.
Amongst other things he aided in building two railroads, and gave
liberally for the erection of the Universalist church and to its
library. He was thrice married, and left a family of four sons, the
children of his second wife.
ROSCOE F. HERSEY, the oldest son, was born July 18, 1841, in Milford,
Maine; was educated at the graded school in Bangor, and clerked in his
father's store until 1862, when he volunteered as a soldier in Company
A, Eighteenth Maine Infantry. He was appointed second lieutenant and
rose to the rank of captain in 1863, but on May 19, 1864, was severely
wounded at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, was confined in
the hospital nine months, and discharged with the brevet rank of
colonel.
Col. Hersey spent two years in New Orleans, engaged in the shipping
and commission business, and in the spring of 1867 came to Stillwater
and thence to Lake City, where he had charge of the lumber and
mercantile business of Hersey, Staples & Co. in that city for five
years. In 1872 he returned to Stillwater, entered the firm of Hersey,
Brown & Bean, dealers in lands, lumber and merchandise. In 1877 he was
elected state senator and served one term. He has held many
responsible positions. He married Eva C. Wardwell, of Bangor, Maine,
Jan. 4, 1864. They have one son, Clinton, an enterprising, public
spirited man, inheriting much of his father's will power.
DUDLEY H. HERSEY, the second son, was born in Bangor, Dec. 25, 1847.
He was educated at Westbrook Seminary, Maine, and came to Stillwater
at an early age in the employ of his father. In 1872 he became one of
the firm of Hersey, Bean & Brown. Mr. Hersey was married to Estella
Wardwell, of Bangor, Maine, in 1870. They have one son, Samuel F.
EUGENE M. HERSEY, the third son, was born in Bangor, Maine, May 6,
1850. He was educated at the high school in Bangor. With his brother
he has been interested in milling and lumbering operations. He was
married in 1876.
EDWARD L. HERSEY, the youngest son, was born in Bangor, Maine, April
29, 1852; graduated at Westbrook Seminary in 1871, and was married to
Mary L. Merrill, of Chicago, in 1877.
[Illustration: JACOB BEAN.]
JACOB BEAN was born in Upper Stillwater, Maine, in 1837. In that
centre of the lumbering interests he early and easily took to
lumbering, and pursued the business continuously until 1863, when he
came to Stillwater, where he became an active member of the firm of
Hersey, Staples & Bean, and of Hersey, Bean & Brown.
CHARLES BEAN was born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, in 1827; removed to
Orono, Maine, in 1835; followed lumbering on the Penobscot river for
a few years. He came to Stillwater in 1863, and some years later sent
for his aged parents, giving them a home until their death. In 1865 he
became one of the firm of Hersey, Staples & Bean, dealers in pine
land. He is at present with his oldest son in California, where both
are interested in real estate and irrigation enterprises. Mr. Bean has
been twice married and has a family of eight children. The oldest
daughter married Jerry Brown, now deceased. Mr. Bean moved to
California in 1887.
RUDOLPH LEHMICKE was born in Prussia in 1822. He learned the trade of
cabinet and organ making; came to America in 1849, and to Stillwater
in 1854, working at his trade until 1858. He served one year as
justice of the peace, and having studied law was admitted to practice
in 1859. In the fall of 1859 he was elected county auditor and served
until 1874. He was elected judge of the probate court, in which
position he continued until 1881. He has served as inspector of the
prison, superintendent of public schools, and member of the board of
education. Judge Lehmicke was married in 1853, in Coldwater, Michigan,
to Jane Tackeberry. They have a family of five sons and two daughters.
HOLLIS R. MURDOCK was born in Governeur, New York, Aug. 15, 1832. He
graduated at Williams College, Massachusetts, in 1854, came to
Stillwater in 1855, and was admitted to the practice of law in 1856,
since which time he has been in continuous practice. He has held many
offices of trust. Has been judge of the probate court and member of
the legislature from Washington county, and director of a bank and
railroad company. Mr. Murdock was married to Sarah A. Rice, Nov. 3,
1857.
GEORGE M. SEYMOUR was born in Onondaga county, New York, March 26,
1829. Part of his early life he spent on a farm, but later he learned
the carpenter's trade and became a builder and contractor. While in
Syracuse he engaged for some years in the manufacture of lumber and
staves, and later, of salt. He was married to Anna B. Kingsley in
1851. In 1858 he came to Stillwater, and in 1861 was awarded the
prison contract, and engaged in making cooperage. He was one of the
founders of the firms of Seymour, Webster & Co. and Seymour, Sabin &
Co. (the Northwestern Car Company). He was sheriff of Washington
county for two years.
FRANK A. SEYMOUR, only son of George M., was cashier of the First
National Bank of Stillwater for four years, and subsequently cashier
of the Merchants Bank, St. Paul.
MARION O., only daughter of George M. Seymour, graduated from Mount
Holyoke Seminary in 1880.
[Illustration: LOUIS HOSPES]
LOUIS HOSPES, for many years identified with the Schulenberg-Boeckeler
Lumber Company, and father of A. C. Hospes, surveyor general of logs
and lumber, E. L. Hospes of the Schulenberg-Boeckeler Company, and
Otto G. Hospes of the hardware firm of A. C. Hospes & Co., died April
9, 1888. The deceased was born in the landgravate of Hesse-Cassel,
Germany, Feb. 8, 1809, and attended school in the city of Witzenhausen
until he was sixteen years old. He then became a farmer, which
avocation he followed for four years. He then entered the University
of Gottingen, where he made a special study of the theory and practice
of agriculture and of veterinary medicine and surgery. Retiring from
the university, for two years he took charge of the farms on some
large estates. In 1832 he sailed from Bremen for America, arriving at
New York on September 4th of that year. Leaving that city on the
eleventh of the same month, he arrived in St. Louis on October 18th.
From that city he went to St. Charles county, where he engaged in
agriculture and other pursuits until 1840. During his residence there
he married Elvira Wurdeman, who survives him. In 1840 he removed to
Green county, Southwest Missouri, where he made his home for the next
six years among the Ozark mountains, where he and two brothers engaged
in the distilling business. In 1848 Mr. Hospes went to St. Louis and
entered the employ of Schulenberg & Boeckeler, where he remained until
Oct. 21, 1854, when he came to Stillwater to take charge of the
business of his employers here. In 1856 he became a partner in the
concern, and continued so until 1874, when the firm reorganized as the
Schulenberg-Boeckeler Lumber Company. When he retired, his son, E. L.
Hospes, succeeded to his interest, which he now holds. In 1871 Mr.
Hospes visited Europe with his family, spending a year abroad. In
1862, with his associates, he organized the First National Bank of
Stillwater, of which he has been president for twenty years. His life
in this city has been that of an active, energetic and generally
successful business man, and though conservative in his business
operations has always been ready to lend a helping hand to any
deserving or practical business enterprise. He was marked for that
fixed and reliable character which made his name a tower of strength
to any enterprise with which he was connected, and his integrity,
extending to little things, became proverbial. Besides the sons named
he left two daughters, Mrs. H. E. Mann, of Milwaukee, and Mrs. J.
Schlenk, of St. Paul.
DAVID TOZER was born in Miramachi, New Brunswick, in 1823. His early
opportunities for obtaining an education were somewhat limited, and he
obtained only three months' schooling. He came to Stillwater in 1856
and engaged in lumbering, working by the month for five years, and
afterward independently or in partnership with his brother Albert, and
in the firm of Sauntry & Tozer, cutting and rafting lumber. He was
married in Canada, in 1867, to Margaret McKay. Mr. Tozer has been an
industrious and successful man.
DAVID BRONSON was born in Anson, Maine, in 1834. He clerked in Boston
from 1850 to 1855, when he came to Stillwater, where he has since been
engaged in selling goods, lumbering and manufacturing. He was married
in 1861 to Ianthe Davis.
JOHN MALOY is of Irish descent. He was born in Ireland, and emigrated
to New Brunswick. He came to Stillwater with his family in 1853, and
engaged in lumbering. His family consisted of nine sons and three
daughters. The daughters are married. Four of the sons are living; two
of them. Patrick and William, in Oregon, and the others, James and
Robert, in Stillwater.
MRS. SUSANNAH TEPASS, _nee_ Burkhart, was born in Germany, Aug. 10,
1824. Her parents emigrated to America in 1847 and settled in
Freeport, Illinois, where she was married, in 1849, to N. Kimmick, and
the same year came to Stillwater. Mr. Kimmick died in 1857. In 1860
she was married to Frank Aiple. Mr. Aiple died Nov. 10, 1868. Dec. 9,
1869, she was married to her present husband, Herman Tepass. Her
children are Mary, Herman and Frank Aiple.
WILLIAM E. THORNE came to Stillwater in 1853. He has been an attentive
and successful merchant, a polite and honorable gentleman, and a good
citizen.
EDWARD J. BUTTS was born in Delaware county, New York, in 1832;
graduated at the Albany Normal School in 1853, and taught school
awhile during his minority, and some years after studied law (in
1861), and was admitted to practice in Broome county, New York. In
1862 he enlisted in a New York regiment and served his full time of
enlistment. In 1864 he was appointed clerk in the third auditor's
office, Washington, which position he resigned in 1865 and came to
Stillwater to practice his profession. He served some time as justice
of the peace, and for ten years as judge of probate in Washington
county. He was collector of internal revenue one year, and was eight
years postmaster in Stillwater, completing his term of service in
1886. Mr. Butts was married to Augusta Miller in 1856. Mrs. Butts
died in 1869, leaving one son and one daughter. Mr. Butts married Ida
Ellsworth in 1878. They have one son and two daughters. His oldest son
is in the military school at West Point.
A. B. EASTON was born at Mesopotamia, Trumbull county, Ohio, March 1,
1828. His parents were natives of Massachusetts, tracing their lineage
to the Pilgrim Fathers. At the age of fourteen years he was clerk in a
store, but at the wish of his parents, left the store and attended
school, finishing his studies by a course at the high school. Soon
after he again assumed the position of clerk, in which he continued
two years, when, in 1855, he took charge of his father's hotel. Two
years subsequently he came to Stillwater, beginning work as a
compositor for the Stillwater _Messenger_, A. J. Van Voorhes,
proprietor. During the absence of the proprietor Mr. Easton was
manager. Finally, in 1863, he and A. B. Stickney rented the paper,
which they operated one year, then carried it on alone until 1865.
During this time Mr. Van Voorhes had been filling the position of
quartermaster, and on his return made Mr. Easton foreman, where he
continued until 1868. The St. Paul _Dispatch_ had just been
established, and he was connected with the interests of this paper
until his return to Stillwater in 1869. Aug. 6, 1870, he issued the
first number of the Stillwater _Gazette_. His son William E. was taken
as a partner in 1876. Mr. Easton and son have through their ability
and industry made the _Gazette_ a readable, reliable and popular
paper. Mr. Easton was married to Julia Burke, Oct. 14, 1849. They have
four sons and three daughters.
EDWIN A. FOLSOM was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, June 30, 1833. He
spent most of his youth with his parents in Bangor, Maine, where he
was educated in the common schools. In 1856 he came to Stillwater and
for six years was book-keeper for Hersey, Staples & Co. In 1862 he
enlisted in Company C, Eighth Minnesota Volunteers, and was
commissioned as captain. He left the service at the close of the war
with the rank of brevet colonel. Returning to Stillwater, he served
six years as county treasurer, and has since been engaged in lumbering
and selling goods under the firm name of Bronson & Folsom. He was
married Oct. 12, 1872, to Frances E. Staples.
JOHN B. H. MITCHELL.--The ancestors of Mr. Mitchell were Revolutionary
patriots, originally Scotch covenanters, who settled in North
Carolina, but who in after years freed their slaves and came to the
Northern States. Mr. Mitchell was born Nov. 26, 1820, in Monroe
county, Kentucky. His education was obtained chiefly in the printing
office of H. H. Houghton, of Galena, Illinois. He came to St. Paul in
1852, and was employed two years in the _Pioneer_ printing office. In
1854, in company with T. M. Newson and others, he published the St.
Paul _Daily Times_. In 1855 he located on a farm near South
Stillwater. During the early part of the Civil War he was in
Nashville, Tennessee, and reported proceedings of secession
conventions to northern papers. In 1863 he was elected a member of the
Minnesota legislature. Mr. Mitchell has filled other offices of trust.
He was married in 1850 to Mariana B. Fiske, a daughter of David Fiske,
of Baytown.
JOSEPH SCHUPP was born in Baden, Germany, in 1831; received a college
and general business education and came to America in 1852, locating
first at Buffalo, New York, and thence at Toledo, Ohio, whence he
removed to Stillwater in 1858, and engaged in the mercantile business.
Commencing moderately, he extended his operations and now owns several
buildings and blocks, and conducts a heavy wholesale trade. He was
married in 1855 to Mary Fuller, of Toledo, Ohio. They have three sons
living, Joseph A., Thomas O. A. and Frank.
CLIFFORD A. BENNETT was born in Portage county, Ohio, Sept. 7, 1841. He
received a common school and collegiate education. He attended Hiram
College during the time that President James A. Garfield presided over
it. April 24, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, Twenty-third Ohio
Volunteers. He was subsequently promoted to the staff of Gen. W. D.
Hazen and served until mustered out at the close of the war. He came
to Illinois in 1865, read law and was admitted to practice in 1867;
came to Stillwater in 1868, and for ten years was in the office of the
surveyor general. In 1878 he was elected clerk of court.
SAMUEL MATHEWS was born in New Brunswick, July 7, 1832. His
opportunities for schooling were limited, and he is practically self
educated. He came to Stillwater in October, 1856, since which time he
has been engaged in lumbering, dealing in pine lands and in the
mercantile business. He is a member of the firm of Mathews & Jourdain,
and has been quite successful in his business undertakings. Mr.
Mathews has been called upon to fill many positions of trust. He has
served over twenty-five years as manager, receiving and disbursing
agent of the Stillwater fire department. He served four years as mayor
of Stillwater, was county commissioner for twelve years, and for many
years director in the First National Bank of Stillwater. He was
married to Elisabeth Foley in 1867. Their children are Samuel, Thomas,
James, Mollie, Adie, Stella, and May.
JOHN AND JAMES MATHEWS, brothers of Samuel, came to Stillwater in
1856, and are active, enterprising business men and good citizens.
Their business is farming and lumbering.
PETER JOURDAIN is a native of Canada. He came to Stillwater about the
year 1856, and successfully engaged in lumbering. He is a member of
the firm of Mathews & Jourdain, a firm engaged in dealing in logs and
in manufacturing them into lumber. Mr. Jourdain has a family.
JAMES ROONEY was born in New Richmond, Canada East, in 1829. He
remained in Canada until 1850, when he removed to Maine, coming thence
to Stillwater in 1854. He engaged in lumbering, working at first by
the month, and gradually acquiring means and influence for independent
work. He is well situated, has a happy home and prosperous business.
He was married to Elisabeth McGuire, of Stillwater, in 1863. They have
five children.
JAMES N. CASTLE is a native of Sheffield, Sheffield county, province
of Quebec. He received a common school education; read law four years
and was admitted to practice. He came to Minnesota in 1862, and taught
school part of the time at Afton until 1865, when he was elected
county attorney of Washington county. Mr. Castle served as state
senator in the eleventh, twelfth, twenty-first, twenty-second,
twenty-third and twenty-fourth legislatures of Minnesota. He settled
in Stillwater in 1866.
ABRAHAM L. GALLESPIE was born at Shiloh, Randolph county, Illinois, in
1836. He came to Osceola, Polk county, Wisconsin, in 1850. In 1859 he
moved to Stillwater, since which time, with the exception of a year
spent in Colorado, and two years in the army as a member of Company D,
Second Wisconsin Cavalry, he has followed the business of lumbering
and dealing in logs. He has filled the position of alderman in
Stillwater. He was married to Adelia F. Wilson, of Osceola, in 1860.
JOHN C. GARDINER came to Stillwater in 1850, from Washington county,
Maine. He was born Jan. 5, 1822. On coming to Stillwater he located
on a homestead near the city, and followed farming and lumbering for
some years. In 1873 he was appointed prison guard, which position he
held until a recent date. In 1845 he was married to Mary R. Jackman,
in Maine. They have two sons living, Frederic and Albert L. Mrs.
Gardiner died in August, 1887.
V. C. SEWARD was born July 10, 1845, at Laketon, Wabash county,
Indiana. He came to Mankato at the age of ten, served an
apprenticeship at printing in the office of the Mankato _Independent_,
subsequently attended the Western Reserve College, Ohio; and then
became editor of the Cleveland (Ohio) _Leader_. He returned to
Minnesota in 1869, and founded the Redwood Falls _Mail_. In 1872 he
came to Stillwater and purchased the Stillwater _Messenger_ in company
with S. S. Taylor. He has had entire control continuously since, and
has been successful in its management. He was married to Lily M.
Lumbard, at Shakopee, Minnesota, in 1873.
RALPH WHEELER, one of Stillwater's early citizens, commenced piloting
an the St. Croix in 1850, and has been continuously engaged in the
piloting, steamboating, log and lumber business since. He is one of
the original proprietors of the opera house. He was born in Chautauqua
county, New York, in 1829. W. H. H. Wheeler, brother of Ralph, has
long been a prominent citizen of Stillwater. He married Lura, daughter
of Daniel Mears, of Osceola.
EDWARD SCOTT BROWN, of the firm of Hersey, Bean & Brown, was born Feb.
9, 1830, at Orono, Maine. He received a good education in the common
schools and at Foxcroft Academy. He learned the trade of millwright,
and in 1852 went to Puget Sound, Washington Territory, via Panama and
San Francisco, and was employed two years in building mills. He
returned to Orono in 1854, and in 1855 came to St. Anthony, Minnesota,
and engaged in the manufacturing and millwright business. He came to
Stillwater in 1873, entered the firm of Hersey, Bean & Brown, and in
1883 was appointed receiver of the Northwestern Car Works. Mr. Brown
represented his district in the state senate of 1876.
WILLIAM LOWELL was born in Concord, Maine, April 26, 1807. Mr. Lowell
was raised on a farm, but followed lumbering after he was twenty-one
years old, with the Coburns on the Kennebec river, and afterward took
a vessel around Cape Horn to San Francisco, California, with a cargo
of manufactured lumber, consisting of ready made houses. He returned
in 1850 by the overland route. Two years later he came to Taylor's
Falls, but in 1853 settled in Stillwater, where he engaged in
lumbering as a partner of S. M. Sawyer. He made a fine farm in
Sterling, Polk county, Wisconsin, and lived upon it three years. He
was interested in locating pine lands in company with the Colburns of
Maine, on the St. Croix waters. He was a member of the Minnesota
legislature in 1870. He was married in Concord, Maine, in 1836, to
Rhoda Heald. She died in 1842, leaving two daughters. In 1856 he was
married to Mrs. Elisabeth Rich, sister of Isaac Staples. Mr. Lowell
died in Stillwater, July 15, 1873, leaving a widow and four children.
ALBERT LOWELL was born at Concord, Maine, July 10, 1819. He was
married Feb. 5, 1850, to Miss Abby Reed, at Kendall's Mills, Maine.
From this union there were four children, of whom three are living,
Elmore, Charles G. and Ernest. Mr. Lowell spent his early days in
farming on the banks of the Kennebec river. In 1854 he came to
Stillwater and settled on a farm near Lily lake, a portion of which
farm is now used as a driving park. May 19, 1863, he took charge of
the noted Sawyer House in Stillwater, which he afterward purchased.
Himself, Mrs. Lowell and their son Elmore have by their invariable
courtesy and close attention to business made this hotel one of the
most popular in the State. They sold and left the hotel, December,
1887.
NELSON HOLMES VAN VOORHES, eldest son of Abraham Van Voorhes, settled
in Ohio and became a respected and useful citizen, at one time
representing his district in Congress.
ANDREW JACKSON VAN VOORHES, the second son, born June 30, 1824, came
to Stillwater in 1855, and in 1856 founded the Stillwater _Messenger_
and conducted it until 1868, excepting two years which he spent in the
army during the Civil War. He was a member of the Minnesota
legislature in 1859-60, and served as clerk of the Minnesota supreme
court for one year. From 1863 to 1865 he served as quartermaster in
the army, with the rank of captain. He died in Stillwater in 1873.
HENRY CLAY VAN VOORHES, the youngest son, was born in Athens, Ohio, in
1839, and came with his father to Stillwater in 1850. During the war
he was a member of Company B, First Minnesota Volunteers, for about
eighteen months, when he was discharged for disabilities. He afterward
returned to the field with his brother, Capt. A. J. Van Voorhes, but
was not on active duty. At the close of the war he returned to
Stillwater, which has since been his home. He was married at Arcola,
Feb. 9, 1868, to Emily Mower, daughter of John E. and Gracia Mower. In
1887 he went to Alaska.
LOUISA, eldest daughter of Abraham Van Voorhes, was married to C. A.
Bromley. She died in 18--. Maria, the youngest daughter, was married
to D. H. Cutler, of Stillwater.
C. A. BROMLEY was born in Plattsburg, New York, Oct. 31, 1829. He came
to Minnesota in 1851. He erected a fine livery and sale stable on
Chestnut street in 1863. Mr. Bromley served in the war of the
Rebellion as captain of Company B, First Minnesota, and afterward of
Company I, Sixth Minnesota Volunteers. He was married to Louisa Van
Voorhes, who died some years ago. He was married a second time, to a
Miss King.
CHARLES J. BUTLER was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 6, 1822.
He was educated at the Western University of Pennsylvania. He removed
to St. Louis in 1839, where he remained for ten years. He was married
to Margaret E. Lansing, of Madison, Wisconsin, in May, 1846. The
following July he went as paymaster's clerk, under his father, Maj.
John B. Butler, to Mexico, in the Chihuahua expedition, commanded by
Gen. John E. Wool. Returning to St. Louis, he engaged in the wholesale
grocery business until the spring of 1849, when he disposed of his
stock and went to California, where he engaged in mining operations.
In August, 1851, he came to Marine as book-keeper for Judd, Walker &
Co., remaining with them until he was appointed secretary of the St.
Croix Boom Company, which position he held until 1875. In 1856 he
removed to Stillwater. In 1857 he was elected delegate to the
constitutional convention. He served one term as mayor of Stillwater.
In 1862 he served as first lieutenant under David Bronson as captain,
and with S. J. R. McMillan as second lieutenant, in the Chengwatana
expedition sent from Stillwater to prevent the Chippewas from rising
and joining in the Sioux insurrection. He purchased the Nelson
warehouse, and, with Capt. Isaac Gray as partner, engaged in the
towboat business until 1878. Of late years Mr. Butler has been engaged
in business ventures in Western Minnesota, but he still retains his
residence at Stillwater. Mr. Butler has always been a lover of field
sports and his prowess as a sportsman is well remembered by his old
friends. He has four children--two sons and two daughters.
LEVI E. THOMPSON was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, May 5,
1829; educated at Troy Wesleyan Seminary, New York; commenced studying
law at the age of fourteen; was admitted to practice by the supreme
court at the age of twenty, and, coming to Stillwater in 1852,
commenced practice, having associated with him at various times T. E.
Parker, Allen Dawson and John Vanderburgh. He was married, October,
1856, to Martha G. Harris, daughter of Albert Harris, an early settler
of Stillwater. Mr. Thompson died Nov. 8, 1887.
GEORGE DAVIS was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, Sept. 22, 1832. He
received a good school and academic education. He removed to St. Louis
in 1852, and to Stillwater in 1853, where he served some years as a
mercantile clerk, then as deputy sheriff, then ten years as sheriff of
Washington county. He also served as clerk of the district court, and
in 1876 as county auditor. In 1865 he was married to Georgiana
Stanchfield, of Stillwater. Mr. Davis died in 1879 and Mrs. Davis in
1882, leaving five children.
WM. MONROE MCCLUER was born Sept. 6, 1831, in Franklinville, New York.
He graduated from Temple Hill Academy, Geneseo, New York, in 1850;
studied law in Moscow, New York; graduated at the State and National
Law School at Poughkeepsie in 1854, and, removing to Stillwater the
same year, engaged in the practice of his profession, in which he has
been eminently successful. In November, 1881, he was appointed
additional judge for the First district, an office created by the
legislature at its special session. Judge McCluer served one term in
the house of representatives. He was married to Helen A. Jencks, of
Waterford, Saratoga county, New York, Sept. 27, 1858. They have one
son, Charles M., practicing law in Stillwater.
JOHN NICHOLAS AHL was born at Strasburg on the Rhine, Oct. 7, 1807.
After seven years' study he was graduated as a physician at Strasburg
Medical College in 1839. He emigrated to America and located in
Galena, Illinois, in 1843, where he practiced medicine some years. He
was married in 1846 to Lucretia Hartman. In 1850 he removed to
Stillwater. In 1852 he built the Washington Hotel (afterward changed
to Liberty House), on south Main street. He practiced medicine and
followed lumbering and hotel keeping in Stillwater until his death,
which occurred in 1878.
SAMUEL M. REGISTER is a native of Dover, Delaware. He is of French
descent, and some of his ancestors took part in the Revolutionary War.
He was born in 1827, and came to Stillwater in 1850, where he engaged
actively in business, dealing in lumber and pine lands, piloting,
steamboating and farming. He was at one time a member of the city
council, and a representative in the territorial legislature of
1854-5. He was married to Minerva Causlin in 1856.
J. A. JOHNSON was born near the city of Wexio, Sweden, April 24, 1842.
In 1854 he emigrated with his parents to the United States, arriving
at Marine Mills, Washington county, Minnesota late in the fall of that
year. He remained at Marine and Stillwater till 1858, attending school
a large portion of the time. In the fall of that year he went to
school at Dubuque, Iowa. After completing the course of study he
learned the trade of locomotive engineer, which occupation he followed
till 1866, being in the employ of the United States government the
last years of the war, in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. After the
close of the war, in 1865, he returned north as far as St. Louis,
Missouri, where he married Miss Agnes A. Coler, of that city. He has 5
children, 3 boys and 2 girls. His health having been impaired in the
government service, he returned to Marine in 1866, where he remained
till Jan. 1, 1874. In the fall of 1873 he was elected to the office of
sheriff of Washington county, which position he held for six years,
and has been twice re-elected without opposition. Retiring from the
sheriff's office in 1880, he removed to Fargo, Dakota, and engaged in
the sale of agricultural implements, in which business he has remained
up to the present time.
During his residence in the city of Fargo he has held various offices,
such as alderman, member of the board of education, etc. In the fall
of 1884 he was nominated for the territorial senate and received a
majority of 1,133 votes in Cass county, and 835 out of a total of
1,669 in the city of Fargo. In the spring of 1885 he was elected
mayor of Fargo by over 300 majority, after one of the most hotly
contested campaigns in the political history of the city. In 1886 he
declined a re-election. While sheriff of Washington county he devoted
his leisure moments to the study of law, and was admitted to practice
in all the courts of Minnesota. Although not in active practice his
knowledge of law has been of great value to him in the business in
which he has been engaged since that time.
GOLD T. CURTIS was born in Morrisville, New York, Aug. 16, 1821. At
the age of eighteen he graduated at Hamilton College, New York, and
entered upon the study of law with Judge Morrill, Chenango county, New
York. He commenced practicing law at Belleville, New York, in 1850.
During the same year he was married to Abigail Anderson, a descendant
of Gen. John Stark, of Revolutionary fame, and of the Protestant
branch of the royal house of the Stuarts, some of whom came from
Scotland to America in 1742. Mrs. Curtis is a lineal descendant of the
unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. Mr. Curtis removed to Stillwater in
1854 and entered upon a lucrative law practice. He was elected a
member of the Minnesota constitutional convention. In 1857 he was also
nominated for the position of district judge, but was defeated by S.
J. R. McMillan. He was much respected and held some offices of trust
in the city and county. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he
enlisted in Company I, Fifth Minnesota, and was promoted to the
captaincy of the company, but his health failed and he died in St.
Louis July 24, 1862. His remains were brought to Stillwater and
interred with military and masonic honors, Aug. 2, 1862.
HARLEY D. CURTIS, a native of New York and a brother of Gold T.
Curtis, came to Stillwater in 1851. He held the positions of
postmaster and justice of the peace.
FRANCIS ROACH DELANO.--The ancestors of Mr. Delano came to America in
1621, and were active participants in the stirring scenes and
controversies preceding the Revolution. Francis Roach, after whom Mr.
Delano was named, was the owner of the ship Dartmouth, one of the
vessels out of which the tea was cast into Boston harbor, on the
memorable occasion of the Tea Party of 1774. Notwithstanding the
affair of the tea, the family, who were ardent patriots, have
preserved as a precious relic some of the tea rescued from the general
destruction.
Mr. Delano is one of sixteen children in his father's family. He was
born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Nov. 20, 1823; received a common
school and academic education, and was employed in a machine shop some
years. At the age of twenty he was employed in an engineering corps
and served two years. He was for two years superintendent of the
Boston & Worcester railroad. In 1844 he came to St. Louis, Missouri,
and was variously employed until 1848, when he removed to Minnesota
and was engaged for a year in St. Anthony (now Minneapolis), in
running the government mill. The mill had been leased for five years.
Mr. Smith fulfilled the contract, and Mr. Delano, being released from
it, came to Stillwater in 1851 and entered into contract with Jesse
Taylor, Martin Mower, Jonathan E. McKusick, and Jacob Fisher, under
the firm name of Jesse Taylor & Co., to build the territorial prison.
Mr. Delano was appointed first warden, March, 1853, and served until
1858. He was intrusted with the expenditure of public moneys from
territorial authorities, in caring for and improving the prison. When
the state government was organized he was released. He was afterward a
member of the firm of Delano, McKusick & Co., sawing and selling
lumber. J. E. McKusick and Robert Simpson were members of this firm.
Mr. Delano moved to St. Paul in 1862, and was afterward engaged in
railroad employment. In 1862 he was commissioned colonel to take
command of five companies during the Indian outbreak. The command was
stationed at Chengwatana, Pine county. He died February, 1887. He was
married Oct. 11, 1846, to Calista Ann Cavander, who, with two sons,
survives him.
HENRY W. CANNON was born in Delhi, New York, Sept. 25, 1852. He was
educated at Delaware Literary Institute. He came to St. Paul in 1870,
and in 1871 to Stillwater, where he accepted the position of cashier
of the Stillwater Lumberman's Bank. In 1882 he was appointed by
President Arthur United States bank comptroller. He was removed by
President Cleveland. He is now a resident of New York City, and is
engaged in banking.
DWIGHT M. SABIN was born at Marseilles, La Salle county, Illinois,
April 25, 1843. The ill health of the father, who was an extensive
land owner and stock raiser, necessitated a removal to the seaside in
Connecticut in 1856. In consequence of the continued ill health of
the father and his death in 1864, young Dwight was deprived of the
thorough education to which he aspired, and, being the oldest son,
found the cares and responsibilities of managing his father's business
thrown upon his shoulders while he was yet a boy. In 1867 he removed
with his mother and younger brother to Minnesota, the year following
to Stillwater, where he engaged in business with the firm of Seymour,
Sabin & Co. This firm contracted for the convict labor in the state
prison, and engaged in the manufacture of doors, sash, blinds and
cooperage. The business in 1874 was extended and made to include the
manufacture of agricultural implements, including also a machine,
boiler shop and foundry, until it is now one of the most extensive
establishments in the country.
Mr. Sabin is also interested in other manufactures, among them the C.
N. Nelson Lumber Company and the Duluth Iron Company. In 1882 Mr.
Sabin was the prime organizer of the Northwestern Car Company, with a
capital of $5,000,000. The company was to receive a bonus from the
city of Stillwater of $100,000 in bonds, on certain conditions. The
company purchased the interests of Seymour, Sabin & Co., thereby
coming into possession of their immense manufactories, including those
managed under the prison contracts, and elected Mr. Sabin president,
and was making rapid progress toward the completion of its plans,
when, owing to the stringency of the financial world, it was compelled
to make an assignment.
While Mr. Sabin has been busy with the management of his vast
manufacturing establishments, he has been no less active and
conspicuous as a public spirited citizen, ever taking a great interest
in the affairs of his adopted city, of the State and country at large,
and his talents and efficiency have been recognized by his fellow
citizens, who elected him to the state senate in 1871-72-73, and to
the house of representatives in 1878 and 1881. He has several times
been a delegate to the National Republican convention, and was
chairman of the convention at which James G. Blaine was nominated for
the presidency. He was elected to the United States senate in 1883 as
the successor of Hon. Wm. Windom.
CHAPTER XVI.
STEARNS, ANOKA AND SHERBURNE COUNTIES.
STEARNS COUNTY.
Stearns county derived its name from Hon. Charles T. Stearns, a
prominent citizen of St. Cloud, a representative of the precinct of
St. Anthony Falls in the fifth and sixth territorial councils.
It is bounded on the north by Todd and Morrison counties, on the east
by Benton, Sherburne and Wright counties, the Mississippi forming the
dividing line against Benton and Sherburne, and Clearwater against
Wright county, on the south by Kandiyohi and Mecker, and on the west
by Pope county. It contains an area equal to thirty-six townships. It
is a fine agricultural county and is well watered by the tributaries
of the Mississippi, the principal of which is Sauk river. It has also
an abundance of small lakes. Its oldest settlement and principal city
is St. Cloud, and among its most flourishing villages are Sauk Centre,
Fair Haven, Clearwater, Melrose, St. Joseph, Albany, Paynesville,
Richmond, and Cold Springs.
The county was organized in 1855, under the legislative act of that
year. Gov. Willis A. Gorman appointed the following commissioners:
David T. Wood, John Ferschniller and John L. Wilson. They held their
first meeting at the house of John L. Wilson, April 9, 1855. J. L.
Wilson acted as chairman. The board appointed the following county
officers: Charles Ketchum, clerk; Robert B. Blake, treasurer; L. B.
Hammond, sheriff; N. N. Smith, judge of probate; R. B. Blake,
surveyor; and John Harry Weltshimer, assessor. The board established
three precincts, viz.: St. Augusta, St. Cloud and Tamarack. The judges
of election for St. Augusta were John M. Feble, John G. Lodenbeck and
Anton Emholt; for St. Cloud, Joseph Demil, L. B. Hammond and Battise
Arsenan; for Tamarack, Henry Foster, Louis Amel and John Smith.
License was granted to Joseph P. Wilson, George F. Brott, L. B.
Hammond, and O. Carter to run a ferry across the Mississippi river.
April 30, 1855, Farmington precinct was established. John M. Lindeman,
Jacob C. Staples and D. T. Wood were judges of election. July 5, 1855,
the first rate of taxation was fixed for the county at one per cent.
The first license to sell spirituous liquors was granted to Anton
Edelbrock. The first order issued was to pay for county books, $31.86,
to John L. Wilson. Ordered that Washington avenue and St. Augusta
street be adopted as county roads. Aug. 27, 1855, it was ordered that
Chippewa Agency precinct (now in Crow Wing county) be and remain as it
was when a part of Benton county, and J. D. Crittenden, Truman Warren
and D. B. Herriman were appointed judges of election. It was ordered
that Long Prairie precinct (now in Todd county) remain as it was when
a part of Benton county, and Anson Northrup, Lewis Stone and Harman
Becker were appointed judges of election. On Jan. 6, 1856, a new board
of commissioners qualified, consisting of Anton Edelbrock, chairman,
Reuben M. Richardson, and M. J. Orth. H. C. Waite was appointed
prosecuting attorney. The county was organized for judicial purposes
in 1855, and the counties of Crow Wing and Todd were attached. The
first term of court was held June 25, 1855; Hon. Moses Sherburne,
presiding, Taylor Dudley, clerk, and Joseph Edelbrock, sheriff. The
writer is indebted to the efficient clerk of court of 1887, A. L.
Cramb, for collecting data, as the old records are quite
unintelligible.
Judge E. O. Hamlin held the first term of court under the state
organization. At the session of the commissioners in July, 1856, the
first bonds of the county were ordered for building a court house,
amounting to $7,000, at twelve per cent interest for eight years. The
bonds were offered in New York City by an agent. These bonds were
lost, and only two of them were recovered. At the session of the
commissioners for August, the donation of John L. Wilson of four
blocks of ground, containing eight acres, for court house purposes,
was accepted. Three-fourths of the ground was sold by the county, and
the funds received from the sale, together with $6,000 in bonds issued
in 1857, and other bonds issued later, were used in erecting the
court house.
ST. CLOUD.
The eastern side of the Mississippi river was the first settled. As
early as 1848 David Gilman had located at a point now called Watab.
During the ensuing year, Jeremiah Russell, Philip Beaupre and James
Beatty were keeping trading posts at Sauk Rapids. In 1849 J. Q. A. and
W. H. Wood, brothers, located there. In 1854 the Rapids had become
quite a point with its Indian trading posts, its stores and its United
States land office. Among the early residents were many subsequently
identified with the interests of St. Cloud. In the spring of 1854 John
L. Wilson crossed the river at the point now known as the upper
landing, then covered with a dense growth of trees and underbrush. On
the adjoining prairie, a Norwegian, Ole Burgerson by name, had staked
out a claim and put up a shanty. Mr. Wilson purchased his interest and
in June of the same year erected a frame dwelling (still standing)
near the railroad bridge. Nicholas Lake put up a blacksmith shop near
by. During this year James Hitchins put up a small log dwelling for
Gen. S. B. Lowry, who platted the township of Acadia, now Lowry's
addition to St. Cloud. A post office was established here through his
influence. The same year Brott & Co. laid out St. Cloud city. The
earliest claimants of the town site, owning claims fronting on the
river, were S. B. Lowry, Ole Burgerson, Martin Woolley, and Michael
Zoms. John L. Wilson having purchased the claim of Ole Burgerson,
platted the village of St. Cloud, and this was the first recorded of
any of the St. Cloud plats. The village of St. Cloud made but little
progress until 1856, when a hotel known as the Stearns House, now used
in connection with the normal school, was built, a ferry established
and other improvements made. A notable incident connected with this
ferry is the fact that the Rev. Abbot Alexius Edelbrock, now president
of St. John's University, then a lad of thirteen years of age, was
ferryman, he being the son of the proprietor of the ferry. The craft
was swung back and forth like a pendulum, by the current acting
against its keel, being fastened by a long rope some distance up the
river. It was not therefore beyond the ability of so youthful a
ferryman to manage. The post office, established first at Acadia,
became the St. Cloud post office and Joseph Edelbrock was appointed
postmaster. He was reappointed by President Cleveland to the same
position in 1886. The first newspaper in St. Cloud was the _Visitor_,
established in 1857, by the gifted and somewhat erratic journalist and
reformer, Jane Grey Swisshelm. This paper had but a brief and troubled
career--the advanced views and dictatorial style of its publisher and
editor proving somewhat distasteful to the community at large. Mrs.
Swisshelm, who had already won a national reputation, went to
Washington, became a contributor to the New York _Tribune_, and had
thereafter a somewhat variable, and upon the whole brilliant, career
as a lecturer, editor and reformer. She was amongst the strongest,
though not the most radical, of the advocates of woman's rights. She
was not a woman suffragist, but directed her efforts chiefly toward
establishing the legal identity of married women. She was also very
pronounced in her anti-slavery views.
The first records of the organization of St. Cloud as a village have
been lost. It was reorganized by legislative enactment in 1862, and
the following were the first officers: Mayor, Judge L. A. Evans;
councilmen, H. C. Burbank, John W. Tenvoorde, Joseph Broker and Barney
Overbeck; clerk, A. B. Curry.
St. Cloud was organized as a city in 1868, under the following
officers: Mayor, Judge E. O. Hamlin; aldermen, L. A. Evans, president;
Peter Smith, Thomas Smith, T. C. Alden, Leander Gorton, T. R. Bennett,
O. Tenny, C. Bridgman, Andrew Fritz, L. R. Roberts, Lewis Clarke, H.
C. Burbank; clerk, N. F. Barnes. The city government has been
judiciously managed. The United States land office, established first
at Sauk Rapids in 1853, was removed to St. Cloud in May, 1858. The
first receiver was W. H. Wood. His successors have been S. B. Hayes,
C. A. Gilman, W. B. Mitchell, H. G. Burbank, Ole Peterson, and C. F.
McDonald, the present incumbent. The first register was George W.
Sweet. His successors have been W. A. Caruthers, T. C. McClure, H. C.
Waite, H. L. Gordon, J. A. Brower, and D. H. Freeman.
The city has paid for various improvements as follows: City water
works on the Holly system, $25,000; city bridge over the Mississippi,
500 feet in length, $12,000; to the Manitoba railroad in real estate
and bonds, $100,000; in cash, $27,000; gas works, $10,000. The fire
department is well equipped. An electric light plant has been
established. Considerable money and work have been expended in
dredging Lake George, a beautiful lake about fifty-five acres in
extent, lying in the heart of the city, and surrounding it with parks.
Street cars have been introduced and altogether the city has made most
commendable advancement in all those things that pertain to beauty and
comfort.
Not less rapid and substantial are its advances in commerce and
manufactures. Before the completion of the railway it had regular
communication by water with all river points, and since its facilities
for transportation have made it the peer of any inland city of its
size in the State. The railroads of St. Cloud are the Manitoba with
its various branches and the Northern Pacific, the latter passing
through East St. Cloud. Among the improvements of which its citizens
are justly proud we may mention the St. Cloud dam, constructed in
1886, at a cost of $200,000. The city gave $100,000 for this
improvement. The dam has for its foundation the underlying granite of
this section. It is intended as a permanent structure and must conduce
largely to the growth and prosperity of the city. The dam has 10 feet
head of water and furnishes 1,500 horse power. A flour mill with a
capacity of 300 barrels per day is run by the water power. The
Phoenix Iron Works, established at a cost of $175,000, give
employment to 100 men. Bridgman's steam saw mill has a capacity of
about 40,000 feet of lumber per day.
St. Cloud is backed by a rich agricultural and timbered district. In
the vicinity are valuable quarries of jasper, and of gray and red
granite. Two granite polishing works, operated by steam, are located
near the city. These quarries stretch away to the northeast, through
the counties of Benton, Morrison, Mille Lacs and Kanabec. They give
employment to 1,000 men. The Manitoba Railroad Company has purchased
recently about 400 acres of land, on which to build extensive shops
and stock yards, calculated to give employment, when completed, to
1,000 men. The principal hotels are the Grand Central and the West
House.
The first bank in St. Cloud was established by Waite & McClure in
1859. This bank, a private institution, was the beginning of the
banking system in St. Cloud. It is now operated by N. P. Clarke. The
First National Bank was organized as a private bank in 1867, with a
capital stock of $25,000; James A. Bell, president; Joseph G. Smith,
cashier. It was reorganized as a state bank in 1879, with a capital
stock of $50,000. In 1886 it was reorganized as a national bank. The
first board of officers have served continuously to date. The business
of the bank amounts to over $300,000. The German American National
Bank was organized in 1883; Chas. A. Hull, president; Edgar Hull,
cashier; capital stock $50,000. The business (in 1886) amounts to
$250,000. The present board of officers are: F. E. Searle, president;
John Cooper, vice president; F. M. Morgan, cashier.
St. Cloud has many fine buildings. The court house cost $40,000, and
four school buildings an aggregate of $75,000. The bishop's cathedral
cost $40,000, and the Catholic church $30,000. The Episcopalians,
Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, and Lutherans
have organizations and good church buildings. The normal school
buildings located here cost $100,000. St. Cloud University is a
flourishing institution. St. John's University, although located in
the adjoining town of St. Joseph, has been identified more or less
with the interests of St. Cloud, and deserves mention in its history.
It was originally located two miles south of St. Cloud, but was
subsequently removed to a point northwest, a mile distant from the
thriving village of Collegeville.
The university owes its existence to the zeal, energy and self
devotion of the Benedictine Fathers, a colony of whom came to America
in 1846. This colony settled first in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, but
in 1856, at the invitation of Bishop Cretin, came to Minnesota, where,
the year following, they commenced their educational work on the banks
of the Mississippi near St. Cloud. The school was commenced as a
seminary, but in 1869 the state legislature granted authority to
confer degrees, and in 1883 formally changed the name from St. John's
Seminary to St. John's University. The buildings are ample and
commodious, and located pleasantly on the banks of a beautiful lake.
The faculty consists of Rt. Rev. Alexius Edelbrock and twenty-two
professors. In 1885 St. Benedict's Hospital was erected at a cost of
about $15,000. It is under the supervision of the Benedictine Nuns.
The state reformatory was located at East St. Cloud in 1887.
LA SAUK,
Formerly St. Joe, adjoining St. Cloud on the north, had a saw and
flour mill erected in 1855. These mills were burned in 1886, and
rebuilt in 1887. Amongst the early settlers were J. H. Lineman in
1854, J. A. Upham and George Rieder in 1855.
PETER SCHAELER, a farmer, a native of Germany, came to America in
1850, and to St. Joseph in 1856. John, his only son, retains the old
homestead, and was in 1883 engaged in the insurance business in St.
Cloud.
JOHN L. WILSON was born in Columbia, Washington county, Maine, in
1820. He came to Minnesota in 1851, locating at St. Anthony, but in
the following year removed to Sauk Rapids and in 1854 to St. Cloud.
The first deed on record in Stearns county was from John L. Wilson to
L. C. Kenna, and bears date of 1855. In 1855 he was married to Harriet
N. Corbett. They have three children living.
CHARLES T. STEARNS, from whom the county took its name, has been for
many years a resident of Louisiana, and is a wealthy planter.
HENRY G. FILLMORE, a nephew of President Fillmore, was born in the
state of New York in the '20s, and came to Watab in 1848. He has lived
in St. Cloud many years.
NATHANIEL GETCHELL was born in Washington county, Maine, in 1828. He
came to St. Anthony in 1852, and to Stearns county in 1855.
JAMES KEOUGH came from Ireland to America in 1850, and directly to
Watab. He settled in St. Cloud in 1854, was married in 1855, and has a
large family.
LOREN W. COLLINS was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Aug. 22, 1839. He
received a common school education; came to Hastings, Minnesota, some
time prior to the Rebellion, studied law with Smith & Crosby and was
admitted to practice, but in August, 1862, entered the service of his
country in Company F, Seventh Minnesota Volunteers, of which company
he was commissioned second lieutenant, and a year later first
lieutenant. He was discharged with his regiment at the close of the
war, and returned to his law practice. In 1866 he removed to St. Cloud
and practiced law. He served as county attorney a number of years; was
a member of the Minnesota house of representatives in 1881-83; was
appointed judge of the Seventh Judicial district April 8, 1883, and
elected to that office in 1884. Nov. 12, 1887, he was appointed to
fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Berry, an appointment
that gives general satisfaction, Judge Collins having won an enviable
reputation as a jurist and as a man.
HENRY C. WAITE was born in Albany county, New York, in 1830; graduated
at Union College, Schenectady, New York; was admitted to practice law
in 1852, and the same year came to Iowa. A year later he removed to
Wisconsin, and located at Madison, where he practiced law two years.
In May, 1855, he came to St. Cloud, where he has since continuously
resided. The first ten years of his residence in St. Cloud he devoted
to the practice of his profession, after which he devoted his time to
farming and milling.
Mr. Waite was a member of the constitutional convention in 1857. He
also served several terms in the senate and house. During President
Lincoln's administration he served as register of the land office. He
was married to Maria D. Clark in 1860. He has two sons.
GEN. S. B. LOWRY was the son of the devoted and zealous missionary,
Rev. David Lowry, who labored among the Winnebagoes in Northern Iowa
in the '30s and '40s. He located first at Brockway, ten miles above
St. Cloud, and established a trading post, but in 1853 removed to St.
Cloud, where he surveyed and platted the village of Acadia, afterward
known as "Lowry's addition." He made St. Cloud his home until his
death, which occurred in 1861.
ANTHONY EDELBROCK was the first resident of St. Cloud. His oldest son
was the first child born there. This son died in infancy. His second
son became the abbot of St. John's University. Mr. Edelbrock is now a
resident of Missouri.
JOSEPH EDELBROCK was born in Westphalia, Prussia, in 1826. He learned
the trade of a carpenter, came to America in 1847, and lived in
Chicago until 1855, when he came to St. Cloud and engaged in
mercantile pursuits. He is the oldest merchant continuously in
business in the city. He served as sheriff two years and as register
of deeds four years. He was married in Chicago in 1852, and has six
children living. A daughter, the second child born in St. Cloud, is
the wife of Peter E. Kaiser.
JOHN RENGEL, made a claim here in 1855. He has been and still is a
prosperous citizen. He has a family of ten children.
LOUIS A. EVANS was born near Philadelphia, Nov. 2, 1822. His
forefathers came to America with William Penn and bought of him a
township of land, on which still reside many of his descendants. His
father served as a soldier in the war of 1812. Louis was educated at
the graded schools in Philadelphia; was apprenticed to a piano maker,
and worked at his trade at Cincinnati, Ohio, Clinton, Mississippi, and
New Orleans until 1856, when he came to St. Cloud, where he still
resides. During his residence he has served as postmaster, judge of
probate, clerk of the district court, editor of the St. Cloud _Times_,
mayor of St. Cloud, and president of the council and member of the
house and senate of the state legislature. He was married to Elisabeth
W. Libby in 1871.
AMBROSE FREEMAN.--We have no datum as to when Mr. Freeman came to St.
Cloud, but it was probably prior to 1860. He was a stonemason, and
while working on a cellar wall heard the report of the Sioux uprising
and massacre (in 1862), and, dropping his tools, hurried off to
satisfy himself as to the truth of the reports, called a meeting of
citizens, and organized a company of twenty-five volunteers to assist
in caring for the wounded and burying the dead. On his return he was
commissioned captain of the Northern Rangers and marched with his
command to the relief of Forest City and Fort Abercrombie. He was with
Gen. Sibley's command in 1863, and while riding over the prairie was
shot with an arrow by an Indian, and expired instantly.
NATHAN F. BARNES has lived a somewhat eventful life. He was born at
Portland, Maine, June 26, 1817; received an academic education; served
as a midshipman in the navy from 1834 to 1839, visiting many parts of
the globe. In 1840 he commenced the study of law, was admitted to
practice in 1843 and practiced awhile at Conway, New Hampshire, where
in 1844 he was married. In 1850 he was appointed mail agent on the
Isthmus route to California, served six years, and then located in
California. Two years later, in 1858, he removed to Alexandria,
Minnesota. During the Sioux massacre he and Andreas Darling were the
only persons remaining in the neighborhood who escaped being killed.
In 1865 he came to St. Cloud, where he has been an active and
prominent citizen. He served many years as city clerk and city
justice and was elected to the house of the state legislature in 1875.
He was influential in securing the location of the normal school in
St. Cloud. One son, Percival S., died in the Saulsbury prison during
the Civil War. He has one son and one daughter living.
NEHEMIAH P. CLARK was born in Worcester county, Massachusetts, April
8, 1836. In his youth he attended school in Kentucky and at seventeen
years of age was clerking in a store at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In
1856 he came to St. Cloud and engaged actively in business, selling
goods, farming, staging, lumbering, and dealing in pine lands. He has
a farm in Le Sauk of 2,000 acres, a creamery, a cheese factory, and
one of the largest and best herds of cattle, horses, hogs and sheep in
the State. For office and official honors he has no taste. He served,
however, as president of the State Agricultural Society in 1886.
OSCAR E. GARRISON was born at Fort Ann, New York, in 1825, and was
early thrown upon his own resources. He came to Minnesota in 1850, and
built the first house on the shores of Lake Minnetonka where Wayzata
is now located. In 1850 he surveyed and platted the village of
Wayzata. In 1860 he came to St. Cloud. He made a land claim in Polk
county in 1862 and narrowly escaped being murdered by the Sioux at
their uprising. His house and property were destroyed. While hiding
with his wife and four-year-old son, Indians passed within twenty feet
of him. After a perilous night journey, during which he came almost
within touching distance of sleeping Indians, he arrived safely at
Sauk Centre.
THE GILMAN FAMILY.--The Gilman family of which Charles A. is a
descendant came to America from Hingham, England, with the Folsoms, in
1638, and are the founders of the town of Hingham, Massachusetts. The
Gilmans were renowned for their loyalty to the colonies, and later to
the state and national government.
CHARLES A. GILMAN was born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, Feb. 9, 1833.
His youth was spent at home, where he received a common school and
academic education, the latter at Gilmanton Academy. He taught school
during the winters. In 1855 he came to Sauk Rapids, Benton county,
where he engaged in farming and real estate business; he also filled
the offices of auditor and register of deeds. In 1861 he removed to
St. Cloud, having been appointed register of the United States land
office for that place. He served seven years as register and receiver.
He studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1876. Mr. Gilman has
lived a busy life, and besides his real estate, law, surveying and
exploring business, he has taken a conspicuous position in the
politics of his State, having served as state senator in the years
1868-69, and as representative from 1875 to 1879. In 1878-79 he served
as speaker of the house. From 1881 to 1884 he was lieutenant governor
of the State. He was elected to the legislature several times as a
Republican, when the district was strongly Democratic, a high
compliment to his ability and integrity. He was married to Hester
Cronk, at Sauk Rapids, Jan. 1, 1857. They have six children living. He
has lived at St. Cloud since 1861, where he has a delightful home.
Of St. Cloud citizens not elsewhere mentioned in this work, and who
have been prominent in advancing its interests, are Charles Bridgman,
Henry G. Mitchell and son, C. F. McDonald, Lewis Clark, Alonzo F.
Cramb, C. F. Davis, Levi S. Geer, Josiah G. Hayward, David L. Kiehle,
A. Montgomery, Overbeck brothers, John H. Owen, and John Cooper. St.
Cloud has furnished three able jurists for the supreme bench in this
district, E. O. Hamlin, J. M. McKelvy and L. W. Collins.
ANOKA COUNTY.
Anoka county was organized in 1857, the nucleus or first settlement
being a small village on the Mississippi, at the month of Rum river,
named Anoka, from a Chippewa word meaning work or labor. The county
has a fine location on the east bank of the Mississippi. Its
boundaries on the north are Isanti county, on the east Chisago and
Washington counties, on the south Ramsey county, and on the west
Sherburne county and the Mississippi river. Rum river flows in a
southeasterly direction through the county, and by this river, its
tributaries and those of the Mississippi and St. Croix, the county is
well watered and drained. The valleys of these streams furnish many
fine natural meadows. The soil is a black sandy loam with clay
subsoil. Townships 31, 32 and 33, range 22, are drained by the
tributaries of the St. Croix. Originally consisting of oak openings,
natural meadows and tamarack swamps, interspersed with small lakes,
with excellent roads, school houses, churches and town organizations,
the county is well settled and has many fine farms under a high state
of cultivation. Its proximity to the pineries of Rum river and to the
markets of Minneapolis and St. Paul makes it a desirable location for
the lumbermen and farmers.
The county is subdivided into the following townships: Anoka, Bethel,
Blaine, Burns, Centreville, Columbus, Fridley, Grow, Ham Lake,
Linwood, Oak Grove, Ramsey, and St. Francis. The Northern Pacific and
St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroads traverse this county near
its western boundary, following the course of the Mississippi river.
Outside of Anoka the first settlement in the county was within the
bounds of the present town of Ramsey. Nathan Shumway, Cornelius Pitman
and Daniel Hawthorne settled there in 1850.
The first county commissioners were appointed by the governor. They
were E. C. H. Davis, J. P. Austin and Silas O. Lum. They met June 30,
1857, and appointed the following officers: Sheriff, James C. Frost;
treasurer, James M. McGlauflin; coroner, Joseph C. Varney; assessors,
Daniel Robbins, S. L. Guice, Francis Peeler. The first deed on record
in the county bears date of June 30, 1857. It conveys the northwest
quarter of section 26, township 33, range 24, from Nathaniel S. Davis
to Mary S. Small, for a consideration of five hundred dollars. There
is, however, a transcript of a deed from Ramsey county bearing
original date of Sept. 11, 1849, conveying the north half of the
northwest quarter of section 35, township 31, range 24, from Abel
Bloodgood, of Minnesota Territory, to Henry M. Rice, for a
consideration of two hundred dollars. The first town plat, that of
Anoka, bears date of July 5, 1854.
ANOKA.
This town lies on the east shore of the Mississippi and includes part
of fractional township 31, range 24. It is watered by Rum river, which
traverses the northwestern part, and by Coon creek in the eastern
part. The town originally was chiefly prairie. Its early history is
included in that of Anoka county.
ANOKA CITY.
The county seat of Anoka county is located on the Mississippi at the
mouth of Rum river and dates its settlement to the year 1847, when
Thomas Holmes located on the east bank of the river, and built the
first log house for a trading post. Aaron Betts, in the employ of
Holmes, brought his family with him, the first family in the town. In
the winter of 1847-48 Holmes sold out to Simeon P. Folsom, whose
family was the second in the town. Mr. Folsom raised the first crop in
the township. In September, 1848, Mr. Folsom removed to Sherburne
county, selling out his claim to Louis Roberts. In the winter of the
same year Wm. Dahl took possession for Mr. Roberts. In the spring of
1849 Antoine Roberts, brother of Louis, came from Prairie du Chien,
took possession of the home, and lived there some years, when he was
killed by an Indian. When the land on which the improvements were made
was brought into market Louis Roberts entered it.
In 1851 Anton Guion entered a quarter section of land on the west
side. He immediately sold his claim to Henry M. Rice, who bought it
with the intention of platting it as a town site. His brother, Orrin
Rice, occupied it and made improvements. Rum river has a fall of five
feet, which is fully utilized at Anoka.
In 1851 Geo. W. Branch took up a claim on the west side, and built a
house near what is now the corner of Main and Ferry streets. This was
the first frame house in Anoka, which, from this time forward, grew
almost imperceptibly into a village, till in 1855 the census showed
nearly 300 inhabitants. In 1860 the population was 602, and in 1886,
5,000. Anoka was incorporated as a city in 1878, with the following
board of officers: Mayor, G. W. Church; aldermen, D. C. Dunham, D. H.
Lane, L. G. Browning, A. Davis, H. N. Seelye, and J. H. Pierce;
treasurer, H. E. Lepper; justices of the peace, W. W. Fitch and E. S.
Teller; constables, George Geddes and Norman McLean. At that time the
city was divided into two wards, the First including the east side,
and the Second the west side, of Rum river. In 1881 the west side was
changed to the First ward, and the east side became the Second and
Third wards.
In 1853 Ed. I. Shaw built and opened the first store. It was on the
west side, and the building still stands, and is known as the Schuler
building. It is now the hospital: Caleb and W. H. Woodbury erected a
saw mill on the east side. It was subsequently owned by Woodbury, Shaw
& Farnham. During the same year a bridge was built across Rum river by
the government; Orrin Rice, contractor. The first flour will was
finished in 1855. It was burned ten days after with $5,000 worth of
wheat and corn a total loss, as there was no insurance. It was owned
by A. P. Lane, Caleb and Henry Woodbury. The mill was rebuilt by Caleb
Woodbury and Wm. L. Barnes. In 1855 H. L. Ticknor erected and opened
the first store on the east side. Rev. Royal Twitchell preached the
first sermon and taught the first school. The first mill was utilized
on Sundays as a church.
The Congregationalists organized the first church in Anoka in 1855,
and erected a church building in 1857. The Baptists and Catholics
organized in 1856, the Methodists and Episcopalians in 1860, the
Universalists in 1867, the Swedish Lutherans in 1870, the Adventists
in 1880, and the Free Methodists in 1882. The Masons organized a lodge
in 1866, the Knights of Pythias in 1872, the United Workmen in 1877,
the Patrons of Husbandry in 1874, and the Odd Fellows in 1882.
Anoka has suffered from time to time by fires. A flour mill, two saw
mills, half a dozen hotels, and a large number of stores have been
burned at different times, and twice the business part of the city has
been destroyed. Aug. 16, 1884, the entire business portion of the
city, including 60 business blocks and the Washburn mills, was
consumed. The loss amounted to $750,000, on which there was an
insurance of $316,000. The burnt district has since been handsomely
rebuilt, and the Washburn flour mill has been replaced with a superior
building, five stories high, 60 × 180, ground plan, and rising to the
height of 112 feet. This is one of the finest mills in the State.
The court house is valued at $35,000, the city hall at $12,000, and
four school buildings at $75,000. The bridge across the Mississippi, a
fine structure, 700 feet long, was built at a cost of $100,000. Street
cars have been introduced on some of the streets. The principal
manufactories are the Lincoln flouring mill, with a capacity of seven
hundred bushels per day, owned by the Washburn Mill Company; four saw
mills belonging to the Washburn Mill Company, with a capacity of
50,000,000 feet per year; the Anoka Sash and Door Factory, one of the
most thriving industries in the city, Jonas Morell, manager; a starch
factory, a boot and shoe company, with a capital of $30,000, recently
organized. Other industries are well represented; the whole giving
employment to over 1,000 men.
The First National Bank of Anoka was organized as a private banking
institution in 1872. It became a state bank in 1882, with a capital
stock of $25,000, and a national bank in 1883, with a paid up capital
of $50,000. The officers are: President, H. L. Ticknor; cashier, B. F.
Pratt. The Anoka National Bank was organized in 1883, with a paid up
capital of $100,000. The officers are: President, W. D. Washburn; vice
president, C. C. Crane; cashier. C. S. Guderian.
BETHEL
Includes township 33 and the twelve south sections of township 34,
range 23. Its surface is partially prairie land, and is dotted with
small lakes. The first settlers were Quakers, with the exception of
Rice, Price, O. Evans and Robert Minard, who came in 1855. Bethel post
office is located at what is known as Bethel Corners. The town was
organized in 1858. The first supervisors were O. Evans, W. Dickens and
R. Price.
BLAINE,
Named in honor of James G. Blaine, embraces township 31, range 23. It
was originally included in Anoka, but was set off and organized in
1877. The first supervisors were Moses Ripley, George Tisdale and
Richard de Long. The records have not been kept with sufficient
accuracy to enable us to determine who were the first settlers. It
appears, however, that the first comers abandoned their claims. Green
Chambers is the first settler recorded. He came in 1865.
BURNS
Includes township 33, range 25, and is in the northwestern part of the
county. The soil is clay loam, and in the western part are many lakes.
Of these Twin lakes are ninety feet in depth. The first settler was
John Derigan, who was also one of the first settlers of Elk River
township, in Sherburne county. The town was organized in 1869. The
supervisors were John D. Keen, John A. Mussey and W. D. Le Clair. A
German Lutheran church was built in 1878.
CENTREVILLE
Includes township 31, range 22. It is the oldest settlement in the
county, Alphonse Jarvis having located here in 1840. Frank Lamott
settled here in 1849. The first considerable settlement was made on
Rice lake, in 1850, by F. W. Traverse and other German families. A
French colony settled in the eastern part of the town in 1852.
Prominent among these colonists were Francis X. Levalle and brother,
Oliver and Frank Dupre, Francis Lamott and Oliver Peltier. The town
was organized in 1857, with the following commissioners: Oliver
Peltier, chairman; Francis Lamott, treasurer, and Stephen Ward. The
town was originally a timbered and meadow district. It has a good
black loam soil, and is well watered by Rice lake and numerous small
streams. It contains a number of ancient mounds. Its nearest railroad
station is Centreville, on the St. Paul & Duluth road, an Washington
county.
CENTREVILLE VILLAGE
Was platted in 1853, by Peltier, Lavalle & Lamott. It contains a
substantial brick church known as the Church of St. Genevieve of
Paris, built in 1859. The congregation numbers about four hundred.
COLUMBUS,
Township 32, range 22, was settled in 1855 by James Starkey, Isaac
Conway, John Kleiner and Henry Batzle. Mr. Conway became a dealer in
real estate, and removed to California where he died.
JAMES STARKEY figured prominently in the early history of the
Territory and State, but may be mentioned here as the founder of the
village of Columbus, in 1855 and 1856. He expended $60,000 in building
a hotel and other improvements, not a vestige of which now remains.
FRIDLEY.
This town, including fractional township 30, range 24, was organized
as Manomin county in 1857, and held that organization, with A. M.
Fridley as chairman of county commissioners, until 1870, when it was
disorganized and attached to Anoka county, retaining Manomin as its
town name until 1879, when it was changed to Fridley by legislative
enactment. John Sullivan, G. W. Thurber and Thomas Casey were the
first supervisors. The town contains about thirteen sections of land
in the eastern part of township 30, range 24, pleasantly located on
the east bank of the Mississippi. It is traversed by Rice creek.
JOHN BANFIL settled here in 1848 and was the first postmaster of the
village of Manomin, of which he was proprietor. He represented the
Twenty-fourth district as senator in the first state legislature. He
removed to Bayfield, Wisconsin, and died there in 1886. It has been
improved by the introduction of large manufacturing establishments. A
flouring mill was built in 1871. In 1887 $100,000 was expended in
manufactories, and real estate to the amount of $400,000 changed
hands. It has one church building (Episcopal), erected in 1858.
GROW
Includes township 32, range 24. It is watered by Rum river and Coon
creek. George Branch settled here in 1853, and about the same period,
J. C. Frost, Joseph McKinney, Andrew J. Smith and Walter D. Gary. The
town was organized in 1857 as Round Lake, but changed to Grow in 1860,
in honor of Senator Grow of Pennsylvania. The first supervisors were
Silas O. Lum, W. W. Hank and Wm. Staples. The town records were burned
in 1856. In 1873 the Catholics erected a church building.
HAM LAKE,
Formerly a part of Grow, was set off and organized in 1871. It
includes township 32, range 23. It was settled chiefly by Swedes and
Norwegians, of whom Matts Gilbertson, of Norway, was first to locate
here. There were many transient persons among the first comers, but
the first permanent settler of any nationality was Josiah Hart, from
Vermont, who came in 1857. He died in 1876. John Scully came in 1858.
The first supervisors were John Rowe, A. B. Lingard and C. Olsen. The
Swedes and Norwegians have each a house of worship.
LINWOOD.
This town, consisting of township 33, and twelve sections of township
34, range 22, lies in the northeastern part of the county. It is well
watered and traversed by a chain of lakes. The first settlement was by
Joseph Sanson, a German, who located here in 1855. W. Dickens, an
Englishman, came in 1857. Linwood was set off from Bethel and
Columbus, and organized September, 1871. The first town officers were
J. G. Green, F. McGregor and Michael Hurley. There is a post office in
the village of Linwood. A Methodist church was built in 1873, and a
saw and feed mill, by Shanton & Haskell, in 1875.
L. S. ARNOLD, a native of Montreal, Canada, born in 1820, came to
Minnesota in 1847. He seems to have made his home at Linwood, which he
left, but after living some years in Michigan and Missouri, he again
returned in 1866.
SAMUEL RIDGE came to Linwood in 1860.
J. G. GREEN, born in 1819, located here in 1863, and since 1867 has
served as postmaster in Linwood village. He has served several years
as county commissioner. The Green brothers are descendants of the
Plymouth Pilgrims.
G. W. HASKELL was an early settler. He originally came from Skowhegan,
Maine. He died in 1885.
MICHAEL M. RYAN was born in Ireland in 1845. He came to America in
1858 and settled in Linwood with his father's family. Two brothers
enlisted as volunteers during the Civil War, and died in the service.
THE HURLEY FAMILY come to Linwood some time in the '50s. The sons are
prominent business men at North Branch, Pine City and Hinckley. The
father moved to North Branch in 1887.
OAK GROVE
Includes township 33, range 24. It abounds in small lakes and the Rum
river drains the western portion. The first settlers were David
Rogers, Moses Seeley and James Nutter, in 1855. Dennis Mahoney, of
Ireland, born in 1813, came to Oak Grove in 1856, held the office of
supervisor fourteen years, and that of justice of the peace
continuously to the present. The town was organized in 1857, with the
following supervisors: A. W. Norris, Dennis E. Mahoney and Peter
Brennan. Rose, daughter of William Smith, was the first child born.
RAMSEY,
Named in honor of the first territorial governor, occupies fractional
township 32, range 25, in the western part of the county, on the
Mississippi river. It was organized in 1857 as Watertown, which name
was changed to Dover, and then to Ramsey, in 1885. In 1849 an Indian
trading house was opened in section 19, by T. A. Holmes and Thomas
Beatty. The first permanent settlement was made by a New England
colony in 1850, amongst whom were P. Shumway and sons (John and
Peter), Nathan and Benjamin Shumway, and Cornelius Pitman. In 1852 the
town plat of Itasca was surveyed in sections 19 and 30. William
Vincent, Thomas Miller and J. C. Bowers came to Ramsey in 1852. Mr.
Bowers was postmaster for twenty-five years at Itasca, and died Oct.
4, 1879. The first supervisors were Jared Benson, Isaac Varney and
Cornelius Pitman.
ST. FRANCIS
Includes the two southern tiers of sections of township 34, ranges 24
and 25. The first settlers were George Armsby and E. Fowler, in 1855.
The town was organized in 1857, but the records have been lost. Dwight
Woodbury, who has been prominent in the history of the county, located
a water power flour and saw mill and built a hotel on Rum river where
the village of St. Francis has since been built, and surveyed the
village plat. The mills were destroyed by fire in 1869, but were
immediately rebuilt. In 1880 a bridge across Rum river was built at an
expense of $7,000. Mr. Woodbury's investments have been over $25,000.
Mr. Streetly opened the first store and was first postmaster at St.
Francis.
AN INDIAN RIOT.
In the fall of 1847 a German baron, a single man, and Wm. Noot and
wife settled on Big island, in the Mississippi, about two miles above
the mouth of Rum river. They were traders. In March, 1848, in
consequence of the revolution in Germany, the baron returned to his
native land. Noot remained until June, when the Winnebago Indians were
removed by Gen. Fletcher. Pending their removal the Winnebagoes made a
raid on the trading post, confiscated the whisky and provisions and
fastened Noot in a stable and his wife and child in a small cabin,
where they were found by S. P. Folsom the same day, surrounded by
drunken Indians and in imminent peril. Noot appealed to Folsom for
aid. The Indians, however, were furious and threatened Folsom's life.
The chief, "Whistling Thunder," used his influence in a novel way to
quiet the turbulent, by placing before them all that remained of the
barrel of whisky, which they eagerly drank. Folsom then released Noot.
The wife, who had been previously released, ran with her child,
frightened out of her wits, no one knew whither. After a long search
the captain found her, and at great risk took her across a slough to
the mainland in a canoe, which nearly sank before the shore was
reached. Noot afterward went to St. Paul and purchased eighty acres of
land, now in the heart of the city. He was a member of the house,
Fourth and Fifth Minnesota legislatures. At present he resides at Big
Lake, Sherburne county.
JARED BENSON.--Mr. Benson was the son of Jared and Sallie Taft Benson,
and was born in Blackstone. Massachusetts, Nov. 8, 1821. The farm on
which he was born was purchased of the Indians by his great, great
grandfather. His paternal grandfather, Benoni Benson, and his maternal
grandfather, Ebenezer Taft, served in the Revolutionary War, the
former as a lieutenant. Jared Benson, his father, served in the war of
1812.
Mr. Benson had a fair common school education and occupied himself in
farming until 1844, when he joined the corps of engineers who were
locating the Providence & Worcester railroad. He was afterward agent
for the company and superintendent of transportation. In 1856 he came
to Minnesota, locating at Anoka and engaging chiefly in farming and
stock raising. He has served his townsmen as justice of the peace and
county commissioner. For some years he has been a director of the St.
Paul & Pacific railroad. He served as clerk of the house of
representatives in 1859-60, and was afterward member and speaker of
the house for three years, including the extra session of 1862. He was
revenue collector for his district in 1870-72, and was again elected
to the legislature in 1878. He was married to Martha Taft, of Mendon,
Massachusetts, Feb. 5, 1857. They have five children.
JAMES C. FROST was born in Rumford, Oxford county, Maine, in 1816. He
was raised on a farm. On reaching his majority he came to Jefferson
county, Wisconsin, where he lived fourteen years. In 1852 he came to
St. Anthony and in 1853 to Anoka. He held the office of postmaster
several years and was again reappointed in 1888; served fifteen years
as sheriff and as a member of the legislature in 1857-58. He was in
the employ of the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company for nine years.
He was married in 1840 and has a family of eight daughters.
A. J. MCKENNEY, born in Lowell, Maine, Feb. 20, 1829, came to St.
Anthony in 1850 and followed lumbering until 1854, when he came to
Ramsey, Anoka county, and located in section 2 as a farmer. He has
been a prominent citizen.
JOHN HENRY BATZLE was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, in 1830; came to
America in 1837; lived in New York until 1855, when he came to
Minnesota and located in what is now the town of Columbus, Anoka
county, where he engaged in farming. He has been a member of the
Methodist church for twenty-five years. He is in every way much
esteemed as a citizen. He was married in 1854, but has no children.
JOHN R. BEAN was born at Salmon Falls, New Hampshire, April 25, 1831;
came to St. Anthony in 1849 and to Ramsey, Anoka county, in 1850,
where he made a farm in section 33. He says this was the first farming
done in Anoka county. From 1850 to 1859 he lived alternately at his
home in St. Anthony and his farm in Ramsey. In 1870 he removed to
Anoka city, where he is engaged in lumbering.
WILLIAM STAPLES was born in 1815, in York county, Maine, where he was
married in 1840. He came to St. Anthony in 1850. He has lived in the
town of Grow, of which he was one of the founders, for many years. He
is a farmer and brickmason.
ABRAHAM MCCORMACK FRIDLEY was born May 21, 1818, at Corning, Steuben
county, New York. His parents were Pennsylvanians, of German descent.
He received a common school education. At the age of twenty-one years
he was appointed deputy sheriff of Steuben county, and was afterward
collector of canal tolls at Corning. In April, 1851, he was appointed
by President Fillmore agent for the Winnebago Indians then at Long
Prairie, Todd county. In that year he was also admitted to practice
law. In 1853 he removed to St. Paul and was elected sheriff of Ramsey
county. The next year he removed to St. Anthony Falls and was elected
to the house of the territorial legislature. A little later he removed
to Manomin, now Fridley. He was elected a representative in the
legislatures of 1869-70-71 and 79. For many years he cultivated a
large farm at Becker. For ten years he has been in the employ of the
Manitoba railroad as land agent. He is a Democrat, and in 1860 was
delegate to the conventions at Charleston and Baltimore. Mr. Fridley
died March 26, 1888, leaving a widow and three sons, Henry C., Frank
and David H.
CAPT. JAMES STARKEY was born in England in 1818. He came to America in
1849 and located in St. Paul in 1850. He removed to the town of
Columbus, Anoka county, in 1855, and was active in promoting its
interests. His first enterprise, the building up of the village of
Columbus, was not successful. In 1857, by order of Gov. Medary, he
commanded a military expedition against the Chippewas at Sunrise
Prairie, the object being to compel them to return to their
reservation, an expedition attended with some tragical results, as
elsewhere narrated. Capt. Starkey took part in the Civil War as
captain of a cavalry company. He was the first to survey a road
through the country lying between St. Paul and Lake Superior. He was a
representative of the first state legislature. Since 1865 Capt.
Starkey has resided at St. Paul, and is at present prominent as a
citizen and as an official in West St. Paul.
SHERBURNE COUNTY.
Prior to its organization, Sherburne was part of Benton county. It was
named in honor of Judge Moses Sherburne, an appointee to the bench of
the supreme court of Minnesota Territory. The county is bounded on the
north by Benton, on the east by Anoka and Isanti counties, and on the
south by the Mississippi river. It is somewhat irregularly timbered
with pine and hardwood, interspersed with oak openings, rolling
prairie lands and natural meadows. The surface is generally
undulating. A prominent ridge of high land, from three to five miles
wide, extends from Elk river in a northeasterly direction into Anoka
county. The county is well watered by tributaries of the Mississippi,
Elk and St. Louis rivers, and has besides many clear and sparkling
lakes. The soil is mostly sandy loam with clay subsoil, and valuable
granite quarries are found in the northern tier of towns.
David Faribault was the first settler or trader, he having established
a post on the Elk river in 1846, where he made a garden and raised
potatoes. In September, 1848, H. M. Rice and S. P. Folsom bought
Faribault's improvements, and Folsom moved his family to the place and
built a log cabin on what is now Auditor's addition to Elk River
village. He was succeeded in the ownership by Pierre Bottineau.
The county was organized in 1856, under territorial law. The governor,
Willis A. Gorman, appointed J. H. Stevenson, Ephriam Nickerson and
Eli J. Cutter commissioners (Stevenson being chairman); Eli Houghton,
treasurer; H. J. Putnam, register of deeds; Andrew Boyington, judge of
probate; John G. Jamieson, county attorney; Orlando Bailey, sheriff.
The first commissioners' meeting was held at the house of Joseph
Brown, at the village of Humboldt, which was made the county seat and
so remained until 1867, when it was removed to Elk River village. The
county was attached to Benton for judicial purposes until 1862. Prior
to this Mr. Brown's house was used for county commissioners' meetings
and for courtrooms until burned down some years later, when the
commissioners met at the house of John E. Putnam.
A court house was built at Elk River on lots donated by J. Q. A.
Nickerson, the village donating $1,000 and the county the remainder
necessary for the building.
Prior to the formation of the state government, the county was divided
into election precincts. The first term of district court was held at
Humboldt in December, 1862; Judge C. E. Vanderburgh, presiding; J. E.
Putnam acting as clerk. The first commissioners who held their meeting
at Elk River were H. Houlton, chairman; A. Boyington and O. Bailey.
The first meetings were held at the house of J. Q. A. Nickerson.
In 1867 the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad was completed
through the county on a line parallel with the general course of the
Mississippi river. The North Pacific railroad, since built, runs
parallel on the same grade. The depots were built upon the same plan
and placed on opposite sides of the two tracks. The stations are Elk
River, Big Lake, Becker, Clear Lake, and East St. Cloud. The Manitoba
has a branch line from Elk River to Princeton and Milacca, built in
1884.
The first deed recorded was transcribed from the Benton county
records, transfers of property from James Beatty to Richard Chute and
David Olmstead, and bears date of July 28, 1851.
TOWNS.
The towns in Sherburne are: Baldwin, deriving its name from F. Eugene
Baldwin, an old citizen; Big Lake, from the lake on which located;
Becker, from Hon. G. L. Becker, of St. Paul; Blue Hill, from a high
hill in the town; Clear Lake, from a lake of that name; Elk River,
from the river on the shore of which it is located; Haven, from Hon.
John Ormsby Haven, who represented his district in the state senate in
1872-73; Livonia, from the christian name of the wife of an old
citizen; Orrock, from Reuben Orrock, a pioneer, originally from
Scotland; and Palmer, from Dr. Palmer, of Sauk Centre.
Elk River was the first town organized, and included the whole county.
The first election was held Sept. 30, 1858, at which the following
board of officers was elected: Moderator, Alden B. Heath; supervisors,
J. G. Jamieson, Alden B. Heath, J. Q. A. Nickerson; clerk, George H.
Davis.
VILLAGES OF SHERBURNE COUNTY.
Orono, a post office, was established at Orono in 1850. The office was
merged into the Elk River post office in 1853. This post office, with
the mills erected in 1851, became the nucleus of the Elk River
settlement, which some years later became Elk River village, within
the corporate limits of which Orono is now situated. Orono was
surveyed and platted May, 1855; Ard Godfrey, proprietor.
ELK RIVER,
Located originally about a mile below Orono, was not platted as a
village until 1865. J. Q. A. and Julia Nickerson were the proprietors.
It is on the east bank of the Mississippi, at its junction with Elk
river, above which it now extends a distance of two miles. It has a
pleasant location. It was incorporated in 1881, with C. S. Wheaton,
president; W. T. Struble, recorder; N. K. Whittemore, H. P. Burrell
and L. Pollard, commissioners. Elk river affords a fine water power
with ten feet head. Mills were erected here in 1851. A great fire in
May, 1887, destroyed mill property valued at $50,000. Since the fire a
flour mill with a capacity of 250 barrels a day has been completed at
a cost of $25,000. A saw mill is also in process of construction. The
village has an elevator with a capacity of 10,000 bushels, 2 town
halls, 3 churches, Episcopal, Free Will Baptist and Congregational; a
first class school building, with rooms for four departments; a school
building at Orono, with two departments; and two railroad depots,
built at a cost of $9,000.
In June, 1885, a private bank was incorporated as the Bank of Elk
River.
EAST ST. CLOUD,
In the town of Haven, is a thriving village. It has one of the best
granite quarries in the State. The State, in 1887, located here its
reformatory school, receiving a donation of two hundred acres of land,
covered with gray and variegated granite. The village was surveyed and
platted in August, 1853; Geo. F. Brott & Co., proprietors.
CLEAR LAKE
Was surveyed and platted March 24, 1882; Alanson Potter and wife,
proprietors.
BECKER
Was surveyed and platted Dec. 5, 1870; J. Freeman and H. C. Fridley,
proprietors. Mr. Vadnais was the first settler, in 1855.
BIG LAKE,
Originally Humboldt village, is located on Elk river, ten miles above
its junction with the Mississippi. Its first settler was Joseph Brown,
a veteran pioneer, but not to be confounded with the invincible Joe R.
Brown, elsewhere referred to. Mr. Brown came here in 1848, and made
substantial improvements. He died in 1886. His family still reside
here. James Ely and Newell Houghton also settled here in 1884. Mr.
Houghton was killed at the New Ulm massacre in 1862.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS NICKERSON was born in New Salem, Franklin county,
Maine, March 30, 1825. He received an academic education; taught
school and followed farming in Maine. In 1849 he came to St. Anthony
Falls, and in 1853 settled at Elk River, which then contained but one
house, a hewed log structure, which he, in company with B. F.
Hildreth, purchased for a hotel. The house has been enlarged from time
to time, and has been continuously under the charge of Mr. Nickerson.
He has besides employed much of his time in farming and lumbering, and
has dealt in village lots. He was appointed postmaster at an early
day. He has filled various responsible offices, among them that of
county treasurer and town and county supervisor. He was married to
Julia A. Farnham, of St. Anthony Falls, Oct. 2, 1852. They have five
children.
HENRY BITTNER was born in Bavaria in 1799; came to America in his
boyhood; enlisted in the United States Army in 1835; served in the
Mexican War; was present at the battle of Buena Vista, and when the
American forces were surrounded performed a daring feat, carrying a
dispatch from Gen. Taylor through the Mexican lines to an American
fort. He was a target for the bullets of the Mexican Army, but arrived
at his destination severely wounded. He was discharged on account of
his wounds. In 1855 he came to Clear Lake and made him a home. He
offered himself as a volunteer during the late Civil War, but was not
received on account of age and disability. He died at his home at
Clear Lake in 1885.
FRANCIS DE LILLE, of French descent, was born in Canada in 1782. He
came with his family to St. Anthony in 1848, and in 1852 to Elk River,
where he occupied the first house built in the lower town. He settled
on a farm, where he lived the remainder of his life. He died April 18,
1874, under peculiar circumstances. He was a devout Catholic, and died
suddenly in the church while kneeling during a part of the service.
His widow and youngest son reside at the old homestead.
MRS. DE LILLE, formerly Catharine Queenan, of Ireland, is one of the
oldest settlers of Sherburne county. She has eight children living,
Mary F., married and living in Dakota; Frank, Agnes; Elisabeth,
married to Peter Trump of Taylor's Falls; Harriet, wife of Joseph
Holt, of Taylor's Falls; Joseph F., Rosanna and Sarah, all married.
HOWARD M. ATKINS was born in New Sharon, Franklin county, Maine, May
11, 1838. His father was stricken down by lightning, leaving him at
the age of thirteen to assist in taking care of the family. Howard was
near his father and was struck senseless by the same flash that
deprived him of a father. Recovering, he set himself earnestly and
seriously to the duties of life, performed his allotted tasks about
the household, and succeeded in obtaining a good high school
education. He came to Princeton, Mille Lacs county, in 1856, studied
law and was admitted to practice in Mille Lacs county in 1863.
Subsequently he practiced law five years in St. Cloud. He came to Elk
River in 1876. He has held official positions in Mille Lacs, Stearns
and Sherburne counties. Mr. Atkins has acquired an honorable position
through his own exertions and richly deserves the respect of his
fellow citizens. He was married in 1862 to Virginia Sinclair, of
Illinois. They have two sons and four daughters.
B. F. HILDRETH was born in Milford, Maine, March, 1822. He learned the
trade of a blacksmith and came to St. Anthony in 1849, and the year
following did part of the crew work of the first steamer launched on
the Mississippi above the falls. Since then he has engaged chiefly in
lumbering and farming. In 1850 he was married to M. E. Farnham, of St.
Anthony. He removed to Elk River in 1873.
SAMUEL HAYDEN was born Oct. 12, 1806, at Madison, Maine. He came to
Livonia, Sherburne county, in 1856. He has a family of four sons and
three daughters, residents of Minnesota. His brother, the Hon.
Wentworth Hayden, was a member of the constitutional convention of
1857.
The writer of these sketches had known Mr. Samuel Hayden in early
life, and distinctly remembered seeing him the winter of 1827, driving
an ox team in the pineries on Dead river, Maine. He was then a young
man of twenty-one, and the writer was a boy of ten. Sixty years later
they met in Sherburne county, and the writer recognized in the aged
man of eighty-one years the young man of twenty-one, though for the
moment unable to call his name. It is seldom that memory bridges so
wide a chasm.
JOSEPH JEROME settled in the town of Haven in 1846, and is therefore
among the first of the pioneers. In 1848 he sold his property to
Samuel Sturgis and removed to Michigan.
JOSHUA O. CATER came from Stafford county, New Hampshire, and was one
of the earliest settlers of the town of Haven, where he still lives.
J. F. BEAN also came from New Hampshire to Sherburne county, and is
now a resident of Livonia, and postmaster at Lake Fremont.
J. H. FELCH, of Maine, an early settler of Livonia, is now living at
Elk River.
JAMES BRADY came to Palmer in 1855. He died about 1868.
JOSHUA BRIGGS settled in Palmer in 1855, and died there in 1881.
ROBERT ORROCK, for whom the town of Orrock was named, died at his
home, at a good old age, January, 1885.
JOHN G. JAMIESON died at Elk River in 1869.
A. B. HEATH removed to Oregon in 1873, where he still lives.
DR. B. R. PALMER, for whom the town of Palmer was named, was a
resident of Sauk Centre and died there in 1885.
JUDGE MOSES SHERBURNE, for whom the county was named, died at Elk
River in 1869.
CHAS. F. GEORGE, who settled in Santiago in 1856, is at present
chairman of the board of county commissioners.
ROYAL GEORGE, a pioneer of the same date, returned to Vermont, where
he died in 1887.
W. L. BABCOCK, a merchant of Santiago, still resides here.
CHAPTER XVII.
BENTON COUNTY.
At the organization of Minnesota Territory three counties were
created, of which Benton was one. Its eastern boundary followed the
course of Rum river from its mouth to its junction with the west
branch and thence a line due north to the Mississippi river. The
boundary line upon the west followed the windings of the Mississippi
down to its junction with Rum river, making a county large and
irregular in outline, extending from north to south about one hundred
miles, and about forty at its widest point from east to west. The
formation of new counties since that time has left it with less than
eleven townships lying east of the Mississippi river and bounded on
the north by Morrison, on the east by Mille Lacs, and on the south by
Sherburne counties. The soil is diversified. There is black sandy loam
in the plains and a black vegetable mould in the timber, with clay
subsoils. It is a fair agricultural district, having groves of pine
and hardwood in the east and natural meadows, prairies and oak
openings in the central and western portions. It is well watered by
the Mississippi and its tributaries, Elk, Little Rock and Platte
rivers. It has some fine lakes, of which Mayhew, Briggs and Little
Rock are the largest. A granite formation underlies most of this
county and crops out in many places, furnishing valuable quarries. The
granite is plain and variegated and is being worked and shipped
extensively. Near the village of Watab there is a rich upheaval. The
St. Paul custom house is made of the Watab granite.
The Northern Pacific railway passes through this county parallel with
the channel of the Mississippi river. The Manitoba, St. Cloud &
Hinckley branch passes through the southern tier of towns. The
organized towns are Alberta, Gilmanton, Glendorado, Granite Lodge,
Maywood, Minden, Sauk Rapids, St. George, and Watab. The villages are
East St. Cloud, Foley, Oak Grove, Rice's, and Watab.
The first settlers were Philip Beaupre, in 1844; David Gilman, in
1848; Jeremiah Russell, Wm. H. Wood, James Beatty, Ellis Kling, Wm.
Smith, and J. C. Mayhew, in 1849. Sauk Rapids was made the county
seat, then Watab, then Sauk Rapids.
The first board of officers, qualified Jan. 7, 1850, were:
Commissioners, Wm. A. Aitkin, chairman; Joseph Brown and James Beatty;
assessors, Truman A. Warren and Reuben M. Richardson; attorney, W. D.
Phillips. The voting precincts were at Sauk Rapids, Swan River and
Crow Wing. The judges of election were: For Sauk Rapids, J. Russell,
Wm. Sturgis and Curtis Bellows; for Swan River, Philip Beaupre, James
Green and Duncan Stewart; for Crow Wing, Allen Morrison, Wm. Morrison
and Sylvester Stateler. The first election was held at Pierre
Bottineau's house, now in Sherburne county. George Egbert and Thomas
Holmes were judges of election.
The first court in the county was held Nov. 11, 1850; Bradley B.
Meeker, presiding. David Gilman was the first sheriff, John C. Hawley
the second. The first deed recorded was from James Hitchins to Wm. F.
Coblett. It bore date of Oct. 21, 1850. Taylor Dudley was register of
deeds. The land conveyed was a tract lying at the foot of Sauk Rapids,
being a land claim of one hundred and sixty acres, purchased from
Calvin Potter.
SAUK RAPIDS.
The site of the village of Sauk Rapids was judiciously chosen. It
slopes gently to the river's east bank, giving a pleasant frontage to
the rapids. Philip Beaupre came here first in 1844. His son, William
P., was the first white child here, born May 24, 1852. Geo. O. Sweet
was the second, born Aug. 22, 1852. Several Indian traders located
here and at Watab. Following Mr. Beaupre came T. A. Holmes, James
Beatty, J. Russell, Calvin Potter, James Hitchins, Curtis Bellows, and
Charles Webb. The first plat of Sauk Rapids was made and recorded in
1854. The proprietors were J. Russell, G. M. Sweet and S. Van Nest.
The surveyor was C. B. Chapman.
The village was incorporated in 1881. The commissioners appointed
under the general act to effect the organization were Alphonso J.
Demenles, Erasmus Cross, B. K. Knowlton. A wagon bridge built across
the Mississippi at this point cost $25,000. It was greatly damaged by
a storm, and partially destroyed by the cyclone of 1886.
The dam across the Mississippi at Sauk Rapids was built in 1870 at a
cost of $140,000. The east wing is owned by the Commodore Davidson
estate; the west, by the Sauk Rapids Manufacturing Company.
The rapids are formed by the eruption of granite ledges across the
channel of the river. A flour mill built here with a capacity of three
hundred barrels per day was totally destroyed by the cyclone of April
16, 1886, which was one of the most destructive on record. The
estimated loss in Sauk Rapids was $300,000, of which $108,000 was made
up by voluntary contributions from St. Paul, Minneapolis and other
portions of the State.
The public buildings, including the court house, school buildings and
several churches, were destroyed, together with many fine stores and
dwellings.
Since the cyclone the village has been handsomely rebuilt. A new court
house has replaced the old one at a cost of $6,000, a new school house
has been built at a cost of $12,000--a model building with rooms for
five departments. There are five new church buildings, an Episcopal,
Congregational, Methodist and two Lutheran.
WATAB.
Watab appears to have been a noted Indian trading post from 1844 to
1855. Asa White, D. Gilman, C. W. Borup, N. Myrick, Gen. Lowry, and
others were located, or had stations here. Watab was for a short time
the county seat of Benton county. A bridge was once built across the
Mississippi here, but it has disappeared. The village site was
surveyed and platted, and a post office established in 1853. P. Lamb
was postmaster. A steam saw mill was erected here, but was afterward
removed. The first improved farm in Benton county was located in the
vicinity. David Gilman, Benjamin Bright and George Goodhue were early
settlers.
PHILIP BEAUPRE was born in Lower Canada, in 1823. As his name
indicates, he is of French descent. He received a French education. He
came West in 1841; entered the employ of the fur company in 1843, and
located at Sauk Rapids in 1844. When he arrived there were no white
inhabitants, save Indian traders, on the Mississippi north of St.
Anthony. Mr. Beaupre built a log house in 1851, and was continuously
engaged in trade until succeeded by his sons. He assisted in forming
the county, town and village organizations, filling many offices of
trust and honor. In 1880 he served as judge of the probate court, and
since as collector of customs at Pembina. In 1851 he was married to
Teresa de Noyes, of St. Louis, and has a family of seven sons and six
daughters, all residing in Benton county.
DAVID GILMAN.--Hon. David Gilman, of Watab, was born April 29, 1812,
at Saratoga, New York. He was left fatherless at the age of six
months, and his mother subsequently placed him in the family of a
neighbor to be brought up and cared for until the age of twenty-one.
As he grew older he was not pleased with this arrangement, and at the
age of fourteen left his home to adventure for himself. His
opportunities for securing an education were limited. In 1836 he came
to Michigan. In 1844 he married Nancy W. Lamb, of Woodstock, Vermont.
In 1848 he came to Watab, Minnesota, and made him a permanent home,
making himself a useful, influential and public spirited citizen,
filling many positions of trust in his town, county and state
governments. Amongst the offices filled by him were those of deputy
United States marshal, member of the second territorial legislature,
and of the constitutional convention. He was postmaster at Watab from
the establishment of the office in 1849 until 1885, when he died,
greatly lamented by his friends and honored by all who knew him. Mrs.
Gilman and four children survive him.
JAMES BEATTY was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, April 27, 1816. When
fourteen years of age he went to Cass county, Michigan. He farmed for
the Winnebago Indians near Fort Atkinson, Iowa, for several years, and
coming to Minnesota in 1848 located at Sauk Rapids, which he made his
permanent home. He has been engaged as Indian trader, hotel keeper,
merchant and farmer. He was a member of the Minnesota territorial
legislatures of 1851, 1853 and 1854. He was married to Eliza Foscet,
of New York, in 1854. They have three children living.
ELLIS KLING was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, Oct. 15, 1824.
He was brought up as a farmer, and has made farming his occupation
through life. He came to Sauk Rapids in 1851. In 1854 he was married
to Lucy Lewis, of Belle Prairie. They have five sons and one daughter.
GEORGE W. BENEDICT.--Mr. Benedict was born at Rochester, New York, in
1827. He served an apprenticeship to a printer in Canada for five
years. In 1851 he was married to Anna Cronk, a native of Prince Edward
county, Canada. For four years he published the Tecumseh (Mich.)
_Herald_ and in 1854, having removed to Sauk Rapids, established the
_Frontiersman_ for Jeremiah Russell. This paper he conducted for three
years. He then conducted the _New Era_ for one year. In 1868 he
established the Sauk Rapids _Sentinel_, which he conducted four years,
when he started the Alexandria _Post_ and also became a member of a
company that published the St. Cloud _Press_, with which he was
connected one year. In 1872 he re-established the Sauk Rapids
_Sentinel_, which he sold to W. L. Nieman, but repurchased after the
cyclone of 1886. Mr. Benedict was in the United States revenue service
ten years, and served as a member of the state senate one term.
J. Q. A. WOOD was born in Chichester, New Hampshire, in 1815. He
graduated at Union College, New York, in 1843; studied law with
President Franklin Pierce; was admitted to practice in 1846, and made
his home at Sauk Rapids in 1854, which has been his home ever since,
with the exception of some years spent in Kentucky as editor of the
_Southern Kentucky Shield_. This paper was suppressed in 1862.
Returning to Sauk Rapids in 1864, he engaged in the practice of law,
in which he has since continued. During this period he served eleven
years as county attorney, and also a term as probate judge. Mr. Wood
was seriously injured in the great cyclone, having been buried in the
debris of the court house, from which, with great difficulty, he
extricated himself. Mr. Wood is a poetical writer of some reputation,
many of his productions having been received with great favor. Among
them we may mention "Father is Growing Old, John," "Ode to New
Hampshire," and "The Wine of Cyprus." He has one son, a resident of
Dakota, and one daughter, the wife of D. C. Roberts of West Superior.
WILLIAM H. WOOD was born in London, New Hampshire, Feb. 2, 1817. When
he was fourteen years of age his father removed to Tecumseh, Michigan.
He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1839 and afterward took a course
in Union College, New York, graduating in 1843. He then returned to
Tecumseh, Michigan, where he studied law with Judge Stacy. In 1845 he
was admitted to the bar in Lenawee county, Michigan. During the
presidential campaign of the year following he edited a paper in
Kentucky, the _Rough and Ready_, advocating the claims of Gen. Taylor
for the presidency. In 1848 he located in Greensburg, Kentucky, and in
1849 was married to a lady of refinement, known to the literary world
under the _nom de plume_ of "Minnie Mary Lee." In 1849 he removed to
Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. He was there editor of the pioneer paper, the
_Frontiersman_. He afterward owned, and with his gifted wife edited,
the _New Era_, in which he was an ardent supporter of Mr. Lincoln for
the presidency in 1860. Meanwhile he practiced his profession and held
the office of county attorney for many years. When the land office was
established at Sauk Rapids he was appointed receiver and served a
number of years. He was a member of the first state legislature. In
1869 he was elected president of the New Athens College, Greensburg,
Kentucky, and served a short time, when he contracted the disease that
afterward terminated his earthly career. Mr. Wood was a man of more
than ordinary ability, an eloquent speaker, a fluent and gifted
writer, whose influence will long be felt. He left a widow and three
children.
MRS. W. H. WOOD has been a liberal contributor to magazines and the
author of several volumes, of which a list is here appended: "The
Heart of Myrrha Lake;" "Into the Light of Catholicity;" "Hubert's
Wife;" "The Brown House at Duffield;" "Strayed from the Fold;" "Three
Times Three; or, Basil, Beatrice, Ethel;" "Story of Annette;" "Hazel
Green's Rival."
A. DE LACY WOOD, son of Mrs. W. H. Wood, edits the Two Harbor _Iron
Post_, in Lake county.
P. H. WOOD, second son of Mrs. W. H. Wood, edits the Sauk Rapids _Free
Press_.
REV. SHERMAN HALL was born in Weathersfield, Vermont; was educated at
Exeter Academy, Dartmouth College and Andover Theological Seminary. He
was married to Betsey Parker in 1831, and ordained the same year as a
missionary to the Chippewa Indians at La Pointe. With them he remained
until 1854, when he transferred his residence to Sauk Rapids and
organized a Congregational church, of which he continued pastor until
his death, Sept. 1, 1859. Mr. Hall made a translation of parts of the
Bible into the Ojibway tongue. He was greatly beloved amongst his
people for his firm, christian demeanor and publicly recognized as a
man of integrity and sound judgment. He served the people of Benton
county as judge of probate court and county superintendent of schools.
JEREMIAH RUSSELL was born in Eaton, Madison county, New York, Feb. 2,
1809. He received a common school and academic education, and learned
to set type in the office of the Chautauqua _Gazette_. He subsequently
taught school and worked for awhile in printing offices. Removing to
Palmyra, he clerked in a store several years. In 1835 he came to
Michigan, and thence to the Lake Superior country, where he
superintended a copper mine for a couple of years, at Left Hand river,
near the head of the lake. In 1837 he came to Fort Snelling, and in
1839 accompanied Frank Steele and others to St. Croix Falls, and
engaged in building a saw mill. In 1840 he went to Pokegama mission as
government farmer and blacksmith. About 1842, at the closing up of the
Pokegama mission in consequence of Indian disturbances, he purchased
the old Connor trading post and farm. In 1843, with Elam Greely, he
went down the St. Croix and up the Mississippi and Rum rivers in a
birch canoe, exploring for pine timber. They found Rum river blockaded
at one place a distance of three-quarters of a mile, with drifts or
rafts of trees, consolidated and held together by the roots of grasses
and water willows, the accumulations apparently of ages. Around this
raft they made a portage, and ascended a tributary of Rum river to its
source, thence down the Kanabec or Snake river to Pokegama. In 1848
Mr. Russell came to Crow Wing, Minnesota, as agent for Borup & Oakes,
Indian traders and fur dealers. In the autumn of 1849 he established
himself at a point two miles above Sauk Rapids, and opened up a farm
of one hundred and thirty acres. At the end of four years he moved
down the river and made a land claim on the west side, including the
water power of Sauk Rapids. He owned an interest also in the water
power on the east side. In 1854 he was one of the company that
surveyed and platted the village of Sauk Rapids. He established the
pioneer newspaper, the Sauk Rapids _Frontiersman_.
Mr. Russell for several years held the office of county auditor and
treasurer, and in 1849 was elected to the territorial legislature. His
name appears in the list of members, but he was present only at the
opening sessions, and voted for but a single measure. He had told his
constituents before his election that he would not serve. At this time
he was Democratic in politics but in later life voted the Republican
ticket. Mr. Russell possessed a warm, generous nature, combined with
integrity of character, which gained for him the love and esteem of
his many friends. Ever ready to extend a willing hand to those in
need, and, as far as lay in his power, to assist those in distress, he
will ever be remembered with kindly feelings by all who knew him.
Though exposed to all the temptations and vicissitudes of an early
settler's life, coming in contact with all kinds of social conditions,
he never departed from the path of christian rectitude, and those with
whom he came in contact will ever remember him for his kind
heartedness and gentlemanly bearing.
Sept. 20, 1843, he was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Oakes
(daughter of the late Chas. H. Oakes), who survives him. Seven
children were born unto them, but only three are now alive. These are
Mrs. W. L. Nieman, Miss Julia A. and Mr. J. A. Russell. Mr. Russell
died at his home in Sauk Rapids in 1885.
EDWARD OSCAR HAMLIN was born at Bethany, Wayne county, Pennsylvania,
June 12, 1828. He received his preparatory education at his native
place; entered Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, in 1848, and
graduated in 1858, third in his class, and in three years received the
degree of A.M. He read law first at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, with
Hon. Geo. W. Woodward (afterward one of the judges of the supreme
court of Pennsylvania); at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, later with Earl
Wheeler, Esq., and was admitted to the bar Sept. 7, 1852. After
practicing for two years at Honesdale, he decided to go West, and in
1855 settled in Sauk Rapids. He was admitted to practice in the
territorial courts, and in 1856 was admitted to practice by the
supreme court. Judge Hamlin was elected the first mayor of the city of
St. Cloud. He was nominated by the Democratic party for governor, and
subsequently for judge of the supreme court. He was also, in 1860,
appointed by Gov. Ramsey "a regent of the University of the State of
Minnesota," and was subsequently an efficient and zealous member of
the state board of normal instruction.
Soon after the outbreak of the Rebellion, in 1861, Gov. Ramsey
tendered him the commission of major of the Seventh Regiment,
Minnesota Volunteers, but his eyesight being defective, he was obliged
to decline it. In 1864 Judge Hamlin was chosen by the Democratic party
as one of the delegates to the Democratic national convention. He was
appointed as one of the committee on platform, and openly denounced,
with three others, the platform before it was adopted, because it
declared the war for the Union a failure. Judge Hamlin was a war
Democrat, and hung out the stars and stripes over his residence in
Sauk Rapids, the first one in that town to do so. In 1873, being an
only child and yielding to the solicitations of his parents, Judge
Hamlin returned to his native county and opened an office in
Honesdale. After a short residence there he removed to Bethany, which
has since been his home. He continued the practice of his profession
in Honesdale until June, 1885, when failing health compelled him to
retire.
Judge Hamlin has been twice married. His first wife was Mary A.,
daughter of Judge Eldred, who for a quarter of a century graced the
bench of Pennsylvania. She died at St. Cloud, Sept. 27, 1868. In
October, 1870, Judge Hamlin married Ella F., daughter of E. B. Strong,
Esq., for years clerk of the district court of Stearns county.
MORRISON COUNTY.
Morrison county is somewhat irregular in outline. It is bounded on the
north by Crow Wing and Cass, on the east by Mille Lacs, on the south
by Benton and Stearns, on the west by Stearns and Todd counties. The
portion east of the Mississippi originally belonged to Benton county,
and the portion on the west side to Todd county. It contains 1,139
square miles. The eastern part is well covered with pine and hardwood
forests. The west and central portions consist of oak openings and
brush prairies. The groves are interspersed with poplar. The surface
is generally level, but is well drained by the Mississippi and its
tributaries, mostly small streams. It has some fine lakes in the
northern and central parts. The soil is well adapted to farming. A
granite range, an extension of the range of Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud,
passes through the county.
William Nicholson was probably the first settler in this county. He
first came to Swan River in 1847, in company with ten other men. They
forded the Mississippi near the mouth of Swan river, made a raft and
floated down the river a few miles, where they abandoned it on account
of low water, and returned south, whence they came. The next summer
Nicholson returned with twenty-two men, crossed the river at the same
place, and cut a road through to the Winnebago agency at Long Prairie.
Returning the same year to the crossing, he found Wm. Aiken had made a
claim and was building a hotel and store on the east bank of the
river. Mr. Nicholson remained some years in the vicinity, but is now a
resident of Little Falls. Wm. Aiken permanently located at Swan River
in 1848, one year after Nicholson's arrival at that point. He died in
1851, aged about sixty-five years. He had two Indian wives. They
quarreled and fought savagely at the funeral as to which was entitled
to the position of chief mourner, wife number one coming off
victorious. James Green made a squatter's claim in 1848, and built a
saw mill on the east side of the Mississippi by the island at the
falls. Wm. Knowles located at the mouth of Rabbit river in 1849. John
Stillwell came to Swan River in 1849. He was a carpenter and worked at
his trade until 1866, when he went into the hotel business. He now
resides at Little Falls. He and Nicholson are the only old settlers of
Swan River remaining in the county.
At the organization of the county in 1856, Little Falls, located on
the Mississippi a short distance above Swan River, became the county
seat. The year before and the two years following were years of wild
speculation. The chief ambition of the speculators was to found a
city. During these years twenty-four village or town plats were
recorded in the office of the register of deeds in Morrison. Not all,
however, were located within the bounds of the county, some being
platted on unsurveyed government lands. Of these towns, the only one
remaining, or of note, is Fergus Falls, Otter Tail county, platted by
a company from Little Falls. Of the towns located in Morrison county,
every one vanished except Little Falls, though Swan River, Belle
Prairie and Granite City kept up an appearance of prosperity for a
time.
The early history of Morrison county is enlivened by many thrilling
incidents of Indian warfare, chiefly of contests between the Sioux and
Chippewas. The Sioux had claimed the territory from time immemorial,
but over a hundred years ago the Chippewas had driven them westward
across the Mississippi and were in possession of the soil. The tribal
hostility of the two races continued to manifest itself in predatory
and retaliatory raids, and from these the early settlers were often
sufferers.
Nathan Richardson, the historian of Morrison county, an authority to
whom we are greatly indebted, says that the country was acknowledged
to be Chippewa ground before and during the settlement by the whites,
but that the Sioux made frequent raids through the counties in parties
of from five to twenty-five, their principal object being to possess
themselves of Chippewa scalps. The Chippewas retaliated by pursuing
the Sioux into their own prescribed limits. Mr. Richardson avers that
the Chippewas were seldom known to treat the white settlers uncivilly,
while the Sioux would kill stock to supply their wants, for which the
settlers were left without compensation from Indians or government.
The Winnebagoes were for some years located within the bounds of Todd
and Morrison counties. In 1848 Gen. Fletcher removed them from Fort
Atkinson, Iowa, to Long Prairie, west side of the Mississippi; but
although the agency was located at Long Prairie, the Indians occupied
the Swan River valley within the present limits of Morrison and Todd
counties for a period of seven years, where they engaged partly in
hunting and partly in farming, having about two hundred acres under
cultivation, when they became dissatisfied and were removed to the
Blue Earth country.
When the Winnebago Indians were brought to Long Prairie and the Swan
River valley, in 1848, the government built Fort Ripley on the west
bank of the Mississippi, about twenty miles above the mouth of Swan
river. The government still owns the fort and reservation around it,
and keeps a garrison there. Fort Ripley, however, has other
associations than those connected with the Winnebagoes. It was
necessary to place a force here during the Indian outbreak in 1862,
the object being to overawe and hold in check the Chippewas, who were
more than suspected of an intention to make common cause with the
Sioux in their warfare against the whites. There the Seventh Regiment,
Minnesota Volunteers, had its headquarters for a time.
Morrison county was named in honor of Hon. Allen W. Morrison, who came
to Minnesota some time in the '20s, and was prominent in the early
history of the Territory. It was organized April 18, 1856, by the
election of the following county officers: Commissioners, Wm. Trask,
Elliott J. Kidder and W. W. Stebbins; register of deeds and clerk of
board of commissioners, Nathan Richardson; judge of probate, James
Fergus; sheriff, Jonathan Pugh; district attorney, W. B. Fairbanks;
assessors, W. B. Tuttle and John Fry.
The first term of court was held May 15, 1856; Judge Moses Sherburne,
presiding. The first deed recorded was dated June 19, 1854, conveying
from William Shelafoo to Louis Robair the northeast quarter of the
southwest quarter, and lots 3, 4 and 5 of section 30, township 40,
range 32.
Morrison county is subdivided into the following towns: Agram, Belle
Prairie, Buckman, Bellevue, Culdrum, Elmdale, Green Prairie, Little
Falls, Morrill, Motley, Parker, Pierz, Pike Creek, Ripley, Swan River,
and Two Rivers.
LITTLE FALLS VILLAGE,
The county seat of Morrison county, is located on the east bank of the
Mississippi river, in sections 7, 8, 18 and 19 of township 40, range
32. It derives its name from a rapid in the Mississippi river, formed
by the extension across the river of the slate stone ledges of the St.
Louis. The site is a prairie, sloping gently to the water's edge. The
first survey was made in 1855, by S. M. Putnam. The village grew
rapidly from the first, and in 1857 the best lots were selling for
$1,000 each. Previous to 1855 the only houses in the place were two
cabins, a frame building in which E. J. Kidder lived, and a school
house. Two hotels were built that year, one by Joseph Batters, the
other by W. B. Fairbanks and Nathan Richardson.
The first settlers were the Kidders, Fairbanks, Batters, Richardson,
James Green, William Sturgis, William Butler, and O. A. Churchill.
James Green came as early as 1848, and took a squatter's claim on the
east bank, including the water power, and built a saw mill, but soon
after died, and the property passed into the hands of H. M. Rice and
Capt. Todd, who in 1850 sold their right to Wm. Sturgis. In 1852 John
M. Kidder pre-empted the mill power, transferring it to the Little
Falls Company, consisting of Wm. Sturgis and Calvin Tuttle, organized
in 1854 for the improvement of the falls. This company purchased
about 1,000 acres of adjoining land from the government, and in 1855
merged into a stock company with a capital of $100,000, of which the
original company retained one-half, the remaining half being converted
into cash. The stock rose in value at one time two hundred and fifty
per cent.
The company built a new dam and mills, but the revenue did not keep
the property in good condition after the expenditures. These valuable
improvements, including the dam and mills, were all swept away by high
water in 1860; the firm became bankrupt, and the valuable power became
nearly worthless and entirely useless, until 1887, when a new company,
known as the Little Falls Water Power Company, was formed with a paid
up capital of $600,000, which is distributed among eastern and western
capitalists. The company is now constructing very extensive works, the
power of which will have a head, or fall, of twenty feet, thus making
it the largest water power, next to Minneapolis, to be found in the
whole Northwest. The dam, now about completed, has cost about
$200,000.
So thoroughly convinced are the people of Morrison county of the great
future before it, that, by a majority of over 2 to 1, they voted a
subscription of $100,000 in 5 per cent bonds as a bonus to be
delivered to the company upon the completion of the work. The village
of Little Falls also entered into a contract with the company,
agreeing to pay annually a sum of money equal to the taxes imposed
upon that corporation, and also to exempt from taxation any
manufactory using the water power for a period of five years. The
improvements under process of construction consist, first, of a dam
across the entire river, resting, however, against the head of Mill
island; second, a canal on the west side, starting from a point
opposite the head of Mill island, and extending 1,000 feet down
stream. This canal is 80 feet wide and 13 feet deep, is lined with a
retaining wall, and provided with head gates at the upper end and with
a waste way at the lower end; third, a wheel house, races, and, if
found desirable, a wire rope tower for transmitting power to Mill
island and to the east shore. Basing the rental of this power on that
of the water power at Lowell, Massachusetts, it would be worth
$150,000 per annum. The officers of the company are W. H. Breyfogle,
of Louisville, Kentucky, president; M. M. Williams, of Little Falls,
secretary and treasurer.
Little Falls was incorporated as a village in 1880, Louis Houde
president of the board. The improvement of the water power has given a
strong impulse to the prosperity of the village. It numbers now
amongst its public buildings a court house, school house having rooms
for six grades, two Catholic churches, one Congregational, one
Episcopal and one Methodist church. In Belle Prairie, four miles
distant, there is also a Catholic church, school and a nunnery.
A bridge, built at a cost of $24,000, crosses the Mississippi at this
point. The bridge is 400 feet in length. The Little Falls & Dakota
railroad, a branch of the Northern Pacific, is finished from Little
Falls to Morris in Stevens county, a distance of 85 miles. In addition
to the mills connected with the water power there is also a steam saw
mill.
ROYALTON VILLAGE
Is located in an oak grove on the Northern Pacific railroad, twenty
miles above Sauk Rapids, and ten below Little Falls near the south
line of Morrison county. It includes some lands in Benton county.
Platte river flows through the village and furnishes a water power of
8 feet head, improved by a dam, supplying a flour mill which has a
capacity of 250 barrels per day, and a saw mill with a capacity of
40,000 feet. There is 65 feet fall on the Platte within five miles of
Royalton below, and 45 feet above the village, yet unimproved. James
Hill, of Baldwin, St. Croix county, Wisconsin, with Putney and Nobles
erected the flour mill, John D. Logan, the proprietor, having donated
the water power and grounds for manufacturing purposes. Mr. Logan has
a steam saw mill with a capacity of 30,000 feet per day. The Platte is
spanned by an iron bridge. The village has, in addition to its mills,
a weekly newspaper, a large elevator, a good graded school with six
departments, and three churches, Episcopal, Presbyterian and
Methodist. It was surveyed and platted in 1879 by John D. Logan, and
incorporated in 1887. The first officers were: President, J. D. Logan;
recorder, John Holmes; trustees. J. C. Wakefield, J. C. Higgins, R.
Lambert; treasurer, G. E. Putney; justices, Robert Brown, Wm. Jones;
constables, Wm. Roller, C. O. Brannen.
PETER ROY, a mixed blood of French and Chippewa parentage, was born in
Rainy Lake, in 1829. He was educated at La Pointe, Wisconsin. At the
age of twenty-one he came to the agency at Long lake, where he served
as interpreter until 1853, when he was elected to the territorial
legislature. He opened a farm at Belle Prairie in 1855; became a
member of the state legislatures of 1860 and 1862. In 1866 he removed
to Little Falls, where he resided until his death, in 1883. He was a
man of large frame and of generous impulses, liberal and open-handed,
even to his own pecuniary disadvantage.
WM. STURGIS came to this county from Big Meadow, Sherburne county,
Minnesota, in 1850, and located at Little Falls, where he put a ferry
across the Mississippi. He also laid out a town and built a saw and
grist mill at the mouth of Little Elk river. He was a member of the
territorial council from Crow Wing and Sauk Rapids precincts in 1849
and 1851; of the territorial house in 1856, and of the constitutional
convention, Democratic wing, in 1857. Some years later he removed,
first to Montana, and then to Sturgis, Michigan.
JAMES FERGUS was born in the parish of Glassford, Lanarkshire,
Scotland, Oct. 8, 1813. His parents were well-to-do farmers, and gave
him a good education along with excellent moral and religious
training. In his youth he was noted for his thoroughness in whatever
work he undertook, and his fondness for good books. At the age of
nineteen years he came to America to improve his fortunes, locating
first in Canada, where he spent three years, and learned the trade of
a millwright. Becoming involved in some political troubles just before
the outbreak of the Papineau Rebellion, he left Canada for the United
States, and spent a couple of years in Green Bay and Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, and at Chicago and Buffalo Grove, Illinois, going thence to
Iowa, and thence to Moline, Illinois, where he found employment in the
machine shops and foundries of Buford, Sears & Wheelock. In 1854 he
removed to Little Falls, and in company with C. A. Tuttle built a dam
across the Mississippi and platted the village. He subsequently owned
the site of Fergus Falls, now a thriving city, that has done well in
assuming his name. In 1862 he drove his own team from Little Falls to
Bannock, then in Idaho, now in Montana Territory. He became prominent
in territorial affairs; was influential in the organization of the new
county of Madison, and held many positions of trust and
responsibility. He was the commissioner appointed for Madison county,
served two terms in the Montana legislature, and was a member of the
constitutional convention of 1887. At one time he lived in Lewis and
Clark counties; he now resides in Meagher county, near Fort Maginnis,
where he is engaged in stock raising.
His main characteristics are an aptitude for mechanical enterprises, a
sturdy independence of thought, a strict integrity of purpose, and an
ardent love of study and good books. He is a typical pioneer, and in
the mellow light of his declining days has the respect and love of his
contemporaries to a remarkable degree. He is the first president of
the Montana Pioneer Association, a position which he worthily fills.
Mr. Fergus was married March 16, 1845, to Parnelia Dillin, of
Jefferson county, New York. Mrs. Fergus died Oct. 6, 1887. He has one
son and three daughters, the latter married and living in Montana.
NATHAN RICHARDSON was born in Wayne county, New York, in 1829. He was
raised on a farm, educated at Romeo, Michigan, and came to Little
Falls in 1855. He served as register of deeds for Morrison county
eight years, and was postmaster eleven years. He also served as county
surveyor and county attorney, having been admitted to the bar in 1877.
He was notary public twenty-five years. He was a representative in the
Minnesota legislatures of 1867, 1872 and 1878. During his first term
in the house he represented nineteen counties, nearly one-half the
territory of the State. He served as judge of probate two terms. Mr.
Richardson has prepared, by order of the board of county
commissioners, and published in the local papers, a complete and
valuable history of Morrison county, to which we are greatly indebted.
He was married to Mary A. Roof in 1857, and has a family of three sons
and two daughters.
MOSES LA FOND, a Canadian Frenchman, came to Morrison county in 1855,
and located at Little Falls, where he commenced as a teamster for the
Little Falls Manufacturing Company. He found more lucrative
employment, became a butcher, then a merchant, then a legislator,
having been elected a representative in the legislature of 1874.
O. A. CHURCHILL.--Orlando A. Churchill was born in Windsor county,
Vermont, in 1825. He came to Illinois in 1843, and to Little Falls in
1855, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was elected to the
legislature of 1858, but did not serve, as no session of the
legislature was held that year. He served several years as auditor of
Morrison county. He removed to St. Paul a few years ago, and later to
California, but is now again a resident of Little Falls.
JOHN M. KIDDER made a claim of government land on the east side of the
Mississippi, on the site of Little Falls. He died in 1855, before the
land was entered, and the claim was purchased by Wm. Sturgis, a
son-in-law of Mr. Kidder, and by him sold to the Little Falls Company.
Elliott J., a son of John M. Kidder, is still a resident of Little
Falls.
WARREN KOBE located at Royalton in 1880 and built an elevator, store
and first class hotel. Mr. Kobe is a public spirited citizen and has
expended much in improving the town.
OLA K. BLACK, of Norwegian birth, was one of the first settlers.
IRA W. BOUCH came from Buchanan county, Iowa, in 1880, and opened the
first store in Royalton.
ROBERT RUSSELL, living on a farm near the village, came from Scotland
to America in 1850 and settled here in 1853. Mr. Russell died in July,
1862; Mrs. Russell died in 1876. Three sons and five daughters survive
them.
PETER A. GREEN, a farmer, pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres in
1854, a part of which is surveyed into town lots. He built the second
building on the town site. Mr. Green was born in 1817, in Green
county, New York, where he married. He died January, 1884. His widow
and two sons survive him.
RODOLPHUS D. KINNEY was the first settler on the town site of
Royalton, in 1854, erected the first house and was the first
postmaster, in 1856. Mr. Kinney gave the name of Royalton to the post
office, the name being that of his birthplace, in the state of
Vermont. He was born in 1828; had good educational advantages in youth
and attended Fairmount Theological Seminary in Cincinnati; was an
associate of the early Presbyterian missions and was the first school
teacher in Morrison county, in 1851 and 1852, at Belle Prairie. He was
married in St. Paul in 1852. His eldest son, Jonathan, was born in
1853. One daughter lives in Alabama and his youngest son is a
physician at Royalton.
JOHN D. LOGAN came to Minnesota from Philadelphia in 1855 and located
in Hastings; served during the war in Company G. First Minnesota
Regular Volunteers. In 1879 he came to Royalton and devoted himself to
the development of the water power and the building up of the village.
He has a wife and three children.
CROW WING COUNTY.
The county of Crow Wing was organized in 1857. Prior to this period it
was included in Benton and other counties. It now includes eleven
whole and eight fractional townships in townships 43 to 47, ranges 28
to 31, inclusive. The Mississippi river bounds it on the west and
northwest, Aitkin county on the east and Morrison on the south. Its
soil ranges from a light sandy to a dark loam, with clay subsoil, and
the timber includes the pines and the hardwoods common to the
latitude. There are also fine meadows and burr oak openings. It is
watered by the tributaries of the Mississippi and its surface is
dotted with lakes. It is well adapted to stock raising and
agriculture.
C. H. Beaulieu appears to have been the first white man to locate
within its boundaries. He established a trading post as early as 1837,
near the mouth of Crow Wing river. His successors in trade were Allen
Morrison and Donald McDonald. Philip Beaupre was here in 1844. When
Fort Ripley was built S. B. Olmstead, with his family, built a house
and improved a farm opposite the fort on the east bank of the
Mississippi. Mr. Olmstead came from Prairie du Chien in 1849. While
residing here he served as a member of the second, fifth and sixth
territorial legislatures, and in 1854 was elected president of the
council. After living here several years, he removed to Texas, and
died there some years ago. Mr. Olmstead kept a hotel and managed to
secure most of the hay, beef and wood contracts for the fort. Henry M.
Rice had a trading post at one time at Crow Wing village, about eight
miles above the fort. John H. Fairbanks ran a ferry at the village.
Other settlers were Wallace Bean, Henry Whipple, F. M. Campbell, W. B.
Wakefield, Ed. Lyndes, Albert Fuller, Thomas Cathcart, Daniel S.
Mooers, S. C. Abbe, and members of the Beaulieu family. James A.
Parish was the first justice of the peace. John McGillis, who lived at
Crow Wing in 1853, was the second and served about fifteen years. In
1856 the first farm was opened on government land, not far from Crow
Wing village, by Wallace Bean. The second farm was taken by David
McArthur, a Canadian, originally from Scotland. George Van Valkenburg
opened a blacksmith shop at Crow Wing in 1856, lived there two years
and was then employed as government blacksmith by the Indian
department, and served as such for twelve years. Crow Wing county was
organized in 1857, with the following board of officers: County
auditor, C. H. Beaulieu; register of deeds, F. M. Campbell; county
treasurer, Robert Fairbanks; county commissioners, J. H. Fairbanks,
Allen Morrison, S. B. Olmstead; judge of probate court, Dennis Shaff.
The county organization took effect Jan. 1, 1858. The county was
attached for judicial purposes, first to Ramsey, and then to Morrison
county. F. W. Peake came to Crow Wing in 1858, and opened a trading
post, and was afterward one of the mercantile firm of Peake &
Wakefield. Rev. E. S. Peake, an Episcopal clergyman, came to Crow Wing
about the same time, built a church and remained as rector till the
breaking out of the war, when he accepted the chaplaincy of a
Wisconsin regiment. After the war he removed to California, and
carried on a mission a few years, but later returned to Minnesota and
is now stationed at Detroit. Rev. Francis Pierz, a Catholic priest,
officiated at Crow Wing and Belle Prairie until 1870, when he returned
to his home in Austria.
The first district court was held at Crow Wing in 1871, J. M. McKelvey
officiating as judge, Chas. Beaulieu as clerk of court, and Wm. Wood
as sheriff.
Soon after the county organization was abandoned, to be reresumed in
1870 by legislative enactment. The county officers at the organization
were: Commissioners, Wallace Bean, Henry Whipple and F. W. Peake;
treasurer, E. B. Snyder; auditor, J. W. Campbell; clerk of court,
Chas. H. Beaulieu; sheriff, Wm. Wood.
MURDERERS LYNCHED.
In 1871, Ellen, daughter of David McArthur, living near Crow Wing
village, was murdered by Indians. The murderers were arrested and
placed in jail at Brainerd, from which they were taken by a mob and
hanged.
BRAINERD
Is situated on the east bank of the Mississippi, and is a prosperous
city. The settlement commenced with the opening of the Northern
Pacific railroad. This road has a branch from Brainerd to St. Paul.
The railroad company have made Brainerd headquarters for repairing
shops; have expended large amounts in improvements, and employ in
their business here nearly 1,000 men. The first through train arrived
at Brainerd March 11, 1871.
In 1870 several claims were made for purposes of speculation, and
afterward sold to Mrs. Hester Gilman, of St. Cloud, and other parties,
but the greater part of the city site was purchased of the government
in 1870, by Hester Gilman and Thomas H. Campbell. The Lake Superior &
Puget Sound Company, organized under the laws of Maine, and duly
authorized by the laws of Minnesota, purchased Gilman's and Campbell's
claims and made the original survey and plat of the town on Sept 25,
1871. The name, Brainerd, was given to the new town in honor of Mrs.
Brainerd Swift, wife of the first president of the Northern Pacific
road. In 1883 a new survey was made by Heinze Brothers. The site was a
handsome plain, originally covered with prince pine trees, many of
which were left standing as ornamental trees.
Among the first settlers we find the names of Charles Darby, E. H.
Bly, L. P. White, W. P. Spalding, W. W. Hartley, Stuart Seely, F. W.
Peake, S. W. Taylor, E. B. Lynde, John Bishop, T. C. Barnes, and John
Martin. The first permanent dwelling, a log house, was built by
Charles Darby, the next was built by Stuart Seely, and the third by L.
P. White. E. H. Bly built the first store. The Headquarters Hotel,
subsequently destroyed by fire, was built in 1871. Many of the
buildings of ancient Crow Wing were moved to Brainerd. The Leland
House was built in 1871-2; the Merchants in 1879. The post office was
established in 1871, with S. W. Thayer as postmaster. The county seat
was removed to this place in 1871, and a court house and jail built by
L. P. White, at an expense of $971.60. The first marriage, that of
Joseph Gronden and Miss Darby, occurred in 1870. A city charter was
obtained Jan. 11, 1873. The following were the first officers: Mayor,
Eber H. Bly; aldermen, L. P. White, M. Tuttle, W. S. Heathcote, Wm.
Murphy, T. X. Goulett; president of the council, L. P. White.
Brainerd has a court house, built at a cost of $45,000, and school
buildings worth $45,000. The Northern Pacific depot and shops were
built at a cost of $500,000, and the Northern Pacific sanitarium at a
cost of $35,000. The sanitarium is a hospital for the sick or disabled
employes of the entire line of road, and is supported by monthly
installments from the employes. Dr. Beger is superintendent. Brainerd
has one steam saw mill with a capacity of 12,000,000 feet per annum,
another with a capacity of 3,000,000 feet, and many fine business
blocks and tasteful residences. It has also electric lights, water
works, and street cars, and is making rapid progress as a city.
In 1886 a charter was obtained by Charles F. Kindred & Co. to build a
dam across the Mississippi. The dam has been completed at a cost of
$125,000. It has a head of 20 feet, with sufficient flow to secure
25,000 horse power, and a boomage overflowing 3,000 acres, forming a
reservoir 12 miles in length, with side lakes, the whole capable of
holding 1,000,000,000 feet of logs. The whole city machinery,
including electric lights, water works, street cars, and Northern
Pacific railroad shops, will be attached to this water power. Crow
Wing county contributed $50,000 in bonds to the building of this dam.
Brainerd has an opera house, and is well supplied with churches, the
Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists, Congregationalists, Episcopalians,
Lutherans, and Methodists having organizations and buildings.
L. P. WHITE was born in Vermont in 1811. He was self educated. He was
married in Vermont, came to Chicago in 1858, and engaged in
railroading until arriving at Brainerd, in 1870, where he built the
first frame house. His wife was the first white woman resident of the
city. Since locating at Brainerd, Mr. White has been the acting agent
of the Lake Superior & Puget Sound Company, which has laid out all the
town sites from Northern Pacific Junction to Moorhead with the
exception of Detroit.
ALLEN MORRISON was one of a family of twelve, seven boys and five
girls. His father was born in Scotland, but emigrated to Canada, where
he died in 1812. Two of the boys were in the English Navy, and killed
at the battle of Trafalgar, in Egypt. William Morrison, a brother of
Allen, and several years his senior, was among the early explorers of
Northern Minnesota, having visited the Territory as early as 1800, and
was one of the party who discovered Lake Itasca, the source of the
Mississippi river. Allen's first visit to this region was in 1820,
when he came to Fond du Lac, as a trader in what was then known as the
"Northern Outfit." For several years he was associated with his
brother William in the Fond du Lac department, during which time he
was stationed at Sandy Lake, Leech Lake, Red Lake, Mille Lacs, and
Crow Wing, and when the Indians were removed to White Earth, went
there also, and remained until his death. In 1826 he was married to
Miss Charlotte Chaboullier, who died at Crow Wing in the fall of 1872.
She was a daughter of a member of the old Northwestern Fur Company,
who was a trader on the Saskatchewan, and died in Canada in 1812. Mr.
Morrison was the father of eleven children. Caroline, now in Brainerd,
was married to Chris. Grandelmyer in April, 1864. Rachel resides with
her sister, Mrs. Grandelmyer. John J. and Allen, at White Earth; Mary,
the eldest, now Mrs. J. R. Sloan, at St. Cloud; and Louisa, now Mrs.
John Bromley, at Northern Pacific Junction. Mr. Morrison died on the
twenty-eighth of November, 1878, and was buried at White Earth, in the
historic valley where he had passed so many eventful years. His name,
however, will not perish, nor his virtues be forgotten. In the first
territorial legislature he represented the district embracing the
voting precincts of Sauk Rapids and Crow Wing, and when the present
county of Morrison was set off, the legislature named it in honor of
this esteemed veteran pioneer.
CHARLES F. KINDRED, an active, enterprising citizen of Brainerd, is
doing for his adopted city all that one man can do. Mr. Kindred, for
many years after his arrival in Minnesota, was a trusted agent of the
Northern Pacific Railroad Company, and while in their employ acquired
a thorough knowledge of the resources of North Minnesota, which he
uses to the best interest of the section in which he has made his
home. He is at present superintending the building of the Kindred
dam.
CHAPTER XVIII.
AITKIN COUNTY.
This county consists of an oblong section, six towns in width, lying
between Mille Lacs and Kanabec counties on the south, and Itasca on
the north. It is a heavily timbered region, upon which the lumberman
has drawn for hundreds of millions of feet of lumber, with but little
apparent diminution in the quantity of the supply. The whole surface
is dotted with lakes and variegated with natural meadows. The southern
portion of the county affords good farming lands. Mille Lacs, in the
southern part of the county, is the largest lake, and settlements have
already been made along its shores. Sandy lake is second in size. It
lies on the great portage route from Winnipeg, by way of St. Louis
river to Lake Superior, and has been a noted point on that route for
two hundred years. The missions of the Jesuits, and later, of the
Presbyterians and Methodists, had been located here and abandoned. The
fur trader and the Indian trader have made their headquarters here.
Sandy lake has become historic. The county contains about one hundred
and three townships, which are drained chiefly by the Mississippi and
its tributaries. The Mississippi is navigable from Aitkin to Pokegama
falls, a distance of over one hundred miles.
Aitkin county was created May 23, 1857, but was not organized until
July 30, 1872. The first officers chosen were: County commissioners,
Nathaniel Tibbetts, chairman; Wm. Hallstrom, Wm. Wade; treasurer, Geo.
Clapp; register of deeds, Wm. Hallstrom; auditor, W. E. Crowell;
sheriff, James W. Tibbetts. That part of the county including the
village of Aitkin was organized into a town in 1873; N. Tibbetts,
chairman. The Northern Pacific railroad passes through six townships
of this county, namely: townships 27 and 28, range 22 to 27,
inclusive. While the road was in process of building in 1870,
Nathaniel Tibbetts made a claim where the village of Aitkin now
stands, and built the first house, a hotel known as the Ojibway House,
and the next spring built the Aitkin House. He moved his family here
in 1471. He was appointed the first postmaster at the organization of
the county. The county and village of Aitkin were named after Wm. A.
Aitkin, who was a prominent trader on the Upper Mississippi for a
number of years.
AITKIN VILLAGE.
Aitkin was made the county seat at the organization of the county. It
is pleasantly situated on the west branch of Ripple creek, near the
east branch of the Mississippi. It is now a prosperous and thriving
village with heavy mercantile establishments, two first class hotels,
a good school house, and pleasant homes. One newspaper, the Aitkin
_Age_, is published here. Warren Potter, Richard Mills, William Wade
and George Jenkins are early citizens. In 1873 Capt. Houghton built a
steamer, called the Pokegama, to run from Aitkin to Pokegama Falls.
This steamer was burned in 1878. Capt. Houghton replaced it with a new
boat called the City of Aitkin, which still plies the Mississippi
river between the points named.
Pokegama Falls is a headquarters for lumbermen and a place for general
trade.
WM. A. AITKEN.--The date and place of Mr. Aitkin's nativity are not
positively known. He came to the Chippewa country when a boy of
fifteen, as servant to a trader named John Drew, and in time became a
successful and well known trader. He died at Sandy Lake in 1851. His
life, in common with that of the early traders, was adventurous. He
witnessed many stirring scenes, among them the battle of Stillwater
Ravine, in 1839. Although raised among the Indians, and continually on
the frontier, he was noted for his urbanity and geniality, and is well
spoken of by the early explorers.
ALFRED AITKIN, son of the foregoing, was killed by a Chippewa Indian
at Cass lake in 1836. He had stolen the wife of the Indian, and
refusing to return her to the enraged husband, was shot by him. The
murderer was arrested, taken to Prairie du Chien for trial, tried
before Judge Drum's court and acquitted.
NATHANIEL TIBBETTS was born in New Sharon, Maine, March 21, 1824.
While a mere boy he moved to Piscataquis county, and in 1845 came to
Plover, Wisconsin, and two years later to Stillwater, Minnesota. He
engaged in lumbering until 1850, when he moved to St. Anthony, and
soon afterward made a claim at the mouth of Elk river, then in Benton
county, where he remained until the Civil War, when he enlisted in
Company A, Eighth Minnesota, of which company he was commissioned
first lieutenant, and was afterward appointed regimental
quartermaster. He was mustered out with his regiment at the close of
the war, when he returned to his home at Elk River, and resumed his
old business of lumbering. In 1870 he was engaged in the preliminary
survey of the Northern Pacific railroad, and located the same year at
Aitkin, of which village he was the pioneer, building the first house
and barn, keeping the first hotel and serving as the first postmaster.
He served four years as county commissioner. He has also served as
register of deeds and sheriff. Ten years after his location at Aitkin
he removed to Morrison county, where he now resides. His health is
somewhat impaired from the exposure and fatigue of army life.
CARLTON COUNTY.
Carlton county lies between St. Louis county on the north, Pine on the
south, Douglas county, Wisconsin, on the east and Aitkin on the west,
and contains twenty-four townships. It is abundantly watered by the
St. Louis river and its many tributaries on the northeast, by the
tributaries of the Nemadji and Kettle rivers on the south. It is well
timbered with pine and hardwoods. The St. Louis river affords one of
the finest water powers in the Northwest. The rapids of this stream
extend from the falls at Cloquet to Fond du Lac, a distance of twelve
miles. The channel is rocky, the rocks being of a trappean or slaty
formation, not easily worn by the water, and capable of furnishing
good foundations for dams and mills. The first settlers were A. K.
Lovejoy, Cephas Bradley, Joseph Meyers, Sexton Lyons, and some others.
Mr. Lovejoy died at Thomson, Feb. 11, 1888, aged sixty-three years,
leaving a wife. They had been the parents of twenty-four children,
twelve pairs of twins. The county was named in honor of R. B. Carlton,
who was a representative in the first state legislature. Mr. Carlton
died at Fond du Lac, Sept. 10, 1863.
The county was organized in 1858, and the county seat located at Twin
Lakes, but changed by act of legislature to Thomson. It is subdivided
into five towns, Knife Falls, Mahtowa, Moose Lake, Thomson, and Twin
Lakes. It has a well defined slate stone range running from northeast
to southwest. The same range crops out at Little Falls, Morrison
county.
THOMSON.
The village of Thomson, the county seat of Carlton county, is located
on the St. Louis river. The Northern Pacific railroad crosses at this
point. A. M. Miller erected a steam saw mill here in 1873. The mill
has a capacity of 100,000 feet per day, and has been a profitable
enterprise. A. K. Lovejoy operates a saw mill six miles northwest,
which has a capacity of 35,000 feet. The village of Thomson has a good
graded school with two departments.
CLOQUET,
Located on the St. Louis river, was surveyed and platted in 1871. In
1878 Charles D. Harwood erected a steam saw mill at this point with a
capacity of 50,000 feet. This was the beginning of a thriving
manufacturing village. In 1883 the Knife Falls Lumber Company rebuilt
the Harwood mill, increasing its capacity to 180,000 feet per day. In
1884 the property was transferred to Renwick, Crossett & Co. James
Paine, McNair and others built a water power saw mill in 1880, with a
capacity of 100,000 feet per day. The C. N. Nelson Company, in 1880,
built two steam saw mills with a capacity of 350,000 feet per day. A
post office was established in 1879; C. D. Harwood, postmaster. The
village was platted and incorporated in 1882; William P. Allen was the
first president of the council. It has two newspapers, the _Pine Knot
Journal_, established by Ed. Gottry and J. H. Page in 1884, and the
_Industrial Vidette_, established in 1887. It contains three church
organizations with good buildings, the Catholic, Methodist and
Presbyterian.
MOOSE LAKE STATION,
On the St. Paul & Duluth railroad, is surrounded by a good farming
country, and is a pretty, prosperous village. It has a post office,
about sixty dwellings and a saw mill.
BARNUM STATION,
On the line of the same road, contains a post office, a saw mill with
a capacity of about 50,000 feet daily, a few fine residences, with
fine farms adjoining.
MAHTOWA STATION,
On the same road, has a saw mill and about twenty dwellings. An
extensive stock farm is located here.
NORTH PACIFIC JUNCTION
Is situated on the St. Louis river, at the junction of the St. Paul &
Duluth and Northern Pacific railroads. There are about one hundred
buildings here including a large saw mill built by Paine & Co., having
a capacity of 10,000,000 feet per annum; one school house, one church,
and hotels, stores, shops and dwellings. The village was organized in
1881; Cephas Bradley, president.
FRANCIS ASBURY WATKINS is a native of the state of New Hampshire. He
was born in 1853; came to Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1866, to North
Pacific Junction in 1881; was married to Anna Wicks, of Pine City,
Minnesota, in 1882, and was admitted to practice law in 1883. He is a
graduate of Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. He has served as
auditor of Carlton county four years.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY.
St. Louis county takes its name from St. Louis river, the river itself
having been named by some of the early French travelers or Jesuit
missionaries, possibly by Duluth or Buade.
The county is bounded on the north by Rainy lake and the British
boundary, on the east by Lake county, on the south by Lake Superior,
St. Louis river and Carlton, and on the west by Aitkin county. The
surface is variegated, much of it being broken with deep ravines. It
is well watered by streams tributary to Rainy lake and Superior, and
by innumerable small lakes. Portions of it are heavily timbered with
pines and hardwoods, and the northern portion is traversed by a rich
mineral belt extending through the Vermillion Lake region. The
settlements are chiefly along the shores of Lake Superior and St.
Louis river, and on the shores of Vermillion lake. The falls and
rapids of St. Louis river are noted for their wildness and grandeur.
The scenery on its northern boundary, including the Dalles of the
Rainy Lake waters, is not surpassed or even equaled at any point east
of the Rocky mountains. The geological formation consists largely of
primitive or igneous rocks, trappean, basaltic and granite, and the
scenery has a peculiarly grand and sombre appearance. Notwithstanding
the igneous character of the formation there is much excellent farming
land on plains and intervales, while the more abrupt and rocky
portions are rich in iron and the precious metals. The region about
Vermillion lake has become a centre of mining operations. The region
is rich in iron ores. Gold has also been discovered. A mineral region
abounding in gold, silver and iron extends from Vermillion lake to
Thunder Bay. St. Louis county was organized in 1856. The territorial
governor appointed the following officers: Clerk of district court, J.
B. Culver; sheriff, J. B. Ellis; register of deeds, R. H. Barrett;
auditor, J. E. Brown.
The first board of county commissioners elected were C. E. Martin,
Vose Palmer and Z. J. Brown. The first meeting was held at Portland,
Jan. 4, 1858. At an adjourned meeting held Jan. 20, 1858, the
commissioners drew a grand and petit jury. The meetings were held
sometimes at Portland and sometimes at Duluth. At a meeting held April
5, 1858, the county was divided into four towns--Duluth, Martin, Carp
River and Carlton. At an adjourned meeting three assessor's districts,
six school districts and four road districts were formed. The records
do not show any previous division into districts or precincts, nor
does the name of any clerk appear until the meeting of September 14th,
when A. B. Robbins attests as clerk. At a meeting held Sept. 23, 1858,
the village of Oneota was established. November 1st E. H. Brown was
appointed clerk in place of A. B. Robbins. November 14th a bill
allowing R. H. Barrett compensation for services as clerk prior to
September 1st was passed. His name does not appear prior to this
entry.
The records show that a court was held in 1859, S. J. R. McMillan
officiating as judge. Also that a road was made from Oneota to
Buchanan and the mouth of Knife river, through Fremont, Portland and
Endion, following a trail to Lester's river and across French river to
Montezuma, and another from Oneota to Fond du Lac. The town of Milford
is mentioned as accepting the report. The assessment for St. Louis
county for 1859 amounted to $96,836.76. At a special meeting of the
county commissioners held Jan. 10, 1866, a resolution was adopted
asking the legislature to grant authority to St. Louis county to issue
$150,000 to aid in building the Lake Superior & Mississippi railroad.
The legislature granted the request and twenty year bonds were issued.
We append a list of county commissioners to the year 1863: E. C.
Martin, Vose Palmer, Zach T. Brown, 1858; E. C. Martin, Vose Palmer,
W. E. Wright, 1859; W. E. Wright, S. A. Forbes, Sidney Luce, 1860; E.
F. Ely, Joseph B. Culver (first meeting), 1861; E. F. Ely, Harvey
Fargo, Levi B. Coffrey (second meeting), 1861; E. F. Ely, R. B.
Carlton, H. Fargo, 1862; H. Fargo, R. B. Carlton, E. G. Swanstrom,
1863.
Names of villages that appear in the old records of the board have
entirely disappeared. Those villages nearest to Duluth have been
absorbed by that vigorous young city. We find a record, bearing date
1859, authorizing an election to decide upon the question of the
removal of the county seat from Duluth to Port Byron. There is no
record of the result of the election, nor is Port Byron found in a
recent map.
DULUTH.
The site of Duluth was visited as long ago as 1659, by two adventurous
Frenchmen, Grosselier and Redission. This was twenty-one years prior
to the coming of Greyson Duluth, in whose honor the city of Duluth was
named two hundred years later. Capt. Duluth visited the western end of
the lake in 1680. Three or four years later Jean Duluth, a brother of
the captain, established two trading posts, one at the mouth of Pigeon
river, the other on Minnesota Point. Le Sueur followed in 1683,
accompanied by a French surveyor, Franquelin, who made a fairly
correct map of the region. The attraction to the early voyageurs was
the rich furs to be obtained in the wild regions adjacent. The great
American Fur Company early established posts along the northern shore
of Lake Superior, and later the Astor Fur Company made its
northwestern headquarters at Fond du Lac, a few miles above the
present site of Duluth. Nothing was done toward permanent settlement
until about the year 1854, when the tide of immigration set in toward
the head of the lake, and it became evident that here was to rise
cities of no mean importance, one upon the western shore of the lake,
rising from the base of Minnesota Point, and the other Superior City,
across the gleaming waters of St. Louis bay.
For several years the growth of Duluth was slow, and sometimes its
fortunes seemed on the wane, but the construction of a railroad to St.
Paul, completed in 1870, and a sudden influx of capital consequent
upon this new outlet of trade, and more than all this, the proposed
construction of the great Northern Pacific railroad, gave a new
impetus to the growth of the city. The three years succeeding were
years of great activity and progress. The population increased from
3,000 to 5,000, and many of the finer older buildings of the city were
constructed. The canal was cut through Minnesota Point, thus giving to
Duluth the most magnificent harbor on the lake, if not in the world.
In 1873 the failure of Jay Cooke, who had largely contributed the
means for the construction of the Northern Pacific railroad, caused a
financial depression similar in its effects to that of 1857. Banks
failed, merchants became bankrupt, and the population of the city was
reduced to 1,300 souls. The "hard times" lasted until some time in
1878, when the opening up of the great wheat fields in the Red River
valley, and the completion of the Northern Pacific railroad, again
brought prosperity to the more than half deserted city. The population
increased in 1878 from 1,300 to 2,200 souls. Two years later the
census showed 3,470; and a year later, 7,800. In 1882 the population
had increased to 12,000; in 1883 to 14,000; in 1884 to 16,690; in 1885
to 18,036, and in 1886 to 26,000 souls.
Duluth has now a well organized board of trade, produce exchange and
chamber of commerce. It has four banks, the American Exchange, Duluth
National, Merchants National, and Bell & Eyster's. These banks had, in
1886, an aggregate capital of $300,000, with deposits of $2,034,281,
amounts greatly increased during the year 1887. The taxable valuation
of property in Duluth for the year 1886 was $11,773,720. The taxes
paid in 1887 amount to $261,376.
Duluth has one immense flour mill, with a capacity of 250 barrels per
day. It is five stories in height, and favorably situated; having the
lake upon one side and the railroads upon the other, so that loading
and unloading can be carried on at once from vessels and cars.
Duluth has also two large flour warehouses with a capacity of 200,000
barrels each. Large warehouses are also being built by the Northern
Pacific and Omaha Railroad companies. The annual shipment of flour
from Duluth has ranged from 164,000 barrels in 1871 to 1,500,000 in
1886, making an aggregate of 8,285,000 barrels in that time.
The lumber industry of Duluth is no small factor in the prosperity of
the city. The cut of the Duluth district for the past season amounts
to 160,000,000 feet of lumber, 43,000,000 shingles, and 22,600,000
lath, of which the city mills have manufactured one-third. Much of
this lumber has been shipped to Chicago and the East, and a new
district, the Tower mining region, has lately been opened for
shipment.
We have alluded to the harbor of Duluth as one of the best on the
lake. It consists of what is known as the Bay of Superior, a body of
water about seven miles long by one mile in width, almost entirely
shut off from the lake by a narrow strip of land known as Minnesota
Point. The original entrance to this bay was through a channel on the
southeast of the Point, separating it from Wisconsin Point, a similar
tongue of land in the same line of direction. As this entrance was
inconvenient and difficult, a canal was cut across the point near the
mainland, sufficiently large to admit all vessels that pass through
Ste. Marie's canal. Since the construction of the canal through
Minnesota Point, the old landing in front of the city has been
abandoned, and elevators have been built on the shores of the bay.
These elevators are the best of their class, and have a total capacity
of 20,000,000 bushels. They were ten in number, exclusive of several
warehouses; two, however, have been destroyed by fire. The walls of
the canal have been extended in the form of piers 1,000 feet into the
lake. One of these piers is supplied with a lighthouse and a fog horn.
The canal is 700 feet long and 250 feet in width. The arrivals and
clearances for the port of Duluth in 1886 were 2,180.
The fish trade is no inconsiderable part of the industries of Duluth.
Two large firms have their headquarters here and the amount of capital
invested in the business amounts to $165,000. During 1886 1,200,000
pounds of fish were shipped to Duluth for reshipment to other places,
from the various fisheries of these companies. The United States fish
commissioners, realizing the value of Lake Superior as a reservoir
for food fish, have projected the largest fish hatchery on the lakes,
to be located at Lester's Park. It is to be under government and state
control and will supply the lakes of Superior and Michigan with about
500,000,000 eggs yearly.
Duluth was organized and laid out as a village under the town site law
of 1844; Richard Ralf, surveyor; Geo. E. Nettleton, J. B. Culver, O.
W. Rice, Wm. Nettleton, and Robt. E. Jefferson, proprietors. The date
of this organization is not known. We have a statement from Hon. W. G.
Le Duc, of Hastings, to the effect, that in the winter of 1852-53, A.
Ramsey, H. M. Rice, Maj. Watrous and himself, with two others whose
names he can not recall, organized as a company and projected a town
site at the west end of the lake, on the present site of Duluth. Maj.
Watrous, the Indian agent, was instructed to take necessary measures
to secure the land. Watrous failed to secure the property and the
scheme failed. Mr. Le Duc projected and introduced a charter in the
territorial legislature, which was passed, for a railroad to Duluth.
In 1870 the city of Duluth was first incorporated, and five years
later a portion of the same territory was incorporated as the village
of Duluth, and the two municipal corporations were still in existence
Feb. 25, 1887, when the act imposing certain political obligations
upon the then existing city of Duluth became a law. The second day of
March another law went into effect incorporating both the city and
village of Duluth as the present city.
FOND DU LAC,
Located at the head of navigation on St. Louis river, and at the foot
of the rapids, is a point of considerable historical interest, it
having long been in use as a trading post. It has been a place of
outfit and departure for trading expeditions for two hundred years.
The old stone trading house of the Astor Fur Company still remains. It
is surrounded by about twenty buildings of more recent date. It is now
better known as a station on the Northern Pacific railroad. It was
surveyed in 1856 by Richard Ralf and platted into village lots. The
plats were signed by James A. Markland, attorney for the proprietors.
Fond du Lac is now a village of some magnitude.
ONEOTA
Was settled some time in the '40s, by Edmund F. Ely and others, and
became a village of some note, containing a post office, church and
other evidences of prosperity. It was platted as a village in 1856; H.
W. Wheeler, surveyor; Marcus W. McCracken, Bion W. Bacon, Edmund F.
Ely, proprietors. The first recorded deed in St. Louis county is a
quitclaim deed from B. H. Baer to E. F. Ely, of the town site of Ely;
consideration, $1,500. The deed bears date of April 20, 1856. Oneota
is now included in the plat of Duluth.
CLIFTON.
This village was platted in 1858, by John S. Watrous, on the shores of
the lake north of Duluth. It is now within the Duluth city limits.
PORTLAND,
A village on the lake shore above Duluth, was platted in 1856. The
proprietors were Aaron B. Robbins, James D. Ray, C. Marshall and J. J.
Post. It is now within the Duluth city limits.
ENDION,
Located on the north shore, was surveyed Dec. 15, 1856, by Chas.
Martin; M. 7P. Niel and others, proprietors. It is now within the
Duluth city limits.
MIDDLETON,
Located on Minnesota Point, was surveyed Aug. 1, 1856; proprietors,
Robert Reed, T. A. Markland.
MONTEZUMA,
Located on the north shore, was surveyed in May, 1856, by Vose Palmer;
proprietor, Frederic Ottoman.
BUCHANAN,
Located on the north shore, was surveyed in October, 1856; proprietor,
W. G. Cowell.
ST. LOUIS FALLS
Was surveyed in 1857, by C. E. Clark; Thos. H. Hogan, attorney for
proprietors.
FREMONT ISLAND.
A peculiar feature of St. Louis bay has been the formation of floating
islands, possibly the result of the collection of driftwood and other
debris at the mouth of St. Louis river. The rafts thus formed in time
became consolidated by the deposition of earthy materials, leaves,
twigs and vegetable matter, and are covered with a rank growth of
vegetation, at first shrubby, but at last arboreous. The roots of the
shrubs and trees interlace, and hold the material of the raft more
tightly together. These island rafts are sometimes loosened and float
into the bay, and are driven about by the winds from one side of the
bay to the other.
One of these islands, supposed to be stationary, known as Fremont
island, was surveyed and platted in 1856, by C. P. Heustis and Chas.
A. Post. On the completion of the canal it broke loose from its
moorings, floated away and disappeared, in all probability going to
pieces in the rough waters of the lake.
TOWER,
Located on the southern shore of Vermillion lake, was surveyed Aug. 4,
1884. The proprietors are the Minnesota Iron Company, of which
Charlemagne Tower is president. The iron mines located in this
vicinity are amongst the richest on the continent. Attention was first
called to the Vermillion by the reported discovery of gold. Machinery
for crushing and smelting was transported thither, but the thousands
who rushed to the reputed gold field expecting to become suddenly
rich, returned disappointed and disheartened. Attention had long
before been called to the fact that there were rich iron mines in the
district, but the circumstances were unfavorable for their
development. They were in a remote position and accessible only by a
journey of several days through woods and swamps. These mines could be
reached and developed only by state aid, which was given in the shape
of a grant of swamp lands, to be applied to building a railway from
the lake to the mines. This grant having been obtained, Mr. Tower and
other capitalists at once invested their millions in the mines,
purchasing some 8,000 acres of land, covering the larger portion of
the iron deposits in the district, embracing the present site of the
village of Tower. A railroad sixty-eight miles in length was
constructed from Tower to Two Harbors, a point twenty-seven miles
north of Duluth. This road was completed in the spring of 1884, and
the first shipment was made July 3d of that year, the total shipments
for the year being 62,124 tons. The shipments for 1885 were 225,484
tons, and for 1886, 304,000 tons. Over $3,000,000 was paid to laborers
in the Tower mines in 1887.
COL. GEORGE E. STONE, of Duluth, is deserving of praise for his
foresight and energy in opening the Tower mines. Mr. Stone labored
with untiring zeal after the land grant to aid in building the road
was given until the road was built and the mines opened.
GEORGE R. STUNTZ is well known as the government surveyor of the Lake
Superior region, whose work covers thousands of miles of North
Wisconsin lands, lying along the southern shore of the lake, and who
has accurately mapped the meanderings of the influent streams, the
bays and shaggy projecting shores of the great "Unsalted Sea." There
is no better topographical authority than Mr. Stuntz, and no one
better posted as to the location and value of the Northern Wisconsin
areas and the Vermillion mines.
Having early made Superior City and Duluth his home, and for nearly
forty years having been identified with the interests of the West
Superior country, he is an oft-quoted authority. Many of his published
articles contain most valuable information concerning the feasibility
of connecting St. Croix and Superior waters. His assertions concerning
the mineral wealth of the lake country, made before the development of
the mines, have since been verified. Mr. Stuntz is a typical, sensible
frontiersman, of American birth, aged about seventy years.
CHARLES HINMAN GRAVES, a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, born in
1839, received a liberal education, and in 1861 enlisted as a private
in the Fortieth Massachusetts Volunteers, but was promoted step by
step to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was severely wounded at the
battle of Gettysburg. In 1865 he was commissioned as a colonel in the
regular army, but resigned in 1870, and located at Duluth. From 1873
to 1876 he was a member of the state senate. He has held several
public positions in Duluth, and stands deservedly high as a citizen.
He has labored zealously and efficiently for the prosperity of Duluth.
OZRO P. STEARNS was born Jan. 13, 1831, at De Kalb, Lawrence county,
New York. In his youth he was dependent upon his own resources. He
graduated at Michigan University in 1858, after which he visited
California, tried mining for a short time, and returning graduated in
the law department of Michigan University. In 1860 he came to
Rochester, Minnesota, and opened a law office. In 1862 he enlisted in
Company F, Ninth Minnesota Volunteers, of which he was commissioned
first lieutenant, but in 1864 was promoted to the colonelcy of the
Thirty-ninth United States Infantry (colored). He served through many
battles and campaigns, and was mustered out at the close of the war.
In January, 1866, he returned to Rochester; in 1867 was appointed
register in bankruptcy for Southern Minnesota; in January, 1871, he
was elected to the United States senate for a short term to fill the
vacancy caused by the death of D. S. Norton. In 1872 he removed to
Duluth, and in 1874 was appointed judge of the Eleventh Judicial
district, to which office he was elected in the fall of the same year,
which position, by re-election, he still holds. Judge Stearns was
married in February, 1863, to Sarah Burger, of Detroit, Michigan.
LAKE COUNTY.
This county lies on the north shore of Lake Superior, between the
counties of Cook and St. Louis, extending northward to the British
line. The whole region is abrupt, broken into hills and valleys, and
rich in silver, iron and other metals.
The great Vermillion iron mines of St. Louis county find an outlet
through this county by the Duluth & Iron Range railroad, which finds a
lake station at Two Harbors. The road was built from Two Harbors to
Vermillion lake in 1885, from Two Harbors to Duluth in 1887. The
entire road and extensive mines were sold in June, 1887, for
$8,000,000, to Porter and others, who are now extending the road from
Vermillion lake eastward to Thunder Bay and Port Arthur. It is already
completed to Ely, a distance of twenty miles.
Emigration during the years 1886-7 to this county has been very
extensive. The two counties, Lake and Cook, have many features in
common. They are similar in geological formation, produce the same
metals in the same generous abundance, and being in the same latitude,
and bordering upon the same lake, differ in no wise in climate and but
little in productions. Large quantities of pine timber may be found in
these counties, and saw mills are located along the lake shore where
an accessible harbor can be found. There are several harbors between
Duluth and Thunder Bay that might be improved by the government,
greatly to the advantage of the country.
The silver mines of Isle Royal and along the national boundary are
extensive, and yield rich returns to the companies working them.
TWO HARBORS,
A flourishing village located on the shore of Lake Superior, takes its
name from two small harbors bearing that name. The Vermillion Iron
Company have built extensive piers into the lake to facilitate the
shipping of ores. They have large shops for railroad purposes, with an
electric light plant. The company employ about two hundred men. Two
Harbors is the county seat of Lake county.
COOK COUNTY.
Grand Marais is the county seat of Cook county. It is a round,
land-locked harbor. It has a lighthouse, and the government has built
a breakwater four hundred feet long, thus making it a harbor of
refuge, so that boats can lie with safety in any storm. Grand Marais
is one hundred and ten miles from Duluth, on the north shore of Lake
Superior. It is the best harbor that Minnesota has except Duluth. It
is thirty miles south of the international boundary line, and
forty-five miles northeast of the line by Lake Superior. It is the
natural outlet for the mineral deposits north. There are large
quantities of iron ore within thirty-five miles of the harbor. A
railroad line has been run, and men are now at work on the iron
deposits with a view of shipping the ore from Grand Marais to points
where it is wanted for smelting purposes.
Grand Marais was in early days one of the Northwest Fur Company's
trading posts, but of late years has been used as a fishing station.
Streets in the town are now being laid out, and from present
indications Cook county, with its pine lands, iron ore and other
mineral resources, will be one of the most thriving counties in the
State, with Grand Marais as not only a harbor of refuge, but one of
the competing ports for the shipment of iron ore.
H. Mayhew, to whom we are indebted for items of interest concerning
Cook county, is the oldest resident of Grand Marais, and one of the
town proprietors.
CHAPTER XIX.
HENNEPIN COUNTY.
Hennepin county was organized March 6, 1852. Prior to the organization
of Minnesota Territory it was in Clayton county, Iowa. At the
organization of the Territory, in 1849, it was included in Dakota
county, and so remained until set off in 1852. Hon. Bradley B. Meeker
held the first court within the present limits of the county, at the
old government mill, in 1849. Taylor Dudley was clerk of court,
Franklin Steele, foreman of grand jury. The first board of
commissioners were Alex. Moore, chairman, John Jackins and Joseph
Dean. The first election was held Oct. 21, 1852, at the house of Col.
John H. Stevens, on the west side. The county is a rich agricultural
region, abounding with beautiful lakes, of which Minnetonka is the
largest and finest. The county is bounded on the north by the
Mississippi river and Wright county, on the east by the Mississippi
river and Ramsey county, on the south by the Minnesota river and
Carver county, on the west by Wright and Carver counties. It is
subdivided into the following towns: Bloomington, Brooklyn, Champlin,
Crystal Lake, Corcoran, Dayton, Eden Prairie, Excelsior, Greenwood,
Hasson, Independence, Maple Grove, Medina, Minneapolis, Minnetonka,
Minnetrista, Osseo, Plymouth, Richfield, and St. Anthony.
[Illustration: FORT SNELLING, ON LINE OF C., M. & ST. P. RY.]
FORT SNELLING.
Fort Snelling owes its origin to the encroachments of British traders
on our northern frontier. As early as 1805 Lieut. Zebulen Montgomery
Pike, United States Army, was sent with a detachment of troops to
explore the Upper Mississippi river to expel British traders who might
be found encroaching upon our territory, and to secure by treaty a
military reservation. Sept. 21, 1805, he encamped on Pike island, at
the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, and, being
pleased with the situation, forthwith made a treaty with chiefs of the
Sioux nation to include all that tract of land lying from below the
confluence of the two rivers, up the Mississippi, including the falls
of St. Anthony, nine miles in width on each side of the river. The
price paid was $2,000. The reserve thus purchased was not used for
military purposes until 1819, when a detachment of the Fifth United
States Infantry, commanded by Lieut. Col. Henry Leavenworth, was sent
to occupy the reservation and build a fort. The building of the fort,
with its various stone and wooden buildings, was the work of years.
The site of the fort was selected in 1820, by Col. Josiah Snelling,
who named it Fort St. Anthony, but at the suggestion of Gen. Winfield
Scott, in 1824 the name was changed to Fort Snelling as a worthy
compliment to its founder and builder. Notwithstanding the treaty made
by Col. Pike in 1805, the Indian claim to the reservation was not
extinguished until the treaty of 1837, ratified by the senate in 1838.
In 1836, before the extinction of the Indian title, many settlers
located on the reservation on the left bank of the Mississippi. These
were forcibly removed by the United States government in 1840, under
the act of March 3, 1807, an act to prevent settlements being made on
ceded lands until duly authorized by law. The reservation was reduced
from time to time, portions being sold. In 1857 Franklin Steele
purchased the entire reservation, with the exception of two small
tracts, including the fort itself, for the sum of $90,000, to be paid
in three yearly installments. The first payments were actually made,
the troops were withdrawn, and Mr. Steele assumed possession. Default
having been made in the two remaining payments, the government resumed
possession of a small portion of the reservation and fort in 1861. The
year following, by act of Congress, the reservation was reduced. In
1870 it was permanently reduced to 1,531.20 acres. A suit at law
between Mr. Steele and the United States government was compromised by
releasing him from further payments and granting him a large tract of
land lying along the right bank of the Mississippi, north of the fort,
with a portion of Pike's island.
Maj. Plympton and other officers of the fort, in company with Franklin
Steele, made the first land claim, by permit of the government, at
East St. Anthony, in 1838. They built a shanty and hired a Frenchman
to occupy it. Steele bought out the interests of the officers
associated with him and in 1848 secured a title from the United
States. The first saw mill built on this claim was commenced by Mr.
Steele, in conjunction with Boston parties in 1847, but was not
completed until the following year.
The next land claim on the river was made further up, by R. P. Russell
and S. J. Findley. This was sold to Bottineau and afterward passed to
other parties. The land claim adjoining Steele's, below, was
purchased of a Frenchman by C. A. Tuttle in 1848. This claim is now
partially occupied by the State University. W. Henry Cheever made a
claim south of Tuttle's, on which, in 1849, he built a hotel and a
huge wooden tower or observatory, nearly one hundred feet in height,
over the entrance to which was a rhyming couplet:
"Pay your dime
And climb."
Franklin Steele, before completing his mill and dam, became sole owner
of the water power on the east side of the river. During the periods
following the property has often changed owners, and sometimes the
change has resulted in unprofitable litigation. James J. Hill, in
later years, has become the owner of most of the water power of
Nicollet and Hennepin islands and of the east shore, and is making
valuable improvements.
ST. ANTHONY FALLS.
St. Anthony Falls was platted as a village in 1849, and was included
in Ramsey county until 1856. In 1861 the legislature established
satisfactory boundaries, annexing part of town 29, range 24, to
Hennepin county.
Among the first settlers of the Falls was Ard Godfrey. The first white
child born here was a son of C. A. Tuttle, millwright. The Luther
Patch family, consisting of four sons and two daughters, was the first
resident American family at the Falls. Mr. Patch's sons were Edward,
Wallace, Gibson, and Lewis; the daughters, Marion, who became the wife
of R. P. Russell, the first marriage at the Falls, Oct. 3, 1848, and
Cora, who became the wife of Joseph Marshall. An earlier marriage was
celebrated at Fort Snelling May 27, 1835, that of Lieut. Edmund A.
Ogden and Eliza Edna Loomis; Rev. Thos. S. Williamson officiating.
This was the first marriage north of Prairie du Chien. The first store
was opened by R. P. Russell in 1847, the second, in 1849, by Joseph
Marshall. We find Jacob Fisher, of Stillwater, here in 1847, building
the dam from Nicollet island to the east shore. Among the operators of
the mill who have been prominent citizens of St. Anthony Falls are
Sumner W. Farnham, John Rollins, Caleb W. Dorr, John McDonald, and
Robert W. Cummings. Some of these men brought their families here. The
building of the mill was somewhat delayed by the sinking in the Erie
canal of the boats containing the machinery, hardware, etc. Standing
pine to be used in the mill was purchased of Hole-in-the-Day, a
Chippewa chief, cut and floated down from Sauk Rapids to the Falls.
Some timber was also brought from Rum river, the first cut on that
stream, except for government use. At the land sale in 1848, Mr.
Steele secured all the land above Tuttle's to the north limits of the
city. Amongst the settlers in 1848 were the Getchells, Smiths, Rogers'
and Huse. In 1849, at the organization of the territory of Minnesota,
a number of others arrived, among them Judge B. B. Meeker, Dr. John H.
Murphy, John W. North, J. P. Wilson, and John G. Lennon. During this
year the west half of sec. 14, range 29, was surveyed and platted into
town lots by W. R. Marshall, B. W. Bronson and S. P. Folsom. Anson
Northrup commenced the erection of the first hotel, the St. Charles.
John Rollins was elected to the territorial council, W. R. Marshall
and Wm. Dugas to the house of representatives. The district was
comprised of St. Anthony Falls and Little Canada.
The first school was taught by Miss Electa Bachus, in the summer of
1849. A post office was established and Ard Godfrey was appointed
postmaster. There were occasional mails brought in John Rollins'
passenger wagon. In 1850 Willoughby & Powers ran a daily stage line
from St. Paul and the mail thenceforth was carried regularly. John W.
North built a dwelling on Nicollet island, which became a social
centre, and was made attractive by a piano. In 1850 a public library
was established, the first in Minnesota. Rev. E. D. Neill, the
historian of Minnesota, delivered the first public lecture and
preached the first sermon in 1849. The following year, the Baptists,
Methodists, Congregationalists and Presbyterians organized societies,
and in 1851 the Episcopalians and Universalists. Amongst the
accessions to the population were Judge Isaac Atwater, W. W. Wales, J.
B. Bassett, C. W. Christmas, and Joseph Dean. Col. Alvaren Allen
opened a livery stable. The St. Anthony _Express_, the first
newspaper, was established May 31, 1851; E. Tyler, proprietor, Judge
I. Atwater, editor. Measures were taken to locate the university in
St. Anthony Falls. Citizens contributed $3,000 aid to in the erection
of the building.
Facilities of communication with the surrounding country were none of
the best, yet communication was early established with the Red River
country, a dog train having arrived from Pembina, distant four hundred
miles, in sixteen days. On this train Kittson, Rolette and Gingras
came down to attend the territorial legislature at St. Paul as
representatives of Pembina county.
Franklin Steele, in 1847, established a ferry above the Falls. In 1854
the Minnesota Bridge Company was organized, consisting of Franklin
Steele, H. T. Wells, R. P. Russell, and others. A handsome suspension
bridge was finished in 1855. This bridge remained in the control of
the company fifteen years, when by an act of the legislature the value
was assessed and Hennepin county purchased the bridge, and it became a
free thoroughfare.
April 13, 1855, St. Anthony Falls was incorporated as a city with the
following officers: Mayor, H. T. Welles; clerk, W. F. Brawley;
aldermen, B. F. Spencer, John Orth, Daniel Stanchfield, Edward
Lippincott, Caleb W. Dorr, and Robert Cummings.
In 1872 St. Anthony Falls was annexed to Minneapolis, and placed under
the same government, a movement which has resulted in great benefit to
both cities.
ST. ANTHONY FALLS.
The earliest written descriptions of St. Anthony falls were by the
Roman Catholic missionaries, Hennepin and LaSalle. The former with
Accault and Du Gay ascended the river in a canoe until captured by a
band of Sioux Indians. These Indians left the river at a point now the
present site of St. Paul and took their prisoners to Mille Lacs. In
September, when the Indians set out on their annual hunt, the captives
were left to go where they pleased. Accault preferred remaining with
the Indians. Hennepin and Du Gay obtained a small canoe and commenced
the descent of the Rum and Mississippi rivers to the falls, then
called by the Indians Ka-ka-bi-ka Irara or "Severed Rock." They
reached the falls about the first of October, and named them after St.
Anthony of Padua. The description given by La Salle, a second hand
one, was probably derived from Hennepin, Accault or Du Gay, as La
Salle did not visit the falls, and these voyageurs were his
subordinates, and had been sent by him to explore the Upper
Mississippi.
He says: "In going up the Mississippi again, twenty leagues above the
St. Croix is found the falls, which those I sent named St. Anthony.
They are thirty or forty feet high, and the river is narrower here
than elsewhere. There is a small island in the midst of the chute, and
the two banks of the river are bordered by hills which gradually
diminish at this point, but the country on each side is covered by
thin woods, such as oaks and other hardwoods, scattered wide apart."
This description corresponds very well with the earliest pictures of
the falls, which with "the small island in the midst of the chute"
make them resemble slightly a Niagara considerably diminished in
height. The historic falls have almost entirely disappeared or so
changed as to become unrecognizable. Spirit island, if this be the
island referred to by La Salle as in the midst of the chute, is now so
far below the falls that it can scarcely be brought into the same
picture with them. The falls have undoubtedly receded, by a process
easily explained by a geologist, some distance up the river, and have
diminished somewhat in altitude. The movement of the falls up stream,
caused by the breaking off of limestone ledges, overlying sandstone,
easily washed from beneath by the falling water, threatened the total
obliteration of the cataract unless arrested by artificial means, as
the dip or inclination of the rock is such that the altitude of the
falls diminishes with the wearing away of these ledges: It has been
found necessary to strengthen the ledges and prevent further erosion
by means of aprons, till the present appearance of the falls is not
unsuggestive of a series of dams. The entire cost of these
improvements has amounted to more than $1,000,000. The shores of the
islands and mainlands have been covered with mills and manufactories,
while the scene is still further disfigured by a maze of railway and
other bridges, waterways and flumes. Scarce a vestige of the original
falls remain to recall their appearance as they were when the sandaled
and robed Franciscan, Hennepin, first gazed upon them. In the midst of
this solitude, and on the banks once covered by a sparse growth of
trees, one of the finest cities in the West has sprung up as if by
magic, and the scene is one of busy life. This marvelous change has
occurred within a space of fifty years.
MINNEAPOLIS.
From the establishment and occupation of Fort Snelling in 1819, to the
settlement of the county in 1840, numerous traders and adventurers,
generally of French or Canadian origin, and not infrequently
intermarried with Indians, and semi-Indian in their habits of life,
occupied transient homes on or near the military reservation; but
these have exercised so little influence upon the development of the
country that they merit no recognition or record from the historian.
As a general thing, they disappeared before the march of civilization.
A few, wiser, stronger, more far-seeing than the rest, adapted
themselves to the new order, made claims, engaged in the enterprises
of civilized life, and thus obtained an honorable position amongst the
pioneers of the country.
Of these, Joseph R. Brown, by far the most distinguished, by
permission of the military authorities, located in Hennepin county
near the falls of Minnehaha, in 1829. He is the first white settler.
Maj. Taliaferro, then in command of the Fort, in the same year made a
farm on the shores of Lake Calhoun, and placed Philander Prescott in
charge. In 1834 the Pond brothers, missionaries, located on Lake
Calhoun and erected the first dwelling worthy of the name within the
present limits of the county of Hennepin. In 1849 Philander Prescott
made a claim on what is now Minnehaha avenue. Frank Steele obtained
permission from the secretary of war to occupy this claim, whereupon
Mr. Prescott abandoned it, and made another on laud adjoining. This he
was allowed to retain. Charles Mosseaux, by permission of the military
authorities, made a claim on Lake Calhoun in 1856. This claim is now
occupied by the pavillion. Rev. E. G. Gear, chaplain at Fort Snelling,
by permission of the military authorities, made a claim near Lake
Calhoun and employed Edward Brissett to live upon it. Afterward a
contest arose as to the ownership. Chaplain Gear, by the aid of Judge
Black and H. M. Rice, secured a congressional enactment allowing him
to purchase the land from the government. David Gohram made a claim on
the Lake of the Isles, but subsequently sold out to R. P. Russell.
John Berry, the Blaisdells, Pierce Lowell and many others located in
the vicinity of Lakes Calhoun and Harriet, and in 1853 were followed
by settlers on nearly all the lands lying immediately west of the
Mississippi, in the vicinity of the falls. In 1854 there were twelve
farm houses scattered widely from the falls to the vicinity of the
lakes. It had been evident for some time that a city of considerable
pretensions must arise somewhere in the vicinity of the Fort and the
falls. The locality of the coming city was decided largely by
advantages of situation, and these were in favor of the locality
immediately adjoining the falls, the water power there afforded being
a powerful attraction. For the first recognition of these advantages
we must go back to a period several years anterior to the location of
these claims and there find a starting point in the history of
Minneapolis.
In 1820 the military authorities at Fort Snelling had erected a stone
mill for sawing their own lumber and grinding the grain shipped from
St. Louis. They also built a log house and cultivated a few acres of
adjacent ground. This mill, run by the water of the falls, was located
a short distance below. This was the first utilization of the water
power. The mill, which has long since disappeared, was located on the
present site of Sidle, Fletcher & Holmes' flouring mill. In 1854 one
saw mill, the first in Minneapolis aside from the old government mill,
was located just below the falls. It had a capacity of 1,500,000 feet
per annum and besides manufactured great quantities of shingles. It
was under the direction of C. King. A steam saw mill was built at the
mouth of Bassett's creek, above the falls, in 1856, and another the
following year, half a mile further up the river. Thus began the great
lumber business of Minneapolis, in 1857 there being three mills with
an aggregate capacity of 75,000,000 feet per annum.
The attitude of the government with regard to the lands reserved about
the Fort, the act of 1839, driving off those who had settled upon them
and destroying their property, and the uncertainty with regard to the
tenure of land claims, acted as an effectual bar to further
improvement until ten years later, when Hon. Robert Smith, member of
Congress from Alton district, Illinois, and Col. John H. Stevens, the
pioneer of Minneapolis, each obtained permits from the secretary of
war and the officers of the Fort to occupy one hundred and sixty acres
of the reservation. Smith's location included the stone mill, which he
agreed to use in grinding Fort Snelling grain. Mr. Smith engaged C. A.
Tuttle to operate the mill and hold the claim. Mr. Tuttle was to have
an interest for his labor. This interest he afterward sold to Smith,
who, when the government relinquished the reservation, transferred his
claim to Anson Northrup and others, who were organized into an
association for the entry of land. Soon as the entries were completed
the land passed into the hands of the Minneapolis Water Power Company,
which proceeded at once to improve the water power.
Col. J. H. Stevens meanwhile located in person on his permit, and in
1849 built the first frame house in Minneapolis, on the ground now
occupied by the union depot. J. B. Bassett purchased the fraction of
land on the river above Stevens, Col. Emanuel Case the fraction above
Bassett's, A. E. Ames the eighty where the court house stands, and
Edwin Hedderly the fraction below the water power. Mr. Stevens made
the first survey of village lots in the spring of 1854; Chas. W.
Christmas, surveyor.
The Smith claim was surveyed by W. R. Marshall in the fall of 1854. In
1856 Atwater's addition was surveyed. Other additions were added from
year to year as the growth of the city demanded. At the release of the
reservation in 1855, the entire present site of the city was covered
with claims.
The name Minneapolis, derived from an Indian word _minne_, meaning
_water_, and a Greek word _polis_, meaning _city_, had been early
applied to the new village, Chas. Hoag having first suggested the
name. In March, 1853, the commissioners of Hennepin county adopted the
name as that of a territorial precinct. A government land office had
been established in 1854, of which M. L. Olds was register and R. P.
Russell receiver. The first, newspaper, the Minneapolis _Democrat_,
was established in 1854. During the same year the Masons and Odd
Fellows organized lodges, the Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists
organized societies, and public schools were established. In 1857 the
court house, at a cost of $12,000, a school house, and several
churches were erected.
The village of Minneapolis was organized in 1858. H. T. Welles was the
first president. In 1867 Minneapolis obtained a city charter.
Minneapolis and St. Anthony Falls were united under the same
government, by act of legislature, approved Feb. 28, 1872, under the
name of Minneapolis, St. Anthony Falls being recognized in the
directory as East Minneapolis. The united cities elect in common a
mayor and city council, but each is financially responsible as to
contracts existing previous to the union, and each maintains its own
schools.
We append a list of mayors of the two cities prior and subsequent to
the union:
MAYORS OF ST. ANTHONY FALLS.
1855. H. T. Welles.
1856. Alvaren Allen.
1857. Wm. W. Wales.
1858. Orrin Curtis.
1859. Orrin Curtis.
1860. R. B. Graves.
1861. O. C. Merriman.
1862. O. C. Merriman.
1863. Edwin S. Brown.
1864. O. C. Merriman.
1865. Wm. W. Wales.
1866. O. C. Merriman.
1867. O. C. Merriman.
1868. Winthrop Young.
1869. W. W. McNair.
1870. W. W. McNair.
1871. Edwin S. Brown.
MAYORS OF MINNEAPOLIS.
1867. Dorillius Morrison
1868. Hugh G. Harrison.
1869. Dorillius Morrison.
1870. Eli B. Ames.
1871. Eli B. Ames.
MAYORS OF MINNEAPOLIS SUBSEQUENT TO THE UNION WITH
ST. ANTHONY FALLS.
1872. Eugene M. Wilson.
1873. George A. Bracket.
1874. Eugene M. Wilson.
1875. O. C. Merriman.
1876. Albert A. Ames.
1877. John DeLittre.
1878. A. C. Rand.
1879. A. C. Rand.
1880. A. C. Rand.
1881. A. C. Rand.
1882. A. A. Ames.
1883. A. A. Ames.
1884. Geo. Pillsbury.
1885. Geo. Pillsbury.
1886. A. A. Ames.
1887. A. A. Ames.
1888. A. A. Ames.
WATER VERSUS STEAM.
Some wonder has been expressed that in the vicinity of one of the
finest water powers on this continent there should be found so many
saw mills run by steam. The question is partly an economical one, as
owing to the heavy expenses entailed upon mill owners to prevent the
retrogression of the falls, it may be cheaper for saw mill owners to
use steam, especially as they can feed their furnaces with but little
expense from the slabs and debris of their own lumber; but in this
case a weightier reason may be found in the fact that the west side
of the river has been occupied chiefly by flouring mills, and the saw
mills are moved to less eligible localities, and find it more
convenient and economical to use steam instead of water.
TERRIFIC EXPLOSION AT THE FLOUR MILLS.
One of the most remarkable mill disasters of modern times occurred May
2, 1878, in the Washington A mill. About 7 P. M. the sound of a
terrific explosion was heard and the city was shaken as by an
earthquake. The mill in which it occurred was utterly demolished, as
were also the Humboldt, the Zenith and the Palisade, while several
others were badly wrecked. There were fourteen lives lost and the
property destroyed amounted in value to over $1,000,000.
The cause of the explosion was at first not understood, but on
thorough investigation was finally attributed to a mixture of
exceedingly fine grain and flour dust with the air of the mills, in
such proportion as to form a combustible mixture, which was
accidentally ignited. The mills destroyed have since been replaced by
better ones. The great Pilsbury A mill, which is perhaps beyond
question the largest in the world, was begun in the following year. A
canal was cut to supply it with power, and it was equipped with two
Victor turbine water wheels of 1,450 horse power each and a 1,400
horse power engine; it was furnished with 400 pairs of rollers, 200
middlings purifiers, 20 run of stone, 200 bolting reels and other
devices in keeping.
SUBURBAN RESORTS--LAKE MINNETONKA.
This magnificent lake is 10 miles southwest of Minneapolis, and 20
miles from St. Paul. Its extreme length is about 18 miles, varying in
width from 1 to 5 miles. Its water area is about 15,000 acres, and its
shore line is estimated at nearly 300 miles. A glance at the map will
show what a variety of scenery it must have, being so broken and
irregular. Its banks and islands are covered with forest trees except
at a few points where villages have been located, or where some farmer
had, years ago, cleared himself a farm.
There are three villages on Minnetonka, viz.: Excelsior, Wayzata and
Mound City. Excelsior was settled in 1852, by a colony from New York
State, and named from the title adopted by the organization before
leaving home. It was incorporated about 1879. It is located on a range
of hills on the south shore of Lake Minnetonka, of which it has a
commanding view. Its present population is about 850. It has two
railways, the Minneapolis & St. Louis and the St. Paul, Minneapolis &
Manitoba, and a motor line. It is distant 18 miles from Minneapolis.
The oldest settlement on the lake is Wayzata, on the north shore of
Lake Minnetonka, 10 miles from Minneapolis, via the St. Paul,
Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, which passes through the village. The
name Wayzata is a corruption of the Indian word Wy-ze-a-ta, meaning
North Shore, or North Side. The village contains about 400
inhabitants, and commands considerable trade from the surrounding
country.
There are several fine hotels upon the lake, equal if not superior to
the famous hotels of eastern watering places. Prominent among these
are the Hotel Lafayette, built at a cost of $200,000, the Lake Park
Hotel and Excelsior House. Railways reach the lake at several points,
and steamers make regular trips for tourists.
Minnehaha Falls, rendered famous in Longfellow's poems of Hiawatha, is
located on Minnehaha creek, midway between Fort Snelling and St.
Anthony Falls. It is deservedly a favored resort.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN MINNEAPOLIS COSTING $100,000 AND UPWARD.
Court house (not completed) $2,000,000
Post office 500,000
Exposition Hall 350,000
Science Hall 125,000
Library building 190,000
Soldiers' Home, near Minnehaha Falls 100,000
State University 150,000
Chamber of Commerce 285,000
Temple Court 250,000
Masonic Temple 200,000
City Market House 225,000
Athenæum 250,000
Hennepin Avenue Theatre 140,000
Washburn Orphan Asylum 125,000
House of Good Shepherd 200,000
Loan and Trust Company 125,000
Guaranty Life and Trust 300,000
Lumber Exchange 150,000
Builders' Exchange 100,000
Knights of Labor Exchange 100,000
S. C. Hall Lumber Company 100,000
Bank of Commerce 200,000
Union elevator 375,000
Minneapolis & Pacific elevator 118,000
St. Anthony elevator 154,000
Boston block 100,000
Nicollet House block 100,000
Albert Johnson block 100,000
Globe block 200,000
Wright block 140,000
Mutual block 100,000
Glen block 200,000
Langdon block 120,000
Central block, terrace 150,000
Syndicate block 600,000
West Hotel 1,020,000
Gates' tenements 125,000
Lowry's residence 100,000
Eastman & Cook's saw mill 100,000
Soo & St Marie shops 145,000
North Minneapolis pumping station 214,000
Tubular car works 250,000
Buel tenement block 100,000
Pillsbury A flour mill 1,100,000
Washburn A flour mill 750,000
Washburn B flour mill 500,000
Morrison flour mill 100,000
Christian & Co.'s flour mill 100,000
High School building 100,000
Church of the Dominican Fathers 100,000
Aggregate value of school property 1,250,000
Aggregate value of church property 1,000,000
Aggregate value of parks and boulevards 1,000,000
POST OFFICE STATISTICS FOR 1886.
General business $409,225
Money orders 1,215,951
Income 225,178
Expense 79,436
HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE AT MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
Postmasters.
Established Jan. 7, 1854 Hezekiah Fletcher.
Dec. 22, 1854 Carlos Wilcoz.
April 7, 1856 Alfred E. Ames.
April 22, 1857 Samuel Hidden.
Aug. 30, 1858 William P. Ankeny.
April 4, 1861 David Morgan.
July 12, 1865 Daniel Bassett.
Nov. 17, 1866 William W. McNair.
March 11, 1867 Cyrus Aldrich.
April 15, 1871 Geo. H. Keith.
June 21, 1882 Orlo M. Laraway.
June 22, 1886 John J. Ankeny.
The bonded debt of the city is $3,319,000. The city can not create a
debt nor issue bonds to a greater amount than five per cent of the
assessed valuation of city property, and the charter prohibits a
floating debt.
The tax assessments for 1886 $99,591,762
Barrels of flour manufactured 6,163,000
Value of other manufactures $62,500,000
Feet of lumber manufactured 267,197,000
Elevator capacity (bushels) 11,820,000
Bushels of wheat received 34,904,260
Eight bridges span the river at Minneapolis as crossings for the
various railroads. The stone arch viaduct of the St. Paul, Minneapolis
& Manitoba cost $750,000. Municipal expenses, $2,542,714.
The following table gives the cut of lumber in Minneapolis for the
last sixteen years:
1870 118,233,100
1871 117,157,000
1872 167,918,820
1873 189,970,000
1874 191,305,680
1875 156,665,000
1876 200,371,250
1877 129,676,400
1878 130,274,400
1879 149,151,500
1880 195,452,200
3881 230,402,800
1882 312,239,800
1883 278,716,480
1884 300,724,373
1885 313,998,166
1886 267,196,519
WEST MINNEAPOLIS.
West Minneapolis is located about eight miles from the court house, in
sections 24 and 19 of township 27, range 24, and is not included
within Minneapolis' city limits. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Louis,
the Hastings & Dakota, and the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba
railroads have stations here. It was surveyed in 1886, and organized
shortly after. It has two threshing machine and other extensive
manufactories. The Hennepin county poor farm is located near by.
CALVIN A. TUTTLE.--Mr. Tuttle was born in Holland, Connecticut, in
1811. He received an academic education, and remained with his parents
until of age. He learned the trade of millwright with his father. In
1832 he went to Bangor, Maine, and worked at his trade until 1835,
when he removed to Alton, Illinois. He came to St. Croix in 1838, and
superintended the building of a mill. In 1841 he returned to Alton,
where he was married to Charlotte Winkler. He lived in Davenport,
Iowa, four years and one year at Chippewa Falls. In 1846 he removed to
St. Anthony Falls, where he helped build the first saw mill. Here he
worked eight years almost continuously at his trade. He purchased two
hundred acres of land here, including university lands, which he sold
for $3,500. He removed to West St. Anthony in 1852, to Robert Smith's
government permit, and then ran the old government flouring mill,
grinding only for the government. The grain, about 5,000 bushels
annually, was brought from St. Louis. For holding Smith's permit, and
grinding, he received one-eighth of the property. The government
grinding was done for the privilege of making a claim on the
government reservation. This claim, eighty acres in extent, located in
what was then called West St. Anthony, now in the heart of
Minneapolis, is worth millions of dollars. Mr. Tuttle sold his
interest for $5,000. The old mill was built of stone, 30 x 30 feet,
ground dimensions, two stories in height, with one run of stone. The
mill was built in 1822. There was a farm near the mill, cultivated by
soldiers. Mr. Tuttle returned to East St. Anthony in 1857, and removed
to Minnetonka in 1858, where he lived five years. Thence he removed to
Twin Rivers, Morrison county. He has a saw mill, farm and good home at
Twin Rivers. In 1887 he returned to Minneapolis to spend the remainder
of his days.
CYRUS ALDRICH.--The subject of this memoir was born June 18, 1808, in
Smithfield, Rhode Island. His father was Dexter Aldrich, and was
engaged in shipping and merchandising. His mother's maiden name was
Hannah White. She was a descendant of Peregrine White, the first male
child born after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers. He received such
an education as could be obtained at the common schools until he was
eighteen years of age, when he left home to engage for a few years in
a seafaring life. This life not proving to his taste, he abandoned it
and engaged in other pursuits. At the age of twenty-nine he emigrated
to Illinois and located at Alton, where he took a contract on the
Michigan and Erie canal. In 1841, or about four years later, he
removed to Galena, Illinois, where he secured employment with the firm
of Galbraith & Porter, and engaged in staging and mail contracts. In
1845 he was elected to the Illinois legislature. The same year he was
married to Clara Heaton, of Indiana, who, with one son and one
daughter, survives him. In 1847 he was elected register of deeds of
Joe Daviess county; in 1849 was appointed receiver of the land office
at Dixon, Illinois; and in 1852 ran for Congress on the Whig ticket
against Long John Wentworth, but was defeated by a small majority. He
removed to Minnesota in 1855, locating at Minneapolis, then but a
small village. In 1857 he was elected a member of the Republican wing
of the constitutional convention, where his ability for leadership
soon brought him to the front. In 1858 he was nominated and elected
representative to Congress, Minnesota having meanwhile become a state.
In 1860 he was re-elected. This was a trying time, but Mr. Aldrich
acquitted himself well, and was especially commended for his devotion
to the interests of the soldiers. In 1862 he declined a re-election,
but allowed his name to be used (though unsuccessfully) as a candidate
for the senate. He did not, however, entirely withdraw from public
affairs, but accepted an appointment from President Lincoln as a
member of the indemnity committee to adjust claims of settlers who had
suffered during the Indian outbreak of 1862. He also devoted much of
his time and energy to the establishment of the Northern Pacific
railway.
In 1865 he was elected to the Minnesota legislature. In 1867 he was
appointed postmaster of Minneapolis, which position he held for four
years. His long and busy life has been spent chiefly in public
service. He had not quite reached the scriptural limit of human life,
but it was evident that his iron constitution had been overtasked and
that he needed rest. The retirement and rest came too late. His
health gradually failed until Oct. 5, 1871, when he closed his eyes
upon the scenes of earth. His funeral, conducted from the Universalist
church, of which he was a member, was one of the largest ever held in
the State. Citizens of all parties and classes, the masonic and other
social and civil bodies combined in paying the last tribute of respect
to one who for fifteen years had been the most active, best known and
most respected of their number.
ALFRED ELISHA AMES, M.D., was born at Colchester, Vermont, Dec. 13,
1814. He was the oldest son of Billy and Phebe (Baker) Ames, whose
ancestors were early colonists from England. Alfred E. commenced the
study of medicine in 1832. He occasionally taught school and worked at
his trade of brickmason. He also varied his labors by publishing an
arithmetic. He came West in 1838, locating first at Springfield,
Illinois; concluded his medical studies at Rush Medical College,
Chicago, in 1845. Before leaving Illinois he was elected to the state
senate. In 1851 he came to St. Anthony Falls, made a claim, and
entered into partnership with Dr. J. H. Murphy. In 1852 he served as
surgeon at Fort Snelling, and in 1853 was elected to the territorial
legislature as a member of the house. In 1854 he was elected probate
judge; in 1857 member of the Democratic wing of the constitutional
convention, and in 1860 became a member of the state normal board.
During the remainder of his life he devoted himself to the practice of
medicine, but also served the public in many positions of trust. He
died Dec. 24, 1874. His wife and five children survive him.
ALBERT ALONZO AMES, son of Dr. A. E. and Martha (Pratt) Ames, was born
at Garden Prairie, Illinois, Jan. 18, 1842. He received a high school
education at Minneapolis, studied medicine at Rush Medical College,
Chicago, and graduated February, 1862. In August, 1863, he enlisted in
the Ninth Minnesota Volunteers, but shortly after was commissioned
assistant surgeon of the Seventh Minnesota Volunteers. He served for
awhile in the Indian campaigns. In the fall of 1863 the regiment was
ordered South. In July, 1864, he was commissioned as surgeon of the
Seventh regiment in place of Dr. L. B. Smith, killed at Tupelo. He was
mustered out of service at the close of the war with an excellent
record as a physician and surgeon. After the war he devoted himself to
the practice of his profession and to public services in Minneapolis,
excepting a period of six years spent in editorial life in California,
first on the staff of the _Daily Times_, and later as managing editor
of the _Alta Californian_. At the death of his father, in 1874, he
returned to Minneapolis and resumed practice. He has filled the
following positions of trust: 1867, member of the Minnesota
legislature (house); 1875, member of the city council; 1876, mayor of
Minneapolis; 1877, Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor (not
elected); 1886, Democratic candidate for governor (not elected);
1886-87-88, again mayor of Minneapolis. Dr. Ames is a member of such
prominent fraternities as the Masonic, Odd Fellows, Druids, Knights of
Pythias, and Order of Elks.
Dr. Ames was married April 21, 1862, to Sarah, daughter of Capt.
Richard Strout, of Minneapolis.
JESSE AMES was born in Vinalhaven, Maine, Feb. 4, 1808. From the age
of fourteen till his retirement in 1861, Mr. Ames devoted himself to a
seafaring life. At the age of twenty-three he was captain of a
schooner, and afterward of different ships, brigs, barks or schooners,
all of them in the mercantile trade. He made between twenty and thirty
voyages to Europe, circumnavigated Cape Horn several times, and sailed
twice round the globe. Few men have seen more of the world. His last
voyage was from New Zealand to London, where he sold his ship, and,
coming to America, found him a beautiful home in the North Star State.
He is a resident of Northfield, and is, with his son John T., the
owner of the well known flouring mills at that place. He was married
Oct. 27, 1832, to Margaret Tolman, of Rockland, Maine. They have two
sons, one of whom, John T., is a resident of Northfield. The other
son, Adelbert A., won distinction during the Civil War, leaving the
service with the brevet rank of major general. Since the war he has
served as senator from Mississippi, and as governor of that state.
CADWALLADER C. WASHBURN.--Hon. C. C. Washburn was a man of rare
nobility of character and possessed of an acute and powerful mind. He
used his great talents for the good of the country. He was a man of
philanthropic impulses and great generosity, as the following
munificent gifts to the public will attest:
_First_--To the state of Wisconsin, in 1876, an astronomical
observatory, located on the university lands at Madison, in style of
architecture and apparatus to carry into execution the design of the
institution, equal, if not superior, to that of any like institution
in the world.
_Second_--The donation of his "Edgewood Home," near Madison,
Wisconsin, for educational purposes.
_Third_--The generously established school located on the shores of
Lake Harriet, near Minneapolis, "The Washburn Home for Orphans," for
the poor and unfortunate children of Minnesota.
Mr. Washburn was born in Livermore, Maine, April 22, 1818; lived at
home until 1838, and devoted some time to obtaining a classical
education. In 1838 and 1839 he taught school and clerked in Hallowell
and Wiscassett, Maine. In the spring of 1839 he came West to
Davenport, Iowa, and was employed a few months with David Dale Owen,
on geological work. In 1840 and 1841 he studied law at Rock Island.
Illinois. In 1842 he settled in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and was
admitted to practice law at Lancaster, Grant county, in Judge Dunn's
court. He continued in practice at Mineral Point; also engaged in real
estate and dealing in land warrants, and in 1852 established the Bank
of Mineral Point. Mr. Washburn was elected representative to the
thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth, and fortieth congresses. In
February, 1861, the house appointed a special committee of
thirty-three members on the state of the Union. A majority of the
committee reported an amendment to the constitution of the United
States, making slavery perpetual. Mr. Washburn and others made a
minority report against making slavery perpetual. On this report we
subjoin his remarks: "If this Union must be dissolved, whether by
peaceable process or through fire and blood or civil war, we shall
have the consolation of knowing that when the conflict is over those
who survive will be what they never have been--inhabitants of a free
country." Mr. Washburn changed his residence to La Crosse in 1861. He
received a colonel's commission to recruit a cavalry regiment that
year, and subsequently was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.
He was elected governor of Wisconsin in 1872. In 1876 he erected a
large flour mill at Minneapolis, which burned in 1878. It was soon
after rebuilt. In this mill he introduced the first Hungarian patent
process for making flour used in America. Mr. Washburn died at Eureka
Springs, Arkansas, May 14, 1882. His body was brought to Wisconsin and
buried at La Crosse.
[Illustration: W. D. Washburn]
WILLIAM DREW WASHBURN, the youngest of the Washburn brothers, was born
at Livermore, Maine, Jan. 14, 1831. He worked upon his father's farm
until twenty years of age; prepared himself for college by his own
unaided efforts, entered Bowdoin College, and graduated in 1854. He
studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1857, and in the same year
came to Minneapolis as agent of the Minneapolis Mill Company, of which
he became a partner. In 1861 President Lincoln appointed him surveyor
general of Minnesota. During his term of office, which continued four
years, he lived in St. Paul. On his return to Minneapolis he built a
large saw mill and engaged extensively in the lumber trade. He was the
chief mover in the Minneapolis & St. Louis and Minneapolis & Pacific
railways. He has a large lumber and flour mill at Anoka, and with
others erected the Palisade flour mill at Minneapolis. In 1878 he was
elected representative to Congress from the Third district and
re-elected in 1880. He has also served in the state legislature. He
was a principal proprietor of the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie &
Atlantic railway, and was elected president of the company in 1883.
Mr. Washburn has been successful in his business ventures, has
accumulated a handsome property, and been liberal in using his means
in the interests of Minneapolis and the State. He is eminently
practical in his business ideas and methods, and affable and
prepossessing in his manners. He married Lizzie Muzzy, of Bangor,
Maine, in 1850, and has two sons and two daughters living.
JOSEPH CLINTON WHITNEY was born in Springfield, Vermont, April 14,
1818. In 1829 he removed with his parents to Lower Canada, where he
remained till he was twenty years of age. He went to Oberlin, Ohio,
1840; graduated from the college in 1845, and from Union Theological
Seminary in 1849. The same year he removed to Stillwater, where he
organized the First Presbyterian church, of which he served as pastor
until 1853, when he was called to the pastorate of the First
Presbyterian church at Minneapolis, where he remained four years. He
removed to Forest City, Meeker county, but returned to Minneapolis in
1860. In 1862 he enlisted in Company D, Sixth Minnesota Volunteers,
and served three years. In 1865 President Lincoln appointed him
quartermaster with the rank of captain. In 1866 he returned to
Minneapolis and engaged in business. In 1867 he was elected state
senator from the Fifth district. Mr. Whitney has been greatly
interested in the cause of education. He was a principal mover in
establishing the public schools of Minneapolis, of Bennett Seminary
for Young Ladies, and of Macalester College. He is president of the
board of Bennett Seminary, and is one of the members of the state
normal board. He was married July 10, 1849, to Eliza Baird. They have
three sons and two daughters.
CHARLES HOAG was born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, in 1808. He received
a good education and taught school fifteen years. He came to
Minneapolis in 1852, and occupied various positions of trust, having
been a member of the first town council, the second treasurer of
Hennepin county, and the superintendent of schools four years,
commencing with 1870. Mr. Hoag suggested the name of Minneapolis for
the growing young city of his adoption. He was a man of marked ability
and refinement, and although a strong partisan his many admirable
personal qualities won the esteem of those who most radically differed
from him. He was twice married, his first wife dying in 1871. In 1873
he was married to Miss Susan F. Jewett who, with a daughter, Mrs. C.
H. Clark, and one son, Levi, survives him. Mr. Hoag died February,
1888.
FRANKLIN STEELE.--No other pioneer has been more prominent in the
early history of Minneapolis than Franklin Steele. A bold, sagacious,
enterprising man, he came in the very vanguard of civilization, and
promptly and fearlessly availed himself of the splendid opportunities
that this, then almost unknown, frontier afforded. We have not many
data of his early life, but his history since he set foot in Fort
Snelling is elsewhere given as a part of the early history of the
section in which he located, and need not be here repeated.
Franklin Steele was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. He came
West by the advice of President Andrew Jackson, and arrived at Fort
Snelling just after the conclusion of the treaty by which the Indians
ceded their St. Croix lands to the government; whereupon Mr. Steele
visited St. Croix Falls, made a claim and proceeded to make further
improvements, such as building mills, as elsewhere narrated.
When appointed sutler of the army at Fort Snelling, he sold his St.
Croix claims and identified himself thereafter with the interests of
St. Anthony Falls and the section adjacent thereto, where he made
claims and improvements. Among other enterprises illustrative of the
faith of Steele and others in the future greatness of the prospective
river cities, the fact may be mentioned that an organized company
built a wire suspension bridge over the river just above the falls, a
work projected while the adjacent lands were still in the hands of the
government, and completed in 1855, at a time when such a structure was
most needed and advantageous.
Mr. Steele was a man of far more than ordinary ability. Col. J. H.
Stevens says of him: "He has been a good friend to Hennepin county,
and as most of the citizens came here poor they never had to ask Mr.
Steele a second time for a favor. Fortune has favored him, and while
many a family has reason to feel thankful for his generosity and
kindness, he constantly made money." The county of Steele was named
after him. Mr. Steele was married to Miss Barney, a relative of the
distinguished naval officer of that name. He died in Minneapolis in
1880.
ROSWELL P. RUSSELL was born in Richland, Vermont, March 15, 1820. His
privileges for education were limited. He came to Michigan in 1836 and
to Fort Snelling in 1839. He came from Prairie du Chien to the Fort in
a mackinaw boat, part of the way on foot over the ice, and suffered
much for want of food, sleep and from exposure. Mr. Russell remained
at Fort Snelling until 1845, engaged for two years in the Indian
trade, made a claim at St. Anthony Falls in 1847, and opened the first
store, in a log building, at that place. In 1854 he was appointed
receiver of the land office at Minneapolis. He has since been actively
engaged in farming, merchandising and real estate transactions. He was
the first chairman of the St. Anthony Falls town board, and has served
one term as representative in the state legislature. He was a true and
steadfast friend to his adopted city. He was married at St. Anthony
Falls, Oct. 3, 1848, to Marion Patch. They have a family of seven sons
and three daughters: Lucy C., wife of W. C. Colbrath; Charles M.,
Roswell P., Mary Bell, wife of F. M. Prince, of Stillwater; Carrie E.,
wife of F. L. Lovejoy, of Fargo, Dakota; Frank and Fred, twin
brothers; Geo. B. Mc----, died in 1881; William and Edward E.
HORATIO PHILLIPS VAN CLEVE was born in Princeton, New Jersey, Nov. 22,
1809. He was educated at Princeton College and West Point, graduating
from the latter institution in 1831. He served five years in the army,
resigning in 1836. He followed farming and engineering in Michigan
until 1856, when he came to Morrison county, Minnesota. In 1861 he
enlisted as a volunteer in the Second Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, of
which regiment he was commissioned colonel. He served during the war
and left the service with a major general's commission, and has since
served as adjutant general of the state of Minnesota. He was the
postmaster of St. Anthony Falls prior to the union of that city with
Minneapolis. He was married to Charlotte O. Clarke, daughter of Maj.
Gen. Clarke of the United States Army. They have seven children.
CHARLOTTE OUISCONSIN VAN CLEVE, a daughter of Gen. Clarke of the
United States Army, was born at Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien,
Wisconsin, in 1819. Soon after her birth her father came up the river
on a flatboat to the site of Fort Snelling. They were six weeks making
the voyage. Miss Charlotte grew up amidst military surroundings, and
on a remote frontier, and was married at Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin, to
Horatio P. Van Cleve, when she had barely attained the age of sixteen
years. Her husband resigned his position in the army about the time of
his marriage, and removed to Michigan, but since 1856 her home has
been in Minnesota. Of her children six sons are living in Hennepin
county. A daughter is the wife of H. V. Hall, a missionary to the
Sandwich Islands. Besides her own family she has reared five orphans.
She is intellectually active and vigorous, takes great interest in the
reforms of the day, and is a noble specimen of the pioneer women of
the State. She is the founder of the Bethany Home in Minneapolis. She
has specially interested herself in the poor, the downtrodden and the
outcast classes of human society, and has exercised in this direction
an untold influence for good.
ARD GODFREY was born at Orono, Maine, Jan. 18, 1813. He came to St.
Anthony Falls in 1847, and was among the first to make improvements in
utilizing the water power furnished by the falls. He built a dam and
mill, and subsequently engaged in lumbering. In 1852 he settled on a
claim near Minnehaha falls, where he built a saw and grist mill, some
years later destroyed by fire. He was married in Maine, January,
1838, and has a family of six children. He still lives at his old
homestead near Minnehaha falls.
RICHARD CHUTE was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sept. 22, 1820. He first
visited St. Anthony Falls in 1844, and built a trading house. He was
one of the firm of W. G. Ewing & Co. In 1854 he located permanently at
the Falls where he has been engaged in real estate operations, milling
and other branches of business. He has been successful in his
undertakings, and is a man of excellent standing in the community.
LUCIUS N. PARKER was born in Chester, Vermont, Dec. 11, 1823. He came
to Illinois in his boyhood and remained there till eighteen years of
age, when he came to Marine, Minnesota, and engaged in lumbering. In
1846 he was one of the proprietors of the Osceola (Polk county,
Wisconsin) mills. In 1849 he sold out his interest, removed to St.
Anthony Falls and carried the mail between St. Paul and that city. He
removed to the west side of the river, known now as Minneapolis, and
has since resided there. He was married to Amanda Huse in 1849.
CAPT. JOHN ROLLINS was born in March, 1806, at New Sharon, Maine.
While in Maine he followed lumbering and hotel keeping. In 1848 he
came to the Falls and engaged in lumbering, steamboating, milling and
farming. He was a member of the first territorial council of
Minnesota, in 1849-50. He was married to Betsey Martin at Newport,
Maine, in 1832. They have seven children living. Capt. Rollins died in
1885.
JOHN G. LENNON was born in Bolton, England, July 6, 1815. He came to
America in 1841 as supercargo of a vessel bound to New Orleans. In
1843 he located at St. Croix Falls, removed to St. Paul in 1848, and
in 1850 to St. Anthony Falls, where he entered the service of the St.
Anthony Outfit. In 1856 he engaged in the lumbering and mercantile
business and in 1859 removed to a stock farm in Sibley county. During
the Civil War he served as assistant commissary, and through Gen.
Sibley's Indian campaign. At the suppression of the Indian revolt his
regiment was transferred South and attached to the Sixteenth Army
Corps, under Gen. A. J. Smith and Division Commander Gen. Joseph Mower
and he served as quartermaster until mustered out at the close of the
war, when he returned to civil life and commenced dealing in real
estate. In 1873 he returned to Minneapolis. He was married to Mary D.
McLain in 1851. He died in August, 1887, leaving a widow and two
children.
JOHN H. STEVENS.--Col. Stevens traces his ancestry to the Moors who,
during the wars of the Alhambra were carried captive to France, where
they became known as Huguenots. Driven by persecution from France to
England, they emigrated thence with the Puritans on the Mayflower to
America. Col. Stevens was born June 13, 1820, in Lower Canada, whither
his parents had emigrated from Vermont. His father gave him an
excellent education.
At an early day John H. came to the lead mines of South Wisconsin.
During the war with Mexico he served as a soldier, and after the war,
in 1849, came to the Northwest and located on the west bank of the
Mississippi, at St. Anthony Falls, where he built the first frame
house on the west side, on ground that afterward became the site of
the union depot. He was a member of the lower house of the legislature
of 1876, and has filled other public positions with honor to himself.
He has been influential in municipal affairs, and always a staunch
advocate of the interests of his city, county and State. He is the
author of a book of "Reminiscences of Pioneer Life." He was married at
Rockford, Illinois, in 1850, to Frances Helen Miller. They have one
son, Francis H. G., and three daughters, Orma, Sarah and Kittie D.,
wife of P. B. Winston.
CALEB D. DORR was born at East Great Works, Penobscot county, Maine.
He became a practical lumberman, and, coming to the Falls in 1847,
bought of Hole-in-the-Day, a Chippewa chief at Swan River, one hundred
trees at five dollars per tree, for St. Anthony Falls improvements,
the first timber floated down the Mississippi above the mouth of Rum
river.
Mr. Dorr was in the employ of the government for ten years, locating
state and school lands. He has followed the business of scaling logs,
and has also been boom master. He was married to Celestia A. Ricker,
of Maine, March 4, 1849.
REV. EDWARD DUFFIELD NEILL, the well known author of the "History of
Minnesota," was born in Philadelphia Aug. 9, 1823. He was educated at
the University of Pennsylvania and Amherst College, Massachusetts,
graduating from the latter in 1842. He studied theology at Andover
Theological Seminary, Massachusetts, and in 1847 preached as a
missionary amongst the miners in and around Galena, Illinois. He was
transferred to St. Paul in April, 1849, where he organized a society
and erected the first Protestant church building in Minnesota not on
mission grounds. It was situated on Third and Market streets. He also
built for himself, on the corner of Fourth and Washington streets, the
first brick house in the city. In 1855 he organized the House of Hope
society and acted as its pastor five years. He was also the prime
mover in establishing the Baldwin School. In 1855 he secured the
building of the St. Paul College, for some years conducted as a
classical school and afterward consolidated with the Baldwin School.
He was the first territorial superintendent of public instruction, in
1851-2, and served as state superintendent from 1858 to 1864. He was
called to fill many educational trusts.
April 29, 1861, he was appointed chaplain of the First Minnesota
Volunteers, and served as such over two years. He was with his
regiment at the battles of Bull Run, Fair Oaks and Malvern Hill.
President Lincoln appointed him hospital chaplain, he became one of
the president's private secretaries, and continued in that relation
during the presidency of Andrew Johnson. In 1869 President Grant
appointed him United States consul at Dublin, where he resided two
years. Returning to Minnesota in 1871, he removed to Minneapolis and
conducted the Baldwin School and St. Paul College, under the title of
Macalester College, and located his school in the old Winslow House,
Minneapolis. In January, 1874, Mr. Neill connected himself with the
Reformed Episcopal church.
Mr. Neill has been a busy worker in literary, chiefly historical,
fields. Editions of his "History of Minnesota" were published in 1858,
1873 and 1878. He has published many other valuable historical works.
He is a ready and versatile writer, and is an authority on the
subjects concerning which he treats. Mr. Neill was married to Nancy
Hill, at Snow Hill, Maryland. Their children are Samuel Henry, Edward
Duffield and John Selby Martin.
JOHN WENSIGNOR, a native of Switzerland, was born May 22, 1825; came
to America in 1833, to St. Anthony Falls in 1849, and engaged
successfully in mercantile pursuits. Mr. Wensignor has been a generous
man to the poor, and although public spirited, has persistently
declined office. Mr. Wensignor died in 1886.
ROBERT H. HASTY was born in York county, Maine, Dec. 12, 1823. He came
to Stillwater in 1849, and engaged in lumbering. He was surveyor
general of the First district two years. He enlisted in Company I,
Sixth Minnesota, at the organization of the regiment in 1862, was
commissioned second lieutenant, promoted to first lieutenant, and
resigned Jan. 15, 1865. In 1881 he removed to Crystal Lake, Minnesota.
STEPHEN PRATT, a native of Penobscot county, Maine, was born, in 1828;
came to St. Anthony Falls in October, 1849, where he followed
lumbering until 1858. He was a member of the First Minnesota Cavalry
during the Rebellion. In 1864 he removed to a farm. He died in 1887.
CAPT. JOHN TAPPER was born in Dorsetshire, England, March 25, 1820;
came to America in 1840, and to Prairie du Chien and Fort Snelling in
1844. He served as a soldier during the Mexican War. He was the first
toll collector on the St. Anthony Falls wire suspension bridge. He
finally located on Steele's farm near Minnehaha falls, and is now
living in Clayton county, Iowa.
R. W. CUMMINGS was born in Lycoming, Pennsylvania, June, 1825. He
settled at Cottage Grove, Minnesota, in 1845, and in 1848 made a claim
in St. Anthony, and improved it as a farm until the city required it
for lots, since which time he has been engaged in the real estate
business.
ELIAS H. CONNER was born in New Sharon, Maine, in 1824. In 1848 he
came to Lakeland, Minnesota, and in 1849 to St. Anthony Falls, where
he had charge of the work on the first suspension thrown across the
Mississippi at that point. He also built the first bridge that spanned
the St. Croix at Taylor's Falls. In 1855 he was married to Hannah
Rollins.
C. F. STIMSON was born in Maine, April 19, 1822. He came to Stillwater
in June, 1848, and thence to St. Anthony Falls, where he followed
lumbering. He was treasurer of Ramsey county for one year. In 1879 he
moved to his farm near Elk River. He has a wife and two children.
WILLIAM DUGAS was born in Three Rivers, Canada East, May 17, 1809. He
came to New York in 1831. He spent some time traveling, visiting
Africa, New Orleans, Indian Territory, Iowa, and Illinois, and other
places more or less remote. He came to Minnesota in 1844, and was a
representative in the first territorial legislature. Later he removed
to St. Anthony Falls. He afterward removed to Dayton, Minnesota. He
was married at Prairie du Chien in 1844.
DAVIS GORHAM was born in Quebec; came to Virginia, where he spent two
years, and thence to Maine, where he lived twelve years. In April,
1849, he came to St. Anthony Falls, and made valuable land claims near
Lake Calhoun. He followed lumbering for about twelve years. In 1864 he
started for California, but was driven back by the Sioux Indians. In
1867 he settled in Plymouth, where he has been supervisor for ten
years.
EDWIN HEDDERLY was born in Philadelphia in 1814. In 1849 he came to
St. Anthony Falls and in 1851 made a claim of one hundred and sixty
acres west of the river, within the present bounds of Minneapolis. He
served on various committees for selecting a name for the new city and
its streets, and until his death was ever active and influential in
all matters pertaining to the welfare of the city. He was married to
Mary J. Kennard, of Philadelphia. Eight children of this union survive
him and are residents of the city. Mr. Hedderly died in 1879.
LOUIS NEUDECK, born December, 1821, came to St. Anthony Falls in 1849.
He subsequently lived in Missouri, Illinois and at Stillwater, but in
1855 returned to the Falls. He died in 1864. He was supposed to have
been killed by Indians while absent in Montana, the only clue to his
sad fate being the recovery of his revolver having his name inscribed
on it, from an Indian. He left a widow and five children.
ANDREW J. FOSTER was born in Cooper, Maine, June, 1827, and came to
the Falls in 1849, where he engaged in the lumbering, grocery,
gardening, and real estate business. He married Mrs. Mary Averill, of
Stillwater. Their children are Ada, William, Owen and Elmer.
A. D. FOSTER, a Pennsylvanian, born in 1801, came to St. Anthony Falls
in 1848. He assisted in building the Gov. Ramsey, the first boat above
the falls. He has engaged in fruit culture and merchandising. He was
married in Pennsylvania and has three children; Josiah, resident in
Indianapolis; Lysander, a physician in Minneapolis; and a daughter,
married.
CHARLES E. VANDERBURGH, a native of Clifton, Parke county, New York,
born Dec. 2, 1829, graduated at Yale College an 1852, and served for
awhile as principal of Oxford Academy, New York. He studied law and
was admitted to practice in 1855. In 1856 he came to Minneapolis,
which has since been his home. In 1849 he was elected judge of the
district court, which at that time embraced all the territory west of
the Mississippi from Fort Snelling to the north boundary line. He has
been continuously re-elected, an evidence of the high estimation in
which he is regarded by his fellow citizens.
Judge Vanderburgh has been twice married. His first wife, Julia M.
Mygatt, wedded Sept. 2, 1857, died April 23, 1863, leaving two
children, William Henry and Julia M. His second wife was Anna Culbert,
married April 15, 1873. They have one child, Isabella McIntyre. His
daughter Julia was accidentally drowned Sept. 12, 1871.
DORILLIUS MORRISON was born at Livermore, Oxford county, Maine, Dec.
26, 1816. He received a common school and academic education. He
taught school awhile, and then engaged in the mercantile business, the
last eleven years at Bangor, when in the spring of 1853 he came to
Minneapolis, where he became prominent as a business man, following
lumbering, dealing in real estate, milling and railway building. He is
one of the projectors and proprietors of the Minneapolis Mill Company.
He is also sole owner and proprietor of a cotton mill costing
$100,000. He was deeply interested in the Northern Pacific railroad.
He was the first mayor of Minneapolis, in 1867, and served as senator
in the sixth legislature in May, 1840. He was married to Harriet
Putnam Whitmore, a descendant of Gen. Israel Putnam. They have three
children, Clinton and George Henry, residents of Minneapolis, and
Grace E., the wife of Dr. H. H. Kimball, of Minneapolis.
H. G. O. MORRISON, brother of Dorillius, was born in Livermore, Maine,
Jan. 24, 1817. He graduated at the Bangor high school. He worked at
printing in his youth, read law and was admitted to practice in 1838,
locating afterward at Sebre, Maine. He was a member of the Maine
senate in 1841. In 1855 he came to St. Anthony Falls. He moved to
Dakota county soon after, and represented that county in the state
legislatures of 1860-61. He resided in Dakota county for twelve years.
He was assessor of internal revenue from 1869 to 1873, during which
time he lived in St. Paul. In 1873 he removed to Minneapolis, where he
has since resided. He has been twice married. His second wife was
Rebecca Newell. They have three children, Daniel W., Samuel B. and
Stanford.
JUDGE F. R. E. CORNELL was born in 1821, in Chenango county, New
York; was educated at Union College, New York; studied law and was
admitted to practice in 1846. He came to Minneapolis in 1854. During
his residence in New York he was a member of the state senate. In
January, 1875, he took his seat as associate justice of the supreme
court of Minnesota, which office he held until his death, which
occurred in 1879.
GEN. A. B. NETTLETON came from Ohio, and became one of the editors of
the Minneapolis _Tribune_. He served during the Civil War,
participated in seventy-three battles, and was promoted through the
various grades from private to brigadier general.
JUDGE ISAAC ATWATER was born in Homer, Cortland county, New York. He
graduated at Yale College in 1844, practiced law in New York City
until 1850, when he came to St. Anthony Falls and practiced law with
G. W. North as partner. He was one of the first regents of the State
University; edited the St. Anthony _Express_ from 1851 to 1857; served
as district attorney from 1853 to 1857; was elected associate justice
of the supreme bench in 1857, resigned the position in 1864, and
removed to California, where he practiced law. After an absence of
three years he returned to Minneapolis, where he has been honored with
the offices of alderman, president of the Board of Education, etc. He
was married to Pamelia A. Sanborn in 1849. Their son John B. is
associated with his father in law practice.
REV. DAVID BROOKS, a venerable pioneer clergyman of the Methodist
Episcopal church, was born in England in 1802. He was educated there
and preached ten years in the Wesleyan connection. He came to America
in 1842, and joined the Methodist Episcopal church, which he has
served faithfully since as pastor and presiding elder in Northern
Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. He was among the pioneer preachers
in the latter state. In 1853 he was presiding elder of a district that
included all of the present Minnesota conference. In 1854 he secured
the charter for Hamline University, and was instrumental in obtaining
a donation of $25,000 from Bishop Hamline for its endowment.
REV. JABEZ BROOKS, D.D., son of Rev. David Brooke, was born in
England, and came to America in 1842. He is a graduate of Middleton
Wesleyan University. For several years he was professor of Greek, and
later president, of Hamline University. He served also as professor
of Greek in Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. He has for many
years been professor of Greek in the State University.
JOHN S. PILLSBURY was born in New Hampshire, July 29, 1828. He
received a New England common school education. He came to the Falls
in 1855, and by close application to business acquired a position of
wealth and influence. He has occupied many prominent positions in
Minneapolis and the State. He served five terms as state senator, from
the sixth to the tenth legislatures. In 1863 he was appointed a regent
of the State University. He was elected governor of the State in 1875,
and re-elected in 1877. He was married in November, 1856, to Mahala
Fisk, of Warner, New Hampshire. Their children are Ada, Susie, May,
Sadie Belle, and Alfred Fisk.
HENRY T. WELLES was born in Connecticut, April 3, 1821, graduated at
Trinity College, and came to St. Anthony Falls in 1853, where he
engaged successfully in the lumbering, banking and real estate
business. He is a liberal, public spirited citizen, contributing
freely to all enterprises looking to the growth and welfare of the
city as well as to charitable objects.
DAVID BLAKELY has been prominent in journalism, having been connected
at various times with papers in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Chicago: He
was one of the founders of the Minneapolis _Tribune_.
WILLIAM LOCHREN, a native of Tyrone, Ireland, was born April 3, 1832;
was brought to America when he was two years old; was educated in
Vermont; admitted to the bar, and came to the Falls in 1856, where he
has since practiced law, excepting a term of service in the army
during the Rebellion as first lieutenant of Company E, First Minnesota
Volunteers. Since the war he has served as city attorney, as state
senator in 1868 69, and as district judge from 1883 to the present
time. In 1871 he was married to Mrs. Martha Demmen, who died in 1879.
EUGENE M. WILSON was born in 1834, in Monongalia county, Virginia. His
ancestors were Scotch-Irish, who came to this country at an early
date. His grandfather served in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Wilson
graduated at Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1852,
read law with his father, was admitted to practice in 1855, and came
to Minneapolis in 1857. He served as United States district attorney
during President Buchanan's administration. During the Rebellion he
was captain of Company A, First Minnesota Cavalry, serving on the
frontier until 1853, when the company was discharged by the completion
of term of enlistment.
[Illustration: J. S. Pillsbury]
Mr. Wilson was a member of the United States house of representatives
in 1871-72 and state senator in 1879. He served four years as mayor of
Minneapolis, from 1872 to 1876. Mr. Wilson was married Sept. 6, 1865,
to Mary E. Kimball, of Minneapolis. They have three children, Mary O.,
Helen K. and Eugenia.
R. B. LANGDON, born in Vermont in 1826, received an academic
education, and at twenty-two years of age commenced railroading on the
Rutland & Burlington road. He has since been continuously engaged in
superintending the construction of railroads in ten states of the
Union, and in 1858 supervised the grading of the St. Paul & Pacific,
the first railroad enterprise in Minnesota. He served as state senator
for seven terms, commencing in 1873 and closing in 1881 (excepting the
term of 1879). He has a wife and three children.
WM. M. BRACKET, the originator of the Minneapolis fire department, was
born in Maine in 1843. His father served six years as consul at
Halifax, Nova Scotia, during which time William resided at that place.
During the Rebellion he served two years as a musician in the Sixth
Maine Volunteers, and was then appointed paymaster's clerk at
Washington, District of Columbia. In 1865 he came to Minneapolis,
where he has since been continuously connected with the fire
department.
THOMAS B. AND PLATT B. WALKER are natives of Ohio. Thomas B. came to
Minneapolis in 1862, and engaged in surveying, railroad engineering
and examining lands. By close application and sound judgment he has
accumulated wealth, from which he dispenses liberally to worthy
enterprises. He has contributed largely to the building of the
athenæum. His wife is a prominent contributor to, and upholder of, the
charitable enterprises of the city.
PLATT B., a younger brother of Thomas, is a fluent speaker, a popular
lecturer and a kind hearted, genial man. He has been till lately
editor and publisher of the _Mississippi Valley Lumberman_, and has
taken an active part in the improvements of the waterways of the
West.
AUSTIN H. YOUNG, a native of Fredonia, New York, born Dec. 8, 1830,
received his education at Waukegan, Illinois; removed to Prescott,
Wisconsin, in 1854; commenced the practice of law in 1862 and served
as state senator in Wisconsin in 1863. He came to Minneapolis in 1866
and practiced law. He was elected judge of the Fourth Judicial
district in 1877.
HENRY G. HICKS was born in Wyoming, New York, in 1838. He learned the
trade of harness maker; was educated at Oberlin, Ohio; served as a
soldier during the war of the Rebellion, and was wounded at the battle
of Missionary Ridge. In 1865 he came to Minneapolis. He was admitted
to the bar in 1875; has served as sheriff, as city justice and as a
representative in the twentieth, twenty-first and twenty-second state
legislatures. He was elected district judge in 1886.
JOHN P. REA was born Oct. 13, 1840, in Chester county, Pennsylvania.
He received a common school education. In 1861 he enlisted in Company
B, Eleventh Ohio Volunteers, and was breveted major for meritorious
services. In 1867 he graduated at Ohio Wesleyan College; studied law
and was admitted to the bar in 1869. In 1875 he removed to
Minneapolis; edited the _Tribune_ one year; continued his law practice
in 1877; was elected probate judge, served four years, and in 1886 was
elected district judge without opposition.
He has been an active Grand Army man, a member of Geo. N. Morgan Post,
and has served as commander of Minnesota state department, also as
senior vice commander-in-chief of the national department. In 1887 he
was elected commander-in-chief of the national department of the Grand
Army. In 1869 he was married to Miss Emma Gould, of Ohio.
JOHN MARTIN was born in Caledonia county, Vermont, in 1820. His
educational advantages were limited to the common schools. He was
raised on a farm, but at eighteen years of age bought his time of his
father for sixty dollars. For twelve years he followed steamboating,
seven on the Connecticut river and five on the Neuce river in North
Carolina. In 1851 he went to California, but returned to Vermont the
following year, and for two years engaged in farming. He came to
Minneapolis in 1854, where he engaged in lumbering and dealing in pine
lands. In the past twelve years he has been interested in railroad
enterprises. He has been vice president of the Minneapolis & St.
Louis, and Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway companies.
Mr. Martin is an enterprising and sagacious business man, and is
highly esteemed for his many excellent qualities. He was married in
Vermont in 1849, to Jane Gilfillan, and has one daughter.
JOHN DUDLEY was born in Penobscot county, Maine, in 1814. He came to
Minneapolis in 1852, where he engaged in business, dealing in logs and
lumber. He built mills in Prescott in 1861. The flour mill at Prescott
has a capacity of one hundred barrels per day, and the saw mill a
capacity of 3,000,000 feet per annum. He recently purchased the saw
mill at Point Douglas built by A. J. Short. This mill has a capacity
of 6,000,000 feet.
[Illustration: ST. ANTHONY FALLS IN 1886.
VIEW OF SUSPENSION BRIDGE ABOVE THE FALLS, AND ST. PAUL, MINNEAPOLIS &
MANITOBA RAILWAY BRIDGE BELOW THE FALLS.]
CHAPTER XX.
RAMSEY COUNTY.
Ramsey county, named in honor of Gov. Ramsey, includes an area of
about four whole towns lying between Anoka county on the north,
Washington on the east and the Mississippi river on the southwest. It
was organized by the first territorial legislature. Its surface is
undulating, and somewhat abruptly hilly along the Mississippi. It is
well watered and drained by the tributaries of the Mississippi, and
has besides many beautiful lakes. Its first officers were: Register of
deeds, David Day; sheriff, P. C. Lull; judge of probate, Henry A.
Lambert; treasurer, James W. Simpson; county attorney, W. D. Phillips;
county surveyor, S. P. Folsom; coroner, J. E. Fullerton; clerk of
court, J. K. Humphrey; auditor, Alexander Buchanan; court
commissioner, Oscar Malmros; district judge, E. C. Palmer; common
pleas judge, W. S. Hall; county commissioners, Ard Godfrey, Louis
Robert; senator, W. H. Forbes; representatives, B. W. Brunson, John L.
Dewey, Henry Jackson, Parsons K. Johnson.
Rev. Lucian Galtier, a Catholic priest who visited the Upper
Mississippi in the spring of 1840, has the honor of naming the then
unpromising city of St. Paul. Others had been on the site before him.
A few families had been banished from the vicinity of Fort Snelling
and had found homes a few miles further down the river. These were not
all reputable people, for amongst them was one Pierre Parrant, who, on
account of the appearance of one of his eyes, which was sightless, was
known as "Pig's Eye." Parrant sold whisky, and was, from all accounts,
an unscrupulous and worthless fellow. As a matter of course, his
establishment being to many the chief attraction of the place, it was
called by his nickname. The Indians would travel hundreds of miles to
_the place where they sell Minne waukan_ (whisky). The location was
near the once well known Fountain Cave. The name of "Pig's Eye" might
have been perpetually fastened upon the young city but for the timely
arrival of Father Galtier, who gave to it the name of St. Paul,
because, as he says in a letter to Bishop Grace, referring to the fact
that the name St. Peter (Mendota) had already been affixed to a place
some miles above, "As the name of St. Paul is generally associated
with that of St. Peter, and the Gentiles being well represented in the
new place in the persons of the Indians, I called it 'St. Paul.'"
It does not appear that Father Galtier was ever a resident of St.
Paul, as he only came at stated times to hold services and administer
the sacraments. The name Pig's Eye was subsequently transferred to a
place several miles below, where it is still retained. The best known
of the first settlers of St. Paul are B. Gervais, Vetal Guerin and
Pierre Bottineau. The two former gave to Father Galtier the ground
necessary for a church site and cemetery. "Accordingly," writes the
good father, "in the month of October logs were prepared and a church
erected so poor that it would well remind one of the stable at
Bethlehem. It was destined, however, to be the nucleus of a great
city. On the first day of November in the same year I blessed the new
_basilica_ and dedicated it to St. Paul, the apostle of nations. I
expressed a wish at the same time that the settlement would be known
by the same name, and my desire was obtained." During the fall of 1841
Father Augustin Ravoux arrived from below and became a resident of
Minnesota and later of St. Paul. In 1841 Rev. B. T. Kavanaugh
established a mission at Red Rock. Henry Jackson came from Galena the
same year, established a trading post and did well. He was afterward a
member of the first territorial legislature and of the first town
council. Jackson street perpetuates his name. Sergt. Mortimer and
Stanislaus Bilanski also came in 1842.
The accessions of 1843 were John R. Irvine. C. C. Blanchard, J. W.
Simpson, A. B. Coy, Wm. Hartshorn, A. L. Larpenteur, Scott Campbell,
Antoine Pepin, Alexander Mege, A. R. McLeod, Alexis Clautier, Joseph
Gobin, David T. Sloan, Joseph Desmarais, Louis Larrivier and Xavier
Delonais. These mostly engaged in trade. Messrs. Irvine, Blanchard,
Hartshorn and Coy, and later, Mege, were associated together. Some of
the last named accessions of 1843 were Canadian French, half-breeds,
or allied by marriage to the Indians. There were other settlers of
whom we can find only casual mention, probably transients or
adventurers.
The prominent accessions of 1844 were Capt. Louis Robert, Charles
Bazille, Wm. Dugas, Francis McCoy and Joseph Hall. Louis Robert was a
trader, Bazille was a carpenter and built this summer for Capt. Robert
the first frame house in St. Paul. This house was built of hewn
lumber, sawed lumber not being obtainable. It was on the lower levee,
and was used as a warehouse but was moved to East Fourth street,
where, as No. 58, it was still standing a few years ago. Dugas was a
millwright and built a saw and grist mill on Phalen's creek (spelled
in an old deed Faylin's creek). The mill was a failure. Dugas was a
man of some prominence and represented the New Canada precinct in the
first territorial legislature.
McCoy and Hall were carpenters. This year the governor of Wisconsin
Territory appointed Henry Jackson a justice of the peace. Jackson,
before his commission arrived, married an eager couple by bond, they
giving bond to reappear when he should receive his commission and be
legally united. Jackson was justice of the peace, postmaster, hotel
keeper, legislator, and clerk of court combined in one.
This fall Father Galtier was transferred to Keokuk and Father A.
Ravoux took charge of the churches at Mendota and St. Paul. Rev. J.
Hurlbut, a Methodist missionary, held the first Protestant service,
using the house of Henry Jackson for that purpose.
The first deed on record bears date of April 23, 1844, and transfers
from Henry Jackson, St. Croix county, Wisconsin Territory, to William
Hartshorn, of St. Louis, Missouri, for a consideration of $1,000, half
of the following tract of land in St. Croix county, Wisconsin
Territory, being the place where the said Jackson now lives, situate
immediately on the Mississippi river and known as the St. Paul
landing, containing three acres, with all buildings and improvements
thereon. The permanent accessions of 1845 were Francis Chenevert,
David Benoit, Leonard H. La Roche, Francis Robert, Augustus and David
B. Freeman, W. G. Carter and Charles Cavileer. La Roche was a
carpenter, but engaged in trade. He bought the land on which the
Merchants Hotel now stands for $165, and the year following built a
cabin of tamarack logs, which was known as the St. Paul House. This
property he sold to S. P. Folsom. La Roche died at Crow Wing in 1859.
W. G. Carter, better known as "Gib" Carter, was a member of the
Stillwater convention in 1848. He died in 1852. Francis Robert was a
younger brother of Louis Robert. He died in 1849, from an injury
received while running the St. Croix rapids in a birch canoe.
Chenevert clerked for Capt. Robert. He was unmarried, and died in
1865. Of Benoit little or nothing is known. The Freeman brothers were
engaged in trade in connection with Hartshorn and Randall. David died
in 1850, and was buried by the Odd Fellows, the first Odd Fellow
funeral in the Territory. Augustus Freeman died in New York. Cavileer
was a saddler, and was connected at first with the Red Rock mission.
He was territorial librarian for awhile, and is now a resident of
Pembina. Miss Matilda Ramsey opened a school (the first in St. Paul)
and taught a short time, when she was married to Alexander Mege, and
the school was abandoned.
Alexander R. McLeod, who came from Selkirk settlement in 1837 with
Pierre Bottineau, erected in 1845 and 1846 a log house between the
Catholic church and Jackson's store. This was the first house built in
St. Paul expressly for a hotel. It was afterward enlarged and called
the Central House, and was kept by Robert Kennedy and others. The
second deed on record bears date of May 1, 1845, and transfers, for a
consideration of $500, from William Douglass to H. H. Sibley, of
Clayton county, Iowa, lands situate on what is known as Faylin's
(Phalen's) creek, and more fully known as Faylin's falls, 100 acres,
where said Douglass now lives. This was a mortgage deed. A subsequent
deed conveys the same premises from Edward Faylin to Wm. Douglass, for
a consideration of $70. In February, 1846, a quitclaim deed conveys
the same tract to Alexander McLeod.
The settlers in 1846 were William H. and William Randall, Jr., father
and son, James McBoal, Thos. S. Odell, John Banfil, Harley D. White,
David Faribault, Louis Denoyer, Jo Monteur, and Charles Roleau.
Randall, Sr., engaged in trade and became immensely rich, but was
wrecked in the financial panic of 1857. He died in 1861. Randall, Jr.,
is best remembered as an artist and caricaturist of no mean ability.
He died in 1851. McBoal was also an artist, the first who pursued
that calling in St. Paul. He was a member of the territorial council
in 1849-50, and was adjutant general of the Territory during Gov.
Ramsey's administration. He died in Mendota in 1862.
Odell had been a soldier, but on being mustered out at Fort Snelling
came to St. Paul. He died in 1879. We have made mention of White in
biographical sketches. Crittenden went to Crow Wing and represented
the Twenty-first district in the first state legislature. Denoyer
married a sister of Louis Robert and in 1850 removed to Belle Plaine.
David Faribault was a son of Jean Baptiste Faribault. He now resides
in Dakota. Banfil removed to Manomin, and represented his district as
senator in the first state legislature.
The writer of these sketches visited St. Paul in 1846, and was
entertained at Jackson's hotel, which he well remembers as a log
building, one story high, with store and post office in the east end,
a dining room in the west end, with small, low sleeping rooms in the
rear. The hotel stood on a romantic elevation, a precipitious bluff,
and commanded a magnificent view of the river and valley. Louis
Robert's tamarack pole store was located east of Jackson's, under the
bluff, and directly on the bank of the river, a good steamboat landing
in front. West of Jackson's was J. W. Simpson's store, and still
further west the store of Faribault & Co., beyond which were two small
dwellings, all these buildings fronting the river. Still further west,
Alexander McLeod was building a handsome hewed log house. On the next
rise of ground stood the Catholic church. On the next plateau the
store of Wm. Hartshorn, and near a small creek the dwelling of John R.
Irvine. There were two residences on a plateau a short distance north
of Jackson's hotel. There were in all five stores, one tavern and a
few dwellings, mostly built of logs. A few United States soldiers and
Indians were lounging about the stores, some drunk, some sober. Such
was St. Paul in 1846. The settlers of 1847 were Jacob W. Bass, Harriet
E. Bishop, Benj. W. Brunson, Dr. J. J. Dewey, G. A. Fonrnier, Simeon
P. Folsom, W. H. Forbes, Aaron Foster, Daniel Hopkins, Parsons K.
Johnson, C. P. V. Lull, and W. C. Renfro. Bass and Johnson had been in
the lumber business at Chippewa Falls. On arriving at St. Paul Mr.
Bass leased a hotel on the corner of Third and Jackson streets, known
as the St. Paul House. He was appointed postmaster in 1849, and in
1852 opened a commission and forwarding warehouse on the levee. Mr.
Brunson was a surveyor, and, assisted by his brother, Ira B., laid off
the town plat of St. Paul, also a plat known as Brunson's addition, in
the fall of 1847. He was a member of the first and second territorial
legislatures, and justice of the peace for several years.
[Illustration]
Miss Bishop was one of the company of teachers sent West by Gov.
Slade. She organized the first permanent day school and the first
Sunday-school in St. Paul. The school house was a cabin on the corner
of Third and St. Peter streets. Miss Bishop, later Mrs. McConkey, was
the author of a valuable book of frontier sketches entitled "Floral
Homes." She died in 1884.
Of Mr. Forbes mention is made in biographical sketches. Aaron Foster
came from Stillwater. He was a carpenter by trade. He married Fanny
Mortimer, daughter of Sergt. Mortimer. He died in 1864. S. P. Folsom
is mentioned in biographical sketches. Dr. Dewey, the first practicing
physician in St. Paul, was a member of the first territorial
legislature, and established the first drug store in Minnesota.
Parsons Johnson, a descendant on his mother's side of Jonathan Carver,
engaged in tailoring, the first of his trade in St. Paul. He was a
member of the first territorial legislature.
Cornelius V. P. Lull was a carpenter. He served as sheriff in 1849,
and still lives in the city. Daniel Hopkins engaged in general
merchandising. He died in 1852. W. O. Renfro, a cousin of Henry
Jackson, had studied medicine, was a young man of ability but addicted
to drinking habits. The winter after his arrival he wandered forth,
suffering from _mania a potu_, and froze to death near the bend in
Phalen's creek.
This year was memorable for the organization of a regular steamboat
line from Galena to Mendota and Fort Snelling. The steamer Argo was
purchased for the trade. M. W. Lodwick was made commander and Russell
Blakely, clerk. The Argo was designed to make weekly trips, but sank
before the close of the season, and the Dr. Franklin was purchased to
take her place the ensuing year. St. Paul had not increased largely in
population this year. One hotel and two dwellings had been built. Some
progress had been made in farming and gardening, and there was much
lively talk on the subject of making claims. The prospective
separation of Minnesota into a territory, and the opening of the
country for settlement gave a new impetus to business. The Wisconsin
convention for the adoption of a state constitution was held Dec. 13,
1847. Its effects, however, were not greatly felt until toward the
middle of the ensuing year.
Among the prominent accessions in 1848 to the population were Henry M.
Rice, Henry C. Rhodes, David Olmsted, W. D. Phillips, E. A. C. Hatch,
Bushrood W. Lott, W. H. Nobles, Nathan Myrick, A. H. Cavender,
Benjamin F. Hoyt, William Freeborn, David Lambert, W. C. Morrison, Lot
Moffett, and W. D. Brown. Of these Rice, Noble, Hoyt and Myrick are
referred to in biographical sketches. Mr. Olmsted was a trader, and in
the summer of the year 1848 established a trading post at Long
Prairie, whither the Winnebagoes had removed. He was a member of the
first and second territorial councils, and the first mayor of St.
Paul, in 1854. He removed to Winona in 1855, and died in 1861. Olmsted
county, Minnesota, is named in his honor. W. D. Phillips, better known
as "Billy" Phillips, was a somewhat eccentric character who passed for
awhile as a lawyer in St. Paul, and in 1856 drifted off into a
clerkship at Washington, since which time nothing has been heard of
him. E. A. C. Hatch was appointed Indian agent to the Blackfeet
Indians by President Pierce in 1856. In 1863 he was commissioned as
major in the volunteer service, and acquitted himself creditably.
While stationed at Pembina, by strategy he captured the insurgent
Indians, Shakopee and Medicine Bottle, who were hanged at Fort
Snelling in 1865. He died in 1881. H. O. Rhodes was engaged in trade
with David Olmsted. He died in California some years ago. A. H.
Cavender was a blacksmith and wagonmaker on Robert street in 1849.
Wm. Freeborn was quite a prominent citizen and member of the town
council. He is better known as one of the founders of Red Wing, to
which place he removed in 1853. He represented his district in the
territorial councils of 1854, 1855, 1856 and 1857. He removed to
California in 1862. Freeborn county is named for him. David Lambert, a
prominent member of the Stillwater convention, was a young man of
promise, but addicted to drink. In 1849, while suffering from a
delirious paroxysm induced by drink, he jumped from the deck of a
steamer and was drowned. W. C. Morrison originally came from New
York, thence to Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Galena, Dubuque, and
other places and lastly to St. Paul, where he is widely and favorably
known as a business man. Lot Moffett will be remembered as the builder
and proprietor of the picturesque heap of rocks known as "Moffett's
Castle," where he kept a temperance hotel for several years. He was a
man of patriarchal appearance, wearing a long, white beard. He was
known as an honest, kind hearted, benevolent man. He died in 1870. W.
B. Brown came from Wisconsin and purchased the corner on which the
Warner block now stands. He died some years ago. To enumerate the
accessions to the population in 1849 would require more space than we
are allowed. The fact that St. Paul was this year designated as the
territorial capital brought in a great number of official personages,
and an army of traders, boarding house keepers, builders and
adventurers. Heretofore Mendota had seemed to be the objective point
of steam navigation. It also aspired to be the capital of the new
territory. Senator Douglas, chairman of the committee on territories,
favored Mendota. Gen. Sibley, the territorial delegate, favored St.
Paul, and earnestly solicited the senator to yield, which, along with
the personal appeals of H. M. Rice, finally secured his acquiescence,
and the bill to form Minnesota Territory, with St. Paul as its
capital, finally passed March 3, 1849. The news, however, did not
reach the capital until April 9th, it having been brought up on the
Dr. Franklin, No. 2, the first boat of the season.
On May 27th the newly appointed governor, Alexander Ramsey, arrived
with his wife, but not being able to obtain accommodations in St. Paul
went for the time to Mendota, where they were entertained by Hon. H.
H. Sibley. Every succeeding boat was crowded with emigrants. A
newspaper was an immediate necessity. The first steps had been taken
the year before by Dr. A. Randall, of Owen's Geological Survey. Dr.
Randall was not immediately able to carry his project into effect, and
not till April 27, 1849, did the promised paper, the _Minnesota
Register_, appear. The first copy had, however, been printed at
Cincinnati two weeks earlier. Of this paper Maj. John P. Owens was
publisher.
The first number of the second paper in the city was issued April
28th. This was the St. Paul _Pioneer_, James M. Goodhue, publisher and
editor. These papers and others established later became faithful
chroniclers of the progress of the city, and invaluable as historical
documents.
The first number of Goodhue's paper, the St. Paul _Pioneer_, bearing
date of April 28, 1849, contains what we may designate as the earliest
news. We cull a few items that maybe of interest to antiquarians:
It announces Congressman Sibley's return from Washington, Rev. E. D.
Neill's removal to St. Paul, and that the latter would preach the
following Sabbath at the school house.
An editorial paragraph calls attention to the fact that the _Pioneer_
is printed in a building situated on Third street near Robert, and
that the building has five hundred apertures through which the
daylight is streaming.
The arrival of steamer Franklin, No. 2, bringing the tidings of the
passage of the bill organizing Minnesota Territory, is announced. The
steamer was greeted by a large crowd of eager and excited citizens,
whose shouts re-echoed amongst the adjacent hills.
Arrival of steamers Cora and Dr. Franklin, No. 1, is announced.
The following advertisements will show who were the most enterprising
of the early settlers:
H. Jackson, postmaster; D. Lambert, real estate dealer; W. H. Nobles,
wagonmaker; J. J. Dewey, M.D.; W. D. Phillips, lawyer; J. Monteur, D.
C. Taylor, blacksmiths; J. R. Irvine, plasterer; B. L. Sellers,
stonemason; Lot Moffett, Anson Northrup, hotel keepers; James Pomeroy,
Francis McCoy, house builders; McBoal & Gilbert, stock dealers; Henry
Jackson, W. H. Forbes, Daniel Hopkins, Freeman, Larpenteur & Co., J.
W. Simpson, Olmsted & Rhodes, Fuller & Brothers, R. P. Russell,
merchants.
A road notice completes the list.
Among the prominent citizens who arrived in 1849, David Day became the
first register of deeds in Ramsey county. He served in the territorial
house in 1852 and 1853, and was speaker during the last session. He
served as postmaster from 1874 to 1887. D. F. Brawley established the
first brickyard in the Territory, and made the brick for the first
brick building north of Prairie du Chien, which was built by Rev. E.
D. Neill. Willoughby & Powers introduced the first stage coaches, and
established the first livery stable. Nathaniel McLean came as a Sioux
Indian Agent and served four years. He died in 1871, aged eighty-four
years. Henry F. Masterman, a prominent lawyer, died in 1883. J. D.
Crittenden, who served in the late war and rose to the position of
colonel. Orlando Simmons, a useful citizen and sound jurist, still
lives in St. Paul. Wm. Hollinshead, a brother-in-law of Edmund and H.
M. Rice, died some time in the '50s. J. W. Bond was the author of the
first history of Minnesota. Chauncey Hobart was chaplain of the first
legislature. John B. Spencer, carpenter and contractor, built the
first breakwater and dock at Duluth.
Thomas Foster became editor of the _Minnesotian_, and subsequently
issued a paper at Duluth. He gave the name of "The Zenith City of the
Unsalted Sea" to Duluth. He was too much of a critic to be popular. He
died near Washington, District of Columbia, in 1884. The first
Masonic, Odd Fellows and Sons of Temperance lodges were organized this
year. The Bank of St. Croix, with headquarters at St. Paul, was
established this year. Its paper was the first issued in the form of
bank notes in the city and Territory. Nevertheless it was a fraud. Its
paper was quoted in New York at one per cent. The proprietors were
Young & Sawyer.
For a few terse comparisons and statistics with regard to the St. Paul
of the past and of the present we are indebted to a writer in the "Soo
Line edition" of the _St. Croix Standard_:
"Twenty-six years ago there were no railroads in St. Paul, now there
are 26 trunk lines entering the city, with over 3,000 miles of track
and more than 20,000 miles of mileage, 90,000 cars in use and 100,000
men employed. Beside this is the river trade, which employs two lines
of boats and affords a very considerable commerce to St. Paul. In the
manufacturing interests St. Paul has shown a great increase, and in
every department of trade manufactories are springing up in all
directions, and the business has already reached the large sum of
$45,000,000, with not less than 1,200 factories and 22,000 men
employed. Forty-six hotels accommodate the traveling public. The fire
department is one of the best in the West, consisting of 8 steam fire
engines, 7 chemical engines, hose carts, 159 men, 78 horses, etc., and
the value of all the property belonging to the fire department is
$316,367. The city is abundantly supplied with good, pure water,
obtained from several lakes. One year ago there were 1,800 miles of
mains and 1,000 new water connections, so it is safe to say that at
present there are 2,000 miles of mains and 1,200 connections. The
receipts of the department for the past year were $2,109,026.09. The
real estate sales in 1887 will reach as high as $32,000,000."
Beyond this year we shall not follow the history of the city, except
so far as a few tables of statistics and the biographies of a few of
its leading citizens may be concerned.
POPULATION OF ST. PAUL.
1849, April 200
1849, June 840
1855 4,716
1857 9,973
1860 10,279
1865 12,976
1870 20,030
1875 33,178
1880 41,498
1886 138,074
SCHOOLS IN 1886.
Number of school houses, 26; valuation, $816,650; number of teachers,
246; number of scholars, 9,600.
STATISTICS OF BUILDINGS COSTING $100,000 AND OVER.
Capitol $300,000
Custom house 500,000
Court house 1,000,000
Hotel Ryan 1,000,000
Merchants Hotel 500,000
Metropolitan Hotel 100,000
Globe building 500,000
Pioneer Press building 650,000
Chamber of Commerce 100,000
High School building 137,000
Hamline University 175,000
Macalester College 100,000
Baptist church 100,000
German Catholic church 100,000
Central Park Methodist Episcopal church 100,000
New York Life Insurance Company building 1,000,000
German Life Insurance Company building 250,000
Northern Pacific office building 250,000
Manitoba office building 200,000
Omaha office building 160,000
Union Depot 150,000
German American Bank 250,000
Germania Bank 200,000
First National Bank 100,000
Watson block 300,000
Hale block 150,000
McMurrin block 150,000
Willius block 150,000
Gilfillan block 125,000
Drake block 100,000
Drake block 100,000
Union block 100,000
Albion block 100,000
Gotzian block 100,000
Wilder block 100,000
Mayhall block 100,000
DeCoster & Clark block 100,000
Sherman block 100,000
Astoria block 100,000
Steele block 100,000
Shuter block 100,000
Dawson block 100,000
J.J. Hill's residence 350,000
Kittson's residence 150,000
Wilder's residence 150,000
Stickney's residence 125,000
Griggs' residence 125,000
Merriam's residence 125,000
Opera House 100,000
United States Army headquarters 100,000
Lindeke Flour mill 100,000
Elevator A 100,000
Elevator B 100,000
Bohn Manufacturing Company 120,000
MAYORS OF ST. PAUL.
1854. David Olmsted.
1855. Alex. Ramsey.
1856. George L. Becker.
1857. J. B. Brisbin.
1858. N. W. Kittson.
1859. D. A. Robertson.
1872. Dr. J. H. Stewart.
1873. Dr. J. H. Stewart.
1874. Dr. J. H. Stewart.
1875. J. T. Maxfield.
1876. J. T. Maxfield.
1877. J. T. Maxfield.
1860. John S. Prince.
1862. John S. Prince.
1863. J. E. Warren.
1864. Dr. J. H. Stewart.
1865. J. S. Prince.
1866. J. S. Prince.
1867. George L. Otis.
1868. Dr. J. H. Stewart.
1869. J. T. Maxfield.
1870. William Lee.
1871. William Lee.
1878. William Dawson.
1879. William Dawson.
1880. William Dawson.
1881. Edmund Rice.
1882. Edmund Rice.
1883. Edmund Rice.
1884. C. D. O'Brien.
1885. Edmund Rice.
1886. Edmund Rice.
1887. Robert A. Smith.
1888. Robert A. Smith.
MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS.
Number of churches 105
Value of school property $1,500,000
Value of stockyards, West St. Paul 1,000,000
Value of products manufactured 40,000,000
Amount of lumber sales 5,318,000
Capital of thirteen banks 8,498,000
Aggregate post office business 4,289,102
Bonded indebtedness 4,168,725
Annual valuation of city property 100,000,000
WEST ST. PAUL.
The flourishing suburb of West St. Paul is rapidly approaching
metropolitan dimensions. The original settlement took place almost
simultaneously with that of St. Paul, but its growth until late years
has not been rapid. It was originally within the limits of Dakota
county, but that portion included in its plat has been annexed to
Ramsey county, and West St. Paul has become a part of St. Paul and has
been placed under the municipal government of that city. The city is
connected with St. Paul by two free bridges for carriages and
pedestrians and by several railroad bridges.
TOWNS OF RAMSEY COUNTY.
After the state organization in 1858, Ramsey county was subdivided
into the following towns: Little Canada, McLean, Mounds View, Reserve,
Rose, St. Paul, and White Bear. From year to year the city of St. Paul
has made encroachments upon the towns adjacent--Little Canada, McLean,
Reserve, and Rose--until they have been in part or wholly absorbed. Of
the remaining towns we shall refer only to White Bear, which, owing
to the beauty of its lake scenery and its attractiveness as a place of
popular resort, deserves special mention.
WHITE BEAR.
White Bear, the northeastern township of Ramsey county, contains
thirty-six sections. Its surface is agreeably diversified with lakes.
About six sections in all are occupied by these lakes, of which there
are several large and beautiful ones, among which may be mentioned
White Bear, Bald Eagle, Pleasant, Lambert's, Vadnais, Birch, Goose,
Otter, etc. The surface is undulating, and in no place actually hilly,
while there is much level and very desirable land. Extensive meadows
border some of the lakes, and are found in most of the intervales
watered by running streams. These produce enormous crops of hay.
Portions of these marshy localities are thickly grown with tamaracks,
which were invaluable to the early settler, furnishing him with a
supply of logs and poles for his improvements. The timber consists
principally of red, white and black oak, sugar maple, tamarack,
poplar, elm, elder, and ash.
The township derives its name from White Bear lake. This lake was so
named, it is asserted, by the Dakota Indians, a tradition existing
amongst them that a grizzly bear once made its appearance on the
island, with which one of their bravest hunters engaged in mortal
conflict, each slaying the other. The Indians called this a grizzly,
polar or white bear, and named an adjacent locality "Mah-to-me-di" or
(M'de), _i. e._, Mahto, gray polar bear, and M'de, lake. It is not
probable, however, that a polar bear ever reached this spot, and a
visit from a grizzly is nearly as improbable. Indian legends are very
frequently made to order by those who succeed them as owners of the
soil.
Not much is known of White Bear prior to 1851. No human habitations,
save those of Indians, were to be seen. There were no roads to this
region, and none nearer than Little Canada. The lake itself seems to
have been little known to white men.
J. Fletcher Williams, in a sketch contributed to the _Pioneer_, and to
which we are indebted for many of our statements, says that Hugh I.
Vance, a typo employed in the _Pioneer_ office at that time, was
probably about the first settler of White Bear; that in the spring of
1851 he wended his way to this region in search of a claim, selected
a piece of land on Bald Eagle lake, erected a cabin, resided here with
his family several years, and was probably the first man to drive a
plowshare in this locality. Mr. Vance joined the Union Army in 1861,
and with his two sons was killed in Missouri the year following. In
the spring of 1851 V. B. Barnum selected a tract on the south shore of
White Bear lake, and hired Geo. O. Nichols to run out the lines. Mr.
Barnum entered one hundred and seventy-five acres. On this land he
built a cabin near the present Leip House, which burned down in 1857.
Jas. B. Clewett, one of the pioneers of St. Paul as early as 1840,
drove his stakes at White Bear in the spring of 1851. He afterward
built a house on the island, where he yet resides, a mile north of the
lake. Soon after Wm. Freeborn and B. F. Hoyt entered a tract of land
in sections 13 and 14. Isaac Banta built a cabin on it, near the point
by the island, resided there three or four years, and moved to Forest
Lake. This land was afterward bought by the Murray family. Thomas
Milner came in about the same time. Daniel Getty came and located on
the east side of the lake at a later day, becoming a resident of the
village proper, of which he is now postmaster, superintendent of the
Sunday-school, elder in the church, school trustee, etc.
Mr. Barnum opened a hotel, which he kept till 1856, and then sold out
to John M. Lamb. In 1855 James F. Murray, his three sons and O. R.
Stratton settled at White Bear. W. W. Webber, John Aubery, Joseph
Freeman, Ross Wilkinson, Frank Perfect, Fred Whittaker, George
Starbuck, Duncan Ross, Charlie A. Morgan, and others came here in
1857. The early settlers were much disturbed by roving bands of
Chippewa and Sioux Indians. White Bear being debatable ground, and
sometimes a battlefield between hostile parties. The Sioux claimed the
right, under the treaty of 1851, to hunt, fish and gather berries and
rice in that region. In the fall of 1855 a party of Sioux from Kaposia
went by the lake on a hunting expedition. Near Oneka lake, a few miles
above, they fell in with some Chippewas, one of whom they killed and
scalped, but had two of their own number mortally wounded. Returning,
they camped on Goose lake, just about where St. John's church was
first built, and had a scalp dance, lasting two days and nights. It
was from time immemorial a grand battle field for them. Hardly a foot
of the soil around the lake but what has been ensanguined with the
blood of the hereditary foes. Many are the tales told of their
encounters. "Spirit Island" seems to have been the hardest fought
spot, and to this day it is honeycombed with the remains of rifle
pits, redoubts and earth works made by the contending parties, while
innumerable bodies of the slain have enriched its soil. It is a
perfect Golgotha--an island cemetery. If but a fraction of these
savage combats and sieges were truly narrated, no romance could equal
it in thrilling interest. These fierce combats continued as late as
1855.
Miss Mary Stiles, daughter of William Stiles, was the first white
child born at White Bear. Miss Mary E. Barnum was married to Richard
McLagan--being the first wedding which occurred at White Bear. 'Squire
Jacob J. Noah, justice of the peace of St. Paul, tied the knot.
The first death was that of Clara Murray, aged four years, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Murray, in July, 1856. J. G. Riheldaffer preached
at the funeral service at Mr. Murray's house the first sermon in the
settlement.
A lay Methodist named Hoffman held services on the Sabbath several
times at Barnum's hotel.
A Baptist clergyman from Diamond Bluff, Wisconsin, named Messer, also
occasionally held services in the early days, at the school house, a
log house built in 1857.
The Episcopal church of St. John in the Wilderness was built in 1861
and consecrated in August of the same year. It was located at the
lower end of the lake, but in 1874 was moved to its present site on
Clarke avenue.
The Presbyterian church was organized May 28, 1864, with eight
members, two of whom were elected ruling elders, James F. Murray and
Daniel Getty. The corner stone of the present church edifice was laid
Nov. 8, 1871, and the foundation laid in the following spring. The
church was completed in 1872.
A Catholic church was built in 1879, on a block between First and
Second streets and Bald Eagle avenue, in which services are held every
two weeks.
The post office of White Bear was established in November, 1859, and
J. C. Murray appointed postmaster.
The township of White Bear was organized May 11, 1858, with the
following officers: Clerk, G. Schnabel; supervisor, J. F. Murray;
assessor, V. B. Barnum; justices of the peace, J. R. Clewett and Alex.
Pepin.
The village is easy of access, and abundantly supplied with railroad
facilities. The St. Paul & Duluth Railroad Company has built a double
track to St. Paul. This company built a road to Stillwater known as
the Stillwater & White Bear railroad. There is in addition to this
road an extension to Minneapolis known as the Minneapolis & White Bear
railroad. The Sault Ste. Marie passes through the north part of the
village.
WHITE BEAR LAKE
Is one of the most famous pleasure resorts in the vicinity of St.
Paul. Its clear waters, gently sloping wooded shores, and the entire
absence of marsh or swamp lands adjoining, render the situation at
once pleasant and salubrious. It has an extreme length of 6-1/2 miles,
and a width of 2-3/4. It has, according to survey meanders, a shore
line of over 20 miles, and its area is 3,940 acres, or 62 square
miles.
Beautiful parks surround the lake. Prominent among these are Wildwood
Park and Mahtomedi, the latter renowned as a camp ground, and later as
the site of a summer school, modeled after that at Chautauqua, and one
of a system of schools of which the Chautauqua school is the principal
and central institution. Spirit island, connected with the mainland by
a bridge, is also a charming resort.
The lake shore is crowded with hotels and cottages for the use of
summer visitors. Among these the Leip House is especially worthy of
mention, the proprietor having beautified the grounds and built around
the hotel a small village of cottages for excursionists. Other houses
are the Ramaley, the Williams, the Chateaugay, the Dellwood, etc.,
with pleasant surroundings. The appearance of this resort during the
summer months is one of great animation. Tourists and summer visitors
crowd the hotel, or gather in groups along the lake shore, while the
lake is dotted with their sailing vessels. A small steamer makes
regular trips to points of interest about the lake.
White Bear Lake village was incorporated by the legislature in 1881,
the following being chosen as the first officers under their charter:
Daniel Getty, chairman of council; James C. Murray, Luke H. Bacon,
Abel E. Leaman, and Fred W. Benson, councilmen; B. E. McGurk,
recorder; H. K. Getty, treasurer; Wm. Clark, village justice; Reuben
Clewett, marshal.
DANIEL GETTY was born in the north of Ireland in 1826. His ancestors
were Scotch-Irish. He came with his parents to Philadelphia in 1832;
was educated in the common schools, and learned the trade of a cabinet
maker. He came to White Bear in 1855, and opened the first store in
the place. He has four sons associated with him in business. He has
done much to promote the prosperity of White Bear, and by enterprise
and close attention to business, both as a merchant and a dealer in
real estate, he has been successful.
SOUTH ST. PAUL
Is located in the northeastern corner of Dakota county, four and a
half miles below St. Paul, the site of the Presbyterian and Methodist
missions of old Kaposia. It is situated on a plateau considerably
above high water mark, in the rear of which the grounds rise gradually
to a rich agricultural plain. It is connected with St. Paul by an
hourly motor line of cars. It has communication with St. Paul by the
Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City railway, and also has communication by
water.
The famous St. Paul Union Stockyards are located here, and occupy two
hundred acres of land. This great enterprise was founded by A. B.
Stickney and Ansel Oppenheim, president of the company. W. M. Littell
is general superintendent; Arnold Kalman, secretary and treasurer. The
stockyards were located here in 1886, and now (1888) possess a capital
of $1,500,000 in grounds and necessary buildings pertaining to such an
enterprise. There are eight miles of railroad track upon the grounds.
The stock is brought from Montana, Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and
Iowa by railroad.
The city was organized in 1887, with the following board of officers;
Joseph H. Lawrence, mayor; George W. Wentworth, Philip Crowley, J. W.
McGrath, and Irwin Marshall, aldermen.
A post office was established in 1888, of which H. M. Littell is
postmaster.
The city embraces South Park, and there are five churches, English and
German Methodist, a Congregational and two Baptist churches.
An electric motor line is being established. The city of South St.
Paul has about 6,000 inhabitants. Its progress is upward.
NORTH ST. PAUL.
This rapidly growing suburb of St. Paul is situated on the shores of
Silver lake, a lovely sheet of water lying six miles northeast of the
court house. The grounds about the lake were converted into farms soon
after the settlement of St. Paul. In 1886 the Wisconsin Central
Railroad Company extended their St. Paul branch through the
neighborhood. Capt. H. A. Castle established suburban residences near
the lake. In March, 1887, the North St. Paul Land Company was formed
for the purpose of encouraging manufactures and furnishing homes and
facilities for business. Their plant was located on the farm of Capt.
Castle. The company consists of H. A. Castle, Lane K. Stone, Frederick
Driscoll, W. S. Morton, and George A. Sexias. The capital stock of the
company was fixed at $1,000,000. Under their enterprising management
twenty miles of street has been graded, a boulevard extended around
the lake, five miles of sidewalk completed and numerous cottages
erected. A railroad depot has been built at a cost of $8,000; two
hotels and fifteen manufacturing establishments have been erected.
There are (in May, 1888) 3,000 inhabitants, with eight church
organizations and six buildings, and a school house, built at a cost
of $11,000. The growth of this village since its commencement in 1887
has been remarkable.
New, populous and important suburbs of St. Paul are Merriam Park, St.
Anthony Park, and St. Paul Park in Washington county.
The following table gives the population of St. Paul from 1838 to May,
1888.
YEAR. POPULATION.
1838 3
1847 50
1849 400
1850 850
1855 4,400
1856 5,630
1857 9,973
1860 10,600
1865 13,100
1870 20,300
1871 24,200
1872 25,500
1873 27,023
1875 33,178
1880 41,498
1881 50,900
1882 75,835
1883 88,378
1884 99,322
1885 111,397
1886 123,395
1887 155,577
1888 (Estimated) 187,759
POST OFFICE.
The following figures will show the amount of business transacted at
the post office, St. Paul, Minnesota, for the year ending Dec. 31,
1887, as compared with the year 1886:
GENERAL BUSINESS.
1886. 1887.
From sale of stamps, envelopes, etc $204,565 90 $274,178 95
From sale of newspapers and periodical stamps 15,912 38 17,697 00
From sale of unpaid letter stamps 1,814 80 2,119 00
From box rent 1,866 50 1,772 25
From sale of waste paper, twine and packing boxes 95 98 176 93
From other offices (deposited) 87,721 65 106,858 42
Sent assistant treasurer United States, New York 177,412 59 268,770 70
Paid route agents, messengers, etc 93,246 16 83,130 49
Paid letter carriers 38,121 19 44,282 11
Paid letter carriers' expenses and horse hire 1,856 01 1,644 89
----------- -----------
Total postal funds $622,612 36 $713,620 74
MONEY ORDER BUSINESS.
No. Amount. No. Amount.
Domestic orders and postal
notes issued 29,420 $257,572 95 35,603 $305,339 94
Fees on same 2,250 62 2,537 94
Foreign orders issued 2,632 37,356 88 2,540 57,582 03
Fees on same 466 90 699 80
Domestic orders and postal notes paid 74,526 670,304 82 84,972 701,667 17
Foreign orders paid 1,250 30,701 91 1,508 36,132 44
Surplus money order funds received
from other offices 1,743,516 42 1,773,455 99
Surplus money order funds remitted
Chicago and New York 1,339,600 00 1,275,800 00
------------ ------------
Total money order funds $4,081,770 50 $4,153,215 11
Total postal funds 622,612 36 713,620 74
------------- ------------
Grand total financial transactions $4,704,382 86 $4,867,845 85
POST OFFICE HISTORY.
The names and date of the commission of the postmasters of St. Paul
are as follows: Henry Jackson, April 7, 1846; Jacob W. Bass, July 5,
1849; Wm. H. Forbes, March 18, 1853; Chas. S. Cave, March 11, 1856;
Wm. M. Corcoran, March 12, 1860; Chas. Nichols, April 2, 1861; Jacob
H. Stewart, March 14, 1865; Jos. A. Wheelock, March 4, 1870; David
Day, July 1, 1875.
Net yearly income, being balance on quarterly returns from its
establishment to the present time:
1846 $3 43
1847 20 33
1848 48 40
1849 369 25
1850 429 07
1851 1,192 72
1852 1,497 73
1853 1,806 04
1854 3,042 89
1855 3,814 07
1856 5,164 67
1857 9,171 87
1858 5,577 05
1859 6,135 66
1860 5,254 47
1861 5,136 71
1862 6,898 99
1863 9,509 53
1864 13,140 08
1865 12,082 32
1866 12,009 03
1867 15,033 19
1868 16,991 76
1869 20,848 03
1870 23,437 66
1871 32,250 61
1872 36,817 17
1873 43,305 05
1874 43,284 36
1875 42,767 82
1876 41,667 92
1877 38,998 42
1878 48,141 04
1879 64,670 59
1880 73,456 87
1881 96,197 77
1882 132,702 66
1883 141,704 78
1884 127,977 99
1885 134,501 13
1886 153,009 08
1887 189,017 20
Gross yearly income of the St. Paul post office from 1875 to 1887:
1875 $58,922 63
1876 57,092 85
1877 53,412 82
1878 63,922 49
1879 81,299 92
1880 102,450 22
1881 128,156 45
1882 173,131 31
1883 190,907 36
1884 186,571 22
1885 200,407 94
1886 226,972 28
1887 272,181 87
[Illustration: BRIG. GEN. HENRY H. SIBLEY.]
CHAPTER XXI.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.--The father of Gen. Sibley, Judge Solomon
Sibley, of Massachusetts, was a well known pioneer of the Northwest.
He settled in Ohio in 1795, but two years later removed to Michigan,
which he represented as delegate to Congress in 1800. In 1799 he
served as member of the first legislature of the Northwest Territory.
He was judge of the supreme court from 1824 to 1836, and died in 1846,
universally lamented. The mother of Gen. Sibley was the daughter of
Col. Ebenezer Sproat, and a granddaughter of Commodore Whipple of the
American Navy. She was a cultured lady, of unusual personal beauty and
of rare accomplishments. She was married to Judge Sibley in 1802, and
died at Detroit Jan. 22, 1851. Henry H. Sibley was born in Detroit,
Michigan, Feb. 20, 1811. He received an academic education, and two
years' tuition in the classics. In 1828 he came to the Sault Ste.
Marie and secured employment as a clerk. In 1829 he entered the
service of the American Fur Company at Mackinaw. In 1834 he came to
the mouth of St. Peter's river, to the post afterward known as
Mendota, as the agent of the American Fur Company. He made the journey
from Prairie du Chien, a distance of nearly three hundred miles, on
horseback. At that time there was but a single civilized habitation on
the way. In 1836 he built a stone house at Mendota, the first in
Minnesota, in which he resided twenty-four years. This house is still
standing. He continued to act as agent for the American Fur Company
until called to act as delegate to Congress for Wisconsin Territory
west of the St. Croix, in 1848. Mr. Sibley, when elected, was a
citizen of Mendota, Clayton county, Iowa, but the question of
citizenship was not raised. He was recognized as the ablest and best
representative that could be chosen for the difficult task of securing
the organization of Minnesota Territory. In this he was successful.
In the fall of 1849 he was re-elected as a delegate from the new
territory he had been instrumental in forming, and served in that
capacity until March 4, 1853, rendering the Territory important
services. In 1855 he was elected a member of the Minnesota territorial
legislature from Dakota county, and in 1857 was a member and president
of the Democratic wing of the constitutional convention. On the
admission of Minnesota as a state he was elected governor, taking his
seat May 24, 1858. His term expired Jan. 1, 1860. Aug. 19, 1862, his
successor, Gov. Ramsey, appointed him commander of the forces sent to
quell the Sioux outbreak. He marched with his command in pursuit of
the Indians, defeating them in several skirmishes and battles,
releasing 250 captives held by them and capturing about 2,000
prisoners, over 400 of whom were tried by court martial and sentenced
to be hanged. Of this number thirty-eight were executed at Mankato,
Dec. 26, 1862, President Lincoln having pardoned the remainder. Col.
Sibley was commissioned brigadier general for his gallant services,
and retained in command of the frontier. In 1863 he led another
expedition into the Indian country, driving the hostiles across the
Missouri river, and returning to Fort Snelling in September. The years
1864 and 1865 were employed in securing the defense of the frontier.
Nov. 29, 1865, Gen. Sibley was commissioned major general for
efficient and meritorious services. He continued in the service until
August, 1866, when he was relieved of his command and detailed as a
member of the commission to negotiate treaties with the hostile Sioux
and other bands on the Upper Missouri river.
In 1871 Gen. Sibley was elected to represent the Fifth ward, St. Paul,
in the legislature. He became a resident of St. Paul in 1862, but, in
company with Louis Robert and A. L. Larpenteur, had entered land for
the town site there as early as 1854.
Gen. Sibley has been for several years president of the Gas Company,
director of the First National Bank, director of the Sioux City
railway, etc. He has at different times filled other responsible
positions; has been park commissioner, president of the Historical
Society, president of the Chamber of Commerce, and was once the
candidate of his party for Congress, but unsuccessful. He has
contributed many valuable papers to the State Historical Society and
has written much on topics relating to the welfare of the State, of
which, with the exception of his personal friend, W. T. Boutwell, he
is now the oldest resident.
[Illustration: Alex. Ramsey]
Gen. Sibley, for his integrity, persistent devotion to the welfare of
the State, for his indomitable persistence in upbuilding its
interests, has won a lasting place in the confidence and respect of
the people. His history is inseparably interwoven with the history of
the State, and he is justly regarded as one of its first and best
citizens. The town and county of Sibley bear his name.
He was married May 2, 1843, to Sarah J., sister of Frank Steele. Mrs.
Sibley died May 21, 1869, much respected for her many virtues and rare
accomplishments.
ALEXANDER RAMSEY, the first territorial governor of Minnesota, was
born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Sept. 8, 1815. His paternal
ancestors were Scotch-Irish. His mother was of German descent. His
parents were Thomas and Elisabeth (Kelker) Ramsey. His father was an
officer in the war of 1812, and died when the son was but ten years
old. Frederic Kelker, an uncle, assisted in the education of the son,
who in turn assisted as salesman in the store of his uncle. At the age
of eighteen he entered Lafayette College; at Easton, Pennsylvania;
attended college but a short time, when he commenced the study of law
with Hon. Hamilton Alricks, of Harrisburg, graduating afterward in the
law school at Carlisle, and commenced the practice of law in 1839. He
commenced his political life in 1840, the year of the Harrison
campaign, and was made secretary of the electoral college. In 1841 he
was appointed clerk of the Pennsylvania house of representatives. He
was in the lower house of Congress from 1843 to 1846, and was
renominated for a third term, but declined. In 1848 he was made
chairman of the Whig state central committee, and the following year
was appointed governor of the newly formed territory of Minnesota by
President Taylor. He entered upon his duties as governor in May, 1849.
The territorial government was organized in June, and the governor
issued his proclamation establishing three judicial districts, and
providing for the election of members of the first legislature. He
served as governor four years. In 1855 he was elected mayor of St.
Paul. In 1857 he was candidate for governor of the State, but was not
elected. He was elected to that office in 1859, and re-elected in
1861. In 1863, before the expiration of his second term, he was
elected to the United States senate, and re-elected in 1869. March 4,
1875, he accepted the position of secretary of war in the cabinet of
President Hayes, and for a time was acting secretary of the navy. In
1883 he was appointed chairman of the Utah commission under the
Edmunds bill.
In the various departments of public service to which he has been
called, Gov. Ramsey has acquitted himself well, displaying rare
qualities of statesmanship. He is remarkable for his caution, which
leads him sometimes almost into conservatism, but results have
generally proved the sagacity of his apparently tardy movements. He is
a master in the exercise of a wise caution in the conduct of public
affairs. He has, in fact, great political sagacity. He has made
several favorable treaties with the Indians, being empowered during
his term as governor to act also as superintendent of Indian affairs.
During his two terms as state governor, he rendered the country great
service by his prompt response to the calls for volunteers and his
decisive and unwavering support of the general government. He also
acted with great promptness and resolution in the suppression of the
Indian outbreak. As a senator he supported all measures for the
prosecution of the war for the preservation of the Union; advocated
the abolition of the franking privilege and assisted in procuring aid
for the building of the Northern Pacific railroad, favoring the
project of three trunk lines between the Mississippi and the Pacific
States and the general plan of aiding these roads by the donation of
alternate sections of public land, and was also active in promoting
the improvement of the Upper Mississippi and navigable tributaries.
In person Gov. Ramsey is a hale, hearty, and well preserved gentleman,
who is passing gracefully into what with many is the season of the
sere and yellow leaf. He is genial and pleasant in his manners, and
would impress the ordinary observer as one whose "lines have fallen in
pleasant places," and who is the happy possessor of a good digestion,
a serene temper and a clear conscience.
On Sept. 10, 1845, he was married to Anna Earl Jenks, daughter of Hon.
Michael H. Jenks, for many years judge of Bucks county, Pennsylvania,
a lady of rare accomplishments, and in every way fitted to shine in
the society into which she was introduced as the wife of a governor,
senator and cabinet officer. In private life she was not less noted
for her kindness of heart, amiability and christian virtues. This
estimable lady died in 1883, leaving a daughter, Marion, the wife of
Charles Elliott Furness, of Philadelphia.
MAJ. WM. H. FORBES was born on Montreal island, Canada, Nov. 3, 1815.
His father was a Scotchman by birth, and was a member of the Hudson
Bay Company as early as 1785. Maj. Forbes was educated at Montreal,
where he also served an apprenticeship at the hardware business, and
afterward became junior partner in the same establishment. At that
time Montreal was the chief depot of supplies for the Indian trade of
the Northwest, and the reports which continually came to him of that
romantic region, together with the sight of the Indians and voyageurs
returning with their furs, so excited his love of adventure that he
resigned his position as partner in the hardware business and accepted
a clerkship with the American Fur Company. John Jacob Astor was then
president. The conditions were that the clerk should speak and write
the French language, which Mr. Forbes could do with facility. Having
engaged as clerk, his outfit was conveyed in bark canoes from
Montreal, in charge of fifty men enlisted for a three years' cruise.
Their route lay by way of the lakes to La Pointe, on Lake Superior,
and up the Brule river, from which the canoes and baggage were carried
across to the waters of the St. Croix, and descended thence to the
Mississippi. From the Sault Ste. Marie to La Pointe they were
transported on one of the company's schooners. They arrived at Mendota
in 1837. Gen. Sibley was then in charge at Mendota. Mr. Forbes clerked
for him ten years, and in 1847 took charge of an establishment
belonging to the company (called the St. Paul Outfit), and became a
resident of St. Paul until his death, twenty-eight years later. Mr.
Forbes was a member from St. Paul of the first territorial council,
and served four terms. In March, 1853, he was appointed postmaster at
St. Paul by President Pierce, and held the office three years. In 1853
he also formed a business partnership with Norman W. Kittson for the
general supplying of the Indian trade. In 1858 Mr. Kittson retired
from the firm, but the business was continued by Maj. Forbes until
1862, when the Indian outbreak put an end to the trade. During the
campaign he served as a member of Gen. Sibley's staff, and acted as
provost marshal at the trial of the three hundred Indians condemned to
death. At the close of this campaign he was commissioned by President
Lincoln commissary of subsistence in the volunteer service with the
rank of captain. He was elected auditor of Ramsey county in 1863, and
served two years, though sometimes absent on military duty. In 1864 he
was ordered to the district of Northern Missouri as chief commissary,
remained two years and was breveted major. In 1871 he was appointed
Indian agent at Devil's Lake reservation, which position he held at
the time of his death, July 20, 1875.
Maj. Forbes was twice married; first in 1846, to Miss Agnes, daughter
of Alexander Faribault, by whom he had one daughter, the wife of Capt.
J. H. Patterson, United States Army; again in 1854, to Miss A. B.
Cory, of Cooperstown, New York, by whom he had four children, three of
whom are living.
HENRY M. RICE.--The family of Mr. Rice came originally from
Hertfordshire, England, to Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1638. Members of
the family figured conspicuously in the struggle for American
independence. His parents were Edmund and Ellen Durkee Rice. His
grandfather Durkee was in the French war of 1755. Mr. Rice was born in
Waitsfield, Vermont, Nov. 29, 1816; attended common school three
months in the year and a private school and academy in Burlington. He
went to Detroit, Michigan Territory, in 1835; was engaged in making
the first survey of the Sault Ste. Marie canal, made by the state of
Michigan in 1837, and went to Fort Snelling in 1839. He was post
sutler in 1840, United States Army, Fort Atkinson, Iowa Territory, and
was connected with the old fur company for several years. He was
elected delegate to Congress in 1853 for Minnesota Territory and
re-elected in 1855. He was elected first United States senator for
Minnesota, in 1857, admitted to his seat May 11, 1858, and served
until March 3, 1863. In 1860 he was a member of the senate special
committee of thirteen on the condition of the country. During his term
in the senate he was a member of the following standing committees:
Indian affairs, post office and post roads, public lands, military,
finance. He was on the last four named committees at the expiration of
the term of March 3, 1863.
[Illustration: Henry M. Rice]
In 1865 he was nominated for governor but was defeated by Gen. W. R.
Marshall. In 1866 he was delegate to the Philadelphia Union
convention. He also served in the following various capacities: United
States commissioner in making several Indian treaties; as a member of
the board of regents of the University of Minnesota; as president of
the Minnesota State Historical Society; as president of the St. Paul
Board of Public Works; and as treasurer of Ramsey county, Minnesota.
He is the author of the law extending the right of pre-emption over
unsurveyed lands in Minnesota. He has obtained land grants for
numerous railroads in Minnesota, and, with the assistance of Senator
Douglas, framed the act authorizing Minnesota to form a state
constitution preparatory to admission, fixing boundary, etc.
As a public man Mr. Rice has pursued a policy at once independent and
outspoken, not hesitating to express his convictions on the great
national questions of the day, and to place himself upon a national
rather than a party platform. During the war he upheld the
administration in a vigorous prosecution of the war, as the speediest
and most honorable means of obtaining peace. His letter to the St.
Paul _Press_ of Nov. 1, 1864, contains sentiments that must commend
themselves to every true lover of his country. We quote a few
extracts:
"I believe Gen. McClellan and Mr. Lincoln both desire peace--both the
restoration of the Union. The one favors the return of the Southern
States with slavery; the other wishes these states to return without
that institution. I believe that the revolted citizens forfeited all
rights they had under the constitution when they turned traitors; that
the Emancipation Proclamation legally and rightfully set every slave
free. I am as much opposed to again legalizing that institution in the
South as I would be to its introduction in the Northern States."
* * * "I am in favor of the return of the Southern States, and think
the day is not far distant when the same flag will float over us all,
and when that happy day shall arrive, I hope that the rights we enjoy
will be freely accorded to them, and no more."
* * * "When the Southern States return I shall be in favor of their
voting population being equally represented with our own, and no
further."
* * * "I think that in the long future, when all other of Mr.
Lincoln's acts shall be forgotten, his Emancipation Proclamation will
adorn history's brightest page. I am opposed to slavery for the reason
that _I am in favor of the largest human liberty_, and I can not
understand why some of our fellow citizens who come here that they
might be free can deny freedom to others."
* * * "I think it illy becomes those who took up arms to defend their
homes, their country, yea, liberty! to make overtures to armed
rebellion. I believe that by a rigorous prosecution of the war peace
will soon come, our liberties will be secured forever, and that
prosperity will follow. Union with slavery will be only a temporary
cheat, and can not last. Dissolution will bring ruin, anarchy and an
endless effusion of blood and money."
He has been a liberal contributor to the various public enterprises of
the city, to churches, public institutions and private parties. He has
built warehouses, business blocks and hotels. The park in front of the
city hall was donated by him. His name is inseparably interwoven with
the history of St. Paul and the State. Rice county bears his name. He
was married to Matilda Whitall, of Richmond, Virginia, in 1849.
EDMUND RICE, brother of Hon. Henry M. Rice, was born in Waitsfield,
Vermont, Feb. 14, 1819. His father died in 1829. He received a
somewhat limited common school education and spent most of his early
life clerking. In 1838 he came to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he read
law with Stuart & Miller, and was admitted to the bar in 1842, making
commendable progress in his profession. While a resident of Michigan
he was master in chancery, register of court of chancery and clerk of
the supreme court. In 1847 he enlisted in Company A, First Michigan
Volunteers, of which company he was made first lieutenant, and served
through the Mexican War until its close.
In July, 1849, he came to Minnesota Territory, locating in St. Paul,
where he became one of the firm of Rice, Hollinshead & Becker until
1855, when he embarked in railroad enterprises. In 1857 he was elected
president of the Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company, and afterward
of its successors, the St. Paul & Pacific and the St. Paul & Chicago
Railroad companies. He has been long regarded as one of the most
energetic and competent railroad men in the State. Mr. Rice has
figured largely in the politics of the State, having served several
terms in the territorial and state legislatures. He was a
representative in the territorial legislature of 1851, a senator in
the state legislatures of 1864, 1865, 1873, 1874, and a representative
in the sessions of 1872, 1877 and 1878.
[Illustration: Edmund Rice]
In 1885 he was elected mayor of St. Paul, and in 1886 was chosen
representative in Congress. Mr. Rice is an uncompromising Democrat in
his politics, and is so recognized by his party, which he served as
chairman of the state central committee in the presidential campaign
of 1872, and elector at large in the campaign of 1876. He was married
in November, 1848, to Anna M. Acker, daughter of Hon. Henry Acker, of
Kalamazoo, Michigan. Of eleven children, the fruit of this union, all
are living but the second daughter, Jessie, who married Frank H.
Clark, of Philadelphia, in 1870, and died in October, 1874. The eldest
daughter, Ellen, is the wife of Henry A. Boardman, of St. Paul.
LOUIS ROBERT.--Capt. Louis Robert was a descendant of the French
settlers who occupied Kaskaskia and St. Louis when they were in the
territory of Louisiana, then a French province. He was born at
Carondelet, Missouri, Jan. 21, 1811, and his early life was spent in
that region and on the Upper Missouri river. In 1838 he went to
Prairie du Chien, and in the fall of 1843 visited St. Paul and removed
thither the ensuing year, identifying himself with the interests of
that growing young city.
To say the least, he was a remarkable character. He possessed all the
politeness and suavity of his nationality, was impulsive, warm
hearted, generous and yet, as a business man, far-seeing and
loquacious. His broken English added a peculiar charm and quaintness
to his conversation, and he will be long remembered for his odd
expressions and his keen but homely wit. He was generous in aiding any
worthy object, and, as a devoted Catholic, gave liberally to the
support of his church. He donated valuable property to church building
and gave the bells to the French Catholic church and the cathedral in
St. Paul. His private charities were also liberal.
In 1847 Capt. Robert was one of the original proprietors of St. Paul.
He took a prominent part in the Stillwater convention of 1848. In 1849
he was appointed commissioner on territorial buildings. In 1853 he
engaged in steamboating, and at different times owned as many as five
steamers. He was also largely engaged in the Indian trade until the
massacre of 1862. He died, after a painful illness, May 10, 1874,
leaving an estate valued at $400,000. He was married in 1839, at
Prairie du Chien, to Mary Turpin, who, with two daughters, survives
him.
AUGUSTE LOUIS LARPENTEUR, the son of Louis Auguste, and Malinda
(Simmons) Larpenteur, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, May 16, 1823.
His grandfather, Louis Benoist Larpenteur, left France about the time
of the banishment of Napoleon Bonaparte to St. Helena, determined not
to live under the rule of the Bourbons. Auguste L., the grandson, was
reared in the family of his grandfather, his mother having died while
he was an infant. At the age of eighteen years, with his uncle, Eugene
N. Larpenteur, he came to St. Louis. Two years later he came to St.
Paul as clerk for Wm. Hartshorn and Henry Jackson, Indian traders. The
firm of Hartshorn & Jackson gave place to Freeman, Larpenteur & Co.
Mr. Larpenteur has been continuously engaged in commercial pursuits
since his arrival in St. Paul in 1843. He has seen the city grow from
a hamlet of five cabins to its present metropolitan dimensions, and
has been from the first one of its most enterprising and reliable
citizens. He was married Dec. 7, 1845, to Mary Josephine Presley. They
have five sons and five daughters.
WILLIAM H. NOBLES.--William H., son of Rev. Lemuel Nobles, was born in
the state of New York in 1816. In his early life he learned the trade
of a machinist and became a skilled artisan. In 1841 he came to Marine
Mills, but soon removed to St. Croix Falls and assisted in putting up
the first mill there.
He lived successively at Osceola, at the mouth of Willow river, and at
Stillwater. He was part owner of the Osceola mills in 1846, and it is
claimed that he built the first frame house in Hudson. In 1848 he
removed from Stillwater to St. Paul, and opened the first
blacksmithing and wagon shop in that city. He made the first wagon in
the Territory. He was a member of the house, fifth territorial
legislature, in 1855, from Ramsey county. In 1853 he made an overland
trip to California, and discovered one of the best passes in the
mountains. 1857 he returned and surveyed a government wagon road
through that pass. As a recognition of his services the pass received
the name of "Noble's Pass," and a county in Minnesota was also named
after him. In 1857 he laid out a government road from St. Paul to the
Missouri river. In 1862 he entered the army and was appointed
lieutenant colonel of the Seventy-ninth New York Volunteers, better
known as the "Highlanders." While on duty in South Carolina, a
personal collision with another officer led to his resignation. He was
afterward cotton collector for the government, United States revenue
officer, and master of transportation at Mobile. His health failing
during his arduous service, he returned to St. Paul, and died at St.
Luke's Hospital, on Eighth street, aged sixty years.
Col. Nobles was a man of immense vitality and energy, with a strong
inventive genius, by which he himself failed to profit; restless, fond
of travel, a little hasty and irritable, but possessing many admirable
traits. Mr. Noble was married in Illinois, prior to his location in
Minnesota, to Miss Parker, who survives him. Mrs. Nobles resides with
her family in California.
SIMEON P. FOLSOM, a younger brother of the author of this book, was
born in Lower Canada, near Quebec, Dec. 27, 1819. His father was a
native of New Hampshire, and while he was yet young returned to that
state, removing subsequently to Maine. Mr. Folsom came West in 1839,
settled in Prairie du Chien, and not long after engaged as clerk to
Henry M. Rice at Fort Atkinson. In 1841 he returned to Prairie du
Chien and for two years acted as deputy sheriff, one year as surveyor
of public lands, and two years as surveyor of county lands. In 1846 he
volunteered as a soldier in the Mexican War, but the company was sent
instead to garrison Fort Crawford, where he remained one year. On July
25, 1847, he landed in St. Paul, and has been engaged most of the time
since in the surveying and real estate business. He was city surveyor
of St. Paul in 1854, member of the school board in 1858-59 and 60, and
served three years as a soldier in the Seventh Minnesota during the
Civil War. He has one son, Simeon Pearl, Jr., and one daughter, wife
of J. B. Pugsley.
JACOB W. BASS was born in Vermont in 1815; came West in 1840 and made
his home at Prairie du Chien, where he kept a hotel and ferry and
engaged in general business. While a resident of Prairie du Chien he
was married to Martha D., daughter of Rev. Alfred Brunson. In 1844 he
purchased an interest in the Chippewa Falls mills, but in 1847 sold
out, and removed to St. Paul, where he engaged in hotel keeping in a
building made of tamarack poles, on the site of the present Merchants
Hotel, and known as the St. Paul House. In July, 1849, he was
commissioned postmaster, as the successor of Henry Jackson, the first
postmaster in St. Paul. He held the office four years. He left the
hotel in 1852. He has since resided in St. Paul, where he has been
engaged at different times in the real estate and commission business
and at farming. He has two sons. The oldest, a graduate of West Point,
holds a commission in the United States Army; the youngest is in
business at St. Paul.
BENJAMIN W. BRUNSON, son of Rev. Alfred Brunson, of Prairie du Chien,
was born in Detroit, Michigan, May 6, 1823. He came with his parents
to Prairie du Chien in 1835. He purchased an interest in the Chippewa
Falls mills in 1844, and in 1847 came to St. Paul and assisted in
surveying the first town plat. He laid out what was known as
"Brunson's addition." He was a representative in the first and second
territorial legislatures. He served three years during the Civil War
as a member of Company K, Eighth Minnesota Infantry, first as a
private, then as an orderly sergeant, and later as second lieutenant.
He has followed surveying many years, and has held several responsible
positions. He was married at St. Paul and has two sons and one
daughter.
CHARLES D. AND ABRAM S. ELFELT.--The parents of the Elfelt brothers
came from San Domingo to the United States in 1801, on the
establishment of a negro republic on that island, and settled in
Pennsylvania, where Abram S. was born in 1827 and Charles D. in 1828.
In 1849 the brothers removed to St. Paul and established the first
exclusively dry goods store in Minnesota, their building standing near
the upper levee at the foot of Eagle street. They also built the hall
in which the first theatrical performances in St. Paul were held. This
was the building now standing on Third and Exchange streets, which was
erected in 1851. At that time it was the largest building in the city,
and many of the old residents remember the ceremonies attendant upon
the raising of the frame. The dramatic hall was in one of the upper
stories, being known as Mazourka Hall. The materials used in its
construction were brought from long distances, coming up the river by
boat, and the laborers employed on the building were paid five dollars
a day for their services. Into this building the Elfelt brothers
transferred their store, stocking it at first with both dry goods and
groceries, but afterward limiting their trade to dry goods
exclusively.
Mr. Abram Elfelt originated the first Board of Trade, in 1864, and
when that body was merged into the Chamber of Commerce became one of
its directors. The brothers were public spirited and enterprising, and
always took a great interest in the welfare of the city. Abram S.
Elfelt died in St. Paul in February, 1888.
D. A. J. BAKER was born in Farmington, Maine, in 1825; attended school
at New Hampton, New Hampshire; studied law and was admitted to the bar
in Kennebec county, Maine, in 1847; came to St. Paul in 1848, and in
1851 made his home in the locality now known as Merriam Park. It is on
record that Judge Baker taught one of the first public schools in the
territory of Minnesota. He, with others, pre-empted the land and
located what is now Superior City, Wisconsin, but sold his interests
in that city. He was appointed to a judgeship in Douglas county,
Wisconsin, in 1854, and served three years; was county superintendent
of schools in Ramsey county for twelve years, and was a member of the
Democratic wing of the constitutional convention in 1857. He has been
a dealer in real estate. He was married to Miss Cornelia C. Kneeland,
a sister of Mrs. Dr. T. T. Mann, and late widow of James M. Goodhue,
in 1853. Mrs. Baker died in 1875. Maj. Newson, in his "Pen Portraits,"
says of her: "She was an affectionate wife and a devoted mother, and
amid all the trials and vicissitudes incident to the ups and downs of
an old settler's career, she never murmured, never complained, never
fretted, never chided; always cheerful, always hopeful, casting
sunshine into the home and weaving about all those she loved golden
chains of unbroken affection."
B. F. HOYT.--Rev. B. F. Hoyt, a local minister of the Methodist
church, and a prominent pioneer of 1848, was born at Norwalk,
Connecticut, Jan. 8, 1800. He removed to New York State, and later to
Ohio, where he married and resided until 1834, when he removed to
Illinois, and in 1848 to St. Paul. He purchased the property bounded
now by Jackson, Broadway, Eighth and the bluff for three hundred
dollars. The following spring he laid it out as "Hoyt's addition." He
dealt largely in real estate and at various times held property, now
worth millions. He was instrumental in the erection of the Jackson
Street Methodist church, and aided in, the endowment of Hamline
University. He died Sept. 3, 1875.
JOHN FLETCHER WILLIAMS, secretary of the Minnesota State Historical
Society, is of Welsh descent, John Williams, a paternal ancestor of
the seventh remove, having come to this country from Glamorganshire,
Wales. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sept. 25, 1834. He was
educated at Woodward College and Ohio Wesleyan University, graduating
from the latter institution in 1852. He came to St. Paul in 1855 and
engaged in journalism and reporting for about twelve years, during
which time he acquired a thorough knowledge of city and state affairs
and an acquaintance with the pioneers of the State, which knowledge he
utilized in writing biographical and historical, sketches, his
principal work in this line being the "History of St. Paul," published
in 1876.
In 1867 he was elected secretary of the State Historical Society. Upon
him devolved the duty of arranging its volumes and collections and
editing its publications. Most of the memoirs, and historical sketches
are from his pen. He has gathered manuscripts and material for a
history of the State which will ultimately be of great value. He is
the honorary corresponding secretary of the Old Settlers Association,
not being eligible to active membership in that body, which requires a
residence dating back to 1850. Various diplomas have been conferred
upon him by the historical societies of other cities and states.
In 1871 he was appointed by President Grant a member of the United
States Centennial commission from Minnesota, and served as such to the
close of the International Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in
1876.
JOHN HENRY MURPHY was the first medical practitioner in St. Anthony
Falls, he having made that city his home in 1849. Mr. Murphy was born
Jan. 22, 1826, at New Brunswick, New Jersey. His father, James Murphy,
a shipbuilder, was a native of Ireland; his mother, Sarah (Allen),
belonged to an old New Jersey family. His parents removed to Quincy,
Illinois, in 1834, where John Henry obtained a good high school
education. He studied medicine and graduated from the Rush Medical
College in Chicago in 1850, and returned to St. Anthony Falls, which
he had made his home the year before. In this place he lived and
practiced his profession till near the close of the war, when he
removed to St. Paul.
In the summer of 1861, when Dr. Stewart, surgeon of the First
Minnesota Infantry, was captured at Bull Run, Dr. Murphy took his
place and served for six months, and afterward as surgeon of the
Fourth and Eighth Minnesota Infantry. Dr. Murphy was a representative
in the territorial legislature of 1852, and a member of the
constitutional convention, Republican wing, in 1857. As a man and a
physician Dr. Murphy has an enviable reputation. He was married to
Mary A. Hoyt, of Fulton county, Illinois, June 28, 1848. They have
five children.
W. H. TINKER was born at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1813; was married
to Elisabeth Barnum, at Rockford, Illinois, in 1840; came to Prairie
du Chien in 1843, and to St. Paul in 1849. He engaged for awhile in
tailoring, then in selling groceries, then clerked for S. P. Folsom &
Co., and also in the recorder's and marshal's offices. At one time he
owned eight acres in the heart of St. Paul, for which he paid two
hundred and eighty-four dollars, which is now worth a quarter of a
million.
GEORGE P. JACOBS was born in Virginia in 1832; was educated at the
Virginia Military Institute; came to Pierce county, Wisconsin, and
engaged in lumbering, afterward in farming and lumbering. He has
resided in St. Paul since 1870.
LYMAN DAYTON was born Aug. 25, 1809, in Southington, Connecticut, and
was early thrown upon his own resources. He commenced as a clerk in a
store in Providence, Rhode Island, and by faithfulness and industry
became in time a wholesale dry goods merchant. His health failing, he
sought the West in 1849, and selected for his home a high bluff, to
which his name has been affixed, near the city of St. Paul. He
purchased over 5,000 acres of land in the vicinity. The bluff is now
covered with palatial residences, business, church and school
buildings.
Mr. Dayton lived much of his time at a village founded by himself at
the junction of Crow river with the Mississippi. The village bears his
name. He was one of the proprietors and first president of the Lake
Superior & Mississippi Railway Company, and gave much of his time and
means to promote its interests. He died in 1865, leaving a widow
(formerly Miss Maria Bates) and one son, Lyman C., a heavy dealer in
real estate.
HENRY L. MOSS.--Mr. Moss is of English descent. His ancestors came
over prior to the Revolution, in which later members of the family
took a prominent part in behalf of the colonies. He was born in
Augusta, New York, and graduated at Hamilton College, New York, in
1840; studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1842 at Sandusky,
Ohio, where he practiced until 1845, when he removed to Platteville,
Wisconsin, where he became an associate with Benj. C. Eastman until
1848, when he removed to Stillwater. He was the second lawyer in this
place. In 1850 he moved to St. Paul. He served as the first United
States district attorney for Minnesota Territory, holding the office
from 1849 until 1853. He was reappointed to this office under the
state government in 1862, and served four years. Mr. Moss is a worthy
member of the Presbyterian church. His moral character and natural
abilities have commended him for the positions he has so
satisfactorily filled. Mr. Moss was married to Amanda Hosford, Sept.
20, 1849.
WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL is of Scotch-Irish descent, and of good
fighting stock, both his grandfathers participating in the
Revolutionary struggle. His father, Joseph Marshall, was a native of
Bourbon county, Kentucky, and his mother, Abigail (Shaw) Marshall, was
born in Pennsylvania. William R. was born in Boone county, Missouri,
Oct. 17, 1825. He was educated in the schools of Quincy, Illinois, and
spent some of his early years mining and surveying amidst the lead
regions of Wisconsin. In September, 1847, he came to St. Croix Falls,
and made a land and timber claim near the Falls on the Wisconsin side
(now included in the Phillip Jewell farm). While at St. Croix Falls he
sold goods; dealt in lumber, was deputy receiver of the United States
land office, and took an active part in the boundary meetings. He was
elected representative in the Wisconsin assembly for the St. Croix
valley in 1848, but his seat was successfully contested by Joseph
Bowron on the ground of non-residence, he residing west of the line
marking the western limit of the new state of Wisconsin. During the
latter part of the year 1847 he had made a visit to St. Anthony Falls
and staked out a claim and cut logs for a cabin, but partially
abandoning the claim, he returned to St. Croix Falls. In 1849 he
returned to St. Anthony Falls and perfected his claim. In the same
year he was elected representative to the First Minnesota territorial
legislature. In 1851 he removed to St. Paul and engaged in mercantile
pursuits, becoming the pioneer iron merchant in that place. During
this year he was also engaged in surveying public lands. In 1855, with
other parties, he established a banking house, which did well till
overwhelmed by the financial tornado of 1857. He then engaged in dairy
farming and stock raising. In 1861 he purchased the St. Paul _Daily
Times_ and the _Minnesotian_ and merged them in the _Daily Press_. In
1862 he enlisted in the Seventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and was
made lieutenant colonel of the regiment. On the promotion of Col.
Stephen Miller in 1863, he succeeded to the command of the regiment,
and remained connected with it to the close of the war, participating
in the battles of Tupelo and Nashville, and in the siege of Spanish
Fort. Gen. Marshall won for himself an enviable record as a soldier,
and was breveted brigadier general for meritorious services. In 1865
he was elected governor of Minnesota, and re-elected in 1867. On
vacating the gubernatorial chair he resumed banking, and was made vice
president of the Marine National Bank, and president of the Minnesota
Savings Bank.
[Illustration: Wm. R. Marshall]
In 1874 he was appointed a member of the board of railway
commissioners. In November, 1875, he was elected state railroad
commissioner, and re-elected in 1877. In politics he is Republican, in
his religious views he is a Swedenborgian, being one of the founders
of that society in St. Paul. He is a liberal supporter of religious
and benevolent enterprises, and a man universally esteemed for
sterling qualities of mind and heart. He was married to Miss Abbey
Langford, of Utica, New York, March 22, 1854. They have one son,
George Langford.
DAVID COOPER was born in Brooks Reserve, Frederic county, Maryland,
July 2, 1821. He enjoyed good educational advantages, first in the
common schools and later had as a tutor Rev. Brooks, a Methodist
clergyman, an accomplished gentleman and scholar, who gave him
thorough instruction in the sciences and classics. In 1839 he entered
Penn College, where he became a ready writer and pleasant speaker.
After leaving college he studied law with his brother, Senator Cooper,
and in 1845 was admitted to practice. He practiced in several
counties, showed rare ability, espoused with enthusiasm the politics
of the Whig party, and on the accession of Gen. Taylor to the
presidency, in 1849, was appointed by him first assistant judge of the
supreme court for the territory of Minnesota. He arrived in Minnesota
in June, 1849, and located in Stillwater; was assigned by Gov. Ramsey
to the Second Judicial district, and held his first court at Mendota.
He changed his residence to St. Paul in 1853, and, leaving the bench,
devoted himself to law practice in St. Paul. He was a Republican
candidate for Congress in 1858, at the first session of the state
legislature.
He left Minnesota for Nevada in 1864, then went to Salt Lake City,
where he died in a hospital in 1875. He was twice married but left no
children.
BUSHROD W. LOTT was born in Pemberton, New Jersey, in 1826. He was
educated at the St. Louis University, and studied law in Quincy,
Illinois, being admitted to practice in 1847. A year later he
accompanied Gen. Samuel Leech to St. Croix Falls, and was clerk during
the first land sales in that region, while Gen. Leech was receiver.
The same year he came to St. Paul, settling down to the legal
profession. He was a Democrat in politics, and held the office of
chief clerk of the house in the legislature of 1851, being elected in
1853 and re-elected in 1856 as a representative. In 1853 he was beaten
for the speakership by Dr. David Day, after balloting for twenty-two
days. About ten years after this he became president of the town
council for two years, and was city clerk for a year and a half.
President Lincoln appointed him consul to Tehuantepec, Mexico, in
1862, where he served until 1865. Mr. Lott was a charter member of the
St. Paul Lodge, I. O. O. F. He died of apoplexy in 1886.
W. F. DAVIDSON, better known as "Commodore" Davidson, was born in
Lawrence county, Ohio, Feb. 14, 1825. He was early associated with his
father in canal boating and river life and acquired a strong
predilection for the pursuit in which he afterward became
distinguished. His father was a Baptist preacher, and the influence of
his teachings was apparent in many acts of the son's later life. His
advantages for education were limited, as his chief training was on
board the boats on which he was employed. In 1854 he came to St. Paul.
Before coming West he was interested in boating on the Ohio river, and
was the owner of several steamers. His first work in Minnesota was on
the Minnesota river, but soon afterward he became president of a
company known as the La Crosse & Minnesota Packet Company. His
experience and superior ability placed him at the head of river
navigation, and for many years he had scarce a rival, earning by this
supremacy the familiar cognomen of "Commodore," first applied to him,
we believe, by John Fletcher Williams.
During ten years of his river life he resided in St. Louis. With the
increase of railroads and the brisk competition of later days, he
gradually withdrew from the river trade and interested himself in real
estate in St. Paul, buying largely and building many fine blocks.
Though never an aspirant for office, Commodore Davidson was public
spirited and interested greatly in public enterprises involving the
prosperity of St. Paul. He was married in Ohio in 1856, to a daughter
of Judge Benjamin Johnson. He died in St. Paul, May 26, 1887, leaving
a widow, one son and one daughter. Capt. Thomas L. Davidson is a
brother, and Jerry and Robert R. are half brothers. Col. J. Ham
Davidson, a cousin and a man of considerable oratorical ability, was
associated with him in business.
[Illustration: WM. H. FISHER.]
WILLIAM H. FISHER was born in New Jersey in 1844. He entered the
railway service of the Dubuque & Sioux City railroad as check clerk at
Dubuque, Iowa, in 1864, serving as such and in other positions of
responsibility until 1873, when he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota,
entering the service of the St. Paul & Pacific railroad as
superintendent. He built the Breckenridge extension in 1877, and was
influential in relieving the St. Paul & Pacific railroad and branches
from financial embarrassment, which resulted in the organization of
the present St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba system. In June, 1884, he
was elected general superintendent, and in June, 1885, president and
general superintendent, of the St. Paul & Duluth Railroad Company,
which position he at present worthily fills.
CHARLES H. OAKES, the son of a Vermont merchant and manufacturer,
David Oakes, at one time sheriff of Windham county, and judge of St.
Clair county, Michigan, was born in the town of Rockingham, Windham
county, July 17, 1803. He received a common school education, and at
twelve years of age went into a store and clerked until eighteen, when
he came to Chicago as clerk for an army sutler. In 1824 he commenced
trading with the Indians on the south shore of Lake Superior. In 1827
he entered the service of the American Fur Company, in whose employ he
remained until 1850, his headquarters being most of the time at La
Pointe. In 1850 he located in St. Paul. In 1853 he entered the banking
firm of Borup & Oakes, the first banking firm in St. Paul, since which
time he has lived a quiet and retired life, that contrasts strongly
with the strange and adventurous life he led as an Indian trader. Mr.
Oakes' only public life was during the Indian outbreak, when he
accepted a position as colonel on the staff of Gen. Sibley. He was a
member of the Protestant Episcopal church. By his first wife Mr. Oakes
had four children, two of them daughters, now living. Sophia is the
widow of the late Jeremiah Russell, and Eliza is the wife of Col.
George W. Sweet, of Minneapolis. A son, Lieut. David Oakes, was in the
Civil War, and was killed in battle. The other child died in infancy.
Mr. Oakes was married to his second wife, Julia Beaulieu, of Sault
Ste. Marie, July 29, 1831. She has had five children, but one of them
now living, Julia Jane, widow of the late Gen. Isaac Van Etten. One of
her sons, George Henry, was in the Civil War, and died two years after
of disease contracted in the service.
CHARLES WILLIAM WULFF BORUP was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec. 20,
1806. He received a thorough classical and medical education. In 1828
he emigrated to America, and, having abandoned his original intention
of becoming a physician, entered into business, at first in the employ
of John Jacob Astor. He became chief agent of the fur company on Lake
Superior, with residence at La Pointe. In 1848 he removed to St. Paul
and entered into a partnership with Pierre Chouteau. In 1854 the
banking house of Borup & Oakes, of which he was senior partner, was
established. Dr. Borup died of heart disease, July 6, 1859, but the
banking business was continued under the firm name many years later.
He was married July 17, 1832, to Elizabeth Beaulieu, a daughter of
Basil Beaulieu, a French trader of Mackinaw. His widow died in St.
Paul several years ago. Of a family of eleven children, nine survive.
CAPT. RUSSELL BLAKELEY, one of the best known of the early steamboat
men, was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, April 19, 1815. He spent
a part of his early life in Genesee county, New York, where he
received a common school education; emigrated to Peoria, Illinois, in
1836, where he engaged in the real estate business; in 1839 he removed
to Galena, where he engaged in mining and smelting; in 1844 to
Southwest Virginia, returning to Galena in 1847, where he became one
of a steamboat transportation company. He was clerk upon the first
boat on the line, the Argo. This boat sank and he was transferred to
the Dr. Franklin, of which he became captain. He was captain of the
Nominee in 1853, and of the Galena in 1854. This last named boat was
burned at Red Wing, July 1, 1858. In 1855 he was appointed agent at
Dunleith of the Packet Company, and soon afterward bought a leading
interest in the Northwestern Express Company. The next year he removed
to St. Paul. In 1867 he retired from the company. Of late years he has
interested himself in railroad enterprises, and has contributed
greatly to the prosperity of the city and State.
RENSSELAER R. NELSON, United States district judge since Minnesota
became a state, was born in Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, May
12, 1826. His paternal great-grandfather came from Ireland in 1764.
His grandfather was born in Ireland, but came to this country in his
childhood. His father, Samuel Nelson, was associate justice of the
United States supreme court. His father served as a soldier in the war
of 1812, and the son located the land warrant given for his services
in Minnesota. The mother of Rensselaer was Catharine Ann (Russell), a
descendant of Rev. John Russell, of Hadley, Massachusetts, in whose
house the regicides Goffe and Whalley were concealed for years, and
where they finally died.
Rensselaer R. Nelson graduated at Yale in 1846. In 1849 he was
admitted to practice law. He came to St. Paul in 1850. In 1857
President Buchanan appointed him territorial judge, and in 1858,
United States district judge, which office he still holds. He was
married to Mrs. Emma F. Wright, a daughter of Washington Beebe, of New
York State, Nov. 3, 1858.
GEORGE LOOMIS BECKER was born Feb. 14, 1829, in Locke, Cayuga county,
New York. His father, Hiram Becker, was a descendant of the early
Dutch settlers of the Mohawk valley. In 1841 his father removed to Ann
Arbor, Michigan, where the son entered the State University as a
freshman, and graduated in 1846. He studied law with George Sedgewick
until 1849, when he emigrated to St. Paul, arriving late in October.
Here he commenced the practice of law, being associated with Edmund
Rice and E. J. Whitall. Subsequently, on the withdrawal of Mr.
Whitall, Wm. Hollinshead became a member of the firm. The partnership
continued until 1856, when Mr. Becker withdrew to engage in other
pursuits, since which time he has been engaged in forwarding the
railroad interests of the State and serving in various positions of
honor and trust. He served as a member of the constitutional
convention in 1857. In 1862 he was chosen land commissioner of the St.
Paul & Pacific railroad, and in 1864 was elected president of that
corporation. In 1872 he was the unsuccessful candidate of his party
for Congress.
He is a member of the Old Settlers Association, of which he was
president in 1873, and of the Minnesota Historical Society, over which
he presided as president in 1874. He was one of the original members
of the Presbyterian church in St. Paul in 1850. He has served in the
council of St. Paul, and as mayor. He has figured most creditably in
the business, political, social and religious life of his adopted
city, and is an admirable type of a public spirited citizen. Since
1885 he has served as railroad commissioner. In 1885, at Keesville,
New York, he was married to Susannah M. Ismon, an estimable lady, who
has made his home attractive. Their family consists of four sons.
AARON GOODRICH.--Hon. Aaron Goodrich, first chief justice of the
supreme court of Minnesota Territory, was born in Sempronius, Cayuga
county, New York, July 6, 1807. His parents were Levi H. and Eunice
(Spinner) Goodrich. He traces his ancestry back through the
Connecticut branch of the Goodrich family to a period in English
history prior to the advent of William the Conqueror. His mother was a
sister of Dr. John Skinner, who married a daughter of Roger Sherman.
In 1815 his father removed to Western New York, where the son was
raised on a farm and educated chiefly by his father, who was a fine
scholar and teacher. He then studied law and commenced practice in
Stewart county, Tennessee. In 1847 to 1848 he was a member of the
Tennessee legislature.
In 1849 he was appointed to the supreme bench of Minnesota Territory.
He filled the position for three years. In 1858, at the state
organization, he was appointed a member of a commission to revise the
laws and prepare a system of pleading for state courts. In 1860 he was
made chairman of a similar commission. In March, 1861, President
Lincoln appointed him secretary of the legation at Brussels, where he
served eight years. While abroad, by his habits of study and
opportunities for research, he laid the foundation of his critical and
somewhat sensational work, "A History of the Character and
Achievements of the So-called Christopher Columbus."
In politics Judge Goodrich was originally a Whig, and was a
presidential elector in 1848. He was next a Republican, and served as
delegate to the convention of 1860. In 1872 he was a delegate to the
Liberal Republican convention which nominated Horace Greeley for
president. In later years he voted with the Democratic party.
Mr. Goodrich was Deputy Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of
Freemasons in the State, was one of the corporate members of the State
Historical Society and of the Old Settlers Association, of which he
was for many years the secretary. In 1870 he was married to Miss Alice
Paris, of Bogota, New Grenada, a descendant of the old Castilian
family de Paris, an accomplished lady, who, with a daughter, survives
him. Judge Goodrich died in St. Paul in 1886.
NATHAN MYRICK was born in Westford, Essex county, New York, July 7,
1822. He came to La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1840. The writer first met
him at Prairie du Chien in 1841. He was one of the principal founders
of the city of La Crosse, managing a trading house in company with
Scoots Miller. He also engaged in lumbering on Black river. He came to
St. Paul in 1848, and has since made that city his home. He has been
an enterprising and successful trader with the Indians, principally
with the Sioux. Much of his trading stock was destroyed by the Sioux
Indians in the insurrection of 1862, but he has been recompensed in
part by the government. In 1843 he was married to Rebecca Ismon. They
have three children.
JOHN MELVIN GILMAN, son of John and Ruth (Curtis) Gilman, was born in
Calais, Vermont, Sept. 7, 1824. His father died in 1825. The son
received a good common school and academic education, graduating from
the Montpelier Academy in 1843. He read law with Heaton & Reed, of
Montpelier, and was admitted to the bar in 1844. During the same year
he removed to New Lisbon, Ohio, where he practiced law eleven years
and served one term (1849-50) in the state legislature.
In 1857 Mr. Gilman came to St. Paul, and formed a partnership with
Hon. James Smith, Jr., and later became one of the firm of Gilman,
Clough & Lane. Mr. Gilman served four terms as a representative in the
state legislature. His affiliations have been with the Democratic
party, for which he has been twice a candidate for Congress and
chairman of the state central committee. He was married to Miss Anna
Cornwall, of New Lisbon, Ohio, June 25, 1857.
CHARLES EUGENE FLANDRAU, son of Thomas Hunt and Elisabeth (Macomb)
Flandrau, was born July 15, 1828, in New York City. On his father's
side he is descended from Huguenots driven into exile by the
revocation of the edict of Nantes; on his mother's side from the
Macombs of Ireland. One of his uncles was Gen. Alexander Macomb,
commander-in-chief of the United States Army immediately preceding
Gen. Winfield Scott. He was educated until thirteen years of age in
the private schools at Georgetown and Washington, after which he spent
about three years before the mast; was at New York City about three
years, when he went to Whitesboro, Oneida county, New York, where he
read law and afterward entered into partnership with his father, being
admitted to practice in 1851. In 1853 he came to St. Paul with Horace
R. Bigelow and commenced practice in the firm of Bigelow & Flandrau.
In 1854 he removed to St. Peter and practiced law for several years.
This year (1854) he was appointed a notary public by Gen. Gorman.
[Illustration: Truly yours, John B. Sanborn.]
In 1855 he was elected a member of the territorial council, and in
1856 was appointed by President Pierce United States agent for the
Sioux Indians. In 1857 he served as a member of the Democratic wing of
the constitutional convention, and in July of the same year was
appointed by President Buchanan associate justice of the supreme court
of Minnesota Territory. He was elected to the same office, on the
admission of Minnesota as a state, for a term of seven years. During
Gov. Sibley's administration, he acted as judge advocate general of
the State.
Judge Flandrau took an active part in suppressing the Sioux outbreak,
serving as captain, and later as a colonel, of volunteers. In 1864
Judge Flandrau resigned his place on the supreme bench and went to
Nevada Territory for a year; spent some time in Kentucky and St.
Louis, Missouri, and returned to Minnesota in 1867, locating at
Minneapolis, where he opened a law office with Judge Isaac Atwater. He
was elected city attorney and was president of the first Board of
Trade.
In 1870 he removed to St. Paul and engaged in law practice with
Bigelow & Clark.
In 1867 Judge Flandrau was the Democratic nominee for governor of the
State, and in 1869 for the position of chief justice. In 1868 he was
chairman of the state central committee, and a member of the national
convention that nominated Horatio Seymour for the presidency of the
United States.
Judge Flandrau was married Aug. 14, 1859, to Isabella Dinsmore, of
Kentucky, deceased in 1866. His second wife was Mrs. Rebecca B.
Riddle, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Feb. 28, 1871. His family
consists of two daughters by his first wife and two sons by his
second.
GEN. JOHN B. SANBORN was born Dec. 5, 1826, in Merrimac county, New
Hampshire, on the farm which had been in the possession of his
ancestors for four generations. After a common school education he
entered the law office of Judge Fowler, of Concord, New Hampshire,
where he remained for three years, when he was admitted to practice by
the superior court of New Hampshire, in 1854. In the following
December he came to Minnesota, where he has remained, a citizen of St.
Paul, and in the practice of his profession, except what time he has
been absent in the public service.
His public career began in 1859-60, in the house of representatives.
The following year he was sent to the senate, and that had adjourned
but a little over a month when he was appointed adjutant general and
acting quartermaster general of the State, and entered upon the
arduous duties of organizing the first regiment of volunteers in the
State for the war of the Rebellion.
In the following December he was commissioned colonel of the Fourth
Minnesota, and, with headquarters at Fort Snelling, garrisoned all the
posts and commanded all the troops along the Minnesota frontier during
the winter. Early in the spring of 1862 he left with his entire
command for Pittsburgh Landing, and was assigned to the command of a
demi-brigade, which he commanded till the evacuation of those works,
and was thereupon assigned to the command of the First Brigade,
Seventh Division, Army of the Mississippi, afterward the Seventeenth
Army Corps.
On the nineteenth of September following, with this brigade he fought
the battle of Iuka and won the victory for which he was promoted by
the president to brigadier general of Volunteers.
He participated in the battles of Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson,
Champion Hills, and the assault on Vicksburg--a portion of which time
he was in command of a division. After the surrender of Vicksburg he
was assigned to the command of the Southwest District of Missouri,
where, after the campaign against Price, he was promoted to brevet
major general.
After the close of the war, by a few months' campaign on the Upper
Arkansas and along the Smoky Hill river, he opened to travel the long
lines across the plains to Colorado and New Mexico, which had been
closed for nearly two years, and restored peace to that frontier. Upon
a mission to the Indian Territory, to establish the relations which
should exist between the slaves of the Indians and their former
masters, he solved the questions and determined the relations, and
established them upon a firm foundation in the short space of ninety
days.
In 1866 he was appointed, with Gens. Sherman, Harney, Terry, and
Senator Henderson, a special peace commissioner to the Indians, and
for eighteen months served upon that board. This commission visited
and made treaties with the Camanche, Cheyenne, Arrapahoe, Apache,
Navajo, Shoshone, Northern Cheyenne, Northern Arrapahoe, and Crow
tribes; and with the Ogalalla, Brule, Minneconjon, Sausauche, Black
Feet, Umkapapa, Santee, and Yankton bands of the Sioux nation. They
settled upon and recommended to Congress a fixed policy to be pursued
toward the Indians, which, while followed, resulted in comparative
safety to the frontier, and greater economy in the service. Since
these services the general has devoted himself entirely to his
profession, and with more than ordinary success.
JOHN R. IRVINE was born in Dansville, Livingston county, New York,
Nov. 3, 1812, and was brought up there till seventeen years of age.
His education when a boy was obtained at the common schools, and was
quite limited. From seventeen to twenty years of age he lived in
Carlisle and other places in Pennsylvania, during which he learned the
trade of plastering, and was married in Carlisle in 1831, to Miss
Nancy Galbreath. Soon after his marriage he returned to Dansville. The
following spring he went to Buffalo, New York; in the spring of 1837
emigrated to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and in the spring of 1840 removed
to Prairie du Chien.
While in Prairie du Chien Mr. Irvine kept a grocery. During that time
he made two trips to St. Paul--the last one with a team loaded with
provisions, on the ice the most of the way--and on the third of
August, 1843, arrived in St. Paul with his family. On his arrival he
bought of Joseph Rondeau a claim of 240 acres of land, afterward
converted into Rice & Irvine's addition, Irvine's enlargement and
Irvine's addition to the city of St. Paul, including most of the
present city from St. Peter street to Leech's addition, for about
$300. Mr. Irvine entered it in 1848. The east 80 acres of a quarter
included in this claim Mr. Irvine sold to Henry M. Rice in 1848, and
in the winter they laid off Rice & Irvine's addition, and commenced
selling lots and making improvements on the property.
Since living in St. Paul Mr. Irvine has been engaged in farming,
milling, storekeeping, working at his trade, and managing his estate.
He was one of the earliest settlers of St. Paul, whose life amidst its
many changes has been contemporaneous with its history from the very
beginning. Mr. Irvine has had eight children, seven of whom, namely,
six daughters and one son, are living. Mr. Irvine died in 1878.
HORACE RANSOM BIGELOW was born in Watervliet, New York, March 13,
1820. His father, Otis Bigelow, was a Revolutionary patriot and
soldier. He received a good education at the schools of Sangerfield
and the gymnasium at Utica. He spent part of his early life in farming
and teaching. Later he studied law and was admitted to practice in
1847, in Utica, where he entered into partnership with E. S. Brayton
until 1853, when he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, in company with
Charles E. Flandrau. He has since devoted himself almost exclusively
to his law practice, which includes almost every branch except
criminal law. In June, 1862, he was married to Cornelia Sherrill, of
Hartford, New York. They have four children.
CUSHMAN K. DAVIS.--In the quaint little Quaker village of Henderson,
New York, in a small house built partly of logs, and mossy and
venerable with age, on June 16, 1838, Cushman Kellogg Davis, late
governor and present senator from Minnesota, was born. His father,
Horatio N. Davis, removed to Wisconsin in August or September of the
same year, and settled on the present site of Waukesha. His father was
quite prominent; had served during the Civil War, and retired from the
service with the brevet rank of major; had held various municipal
offices, and had been a member of the Wisconsin senate. Cushman, his
oldest son, received as good an education as the times afforded, at
the common schools, at Carroll College, a Waukesha institution, and at
Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he graduated in 1857. He read law with Gov.
Randall, was admitted to the bar in 1859, and practiced at Waukesha
until 1862, when he enlisted in the Twenty-eighth Wisconsin Infantry,
going in as first lieutenant of Company B, but was adjutant general
under Gen. Gorman most of the time. At the end of two years, with
broken health, he resigned his commission and settled in St. Paul in
partnership with Gen. Gorman. In 1867 he was elected a representative
in the state legislature, and served one term. He was United States
district attorney from 1868 until 1873, when he was elected governor.
He served two years, and was the youngest man who has been elected to
that office. After leaving the governor's chair he resumed his law
practice until the senatorial election of 1887, when he was chosen to
succeed Senator McMillan in the United States Senate.
Senator Davis has devoted some time to general literature. His lecture
on "Feudalism" was delivered in 1870, and this lecture probably
secured him the nomination for governor in 1873. He has also lectured
on "Hamlet" and "Madam Roland," and in 1884 delivered a lecture before
the Army of the Tennessee and in 1886 a lecture to the graduating
class at Michigan University. He also published a book entitled "The
Law in Shakespeare," which attracted considerable attention. He was
married to Miss Anna M. Agnew, of St. Paul, in 1880.
S. J. R. MCMILLAN was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1826.
He spent part of his early days in Pittsburgh; received a collegiate
education; studied law; was admitted to practice in 1849, and came to
Stillwater in 1852, where he established a law office. In 1858 he was
elected judge of the First district and served until 1864, when he was
appointed to the supreme bench. He was elected to the position in the
fall of the same year and served until 1875, when he was elected to
the United States senate. He was re-elected in 1881, and was succeeded
in 1887 by Cushman K. Davis. He removed to St. Paul in 1865.
Senator McMillan has had an honorable career and is greatly respected
as an upright, conscientious, active and thoroughly practical man. He
was married at Pittsburgh in 1852, to Harriet E. Butler. They have
three sons and three daughters.
WILLIS ARNOLD GORMAN, second territorial governor of Minnesota, was
born in Fleming county, Kentucky, Jan. 12, 1816. He received a good
literary education, and his parents having moved to Bloomington,
Indiana, he graduated at the law school connected with the State
University at that place. He commenced practice at Bloomington and was
quite popular as a lawyer, but even more so as a party leader, and was
elected to the legislature six times in succession. At the breaking
out of the Mexican War, in 1846, he enlisted as a private in the Third
Indiana Volunteers, but was appointed major. He won the reputation of
a gallant, dashing officer, and was promoted to be colonel of the
Fourth Indiana, which he helped recruit. He served till the close of
the war. On his return to Indiana, in 1848, he was elected to
Congress, and re-elected in 1850. In May, 1853, he was appointed by
President Pierce governor of Minnesota Territory. In 1857, at the
close of his term of office as governor, he was elected a member of
the constitutional convention, and was also an unsuccessful candidate
for the United States senatorship. In the spring of 1861, at the
breaking out of the Civil War, he was appointed colonel of the First
Minnesota Infantry. For bravery at the first battle of Bull Run he was
commissioned brigadier general. He was mustered out in 1864. Returning
to Minnesota he formed a law partnership with Cushman K. Davis. In
1869 he was elected city attorney and held that office till his death,
which occurred at St. Paul, May 20, 1876. He was twice married, first
to Miss Martha Stone, of Bloomington, Indiana, in 1836. She died in
March, 1864, leaving five children. In April, 1865, he was married to
Miss Emily Newington, of St. Paul.
JOHN D. LUDDEN was born in Massachusetts, April 5, 1819; was educated
at Williston Seminary, and came West to the lead mines of Wisconsin in
1842. In 1845 he came to St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, remained at this
point and at Taylor's Falls until 1849, when he made his residence at
Marine Mills, Minnesota. In 1857 he changed his residence to
Stillwater, and in 1861 became a citizen of St. Paul, where he still
resides. He was a member of the second, third and fourth territorial
legislatures. From 1854 to the present time he has been engaged
chiefly in lumbering. He is a man of pleasing address, of good
business talent and thoroughly reliable.
ELIAS F. DRAKE is a native of Ohio, in which state he lived until
1861, when he came to St. Paul. His boyhood days were spent on a farm;
later he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and still later studied law
under the instruction of Justice Swayne of the United States supreme
court, and was admitted to practice in all the courts of Ohio and in
the United States court. After a short and successful term of
practice, he became cashier of the State Bank of Ohio, and in that
capacity spent ten years of his life. During that time he served three
terms in the legislature, being speaker one session, during which the
late Gov. Swift was clerk of the house.
In politics Mr. Drake was a Whig, and afterward a Republican. During
his residence in Ohio he was active in promoting the improvements of
the country, successfully building several leading turnpike roads and
a few railroads.
In 1861 he came to Minnesota, and, put in operation the first
railroad in the State, a road between St. Paul and St. Anthony Falls.
In 1863 he was president of the Winona & St. Peter railroad during the
construction of the first ten miles. Soon after, he, with some
associates, took hold of the Minnesota Valley railroad, and completed
it to Sioux City, Iowa, in 1872. He is president and land commissioner
of this company. Mr. Drake represented Ramsey county in the state
senate in 1874-75.
NORMAN W. KITTSON was born at Sorel, Lower Canada, March 5, 1814. In
May, 1830, he engaged as an employe of the American Fur Company, and
in that capacity came to the Northwest. From the summer of 1830 to
that of 1832 he occupied the trading post between the Fox river and
the Wisconsin. The following year he operated on the headwaters of the
Minnesota, after which he spent a year on Red Cedar river, in Iowa. In
1834 he came to Fort Snelling, where he was sutler's clerk till 1838.
The winter of 1838-39 he spent with his friends in Canada. On his
return in the spring he began business on his own account in the fur
trade, at Cold Springs in the vicinity of Fort Snelling, which he
continued till 1843, when he entered the American Fur Company as
special partner, having charge of all the business on the headwaters
of the Minnesota, and along the line of the British possessions, and
operating in that field till 1854. During that summer he entered into
partnership with Maj. Wm. H. Forbes, in the general Indian trade, at
St. Paul, and went there to reside in the fall of that year. The
partnership continued till 1858, and Mr. Kittson continued his
northern business till 1860, when he closed out. In 1863 he accepted
the position of agent for the Hudson Bay Company at St. Paul, and went
into the steamboat and transportation business on the Red River of the
North. From 1851 to 1855 Mr. Kittson was a member of the territorial
council, and was mayor of the city of St. Paul in 1858. He was the
oldest of the pioneers of Minnesota, except Joseph Dajenais, a French
Canadian, now residing at Faribault. Mr. Kittson died July 10, 1888,
on a railroad train near Chicago. His body was brought to St. Paul for
burial.
HASCAL RUSSELL BRILL was born in the county of Mississquoi, Canada,
Aug. 10, 1846. He was educated partly at Hamline University, then
located at Red Wing, and finished at Ann Arbor, Michigan. He studied
law and was admitted to practice at St. Paul in December, 1869, and
formed a partnership with Stanford Newel. Three years later he was
elected probate judge and served two years. In 1875 he was appointed
by Gov. Davis to fill the vacancy in the court of common pleas caused
by the death of Judge W. S. Hall, and a few months later was elected
by the people to fill the same position. In politics Judge Brill is
Republican. He was married Aug. 11, 1873, to Cora A. Gray, of
Suspension Bridge, Niagara county, New York.
WARD W. FOLSOM, brother of Simeon P. and W. H. C. Folsom, was born in
Tamworth, New Hampshire, Oct. 13, 1824, but in early life removed with
his parents to Skowhegan, Maine, and in 1846 came to Arcola,
Minnesota. In 1848 he removed to St. Croix Falls and in 1851 to
Taylor's Falls, where he kept the Chisago House and engaged in
lumbering until 1857, when he removed to St. Paul, which city has
since been his home. He was employed for three years during the Civil
War in the quartermaster's department at St. Louis, Missouri. In 1865,
with health greatly shattered, he returned to St. Paul. He was married
to Sydney Puget, of St. Louis, in 1852. They have two adopted sons.
GORDON E. COLE was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, June 18,
1833; received his education at Sheffield Academy, Massachusetts, and
at the Dane law school of Harvard University, from which school he
graduated in 1854. He practiced law two years in his native town, came
to Minnesota, and located in Faribault in 1847. In 1859 he was elected
attorney general and served three consecutive terms. He served one
year as state senator, and a year in compiling state statutes. He has
been a railroad attorney and has filled many honorable positions. He
was married in August, 1855, to Stella C. Whipple, of Shaftsbury,
Vermont, who died in June, 1872, leaving three children. Feb. 14,
1874, he was married to Kate D. Turner, of Cleveland, Ohio.
JAMES SMITH, JR., was born in Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio, Oct.
29, 1815. He obtained a good practical, common school education, and
was besides largely self taught. He read law three years in Lancaster,
Ohio, was admitted to the bar in 1839, and practiced law in his native
town for seventeen years. In 1856 he came to St. Paul, where he has
been associated in practice with Judge Lafayette Emmett, John M.
Gilman and J. J. Egan. Since the building of the St. Paul & Duluth
railroad he has been its attorney, general manager and president.
Mr. Smith was in the state senate in 1861-62-63 and 67, and proved a
careful and able legislator. As a lawyer he stands deservedly high. He
was married to Elisabeth Martin, Jan. 18, 1848. They have four
children.
WILLIAM PITT MURRAY is of Irish descent. He was born in Hamilton,
Butler county, Ohio, in 1827; came to Centreville, Indiana, in 1844;
attended school there, graduated at the State Law School at
Bloomington in 1849, and the same year came to St. Paul, where he has
practiced law ever since. He has also taken an active part in the
politics of the city and State. He has probably assisted in the
passage of more laws than any other man in the State. He was a member
of the territorial house of representatives in 1852-53 and 57, and of
the territorial council of 1854-55, acting as president in the latter
year. He was a member of the Democratic wing of the constitutional
convention in 1857; was a representative in the state legislatures of
1863 and 1868, and a state senator in 1866-67, 1875-76, and has
besides served sixteen years in the city council of St. Paul. He has
been county and city attorney since 1876. He has been honored beyond
most public servants and has a county named after him. He was married
to Carolina S. Conwell, of Laurel, Indiana, April 7, 1853. They have
three children living.
HENRY HALE.--Judge Hale was born in Vermont in 1816; studied law and
was admitted to practice in his native state. He came to St. Paul in
1856 and opened a law office on Bridge Square. He took an active part
in the politics of the State and vehemently opposed the $5,000,000
loan bill. He has since retired from law practice, and is now a
successful dealer in real estate.
JAMES GILFILLAN, son of James and Janet (Gilmor) Gilfillan, was born
in Bannockburn, Scotland, March 9, 1829. His parents came to America
in 1830 and located at New Hartford, New York. He was educated in the
common schools, read law and was admitted to practice in 1850. He
removed to Buffalo, New York, where he practiced law until 1857, when
he removed to St. Paul and opened a law office. In 1862 he enlisted in
Company H, Seventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, became its captain
and before the close of the war was commissioned colonel of the
Eleventh Minnesota Infantry. In 1869 he was appointed to a vacancy on
the supreme bench of the State and again in 1875. The same year he
was elected to the office for seven years, at the end of which time he
was re-elected. He was married June 4, 1867, to Miss Martha McMasters,
of St. Paul. They have six children.
CHARLES DUNCAN GILFILLAN, a younger brother of James, was born in New
Hartford, New York, July 4, 1831. He was educated in the common
schools, Homer Academy and Hamilton College. After leaving college, in
1850, he located in Missouri, and a year later came to Stillwater,
Minnesota, where he read law with Michael E. Ames, was admitted to the
bar in 1853 and removed to St. Paul in 1854, where he engaged for
about twelve years in the practice of his profession. Since that
period he has been engaged in furthering various public enterprises,
among them the St. Paul Water Works, of which he was the founder and
for many years manager. He has occupied various public positions,
always with credit to himself. He was the first recorder of
Stillwater; was a member of the state legislatures of 1864-65, and
1876, and a member of the senate from 1878 to 1881, inclusive. At the
session of 1878 he was chairman of the railroad committee and the
committees on judiciary and education. In politics he is a Republican.
Mr. Gilfillan was married to Emma C. Waage, of Montgomery county, New
York, who died in 1863, leaving no issue. In 1865 he married Fanny S.
Waage, sister of his first wife. They have four children.
ALEXANDER WILKIN was born in Orange county, New York, in December,
1820. He studied law with his father, Judge Samuel J. Wilkin, and
practiced awhile at Goshen. In 1847 he enlisted in the Tenth New York
Regulars for service in the Mexican War, and was commissioned captain.
In the spring of 1849 he came to St. Paul; practiced law; was
appointed United States marshal in 1851, and served until 1853. He
visited Europe during the Crimean War, and studied the art of war
before Sebastopol. At the breaking out of the Rebellion, he raised the
first company for the first regiment, acted with conspicuous bravery
at the battle of Bull Run, and was commissioned major of the Second
Minnesota, lieutenant colonel in the same regiment, and colonel of the
Ninth Minnesota, all in the same year, 1862. He took part in the
Indian campaign, but at its close returned South, his regiment being
attached to the Sixteenth Army Corps, under Gen. A. J. Smith. He was
advanced to the position of brigade commander, and was killed at the
battle of Tupelo, Mississippi, July 14, 1864. Wilkin county,
Minnesota, bears his name.
WESCOTT WILKEN, a brother of Alexander, was born at Goshen, New York,
in 1827, received a good education, graduating at Princeton College in
1843, and studied law at New Haven Law School in 1846. He practiced
law in Sullivan county, New York, and was county judge four years. In
1856 he came to St. Paul and formed a partnership with I. V. D. Heard;
was elected judge of the district court in 1864, and re-elected every
succeeding term, without opposition.
S. C. WHITCHER was born in Genesee county, New York, in 1821. He came
to Amador, Chisago county, Minnesota, in 1853, and to St. Paul in
1858. He was married to Helen M. Olds, in New York, in 1840. Their two
sons are Charles and Edward.
MAJ. THOMAS MCLEAN NEWSON was born in New York City, Feb. 22, 1827, of
Scotch-Irish parentage. His paternal grandfather was paymaster in the
army during the war of 1812. His father, Capt. George Newson,
commanded a military company in New York City for seventeen years.
Three uncles were in the war of 1812. His father removed to New Haven,
Connecticut, in 1832, and both parents died there in 1834. The son,
after his parents' death, was placed in a boarding school. When he
left the school he learned the printer's trade, and on arriving at his
majority entered into partnership with John B. Hotchkiss in the
publication of the _Derby Journal_, in Birmingham, Connecticut. During
this period he wrote poetry, delivered lectures, and took an active
part in political affairs. He was secretary of the first editorial
association in Connecticut, and started and conducted for a year the
first daily penny paper in the State. He was one of the originators of
the reform school and an efficient promoter of its interests.
He came to St. Paul in 1853, where he was first associated with Joseph
R. Brown in the editorial department of the _Pioneer_, but the
following spring, in company with others, started the _Daily Times_,
which he edited until 1860, when he leased the material to W. R.
Marshall. The _Press_ was the outgrowth of this movement. He was one
of the founders of the Republican party in the State and was sole
delegate of his party in Minnesota to the Pittsburgh national
convention.
At the outbreak of the Rebellion he entered the service of his
country, was commissioned commissary of subsistence and subsequently
appointed acting assistant quartermaster, with the rank of captain. At
one time he was chief commissary at St. Cloud. He left the army with a
splendid record for honesty and capacity, with the brevet rank of
major, conferred for meritorious service, and the offer of a position
in the regular army, which he declined. In 1866 he was commander and
president of a company which explored the Vermillion Lake region
prospecting for precious metals. He was the first to assay the iron
ores, now so famous, in that region. In later years we find him
prospecting amongst the Black Hills, enjoying the wild life of the
frontier and devoting some attention to literature. While there he
wrote a drama of "Life in the Hills" and delivered lectures at various
times and places, achieving in this line an enviable success. Since
this period he has written and published an interesting work, entitled
"Thrilling Scenes Among the Indians," drawn from his own observation
and experience; also "Pen Pictures and Biographical Sketches of Old
Settlers of St. Paul, from 1838 to 1857," a rich and racy book of
seven hundred and thirty-two pages, in which the driest biographical
details are enlivened with amusing anecdotes and witty comments, in
which naught is set down in malice, but every line glows with the
genial spirit of the author. He has in contemplation another volume on
the same subject. He has also published "Heleopa," "Indian Legends"
and "Recollections of Eminent Men." Maj. Newson is a man of varied and
miscellaneous gifts. He is a ready writer, a fluent and eloquent
speaker, a journalist, a historian and the oldest editor in Minnesota.
He is corresponding secretary of the National Editorial Association,
and the first and only honorary member of the State Fire Association;
he is a geologist, mineralogist and assayer, a member of the G. A. R.,
of the Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges, and of the Junior Pioneers. He
is broad-gauged and popular in his views and positive in the
expression of his opinions. He was married to Miss Harriet D. Brower,
in Albany, New York, in 1857, and has a family of five girls and one
boy, May, Hattie, Nellie, Jessie, Grace, and T. M. Newson, Jr.
[Illustration: MAJ. T. M. NEWSON, THE OLDEST EDITOR IN THE STATE.]
[Illustration: CAPT. HENRY A. CASTLE, ONE OF MINNESOTA'S PIONEER
EDITORS.]
COL. ALVAREN ALLEN was born in New York in 1822; came to Wisconsin in
1837, and to St. Anthony Falls in 1857, where he engaged in the
livery, staging and express business. In 1859 he followed railroading;
in 1873 he bought Col. Shaw's interest in the Merchants Hotel of St.
Paul, for $40,000, and Col. Potter's interest for $275,000, property
now held at $500,000. In 1887 he rented the property to Mr. Welz. Col.
Allen is a genial man, and has friends all over the continent. He was
the second mayor of St. Anthony Falls, and has held various public
positions in St. Paul.
[Illustration: H. P. HALL.]
HARLAN P. HALL.--The writer has been unable to obtain any sketch of
the history of Mr. Hall. We have to say that he has been an
enterprising journalist in St. Paul. He was the founder of the _Daily_
and _Weekly_ St. Paul _Dispatch_; also of the St. Paul _Daily_ and
_Weekly Globe_. He is a fluent, versatile writer, and a genial
associate.
STEPHEN MILLER, a native of Perry county, Pennsylvania, was born Jan.
7, 1816. Being in straitened circumstances he early commenced a life
of toil, supported himself and to a great extent educated himself. In
1858 he removed to St. Cloud, Minnesota, and engaged in mercantile
pursuits. In 1860 he served as delegate to the Republican convention
at Chicago that nominated Lincoln for the presidency. In 1861 he
enlisted as a private soldier, but rose rapidly from the ranks, being
commissioned as a lieutenant colonel of the First Minnesota Infantry,
then as colonel of the Seventh Minnesota Infantry. He was in command
of this regiment at the execution of the thirty-eight condemned Indian
murderers at Mankato. In 1863 he was commissioned as brigadier general
but resigned to accept the position of governor of Minnesota. In 1871
he removed from St. Paul to Windom. In 1873 he was in the Minnesota
house of representatives. In 1876 he was presidential elector. In 1839
he was married to Margaret Funk, of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. They
have had three sons. One son was killed at the battle of Gettysburg.
Gov. Miller died in 1878, at Windom, Minnesota.
CHAPTER XXII.
DAKOTA COUNTY.
This county, a rich farming district, lies on the west bank of the
Mississippi between Ramsey and Goodhue counties. It was originally
well diversified with timber and prairie lands, and is well watered by
the tributaries of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. Vermillion
river, which flows through this county, has near its junction with the
Mississippi a picturesque waterfall, now somewhat marred by the
erection of mills and manufactories.
HASTINGS,
Lying near the mouth of the Vermillion river, is a wide-awake,
thriving city, beautifully located on the banks of the Mississippi. It
has a fine court house, good hotels, manufactories and business
blocks. The Hastings & Dakota railroad has its eastern terminus here.
The St. Paul & Milwaukee, Burlington & Northern railroads pass through
the city. The river is bridged at this place.
FARMINGTON,
Near the centre of the county, on the Chicago, St. Paul & Minneapolis
railroad, is a thriving business village. West St. Paul has encroached
largely upon the north part of the county.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
IGNATIUS DONNELLY.--The parents of Ignatius Donnelly came from the
Green Isle in 1817, settling in Philadelphia, where Ignatius was born,
Nov. 3, 1831. He was educated in the graded and high schools of his
native city, graduating at the latter in 1849, and taking his degree
of master of arts three years later. He read law with Benjamin Harris
Brewster, and was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia in 1852, and
practiced there until 1856, when he came to Minnesota and located at
Ninninger, and purchasing from time to time nearly 1,000 acres of
land, devoted himself to farming, not so busily, however, as to
prevent him from taking a prominent part in public affairs. A
captivating and fluent speaker, and besides a man of far more than
ordinary native ability and acquirements, he was not suffered to
remain on his Dakota farm. In 1859 he was elected lieutenant governor
of the newly admitted state, and was re-elected in 1861, serving four
years. He served his district in the thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth and
thirty-ninth congresses. During his congressional term he advocated
many important measures, taking an advanced position in regard to
popular education, and the cultivation and preservation of timber on
the public lands. For his advocacy of the last named measure he was
much ridiculed at the time, but has lived to see his views generally
understood, and his measures to a great extent adopted in many of the
Western States. He advocated amending the law relating to railroad
land grants, so as to require their sale, within a reasonable period,
at low prices.
When he entered Congress, he gave up his law practice, and since his
last term he has devoted himself chiefly to farming, journalism and
general literature. In July, 1874, he became editor and proprietor of
the _Anti-Monopolist_, which he conducted several years. Within the
last decade he has published several works that have given him both
national and transatlantic fame. His works on the fabled "Atlantis"
and "Ragnarok" prove him to be not only a thinker and scientist, but a
writer, the charms of whose style are equal to the profundity of his
thought. His last work on the authorship of the Shakespearean plays
has attracted universal attention, not only for the boldness of his
speculations, but for the consummate ingenuity he has shown in
detecting the alleged cipher by which he assumes to prove Lord Bacon
to be the author of the plays in question. The book has excited much
controversy, and, as was to be expected, much adverse criticism. Mr.
Donnelly was married in Philadelphia, Sept. 10, 1855, to Miss
Catherine McCaffrey of that city. They have three children living.
FRANCIS M. CROSBY.--The ancestors of Mr. Crosby were of Revolutionary
fame. He was born in Wilmington, Windham county, Vermont, Nov. 13,
1830. He received a common and high school education and spent one
year at Mount Cæsar Seminary, at Swansea, New Hampshire. He studied
law and was admitted to practice at Bennington, Vermont, in 1855. He
served in the Vermont house of representatives in 1855-56. He
continued the practice of law until 1858, when he came to Hastings and
engaged in the practice of law. He served as judge of probate court in
1860-61, acted as school commissioner several years in Dakota county,
and was elected, in 1871, judge of the First Judicial district
comprising the counties of Goodhue, Dakota, Washington, Chisago, Pine,
and Kanabec. He held the first courts in Pine and Kanabec counties.
Judge Crosby is held in high esteem, not only by the bar, but by the
people at large. He is gentlemanly in his manners, yet prompt and
decisive in action.
He was married to Helen A. Sprague, in New York, May 13, 1866. Mrs.
Crosby died in 1869. He married a second wife, Helen M. Bates, in New
York, in 1872. They have two sons and three daughters.
HON. G. W. LE DUC was born at Wilkesville, Gallia county, Ohio, March
29, 1823. His father, Henry Savary Duc, was the son of Henri Duc, an
officer of the French Army, who came over with D'Estaing to assist the
colonies in the Revolutionary struggle. The grandfather, after some
stirring adventures in Guadaloupe, where he came near being murdered
in a negro insurrection, escaped and came to Middletown, Connecticut,
in 1796, where he was married to Lucy, daughter of Col. John Sumner,
of Duryea's Brigade, Continental Troops, and a member of the Sumner
family which came to Massachusetts in 1637. The father was married to
Mary Stewell, of Braintree, New York, in 1803. The family name,
originally written Duc, was changed to Le Duc in 1845. The grandfather
removed to Ohio and founded the town of Wilkesville. G. W. Le Duc, the
grandson, spent his early life at this place, but was educated at
Lancaster Academy, a school that numbered amongst its scholars Gen. W.
T. and Senator John Sherman, the Ewing brothers, and others prominent
in the history of the country. He entered Kenyon College in 1844,
graduated in 1848, and was employed for awhile by the firms of H. W.
Derby & Co., of Cincinnati, and A. S. Barnes & Co., of New York.
Meanwhile he studied law, and in 1850 was admitted to practice in the
supreme court of Ohio. July 5, 1850, he came to St. Paul and engaged
in selling books, supplying the legislature and the government
officers at the Fort, but gradually turned his attention to practice
in land office courts. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he
enlisted, and was assigned to duty as captain A. Z. in the Army of the
Potomac. During his term of service he was promoted to the grades of
lieutenant colonel, colonel and brigadier general by brevet. Since the
war his most important official position has been that of commissioner
of agriculture through the administration of President Hayes. In 1856
he removed to Hastings, and has ever since been identified with the
progress and prosperity of that city, and is the owner of large
property interests there.
[Illustration: HON. G. W. LE DUC.]
GOODHUE COUNTY.
This county lies on the west bank of the Mississippi river, between
the counties of Dakota and Wabasha. It derived its name from James M.
Goodhue, pioneer editor and publisher in St. Paul. It is a rich and
populous county. The county seat is Red Wing, a thriving city of 7,000
inhabitants, located on the banks of the Mississippi a short distance
below the mouth of Cannon river, and at the outlet of several valleys
forming a larger valley, well adapted to become the site of a city.
The hills surrounding the city are high, bold and many of them
precipitous. Mount La Grange, commonly known as Barn Bluff, a large
isolated bluff, a half mile in length and three hundred and twenty
feet in height, stands between the lower part of the city and the
river. Part of the county lies upon the shore of Lake Pepin, and
includes the famous Point no Point, a bold promontory extending far
out into the lake, with a curve so gradual that the eye of the person
ascending or descending the lake is unable to define the Point, which
appears to recede before him as he approaches, till at last it
disappears, when looking backward he sees it in the part of the lake
already traversed. Cannon river, a considerable stream, passes through
the county from west to east.
Cannon Falls, on this river, once a picturesque and wild waterfall, is
now surrounded by the mills, manufactories and dwellings of a
flourishing village, named after the falls. Goodhue county was
organized under territorial law. In 1845 the principal point was Red
Wing. There we found a Swiss missionary named Galvin, an Indian farmer
name Bush and the noted Jack Frazer, a half-breed trader, all living
in log buildings. Mr. Galvin had a school of Indian children. Near by
was an Indian cemetery--burying ground it could not be called, as the
bodies of the dead were elevated upon the branches of trees and upon
stakes to be out of reach of animals. The bodies were wrapped in
blankets and exposed until the flesh had decayed, when the bones were
taken and buried. Red Wing's band of Sioux Indians had their
encampment here. It is said that Red Wing, the chief for whom the
village and city was afterward named, chose for his burial place the
summit of Barn Bluff, and that when he died he was buried there,
seated upon his horse, with his face turned to the Happy Hunting
Ground, the Indians heaping the earth around him till a huge mound was
formed. The legend may need confirmation, but a mound is there to this
day, on the highest part of the bluff, and the high spirited chief
could certainly have wished no nobler grave.
Red Wing city bears few traces of its humble origin. It is a fine,
compactly built city, with handsome public and private buildings. It
was for some years the seat of Hamline University, now removed to St.
Paul.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
HANS MATTSON.--Col. Mattson is a native of Onestad, Sweden. He was
born Dec. 23, 1832. His parents were Matts and Ilgena (Larson)
Mattson, both now residents of Vasa, Minnesota. The son was educated
at a high classical school in Christianstad, and in his seventeenth
year entered the military service as a cadet and served one year.
Disliking its monotony, and having an adventurous spirit he embarked
for America, where he found himself abjectly poor, and worked as a
cabin boy on a coasting vessel, as a farm hand, and afterward with a
shovel on an Illinois railroad until 1853, when he secured a position
as an emigrant agent, whose business it was to select homes for
Swedish colonists. He, with others, came to Vasa, Goodhue county,
Minnesota, where he dealt in real estate, studying law meanwhile with
Warren Bristol. He was admitted to the bar in 1858. He was elected
county auditor the same year and served till 1860, when he entered the
army as captain of Company D, Third Minnesota Infantry. At the end of
four years he left the service with the rank of colonel. After his
return from the war he formed a law partnership with C. C. Webster,
and a year later he accepted the position of editor of a Swedish
newspaper in Chicago. In 1867 Gov. Marshall appointed him secretary of
the state board of immigration, which position he held several years,
doing the State excellent service. In 1869 he was elected secretary of
state, but before his term of office expired resigned to accept the
appointment of land agent of railway corporations, which enabled him
to spend four years abroad.
[Illustration: L. F. Hubbard]
Col. Mattson was for some time editor of the _Staats Tidning_, a
Swedish paper in Minneapolis, and a large owner and general manager of
the _Swedish Tribune_ published in Chicago. He was a presidential
elector in 1876. He was again elected secretary of state for 1887-88.
He is a versatile writer and a fluent speaker, a frank, outspoken and
honorable man. He was married Nov. 23, 1855, to Cherstin Peterson, a
native of Bullingslof, Sweden. They have five children living.
LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD was born Jan. 26, 1836, at Troy, New York. He
was the oldest son of Charles F. and Margaret (Van Valkenburg)
Hubbard, his father being a descendant of the Hubbard family that
emigrated from the mother country and settled in New England in 1595;
his mother coming from the Holland Dutch stock that has occupied the
valley of the Hudson river since its earliest history.
The father dying early, the son found a home with an aunt at Chester,
Vermont, until he was twelve years old, when he was sent for three
years to the academy at Granville, New York. At the age of fifteen he
was apprenticed to a tinner at Poultney, Vermont, and completed his
trade at Salem, New York, in 1854, when he removed to Chicago for
three years. He then removed to Red Wing, Minnesota, and started the
Red Wing _Republican_. In 1858 he was elected register of deeds of
Goodhue county. In 1861 he sold out his interest in the _Republican_
and ran for the state senate, but was defeated by the small majority
of seven votes. In December, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Fifth
Minnesota Volunteers, and was elected captain. In March, 1862, he
became lieutenant colonel; in August, colonel; and for conspicuous
gallantry at the battle of Nashville was promoted to the position of
brigadier general. He participated in the battles of Farmington; of
Corinth, where he was severely wounded; of Iuka, the second battle of
Corinth; of Jackson and Mississippi Springs; in the siege of
Vicksburg; in the battle of Richmond, Louisiana; of Greenfield,
Louisiana; of Nashville, where he was wounded and had two horses
killed under him, and at the siege of Spanish Fort. He was mustered
out in October, 1865, at Mobile, Alabama. He was engaged in
twenty-four battles and minor engagements and won an enviable record
for his intrepidity and coolness. He returned to Red Wing with broken
health, the result of fatigue and exposure.
In 1866 he engaged in the grain business at Red Wing, and soon
thereafter in milling operations on a large scale in Wabasha county.
In 1872 he purchased an interest in the Forest mill, at Zumbrota,
Goodhue county, and in 1875, with others, bought the mills and water
power at Mazeppa, in Wabasha county, the mills soon after being
rebuilt and enlarged.
In 1868 he raised, through his personal influence, the money necessary
for the completion of the Midland railway, a line extending from
Wabasha to Zumbrota.
He subsequently projected and organized the Minnesota Central railway
(Cannon Valley), to run from Red Wing to Mankato. As president of the
company he secured the building of the road from Red Wing to
Waterville, about sixty-six miles.
In 1878 Gen. Hubbard was nominated for Congress in the Second district
of Minnesota, but declined. In 1872 he was elected to the state
senate, and again in 1874, declining a re-election in 1876. In the
senate he was regarded as one of the best informed, painstaking and
influential members. He was on the committee to investigate the state
treasurer's and state auditor's offices, and was largely instrumental
in recommending and shaping legislation that brought about the
substantial and much needed reform in the management of those offices.
He was also one of the three arbitrators selected to settle the
difficulties between the State and the prison contractors at
Stillwater. He was appointed commissioner, with John Nichols and Gen.
Tourtelotte, in 1866, to investigate the status of the state railroad
bond, levied in 1858, and finally settled in 1881.
On Sept. 28, 1881, Gen. Hubbard was nominated for governor of
Minnesota, and was elected by a majority of 27,857, the largest
majority ever received by any governor elected in the State. In 1883
he was renominated and re-elected by a very large majority.
Gov. Hubbard is an affable, genial, courteous gentleman, whose
integrity has never been questioned; a man of the people, and in
sympathy with them and the best interests and general prosperity of
the State.
Gov. Hubbard was married in May, 1868, at Red Wing, to Amelia,
daughter of Charles Thomas, a merchant of that place. He has three
children, two boys, aged seventeen and eleven respectively, and a
girl.
WILLIAM COLVILLE is of Scotch descent on his father's side. The
ancient homestead of the family at Ochiltree is mentioned by Sir
Walter Scott in his novel, "The Antiquary." On his mother's side he is
of Irish descent. His ancestors participated in the American
Revolution. He was born in Chautauqua county, New York, April 5, 1830;
was educated at the Fredonia Academy, taught school one winter, read
law in the office of Millard Fillmore and Solomon L. Haven, of
Buffalo, and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He practiced law at
Forestville three years, and then removed to Red Wing, Minnesota. His
first winter he spent in St. Paul as enrolling clerk of the
territorial council, and the winter following was secretary of the
council. In the spring of 1855 he established the Red Wing _Sentinel_,
a Democratic paper, and conducted it until the Civil War broke out. In
1861 he entered the service as captain of Company F, First Minnesota
Infantry, and served with that regiment three years, conducting
himself with such gallantry as to win promotion. He was wounded at the
first battle of Bull Run, at Nelson's Farm and at Gettysburg, the last
wounds received maiming him for life, and necessitating a close of his
military career. At the end of three years he left the service with
the rank of colonel, and edited the _Sentinel_ until January, 1865,
when he took his seat as representative in the legislature. At its
adjournment he was appointed colonel of the First Minnesota Heavy
Artillery which was stationed at Chattanooga till the close of the
war. Col. Colville was mustered out of the service with the brevet
rank of brigadier general. In the autumn of 1865 he was elected
attorney general of the State on the Union ticket and served two
years. In 1866 he ran for Congress in opposition to the Republican
nominee. In 1877 he was elected as a Democrat to the lower house of
the state legislature in the strongest Republican county in the State.
The same year he was appointed by President Cleveland register of the
land office at Duluth, to which place he has removed his residence. He
was married to Miss Jane E. Morgan, of Oneida, New York, in 1867, a
descendant of Elder Brewster, who came over in the Mayflower.
MARTIN S. CHANDLER, for twenty-two years sheriff of Goodhue county,
Minnesota, was born in Jamestown, New York, Feb. 14, 1827. He came to
Goodhue county in 1856 and engaged for awhile farming at Pine Island.
He was elected county commissioner in 1856, and served until 1858,
removing meanwhile to Red Wing, which has since been his home. In 1859
he was elected sheriff of Goodhue county, and held the office for
eleven consecutive terms, until 1882, when he was elected to the state
senate. He was presidential elector in 1872. He was appointed surveyor
general in 1883, which office he held until 1887. He was married to
Fannie F. Caldwell, of Jamestown, New York, in 1848. His only
daughter, Florence C., is the wife of Ira S. Kellogg, of Red Wing, one
of the oldest druggists in the State.
CHARLES MCCLURE was born in Virginia in 1810; was graduated at
Lewisburg, Virginia, in 1827; studied law and was admitted to practice
in 1829. He came to Minnesota and located at Red Wing in 1856, where
he opened a law office. In 1857 he was a member of the constitutional
convention, presidential elector in 1861, state senator in 1862-63 and
in 1864, judge of the First district, filling the vacancy caused by
the retirement of Judge McMillan. At the fall election of the same
year he was elected judge of the First district and served seven
years. This district embraced Washington, Chisago, Goodhue and Dakota
counties. Judge McClure is a man of unquestionable ability and
integrity.
HORACE B. WILSON was born in Bingham; Somerset county, Maine, March
30, 1821. His grandfather settled in Maine twenty years prior to the
Revolution. He had a fair common school education until sixteen years
old, when he attended the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, graduating four
years later. He devoted himself chiefly to teaching, and studied law
meanwhile, but never practiced. He taught in Cincinnati, Ohio,
Lawrenceburg and New Albany, Indiana, until 1850, when he was elected
city civil engineer, which position he filled six years. In 1858 he
removed to Red Wing, Minnesota, and taught, as professor of
mathematics, natural science and civil engineering in Hamline
University four years. In 1862 he enlisted in Company F, Sixth
Minnesota Infantry, was elected captain, and mustered out at the close
of the war. His military service was quite arduous, including
campaigning against the Sioux until 1864, when the regiment was
ordered South and attached to the Sixteenth Army Corps.
In 1866 he was appointed superintendent of schools for Goodhue county.
In 1870 he was appointed state superintendent of schools, which
position he held five years. He was elected representative in the
state legislature in 1877, and subsequently he served four terms as
senator, and was president _pro tem._ of that body during the trial of
E. St. Julien Cox, and in the absence of the lieutenant governor
presided during the trial. For the past few years he has devoted
himself to civil engineering, and has had charge of the public
improvements of Red Wing. In 1844 he was married to Mary J. Chandler,
who died in 1887.
Among the prominent early settlers of Red Wing not mentioned in our
biographical notices were William Freeborn, for whom Freeborn county
was named, and who was a senator in the fifth, sixth, seventh and
eighth legislatures. Judges Welch and Wilder, W. C. Williston and
Warren Bristol, lawyers, both state senators from Goodhue, and the
latter a judge in Arizona. Rev. Chauncey Hobart, D.D., a Methodist
pioneer preacher, and author of a history of Methodism in Minnesota
and an autobiography; Rev. Peter Akers, D.D., an eminent educator;
Rev. M. Sorin, D.D., an eloquent preacher, and Rev. Samuel Spates and
J. W. Hancock, prominent as missionaries, the latter the first pastor
located in the village. Andrew S. Durant, first hotel keeper; Calvin
F. Potter, first merchant. W. W. Phelps and Christopher Graham were
appointed to the land office in 1855.
WABASHA COUNTY.
This county, named in honor of a Sioux chief, lies on the west shore
of the Mississippi river and Lake Pepin, between Goodhue and Winona
counties. It has a majestic frontage of bold bluffs on the lake and
river. From the summit of these bluffs stretch away broad undulating
prairie lands, with occasional depressions, or valleys, caused by the
streams tributary to the river.
Wabasha village is the county seat. The county is traversed by the St.
Paul & Milwaukee railway, and the Zumbrota Valley Narrow Gauge
railroad has its eastern terminus at Wabasha village. A railroad from
Minneiska to Eyota, in Olmsted county, through Plainview, also passes
through this county. Lake City is a thriving village on the lake
shore, beautifully situated. The Grand Encampment, located about two
miles below Wabasha village, was once a point of great interest. It
was from time immemorial a camping ground for Indians. It has an
abundance of ancient mounds. The only people in the county in 1845,
when the author first visited this section, were the Campbell, Cratt,
Bessian, and a few other French families. Bailey and sons, Dr. Francis
H. Milligan, B. S. Hurd, Samuel S. Campbell, a prominent lawyer, and
Wm. L. Lincoln came later to Wabasha. Reed's Landing, at the foot of
Lake Pepin, was early settled by Messrs. Reed, Fordyce, Richards, and
others. This point controls an immense trade for the Chippewa river,
which empties its waters into the Mississippi just opposite.
NATHANIEL STACY TEFFT is a native of Hamilton, Madison county, New
York, where he was born July 16, 1830. He was educated in the common
schools and academy; in 1848 commenced studying medicine and received
his diploma the same year at Cincinnati, after attending lectures at
the medical college in that city. In 1856 he came to Minnesota and
located in Minneiska, where he practiced medicine, served as
postmaster, justice of the peace, and member of the legislature. In
1861 he removed to Plainview, where he has taken rank as a leading
surgeon and physician in that part of the State. He has also served as
member of the state senate (in 1871-72). The writer had the pleasure
of meeting him in the legislature of 1858 and found him a strong
opponent of the $5,000,000 bill. Dr. Tefft was married to Hattie S.
Gibbs, of Plainview, Nov. 10, 1866.
JAMES WELLS.--In 1845 the writer found Mr. Wells living in a stone
trading house on the west shore of Lake Pepin, on the first high
ground on the shore above Lake City. Mr. Wells had a half-breed family
and was very reticent in his manner. He was a member of the first
territorial house of representatives. When the country became more
thickly settled he went West and was killed by the Sioux Indians in
the massacre of 1862.
WINONA COUNTY
Was named after the daughter of the Indian chief who, according to the
well known legend, precipitated herself from the famous rock on the
eastern shore of Lake Pepin, which has ever since been known as
"Maiden's Rock." The county lies on the west shore of the Mississippi,
below Wabasha county. The frontage of the bluffs on the river is
unsurpassed for grandeur and beauty, the bluffs here attaining an
altitude of six hundred feet above the river. The natural castles and
turrets crowning these bluffs remind the traveler of the towns on the
Rhine and Danube, and it is difficult to realize that they are the
handiwork of Nature and not of man. The most striking of these bluffs
occupies a position in the rear of the beautiful city of Winona,
overlooking the city and the valley, and affording from its summit
possibly the finest view on the river. The city of Winona lies on a
spacious plateau between the bluffs and the river. In 1845 a solitary
log cabin, the resting place of the mail carrier, marked the site, and
a large Indian village, belonging to the band of Chief Wapashaw,
occupied a portion of the present site of the city. All traces of this
village have long since disappeared, and given place to one of the
fairest and most flourishing cities on the river. The First State
Normal School is located here. The St. Paul & Milwaukee railroad
passes through, and the Winona & St. Peter railroad has its eastern
terminus in this city. It is also the western terminus of the Green
Bay & Mississippi. The Chicago, Burlington & Northern crosses the
river here, and has a depot in the city.
DANIEL S. NORTON, at the time of his death United States senator from
Minnesota, was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, in April, 1829. He was
educated at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio; enlisted in the Third Ohio
Volunteer Infantry in 1846 for service in the Mexican War; had his
health seriously impaired in the service; spent two years in
California, Mexico and Central America; returned to Ohio and read law
with his father-in-law, Judge R. C. Hurd, practiced in Mount Vernon,
Ohio, with Hon. William Windom and came with him to Minnesota in 1855,
locating at Winona. Mr. Norton served as senator in the first state
legislature, where the writer served with him on several committees,
among them the committee on the $5,000,000 bond bill, a bill which Mr.
Norton strongly and earnestly opposed, predicting clearly its
disastrous results. He also served as senator in the legislatures of
1861-64 and 65, when he was elected to the United States senate, which
position he held at the time of his death, in 1870. He was twice
married, first in 1856, to Miss Lizzie Sherman, of Mount Vernon, Ohio,
who died in 1862. The second time to Miss Laura Cantlan, of Baltimore,
in 1868.
WILLIAM WINDOM, a native of Ohio, came to Winona in 1855. He had been
admitted to practice in 1853, and formed a partnership with D. S.
Norton in Mount Vernon, Ohio, who came with him to Winona, where they
continued their law partnership. Mr. Windom has been quite prominent
in the politics of the State and county, having served in the United
States senate two terms, from 1871 to 1883. He was also a
representative in Congress from 1859 to 1869. He served as secretary
of the treasury to fill a vacancy. During his congressional career he
was an ardent supporter of the Union, and won the respect of the
nation for his unswerving firmness in upholding his principles. He is
a man of great executive ability, and has used his talents and his
wealth, of which he has accumulated a considerable share, in the
interests of the public. He has been heavily interested in the
building of the Northern Pacific and other railroads, and in real
estate. His opportunities have been great, he has wisely employed
them, and richly deserves the success he has achieved.
CHARLES H. BERRY, the first attorney general of the state of
Minnesota, was born at Westerly, Rhode Island, Sept. 12, 1823. He
received an excellent school and academic education, graduating at
Canandaigua Academy in 1846. He afterward read law and was admitted to
practice at Rochester in 1848. He practiced his profession at Corning,
New York, until 1855, when he removed to Winona and opened the first
law office in that city. He was associated until 1871 with C. N.
Waterman. When Minnesota became a state, in 1858, he was elected
attorney general and served two years. He was state senator in 1874-75
and has been United States commissioner since 1873. He takes great
interest in local and state affairs, especially in educational
matters. He has been for many years connected with the city school
board and for eight years its president. He was also largely
instrumental in locating the State Normal School at Winona. Mr. Berry
is a Democrat in politics, is prominent in Masonic circles and a
leading member of the Episcopal church. He was married to Frances E.
Hubbell, of Corning, New York, Nov. 14, 1850. They have one daughter,
Kate Louise, married to Prof. C. A. Morey, principal of the State
Normal School.
THOMAS WILSON was born in Tyrone county, Ireland, May 16, 1827. He
received his education in this country, graduating at Meadville
College, Pennsylvania, in 1852. He studied law, was admitted to the
bar in 1855, and in the same year came to Winona and entered the law
firm of Sargent & Wilson, known a few years later as Sargent, Wilson &
Windom. He was a member of the Republican wing of the constitutional
convention in 1857. He was elected district judge of the Fourth
district, taking his seat in 1858, and serving six years. In 1864 Gov.
Miller appointed him to a vacancy on the supreme bench, caused by the
resignation of Judge Flandrau, and in the fall of the same year he was
elected chief justice for a term of seven years. In 1869 he resigned
this position to resume his law practice. In 1881 he was elected as a
representative, and from 1883 to 1886, inclusive, as a senator in the
state legislature. He was elected as a representative to Congress in
1887.
THOMAS SIMPSON is of Scotch parentage, but was born in Yorkshire,
England, May 31, 1836. He came to America with his parents when a
child, to Dubuque county, Iowa. His educational advantages were good,
and he learned, when not in school, to assist his father, who was a
miner, smelter and farmer. He studied engineering and surveying with
E. S. Norris, of Dubuque, and was engaged in government surveys from
1853 to 1856, when he settled in Winona, studied law, and was admitted
to the bar in 1858, when he formed a law partnership with Judge Abner
Lewis and Geo. P. Wilson. In addition to his law business he has been
a heavy dealer in real estate and money loaning. There are few public
enterprises in Winona which he has not actively promoted. He was a
delegate to the national convention that nominated Lincoln for the
presidency in 1864, also to the convention that nominated Grant in
1868. He served as state senator in 1866-67. He has been an
influential member of the Methodist church. He was married Oct. 30,
1860, to Maggie Holstein, of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. They have three
sons.
WM. H. YALE was born Nov. 12, 1831, at New Hartford, Connecticut; was
educated at Sheffield Institute; came to Winona in 1857, and practiced
law. He was state senator in 1867-68, 1876-77, and lieutenant governor
from 1870 to 1874.
Other prominent citizens of Winona are: Dr. James Monroe Cole, the
oldest physician in the city; Royal Day Cone, one of the first
merchants; Judge Wm. Mitchell; ---- Norton, a lumberman and county
treasurer several years; W. W. Phelps, first president of the State
Normal School; ---- Hough, builder of the first large hotel; Hodgins,
Yeomans & Laird, lumbermen.
CHAPTER XXIII.
MISCELLANEOUS BIOGRAPHIES.
PIERRE BOTTINEAU was born in the Red River settlement, now Dakota, in
1817. His early life was passed amongst the Ojibways in the employ of
various fur companies. He has lived an eventful life and endured many
hardships as a hunter, trapper and guide. He was early noted as a
pilot to and from the Selkirk settlement. In 1843 he removed his
family from Selkirk to St. Paul. In 1845 he removed to St. Anthony
Falls, east side, where he laid out an addition to the new village. He
was also, in 1851, the first settler at Maple Grove, or "Bottineau's
Prairie," in Hennepin county. When he came to Fort Snelling he was
employed by Gen. Sibley as a guide. In 1856 he assisted in selecting
locations for forts. In 1858, after the establishment of Fort
Abercrombie, he located the village of Breckenridge, now in Wilkin
county, Minnesota. In 1859 he accompanied Geologist Skinner in his
exploring expedition, having for its object the survey and location of
salt mines, and was guide to Col. W. H. Noble's wagon road expedition
to Frazer river. In 1860 he accompanied a military expedition with
Gov. Ramsey to conclude treaties with the Northern Minnesota
Chippewas. In 1862 he accompanied Capt. Fisk's Idaho expedition, and,
in 1863, Gen. Sibley's expedition to the Missouri. Mr. Bottineau now
resides at Red Lake Falls, Polk county, Minnesota.
ANDREW G. CHATFIELD, a member of the Minnesota district bench at the
time of his death, was born in the town of Butternuts, Otsego county,
New York, Jan. 27, 1810. In 1838 he was a member of the New York
assembly; in 1848 he removed to Racine, Wisconsin, where he was
elected county judge. In 1853 he was appointed associate justice of
the supreme court of Minnesota Territory, and he made his home on a
beautiful prairie in Scott county, on which he laid out the town of
Belle Plaine. He acted as judge four years and then resumed the
practice of law. In January, 1871, he was elected judge of the Eighth
Judicial district, which he held until his death, which occurred Oct.
3, 1875. Judge Chatfield was married in 1836. His widow and an only
daughter, Mrs. Cecilia Irwin, reside at Belle Plaine.
HAZEN MOOERS.--Biographical details of Mr. Mooers are scant and
unreliable. He was probably born about the year 1796. It is said that
he was in the battle of Plattsburgh, September, 1814, when he was a
youth of eighteen years of age, and that he acted as a guard in
protecting government and private property. We find by the Minnesota
historical collections that he came to Gray Cloud island in 1835 and
remained till 1843. It is probable that he remained there till 1848.
He was commissioner of St. Croix county, Wisconsin, in 1840-41 and
1842. When he came to Gray Cloud island he was accompanied by a Mr.
Robinson, and located in section 23. While at Gray Cloud he was
married to a daughter of Dickson, the trader, and sister of Mrs.
Joseph R. Brown. We have been unable to find mention of him later than
1848.
JOHN MCDONOUGH BERRY was born at Pittsfield, New Hampshire, Sept. 18,
1827. Mr. Berry received an excellent education at the Pittsfield
Academy, Phillips Academy and at Yale College, from which he graduated
in 1847. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He was in the
law office of Ira Paley, later chief justice of New Hampshire. In 1850
he was admitted to the bar at Concord, New Hampshire. He commenced
practice at Alton Corners, Belknap county, New Hampshire. Three years
later he came West and located at Janesville, Wisconsin. In 1855 he
moved to Faribault, this State, and at once came into prominence. In
1856 he was a member of the territorial house of representatives and
chairman of the judiciary committee. In 1862 he was sent to the state
senate from Rice county, and in 1864 he was elected associate justice
of the state supreme court, a position he has filled with honor to
himself and the bar. He removed to Minneapolis in 1879 and died there,
greatly lamented, Nov. 15, 1887. An obituary notice from the daily
press gives a fair estimate of his character:
"He was not a man that mingled much in society or put himself forward
on any occasion, yet he had a very social, genial disposition, and
every one that knew him valued the acquaintance highly. As a judge he
was universally esteemed. His decisions were always marked by a
peculiarly vigorous grasp of bottom facts. His mind was a naturally
judicial one. His own ideas were fresh and original, and his way of
expressing them unusually vigorous. He devoted himself wholly to his
judicial duties and to his family. He was a great reader and student
and a great home man. His affections were wholly centred in his wife
and children. His distaste for ostentation and publicity is evidenced
in his expressed wish for a private funeral."
He was married May 26, 1853, to Alice A. Parker, of Roscoe, Illinois,
who survives him.
MARK H. DUNNELL is of Scotch descent. He was born July 2, 1823, at
Buxton, Maine. He was raised on a farm, but graduated at Waterville
College, Maine, in 1849, and for three years following was engaged in
teaching. In 1852 he was elected to the Maine house of
representatives, and afterward served five years as state
superintendent of schools. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in
1856, and in 1860 practiced his profession in Portland. In 1861 he was
appointed United States consul to Vera Cruz, Mexico. Before going to
Mexico he was appointed colonel of the Fifth Maine Volunteers, and
participated in the first battle of Bull Run. He resigned his
consulship in 1862, and returned to Maine, where he aided the governor
in recruiting and organizing regiments for the military service. In
1865 he came to Winona, Minnesota, was a member of the Minnesota house
of representatives in 1867, and afterward served three years as state
superintendent of instruction. He resigned this office to take a seat
in Congress, and represented his district a period of ten years. He
was married Nov. 20, 1850, to Sarah A. Parrington, of Goshen, Maine.
They have three children living.
JAMES HEATON BAKER, son of Rev. Henry Baker, a Methodist preacher, and
Hannah (Heaton) Baker, was born in Monroe, Ohio, May 6, 1829. He
graduated at Ohio Wesleyan University in 1852. In 1853 he purchased
the Sciota _Gazette_, at Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1855 he was elected
secretary of state on the ticket headed by Salmon P. Chase as
governor. In 1857 he removed to Minnesota, where, for two successive
terms he was elected to the same office. At the outbreak of the Civil
War he resigned, and accepted a colonel's commission in the Tenth
Minnesota Volunteers. In 1863 his command was ordered to the South,
and he was detached and made provost marshal of St. Louis, and
subsequently of the department of Missouri, in which position he
served until the close of the war, he being meanwhile promoted to a
brevet brigadier generalship.
At the close of the war he was appointed register of the land office
at Booneville, Missouri, but in two years resigned and returned to his
farm in Blue Earth county, Minnesota.
In 1871 President Grant appointed him commissioner of pensions, a
position for which he was singularly well fitted. He resigned in 1875,
and was appointed by President Grant surveyor general of Minnesota.
Gen. Baker has been prominent in Masonic circles, and has contributed
much to the newspaper and periodical press. He was married Sept. 25,
1852, to Rose R., daughter of Reuben H. Thurston, then of Delaware,
Ohio, now of Mankato, Minnesota. This estimable lady died at
Washington City, March 21, 1873, leaving two sons, Arthur and Harry E.
Gen. Baker, since his appointment as surveyor general, has resided at
Mankato. He served in 1885 and 1886 as railroad commissioner for the
State.
HORACE BURTON STRAIT is of Virginia Revolutionary stock. He was born
in Potter county, Pennsylvania, Jan. 26, 1835. His educational
advantages were such only as the common schools afforded, and he is
largely self cultured. He came to Minnesota in 1855, and engaged in
farming near Shakopee, but in 1860 moved to the county seat, and
engaged in mercantile business. In August, 1862, he enlisted in
Company I, Ninth Minnesota Volunteers, commanded by Col. Alexander
Wilkin; was commissioned as captain, and in 1864 as major; was
mustered out at the close of the war, since which time he has been
engaged in milling, banking and farming. He was president of the First
National Bank of Shakopee. He served as mayor of Shakopee in
1870-71-72, when he was elected to Congress, and served by continuous
re-elections until 1888, when J. L. MaDonald became his successor. He
was emphatically a working member. He has been twice married. His
first wife died in 1872, leaving one child.
JUDSON WADE BISHOP was born at Evansville, New York, June 24, 1831. He
received an academic education at Fredonia Academy, and at Union
Academy, Belleville, New York. Leaving school at the age of sixteen,
he was employed for several years as clerk and book-keeper and in
teaching. Having a taste for civil engineering he fitted himself for
usefulness in that department at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
of Troy, New York, and in 1853 secured a position as draughtsman on
the Canadian Grand Trunk railway. At the completion of the road, in
1857, he obtained employment in railroad surveying, making his
residence at Chatfield until 1861, where he purchased a newspaper, the
Chatfield _Democrat_. At the first call for troops in 1861 he sold his
office, volunteered as a soldier, and was mustered in as captain of a
company in the Second Regiment, June 26, 1861. He was mustered out at
the close of the war with the brevet rank of brigadier general, and
resumed railroad work, in which he has since been active and
conspicuous. For some years he was manager of the St. Paul & Sioux
City. His connection with railroad enterprises necessitated his
removal in 1864 to Le Sueur, in 1868 to Mankato and in 1873 to St.
Paul, which has since been his home. He has also been a heavy dealer
in real estate. He was married Jan. 11, 1866, to Nellie S. Husted, of
Galena, Illinois, who died Sept. 19, 1878, leaving three sons, Charles
Husted, Edwin Judson and Robert Haven.
JOHN LOUIS MCDONALD.--The paternal ancestors of our subject were
Highlanders, of the clan "McDonald of the Isle." John Louis was born
in Glasgow, Scotland, Feb. 22, 1836; came with his parents to America
in 1842, lived a few years in Nova Scotia, then removed to Pittsburgh
where he received an academic education. He removed to Belle Plaine,
Scott county, Minnesota, in 1855, read law with Judge Chatfield, and
was admitted to practice at Shakopee in 1858, removing thither three
years later, and continuing in practice, serving as probate judge from
1859 to 1864 and publishing and editing the Belle Plaine _Enquirer_,
and later, the Shakopee _Argus_, serving two years as prosecuting
attorney, four years as superintendent of schools, two years as state
representative (1869-70) and three years as state senator (1874-75 and
1876). In 1877 he was elected district judge, and served seven years.
In 1888 he took his seat as representative in Congress. As a judge he
is thoroughly well informed, clear-sighted and impartial.
THOMAS H. ARMSTRONG was born in Milan, Ohio, Feb. 6, 1829. He
graduated from Western Reserve College in 1854, commenced the practice
of law at La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1856, practiced at High Forest,
Minnesota, until 1870, when he discontinued practice. Three years
later he moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota, and established the Freeborn
County Bank.
Mr. Armstrong has acted a prominent part in the legislation of the
State, having been a representative in the legislatures of 1864 and
1865, and, as lieutenant governor, president of the senate for the
four succeeding terms. He was elected speaker of the house in the
legislature of 1865. As a presiding officer he was courteous,
dignified, and fair in his rulings, and an excellent parliamentarian.
April 1, 1868, he was married to Mrs. Elisabeth M. Butman, daughter of
John Burgess, of Cleveland, Ohio.
AUGUSTAS ARMSTRONG, a younger brother of the foregoing, and a
prominent citizen of Albert Lea, died in 1873.
MOSES K. ARMSTRONG, another brother, has represented Dakota in
Congress.
JAMES B. WAKEFIELD was born at Winstead, Litchfield county,
Connecticut, March 21, 1828. He graduated at Trinity College,
Hartford, in 1846; studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1851;
came to Shakopee, Minnesota; practiced law two years and removed to
Blue Earth City. He has been called to fill various and responsible
public positions. He was a member of the legislature several terms,
serving as representative in 1858, 63 and 66, and as senator in
1867-68-69. He served as deputy Indian agent at the Lower Sioux agency
from 1856 to the Indian outbreak, and in 1869 was appointed receiver
of the Winnebago land office, which position he held six years. From
1875 to 1879 he served as lieutenant governor of Minnesota, and from
1884 to 1886 as member of Congress. He served as a delegate to the
Republican convention which nominated President Grant in 1868, and to
the convention which nominated President Hayes in 1876. Mr. Wakefield
was married in August, 1864, to Miss Nannette Reinhart, of Blue Earth
City.
WILLIAM WALLACE BRADEN was born in Iberia, Ohio, Dec. 3, 1837. He was
educated in the district schools and reared as a farmer. In November
he came to Fillmore county with his father, and engaged in farming. He
was a member of the legislature in 1866-67, and has served three
terms as county treasurer. During the Civil War he served three years
with the rank of lieutenant, and then of captain in Company K, Sixth
Minnesota Volunteers, and was for some time detached from his command
as provost marshal of Southern Missouri, with headquarters at
Springfield. Capt. Braden is prominent as a Mason, and as a Republican
takes an active interest in the politics of the State and nation. He
was elected state auditor in 1881, and re-elected in 1885. He was
married March 7, 1866, to Addie Griswold, of Pennsylvania.
REUBEN BUTTERS was born in Union, Lincoln county, Maine, May 26, 1816.
He received such education as could be obtained at winter schools, and
employed himself chiefly in clerking and mercantile pursuits until
1851, when he came to Minnesota and became the first permanent settler
in the Minnesota valley above Shakopee. He made the first claim at Le
Sueur, having, in connection with Messrs. Thompson and Lindsey, a
station at that place, also at Kasota. He has been engaged chiefly in
farming. He has also a stone quarry and store in Kasota, and does a
fair amount of trading. Mr. Butters was a member of the first state
legislature, and has served seven or eight sessions since. He was
county commissioner many years. In politics he is a Democrat.
Mr. Butters has been twice married, first in November, 1847, to
Elizabeth Hill, of Cleveland, Ohio, and second in May, 1861, to Mrs.
Mary E. Rogers, of Maine. He died March 29, 1888.
MICHAEL DORAN, a most successful business man and prominent in
political affairs, having served six terms in the state senate, was
born in the county of Meath, Ireland, Nov. 1, 1829. He received but
little education before coming to this country in 1850, when, although
over twenty-one years of age, he obtained two years' schooling. He
landed in New York City, remained in the State about a year and
removed to Norwalk, Ohio, where he farmed and kept a grocery store. In
1856 he came westward and located at Le Sueur, where he engaged in
farming. In 1860 he was elected county treasurer and served and held
the office eight years. Since 1870 he has been engaged in banking,
farming and real estate operations. He is also one of the owners of
the elevator and flouring mill at Le Sueur.
In politics he is a Democrat and was an elector on the McClellan
ticket. His senatorial terms were from 1872 to 1875 and 1877 and
1879. He has been twice married. His first wife was Ellen Brady, of
Norwalk, Ohio, married in May, 1855. His second wife was Catherine J.
Grady, of Le Sueur, married Feb. 10, 1864.
ANDREW MCCREA was born in New Brunswick in 1830, received a common
school education and learned the business of farming and lumbering.
His father having died early, the support of a mother and crippled
brother devolved upon him. He was married to Jane Murphy, in New
Brunswick, when he was twenty-one years of age. Mrs. McCrea died in
1878. He married a second wife in 1880. His family consists of eight
sons and one daughter. He came to Minnesota in 1854, removed to
Stearns county in 1858, and to Otter Tail county in 1872, where he now
resides in the town of Perham. He was a member of the legislature of
1876-77, and of the senate of 1878 to 1882, inclusive. In 1885 he was
appointed one of the commissioners to locate the second state prison.
JOHN W. BLAKE was born in Foxcroft, Maine, in 1839. His parents moved
to Wisconsin in 1840. He received a good education in the common
schools, in Milton Academy, and Wisconsin State University, and became
a civil engineer. He served as a soldier during the war of the
Rebellion. In 1872 he came to Minnesota, located at Marshall, Lyon
county, and the same year was elected a representative in the
legislature. He was a member of the senate during the years 1875,
1876, 1882, and 1884.
KNUTE NELSON, born in Norway, came to America, studied law at
Wisconsin University, and was admitted to the bar. He came to
Alexandria in 1870, where he practiced law. He was a senator in the
seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth legislatures, and
was elected representative to Congress from the Fifth Minnesota
district in 1884 and 1886. Mr. Nelson is a man of unquestioned ability
and force, a strong Republican, and an enthusiastic advocate of a
modified tariff.
W. R. DENNY was born at Keene, New Hampshire, in 1839; received an
academic education, and after spending eight years in Wisconsin, came
to Carver, Minnesota, in 1867. He served in the state legislatures of
1874, 1876, 1879, and 1881. He was appointed United States marshal
from 1882 to 1886. He was Grand Master of the Masonic fraternity in
1884-5. He was married in Wisconsin in 1863, and has a family of four
children.
[Illustration: PRESENT HOME OF THE AUTHOR ERECTED BY HIM A.D. 1855.]
APPENDIX.
MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS, ITEMS AND STATISTICS, INCLUDING AN
ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF THE VARIOUS TREATIES BETWEEN THE UNITED
STATES GOVERNMENT AND THE INDIAN TRIBES INHABITING THE
TERRITORIES OF WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY UNTIL THE CREATION OF
WISCONSIN TERRITORY IN 1836.
SPANISH CLAIMS.
The Spaniards have made persistent claims to territory lying along the
Atlantic coast, the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and up the valley of
the Mississippi, basing their claims on discovery and conquest.
In 1512 Juan Ponce de Leon, a companion of Columbus, discovered
Florida, and planted on its shores the standard of Spain.
In 1539 Hernando de Soto visited Florida and having strengthened the
Spanish claim adventured west to the Mississippi, on which river he
died and in which he was stealthily buried by his surviving followers,
who returned to Florida broken and dispirited with the loss of half
their number. By virtue of De Soto's discovery of the Mississippi, the
Spaniards now laid claim to the land along that river and its
tributaries. They also claimed land lying along the Atlantic coast,
without limit, northward. This large and somewhat indefinite empire
was by them styled Florida, after the name of the peninsula on which
they gained their first foothold. Unable to defend or enforce their
claims, they gradually relinquished them, giving up tract after tract,
until the peninsula of Florida alone remained to them. This was ceded
to the United States in 1819.
The government of the Territory was vested in the discoverers. Ponce
de Leon was governor from 1512 until 1521. De Soto was governor of
Florida and Cuba until 1541. Melendez, by compact with King Philip,
succeeded him, his commission giving him a life tenure. The history of
the Spanish possessions is by no means interesting, and illustrates
chiefly the Spanish greed for gold.
FRENCH CLAIMS.
The French early disputed the claims of the Spaniards and Portuguese
to the possession of the New World, and accordingly in 1524 sent a
Florentine, Jean Verrazzani, who explored the coast from Carolina to
Nova Scotia, took possession of it, and called it New France. Ten
years later Cartea continued the work, sailing around New Foundland
and ascending the St. Lawrence as far as the site of Montreal. In 1564
a French colony located in Florida, but were almost immediately
exterminated by the Spaniards. During the following century the French
pushed their explorations to the regions of the Mississippi and the
great lakes. In the year 1603 Champlain was engaged in the exploration
of the St. Lawrence, and in 1609, he, with two other Frenchmen,
explored Lake Champlain and the country of the Iroquois and took
possession of it in the name of Henry IV of France. In 1611 and 1612
he explored Lake Huron, entered Saginaw bay, passed down Detroit
river, exploring Lake Erie, and laid the foundation of French
sovereignty in the valley of the St. Lawrence. Champlain for many
years prosecuted the fur trade where Boston now stands, prior to the
landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock.
We have not space for a complete account of the conflicting claims of
the French and English, but will give the boundaries of New France as
defined by French and English authorities at different times: 1609--L'
Escartot, in his "Histoire de la Nouvelle France," defines the French
boundaries as extending "on the west to the Pacific ocean, on the
south to the Spanish West Indies, on the east to the North Atlantic,
and on the north to the Frozen Sea." 1683--Baron La Honton says, "All
the world knows that Canada reaches from the 39th to the 65th degrees
of north latitude and from the 284th to the 336th degrees of
longitude." [More accurately from about 45 to 90 degrees west, or from
Cape Race to the Mississippi.] The French government persistently
denied the right of the English to any territory west of the
Alleghanies. The great Northwest, therefore, was for a long time under
French rule and influence. We must accord to France the credit of
making the first progress in civil government in the Northwest. They
made many permanent settlements and by a wise and pacific policy so
conciliating the Indian tribes that they were able to hold their
positions on the frontier at will. They were early and persistent
explorers, and, under the guidance of pious and devoted Jesuit
missionaries, planted settlements in the most desirable places. They
made a cordon of posts reaching from Louisiana to the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and along the chain
of the great lakes, completely surrounded the English colonies and
disputed with them the possession of the country. The French-English
War of 1689 to 1697 failed to decide satisfactorily the question of
the interior domain.
In 1712 New France was divided into two provinces, that of Canada and
that of Louisiana, the dividing line being the Ohio, Mississippi and
Missouri rivers, the Mississippi boundary line extending from the
mouth of the Ohio to the mouth of the Missouri river. Mobile was made
the capital of the southern province. The patent or commission of the
new province was issued to Crozat, Marquis du Chatel. The Illinois
country was afterward added, and it seems probable that the country
east of the Wabash was also included in it. All north of the boundary
named formed part of the province of Canada. Other boundaries than
these have been given by geographers, but these boundaries are
sufficiently established by official documents.
In 1763 all of the territory claimed by France lying east of the
Mississippi river was ceded to the English, the territory lying west
to Spain. Virginia, by three royal charters, given in 1606, 1607 and
1611, by the English government, held a part of the Northwest
Territory, and in 1776 established three counties north of the Ohio
river, named Ohio, Youghiogheny and Monongahela, but in 1787 ceded
this territory to the United States. Its settlement was somewhat
impeded by the perils of the wilderness, not the least of which was
the doubtful and often unfriendly attitude of the Indians, resulting
in many cases from the changes in the tenure of the lands, and the
influence of French or English emissaries, generally hostile to
American claims. The history of these early settlements is replete
with thrilling adventures.
The first settlement made in the newly ceded territory was at
Marietta, Ohio, in 1788, under the supervision of Gen. Rufus Putnam,
nephew of Gen. Israel Putnam, and first surveyor general of the
Northwest Territory. The settlement was named Marietta, in honor of
Queen Marie Antoinette, who had been a firm friend to the colonies
during the Revolutionary struggle. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was appointed
governor July 15, 1788, of the newly organized Ohio Territory.
The country claimed by Virginia under the royal charters included the
land lying between the sea shore on the east, and the Mississippi on
the west, the Ohio river on the south, and the British possessions on
the north. It will be seen, therefore, that that part of the Northwest
Territory lying immediately along the eastern banks of the Mississippi
now comprised in the state of Wisconsin and part of Minnesota, has
been successively claimed by Spain, France, England, Virginia, and the
United States, and under the territorial governments of the
Northwest--Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin
territories. That part of Minnesota lying west of the Mississippi
belonged to the French by right of discovery, but passed into the
hands of Spain, thence back again into the hands of France, by whom,
with the territory known as Louisiana, it was sold to the United
States in 1803. The original grant to Virginia included far more than
the area of the State and that of the Northwest Territory, but was
subsequently reduced by grants made by states lying north of Virginia,
and vexatious disputes arose as to titles, a circumstance calculated
to retard rapid settlement.
We append the following data concerning the early history of the
territory included in the present states of Wisconsin and Minnesota,
tabulated for more convenient reference:
1634. Jean Nicollet ventured into Wisconsin, and explored the country
from Lake Michigan for a considerable distance down the Wisconsin
river.
1658. Two fur traders penetrated to Lake Superior and wintered there,
probably on Wisconsin soil.
1660. Rev. M. Menard with eight companions came to La Pointe, Lake
Superior.
1665. Claude Allouez, an eminent pioneer missionary, succeeded Menard,
and re-established the mission at La Pointe.
1669. Father Allouez established a mission on the shores of Green bay,
locating it at Depere in 1671.
1670. Father Allouez made a voyage of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to
within a short distance of the Mississippi--a near approach to the
discovery of the Father of Waters.
1671. In this year the French took formal possession of the whole
Northwest, confirmed in 1689.
1673. Louis Joliet, accompanied by Father James Marquette, discovered
the Mississippi river.
1674. Father Marquette coasted Lake Michigan, from Green Bay, by
Milwaukee, to the site of the present city of Chicago.
1679. The Griffin, a schooner built by La Salle, and the first to make
a voyage of the lakes above Niagara, arrived at the mouth of Green
bay.
Capt. Duluth held a council, and concluded a peace with the natives of
Lake Superior.
1680. About the first of May Father Louis Hennepin arrived at Mille
Lacs, as prisoner of a Dakotah war party, who captured him at Lake
Pepin, while on his way up the Mississippi. He remained at Mille Lacs
several months. On his return homeward, after being released, he
discovered the falls, which he named for his patron saint, Anthony of
Padua. His book, published after his return to Europe, is the first
printed account of Minnesota.
1683. Le Sueur made a voyage of the Fog and Wisconsin rivers to the
Mississippi.
1688. Nicholas Perrot first planted the cross and arms of France on
the soil of Minnesota, and first laid formal claim to the country for
France. He built a fort on Lake Pepin, near Lake City.
1695. Le Sueur built a fort on Isle Pelee, in the Mississippi, below
Prescott.
1700. Le Sueur established Fort L'Huillier, on the Blue Earth river
(near the mouth of the Le Sueur), and first supplied the Sioux with
firearms.
1716. Le Louvigny's battle with the Fox Indians at Butte des Morts.
1719. Francis Renalt explored the Upper Mississippi with two hundred
miners.
1721. Previous to this date a French fort had been established at
Green Bay, on the present site of Fort Howard.
1727. The French established a fort on Lake Pepin, with Sieur de
Lapperriere as commandant.
A trading post, called Fort Beauharnois, was established on the north
side of Lake Pepin.
1728. There was a great flood in the Mississippi, and Fort Beauharnois
was submerged.
A French expedition, under De Lignery, from Mackinaw, punished the
Foxes.
1734. A battle took place between the French, and the Sacs and Foxes.
1751. Sieur Marin, in command at Green Bay, made a peace with the
Indians.
1761. Capt. Balfour and Lieut. Gorrell, with English troops, took
possession of Green Bay.
1763. The English, under Lieut. Gorrell, abandoned Green Bay in
consequence of the Indian War under Pontiac.
Treaty of Paris, by which all the territory of New France, including
Wisconsin, was surrendered to the English.
About this date the Canadian-French trading establishment at Green Bay
ripened into a permanent settlement, the first upon any portion of the
territory now forming the state of Wisconsin.
By the treaty of Versailles, France ceded Minnesota east of the
Mississippi to England, and west of it to Spain.
1766. Capt. Jonathan Carver visited St. Anthony falls and Minnesota
river. He pretended to have made a treaty with the Indians the
following spring, in a cave near St. Paul, known for several years as
Carver's Cave. He also reports a town of three hundred inhabitants at
Prairie du Chien.
1774. A civil government was established over Canada and the
Northwest, by the celebrated "Quebec Act."
1777. Indians from Wisconsin join the British against the Americans.
1786. Julian Dubuque explored the lead region of the Upper
Mississippi.
1788. There was an Indian council at Green Bay. Permission to work the
lead mines was given to Dubuque.
1793. Lawrence Barth built a cabin at the portage of the Fog and
Wisconsin rivers, and engaged in the carrying trade.
1795. French settlement commenced at Milwaukee.
1796. The western posts were surrendered by the English to the United
States, and the ordinance of 1787 extended over the Northwest.
1798-99. The Northwestern Fur Company established itself in Minnesota.
1800. Indiana Territory organized, including Wisconsin.
1803. Antoine Barth settled at the portage of the Fog and Wisconsin
rivers.
1804. Indian treaty at St. Louis; Southern Wisconsin purchased.
1805. Michigan Territory organized.
1809. Thomas Nuttall, the botanist, explored Wisconsin.
Illinois Territory was organized, including nearly all the present
state of Wisconsin.
1812. Indians assembled at Green Bay to join the English.
1814. Gov. Clark took possession of Prairie du Chien. Prairie du Chien
surrendered to the British.
1815. United States trading post established at Green Bay.
1816. Indian treaty confirming that of 1804.
United States troops took possession of Prairie du Chien, and
commenced the erection of Fort Crawford.
Col. Miller commenced the erection of Fort Howard, at Green Bay.
1818. State of Illinois was organized; Wisconsin attached to Michigan.
Brown, Crawford and Michillimackinac counties were organized by the
territory of Michigan which embraced in their boundaries, besides
other territory, the whole of the present state of Wisconsin.
1820. United States commissioners adjusted land claims at Green Bay.
1822. The New York Indians purchase lands east of Lake Winnebago.
James Johnson obtained from the Indians the right to dig for lead by
negro slaves from Kentucky.
1823. January. Counties of Brown, Crawford and Michillimackinac made a
separate judicial district by Congress.
First steamboat on the Upper Mississippi, with Maj. Taliafero and
Count Beltrami.
Lieut. Bayfield, of the British Navy, makes a survey of Lake Superior.
1824. First term of United States court held at Green Bay, Judge Duane
Doty presiding.
1825. Great flood on the Red River of the North; a part of the colony
driven to Minnesota, and settle near Fort Snelling.
1826. First steamboat on Lake Michigan.
1827. Rush of speculators to lead mines.
Treaty with Menomonies at Butte des Morts.
1828. Fort Winnebago built. Indian treaty at Green Bay. Lead ore
discovered at Mineral Point and at Dodgeville.
1832. Black Hawk War.
Schoolcraft explored sources of Mississippi river. First mission
established at Leech Lake, by Rev. W. T. Boutwell, now of Stillwater.
1834. The portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi attached to
Michigan. Gen. H. H. Sibley settles at Mendota.
1835. Catlin and Featherstonhaugh visit Minnesota.
1836. The territory of Wisconsin organized. Nicollet visits Minnesota.
1837. Gov. Dodge, of Wisconsin, made a treaty at Fort Snelling, with
the Ojibways, by which the latter ceded lands on the St. Croix and its
tributaries; a treaty was also effected at Washington with a
deputation of Dakotahs for their lands east of the Mississippi. These
treaties led the way to the first actual settlements in the Territory.
1838. The treaty ratified by Congress. Frank Steele makes a claim at
St. Anthony Falls. Pierre Parrant makes a claim and builds a shanty on
the present site of St. Paul.
1839. Sioux and Chippewa battle fought near Stillwater.
1840. St. Croix county established.
The chapel of "St. Paul" built and consecrated, giving the name to the
capital of the state of Minnesota.
1843. Stillwater settled.
1846. August 6th, the Wisconsin enabling act passed.
1847. The Wisconsin constitutional convention meets. The town of St.
Paul surveyed, platted and recorded in the St. Croix county register
of deeds' office. First improvement of the water power at falls of St.
Anthony. Treaty with the Chippewas at Fond du Lac, August 2d. Treaty
with the Pillagers at Leech Lake, August 21st.
1848. May 29th, Wisconsin admitted. August 26th, the "Stillwater
Convention" held, to take measures for a separate territorial
organization. October 30th, H. H. Sibley elected delegate to Congress.
1850. Great flood on the Mississippi. Minnesota river navigated by
steamboats. Census of Minnesota shows population of 4,780.
1851. Permanent location of the capital of Minnesota at St Paul.
Treaty of the Traverse des Sioux, opening territory west of the
Mississippi to settlement July 23d. Treaty at Mendota with the Sioux
August 5th.
1852. President Pierce appoints Willis A. Gorman governor of
Minnesota.
1854. Real estate mania commenced. Treaty with the Chippewas at La
Pointe, September 30th.
1855. Treaty at Washington, District of Columbia, with the Chippewas,
and cession of lands in Minnesota, February 22d.
1857. Enabling act to admit Minnesota passed Congress. President
Buchanan appoints Gen. Sam Medary governor of Minnesota. Ink-pa-dootah
massacre in April. Minnesota constitutional convention met in June.
Constitution adopted in October.
1858. Minnesota admitted as a state. State loan of $250,000
guaranteed. The $5,000,000 loan bill adopted.
1859. Hard times. Work on the land grant road ceases. Collapse of the
$5,000,000 scheme. First export of grain this fall.
1860. Federal census, 172,123.
1861. April 13th. President's proclamation for troops received. The
First regiment recruits at once. June 22d it embarks at Fort Snelling
for the seat of war.
1862. Call for 600,000 men. August 17th, massacre at Acton; 18th,
outbreak at Lower Sioux agency; 19th, New Ulm attacked; 20th, Fort
Ridgely attacked; 25th, second attack on New Ulm; 30th, Fort
Abercrombie besieged; September 1st, the bloody affair at Birch
Coolie; 19th, first railroad in Minnesota in operation between St.
Paul and Minneapolis; 22d, battle of Wood Lake; 26th, captives
surrendered at Camp Release; military commission tries 321 Indians for
murder, rape, etc.; 303 condemned to die; December 26th, 38 hanged at
Mankato.
1863. Gen. Sibley's expedition to the Missouri river. July 3d, Little
Crow killed; 24th, battle of Big Mound; 26th, battle of Dead Buffalo
Lake; 28th, battle of Stony Lake. Treaty at crossing of Red Lake river
with Chippewas, and cession of Dakotah lands, October 2d.
1864. Large levies for troops. Expedition to Missouri river under
Sully. Inflation of money market. Occasional Indian raids.
1865. Peace returns. Minnesota regiments return and are disbanded; in
all 25,052 troops furnished by the State. Census shows 250,000
inhabitants.
1866-72. Rapid railroad building everywhere, immigration heavy, "good
times" prevail, and real estate inflated.
1873. January 7th, 8th and 9th, polar wave sweeps over the State;
seventy persons perish. September, the Jay Cooke failure creates
another panic. Grasshopper raid begins and continues five seasons.
1876. September 7th, armed outlaws from Missouri attack a Northfield
bank. Three killed, three prisoners.
1877. Minnesota legislature adopts biennial sessions.
1878. May 2d, three flouring mills at Minneapolis explode; eighteen
lives lost.
1880. November 15th, hospital for the insane at St. Peter partly
destroyed by fire; twenty-five lives lost.
1881. March 1, capitol at St. Paul destroyed by fire.
1886. Cyclone destroys Sauk Rapids. Wisconsin legislature adopts
biennial sessions.
THE BOUNDARY QUESTION.
The question of the western boundary of Wisconsin had been agitated
since the Martin bill for the organization of the State had been
introduced in 1846. This bill established the present boundary. The
majority of the people residing in the valley of the St. Croix were
opposed to it on the ground that the interests of the valley on both
sides were identical, and that it was not proper that the two sides
should be separated by a state line. The question became a political
one, and at the election of delegates for the constitutional
convention of Oct. 5, 1846, Wm. Holcombe was elected over Joseph
Bowron, as representing the sentiments of the people of the valley as
opposed to the proposed boundary line.
In convention Mr. Holcombe advocated a boundary line commencing at
Mount Trempeleau on the Mississippi, running due north to Lake
Superior. Failing in this, he advocated a boundary line to be
established at a point fifteen miles due east of the most easterly
point on Lake St. Croix, said line extending from that point due south
to the Mississippi and due north to the tributary waters of Lake
Superior. In this he was successful, and the constitution in which
this boundary line was thus fixed went to the people and was rejected,
greatly to the disappointment of the people of the St. Croix valley,
who felt that they had been unjustly dealt with. There seems, indeed,
to be but little excuse for the attitude of the majority of the
citizens of Wisconsin with regard to this boundary. Certainly but
little attention was shown to the interests of the people in the
western section of the Territory.
Prior to the meeting of the second constitutional convention, Dec. 15,
1847, public meetings were held at St. Croix Falls and in Stillwater,
at which latter place enthusiastic resolutions were passed
remonstrating against this unnatural boundary, which resolutions were
signed by nearly all the citizens of the St. Croix valley, and a few
in and around St. Paul, asking the convention to establish the western
boundary on a line running due north from the foot of Lake Pepin to
Lake Superior. George W. Brownell was elected from the St. Croix
district to the second convention, with instructions to work for this
boundary. Joseph Bowron, Brownell's opponent, was defeated by a large
majority. The following is the abstract of votes:
BOWRON. BROWNELL.
Willow River (now Hudson) 7 4
Lake St. Croix 7 14
Stillwater 9 39
St. Paul 41 40
Marine Mills ... 22
St. Croix Falls 26 18
Clam River 6 17
Apple River 1 6
Wood Lake 2 6
Rush Lake 2 8
Osceola (no election) --- ---
Totals 101 174
Mr. Brownell made strong and persistent efforts to have the boundary
line adjusted in accordance with the sentiments of the people of the
valley, but in vain. Morgan L. Martin, delegate to Congress from
Wisconsin Territory, had framed the bill establishing the present
boundary, and it was urged that any effort to change the line would
tend to prevent the immediate admission of the State, and it was
thought a political necessity that the State should be admitted at
once, that it might take part in the ensuing presidential election.
Under such pressure the convention made haste to adopt, and the people
to accept, a constitution with boundary lines that should never have
been made. The State was admitted in time to cast its electoral vote
for Gen. Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore.
At a meeting held by the people of the St. Croix valley, subsequent
to this convention and prior to its adoption by the people, the
following resolutions were passed, and we append them as expressing
very generally the sentiments of the people of the valley:
WHEREAS, By the establishment of the St. Croix river as a part of the
boundary line between the State and territory of Wisconsin, the
inhabitants of our remote settlements are greatly aggrieved, our local
rights and privileges neglected and abridged, our geographical,
material and natural political alliance with our neighbors of the new
territory will be cut off; and
WHEREAS, Our oft repeated remonstrances and appeals to the authorities
of the new state have been unavailing; therefore
_Resolved_, That the establishment of the St. Croix river as a part of
the boundary of the state of Wisconsin, against the will of the
inhabitants of the valley of said river, is unjust, unreasonable and
contrary to the principles upon which our government is founded.
_Resolved_, That in establishing the present boundary, our known and
acknowledged wishes and interests are invaded by the might of a
majority; that as the boundary is now established, so great is the
distance and obstacles intervening, severing us, together with the
people of Lake Superior, from the seat of government, that we can not
enjoy a prompt and equitable share in representation, and we would
respectfully admonish our brethren that equal representation involves
a principle which is deeply and peculiarly American.
_Resolved_, That the interests of the inhabitants of St. Croix, being
identical from the nature of the staple business of the country, the
river being the natural centre to which all the business of the valley
tends, a boundary severing the natural ties in connection is uncalled
for, inconvenient and vexatious.
_Resolved_, That the inhabitants of the territory of the whole
Northwest are deeply interested in procuring a just and wise
alteration of the present line of divisions, because from the
geography of the country, the line as now established, we are robbed
of a future star in the galaxy of the American sisterhood of states.
_Resolved_, That we pledge ourselves to stand united and unceasingly
use all honorable means in our power to procure the establishment of a
boundary east of St. Croix valley.
_Resolved_, That a committee of three be appointed to prepare and
forward a memorial to the present legislature on this subject.
The resolutions as a whole were unanimously adopted.
In accordance with the last resolution the chair appointed Wm. R.
Marshall, G. W. Brownell and W. H. C. Folsom, Esqs., a committee.
On motion the secretary was instructed to forward copies of the
proceedings of the meeting to the Prairie du Chien _Patriot_, Galena
_Gazette_ and Wisconsin _Argus_, requesting their publication.
H. H. PERKINS,
_Chairman_.
R. V. D. SMITH,
_Secretary_.
No attention was paid to the action of the public meeting. It is
possible that none was expected. It was some satisfaction to the
people of the valley to give such an expression of their opinion of
the wrong done them. The admission of Wisconsin with the St. Croix as
a boundary line left the country immediately west of that river
virtually without law. Nevertheless, Wisconsin territorial laws were
acknowledged west of the St. Croix and were generally considered
binding until a new territorial government should be organized. The
territorial governor, Gen. Henry Dodge, had been elected United States
senator and therefore could not claim jurisdiction over this part of
the territory lying beyond state limits. John Catlin, territorial
secretary, held that the territorial government still existed in the
part of the original territory excluded.
At a public meeting held in Stillwater, Aug. 26, 1848 (a preliminary
meeting having been held August 24th, at which an understanding was
effected with Mr. Catlin and he invited to exercise authority as a
territorial officer), steps were taken for the organization of a new
territory, and Mr. Catlin, having removed to Stillwater, issued a
proclamation in his official capacity, ordering an election to be held
for the selection of a delegate to Congress. To facilitate this
movement John H. Tweedy, territorial delegate from Wisconsin,
resigned. The election was held Oct. 30, 1848, and H. H. Sibley was
elected as a successor to John H. Tweedy, his papers being certified
by John Catlin, secretary of Wisconsin Territory. Mr. Sibley proceeded
to Washington, presented his credentials and patiently awaited
recognition, which was not very speedily accorded, there being
considerable discussion as to the right of excluded territory to
continued political existence. His admission, on the fifteenth of
January, as a delegate, settled the question and established a
precedent that the creation of a state government does not deprive
portions of the territory not included within state limits of the
right to existence and representation. Mr. Sibley ably presented the
claims of his constituents and with great difficulty succeeded in
procuring the passage of a bill organizing the new territory of
Minnesota.
With all respect to the action of Congress in receiving Mr. Sibley as
a legally elected delegate (and, under the circumstances, the action
seems wise), the question still rises: "Had we a legal territorial
government?" If we had, what was the necessity for a new organization?
Why could not the excluded territory continue under the old _regime_,
or inherit, so to speak, the old government machinery? If we had no
legal existence, by what authority could Mr. Sibley represent us? The
Wisconsin territorial government had ceased to exist. Ours had not
begun to live.
The territory of Minnesota was created by act of Congress, March 3,
1849, a little over thirty days after the introduction of the bill
creating it. There had been some discussion as to the name. In the
bill presented by Morgan L. Martin it was named Minnesota. Senator
Stephen A. Douglas, chairman of the committee on territories,
recommended the passage of the bill, and that the new territory be
named Itasca. When the bill was before the house the names Chippewa,
Jackson and Washington were proposed, but the name in the original
bill was adopted. It is a compound word, taken from the Sioux
language, and has for its meaning "Land of sky-tinted water." The news
of the passage of the bill reached Stillwater April 9th, and was
received with great rejoicing.
The United States land office which had been established at St. Croix
Falls in 1848 was removed to Stillwater July 1, 1849. Abraham Van
Voorhes was appointed register and William Holcombe receiver.
INDIAN TREATIES.
Sept. 23, 1805, at the mouth of St. Peter's river (now Mendota) with
the Sioux. (For account of this treaty see "Gen. Pike and the
Indians.")
July 29, 1837, at St. Peter (now Mendota), Wisconsin Territory, the
Chippewa Indians ceded to the United States the following tract of
country: Beginning at the junction of the Crow Wing and Mississippi
rivers, between twenty and thirty miles, above where the Mississippi
is crossed by the forty-sixth parallel of north latitude, and running
thence to the north point of Lake St. Croix, one of the sources of the
St. Croix river; thence to and along the dividing ridge between the
waters of Lake Superior and those of the Mississippi, to the sources
of the Ochasua-sepe, a tributary of the Chippewa river; thence to a
point on the Chippewa river twenty miles below the outlet of Lake De
Flambeau; thence to the junction of the Wisconsin and Pelican rivers;
thence on an east course twenty-five miles; thence southerly on a
course parallel with that of the Wisconsin river to the line dividing
the territories of the Chippewas and the Menomonies; thence to the
Plover portage; thence along the southern boundary of the Chippewa
country to the commencement of the boundary line dividing it from that
of the Sioux, half a day's march below the falls on the Chippewa
river; thence with said boundary line to the month of the Waw-tab[F]
river, at its junction with the Mississippi; and thence up the
Mississippi to the place of beginning.
HENRY DODGE,
_Commissioner_.
Sept. 29, 1837, at Washington, District of Columbia, the Sioux nation
of Indians ceded to the United States all their lands east of the
Mississippi river, and all of their islands in the said river, Joel R.
Poinsett, secretary of war, commanding, which cession embraced all
their land east of the Mississippi and west of the following lines
commencing at the Chippewa river, half a day's march below the falls,
from thence to Red Cedar river, immediately below the falls; thence to
the St. Croix river at a point called the Standing Cedar, about a
day's paddle in a canoe, above the lake at the mouth of that river;
thence passing between two lakes called by the Chippewas, "Green,
Lakes," and by the Sioux, "The Lakes they Bury the Eagles in," thence
to the Standing Cedar, that "the Sioux split;" thence to Rum river,
crossing at the mouth of a small creek called Choking creek, a long
day's march from the Mississippi; thence to a point of woods that
project into the prairie, half a day's march from the Mississippi;
thence in a straight line to the mouth of the first river which enters
the Mississippi at the east side above the mouth of Sac river (Watab
river). The above boundary line was established between the Sioux and
Chippewa Indiana at Prairie du Chien, Aug. 19, 1825.
WILLIAM CLARK,
LEWIS CASS,
_Commissioners_.
St. Paul, East Minneapolis and Stillwater are embraced within the
above limits.
Nov. 1, 1837, at Washington, District of Columbia, with the
Winnebagoes.
The Winnebagoes at this treaty ceded all their lands lying east of the
Mississippi river, and received in return $200,000. Of this amount
$150,000 was reserved to satisfy the claims of Indian traders, and the
remaining $50,000 was paid to certain individuals of the tribe. There
was set apart the further sum of $100,000, to be paid, by order of the
president of the United States, to mixed blood relatives of these
Indiana. Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, and James Murray, of
Maryland, were commissioned to adjust claims, pay debts and partition
the amount alloted to the mixed bloods. The Winnebagoes, including
mixed blood relatives, numbered over 4,000 souls. The payments and
adjustments were made at Prairie du Chien, October, 1838. Soon after
complaints were made of the arbitrary and unjust distribution of these
funds. The secretary of war, Joel R. Poinsett, countermanded the
action of the commissioners and appointed Judge Fleming, of New York,
to act as commissioner. The parties were reassembled at Prairie du
Chien in September, 1839, and the unpleasant business was in some way
adjusted and closed up.
Aug. 2, 1847, at Fond du Lac of Lake Superior, the Chippewa Indians of
the Mississippi and Lake Superior ceded to the United States the
country beginning at the junction of the Crow Wing and Mississippi
rivers, thence up the Crow Wing river to the junction of that river
with the Long Prairie river; thence up the Long Prairie river to the
boundary line between the Sioux and Chippewa Indians; thence southerly
along said boundary line to a lake at the head of Long Prairie river;
thence in a direct line to the sources of the (Waw-tab) river; thence
down that river to its junction with the Mississippi river; thence up
the Mississippi river to the place of beginning.
ISSAC A. VERPLANCK,
HENRY M. RICE,
_Commissioners_.
Aug. 21, 1847, at Leech Lake, the Pillager band of Chippewa Indians
ceded to the United States the country beginning at the south end of
Otter Tail lake; thence southerly on the boundary line between the
Sioux and Chippewa Indians to Long Prairie river; thence up said river
to Crow Wing river; thence up Crow Wing river to Leaf river; thence up
Leaf river to its head; thence in a direct line to the place of
beginning.
ISSAC A. VERPLANCK,
HENRY M. RICE,
_Commissioners_.
July 23, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux (now St. Peter), the See-see-toan
and Wah-pay-toan bands of Dakotah or Sioux Indians ceded to the United
States all their lands in the state of Iowa; and the territory of
Minnesota, lying east of a line beginning at the junction of the
Buffalo river and the Red River of the North; thence along the western
bank of said river to the mouth of the Sioux Wood river; thence along
the western bank of said Sioux Wood river to Lake Traverse; thence
along the western shore of said lake to the northern extremity
thereof; thence in a direct line to the junction of Kampeska lake with
the Tchan-kas-an-data or Sioux river; thence along the western bank of
said river to its point of intersection with the northern line of the
state of Iowa, including all the islands in said rivers and lake.
LUKE LEA, Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
ALEXANDER RAMSEY, Governor and
_Ex-officio_ Superintendent of Indian Affairs,
_Commissioners_.
A small reservation was set apart for said Indians, which they
forfeited by their attack upon the whites in 1862.
Aug. 5, 1851, at Mendota, the Med-ay-wa-kan-toan and Wah-pay-koo-tay
bands of Dakotah and Sioux Indians ceded to the United States all of
their lands in the territory of Minnesota and state of Iowa.
LUKE LEA,
ALEXANDER RAMSEY,
_Commissioners_.
The two treaties made by Commissioners Lea and Ramsey included the
following area:
Beginning at the junction of Buffalo river with the Red River of the
North, in Clay county; thence along the western bank of the Red River
of the north to the mouth of Sioux Wood river; thence along the
western bank of Sioux Wood river to Lake Traverse; thence along its
western shore to its southern extremity; thence to the head of Sioux
river; thence along said Sioux river to the northern line of the state
of Iowa; thence along the southern boundary of the state of Minnesota
to the Mississippi river; thence up said river to the mouth of Waw-tab
river (just north of St. Cloud in Stearns county); thence up that
river to its head; thence to the place of beginning. A part of the
state of Iowa not included in the above was also ceded to the United
States. A large strip of Dakota Territory is included. This last tract
includes nearly one-half of the state of Minnesota, containing its now
richest and most populous counties.
Sept. 30, 1854, at La Pointe, Lake Superior, Wisconsin, the Chippewas
of Lake Superior ceded to the United States all of their lands lying
east of a line beginning at a point where the east branch of Snake
river crosses the southern boundary line of the Chippewa country,
running thence up the said branch to its source; thence nearly north
in a straight line to the mouth of East Savannah river; thence up the
St. Louis river to the mouth of East Swan river; thence up the East
Swan river to its source; thence in a straight line to the most
westerly bend of Vermillion river, and thence down the Vermillion
river to its mouth.
HENRY C. GILBERT,
DAVID B. HERRIMAN,
_Commissioners_.
The foregoing treaty embraced all of the country bordering upon Lake
Superior in the state of Minnesota, including the valuable iron and
other mines.
The city of Duluth is within the limits of the cession.
Owing to the efforts of Henry M. Rice, then in Congress, the
commissioners were appointed, and to his personal influence with the
Chippewas the treaty was made.
Feb. 22, 1885, at Washington, District of Columbia, the Mississippi,
Pillager, and Lake Winnibigoshish bands of Chippewa Indians ceded to
the United States all the lands owned or claimed by them in the
territory of Minnesota, and included within the following boundaries,
viz.: "Beginning at a point where the east branch of Snake river
crosses the southern boundary line of the Chippewa country, east of
the Mississippi river, as established by the treaty of July 29, 1837,
running thence up the said branch to its source; thence nearly north
in a straight line to the mouth of East Savannah river; thence up the
St. Louis river to the mouth of East Swan river; thence up said river
to its source; thence in a straight line to the most westerly bend of
Vermillion river; thence northwestwardly in a straight line to the
first and most considerable bend in the Big Fork river; thence down
said river to its mouth; thence down Rainy Lake river to the mouth of
Black river; thence up that river to its source; thence in a straight
line to the northern extremity of Turtle Lake; thence in a straight
line to the mouth of Wild Rice river; thence up the Red River of the
North to the mouth of Buffalo river; thence in a straight line to the
southwestern extremity of Otter Tail lake; thence through said lake to
the source of Leaf river; thence down said river to its junction with
Crow Wing river; thence down Crow Wing river to its junction with the
Mississippi river; thence to the place of beginning."
GEORGE W. MANYPENNY,
_Commissioner_.
All lands in Minnesota Territory east of the foregoing boundary line
were ceded to the United States at La Pointe, Lake Superior, Sept. 30,
1854. Several reservations were set aside in each purchase for the
future residence of various bands of said Chippewa and Pillager
Indians.
It was by the efforts of Henry M. Rice, then in Congress, that the
Indians were invited to Washington, and through his personal influence
that the treaty was made. Several treaties were afterward made with
the Chippewa and Pillager Indians, merely changing or reducing their
reservation.
Oct. 2, 1863, at the old crossing of the Red Lake river, in the state
of Minnesota, the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians ceded
to the United States all their right, title and interest in and to all
the lands now owned and claimed by them in the state of Minnesota and
in the territory of Dakota within the following boundaries, to wit:
"Beginning at the point where the international boundary between the
United States and the British possessions intersects the shore of the
Lake of the Woods; thence in a direct line southwestwardly to the head
of Thief river; thence down the main channel of said Thief river to
its mouth on the Red Lake river; thence in a southeasterly direction,
in a direct line toward the head of Wild Rice river, to a point where
such line would intersect the northwestern boundary of a tract ceded
to the United States by a treaty concluded at Washington on the
twenty-second day of February, 1855, with the Mississippi, Pillager
and Lake Winnibigoshish bands of Chippewa Indians; thence along said
boundary line of said cession to the mouth of Wild Rice river; thence
up the main channel of the Red river to the mouth of the Sheyenne;
thence up the main channel of the Sheyenne river to Poplar Grove;
thence in a direct line to the head of the main branch of Salt river;
thence in a direct line due north to the international boundary line;
thence eastwardly to the place of beginning."
ALEXANDER RAMSEY,
ASHLEY C. MORRILL,
_Commissioners_.
All the lands included in the foregoing treaty east of the Red River
of the North are within the state of Minnesota.
The heretofore mentioned treaties include all the lands within the
state of Minnesota originally owned by Indian tribes, except the Red
Lake reservation, and for its cession a treaty was negotiated in 1886,
which to this date, April, 1888, has not been ratified.
GEN. PIKE AND THE INDIANS.
Gen. Zebulon M. Pike, United States Army, was sent by the government
in 1805-6 on a tour of inspection, to select sites for forts, and to
treat and hold councils with the various Indian tribes of the Upper
Mississippi. He met the Sioux in council at the junction of the St.
Peter's and Mississippi rivers, Sept. 23, 1805, and informed them
that he came to purchase lands for government forts, and to tell them
what the Great Father at Washington desired them to know about his
people and their government. A part of his speech we subjoin:
"BROTHERS: You old men probably know that about thirty years ago we
were subject to the king of England, and governed by his laws. But he
not treating us as children we refused to acknowledge him as father.
After ten years of war, in which he lost 100,000 men, he acknowledged
us as a free and independent nation. They knew that not many years
since we received Detroit, Michilmackinac, and all the ports on the
lakes from the English, and now but the other day, Louisiana from the
Spanish; so that we put one foot on the sea at the east, and the other
on the sea at the west, and if once children are now men; yet I think
that the traders who come from Canada are bad birds amongst the
Chippewas, and instigate them to make war on their red brothers, the
Sioux, in order to prevent our traders from going high up the
Mississippi. This I shall inquire into, and so warn those persons of
their ill conduct.
"Brothers, I expect that you will give orders to all your young
warriors to respect my flag and protection, which I may send to the
Chippewa chief who may come down with me in the spring; for was a dog
to run to my lodge for safety, his enemy must walk over me to hurt
him.
"Brothers, I am told that the traders have made a practice of selling
rum to you. All of you in your right senses must know that this is
injurious and occasions quarrels, murders, etc., amongst yourselves.
For this reason your father has thought proper to prohibit the traders
from selling you rum.
"Brothers, I now present you with some of your father's tobacco, and
some other trifling things, as a memorandum of my good will, and
before my departure _I will give you some liquor to clear your
throats_."
At this conference the Sioux granted to the United States government a
tract nine miles square at the mouth of the St. Croix, and a similar
tract at the mouth of the St. Peter's, lying on both sides of the
Mississippi and including the falls of St. Anthony. Pike says: "They
gave the land required, about 100,000 acres of land (equal to
$200,000), and promised me a safe passage for myself and any chief I
might bring down. I gave them presents to the amount of about two
hundred dollars, and as soon as the council was over allowed the
traders to present them with liquor which, with what I gave, was equal
to sixty gallons." Pike in his journeying through the territory
ordered Dickson and others to haul down the British flag. It is on
record that the flags were hauled down, but also that they were
hoisted again after Pike's departure.
From Pike's own account of one of his inland tours he was hospitably
entertained by his red brothers, as the following paragraph from his
journal will show:
"After making this tour we returned to the chief's lodge and found a
berth provided for each of us, of good soft bear skins nicely spread,
and on mine there was a large feather pillow. I must not here omit to
mention an anecdote which serves to characterize more particularly
their manners. This, in the eyes of the contracted moralist, would
deform my hospitable host into a monster of libertinism; but by a
liberal mind would be considered as arising from the hearty generosity
of the wild savage. In the course of the day, observing a ring on one
of my fingers, he inquired if it was gold; he was told it was the gift
of one with whom I should be happy to be at that time; he seemed to
think seriously, and at night told my interpreter, 'that perhaps his
father (as they all called me) felt much grieved for the want of a
woman; if so, he could furnish him with one.' He was answered that
with us each man had but one wife, and that I considered it strictly
my duty to remain faithful to her. This he thought strange (he himself
having three) and replied that 'he knew some Americans at his nation
who had half a dozen wives during the winter.' The interpreter
observed that they were men without character; but that all our great
men had each but one wife. The chief acquiesced; but said he liked
better to have as many as he pleased."
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITED STATES SURVEYS IN THE NORTHWEST--A
CONDENSED STATEMENT FROM THE RECORDS OF THE BOOKS IN THE SURVEYOR
GENERAL'S OFFICE.
On the twenty-sixth day of January, 1796, when the American Congress
was in session at Philadelphia, a bill was reported for establishing
land offices in the Northwestern Territory. The bill was ably
discussed and there was much variance of opinion as to the
disposition of the lands to be surveyed and brought into the market.
Some favored a proposition to give the lands to actual settlers, and
others favored selling the lands at a stipulated price, applying the
proceeds to the payment of the national debt. The bill, when agreed
upon, bore the following title: "An act providing for the sale of the
lands of the United States in the territories northwest of the river
Ohio, and above the mouth of the Kentucky river." The bill was
approved by President Washington May 18, 1796.
This law established the office of surveyor general with powers
specifically limited. It directed him to run lines north and south
according to the true meridian, to be known as range lines, and
others, crossing them at right angles, to be known as township lines,
the townships thus formed to consist of areas six miles square, the
whole to be subdivided into 36 sections, each a mile square, each to
contain 640 acres of land, as near as may be, and to be subdivided
into quarters, containing 160 acres, and these quarters to be further
subdivided into forties. Marks were to be established at the corners
of every township and section. These surveys were not to conflict with
Indian treaty and military land warrants, or the course of navigable
waters.
This admirable device for surveying the public lands grew out of a
correspondence between Gen. Rufus Putnam and President Washington, in
1875, in which the former proposed the division of the public lands
into townships six miles square, to be marked by township and range
lines. Perhaps no more convenient and acceptable plan of survey could
have been devised. Gen. Benjamin Tupper was one of a company of
surveyors in 1796 that established the first lines under this new
system. This survey was made in Southeast Ohio.
The first surveyor general's office was opened at Marietta, Ohio, soon
after the approval of the bill, and Rufus Putnam was appointed
surveyor general. In 1803 he was removed by President Jefferson and
the office was located at Vincennes. A year later it was removed to
Cincinnati, in 1814 to Chillicothe, in 1829 to Cincinnati, in 1845 to
Detroit, and in 1857 to St. Paul, where it has since remained. The act
for the survey of the public lands has since been modified and
improved. In 1804 an act was approved providing for the marking of
quarter sections on the section lines.
By the same law under which the lands were subdivided and opened to
the public, one section, No. 16, in every township was reserved from
sale for the support of common schools. Two townships were also set
apart for the support of a university. This was the beginning of the
donations of land for school and other purposes.
THE UNITED STATES LAND OFFICE.
The first government land office in Wisconsin north of Mineral Point
was located at St. Croix Falls in 1848. Township plats were received,
lands advertised and offered for sale in September, covering the
ground where the cities of Stillwater and St. Paul are now located,
and adjacent country. The office was removed to Stillwater in 1849,
and the land district divided by the St. Croix river. The land office
for the east side was located at Willow River in 1849, and there
remained till 1860, when it was removed to St. Croix Falls. The
following are the receivers and registers:
1848. Samuel Leach, receiver; Charles S. Whiting, register.
1849. Moses S. Gibson, receiver; T. D. Catlin, register.
1853. Otis Hoyt, receiver; John O. Henning, register.
1857. J. D. Reymert, receiver; J.B. Spencer, register:
1859. Orpheus Evarts, receiver; J. B. Spencer, register.
1861. Benj. W. Reynolds, receiver; Michael Field, register.
1864. Hiram Calkins, receiver; Michael Field, register.
1869. Fayette Allen, receiver; Michael Field, register.
1871. Joel F. Nason, receiver; Michael Field, register.
1884. Alvah A. Heald, receiver; Michael Field, register.
1887. Alvah H. Heald, receiver; Wm. M. Blanding, register.
The first entry in the new district, Aug. 17, 1849, was by W. S.
Hungerford. Lot 4, Sec. 19, and Lots 1, 2, 3, Sec. 30, T. 34, R. 18,
where the village of St. Croix now stands. The second entry was by
George Brownell, Lot 3, Sec. 20, T. 24, R. 18. The oldest record to be
found in the office is the proving up by James Purinton of his
pre-emption, July 24, 1848. The first recorded correspondence is a
letter from S. Leach, receiver, to Geo. W. Jones, surveyor general,
Dubuque, Iowa. In June, 1863, under the receivership of Mr. Reynolds,
the safe in the office was blown open with powder and the contents
stolen. Some time afterward, in 1865, fifty land warrants and a bunch
of keys from the articles missing were thrown in at the office
window. They had the appearance of having been buried in the ground.
FIRST ENTRIES.
July 24, 1848. James Purinton, residence, St. Croix Falls. Lot 1, in
east fractional part Sec. 23, T. 29 north, R. 20 west, and W. 1/2 of
N. W. 1/4 and S. E. 1/4 of N. W. 1/4, Sec. 24, T. 29, R. 20, 137
70-100 acres; price, $1.25; cost, $172 12-100, silver; pre-emption
act, 1841. This pre-emption is where the dam and mills have since been
erected at North Hudson.
Aug. 12, 1848. Samuel Burkelo, Orange Walker and Hiram Berkey. Lots 7
and 8, west of river, Sec. 6, T. 31, R. 19, 108 25-100 acres; cost
$135 43-100, 1/4 gold; pre-emption act, 1840 (Marine Mills).
Aug. 16, 1848. Richard Freeborn. West 1/2 of N. W. 1/4 and N. E. 1/4
of N. W. 1/4, and Lot 3, Sec. 12, T. 28, R. 23, St. Paul; pre-emption
act, 1841.
The first land offered at public auction sale was Aug. 27, 1848.
4. Albert Henry Judd, Orange Walker, Samuel Burkelo, Hiram Berkey,
George Baldwin Judd, Asa Parker were the purchasers of Lots 5 and 6,
Sec. 7, T. 31, R. 19, west of river; cost, $106 46-100, gold.
5. Martin Mower, David B. Loomis; Lots 7 and 8, Sec. 29, T. 31, R. 19,
west of river; cost, $54 81-100, 1/4 gold (now Arcola).
6. John Allen; Lots 4 and 5, Sec. 2, T. 29, R. 20, west of river; gold
(Allen's Point, now South Stillwater).
7. Eleazer R. Steves; Lots 1 and 2, Sec. 14, T. 29, R. 20, east of
river; gold, $9.66; silver, $54.85; $64 51-100 (now Hudson).
8 and 9. Stephen Harris; N. 1/2 of S. E. 1/4 and E. 1/2 of S. W. 1/4,
Sec. 22, T. 29, R. 20.
10. Himan W. Greely; E. 1/2 of N. E. 1/4, Sec. 22, T. 29, R. 20, gold.
11 and 12. Albert N. Judd; W. 1/2 of S. E. 1/4 and E. 1/2 of S. W.
1/4, Sec. 22, T. 29, R. 20, gold.
13 and 14. Louis Massey; E. 1/2 of S. W. and Lots 1 and 2, Sec. 24, T.
29, R. 20, silver; east of Lake St. Croix (now Hudson).
15 and 16. Peter F. Bouchea, Lot 1, east of river, Sec. 25, T. 29, R.
20 and Lot 2, Sec. 25, T. 29, R. 20; gold, $63 22-100; silver,
$10--$73 22-100.
17 and 18. John O'Brien; Lot 3, Sec. 26, T. 29, R. 20 and W. 1/2 of S.
W. 1/4, Sec. 26, T. 29, R. 20, silver and gold (now Lakeland).
19 and 20. Albert H. Judd; E. 1/2 of N. E. 1/4, and W. 1/2 of N. W.
1/4, Sec. 22, T. 29, R. 20, gold.
21. Himan W. Greely; W. 1/2 of N. E. 1/4, Sec. 22, T. 29, R. 20, gold.
The above are all the purchasers at the first sale of land in the
valley at St. Croix Falls. Sale was continued from day to day until
townships 25 to 31 of ranges 19 and 20 were offered, covering the
settlement of St. Anthony Falls, St. Paul, Cottage Grove, and Point
Douglas.
The United States land office was moved from St. Croix Falls to
Stillwater in September, 1849. The first public sale of lands at
Stillwater was Oct. 9, 1849. The office was held in Stillwater nine
years. In October, 1858, it was moved to Cambridge, Isanti county;
November 3d the first sale of lands was held at Cambridge. April 7,
1860, the office was burned, many valuable papers were destroyed, and
many records were replaced from the archives at Washington. July 5,
1860, the office was moved to Sunrise, and Oct. 8, 1868, it was moved
to Taylor's Falls, where it is at the present time (1888).
LIST OF OFFICERS.
RECEIVERS. APPOINTED.
Samuel Leech 1848
N. Green Wilcox 1849
Jonathan E. McKusick 1852
William Holcomb 1853
Milton H. Abbott 1857
William H. Mower 1860
Lucas K. Stannard 1861
Oscar Roos 1871
George B. Folsom 1875
Peter H. Stolberg 1884
E. A. Umland 1887
REGISTERS. APPOINTED.
Charles S. Whitney 1848
Abraham Van Voorhes 1849
A. Pierce 1852
Thomas E. Fullerton 1853
Charles G. Wagner 1857
Henry N. Setzer 1860
Granville M. Stickney 1861
Charles B. Whiting 1864
William Comer 1666
John P. Owens 1869
Lucas K. Stannard 1884
The records do not show the date of commission of any officer; we
gather the dates as near as possible from recorded correspondence.
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF WISCONSIN.
Governors: Henry Dodge, 1836-41; James Duane Doty, 1841-44; N. P.
Talmadge, 1844-45; Henry Dodge, 1845-48.
Delegates to Congress: George W. Jones, 1836-37; James D. Doty,
1837-41; Henry Dodge, 1841-45; Morgan L. Martin, 1845-47; John H.
Tweedy, 1847-48.
Chief Justice: Charles Dunn, 1836-48.
FIRST LEGISLATURE--REPRESENTATIVES OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
First Session, 1836--Council: Thomas P. Burnett.[G] (Rejected by a
ruling of Gov. Dodge, and district left without representation.)
House: James H. Lockwood, James B. Dallam.
Second Session, 1837--House: Ira B. Brunson, Jean Brunet.[H]
Third Session, 1838--House: Ira B. Brunson, Jean Brunet.
SECOND LEGISLATURE.
First Session, 1838--Council: George Wilson. House: Alex. McGregor.[I]
Second Session, 1839--Council: George Wilson. House: Alex. McGregor,
Ira B. Brunson.
Third Session, 1839-40--Council: Joseph Brisbois. House: Alex.
McGregor, Ira B. Brunson.
Fourth Session, 1840--Council: Charles J. Learned. House: Alex.
McGregor, Ira B. Brunson.
THIRD LEGISLATURE--REPRESENTATIVES OF CRAWFORD AND ST. CROIX COUNTIES.
First Session, 1840-41--Council: Charles J. Learned. House: Alfred
Brunsou, Joseph R. Brown.
Second Session, 1841-42--Council: Charles J. Learned. House: Joseph R.
Brown, Theophilus J. LaChapelle.
FOURTH LEGISLATURE.
First Session, 1842-43--Council: Theophilus La Chapelle. House: John
H. Manahan.
Second Session, 1843-44--Council: Theophilus La Chapelle. House: John
H. Manahan.
Third Session, 1845--Council: Wiram Knowlton. House: James Fisher.
Fourth Session, 1846--Council: Wiram Knowlton. House: James Fisher.
FIFTH LEGISLATURE.
First Session, 1847--Council: Benj. F. Manahan. House: Joseph W.
Furber.
CRAWFORD, ST. CROIX, CHIPPEWA AND LA POINTE COUNTIES.
Special Session, 1847--Council: Benj. F. Manahan. House: Henry
Jackson.
Second Session, 1848--Council: Benj. F. Manahan. House: Henry Jackson.
First Constitutional Convention, Oct. 5, 1846--Delegate from St. Croix
county, Wm. Holcombe.
Second Constitutional Convention, Dec. 15, 1847--Delegate from St.
Croix county, George W. Brownell.
STATE GOVERNMENT OF WISCONSIN.
Governors: Nelson Dewey, 1848-52; L. J. Farwell, 1852-54; W. A.
Barstow, 1854-56; Coles Bashford, 1856-58; Alex. W. Randall, 1858-62;
Louis P. Harvey, 1862; Edward Salomen, 1862-64; James Q. Lewis,
1864-66; Lucius Fairchild, 1866-72; C. C. Washburn, 1872-74; Wm. R.
Taylor, 1874-76; Harrison Luddington, 1876-78; Wm. E. Smith, 1878-82;
Jeremiah Rusk, 1882-58.
UNITED STATES SENATORS.
Isaac P. Walker, June 8, 1848; Henry Dodge, June 8, 1848; Charles
Durkee, Feb. 1, 1855; James R. Doolittle, Jan. 23, 1857; Timothy O.
Howe, Jan. 23, 1861; Matt H. Carpenter, Jan. 26, 1869; Angus Cameron,
Feb. 3, 1875; Philetus Sawyer, Jan. 26, 1881; John C. Spooner, Jan.
26, 1885.
UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVES.
From districts bordering on the St. Croix: Mason C. Darling, 1848-50;
Orasmus Cole, 1850-52; Ben. C. Eastman, 1852-56; C. C. Washburn,
1856-62; Luther Hanchett, 1862-63; Walter D. McIndoe, 1863-68; C. C.
Washburn, 1868-72; Jeremiah M. Rusk, 1874-78; Hiram L. Humphrey,
1878-84; Wm. T. Price, 1884-88; Nels P. Haugan, 1888.
District judges presiding in territory originally included in St.
Croix county:
Wiram Knowlton, of Prairie du Chien, 1848-50; district--Crawford,
Chippewa, St. Croix and La Pointe counties.
S. S. Fuller, of Hudson, 1850-60; district--Pierce, St. Croix, Polk,
Douglas, and La Pointe counties.
Henry D. Barron, of North Pepin, 1860-61; district--Pierce, St. Croix,
Polk, Douglas, Ashland, and Bayfield counties.
L. P. Weatherby, of Hudson, 1861-67; district--Pepin, Pierce, St.
Croix, Polk, Burnett, Douglas, Bayfield, and Ashland counties.
Herman L. Humphrey, of Hudson, 1867-77; district--St. Croix, Pierce,
Pepin, Dunn, and Barron counties.
Solon S. Clough, of Hudson, 1864-76; district--Polk, Burnett, Douglas,
Ashland, and Bayfield counties.
R. P. Bundy, of Menomonie, 1876-85, re-elected until 1891;
district--Buffalo, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce; and St. Croix
counties.
Henry D. Barron, of St. Croix Falls, 1876-82; district--Chippewa,
Barron, Polk, Burnett, Douglas, Ashland, and Bayfield counties.
Solon S. Clough, of Superior, 1882-88; district--Ashland, Barron,
Bayfield, Burnett, Chippewa, Douglas, Polk, and Washburn counties.
R. D. Marshall, of Chippewa Falls, 1888.
WISCONSIN STATE LEGISLATURE.
Representatives of territory originally included in St. Croix county:
First Session, 1848--Senate: Daniel S. Fenton. Assembly: W. R.
Marshall. (Seat successfully contested by Joseph Bowron.)
Second Session, 1849--Senate: James Fisher. Assembly: Joseph Bowron.
Third Session, 1850--Senate: James Fisher. Assembly: John S. Watrous.
Fourth Session, 1851--Senate: Henry A. Wright. Assembly: John O.
Henning.
Fifth Session, 1852--Senate: Henry A. Wright. Assembly: Otis Hoyt.
Sixth Session, 1853--Senate: Benj. Allen. Assembly: Orrin T. Maxson.
Seventh Session, 1854--Senate: Benj. Allen. Assembly: Wm. M. Torbert.
Eighth Session, 1855--Senate: Wm. T. Gibson. Assembly: Smith R. Gunn.
Ninth Session, 1856--Senate: Wm. T. Gibson. Assembly: Almon D. Gray.
Tenth Session, 1857--Senate: Wm. Wilson. Assembly: Orin T. Maxson.
Eleventh Session, 1858--Senate: Daniel Mears. House: James B. Gray,
Lucius Cannon.
Twelfth Session; 1859--Senate: Daniel Mears. House: Moses S. Gibson.
Mr. Gibson's seat successfully contested by M. W. McCracken.
Thirteenth Session, 1860--Senate: Charles B. Cox. House: Asaph
Whittlesey.
Fourteenth Session, 1861--Senate: Charles B. Cox. House: John
Comstock.
Fifteenth Session, 1862--Senate: H. L. Humphrey. House: George R.
Stuntz, James W. Beardsley. Mr. Beardsley was elected speaker of the
house.
Sixteenth Session, 1863--Senate: N. L. Humphrey. House: Henry D.
Barron, Charles B. Cox.
Seventeenth Session, 1864--Senate: Austin H. Young. House: Henry D.
Barron, Joseph S. Elwell.
Eighteenth Session, 1865--Senate: Austin H. Young. House: Amos S. Gray
(successfully contested by A. C. Stuntz). House: Marcus A. Fulton.
Nineteenth Session, 1866--Senate: Marcus A. Fulton. House: Henry D.
Barron, William J. Copp. Mr. Barron elected speaker of the assembly.
Twentieth Session, 1867--Senate: Marcus A. Fulton. House: Henry D.
Barron, John D. Trumbull, H. L. Wadsworth.
Twenty-first Session, 1868--Senate: Wm. J. Copp. House: Henry D.
Barron, Eleazer Holt, Marcus A. Fulton.
Twenty-second Session, 1869--Senate: Wm. J. Copp. House: Henry D.
Barron, Edward H. Ives, Charles D. Parker.
Twenty-third Session, 1870--Senate: Edward H. Ives. House: Samuel B.
Dressor, Oliver S. Powell, Charles D. Parker.
Twenty-fourth Session, 1871--Senate: Edward H. Ives. House: Samuel S.
Vaughn, Oliver S. Powell, Ruel K. Fay.
Twenty-fifth Session, 1872--Senate: Joseph E. Irish. House: Henry D.
Barron, Oliver S. Powell, John C. Spooner.
Twenty-sixth Session, 1873--Senate: Joseph E. Irish. House: Henry D.
Barron, speaker; James H. Persons, David C. Fulton.
Twenty-seventh Session, 1874--Senate: Henry D. Barron. House: Samuel
S. Fifield, James H. Persons, Harvey S. Clapp.
Twenty-eighth Session, 1875--Senate: Henry D. Barron, House: Samuel S.
Fifield, Thomas S. Nelson, Philo Q. Boyden.
Twenty-ninth Session, 1876--Senate: Henry D. Barron. House: Samuel S.
Fifield, speaker; Christopher L. Taylor, Philo Q. Boyden.
Thirtieth Session, 1877--Senate: Samuel S. Fifield. House: Woodbury S.
Grover, Ellsworth Burnett, Guy W. Dailey.
Thirty-first Session, 1878--Senate: Dana R. Bailey. House: Canute
Anderson, Charles A. Hawn, James Hill.
Thirty-second Session, 1879--Senate: Dana R. Bailey. House: Wm. J.
Vincent, Nils P. Haugen, James Hill.
Thirty-third Session, 1880--Senate: Sam S. Fifield. House: Nils P.
Haugen, James Hill, Lars L. Gunderson.
Thirty-fourth Session, 1881--Senate: Sam S. Fifield. Assembly: Geo. D.
McDill, Franklin L. Gibson, Merton Herrick.
Thirty-fifth Session, 1882--Senate: James Hill. Assembly: Geo. D.
McDill, Franklin L. Gibson, speaker; Olof A. Sangestad.
Thirty-sixth Session, 1883--Senate: James Hill. Assembly: Canute
Anderson, John D. Putnam, Geo. D. McDill, James Johnston.
Thirty-seventh Session, 1884--Senate: Joel F. Nason. Assembly: Hans B.
Warner, Frank M. Nye, Thomas Porter; Charles S. Taylor, J. B. Thayer.
(For thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth Sessions see Addenda.)
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA.
Governors: Alexander Ramsey, from June 1, 1849, to May 15, 1853;
Willis A. Gorman, from May 15, 1853, to April 23, 1857; Samuel Medary,
from April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858.
Delegates to Congress: Henry H. Sibley, Jan. 15, 1849, to March 4,
1853; Henry M. Rice, Dec. 5, 1853, to March 4, 1857; W. W. Kingsbury,
Dec. 7, 1857, to May 11, 1858.
Chief Justices: Aaron Goodrich, June 1, 1849, to Nov. 13, 1851; Jerome
Fuller, Nov. 13, 1851, to Dec. 16, 1852; Henry Z. Hayner, Dec. 16,
1852, to April 7, 1853 (Judge Hayner never presided at a single term
and gave but one decision, which was to pronounce the prohibition law
unconstitutional); William H. Welch, April 7, 1853, to May 24, 1858.
Associate Justices: David Cooper, June 1, 1849, to April 7, 1853;
Bradly B. Meeker, June 1, 1849, to April 7, 1853; Andrew G. Chatfield,
April 7, 1853, to April 23, 1857; Moses G. Sherburne, April 7, 1853,
to April 13, 1857; R. R. Nelson, April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858;
Charles E. Flandrau, April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858.
CENSUS OF THE TERRITORY--AUGUST, 1849.
PRECINCTS. MALES. FEMALES. TOTAL.
Stillwater 455 154 609
Lake St. Croix 129 32 161
Marine Mills 142 31 173
Falls of St. Croix 15 1 16
Snake River 58 24 82
St. Paul 540 300 840
Little Canada and St. Anthony Falls 352 219 571
Crow Wing and Long Prairie 235 115 350
Osakis Rapids 92 41 133
----- --- -----
Total 2,018 977 2,935
Upon the basis of this population the governor established the
following legislative districts:
First district: St. Croix precinct, extending on the west side of the
St. Croix and Mississippi rivers to the Iowa line; Second district:
Stillwater; Third district: St. Paul; Fourth district: Marine Mills
and the country north to the British possessions; Fifth district: St.
Anthony Falls; Sixth district: The country east of the Mississippi not
embraced in the Fourth district, and extending north to the British
possessions; Seventh district: All the territory on the west of the
Mississippi river not embraced in the sixth and first districts.
FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE.--HELD SEPT. 3 TO NOV. 1, 1849.
Council: David Olmsted, president; district No. 1, James S. Norris;
No. 2, Samuel Burkelo; No. 3, William H. Forbes, James McC. Boal; No.
4, David B. Loomis; No. 5, John Rollins; No. 6, David Olmsted, William
Sturgis; No. 7, Martin McLeod.
House: Joseph W. Furber, of Cottage Grove, speaker; district No. 1,
Joseph W. Furber, James Wells; No. 2, M. S. Wilkinson, Sylvanus Trask,
Mahlon Black; No. 3, Benj. W. Brunson, Henry Jackson, John J. Dewey,
Parsons K. Johnson; No. 4, Henry N. Setzer; No. 5, William R.
Marshall, William Dugas; No. 6, Jeremiah Russell, Allan Morrison,
Lorenzo A. Babcock, Thomas A. Holmes; No. 7, Alexis Bailly, Gideon H.
Pond.
The limits of this work preclude the insertion of a complete list of
the entire State, and we give, therefore, the representation of the
St. Croix valley.
SECOND TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1851.
Council: James Norris, Samuel Burkelo, D. B. Loomis, president. House:
John A. Ford, Michael E. Ames, speaker; Jesse Taylor, John D. Ludden.
THIRD TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1852.
Council: Elam Greely, David B. Loomis. House: Jesse Taylor, Mahlon
Black, Martin Leavitt, John D. Ludden.
FOURTH TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1853.
Council: Elam Greely, David B. Loomis. House: N. Green Wilcox, Albert
Stimson, Caleb Truax, John D. Ludden.
FIFTH TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1854.
Council: Albert Stimson, John E. Mower. House: John Fisher, Wm.
McKusick, Robert Watson, N. C. D. Taylor, speaker.
SIXTH TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1855.
Council: Albert Stimson, John E. Mower. House: James B. Dixon, William
Willim, James Norris, Samuel Register.
SEVENTH TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1856.
Council: John D. Ludden, Henry N. Setzer. House: James S. Norris,
Abraham Van Voorhes, N. C. Taylor, Henry A. Jackman.
EIGHTH TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1857.
Council: John D. Ludden, Henry N. Setzer. House: Elam Greely, Mahlon
Black, Joseph W. Furber, speaker; L. K. Stannard.
The legislature of 1852 passed a prohibition law and submitted it to
the people of the Territory, who adopted it by a vote of 853 for to
622 against. This law was declared unconstitutional by Judge Hayner on
the ground that it was unconstitutional to submit a law to the vote of
the people. After rendering this decision he resigned his office.
At a second appointment in 1855 the counties of Washington, Chisago,
Superior, Itasca, and Doty were included in the St. Croix district. A
special session was held in May, 1857, to accept and make provision to
use the magnificent railway land grant donated by Congress.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1857.
In accordance with the enabling act of Congress, passed March 3, 1857,
delegates were elected and met in convention at the capital on the
second Monday of July, 1857.
REPRESENTATIVES FROM ST. CROIX VALLEY.
Washington county: Wm. Holcombe, James S. Norris, Henry N. Setzer,
Gould T. Curtis, Charles E. Leonard, Charles J. Butler, Newinton
Gilbert, R. H. Sanderson.
Chisago county: P. A. Cedarstam, Charles F. Lowe, Lucas K. Stannard,
W. H. C. Folsom.
The convention continued in session from July 13 to Aug. 29, 1857, and
although divided into two wings, accomplished considerable work, such
as preparing duplicate state constitutions and redistricting the
State. The St. Croix valley was redistricted as follows:
First district, Washington county: Twenty-fifth district, Chisago,
Pine and Isanti counties.
GOVERNORS OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA.
Henry H. Sibley, May 24, 1858, to Jan. 2, 1860; Alexander Ramsey, Jan.
2, 1860, to July 10, 1863; Henry A. Swift, July 10, 1863, to Jan. 11,
1864; Stephen Miller, Jan. 11, 1864, to Jan. 8, 1866; William R.
Marshall, Jan. 8, 1866, to Jan. 9, 1870; Horace Austin, Jan. 9, 1870,
to Jan. 7, 1874; Cushman K. Davis, Jan. 7, 1874, to Jan. 7, 1876; John
S. Pillsbury, Jan. 7, 1876, to Jan. 10, 1882; Lucius F. Hubbard, Jan
10, 1882, to Jan. --, 1886; A. R. McGill, Jan. --, 1887, to ----.
SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICES.
Lafayette Emmett, May 24, 1858, to Jan. 10, 1865; Thomas Wilson, Jan.
10, 1865, to July 14, 1869; James Gilfillan, July 14, 1869, to Jan. 7,
1870; Christopher G. Ripley, Jan. 7, 1870, to April 7, 1874; S. J. R.
McMillan, April 7, 1874, to March 10, 1875; James Gilfillan, March,
10, 1875, to ----.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICES.
Charles E. Flandrau, May, 24, 1858, to July 5, 1864; Isaac Atwater,
May 24, 1858, to July 6, 1864; S. J. R. McMillan, July 6, 1864, to
April 7, 1874; Thomas Wilson, July 6, 1864, to Jan. 10, 1865; John M.
Berry, Jan. 10, 1865, to ----; George B. Young, April 16, 1874, to
Jan. 11, 1875; F. R. E. Cornell, Jan 11, 1875, to May 23, 1881; D. A.
Dickenson, June 27, 1881, to ----; Greenleaf Clark, March 14, 1881, to
Jan. 12, 1882; William Mitchell, March 14, 1881, to ----; C. E.
Vanderburgh, Jan. 12, 1882, to ----; L. W. Collins, January, 1888, to
----.
UNITED STATES SENATORS FROM MINNESOTA.
James Shields, May 11, 1858, to March 4, 1860; Henry M. Rice, May 11,
1858, to March 4, 1863; Morton S. Wilkinson, March 4, 1860, to March
4, 1867; Alexander Ramsey, March 4, 1863, to March 4, 1875; Daniel S.
Norton, March 4, 1867, died July 14, 1870; O. P. Stearns, January --,
1871, to March 4, 1871; William Windom, March 4, 1871, to March 12,
1881; S. J. R. McMillan, Dec. 6, 1875, to March 4, 1886; A. J.
Edgerton, March 12, 1881, to Oct. 26, 1881; William Windom, Oct, 26,
1881, to March 4, 1883; Dwight M. Sabin, March 4, 1883, to March 4,
1889; C. K. Davis, March 4, 1887, to ----.
REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS.
W. W. Phelps, May 11, 1858, to March 4, 1859; J. M. Cavenaugh, May 11,
1858, to March 4, 1858; William Windom, Dec. 5, 1859, to March 4,
1869; Cyrus Aldrich, Dec. 5, 1859, to March 4, 1863; Ignatius
Donnelly, Dec. 7, 1863, to March 4, 1869; M. S. Wilkinson, March 4,
1869, to March 4, 1871; E. M. Wilson, March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1871;
John T. Averill, March 4, 1871, to March 4, 1875; M. H. Dunnell, March
4, 1871, to March 4, 1883; H. B. Strait, Dec. 1, 1873, to March 4,
1879; William S. King, Dec. 6, 1875, to March 4, 1877; J. H. Stewart,
Dec. 3, 1877, to March 4, 1879; Henry Poehler, March 4, 1879, to March
4, 1881; H. B. Strait, March 4, 1881, to March 4, 1885; W. D.
Washburn, March 4, 1879, to March 4, 1885; Milo White, March 4, 1883,
to March 4, 1887; J. B. Wakefield, March 4, 1883, to March 4, 1887;
Knute Nelson, March 4, 1883, to March 4, 1889; J. B. Gilfillan, March
4 1885, to March 4, 1887: Thomas Wilson, March 4, 1887, John Lind,
March 4, 1887; John S. McDonald, March 4, 1887; Edmund Rice, March 4,
1887.
FIRST STATE LEGISLATURE, 1857-8.
Richard G. Murphy, president; William Holcombe, lieutenant governor.
Senate: First District--Joel K. Reiner. Twenty-fifth District--W. H.
C. Folsom. House: First District--J. R. M. Gaskill, George W.
Campbell, Robert Simpson. Twenty-fifth District--John G. Randall.
SECOND STATE LEGISLATURE, 1859-60.
Senate: First District--Wm. McKusick, Socrates Nelson. Twenty-fifth
District--Lucas K. Stannard. House: First District--E. D. Watson,
Abraham Van Voorhes, Orange Walker. Twenty-fifth District--Patrick
Fox.
THIRD STATE LEGISLATURE, 1861.
Senate: Second District--Joel K. Reiner. House: Second District--H. L.
Thomas, E. D. Whiting, Emil Munch.
FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 1862.
Senate: Second District--Joel K. Reiner. House: Second District--Wm.
H. Burt, H. L. Thomas, E. D. Whitney.
FIFTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1863.
Senate: Second District--John McKusick. House: Second District--Samuel
Furber, J. B. R. Mitchell, Ansel Smith.
SIXTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1864.
Senate: Second District--John McKusick. House: Second District--Jere
M. Soule, R. R. Henry, Ansel Smith.
SEVENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1865.
Senate: Second District--John McKusick. House: Second District--L. A.
Huntoon, Ansel Smith, Lars J. Stark.
EIGHTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1866.
Senate: Second District--John McKusick. House: Second District--J. B.
R. Mitchell, Robert Watson, Smith Ellison.
NINTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1867.
Senate: Second District--W. H. C. Folsom. House: Second
District--Henry Jackman, Ebenezer Ayres.
TENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1868.
Senate: Second District--W. H. C. Folsom. House: Second District--J.
W. Furber, William Lowell.
ELEVENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1869.
Senate: Second District--James N. Castle. House: Second
District--Joseph Haskell, W. H. C. Folsom.
TWELFTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1870.
Senate: Second District--James N. Castle. House: Second
District--James S. Norris, William Lowell.
THIRTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1871.
Senate: Second District--Dwight M. Sabin. House: Second
District--Joseph Haskell, Lucas K. Stannard.
FOURTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1872.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Dwight M. Sabin. Twenty-eighth
District--Jonas Lindall. House: Twenty-second District--Ebenezer
Ayers, J. R. M. Gaskill, H. R. Murdock. Twenty-eighth District--Adolph
Munch.
FIFTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1873.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Dwight M. Sabin. Twenty-eighth
District--Jonas Lindall. House: Twenty-second District--E. W. Durant,
J. R. M. Gaskill, James Huganin. Twenty-eighth District--Joel G.
Ryder.
SIXTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1874.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Wm. McKusick. Twenty-eighth
District--L. K. Burrows. House: Twenty-second District--D. B. Loomis,
Chas. Eckdahl, J. A. McCloskey. Twenty-eighth District--Frank H.
Pratt.
SEVENTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1875.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Wm. McKusick. Twenty-eighth
district--W. H. C. Folsom. House: Twenty-second district--J. W.
Furber, E. W. Durant, J. E. Mower. Twenty-eighth district--Lars J.
Stark.
EIGHTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1876.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Ed. S. Brown. Twenty-eighth
District--W. H. C. Folsom. House: Twenty-second District--A.
Fredericks, J. S. Middleton, O. W. Erickson. Twenty-eighth
District--W. A. Brawley.
NINETEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1877.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Ed. S. Brown. Twenty-eighth
District--W. H. C. Folsom. House: Twenty-second District--A.
Fredericks, A. Huntoon, O. W. Erickson.
TWENTIETH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1878.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Roscoe F. Hersey. Twenty-eighth
District--John Shaleen. House: Twenty-second District--Dwight M.
Sabin, Wm. Fowler, Charles Peterson. Twenty-eighth District--F. S.
Christensen.
TWENTY-FIRST STATE LEGISLATURE, 1879.
Senate: Twenty-second District--James N. Castle. Twenty-eighth
District--John Shaleen. House: Twenty-second District--A. M. Dodd,
Chas. Peterson, Andrew Peterson. Twenty-eighth District--John Dean.
TWENTY-SECOND STATE LEGISLATURE, 1881.
Senate: Twenty-second District--J. N. Castle. Twenty-eighth
District--John Shaleen. House: Twenty-second District--Dwight M.
Sabin, Andrew Peterson, Wm. Schmidt. Twenty-eighth District--John
Dean.
TWENTY-THIRD STATE LEGISLATURE, 1883.
Senate: Twenty-fourth District--J. N. Castle. Thirty-eighth
District--John Shaleen. House: Twenty-fourth District--Dwight M.
Sabin, C. P. Gregory, A. Stegman. Thirty-eighth District--Levi H.
McKusick.
TWENTY-FOURTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1885.
Senate: Twenty-fourth District--J. N. Castle. Thirty-eighth
District--John Shaleen. House: Twenty-fourth District--E. W. Durant,
W. H. Pratt, Arthur Stephen. Thirty-eighth District--Levi H. McKusick.
TWENTY-FIFTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1887.
Senate: Twenty-fourth District--E. W. Durant. Thirty-eighth
District--Otto Wallmark. House: Twenty-fourth District--F. Dornfield,
R. M. Anderson, C. P. Gregory. Thirty-eighth District--Henry Smith.
The first legislature continued in session one hundred and forty-eight
days. Its most important measure was the passage of the $5,000,000
loan bill. At the twentieth session a law was passed changing the
sessions of the legislature from annual to biennial.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1857.
As a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1857, and a member
of what was styled the Republican wing, the writer considers it not
amiss to insert a chapter concerning that somewhat famous and farcical
affair.
The Congress of 1856-57 passed an enabling act for the formation of a
state government in Minnesota, providing that a constitutional
convention of delegates, chosen by the people, should assemble at
midday, July 13, 1857, at the hall of the house of representatives at
the state capitol, and adopt a constitution, subject to the
ratification of the people.
The territorial governor, Samuel Medary, ordered an election to be
held on the first Monday in June, 1857, for delegates, the number to
consist of one hundred and eight. The State was nearly equally divided
between the Republicans and Democrats; still the question of politics
did not enter largely into the contest, except as a question of party
supremacy. The people were a unit on the question of organizing a
state government under the enabling act, and in many cases there was
but a single ticket in the field. It was a matter, therefore, of some
surprise that there should be a separation among the delegates into
opposing factions, resulting practically in the formation of two
conventions, each claiming to represent the people, and each proposing
a constitution. The delegates, although but 108 were called, were
numbered on the rolls of the two wings as 59 Republican and 53
Democratic, a discrepancy arising from some irregularity of
enrollment, by which certain memberships were counted twice. The
Republican members, claiming a bare majority, took possession of the
hall of the house at midnight, twelve hours before the legal time for
opening the convention, the object being to obtain control of the
offices and committees of the convention, a manifest advantage in the
matter of deciding upon contested seats.
In obedience to the call of the leaders of the party, issued the day
before, the writer with other Republicans repaired to the house at the
appointed hour, produced his credentials as a delegate, and was
conducted into the illuminated hall by Hon. John W. North. The
delegates were dispersed variously about the hall, some chatting
together, others reading newspapers, smoking, or snoring, as here and
there one had fallen asleep in his seat. Occasionally a delegate
nervously examined his revolver as if he anticipated some necessity
for its use.
The Democratic delegates were elsewhere probably plotting in secret
conclave to capture the hall, and perhaps it might be well enough to
be prepared for the worst. Thus the remainder of the night passed and
the forenoon of July 13th. As soon as the clock struck twelve, the
Democratic delegates rushed tumultuously in, as if with the purpose of
capturing the speaker's stand. That, however, was already occupied by
the Republican delegates, and the storming party was obliged to
content itself with the lower steps of the stand. Both parties at the
moment the clock ceased striking were yelling "order" vociferously,
and nominating their officers, _pro tem._ Both parties effected a
temporary organization, although in the uproar and confusion it was
difficult to know what was done.
The Democratic wing adjourned at once to the senate chamber, and there
effected a permanent organization. The Republicans being left in the
undisturbed possession of the hall, perfected their organization, and
the two factions set themselves diligently to work to frame a
constitution, each claiming to be the legally constituted convention,
and expecting recognition as such by the people of the State and by
Congress. The debates in each were acrimonious. A few of the more
moderate delegates in each recognized the absurdity and illegality of
their position, and questioned the propriety of remaining and
participating in proceedings which they could not sanction.
The conventions continued their sessions inharmoniously enough. Each
framed a constitution, at the completion of which a joint committee
was appointed to revise and harmonize the two constitutions, but the
members of the committees were as belligerent as the conventions they
represented. Members grew angry, abusing each other with words and
even blows, blood being drawn in an argument with bludgeons between
Hon. Willis A. Gorman, Democratic, and Hon. Thomas Wilson, Republican.
An agreement seemed impossible, when some one whose name has not found
its way into history, made the happy suggestion that alternate
articles of each constitution be adopted. When this was done, and the
joint production of the two conventions was in presentable shape,
another and almost fatal difficulty arose, as to which wing should be
accorded the honor of signing officially this remarkable document. One
body or the other must acknowledge the paternity of the hybrid.
Ingenuity amounting to genius (it is a pity that the possessor should
be unknown) found a new expedient, namely, to write out two
constitutions in full, exact duplicates except as to signatures, the
one to be signed by Democratic officers and members, and the other by
Republicans These two constitutions were filed in the archives of the
State and one of them, which one will probably never be known, was
adopted by the people Oct. 13, 1857.
The question arises in the writer's mind as to the legality of the
constitution of Minnesota. Have we a constitution? If so, which one?
The question of legality, however, has never been raised before the
proper tribunals, and it is perhaps well to leave it thus
unquestioned.
FIRST MINNESOTA STATE LEGISLATURE, HELD 1857-8.
Under a provision of the constitution adopted Oct. 13, 1857, the
legislature was elected and convened December 2d of that year,
although the State had not then been admitted to the Union, and Gen.
Sam Medary was still recognized as governor, though not at the time in
the Territory, and acting through his private secretary. The whole
state, judicial and legislative ticket had been elected in October,
but none of the state officers could qualify prior to the formal
admission of the State. The legality of their proceedings was called
in question. The Republicans entered a protest against legislation
until after the admission of the State, but the Democratic party was
in the majority, and territorial Democratic officers governed the
legislature, and the protest was unheeded. Notwithstanding the
doubtful validity of acts passed by this body, some bold and
extravagant measures were proposed and passed, among them the famous
$5,000,000 loan bill, authorizing the issue of bonds to that amount,
ostensibly to aid in the construction of railroads in Minnesota, and
to be used as a basis for banking. This bill was passed near the close
of the session, which lasted ninety days, and was an amendment to the
constitution to be voted on April 15, 1858.[J] The result proved even
worse than had been predicted by the most ardent opposers of the bill,
and although adopted by an overwhelming majority, speedily fulfilled
the predictions of its opponents. The State was flooded with worthless
bank issues, based upon these worthless bonds. Financial distress and
panic ensued. A reaction followed, and in November, 1860, the
amendment to the constitution was expunged. Of these bonds, $2,275,000
had already been issued, when the section granting their issue was
repealed. These the State subsequently redeemed.
This bill, though afterward adopted as an amendment to the
constitution by an overwhelming majority, was opposed most vigorously
in both houses of the legislature, and characterized at the time as
mischievous and infamous. Though not present at the time of its
passage, on account of sickness, the author fully committed himself as
an opponent of the bill, and placed himself on record in an address to
his constituents dated March 19th, at the senate chamber, which
address was circulated extensively at the time. The views and
predictions therein expressed as to the disastrous character of the
bill have been amply justified and verified by subsequent events.
Hon. Chas. F. Lowe, when a member of the Republican wing of the
constitutional convention, had designed and prepared a seal to be used
by the incoming state government. It was adopted by that wing of the
convention, and Mr. Lowe hoped to have it formally adopted by the
first state legislature. At the request of Mr. Lowe, it was presented
by the writer, then a member of the senate, and was adopted by the
senate and house with many encomiums upon its beauty and
appropriateness. The design was indeed a beautiful one, and the
workmanship of the seal, by Buechner, of St. Paul, was admirable. The
design of the seal was as follows:
[Illustration: STATE SEAL.]
A waterfall (supposed to be that of Minnehaha) within a shield; this
part of the device was intended to symbolize the idea of water for the
amount and varied forms of which Minnesota is distinguished above any
other part of our country. In addition was represented the figure of
an Indian pointing toward the setting sun, as his course of destiny
runs, with his tomahawk, bow and arrows; at his feet opposite the
Indian was the figure of a white man, with a sheaf of wheat and the
implements of agriculture at his feet, representing to the Indian that
he must partake of the habits of civilized life or depart toward the
setting sun. In one corner of the field appeared a distant view of
Lake Superior, with a ship in sail. In another was a view of a river,
indicating the Minnesota river, running from the westward, with a
steamboat ascending its stream. In rear of the shield and waterfall
were three trees, which are typical of the three timbered regions, the
oak on the left typifying the south and southwest portion of the
State, the pine in the centre typifying the great pine regions of Lake
Superior, Upper Mississippi and St. Croix, and the maple on the right
typifying the north and northwestern portion of the State. For a motto
to accompany the words state of Minnesota, A. D. 1858, which were
placed upon the upper rim of the seal, the words placed upon the lower
rim of the seal were, "Liberty and Union, Now and Forever One and
Inseparable." The act of the legislature went to the governor, who
returned it to the senate approved and signed, July 14, 1858.
Some length of time elapsed before the appearance of the great seal as
appended to official documents, and when it did appear it was very
different from the one adopted, and the credit of the design was given
to Rev. E. D. Neill by the newspapers commenting upon it. However
beautiful and appropriate the design of the present great seal of the
state of Minnesota, there seems to be no evidence that it was ever
legally adopted, and the question may well be raised as to its
validity. It lies, however, in the eternal fitness of things that a
state without a legal constitution should also be without a seal.
At the joint convention of Dec. 19, 1857, Hon. Henry M. Rice and Gen.
James Shields, of Mexican War fame, were elected senators. The
Republicans supported David Cooper and Henry D. Huff. During this
session the presiding officer of the senate was Richard G. Murphy, a
somewhat eccentric character. His decisions were often diverting. When
perplexing questions arose he would say gravely, "The chair can not
decide more than two questions at oncet." After passing many really
important measures, the legislature adjourned March 25, to meet June
2, 1858.
ADJOURNED SESSION.
The legislature met, pursuant to adjournment, June 2d, the State
having been admitted in the interim. Lieut. Gov. Holcombe presided
over the senate and proved an acceptable and able presiding officer.
The five million amendment having been approved by the people, this
legislature passed a banking law, establishing banks in various parts
of the State with the five million bonds as a basis.
It can do no good at this late day to raise a question as to the
validity of the acts of the first state legislature, but it is due to
ourselves and others who with us at the time protested against the
validity of acts passed at this session, to give a few extracts from
senate and house journals tending to show that a feeling of distrust
was quite general. The ground of this opinion was the fact that the
legislature elected as a state legislature held its first session
prior to the admission of the State, and under the administration of
the territorial governor, Medary, through his secretary, acting in his
place. The question was openly discussed, not only in the legislature
but in the public press of the State.
As early as Dec. 8, 1887, the following protest was presented in the
senate:
SENATE CHAMBER, ST. PAUL.
We, the undersigned senators of the state of Minnesota, do hereby
enter and record this, our _solemn_ PROTEST, against the recognition
by this body, in any manner, directly or indirectly, of Samuel Medary,
Esquire, governor of the territory of Minnesota, as the governor of
the state of Minnesota, or as being invested with any of the rights,
authority, privileges, powers or functions of governor of said state
of Minnesota.
And we do _solemnly_ PROTEST against the recognition by this body, in
any manner, of the claims of the said Samuel Medary, to exercise any
of the rights, authority, privileges, powers or functions of the
governor of the state of Minnesota--such claim being wholly
unauthorized and unwarranted by the constitution of the state of
Minnesota; and in violation of the expressed will of the people of the
state of Minnesota, and an attempted usurpation of office, at war with
the fundamental principles of free government, and dangerous to the
liberties of the people.
D. G. NORTON,
LEWIS MCKUNE>,
GEO. WATSON,
EDWIN M. SOMERS,
BOYD PHELPS,
J. K. REINER,
H. L. THOMAS,
JAMES RIDPATH,
MICHAEL COOK,
CHARLES H. LINDSLEY,
E. N. BATES,
E. HODGES,
A. G. HUDSON,
JONATHAN CHASE,
W. H. C. FOLSOM,
S. S. BEMAN,
DELANO T. SMITH.
On December 8th Mr. Norton offered the following resolution to the
senate:
"WHEREAS, By the provisions of the constitution the executive officers
of the State can not qualify until after the admission of the State by
Congress, and
"WHEREAS, There is no governor of the state of Minnesota to whom acts
may be submitted, as required by the constitution; therefore,
"_Resolved_, That this legislature can pass no acts which could become
a law until after the admission of the State by Congress, and the
qualification of the governor elected by the people."
The resolution was adopted and referred to the following committee:
Van Etten, Streeter, Jones, Norton, and Folsom.
The majority of the select committee reported December 21st, claiming
that by the enabling act the people of the Territory were empowered to
form a state government, which they did, electing their delegates on
the second Monday in July, 1857, to form a state constitution, and
take necessary steps for establishment of a state government; that
these delegates met at the time and place appointed, and on the
twenty-ninth of August adopted a constitution which was submitted to
the people and adopted by a majority of over 28,000 votes. That on the
thirteenth of October, in conformity with an article (section 16,
article 16) of the constitution then adopted, the people had elected
representatives to Congress, governor and lieutenant governor, judges
and members of both houses of the legislature, the latter to meet on
the first Wednesday in December at St. Paul.
The majority admitted that the governor elected under the act could
not qualify until after the admission of the State, but claimed that
the members of the legislature did not rest under the same disability,
but were competent to legislate because they derived their power from
the constitution itself, and had been directed to meet for that
purpose on the first Monday in December, and that because they were
thus required to meet they were authorized to act. The people were
omnipotent in the premises. They had declared that the governor should
not qualify until after the admission of the State, and that the
members of the legislature should meet. It was absurd to suppose this
body should be called together and have no power to act. They held,
moreover, that the territorial governor was empowered to act until his
successor could legally qualify; that the framers of the constitution
of Minnesota and the people had declared that he should be continued
in office until superseded by a state officer, and that the very time
had been specified when he should be thus superseded, namely, on the
admission of the State into the Union, and therefore that Samuel
Medary was, _de facto_ and _de jure_, governor of Minnesota; that
Minnesota was then a state _out_ of the Union, and that the acts of
the first legislature would be legalized when the State was admitted.
The minority report, signed by D. S. Norton and W. H. C. Folsom,
claimed that the constitution contemplated an admission into the Union
as a prerequisite to the exercise of state sovereignty, in article 5,
section 7, where it is enacted that "the term of each of the executive
officers named in this article shall commence upon taking the oath of
office, _after the State shall be admitted by Congress into the Union,
etc._"
Section 9, same article, provides that "Laws shall be passed at the
first session of the legislature _after the State is admitted into the
Union_ to carry out the provisions of this article.
"Section 1, article 16, _schedule_, provides that all process which
may be issued under the authority of the territory of Minnesota
previous to its _admission into the Union of the United States_, shall
be as valid as if issued in the name of the State."
Section 8, same article, provides that if the constitution shall be
adopted by a vote of the people, the governor of the Territory shall
forward a certified copy of the same to the president of the United
States, "_to be by him laid before the Congress of the United
States_."
The minority claimed that under the first of the above cited sections
there can be no qualified governor (_elected under, and according to
the provisions of the constitution_) to whom "bills" _must_ be
submitted before they can become laws, until _after_ "admission"--nor
indeed can there be _any_ executive officers, contemplated to perform
the duties of their several offices, until that time.
In reference to the provisions of section 18, article 16, _schedule_,
as inconsistent with that view, it was claimed that the territorial
government should continue, and that its officers should exercise the
sovereign powers delegated to them by the Union, until, upon an
admission by Congress, and a surrender of sovereignty to the State,
its authority should commence.
It was claimed that this section (6) of article 16, requiring the
legislature to convene on the first Wednesday of December, 1857, was
an oversight or error. After considerable debate the majority report
was adopted by a party vote. A similar protest, signed by all the
Republican members of the house, was presented to that body. In
addition to these protests there was in both branches of the
legislature continuous and various protests by the minority against
the exercise of legislative functions.
In the house, on Jan. 25, 1858, Mr. Sheetz offered a resolution with
reference to the causes of the delay in the admission of Minnesota,
asking that a committee of three be appointed with instructions to
investigate the circumstances of this delay and report to this house
upon these points:
_First_--As to whose duty it was to forward to the president for
submission to Congress a copy of the constitution.
_Second_--Why an incorrect or incomplete copy of said constitution was
forwarded to the president.
_Third_--What official correspondence, if any, has passed between the
governor and the acting governor in regard to this matter.
On motion the resolution was adopted.
Mr. Sheetz, from the committee appointed to communicate with the
acting governor relative to the admission of the state of Minnesota,
submitted the following report:
_To the Honorable House of Representatives:_
Your committee appointed to inquire into the causes of the probable
delay in the admission of Minnesota into the Union, ask leave to make
the following report:
Your committee find that according to section 8 of the schedule to the
constitution, it is made the duty of the governor of the Territory,
upon the adoption of the constitution by the people, to forward a
certified copy of the constitution to the president of the United
States, to be by him submitted to Congress.
Your committee have conferred with his excellency, Acting Gov. Chase,
and have ascertained from him that at or about the time of the
adjournment of the constitutional conventions, there were deposited
with him, as acting governor in the absence of Gov. Medary, two copies
of the constitution as adopted by the two branches of the
constitutional convention, one copy signed by _fifty-one_ members of
the Democratic branch of the convention, and the other signed by
_fifty-three_ members of the Republican branch of the convention, that
the two copies were preserved by him in the same safe, side by side
where they now are.
Your committee are further informed that a short time prior to the
departure of our senators and representatives elect for Washington,
the governor caused to be made a transcript of the constitution as
requested by the schedule and that instrument, which transcript was
forwarded to the president of the United States.
No record is known to your committee to exist of the time and manner
of making such transcript, and your committee, in the absence of the
governor and his private secretary, can not ascertain whether said
transcript contained the names of the members of the two branches of
the constitutional convention or not.
Your committee are also informed by Acting Gov. Chase that there has
been no official correspondence between the governor and himself upon
this subject since the departure of the former for Washington.
All of which is respectfully submitted and signed.
H. W. SHEETZ,
G. L. OTIS,
J. J. CRUTTENDEN,
_Committee_.
LAND GRANTS, RAILROAD SURVEYS AND CONSTRUCTION.
In May, 1857, Congress gave to Minnesota, then a territory, a
magnificent grant of about 9,000,000 acres of land, to aid in the
construction of several projected trunk roads through her bounds. The
roads specified were: From Stillwater, by way of St. Paul and St.
Anthony Falls, to a point between the foot of Big Stone lake and the
mouth of the Sioux Wood river, with a branch via St. Cloud and Crow
Wing to the navigable waters of the Red River of the North; from St.
Paul and St. Anthony via Minneapolis to a convenient point of junction
west of the Mississippi to the southern boundary of the Territory in
the direction of the mouth of the Big Sioux river, with a branch via
Faribault to the north line of the state of Iowa, west of range 16;
from Winona to a point on the Big Sioux river south of the forty-fifth
parallel of north latitude; also from La Crescent via Target lake, up
the valley of Root river, to a point of junction with the last
mentioned road, east of range 17, every alternate section of land
designated by odd numbers, for six sections in width on each side of
said road and branches. It was enacted that the lands granted were to
be subject to the disposal of the legislature.
An extra session of the legislature was convened in June, 1857, to
accept the grant and devise means to build the road.
The financial crisis of 1857 and unwise legislation in 1858, notably
the attempt to issue $5,000,000 in bonds to aid in building the roads,
served to delay the various enterprises projected, and for many years
but little work was done, notwithstanding persistent effort at every
state legislature to effect favorable changes in the condition of
affairs.
A few of the $5,000,000 bonds were issued, but the general
dissatisfaction, and feeling that they were not issued on a legal or
rational basis, depreciated their value, and they were sold at a
sacrifice and afterward redeemed by the State.
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.
The idea of a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific was openly
discussed as early as 1837, in which year Dr. Hartwell Carver
memorialized Congress on the subject and promulgated his views through
the press and by pamphlets. In 1845 Asa Whitney evolved a plan for
the northern route, and awakened considerable popular enthusiasm, but
by many the project was considered as a swindling scheme, or at best a
visionary enterprise. Mr. Whitney made a preliminary survey from
Prairie du Chien as far as the Rocky mountains. Mr. Josiah Perham,
afterward the first president of the Northern Pacific Railroad
Company, in 1857 projected a road from Maine to Puget Sound, to be
known as the People's Pacific Railway, and obtained a charter from the
Maine legislature, but on bringing his scheme to the attention of
Congress was prevailed upon by Thaddeus Stevens to abandon this scheme
for another, agreeing to aid him in the passage of a bill for the
construction of the present Northern Pacific route. The bill passed
both houses and was signed by President Lincoln, July 2, 1864. The
first permanent officers were: Josiah Perham, president; Willard Sear,
vice president; Abiel Abbott, secretary; J. S. Withington, treasurer.
The grants of land voted by Congress were accepted, and in the
following year the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota granted right of
way. Not much was done until 1869, when Jay Cooke & Co. became
financially interested in the road, and might have been successful in
placing the bonds of the road upon the eastern markets but for the
European war, during which time the firm of Jay Cooke & Co. went down
overburdened with railroad securities. The financial panic of 1873
which followed found the company in possession of 555 miles of
completed railroad, of which 450 reached from Duluth to Bismarck, and
105 from Klamath to Tacoma on Puget Sound; but embarrassed by want of
funds the enterprise made but little headway, and in 1875 Henry
Villard was appointed receiver, and a decree of sale obtained by which
the bondholders were enabled to become the preferred stockholders.
Under the new arrangement and by the powerful aid of Henry Villard and
Thomas F. Oakes, the public, and especially the capitalists of the
country, regained faith in the enterprise, and the work was pushed
steadily forward until September, 1883, when the golden spike was
driven at Gold Creek by Henry Villard. Mr. Villard resigned the
presidency of the road in December of the same year, and Robert Harris
succeeded him. The main line of this road extends from Duluth to
Tacoma, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles, and the number of miles on
the main and branch lines aggregates 3,395.
The magnitude of the work, the leagues of wilderness to be traversed,
the mountain ranges to be crossed, the streams to be bridged, the
supposed obstructions from wintry storms to be overcome, all these
were of such a nature as to make the project seem impossible. It was,
nevertheless, through the liberality of the government and the
enthusiasm and executive ability of its managers, accomplished in a
comparatively short time.
The government contributed to this road a land grant of forty sections
to the mile. With this liberal basis, bonds for the required amount of
money were speedily furnished to build and equip the road from Lake
Superior to the Pacific coast. This road has, however, the advantage
of southern roads, in that it traverses a rich agricultural and
mineral region throughout almost its entire extent, passing through
belts of timbered land not excelled in the quantity and quality of
their production. The mineral regions are rich in gold, silver,
copper, lead and coal.
The country along the road is being rapidly settled, and the property
in its possession, and that of those who have made improvements along
its line, has increased to many hundred times its original value.
THE CHICAGO, ST. PAUL, MINNEAPOLIS & OMAHA RAILROAD.
The Wisconsin legislature in 1854 chartered a company to construct and
operate this road, then called the St. Croix, Superior & Bayfield
railroad. May 3, 1856, Congress granted twelve sections of land to the
mile to aid in building a railroad from Hudson in the St. Croix valley
to Bayfield on Lake Superior, with a branch to Superior City. July 5,
1864, this grant was increased to twenty sections per mile, with
indemnity lands to make up deficiencies. These lands were ceded
directly to the State. A company was created by the state legislature
of Wisconsin, to which were consigned the lands and franchises granted
by the government for the purpose of building the road. The lands and
franchises passed through several organized companies. Impediments to
construction arising, extension of time was asked and obtained from
the United States and Wisconsin governments, complications arose,
delaying the construction still further, other companies claimed part
of the indemnity lands, and litigation ensued. The state legislature
upheld the chartered right, and appointed agents to watch the timber
and protect the interests of the company. A sum amounting to $200,000
was collected from trespassers and at once applied to the building of
the roads in 1879.
The St. Paul, Stillwater & Taylor's Falls Company in 1872 had built a
line of railroad from Hudson to New Richmond. In 1874 the St. Croix,
Superior & Bayfield Company obtained possession of this line of road
and continued it in the direction of Superior, completing it in 1883
to Superior City, Bayfield, Washburn, and Ashland. The company have
built a road from Hudson by River Falls to Ellsworth in Pierce county.
The main line to Lake Superior passes through a rich agricultural and
immense pine region. The company have constructed at Washburn, on
Chequamegon bay, extensive docks, elevators, warehouses and shops.
There are on the main line 20 wooden bridges from 25 to 100 feet long,
10 from 100 to 300 feet, 10 from 300 to 500 feet, one of them on a
branch of White river being 90 feet high. The amount of logs and
lumber carried over this road amounts (1888) to 1,240,000,000 feet,
and 1,500,000,000 feet remain. There are few trips more enjoyable to
the tourist than the one over this road, terminating as it does on the
north, in a region attractive for its beautiful scenery, including the
lovely bays of Ashland, Washburn and Bayfield, with their picturesque
shores, hills green with spruce pine and balsam, and the Apostle
islands, favorite haunts of summer travelers. The road is splendidly
equipped and well officered.
THE ST. PAUL & DULUTH RAILROAD (FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE LAKE SUPERIOR &
MISSISSIPPI).
The first land grant for Minnesota was made in 1854, for a road from
St. Paul to Lake Superior. This bill gave twenty sections per mile to
the company building. While the bill was in the hands of the enrolling
committee, some fraudulent changes were made in its provisions, as a
consequence of which, after it had passed both houses and was in the
hands of the president, it was recalled by the house of
representatives, which had originated it, the fraudulent passages were
pointed out, and the further consideration of the bill was
indefinitely postponed.
Railroad enterprise received a check from which it did not recover in
many years. May 5, 1864, Congress gave ten alternate sections on each
side of lands to aid in building the Lake Superior & Mississippi
railroad. This grant was increased to twenty sections per mile, and
indemnity lands were given. The state of Minnesota has also given
seven sections of swamp land per mile. The city of St. Paul also gave
a bonus of $250,000 in city bonds, to run twenty years, and St. Louis
county gave $150,000 in bonds for a like period. From the proceeds of
these lands and bonds an excellent thoroughfare has been built and
maintained. The franchises pertaining to this road changed holders
many times before the road was completed.
The original incorporators were mostly citizens of Philadelphia who,
under the name and title of the "Nebraska & Lake Superior Company,"
obtained their charter from the territorial legislature May 25, 1857.
Their chartered rights were amended and their name changed to that of
"Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad Company." The times for building
were extended by Congress and the state legislature from time to time,
as asked for by the company. The road was commenced in 1867 and
completed to Duluth in 1870, and the name changed to "St. Paul &
Duluth" in 1875. The first cost of building was $7,700,000. The
company have in addition built branch roads from White Bear to
Minneapolis, from White Bear to Stillwater, from Wyoming to Taylor's
Falls, from Rush City to Grantsburg, from North Pacific Junction to
Cloquet, and a branch in Pine county to Sandstone City. The Taylor's
Falls & Lake Superior branch road received seven sections per mile of
swamp lands from the State, $10,000 in ten per cent bonds from the
town of Chisago Lake, $5,000 from the town of Shafer, and $18,600 from
the town of Taylor's Falls.
Presidents of the St. Paul & Duluth railroad: Lyman Dayton, W. L.
Banning, Frank Clark, John P. Illsley, H. H. Porter, James Smith, Jr.,
and Wm. H. Fisher.
MINNESOTA & MANITOBA RAILROAD.
Under the land grant of 1857 a road was projected between St. Paul and
St. Anthony Falls, and completed in 1862, the first railroad in
Minnesota, though others had been projected at an earlier period. This
road was afterward extended to Breckenridge on Red river, and branches
were built to St. Cloud, and from St. Cloud via Fergus Falls and
Crookston to the national boundary at St. Vincent, and from
Brekenridge through Dakota to the Great Falls in Montana. Subordinate
branches to various points in Northern Minnesota, Dakota and Montana
were also built. The roads from Minneapolis to St. Cloud and
Breckenridge were built with German capital.
After the completion of the main lines a financial depression
occurred, the bonds were sold at a low figure and subsequently passed
into the hands of J. J. Hill and others. The aggregate mileage of this
road and its branches amount to 2,685 miles. It traverses a wheat
growing region not surpassed on the continent. The present terminus,
the Great Falls of Missouri, is a mining centre for gold and silver.
The country tributary to the road can not fail to make it one of the
most important highways of commerce in the great West, and thus far
the energy and ability of its managers has made it equal to the
immense demands upon it.
STILLWATER, WHITE BEAR & ST. PAUL RAILROAD.
Under the grant of 1857, a road from Stillwater to St. Paul was
projected, the road to commence at Stillwater and to proceed via St.
Paul and Minneapolis to the western boundary of the State. The company
holding the grant, through legislative action effected a change in the
conditions of the grant allowing them to commence at St. Paul,
building west and northwest, as a result of which the road from
Stillwater to St. Paul was not built. After ten years of inactivity
upon this portion of the road, the Stillwater people demanded, through
their representatives in the legislature of 1867, legislation
compelling the building of the road as originally devised. At this
session Hon. John McKusick, not then a member of the legislature, but
still an influential man, and representing public sentiment,
importuned the company holding the franchises, through the president,
Hon. Edmund Rice, either to build the road or to transfer the
franchises to some responsible company who would build it. Hon. Henry
A. Jackman and the writer, members of the ninth legislature, after
conference with the president of the company, introduced a bill
conveying the franchises from the original company to a company of St.
Croix valley men, to be organized forthwith, with the conditions that
they at once proceed to build the road from Stillwater to White Bear,
connecting with the St. Paul & Duluth at that point. A section was
placed in the bill locating the railroad lands near Kandiyohi lake.
These lands were among the most valuable in the grant and were to
inure to the new company at the completion of the road. The bill was
passed and approved by the governor. The road was completed to
Stillwater Dec. 20, 1869.
The legislature of 1869 transferred 44,246 acres, or one-half of the
Kandiyohi lands, to the St. Paul, Stillwater & Taylor's Falls
railroad.
THE ST. PAUL, STILLWATER & TAYLOR'S FALLS RAILROAD.
Part of the lands originally granted to the Stillwater, White Bear &
St. Paul railroad were transferred by the legislature of 1869 to the
St. Paul, Stillwater & Taylor's Falls railroad. The proceeds of the
sale were to be applied to the construction of the above named road.
The company was organized under the general laws of the State and
incorporated Sept. 23, 1869. The route of the road defined in the
articles of incorporation is between St. Paul and Taylor's Falls by
way of Stillwater, passing through or near Marine, with a branch road
to Hudson, Wisconsin. Length of main line from St. Paul to Stillwater
is seventeen and fifty-four one hundredths miles. Hudson branch line
from Stillwater junction to Lake St. Croix, three and one-fourth.
South Stillwater branch line from Stillwater to South Stillwater,
three miles. The first train by this line reached Stillwater from St.
Paul Feb. 9, 1872. The capital stock, $1,000,000, may be increased at
pleasure. The number of shares of capital stock is 10,000 of $100
each, limit of indebtedness, $1,500,000.
That part of the road to be built from Stillwater to Taylor's Falls up
to the present date has not been completed.
THE WISCONSIN CENTRAL (BRANCH) RAILROAD.
In 1884 the Wisconsin Central built a branch road from Chippewa Falls
via New Richmond to St. Paul, passing into Ramsey county east and
south of White Bear. The bridge over the St. Croix river about four
miles above Stillwater, belonging to this road, is a fine piece of
workmanship, built entirely of iron and resting on solid stone piers.
The total length of the structure is 2,400 feet, there being ten
spans, each 160 feet long, and a viaduct, 800 feet long, on the
Wisconsin side.
The track is 87 feet above low water mark. The entire cost of the
bridge was about $197,000. It was damaged by a cyclone in 1885 to the
amount of $10,000.
TAYLOR'S FALLS & LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD.
The franchises and swamp land grant of the Lake Superior & Mississippi
railroad pertaining to the Taylor's Falls branch were in 1875, by
legislative enactment, transferred to the Taylor's Falls & Lake
Superior Company. In 1879 these franchises and lands were transferred
to the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad Company. In the fall of 1879
the St. Paul & Duluth Company built a branch road to Centre City. In
the spring of 1880 the Minneapolis & St. Louis Company built three
miles of road southward from Taylor's Falls, accomplishing in that
distance as difficult and expensive work of its kind as had been done
in the State, the grading being made through the trap rock ledges of
the Dalles, and along the face of the nearly perpendicular bluffs
overlooking the river. In the summer of 1880 they transferred their
franchises and one-half their swamp land grant to the St. Paul &
Duluth Company, by whom the road was completed from Centre City to the
road already built at Taylor's Falls, Oct. 29, 1880.
CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL RAILROAD--RIVER DIVISION.
The river division of this road follows the west bank of the river
from Dubuque to Hastings, passing through all the river towns.
Crossing the river at Hastings it passes through the towns of Newport,
Cottage Grove and Denmark, and the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis,
terminal stations. The line from St. Paul to Hastings was built in
1869, by the Chicago & St. Paul Railway Company, under charter granted
to the Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company in 1857. The present
management obtained control of the line in 1872. The bridge across the
Mississippi at Hastings was constructed in 1878, and was the first
iron railroad bridge in the State. In respect to cost and workmanship
it ranked with the important structures of the Northwest. The total
length of the river bridge is 706 feet, and consists of an iron draw
span 300 feet long, two fixed spans each of 150 feet in length, and a
combination span on the north shore 106 feet in length. The cost of
the structure was $200,000. In 1884 a branch line was extended from
Point Douglas to Stillwater.
MINNEAPOLIS, SAULT STE. MARIE & ATLANTIC.
The following memorial, introduced by the writer while a member of the
state senate of 1877, is the first public mention or suggestion of
this road as far as we are aware. It was adopted by the legislature,
forwarded to Washington, read and duly referred to the committee on
railroads:
STATE OF MINNESOTA.
NINETEENTH SESSION. S.F. NO. 36.
A MEMORIAL
_Introduced by Mr. Folsom, Jan. 12, 1877._ TO CONGRESS FOR
RIGHT OF WAY AND GRANT OF LAND FOR RAILROAD PURPOSES.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States in Congress assembled:_
Your memorialists, the legislature of the state of Minnesota,
respectfully represent that the rapidly increasing settlements of the
Northwest, the surplus agricultural products and material developments
demand greater and cheaper facilities than now existing, and a more
direct transit to the Atlantic seaboard and European ports, and
eastern products transported to the Northwest.
That the saving in the distance to eastern markets of three hundred
miles, by a railroad route from St. Paul and Minneapolis to Sault Ste.
Marie, will tend to more fully develop the great wheat growing region
of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Dakota, and Montana. The surplus of wheat,
which forms one of the most reliable exports from our government, in
shortening the distance to European markets three hundred miles will
give encouragement to this great source of wealth to our whole land,
and deserves aid and protection.
That by reason of the facts set forth in this memorial, and many
other considerations, the nearest transit makes cheap transportation
and thereby develops the country and increases prosperity.
To further these objects, we ask Congress to donate land to aid, and
the right of way through government land to build, a railroad from the
cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis to the falls of St. Marie's river.
Sept. 20, 1879, a large mass meeting was held at St. Croix Falls, the
object being to consider the feasibility of the "Soo" route. Over five
hundred persons were present, among them delegates from Minneapolis,
St. Paul, Stillwater, and Superior City. The subject was discussed and
resolutions passed favoring the building of the road to Sault Ste.
Marie via the Dalles of St. Croix.
Not, however, till Sept. 12, 1883, were the articles of incorporation
filed in Wisconsin and Minnesota by W. D. Washburn and others of
Minneapolis, for the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railroad
Company.
The road was completed to the "Soo" in December, 1887. At that point
it connects with a branch of the Canadian Pacific. The St. Marie river
is to be crossed on a union bridge built by the roads centring at that
point. It is now under construction, and will cost when completed over
a million dollars. The length of the line is about 225 miles. The
capital stock is $12,000,000, divided into 80,000 shares of common
stock, and 40,000 shares preferred. The board of directors for the
first year is composed of the following persons, all residents of
Minneapolis: W. D. Washburn, president; H. T. Welles, John Martin,
Thomas Lowry, George R. Newell, Anthony Kelly, M. Loring, Clinton
Morrison, J. K. Sidle, W. W. Eastman, W. D. Hale, C. A. Pillsbury, and
Chas. J. Martin.
The following comparison of distance will be of interest to the people
of the Northwestern States:
MILES. MILES.
St. Paul to Chicago 411
Chicago to New York City 962
New York to Liverpool 3,040
----- 4,413
St. Paul (via Sault) to Montreal 997
Montreal to Liverpool 2,790
----- 3,787
-----
Difference in favor of Montreal route 626
CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & NORTHERN RAILROAD.
The Chicago, Burlington & Northern Company constructed a road from
Chicago to Savannah, Illinois, and from that point up the Mississippi,
along its east bank to St. Paul, crossing the St. Croix at Prescott.
The road from Savannah to St. Paul is two hundred and eighty-five
miles in length, and was completed in 1886. The cost complete,
including rolling stock, was $30,000 per mile. The road was built on a
grade of nine and eight-tenths feet to the mile, and its curvature
nowhere exceeds three degrees in one hundred feet. The St. Croix,
Chippewa, Wisconsin, Platte, Grant, and Fever rivers are crossed by
iron bridges.
MILEAGE OF ROADS CENTRING IN ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS IN 1887.
MILES.
Manitoba 3,200
Northern Pacific 2,200
Hastings & Dakota 344
Pacific division of the Minneapolis & St. Louis 223
Minneapolis & Pacific 230
Omaha, Western division 627
Milwaukee, River division 100
Milwaukee, Iowa division 100
Minneapolis & St. Louis 100
Burlington & Northern 100
Northwestern, Omaha section 176
Minnesota & Northwestern (now Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City) 200
Wisconsin Central 100
Soo Ste. Marie 210
North Wisconsin 250
St. Paul & Duluth 216
-----
Total 8,476
CONGRESSIONAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE ST. CROIX
RIVER.
As early as 1858, when the writer was a member of the Minnesota
senate, he introduced a memorial to Congress for the improvement of
the St. Croix river, and of the Mississippi at Beef Slough bar, below
Lake Pepin. This was the first memorial presented on this subject.
Subsequent legislatures continued to memorialize Congress, but it was
twenty years of continuous pleading before any attention was paid to
the subject. In 1878 Thaddeus C. Pound, representing the St. Croix
valley in Congress, secured the first appropriation. Mr. Pound also
secured the first appropriation for the Mississippi reservoirs.
The following appropriations were made from time to time: 1878,
$8,000; 1879, $10,000; 1880, $8,000; 1881, $10,000; 1882, $30,000;
1883, $7,500.
This money has been expended under the supervision of Maj. Farquier
and Charles J. Allen of the United States engineering corps, with
headquarters at St. Paul. The improvements carried out consisted in
removing snags and all impediments in the channel or along shore,
removing sandbars, thus deepening the channel, building wing dams, and
riprapping the shores. The work has been well done, and the
expenditure is a most judicious one.
INLAND NAVIGATION.
As the prosperity of a country depends, next to its natural resources,
upon the avenues of communication with other countries, the people of
the Northwest naturally took a great interest in the improvement of
their waterways. The states lying along the Mississippi and its
tributaries found by these streams an advantageous southern outlet for
their produce. But much needed to be done in the direction of
improving navigation by clearing away obstructions, deepening the
channels, and affording facilities for crossing rapids. As the
settlements extended toward the great lakes, it became evident that
the prosperity of the country would be greatly enhanced by
communication with the lakes. In the absence or scarcity of navigable
streams this communication, if obtained, must be by the improvement of
navigation of the upper portion of these streams having their source
near the lakes and their connection by canals with the lakes or their
tributaries. By this means it was thought a better route to the
Atlantic and to the Eastern States would be afforded for grain and
other products than that afforded by the Mississippi. In the Minnesota
state legislature of 1875 a bill was introduced making an
appropriation of $10,000 for a survey of the route connecting the
waters of Lake Superior with those of the St. Croix. This bill met
with much opposition, but was finally passed, the amount having been
reduced by amendment to $3,000. Lucas R. Stannard and Robert B. Davis
were appointed commissioners, and with the meagre amount did all that
was possible to be done in surveying the route. As the author of the
bill, I insert here, as a matter of history, and as a sufficient
explanation of my own views and those of the friends of the measure, a
synopsis of the arguments presented to the senate advocating the
measure:
"The route from Duluth via the lakes and St. Lawrence, and the
Atlantic to England, according to correct computation, is about six
hundred miles shorter than the route via Chicago and New York. The
northern route is being made feasible by the improvements made by the
British government on the Welland canal and Lachine rapids, and by the
improvements made by our own government on the St. Clair flats and the
Sault Ste. Marie canal, by which a depth of water is obtained
sufficient to float vessels drawing twenty feet. This route to Europe
will be traversed in much less time than the New York route. Vessels
will be constructed for this inland American trade, and starting from
the west end of Lake Superior with a cargo of grain that two weeks
before was waving in the sunlight on northwestern prairies, will pass
direct to Europe without breaking of bulk or reshipping, while the
southern route requires reshipments at Buffalo and New York. Figures
can scarcely do justice to the vast business that will be transacted
on this open route as the northern part of the United States and the
adjacent British possessions are settled.
"The opening of this route will tend to create new treaty stipulations
and unlooked for interpretations of the old with the Dominion
government, and establish commercial confidence and secure trade not
realized to-day. Cheap transportation is the demand of the age, and
this route will afford to the hundreds of millions of bushels of wheat
and the commerce of Central North America the desired outlet to the
best markets of the world. To many these ideas may seem chimerical,
but we believe that the progress of the country and the development of
her commerce in the not distant future will justify them, and that
predictions now regarded as fanciful will be fulfilled to the letter.
"Minnesota as a state is just in the age of development. She is rising
to power and influence. Much depends upon our legislature, more than
depended upon the legislature of New York when, actuated by good
counsels it connected the waters of the Hudson with those of Lake
Erie by the 'Clinton Ditch,' so called in derision by the enemies of
the measure. But the wisdom of Dewitt Clinton, the originator of that
famous waterway, advanced the settlement of the great West at least a
quarter of a century.
"Minnesota in her location holds the key that will unlock the largest
body of fresh water on the globe, and open to it one of the most
fertile and extensive wheat growing districts on the continent, a
country that will soon vie with the country around the Black sea in
the quantity and quality of its grain production.
"Shall we stand idly by whilst our neighboring states are moving to
secure cheaper communications with the seaboard states? Cheap
transportation, the lever that moves the world, is claiming the
favorable attention of Congress, and men and means have been provided
to ascertain the most feasible routes on which to bestow her aid for
the transferring of the surplus products of the country to the markets
of the East.
"The reports made thus far by the national committee make no allusion
to Minnesota's great gateway to the East by Lake Superior, nor to the
improvement of the Sault Ste. Marie canal. The committee dwelt
somewhat elaborately upon the project of connecting the Mississippi
with the lakes by means of a canal between the waters of Wisconsin and
Fox rivers, neither of them good navigable streams. No authorized
survey has ever commended this as a cheap route. Only one plan can be
adopted by which a thoroughfare can be made profitable to the
government and to the Northwest over this route, and that is to
construct a ship canal along the Wisconsin river from the portage to
the mouth.
"If the government can be prevailed upon to open up this route no one
will deny that it will be of incalculable benefit to the people of
Wisconsin, and to those further up the valley of the Mississippi. Let
its friends do all they can to push forward the great movement.
"To Minnesotians I would say, let Wisconsin have much of our aid. I
trust it will not take thirty-five years of the future to open up what
thirty-five years of the past has projected. Wisconsin alone and
unassisted ought to have accomplished this great work years ago, if
the work could have been accomplished as cheaply as it has been
represented.
"Let Minnesota look nearer home. The headwaters of the St. Croix are
nearer to Lake Superior than those of any other navigable stream.
Large Mississippi boats, whenever occasion has demanded, have made
their way to the Dalles of the St. Croix. The falls and rapids above
this point for a distance of four miles have a fall of but
seventy-four feet, an elevation that could be overcome by means of
locks. By means of wing dams at Kettle River falls, and other
improvements at no very great cost, the river could be made navigable
to the mouth of the Namakagon. This river, though put down as a
tributary, is in reality the main stream, and can be navigated to
Namakagon lake, which is but thirty miles from Ashland, and can be
connected by a canal with Chequamegon bay, or with White river, a
distance of only a few miles.
"If we pass up the St. Croix from the mouth of the Namakagon river, we
shall find no serious obstructions to navigation till we reach the
great dam built by the lumbermen twenty miles below Upper Lake St.
Croix. The conformation here is of such a character that an
inexhaustible supply of water can be held--more than three times what
is held in the celebrated Summit lake in Ohio, which feeds the canal
connecting the waters of the Ohio and Lake Erie. It is but a mile from
the former lake to the source of Brule river, an affluent of Lake
Superior, but as the waters of the Brule are rapid and the channel
rocky, and its outlet is on a bleak and unhospitable stretch of lake
shore, destitute of any harbor, we prefer the route from the Upper St.
Croix lake to the bay of Superior, a distance of about thirty miles, a
route well supplied by reservoirs of water, and with no difficult or
insurmountable hills to overcome.
"Hon. H. M. Rice, who was one of the commissioners to survey the St.
Marie's canal, pronounces this the most feasible and direct route for
our contemplated canal.
"Other routes have been proposed, as from the St. Croix to the Nemadji
and St. Louis rivers, but of the feasibility of these I am not so
definitely informed.
"Believing, gentlemen of the senate, that you are in full accord with
me that this great Northwest demands not only state aid in developing
our natural resources, but the assistance of the general government, I
recommend the proper presentation of this subject before Congress by
our senators and representatives until our prayers are granted for
the improvement of the same."
In the session of the Minnesota legislature of 1876 I again introduced
a memorial to Congress asking for an appropriation of $10,000 to make
a government survey of the St. Croix and Lake Superior routes.
George R. Stuntz, the veteran explorer, surveyor and civil engineer,
who accompanied the United States reservoir commission to the Upper
St. Croix waters, and who had made previous scientific examinations
for the purpose of forming a correct idea of the contour of the summit
dividing the waters flowing north and south, and of the practicability
of constructing reservoirs, and of the cost of connecting the Lake
Superior and St. Croix waters, makes the following report, which is
valuable for the reliable data given:
"There are evidences that in the glacial period this was the channel
through which flowed a river of ice, and that subsequently for a long
period a vast volume of water coursed through this channel from Lake
Superior to and down the Mississippi. The valley is everywhere of
great width in proportion to the present volume of water, showing
evidences of currents of great velocity fifty feet above the high
water marks of the present time. These ancient banks of the river are
composed of heavy drift gravel and boulders bearing the marks of the
glacial action and having their origin north of Lake Superior. This
valley extends across the height of land in township 45, in range 11
west, and in the northern part of it the Brule river rises and flows
north into Lake Superior.
"At the copper range in township 48, range 10 west, section 23, a
ledge of trap rock stands in the valley. In the eddy of this rock and
extending to the southward or up the present stream is a well defined
moraine of large boulders and gravel showing that the glacial river
ran south. To the north of this point the Brule river makes a straight
cut to the lake through sandy red clay deposits peculiar to that
region.
"In this ancient valley the lowest point on the summit at the
headwaters of these two streams is about 460 feet above Lake Superior
[Lake St. Croix, at Stillwater, is 117 feet higher than Lake Superior]
and 346 feet above Lake St. Croix. Upper Lake St. Croix is 12 feet
below this summit. The St. Croix river one mile above the mouth of
Moose river is 25 feet below this summit. The St. Croix river
discharges 15.360 cubic feet of water per minute at the mouth of Moose
creek. The Brule river discharges about 5.805 cubic feet of water per
minute in the north part of township 46, range 10. The distance from
Taylor's Falls to Lake Superior by the valley of the St. Croix and the
valley of the Brule river is nearly 150 miles.
"There are several exposures of trap rock along these streams and an
abundance of brown sandstone of good quality for building purposes,
being easily worked.
"Can Lake St. Croix, at Stillwater, be connected with Lake Superior by
canal and slackwater navigation? Yes. This question has been
definitely settled by the recent examination of the United States
engineers, under the direction of Maj. Chas. J. Allen, of the sources
of the St Croix river, with reference to the construction of
reservoirs to improve the navigation of that river and the
Mississippi.
"By constructing a dam one mile above the mouth of Moose creek, on the
St. Croix, of sufficient height to raise the water 25 feet, cutting a
canal 75 feet wide, 12 feet deep, 1-1/2 miles long, across the summit,
and building a dam in township 46, range 10, across the Brule river,
high enough to raise the water to the same height as the dam on the
St. Croix, and you construct a lake over thirty miles long, affording
uninterrupted navigation across the summit for that distance, and
utilize the waters of the St. Croix and its branches and the Brule,
and by the capacity before given the amount of water is sufficient to
pass vessels through locks 75 feet wide, 300 feet long, 12-1/2 feet
lift, at the rate of 3 per hour, or 73 in 24 hours, at the dryest
season of the year. This settles the question of practicability.
"The whole improvement will cost less than $8,000,000, and by placing
the lowest dam and lock at Prescott so as to always hold Lake St.
Croix at the high water mark will give two hundred miles of slackwater
navigation connecting the Mississippi river with Lake Superior,
accommodating boats of large size and deep draft, propelled by steam,
at the usual rates of speed used on the rivers. Average cost per mile,
$40,000.
"It would accomplish another object. The improvement of navigation on
the Mississippi river by a system of reservoirs on its tributaries
would be most effectually accomplished by holding one or two feet of
extra head upon each of the thirteen dams proposed, thus storing up
during the spring freshets vastly more water than can be held in the
small reservoirs on the tributaries of the St. Croix. There are no
very large natural reservoirs in the Upper St. Croix valley.
"Hold a three foot head on the lake as a reserve from the spring
freshets and you have stored up 34,073,000 cubic yards of water to be
used in the dry season in August and September. Continue this plan to
the source and you have in the St. Croix valley a continuous reservoir
one hundred and fifty miles long. Connect the two systems as proposed
above and you have a route furnishing the cheapest transportation that
can be had and at the same time obtain a system of large reservoirs to
improve the navigation of the Mississippi river.
"This is one of the improvements that the Northwest needs for its
present, future and more perfect development.
"The proposition and figures are given, after a series of examinations
extending through a period of over twenty-five years, for the purpose
of calling out investigation."
THE WATERWAYS CONVENTION OF 1885.
Public discussions of the matter in the legislature and in conventions
were not entirely in vain. Public attention was aroused and interest
awakened in the great question of inland navigation. In 1885 the great
waterways convention convened in St. Paul, at the call of Gov.
Hubbard, of Minnesota. This convention was attended by over 1,000
delegates from the states of Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Kansas,
Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and from the
territories of Dakota and Montana. Ex-Gov. Bross, of Illinois, acted
as temporary chairman. The permanent organization elected Maj. Wm.
Warren, of Kansas City, president, Gen. G. W. Jones, of Iowa, vice
president, and Platt B. Walker, of Minnesota, secretary.
Various schemes for internal improvement were brought before the
convention and ably advocated, but each in the interest of a
particular section. The members from Florida wanted a ship canal for
that State. Illinois and Eastern Iowa advocated the Hennepin canal
scheme. Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Western Iowa, Dakota, and Montana
demanded the improvement of the Missouri river. Wisconsin and
Northern Iowa the completion of the Fox and Wisconsin canal. Minnesota
and Wisconsin agreed with all for the improvement of the Mississippi
from the falls of St. Anthony to the Balize, for the improvement of
the Sault Ste. Marie canal, and for the internal improvements asked
for generally in the states and territories represented.
The result was the passage of a series of resolutions recommending a
liberal policy in the distribution of improvements, and favoring every
meritorious project for the increase of facilities for water
transportation, but recommending as a subject of paramount importance
the immediate and permanent improvement of the Mississippi and
Missouri rivers and their navigable tributaries. It was recommended
that the depth of the Mississippi be increased to six feet between
Cario and the falls of St. Anthony. The Hennepin canal was strongly
indorsed, as was also the improvement of the Sault Ste. Marie, and of
the navigation of Wisconsin and Fox rivers, of the Red River of the
North, and of the Chippewa, St. Croix and Minnesota rivers. The
convention unanimously recommended as a sum proper for these
improvements the appropriation of $25,000,000.
Some of the papers presented were elaborately prepared, and deserve to
be placed on permanent record. The memorial of Mr. E. W. Durant, of
Stillwater, contains many valuable statistics. We quote that portion
containing a statement of the resources and commerce of the valleys of
the Mississippi and St. Croix:
"The Northwestern States have not had the recognition that is due to
the agricultural and commercial requirements of this vast and poplous
territory, whose granaries and fields not only feed the millions of
this continent, but whose annual export constitutes a most important
factor in the food calculation of foreign nations. During the past
decade the general government has expended $3,000,000 on the waterways
of the Upper Mississippi. The improvements inaugurated by the general
government in removing many of the serious impediments to navigation
warrants the belief that still more extensive improvements should be
made. It is an error to suppose that the palmy days of steamboating on
western rivers has passed. In demonstration of this take the quantity
of lumber sent down the Mississippi. There was shipped from the St.
Croix river during the year 1884 to various distributing points along
the Mississippi river 250,000,000 feet of lumber, 40,000,000 of lath,
37,000,000 of shingles, 2,000,000 of pickets; from the Chippewa river
during the same period, 883,000,000 feet of lumber, 223,000,000 of
shingles and 102,000,000 of lath and pickets; from Black river during
the same period was shipped 250,000,000 feet of lumber, 40,000,000
shingles, and 32,000,000 lath and pickets, aggregating 1,383,000,000
feet of lumber, 300,000,000 of shingles and 176,000,000 of lath. The
tonnage of this product alone foots up over 3,000,000 tons. The lumber
value of raft and cargoes annually floated to market on the
Mississippi will not vary far from $20,000,000. The capital invested
in steamboats, 100 in number, used for towing purposes is $1,250,000;
while the saw mills, timber plants and other investments incidental to
the prosecution of this branch of industry will foot up fully
$500,000; while the labor and their dependences engaged in this
pursuit alone will equal the population of one of our largest western
states. There are sixteen bridges spanning the river between St. Paul
and St. Louis, and it is important that some additional safeguards be
thrown around these bridges to afford greater safety to river
commerce."
Mr. Durant says there has been a general cry for some time past that
the days of steamboating on the Northern Mississippi and tributaries
were over; but he thinks it will be forcibly shown in the coming
convention that, if they are, the only cause for it is the extremely
short and uncertain seasons for steamboating, resulting from the
neglected and filled up channels. If the channels can be improved, so
that steamers can be sure of five months' good running each year, he
thinks they will prove to be one of the most important means of
transportation in the Upper Mississippi valley. They will then be used
for the transportation up and down stream of all heavy and slow
freights in preference to railroads, on account of cheapness. It would
prove a new and the greatest era in upper river steamboating.
It appears from a report made at the convention, that during the year
1884 there were 175 steamboats plying on the Mississippi from St.
Louis to points above. Two thousand seven hundred rafts from the St.
Croix and Chippewa passed the Winona bridge, and the total number of
feet of logs and lumber floated down the Mississippi from the St.
Croix, Chippewa and Black rivers was 1,366,000,000. The total
passages of steamers through the Winona bridge for 1887 was 4,492. On
the St. Croix, above Lake St. Croix, during the season of 1887 there
were 3 steamers and 25 barges engaged in freight and passenger traffic
only. The steamers made 141 round trips between Stillwater and
Taylor's Falls, 75 round trips between Marine and St. Paul, and 20
round trips between Franconia and St. Paul.
The following is a showing of the lumber, logs, rafting, and towing
business on the St. Croix during 1887: There were 51 steamers engaged
in towing logs and lumber out of the St. Croix and down the
Mississippi, the total number of feet handled by them being
250,000,000, board measure: The total number of feet of logs (board
measure) which passed through the St. Croix boom in 1887 was
325,000,000. The lumber manufacture of the St. Croix during that year
was valued at $2,393,323.
RESOLUTION INTRODUCED AT THE WATERWAYS CONVENTION HELD IN ST. PAUL,
SEPTEMBER, 1885.
WHEREAS, The North American continent is penetrated by two great water
systems both of which originate upon the tablelands of Minnesota, one
the Mississippi river and its tributaries, reaching southward from the
British line to the Gulf of Mexico, watering the greatest body of
fertile land on the globe,--the future seat of empire of the human
family on earth,--the other the chain of great lakes flowing
eastwardly and constituting with the St. Lawrence river a great water
causeway in the direct line of the flow of the world's commerce from
the heart of the continent to the Atlantic; and
WHEREAS, Between the navigable waters of these continental dividing
systems there is but a gap of ninety miles in width from Taylor's
Falls on the St. Croix, to Duluth on Lake Superior, through a region
of easily worked drift formation, with a rise of but five hundred and
sixty feet to overcome, and plentifully supplied with water from the
highest point of the water-shed; therefore,
_Resolved_. That we demand of Congress the construction of a canal
from Taylor's Falls to Duluth, using the Upper St. Croix and the St.
Louis rivers as far as the same can be made navigable, the said canal
to be forever free of toll or charge, and to remain a public highway
for the interchange of the productions of the Mississippi valley and
the valley of the great lakes; and should the railway interests of the
country prove powerful enough to prevent congressional action to this
end, we call upon the states of the Northwest to unite and build, at
their own cost, such a canal, believing that the increased value of
the productions of the country would speedily repay the entire outlay.
EARLY STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION.
The Pennsylvania was the first steamer that descended the Mississippi.
She came down the Ohio from Pittsburgh, creating the utmost terror in
the minds of the simple-hearted people who had lately been rather
rudely shaken by an earthquake, and supposed the noise of the coming
steamer to be but the precursor of another shake. When the
Pennsylvania approached Shawneetown, Illinois, the people crowded the
river shore, and in their alarm fell down upon their knees and prayed
to be delivered from the muttering, roaring earthquake coming down the
river, its furnaces glowing like the open portals of the nether world.
Many fled to the hills in utter dismay at the frightful appearance of
the hitherto unknown monster, and the dismal sounds it emitted. It
produced the same and even greater terror in the scant settlements of
the Lower Mississippi.
In 1823 Capt. Shreve commanded the Gen. Washington, the fastest boat
that had as yet traversed the western rivers. This year the Gen.
Washington made the trip from New Orleans to Louisville, Kentucky, in
twenty-five days. When at Louisville he anchored his boat in the
middle of the river and fired twenty-five guns in honor of the event,
one for each day out. The population of Louisville feted and honored
the gallant captain for his achievement. He was crowned with flowers,
and borne through the streets by the huzzaing crowd. A rich banquet
was spread, and amidst the hilarity excited by the flowing bowl, the
captain made an eloquent speech which was vociferously applauded. He
declared that the time made by the Gen. Washington could never be
equaled by any other boat. Curiously enough, some later in the season,
the Tecumseh made the trip in nine days. The time made by the Tecumseh
was not beaten until 1833, when the Shepherdess carried away the
laurels for speed.
We have but little definite information as to navigation on the
Mississippi during the ten years subsequent to the trip of the
Pennsylvania. The solitude of the Upper Mississippi was unbroken by
the advent of any steamer until the year 1823. On the second of May in
that year the Virginia, a steamer 118 feet in length, 22 in width,
with a draught of 6 feet, left her moorings at St. Louis levee for
Fort Snelling laden with stores for the fort. She was four days
passing the Rock Island rapids, and made but slow progress throughout.
It is heedless to say that the Indians were as much frightened at the
appearance of the "fire canoe" as the settlers of the Ohio valley had
been, and made quick time escaping to the hills.
Judge James H. Lockwood narrates (see Vol. II, Wisconsin Historical
Collections, page 152) that in 1824 Capt. David G. Bates brought a
small boat named the Putnam up to Prairie du Chien, and took it thence
to Fort Snelling with supplies for the troops. The steamer Neville
also made the voyage to Prairie du Chien in 1824. The following year
came the steamer Mandan and in 1826 the Indiana and Lawrence. Fletcher
Williams, in his history of St. Paul, says that from 1823 to 1826 as
many as fifteen steamers had arrived at Fort Snelling, and that
afterward their arrivals were more frequent.
During this primitive period, the steamboats had no regular time for
arrival and departure at ports. A time table would have been an
absurdity. "Go as you please" or "go as you can," was the order of the
day. Passengers had rare opportunities for observation and discovery,
and were frequently allowed pleasure excursions on shore while the
boat was being cordelled over a rapid, was stranded on a bar, or
waiting for wood to be cut and carried on board at some wooding
station. Sometimes they were called upon to lend a helping hand at the
capstan, or to tread the gang plank to a "wood up" quickstep. When on
their pleasure excursion they strayed away too far, they were recalled
to the boat by the firing of a gun or the ringing of a bell. It is
doubtful if in later days, with all the improvements in steamboat
travel, more enjoyable voyages have been made than these free and easy
excursions in the light draught boats of the decades between 1830 and
1850, under such genial captains and officers as the Harrises,
Atchinson, Throckmorton, Brasie, Ward, Blakeley, Lodwick, Munford,
Pim, Orrin Smith and others.
Before the government had improved navigation the rapids of Rock
Island and Des Moines, and snags, rocks and sandbars elsewhere were
serious obstructions. The passengers endured the necessary delays from
these causes with great good nature, and the tedium of the voyage was
frequently enlivened by boat races with rival steamers. These
passenger boats were then liberally patronized. The cost of a trip
from St. Louis to St. Paul was frequently reduced to ten dollars, and
considering the time spent in making the trip (often as much as two or
three weeks) was cheaper than board in a good hotel, while the fare on
the boat could not be excelled. The boats were frequently crowded with
passengers, whole families were grouped about the tables or strolling
on the upper decks, with groups of travelers representing all the
professions and callings, travelers for pleasure and for business,
explorers, artists, and adventurers. At night the brilliantly lighted
cabin would resound with music, furnished by the boat's band of sable
minstrels, and trembled to the tread of the dancers as much as to the
throbbing of the engine.
The steamer, as the one means of communication with the distant world,
as the bearer of mails, of provisions and articles of trade, was
greeted at every village with eager and excited groups of people, some
perhaps expecting the arrival of friends, while others were there to
part with them. These were scenes to be remembered long, in fact many
of the associations of river travel produced indelible impressions. In
these days of rapid transit by rail more than half the delights of
traveling are lost. Before the settlement of the country the wildness
of the scene had a peculiar charm. The majestic bluffs with their
rugged escarpments of limestone stretched away in solitary grandeur on
either side of the river. The perpendicular crags crowning the bluffs
seemed like ruined castles, some of them with rounded turrets and
battlements, some even with arched portals. Along the slopes of the
bluffs was a growth of sturdy oaks, in their general contour and
arrangement resembling fruit trees, vast, solitary orchards in
appearance, great enough to supply the world with fruit. On the slopes
of the river bank might have been seen occasionally the bark wigwams
of the Indian, and his birch canoe gliding silently under the shadow
of the elms and willows lining the shore. Occasionally a deer would be
seen grazing on some upland glade, or bounding away in terror at sight
of the steamer.
A complete history of early steamboat navigation on the Upper
Mississippi would abound with interesting narratives and incidents;
but of these, unfortunately, there is no authentic record, and we can
only speak in general terms of the various companies that successively
controlled the trade and travel of the river, or were rivals for the
patronage of the public. During the decade of the '30s, the Harrises,
of Galena, ran several small boats from Galena to St. Louis,
occasionally to Fort Snelling, or through the difficult current of the
Wisconsin to Fort Winnebago, towing barges laden with supplies for the
Wisconsin pineries. Capt. Scribe Harris' favorite boat from 1835 to
1838 was the Smelter. The captain greatly delighted in her speed,
decorated her gaily with evergreens, and rounding to at landings, or
meeting with other boats, fired a cannon from her prow to announce her
imperial presence.
The Smelter and other boats run by the Harris family held the commerce
of the river for many years. In 1846 the first daily line of steamers
above St. Louis was established. These boats ran independently, but on
stated days, from St. Louis to Galena and Dubuque. They were the
Tempest, Capt. John J. Smith; War Eagle, Capt. Smith Harris; Prairie
Bird, Capt. Niebe Wall; Monona, Capt. ---- Bersie; St. Croix, Capt.
----; Fortune, Capt. Mark Atchinson. These boat owners, with others,
subsequently formed a consolidated company.
In 1847 a company was formed for the navigation of the Mississippi
above Galena. The first boat in the line, the Argo, commanded by
Russell Blakeley, was placed upon the river in 1846. The boats in this
line were the Argo, Dr. Franklin, Senator, Nominee, Ben Campbell, War
Eagle, and the Galena.
In 1854 the Galena & Minnesota Packet Company was formed by a
consolidation of various interests. The company consisted of the
following stockholders: O. Smith, the Harrises, James Carter, H.
Corwith, B. H. Campbell, D. B. Morehouse, H. M. Rice, H. L. Dousman,
H. H. Sibley, and Russell Blakeley. The boats of the new company were
the War Eagle, Galena, Dr. Franklin, Nominee, and the West Newton. In
1857 a new company was formed, and the Dubuque boats, the Itasca and
Key City, were added to the line. This line continued until 1862, and
the new boats, Dr. Franklin, No. 2, and the New St. Paul, were added.
The Galena had been burned at Red Wing in the fall of 1857.
The following is a list of the earliest arrivals at St. Paul after the
opening of navigation between the years 1843 and 1858: April 5, 1843,
steamer Otter, Capt. Harris; April 6, 1844, steamer Otter, Capt.
Harris; April 6, 1845, steamer Otter, Capt. Harris; March 31, 1846,
steamer Lynx, Capt. Atchison; April 7, 1847, steamer Cora, Capt.
Throckmorton; April 7, 1848, steamer Senator, Capt. Harris; April 9,
1849, steamer Highland Mary, Capt. Atchison; April 19, 1850, steamer
Highland Mary, Capt. Atchison; April 4, 1851, steamer Nominee, Capt.
Smith; April 16, 1852, steamer Nominee, Capt. Smith; April 11, 1853,
steamer West Newton, Capt. Harris; April 8, 1854, steamer Nominee,
Capt. Blakeley; April 17, 1855, steamer War Eagle, Capt. Harris; April
18, 1856, steamer Lady Franklin, Capt. Lucas; May 1, 1857, steamer
Galena, Capt. Laughton; March 25, 1858, steamer Gray Eagle, Capt.
Harris.
The following list includes boats not named in the packet and company
lists with date of first appearance as far as can be ascertained:
Virginia May 20, 1823
Rufus Putnam April 5, 1825
Mandan 1825
Neville ----
Indiana 1825
Lawrence May 18, 1826
Versailles May 12, 1832
Missouri May 5, 1836
Frontier 1836
Palmyra 1836
Saint Peter's 1836
Rolla 1838
Sciota 183-
Eclipse 183-
Josephine 183-
Fulton 183-
Red River 183-
Black Rover ----
Burlington 1838
Ariel 1839
Gypsy 1839
Fayette 1839
Warrior 1840
Enterprise 1840
Volant 1840
Glancus 1840
Pennsylvania 1840
Knickerbocker 1840
Otter 1841
Highland Mary 1849
Gov. Ramsey (above the falls) 185-
Anthony Wayne 185-
Yankee 185-
Black Hawk 185-
Ben Accord 185-
Royal Arch 185-
Uncle Toby 185-
Indian Queen 185-
Di Vernon 185-
Osprey 185-
Lamartine 185-
Fannie Harris 185-
Asia 185-
Equator 1860
The following made their appearance some time in the '40s: Cora, Lynx,
Dr. Franklin, No. 2, and St. Anthony.
The Northern Line Company organized in 1857 and placed the following
steamers upon the Mississippi, to run between St. Louis and St. Paul:
The Canada, Capt. Ward; Pembina, Capt. Griffith; Denmark, Capt. Gray;
Metropolitan, Capt. Rhodes; Lucy May, Capt. Jenks; Wm. L. Ewing, Capt.
Green; Henry Clay, Capt. Campbell; Fred Lorenz, Capt. Parker;
Northerner, Capt. Alvord; Minnesota Belle, Capt. Hill; Northern Light
and York State, Capt. ----.
Commodore W. F. Davidson commenced steamboating on the Upper
Mississippi in 1856 with the Jacob Traber. In 1857 he added the Frank
Steele, and included the Minnesota river in his field of operations.
In 1859 he added the Æolian, Favorite and Winona. In 1860 he organized
the La Crosse & Minnesota Packet Company, with the five above named
steamers in the line. In 1862 the Keokuk and Northern Belle were
added.
In 1864 the La Crosse & Minnesota and the Northern Line Packet
companies were consolidated under the name of the Northwestern Union
Packet Company, with the following steamers: The Moses McLellan, Ocean
Wave, Itasca, Key City, Milwaukee City, Belle, War Eagle, Phil
Sheridan, S. S. Merrill, Alex. Mitchell, City of St. Paul, Tom Jasper,
Belle of La Crosse, City of Quincy, and John Kyle. This line
controlled the general trade until 1874.
There were upon the river and its tributaries during the period named
the following light draught boats: The Julia, Mollie Mohler, Cutter,
Chippewa Falls, Mankato, Albany, Ariel, Stella Whipple, Isaac Gray,
Morning Star, Antelope, Clara Hine, Geo. S. Weeks, Dexter, Damsel,
Addie Johnson, Annie Johnson, G. H. Wilson, Flora, and Hudson.
LATER NAVIGATION ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI.
The Northwestern Union Packet Company, more familiarly known as the
"White Collar Line," from the white band painted around the upper part
of the smokestacks, and the Keokuk Packet Company, sold their steamers
to the Keokuk Northern Line Packet Company, which continued until
1882, when the St. Louis & St. Paul Packet Company was organized. Its
boats were: The Minneapolis, Red Wing, Minnesota, Dubuque, Rock
Island, Lake Superior, Muscatine, Clinton, Chas. Cheever, Dan Hine,
Andy Johnson, Harry Johnson, Rob Roy, Lucy Bertram, Steven Bayard, War
Eagle, Golden Eagle, Gem City, White Eagle, and Flying Eagle.
STEAMBOATING ON THE ST. CROIX.
The steamer Palmyra was the first boat to disturb the solitude of the
St. Croix. In June, 1838, it passed up the St. Croix lake and river as
far as the Dalles. The steamer Ariel, the second boat, came as far as
Marine in 1839. In the fall of 1843, the steamer Otter, Scribe Harris,
commanding, landed at Stillwater. The steamer Otter was laden with
irons and machinery for the first mill in Stillwater. Up to 1845
nearly every boat that ascended the Mississippi also ascended the St.
Croix, but in later years, as larger boats were introduced, its
navigation was restricted to smaller craft, and eventually to
steamboats built for the special purpose of navigating the St. Croix.
Quite a number of these were built at Osceola, Franconia and Taylor's
Falls. The following is a list of boats navigating the St. Croix from
the year 1852 to the present time: Humboldt, 1852; Enterprise, 1853;
Pioneer, 1854; Osceola, 1854; H. S. Allen, 1857; Fanny Thornton, 1862;
Viola, 1864; Dalles, 1866; Nellie Kent, 1867; G. B. Knapp, 1866;
Minnie Will, 1867; Wyman X, 1868; Mark Bradley, 1869; Helen Mar, 1870;
Maggie Reany, 1870; Jennie Hays, 1870; Cleon, 1870.
A number of raft steamers, built at South Stillwater and elsewhere,
have plied the river within the last ten years. A number of barges
were built at South Stillwater, Osceola and Taylor's Falls.
The passenger travel on the St. Croix has decreased since the
completion of the railroad to Taylor's Falls and St. Croix Falls.
An interesting chapter of anecdotes and incidents might be compiled,
illustrating the early steamboat life on the St. Croix. We find in
"Bond's Minnesota" a notice of one of the first boats in the regular
trade, which will throw some light on the subject of early travel on
the river. It describes the Humboldt, which made its first appearance
in 1852:
"In addition, some adventurous genius on a small scale, down about
Oquaka, Illinois, last year conceived the good idea of procuring a
steamboat suitable to perform the duties of a tri-weekly packet
between Stillwater and Taylor's Falls, the extreme point of steam
navigation up the St. Croix. It is true he did not appear to have a
very correct idea of the kind of craft the people really wanted and
would well support in that trade, but such as he thought and planned
he late last season, brought forth. * * Indeed, the little Humboldt is
a great accommodation to the people of the St. Croix. She stops
anywhere along the river, to do any and all kinds of business that may
offer, and will give passengers a longer ride, so far as _time_ is
concerned, for a dollar, than any other craft we ever traveled upon.
She is also, to outward appearances, a temperance boat, and carries no
cooking or table utensils. She stops at the 'Marine,' going and
returning, to allow the people aboard to feed upon a good, substantial
dinner; and the passengers are allowed, if they feel so disposed, to
carry 'bars' in their side pockets and 'bricks' in their hats. A very
accommodating craft is the Humboldt, and a convenience that is already
set down on the St. Croix as one indispensable."
The Diamond Jo line of steamers was established in 1867. Jo Reynolds
was president of the company and has served as such continuously to
date. Under his general supervision the company has been quite
successful. The business has required an average of six steamers
yearly. In 1888 the line consists of the boats the Sidney, Pittsburgh
and Mary Morton.
The St. Louis & St. Paul Packet Company, successors of the various old
transportation companies, is in successful operation in 1888,
employing three steamers. There are but few transient boats now on the
river.
ICE BOATS.
Several attempts have been made to navigate the river during the
winter months by means of ice boats, but the efforts have uniformly
failed. Of these attempts we mention the two most notable:
Noman Wiard, an inventor of some celebrity, made an ice boat in 1856
and placed it on the river at Prairie du Chien, intending to run
between that point and St. Paul. It was elaborately planned and
elegantly finished, and resembled somewhat a palace car mounted on
steel runners. It failed on account of the roughness of the ice, never
making a single trip. It, however, proved somewhat remunerative as a
show, and was for some time on exhibition within an inclosure at
Prairie du Chien.
Martin Mower, of Osceola, Minnesota, invented a boat to run on the
ice between Stillwater and Taylor's Falls, in the winter of 1868-9. It
made several trips, carrying passengers and freight. The rough ice
prevented regular trips and the project was abandoned.
STEAMBOAT LIFE--1846.
James W. Mullen, of Taylor's Falls, spent much of his early and middle
life on the river, and cherishes many pleasant recollections of the
early days. We have been favored with a few of these, which will give
the reader a vivid idea of the scenes depicted:
"A. D. 1816 found me a cabin boy on the War Eagle at the St. Louis
levee, with sign board up for Stillwater and Fort Snelling. The levee
was a wonder to behold. It was thronged with teams, policemen keeping
them in rank. Piles of freight were awaiting shipment. Steamboats for
three-quarters of a mile along the levee were discharging and
receiving freight; passengers were rushing frantically to and fro;
bells were ringing, and boats leaving for the Cumberland, Tennessee,
Missouri and Illinois rivers; and New Orleans, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh,
Keokuk, Galena, Stillwater, and Fort Snelling.
"It was a delightful June day on which we pulled out from this busy
scene and commenced our voyage to the far off north land, then known
as Wisconsin Territory. Capt. Smith Harris gave the last tap of the
bell; the lines were loosened; the wheels of the War Eagle revolved
slowly at first, and we were soon on the broad bosom of the
Mississippi, heading northward in the wake and black smoke of the
steamers Ocean Wave, Tobacco Plant and Western Belle. The Luella, the
Alton packet, followed us closely, racing with us. All was enjoyment.
We pass the steamers Osprey and Di Vernon. At Nauvoo we note the
magnificent Mormon temple on the high ground, and also long files of
Mormons going westward. We pass many fine farms, much beautiful
scenery, and many growing towns, among them Rock Island and Davenport,
the latter the home of Antoine Le Clair, a half-breed Indian trader
and heavyweight, tipping the beam at three hundred and fifty pounds
avoirdupois. He lives there in sumptuous splendor from his profits
made in trade. The villages, or tepees, of Sac and Fox Indians are
seen along the shores; their bark canoes glide silently over the
waters. Further on we ascend for seven miles the sluggish and narrow
channel of Fever river, and find ourselves at Galena, the home of the
Harrises, river captains.
"We find at the levee here the steamers Falcon and St. Croix, laden
with lead for St. Louis. Back through Fever river to the Mississippi
and past Dubuque, an active, rising town; past Cassville, the expected
but disappointed capital city of Wisconsin Territory, a lovely
location, its castellated hills frowning above it and its fine three
story brick hotel and other buildings; past Prairie du Chien and Fort
Crawford, with soldiers drilling on the green. Here Amable Moreau, a
French Upper Mississippi pilot, came on board. Squads of Indians were
hanging around begging for whisky and tobacco. Resuming our way,
stemming the current of the river we pass other scenes, other birch
canoes gliding over the waves, other tepees and Indian villages along
the shore. At La Crosse we find a few whites and lots of Indians on an
unimproved prairie, with a background of high bluffs. We pass
Trempeleau and then Winona prairie, on which we find an old Indian
village, dating back to unknown time. Opposite the mouth of the
Chippewa river we pass Nelson's Landing with its two log warehouses
and mackinaw boats loading for the Chippewa river. We pass into lovely
Lake Pepin, Maiden's Rock or Lover's Leap rising into a battlement on
the right, and the famous Point-no-Point on the left. Out of the
beautiful lake again into the river, between low, forest covered
islands, till we pass Barn Bluff or Mount La Grange, a bold, abrupt
and isolated hill just below Red Wing. We passed more Indian tepees,
villages and burying grounds,--not that, for the dead bodies of the
Indians were not buried but fastened upon scaffolds and the limbs of
trees, according to Sioux custom. At the mouth of St. Croix river we
pass Prescott Landing, where lives the old pioneer trader Philander
Prescott. Across the St. Croix, opposite Prescott Landing, is Point
Douglas. Some miles above Point Douglas we pass Little Crow village, a
missionary station, where young Indian boys ran down to the landing
and greeted us with such yells as have not rung through these wilds,
perhaps, for ages past.
"We find St. Paul to be a small village. There are a few houses on a
high, almost perpendicular bluff, overlooking the river. At the base
of the bluff on the river shore stands a warehouse with the sign
'Choteau & Valle.' We are soon at Mendota and Fort Snelling. A squad
of soldiers guard the freight over night. We have ample time in the
morning to visit the post before starting down the river, and the
following morning finds the prow of the War Eagle resting against the
Stillwater landing. Here Capt. Harris greets his friends and is warmly
welcomed. So far, Stillwater seemed the most active and enterprising
village on the whole route. Joe Brown's town, Dakota, lies a short
distance above at the head of the lake. Capt. Harris on his return
towed a raft comprising ten acres of logs. Big Joe was one of the
pilots on the raft."
ST. CROIX BOOM COMPANY.
Previous to the organization of the boom company, in 1857, the logs
were floated down the St. Croix and caught in side booms by individual
owners, and owners of lake booms would raft them indiscriminately,
regardless of log marks, but with the mark side up for the convenience
of scaling. The scaling was done by some responsible party in the
interest of the various owners, and balances were settled by
exchanges, or if not balanced by cash or by note, to be paid out of
the profits of the next year's logs. Instances of fraud seldom
occurred. When Minnesota became a territory this system was superseded
by another method of handling, assorting or delivering. The
legislature established surveyor general districts, of which the St.
Croix valley was designated as the First. The surveyors general were
elected in a joint convention of the two houses of the legislature,
and the candidacy for this office, together with questions of salary,
became a leading feature in the politics of the district.
The surveyors general of the First district have been, Robert Harsy,
Samuel Winship, Charles J. Gardiner, Ivory McKusick, James D. McComb,
Z. Wilder Chase, John S. Proctor, and Al. Hospice. The law defining
the duties of the surveyors general has been awarded from time to
time, and the system of scaling improved till it has reached its
present form, in which it meets with very general approval. In 1867 a
law was passed giving to the governor the power of appointing
surveyors general.
The boom company was organized by the territorial legislature, Feb. 7,
1851, with a capital stock of $10,000, with privileges of increase to
$25,000. The incorporators were Orange Walker and George B. Judd, of
Marine; John McKusick, Socrates Nel son and Levi Churchill, of
Stillwater; Daniel Mears and William Kent, of Osceola; and W. H. C.
Folsom, of Taylor's Falls. Fred R. Bartlett was the first secretary,
but was superseded by David B. Loomis.
The first boom was built near an island lying opposite and above
Osceola. The surveyor general had his office at Stillwater, an
arrangement that gave great satisfaction, but as the boom was not
advantageously located, the channel of the river above being too
narrow for the annually increasing production of logs, the company, in
1856, obtained a new charter with power to construct booms from the
head of Lake St. Croix to Taylor's Falls. The capital stock was
increased to $25,000 with the privilege of increasing it to $50,000.
It was subsequently increased to $100,000. The incorporators of the
new company were Martin Mower, W. H. C. Folsom, Isaac Staples,
Christopher Carli and Samuel Burkelo.
The company placed a second boom a mile and a half above Stillwater.
The increase of their business compelled them from time to time to
build side booms and shear booms to prevent the logs from lodging
against the banks or passing bayous or secondary channels, and also to
keep the primary channel free from obstructions to navigation. They
built firm and expensive piers, drove piling and made canals for the
use of steamboats when the main channel was wanted for booming
purposes.
Notwithstanding all this care, navigation was frequently obstructed by
the accumulation of logs. Litigation ensued, and heavy expenses were
incurred in defending the rights of the company or paying damages.
These controversies were not unattended with ill feeling. Public
meetings were frequently held and denunciating resolutions adopted. In
one case, when navigation had been interrupted for fifty-seven days,
the damages were estimated at $146,525. Some controversies also arose
as to jurisdiction. St. Croix river being the boundary line between
two states, the Wisconsin authorities claimed concurrent jurisdiction.
The boom company was organized under Minnesota law and its members
were residents of Minnesota. The surveyor general of the First
district claimed entire jurisdiction and scaled the logs irrespective
of the state in which they were cut. The action of the surveyor
general had been accepted both by the original owners and purchasers
of the logs.
In January, 1885, Gov. Hubbard, of Minnesota, appointed A. L. Hospes
surveyor general, and the appointment creating some dissatisfaction, a
lumberman's board of exchange was organized, and Judson McKusick was
appointed as private scaler. He proceeded, under the direction of the
exchange, to scale logs that had already been scaled by Hospes. When
the members of the exchange proceeded to take possession of their logs
and run them out into the lake, Hospes commenced a series of
injunction cases to prevent them from so doing. The exchange brought
suit against Hospes in Wisconsin courts to prevent him from scaling
logs owned by the exchange. The exchange also declared that McKusick
was a deputy of the general surveyor of the Fourth district,
Wisconsin. Pending these suits, Hospes commenced a _quo warranto_
proceeding in the Minnesota supreme court to have the articles of
incorporation of the exchange annulled, but was defeated on the ground
that the exchange could employ a private scaler at will, but held that
such scaler could not interfere with the claims of Hospes, he being
recognized as surveyor general. In July of the same year the claims of
the conflicting parties were settled by the parties themselves,
outside the courts, and the question of conflicting jurisdiction has
therefore never been legally determined. It is true that some courts
have passed upon the question, and appeals have been taken to higher
courts. The decision of Judge Nelson of the supreme court has been
given, a decision that the surveyor general of the First district of
Minnesota has a right to scale all logs in his district, yet by his
own decision Wisconsin has equal rights under concurrent jurisdiction.
Should both state authorities under their surveyors general claim
jurisdiction at the same time, concurrent jurisdiction would lead to a
double taxation upon log owners. It seems, however, to be an admitted
principle that when suits between the same parties, in relation to the
same matter, are pending at the same time in different courts of
jurisdiction, a judgment in the one may act as a bar to further
proceedings in the other. The question ought to be more definitely and
satisfactorily settled.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE LOGS.
It may not be amiss to explain somewhat in detail the system of
marking adopted by the lumbermen. Owners of logs must be able to
identify their property or lose the reward of their labor. A system of
marking each log has, therefore, become a feature of the lumbering
business, and has been in existence ever since lumbering has been
prosecuted. When the business was confined to a limited number of
firms it was an easy matter, and one of mutual arrangement, to select
the property. But firms change; from a score the number of lumber
firms increased to hundreds. A record of ownership of log marks is
necessary, and a law has been enacted protecting the ownership of a
mark as thoroughly as a trade mark is protected. This system of marks
in the process of time has become a language in itself deep and
intricate to the average mind, but as plain as the alphabet to every
man having to do with the manufacture of logs. It is the aim of every
lumberman originating a mark to make it simple, containing as many
straight lines as possible, so that it can be put on the log speedily.
These marks are cut on the logs, through the bark and a few inches
into the body of the timber, soon after the tree is felled, by a
skilled axeman who is charged with the duty. The cut is made deeper
than the bark so it will be preserved after the bark comes off. The
mark is made upon the side of the log.
This system of marks is a language in itself. Every prominent firm has
a particular character, which, in a general way, is indicative of his
ownership or interest in the log. This mark may be varied by
additional or supplementary characters, indicating who cut the log, on
whose land it was cut, or under what particular contract it was put
into the stream. Some idea of the extent and variety of these marks
can be formed from the statement that there is recorded in the St.
Croix district--only a small portion of the entire lumber region of
the Northwest--over 1,700 different and distinct characters. Many of
these are quaint and interesting, and the whole etymology curious in
the extreme.
In the books in the surveyor general's office these marks and figures
are the only characters used except in the recording of the marks
themselves and of instruments and agreements. The identity of mark and
its association of ownership necessarily calls into play the utmost
familiarity. To one not thoroughly familiar with the method the books
are about as intelligible as the figures on the side of a Chinese tea
chest to the average American. Once a man becomes thoroughly familiar
with the marks on a river where lumbering is so extensively carried on
as on the St. Croix, he becomes invaluable in the surveyor general's
office, or in the booms, identified in some capacity with the scaling
process. The fact that some particular character runs through the
varied marks of all the leading firms is a key to the readiest
understanding, just as the twenty-six characters in the alphabet are
necessarily understood before one can read readily or intelligently.
When the logs reach the booms the marks serve as a guide in their
distribution by the scaler, whose business it is to measure the logs,
call out the number of feet in each log to the tallyman, who records
it in a book kept for the purpose, the record, together with the mark
attached, to be forwarded to the surveyor general's office, there to
be posted and footed. A small army of men is engaged in bringing logs
to the gap, a narrow passage admitting scarcely more than one log at a
time.
A catch mark is a mark representing the original mark and is so placed
as to appear always upon the upper side when the log floats at rest.
Once through the gap, experienced men gather the logs, as they are
floated downward by the current, into brills. These are subsequently
gathered together in rafts, laid, as a rule, with the logs headed in
the direction of the current. Rafts may be transported to any distance
southward by the current of the stream, and through the waters of the
lake, and not infrequently the whole distance by tow boats.
AMOUNT OF LOGS CUT FROM 1857 TO 1888.
The earliest statistics in the following table are from persons
operating, and the later from record books. We have given the figures
in round numbers. The table includes logs cut and floated down the St.
Croix river and tributaries:
YEAR. FEET.
1837-38 300,000
1838-39 700,000
1839-40 1,500,000
1840-41 2,500,000
1841-42 3,000,000
1842-43 3,500,000
1843-44 8,500,000
1844-45 14,000,000
1845-46 25,500,000
1846-47 26,000,000
1847-48 37,000,000
1848-49 50,000,000
1849-50 75,000,000
1850-51 87,000,000
1851-52 90,000,000
1852-53 110,000,000
1853-54 125,000,000
1854-55 165,000,000
1855-56 187,000,000
1856-57 200,000,000
1857-58 135,000,000
1858-59 156,000,000
1859-60 175,000,000
1860-61 160,000,000
1861-62 175,000,000
1862-63 150,000,000
1863-64 140,000,000
1864-65 144,000,000
1865-66 137,000,000
1866-67 174,000,000
1867-68 183,000,000
1868-69 194,000,000
1869-70 209,000,000
1870-71 170,000,000
1871-72 224,000,000
1872-73 108,000,000
1873-74 188,000,000
1874-75 178,000,000
1875-76 197,000,000
1876-77 183,000,000
1877-78 225,000,000
1878-79 242,000,000
1879-80 230,000,000
1880-81 247,000,000
1881-82 295,000,000
1882-83 302,000,000
1883-84 230,000,000
1884-85 235,000,000
1885-86 285,000,000
1886-87 350,000,000
1887-88 370,000,000
CHARTERED DAMS.
The Namakagon Totogatic Dam Company obtained a charter in 1869 from
the Wisconsin legislature empowering them to construct two dams for
sheering logs, one to be at the outlet of Namakagon lake, the other on
Totogatic river, a stream tributary to Namakagon river, entering that
stream about eight miles above its junction with the St. Croix. In
1870, by legislative act, the charter was amended by permission to
erect sixteen dams, to be built severally on the waters of the Upper
St. Croix, Moose, Eau Claire, Namakagon, Totogatic, Yellow, and Clam
rivers. The name was changed to the "St. Croix Dam Company," and the
capital stock was fixed at $50,000. The incorporators were A. M.
Chase, Joel Nason, Henry D. Barron, Wm. Kent, and S. B. Dresser. A. M.
Chase was the first president. The company had permission under the
charter to hold the water during the seasons when it was not necessary
to navigation on the St. Croix. These dams were usually shut down to
gather a head during the months of March and April, with the exception
of the dams on the Namakagon and Eau Claire, which have the privilege
of gathering and retaining a head of water during any part of the
year. The head of water above these dams varied from seven to ten
feet, and the average cost of construction was $4,000. The tolls per
1,000 feet at these dams were as follows: Namakagon and Clam, 25 and
20 cents; at Totogatic, 20 and 15 cents; St. Croix, 20 and 15 cents;
other dams, 3 to 10 cents.
A. M. Chase was the original mover in organizing the corporation and
forwarding its interests. He was foreman in selecting sites and
building the various dams. He was also owner and general agent until
within the last few years, when he transferred his interests to other
parties. The charter expires in 1893.
The dam on Clam river, built at a cost of $10,000, was, in 1886, blown
up by dynamite and destroyed by Robert Davidson, who claimed that the
flowage interfered with his meadow lands.
LUMBERING ON THE ST. CROIX IN 1845.
The progress of civilization involving the building of railways, the
transformation of the wilderness into cultivated fields, the growth of
villages and cities, the increased facilities for manufacturing and
the bringing the forest domain under law, has created such changes in
the business of lumbering as to justify the insertion of a chapter
relating to the life and surroundings of the early lumberman. Let us
go back to the year 1845. The country, save a few sparse settlements
on the navigable streams, is as yet an unbroken wilderness, and
tenanted only by wild beasts and roving Indians. There are vast
regions, densely wooded, in which the sound of the woodman's axe has
never been heard, lying about the headwaters of the Chippewa, St.
Croix and other streams. These pineries can only be reached by
stemming the currents of the minor streams in bateaux or birch bark
canoes, or by traversing the country on foot or with teams. Parties
operating must purchase their outfit, consisting of teams, supplies of
flour, pork, etc., in Illinois or Missouri. Sometimes they drive their
teams through unsettled country, without roads, swimming and fording
streams, clearing away obstructions, and camping where night overtakes
them. Sometimes they ship their supplies by steamer to Stillwater or
St. Croix Falls. When landed at Stillwater the supplies are packed
upon flatboats and poled to Taylor's Falls, where they are to be
portaged to the head of the rapids, a distance of six miles, and
transferred to bateaux. The portage is a difficult one. The goods are
to be hoisted up over the rocks of the Dalles and placed upon sleds
calculated to run upon the bare ground. Considering the inequalities
of the surface from the Dalles to the head of the rapids, the portage
is an immensely difficult one. They are then taken to their place of
destination, the bateaux returning to the Falls for successive loads,
the whole transfer requiring considerable time. Sometimes, if late in
the season, part or whole of the fleet of bateaux may be caught in the
ice, in which case a bushed road must be made, and the supplies
transported by teams and men.
Arriving on the ground, the operators blaze trees on lines surrounding
the region which they wish to work during the winter. These claims are
generally respected by others. The first work to be done is making a
camp, building stables, clearing streams of obstructions, and making
roads. Incidentally the Indians, certain to be visitors at the camps,
are to be propitiated with presents of flour, pork and tobacco. These
pacified and out of the way, the lumberman may say with Alexander
Selkirk--
"I am monarch of all I survey;
My right there is none to dispute."
Trespassing is unknown. The lumberman is not conscious that he himself
is a trespasser on the domain of Uncle Sam. Nor is he. Has he not the
best title in the world? Who is there to dispute it? No government
agent ever troubles him, or questions his right to fell the royal
trees and dispose of them as he may choose. He is earning by his
strong right arm his title to the trees. He endures much, accomplishes
much and is the advance courier of civilization. He spends long months
away from the common haunts of men. He is cut off from the mails and
from home pleasure. He lives an industrious life. Cold is the day when
the stroke of his axe is not heard. The snow deepens around him, the
temperature sinks lower and lower, till it would not discredit
Labrador; still he toils on unceasingly, and at night builds high his
blazing fire, wraps himself up in his buffalo robe and blankets, and
sleeps through the night the sleep of the tired and the just.
Meanwhile his appetite is marvelous. The cooking (done by one of the
crew) maybe of the rudest, and the provisions none of the daintiest,
but exercise and the cold gives a relish to the food not often found
in the fashionable restaurants. The members of the crew have each
allotted duties. To one is intrusted the cooking department, to
another the position of teamster, to another that of sled tender;
some are choppers, some are swampers, some are sawyers. The records of
the camp are kept by the foreman or some person detailed for that
purpose.
The winter over, the teams are returned to the settlements. The log
driving crew succeeds the choppers and other workers. The logs, having
been hauled upon the ice of the driving streams, with the melting of
snow are afloat on the swollen streams, and the drivers commence their
work, following the logs in their downward course to the mills or
booms, dislodging them when they are driven upon shore, and breaking
jams when they occur. This work is difficult and attended by
considerable exposure, as the driver is often obliged to go into the
stream. It therefore commands higher wages than other work. The
drivers are without tents, but a wangan, or small flat boat,
containing bedding, provisions and a cooking kit, is floated down the
stream so as to be convenient at night. The wangan is managed by the
cook alone, and his work, when he ties up for the night, is to take
ashore the bedding, cooking material, etc., build a fire and provide a
meal for the hungry crew. His cooking utensils are of the rudest kind,
consisting of a tin reflector and a few iron pots and pans. The savory
repast is scarce finished before the arrival of the crew, cold, wet,
tired, and hungry. They are not particular about a table with its
furniture, but are satisfied to eat from a tin plate, sitting or lying
on the ground. Hunger satisfied, they spend their evenings by the
blazing fire, drying their clothing, jesting, story telling, or
recalling the events of the day, or scanning the open or clouded sky
for indications of weather changes. When the sky is clear they trace
the constellations, locate the principal stars and planets, or follow
the devious windings of the milky way. Some of them have studied
astronomy, and some have learned from others, and all are intent,
though without books or teachers, on learning the wisdom that Nature
teaches, and some are found who have learned to look "from Nature up
to Nature's God."
Occasionally some rougher specimen mars the order and pleasantness of
this wild-wood converse by an oath or coarse remark, heard, perhaps,
but unheeded by the more serious and thoughtful. Such men are found
everywhere, in the streets, saloons, and even in the wilderness, men
who pollute the air in which they move with profanity and obscenity.
These are not the men who succeed and build up great fortunes; these
are not the true conquerors of the wilderness. The sober, thoughtful
man is the man who succeeds. It is not necessary that he have the
learning acquired from books, or a smattering of science from the
schools. He may acquire great knowledge by close study of men, and
observation of the phenomena of nature, and so make himself a peer of
the book worm and scholar of the library and schools.
The acquaintances formed in these camp scenes and toils often result
in life long friendships, and the scenes of camp, river and forest
become cherished reminiscences to the actors, who are as fond of
recalling them as veteran soldiers are of recounting the hairbreadth
escapes and stirring incidents of campaign life.
The drive ends with the delivery of the logs at the booms and mills,
the men are paid off and devote themselves for the remainder of the
summer to other work.
LUMBERING ON THE ST. CROIX IN 1886.
The St. Croix lumberman, after the lapse of nearly fifty years, is
still a picturesque figure, clad, as he is, in coarse, strong woolen
garments, these of brilliant red, yellow, blue and green, or in some
cases as variegated as Joseph's coat of many colors. He is usually a
man of stalwart frame, which is set off to advantage by his close
fitting garments. His circumstances are, however, widely different
from his old time predecessor.
The rough, hard work of the wilderness, including the building of
dams, the construction of reservoirs and roads, and the improvement of
the streams, has been accomplished chiefly by his predecessors. He is
abundantly supplied with food, produced almost in the neighborhood of
the scenes of his winter's work. He travels by rail almost to his
destination or drives blooded teams over comparatively good roads,
where his predecessors tediously blazed the way and cleared it of
underbrush. His camp accommodations are far superior. He is housed in
comfortable cabins, warmed with large stoves and heaters, whereas the
cabin of the lumberman of 1845 had a fire built on the ground in the
centre of the room. The modern camp is well furnished with tables and
other conveniences. The cook has a separate room furnished with a
cooking stove and modern appliances for cooking. He has his assistant,
known as the "cookee" or second cook. The table is spread with a
variety of food, and delicacies that would have astounded the
lumberman of 1845. Each operator is limited to his own special work.
His bounds are set and he can go no further, except at the risk of the
loss of his labor.
The work goes on with clock-like precision and is comparatively easy.
Everything is done on a larger scale and more economically. The crews
are larger and the life is not near so solitary. The various crews
employed for the spring drive combine and thereby greatly increase
their efficiency. They are supplied with better and covered boats. The
cook in the drive has in addition to his "cookee" a wangan man to
assist in managing the boat. The drives are larger and yet more easily
handled, the conveniences are greater and the expenses less. The men
are more independent, and owing to the number employed, and the
nearness of settlements and villages, more sociable, and possibly more
hilarious and less thoughtful. We shall nevertheless find among them
men of character, thoughtful, industrious and earnest men, who would
have shone in the associations of the earlier camps and who will
doubtless in the future be ranked among the successful and capable
men, worthy successors of the veterans now leaving the stage of
action.
Conjecture as to the future of the lumbering industry, and
consequently as to the character of the men engaged in it, would be
idle. Who can tell what a day or another fifty years may bring forth?
The pine woods will not last always; already the camps are being
pushed further and further to the north and west, and whereever the
denuded pine lands are arable the farmer is making his home. The
lumbering industry is also passing into the hands of corporations, and
with their extensive means and the armies of men employed by them the
forests are disappearing more rapidly than ever. It is possible that
the present generation of lumbermen may be the last in the valley of
the St. Croix, and that before another fifty years have passed the
last of the number may have shouldered his axe or peavy and passed
"over the divide."
THE LOG JAMS OF THE ST. CROIX.
The St. Croix river in its passage through the Dalles is compressed
into a comparatively narrow channel, by which means the logs driven
down the stream are crowded closely together, so closely as to
sometimes become firmly wedged or jammed together. The jam generally
occurs at a point known as Angle Rock, a huge promontory of massive
trap rock extending into the middle of the channel from the Minnesota
side, and opposite to the St. Croix landing. The river makes a bend
around this rock nearly at a right angle with the channel above. At
this point jams are, under certain conditions, almost inevitable.
Sometimes they are of small dimensions and are easily broken.
Sometimes the logs gather in such quantity and become so tightly
wedged that it is a labor of weeks to break them.
The first jam worthy of note occurred in 1865, during the prevalence
of high water. It is, in fact, only during high water that jams can
occur, the current being at such time swift and strong, and the logs
apt to accumulate in greater number than in the regular drives, from
the fact that logs that have been stranded in former seasons or at low
water are floated off, and the river is thus filled with logs from
bank to bank. These are crowded into the narrow channel of the Dalles
faster than they can be discharged, and a jam results. An obstruction
once formed, the logs continuing to come in from above fill the
channel. The tide of logs arrested, crowd downward until they rest
upon the bottom of the river, and are heaped upward sometimes to a
height of twenty or thirty feet above the surface. The river thus
checked in its course rises, wedging the logs more closely and heaping
them higher.
In the jam of 1865 the river channel was filled nearly to the St.
Croix dam, a distance of a mile and a quarter above Angle Rock. This
being the first of the great jams excited unusual attention.
Excursionists came up daily in the boats to look upon it. It was
indeed a wonderful sight. The logs were heaped together in the wildest
confusion, and wedged in at all angles. Men and horses were employed
to break the jam, which at that time, owing to the inexperience of the
workers, was no light task. The _modus operandi_ of jam breaking is to
remove logs from the lower part of the jam till some log which serves
as a key to the jam is reached. This being removed the logs above
commence moving, and, if the haul be a long one, in a short time the
movement is extended to the head of the jam. Perhaps the logs are so
heaped above that no water is visible. It matters not; the tremendous
current beneath sweeps downward, carrying the logs along, and the
spectator beholds a wonderful scene, a river of logs, the current
swiftest in the centre of the stream, the logs rolling, tumbling,
crashing, grinding, sometimes snapped in sunder like pipestems. The
jam breakers are in the wildest excitement, cheering and hurrahing,
and some may be seen out in the current of logs, jumping from one to
another, or making their escape to the shore. Others on the lower part
of the jam at the moment of breaking are carried down the river.
Though apparently a scene of great danger, comparatively few accidents
occur. The workers are cool, experienced men with steady nerves and
stalwart arms, a race of men not surpassed for muscular development.
In 1877 another jam took place nearly as large as that of 1865. This
jam came near destroying the beautiful bridge that spanned the river
at the head of the Dalles. Many of the logs carried high in air by the
pressure of the logs below struck the bridge, and at times its
destruction seemed inevitable. This bridge has since been replaced by
an iron structure, much higher than the first, but even this
occasionally received a blow from some log carried along by the
current at a "present arms."
In 1883 another jam of considerable dimensions occurred, but it was
removed with less labor and expense than its predecessors, and
steamboats anchored below were used to aid in breaking it. It cost
from $5,000 to $10,000 to break these jams.
By far the greatest of the jams occurred in June, 1886. The water was
high, the current strong and the river above so full of logs that a
log driver might have crossed upon them. This abundance was owing to
other causes than those mentioned in the account of the jam of 1865.
The dams at Snake, Kettle and other rivers had been simultaneously
opened, and the logs in these streams all set free at once in the
current of the St. Croix. On they came in long procession with but
little obstruction till they reached Angle Rock, where they were
suddenly arrested, and, owing to the force of the current, wedged more
tightly and heaped higher than on any previous occasion, and the river
channel was filled with logs to a point two miles above the St. Croix
falls formerly known as the dam. To break this jam, two steamers, two
engines, several teams of horses and over two hundred men were
employed, and during the six weeks that occurred before it was broken,
thousands of visitors came by rail and steamboat to look upon it. This
jam was estimated to hold during its continuance 150,000,000 feet of
logs.
POPULATION OF WISCONSIN.
The first census of the Northwest Territory, taken in 1790, does not
show the population of the region now known as Wisconsin. The census
of 1800 gave the following figures: Ohio, 45,363; Indiana Territory,
5,641; Green Bay, 50; Prairie du Chien, 65. According to the census of
1880, the original Northwest Territory contained a population of
12,989,571, or more than one-quarter of the population of the United
States. The population of Crawford county in 1820 was 492; in 1830,
692; in 1834, 810; in 1836, 1,220; in 1838, 850; in 1841, 1,503; in
1847, 1,409.
In 1836, when Wisconsin Territory was organized, the population of the
Territory was, 11,883. The whole number of votes cast at the election
in 1836 was 2,462. The population, according to the census taken at
the close of every five years, was as follows: In 1840, 30,945; in
1845, 155,275; in 1850, 305,301; in 1855, 552,109; in 1860, 775,881;
in 1865, 868,325; in 1870, 1,054,670; in 1875, 1,236,729; in 1880,
1,315,480; in 1885, 1,563,423.
The official compilation of the census of Wisconsin gives the
following details: Total population, 1,563,423; white, males, 806,342;
females, 748,810; negroes, in full, 5,576; Indians, 2,695. The
nativities are divided as follows: United States, 1,064,943; Germany,
265,756; Scandinavia, 90,057; Ireland, 36,371; Great Britain, 32,731;
British America, 21,887; Bohemia, 15,838; Holland, 7,357; France,
3,963; all other countries, 20,030; subject to military duty, 286,289;
soldiers of the late war, 29,686.
POPULATION OF ST. CROIX, PIERCE, POLK, BURNETT, AND SAWYER COUNTIES.
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|1840.|1845.|1850.| 1855.| 1860.| 1865.| 1870.| 1875.| 1880.| 1885.|
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St. Croix | 618 | 809 |624 | 2,040| 5,392 |6,255 |11,039|14,957|18,838|22,389|
Pierce | | | | 1,720| 4,672 |6,824 |10,004|15,101|17,685|19,760|
Polk | | | | 547| 1,400 |1,677 | 3,422| 6,736|10,095|12,884|
Burnett | | | | | 12 | 238 | 705| 1,436| 2,980| 4,607|
Sawyer | | | | | | | | | | 2,481|
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POPULATION OF MINNESOTA.
In 1849 the Territory had a population of 4,680. The census taken at
periods of every five years shows the following population: In 1850,
6,077; in 1855, ----; in 1860, 172,073; in 1865, 250,099; in 1870,
439,706; in 1875, 597,403; in 1880, 780,773; in 1885, 1,117,798.
The following table gives the population of the counties on the St.
Croix waters.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1850. | 1855. | 1860. | 1865. | 1870. | 1875. | 1880. | 1885.|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Washington | 1,066 | ---- | 6,123 | 6,780 | 11,809 | 9,994 | 19,562 | 29,763|
Chisago | ---- | ---- | 1,743 | 2,175 | 4,378 | 6,046 | 7,982 | 9,765|
Pine | ---- | ---- | 92 | 64 | 648 | 795 | 1,365 | 2,177|
Kanabec | ---- | ---- | 30 | 31 | 93 | 311 | 605 | 1,119|
Isanti | ---- | ---- | 281 | 453 | 2,035 | 3,901 | 5,063 | 7,032|
Carlton | ---- | ---- | 51 | 28 | 286 | 495 | 1,230 | 3,189|
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MINNESOTA STATE CAPITOL.
By the organic act of Minnesota Territory, $20,000 were appropriated
for a capitol building. At the time the Territory was organized,
however (June 1, 1849), the _permanent_ seat of government had not
been determined on, and the money was therefore not available. The
Central House in St. Paul, a log tavern weather-boarded, situated at
the corner of Bench and Minnesota streets, where the rear of the
Mannheimer block now is, was rented for the public offices and
legislative assembly. It was for some months known as "The Capitol."
On the lower floor was the secretary of state's office, and the house
of representatives chamber. On the second floor was the council
chamber and the territorial library. Neither of these legislative
halls was over sixteen or eighteen feet square. The rest of the
building was used as an inn. The Union colors, floating from a flag
staff on the bank in front of the building, was the only mark of its
rank. During his entire term of office, Gov. Ramsey kept the executive
office in his private residence, and the supreme court met in rented
chambers here and there.
On Sept. 3, 1849, the first session of the legislature assembled at
the above temporary capitol. Gov. Ramsey delivered his message to the
two houses in joint convention assembled, in the hotel dining room.
The whole fitting of the assembly rooms was of the plainest
description.
Considerable discussion ensued during the session on this subject, as
to whether the Territory had a right to expend the $20,000
appropriated in the organic act, for a capitol building. The question
having been submitted to Hon. Wm. Meredith, secretary of the treasury,
he replied that the "Department can not doubt that the public
buildings in question can only be erected at the _permanent_ seat of
government, located as described."
The second session assembled Jan. 2, 1851, in a brick building, since
burned, which occupied the site of the Third street front of the
Metropolitan Hotel. At this session the seat of government was fixed
at St. Paul, as above noted. D. F. Brawley, Jonathan McKusick, Louis
Robert and E. A. C. Hatch were elected building commissioners. Charles
Bazille, a pioneer resident and large property owner of St. Paul,
donated to the government the block of ground since known as "Capitol
Square," and plans drawn by N. C. Prentiss were adopted. The contract
was let to Joseph Daniels for $33,000, but the building finally cost
over $40,000. It was commenced at once, but not completed until the
summer of 1853. The third and fourth sessions of the legislature were
compelled, therefore, to meet in rented buildings. That of 1852
assembled in Goodrich's block on Third street below Jackson, and that
of 1853 in a two story brick row on Third street, where the front of
the Mannheimer block now is.
BURNING OF THE CAPITOL.
At nine o'clock on the evening of March 1, 1881, while both houses of
the legislature were in session, and all the halls and departments
were crowded with visitors, the dome of the building was found to be
on fire. The flames spread with too great rapidity to be checked, and
all that could be done was to save the contents of the building. The
most valuable records and papers of the various offices, and of the
legislature, with some of the furniture, were carried out, but the
greater part of the contents of the building, including the valuable
law library, the supply of state laws, documents and reports, and all
the stationery in the secretary of state's store rooms, etc., were a
total loss. The Historical Society's library was mostly saved. The
entire loss to the State was fully $200,000.
Fortunately the city of St. Paul had just completed a fine and
spacious market house, which was still unoccupied, and its use was at
once tendered the State by the city authorities, and while the flames
were still burning the furniture and effects saved from the old
capitol were removed thither. At nine o'clock next morning the state
departments and both houses of the legislature were again at work in
their new quarters. But two days of the session yet remained. Gov.
Pillsbury immediately secured estimates for rebuilding the burned
edifice, using the old walls, and an act appropriating $75,000 for
that purpose was passed. Work was commenced at once. It was then found
that the old walls were too unsafe to use, and at the extra session in
September, 1881, the further sum of $100,000 was appropriated for the
completion of the building. Its total cost was about $275,000. The
dome of the building is two hundred feet above the ground, giving a
noble view to the visitor who ascends it. The exterior of the edifice
is neat and tasty, and it is altogether creditable to the State,
considering its comparatively small cost.
SELKIRK VISITORS.
In the early days a somewhat primitive people inhabited the Northwest,
making their homes on the banks of the Red River of the North and on
the shores of Winnipeg, in what was known as the Selkirk settlement,
now included in the province of Manitoba. They were a mixed race of
Scotch, French and Indian stock, born and raised under the government
of the Northwest British Fur Company. They were a peaceable, partly
pastoral and partly nomadic, trading people. They cultivated the
ground quite successfully considering the high latitude of their home
and the absence of machinery for farm work, raising wheat, vegetables,
cattle and horses. They engaged in hunting and trapping and yearly
visited St. Paul with the surplus products of their labor to be
disposed of for money or goods. They came usually in caravans
consisting of files of carts drawn by cows, oxen and ponies, and
commanded by a captain elected to the position who exercised over them
a rigid military rule. Their carts were rude, creaking affairs, made
entirely without iron, all the fastenings being sinews and leathern
thongs. This harness was made of raw hides, Indian tanned, and sewed
with animal sinews. Their costume was a happy cross between the
civilized and savage. Their caravans included from 100 to 600 carts,
which were laden with furs, buffalo robes, buffalo tongues, dried
pemmican, etc. As they came a distance of 450 miles, the journey
required many days, but was made in good military order. The raising
of a flag was the signal for starting, the lowering, for stopping. At
night the carts were ranged in a circle about the encampment, and
sentinels posted. Their encampment within the suburbs of St. Paul
attracted great crowds of the curious. In 1857 their train consisted
of 500 carts, and in 1858 of 600, but later, as railroads were built
northward and steamers were placed upon the Red River of the North,
their number gradually diminished and finally their visits ceased
altogether.
CYCLONES.
Recorded and unrecorded, Minnesota and Wisconsin have had their full
share of those atmospheric disturbances that have wrought so much
destruction in the Western States. In the early days, when the country
was sparsely settled and villages and towns were few and far between,
they came and went unnoted, or attracting but little attention. They
left no traces on the plain, and in the forests only a belt of fallen
timber, known as a "windfall." These belts are sufficiently numerous
to establish the fact that these storms were probably as frequent in
early, even in prehistoric, times as at the present. Their movements
are more destructive in later times because of the improvements of
civilization, the increased number of human habitations and the growth
of towns and cities. The tornado has more to destroy, and as a
destroying agent, its movements are better known and more widely
published.
Scientists are not agreed as to the cause of these destructive
phenomena, but enough is known to overthrow the theory so persistently
advanced that it is in consequence of the cutting away of the forests
and the substitution of farms. In fact much of the country was already
prairie land and abundant evidences of tornadoes are found in the
midst of old forests in which have since grown up trees of
considerable size, and this at a period long before the lumberman
commenced his destructive work.
We append a few sketches of cyclones that have occurred in
comparatively recent times.
THE ISANTI COUNTY CYCLONE.
This storm occurred in September, 1865, and spent its fury chiefly in
Isanti county, but extended beyond and was felt even in Wisconsin.
The tornado gathered its wrath in the southwestern region of Isanti
county, in what is called the "Lake Typo settlement," some forty miles
north of St. Paul. It was first discovered in the shape of "two
clouds," as the people there residing expressed it, "approaching each
other from different directions." Suddenly the mingling of these
counter currents of strong winds appeared to form the blackened
heavens into a funnel-shaped mass. The direction of the whirlwind was
from southwest to northeast, and after crossing the St. Croix river
passed through an unsettled portion of timber lands known as "pine
barrens," a growth of scattering pines interspersed with black oaks of
medium size.
On Wood river, Burnett county, Wisconsin, the trunks of pine trees,
three feet in diameter and eighty feet high, were twisted into "broom
splints" and carried high in air. The intervening oaks were also
served the same way; and the whole track of the tornado, from thirty
rods to three-fourths of a mile in width, had left no tree standing.
Pines and oaks were all prostrate, and promiscuously heaped up in
winrows over the ground, their branches and trunks interlocked, and in
some places piled to the height of thirty feet.
The author of this work lost about 10,000,000 feet of pine logs in
Wood river in this cyclone. On Clam river, Wisconsin, for four miles
in length and about half a mile in width, the forest was laid in
winrows, and parties who came through soon after the tempest had to
cut their way.
The tornado, traveling with the velocity of lightning to the
northeast, overtook Dr. Comfort, of Wyoming, as he was crossing
Sunrise prairie with a mule team, accompanied by a hired man. The
doctor and man saved themselves by clinging to some shrubs near by,
but when the fury of the whirlwind had passed, all they could find of
their outfit was the poor mules, half frightened to death, and the
fore wheels and tongue of the wagon. The hind wheels, box, and the
rest of the outfit, together with the doctor's medicine kit, which he
had along, when last seen, were bound zenithward.
Wm. A. Hobbs, late quartermaster sergeant of the Third Minnesota
Battery, Light Artillery, and Orville Grant and brother--sons of R.
Grant, Esq., a farmer living in Isanti county--were out hunting, and
happened to be caught where the storm passed through the heaviest
timber. They saw it approaching, and at first attempted to take
shelter in an old school house near by, but soon saw that was no place
for them and made for an old pine log which they got behind; soon that
commenced to move. Hobbs seized hold of an oak, some ten inches in
diameter, which immediately commenced to be loosened at the roots and
to spin around like a top. The tree was prostrated and he with it--he
receiving very severe injuries. The Grant boys, were also injured, but
none near so badly as Hobbs. The log school house shared the fate of
the surrounding forest. A resident near by states that he saw one-half
the roof sailing upward at least four hundred feet above the tops of
the tallest trees.
THE COTTAGE GROVE CYCLONE.
On June 15, 1877, a terrific cyclone visited the town of Cottage
Grove, Washington county, Minnesota. We append the correct and vivid
description taken from the "History of Washington County:"
"At 9 o'clock P. M. there arose in the southwest a dark and heavy
cloud, attended with loud thunder, vivid lightning and a strong wind.
The cloud moved forward rapidly; soon the rain began to fall in
torrents, when suddenly the wind came dashing with great violence,
sweeping everything before it. There seemed to be two currents of
wind, one coming from the west and the other from the southwest. These
two currents came together in section 22. The stronger current being
from the southwest, the storm took a northwestern direction, and did
some damage in section 27, taking away a portion of the roof of Ethan
Viall's house, and a trunk out of the chamber, no trace of which could
be found. A corn cultivator was taken up, some portions of which were
never found, while other parts were found two miles from the place of
its taking. In section 22, when the currents met, the destruction of
property beggars description. The timber in its track was prostrated;
fences were torn up and scattered in every direction; E. Welch's house
came in the line of desolation; Mr. and Mrs. Welch had stepped out to
look after some chickens in which Mrs. Welch was specially interested,
and, startled by the roar of the wind, were in the act of returning to
the house. When near the door the wind took up the house, bearing it
away, and a stick of timber struck both Mr. and Mrs. Welch, knocking
them down. When Mr. Welch recovered he had hold of his wife, but she
was dead. The stick of timber struck her on the head and caused
instant death. The next object in the path of destruction was C. D.
Tuttle's two story dwelling, located in the northwest corner of
section 26. The main part of the house was torn to pieces and
scattered in every direction, while the wing was left unmoved. The
family, consisting of six persons, fled to the cellar and were
miraculously preserved. The large barn a few rods further on was
completely destroyed. Next in its course was Mr. J. C. Tucker's barn,
the roof of which suddenly passed along on the breeze. At this point
the storm turned, taking a northeasterly direction, and struck the
house of Robert Williams, damaging the house and entirely destroying
the barn. A horse tied to a girder in the barn was found, uninjured,
sixty feet outside of the limits of the building, with the girder
lying across him, and the strap still tied to it. Next in line was a
small lake in the southwest corner of section 23. It was almost robbed
of its treasure. The water and mud was carried a long distance up the
bluffs, fifty feet above the level of the lake. Next came the fine
house of John Morey, giving a portion of its roof to the excited wind;
then passed into the town of Denmark, continuing its destructive
course, killing a horse for W. G. Wagner, near the town line. A man
known as Michael Schull, a farm hand, was taken up by the wind and
dashed against a pile of wood, injuring his brain, causing him to
become dangerous. He is now at St. Peter in the insane asylum. The
destruction of property was great. No accurate account of the amount
of damage done has been compiled. Mr. Tuttle, living in section 26,
suffered the most. He estimated his loss at $7,000. His house was
situated in a valley surrounded by oak trees, and we would suppose was
protected by the strong bulwarks of Nature, and yet house, barn,
farming utensils, and machinery were scattered over the country. The
next morning sheets of tin two feet square, found in Mr. Tuttle's
yard, were supposed to have come from a church in Dakota county.
Portions of Mr. Tuttle's house were found miles away."
The same cyclone visited Lake Elmo and did great damage, blowing down
the depot buildings, Lake Elmo Hotel and other structures. The
buildings and trees of the agricultural fair grounds were destroyed.
Some parts of the buildings were carried miles away by the storm.
THE CYCLONE AT WHITE BEAR AND MARINE, MINNESOTA, AND CLEAR LAKE,
WISCONSIN.
Sept. 9, 1884, a storm arose in Hennepin county and did some damage;
continuing to White Bear lake, Oneka and Grant, in Washington county,
it gathered force and proved very destructive to life and property. As
it passed through Oneka and Grant its path was about ten miles in
width. Churches, school houses, dwellings, barns, grain stacks, and
fences in its way were either partially or wholly destroyed, and the
wrecked property was distributed for miles around. The cyclone passed
on over Marine, Big Lake and Scandia, crossed the St. Croix, passed
over the town of Somerset, Star Prairie, New Richmond, in St. Croix
county, and over Black Brook, Clear Lake, Pineville and Clayton in
Polk county and Turtle Lake in Barron, pursuing the usual
northeasterly direction common to these cyclones, and disappearing in
terrific thunderstorms, in the timbered lands of Barron and Chippewa
counties. An eye witness, Mr. Ivory Hatch, of Oneka, thus describes
the approach of the storm:
"I was standing near a shed in the barnyard, when suddenly the sky
became black and threatening. In about five minutes I saw two
funnel-shaped clouds descend and approach each other. I started for
the house to warn my family, when, as quick as a flash, I was
enveloped in the cloud, and while clinging to a post for safety my
grain stacks and buildings disappeared. The storm did not continue
over a minute and a half. I escaped almost miraculously without a
bruise." The testimony of others in the neighborhood is substantially
the same. In the town of Oneka the destruction was worse than in any
other locality.
In the track of the storm through Washington county not less than
fifty houses were demolished. The loss on each averaged $600, making a
total of $30,000. Losses on barns, machinery and stock raised this sum
to $50,000. The loss at Marine was computed roughly at $75,000, which
made a total of $135,000, not including hay and grain. The entire loss
to Clear Lake was estimated at $200,000. Three persons lost their
lives, Mrs. P. Burdick, Willie Kavanagh and John Saunders. The
Methodist, Congregational and Swedish churches were leveled with the
ground. The timber losses were close to $1,000,000; private property
in villages, loss near $500,000, and all other losses, such as farm
property and the like, in the hundred thousands. The total loss in
Wisconsin has been placed at six lives and $4,000,000 in property.
THE ST. CLOUD AND SAUK RAPIDS CYCLONE OF 1886.
The most destructive storm yet recorded occurred on the afternoon of
April 14, 1886. The clouds were first seen from St. Cloud to gather a
short distance over the basin of the Masour cemetery about three
o'clock, Sunday afternoon, in dark, overhanging masses. Then sharp
tongues of lightning darted down with terrific force, and the storm
with all its fury burst upon the doomed cities. The south end, or
beginning of the cyclone track, was located two or three miles south
and a little west of St. Cloud and its total length was twenty-four
miles. The property destroyed amounted to over a quarter of a million
of dollars, and the loss of life at St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids was
seventy-five. If we include those who died later of injuries from
wounds, exposure and fright, we may safely say a hundred.
The first victim of the cyclone was Nicholas Junneman. The cyclone
rising, as we have said, over or near Calvary cemetery, for a space of
about three hundred yards in diameter the trees were uprooted or
twisted off, gravestones were thrown flat, and fences demolished.
Crossing over Calvary Hill, in a path about one hundred feet wide, it
wrecked the small Catholic chapel and badly injured the crucifix
located there. Next in its course was the farm house of Nicholas
Junneman which was left a pile of ruins, and Mr. Junneman was killed,
while his wife was dangerously injured. The first house struck within
the city limits was J. W. Tenvoorde's. Just across the street J.
Schwartz's two story brick house was almost wrecked. Here the path of
the tornado was about two hundred feet wide, and increased until by
the time it reached the Manitoba depot the width was six hundred feet,
taking in in its fearful embrace during the length of its course half
a hundred or more buildings, which were totally wrecked, moved from
their foundations, or more or less damaged. In many instances there
was nothing left to show where a house had stood, and the prairie was
covered far and wide with the debris of the demolished buildings. Over
fifty houses in St. Cloud were totally destroyed and as many more
badly damaged. Before striking the river it swerved slightly
northward, and thus the costly building blocks and crowded streets in
the heart of the city were spared. Had the cyclone veered in its
course more to the south, the loss of property and life in St. Cloud
would have been incalculable.
Striking the river the cyclone appeared to be almost motionless for a
few moments, or moved so slowly as to seem to hang over the face of
the water, its huge black column rising toward the zenith. Then
leaving the river, this monster of the air struck Sauk Rapids at
Stanton's large flouring mill, which was left a heap of ruins. It then
took Demeules' store and the Northern Pacific depot, and passed on
through the main business part of the place, leaving but one important
business house standing, Wood's store, which was badly damaged. Court
house, church, school building, post office, newspaper offices,
hotels, dwelling houses, all went down under the relentless power of
the storm. Streets were blockaded with the wreck so as to be
practically impassable. The list of dead out of a village of about
1,000 population included some of the leading county officials and
prominent citizens. Amongst them were John Renard, county auditor, and
Gregg Lindley, register of deeds; also Edgar Hull, president of the
German-American National Bank; E. G. Halbert, of the New York
Insurance Company, with whom Mr. Hull had just filed an application
for a $5,000 policy, was so badly injured that he died in a few days.
The destruction of property in Sauk Rapids was far greater than in St.
Cloud, as the business portion of the city was almost entirely swept
away. The loss of life was also proportionately greater.
After leaving Sauk Rapids the cyclone struck Rice's, a station on the
Northern Pacific road, about fourteen miles from the former village.
Some four miles southeast of the station, at the house of a farmer
named Schultz, a happy wedding party was gathered, a daughter of the
farmer having been married to Henry Friday, chairman of the board of
supervisors of Langola. Almost before they realized it the terrible
power of the storm encircled them, and in the twinkling of an eye nine
of the goodly company were mangled corpses, among the number being the
groom, while the bride was dangerously if not fatally injured. The
victims also included the Rev. G. J. Schmidt, pastor of the German
Evangelical church of Sauk Rapids. The Rev. Mr. Seeder, pastor of the
Two Rivers district, was found out on the prairie with both legs
broken.
At Buckman, Morrison county, several persons were killed, and six or
seven farm houses destroyed. The suffering caused by this most
terrible of cyclones evoked the liveliest sympathy, and large
contributions of money, food and clothing were forwarded by the
citizens of St. Paul, Minneapolis and other cities throughout the
State.
G. W. Benedict, of Sauk Rapids, relates his experience in the storm as
follows: "I was in the yard at my residence half a mile north of the
depot, when I heard a terrible deafening roar, and on looking up I saw
what first appeared to be a very heavy black volume of smoke from a
railroad engine, but in a moment I realized what it was. The volume of
black cloud soon increased to double its size, and had a funnel shape,
gyrating in a peculiar zigzag form. Untold amounts of debris of
houses, fences and everything above the surface were shooting and
flying with terrific velocity from the cloud, which took a northerly
direction. The horrible writhing demon of destruction, with its
deafening roar, increased in volume and force, and hurled to utter
destruction everything in its path, a great portion of which was
carried miles in the air out of sight as though but trifles of
lightest chaff."
Thos. Van Etten was walking on the street, going home, when the
cyclone struck the town, and he was bodily lifted into the air,
carried four hundred feet up a steep hill and landed in a street,
literally plastered over with mud. A young man fishing near the end of
the bridge, on the opposite side from Sauk Rapids, says that many of
the houses were lifted high in the air, and did not seem to be injured
until they were dashed to the ground, when they collapsed, and the
pieces were scattered in all directions. None of the very large number
of persons who went into a cellar for protection from the storm were
badly injured. The Fink family, the mother and four children of which
were almost instantly killed, were in a house which had an excellent
cellar, but the family forgot to utilize it. Near the ruins of the
Carpenter house is a tree about ten inches in diameter, through which
a pine board was driven so that it protruded at both sides of the
tree. The property loss in Benton county was estimated at $300,000,
and in St. Cloud at $56,000.
STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.
Some time in the '50s Messrs. Oaks, Rand, Witham, Carson, and twelve
other men were in a tent on the banks of Lake St. Croix, just below
the mouth of Willow river, during a severe thunder storm. It was about
9 o'clock P. M. when lightning struck the tent and passing down killed
Witham and Carson, and severely stunned Oaks and Rand. The other men
were not injured, but, being badly frightened, ran away, and did not
return till the following morning, when they found two of the men
supposed killed still alive, but dazed and motionless. The two killed
were lying close together, while Mr. Oaks lay upon one side and Mr.
Rand upon the other. The lightning had struck the men who were killed
upon the head, and traversing the body had passed out below the
ankles. The current of electricity had passed up the arm of Mr. Oaks
and down his body, burning spots the size of a pea, and plowing lines
under the skin, the scars of which, after recovery, were raised in
welts nearly as large as a whipcord. Mr. Oaks was nearly a year
recovering. He says that during the time he lay motionless and
apparently stunned he was in full possession of his faculties. Mr.
Rand had one side of his body burned to a blister. Prior to this he
had been affected with weak eyes, but the electrical treatment there
received effected a complete cure.
ASIATIC CHOLERA.
Minnesota was early visited by this scourge of the eastern world. It
was brought up the river on the crowded steamers and created the
utmost consternation, and even panic. No one on board the Royal Arch,
May, 1853, can forget the dreadful scenes upon this boat. The first
case occurred at Galena, that of a child, and the next at La Crosse,
that of a woman, who was put ashore in a dying condition twenty miles
above. From thence to St. Paul the boat was a floating hospital, and
thirteen corpses lay under a canvas on the lower deck.
Notwithstanding the ghastly freight carried by the steamer, and its
sick and dying passengers in the cabin above, kind hearts sympathized
and kind hands were extended to help; and the dead were buried and
every thing possible was done for the sick and suffering survivors,
many of whom died after being carried ashore at St. Paul. What these
good Samaritans did was at the risk of their own lives, and more than
one, among them Henry P. Pratt, editor of the St. Paul _Minnesotian_,
sickened and died from infection caught by ministering to the stricken
ones.
DECREE OF CITIZENSHIP.
The first naturalization papers on record in Minnesota are somewhat
unique, and for that reason worthy of preservation, and are herewith
presented _et literatim_:
DECREE OF CITIZENSHIP.
TERRITORY OF WISCONSIN,
ST. CROIX COUNTY.
I, William Willim, an alien by birth, aged twenty-six years,
do hereby, upon my oath, make known that I was born in the
county of Hereford, in the kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, on the twenty-sixth day of June, A. D. 1821; that I
emigrated from the kingdom aforesaid, and landed in New
York, in the state of New York, on the first day of October,
1838; that I was at that time a minor aged seventeen years,
and that I have since that time resided in the United States
of America; that it is my _bona fide_ intention to become a
citizen of the United States, to renounce forever all
allegiance and fidelity which I, in anywise, owe to any
foreign power, potentate, state or sovereignty whatever, and
more particularly all allegiance and fidelity which I, in
anywise, owe to Victoria, queen of Great Britain, of whom I
have heretofore been a subject, and, further that I do not
possess any hereditary title, or belong to any of the order
of nobility in the kingdom from whence I came; so help me
God.
WILLIAM WILLIM.
Sworn and subscribed to before me on this eighteenth day of
June, 1847, in open court.
JOSEPH R. BROWN,
_Clerk of District Court of St. Croix County, Wisconsin Territory._
Another oath, such as is now administered, to support the constitution
of the United States, was signed and attested in like manner.
BURNING OF THE INTERNATIONAL HOTEL.
On a clear, cold night in February, 1869, the International Hotel,
located at the corner of Seventh and Jackson streets, took fire and
was speedily consumed. The alarm was sounded at two o'clock in the
morning. The hotel was crowded with boarders, among whom were many
members of the legislature, then in session, and their families. The
writer occupied a room on the second floor and was among the first
aroused. Hastily seizing my trunk I hurried down stairs and returned
to assist others, but was stopped by the smoke at the entrance. The
guests of the house were pouring from every outlet. A group of ladies
had escaped to the sidewalk, partly clad, some with bare feet. Ladders
were placed to the windows to save those who had failed to escape in
the hallway. Senators C. A. Gilman and Seagrave Smith, with their
wives, were rescued in this manner. Many diverting circumstances
occurred illustrative of nonchalance, coolness and daring, as well as
of bewilderment and panic.
Senator Armstrong tried in vain to throw his trunk from a window in
which it was wedged fast and was obliged to leave it to the flames.
Judge Meeker came out of the house carrying his clothing upon his arm,
having a shawl wrapped round his head, and bewailing the loss of the
maps and charts of Meeker's dam. Seagrave Smith tarried too long
searching for a senate bill, and narrowly escaped sharing the fate of
the bill. Many of the guests escaped in their night clothing, and
carrying their clothing with them completed their toilet standing in
the snow in the light of the burning building. Considering the
rapidity of the fire, and the hour at which it occurred it seemed
marvelous that no lives were lost.
GRASSHOPPERS.
Minnesota has been visited at intervals by that scourge of some of the
Western States, grasshoppers. The first visitation was from the
Selkirk (now Manitoba) settlement, about 1838-9. The pests are said to
have accompanied some of the early immigrants from Selkirk who came
down to the reservation about Fort Snelling. They made yearly
visitations and threatened to become a serious obstacle to the
settlement of the country. Some seasons they proved quite destructive.
In 1874-5-6-7 the state legislature made appropriations to relieve
those suffering from their ravages in the western and southwestern
parts of the State. There were also large private contributions to the
relief fund. One of the acts passed at the session of 1877
appropriated $100,000 for bounties to pay for the destruction of
grasshoppers and their eggs. Townships and villages were also
authorized to levy taxes for the destruction of the common enemy, and
$75,000 was appropriated to furnish seed grain for those who had lost
their crops, and $5,000 was voted for a common relief fund. Special
prayers were offered for an abatement of the scourge. In 1877, when
the grasshopper appeared in myriads again, the governor appointed a
day of fasting and prayer for riddance from the calamity. From some
unknown cause the grasshoppers disappeared, and have not since
returned in such numbers as to prove a plague. These grasshoppers were
a species known as the Rocky Mountain locusts.
ANCIENT MOUNDS.
The valley of the Mississippi and the valleys of its tributary streams
abound with mounds of various sizes and fashions, circular, oval or
oblong, serpentine and sometimes irregular in outline, and all works
of intelligence and design, wrought by some ancient people for
purposes now not fully known. It is probable, however, that some were
used as places of defense, others were built for sacrificial or
religious purposes, others for sepulture, and others still may be the
remains of dwellings. Most of them contain relics, coins or implements
made of shells, of flints and in some instances of baked earthenware,
and lastly human remains. These relics are not necessarily of
cotemporaneous date, and many of them are comparatively modern. Such
mounds were used for burial places long after their original builders
had passed away.
That they are very ancient is unquestionable. They outdate the
traditions of the Indians who inhabited this country at the date of
its discovery, while the most ancient remains taken from them indicate
as their builders a people widely different from the present
aborigines, and possessed of arts unknown to them. Conjecture points
to a race from the South, probably the Aztecs, as the mound builders.
This race was exterminated in some way, or driven away by some
stronger tribes, who may in turn have given place to our present race
of Indians. A full description of these ancient works would require
volumes; we can therefore allude only to a few that may be considered
typical specimens of their class.
At Prairie Village, now Waukesha, Wisconsin, in 1836, the writer saw a
mound six feet high, representing a tortoise, the head, feet and tail
being still distinctly traceable. Many mounds exist at Prairie du
Chien, some quite large, and of varying shape, some representing
inclosures or fortifications, with gateways or openings. These are
located on the high bluffs east of the Prairie. Many of these, very
distinct in the early days, are now almost obliterated by the
plowshare of the farmer and the spade of the relic hunter.
The builders of the ancient mounds certainly exercised great taste in
their location, as they are generally found in pleasant localities, on
grassy plateaus or elevated lands, and by the shores of lakes and
streams. Some, originally built on plains, have since been overgrown
with trees. In some cases trees of immense size have been found
growing even on the summit of the mounds. The most notable mounds of
the St. Croix valley are at Vasa village, in Marine township,
Washington county, Minnesota, and in the neighborhood of Osceola
Mills, Polk county, Wisconsin. We append notes of a survey of the
latter, made in 1870. They are sixteen in number and we mention only
the most remarkable.
No. 1 is of circular form, 20 feet in height and 60 in diameter. Trees
2 feet in diameter are found on this mound. Mound No. 2 has a diameter
of 90 feet, and was originally 30 feet high; at present but 20. This
mound is also of circular formation. Mound No. 3 is circular in form,
36 feet in diameter and 2 feet high. Mound No. 4 is circular, 40 feet
in diameter and 5 feet high. Mound No. 5 is oblong and 40×60 feet in
dimensions, and 4 feet high. The largest and finest of these mounds
have been nearly destroyed by the encroachments of the road makers.
These mounds are located two miles north of Osceola, on Close creek.
Alanson Thompson made a homestead of the land on which they are
situated, and built his home immediately in the rear of the two larger
mounds. His garden included many of the mounds.
Mr. T. H. Lewis, of St. Paul, made a later survey of these ancient
mounds. In the group north of the creek and near the school house,
which he classifies as the upper group, he finds ninety-six well
developed mounds, and some of them of peculiar shape and great
interest. In the group south of the creek, which he calls the lower
group, he finds forty-nine mounds, a total of one hundred and
forty-five in the two groups; at least five times as many as has been
supposed to be there.
But one of the mounds is an effigy mound, and this is not clearly
defined, plowing in the field having disturbed the outline of the
effigy. The most of them contain bones, as has long been known, and
Mr. Lewis finds in them shell relics, which are rarely found in any
mounds; also pottery, and beads made from shells.
Another peculiar mound not included in this description may be found
on the bluff overlooking the St. Croix, not far from the Close creek
series of mounds. It is over one hundred feet in length and serpentine
in form, one end being enlarged to represent the head. There are also
fine specimens of ancient mounds on Chisago lake, near Centre City and
Chisago City.
The subject is a fascinating one to the archaeologist, but it behooves
him to make haste with his investigations, as these marvelous works
are rapidly disappearing, being dug over by the irresponsible and
unscientific relic hunter, or worn down by the plow, or carted away
for loose earth to mend a roadway or fill a sinkhole.
LAKE ITASCA.
The Mississippi appropriately takes its name at the outlet of Lake
Itasca, its reputed source. This lake, although known to the fur
company adventurers of the eighteenth, and the early part of the
nineteenth centuries, received the name Itasca in 1832 from
Schoolcraft and Boutwell. A complete account of the naming of the lake
will be found in the biography of Rev. W. T. Boutwell, attached to the
history of Pine county in this work. Itasca lies in range 36,
townships 133 and 134, and is about three miles in length by one and
one-half in width. Its title to the distinction of being the true
source of the Mississippi has been frequently called in question.
There are tributary lakes of smaller size lying near it, connected
with it by small streams, barely navigable for birch canoes. Elk lake,
a body of water three-fourths of a mile in length, lying south, is
connected with it by a stream 25 links wide and 30 rods in length.
Elk lake has an influent stream 2 miles in length, which drains a
swamp lying south.
Another stream from the south, two miles in length, flows into Itasca,
and has its source in a lake one-fourth of a mile long. As this lake
has not been named in any original or later township map, United
States Surveyor Chandler, Chief Clerk B. C. Baldwin and the writer, in
January, 1887, agreed to give it the name of Boutwell, in honor of the
devoted missionary who visited Itasca in company with Schoolcraft in
1832. This lake is really the source of the Mississippi, though from
its small size is not likely to receive general recognition as such.
Lakes Itasca, Elk and Boutwell lie in range 36, township 143, west of
the 5th principal meridian, United States survey, latitude 47.10, and
longitude 95.30 west from Greenwich United States survey. The lands
bordering on and adjacent to these lakes were surveyed in October,
1875, by Edwin Hall, and lie in Beltrami county, which was named after
an Italian traveler who visited this section in 1823.
Hon. B. C. Baldwin, a member of the Minnesota constitutional
convention of 1857, told the writer that when surveying government
lands in 1874, he discovered in range 37, township 143, six miles west
of Itasca, a lake two and a half miles in length, without inlet or
outlet, the waters apparently rising, as trees were standing in the
water near the shore and submerged at least eight feet. Small lakes of
similar character were also discovered. Twelve miles west of Itasca
the tributaries of the Red River of the North have their source.
The latest claim made as to the discovery of the source of the
Missispippi is that of Capt. Willard Glazier, who, in 1881, claimed to
have discovered Elk lake as the source of the Mississippi. The
Minnesota State Historical Society promptly repudiated his
assumptions, and protested against affixing to Elk lake the name
Glazier, as the captain was in no sense a discoverer, either of the
lake or its connections with Itasca, the adjacent lands having been
surveyed in 1875, and partially covered with claims in 1881. With far
more justice we might claim for Lake Boutwell, a more remote lake, the
distinguished honor of being the true source of the Mississippi.
COPPER MINING ON THE ST. CROIX.
As early as 1842, a company, composed of the Harris brothers and
others, of Galena, Illinois, prospected in the Upper St. Croix valley
for copper. Their superintendent, Mr. Crosby, located a mineral permit
at Pine island, one mile above St. Croix Falls, where he found rich
specimens. Citizens and operatives at St. Croix Mills gave liberally
to aid the enterprise, but Mr. Crosby's health having failed he left
expecting to spend the winter in Cuba, but sickened and died at New
Orleans, and the mining enterprise of the Galena company was never
resumed.
In 1847, a Boston company, composed of Caleb Cushing, Robert Rantoul,
Dexter and Harrington, and others, of Boston, and some other
capitalists, located a mineral permit one mile square at St. Croix
Falls, and another of the same dimensions on the St. Croix and Kettle
River rapids. This proved to be a speculative scheme of Boston and
Washington capitalists and politicians.
In 1848, David Dale Owen, a prominent geologist, made an exploration
of the territory now included in Minnesota and Wisconsin and published
a report. His work being done at the order of the government, he was
accompanied by a corps of scientific men, and had time and means to
make thorough investigations. He reported that the trap rock ranges of
the St. Croix, a continuation of the copper ranges of Superior, are
rich in specimens of copper. These ranges crop out every few miles in
a southwesterly direction from Superior. The most southerly are those
known as the Dalles of the St. Croix, including as a part the
Franconia ledge three miles below. The Kanabec river range crops out
near Chengwatana. The Kettle river range crosses the St. Croix further
north.
In 1865 the Minnesota legislature placed the sum of $1,000 in the
hands of N. C. D. Taylor for the purpose of examining and reporting
the different mineral prospects on the St. Croix and its tributaries.
He reported the Kettle river veins as being very promising. Mr. Taylor
sunk a shaft in a locality in Taylor's Falls to a depth of forty feet
and found excellent indications of copper, and some good specimens. He
reports most of the rock in the St. Croix valley above Taylor's Falls
to be of the different kinds of trap rock, with belts of conglomerate
running through them in a direction from northeast to southwest, the
conglomerate being most abundant on the Kettle river. There are
limited patches of sandstone which in places contain marine shells,
but no rock in place. Prof. Hall says of the Taylor's Falls vein that
it is a very distinct vein and shows quite equal to the early showing
of many of the best paying mines of Superior. He regards the Kettle
river vein as one of the most promising yet found in the country.
Other veins have been discovered in the vicinity of the St. Croix
Dalles. Considerable money has been spent in prospecting and
development, but more capital is needed than miners have yet been able
to obtain.
Taylor's Falls Copper Mining Company was organized Dec. 15, 1874, W.
H. C. Folsom, president; Geo. W. Seymour, secretary; Levi W. Folsom,
treasurer; David A. Caneday, mining agent. They sunk a shaft one
hundred and thirty feet deep and found good indications. This mine was
worked in 1875-76, at an expenditure of over $5,000. Excellent
specimens were found but not in paying quantities. The rock increased
in richness as the shaft sunk in depth. The work was suspended for
want, of material aid. There is but little doubt that as the valley
becomes known and populated, that as wealth increases, the mineral
resources of the country are better known, mining will become a
prominent and profitable industry.
REMINISCENCES OF REV. JULIUS S. WEBBER.[K]
We reached Stillwater, June 3, 1850, and moved into the Elfelt house
on North Hill. The village contained at that time about thirty
dwellings, two hotels, three stores, and a number of saloons. Three
religious denominations held services each Sabbath, the missionaries
in charge alternating through the successive Sabbaths, and supporting
in addition a union prayer meeting and Sabbath-school, of which Capt.
Wm. Holcomb was the first superintendent. The meetings were held in a
school house on Third street.
My appointments outside of Stillwater were at Willow River, Kinnikinic
and Prescott, Wisconsin, and at Cottage Grove and Point Douglas in
Minnesota. In 1852 Rev. S. T. Catlin was appointed to that part of my
field lying east of the St. Croix river, and I formed appointments at
Arcola, Marine, Taylor's and St. Croix Falls. We organized a Baptist
society at Stillwater, Oct. 26, 1850, consisting of eight members;
Rev. J. P. Parsons and wife, Dean A. H. Cavender and wife of St. Paul,
J. S. Webber and wife, constituting a council of recognition. Rev. J.
P. Parsons preached the sermon of recognition, and J. S. Webber
extended the right hand of fellowship. The first baptism by immersion
in the county was administered in a large spring just below Nelson's
store, Jan. 30, 1853, the waters of the spring being free from ice.
The candidate was Margaret Towner, of Pembina. In 1853 I made a tour
of the Minnesota valley to Mankato. On the first day, September 23d, I
traveled from Fort Snelling to Shakopee and saw not a human habitation
nor a human being on the trail. At Shakopee I found a home with Judge
Dowling. On the next day I traveled to Le Sueur. On Sabbath morning I
preached at Traverse des Sioux, and in the afternoon I went to
Mankato, and stopped at the house of Mr. Hannah, where I preached in
the evening, to a congregation that had come together hastily from the
neighborhood, the first sermon preached in Mankato. On the
twenty-sixth I preached the first sermon at Le Seuer, and the first
sermon at Shakopee on my return.
In 1854 I opened on the South Hill, known later as Nelson's addition
to Stillwater, a school known as Washington Seminary, which received
liberal patronage from the citizens of Stillwater and surrounding
country. In May, 1855, I sold the school to Mr. Kent, and it passed
into the hands of an Episcopal clergyman. I returned to New York where
I have since lived, pursuing my calling, which has suffered thus far
no interruption from sickness or infirmities.
The remembrance of my association with the people of the St. Croix
valley is pleasant. Amongst the most pleasant of my recollections are
those of the lumbermen of St. Croix, who often made up a large portion
of my congregation. They were kind and courteous, attentive hearers
and valued as friends and associates.
AN AMUSING INCIDENT.
An amusing incident occurred in Carver county, in Judge E. O. Hamlin's
district (an account of which was published in "The Drawer" of
Harper's _Monthly_, some years after it occurred). Judge Hamlin,
going to Chaska to hold his first term of court in Carver county,
found the sheriff absent, and his deputy, a foreigner who could speak
English very imperfectly, ignorant alike of his duties and of the
language in which they were to be performed, confessed his entire
ignorance of "how to open court," but said he could read writing.
Therefore Judge Hamlin wrote out the form for opening court, and
instructed him when the order was given for "the sheriff to open
court," to stand up and read distinctly the form prepared for him.
This was in the usual terms, beginning "Hear ye, hear ye, all manner
of persons having any business," etc., etc., and ending with "come
forward and give your attendance, and you shall be heard." At the hour
fixed the court room was reasonably well filled. Parties, witnesses
and jurors, together with the district attorney (who at that time went
with the judge over the whole district) were in attendance. The judge
was on the bench, and the deputy sheriff, fully conscious of the
dignity of his office, awaited the order of the judge. Upon being told
to "make proclamation for the opening of court," this officer arose,
and holding the written form before his eyes, roared out in stentorian
tones: "_Here we are! Here we are!_" and running through the remainder
of the form closed with "come forward and give your attendance, and
you _will be sure to be here_!" The air of importance with which it
was said, together with his self complacency in the discharge of his
new duties, was scarcely less amusing than the mistake he had made.
Its effect may be better imagined than described.
THE OLD SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
By an act of the legislature approved May 33, 1857, the "Old Settlers
Association" was incorporated with the following charter members: H.
H. Sibley, Socrates Nelson, Franklin Steele, A. L. Larpenteur, Wm.
Holcombe, Wm. H. Randall, Wm. Hartshorn, Cornelius Lyman, Lorenzo A.
Babcock, J. D. Ludden, David Olmsted, H. M. Rice, Alex. Ramsey, Wm. R.
Marshall, Jos. R. Brown, Chas. W. Borup, Henry Jackson, Martin McLeod,
Norman W. Kittson, Vetal Guerin, J. W. Selby, Aaron Goodrich, and
Philander Prescott. These members, with those whom they might
associate with them, were duly empowered to buy, sell, hold property,
to sue or be sued, to receive donations, to keep a common seal, and to
enjoy all the franchises incident to a corporate body.
It was provided that no person should be eligible to a membership who
had not been a resident of the Territory prior to Jan. 1, 1850. The
seal of the association was devised by Aaron Goodrich. On the two
sides of the seal were represented the past and the future. In the
background of the side representing the past is delineated a plain; in
the distance are seen the last rays of the declining sun; nearer are
seen Indian hunters, their lodges, women and children, and a herd of
buffalo.
Prominent in the foreground of the side representing the future stands
an aged man with silvered hair; he leans upon his staff; he is in the
midst of a cemetery; the spire of a church is seen in the distance; as
he turns from a survey of the various monuments which mark the resting
place of departed old settlers, his eye rests upon a new made grave.
It is that of his last associate; _he is the last survivor_; his
companions have fallen asleep. A group of children in the foreground
represents the rising generation of Minnesota which shall reap the
fruits of the pioneer's toil.
[Illustration: SEAL OF THE ASSOCIATION.]
ORGANIZATION.
The first meeting of the Old Settlers Association was held, in
pursuance of public notice, at the hall of the Historical Society of
Minnesota, in the capitol, in St. Paul, on Saturday, Feb. 27, 1858.
On motion of Judge Goodrich, his excellency Henry H. Sibley was
unanimously elected president. Hon. Aaron Goodrich and Hon. L. A.
Babcock were unanimously elected vice presidents, A. L. Larpenteur,
Esq., secretary, and J. W. Bass, Esq. treasurer. After which Gov.
Sibley addressed the meeting in a manner able, pertinent and feeling.
Several other members spoke.
On motion a committee of three was appointed by the chair to report
by-laws for the government of the association. Also a committee of
three to report such measures as shall be deemed best calculated to
effectuate the objects of the charter.
The president appointed H. L. Moss, L. A. Babcock and T. R. Potts
committee on by-laws, and Aaron Goodrich, B. W. Lott and Chas. S. Cave
committee on charter.
Judge Goodrich said this occasion was one of deep and abiding interest
to the pioneers of Minnesota; that there were epochs in our history
that should be commemorated. He desired that the first day of June be
fixed upon as the day for the future meetings of the association; he
named this day for the reason that on the first day of June, 1849, the
local organization of this Territory took place.
The following resolution was adopted:
_Resolved, That the annual meeting of this association be held_ on the
first day of June, providing that when said month shall commence on
the Sabbath, said meeting shall be held on the following Monday.
On motion of Judge Goodrich the following preamble and resolution were
adopted:
WHEREAS, The object of this association and the individuals composing
the same are closely _allied_ to and identified with that of the
Historical Society of Minnesota, therefore
_Resolved_, That up to the period in which this association shall
possess a hall in which to meet, its place of meeting shall be the
hall of said Historical Society.
As a matter of history we record the names of the members originally
and subsequently enrolled.
Ames, Michael E.*
Ayer, Frederick.*
Abbott, G. S.+
Altenberg, William.*
Armstrong, William.+
Atkinson, John W.
Anderson, John.+
Arpin, A.*
Babcock, Lorenzo A.*
Bailly, Alexis.*
Bass, Jacob W.
Beatty, James.
Banfill, John.*
Barton, Thomas.*
Bazille, Charles.*
Becker, George L.
Berard, Antoine.+
Bevans, Henry L.*
Black, Mahlon.
Bautien. V.+
Beaulieu, Clement H.
Beau, James.+
Bishop. Thornton.
Beaupre, Philip.
Blackburn, John T.
Burns, Hugh.
Berriwick, J.*
Blair, O. H.*
Boutwell, W. T.
Blakeley, Russell.
Bolles, Lemuel.*
Borup, Chas. W. W.*
Bostwiek, Lardner.*
Bradley, J.*
Brady, Patrick.*
Brawley, Daniel J.*
Brisette, Edmond.*
Bromley, C. B.
Brown, Joseph R.*
Brown, Wm. R.*
Brunson, Benj. W
Bryant, Alden.+
Buffit, C.+
Burkelo, Samuel.*
Bottineau, Pierre.
Bettington, John C.+
Beauchier, Francis.+
Besour, A. C.*
Bailly John.+
Boal, James Mc C.*
Campbell, George W.*
Cavalier, Charles.
Cave, Chas. S.
Cavender, A. H.
Chute, Rirchard.
Clewitt, James R.*
Colter, William.*
Conway, Chas. R.
Cooper, David.*
Cormack, John.*
Cave, William.
Culver, George.*
Culver, J. B.*
Connell, William.+
Cummings, R. W.
Curtis, Harley.*
Chapman, John J.+
Cloutier, A.+
Colby, Wm. F.
Colter, Charles.
Carlie, C.*
Chase, A. M.
Comer, Elias H.
Church, Cal.+
Dana, Napoleon, J. T.
Day, David.
Day, James.*
Dayton, Lyman.*
Desmarais, Louis.
Desnoyers, Stephen.*
Dewey, John J.
Dibble, William B.*
Doe, William E.*
Day, Henry T.
Day, Leonard P.*
Dorr, Caleb D.
Dobney, John.
Durant, E. W.
Day, William P.+
Dudley, John.
Davis, Patten W.
Dresser, Horace.+
Elfelt, Charles D.
Ely, Edmund F.*
Ellison, Smith.
Eddy, Frank S.*
Eldridge, Ariel.
Eaton, Alonzo.+
Elfelt, L. C.*
Faribault, J. B.*
Faribault, Alex.*
Farrington, G. W.+
Fisher, Jacob.
Forbes, W. H.*
Ford, J. A.+
Finch, T. M.+
Findley, S. J.*
Foster, A. D.*
Foster, Thomas.*
Freeborn, William.*
French, A. R.*
Folsom, S. P.
Furber, J. W.*
Furber, P. P.*
Fuller, A. G.+
Folsom, W. H. C.
Fox, Patrick.
Fairbanks, John H.
Foster, Henry.+
Furber, Theodore.
Fisk, Frank.
Folsom, Edgar.
Folsom, Ward W.
Farnham, S. W.
Fillmore, R. G.
Fisher, John.
Finn, William.
Farnham, Rufus, Jr.
Gammel, Irenus.*
Gibbs, H.R.
Gilman, David.*
Godfrey, Ard.
Goodrich, Aaron.*
Greely, Elam.*
Guerin, Vetal.*
Gautier, Napoleon.
Guernsey, W.H.
Glenn, Samuel.*
Getchel, W. W.
Gervais, Benjamin.
Gardner, Charles R.
Gardner, John C.*
Gray, Isaac.
Guion, Joseph.
Hartshorn, W.*
Hartshorn, W. E.
Hobart, Chancey.
Holcombe, William.*
Holmes, Thomas.*
Hoyt, B. F.*
Hoyt, Lorenzo.
Hopkins, Daniel.*
Hopkins, Peter.
Humphrey, J. K.
Harris, George.
Holton, John.*
Houghton, George.
Houghton, James.
Haskell, Joseph.
Hone, David.*
Henkly, J. S.+
Hoffman, James.+
Haskill, Hiram.+
Hetherington, Thomas,*
Holcombe, W. W.
Hill, Lewis.
Irvine, J. R.*
Irvine, B. F.
Jackson, Henry.*
Jarvis, W. H.*
Johnson, P. K.
Johnson, R. W.
Jackins, John.*
Jackman, H. A.
Kellogg, M. N.
Kennedy, Robert.
Kittson, N. W.*
Keogh, James.
Knox, M. C.
Kent, William.
Kattenberg, Henry.
Lambert, H. A.*
Larpenteur, E. N.*
Larpenteur, A. L.
Lennon, J. G.*
Lennon, J. E.
Leavitt, Martin.
Lull, C. P. V.
Lyman, Cornelius S.*
Lott, B. W.*
Ludden, J. D.
Leonard, C. E.
Loomis, D. B.
Lowry, S. B.*
Lyman, Stoers B.
Lyman, David P.
McKenny, J. H.*
McKenzie, J. G.
Masterson, H. F.
McKusick, John.
McKusick, J. E.
Mitchell, J. B. H.
Marshall, W. R.
McLeod, Martin.*
McCleod, Alexander.*
McLean, N.*
Murphy, Edward.*
Meeker, Bradley B.*
Murphy, Alfred C.+
McKusick, William.
McHattie, Alexander.
Manaege, Peter.
Mackey, Andrew.
McDonald, R.+
Masier, Josiah.*
Marks, Isaac.*
Moreau, Charles.*
Mahoney, Wm.*
Mahoney, Jeremiah.
Morgan, John.*
Moffett, Lot.*
Morrison, W. C.
Morrison, Allen.*
Morton, T. F.*
Moss, H. L.
Murray, M. P.
Murphy, J. W.
Myrick, Nathan.
McComb, J. D.
McKean, Elias.
McMullen, James.+
McLean, Henry.+
Masterman, Joseph.
Mause, John.
Mower, Wm.*
Mower, Martin.
Mower, John E.*
Mosher, Jacob.
McHale, M.+
McHattie, John.
McLery, Charles.+
Moulton, E. (Jr.)+
McCarty, A.+
Manse, Charles.+
Neill, E. D.
Nichols, G. C.*
Nelson, Socrates.*
Nobles, W. H.*
Norris, J. S.*
North, J. W.
Northrup, Anson.
Newbury, H. H.
Oakes, C. H.*
Oakes, David.*
Odel, T. S.*
Olmsted, David.*
Owens, J. P.*
Parker, Rodney.*
Perin, Moses.
Potts, T. R.*
Prescott, Philander.*
Presley, Bartley.*
Pomeroy, J. H.
Proctor, J. S.
Pond, G. H.
Powers, Simon.*
Potter, Colver.+
Perro, Joseph.
Parker, L. N.
Parsons, Oliver.
Quinn, W. B.
Quinn, Peter.+
Randall, B. H.
Randolph, S. R.*
Ramsey, Alexander.
Ramsey, J. C.*
Ravoux, Auguste.
Reed, C. M.*
Rice, H. M.
Rice, Edmund.
Robertson, Andrew.*
Rice, C. R.*
Robert, Louis.*
Robert, Joseph.*
Richardson, R. M.
Rollins, John.*
Rose, Isaac.*
Russell, R. P.
Russell, Jeremiah.*
Riggs, S. R.*
Robert, Alexis.+
Roy, Peter.*
Russell, William.
Rohrer, Daniel.
Robert, Nelson.
Rogers, John.
Ramsden, Thomas.
Rutherford, Wm.*
Rogers, Richard.+
Rutherford, James.*
Selby, J. W.*
Simons, Orlando.
Simpson, J. W.*
Simpson, Robert.
Shaffer, C. E.
Shearer, A. L.*
Sherman, M.
Spencer, J. B.
Spicer, Nathan.+
Shelley, E. Y.
Steele, Franklin.*
Spencer, John H.+
Sawyer, Seth M.*
Spates, Samuel.+
Somerville, John.+
Stevens, J. H.
Stone, Lewis.*
Sturgis, W.*
Sweet, G. W.
Setzer, H. N.
Stanchfield, Sam.*
Sibley, H. H.
Stinson, C. F.+
Santel, A.+
Staples, Josiah.+
Shamley, John+
Sanford, H. S.+
Shearer, James.
Stratton, L. W.*
Scott, C. P.+
Short, A. J.
Shoasby, John.*
Stiles, W. L.+
Taylor, J. L.
Taylor, Jesse W.*
Taylor, N. C. D.*
Terry, J. C.
Tinker, W. H.
Thompson, James (colored).*
Trask, Sylvanus.
Trower, John.+
Thompson, G. W.*
Terry, Robert.*
Van Voorhes A.*
Villaume, Thomas.*
Von Tassel, William.*
Walker, Orange.*
Whitaker, E. H.
Whitney, J. C.
Wilkinson, M. S.
Wilkin, Alex.*
Wells, James.*
Wilson, Harvey.*
Woodbury, Warren.*
Willoughby, A.*
Wright, Thomas.+
Williamson, T. S.*
Willim, William.
Wilmarth, Alvin M.
Wallis, John.+
Worthingham, Wm.+
White, Asa.*
Westing, Henry.*
Welshance, M.*
Williams, D. D.*
Whalen, Patrick.*
Yorks, J. C.
[Note: * Deceased.]
[Note: + Unknown.]
OBJECTS AND ORGANIZATION.
The society was organized in 1849 by a few of the pioneers of the
Territory, and incorporated by an act of the first territorial
legislature, approved Oct. 20, 1849, this being the first literary
institution organized in the Territory; and its "library," then only a
few volumes, was the first ever established in Minnesota. The original
charter of the society stated its objects to be: "The collection and
preservation of a library, mineralogical and geological specimens,
Indian curiosities, and other matters and things connected with, and
calculated to illustrate and perpetuate the history and settlement of
said Territory." The amended charter of 1856 enacted: "The objects of
said society, with the enlarged powers and duties herein provided,
shall be in addition to the collection and preservation of
publications, manuscripts, antiquities, curiosities, and other things
pertaining to the social, political and natural history of Minnesota,
to cultivate among the citizens thereof a knowledge of the useful and
liberal arts, science and literature."
The work of this society may therefore be formulated thus:
I. (1) The collection, (2) the preservation, (3) the publication of
materials for the history of Minnesota and its people.
II. The collection and management of a library containing useful works
of reference on the most valuable departments of knowledge.
III. The diffusion among citizens of the State of useful knowledge.
ITS PROGRESS.
In the early days of the Territory, owing to its want of means, the
sparse population and its poverty, and the infancy of the commonwealth
generally, the society accomplished but little beyond collecting some
information regarding the early history of this region, and printing
the same in several pamphlet volumes. In 1864 it had only eight
hundred and forty volumes in its library. It was then reorganized, and
with the aid of a small annual appropriation from the State, since
enlarged, has been able to make very gratifying progress.
ITS PRESENT CONDITION.
It has now comfortable apartments in the state capitol, a building
believed to be fireproof; a sufficient income to pay its current
expenses, granted partly by the State and partly contributed by its
members; one of the largest and most valuable libraries in the State,
containing 22,000 volumes of choice works, together with a cabinet or
museum of historical and archælogical curiosities, and a number of
historical pictures, engravings, manuscripts, etc. An endowment fund
of several thousand dollars, accumulated by gifts and membership fees;
two lots, eligibly situated, on which at no distant day, will be
erected a fireproof building.
PROPOSED BUILDING FOR THE SOCIETY.
Reference was made before to the building lots of the society. These
were purchased by a subscription of the members in 1855, for the sum
of $1,500, in hopes that the society would be enabled to erect thereon
a fireproof building for its use, but up to this time it has not been
able to do so. The lots are now valued at $20,000 or more. Several
months ago an effort was made by the president of the society to raise
enough by subscription to insure the commencement of a building to
cost, completed, $50,000; of this amount $14,500 was subscribed, and
it is believed that there are liberal and public spirited citizens of
our State who will contribute the balance when called on, or provide,
by will, for bequests in its aid. Such an edifice would be a
perpetual monument to their generosity and public spirit, and would be
an inestimable boon to succeeding generations, who will frequent our
library in pursuit of knowledge.
PRESIDENTS OF THE OLD SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
1858. Henry H. Sibley.
1859. Socrates Nelson.
1860. J. E. McKusick.
1861. Wm. H. Nobles.
1862. Dr. T. R. Potts.
1863. Frank Steele.
1864. R. M. Richardson.
1865. John D. Ludden.
1866. Socrates Nelson.
1867. Abram Van Voorhes.
1868. Henry H. Sibley.
1869. Nathaniel McLean.
1870. Bartlett Presley.
1871. John H. Stevens.
1872. George L. Becker.
1873. David B. Loomis.
1874. Henry M. Rice.
1875. Alex. Ramsey.
1876. Norman W. Kittson.
1877. Charles H. Oakes.
1878. Mahlon Black.
1879. Charles E. Leonard.
1880. Benj. H. Randall.
1881. S. P. Folsom.
1882. Jacob W. Bass.
1883. Benj. W. Brunson.
1884. Clement H. Beaulieu.
1885. Henry L. Moss.
1886. R. W. Johnson.
1887. Anson Northrup.
1888. David Day.
Judge Goodrich was secretary of the Old Settlers Association from 1859
until his death, in 1887.
THE ST. CROIX VALLEY OLD SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
This association was organized Nov. 5, 1875, at the office of Durant &
Wheeler, in the city of Stillwater. Charles E. Leonard was elected
president, and David B. Loomis, secretary. The latter has been
re-elected and served continuously to the present time. It is a
requisite that members shall have been residents in the Northwest
prior to 1850.
The following have been presidents of the association, the term of
service being limited to one year:
1875. D. B. Loomis.
1876. Christopher Carli.
1877. W. T. Boutwell.
1878. John D. Ludden.
1879. Henry L. Moss.
1880. Wm. R. Marshall.
1881. Daniel Mears.
1882. Henry A. Jackman.
1883. W. H. C. Folsom.
1884. Edward W. Durant.
1885. Albert Stimson.
1886. Henry N. Setzer.
1887. Morton S. Wilkinson.
The annual meetings are held on or about the middle of September, at
Stillwater.
NEWSPAPER HISTORY IN RAMSEY COUNTY.
The St. Paul _Weekly Pioneer_, established by James M. Goodhue as the
_Minnesota Pioneer_, issued its first number April 28, 1849, one day
later than the St. Paul _Register_, but, unlike that paper, it was
printed in the place of publication. In March, 1854, Earl S. Goodrich
purchased the _Pioneer_, and on May 1st issued the first number of the
_Daily Pioneer_. On Oct. 31, 1855, the _Democrat_ was merged in the
_Pioneer_, which became the _Pioneer and Democrat_, which name it
continued to bear for six years, when it resumed its former name, the
_Pioneer_. Nov. 8, 1865, the _Pioneer_ was sold to H. P. Hall and John
X. Davidson. July 29, 1866, the _Pioneer_ was sold to Capt. H. L.
Carver, C. W. Nash and others. April 22, 1874, the _Pioneer_ became
the property of David Blakely. April 11, 1875, the _Pioneer_ and
_Press_ consolidated, and the name was changed to St. Paul _Pioneer
Press_, under the management of the Pioneer Press Company, with J. A.
Wheelock editor-in-chief. The _Pioneer Press_ now embodies, by
consolidation, twenty-five distinct newspapers. Its daily issue is
about 18,000 copies. The stock company is now officered by J. A.
Wheelock, president; F. Driscoll, Sr., vice president and treasurer;
F. Driscoll, Jr., secretary. The management is in the hands of J. A.
Wheelock, editor-in-chief; F. A. Carle, managing editor; F. Driscoll,
business manager; A. W. Dunn, city editor.
The St. Paul _Globe_ was established Jan. 15, 1878, by H. P. Hall, and
conducted as an individual enterprise until July 1, 1881, when it was
made into a stock company with a capital of $150,000. Its first
officers were: President, H. H. Sibley; vice president, P. H. Kelly;
treasurer, Albert Scheffer; secretary, Ansel Oppenheim; general
manager, H. P. Hall. This company, which was called the St. Paul Globe
Printing Company, was sold to a new company, styled the St. Paul Globe
Publishing Company, Feb. 1, 1885. The first officers of that company
were: President, N. W. Kittson; vice president, P. H. Kelly;
treasurer, Albert Scheffer; secretary and general manager, Lewis
Baker. All the officers of each company were resident in St. Paul. The
_Globe_ publishes daily and weekly editions.
The St. Paul _Dispatch_ was founded by H. P. Hall and David Ramaley,
Feb. 29, 1868. It has passed through many ownerships. The company
publish a weekly and evening daily paper.
The St. Paul _Daily Times_ was established in 1854, by T. M. Newson,
M. J. Clum and J. B. H. Mitchell. In 1869 it was merged into the St.
Paul _Press_.
The _Register_, _Chronicle_ and _Democrat_ were published in
territorial days, and have been discontinued.
_Die Volkszeitung_, the first German paper of St. Paul, was
established in 1857. Another German paper was subsequently
established, and the two were consolidated, Sept. 6, 1877, as _Die
Volkszeitung_. It issues daily and weekly editions. Chas. H. Lineau is
general manager, A. Wolff, editor-in-chief; C. Newhausen, city editor,
and Louis Hern, literary editor.
The _Northwest Magazine_ is a monthly journal, devoted to the
interests of the Northwest. It was established in 1883. E. V. Smalley
is the editor.
OTHER ST. PAUL PUBLICATIONS.
_A. O. U. W. Guide_, weekly Guide Publishing Company, established
1883.
_Pythian Advocate_, monthly, Pythian Company, established 1884.
_Northwestern Chronicle_, weekly (Catholic), Northwestern Publishing
Company, established 1866.
_Herald_, weekly, Chantler & Nichols, established 1883.
_Der Wanderer_ (German), weekly, Wanderer Publishing Company,
established 1867.
_Familien Zeitung_ (German), weekly, Engel-Dreis Company, established
1885.
_Le Canadien_ (French), weekly, E. R. Dufresne, L. N. Dixon,
established 1877.
_Nordvesten_ (Scandinavian), weekly, C. H. Brandt, established 1880.
_Skaffaren_ (Swedish Lutheran), weekly, J. E. Osborn, established
1877.
_Northwestern Lancet_, semi-monthly, C. B. Witherle, established 1882.
_Northwest Reporter_ (legal), weekly, West Publishing Company,
established 1881.
_Saturday Evening News_, weekly, Lewis & Bole, established 1883.
_Western Appeal_, weekly, F. D. Parker, established 1885.
_Home Gazette_, monthly, S. Sherin, established 1883.
St. Paul _Daily Evening News_, established 1888.
St. Paul _Labor Echo_, Eric Olson, established 1884.
White Bear _Lake Breeze_, A. H. S. Perkins, established 1879.
HENNEPIN COUNTY.
The first paper established in Hennepin county as now bounded was the
St. Anthony _Express_, E. Tyler, publisher, Isaac Atwater, editor. The
first number was issued May 31, 1857. The Minneapolis _Democrat_ was
established in 1854. Neither of these papers is to be found in the
directory.
PAPERS OF MINNEAPOLIS.
_Evening Journal_, daily, D. B. Blakely, established 1887.
_Evening Mercury_, daily, E. Ferwald, established 1885.
Minneapolis _Gazette_, daily, W. Bickley, established 1870.
Minneapolis _Tribune_, daily, Will E. Haskell, Tribune Publishing
Company, established 1867.
_Commercial Bulletin_, weekly, Commercial Publishing Company,
established 1883.
Minneapolis _Life_, weekly, W. E. Atkins, established in 1885.
_Saturday Evening Spectator_, weekly, C. H. Dubois, established 1879.
_Temperance Review_, weekly, L. Bixby, established 1865.
_Budstikken_ (Norwegian), Johann E. Gidde, established 1873.
_Folkebladt_ (Norwegian), weekly, Folkebladt Publishing Company,
established 1878.
_Svenska Posten_ (Swedish), weekly, Svenska-American Publishing
Company, established 1885.
_Svenska Tidning_ (Swedish), weekly, Svenska Publishing Company,
established 1883.
_Svenska Kistna Herolden_, weekly, Svenska Herolden Publishing
Company, established 1885.
_Herold_ (German), weekly, German Press Association, established 1884.
_Freie Presse_ (German), weekly, F. Doerr, established 1869.
_Le Progres_ (French), weekly, J. B. A. Paradis, established 1884.
_Echo De L'Ouest_ (French), weekly, A. F. Carrier, established 1883.
_Free Baptist_, weekly, A. A. Smith, established 1882.
_Northwestern Standard_, weekly, Ed. O'Brien, established 1885.
_Northwestern Presbyterian_, weekly, Edgar A. Gay, established 1884.
_Our Church_ (Unitarian), semi-monthly, Rev. L. D. Boynton,
established 1885.
_Farm, Stock and Home Journal_, monthly, Farm, Stock and Home Company,
established 1884.
_Mississippi Valley Lumberman_, weekly, Platt B. Walker, established
1876.
_Northwestern Miller_, weekly, C. M. Palmer, established 1873.
_Northwestern Trade_, bi-weekly, E. E. Haynes, established 1883.
_Homestead_, monthly, Homestead Publishing Company, established 1885.
_Housekeeper_, monthly, Buckeye Publishing Company, established 1878.
_Medical Mirror_, monthly, N. M. Cook, M.D., established 1881.
_Northwestern Architect_, monthly, Bruce & Brundage, established 1884.
_Pilgrim_ (Congregational), monthly, Pilgrim Publishing Company,
established 1881.
_Poultry and Farm Journal_, monthly, I. I. Bachellor, established
1877.
_Real Estate Review_, monthly, C. H. Dubois & Co., established 1883.
_Temperance Educator_, monthly, L. Bigby, established 1882.
_To-Day_ (Evangelical), Geo. F. Wells, A. S. Edwards, established
1880.
_Wood and Iron_, monthly, Wood and Iron Publishing Company,
established 1880.
_Methodist Herald_, weekly, R. H. Young, established 1887.
EXCELSIOR.
Minnetonka _Mirror_, weekly, W. H. Mitchell, established 1885.
_Northwestern Tourist_, weekly, A. S. Dimond & Son, established 1876.
WASHINGTON COUNTY.
The first newspaper published in Washington county was the St. Croix
_Union_, established Oct. 8, 1854, in Stillwater. It was continued
under the management of Cable & Easton one year, when F. S. Cable sold
out to Milton H. Abbott. Soon after Mr. Abbott bought out the interest
of M. S. Easton. The paper went down in the crash of 1857.
The Stillwater _Messenger_ made its appearance under the management of
A. T. Van Voorhes, Sept. 11, 1856. It changed ownership several times,
and in 1871 Seward & Taylor, the present owners, came into possession.
The Stillwater _Democrat_ succeeded the defunct _Union_ in 1858. L. F.
Spaulding and C. P. Lane became the editors and proprietors. It was
discontinued in 1861.
A. B. Easton and J. N. Castle established the Stillwater _Gazette_,
the first number appearing Aug. 6, 1870. This paper was successful
from the first, and with but few changes in proprietorship is
published at the present day as a daily and weekly by Clewell &
Easton.
The Stillwater _Lumberman_ was established April 9, 1875, by Ed. H.
Folsom. It afterward passed into the hands of a stock company, and was
discontinued in 1884.
The Stillwater _Post_, a German paper, was established by W. P.
Shilling & Co. Aug. 26, 1876. Two years later it passed into the hands
of Wm. Schermuly, and in 1880 it was taken charge of by Julius Duel,
who is succeeded by F. C. Neumeier.
CHISAGO COUNTY.
Taylor's Falls _Reporter_, F. H. Pratt, established February, 1860; in
1862 the name was changed to Taylor's Falls _Monitor_; in 1883 the
name was again changed to Taylor's Falls _Journal_; present editor,
Ed. H. Folsom.
Rush City _Pos._, Hial P. Robie, established in 1875.
Chisago County _Times_, Taylor's Falls, Rowe & Walker, established
April 19, 1888.
PINE COUNTY--PINE CITY.
_Pine County Pioneer_, weekly, Ed. C. Gottry, established 1885.
CARLTON COUNTY--CLOQUET.
_Pine Knot_, weekly, Dr. H. B. Allen, established 1884.
_Industrial Vidette_, established 1887.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY--DULUTH.
_Tribune_, weekly and daily, R. C. Mitchell, established 1881.
_Lake Superior News_, weekly, Wm. S. Woodbridge, established 1878.
Duluth _Daily News_, established 1885.
Duluth _Skandinav_, Wesenbergad Hurst, established 1887.
_Paragrapher_, established 1887.
_Volksfreund_, Dworsehak & Son, established 1886.
_Evening Journal_, established 1887.
TOWER.
Tower _Press_, C. T. Bingham, established 1885.
TWO HARBORS.
_Iron Post_, A. De Lacy Wood, established 1887.
AITKIN COUNTY--AITKIN.
Aitkin _Age_, weekly, E. F. Barrett, established 1883.
CROW WING COUNTY--BRAINERD.
Brainerd _Dispatch_, weekly, Ingersoll & Willard, established 1881.
Brainerd _Journal_, weekly, H. C. Stivers, established 1882.
_Northwestern Tribune_, weekly, Halsted & Pennell, 1872.
The _News_, daily, established 1887.
KANABEC COUNTY--MORA.
Mora _Times_, weekly, R. W. Safford, established 1882.
MILLE LACS COUNTY--PRINCETON.
Princeton _Union_, weekly, R. C. Dunn, established 1876.
MORRISON COUNTY--LITTLE FALLS.
Little Falls _Sun_, weekly, Little Falls Publishing Company, Cyrus D.
Auyer, editor, established 1882.
Little Falls _Transcript_, weekly, W. M. Fuller, established 1877.
_Morrison County Democrat_, weekly, Cyrus D. Auyer, established 1886.
ROYALTON.
Royalton _Record_, weekly, changed name to Royalton _Banner_, A. W.
Swanson, editor, established 1884.
The first newspaper in Morrison county was the _Northern Herald_,
established in Little Falls, 1856, suspended in 1858. The Little Falls
_Courier_ was established later, but discontinued and the _Transcript_
took its place.
STEARNS COUNTY--MELROSE AND SAUK CENTRE.
_Herald and Record_, weekly, C. F. Hendryx, established 1867.
SAUK CENTRE.
_Democrat_, weekly, Barnum and Henshaw, established 1885.
_Tribune_, weekly, W. C. Brower, established 1873.
ST. CLOUD.
_Der Nordstern_ (German), weekly, Rosenberger & Remer, established
1874.
_Journal-Press_, weekly; W. Mitchell, established 1857.
_Times_, weekly, C. F. MeDonald, established 1861.
The first paper in St. Cloud, and in Stearns county, was styled the
_Minnesota Advertiser_. The first number appeared Jan. 1, 1857, H.
Cowles, editor, and James Mowatt, publisher. Mrs. Jane G. Swisshelm
succeeded to the proprietorship in December, 1857, and changed the
name to the St. Cloud _Visitor_, and edited it till the destruction of
her press and material by a mob, March 24, 1858. The paper reappeared
under new auspices and with the name changed to the _Democrat_. In
1866 W. B. Mitchell changed the name to the _Journal_. In 1876 he
purchased the _Press_ and consolidated it under the name of
_Journal-Press_.
The St. Cloud _Union_ was established in 1861, by C. C. Andrews,
afterward a general in the Union Army and minister to Sweden and
Norway. In 1862 Mr. Wood purchased the paper, but sold it in 1863 to
Spafford & Simonton, who sold it in 1864 to R. C. Moore, who published
it as the St. Cloud _Times_. In 1875 it was purchased by the present
owner, C. F. McDonald.
The _Nordstern_ was originally established by Peter E. Kaiser and
Peter Brieke and has now a circulation of 25,000 copies.
SHERBURNE COUNTY--ELK RIVER.
_Sherburne County Star News_, weekly, A. N. Dare, established 1875.
A. J. Clark started the Sherburne _Weekly_ in 1867, and published it
one year, when John W. Thompson started the Elk River _News_. The
_Sherburne County Star_ was established in 1875, and consolidated with
the _News_ in 1861.
ISANTI COUNTY--CAMBRIDGE.
_Isanti County Press_, weekly, C. W. Van Wormer, established 1874.
BENTON COUNTY.
Watab _Reveille_, weekly, J. W. Chasanack, editor, established 1850.
_Free Press_, weekly, A. De Lacy Wood, established 1885.
In 1854 Jeremiah Russell and George W. Benedict started the Sauk
Rapids _Frontiersman_, and continued the publication three years, when
the _New Era_ made its appearance, published by W. H. Wood assisted by
G. W. Benedict. The _Era_ was afterward merged in the St. Cloud
_Times_. In 1868 G. W. Benedict established the Sauk River _Sentinel_
which, with a few changes, has continued to the present time.
ANOKA COUNTY--ANOKA.
_Anoka County Union_, weekly, Granville S. Pease, established 1865.
_Anoka County Herald_, weekly, Alvah Eastman, established. 1865.
DAKOTA COUNTY--FARMINGTON.
_Dakota County Tribune_, weekly, C. P. Carpenter, established 1884.
Hastings _News_, daily, D. F. Chamberlain, established 1881.
Hastings _Banner_, weekly, E. D. Barker, established 1865.
Hastings _Gazette_, weekly, Irving Todd, established 1857.
Hastings _Bugle Call_, monthly, Chamberlain & Smith, established 1886.
GOODHUE COUNTY--CANNON RIVER FALLS.
_Beacon_, weekly, S. S. Lewis, established 1876.
KENYON.
_Leader_, weekly, U. Curtis, established 1885.
PINE ISLAND.
_Journal_, weekly, Holmes & Ingalls, established 1882.
RED WING.
Red Wing _Republican_, daily, Red Wing Publishing Company, established
1885.
Red Wing _Advance Sun_, weekly, Red Wing Publishing Company,
established 1884.
Red Wing _Argus_, weekly, C. L. Davis, established 1864.
ZUMBROTA.
_Independent_, weekly, E. A. Mitchell, established 1875.
_News_, weekly, Thompson & Bradford, established 1877.
WABASHA COUNTY--MAZEPPA.
_Tribune_, weekly, M. Schrane, established 1877.
PLAINVIEW.
_News_, weekly, Ed. A. Paradis, established 1874.
_Wabasha County Herald_, weekly, O. F. Collier &.Co., established
1857.
_Wabasha County Post_, weekly, John P. W. Weller, established 1885.
WINONA COUNTY--ST. CHARLES.
St. Charles _Union_, weekly, J. S. Whitten, established 1877.
Winona _Republican_, daily and weekly, Sinclair Publishing Company,
established 1855.
_Adler_, weekly, Adler Publishing Company, established 1873.
_Herald_, weekly, Boynton & Metcalf, established 1869.
_Westlicher Herald_, weekly, Joseph Leicht, established 1881.
_Wiarus_ (Polish), weekly, Wiarus Publishing Company, established
1885.
NEWSPAPERS IN WISCONSIN.
PIERCE COUNTY--ELLSWORTH.
_Pierce County Herald_, weekly, Case & Doolittle, established 1868.
_Ariel_, weekly, John M. Pryse, established 1884.
_Pierce County Plaindealer_, weekly, E. H. Ives, established 1874.
RIVER FALLS.
_Journal_, weekly, S. B. Merrick. W. S. Fowler, established 1874.
The first paper named in Prescott was the _Paraclete_, published by C.
E. Young, Feb. 14, 1854. The name was changed in 1855 to the
_Transcript_. In 1857 the _Northwestern Democrat_ was issued by Lusk,
Wise & Bailey. In 1861 Lute A. Taylor moved the River Falls _Journal_
to Prescott, changing the name to Prescott _Journal_. In 1868 Flint &
Webber purchased the _Journal_. In 1872, after the fire, the River
Falls _Journal_ was revived at River Falls by A. Morse; the office and
material were burned. In 1873 M. B. Kimball issued the Prescott
_Clarion_ and changed the name to _Pierce County Plaindealer_. In 1876
E. H. Ives became editor and proprietor.
ST. CROIX COUNTY--BALDWIN.
_Bulletin_, weekly, Ferd. Peachman, established 1879.
HAMMOND.
_Hammond Review_, weekly, ---- Frost, established 1886.
HUDSON.
_Star and Times_, weekly, Taylor & Price, established 1855.
_True Republican_, weekly, Cline & Cogswell, established 1871.
NEW RICHMOND.
_St. Croix Republican_, weekly, Abe C. Van Meter, established 1869.
The _Voice_, weekly, E. P. Huntington, established 1886.
The _St. Croix Banner_, the first paper in the St. Croix valley, was
issued Jan. 20, 1850, by Col. and Mrs. James Hughes. It was printed in
the _Pioneer_ office, St. Paul. Saxton & Johnson in the same year
commenced publishing the _St. Croix Enquirer_. These papers were
short-lived. In 1853 U. B. Shaver started the Hudson _Journal_,
afterward edited by Col. Hughes as the Hudson _Republican_. The office
was destroyed by fire and the paper discontinued in 1854. The _Star_
was established by Dr. Otis Hoyt in 1855, and in the same year U. B.
Shaver established the _Chronicle_. In 1860 these two papers were
purchased by Horace A. Taylor, and consolidated as the _Star and
Times_.
In 1856 Col. Hughes issued the _Shield and Banner_, which was
succeeded by a campaign paper called the _Pathfinder_. The Hudson
_Democrat_ was established in 1864 by E. O. Jones and discontinued in
1875. The _True Republican_ was established by M. A. Fulton in 1875,
and sold to the present owners in 1886.
POLK COUNTY--CLEAR LAKE.
Clear Lake _Herald_, weekly, A. T. Churchill, established 1884.
_North Wisconsin News_, weekly, Johnson E. Russell.
OSCEOLA MILLS.
_Polk County Press_, weekly, Charles E. Mears, established 1860.
ST. CROIX FALLS.
_St. Croix Valley Standard_, weekly, George F. Ely, established 1885.
The _St. Croixian_ was first established at St. Croix in 1860 by John
D. Reymert and Junius Bartlett. S. S. Fifield bought the paper in
1861, and removed it to Osceola, changing the name to _Polk County
Press_. In 1872 C. F. Meara succeeded to the ownership. In 1874 C. C.
Jordan established the _New Era_ at Osceola, but soon discontinued it.
The _Dalles of the St. Croix_ was established at St. Croix Falls in
1881 by D. A. Caneday, and discontinued in 1884. The _Polk County
News_ was established at St. Croix Falls in 1885 by George H. Ely, who
was succeeded by L. A. Ingersoll, who changed the name to _St. Croix
Valley Standard_.
BARRON COUNTY--BARRON.
_Barron County Shield_, weekly, Charles S. Taylor, established 1876.
CHETEK.
_Alert_, weekly, Walter Speed, established 1882.
CUMBERLAND.
_Advocate_, weekly, Cumberland Publishing Company, established 1885.
RICE LAKE.
_Barron County Chronotype_, weekly, P. H. Swift, editor, established
1874.
_Times_, weekly, Times Publishing Company, established 1883.
SAWYER COUNTY--HAYWOOD.
_North Wisconsin News_, weekly, E. O. Johnson, established 1878.
BURNETT COUNTY--GRANTSBURG.
_Burnett County Sentinel_, weekly, W. A. Talboy, established 1875.
ASHLAND COUNTY--ASHLAND.
Ashland _Press_, weekly and daily, Sam S. Fifield, established 1872.
Ashland _News_, weekly, John S. Saul, established 1885.
GLIDDEN.
Glidden _Pioneer_, weekly, R. M. Williams, F. A. Healy, established
1884.
HURLEY.
_Montreal River Miner_, weekly, Gowdey & Goodale, established 1885.
BAYFIELD COUNTY--BAYFIELD.
Bayfield _Press_, weekly, Currie G. Bell, established 1868.
WASHBURN.
Washburn _Bee_, weekly, Allan T. Williams, established 1885.
_Itemizer_, weekly, Bareger Brothers, established 1884.
DOUGLAS COUNTY--SUPERIOR.
Superior _Chronicle_, John C. Wise, established 185-.
Superior _Times_, Bardon Brothers, established 1870.
_Inter Ocean_, weekly and daily, Street & Co., established 1881.
Superior _Sentinel_, M. B. Kimball, established 1888.
_Sunday Morning Call_, established 1887.
WASHBURN COUNTY.
Shell Lake _Watchman_, William Irle, established 1882.
AN ODD CHAPTER IN POLITICAL HISTORY--THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
Gen. Winfield Scott, when a young man, was stationed at Fort Snelling,
at that day perhaps the remotest outpost of the United States. When
the Black Hawk War was inaugurated some militia from Illinois
proffered their services to aid in conquering the savages. With a view
to mustering them into the service of the United States two
lieutenants were sent by Scott to the then village of Dixon. One of
these was a very fascinating, good-looking, easy-mannered, affable,
and fluent young gentleman. The other equally pleasant, but an
exceedingly modest young man. On the morning when the mustering in was
to take place a tall, gawky, slab-sided, homely young man, dressed in
a suit of home-made blue jeans, presented himself to the two
lieutenants as the captain of the recruits, and was duly sworn in.
This was he who afterward became the president of the United
States--the lamented Lincoln. One of the lieutenants, the modest
youth, was he who fired the first gun from Sumter, Maj. Anderson. The
other, and he who administered the oath, was in after years president
of the southern confederacy, Jefferson Davis.
AN EARLY RUNAWAY MATCH.
We have gleaned from the newspapers the particulars of a love romance
in which Jefferson Davis was the central figure.
It was down at old Fort Crawford, whose ruins are still to be seen
just south of Prairie du Chien. It was away back in 1834, when
ex-President Zachariah Taylor, then a colonel in the regular army, was
commandant of the post. Jeff. Davis, who was then a young lieutenant,
was assigned to duty under Col. Taylor, and fell in love with his
commander's beautiful daughter. The love making between the young
people was the most natural thing in the world under the
circumstances, but for some reason Col. Taylor had taken the most
intense dislike to the young lieutenant and frowned upon his suit. In
order to prevent his daughter from marrying Davis the grim old warrior
sent her to a convent at Baton Rouge.
Some months afterward the young lieutenant appeared before Col. Taylor
with a document which required his signature. It was an order from
Gen. Wayne granting a furlough to Davis. Old Zach. understood human
nature well enough to know that when young Davis got his leave of
absence he would take a bee line for Baton Rouge, so he immediately
dispatched his swiftest messenger to bring his daughter home by the
most circuitous route, and thus thwart the young officer, who he knew
would be hurrying to meet her. When Davis returned to Fort Crawford
the coldness between himself and his old commander grew more frigid,
while the young woman pined away in the seclusion of a log hut, where
her father had established his headquarters, until at last she was
released from her imprisonment by her lover, who took her from her
father's roof by stealth and in the night, and taking her across the
river to a spot where a priest was in waiting, they were made man and
wife.
George Green, an old river man, now eighty years old, who still lives
at Prairie du Chien, is the person who rowed them over the river that
night. He says that Davis took the young woman from an upper window in
the log cabin and by the assistance of the chaplain was able to get
her beyond the picket lines unobserved. Green was at the river bank in
waiting with a canoe and took them to the spot where the marriage
ceremony was performed. He says the young lady cried a good deal
during the voyage across the river, but she leaned her head on the
young lieutenant's bosom in a way that assured him that she was not
altogether unhappy. Soon after the marriage a steamboat from St. Paul
came down the river and by a preconcerted arrangement halted, took the
bridal couple on board and passed on down the Mississippi to Jeff.
Davis' home in the South.
Gen. Taylor never did forgive Davis for marrying his daughter. He
never spoke to him from that time until the evening after the close of
the battle of Buena Vista. Jeff. Davis had undoubtedly won the battle
with his Mississippi Rifles, and as he lay wounded in his tent that
night Gen. Taylor walked in, extended his hand in friendly greeting
and thanked him for his gallant services. But there was no further
attempt at reconciliation after that. Mrs. Davis did not live long,
and the lady who now presides over Beauvoir is Mr. Davis' second wife.
She was a Miss Howell, of Georgia.
DRED SCOTT AT FORT SNELLING.
The following incident connected with the famous Dred Scott case,
taken from a St. Paul paper of 1887, may prove of interest to the
present generation of readers, few of whom are aware that the
principal personage in the case was a resident of Fort Snelling, or
more exactly speaking, the chattel of an American officer at that
place:
In the year 1839 the Fifth United States Infantry was stationed on the
Upper Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers, and, although Fort Crawford
(Prarie du Chien) was their headquarters, Fort Snelling was the most
important, it being the only military post north of Prairie du Chien,
between Lake Superior and the Pacific ocean, and far from the
frontier, as the nearest settlement was several hundred miles away.
During the season of open water the post was reached by boats, and in
the winter by pony or dog trains, but in the spring before the river
was free of floating ice and in the fall before it was frozen, the
inhabitants were almost cut off from civilization, as the place was
considered inaccessible, by all but the hardy voyageur and the
postman, who brought the mail on his back twice a month from Prairie
du Chien. Fort Snelling was the only post office in what is now
Minnesota, Dakota and Montana.
It was seldom that a stranger made his appearance after the close of
navigation, for the timid did not venture so far from the comforts of
life. During the winter the weather was severe, the houses were not so
comfortable as now, storm windows and furnaces were unthought of, and
stoves were considered luxuries.
It happened that on a cold, dreary day in the early winter the
quartermaster was distributing stoves, but did not have more than
enough to supply the officers and the married men of the command, and
not all of the latter. The surgeon, Dr. Emerson, a giant in body,
applied for one for his slave, Dred Scott, but was told by Lieut.
McPhail, the quartermaster, who was a man under size, that the darkey
would have to wait until the others were supplied, and it was doubtful
if there were enough for all. The doctor became very much excited and
insinuated that McPhail was lying, whereupon the latter hit the doctor
between the eyes, breaking his spectacles and bruising his nose.
Emerson, very much infuriated, rushed to his quarters, loaded a pair
of huge flintlock pistols, returned to McPhail, who was unarmed, and
without ceremony presented them to the head of the little
quartermaster. He, not liking their looks, sought safety in flight,
and with a speed that showed a good condition of body ran across the
parade ground, followed by the doctor. As they neared McPhail's
company quarters a friend of his, Lieut. Whitall, and a sergeant,
seized firearms and prepared to give their assistance if it was
needed. The commanding officer, Maj. Plympton, armed with a cane, ran
after the doctor, and upon overtaking him put him under arrest. By
this time the occupants of all the quarters had gathered upon the
scene, too excited to feel the cold or think of stoves, and two
parties were quickly formed. The smaller party consisted of the young
men, who, anxious for a fight, insisted that by running McPhail had
brought disgrace upon himself which could be wiped out only by blood.
The other and influential side was composed of men with families, who
knew that in case of illness no other physician could be had except
from Prairie du Chien, and the roads were such that it might be
impossible to get one at all; therefore they urged peace, and after
several days of excitement they were able to unfurl the flag of
triumph.
The terms of settlement between the belligerents were not made known,
and those who had hoped for a fight felt that the secrecy added
largely to their already heavy disappointment; but the men of peace
wore an expression of relief when they realized that if ill, their
victory would enable them to obtain the immediate services of the
doctor, and that there would not be a repetition of the duel which had
been fought there many years before, the first and last duel ever
fought in Minnesota. Although peace was declared, bitter feelings
which had risen during the strife still lingered in the heads of all
but Dred Scott, the innocent cause of the trouble, who for the first
time in his life became at all conspicuous. Shortly after, however,
his name was as well known, and oftener heard in social, military and
political circles than any other, not only in his own country, but
abroad. He left Fort Snelling with Dr. Emerson, and was afterward in
Missouri, where he was one day whipped, as he had often been before.
But this proved to be the last time the poor fellow intended
submitting as a slave, for immediately after a suit was commenced for
assault and battery, claiming that as he had been in a free territory
he was a free man. His master dying, his widow and daughter defended
the suit, which was decided in their favor two days after the
inauguration of President Buchanan, and Dred Scott was remanded to
slavery. This was considered a great victory for the South, but in
reality was not, for the civilized world became aroused in behalf of
freedom, and public opinion, the higher law, was invoked. Civil war
soon followed; slavery was abolished, and Dred Scott made free. It was
half a century ago that this simple-minded negro lived in slavery in
Hennepin, the historic county of Minnesota.
OLD BETZ AND THE ST. PAUL TRIBE OF INDIANS.
No history of the early days would be complete without mention of the
celebrated and picturesquely homely squaw known as Old Betz and the
tribe to which she belonged. The camp of the latter may still be seen
at South St. Paul to the number of three or four tepees. The Indians
are the descendants of the warriors of Little Crow. They live in
canvas tepees of primitive style, but with the exception of moccasins
and a few Indian trinkets they have conformed somewhat to the costumes
of the civilized people around them.
The Indians living in this vicinity, says A. L. Larpenteur in the
_Pioneer Press_, represent a remnant of the Minnesota Sioux who were
not taken to the reservation after the massacre of 1861. There may be
nearly a score of families in all, including the inhabitants of the
little Indian village at South St. Paul, the aboriginal residents at
Mendota, and some red men living near Newport. These are mostly
descendants of the members of Little Crow's band. Three or four
families have descended from the famous old squaw known as "Old Betz,"
who died at an advanced age only two years ago. At least two of old
Betz's daughters are living. They are very large, fleshy squaws, and
are frequently seen on the streets of St. Paul. When you catch sight
of a big squaw with a heavy pack slung over her shoulders, seated in
some doorway down street panting for breath, you may make up your mind
that it is one of Old Betz's daughters--either Doo-to-win (Scarlet
Female) or Pa-zen-ta-win (Medicine Woman); for such are their names.
They obtain a livelihood suitable to their lingering aboriginal tastes
and their condition of life, by selling moccasins, ginseng and wild
flowers in their season, and the skins of animals which they hunt or
trap. These skins are chiefly muskrat skins. They bring several
hundred to market in the course of the season. Then the squaws do the
begging, and the great white packs which these dusky females carry
upon their backs as they trudge along the streets of the city are
filled with specked fruit, tainted chickens and meat, dried up
cranberries and other unsalable stuff that the commission men of the
city have kindly bestowed upon them. An Indian is not so particular
about what he eats as a white person. When meat is tainted he boils it
until he gets all the taint out. What remains serves as savory sauce
for the meat. The Indians are intelligent. They don't have much to say
to strangers, but among themselves they are quite sociable, and sit
together by the hour smoking pipes and recounting traditions and
incidents. They are very fond of story telling. They also discuss
topics of interest with a freedom and intelligence worthy of a modern
white man's debating society. "I have sat with them in their lodges by
the hour," says Mr. Larpenteur, "and have been vastly entertained by
their anecdotes and discussions." So it appears that the Indians
hereabout are not so glum and reticent as red men in general are
credited with being.
There are a great many people in St. Paul who remember Old Betz, and
the stories that were told in relation to her, quite well. She was
said to be one hundred and twenty years old when she died, and, as
there was no evidence to the contrary, and she certainly bore the mark
of great age, this estimate of her years was generally accepted. Mr.
Larpenteur has reason for thinking that her age has been very much
exaggerated. Old Betz told him one day, a short time before her death,
in a confidential way, that when soldiers first came to Fort Snelling
she was still in her teens. That was in 1819, and, therefore, Old Betz
could not have been over eighty-eight when she died.
FOOTNOTES:
[F] NOTE.--The Wah-tap--or Wa-tab--empties from the west into the
Mississippi just above Sauk Rapids--H. M. R.
[G] The rejection of Thomas P. Burnett as a member of the council, by
Gov. Dodge, created great excitement at the time, and the governor was
severely criticised for his action. In making the apportionment the
governor had made Crawford county a district, but had left it without
a representative in the council, although two had been assigned to the
house, the governor claiming that this was equivalent to one in the
senate and one in the house. His action, to say the least, was curious
and unprecedented.
[H] Jean Brunet was of French extraction. He made the first
manufacturing improvements at Chippewa Falls.
[I] Alexander McGregor, a Scotchman, built a large hotel in Prairie du
Chien, and located a claim on the western side of the Mississippi
rivers opposite which has become the site of the city of McGregor. In
the third session of the territorial legislature he was elected to
represent the Dubuque district, and charges were preferred against him
of accepting a bribe. Pending the investigation of the charges he
resigned, removed to the east side of the river and was elected to
represent the Crawford district. The ensuing session, the house, by
resolution, declared him unworthy of confidence.
[J] The loan amendment was approved by Gov. Medary, through his
private secretary, March 9, 1858. The amendment was adopted by the
people April 15, 1858, by a vote of 25,023 to 6,733. The amount of
bonds issued was $2,275,000. The expunging resolution was adopted Nov.
6, 1860, by a popular vote of 19,308 to 710.
[K] Rev Mr. Webber was born in the state of New York in 1821; was
educated for the ministry ordained and sent to Minnesota as a
missionary by the Calvinistic Baptist church. He came to Stillwater in
1850. He is now a resident of Fleming, Cayuga county, New York.
ADDENDA.
A history of the Northwest that would omit any mention of the war of
the Rebellion would be an unfinished work. It was the original
intention of the author of this work to add a military history in
which should be placed upon record not only some statistics as to the
number of troops contributed to the United States service from the
parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin lying along the Mississippi river,
but some account of incidents connected with the war, which the
citizens of the valley would take pride in perusing. The plan was
abandoned reluctantly on account of the want of space for such a
record. We are able to furnish a synopsis of the military history of
Minnesota taken from a recent address made by ex-Gov. Ramsey before
the Loyal Legion at St. Paul. It is doubly interesting, coming as it
does from the governor of the State during the earlier portion of the
war:
Ex-Gov. Alexander Ramsey was called upon to respond to the toast,
"Minnesota and the War; For God, Our Country and the Right." He said:
"Amid the many evidences of harmony and prosperity in all sections of
the great republic it is difficult to realize that the citizens of
Minnesota, within the memory of many still alive, were called upon to
preserve the integrity of the United States of America by the force of
arms.
"There has ever been a community of interest between our own State, in
whose midst are found the sources of the Mississippi, and the several
states on its borders toward the Gulf of Mexico; the wheat fields of
Minnesota, the cotton and sugar plantations of Mississippi and
Louisiana must be inseparable, yet it can not be disguised that a
short-sighted statesmanship made a vigorous attempt to separate those
whom an all-wise Providence had joined together.
"In the month of April, 1861, upon official business as governor of
Minnesota, I was called to the city of Washington. The knots of
earnest men and anxious faces in the corridors and reading rooms of
the hotels indicated a widespread belief that there was an impending
peril, a serious conspiracy upon the part of some in the cotton
producing and slave holding states to secede from the Union, although
the general government had never infringed upon their rights under the
constitution.
"On Saturday night, April 13th, the population of Washington was
deeply moved by the intelligence that Fort Sumter in the harbor of
Charleston had been attacked by insurgents, and that the garrison had
surrendered.
"Early Sunday morning, accompanied by two citizens of Minnesota, I
visited the war department, and found the secretary with his hat on
and papers in his hand about to leave his office. I said 'My business
is simply as governor of Minnesota to tender a thousand men to defend
the government.' 'Sit down immediately,' he replied, 'and write the
tender you have made, as I am now on my way to the president's
mansion.'
"This was quickly done, and thus Minnesota became the first to cheer
the president by offers of assistance in the crisis which had arrived.
"My action and the acceptance of this offer were dispatched to St.
Paul, and in a few days companies in the different towns in Minnesota
were being organized, and on the twenty-seventh of the month Adjt.
Gen. John B. Sanborn issued an order that more companies had been
organized than were necessary to complete the First regiment of
Minnesota, and on the third of May, having returned to St. Paul during
April, I sent a telegram to the president offering a second regiment.
"On the twenty-first of June the First regiment, under Col. Gorman,
left Fort Snelling, and in one month, on Sunday, the twenty-first of
July, distinguished itself as the advance of Heintzleman's division in
the battle of Bull Run, Virginia. The Second regiment, in command of
Col. H. P. Van Cleve, a graduate of West Point, left Fort Snelling in
October, and on the nineteenth of January was in close conflict with
the enemy near Mill Springs, Kentucky, Gen. Zollicoffer and other
insurgent officers having fallen under their fire. A third regiment,
under Col. H. C. Lester, left the State in November, 1861, and a
fourth regiment, under Col. John B. Sanborn, was soon organized, and
not long after a fifth, under Col. Borgersrode, was formed. In the
spring of 1862, within a few weeks of each other, the last two left
for the seat of war, and were assigned to the Army of the Mississippi,
and before the close of May were, with their comrades of the Second,
in the action at Corinth.
"But while Minnesota was thus rapidly sending forth her able bodied
men, she was called upon to endure a trial greater than any of her
sister states. On the nineteenth of August there rushed into the
governor's office at the capitol a dusty and exhausted messenger who
had been fifteen hours in the saddle with dispatches from Galbraith,
the Sioux agent, containing the startling intelligence that the Sioux
had risen and were murdering the settlers and plundering and burning
their houses. An hour or two later another messenger arrived from
Forest City with information that the Sioux had also killed many
whites at Acton. It was evident that there was a general uprising, and
that no time was to be lost.
"I immediately proceeded to Fort Snelling and consulted as to the best
measures to protect our people. Here were only raw recruits, without
arms or clothing, but at length four companies of the Sixth regiment
were organized, and that night sent up the Minnesota river to
Shakopee, and ex-Gov. H. H. Sibley, who had had a long acquaintance
with the Sioux, was placed in command.
"From that point they were directed to proceed by land. Telegrams were
sent to President Lincoln and the governors of Wisconsin, Iowa,
Illinois, and Michigan relative to the horrible outbreak and asking
for aid.
"When the troops reached St. Peter they were delayed in moulding balls
to fit their arms and in preparing canister shot. By September
portions of the Third regiment, which had returned to the State, and
the Sixth and Seventh regiments, which had been organized, were in the
field, and on the twenty-third of the month had a battle with the
Indians at Wood lake, Lieut. Col. Marshall, of the Seventh regiment,
your late commander of this legion, leading five companies of his own
and two of the Sixth in a successful charge, clearing a ravine of
hostile savages.
"Never before in the history of the republic had so many settlers
fallen from Indian barbarity. In ten days in August about eight
hundred white men, women and children were killed, and at least 15,000
persons fled from the scalping knife to St. Paul and other places of
security.
"During the summer of 1862 the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Minnesota
regiments of Volunteers were organized. In January, 1863, having been
elected to represent the State in the United States senate, Lieut.
Gov. Swift on and after the tenth of July acted as governor for the
unexpired term, who was succeeded by Gov. Stephen H. Miller, both of
whom, in every way possible, sustained the general government.
"Minnesota during the war had surely not more than 40,000 citizens
able to bear arms. She furnished eleven regiments of infantry, one of
heavy artillery, three batteries of light artillery, four cavalry
organizations and two companies of sharpshooters, and official returns
show that she contributed 25,000 soldiers in all."
Mention of George H. Hazzard, of St. Paul, unintentionally omitted
from the body of the work, is appended below.
[Illustration: GEORGE H. HAZZARD.]
George H. Hazzard is one of St. Paul's wide awake, energetic young
men. He is a native of the state of New York. He came to the West
when a youth and located in St. Paul in 1859. He has been engaged in
general agencies and real estate, and has served as county
commissioner of Ramsey county and filled other city positions in St.
Paul. He was a member of the Methodist General Conference in New York
City in 1888. He married a daughter of Rev. Benjamin F. Hoyt, of St.
Paul.
LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ST. CROIX VALLEY--WISCONSIN SIDE.
Thirty-eighth Session, 1885--Senators: Hans B. Warner, Joel F. Nason.
House: Thomas Porter, James Johnson, Charles S. Thayer, Frank M. Nye.
Thirty-ninth Session, 1887--First Biennial Session--Senate: Joel F.
Nason, William A. Rust. House: J. B. Thayer, John A. Murphy, H. L.
Humphrey, James N. McCourt, Charles S. Taylor.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Fifty Years In The Northwest - With An Introduction And Appendix Containing Reminiscences, - Incidents And Notes" ***
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