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\I,K\ VNDER FARIBAULT
HISTORY OF
RICE AND
STEELE COUNTIES
MINNESOTA
COMPILED BY
FRANKLYN CURTISS-WEDGE
ASSISTED BY
Stephen Jewett, Esq.; George C. Tanner, D. D. ; James Dobbin, D. D.; A.
C. RogerB, M. D.; A. E. Haven, Esq.; M. M. Shields, Esq.; A. W.
McKinstry, Esq.; Hon. James Hunter; Prof. Harry E. Whitney; Hon.
D. F. Kelley; Hon. J. C. Couper; Prof. Horace Goodhue; Hon. W. A.
Sperry; B. E. Darby, Esq.; E. E. Bigelow, M. D.: Hon. F. A. Dunham;
W. G. Clarkson, Esq.; Hon. John C. Brainerd; C. C. Campbell, Esq.;
Virgil J. Temple, Esq.; Frank M. Kaisersott, Esq.; J. J. Eachae, Esq.;
Dr. E. K. Clements; Frederick A. Davis, M. D.; Prof. J. H. Lewis; Prof.
Philip J. Kuntz; H. F. Luers, Esq.; L. L. Bennett, M. D.; Hon. J. M.
Diment; William Kaiser, Esq.; J. H Adair, M D; Hon. J. E. Morley, and
many others.
Illustrated
VOL. I
(l
CHICAGO
H. C. COOPER, JR., & CO.
19 10
TO THE
STURDY PIONEERS OF RICE AND STEELE
COUNTIES
WHO, AMID INNUMERABLE HARDSHIPS, BLAZED THE WAY FOR
THE PRESENT GENERATIONS
AND TO THEIR
DESCENDANTS AND SUCCESSORS
THIS WORK IS DEDICATED
BY ALL WHO HAVE ASSISTED' IN ITS CONSTRUCTION
PREFACE
It is with a feeling of considerable pride and pleasure that the
publishers present this history for the approval of the people of Rice
and Steele counties. The undertaking has not been an easy one, and
the difficulties have been many, so many indeed that this work would
not have been possible without the liberal assistance of the citizens
of the counties. The chief contributors have given freely of their
time and talent ; business men, church officials, fraternity and associ-
ation officers, manufacturers, professional men and bankers, often at
great personal sacrifice, have laid aside their regular duties to write
of their communities and special interests ; educators have written of
the schools ; and men and women in all walks of life have willingly
given the information at their command regarding themselves, their
families, their interests and their localities. To all of these the
readers of this work owe a lasting debt of gratitude, and to each and
every one the publishers extend their heartfelt thanks.
Since this work was first proposed, it has been the plan of the
publishers to prepare a narrative which would tell the story of this
rich and prosperous vicinity from the time when it first became a
geologic reality, through the years when the first explorers pushed
their way into the wilderness, down to the present time, when cities
and villages dot the landscape, and comfortable homes and fertile
farms are seen on nearly every quarter section.
In handling the vast amount of material gathered for this work,
it has been the aim of the entire staff to select such matter as is
authentic, reliable and interesting. Doubtless facts have been in-
cluded that many will deem of little moment, but these same facts
to others may be of the deepest import. It may be also that some
facts have been omitted that many readers would like to see included.
To such readers, we can only say that to publish every incident in
the life of the counties would be to issue a work of many volumes;
and in choosing such material as would come within the limits of two
volumes, we believe that the matter selected is that which will prove
of the greatest interest to the greatest number of readers, and also
that which is the most worthy of being handed down to future gen-
erations, who in these volumes in far distant years may read of their
large-souled, rugged-bodied ancestors and predecessors who gave up
the settled peace of older communities to brave the rigors of pioneer
endeavor.
A few omissions have been due to the dereliction of some ol the
people of the countas themselves, as in many instances repeated
requests for information, especially in regard to the churches, have
met with no response. In such cases, information gathered from
other sources, though authentic, may have lacked copious detail.
viii CONTENTS
PAGE
ington County in 1849 — Under the Judicial Jurisdiction of Ramsey
County in 1851 — Attached to Dakota County in 1853 — Rice and Steele
Counties Included in the Fifth Judicial District with Hon. N. M.
Donaldson on the Bench 58
PART II
CHAPTER I.
NATURAL PHENOMENA.
Introduction — Situation and Advantages — Natural Drainage — Cannon River
— Topography — Spill and Timber — The Bridgewater Kaine — Minerals
from the Drift — Mastodon Remains — Old Wells in Rice County — Arti-
ficial Mounds — Material Resources — Building Stone, Bricks and Lime. 65
CHAPTER II.
THE FARIBAULTS.
The Wapakootas — Early Explorations — Adventurers Who May Have
Reached Rice County — Official Surveys — "After Eighty-four Years,"
an Interesting Paper by Stephen Jewett Relating to the Faribaults—
Biography of Jean Baptiste Faribault — Biography of Alexander Fari-
bault — He Begins Trading on the Cannon River in 1826 — Settlement
of Indians at Present Site of Faribault in 1834 — First Buildings —
Distinguished Services of Alexander Faribault — The Passing of the
Red Men.
CHAPTER III.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
Alexander Faribault Located in Rice County as a Ti'ader — Induces In-
dians to Settle Near the Confluence of the Straight and Cannon Rivera
— Takes up His Own Residence on Hie Bluffs East of the River —
Builds Trading Post and Log House in 1835 — Sends Followers West
of the River to Shut n Farm — Entertains Many Friends— Peter Bush
Arrives — Crump, Standish and Oekler Selecl a Claim — Luke Httlett,
Mark Wells, Levi Nutting and Others Make Trip from Saint Paul —
James Wells Takes a Claim — The First Winter at Faribault — First
Framo House Built — Settlers Begin to Ani\e in Larger Numbers —
Experiences of the Pioneers 89
CHAPTER IV.
ORGANIZATION AND BOUNDARY LINES.
Rice County Created in L853 — Its Indefinite and Extensive Boundaries —
Four Counties Cornering al the Confluence of the Straight and Cannon
CONTENTS ix
PAOB
Rivers — Western Boundary of Goodhue Denned in 1854 — Sibley Sent
to the Legislature — Act Passed Defining New Boundaries — Eiee County
Organized by Governor Gorman — County Seat Established at Cannon
City — Resentment by People of Faribault — Refusal to Pay Taxes —
Election of Officers in Fall of 1855 — Faribault Becomes County Seat
— Records Transcribed from Mendota Documents — Last Change of
Boundary Made in 1857 102
CHAPTER V.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
Meeting of Appointed Commissioners Held at Cannon City — First Meeting
of Elected Commissioners — School Districts Formed — Township Sys-
tem — Commission System Again — Yearly Work of the Board — Poor
Farm Planned — County Court House and Jail Erected — County Officers
— County Poor Farm 107
CHAPTER VI.
LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATION.
Council Districts — Territorial Legislatures — Rice County in the Seventh
and Sixth Council Districts Successively — Constitutional Convention — ■
Rice County Becomes a Part of the Fifth Legislative District of the
New State — Rice County Constituted the Eighth District — Becomes
the Eighteenth District — Becomes the Twentieth District — Assumes Its
Present Designation of Twenty-eighth District in 1897 — Representa-
tives in Congress 119
CHAPTER VII.
TOWNSHIP HISTORY.
Fourteen Townships in Rice County Organized in May, 1858— Early Set-
tlement — Early Incidents and First Supervisors of Each Township —
Wells — Bridgewater — Wheeling — Richland — Walcott — Forest-
Warsaw — Cannon City — Erin — Morristown — Northfield — Shieldsville —
Wheatland— Webster 126
CHAPTER VII r.
ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIPS.
Election Precincts as Organized in 1856— Houston, Faribault, East Prairie,
Cannon River and Forest— First Judges of Elections— New Precincts
Created — Various Changes — Townships Assume Practically Present
Form and Name in 1858— Warsaw Then Called Sargent— Faribault
and Cannon City Divided J ^ *
x CONTENTS
CHAPTER IX.
MILITARY HISTORY.
PAGE
Conditions at the Outbreak of the Struggle — First War Meeting — Items
of Interest— Bounties and Drafts — Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society —
Names of the Veterans from Rice County — First Infantry — Second
Infantry— Third Infantry— Fourth Infantry — Fifth Infantry— Sixth
Infantry — Seventh Infantry — Eighth Infantry — Tenth Infantry — Elev-
enth Infantry — First Battalion Infantry — First Heavy Artillery —
First Mounted Bangers — Braekett 's Battalion — Independent Battalion
— Second Cavalry — Other Companies and Regiments — Revised by Hon.
James Hunter 196
CHAPTER X.
INCIDENTS AND EVENTS.
Important Happenings — Mostly in Faribault — The Years 18571879 — Dis-
asters, Deaths, Organizations, Churches and Celebrations 214
CHAPTER XL
CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS.
Incidents in the Life of the County from 1880 to 1910 — Fires, Deaths,
Marriages, Organizations, Churches, Crimes and Other Happenings in
the Daily Routine of Rice County Progress — Culled from the News-
paper Files 22l'
CHAPTER XII.
HENRY BENJAMIN WHIPPLE, D. D., LL. D.
Birth, Ancestry and Education — Influence in Politics as a Young Man —
Staff Colonel — Theological Training — Ordination — First Rectorship —
Call to Chicago — His Work in the Parish of the Free Church of the
Holy Communion— Consecrated Bishop of Minnesota — First Service
in His New Diocese — First Service in Faribault — Pioneer Conditions
— Beginning of the Bishop Seabury Mission Schools — Shattuck School
— Seabury Divinity School — St. Mary's Hal] — Work Among the In-
dians — Service on Treaty Commission — "The Great Apostle of the
Red Men" — Honors Abroad — Work in Cuba- Called to the Sandwich
Islands — Work in the Southern States — Distinctions in England —
Friend of the Black Man — Visit to Porto Rico — Growth of the Diocese
— Domestic Life — Bishop Gilbert — Bishop Eclsall — Summary of His
Life Work— Opinions and Appreciations by Eminent Men — Triumph-
ant Closing of a Glorious Career — Memorials 260
CHAPTER XIII.
BISHOP SEABURY MISSION.
Bishop Whipple's Influence — Rev. J. Lloyd Breck, Rev. Solon W. Man-
ney, Rev. K. Steele Peake and Hon. R. A. Mott— Site Selected for
CONTENTS xi
PAGE
Schools — Associate Mission — St. Columba Mission — Plans for Educa-
tional Work — Beginning of the Work — Parish of the Good Shepherd
— Work Among the Indians — Peace Between Sioux and Chippewas —
Coming of Bishop Whipple — Episcopal Sea City of Minnesota — Sea-
bury Divinity School — Growth of Episcopalian Influence — Mrs. Shum-
way's Bequest— Officers of the Mission and Professors of the Divinity
School — Endowments and Scholarships — Gifts of Hon. H. T. Welles,
Hon. Isaac Atwater, Dr. E. C. Bill, Mrs. Augusta M. (Shumway)
Huntington and Junius Morgan — Recapitulation and Authorities
Quoted— By Bev. George C. Tanner, D. D. — Shattuck School — By
Bev. James Dobbin, D. D. — St. Mary's School — St. James' School... 291
CHAPTER XIV.
EARLY FARIBAULT.
Town Proprietors — Town Plat — Early Additions — First Buildings — Pioneer
Events — Early Descriptions — Some Pioneers — Mystery of Metropolis-
ville— Faribault Township— Faribault in 1872— Luke Hulett 319
CHAPTER XV.
FRINK'S NARRATIVE.
Extracts from a "Brief History of Faribault" — Old Town Site — Appear-
ance of Faribault in 1855 — Early Manufacturing Interests — Location
of the County Seat — First Church, School and Newspaper — Indian
Scares — Denominational Concord — Costly Fire — A Few Old Settlers.. 329
CHAPTER XVI.
FARIBAULT MUNICIPALITY.
Historic Meeting of 1870 — City Charter Passed by Legislature and Ap-
proved by the Governor, February 29, 1872 — Election of April 2, 1882
— First Officers — Mayor Tower's Inaugural Address — List of City
Officials 347
CHAPTER XVII.
STATE INSTITUTIONS.
Advantages and Location — Minnesota School for the Deaf. Dumb and
Blind— Minnesota School for Defectives — Minnesota School for the
Deaf and Blind— School for the Blind— School for the Deaf— The
Minnesota School for the Feeble Minded and Colony for Epileptics . . 352
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE ATHENS OF THE WEST.
Faribault as the City of Churches, Schools, Parks and Homes, by A. E.
Haven— Its Many Advantages as a Place of Residence— Library and
xii CONTEXTS
PAGE
City Hall — County Court House aud Jail — City Jail — Firemen's Hall
— Central Park — Faribault Park — Railroads — St. Lucas Deaconess
Hospital — City Lighting — Street Names — Waterworks — Sewer System
— Bridges — City Market — Quarry — Telephone and Telegraph — Armory
and Theater 362
CHAPTER XIX.
FARIBAULT INDUSTRIES.
Faribault as a Business Center — The Progressiveness of Its Leading Men
— Advantages of Life in the City — History of the Leading Industries
— Various Industrial Facts of Interest — Edited by M. M. Shields —
Banks and Banking 377
CHAPTER XX.
FARIBAULT CHURCHES.
Episcopalian — Parish of the Good Shepherd — Cathedral of Our Merciful
Saviour — Shumway Memorial Chapel — Catholic Churches and Schools
— Bethlehem Academy — School of the Immaculate Conception — Cath-
olic Mission — Church of St. Lawrence — Church of the Sacred Heart —
Congregational — First Congregational — Plymouth Congregational — The
Congregational Church — Baptist — First Baptist — Free Will Baptist —
Methodist — First Methodist — German Methodist — Lutheran — St. Lucas
— Inimanuel — Markers — Trinity — Zion 393
CHAPTER XXI.
FARIBAULT ORGANIZATIONS.
Masonic Orders by Prof. Harry E. Whitney — Patriotic Orders — Odd Fel-
lows — Knights of Pythias — Elks— Eagles — Fraternal Insurance Indus-
trial Unions — Faribault Commercial Club — Catholic Societies — Recre-
ation Clubs — Literary Clubs 409
■ ii \i'Ti:i: XXII.
EARLY MILLING.
The North, Ames and Granger Mills ;it Northfield — Exciting Conflict
Waged — Archibald's Superior Flour — His Process— The La Croix
Brothers al Faribault— Theii [nventions Revolutionize the Flouring
Business 1-9
CHAPTER XXI II.
NORTHFIELD BANK ROEBERY.
Younger and .lames Hrotheis Knter I ho State — Failure al Mankato — Ad-
vance on NorthlioM — Heroic Defense by Allen. Wheeler and Manning
CONTENTS xiii
PAGE
— Events Inside the Bank — Heroism and Death of Heywood- — Bunker,
Wounded, Escapes — Death of Gustavson — Stacy Takes Part in the
Battle — Stiles and Miller Killed — Pursuit — Bandits Captured — Police-
man Accidentally Killed— Trial and Conviction— Petitions for Pardon
■ — Bob Younger Dies — Release of James and Cole Younger — Jame3
Younger Suicides — Cole Younger Pardoned and Exiled 434
CHAPTER XXIV.
EARLY NORTHFIELD.
Original Entries — Coming of John North — Platting of the Village — Be-
ginning of Industry — Letter from John North — Early Events — First
Deaths, Births and Marriages — The Red Men — Address of Mayor
Seriver — Early Days, by Capt. D. F. Kelley 444
CHAPTER XXV.
MODERN NORTHFIELD.
Description — Old City Hall — City Hall and Fire House — Northfield Fire
Department- — Police Force — Carnegie Library — Northfield Park —
Ridge Square — Waterworks and Sewers — Electric Lights — Northfield
Commercial Club — Rice County Fair Association — Northfield Hospital
Association — Ware Auditorium — Odd Fellows' Home — Young Men's
Christian Association — Railroads — Cemeteries — Banks — Manufacturing
Interests — Industries — Churches — Societies and Clubs 457
CHAPTER XXVI.
NORTHFIELD COLLEGES.
Story of Carleton College, Compiled by Horace E. Goodhue, with Bio-
graphical Sketches by Members of the Faculty — Story of St. Olaf,
Compiled from Article by 0. G. Felland— Growth of Two Notable
Institutions 480
CHAPTER XXVII.
POSTAL HISTORY.
Complete Story of the Growth of the Faribault Postoffice — Northfield —
Morristown — Warsaw — Dundas — Veseli — Lonsdale — Webster —
Nerstrand — Discontinued Post offices — Wheatland — Moland — Richland
— Walcott — Fowlersville — Lester — Union Lake — Haaelwood — Berg —
Troondjem — Tenod — Eklund — Wheeling — Shieldsville — Prai-
rieville— Millersburg— Dean — Written by William Kaiser 508
CHAPTER XXVIII.
NEWSPAPER HISTORY.
Story of the Various Newspapers Which Have Sprung into Existence in
Rice County, Their Struggle for Existence, Their Influence and Im-
CONTEXTS
portance, and in Most Cases Their Final Discontinuance — Story of the
Present Day Papers — The Faribault Republican — The Faribault Pilot
— The Faribault Journal — The Faribault Democrat — The Morristown
Press — The Northfield News — The Northfield Independent — The Nor-
wegian American, Edited by A. W. McKinstry 536
CHAPTER XXIX.
NATIONAL GUARD.
Company B, of Faribault, by Capt. Frederick U. Davis — The Governor's
Guards — Faribault Guards — Company B in the Twelfth Infantry in
Spanish-American War — Officers and Men — Company D, of Northfield
— Its Organization, First and Present Officers 545
CHAPTER XXX.
NERSTRAND VILLAGE.
Village Started by Osmund Osmundson — Coming of the Railroad — First
Building — Village Government — General Description — Business and In-
dustries — City Hall — Fire Protection — Fires — Telephones — Farmers '
State Bank — Churches — Cemetery — Schools — Elevators — Creamery. . . . 550
CHAPTER XXXI.
WHEATLAND TOWNSHIP.
Location — Description — Early Settlement and History — First Town Meet-
ing and Early Officers — Bohemians Assume Power — Wonderful Prog-
ress — Name of Veseli from Veseli in Bohemia — Churches — Societies —
Early Events — Cemeteries — Schools — Mercantile — Wheatland Village
— Veseli — Lonsdale — Postoffices — Educational — Political — Summary
— By F. M. Kaisersatt, Assisted by Joseph J. Rachac 555
CHAPTER XXXI 1.
MORRISTOWN VILLAGE.
Early Settlement — Municipal History and Improvements — Furious Cyclone
— Schools — Cemetery — Industries — Railroad — Churches — Fra-
ternities — Edited by Virgil J. Temple 594
CHAPTEB XXXIII.
DUNDAS.
Modern Activities — Early History — The Archibalds — Beginning of Indus-
try—Schools—Churches—Old Mills 608
CONTENTS xv
CHAPTER XXXIV.
VILLAGES AND SETTLEMENTS.
PAGE
Shieldsville — Warsaw Village — Lake City — Millersburg — Cannon City —
East Prairieville — Other Villages 613
CHAPTER XXXV.
RICE COUNTY SCHOOLS.
Resume of Public Educational Work in the County by Superintendent
John H. Lewis — Schools in the Rural Districts — Northfield — Morris-
town — Northfield and Dundas 620
PART III-STEELE COUNTY
CHAPTER I.
NATURAL PHENOMENA.
Situation — Advantages — Watershed of Southeastern Minnesota — Native
Trees — Mineral Springs — Paper by E. W. Hadley — Formation of the
Earth— Surface Drift and Till— Margin of the Ice Cap of the Glacial
Period — Morainic Area — Large Boulders — Strata at Central Park,
Owatonna 631
CHAPTER II.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
PAGE
Coming of the White Men— Settlement in Medford in 1853— A. L. Wright,
Chauncey Lull, Smith Johnson, Orlando Johnson and L. M. Howard —
First Land Broken — First Cabin Built — First Woman Arrives — Influx
of Settlement in 1854 — Names of the Early Pioneers — Settlement in
Townships 636
CHAPTER III.
ORGANIZATION AND BOUNDARY LINES.
Wabasha, Dakota and Rice County Affiliations — Steele County Organized,
1855 — Old Time Boundaries — Various Points Suggested as the County
Seat — Annexations from Dodge County — Setting Off of Wabasha
County — Ogil's Narrative — Child's Narrative — Dodge County 640
xvi CONTENTS
CHAPTER IV.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
PAGE
First Meeting of Board of County Commissioners — Acts and Personnel of
Succeeding Boards — County Officers — Register of Deeds — County
Treasurer — County Auditor — County Sheriff — Superintendent of
Schools — Judge of Probate — Clerk of Court — County Attorney —
County Surveyor — County Coroner — Court Commissioner — Complete
List of Officers Since 1887 652*
CHAPTEB V.
LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATION.
Council Districts — Territorial Legislatures — Steele County in the Seventh,
Sixth and Tenth Council Districts Successively — Constitutional Conven-
tion — Steele County Becomes a Part of the Fifteenth Legislative Dis-
trict of the New State — Steele County Becomes Part of Sixteenth
District — Steele County Constituted the Twelfth District— Assumes Its
Present Designation of Eighth District in 1897 — Representatives in
Congress 674
CHAPTER VI.
TOWNSHIP HISTORY.
Organization and Original Boundaries of Steele County Townships — Med-
ford Township — Clinton Falls Township — Owatonna Township — Ha-
vana Township — Somerset Township — Merton Township — Deerfield
Township — Meriden Township — Lemond Township — Berlin Township
— Summit Township — Blooming Prairie Township — Aurora Township
— First Settlement and Early Events — Present Officers 683
(IIAPTER VII.
THE LEGAL PROFESSION.
Biographies of All the Practitioners of Law in Steele County by the Hun.
W. A. Sperry— The Bench— Hon. N. M. Donaldson— Hon. Samuel Lord
— Hon. Thomas S. Buckham — Life, Education and Services of Scores
of Distinguished Men "l fi
I HAPTEB VIII.
BANKS AND BANKING.
Floating Railroad Bonds— Owatonna Banks Pirsl Bank of Owatonna—
s nd Hank of Owatonna — The FirsI National Bank of Owatonna —
The Farmers' National Hank of Owatonna — Tts Beautiful Building
Described by Carl K. IVnn.it Pirsl State Bank of Owatonna. now
CONTENTS xvii
PAGE
Security State Bank of Owatonna — Blooming Prairie Banks — Whitton
and Haley — J. C. Brainard & Co. — The State Bank of Blooming
Prairie — First National Bank of Blooming Prairie — Farmers and Mer-
chants' State Bank of Blooming Prairie — Ellendale — The Security
State Bank of Ellendale 736
CHAPTER IX.
EARLY DAYS.
Reminiscences — Anecdotes and Adventures — Judge Allen C. Adsit — C. W.
Ilawley — A. B. Cornell — Judge G. W. Green — Watchman and Register
— Ezra and John H. Abbott — Rev. William Thompson 7JH
CHAPTER X.
IMPORTANT EVENTS.
Resume of the Principal Happenings Arranged in Chronological Order —
chapter in Which the Reader May Live Again Through the Incidents
of Steele County Life from 1853 to 1888 774
CHAPTER XI.
IMPORTANT EVENTS.
Deaths, Accidents, Crimes, Fires, and Thousands of Interesting Events
Transpiring Between January, 1888, and June, 1910— Compiled from
Newspaper Files 802
CHAPTER XII.
DAIRY INTERESTS.
Early Attempts at Cheese Making — Individual Ownership of Gathered
Cream Plants— Introduction of the Co-operative Creamery Plan— Indi-
vidual Ownership Vanishes — Number of Creameries Multiply — Impor-
tance of the Industry — Volume of Output — Conclusions — By Hon.
John R. Morley 824
CHAPTER XIII.
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
State System Inaugurated — First School House Erected in Steele County
— Other Schoolhouses Soon Built— Word Picture of Pioneer School-
First County Superintendent Appointed— List of His Successors—
Owatonna Schools— Early Meetings of the Board— Grammar School
Established— High School Course— Modern Modifications and Addi-
tions—Present Building, System and Officers— List of City Superin-
tendents — Contributed by Professor Philip J. Kuntz 828
xviii CONTENTS
CHAPTER XIV.
MILITARY HISTORY.
PAGE
Steele County in the War for the Preservation of the Uniou — First War
Meeting Held — Company Marches to Faribault and Is Mustered in at
St. Paul — Enlistments and Bounties — Military Districts — War Record
of Those First Enlisting — Names of the Soldiers from this County —
Grand Army Organizations — Old No. 5 Post — McPherson Post— James
A. Goodwin Post and Corps— By E. E. Bigelow, M. D 837
CHAPTER XVI.
OWATONNA AS A HAMLET.
First Settlement— Pettit and Cornell— First House Built— Influx of Popu-
lation — Bridge Constructed— Hotel and Stores Opened— Activities of
the Early Days— Business Houses of 1867 and 1887— First Events Sf>2
CHAPTEK XVII.
MODERN OWATONNA.
"Beautiful Owatonna" — The City of Beautiful Homes— Idea] Situation
Public Facilities— Educational Institutions— Parks and Trees— Side
walks— Business Advantages— Public Buildings— Contributed by Hon.
F. A. Dunham 8e
CHAPTER XVIII.
OWATONNA COMMERCIAL MEN.
coming of the Railroads— Race for Supremacy— Owatonna Becomes a Pio-
neer Distributing Point— Traveling Men Begin to Settle Eere— Rea
sons for Their Choice— Social and Municipal Advants itonna
Council, No. 85, United Commercial Travelers— First Officers Promi-
nent Members— Contributed by W. B. Claikson— Owatonna Hotels-
Old Winship HouS( — Pioneer Bot< -contra! House— American House
—Old Owatonna House— Norsk II< —Scandinavian House— German
Hotel— Arnold House— Tremont II fe— City Hotel— Peachey House
— Robinson House — Merchants' Ho
i ommercial Hotel — Church 's
Hotel — Kaplan House— Owatonna hJuse Smaller Hostelriea
CHAPTER XIX.
OWATONNA OFFICERS.
Incorporated us a ( Lty— Minutes of First Council Meeting— Changes in
City Charter— City Limits— Officers of the City— City and School Bond
Issues
x.,;
CONTEXTS xix
CHAPTER XX.
OWATONNA IMPROVEMENTS.
PAGE
Parks— Central Park — Dartt 's Park — Mineral Springs Park — Second Ward
Park — Cemeteries — City Waterworks — Sewer System — City and Fire-
men 's Hall — Owatonna Library — City Hospital — Lighting and Heating
System — Theater 895
CHAPTER XXI.
OWATONNA ORGANIZATIONS.
Masonic Orders — Pythian Societies — Odd Fellows ' Lodges — Fraternal Insur-
ance Lodges — Catholic Orders — Women 's Clubs — Contributed by E. E.
Bigelow, M. D. — Clubs and Organizations 912
CHAPTER XXII.
PILLSBURY ACADEMY.
Location and Importance— Its Existence as the Minnesota Academy — Gifts
of George A. Pillsbury — Buildings — Object — Societies — Officers —
Biographies 939
CHAPTER XXIII.
ELLENDALE VILLAGE.
Location and Advantages — Origin — Business and Government — Fire De-
partment — Cornet Band — Churches — Fraternal Societies — Creamery —
Elevators — Schools — Beaver Lake 943
CHAPTER XXIV.
OWATONNA CHURCHES.
Baptist — Congregational — Episcopal — Universalist — Catholic — Meth-
odist — German Methodist — Danish Lutheran — German Lutheran —
Seventh Day Adventist 957
CHAPTER XXV.
STEELE COUNTY VILLAGES.
Bixby— Clinton Falls — Medford— Settlements and Hamlets — Anderson—
Deerfield — Steel Center — Riverpoint — Merton — Berlin — Lemond — Meri-
den— Havana — Pratt — Sago — Hope Station — Former Villages — Elm-
wood — Dodge City— Adamsville — Somerset Village — Somerset Post-
office — Elmira Village — Aurora Postoffice — Oak Glen — Aurora Station
— Postoffiees — Railroads 976
xx CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXVI.
POSTAL HISTORY.
PAGE
Early Stage anil Mail Routes in Steele County — Owatonna Postoffice —
Postmasters — Locations — Rural Routes — Free Delivery — New Building
— Fresent Force — Receipts — Compiled with the Assistance of J. M.
Dirnent 988
CHAPTER XXVII.
BLOOMING PRAIRIE VILLAGE.
Modern Blooming Prairie — Its Beauties. Situation and Advantages — Com-
ing of the Railroad — Early Beginnings — Municipal Improvements —
Park, Waterworks, Sewer — Fraternities — Churches — Leading Stores —
Elevators. Mill and Creamery — Schools — Grain Industry — Conclusion. .
CHAPTER XXVIII.
NEWSPAPERS.
Watchman and Register — Medford Valley Argus — Owatonna Journal —
News Letter — Owatonna Representative — Owatonna Register — Owa-
tonna Democrat — Vidette — Owatonna Register — Owatonna Plaindealer
- — Journal and Herald — Owatonna Chronicle — Journal-Chronicle — Peo-
ple's Press — Our Pastime — Morning Star — Daily Herald — Owatonna
Tribune — Ellendale Eagle — Blooming Prairie Times — Compiled and
. Edited by Benjamin F. Darby 1008
CHAPTER XXIX.
NATIONAL GUARD.
History of Company I, Second Infantry, Minnesota National Guard — Its
Honors and Efficiency — Muster In — First Officers — Changes in Officers
— Erecting the Armory — Social and Disciplinary Advantages — Conclu-
sion 1022
PART I
RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
CHAPTER I.
PREHISTORIC TIMES.
Introduction Relating Climatic Advantages — Geology — The
Mound Builders — Discussions by Prof. E. W. Schmidt, Prof.
Anton T. Gesner and Dr. W. M. Sweney — The Newly Dis-
covered Lowland Mounds.
In the central part of that nature-favored stretch of rolling,
or occasionally broken, prairie known as southeastern Minnesota,
where the Straight river and upper course of the Cannon, pass-
ing well cultivated farms, busy cities and prosperous villages, give
fertility to the soil, and power to the mills, lie two sister counties,
Rice and Steele, of historic past, prosperous present and promis-
ing future.
The elevation of this stretch of land above the sea, its fine
drainage and the dryness of the atmosphere, give it a climate
of unusual salubrity and pleasantness. Its latitude gives it cor-
respondingly longer days in summer, and during the growing
seasons about one and a half hours more of sunshine, than in
the latitude of St. Louis. This taken in connection with the
abundant rainfall in early autumn, accounts for the rapid and
vigorous growth of crops in this vicinity and their early maturity.
The cool breezes and cool nights in summer prevent the debil-
itating effect of heat so often felt in lower latitudes. The winter
climate is one of the attractive features. Its uniformity and its
dryness, together with the bright sunshine and the electrical con-
dition of the air, all tend to enhance the personal comfort of the
resident, and to make outdoor life and labor a pleasure.
From the creation of the earth, to the time when such ideal
conditions prevailed, many ;eons passed, and after countless
ages, this locality awaited the coming of man. Primeval nature
reigned in all her beauty.
"The buffalo, the elk, and the deer, for centuries roamed the
wild prairies and woodlands; fishes basked undisturbed in its
lakes and rippling streams; the muskrat, the otter, and the mink-
gamboled upon the ice in winter with no man to molest them.
Ducks, geese, and other aquatic fowls, in countless numbers,
covered the lakes and streams in summer, and chattered and
squawked and frolicked in all their native glory and happiness.
The prairie wolves howled upon their little hillocks, and. coward-
1
2 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
like, were always ready to attack and destroy the weak and de-
fenseless. Pocket gophers went on with their interminable un-
derground operations, all unconscious of the inroads soon to be
made upon their dominions by the husbandman. Grouse and
prairie chickens cackled, crowed, and strutted in all their pride.
Blizzards and cyclones swept unheeded across its vast domains.
The autumnal prairie fires, in all their terrible grandeur and
weird beauty, lighted the heavens by night and clouded the sun
by day. Age after age added alluvial richness to the soil and
prepared it to be one of the most productive fields of the world
for the abode of the husbandman and for the uses of civilized
man."
At some period of the earth's history, mankind in some form.
took up its abode in the area that is now Rice and Steele coun-
ties. The origin of human life in Minnesota has been made a
subject of special study by Dr. Warren L'pham, secretary of
the Minnesota Historical Society, and the thoughtful student is
referred to his various articles on the subject; a detailed dis-
illusion being beyond the scope of this work.
Prof. E. W. Schmidt, the well known archaeologist of Red
Wing. Minn., is now investigating the previously undiscussed
lowland mounds of southern Minnesota, and it is possible that
he will demonstrate the fact that this locality may have been
occupied by primitive man in glacial and pre-glacial times. Dr.
Upham lias already proven to scientists the existence of glacial
and pre-glacial man in certain portions of this state.
The first occupants of this immediate vicinity, whose occu-
pancy has actually been conclusively demonstrated, were the
"Mound Builders," as they have long hern called, but who in the
light of Prof. Schmidt's discoveries, must now be called the High-
land Mound Builders — that is, the builders of the mounds located
in dry places, usually on eminences.
These mounds are familiar to practically every resident of
Minnesota, as this state is especially rich in such archaeological
remains. At one time it was believed that the .Mound Builders
were a prehistoric race, much superior to the Indians and differ-
ing greatly from them in habits, life, appearance, racial char-
acteristics and mental development.
ier scientists, however, believe thai the Mound Builders
were simply the ancestors of the presenl daj Indians, and differed
in no impi >rtan1 characteristics from the aboriginies found here by
the early explorers. The Mound Builders of this particular vicin-
ity were probably the ancestors of the Sioux ami the Iowa In-
dians, it being well known that these two races are branches
of tii, ■ family.
le historians have declared that the lowas formerly had
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 3
their headquarters in the territory of the lower St. Croix, the
upper Mississippi and the lower Minnesota rivers, and that they
were driven out by the Sioux. On this point authorities differ,
but it is possible that in pre-historic times the Iowas and the
Sioux successively hunted on the prairies now embracing Rice
and Steele counties. Since the date of the earliest exploration
of the upper Mississippi, by Europeans, however, the occupants
of this prairie were the Wapakoota Indians, the name being
variously spelled, but meaning in Sioux, the Leaf Shooters,
or more correctly "The Shooters in the Leaves of the Indigenous
Pines."
The story of the gradual distribution of the Sioux in Minne-
sota, from their ancient headquarters about Mille Lacs is an
interesting one, well worthy of study, but beyond the scope of
this history.
Prof. Schmidt has said :
"The mounds ! The mounds ! Who does not love to spend a
day among the silent monuments of a vanished race? Who is
not charmed while strolling among these tombs, either when the
green of spring covers them as with a carpet, while all around
you the hills, lakes, rivers, ponds and woods contribute their
beauty to complete the picture of a glorious day in June, or
while the dreamy haze of an autumnal clay tinges the gorgeous
panorama of the many-colored landscape with delicate tint of
blue? To the charms of such a scene the lover of mounds is not
a stranger, nor to the pleasant feeling of mystery that steals
upon his mind as he gazes at the sepulchres that dot the terrace
or stand out boldly on the promontory of a steep and rugged
bluff.
"What is the meaning of the mounds? Who made them?
Whence did the mound builders come? When did they live here?
What sort of life did they lead? What was their state of cul-
ture? Who were the first inhabitants of Rice and Steele coun-
ties? These are some of the questions which archaeology is busy
trying to solve.
"In regard to the origin of the mounds it may be said in
brief that they are of Indian origin. The idea of a prehistoric
race of mound builders distinct from the Indian has been ex-
ploded by archaeological research, but it is very common to
find this idea expressed in books of the last generation and in
the minds of those who in early childhood had the "mound
builder" theory instilled into them. The real mound builder
was a genuine Indian and not a member of some other race.
The evidences of this are many. Indians are known to have
built mounds. The articles found in the mounds are the same
in kind and make as those found on the nearby village site. In-
4 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
variably a large mound group has a village site close by. The
articles found on the sites and in the mounds are such as the
Indians used. Space forbids a discussion of this subject, but
here is a partial list of the objects that have been found in south-
ern Minnesota: Arrows, of various sizes and shapes, made of
chert, quartz, quartzite, guntlint and other varieties of rock-
spearheads, knives, awls, needles, hammerstones, millstones,
clubs, sinkers, bone implements, fragments of pipes, scrapers in
profusion, ice-axes, spuds, chungee stones, paint pots, paint cup-.
hammers of hematite and other kinds of rocks, fleshers, polish-
ing stones, drills, hairpins, a decorated buffalo-rib knife, mauls,
stone balls, flakes, chisels, lances, mullers, mortars, whetstones,
decorated pieces of clam shells, also vast numbers of spalls, chips,
rejects and fragmentary implements in various stages of com-
pletion, a slate charm, pieces of lead probably brought up from
Missouri, bones of many kinds of animals, rough tools, etc. Vast
numbers of pottery fragments and a few entire vessels have also
been found. Also a copper spear, large copper spuds, a small
hoe made from a piece of rifle barrel deposited in one of the
Indian graves at Red Wing, and shell beads from the same
locality. Space forbids a detailed description of these relics.
However, a few thoughts suggested by them relative to the state
of culture, habits, modes of life and occupations of our prede-
cessors may be mentioned. Fortified hills, tomahawks, battle
clubs, spearheads, etc., mean war. Arrows signify war and the
chase. We do not know what human beings first beheld the
stretches of Rice and Steele counties as their home. We may
never be able to look beyond the veil or penetrate the mists that
enshroud the history of the past, yet we are not left in utter
darkness. The relics mentioned tell us many interesting stories.
The absence of great architectural ruins show that the mound
builders lived in frail homes. The dearth of agricultural imple-
ments docs not spell waving fields of golden grain. The ashpits
and fireplaces mark the bare ground as the aboriginal stove. N'ct-
sinkers imply the use of nets; ice-axes the chopping of holes in
the ice to procure water, stone axes a clumsy device lor splitting
wood; stone knives for scalping, cutting meat, leather and twigs ;
countless flakes mark the ancient arrow maker's workshop;
cracked bones show the Indian's love for marrow; shell beads.
charms and ornaments in the shape of fish and other design-
reveal a primitive desire for ornamentation; chisels and gouges
recall the making of canoes; sun-dried pottery made of clay
mixed with coarse sand, clam shells or powdered granite and
marked with rows of dots made with a stick, thumbnail or Other
objects, or else marked with lines. V shaped figures or chevron-,
all are an index of a rather crude stale of pottery making. The
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 5
hand supplied the lathe and the wheel. Inasmuch as some of
the most ancient remains show great similarity to the more
recent, we feel certain that no great progress was made by
these early inhabitants. A copper spear of recent date shows
no more signs of smelting than does the copper blade that has
been much corroded by a great lapse of time. Trees hundreds
of years old give us at least some measure of estimating the age
of the contents of the mounds on which they stand, and it also
means that the mound builder lived there several hundred years,
if not longer. By such processes of reasoning we can learn a
good deal of the social, individual and family life of the savage
mound builder."
DR. SWENEY'S PAPER.
Dr. William M. Sweney has said :
"The general opinion, I think, prevails, that the art of chip-
ping flint and stone implements is a lost one; but as there are a
number of descriptions in print, written by persons who have
witnessed the operation, I will give a description or two. Catlin's
description of Apache mode of making flint arrow points : 'This
operation is very curious, both the holder and the striker singing,
and the strokes of the mallet, given exactly in time with the
music, and with a short and rebounding blow, in which, the In-
dians tell us, is the great medicine of the operation.' Admiral
L. E. Belcher gives an account of flint arrow head making by
western Eskimo tribes. Schoolcraft describes the mode of mak-
ing flint arrow heads by North American Indians. John Smith
describes the making of arrow points by Virginia Indians. 'His
arrow head he quickly maketh with a little bone, which he ever
weareth at his brace, of a splint of a stone or glass, in the form
of a heart and these they glue to the end of their arrows.'
"I have made the statement that it could never be known how
many ages the Indians had flourished in southern Minnesota, and
now add the opinions of others. Many writers in the past, and a
few at the present time, speak of the mound builders as a van-
ished race and declare that the skeletons found buried in the
mounds denote that they were giants in stature. Marquis De
Nadaillac, in 'Prehistoric America,' pages 113-154, says: 'The
new school, with such scholars at its head as Brinton, Cyrus
Thomas, Powell and Carr, hold that the present Indians are the
descendants of the Mound Builders.' John Gmeiner, pastor of
the Church of St. Raphael, Springfield, Minn., January 10, 1908,
in 'Acta et Dicta,' published by the St. Paul Catholics' Historical
Society, July, 1908, pages 221-222, says: 'The Dakota confed-
eration consisted of a number of tribes whose ancestors must
have been originally united in one tribe, for they spoke dialects
G HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
of the same language.' About 800 years ago seven tribes, the
Omaha, Ooehenonpa, Minnikannazo, Ttazipco, Licanga, Hunk-
papa, and Yanktonnen, united to form the Dakota confederation.
The very name implies this. It means 'allied nations.' The
name Sioux was unknown to them ; it is a corruption of an
Ojibwa word, meaning enemies, as the Dakotas and Ojibwas
were continually at war. The Dakota confederation gradually
increased until it included forty-two tribes and extended far be-
yond the limits of our present state.
"The Dakotas entered Minnesota and Wisconsin about the
beginning of their confederation. Father Craft writes : 'It is
quite certain they were near Lake Michigan 800 years ago, as
they met there Eric Upsi, Bishop of Greenland, who had come
there from Vineland about 1121.' It is certainly a most inter-
esting and surprising fact to find the long-lost, zealous Norse
bishop finally reappear in the ancient traditions of the Dakotas.
Any one desirous of reading more about Bishop Eric Upsi, or
Gnupson, may consult P. De Roo, 'History of America Before
Columbus,' Philadelphia and London, 1900, vol. 88, pp. 174-282.
No doubt Eric Upsi came to the western shores of Lake Mich-
igan by way of the St. Lawrence river and the Great Lakes. Ac-
cording to Humboldt, the Norsemen had some of the principal
settlements at the mouth of the St. Lawrence river, and it was
quite natural for them to follow that great waterway to its
sources, as the French did at a later period.
"Following is an article written by Lucien Carr, entitled
The Mounds of the Mississippi Valley Historically Considered,
which appeared in memoirs of the Kentucky Geological Survey.
Vol. 11, 1183; N. S. Shaler, Director. In a paper upon the Pre-
historic Remains of Kentucky, published in the first volume of
these memoirs, I have expressed the opinion that it was im-
possible to distinguish between a series of stone implements
taken from the mounds in the Mississippi valley and a similar
series made and used by the modern Indians. In fact, so alike
are these objects in conception and execution that any attempt
to distinguish them, based upon form or finish, must be but
the merest guess work. From the rude knife to the carved and
polished "Groget," they may, one and all. have been taken from
the inmost recesses of a mound or picked up on the surface amid
the debris of a recent Indian village, and the most experienced
archaeologist, if called upon to decide as to their origin, would
have to acknowledge himself al fault. Nor does the similarity
stop with objects made of stone. On the contrary, it is believed
to extend t<> all articles, of every kind whatsoever, that have
thus far been taken from the mounds. Indeed, 1 might even go
further, and as the result of some years of work, as well in the
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 7
field as in the library, venture the assertion that not only has
there not as yet been anything taken from the mounds indicating
a higher stage of development than the red Indian of the United
States is known to have reached, but that even the mounds
themselves, and under this head are included all the earthworks
of the Mississippi valley, were quite within the limits of his
efforts. All that I intend to assert is, that, admitting every-
thing that can be reasonably claimed by the most enthusiastic
advocate of the superior civilization of the Mound Builders,
there is no reason why the red Indians, of the Mississippi valley,
judging from what we know, historically, of their development,
could not have thrown up these works. This proposition is not
as complete as could be desired, and yet it probably embodies
all that can ever be proven on this subject.
"I quote from Marquis de Nadaillac's article, "The Unity of
the Human Species,' pp. 1-2. The arrow heads of the Dakota,
Apache, and Comanche Indians show curious resemblance to
those discovered on the borders of the Seine and Thames; the
nuclei of Scandinavia compare well with those of Mexico, and
if one exchange the hatchets or the knives of flint from Europe
with similar objects from America it is difficult for even experts
to separate them, however well they may be versed in pedo-
graph and prehistoric archaeology, and it will be extremely dif-
ficult to distinguish the races to which they belong. Pottery from
widely separated regions is made in the same form and by the
same processes of fabrication, and even with the same ornamenta-
tion. The spindle whorls in stone, bone and pottery, found in
settlements succeeding each other on the hills of Hissarlik.
recall those of the Swiss lake dwellings. Those of Peru, Mexico,
and even those in present use among the Navajos, are the same
as in our museums, whether they come from Italy, Germany,
the south of France, or the north of Scandinavia."
Prof. Anton T. Gesner, of Faribault has investigated many
of the mounds in the vicinity of that city and is the discoverer of
hitherto overlooked series in the vicinity of the Seabury Divinity
School.
PROF. GESNER'S PAPER.
Fifty miles south of St. Paul and three miles west of Fari-
bault in the southern part of Rice county is a pretty sheet of
water three miles in length and one in greatest breadth. The
lake is one of a number which beautify the Cannon valley, and
all are drained by a small stream which was once a famous
waterway for the early trappers and roaming Sioux. When the
early whites came to Rice county they found by the northeast
8 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
shore of Cannon lake the wigwams and lodges of a band of Sioux.
They were known as the Leaf Shooters (W'ahpekuta or Wapa-
kootas) and they appear to have had for many years free range
of the entire valley and much of the lake region round about.
This region, however, appears to have had a more ancient
history still, for beside the few mounds which have not escaped
irreverent hands and which are probably quite modern, there
are indications that this shore was a habitation of men who
dwelt here centuries ago. One spot especially seems to confirm
this view. It is a long knoll overlooking the outlet of the lake
where, during the past six years, the writer has found dozens
of flint arrow points, sherds of pottery, rare old stone axes,
scrapers, leaf-shaped knives and fragments of bone. At a dis-
tance one might mistake the knoll for an artificial mound, which
it is not; for eighteen to twenty-four inches beneath the sod we
come upon the sand which overlies the gravel proclaiming the
loess of glacial times, and which reminds us that when that old
ice cap was thawing off our north temperate zone the Minnesota
river made its short cut to the Mississippi through this very
valley and poured forth a few miles north of where Red Wing
has been built.
How interesting it would be if one could find an arrow point
or axe in that drift ! Rut one never does. Chips of flint lie close
above it, but not below. Still the knoll as a village site must be
old. There are reasons for believing it was once an island. Now
only some modern road-making prevents it from being so in the
spring. In the early days and within the memory of man the
outlet was a famous pass for water fowl, and in the old days
the fishing and trapping hereabouts was unexcelled. Those who
say that the aboriginal man was wanting in sense of beauty, or
fitness in selecting a home, to be convinced of their error have
but to read the lines of their finely cut implements of war. to
trace the plainest decoration on their crudest bowls or to stand
at sunset on some commanding hill where little is left to tell
of their ancient occupation but the red marks of their fires on
the hearths which witness to their forsaken homes.
In studying the Hint implements and remains of a people who
have passed, one needs to exercise caution if he would speak of
their age. But it seems to the writer that even the most cautious
of students will find here evident traces of age which must
throw the fust occupants of this shore of Cannon Lake many
hundreds of years in the past.
Wry few bone implements of any kind have been found on
this previously-mentioned knoll, but one — a hone needle — is
well preserved. The rest are far gone. Some of the pottery
is very old. and a bit of whetstone still shows the grove where
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the arrow shaft was laid. Types similar to most of these re-
mains have been found on a lake shore some five miles away.
J. V. Brower, so well known during his lifetime for accurate
and faithful descriptions of many remains in our state, saw
some of these and pronounced upon their peculiarities as de-
noting great age, and there can be little doubt that we have also
the scattered remains of a primitive people on this Cannon Lake
shore.
Prof. E. W. Schmidt, mentioned earlier in this chapter, has
written the following article in regard to the "lowland mounds"
which he has in the past few years investigated with scholarly
thoroughness. While the article deals with Dakota and Goodhue
counties as well as Rice and Steele counties, the former refer-
ences are retained in this work as being necessary to a complete
understanding of the mounds in the two latter counties.
'S
PROF. SCHMIDT'S PAPER.
In accordance with a request, the following paper has been
prepared with the hope that it may contain some things of in-
terest and value to the student of Minnesota archaeology. If
the discussion should prove in the end to contain an addition
to the already existing fund of archaeological knowledge relating
to our state, then the time and energy spent in collecting the
facts have not been spent in vain.
During a number of years past, I have repeatedly observed
a number of earth heaps in different parts of Goodhue, Dakota,
Rice and Steele counties, which, though differing in character-
istics of location from the commonly known Indian mounds,
nevertheless to all outward appearance resemble them. Since
many of the mounds observed are situated in low, level and
rather wet ground, a person accustomed to mound hunting along
the Mississippi valley and along the high-banked lakes of the
Wisconsin might easily pass by these tumuli and think they
were curious freaks of nature. The mounds that dot the inland
lakes of Wisconsin and Minnesota, as well as those that border
the Cannon, are, as a rule, located on land that may be called
high, as for example the terraces that skirt the river bluffs, or
elevated shores. The mounds to be described are, on the other
hand, located as a rule, on land that is low compared with the
surrounding territory. Glacial outwash plains whose drainage
is young and immature contain the greatest number. Only one
mound has been found on a high terrace.
Following is a list of the mounds that I have found in Rice
and Steele counties:
10 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Rice County. — (i) In the township of Bridgewater, sec-
tions 12, 13, 14, are 120 mounds. These mounds are strung along
the east side of Cannon river south of Northfield. (2) Dundas,
section 14, east of town, 13. (3) South of Dundas at Thill-
bar's place and adjoining land, 54. (4) Cannon City, section
4, south of river, 10. (5) Webster, sections 9, 6; sections 16,
17, 12; sections 29, 31, 6. (6) Between Stanton and the head-
waters of Prairie creek and its tributaries, 577. (7) Wheeling,
section 14, near Nerstrand, about 25.
Steele County. — (1) On the prairie eight miles south of
Owatonna.
Closer investigation would doubtless reveal others, although
there are large tracts of territory where none are found.
The western part of Rice county is strikingly poor in mounds.
One might have expected the shores of Union lake. Circle, Fox.
Shieldsville and other lakes to be dotted with mounds, but the
observations made so far have not revealed any. A possible
explanation of this fact may be that these lakes are minor ones,
being a rough and hilly country which was originally heavily
timbered and unsuitable for travel, and also rather far away from
the more open valleys of the Minnesota and Cannon rivers. At
Rice lake, Prairie lake, and Crystal lake, no mounds were ob-
served. The distribution of the mounds seems to depend to a
large extent on the topography of the country. The large out-
wash plains with their tributary branches ramifying up to the
moraine seem to be one factor. These facts are undoubtedly
important in trying to explain the number, origin and distribu-
tion of these earthheaps.
After examining so many similar mounds in many different
places, and in view of the fact that so far there is no positive
evidence at hand to tell us how these mounds came to be, it is
perfectly proper to ask: How are these mounds made? Are they
geological features of the country ? If so let the geologist explain
them. Or have they been formed by plants or animals? If so,
let the biologist explain them. If. for example, animals have
made them either by their own efforts or by the help of natural
agencies, then it may he that many of the highland knolls which
are now counted and mapped as Indian mounds may prove to
be of a similar origin.
A prolonged observation of these mounds in the various local-
ities where they occur seems to justify the conclusion that by
far the greater number, if not all of them, are Indian mounds.
These mounds are either artificial or else they are not artificial.
Either view has its difficulties in our present Mate of knowledge.
The following are some of the reasons which point to an
artificial origin. The mounds are invariably sound ami are
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 11
made of the same kind of soil as occurs on the land on which
they are situated. Some people call them gopher hills, or ant-
hills, or remnants of haystacks, or swells in the land marking
the site of a buried boulder. As regards the view that the
mounds are the remains of haystacks we may say, that haystacks
leave no residual soil of this kind when hay is left to rot. The
mounds are often located where hay was never stacked, for
example, in woods. On one tract of land that was being cleared
of its timber, some of the mounds located in the woods had
trees growing on them. Nor do haystacks leave remains of soil
with sand, gravel and pebbles in them. Nor do they occur in
woods with old trees growing on them. Some, of the mounds
occur in places where, at least for a part of the year, it is very
wet, where no farmer would stack hay, nor any gopher burrow,
nor ants build their homes. It is true that ants are to be found
in the lowlands, but the structures reared to mark the sites of
their nest are never in these localities, more than a few inches
over a foot in height. The width of the anthills is about one
foot, and the flat truncated top usually slants in a southerly
direction, facing the sun? Very likely such frail structures
would, when deserted, disappear in a short time under the at-
tack of the elements. In no instance were ants found living in
the mounds.
That people call these mounds gopher hills is easily ex-
plained by the fact that gophers occasionally burrow in mounds.
Immediately the inference is drawn that the gophers built the
whole mound. Closer observation shows that wherever burrow-
ing animals are found inhabiting mounds, the mound loses its
smooth, convex outline, and becomes roughened and warty in
appearance on account of the small heaps of dirt thrown up by
the animals. Hence we may readily see how, in the lapse of
long centuries, some of the mounds may have been inhabited for
a time by gophers and made rough on the exterior. This would
account for the bossed surface, that some mounds have. Mounds
can be found in localities so wet that it is doubtful if a gopher
ever lived there. Gophers do not live in wet places any more
than in woods. Again, we know that gophers abound in many
places where no mounds whatever occur. Why, for example,
does not the enormous number of gophers in Goodhue county
build mounds on the high prairies, or along the whole lengths
of a river course? Why do they not build intermediate mounds
as well as mounds 20 to 40 feet across? I never met a man who
knew of gophers building large mounds.
These considerations seem to warrant the conclusion that
these mounds are not the accumulations of rotted grass, nor of
gopher and ant diggings. Nor does there seem to be a natural
12 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
agency to which the making of so many mounds, so regularly
alike, in such different localities, can be inferred. If it be sug-
gested that they might have been formed by upturned roots
of trees that were blown over, or by the drift material of swollen
waters, or by springs, a number of questions can be raised at
once to throw great improbability on such an origin of the
mounds. While we may conceive of some mounds having been
formed in this way in certain places, none of the suggested
modes, nor a combination of them, will explain the mounds in
these places. Why should not these agencies have formed
mounds in vastly larger areas where we know there are springs,
where winds overturn trees, where flooded streams form very
numerous dift accumulations but not mounds? Nor are these
mounds small dunes blown up by the wind. The character of
the land is such as to preclude all possibility of their formation
by the wind. Much of the ground is too wet to permit the
drifting of soil ; "blowouts" are absent from the vicinity ; some
of the pebbles and rocks found in the mounds would require
a terrific wind to transport them. Again, dunes built by the
wind are not uniformly circular. Rather they are oblong, with
the highest elevation, not in the middle, but towards one end.
It were odd indeed that the wind should build such dunes in low
places, or in woods, or in groups, or string them along creeks
and not build them in places that are apparently much better
adapted to wind-work. There are also other considerations
which give color to the conclusion that the mounds were built by
man, and that by the Indians. The shape of all the mounds
is that of the ordinary round mound. In size they vary from
fifteen to thirty feet across the top. Few exceed thirty feet.
One mound measured fifteen paces, or about 45 feet across.
In general, the height varies from one-half to two and one-half
feet. A number exceed this and may form very conspicuous ob-
jects on the meadow where the grass is burned away. A num-
ber of mounds have circular depressions around them as if dirt
had been removed thence. After a thaw, water may stand in
the ring and make it very noticeable.
At first it seemed to me very probable that the mounds
served as tenting places. Tin- diameter and circumference of
the mounds would suggest this, but the seeming absence of the
action of fire does not support this view unless the Indians camp
ing there did not build fires. In other respects there is no reason
why Indians might not have camped there. The creeks and
sloughs furnished an abundance of water. Fuel in great abun-
dance was near at hand. Beavers, mink, muskrat, and other
game were undoubtedly present in the sloughs. In the nearby
Forest lived the deer in great numbers Moos< .\n<\ elk were
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 13
also here. Farmers tell of having plowed up bones belonging
to these animals. Of buffaloes there is scarcely a trace. The only
buffalo relic observed was a partially decayed horn which I
found near the mounds in the Greenvale slough. This may,
however, have been accidentally left by passing parties. So far
as observed, there is no wild rice within this region. Therefore
Indians did not resort to this region to collect rice. There are,
however, many evidences of the beaver's former presence in
considerable numbers. Beaver dams occur in no small numbers
in this region. The following figures will speak for themselves.
They tell plainly of the great amount of work done. On section
21, Greenvale, is a dam 380 feet long and at present two and
one-half feet high. People living near the place say that formerly
it was six feet high but was lowered by scraping down. It pro-
duced backwater to the distance of a mile and formed a lake
half a mile wide. In Bridgewater are two dams measuring re-
spectively 202 feet and 176 feet in length. Another dam seen
is now four feet nine inches in height at the middle, but since
the ends of the dam lie higher upon the hillsides, the former
height of the dam must have been about eight feet. This seems
to be proved by the big pit on the up stream side of the west
wing of the dam whence dirt was removed in the construction
of the dam. The number of dams occurring within a short
distance is often not small. On Mr. Allen's farm, about two
miles east of Union lake, begins a series of dams in the woods.
Ten beaver dams in a good state of preservation occur within
the distance of a mile. On section 33 in the northwest corner
is a beaver lake bottom half a mile long, one-fourth of a mile
wide. On section 30 Greenvale is the most massive dam noted.
It is not so very long but is about six feet high and has a very
massive base. The length of the dam is sixty-three paces, or
100 feet. Northwest of it are eight dams in rapid succession,
each measuring from 120 to 150 feet in length. Beaver dams
occur in Dakota, Rice, Steele, and Goodhue counties. They are
often accompanied by canals and slides, pits at the ends of the
dam where dirt was taken for the clam. Even wood has been
found where farmers cut the dams to let out the water from the
pond. Other evidences might be mentioned such as the char-
acter of the places where the dams occur. They occur in just
such places where one might expect the instinct and sagacity
of the beaver to place them. The steeper side of the dam faces
the pond or up-stream side; the other side has a longer slope
and acts as a buttress. Therefore these dams agree in many
important characteristics with dams found at the present day
which are known to be inhabited by beavers.
The points of chief interest are, however, first, the large mini-
14: HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
ber of dams. This means long occupation by a goodly number
of beavers. Hence it is possible that such men as Radisson and
Groseilliers, if they ever were at Prairie Island for a number
of years may have collected a considerable number of beaver
skins that were hunted in the not far away parts of Minnesota.
The last beaver seen in this part of the state, so far as I know,
was the one found dead three years ago by Mr. Frohlich on the
Little Cannon near Cannon Falls. Mr. Frohlich told me that
he watched the last colony of beavers for a number of
years but for some reason they disappeared. Poplar stumps
gnawed off by the beavers in the last season of their work can
still be found there. A layer of twigs across the bottoms of the
Little Cannon on Mr. Frohlich's farm, marks the site of the
beaver's last attempt to build a dam in this locality. The beavers
have now disappeared and become extinct in that part of the
country unless it be true, as someone told me, that there are
still a few left in the Little Cannon a few miles below Sogn.
They were either trapped or else killed by the clearing away of
the timber which served as their food, or by the cutting of dams,
or else they have migrated to other parts. Specimens of the
last cutting and dam can be seen at the museum of the Historical
Society. They are genuine, as I myself collected them. The
former presence of the beaver is now marked not only by the
results of their labor, such as ridges of earth, excavations, pits,
canals, slides, silled lake bottoms, and other conspicuous effects
on the topography of the country, but also, as I believe, partially
at least by the mounds built by the departed Indians who camped
in these regions in quest of game.
Another noteworthy fact in this connection is this, that the
beaver pond bottoms are devoid of mounds. This shows that
the mounds under discussion are not the remains of beaver
huts, nor of muskrat houses. Many ponds are still inhabited by
muskrats but no mounds occur near them, nor in countless other
places where these animals live and have lived in all likeliness
for centuries.
The watercourses were the natural avenues for Indians to
follow. The east side of Cannon river is fairly lined with mounds
from Northfield to within a few miles of Faribault. Closer ex-
amination of the region beyond will probably reveal others be-
tween there and Cannon lake, and farther on to Morristown
lake. Evidences of an old trail still exist near Waterford on
the east side of the river. Early settlers told me thai an Indian
trail from St. Paul to Faribaull crossed the Cannon at Waterford.
In that place the river was shallow. It is said that there was
another trail from Red Wing to Faribaull and passed the south-
ern end of Prairie creek. I failed to find any remains of it. That
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 15
Indians camped occasionally in these regions in historic times is
testified to by many settlers. Indians are known to have camped
at Union lake, in Greenvale, near Dundas, near Dennison, and
in many other places. As many as several hundred are known
to have camped at one time east of Dundas. There is no reason
to doubt that fancy, or some definite cause brought Indians to
all parts of this country; hence it is not at all unlikely that pre-
historic Indians did the same thing. Our inability to find a con-
clusive reason at present why Indians should camp or build
mounds in these places is no proof that the mounds are not of
Indians origin. Should closer study prove the mounds to be
burial places, then they are witnesses both of the large number
of Indians buried there, as well as of the much larger number of
population which was not honored with a monument of earth.
The groups in the vicinity of Dennison probably indicated
that somewhere a trail passed from Welch to Prairie creek.
Thus the southern end of the Stanton flats served as a halting
place. If a line be drawn from Welch, where the Red Wing
mounds may be said to end, to Faribault, the line will pass
through the large groups of mounds at Prairie creek, wherefore
it is not unreasonable to think that the Indians may have had a
shorter route in going from Red Wing to Faribault, than that
presented by the meandering Cannon. A glance at the map of
Minnesota will show this plainly and also this, that if a person
wished to go from Red Wing to the buffalo plains of the Dakotas,
it would be much shorter to go directly to Faribault and thence
to Mankato instead of making the big detour against the Missis-
sippi current to St. Paul and thence to Mankato. Between Welch
and Randolph there are no mounds. If it were not for this gap,
there would be a practically continuous chain of mounds from
Red Wing to Faribault. If the Indians had habitually followed
Prairie creek from its mouth to its source, we might have ex-
pected to find mounds on the northern end of the flats. For
some reason they are absent at that place also between Cannon
Falls and Welch. The latter distance I walked with the express
purpose of locating mounds for Mr. Brewer, but no mounds
showed up until I discovered Fort Sweney at Welch. The only
mound-like structure observed between Randolph and \\ elch
were a few doubtful elevations south of Cannon Falls on the
edge of the terrace on the west side of the Cannon.
I failed to locate mounds in the following places: Dakota
county: Lakeville, Rosemount, Hampton, Douglass, Randolph,
Marshan. Rice county : Forest, Hills, Erin, Morristown, Hal-
cott, and Richland. Goodhue county : Cannon Falls, Warsaw
(which has only ten on the lowland bordering the Stanton flats),
Leon and other townships. From Goodhue station to Dennison,
16 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
a distance of 20 miles, not a mound was seen, nor between
Cannon Falls, Vasa, and Spring Creek, nor between Cannon
Falls, and Sogn, on the Little Cannon. This valley does not
seem to have been used as a highway by the Indians. If there
are any mounds in that valley, they are not easily seen from the
road. This valley was heavily timbered and less suitable for
travel than the Stanton flats. A more thorough search in the
above named places may reveal some mounds. The morainic
area in Rice and Dakota counties appears to be strikingly de-
ficient in mounds. Perhaps the rough and hilly country covered
with the big Minnesota woods made it unfavorable as a highway
for travel. The Minnesota valley west, and the Cannon east of
the hills were much more suitable for trails. But why should
not mounds have been formed in these localities by natural
agencies or otherwise if the mounds under discussion were not
built by Indians?
The distribution of the mounds seems to be governed by the
river courses and their tributaries and by the wide open stretches
of country. The absence of large mounds indicates that with Red
Wing, Spring Creek, Cannon Junction, Welch, and other places
along the Mississippi as headquarters the Indians resorted to
the other localities for temporary purposes, possibly in their
hunting trips to Iowa and Dakota. From Faribault they could
strike south into Steele, Mower and Freeborn counties. These
counties contain at least some mounds like those under discus-
sion. In the morainic area in Iowa between Fertile and Forest
City, Winnebago county, not a mound was seen.
Other roads passed over without noticing any mounds are :
From Shieldville to Fox lake, to Circle lake, Union lake, Hazel-
wood, Eidsvold, Rice lake, Prairie lake: from Wheatland to
Millcrburgh ; from Faribault to Warsaw and Morristown ; be-
tween Empire, Vermillion and Hastings; between Trout Brook,
White Rock and Cannon Falls; between Kenyon, Prairieville.
and Cannon City; Dennison, Hague and Kenyon, also hundreds
of miles of other roads. The absence of mounds in all these
places seems to prove conclusively that the di>eussed mounds
are not the result of natural forces, nor of animals, both of which
operated on otherwise similar localities and failed to produce
mounds. Some other explanation must be sought why the
mounds are where they are and why they are absent from other
similar places.
Since writing the above 1 met a lady whose father settled
on the Grcenvale meadow about 45 years ago. This man found
a number of arrows in this mound dotted territory. These
arrows arc the only artificial Indian relics which 1 have seen as
positive proof that the Indians were actually near the mounds
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 17
The fact that much of the land is not plowed but is used for
pasturage and hay meadows, makes the locating of village sites
very difficult.
In the absence of any better explanation, we may tentatively
accept the following conclusions : (1) These mounds belong to
the provinces of archaeology. (2) The larger valleys and their
watercourses have played a large role in the distribution of the
mounds by attracting Indians more powerfully than did other
localities. (3) Hence the distribution of the mounds in groups
or strings along these water courses is such that the law of ar-
rangement governing these is in perfect harmony with the law
governing the general arrangement of mounds along the water-
ways in other parts of the country where we know that Indians
lived and built mounds. This law is a natural accommodation
of the territory and material in a place where a mound building
Indian, having once settled for some reason, wanted to build
mounds. A glance at charts showing mounds will make this
evident.
If these deductions are true, as they seem to be, then the key
to unlock the problem of this peculiar type of mounds is this
that these mounds are the products of human activity in prehis-
toric times and present us with a new and unexpected phase in
the mound builders choice of location for mounds. To a person
accustomed to seeing large effigy mounds in Wisconsin, or
other larger mounds along the Mississippi, it would naturally
be a puzzle to find mounds in a location where his former ex-
perience would not have prompted him to look for mounds.
The unexpected may also turn up in the experience of the mound-
hunter, and there is nothing unreasonable in thinking that these
mounds are another link in the chain of Minnesota archeology
throwing light on the life of the prehistoric builders. It merely
shows that Indians built mounds also in other places than on
high terraces and shores.
But should further study ever show that these mounds are
not the work of wandering savages, then they ought to be ac-
corded a place in that science whose province it will be to ex-
plain them. So far I have utterly failed to find any adequate
cause or principle mentioned in geology, biology, or physiog-
raphy, which will explain all of these in all places. If these
mounds were not built by Indians, then it may be that in any
other mounds now reckoned as Indians mounds may also be
explained by the action of some other agency.
CHAPTER II.
GOVERNMENTAL HISTORY.
Early Claims of Title — Spain, France and England — Treaties and
Agreements — The Louisiana Purchase — Indiana — Louisiana
District — Louisiana Territory — Missouri Territory — North-
west Territory — Illinois Territory — Michigan Territory —
Wisconsin Territory — Iowa Territory — No Man's Land —
Sibley in Congress — Minnesota Territory — Minnesota State
— Compiled from Manuscripts of Hon. F. M. Crosby.
The history of the early government of what is now southern
Minnesota, is formulated with some difficulty, as, prior to the
nineteenth century, the interior of the county was so little
known, and the maps upon which claims and grants were founded
were so meagre, as well as incorrect and unreliable, that descrip-
tions of boundaries and locations as given in the early treaties
are vague in the extreme, and very difficult of identification with
present day lines and locations.
The Hon. J. V. Brower, a scholarly authority upon this sub-
ject, says — ("The Mississippi River and Its Sources") : "Spain,
by virtue of the discoveries of Columbus and others, confirmed
to her by papal grant (that of Alexander VI, May 4. 1493), may
be said to have been the first European owner of the entire
valley of the Mississippi, but she never took formal possession
of this part of her domains other than that incidentally involved
in I)e Soto's doings. The feeble objections which she made in
the next two centuries after the discovery, to other nations ex-
ploring and settling North .America, were successfully overcome
by the force of accomplished facts. The name of Florida, now
so limited in its application, was first applied by the Spaniards
to the greater part of the eastern half of North America, com-
mencing at the Gulf of Mexico and proceeding northward indefi-
nitely. This expansiveness of geographical view was paralleled
later by the definition of a New France of still greater extent,
which practically included all the continent.
"L'Escarbot, in his historj of New France, written in lol~,
says, in reference to this: 'Thus our Canada has for its limits
On the west side the lands as far as the si a called the P
on this side of the Tropic of Cancer; on the south the islands of
the \tlantic sea in the direction of Cuba and the Spanish land;
is
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES L9
on the east the northern sea which bathes New France ; and on
the north the land said to be unknown, toward the icy sea as far
as the arctic pole.'
"Judging also by the various grants to individuals, noble and
otherwise, and 'companies,' which gave away the country in
latitudinal strips extending from the Atlantic westward, the
English were not far behind the Spaniards and French in this
kind of effrontery. As English colonists never settled on the
Mississippi in pursuance of such grants, and never performed
any acts of authority there, such shadowy sovereignties may be
disregarded here, in spite of the fact that it was considered neces-
sary, many years later, for various states concerned to convey
to the United States their rights to territory which they never
owned or ruled over.
"Thus, in the most arbitrary manner, did the Mississippi river,
though yet unknown, become the property, successively, of the
Iberian, Gaulish and Anglo-Saxon races — of three peoples who,
in later times, by diplomacy and force of arms, struggled for an
actual occupancy. Practically, however, the upper Mississippi
valley may be considered as having been in the first place.
Canadian soil, for it was Frenchmen from Canada who first vis-
ited it and traded with its various native inhabitants. The
further prosecution of his discoveries by La Salle, in 1682, ex-
tended Canada as a French possession to the Gulf of Mexico,
though he did not use the name of Canada nor yet that of New
France. He preferred to call the entire country watered by the
Mississippi river and its tributaries, from its uttermost source
to its mouth, by the new name he had already invented for the
purpose — Louisiana. The name of Canada and New France
had been indifferently used to express about the same extent of
territory, but the name of Louisiana now came to supersede
them in being applied to the conjectural regions of the west.
Although La Salle has applied the latter expression to the entire
valley of the Mississippi, it was not generally used in that sense
after his time, the upper part of the region was called Canada,
and the lower Louisiana; but the actual dividing line between
the two provinces was not absolutely established, and their
names and boundaries were variously indicated on published
maps. Speaking generally, the Canada of the eighteenth century
included the Great Lakes and the country drained by their trib-
utaries; the northern one-fourth of the present state of Illinois,
that is, as much as lies north of the mouth of the Ruck river; all
the regions lying north of the northern watershed of the Mis
souri, and finally, the valley of the upper Missouri itself." This
would include Rice and Steele counties.
But it is now necessary to go back two centuries previous
80 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
and consider the various explorations of the Mississippi upon
which were based the claims of the European monarchs. Pos-
sibly the mouth of the Mississippi had been reached by Span-
iards previous to 1541, possibly Hibernian missionaries as early
as the middle of the sixth century, or Welch emigrants (Madoc),
about 1170, discovered North America by way of the Gulf of
Mexico, but historians give to Hernando de Soto and his band
of adventurers the credit of having been the first white men to
actually view the Mississippi on its course through the interior
of the continent and of being the first ones to actually traverse its
waters. De Soto sighted the Mississippi in May, 1541, at the
head of an expedition in search of gold and precious stones. In
the following spring, weary with hope long deferred, and worn
out with his adventures, De Soto fell a victim to disease, and
died May 21, 1541. His followers, greatly reduced in number by
sickness, after wandering about in a vain searching, built three
small vessels and descended to the mouth of the Mississippi,
being the first white men to reach the outlet of that great river
from the interior. However, they were too weary and discour-
aged to lay claim to the country, and took no notes of the region
through which they passed.
May 13, 1673, Jaques Marquette and Louis Joliet, the former
a priest, and the latter the commander of the expedition, set out
with five assistants, and on June 17, of the same year reached
the Mississippi at the present site of Prairie du Chien, thence
continuing down the river as far as the mouth of the Illinois,
which they ascended; subsequently reaching the lakes.
La Salle, however, was the first to lay claim to the entire
valley in the name of his sovereign. After achieving perpetual
fame by the discovery of the Ohio river (1670-71), he conceived
the plan of reaching the Pacific by way of the northern Missis-
sippi (at that time unexplored and supposed to be a waterway
connecting the two oceans). Frontenac, then governor-general
of Canada, favored the plan, as did the King of France. Ac-
cordingly, gathering a compan) of Frenchmen, lie pursued his
way through the lakes, made a portage to the Illinois river, and
January 4, 1680, reached what is now Peoria, 111. From there,
in 1680, he sent Hennepin and two companions to explore the
Upper Mississippi. During this voyage Hennepin, and the men
accompanying him. were taken by the Indians as far north as
Mille Lacs. Needing reinforcement-. I .a Salle again returned
to Canada. In January, 1682. with a band of followers, he
started on his third and greatest expedition. February 6, the)
reached the Mississippi by way of Lake Michigan and the Illi-
nois river, and March (>. discovered the three great passages b)
which the river discharges its waters into the Gulf. Two days
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 21
later they reascended the river a short distance, to find a high
spot out of the reach of inundations, and there erected a column
and planted a cross, proclaiming with due ceremony the authority
of the King of France. Thus did the whole Mississippi valley
pass under the nominal sovereignty of the French monarchs.
The first definite claim to the upper Mississippi is embodied
in a paper, still preserved, in the Colonial Archives of France,
entitled "The record of the taking possession, in his Majesty's
name, of the Bay des Puants (Green bay), of the lake and
rivers of the Outagamis and Maskoutins (Fox rivers and Lake
Winnebago), of the river Ouiskonche (Wisconsin), and that of
the Mississippi, the country of the Nadouesioux (the Sioux or
Dakota Indians), the rivers St. Croix and St. Pierre (Minnesota),
and other places more remote, May 8, 1689." (E. B. O'Callahan's
translation in 1855, published in Vol. 9, page 418, "Documents
Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York.")
This claim was made by Perrot, and the proclamation was issued
from Fort St. Antonie (Anthony) near the present site of Trem-
pealeau.
The previous proclamations of St. Lusson in 1671 at the out-
let of Lake Superior, of De Luth, in 1679, at the west end of
the same lake and at Mille Lacs, had no definite bearing on the
land now embraced in Dakota county, but nevertheless strength-
ened the French claims of sovereignty.
For over eight decades thereafter, the claims of France were,
tacitly at least, recognized in Europe. In 1763 there came a
change. Of this change, A. N. Winchell (in Vol. 10, "Minnesota
Historical Society Collections") writes : "The present eastern
boundary of Minnesota, in part (that is, so far as the Missis-
sippi now forms its eastern boundary), has a history beginning
at a very early date. In 1763, at the end of that long struggle
during which England passed many a mile post in her race for
world empire, while France lost nearly as much as Britain gained
— that struggle, called in America the French and Indian War —
the Mississippi river became an international boundary. The
articles of the definite treaty of peace wefe signed at Paris, on
February 10, 1763. The seventh article made the Mississippi,
from its source to about the 31st degree of north latitude, the
boundary between the English colonies on this continent and
the French Louisiana. The text of the article is as follows:
(Published in the "Gentleman's Magazine," Vol. 33, pages 121-
126, March, 1763.)
"VII. In order to re-establish peace on solid and durable
foundations, and to remove forever all subjects of dispute to the
limits of the British and French territories on the continent of
America; — that for the future, the confines between the domains
22 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
of his Britannic Majesty and those of his most Christian Majesty
(the King of France) in that part of the world, shall be fixed
irrevocably by a line drawn down the middle of the river Missis-
sippi, from its source to the river Iberville, and from thence, by
a line drawn along the middle of this river, and the Lake Maurc-
pas and Pontchartrain, to the sea." The boundary from the
source of the river further north, or west, or in any direction,
was not given ; it was evidently supposed that it would be of no
importance, for many centuries, at least.
This seventh article of the definite treaty was identical with
the sixth article in the preliminary treaty of peace signed by
England, Spain and France, at Fontainebleau, November 3, 1762.
On that same day, November 3, 1762, the French and Spanish
representatives had signed another act by which the French king
"ceded to his cousin of Spain, and his successors forever * * *
all the country known by the name of Louisiana, including New
Orleans and the island on which that city is situated." This
agreement was kept secret, but when the definite treaty was
signed at Paris the following year, this secret pact went into
effect, and Spain at once became the possessor of the area
described.
At the close of the Revolutionary war, the territory east of
the Mississippi, and north of the 31st parallel, passed under the
jurisdiction of the United States. By the definite treaty of peace
between the United States and Great Britain, ratified at Paris.
September 3, 1783, a part of the northern boundary of the United
States, and the western boundary thereof was established, as
follows: Commencing at the most northwestern point of the
Lake of the Woods and from thence on a due course west to the
Mississippi river (the Mississippi at that time was thought to
extend into what is now Canada), thence by a line to be drawn
along the middle of said Mississippi river until it shall intersect
the northernmost part of the 31st degree of north latitude. (U. S.
Statutes at Large, Vol. 8, page 82.)
In 1800, by the secret treaty of San (or Saint) lldefonso,
(signed October 1), Spain receded the indefinite tract west of tin
Mississippi to France, which nation did nut, however, take
formal possession until three years later. Napoleon, for France.
sold the tract to the United Slate-. April 30, 1803. The region
comprehended in the "Louisiana Purchase," as this area was
called, included all the countrj west of the Mississippi, excepl
those portions west of the Rock) Mountain- actually occupied 1>\
Spain, and extended as far north a- the British territory.
By an act of Congress, approved October 31. 1803, the presi
(Kin of the United State- was authorized to take possession of
this territory, the act providing that "all the military, civil, and
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 23
judicial powers exercised by the officers of the existing govern-
ment, shall be vested in such person and persons, and shall be
exercised in such manner as the president of the United States
shall direct." (United States Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, page 245.)
December 20, 1803. Louisiana was formally turned over to
the United States at New Orleans, by M. Laussat, the civil agent
of France, who a few days previous (November 30) had received
a formal transfer from representatives of Spain.
Louisiana District. By an act of Congress, approved March
26, 1804, all of that portion of the country ceded by France to the
United States under the name of Louisiana, lying south of the
33rd degree of north latitude, was organized as the territory of
Orleans and all the residue thereof was organized as the district
of Louisiana. That act contained the following provision : "The
executive power now vested in the government of the Indiana
territory shall extend to and be exercised in said district of
Louisiana. The governor and judges of the Indiana territory
shall have power to establish in said district of Louisiana, in-
ferior courts and prescribe their jurisdiction and duties and to
make all laws which they may deem conducive to the good gov-
ernment of all the inhabitants thereof." (United States Statutes
at Large, Vol. 2, page. 287). The area set off as the territory of
Orleans was admitted as the state of Louisiana in 1812.
Louisiana Territory. By an act of Congress approved March
3, 1805, all that part of the country embraced in the district of
Louisiana, was organized as a territory, called the territory of
Louisiana. The executive power of that territory was vested in
a governor and the legislative power in the governor and three
judges, appointed by the president, who were given power to
establish inferior courts, and to prescribe their jurisdiction and
duties, and to make laws which they might deem conductive to
the good government of the inhabitants thereof, which laws
were to be reported to the president to be laid before Congress
which, if disapproved by Congress, should henceforth cease and
be of no effect. (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, page 331.)
Missouri Territory. By an act of Congress approved June 4.
1812, it was provided that the territory hitherto called Louisiana
should be called Missouri, and was organized as a territory. The
executive power of the newly organized Missouri territory was
vested in a governor, and the legislative power in a general as-
sembly consisting of the governor, a legislative council and a
house of representatives. The legislative council consisted of
nine members, whose term was five years unless sooner removed
by the president of the United States. These members were re-
quired to be the owners of 200 acres of land in the territory. The)
were appointed by the president and were required to be selected
24 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
by him from eighteen persons nominated by the representatives.
The house of representatives consisted of thirteen members,
elected at the first election from districts designated by the
governor. (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, page 743.) By an
act of Congress approved April 29, 1816, the members of the
legislative council were required to be elected by the electors
and consisted of one from each county in the territory. (U. S.
Statutes at Large, Vol. 3, page 328.)
The struggles in Congress which led to the Missouri Com-
promise; the agreement that all territory west of Missouri and
north of parallel 36° 36' should forever be free from the curse of
slavery, and the final admission of Missouri with her present
boundaries, by presidential proclamation, August 10, 1821, are
outside of the province of this history. Sufficient is it to say
here that this admission left the land to the northward, including
Dakota county, without a fountain head of territorial govern-
ment from that date until June 28, 1834, when it was attached to
Michigan.
It is now necessary to turn to the events that had been tran-
spiring in regard to the government of the area east of the Missis-
sippi and northwest of the Ohio river.
The Northwest Territory embraced all the area of the United
States northwest of the Ohio river. By the provisions of the
famous "Northwest Ordinance," passed July 13, 1787. by the
Congress of the Confederation (the constitution of the United
States not being adopted until September 17), the Ohio river
became the boundary of the territory. The fifth article of the
ordinance reads as follows: "Art. 5. There shall be formed in
the said (i. e., the Northwest) territory, not less than three, nor
more than five states," '**** the western state in the said ter-
ritory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio and the Wa-
bash rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vin-
cents, due north, to the territorial line between the United States
and Canada; and by the said territorial line to the Lake of the
Woods and the Mississippi. (See Executive Documents. 3rd ses-
sion, 46th Congress, 1880-81, Vol. 25, Doc. 47, Part 4, pages 153-
156; also United States Statutes at Large, Vol. 1, page 51. note
a.) It might here be noted, that the latter reference, while hav-
ing no immediate bearing on Rice and Steele counties, will repay
the thoughtful reader for the most diligenl perusal.
The officers of this territory were to be appointed by Con-
gress. The governor was to serve for a term of three years,
and it was provided that he should reside in the district and have
a freehold estate of 1,000 acres of land while in the exercise of his
office. The secretary was to serve for a term of four years, and
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 25
it was specified that he should reside in the district and have
a freehold estate therein of 500 acres of land while in the exercise
of his office. The court was to consist of three judges, any two
of whom could form a court "who shall have common law juris-
diction and reside in the district, and have each therein, a free-
hold estate of 500 acres of land while in exercise of their offices,
and their commissions shall continue in force during good be-
havior.
"The governor and judges or a majority of them, shall adopt
and publish in the district such laws of the original states, crimi-
nal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the circum-
stances of the district and report them to congress from time
to time until the organization of the general assembly therein,
unless disapproved of by congress, but afterward, the legisla-
ture shall have the authority to alter them as they shall think fit.
"Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the
governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil officers
in each county or township, as he shall find necessary, for the
preservation and good order of the same."
The governor was given power to establish counties and town-
ships. In the words of the act: "So soon as there shall be 5,000
free male inhabitants of full age in the district, upon giving proof
thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time
and place, to elect representatives from their counties or town-
ship to represent them in the general assembly."
There was to be one representative for every 500 free male
inhabitants progressively until the number should amount to
twenty-five members, after which the representation was to be
regulated by the legislature. To quote again : "The general
assembly or legislature shall consist of the governor, legislative
council, and the house of representatives. The legislative council
shall consist of five members, to continue in office five years,
unless sooner removed by congress." The members of the coun-
cil were to be nominated by the representatives, who were to
meet and name ten persons, out of which congress was to select
the five who should serve. (See Compact.) August 17, 1789, the
president was substituted for congress in the exercise of some of
the powers conferred upon it. (See also Act of Congress ap-
proved May 8, 1792.)
Indiana Territory. The ordinance of 1787 provided for the
organization of three "states" out of the Northwest Territory.
That same year the Constitution of the United States was
adopted. In 1799, Ohio organized a territorial government, but
the middle and western "states" did not have, separately, suffi-
cient population to warrant the establishment of two separate
governments. Congress solved the difficulty by uniting the two
26 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
under the name of Indiana. The act was passed May 7, 1800, and
its first section reads as follows : "Section 1 — Be it enacted, etc.,
that from and after the fourth day of July next, all that part of
the territory of the United States, northwest of the Ohio river,
which lies to the westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, oppo-
site the mouth of the Kentucky river, and running thence to
Fort Recovery, and thence north until it shall intersect the terri-
torial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the
purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate terri-
tory, and be called the Indiana Territory." (U. S. Statutes at
Large, Vol. 2, page 58.)
Section 2 of this article provided: "There shall be estab-
lished within said territory a government in all respects similar
to that provided by the ordinance of congress, passed on the
13th day of July, 1787, for the government of the territory north-
west of the Ohio river; and the inhabitants thereof shall be en-
titled to and enjoy all rights, privileges and advantages granted
and secured to the people by said ordinance." The officers of the
territory were to be appointed by the president.
Section 4 provided : "That so much of the ordinance for the
government of the territory of the United States, northwest
of the Ohio river, as relates to the organization of a general
assembly therein, and prescribes the power thereof, shall be in
force and operation in the Indiana territory, wherever satisfac-
tory evidence shall be given to the governor thereof that such
is the wish of a majority of the freeholders, notwithstanding there
may not be therein 5.000 free male inhabitants of the age of
twenty-one years and upward. Provided, that until there shall
be 5,000 free male inhabitants of twenty-one years of age and up-
wards in said territory the whole number of representatives to
the general assembly shall not be less than seven nor more than
nine, to be apportioned by the governor to the several counties
in the said territory agreeably to the number of free males of the
age of twenty-one years and upwards which they may respeel
ively contain." Indiana was admitted as a state in 1816.
Michigan Territory. By an act of congress passed June 11.
1805, Michigan territory was formed. The boundaries were de
scribed as follows: "All that part of the Indiana territory which
lies north of a line drawn east in 'in the southerly bend or extreme
of Lake Michigan until it shall intersect Lake Erie, and east
of a line drawn from the said southerly bend through the middle
(if said lake to its northern extremity, and thence due north to the
northern boundary of the United States, shall for the purpose of
temporar) governmenl constitute a separate territory, to be
called Michigan, it". S. Statutes at Large, Vol 2, page 309
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 27
Additions, noted further along in this article, were later made to
this territory.
Illinois Territory. In 1809, settlers had come in so fast that
there were sufficient citizens in Indiana territory to support two
governments. Accordingly, the territory of Illinois was estab-
lished, February 3, 1809, by the following enactment: "Be it
enacted, etc., That from and after the first day of March, next,
all that part of the Indiana territory which lies west of the
Wabash river and a direct line drawn from the said Wabash
river and Post Vincennes, due north to the territorial line be-
tween the United States and Canada, shall for the purpose of
temporary government constitute a separate territory, and be
called Illinois. (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, page 514.) Illi-
nois was admitted as a state in 1818.
Michigan Territory. The population of Illinois continued to
increase, and the people were eager for a state government. The
southern portion was therefore granted statehood privileges, and
the northern portion, mainly unoccupied, was cut off and added
to the territory of Michigan, previously created. This transfer
of territory was authorized in section 7 of the act passed April 18,
1818, enabling Illinois to form a state government and constitu-
tion. The terms of the act are as follows : "Section 7. And be-
it further enacted, That all that part of the territory of the
United States lying north of the state of Indiana, and which was
included in the former Indiana territory, together with that part
of the Illinois territory which is situated north of, and not in-
cluded within the boundaries prescribed by this act (viz., the
boundaries of the state of Illinois) to the state thereby authorized
to be formed, shall be and hereby is, attached to and made a
part of the Michigan territory. Thus matters remained for six-
teen years.
Missouri, in the meantime, had been admitted as a state
(1821), and the territory north of that state, and west of the
Mississippi, was practically without organized authority from
that year until 1834, when the increase of settlement made it
advisable that the benefits of some sort of government should be
extended to its area. Consequently, Michigan territory was ex-
tended to include this vast region. The act so enlarging Michi-
gan territory passed congress June 28, 1834, in the following
terms: "Be it enacted, etc., That all that part of the territory
of the United States, bounded on the east by the Mississippi river,
on the south by the state of Missouri, and a line drawn due west
from the northwest corner of said state to the Missouri river; on
the southwest and west by the Missouri river and the White
Earth river, falling into the same, and on the north by the north-
ern boundary of the United States, shall be, and hereby is, for the
28 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
purpose of temporary government attached to and made a part
of, the territory of Michigan." (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 4,
page 701.) In less than two years, certain territory was set apart
to form the proposed state of Michigan. This act passed con-
gress April 20, 1836, but Michigan was not admitted until Jan-
uary 26, 1837. (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 5, pages 10-16.)
Wisconsin Territory. When Wisconsin territory was organ-
ized by an act of Congress, April 20, 1836, all the Louisiana
purchase north of the state of Missouri was placed under its
jurisdiction. This included Dakota county. The boundaries as
given at that time were as follows: "Bounded on the east by a
line drawn from the northeast corner of the State of Illinois
through the middle of Lake Michigan to a point in the middle
of said lake and opposite the main channel of Green Bay and
through said channel and Green Bay to the mouth of the Me-
nominee river, thence through the middle of the main channel
of said river to that head of said river nearest the Lake of the
Desert, thence in a direct line to the middle of said lake, thence
through the middle of the main channel of the Montreal river
to its mouth ; thence with a direct line across Lake Superior to
where the territorial line of the United States last touches said
lake, northwest, thence on the north with the said territorial
line to the White Earth river (located in what is now Wood
county, North Dakota). On the west by a line from the said
boundary line, following down the middle of the main channel
of the White Earth river to the Missouri river, and down the
middle of the main channel of the Missouri river to a point due
west from the northwest corner of the state of Missouri ; and
on the south from said point due east to the northwest corner
of the state of Missouri, and thence with the boundaries of the
states of Missouri and Illinois as already fixed by act of congress.
(U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 5. page 18.) It is inter-
esting to note in this connection that two sessions of the Wis-
consin territorial legislature were held at what is now Burlington,
Iowa.
By the act of congress, approved April 20, 1836, from which
the boundaries have already been quoted, the executive power
in and over the territory was vested in a governor, appointed by
the president for a term of three years, whose -alary was $2,500
a year. He was also superintendent of Indian affairs, and was
required to approve all laws passed by the legislative assembly.
The legislative power was vested in a legislative assembly, con-
sisting of a council and a house of representatives. The council
was to consist of thirteen members and the house of twenty-six
members. Representation was to be apportioned at the first
election, in proportion to population. The time, place and con-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 29
ducting of the first election was appointed and directed by the
governor. Every free white male inhabitant who was an inhabi-
tant of the territory at the time of its organization was entitled
to vote at the first election, and was eligible to office within the
territory. The qualifications of voters at subsequent elections
was made determinable by the legislative assembly. It was
provided, however, that the right of suffrage should be exercised
only by citizens of the United States. The governor was re-
quired to approve all laws passed by the legislative assembly,
and they were required to be submitted to congress and if dis-
approved by it, they should be null and of no effect. All the
then existing laws of the territory of Michigan were extended
over the territory of Wisconsin, subject to being altered, modi-
fied or repealed by the governor and legislative assembly.
It seems that no law could take effect without the approval
of the governor. By an act of congress, approved March 3,
1839, the governors of the territories of Iowa and Wisconsin
were given the veto power, and the council and house of repre-
sentatives of these territories were given the power to pass bills
over his veto by a two-thirds vote.
Iowa Territory. The territory of Iowa was created by the
act of congress, June 12, 1838, which act divided the territory
of Wisconsin along the Mississippi river and named the western
part, Iowa. The act provided : "That from and after the third
day of July, next, all that part of the present territory of Wis-
consin which lies west of the Mississippi river and west of a line
drawn due south from the herd waters or sources of the Mis-
sissippi to the territorial lines, shall, for the purpose of temporary
government, be and constitute a separate territorial govern-
ment, by the name of Iowa." The area now embracing Rice
and Steele counties were included within these lines. The act
organizing this territory provided that "the existing laws of the
territory of Wisconsin shall be extended over said territory so
far as they are not incompatible with the provisions of this act,
subject nevertheless to be altered, ratified or repealed by the
governor and legislative assembly of said territory of Iowa."
The legislative assembly was composed of the governor, a coun-
cil of thirteen members, and a house of representatives of twenty-
six members. The act organizing the territory of Iowa pro-
vided that "All the laws of the governor and legislative assembly
shall be submitted to and if disapproved by the congress of the
United States they shall be null and of no effect." (U. S.
Statutes at Large, Vol. 5, page 235.) The judicial officers, jus-
tices of the peace, sheriffs and all militia officers were appointed
by the governor. The township and county officers were elected
by the people in the manner described by the laws of the terri-
30 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
tory of Wisconsin. The salary of the governor and the judges
was fixed at $1,500 each. The jurisdiction of the justices of the
peace was limited to $50.
Iowa remained a territory from 1838 to 184G. The greater
part of southern and southeastern Minnesota was within the
jurisdiction of Clayton county. Henry H. Sibley was a justice
of the peace in that county. The county seat was 250 miles
distant from his home in Mendota, and his jurisdiction extended
over a region of country, which, as he expressed it, was "as
large as the Empire of France." A convention of duly author-
ized representatives of the people remained in session at Iowa
City from October 7 to November 1, 1844, and framed a state
constitution. It was provided that the constitution adopted, to-
gether with any alterations which might subsequently be made
by congress, should be submitted to the people of the territory
for their approval or rejection at the township elections in April,
1845. The boundaries of the proposed new state, as defined in
the constitution, were as follows : " * * * Thence up in the
middle of the main channel of the river last mentioned (the
Missouri) to the mouth of the Sioux or Calumet river; thence
in a direct line to the middle of the main channel of the St.
Peter's (Minnesota) river, where the Watonwan river — accord-
ing to Nicollet's map — enters the same, thence down the middle
of the main channel of said river to the middle of the Mississippi
river; thence down the middle of said river to the place of begin-
ning." This would have included in the state of Iowa, Rice and
Steele counties, and in fact, all the counties of what is now Min-
nesota that lie south and east of the Minnesota as far as Man-
kato, including Faribault county and nearly all of Martin, the
greater part of Blue Earth and portions of Watonwan. Cotton-
wood and Jackson.
Congress rejected these boundary lines, and March 3, 1845,
in ils enabling act, substituted the following description of the
proposed boundaries: "Beginning at the mouth of the Des
Moines river, in the middle of the Mississippi; thence by the
middle of the channel of that river to the parallel of latitude
passing through the mouth of the Mankato or Blue Earth river;
thence west along said parallel of latitude to a point where it is
intersected by a meridian line 17 3 30' west oi the meridian of
Washington City; thence due south to the northern boundary
line of the state of Missouri; thence eastwardly following that
boundary to the point at which the same intersects with the Des
Moines river; thence l>y the middle of the channel of that river
to the place of beginning." Thus the southern boundary
Minnesota would have been on a line due east From the present
citi of Mankato to the Mississippi river and due west from the
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 31
same point to a point in Brown county. This would have in-
cluded in Iowa all but a small fraction of the counties of Winona,
Olmsted, Dodge, Steele, Waseka and Blue Earth, portions of
Brown, Watonwan and Martin ; and all of Faribault, Freeborn,
Mower, Fillmore and Houston. This reduction in its proposed
territory was not pleasing to those citizens of Iowa who wished
the state to have its boundaries to include the Minnesota river
from the Blue Earth to the Mississippi and the Mississippi from
the Minnesota river to the Missouri state line. This changing in
the boundary was really a political measure, a part of those bat-
tles in congress over free and slave states, which preceded the
Civil War. The boundaries as proposed by congress were re-
jected by the people of Iowa after a bitter campaign. August
4, 1846, congress passed a second enabling act, which was ac-
cepted by the people by a narrow margin of 456, the vote being
9,492 for to 9,036 against. This second act placed the northern
boundary of Iowa still further south, but added territory to the
west. The northern boundary of Iowa, as described in the en-
abling act, was identical with the parallel of 43 30' north, from
the Big Sioux river eastward to the Mississippi. This, with the
exception of the short distance from the Big Sioux river to the
present western boundary of Minnesota, is the present southern
boundary of our state. Minnesota's southern boundary, as thus
described, was carefully surveyed and marked within six years
of its acceptance by Iowa. The work was authorized March 3,
1849, and two appropriations of $15,000 each were soon made.
The survey was completed during the years 1849 to 1852, at a
total cost of $32,277.73. Although the work was done with the
best instruments then known, an error of twenty-three chains,
evidently due to carelessness, was discovered within a year.
Iowa was admitted as a state December 28, 1846.
Wisconsin State. Wisconsin soon wished to become a state.
The northwestern boundary provoked considerable discussion
both in congress and in the two constitutional conventions which
were called. There were some who wished to include all the
remaining portion of the northwest territory within the boun-
daries of the new proposed state. The two prevailing coteries,
however, were the ones between whom the fight really centered.
One body wished the northwestern boundary of the new state
(Wisconsin) to extend up the Mississippi as far as the Rum
river, where the city of Anoka is now situated, thence north-
eastwardly to the first rapids of the St. Louis river and thence
to Lake Superior. The residents of the St. Croix valley, and
those living on the east side of the Mississippi, between the St.
Croix and the Rum river, constituted the other party and objected
to being included in the proposed state of Wisconsin. They
32 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
declared that they were separated from the settled portions of
Wisconsin by hundreds of miles of barren land, and still more
greatly separated by a difference in the interests and character
of the inhabitants. They proposed that the northwest boundary
of the new state should be a line drawn due south from Shag-
wamigan bay, on Lake Superior, to the intersection of the main
Chippewa river, and from thence down the middle of said river
to its debouchure into the Mississippi. Residents of the district
affected and also about Fort Snelling and on the west bank of
the Mississippi further up joined in a memorial to congress,
citing the grave injustice that would be done the proposed terri-
tory of Minnesota if it were left without a single point on the
Mississippi below St. Anthony's falls, the limit of navigation.
Among those who signed this memorial were H. H. Sibley and
Alexander Faribault. The result of the controversy was a com-
promise adopting a middle line along the St. Croix and St. Louis
rivers.
The enabling act for the state of Wisconsin, approved August
6, 1846, provided: "That the people of the territory of Wisconsin
be and they are hereby authorized to form a constitution and
state government * * * with the following boundaries, to
wit * * * thence through the center of Lake Superior to
the mouth of the St. Louis river, thence up the main channel of
said river to the first rapids in the same, above the Indian village,
according to Nicollet's map ; thence due south to the main branch
of the River St. Croix; thence down the main channel of said
river to the Mississippi; thence down the main channel of said
river to the northwest corner of the state of Illinois, thence due
east * * * " This is the first and incidentally the present
description of Minnesota's eastern boundary. ( United States
Statutes at Large, Vol. 9, page 56.)
The convention that framed the constitution of Wisconsin in
1847-48 strongly desired the Rum river as their eastern boundary.
After accepting the boundary chosen by congress the convention
recommended a line which, if agreeable to congress, should re-
place the one in the enabling act. The proposed boundary, which
was rejected, was described as follows: Leaving the aforesaid
boundary line at the first rapids of the St. Louis river, thence in
a direct line, bearing southwest wardly to the mouth of the Isko-
dewabo or Rum river, where the same empties into the Missis-
sippi river, thence down the main channel of the said Mississippi
river to the aforesaid boundary. (Charters and Constitutions of
the United States, Part ii, page 2030.)
Minnesota Territory. The events which led up to the estab-
lishing of Minnesota as a territory can be given but brief men-
tion here Sufficienl is il to say that for three years after the
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 83
admission of Iowa (in 1846) the area that is now Minnesota,
west of the Mississippi, was practically a no-man's land. Decem-
ber 18, 1846, Morgan L. Martin, delegate from Wisconsin terri-
tory, gave notice to the house of representatives that "at an early
day" he would ask leave to introduce a bill establishing the ter-
ritorial government of Minnesota. The name, which is the
Indian term for what was then the river St. Peter (Pierre) and
has now become its official designation was, it is believed, ap-
plied to the proposed territory at the suggestion of Joseph R.
Brown. During its consideration by congress the bill under-
went various changes. As reported back to the house, the name
"Minnesota" had been changed by Stephen A. Douglas to
"Itasca." Mr. Martin immediately moved that the name "Min-
nesota" be placed in the bill in place of "Itasca." "Chippewa,"
"Jackson" and "Washington" were also proposed. After many
motions, counter motions and amendments, "Minnesota" was
placed in the bill, and with a minor change passed the house. In
the senate it was rejected. A second attempt was made two
years later. January 10, 1848, Stephen A. Douglas gave due
notice to the senate that "at a future day" he would introduce
a bill to establish the territory of Minnesota. He brought in the
bill February 23, It was several times read, was amended, re-
ferred to committee and discussed, but congress adjourned
August 14 without taking ultimate action on the proposition.
In the meantime Wisconsin was admitted to the Union May
29, 1848, and the western half of what was then St. Croix county
was left outside the new state. The settled portions of the area
thus cut off from Wisconsin by its admission to statehood privi-
leges were in the southern part of the peninsula of land lying
between the Mississippi and the St. Croix.
The people of this area were now confronted with a serious
problem. As residents of the territory of Wisconsin they had
enjoyed the privileges of citizenship in the United States. By
the creation of the state of Wisconsin they were disfranchised
and left without the benefits of organized government. Thus,
Stillwater, which had been the governmental seat of a growing
county, was left outside the pale of organized law. Legal minds
disagreed on the question of whether the minor civil officers,
such as justices of the peace, created under the territorial organi-
zation, were still qualified to exercise the authority of their posi-
tions. At a meeting held at St. Paul, in July, 1848, the citizens
of that (then) village considered the necessity for the formation
of a new territory. August 5 a meeting of citizens of the area
west of the St. Croix was held at Stillwater, and it was decided
to call a general convention at that place, August 26, 1848, for
a three-fold purpose: 1 — To elect a territorial delegate to con-
U HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
gress. 2 — To organize a territory with a name other than Wis-
consin. 3 — To determine whether the laws and organization of
the old territory of Wisconsin were still in effect now that a
part of that territory was organized as a state. In the call for
this meeting, the signers called themselves, "We, the undersigned
citizens of Minnesota territory." The meeting was held pursu-
ant to the call. Action was taken in regard to the first proposi-
tion by the election of H. H. Sibley, who was authorized to pro-
ceed to Washington and use such efforts as were in his power to
secure the organization of the territory of Minnesota. In regard
to the second proposition a memorial was addressed to the presi-
dent of the United States, stating the reasons why the organiza-
tion of Minnesota territory was necessary. The third proposi-
tion presented technical points worthy of the attention of the
wisest legal minds. The state of Wisconsin had been organized,
but the territory of Wisconsin had not been abolished. Was not,
therefore, the territory still in existence, and did not its organi-
zation and its laws still prevail in the part of the territory that
had not been included in the state? If territorial government
was in existence would it not give the residents thereof a better
standing before the nation in their desire to become Minnesota
territory? Might not this technicality give the delegate a seat
in congress when otherwise he must, as simply the representative
of an unorganized area, make his requests in the lobby and to the
individual members? John Catlin, who had been secretary of
the territory of Wisconsin before the organization of that state,
declared that the territory still existed in the area not included
in the organized state and that he was the acting governor. Ac-
cordingly, the people of the cut-off portion organized as the
"Territory of Wisconsin," and named a day for the election of a
delegate. In the closely contested election, held October 30,
1848, Sibly won out against Henry M. Rice and accordingly made
his way to Washington, technically from the "Territory of Wis-
consin," actually as a representative of the proposed territory of
Minnesota. As a matter of fact, indeed, Sibley, living at Mcn-
dota, had ceased to be a citizen of the territory of Wisconsin in
1838, when Iowa territory was created, and was a resident of
the part of Iowa territory which the organization of the state of
Iowa had left without a government, rather than of that territory
in question (betwoen the Mississippi and the St. Croix) which
the admission of Wisconsin as a state had left without a govern-
ment. Sible) was. however, after much Opposition, admitted to
congress and given a seat January 15. 1849. " c a * once scl about
securing friends for the proposition to create Minnesota terri-
tory. December 4. 1848, a few days previous to Sibley's admis-
sion to congress, Stephen A. Douglas had announced that it was
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 35
his intention to introduce anew a bill to establish the territory
of Minnesota. Like the previous attempt, this bill underwent
various vicissitudes. As passed, March 3, 1849, the act creating
the territory read as follows: "Be it enacted, etc. That from
and after the passage of this act, all that part of the territory
of the United States which lies within the following limits, to
wit : Beginning in the Mississippi river at a point where the
line of 43 and 30' of north latitude crosses the same, thence
running due west on said line, which is the northern boundary
of the state of Iowa, to the northwest corner of the said state of
Iowa ; thence southerly along the western boundary of said state
to the point where said boundary strikes the Missouri river;
thence up the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river
to the mouth of the White Earth river; thence up the middle
of the main channel of the White Earth river to the boundary
line between the possessions of the United States and Great
Britain ; thence east and south of east along the boundary line
between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain
to Lake Superior ; thence in a straight line to the northermost
point of the state of Wisconsin, in Lake Superior; thence along
the western boundary of the state of Wisconsin to the Missis-
sippi river; thence down the main channel of said river to the
place of beginning, and the same is hereby erected into a tem-
porary government by the name of the territory of Minnesota.
The executive power of the territory of Minnesota was vested
in a governor, appointed by the president, whose term of office
was four years, unless sooner removed by the president, who
was also superintendent of Indian affairs. The legislative power
was vested in a governor and a legislative assembly, consisting
of a council of nine members, whose term of office was two years,
and a house of representatives of eighteen members, whose term
of office was one year. It was provided that the number of
members in the council and the house might be increased by the
legislative assembly from time to time in proportion to the in-
crease in population, but that the whole number should not
exceed fifteen councillors and thirty-nine representatives. It was
provided that the first election should be held at such time and
place and be conducted in such manner as the governor should
appoint and direct, and that the persons thus elected to the legis-
lative assembly should meet at such place, and on such day as
the governor should appoint, but thereafter the time and place
and manner of holding and conducting all elections by the people,
and the apportioning the representatives in the several counties
and districts, to the council and house of representatives, ac-
cording to the population, should be prescribed by law, as well
as the day of the commencement of the regular sessions of the
36 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
legislative assembly, but that no session should exceed sixty days.
Every white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one.
who was a resident of the territory at the time of the passage
of the act, organizing the same, was entitled to vote and eligible
to office at the first election. But the qualification of voters and
of holding office at all subsequent elections should be such as
should be prescribed by the legislative assembly. It was pro-
vided by the act that all laws passed by the legislative assembly
should be submitted to congress, and if disapproved by it, should
be null and of no effect. The laws in force in the territory of
Wisconsin after the date of the admission of the state of Wis-
consin were continued to be valid and in operation in the terri-
tory of Minnesota so far as not incompatible with the provisions
of the act of organization of the territory of Minnesota, subject
to be altered, modified or repealed by the governor and legis-
lative assembly or said territory. All justices of the peace, con-
stables, sheriffs and all other judicial and ministerial officers
who were in office within the limits of the territory at the time
of law organizing the territory was approved were authorized
and required to continue to exercise and perform the duties of
their respective offices as officers of the territory of Minnesota
temporarily and until they, or others, should be appointed and
qualified in the manner therein described or until their offices
should be abolished.
The governor was given the veto power, and the council
and house could pass a bill over his veto by a two-thirds vote.
The judicial power of the territory was vested in a supreme court.
district court, probate court and in justices of the peace. The
supreme court consisted of a chief justice and two associate
justices, appointed by the president, whose term of office was
four years and whose salary was $1,800 a year.
The territory was by the act of organization required to be
divided into three judicial districts, and the district court to be
held therein by one of the judges of the supreme court at such
times and places as might be prescribed by law, and the judges
thereof were required to reside in the districts assigned to them.
The clerks of said courts were appointed by the judges thereof.
The United States officers of the territory were a governor,
secretary, chief justice, two associate justices, attorney and mar-
shal, appointed by the president with the advice and consent of
tli«' senate of the United States. The governor received a salary
of $1,500 a year as governor and $1,000 a year as superintendent
of Indian affairs. The chief justice and associate justices and
secretary received a salary of $1,800 a year, and the members of
the legislative assembly $3 a day during their attendance upon
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 37
the sessions thereof and $3 each day for every twenty miles
traveled going to and returning therefrom.
State of Minnesota. The people of the territory of Minnesota
were not lo/ig content with a territorial government. In the
words of A. N. Winchell, "December 24, 1856, the delegate from
the territory of Minnesota introduced a bill to authorize the
people of that territory to form a constitution and state govern-
ment. The bill limited the proposed state on the west by the
Red River of the North and the Big Sioux river. It was referred
to the committee on territories, of which Mr. Grow, of Pennsyl-
vania, was chairman. January 31, 1857, the chairman reported
a substitute, which differed from the original bill in no essential
respect except in regard to the western boundary. The change
there consisted in adopting a line through Traverse and Big
Stone lakes, due south from the latter to the Iowa line. The
altered boundary cut off a narrow strip of territory, estimated
by Mr. Grow to contain between five and six hundred square
miles. Today the strip contains such towns as Sioux Falls,
Watertown and Brookings. The substitute had a stormy voyage
through congress, especially in the senate, but finally completed
the trip on February 25, 1857."
The enabling act, as passed and approved February 26, 1857,
defined the boundaries of Minnesota as follows: "Be it enacted,
etc., That the inhabitants of that portion of the territory of
Minnesota, which is embraced within the following limits, to
wit: Beginning at the point in the center of the main channel
of the Red River of the North, where the boundary line be-
tween the United States and the British possessions crosses the
same ; thence up the main channel of said river to that of the
Bois des Sioux river ; thence (up) the main channel of said river
to Lake Travers ; thence up the center of said lake to the south-
ern extremity thereof ; thence in a direct line to the head of Big
Stone lake ; thence through its center to its outlet ; thence by a
due south line to the north line of the state of Iowa : thence
east along the northern boundary of said state to the main
channel of the Mississippi river; thence up the main channel
of said river and following the boundary line of the state of
Wisconsin, until the same intersects the St. Louis river; thence
down said river to and through Lake Superior, on the boundary
line of Wisconsin and Michigan, until it intersects the dividing
line between the United States and the British possession ; thence
up Pigeon river and following said dividing line to the place of
beginning; be and the same are thereby authorized to form for
themselves a constitution and state government, by the name of
the state of Minnesota, and to come into the Union on an equal
38 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
footing with the original states, according to the federal con-
stitution."
These houndaries were accepted without change and are the
boundaries of the state at the present time. The state was
admitted May 11, 1858.
It will therefore be seen that the territorial claim of title to
Rice and Steele counties was first embraced in the papal grant to
Spain, May 4, 1493. It was then included in the indefinite
claims made by Spain to lands north, and northwest of her settle-
ments in Mexico, Florida and the West Indies ; by the English to
lands west of their Atlantic coast settlements, and by the French
to lands south, west and southwest of their Canadian settlements.
The first definite claim to territory now embracing Rice and
Steele counties was made by La Salle at the mouth of the Missis-
sippi, March 8, 1682, in the name of the king of France, and the
second (still more definite) by Perrot near the present site of
Trempealeau, Wis., May 8, 1689. This was also a French claim.
France remained in tacit authority until February 10, 1763, when,
upon England's acknowledging the French authority to lands
west of the Mississippi, France, by a previous secret agreement,
turned her authority over to Spain. October 1, 1800, Spain
ceded the tract to France, hut France did not take formal pos-
session until November 30, 1803, and almost immediately, De-
cember 20, 1803, turned it over to the VJnited States, the Amer-
icans having purchased it from Napoleon April 30 of that year.
March 26, 1804, the area that is now Rice and Steele counties
was included in Louisiana district as a part of Indiana and so
remained until March 3, 1805. From March 3, 1805, to June 4.
1812, it was a part of Louisiana territory. From June 4, 1812.
until August 10, 1820, it was a part of Missouri territory. From
August 10, 1821, until June 28, 1834, it was outside the pale of
all organized government, except that congress had general
jurisdiction. From June 28, 1834. to April 20, 1836, it was a part
of Michigan territory. From April 20. 1836. to June 12. 183S.
it was a part of Wisconsin territory. From June 12, 1838, to De-
cember 28, 1846, it was a part of the territory of Iowa and was
included in the boundaries at first proposed for the state of Iowa.
From December 28, 1846, to March 3, 1849, it was again without
territorial affiliation. From March 3. 1849. to May 11, 1858.
it was a part of Minnesota territory, and on the latter date be-
came an integral part of that sovereign state.
CHAPTER III.
INDIAN TREATIES.
Successive Steps by Which the Sioux Indians, Including the
Wapakootas of Rice and Steele Counties, Relinquished Their
Claims to the Land of Their Fathers, Thus Opening This
Vicinity for White Settlement — Prairie du Chien Treaty of
1825— Treaty of 1830— The Doty Treaty— Treaty of Trav-
erse des Sioux — Treaty of Mendota — The Wapakoota
Signers.
From prehistoric times, up to the treaty of Mendota, in 1851,
the Wapakoota Indians of the Sioux race remained in possession
of the area that is now Rice and Steele counties, and were little,
if any, affected by the changes in sovereignty made by the whites.
Before this treaty, however, several agreements were made be-
tween the Sioux Indians and the United States government, in
regard to mutual relations and the ceding of lands. The Wapa-
kootas were not as immediately concerned with the earlier agree-
ments as were the Medawakantons, who lived north of them
along the Mississippi river.
Prairie du Chien Treaty of 1825. The treaty of Prairie du
Chien, signed in 1825, was important to the Sioux living in this
vicinity, in that it fixed certain boundaries. The eastern boun-
dary of the Sioux territory was to commence on the east bank
of the Mississippi, opposite the mouth of the "Ioway" river, run-
ning back to the bluffs, and along the bluffs to the Bad Ax river ;
thence to the mouth of Black river, and thence to "half a day's
march" below the falls of the Chippewa. The boundary lines
were certainly, in some respects, quite indefinite, and whether
this was the trouble or not, at any event, it was but a few
months after the treaty when it was evident that neither the
Dakotas nor Ojibways were willing to be governed by the lines
established — and hardly by any others. The first article of the
treaty provided : "There shall be a firm and perpetual peace
between the Sioux and the Chippewas ; between the Sioux and
the confederated tribes of Sacs and Foxes ; and between the
Iowas and the Sioux." But this provision was more honored in
the breach than the observance, and in a little time the tribes
named were flying at one another's throats and engaged in their
old-time hostilities. On the part of the Sioux this treaty was
39
40 HISTORY OF RICE AXD STEELE COUNTD -
signed by - Vabasha
Eye. Two Faces. Tah-sah-ghec r »,
ah-na-tah. or "The Charger": Re g, S -
and Eagle Head, and also by a number
"principal The Chippewa signers wa -
Gitche Gaubow, Wis Coup. - g a -
-
Second Treaty of Prairie du Cbien Signed in 1830. In 18
tribes
Prairie du Chien. Delegates v r bands
e Waht a
the Sissetons. an>! so ft - -
even from the Omah-
lree tribes being on the Missour.
Indian tribes repres f their claims to 1
in western Iowa, norc: - ri, and esj
try of the Des Moir. - The lower bands had a
special a- \ in the trea:
blood re
"Tr - bands in council hav<.
might have permission to bestow upon the ha reeds of then
nation the tract of land within the follow:- g Be-
ginning at a place called the Barn, below and near the
the Red Wing chief, and runr. g
parallel : th Lake Pepin and tht ssiss i about
thirty-two miles, to a point opposite Beef, or 0"Bo-.
thence fifteen n . - • the Grand Encampn
• -aid. the United States agree 1
occupy said tract of country, they hoi
the same manner that other India-
- :ed to r and
there was much speculation in them, and
■
this history. Th'. - .'.so ceded a I -
wide along the northern boundary of low::
- deration - £2
■
The Wapakoot:.
- - ray Man, Pays for La-
Maker. V. ag Ii s on the Land.
- and principal r
The Doty Treaty. Th
senate. This tree, iied a Utopian
■
£
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 41
of the whites, having a constitutional form of government, with
a legislature of their own people elected by themselves, the gov-
ernor to be appointed by the president of the United States.
much along the plan still followed in the Indian territory,
except that it embodied for the Indians a much higher type of
citizenship than is found in the Indian territory. The Indians
were to be taught the arts of peace, to he paid annuities, and to
be protected by the armies of the United States from their In-
dian enemies on the west. In return for these benefits to be con-
ferred upon the Indians, the United States was to receive all the
lands in what is now Minnesota, the Dakotas and northwestern
Iowa, except small portions, which were to be reserved for the
redmen. This ceded land was for the most part to be opened
to the settlement of the whites, although the plan was to have
some of it reserved for Indian tribes from other parts o\ the
country who should sell their lands to the United States, and
who, in being moved here, were to enjoy all the privileges which
had been so beautifully planned for the native Indians. But
no one can tell what would have been the result of this experi-
ment, for the senate, for political reasons, refused to ratify the
treaty, and it failed of going into effect. This treaty was signed
by the Sisseton, Wahpaton and Wahpakoota bands at Traverse
des Sioux, July 31, 1841, and by the Medawakanton bands at
Mendota, August 1 1 of the same year.
Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. In the spring of 1851 Presi-
dent Fillmore appointed Governor Alexander Ramsey and Luke
Lea as commissioners to open negotiations with the Indians for
the purpose of opening to settlement what is now the greater
part of Minnesota. The conference was held at Traverse des
Sioux, between the chiefs and head men of the Sisseton and Wah-
paton, or Upper Bands, as they were called, and the tw^o com-
missioners. The Indians were accompanied by their families and
many prominent pioneers were also present, including William
G. LeDuc, now of Hastings. The meeting was held under a brush
arbor erected by Alexis F>ailly, and one of the incidents of the
proceedings was the marriage of two mixed blood people. David
Faribault and Nancy Winona McClure, the former the son of
Jean Baptist Faribault and the latter of Lieutenant James Mc-
Clure. The treaty was signed July 22, 1851, and provided that
the upper bands should cede to the United States all their land
in Iowa as well as theid lands east of a line from the Red river
to Lake Traverse and thence to the northwestern corner of Iowa.
Treaty of Mendota. From July 29, 1851, to August 5. Men-
dota was the scene of the conference which opened Rice, Steele
and surrounding counties to white settlement. The chiefs and
head men of the lower bands were thoroughly familiar with the
42 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
proceedings of the Indians and the representatives of the United
States at Traverse des Sioux and all were on hand that bright
August day, waiting for the negotiations to open at Mendota.
The first session was held in the warehouse of the Fur Company
at that place, but the Indians found the atmosphere stifling, and
not in accord with their usual method of outdoor councils, so the
consideration of the treaty was taken up under a large brush
arbor, erected by Alexis Bailly, on an elevated plain near the high
prominence known as Pilot Knob. Dr. Thomas Foster was secre-
tary for Commissioners Lea and Ramsey ; the interpreters were
Alexander Faribault, Philander Perscott and Rev. G. H. Pond;
the white witnesses were David Olmsted, W. C. Henderson,
Alexis Bailly, Richard Chute, Henry Jackson, A. L. Carpenter,
W. II. Randall. A. S. H. White, H. L.Dousman, Fred C. Sibley,
Martin McLeod, George X. Faribault and Joseph A. Wheelock.
On the opening of the first day*s session the object of the gather-
ing was fully explained to the assembled Indians by the white
commissioners. For the Indians. Wabasha, of the Medawakan-
tons, replied as follow>.
"The chiefs and braves who sit here have heard what you
have said from our Great Father. I have but one thing to say to
you, fathers, and then we will separate for the day. I was among
those who went to Washington and brought home the words of
our Great Father. Some of those here were there also, and some
who went are now dead. According to what our Great Father
then said, we have some funds lying back in his hands. We
spoke of these funds to our fathers, the commissioners, who were
here fall before last. These men you see around you are anxious
to get that which is due them before they do anything. That is
all I have to say now."
A chief of the Wapakoota tribe rose and displayed the medal
formerly worn by Chief Wabde Yah Kapi (War Eagle That May
Be Seen), who was killed by the Sacs and Foxes on the Des
Moines river in July. 1849. He said: "My race had four chiefs,
but they have passed away from us. The last one (War Eagle
That May Be Seen) was made chief by my father. Governor
Ramsey, who placed this medal about his neck. Father. I
to have those who have killed the owner of this medal pa;
it. The fall before last you spoke of this : the medal was then
all bloody, and if you will look at it now you will see that it is
still so. I wish you to wash that blood off. I return it l<
and if you will wipe off the blood. I will be glad."
The commissioners reminded the Indians that in regard to
the money which was due them under the trea por-
tion of which was being withheld, the treaty provided that it was
paid to them at the direction and pleasure of the I
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 43
Father, the president; that the Indians had agreed to this when
they signed the treaty, twelve years previous, and had never com-
plained before. But Colonel Lea said that if the Indians would
come to an agreement in regard to the treaty, there would be no
trouble about the back money. In regard to the medal, which is
known in history as the bloody medal, owing to the Wapa-
koota's poetic and figurative allusion to its ensanguined condition,
Governor Ramsey said that he had demanded from the president
that $1,000 should be taken from the annuities of the Sacs and
Foxes and used as an emollient to cleanse the blood from the
medal; and that SL000 should be taken from the Sac and Fox
fund for every Sioux killed by them, and the amount turned over
to the relatives of the victims. He further said that in the exer-
cise of his discretion, the president had concluded that the monev
he was keeping ought to be expended in the education of the
Indian children, but that the matter could be settled amicably if
the treaty were speedily signed. The next day a brief council was
held under Alexis Bailly*s large brush arbor, which had been
well appointed with stands, tables and seats for the chiefs. At
this session, Wabasha, without comment, returned a draft of the
treaty which on the previous day had been presented to the
Indians for their consideration. There was an embarrassing
silence for a time, and Colonel Lea said he hoped the treaty would
soon be concluded, for he was at a great distance from his home,
and having been a long time away, was most anxious to return.
Chief Wacoota replied : "Our habits are different from those
of the whites, and when he have anything important to consider
it takes us a long time." To this diplomatic remark, Colonel Lea
rejoined: "That is true; but this subject has been before you a
long time. You are chiefs, not women and children; you can
certainly give us an answer tomorrow." The council then ad-
journed for the day.
The next day. at the opening of the council. Wabasha arose
and said he had listened to the words sent them by the Great
Father and which the commissioners had delivered ; "but," con-
tinued he, "these other chiefs around me may have something to
say also. I will sit and listen to what is said." After a long,
constrained and doubtless uncomfortable silence. Little Crow,
graceful and deliberate, arose and addressed the council. Little
Crow, chief of the Kaposia band, was, without doubt, according
to the evidence of his contemporaries, the brainiest, shrewdest
and most influential Indian then west of the Mississippi. Dressed
elaborately for the occasion, with a white shirt and collar, a
gaudy neckchief, his tastefully embroidered medicine bag sus-
pended from his neck, a red belt, with a silver buckle, about his
waist, and wearing a pair of elaborately beaded trousers and
44 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
moccasins, his long, black, curling hair, soft and almost as silken
as a white woman's, flowing over his shoulders, and with his keen
black eyes alight — he was indeed a striking and attractive figure.
His voice, attuned to the forests and the waterfalls, had nature's
own musical intonations, and when he began to speak even the,
little Indian children, playing about the outskirts of the council,
were silent. As reported by Alexander Faribault, the chieftain
said :
"Fathers: These chiefs and soldiers, and others who sit here,
have something they wish said to you, and I am going to speak
it for them. There are chiefs here who are older than myself,
and I would rather they had spcken ; but they have put it upon
me to speak, although I feel as if my mouth was tied. These
chiefs went to Washington long ago and brought back a good
report concerning the settlement of our affairs in the treaty
made there, and they and we were glad. But things that were
promised in that treaty have not taken place. This is why these
men sit still and say nothing. You perhaps are ashamed (or dis-
graced ; "ishtenya" in Sioux) of us ; but you, fathers, are the
cause of its being so. They speak of money that is due them ; it
was mentioned the other day to Governor Ramsey, and we spoke
about it last fall, but we have not yet seen the money. We desire
to have it laid down to us. It is money due on the old treaty,
and I think it should be paid, we do not want to talk about a
new treaty until it is all paid."
The commissioners again declared that under the treat)- the
money which had been withheld was to be expended by the direc-
tion of the president, and he had decided to apply it to the edu-
cation of the Indian children. Perhaps, they said, there has been
a misunderstanding as to what the other treaty meant. They
desired now to make a treaty that would he so plain that there
could, and would, be no doubt as to its meaning. Governor Ram-
sey then said: "If this treaty can be arranged, as much money
will be paid down to you as will be equal to your usual cash
annuities for three years." The governor then thought to bring
matters to an immediate conclusion. "Do you wish." lie asked,
"that this amount be paid to you as your other annuities have
been?" The chiefs made a murmur of apparent assent, and the
governor continued: "Do all the people want it paid in that
way?" Little Crow replied that if it were divided for the Indians
by the whites it would probably he best; if the Indians under-
took to divide it there might be some difficulty. Governor Ram-
sey replied that the money was in "money boxes," and a long
time would In- required to count the monej and get it ready,
and in the meanwhile they would go ahead with the treaty. Hut
Little Crow said: "We will talk of nothing else hut that money,
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 45
if it is until next spring. That lies in the way of a treaty. I
speak for others, and not for myself."
After some protests against further delay on the part of the
commissioners, the Indians saying nothing, the council adjourned
until it should be called by the Indians. The next day the In-
dians remained in their quarters until late in the afternoon,
when messengers came saying that the chiefs were all assembled
at the council house and wished their white father to attend.
Very soon the council was in session, but after the opening there
was a long silence. Finally Anah-ga-nahzhee (Stands Astride),
the second chief, or head soldier of the band of his brother,
Shakopee, remarked that it had been decided in council, the
Indian council, that Wacoota should speak to the Indians. But
Wacoota asked to be excused, and that some other Indian should
speak. "I am of the same mind with my friend here, Wabasha,
and will sit and listen," said Wacoota. There was no response.
After a long wait the commissioners went over the whole sub-
ject again, and the Indians yet remaining silent, Colonel Lea at
last said: "It is plain that the Medawakantons do not wish to
sell their lands. I hope they will not regret it. This grieves my
heart, and I know it will make the heart of your Great Father
sad. Say to the chiefs and head men that we are all ready to
meet them here tomorrow, or at any other time and place they
desire." The commissioners now hastily adjourned, apparently
in great ill humor, leaving the chiefs still on the benches,
astounded at the conduct of their white brothers. There was an
interregnum in the proceedings for four days. The time was
spent by the whites in privately preparing a treaty which would
be acceptable to the Indians. The Medawakantons had become
partially reconciled. The head chief. Wabasha, was still opposed
to any treaty as it had been proposed, but Little Crow and other
sub-chiefs were in favor of one if the terms were fairly liberal
and the assent of their bands could be obtained. Little Crow
was particularly for a treaty and the sale of the big expanse of
land to the westward, which, he said, did his people no good,
which but very few of his band had ever visited, and which he
himself had never seen. He disliked to abandon his old Kaposia
home, because of its associations. Here were the graves of his
father and mother and other kinspeople; here was the site of his
birthplace and of his boyhood, and here he had been chief of the
old and noted band of his ancestors for more than four years.
But Little Crow was shrewd and intelligent, and knew that the
whites were pressing upon his people as they had pressed upon
the other red people, and that the result would be the same as it
had been — the Indians would be compelled to leave their country
and move on. The wise course, therefore, it seemed to him. was
46 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
to obtain the best terms possible— to get all of the money and
other supplies and the best permanent reservation to be had. It
was asserted that Little Crow had been well bribed by the
traders, and by the commissioners, too, and that his opinions
were the result of substantial considerations. If the charge were
true, the conduct of Little Crow was somewhat strange. He
spoke against considering the treaty until the money that was
being held back should be paid in hand. He demanded a reser-
vation that should come down the Minnesota to Traverse des
Sioux, and he wanted all the money and goods, and the most
favorable terms generally that could be had. He was in frequent
consultation with the commissioners during the days of waiting,
and at the last announced that he was ready to sign the treaty,
although some of the Indians had sworn that they would shoot
the first man of their tribe who put his hand to the goose quill
preparatory to subscribing to the hated contract.
Monday, August 5, was an eventful day in the deliberations.
The council met at 11 o'clock in the morning, and Chief Good
Road, of one of the band about Fort Snelling, was the first
speaker. He said: "We have several tilings to say about the
various matters before we sign this treaty." Colonel Lea replied :
"The treaty has been prepared after we have all agreed as to its
terms, and it is best not to delay any further. We will have the
treaty read in English and explained in the Dakotah language,
so that all can see that it is a good treaty." Rev. S. R. Riggs,
the missionary, read the treaty slowly, and explained it in Sioux
very fully. Governor Ramsey then said: "The chiefs and head
men have heard the treaty in their own language. Who will
sign first?" There was a silence of some minutes, when Colonel
Lea indicated that Little Crow should be the first to sign, but
the chief smiled and shook his head. At last Wabasha arose and
-aid :
"You have requested us to sign this paper, and you have told
these people standing around that it is for their benefit; but I do
not think so. In the treaty you have read you mention a lot
about farmers, schools, physicians, traders and half-breeds, who
are to hv paid out of the money. To all of these I am opposed.
You see these chiefs sitting around here. They and some others,
who are dead, went to Washington twelve years ago and made
a treaty in which some things were said; hut we were not hene-
1 b] them, and I w .nit them struck out of this one. We want
nothing hut cash for our lands. Another thin;,;-: You have
named a place for our home, hut it is a prairie country. 1 am a
man used to the w Is, and do nol like the prairies; perhaps
ho are here will name a place we would all like
better. Another thing: When 1 went to Washington to see our
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 47
Great Father, he asked us for our land, and we gave it to him,
and he agreed to furnish us with provisions and goods for twenty
years. I wish to remain in this country until that time expires."
Colonel Lea made an indignant and severe reply to Wabasha,
although as a matter of fact Wabasha's request was not perhaps
so very unreasonable. The colonel declared that the chief had a
forked tongue, and was neither the friend of the white man or
the Indians. "We know that the treaty does not meet his views,
and we do not expect to be able to make one that will suit him,"
said Colonel Lea. "We know that he tried to deceive the Indians
and us. He wanted to have the Madawakantons and Wahpa-
kootas make a treaty by themselves — a separate treaty — and
leave out the upper bands altogether. He did not want them to
have a good treaty unless he could dictate just how it should be.
He advised you to ask $6,000,000 for the land, which he knew
was a foolish proposition. We are surprised to find a chief like
him, whose father and grandfather were great chiefs. We have
talked much about this treaty, and we have written and signed
it, and now it is too late to talk of changing it." After Colonel
Lea had finished this stinging rebuke, which must have gone deep
to the heart of the proud old chief, there was evident dissatisfac-
tion among the Indians. Governor Ramsey quickly asked : "Will
either of the principal chiefs sign? Do they say yes or no?"
But they said neither. They were silent for a time, and evi-
dently displeased. For a while it looked as though the papers
would not receive a single Indian signature. At last Bad Hail,
the second chief of Gray Iron's band, arose and said that if two
claims against the whites could be settled, he and others would
sign. Chief Shakopee then came forward and laid before the
commissioners a written deed, made and signed by the Indians
in 1837, and conveying to their kinswoman, Mrs. Lucy Bailly
(nee Faribault), the wife of Alexis Bailly, three sections of land,
including the present site of the town of Shakopee. The chief
said the Indians desired that this land be secured to Mrs. Bailly
by the treaty; or that, instead, the sum of $10,000 in cash be
paid her. Bad Hail presented another paper, providing that a
provision be made in the treaty for the reservation of several
hundred acres for the heirs of Scott Campbell, the noted old
interpreter at Fort Snelling. Stands Astride, the second chief
of Shakopee's band, demanded that the request made in both
papers be complied with. But Colonel Lea replied : "Our Great
Father will not allow us to write such things in treaties. If you
wish to pay Mrs. Bailly $10,000, you can do so out of your own
money when the treaty is ratified, and you can pay Scott Camp-
bell's heirs as much as you please; the money will be yours."
Little Crow again spoke, and was, as before, listened to with the
48 HISTORY OF RICE AXD STEELE COUNTIES
deepest attention. He said he had been raised in a country
where there were plenty of trees and extensive woods, in which
wild game could be found. If the Indian reservations were made
to extend eastward to Traverse des Sioux, there would be plenty
of woods, and he would be satisfied. The land provided for the
future home of his band was too much prairie. Shakopee's
brother now came forward, and, speaking very loudly and ear-
nestly and to the point, said he represented the Indian soldiers,
or braves, and was one of the owners of the land. "The chiefs
don't seem to do anything," he said, "and we must be heard."
Like Little Crow, he thought the east line of the proposed reser-
vation was too high up in the prairies, and he indicated Lake
Minnetonka and Minnehaha creek as the locality where he
thought the Medawakantons would, in the future, be willing to
live and die, to make it the perpetual home of the band. He said
the soldiers were satisfied with the other parts of the treaty.
Governor Ramsey saw a valuable opportunity. He began flatter-
ing not only the warrior who had spoken, but also the other
Indian soldiers, saying they had spoken out boldly and like men.
The commissioners, he said, have been waiting to hear what the
warriors wanted. "Now," said the governor, "we will come
down with the reservation to the Little Rock river, where it
empties into the Minnesota ; this line will certainly give you
timber enough." Another soldier arose and demanded that the
treaty with the Chippewas be abrogated so that he and the other
Sioux could go to war against them whenever they pleased. Xo
attention was paid to this speech, except to laugh at it. Then
Chief Wacoota, the mild-mannered, gentle-hearted head of the
Red Wing band, arose, and speaking somewhat slowly and de-
liberately, made a somewhat lengthy speech, in which he said
that the treaty was all right upon its face, but the Indians, and
he among them, feared that when it was taken to Washington it
would In- changed to their great injury, just as the treaty of 1837
had been changed. "1 say it in good feeling," declared Wacoota,
"but I think you yourselves believe it will be changed without
our consent, as the other treaty was." lie said, as to future
reservation. In- wanted it smith of where he and his band then
lived (in the Cannon river country 1 ), or he would like his par-
ticular reservation to be at Pine Island, or on the Mississippi,
which locality, he asserted, was a good place for the Indians.
Me wanted this condition put in the treaty if it was right and
just, but if not. then "say no more about it." lie declared he
.■ a pleased with the treaty generally, but hoped that the farming
for the Indians would be better done than it had been, (iovernor
Ramsey complimented Wacoota "as a man 1 always listen to
with great respect." Wacoota, it will thus be seen, wanted the
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 49
reservation in the south part of what is now Minnesota, prac-
tically in what is now Goodhue county, others wanted it in other
places, in fact, there was so wide a diversity of opinion that the
red men would probably never have agreed among themselves,
even if the matter had been left entirely to them. The commis-
sioners honestly considered that they had selected a good place
for the Indian reservation. There would be plenty of wood and
water, and the Indians could continue to hunt in the big woods
and elsewhere in their former hunting grounds as usual until
the whites should come in and settle upon the lands.
Wabasha now arose and asked whether or not it was designed
to distinguish the chiefs and second chiefs by marks of distinc-
tion, and allow them more money than the common Indians
should receive. Colonel Lea answered : "Wabasha now talks
like a man." The colonel said that it was due to the station and
responsibility of the chiefs that they should be distinguished
from the other Indians. He said that each chief ought to have a
medal and a good house to live in, so that when his friends came
to see him they could be accommodated properly. Wabasha
again arose. This time he turned his back upon the commis-
sioners and spoke to his warriors somewhat vehemently, but
with dignity. "Young men," he said, "you have declared that
the chief who got up first to sign the treaty, you would like
killed; it is this talk that has caused all the difficulty. It seems
that you have agreed among yourselves that you will sell the
land, and you have done it in the dark. I want you to say now
outright, before all the people here, whether you are willing to
sell the land." Shakopee's brother, the speaker for the warriors,
sprang to his feet and called out excitedly: "Wabasha has ac-
cused us of something we never thought of. The warriors heard
that the chiefs were making a treaty and the}' did not like it, for
the land really belongs to the warriors and not to the chiefs ; but
they never spoke of killing the chiefs. It was true that the sol-
diers have got together and agreed to sell the land ; they have
told him so, and now I have said so." Governor Ramsey, seeing
this opportunity, quickly said : "This, then, being the under-
standing, let the soldiers tell us what chief shall sign first."
Medicine Bottle, the head soldier of Little Crow's Kaposia band,
arose and said : "To the people who did not go to Washington
and make the treaty — to them belongs the land on this side of
the river. There is one chief among us who did not go to Wash-
ington at that time, and the soldiers want him to sign first. He
has been a great war chief, and he has been our leader against
the Chippewas. It is Little Crow. We want him to sign first."
Little Crow promptly arose. Without a tremor he faced the
scowling warriors who had opposed the treaty, and in his well
50 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
known clarion voice, keyed to a high pitch, he thus addressed
them :
"Soldiers, it lias been said by some of you that the first that
signs this treaty you will kill. Now I am willing to be first, but
I am not afraid you will kill me. If you do, it will be all right.
A man has to die sometime, and he can die but once. It matters
little to me when my time comes, nor do I care much how it
comes, though I would rather die fighting our enemies. I be-
lieve this treaty will be best for the Dakotas, and I will sign it,
even if a dog kills me before I lay down the goose quill." Then,
turning to the commissioners, he said: "Fathers, I hope you will
be willing to let our new reservation come down to the Traverse
des Sioux, so that our people can be comfortable and not
crowded, and have plenty of good hunting and fishing grounds.
The Swan lake and other lakes have plenty of fish and wild rice,
and there is plenty of wood. Rock creek is not far enough down
for us. I am glad that we can hunt in the big woods as hereto-
fore, but I hope you will bring our new home down to Traverse
des Sioux." If Little Crow's request had been granted, the
eastern boundary of the new reservation would have extended
about forty miles below Rock creek, or two miles east of St.
Peter, and would have included the present sites of that city,
New Ulm and Mankato. The commissioners declined the re-
quest. Colonel Lea said : "The reservation is all right as it is."
Governor Ramsey said : "We have marked out a large piece of
land for your home; the soldiers asked us for more and we gave
it. It is all that we can do." Colonel Lea added: "No man
puts any food in his mouth by much talk, but often gets hungry
if he talks too long. Let the Little Crow and the other chiefs
step forward and sign." Finding the commissioners firm, Little
Crow now stepped to the table and being handed a chair, sat
down and signed each of the duplicate copies of the treaty. It
has been said that Little Crow was taught to write by the Rev.
Briggs at lac qui Parle, and another account declares with equal
assurance that his teacher was the Rev. Dr. Williamson, at
Kaposia. To the treaty Little Crow signed his original name.
Tab O-ya-te Doota, meaning His Red Nation. Wabasha was
the next to sign, making his mark. Thru the other chiefs, head
soldiers and principal warriors crowded around to affix their
marks. In all, there were sixty-five Indian signatures. Of Wa-
coota's band, the following affixed their signatures: Chief Wah-
koo tay, the Shooter; his head soldier, lion Cloud; and his prin-
cipal warriors, Good Iron Voice, Stands on the Ground, Stands
Above. Sacred Fire, Red Stones, Sacred Blaze and Iron Cane.
At Mendota, as at Traverse des Sioux, when the treaty was
concluded, each Indian signer stepped to another table where
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 51
lay another paper which he signed. This was called the traders'
paper, and was an agreement to pay the "just debts," so called,
of the Indians, including those present and absent, alive and
dead, owing to the traders and the trading company. Some of
the accounts were nearly thirty years old, and the Indians who
had contracted them were dead ; but the bands willingly assumed
the indebtedness and agreed that it might be discharged out of
the first money paid them. The territory ceded by the two
treaties was declared to be : "All their lands in the state of
Iowa, and also all their lands in the territory of Minnesota lying
east of the following line, to-wit : Beginning at the junction of
Buffalo river with the Red River of the North (about twelve
miles north of Morehead, at Georgetown station, in Clay county)',
thence along the western bank of said Red River of the North,
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 southern extremity thereof ;
thence, in a direct line, to the juncture of Kampeska lake with
the Tehan-Ka-Sna-Duka, or Sioux river; thence along the west-
ern bank of said river to its point of intersection with the north-
ern line of the state of Iowa, including all islands in said rivers
and lakes."
The lower bands were to receive $1,410,000, to be paid in the
manner and form following: For settling debts and removing
themselves to the new reservation, $220,000, one-half to the
Medawakanton bands, and one-half to the single Wahpakoota
band ; for schools, mills, and opening farms, $30,000. Of the
principal of $1,410,000, the sum of $30,000 in cash was to be dis-
tributed among the two bands as soon as the treaty was ratified,
and $28,000 was to be expended annually, under the president's
direction, as follows: To a civilization fund, $12,000; to an
educational fund, $6,000; for goods and provisions, $10,000. The
balance of the principal, or $1,160,000, was to remain in trust
with the United States at 5 per cent interest, to be paid annually
to the Indians for fifty years, commencing July 1, 1852. The
$58,000 annuity interest was to be expended as the first install-
ment— $30,000 in cash, $12,000 for civilization, $6,000 for educa-
tion, and $10,000 for goods and provisions. The back annuities
under the treaty of 1837 remaining unexpired were also to be
paid annually. Their reservation was to extend from the mouth
of the Yellow Medicine and Hawk creek southeasterly to the
mouth of Rock creek, a tract twenty miles wide and about forty-
five miles in length. The half-breeds of the Sioux were to re-
ceive in cash $150,000 in lieu of lands allowed them under the
Prairie du Chien treaty of 1830, but which they had failed to
claim.
52 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
The written copies of the Traverse des Sioux and the Men-
dota treaties, duly signed and attested, were forwarded to Wash-
ington to be acted upon by the senate at the ensuing session of
congress. An unreasonably long delay resulted. Final action
was not had until the following summer, when, on July 23,
the senate ratified both treaties with important amendments.
The provisions for reservations for both the upper and lower
bands were stricken out, and substitutes adopted, agreeing to
pay ten cents an acre for both reservations, and authorizing the
president, with the assent of the Indians, to cause to be set apart
other reservations, which were to be within the limits of the
original great cession. The provision to pay $150,000 to the
half-bloods of the lower bands was also stricken out. The
treaties, with the changes, came back to the Indians for final
ratification and agreement to the alterations. The chiefs of the
lower bands at first objected very strenuously, but finally, on
Saturday, September 4, 1852, at Governor Ramsey's residence
in St. Paul, the)- signed the amended articles, and the following
Monday the chiefs and head men of the upper bands affixed
their marks. As amended, the treaties were proclaimed by
President Fillmore February 24, 1853. The Indians were allowed
to remain in their old villages, or, if they preferred, to occupy
their reservations as originally designated, until the president
selected their new homes. That selection was never made, and
the original reservations were finally allowed them. The removal
of the lower Indians to their designated reservation began in
1853, but was intermittent, interrupted and extended over a
period of several years. The Indians went up in detachments,
as they felt inclined. After living on the reservation for a time,
some of them returned to their old hunting grounds about
Mendota, Kaposia, Wabasha, Red Wing and the Cannon river
country, where they lived continuously for some time, visiting
their reservation and agency only at the time of the payment
of their annuities. Finally, by the offer of cabins to live in, or
other substantial inducements, nearly all of them were induced
to settle on the Redwood Reserve. SO that in 1862, at the time
of the outbreak, less than twenty families of the Medawakantons
and Wahpakootas were living off their reservation. With the
subsequent history of these Indians this volume will not deal in
detail; the purpose of treating with the Indians thus far in this
chapter having been to show the various negotiations by which
Rice and Steele' comities and the surrounding territory came into
the possession of the whites and was thus opened for settlement
and development.
The Wapakootas who signed this treaty were the head chief.
Walking Whistling Horn, better known as Red Legs; his head
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 53
soldier, Pay-Pay, or the Sharp ; and his principal men, Red
Armor, the Third Son, Gray Crest, Voice That Can Be Heard,
Bad Cloud, His Mind and Fearful Night.
Of these, Hu-sha-sha, or Red Legs, the chief, took part in
the outbreak of the sixties only as a soldier. He died at the
Santee Agency, Nebraska, in about 1895.
n
CHAPTER IV.
AS WABASHA AND DAKOTA.
Rice and Steele Counties Made Part of the Seventh District by
Territorial Proclamation — Made a Part of Wabasha County
By Territorial Legislature — Becomes a Part of Dakota
County in 1851 — Rice County Created with Extensive Area
in 1853 — Steele County Created in 1855.
Rice and Steele counties were originally included in Wabasha
county, or Wabashaw, as it was then spelled, which was one of
the nine original counties created by the first territorial legis-
lature.
The first session of the legislative assembly of the territory of
Minnesota was held at St. Paul, commencing on the third day of
November, 1849. It convened in pursuance of the proclamation
by the governor.
This proclamation, issued by Governor Ramsey, July 7.
1849, divided the territory into councillors' districts. The only
settlers in what are now Rice and Steele counties were at the
trading post at the present site of Faribault, in Rice county. This
was included in the seventh district.
Wabashaw county, as "erected" by the act of October 27.
1849, comprised practically all of the southern part of the presenl
state of Minnesota. Its northern boundary was the parallel
running through the mouth of the St. Croix and the mouth of
the Yellow Medicine rivers; its southern boundary was the Iowa
line; its eastern the Mississippi, and its western the Missouri,
and it also included the big peninsula between the Missouri and
the Big Sioux rivers, and all of what is at present southwestern
South Dakota. Of this vast county the present Rice and Steele
counties were a part.
By an act approved October 27, 1849, the territory was divided
into the counties of Washington, Ramsey. Benton, Itasca, V\
shaw, Dakota, Wahnahto, Mohkahto and Pembina. Only the
counties of Washington. Ramsey and Hen ton were fully organ
ized for all county purposes. The others were organized only
for the purpose of the appointment of justices of the peace, con-
stables, and such other judicial and ministerial offices as might
be speciall) provided For. They were entitled to "any number
of justices of the peace and constables, not exceeding six in
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 55
number, to be appointed by the governor, and their term of office
was made two years, unless sooner removed by the governor,"
and they were made conservators of the peace.
By an act approved November 1, 1849, a tax of one mill on
the dollar was levied for purposes of raising a territorial revenue,
and in unorganized counties the governor was required to ap-
point three assessors to assess all property therein subject to
taxation, and return the assessment roll by them made to the
clerk of the board of county commissioners of the county to
which their counties were attached for judicial purposes, and
that board was required to levy the tax, and the collector of
such county was requested to collect the tax and pay the same
into the treasury of such an organized county in the same manner
as they were required to do in such organized county of which
they were officers. The present Rice and Steele counties were
at that time a part of the unorganized county of Wabashaw,
which was attached to Washington county for judicial purposes.
By an act of the legislative assembly, approved November 1.
1849, it was provided that a general election should be held on
the fourth Monday of November of that year, at which there
should be elected in each organized county for county purposes
three county commissioners, one sheriff, one register of deeds,
one county treasurer, one judge of probate, three assessors and
two justices of the peace, as well as two constables for each
election precinct. By an act of November 1, 1849, provision
was made for the election in each precinct in the organized
counties of two justices of the peace, their qualifications, juris-
diction and duties defined, and a code of procedure in justice
courts established. By an act approved October 27, 1849, provi-
sion was made for the election of the boards of county commis-
sioners in organized counties, consising of three members, ami
defining their duties. They were to hold office for three years.
An act of November 1, establishing probate courts in organized
counties provided for the election of a judge of probate and
defined his duties. The term of office was three years. By
act of October 31, 1849, the election of a sheriff in organized
counties was provided for, his duties prescribed, and provision
made for collecting county revenue. An act of November 1, 1849.
provided for the election of a register of deeds in organized
counties and prescribed his duties. The term of office was two
years, and the register was to serve as clerk of the board of
county commissioners. An act of November 1, 1849, provided
for the election of county treasurers in organized counties, and
prescribed their duties. The term of office was one year. Clerks
of the court were appointed by the judges. All the provisions
made by these acts of October 31 and November 1 applied to
56 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
organized counties. Wabasha county was created but not organ-
ized, and these provisions as to officers did not apply within its
borders, which, as then constituted, included the present Rice
and Steele counties.
Qualification of Voters. By an act approved November 1,
1849, the qualifications of voters in the territory were defined as
follows: All free white male inhabitants over the age of twenty-
one years who shall have resided within the territory for six
months next preceding any election, shall be entitled to vote at
such election * * * provided that they shall be citizens of
the United States for a period of two years next preceding such
election, and have declared on oath before any court of record
having a seal and a clerk or in time of vacation of said court
before the clerk thereof, his intention to become such, and shall
have taken an oath to support the constitution of the United
States and the provisions of an act of congress entitled "An Act
to Establish the Territory of Minnesota," approved March 3,
1849. * * * That all persons of a mixture of white and
Indian blood who shall have adopted the habits and customs of
civilized men are hereby declared to be entitled to all the rights
and privileges granted by this act.
Chapter 1, Revised Statutes of Minnesota of 1851, divides the
territory into Benton, Dakota, Itasca, Cass, Pembina, Ramsey,
Washington, Chisago and Wabashaw counties and defined their
boundaries.
By this revision the present Rice and Steele counties became a
part of Dakota county. It should be remembered that during
the period of two years when these counties ewre a part of
Wabasha county they were still in the possession of the In-
dians and aside from the men at the trading posts had no white
settlers.
Under the revised statutes, all the territory west of the Missis-
sippi river and east of a line running from Medicine Bottle's
village at Pine Bend, due south to the Iowa line, was erected into
a separate county to be known as Wabashaw. This included in
Wabashaw county a portion of what is now Dakota county as
well as all the present counties of Goodhue, Wabasha, Dodge,
Olmstead, Winona, Mower, Fellmore and Housted, but excluded
the present Rice and Steele counties.
By the same revision Dakota county was made to consist of
all that part of the territory west of the Mississippi river and
lying west of the county of Wabasha, and south of a line begin-
ning at the mouth of Crow river, and up said river and the north
branch thereof to its source and thence due west to the Missouri
river. Thus Dakota county then included portions of the present
counties of Dakota, Wright, Meeker. Stearns. Pope, Stevens
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 57
and Traverse, and all of Big Stone, Swift, Kandiyohi, Henne-
pin, Scott Carver, McLeod, Renville, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle,
Yellow Medicine, Lincoln, Lyon, Red Wood, Brown, Nicolet,
Sibley, Le Sueur, Rice, Steele, Waseca, Blue Earth, Watonwan,
Cottonwood, Murray, Pipestone, Rock, Nobles, Jackson, Martin,
Faribault, Freeborn, as well as all the counties in what is now
South Dakota, west of the counties named to the Missouri river.
By the laws of 1852, page 51, the boundaries of Dakota
county, then including the present Rice and Steele counties, were
still further curtailed, Hennepin county being set off. It was
enacted "That so much of Dakota county as lies north of the
Minnesota river, west of the Mississippi river and east of a line
commencing at a place known as the Little Rapids on the said
Minnesota river, thence in a direct line north by west to the forks
of the Crow river, thence down the Crow river to the Missis-
sippi be, and the same is hereby erected into a separate county,
which shall be called the county of Hennepin. The act provided
that "for election purposes it shall remain as at present, in con-
junction with Dakota county, so far as relates to the election of
a councellor and two representatives, until the next apportion-
ment of representation."
Rice County was created by act of the territorial legislature
March 5, 1853. Section 7, chapter 15 (General Law r s of Minne-
sota, 1853) gives the boundaries as follows: Beginning at the
southwest corner of Dakota county, thence west along said
county line to Lake Sakatah, thence south to the Iowa state
line, thence east along said state line to the southwest corner
of Fillmore county, thence along the west lines of Fillmore,
Wabasha and Goodhue counties to the place of beginning.
Steele County was created by act of the territorial legislature,
approved February 20, 1855. Section 7, chapter 6 (Laws of
Minnesota, 1855), gives the boundaries of Steele county as fol-
lows : Beginning at the southwest corner of township 105, range
19 west; thence running west thirty miles on said township
line, to the township line between ranges 24 and 25 west; thence
north twenty-four miles on said township line to the township
line between townships 108 and 109; thence east on said town-
ship line thirty miles to the township line between ranges 19
and 20 west; thence south on said township line to the place of
beginning.
Subsequent changes and modifications are noted under the
history of the separate counties, in Parts II and III of this work.
CHAPTER V.
JUDICIAL HISTORY.
Henry H. Sibley and His Extensive Jurisdiction — Judicial Dis-
tricts — Rice and Steele Counties Under Judicial Jurisdiction
of the Court of Washington County in 1849 — Under the
Judicial Jurisdiction of Ramsey County in 1851 — Attached to
Dakota County in 1853 — Rice and Steele Counties Included
in the Fifth Judicial District With Hon. N. M. Donaldson
on the Bench.
Henry H. Sibley, living at Mendota, was the first officer of
civil justice in the area now including Rice and Steele counties.
He received his appointment as a justice of the peace, first from
Governor Porter, of Michigan, and later from Governor Cham-
bers, of Iowa. In writing of his early experiences, General
Sibley has given us some amusing as well as enlightening side
views of frontier justice. A selection from his manuscript is as
follows:
"It may seen paradoxical, but it is nevertheless true, that 1
was successively a citizen of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Min-
nesota territories, without changing my residence at Mendota.
The jurisdiction of the first named terminated when Wisconsin
was organized in 1836, and in turn Iowa extended her sway over
the west of the Mississippi in 1838. When the latter was
admitted as a state, with very much diminished area, t lie country
lying outside of the state boundaries was left without any gov-
ernment until the establishment of the Minnesota territorial
organization placed us where we now are. It was my fortune
to be the first to introduce the machinery of the law into what
our legal brethren would have termed a benighted region, having
received a commission of justice of the peace from the governor
of Iowa territory for the county of Clayton. This county was
an empire of itself in extent, reaching from a line some twenty
miles below Prairie du Chien. on the west of the 'Father of
W r aters,' to Pembina, and across to the Missouri river, As I was
the only magistrate in this region and the county seat was some
300 miles distant. I had matters pretty much under my own
control, there being little chance of an appeal from my deci
-ii his. In fact, some of the simple-minded people around me
firmly believed that I had the power of life and death. On one
S8
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 59
occasion I issued a warrant for a Canadian who had committed a
gross outrage and then fled from justice. I dispatched a trusty
constable in pursuit, and he overtook the man below Lake Pepin
and brought him back in irons. The friends of the culprit begged
hard that he should not be severely punished, and, after keeping
him in durance vile for several days, I agreed to release him if
he would leave the country, threatening him with dire vengeance
if he should ever return. He left in great haste and I never saw
him afterwards.
"I had the honor of being foreman of the first grand jury
ever impanneled on the west of the Mississippi river, in what is
now the state of Minnesota. The court was held at Mendota,
Judge Cooper being assigned to that district. His honor delivered
a written charge of considerable length, and really it was an able
and finished production. Unfortunately, out of the twenty odd
men who composed the jury, but three, if I recollect rightly,
could speak English, the rest being Frenchmen, who were, to a
man, profoundly ignorant of any language but their own. As a
matter of course, they were highly edified while engaged in
listening to the judge's charge."
March 3, 1849, the territory of Minnesota was created by
act of congress. By that act the judicial power of the territory
was vested in a supreme court, district courts, probate courts
and in justices of the peace. It was provided by that act that
the territory should be divided into three judicial districts and
that a district court should be held in each of the said districts
by one of the justices of the supreme court at such times and
places as might be prescribed by law. It was also provided that
temporarily, or until otherwise provided by law, the governor
of said territory might define the judicial districts of said ter-
ritory, and assign the judges who might be appointed for said
territory, to the several districts, and also appoint the times and
places for holding courts in the several counties or subdivisions
in each of the judicial districts by proclamation.
Governor Ramsey arrived at St. Paul, May 27, 1849, and on
June 11, issued his proclamation dividing the territory into three
judicial districts. The third district had no definite boundaries,
but in general included all that part of the territory south of
the Minnesota, and south to the Mississippi from where it
receives the waters of the Minnesota to the Iowa line. This
included the present Rice and Steele counties. Court was ordered
to be held at Mendota on the fourth Monday in August and the
fourth Monday in February.
At the first session of the territorial legislature only Wash-
ington, Ramsey and Benton counties were fully organized for all
county purposes. The other counties in the territory were
GO HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
attached to some one of these counties for judicial purposes.
Wabasha county, then including the present Rice and Steele
counties, was attached to Ramsey county for that purpose.
March 5, 1853, Dakota county was fully organized and terms
of court were appointed to be held therein, on the second Mem-
day of September in each year, and lion. David Cooper was
assigned as judge thereof. Rice county, which had been created
and included the present Steele county, was attached to Dakota
county for judicial purposes.
Judge Cooper held court in Mendota the fourth Monday in
August, 1849. H. H. Sibley was foreman of the grand jury, the
first ever impaneled west of the Mississippi, in Minnesota. Judge
Cooper delivered a written charge, able and finished, but as
appears in General Sibley's reminiscences, only three of the
twenty odd men composing the jury understood a word of the
language he was speaking. Major Forbes served as interpreter
through the term, but no indictments were found. The court
was organized in a large stone warehouse belonging to the Fur
Company. Judge Cooper's term of office was from June 1, 1849.
to April 7, 1853.
The first district court for the county of Dakota, to which
Rice county (which included the present Steele county) had
been attached, was held in Mendota on the second Monday of
September, 1853 (September 12), as appointed to be held by the
law organizing the county. Judge Andrew G. Chatfield (who
went on the bench April 7, 1853) presided. The officers of the
court present were : W. W. Irwin, marshal of the United States
for the district of Minnesota ; J. C. Dow, district attorney ; A. R.
French, sheriff of Dakota county; J. J. Noah, clerk, represented
by Dwight Downing, his deputy. Edmund Brisette was ap-
pointed interpreter and James McShane. crier. Henry II. Sibley
was foreman of the grand jury. The grand jurors were: Henry
H. Sibley, James McBoal, Claude Cournover, James M. Griggs,
Thomas Odell, Baptiste Cudet, James Locke. Patrick Quigley,
William L. Batley, Louis Martin. Henry Coleoff, George Fari-
bault, Andrew Robertson, O. P. Bromley. John W. Brown, Elias
Cope, Horace Dresser, William Bissell. Michael Lemell and
Francis Gamell. The petit jurors were: James Thompson, Peter
M Califf, Albert Webster, Warren Woodbury, John McShane,
Patrick A. Moran, Duncan Campbell, Louis Fourcier, Hugh
Kirkpatrick, Sylvester M Cook. George Bell, David Cope,
William Quinn, Baptiste Campbell, Peter St. Antoine, Norbesl
Paquin, Joseph Gervais, Louis Lendivche, Alexander McCloud,
Franklin J. Bartlett, Joseph R. Brown, Amiable Turpin and
Janus Bruce.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 61
The grand jury was in attendance six days and the petit jury
five days.
On March 6, 1854, Judge Chatfield ordered a special term of
court to be held on the thirteenth day of April, 1854, in said
county; and a panel of grand and petit jurors to be drawn and
summoned for the same. The special term was held on that
date at Mendota and the officers present were: Andrew G. Chat-
field, judge; Andrew J. Whitney, acting United States marshal;
Franklin J. Bartlett, sheriff ; J. J. Noah, clerk. Dr. Thomas
Foster was appointed foreman of the grand jury. The grand
jury was in attendance four days, and there is no record that it
found any indictments. The petit jury was in attendance, but
there is no record of the trial of any case by it.
The next general term of the district court for Dakota county
was held at Mendota, August 28, 1854. The officers present
were: Andrew G. Chatfield, judge; W. W. Irwin, marshal;
F. J. Bartlett, sheriff ; J. J. Noah, clerk. Two indictments were
found by the grand jury against James Grant for selling liquor
without a license, both of which were dismissed on motion of
the defendant's attorney. One civil case was tried by the jury
at this term. The jurors were in attendance four days and the
court was in session six days.
The next term was held at Mendota, February, 26, 1855. The
officers present were: Andrew G. Chatfield, judge; A. C. Jones,
marshal, F. J. Bartlett, sheriff; J. J. Noah, clerk; J. C. Dow,
prosecuting attorney. This term was in session five days. No
indictments were returned and no jury cases were tried.
The next term was held at Mendota, August 27, 1855. The
officers present were: Andrew G. Chatfield, judge; A. C. Jones,
deputy United States marshal ; Norman Eddy, United States dis-
trict attorney; F. J. Bartlett, sheriff; J. J. Noah, agent. A. M.
Hayes was appointed by the court as district attorney for the
term. Court was in session six days.
The next term of the court was held in Mendota, February
25, 1856. The officers present were : Andrew G. Chatfield, judge ;
W. W. Irwin, United States marshal ; Norman Eddy, United
States district attorney ; E. F. Parker, prosecuting attorney ;
John Devlin, sheriff; J. J. Noah, clerk. The term was in session
seven days.
The next term was held at Mendota, August 13, 1856. The
officers present were: Andrew G. Chatfield, judge; John Devlin,
sheriff; J. J. Noah, clerk. The term was in session eight -lavs.
John J. McVay was admitted to the bar at this term.
Judge Chatfield's term expired April 23, 1857, and he was
succeeded by Judge Charles E. Flandrau, whose distinction as a
62 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
soldier, citizen and historian was equal to his reputation as a
jurist.
A special term of court was held in Smith's hall, Hastings,
August 31, 1857, and was in session one day. The officers present
were: Charles E. Flandrau, judge; George S. Winslow, clerk;
Edward F. Parker, district attorney.
A general term of the district court was held in Burgess hall.
Hastings, December 27, 1857. The officers present were: Charles
E. Flandrau, judge; George S. Winslow, clerk; E. F. Parker,
district attorney; John Devlin, sheriff. This term remained
in session until January 15, 1858.
By an act of congress passed February 26, 1857," the people
of the territory of Minnesota were authorized to form a con-
stitution and state government, preparatory to their admission
into the Union, and it provided for the election of delegates on
the first Monday in June, 1857, to a constitutional convention
to be held on the second Monday in July, 1857. Such a conven-
tion was held and a constitution formed on August 29, 1857,
which was submitted to a vote of the people at an election held
on the thirteenth day of October, 1857, and adopted.
That instrument provided that every free white male inhabi-
tant over the age of twenty-one years, who had resided within the
limits of the state for the ten days previous to the day of said
election, might vote for all officers to be elected under the con-
stitution at such election, and also for or against the adoption
of the constitution. It also provided for the election at such
election time of members of the house of representatives of the
United States, governor, lieutenant-governor, supreme and dis-
trict judges, members of the legislature and all other officers
designated in that constitution. It also, for the purposes of first
election, divided the state into senatorial and representative
districts. The constitution also divided the state into six judicial
districts until the legislature should otherwise provide. The
counties of Washington, Chisago, Anoka, Pine, Buchanan, Carl-
ton, St. Louis and Lake were made to constitute the first judicial
district and the counties of Dakota, Goodhue, Scott, Rice, Steele,
Waseca, Dodge, Mower and Freeborn the fifth judicial district.
At the election, lion. S. J. R. McMillan was elected judge of
the first judicial district, and lion. X. M. Donaldson, of Owa-
tonna, judge of the fifth.
The judicial histor) of Rice and Steele counties, individually,
is continued in Parts II and HI of this work.
PART II
RICE COUNTY
CHAPTER I.
NATURAL PHENOMENA.
Introduction — Situation and Advantages — Natural Drainage —
Cannon River — Topography — Spil and Timber — The Bridge-
water Kame — Minerals from the Drift — Mastodon Remains
— Old Wells in Rice County — Artificial Mounds — Material
Resources — Building Stone, Bricks and Lime.
In the central part of that fertile triangle of land, formed by
the Mississippi river and the northeastwardly flowing Minnesota
is a beautiful county which has taken its name from Henry M.
Rice, whose voice and influence were so important factors in
shaping the destinies of Minnesota in its territorial and early
statehood days. Unusually blessed by nature with deep soil and
abundant natural resources, and endowed with a wealth of pre-
historic and historic lore, the county is a fitting home for the
sturdy people who have here made their dwelling place. Hard-
working, progressive, educated and prosperous, they have appre-
ciated the gifts which nature has spread for them, and have
added their own toil, and the fruit of their intellects, to the work
of the elements, making the county one of the beautiful spots of
the earth. On the hills graze cattle and sheep, while the level
lands respond to the efforts of the spring-time sower and planter
with a wealth of harvest in the summer and autumn. On nearly
every quarter section is reared a comfortable home and commo-
dious barns, while from the crest of every swell of land are
visible the churches and schools wherein the people worship the
Giver of all Gifts, and educate their children. Faribault, the
county seat, is known in all parts of the world as an educational
and religious center; the milling industry is but one of the fea-
tures that has made Northfield famous; as a dairy market, Mor-
ristown takes no backward place, and the other busy villages
and hamlets have had their share in the growth of the county
by furnishing a shipping and trading point for the agricultural
sections. Thus blessed by God and beloved by man, the county
today stands for all that is ideal in American life and is forging
ahead to still wider influence and more extended opportunity.
Rice county is situated in the triangle between the Missis-
sippi and that part of the Minnesota which flows northeastward,
65
66 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
and nearly in the center. Northfield, near the northern boun-
dary, is thirty-eight miles from St. Paul, and the eastern boun-
dary of the county is about the same distance from Lake Pepin.
Faribault, the county seat, at the forks of the Cannon river, is
about fifty miles south from St. Paul. The area of the county,
which includes twelve sections more than fourteen government
townships, amounts to 322,560.70 acres, of which 11,054.83 acres
consist of water.
Natural Drainage. The main artery of surface drainage is
the Cannon river, which flows northeasterly through the central
portions of the county. This stream, which moves with a smooth
current, receives the Straight river from the south at Faribault,
thus nearly doubling its volume. The Cannon river rises in the
lakes at Shieldsville, a few miles northwest of Faribault, at an
elevation of about 1,090 feet above the sea, and after a circuitous
route through Le Sueur county, enters the county again at a
point about seven miles from the point at which it left it.
Throughout its course it passes through numerous lakes, and its
main channel in Rice county, before its union with the Straight
river, is widened out in the form of lakes at four places. It has
the aspect in this part of its course of having once been occupied
by a larger stream than the present Cannon river. Thus the
Cannon river carries off the most of the surplus water from
most of the lakes that are scattered throughout the western half
of the county, though some of these waters seem to reach that
valley by underground drainage, the lakes having no visible out-
lets. In the southeastern part of the county the north branch
of the Zumbro rises in a long marsh, which extends uninter-
ruptedly to within a mile and a half of the Straight river. These
marshes, and several others in the county, are caused by the
impervious nature of the underlying Hudson river and Trenton
shales, and mark the channels of glacial drainage. In a similar
manner, the valley of Prairie creek, which once was one of volu-
minous discharge, extends nearly as far southwest as to the val-
ley of the Cannon river west of Cannon City. It is there partially
tilled up with drift.
To the most casual observer Rice county presents remarkable
contrasts in its drainage features. That portion which lies east
and southeast of the Cannon river is different from that portion
lying to the west and the northwest of that valley. The former
is undulating in long and gentle swells, with slow-flowing
streams that are fringed with wide, often marshy and quaking
low-lands. The streams are insignificant in comparison to the
valleys which they occupy; and they have a direct and well-
established direction of flow, without much tortuosity. Where
they leave Rice county, their channels are sunk from one to two
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 6?
hundred feet below the general upland level. The country here
drained is alike without lakes and timber. The latter is rolling
in short and often steep and frequent hills that rise from fifty to
a hundred feet above the surrounding country. Among these
hills the crooked streams wander with every conceivable curve
and change of direction, often encountering small lakes and re-
ceiving small tributaries that drain others. They have no deeply
eroded valleys, but run near the average low-land level of the
country where the present contours of surface will permit.
While there are frequent marshes here, they are isolated like
the lakelets, and have a similar relation to the drainage. In
this part of the county the precipitated moisture is retained by
the more slow course of surface drainage as well as by the more
gravelly and sandy nature of the surface drift materials. This
part of the county also is timbered, a circumstance that not only
produces, but also is favored by, a greater amount of natural
moisture within the drift materials and on the exposed surface.
This last has also retarded the former devastations by forest
fires. This wooded portion is on the eastern edge of the "big
woods" of Minnesota, or Bois fort, well and long known as one
of the great physical features of the surface of the state. Several
valuable water-powers have been improved in Rice county.
Topography. The eastern and southern portions of the
county are broadly undulating or smoothly rolling, with long
swells running so as to operate as the primary div'des between
the drainage valleys. The northeastern corner of the county,
east of the Cannon river, is characterized by considerable dif-
ferences of level, separated by plains that extend like terraces
along the river courses. The Prairie creek valley is thus a wide,
nearly level, expanse, bounded by an abrupt ascent of about a
hundred feet to a higher flat which extends, with an undulating
surface, right and left. The Cannon valley is the great topo-
graphic feature of the county. Its outer bluffs rise about 100
feet above the water at Northfields, about 250 at Dundas and 200
feet at Faribault. The water surface of Straight river descends
northward, within the county, from the level of about 1,050 feet
above the sea to 950. The Cannon river, in like manner, de-
scends, in crossing the county, from about 1,000 to 890 feet, its
source in the lakes at Shieldsville being about 1,090. The high
prairies in the towns of Wheeling and Richland are 1,150 to
1,200 feet above the sea. The high plateau east and southeast
of Cannon City is in general about flat, but has numerous deep
valleys that penetrate within the St. Peter sandstone. The head
of Prairie creek runs thus south and southwest far enough to
unite with the Cannon valley.
In the western wooded portion of the county there is a greater
r,8 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
diversity of the immediate surface contour, but the average ele-
vation is not so great as in the eastern, no known elevations
being above 1,125 feet. The lakes that dot the surface here add
much to the variety of topographic scenery. Some of these cover
an area each of two to three square miles, and have a depth often
to fifty feet.
The average elevation of the county may be estimated as
follows: Northfield, 990 feet above the sea; Wheeling, 1,110;
Richland, 1,175; Bridgewater, 1,010; Cannon City, 1,085; Wal-
cott, 1,100; Webster, 1,060; Forest, 1,025; Wells, 1,025; Warsaw,
1,070; Wheatland, 1,075; Erin, 1,090; Shieldsville, 1,075; Morris-
town, 1,045. From these figures the average elevation of the
county becomes 1,065 feet.
Soil and Timber. The soil of the upland prairies in the south-
eastern part of the county, including the towns of Richland,
Wheeling, Cannon City, and much of Northfield, is a black loam,
underlain by clay. In the low grounds along the valleys this
black loam is increased in thickness, and on some exposed knolls
the underlying clay becomes the surface soil. In the low prairies
of Northfield the subsoil is gravelly, and the soil itself, while
rich and dark, is apt to become sandy, particularly in the imme-
diate neighborhood of the bluffs where the St. Peter sandstone
has opportunity to mingle with it. In the western part of the
county, while the soil is a dark loam and equally fertile, gen-
erally, as that in the eastern, it has a subsoil mainly of stony blue
clay or a yellow pebbly loam, but on the gravelly hills, and on
some of the lower ridges, in Morriston and Shieldsville, and par-
ticularly in Webster, the subsoil is gravel and sand. This is
the case also in the terrace-flats that skirt the Cannon river. The
soils in the western part of the county arc much more stony
than in the eastern.
In ascending the Cannon valley from Northfield there is a
marked change in the character of the forest growth. About
Northfield, and northwardly through Dakota county, the trees
arc mainly of oak and aspen. But ascending the Cannon these
trees give place to sugar maple, butternut, ironwood, bass, ash,
etc. The shrubs are also affected by the same change. Differ-
ent species of hazelnut, ninebark and woodbine make their ap-
pearance as undergrowth, sharing the shade with little aspens
and wolfberries. The trees in the following list are arranged in
the estimated order of frequency.
Basswood. Common throughout the county, and especially
throughout the heavy timber in the flat or undulating tracts of
Bridgewater, Forest, Erin and Shieldsville.
American or White Elm, Also Known as Water Elm.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 69
Black Oak. This is the usual oak. It is most abundant as
small trees and shrubs ; and in the high and rolling parts of
Webster and Wheatland it is only found in this condition. Very
large trees, however, are scattered numerously through the heavy
timber everywhere.
Bur Oak. In exposed places, and particularly on the edges
of the timber bordering the prairie, this is very abundant. It
seems to endure fire better than the black oak, perhaps due to
its more corky bark, but it does not succeed so well as the
black oak on exposed and black hills or on poor soils. It occa-
sionally furnishes a log for lumber and is apt to be confounded
with the white oak, which is a much less common tree in the
county.
Silver Maple. A common tree, sometimes growing very large
and furnishing lumber, but generally not more than ten inches
in diameter so far as now seen in the county. It is common as
second growth after the cutting of the original forest.
American Aspen. Common on the outskirts of the timber,
on exposed hillsides, as in Webster, and as second growth in all
parts of the county ; generally not exceeding ten inches in
diameter.
Sugar Maple. This tree exhibits magnificent proportions in
some heavily wooded tracts, as in western Shieldsville and Erin.
It also sometimes starts up more numerous than any other tree
as a second growth. It is common throughout the timbered
portions of the county, and has been set for ornamental purposes
in most of the prairie portions. It furnishes considerable quan-
tities of syrup and sugar in Rice county, and is sometimes found
among the saw-logs at the mills at Morristown.
Slippery Elm or Red Elm. This makes better lumber than
the white elm, but it does not grow so large nor so straight.
Black or Water Ash. Some very large trees are found in
western Shieldsville.
Ironwood, Wild Plum, Box-elder. Not found in the heavy
timber, but along streams and lakes. This makes a low-branched,
rather small, irregular tree, and if it lives long it sustains a broad,
light-green mass of foliage supported generally by two or three
or more trunks from one root. It grows rapidly, has a dense
wood, but is not durable.
Butternut or Hickory, White Oak. Furnishes a valuable and
tough timber.
Cottonwood. Along the river bottoms, but not generally
through the county.
Water Beech, White Ash. Used for lumber. Some large
straight trees were seen in Shieldsville.
70 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Red oak, red or swamp maple, black walnut, large-toothed
aspen, hackberry, American crab-apple, tamarack, paper or canoe
birch, juneberry, balm of Gilead, white pine, dogwood, hazelnut,
smooth sumac, wild, redcherry, thorn, savin, American wood-
bine, grape, Virginia creeper, speckled alder, nine-bark, red-osier
dogwood, climbing bitter sweet, rose, dwarf wild rose, wolf-
berry, highblackberry, red raspberry, New Jersey tea, false
indigo.
The Bridgewater Kame. The most important phenomenon
of the drift in Rice county is the kame in Bridgewater and Can-
non City townships. It can be tiaced, with unimportant inter-
ruptions, from the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of
section 21, Bridgewater, to the northwest quarter of section 17.
Cannon City, on the west side of the river, a distance of five and
a half miles. It crosses the river twice, once in the northwest
quarter of section 4 and once in the east half of section 8. It
consists of gray gravel, with some larger stones, piled in a sharp
ridge, about as steeply as such materials wil! lie. It is popu-
larly known as a "horseback." It shows where the river ran
during some portion of the ice-age, while the ice itself was
present as a glacier and extended westward and northwestwardly
indefinitely.
This ridge rises conspicuously, first, on section 21, Bridge-
water, not far from Wolf creek. It is interrupted for about
twenty rods. The country through which it passes is flat or
slightly undulating. It rises again and has about the same direc-
tion. It crosses the railroad near the southeast corner of section
20, and the north and south highway east of the railroad, and
the east and west highway within a few rods of that. It has
several short gaps then, but can be traced nearly to the Cannon
river a little below the crossing on the northwest quarter of
section 4, Cannon City, where it is very prominent. It re-appears
in the southeast quarter of section 5. in the bottomlands of the
river, but on the opposite side. This flat is seventy-five feet
lower than the flat on which it lies in section 33. It is here lying
on the Shakopee limestone, with occasional knobs of the St. Peter
rising so as to be visible (one of them being visible under the
gravel at the edge of the kame where it is cut by the river in
section 8), but in section 33, at its most eastern turn, it lies on
a red till, though afterward, where it enters section 32, it lies
apparently on a gray till, if not directly on the underlying Shako-
pee. On the north half of the northeast quarter of section 8,
Cannon City, its upper outline is broken by rather abrupt
changes. It continues in the bottom lands (or flood-plain), the
strike of the St. Peter passing under it just where it reaches the
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 71
river and considerably increasing its elevation. It here meas-
ures, by aneroid, ninety-two feet in height. The flood-plain is
about 940 feet above the sea (eight feet above the river), and the
same rises to 1,032. The red till and loam, about one-eighth mile
farther east, here rise in a timbered bluff in which the lower
Trenton limestone is probably included, to 1,075 feet. Where
the kame ceases on the west side of the river in section 8, the
descent is as steep, to the very water, as on either side of the
kame itself. The direction of the kame at this point would cause
it to be expected on the west side of the river in the lowest part
of the old channel in the northwest part of section 17. Here
are found, actually, two ridges, but of less definite characters,
and neither of them can be affirmed to be the extension of the
kame, since they seem to blend with the generally bluffy till
area which here lies between the Milwaukee and the river. One
of these lies on each side of the north and south highway (like-
wise of the railroad). That on the east side, though capped and
flanked with gravel, at a height above the lower gravel terrace,
yet has a basis of St. Peter sandrock and red till with north-
eastern boulders. Its length is about an eight of a mile. Fur-
ther east and south the land soon rises into a rough moraine.
Toward the west the surface also rises irregularly, though some-
what in the resemblance of a ridge at first, on the west side of
which runs a little creek northward.
The kame, the course of which has been described, consists
entirely of gray gravel. It generally has not a sudden depres-
sion immediately alongside, in the average level of the country,
but the kame rises abruptly from the general flat, the angle being
from 25° to 35° from the horizon. Yet, although there is not a
sudden depression where it lies, there is perceptible in some
cases, a broad, basin-shaped valley through the lowest parts of
which it passes. This broad, smooth valley is from 100 to 120
rods in width. Such can be seen in section 21, Bridgewater.
The height of the ridge is usually from thirty to forty feet, with
a smooth exterior, but near the schoolhouse in the west part of
section 33, Bridgewater, its height is from seventy-five to eighty
feet, and in other places it has an average height of fifty feet.
Minerals from the Drift. Several pieces of native copper were
found years ago in the southeast quarter of section 8, Cannon
City, some in excavating for the foundation of a mill, and others
along the road between sections 8 and 9. They are from the red
till, which genenllv is there found lying in the eroded depres-
sions of the St. Peter sandstone.
Several pieces of silicified wood have been found at North-
field. These evidently are referable to the gravel and till of the
gray drift derived from the northwestward.
1=1 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Among the specimens obtained from the drift, now in the col-
lections of Carleton college, has been preserved a boulder of very
coarse porphyry. The crystals are apparently of albite, in a
compact greenish diabase. They are about one and a half inches
in length, the corners and edges rounded off, making the rock
resemble a conglomerate.
In the same collection of drift stones are several pieces, about
six inches long, of the felsite of the great palisades at Lake Supe-
rior, with the disseminated crystals of quartz and translucent
feldspar.
Small specimens of asbestos have been brought to Carleton
college, once said to have come from near Shieldsville, and once
from near Faribault. It is in silky threads that are fine and from a
vein in some rock. This vein is two and a half inches wide, the
threads running transverse to the direction of the vein, and pre-
senting a faulted structure near the middle of the vein. None
of the rock' is preserved in the samples seen, but as both speci-
mens have the same faulted structure they probably came from
the same vein, if not from the same boulder. The grain of
mineral, and its color, also indicate the same.
Mastodon Remains. TheMinnesota Historical Society has in
its collection the following letter, written some thirty years ago
by Prof. L. B. Sperry: "Carleton College, Northficld, Minn..
April 8, 1882. Prof. N. II. Winched, Minneapolis, Minn. Dear
sir: In reply to yours of the 3rd instant, making inquiries con-
cerning some remains of a mastodon found in this city in 1879,
and new in the cabinet of Carleton college. I would respectfully
state that the remains found here consist only of a part of one
tusk. This was exposed by some workmen while digging in a
deposit of drift about ten feet below the surface.
"The portion of the tusk found measured eight and one-half
feet in length and twenty two inches in circumference at the
base. When restored by continuing its general line of taper to a
point, it measures nearly twelve feet. The broken extremity of
the part found was so eroded and rounded as to render it evident
that it had been broken and separated from the terminal portion
before being deposited where it was found. Its whole appearance
indicates that it had shared the rough-and-tumble experience of
its associated drift material. Subsequent removal of much of
the surrounding bank has not revealed the separated extremity.
Exposure to the light and air has resulted in checking anil slack-
ing the discovered specimen, so that protection by the use of glue,
sizing and varnish became necessary, Yours cordially. 1.. B.
Sperry."
Old Wells in Rice County. In the following paragraphs there
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 73
have been preserved a list of the early wells in Rice county, sunk
previous to 1882. In later wells the same varieties of clay have
been encountered at about the same depths.
Wheatland. Wells in Wheatland township are generally in
blue clay after passing through two to four feet of yellow clay.
The latter contains pebbles and bits of cretaceous shale, and if
not a weathered condition of the blue till, is closely connected
with it in origin. Southwest quarter section 16, well, 33 feet;
yellow clay, then blue clay.
Webster. Southeast quarter section 17, well, 38 feet; all
yellow and blue clay except at the bottom, where water was
found in gravel. Pieces of Cretaceous scale and lignite were
found in this well. Section 14, well 42 feet ; yellowish-red clay,
18 feet; the rest was blue clay. Southeast quarter section 16;
well 54 feet ; said to be all in gravel, finding no water. This is on
land about twenty feet higher than the one on section 17. South
half of section 8; well 68 feet; yellow and blue clay. Southeast
quarter section 10 ; well 30 feet ; yellow loam 8 to 10 feet, then
blue clay and water in gravel. Northeast quarter section 14;
well 25 feet ; only yellow loam and blue clay.
Forest. Northwest quarter section 13; well 73 feet; dug all
the way ; yellow clay, blue clay, quicksand, the blue clay making
up the greater part of the depth, and the quicksand and gravel
at the bottom furnishing water. The blue clay had considerable
slate, and occasionally other stones as large as six inches. South-
west quarter section 12 ; well 24 feet ; yellow and blue clay ; water
in sand. East side of section 22 ; 25 feet deep ; mostly in yellow
clay. Northeast quarter section 15; well 18 feet; all in yellow
and blue clay, with pieces of Cretaceous shale. Northeast corner
section 10; well 96 feet; in clay all the way to the bottom, where
quicksand was struck, furnishing water. This well was bored 18
inches in diameter and planked with pine, thus rendering the
water foul. Section 35; well 110 feet; a bored well, formerly
good water.
Bridgewater. At St. Olaf school, section 36, Bridgewater,
near Northfield, the well is in sand 6 to 10 feet, sand rock 80 to
90 feet, Shakopee about 50 feet: water is raised by a windmill.
Northeast quarter section 33; four wells; all in blue clay; 45 feet
in blue clay, then limerock, then soapstone, there finding water,
at least stopping there ; probably seep water ; no red clay under
the blue clay. In this well was found a log 35 feet under the
surface in blue clay. Section 17, well 27 feet; soil and yellow
pebbly clay, 25 feet; sand, 1 foot; cemented yellow clay (hard-
pan), 1 foot; water rose about 8 feet.
Shieldsville. Northeast quarter section 1; well 20 feet; yel-
74 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
low clay 10 feet, blue clay 10 feet ; both with small stones ; water
from the clay. Another well was the same, though 8 feet higher
at the surface. The lakes at Shieldsville do not supply the wells
sunk near them, being in superficial basins in the impervious till.
Some wells are sunk 70 feet or more, near these lakes, without
getting a permanent supply of water.
Wells. Northeast quarter section 12; Well 47 feet; yellow
clay, 20 feet; sand, 2 feet; yellow, hard clay, 1 foot; blue clay,
25 feet; this well is about on the contour line of 1,000; the west
limit of the gravely, terrace-like expanse that accompanies the
Cannon valley. Southeast quarter section 6; well 33 feet; yellow
and blue clay, with gravel at the bottom. Section 21, well 45
feet; yellow loam, 12 feet; blue clay, 28 feet; gravel, 5 feet;
water. Section 21 ; well, on the brink of Roberds' lake ; 28 feet in
blue clay; though situated but 10 feet above the lake, this well
had no water. Northwest quarter section 6; well 6 or 8 feet deep
in gravel ; near the lake, but about 25 feet above the lake.
Cannon City. A well at Cannon City village passed through
soil and clay 30 feet and into limerock 3 feet. South part of sec-
tion 18 (west of the river) ; well 38 feet; yellow loam and clay, 4
feet; blue clay, 30 feet; sand, 4 feet; no water; small pieces of
lignite.
Morristown. At Morristown village wells are from 12 to 15
feet in depth, in gravel. Northeast quarter section 33; well 70
feet deep; only in drift deposits. When the wind is west air
comes into this well through the gravel near the bottom, and
when it is east air passes in the opposite direction through the
gravel. The well becomes so cold by this circulation that in
winter, at the depth of 70 feet, the bucket freezes fast if left
in the water. This well is in the prairie country, about 1,100
or 1,125 feet above the sea, with a westward slope toward a
marsh about a hundred rods from the well.
Warsaw. Southeast quarter section 34; well 13 feet; all in
yellow clay; water in a thin gravel bed. Northwest quarter sec-
tion 34; well 90 feet; yellow and blue clay; no water. Another
well ten or twelve feet west of the last, 50 feet deep, had a little
water, but not enough.
Walcott. Southwest quarter section 21; well. 6 feet; soil
and sand five and a half feet; then blue clay: water rises and
falls with Mud creek but is unfailing. This well is situated on
the terrace-flat that accompanies the Straight river, and is about
twenty-five feet above the river. Wells in section 14 and 11 are
shallow, and often in gravel.
Artificial mounds. At one-half mile north of the old Wheat-
land posloffice, southwest quarter section 16, Wheatland, sev-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 75
eral artificial mounds appear. They lie along a small lake which
is on the west side of the north-and-south road. Ihey are rather
small, not exceeding two feet in height. Five or six are visible
from the road. Ihere are probably others.
In Webster township, section 17, an eighth of a mile north
of Edward McFadden's, on the highest land, but yet surrounding
a marsh, may be seen a number of mounds rising two and a half
or three feet.
There was an Indian mound on section 2, Shieldsville, on the
south side of the outlet of the middle lake. According to Patrick
McKenna, one of the early settlers of Shieldsville, the Sioux In-
dians used to fix their camp at this place. They had a scaffold-
ing upon it where they placed their dead, and afterwards buried
their bones in the mound. This mound was from 10 to 12
feet high. It was removed by the owner of the land that the
surface might be tilled. Flint arrow-points have been found in
that neighborhood.
Mounds also exist in various places in the county, as will be
found by reading an earlier chapter in this work.
Material resources. Besides its fertile soil, and the large
supply of timber that originally covered most of the western
half of the county, Rice countv has natural means of wealth
derivable directly from the bedded rocks, viz., building stone and
lime. Bricks have also been made in a number of places.
Building stone. Numerous stone-quarries occur in the east-
ern half of the county. The bluffs throughout this region are
capped by a layer of the Trenton limestone varying from two or
three to twenty feet in thickness, and the same stratum outcrops
favorably at many points along the Straight and Cannon valleys.
This rock furnishes a useful stone for nearly all purposes i«-
common buildings, and is used throughout the county for walls
and foundations.
Bricks of a uniformly red color have been made in Faribault
at various times, and at one period assumed the proportions of
an important industry.
Lime. The upper strata of the Lower Trenton formation, as
exposed in this county, furnish tolerably good material for
quicklime, though in some places they are too siliceous and
aluminous. Lime has been made from this formation in every
township of the county east of the Cannon river.
Note. Few counties surpass Rice county in geologic features,
lying as it did at the edge of the ice cap of the last glacial period.
Its drift and its till, the Cannon river and Straight river terraces,
the gravel deposits and the morainic remains all offer a tempta-
tion for extended discussion. Some thirty years ago, Prof. L. B.
7G HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Sperry subjected the geologic formations of this county to minute
study, and his work was ably supplemented by the explorations
of Prof. N. H. Winchell and Dr. Warren Upham. The result of
their researches appears in Volume I, of the "Geological and
Natural History Survey of Minnesota," 1882-1885, which book,
though containing a vast amount of information in regard to Rice
county, is not commonly known to the people of this section.
Its perusal will well repay even the most casual reader, while
the student will find the book of immeasurable value.
CHAPTER II.
THE FARIBAULTS.
The Wapakootas — Early Explorations — Adventurers Who May
Have Reached Rice County — Official Surveys — "After
Eighty-four Years," an Interesting Paper by Stephen Jewett
Relating to the Faribaults — Biography of Jean Baptiste Fari-
bault — Biography of Alexander Faribault — He Begins Trad-
ing on the Cannon River in 1826 — Settlement of Indians at
Present Site of Faribault in 1834 — First Buildings — Distin-
guished Services of Alexander Faribault — The Passing of
the Red Men.
From time immemorial, until the signing of the treaty of
Mendota in 1851, the Wapakoota band of the Sioux Indians had
their habitation about the lakes of what is now Rice county,
and although, Indian fashion, they doubtless had small settle-
ments temporarily in various places, their permanent village in
this county, for centuries before the coming of the white men,
was probably in the vicinity of what is now Faribault. The
earliest whites found a settlement on the northeast shore of
Cannon lake, three miles west of the present site of Faribault,
and archaeological research reveals the same location as the site
of a still more ancient village. Long before the signing of the
treaty of 1851, the territory now embracing Rice county was well
known to the white men.
Neither Father Louis Hennepin, who, with his companions,
Pickard du Gay (Auguelle) and Michael Accault (or Ako), ex-
plored the upper Mississippi in 1680, nor Du Luth and his fol-
lowers who met Hennepin and ascended and later descended the
Mississippi with him, so far as we know, explored the triangle of
land lying between the Mississippi and the northeastwardly
flowing Minnesota.
The names of Perrot, La Hontan and Le Sueur are, however,
though vaguely and possibly incorrectly, associated with Rice
county.
Perrot established a trading post on the Mississippi, close
above the mouth of the Wisconsin, which he named Fort St.
Nicholas. In 1685, to extend his trade with the Indians, he built
a temporary trading post on the east side of the Mississippi
river, near Trempeleau, and afterwards the post called Fort St.
Antoine ("Anthony), on the northwestern shore of Lake Pepin.
77
78 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
about six miles from its mouth. He also had a post on the Min-
nesota shore of this lake at its outlet, called Fort Perrot. From
1685 until 1699 he conducted various explorations up the Mis-
sissippi and into the surrounding country. On May 8, 1689,
Perrot issued a proclamation in which he took possession of a
vast territory in the name of the king of France. This territory
included the basins of "the Bay des Puants (Green Bay) ; of
the lake and rivers of the Outagamis and Maskoutins (Fox river
and Lake Winnebago) ; of the river Ouiskonche (Wisconsin) and
that of the Mississippi; the country of the Nadouessioux (the
Sioux or Dakota Indians) and the rivers of St. Croix and St.
Pierre (the Minnesota) and other places more remote." All
these places, Perrot declared he had visited, and there is a pos-
sibility that he may have crossed Rice county.
Le Sueur built a fort on i J rairie Island (between Hastings
and Red Wing) in 1695 and ascended the Mississippi and Min-
nesota in 1700, using a sailing and rowing vessel and two canoes,
in his quest after what he supposed to be copper ore, near the
mouth of the Blue Earth river, at practically the present site of
Mankato. Le Sueur's journal, probably written by a secretary,
and that of Penicault, a ship carpenter who accompanied the
expedition, have been preserved. The Wapakootas had their
headquarters around the Blue Earth river as well as around the
sources of the Cannon, and Le Sueur and his men became fa-
miliar with this branch of the Sioux. It would be natural that
the exploring expeditions that were sent out in all directions
should reach Rice county.
Even so distinguished an authority as Joseph W. Nicollet
identifies a "Long river, described by La Flontan, as the Cannon
river of the present day." In a report to Congress some years
ago he said: "Having procured a copy of La Hontan's book, in
which there is a roughly-made map of his long river, I am struck
with the resemblance of its course, as laid down, with that of
the Cannon River, which 1 had previously sketched in my field
book." This Baron La Hontan was a French soldier-of-fortune,
who after seeking service in Canada, returned to France in 1703
and issued a book in which he claimed to have explored the upper
courses of the Mississippi. Early historians attempted to locate
the scenes of his marvelous adventures, and even identified the
Minnesota or the Cannon rivers as the "Long River," which
according to him, fell into the upper Mississippi from the west.
At the present day, however, it is believed that the alleged ex-
plorations of La Hontan were purely a work of fiction, fabri-
cated after conversations with Perrot and On Luth, and written
with an idea of obtaining money to actually visit the regions he
claimed to have explored.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 79
The French had three successive forts at the present site of
Frontenac in Goodhue County in the late twenties, the early
thirties and the early fifties of the eighteenth century, and from
there, exploring trips were conducted in various directions.
Johnathan Carver, an American, ascended the upper Missis-
sippi in 1766, but did not visit Rice County.
Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike explored the upper Mississippi for
the United States government in 1806-07 but likewise did not
visit Rice County.
In 1819, Col. Henry Leavenworth started to build at what
is now Mendota in Dakota County, the fort which was shortly
afterward moved across the river and is now Fort Snelling. From
that time, Rice County began to be more or less known to the
whites. May 10, 1823, the Steamer Virginia from St. Louis
arrived at Ft. Snelling, and the influx of white population was
started, although Rice County was not open to actual settlement
until 1853. (Note. — The treaty of Mendota was signed August
5, 1851. It was ratified with amendments by the United States
senate June 23, 1852. The amendments were accepted by the
Indians and President Millard Fillmore issued his proclamation
accepting, ratifying and confirming the treaty February 24,
1853.)
In 1826, Alexander Faribault came to Rice County with a
license to trade with the Indians. Stephen Jewett, who has
made a special study of the early days of this vicinity, has pre-
pared a paper on the Faribaults, which also gives the story of
the first settlement in Rice County and in Faribault.
Mr. Jewett's paper follows :
AFTER EIGHTY-FOUR YEARS.
The year 1826 is notable in the history of Faribault as the
date of the coming of Alexander Faribault to the site of the
place which now bears his name. Accompanied by his young
wife he chose the banks of the Straight River for his first camp-
ing place. Alexander Faribault was a lover of nature; and as
his eye swept over the unbounded prairie to the south, the Big
Woods and silver lakes to the west, and to the meeting of the
Cannon and Straight (Owatonna) rivers, it was to him indeed a
paradise; yet he knew the white man, and realized with a sigh
its future and manifest destiny.
"I hear the tread of pioneers,
Of nations yet to be;
The first low wash of waves where soon
Will roll a human sea."
80 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Such a scene of beauty as well as of lavish and undeveloped
wealth could never be forgotten by one whose innate love of
Nature was so strong. So in 1834 he returned to his early camp-
ing ground, where years after he became a large land-holder and
the principal proprietor of the city which bears his name.
The Faribault family came from Le Mans, France, where
there are few who bear the name. The American branch are
descendants of Bernard Faribault, Royal Bailiff, who was born
at Montbizot, on the Sarthe River, in 1669. He married three
times and left numerous children, and died on May 5, 1741 at
the age of seventy-two.
Berthelemy Faribault, the son of Bernard by his third wife,
Madeline Hanion (the widow Bounnault), was born at Mont-
bizot in 1713. He resided in Paris and practiced as an attorney.
In 1757, at the order of the French government, he sailed for
Canada to take an important position in the French army, which
was then under the command of the Marquis de Duquesne. He
held this position until the end of the unfortunate war which
decided the destiny of the French in America. Because of the
feeling between the two great nations which had for so long a
time fought for pre-eminence, Faribault went to Berthier, one
of the oldest parishes in Canada, where he chose the profession
of a notary. He died on June 20, 1801, at the age of eighty-
eight, leaving ten children.
Jean Baptiste Faribault, the seventh son of Berthelemy Fari-
bault, was born at Berthier in 1774. He had the good fortune to
secure a fair education, and left school at the age of sixteen to
accept a position with a merchant in Quebec. But notwithstand-
ing the fact that lie was held in the highest esteem, young Fari-
bault could not bring himself to spend the greater part of his
life behind a counter. The spirit of adventure drew him from
his native country, and choosing the free life of a fur trader, he
followed in the wake of Marquette, Hennepin and Du Luth to
that vast theatre where he could accomplish greater things. An
incident decided him to become a soldier. The Duke of Kent,
father of Queen Victoria, came to Canada with his regiment of
Royal Fusiliers. His command was quartered in Quebec, and
the parading of the soldiers was considered a splendid spectacle.
The brilliant uniforms of the prince and his officers and the
precise movements of the soldiers so charmed Faribault that
he made a sketch of them that called forth great admiration.
Although he had never taken lessons in drawing his sketches
showed talent and taste, The officers of the regimenl communi-
cated with the duke, who offered young Faribault a commission.
He would have accepted but for the opposition of his family, and
regretfully renounced the brilliant prospect which had been of-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 81
fered him. During his old age he frequently recalled the inci-
dent saying that but for his respect for his parents nothing
would have prevented him from leading a military life. The duke
permitted young Faribault to name a friend to fill the post which
he had declined, and the memoirs of Faribault state that the
favor was conferred on young de Salsberry, who received his
commission in 1791. De Salsberry was burning to enter the
service as a soldier, and amply justified the choice of his friend
in many dashing exploits, preludes to the victory of Chateauquay,
which he immortalized by his heroic bravery.
Faribault, with three other active young men, was selected
two years later by "The Company of the Northwest" to trade
with the Indians. Again his parents begged him not to leave
the parental roof, but this time, fascinated by the prospect of
adventure in the unknown, he was insensible to their remon-
strances. In June 1796 he left Montreal with his three com-
panions for Michillimackinac. Braving all difficulties, the hard
life and travel by canoes and through trackless forests, with the
necessity of transporting their baggage and provisions on their
shoulders over portages, he and his companions reached their
destination in twelve days, when he was given charge by Gov-
ernor Harrison of a trading post at Kankaki, a pretty village, half
French and half American, within the territory of the United
States. Aided by three Canadian voyageurs, he located the post
at the mouth of the Kankaki river, where he conducted a lucra-
tive business with the Indians, and, the spring following, with
the precious furs he had acquired, he reported at Machillimack-
inac to succeed there the agent of "The Company of the North-
west," who later, recognizing his services, gave him a more im-
portant post, that of Baton Rouge (Red Wood), on the Des
Moines river, where he soon acquired a knowledge of the Sioux
language. Here he remained for four years in almost complete
solitude. The region abounded in wild, fur-bearing animals of
all kinds, and was inhabited by the Sioux, Sacs, Renards and
Ioouas (Iowas). Traders and voyageurs passed the winter in
huts or in trunks of trees, and in the spring visited the different
camps to secure the proceeds of the winter's trapping.
His engagement terminated, Faribault proposed to return to
Canada, when he learned with grief of the sudden death of his
father and mother. This double sorrow decided him to continue
in the service of "The Company of the Northwest," and in the
winter of 1802 he was given a trading post on the River St. Pierre
(St. Peter — now the Minnesota), where he carried on profitable
trading with the Sioux. Here he was severely wounded in at-
tempting to defend a friend from the attack of an Indian. After
a sojourn of three years Faribault married the widow of Mr.
82 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Hanse, who had previously been superintendent of Indians. This
marriage caused him to decide definitely to remain in the midst
of the adventurous West. He was at this time thirty-one, and
his wife twenty-two, years of age.
In August, 1SG5, Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike, U. S. A., who was
commissioned by the government "to examine the country upon
the upper Mississippi, and maintain the interests of the govern-
ment," ascended the "Father of Waters" from St. Louis, and
mentions having been hospitably entertained by J. B. Faribault,
a French Canadian fur trader, on the banks of the St. Pierre
river, near the present site of St. Paul.
Hostilities having been declared in the autumn of 1808 be-
tween the Sioux and the Sauteaux (Chippewas) Faribault, not-
withstanding the dangers, determined to pass the following
winter with the Sioux Yankton, on the River Des Moines. His
further progress was arrested by the Ioouas, who threatened to
kill him and rob him of his merchandise, but he was rescued
by a large band of Yanktons, who escorted him to the post of
the company. By the following spring he had secured a large
quantity of pelts. After ten years of service with the company,
he chose Prairie-du-Chien for his trading post, where for many
years he was prosperous, as it was frequented by the Ouine-
bagons, Renards, and Sioux of the Ouakpe-Kouta band.
Anticipating the War of 1812, the English made strenuous ef-
forts to enlist the Indians of the Northwest to take up arms
against the Americans; and the traders, mostly Canadians, who
had much influence over the tribes, were offered commissions to
espouse the British cause. All accepted with the exception of
Jean Baptiste Faribault and Louis Provencalle, who lent their
heartiest service to the United States. Colonel McCall, having
been informed of their refusal, had Faribault arrested and im-
prisoned on board a gunboat commanded by Captain Anderson,
who was transporting to Prairie-du-Chien a troop for the pur-
pose of attacking the American garrison there. They wished to
force Faribault to take his turn at the oar, but he firmly replied
that he was a gentleman, and coidd not consent to do such
service. Colonel McCall, instead of punishing him for his haughty
response, admired his courage, admitted him to his own boat, and
treated him with marked attention. The English soldiers, to-
gether with the Canadians and Indians, on their arrival at
Prairie-du-Chien, prepared to storm the American garrison. At
their approach the families who resided on the outskirts of the
post precipitately abandoned their homes, Mrs. Faribault and
her children among the number, and ascended the Mis-Mssippi
in canoes to what is now Winona (Ouinnona — "the eldest daugh-
ter"). She supposed her husband to have proceeded to Mack-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 83
inac, having no idea he was a prisoner in the hands of the Eng-
lish, and later his courageous wife, ignoring the fact, returned to
Prairie-du-Chien. After an energetic resistance of three days
the fort surrendered and Faribault was released on parole, it
being thought that his hostility could in this manner be better
gauged. During the siege his house had been burned, his cattle
killed, and his merchandise pillaged to the extent of $12,000
This ruined him, taking from him the profits of many years an'd
of labor incalculable. However, he did not lose his indomitable
courage, and with renewed ardor commenced to repair his broken
fortune. His wife had found refuge with the Sioux, and these
Indians now brought him game and pelts in abundance.
The English having abandoned Prairie-du-Chien, the fort
was rebuilt by the Americans under the command of Colonel
Chambers. Faribault now became a naturalized citizen of the
United States, and took an active part in defending the frontier,
organizing a military company, of which he became first lieu-
tenant.
"The Company of the Northwest" had sold in 1809 their
rights to the "American Fur Company," of which John Jacob
Astor was the founder. Joseph Rolette was the agent, and from
him Faribault purchased supplies, and again commenced trading,
which he successfully conducted until 1819, when he located with
Colonel Leavenworth, near Fort Snelling, where he was soon
joined by his family. Colonel Leavenworth had offered Fari-
bault because of his intelligence, character, and extensive knowl-
edge of the Sioux, all possible encouragement to accompany him.
At this time Minnesota was a region where civilization had never
penetrated. In 1821 Colonel Leavenworth obtained from the
Sioux 9,000 acres of land at the confluence of the Mississippi and
Minnesota rivers, now Fort Snelling. Moreover, the Indians
by this treaty ceded their right to the Isle of Pike to Mrs. Fari-
bault "and her descendants, the said Pilagie Faribault being the
daughter of Francois Kinie, whose wife was one of our nation."
The right of Faribault to this island was later presented in con-
gress by S. C. Stambough and Alexis Badly, acting as attorneys
for J. F>. Faribault. In 1822 the high water of the Mississippi
submerged the entire island, and Faribault established himself
on the opposite plateau, where again unprecedented floods com-
pletely devastated the location, carrying oft" his house, drowning
his cattle, and leaving everywhere traces of disaster. Colonel
Snelling, however, most fortunately rescued Faribault's family
and saved his most valuable pelts.
About 1826 Faribault located at Mcndota and traded with the
Sioux, the wildest tribe of the West. Notwithstanding their
friendship for him he was frequently in great danger, and on one
84 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
occasion for a trivial matter an Indian plunged a knife into Fari-
bault's back, but his vigorous constitution and temperate habits
carried him through. The Indian, however, was summarily shot
by one of Faribault's sons, Oliver, a boy of fourteen.
For sixty years the voice of Faribault was heard in the In-
dian councils. He held their confidence, he settled their differ-
ences, gave them a good example, lessened their superstitions,
brought to them Christian sentiments by gentle persuasion, and
he truly merited the title of pioneer evangelist. Having their
confidence he was able to settle impartially their differences,
and was given the name of "Beaver Tail" (Ca-pa-Sin-te or Chah-
pah-cin-ta) because of his intelligence. It is pleasant to com-
pare the conduct of Faribault with that of other traders, who,
far from trying to exercise an elevating influence over the In-
dians, taught them the vices of a pretended civilization. He
passed forty years in the wilds of the West without receiving
religious consolation — a great privation to this courageous pio-
neer. It is difficult to comprehend the joy which was his when,
in 1817, he accidentally met a priest in the solitudes of the forest,
who blessed his marriage and baptized his children. In 1840 he
found Abbe Gultier dying at Fort Snelling, and taking him to
his own home carefully nursed him during the remainder of his
life. Moreover, he erected and placed at his service a chapel
for the Canadians and Indians, the first where Catholic prayers
were heard in the state of Minnesota. When Abbe Ravoux,
Vicar General of St. Paul, came from France in 1843 to replace
Abbe Gultier, he also enjoyed the hospitality of Faribault until
he had mastered the Sioux dialect.
General Sibley wrote, in part, "It is now thirty years that I
have known Jean Baptiste Faribault, and Alexander, his son.
Of all the pioneers of Minnesota there is not one whose name
merits more respect, and who should be honored more, than
Jean Baptiste Faribault. They were always truly my friends,
and have merited it. They have shown a constant devotion to
the Catholic religion, and were men of exemplary pietj ." Min-
nesota wished to recognize the services of Jean Baptiste Fari-
bault, and did so by giving his name to one of its counties.
The wife of Jean Baptiste Faribault died at Mendota June
19, 1847. He survived his wife many years, enjoying the af-
fection of his family and fellow-citizens, until August 20, 1860,
when he departed this life at the age of eighty-seven at Fari-
bault in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Major Fowler. He had
long been prepared For the end, and passed to the great Beyond
without regret, full of resignation, with the joy of a soul eager to
participate in eternal joys, lie had lived to realize his dreams,
1" see the marvelous development of the unknown west, which
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 85
he had found in its virgin state. He was laid to rest beside his
children, grandchildren and other relatives and friends of later
years, in Calvary cemetery, on the outskirts of the town which
bears his name.
Such, in mere outline, is the story of the life of this un-
daunted Canadian, who more than one hundred years ago played
a significant part in the settlement of the Northwest, and es-
pecially of Minnesota. Connected with the most important com-
mercial company that ever existed in the Northwest, carried on
irresistably by his enthusiasm to regions unknown, always ready
for new dangers, looking death unflinchingly in the face again
and again, he lived, through infinite vicissitudes, his honorable
life.
Returning to Alexander Faribault, the eldest son of Jean
Baptiste Faribault, we find a life interwoven with the develop-
ment of the great Northwest almost as closely as that of his
father. Alexander was born June 22, 1806 at Prairie-du-Chien,
then within the Louisiana Purchase, and was the founder and
principal proprietor of the town to which he gave his name. Be-
cause of a modest and retiring nature much concerning his in-
teresting life will never be known. About the year 1820 we find
him on the banks of the St. Peter (now Minnesota) river, and
the following year located permanently at Mendota, then in the
territory of Michigan, as a United States licensed trader, having
outposts throughout the territory. It was at this time that he
improved the opportunity to cultivate his English studies through
the courtesy of the United States officers at Fort Snelling. He
was married November 1, 1825, to Mary Elizabeth Graham, the
daughter of Capt. Duncan Graham. She was born July 15, 1805,
and died April 8, 1875, at the age of sixty-nine years, at Eliza-
beth, in Otter Tail county. He became the father of ten children,
namely, George H., Agnes, Emely, Daniel, Catherine, Philip,
Julia, Nathalie, William Richard and A. Leon. The spring fol-
lowing his marriage, while with voyageurs visiting the outposts
on the upper Minnesota river, an Indian gave his life to rescue
Faribault and his young wife and companions.
During 1826 to 1829 he traded on the Cannon river, under
a license from the American Fur Company, successors of "The
Northwest Fur Company," and established a post at Lake
Sakata, near the site of the town of Waterville, and in 1831 he
located at what is now Morristown. The following year he re-
moved to a point between Wells and Cannon lakes. The country
was then peopled by the Dakotas, who called what is now known
as Cannon lake, Me-da-te-pe-ton-ka ("Lake of the Big Village").
In 1834 he influenced the Sioux to move to the site of the present
town of Faribault. They occupied all that tract between Division
8G HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
and Fourteenth streets on the west side of Straight (Owatonna)
river, and the plateau was covered with the picturesque encamp-
ment of bark and buffalo-skin tepes. In 1835 he built the first
log house on the east side of Straight river, northeast of the
Front Street bridge, and several log houses on what is now the
Travis farm, on the road to Cannon City. This tract was then
covered with a dense growth of maple which afforded abundance
of sugar. The first regular trading post was of logs, built the
same year, midway between the Straight river stone mills and
Front street bridge. These buildings were afterward occupied
by Peter Bush and family and as a blacksmith shop, and were
later known as "Hotel Bush." This humble building gave shelter
to early settlers, among them several of our most distinguished
citizens. In the winter of 1853 Faribault built a temporary log
house on the southeast corner of what is now Third street and
First avenue east, while the first frame house in Rice county,
surrounded by a stockade, was being erected on the northwest
corner of First avenue east and Division street, which was com-
pleted in 1853. The materials for this structure were hauled
from St. Paul and Hastings.
The early territorial settlers will recollect the sturdy pioneers
Jim Mabon, Jean Cluckey, St. L'Ous, Craidgie, St. Jarmont,
Payne, Howard, Wilson, Beaupre, McBeal, Louis Demara and
Pierre LaPoint and others, who assisted in the construction of
these notable and historic structures.
In 1851 Mr. Faribault was one of the official interpreters at
the St. Peter (Traverse-de-Sioux) treaty, when the Indians re-
linquished to the government 45,000 square miles lying on the
western side of the Mississippi. By this treaty and that of Men-
dota the Indians gave up their right of usufruct to all the country
previously claimed by them east of the Sioux Wood and Big
Sioux rivers. He also reported Little Crow's speech at the sec-
ond treaty of 1851 at Pilot Knob, near Mendota. He was also
a member of the legislature from the Seventh district in 1851,
and a witness, with Sibley and others, before the United States
Court, in charges of fraud in Indian affairs. He was among the
first to offer inducements to Dr. Breck and to Bishop Whipple, to
whom lie gave ten acres of land for their schools, contributing
liberally in money and lands afterwards. Following the treaty
of 1851, which was forced upon the Sioux, many of the Wah-pe-
ku-tes (Wapakootas — Leaf Shooters) would not live on the reser-
vation at Red Wood and remained at Faribault and were given
by Mr. Faribault the use of lands, and otherwise provided for.
sending their children to the private schools maintained at his
expense. Among them was George St. Clair, who afterward
became a clergyman in the Episcopal Church. After the out-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 87
break of 1862 Mr. Faribault assisted Bishop Whipple further in
locating the non-participants, among whom were Wounded Man
(Taopi), Good Thunder (Marpiya Washta), and Iron Shield
( Wah-hah-chan-ka-maza) , who were General Sibley's scouts and
saved many white settlers from massacre. The writer, then a
new-comer to the West, will never forget a council in the Fari-
bault house on the bluffs, where he witnessed the payment of
several thousand dollars by Dr. J. W r . Daniels, the representative
of the government, to these Indian men and women as a reward
for their loyalty and services in rescuing many settlers from the
hostiles.
Straight river mills were commenced by Mr. Faribault in
1858, and the Le Croix came from Montreal to superintend the
construction, also that of the mill on Cannon river, known as the
"Polar Star Mills," together with the mill on Straight river near
Fourteenth street.
As early as 1837 Mr. Faribault visited Washington with
Major Taliaferro, General Sibley, and a delegation of Indians to
conduct treaty negotiations with the government. He was one
of the memorialists to congress in connection with the organiza-
tion of Minnesota territory, and a charter member of the Minne-
sota Historical Society. With General Sibley he was a principal
stockholder in the Borup and Oakes Bank, and was associated
with General Sibley and William R. Marshall in organizing a
bank in St. Paul in 1855. He was with General Sibley in the
Sioux war of 1862 until the release of the white captives at Camp
Release, near the town of Montevideo, Minnesota, and was among
the few fortunate ones who escaped alive at the Battle of Birch
Coulee.
Until 1852 Alexander F'aribault maintained his family home
at Mendota, where also resided his father and family in the stone
house built by the latter in 1826, which is still standing. He
built the first Catholic Church in Faribault in 1855, for the Rev.
George Keller — a frame structure which was burned in 1857.
He was the generous donor of the site of the present church,
and gave at a cost of $3,000 the first bell for the Church of
the Immaculate Conception, the church which now stands on the
site of the one burned in 1857. This bell was destroyed when the
building was partially burned, June 30, 1903. Mr. Faribault is
also to be credited with many liberal gifts to the St. Paul and
Mendota Churches.
In 1856 Mr. Faribault built his last home at Faribault — his
early camping ground — on the Straight river bluffs, now crowned
with magnificent institutions, overlooking the site of his pioneer
trading post of 1843. In 1873 he sold this home to the state of
Minnesota ; the building now being used at the School for Blind.
88 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
One can imagine his emotions as he recalled this scene as he had
beheld it in 1826. It was now the white man's country; settlers
were fast taking homes; the town already numbered 1,000; the
frontiers-man with his vices and corruption was being crowded
westward ; and the lords of the forest and lake and prairie had
no rights, but were the prey and dupe of the white, who smoked
the pipe of peace no longer. The buffalo — the food, clothing and
shelter of the Red Man, was fast disappearing. The Indians
had but one hope of existence and that was Alexander Faribault.
He sheltered and fed them and their children. His hand and
store house were ever open to the Dakota (Codah — friend) and
the white man. His promise was absolute, and as the Rev.
Samuel W. Pond, veteran missionary, in his "Recollections of
the Dakotas as they were in 1834" states, "Alexander Faribault
and his father were favorites and highly respected by all who
knew them." His name was always associated with all charities.
We honor him because he ennobled his race. He lost wealth,
but not respect nor honor, and history calls his life a success.
After a long and eventful life Alexander Faribault passed
away November 28, 1882, at Faribault, and was laid to rest in
Calvary cemetery with his kindred and other pioneer neighbors —
that hill-top where once flashed the red signal fire of alarm to
the Big Village braves. And where the lodges of the Wah-pe-
ku-te were once as numerous as now the shocks of corn, and the
wierd chant and wild screech of the scalp-dance echoed through
the peaceful valley of the Cannon, the plow and sickle have
levelled the Indian burial mounds on the shore of the lake of
the Big Village ; the flashing paddles are stilled and an occasional
arrow-head, stone hammer or broken clay utensil are all that is
left to tell the story of a vanishing race.
"Behind the red squaw's birch canoe
The steamer smokes and raves,
And city lots are staked for sale
Above old Indian graves."
Note — The writer is indebted to William Richard Faribault
of St. Louis, Mo., a son of Alexander Faribault, for many inci-
dents and data used in these biographical sketches. — Stephen
Jewett.
CHAPTER III.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
Alexander Faribault Located in Rice County as a Trader — In-
duces Indians to Settle Near the Confluence of the Straight
and Cannon Rivers — Takes up His Own Residence on the
Bluffs East of the River — Builds Trading Post and Log
House in 1835 — Sends Followers West of the River to Start
a Farm — Entertains Many Friends — Peter Bush Arrives —
Crump, Standish and Gekler Select a Claim — Luke Hulett,
Mark Wells, Levi Nutting and Others Make Trip from Saint
Paul — James Wells Takes a Claim — The First Winter at
Faribault — First Frame House Built — Settlers Begin to Ar-
rive in Larger Numbers — Experiences of the Pioneers.
Alexander Faribault came to the region of the Cannon river
as a trader with the Indians in 1826 and between that date and
1834 established three trading posts in this vicinity, one at Lake
Sakata, on the present site of Waterville, one at the present site
of Morristown, and one on the northwest shore of Cannon lake,
between that body of water and Rice lake, the latter being
located near the old Indian village, which gave to Cannon lake
its Indian name of Me-da-te-pe-ton-ka, or the Lake of the Big
Village. This designation is vouched for by no less a person
than Richard Faribault, son of Alexander Faribault, though
earlier historians of the county have given the Indian name as
Te-ton-ka To-nah. These trading points were occupied at suit-
able seasons of the year, not only by Faribault and his assistants,
but also by many visitors, including the officers at Fort Snelling.
After eight years, however, Mr. Faribault having mastered
thoroughly the geography of the country decided that the most
favorable location in this locality for a trading post was on the
bluffs near the junction of the Straight and Cannon rivers. Near
that point he would be in direct touch with the Indians descend-
ing the Straight river as well as with all who descended the
Cannon from the lake region beyond. He accordingly pursuaded
the Indians to leave their ancient habitation on the shores of
Cannon lake and move to the present site of Faribault.
They occupied all that tract between Division and Four-
teenth streets on the west side of the Straight river, and the
plateau was covered with the picturesque encampment of bark
89
90 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
and buffalo skin teepees. In 1835 Mr. Faribault erected the first
log house on the east side of Straight river, northeast of the
Front street bridge, and several log houses on what is now
the Travis farm, on the road to Cannon city. This tract was
then covered with a dense growth of maple which afforded
abundance of sugar. The first regular trading post was of logs,
built the same year, midway between the Straight river stone
mills and Front street bridge.
With far seeing eye, Faribault readily understood that the
time was soon coming, when the prairies of southern Minnesota
would be open to white settlement, and the days of the hunter,
trapper and fur trader would pass away. Therefore he decided
to prepare for the coming of civilization by opening a farm on
the present site of the city of Faribault. Accordingly in 1844
he sent Joseph Dashner and Hypolite Martin across the river to
open up a farm and take charge of it for him. Three years after-
wards, Alexander Graham, brother of Mrs. Faribault, together
with Mr. Brunei, his wife and one child, all of whom were French
Canadians, came to take charge of the farm. About this time.
John Rix was employed to cook and help care for the stock, and
after a time Peter St. Antone and his wife came to relieve Mr.
Brunei.
In the meantime, Faribault occupied his log house a few
months each year, and entertained extensively, among his guests
being General Sibley. Major Forbes and others, many of whom
sometimes brought their families, so that the location became
well known.
When no whites were present, the Indians occupied the
houses, and no doubt enjoyed themselves greatly, partaking of
this sort of white man's comfort.
The real settlement of the city dates from the early spring <>i
185.3, when Peter Hush, a blacksmith, arrived and settled in the
buildings which had been erected by Faribault, also using the
cabins on the Travis farm as a sugar cam]). Bush broughl with
him his family, and since that date there has been continuous
white settlement of this locality.
About this time, or possibly a little earlier. F. J. Crump, the
Rev. Standish and John Gekler. under the direction of an eastern
company, selected a claim and erected a cabin. May 2. 1853, Mr
Crump and his wife crossed the Straight river and took up their
habitation. Later in the month Luke llulett came, and accord-
ing to his statement made in later life there were then actually
living here, Peter Bush and family. Edward LeMay, Narcissi-
Arpan, Henr) Millard, Joseph Dashner. E. J. Crump and a Rev.
Mr. Standish. all this part} being housed in five small log cabins.
With Luke llulett came Levi Nutting, and a party of young
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 91
men consisting of Mark Wells, A. McKinzie, Mr. Boynton and
others. Mr. Hulett settled here, as did Mark Wells and A. Mc-
Kinzie. Levi Nutting did not stay that year but came back-
later. The other young men decided that they could make
money faster elsewhere, and sought other fields.
In the same season of the year came James Wells, "Bully"
Wells, as he was called, who opened a farm on the Cannon
bottoms, just above the city.
A little party spent the winter of 1853 in the embryo village,
awaiting the opening of the spring which would bring a new-
influx of settlers, and new supplies of provisions. According to
an article written by Luke Hulett, shortly before his death, the
residents of Faribault, in the winter of 1853 were Alexander
Faribault and family, Luke Hulett and family, James Wells and
family, Frederick Faribault and family, Edward J. Crump and
wife, Peter Bush and family, Mr. Sprague and wife, Mr. Springer
and wife and the following young unmarried people. Norbert
Paquin, Smith Johnson, Orlondo Johnson, John Hulett, Hugh
McClelland, Mark Wells, A. McKenzie, Robert Smith and Theo-
dore Smith.
In this winter (1853), Faribault built a temporary log house
on the southeast corner of what is now Third street and Fifth
avenue, east, while the first frame house in Rice county, sur-
rounded by a stockade, was being erected on the northwest corner
of First avenue, east, and Division street, the house being com-
pleted in 1853. The materials for this structure were hauled
from St. Paul and Hastings.
The spring and summer of 1854, according to the same author-
ity, brought the following accessions: John Morris, who subse-
quently laid out Morristown, Major Babcock, Truman Bass, Mr.
Tripp who was the first to settle on East Prairie, Dennis O'Brien,
Mr. Travis, J. R. Parshall and James and Henry Scott, who built
the first saw-mill in the town. The Searses, father and son,
in the fall of 1854 located in Cannon City and became formidable
competitors for the county seat. Judge Woodman came about
this time, and also William Dunn, who secured a claim east of
Cannon City. Mr. Drake and others settled near Northfield.
F. W. Frink, in 1876, delivered an Independence Day oration,
giving the early history of the county which we here preserve
for future reference.
Rice county is named for Henry M. Rice, an early settler in
Minnesota, and a warm friend of him who gave to the city of
Faribault his name and here made his dwelling place.
Although it was not until October, 1855, that Rice county
held an election as a separate organization, Alexander Faribault
had conducted trading posts in this region since 1826. He was
92 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the first settler of Rice county. Leaving out the numerous rela-
tives, friends and helpers of Faribault who came here from year
to year, the next white settler was Peter Bush. In the spring
of 1853 Luke Hulett, after having made a trip to the locality.
came here with his family, and with him the settlement of the
county really begins, for the first settlement of a farmer in an
agricultural region is the beginning of its history. Alexander
Faribault, Luke Hulett and Peter Bush should be considered
the founders of the first settlement in Rice county.
The history of the towns and villages of Rice county begins
at an early date. Faribault, Northfield, Morrislown and Cannon
City were surveyed, platted and recorded in the order named.
Alexander Faribault, F. B. Sibley, John W. North and Porter
Nutting filed the plat of the town of Faribault in the office of
the register of deeds in Dakota county, to which county Rice
county was then attached for judicial purposes, February 17,
1855. Previous to this date, however, a preliminary survey
had been made and Walter Morris owned the share after-
ward represented by John W. North.
In August, 1855, Mr. North having disposed of his interest
in Faribault, while searching for another promising location, se-
lected the site of the present city of Northfield, and on March
7, 1856, filed the plat in the office of the register of deeds in
Rice county, which was then an office a little over two months
old.
A plat of Cannon City had been made almost as early as
that of Faribault, but owing to the fact that the plat had been
made without the usual formality of a preceding survey, it was
thought best by the proprietors, after a vain attempt to har-
monize conflicting interests caused by conflicting boun-
dary lines, to have a survey made, the plat of which was not
filed for record until the eleventh day of November, 1856, but
previous to that date it was a town of sufficient force to give
Faribault a lively race in a contest for the location of the
count\- seat.
April 1, 1856, Mrs. Sarah Morris, mother of Walter Morris,
one of the fust proprietors of the town of Faribault, and widow
of Jonathan Morris, one of the first settlers of Morristown,
filed and recorded the plat of Morristown.
These were the first born towns of Rice county, but the times
were then prolific in the birth of towns and cities, and the eye of
the speculator saw beside every crystal lake or limpid stream a
site for a city full of the possibilities of future glory. Numerous
additions were surveyed and added to towns already recorded.
The new towns of Wheatland, Wedgewood, Warsaw, W'alcott,
Shieldsvillc, Dundas, Millersbiirg, East Prairieville. and Lake
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 93
City were added to the list. Of these, some are dead and some
are dying, and nearly all remaining have from time to time,
by vacations obtained through the courts, contracted their vast
circumference in conformity with the request made at an early
day to the territorial legislature to limit the area of town sites,
and reserve certain portions of the public domain for agricul-
tural purposes.
While, however, visionary speculators were creating town
sites and multiplying town lots with almost as much facility as
farmers increased the number of their pigs or chickens, the agri-
cultural interest was also thriving until the year 1858, when
occurred the nearest to a failure of crops thai Rice county has
ever experienced. The land office had been located in Faribault
the year previous, and the little store of money that most of the
settlers had brought with them had been generally used in pay-
ment for their lands. The prospect was gloomy, and many
families anticipated actual want before the coming of another
harvest ; but the silver lining to the cloud was not long obscured,
and relief came from a quarter as little looked for as was the
manna in the wilderness by the Israelites. By somebody the
happy discovery was made that our timbered lands were full
of ginseng, the sovereign balm for every ill that Chinese flesh
is heir to, and forthwith our population was transferred into a
community of diggers, and many a man, and even woman, too,
who had never earned more than a dollar a day before, received
from two to four dollars for their day's labor in the woods. Thus
was Rice county's darkest hour tided over, and from that day
to this there has never been a time when its citizens have had
reason to fear a lack of the necessaries of life.
The statistics of crops for 1860, previous to which no record
is obtainable, show 18.000 acres under cultivation in various .
fruits and grains, with a product of 260,000 bushels of wheat.
Five years later the cultivated area had increased to 25,000 acres,
with a product of 325,000 bushels of wheat; in 1872, 56,672
acres were cultivated, and 548,000 bushels of wheat produced,
while the wheat crop alone, of Rice county, reached nearly
700,000 bushels in the year 1875. Yet this county must not be
judged as an agricultural district by the amount of wheat it
raises, although that cereal is still the one the most relied upon
by our farmers as a source of income ; yet, as more than two-
thirds of its area is or has been timbered land, is not so well
adapted to growing wheat extensively as a prairie country, its
agricultural productions are necessarily more diversified.
The population of the county, as indicated by the number
of votes cast at is first election, which, being a county seat
contest, probably brought out as large a proportion of legal
94 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
voters as could be summoned on any occasion, was. in 1855, be-
tween 1,500 and 2,000, the number of votes cast being 384.
In 1860, the first census, it was 7,886; in 1865, 10,966; in 1870,
16,399, and the census of 1880 makes the number 20,622.
While Rice county, more fortunately situated than some
of her western sisters, never experienced any of the horrors of
Indian warfare, yet her history would not be complete without
mention of its terrible fright in the winter of 1857. There
are doubtless some of the present audience who will remem-
ber how panic-stricken we were when the news came through
some mysterious channel that the Indians had sacked and de-
stroyed St. Peter, only forty miles away, and were in rapid
march for Faribault. General Shields, by reason of his military
experience, was made commander-in-chief of all the forces in,
and around Faribault, with headquarters at the head of the
stairs in the old Faribault House, and all of our brave young
men who could be armed with shot-guns, rusty pistols, or any-
thing having the appearance of firearms, were posted on guard
at all the principal thoroughfares leading into town, and in
front of the houses of the most timid and defenseless. This
state of affairs lasted all of one night and until time of changing
guard the next, when the relief, finding that the extreme cold
had induced the guards to seek the inside of the houses they
were defending, retreated in good order to more comfortable
quarters, and our first Indian war was over. The cause of the
panic was afterward ascertained to be the Spirit Lake massacre,
more than a hundred miles away, by Inkpadutah and his band of
outlawed Sioux.
It should be here chronicled, however, that when the war
actually came, although it came no nearer than Mason and
Dixon's line, Rice county bore its full share of its responsi-
bilities, losses, and calamities right manfully. The war of the
Rebellion found us nurtured in the arts of peace, a happy and
home-loving people, and yet, before its close more than a thou-
sand of its bravest and best had volunteered to defend the
flag they loved so well. How well they bore themselves on the
battlefield, the number of the unreturning brave whose "graves
are severed far and wide by mountain, stream, and sea," too
well attests. The records show that more than one-eighth of
the number shown by the census of the year before the break-
ing out of the great rebellion as the entire population of the
county had enlisted in the Union army before its close, a record
of which our citizens may well be proud.
From this brief sketch it will appear that the history of our
county has not been eventful in the light in which the historian
usually regards events. It has been the scene of no fierce con-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 95
flict of arms, and within our borders no monumental marble rises
to commemorate bloody victories won, or the heroic deeds of
knightly chivalry, which contribute so largely to the romance
of history. Nevertheless, is our history full of those "victories
not less renowned than war," victories which in less than
a quarter of a century after the extinguishment of the Indians'
title to these lands, without bloodshed, swept away every vestige
of their barbarous life, and substituted the school, the church,
and on every hand happy and contented homes; victories which
vanquished the hearts of our suffering people on the frontier
when Rice county was the first to send relief after the devasta-
tion from hail and fire in the memorable year 1871. The suffer-
ing people of Chicago, northern Wisconsin, and Michigan were
subjugated by the munificent donations sent to their relief in
that terrible year of fire, and of those donations Rice county
gave with no sparing hand. These are the victories not less
renowned than war of which our county can boast. Victories
over a stubborn soil, turning a wild waste into fruitful fields
and happy homes. Victories over ignorance and superstition
best shown by the maintenance and prosperity of a free press
and the public school. Victories over the selfishness of human
nature in devoting so large a share of our worldly goods in the
relief of suffering humanity ai home and abroad, and above all
it was a grand and glorious victory when the echoing of Sum-
ter's guns found response in a thousand brave hearts ready
to give their lives for their country. These are the victories
which give assurance that government of the people, by the peo-
ple, and for the people, can longest endure supported and de-
fended by a peace-loving, generous, and intelligent people.
Henry M. Rice, at the Old Settlers' reunion in 1875, deliv-
ered a speech in which he recounted the story of a trip taken in
1844, during which he passed the present site of Faribault. The
account, in part, is as follows: In 1844 General Sumner had
command at Fort Atkinson, in Iowa, which was then Indian
territory, and he got up an expedition to Minnesota, and invited
Mr. Rice to accompany the party. They had no wagons along,
but only pack mules to carry provisions. Arriving at the con-
fluence of the Straight and Cannon rivers, they found Alexander
Faribault, and he was engaged as a guide. Up to this point they
had not met a human being, but they pushed on and swung
around to Fort Snelling, up the Minnesota valley to the Blue
Earth, and so west toward the Des Moines, and thence to Shell
Rock and Cedar River. At Shakopee there was found a brother
of Mr. Faribault, and at St. Peter's there was a polite old French-
man, "Mons. Provincial." General Sumner allowed Mr. Rice and
Mr. Faribault to leave the company and hunt buffalo, and they
96 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
soon spotted a fine animal and at once gave chase. A shot
wounded him, and he became furious and at once reversed the
order of things, the pursuers becoming the pursued. Mr. Rice
was thrown from his horse, and he began to realize how rapidly
his earthly career was drawing to a close, when Mr. Faribault,
who was a most admirable marksman, brought down the in-
furiated brute. On this journey the men had to swim the
rivers holding on to their horses. In 1847 Mr. Faribault went
with Mr. Rice on a trip up the upper Mississippi, and he never.
as he stated, saw him more than pleasurably excited under any
circumstances.
Luke Hulett was one of the earliest pioneers of Rice county.
In the spring of 1852, Mr. Hulett. who had already had quite
a frontier experience, was living on his farm in Wisconsin, and
he read in the "New York Tribune" that the purchase of the
lands west of the Mississippi from the Sioux had been effected.
He then resolved to carry out his purpose formed long before,
to make his home in Minnesota, and he accordingly started for
St. Paul; but on arriving there he saw a letter from Hon. H. H.
Sibley, the delegate in congress, stating that the treaty had been
defeated in the senate, but he concluded not to allow a little
circumstance like this to disarrange his plans. Low water, how-
ever, in the Wisconsin River, prevented him from getting his
family and effects on the road until the next spring. It seems
that he had read in the "Milwaukee Sentinel" a truthful account
of this region, from the pen of a gentleman who had been one
of a surveying party to lay out a road from Lake Pepin to
Mankato, the junction of the Straight with the Cannon river
being a point. The description filled his idea of a place to locate,
and he started up the Mississippi, and arrived in St. Paul on
Sunday. May 9, 1853. He stopped at a tavern, and the land-
lord, learning that he proposed to go to the Straight and Can-
non rivers, advised him to stick to the water communications,
but if he must go back into the country, that Mankato was
the place. But Mr. Hulett had his mind made up. after a care-
ful survey of the subject, to examine the location of which he
had received such glowing account, and while making arrange-
ments he formed the acquaintance of Levi Nutting, which re-
sulted in a lasting friendship.
Mr. Nutting, on learning that Mr. Hulett was going to ex-
plore for a location, inquired as to his plans, and informed him
that himself and several other young men had just arrived in
St. Paul, and desired to find a place to locate, and the result of
the interview was that a party of six was thus formed, and with
an emigrant team of two horses they started from St. Paul, leav-
ing the family there, and made the first attempt to establish a
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 97
permanent agricultural colony in Rice county. On May 13, 1853,
the little party crossed the Mississippi at St. Paul, to the bottom
opposite that little hamlet. Roads then were mere trails, and
whatever facilities for transportation existed in the country any-
where were due to nature and not art. That spring was wet, and
before they had got out of the bottom the wagon was mired and
the horses had to be detached, the wagon unloaded and hauled
by human muscle, assisted by human brain, to high ground.
During the journey they saw no more of humanity outside of
their own party, except two settlers' cabins near the river. The
first night they encamped in a grove fifteen miles from St. Paul,
and a northeast storm which had been threatening through the
night broke upon them in the morning, and its copious stores
continued to drench them until they arrived at the slough within
a few miles of Cannon City, which seemed to interpose a barrier
against further progress, as there were ten inches of water on a
network of roots for a road bed. The horses were unhitched and
taken over, and then the young men hauled the wagon through.
As they entered the woods between Cannon City and Faribault
the rain ceased and the clouds began to disperse, and the pros-
pect that opened up before them was most charming, looked upon
in a practical way — good timber and good water lying contigu-
ous to good cleared land, aggregating the very desideratum for
a pioneer settler. The varieties of timber were familiar and
Mr. Hulett was overjoyed. As they reached the brow of the
hill opposite the site of the old Barron House, in Faribault,
the sun, as it was about to set, broke through the canopy of
the clouds, casting a mellow light upon the village of Wau-pa-
ku-ta (Wapakoota), bank of Indians, comprising some sixty
wigwams and stretching along where Main street was after-
ward laid out. The vision presented was most enchanting and
the newcomers felt that they had arrived in the promised land,
which it was proposed to occupy, whether they had a commission
to drive out the aborigines that inhabited it or not.
The next morning, May 15, 1853, the sun rose clear and the
air was balmy, and having spancled the horses and set them to
feed near where the stone mill was afterward built, the adven-
turers ascended the hill near the present site of the Catholic
Church. Mr. Hulett judged that this country being known,
would be settled fast, and the indications pointed to the fact
that it would be a business center. He therefore came to the
conclusion that this would be his future home, and he so informed
the young men who were with him, advising them to take a
quarter section right there, hold on to it, and go to work and
secure as soon as possible the two hundred dollars with which
to pay for it. Of the number, however, only Mark Wells and A.
98 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
McKinzie remained, Levi Nutting returning in the spring of
1855. Five claims were found staked out in the interest of
Alexander Faribault, whom, up to this time, Mr. Hulett had not
heard of. While returning to St. Paul for his family, Mr. Hulett
and Mr. Faribault met and talked over the whole business, and
although Mr. Faribault had resolved to have a French Canadian
settlement, he was so favorably impressed with the new comer
that he cordially invited him to take up his settlement at the
desirable location, that they might together work in the inter-
ests of building up a town. Upon his return to the present site
of Faribault, Mr. Hulett found that Peter Bush, Edward J. Crump
and James Wells were among others that had joined the pros-
pective settlement.
General Levi Nutting was also one of the early settlers and
his account of that first trip to Faribault from St. Paul is inter-
esting. He came with Luke Hulett, Mark Wells, Mr. McKinzie
and others. The boat they crossed the Mississippi on was a
little larger than a hogshead ; their stock of provisions consisted
of flour, pork, ham, tea and coffee and a few other things. The
first night they encamped one mile from Empire City. A fire was
built and they "turned in" with their feet toward the
embers. During the night a coal of fire dropped upon General
Nutting's blanket and burned a hole through it, onto the Gen-
eral's foot, causing him considerable discomfort. In the morning
the journey was resumed and the party passed Castle Rock in
Dakota county. At 5 o'clock in the evening of May 5, 1853,
the party reached Faribault and found Peter Bush living midway
between what are now the Straight river stone mills and the
Front street bridge. This, with the cabin of Nobert Paquin,
were the only residences of whites at that time occupied here.
General Nutting remained three weeks, and as he had a good
appetite, he often declared that he really enjoyed the diet, which
consisted of "bread and pork lor breakfast, pork and bread for
dinner and some of both for supper."
The stone quarry hill was an Indian "burial ground," if such
a name can be given to a place where the bodies were hung up
in trees, after being tied up in blankets. There were from twenty
to thirty of these repulsive objects swaying to the breeze over
there at one time. While some of the party almost at once took
up their residence near here. General Nutting did not come
back until in April, 1855.
General Nutting once related how the town was named. Jt was
soon after the arrival of Mr. Hulett, when a meeting was called
at the Hotel de Bush, and as Mr. Faribault was so well known,
his name was agreed upon and a petition drawn up and given-
to General Sibley for a postoffice and a post route, with Alex-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 9y
ander Faribault as postmaster and Mr. Davis as mail carrier.
Peter Bush made the following statement as to his advent
at this point: In 1851, he started from Beloit, Wis., to St.
Paul, with a load of wagons, and while there met several Cana-
dians and trappers who were acquainted with this part of the
country, and they told him that a good place to settle w'th his
family would be at the junction of the Straight and Cannon
rivers, as there was water power, wood, and prairie there. In
August, 1852, he visited the place and was pleased with it, and
saw Mr. Faribault, who was then stopping at Mendota; he told
Mr. Bush, however, that he did not intend to remain there long,
but proposed to locate near the Straight and Cannon rivers
where he had already cultivated a farm, and an agreement was
made to come here in April, 1853, and occupy the old trading
post, which he did. He was not in the exclusive employ of Mr.
Faribault, but did work for him, and also for Mr. Wells. The
first settlers after Mr. Bush, according to his recollection, were
Mr. Wright, Mr. Lull, E. J. Crump, John Dutch, P. Standish,
and quite a number of men who had come to work for Mr.
Faribault. When Mr. Hulett came, there were two cows here,
and lie wanted to get board at Mr. Bush's, who had a log house
and a blacksmith shop opposite where St. Mary's Hall now is,
with some land staked off, but was told that his claim would be
jumped unless he had plenty of money to defend it, and so
he was induced to sell it for $116, and removed to the lake,
where he lived afterwards.
Hon. O. F. Perkins was another early settler. His experi-
ence related before the Old Settlers Association was as follows:
He left Vermont in 1854, fell in with the great western bound
flood tide of emigration, and traveled by rail to the western
terminus of the railroad, at Galena, 111., and there took pass-
age for St. Paul, on the Alhambra, which was two weeks making
the trip. St. Paul then claimed 4,000 inhabitants. He went to
St. Anthony and Minneapolis, spending the winter there. He
had no business, but was invited to deliver an address on the
Maine liquor law, which he then thought would be most admir-
able for this new country, which he did with such success that
he supposed the whole community was converted to his views.
About that time the first suspension bridge across the Missis-
sippi, at Minneapolis, was completed, and Mr. Perkins, at the
celebration and banquet which followed this event, was called
upon for a speech, and although all the public men there were
intensely democratic, he introduced his anti-slavery views, which,
had he been a little older he might have been a little more cau-
tious in doing in such a presence. This, however, proved to be
100 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
a turning point in his career, for J. W. North, hearing of the
incident, invited him to go with him to Faribault, where just
such daring men were wanted, and he accepted the invitation
and rode out in a sleigh with him, being two days on the
road. It was bitter cold, and arriving here the scene was in
striking contrast with what would greet a visitor now. He re-
mained a few days in mortal fear of having his scalp lifted, came
back the following spring and opened a law office and studied
up the claim business, boarded with Mr. Crump, and had his
office up stairs. He afterwards moved into a blacksmith shop,
but as business did not open up, he went to farming. He bought
a bushel of potatoes for $2.50, and carried them to a spot of
ground he had procured north of D. W. Humphrey's house, and
planted them with an axe; did nothing more with them until
fall, when the crop was sold to Dr. Charles Jewett for $35. He
also planted some corn on the bluff near the stone quarry ; it
came up two or three times, by the aid of the gophers, but finally
got ready to grow, and in due time it was harvested by the
cattle, and he concluded that raising corn was not his forte, that
potatoes were his "best holt." Law being at a discount, he tried
his hand at theology, and preached the first sermon, as far as he
knew, in this region, from a book loaned him by Truman Nutting,
and it was pure, unadulterated Calvinism, without any ''sugar
coating." He also assisted in the formation of the first Bible
Society ; he was the secretary, and Frank Nutting local agent.
According to his recollection, E. J. Crump was the first justice
of the peace, and the first case before him was a replevin case
for a gun worth $2.50. Mr. Perkins was the prosecuting attorney,
but the case was sworn out of the jurisdiction of the court. When
at work as a horny-handed yeoman, carrying his potatoes to
plant, he met John M. Berry and G. \V. Batchelder, and with his
brother they all went to living together in a little board shanty.
Captain E. H. Cutts came to ibis state in 1853 and stopped
awhile in Red Wing. When he came to Faribault, that year,
he saw and beard one of the hideous scalp dances for which this
region was famous in the early days. The Wapakootas bad some
Chippewa scalps and were skulking through the monotonous con-
tortions of this sanguinary dance, accompanied with the most
blood curdling yells. He presided over the first debating club
here, went back to Illinois, and after marrying, returned.
John C. Cooper came from St. Paul in June, 1854, in com-
pany with the mail carrier who had the whole mail for the week
on his person. It consisted of one letter and Luke Hulett's
regular copy o\ the Tribune.
H. M. Matteson, one of the pioneers, started for this locality
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 101
in February, 1854, and stopped where Dundas now is, made a
claim of some land and began to improve it by exchanging work
with Mr. Hoyt, giving him a day's work for a day's use of his
oxen. Not being overstocked with provisions, he caught a large
catfish which furnished him with meat for several days.
In 1855 began the real influx of settlement to this county,
and the story of the early settlers in each locality is told in the
histories of the various townships and villages.
CHAPTER IV.
ORGANIZATION AND BOUNDARY LINES.
Rice County Created in 1853 — Its Indefinite and Extensive
Boundaries — Four Counties Cornering at the Confluence
of the Straight and Cannon Rivers — Western Boundary of
Goodhue Defined in 1854 — Sibley Sent to the Legislature —
Act Passed Defining New Boundaries — Rice County Organ-
ized by Governor Gorman — County Seat Established at Can-
non City — Resentment by People of Faribault — Refusal to
Pay Taxes— Election of Officers in Fall of 1855— Faribault
Becomes County Seat — Records Transcribed from Mendota
Documents — Last Change of Boundary Made in 1857.
The area that is now Rice county was a part of Wabasha
(then spelled Wabashaw) count}', from 18-19 to 1851. From
1851 to 1853, it was a part of Dakota (then spelled Dakotah )
county.
Rice county was created by act of the territorial legislature,
March 5, 1853. Section 7, Chapter 15 (General Laws of Minne-
sota, 1853) gives the boundaries as follows: Beginning at the
southwest corner of Dakota county, thence west along said
county line to Lake Sakatah, thence south to the Iowa state line,
thence east along said state line to the southwest corner of Fill-
more county, thence along the west lines of Fillmore, Wabasha
and Goodhue counties to the place of beginning.
It will thus be seen that the starting point of Rice county,
as then constituted, was at the "southwest corner of Dakota
county." The west and south lines of Dakota county are
described in the act as follows: "Beginning in the Minnesota at
the mouth of the Credit river, thence on a direct line to the upper
branch of the Cannon river, thence down said river to its lowest
fork." The upper branch of the Cannon river is the Straight
river, and consequently this boundary line of Rice county started
at the confluence of these rivers, ran southwestward to Lake
Sakatah ; and thence south, crossing Waseca and Freeborn coun-
ties about on the range line between ranges twenty-two and
twenty-three to the Iowa line. Thence it ran east to a little
village called Granger in township 101, range eleven, Fillmore
county. Thence it ran in a direct line, due northwest to the
place of beginning.
Ki2
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 103
Rice county therefore took in about two-thirds of the present
platted city of Faribault, large portions of Morristown, Warsaw
and Walcott townships, and small portions of Wells, Cannon City
and Richland townships in the present Rice county. It included
the four eastern townships in Waseca townships, and all but
the four western townships in Freeborn county. It also took
in practically all of Mower and Steele counties, about one-
third of Dodge, a very small portion of Fillmore and Goodhue,
and possibly a few sections in Olmstead county.
In February, 1854, the government survey having been made,
the eastern boundary was altered somewhat and assumed definite
lines. This gave Goodhue county its present boundaries, and
took that county away from the confluence of the Straight and
Cannon rivers. However, three counties were still left "cornered"
at the meeting of these streams.
This would indeed seem to be a discouraging circumstance
in connection with the establishment cf a county seat in Fari-
bault, but the pioneers had views of their own. and while many
would have considered that the obstacles in the way of securing
a readjustment of county lines were too formidable to be over-
come, they never abandoned their firm determination to make
Faribault capital of the county. Thus it stood, with Rice, Dakota,
and Scott counties cornering at Faribault, until the fall of 1854,
when, as the territory to the south was rapidly filling up, it be-
came certain that the next legislature would rearrange the coun-
ties all through southern Minnesota. While everything was
being done to make Faribault a business center, the political
aspect of affairs was carefully scrutinized and it was at once
determined that it was imperative to have a good strong clear-
headed man who would be master of the situation as a repre-
sentative in the legislature from this district, and Alexander
Faribault, who was always quick to see what should be done,
and as prompt to act, opened a correspondence with H. H. Sib-
ley, urging him to be a candidate for the position, and insisting
that in the fight over the county's boundaries, which was cer-
tain to be a bitter one and the contest for county seats most
distressing — to the defeated ones — he was the man to represent
the interests of this section. Mr. Sibley replied that he would
admit that his knowledge of the country might be of use to the
settlers if elected to the position, and intimated that there would
be opposition to him in the Minnesota vallev, but, if nominated
in the convention to be held, he could be elected. So the voters
held a caucus at Mr. Faribault's house and appointed Alexander
Faribault, N. Paquin, William Dunn, James Wells, Jonathan
Morris, E. J. Crump, and Walter Morris as delegates to the
convention soon to be held at Shakopee. Feeling that they
104 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
might not all attend, Luke Hulett wrote a resolution instructing
the delegates to vote for Mr. Sibley, and authorizing them to
cast the full vote of the delegation. Mr. Dunn, of Cannon City,
who with all the others, was in favor of Mr. Sibley, positively
declined to be instructed, insisting that he and the others knew
enough to go to the convention and do their duty. James Wells
also opposed the resolution, and notwithstanding Mr. Hulett
urged its necessity in case of a contingency, which actually hap-
pened, and that its passage implied no disrespect to the delega-
tion, it was voted down. In due time the convention met, two
of the delegates were not there, and the result of the first ballot
was a tie between Mr. Sibley and a gentleman up the Minnesota
river ; so the delegation then asked for the privilege of casting
the entire vote for Mr. Sibley, but to this objection was success-
fully made, as they had not been so instructed by their con-
stituents. But Mr. Wells, who was well up in party methods,
was equal to the emergency and retrieved his mistake in second-
ing Mr. Dunn's objection to Mr. Hulett's resolution, by finding a
man in whose palm a ten dollar gold piece exactly fitted, and the
next ballot placed Mr. Sibley in nomination.
General Sibley was duly elected, and succeeded in making
the county lines conform to the wishes of his Faribault friends.
In the act defining the boundaries of various counties, including
Rice, a provision was inserted to the effect that the legal voters
could at any general election organize any of the counties therein
defined county, provided that there were at least fifty votes cast
for county commissioners, and empowering the first county
board to permanently establish the county seat. With this con-
dition of things the people of Faribault were content, as the
place was fast filling up.
The boundaries of Rice county as given in the act of 1855
are as follows: "Beginning at the southwest corner of town-
ship 109 north, range 18 west, running thence west on said
township line twenty-four miles to the township line between
ranges 22 and 23; thence north on said township line twenty-
four miles to the township line between townships 112 and 113
north; thence east <>n said township lino twelve miles to the
township line between ranges 20 and 21 ; thence south six miles
to the township line between townships HI and 112; thence
east on said township line twelve miles to the township line
between ranges 18 and 19; thence south eighteen miles to the
place of beginning." The above remains a description of the
present boundaries of Rice county, with the exception of an
addition lo the county of twelve sections in the northern part
of Bridgewater and Northfield townships, taken from Green-
vale, Waterford and Sciota townships in Dakota county.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 105
The boundaries being definitely laid down in 1855 to the
satisfaction of the people, the next step was the organization.
This was accomplished by Gov. Willis A. Gorman, early in
1855. Owing to the fact that the previous historians of this
county belonged to the party which opposed the organization
by the governor, very little has been handed down to the pres-
ent generation in regard to this important period in Rice county
history. It seems that during the summer of 1854 a town had
been laid out three miles northeast of the village of Faribault
by the Messrs. Sears, and given the name of Cannon City. It
is probable that friends of the Messrs. Sears gained the ear of
the governor, for after being urged by various citizens of the
county, probably not residents of Faribault, the governor ap-
pointed a provisional list of commissioners, and established the
county seat at Cannon City.
In the fall of that year, however, the county proceeded to
organize by an election under the act that had defined its
boundaries.
There were three voting precincts, one at Faribault, one at
Cannon City and the other at Morristown. Walter Morris, the
founder of the latter village, had first located at Faribault, but
not securing such an interest as he desired, transferred himself
and his followers to Morristown. He evidently held the balance
of power between Faribault and Cannon City, and it became
imperative in the interests of the people at the confluence of the
Straight and Cannon rivers that a compromise be made with
him ; this being effected by the preparation of a ticket for county
officers with the larger part of the candidates from Morristown.
The election was held in November, 1855, and resulted as
follows: Register of deeds, Isaac Hammond; sheriff, Charles
Wood ; judge of probate, Isaac Woodman ; county commissioners,
F. W. Frink, Andrew Storer and George F. Pettit. Faribault
was selected as the county seat.
Up to the time of this election Rice county, though it had
received a name and been given boundaries, was attached to
Dakota county for both civil and judicial purposes.
Alexander Faribault and his associates had family, business
and social interests in Mendota, in Dakota county, and were
therefore not inclined to consider this connection with Dakota
county as other than just and proper.
But the newer comers were not disposed to yield in any way
the palm of supremacy to the towns to the north, and were
jealous of any efforts which tended toward delaying Rice county
in taking an equal place among the somewhat older counties.
Therefore when a tax was laid on personal property in Dakota
county, and an effort was made to collect the tax in Rice
106 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
county, the effort was much resented, although the Dakota
county officials were acting undei the act which provided that
assessors should "assess all property therein (that is, in unorgan-
ized counties) subject to taxation, and return the assessment
roll by them made to the clerk of the board of county commis-
sioners of the county to which their counties were attached for
judicial purposes, and the board was required to levy the tax;
and the collector of such county (i. e., an unorganized county^
was requested to collect the tax and pay the same into the treas-
ury of such an organized county in the same manner as they
were required to do 'in such organized counties of which they
were officers."
This act clearly provided that the taxation money from Rice
count}' should be paid into the tieasury of Dakota county, but
only a few paid it, and the election and organization of Rice
county came so soon that the neglect or refusal of the others
did not become a serious problem.
When the county government wheels were actually set in
motion steps were taken to secure a copy of such records as had
pertained to Rice county during its connection with Dakota
count}'. Deputy Register of Deeds C. C. Perkins was directed
to go to Mendota, which had been the county seat of Dakota
county (Kaposia, now South Park, South St. Paul, became the
county seat in 1854, Mendota in 1854, and Hastings in 1857).
and copy all records of deeds, mortgages, and miscellaneous rec-
ords pertaining to Rice county and transport the same to Fari-
bault. Upon this authority Mr. Perkins went to St. Paul and
purchased the necessary books, and thence to Mendota, where he
transcribed the records as directed and returned to Rice county,
delivering them into the hands of Register of Deeds Isaac Ham-
mond in the early part of 1855. Since then the records have been
maintained in Faribault.
By an act passed by the legislature May 22, 1857, several
sections were annexed to Rice county in the following words:
Be it enacted . . . that the southern tier of sections in town-
ship 112 north, of ranges 19 and 20 west, be, and the same are
hereby annexed to and shall hereafter constitute a part of the
county of Rice . . . said portions of counties annexed shall form
a part of the representative district of the county to which they
are annexed. . . .
The state was admitted May 11, 1858. After that date the
boundaries of the counties could not be changed except by a
majority vote of the electors of the counties affected. (See Sec.
1, Art. II, State Constitution.)
Since 1857 there has been no effort to change the boundaries
of Rice county.
CHAPTER V.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
Meeting of Appointed Commissioners Held at Cannon City
First Meeting of Elected Commissioners — Scnool Districts
Formed — lownship System — Commission System Again —
Yearly Vvork of the Board — Poor Farm Planned— County
Court House and Jail Erected — County Officers — County
Poor Farm.
So far as can be learned, no records have been preserved of
the meeting of the county commissioners of Rice county, se-
lected by Governor Gorman, though such a meeting was held at
Cannon City. Halsey M. Matteson was chairman of the board.
Isaac N. Sater was probably a member also, and possibly Luke
Hulett. In after life, it is said, Mr. Matteson declared that
although the governor located the county seat temporarily in
Cannon City and the board met there, the county seat was
actually moved to Faribault by that board. If this is true, then
the selection of Faribault as the county seat antedates the
election of 1855.
The first elected board of county commissioners of Rice
county held its first meeting January 7, 1856. in the office of
Berry & Batchelder, in Faribault. There were present at this
meeting F. W. Frink, Andrew Storer and George F. Pettit, with
the register of deeds, Isaac Hammond, acting as clerk. Nothing
was accomplished except the organization which was effected
by the election of F. W. Frink, chairman, for the ensuing year,
and the board, which in those days was dignified by the title of
•'court," adjourned until the following day, January 8, 1855.
The court convened as per adjournment, on the morning of the
eighth, and began disposing of such business as should come
before it. The first business to be laid before the court was the
organization of school district No. 1, the first organized in the
county. The board declared that it should consist of sections
19, 30 and 31, in township 110, range 20, and sections 24, 25, 36,
and the east half of section 35, in township 110, range 21. This
embraces most of the incorporated limits of the city of Fari-
bault. They also granted a petition for school district No. 2,
to embrace territory in township 111, ranges 19 and 20. School
districts Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 were formed at this meet-
107
103 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
ing, and their territory placed upon record, and much of the
time was consumed by road petitions. The first road business
entered upon record was in the form of a petition, and is as
follows : "A petition for a road by Luke Hulett, and twenty-
two others, beginning at the quarter post on the north line of
the town of Faribault, running thence due north to the center
of section 19, township 110, range 20; thence in a direct line,
as near as may be, toward St. Paul until it shall intersect the
Dodd road; and Charles Wood, Levi Nutting and A. H. Bulbs
are hereby appointed examiners to view said road and report
to the board of commissioners at their next regular session."
Numerous roads were established by the board. July 8, 1856.
the board, in summing up the assessment rolls from the three
assessors' districts in the county, found the aggregate assessed
valuation $613,364.95.
Of the historic first meeting of the board F. W. Frink has
said: "Among those present at this meeting were Luke Hulett.
Norbert Paquin, John B. Davis, Dr. Charles Jewett, Michael
Cook, and Levi Nutting. The office was in front with a bedroom
in the rear. For nearly a year that office was at our disposal
for county business, while the office of the register of deeds was
first opened in Crump's hall, lower story. Isaac Woodman
judged cases at his farm house in the town of Walcott, while I
carried the office of clerk of the court, as deputy for H. M. Mat-
teson, in my trousers' pocket. Matteson was the first clerk of
the court elected, E. J. Crump having held the office by appoint-
ment." May 13, 1856, George F. Pettit resigned as county com-
missioner and his place was taken by Levi Nutting. February
9, 1856, County Order No. 1 was drawn to the amount of $25
to H. M. Matteson, county treasurer, to purchase books and
stationery for the district clerk's office.
The board met as required by law. January 5, 1857, tin-
members comprising the body being Levi Nutting. Franklin
Kelley and Andrew Storer. The board organized by electing
Levi Nutting as chairman for the ensuing year, and then engaged
in routine business. At the session of the court on February
17, reports were received from the various school districts in
the county, showing the number of scholars in attendance in
each district. The several reports arc given below, the number
of the district, the name of the clerk and the number of scholars
in each being recorded :
One, R. Thayer. 268; 2. Daniel Bowe, 34; 3, D. B. Turner, 44;
4. II. M. Matteson, 36; 6, T. II. Willis, 41; 8, James Anderson,
30; 11. T. B. Van Eaton. 30; 12, Ezra Carter, 41; 13, E. S.
Drake. 44; 14. William Curbeck. 74; 16, Nathan Colestock, 22:
total number of scholars in the county, 664. The board then
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 109
ordered that the sum of $2 be appropriated from the county
funds for each scholar, and apportioned to the various school
district for school purposes. The list of districts was then made
out, showing the amount due each district, as follows: 1, $536;
2, $68 ; 3, $88 ; 4, $72 ; 6, $82 ; 8, $60 ; 11, $60; 12, $82 ; 13, $88 ; 14,
S148; 16, $44; total, $1,328. The board then took into consid-
eration assessor's reports from the different districts, and found
the total assessed valuation $2,107,770. District No. 1 reporting
$722,865; district No. 2, $1,143,353; and district No. 3, $241,552.
The total amount of tax raised for territorial, county and school
purposes, in 1857, was $15,810.42.
During the year 1858, in which the territory of Minnesota
was admitted as a state, little of special interest or note was
accomplished by the board. It met on January 5 and organized
by electing Levi Nutting, chairman, the other members being
Franklin Kelley and Andrew Storer. Charles Wheeler, the
sheriff elect, presented his official bond and it was approved.
John Hoover presented his bond as assessor, and other county
officers presented bonds, which were duly approved.
Reports were received from the various schools in the county,
and it was found that in the thirty schools reported there was
an attendance of 1,489 scholars. The apportioned school fund
of this year was 65 cents for every scholar entered upon the
rolls. A new book in which to record the proceedings of the
county commissioners was purchased.
The division of the county into townships is treated elsewhere
in this volume.
TOWNSHIP SYSTEM.
In 1858, with the admission of the state into the union, began
an era which in Minnesota continued but a short time, that of
county government by a board of supervisors consisting of the
chairmen of the various townships, which in the meantime
had been created with practically their present names and
almost their present boundaries. September 14, the first
meeting of this board was held in the city of Faribault, and was
called to order by J. A. Starks. The roll was called and the
following gentlemen, representing the townships following their
names, answered : G. L. Carpenter, Webster ; L. Barlow, Rich-
land ; W. A. Pye, Wheeling; Daniel Bowe. Northfield; Isaac
Woodman, Walcott ; J. A. Starks, Cannon City; B. Lockerbv.
Bridgewater ; Miles Hollister. Sargent; Thomas Kirk, Wells:
E. F. Taylor, Forest; Isaac Hammond, Morristown ; J. Hagerty,
Shieldsville; John Conniff. Erin; G. W. Batchelder, Faribault.
They then proceeded to elect a chairman and the result was one
vote for Isaac Woodman and eight for J. A. Starks, the latter
110 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
being therefore declared elected, and was escorted to the chair.
John C. Gilmore was appointed clerk of the board and was
required to give bonds to the amount of $500. The board then
proceeded to business by appointing eight or nine committees
to attend to the various matters that should come before it.
September 15, the committee appointed to consider a petition
for assistance in building a bridge at Dundas reported that it
did not consider the county finances in such a shape as to war-
rant assistance in the building of bridges. The petition was
therefore tabled. At the same meeting a note was presented by
Xicholls & Buckley, which had been given by the board, but
could not be paid. The interest for the same was at a rate of
2^4 per cent a month. An apportionment fund of 95 cents per
scholar was made from the county fund in favor of the school
districts. Licenses were registered, regulated at $50 for liquors
and $25 for beers. September 27, the board appropriated $100
for the upper and $100 for the lower bridge at Faribault over
Straight river. During the session G. C. Albee took his seat as
successor to G. F. Pettit, the second supervisor of Faribault.
Peter O'Brien also appeared from Wheatland.
In 1857 the same board still held office. January 8, reports
were received from thirty-seven of the school districts, and
showed an attendance of 1,939 scholars. At a session of the
board, February 17, the first coroner of the county was appointed,
in the person of J. B. Wheeler. He afterward resigned and E.
J. Crump was appointed in his stead. February 17, it was de-
clared by a resolution that all county orders issued by the former
board of county commissioners were void and repudiated, and
forbade the county treasurer paying any of the same. This reso-
lution, however, after investigation of the matter, was rescinded,
and the former chairman of the board, Levi Nutting, was re-
quested to deliver up all notes and matters pertaining thereto
into the hands of the board.
At the annual election in the fall of 1859 a new board was
elected, and the newly elected commissioners took their places
and the oath of office at a meeting held September 13, the fol-
lowing being present : A. Anderson, J. D. Hoskins, Isaac Wood-
man, L. Hulett, J. H. Winter, I. N. Sater, Benjamin Lockerby,
E. Roberds, J. H. Bartlett, James McCabe, R. M. Norton, and
Henry Conary. Later came G. W. Frink, L. Barlow, Joseph
Hagarty and L. Y. Hatch. N. Paquin contested Luke Hulett's
seat, but was unsuccessful. It would appear from the minutes
that while the other townships were represented on the board by
their chairman, Faribault was represented by its chairman and
one other supervisor.
Reports to the board of supervisors from forty of the fifty-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 111
four school districts in the county showed a total of 2,046 scholars
in attendance. January 7, 1860, the last meeting of the board
was held and adjourned sine die, as a change had been made in
the governmental principles and the commissioner system was
again inaugurated.
COMMISSION SYSTEM.
In January, 1860, Rice county was divided into five commis-
sioner districts, each being entitled to one representative on the
county board. District No. 1 comprised the towns of Richland,
Wheeling and Cannon City ; district No. 2, Northfield and
Bridgewater; district No. 3, Faribault; district No. 4, Walcott,
Sargent, Morristown and Wells ; district No. 5, Shieldsville, Erin,
Wheatland, Webster and Forest.
The newly elected board met May 15, 1860, the following
gentlemen representing the various districts : J. H. Parker, G. H.
Batchelder, S. Webster and William Thorp. They organized by
electing J. H. Parker chairman for the ensuing year. The board
then appointed G. F. Batchelder county auditor to serve until
the next election, fixing his bond at $5,000. It also decided that
his salary should be $400 per annum. Nothing more of impor-
tance came before the board and the balance of the time was
spent among the road and school districts, together with other
routine business.
In 1861 the board met January 5, with the following members
in attendance: G. H. Batchelder, William Dunn, W. M. Thorp,
G. Woodruff, James McCabe and John Conniff. G. H. Batchel-
der was elected chairman for the year and the board proceeded
to business. They next raised the salary of the county auditor
from $400 to $600 per year.
At a session on January 15, from reports sent in to the board
from the clerks of school districts it was found that there were
2,287 scholars in Rice county entitled to apportionment. The
total apportionment fund for this year was $3,458.46.
In 1862, the board consisted of the same gentlemen as did the
last, except J. B. Wheeler, who was elected chairman. They
fixed the salary of the county auditor at $600 for the ensuing
year, and that of the county attorney at $400 per annum. The
balance of the year was spent in routine business.
At the beginning of the next year, 1863, the board met Jan-
uary 6, and the records state that the full board was present,
but as to the personnel of the body the records do not give
any information. The commissioners passed a resolution raising
the auditor's salary from $600 to $800 per year. A considerable
portion of the commissioners' time in this year was devoted to
issues arising from the war, and making appropriations for filling
112 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the quota. An account of their proceedings with regard to this
will he found in the military history published elsewhere.
In 1864 the county commissioners met January 5 for organi-
zation, and the record of the meeting says Messrs. Jackson,
Adams, Wheaton and Wilson were in attendance. The board
organized by electing H. Wilson chairman. A special meeting
was held April 16 for the purpose of taking into consideration
the propriety of appointing a county superintendent of schools,
under authority of an act of the legislature to provide for a gen-
eral system of schools. After consideration they appointed
Thomas S. Buckham and fixed his salary at $500 a year.
Nothing of particular importance transpired the following
year, 1865, the time being consumed by routine business. The
commissioners met in the early part of January, substantially
the same board being present. They organized by electing
Hudson Wilson to the chair. January 5 the board raised the
salary of the county attorney from $450 to $500. On September
6 $400 was appropriated to take care of the county poor, that
amount having been deficient in the former year's report. The
board closed the year's labors by allowing bills of commissioners
for service, mileage, etc.
In 1866 the newly elected board met January 2. and was com-
posed of the following gentlemen: Joseph llaejerty, C. A.
Wheaton, Hudson Wilson, C. D. Adams and John Close. The
board organized by electing Hudson Wilson chairman. At the
January session the matter of a county poor farm was before the
board, and the following is entered upon the records: "The
board having in discussion the propriety of procuring a farm in
support of the county poor, and as the demands upon the county
treasury will not leave sufficient funds to purchase such a farm,
in case we should deem it advisable to provide for the poor in
that way at a subsequent session. The county attorney was re-
quested to prepare a bill to presenl to the legislature at this ses-
sion, authorizing the board of Rice county to issue bonds in their
discretion to an amount not exceeding $15,000, for the purchase
of a county poor farm and the erection of the necessary buildings
thereon." The county superintendent of schools, Thomas S.
Buckham, resigned his position as such, and the board appointed
Myron Wheaton to till the place. At the same meeting the salary
of the auditor was increased to Sl.SiKl per year. At a later session
of the commissioners, in September. 1866, the board issued bonds,
under authority of an act approved by the legislature March 1.
ISoo. entitled "An act to authorize the county commissioners
of Rice count) to issue bond- to provide for the purchase of a
county poor farm." Forty-three bonds, or denominations vary-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 113
ing from $50 to $500, were issued, payable within eight years,
with interest at ten per cent.
In January, 1867, the board met upon the 2d of the month,
and consisted of the following members : Hudson Wilson, C. S.
Hulbert, C. D. Adams, John Close and Joseph Hagerty. The
organization was effected by the election of H. Wilson, chair-
man. They then increased the salary of the auditor to $2,000.
At the September session the following resolution was passed by
the board : "Resolved, That three members of this board be a
committee to purchase, and are hereby instructed to negotiate
for and purchase lots 1, 2 and 3, of block 43, town of Faribault,
for Rice county, as an addition for the site for county buildings.
The committee to consist of Hudson Wilson, John Close, C. S.
Hulbert, and the county auditor." The said committee were also
authorized to draw orders on the county treasury in payment
for the same.
At the next session of the board it was "Resolved, That the
chairman be instructed to present to the next legislature a bill
authorizing the commissioners of Rice county to issue bonds to
an amount not exceeding $50,000 for the erection of county
buildings."
In 1868 the board met as usual, in the early part of January,
and organized by electing Hudson Wilson chairman. The mem-
bers present were: Hudson Wilson, John Close, C. S. Hulbert
and Richard Browne. This year was spent entirely with routine
business, attending to school districts, tax abatements and allow-
ing bills.
The year 1869 was spent by the commissioners in much the
same manner as the previous year. The board met January 5
and organized by electing Hudson Wilson chairman. The mem-
bers present were: P. Filbert, Hudson Wilson. R. Rrowne and
Dr. Coe.
The board elected for 1870 met on January 4 and organized
by electing Hudson Wilson chairman, the members being E.
Lathrop, R. Browne, P. Filbert and Dr. S. B. Coe. Nothing of
importance transpired this year.
The members elected for 1871, as a board of county commis-
sioners, were as follows: First commissioner's district, Peter
Filbert: second district, E. Lathrop; third district. H. Wilson;
fourth district, C. D. Adams; fifth district, Richard Browne. The
seat of Peter Filbert was afterward declared vacant by the board
on the ground that he was not a resident of the district at the
time of election, and O. Osmandson was made his successor.
At a meeting of the board January 2, 1872, Hudson Wilson
was re-elected chairman, the members for the vear being J. C.
Closson, E. Lathrop, C. D. Adams and Richard Browne. At this
114 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
session the salary of the county attorney was fixed at $700 per
year. It was also decided that all the county buildings should be
insured.
The following year. 1873, the board met on January 7, com-
posed of the same gentlemen as was in the last board, with the
exception thai Hudson Wilson was dropped out and T. B.
(lenient appeared in his place, and the board was organized by
electing the latter gentleman chairman. They then spent some
time in burning redeemed county orders. The next matter taken
into consideration by the board was the erection of a court housi
and jail, and a hill was drawn up for presentation to the next
legislature, to authorize the county commissioners to issue bonds
for the erection of those buildings, not exceeding $50,000 in
amount, and the same to be submitted to a vote of the people.
This was the same, in substance, as the resolution passed in 1867.
The salary of the county superintendent of schools was fixed at
$1,000 per year.
At a session of the board in May the building committee was
authorized to purchase lots six and seven in block forty-four, of
Patrick McGreevy, at a cost not to exceed $5,000, also to
advertise for bids on the court house. In July, the contract
of completing the stone work on the basement of the court
house was let to Pfieffer & Co., for the sum of $9,615. The bid
of Babcock & Woodruff was accepted. They agreed to do car-
penter work in the basement, also to furnish everything and com-
plete the building from the water tables up, according to certain
plans and specifications, for the sum of $26,515. At the session
of the board in August of this year it was resolved as follows:
"That the board of county commissioners of Rice county
acknowledge themselves and the citizens of Rice county under
great and lasting obligations to the Hon. Henry M. Rice, of St.
Paul, from whom our county takes its name, for a large and
valuable collection of books and documents, consisting of up-
wards of 200 volumes, recently presented by that gentleman, the
same being the first contribution to our county library."
At the August session of the board the building committee
reported that it had let tin- contract for building the jail onto the
McGreevy house, according to plans and specifications made by
C. N. Daniels, architect to Messrs. Sibbald, Hatch. Johnson and
McCall, to be completed by October 1, 1873. A contract was
also made with Henry Peltier for brick at $8.25 per thousand.
Bradey & Greenslade contracted to furnish the iron work on
the jail for $2,300. July 1. 1873, the county commissioners
issued fifty bunds of the denomination of $1,000 each, and pay-
able from ten to twenty years from date, with interest at 9 per
cent, in payment of the county buildings.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 115
In 1874 the commissioners met January 6, with the following
in attendance: T. B. Clement, H. H. White, J. G. Scott, J. F.
Healey and J. C. Closson. The board organized by electing T. B.
Clement chairman. At a session in March $400 was voted to
improve the buildings on the county poor farm. Considerable
time was spent in discussing county buildings.
The board elected in 1875 consisted of T. C. Adams, H. H.
White, T. B. Clement, J. F. Healey and J. G. Scott. At the first
meeting, January 5, T. B. Clement was elected chairman. Messrs.
Scott and Adams were appointed by the commissioners as a com-
mittee to borrow for the county the sum of $5,000, payable in
one year.
In 1876 the commissioners were L. W. Denison, J. G. Scott,
T. C. Adams, H. H. White and M. Hanley. The board held its
first meeting January 4 and organized by electing L. W. Denison
as chairman.
In 1877 the board consisted of A. P. Morris, Charles Sweetzer,
T. C. Adams, M. Hanley and L. W. Denison. They met for
organization January 2 and selected L. W. Denison for chairman.
The board spent considerable time this year in discussing and
attending to bills from pursuers of the Northfield bank robbers.
In 1878 the board met January 2 and was attended by Chris-
tian Deike, A. P. Morris, L. W. Denison, Charles Sweetzer and
M. Hanley. The chairman was L. W. Denison. At a subsequent
meeting the board authorized the chairman to provide a suitable
bookcase for the library presented by the Hon H. M. Rice.
In 1879 the county commissioners were D. Cavanaugh, A. 1'.
Morris, M. Hanley, Charles Sweetzer and C. Deike. D. Cav-
anaugh was elected chairman. In July a petition was received
for aid in building a bridge across Straight river, between Rice
and Steele counties. A committee was appointed to meet the
commissioners of Steele county and pursuade them to bear a
share of the expense.
In 1880 the commissioners were D. Cavanaugh, chairman;
John S. Way, Charles Sweetzer, M. Hanley and C. Deike.
In 1881 the commissioners were the same as the previous year.
In 1882 the commissioners were Charles Sweetzer, chairman ;
T. O'Grady, E. J. Healy, C. Deike and John S. Way.
In 1883 the commissioners were J. W. Huckins. T. B. Buck,
E. J. Healey, T. O'Grady, C. Dieke.
1884 — Auditor, S. L. Crocker ; treasurer, E. J. Healy ; regis-
ter, M. H. Cole; sheriff, Ara Barton; judge of probate, John
Mullin ; surveyor. George M. Andrews ; coroner, George M.
Coon; attorney, A. D. Keyes ; superintendent of schools, S. B.
Wilson; county commissioners, E. F. Oliver, J". W. Huckins.
E. J. Healey, J. B. Buck.
116 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
1885 — Auditor, L. S. Crocker; treasurer, E. J. Healy ; regis-
ter, M. II. Cole; sheriff, Ara Barton; judge of probate, John
Mullin; surveyor, George M. Andrews; coroner, George M.
Coon; attorney, A. D. Keyes; superintendent of schools, S. B.
Wilson; clerk of court, Charles T. Palmer; county commission-
ers, E. F. Oliver, J. W. Huckins. H. P. Sime, J. B. Buck, T.
O'Grady.
1887 — Auditor, T. N. Donaldson; treasurer, E. J. Healy;
sheriff, Oscar Lockerby ; register, James Hunter; attorney, H. M.
Keeley ; county surveyor, Sterne Faribault; judge of probate,
John Mullin ; court commissioner, C. W. Pye ; coroner, F. M.
Rose; superintendent of schools, S. B. Wilson; county commis-
sioners, T. C. Adams, David Ames, A. W. Stockton, T. B.
Owings, F. Benjamin, Jr.
1889 — Auditor, I. N. Donaldson ; treasurer, John Grant ;
sheriff, C. X. Stewart; register of deeds, James Hunter; judge
of probate, R. A. Mott; count) - attorney, A. L. Keyes; county
surveyor, S. A. Faribault; coroner. G. M. Coon; clerk of court,
C. O. Kleven; superintendent of schools, S. B. Wilson; county
commissioner, John S. Petteys, David Ames, A. W. Stockton,
T. B. Owings, F. Benjamin, Jr.
1891 — Auditor, I. N. Donaldson; sheriff, C. N. Stewart; attor-
ney, Thomas II. Quinn; judge of probate, R. A. Mott; coroner,
G. M. Coon; superintendent of schools, S. B. Wilson; register
of deeds, James Hunter; county commissioners, T. C. Adams,
David Ames, A. W. Stockton, II. II. Osterhout, F. Benjamin.
1893 — Auditor, I. N. Donaldson; treasurer, F. Laufenburger ;
register, James Hunter; sheriff, C. N. Stewart; judge of probate,
R. A. Mott; attorney, Robert Alee; surveyor, \Y. S. Gloyd ; cor-
oner, J. S. Seelev. M. D. ; clerk of court, C. O. Kleven; court
commissioner, C. W. Pye; superintendent of schools, B. M.
Reynolds; county commissioners, A. W. Stockton (chairman),
C. Deike, David Ames, H. H. Osterhout, F. Benjamin.
IS')? — Auditor, I. X. Donaldson; treasurer. F. Laufenburger;
sheriff, Charles X. Stewart; register of deeds, James Hunter;
judge of probate. R. A. Mott; surveyor, Richard Kei-rick ; cor-
oner, J. S. Seeley, M. D.; clerk of court, C. O. Kleven: superin-
tendent of schools, B. M. Reynolds; county commissioners, P,
Ilcffernan, S. J. Leahy. F. J, Rachac, C. Deike, A. W. Stockton.
1897 — Auditor, I. X. Donaldson; treasurer, F. Laufenburger >
register, George L. Smith; sheriff, George W. Moshier; county
attorney, Anson L. Keyes; judge of probate, R. A. Mott; sur-
veyi ir, C. A. Reed ; coroner, J. S. Seelev ; clerk < >f court. George D.
Reed; court commissioner, C W Pye; superintendent of schools.
B, M. Reynolds; county commissioners, Alfred Pentz, P, Heffer-
nan, II. F. Kester, S. J. Leahy, F. 1. Rachac.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 117
1899 — Auditor, E. J. Healy; treasurer, Fred Shandorf; regis-
ter, George L. Smith ; sheriff, George W. Moshier; attorney, John
W. LeCrone; judge of probate, James Hunter; surveyor, C. A.
Reed; coroner, J. S. Seeley; clerk of court, George D. Reed;
court commissioner, C. W. Pye ; superintendent of schools, G. R.
Simpson ; county commissioners, Alfred Pentz, E. B. Law, H. F.
Kester, S. J. Leahy and F. J. Rachac.
1901 — Auditor, W. K. Adams ; treasurer, Fred Shandorf ; reg-
ister of deeds, George S. Whitney; sheriff, George W. Moshier;
attorney, William W. Pye ; judge of probate, James Hunter ;
surveyor, C. A. Reed ; coroner, J. S. Seeley ; clerk of court, George
D. Reed ; superintendent of schools, E. L. Peterson ; county com-
missioners, F. J. Orcutt, E, B. Law, H. Pierce, Jr., S. J. Leahy
and W. T. Shimota.
1903 — Auditor, W. K. Adams ; treasurer, S. I. Pettitt ; register
of deeds, Robert R. Hutchinson; sheriff, George W. Moshier;
attorney, William W. Pye; judge of probate, James Hunter;
surveyor, C. A. Reed; coroner, David W. Ray; clerk of court,
George D. Reed ; county commissioners, F. J. Orcutt, William
Ebel, Henry Pierce, Jr., Thomas Manley and W. T. Shimota.
1905 — Auditor, J. J. Rachac; treasurer, S. I. Pettitt; register
of deeds, Robert R. Hutchinson; sheriff, William Geiger; attor-
ney, E. H. Gipson ; judges of probate, George L. Smith ; surveyor,
C. A. Reed ; coroner, D. W. Ray ; clerk of court, Charles F. Ebel ;
superintendent of schools, Elmer L. Peterson ; county commis-
sioners, H. H. Helberg, William Ebel, P. F. Ruge, Thomas Man-
ley and Henry Sprain.
1907 — Auditor, J. J. Rachac; treasurer, S. I. Pettitt; register
of deeds, R. R. Hutchinson; sheriff, William Geiger; attorney,
A. B. Childress ; judge of probate, George L. Smith ; surveyor,
C. A. Reed; coroner, D. W. Ray; clerk of court, Charles F. Ebel;
court commissioners, K. S. Chase; superintendent of schools,
J. H. Lewis ; county commissioners, H. H. Helberg, William
Ebel, P. F. Ruge, John Finley, Jr., and Henry Sprain.
1909 — Auditor, James W. Trenda; treasurer, S. I. Pettitt;
register of deeds, E. F. Kelly; sheriff, William Geiger; attorney,
A. B. Childress; judge of probate, James Hunter; surveyor, C. A.
Reed ; coroner, A. H. Bollenbach ; clerk of court, Charles Ebel ;
superintendent of schools, J. H. Lewis ; county commissioners,
H. H. Helberg, William Ebel, P. F. Ruge, John Finley, Jr., and
Frank J. Parkos.
RICE COUNTY POOR FARM.
The Rice County poor farm was purchased from Summer A.
Sheffield, September 5, 1866, for $5,000, and is located in the
118 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
southeast quarter of section 2 in Warsaw. The present brick
building was erected in 1903 and completed July 15. Minor
improvements have been made since. The farm is in a high
degree of cultivation, and has always been well managed. The
grounds are well tended and much credit for the efficiency and
beauty of the place is due Frank Sweet, the farm being one of
the finest places in Jewett valley.
CHAPTER VI.
LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATION.
Council Districts — Territorial Legislatures — Rice County in the
Seventh and Sixth Council Districts Successively — Consti-
tutional Convention — Rice County Becomes a Part of the
Fifth Legislative District of the New State — Rice County
Constituted the Eighth District — Becomes the Eighteenth
District — Becomes the Twentieth District — Assumes Its
Present Designation of Twenty-eighth District in 1897 —
Representatives in Congress.
On July 7, 1849, Governor Alexander Ramsey, by procla-
mation, fixed the council districts of the territory, which at that
time had not been divided into counties. The settlement at the
meeting of the Straight and Cannon rivers was included in the
seventh district.
The first territorial legislature assembled in 1849. The sev-
enth district was represented in the council by Martin McLeod.
and in the house by Alexis Bailly and Gideon H. Pond. The ses-
sion adjourned November 1.
The second territorial legislature assembled January 1 and
adjourned March 31, 1851. The seventh district was represented
in the council by Martin McLeod and in the house by B. II.
Randall and Alexander Faribault.
The territory having been divided into counties, it was appor-
tioned by the second territorial legislature into council districts.
Rice county, which was then included in Dakota county, was in
the sixth district.
The third territorial legislature assembled January 7, and
adjourned March 6, 1852. The sixth district was represented in
the council by Martin McLeod and in the house by Janie^
McBoal and Benjamin H. Randall.
The fourth territorial legislature assembled January 5, and
adjourned March 5, 1853. Martin McLeod, of Lac qui Parle,
who represented the sixth district in the council, was president of
that body. In the house, the sixth district was represented by
A. E. Ames and B. H. Randall.
The fifth territorial legislature assembled January 4 and ad-
journed March 4, 1854. Joseph R. Brown represented the sixth
11!)
130 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
district in the council and Hezekiah Fletcher and William H.
Nobles in the house.
The sixth territorial legislature assembled January 3 and ad-
journed March 3, 1855. Joseph R. Brown represented the sixth
district in the council and H. H. Sibley and D. M. Hanson in the
house.
By the apportionment of 1855, Rice, Scott and Dakota coun-
ties were constituted the sixth district.
The seventh territorial legislature assembled January 2 and
adjourned March 1, 1856. The sixth district was represented
in the council by H. G. Bailly and Samuel Dooley, and in the
house by M. T. Murphy, O. C. Gibbs, John C. Ide, J. T. Gal-
braith and John M. Holland.
The eighth territorial legislature assembled January 7 and
adjourned March 7, 1857. The sixth district was represented by
Samuel Dooley and H. G. Bailly in the council and C. P. Adams,
J. J. McVey, L. M. Brown. F. J. Witlock and Morgan L. Noble
in the house. An extra session assembled April 27 and adjourned
May 23. At this extra session Charles Jewett took the place of
Morgan L. Noble, who resigned.
Under the enabling act of congress, approved March 3, 1857,
a constitutional convention of 108 members (each council dis-
trict to elect two delegates for each councilman and representa-
tive it was entitled to) was authorized to meet at the capitol on
the second Monday in July, to frame a state constitution, and
to submit it to the people of the territory. The election was held
on the first Monday in June. July 13 the delegates met, but a
disagreement arising in the organization, the Republican mem-
bers organized one body and the Democrats organized separatelv.
Each of these bodies claiming to be the legal constitutional con-
vention, proceeded with the work of forming an instrument to be
submitted to the people. After some days an understanding was
effected between them, and by means of a committee of confer-
ence the same constitution was framed and adopted by both
bodies. On being submitted to the people, October 13. it was
ratified. The sixth district, which included Rice county, was
represented in the Republican wing by John \Y. North, Thomas
Bolles, Oscar F. Perkins, Thomas Foster, Thomas J. Galbraith
and D. D. Dickinson. The district was represented in the Demo-
cratic wing by II. II. Sibley. Robert Kennedy, Daniel J. Burns,
Frank Warner, William A. Davis, Joseph Burwell, Henry G.
Bailly and Andrew Keegan.
1857-58 — The first legislature. By the apportionment as laid
down in the constitution. Rice county was constituted the fifth
district. The legislature assembled December 2, 1857, and on
March 25, 1858. took a recess until June 2 and adjourned Augusl
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 121
12. The Rice county representatives were : Michael Cook, George
E. Skinner in the senate ; John L. Schofield, John H. Parker and
Warren Vertress in the house.
1859-60 — The second legislature assembled December 7, and
adjourned March 12, 1860. Rice county representatives were :
M. Cook and D. H. Frost in the senate; E. N. Leavens, Luke
Hulett and Ferris Webster in the house.
1861 — The third legislature. By the apportionment of 1860
Rice county was constituted the eighth district. The legislature
assembled January 8, and adjourned March 8. Rice county rep-
resentatives were : Michael Cook in the senate ; J. D. Hoskins
and Charles Wood in the house.
1862 — The fourth legislature assembled January 7, and ad-
journed March 7. Rice county representatives were : Michael
Cook in the senate ; George H. Woodruff and Caleb Clossen in the
house. On account of the Indian outbreak in 1862, an extra ses-
sion was called by the governor, which assembled September 9,
and adjourned September 29.
1863 — The fifth legislature assembled January 6, and ad-
journed March 6. Rice county representatives were : John M.
Berry in the senate ; Charles Wood and Charles Taylor in the
house.
1864 — The sixth legislature assembled January 5, and ad-
journed March 4. Rice county representatives were : John M.
Berry in the senate; A. N. Nourse and A. H. Bullis in the house.
1865 — The seventh legislature assembled January 3, and ad-
journed March 3. Rice county representatives were : Levi
Nutting in the senate ; A. H. Bullis and Charles Taylor in the
house.
1866 — The eighth legislature assembled January 2, and ad-
journed March 2. Rice county representatives were : Gordon E.
Cole in the senate ; J. S. Archibald and Isaac Pope in the house.
1867 — The ninth legislature. By the apportionment of 1866,
Rice county was constituted the eighth district. The legislature
assembled January 8, and adjourned March 8. Rice county repre-
sentatives were: O. F. Perkins in the senate; Charles A.
Wheaton and Isaac Pope in the house.
1868 — The tenth legislature assembled January 7, and ad-
journed March 6. Rice county representatives were: O. F.
Perkins in the senate; Christian Erd and Jesse Ames in the house.
1869— The eleventh legislature assembled January 5, and ad-
journed March 5. Rice county representatives were : George
F. Batchelder in the senate; W. J. Sibbison and E. Hollister in
the house.
1870 — The twelfth legislature assembled January 4, and ad-
journed March 4. Rice county representatives were: George F.
122 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Batchelder in the senate; Henry Drought and William Close in
the house.
1871 — The thirteenth legislature assembled January 8, and
adjourned March 3. Rice county representatives were : John
H. Case in the senate; Ara Barton and Henry Piatt in the house.
1872 — The fourteenth legislature. By the apportionment of
1871, Rice county was constituted the eighteenth district. The
legislature assembled January 2, and adjourned March 1. Rice
county representatives were: G. W. Batchelder in the senate;
O. Osmundson, Ara Barton, John Hutchinson. Henry Piatt and
H. M. Mattson in the house.
1873 — The fifteenth legislature assembled January 7, and ad-
journed March 7. Rice county representatives were: G. W.
Batchelder in the senate; Osmund Osmundson, Elias Hobbs,
S. C. Dunham. J. B. Hopkins and Andrew Thompson in tin
house.
1874 — The sixteenth legislature assembled January 6, and
adjourned March 6. Rice county representatives were: Thomas
H. Buckham in the senate ; B. M. James, H. E. Barron, J. H.
Passon, H. B. Martin and L. M. Heally in the house.
1875 — The seventeenth legislature assembled January 5, and
adjourned March 5. Rice county representatives were: Thomas
S. Buckham in the senate; T. B. Clement, J. B. Hopkins, J. S.
Allen, Andrew Thompson and H. B. Martin in the house.
1876— The eighteenth legislature assembled January 4, and
adjourned March 3. Rice county representatives were: J. M.
Archibald in the senate ; Joseph Covert, F. A. Noble, C. H. Grant.
( ;. W. Walrath and P. Plaisance in the house.
1877 — The nineteenth legislature assembled January 2, and
adjourned March 2. Rice county representatives were: J. M.
Archibald in the senate; J. It. Pettys, H. Scriver, A. W. Mc-
Kinstry, S. B. Coe and E. C. Knowles in the house.
1878 — The twentieth legislature assembled January 8, and
adjourned March 8. Rice county representatives were: T. B.
Clement in the senate: J. W. Thompson, John Thompson, Stiles
M. West, L. W. Dennison and J. S. Haselton in the house.
1879 — Tin' twenty-first legislature assembled* January 7, and
adjourned March 7. Rice county representatives were: T. B.
Clement in the senate; Setli II. Kenny. Hiram Scriver, L. W.
Dennison, A. Thompson and Joseph Covert in the house.
1881 — The twenty-second legislature assembled January 4.
and adjourned March 4. Rice county representatives were: T. 1'..
Clement in the senate: John Thompson, S. P. Stewart, R. A
Molt, W. R. Baldwin and Philip Plaisance in the ho.use. An extra
session was called for the purpose of considering the legislation
.it the regular session relating to the state railroad bonds which
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 123
was declared unconstitutional by the supreme court. The session
commenced October 11 and closed November 13.
1883 — The twenty-third legislature. By the apportionment of
1881, Rice county was constituted the twentieth district. The
legislature assembled January 2, and adjourned March 2. Rice
county representatives were: T. B. Clement in the senate; Gor-
don E. Cole, A. Mortenson, J. S. Way and M. S. Seymour in the
house.
1885 — The twenty-fourth legislature assembled January 6, and
adjourned March 6. Rice county representatives were: T. B.
Clement in the senate; W. S. Pattee, Christian Deike, Charles
Sweetser and Philip Plaisance in the house.
1887 — The twenty-fifth legislature assembled January 4, and
adjourned March 4. The Rice county representatives were: G.
W. Wood in the senate; A. D. Keyes, H. A. Swartwoudt, J. J.
Alexander and I. N. Powers in the house.
1889 — The twenty-sixth legislature assembled January 8, and
adjourned April 23. The Rice county representatives were : G.
W. Wood in the senate; J. P. Temple, Hudson Wilson, George
W. Damp and B. M. Janes in the house.
1S91 — The Twenty-seventh legislature. By the apportion-
ment of 1889, Rice county was constituted the twentieth district.
The legislature assembled January 6, and adjourned April 20.
Rice county representatives were : A. W. Stockton in the senate ;
T. E. Bonde, Joseph Roach and R. G. Weatherston in the house.
1893— The twenty-eighth legislature assembled January 3, and
adjourned April 18. Rice county representatives were: A. W.
Stockton in the senate; A. P.. Kelly, Judson C. Temple and Jo-
seph Roach in the house.
1895 — The twenty-ninth legislature assembled January 8, and
adjourned April 23. Rice county representatives were: A. W.
Stockton in the senate ; George W. Damp, A. B. Kelly and Simon
Taylor in the house.
1897 — The thirtieth legislature assembled January 5, and ad
journed April 21. Rice county representatives were: A. VV.
Stockton in the senate; D. F. Kelly, L. M. Hollister and Charles
Eigenbrodt in the house.
1899 — The thirty-first legislature. By the apportionment of
1897, Rice county was constituted the twenty-eighth district. The
legislature assembled January 3, and adjourned April 18. Rice
county representatives were: A. W. Stockton in the senate;
A. B. Kelly and P. J. Moran in the house.
1901 — The thirty-second legislature assembled January 8, and
adjourned April 12. Rice county representatives were : A. W.
Stockton in the senate ; A. B. Kelly and Fred Lemke in the house.
An extra session was called for the purpose of considering the
124 HISTORY OF RICE AXD STEELE COUNTIES
report of the tax commission created by Chapter 13, General
Laws of A. D. 1901. The extra session convened February 4,
1902, and adjourned March 11, 1902.
1903 — The thirty-third legislature assembled January 6. Rice
county representatives were: C. M. Buck in the senate; Fred
Lemke and D. F. Kelly in the house.
1905 — The thirty-fourth legislature assembled January 3. Rice
county representatives were: C. M. Buck in the senate; George
W. Thompson and A. K. Ware in the house.
1907 — The thirty-fifth legislature assembled January 8. Rice
county representatives were: Frank L. Glotzbach in the senate;
George W. Thompson and E. A. Orne in the house.
1909 — The thirty-sixth legislature assembled in January, 1909.
Rice county was represented in the senate by Frank L. Glotzbach.
and in the house by A. K. Ware and J. R. Phillips.
CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATION.
The third congressional district, in which, from the time of
the apportionment of 1881, Rice county has been included, has
been represented in congress since that date as follows : H. B.
Strait, Republican, March 4, 1881, to March 4, 1887; John L.
McDonald, Democrat, March 4, 1887, to March 4. 1889; Darwin
S. Hall, Republican, March 4. 1889, to March 4, 1891 ; O. M.
Hall. Democrat, March 4, 1891, to March 4, 1895; Joel P. Heat-
wole, Republican. March 4, 1895. to March 4, 1903; Charles R.
Davis, Republican, March 4, 1903, to March 4, 1911.
Until Minnesota became a state it had only one representa-
tive in congress, a territorial delegate, who was not allowed to
vote. The first territorial delegate from Minnesota was Henry
II. Sibley, who was first sent ostensibly as a delegate from the
territory of Wisconsin, though living on the present site of
Mendota at the mouth of the Minnesota river. He sat as a ter-
ritorial delegate from January 15. 1849, to December 5. 1S55.
I le was succeeded by I lenry M. Rice, who served until December
7, 1X57. W. W. Kingsbury was elected to s,, Ct -eed him and
served until December 6. 1858. As has been noted, the United
States senate. February 25. 1S57. passed an act authorizing the
people of Minnesota to form a constitution preparatory to their
admission to the union. In accordance with the provisions of
this enabling act, a constitutional convention was held Jul\ 15.
1857. at the territorial capital. October 15. 1857. an election was
held, when the constitution was adopted and a full list of state
officers elected. Three congressmen were also elected at this
tune George L. Becker, W. W. Phelps and J. M. Cavanaugh —
but it was afterward found that Minnesota was entitled to onlj
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 125
two congressmen, and the matter was amicably adjusted by the
withdrawal of Mr. Becker. By this election, the Messrs. Phelps
and Cavanaugh became the first members of congress from the
state of Minnesota.
In the winter of 1857-58, the legislature divided the state into
congressional districts, the southern part becoming the first con-
gressional district and the northern part the second, Rice county
thus becoming a part of the first congressional district.
By the apportionment of 1872, the state was divided into three
congressional districts. The second district contained the
counties of Wabasha, Goodhue, Rice, Dakota, Scott, Le Sueur,
Nicollet, Brown, Sibley, Carver, McLeod, Renville, Redwood,
Lyon, Swift, Chippewa and Kandijohi.
By the apportionment of 1881, the state was divided into five
congressional districts. The third district contained Goodhue,
Rice, Dakota, Scott, Carver, McLeod, Meeker, Kandiyohi, Ren-
ville, Swift and Chippewa.
By the apportionment of 1891, the state was divided into
seven congressional districts. The third district contained the
counties of Carver, Dakota, Goodhue, Le Sueur, McLeod,
Meeker, Renville, Rice, Scott and Sibley.
By the apportionment of 1901 the state was divided into nine
congressional districts. This apportionment has continued to
the present day. The third district consists of the counties of
Rice, Scott, Sibley, Nicollet, McLeod, Le Sueur, Goodhue,
Dakota and Carver.
CHAPTER VII.
TOWNSHIP HISTORY.
Fourteen Townships in Rice County Organized in May, 1858
—Early Settlement— Early Incidents and First Supervisors
of Each Township— Wells— Bridgewater— Wheeling— Rich-
land — Walcott — Forest — Warsaw — Cannon City — Erin
— Morristown — Northfield — Shieldsville — Wheatland —
Webster.
The fourteen townships in Rice county were organized in
May, 1858, and their governmental history has been uneventful,
as there have been practically no changes in boundaries or
names since that date.
In this chapter the story of the early settlement, anecdotes of
pioneer days and the organization and first officers of each town-
ship, are told in concise form. The cities and villages receive
attention elsewhere.
WELLS TOWNSHIP.
Wells township is one of the central townships of Rice
county and is next to the smallest in size. It contains the full
congressional township, with the exception of two and one-half
sections in the southeastern part, that have been annexed to the
city of Faribault. This leaves the town an area of 22,440 acres,
of which a considerable portion is covered with water. It is
bounded on the north by Forest; east by Cannon City township
and city of Faribault ; south by Warsaw ; and west by Shields-
ville.
It is amply supplied with water by lakes, ponds, rivers and
brooks, and if any town in Rice county can be said to be noted
for its beautiful lakes and streams this is the one. French lake
covers more land than any other, embracing 1.064 acres in sec-
tions 7, 8, 17 and 18, in the western part of the town, and ex-
tending a short distance into the town of Shieldsville. Lake
Che-de-weta. formerly Roberds lake, is the next in size— a beau-
tiful sheet of water, and is connected to French lake by a stream
called the Inlet. From the southeastern shore also Hows a small
stream connecting it to the Cannon river. This, it will be seen.
makes the two lakes a "chain." Lake Che-de-weta. formerly
126
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 127
Roberds lake, covers an area of about 700 acres, in sections 15,
16, 21 and 22, in the exact geographical center of the township.
The floor of the lake is made up of a sand bed, making the limpid
water pure and clear as crystal, while the shore is formed of bold
promontories and rocks, broken here and there with level
stretches of pebbly beach. The lake received its original name
in honor of William Roberds.
The township contains several other lakes of less importance.
Mazaska lake enters the town from the northwest quarter and
covers about one-third of section 6. Dudley's lake is a small
body of water in the northwestern part of the town, lying mostly
in section 8. Wells lake is formed by the Cannon river in sec-
tions 33 and 34, and was named in honor of James Wells, after
whom the town was also named. Peterson's lake is located in
sections 30 and 31. There are a number of other small bodies
of water in various parts of the town, sometimes called lakes,
but more properly known as ponds. Cannon river enters Wells
from the south, traversing section 33, forming Wells lake, and
after passing through 34 and 35, leaves the township and enters
the city of Faribault. Several small streams flow into this as it
makes its way through, and help to swell the torrent. The
streams at many points furnish unexcelled water power, and this
is made use of to a limited extent.
Originally this township was a timber territory and covered
with a heavy growth of the most sturdy varieties. Sections 35
and 36 were the only portions of it that could, strictly speaking,
be called prairie land ; here and there, however, throughout the
town, might be found small natural meadows and partial clear-
ings covered with brush and hazel. For the greater part, the
timber has now been cut down, and many fine fields and farms
mark what was, but little over half a century ago, a trackless
wilderness. The soil is variable, in some places a tendency to
clayeyness being visible, and in others a rich dark loam. The
whole is very productive.
Mark Wells was one of a party of young men that arrived
at Faribault with Luke Hulett in 1853. He selected a claim
in Wells township, on section 35, and put up a small log cabin,
plastering it with mud and clay. In this he made himself at
home, and being a single man, in company with several others
kept bachelor's hall until 1858, when he was married and moved
to Faribault. About the same time that Mark arrived, a man
named Standish, of the same state, became his neighbor and
took a claim adjoining him in section 35. He remained until
1856, when he returned to his native state. "Bully" Wells had
also made his appearance, and was making a claim in section 34
his home. This, it will be remembered, all occurred in 1853,
128 HISTORY OF RICE AXD STEELE COUNTIES
and the three settlers mentioned secured places adjoining each
other in the southeastern part of the township, this being the
most inviting, because it was prairie land, and almost the only
locality that was prairie in the township. With these few the
settlement of the township remain until 1855, and probably the
fact that the remainder of the town was timber land had some
influence in keeping the influx at bay for the year 1854. In
1855, the settlement began to spread, and other parts of the
town received the initiatory member of society.
William Roberds, a native of North Carolina, came in from
Indiana and commenced a settlement near the center of the
town, taking a claim in section 22, on the banks of the lake
which now bears his name. He put up a small log shanty the
same year, erected a saw-mill, and became a very prominent
man. He made this his home until his death in 1869. John
Wesley Cowan, a native of Kentucky, having stopped for a
time in Indiana, soon swelled the Roberds' settlement by taking
a claim in section 22. He cleared some land and erected a log
hut. Thomas B. Owings also helped fill the settlement and
took a claim north of Roberds' Lake. He later moved to the
Roberds settlement and took a claim in section 22. In the
meantime a settlement had been commenced north of Roberds'
lake. John H. Passon, a native of the Buckeye state, made his
appearance and settled on section 10. He was a millwright by
trade, and erected a number of mills in Rice county.
The same year there arrived a party consisting of James
Byrnes, Michael Brazil, Thomas and Timothy Casey and Patrick
O'Brien.
James Byrnes, who had slopped a while in Vermont, took
a claim in section 4. Timothy Casey made himself at home
in section 6, and remained there until his death, in 1869. II is
widow died in 1876. Thomas Casey surrounded a claim in
section 5. Michael Brazil secured a tract of land in section 9.
James O'Brien made a habitation in section 9. John L. Squicr.
■ if the Empire state, swelled the settlement in the southern part
of the town by taking a farm from the prairie land of section
34. Thomas Kirk had taken land on sections 14 and 23, where
he made his home until the grim messenger called him hence
in October. 186S. The deceased was the father of the first
child born in the town. Samuel J. Keller, a native of the
Buckeye state, having slopped for a time in Indiana, drifted
in and dropped anchor mi the only quarter left in section 22 in
the Roberds settlement. He remained a few years and then
retraced his steps to Indiana. Section 34 received another set-
tler this year in the pers, m « • f William McCalla, a native of
Ireland, who, after remaining a few years, removed to Cali-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 12!)
fornia. Isaac Anderson, from Ohio, made his appearance and
proceeded to enlarge the settlement in the northern part of the
town by taking a farm from section nine, which had already
received one settler. John Manahan did his part also, securing
a home in section 1, in June, 1855. Two brothers, John and
Thomas Johnson, arrived in the summer of this year and both
took farms in the northern settlement ; John on section 3, where
he died in 1863, and his brother on section 11, where he remained
until 1861, when he went to Vermont. This is about the list
of arrivals for the year 1855, and it will be seen that from the
three settlements started in the township, one in the south, one
in the center and one in the north, the incomers had branched
in every direction until every portion of the township had re-
ceived one or more settlers, who had gone directly to work,
putting up shanties and opening land for cultivation. The fol-
lowing year the immigration commenced and continued with a
rush until all the government land within the borders had been
secured. We shall endeavor to give most of these arrivals,
although to give them all would be almost impossible. S. O.
Case, originally from Ohio, but directly from Grant county,
Indiana, arrived in 1856, and planted his stakes in section 3.
He later located on section 27. Peter Dunn settled near Mr.
Case, in section 4. He was a native of the land of the Sham-
rock, having stopped for a time in Vermont. Robert Dudley,
of the same nationality, stationed himself on the farm lying
south of the one secured by Peter Dunn, in the same section.
Andrew Fredrickson came about the same time and located on
a farm in section 3, in the same neighborhood. Many others
came in in 1856, many of whom have again pulled up stakes
and started on, with their faces still turned to an ever-promising
West. In 1857, John Murray, a native of the Emerald Isle,
put in an appearance and secured a tract of land. Barnard
Mehagnoul, a native of Belgium, also arrived about the same
time and pre-empted a farm in section 29. The following year,
1858, he was joined by a number of his countrymen, named
Duchennes, who settled a short distance north of him, and about
these gathered quite a Belgium settlement. In 1859, came many
others, among whom may be mentioned John and Owen Varley,
who took claims in section 11. Joseph Milliron arrived and
secured a habitation in section 16.
W. H. Pease was a pioneer in Minnesota, arriving from New
York state in 1855. He finally secured a place in section 21
A. C. Judd, another prominent man in Wells, and a native
of the Empire state, arrived in 1860 and located in section 33.
E. A. Orne, of Boston ; Joseph Sescoult, of Canada ; and C.
130 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Meillier, of Wisconsin, later arrived at various times and settled
in the township, where they became influential men.
Joseph Ducreyt, a Frenchman, was another early settler in
ihe county, and a prominent man. He originally took a claim
in Wheatland in 1856, but finally found his way to the shores of
the lake bearing the memorial name in honor of his nativity,
in section 17.
Charles T. Winans, a native of New York state, came to
Minnesota in 1856, and located in Warsaw. In 1860, after hav-
ing been engaged for several years in mercantile business in
Faribault, he moved to section 15 in Wells.
Asa Bebee, a native of Monroe count)', New York, having
stopped for a time in Illinois, was another early settler in this
vicinity. He first located in Warsaw, but later located in section
26, in Wells township.
James G. Scott, another prominent man, came to this county
in 1854, and settled first in Faribault, where he was engaged in
various pursuits, afterward locating in Wells township.
James Wells, or, as he was always known, "Bully" Wells,
having been a prominent and conspicuous figure in the settle-
ment of Wells, which town received its name in honor of him,
a few words as to a sketch of his life will not only be interesting
to the residents of Wells but to the entire county. James Wells
was the true name of the subject of this sketch, but he won the
nickname of Bully Wells, lie was born in New Jersey in 1804,
and when a boy ran away from home, going to sea on an Ameri-
can war vessel, serving as a cabin boy. He finally enlisted in
the United States army and served for fifteen years, coming to
Fort Snelling in 1819 with Colonel Leavenworth. When his
time as a soldier expired he started a little trading post at Little
Rapids, or what is now Chaska, and remained at this point for
some time. September 12, 1836, he was married to Jane, a sister
of the wife of Alexander Faribault, and a daughter of Duncan
Graham. The marriage took place at the house of Oliver Crattc.
at Fori Snelling. the ceremony being performed by the Indian
agent at the fort, Lawrence Taliaferro. The same year he came
Southwest and started a small trading post at the point where
Okaman, Waseca county, now is, and remained here for about
one year, when he again removed, this time to locate at the
head of Lake Pepin, on the Mississippi river, where he carried
on a trading business until he came to Wells township. Having
made up his mind while passing through to take land in the
vicinity of the Cannon lake, as soon as it came into market, in
1853 he made his way to the lake and started a trading post on
section 34, at the foot of Cannon lake, in Wells township. Here
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 131
he did a profitable business for a short time, but gradually turned
his attention to farming, and continued in it until the close of
the Sioux war in 1863, when he was murdered mysteriously,
the supposition being that it was the work of the treacherous
Indians.
The first blacksmith shop opened in the township was erected
in 1855 by William Roberds, in section 22, on the shore of
Roberds' lake. The shop was operated by his nephew, Free-
man Roberds, for about three years, when it was discontinued,
the manipulator moving to Faribault. The first birth in the
township of Wells took place on section 23, in October, 1855.
and ushered into existence Elizabeth, a daughter of Thomas and
May Kirk. The father of the child died in October, 1868. The
next event of this kind brought into the light John, a son of
T. B. and Elizabeth Owens, on May 22, 1856. This child, how-
ever, died on December 11, 1864. On February 4, 1857, a son
was born to Isaac and Lydia Anderson, who was christened
Elias, and who now lives in Faribault, a grown man. Four
days later, on February 8, John C, a son of Peter and Margaret
O'Brien, was born. Within a month after the arrival above
mentioned, a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Peter Dunn.
The child was named Maria. Leonora, a daughter of John H.
and Minerva Passon, was born on May 19, 1857.
One of the earliest marriages to occur in the township of
Wells was the union of Martha Roberds and J. S. McCartney,
by E. J. Crump, Esq., at the residence of the bride's father.
William Roberds, in section 22.
In October, 1856, Joseph Byrne and Alice O'Brien were
made one in the bonds of matrimony and commenced house-
keeping in his log house on his farm in section 4.
Pursuant to notice the first township meeting was held on
May 11, 1858, in the log schoolhouse in section 14, and organ-
ized the township by the election of the following officers :
Supervisors, Thomas Kirk, chairman, William McCalla and Pat-
rick O'Brien ; collector, J. W. Cowan ; clerk, S. P. Case ; assessor.
T. B. Owens ; constables, William Roberds and Timothy Casey ;
overseer of the poor, S. C. Dunham.
The government of the town has been tranquil and even.
The funds and expenditures have been managed in a frugal but
efficient manner, and on a whole, the interests of the public in
town matters have been taken care of in a way that is com-
mendable.
In 1878 the township purchased a school house on section
22, the original cost of which was $500, to be used for a town
hall.
J 33 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIP.
Bridgewater township is amply provided with railroad facili-
ties and water power. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul,
the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the Chicago Great
Western all operate lines through its area. The Cannon river
divides the town, winding its tortuous course almost parallel
with the railroads running in a northeasterly direction. This
town is bounded on the north by Dakota county, on the south
by Cannon City township, on the east by Northfield, and on the
west by Forest and Webster. It embraces forty sections, in all
25,600 acres, and takes in all of township 111, range 20, with
the exception of the northeast corner section, and also includes
sections 31 to 35 inclusive, of township 112, same range. This
makes it the second township in size in the county.
The township is well watered by numerous streams, among
them Heath creek. Spring creek and others of more or less im-
portance. The Cannon river has been mentioned elsewhere.
Aside from these rivers and streams there are several small
lakes nestling among the hills, among which are Macklewain,
Spring, Albers and Hart.
One peculiar physical feature of the township is what is
known as "Hog's Back," which is a narrow ridge, composed of
sand and coarse gravel, about twenty to forty feet high and 100
feet through at the base. This commences in section 21 and
extends in a southwesterly direction for a mile or more. This
mound is due to geologic action in ages far remote.
The auspicious epoch of the first arrival in this township
dates back farther than most of the subdivisions of Rice county,
and it may be said that from the first advent of the early settler
until its fertile lands were the abiding place of thrifty farmers,
the tide of incomers was constant and irrepressible. In this
sketch it is not possible, nor is it the intention, to carry the set-
tlement r.f tlu- township in detail up to the present day, but an
effort has been made to chronicle the interesting incidents of
early settlement and the most notable arrivals.
The first exploration of this township, with a view to securing
homes, occurred in 1852.
Albon and John llovt, two brothers, were the first to make
their way to the town, and their first trip through was in the
fall of 1852, although they did not take claims until some time
later. They had been stopping on the Mississippi river for a
short time, and having heard considerable about the Cannon river
vallev, decided to take their earthly possessions on their backs
and see what the reports were based on. They started with the
intention of going as far as Faribault before returning. Their
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 133
first night was spent in camp on the Vermillion river, and the
next night at Waterford, from there passing over the territory
of Bridgewater and reaching Faribault. Here they met Alex-
ander Faribault, who told them that they had just passed over
the finest country in the territory of Minnesota, and they decided
to look more closely on their return. They returned by the same
route as the)' came, but failed to find claims that suited them.
Albon Hoyt later said : "Although one upon the land at that
time was 'monarch of all he surveyed,' it was a more difficult
matter to select farms than would be imagined. The country was
beautiful and impressive. I could gaze all about me, on the beau-
tiful hills covered with a mass of green verdure swaying in the
gentle breeze, that dipped silently down to the level of the many
trickling streams, and say, 'here is the place of my choice' ; but,
upon gazing to the right or left I saw another that lured me on
by its fascinating beauty. And I followed. The mania had
seized me and almost before I knew it I had reached my old
stamping ground on the Mississippi." The brothers remained
on the Mississippi until March 10, 1853, when they again started
for the Cannon river valley, this time determined to stay. They
brought with them a couple of barrels of flour, 200 pounds of
sugar, axes, etc. A man by the name of Irish brought them in
by team, and the greater portion of the distance they were
obliged to cut their way through the timber. In due time they
arrived at Faribault and pushed on to Cannon City, where they
camped and began to look for claims in earnest. Albon Hoyt
finally took a claim on section 11, in Bridgewater; John, his
brother, took a place west of him, adjoining the site of Dundas
village, and Irish made tip his mind to secure the townsite of
Dundas, which he did.
John and Albon commenced at once the erection of a log
cabin, the size of which was 12x14. They put up the sides of
poplar logs and then Albon Hoyt and Irish left John on the
ground with provisions, etc., to finish the cabin while they
returned to the shores of the Mississippi to attend to their
improvements there. While they were gone, and before John
had roofed the cabin, a snow storm came up, and John, in laying
in the cold and wet, became very sick with fever and ague ; so
bad, indeed, that he became delirious and was in a very dangerous
condition as he had no means of starting a fire. In this condition
he was discovered by the Indians, and they, thinking him drunk.
began sporting with him, saying, "Minnewankon seetya do,"
(whisky bad very), and the band finally went into camp near by.
It did not take long, however, for them to discover that he was
not drunk, but very sick, and iwo Indians came to him one day,
saying, "Puck-a-chee Habo tee-pee," which meant, "Go to Fari-
131 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
bault's home." After a time he was taken to Faribault by the
Indians, and there stayed at Bush's house until he recovered, the
"medicine man" making him potions which worked a speedy cure.
In a short time a Mr. Clossen came through Faribault with
rive yoke of oxen, and he and John moved together back to the
Hoyt farms in Bridgewater. Here they finished the cabin begun
by John and Albon, and broke ten acres on John's place, this
being the first furrow turned in the township. In June Clossen
yoked his oxen and took John to the Mississippi, where Albon
and Irish were, and here he remained until fully recovered. In
the meantime Irish had taken the claim where Dundas now is.
with the water power, and intended to get a friend from Ohio to
go in partnership with him in the erection of a sawmill.
In June Albon Hoyt, Irish and a man named Bliss came to
the farms to make improvements, and Albon planted two acres fc
potatoes, etc., by just raising the sod and putting his germ
underneath. After planting he did not touch or cultivate them
until harvest. When harvest time came the entire force left to
attend to the crop on the Mississippi river, where John still re-
mained, recuperating his health.
In September, 1SS3, Albon and John both returned to Bridge
water, this time with the intention of remaining, and found that
during their short absence another pioneer had put in his appear-
ance. This was Mahlon Lockwood. who had arrived with his
wife and several children, and located just south of Dundas, and.
as he brought a cow and a yoke of oxen, he was a valuable acqui-
sition to the meager settlement. He had already put up a little
board shanty, the material for which he had brought with him.
but this, it is said, would not keep the sun out, so the entire-
party at once commenced work on and soon finished a substan-
tial log house for the protection of the Lockwood family, and all
began to make preparations for the winter, which they knew
would be long and severe. Nor were they wrong, as the Ion-.
dreary and bitterly cold months that followed proved, and some
of the settlers hauled rails for fuel when their faces were actually-
coated with a veil of ice and their fingers frozen stiff.
The Indians were plenty in the neighborhood and the timber
abounded with all kinds of game; deer, elk and hear were the
main articles of food, and a good hunter in those days could
always be a high liver. The settlers made many fast and useful
friends among the Indians, and all of them having learned their
language were almost as much at home among them as though
they were whites. The Indians were not troublesome in regard
to thieving if treated well, and the following incident will serve
to show the confidence felt in them. An old Indian came one day
to Albon Hoyt's cabin and wanted to borrow his rifle, saying he
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 135
could not kill deer with his shotgun, and if the white man
would only allow him to take the rifle three weeks, he would
return it at the end of that time in as good order as it was at the
time of his getting it. Albon allowed him to take it, and the
Indian disappeared. P'or three weeks nothing was seen of
Indian or gun, but on the day that the three weeks expired the
Indian and rifle appeared at the door, with a handsome present
of game that compensated him. Many incidents like this occurred,
and the old settlers came to believe, in the words of Mr. Hoyt,
that "if treated right they are considerable better than the aver-
age white."
This carried the settlers through a hard winter and brought
them into the spring of 1854, with Albon and John Hoyt and the
Lockwood family. Irish had gone to the Mississippi, intending to
return during the summer. Hopes ran high among them, for they
were confident of a good crop, and all had succeeded in getting
more or less land ready for seeding; in fact, all the available land
was sown until their seed was exhausted. A good crop was the
result, although the acreage sown was comparatively very small.
In the meantime the settlement had commenced in various
parts of the county. Northfield and vicinity had received a
number of settlers, and the entire settlement north of Faribault
was known as "Alexandria," after Jonathan Alexander, who was
an early pioneer near Northfield. Other portions of this town
had also begun making evolutions toward civilization, as in
the same year (1854) Edmund Larkins, Job Chester, Joseph
Drake and Daniel Bundy all made their appearance and began
opening farms in the eastern part of the town. This settlement,
however, properly belonged to the Northfield section, as the}
were divided from Dundas by the heavy timber ridge, and it
was not until several years after the settlement began that a
road was cut and graded through the timber strip.
C. C. Stetson, from Philadelphia, came in the month of July,
1854, on his way to California, but as he neared the Cannon
valley he heard so much of its beautiful scenery, its excellent
farming land, and the unsurpassed advantages of the country,
he determined to secure a farm, which he did on section 24. He
came in company with Morris B. Stiles, with a team they had
bought in St. Paul. Stiles took a claim adjoining Stetson, on
section 24, this section being on what was then known as the
Indian trail, a north and south stage line from Fort Snelling to
Faribault. A short time after their arrival the Hastings stage
passed through their farms, this being an east and west line.
The former of these received its name of "Indian Trail" from
the number of Indians that were constantly passing over it to
and from the agency at Fort Snelling, and after the agency was
136 HISTORY OF RICE AXD STEELE COUNTIES
removed from there this was the established treadway of the In-
dians in visiting one another, until the Sioux outbreak in 1862.
This road is now the county road through the eastern part of
Bridgewater, having been straightened considerably.
Stetson and Stiles at once put up a log shanty and com-
menced keeping house. They were not troubled with Indians,
except as beggars, and although they would not "steal for the
sake of stealing," as is claimed by some, victuals and liquor had
to be carefully guarded or locked up. C. C. Stetson kept several
cows and made excellent butter, which he used to treat his
visitors with. Mr. Stetson also started a blacksmith shop soon
after he got here, which was the tirst shop in this part of the
country, and did a good business shoeing horses on the stage
lines. Morris Stiles' place finally went into the hands of P.
' )leson. The latter gentleman, in company with Capt. John
Hanson, came in 1854. In June, 1854, the eastern part of the
township received its first settlers in the persons of the Drake
brothers, Charles B., J. R. and A. W. Daniel Bundy came about
the same time. They all put up log cabins, in which they lived
for a number of years. November, 1854, H. M. Matteson, a New
Yorker, arrived with a livery from St. Paul, prospecting for a
chance to settle and make a speculation. He was favorably
impressed with the location, but did not settle or take any land
at the time, driving back to St. Paul and returning the following
year. Arriving in the spring of 1855, he jumped the claim that
Mr. Irish had selected and paid him for improvements. This
was the claim where Dundas is, including the water power,
and he at once commenced laying plans for throwing a dam
across the river and erecting a sawmill. His next move was
to get out timber for a mill, but before it was fairly begun he
sold his entire interest and 740 acres of land to the Archibalds,
in June, 1857. Mr. Matteson, after selling his property here.
removed to Faribault. This year, 1855, yielded a most bountiful
harvest to the pioneers of Bridgewater. Wheat yielded from
forty to forty-five bushels per acre, and the average price
received was $1.50 per bushel. James Babb, of New Hampshire.
had become one of the settlements in April, 1854, with his wife,
and was located southwest of Dundas. He afterwards, in com-
pany with another early pioneer, commenced the erection of a
awmill. James Smith was another who came this year and
remained for several years. He was afterwards town clerk for a
number of years in Faribault, and was finally killed by Indians
.,n his way to California. In the spring of 1855 Jacob Emery
made his appearance, ami after looking about for a short time.
decided to locate <>n Little Prairie, south of Dundas. He cut his
way three miles through the heavy timber to get to the place
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 137
that suited him. He finally reached it and settled on sections
21 and 28.
Then the settlement commenced very rapidly and in June
and July of that year one could look in any direction and sec
the white-winged prairie schooners. Many came in and found
temporary homes, who, in the hard times that followed, sold
for little or nothing, and left the country. Among those who
came to stay were the Donaldson brothers, James, John, Isaac
and Robert, who all settled in the timber in the southern part
of the town. The Sheppards and Macklewains came and settled
in the southern part, the latter naming the little lake in section
32. J. S. and George Archibald arrived in June, 1855, and
platted Dundas, besides building the mills.
The first religious services in the town were held in Edmund
Larkins' home in 1855, by Rev. Mr. Cressey, of the Baptist
faith. The same gentleman also held services in D. B. Drake's
private house to an audience of about thirty persons, in 1856.
The first death in Bridgewater occurred in the fall of 1854, in
the departure of Jesse, a child of Edmund and Jane Larkins,
who lived in the Stetson settlement. A son of these parents was
among the first births and occurred in the spring of 1855. The
child was christened Bruce. A. W. Drake deeded a cemetery
ground to Northfield, and his father was the first to find his last
resting place in it. Joseph Drake died in April, 1857, at the age
of sixty-three years. Another early death was the demise of
Mrs. Owen, in Dundas, in 1855, early in the spring. The earliest
marriage, undoubtedly, in the township was celebrated in 1855,
when Mary M. Drake and Daniel Bundy were united in the
bonds of wedlock. In 1856 Catherine Tucker was united to
Smith Alexander. In June, 1857, C. C. Stetson and Amelia
Howe were married.
The first postoffice established in the town was known as
the Fountain Grove postoffice, and was opened in the winter
of 1855-56, in the northeastern part of the town. The office was
removed to Northfield within one year.
Edmund Larkins was one of the arrivals in 1854, and he
brought a number of head of young stock with him, settling in
section 24.
A terrible murder was committed in the town of Bridgewater
on June 30, 1867. The criminal was Alfred Hoyt, the victim
being Josiah Stamford, who had a farm adjoining Hoyt's. There
had been some trouble about the trespassing of the cattle, and
the parties met in the woods and had some words, when Hoyt
felled his neighbor to the ground by a blow from an axe and
then cut off his head. He went to the house and made a mur-
derous assault upon Mrs. Stamford with the axe, but she being
138 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
a muscular woman, defended herself until her daughters and
sons, coming to the rescue, secured him by tying, and then he
announced that he had killed the father, and on repairing to the
spot it was found to be too true. The man was at once placed
in the hands of the officers of the law, and upon trial was judged
insane and accordingly committed to the insane asylum.
The first town meeting of Bridgewater, for the purpose of
organizing the township, was held on May 11, 1858, at the house
of Fernando Thompson, in the village of Dundas. The meeting
was called to order and C. C. Stetson was chosen chairman.
pro tern., and Benjamin Lockerby, moderator. The)- next pro-
ceeded to ballot for officers, which resulted as follows: Super
visors, Benjamin Lockerby, chairman ; Jacob Emery and J. A.
Upham; clerk, C. C. Stetson; assessor, Royal Esterbrook; col-
lector, Fernando Thompson ; overseer of the poor, James Gates ;
justices of the peace, George Barton, David Hatfield and W. B.
Taylor receiving the same number of votes, none was declared
elected ; constable, Charles B. Drake and Fernando Thompson
were a tie. The whole number of votes cast at this election was
fifty-nine.
During the war this township did its part, furnishing men
as fast almost as they were called for, and at the time of the
organization of the First Minnesota Regiment three men went
into it from Archibald Brothers' store. A special town meeting
was held in 1864, at which the sum of $1,500 was voted to pay a
bounty to volunteers, and bonds were issued at 7 per cent to pay
the same. The sum of $25 was paid to each man. The judges
appointed were J. R. Drake, H. Drought and D. Hatfield. At a
session some time afterward an additional appropriation of $900
was made, there being at that time four volunteers needed.
In the spring of 1856 it was decided to build a schoolhouse,
and Charles Wheeler and others, during the night, quietly appro-
priated timber from section 16. In the daytime they hauled it
away, and put up their schoolhouse, the size of which was about
20x30 feet, upon the southeast corner of section 12.
The first school was called to order soon after by Martha
Kelley, later Mrs. A. Dodge, of Northfield. School was con-
tinned in this building two terms each year until 1880, when tin-
old house was burned. This was the first schoolhouse erected
in the county.
WHEELING TOWNSHIP.
Wheeling township is one of the eastern tier of Rice count}
towns and one of the most progressive. It is composed, as orig-
inally surveyed, of thirty-six sections or square miles, in all
23,040 acres. The contiguous surroundings are Northfield on the
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 139
north, Richland on the south, Cannon City township on the
west, and Goodhue county on the east. Wheeling may be called
one of the prairie towns of the county, as almost all of the area
is made up of prairie land. The southern portion is quite level,
but as one approaches the north the surface is more rolling, and
the northwest corner is hilly. The soil is variable, the southern
part being a rich, dark loam, while in the north, where the prairie
is more rolling, the soil is of a lighter color, in some places
having a clay mixture, and in others it is of a sandy character.
The town is well suited for all kinds" of agricultural pursuits,
and also makes excellent grazing land, as the fine natural
meadows are covered with all species of indigenous grasses.
There are no large streams and but few small ones in the
town. Prairie creek touches the northwest quarter section as it
passes on its way from Cannon City township to Northfield. A
branch of Prairie Creek starts from a spring on section 21, pass-
ing north to section 16, then northwest to section 17, thence
north to section 8, where it takes an easterly course across sec-
tion 9 to section 10; from there it runs in a northerly course
through section 3 to the town of Northfield, where it joins
Prairie creek. This stream passes through quite a deep ravine,
and on the way is joined by several small rivulets. The hea'd
waters of this stream never fail, but in some places the bed is
dry at times, and it is probable that there is a subterranean
passage through which it passes in dry seasons. A stream called
Little Cannon rises on section 13 and passes in an easternly direc-
tion to Goodhue count} - , where it soon becomes quite a river and
empties into Cannon river near the falls.
The actual settlement of this town commenced in June. 1854,
when a party of Germans, who had stopped for a short time in
Illinois, made their appearance, having come with ox teams and
been four weeks on the road. The party consisted of Henry
Bultmann and family, Jacob Blank and family, Louis Helberg.
Friederich Hogrefe and John George Veeh. They arrived June
15, 1854.
Jacob Blank was the first to make a claim, and drove his
stakes in sections 15 and 22, immediately commencing improve-
ments. He had brought with him a pair of steers and two cows
that he used in the yoke, and he at once put up a little hay
shanty to live in. In this same little hay hut the first child
born in the township first saw the light. In the fall Blank built
a log house, into which he moved that winter. As he could not
buy any lumber he had to manufacture it himself. With his axe
he split stakes from oak with which to cover the roof, and for
flooring he split the boards from basswood, making them about
two inches thick. He cut small trees in the woods, which he
140 HISTORY OF RICE Ax\D STEELE COUNTIES
converted into laths, nailing them inside and then plastering
with clay. He lived in this house until 1864, when he built
another log house. Mr. Blank improved his farm and lived there
until October, 1878, when he sold out and retired to Faribault.
Mr. Veeh made the second claim on section 21. He was a
widower with no family, and improved a small part of the land.
In about three years he sold and made his home with his son-
in-law, Jacob Blank, until his death, which occurred on February
22, 1873.
Louis Helberg was the third to select a home, which he did
on section 21. He was a single man, but soon found a partner.
They were the first couple married in the town. He improved
the land and built a good set of buildings and made his home
there until the time of his death which occurred in August, 1879.
Henry Bultmann was the fourth man to make a claim, which
he did on section 17. He also built a hay shanty in which he
lived a short time, then built a log house, using fence rails for
the floor. He lived in that but a few years, then built a frame
house. Mr. Hogrefe made the fifth claim, on sections 17 and
8. He was a single man, but married soon after coming here.
He carried on his farm a few years, then engaged in the minis-
try. In August these colonists were joined by another of their
countrymen, named Henry C. Rolling, who also came from
Illinois, where he had been living a few years. He selected land
on section 21, then went back to Illinois and returned with his
family, living the first winter in his brother-in-law's log house,
Louis Helberg. In the spring of 1855 he built a log house,
sawing the lumber with a whip-saw, and lived in that a few
years; then built the neat frame house. Henry < iroto, another
German, came from Illinois about the same time and settled on
section 17. About this time the settlement of this town began
in earnest, and a number of Scandinavian families came from
Wisconsin, where they had made a temporary stop when first
coming from Norway. Those who remained here were Truls
Earlandson, John Olson. Andrew Olson, Seaver Halgrimson
and Fief Trulson. They performed the tedious journey with
ox teams, bringing their families. They at once improvised log
residences, with hark roofs, and split basswood logs for floors
Earlandson t<><>k a claim in section 6. Trulson made a claim
cm section 3, where lie opened a blacksmith shop; he remained
there until 1872. when he -"id oul and moved to Kandiyohi
county. John Olson planted himself in section 6. Vndrew Olson
claimed a place in section 5. In 187'» he went to Dakota. Hans
Anderson came from Wisconsin, where he had been sojourning,
and settled in section 7. \\\> wife was burned t" death by a
kerosene accident, lie afterwards married Elling Johnson's
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 141
widow and moved to Grant county. Seaver Halgrimson, an-
other of the party of Norwegians, arrived in July of the same
year, and after drifting about a short time anchored on section
5, where he remained steadfast until his death in 1870. His
widow married again. Elling Johnson, of Norway nativity,
came from Iowa and stationed himself on section 8.
In 1855 the arrivals were quite numerous, and most of them
will be mentioned. Ever Bonde, of Norway, came here from
Iowa, where he had been for a year, and settled on section 11,
where he spent the remainder of his days. Ole Sherven, who
first settled in Wisconsin, came to this place from Iowa, where
he had lived five years, and secured a place in section 18. Adam
Knopf, P. Wolf and Christian Erb, natives of Germany, came
here from Cook county, Illinois. Wolf took his claim in section
14. He was killed by an accident in the timber February 21,
1857. Erb took his farm in section 23. He improved the land
and built a house. In 1870 he sold out and moved to Cannon
City. Knopf surrounded a claim in section 22 and another in
section 23, which he improved. Truls Halgrimson came during
this year and settled in section 3. Ole Olson Broden was an-
other of the "fifty-fivers." Another settler about this time was
Augustus Meyer with his family, who had been here but about
two weeks, when one Sunday morning he shaved himself, lighted
his pipe and proposed to go to the timber to look out a road on
which he could haul some wood to the prairie, but he never
returned. Several days were spent by the whole settlement in
hunting for him without avail, and it was not until eighteen
months afterward that his bones were found bleaching near his
shoes, pipe and other articles, on section 16, on the land now
owned by Henry Bultmann. The manner of his death is a pro-
found mystery. Ole Benson made a claim in section 10. Jacob
J. Bosshart came here from Iowa. John Hanson found a place
that suited him in section four, where he died in a few years.
Watts A. Pyc, an Englishman, came from Illinois and took a
place in section eighteen. Hugh McDurland, a native of Penn-
sylvania, came from there and halted and went to work in sec-
tion 30. The accessions to the town settlement in 1856 were
valuable, and will be mentioned as far as remembered.
Ole Fingalson at first alighted in section 2, to which he
devoted himself up to 1878, when he sold his place and moved
to Becker county. Truls Fingalson was stationed for some
years in section 2. Erick Erickson Rood was another comer
this year. His place was in sections five and six. He removed
to Kandiyohi county in 1866. Jacob Bosshardt purchased a
farm in section 21, in 1855, and brought his family from Penn-
sylvania in the fall of the same year. Syver Aslackson came up
14a HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
from Houston county, where he first lived a while after crossing
the Mississippi; his place was in section 10. Hans O. Sten-
bakken, a native of Norway, settled in section 12. Mark Boss-
hart, of Switzerland, cultivated a farm in section 22, but in 1872
he was called hence. William Frederick came from Illinois and
drifted into section 28. William Grote took a claim on sections
26 and 27. A house was put up and he lived there to the time
of his death in 1871. Frederick Knaus built his castle in section
23. Osmund Osmundson came here from California, and at
first built a timber residence in section 14, but later erected a
brick house in section 11. John Thompson came here from Rock
county, Wisconsin, and transplanted himself in section 2. In
1857, William Boltman, from Germany, came and found an un-
occupied spot in section 25. Christian Deike, also a German,
arrived in 1859, and his place is in section 32.
The first birth in the township occurred on October 2, 1854,
in a little hay shanty put up for temporary shelter by the father.
The parents were Jacob and Elizabeth Blank, the child being
christened Caroline. Another early birth was the bringing into
existence of Halgrim, son of Seaver and Christine Halgrimson,
January 20, 1855. In the fall of this year, Julia, daughter of
Truls and Annie Earlandson, was born. The first marriage in
the township, that there is any record of, took place November
5, 1855, the high contracting parties being Louis Helberg and
Wilhelmina Meyer. The groom died in 1879. The next mar-
riage was Friedrick Hogrefe to Dorothy Fischer, in December.
1855. Jacob Johnson and Cecelia Evanson were made one in
the spring of 1856.
The first town meeting was in a schoolhouse in district No.
27, on May 11, 1858. The officers elected were: Supervisors,
Watts A. 1'ye, chairman, Christian Erb and Lewis Everson ;
clerk, Augustus Sickler; assessor, Ole Sherven; collector, Lewis
Helberg; justices of the peace. Joseph Covert and Henry C.
Rolling; overseer of the poor. John Brown; constables, George
Fogg and Jacob J. Bosshart. The government thus started has
wended the even tenor of its way ever since.
The town hall was built in 1870. It is a frame building
costing $600. Its location is on the northeast quarter of section
21. Before its completion meetings were held in private houses
and in schoolhouses.
The town paid in bounties $7,200 and sent thirty-two men
into the army.
RICHLAND TOWNSHIP.
Richland township forms the southeast corner of Rice
county and consists of its original thirty-six sections. Its soil
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 143
well deserves the name that the township has been given. Good-
hue county is its neighbor on the east, Dodge county touches its
southeast corner, Steele county is on the south, the town of
Walcott on the west and Wheeling on the north.
It is a prairie town, somewhat rolling, and remarkably well
watered by small streams which coalesce in the interior of the
town to form the north branch of the Zumbro river. It seems
quite unnecessary to describe the course of these rivulets, except,
perhaps, to say that they are but two or three miles apart at the
widest point, and this part of the topography leaves nothing to
be desired.
Section 12, through which the river leaves the town, was
rather of a timber section, having more than all the rest of the
township, and early received the name of Norwegian Grove, as
the people of that nationality secured possession of it when first
in the market. There were smaller groves on sections 16 and
31. The character of the soil is variable, being in places a loam
with a sand mixture, and in other places what may be called
black muck. It is everywhere deep and very productive.
The year 1854 was the first to witness the advent of the
westward bound emigrant. Four sturdy Norwegians who had
stopped a short time in Wisconsin came here in the spring of
this year with ox teams. Their names were Halver Halverson,
Erik Gunderson, Ole Larson and Osten Oleson. Gunderson
staked out the first claim on the southeast quarter of section 12,
near the Zumbro. He put up a hay shanty and made himself
comfortable while getting up a log shelter. Halverson claimed
three forties in section 11 and one in section 12. He started life
in a tent which he improvised, using his wagon cover for the
top. Olson also secured his acres in section 12, which he culti-
vated until 1863, when his mortal remains were deposited be-
neath the sod. Ole Larson went into section 10 and succeeded
in getting up the first house in town, which he moved into in
September, 1854. In 1856, he went to Winona on some busi-
ness with the land office, and never returned. What became of
him is still a mystery most profound. The conjecture at the
time was that he was murdered.
In the fall of this year there was quite a little party came
together and selected claims in section 30 and the vicinity.
Among this number were F. W. Frink, J. Kinnison, Ozro Carter
and Willard Carter, two brothers, whose claims fell in the town-
ship of Walcott. These people returned to bring their families
the following spring. Other comers were Edward and Sumner
Beach, father and son; H. F. Smith, H. M. Beardsley, who
located in that neighborhood.
In 1855 there was a party who came from Wisconsin, some
144 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
of whom had stopped a while there to create homes for them-
selves, and others came directly from the eastern states. Arriv-
ing here they were so well pleased with the country that some
of them at once proceeded to locate their claims in this town,
and brief sketches of these man are here given.
J. M. Strunk was from Chautauqua county, New York; he
selected a place in section 7 and lived in his wagon for a while,
then in a bark shanty until he could get up his log cabin. Mr.
Barlow settled in section 7, where he lived, making improve-
ments, for several years. Edwin Wheeler found a place in sec-
tion 18. William Close, a native of Ohio, came here from
Indiana during the summer of 1855, and secured a foothold in
section 31, where he remained until 1875, when his place was
exchanged for city property and he removed to Faribault. F.
Herrington, whose birthplace was Delaware, put in a personal
appearance in the fall of this year and boarded with H. M.
Beardsley through the winter. In the spring he bought a claim
in section 29. During the year 1856 the accessions to the colony
in this township were quite important. John Close, from the
Buckeye state, came up here from Iowa, where he had remained
for a year. He came across the country with an ox team, a
distance of more than 300 miles through a trackless and of course
bridgeless country, and such a trip, it seems almost needless
to add, required great good judgment as to the direction to take
and as to how to compass the various difficulties being con-
stantly met. He secured the northeast quarter of section 29.
During the first two or three years of the early settlement of
the township there were quite a number of the sons of the
Emerald Isle who secured homes here. John G. Miller, of Ger-
many, came here in 1856, and worked a farm on the school sec-
tion 36 for two years, and then traded some land he had acquired
in Iowa before coming here for a farm in section 29. Nathan
S. Wheeler and his son, George H., came here from Illinois,
being natives of the Empire state; the father pre-empted a place
in section 1 and the son staked out some land in section 13. In
the fall they returned to spend the winter in Illinois. The young
man came back in the spring. The old gentleman visited the
town again in the summer of 1858, but returned to remain in
Illinois. The year 1857 saw fresh arrivals, among them John
A. Mather, and his position was in section 26. He improved
that plare for a while, then sold out and bought in section 27,
where he lived and wrought until his earthly sojourn was ended
in 1875. Frank Gowen, of Maine, started a farm in section 26.
but after a time moved on to Nebraska. During this year sev-
eral Massachusetts men arrived, among them Andrew and Enoch
Story and Washington Tarr. Mr. Tarr took a claim in section
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 145
3; Enoch Story took his slice from section 2, and in the fall they
both returned to the old Bay state. Andrew Story bought the
east half of the southeast quarter of section 2, but at that
time remained but a few weeks. In 1861, however, he returned
and permanently located on the claim first taken by Washington
Tarr. Harvey Y. Scott, of New Jersey, came to Faribault in
1854, in the month of June, where he remained until 1860. In
1863 he came to Richland, having secured a place in section 4.
One of the earliest marriages was Henry M. Beardsley and
Ariminta Newcomb, by Rev. B. F. Haviland, in 1857. Knud
Finset was married to Bess Berget Halverson about the same
time. January 2, 1857, Capt. John Hanson was united to Lena
Halverson. They were married in Faribault. Earlier than any
of the above was the union of E. L. Beach and Elizabeth Beard-
sley in the year 1856. Columbia Adams, a girl of sixteen years
of age, was struck by lightning late in June, 1855, and instantly
killed. Mrs. Tew was injured by the same bolt, and never
recovered from the shock, but passed away a few years after-
wards.
John Wesley, son of John and Susan Close, was born on June
4, 1857. Richard, a son of Richard and Bridget Leonard, was
born May 10, 1857. Halver Austin, son of Osten Olson, was
born January 14, 1856.
Richland cemetery was laid out in 1873, and the mortal re-
mains of Herbert Stickney were the first to be deposited there,
early in December of that year. The ground was purchased of
Alonzo Stickney, in section 30.
The Catholic cemetery was platted in 1874, on three acres
of land donated by S. G. Nolan on section 16.
The first town meeting was on May 11, 1858, at the house of
R. W. Mathews. John A. Mather was the moderator and Samuel
Gowen was clerk. The officers to inaugurate the town govern-
ment were: Supervisors, Lafayette Barlow, chairman, John A.
Mather and E. S. Stafford; town clerk, F. Mathews; assessor,
George W. Fox; collector, William Close; justices of the peace,
J. M. Strunk and Josiah H. Gale; constables, Charles Birge and
James Stevens. Town affairs from that time to this have been
in good hands, and everything in this line has run on in the
even tenor of its way.
WALCOTT TOWNSHIP.
Walcott township is one of the southern tier of Rice county
towns. Its contiguous surroundings are Richland on the east,
Cannon City and Faribault on the north, Warsaw on the west
and Steele county on the south. The principal river is Straight
116 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
river, which Hows quite faithfully' toward the north, a little west
of the center. .Mud creek and Rush creek, with several other
branches, join it in its course. The river leaves the town from
section 4, and a quarter of a mile west it returns, moving directly
south to turn west and again getting beyond the town limits on
ihe line between sections 5 and 6, passing through Faribault.
On the east side is the noted East Prairie, with its black
loam from eighteen inches to two feet in depth, with a blue
clay subsoil, and laying so low that artificial drainage has to be
resorted to. On the west side the soil is sandy, with a gravel
subsoil on what is known as the low prairie, which extends west
three-fourths of a mile, and north from the southern line about
three and one-half miles. The rest of the town is known as High
Prairie, which is a sort of table-land with a black loam and clay
subsoil, making the richest kind of soil for any crops suitable to
this latitude.
The first actual settler in this town was Edward H. Cutts,
who came from Vermont, having stopped a while at the head
of Lake Pepin, in the year 1853. His first visit here was in
December of that year, and he selected a claim in sections 20
and 21. Late in February, 1854, he returned with Jacob Ches-
rown, who was a young man, and another by the name of Rouse,
who were hired by Mr. Cutts. They started from Hastings with
a yoke of oxen, a cow and a pony, with supplies on a sled, and
for the first day had a good man}' snowbanks to shovel through.
When twelve miles out they lost the trail, and while looking
right and left for it one of the men was sent on ahead to a piece
of timber to build a fire and prepare supper. It was getting
dark and they heard a pack of wolves coming. One of them
seized the axe and the other got his pistol ready, but they crossed
at a little distance, evidently on the track of a deer. The next
day the ground got bare and the sledding was difficult. The
next night the camp was on the prairie, and by picking up every
stick they could find and using what they could spare of the
ends of tin- sled slakes, they built quite a good fire. They also
used up the hay, and in t he night the cattle took the back track
and Mr. Cutts had to gallop back on the pony after them for
five or six miles. In the morning they mixed up some meal in
a handkerchief and baked a cake in the ashes. Before they
reached Faribault the sled had to be abandoned and a wagon
secured, with which Mr. Cutis finally got his things on his place
and began to build. In a few days his cow had a calf, and one
night a timber wolf undertook to carry it off, but Mr. Cutts
drove tlie brute away and look the calf inside There came up
a frightful snow storm, and as he had no shelter except the lee'
side of the cabin, he had to take the cow in also until the storm
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 14 7
had subsided. Mr. Cutts built the first log cabin in town and the
first frame house. The first house was burned in the winter of
1855-56. The next winter he went to get married, and brought
his wife as far as Illinois and returned, having a serious time
in getting through. When at last Mrs. Cutts came on he went
to meet her in an ox cart, and she had to make a part of the
journey on foot, stopping at that noted sod tavern, where they
met Dr. Jewett, who had also been to meet his family.
The town received a few settlers in 1853. Nathaniel Meyers,
with his family, came and located on section 28. He was from
New York. John Luther Cabot, a single man, also from New
York, came at the same time. He was born in 1831, and
remained here a few years, removing to Goodhue county.
The spring of 1854 brought a few more venturesome indi-
viduals, among whom should be noted Richmond Jones, of New
York. Joseph Richard, also a New Yorker, came that year.
George W. Marks secured a place in section 11. George Dor-
rance, another native of the Empire state, settled in section 23.
In 1855, attention having been called to this region, the town
was well filled up, some of the claims having been entered the
fall before.
The town was named in honor of Samuel Walcott, from
Alassachusetts, who was a very able, energetic and talented man.
but after a time his mind became distraught, and he found an
abiding place in an insane retreat in his native state. He was
public spirited, liberal minded and with unbounded enthusiasm,
and had he remained no one can predict what projects for the
improvement of his adopted town he might have carried out.
The first religious exercises were by Elder Crist, a Metho-
dist minister, in 1855, in the spring, at a private house owned
by Mr. Richardson, on section 32. An early birth was Laura E..
daughter of George and Hannah M. Dorrance, February 3, 1855.
on section 22 in a log cabin. She was married on December
14, 1878, and the following spring removed to Yellow Medicine
county. The first marriage remembered was December 25, 1856.
when Edward Beach and Elizabeth Beardsley were united in the
bonds of wedlock. The first death was that of Mrs. Axta Jones,
wife of Richmond Jones, who was struck by lightning on July 4.
1854, while in their tent in section 29, in the presence of her
husband, two children, her brother and John Luther Cabot.
The following paragraph appeared in the St. Paul papers in
November, 1878: "Intelligence has just reached here that a
fanner, whose name could not be learned, residing near Walcott.
a little station situated between Faribault and Medford, on the
Iowa division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad,
had administered a lesson to two tramps, that by reason of its
148 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
severity will never be appreciated by them in this world, but
will have a wholesome effect in deterring others from attempting
similar crimes. The two tramps above mentioned, under cover
of darkness, entered a wheat field where a self-binding har-
vester had been at work during the day, and deliberately piling
the newly cut grain about the machine prepared to cremate both
grain and harvester. Unfortunately for the success of their
plans, the owner, whose suspicions had been aroused during the
day, happened with a double-barreled shotgun just as they
applied the torch, and with an impartiality which did him credit,
gave each the contents of a barrel. Result, two dead tramps and
a little damage to the grain. The farmer hurried to Faribault
after the deed and gave himself up to the authorities, but instead
of being detained was told to go back to his farm, and if another
such attempt to destroy his property was made to serve the per-
petrators in a like manner."
The first railroad survey was made through the town in 1858,
and grading began in 1859, but it was not until 1868 that the
rumbling of the cars was first heard. The first blacksmith shop
was erected in I860, on section 36, by Mr. McLaughlin, who
wrought the plastic iron and steel for two years, when he packed
up and went west. From the time when that fire went out the
town had no son of Vulcan within its borders until 1881,
when Mans Floom, a Norsk, started a forge in section 24.
Samuel Livingston, from 1860 to 1867, was known as the
"Walcott lime burner." He secured his rock from the very bed
of the Straight river. E. S. Lord succeeded him, and he took
the stone from the hank of the riser.
A cheese factory was established in 1878 in section 1. The
establishment was procured in Richland and moved here by
William Mathers and worked by his son.
The Straight River Grange was organized September 5, 1872,
with seventy charter members. Its meetings were on Saturday
evenings in a schoolhouse. and the organization kept up until
1881, when it was finally disbanded.
The Hunters of the Prairie. In 1860, a society with thi^
name was organized, and it was kept up for ten \ears. The first
meeting was in the schoolhouse. when an organization was
effected and officers chosen to lead in a war of extermination
against the predatory animals in the vicinity, and a hunt was
promptly instituted. Two captains chose their respective fol-
lowers, and the whole community was thus divided into two
elans. Everything was game, from a mouse up to the fiercest
denizen of the forest. The trophies of the chase were the caudal
appendages, and each had a value according to a pre-established
scale, and the losing party had to pay certain prizes. In July a
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 149
regular picnic, which went by the name of a "Gopher Picnic,"
was held, where men, women and children gathered to partici-
pate in the sport, and after the contest was decided by counting
the game, a dinner and other festivities were enjoyed. The num-
ber of animals taken would run up into the thousands and these
hunts were of great value in ridding the country of the swarming
pests.
Redfield Old Settlers' Association. This society was organ-
ized in the schoolhouse in 1858, meetings being held annually. All
were admitted — men, women and children — regardless of age,
that had come from the township of Redfield in New York state,
and members were eligible from any portion of Rice county.
In 1868 the last meeting of the society was held, the membership
having dwindled down to ten. During their time of prosperity
meetings were held at the residence of M. S. Seymour, on sec-
tion 22.
In 1856 Samuel Walcott, having contracted the prevailing
epidemic which inspired so many to lay out villages and cities,
proceeded to plat a village which was given the name of Wal-
cott. The location involved parts of sections 20, 21 and 28 and
29. There was nothing small about the plan, the proportions of
which were magnificent, but it did not progress far enough to
be recorded. But a single house was built, and that was for a
hotel by Charles Smith. There was a steam sawmill with a
twenty-five horsepower engine ready to cut lumber to build the
prospective city. This was owned by E. H. Auldon and run for
a while, but was subsequentlv taken down and carried to Shields-
ville.
On November 21, 1861, Judge Isaac Woodman had a burial
ground surveyed on section 8, a single acre, and divided into
forty lots. The first burial here was Helena, a daughter of J. S.
House, who died on March 2, 1860, at the age of two years and
three months, a shocking and most horrible death. It seems that
her mother was called out for a few minutes in the performance
of her domestic duties, leaving the little girl tied into a high
chair, which she upset directly upon the stove and was burned
in such a terrible way that she survived but a few hours.
Walcott, in the war of the rebellion, w-as well represented,
there being twenty-four men who volunteered and who, strange
to say, returned without a missing man. No draft in town was
had, but the citizens voted at different times recruit bounties
amounting in the aggregate to $4,800. In 1872 the town voted
bonds to the amount of 32,000 to build a bridge across the
Straight river at the Walcott mills. A bridge had existed at
the mills, partly constructed by the proprietors and partly by the
town, but it was washed away and the mill owners being dis-
150 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
inclined to repair the damage so as to make it available for a
road, the town had to rebuild it, which was done about twenty
rods north of its old position at the mill.
Pursuant to notice, the first town meeting for the election
of officers and organization of the town was held at the house of
Jacob Chesrown May 11, 1858. The moderator was Isaac Wood-
man, and the clerk was Isaac R. Pentz. An assessment of $200
was made for town expenses. What should constitute a lawful
fence was agreed upon. It was voted that horses and cattle
could run at large from November to the first of April and that
sheep and hogs be prohibited from being at large. The second
town meeting was held at the house of James Williams and was
an adjourned meeting to elect officers, which was not accom-
plished at the first meeting on account of other business.
The town officers elected at this meeting were: Supervisors.
Isaac Woodman, chairman; E. P. Jones and D. C. Hunkins:
assessor, James Denison ; collector, Elijah Austin ; clerk. Isaac R.
Pentz; justices of the peace, William Kester and George Dor-
rance ; overseer of the poor, Isaac Woodman; constables, Jacob
Chesrown and Charles B. Kingsbury. The first meeting of the
supervisors was on May 22, at the house of the clerk, where the
first division of road districts was made. The salary of the first
clerk was $4.30 for the first year. At the first state election.
in the fall of 1858, there were twenty-eight votes cast. Town
affairs have been managed in an honest and economical way.
FOREST TOWNSHIP.
Forest township is in the northwestern part of Rice county,
and comprises the thirty-six sections of the congressional town-
ship. It constitutes township 111, range 21 west, containing
23,040 acres. The contiguous surroundings are Webster on the
mirth. Wells on the south, Bridgewater on the east and Erin on
the west. The town is made up of rolling land, interspersed with
spots of prairie and natural meadow. There are no bluffs, and
few hills that are too abrupt for agricultural purposes. When
the township was originally settled the prairie spots were, as a
rule, covered with patches of hazel brush, and here and there
lay acres of natural meadow, seemingly prepared and waiting
for the plow, This, however, has all been transformed into the
richest and mosl fertile farms in the county. The soil is mostly
a black loam with a clay subsoil. There is hardly any sand or
limestone in the town, Good clear water can he obtained easily
within from twelve to fifteen feet.
There are a number of beautiful lake- nestling among the
hills, which all abound with fish of various varieties, and because
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 151
of the abundance of the finny species this locality was a favorite
resort for the Indians in an early day, many pickerel, pike, bass,
etc., being secured each season by the redskins. Circle lake is the
principal and the largest one in the town. It is situated in the
geographical center of the town, and takes its name from the fact
that it makes a complete circle, leaving an island in the center
of ninety-seven acres. Just south of this is Fox lake, embracing
about 200 acres. Union lake extends into the town in the north-
east corner, and infringes on section 2. Lake Mazaska floods
about one-half of section 31, and a little lake with the cognomen
of Mud nestles in section 11. There are also numerous small
streams in the town. Originally, in sections 6 and 7, wild cran-
berries abounded, and many of the early pioneers availed them-
selves of this luxury, but of late years not much attention has
been paid to them, and they have now become comparatively
scarce. In 1856, from the northeast quarter of section 7, John
W. and Joseph Thompson and Albert Fillmore took $780 worth
of the berries.
When the first explorers of this township made their appear-
ance they found the hills and interspersed prairie spots covered
with wild game and the wild aborigines. The timber land was
a forest in the strictest sense of the word, and was almost im-
penetrable, making the progress of the introducers of civilization
very tedious and even dangerous. The actual settlement in the
locality commenced in 1854, the honor of the first settlership
being due to William Henderson, who arrived in October of that
year, originally from Maine. He made his way on foot from
St. Paul and made up his mind to avail himself of the oppor-
tunity to take his pick of the fine farms in the township. This
he did by locating in the northeastern part of the town on sec-
tion 2, at the outlet of Union lake. He at once put up the frame
of a small log shanty, and without completing it, remained to
hunt and trap until he was frozen out, when he went to St. Paul
to spend the winter. In the following spring he returned, bring-
ing with him a small load of furniture, his wife and her sister, a
maiden lady. He took the claim that he had selected and com-
menced opening a farm. Here he remained for about five years,
when he left for other localities. The next to cast his lot among
the lakes and timbers of Forest was George Eaton, a young man
of grit and enterprise, who arrived a couple of months later than
Henderson and located on the southwest quarter of section 11.
He put up a small hewn log hut and commenced trying to farm,
but succeeded better at trapping. This, it will be seen, com-
menced a settlement ; Henderson on section 2, at the outlet of
Lake Union, and Eaton on section 11, one mile south. The next
acquisition to the settlement was made early in 1855. in the per-
152 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
sons of Mr. Hill, John Parker and William Palmer, who all
located on or near section 9, one mile west of the places settled
by Eaton and Henderson. Parker and Hill had brought their
families with them, and they at once put up hewn log shanties.
Hill brought in with him one horse, and the other two, Parker
and Palmer, brought an ox team, in which each owned an
interest. 1 he next comer was John W. Thompson, who had
previously located in Hastings, but who after several visits to
Forest township decided that he preferred Rice to Dakota county.
He accordingly settled in section 8.
In the meantime the settlers about the Union lake district
had made themselves very comfortable, considering their cir-
cumstances, and all were living principally on deer meat and
other wild game. In this manner they spent the summer, a few
of them having put in a few potatoes, rutabagoes, etc., and a rich
harvest rewarded them. There were none, however, but opened
and prepared sonic land for crop the following year.
In the fall of that year (1854) a number of arrivals were
marked on the corner stakes of claims. Leonard and Jacob
Balyet, Joseph and Elijah Houck and John Craven came to-
gether and all took claims near Millersburg, a little south of the
settlement mentioned above.
Zebulon Sargent and John Jones came shortly afterward and
located in section 27. They, in common with the rest of the
hardy pioneers, commenced Minnesota life in log huts.
A few days after the arrival of the above parties there ap-
peared three Norwegian families on the scene, fresh from the
pioneer life in Wisconsin, and in covered wagons. As the season
was getting late and they had their stock with them, they con-
cluded to put Up hay to last through the winter before they
erected cabins. This they did. and while they were at work in
the hay field the wife of one of the emigrants was taken sick, and
there, in the covered wagon, was delivered of a baby girl. Both
mother and child lived and the girl grew to womanhood, was
married and lived with her husband and a large family of
children on the identical spot where the wagon stood when the
birth occurred. This was the fust birth in the township. Early
in 1856 Albert Fillmore and family, and the following week H. A.
White, arrived and located near Millersburg, and after them
came James Fitzimmons, who commenced laving plans for the
village of Millersburg. At the same time should be chronicled
the arrival of George and Milo J. Sellon, John Wood and E. F.
Taylor, who were brought in by J. W. Thompson, and all took
claims, most of them in the neighborhood of Millersburg. Au-
gust and William Demann took places on section 20. In the
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 153
fall their brother Christian made his appearance. Alexander
Smith came in 1856 and settled in section 34.
Frederick Fisher came from Milwaukee in the latter part of
1856. He brought with him forty-one head of stock and two
large wagon loads of furniture and goods. It being late in the
season he decided to follow the example of the Norwegians in
the fall before and put up hay for his stock before he erected a
cabin, and afterwards put up a substantial log house. Here he
lived for a number of years, but was very unfortunate in
almost all of his undertakings. His wife was burned to death a
few years after his arrival, by the explosion of a kerosene lamp —
such a thing as a lamp being at that time a novelty and a curi-
osity. He expended all of his means in a few years and removed.
One incident connected with his early pioneering may prove of
interest. He brought in with him a very large and fierce dog,
and intended it for protection against the wild beasts. One noon,
at the time when Fisher and his family were living in wagons and
making hay, immediately after their arrival, they left the hay
field and were at dinner when the dog went down to the field
where a pack of wolves were heard howling and barking. From
the high point where the wagons were, overlooking the meadow,
the Fishers saw a fierce fight going on between wolves and
dog, and by the time they got upon the ground all that was
left of the dog was the shining skeleton, which had been picked
clean by the voracious pack.
The first death in the township was John Parker, who died in
the fall of 1855. He was buried in solitude under an oak tree
near the cabin where he lived in section 10.
The town of Forest was not behind the neighboring towns in
organizing and starting the local governmental wheels. The
first meeting was held May 11, 1858, at the residence of James
Fitzsimmons, and after organization the following officials were
elected: Supervisors, Elias F. Taylor, Zebulon Sargent and
Charles Brand ; clerk, Alexander Smith ; assessor, Joseph L.
Houck ; justices of the peace, George Miller and John R. Bartlett ;
constables, Milo J. Sellon and John W. Sargent; overseer of the
poor, John Jones. The clerk of this meeting was J. F. Donald-
son and S. A. Henderson was the moderator.
In 1871 a postoffice with the name of Lester was established
by J. W. Thompson on the southwest quarter of section 8. At
one time it had the largest business of any country postoffice in
Rice county.
WARSAW TOWNSHIP.
Warsaw township lies along the southern boundary of Rice
county, being separated from the western boundary by one
()
154 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
town. Its contiguous surroundings are Wells, Walcott and
Morristown, with Steele county on the south. In the north-
eastern part the city limits of Faribault embrace the north half
of section 1, leaving 22,720 acres to comprise the area of the
town. Of this about 2,000 acres are covered with water. The
Cannon river winds its powerful course diagonally through the
northwestern part of the town, entering from Morristown
through section 18, and flowing northeasterly forms Cannon
lake, and leaves the town by way of section 4 and enters Wells.
McKenzie's creek, named in honor of Alexander McKenzie, an
early settler, a stream of considerable importance, finds its source
south of the town line and winds its tortuous way northward
through the center of the town, until its waters mingle with
those of Cannon lake. A small stream, with the non-sesthetic
appellation of Mud creek, infringes on the southeast corner, and
hastening its course through sections 35, 36 and 25, empties int
Straight river, in Walcott township. Dry creek rises in Shields
ville and flows through the northwest corner on its way to Can-
non lake. The name this stream bears was evidently not given
to characterize it. as the creek is scarcely ever dry.
Cannon lake is the largest and most beautiful lake in Rice
county and covers about 1.451 acres. It extends almost across
the northwest quarter of the town, embracing portions of sec-
tions 34. 7, 8. 9 and 10. It is about four miles long and from
one-half to one mile in width, being about twenty-live feet deep
at the utmost. The lake abounds with all local species of fish,
and in early days this was made regular and oft-frequented hunt
ing and fishing grounds of the Indians. Many of the old settlers
ran call to mind occasions when there were as many as 200
tepees on the shore of the lake, while the dusky skinned hunters
were laving in winter supplies. The lake was originally named
by the Indians "Te-ton-ka To-nah," or the Lake of the Village,
and it bore this name- for a number of years. The stor) is told,
and we give it as a legend, that after the name above given had
been bestowed upon the lake by the Indians, a small colony of
Frenchmen were driven by the redskins to the river, and the}
took to ranges. The colonists had been prepared For emergency
of this kind, and were supplied with firearms, besides having a
small cannon in one of the canoes. They were not. however,
aide to cope with their pursuers, and in attempting to pass the
Cannon falls, the canoe containing the cannon became capsized
and went to the bottom. Search was made, and the Indians
became superstitious in regard to it, as the} were unable to find
the slightest trace of the lost gun. Since thai time the river has
always been known as Cannon river, and the lake being formed
bv it took the same name. The soil of the town-hip i- mostly
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 155
a dark loam, of about two feet deep, and a yellow clay subsoil
of about four feet, beneath which is a clay of a bluish color.
This pertains particularly to the timbered portions of the town.
The prairie land is made up of a dark loam from eight inches to
a foot in thickness, with a yellow clay subsoil, underneath which
is a bed of gravel or sand. A report from this township, pub-
lished in 1868, says : "The larger portion of Warsaw is prairie,
with occasional groves in the southern and middle portion, and
a heavy body of timber belonging to and a part of the Big
Woods, on the Cannon river, in the northern part. It has within
its limits 21,000 acres of taxable lands, exclusive of town lots.
The Cannon lake occupies about 1,400 acres of the northern por-
tion of its area. It has also 320 acres of school lands unsold,
and one forty of railroad land. There is a considerable portion
of the land of this town, owned by non-residents, that can be
bought for from $5 to $25 per acre."
The earliest settlement in this town took place in 1853, and
when started its settlement was rapid and constant until all
the government land within its borders was taken. When the
first exploration by white men took place, it is impossible to
state, as this had been the pathway and trading land of the
Faribaults for years before the advent of actual settlers. The
town being resplendent with natural advantages and beautifying
works of nature, when once started the settlement became irre-
pressible.
Between 1826 and 1834 Alexander Faribault established a
trading post at the foot of the lake now known as Cannon lake.
In 1852 Faribault was in St. Paul on a trip for business pur-
poses and met Peter Bush, a blacksmith, and hired him to go
to Faribault and work. Mr. Bush was a Canadian Frenchman,
and after considering the matter, decided to accept, and at once
came to Faribault and became a resident of Rice county. He
remained in Faribault the following winter, at work for Mr.
Faribault. In the spring of the year following (1853) he de-
cided to secure a claim and finally made his way into Warsaw
and selected one of the finest farms in the county, on section 3,
at the foot of Cannon lake. Here he remained for a number of
years, and became prominent in the early settlement of the
county. The same year as the above arrival, N. N. Graves made
his appearance and secured a habitation one mile and a half west
of Bush. This was the extent to which the town was settled
this year, and the winter passed with but two settlers there.
The next year, however, the beauties and advantages of the
Cannon river country began to be heralded abroad, and the
prospective settlers began to file in slowly, it is true, at first,
but still civilization took a perceptible stride, and this year
156 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
(1854) chronicled the arrival of Edward Hollister and Henry
Davis, who came and located near the lake. About the same
time came Peter Dalcour and planted his stakes on section 4.
Thomas Blackborn was another who availed himself of the op-
portunity and secured himself a habitation. He, however, only
remained a few years, when he pulled up stakes and replanted
them in the town of Morristown.
In 1855 the arrivals were more numerous, and among them
came J. B. Wait, to section 28. F. Weatherfield secured a claim
in section 18, and was afterward one of the proprietors of War-
saw village. Dr. Charles Jewett made his appearance and se-
lected a claim on section 12, where he remained a few years and
returned to New England, from whence he came. Thomas
Sprague arrived in the town in 1854, and almost immediately
retraced his steps to St. Paul for provisions, but taking sick on
the road he died shortly after his arrival in the town. This
occurred in the spring of 1855. and was the first death in War-
saw. Others came in very rapidly, and a year from this time
all the government land was taken.
The first birth in Warsaw took place on November 24, 1854.
being a son of Thomas and Desire Blackborn, and the child was
named William H. The first marriage solemnized was on
August 26, 1855; the contracting parties were Alexander Mc-
Kenzie and Sarah Ann, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Elias
Gilhousen. The affair took place at the residence of the bride's
parents on section 7, the knot being tied by Charles Crump.
Another early marriage was that of Peter Dalcour to Miss
Lucia Woolett, on December 7, 1857.
In 1858, at the organization, considerable difficulty was en-
countered in naming the town. Dr. Charles Jewett, a prominent
citizen, was present and insisted, and took the stump to declare,
that he had a wealthy friend in Massachusetts by the name of
Sargent, and if the citizens would name the town Sargent, he
(Sargent) would move to the town and make it his future home,
besides building a town hall and donating $500 to the public
fund. As there was already a postoffice in the town named
Warsaw, in honor of a town in New York, from whence a num-
ber of the early settlers had come, it was but natural that a
great many favored that name, but after listening to the appeals
of Dr. Jewett, the feeling changed perceptibly, and upon the
matter being put to a vote five ballots were found in favor of
Warsaw and five times that number favoring the name of Sar-
gent. It was accordingly declared to be Sargent township.
This was the caption until 1864 when, as nothing had been seen
or heard of the wealthy Sargent, the citizens of the town decided
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 15?
to re-name it, and accordingly had a bill passed by the legislature
in 1864, changing the name from Sargent to Warsaw.
Peter Dalcour, of whom mention has already been made, was
not accustomed to frontier life, and could not get to understand
the Indians. On one bright spring morning he discovered a
number of the Indian ponies in the meadow destroying the hay
and grass. He went down and tried to keep them off, but could
not succeed, and getting excited he went to the house, got his
rifle and coming back commenced blazing away at them. It
was whiz, bang, and when he quit firing he had killed fifteen
ponies and twenty-five dogs. The Indians did not resent this
fearful slaughter, but the following spring one of them presented
Dalcour with a huge butcher knife, and he said he supposed it
was to pay for the destroyed hay, and as a token of future friend-
ship and regard. This occurred on the farm of Peter Bush
while Dalcour was working for him.
In the spring of 1874, Jacob Steckner, while out hunting
ducks, found the body of his father, John Steckner, at the foot
of Cannon lake, in a condition that proved undoubtedly that he
had been murdered. The deceased was a Pennsylvania German,
aged about fifty-five years, and it was proven that he had left
the Lake hotel and driven across the ice in company with an-
other man, having about $30 in his pockets. This was the last
seen of him until he was found silent in the arms of grim death.
The head was battered in a horrible manner, and a club lying
near by covered with the gore of the victim, proving, beyond a
doubt that there had been foul play, but as no testimony could
be brought forward sufficient to convict, the matter stil! remain-
a mystery.
Dr. Charles Jewett, who is prominently mentioned in con-
nection with the pioneer life in this county, died April 3, 1879,
at Norwich, Conn., at the age of three score years and twelve.
His nativity was in Lisbon, Conn., September 5, 1807. He was
educated at Plainfield, studied medicine and graduated, and
began the practice of his profession in East Greenwich at the
age of twenty-two. In 1830 he was married to Lucy A. Tracy.
He early went into the temperance work and was the agent of
the Massachusetts Temperance Union, and was the best known
total abstinence advocate in New England. He afterwards lo-
cated in Millbury, Mass., on a farm paid for by his temperance
friends. Here he resided for five years, doing temperance work
when wanted. In 1853 he went to Batavia, 111., where, in con-
nection with other work, he lectured on physiology in a school,
which did not prove to be a success, and, as himself and family
suffered from chills and fever, he removed to Minnesota in the
spring of 1855, locating in Warsaw, on section 12, and remained
158 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
for three years, when he returned to Massachusetts, at the urgent
invitation of the temperance people. A part of the time during
the war he was a resident of Menasha, Wis., at work in the
temperance cause. In 1873 lie removed to Norwich, Conn. He
left a widow, four sons and two daughters. He was an earnest,
amiable, talented and true-hearted man, respected and beloved
by all. .
Pursuant to a notice issued by the register of deeds of Rice
county, a town meeting was held at the Turner house in the
village of Warsaw, on May 11, 1858, for the purpose of organiz-
ing the township and electing officers to guard public matters.
There were in all eighty-two votes cast and the following were
the officers elected: Supervisors, Miles Hollister, chairman; Au-
gustus Johnson and D. W. Woodworth ; clerk, John McDonald :
assessor, John Goldthwait ; collector, George W. Frink ; overseer
of the poor, Philander Griffith; justices of the peace, J. F.
Weatherhead and Charles Jewett, Jr ; constables, James O. Lamb
and J. II. Maine. The temporary officers of this preliminary
meeting were: J. F. Weatherhead, chairman; D. W. Woodworth,
moderator, and Miles Hollister, clerk. The board, at their first
meeting, voted the sum of $75 to defray town expenses during
the ensuing year. Town matters in Warsaw have run along
smoothly, the business of the public being in capable hands.
It is a matter of pride to the inhabitants of Warsaw, and
justly so, that during the war of the rebellion their quota was
always filled without the necessity of force. True, one draft was
made out, but the volunteers were furnished before it was
enforced, and the town in one instance raised $300 to pay Charles
Hagstrom to voluntarily enlist. There were, in all, forty-one
volunteers, of whom four never returned, but found graves in
southern soil, as follows: S. G. Randall, Edward Rible, Clark-
Turner and Charles P. Hagstrom.
The abandoned village of Lake City was the scene of the
first settlement in the town, and played quite an important part
in the early history of the county. It was the first village platted
in the township. It had a beautiful location on section 3, at the
foot of Cannon lake, in the northern part of the town. In 1853,
early in the spring, Peter Bush came to the shores of Ca
lake and pre-empted 160 acres in section 3. He at once put up
a log habitation, 18x20 feet, and commenced making it his actual
home. He shortly after put up a small shop, 18x20 feet, and
being a practical blacksmith commenced working at his trade,
rinse were the first buildings erected in either village or town
ship. He hammered aw ;iv at his anvil, and in 1856 conceived the
idea, and at once platted the village on his farm in section 3, and
recorded it the same year as Lake City. Selling his shop t.>
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 159
Frederick Roth in 1857, he went back to his birthplace in Can-
ada. He remained away one year and then returned to his place
and again took up the hammer and blacksmith tools, continuing
work at his trade until 1880. George Burns arrived in 1855 and
put up a hotel, with a saloon in connection, near Bush's black-
smith establishment. He managed this until 1866, when he sold
to Henry D. Kopps, who, after running it for two years, sold
to Patrick Cuskelly, and he in turn, in 1869, sold the establish-
ment to M. F. Depati. This gentleman erected a brick addi-
tion, the size of which was 28x33 feet, two stories, at a cost
of $2,500, and in 1880 sold it to his son, Moses F. Depati, for
$3,000. In 1856, at the time of laying out the village, Joseph
Cadory put up a two-story building for a saloon, and run it as
such until 1859, when he sold the building to Peter Bush, who,
with his family, occupied it as a dwelling. In the fall of 1856,
a saw-mill was put up in the "Village of the Lake," by J. Bow-
man, with a circular saw and a power of forty horse, making
the capacity 1,500 feet per day. In 1857, the mill was destroyed
by fire, the supposition being that it was the incendiary work
of Indians ; and the ground was purchased by P. Melhorn and
Enoch Woodman, who rebuilt the mill, and in connection with
the saw they put in one run of stone, and commenced doing
custom work for the surrounding neighborhood. In 1859, the
mill became the property of P. Schuyler and Jared Patrick, who
operated it until 1862, when it was sold to D. M. Lucris, and
this gentleman removed it to Cordova.
CANNON CITY TOWNSHIP.
Cannon City township is one of the center towns of Rice
county, lying in the second tier from the south and west county
lines, and the smallest town in the county. Its immediate sur-
roundings are, Bridgewater on the north ; Wheeling on the east ;
Walcott and Faribault on the south ; and Wells and Faribault on
the west. The city of Faribault takes from its southwest corner
3,200 acres, or sections 29, 30, 31, 32 and the southern halves of
sections 19 and 20.
Here are found both timber and prairie land; the western
portion abounding with timber, in places heavy and again light,
and interspersed with meadow and timber openings. The eastern
and northeastern parts, extending from the north to the south
line of the town, is a rolling prairie, with here and there fine
groves of timber. This is called East Prairie, for the reason that
it lies east of the Cannon river timber. Little Prairie is a small
prairie in and about section 4. The greater part of the town is
under a high state of cultivation, and many of the oldest and
lfiO HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
finest farms in the county are located here. The soil is rich and
well adapted to the crops and agricultural modes of to-day. A
dark loam is the covering of the prairie, and as one approaches
the timber a lighter nature of soil is visible, with a tendency to
clay and sand. Along the Cannon river, which enters the town-
ship from Faribault and crosses the western part in a northerly
direction, the surface is more or less broken, and in some places
enough so to be termed hilly, although there are few places so
abrupt as to be detrimental to tillage. An abundance of excellent
limestone is found in various localities in the western part of the
town, and several have burned kilns with the most satisfactory
results. It is also valuable for building purposes, for which it has
been used quite extensively.
The town is well watered, but has not as many lakes as some
of the surrounding townships. Chrystal lake is the only one of
note, and is located in the central part. Prairie creek rises in sec-
tion 23, and taking a northern course hastens its way to North-
field township, from whence it enters the county of Goodhue.
The Cannon river has been mentioned as traversing the western
part. Otto Falls creek, or, as it is generally known, Pond's creek,
rises in Wheeling, and flowing westward, crosses the southern
tier of towns and eventually becomes part of the Straight river.
Several small streams traverse the northwestern part of the town-
ship on their way to the Cannon river.
There has been considerable question as to the actual first
settlers of Cannon City township. It is possible that there were
some arrivals in the latter months of 1853, but the first settler of
whom we have any actual knowledge is John Corsett, a native of
Ohio, who arrived in the spring of 1854, and took a claim in sec-
tion 35. He built a little shanty covered with what he called
"shakes," and at once commenced harvesting hay. succeeding in
securing about twenty tons. After he had been there a short time
a number of others swelled the settlement in this part of the
township. All who arrived in 1854 were from Dunkirk. Wis.,
but most of them removed to other towns or counties.
William N. Owens and family were natives of New York,
having left the place of their nativity early in the forties and
removed to Wisconsin. Here they remained for ten years, in
Dunkirk, and in 1854. when the .Minnesota fever first began to
find root in the minds of the Eastern people, they decided to
join the throng. Among others who came also were Isaac Ham-
lin and his parents. George Marks and his family. John Pratt
and family. Samuel Howe. John Ralier. A. Renslow, and some
who are mentioned elsewhere, who took claims in adjoining
towns. These all started about the -ante time, and came strag
gling along i'ii their way to the Cannon valley. When they
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 161
reached the Root river, in Fillmore county, where Forestville
now is, the typhoid fever attacked some members of Mr. Owens'
family, and he was detained there some time, a child being born
during this period. This, however, although it detained the
family, did not hinder the balance of the party, and Mr. Owens
with his oxen assisted the others to get into the country, his
eldest coming up to drive one of the teams. The boy made an
unfavorable report of the country to his parents, and they seri-
ously entertained the thought of retracing their steps to the
former home, but finally overcame their scruples and pushed on,
arriving on East Prairie on October 1, 1854. They here found
that those who had preceded them had failed in their agreement
to select a good claim and cut hay for the detained party, and
as they had four yoke of oxen, two cows, and one horse, they
were obliged to secure hay or suffer severe loss. After looking
about for a short time, Mr. Owens made Corsett, who is men-
tioned above as having put up twenty tons of hay, an offer of
$250 for his claim and hay, which offer was accepted, and Mr.
Owens moved his family into Corsett's doorless and floorless
cabin. This was soon remedied by making a floor out of slippery
elm bark, and a door of slabs. The roof of the cabin was very
poor, as it was made of clapboards, and Mr. Owens in later years
declared that when he heard the children in the night crying,
"Ma, Ma, it's snowin' in my face!" he determined to fix it, so he
went out on the prairie, and cut sod and packed it in layers on
the roof of his house. This remedied the evil for the time and
kept the snow out of the children's faces, but when the spring
came and the drenching rain washed crevices through the sod,
great haste was required in shoveling it off the roof to prevent
the shanty from being transformed into a mud hole. During the
fall Mr. Owens broke two acres of the prairie, and later in the
fall and through the winter he fenced eighty acres, this being the
first fence put up in the township, also making at the same time,
by night work, with a draw-knife, shingles enough to cover the
houses of Samuel Howe, John Ralier, and his own, which were
each 16x24 feet. After Corsett had sold his farm, as mentioned
above, he took a claim in Walcott township, and finally found
his way to Redwood county, where he died many years ago.
About the time that Owens settled, a few more made their
appearance, a party who were natives of Vermont having stopped
for a time in Wisconsin, from whence they came direct. M. N.
Pond and wife, and Prof. Ide, his father-in-law, with Airs. Ide
and her two daughters, made up the party. They came direct to
Faribault, with a yoke of oxen and a team of horses, following the
trail of Thomas Sprague, who had settled in Warsaw, and arrived
at their destination in due time, having lost the single wagon
162 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
trail. They then started to East Prairie in search of farms.
There was not a track through the timher nor a sign of civiliza-
tion, and they were forced to tediously cut a pathway through
the heavy and tangled woods. When they got to the prairie
they found signs of some one's having already been on the
ground, for on a stake, conspicuously planted, appeared the warn-
ing words: "6,000 AcrEs of this land is claimed by TriPP, Boss
& Co." To this, however, the pioneers paid no heed. Prof. Ide
took a claim in section 35, where the village was later platted,
while Mr. Pond secured a place in section 36, where he at once
erected a hewn log hut, making shingles therefor with a draw-
knife. Here Pond remained until the survey was made, which
discovered to him that he was upon a school section, and he at
once sold for $200 and removed to the timber in section 33, in
which he took the southwest quarter and at once put up a bark
shanty, peeling the bark from saplings, unrolling and nailing it
to the posts he had prepared, making a shanty sixteen feet
square. He moved into this in the spring of 1855. The winter of
1855-56 was a very severe one, and as soon as the thermometer
was put out the mercury would at once bob out of sight, while
the anxious shiverer was still in doubt as to how cold it really
was, and it became a standing joke that two thermometers must
be tied together perpendicularly to find how cold it was; but it
was an actual fact that for ninety days there was not a minute's
thaw.
A number of others came about the same time and increased
the settlement in the southern part of the town, and many pushed
their way over the line and took farms in Walcott. Among these
were George Marks and Mr. Emerson. The latter first took a
claim on East Prairie, but afterwards removed to Walcott, where
he engaged in a mill. Oliver Tripp, a native of the state of New
York, came August 15, 1854, and took possession of some of the
prairie land in section 36. W. L. Ilerriman was another who
came in 1854, arriving from Ohio in the fall of the year named
and secured a claim a short distance north of the farms occupied
by the parties above mentioned. He was a blacksmith by trade
and assisted'in the early settlement of the village by starting the
first blacksmith shop. Truman Boss came early in the fall of
1854, and secured a place in section 22. John Thompson, a native
of Scotland, arrived in Cannon City township in 1855, and as-
sisted in the settlement of East Prairie and the village, by aiding
in the erection of a steam and grist mill. M. C. Sweat, a native
of Vermont, after stopping in Wisconsin for a time, made his
appearance in the year 1854, and took a claim north of the East
I'rairie settlement, in section 2i. Mr. Sweat was joined the fol-
lowing year by a New Yorker in the person of H. C. Tripp, who
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 163
with his family located on an adjoining farm in the same section.
About the same time another native of the Empire state put in
an appearance and joined his fellow New Yorker by purchasing
a claim in section 25. This was E. B. Orcutt, of Oneida county,
who having stopped for a time in Wisconsin, made his arrival in
1855, with two yoke of oxen. Joseph Covert, of New York, came
about the same time, and took a claim and lived over the line in
the town of Wheeling. In 1868, he removed to section 25 of
Cannon City, adjoining Mr. Orcutt's on the south.
Still another came into this section this year — 1855 — in the
person of Roswell Bryant, of New England, who, with his family,
after stopping for a time in Indiana, made their way to Minne-
sota and became identified with Cannon City township pioneer-
ing by securing prairie land adjoining the places above men-
tioned. H. A. Swarthout, of Pennsylvania, came two years later,
in 1857, and purchased a farm in sections 26 and 27.
In the meantime other parts of the township had begun evolu-
tions toward civilization, although as yet the north and south
portions were far apart in a social sense. Until the settlements
grew so large as to merge together there was no intercourse
between them.
About the first to commence a settlement in the north part
of the township was what was known as the Closson party, of
Wisconsin. They consisted of Caleb Closson and his sons, J.
Clark, Joseph, Amasa and Schuyler, who all took farms adjoin-
ing, in the northeastern corner of the town, arriving late in the
year 1854. They at once erected log houses and stables, as they
had considerable stock with them. These were the most promi-
nent pioneers in the northern part of the town, and the "Closson
Settlement" is still often spoken of by the old pioneers. Section 5,
a few miles west of this settlement, received an initiating settler
soon afterward in the person of John Dungay, a native of Eng-
land, who came from Chicago, where he had been working at
the carpenter trade for several years, and secured a good farm
in Cannon City township. He at once erected a comfortable
house, sawing the lumber therefore with a whipsaw, also prepar-
ing lumber and making probably the first wagon made in Rice
county.
Thomas Van Eaton, formerly of Wisconsin, made his appear-
ance in the spring of 1855, and helped fill in the gap between
the two settlers above mentioned by taking a farm in section
three. He was afterward a preacher, and was finally murdered
near Sauk Centre by the Indians during their outbreak, they
cutting off his head and leaving his body lying in a slough.
The ghastly, grinning skull rolled over the prairie for nine years
before it was identified and buried. Messrs. Godfrey, father and
164 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
son, secured farms in the northern part of the town in 1855, and
moved on them the following year. Jesse Carr, a native of the
Empire state, made his appearance the same spring, 1855, and
preempted a farm in section four, where he began improvements
at once. About the same time George A. Turner, of New York,
arrived and took a place near Mr. Carr.
Thus it will be seen that by the fall of 1855 the town had
become pretty well settled and all parts had representatives in
the pioneer line. Sears brothers had arrived and the village of
Cannon City brought into existence, while Prairieville in the
south, had made a very noticeable stride. A few more of the
most prominent arrivals can be noted. F. Van Eaton came from
Indiana in 1856, and secured a place in the northern part of the
town. C. H. Mulliner, a native of New York State, came to
Minnesota in 1855, and in 1856 secured a place in Cannon City
township. O. B. Hawley arrived from New York State in 1856,
and settled in section twenty-six, which his father, E. Hawley,
had preempted the year previous. Mr. Hawley was chairman
of the board of supervisors which organized the township in
1858, which office he held for eight terms. John Jepson, one
of the pioneers of Minnesota, arrived in 1856, and took a farm
in section fourteen in Wheeling. He later moved to Cannon
City and became prominently identified with the interests of
the township.
S. J. Clemens located in Warsaw in 1855, but finally moved
to Cannon City township. Thomas Gallagher, of Emerald Isle
nativity, secured a farm in section seven. F. Strunk, of the
state of New York, came to Rice county in 1864, and in 1873
formed a stock company under the title of Cannon City Mill
Company, and erected a flouring mill on the Cannon river, in
section eight. William Dunn was among the first settlers in
the northern part of the town, coming about the latter part of
1854. A German named Sherman came in at an early day in
1855. Joseph Fancher, and J. and Elson Emerson, came from
the East and settled on sections three and eleven. Thomas
Bowles, or as he was familiarly known. Deacon Bowles, of
Michigan, a brother-in-law of the Sears brothers, came to Cannon
City in the spring of 1855, and took a farm near the village.
He mortgaged his farm to some capitalists of Faribault, by which
lie finally lost it. and in 1872, removed to Osakis.
In 1854, when William \. ( )wens arrived in the southern part
of the town, the particulars of which have already been noted,
he broke two acres of prairie land which was the first sod turned
for agricultural purposes in the town. He had settled on the old
"Indian Trail," and the Indians in passing through from Red
Wood to Wabasha, became a nuisance. The first thing they did
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 16-3
after he had settled was to come to the farm and strike their
teepees directly in front of his house, in a little grove which
was there. This was more than the pioneer family could bear,
and as soon as they were rid of them, Mr. Owens and his son
repaired to the grove where they felled every tree and turned
over the sod, so that the Indians, on their return, were forced
to seek shelter in the timber half a mile west of the farm. On
one occasion the redskins came to Mr. Owens' door for bread,
and upon being handed a loaf laid down $2.50 in gold and refused
to take it back or receive any change. Another time a new
gun was left for a pan of flour. It was some time before the
Indians could be taught what fences were made for, and in
passing through the prairie land they would tear them down
and march in bands directly through the growing grain and up
to the house in childish ignorance that was very provoking, and
Mr. Owens stationed one of his children at the point where
they usually entered the field with instruction to lead them
around the piece of grain. This finally taught them to be more
careful, but they proved to be so bothersome that Mrs. Owens
bethought a plan and carried it into successful execution that
cured their propensity for laying around the house. She got
her daughter, Amelia, to go to bed when she saw them coming,
and then she would meet them at the door and blandly tell them
"Mecosha Sharada," which means small-pox, and the redskins
would leave quickly. This daughter, Amelia, grew to be a great
favorite among the Indians, and many times the anxious mother
feared they would abduct her. She finally sickened and died.
For years afterward, the Indians, who had loved and petted the
bright girl, would stop at Mr. Owens' door and enquire, "Pap-
oose?" and on being told "Nepo" or dead, would go away
sadly saying, "Too bad, too bad !"
Rev. John Hoover, with his wife and three children, and his
son-in-law, William Neel, came from Ohio, and arrived in Can-
non City township in April, 1855. He found all the claims
marked, mostly with the names of Tripp, Boss & Co., William
Dunn, and Sears brothers, and not knowing that these persons
had no right to claim such quantities of land, he purchased a
farm of a man named Carr, who had settled on sections ten and
eleven and was living in a little pole shanty, one-half of which
constituted his stable, and the other half his dwelling. Mr.
Hoover at once moved on the place and erected a log house,
which he covered with a roof of four thicknesses of "shakes,"
thinking that would surely keep out the rain. The second
night after this was put up there came a frightful storm, which
they found to be about as severe in the house as out of doors, and
to save his library the elder placed it under the bed, but notwith-
166 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
standing this precaution, the water soaked through the bed
and almost ruined his books. When Rev. Hoover was at
Faribault, on his way to Cannon City, he was called upon
to preach a funeral sermon over the body of an emigrant
who had taken sick and died in an Indian hut in the place.
Mr. Hoover protested that he could not, as he had nothing but
his rough traveling clothes and could not appear in such unsuit-
able garments. They insisted, however, and borrowed him a
suit, in which he delivered the discourse to a congregation of two
men and several women. This was on April 15, 1855. During
the summer of the same year, Mr. Hoover posted up a notice
that he would hold religious services on the shore of Crystal
Lake, he being of the Methodist-Episcopal faith. Seats were
made of logs and spread over the grounds here and there.
Many well-attended and able meetings were held here at which
Mr. Hoover officiated, and a Sunday school was organized.
Rev. T. R. Cressey was probably the first and most prominent
missionary of the Baptist faith in Rice county. He originally
came from Ohio, living, for a time, at Hastings. In 1855, he came
to Rice county, settled in Cannon City township and was promi-
nent among religious circles, preaching the first sermon in the
town. In 1862, he went into the army as chaplain and did
valuable service. Returning after the close of the war, he
remained a short time and removed to Des Moines, Iowa, where
he died.
Among the first marriages in the town was that of Elson
Emerson to Charity Judd, at the residence of John Emerson, in
1856 or 1857. Another was that of Mr. and Mrs. Kiekenoff.
The first death occurred in the spring of 1855, and was Mrs.
Warren, mother of Mrs. John Pratt, at the latter's residence in
the southern part of the township. A coffin was made under
the shade of a tree by M. N. Pond, from the boards of a wagon
box, and was stained with a red wood cane. Her remains
are now at rest in the Prairieville cemetery. A few weeks after
this death, May 24, 1855, Amelia, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
W. N. Owens, was taken away by death, and was buried in
their garden, where the body remained until the burial ground
was laid out. Rev. J. Hoover, of Cannon City, preached the
funeral discourse. A man called "Doctor" died at the residence
of Truman Boss in the fall of 1855. He had just soid his claim
and contemplated going back to his eastern home, when death
overtook him.
Cannon City township was brought into existence for self-
government shortly after the territory became a state, and
the meeting for the purpose of organizing was held at the resi-
dence of I. N. Sater, in Cannon City. .May 11, 1858. The meeting
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 167
came to order upon call of I. N. Sater and officers pro. tern.
were placed in charge of the meeting as follows: Chairman,
Thomas Robinson ; moderator, Peter Chenneworth ; clerk, D. W.
Albaugh. The meeting then took up the matter of township
officers for the ensuing year, and elected the following: Super-
visors, O. B. Hawley, chairman, Jesse Carr, and J. A. Starks;
justice of the peace, William N. Owens; clerk, C. Smith House;
assessor, J. D. Carr; constable, John Cusey. The first records
of the township are in such condition that it is impossible to
ascertain to a certainty who were the first officers, and the
above are as near correct as we can determine. The name
of Thomas Bowles also appears in the first record as making
a motion to vote $200 to defray town expenses, which was
carried.
This township voted sums at different times to pay bounties
to volunteers who should fill the quota. August 8, 1864, an
appropriation was made to pay $200 to each man who should
offer to enlist before September 5, 1864, the vote on the question
being 63 for and 17 against the proposition. January 21, 1865,
another special town meeting was held for the purpose of
levying a tax to pay bounties ; but this was defeated by a vote
of 63 to 29.
ERIN TOWNSHIP.
Erin township greatly resembles Forest and Shieldsvillc
townships in general natural features, surface and scenery except
for the fact that it has no lakes of any importance wholly within
its borders, although many small streams traverse the valley to
become affluents to the Cannon river. Tuft's lake on the south
extends partially over sections thirty-four and thirty-five, form-
ing the largest body of water in the township, while a small
chain of lakes extend the sheet eastward and forms a southern
boundary to section thirty-six. In the northern part of town
Phelps' lake infringes on portions of sections five and six,
entering from Wheatland; and one mile to the east a small
body of water covers a few acres of land in section four.
In the center of section ten is located a pond known as Logue
lake, from which flows a small stream which wends its way-
eastward to Circle lake in Forest township. Another small
brook, which joins the one mentioned, rises in section twenty-
five, and flowing northward completes the unison in section
thirteen.
The soil is mostly a rich, dark loam, with, however, a
frequent tendency to a lighter nature, and sand ; well adapted
to the common crops of this latitude, and rich for all varieties
of indigenous grasses for grazing. The entire town, with the
168 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
exception of a few natural meadows, was originally forest,
the noted body of timber known as the "Big Woods" claiming
the greater portion of the territory.
The earliest actual settlement of this sub-division of Rice
county was commenced early in the year 1855. and was. there-
fore, a little behind the majority of towns, as most of them
received a settler or two in 1854. As the name of the town
implies, there were none but the descendants of the Emerald
Isle to be recorded in the pages of its early history ; and. in
fact, for a number of years, until a good share of the govern-
ment land was taken, there was not one resident of the town-
ship of other than the Celtic origin. In fact, it is said, the
arrival of pioneers of other nationalities, with a view to securing
homes, was regarded by many of the citizens as an encroach-
ment upon their rights and domain.
In the spring of 1855 a party of pioneers from various
directions reached the town, in the southeastern part, with the
determination to secure homes and promote civilization. The
balance of the county had already received a number of settlers.
Faribault was quite a hamlet, and near it already was heard the
sound of the water-wheel and the buzz of the saw ; but Erin
was yet considered backwoods, and no pioneer had consented
to accept the hardship, privation and toil the opening of the
timber would necessarily cause. The first party to arrive con-
sisted of Jeremiah Ilealy, Sylvester Smith, John Burke, James
Cummings, John McManus and Owen Farley, most of them
bringing their families.
About the first of this party to locate and select a claim
was Jeremiah Healy. He located in the southern part of the
township and put up a log shanty, 16x24 feet, the first in the
township. After Ilealy had located, Sylvester Smith was next
to select a place, which he did in sections twenty-live and thirty-
six. He was a native of Ireland and had stopped for a time
in Iowa, getting into Rice county with a yoke of oxen and im-
mediately erecting a small log shanty. Soon after his arrival
he managed to secure a grindstone, and for a number of
years the settlers for six miles around would come to his place
to sharpen their knives and farming cutlery. He also was for-
tunate enough to secure the first grain cradle in the town
ship. When he first arrived with his family, consisting of his
wife and two children, there were only three houses between
his place and Faribault. John Burke planted his stakes on
the claim of his choice, but only remained for a few years.
James Cummings next secured a place on section twenty-seven
and put up a small log shanty at once. John McManus. a single
man, took a claim in the southern part • •!" the town, near his
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 169
fellow countrymen. He was joined in wedlock shortly afterward,
making one of the first marriages in the town.
The last member of this party, Owen Farley, settled on sec-
tion twenty-six. This entire party came in with ox teams and
all settled in the south and southeastern part of the township.
In the same year, a little later in the season, the southwestern
corner of the town received a settler and commenced building
up a neighborhood as efficiently as the southeastern part. James
McBride settled on section thirty-one. He brought in consider-
able stock and commenced pioneer life by putting up a log
shanty. Shortly after McBride arrived in the fall, E. darken
located on section thirty. This was the extent to which the
township was settled this year, carrying the settlement up to
the winter of 1855-56, which proved a very trying and severe
one to the meagre settlement, as they, as yet, had had no time
to prepare for it. A Mr. Condon was frozen to death while
on his way to his claim near J. Cumming's place. He had
gone to Shieldsville for groceries and provisions to supply the
wants of his family, and on his way home lost the road, became
discouraged and benumbed by cold, and gave up to the drowsi-
ness which in freezing means death. This misfortune was the
third death that occurred in the township. Many of the settlers,
however, anticipating a hard time, had avoided the danger by
going to St. Paul for the winter, and returning the following
spring.
The next year the settlement became more rapid and all
parts of the town received a share of the incomers. Charles
McBride arrived in 1856, and located on sections nine and six-
teen. Andrew Kelly located in section twenty-six. He came in
company with his brother, Frank Kelly, who took a quarter
section adjoining his farm. Frank was married at an early
day, and lived here until about 1862, when he mysteriously
disappeared. D. and John Calihan came in 1856. J. O'Reilly
and father came about the same time. Thomas and Peter Ash,
brothers, also arrived at about the same time. Section thirty-
three, in the southern part of the town, was the recipient of
T. Flannagan, and about the same time of the year 1856, Henry
Smith secured a home in section twenty-seven. Four Mulcahy
brothers, Patrick, Timothy, Daniel and Dennis, natives of the
Emerald Isle, put in an appearance this year and took farms
near together, on and about section twenty-nine. The first two,
Patrick and Timothy, died at an early day ; Dennis removed to
Wells township about 1867. In section eight, the same year.
Edward P. Carroll took the northeast, and Patrick Sheehan
secured the southwest quarter. Just south of these parties, in
170 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
section seventeen, B. Foley and Andrew Devereux each secured
160 acres.
John Doyle, originally from Ireland, settled on an eighty-
acre piece of land in the southern part of section five. Hugh
and Patrick McEntree, father and son, came in 1856, and the
former took a farm in section twenty-four. Later Patrick mar-
ried and purchased a place in section ten. E. Kiernan pre-empted
a place in 1856. There were many arrivals this year besides
those noted already, among which may be mentioned John
Gorham, who remained on his farm until 1870 when he removed
to Faribault; the O'Sullivan brothers, Patrick, John and James;
James Warren, who died in 1873 ; Dennis Dooley, Michael Rich-
ardson, Charles Maguire, M. Kallaher, John Ouinlan, E. Maht-r
and T. McBreen, all of whom settled this year.
This carries the settlement up to the time when the influx
became so rapid and constant that it is impossible to note the
settlers in sequence. In 1860 the population of Erin had grown
to 306, and almost all of the government land was taken. It
should be noted in this connection that General J. Shields had
a great deal of influence in developing this township, and especi-
ally can the tide of Irish incomers be attributed to him, as he
had located just on the line dividing this town from Shields-
ville, and his advertisements in eastern papers inviting others
to join him, attracted the attention of his countrymen, and
they thronged in. A great many of the claims occupied by the
settlers mentioned above, had been selected before the parties
had arrived, by Jeremiah Healy, who was the first to actually
secure a farm. By observation, he had picked up the rudi-
ments of surveying and his knowledge was very useful to the
pioneers in laying out their future homes. There have been
as many as sixteen or twenty of them, in early days, stopping
at Mr. Healy 's log cabin — free of charge — while they were
looking for farms.
The first child born in the township was a daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Jeremiah Healy, in the latter part of 1855, in the south-
ern part of the town. The child was christened Sarah, and she
afterwards married John Dudley. The next event of this kind
was in 1856, when a child named Catherine was born to Mr.
and Mrs. John Burke. Another early birth was James, a son of
Mr. and Mrs. E. Clarken. Mathew Smith was born in Erin
at an early day.
In the line of marriages the township has a peculiar history,
one, in fact, which is almost without a parallel. It is. that from
the original settlement of the town up to 1878, only one marriage
took place within the limits of the town. On the occasion George
Levoy and Annie Berry were united by Father Robierric. Tin
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 171
bride was the daughter of John Berry. The first marriage of
residents in the town occurred in the winter of 1856, at Faribault,
and were John Quinland and Bridget Martin. The ceremony
was performed by Father Ravoux.
As early as 1857, the marriage of Mr. John McManus to
Eliza Kelly took place at the village of Shieldsville. Another
early marriage was that of Thomas Casey to Catherine Kelly.
Undoubtedly the first death to occur in Erin was Mary Ann,
child of Sylvester Smith, October, 1855. She was buried in
Shieldsville. This child's grandfather, Martin Smith, father
of Sylvester Smith, died in 1855, at the age of sixty-five years.
His remains were also interred at Shieldsville. The next death
was Mr. Condon, in the early part of 1856, by freezing. He is
mentioned elsewhere. In 1858, while Edward Riley and Syl-
vester Smith were in the timber chopping wood, a limb from
one of the trees fell and, striking Edward Riley on the head,
killed him instantly.
When Sylvester Smith first came to the town in company
with a few others, in 1855, they made their way with ox teams
through the timber, having to cut their own roads. Their
nearest places for supplies were Hastings or St. Paul. In 1856,
they broke a little ground and put in and raised a small crop
of corn and potatoes. The first crop of wheat was raised in
1857, and it was marketed at Hastings at 50 cents per bushel,
the trip being made with ox teams, and occupying five days,
camping on the way and cooking their meals by the wayside.
The first precinct election ever held, embracing Erin, was
held at Shieldsville in 1855 ; the precinct comprising what is now
known as Erin, Shieldsville, Wheatland and part of the towns
of Forest and Wells.
The town of Erin was first settled in the month of May,
1855, and among the first to build a log cabin was Jeremiah
Healy who, amidst the trials and privations of pioneer life,
had succeeded in preserving a few seed potatoes and planted
them near his cabin. Soon afterward, Father Ravoux, the first
missionary in this part of the country, came traveling along ort
his Indian pony, and discovering this cabin with the inmates
and a few scattering neighbors, he concluded to stop and hold
the first service here.
This town was organized in common with the balance of the
townships in Rice county, when the territory was made a state.
The first town meeting was held on May 11, 1858, at the resi-
dence of P. Ryan. The meeting was called to order by the elec-
tion of Thomas Flannagan as chairman, and William Kerrott,
secretary. A motion was then made by D. Dooley to name
the town "McBride," then one to call it "Healy" in honor of
173 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Jeremiah Healy, but both of these were lost. A motion was
next made by Mr. John Gorman that the township should be
called Erin in honor of their nativity, and this was carried
by a majority of seven. They then proceeded to the election
of the following officers : Supervisors, John Conniff, chairman ;
Timothy Foley, and Sylvester Smith ; assessor, Dennis Dooley ;
collector, John Gorman ; justices of the peace, Thomas Flannagan
and B. Foley ; constables, Michael Richardson and John Smith ;
overseer of the poor, Charles McBride; overseers of roads,
Patrick Ryan, Martin Duffy and Edward Clarken.
A history of the Bohemian settlement in the northern part
of the township is found elsewhere.
MORRISTOWN TOWNSHIP.
Morristown township is the southwestern corner township
of Rice county, being contiguous to the counties of LeSueur
and Waseca on the west and south and with the towns of
Shieldsville and Warsaw on the north and west. It is com-
prised of thirty-six sections, or 23,040 acres of which 20,503
exclusive of town lots, are taxable lands; 900 are covered by
its lakes, and a large part of the balance is under a high state
of cultivation.
The Cannon river crosses the township from west to east,
and seemingly divides the different classes of land, as all the
territory north of the river was originally covered with timber
of common varieties, while that to the south is principally
prairie land interspersed with fine groves of timber, combining
to make a beautiful and picturesque country, which, in connec-
tion with its fine soil, excellent water and water power, soon
attracted the attention of those seeking homes. The soil is
mostly dark loam, with a blue clay subsoil, this applying particu-
larly to the prairie, while in the original timber districts a tend-
ency to sandiness is visible, with a subsoil of clay or gravel.
The township is abundantly watered by rivers, creeks, and
lakes. The Cannon river has been mentioned above. It enters
the town in the form of Lake Sakata. which it forms in sections
nineteen and twenty. A mineral spring bubbles up on the
south side of this lake, which pnssescs medical qualities.
Sprague lake is a small body of water covering portions of sec-
tions twenty-eight and twenty-nine. l'at's lake lies nestled
in the midst of the timber in the northeastern part of the town.
Mormon lake, so-called because in an early day the Mormons
used it for baptismal purposes, occupies a few acres in the
southwestern part of section twelve: while I'.onesctt lake i^
located just north of it. Devil's creek ri^e^ in Mud lake, in
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 173
Shieldsville, and flowing southward, is joined by several small
streams before it joins Cannon river. Dixon's creek finds its
source south of the boundary, and wending a northern course
mingles its waters with those of the Cannon in section twenty-
three. Horseshoe lake infringes on the town in the northwestern
part, and is the source of a small stream which connects it to
Cannon river by way of sections eighteen and seventeen.
The earliest settlement was made in the fall of 1853, when
John Lynch and Henry Masters came from St. Paul in a buggy,
and on reaching the town, determined to stay, and erected a
log house, taking claims in sections twenty-three and twenty-
four, just east of where the village now is. Masters was a native
of Illinois, and the following spring returned to his old home
and brought back a team. In January, 1855, he was joined in
wedlock to Anna Randall, by Walter Morris, this being the
first marriage in the township. He remained until 1865.
Shortly after the settlement of Messrs. Lynch and Masters,
in the spring of 1854, Andrew Story with his wife Mary E., and
son Charles, four months old, made their appearance, Mrs. Story
being the first white woman to set foot in the town, and took
a claim in section twenty-two, just west of the settlement above
mentioned. August 21, 1855, a child was born to Mr. and Mrs.
Story, the first in the town ; it was christened Elbe. The Story
family remained in Morristown until 1862, when the}' removed
to Kansas.
During the month of August, 1854, William and Bartemus
K. Soule, brothers of Mrs. Story, came on from the East and
selected claims south of Mr. Story's place. William took a farm
in section twenty-three, but was too young to hold it and was
bought out by Mr. Morris in the spring of 1855. He then went
to section thirty-three. His brother took a claim in section
thirty-four and remained there until 1861, when he enlisted and
went to the war; returning he settled in Chippewa count}-, Min-
nesota.
In the month of September, 1854, three brothers named Ben-
son, Marshal, John and C. M., natives of Vermont, having
stopped for a time in Indiana, arrived in the township. Marshal
secured a home in section twenty-one, where he remained until
1865. John located in the southwest quarter of the same section
and remained on it for ten years. C. M. secured a place on
section twenty-three, but as he was too young to hold it, some
one jumped the place, and in 1855, he took a farm in section
twenty.
An incident in connection with the settlement of the Benson
brothers is worthy of notice. A man by the name of Drake,
sometime during the summer of 1855, at the place now known
l i 1 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
as Waterville, thought he would be able to divert the travel from
the present site of Morristown by constructing a road south
of the old Indian trail. About the time he had completed his
road, the Bensons went to work and constructed a good wagon
road along the old Indian trail, and Drake's road was left un-
traveled. The Benson road was probably the first improved
highway in the county.
The following spring the Messrs. Morris located on section
twenty-three, and the village of Morristown was brought into
existence. They were followed by Robert Pope, a native of
Canada, who made a claim on section twenty-nine, where he
remained until 1857, when he joined his amative Mormon breth-
ren in Utah. Mr. Wilson soon after made himself a habitation in
section thirty, where he remained until 1866, and left. Joseph
Ladoux, of France, joined him and took a quarter section num-
ber thirty, where he died in 1856, and his family in 1857 went to
Utah.
David Springer and family also came early in 1855, and
took a habitation in section twenty-three, remaining there for a
year, and then returned to Pennsylvania, his native state. Joseph
Dixon and family, in company with his father-in-law, made their
appearance about the same time. Their child, Clarissa Dixon,
born on August 24, 1855, in John Lynch's cabin, was the second
white child born in the township.
Others came and have since gone, and the influx became so
great that it is almost impossible to note them. The prairie
was taken very rapidly, and in 1857 but few farms of much
value were left in the timber.
Jonathan Morris was an early pioneer and important person-
age in the early history of the township bearing his family name.
Morristown effected an organization in 1858, the first town-
ship meeting being held on May 11. of that year, at the Dela-
ware house. After the usual preliminaries, James R. Davidson
was appointed moderator and William P. Heydon, clerk. The
meeting then proceeded to the election of town officials for the
ensuing year, resulting as follows: Supervisors, Isaac Hammond,
chairman ; Henry Bassett and John D. Benson ; clerk, Charles
D. Adams; assessor, John S. Pope; collector, D. G. Wilkins;
overseer of the poor, Reuben Morris; justices of the peace,
Walter Morris and Willard Eddy; constables, William P. Hey-
don and Samuel Clark; overseer of roads, O. K. Iloglc and
Nathan Morris. All of these officers qualified except Samuel
Clark and John S. Pope, but their places were soon filled.
On August 24, 1864, bonds wen- voted at a special meeting
to pay the sum of $25 to each man who would volunteer to
enlist in the army under the President's call for 500,000 men ;
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 175
the bonds to bear 12 per cent interest. The proposition carried
by a vote of 58 for, to 7 against ; the committee men were, C. D.
Adams, T. McClay and Isaac Pope.
February 9, 1865, a special meeting was held at which it was
voted that bonds to the amount of $300 should be issued to each
man who would volunteer to enlist, and fill the quota. This was
under the President's call for 300,000 men. This supplied the
deficiency and no draft was made.
NORTHFIELD TOWNSHIP.
Northfield township is situated in the extreme northwestern
portion of Rice county, adjoining Dakota county on the north,
Goodhue county on the east, and contiguous to the townships
of Bridgewater and Wheeling on the west and south; embracing
as its area, including the city of Northfield, forty-four sections
of land, or 28,160 acres, almost all of which is under a high
state of cultivation, and admirably adapted to all agricultural
purposes.
The surface of the township is varied and diversified. It is
really a prairie town, smooth in places, but everywhere is notice-
able the rolling tendency. As one approaches the eastern line,
along Prairie creek, the land is more broken and hilly, covered
with a heavy growth of timber. Here are many ledges of barren
rock extending along the line of timber and prairie where it
breaks its surface to make room for the stream. Along the en-
tire western and southern boundaries the surface is more broken
and hilly, and retreating from these is the prairie land which is
undulating and beautiful. The soil on the prairie is a dark,
rich loam, and in the timber, or in the hilly land, it is of a
lighter color. The "Big woods," so-called, originally crossed
sections twenty-six and thirty-four.
There are only two streams of any note passing over the sur-
face of this sub-division, the Cannon river, passing through the
city of Northfield, and Prairie creek. The latter rises in Cannon
City, enters Northfield at the extreme southwestern point, and
flows through the southern tier of towns until it reaches the
northwestern part of section 34, where it is joined by another
small stream, and makes a northward turn, keeping this direc-
tion, with a little inclination to the west, until it reaches section
rises in section thirty-six and flows northward through the
eastern tier of sections until it joins the more powerful stream.
This sub-division of Rice county commenced its era of pio-
neering in 1854, about the same time as did almost all of the
prairie towns. The first to come into the township and actually
settle and take a farm was D. Kirkendahl, or, as it is sometimes
176 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
spelled, "Kuykendahl," who was a native of Germany, but came
here from Pennsylvania. He took a farm just where part of the
city now is, and commenced western life in a tent where the
college buildings now are, and where, in a few weeks he put
up a log cabin. His selling out to Mr. North and leaving is noted
in the history of the city.
Mr. Kirkendahl had been there just twelve days when Alex-
ander Stewart made his appearance. He was a native of New
York, having stopped for a time in Wisconsin, which latter
place he left on May 16, and arrived in Northfield on June 16,
1854, finding Kirkendahl safely, but temporarily, housed in his
tent. Mr. Stewart brought his family, and all he had in the
world, which consisted of three pair of oxen, four cows and some
loose cattle, besides the usual household articles. A tent was
pitched in which he lived four weeks while he did some break-
ing and preparing land, and then he erected a log shanty, 14x18
feet. This he covered with a half roof of shakes, the remaining
half being open for two months. No floor was put in, and in
this shape the family moved into their new home and remained
there until after the fall work was finished. Then Mr. Stewart
went to St. Paul and procured some lumber with which he
made some badly needed repairs. Shakes of black oak were
brought into use to make a good roof, which was covered with
sod, and this sheltered the inmates for nearly two years when,
on the occasion upon which Elder T. R. Cressey, the pioneer
Baptist minister, was a guest of Mr. Stewart's, a heavy rain
storm came up and speedily made mush of the sod which had be-
come rotten and soon transformed the little cabin into a mud
pile. This made it painfully apparent that there was still room
for improvement, which was speedily furnished and afterwards
a pleasant and neat dwelling was erected to take the place of the
cabin.
This little commencement was the basis upon which grew
the entire northern settlement of the city and township. Two
weeks after Mr. Stew art's arrival, Jonathan Alexander and family
made their appearance and selected a farm. He brought con-
siderable stock, about ten cows and ten head of loose cattle,
one horse, and was well fixed with this world's goods. A
tent was pitched which served as shelter while a good shanty
was erected; this was conducted as a hotel and tavern, or an
old-fashioned inn, from the time of its erection for a number
of years, and many a weary traveler has here found shelter.
.Mr. Alexander has one son who took a farm as early if not
b( fore the father.
J. D. Hoskins and 1 [enry Trade were about the next to arrive.
Iloskins was a native of tin state oi Maine. Trade was a native
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 177
of Germany and took a farm which he sold in 1855 to C. N.
Stewart. This was about the extent to which the northern
part of the town was settled this year, and carried it up to the
winter of 1854-55, which was a very mild one and the settlers
experienced no trouble in getting through in safety. In the
meantime, and before cold weather had actually set in, another
native of Germany had arrived and settled south of this little
neighborhood, in the person of Frank Frahnkoop.
In 1855, the immigration actually set in and as many of the
arrivals as can be remembered will be given here. John S. Way,
whose nativity dates in Caledonia county, Vermont, came
through this township from St. Paul, where he had arrived in
May, and reached Northfield in June, 1855. He put up some
hay and in September secured a claim in section seven, and
put up a log house.
Next among the arrivals in the spring of 1855 are noted the
names of C. F. Whittier, who now lives in Northfield, John
Bingham, the White brothers, H. H. Merrie, T. H. Olin, Syl-
vanus Bunday, who took land in section eleven ; Ransom and
George Smith, brothers just from Ohio; J. W. North, and W. W.
and James Willis, also from Ohio. After this the settlement
was carried on so rapidly that it is impossible to trace it in
sequence. The city of Northfield was commenced, and although
slowly at first, gained steadily. Since the time mentioned and
on various dates, the following are a few of those who have
arrived and helped to fill the northern part of the town: Daniel
Goodhue, P. Tosney, S. V. Ward, Thos. Lawler, James Lynn,
the Bundays, Duncan Ferguson, Thomas De Lancey, Colville
Carlaw, Wells Blackman, John Miller, B. F. Woodman, Thomas
Wilson, Charles S. Martin, J. C. Couper, W. R. Green, C. W.
Lyman, E. Spear, Culver Hibbard, John Riddell, John Law.
A. T. Barrows, S. M. Persons, Benjamin Ogden, Nels Wood-
worth, G. Bacon, W. N. Woodsworth, Franklin Kelly, etc., etc.
In the meantime a settlement had been started and was
growing rapidly in the southern part of the township. About
the first to come and select a claim was J. D. Jones, a Scotchman,
who had stopped for about ten years in Wisconsin, and who
arrived in the township in the spring of 1855. He made his
way to East Prairie and took a farm in section thirty-five on
Prairie creek, and found that he had arrived just about the same
time as a party of Norwegians who will be mentioned hereafter.
He erected a small shanty and returned to Milwaukee, where he
remained for a time but subsequently came back to his claim.
In the same spring, 1855, a party of Germans made their
way into the township and became domiciled. Gottlieb Pray,
or as it is sometimes spelled, "Prehn," F. Sommers, Mr. Crintz,
178 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
and Gottlieb Lackel, were members of the party. Gottlieb Pray
(or Prehn) took a farm in section twenty-two, where he dug
a hole in the side of a hill and commenced pioneer life. Soon
afterward a log house was erected, and he lived on his place
about fourteen years when he went to Illinois where he died.
F. Sommers secured a home in section ten, and put up a
little shanty covered with dirt. Mr. Crintz took the farm in sec-
tion sixteen, where he erected a house and lived until the time
of his death, which occurred in 1875. His first team consisted
of a couple of milch cows. Gottlieb Lackel made a pre-emption
in section seventeen, and after living there a few years went to
Cannon City, and from there to Faribault. All of these men
had their families with them.
T. H. Olin also arrived this year, being a native of New
York. He made a claim and, as he was afraid some one might
jump it, he placed a man named Sanford upon it to comply
with the statutes, so it would be safe. Sanford proved to be
a treacherous fellow, and after he had been on the place a short
time began to consider it his, and when Mr. Olin returned from
an eastward trip to claim the land he had selected, Sanford
pretended not to recognize him, and although he had been paid
for attending it he refused to give it up. As Mr. Olin was a lover
of peace, rather than make trouble he went several miles north
and purchased a claim. Olin had put up, at a cost of $100, one of
the first houses in the township on this land, hauling the lumber
from Hastings, and to be cheated out of the whole thing was
a severe blow financially. Sanford, after six or seven months,
sold his claim to Mr. Thorpe for $600, and went to Hastings
where all of his money was stolen from him and he and his
family commenced working their way eastward. He, during his
stay, had made considerable money by locating parties on land,
but, after E. L. Fuller arrived, a town plat was secured and this
work was done free of charge.
On May 24, 1856, E. L. Fuller, a native of the Empire state,
made his appearance with his family, some stock and household
goods and took a claim in sections twenty-two and twenty-
seven. The first thing he did was to pitch a tent, in which
he lived until his log house was erected. Charles Ferrall, a
native of New York, and a man from Wisconsin, Richmond
Clinton, came at the same time, the former took land in section
twenty-seven, where he remained four years, and after spending
a short time in Northfield finally found his way back to his
native state. Richmond Clinton secured a home adjoining sec-
tion twenty-two and remained there until his death, which oc-
curred in April. 1864.
In June, 1856, J. D. Jones, who is mentioned above, returned
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 179
to the township, having spent some time in Milwaukee, and
commenced boarding with Mr. Fuller's family, as he was a single
man, while he did his breaking.
George and William Thorpe, of Vermont, arrived on July 4,
1856, and celebrated the day by taking farms north of Mr. Jones.
One of them purchased Olin's farm of Sanford. John Dixon,
from Michigan, came about the same time and pre-empted
the northwest quarter of section twenty-eight, and lived on it for
six years. He erected a log house, and his wife taught school,
but he finally returned to Michigan from whence he came.
About the next to come in and take a home was Lambert
Watts and family, from Vermont, who made their way with a
team of horses and settled on the northeast quarter of section
twenty-seven. William Ross and family, from Pennsylvania,
arrived about this time, the whole party being on foot. They
settled on a farm in section twenty-one, and the family held
the claim while the father and son went out to work until they
had earned enough to buy a team. They remained on the place
for fifteen or sixteen years, until they became in comfortable
circumstances, and then removed westward.
In the fall of 1857, Philip Miller and family, wife and two
children, Germans, drove into the township behind a team com-
posed of one ox and a cow, and an old-fashioned home-made
wagon with wheels without tires. They first settled in section
fifteen where they remained for a number of years and then
purchased a valuable farm in section twenty-one. The same
year a man named Gregory came and settled, but has since gone.
A man whose name is forgotten, came early and took a place
in sections seventeen and eighteen and after occupying the same
a short time sold, in the fall of 1857, to Joseph Cannedy. David
H. Orr had been in the town before this on a prospecting tour,
but returned to stay in 1858.
A small colony of Norwegians had arrived in 1855, and it
is claimed that some came the year previous. They all settled
in the southern part of the town, mostly along Prairie creek. As
many of those whose names are remembered will be given, viz :
Halver Quie, Hans Hanson, Rinde Erick, Shure and Ingebret
Ingebretson, Toske Bunday, Sever Aslakson, Ole Lockrun and
two brothers, Helger Hanson, Lars Knuteson, Nels Oleson, John
Hanson, Andrew Johnson, Guttorm Severson, Eson Clemmerson,
Sever Oleson, Ole Severson. With them was a man who in the
summer was called the "Old Saw-mill" because, as it is claimed,
he and his daughter with a whipsaw cut up all the lumber used
by this small army for building purposes ; in the winter he
spent his time cobbling and was then called the "Old Shoe-
maker." This crowd was joined the following year by Osmund
180 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Osmundson, Captain John Hanson, who could talk English, as
could Halver Quie, and Toske Bunday, and were known as the
"Interpreters." Many others came at various times, and prob-
ably a few of those mentioned as coming in 1855, did not reach
their farms until the spring of the following year.
The above list embraces most of the early settlers, but it
is not intended to be a complete roll of all the pioneers, for only
a census taken at that time and carefully preserved could do
that.
It is claimed that Elder T. R. Cressey, the pioneer Baptist
preacher, held services in the house of Alexander Stewart in
September, 1854. This was among the first services in the
county. The first Methodist and Congregational services were
also held in the same place, the first by the Rev. Mr. Curran.
and the last by Rev. Mr. Hall.
About the first birth in the county, and undoubtedly the first
in the township, was that of James, a son of Alexander and Han-
nah Stewart, at their residence in section thirty-one, near the
city. The boy died some years ago. Willie Ferrall, a son of
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ferrall, was born in the year 1857. A
number of Norwegian children were born very early.
The first marriage of persons from this town was John, a
son of Jonathan Alexander, who went cast shortly after his
arrival in the town and was married while there to Ann Toliff.
and together they returned to their new home in the West.
Their marriage occurred late in 1854. About the first marriage
within the limits of the township took place in 1855, at the resi-
dence of the bride's parents, and the contracting parties were Mr.
John Lamphicr and Athea Alexander; the ceremony being per-
formed by the Congregational minister, Rev. Mr. Hall. William
Bierman and Miss Christine Pray (or Prehn) were joined in the
holy bonds early in 1857, by Squire Frost, the happy couple go-
ing and returning from their place of union on foot. In the same
fall August Pray was married to Miss Bierman, at the "dug out"
of the groom's father, by a German minister.
Two children of Herman Jerkins died in the fall of 1S56.
and were buried on the old Kuykendahl (or Kirkendahl) place.
The first meeting of the township was undoubtedly held
on May 11, 1858, in common with the balance of Rice county's
subdivisions; but the first twenty leaves of the records are
torn from the clerk's book, and the original, and therefore the
most interesting part of the township records must be guessed
at. The first meeting shown by the records was held on April
1, 1862, in Lyceum Hall, in Northfield, and O. H. Rawson was
appointed moderator, and George W. Butterfield, clerk. The
moderator then declared the polls open, the ballot box being in
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 181
charge of N. G. Clary, G. Gregory and Linus Fox. After the
polls were closed it was found that there had been about ninety
votes cast, and the following officers were declared elected:
Supervisors, John S. Way, chairman ; J. A. Hunt and George
C. Thorpe; clerk, George W. Butterfield; treasurer, M. P. Skin-
ner; justices of the peace, Charles Taylor and Linus Fox;
assessor, Elias Hobbs ; constables, Dwight Bushnell and John
Vanater.
In February, 1864, a request was made by the freeholders of
the locality for a special town meeting, to issue bonds for the
purpose of compensating volunteers who should enlist to fill
the quota assigned the town. This call was signed by Charles
Taylor, J. A. Hunt, Linus Fox, S. L. Bushnell, William Thorpe,
H. Scriver, E. Lathrop and E. Lockwood. Accordingly the
requisite papers were issued, and on February 26, 1864, the
special meeting came to order in the Lyceum Hall and T. H.
Olin was chosen moderator. The records then says they voted
the sum of $2,000, or as much thereof as, in the discretion of the
board, should be necessary to procure volunteers. Bonds to be
issued at 12 per cent interest. The proceedings are signed by
the supervisors, who were, John S. Way, J. A. Hunt and G. C.
Thorpe. E. Lathrop was clerk. Then, on the following March
7 the treasurer was directed to let bonds be issued in favor of
the following volunteers, at the rate of interest mentioned above,
and the amount as set opposite their names, as follows: Kleber
Wilkinson, $100; William A. Bowe, $100; James A. Philbeck,
$125; Henry Pratt, $100; Frank Groom, $100; William C. Hay-
cock, $100; William A. Bickett, $100; Robert S. Kenne, $100;
E. B. Hale, $100; William H. Wood, $50; Frank Schofield, $100;
Andrew L. Emory, $100. Total, $1,175. This order was signed
by the last above mentioned supervisors.
Shortly after this, in July, 1864, another request was made by
the following named freeholders for a special meeting for the
purpose of voting money to volunteers : Charles Taylor, Will-
iam Thorpe, J. A. Hunt, E. Lockwood, M. W. Skinner, Robert
Silk, Urill Butler, E. Slocum, John Simmons, S. L. Bushnell,
J. L. McFee, John Vanater and H. Jenkins, Jr. The requested
meeting was held in the store of H. Jenkins, Jr., and Hiram
Scriver was elected moderator. After the usual preliminaries
it was voted that $6,000 should be issued in bonds at 12 per cent
interest to those who should volunteer to enlist to fill the town's
quota. The supervisors at that time were D. H. Orr, William
Thorpe, and N. Wheaton. Another special meeting was held
on November 8, 1864, at which the sum of $200 was voted for
relief to the families of volunteers, and C. A. Wheaton, W. J.
Sibbison and I. S. Field were made a committee to investigate
182 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
and distribute the relief. Still another special meeting was held
January 21, 1865, at which $8,000 was voted to pay bounties to
volunteers, the meeting being held at Lyceum Hall in Northfield,
and the report is signed by William Thorpe, D. H. Orr, and M.
Wheaton, supervisors.
SHIELDSVILLE TOWNSHIP.
Shieldsville township is one of the townships in the western
tier of Rice county, situated just north of Morristown. On the
north is Erin ; on the east, Wells, and on the west, LeSueur
county. It embraces as its territory thirty-six sections, or
23,040 acres, of which a greater portion is under cultivation.
There are no cataracts or water-powers, but it is abundantly
supplied with lakes. The largest of these is Cedar lake, in the
southeastern part of the town, covering portions of sections
twenty-five and thirty-six. A number of islands dot the placid
surface of water. West of this lake one mile is Mud lake, cover-
ing about 320 acres of section twenty-eight. Rice lake floods
about the same number of acres in sections sixteen and seven-
teen, and east of this one mile a small body of water known
as Hunt lake occupies a part of section fifteen. In the northern
portion of the township is Tuft's lake, and another small body
of water infringes on the territory from Erin. These lakes are
almost all connected by small rivulets and streams, sluggishly
and lazily wending their way through the marsh lands and lakes,
to eventually mingle with the Cannon river.
To the eye, Shieldsville presents a view of undulating sur-
face, with here and there a tendency to hilly, timber, marsh and
meadow land. The forest, the tranquil and glassy lakes, embedded
in the midst of the hills, and the sluggish course of the laz\
streams as they wind their pathway between the sister lakes,
combine to make Shieldsville a pleasant and picturesque spot.
All through the township the early pioneers found beautiful
groves of oak, and all sturdy varieties of timber, interspersed
with maple and walnut ; and in the shady aisles of this miniature
forest clear sparkling springs bubbled up. furnishing pure, clear,
cold water, and forming the fountain heads of many affluents to
the Cannon river.
The town is well adapted to agricultural pursuits, and has a
large cultivated area, yielding, besides the usual cereals, all tin
crops common to this latitude, and in the low lands an abundant
yield of haw Fruit culture is also attended to in a moderate
and limited way, with fair results.
As in Erin township, the early settlemenl of Shieldsville was
due almost entirely to the descendants of the Emerald Isle, and
GENER \l. JAMES SHIELDS
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 183
was known in early days as General Shields' colony. About the
first to arrive in the township was General Shields, a native of
Ireland, who laid out the village of Shieldsville and at once took
steps towards collecting his countrymen about him. He arrived
in 1855, early in the spring, and after staying long enough to
lay out the village, he retraced his steps to St. Paul, returning
the same year with a number of Irishmen, many of whom set-
tled in Erin and were identified with the early growth and set-
tlement of that locality. Shields then commenced a period of
advertising in the papers of the East, stating that he had located
here, and was desirous of being joined by his countrymen, and
began raising colonies. This had a telling effect, as it was not
long until they began crowding in on foot, by horse, ox, and cow
teams, and taking farms, until by the fall of 1856 the town was
pretty w r ell settled, and the government land, of the better qual-
ity, was scarce. Most of those who came in at this time will be
mentioned.
General James Shields. This distinguished man was early
identified with the settlement of Rice county. He was born in
Atmore, Tyrone county, Ireland, December 12, 1810, came to
America in 1826, and studied law until 1832, when he went to
Kaskaskia, 111., to practice the profession. In 1836, he was in the
legislature of that state, and in 1843 was judge of the supreme
court. In 1845, he was appointed commissioner of the land office.
When the Mexican war broke out, President Polk appointed
him as a brigadier-general, his commission bearing date
July 1, 1846, and for distinguished services at Cerro Gordo, where
he was dangerously wounded, was breveted major general. He
was again wounded at the battle of Chepultepec. In 1848, the
General was appointed governor of Oregon territory, which he
soon resigned, and in 1849 was elected United States senator for
six years. At the expiration of his term of service he came to
Minnesota and started the village of Shieldsville, but was soon
induced to join the proprietors of the town of Faribault, where
he was agent and attorney for the townsite company. He was
elected to the United States senate for the short term terminating
in 1860, at the expiration of which he went to California. When
the Rebellion was inaugurated he received the appointment of
brigadier general by President Lincoln, was assigned to a com-
mand and gained a victory at Winchester, where he was severely
wounded. After the war he took up his residence in Missouri,
where he remained in private life until 1877, when he was elected
to fill a vacancy caused by the retirement of Senator Armstrong,
and served to the end of that congress, and afterwards devoted
his time to lecturing until his death, which was on June 1, 1879.
at Ottumwa. Mo.
184 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
John Nagle, another native of the Emerald Isle, had arrived
in America in 1848, and located in New York state, where he re-
mained until 1855, when he came west and arrived in Shieldsville
at the time the first settlement was made in Erin, in June, 1855.
The majority of the party he came with located in the latter
town, but he made his way to section eleven in Shieldsville. A
few others came through, and some stopped for a time in Shields-
ville. but the majority in this year settled in other localities.
Bernard Hunt, another Irishman, had stopped in Illinois for a
time, and in June, 1856, made his appearance in Shieldsville and
pre-empted a place. He remained for about a year and then
came to the southwest quarter of section fourteen. The lake, to
which his farm was adjacent, was named by the Indians as Eagle
lake, but it has now changed to Hunt lake by common consent.
Among others who came in 1856, Michael Gavin and family were
prominent and settled near Hunt lake.
James Murphy and several sons, James Carpenter, J. Roach
and Mr. Gillispie all came, took farms, erected log cabins and
commenced farming. Michael Delaney came in the spring of
1856 and secured a habitation in section ten, where he remained
until his death. Roger Madden arrived about the same time and
commenced a settlement in the eastern part of section twenty-
one, and Thomas Minton took 160 acres adjoining in the same
section. Patrick Hagarty and William Mahoney each took a
farm near Cedar lake in sections twenty-three and twenty-seven.
Thomas O'Donnell joined this settlement and took 160 acres in
section twenty. Patrick Smith located a couple of miles west
of these settlers, in section twenty-nine, at the same time, and
Patrick Murphy helped close up the gap by taking a farm in
section twenty-two. John Fitzgerald carved a place for settle-
ment from the woods in section eight.
Thomas Roach came into section seventeen the same year
(1856) and remained a short time. Daniel Savage located near
Rice lake and remained there until his death. John Buckley also
made a claim near the same lake. Daniel and David Gonsor
made their appearance and took pre-emptions east of Hunt lake,
the latter of them going into Wells some years later. James
Murphy located in section ten.
About the first birth in this township was that of John Hunt,
born July 28, 1856, to Bernard Hunt, in a log cabin on section
twenty-two. In the spring of the following year a brother of
John was born. He was named Thomas. D. F. Hagarty was
born early in 1856 on section twenty-two. Other early births
may have occurred, but they are not recorded.
The earliest marriage of persons from this township occurred
in Hastings, in 1857; the contracting parties being Michael
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 185
Gavin and Mary Ann Rogers, who returned to the township and
lived here until Mr. Gavin's death in 1869. Another early mar-
riage was that of James Carpenter to Ellen McCohey, of St.
Paul ; the ceremony taking place in that city in 1857, the groom
meeting the bride there.
In early days, as early as 1857, an outlaw named Hawley
made this part of the county his stamping ground, and as he
had committed many depredations, for which he was wanted by
the officers of the law, he was as quiet in his movements as pos-
sible. His strategy, however, was ineffectual, as the authorities
in Faribault some way became cognizant of his whereabouts,
and a party sent out in search of him finally found him near
Shieldsville, and, surrounding him with clubs and butcher knives,
killed him. This was among the first deaths in the township.
Another early death was that of Bridget Harrison, a sixteen
or seventeen-year-old girl, in 1858.
During the Indian outbreak, in 1862, this township had many
serious and amusing anecdotes to divert the minds of the citizens
from agricultural duties. Although up to this time there had
been plenty of redskins passing to and fro through the town, yet
they had not been especially troublesome, except as to their beg-
ging propensities, and General Shields had permitted them to
use as a camping ground a spot adjoining the village known as
the General's island. When the actual outbreak occurred, the
dusky-skinned hunters were wily enough to see that the whites
were afraid, and they began to get arrogant and defiant, and
finally the whites decided to have them go. So a small force of
probably 100 men gathered together, and, going to the island,
told the disturbers that they must go. This they refused to do
at first, offering as an excuse that they had a letter from the
General with a permit to occupy the same as their home. Words
were bandied, and the spokesman of the pioneers informed them
that if "General Shields was there a gun would be put in his
hands and he would be forced to fight," implying that General
Shields was not running that campaign. This ended the matter
of words, and on a slight show of fight on the part of the Indians
the pioneers began knocking the teepees right and left, which
settled the matter as far as resistance was concerned.
Another time a party of fifty armed pioneers drove a band of
Indians from the hills near Mud lake, and forced them to leave
the township, although at one time — as one of them told us —
there was not a man in the crowd but would have given a num-
ber of years of his life to have turned heels and run for the woods.
Mazaska Lake. This body of water extends into four town-
ships, Erin, Forest, Wells, and Shieldsville, being located in the
four corners, and infringes on Shieldsville in the northeastern
18G HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
part. The old Indian chief "Eastman" claimed that the lake re-
ceived its name in honor of his son, and it was for years called
"Mazuka," which was the name of the youth. The name was
later corrupted to "Mazaska."
This township was created as a government within itself
when the territory of Minnesota was admitted to the Union in
1858, and the first town meeting was held May 11, that year, at
Shieldsville village. After the usual preliminaries the township
was organized by the election of the first officers, as follows:
Supervisors, Joseph Hagerty, chairman ; Patrick Cunniff, and
Patrick Smith; constables, Michael Hanley and Patrick Mc-
Kenna; justices of the peace, Timothy Doyle and James Roach ;
assessor, John Finley ; town clerk, John H. Gibbons. It was
voted that the town should be named Shieldsville, in honor of
General James Shields, with a slight show of enthusiasm. Money
was voted then to defray town expenses for the coming year.
This township did its share in sustaining the government
through the war of the Rebellion, and in furnishing men. March
2, 1864, a special town meeting was held at which the sum of
$3,000 was voted for the purpose of raising volunteers or substi-
tutes to fill the quota of the town. The officers at this meeting
were Joseph Hagerty. chairman; Richard Leahy and Patrick
Smith ; Maurice O'Hearn was clerk. Again, cm January 25, 1865.
another special meeting was held at which the sum of $4,000 was
voted for the same purpose. The officers at this time were Joseph
Hagerty, chairman; Patrick Murphy and John Ilealey; Patrick
McKenna was clerk. At a subsequent meeting $500 was levied
to pay interest on the bonds, making in all the sum of $7,500.
WHEATLAND TOWNSHIP.
Wheatland township is the subject of an article elsewhere in
this history.
WEBSTER TOWNSHIP.
Webster township is the companion town of Wheatland in
extending the boundary line of the county northward. It is in
the northwestern part of Rice county; it> contiguous .surround-
ings are the counties of Scott ami Dakota on the north and east.
with Bridgewater township forming an eastern boundary to se<
tion thirty-six; on the south Forest and on the west Wheatland
Webster is comprised of thirty-six square miles, containing 23,
040 acres, of which about 330 are covered with water. The soil
is variable, the hilly portions being somewhat clayey, while tin
rolling and bottom lands are made up a rich dark loam, with a
clay or sand subsoil. The southwestern part <>i the township i.-.
very rolling in some places, enough so to hi' termed hilly, which
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 187
gradually becomes more level to the northward. This was origi-
nally covered with very fine timber such as oak, walnut, maple,
basswood, etc., but this has nearly all been cut down long since
and used for building and other purposes. One of the walnut
forests, such as abounded here in an early day, would now prove
an immense fortune to those who, in pioneer times, cut them
down as ruthlessly as poplar. In the northern part of the town
it is also quite hilly, and this was covered with timber of the
small varieties; but to the eastward the surface becomes more
even, although the tendency to rolling is still apparent and some-
times quite abrupt. This portion was originally covered with
small timber, interspersed with natural meadows, and small
prairie spots covered with hazel brush, scrub oak, elm, etc., but
this has long since almost entirely disappeared, and now many
fine and fertile farms have transformed the spot where once the
Indian hunter and wild beast held undisputed sway into a land of
beauty, thrift, civilization and productiveness.
Webster is not so well watered as most of its contiguous
neighbors — in fact, it has no lakes of any importance wholly
within its borders — nor is its surface traversed by streams of any
note. Union lake is the largest body of water in the town, enter-
ing from Forest and covering about 200 acres in section thirty-
five. Knowles lake is the next in size, located in the western part
of the town, almost wholly in section nineteen. These two lakes
are connected by a stream flowing from the latter, called Chub
creek. Another little stream rises in the northwestern part of
the township and crosses sections five and six as it leaves and
enters Scott county. Still another small brook rises in the eastern
part of section eleven, and, crossing section thirteen in a south-
easterly direction, enters Dakota county.
In the spring of 1855 a settlement was commenced in the
southeastern part of Webster township. Harry Humphrey, a
native of New York, having stopped for a time in Ohio, arrived
and secured a place in section thirty-six, on the shore of Union
lake. He put up a log house and commenced running it as a
hotel. He remained here until some time in the seventies, when
he disposed of his farm and removed to Minneapolis, where he
died in 1881, his wife soon following him. They left several
sons in various parts of the Northwest.
Martin Taylor, a native of Ireland, secured a claim in section
twenty-one in November, 1855. He had left his family in Hast-
ings, but in the following spring removed them to his new made
home, where he had erected a small log shanty. He then went
to work and cleared and spaded up three acres of land, which he
planted to corn and potatoes. The next spring, wishing to seed
the ground to wheat, he started with a yoke of oxen but no
188 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
wagon to Northfield, the nearest point where the seed could be
obtained. He placed one sack of wheat across the back of one
ox, and another across the yoke, arriving home in safety with his
wheat. With this he raised 110 bushels.
Neither of the localities, which were about five miles apart,
received many settlers during the year 1855. The Union lake
settlement, in the southern part of the town, that was begun in
the spring by Mr. Humphrey, was increased in December by the
arrival of two more parties, S. J. and Chalmer M. Webster, na-
tives of Ohio. S. J. took a valuable claim in section thirty-five,
and Chalmer M. took a farm about two miles to the west, in sec-
tion twenty-eight. Both of these early comers remained on their
places until 1866, when they removed to Marshall, Lyon county.
Ferris Webster, now deceased, was a prominent and active
figure in the early settlement of this locality, and it was in honor
of him that the town received its name. He was father of the
men above mentioned, and came to the township at the same
time, taking a farm in section twenty-six, where he remained
until the time of his death, which occurred in 1880.
In the spring following Mr. Webster's arrival all parts of the
township began to be settled, and the two settlements already
started branched into surrounding sections with surprising rapid-
ity. Jacob Camp with his wife came this year, and he, after se-
curing a farm in sections twenty-seven and thirty-four, com-
menced the erection of a log hut. The grit and perseverance
of early settlers is indicated by the fact that he carried the logs
to build his house on his shoulders, and drew his stove through
the woods from Northfield with a sled by hand. Early in the
spring, and about the time of the last mentioned arrival, Ransom
F. and Oscar Webster, natives of the Buckeye state, came ami
settled in section twenty-six, immediately commencing to build
log houses. The first remained in the township until 1874, when
he sold his farm and removed to Lyon county, where a couple of
his brothers had preceded him. Oscar Webster remained on his
farm until 1870. In May, 1856, Thomas Keegar.. a native of the
Emerald Isle, made his appearance and took a claim northwest of
Taylor's place, in section seventeen. He put up a log shanty and
a hay and brush stable and commenced getting land ready for
seed. He remained on his place until 1864, when he sold out and
removed to Nebraska. With the settler mentioned above came
another native of Ireland, in the person of William Sabry. lie
took a place a short distance south of his companion, locating in
n twenty-one, where he made improvements and remained
until 1868, when he removed to liismarck, D. T. Section eleven
also received a settler this year, and commenced a settlement in
the northern part of the town. John Gleason, of Ireland, settled
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 189
on section eleven. About the same time James McCabe, a native
of Massachusetts, selected a farm in section twelve. He erected
a log shanty and commenced farming. In 1865, he opened a
general merchandise store. Joseph Dilly was also a settler of
this year. Belling Benton, a native of England, made his appear-
ance in 1856, and located on a beautiful piece of ground in section
thirty-six, bordering on the shores of Union lake. After this the
influx became so rapid and incessant that it would be impossible
to chronicle the arrivals in their sequence, but we give the promi-
nent ones who took farms and remained. James Kiley, a native
of Ireland, arrived in 1857, and secured a farm in section ten.
The following year, 1858, another quarter of the same section
was secured by Mr. Maher, also of Celtic origin. E. C. Knowles
settled on the northwest quarter of section twenty-nine in 1860.
He came to Minnesota in 1855. John Cole was another early set-
tler in Minnesota, having come to the state in 1856. He arrived
in Webster in 1865, taking a farm in section twenty-eight. Cor-
nelius Denman came to Rice county from Ohio in 1855 and set-
tled in Morristown. In 1867, he purchased a farm in section
thirty-four, Webster.
Ola Elstad, of Norway, settled in section one in 1862, and in
1866 Edward Elstad, of the same nationality, purchased a farm
adjoining him in the same section. In 1874, Nels Hoagenson
joined the little settlement of Norwegians, and took a place in
section two. J. O. Larson, G. Christopherson, M. Christianson
and others came in at various times and swelled the settlement
of this nationality. Thomas Gleason, a native of the Emerald
Isle, came in 1864 and purchased a large farm in sections twelve
and thirteen. Joseph Gear, another Irishman, took a farm oft" of
an early settler's hands, in 1868, in section twelve. Robert Camp-
bell came to America in 1862, and in 1866 arrived in Webster,
purchasing the farm in section eighteen. In 1867, Henry Graves
came and purchased 120 acres in section twenty-one. The same
year J. G. Walden, of Maine, purchased a farm in section twenty-
eight. Thomas Lynch came in 1863 and bought a farm in section
thirty-two. He was a native of Ireland.
Thus it will be seen that the settlement of the township
pushed onward, each succeeding year witnessing still further ad-
ditions and developments. Farms were opened in all parts of the
town, and the early comers began to reap the just reward of their
industry. Step by step the change had been wrought, until a
new era had almost imperceptibly dawned upon the scene. Larger
buildings were erected, schools and churches established, and a
general air of enterprise was manifest where so recently all was
wild and uninhabited. From the crude efforts of earlier years
the present tillers of the soil fast adapted wiser and more sys-
L90 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
tematic modes of farming, the beneficent results of which are al-
ready so plainly apparent.
Webster township was originally named Minnemada, and for
a short time this was the name of the locality. It was afterwards
voted by the citizens that the town be named Carroltown, but the
county commissioners bestowed upon it the name of Webster,
and it has ever since recognized this as its appellation, being in
honor of Ferris Webster, an early settler in the town.
The first birth of a white child in the township was that of
John McGuire, March 18, 1857. A daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Jacob Camp was born in January, 1858. A child was born to
Mr. and Mrs. Salmon Webster in May, 1858. December, 1858,
witnessed the birth of Thomas, a son of Martin Taylor and wife.
The marriage of Webster persons occurred in June, 1856, and
joined as man and wife Salmon Webster and Fannie Humphrey.
Another marriage occurred in August, 1858, the contracting
parties being Ephraim Dilly and Alice St. John.
In the summer of 1858, Webster first felt the effects of the
ravages of death. The wife of Samuel Dilly was the first victim.
Her little daughter died soon afterward and hers was the second
death.
In common with all the subdivisions of Rice county, the
organization of this township took place soon after the territory
was admitted as a state in 1858, and the first meeting was held on
May 11 of that year. This meeting was held at the residence of
Ephraim Dilly, and came to order by appointing Michael O'Mara
chairman and S. S. Humphrey clerk.
The meeting then proceeded to ballot for officers to take
charge of town matters, which resulted as follows : Supervisors,
George Carpenter, chairman, R. II. Dilly and James Kelly; town
clerk, J. J. McCabe; collector, Timothy Gleason ; justices of the
peace, Ephraim Dilly, Sr., and F. Webster; constables, William
Dilly and Elisha Fitch; overseer of roads, William Dilly, Sr.
Next the meeting took up the matter of town expenses and voted
the sum of $100 for that purpose. The affairs of public interest
have been attended to since this inaugural meeting with com-
mendable zeal and fidelity, there having been exhibited due econ-
omy in regard to finance and public expenditures.
CHAPTER VIII.
ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIPS.
Election Precincts as Organized in 1856 — Houston, Faribault,
East Prairie, Cannon River and Forest — First Judges of
Elections — New Precincts Created — Various Changes —
Townships Assume Practically Present Form and Name in
1858 — Warsaw Then Called Sargent — Faribault and Cannon
City Divided.
February 9, 1856, the board of county commissioners estab-
lished several voting precincts. This is the beginning of the
official recognition of the names which, to a certain extent, were
later to be applied to the organized townships.
Houston precinct comprised townships 109 and 110, range 22,
and west half of townships 109 and 110, range 21. This included
the present townships of Shieldsville and Morristown and the
west half of Wells and Warsaw.
Faribault precinct comprised the east half of townships 109
and 110, range 21, and the west half of townships 109 and 110,
range 20. This included all the present city of Faribault, the east
half of Warsaw and Wells and the west half of Walcott and
Cannon City.
East Prairie precinct comprised a territory beginning at the
southeast corner of township 109, range 19, thence running north
to the northeast corner of section 13 in township 110, range 19;
thence west to the northwest corner of section 15 in township
110, range 20; thence south to the southwest corner of section
34, township 109, range 20; thence east to the place of beginning.
This included all of the present township of Richland, two-thirds
of Wheeling, the east half of Walcott and two-thirds of the east
half of Cannon City.
Cannon River precinct comprised a territory beginning at the
southeast corner of section 12, township 110, range 19; thence
west to the southwest corner of section 10, township 110, range
20; thence north two miles; thence west three miles; thence north
to the northwest corner of section 6, township 111, range 20;
thence east to the northeast corner of section 1, township 111,
range 19; thence south to the place of beginning. This would
include the northern one-third of the present township of Wheel-
ing, the northern one-third of the east half of Cannon City, and
191
192 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
all except the northern tier of townships in Bridgewater and
Northfield.
Forest precinct comprised a territory commencing at the
southeast corner of section 36, township 111, range 21; thence
running north twelve miles; thence west twelve miles; thence
south twelve miles ; thence east twelve miles to the place of be-
ginning. This included the present townships of Wheatland,
Erin, Webster and Forest.
The judges of elections in these precincts were appointed as
follows, April 10:
Houston — Christian Hershey, Reuben Morris, William Wil-
son.
Faribault — G. W. Batchelder, Luke Hulett, Isaac Woodman.
East Prairie — James Sears, Elijah Austin, Abner Beardsley.
Cannon River — John L. Schofield, H. M. Matteson, Benjamin
Lockaly, Sr.
Forest — J. A. Wedgewood, Samuel A. Anderson, James Fitz-
simmons.
July 10, 1856, Northfield precinct was set off. The new pre-
cinct was described as follows : Commencing at the southeast
corner of section 12, township 111, range 19; thence running w r est
twelve miles ; thence north two miles ; thence east twelve miles,
and thence south two miles to the place of beginning. The judges
of election were Charles Stewart, Daniel B. Turner and Herman
Jenkins. This precinct included a strip two sections wide the
whole length of Bridgewater and Northfield townships.
April 5, 1857, new election precincts were established.
Wheatland included all of township 112, range 22 west. This
is as at present. The petition for the establishment of the pre-
cinct was signed by David B. McCormick and thirty-five others.
Michael Fitzpatrick was appointed justice and William Vincent
constable.
Shieldsville comprised a territory described as follows: Com-
mencing at the southwest corner of section 18, township 110,
range 22; thence east nine miles; thence north five miles; thence
west three miles; thence north four miles; thence west six miles ;
thence south nine miles to the place of beginning. This would
include the northern half of the present Shieldsville township, the
northwest quarter of Wells, the southwest sixth of Forest and all
of Erin. The petition was signed by John Johnson and nine
others. John Johnson was appointed justice and Patrick Doyle
constable.
April 10, 1857, the boundaries of the election districts were
again defined.
East Prairie. Commencing at the southeasl corner of town-
ship 109, range 19; thence north twelve miles: thence wesl nine
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 193
miles; thence south twelve miles; thence east nine miles to place
of beginning. This embraced the present townships of Richland
and Wheeling and the east half of Cannon City and Walcott.
Faribault. Commencing at the southeast corner of section
33, township 109, range 20; thence north twelve miles; thence
west six miles; thence south twelve miles; thence east six miles
to place of beginning. This included the present city of Fari-
bault, the west half of Cannon City, the west half of Walcott and
the east halves of Wells and Warsaw.
Houston. Commencing at the southeast corner of section 33,
township 109, range 21 ; thence north nine miles ; thence west
nine miles; thence south nine miles; thence east nine miles to
place of beginning. This included the west half of Warsaw, the
southwest quarter of Wells, all of Morristown and the south half
of Shieldsville.
Northfield — the precincts of Northfield and Cannon River
having been combined. Commencing at the southeast corner of
township 111, range 19; thence north six miles; thence west
twelve miles; thence south six miles; thence east six miles to
place of beginning. This included the present townships of
Bridgewater with the exception of the twelve sections later an-
nexed from Dakota county.
Forest. Commencing at the southeast corner of township
111, range 21; thence west three miles; thence north two miles;
thence west three miles; thence north four miles; thence east
six miles; thence south six miles to place of beginning. This in-
cluded all the present town of Forest except sections 28, 29, 30,
31, 32 and 33, the southwestern sixth.
Shieldsville remained the same as created July 10, 1856, in-
cluding all the present township of Erin, the north half of Shields-
ville, the northwest quarter of Wells, and sections 28, 29, 30, 31,
32 and 33 in Forest.
Minnemedah was the present Webster.
Wheatland was as at present.
The judges of election were as follows:
Faribault — Isaac Woodman, John B. Wheeler, Charles Will-
iams.
Houston — Walter Morris, Henry Bassett, Russell Randall.
Shieldsville — William Haney, John Johnson, John Tufts.
Wheatland — William Vincent, Titus Bunnell, John Falconer.
Minnemedah — H. M. Humphrey, Farris Webster, Robert H.
Dilley.
East Prairie — Isaac N. Sater, Calvin Frink, Elijah Austin.
Northfield — Ira S. Field, Benjamin Lockerly, Joseph R.
Drake.
July 7, 1857, the board attached to Northfield precinct the sec-
194 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
tions that had been annexed from Dakota county, viz, : sections
31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 in township 112, range 20, and sections 31,
32, 33, 34, 35 and 36 in township 112, range 19.
April 11, 1858, the following resolution was passed: That the
county commissioners divide this county into towns as provided
in the provisions of an act entitled, "An act providing for town-
ship organization." . . . That this county is divided into
towns, making each township according to the government sur-
vey a town as provided by the provisions of the above act, with
the exceptions of sections 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, township 112,
range 20, which are annexed to the township next south : and
sections 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, township 112, range 19, which
are annexed to the township next south.
April 14, 1858, the commissioners met in special session.
Communications were received from the chairmen and secretaries
of three respective meetings asking that the name of Northfield
be given to township 111, ranges 19 and 20; the name of Wells to
township 110, range 21; and the name of Richland to township
109, range 19. A petition was also received from Walter Morris
asking that township 109, range 22, be called Morristown ; from
Samuel P. Walcott and others asking that township 109, range
20, be called Walcott ; and from S. A. Henderson and others ask-
ing that township 111, range 21, be named Forest; Thomas Bolls
and others of Cannon City asking that the name Crystal Lake
be given to the following described territory : Sections 1. 2, 3, 4,
5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. 26, 27, 34, 35. 36
and the cast half of 28, 8 and 17, in township 110, range 20; sec-
tions 33, 34, 35 and 36 in township 111, range 20; section 31 in
township 111, range 1''. and sections 6, 7, 18, 19, 30 and 31. town-
ship 111, range 19. \Y. P>. Spencer and others asked that the
name of East Prairieville be given to the following described
territory: Commencing at the southeast corner <>f township 110,
range 20; thence running west three miles: thence north two and
a half miles; thence east three miles: thence south three miles to
place of beginning. It will be noted that this description is an
impossible one, owing doubtless to clerical error. The descrip-
tion of Crystal Lake also appears to have been jumbled in copy-
ing.
April 15, 1858, the following petitions were granted: That of
Walter Morris and others that township 109, range 22, be called
Morristown. That of William Thompson and others and Norris
N, Craves and others that township Id", range 21. he called Sar-
gent, That of Samuel 1'. Walcott and others that township 109,
range 20, be called Walcott. That of citizens that township 109,
range 19, he named Richland.
April 17, the following petitions were received and granted:
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 195
That of Michael Gavin and others that township 110, range 22, be
organized as Shieldsville. That of Thomas Flannigan and others
that township 111, range 22, be organized as Erin. That of citi-
zens that township 110, range 19, be named Wheeling. That of
citizens that township 110, range 21, be named Wells. That of
inhabitants that township 111, range 21, be named Forest. No
name having been presented for township 112, range 21, it was
named Webster. No name having been presented for township
112, range 22, it was named Wheatland. At the same meeting
J. S. Archibald and others remonstrated against the proposed
division of township 111, range 20, as prayed by Joseph R.
Drake and others. The petition of J. S. Archibald and others at
township 111, range 20, excepting section 1 (and sections 31, 32,
33, 34 and 35 in township 112, range 20), be organized under the
name of Bridgewater, section 1, 111, 20, and section 36, 112, 20, to
be added to the town next east, was granted. Township 111,
range 19, was named Northfield, no mention being made of sec-
tions 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, township 112, range 20; section
1, 111,20, or section 36, 112,20.
It then became necessary to divide township 110, range 20.
The petition of Thomas Bolles has already been mentioned. A
petition was presented by S. C. Gilman and others asking that
Faribault constitute the following territory : Sections 6, 7, 18, 19,
20, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, the west half of sections 8, 17 and
28 and the south half of sections 25, 26, 27 and 28. The board re-
solved that township 110, range 20, be divided into two town-
ships, as follows : Said line commencing at the northwest corner
of section 5 ; thence running south one mile; thence east one-half
mile to the quarter stake on the north line of section 8; thence
south two miles to the quarter stake on the north line of section
20; thence east one-half a mile to the northwest corner of section
21 ; thence south one mile to the northwest corner of section 28;
thence east one-half a mile to the quarter stake on the north line
of section 28; thence south one mile to the quarter stake on the
north line of section 33 ; thence east three and a half miles to the
section stake at the northeast corner of section 36, all in the same
town and range ; that the part north and east of this line be called
Cannon City and all west and south, Faribault.
The name of Sargent was afterward changed to Warsaw.
The people of Webster attempted to name their town Carollton,
but were not successful.
CHAPTER IX.
MILITARY HISTORY.
Conditions at the Outbreak of the Struggle — First War Meeting
— Items of Interest — Bounties and Drafts — Ladies' Soldiers'
Aid Society — Names of the Veterans from Rice County —
First Infantry — Second Infantry — Third Infantry — Fourth
Infantry — Fifth Infantry — Sixth Infantry — Seventh Infantry
— Eighth Infantry — Tenth Infantry — Eleventh Infantry —
First Battalion Infantry — First Heavy Artillery — First
Mounted Rangers — Brackett's Battalion — Independent Bat-
talion — Second Cavalry — Other Companies and Regiments —
Revised by Hon. James Hunter.
When the Civil war broke out in April 1861, Rice county had
not been open to settlement ten years. The organization of the
county was not six years old, and the state had been admitted to
the Union scarcely three years. The people had but just started
making themselves homes in the wilderness, when came the call
for troops to preserve the Union.
The feeling prevailed among the people of Rice county that
the Union must be preserved, and the sights and sounds that
were visible and audible in every hamlet, village and city of the
North were duplicated here. Men abandoned the pursuits of
peace for the arts of war, and the share that Rice county and
Minnesota had in those days of great and glorious deeds is
recorded on the pages of United States history.
Governor Alex. Ramsey, being in Washington when Fort
Sumter surrendered, immediately tendered to President Lincoln
1,000 men to defend the Union, being the first tender of troops
made to the government, which was accepted. Ramsey notified
Lieutenant-! lovernor Ignatius Donnelly to issue a call for volun-
teers, which was issued just three days after the surrender of
Sumter. Three days after the call on April 1 ( >. 1861, the first
war meeting in Rice county was held at Metropolitan hall in
Faribault The thrill of patriotism created by the call to arms
vibrated throughout the state and people came from all the sur-
rounding country to this meeting. At this meeting stirring
speeches were made by Levi Nutting, Gordon E. Cole, John M.
Berry and O. F. Perkins and more than two-thirds of the number
required for t lie company, then called the Faribault Volunteers,
196
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 197
were enrolled, and in a few days after the company attained the
maximum of 100 men. At this time the company was presented
with a flag by the ladies of Faribault, which subsequently be-
came the regimental flag of the First Minnesota Volunteer In-
fantry. The presentation was made by Thomas S. Buckham,
now judge of the district court. The company then went to Fort
Snelling, where it was mustered into the United States service
May 29, 1861, for three months as Company G, First Minnesota
Volunteer Infantry, and a few days later was mustered for three
years or during the war. The memory of the dead of Company
G, who were nearly all from Rice county, is enshrined in the
hearts of all the early settlers of the county.
In July, 1862, G. F. Batchelder offered a private bounty of
$10 to any man who would enlist. At this time the government
was paying $25 in advance, $3 extra and one month in advance
to all who enlisted. July 4, 1862, the patriotism of the town of
Faribault was stimulated by a celebration with Dr. Charles
Jewett as an orator. August 12, 1862, there was a war meeting
at the Metropolitan hall in Faribault, at which speeches were
made in the interest of recruiting. Later in the history of the
war more substantial inducements were offered in the shape of
large bounties.
Up to August, 1862, under the calls the state had to raise
5,360 men, and the proportion for Rice county was 336. Levi
Nutting was appointed provost marshal for the state. The Can-
non River Guards, Captain Pettit, recruited here, marched Au-
gust 20, 1862, with ninety-four officers and men. Lieutenant
Cavanaugh was commissioned to recruit for the Eighth Minne-
sota. In the summer of 1862, Hon. Mr. Magoon was in Fari-
bault recruiting for the Sixth Regiment. Captain Parker was
home in the summer on sick and recruiting leave.
Up to August, 1862, Morristown, with less than 100 legal
voters, sent sixty men into the ranks. At the time of the Sioux
massacre, in August, 1862, Rice county promptly sent a force of
cavalry to the front. Mr. Faribault had ninety men in the saddle
very promptly. The Rice County Rangers was the first com-
pany to report at St. Peter's. Major Dike was also authorized
to raise a company to operate on the frontier. Lieutenant West
was likewise engaged in recruiting a cavalry company from the
county. In October, 1862, the recruiting was twenty-two ahead
of the quota in Rice county.
The board of county commissioners on August 8, 1862, took
up war matters and appropriated money from the county fund,
and provided that the sum of $20 be paid to every volunteer, the
number not to exceed 200, who should on or before August 15
enlist in the Rice County Guards, the Emmet Guards, or any
198 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
other company organizing in Rice county. On September 2 an-
other bounty of $20 was appropriated to all who would volunteer
to fill the quota. After voting these bounties it was declared as
follows by the board: "To be the intent and meaning of this
resolution, together with the appropriation, passed August 8,
1862, to provide for the payment hereinabove specified, to each
and every person who shall have voluntarily enlisted in the serv-
ice of the United States, as above mentioned. Providing, the
number does not exceed filling Rice county's quota."
The Mounted Rangers, raised to operate against the Sioux,
and commanded by Col. Samuel McPhail, was partly recruited
here by Lieut. O. D. Brown. During that terrible time quite
large numbers from Rice county had their first experience in
camp life in that campaign. While the troops were engaged with'
the Sioux the draft was impending with its alarming uncertainty,
and its distressingly few blanks, unlike usual raffles, all were
anxious to draw, and so the governor sent a telegram to the
President asking that the draft be postponed and the time for
paying bounties for enlistments extended, and here is a copy of
his characteristic reply: "Washington, August 27, 1862. — To
Governor Ramsey : Yours received. Attend to the Indians !
If the draft cannot proceed, of course it will not proceed. Neces-
sity knows no law. The government cannot extend the time. —
A. Lincoln."
On January, 8, 1863, the county board resolved "That each
town in the county constitute a military district." This was
done in accordance with a law which had been passed by the
legislature of the state to organize all the available men, as to
age and physical qualifications, into militia companies. In ac-
cordance with the above law, which was passed on the 29th of
September, 1862, the election in the various districts for commis-
sioned officers was held on the 7th of April. 1863. Some of the
districts having failed to elect, the officers were subsequently
appointed by the board. The names of the officers of these com-
panies are not here given because many of them never went to
the front, and the names of those who actually served will ap-
pear in the subjoined list.
The Rice County Guards, Captain Cutter, was another local
company; also the McClellan Guards. The Ladies' Aid Society
in Faribault gave a grand entertainment in the winter of 1863
Mrs. H. Wilson was president of the society at that time.
In June, 1863, there were several Indians at Mr. Alexander
Faribault's, and a rumor was circulated t<> the effect that some of
them had been connected with the New Clm massacre, but Mr.
Faribault promptly set the matter right. Those who were with
him were Wacon, or Le Clare, and family, who came here when
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 199
Faribault did ; Pay-pay and family and a widow and two chil-
dren, the wife and mother of Good Thunder, who assisted in
saving captives who were sent here for their safety. They were
all "good Injuns." In the fall of 1863, Capt. E. A. Rice was at
home on recruiting service. Charles Jewett, who had gone to
Massachusetts, was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Fifty-
fourth Regiment of that state. Dr. Jewett had three sons in the
army; one of them, John, was killed in battle. In January, 1864,
a resolution was adopted to equalize the bounty for the payment
of $20 to certain soldiers who had enlisted previous to August
21, 1862. In February, 1864, a bounty of $125 was voted by
Faribault, and sixteen or seventeen were enlisted under the new
call. The Fourth Minnesota re-enlisted in the winter of 1864,
and came home on a veteran furlough. Company G, of the First
Regiment, had a like home run, and a reception. The committee
of reception on the part of the citizens consisted of Major William
H. Dike, H. Wilson, E. N. Leavens, G. F. Batchelder, R. A.
Mott, and a suitable honor was accorded them.
In 1864, the question of voting relief by the county to the
families of soldiers' widows and families was discussed, and reso-
lutions were offered in the board, but opponents of the measure
succeeded in defeating it, which may not, perhaps, be an evidence
of want of patriotism, but the entertainment of a doubt as to
whether this was the proper method to extend relief to this most
deserving class, so many natural protectors of whom had sacri-
ficed their lives for the safety of our common home. In 1864,
Rev. L. Webb was commissioned to raise a company. G. L.
Porter was a recruiting officer for heavy artillery in 1864. Major
Michael Cook, of the Tenth Regiment, was killed at the battle of
Nashville; his friends and neighbors paid due respect to his mem-
ory on Dec. 27, 1864. In April, 1865, nearly $1,000 worth of
sanitary stores were sent south. Early in the year 1865 a Sol-
diers' Families' aid society was in operation, and festivals were in
order to raise money. Several clergymen from Rice county were
in the ranks, among them Rev. D. B. Anderson, a Baptist; Rev.
L. Pease, a Methodist ; Rev. Lauren Armsby, pastor of the Con-
gregational church in Faribault, was the chaplain of the Eighth
Minnesota ; Rev. E. R. Lathrop, of the Tenth ; Rev. C. G. Bow-
dish also enlisted. Rev. L. Webb was in an Illinois regiment.
Charles E. Davidson was the interesting army correspondent of
the "Republican" at Faribault. He was a member of Company
G, First Minn. Vol. Inf. He died in November, 1862, at Bledsoe's
Island, New York harbor, where he was carried after the "seven
days' fight." He left a wife and many friends in Faribault. As
the different companies came home at the expiration of their
term of service, or at the close of the war, they were handsomely
200 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
received. On the most important occasion of the kind General
Nutting made the welcome address, which was responded to by
Rev. Mr. Lathrop. Of course, there was the dinner and the usual
concomitants.
Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society. October 7, 1S61, when the idea
of the magnitude of the struggle began to dawn upon the average
Northern mind, and the notion that the Rebellion could be put
down in three months was thoroughly dissipated, the patriotic
ladies of Faribault met at Metropolitan hall and organized a so-
ciety to assist in supplying the sick and wounded soldiers with
necessary articles for their comfort. The membership was quite
large and embraced the leading ladies of the place. The first
officers of this association were : President. Mrs. Bemis : vice-
president. Mrs. S. B. Rockway : secretary. Mrs. E. J. Crump;
treasurer. Mrs. May Fisk : committee, Mrs. J. H. Winter, Mrs.
A. J. Tanner. Mrs. W. H. Stevens. Mrs. S. F. Van Brunt and Mrs.
A. P. Tula.
Typical Contribution. As we are so rapidly passing away
from the memories of those stirring times, it may be well to here
preserve a memento of the war in the form of a list of articles
that was furnished from Northfield, June 2. 1862. This was the
second instalment of similar goods from that place. The invoice
consisted of: Eight quilts, seventeen pillows, two dozen woolen
socks, six coarse combs, ten fine combs, nine dressing gowns, one
pair of slippers, nine new shirts, seven old shirts, eight pair of
drawers, one dozen brown towels, nine cotton sheets, one linen
sheet, twenty-one pillow cases, twenty-seven linen towels, forty
cotton napkins, five dozen compresses, four linen handkerchiefs,
forty-four rolls of bandages, one package of linen and cotton rags,
eighteen palm leaf fans, one pair of shoes, three hair brushes, five
quires of paper, twelve packages of envelopes, twelve drinking
cups, nine cakes of toilet soap, one package of tea, one package
of cloves, one package of corn starch, one package of linen
thread, five papers of needles, three and a half dozen buttons,
one cake of beeswax, one package of hooks and eyes, steel pens,
sponges, one pair of scissors, two pounds of castile soap, five
books and two Bibles. Collections of a like nature were made all
over the county, especially during the last three years of the war.
and it can readily be seen what a large amount of stores were
sent.
The men who went from Rice county and fought in the Civil
war deserve a lasting place in the honor and affection of the pres-
ent generation. An effort has been made to preserve the names
of those who, in enlisting, gave Rice county as their residence.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 201
The list is unfortunately not complete, though it is copied from
the adjutant general's report. Some men from this county en-
listed in other states, and many an honored old veteran, who is
now numbered among the old soldiers of Rice county, came here
after the war, his name being recorded in the records of other
portions of the Union.
The list of those whose names appear on the adjutant gen-
eral's report as enlisting from this county follows :
FIRST INFANTRY.
This regiment was organized in April, 1861, and originally
commanded by Willis A. Gorman, of St. Paul ; ordered to Wash-
ington, D. C, June 14, 1861. It was engaged in the following
marches, battles, sieges and skirmishes, viz. : First Bull Run,
July 21, 1861 ; Edwards' Ferry, October 22, 1861 ; Yorktown, May
7, 1862; Fair Oaks, June 1, 1862; Peach Orchard and Savage
Station, June 29, 1862 ; Glendale and Nelson's Farm, June 30,
1862; Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862; Vienna, September 2, 1862;
Antietam, September 17, 1862; Charlestown, Va., October 17,
1862; first Fredericksburg, December 11, 12 and 13, 1862; second
Fredericksburg, May 3, 1863; Gettysburg, July 2 and 3, 1863;
and Bristow Station, October 14, 1863. The regiment was dis-
charged at Fort Snelling, Minn., May 5, 1864. It will be seen
by this record that the First Minnesota participated in some of
the most important battles of the war, and was almost constantly
active, on the march or in the field of battle, at all times reflecting
credit upon the state that sent them forth to sustain the Union
in its hour of peril. Major, William H. Dike.
Company G — Lewis McKune, captain ; Nathan S. Messick,
first lieutenant, promoted captain ; John J. McCollum, first lieu-
tenant ; William E. Smith, second lieutenant ; Joseph H. Spencer,
first sergeant; Charles C. Parker, sergeant; George A. Williams,
sergeant ; John J. McCollum, sergeant ; James DeGrey, corporal ;
Edward Tunman, corporal; John Logan, corporal; Charles E.
Hess, corporal; Philo Hall, corporal; Frank Dickinson, corporal;
William H. Ramsey, corporal ; Louis E. Hanneman, musician ;
John E. Strothman, musician ; Francis Gibson, wagoner. Pri-
vates — Adams Areman, Edward H. Basset, Henry Borchert, Jef-
ferson G. Baker, George R. Buckmar, Fridelin Boll, Phineas L.
Dunham, James L. Dubois, John Gatzke, Jonathan Goodrich,
Joseph L. House, Martin Healy, Caleb B. Jackson, Benjamin H.
Jewett, George A. Kenney, Samuel Laird, William Myers, Asa
Miller, James L. Nichols, Edward Potter, John M. Rhorer, Lewis
G. Reynolds. Peter W. Ramsdell, Walter S. Reed, William A.
Rooks, Julius Schultz, Chauncey Squier, James T. Sawyer,
202 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Charles E. Webster, Marvin D. Andress, Dennis L. Barton, Nor-
man B. Barron, Charles M. Benson, Joseph G. Bemis, William
G. Coen, Charles E. Davison, Stephen E. Ferguson, Robert
Gregg, Ezra D. Haskins, George I. Hopkins, John Holther, Albert
Hohnson, Anthony Jones, Samuel Lilly, George Magee, John
McKinster, Edward Z. Needham, George W. Olmstead, William
Potter, Samuel Reynolds, James E. Russell, Benjamin Roberts,
Neri Reed, Banteus Soule, George P. Sawyer, Almon C. Strick-
land, Edgar Tiffany, Theodore Williams, Henry Clay Whitney,
David Wood, Richard M. Wattles, Edward E. Verplank.
Recruits— M. M. Curtis, William A. Brooks, Nathaniel Reed,
G. J. McCullough, J. M. Babcock, M. Haskell, William D. Ben-
nett, S. J. Pearl, Charles Taylor, J. W. Peaseley, S. S. Gifford,
William Close.
Company H — Privates — Andrew J. Brook, Newton Brown,
Henry C. Cady, John Clausen, William Cagger, Columbus Brock,
Franklin Bauman, Mortimer Canfield, Dennis Crandall, Samuel
S. Cronkhite.
SECOND INFANTRY.
This regiment was organized in July, 1861, and originally
commanded by Horatio Van Cleve. Ordered to Louisville, Ky.,
in October, 1861, and assigned to the Army of the Ohio. It was
engaged in the following marches, battles, skirmishes and sieges,
viz.: Mill Spring, January 19, 1862; siege of Corinth, in April,
1862, then transferred to the Army of the Tennessee; Bragg's
Raid, Perryville, October 8, 1862; skirmishes of the Tullahoma
campaign, Chickamauga, September 19 and 20, 1863; Mission
Ridge, November 28, 1863. Veteranized in January, 1864, and
participated in the battles and skirmishes of the Atlanta cam-
paign, viz.: Resaca, June 14, 15 and 16, 1864; Kenesaw Mountain,
June 27, 1864; Jonesboro; Sherman's March through Georgia
and the Carolinas, and Bentonville, March 19, 1865. The men
were mustered out at Louisville, Ky., and discharged at Fort
Snclling, Minn.. July 11, 1865. This regiment covered itself with
laurels at the battle of Mission Ridge, where they were badly
cut up in a charge they made on the enemy's works. Few Minne-
sota regiments, if any, performed more long and laborious
marches than the "Bloody Second."
Company A — Private — Appoles Owen. Company B — Pri-
vates—James Bradley, William McStotts, Stephen R. Childs,
George Whitehouse. Company C — Privates — George B. Newell,
Edwin 11. Wood. Company D — Privates — Martin Kelcher, Wil-
liam Mills, Joseph Kartack. Company F — Privates — Gabriel
Lachapell. Company G — Privates — Joseph Clute. Company H
— Privates — Joseph Capron, Charles llodgen. Company I —
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 203
Privates — Ira Halladay, Frank Snyder, Edward Kellogg, Hiram
Swain.
Company K — David S. Coverdale, corporal ; promoted to
sergeant, second lieutenant, first lieutenant and captain. Privates
— Thomas Adams, Samuel Gould, Jonathan Poe, Andrew L.
Emery, John W. Gould, Riley J. Phillbrook, Cyrus S. Bondurant,
Francis Schofield.
THIRD INFANTRY.
This regiment was organized in October, 186I, and originally
commanded by Col. Henry C. Lester, of Winona. Ordered to
Nashville, Tenn., in March, 1862. Captured and paroled at
Murfreesboro in July, 1862. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., thence to
Minnesota. Engaged in the Indian expedition in 1862. Partici-
pated in the battle of Wood Lake in September, 1862. Ordered
to Little Rock, Ark., in November, 1863. Veteranized in Janu-
ary, 1864. Engaged in battle of Fitzhugh's Woods, March 30,
1864. Ordered to Pine Bluff, Ark., in April, I864; thence to
Duvall's Bluff September 2, 1865. Mustered out at Duvall's
Bluff September 2, 1865. Discharged at Fort Snelling, Minn.
On account of the ill-advised surrender of the regiment at
Murfreesboro, a number of the officers were dismissed from the
service, which partially demoralized portions of it, and they
were sent north to guard the frontier. Their lack of experience
in the arts of war had more to do with the surrender than lack of
courage, as the regiment subsequently proved by their behavior
on the field of battle.
Company B — Olin C. Rollin, second lieutenant; promoted to
first lieutenant and captain. Privates — John Dana, Elias T. Tay-
lor, Coleman M. Wood, William H. Wood, William L. Sloan,
Charles Wood, Jacob Balyet. Company E — Privates — William
A. Bowe, Edward S. Kellogg, Cicero T. Richmond, Francis J.
Ridgeway, Thomas Sandy, Alonzo Verrill, James H. Wright,
Eben P. Jones, Charles Russell, Stewart Richmond, Eugene H.
Stone, Johnson R. Truaz, Edward A. Vaughn.
Company H — David Misner, first lieutenant; promoted to
captain, Company C, and major, First Minnesota Heavy Artillery ;
Almon C. Strickland, first sergeant ; James M. Moran, sergeant ;
promoted second lieutenant ; Leonard K. Flanders, corporal ;
promoted sergeant ; John Cooper, corporal ; William T. Alvey,
corporal ; Albert W. Stewart, wagoner. Privates — Isaac A. Bar-
rick, Thomas Bradshaw, Thomas Carney, Donald Gray, James
L. Haskett, William A. Hussey, Eliel W. Lawton, Michael
Logue, Felix A. Myrick, Alexander Reed, Allen B. Donaldson, Ar-
thur H. Erwin, William Foster, George W. Hall, Heber R. Hare,
Solomon Crosby, Alvin Engle, John G. Conner, Adam Eckhart,
204 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
William H. Jackson, David Lilly, George S. Bassett, Edwin A.
Biggs, George F.rvin, Martin V. B. Hall, Shefield S. Hayward,
William A. Lamb, Albert H. Lewis, Robert Lumsden, William
Owen, John Slater, Malon B. Eckhart, Lovell Eaton, John Gibson,
Asa Howe, Benjamin B. Baker, Rees Evans, Henry Taul,
Lorenzo Dearborn, Gustaf Grandstrand, Gottfried Huser.
Company I — Private — Alexander Reed.
FOURTH REGIMENT INFANTRY.
This regiment was originally commanded by Colonel J. B.
Sanborn of St. Paul, organized December 23, 1861 ; ordered to
Benton Barracks, Mo., April 19, 1862; assigned to army of the
Mississippi, May 4, 1862; participated in the following marches,
battles, sieges and skirmishes: Siege of Corinth, April, 1862;
Iuka, September 19, 1862; Corinth, October 3 and 4, 1862; siege
of Vicksburg, Forty Hills, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills,
assault on Vicksburg, capture of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863. Trans-
ferred from 17th to 15th corps; Mission Ridge, November 25,
1863; veteranized, January, 1864; Altoona, October, 1864; Sher-
man's march through Georgia and the Carolinas ; Bentonvillc,
March 20, 1865, and Raleigh, April 14, 1865; mustered out at
Louisville, Ky., July 19, 1865; discharged at Fort Snelling, Minn.
The organizing members of Company C were nearly all from
Dakota county, and mostly from the town of Lakeville, where
the company was formed. It was the outgrowth of a home-
guard militia that had been organized there during the summer
of 1861. They bought their own uniforms for home-guard pur-
poses and were furnished arms by the state. Under the call for
600,000 volunteers in 1861, they responded almost to a man.
retaining nearly their official organization. During the winter
of 1861-62 they were located at Fort Ripley, and went south with
their regiment in the spring. The comapny built up a record they
are justly proud of and were appreciated by their commanding
officers. After the battle of Altoona, they were complimentarily
mentioned by General Sherman.
Company B — Privates — Alfe Olson, Adam Pfieffcr, Andrew
Severson, Nels Olcson, Ole Severson, Thomas Thompson. Com-
pany C — James F. Dilly, second lieutenant. Privates — Albert
Drinkwine, Benjamin Gypsin, William II. Hill, Charles Loyd,
William McCrary, Joseph Eroux, Thomas R. Huggins, Moses
Herman, William II. Long, Edward McGillis, Joseph Newell.
Company D — Privates — George Anderson, Thomas Reillv, Remi
Crapeau. Company E — Privates — John Conrad, Stephen E,
Birch, Fdwin Waller, Daniel N'evin, George 1 1 . Thurston. Georg<
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 205
F. Birch. Company F — Privates — Charles Pillar, Charles F. Bey-
tien, Charles Scofield.
Company I — John Parker, captain; promoted major; Henry
Piatt, first lieutenant; promoted captain; Edwin O. Chapman,
first sergeant; promoted second lieutenant; Clark Turner, ser-
geant ; promoted second and first lieutenant ; Levi B. Aldrich,
sergeant ; Henry Davis, corporal ; John D. Hunt, corporal ; pro-
moter first lieutenant; David A. Temple, corporal ; Joseph Will-
iams, corporal ; promoted sergeant and first lieutenant. Privates
— Ira C. Aldrich, Balzer Bower, John W. Davey, Thomas C. Fer-
guson, William R. Gilman, Charles P. Hagstrom, Charles O.
Healey, Simon Kreger, Nels Nelson, John G. Russell, John
Avery, James H. Cronkhite, William W. Davis, Edward A. Gor-
ser, Cornelius Hull, Joseph Hershey, Stephen N. Johnson, Hiram
H. Marcyes, Sewal G. Randall, George W. Reinoehl, Edward
Reble, August H. Thruen, George Schrauth, Mark Wells.
Company K — Private — John Powers.
FIFTH INFANTRY.
This regiment was organized in May, 1862, and originally
commanded by Col. Rudolph Borgesrode, of Shakopee. Ordered
to Pittsburg Landing, May 9, 1862, leaving a detachment of three
companies in Minnesota, garrisoning frontier posts. Partici-
pated in the following marches, battles, sieges and skirmishes:
Siege of Corinth, April and May, 1862. The detachment in Min-
nesota engaged with the Indians at Redwood, Minn., August 18,
1862, and siege of Fort Ridgely, August 20, 21 and 22, 1862;
Fort Abercrombie, Dakota Territory, in August, 1862. The regi-
ment was assigned to the Sixteenth Army Corps and engaged in
the battle of Iuka, September 18, 1862, and at Corinth, October
3 and 4, 1862; Jackson, May 14, 1863; and the siege of Vicks-
burg; assault of Vicksburg, May 22, 1863; Mechanicsburg, June
3, 1863; Richmond, June 15, 1863; Fort De Rusrey, La., March
14, 1864; Red River expedition in March, April and May, 1864;
Lake Chicot, June 6, 1864, and Tupelo in June, 1864. Veteran-
ized in July, 1864; Abbeyville, August 23, 1864; marched in
September, 1864, from Brownsville, Ark., to Cape Girardeau,
Mo., thence by boat to Jefferson City ; thence to Kansas state
line ; thence to St. Louis, Mo. ; ordered to Nashville, November,
1864; battle of Nashville, December 15 and 16, 1864; Spanish
Fort and Fort Blakely in April, 1865; mustered out at Demopo-
Iis, Ala., September 6, 1865, and discharged at Fort Snelling,
Minn. It will be seen by the above record this regiment was in
active service, yet comparatively very few were killed in battle.
Company A — Privates — Jacob Haines, David M. Strong, John
200 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Sicler. Company C — Privates — Edward Berg, Halver Elefson,
Edward Roth, Lyman H. Decker, Frederick Knudson. Company
G — Private — Jeremiah Ryan. Company I — Michael Cosgrove,
corporal. Private — Melvin O. Dutton. Company K — Thomas
Tierney, corporal ; promoted sergeant.
SIXTH INFANTRY.
This regiment was organized in August, 1862, and originally
commanded by Col. William Crooks, of St. Paul. Ordered upon
the Indian expedition of 1862. A detachment of 200 from this
regiment was engaged in the battle of Birch Coolie, September 2,
1862. The regiment participated in the battle of Wood Lake.
September 22, 1862. From November, 1862, until May, 1863,
the regiment was engaged in garrisoning frontier posts. Ordered
then to take part in the Indian expedition and were engaged with
the Indians July 24, 26, 28, 30 and 31, 1863. Stationed at frontier
posts from September 18, 1863, to June 5, 1864, when they were
ordered to Helena, Ark., and to St. Louis in November, 1864;
thence to New Orleans in January, 1865, and assigned to the
Sixteenth Army Corps. Participated in the engagements of
Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely in April, 1865. Discharged at
Fort Snelling, Minn., August 19, 1865.
Company C — C. P. McAlexander, second lieutenant; Robert
R. Hutchinson, first sergeant; promoted second lieutenant, first
lieutenant and captain ; Alexander M. Portman, sergeant ; Thomas
Watts, corporal ; promoted sergeant ; John W. Gould, corporal ;
Amasa Closson, corporal ; John F. McClintock, corporal ; John
Hutchinson, corporal; promoted sergeant and second lieutenant;
Charles Hetherington, corporal ; promoted sergeant; Samuel T.
Webster, musician; Alexander M. Thompson, musician; Aron
M. Comey, wagoner; Stephen Allen, Private; promoted corporal;
Myron Bates, Clinton L. Babcock, Andrew O. Chapin. Pri-
vates — Lewis Beerman, George Beerman, Chester T. Boss,
David E. Berdan, Thomas Barnes, Schuyler Closson, William S.
Currcn, John H. Daner, Wellington H. Emery, George Fogg,
August Beerman, James F. Boss, Chester F. Boss. John D.
Brown, Johial W. Boyd. Joseph Closson, Andrew O. Chapin,
Leonidas H. Dunn, Benjamin Davison, James Emerson, Sylves-
ter S. Glidden, William Goudy, Joel M. Hart. Elisha C. King,
John D. Plummer, James R. Rice, William 11. Burroughs, Reuben
B. Dean, Samuel T. Webster, William A. Sheperd, Chauncey
Swar, Samuel Main, William Robinson, George W. Robin-
son, Andrew R. Roberts, Theodore II. Sanderson, William V.
Stone, Chauncey Swar, Richard Stoplev, Thomas F. Talbot,
Daniel B. Turner, Thomas C. Brown, William C. Ilavcock, Wil-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 207
liam Hubbard, Charles Peterson, Hiram M. Powers, George W.
Searle, Frank T. Hutchinson, Jeremiah B. Jones, John Merkel,
William E. Poe, Calvin Ripley, John W. Richey, William A.
Shepard, Hugh Smith, Newel Summer, Joseph W. Sargent,
Horace C. Stranahan, Alexander V. Tharp, Benjamin W. Viles,
John Daly, Daniel C. Fitsimmons, Edward P. Kermott, Cornelius
D. Personious, James R. Rice, Joseph O. Sargent, Zebulon D.
Sargent, Aaron L. Carney.
Company D — Privates — Wilbur B. Green, Isaiah Judd, Lewis
Sanford, William H. Bush, John W. Brown, John Boshardt,
Thomas A. Fisher, Charles H. Jordan, Charles H. Mulliner,
Josiah Richardson, Ira Sanford, John Huftellen, William T.
Kiekenapp, Oliver T. Sanford, David C. Brown, Charles A.
Cates, Nelson T. Derby, Peter Filbert, Samuel Layman, William
Layman, John Roth, Michael Wolf. Company I — Private —
Rudolph Roseman.
SEVENTH INFANTRY.
This regiment was originally commanded by Col. Stephen
Miller of St. Paul, afterwards governor of the state. It was or-
ganized in August, 1862, and ordered upon the Indian expedition
that year, and engaged in the battle of Wood Lake, Minn. The
regiment was stationed at frontier posts until May, 1863, when it
was ordered upon the Indian expedition in the West under Gen-
eral Sibley, and was engaged in battle with the Indians July 24,
26, 28, 30 and 31 of that year. They reurned from this expedi-
tion and were ordered to St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 7, 1863 ; thence to
Paducah, Ky., in April, 1864; thence to Memphis, Tenn., and as-
signed to the 16th army corps, in June, 1864. The regiment parti-
cipated in the following marches, battles, sieges and skirmishes:
Tupelo, in July, 1864; Tallahatchie, Aug. 7 and 8, 1864; the
march in pursuit of Price from Brownsville, Ark., to Cape Girar-
deau ; thence to St. Louis, Mo. ; in the battles of Nashville, Tenn.,
Dec. 15 and 16, 1864; Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, in April,
1865. The discharge of the regiment took place at Fort Snelling,
Minn., Aug. 16, 1865.
Company A — Chancellor Cutler, captain ; Loel B. Hoag, first
lieutenant ; promoted captain ; Alpheus C. Barrack, second lieu-
tenant ; George W. Butterfield, first sergeant ; William W. Willis,
sergeant; promoted second lieutenant; Daniel Goodhue, sergeant;
promoted first lieutenant; Louis Hanneman, sergeant; promoted
second lieutenant; Charles T. Anderson, sergeant; Richard C.
Ross, corporal ; George L. Pvendall, corporal ; Edwin Gillett,
corporal ; Daniel O. Searle, corporal ; Lyman B. Snow, corporal ;
Duren F. Kelly, corporal ; Madison R. Ransom, corporal ; Henry
Marsh, corporal ; Michael Anderson, musician ; Oscar T. Webster,
208 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
musician; William N. Watson, Wagoner; Samuel F. Averill,
private; promoted corporal and sergeant. Privates — Myron F.
Austin, Ira Alexander, Henry M. Barrett, Alexander Bates,
Charles Bingham, Hugh Boardman, John Beardsley, John A.
Bond, Amos H. Bice, Alexander Clark, Lemuel Cone, Alsin A.
Calins, Michael Caffrey, Elijah R. Carpenter, Peter Colburn,
George Deek, Frederick Deffenbecker, Calvin Daniels, Philo H.
Engelsby, Joseph Fredenburg, Michael Fitzgerald, Joseph Ford,
Albert Fredenburg, Charles E. Frink, Henry Finley, Daniel
Goodsell, William F. Gessner, Franklin Gowen, Daniel T. Hukey,
Charles H. Holt, Albert T. Hancke, John R. Horner, Silas Judd,
Frank L. Kendall, Elliot A. Knowlton, Mahalon Lockwood. Peter
W. DeLancy, John Mullen, Peter Morgan, Joseph Miner, William
H. McDonald, Horation P. Moore, James H. Mountain, William
Marshall, Edward McKenzie, Daniel A. Park, Moses C. Peasly,
Peter W. Ramsdale, William D. Rounce, Philip Rich, Andrew
Robinson, Eric H. Rinde, William K. Ross, William W. Side-
veil, Chauncey R. Sackett, Amasiah Slocum, Peter Simon, John
W. Thompson, George R. Terry, Alvin B. Thorp, Albert Tripp,
Charles Viercant, William J. Wemple, Roland Weeks, George
Wells, Melvin Cushman, Edward F. Cosert, Ralph L. Dorrence,
Robert Dilley, Christian Dolymer, James H. Daly, Edwin R.
Hazelton, Henry M. Hazelton, William Hunter, Anthony Han-
son, Isaac Johnson, Franklin Groome, Knud Knudson, Stewart
M. Lamon, William Damon, Hadley Oelson, Henry Pratt,
Charles M. Phipps, Calvin Rank, George Robinson, Howard L.
Swain, Jacob Simons, Jacob Winter, John W. Moore.
EIGHTH INFANTRY.
This regiment was organized Aug. 1, 1862, and originally
commanded by Col. Minor T. Thomas, of Stillwater. Minn. It
was stationed at frontier posts until May, 18<>4. when it was or
dercd upon the Indian expedition. It was engaged in the follow-
ing battles, sieges, skirmishes and marches: Tah-cha-O-ku-tu,
July 28, 1864; Little Missouri, battle of the Cedars. Wilkinson's
Pike, Dec. 7. ISM. near M tirfreesboro, Dec. 8,1864, and Overall's
creek. Ordered to Clifton, Tenn., thence t<> Cincinnati, thence to
Washington, i Inner in Newbern, X. C. : at the battle of Kingston,
March 8, 9, and L0, 1865. The men were mustered out at Char-
lotte \\ C, July 11, 1865, and discharged at Fort Snelling, Minn.
George W. Butterfield, adjutant; Lauren Armsby, chaplain.
Company B — George F. Pettitt, captain; Mile- Hollister, first
lieutenant; William Shaw, second lieuenant; Lampson Pence,
first sergeant ; John 11 Pai on, sergeant; Andrew King, sergeant ;
William S. Sargeant, ergeant; Benjamin F, Pierce, sergeant;
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 209
John Calvin, corporal ; John Gwathmy, corporal ; Benjamin F.
Buck, corporal; William Chase, corporal; Isaac N. Anderson,
corporal ; James A. Morgan, corporal ; Edward S. Kellogg,
corporal ; Andrew B. Cowen, corporal ; Harmon Shank, musician;
Thomas G. Crump, musician ; Jonothan Morris, wagoner. Pri-
vates — Dexter B. Anderson, Heinrich Achterkisch, Toussaint
Barrie, Benjamin A. Clemons, Chauncey C. Cole, Joseph Cluka,
Dewitt C. Coats, Moses Click, William Deike, Henry A. Dorn,
Cornelius Denman, Norman B. Florer, Norris N. Graves, Henry
Heinneman, Isaac Hand, William J. Haukins, David M. Jones,
Andrew LaBarge, Jr. ; Allen D. Morgan, Hanson Mills, Joseph
Milliron, Patrick Mathews, Joseph Anderson, Columbus C. Bab-
cock, Eli A. Bailey, Theodore Creach, Edward H. Cutts, Daniel
L. Clemmer, Otis N. Castle, John M. Chapin, William H. Davey,
Henry Dierkin, Stephen G. Flanders, William M. Green, John
Gillon, Benjamin Hare, John Hill, Ernst Heideman, Milo F.
Jacobs, Charles R. Louch, Richard J. Miller, William L. T.
Meyer, Edward McCartney, George W. Marcyes, Ephraim C.
Moodey, Ezra Nichols, Watts A. Pye, Charles Powell, George
W. Peterson, Henry Peipho, Newton S. Parker, Frederick Roth,
Reuben W. Russ, Joseph W. Richardson, David Reed, Frederick
Schwake, Adelbert W. Tenny, Truman P. Town, John J. Van
Saun, Harrison Wolleat, Mark Wells, Warner Youells, Thomas
Carpenter, F. B. Hetherinton, John B. Milliron, Michael B.
Roberds, Ichabod H. Tower, John S. McCartney, Joseph C. Mold,
Charles Osterhout, Orient Pond, Edward G. Paterson, Anthony
W. Pool, George G. Peck, Patrick Reardon, Alex. H. Ridgeway,
Harvey T. Rawson, John H. Reamer, Winfield S. Snyder, Wells
Tuman, Abraham Tope, Henry Theden, Edward Van Saun,
William Wolleat, Amplias G. Ward, Alonzo Burch, James
Edmonds, Seymour S. Sloan, Timothy I. Van Saun.
Company F — Privates — George W. Sackell, Quincy C.
Warren.
TENTH INFANTRY.
The regiment was organized in August, 1862, and originally
commanded by Col. James H. Baker, of Mankato. It was sta-
tioned at frontier posts until June, 1863, when it was ordered
upon the Indian expedition. Engaged with the Indians Julv 24,
26, 28, 30 and 31, 1863. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., in October,
1863; thence to Columbus, Ky., in April, 1864; thence to Mem-
phis, Tenn., in June, 1864, and assigned to the Sixteenth Army
Corps. Participated in the following marches, battles, sieges and
skirmishes: battle of Tupelo, July 13, 1864; Oxford expedition,
August, 1864; march in pursuit of Price, from Brownsville, Ark.,
to Cape Girardeau ; thence by boat to Jefferson City ; thence to
210 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Kansas line; thence to St. Louis, Mo.; battles of Nashville,
Tenn., December 15 and 16, 1864; Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely,
April, 1865. The regiment was discharged at Fort Snelling,
August 19, 1865.
Tenth Regiment Infantry — Michael Cook, major; Elden N.
Leavens, quartermaster.
Company C — Dennis Cavanaugh, captain. Company D — Pri-
vate — Stephen W. Carpenter. Company E — Privates — John W.
Holmes, Uriah Judd, John W. Hoover, Ashley Forgelson.
Company H — Dennis Cavanaugh, first lieutenant; Dennis
McCarthy, second lieutenant; Michael Jeffers, first sergeant;
Patrick Byrne, sergeant ; Andrew Deverneaux, sergeant ; James
O'Neill, corporal; Robert Hunt, corporal; Thomas Murphy,
wagoner. Privates — John Buckley, Patrick Cudmore, Thomas
P. Conaghty, Christopher Dardis, Christopher Byrne, John Col-
lins, John Callaghn, Edward Fox, Patrick Harris, Hamilton
Logue, Antoine LaDuke, Thomas McManus, Hugh McXeal,
Thomas Powers, Prudent Quenett, Michael Roach, Peter Rob-
beault, David Tierny, John Whalen, James Bradley, Lawrence
Connor, John Dixon, Michael Foy, Dennis Gregg, Anthony Jor-
dan, Thomas Meagher, Daniel McEntire, Samuel Radabaugh,
John Smith, Michael Hanley, John Leo, Patrick McNulty,
Thomas McLaughlin, John Mulgrew, Eneas S. Peat, Thomas
Ryan, Patrick O'Brien, Patrick J. Smith, Jacob Tope, John
Bohan, Thomas Conniff, Alex. G. Caldwell, Joseph A. Fraybold,
Henry Gorman, Thomas Hctherington, Patrick McGrath, Flor-
ence McCarthy, Michael Nagle, John Stokes.
ELEVENTH INFANTRY.
This regiment was organized in August. 1864, and originally
commanded by Col. James Gilfillan, of St. Paul.
It was principally engaged in guard duty. It was first ordered
to Nashville, Tenn.. and engaged in guarding the railroad be-
tween that city and Louisville, untfl mustered out June 26, 1865.
Company D — Loren Webb, captain ; C. C. P. Alexander, first
lieutenant.
FIRST BATTALION, INFANTRY.
This battalion originally consisted of two companies, organ-
ized from the re-enlisted veterans, stay-over men, and recruits of
(lie First Regiment, Minnesota Infantrj Volunteers. It was
originally commanded b) Col. Mark W. Downie, of Stillwater.
Minn. Ordered to Washington, 1 >. (".. May. 1864; joined the
army of the Potomac June 10, 1864. Participated in the follow-
ing engagements, viz.: Petersburg, Va., June is, 1864; Jerusa-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 211
lem Plank Road, Va., August 25, 1864; Hatcher's Run, Va., July
27, 1864; Deep Bottom, Va., August 14, 1864; Reams' Station,
Va., August 25, 1864; Hatcher's Run, Va., February 5, 1865.
Company C joined March 27, 1865. Took active part in cam-
paign commencing March 28, 1865, resulting in the capture of
Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865, and the surrender of Lee's army,
April 9, 1865. Four new companies joined at Berksville, Va., in
April, 1865. Marched from Berksville, Va., to Washington, D. C,
in May, 1865.
Two new companies joined at Washington ; ordered to Louis-
ville, Ky., in June, 1865 ; mustered out at Jeffersonville, Ind.,
July 14, 1865, and discharged at Fort Snelling, Minn., July 25,
1865.
Company A — Charles C. Parker, second lieutenant. Com-
pany H — Philander C. Seeley.
FIRST HEAVY ARTILLERY.
This regiment was organized in April, 1865, and originally
commanded by Col. William Colville, of Red Wing; ordered to
Chattanooga, Tenn., and stationed at that point until mustered
out of regiment in September, 1865.
Charles B. Jackson, commodore sergeant. Company C —
George L. Porter, captain. Privates — Thomas Devine, Daniel
Heffelson, William Haney, Thomas Hope, James H. Knights,
Cornelius Mahony, Winfield J. Sargent, Joseph Gilsoul, Charles
Hoffer, Holms B. Higgins, Thomas Jeffers, George W. Kenyon,
James H. Miller. Company H — Privates — Martin Bandelin,
Augusta Hull, Gordon Smith, Edward Grulk, Peter A. John-
son, William H. Taylor. Company L — John C. Turner, first
lieutenant.
FIRST REGIMENT MOUNTED RANGERS.
Organized in March, 1863, and originally commanded by Col.
Samuel McPhail, of Caledonia, Houston county. Stationed
among frontier posts until May, 1863, when they were ordered
upon the Indian expedition. Engaged with the Indians July 24,
26, 28, 30 and 31, 1863. Stationed at frontier posts upon the
return of the expedition until mustered out. Mustered out by
companies, between October 1, 1863, and December 30, 1863.
Company A — John Wiggle, sergeant. Privates — William
Campbell, George R. Page, Edward Campbell, Peter Stiren.
Company F — Private — Apollo Owen.
Company H — Charles W. Cromwell, first lieutenant; O. D.
Brown, second lieutenant ; Enoch C. Cowan, first sergeant ; Asa
Smith, second sergeant; John E. Tuttle, sergeant; Arthur Mc-
212 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Millan, sergeant; Silas C. Olmsted, corporal; Charles H. Ken-
ney, corporal ; James L. Christie, corporal. Privates — Josiah
Bailey, George H. Byfield, Vincent K. Carter, Timothy Collins,
Leonard J. Flanders, Francis B. Hetherington, Ira Hulse, Ralph
H. Kenney, Charles A. Manncy, Charles H. Martin, J. M. Mills,
James G. B. Moses, Charles H. Mulliner, John Oleson, Frank G.
Peace, William D. Tucker, James W. Roberts, William Beckley,
Carson C. Carr, Leroy S. Clemons, Antoine Fisher, Orlando G.
Hatheway, Harrison Harles, Osman B. Jacobs, Edelbert Love-
land, William P. Manney, Charles W. Marks, Charles Y. Moses,
William S. Moses, John W. Murtagh, Myron Page, William L.
Sargent, William J. Wilkins, Samuel B. Walker.
BRACKETT'S BATTALION.
Originally commanded by Maj. Alfred B. Brackett, of St.
Paul, and, as originally organized, was composed of the First,
Second and Third Companies, and organized in October and
November, 1861. Ordered to Benton barracks, Mo., in Decem-
ber, 1861. Assigned to a regiment called Curtis Horse; ordered
to Fort Henry, Tenn., in February, 1862; name of regiment
changed to Fifth Iowa Cavalry in April, 1862. Companies G, D
and K ; engaged in siege of Corinth in April, 1862 ; ordered to
Fort Heiman, Tenn., in August, 1862; veteranized in February,
1864; ordered to the Department of the Northwest in 1864;
ordered upon Indian expedition ; engaged with the Indians July
28 and in August, 1864; mustered out by companies, between
May and June, 1866.
Company A — Herman Wedekuper, corporal. Company B —
Private — Joseph R. Donaldson. Company C — Private — James
Thompson.
INDEPENDENT BATTALION, CAVALRY.
Organized July 20, 1863, and originally commanded by Maj.
E. A. C. Hatch, of St. Paul. Ordered to Pembina, D. T., in
October, 1863. Ordered to Fort Abercrombie, D. T., in May,
1864, and stationed there until mustered out. Mustered out by
companies, from April to June, 1866.
Company A — John W. W. Poison, corporal; Seth C. Kelley,
blacksmith. Privates — Charles M. Stowe, John Kelly. Com-
pany C — Privates — Michael Cosgrovc, James O'Neill. Company
F — Private — William Dawney.
SECOND CAVALRY.
Organized in Jan., 1864, and originally commanded by Col.
Robert N. McLaren, of Red Wing. Ordered upon Indian ex-
pedition in May. 1864. Kngagcd with the Indians. July 28, 1S(>4,
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 213
and Aug. 1864. Stationed at frontier posts until muster out of
regiment by companies, between Nov., 1865, and June, 1866.
Company A — Private — Henry Hanson. Company B — Private
— Robert S. Keene. Company D — Private — William J. Wilkins.
Company E — Privates — Albert F. Thielbar, Peter E. Wise, Isaac
M. Taylor. Company G — Henry W. Bingham, first lieutenant;
promoted captain; Theron F. Carr, sergeant; Carson C. Carr,
corporal. Privates — Halver Blande, John Conley, William L.
Hoover, George Shepard, Byron F. Carr, William Dwyer, John
O'Neill, Elijah B. Sperry, Jacob H. Austin. Company H — Pri-
vates — Stanley Barlow, Alvah M. Olin. Company K — Privates —
Solomon Bodle.
First Battery Light Artillery — Privates — Willard Sproul,
Ambrose Krech.
Second Battery Light Artillery — Privates — William Costello,
John Craren, James Hunter, Ingrebeth Oleson, Charles L. Nog-
gle, Joseph L. Sargent, Edward W. Vaughn, Lewis Y. Sargent,
Thomas Robb.
Third Battery Light Artillery— John C. Whipple, first lieu-
tenant — Privates — George L. Kenyon, Arthur McCarger, William
Finlayson, Hiram K. Wilder.
Second Company Sharp-shooters — Charles L. Eldridge, cor-
poral. Privates — Tens. T. Dahle, Author A. Flem, Andrew J.
Lockren, Halver H. Quil, Finger Fingalson, Christ Hanson,
Harry Magon, Jnets Fingalson.
CHAPTER X.
INCIDENTS AND EVENTS.
Important Happenings — Mostly in Faribault — the Years 1857-
1879 — Disasters, Deaths, Organizations, Churches and
Celebrations.
The real story of the settlement of Rice county dates from
1853. The story of the early coming of the whites, and the princi-
pal events of the earliest days have been told in the history of
the various townships. In 1857, the towns and villages were well
on the start toward that prosperity that has since marked their
history. In this chapter the managers of this publication have en-
deavored to trace the principal events in the history of the
county from 1857 to 1879, that are not recorded elsewhere. The
stirring events of the Civil war are purposely omitted from this
list. The scenes common throughout the country, the equipping
and enlisting of companies, the eager waiting for news, the hard-
ships, the anxiety, the heart breaks and heart aches, the self
sacrifice and devotion of the people at large were all felt and
witnessed in Rice county. The story of Rice county in the war
is told elsewhere in a chapter edited by the Hon. James J.
Hunter. It will be noted that in recording the early events, the
preponderance of happenings are those of Faribault. Faribault
being the county seat, and the people of the county being closely
linked with this city makes its events of interest to the people of
the county at large.
1857. On January 7 the Congregational church at Faribault
was dedicated, and Rev. Lauren Armstrong was installed as
pastor of the church. Those assisting were, Rev. Cressey, of
Cannon City ; Rev. Barnes, of Cannon Falls ; and Rev. Secombe.
The people adhering to this faith exhibited great energy in thus
providing, at such an early day, for their spiritual wants.
The land office was removed to Faribault here from Winona
some time toward the last of January. The teams were eighl
days on the road with documents.
On Fcbruarv _'4. three young men from Faribault started
on a drive to Cannon Lake, and on their way were hailed by a
young Indian with a gun, who asked for a ride, and without
slacking up they beckoned him to "come on.'* which lie did. As
he reached the carriage, and was about clambering in, his musket
214
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 215
was discharged, and the ball penetrated the arm of one of the
young men, Godfrey Xavier, breaking the bone above the elbow,
and severing an artery. The Indian was arrested, but on an ex-
amination the accidental character of the shooting was shown,
and he was discharged.
In February, two children of Frederick Faribault, residing in
an addition to the city of Faribault, while he was away from
home, were burned to death in the house, which was consumed, it
having caught or been set on fire, the other members of the fam-
ily escaping with difficulty, one or two of them being seriously
burned. The first quarterly returns of the Faribault postoffice foot-
ed up to $246 on letters alone. At the election for delegates to the
Constitutional Convention, the whole number of votes cast was
1,089. Mr. Tillotson was appointed receiver of the land office in
place of L. D. Smith, who had resigned. Business at the land office
for a single month, ending on June 19, 1857, was as follows: Acres
located, 118,178; with land warrants, 106,380; with cash, 11,798.
The taxable property in Faribault, returned on January 1, 1856,
was $613,364, and the tax assessed was $613.36, or one per cent.
The mail matter received and sent at the Faribault postoffice
in 1857 averaged from 1,800 to 2,000 pieces a week, which was
quite a jump from two pieces in 1853. Judge H. C. Lowell was
appointed register of the land office this year. A surveying party
on a projected line of railroad reached Faribault in June. During
the summer a plank road was built between Faribault and Cannon
City. In July, McCarn & Co. put on a new stage line to Hastings.
The first line was run by White, and afterward by Walker, the
great frontier stage driver. Clark and Weld got their saw mill
running in Faribault in July. The first Saturday in August the
bell of the Congregational church was hung in Faribault. It
weighed 1,000 pounds, and was claimed to be the first bell of
which there is a large family, west of the Mississippi. In 1875,
the grasshoppers came in the vicinity of the county, and excited
considerable curiosity, not unmingled with alarm. On September
15 a meeting was held in Faribault to organize a cemetery asso-
ciation. A. J. Tanner was the chairman ; E. P. Mills, William
Thoter, Charles Wood, R. A. Mott, E. D. Gifford, G. W. Balch,
Elder L. S. Pease, H. Riedell, Arch. Gibson, Charles Williams,
Thomas S. Buckham, and others, were interested in the
movement.
The first movement to establish an institution of learning
in Faribault was in September, by a committee consisting of
Rev. Solon W. Manney, Rev. E. Steele Peake. Messrs. Lloyd and
Breck. At this meeting Messrs. Dike, Mott, Faribault, Paquin.
and Boardman were designated to receive subscriptions of land
or money.
216 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
There was a robbery of the land office at Faribault, in Septem-
ber of warrants to the amount of $40,000. They were, however,
recovered, except four from the abstractor, Mason B. Clark, a
postmaster, who lived at Sacramento, a place sixty miles west
of Red Wing. The Catholic church at Faribault was burned on
October 8. The structure had cost about $1,000. Early in the
winter a literary association was organized at Faribault, Charles
Williams was the president, and the other officers were, H. E.
Barron, G. W. Jacobs, G. E. Cole, H. Chaffer, T. S. Buckham.
The meeting served to make the residents acquainted with each
other, and, to a certain extent, to reveal the mental calibre of
those who participated in the exercises. The estimated improve-
ments of the city of Faribault in 1857, amounted to $100,000.
1858. The leading men of the county early saw the necessity
of encouraging the cultivation of the best in all departments of
agriculture, and as early as January 22, 1858, met for the purpose
of organizing; and about the same time the young men of Fari-
bault organized a students' literary association, which served its
purpose in an admirable way. Faribault Mills, Warner & Buck-
hout, were burned on February 5, and in March Mr. Sentill's mill
in Faribault, was also burned. Soon after another mill burst a
boiler. Graham's mill at Faribault, was burned on February 22,
and also another on East Prairie, which was a serious loss to
the whole community as well as to the owners. Dr. Charles
Jewett, of Faribault really, although his farm was in Warsaw,
in the winter of 1858, went east and gave lyceum lectures on the
West, and Minnesota in particular, and also wrote numerous
articles showing the especial advantages of this location, which,
without doubt, was the direst means of keeping the stream of
emigration flowing in this direction, with a good class of citizens.
A ladies' Literary Association was organized in Faribault on
February 7. The officers were: President. Mrs. H. A. Pratt;
vice-president, Mrs. T. S. Buckham ; recording secretary, Ada
F. Miller; corresponding secretary, Nellie Mott ; treasurer, Mrs,
Hudson Wilson ; executive committee, E. Whitney, Mrs. George
B. Whipple, Mrs. A. F. Haven, and Mrs. J. H. Winter. On May
15, a meeting was held to see about organizing an Episcopal
University. A lodge of Good Templars was instituted at Fari-
bault on May 13, by Rev. Quigley, with twenty-seven charter
members. Messrs. Judd & Dike put up a barrel factory at
Faribault.
1859-1860. So far as is known, no Rice county newspapers
for these two years have been preserved.
1861. June 5, Alexander Faribault commenced operation-- en
a new flour mill on Straight river. The liberty pole in East
Prairieville halyards were cut, causing considerable excitement.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 217
June 12, a barrel factory started. July 3, a very large and brilliant
comet was noticed in the heavens to the west. The foundation
for the Batchelder building at Faribault was finished. July 4,
the celebration at Warsaw and a drill by the Warsaw company.
June 31, report received from the battle of Bull Run, stated that
Capt. Lewis McKune, privates Asia Miller, Merrick R. Patten,
Chauncey Squires and William Mires of Company G, First Minn.,
were killed. The fight took place July 21. August 7, citizens of
East Prairieville contributed $30.65 for the army hospital fund.
September 3, county union convention was held in Faribault.
Cromwell's foundry at Faribault was in full operation. Septem-
ber 27, the third annual fair of Rice county was held. October
10, the Warsaw rifles and the Freeborn county rangers passed
through Faribault on their way to Fort Snelling. October 17,
the Faribault Ladies' Aid Society organized. October 30, grocery
store opened in Faribault by Graham. December 18, Batchelder
block completed. December 25, Thayer and Russell sold the
Boston store to Deike, Gilmore, Judd and Brown.
1862. Leander Gagne, while at work on the roof of a church
at Faribault, on June 18, fell a distance of thirty feet, and was
instantly killed. The Baptist church at Faribault was built in
this year. The fourth of July was celebrated in Faribault in the
time-honored way, with Hon. James W. Taylor as the orator of
the day. On July 7, there was a violent storm in Faribault and
vicinity, doing great damage in its track. A daily mail was put
on between Owatonna and St. Paul, via Faribault, in the summer
of this year. The saw and grist mill of Morris & Melhorn, on
the Cannon river, was destroyed by fire on Wednesday morning,
November 26. This was the second mill burned there.
1863. Faribault had a tannery started by Mr. O'Brien. A
brewery also went up that year. The Fourth of July was duly
celebrated.
1864. The Congregational church at Faribault was com-
menced in the summer of this year. An Episcopal church was
completed at Faribault during the year. Early in the sixties,
ginseng, an aromatic tonic root, exported to China, and used by
the Orientals as a remedial preparation, began to be extensively
gathered, as it is found indigenous to certain localities here. Ten
dollars a day or more was often made by a single individual. On
February 23 a fatal accident happened to Charles Babcock, who
was caught in the mill of Dike & Co., at Faribault, and mangled
in such a manner that he died in a few days. The first national
bank was started in Faribault in May of 1864. When the cars
began running, in 1864, a new stage route to connect with the
trains was started by Burbank & Co., which reduced the staging
considerably.
218 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
1865. The census of Faribault was 2,339. Of these 1,216
were males, and 1,123 females. There were sixty-nine soldiers
in the service at that time. In 1860 the population was 1,520.
The Sisters of St. Clara Benton, five in number, arrived in Fari-
bault in August to establish a school. The Central Minnesota
Railroad got in operation as far as Northfield in September.
During the year 1865 sixty buildings went up in Faribault.
1866. In the winter of this year the demand for more and bet-
ter buildings was quite urgent. The Good Templars reorganized
at Faribault on January 22, with a good list of charter members
and capable officers. There was a legislative excursion to Fari-
bault in the fall. Governor Marshall and other state officers were
present. It was in the interest of the educational institutions.
In April a meeting was held to see about the establishment of
a Congregational college, which was subsequently located in
Northfield. The corner-stone of the Shattuck grammar school
at Faribault was laid with appropriate ceremonies on July 26.
The total number of farms under cultivation in Rice county was
1,200. Number of sheep, 16,947. St. Mary's Hall was opened at
Faribault, October 31.
1867. There were thirty-eight Sioux remaining in Faribault
in July, when they were removed to their reservation in Ne-
braska by Rev. S. D. Henderson, the agent for the purpose. The
amount of building in Faribault this year was $178,000.
1868. The Shattuck grammar school building, which was
erected in 1866, at Faribault, was burned on January 24. The
citizens had a meeting on January 24, to see about having a city
charter for Faribault. The chairman of the meeting was L.
Dearborn; the secretary, R. H. L. Jewett. A committee, con-
sisting of T. S. Buckham, Luke Nutting, George W. Batchelder,
Charles Wood and T. B. Clement, was appointed, to report at a
subsequent meeting. On January 3, the Minnesota Fruit Grow-
ers' Association met at Faribault. A Board of Trade was organ-
ized in August, at Faribault, with the following officers: Presi-
dent, T. B. Clement: vice-president, W. W. Knapp; treasurer,
Hudson Wilson; secretary, Thomas Mee ; corresponding secre-
tary, G. F. Batchelder; directors, D. O'Brien. W. II. Dike. Moses
Cole and others. The Shattuck school at Faribault was formally
reopened in October. The old school house in Faribault was sold
this year for $356, as there was no further public use for the
building. The new school house was completed in September,
at a cost of $23,190. The population of Faribault was Mated to
be 3.424.
1869. Rev. Dr. S. W. Manny, who was connected with the
Seabury mission, died. Lieut. John (.'. Whipple died February
5, 1869. lie was at Fort Ridgely at the time of the Indian mas-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 219
sacre. Lieutenant Whipple was born September 12, 1823, near
the corners of New York, Massachusetts and Vermont. When
quite young he went on a whaling voyage, and was treated with
such cruelty by his brutal captain that he ran away, and among
savages had many thrilling adventures. He was a first lieutenant
in the Thirtieth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, was a brave offi-
cer, and was buried with Masonic honors. About this time
Taope, a noted red man, started for the happy hunting grounds.
He was always friendly with the whites. A plow and agricul-
tural implement factory was started in Faribault this year. On
June 14, Fleckenstein's brewery was burned. The Cathedral of
Our Merciful Savior was dedicated on St. John's day, June 24.
W. A. Heinrich, at his ashery in Faribault, in 1869, made 19,000
pounds of potash. The value of agricultural implements sold in
Faribault in this year was $27,715. They consisted of 95 reapers,
47 horse rakes, 7 threshing machines, and 12 mowers. The Con-
gregational church at Faribault was dedicated on October 12. In
October of this year a Horticultural Society was formed.
1870. The German Catholic church at Faribault was opened
in January. The freight business done in Faribault during the
year 1869 was as follows : Wheat shipped, 69,492 bushels ; flour,
52,743 barrels; hogs, 398,660 pounds; total freight, 19,985,250
pounds. Early in February there was a destructive fire in Fari-
bault, destroying several buildings. D. Stevens, carpenter ; and
Smith, Mr. Sheeran, N. O. Winans, J. Berghlems, Rogers & Ste-
vens, and others were sufferers. Rev. Mr. Riddell, who was well
and favorably known here, died in Kansas in February. On June
28 the Shattuck boys had a regatta on Cannon lake. There were
four boats in the race, and they made the distance of two miles
as follows : Undine, 20 minutes, 14 seconds ; Red Bird, 20 min-
utes, 24 seconds; Rover, 20 minutes, 36 seconds; Ariel, 20 min-
utes, 56 seconds. A flag was presented to the winning crew by
Emily Du Bois. In the evening there was a supper with the
usual accessories. A Minneapolis boat club afterwards sent a
challenge, but as no suitable boat could be procured, no contest
was had with that club. The census for Faribault in 1870 was
4,371.
1871. The second regatta was on Thursday, June 8, 1871, at
Cannon lake. The contest was between the Shattuck school, the
St. Paul and the Tritonio Club, of the University. During the
progress of the race the University boat filled and went under.
The other boats stopped to rescue the floundering oarsmen, and
then the St. Paul crew pulled in and were declared the winners.
Since that time boating has not been a specialty with the Shat-
tuck Cadets. In May the old Van Brunt store was removed from
the corner of Main and Third streets to the south side of Third,
220 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
in the rear of the First National Bank at Faribault. This build-
ing was put up by Vant Brunt and Misener in 1855, the lumber
having been brought from Red Wing. A Turners' Society was
organized at Faribault August 10, with the following corps of
officers: President, C. E. Brandt; vice-president, A. Mueller;
treasurer, F. A. Theopold; secretary, W. Hendrick; instructors,
Newsal and Herbst; superintendent, Mr. Kraft. Building im-
provements in 1871, in the city of Faribault, amounted to
$176,576.
1872. Hon. George W. Tower, the first mayor, was inaugu-
rated on April 9. Dr. and Mrs. Hollis Howe celebrated the fif-
tieth anniversary of their wedding, at Faribault, this year. The
Memorial Chapel of the Good Shepherd, at Faribault, was dedi-
cated, and assigned to the use of the Shattuck school on Septem-
ber 24. Hill's furniture factory at Faribault was burned on
November 22, involving a loss of $25,000. Seabury Hall at Fari-
bault was destroyed by fire on November 28, entailing a loss of
$20,000.
1873. The Faribault fire department was thoroughly reor-
ganized on January 1, 1873. The steam fire engine arrived on
February 7, after being sixty days on the road. E. X. Leavens
was appointed postmaster at Faribault in the spring of this }car.
Quite a serious fire took place on April 10, at Faribault. The
losses sustained were by Tuttle & Barnard, a meat market; Spo
& Dappings, J. McCutcheon, George M. Gilmore, J. Stocklein,
and a few others. The expense of this conflagration was about
$6,000. In November, H. E. Barron had a reunion of his old
friends at his hotel at Faribault. He came to Faribault in 1855,
and built and started the Barron House, with E. N. Leas-ens as
clerk. S. J. Jaques died on December 22, in Philadelphia, of
typhoid fever. He was a promising citizen of Faribault, and
was in the real estate and insurance business with II. \Y. Barry,
and was succeeded by J. D. Green. He was secretary of the
Board of Trade, and interested in other public enterprises. The
Faribault Driving Park was opened on July 24, under the pat-
ronage of the Cannon Valley Agricultural ami .Mechanical Asso-
ciation.
1874. The Scandinavian Literary Society was organized on
February 13. in Faribault. A constitution and by-laws were
adopted, and officers elected, as follows: President, II. A. Lar-
son; vice-president. ( ). L. llaniery; treasurer, A. T. Brondo-
vold; secretary, J, J. Schey ; assistant secretary, M. J. Holmen.
In February a catamount weighing thirty-six pounds was shot
within a few miles of Faribault. Presumably he was one of the
last of his race in this section. Major Dike's house at Faribault
was tunned on May 14, ( m Sunday, \.ugus1 2, an insane student
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 221
of the Divinity School at Faribault, attempted to shoot Bishop
Whipple. He started from the audience and walked into the
chancel, where he raised a pistol to shoot the bishop, but he had
forgotten to cock the weapon, and his arm was seized ; others
interfering, he was secured and subsequently sent to St. Peter.
The Church of the Immaculate Conception, in Faribault, was
consecrated on October 9, with imposing rites. A Building and
Loan Association at Faribault was organized. C. W. Andrews
was president.
1876. On February 22, the Masonic Hall at Faribault was
dedicated with suitable exercises. William A. Shaw, of the firm
of Carpenter, Smith & Shaw, clothing dealers, died at Faribault
on March 11. He was a native of Seneca Falls, N. Y., and came
here in 1857. He left a widow and one child. A veteran reunion
of the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry occurred in Faribault
on June 15. An address of welcome was presented by Mayor
Nutting. H. C. Whitney was the president of the Veteran Asso-
ciation. The Grange Mill at Faribault was burned November
8, entailing a loss of $10,000. The new engine house in Faribault
was built in this year, at a cost of $7,300. The flouring mill of
Bean Brothers & Tennant, on the Cannon river, a mile and three-
fourths from Faribault, was burned December 8, at a loss of
$25,000.
1878. At the spring election of 1878, the question of "license"
or "no license" for the sale of intoxicating beverages was sharply
contested at the polls in Faribault, and the "no license" party
succeeded in obtaining a majority on the direct question, but
the other side elected their candidates for the several offices,
which proved to be a distressing state of affairs. The telephone
reached Faribault in the spring. A golden wedding on May 17
was a notable affair, the happy couple being Rev. and Mrs. J.
Hoover. The Board of Trade was reorganized at Faribault on
June 24. The most disastrous fire that ever happened in Fari-
bault was on June 17 of this year. Almost an entire square was
consumed, including two banks and ten stores ; the losses were
estimated at $125,000, and embraced a lost list of sufferers.
1879. A company to erect and operate an amber cane sugar
refinery was organized in Faribault in 1879, with a capital of
$9,000. S. H. Kenney, John Mullin and I. B. Spencer were the
officers. A windmill company was organized at Faribault in this
year.
CHAPTER XI.
CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS.
Incidents in the Life of the County from 1880 to 1910 — Fires,
Deaths, Marriages, Organizations, Churches, Crimes and
Other Happenings in the Daily Routine of Rice County
Progress — Culled from the Newspaper Files.
In this chapter are recorded the principal events in the his-
tory of Rice county from 1880 to June, 1910. Doubtless many
incidents of importance have been omitted, but the reader will
find in this chapter thousands of items which are worthy of being
preserved in this form, and which at the time of their happening
occupied the attention of the people of the county. The nearly
sixty years of Rice county's occupation by white settlers may
properly be divided into two periods, the period from 1853 to
1880, and the modern period from 1880 to the present time.
1880. The silver wedding of Capt. and Mrs. E. H. Cutts
was celebrated on January 8. In the summer of 1880 a stone
manufactory was added to the industries of Faribault. The rail-
road business in Faribault during this year was as follows :
Freight forwarded, 32,305,222 pounds; local charges, $85,516;
freight received, 19,316,901 pounds; local charges, $48,364 ; ticket
sales, $24,667. Births in Faribault, 772; deaths, 340; showing
a natural increase of 432. May 5, the gas works at Faribault
were struck by lightning, destroying the naphtha tank house,
with about 1,000 gallons of naphtha, and damaging the gas-
holder house, the total loss being about $4,000. Soon afterwards
a second storm visited the city', tearing down chimneys, killing
stock, uprooting barns and doing other damage. May 17, fire at
Faribault destroyed a house on Eighth and Maple streets, owned
by James Brennan ; damage, about $1,000. May 18, J. E. Sher-
man was sentenced to six years in the state prison for robbing
George Sexton, of Faribault, December 1, 1878. May 26, Robert
Scott, son of J. G. Scott, shot a gray eagle, measuring six feet
six and one-half inches from tip to tip. May 26, thus far this
year, seventeen wolves had been killed in Rice county. A. L.
Wright, five in Cannon City; Frank Collins, five in Warsaw,
and Geo. W. Donaldson, seven in Morristown. May 20, a build-
ing situated at the corner of Main and Fourth streets caved in,
narrowly escaping injuring its inmates. May 19, the Congrega-
222
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 223
tional church at Northfield and barns owned by O. L. Listner
and H. H. White were destroyed by fire. The Faribault fire
department assisted in subduing the flames. May 26, the an-
nouncement was made of the appointment of the following cen-
sus enumerators for Rice county: Wheatland, J. M. Henderson;
Webster, E. C. Knowles; Erin, Patrick McEntee; Forest, C. O.
Peirsons; Bridgewater, Jesse C. Wilson; Northfield township,
John M. Watts; Northfield village, D. F. Kelly; Shieldsville,
Frank E. Kenney ; Wells, C. T. Winans ; Cannon City, W. B.
Lyons; Wheeling, A. B. Hill; Morristown, B. Hopkins; War-
saw, E. Hollister; Walcott, John H. Petteys; Richland, Sol
Schmidt; Faribault, Joseph C. Mold, William Close, I. G. Beau-
mont, L. A. Fish. June 2, Rev. J. J. Sleven, from Shakopee, suc-
ceeded Father Robert, of the Catholic church in Shieldsville.
May 27, Frederick Meyers and two daughters, of Richland, when
returning from Faribault, were thrown from the wagon at Pond's
quarry, and seriously injured. May 27, George Black, a cadet
of Shattuck school, was drowned in Straight river, while bathing.
June 1, George Tanner, of Omaha, and Adelaide Millspaugh were
married at the cathedral at Faribault. June 2, A. J. Beebee and
M. A. Hathaway purchased the Arlington at Faribault, for
$9,750, and enlarged it. June 3, Wm. H. Wheeler and Harriet
Wheeler were united in marriage at the cathedral in Faribault.
June 5, the house owned by the Sisters, near the Catholic church
in Faribault, and occupied by T. J. Conlin and N. W. Blood,
was struck by lightning. Mrs. Conlin and a girl were badly
shocked. June 3, heavy storms of wind, hail and rain did great
damage, washing out culverts, bridges and roads, and lasting
three days. June 11, Edgar Denny, of Morristown, was sen-
tenced to four years in Stillwater and a fine of $500 for passing
counterfeit money. June 10, lightning struck the school house
of District No. 61 of Wheeling. June 23, P. P. Kinsey opened a
dry goods store in Northfield. June 30, the trustees of the Meth-
odist Episcopal church at Faribault let the contract for finishing
the church building. The census returns of Faribault were :
First ward, 1,632; Second, 1,379; Third, 1,153; Fourth, 1,264;
total, 5,428. June 23, a waterspout was witnessed at Northfield.
June 24, the Grand Commandery of the Knights Templar of
Minnesota met in Faribault. Census report of Northfield, 2,300.
Census of Rice county : Wheatland, 1,464; Wheeling, 917; Wal-
cott, 825 ; Cannon City, 1,182; Bridgewater, 1,683; Shieldsville,
766; Morristown, 1,424; Northfield city, 2,299; Northfield town,
909; Forest 853; Warsaw, 1,019; Webster, 871 ; Wells, 1,029;
Erin, 822; Richland, 957. Rice county, total, 22,384. Gain of
36 per cent. June 29, Cochran's flour mill, near Dundas, was
struck by lightning and burned. July 10, W. H. Norton, cashier
224 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
of Citizens' Bank of Northfield, died. July 17, Jacob Gooden,
Theodore Hirder and John Meihl overturned a boat in Circle
lake. Gooden was drowned ; age seventeen. August 4, Godfrey
Fleckenstein erected addition to brewery at Faribault, costing
$5,000. August 25, M. B. Sheffield purchased the Walcott mill
for his son, B. B. Sheffield. August 19, Faribault Guards mus-
tered out of service. August 23, Barney Weitchers accidentally
shot while hunting on East Prairie. He was a member of the
fire department. September 1, 200 bushels of wheat owned by
Joseph Diffinant. of Erin, burned. August 23. Ferris Webster,
an old settler, and after whom the town of Webster was named,
died from blood poisoning, seventy-eight years of age. August
29, home of E. E. Stanley of Bridgewater, burned. Total loss,
and family barely escaped through a window. The books and
records of school district No. 22 were also lost. September 22,
postoffice at Cannon City discontinued. September 17, Frank
Pratt, William Whipple and Ole Moklebust fell from a scaffold
in the Catholic church in Faribault and were severely injured.
September 24, Polar Star Cooper Shop at Faribault burned ; loss,
$700. Stock owned by Messrs. Bean & Tennant, lessees. Octo-
ber 6, D. J. Phelps opened a dental office in Faribault. October
6, Mueller & Witte opened a hardware store at Faribault. Harry
Hill and S. I. Pettitt opened a grocery store at Faribault. Octo-
ber 1, Major Dike was assaulted at Faribault by David Collison.
Collison was fined $25 and costs by Justice Hunter. October 6,
7 and 8, Rice county fair was held at Faribault. Hon. Gordon
E. Cole made the address. October 23, Policeman O'Brien, of
Faribault, had a narrow escape from death from a revolver which
fell from his pocket and exploded. October 27, H. S. Gipson and
J. H. Case formed a law partnership at Faribault. October 19,
Richard Newell, of Morristown village, was knocked by a pole
from a load of wood and killed. November 3, work commenced
on the new bridge over Fall creek at Pond's quarry. The work
of veneering the Methodist Episcopal church at Faribault was
finished. October 29. the Matteson flour mill at Faribault
was destroyed by fire. The origin of the fire was not known.
The loss was estimated to be $23,000. The insurance on
the building was $18,500. There was a small fire at the
Barron House; the loss was about $200. November 10. Capt.
R. H. L. Jewett received a consignment of young carp from
the government to stock tin- lakes. November 5. John Dud-
ley escaped from the county jail at Faribault. October 30,
Edward Riley, an old settler of Webster, dropped dead in
Northfield. November 15. the Faribault House, on Second street,
was burned to the ground. November 17. Rice county school:
Children in the public schools at Faribault, 1.0S5: children in all
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 225
schools of Faribault, 1,667; children in public schools of North-
field, 619; Dundas, 204. Total enrollment of scholars in the
public schools of Rice county, 5,796. Total number of children
in all the schools of Rice county, 6,612. Total number of teachers
employed during the winter terms, 133; during summer, 104.
Average wages, males, $32.41 ; females, $25.30. Total number
of school buildings in the county, 77 frame, 18 brick, 6 stone, 9
log. "Value of school buildings and sites, $117,940. Number of
private schools in the count}', 10. November 17, the new build-
ing of the Arlington Hotel was opened at Faribault. It fronted
fifty-six feet on Main street, was of brick, and was three stories
high. November 24, the dam at the Walcott mill had been
rebuilt and strengthened at a cost of $1,000. The mill turned out
an average of 100 barrels of flour a day. November 23, Michael
Moran was sentenced to eighteen months in Stillwater for horse
stealing. A new flume was put into the old mill on the island
at Dundas. December 1, the First National Bank at Faribault
paid out $40,000 in gold during the week on wheat checks. De-
cember 8, the number of pieces of first-class mail handled by
the postoffice at Faribault during the past year was 7,500. De-
cember 1, Lewis Cooper was robbed on the Second street bridge
at Faribault by three men. December 3, J. G. Spenser was stopped
on the same bridge by two persons. He called for help, and Offi-
cers O'Brien and Shepherd came, but the men got away. Decem-
ber 8, the mill of J. D. Green & Co., on Straight river, which was
closed for repairs and improvements, was opened with the capac-
ity of 220 barrels. December 22, Pettitt & Hill's new building
was one of the finest in the city. It was seventy-five feet long
and very wide. December 29, the postoffice at Cannon City was
re-established under the name of Dean, with W. T. Keickenapp
as postmaster. Census Bulletin No. 76 gave the following report
for Rice county: Population, 22,480; number of males, 11,673;
females, 10,807; native born, 15,691; foreign, 6,789; Chinese, 1;
Japanese, 1 ; Indians, 53. December 16, E. N. Cook, of Dundas,
caught a large gray wolf. December 29, Phippen & Newell
opened a new saw mill at Dundas.
1881. January 5, M. B. Sheffield purchased the Brandt and
Sheffield brewery at Faribault for $11,000. January 4, a new bell
was put in the Congregational church at Morristown. January
3, fire broke out in the "99 cent" store, which adjoined the
Masonic block at Faribault, and endangered both buildings, the
fire spreading to the "Democrat" office. The loss was estimated
about $4,500. January 11, the big Diamond mill of Morristown
was closed for the purpose of installing new machinery. January
18, a brass band was organized in Morristown, January 26, Rice
County Clerk of the Court issued the following records of
2-36 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
1880. Number of civil cases, 284; criminal, 28. Number of cases
tried: civil, 62; criminal, 28; divorces granted, 16; number natur-
alized, 165; marriage licenses issued, 193. January 26, the
Brandt brewery property at Faribault was sold to the Gustavis
Siebold and A. W. Mueller for $16,000. The clerk of the court
issued the following record of births and deaths: Births, male,
368; female, 404; total, 772. Deaths, male, 163; female, 177; total,
340. February 2, a petition was presented to the legislature to
set off that part of Cannon City lying west of the Cannon river
to the town of Wells. The ice at Roberds lake is reported
thirty-seven inches thick. The Scott mill at Faribault is being re-
fitted with new machinery. Father Van Leent, who recently
arrived at Faribault, has charge of the French and German
Catholic churches. D. I Phelps purchased the dental business of
F. C. Bogart, of Faribault. John L. Cole opened an implement
store in Faribault and in Northfield. A number of young men
fitted up a gymnasium in Wheaton's hall at Northfield. Febru-
ary 4, the C. M. & St. P. passenger train was snowed in four
miles south of Faribault for sixty-four hours. This was during
the great snow storm that visited this section. Snow was
drifted in the streets of Faribault six and eight feet deep. Feb-
ruary 9, a Harmonica Singing society was formed at Faribault.
February 16, D. D. Lloyd purchased the grocery stock of F.
Nutting, of Faribault. February 23, W. X. Cosgrove, of Fari-
bault, invented a concentrated roller mill, which was installed in
the Polar Star mill at Faribault. March 2, J. Deutsh of Fari-
bault, closed out his dry goods store at auction. Officers O'Brien
and Sheridan received state bounty of $200 for the arrest of "Big
Mike," the horse thief. J. G. Scott leased his flour mill at Roberds
lake to Gutzler & Company, who repaired same. New mail route
between Faribault and Rochester established. Trips made tri-
weekly. March 16, E. N. Levens reappointed postmaster at
Faribault. March IS. Mr. anil Mrs. A. B. Sexton of Walcott,
celebrated their golden wedding. April 3, Rev. Edmond Gale
took charge of the Congregational church at Faribault. March
27, Abner Beardsly died at Walcott, age 88, one of the old settlers.
April 19, the residence of Samuel Hawkins of Cannon City was
burned and Mr. Hawkins lost his life in trying to save his
property. April 27, Mr. K. M. Evans purchased the Oleson
block in Faribault, and tilted same up as hotel and opened same
as the Ogden house. May 4, county jail at Faribault improved.
April 28, home of E. O. Dennison, town of Walcott. burned to
ground. May 9, August Fischer was thrown in front of a drag
and died from injuries received. May 1(>, Faribault Gas Company
commenced work of changing their wooden mains to iron ones.
May 13, following were examined and admitted to the bar: J. A.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 227
Sawyer, Owatonna; A. J. Wolf, Lyman D. Baird, Ed. H. Loy-
hed, L. A. Kedney, J. F. Maloney, of Faribault. May 20, an at-
tempt made to rob John Mullen on Maple street, Faribault, by
three men. June 9, Faribault elevator burned with 40,000 bu.
of wheat. The Faribault Wind Mill Company was also en-
dangered, but prompt work by the department, prevented any
damage. The loss on the elevator was $65,000. The insurance
on wheat $27,000. The elevator was constructed in 1865. Was
the largest on the line of the railroad. Had four elevators.
Capacity of 100,000 bushels. Prof. J. J. Dow had been promoted
to superintendency of the Blind, and Dr. G. H. Knight to that of
the Imbeciles and Idiotic. June 8, a storm passed over the county
and did serious damage by rain, hail and lightning. Several
houses were struck, roads washed out, crops damaged to some
extent by hail. June 16, residence of Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Theo-
pold at Faribault, opened. June 21, fire broke out in Blogetts
Lumber yard Faribault, destroying all dressed lumber. June 16,
Cap. Isaac Hamilton died in Wells town, he was a member of
company F. 10th Minnesota. After the war he engaged in farm-
ing, and was also in the grocery business in Faribault from 1875
to 1879. June 28, Faribault guards reorganized, with James
Hunter captain. June 30, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Crossett cele-
brated their golden wedding. July 4, the old settlers' picnic was
held at Roberds lake. Speeches were made by F. W. Frink, of
Faribault, and M. W. Skinner, of Northfield, G. W. Batchelder
and R. A. Mott, of Faribault, and others. July 5, Charles Vander-
voort captured a wildcat and five kittens at Dundas. July 6,
a comet in the northern sky created some excitement among the
residents of Rice county. July 9, a trial of the new self-binders
took place at the Cannon Lake House. July 3, five persons were
severely injured and narrowly escaped death by being struck by
the train at the crossing south of the Charles Shields' farm.
July 13, contract was awarded for the building of the school
house at Shieldsville village. July 5, A. Retcloff, a baker at Fari-
bault, fell down stairs and sustained injuries from which he died.
July 13, the city of Faribault issued 235 dog tax licenses under the
new rule. July 10, six persons were found guilty of assault and
battery upon John and Andrew Adney in Wheatland, were fined
by Justice Byrnes. County attorney Perkins appeared for the
state. M. H. Keeley appeared for the defense. July 10, Mr. and
Mrs. T. H. Loyhed celebrated their silver wedding. Gaydory's
band furnished the music. June 30, Peter Roth and Katie
Weaver were united in marriage. July 30, a mail route had been
estabished from Richland to Kenyon. Mail was carried once a
week. D. D. Lloyd sold his grocery, in Faribault, to T. B. Gay-
lord. There was a salt famine in Faribault, the entire supply in
228 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the city run out. A number of calves on the farm of F. Z. Sher-
wood, of Faribault, were killed by a pack of dogs. July 15, Rev.
II. Schultz took charge of the German Lutheran church of Fari-
bault. July 21, Chinch bugs have done much damage through
Rice county. July 21, there was an attempt made to burn the
Arlington House at Faribault. July 27, tramps caused much
trouble around Northfield. August 10, a young man by the name
of Lambert was chloroformed and robbed in Faribault. August
16, Samuel Crossett died at his home in Faribault, at the age of
eighty-five. He was the oldest Knight Templar in the state.
August 12, a Chinaman, who ran a laundry in Faribault, was
assaulted and robbed by William Burke. August 23, the Barron
House barn, at Faribault, burned. Dr. Dalmore, a veterinary
surgeon lost all his effects. Two horses were burned in the barn.
September 27, a number of horses were stolen in Faribault. Offi-
cers Dunham and Sheridan were sent in pursuit of the thieves.
September 28, Shceran and Fuller bottling works, at Faribault,
were enlarged and moved to the east side of Straight river op-
posite the Fleckenstcin brewery. September 24, special me-
morial services held in Faribault, in memory of President Gar-
field. October 5, a drug store was opened in Faribault by Ulrich
Hayerdahl. October 19, new bridges were put up in Faribault,
over the Babcock creek on Front and Fourth street. November
2, Hon. H. A. Scandrett resigned from the office of judge of
probate. John Mullein was appointed, by Governor Pillsbury, to
fill the vacancy. November 9, wolves were giving the farmers
around Morristown considerable trouble by killing sheep. No-
vember 16, signs were put up on the corners of the streets in
Faribault, giving the names of the streets. November 17, Nor-
wegian church dedicated in Northfield. November 23, the new
bridge over Straight river on Eighth street Faribault, completed.
November 21, George Dandelet and Katie Nolan were united in
marriage at Richland. December 1, a new boiler had been in-
stalled at Green's mill at Faribault. November 30, A. B. Stickncy
looked over the grounds for building the Cannon Valley railroad.
December 7, Dr. S. T. Clemenl opened a dental office in Fari-
bault. November 19, D. 1'. Smith dissolved partnership with
J. A. Winter in the grocery business at Faribault, L. Hauley tak-
ing his place. December i4, a large deer was killed in Erin.
Adam Knopf killed a monstrous prairie wolf at \\ heeling. A
new building erected by R. A. Mott, in Faribault, was completed.
December 28, the Baptist church at Faribault celebrated its
twenty-fifth anniversary. December 25. the new Congregational
church at Northfield was dedicated. December 1. Prof. \\ M
West and Millie Mott were married.
1882. January 1. tin- Faribault .Millers Association elevi
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 229
was completed. January 11, H. P. Sime resigned his position as
chief of the Faribault fire department. January 7, fire broke out
in the Post building in Faribault, which threatened a number of
stores. January 20, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Winter celebrated their
silver wedding. February 14, Harry E. Eastling, of Walcott, had
a fight with two wildcats which he finally killed. February 16,
the old settlers held a reunion at Northfield. February 12, the
Presbyterian church at Forest was abandoned after being in use
over a quarter of a century. March 1, Cavannaugh & Co. pur-
chased the N. W. Blood woolen mill in Faribault. March 8, Case
& Gipson, law firm of Faribault, dissolved. March 1, the original
building of the deaf institute at Faribault, was partially destroyed
by fire. It was used by M. McMahon as a wagon shop. The
building was erected by Major Fowler in 1859 and was used as
the deaf institute from 1863 to 1869. March 6, fire broke out in
the Case block in Faribault. The building was used for saloon
purposes by Fred Bartlet. From there the fire spread to R. J.
Lieb's shoe store and also endangered the store of J. B. Wheeler
on the opposite side of Second street. The store was one of the
old land marks. It was erected by George W. Tower in 1856.
March 3, the town of Dundas was the scene of a general drunken
riot. Much damage was done by the rioters. March 8, B. J.
Sheridan, of the Faribault police force, resigned. March 12,
Thomas Lombard, the first settler of the town of Wheatland,
died, age fifty-eight years. He took his claim in 1855 after immi-
grating from Canada. March 14, Charles A. Wheaton, senior
editor publisher of the Rice County Journal, died at Northfield
He was seventy-three years of age. March 18, Hon. Luke Hullet
died at Faribault, age seventy-nine years. He was a resident of
Faribault from May 14, 1853, and was a member of the legis-
lature of 1859-60. He was elected president of the old settlers'
association in 1874 and remained as such to the time of his death.
March 16, the Barron house at Faribault was burned, loss $34,000.
The buildings near the Barron house were also burned ; they were
occupied by Hummell's photograph gallery and Thompson's
candy store. The original part of the Barron house was built
1856, was enlarged a few years later and in 1869 enlarged by
a three-story building at a cost of $17,000. The business portion
of the town was threatened and word was sent to Northfield and
Owatonna fire departments for aid. When the fire was under
control this was countermanded. March 10, the pupils of the
Feeble-minded School were moved into the new building pro-
vided for them on the bluffs at Faribault. The building was
44x80 with a tower projection of 12x14 on the west and was four
stories, including the basement. The mason work was done by
Thomas McCall & Company and the wood work by Ruggles &
230 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Kingsley, the painting was done by Shipman & Arney. April 5,
the firm of Scandrett & Jewett was changed to Weston & Jewett.
April 12, Second street was macadamized from Chestnut to Maple
street. April 12, the Faribault Driving Park Club organized.
James Hunter was elected president and William Mee secretary.
May 2, work was commenced on the Cannon Valley railroad by
a corps of engineers.
The city recorder's office removed from the express office
building to the room over T. H. Loyhed's hardware store. May
17, 1882, A. Bettingen sold his store at Faribault to A. L. Hill.
May 20, 5,000 salmon and 5,000 trout were placed in Cedar lake.
June 3, Edward A. Foster was shot and killed by John Donald-
son in the cooper shop at Faribault. June 18, cornerstone laid
at St. Mary's hall. July 5; Second street of Faribault is now
lighted with gas to the depot. July 4, a beautiful sword pre-
sented to Captain Hunter by the Faribault Guards. July 4, Capt.
Benjamin Lockerby died at his home in Northfield, aged seventy-
nine years. He settled in Bridgewater in 1855. July 10, Patrick
Hanlon died at Shieldsville. He settled there in 1856. August
6, the house and barn of S. Barrager of Bridgewater burned, in-
cluding five horses. August 23, Rev. C. Genis, of the Immacu-
late Conception church, removed from Faribault. Father
O'Gorman took his place. September 20, R. J. Lieb's shoe store
at Faribault opened at Faribault. October 20, train service
opened on Cannon Valley road. October 7, the Gavin school-
house in District 84, in Shieldsville, burned. November 28, Alex-
ander Faribault died. November 23, the Donaldson-Foster trial
commenced. The verdict of not guilty was rendered. December
1, funeral of Alexander Faribault. December 13, the North-
western telephone exchange was put into operation, forty sub-
scribers having been secured. December 12, fire broke out in
Faribault, destroying three store buildings. December 27,
Messrs. Partridge & Van Eaton have opened a meat market on
Fourth street.
1883. January 2, Chief of Police Shipley of Faribault shot by
Lewis M. Sage. January 19, Chief Shipley died. January 12,
William Delaney appointed chief. January 12-13, heavy snow
storm and blizzard passed over county, blocking the roads and
doing much damage to traffic on the railroads. January 19, Mrs.
Dike's millinery store, C. P. Pike's tailor shop and Philip John-
son's drug store in Faribault burned. February 7. the first train
on the Cannon Valley road going east in two weeks passed
through. February 5, City Justice O. M. Meade of Northfield
shot. February 1. old settlers' reunion held at Kyllo's hall at
Faribault; temperature 40 below. February 16, bill to incor-
porate the village of Morristown was introduced in the senate
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 231
and passed under a suspension of rules. February 24, S. P.
Stewart of Northfield died. March 2, home of J. W. Kollmann of
Faribault burned. March 21, new vault installed in the office of
the judge of probate in the county courthouse at Faribault.
March 28, the steam flouring and saw mill of Fabre & Co., at
Cody's Lake, Wheatland, was destroyed by fire. April 11, the
Brunswick hotel at Fariabult opened. The hotel is erected upon
the former site of the Barron house. It is three stories in height ;
leased for five years by Townsend & Patrick. May 3, L. M.
Sage indicted for murder in the second degree by the grand
jury. May 9, L. M. Sage convicted of manslaughter in the
fourth degree and sentenced by Judge Buckham to four years
in Stillwater. June 6, within the past month the county auditor
paid $151 to D. Davis bounty for 29 wolf scalps and $116 to
George Konkle for 20 scalps. June 4, the common council of
Faribault passed the ordinance authorizing the construction of
the Faribault water works, to be completed not later than Janu-
ary 1, 1884. June 10, remains of Major Michael Cook removed
from the cemetery east of Straight river and interred in Oak
Ridge, with full military honors. June 15, Col. H. B. Mcllvaine
of Faribault died. June 27, report on the amount invested in
building in the city of Faribault for 1882 shows $162,815. July
18, the fair grounds at Faribault purchased by prominent citizens
to be used for county fairs, etc. July 11, a storm causing much
damage to crops passed over the county. July 18, fire destroyed
Walter Morris' store, Masonic hall and postoffice at Morristown.
August 7, Hon. J. J. Byrnes died, aged thirty years. He was
prominent in the city of Faribault, having held several city
offices. August 29, Healy Bros.' business block finished in Fari-
bault. September 2, M. E. church in Faribault dedicated. Sep-
tember 4, W. E. Blodgett and Harriet Hudson married. Septem-
ber 20, the new St. Mary's school building opened. September
26, N. A. Coggswell, William Thayer and William Durrin erected
a saw mill in the town of Erin. September 28, Hon. H. A. Scan-
dett of Faribault died, aged forty years. He served in the Civil
War and was prominent in politics in the county, having held
several prominent offices. October 7, John Meyers, an old
settler, died at his home in Walcott ; homesteaded in 1854. No-
vember 14, John B. Westervelt and O. W. Ball purchased the
Faribault carriage works. November 6, Jan Nilson Bjorkbek
was killed by James McCall, Michael O'Reilly, Godfrey Ward
and Geo. W. Cavanaugh in Faribault. November 11, the Ger-
man Lutheran school dedicated in Faribault. November 21,
James McCall, G. W. Cavanaugh, M. O'Reilly and Godfrey Ward
indicted for murder in the first degree. December 5, new pipe
organ installed in the Congregational church of Faribault.
232 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
November 22, J. Buck, aged seventy-four, died, an old settler of
Morristown. December 4, M. N. Pond shot by Mrs. George
Schwartz of Faribault. December 4, Dr. L. W. Dennison of
Faribault died, aged sixty-four; came to Faribault in 1855; mem-
ber of legislature 1877; reelected in 1878; county commissioner
1875-79, serving as chairman of the board. December 26, the
bridge over the ravine road at Faribault completed. The post-
office at Wheeling ordered changed to three miles northeast of
the old location ; George Knoph appointed postmaster.
1884. January 20, E. G. Hathaway died, aged sixty-seven ;
settled in Wells town, near Roeberds lake, 1855 ; moved to East
Prairie in 1865. January 20, Rev. T. C. Stringer resigned from
charge of the M. E. church at Faribault. January 22, Hon. Caleb
Clossen died, aged eighty-four, in Hartford, Todd county, Minne-
sota. Settled at Cannon City in 1855. Served in the legislature
in 1862. Removed from Rice county in 1872. January 25,
August Deman died in Lester, township of Forest. Settled in
Rice county, 1855. Greatly interested in bee culture. February
7-8, seventh annual meeting of the State Dairymen's Association,
held at Faribault. February 14, the old settlers held a meeting
at Lockwood's hall at Northfield. February 27, fire destroyed
the stores of T. J. McCarthy, Glaser's meat market and Holm-
quist's greenhouse in Faribault. March 7, John Tenny died at
Faribault, aged sixty-three. Came to Faribault in 1861, member
of the firm of Russell, Thayer & Co., in the old Boston Store,
later with T. B. Clement in the grocery business. Was in the
old LaCroix mills afterwards, at Warsaw and Roeberds Lake;
was also in business at Dundas. Acted as agent in securing the
right of way for the Cannon Valley road. March 8, L. Theil-
man's dwelling and C. Paul's house destroyed by fire at Fari-
bault. March 9, fire destroyed the store and saloon of M. P.
Holman and feed store of A. W. Tenny at Faribault. April 6,
Capt. D. D. Lloyd died at Faribault, aged fifty-nine. Served in
the Mexican War. Was member of the cavalry troop that wenl
from Faribault against the Indians in 1862. April 16, the foun-
tain purchased for the city park at Faribault. April 20, Elisha
Godfrey died, aged seventy-five, at his home in Bridgewater.
Settled in Rice county in 1855. Stephen G. Flanders died, aged
sixty-four, at Faribault. Member of Co. B, 8th Minn. Vol. Inf.
April 18, Anthony Hubert of Wheatland died. Veteran of War
of 1812. April 27, the tower of the Episcopal church at Warsaw
blown down and completely wrecked. May 21. Mrs. Swartz
sentenced to tun years in state prison. July 24. body of an un-
known man found in Straight river at Faribault, thought to have
been a murder. August 14, Samuel Lougee died at Minneapolis.
Settled in Rice county i" 1857: removed in 1869. August 21-22,
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 233
firemen's tournament held in Faribault. Fire departments from
principal cities of Minnesota took part. Faribault won the prize.
September 15, Michael Cook Post, No. 123, G. A. R., organized
in Faribault; A. E. Haven, Com.; John Hutchinson, S. V. C.J
J. J. Van Saun, J. V. C. ; J. R. Parshall, O. D.; J. Walrod, O. G.;
E. N. Leavens, Q. M.; J. J. Dow, Chap.; J. W. Daniels, Surg.;
James Hunter, Adj. September 30, Mrs. Marthilda Hullet died,
aged seventy-one years. October 1, the house and hall of Dan
Scott burned to the ground in the town of Morristown. October
15, the Allen house in Faribault was reopened under the name of
the Commercial hotel by Mr. Creiman. December 2, final test of
the waterworks system of Faribault made. December 31, reso-
lution passed by the common council of Faribault approving the
water works.
1885. February 2, Stockleins Bros, open a store in Faribault.
February 13, Abidan Bailley died in Warsaw, resident since 1869;
aged eighty-three. March 4, State Dairymen's Association met in
Faribault. March 13, "Rice County Journal" and the "Northfield
News" consolidate. April 8, Isaac Plummer died, aged seventy-
eight; resident of Faribault from 1858. April 21, C. M. Mills-
paugh died, aged sixty-seven; came to Faribault in 1857. April
29, the Dakota Roller Mills started in Faribault, L. H. Grieser &
Co., proprietors. April 22, F. W. Winter & Co. purchase the
Faribault Windmill Works. May 3, cheese factory in Northfield
started up. June 1, G. N. Baxter, J. L. Townley and Noel Gale
form law partnership in Faribault. May 31, J. R. Parshall ap-
pointed postmaster at Faribault. June 5, the body of Lorenzo
Jackson found in Cannon lake. He was sixty-six years old; set-
tled in Rice county at Cannon City in 1856; in Faribault, 1864;
elected county treasurer in 1881 ; was also engaged in the mer-
cantile business in Faribault. June 24, annual encampment of
the Second Regiment, Minnesota National Guard, held at Fari-
bault. August 11, St. Mary's school tower struck by lightning.
August 26, new public school building in Northfield, on the
west side, finished. September 2, Rev. P. Danahy succeeded
Rev. Thomas O'Gorman as pastor of the Church of the Immacu-
late Conception, at Faribault. September 28, celebration of the
thirtieth anniversary of the M. E. church at Faribault. Septem-
ber 23, the pond at the Polar Star Mills enlarged and deepened.
The grading for the spur track on the C, M. & St. P. to the
Walcott Mills commenced. The Walcott Mills enlarged so as to
put forth 350 barrels daily. September 18, a freight train on the
Milwaukee road wrecked at the station at Faribault. A thresh-
ing outfit and five stacks of grain burned on the farm of John
Thaney. October 12, D. W. Humphrey died at his home in the
city of Faribault, aged sixty. Was resident of the city from
234 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
1857. October 21, the population of the city of Faribault, accord-
ing to the census of this year, 6,459; Northfield, 2,948. December
23, Hugh Smith died at Faribault; settled in Forest in 1856. He
served one year in Co. C, 6th Minn. Vol. Inf. ; was discharged
on account of sickness.
1886. January 6, purchase of Seabury Mission property, west
of the park in Faribault, for school site, by the Faribault Board
of Education. January 2-4, snow storm; estimated that about
twenty inches of snow fell on the level. Trains were delayed and
much inconvenience caused, especially in the country. January
26, Policeman Dilley of Northfield shot and killed Eliza Grover,
who lived on the road between Northfield and Dundas, in self
defense. February 1, the Faribault furniture factory started; J.
Hutchinson and A. W. Stocton, proprietors. February 10, Fari-
bault boiler works established, Waite & Carter, proprietors.
Minnesota G. A. R. encampment held in Faribault. February 18,
Owen Sheridan, old settler of Faribault, died, aged sixty-five.
March 8, James G. Scott died at Roeberds Lake, aged sixty-five.
Came to Faribault in 1854 with his brother and built the first
steam mill west of the Mississippi, on Willow street, between
Second and Third. Was member of the board of county com-
missioners in 1874. March 26, Rev. T. C. Stringer, former pas-
tor of the M. E. church of Faribault, died, aged fifty. May 1,
Norbert Paquin died at Portland, Col., aged sixty-three ; was old
settler of the county ; formerly owned the land upon which the
Shattuck school stands. Two of the additions of Faribault bear
his name. July 21, the cornerstone of the high school at Fari-
bault laid by the president of the board of education, Hon. G. W.
Batchelder August 9, Henry Dierkent died, aged seventy-thin-.
one of the first settlers of the town of Wheeling. August 21,
storm swept over the country, doing great damage to buildings;
four lives lost en Cedar lake by the capsizing of a boat. Damage
in Faribault did not amount to much beyond the blowing down
of signs and the blowing down of the newly laid wall of the
high school. August 24, U. S. Hotel barn at Faribault burned
down, ten horses burning. September 3, Iliram C. Tripp died,
sixty-nine years of age: settled in Cannon City in 1855. Septem-
ber 22, chimes and clock placed in Willis hall of Carleton College,
Northfield. September 28, the building where the Boston Store
was formerly located in Faribault was burned. Was erected in
1856 by J. II. Winter. October 1. Gottfried Degan and Gottfried
Gensch arrested for shooting and wounding Gustave Fehn and
sister, nf the town of Wells. December 1. the Old Ladies' hall in
Northfield torn down : erected by J. W. North in 1856.
1887. January 27, J. W. Cowan died, aged eighty; resident
of Wells from 1855. April 13, the high school building at Fari-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 235
bault completed. April 21, Charles St. Antoinne died, aged
ninety-four. In 1824 he acted as a scout for Major Alexander on
a march through Minnesota. Came to this county in 1847,
when the present city of Faribault was a trading post. May 9,
the Flint furniture factory at Faribault burned; loss $3,000;
built in 1856; was the first establishment in the state to manu-
facture goods for the wholesale trade. May 11, the Highland
Park addition added to the city of Faribault. June 1, B. B.
Roeberds died ; was old settler of the town of Wells, near the
lake which bears his name. July 30, J. H. Winter died, aged
seventy-four. Came to Faribault in 1856 and built the Boston
Store. Served as county treasurer and also as town supervisor.
Was member of the first council elected after the incorporation
of the city of Faribault. October 11, Capt. E. H. Cutts died, aged
fifty-six; came to Faribault in 1853, walking from Wisconsin in
December. Staked out a claim in the town of Walcott in Sec-
tions 21 and 22. Served in Co. B, 8th Minn. Vol. Inf., till 1864,
when promoted to captain of the 45th U. S. Inf. October 28-30,
state convention of the Y. M. C. A. held in Faribault. November
1, the Faribault Rattan Works incorporated. November 9, E. M.
Beach sash and door factory in Faribault destroyed by fire; loss
$6,000. November 21, fire in Faribault destroyed number of build-
ings with a loss of $2,200. December 12, the new C, M. & St. P
depot opened for use of the public at Faribault. December 15,
first publication of the "Northfield Independent." December 14,
George Byrnes elected by council to fill vacancy as city treas-
urer of Faribault.
1888. January 12, 42 degrees below zero. January 25, iron
bridge on Front street, Faribault, completed. March 7, weather
bureau established in Faribault. March 17, canning factory at
Faribault incorporated. April 4, a storm caused much damage
in the county. Several thousand dollars worth of damage done
in Faribault. Part of the roof of the Church of the Immaculate
Conception was blown off. Nearly all of the buildings suffered
to some extent. April 14, burglars enter Shattuck school and
secure about three thousand dollars worth of plunder. April 24,
the Milwaukee depot and elevator burned; loss $17,000. May 2,
the church at Shieldsville struck by lightning and destroyed.
May 9, Alexander Johnson died, aged fifty-five. Came to Fari-
bault and established the "Northern Statesman," in 1861, which
was published until 1864. May 15, cornerstone of Johnson hall,
at the Seabury divinity school, laid. Major Dike died, aged
seventy-five ; came to Faribault in 1857 and engaged in banking.
Later he engaged in the milling business. Was first cashier of
the First National Bank in 1868. In 1861, joined Co. H, 1st
Minn. Vol. Inf.; became its captain. Before the regiment left
236 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the state he was promoted to the rajtk of major, which he re-
signed in October of that same year. July 5, fire destroyed
Leary's livery stable, Peavy's photograph gallery, and damaged
the stores of Carpenter & Smith and Mortenson & Waclin. July
20, fire destroyed American House barn. Charles Hutchinson's
barn, a vacant house near the gas works and a house on Elm
street also destroyed the same week, believed to have been the
work of a firebug. City of Faribault offered $500 and the Board
of Underwriters of New York city offered $500 for the arrest
and conviction of the guilty person. August 24, fire at Klemer
woolen mills; loss $7,000. September 5, Baptist church dedi-
cated at Richland. September 30, George Vosberg and Louis
Hopke arrested, through the efforts of Chas. J. Arney and Will-
iam Whipple, for setting fire to several buildings previously
burned in Faribault. December 22, church in Shieldsville com-
pleted. Rev. Fr. Danehy preached the first sermon.
1889. February 6, Johnson hall, Seabury Divinity School,
opened. February 6, the waterworks tax case decided in favor
of Rice county. March 26, Nellie Buckley stabbed on the Second
street bridge. April 27, W. B. Dickey's barn and three horses,
of Walcott, burned. April 30, the cornerstone of Morgan hall at
Shattuck laid. May 21, Shumway avenue opened for use of the
public in Faribault. June 12, old building that was built by
George Batchelder and Judge Berry and occupied by Batchelder
& Buckham as a law office torn down. July 12, Alson Blodgett,
Jr., and Frances Sheffield, and Benjamin B. Sheffield and Carrie
M. Crossett were married at Faribault. News was received of
the appointment of E. N. Leavens to succeed John R. Parshall
as postmaster at Faribault. July 14, fire destroyed the barn of
Columbus Byrne on Cannon lake, in Warsaw. July 12. Mrs.
J. H. Felt of Faribault was accidentally shot by a boy at a Sunday
school picnic. July 15, the Clipper Hose Company had been or-
ganized at Northfield. July 13, Robert Whitson, who came to
Minnesota in 1863, died at Stanton. July 22, John Iverson died
at Richland, aged forty-five years. July 19, the residence of
Octave Du Lac was destroyed by fire near Erin station. July
22, Father J. B. Blochet, of the French Catholic church at Fari-
bault, died suddenly. July 31, Barney Sheridan met with a
serious accident while reaping in Warsaw township. August 7.
heavy rain did considerable damage to the crops in the county.
During this storm the house of J. S. Dutton in Faribault was
struck by lightning and destroyed. August 3, George Archam-
bault's residence in Faribault was destroyed by tire. August 7,
the German Lutheran church at Morristown was damaged by
lightning. August 10, James Walker, aged eighty years, died at
Morristown. August 16, it was announced that Rev. Father
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 23?
Nougart had been appointed pastor of the Sacred Heart church
at Faribault. August 11, the Milwaukee depot at Faribault was
robbed. August 10, A. J. Lamberton, who was in charge of the
land office at Faribault in 1857, died at St. Peter. August 9,
Mike Birkland and Chester A. Palmer escaped from the county
jail. A week later Palmer was captured. August 20, a new
creamery association was organized in Walcott. August 18,
William C. Cleland, aged sixty-six, died at Dundas. August 24,
Henry Garvey, aged sixty-eight, died at Faribault. August 27,
Joseph Velsmeyer died at Faribault, at the age of sixty-three.
September 1, the Klemer woolen mill at Faribault was damaged
by fire. September 6, the new gymnasium at St. Mary's
school at Faribault, was nearly completed. September 4, a
house on the Prairieville road, near Faribault, owned by Pat-
rick Healy and occupied by Hugh McShane, was burned.
September 8, Adolph W. Henkle, formerly of Faribault, died
in Minneapolis. September 16, Cole Younger, one of the
Northfield bank robbers, died in prison at Stillwater. Sep-
tember 20, a franchise for electric street cars was asked of the
city council by the Sprague Electric Company. September 27,
Morgan hall at Shattuck school at Faribault completed at a cost
of $50,000. October 20, a swan was captured at Cannon lake
measuring seven feet from tip to tip. November 4, the Walcott
creamery was incorporated. November 1, Mrs. Lyna Carter died
at her home in Richland, aged seventy-six years. She settled in
Rice county in 1856, near Dundas. October 31, 1889, I. G.
Beaumont died at Roxborough, Pa., aged fifty-four years. He
settled in Faribault in 1863. He was the assistant postmaster of
Faribault at one time, also was in the woolen business with N. W.
Blood. November 7, sixty-seven electric lights installed in
Northfield. November 11, Rev. P. Danehy removed from Fari-
bault. December 7, Immanuel Norwegian Lutheran church
organized in Faribault. December 30, Hill's furniture factory
and the Tileson & Tennant flooring mill at Faribault were de-
stroyed by fire ; loss $48,000.
1890. January 1, the Theopold Mercantile Company discon-
tinued its retail business and started a wholesale establishment.
January 3, H. Nichols, an early resident of Walcott, died in Fari-
bault. January 2, Rev. W. W. Norton, formerly editor of the
"Independent," died at Northfield, aged seventy. January 10, the
residence of D. W. Grant had been completed. January 11,
news was received in Faribault of the loss by fire of the resi-
dence of Reinhold Zemke of Cedar Lake. January 16, Mrs.
James McNiel, Jr., of Warsaw township, shot three of her chil-
dren, gave a dose of carbolic acid to the fourth and tried to end
her own life with the same poison. July 13, F. J. Vogelsberg,
238 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
aged sixty-two, died at Faribault. January 19, Mrs. Peter
Boucher, aged eighty-four, said by some to have been the first
white woman in Minnesota, died near Cannon Lake. January
24, Charles Peitier died at Morristown, aged seventy-five. Feb-
ruary 7, the county jail had been renovated and improved. Feb-
ruary 4, Fred Beeze died at Deerfield. February, 17,
the residence of L. L. Clason in Warsaw township was burned.
February 15, Frank Gardner Craw, son-in-law of Bishop Whip-
ple, died at Cleveland, Ohio. March 4, John W. North, founder
of Northfield and one of the early proprietors of Faribault, died
at Fresno, Cal. February 28, the brick schoolhouse just west
of Circle lake, in the town of Forest, was burned. Mrs. Eliza-
beth Cowan, aged seventy-nine, widow of J. W. Cowan, died at
the family residence near Roberd's lake. March 5, Samuel Har-
kins, a pioneer, died in Walcott. March 1, John H. Case, one of
the most prominent citizens of the county, died at Faribault. He
was born in Torrington, Conn., April 15, 1832. He came to Fari-
bault in 1858 and was a partner of Gordon E. Cole. He was
county and city attorney, state senator and a nominee for district
judge. March 13, the plant of the Faribault Electric Light Com-
pany was partially destroyed by fire. March 14, the residence
of J. S. Tileson at Faribault was entered by burglars. March 14,
J. C. Parshall died at Faribault. He was born in Ohio in 1812
and came to Faribault in 1854. March 25, Geo. M. Nichols, a
pioneer, died at Warsaw. March 19, George Douglass, a pio-
neer, died at Cannon City. April 6, Thomas Malloy died at his
home in Faribault at the age of seventy-nine years. He settled
in East Prairie in 1854. April 5, Patrick O'Brien died at Wells-
town at the age of sixty-five years. He came to Rice county in
1855. April 25, postofhce established at Walcott, with H. W.
Dcike as postmaster. April 19, fire at the Klemcr woolen mills
at Faribault; damage $1,000. May 30, the following census enu-
merators for Rice county were chosen : Richland, E. D. Hoover ;
Wheeling, H. A. Eckert; Northfield town. P. Hefferman, North-
field city — first ward, G. B. Cooper; second ward. Mrs. Martha F.
Farmington; third ward, John S. Way; Walcott, John P. John-
son; Faribault — first ward, Joseph C. Mold; second ward, John
C. Turner; third ward, Chas. T. Palmer; fourth ward. George \\".
Tower; Cannon City, John S. Walrod; Bridgewater. James W.
McKellip; Dundas village, Dewit C. Burch; Warsaw. Silas II.
West; Wells, Andrew J. Swanson; Forest, Miss R. Hatfield;
Webster, M. C. Webster: Morristown, Siras C. Aldrich; Shields-
ville, Pattric McKenna ; Erin, Michael F. Carroll; Wheatland,
Peter Fabre. June 1, lion. Iliram Scrivcr died at his home
in Northfield, aged sixty-one ; was the first mayor of Northfield
and twice elected to the legislature. Twelve years a director of
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 239
the First National Bank. June 24, work of enlarging the county
jail at Faribault commenced. July 16, Cornelia Whipple, wife
of Rt. Rev. H. B. Whipple, D. D., LL. D., died at Faribault, aged
seventy-three years. July 29, James Begley died at Faribault,
settled in Faribault in 1857. August 15, George H. Faribault
died at Fort Yates, N. D., aged sixty-four. Came to Faribault
in 1853, engaged in the mercantile business for about fifteen
years ; oldest son of Alexander Faribault. August 25, John
Waddin died in Minneapolis, aged sixty-four. Came to Faribault
in 1860; was proprietor of the Waddin House. August 26,
the "Morristown Rustler" discontinued its publication. August
27, Patrick Sheehan died, aged fifty-seven. Came to Rice county
in 1855 and settled in the town of Erin. October 4, Gordon E.
Cole died in London, England, aged fifty-seven years ; was one of
the most prominent lawyers of the state. Came to Faribault in
1857. Formed a law partnership with a Mr. Raymond. Later,
with John H. Case, formed the law firm of Cole & Case. Elected
state attorney-general in 1859 and served two terms. During
third term elected state senator. In 1878 elected mayor of Fari-
bault. In 1883 elected member of the legislature. November 11,
Clark's livery stable and Sheeran & Filler's feed mill burned in
Faribault. December 13, R. F. Donaldson died, aged sixty-five;
settled near Fox lake in 1856, afterwards engaged in the mer-
cantile business at Cannon City.
1891. January 30, A. D. Weston of Dundas caught a large
wildcat. January 29, Dr. N. M. Bemis died at his home in the
city of Faribault, aged seventy. Came to Faribault in 1855.
February 11, John J. Alexander died at Northfield. Came to Rice
county in 1852; was elected to the legislature in 1887. April 16,
William Campbell died, aged fifty-five ; came to Faribault in
1855; helped to make the original survey and plat of the city;
was first marshal of village of Faribault after its incorporation ;
also served one year as the chief of police. June 5, Bieter & Kaiser
continue the grocery business of Newcombe's grocery. May 11,
Observatory of Carleton College dedicated. May 29, fire did
considerable damage in the Faribault furniture factory. June 11,
the large barn of A. J. Stauffer, north of Cannon river, at Fari-
bault, was struck by lightning and burned. July 28, Garret C.
Durland, old resident of Cannon City, died, aged seventy-seven.
Came to Cannon City in 1855. August 16, Samuel C. Dunham
died at Faribault. Settled in town of Wells in 1856. Served as
alderman of Faribault in 1872. In 1873 was member of legis-
lature for one term, also was postmaster of house for a year,
chief of police under Mayors Nutting, Parshall and Wood. Was
state oil inspector two years. August 26, Judge Buckham ren-
dered decision in regard to John S. Archibald's will in favor of
240 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the Holy Cross church, Dundas. The Immaculate Conception
parish school merged with the Faribault public school system.
September 25, high school at Dundas placed under supervision of
high school state board. September 23, Truman Nutting died,
aged eighty-five. Came to Faribault in 1855. Erected early
hotel in Faribault. Member of first city council ; was its vice-
president. October 9, Samuel Benn, one of Minnesota's earliest
settlers, died in town of Forest, eighty-three years old. Octo-
ber 28, wolves did considerable damage to cattle and sheep in
town of Erin. November 3, residence of late Major Dike
burned. November 15, cornerstone of Emmanuel Lutheran
church laid. November 13, Mrs. Nellie B. Luce commited sui-
cide at State School for Blind. November 20, Charles Peasley
shot and killed his stepfather, Joseph Colburn, of Richland.
December 25, Arthur W. Dampier appointed postmaster at
Northfield, Minn.
1892. January 1, Free delivery at Faribault established.
February 17, Pierre St. Onge died, aged sixty-one. Settled in
Faribault in 1867. February 12, Brandt Brewery in Faribault
destroyed and sixteen horses owned by Abram Post burned.
The brewery was the property of Peter Wolford of Minneapolis.
The original buildings were erected in 1870 and represented a
total expenditure of $100,000. The loss on the horses was be-
tween $3,000 and $4,000. February 18, reward of $500 offered by
city council for arrest of party or parties who set fire to the
Brandt brewery. March 1, cooper shops at Morristown burned;
loss $700. February 25, Hon. H. E. Barron died, aged sixty-six.
March 12, John A. Voltz ordained priest at Louvain, Belgium.
March 28, Thomas Mee, cashier of First National Bank of Fari-
bault, died, aged fifty-seven. Twenty-one years in First
National. Came to Faribault in 1857. April 8, first election
under Australian ballot system held in Faribault. April 16,
Mrs. I. M. Fuller died, aged fifty-one. Came to Faribault in
1869. May 10, Rev. Edward Clark Bill, D. D., died. May 17,
M. L. Payant opened his drug store in Faribault. May 20, M. J.
Sheeran died, aged forty. Member of firm Sheeran & Filler
Bottling Company. May 16, Mrs. Harriet Austin of Warsaw
died, aged sixty-four. Resident of county since 1856. June 3,
work began on foundation of shoe factory. June 9, Ira S.
Field, one of the earliest settlers of Northfield. and for whom the
city, in conjunction with Mr. North, was named, died, aged
seventy-eight years. He settled in Northfield in 1856. June 20,
Dr. Edmund K. Clements and Mary S. Wheeler married at
Faribault. September 7, Faribault woolen mills burned; loss
$25,000. September 6. Dr. Samuel Burhams died at Faribault,
aged seventy-seven. September 19, Kiel's opera house burned
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 241
and furniture stock badly damaged. Total loss $19,000. Octo-
ber 18, boot and shoe factory at Faribault opened. November 11,
Michael Fitzgerald died at Faribault, aged ninety-two, one of
the oldest settlers in county. November 23, G. Fleckenstein's
brewery burned in Faribault. Loss $16,000. Thought to be
incendiary work. December 23, J. D. Dennison died, aged eighty-
two. Came to Faribault and opened a wagon shop in 1856.
December 31, the Archibald mills burned at Dundas. Loss
$100,000. These mills were among the oldest and most cele-
brated in the state. June 10, first number of "New Era of Morris-
town" issued. June 25, Stephen B. Webb, commercial traveler
of Davenport, Iowa, committed suicide by drowning in Straight
river, Faribault. July 9, George W. Glines died, aged sixty-four.
Came to Rice county in 1855; settled in Warsaw. August 31,
third district convention of Democratic party met in Faribault.
1893. January 20, Barron hall at School for Deaf and Dumb
opened. January 26, Schimmel & Nelson Piano Company incor-
porated at Faribault. February 5, Hon. O. F. Perkins died at
Northfield, sixty-three year old. Opened a law office with Hon.
J. W. North in Faribault. In 1868 state senator. Served several
years as county attorney. January 3, Wolcott creamery incor-
porated. February 23, Northwestern Canning Company at Fari-
bault incorporated. March 17, Scott's mills put in operation by
Fuller & Stearns. April 5, Faribault opera house incorporated.
Hon. Joseph Covert died at Cannon City, age sixty-five. Settled
there in 1855. May 9, W. T. Shimota appointed postmaster at
Wesley. May 18, Faribault Evening "Tribune" issued. June 1,
Timothy Shields, of Shieldsville, died, age seventy-seven years.
Settled in Shieldsville 1856. July 1, Faribault Waterworks
Company turned over to city the waterworks plant. July 28,
L. B. Knudson appointed postmaster at Walcott and G. E.
Straudeman at Moland. July 25, Bernard Derham died, age
sixty-three. Settled in Wheatland in 1856. October 11, Manney
Armory at Shattuck school destroyed by fire, loss $25,000. Oc-
tober 13, Frederick Koester died, age seventy-eight. Settled
in Northfield 1865. October 20, W. W. Day's livery at Fari-
bault completed. November 1, laying of cornerstone of Guild
House in Faribault. December 11, Maj. S. H. Fowler died, age
eighty-one. May 18, 1863, enlisted in First Regiment, United
State Dragoons for frontier service. November 12, 1838, ap-
pointed second lieutenant in Fifth United States Infantry ; vet-
eran of Mexican War. During the Indian War was aide-de-
camp on staff of General Sibley. At close of war came to
Faribault and erected a building and engaged in general mer-
chandise.
1894. January 19, A. E. Haven appointed postmaster at
242 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Faribault. January 15, Hon. H. M. Rice, for whom Rice county
was named, died at San Antonio, Tex. March 2, opera house,
Faribault, completed. March 3, S. L. Crocker died, age forty-
nine. April 11, "Sunnyside" at school for feeble minded opened.
April 20, Farmer Seed Company breaks ground for warehouse
in Faribault. April 21, daily mail route established from Fari-
bault to Shieldsville. July 20, Dennis O'Brien died, age seventy-
five years. Settled in Walcott in 1853. July 14, Mrs. Emily
Stewart died in Northfield, age sixty. Came to Faribault in
1856, removed in 1860, married S. P. Stewart in 1861. August
10, Frederick Clement died at Faribault, age sixty-two. Septem-
ber 4, new chemical engine purchased by Faribault fire depart-
ment. September 28, Harvest Festival held in Faribault. No-
vember 9, Citizens Bank moved into new quarters at corner
of Main and Third streets. November 20, Guild House at Fari-
bault opened. December 6, Capt. Jesse Ames died at Northfield,
aged eighty-seven. Came to Minnesota in 1864, settling at
Cannon City; 1866 engaged in milling at Northfield. December
25, chimes placed in the tower at Shattuck.
1895. January 10, 11, 12, Church Students' Missionary As-
sociation met in Faribault. February 15, Y. M. C. A. convention
held in Faribault. February 26, Charles Shields died, aged
eighty-three years. March 7, George Robinson, proprietor of
the Brunswick, died. March 9, Bishop Thomas, of Kansas, died,
age forty-one. Was connected with Seabury faculty 1864 to
1870. March 21, Capt. Charles Shields died in Warsaw, age
sixty. Nephew of Gen. James Shields. Came to Rice county
in 1855. Served in the War of the Rebellion and attained the
rank of captain. March 22, elevator and feed mill at Dundas,
owned by Watson & Palon, was burned; loss $3,000. May 3,
main building, Faribault Rattan Works, destroyed ; loss over
$30,000. May 6, Louis Joachim, member of the Faribault police
force, died of hydrophobia. May 8, Mrs. Jeanette Bion, widow of
late Samuel Bion, died, aged fifty-nine. Came to Rice county
in 1855. May 24, census enumerators for state census ap-
pointed. Richland, E. L. Hoover; Wheeling, II. H. Helberg;
Town of Northfield, William A. Bcnz; Walcott, Alfred Penz;
Cannon City, B. A. Poison; Bridgewater and Dundas, A. A.
Wescott; Warsaw. S. II. West; Wells, W. II. Orne; Forest,
Simon Taylor; Webster, J. J. Hille; Morristown and village,
A. J. Eddy; Shieldsville and Erin, I'. McKenna; Wheatland,
Peter Fabre; city of Northfield, II. Bjoraker; Faribault, first
ward J. W. Parshall, second ward W. X. Smith, third ward C.
E. Smith, fourth ward F. S. Wilson. June 17. water struck in
sinking artesian well at waterworks, Faribault, at 450 feet. June
25, 26, 27, annual reunion of Cannon Valley Association of G.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 243
A. R. held in Faribault. June 24, Michael Jeffers drowned at
Red Lake Falls; was old settler and register of deeds 1876 to
1878. August 2, Clarine Bros, commenced building greenhouse.
August 26, George Tileston drowned at St. Cloud. Was engaged
in milling business in Faribault for several years with J. S.
Hillyer from 1882 to 1889. September 24, the forty-first annual
conference of the Methodist Episcopal church held in Faribault.
September 23, John Monaghan's body found floating in Roberd's
lake. No clue to mystery. September 30, Henry C. Whitney
died in Minneapolis, age fifty-eight. Member of Company G,
First Minnesota. October 9, street fair in Faribault; great suc-
cess, 15,000 people in attendance. October 12, general conven-
tion of the Episcopal church visited Faribault. October 22,
Catholic Order of Foresters organized in Faribault. September
29, tow factory at Faribault burned. September 28, Minnesota
conference of Charities and Corrections held in Faribault. No-
vember 3, Walcott mills totally destroyed by fire, with six dwell-
ing houses, five loaded cars, 35,000 bushels of wheat, the elevator,
sacks, cooperage and other property; loss $200,000; insurance
$80,000. Mill employed sixty-five men. Output was 1,200 bar-
rels. Northfield and Faribault fire departments called to fight
fire. Mill first erected by Donald Grant and Edward Le May in
1874; capacity eighty barrels. Purchased by M. B. Sheffield.
Mill was 50x80, four stories in height. Fire started from spon-
taneous combustion near an oil tank. November 9, Spencer J.
Kingsley died, age fifty-nine. Was member of a New York
regiment during war. Came to Faribault in 1867. December 9,
10, state camp of Modern Woodmen of America held in Fari-
bault. December 20, new factory of Westervelt & Ball com-
pleted. December 19, Daniel Callaghan died in Erin, age
. Was Union soldier; came to Rice county in 1856.
December 20, work commenced to enlarge Polar Star property
for 1,000-barrel flour mill by Sheffields.
1896. January 5, Dr. George W. Wood died at Faribault,
fifty-four years of age. Came to Faribault in 1873. Formed
partnership with Dr. F. M. Rose. Member of State Board of
Medical Examiners. Served one year as mayor, four years as
state senator. January 8, dedication of Guild House. January
17, commandery of Uniformed Rank of Knights of Pythias or-
ganized. January 11, Rev. John Pavlin, pastor of Church of St.
Lawrence, died. January 3i, Judge Buckham rendered decision
favor of plaintiff in the case of State of Minnesota vs. The Cam
non River Manufacturers' Association. January 27, fur goods
factory burned in Northfield; loss $1,600. February 2, Col. J.
C. Morrow died at Old Soldiers' Home, age fifty-seven. At close
of war came to Faribault and practiced law. February 10, Mrs.
244 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Bridget Haain died, age seventy-one. Settled on West Prairie
in 1864. February 11, Rev. Thomas B. Brown died, age seventy-
seven. Old settler of Minnesota from 1860. February 20, fire
nearly destroyed Opera House block at Faribault. May 5, Shef-
fields Milling Company new mill started. May 8, Thomas Car-
penter died, age sixty-four. Came to Faribault 1857, formed part-
nership with Alexander Smith, under name Carpenter & Smith.
Held office as councilman of first ward. June 23, fourth annual
convention of Minnesota Association of Deaf held in Faribault.
July 3, gang of thieves working in Faribault. Much damage
done and many dollars' worth of goods taken ; no clue. July 10,
Supreme Court dismissed the case of Minnesota vs. Waterworks
Company and sustained lower court, county to get $2,200 back
taxes. July 10, Mrs. George M. Gilmore died at Faribault, age
sixty-nine. Came to Faribault in 1856. September 18, W. S.
Snyder died in Warsaw, age fifty-six. Resident from 1856,
member of Company B, Eighth Minnesota Volunteers. Oc-
tober 20, daily mail route established to Cannon City. October
22, formal opening of armory in Faribault. October 23, instal-
lation of stained glass windows in German Catholic church.
October 30, Mrs. Hannah Healy died, age seventy. With her
husband, Jeremiah Healy, was first settler in Erin town. Sur-
vived by six children and sixty-four grandchildren. November
15, Mel ford L. Emery died, age forty-nine years. Was con-
tractor and builder. Built high school, First National Bank
and Masonic buildings, F. A. Theopold's warehouse, Second
Street Armory and others. November 27, Sheffield Milling Com-
pany completed new 40x50 engine room.
1897. February 22, A. L. Hill died, age sixty-six. Prominent
business man of Faribault. February 24, James M. Tower died,
age seventy-three. Came to Faribault 1855. Cleared land upon
what is now Central avenue and with his brother, George W.
Tower, erected a store, the second in the village. February 26,
Brunnan Harper died, age sixty-five. Came to Faribault in
1854. March 8, Henry Chaffee died, age seventy year-. Came
to Faribault in 1855. Short time in grocery business with E.
W. Leavens. Served as county auditor and councilman April
1, Frank A. Davis died, age fifty-eight years. Served in Union
army, also in navy. Business man of Faribault from 1873. April
( K the twenty-fifth anniversary of the incorporation of Faribault
celebrated. May 6, Angeline Henderson died at her home in
Faribault. Mrs. Henderson settled on a farm in Prairieville in
1855. She was seventy years old. April 30, William T. Keicke-
napp died at his home in Faribault. Mr. Keickcnapp came to
Faribault in 1856 and was seventy years old at the time of his
death. He was a member of Company D, Sixth Minnesota.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 245
July 6, storms passed over the county, doing much damage.
Crops in sections damaged ; freight train ditched not far from
Medford ; many bridges in both city and country carried away.
August 6, Vincent Lieb died, age sixty-three years. Came to
Faribault in 1856, settled in Wells town ; moved to Faribault
1891. August 20, William L. Turner died, age seventy-three.
Came to Faribault in 1866. Engaged in the lumber business.
August 21, David Haskins died, age ninety. Came to Faribault
in 1855. August 23, Isaac R. Pentz died at Walcott, age eighty-
three. Settled in Walcott in 1855. August 28, man believed to
be Charles Nelson died suddenly in a saloon at Faribault. Au-
gust 29, coroner's jury rendered verdict that deceased Nelson
came to death by strangulation. September 23, Mrs. Kate D.
Cole died in Faribault, age sixty-three, widow of late Gordon
E. Cole. October 4, S. T. La Rose, manager of Clement Elevator
at Milwaukee station, Faribault, fell into a well, sustaining in-
juries from which he died October 6. October 14, Hon. Tosten
E. Blonde, of Wheeling, died, age . Settled in county
in 1855. Held several town offices, also member of legislature
1891. October 24, Gustave Volkmann, a blind man, found dead
under Second street bridge, Faribault. Coroner's jury rendered
verdict of murder. The evidence in case showed that a pocket-
book was missing, which was believed to have contained a large
sum of money. Near spot where body was found was large pool
of blood. On examination, body revealed a large scalp wound.
No water in lungs. November 15, C. O. Holen, of Wheeling,
chloroformed and robbed of $395 on north road. December 2,
Plummer P. Kinsey died, age fifty-six. Member of Company I,
Sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. Came to Faribault 1876. En-
gaged in dry good business. December 28, George M. Gilmore
died of suffocation by coal gas. Came to Faribault in 1855. Lo-
cated on farm which now forms part of State School for Feeble
Minded.
1898. January 7, Faribault public library formal opening.
January 15, Mrs. Matilda Forkey found dead in her house
on Roberd's Lake road. Had been shot five times with a
revolver. February 4, Cornelius Forkey accused of wife
murder, had a hearing before Justice Donahue. January 31,
Dr. W. H. Stevens, one of the oldest residents of Faribault,
died, age eighty-four years. In 1856 located in Faribault and
erected a drug store. February 5, James Cummings died in
Shieldsville. Came to Wells town in 1853. Age was ninety-three
years. March 17, James Nolan, pioneer of Richland, died, age
seventy-five years. Settled in about 1858. April 29, Company
B, Second Minnesota National Guards, left for Fort Snelling.
May 6, Grant Terryll, former first lieutenant, commissioned cap-
24G HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
tain of Company B. The Second Minnesota changed to Twelfth
Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. May 12, Cornelius Bilion
(Forkey) acknowledges killing of wife; pleaded self-defense.
July 20, old fireman's building on Frst avenue, between Third
and Fourth streets, Faribault, torn down. July 17, Ellen
O'Brien, wife of Michael Brazil, died, age sixty-nine. Settled
in Wells town in 1855. August 12, A. L. Carufel, of firm of
Carufel & Hatch, died, age thirty-five. Death result of an explo-
sion of gas. September 18, Sergt. Conrad L. Roell, Company B,
Twelfth Minnesota Volunteers, died at Camp Thomas, Chicka-
mauga. September 22, Company B returns home. November
1, postoffice at Dean reopened, Adolf Ludwig postmaster. No-
vember 6, Hon. Ara Barton died, seventy-four years of age.
Served in Brackett's battalion, Minnesota cavalry, as captain of
Troop D.
1899. January 11. Capt. Henry Piatt died, age seventy years.
Came to Warsaw in 1856. Member of Company I, First Min-
nesota. Served two terms as member of legislature and for
years was chairman of town board. January 23, school house on
First avenue and Twelfth street, Faribault, was opened. January
29, Robert Dudley, of Wells town, died, age seventy-seven.
Came to Rice county 1856. Ex-Sheriff Charles Wood died.
Came to Faribault in 1854. Took claim upon which St. James'
school now stands. Served two terms as sheriff of county, also
two terms in legislature. The first bridge built across Straight
river was built by him on Second street. February 10. William
Kaiser appointed postmaster at Faribault. March 19, Rev. Ed-
mund Gale, 232 South Exchange street, St. Paul, died, age
seventy-seven. Was pastor of the Congregational church at
Faribault from 1866 to 1873. May 12, Mrs. O. F. Brand died
in Faribault, age fifty-nine years. June 7, thirty-ninth annual
session of Diocesan Council of the Episcopal church met in
Faribault. July 1, Faribault postoffice placed in $16,000 class.
July 20, Masked robbers enter Chicago, Minneapolis & St. Paul
railroad depot at Faribault, secured $37.17 and left the night
operator locked in a freight car. August 3, Security Bank moved
into Theopold block. Faribault. September 1, carrier No. 4
added to the Faribault postoffice. October 15, Millidge B. Shef-
field died, age sixty-nine. Came to Faribault in 1865. Was
engaged in flour milling. December 12. Nelson Kelsey, of Can-
non City, killed by a bull. Was sixty-one years of age and
member of Company E, Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry. December
27, new Ware auditorium opened to public in Xorthfield. De-
cember 15. streets in Faribault renamed. December 16, dynamite
explosion occurred in Faribault : three persons injured and con-
siderable property damaged. Dynamite was being used in grad-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 247
ing C. G. W. yard. December 22, Cannon Valley depot entered
and over $1,000 in time checks taken.
1900. January 1, opening of new depot in Faribault on C.
G. W. January 7, Sister Mary Gertrude Power, O. S. D., died
at Sinsinawa, Wis. Came to Faribault about thirty-five years
ago and through her efforts the Catholic schools were established.
January 15, S. G. Rathbone died at Hastings, Minn. Was one of
old citizens of Faribault and agent of the Walker stage line.
Also was owner of livery now known as Leary's livery. January
29, fire destroyed larger part of business section of Morristown,
Minn. Twenty buildings, including the bank, postoffice, printing
office and hotel in ashes; losses placed at $35,000. February 4,
Rev. J. H. Albert takes charge of Congregational church, Fari-
bault. February 7, Farmers' Elevator at Faribault burned;
losses estimated at $17,000; insurance $11,000. February 6, Otto
Kozlowski, founder and manager of Farmer Seed Company, died,
age thirty-six. February 13-14, Farmers' Institute held in Fari-
bault. February 4, Mrs. Sarah Morris Pool died at Fleming,
Colo. Was at one time owner of townsite of Morristown. Feb-
ruary 20, reception held in Armory in honor of Rev. J. J. Conry,
of Church of Immaculate Conception, by parishioners. Father
Conry came to Faribault in 1891 and- found debt of $16,000 on
the church. Through his efforts the debt was raised. March 1,
George R. Simpson, county superintendent of schools, died in
Chicago, 111., age forty-nine. Was principal of Faribault high
school nine years and elected superintendent of schools in 1898.
April 13, Ware's auditorium in Northfield burned ; loss $8,000.
April 25, bank for A. H. Ridgeway & Son in Morristown erected.
Laufenberg & Ebel's store in Morristown burned ; loss $10,000.
Adjoining buildings were severely damaged. April 17, the Golf
Club at Faribault organized. April 25, death of Mr. Hagerty, an
old pioneer of Shieldsville. May 2, the Chicago Great Western
depot in Warsaw burned. May 9, Dr. Jackson bought the first
locomobile in Faribault. May 11, Dr. Jackson has a serious acci-
dent at Cannon lake with his locomobile. The doctor had several
ribs and his collar bone broken. June 8, Robert Pugh, who was
an old settler of this county, died at his home in Faribault. Mr.
Pugh came to Minnesota in 1856. He was for many years con-
nected with the Learys in the livery business. June 27, a south-
bound freight train on the Milwaukee road wrecked one mile
south of Dundas. July 11, a new building at the corner of
Main and Fourth streets in Faribault completed by J. W.
Schultz. July 18, the elevator at the northwest corner of Third
and Willow streets, at Faribault, which was formerly owned
by Hutchinson & Stockton, was purchased by the Sheffield Mill-
ing Company and removed to the southeast corner of the same
248 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
streets. July 14, Albert Cabot died at Medford at the age of
eighty-six. Mr. Cabot was one of the first settlers of Rice
county, having settled in Walcott at a very early day. July 18,
contract let for the construction of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids
& Northern railroad to D. Grant & Co., of Faribault. September
12, the first electric carriage made by the Electric Vehicle Com-
pany, of Faribault, was given a trial test in the vicinity of Fari-
bault. September 23, Henry S. Wait was killed in the cyclone
at Morristown. Mr. Wait was born in the town of Warsaw in
1862. September 23, a destructive cyclone wiped out a portion
of the village of Morristown. Eight people were killed and four
seriously injured. The cyclone struck the village at 5 :30 p. m.
There were few people on the streets at the time, and those that
were there, upon seeing the approaching storm, hurriedly sought
refuge in a one-story brick building on Division street. The
structure was in the direct path of the cyclone and it was leveled
to the ground, burying eleven persons in its ruins, killing seven
of them outright and seriously injuring the rest. Immediately
after the storm passed a large force of men began the search
for the victims of the storm. Medical aid from Faribault and
Waterville arrived late in the evening. Those found dead were
Henry S. Wait, of the town of Warsaw; Otto Gatzke, aged nine-
teen, son of Paul Gatzke; Johnnie Rohrer, twenty-five, son of S.
B. Rohrer; Elmer Brooks, nineteen, son of William M. Brooks;
Jacob Miller, twenty-four, town of Morristown; Jacob Weber,
twenty-three, town of Morristown ; Frank Pittman, fifty, Water-
ville. The injured were Louis Pittman, aged twelve years; Paul
Gatzke, owner of the building; Fred Wilder; Porter White.
Many buildings were carried bodily for considerable distance
and much damage was done by Hying missies. September 26,
llaltus Soule, aged seventy-one years, died at the soldiers' home.
He came to Minnesota in 1854 and settled in Morristown. In
April, 1861, he enlisted in Company G, First .Minnesota, lie
was in the first battle of Bull Run, Edwards Ferry, through
Peninsula campaign at Antietam, and received wounds for which
he was discharged in 1863. Returning to Morristown after his
discharge, he lived there until 1804. when, after the death of
his wife, he went to the Soldier's Home. October 3, several
washouts occurred along the Chicago Great Western railway.
A landslide occurred at Fourteenth street in Faribault and the
track was covered with sand. October 19, Joseph C. Mold died
at his home in Faribault, aged sixty-six years. Mr. Mold
came to Faribault in the spring of 1855. He enlisted in Company
B, Eighth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out
of service July 16, 1865. The regiment took part in the Indian
War, having formed a part of General Sibley's force. In 1864
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 249
it went south and was engaged in the battle of Murfreesboro.
Afterwards it was sent east to North Carolina, where it remained
to the close of the war. Mr. Mold served a term as commander
of Michael Cook Post, G. A. R.
1901. January 17, the office of Westervelt & Ball's carriage
shop at Faribault robbed. Rev. Samuel Andrews, the pastor
of the Presbyterian church of Faribault, was killed by the cars
at Wabasso. January 24, Kemple's jewelry store at Faribault
burglarized. January 27, Hon. Edward Hollister died at his
home in Fresno, Cal., aged sixty-eight years. Mr. Hollister
came to Minnesota in the spring of 1855. He removed to Cali-
fornia in 1900. Mr. Hollister was a member of Company G of
the First Minnesota. He was wounded at the first battle of
Bull Run, and on account of this disability he was discharged
about two weeks later. February 22, the Methodist church at
Faribault badly damaged by fire. March 7, the Merchants Hotel
at Morristown opened. April 24, the barns of Thomas McCall,
Dr. W. H. Robilliard, and one on the place recently owned by
J. W. Kollman, were burned, together with most of their con-
tents, causing a total loss of $1,200. April 28, Ole Olin, Sr., died
at his home in Faribault, aged sixty-three years. Mr. Olin
came to Faribault in 1866. June 20, Hon. H. M. Matteson died
at his home in Faribault, aged eighty-three years. Mr. Matteson
came to Minnesota in 1854, locating in St. Paul, where he en-
gaged in the lumber business, but later pre-empted land and
water power at Dundas. After a year he removed to Warsaw.
In company with Mr. Hulett he purchased the water power on
Cannon river, now occupied by the Klemer woolen mill, and
moved the mill from Cannon City, eventually purchasing Mr.
Hulett's interest. Mr. Matteson was elected to the legislature
in 1872, and he filled local offices of minor importance. June 29,
a heavy storm passed over Rice county; considerable damage
was done by lightning and hail besides that done by the rain.
July 10, the coal sheds erected at the Milwaukee depot at Fari-
bault. July 12, Capt. John D. Hunt died in Waterville, aged
seventy-six years. Mr. Hunt came to Minnesota in the early
fifties, taking up a farm in the southwest part of Morristown,
where he resided ten years, when he removed to Waterville.
August 4, Remi Payant died at his home in Faribault at the age
of sixty-eight years. Mr. Payant was one of the very earliest
pioneers who made their homes in Faribault, having come here
from Canada in 1854, at the age of twenty-one. Soon after he
married Odelia Paquin, also of Faribault, who was the mother
of eight children, seven of whom survive. In 1909 Mr. Payant
was married a second time, to Josephine Payant, of Ottawa,
Canada. She also survives him. August 14, Dr. F. G. Flesher
250 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
died at his home in Faribault. Dr. Flesher was the city and
county physician. August 10, Harvey Scott, and old pioneer of
Rice county, died at his home near Prairieville, aged eighty-three
years. Mr. Scott settled in Faribault in 1854. He came here
from Ohio, but was a native of New Jersey. He and his brother,
James Scott, at first engaged in the milling business at Faribault
and afterwards bought a farm in Richland, where he lived for
many years. When he became too old for active labor he sold
his farm and removed to Faribault, and afterwards went to
Prairieville, where he died. August 22, the Farmers' Elevator
in Northfield burned, with 1,400 bushels of grain. August 22,
John B. Wheeler, a pioneer settler of Faribault, died at his home
in that city. He was born at Northbridge, Mass., May 18, 1822.
In 1853 he married Clara L. Slocomb, and in May, 1856, Mr.
and Mrs. Wheeler came to Faribault, and the following year
opened a drug store at the corner of Second and Main streets,
in company with William Thayer. He soon purchased his
partner's interest and introduced general merchandise. He was
county commissioner of Rice county for several years and a
director in the Citizens National Bank. For some time previous
to 1888 Mr. W. H. Wheeler was a partner with his father.
Owing to ill health, Mr. Wheeler retired from active business in
1899. September 15, the German Methodist church at Fari-
bault dedicated. September 16, death of Bishop Whipple. Oc-
tober 9, the Fairview house, a three-story wooden house on the
corner of Second street and Fifth avenue, at Faribault, burned.
October 1, the postoffice at Richland discontinued. November
10, dedication of the German Evangelical church at Faribault.
November 15, Prof. Hiram A. Pratt died at his home in Fari-
bault. December 4, the postoffice at Morristown moved into
the old bank building on the corner of Division and Franklin
streets. December 16, the first train on the Burlington, Cedar
Rapids & Northern railway entered Faribault. December 17,
the Faribault Rattan Works burned; loss $6,000. December 13,
the Faribault rug factory badly damaged by fire.
1902. January 1, the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern
railway depot complete. January 15, the North American Tele-
graph Company opened an office at Faribault. January 14,
Edwin R. Wood died at his home in Faribault, aged sixty-throe
years eight months. January 11, Truman L. Nutting died at
his home in Faribault. Mr. Nutting came to Faribault in 1856,
where he resided until four years ago, when he moved to
Waterville. He again removed to Faribault a rear previous to
his death. April 24, Louis Peavy died at his home in Faribault,
aged seventy years. Mr. Peavy came to Faribault from Iowa
in 1874 and opened a photograph gallery, which business he
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 251
continued to conduct with excellent success until a few months
previous to his death. April 23, H. N. Crossett died at his
home in Faribault, aged sixty-nine years. May 3, death of
Senator A. W. Stockton, of Faribault. Mr. Stockton was born
in Kosciusko county, Indiana, March 30, 1844. When Mr.
Stockton was eighteen years old he enlisted in Company B,
Twenty-fifth Wisconsin. His regiment was first ordered to Fort
Snelling to put down the Indian outbreak, and went south in
1863. Mr. Stockton was severely wounded by gunshot in the
battle of Peach Tree Orchard, Georgia. He came to Faribault
in 1865. He accepted the position of deputy county auditor, a
position which he held for twelve years and resigned to take the
position as cashier of the First National Bank. After holding
this office for about two years he resigned and went into a part-
nership for the manufacture of furniture in the Flint Furniture
Company. In 1886 the Faribault Furniture Company and the
Faribault Roller Mill Company were organized, Hutchinson &
Stockton, proprietors. June 6, Charles Nichols, formerly of Fari-
bault, died at his home in Morristown. Mr. Nichols came to
Minnesota in 1856, spending the winter with relatives at Hast-
ings, Minn. He married Rebecca Sanford. In the spring of
1857 he pre-empted a homestead near Kenyon, upon which they
lived four years and then returned to Boston, where he resumed
his former business. In the fall of 1864 they came again to Min-
nesota and purchased a farm southwest of Faribault, which
was his family home until 1894, when Mr. Nichols retired from
active duties of farm life and settled in Morristown, where he
spent the remainder of his life. June 25, a town to be known as
Lonsdale, platted by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway
in the center of section 26 in the town of Wheatland. July 14, a
severe wind storm did considerable damage at Northfield. Every
windmill in the path of the storm was blown down, trees were
blown down, chimneys toppled over, etc. The barn on John
Linster's farm was blown down and the smokestack of Ame's
mill fell upon the bridge across the river, doing considerable
damage to the same. July 11, Charles Louis La Grave died
at his home in Minneapolis, aged eighty-eight years. Mr.
La Grave was for a number of years a resident of Faribault,
having come here from Cassville, Wis., where he was a leading
merchant. He engaged in the mercantile business in this city
in company with Charles McKenna and Frank Forbes, under
the firm name of C. L. La Grave & Co. After going out of
business he removed to Minneapolis, where he has since resided.
Mr. La Grave married Ann Elizabeth Forbes in 1839. He built
one of the first houses in Minneapolis and visited St. Anthony
Falls twelve years before Colonel Stevens arrived. July 19,
253 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Marva Pye, second daughter ol C. G. Pye, aged eighteen, and
Eva Faskin, daughter of Mrs. Asa Beebe, and sister of Mrs.
M. L. Dungley, of Faribault, were drowned while boating in
Lake Jefferson. August 20, the new concrete floor in the south
wing of the main building at the School for the Deaf at Fari-
bault gave way, falling on the two floors beneath, and carried
them to the basement, a distance of forty-five feet. Warren
Smith, Eugene Perkins and Charles Aiman were severely in-
jured. August 23, Fred Henry, of Faribault, committed suicide
in view of his parents, while in a fit of temporary insanity. He
was twenty-one years old. September 17, John R. Parshall died
at his home in Faribault, aged sixty-seven years. Mr. Parshall
came to Faribault in 1854. November 2, the memorial tower
and bells at the cathedral at Faribault dedicated. September 6,
Hon. Charles L. Lowell died at his home in Faribault. Mr.
Lowell was born in Knox county, Maine, October 3, 1829. He
was admitted to the bar in 1850, and practiced until 1855, when
he came to Faribault. He afterwards removed to Wilton, Wa-
seca county, with his father and a few others, who platted the
town. He was married in 1851 to Georgia Berry, who died
in 1887. In 1888 he married Mary Elizabeth House, who sur-
vives him. In 1854 he returned from Wilton to Faribault and
engaged in law practice and after several years abandoned it
and engaged in mercantile pursuits. Resuming his law practice
after a lapse of some years, he continued, in connection with
real estate and insurance, until his death. He held the office of
city recorder five years, from 1873 to 1877, and elected mayor in
1884 and re-elected without opposition in 1885. November 26,
the firm of Kelly & Davison dissolved partnership. Decem-
ber 24, the main building for the School for the Feeble Minded at
Faribault was badly damaged by fire; loss estimated at $10,000.
1903. February 24, Mrs. Margaret Sawyer, wife of A. E.
Sawyer, died at the Hunter hospital at Faribault. March 11,
ice in Straight river wrecked the bridge on the Rock Island road
a mile and a half south of Faribault, stopping the traffic from
Albert Lea to Conius Junction. March 19, Agnes May Green-
wood, an assistant nurse at Shattuck School, lost her life by
being run over by a train on the Rock Island tracks at the
Eighth street crossing at Faribault. March 25, a freight train
collided with a gravel train on the Milwaukee road in the big
cut a mile north of the city of Faribault. April 2, the butter
tub factory located at Faribault. April 29, the Polar Star Elec-
tric Company purchased the water power, mill, machinery and
thirty-five acres of land known as the Scott's mill property,
1< >cri ted on Cannon river, about four miles north of Faribault.
May 5, Charles Humphrey, formerly of Faribault, while in a tit
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 253
of temporary insanity, committed suicide at Wellington, Kan.
June 10, the first passenger train entered Faribault on the down-
town track of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway.
June 10, a freight train on the Rock Island road was wrecked
below the School for the Feeble Minded at Faribault. Thirteen
loaded cars were thrown from the track down a high embank-
ment. June 17, Joseph Closson died at his home in Northfield,
aged eighty-four years. Mr. Closson was one of the early set-
tlers of Rice county. July 15, the new building at the Rice
county poor farm completed. July 25, Hon. Hudson Wilson died
at his home in Faribault. Mr. Wilson was born in the town of
Concord, Ohio, November 10, 1830. He graduated from Kirt-
land Academy, after which he went to Painesville and engaged
in the mercantile business. In 1855 he removed to Madison,
Wis., where for two years he engaged in the hardware trade.
Early in February, 1857, he came to Minnesota and settled in
Faribault, where, in company with Hiram Wilson, he operated
a private bank, the firm name being Wilson & Co., which con-
tinued for several years, when Hiram Wilson withdrew. In
1871 the Citizens National Bank of Faribault was incorporated,
with Hudson Wilson president and Z. S. Wilson cashier. Hud-
son Wilson continued to hold the presidency until his death,
making forty-six years of continuous service, which is the longest
term of any banker in the state. Mr. Wilson was for thirty-three
years a trustee and treasurer of the State School for Defectives.
He was the chairman of the Board of County Commissioners
for nine years. He was elected a member of the Minnesota
house of representatives in 1888 and served one term. Previous
to the organization of the city he was connected with the town
government. July 30, J. R. Summer died at his home in North-
field, aged sixty-seven years. Mr. Summer was an old pioneer
of Rice county. September 24, O. F. Brand, of Faribault, lost
his hand by being caught in an ensilage cutter. September 27,
eight cars of a freight train on the Rock Island road were
wrecked at the West Third street crossing in Northfield. Oc-
tober 21, William O'Brien, of Faribault, was assaulted and robbed
in St. Paul. November 27, Henry F. Johnson, a farmer living
east of Northfield, was accidentally killed by falling from a hay-
stack and breaking his neck. Mr. Johnson was sixty years old.
December 9, Daniel Burget was drowned in Cannon river just
above Sheffield's mill at Faribault. Mr. Burget was ninety-one
years old and was an old settler of Rice county.
1904. January 6, Prof. George A. Franklin, superintendent
of the public schools of Faribault, chosen president of the Min-
nesota Educational Association. January 30, Hon. H. L. Luther
died at his home in Faribault, aged forty-nine years. February
254 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
17, Edward E. Rosell, a pupil at the School for the Deaf, was
killed by the railroad. February 24, Hon. A. D. Keyes died at
the home of his brother-in-law, George A. Weston. Mr. Keyes
was sixty-two years old and had been a resident of Faribault for
thirty-two years. April 6, C. H. Klemer, an old resident of Fari-
bault, died at his home, aged eighty years. May 11, Thomas J.
Curtiss, a former citizen of Faribault, committed suicide at
Tyndall, S. D. June 7, a fire consumed a number of leading
buildings at Nerstrand. The records and stamps of the post-
office were destroyed. July 13, the Faribault canning factory
burned; loss $23,000. August 17, the Graham bridge over Can-
non river at Faribault broke down under a threshing t'ngine and
precipitated it into the river, twenty feet below. September 1,
Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Winkley celebrated their sixtieth wedding
anniversary. They settled in Faribault in 1856. Frederick Doep-
ping committed suicide on the Milwaukee track by throwing
himself before a passing freight. September 21, Mr. and Mrs.
Samuel Fish died at their home in Faribault. Mrs. Fish died
five hours after her husband died. September 21, the manual
training department of the Faribault public schools was removed
from the Central school building to the high school building.
September 28, Senators Fairbanks, Clapp and Dolliver and Hon.
R. C. Dunn gave over two thousand citizens of Faribault a short
visit at the Rock Island depot. October 5, Marion J. Torguson
was accidentally shot and instantly killed at the home of his
parents on the Walcott road. October 19, Henry A. Haley com-
mitted suicide at the home of his sister, Mrs. Lee, at Faribault.
He was twenty years old. November 27, Gilbert Chase died at
his home in Faribault. December 6, the postoffice at Morristown
was robbed.
1905. January 3, the First National Bank at Faribault closed
its doors owing to a deficiency in the reserve fund of the said
bank. Rev. C. C. Camp died at Seabury Divinity School at
Faribault. Rev. Camp was warden of Seabury Hall. He was
the valedictorian of the Yale class of 77. January 11, franchise
was granted to the Rice County Rural Telephone Company by
the common council of the city of Faribault. January 17, Mrs,
Mary Keney, aged eighty-six years, was burned at her home in
Faribault. February 7. Anna C. Casscrly, an inmate of the
School for the Feeble Minded, wandered from the institution to
the Rock Island tracks, where she was run over by the morning
passenger and instantly killed. February 8. T. B. Clement, of
Faribault, was placed under arrest pending an investigation as
to the financial condition of the First National Bank of Fari-
bault, of which Mr. Clement was the president. February 14. a
passenger train on the Chicago Great Western road was wrecked
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 255
one mile south of Nerstrand. March 10, the Corcoran-Strand
Butter Tub Company's factory at Faribault was damaged to the
extent of $10,000 by fire. The Polar Star Electric Company has
secured the franchise for lighting the city of Faribault for
eighteen years. March 25, Leroy Woodruff was accidentally
shot and killed north of the city of Faribault. April 1, Mary
Harmel, while crossing the Rock Island tracks in Faribault, was
struck by a passing train and instantly killed. April 19, the
Faribault butter tub factory re-established in a new location in
Faribault. April 26, the old wooden building located at the
corner of Central avenue and Fourth street, at Faribault, was
torn down. This building was built in 1855. July 26, Hon. B.
B. Sheffield, ex-mayor of Faribault and president of the First
National Bank, removed to Minneapolis. The report of the
census enumerators of Rice county for the year 1905 is 26,837
people. August 17, William P. Jewett. formerly of Faribault,
died at his home in St. Paul. August 28, Rev. E. Steele Peake,
who was the rector of St. Mary's for twenty-one years, died at
his home in Valley City, N. D. August 28, Clara Meyer, aged
twenty-one years, committed suicide at her home in Wheeling.
September 6, the Chase State Bank incorporated. September 27,
Ole Hagen and Andrew Gilbertson were killed and four others
seriously injured by an explosion of a traction engine at Lons-
dale. November 15, T. B. Clement, president of the First Na-
tional Bank of Faribault, was sentenced to eight years' imprison-
ment for misplacement of the funds of that bank. December 9,
Daniel Lyons was run over and instantly killed by a fast Rock
Island train just below the Imbecile school at Faribault.
1906. January 17, Cadet Daniel B. Graves, of Shattuck school
at Faribault, lost his life in a coasting accident on the footpath
which leads to the school. January 29, Archbishop Ireland dedi-
cated the pipe organ at the Church of Immaculate Conception
at Faribault. February 7, a four-days-old child was found dead
in the snow at the Milwaukee and Great Western railway cross-
ing at Faribault by Louis Hanson and Ole Pulkrist. February
28, Wilkoski & Wolf's store at Morristown destroyed by fire.
March 21, F. W. Frink, ex-auditor of Faribault, died. Mr. Frink
came to Minnesota in 1854. March 21, Patrick Shea, of North-
field, mysteriously met his death near the Milwaukee tracks, near
the depot at Northfield. May 27, the Congregational church at
Faribault celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. May 3, the clothing
store of Carpenter & Smith was burglarized. Herman Yanke
was arrested for the same and plead guilty. June 10, the mem-
bers of St. John's Evangelical church at Wheeling celebrated
the fiftieth anniversary of its organization. June 12, Maj. David
Misener, who came to Faribault in 1856, died at his home at
256 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Goodwin, S. D., aged eighty-three years. July 31, a threshing
engine belonging to W. S. Talbot, of the town of Bridgewater,
broke through the bridge across the north channel of Cannon
river, near Klemer's woolen factory, and fell a distance of fifteen
feet. Mr. Talbot, the owner of the machine, and Henry Miller,
the engineer, went down with the engine, but sustained only
light injuries. September 26, John Peterson started a furniture
factory at Faribault in the building previously occupied by the
Schimmel Piano Company. October 17, Francis Albrecht Theo-
pold died at his home in Faribault, aged seventy-three years.
December 8, Charles D. McKellip, of Faribault, died in Chicago,
aged sixty-three years. Mr. McKellip was for many years a
prominent citizen of Faribault. He was a member of Company
D, Eleventh Minnesota, which formed a part of the Army of
Tennessee.
1907. January 17, L. A. Fish, who came to Faribault in
1858, died at Pilatk, Fla., aged seventy-four years. February
27, the Washington and Lincoln schoolhouses at Faribault were
completed. The two schoolhouses are exact duplicates of each
other. The Lincoln schoolhouse is situated west of the Mil-
waukee tracks and the Washington schoolhouse is situated on
the east side of the town. April 1, Hurlburt O. Clement, son of
T. B. Clement, died at his home in Faribault. April 24, the W.
McC. Reid residence, on the corner of Third avenue and Seventh
street, completed. May 14, Charles Hutchinson, who was a resi-
dent of the city of Faribault for twenty-one years, died at his
home in that city, aged fifty-seven years. May 29, Mrs. Schultz.
of Dundas, was found dead in Cannon river. The circumstances
regarding her death were a mystery. May 20, Edwin Sherwin.
of Nerstrand, committed suicide at his home. June 17, while
bathing in the mill pond above Klemer's woolen mill at Fari-
bault, Arthur Filler, son of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Filler, of
Faribault, met his death by drowning. June 19, Mr. and Mrs.
Peter Roth celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at their
home in Faribault. July 24, George Pease died at his home in
Faribault. Mr. Pease was born in Faribault May 21, 1863. Mr.
Pease was the cashier of the Citizens National Bank at Fari-
bault. August 14, a public library was secured for Dundas.
August 14, Dr. Carl A. Klemer died at Berlin, Germany. Sep-
tember 8, cornerstone laid for German Evangelical church at
Faribault. September 14, fiftieth anniversary of the Salem
church, of East Prairie. September 14. Dennis Hagerty, an old
settler of Shieldsville, died. September 18, E. M. Leach, promi-
nent citizen of Faribault, died, age seventy-seven. Member of
the firm of E, M. Leach & Son. Came to Faribault in 1854.
October 3, annual confederation of women's clubs met in Pari-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 257
bault. November 21, Joseph Kahn died, seventy-three years of
age. Came to Faribault in 1857 and entered into a partnership
with James Bachrach in the clothing business, under the name
Jim & Joe. December 1, a residence in Faribault formerly
owned by Mrs. Barron and at one time a part of the old St.
Mary's hall burned. December 15, Evangelical church at Fari-
bault dedicated.
1908. January 18, Mark Wells died in Grand Forks, N. D.
Was seventy-nine years of age. Came to Faribault with Luke
Hulett in 1853. Was a member of Company B, Eighth Minne-
sota, but was discharged after one year for disability. January
22, new Eighth street bridge opened. Mrs. J. J. Dow died, fifty-
nine years of age. With Mr. Dow, she constituted the first class
of Carleton College. February 10, Mrs. Sarah B. Wilson died
at her home in Faribault. Mrs. Wilson came to Faribault in 1857.
March 11, Hiram H. Livingston, a son of Charles C. Livingston,
designed and completed a wireless telegraph instrument which
proved itself a success, having been exhibited before several
scientific societies, where it was pronounced very satisfactory.
March 23, Hon. Christian Erb died at his home in Faribault. Mr.
Erb came to Rice county in 1855 and settled in the town of
Wheeling. April 12, Ira C. Aldrich died, age sixty-eight years.
Member of Company I, Seventh Minnesota ; charter member of
Michael Cook Post, G. A. R. May 15, bill passed in congress
giving Faribault a $50,000 federal building. May 18, Eugene B.
Dickinson died, age fifty-six. Came to Faribault in 1873. May
14, Patrick McKenna died in Shieldsville, age seventy-nine years.
Came to Shieldsville in 1856. Only four white families in village.
Town constable in 1858. In 1874 elected justice of peace. Was
also postmaster eighteen years. June 9, the First National Bank
at Faribault paid one-third dividend. June 10, the Armory and
library building at Shattuck school at Faribault dedicated. June
10, Hon. Charles Eighenbrodt died at his home in Faribault.
He came to Rice county in 1858. In 1898 Mr. Eighenbrodt was
elected to the Minnesota legislature. June 19, David Reed, who
came to Rice county in 1855, died at his home in Faribault,
aged seventy-seven years. Mr. Reed was a member of Com-
pany B, Eighth Minnesota Volunteers. June 17, the fiftieth
anniversary convention of the Central Baptist Association was
held in Faribault. October 4, the German Methodist church at
Nerstrand was dedicated. September 27, the cornerstone for
the St. Lucas hospital at Faribault laid. November 28, George
W. Damp died at his home in Faribault, aged seventy-one years.
He was a member of the First Wisconsin Cavalry. He also
served two terms in the legislature, in 1889 and 1895. December
21, the charter commission of the city of Faribault organized.
258 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
1909. January 1, Isaac E. Bruckman died at his home in Fari-
bault from taking carbolic acid. He was the city recorder for
eight years. January 4, A. F. Burnham died at San Diego, Cal.,
aged seventy-four years. He was in business in Faribault from
1875 to 1894. February 11, B. L. Van Horn died at his home in
Faribault, aged seventy-four years. He came to Faribault in
1856. February 28, Rev. James Flemming, pastor of the church
at Shieldsville, died, aged fifty-six years. April 13-23, the Stare
Art Exhibit held at Faribault. May 6, Mrs Mary Kirk died at
her home in Wells township. Came to Rice county in 1855.
She was eighty years old. June 13, Dr. N. H. Dale died in Fari-
bault, aged seventy-eight years. June 8, the common council of
Northfield passed a no-license ordinance. June 21, August Mor-
tenson died in Faribault, aged seventy-nine years. June 29,
Mrs. Dupna and daughter instantly killed when hit by a Rock
Island train at a crossing in Faribault. August 27, dedication
of the St. Lucas church at Faribault. September 17, Milan X.
Pond died, aged seventy-nine years. Came to Rice county in
1854, took a claim in Prairieville. With his brother he purchased
of F. W. Frink the Rice county "Herald." October 8, Frederick
Lemke died in Wells township, aged forty-three years. Settled
in Wells 1874. Member of the legislature in 1900 and 1903. Oc-
tober 26, Thomas Murray, a fisherman, murdered at Cannon
lake. La Rose, a partner of Murray's, was found unconscious;
died later. Thought to be the work of tramps. December 16,
Capt. Dennis Cavanaugh died. Came to Faribault in 1856. He
volunteered in Company H, Tenth Minnesota Volunteers; pro-
moted to second lieutenant, then to captain of Company C. In
1871 he commenced in the hardware business. Captain Cava-
naugh served several terms as city alderman and three years
as county commissioner.
1910. January 9. George W. Batchelder died in Faribault,
aged eighty-five years. He was a prominent lawyer of Faribault
since 1855. January 12, 13, 14, Farmers' Institute held in Fari-
bault. January 21, death of S. AI. Pye, aged eighty-eight years.
Came to Rice county in 1864. April 13, census enumerators ap-
pointed were: Bridgcwater and Dundas village, Rufus J. Htim-
mell ; Cannon City township, Donald A. McLean; Erin, Thomas
Foley; Faribault, first ward Henry Dacharme and John Milli-
gan, second ward Mabel Barrett and Herman Hohenhous, third
ward Lewis A. Lindenberg, fourth ward John Mullin; Forest,
Charles Pearsons: Morristown township and village, Lewis M.
Hollister; Northfield city, first ward Mrs. .Mice Kinsey, second
ward Mrs. Martha 1.. Page, third ward Hermo M. Felland;
Xnrthfield township, John Miller; Richland, William A. Cruik-
shank; Shieldsville, E. J. Leadon ; Walcott, G. M. Pentz; War-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 259
saw, A. C. Frelin ; Webster, G. C. Gilbertson ; Wells, W. E. Bolt-
man ; Wesley village, Mathias J. Smisek ; Wheeling, H. A.
Eckert. April 13, William Dennis Parshall died at Faribault,
aged sixty-two years. He came to Faribault in 1855. April 24,
C. W. Sanford died in Faribault, aged seventy-five years. He
came to East Prairie in 1861. May 15, the curfew ordinance
enacted in Faribault. May 12, the residence of E. H. Sperry, at
Faribault, burned, with Mrs. Kellog, Mr. Sperry, two sons and
one daughter. This year was also marked by the paving of
several streets in Faribault.
CHAPTER XII.
HENRY BENJAMIN WHIPPLE, D. D., LL. D.
Birth, Ancestry and Education — Influence in Politics as a Young
Man — Staff Colonel — Theological Training — Ordination —
First Rectorship — Call to Chicago — His Work in the Parish
of the Free Church of the Holy Communion — Consecrated
Bishop of Minnesota — First Service in His New Diocese —
First Service in Faribault — Pioneer Conditions — Beginning
of the Bishop Seabury Mission Schools — Shattuck School —
Seabury Divinity School — St. Mary's Hall — Work Among
the Indians — Service on Treaty Commission — "The Great
Apostle of the Red Men" — Honors Abroad — Work in
Cuba — Called to the Sandwich Islands — Work in the South-
ern States — Distinctions in England — Friend of the Black
Man — Visit to Porto Rico — Growth of the Diocese —
Domestic Life — Bishop Gilbert — Bishop Edsall — Summary
of His Life Work — Opinions and Appreciations by Eminent
Men — Triumphant Closing of a Glorious Career — Memorials.
Henry Benjamin Whipple. It has been said repeatedly by
men accustomed to a judicious weighing of words, that "No
bishop of the Church has ever given more striking evidence of
the fact that the highest order of the ministry of Christ belongs
not to a diocese alone, but to the whole Church and to the Com-
monwealth, than the Right Reverend Henry Benjamin Whipple,
of Minnesota."
No brief sketch can adequately describe the rare personality
and career of the man whose life, in the last half century, has
entered so largely into the history of the Commonwealth of
Minnesota, the Republic of the United States and the Church
throughout the world.
Henry Benjamin Whipple was born in Adams, X. Y., Feb-
ruary 15, 1822. The character, however, of the man and the
preparation For his life of noble service to humanity began sev-
eral hundred years before tins, in the lives of his ancestors, and
their descendants, who were among some of the most honorable
families of our country. Sixteen of his kinsmen were officers
in the Colonial and Revolutionary wars. The grandmother of
Sti phen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde-
260
T REVEREND HENRY B. WHIPPLE,D.[:
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 261
pendence, was a Whipple. His grandfather, Benjamin Whipple,
was in the Navy of the American Revolution, held in honor for
the brave and loyal character of its men, among whom was
Paul Jones. His father, John Hall Whipple, was a prominent
merchant in New York state, honored and esteemed for his high
character, integrity and influence as a citizen. His letters to
his son Henry, during his school days, written in a clear, copper-
plate hand, in their quaint and terse maxims for moral, social
and religious principles, were a stimulating influence, and to
this as well as to the influence of his mother did he directly owe
his sound equipment for future life.
In 1820 Mr. John Whipple married Elizabeth, daughter of
the Hon. Henry Wager, one of the electors of Thomas Jeffer-
son. She was a woman of rare and noble character, of fine
mind, and to her sympathetic love and counsel Bishop Whipple
traces the chief impetus of his life — one of her maxims most
conspicuously embodied in his whole career having been, "Never
be afraid to defend the weak and helpless, and never be afraid
of anything, if God is on your side."
He was educated in private schools in the state of New York.
At ten years of age he was placed in the boarding school of
Professor Avery, in Clinton, N. Y., and next in the school under
the care of those cultured men, the Rev. Dr. Boyd and the Rev.
Dr. Covert. While a student at Oberlin he lived with his uncle,
the Rev. George Whipple, who was professor of mathematics
at Oberlin College, of which the noble educator, Dr. Charles
Finney, was president. The environment of his boyhood was
everything that a Christian home of refinement could make it.
At that time there was no Episcopal Church in the western part
of New York, and both parents had connected themselves with
the Presbyterian Church, although their parents and antecedents
had been Episcopalian, and they afterward became communi-
cants of the Episcopal Church.
Endowed with a brilliant and receptive mind, and with a
charm of manner and spirit of independence which made him a
universal favorite with classmates and instructors, the boy pur-
sued his studies to early manhood. His fearlessness and high
moral standards, together with a contempt for unfair play and
injustice of any kind, caused his school days to be marked by
many amusing incidents, forerunners of more serious battles in
behalf of the defenseless, in after life. His interest in political
affairs began when at home for the holidays, when the boy's
greatest delight was to be allowed to sit at the feet of his father
and his friends — where the principles and science of government
were quietly imbibed.
His student life was suddenly interrupted by a severe illness,
262 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
and to prevent a complete breakdown the consulting physicians
ordered rest and a change from academic halls to active business
life. This was a keen disappointment to both father and son,
but as there was no alternative he accepted an offer from his
father and for a short time was associated with him in business.
His father was a staunch supporter of the old Whig party, but
he was a man of broad mind, never allowing himself to seek to
interfere with the conscientious convictions of others, and, what-
ever his private feeling might have been, he magnanimously
recognized his son's right to his own views as a Democrat of
the conservative school. The social and political convictions of
his family led him to take an active part in the state politics of
New York. Through the influence of Governor Dix he was
appointed by Governor Marcy, Division Inspector, with the rank
of Colonel, on the staff of Major-General Gorse. An army offi-
cer who knew him at the time, commenting upon the gallant
appearance of the handsome young officer, exclaimed, "What
a general that man would have been! When the American
Church won its greatest bishop, the United States Army lost a
great general !" The brilliant promise which he gave of political
usefulness and influence was so marked that two of New York's
famous political leaders, Thurlow Weed and Edwin Croswell,
remarked when they heard that he had become a candidate for
holy orders, that "they hoped a good politician had not been
spoiled to make a poor preacher." He was the companion of
Hon. John A. Dix when he was canvassing the state of New
York in 1844. General Dix, Governor Seymour and many of
the friends of his early manhood became his friends at court with
the authorities at Washington in Bishop Whipple's later strug-
gles for the Indians. His last service in the political field was
as secretary of a state convention. About this time an event
occurred which changed the direction of his career. Two bril-
liant business offers had been made him by well known finan-
ciers, who had watched his keen, far-seeing grasp of situations
develop and taken note of those gilts which would have unques-
tionably launched him on a tide of prosperity and placed his
name among those of the great financiers of the country. These
offers naturally made their appeal to the young man of action
and he undoubtedly would have accepted one of them had not
an attack of illness kept his decision in abeyance. In the weeks
of enforced seclusion a vision of the nerds of perishing humanity
took possession <>l" him. recurring again and again, until it finally
conquered him by its importunity. Every other consideration
paled in the light of this greal vision. It was his clear percep-
tion of the highest values of life which led him to decide what
hi> life work should be. His father and his Rishop, the Rt. Rev.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 263
Doctor De Lancey, were deeply impressed and gave him their
unqualified sympathy and encouragement, undoubtedly recog-
nizing in him the promise of a vitalizing future power in the
Church.
He received his theological training under that eminent
scholar, the Rev. Dr. W. D. Wilson, of Cornell University.
On August 26, 1849, ne was ordered deacon by Bishop De Lancey
in Trinity church, Geneva, N. Y. The following February he
was ordained priest in Christ church, Sackett's Harbor, and was
immediately thereafter called to Zion church, Rome, N. Y. In
the seven years of his rectorship in Rome he built up a large
parish, erected a beautiful stone church, and won the enduring
love of his parishioners and fellow citizens. His parish was
made up of men and women of culture and note, and a large
number of the very poor drawn in from the suburbs of the city.
His labors were untiring and his successful experiments in
making the poor self-helping and independent foreshadowed the
greater work to come. In referring to this period of his life the
Bishop said : "It taught me that the poor need our brains more
than our alms," — the germinal of what is finest in enlightened
work for the poor.
During his first rectorship he received calls to Grace church,
Chicago, St. Paul's church, Milwaukee, and to five or six other
flourishing city churches, but none of them appealed to him as
"broader fields of action," until one day in 1856 a thrice-repeated
call came from Chicago, with a personal visit from Albert E.
Neely, of the same city, brother of the late Bishop of Maine,
begging him to go to Chicago and begin work among its great
multitude of railway men, clerks and artisans. There was no
church building, the support of the clergyman and church was
dependent on free-will offerings, but there was an army of wait-
ing men! Bishop DeLancey said: "You must not go — you will
starve!" His friends regarded it as madness. His devoted
parishioners saw nothing so vital as that their beloved rector
should remain where he was daily seeing the fruits of his untiring
energy. But it was a Macedonian cry, which could not be
resisted. His convictions were clear.
In order to organize a parish the Rev. Dr. Clarkson, of St.
James church, Chicago, afterward Bishop of Nebraska, lent three
members of his parish to make up the necessary number and
the "Free Church of the Holy Communion" was organized and
the Rev. Henry Benjamin Whipple formally called. The Bishop
believed, with Dr. Pusey of Oxford, that seats in the Church of
God should be free to all, and he here initiated the free church
system in the West.
He began his work by visiting the roundhouse of the Galena
264 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Railway and every shop, saloon and factory within the radius of
his jurisdiction, and then plunged into a course of reading and
study of railroad and locomotive organization, that he might talk
intelligently with the hundreds of operatives upon the subjects
most interesting to them, always leading up to higher themes.
The men soon learned what his "help at any hour of the day or
night" meant, and every Sunday the church was crowded to
overflowing.
His knowledge of men and his power over them was as mar-
velous as it was lasting. His success soon attracted attention.
Generals Burnside and McClellan and many men who have
become part of our country's history were his devoted parish-
ioners. Men and women of other parishes began to come to the
inspiring services and here the unerring tact and grace of the
man revealed itself in preventing a coldness of feeling among
rectors of other parishes, whose vacant pews bore witness to the
power of the young rector of "the Church of the Holy Com-
munion." Many of the most prominent railroad officials became
communicants of this church. The ministrations of his rector-
ship in Chicago knew no limit. Day or night he was ready to
go wherever called. He visited the prisons, standing ready to
help discharged prisoners to honestly establish themselves in
wage-earning positions ; and one of the three services every Sun-
day was given to the large Swedish congregation of the Church
of St. Ansgarius, which, after the return of the Rev. Dr. Uronius
to Sweden, became a part of his cure, and was the beginning of
his interest in the Scandinavians — an augury of his espousal of
their cause, vears later, in his own diocese.
At that time the flame of burning strife between High and
Low Church seemed to have reached its highest point in Chi-
cago, but the young rector, unmindful of everything except the
saving of men, went his way. equally beloved by the six
invincible representatives of the two Church parties, who
remained his devoted lifelong friends. Meanwhile his congre-
gation having far outgrown Metropolitan Hall, the "Church of
the Holy Communion" was erected, which was burned al the
time of the great Chicago fire.
The phenomenal success of .Mr. Whipple's work in Chicago
was one of the chief factors leading to his election to the Epis-
copate in 1859. He was consecrated first Bishop of Minnesota,
October 13. [859, in St. James church. Richmond. Va., at the
session of the General Convention, an event full of significance
to Minnesota, tin- Church and the Country.
The striking personalit) of Bishop Whipple was largely, of
course, a temperamental endowment, but it is easy to see how,
by the successive events in his life from his boyhood to his ele-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 265
vation to the Episcopate, those natural endowments were trained
and developed, which qualified him for the problems awaiting
him, especially in his broad view of the relations of the Govern-
ment to the dark races. He was a born orator, graceful and
impressive in action, and his musical and impassioned voice of
so fine a timbre that, without an effort, it filled the largest of
English cathedrals. Discriminating, far-sighted, masterly, and
so clear and judicial in his presentation of questions that he was
peculiarly fitted to preside over deliberative bodies. Perhaps his
most perfect gift was his unfailing spirit of Christian charity,
combined with the most sensitive consciousnes of any fault,
however small ; his frequent expressions of humility, born of
ideals so lofty that their radiance left in his own mind no room
for personal exaltation. His noble type of face, which at this
time was of unique beauty, was clear-cut and ecclesiastical, its
youthful hope and high courage gathering to itself, with increas-
ing years, the look of holy mastery and power born of the
sacred fire within — the fire of consecration and love to God and
humanity. It was a face that riveted instant attention in any
assembly. Of commanding figure and presence, six feet and
several inches in height, he was called, on both sides of the
Atlantic, the most picturesque figure in the Anglican Com-
munion. The New York "Independent" described Bishop Whip-
ple, just after his consecration, as "The prelate who looks more
like what one imagines a bishop should be, — with a figure and
face an artist would like to paint : being such as one sees in the
pictures of Fra Beato, or old frescoes in the Campo Santo at
Pisa, where saints with upturned faces and rapt eyes seem to
pierce through the clouds of Time right on into the glories of
Eternity. Such men are not the glory of one part of the Church
alone, but the common property of the Holy Church Universal,
of which the Lord is the Living Head."
This was the type of man who, as the youngest in the House
of Bishops, came to Minnesota as its first bishop in 1859. To
one less hopeful and courageous the outlook upon his new field
at that initial visit would have been appalling. He found a
vast wilderness stretching over an area of eighty-three thousand
square miles, with twenty thousand Indians of three tribes at
war with one another. St. Paul was a small town and Minne-
apolis a little village. There were not more than fifteen or
sixteen small churches and chapels (of frame and log) in the
diocese, four parochial clergy, and perhaps a dozen missionary
clergy, while the Church was without organization and the
newly made diocese, such as it was, divided against itself by
wide difference of opinion.
Bishop Whipple held his first service in Minnesota at Wa-
206 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
basha, November 10, 1859, and on the 23d of the same month
made his first visit to the Ojibway Indian country. Indian
affairs were then at their lowest ebb, without government, pro-
tection or personal rights of property, and therefore subject to
every evil influence of unscrupulous white men, whose only
effort to lighten the darkness of the Indians lay in irrigating their
land with the deadly fire-water.
At this first visit the introductory scene, a few miles from
the agency, showed a dead Indian by the roadside, a number of
bruised and bleeding men lying in torture from wounds received
in a drunken fight, a woman scraping bark from a tree to keep
her children from starving, and a crowd of half-naked wretches
in rags, who gathered around the Bishop with piteous looks as
they begged him to give them help. At another point he was
met by a strange crowd in blankets, paint and feathers, some
with ears cut to represent ear-drops, others wearing brass clock-
wheels in their mutilated ears, and all covered with barbaric
ornaments of beads and metal. "What could you say to such
people?" someone once asked the Bishop. "Simply the story of
the Great Spirit, with its practical application," was the answer.
A mission had been started among the Ojibways a few years
earlier by the Rev. Dr. Breck, but the Indians had driven him
out of their country and there was little to show for it. Mis-
sions had also been started among the Ojibways by other
religious denominations, but they had all been abandoned.
Upon his first visit to the Lower Sioux Agency the Bishop was
met by the Head Chief Wabasha, Wakean Waste, and Taopi,
with a story of their wrongs which fired his blood, a condition
speaking for itself in the fact that over forty thousand dollars
of Indian money "had been expended for schools," and there
was no school building, no school, and not an Indian child had
been taught to read: and yet the Sioux had suffered far less
than the Ojibways. The hatred of the whites for the Indians
was rampant. What an outlook! It took courage and fear-
lessness unthinkable in these days of peace for the young
Bishop, with a vast diocese to administer and build up in every
direction, to risk antagonizing at the very outset the men to
whom he must look for help in his work, by putting himself
on the side of the hated red man.
On one side he was confronted by the ghastly picture of
heathenism, degradation, wrong, and outstretched hands plead-
ing for help: on the other side bitter hatred for the Indian, and
surprise and anger waxing hot in their veins for the Bishop, who
boldly called them brothers, and was unflinching in open espousal
of their cause to the death. The absolute knowledge of the
wrongs which lay behind the Indian wars and uprisings was the
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 267
slogan which called Bishop Whipple to battle. What a splen-
did picture rises before one, today, of this Christ-like young
Bishop standing in the midst of his vast field of labor, with his
clear eyes set eagerly and hopefully toward the Dawn, unmoved
by the cries on every side, "Let the Indian alone!" standing
for fair play and common justice to the wronged and helpless
race, and caring not if he were slain, could he but bear the seal of
its enfranchised manhood and womanhood to his Master. It
was equal to any venture of those great days of the Crusades,
and the Bishop might well have been a picture of Sir Galahad
starting on his quest for the Sangreal, as he announced that,
"God being his helper, it should never be said that the first
bishop of Minnesota turned his back on the heathen at his
door."
In these days of better things, when Indian sympathizers are
the rule, not the exception among enlightened Christian people,
when conferences are convened and, amid comforts and lux-
uries, kind Indian friends cheerfully discuss present-day prob-
lems, how little is realized of what it meant to be a friend of the
Indian in those lurid days ! Good and righteous as is the work
which the Indians' friends are now trying to do, it but repre-
sents the arcadian field of peace after the blood-red soil of
battle. The Bishop said, in later years, "Our Indian system has
not been reformed, but there is the difference between daylight
and midnight in its administration." A long procession of
Christian red men, whom the Bishop first knew as painted sav-
ages with scalp-trophies at their belts, has passed on, leaving its
witness to the fulfilment of his hopes.
On February 19, 1860, the Bishop held his first service in
the wooden chapel at Faribault, then a straggling village of
frame houses, the Episcopal mission consisting of a rude little
chapel in which a parish school was kept, two small frame
houses, a little shanty about fourteen by sixteen feet in size,
where a few young men who were studying for the ministry
were housed, and a few acres of land which had been donated
by Alexander Faribault, with a few more acres which had been
purchased but not paid for. The bluffs were covered by forest,
with a sprinkling of Indian shanties. On the site of the present
Shumway chapel the bishop saw a scalp-dance. This was all.
Certainly not of sufficient significance to weigh in the balance
in deciding the important question of the Cathedral city. It
has often been asked why Bishop Whipple chose Faribault for
the See city and for the founding of schools, as there were no
material advantages in the way of beginnings to offer. Fron-
tenac and several other places in the state held out inducements
to the Bishop for beginning his work, but the healthfulness and
268 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
beauty of the situation of Faribault and its promise as a grow-
ing center marked it as a fitting place for the establishment of
schools, and when a delegation of men of different communions
waited upon him, the week of his first visitation, and in the
name of the town of Faribault cordially offered him a home, with
promises to give him their support in his educational work, he
accepted it as a providential leading, and Faribault became the
See city of the diocese.
In the founding of his schools Bishop Whipple derived much
help and inspiration from his visits to the great schools of Eng-
land, — Winchester, Rugby, Eton and Harrow, and much val-
uable advice from his friends, the Most Rev. Dr. Longley, Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, who had been head master at Harrow,
and from the Rt. Rev. Dr. Tait, bishop of London, who had
succeeded Dr. Arnold at Rugby. How few of the students of
today, who go carelessly in and out of the noble school build-
ings which now crown the bluff, taking advantages offered
them as a matter of course, know or realize what they owe to
Bishop Whipple ! These schools were not planted after the
manner of so many grand collegiate piles, by munificent gifts
and rich endowments, but they stand a witness to the prayers,
the faith, the perseverance, the courage and the unceasing
energy of the Bishop himself, of whom it was said that his faith
was of the kind to move mountains. His name should be
enshrined in the heart of every student who claims as alma
mater one of these schools. They stand, a double witness to the
love and confidence in which Bishop Whipple was held by
friends at home and abroad, who gave him their gifts not
because they had any great interest in western schools, hut
because Bishop Whipple had an undying interest in them, and
they wanted to help him personally.
The first money for Shattuck school came through the
Bishop's devoted friend, Dr. Geo. C. Shattuck, of Boston, the
founder of St. Paul's school, Concord. The Bishop had so
aroused his interest in his educational plans that he said to him
one day: "Bishop, I own a tract of land in Illinois. I have
promised to give eight thousand dollars to St. James' College,
Maryland, within ten years. 1 will give you this land, and
as you sell it you can use part of the proceeds to pay my sub-
scription and keep the rest for your schools." The Bishop's
business sagacity brought about fortunate sales. Mr. Felix
Brunot, the Friend of missions, wanted eighty acres of this land
and told the Bishop he would give him three months to get the
best offer he could for it, and he would then ^ i \ t- him an addi-
tional ten dollars for each acre which he could use fur his work.
An offer for a piece of the land soon came from the owner of
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 269
adjoining land, which held a coal mine. Knowing that the mine
could only be worked by sinking a shaft, the Bishop asked, "By
owning my land is it not true that you could tunnel from the
side and draw out your coal by mules?" "Yes," was the answer.
"Does not Mr. own a coal mine situated in quite the
same way on the other side of my land?" "Yes," came the
reply. "Then," said the Bishop, with a smile, "Haven't I the
same right to take advantage of the situation of my land that I
would have if it were a corner lot?" "Of course you have," was
the frank rejoinder. The result of the whole sale was that the
Bishop paid over to St. James' College eight thousand dollars,
and used the remaining thirty thousand for the erection of build-
ings for his school for boys. Shattuck Hall was named by the
Bishop for his beloved friend.
One of the Bishop's Chicago friends paid her tribute to him
by her gifts of Shumway Hall, the beautiful chapel of Shattuck
school, and Johnson Hall of Seabury Divinity school, with par-
tial endowments. Another dear friend, Mr. Junius Morgan, of
London, gave him the money for Morgan Hall. Still another,
the daughter of Governor Coles, who prevented Illinois from
becoming a slave state, gave the beautiful oratory at Seabury
Divinity school. With the exception of the recently erected
buildings (since 1906) at Shattuck school, the buildings of the
three schools and the many valuable gifts which they contain
were personal tributes of love to Bishop Whipple, made by those
who held up his hands in the days of laying foundations ; among
them Mr. Pierpont Morgan, who endowed a professorship at
Seabury, Mr. Anthony Drexel, Mr. Robert M. Mason and his
generous daughters, of Boston, and many others. When con-
gress authorized the detail of army officers to schools of a cer-
tain grade, Bishop Whipple, believing that military discipline
created an esprit de corps, and was a dignified way of teaching
obedience, immediately applied for a detail to Shattuck school.
The Bishop's friendship with General Sherman, General Grant
and the authorities at Washington won his requests immediate
answers, and, owing to this influence, Shattuck school has been
particularly blessed in its military instructors, — Army officers of
highest character and ability.
The magnanimous spirit of Bishop Whipple has been ex-
hibited more than once in cases like the following: His beloved
friend, Bishop Whittingham, shortly before his death, told the
Bishop that he had decided to give him his library (the most
valuable theological library in the Episcopal Church of America)
for his Divinity school, saying, "For years I have offered to give
my library to the Diocese of Maryland if the Diocese would pro-
vide a fireproof library building. It has not been done and I
270 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
shall give it to you for your school, for I am told that you have
a library building ready for it."
The Bishop, feeling that such a treasure should belong to
Maryland as a memorial to her great Bishop, immediately went
to the Rev. Dr. Leeds and several laymen of the diocese and
urged them to make every effort to secure the library building.
He was finally successful, to the lasting gratitude of Maryland,
which then became the possessor of the finest diocesan library
in the United States.
The Bishop Seabury mission was incorporated in May, i860,
with a board of trustees, of which the Bishop of the diocese was
ex officio president. Bishop Whipple laid the cornerstone of
the cathedral at Faribault on the 16th of July, 1862. This was
the first Protestant cathedral erected in the United States, the
Bishop making the cathedral the center of an educational com-
munity — the schools a part of the organic religious life which it
represented — his idea of the schools and the parish having a
common service in the cathedral every Sunday morning, per-
fectly realizing the true cathedral idea.
On July 17, 1862, the bishop laid the corner stone of Sea-
bury Divinity Hall. The difficulties of those early struggles
were accentuated by the crippling effects of the Civil War, the
Missions, which wiped out two years of hard labor. In the face
missions, which wiped out two years of hard labor. In the face
of these discouragements it required almost superhuman strength
to go on, and yet, in 1863, Seabury Hall was finished. In 1865
Shattuck school was organized. In [866 St. Mary's Hall was
opened, with the scholarly and cultivated Sarah P. Darlington,
daughter of Dr. Darlington, the celebrated botanist and author,
of Philadelphia, as principal, and the Rev. Dr. Leonard J. Mills.
who had been the assistant of Bishop Kerfoot in St. James'
College, as chaplain. When Bishop Whipple founded this
school, beginning it in his own home, there was no institution
of the kind in the Northwest. He took upon himself all the
heavy and perplexing burdens which such an undertaking
involve^. V^aiii his personal influence brought generous
friends to his aid, who by their gifts helped to make this dream
of his heart possible. This Christian home and institution of
learning, which now has no peer in tin- country, was the direct
outgrowth of the constant thought and guidance of its founder,
growing more and more into the ideal of his vision until the
present honored and beloved principal, Caroline Wrighl Eells,
lias placed the cap stone on this object of the Bishop's love.
The rapidity with which the greal wilderness of Minnesota
was changed into one of the most prosperous commonwealths
of the Mississippi valley was a marvel in the history of state-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 271
building. Through the dense forests and over the pathless
prairies Bishop Whipple went, and whereve-r a village sprang
up a mission chapel quickly appeared. Everywhere the Bishop
was known and welcomed, until he became a part of the life of
those early settlers, all of whom held him in reverence and love.
His temporal as well as his spiritual advice was constantly
sought. It was of Bishop Whipple that the term "Sky-pilot"
was first used, which has since been appropriated by novelists
and local poets. Louis Robert, an old French trader, when
asked if he knew Bishop Whipple, replied, "Yes, he's a sky-
pilot and always straight." His splendid vigor and zeal in his
journeys through the wilderness outran the strongest of his
native guides, who accompanied him through wearisome trails,
in birch-bark canoes, during the scorching heat of summer and
the frigid cold and snows of winter, the Bishop carrying his own
canoe and other impedimenta in making the frequent portages
from lake to lake. The Indians and pioneers love to tell, today,
the stories of that consecrated life with its thrilling experiences,
and more than one pioneer has a tale to relate of when, in the
wild fury of a Minnesota blizzard, with the thermometer run-
ning to thirty degrees and more below zero, they have seen
from their windows a veiled shadow moving across the white
expanse of lonely prairie, which has finally developed into a pair
of horses drawing up at the door, and Bishop Whipple, with
just consciousness enough left to guide his horses, has been
helped into the house, and before a great log fire has been
rubbed back into life.
Intermingled, from the first, with all his other diocesan
activities, was his great work for the Indians. From the begin-
ning he saw that if they were to be won by the Gospel and
their descendants preserved to Christian civilization, the deal-
ings of Christian people with them must be marked by justice—
they must be made to feel the obligations as well as the privi-
leges of citizenship, and that law alone could secure them their
rights. As early as 1859 and i860, in his letters to the President
and to the public, he advocated the true national policy of deal-
ing with them as "individuals rather than tribes, insisting upon
justice toward them in matters of treaty interpretation, legal
enactment and administration," and declaring that unless the
legislature and the administration of Indian affairs were gov-
erned by principles of truth and equity, there was no hope of
civilizing them and absorbing them into the great body of
American citizens. In April, i860, he wrote to President
Buchanan, opposing treaties with the tribes as nations, and
showing the evil effects of paying money annuities to tribes,
suggesting a native police and urging the crying need of law
272 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
upon the reservations, strongly recommending separate home-
steads, where the families could live by farming. Twenty years
before Carlisle or Hampton had thought of industrial training,
Bishop Whipple urged the need of practical industrial teachers
along the line of agriculture and progression in other directions,
and indeed every step that has since been taken in civilizing the
Indians was clearly outlined in his first statesmanlike appeal,
and from that time on through every administration ran the
influence which came from the closing lines of his first letter
to President Buchanan, "I have written frankly, as a Christian
bishop may write to the chief magistrate of a Christian nation. - '
As no Indian policy then existed, save that of encouraging
fraud and war, it devolved upon Bishop Whipple to formulate
one and then to plead for it, and to no other man does our
country owe so great a debt on that score as to him. He stood
pre-eminently as the most rational, just and enlightened man
who had any dealing with Indian affairs, and his statesmanlike
breadth of view was the greatest factor in bringing about Indian
reform. It was Bishop Whipple who secured justice for the
Leech Lake Indians in that historical and fraudulent transac-
tion which would have deprived them of all their pine lands,
which were sold by the Indian Department through an Indian
agent. The outraged Indians were on the point of an uprising
when a message came from the President of the United States to
the Bishop, asking him if he would go at once and settle the
difficulty. In the dead of winter he traveled three days through
snow several feet deep to meet Chief Flatmouth and his war-
riors, who came in paint and feathers, angry and turbulent.
After the first outburst of indignation they listened to the
Bishop, because, as they said, he "had not a forked tongue."
His influence over them prevented another bloody stain on our
country's record. The arguments which he used with the Gov-
ernment, based on the ordinance of 1787, "having the binding
force of the Constitution, and recognizing the possessory right
of the Indian to the soil, which could only be extinguished by
treaty." were convincing and conclusive.
In 1862 the Indian massacre of which the Bishop had given
clear warning occurred. To no one did it bring keener anguish
than to the Bishop, but. while his heart was bleeding for mur-
dered friends, his passionate sense of justice would not permit
him to keep silent while the unreasoning hatred of the white
sufferers fell upon all alike, brooking it" defense of the faithful
Christian Indians who, at risk of their own lives, saved hun-
dreds of white women and children. lie was one of the firsl
to go to the relief of the white sufferers after the massacre,
sewing up wounds and caring for the wounded and dying, day
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 273
and night. Then, regardless of his great personal danger, — for
it was like standing at the canon's mouth, — he raised his voice
against their indiscriminate punishment and extermination. His
visits to Washington in their defense brought forth storms of
abuse which grew in bitterness as he fearlessly kept before the
people and the nation the violations of good faith on the part
of the Government. His appeals to Congresses and Presidents,
as he went to Washington several times a year to expose abuses
in the Indian service and to plead for justice, were always care-
fully guarded by facts behind which his statements were well
reined in, bearing his full signature. Long and fearlessly was
the voice of this advocate of justice heard, until both the whites
and the Indians were convinced that his statements could not be
questioned, his never failing sincerity and directness so impress-
ing the Indians that they gave him the name of "Straight
Tongue."
In 1868, quite unknown to himself, Congress appropriated
$45,000 for the Sisseton and Wahpeton Indians at Fort Wads-
worth and Devil's Lake, to be expended by Bishop Whipple,
and, on his refusal to accept the position, he was informed by
the Secretary of the Interior that unless he would accept the
trust the money would remain in the treasury and the Indians
be left to starve. He therefore made the expedition, asking his
friend, Dr. Jared W. Daniels, to accompany him. Through two
reliable merchants of Philadelphia he purchased a supply of
well-made goods at cost, and, with a large supply of axes and
other implements, he started out in the dead of winter, over
pathless prairies covered with several feet of snow, the resting
places at night having been holes dug in the snow banks.
Although a Government position, it carried no salary, and cost
the Bishop $400 from his own pocket. He found the Indians in
a starving condition, their emaciated bodies unhidden by their
rags, and over one hundred of them blind.
Bishop Whipple was appointed by the different Presidents
of the United States on many Commissions to make treaties with
the Indians, and it was the universal verdict that the treaties
with which Bishop Whipple had to do were sound and accept-
able to the Indians. In 1876 Bishop Whipple was a member of
the Commission composed of Colonel Manypenny (who was
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, under President Pierce),
Colonel Boone (grandson of Daniel Boone), General Sibley,
Attorney-General Gaylord, Dr. Asa Daniels, Newton Edmunds
and Henry C. Bulis, to visit the hostile Sioux on the Missouri
river. It was another case of broken treaty. Gold had been dis-
covered in the Black Hills and white men had rushed into the
country which the Government treaty had promised should be
:•; 1 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the possession of the Sioux forever, had killed the buffalo in wan-
ton fashion, and had fired the blood of the outraged Indians.
Their wrongs had smoldered until many of them had become
turbulent and dangerous, and while two of the principal chiefs
were ready to listen favorably to a treaty ceding the Black Hills,
most of them were determined to prevent such a treaty at any
cost. General McKenzie had urged the Commissioners to take
with them a guard of soldiers, but Bishop Whipple and Colonel
Boone objected on the ground of creating distrust and having
a bad effect upon the Indians. Unarmed, they met three hun-
dred chiefs and head-men, each carrying a Winchester rifle and
a belt of cartridges. It was afterward found that they had also
concealed under their blankets knives, clubs and revolvers.
More than a thousand mounted Indians were scattered over the
bluffs and river-bed, near the agency warehouse where the
council met, many of them having taken part, the previous sum-
mer, in the Custer massacre. It was a warlike and menacing
scene. Two companies of the Eleventh United States Infantry,
under command of Colonel Buell, were stationed there as a pro-
tection to the agency. During the Council a platoon of United
States troops stood under arms back of the Commissioners, and
the agency doors were guarded by soldiers. There was no doubt
that the Indians had planned to murder the Commissioners, if
unfavorable to their wishes, and that at a signal the outside
Indians were to make an attack.
The Council opened in the usual way. the Indians stating
their wrongs and making their demands of the Government.
Bishop Whipple answering for the Government. The two
friendly chiefs were interrupted by yells of anger and dis-
approval, and, after two onslaughts upon them with threats to
kill, Colonel Buell told them that they would be fired upon by
the troops if the disturbance were repeated. Defiant and at
white heat, they made a third rush, with wild yells of rage.
Instantly Colonel Buell gave the order, "Ready— Aim"— and
was about to command "Fire!" when Bishop Whipple, who had
been quietly sitting through all the uproar, arose From hi- -eat
and, stretching out his arms toward the Colonel, exclaimed, in a
voice which distinctly rang above the tumult. "Don't tire.
Colonel. For God's sake, don'1 fire!"
Perfectly calm and without a sign of fear the bishop stood.
The effect was extraordinary. One of the army officers who
was present in describing the scene -aid: "It was an anxious
and awful moment. No one knew what Colonel Buell was
thinking, hut it was evident that he distrusted his own judg-
ment against that of Bishop Whipple, who was held in the
highest esteem and veneration b) the officers of the Army, but
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 275
the command was given, 'Recover Arms' instead of 'Fire' and
the situation was changed." It was the verdict of all that
Bishop Whipple's conduct at this time averted an awful calamity,
for had the troops fired it would have been the signal for a
general slaughter, as the armed Indians far outnumbered the
troops.
After the outbreak of 1862, owing to the bitter feeling on the
part of the whites, it was thought wise to remove the Sioux to
Dakota, many of the Christian Indians whom the Bishop had
baptized and confirmed among them. The Government had
confiscated all their lands, amounting to over one million acres,
and annuities which were $20 per capita, besides the interest
from funds for civilization. Some of the faithful scouts and
families of the loyal Indians were taken to Faribault by Bishop
Whipple at his own risk. The Sioux removed to Dakota were
for a long time under the care of Bishop Whipple's missionary,
the Rev. Mr. Hinman. Ten years later the Rev. Dr. Hare, whose
interest in Indian missions had been aroused by Bishop Whipple
when on visits to the latter's home in Faribault, was nominated
to the House of Bishops as Bishop of Niobrara by Bishop Whip-
ple, who preached the consecration sermon and joined in the
consecration.
Believing that the day would come when the Ojibways would
be removed from their reservation, Bishop Whipple set himself
to finding out the tract of land best adapted to cultivation and
the needs of the Indians, and learning that it was the universal
opinion among the Indians that the country around White
Earth Lake was most desirable, he was instrumental in securing
it for them when the time came for a new treaty. He bought
and paid for the first herds of cattle on the White Earth
Reservation.
Bishop Whipple's thrilling and courageous report on "The
Moral and Temporal Condition of the Indians," delivered in
Cooper Institute, New York city, 1868, by request of Mr. Peter
Cooper, aroused a deep wave of feeling and produced so profound
an impression that it led to the organization by President Grant
of the Indian Peace Commmission the following year. When
the Bishop was warned to omit the darkest charges, on the score
of personal danger, he answered, "They are true and the nation
needs to know them, and so help me God, I will tell them, if I
am shot the next minute !"
The Indian Peace Commmission was made up of men dis-
tinguished for their philanthropic character, who served without
compensation. From the time of its creation Bishop Whipple's
help and suggestions were sought upon all occasions, as he was
considered absolute authority on all matters pertaining to Indian
276 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
affairs. For long years it was necessary for him to agitate the
subject, rehearsing the facts of the Indians' wrongs and necessi-
ties until they were burned into the public mind so deeply that
steps toward their reformation were demanded.
The Bishop's correspondence in behalf of the Indian cause
to the press, to public men, and to the successive Presidents of
the United States, masterful and convincing in the truth and
breadth of its arguments, would fill volumes. The clear and
incontestable character of his letters on subjects such as "What
shall we do with the Indian?" "A True Policy Towards the
Indians," "The Chivington Massacre," and others, published in
the appendix of his valuable book, "Lights and Shadows of a
Long Episcopate," should become familiar to every justice-
loving citizen of the United States. Bishop Whipple never once
made an accusation against an Indian Agent without first giving
him fair warning, and while he fought many battles against
Indian agents, he fought, quite as insistently, some in their
behalf. He was often furnished with proofs of fraud by men
who had no interest whatever in the Indians, but who admired
his unconquerable courage. A Roman Catholic friend once paid
$100 for a proof of fraud, for the sake of passing it on to Bishop
Whipple, whom he believed in as a man.
President Lincoln, who was one of Bishop Whipple's warmest
friends and admirers, once characteristically relieved the tension
of his feelings in speaking of him thus: "Bishop Whipple talked
with me about the rascality of this Indian business until I felt
it down to my boots. If we get through this war, and 1 live,
this Indian system shall be reformed."
It fell to Bishop Whipple, as first Bishop of Minnesota, to
devise the Episcopal seal for the Diocese. As the Indian tribes
were then at war with one another, his unfaltering belief in
their redemption through Christian training led him to choose
the design of the Cross with a broken tomahawk and a pipe of
peace at its foot, surmounted by a mitre and the motto, "Tax
per sanguinem crucis."
In 1864 overwork made rest a necessity, As the guest of
Mr. Robert B. Minturn, Bishop Whipple visited England, where
his noble personality immediatel) won him lite-long friends
among the most interesting men and women of the country.
While in Paris he became deeply interested in the Met all Mis-
sion and his impassioned addresses to the great congregations
made up of infidels and every type of humanity representing the
sinning and sinned against led. in several eases, to results of
great significance.
In Spain, where he was received by the Duke of Montpen-
sier and other distinguished Spaniards, and where he held serv-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 277
ices in the chapel of the Embassy, at the request of the British
Minister, he found conditions which enabled him later to take
an independent stand in dealing with what proved to be, through
him, the beginning of freedom of worship in the Spanish pro-
tectorate of Cuba. In the Holy Land, in Constantinople, in
Egypt and wherever he went he was honored in unusual ways.
He was received most cordially by the Archbishop of the Greek
Church and the Patriarch of the Armenian Church, participating
in some of the interesting functions of these Eastern Churches.
In 1871 Bishop Whipple held the first Protestant service in
Cuba. The Foreign Committee of the Board of Missions had
asked him to visit the Mission at Haiti, but, upon arriving in
New York to find that the steamer had sailed before her adver-
tised date, he took the one chance of getting to Haiti by going at
once to Havana, but there he found that there was no steamer
bound for his desired point. Feeling that the interruption to
his plan might be an interposition of Providence, he began an
investigation of the moral and religious conditions of the thou-
sands of foreigners scattered over the island of Cuba, and the
appalling revelation showed that without Church or moral stimu-
lus they had degenerated into every form of immorality — bull-
fights, cock-fights and lotteries forming their chief interest.
Many had died without religious rites, having been buried in
trenches like cattle. The wife of the Consul-General of the
United States, a granddaughter of Bishop White, of Pennsyl-
vania, had recently died without the ministrations of religion.
The Bishop's soul was aroused. He asked the United States
Consul if he might hold a service at the Consulate, but so strained
were the relations between Spain and the United States that the
Consul thought it unwise, and suggested that permission should
be asked of the Captain-General of Cuba. The Bishop's diplo-
macy revealed itself in his quick response: "Certainly not. The
Spanish Constitution gives permission to foreigners domiciled in
Spain or her colonies to worship God according to their accus-
tomed forms of faith. I shall act under this authority, and if
anyone dares to meddle with me I think that my country will
protect me." The Bishop, accordingly, held service on board the
United States man-of-war "Swatara," then anchored in the har-
bor, on the nth of March, 1871, the congregation flocking out
to the ship in boats. During the week he held a service in the
rooms of the British Consul-General, the Hon. John Dunlop, and
the same week, at the request of the Consul-General of Ger-
many, the Hon. Louis Will, he solemnized the marriage of two
German subjects, at the German Consulate, with the stipulation
that he should be allowed to officiate as an act of international
courtesy without the customary fee. This led to a return of
278 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
courtesy, and, by request of the Consul-General of Germany, he
held service the following Sunday, March 18, at the German
Consulate, where there was a large congregation, the grand
service having been made more impressive by a special service
of thanskiving for the restoration of peace between Germany and
France. This was the first public service held in Cuba, and was
the beginning of the work which opened Cuba to freedom of
worship.
A large resident population of English, Germans and Ameri-
cans were most anxious for the establishment of Church serv-
ices, among them some prominent Roman Catholics, who, keenly
feeling the low moral ebb in the island, promised to give sub-
stantial support to any clergyman the Bishop might send who
would stand as an example of what a priest should be, declaring
that much as they honored the priests of their Communion in the
United States, they felt the need of a cleansing and moral
influence in the island.
The Consuls-General of Great Britain, Prussia, Austria and
the United States, and prominent business men pledged their
co-operation, and, with characteristic zeal, the Bishop worked
during his stay, securing over three thousand dollars for the
support of a resident clergyman. Upon his return to the United
States he set himself to the task of arousing the Church to the
vital need of the situation. The Church was unwilling to take
any responsibility in establishing a mission in Cuba, but. in
spite of lukewarmness and opposition, the Bishop continued his
eloquent pleas, declaring that it could in nowise be regarded as
an "intrusion into the jurisdiction of another historical church,"
as no effort to proselyte would be considered. It was a time
of intense feeling, but the Bishop persevered until the House of
Bishops finally awoke and consented to send a resident mission-
ary to the foreign population of the island, appointing Bishop
Whipple and Bishop Whittingham to the oversight of the work.
In November, 1871, the Rev. Edward Kennev. under Bishop
Whipple's direction, and glowing with the hitter's faith and
zeal, sailed for Havana. At the Bishop's visit to Cuba in 1875,
witli the Iiishop of Ontario, he held the firsl public confirmation
of the Episcopal church in Cuba, having had private confirma-
tion on his first visit. The Rev. Edward Kennev proved that
he had been wisely chosen. He had one of the largest hospi-
tals under his spiritual care, had made over four thousand visits
to the sick and dying and had carried on his labors in so broad
a spirit ot Christian love that, at the Bishop's visit, the Consuls-
General of the German empire. Great Britain and America, with
several prominenl residents, gladly consented to act as a Com-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 279
mittee to receive and expend contributions, feeling that the val-
uable work should be extended to all parts of the island.
The altar in the cathedral at Havana will Stand as a memorial
of Bishop Whipple, simply as a sign of that memorial greater
than sculptored marble, which may be seen today in the im-
proved condition of Cuba's commonweal.
In 1871 an English bishopric was offered to Bishop Whipple
by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Winchester,
sanctioned by the King and Synod of the Sandwich Islands.
Strong and insistent pressure was brought to bear to persuade
the Bishop that the grave needs and responsibilities of the situ-
ation were such that duty seemed involved. The conditions in
the islands were beset with delicate and difficult problems, and
required a man to head the work of large grasp, of broad poli-
cies, of sound and persuasive temper and consecration to the
highest ideals. Bishop Whipple was the man who loomed up
in the mind of the English Church as the solution to the prob-
lem, an opinion concurred in by many of the American bishops,
although it was tempered, in the American House of Bishops,
by considerations connected with his unique and great work at
home. At this time the rigidity of Minnesota winters, with his
constant exposure, was beginning to endanger the Bishop's
health, and the prospect of prolonged work in a mild climate
entered into consideration. The situation was problematic and
finally the Bishop sought advice of the members of the House
of Bishops, who, representing its theological status, also knew
him intimately and understood the situation in Minnesota and
the Sandwich Islands.
He found opinion equally divided, some fearing that it might
involve suffraganship to Canterbury, besides taking the Bishop
from the diocese which he had so nobly founded, others urging
that there were so many reasons for regarding either as a great
work for which the Bishop was pre-eminently fitted, that the
indications of a Providential leading were strikingly and equally
clear. Some were dazzled by the importance of the results to
be won socially and ecclesiastically with a leader like Bishop
Whipple fitted to successfully cope with the entanglements and
problems, characterized by Bishop John Williams of Connecti-
cut as "being in such a snarl that what, between King Synod and
bishops in England, Solomon himself could hardly hope to set
things straight." Some urged that it would be a glorious dem-
onstration of Anglican friendship, so prolific of far-reaching
issues that there seemed but one view to take of it. Others
took the stand that the one ground for decision should be the
Bishop's health, and that the duty of the Church lay in the desire
and aim for the prolongation of his life in whichever field the
280 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
promise was most hopeful of lengthened official service. Indeed
so conflicting was the advice offered that the Bishop finally
decided to leave the matter of health to a higher Power, believ-
ing that his first duty was to his schools, his Indians and his
diocese as long as he lived.
In 1873 Bishop Whipple was elected one of the trustees of
the great Peabody Fund for educational work in the South.
When this fund was created there was not a public school in the
South. The board of trustees was and always remained one of
the most distinguished and brilliant bodies of men ever con-
vened in America. The Hon. Robt. C. Winthrop, who succeeded
Henry Clay as Speaker of the House of Representatives, and
Daniel Webster in the United States Senate, was its first presi-
dent, having been succeeded by the Hon. William M. Evarts,
with Bishop Whipple and Chief Justice Fuller of the United
States Supreme Court as its two vice-presidents. In 1875, at one
of the meetings, the Bishop, familiar with the conditions of the
South and the problems confronting it, and knowing that the
poor children of the Southern states would be dependent upon
common schools for their education, and that trained teachers
would be needed, offered the resolution "That the Executive
Committee be requested to take into consideration the propriety
of establishing scholarships for the education of teachers in a
limited number of schools and colleges in the more destitute
parts of the South." The resolution, which was seconded by
General Taylor (son of President Zachary Taylor), was unani-
mously adopted and led to the founding of the Peabody Normal
College in Nashville, Tenn.
In 1888, by request of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop
Whipple preached the opening sermon of the Lambeth Confer-
ence, at Lambeth Palace, London, of which one of the greatest
prelates <>f England said: "The name of Bishop Whipple has
been held in the highest honor, for long years, throughout the
Anglican Communion, and 1 shall never forget his sermon to the
Lambeth Conference on 'The Church of the Reconciliation,'
which has become a well-known note of our communion ever
since." In 1889 he preached the triennial sermon in St. George's
church, New York city, on the centenary of the organization of
the American branch of the Church.
In 1890 much needed resl caused the Bishop to succumb to
the generous wishes of a dear friend, and his winter was spent
on the Continent, in England and in Egypt. He preached upon
many memorable occasions during the winter, having been one
of the consecrators of the present Most Reverend Archbishop
of Canterbury when he was made Bishop of Rochester, and also
of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Creighton, Bishop of London. He had a
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 281
private interview with Victoria, Queen of England, who was
deeply impressed by the Bishop's personality, requesting a por-
trait of himself and presenting him with her own portrait,
accompanied by a beautifully bound and inscribed copy of her
book, "Journeys in the Highlands." He preached in the Royal
Chapel at Windsor and delivered the opening sermon of a course
in Westminster Abbey, where he had many times been the
Special Preacher, as he had been in nearly all the English
cathedrals, and before the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge
and Durham, from which he had received the honorary degrees
of D. D. and LL. D. He received the degree of D. D. from
Hobart College.
On June 3d, 1897, by a request of the preceding year, he
preached in Salisbury cathedral at the great service in com-
memoration of the thirteen hundredth anniversary of the bap-
tism of King Ethelbert, the first Christian Saxon king, with a
congregation of seven thousand persons, a procession of seven
hundred bishops and vested clergy and fourteen hundred chor-
isters. The same year he preached one of the special sermons
before Oxford and the "Ramsden Sermon" before Cambridge,
which, by request of the S. P. G., was published for circulation.
He also preached the opening sermon after the restoration of the
wonderful old Cathedral-Church of St. Saviour's, London,
vibrant with history, and in the Ladye chapel, of which Bishop
Gardner held court and condemned to be burned at the stake the
Bishop of St. David's, Bishop Farrar of Worcester, John Rogers
and five priests. It was said by many of the one hundred and
fifty bishops present at this service that Bishop Whipple seemed
to have reached the zenith of impassioned outpouring of spiritual
truths, striking the keynote of everything most needed in the
Christianization of the world. In August, 1897, Bishop Whipple
preached the Tennyson memorial sermon in the Poets' parish
church at Freshwater, Isle of Wight, at the time of the unveil-
ing, by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Dean of West-
minster, of the memorial erected by the poet's friends in America
and England — the Iona cross, which stands a beacon for sailors
on the summit of the downs.
In 1899 he was again invited to preach upon special occasions
in England. He delivered the address at the centenary of the
Church Missionary Society of England, as representative of the
American church, a memorable occasion, on which archbishops,
bishops, statesmen, ex-governors of foreign colonies and dele-
gates of distinction from all over the world were present. When
Bishop Whipple arose to give his address the great audience of
six thousand men stood up, and the prolonged and deafening
cheers and shouts of "Minnesota, Minnesota!" were a token of
282 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the love and honor in which Bishop Whipple was everywhere
held. From the academic shades of old Cambridge came the
following description of him upon this occasion : "The Bishop of
Minnesota, tall, graceful, with the figure of a Sirdar and the face
of a saint, rose to speak. With voice strong and powerful,
having lost nothing of its music and thrilling with earnestness
coming straight from the soul, this typical spiritual Chief of the
West, this silver pine of Minnesota, began his noble and
impressive address, amid a storm of applause.
The last service of a Lambeth Conference, in which Bishop
Whipple participated, was at the closing service in St. Paul's
cathedral, London, when he, with the Archbishops of Canter-
bury and York, and the Bishop of London were the celebrants.
In 1895 the General Convention of the Episcopal Church,
meeting for the first time west of the Mississippi river, was held
in Minnesota, and was an occasion not to be forgotten in the
state. It was a widespread tribute of honor and appreciation,
regardless of creed, to the work done by the great first Bishop
of Minnesota in the See city and in the diocese under his noble
leadership. A more hospitable reception was never given to any
General Convention than to this one by Churchmen and their fel-
low-Christians of Minnesota, Archbishop Ireland and other
distinguished clergy of the Roman Catholic church joining in
the welcome to the Bishop's guests. A beautiful silver loving
cup was presented to the Bishop at this time by the House of
Bishops. One of the problems of American Christianity which
has been so wisely worked out in Minnesota in connection with
the large Scandinavian population was of profound interest to
the Convention, as it showed the extent to which the diocese
has incorporated with itself the members of the Swedish National
Church, as it was in the Colonial days of Delaware and Penn-
sylvania. Bishop Whipple's work among the Scandinavians
during his rectorship in Chicago had borne fruit, and in his Con-
vention and other addresses, as early as [868 — twenty years
before the matter was legislated upon by the Lambeth Confer-
ence — Bishop Whipple declared his conviction with clearly
stated reasons, that the standards of doctrine of the Scandinavian
Church were so closely allied to those of the Anglican Church
that her children should be accepted as members of a sister
Church, lie then formulated the steps which crystallized suc-
cessfully in his own diocese after the Lambeth Conference of
1SS5 had adopted the recommendations of the Report, which was
made at the time by a committee composed of some of the
soundest theologians among the bishops of the Anglican Church,
who took the same stand which Bishop Whipple had taken
twenty years before. It was declared that the Swedish Church
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 283
"should be most gladly welcomed with a view to the ultimate
establishment of permanent intercommunion on sound principles
of ecclesiastical polity." This was a subject very close to the
Bishop's heart and he so impressed his convictions upon his
assistant, Bishop Gilbert, that the latter was ready to co-operate
with him when the time came for the decisive step to be
taken. Bishop Whipple acted under the authority of the Lam-
beth conference of 1888 and in 1898 the General Convention
passed a canon ratifying the action of the Diocese of Minnesota
in allowing Swedish congregations to use the liturgy of the
National Church of Sweden.
With that wonderful prescience which so signally distin-
guished Bishop Whipple it seemed to be his gift to foresee the
end from the beginning. Fifteen years before it was deemed
necessary to appoint a bishop for Alaska, Bishop Whipple vis-
ited Alaska and, finding conditions which aroused his pity and
interest, his voice was heard at every subsequent General Con-
vention pleading for the establishment of a missionary jurisdic-
tion in that land of suffering humanity, until finally it came in
the election of the heroic Bishop Rowe.
In the winter of 1900 Bishop Whipple made a visit to Porto
Rico, by official request, making an investigation of the social
and religious status of the island, — an undertaking in which
he was heartily assisted by General Davis, Military Governor
of Porto Rico, who gave him every facility for learning true
conditions. The Bishop's concise and exhaustive report was wel-
comed by thousands of Americans, eager to know facts concern-
ing their new possession, among them President McKinley,
who had written the Bishop asking that the report might be sent
to him as soon as completed. Bishop Whipple was the first
American bishop to set foot in Porto Rico, and was everywhere
enthusiastically welcomed. He visited all parts of the island, by
horses or steamer, delivering sermons and addresses in theaters,
private houses and the barracks of the United States soldiers.
He administered the rite of confirmation, and, upon Washing-
ton's birthday, at their first patriotic meeting, delivered an
inspiring speech on "Our Country" in the San Carlos theater of
San Juan to an audience of several thousand persons. So deplor-
able a condition of illiteracy, poverty and demoralization was
revealed that the Bishop returned to the United States to again
plead for a down-trodden people. His insistent appeals were
finally rewarded when the House of Bishops appointed the Rt.
Rev. Dr. Van Buren as Bishop of Porto Rico.
Of the many proofs of Bishop Whipple's apostolic character
none shine forth more luminously than his lifelong passion of
love and hope for the dark races and for suffering humanity
284 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
generally. In the center of darkest Africa a great bell calls the
benighted natives to a house of prayer and learning, which bears
the inscription, "In love and reverence for Bishop Whipple,
Friend of the Black Man." In the distant Philippines stands a
noble altar-piece made by the famous carver of Ober-Ammergau,
in the niches of which stand figures of a few men who, in the
world's history, have stood for great truths, among them Bishop
Whipple, the exponent of love and justice to all men.
In the later years of his life the severity of Minnesota win-
ters made it necessary for the Bishop to spend part of the season
in a milder climate. The burden of his diocese went with him.
but, notwithstanding his enormous correspondence, which took
up a large part of every day, he still found time to erect a church
in Florida, of which he always spoke as "The Church of the
Reconciliation," where he held regular services, instructing the
colored people in their own church Sunday afternoons.
In 1886 the growth of his diocese made it necessary for the
Bishop to ask for an assistant. Notwithstanding the difficulties
and hardships of a new country, with everything to contend
against and with everything to plan and build, the bishop had
brought his diocese to a splendid pre-eminence. The handful of
feeble missions and parishes which he had found worshiping in
small frame and log churches had multiplied to scores of flourish-
ing parishes, and a large number of rectories had been built.
Church hospitals in St. Paul, Minneapolis, Duluth and White
Earth had been built, and his schools had become the honor and
pride of the Northwest. The State of Minnesota had grown into
one of the great commonwealths of our country. The prairies
and forests where Bishop Whipple had labored and traveled by
horse, on foot, by canoe and by stage were lined with railroads,
Pullman cars running to within a short distance of Indian res-
ervations, where the Indians were living at peace, in houses of
their own.
At this auspicious time the Rev. Mahlon N. Gilbert was
elected Assistant Bishop. The magnanimous and wise methods
of the great-hearted Bishop, and the confidence and admiration
of his assistant, made the relation one of unusual harmony,
which continued until Bishop Gilbert's death, in 1900. Then
again Bishop Whipple had the care of the diocese upon him,
until, in 1901, he asked for a coadjutor. The Kt. Rev. Dr.
Edsall, Missionary Bishop of North Dakota, was elected, an
event which caused the Bishop to exclaim, "Laus Deo!" Until
his death. Bishop Whipple never ceased to be the Great Diocesan,
guiding, working, and literally "dying in harness."
Bishop Whipple was twice married; first to Cornelia, daugh-
ter of Benjamin and Sarah (Ward) Wright, of New York state,
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 285
by the Rev. Mr. Fisk, of Trinity church, Watertown, N. Y. Mrs.
Whipple was of the family of Ward and Pell, of New York
state. She was deeply interested in the early work in Faribault,
particularly in the beginning of St. Mary's Hall. She entered
into rest in the year 1890.
In 1896 Bishop Whipple was married to Evangeline, only
daughter of Francis and Jane Van Poelien Marrs, of Massachu-
setts, by the Rt. Rev. Henry C. Potter and the Rev. Dr. Greer,
in the Church of St. Bartholomew, New York city. Mrs. Whip-
ple is a New Englander, descended from a distinguished Eng-
lish and Dutch ancestry. Mrs. Whipple now owns and lives
in the home which has so long been identified with the diocese
of Minnesota, as its Bishop's residence, and is closely associated
with the Bishop's work. Four children of the Bishop are liv-
ing: Mrs. Charles A. Farnum, of Philadelphia, Mrs. H. A.
Scandrett, of Faribault, Mrs. F. R. Jackson, of Cleveland, and
Brigadier-General Charles H. Whipple, Paymaster-General of
the United States Army, a son, and a beloved daughter, Mrs.
Cornelia Rose, having died in 1878 and 1884.
Bishop Whipple was Chaplain-General of the Societies of the
Sons of the Revolution and of the Colonial Wars of the United
States, was a member of the Indian Board of Commissioners
and of other important societies in England and America.
In 1861, he was chosen chaplain of the First Regiment Minne-
sota Volunteers, but although obliged to decline this position,
he was a frequent visitor at the camps, where he was loved and
revered by the officers and soldiers. He actively promoted the
labors, during the Civil War, of the Sanitary Commission in be-
half of the sick and wounded, afterwards aiding in many ways
in the relief of the widows and children of those killed.
In his Churchmanship, in his dealing with the Indian ques-
tion, in the management of his great educational work, in the
rational and far-sighted conduct of subtle and critical situations
in his diocese, his statesmanship has been conspicuous, his tact-
ful and persuasive influence bringing together men of oppo-
site schools of theological thought in a remarkable way. To
these qualities the diocese of Minnesota owes the noble position
she holds in the Church. The Bishop was once seen standing
at his full, benignant height, with his right arm drawn tightly
around one of the most extreme ritualists of the day, his left
arm as closely encircling the extremest of Low Churchmen.
Looking down upon them with radiant face, he exclaimed :
"Here are two of the best men in the whole Church. I don't know
which one I love the more, and they are just beginning to find
out how much they love each other!" They were held so
closely that they could do nothing but smile in each other's
286 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
faces, which they had never done before, but the smile cemented
an enduring friendship.
Technically speaking, the Bishop was a High Churchman of
the Conservative School, but it has often been said that "Bishop
Whipple was too large for any one Church — he belonged to the
whole world." He was rightly called "The Spiritual Father of a
Great Commonwealth." He was a loyal and tender father to
his clergy and counted nothing hard if he could serve anyone in
need.
The Minnesotans, familiar with the story of the early days
of the state, know that the solution of some of its most subtle
problems confronting it in its chaotic condition, when its wilder-
ness was filled with red men, was due to this indomitable leader
of men, who went up and down its vast stretches, month in and
month out. He was alike welcomed in town, hamlet, and lum-
ber camp, where his wise and virile counsel, his profound spirit-
ual teaching applied to the practical needs of right state build-
ing, inspired his listeners with lofty ideals of citizenship, mak-
ing them feel their personal obligation as a part of a great na-
tion. His life from first to last was identified with the devel-
opment of the best interests of the state, and to his pure char-
acter, energy, self-sacrifice and zealous Christian teaching the
state of Minnesota owes an immeasurable debt.
A brief biographical sketch can in no way tell the story of
Bishop Whipple's life and personality — a personality which drew
around him a host of men and women, whose names stand for
the best and greatest in the English-speaking world of the last
half century, with whom he had an intimate friendship and
correspondence. He was not only honored and revered, but
was loved with the tenderness which made the rugged old
warrior, General Sherman, say to his adjutant, as they sud-
denly confronted the Bishop in an hotel lobby, "Here is our In-
dian Bishop. We have the Indians between us, and we'll
exterminate them." "General," responded the Bishop, "why
don't you say you thank God that there is a bishop to defend
these poor red men?" The answer came with tears in tin-
veteran lighter's eyes, as he threw hi-- arm about the Bi
"Bishop, / do, and I love yon for it!"
Bishop Whipple was never taken unawares. At a moment's
notice, his arguments were ready for the occasion, concise,
cleancul and convincing, lie was a fascinating conversational-
ist, absolutely free from self-consciousness, with a keen -nisi'
of humor, line wit and a mosl charming freshness and sim-
plicity. His wide knowledge of nun ami events peculiarly lil-
ted him For an) position in life, and made him the delight of
men like Lord Houghton, Lord Salisbury, Ranke the historian,
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 287
the Duke of Argyle, Sir Henry Holland and others of like mind
and gifts, with whom he came into intimate relations. He was
particularly fitted by temperament and endowment to thor-
oughly enjoy the intellectual stimulus of men who have made
the glory of England's and America's best social life in the last
fifty years. The rare blending of geniality, magnanimity, and
nobility of nature, drew men irresistibly to him.
It is the voice of a man's contemporaries which gives, per-
haps, the most adequate estimate of the place he has filled in
the hearts of his fellow men. The coming generation, to whom
Bishop Whipple will be but a hallowed name, must receive its
impression of the rare character of the man by the effect which
it produced upon contemporary master-minds. In the broadest
sense, he was a great man — great in character, in influence
and in achievement. He won men by his broad wisdom, his
persuasive powers, his rare magnetism, his high courage, and
his noble citizenship. His name will stand as one of the greatest
Christian patriots and bishops America has produced.
Dr. Lyman Abbott spoke truly when he said, "Bishop Whip-
ple is a genuine statesman in his grasp of fundamental princi-
ples and their application to special circumstances. He stood
for the most practical methods of dealing with present day con-
ditions, and for applied Christianity as the molding force of
civilization. He was a soldier in his courage and resolute devo-
tion to duty. He had nothing less than genius for bringing
things to pass. Substantially all the conclusions which modern
statesmanship has reached, respecting the true solution of the
Indian problem, were directly formulated by Bishop Whipple
over forty years ago." One of America's best known thinkers
and writers said: "America has never bred a higher type of
man than Bishop Whipple of Minnesota. He won not only the
esteem, but the personal affection of almost every great per-
sonality in the English-speaking world of the last half cen-
tury." A distinguished prelate of England said: "I so well
remember the Bishop of Minnesota as a comparatively young
man at the college in Oxford, of which I was a Fellow, and
where he was held in high honor, and was a great favorite for
that mixture of wisdom, piety and charming humor which so
greatly distinguished him. His name will be remembered by
generations to come."
Another of England's great bishops said: "In the Bishop
of Minnesota we bishops felt that we had in very truth a father
in God. His splendid life has left its inspiration on the whole
Church, and his valiant work, its influence upon his country and
ours, where he was enthroned in the hearts of the people."
The Hon. Andrew D. White, American Minister to Russia,
288 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
said, when he was President of Cornell University : "Take the
sermons we had last Sunday, the two discourses preached by
the great apostle to the Indians, discourses not only noble in
themselves but preached in such a way that you felt that behind
the sermon there stood a man — a very great man — a man who
has made his mark on the history of his country ; a man to whose
honor statues will be erected ; a man who has stood between the
helpless Indian and the wild greed of the whole Northwest;
a man who has fought scoundrelism and lust and avarice in low
places and in high ; who has pursued it to the national capital
and driven it hence ; who has taken hold of governors of states,
and has told them, 'If you don't cut loose from these things, I
will denounce you to the world.' And he has done it. It was
something to even sit in the presence of such a man. And his
closing words in the afternoon regarding the future of the coun-
try and your own part in it — who can forget them? Certainly
none of us ever will."
The king of England said : "Bishop, it is an honor to shake
hands with you. Your name is a household word all over Eng-
land, where it is honored and beloved." An old colored man
in the South said: "When our Bishop leaves us, it seems like
the birds had stopped singing." The Duke of Argyle said: "If
all churchmen were like the Bishop of Minnesota, we should
all be Episcopalians." The great Bishop of Durham, Dr. West-
cott, said: "In my whole life I have never been brought so
near to the unseen world as when in the presence of the saintly
Bishop of Minnesota." Gladstone said: "He is spiritually and
intellectually great." The Rt. Rev. William Croswell Doane
said : "All the years of his untiring and devoted work have only
served to emphasize what I have always believed, that never
in any Episcopal election in the American church has the finger
of God been more plainly seen, or the voice of God more plainly
heard than in the choice that Minnesota made for its first
bishop." Hon. Robert C. Winthrop said: "My beloved friend.
Bishop Whipple, is one of the greatest bishops that has ever
graced the Anglican communion." The full-blooded Indian
said: "Our Bishop was all love! He taught us from the begin
ning love, love, love! My children, love the Great Spirit: love
one another; love all other tribes! He was the greatest friend
the Indians ever had." It would take volumes to portray the
life of Bishop Whipple as it lived in the hearts of men through-
out the broad land and over the seas. A man less great would
have been more or less affected by the honors that were laid at
his feet, but he was ever the same, whether environed by the
traditions of ancient University or stately Church: whether in
log cabin or Indian tipi; whether mingling with the greatest
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 289
statesmen and scholars of his clay or in audience with kings and
queens, his charming native simplicity remained untouched;
everywhere and always he was the straightforward, dignified
man of God, with the heart of that child to which the kingdom
of heaven is likened. As the years go on, the great qualities of
this man, though recognized from the beginning, will gather
more and more lustre, and the world will realize how great a
share he added to the noblest part of the history of the twentieth
century.
Just before the General Convention of the Episcopal church,
which met in California in 1901, in the midst of his prepara-
tions as acting presiding bishop of the Convention, he was sud-
denly prostrated by an attack of pneumonia, an unsuspected
heart trouble revealing itself in complication. Two weeks later,
on the morning of the sixteenth of September, the summons
came. The country was in mourning over the tragic death of
President McKinley, but this did not lessen the effect of the
message which quickly rang through two continents of the fallen
prince in Israel. The effect was paralyzing, so impossible did it
seem to grasp the thought that this great maker of history would
no more be seen — that his voice would no longer be heard in
passionate appeals for justice and right. From around the world
came tributes of honor, bearing witness to the triumphant life
of the great apostle.
By order of the mayor of the See City, the public buildings
were draped in mourning, and all places of business were closed
during the time of the funeral. The majestic figure lay in the
vestments of his office, in the private oratory of the Bishop's
house, suggesting but a momentary closing of the eyes — the
noble face lighted by a grand expression of triumph ; the Indians,
who had traveled long distances to look once more on the
beloved face, came silently in, and as they looked, their sobs
were hushed and in awe-struck voices they whispered, "He
lives. In a minute he will speak to his red children." Later the
body lay in state in the Cathedral, guarded by the Vestry, the
active pallbearers, and the senior Presbyter of the Diocese hold-
ing the Bishop's staff, a surging mass of people passing through
the Cathedral, which was triumphal in purple and white and
heavy wreaths of oak. Among the pallbearers were two clergy-
men belonging to the Sioux and Ojibway tribes, which had been
at war with each other when the Bishop first knew them. The
long procession of robed and vested bishops and priests, with
laymen of Cathedral and Diocesan committees, and clergymen
of other denominations, added to the impressive scene as it
passed the line of Shattuck cadets drawn up in order in front
of the Cathedral. After the music of the Cathedral choir, while
290 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the body was being lowered to its lasting resting place beneath
the Altar of the Cathedral, a favorite hymn of the Bishop was
touchingly sung, in their own tongue, by the Sioux Indians from
the Birch Coulie Mission. Later in the service, as the procession
moved down the aisle, there was a pause, while the Ojibways
from the Red Lake, Leech Lake and White Earth reservations
sang in their musical language another favorite hymn, after
which the people within and the vast concourse without joined
in the grand old hymn, "For All the Saints Who From Their
Labors Rest."
The tower of the Cathedral, left for many years unfinished,
owing to lack of funds, was in process of completion before the
bishop's death, as a tribute of love and honor to him, under the
direction of the Rev. Dr. Charles Lewis Slattery, Dean of the
Cathedral. It was afterward finished as a memorial of love, by
the Bishop's friends in Europe and America, at which time the
beautiful chime of bells was placed in the tow r er as a memorial
by one who loved him. And, today, as the "Bishop's Tower"
stands guard over the sacred mausoleum, men go to and fro,
and in reverent silence stand and read the inscription cut into
the stone of its walls :
"This tower is the thanksgiving of many people for Henry
Benjamin Whipple, first Bishop of Minnesota, and is the symbol
before men of the supreme value of a righteous man."
(Note — Two steel engravings of the Bishop appear in this
work. One photograph was taken in 1864, in the early days of
his Episcopate, while the other was taken after the years had
crowned his life with the fruition of his hopes.)
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CHAPTER XIII.
BISHOP SEABURY MISSION.
Bishop Whipple's Influence — Rev. J. Lloyd Breck, Rev. Solon
W. Manney, Rev. E. Steele Peake and Hon. R. A. Mott— Site
Selected for Schools — Associate Mission — St. Columba Mis-
sion — Plans for Educational Work — Beginning of the Work
— Parish of the Good Shepherd — Work Among the Indians —
Peace Between Sioux and Chippewas — Coming of Bishop
Whipple — Episcopal Sea City of Minnesota — Seabury Divin-
ity School — Growth of Episcopalian Influence — Mrs. Shum-
way's Bequest — Officers of the Mission and Professors of
the Divinity School — Endowments and Scholarships — Gifts
of Hon. H. T. Welles, Hon. Isaac Atwater, Dr. E. C. Bill,
Mrs. Augusta M. (Shumway) Huntington and Junius Mor-
gan — Recapitulation and Authorities Quoted — By Rev.
George C. Tanner, D. D. — Shattuck School — By Rev. James
Dobbin, D. D.— St. Mary's Hall— St. James' School.
The Bishop Seabury Mission, as a corporate body, dates from
May 22, 1860. Friday, the fourth, Bishop Henry B. Whipple
arrived with his family to make Faribault his home. For over
forty-one years the great bishop went in and out among the
citizens of Faribault, a central figure, alike beloved and honored,
until he entered into his rest, September 16, 1901. During all
this period, exceptionally long and filled with useful deeds, the
bishop was the leading figure in the corporation, guiding its
deliberations by his wise and statesmanlike counsels, until he
saw his work crowned with success, and the schools of the Bishop
Seabury Mission became known throughout the length and
breadth of the land as "Bishop Whipple's schools." But for his
presence and labors these schools could not have attained their
present success, even if they had existed at all.
The bishop found a school consisting of three grades — pri-
mary, intermediate and grammar — with a theological depart-
ment. In September, 1857, the Rev. J. Lloyd Breck, the Rev.
Solon W. Manney, and the Rev. E. Steele Peake visited Fari-
bault with a view to select a site for a church school. The Hon.
R. A. Mott accompanied the party from point to point, and
from the bluff where St. Mary's Hall now stands they saw before
them in its autumnal beauty the valley of the two streams which
291
292 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
unite to form one river. The beauty of the landscape was irre-
sistible, and with the combined advantages of wood, water and
stone for building, the decision was probably made on the spot
to choose Faribault as the center for church and educational
work in Minnesota. The same day, September 25, the clergy
formed an associate mission, to be known by the name of "Saint
Columba Mission." The scope of country to which the clergy
were to minister included Faribault, Northfield, Owatonna and
Waterville, with halt a dozen intervening villages.
The work of the associate mission included both the white
and the Indian fields. The latter was to be in charge of the
Rev. Mr. Peake, with headquarters at St. Columba, a few miles
from the present city of Brainerd, on Gull lake, where Mr.
Breck had planted a mission to the Chippewas in 1852. The
Rev. Mr. Manney was appointed by Bishop Kemper missionary
of the domestic board at Faribault and parts adjacent, retaining
for the time his position as chaplain at Fort Ripley.
Soon after selecting Faribault as the center of Diocesan
church and educational work, Mr. Breck went east, where he
spent the winter, visiting the many friends who had contributed
to his work. In the spring he returned to Minnesota, landing at
Hastings on the first day of May, 1858. He was accompanied
by the Rev. David P. Sanford, sometime a presbyter of the dio-
cese of Connecticut. He also brought with him as teacher Mary
J. Mills, sister of Mrs. Breck, afterwards Mrs. George B. Whip-
ple. A little later Mary J. Leigh also joined the mission as a
teacher. Three young men came from the East with Messrs.
Breck and Sanford to prepare for the ministry.
Soon after his return, Mr. Breck visited Faribault to arrange
definite plans for his future work. Suitable locations for insti-
tutions were examined, and citizens conferred with. A public
meeting was held Saturday evening., the fifteenth, at which A.
J. Tanner was appointed chairman and O. F. Perkins secretary.
At this meeting Mr. Breck set forth his plans, of which we give a
brief summary. The work contemplated a "university" in charge
of the "Associate Mission of Minnesota," incorporated under
a charter from the legislature, with a male and a female de-
partment, occupying distinct locations. The male department
was to have in view the education of youth from abroad, with
a "boarding establishment," in primary, academical and collegiate
courses. The female department was to have in view the "edu-
cation of young children <>f either sex. and of young ladies,"
which, it was hoped, "would grow into a seminary for those from
.abroad." The liberality of the citizens in offering lands is com-
mended "as creditable to the public spirit of them all."
Speaking of the location "f the schools, Mr. Breck says: "I
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 293
have decided for the collegiate buildings of the male department
in favor of the upper town, and of the female in favor of a loca-
tion in the lower town on this side (west) of the river. The
college buildings on the lands of Messrs. Faribault and Fowler,
the female seminary on a block in the lower town, not yet ulti-
mately decided upon. We have also chosen the latter as the site
for the church we intend building in this place.
"I desire to state to you that there are associated with me
clergymen of finished education and experience in teaching; also
ladies of high character and qualifications for both young chil-
dren and young ladies are secured.
"The primary school will be opened in a few days for such
boys and girls as may be entrusted to our care."
The grounds finally selected for the primary department were
on the block west of the park, on which the present high school
building now stands, two lots on the northeast corner of the
block and a third on the south side of the block, cornering on the
other two. Of these, one was the generous gift of Mr. Alexander
Faribault, who, though a member of the Roman Catholic church,
was always a warm friend of the mission ; and the other two
the purchase of friends abroad, at a cost of $700. Of the site for
the future college, where Shattuck School stands, two and a
half acres were the gift of P. N. Paquin, two and one-half acres
the gift of D. F. Faribault, the same amount the gift of Felix
Paquin. This was further enlarged by means of the generous
gift of $1,000 from the Misses Edwards of New Haven, Conn.
Farther south on the bluff was the site selected for the female
seminary, containing fifteen acres, now occupied by Seabury
Hall. Of this, five acres was the generous gift of Alexander Fari-
bault, Esq. Here Mr. Breck erected a modest dwelling for him-
self and the mission family, which included the first teachers and
the young men who had come with him from the east with the
ministry in view. In the spring of 1859 a plain building of wood
was erected for a dormitory for the young men, which may still
be seen on the edge of the bluff. A residence was also built for
the Rev. Mr. Sanford in the summer of 1858 on the lot referred
to in the same block with the Primary school.
We may remark, in passing, that the title, "The Associate
Mission for Minnesota," had been given to the work by Mr.
Breck in 1850. His associates at that time were Messrs. Wilcox-
son and Merrick. It included educational work in St. Paul as a
center, and church work at outlying stations. In 1852 Mr. Breck
began work in the Chippeway county, to which the name St.
Columba was given. The name St. Columba thus associated with
the Indian work, was liable to be misunderstood by friends
abroad. Accordingly, at the instance of the Rev. Mr. Sanford,
294 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the name was changed to "Bishop Seabury Mission," from Bishop
Seabury of Connecticut, the first bishop of this church in the
United States.
The Primary school for both sexes was opened June 3, 1858,
in a vacant store building in the south part of the town on Front
street, between Central avenue and Willow, facing the present
park. Fifteen pupils were present at the opening. This was the
beginning of what was to be the "Bishop Seabury University."
The three young men who were looking forward to the ministry,
carried on their preparatory studies at the same time with Mr.
Sanford and Miss Mills.
Arrangements were made at once to erect a building on the
block west of the park, on the corner of Sixth street and Third
avenue, to be used during the week for a school, and for a chape!
on Sundays. Its dimensions, including the chancel taken off the
east end, were 50 x 21 feet. The building was of wood, one story,
with upright boarding, the joinings covered with battens, and in
the "early Minnesota pointed style." The building, the first
of the "Bishop Seabury University," was opened with appro-
priate religious services on Sunday, August 22, at which a dis-
course was delivered by the Rev. Ezra Jones of St. Peter, on the
"Connection of Sound Learning and True Religion." The Rev.
Mr. Breck also made a brief address, in the course of which he
said that this first house of the Episcopal university had been
erected by the mutual liberality of citizens here and friends
abroad. "Last night," said the speaker, "consummated another
important part of this foundation in the conveyance and complete
title by gift and purchase on the part of the citizens here and
friends abroad of the college location, at once beautiful, com-
manding, and central to Faribault." . . . "This university,
the child of Faribault, will yet prove the honored instrument of
Faribault's fame throughout the length and breadth of our land.
The presence of this institution has already made Faribault
known to thousands abroad, who would otherwise have had no
special interest in her."
The following announcement was made at the same time:
"The present school house is to be enlarged at once by an addi-
tion of thirty feet to its length, to comprise recitation rooms
principally. The school itself will re-open on Thursday, the 9th
of September."
Later, the building was enlarged by a transept to the north,
and, after the coming of Bishop Whipple, of another to the south
for sittings on Sundays for the growing congregation. The
entire academical work of the mission was carried on in this first
building until the erection of Seabury hall on the present grounds
thFn£vt?
SEABURY IU\'I.\ [TY school
I, VST LOG HOUSE l\ FARIB VULT
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 295
of Shattuck school, and was used for divine worship until the
completion of the cathedral in 1869.
The school rapidly grew in favor; and, until our present high
school system was organized, many young people of both sexes
enjoyed its advantages. A considerable number of children of
parents of moderate means were educated gratuitously, and
during the war Bishop Whipple placed the children of the
soldiers on the free list. We may add here that a goodly number
of teachers of the rural schools were prepared for their work in
this first school of the "Bishop Seabury Mission."
The staff of teachers was further increased in the fall term
by the coming of George C. Tanner as head master, and S. D.
Hinman as a teacher. These, with George Barnhart, constituted
the first class in the theological department under the Rev. D. P.
Sanford.
During the fall term, 1858, sixty-seven pupils were enrolled,
and at the close of the school year, 1858-59, one hundred and two.
The entire enrollment from the first, at the close of this, the fifth
term in the history of the school, had been one hundred and sixty-
seven. Of this number, one hundred and thirty-four were present
at the first anniversary which took place August 17, on the
grounds of the present Seabury hall. The Rev. E. G. Gear made
the opening prayer, and the Rev. D. B. Knickerbacker, of Minne-
apolis, the address. Two divinity students, candidates for holy
orders, and three members of the high school with the ministry
in view, were matriculated as members of the mission. These
were addressed by the Rev. Solon W. Manney; and the entire
school, by the Rev. Mark L. Olds, of Minneapolis. The educa-
tional staff for the first year, or up to this time, consisted of two
clergymen, two male, and two female teachers, and four pupil
assistants. The character of the school was thus to be normal,
and to prepare young people to become teachers, as well as for
other fields of usefulness.
In the fall of 1858 a division of the work was made, and the
parish of "The Church of the Good Shepherd" was organized
October 26, with the Rev. David P. Sanford in charge as rector.
He continued to instruct the students in divinity until he with-
drew from the mission. His final service was March 10, 1859.
He was followed by the Rev. Solon W. Manney, who arrived with
his family May 23, the same year. Meanwhile, the Rev. Mr.
Breck had been invited by the vestry to take charge of the parish,
a relation which continued until his removal to California in
1867. Though legally separate, the parish was connected with
the mission, since it was not self-sustaining. Mr. Breck was thus
the head or dean of the entire work of the church in Faribault,
296 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
having the oversight of the young men and of the missionary
field, and the correspondence of the mission.
The support of the associate mission came from friends abroad
through the daily mail. This had been the case at Nashotah in
Wisconsin, at St. Paul, and in the Indian country.
In the spring of 1859 Mr. Breck brought several Chippeway
children to Faribault to be educated under the influences of the
church. For this purpose he erected a cottage the following
year, adjoining his own residence, which, in honor of the first
missionary to the Five Nations, he named Andrews' hall. Some
Dakota children were afterwards received, and the children of
these two tribes, who had been at deadly feud from time immemo-
rail, were educated together. As a precautionary measure, the
Chippeway children were at first carefully watched over, and
were not allowed to go out after nightfall. After two or three
years, the Indian department was discontinued.
In the summer of 1859 occurred the ordination of J. Johnson
Enmegahbowh, a full-blood Chippeway, as deacon. In 1852, when
Mr. Breck began work in the Indian country, Enmegahbowh
became his interpreter, and a member of the mission at St.
Columba. Immediately after the convention of 1859, Enmegah-
bowh came to Faribault, where he was ordained by Bishop
Kemper, Sunday, July 3.
The importance of the event requires further notice. Up to
this time a Chippeway could not enter the territory of the Sioux
except at the risk of losing his scalp, if not his life. Sunday was
a day long to be remembered. Within the chancel is the vener-
able Bishop Kemper and the Rev. Mr. Peake. Outside the
chancel is the Chippeway candidate, on either side the Rev. Mr.
Breck and Mr. Manney, and near these, the Chippeway, Mani-
towab, who had come to be present at the ordination, while in
close proximity, many Sioux Indians from their tepees were
lookers-on of this strange scene. Later in the day. after divine
service, a council was held at which the Chippeway chief, taking
the hand of the chief man of the Sioux, addressed them through
an interpreter as follows: "Once I followed the war path and
thought it led to glory, but I am long since of a different mind.
I have become a Christian, and this makes me love you as
brothers. I wish you all to become Christians and live as do the
whites and we shall love one another. It is our blindness and
ignorance which occasion our going to war together. We must
do so no more, and then the Greal Spirit will receive us all into
one family and we shall prosper and live."
The evening >>f the same day. the Dacotah chief with some of
his braves visited us at the minimi house and had a long inter-
view with the three Chippeways and their missionaries.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 297
The mission school at Faribault was happily at once recog-
nized as the medium of the friendship of the two tribes. At
least, from this time no party from either nation seems to have
gone upon the war path. At once the Dacotahs brought their
children to the school to be taught ; and it was the intention to
receive some of the more promising ones of both nations to be
trained as catechists and missionaries to their own people.
The school year of 1859-60 opened with the following
teachers: George C. Tanner, A. M.; S. D. Hinman, James
Dobbin, A. M. ; Mary J. Mills and Mary J. Leigh. The various
departments, as appears on the reports, were juvenile, primary,
high school, organized at the anniversary, college, unorganized,
and the divinity school. George C. Tanner was a graduate of
Brown University, James Dobbin, a pupil of Dr. Nott and a
graduate of Union College, New York, and the others had been
connected with well known educational institutions of high
standing in the east.
The year 1859 marks an important epoch, the turning point
in the fortunes of the Bishop Seabury mission. At the diocesan
convention held in the city of St. Paul, June 29, 30 and July 1,
the Rev. Henry Benjamin Whipple was elected bishop of Minne-
sota, and was consecrated at Richmond, Va., October 14, that
year. His first visit to Faribault was made in February, 1860,
his first sermon was preached Quinquagesima Sunday to a con-
gregation which crowded the chapel. It would be difficult to
describe the impression his sermons produced. The following
Tuesday a committee of the citizens called upon him and invited
him to make Faribault his residence, pledging him $1,168, be-
sides several lots of land towards the erection of an episcopal
residence. Later, Alexander Faribault, with great liberality,
offered him five acres for this purpose.
After carefully considering the matter, the bishop addressed
the following letter to the committee:
"St. Paul, March 24, 1860.
"Messrs. L. S. Pease, W. S. Judd, J. C. N. Cottrell.
"Gentlemen : After a careful examination of the whole matter,
I have decided to select Faribault as the residence of the bishop
upon the terms proposed by your committee, with this one excep-
tion. As a servant of Christ in charge of a large missionary
field, I have no right to judge the future so far as to pledge
that under no call of duty would I leave Faribault. My action
must be guided by my sense of duty to Christ and His church.
I have no knowledge of anything which will lead me to change
my residence. But my friends in Faribault must be willing to
leave me free. Should this meet the approval of your citizens,
298 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
you may secure for me the house of Mr. Faribault, and have it
ready for me May 1. With my hearty thanks to yourselves and
the citizens of Faribault, and praying God to bless you, I am
faithfully yours, H. B. Whipple, Bishop of Minnesota."
In his annual address to the convention of the diocese, June 13,
1860, the bishop gives his reasons for this choice. "It is a favor-
able center for missionary work in the midst of a rapidly increas-
ing population. It offers a feasible plan for the establishment
of church schools. Its citizens alone made a definite offer to
aid in erecting a house for the bishop."
This house, unfinished, stood at the southeast corner of
Central avenue and Sixth street. It was finished and occupied
by the bishop in 1861. Additions were subsequently made to it
and here the bishop opened St. Mary's hall in 1866. The bishop
continued to reside here until the erection of the bishop's house
opposite the cathedral.
Up to this time Mr. Breck had been the head of the associate
mission. As correspondent and treasurer, he disbursed the funds
received through the daily mail and held in trust the real estate
acquired for the mission. He was responsible to no one. There
was no endowment or definite support. The salaries of four
clergymen depended upon the gifts received from day to day.
This continued for several years, until after the bishop's influ-
ence increased the gifts of individuals. This was through
personal friends, Sunday schools and parishes. The bishop found
an indebtedness of $5,000 or $6,000, an amount nearly equal to
the value of the property of the mission. By his personal efforts
through letters and addresses, he enlisted the sympathy and
interest of churchmen of means and placed the institution on a
permanent foundation.
The second anniversary of the Seabury mission took place
August 8, 1860, on the grounds now occupied by Shattuck school,
then a (hick forest. A large number of visitors and friends of the
Institution came together from all parts of the state. The pro-
cession, which formed at the chapel near the park, consisted of
the juvenile and primary departments and the high school, with
former pupils and visitors, to the number of about four hundred,
who marched to the grounds where many were already assem-
bled, so that the entire number could not have fallen far short
of a thousand. The first address was made by General Cole, of
Faribault, and contained passages of singular beauty. We quote
a single sentence, because it gives us a vivid picture of the early
settlement of the state.
"Those whom I see around me today, have been driven hither
from all parts of our common country by that restless love of
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 299
gain and adventure, which, booted and spurred, rides the Amer-
ican youth from his cradle to his grave."
"Ten years ago, the stranger, standing upon this eminence,
would have looked upon a landscape of wondrous beauty, selected
by the Dakota with that singular appreciation of the beautiful
in nature, which is an instinct with the savage, as his favorite
camping ground. These noble forests were as green then as now.
The prairie flowers bloomed as thickly and diffused their
fragrance as bountifully. Along the banks of yonder stream a
long line of Indian wigwams glistened in the morning sunlight,
the homes of the fathers of those red children who are now
being redeemed from barbarism within the walls of your sem-
inary. Upon those sites, now made sacred by your hearthstones,
the Indian woman pounded her corn. Up and down the level
plain, now marked by the main street of your village, dashed
a band of braves in mimic fight, exulting in the hideous pomp of
savage warfare. Mighty herds of buffalo cropped the grass
where roll yon waves of golden grain. No hum of industry, no
church-going bell, naught but the monotonous chant of the medi-
cine men and the wild whoop of the warrior.
The deadly feud which has for ages decimated the rival
nations who possessed this land, has yielded to the efforts of the
missionary; and their offspring today mingle at the altar their
infant voices in the worship of the Christian's God.
The address of the bishop which followed was a vision oi
the future as that of General Cole had been of the past, from
which we quote a few characteristic sentences.
"It is less than three years ago that there came to this village
some loving hearts who desired to plant here a school for God.
They came empty-handed and alone — no corps of teachers — no
endowments — no glebes of land — no scrip or purse. He who
watches every venture of faith was their protector and their
guide.
"The schools we seek to rear are Christian schools. We
would omit no branch of learning needed for the discipline
of life; we would make these boys in all that makes man
manly, men of mind, of strong wills, of patient spirit, of perse-
vering toil — such men as mold the state. * * * We would
make these girls all that Christian daughters, Christian wives
and Christian mothers ought to be.
"Ours is to be also a school of the Prophets. We seek to
train up Christian teachers and send forth hence heralds of the
cross. It was only yesterday that we began, and yet God has
already sent to us from the workshop and the farm many young
men in the pride of youthful vigor to be trained for the highest
and holiest service found on earth.
300 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
"There are here some children of the forest. Go with me
to an Indian village; see the childhood by the wigwam, untaught,
untrained, naked, with heathenism stamped upon its face; re-
member that these Indian children of the wigwam are born
with an inheritance of disease, heathen degradation, and poverty
and death; there is not a ray of light on their darkness; they
will live and die without ever knowing of a Christ and Savior.
Look on them as a Christian man will look, with a Christian
heart. Come, now, while the teardrops linger in your eyes and
the shadow of that darkness is on your heart, to a happier
scene. Tell me if a world of labor is not more than paid to
see these children of the red man rejoicing with other Christian
children, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in their right
mind? There is no Christian heart here today that is not the
happier that these clear children are also lambs in our Christian
school.
"You see here no college halls, no massive piles of costly
buildings; there is seen by His eye which reads the secret
thoughts a fairer temple being reared in children's hearts. This
we have learned to do — to work on, hope ever, to believe with
surest faith that the foundation laid for God shall yet be finished
with rejoicing."
After a collation in the grove, Judge Atwater addressed the
young men of the school in a few well-chosen words. The
school year closed with the examination of the class in theology,
conducted by Professor Manney in the presence of several of
the clergy. About 150 students had been enrolled in the several
departments during the school year just ended.
Faribault had now become the official center of the work of
the Episcopal church in Minnesota and was attracting the atten-
tion of churchmen outside the diocese. The bishop naturally
became the head of the associate mission, which, after the ordi-
nation of Enmegahbouh, consisted of Messrs. Breck, Manney.
Peake and Enmegahbowh. The missionary paper, issued soon
after the arrival of the bishop, gives the following as the first
trustees of the Bishop Seabury Mission: II. B. Whipple, bishop
of Minnesota; J. Lloyd Breck; S. W. Manney; F. S. Peake.
The bishop was president by virtue of his office, and Dr. Breck
was made secretary, with the correspondence of the mission,
and Dr. Manney treasurer. The articles of incorporation pro-
vided for the addition of lay members. Sometime between
October and December, 1861, the number was further increased
by the election of the Rev. E. G. Gear, chaplain I'. S .A., Fort
Ripley; Rev. D. B. Knickerbacker, of Minneapolis; Rev. E. P.
Grey,' of Shakopee; Hon. II. T. Wells; Hon. F. T. Wilder, and
Gen. N. J. T. Dana, U. S. A. In the Trinity issue of the mis-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 301
sionary paper, 1862, we find the additional names of Rev. E.
R. Welles, of Red Wing, and C. W. Woolley, of St. Paul. In
1864 the name of the Rev. E. S. Peake reappears. In 1866 some
changes had taken place from removals, and we find the name of
the Rev. S. Y. McMaster added to the list in the missionary
paper issued in the summer of that year. The number of trustees
could be increased to twenty. A full list to the present time
will be found at the end of this paper.
At the instance of the bishop, the title of the "Bishop Sea-
bury University" was dropped and the simple name of grammar
school used as expressing the real work done. Until 1865 the
educational work was carried on in the plain building of wood
in the town. In September, 1860, the bishop ordained the first
graduates of Seabury Divinity school. Of these, two in num-
ber, the Rev. George C. Tanner remained in the educational
work and the Rev. Samuel D. Hinman was appointed the first
missionary of our church to the Sioux, with residence at the
"Lower" or "Redwood Agency," on the upper Minnesota river.
This mission, named by Mr. Hinman "The Mission of St. John
the Beloved Disciple," was never a part of the Bishop Seabury
Mission, but was under the special care of Bishop Whipple.
The missionary paper of April, 1861, gives the following
arrangement of the work :
"The freshman class numbers four, who are instructed by
the Rev. Prof. Manney, of the theological department, and the
Rev. G. C. Tanner, of the grammar school.
"The grammar school is under the head mastership of the
Rev. G. C. Tanner, assisted by G. B. Whipple, Prof. Manney
and several of the older students. During the Easter term,
which has just closed, there were fifty-five scholars, eleven of
whom are preparing for the ministry. There is also a girls'
school attached to the mission, under the charge of Hannah
De Lancey.
"The Indian department, known as Andrews hall, contains
nineteen children and youth of both sexes, of the Chippewa and
Dacotah nations, some of whom we hope will be messengers
of peace to their own people.
"We have under our care sixteen young men whom we are
educating for the sacred ministry."
The anniversary of 1861 was celebrated on the mission
grounds, where the present Seabury hall stands, July 8. The
opening address was made by the Hon. H. T. Welles, of Min-
neapolis. His subject was "The Vocation of the Christian
Scholar, His Relation to His Country and Its Government."
He was followed by the Hon. Isaac Atwater, whose theme was
"Christian Education" in the home and the school. Both ad-
302 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
dresses were thoughtful and were listened to with profound
interest. Want of space forbids any quotation.
At Easter, 1862, the missionary paper gives the following
arrangement of the work for 1861-62:
"The divinity department remained the same as in 1860-61.
Rt. Rev. II. B. Whipple, D. D., professor of pastoral theology
and pulpit eloquence; Rev. Solon W. Manney, A. M., professor
of systematic divinity and acting, professor of ecclesiastical his-
tory and exegesis; Rev. J. Lloyd Breck, D. D., professor of
Biblical literature and the Book of Common Prayer. In the
grammar school— Rev. George C. Tanner, A. M., professor of
mathematics and languages; Enoch C. Cowan, head master.
Andrews hall— Susan Phelps, matron; Annie Bull, assistant and
teacher. St. Columba Mission (Chippewa)— Rev. E. Steele
Peake in charge, residing at Crow Wing; Rev. J. Johnson En-
megahbowh, deacon, residing at Gull Lake.
The Dacotah Mission was not under the care of the Bishop
Seabury Mission, but was under Bishop Whipple, and Mrs.
Whipple continues to be the patroness of the work.
Mrs. Breck, who had been interested in the Chippewa work,
passed away April 8, 1862, and now sleeps in the churchyard
near St. James' School.
The only modification of the educational work for 1862-63 is:
Grammar school, Rev. J. Lloyd Breck, D. D., rector, and the
addition of Herbert Hubbell to the staff of teachers. Dr. Breck
was rector of the parish.
The Christmas "Missionary" for 1863 gives: "Young ladies'
school, Hannah De Lancey and S. P. Darlington, teachers. Miss
Darlington was the daughter of Dr. Darlington, the scientist,
of Philadephia, who had come to Minnesota for her health.
She subsequently became the first principal of Saint Mary's
hall. The Rev. Mr. Peake, who had been appointed chaplain
of a Wisconsin regiment, had retired from the Chippewa Mis-
sion in 1862.
In 1864 an advance was made in the educational work of the
mission. The Rev. Elisha Smith Thomas, late bishop of Kan-
sas, was elected professor of exegesis and Hebrew and entered
upon his duties October, that year. In the grammar school,
George P. Huntington, a gradute of Harvard University and a
son of Bishop Huntington, is added to the staff. Mr. Hubbell
retires in the early part of the year. The Indian department
has been dropped and Miss Phelps becomes matron of Seabury
hall. Mr. Huntington had come to Minnesota for his health, but.
failing to receive the expected benefit, remained but one year.
The breaking out of the Civil War in 1861 was a critical period in
the history of the mission. The churchmen of the South, notably
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 303
of South Carolina, had been liberal supporters of the associate
mission. This naturally ceased. The bishop had but lately come
to the diocese. Yet, with a large-hearted faith, he decided to
extend the scope of his work. July 16, 1862, he laid the corner-
stone of the "Cathedral of Our Merciful Savior" with an appro-
priate address, and the following day the cornerstone of Sea-
bury hall for the Divinity school. These were the first perma-
nent buildings of the mission, those hitherto erected being of
wood. Seabury hall stood on the brow of the hill, north and
south, west of the present Shattuck hall, and was to form one of
a quadrangle. The funds for the erection of these buildings
were contributed by the friends of the associate mission in the
East. The same day was the fourth anniversary of the mission.
The Rev. E. P. Grey, of Shakopee, and the Rev. Edward R.
Welles of Red Wing, delivered the addresses.
About Christmas, 1864, the new Seabury hall was ready
for occupancy and the students who had been boarding in the
town removed to the hall. Professor Thomas was in charge
as warden, residing in the hall. The educational work con-
tinued to be carried on during the rest of the year in the
school building in the town. The only bridges over the river
were on Second and Fourteenth streets, and in high water the
hall could be reached only by a circuitous route or by boats.
The usual method was by a plank across the stream near Ninth
street. A thick forest covered the grounds in 1862, and the
south end of the present campus was a swamp.
In the fall of 1865 a further change was made in the edu-
cational work. A schoolroom was fitted up on the third floor
of Seabury hall and the Rev. George C. Tanner was appointed
head master of the academical department, while Professor
Thomas had the oversight of all the students as warden. This
included the divinity students and all other students, outside of
school hours, living on the grounds. This arrangement con-
tinued until Easter, 1866, when the mission house, occupied by
Dr. Breck, was burned, and residence had to be provided for
him. Accordingly, Professor Thomas removed to the town,
and Dr. Breck was made dean of the entire work, in residence
in the hall.
The original plan of the associate mission contemplated the
education of young men for the ministry, to which the academ-
ical work was subsidiary. Mr. Breck had come to St. Paul in
1850 with the purpose of training up clergy for the Northwest.
As Bishop Kemper thought it too early to plant another divinity
school in the Northwest, Mr. Breck took up the Indian work.
When driven out of the Indian country by drunken Indians, he
returned to his original plan of a theological school. At the
-•504 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
opening of the associate mission in 1858 there were no boarders
save the young men looking forward to the ministry. These
were members of Mr. Breck's family and occupied the dormitory
near the mission house on the hill, and later boarded in the
families of the bishop and clergy.
One important reason for selecting Faribault for the asso-
ciate mission had been its location as a center for church work.
In this particular Faribault was the most centrally located town
in the territory. Work was begun at Northfield, Owatonna.
Waterville, where parishes have been organized and churches
built. The parish at Waseca is also the outgrowth of work
begun at Wilton, where a church was erected in 1865. Other
missions are Morristown, Warsaw, Elvsian, Roberds' Lake,
Cannon City and Dundas, in all of which churches have been
built and services supplied by the clergy and students of Sea-
bury hall, not to mention other points where occasional services
have been held.
The second class to be ordained after completing their studies
at Seabury consisted of George Brayton Whipple and Solomon
S. Burleson, ordained September 28, 1863. Mr. Whipple had
come to Faribault with his brother, the bishop, in 1860, and
had taught in the grammar school while pursuing his studies,
and among other important positions was later in charge of the
parish and chaplain of St. Mary's hall. The largest class or-
dained in the early history of the school was in 1867, among
whom were James Dobbin, Charles Hurd Plummer and Enoch
Crosby Cowan. The last named went with Dr. Breck to Cali-
fornia ; the two others have exercised their ministry in the
diocese — Dr. Dobbin as the rector of Shattuck school, and Dr.
Plummer for so many years as the beloved rector at Lake
City. To give individual histories further would be impossible.
After Bishop Whipple came to Faribault some of his friends
placed their sons in the school under his care. These occupied,
temporarily, convenient rooms near and boarded in the bishop's
family. The number grew when Seabury hall was completed,
and was further increased with the facilities for taking care of
them and with the reputation of the school. It was intended
that the income from board and tuition should assist in defraying
the expenses of educating the young men for the ministry. This
condition of things continued until the burning of Seabury hall,
Thanksgiving day, 1872, and the consequent separation of the
schools. In the fall of 1866 Mr. Tanner was obliged to give
up teaching on account of his health. Dr. Breck remained as
dean until the close of the school year, when lie resigned and
removed to the Pacific cori>t. The same summer Mr. Dobbin.
who had returned to Faribault in 1864. to pursue his theological
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 305
studies, was ordained and placed in charge of Seabury hall and of
the academical work. As the number of students increased,
temporary provision was made for them. A frame building for
a schoolroom and recitations had been erected in 1865, and other
arrangements were made as circumstances required.
As the bishop went about the diocese he drew to Faribault
the sons of prominent citizens in the state, and the school
became known as the Bishop's school, a name by which it has
always been recognized. This growth made a new building
necessary. Accordingly, in 1869 a second permanent building
was completed, and in honor of Dr. George C. Shattuck, of
Boston, the largest donor, was named Shattuck hall, a name by
which the school, as well as the hall, is known. The purpose
of this building was for the grammar school exclusively.
No special changes which need be noticed here occurred
until 1872, when Seabury hall was burned on Thanksgiving day.
This resulted in the entire separation of the theological depart-
ment from the grammar school. For the rest of the year the
divinity students occupied temporary quarters until the present
hall was completed. The new Seabury hall was opened Thanks-
giving day, 1873. From 1872 the history of the two schools is
treated separately, though both were under the direction of
the corporation of the Bishop Seabury Mission.
Not only did the strong personality of Bishop Whipple im-
press itself upon the mission, but the success of the schools is
due to him in securing the necessary funds for carrying on the
work. When the bishop came to Faribault he was compara-
tively a stranger to the church outside of the parishes where
he had ministered. During the first year of his episcopate he
received about $600 for his work. The indebtedness of the Sea-
bury Mission was probably more than the entire property would
have brought at a forced sale. In 1862 he dared to lay the
foundation of the cathedral and Seabury hall. In 1869 Shattuck
hall was erected. During this time instructors had to be paid
and outside work provided for. A library was needed. Hearing
that the library at Palmyra College, Missouri, was to be sold,
the bishop decided to purchase it for Seabury. This was further
increased during his visit to England in 1864-65 by the gift of
many valuable books. The Emperor of Russia, through Hiram
Sibley, a friend of the bishop, presented a valuable copy of the
"Codex Sinaiticus," one of the oldest manuscripts of the New
Testament. Other additions have been made from time to time.
Thus far the students had assembled for worship in the
schoolroom. In 1869-70, during his visit abroad, the bishop met
his former parishioner, Mrs. Augusta M. Shumway, who became
interested in his schools and was moved to erect a chapel as a
306 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
memorial to a beloved daughter, lately deceased. Then came
the Chicago fire. A person of less heroic devotion would have
felt justified in giving up the work. But to her lasting honor, a
pledge once made was more than fulfilled, and the chapel, though
costing a much larger sum than at first pledged, was conse-
crated by Bishop Whipple September 23, 1873.
Mrs. Shumway, who later became Mrs. Huntington, con-
tinued her interest in Shattuck school. In 1884, during a visit to
Colorado, she was thrown from her carriage, receiving serious
injuries, which resulted in her death. By her will it was found
that she had left a bequest to the Bishop Seabury Mission pro-
viding for a building and scholarships for Shattuck school, and
also for a hall at Seabury Divinity school, to be named in
memory of her father "Johnston Hall," and scholarships for
young men preparing for the ministry. Shumway hall, com-
pleted in 1887, is a beautiful memorial to her memory. The
cornerstone of Johnston hall was laid in 1888. The building
contains the library, rooms for recitations and professors, and
is substantially built.
Hitherto the refectory of Shattuck school had been the base-
ment and had been enlarged to meet the pressing wants from
the growth of the school. But the time had come when pro-
vision must be made proportionate to the expansion of the work.
During his visit abroad in 1888 Bishop Whipple met Junius
Morgan, of London, whose interest in the work of the bishop
led to the erection of the noble building which bears the name
of Morgan hall, in honor of Mr. Morgan.
Whipple hall, erected in 1873, was built mostly from the
insurance money of Seabury hall.
Manney hall, armory and gymnasium, erected by gifts of the
citizens of Faribault, was afterwards burned.
The following is a list of the officers of the Bishop Seabury
Mission and of the professors in the divinity school:
Presidents— The Right Rev. Henry P.. Whipple, D. D., LL.
D., 1860-1901 ; the Right Rev. Samuel C. Edsall, D. D., 1901.
Wardens— The Rev. James Lloyd Breck, D. D., 1858-1864;
the Right Rev. Elisha S. Thomas, D. D., 1864-1866; the Rev.
James Lloyd I'.reck, D. D., 1866-1867; the Rev. Thomas Richey,
D. I)., 1871-1874; the Rev. George L. Chase. D. D., 1874-1883;
the Rev. Francis D. Hoskins, M. A.. 1884-1888; the Right Rev.
John II. White, D. P.. 1891-1895; the Rev. Alford A. Butler,
D. D., 1895-1905; the Rev. George M. Davis, S. N., D. D.. 1905-
1907; the Rev. frank A. McElwain, M. A.. B. D., 1"07.
Acting Wardens— The Rev. James Dobbin, D. D.. 1867-1871 ;
the Rev. Steinfort Kedney, D. D., 1883-1884; the Rev. Charles
L Welles, l'h. [).. 1889 1891; the Rev. Charles Clark Camp. A.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 307
B., 1904; the Rev. Charles A. Poole, S. T. D., 1905 .
Professor of Pastoral Theology — The Right Rev. Henry B.
Whipple, D. D., LL. D., 1860-1901.
Professors of Liturgies and Homiletics — The Rev. James
Lloyd Breck, D. D., 1858-1860; the Right Rev. Henry B. Whip-
ple, D. D., LL. D., 1860-1874; the Rev. George L. Chase, D. D.,
1874-1883; the Rev. Francis D. Hoskins, M. A., (homiletics),
1884-1888; the Rev. Edward C. Bill, D. D., 1883-1892; The Right
Rev. John H. White, D. D., 1892-1895 ; the Rev. Alford A. But-
ler, D. D., 1895-1904; the Rev. George H. Davis, D. D., 1905-
1907; the Rev. Frank A. McElwain, M. A., B. D., 1907.
Professors of Divinity — The Rev. David P. Sanford, D. D.,
1858-1859; the Rev. Solon W. Manney, D. D., 1859-1869; the
Rev. Samuel Buel, D. D., 1869-1871 ; the Rev. J. Steinfort Ked-
ney, D. D., 1871 ; the Rev. Charles A. Poole, S. T. D., (associate),
1888.
Professors of Exegesis — The Rev. Solon W. Manney, D. D.,
1859-1864; the Right Rev. Elisha S. Thomas, D. D., 1864-1870;
the Rev. George C. Tanner, D. D., (acting), 1871-1873; the Rev.
William J. Gold, D. D., (adjunct), 1873-1876; the Rev. E. Stuart
Wilson, S. T. D., 1877-1905 ; the Rev. Charles A. Poole, S. T. D.,
(adjunct N. T.). 1888-1892; the Rev. Charles C. Camp, B. A.,
(New Testament), 1892-1905; the Rev. Frank A. McElwain, A.
M., B. D., (instructor), 1905-1907; the Rev. Elmer E. Lofstrom,
B. D., (instructor N. T.), 1907; the Rev. Frank A. McElwain
(Old Testament), 1907.
Professors of Ecclesiastical History — The Rev. Samuel Buel,
D. D., 1866-1869; the Rev. Thomas Richey, D. D., 1869-1877; the
Rev. Frederic Humphrey (acting), 1877-1882; the Rev. Lucius
Waterman, D. D., 1882-1885; the Rev. Sylvester Clark, D. D.,
1885-1887; the Rev. Charles L. Welles, Ph. D., 1887-1892; the
Rev. William P. Ten Broeck, D. D., 1892.
Professors of Ethics and Apologetics — The Rev. Sterling
Y. McMasters, D. D., 1866-1875 ; the Rev. J. Steinfort Kedney,
D. D., (acting), 1877-1882; the Rev. J. McBride Sterrett, D. D.,
1882-1892; the Rev. J. Steinfort Kedney, D. D., (acting), 1892-
1905; the Rev. Anthon T. Gesner, M. A., (instructor), 1904-1907;
the Rev. Anthon T. Gesner, M. A., 1907.
The faculty is now as follows : The Right Rev. Samuel
Cook Edsall, D. D., president and lecturer on the pastoral office;
the Rev. Frank Arthur McElwain, M. A., B. D., warden and
professor of Hebrew and Old Testament literature; the Rev.
John Steinfort Kedney, D. D., professor of divinity; the Rev.
Charles A. Poole, S. T. D., associate professor of divinity; the
Rev. William P. Ten Broeck, D. D., professor of church history
and polity and canon law; the Rev. Anthon T. Gesner, M. A.,
308 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
professor of ethics, apologetics and head of preparatory depart-
ment ; the Rev. Elmer E. Lofstrom, B. A., B. D., instructor in
New Testament language and exegesis, and religious peda-
gogics ; the Very Rev. George G. Bartlett, instructor in homi-
letics ; the Rev. George C. Tanner, D. D., instructor in liturgies.
Of the above, we may remark that two of the wardens and pro-
fessors have been elected bishops, namely, the Rev. E. S.
Thomas and the Rev. John H. White. Prominent among writers
in the church have been the Rev. Thomas Richey, D. D., the
Rev. J. Steinfort Kedney, D. D., the Rev. Samuel Buel, D. D.,
the Rev. Sterling Y. McMasters, D. D., the Rev. J. McBride
Sterrett, D. D., the Rev. Charles L. Welles, Ph. D., the Rev.
Alford A. Butler, D. D. Others well known in the church as
writers of special papers and monographs are the Rev. William
P. Ten Broeck, D. D., the Rev. E. Stuart Wilson, D. D., the
Rev. William J. Gold, D. D., of the Western Theological Semi-
nary, Chicago, and the Rev. Elmer E. Lofstrom, B. D.
Trustees of the Bishop Seabury Mission. Right Rev. H. B.
Whipple, D. D., LL. D., 1860 to December, 1901 ; Rev. J. Lloyd
Breck, D. D., 1860-1867; Rev. Solon W. Manney, D. D.. 1860-
1869; Rev. E. Steele Peake, 1860-1866; Rev. E. G. Gear, D. D..
1861-1873; Rev. D. B. Knickerbacker. D. D„ 1861-1884; Hon.
H. T. Welles, 1861-1897; Hon. E. T. Wilder. 1861-1904; Gen.
N. J. T. Dana, U. S. A., 1861-1866; Right Rev. E. R. Welles. D.
D., 1862-1875; C. W. Wooley, 1862-1866; Rev. S. Y. McMasters,
D. D., 1865-1875; J. C. N. Cottrell, 1866-1870; Luther Dearborn,
1866-1883; Rev. Samuel Buel, D. D., 1867-1871; Right Rev. E.
S. Thomas. D. D., 1868-1894; Rev. James Dobbin, D. D., 1868;
Lorenzo Allis, Esq., 1869-1878; Rev. Thomas Richey, D. D.,
1870-1875; Harvey Officer, Esq., 1871-1892; Hon. E. C. Ripley,
1871-1874; J. D. Greene, 1871-1884; W. E. Jones, 1871-1883; Rev.
J. Steinfort Kedney. D. D., 1872; Gen. N. G. McLean. 1874-
1883; Hon. Isaac Atwater, 1874-1906; Rev. George L. Chase. D.
D., 1875-1883; Rev George W. Watson, D. D., 1877-1886; Will-
iam Dawson, 1882-1887; A. II. Wilder, 1883-1891; Rev. Thomas
I',. Wells, 1). D., 1884-1891; Right Rev. Mahlon X. Gilbert, D.
D., 1884-1900; J. C. N. Cottrell, 1884; Reuben Warner. 1884-
1905; Rev. F. D. Hoskins, 1885-1888; Hon. Gordon E. Cole,
1888-1891 ; John H. Ames, 1888-1902; George II. Christian, 1889;
Right Rev. William M. Barker, D. D., 1890-1895; William Daw-
son, Jr., 1891-1897; Rev. George H. Davis, 1891-1907; Right Rev.
John II. White, D. D„ 1891-1902; W. H. Lightner, Esq., 1892;
Herbert C. Theopold, 1804; Rev. A. W. Ryan. D. C. L.. 1895;
W. M. Prindle, 1896; Right Rev. J. D. Morrison, D. D.. LL. D.,
1897; B. B. Sheffield, 1897; Right Rev. S. C. Edsall, D. D.. 1900;
Right Rev. T. N. Morrison, D. D.. 1901 ; Right Rev. Arthur L.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 309
Williams, D. D., 1901; Right Rev. Cameron Mann, D. D., 1902;
Andrew G. Dunlop, 1904; Rev. Charles H. Plummer, D. D.,
1905; Alfred H. Bill, 1907; Rev. Charles Carter Rollit, 1908;
Edward H. Foot, 1908; Right Rev. William Hobal Howe, D.
D., 1909.
The present officers of the board are : Right Rev. Samuel
Cook Edsall, D. D., president ; Rev. James Dobbin, D. D., sec-
retary; Stephen Jewett, Esq., treasurer.
There have been but two presidents — the Right Rev. H. B.
Whipple, D. D., LL. D., and the Right Rev. S. C. Edsall, D. D.
The secretaries have been : The Rev. J. Lloyd Breck, D. D.,
secretary and correspondent ; the Rev. E. S. Thomas, D. D., cor-
respondent; the Rev. D. B. Knickerbacker, correspondent; the
Rev. James Dobbin, D. D.
The treasurers have been : The Rev. Solon W. Manney,
D. D., the Rev. Samuel Buel, D. D., the Hon. Luther Dearborn,
H. A. Scandrett, J. D. Green, Stephen Jewett, Esq.
Endowments and Scholarships. For the first years of its
existence the Bishop Seabury Mission depended for its support
on the contributions sent through the daily mail. This means
that clergy, instructors and students in theology had to depend
upon the casual gifts of children and parishes in the East. The
Rev. Mr. Breck was the correspondent. But this uncertain
income could not build up and endow a system of schools. In
some instances the support of a young man for the ministry
was provided by some friend. The earliest bequest appears to
have been about 1865. To make a full record of all the bequests
and endowments for professorships, scholarships and for general
expenses is not necessary for the purpose of this sketch. It is
highly proper to speak of the Hon. H. T. Welles and the Hon.
Isaac Atwater, whose gifts at different times have been note-
worthy, and also of the endowment of Dr. E. C. Bill for a pro-
fessorship. The munificent donation of Mrs. Augusta M. Hunt-
ington and of Mr. Junius Morgan have already been named.
With few exceptions, all these bequests and endowments came
through the personal influence of Bishop Whipple.
More than 300 students, who are now scattered from the At-
lantic to the Pacific, have received the benefits of the institution.
Two have become bishops and many of them are occupying
positions of influence in large parishes.
Seabury and Johnston halls afford accommodations for about
thirty-five students.
The writer is indebted for the material of this history to
the Faribault "Herald," 1858, the Faribault "Republican," Bishop
Whipple's diaries, and to the "mission papers" issued from time
310 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
to time by the Seabury Mission. He had personal knowledge
of the institutions from 1858. — Rev. George C. Tanner, D. D.
SHATTUCK SCHOOL.
Two of the men who were conspicuous among the founders
of Faribault were instrumental in making it notable as an educa-
tional center of national reputation. The fame of Bishop Whip-
ple was almost world wide, and Shattuck especially, of the man-
kinds of work he inaugurated, is known in every part of our
own land and abroad. Wherever they and Shattuck are known,
Faribault is known. No men have been identified with it who
are deserving of more gratitude for what they did directly and
indirectly in its early days for the prominence and to the credit
of Faribault than Bishop Whipple and Dr. Breck.
In point of time, the name of James Lloyd Breck is first in
the annals of the church and of education in Faribault. He was
a pioneer in territorial days, having come to St. Paul in 1851 ;
thence to Gull Lake as a missionary to the Indians until
1857; and to Faribault to found a mission, and with it a parish
school, in 1858. The former developed into the cathedral parish;
the latter was continued as a part of the mission and was largely
supported by it until 1868. Out of it grew all the church schools.
Dr. Breck did not remain to see much of this marvelous growth,
but indirectly it was the result of his pioneer work. It was this
feeble beginning and his influence, that turned the attention of
Bishop Whipple to Faribault and convinced him this was the
strategic point at which to begin his great work. For the bishop,
no less than Dr. Breck, saw the supreme advantage to the great
Northwest of establishing in its beginning a strong center for
Christian education. With this in view he at once secured a
charter for the Bishop Seabury Mission, with ample powers
for schools of all grades. The first to receive attention was the
divinity school, but means for its first building were not secured
until 1864-65. Like all the subsequent buildings for the various
schools that have clone so much in giving Faribault its fame and
in building it up, this hall was built with money that was secured
elsewhere, and as large improvements are still to be made, the
end is not yet. The location of this building was on the grounds
now occupied by Shattuck.
Shortly after, another step leading to the establishment of
Shattuck was taken, when a few boys from the Twin Cities and
other points were admitted, to live with the divinity students,
and they, with others selected from the parish school, to attend
as daily pupils, were organized into what was called a "grammar
school." It was put in charge of the Rev. George C. Tanner
THE
PUBLIC LIB:
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 311
as principal, with James Dobbin and Charles H. Plummer, then
studying theology, as his assistants. Dr. Breck, as dean of the
mission and head of the household, resided in Seabury from the
winter of 1866 to April, 1867, when he resigned and removed to
California. Professor Tanner at the same time took charge of
the parish in Owatonna. Meantime the bishop's plans were
matured and greatly expanded. He had been impressed during
a visit to England by the remarkable history and influence on
national affairs of the ancient schools that had been founded and
endowed centuries before — Winchester as far back as the year
1387, Eton in 1440. Rugby in 1567, Harrow in 1571. The
efficiency of these schools in training the character of boys
appeared to him as one of the best features in English life.
It gave him the keynote to the character of the institution he
desired to found in Minnesota for the training of boys so long
as the state exists. With the conviction that what was done so
successfully in the earlier days of England's civilization can be
done now, he came home with the faith and courage to under-
take it, although he was utterly without means with which to
build so great a work. The surprising thing is that the plan
he had formulated though not worked out in detail, as that had
to be done later by the one who would be charged with the
responsibility of developing and building it up, yet gave him such
a clear vision of what Shattuck is and is yet to be. It was a tre-
mendous responsibility to lay on a young man inexperienced
in such work and with no assurance of the financial help that
would be necessary. Nothing but the keen sense of duty which
the long continued urging of the bishop and his optimism awak-
ened led the present head of the school to devote his life to
building it up.
This new organization and management began in April,
1867. It was so poor the beginning could only be made by its
continuing to live in Seabury with the divinity students. On
Thanksgiving day, 1872, Seabury hall was burned, and the divin-
ity school was then removed to its present site. Meantime a
building had been erected in 1868-69 for the increasing needs
of the boys' school, so the separation was more easily made.
This served for a time both as a schoolroom building and dormi-
tory, with the dining-room and kitchen in the basement. By
far the largest contribution for it having been made by George
C. Shattuck, M. D., of Boston, in recognition of this and other
benefactions to the bishop's work the building was named in his
honor "Shattuck hall." As it was the main building for some
time and no official action was taken in the matter of a name
until it was separately incorporated thirty-six years later as
"Shattuck School," this name naturally clung to the school as
312 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the successive buildings were added. Within two years the
growth in numbers making it necessary to provide for the school
work outside this hall, a frame building was erected. This was
converted afterward into the dormitory now known as "The
Lodge," when Shumway hall was built in 1887.
In 1870-71 Bishop Whipple spent the winter in France, at the
same hotel with Mrs. Augusta M. Shumway, of Chicago. The
school had begun to show signs of a degree of success that
confirmed the bishop's hope of its becoming one of the perma-
nent institutions of the great Northwest, and he talked with
such enthusiasm about his plans as to excite a lively interest in
her mind. This led her to offer him $10,000 for a chapel as a
memorial of her little daughter. The amount was ultimately
increased to nearly $30,000. It led to her becoming by far the
largest benefactor of the school up to the date of this sketch.
The chapel was consecrated in September, 1872, and was at the
time one of the notable buildings in the state. It is an interest-
ing fact that its doors have not been locked for thirty-seven
years.
The burning of Seabury had made necessary an additional
dormitory, which need was supplied by the erection in 1873 of
Whipple hall, named in honor of Bishop Whipple. With the ex-
ception of the cottages for Professor Whitney and the command-
ant, and a comparatively small drill hall and gymnasium in 1880,
no further building was possible for upwards of twelve years.
The gymnasium was burned in 1893, and the insurance money
of $15,000 was applied to the erection of the basement story of
a building to replace it. For the want of means this room had
to serve as the drill room fifteen years, when the walls were
enlarged and made the foundation of the present splendid S. S.
Johnson memorial. This interval was a period of waiting in
the expansion of the school, while the system was being per-
fected and strengthened fur the great and permanent growth
so soon in follow. Unknown and silent influences were at work
that were destined to do more than anything \ et t" lift the school
to the high plane on which it would find its destiny. Although
living a so great distance, her home being in Cincinnati. Mrs.
Shumway's interest was constantly increasing. Every summer
that she was not traveling abroad found her and her daughter
here at commencement. Her last visit was in 1884. Two
months later she was fatally injured by a fall from a mountain
wagon in Colorado. Greatly to the surprise of the bishop ami
rector, it then developed that she hail rewritten her will a year
before, and provided a bequest of $200,000 for the benefit of
Shattuck. It was to be divided between a building as a memorial
of her husband and the endowment of a fund to assist poor boys
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 313
to enjoy the advantages of the school. The portion of her estate
that was available for this bequest realized about $170,000, of
which $88,000 was placed at interest and the remainder devoted
to the erection of Shumway hall.
Immediately on the completion of this noble building the
architect was set at work on plans for a new dining-room and
dormitory. With these plans in hand, Bishop Whipple, during
a visit to England, interested Junius S. Morgan, of London,
and received from him a gift of $50,000 for its erection. The
plans having been prepared, the building was begun at once and
was completed for the opening of the term in September, 1889.
In a distressing accident the donor was killed by being thrown
from a carriage shortly before its completion, so that Morgan
hall became his memorial. During its erection the rector re-
ceived funds from Mrs. J. S. Smyser for the adjoining building —
the Smyser memorial — in memory of her son, Harry B. Smyser,
a former cadet. Then came another cessation in building extend-
ing over several years. In 1905 a plan long contemplated of
severing the corporate relations of Seabury and Shattuck was
brought about and a new board of trustees was formed and
incorporated under the name of "Shattuck School." This cor-
poration received from the Bishop Seabury Mission a net prop-
erty of nearly $500,000 which had been accumulated under its
management, for the benefit of Shattuck. To commemorate
this important event in its history, it was proposed by the alumni
members of the board, who numbered five of the nine trustees,
that plans be prepared for a gymnasium and office building, and
an effort be made by them to secure funds for it from the old
boys and patrons as their gift to the new corporation. While
the canvass for funds was at the time only partially successful,
owing to the general depression in business, it was sufficiently
so, in view of the pressing need for the building, to warrant its
completion. The cost, including the connecting corridor to Shum-
way hall, was $60,000. It is absolutely fireproof and sanitary,
with the swimming pool, shower baths and toilet rooms finished
throughout in tile and marble, and the gymnasium and office
equipped with every appliance desired. The upper story pro-
vides two class rooms and sleeping rooms for boys. It is one
of the most solidly built buildings in the state, and by the dura-
bility of all the materials used in its construction, is a contribu-
tion of its donors to the physical training and equipment of
boys for generations to come.
While work on this was still going on a proposition was
received from the widow and two sons (graduates) of the late
Samuel S. Johnson, of California, to provide funds to make
the proposed armory and library a memorial of him. These
314 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
funds were immediately available, and the building was erected
in 1907-08. It is a noble building, with scarcely an equal for its
purpose in any of the schools, and is an honor to the school and
the city as well as to the man whose name it perpetuates. It
contains a drill hall and indoor earthen athletic court and run-
ning track of magnificent proportions, also a beautiful reading
room and library, and other rooms of great value. For con-
venience, it is closely connected with the gymnasium, and
through it, with the school building and dining room, by a stone
and concrete corridor. The total cost of this improvement and
furnishing is upwards of $100,000. Together with the gymna-
sium building, it marks Shattuck in its physical appointments,
as it already was in rank and reputation, as one of the foremost
boarding schools for boys in America. Other buildings and
improvements for which plans are in preparation will make it
more than ever an object of pride to the city and county and
an honor to the state. Chief among the contributions to be
sought for its further advancement is the accumulation of an
endowment fund, which ought to reach a half million dollars,
to be invested for a permanent, fixed income. Such a fund added
to the annual earnings from pupils will raise it to the highest
rank of secondary schools, will greatly increase its ability to
assist poor and worthy boys to obtain the coveted education,
will largely increase its financial and civic value to this com-
munity, and will give it the same guaranty of permanence for
the benefit of the boys of unnumbered generations as was given
by the endowments of the old English schools more than 300
and 500 years ago. The early completion of these large plans
is worthy a civic pride that appeals for the co-operation of local
citizens with the managers of the school, who have brought in
from abroad and expended here such splendid sums of money
to raise Shattuck to its present enviable position.
By this far-reaching policy of building for the future, the
founders and builders are preparing it to contribute, as the years
and generations go by. to the increase and the betterment of
the local prosperity infinitely more than anyone is yet able to
comprehend. There is no other enterprise that will be of so
great and varied importance. This purpose of working for
posterity justifies the greatly increased cost of the later build-
ings, in making them so solid and lasting by the substitution of
steel and concrete and tile for less durable material. It makes
the prosperity of Shattuck and the increase of funds for build-
ing and for its annual maintenance a matter of practical interest
and value to the public. It concerns every business man and
citizen in and about Faribault. What helps the school helps the
town; for it is put here to stay. It can never move elsewhere
THE NE
PUBLIC in
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 315
as any commercial business in town can. In contrast with it
only a few years will elapse, till one can go up and down the
streets, and not find one business in the hands of the men or the
firms that control it today. Men die, and their places are taken
by others. Not so with the corporation, or its business, or the
names of the men and women whose donations to its building
or its endowment funds, help add to its increasing advantages,
and the permanence of its usefulness. The names of most people
pass into oblivion. The names of the benefactors of Shattuck
will be preserved for all time in the archives, and in the names
and usefulness of the buildings or endowments. It is one of
the surest ways of doing good that will last. It gives each donor
as strong a guaranty as one can have, that so much at least
of his or her estate as is entrusted to this corporation, will not
be dissipated in a generation or two as estates generally are.
It is put in a trust under the guardianship of the law of the
state; its income, or the improvement made by it, is certain to
be used perpetually according to the recorded will of the donor,
without being diverted to other objects. It opens a way for
any one interested in the future of his own city, to make an
investment in the interest of education, that will contribute in
all the years to come to the benefit and credit of Faribault, while
exerting a long-lasting influence on the country at large, through
the multitude of boys who will go out from its walls better and
more useful men. — James Dobbin.
ST. JAMES SCHOOL.
Though so much smaller, it being but one-fifth the size
numerically as Shattuck School, this also is an attractive and
valuable asset financially and otherwise of Faribault. It is
closely allied to Shattuck as being preparatory to it, and is in-
directly due to the same influences. The rector had long been
profoundly impressed by the fact that there was an increasing
demand, and would be an assured support, for the primary
boarding school that should at the same time be a real home
for boys who are too young for admission to Shattuck. He was
often urged to take children of eight, nine and ten years who
were motherless, and often under circumstances that made a
refusal a real hardship to them and the father. When he could
find no one interested in establishing such a school where the
little fellows could live by themselves, he and Mrs. Dobbin
decided to do it by devoting their home to this purpose. It was
an idea! place for it, and at just the right distance from Shat-
tuck to work to the best advantages as a preparatory depart-
ment. In furtherance of their plans they made the necessary
316 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
alterations and addition to the house in 1901, and inviting F. E.
Jenkins to give up his position in Shattuck and assume the
charge of and conduct the school, with Mrs. Jenkins as the
house mother, they again took up their own residence in Shat-
tuck.
This idea of a school conducted as a family solely for boys
from eight to eleven or twelve years of age, at once enlisted
public interest and approval. The peculiar fitness of those
placed in charge of it was universally recognized, and its success
was assured before it began. The maximum intended was
reached at the opening of the second year. After that there
was hardly a year that applications were not received which had
to be held over or declined for the want of room. It was so
evident it was filling a unique educational want, and that there
was no question there will always be such a need, the founders
and owners decided in 1909 to incorporate it under the Minne-
sota law for the government of educational institutions, so as
to provide for handing it down to posterity. They gave it the
name of St. James School.
ST. MARYS HALL.
While this school was never officially a part of the Seabury
mission, it has nevertheless from its beginning been closely
allied in spirit with the Seabury mission, the Seabury Divinity
School, and Shattuck school, the same ideal of Christian life and
service animating all of these institutions, and the fostering
care of Bishop Whipple being over all.
St. Mary's Hall is a school for girls founded by Bishop
Whipple in 1866. This school was the bishop's own venture of
faith and was begun in his own home. Its object then, as now
was the training of Christian women. With the bishop in this
good work were associated his wife, Mrs. Cornelia Whipple,
who was the house mother, and his brother, the Rev. George
B. Whipple, who was chaplain for many years. Mr. Whipple
was succeeded by the Rev. E. Steele Peake who, for a long
term, also rendered faithful service. Much of the success of
the school in those early days was due to the efficient principal,
Miss Sarah P. Darlington, daughter of Dr. Darlington, a
scientist of Philadelphia, who devoted herself to the interests
of Saint Maw's from the time of its opening until her death in
1881. Of her. Bishop Whipple once wrote "Her ripe scholar-
ship, wise forethought, and Christian devotion, helped greatly
to place St. Maii'-, among the foremost schools of the land."
In later years the Rt. Rev. Mahlon X. Gilbert, the much beloved
coadjutor, contributed his ardent assistance to the upbuilding of
CO
-3
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 317
the school. The citizens of Faribault generally gave to Bishop
Whipple their interest and aid in promoting this his great work.
Among many others whose benefactions to the school will be
held long in remembrance were the Hon. Gordon E. Cole, Judge
E. T. Wilder and Hon. H. T. Wells. In 1883 the school was
moved into the commodious, home-like building on the hill
overlooking the town. St. Mary's of today, like the school of
the early days, strives to fulfill the ideals and standards of its
beloved founder in developing in the girls committed to its
care every womanly quality. The corps of teachers is excellent.
The advantages in music and art are unexcelled. The school
is co-operative with western universities and prepares for eastern
colleges.
The officers of the school at present are as follows : Rt. Rev.
Samuel Cook Edsall, D. D., LL. D., rector; Miss Caroline
Wright Eells, principal. The members of the board of trustees
are: The Rt. Rev. S. C. Edsall, D. D., LL. D., president; the
Rev. G. C. Tanner, D. D., secretary ; J. R. Smith, treasurer ; the
Rt. Rev. J. D. Morrison, D. D., LL. D., ex-officio; Mr. J. R.
VanDerlip, Mr. A. E. Haven, the Rev. Theodore Sedgwick, Mr.
F. M. Forman, Mrs. Henry B. Whipple, Miss Caroline Wright
Eells.
The first class was graduated in 1870 and consisted of Alice
G. Kerfoot and Emma L. Winkley.
The Minnesota Historical Society collections contain the
following in regard to this school :
"Seeing the need for a school for girls which should so com-
bine refining influences with a high degree of culture and scholar-
ship as to preclude the necessity of sending daughters farther
from home, in 1866 Bishop Whipple decided to open a school
in his own house. This was wholly a private enterprise. The
financial burden was borne by the Bishop alone. Mrs. Whipple
was the house-mother. The school opened November 1, 1866,
with thirty-three pupils, under three teachers. Miss S. P. Darl-
ington, a daughter of Dr. Darlington, of Pennsylvania, who had
come to Minnesota for her health, was the first principal. She
was a rare woman in the qualities which go to make up the suc-
cessful head of a boarding school. With the exception of one
year, she continued to hold this position until her death in 1881.
'Thoroughly identified with the interests of the school, pure of
heart, gentle by impulse, refined by nature, superior in intellect,
upright in example and diligent in all things,' she impressed her
character upon St. Mary's hall, and her influence for good is still
felt, while her name is revered for all that is excellent in true
womanhood.
"From 1866 to 1882 St. Mary's hall was carried on beneath
318 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the bishop's own roof and under his own eye and that of his
excellent wife. This period embraces nearly one-half of the life
of the school, during which the daughters of St. Mary's were
guided by his loving advice and ministrations. Among those who
assisted the Bishop was Robert M. Mason, of Boston, who visited
Faribault, looked over the plans of the schools and was a gen-
erous helper in rearing St. Mary's hall.
"It is due the memory of the bishop to put on record his
own words in regard to St. Mary's: 'Ours will never be a
fashionable school, where the daughters of the rich can gain a
few showy accomplishments. We believe in honest work, in
broad foundations on which may be reared the completeness of
the finished temple. In a life hallowed by daily prayer we
shall try to train up our daughters for the blessedness of a life
of usefulness here and the joy and bliss of heaven hereafter.'
"The graceful tribute which the bishop paid to those under
him is one of the delightful traits of his personal character.
Speaking of the Rev. Mills, the first chaplain of St. Mary's
hall, he uses words no less loving than he used in memory of his
own brother: 'Providence sent us the right man for a chaplain,
to whom St. Mary's hall is indebted for the great success it has
attained.' And again, of Miss Darlington he said: 'It was her
ripe forethought and Christian devotion which placed our ven-
ture of faith among the foremost schools of the land.' And
again: 'God mercifully prolonged her life until the childhood
of her work was passed and she saw in it the beauty of cultured
womanhood.' Indeed it was this charm of simplicity with which
the bishop often put aside any glory which might come to him
that so added to the beauty of his character and won for him the
enthusiasm of those who labored for him and with him and
under him, an enthusiasm so ardent and glowing that for many
years the clergy in their hard and trying fields of labor made
no changes, but bore poverty and penury because they loved
their bishop."
THE
OT,D ALEXANDER FARIBAULT HOUSE
CHAPTER XIV.
EARLY FARIBAULT.
Town Proprietors— Town Plat — Early Additions— First Build-
ings — Pioneer Events — Early Descriptions — Some Pioneers
— Mystery of Metropolisville — Faribault Township — Fari-
bault in 1872— Luke Hulett.
The earliest history of the city of Faribault, the coming of
the Faribaults, the arrival of the earliest settlers, and incidents
of the early days, have been related elsewhere.
The first proprietors of what was then known as the "old
town" of Faribault, were Alexander Faribault, Luke Hulett,
Walter Morris, H. H. Sibley, attorney for F. B. Sibley; and
afterwards came the names of J. W. North, Porter Nutting, J.
H. Mills, R. Sherwood, Senator Samuel Walcott; and in the
fall of 1855 Gen. James Shields, of Mexican war fame. He pur-
chased an interest in the town site, and became the agent and
attorney for the company, receiving his deed from Judge Chat-
field, who formerly entered the town according to the act mak-
ing provisions therefor, on May 20, 1855, and for several years
General Shields issued titles to all the lots sold.
In this connection, F. W. Frink has said: "Feb. 16, 1855,
the plat of the original town was made out and filed for record
by Alexander Faribault, John W. North, Fred B. Sibley, and
Porter Nutting, as proprietors. On the eleventh of the follow-
ing September, the same proprietors, with the exception of Mr.
North and the addition of James Shields, J. Baufil and Charles
F. Crehore entered into an agreement with Gen. James Shields,
giving him power of attorney to sell lots, and make deeds,
bonds, etc. In consideration of his services he was to receive
every third lot in the block north of Third street, all blocks
south of Third street being recognized as the personal prop-
erty of Alexander Faribault. Dec. 1, Judge Chatfield entered
280 acres comprising the plat of the original town at the land
office in Winona as a town site for the use and benefit of the
occupants thereof, by the authority of an act of congress pro-
viding for the entry of town sites on government lands. By
the act of the legislative assembly of the territory of Minnesota,
passed March 3, 1855, General Shields was authorized to make
319
320 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
warranty deeds for lots in the town, all previous conveyances
having been by bond or quit claim."
The original town, as surveyed and platted by B. Densmore,
contained 280 acres, but additions were soon made as follows:
Paquin's, surveyed by C. C. Perkins and recorded December
7, 1855, and April 16, 1856, eighty acres; Cooper's, surveyed by
A. H. Bullis, and recorded April 3, 1856, forty acres; McClel-
land's, surveyed by S. Wade, and recorded April 30, 1856, forty-
two acres; South Faribault, surveyed by C. C. Perkins, Shields
and Faribault, proprietors, and recorded May 1. 1856, fifty acres;
North Faribault, surveyed by A. H. Bullis, F. Faribault, pro-
prietor, forty acres, making in 1856 a total of 532 acres. All
the lots were four by ten rods, making one-fourth of an acre
each, except the business lots, which were two rods shorter.
In the winter of 1857 the lots were selling at from $500 to $3,000,
which ought to have been a satisfactory advance on thirty-one
and one-quarter cents, paid the government a year or two
before.
The tidal wave, or avalanche, whichever is most appropriate
to designate an oncoming of humanity, and wealth, was in
the spring and summer of 1856, for at the beginning of that
period there was not a score of buildings in town, while in the
fall there were more than 250, and the population had swelled
to 1,500 or more. There were in the town early in 1857, twenty-
three stores, four good hotels, five w^agon shops, with black-
smith and shoe maker shops, two livery stables, two meat mar-
kets, and three steam mills, and surrounded by a rich country,
fast filling up, its growth and prosperity was an assurance which
has been well realized.
In the winter of 1850. Faribault had a literary association.
and published a paper called "The Pioneer." Goods at first had
to be hauled from Hastings, making a round trip of about 140
miles, although in some seasons of the year supplies were landed
on the Mississippi at Reed's Landing, at the foot of Lake Pepin.
The first frame building put up here was by Alexander
Faribault, quite a good one and in striking contrast with the log
cabins, hovels and shanties which were extemporized by the
pioneers on their first arrival, to meet the imperative demands
for shelter. The cost of this first building was $4,000. The
lumber for its construction was brought from St. Paul; a part
of it was left on the road, as the team was unable to get through
with such a load, and this was burned by a prairie fire. This
building is still standing. The next frame was erected by the
Messrs. Barnard, at a cost of $1,000, which was afterwards oc-
cupied by J. 11. Mills. This was in August, 1855. and during
that season quite a number of others went up. The postoffice.
THE NEW
PUBLIC LI
i RUMP H W.I.. i'M.'ll: VULT
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 321
which was kept by E. J. Crump, the deputy, was opposite where
the Arlington House stands.
At first there was a struggle between the two ends of the
village, the south and the north. Mr. Faribault lived at the
south, and the French Canadian settlement was at the north
end, and in any contest where there was a vote on the question,
the countrymen of Mr. Faribault would go with him, apparently
against their own interest. Mr. Crump had a pre-emption claim
which he was induced to waive in consideration of the com-
pany's giving him the entire block upon which the Arlington
House stands.
General Shields had several thousand dollars, and procuring
a pair of horses and a carriage, he traveled all over this country,
finally bringing up in Shieldsville, where he was getting quite
a settlement when Mr. Faribault offered him such liberal in-
ducements to act for the townsite company, that he at once
came here. The trouble as to the ownership, and the adjust-
ment of the rival pre-emption claims was considerable, but the
general went to Washington where his experience in the land
office enabled him to secure a clear title.
One of the first meetings for religious instruction was in
April, 1854, in the grove near Luke Hulett's, north of the
bridge, on the Solomon Atherton place, by an itinerant evangel-
ist. The audience was made up mostly of the Wapakoota
Dakotas, who were here in considerable numbers. The first
denominational service was by Jonathan Morris, a followed of
Alexander Campbell.
The village lots were surveyed in April, 1854, and there
were five claims covering the town at that time. A. Faribault
had the upper claim ; J. B. Faribault, the father of Alexander,
had another; N. Paquin had the lower part of the town.
It was found that under the pre-emption law, town sites
could be laid out in advance of the land sale, and so it was ar-
ranged to lay out the town at once, and the west, or prairie
half, was surveyed and platted, and filed in the recorder's office
at Mendota, in the name of A. Faribault, H. H. Sibley, Walter
Morris, and Luke Hulett. This survey was subsequently can-
celled, and, under the auspices of J. B. North, a re-survey was
made in the spring of 1855. This became permanent. In the
fullness of time, Judge Chatfield was induced to become the
trustee ; the land of General Sibley was pre-empted, and through
the paramount influence of Gen. James Shields, who, as men-
tioned elsewhere, had appeared upon the scene, the title was
finally vested so as to be lasting.
In the fall of 1857, at the time of that financial depression,
Faribault had arrived at a condition of prosperity which was
322 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
most remarkable, and it is certain that all who were here at that
time should be designated as old settlers, and so a sketch of
the city, written by R. A. Mott for his paper, is reproduced.
"But one church now stands in this place, viz., the Congrega-
tional. A fine church, built by the Catholics, was burned last
fall. In addition, Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, and Lutheran
organizations exist, stated preaching having been secured to
each. Our merchants are all well stocked, and they are gen-
erally as fine dealers as ever stood behind the counter. Our
landloards are all gentlemn, and spare no pains to make travelers
at home. Our mechanics have increased, greatly, their facil-
ities for doing good work. Our places of amusement would
lose their objectionable features if intoxicating drinks could be
banished from their precincts. We would urge eastern mechanics
and capitalists, who feel like breaking out into the free North-
west, to grow up with it, to pay us a visit n<xt spring. We
want men with bronzed faces and horney hands; men and
women who can cheerfully lock arms with toil. We promise
you that toil will here be richly remunerated. We are, now
especially, in need of plough, reaper, and mover factories, and a
pair of jolly coopers."
One schoolhouse has been erected at a cost of $2,000. It is
now occupied by two teachers. Another school is sustained
in a commodious hall. These teachers have now under their
tuition about 125 pupils. A brass band, a string band, a vocal
club, a singing school, a .Mason's and Odd Fellow's lodge arc
all in successful existence. Our mail service has been decreased
since the close of summer, but we still have fifteen arrivals and
eighteen departures weekly. We have been unable to obtain
the last census report, but the enumeration made by the assessor
last June gave this town a population of 1683. It is now re-
ported at over 2.000. By actual count there were, some time
since, over 250 buildings in the place. Faribault has become
the center of trade for a large >ection of country, of the ex-
tension of which some idea can be formed from a list of business
establishments which we now proceed to give: There are four
large houses dealing exclusively in hardware. Three heavy
grocery stores, three clothing and furnishing stores, three meat
and provision market--. two drug stores, two first-class restaur-
ants, two furniture stores and cabinet shops, three livery stables,
three blacksmith shops, which employ eighl hands, one harness
shop, two boot and shoe Mores, one wagon and sleigh shop, one
broom factory, one grist-mill, with three more within three
miles, two saw-mills, with seven more within three miles, one
ning-mill, one billiard saloon, two bowling alleys, one race
( ourse.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 323
So far as our memory serves, the following list comprises
the business men of the place: Town proprietors — Shields &
McCutcheon, A. Faribault, J. Cooper, H. McClelland, N. Paquin,
A. Faribault, Turner & Batchelder. Clergymen— L. Armsby,
T. R. Cressey, J. H. White. Physicians — Bemis, Leighton,
Burnhans, Denison, Stevens, and Turner. Dentistry — Dr.
Stevens and Dr. Biggs. Provision markets — M. Cole, C. T.
Winans, Nutting & Dickinson. Restaurants — C. M. Mispaugh,
J. & A. Manheim. Drug stores — Wheeler & Thayer, Stevens
& Thayer. Furniture stores — Hill & Brockway, Wandell &
Worlin. Millinery— Mrs. L. Clement, Mrs. O. M. Crandall.
Liveries, D. Smith & Co., T. Smith. Jewelry — J. L. Wilcox &
Co. Harness shop — E. C. Hinde. Wagon shop— J. D. Denison.
Architects and Builders — Hink & Newcomb, Davison & dem-
ons, R. W. Russ, A. & J. Nutting. Broom factory — Misener &
Brother. Shingle-mill — J. M. White. Saw-mills — Gibson & Co.,
H. Riedell. Grist-mill— Gibson & Co. Planing-mill — Clark &
Weld. Shoe shop— D. O'Brien. Teachers— L. A. Fish, Miss
Parish, Sarah Fisk. Landlords — Barron House, H. E. Barron ;
National, E. D. Gifford ; Faribault House, T. Nutting. Bankers
and land agents — Shields & McCutcheon, G. W. Boardman &
Co., H. Wilson & Co., Mcllrath, Cole & Co., L. S. Pease & Co.
Attorneys and counselors at law — Batchelder & Buckham, Cole
& Raymond, Davis & Tanner, Berry & Perkins, H. W. Lamber-
ton, O. A. Dalrymple, C. Williams, G. E. Skinner. Surveyors —
A. H. Bullis, R. H. L. Jewett, G. F. Batchelder. Merchants-
General Variety— Tower & Brother, J. A. Moore, J. H. Mills
& Son, Mr. McGreavy, Van Brunt & Misener, Fuller & Smith,
J. H. Winter. D. Munch. Hardware— C. T. Hinde & Co., Cot-
trell & Brother, T. H. Loyhed, Cooper & Renwick. Groceries —
Chaffee & Berry, F. B. Nason & Co., Mr. Barley. Clothing—
W. S. Eastman, Raunecker & Hartman, P. B. Crosby & Co.
The following from the "Herald" will also give an idea of
the improvements of 1857: "It is truly gratifying to take a view
of the improvements which have been effected in our place
during the past year. In nothing is this advance more apparent
than in the erection of new buildings. The building of the
past year has been altogether of a different and superior char-
acter from that which preceded it. In place of pre-emption
shanties which constituted many of those before numbered, we
have now the stately edifice from two to four stories in height.
The buildings erected within the last year would probably reach
in number one hundred and fifty, the most noticeable of these
are as follows : Residence of A. Faribault on a sightly bluff
over the river, costing about $4.000 ; the beautiful residence of
James Tower at a cost of $2,500; the residence of General
324 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Shields, J. Cooper, N. Paquin, H. McClelland. F. Faribault, Rev.
L. Armsby, S. Barnard, Mr. Humphrey, H. Ri^dell, J. Gibson,
Messrs. Decker, Alby, Lines, Whipple, etc., at an average of
about $2,000 each. The following among the most important
business erections: Store by M. Cook, 24x40; Cottrell & Co.,
24x50; A. Blodgett, hall and billiard saloon at an average of
$2,500; store and hall by Faribault & Co.; restaurant by Mills-
paugh; bank by J. A. Moore; store by J. H. Mills; drug store
by Stevens & Thayer; receiver's office by J. B. Cooper; store
by Mr. Merrill. All of these new buildings are two stories and
cost about $2,000 each. A number of creditable one-story build-
ings for offices, banks, stores, etc., have been erected. A number
of fine buildings show themselves on Paquin's addition, among
which we notice one by I. H. Craig, 22x45. three stories high,
for store or hotel ; F. Craig has built two, one 16x36, the other
19x36, both two stories ; two stores, one by Fredette and one by
Langeuin, both 20x40, two stories. We cannot report in full,
suffice it to say that the amount expended in private building
the past year cannot fall short of $100,000. In addition our
commissioners have erected an office and jail at an expense of
about $5,000. The school trustees have built a schoolhouse
costing about $2,000. The Congregational church has been
enlarged and a bell procured. Three bridges have been built
across Straight river, and one across the Cannon. A pleasant
and commodious cemetery has been laid out, and many other
improvements which give great satisfaction to the citizens of
Faribault who love their homes."
Among the early prominent settlers of Faribault were : O.
F. Perkins, J. W. North, Dr. Charles Jewett, J. W. Humphrey,
John M. Berry, George W. Batchelder, Thos. C. Buckham. J.
C. and J. R. Parshall, H. E. Barron, H. R. L. Jewett. Capt.
E. H. Cutis, H. M. Matteson, II. \Y. Dike. Henry Clay Lowell,
C. L. Lowell. F. W. Frink, George W. Tower. R. A. Mott.
H. M. Matteson and J. R. Parshall came here in 1854: Levi
Nutting, James Shouts. •;. S. Woodruff, E. X. Leavens in 1855;
W. II. Stevens, John Mullin, J. I'.. Wheeler. Lyman Tuttle, Wil-
liam McGinnis, A. Mortenson, F. <i. Stevens, George W. Newell,
and T. H. Loyhed came in 1865.
Among other old settlers were: C. C. Perkins, Michael
Cook and Thomas Carpenter.
The Mystery of Metropolisville. Edward Eggleston, the
famous author, was in Rice comity in 1855. and the scene of
"The Mysterj of Metropolisville" is supposedly laid in Cannon
City, many of the names in the book being clever take-offs on
well known names in Rice county. On this subject, F. W. Frink
has said: "In the summer of 1855 the author of the 'Hoosier
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 325
School Master.' 'Mystery of Metropolisville' and kindred works
was taking pictures in Faribault with Amos Wattles — whom
some of our old settlers will remember — week days and preach-
ing the gospel according to the Methodists on Sundays in Cannon
City. Before this young preacher left this vicinity a circum-
stance occurred that was the foundation for a story which he has
immortalized in one of his novels. Some of our oldest citizens
may remember a long tall copy in the flesh of 'Uncle Sam,' as,
caricatured, named Dave McCorn ; further identified as the
owner of the finest span of Morgans ever seen in Faribault.
Dave boarded at the Barron House, in the office of which the
young bloods of the town made nightly resort, and was the butt
of many jokes before they became fully acquainted, as he looked
and acted decidedly verdant. One night when there was a full
meeting of these youngsters, one of them asked Dave if he had
heard of the offer Mr. Faribault had made of $10,000 to any
decent white man who would marry one of his daughters.
Dave replied that he hadn't heard of it but as it was right into
his hand he would go and see about it, and left ostensibly to
interview his prospective father-in-law. After a waiting of an
hour or more expecting every moment to hear that Dave had
been shown the door if not kicked out of it for his impudence,
he made his appearance and reported progress. He said: 'We
got along first rate and agreed in every particular until just at
the last Mr. Faribault insisted that the children should be
brought up in the Catholic faith, and I told him I'd be d — d if
I could stand that, and so the deal was off.' The young fellows
saw that they were sold, for their intended victim never went
near Mr. Faribault but was snugly ensconced in a neighboring
store all the time they had been waiting expecting, as one of
them expressed it, to have a 'heap of fun with a greenhorn.' It
is true that the 'Mystery of Metropolisville' makes no pretense
to historical accuracy, yet it is so truthful in its representations
of many incidents and presents so many accurate pen portraits of
well known men of the time that the pages devoted to 'Peri-
tault, the Indian trader' may be well supposed to give the char-
acteristics of Alexander Faribault, the only 'Indian trader' in
the vicinity. Yet the story as told in the book is a libel on as
affectionate a father as I ever knew, and had no other foundation
than is here related. I may be accused of needlessly reviving
an old story but there is this excuse : The 'Mystery of Metrop-
olisville' is still to be found in public libraries, and only a few
years ago a correspondent of one of the twin city dailies re-
hearsed this old storv as a literal truth."
326 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
FARIBAULT TOWNSHIP.
The Township of Faribault was organized May 11, 1858.
On motion of A. J. Tanner, Geo. W. Batchelder was elected
chairman by acclamation, Solon C. Gilmore was selected as
moderator, and J. Ezra Buck, clerk. A committee was appointed
to ascertain the amount needed to defray expenses for town
purposes. This committee consisted of J. B. Cooper, L. Nutting,
G. W. Batchelder, M. Cook, C. Wheeler. The town was divided
into road districts with overseers as follows: North Faribault.
Geo. H. Farrar; South Faribault, M. Cole; East Prairieville,
G. W. rope. The election resulted as follows: Supervisors, G.
W. Batchelder, chairman; Geo. F. Pettit, Norbert Paquin ; town
clerk, M. C. Peltier; collector, E. W. Leavens; assessor, E. C.
Hind; overseer of the poor, E. D. Gifford ; justices of the peace,
W. W. Owen, W. B. Leach; constables, E. N. Leavens, T. L.
De Lancy. August 4, E. C. Houck was appointed assessor in
place of E. C. Hind, and E. J. Crump overseer of the poor in
place of E. D. Gifford. September 9, E. J. Crump was appointed
overseer of road district No. 1, in place of G. H. Farrar. Sep-
tember 14, Geo. C. Albee was appointed supervisor in place of
G. F. Pettit. October 11, Geo. M. Gilmore was appointed
supervisor in place of Geo. W. Batchelder. November 20, R.
A. Molt was appointed justice of the peace in place of William
B. Leach.
The last annual town meeting of the old township of Fari-
bault was held at Firemen's Hall, March 12, 1872. The meet-
ing was called to order by O. H. Wily, town clerk pro tern. The
election resulted as follows : Supervisors, S. C. Dunham, L. C.
Ingram, J. D. Green; clerk, II. P. Sime; treasurer, H. C. Pres-
cott ; assessors, Isaac Plumer. Henry Dunham; justices, J. B.
Quinn, John Leo, O. F. Perkins.
FARIBAULT IN 1872.
Faribault previous to its incorporation in 1872 was exceed-
ingly primitive in its government. There were few sidewalks
in town, outside "f the business portion, and those consisted
for the most part of two planks laid lengthwise about a fool
apart. Stock of all kinds ran at large and there was a strong
opposition to any radical change. The county had no adequate
court house and no jail of any account. The county building
was a one story two-room brick building, about 10x16 Feet on
the ground, on the corner of Third street and Second avenue,
where' the treasurer and recorder, the auditor and the clerk of
court kept their offices. The central school house had been
built at a cost of over $30,000, the third Boor being used as a
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 327
public hall. There were also four small, outside primary school
buildings. The Episcopal cathedral had been built, so also the
Catholic church of the Immaculate Conception, the Congrega-
tional, Presbyterian, and Baptist churches as they now stand.
The schools of the Bishop Seabury mission, and St. Mary's hall
had been organized, but the only building now occupied which
had been erected is Shattuck hall. The state school for deaf
mutes and the blind occupied together the south wing of the
present main building of the present school for the deaf. Fari-
bault had suffered from the bridge fever and its fires had not
dimmed when the city was organized. Already the First, Second,
Eighth and Fourteenth street bridges had been erected over
Straight river and two over the Cannon, but the bridge notion
did not subside until 1887, when the Third street was put in
and a cut made through the bluff to permit approach from the
east side. Since then other bridges have been erected. The
principal hotels were the Barron house, a two story wooden
building at the corner of First street and Central avenue, with
a substantial stone three story addition em the north. The
Arlington house, or rather the part of it north of the south wing,
and a three-story stone building now occupied by the Security
bank, were erected in 1871, the former by Joseph D. Green and
the latter by F. A. Theopold. The United States hotel, the
present Superior house, a substantial three-story stone and brick
building, had been previously erected and used as a hotel by
Jacob Stehly. There were a few other substantial brick and
stone buildings in the city, the Straight River mill and the Ken-
dall mill, a three-story stone building on Central avenue erected
by Geo. F. Batchelder, the Fleckenstein stone block corner of
Central avenue and Third street, the Mee Brothers building
and the stores occupied by Schulein's clothing store, Carpenter
& Smith, T. H. Loyhed & Son, and the Degan building on Third
street, the Stocklein building on Central avenue, and a few
others since destroyed by fire and rebuilt.
Since 1872, all the public buildings have been erected, with
the exception of the Central school, the north wing of the state
school for the deaf, and Shattuck hall. Most of the business
blocks and homes have also been erected since that date.
Luke Hulett who came to Faribault in 1853, with his family,
was perhaps the most prominent of the early settlers. He was
a native of Rutland county, Vermont, born in 1803. He emi-
grated to the West when twenty-seven years of age, and resided
for a time in Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin, where he
engaged for the most part in farming, but built and operated a
saw mill on the St. Joe river for a time. When Mr. Hulett set-
tled in Faribault he brought his wife and seven children, two
328 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
of whom, Mrs. Robert Smith and Mrs. Frank Carrier, live in
Faribault. The oldest child and only son, John, died while a
young man. The oldest daughter, Mrs. John Adams, died in
Missouri. Mrs. Ruel Smith lives in Minneapolis. Mrs. Orlando
Johnson lives in Medford. Mrs. Emmonds Taylor lives in East
Prairie. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hulett in
Faribault, Mrs. A. C. Miller, who still resides here, was the
first white child born after the actual settlement of Faribault.
The youngest child, Ida A., died in childhood. Mr. Hulett was
a man of wide information and possessed of excellent judgment,
and naturally became a leader in public affairs. His advice was
largely sought and freely given. He was liberal in his views,
heroic in character, and generous in his impulses, and left an
impress upon his associates which will long be felt in Faribault.
He died March 18, 1882, and at the age of 79 years.
THE
PUBl ARY
■
^s »v^
m
PREDERK K W I'lM \K
CHAPTER XV.
FRINK'S NARRATIVE.
Extracts From a "Brief History of Faribault" — Old Town Site —
Appearance of Faribault in 1855 — Early Manufacturing In-
terests — Location of the County Seat — First Church, School
and Newspaper — Indian Scares — Denominational Concord —
Costly Fire — A Few Old Settlers.
F. W. Frink, in his "Brief History of Faribault," has written
the following interesting facts :
February 10, 1855, a survey and plat of the 280 acres, com-
prising the original town of Faribault having been previously
made, an agreement by and between John W. North, Porter
Nutting, F. B. Sibley and Alexander Faribault, as proprietors,
and John W. North, as agent, was entered into, empowering
the agent to sell all lots in town north of Third street, reserving
to Alexander Faribault thirty blocks, being all south of Third
street as his individual property, and the record of that instru-
ment marks Faribault's birthday, being the first day of its cor-
porate existence. Under this agreement, Mr. North was author-
ized to give away fifteen lots to any person or persons who in
his judgment would promote the interests of the town. February
16, power of attorney to execute this agreement was given to
Mr. North, and recorded. Meanwhile, before any sales were
made, Mr. North, having founded a town of his own, retired
from his position as one of Faribault's proprietors and his power
of attorney was revoked. Gen. James Shields having a short
time previous located on the shore of the lake now bearing his
name was induced to take an interest in the new town, and a
new agreement was made under date of September 10, 1855, by
and between Alexander Faribault, Porter Nutting, John Banfil,
James Shields, Fred B. Sibley and Charles T. Crehore, as pro-
prietors, and General Shields, as agent, by which the agent was
empowered to sell all lots north of Third street and reserving
to Mr. Faribault the lots south of Third street as in the previous
agreement. This agreement gave also every third lot north of
Third street to General Shields for his services. Power of at-
torney to carry this agreement into effect was executed Septem-
ber 11, 1855, and recorded. Under this arrangement, the title
being yet in the Government, all lots were conveyed by quit
claim deed up to June 1, 1856. February 16, 1855. a plat and
329
330 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
survey made for the original proprietors by B. Densmore, was
filed in the register's office of Dakota county, to which Rice
county was attached for judicial purposes prior to January 1,
1856.
Let me attempt a pen picture of the scene presented to me in
April, 1855. I approached the town from the east, coming down
the hill by the Front street road (now Division street), being
the only road opened to the ford of Straight river before the
Cooper ravine road was opened in 1859. Looking across the
valley, the most conspicuous objects that met my sight were
numerous scaffoldings elevating by rude pole structures ten or
twelve feet above the ground the bodies of dead Indians accord-
ing to the custom of the Sioux to help their departed warriors
on their way to the happy hunting grounds. All along up and
down the river were the tepees of the Wa-pe-cou-tas (Wapa-
kootas), far more numerous than the habitations of the whin-
man, and the intermingling of tepees, log cabins, frame houses
just begun, with four or five steam saw mills plying a busy
trade in their midst, with the rude monuments of an Indian
cemetery in the background, pictured a blending of civilization
and barbarism never again to be seen on this continent.
After General Sliields became agent for the proprietors, ad-
vantage was taken of a law of congress providing for obtaining
title to town sites on Government lands prior to their coming
into market. This law provided that a judge of the district
court for the district in which the town site was situated migkt
enter all lands laid out in lots with streets dedicated to public
use "For the several use and benefit of the inhabitants thereof."
quoting tin- language of the patent. This patent was issued
under date of December 1, 1855, to Andrew G. Chatfield, judge of
third judicial district of Minnesota, and covered the 280 acres
comprising the original town of Faribault. May 29, 1856, acting
under authority of an act of the Territorial legislative assembly
passed March 3, 1855, Judge Chatfield gave a died of warranty
to James Sliields, who thus became nominally the owner in fee
of the whole town site. This, however, was only for convenience
in making sales and confirming titles by deeds of warranty to
lands before conveyed by qui; claim, the real ownership being
determined by the agreement previously made and recorded,
After perfection of the titles tin- growth of the town was only
retarded by the inability to procure building material and skilled
labor to use it.
During the winter of 1854-55 the first manufacturing estab-
lishment of any kind in Faribault was a large steam saw mill
of the old-fashioned kind, running a single upright saw and built
by tlie brothers, I. G. and 11. Y. Scott. I recall an incident in
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 331
the life of Harvey Y. Scott that I have placed in my memory
to his credit. While living on his farm on East Prairie he heard
of the effort being made in behalf of Mr. Faribault, and imme-
diately brought a load of wheat to town and gave the proceeds
to the maintenance fund, remarking, "If any more is needed let
me know, for Mr. Faribault was mighty good to me when I first
came here, and I don't forget it." After this saw mill started
it was thronged with waiting applicants for lumber, and a board
would scarcely leave the saw before it was pounced upon and
carried off as a precious thing. Even after this mill had been
reinforced by five or six portable steam mills with a daily capac-
ity of from three to five thousand feet each, the supply never
equaled the demand, and lumber piles never accumulated. The
only other way of getting lumber was by hauling from the
Mississippi, over almost impassable roads. Not a few of the
first business houses and residences of 1855-56 were built of
logs, owing to the difficulty in procuring lumber, some of which
are still in existence and were much more comfortable than the
more aristocratic houses of the time hastily constructed of green
lumber.
Before the entry of the town site by Judge Chatfield, one
quarter section of its area, embracing what is now the most
valuable part of the city was claimed by one Charles Morton as
first settler under preemption laws. This quarter section in-
cludes the land lying between Seventh street on the north,
Division (formerly Front) on the south, Chestnut street or
Second avenue on the west and Mott avenue on the east.
In 1855, there were no church edifices in Faribault, but re-
ligious services were held every Sunday, in unfinished buildings
sometimes, but more frequently in halls over business places ;
places generally devoted to dancing, pleasure parties and polit-
ical gatherings week days, and sermons Sundays. The first
sermon the writer ever heard in Minnesota was in a grove on
the borders of East Prairie. The next was in Crump's hall, Fari-
bault. The sermon was preached by that old man eloquent,
Elder Cressey, then living and owning a farm on the confines
of Cannon City. He was a Baptist preacher, but that made no
difference, for there was no warring of creeds in those early
days. It was necessary for all denominations to ignore sectarian
distinctions and combine for the general welfare. Faribault's
early days were never characterized by the turbulence and ruf-
fianism so generally prevalent in the rapid settlement of western
towns, especially those towns whose principal industries are
connected with mining or lumbering. Faribault's early settle-
ment was made up from people seeking homes and farming lands,
followed by the usual proportion of merchants and mechanics,
332 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
each and all bringing with them some capital, generally derived
from the sale of former holdings in older states. It follows as
naturally that society formed from such material must be capable
of fostering education, religion and all the best instincts of
mankind.
Here seems a fitting place to record the circumstances at-
tending the location of the county seat of Rice county, and the
competition between Faribault and Cannon City. Some time in
the summer of 1855, Governor Gorman, beguiled by the wily
tongues of the proprietors of Cannon City, located the county
seat at that point and appointed county commissioners which
gave them a temporary advantage which might be made perma-
nent. The rivalry beginning with that location and ending only
with the next October election, is well illustrated in many points
by Eggleston's "Mystery of Metropolisville." The election of
county commissioners decided the location of the county seat
and all the efforts of both towns were directed in behalf of those
officers. The struggle was fierce and that there was no breach
of the peace was probably owing to the fact that the only polling
places in the county were located at the competitive points and
the voters generally voted at the place of their choice, giving
no chance of collision between opposing interests. One of the
proprietors of Cannon City, however, appeared in Faribault
early on the day of election and signified his intention to remain
all day to challenge votes. This announcement brought con-
sternation, resulting in a hasty consultation by the Faribault
management, for each party well knew that many votes had been
promised that would not bear investigation, especially in the
matter of residence, which the law required to be six months
in the state. (That law, by the way, when we had occasion to
look for it was found in the statutes of 1849, under the heading
of "sheep and swine.*') The result of the consultation was that
Levi Nutting and Norbert Paquin were detailed to take charge
of the challenger and prevent his diminishing the vote for Fari-
bault to any great extent. 1 tow well they discharged their duties
may be inferred from the fact that not a vote was challenged dur-
ing the day. Once, indeed, we came near losing ten votes. Near
the close of the day, vigilance was somewhat relaxed when he
saw ten voters approaching the polls tinder the guidance of
Paquin, which we knew had not been residents the required six
months ami neither Sears nor Levi had yel observed them. Levi
caught sight of them first, but there was no time for argument,
so, hitting Sears a rousing thwack between the shoulders he
shouted at him, "Doug. Sears, you arn't a d — d fool!" Sears
turned on him mad as a hornet and shouted back at him, "who
the h — 1 saiil I was." Then began an explanation that was not
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 333
ended until the polls closed. The commissioners chosen at that
election who were to organize the county and locate the county
seat were all living when last heard from, but only one of them
in Faribault ; their names are F. W. Frink, chairman, and G. F.
Pettit and Andrew Storer, associates ; before admission into the
Union, Territorial law required but three commissioners elected
at large. After admission the law went to the other extreme
and required a commissioner from each town, with one extra
for the county seat, thus creating what the people called a pony
legislature.
County Seat. Incidents attending the location of the county
seat in Faribault may be worth mention as showing how such
things were done in primitive times. At the first meeting of the
board of the elected county commissioners in January, 1856, the
county seat was located so far as the designation of the quarter
section could effect a location, but no particular part of that
quarter section was selected as a site for county building. In
the spring of 1856 the commissioners met according to previous
agreement with General Shields, nominal proprietor of Fari-
bault, and Norbert Paquin, proprietor of Paquin's first and sec-
ond additions. The first choice of the commissioners fell on the
block now occupied by the Congregational church, A. W. Mc-
Kinstry, A. W. Stockton and others, but that whole block had
been previously sold and could not be had at any price the
commissioners could afford. The block now occupied by the
A. L. Hill residence and others was the only whole block the
proprietors of Faribault could offer, and Mr. Paquin offered the
whole block now occupied by A. W. Tenney and others, being
block 10 of his first addition. In the opinion of the commission-
ers neither of these blocks was available as being too remote
from the business center of the town. My choice was then the
south half of the block on which the court house now stands,
the north half being already built upon and occupied. Two lots
of the south half had been bargained for, but Shields told us
that if we could get quit claim from Wattles, to whom he had
agreed to sell them, he would sell to the county for the same
that Wattles had agreed to give. We sent our clerk, Isaac Ham-
mond, to see what Wattles would sell the lots to him for. In
the meantime Wattles had seen us with Paquin looking at the
block offered by him, and thinking to speculate a little at the
expense of the county, quit claimed to Hammond his interest
in the lots we wanted for $50, and made haste to secure two lots
in the block he supposed the commissioners had selected. He
had agreed to give Shields $175, so the lots cost the commission-
ers $225, which they had to advance, as there was then no county
funds. The other three lots were donated by the town pro-
334 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
prietors. Two years later, under the supervision of the late
Gen. Levi Nutting, the little one story brick building, 20x40,
on the ground, was erected on the Wattles lots, and for the next
sixteen years was occupied by the county auditor, county treas-
urer, register of deeds, clerk of court and judge of probate, and
all the archives of Rice county were sheltered therein. From
time to time as occasion offered in 1867-68 the north half of the
block, now a part of the court house grounds, was purchased
for the county at an aggregate cost of $7,600 from six different
owners. In the years 1873-74 the county commissioners had the
proceeds of $50,000 in bonds with which to build a court house
and jail. When those buildings were completed, six hundred
dollars expended in grading the grounds, and four hundred in
fencing, besides expending two thousand dollars in furnishing
the buildings, the building committee found that they had over-
drawn the building fund account forty-seven cents, and imme-
diately balanced the account by paying that amount into the
county treasury. The writer knows this bit of history to be
true, because he was county bookkeeper at the time. The com-
missioners who expended the building fund so wisely and well
were: T. B. Clement, chairman, J. C. Closson. J. G. Scott.
Michael Hanley and H. H. White.
In November, 1856, the number of occupied buildings on the
platted portion of the town and additions of Faribault, according
to actual count as reported by Charles E. Davison, who made
the enumeration, was nearly three hundred. Of those three hun-
dred buildings scarcely more than a score are now in existence.
Of that score of buildings the one bidding Fair to outlast it-
newer neighbors is the first home built by Alexander Faribault,
budded as houses were in the days before balloon frames came
in fashii 'ii. built ti i stay.
Next to the manufacture of lumber, which must necessarily
be limited by the supply of raw material, came the establishment
of a furniture factory by Ansel L. Hill, on block 47 on First
avenue east, built in the winter of 1857, and having for its motive
power a little spavined mare hitched to a long --weep, something
after the manner of the cider presses of old New England. How
the business grew and prospered under the energetic care of .Mr.
II ill from such a small beginning is best illustrated by contrast-
ing the little building on Second avenue with the magnificent
plant extending from Central to First avenue east. Since the
death of Mr. Hill in 18 ( >7, the factory has been idle, no one as
\ et having been found able to take his place. When he died
the most sincere mourners, outside of the family circle, were his
workmen who had always found stead) employment, through
good times and hard times, for Mr. Hill ran his business at a
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 335
loss during such times rather than let his workmen suffer. An-
other furniture factory was started soon after that of Mr. Hill,
by two men of German birth, Christian Wandell and William
Worlein, and was located on the lot where the opera house now
stands. It was operated by a small steam engine, but only man-
ufactured for the local trade, and went out of existence when its
last owner died many years ago.
The next manufacture of importance was begun by Henry
Reidel, who, having previously operated a portable sawmill for
a year or two, began the erection of a flouring mill in 1857, the
boiler, engine and machinery for which was hauled by ox teams
from Dubuque in that severest of winters that Minnesota ever
knew — the winter of 1856-57. Owing to the difficulty and ex-
pense of getting material together, the mill building was not
enclosed until the summer of 1858, and by that time Mr. Reidel's
means were exhausted and he could go no further. He sold out
to the bankers. Dike and Judd, who put the mill in operation in
the spring of 1859, retaining Mr. Reidel as manager. The mill
started with four run of stone and could make one hundred
barrels of flour every twenty-four hours. After Mr. Judd had
disposed of his interest to the late John W. Griggs, a brother-
in-law to Major Dike, the mill was operated by them until its
sale to the late William L. Turner, in 1872. Mr. Reidel, the
original owner, operated the mill, in connection with Mr. Turner,
long enough to recover more than he lost in building it and in-
vested his gains in successful milling in Owatonna. Mr. Turner,
after two or three years of poor trade, was compelled to remodel
his mill to bring it up to date and equip it with rollers and puri-
fiers in order to keep his flour in the market. In this way he
became involved, and the mill was sold on foreclosure ten years
after he came into possession. January 29, 1885, it was pur-
chased by Messrs. Stockton and Hutchinson, and has been in
successful operation ever since. The old mill raised in 1858
forms the central portion of the Faribault Roller Mills of today,
and it is doubtful if another mill operated by steam of the same
age can be found in the state. We find in statistics of Fari-
bault, gathered in 1873, that the principal manufacturers of that
year were the output of flour made by "five flouring mills."
The first, and most prominent industry, however, w r as neces-
sarily the manufacture of lumber, and numerous steam sawmills
were early in operation, supplying Faribault and surrounding
country with all the building material used in the crude struc-
tures of early days. The completion of the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul railway late in the year 1865, to Faribault, which
was its terminus for nearly a year, brought supplies of lumber
from other sources, and none too soon, for the timber in the
336 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
"big woods" was rapidly disappearing under the demands of
furniture factories, and fuel for towns and country along its
borders.
As elsewhere stated, commissioners were elected at the
October election, 1855, whose first business would be the or-
ganization of the county by locating the county seat. After or-
ganization. In January, 1856, the first business transacted by
the board was granting the petition for laying out the St. Paul
road, being the road now traveled from the northern terminus
of Second avenue past Oak Ridge cemetery to intersect the
Dodd road, and the formation of school district Xo. 1 (now Fari-
bault school district) was next in the order of the day. In the
summer of 1856, the first place of public worship, the First Con-
gregational church, of Faribault, was erected where it still stands,
used by the Presbyterians for church services. The first teacher
in the public school of district No. 1 was the Hon. R. A. Mott ;
Rev. Lauren Armsby was the first occupant of the pulpit in the
new church ; while the writer had the pleasure of commending
the work of the other two in the columns of the Rice County
Herald, the first newspaper in Rice county, and one of the first in
southern Minnesota.
I think it is an acknowledged truth, that society only begins
to take shape when these three most potent forces in modern
civilization, the common school, the church and public press,
arc firmly established. The first incorporation of any body politic
in Rice county, was the incorporation of the Evangelical Congre-
gational church and society of Faribault, July 16, 1856. July
8, of the same year. Truman Nutting, Alexander Faribault and
Dr. N. M. Bemis, trustees of school district No. 1. received a deed
for lots seven and eight of block forty-two, and began the
erection of the first district school house in Faribault. That
house, after serving it > purpose until the multiplication of
scholars required larger accommodations, was removed to the
position it now occupies on the southwest corner of block thirty-
four on Fourth street. After being used a short time as the
German Catholic church, it is now used as a grocer)' store in
front with a blacksmith shop in the rear. The method of levying
and collecting taxes for building school houses and support of
schools in Territorial times is very generally forgotten now.
Then the voters in a school district assembled at the place where
school was kept, if there was any such place, if not, at the resi-
dence of some one of the school trustees, and voted to raise by
tax on the property in the district such amount as they deemed
necessary for the purpose intended, and the clerk of the district,
a copy of the assessed valuation of the district being furnished
him. extended the tax. and. after collecting what he could, re-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 337
turned the delinquent to be entered on the tax roll of the county
to be sold for taxes. The building in which the Rice County
Herald first saw the light was built on block six of the southern
addition fronting on Park place.
It must not be thought that there were neither schools nor
churches prior to the dates above given, which only mark the
time when these institutions first took legal form and became
corporate bodies. Luke Hulett, the first farmer settler of Rice
county after Mr. Faribauit, and both of these pioneers having
large families, hired a teacher who taught a school free to all
before the survey of the town site in 1854. School was also
taught in 1855 with a large attendance, but the legally organized
district school, supported by the taxpayer and free to all, did not
have an existence until July, 1856. It has always been a pleasing
memory to the writer, in remembering that his last editorial
notice, written for the Rice County Herald, was a paragraph
calling attention to the first church bell in Minnesota south of
St. Paul.
Up to near the close of 1857 the country was prosperous,
and Faribault grew rapidly. There was never an agricultural
country whose pioneers brought with them so much means as
the first settlers in Faribault and vicinity, and labor was the
most valuable thing in the market and frequently not to be hired
at any price. But resources continually drawn upon without
anything to augment them diminish rapidly. It was not until
the crop ol 1859 was harvested that Rice county raised more than
enough produce to supply the home market, and then the means
of transportation were such as to afford no profit in any other,
and the beginning of the year 1858 saw the beginning of hard
times. The farming community had generally expended the
money they brought with them, and had not yet a surplus ; in
fact, most of the farmers in the vicinity of Faribault were buying
flour for their own use. The fall of 1858 saw something of a
revival in business, occasioned by the grading of the Milwaukee
railway, then known as Minnesota Central, stimulated by the
five million loan bill, but as there was very little money expended
in the operation so far as Faribault was concerned, the revival
was more apparent than real, for the grading was generally paid
for by orders on the various stores, and the merchants were
obliged to wait nearly a quarter of a century for their pay. Gin-
seng was the manna that provided food for the multitude, and
was about the only product of the country that paid the laborer
remunerative prices in the years of 1858 and 1859. Buyers were
here from the cities of New York and Philadelphia, and the
rivalry was spirited. There was just then a great demand for
the root in China, and, fortunatelv for us, our "woods was full
338 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
of it," and, by the time the supply was exhausted we had begun
to get some revenue from other sources. But that year of pov-
erty was not without its compensations, for the year 1858 saw
the foundations laid for those educational institutions that with
its common schools have given Faribault a reputation well nigh
world-wide. About New Year's day, 1857, news came that the
land office for this district was about to be removed from Winona
to Faribault. Soon after the removal was effected a change in
officers was made, and Samuel Plumer took the place of Captain
Upman. Then began a rivalry between the north and south
ends of town, but after causing much useless expense in dupli-
cating bridges and expending public money so that one end of
the town should have as much expended in it as the other,
whether necessity demanded it or not, the establishment of free
delivery of mails and the building of the Chicago Great Western
Railway into the heart of the city has resulted in convincing its
citizens that hostilty of one part of the cty to another is not
conducive to the welfare of either. In 1857 the strife was at
fever heat, and each upper and lower town was striving to in-
duce the land office authorities to locate the registers' and re-
ceivers' offices in their particular locality. Business men south
of Second street purchased the lot on which the Central avenue
school house now stands and built a commodious office for the
register, while the men of the north end built an office for the
receiver on block nineteen, corner of Sixth street and Central
avenue.
In the month of March, 1857, we experienced in Faribault
some of the excitement common to frontier life in the earliest
years of the colonies. It will not seem much of a story now —
the nana) ion of the first Indian scare in Faribault — after the
Indian massacre of 1862, but, in 1857. when the majority of the
inhabitants had only such knowledge of Indian character as
could be learned from early history, where the horrid barbarities
of savages in New England, in Wyoming and the dark and bloody
ground of Kentucky, arc recorded, it is little wonder that when
news came that [nk-pe-du-ta ( Inkpadoota) and his band had
devastated Mankato and St. Peter, only forty miles away, and
were in full cry for Faribault, the excitement was something ter-
rible. I low the news came. I think, was never definitely known,
hut as "Wah-chunk-a-maza" and his little band of relatives were
then encamped about the town, 1 believe it came through them,
and, as it was only about one hundred miles in error, as to dis-
tance, was more nearly correct than rumors generally are. Mow-
ever the news came, only a few who had experienced fruitless
Indian in previous years treated the matter lightly. Gen-
eral Shields being then a resident, and about the only resident
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 339
who had seen warfare of any kind, naturally took command, and
immediately set about organizing some kind of defense for our
defenseless town. All guns of any description and all the am-
munition the town possessed were hastily gathered in, and
sentries were stationed within hailing distance of each other all
along the southern and western boundaries of the town, those
being the exposed points in the direction from which the Indians
were expected to come. Our domicile was on one of the outer
lines and the sentry on that station was the late Will Camp-
bell. Notwithstanding it was the month of March it was bitterly
cold, and the three feet of snow on a level which the winter had
accumulated had scarcely diminished. Under such circumstances
the sentry's duties were not enviable, for he was obliged to make
frequent visits to our fireside to keep from freezing. For three
nights there were many sleepless eyes in Faribault, and many
tearful mothers watching over sleeping children. On the first
night of the excitement it was happily suggested, I think by
Mr. Faribault, that a messenger be sent to St. Peter, or as near
that place as circumstances would permit. Chaska, a young In-
dian about sixteen years old, whom I had so far civilized as to
employ him occasionally as the devil of my printing establish-
ment, was the chosen messenger, and made the round trip over
the deep snow inside of three days. Five years later, at the
time of the greatest Indian massacre ever experienced in North
America, that same Chaska, who had been the pet of my printing
office and the playmate of the boys of Faribault, was one of
the foremost in the atrocities of that terrible time. He brought
the news that the massacre began at Spirit Lake, a settlement
near the north line of Iowa, about 100 miles southwest of Fari-
bault, and ended at Lake Shetek, in Murray count}', Minnesota.
Ink-pe-d-u-ta, the leader of the Indians engaged in the massacre,
was an outlaw of the Wa-pa-cu-ta's (Wapakootas), outlawed for
slaying a chief of that band twenty years before. A part of his
band had preceded him and ravaged a settler's premises of every
eatable. Ink-pe-du-ta, and one of his sons, coming soon after,
demanded more food, which the settler was obliged to refuse,
having just been despoiled of all he had. Ink-pe-du-ta told his
sons that it was a shame to beg for food when they could
take it without asking, whereupon the son shot the father and
the murder of the whole family followed. In Spirit Lake and
Lake Shetek and between, these Indians killed in all forty-seven
people, and took four women prisoners. Two of these, they
killed, and two were afterwards rescued by three Wahpeton
Sioux who received $1,500 each as reward. Ink-pe-du-ta and his
band, all told, numbered only twelve men, and Ink-pe-du-ta's.
two boys. It will be readily seen that this outbreak was near
340 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
enough to Faribault to excite apprehension, in consideration of
the circumstances. There were then no telegraph stations any-
where in the state, excepting two or three on the river. The
snow was still deep and drifts were impassable for anything
but snow-shoes in many places. We were then sometimes three
weeks at a time without any news from interior towns, only
such news as rumors bring, and when such rumors are of wars
and massacre they are disquieting to the nerves, especially of
women and nerveless men. There was an intimate connection
between this outbreak and the greater one of five years later,
but a rehearsal of the facts establishing the connection does not
properly belong to a history of Faribault. I may say, here,
however, that the fright of many of the prominent citizens, some
of whom were enthusiastic Indian lovers, was greater in 1862
than in 1857, and only the Provost Marshall and his aids pre-
vented their departure for the east. Some, indeed, had already
started and looked as if they were for sale cheap when the same
stage by which they had started in the morning brought them
back in the afternoon.
From 1857 to 1865 the population of Faribault increased
slowly, being estimated by the assessor in 1857 at 1,520, and in
1865 at 2,234, but in those intervening years it is almost a wonder
that there was no decrease. Wheat was the only cash product
of the farm, and there being no railroad the Mississippi towns
furnished the only market ; consequently wheat was low and
trade was dull. Within those years, too, were four years of
the bloodiest conflict the world ever saw; a war which took from
Rice county nearly one-tenth of its entire population. Seven
hundred of its best and bravest men enlisted when the population
of the county the year before the war was but 7,860. Many, if
not a majority of these men, enlisted from Faribault or its im-
mediate vicinity. No town or city in this broad land outside the
immediate scene of conflct felt the horrors of war more keenly
than Faribault, and the signs of mourning in church and street
and every social meeting told to the world that Minnesota's men
were in the thickest of the fight. It seemed as if all thought of
gain or profit was abandoned for the time, and all that could
be spared from the actual necessities of living was devoted to
the soldier in the field or to the care of his loved ones at home.
At the close of the war there was renewed activity in all branches
of business. Building was resumed and many of the best dwell-
ings and business houses of the present city were constructed be-
tween 1865 and 1870. Business houses of brick or stone were
taking the places of those destroyed by fire, or rendered out of
fashion by reason of being too primitive for the times. In 1870
the population of the territory now within city limits, com-
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 341
piled from the Unted States census rolls of that year by myself,
assisted by the enumerator, numbered 4,130, being a little more
than one-fourth of the population of the whole county, which
then was 16,399. Prior to the adoption of city incorporation
with well defined boundary lines there was never an accurate
census taken of the village proper. In the adoption of the town-
ship system of government, town 110 of range 20 was divided
between Faribault and Cannon City in 1858, the dividing line be-
tween the two towns being as nearly as possible the line between
the timbered land and the prairie, Faribault retaining the timber.
Prior to 1872 Faribault was not even a chartered village, but its
municipal affairs were conducted by a board of supervisors,
three in number, in fact, an ordinary township government ; con-
sequently, when a census was had it included the whole sixteen
sections and did not include that part of the village west of the
C. M. & St. P. Ry. September 25, 1858, the road through Cooper
ravine (now Ravine street) was opened, starting from the eastern
terminus of Second street bridge. Before the opening of this
road the only approach to Faribault from Cannon City, North-
field or East Prairie was over Front street road, fording the river,
or, when conditions were favorable, following Water street down
to Second street bridge. That bridge was the pioneer among
bridges, being the first to span Straight river in Rice county,
and was built under the direction of the late Charles Wood, bet-
ter known in Faribault as Sheriff Wood, he having been elected
the first sheriff after county organization. That bridge, built
over a fitful stream sometimes only a little rivulet fed and barely
kept alive by springs along its course, and sometimes a roaring
torrent with all the force of a swollen river, that unpretending
bridge with its piers rough cribs of logs filled with stone, its
stringers native trees, pinned to the piers, withstood all attacks
of ice and flood. Even the great rise of July, 1858, the highest
known to white men, surged under, around and over that bridge,
but when the flood subsided that bridge was still there and there
it stood until torn away to give place to a more ambitious
structure.
Charles Wood was another pioneer of Faribault deserving
more than passing notice. By virtue of his office as sheriff he
had the collection of the first tax levied in Rice county, and was
by law authorized to assess any property that had been over-
looked or omitted by assessors. In some localities he found that
more real estate had been overlooked by the assessor than had
been listed. It not infrequently happened that Sheriff Wood en-
tered a man's real estate on the tax list, levied the tax, collected
it, and gave the receipt at one and the same time. Notwithstand-
ing the excellent opportunity offered for making money on the
342 HISTORY OF RICE AXD STEELE COUNTIES
sly, during twenty years that the tax rolls were in my custody
no receipt of Charles Wood was presented without finding the
corresponding description marked paid on the tax list and ac-
counted for in the return. He died at the residence of his son-
in-law, Lieut. J. C. Turner, in this city, January 29, 1899, at the
ripe old age of eighty-seven.
It is a pleasure to record that there never has been denomina-
tional quarrels between religious sects in Faribault. I believe
much of the gratification which Bishop Whipple felt when Fari-
bault offered him his first home in Minnesota was caused by
the fact that scarcely half a score of his own churchmen were
represented in the offer. While it may be true that in one or two
instances there have been serious troubles within a church, such
troubles were confined to the church in which they originated
and never involved other societies.
Doubtless the fraternal feeling between different churches
originated from the fact that in the first year or two of the set-
tlement of town and vicinity there were not enough church mem-
bers of any one denomination to organize separately, and that
the feeling was perpetuated is due to the pastors of those early
days. Rev. Lauren Armsby, the first Congregational minister,
and Father Keller, first parish priest of the Catholic church in
Faribault, w r ere warm friends and assisted each other in tem-
perance and charitable work. Rev. William McKinley, one of
the first circuit riders of the Methodist church in this part of
the state, told in an old settlers meeting in Northfield a few
years ago of his first meeting with Elder Cressey, the pioneer
preacher of the Baptist church. That meeting was in the middle
<>f Cannon river at the ford near Northfield. Mr. McKinley was
on horseback on his way to fill an appointment to preach in the
log cabin of H. M. Matteson, situated on land now occupied by
the village of Dundas. Elder Cressy was in a buggy intently
perusing a book with two or three of somebody's children that
he had picked up on his way playing around him, entirely un-
conscious that the horse had stopped in mid-stream and was
enjoying a foot bath while the swiftly running water came nearly
up to the bottom of the buggy, and they then and there made
arrangements for alternating services in the neighborhood. Rev.
Armsby was and still is the warm friend of all who knew him.
Gentle and scholarly, he was modest and retiring in society and
none knew the patriotic fire that coursed in his veins until the
Civil War convulsed the nation. Accepting the chaplaincy of
the Eighth regiment, tendered him in compliment lor his patriotic
encouragement of enlistment, his comrades love to tell how on
Sherman's march to the sea, he never rode either of the two
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 343
horses that were his by virtue of his rank, but they carried
some poor, sick and weary soldier of the ranks instead, while
chaplain was trudging along on foot, likely enough carrying the
equipment of some other weary soldier. Though past his four
score years he is still a soldier of the cross in distant Kansas.
John M. Berry came to Faribault in 1855 and was one of the
famous quartette of lawyers who kept bachelor's hall the first
winter, the culinary department presided over by that famous
cook and housekeeper, Reuben Rundell, better known to the boys
as "Uncle Rundell." After investing in some valuable real
estate in Faribault and vicinity, Mr. Berry removed to Austin in
this state, in which town he made his home for two or three
years, during which he represented Mower county for one term
in the Territorial legislature of 1857. Returning to Faribault
he built the house on his farm now owned and occupied by O. F.
Brand, of nursery fame. He was elected associate justice of the
supreme court in 1864, a position which he held through suc-
cessive elections until he died in 1887, respected and lamented
by the whole state. The writer has more occasion than most
men to hold his memory in grateful remembrance, for he is in-
debted to him for assistance in more than one difficulty in his
official career. On one occasion, in particular, when I applied
to him for advice he could not advise me because it was a case
that might come before him judicially, but he handed me a book
with a leaf turned down and there I found the information I
wanted.
In writing of men and things as they were when the civilization
of Minnesota was in its infancy, prominent among memories
stands the name of Michael Cook, first state senator in the Minne-
sota legislature from Rice county. We first became acquainted
in 1855 in a convention that nominated commissioners to organ-
ize Rice county, but I love best to remember the kind assistance
he gave me in setting up and furnishing the printig office of the
Rice County "Herald." Indeed, without his help, I doubt if I
could have succeeded in establishing my paper. Modest and unob-
trusive although he was, his many sterling qualities and incor-
ruptible honesty always gave him place at the head of the pro-
cession. An architect of no mean ability as well as skilled work-
man, several buildings of his construction, one of which is the
present residence of Hon. Geo. A. Weston, are still standing
as monuments of his industry and ability. While senator elect
he quietly enlisted and was soon promoted. He was killed while
major of his regiment at the battle of Nashville. Some years
after the close of the war his body was brought home for burial,
and he now lies with his kindred in Oak Ridge cemetery, but
344 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
his most enduring monument is Michael Cook Post of the Grand
Army of the Republic, named in his honor.
In the year 1871 a movement was made toward incorpora-
tion as a city, under a law which then existed authorizing pro-
ceedings before the probate court to that end. This method was
not acceptable to many citizens, and knowing that the charters
of cities of the state were in the custody of the county auditor,
application was made to that office to select from them such a
charter as would be suitable for Faribault, and after making
a selection to report to a meeting of citizens to be called for the
purpose of approval or rejection. Being assured that incorpora-
tion was inevitable, in consideration of being allowed to fix the
boundaries of the city and wards I assumed the task. After ex-
amining the several charters in the office I finally took the great-
er part of our charter from the general statutes of 1869, intro-
duced by George F. Batchelder, senator from Rice county. Meet-
ings were called at different times and places, but the boundaries
as fixed by the charter, and especially the ward lines, provoked
so much discussion that no time was left for anything else; so
the charter went to the legislature without ever having been read
by any citizen of Faribault other than the one who compiled it.
Hon. II. M. Matteson, lately deceased, had charge of the charter
in the house, and George W. Batchelder in the senate, and it
became a law February 29, 1872. The city as incorporated em-
braces nine square miles, its limits extending as nearly as pos-
sible equal distances on every side from the platted portions of
the town.
The most costly fire in Faribault's history, when between
one hundred thousand and one hundred and fifty thousand dollars
worth of property was destroyed, including some of the best
buildings on the west side of Main street, might have been easily
subdued when first discovered with such facilities as we have
now, but in 1878 our little engine failing, we could only keep
the lire in check until it burned itself out. This fire showed the
m-ed in' better tire protection, but it was not until five years
later, when our water works were completed, that Faribault
could boast of the best lire protection of am town or city in the
state. On St. Patrick's day. 1882. the Barron house, our prin-
cipal hotel, after a prosperous history of a quarter of a century,
took fire and was entirely consumed. This was another fire that
proved the necessity of some better appliances for fighting fire.
A subsequent examination showed that the pump of the engine
had been injured by pumping sand when taking water from the
shallow river, which rendered it incapable of doing good service.
A three story stone building had been added to the original hotel.
PUBLIC LIB
»JTO«, Lll
II. E. BABEOM
Tun*? 1 M_^FTiTh
I: VKRON llnl SE
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 345
having two rooms on the first floor, one of which was occupied
as a dining room, and the other by the postoffke, while the upper
stories were finished in parlor and guest rooms. The fire began
in the wooden building while the guests were at dinner, and it
was thought when the alarm was first given that it would be a
small matter to extinguish it, but when it was found that the
engine could give but a feeble stream that hope was abandoned.
The wooden building, filled with combustible material, served as
kindling for the stone addition, and both were soon in ashes and
crumbling walls. The fire communicated with the upper stories
of the stone building first, and thus gave opportunity for many
hands, with brisk work, to remove the contents of the lower story
safely, and there was no loss to either postoffice or music store.
Horace E. Barron was another of Faribault's pioneers who
deserves a prominent place in its history. I think it was that
the freezing we felt one night in January, 1856, in the "school
section" of the principal hotel of the town that first called his
attention to hotel keeping. Be that as it may, that night and
those that followed it were long remembered by the guests of the
hotel who tried to "knit up the raveled sleeve of care" with balmy
sleep. The sleeping room (there was but one) occupied the
whole floor of the second story and was inclosed by one thick-
ness of basswood boards, the cracks between the boards covered
by battens when they were covered at all, while outside the wind
was blowing from the northwest almost a hurricane, with mer-
cury marking thirty-five degrees below zero. Before Mr. Bar-
ron left town he made arrangements with Michael Cook and
others to begin the erection of the Barron House in the spring
on the site now occupied by the Brunswick, which is its legitimate
successor. I believe it is not generally known that foundations
were laid before Mr. Barron's return in the spring of 1856 for a
building fronting on Willow street, which, in the judgment of
his agents was destined to become one of the best if not the best
business street in Faribault. Mr. Barron kept the foundation
already laid for the future barn, and rushed the building soon
to be the most popular hotel in Minnesota, so that July 4, 1856,
it was opened to the public.
From that day till the day of his death Faribault had no bet-
ter friend. He represented Rice county in the lower house one
term and were it not for the unwritten law forbidding the same
locality to have a representative more than once in many years,
he might have continued in office, if he had so desired. Not long
after the burning of the Barron House he was made steward and
superintendent of construction for the State Institute for De-
fectives, and it was this position that occasioned his death. On
346 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
the night of February 26, 1892, the Greene residence took fire
and, being in line of vision from Mr. Barron"s house with the
Imbecile school, he, as well as many others, concluded that that
institution was burning. Although providing shelter for imbe-
ciles and idiots was not strictly within his line of duties, he hur-
riedly harnessed his horse and rushed around town to find shelter
for the poor unfortunates. The excitement and unwonted exer-
tion developed an unsuspected disease, and before the dawn of
morning that great heart had ceased to beat.
CHAPTER XVI
FARIBAULT MUNICIPALITY.
Historic Meeting of 1870 — City Charter Passed by Legislature
and Approved by the Governor, February 29, 1872 — Election
of April 2, 1882 — First Officers — Mayor Tower's Inaugural
Address — List of City Officials.
Faribault city embraces a tract of land three miles square,
set apart by the legislature and duly incorporated in 1872. At
that time several of the sections in the old township of Fari-
bault were restored to Cannon City, a small corner was taken
from Cannon City, and portions also from Wells, Walcott and
Warsaw. This division brought the county seat within three
miles of the geographical center of the county. The city itself
was divided into four wards by lines running east and west
along Third street and north and south along Second avenue.
Faribault was at first a town embracing perhaps a half of
Cannon City, defined by an irregular line running diagonally
across the original government township in a southeast and north-
west direction. But it was finally for the most part restored to
Cannon City, and three miles square was determined as the form
and size of the city. In this way the government went on in an
uneventful manner until the growing town began to realize that
a city government was required.
January 22, 1870, a meeting of citizens was held in the office
of Gordon E. Cole, for the purpose of considering the making
of an application for a city charter. Some forty persons were
present at the meeting, of which H. E. Barron was chosen
chairman, J. R. Parshall secretary. A committee of three, con-
sisting of Gordon E. Cole, T. B. Clement and Hudson Wilson,
was appointed to confer with G. F. Batchelder, state senator, and
devise some form of incorporation and report at the adjourned
meeting on the following evening. At the adjourned meeting
some seventy-five persons were present. No action had been
taken by the committee, but the subject was fully discussed, the
principal speakers, as appears from the report, having been
Senator G. F. Batchelder, George E. Skinner, F. W. Frink, J.
Mullin, Messrs. Babcock and Bean. F. W. Frink presented the
views of the opponents of the measure. They feared that with
an increase of dignity would come a corresponding increase of
347
348 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
style and expense. On motion of R. A. Mott, a division was
taken, which resulted thirty-nine in favor of incorporation and
thirty-six against. Senator Batchelder introduced in the legis-
lature a general law for the incorporation of cities not exceed-
ing 15,000 inhabitants, which it was believed would render a
special act of incorporation unnecessary, and no further action
appears to have resulted at this time.
A bill for a special charter which was drawn by F. W.
Frink was introduced in the legislature of 1872 and passed, being
approved by the governor February 29. This act provided
for a special election to be held upon the question of its accept-
ance or rejection on the first Tuesday of April of that year.
The town supervisors had charge of the election, and ballots
were cast in two boxes. The first box contained the vote on the
acceptance of the city charter. This box was opened first, the
understanding being that should the charter be rejected, the box
of ballots on the officers of the proposed city should be destroyed
unopened. The charter being accepted, the other box was
opened and the city officers declared duly elected. The whole
number of votes polled was 846, the number of votes in favor
of incorporation being 555 and those against being 291, the
majority for incorporation being 264. The victory was celebrated
by the firing of cannon and general rejoicing. George W. Tower
was the candidate of the Republican party for mayor and was
nominated in a mass convention of that party held in Loyhed's
hall and of which Gen. Levi Nutting was the chairman. The
Democratic candidate was George W. Newell.
Hon. George W. Tower, the first mayor of the city, was in-
augurated on April 9. The other officers elected were : Alder-
men, C. D. Harn, J. II. Harding, S. C. Dunham, L. C. Ingram,
J. H. Winter, T. II. Nutting, W. L. Turner and H. E. Barron.
H. E. Barron was elected president of the board and Henry E.
Sime was appointed clerk. Justices of the peace. Joseph C. Mold,
O. F. Perkins, J. B. Quinn and J. F. Smallidge.
The mayor appointed and the council confirmed officers as
follows: Chief of police, Moses Cole; policemen. James Hunter
and Charles Kiekenapp ; city attorney, Gordon E. Cole; city
surveyor, R. II. L. Jewett; street commissioner. William Dickin-
son; assessor, Henry Dunham. Mr. Cole declined to accept the
attorneyship and J. C. Morrow was appointed. A. W. McKin-
Stry was appointed city printer.
The organi ation of the city government was a prominent
milestone to mark the progress that had been made and to show
in what direction it was moving.
The brief inaugural address of the mayor-elecl i^ here pre
sented. lie said: "1 came to Faribaull in October, 1855, and
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 349
it has been my home ever since. Many of the voters, the busi-
ness men, the wives, and the mothers of this young city were
then prattling children in other states or on the other conti-
nent. The town itself, except as to the mere territory, was not
in existence, having been subsequently entered as a townsite
by Judge Chatfield. The rapid settlement of the village com-
menced in the spring of 1856, and its location at such an impor-
tant point very soon assured its success, and it became the most
promising place in southern Minnesota. In 1857 Gen. James
Shields, who had already been a United States senator, by his
influence in Washington secured this as a point to be provided
for in the congressional land grant in aid of the Minneapolis &
Cedar Valley railroad, which finally secured this most impor-
tant railroad connection with the East. Early in the sixties our
delegates in the legislature secured the location of the Deaf,
Dumb and Blind Institute in Faribault, and in due time the
school was opened and the buildings erected. About the same
time, in a humble way, was laid the foundation which has proved
to be deep and broad, of the Bishop Seabury University, and we
now point to these institutions with pride, and it becomes us as
a city to cherish for them a friendly and fostering interest."
CITY OFFICERS.
The first officers of the city of Faribault are given above.
Since then the annual elections and appointments have resulted
as follows :
The following is a list of the members of the council elected
each year after the first, since the organization of the city in
1872:"
1873 — Mayor, Thomas Buckham ; aldermen, E. Fleckenstein,
William Lee, L. C. Ingram, A. Mortenson, D. Cavanaugh.
1874 — Mayor, G. N. Baxter; aldermen, M. Goetzinger, A.
Moore, W. B. Brown, J. Mullin.
1875 — Mayor, G. N. Baxter; alderman, E. Fleckenstein, G. S.
Woodruff, A. Mortenson, D. Cavanaugh.
1876 — Mayor, Levi Nutting; aldermen, Warren Allen, H.
Pierce, Sr., J. Sumner, John Mullin.
1877— Mayor, T. B. Clement ; aldermen, T. J. McCarthy, E. R.
Wood, Miles Hollister, D. Cavanaugh.
1878— Mayor, J. R. Parshall ; aldermen, C. P. Pike, S. L.
Crocker, A. W. Pratt, John Mullin.
1879 — Mayor, Gordon E. Cole; aldermen, E. Kaul, I. B. Spen-
cer, A. Mortenson. D. Cavanaugh.
1880 — Mayor. George W. Batchelder; aldermen, M. J. Shee-
ran, S. L. Crocker, J. F. Healy, John Mullin.
350 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
1881 — Mayor, George \V. Wood; aldermen, B. Schmidt,
Henry Chaffee, A. J. Mennell, D. Cavanaugh.
1882— Mayor, H. W. Pratt; aldermen, J. F. Lindeman. J. D.
Shipley, G. W. Stafford, G. A. Weston.
1883— Mayor. H. W. Pratt; aldermen, E. Kaul, H. Chaffee,
William Wachlin, D. Cavanaugh.
188-1 — Mayor, C. L. Lowell; aldermen, L. Hawley, L. D. New-
comb, E. J. Moran, G. A. Weston.
1885 — Mayor, C. L. Lowell; aldermen, Thomas Carpenter,
J. H. Ashley, E. N. Leavens, R. M. Evans.
1886 — Mayor, T. B. Clement ; aldermen, F. Lockwood, L. D.
Newcomb, L. Carufel, F. J. Vogelsberg.
1887 — Mayor, J. L. Townley ; aldermen, William O'Brien, A.
Fuller, A. H. Hatch, B. J. Sheridan, D. Cavanaugh.
1888— Mayor, Stephen Jewett ; aldermen, C. P. Pike, J. J. V an
Saun, F. W. Winter, Adam Weyer.
1889— Mayor, Stephen Jewett; aldermen, J. D. Fuller, B. B.
Sheffield, W. E. Jones, John Volz.
1890 — Mayor, F. W. Winter; aldermen, E. Meyer, F. Laufen-
burger, Warren Nutting, Adam Weyer.
1891— Mayor, F. W. Winter; aldermen, E. Kaul, M. L.
Emery, L. Thilmane, D. Cavanaugh.
1892 — Mayor, Donald Grant; aldermen, R. Ochs, M. L. Reyn-
olds, E. J. Moran, P. F. Ruge.
1893 — Mayor, Donald Grant; aldermen, William Kaiser, B. B.
Sheffield, L. Tuttle, D. Cavanaugh.
1894— Mayor, B. B. Sheffield; aldermen, William B. Hawley,
M. L. Emery, F. W. Winter. P. F. Ruge.
1895— Mayor, B. B. Sheffield ; aldermen, W. W. Trafton, G. T.
Smith, Jacob Fink, John Kasper.
1896— Mayor, P. F. Ruge; aldermen, L. F. Miller, C. II. Birch,
P. B. Lamoreux, Adam W r eyer.
1897— Mayor, A. D. Keyes ; aldermen, C. M. Wall, R. E.
( )rne, J. Fink, J. Kasper.
1898 — Mayor, 1'. F. Ruse; aldermen. John A. Hough, Charles
H. Birch, P. B. Lamoreux. Charles F. Wendt.
1899— Mayor, R. A. Mott; aldermen. C. M. Wall. H. F.
Klemer, I'. J. Harger, John Kasper.
1900 — Mayor, EC. D. Chase; aldermen, John Haug, John Jep-
son, George F. Lieb, G. W. Murphy.
1901— Mayor, I'. F. Ruge; aldermen. C. M. Wall. H. F.
Klemer, G. F. Lieb, John Kasper.
1902— Mayor. Charles S. Batchelder; aldermen. F. L. Glotz-
bach, James R. Smith, E. Van Saun. II. C. Theopold.
1903— Mayor, C. S. Batchelder; aldermen, C. M. Wall. 11. F.
Klemer, Fred Bartlett, John Kasper.
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 351
1904— Mayor, A. H. Hatch; aldermen, Albert A. Dodge,
James R. Smith, Ed. Van Saun, H. C. Theopold.
1905— Mayor, F. L. Glotzbach; aldermen, C. M. Wall, H. F.
Klemer, F. W. Bartlett, John Kasper.
1906 — Mayor, S. Kingsley; aldermen, Nicholas Klopp, J. F.
McCarthy, F. A. Kiekenapp, William H. Holden.
1907— Mayor, George L. Smith ; aldermen, C. M. Wall, W. A.
Retzlaff, Kelsey S. Chase, John Kasper.
1908 — Mayor, G. L. Smith ; aldermen, Edward Swanson, J. F.
McCarthy, Fred A. Kiekenapp, William H. Holden.
1909— Mayor, George L. Smith ; aldermen, C. M. Wall, W. H.
Retzlaff, R. R. Hutchinson, John Kasper.
1910 — Mayor, Nelson S. Erb; aldermen, Frank O'Brien, J. F.
McCarthy, Charles S. Baker, A. M. Brand.
In addition to the above, the present city officers are : Vice-
president of the council, C. M. Wall ; recorder, D. F. MacKenzie;
attorney, James P. McMahon ; city engineer, F. W. McKellip ;
chief of police, H. F. Smallidge; city justice, M. F. Donahue;
city justice, J. C. Turner; chief of fire department, E. F. Kelley;
water commissioner and plumbing inspector, I. E. Wilson ;
street commissioner, E. E. Norton ; physician, H. R. Smith,
M. D. ; treasurer, W. H. Lindenberg; assessor, S. M. West; over-
seer of the poor, Edward Van Saun ; market master, Charles F.
Kiekenapp; official paper, "Faribault Pilot"; health officer, F. R.
Huxlev.
CHAPTER XVII.
STATE INSTITUTIONS.
Advantages and Location — Minnesota School for the Deaf,
Dumb and Blind — Minnesota School for Defectives — Minne-
sota School for the Deaf and Blind — School for the Blind —
School for the Deaf — The Minnesota School for the Feeble
Minded and Colony for Epileptics.
Next to the Episcopalian institutions in Faribault, the state
schools located here have been a most important factor in the
prosperity of the city, and their well kept grounds and beautiful
buildings have added greatly to the beauty of the landscape.
The heads of the institutions, Drs. A. C. Rogers, James J. Dow
and J. N. Tate have taken their part in the development and life
of the city, and in addition to this the corps of talented teachers
have contributed much to the social and intellectual life of the
community. The business men of the town have also profited
to a certain extent by the presence here of these institutions.
MINNESOTA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF, DUMB AND
BLIND.
The year 1858 was the year in which the seed was planted
that in a large measure determined the future of Faribault, for
in that year foundations were laid for educational institutions
that have given character to the town and its society. By an
act of the state legislature, approved August 11, 1858, Faribault
was designated as the location for the school for deaf mutes,
conditioned that the citizens should donate forty acres of land
for a site. Forty acres in the adjoining town of Wells were
purchased for the state of Minnesota for $360 for a site. Five
years elapsed before anything further was done toward estab-
lishing a school, and then that site was sold and the grounds now
occupied on the heights east of Straight river purchased. In
1863, the legislature having made a small appropriation, George
F. Batchelder, R. A. Mott and D. H. Frost, as a board of com-
missioners, established the school in a building originally built
for a store by the late Maj. Sterne H. Fowler, standing near the
lot occupied on Division street by Wostcrvelt & Ball. In 1866
a blind department was added and the combined school was
352
o
ft
o
x
iz;
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 353
known as the Institution for the Education of the Deaf, Dumb
and Blind. It was found, after a few years' trial, that an attempt
at educating the blind and deaf under one management in the
same institution was detrimental to both.
MINNESOTA SCHOOL FOR DEFECTIVES.
Therefore, in 1874 a separation was made and the school for
the blind opened in the building bought of Mr. Faribault for that
purpose. The legislature of 1881 established a school at Fari-
bault for Idiots, Imbeciles and Feeble-Minded, and thus three
separate and distinct state institutions, each with its own
superintendent and employes but all under the same board of
directors, were established under the title of "Minnesota Insti-
tute for Defectives."
The history of the state educational institutions properly
begins with the deed to the state of the forty acres of land pur-
chased by the citizens with funds donated for the use and
benefit of the state institution for the education of the deaf and
dumb. This deed bears date August 9, 1857. By authority of
an act approved March 1, 1864, Gov. Stephen Miller sold the
forty acres above mentioned to the late John B. Braley for $700
and Braley sold to the state twenty acres of the present site for
$1,250, the difference being made up by subscription. With this
last purchase the donations of citizens ceased. It is fitting to
say that each and every act of the legislature affecting the loca-
tion, government, buildings and titles to lands belonging to all
state institutions located in Faribault either originated with
Judge Mott or are indebted to his support for their accomplish-
ment, and all the time from the first organization of the school
for the deaf and dumb to the establishment of the state board
of control in 1901, he had been the secretary of the Minnesota
Institute for Defectives, located at Faribault, save only two years
of the time when the late Bishop Thomas occupied the position.
Under date of July 25, 1866, a deed was obtained from Parmela
Bouchet Giberton, a resident of France, for about fourteen acres
adjoining the Braley twenty and the new site, and the one now
on which all the buildings of the deaf and dumb school are
located was considered complete. Additions, however, have
been made from time to time.
MINNESOTA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND BLIND.
Previous to the creation of the board of control one board of
directors had charge of the Minnesota Institute for Defectives,
which consisted of the School for the Deaf, the School for the
Blind and the School for the Feeble-Minded. The law establish-
354 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
ing the board of control placed the School for the Feeble-Minded
under the exclusive authority of the board of control, and the
schools for the deaf and blind partially under the management
of the board of directors and partially under the board of control.
In 1892 these changes were completed by the law which gave
these last named schools the combined title, "Minnesota Schools
for the Deaf and Blind," and prescribed that they should here-
after be grouped and classed with the educational institutions of
the state.
The present board is as follows : Governor A. O. Eberhart, ex
officio; C. G. Schultz, superintendent of public instruction, ex
officio; Benjamin B. Sheffield, Faribault, president; Edward W.
Johnson, Faribault ; E. L. Welch, St. Paul ; Edgar P. Loyhed,
Faribault; Dr. J. A. Dubois, Sauk Center. The board of
directors are appointed by the governor, one member annually
for a term of five years. The resident officers are appointed by
the board, without term.
SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND.
The School for the Blind is located on the Faribault home-
stead. This, and lands purchased since the establishment of
the School for the Feeble-Minded in 1881, constitutes a domain
of nearly 500 acres of the best land and richest soil in Minnesota,
situated on the heights bordering the eastern shore of Straight
river, its massive main building with castelated towers, sur-
rounded by the lesser buildings, Sunnyside for girls, Skinner
hall for boys, the hospital, and power house where the dynamos
are run, these, and many other buildings connected with the
school, when seen from a distance have the appearance of a
small, well-built city.
This school was not started until 1866, although the legis-
lature of 1863 had passed a law establishing a department for
the care and education of the blind, together with the deaf and
dumb, and under the same management. During the summer
of 1866, Miss. II. N. Tucker was employed as teacher, and three
blind children were received, provided for and taught in the
Fitzgerald house in the south part of the town. Subsequently
this school was moved to the north part of the town, in the
Tanner house, so called, and in May, 1868, soon after the deaf
and dumb occupied the north wing of their building, the blind
were removed to the same building with them. Here the blind
remained until their removal in 1874 to their present quarters
on the old Faribault place, where for one year they were under
the care and instruction of Prof. A. X. Pratt, acting principal.
J. J. Dow, the present efficient superintendent, took charge in
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 355
1875. At that time Dr. Dowe was known as principal and resi-
dent officer in charge. In 1881 he became superintendent, a
title he still retains. The results accomplished in the school, and
its wide reputation are the highest encomiums that can be
written of Mr. Dow's work.
The school is open to all blind persons between the ages
of six and twenty-five years, residing in the state of Minnesota.
Board, care and instruction are furnished to all pupils free of
charge. The school is organized on the basis of the school
system of the state, with an elementary course of eight years
and a secondary or high school course of four years. Manual
and industrial training is given in sewing, knitting and fancy
work, in sloyd, rattan and willow work, in hammock and net
weaving, and in broom and whisk making. A course of musical
study is maintained, including instruction upon the piano and
pipe organ, the violin and other orchestral instruments, in indi-
vidual and class singing, in the theory and history of music and
in the art of piano tuning and repairing. A well furnished
library in raised print, numbering more than 1.200 volumes is
maintained in connection with the school. From it books are
sent to all blind persons in the state who desire them, free of
charge for transportation.
SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF.
The first appropriation of the legislature for the support of
the deaf and dumb was in 1863; the same legislature appointed
George F. Batchelder, R. A. Mott, and David H. Frost as a
board of commissioners to start the school. Mr. Mott was sent
to Ohio, where he obtained the services of Prof. R. H. Kinney,
an experienced teacher, who came to Faribault and organized
the first deaf mute school in Minnesota. On the second
Wednesday in September in 1863, the school opened with five
pupils in attendance. The buildings occupied were the store
and dwelling on Front street known as Major Fowler's store.
The next year the school increased and George W. Chase was
employed as assistant teacher. In 1864 the legislature appro-
priated $4,100 for the support of the school; $850 of which was
expended in erecting a small wooden building 18x24, just east
of Fowler's store for a boys' dormitory. The building was
subsequently sold and moved to Fourth street. Prof. Kinney
experienced difficulties and some hardships in his work, and
sore bereavement in his family. At the end of his third year
he resigned the office of superintendent. About this time an
important change took place, in the contemplation of a site for
a permanent building. The original 40 acres of land donated
356 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
by the citizens of Faribault was sold and the present lot on the
bluff east of Straight river was obtained. Professor Kinney
having retired, the board of directors employed Dr. J. L. Noyes,
of Hartford, Conn., to take his place. September 7, 1866, Dr.
Noyes and family, with A. L. Steele, assistant teacher, and with
Miss Henrietta Watson, matron, arrived in Faribault to carry out
the work already begun. This year chronicles the appropria-
tion of $15,000 by the legislature for the first permanent building,
for the deaf and dumb on the site already mentioned, and the
next year the foundation of the north wing of the edifice was
commenced. February 5, 1867, the corner stone was laid by the
governor in the presence of the members of the legislature. The
citizens of Faribault had now contributed funds to purchase 54
acres of land for the use of the institutions, and by appropriation
and purchase in 1882, more was added making a site of 65 acres.
March 17, 1868, the north wing was occupied by the deaf
and dumb for the first time. The building was designed and
arranged to accommodate fifty pupils. Sixty was the maximum.
In May of the same year the blind pupils were added to the
deaf mutes, and soon the quarters became too small for the
occupants. During the year, 1869, the foundation of the south
wing was laid, and the superstructure was to be a building suited
to accommodate the girls and the class rooms for the blind.
These two wings were of equal size and stood 96 feet apart with
temporary passage way between them. September 10, 1873,
the school was reorganized with the boys occupying the north
wing and the girls the south, with appropriate rooms for the
blind in each. The same year steps were taken to provide a
separate permanent home for the blind pupils, as there was not
room enough for both classes in the two wings, and it being
obvious after a fair trial that the two classes were so dissimilar
as to require separate apartments. Accordingly the blind were
removed to the present site of that school. The places vacated
by the blind were soon filled by the deaf and dumb and in 1879
the plans for the main center building were completed, by
Monroe Shcire, of St. Paul, and steps taken for completing the
entire edifice. This has since been known as M<>tt hall, in honor
of Hon. R. A. Mott who has done so much for the state institu-
tions here. In the fall of 1879 the entire main center and the
two wings were occupied by the pupils and the school
reorganized.
Since then various buildings have been added. There is a
building for the teaching of manual training, and an engine
house. There is also a laundry and hospital. In the present
\ car, two class room buildings have been united by a domed
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 357
auditorium, making another beautiful building, and adding a
pleasant feature to the landscape.
At the death of Dr. Noyes, after years of faithful service,
the present superintendent. Dr. J. N. Tate, was appointed, and
has since ably served the institution.
This school has already been instrumental in preparing
hundreds of deaf youths to be useful and self reliant citizens,
and year by year a few are graduated, well prepared to take
their places beside the hearing and speaking youths who leave
the public schools. Pupils receive instruction in the following
trades and handicrafts: baking, blacksmithing, cabinet making,
chair caning, carpentry, cooking, drawing, dressmaking, fancy
work, glazing, ironing, painting, printing, sewing, shoemaking,
sloyd, woodcarving, wood inlaying, and wood turning. A large
part of the repairing to buildings and furniture is done by the
pupils, so the trades are not only schools for the pupils, but are
a means of revenue to the state. The industrial training in the
institution is regarded as second in importance only to that done
in the literary department. The methods of instruction are
eclectic. They admit of every known way. That in use at this
institution is known as the combined system. The method is
adapted to the child. The one object in the preparation of the
pupil for life's battle, is never lost sight of. One central thought
dominates, from the time the pupil enters school until his course
is completed, that is to give him a knowledge of the English
language, in all cases written and where possible, also spoken.
The aim is to give every pupil the opportunity to demonstrate
his ability to be successfully educated orally. All pupils are
taught drawing and special lessons are given in painting to a
number. The proper age for admittance is eight years. The
regular school period is ten years, to which a special course of
three years may be added.
MINNESOTA SCHOOL FOR FEEBLE-MINDED AND
COLONY FOR EPILEPTICS.
Recognition of the necessity and advantage of public care
for the feeble-minded and the establishment of institutions for
this purpose have been matters of later historical sequence than
the institutional education of the deaf and blind. This has
resulted from two facts: First, the lack of knowledge as to the
large number of feeble-minded in society, and second, the assump-
tion that nothing could be done for them. So, in Minnesota, while
the deaf and blind had for a number of years previous been
educated in Faribault it was not until March 8, 1879, that a
358 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
law was passed looking to the care and training of their more
unfortunate brothers and sisters.
Under date of November 30, 1868, Dr. J. L. Noyes, superin-
tendent of the Minnesota Institution for the Education of the
Deaf, Dumb and Blind, reported that two children were dismissed
on account of being weak-minded, there being no facilities for
their training and the law limiting the privileges of the institu-
tion to those of "capacity to incur instruction." The act of 1879
established a commission to visit the hospitals for insane and
among other duties they were required to select idiotic and
feeble-minded persons found there and turn them over to the
trustees of the deaf, dumb and blind institution. The latter were
authorized to establish a school for their training. Five thousand
dollars was appropriated for this purpose for 1879 and $6,000 for
the year 1880. This school was spoken of as the "Experimental
School" and the work was begun in a frame building belonging
to George M. Gilmore, situated on the east side bluff between
Second and Third streets, formerly used as a private school for
young ladies and known as the "Fairview House." The school
was organized by Dr. Henry M. Knight, a veteran in the care
and training of the feeble-minded from Lakeville, Conn. His
son, Dr. George H. Knight was elected superintendent on June 1,
1879, under the general superintendence, however, of Dr. Noyes
at the head of the School for Deaf. On July 18, 1879, Dr. George
Knight arrived to take charge of the work and on July 28 of
the same year fourteen children (nine boys and five girls) selected
by the commission, (consisting of Dr. George W. Wood, of
Faribault; Dr. W. H. Leonard, of Minneapolis; and Dr. C. H.
Boardman, of St. Paul), from the St. Peter Hospital for Insane,
were received at the institution at Faribault.
On March 7, 1881, the legislature passed a bill introduced
by the Hon. R. A. Mott, from Faribault, establishing a perma
nent school at the latter place, termed a "Department for the
Training of Imbeciles and the Custody of Idiots" in connection
with the institution for the deaf, dumb and blind, nominally.
although to be located in new buildings for the construction of
which the legislature provided $25,000. The contract for tin-
new permanent quarters was let on May 2. 1881. On May 19.
1881, Dr. George Knight was made superintendent of this
department, the administration being entirely separate from that
of the school for deal". On February, 18X_\ the inmates were
moved into their new quarters, which is now the north section
of the north wing of the present administration building. On
April 20, 1884, the legislature having provided for same, contract
was let for an additional building attached to the one mentioned
vain urn him;
GEO. E. SKINNEB IIALI,
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WS^^^M
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as / <d|B3
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TCUKIJi TLOSIS
MINNESOTA SCHOOL FOR FEEBLE-MINDED AND COLONY FOB
EPILEPTICS
-
TILC
A8TO«,
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 359
above of equal capacity. These two sections provided, when
completed, for about one hundred children.
April 20, 1885, Dr. Knight resigned as superintendent and on
July 6 following Dr. A. C. Rogers, at the time physician to the
government training school for Indians near Salem, Ore., was
elected to the position and took charge September 1 of the same
year, having thus just completed twenty-five years of service
at Faribault. Dr. Rogers' previous experience in this work had
been at the School for Feeble-Minded at Glenwood, Iowa, for
five years.
Until 1901, when the legislature adopted a central board of
control for state institutions, this institution was under the
general management of a board of directors, consisting of five
members appointed by the governor, the latter and the superin-
tendent of public instruction, being ex officio members thereof.
Politics never has effected the organization of the institution
itself, and the governing board changed but little in personnel,
except during a short time just before the board of control organ-
ization. The members who were in control of this institution
at its beginning had already served long periods in charge of
the schools for the deaf and blind. Rodney A. Mott, appointed
in 1863, was still serving in 1901. Hudson Wilson, appointed
in 1866, served till 1899, when he was succeeded by Edgar H.
Loyhed. Thomas B. Clement served from 1875 till 1900, B. B.
Sheffield succeeding him. George E. Skinner, of St. Paul,
appointed in 1876, served until his death in September, 1895.
Rev. George B. Whipple, who was appointed in 1882, served
until his death in 1888, created a vacancy filled by Anthony
Kelly, of Minneapolis. Ill health caused the retirement of the
latter in 1898, and he was succeeded by John O'Brien, of Still-
water. J. G. Pyle, of St. Paul, succeeded Mr. Skinner and
remained on the board until December, 1898. He was succeeded
by A. B. Ovitt, of St. Paul, whose removal from the state again
created a vacancy and for the short, unexpired term, the place
was filled by George H. Gifford, of St. Paul, and Henry D.
Stocker, Jr., of Minneapolis, successively. Mention should be
made of Horace E. Barron, an old pioneer of Minnesota, who
served as steward for the three schools for many years until
the time of his death in February, 1892.
In April, 1901, the board of control of state institutions con-
sisting of, at that time, W. E. Lee, Long Prairie ; C. A. Morey, of
Winona ; and S. W. Leavett, of Litchfield, took charge. An
accident to Mr. Morey in May of that year, incapacitated him
for work and he was compelled to resign the first of July, three
months after his appointment, and the vacancy was filled by
O. B. Gould, of Winona.
360 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Each succeeding session of the legislature since 1885 has
provided in part to meet the large demand for admission that has
constantly faced the institution. In 1890 the board purchased
a tract of land, consisting of 190 acres, known as the "Gilmore
Farm," which has since provided the garden produce and milk
consumed by the institution population.
In 1894, "Sunnyside" was first occupied as a distinct custodial
or asylum building for those children unable to profit by school
room training. The corresponding building, known as "Skinner
Hall," was constructed in 1896 and named in honor of George
E. Skinner, of St. Paul, a former trustee of the institution and
whose influence had been exerted strongly in support of a better
classification of the inmates, realized by the construction of these
buildings.
In 1900 the first building distinctively for epileptics was
erected as the beginning of the epileptic colony, which now has
five cottages devoted to the care pf this class of patients, in one
of which a modern hydrotherapeutic equipment is installed and
is in regular use in their treatment.
The original administration building with the various addi-
tions thereto since 1881 has been devoted to the work of school
training.
A corps of twenty teachers conduct a well organized school
in which manual and industrial training are predominant features.
For the girls there is training in netting, basketry, plain and
fancy sewing as well as mending and darning, lace making,
ironing, domestic work and gardening. And to the trained girls
comes the opportunity to do work for which each has an
aptitude. Such helpers, often quite independent, are found in
the dressmaking and tailor shops, in mending room, kitchen and
dining room, in the laundry and at the chicken ranch.
While boys who are schooled in netting, basketry, sloyd
work, mat braiding and sewing, and brush making later become
valuable helpers in the care of their own departments about the
institution, mattress and cabinet shops, the barn, laundry, green-
house, garden, farm and dairy.
In 1909 the board purchased for the school a colon)- farm in
the town of W'alcott, its nearest point being one and one-half
miles south of the administration building. Here it is proposed
to colonize the trained boys where they will have a farm home
and assist in land culture and stock raising.
In 1°0 ( > the legislature created a department for incurables,
those who are not mentally affected but are physically perma-
nently helpless as a result of disease.
At the present time there are about sixty buildings of all
kinds pertaining to the institution and its functions; about 863
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 361
acres of land, all of which, with furnishings and equipment have
cost about S881,000.
The population of the entire institution the first week in
June, 1910, was as follows : First, Feeble-Minded department
school, male 226, female 195, total 421; farm colony, male 55;
custodial, male 283. female 266, total 549. Second, Epileptic
colony, male 88, female, 122, total 210. Third, incurables, male
1, female 2, total 3. Total 1.238.
Funds have been provided for extending the capacity to 1,500
and four buildings are now under construction, or being planned
by the architect, for completing such extension.
The institution is a village community for the classes
indicated, with the same activities as pertain to a community of
normal people with its regular duties, recreations and pleasures
where in a happy community they can be protected from the
results of their own mistakes and the slights and rebuffs of a cold
world too busy to be patient with their peculiarities, and yet
where their efforts be they much or little contribute toward
their maintenance.
Such an institution is also an insurance for the benefit of
the citizens of the commonwealth ; for no young family is free
from the possibility of an accession to its membership of a
defective child. — A. C. Rogers.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE ATHENS OF THE WEST.
Faribault as the City of Churches, Schools, Parks and Homes
by A. E. Haven — Its Many Advantages as a Place of Resi-
dence — Library and City Hall — County Court House and
Jail — City Jail— Firemen's Hall— Central Park— Faribault
Park — Railroads — St. Lucas Deaconess Hospital — City
Lighting — Street Names — Waterworks — Sewer System —
Bridges— City Market— Quarry— Telephone and Telegraph
— Armory and Theater.
Someone, apparently well versed in history, both ancient and
modern, has been phased to denominate Faribault "The Athens
of the West," and while the writer cannot understand entirely
why he did so, he can offer no reason why we should not cheer-
fully accept the appellation, believing that while we may never
be correctly credited with the wondrous bounty of mountain and
plain that has made the Hellenic City famous as a vision of
beauty; or with that atmosphere so pure and reflective as to give
it the title of "The City of the Violet Crown;" or with scholars,
statesmen and philosophers, who, for centuries, brought all the
world to its feet to receive knowledge nowhere else attainable;
yet we have beauty of hills and valleys, woods and plains, flowing
rivers and shimmering lakes, the first sight of which led at least
one pilgrim to exclaim when they first entered his range of vision :
"I sought a lnmie; I have found a paradise."
A year or two since the writer stood in the presence of a
worldwide traveler on the elevation a little to the north of St.
lames school which overlooks "Peaceful Valley" to the northeast
of Faribault, and as his eyes took in hill and valley, town and
country, woods and fields, rivers and lakes, covering a range of
many miles, heard him say that he had "never seen a more
beautiful landscape — one that harmonized all the beauties of
nature, without a discord, s,. perfectly as this," and lie had looked
upon the charm- of the home "f \xistotle and Plato, he had seen
the beauties (if the Rhine, the wonders of the Xile. and the glories
(if the Alps ; and while we ma} never hope for a Jupiter I HympUS,
or a Parthenon, yet we have schools, founded and conducted, if
nut for the glory, at least for the good of mankind, that educate
:;(..•
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 863
not to astonish the world, but to benefit it. The Athenians lived
in the shadow of their temples, learned as an Aristotle, but
homeless as a Diogenes. Faribault educates for the home, for the
fireside and its virtues and the Christian church and the Christian
school here go hand in hand along the pathway of life to a greater
glory than Athens ever knew.
Previous to April 1872, Faribault was but a township, gov-
erned by a board of supervisors, and its earliest date as a hamlet
is 1855, while many yet doing business or practicing the profes-
sions within its limits, had reached manhood's estate. Since its
incorporation as a city its growth has been steady and satisfac-
tory; but not of the Jonah's gourd variety.
It is located on an elevated plateau, well above highwater
mark, the confluence of the Cannon and Straight rivers which
flow in from the west and south and whose waters in the sum-
mer seasons are fed from springs and lakes along their courses.
It is fifty-three miles from St. Paul, the capital of the state, and
fifty-six miles from Minneapolis, the chief commercial city of the
state. It is a spot of great natural beauty, surrounded by hills
on every side except to the northeast, where the waters of the
Straight and Cannon rivers join on their way to the sea. Within
the distance of ten miles it has eight beautiful lakes, two of which
are within three miles of the city and all abounding in fish of
the game varieties. Coming into the city from almost any direc-
tion, along well kept county roads and by the side of lakes and
rivers the town is seen, while yet three or four miles away lying
as if it were in a valley surrounded by hills, and yet its founda-
tions are many feet above the rivers that flow through or by it.
To cross from one side of the city to another six bridges are
employed, all substantial steel or concrete structures, and other
bridges are used to cross ravines that set back through the hills
to the higher country beyond.
Entering the city are three trunk lines of railroad, the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, the
Chicago Great Western and their branches which reach the
Mississippi at Red Wing and Wabasha. No better facilities for
traveling or freighting are afforded any city in the state aside
from St. Paul and Minneapolis.
The more important interests of Faribault are its state, public
and private schools which have had a wonderful growth since
Faribault was organized as a city, thirty-eight years ago, all of
which have added greatly to their lists of students and materially
to their groups of buildings. Finer school buildings can scarcely
be found anywhere, even at the great educational centers of the
east. They are modern in design and equipment. Their large
faculties are the best educators to be procured and their success
364 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
in drawing pupils from all parts of the world may in some degree
account for the title given Faribault as "The Athens of the
West." Seabury Divinity school, which gives a complete college
and divinity course for young men desirous of entering the min-
istry of the Protestant Episcopal church, has about forty students
and a faculty of nine distinguished educators. Shattuck school,
founded in 1865 by Rt. Rev. H. B. Whipple, the first Protestant
Episcopal bishop of Minnesota, and Rev. J. Lloyd Breck, is the
oldest school of its kind in the west. Its buildings are modern
and its equipment the best. It has two hundred pupils and a
faculty of twenty accomplished teachers. It prepares boys for
college or gives them a complete business education. Its mili-
tary training under a competent United States army officer is a
much desired feature of the school. St. Mary's hall, a school for
girls, has fine, well equipped buildings, spacious grounds, one
hundred pupils and a faculty of twenty highly qualified teachers.
It prepares giils for college and all its graduates are carefully
fitted for the duties and demands of society and home. Music
and art work are specialties. St. James school, a school for young
boys, is also a military school, or to speak more plainly, its disci-
pline is the military system. It prepares boys to enter Shattuck
or other schools of its grade. It has fine, new, modern buildings
and has been a wonderful success from its founding in 1901. It
has forty pupils and a faculty of able instructors. Bethlehem
academy, a finishing school for young ladies, under the manage-
ment of the Dominican Sisters of the Roman Catholic church, has
fine, modern, well equipped buildings, an excellent corps of
teachers and 118 pupils. Its specialty is art work and music.
The three state institutions located here are the Minnesota
School for the Deaf, the Minnesota School for the Blind, and the
Minnesota School for the Feeble-Minded. They all have commo-
dious, modern school buildings and about 1.450 pupils. The
faculty of each school is the best to be procured.
The grounds of all these schools, save those of Bethlehem
academy, are unsurpassed, covering many acres of ground and
are laid out in a system of parks that extend for a mile and a
half along the top of the bluffs to the cast of the city affording
a most attractive drive to both residents and visitors.
Bethlehem academy occupies spacious, well kept grounds on
the west side of Straight river and is not in the general line that
takes in St. James, Shattuck, School for the Deaf, St. Mary's hall,
Seabury, School for the Blind, and the School for the Feeble-
Minded.
The public schools are of the highest order of excellence,
being provided with a large, commodious, handsome high school
building, four fine grade buildings and several primary buildings
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 365
located in different parts of the city. The schools all have most
capable teachers.
Besides these schools there are several excellent parish
schools, Roman Catholic and Lutheran and also a business
college under efficient management, with a liberal attendance,
and if Modern Faribawlt has a single feature of which it may
justly be proud it is its schools.
But Faribault may drop its Athenian title, based undoubtedly
upon its ability to educate, and yet have much left to give it an
enviable place among the minor cities of the state. It is a city
of business, mercantile and mechanical, as well as educational.
It has handsome business streets lined upon either side with
commodious store buildings ; it has mills and manufactories,
including extensive flour manufacture, machine shops, foundrys,
woolen mills, gasoline engine and windmill plants, furniture
factories, rattan works, carriage factories, canning factory, piano
factory, belt sanding machine factory, gas and electric lighting
and power plants ; employers' elevator manufactory, two tele-
phone exchanges, stone quarries, the product of which enter
largely into the construction of some of Faribault's best build-
ings; brick yards, a large shoe factory, creameries, a large seed
house, with an extensive patronage from every state in the Union
and Canada ; a machine shoe repair shop, and numerous smaller
manufactories and shops engaged in almost every line of manu-
facture and repair.
Faribault has within its limits three excellent water powers
which are utilized for the manufacture of flour, woolen goods and
to operate the electric lighting and power plant. Near the city
is another water power, recently purchased, and soon to be used
to increase the water power of the city which in its turn will
provide electric power for all kinds of manufacturing. One of its
chief advantages is its location for manufacturies ; cheap land,
within the city's limits and along railroad lines; cheap power,
water and electric ; the best of shipping facilities ; cheap rents, and
cheap lots for home building, together with unexcelled school
privileges.
Faribault is unexcelled in its religious privileges. It has
handsome churches and large congregations of almost every
denomination : Baptist, Congregational, three Catholic churches,
Immaculate Conception, English ; St. Lawrence, German's Sacred
Heart, French ; two Episcopal churches, the Cathedral of Our
Merciful Saviour and Shumway Memorial chapel at Shattuck
school ; Zion church, Evangelist Association of North America,
five Lutheran churches: German Evangelical, Immanuel Evan-
gelical, Norwegian, Immanuel Markus Norwegian Lutheran and
366 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
Trinity Evangelical, German; two Methodist Episcopal churches,
English and German.
Aside from the splendid park system, connected with the
private and state school, covering little less than 200 acres, Fari-
bault has a well kept and well shaded park in the center of the
city, covering one block and adjoining it are the grounds of the
high school, another full block, set with shade trees and hand-
somely ornamented with walks and flower beds. It also has
several small parks for ornamentation and to give people a
place to rest and children a place to play. Outside of its school
buildings and churches and business houses, Faribault has the
Rice county court house, a handsome building standing alone in
a full square almost in the center of the city. In the grounds
which have been artistically designed is a fountain. Faribault
has its own city building, a substantial, well designed structure
for the use of council, mayor and city officials. It also has an
engine house well arranged and commodious. The city is
abundantly provided with automobiles, private and public, and
three garages have all they can attend to.
During the present summer Faribault has paved eleven of its
business blocks with Barr bricks and Kettle river sandstone,
and has changed from overhead electric lighting to a brilliant
system of curb lighting, having all poles removed from the streets
and the wires placed underground. The lighting system has ten
posts, with three lights each, to the block five upon each side
of the street. The paving and the new system of lights are a
most noticeable improvement to the appearance of the city.
Faribault is admitted by our visitors to be a beautiful city
with its material advantages and modern improvements, and
words of praise are heard from many lips.
The city has a well organized commercial club with a large
membership; it has a public library of 14,000 volumes, including
public records, and its building is of modern design and very
handsome and erected for the purpose for which it is used, Mr.
Frank E. Little, agent for the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance
Company, of Xewark. N. J., giving $20,000 for that purpose, the
balance of the cost, $15,000, being provided by the city.
Faribault has one of the best water works systems in Minne-
sota, its supply being drawn from an artesian well. Its fire depart-.
ment is unsurpassed for its efficiency. The city has three well
managed banks with a combined capital of $155,000, the Citizens'
National Bank, the Security Stale Bank and the Chase State
Bank. The surplus and individual profits of these banks amount
to $68,600 and they carry large deposits.
Faribault has a modern and well appointed opera house,
erected at a cost of $40,000, and several commodious audience
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 3G7
halls, also a large armory which provides quarters for its excellent
militia organization, Company B, Second Regiment, M. N. G. It
has the usual number of fraternal societies, the three orders of
Masonry owning their own hall and are part owners of the large
three story block in which it is located, and the Elks' organiza-
tion is planning to erect a handsome building which will provide
that order with a home. It has a large golf club and club house,
and three flourishing literary clubs, the Travelers, the Monday
and the Samovar, and there is apparently nothing lacking in its
business, amusement, social, educational and religious constitu-
tions that its citizens are not rapidly supplying. It has four
hotels, the Brunswick, the New York, the Commercial and the
Superior.
Last, but not least, Faribault has five weekly newspapers
given below in the order of their establishment: "Faribault
Republican," "Faribault Democrat," "Faribault Pilot," "Fari-
bault Referendum," "Faribault Journal." Besides these it
has several school papers which are well printed and
conducted. The "Companion," published at the Minnesota
School for the Deaf, the "North Star," published at the Minnesota
School for the Feeble-Minded, and "The Shad," published by the
students of Shattuck school.
During the past summer much building has been done, includ-
ing a new Rice county jail at a cost of $45,000; a new city lockup,
at a cost of $18,000 ; a beautiful auditorium for the Minnesota
School for the Deaf, and one of the finest hospitals in Minnesota,
the St. Lucas, has but recently been added to the more useful
structures erected for the benefit of humanity.
Faribault is a conservative city but it does not hesitate to
provide for its needs and for the convenience and comfort of its
citizens. It is surrounded by the richest, most reliable agricul-
tural country in the world which has never experienced a crop
failure since white men first came here with plow and hoe. It
is composed of forest and wood land in about equal parts ; has
an abundance of lakes and streams, and a population worthy of
the blessings nature has given them. — A. E. Haven.
FARIBAULT LIBRARY AND CITY HALL.
The Faribault city hall and library was formally opened
January 1, 1898. The building which is of a modified Renaissance
style, is square and bold in design, with quiet richness which
appeals to the artistic eye. The size is 61^ x73j-2, three stories
and a basement in height. The basement is built of red sand-
stone. The walls are of dark red, St. Louis hydraulic pressed
brick. The steps and columns are Ortonville granite. The
368 HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES
entrances are floored with mosaic tiling. The architraves of the
windows, the roof cresting and balustrades of the balconies are
of stucco. A brick wall extending from basement to roof, sepa-
rates the library and city hall. The public library occupies the
south half of the building. The building is finished throughout
in red oak, the floors being Georgia pine. The walls are hard
finished tinted plaster. The ceilings and sidewalls being finished
with designs in stucco. Harry W. Jones, of Minneapolis, pre-
pared the plans and specifications. The construction was done
by the day under the superintendence of C. H. Peltier. The
woodwork of the library was done by Brown & Buer, and that
of the city hall by J. H. O'Connell. E. M. Leach & Son
furnishing the mill work. Carufel & Hatch did the plumbing,
while Eardley & Bailey supplied the steam boiler and the
radiators.
At the formal opening, Hon. B. B. Sheffield, former mayor of
Faribault, delivered an address which gave the history of the
undertaking. His address in part follows: "The ground upon
which the building now stands was purchased from the city in
1891 for a market place, but proving too small and entirely inade-
quate for the purpose, the property was allowed to remain vacant
during the three following years. On the record of the minutes,
of the Faribault council, June 11, 1894, appears the following
entry: 'F. E. Little presented a proposition on the part of the
Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company of Newark, N. J., to
erect for the use and benefit of the city of Faribault, on the lots
corner of First avenue and Second street, a building to be used
as a city hall and library to cost not less than $30,000, on condi-
tion that the said company succeed in writing $700,000 on insur-
ance in Faribault, and the city council accepted the proposition ;
the building to be erected at the expense of said company and
delivered to the city free of all incumbrance. On motion the
council voted to refer the proposition to a committee of three,
with power to accept or reject the same. Aldermen Hawley,
Cavanaugh and Tuttle were appointed on this committee.' Tues-
day, June 11, the committee recommended the acceptance of Mr.
Little's proposition. On page 261, of the records appears this
entry : 'The common council of the city of Faribault met in special
session in council chambers September 1. 1894, Mayor Sheffield
presiding. Present were Aldermen Cavanaugh, Kaiser. Emery,
Reynolds, Rugc and Winter. On motion the mayor and city
attorney were authorized to accept bonds of F. E. Little with
satisfactory sureties for the sum of $8,000, to indemnify the city
against loss or damage in the matter of erecting city hall. Mr.
Little presented plans, for the building, and they were approved
by the council, subject to minor changes.'
FARIBAULT CITY HALL AND LIBRARY
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 369
"This is a brief formal record of the acceptance of the propo-
sition, leading to the erection of this building. At that time the
members of the council seriously doubted Mr. Little's ability
to carry out his undertaking and no steps were taken until they
were assured of the hearty approval and the unanimity of the
leading tax payers and citizens ; and no ground was broken until
Mr. Little had filed a bond signed by ten of the prominent citizens
indemnifying against loss in case the work should be allowed
to stop at a point which would entail greater damage to the
property than would be offset by the benefit to the city. It is a
well known fact that the solicitor of a life insurance company
gets for his commission from 50 to 75 per cent of the first year's
premiums and had Mr. Little succeeded in writing the $700,000
in policies he would have been able to carry out his plans with
at least no loss to himself. When he had secured pledges for
half of the required amount he announced his readiness to com-
mence the work. The plans for the building had been prepared
by Harry Jones. One morning in September, Mr. Jones, Mr.
Little, Mr. Emery and myself (B. B. Sheffield) selected the site
on the lot, the stakes were driven, and that same day the ground
broken. The work went on. Mr. Little was unable to secure
the amount in insurance he had reckoned upon. His means
became exhausted. He mortgaged his personal property to pay
for material and labor, and finally expending over $20,000,
itemized vouchers for which he submitted to the council, and to
which I can bear witness, he reluctantly admitted that ruined
in purse and broken in spirit, he was unable to carry on his
undertaking." The work was completed by the city.
First Library. Early in 1856 or late summer of 1885, Dr.
L. W. Leighton located here and opened his ofifice, carrying a
few staple drugs in the building standing nearly opposite the
Brunswick hotel. In those days there was little business for a
doctor and Leighton eked out his rather slender income with a
circulating library. There was a brisk demand for the few
books he was able to keep, up to and including the winter of
1858-59. His wife dying about that time, Dr. Leighton left the
state. The present library and reading room occupying a building
of architectural beauty and finish second to none in the state,
originated with a few ladies of the parish led by Miss S. P.
Darlington, first principal of St. Mary's hall. The first books
were purchased with funds raised by strawberry festivals and like
entertainments, but no organization was perfected until Samuel
H. Jaques, of Philadelphia, arrived in Faribault and began what
he meant to be his life's work, the establishment and mainte-
nance of a library and free reading rooms in Faribault. Under
his management the institution was prosperous and growing in
3?0 HISTORY OF RICE AXL) STEELE COUNTIES
general favor. After his death it was kept up by a few young
business men at a personal expense of from $75 to $100 each until
the heirs of Mr. Jaques discovered on his books a balance of
several hundred dollars against the library for cash advanced for
its support, which Mr. Jaques would have never called for if he
had lived. The authorities controlling the library offered to turn
over all property to any society that would incorporate and
assume the debt. Judge John M. Berry interested himself in the
matter and the present library and reading rooms were incor-
porated under articles drawn by him, and for some years after
were in charge of Augusta C. Lowell, who acted as librarian until
her death.
County Court House. The court house of Rice county is a
beautiful building located in block 43, Faribault, and erected in
1873-74 at a cost of about $50,000. Incidents of the location of
the county buildings are related elsewhere by F. W. Frink. Jan-
uary 5, 1X56, the county seat was located by the commissioners
in section 31, township 110, range 20. This was amended by
the addition of the south half of section 30. April 10. 1856, order
number 7, was ordered drawn to James Shields for lots 6 and 7,
block 43, in the town of Faribault, for the purpose of erecting
a public building. The county commissioners selected as a site
for the county buildings, lots 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, block 43. in the
town of Faribault, the same being surveyed by B. Densmore.
April 11, the board of county commissioners procured a site
for the court house and other buildings. The site selected for
the county buildings, lots 8, 9 and 10, block 43, was quit claimed
by Amos B. Wattles, in consideration of the sum of $55 and
purchased of the proprietors of the town of Faribault for $125
making in all $180 for the two lots. January 9. 1X57. it was voted
to call for bids for the erection of the register of deeds and treas-
urer's office and county jail. August 4. the contract was let to
Josiah Dickerson at $2,050. This building was used for the
offices. Later a jail was built in the same block, the offices and
tin- jail serving until the erection of the present court house in
1873-74. The north part of the block, lots 1. 2. 5. 4 and 5 was
acquired later than the south part. June () . 1X75. the county
acquired blocks 4 and 5 from Randall Fuller and John 1',. Braley
lor $2,000. September 24, 1867, an undivided half of lot 2 was
purchased from Moses E. Webb for $700. On the thirtieth of the
same month, the other undivided half of the same lot was pur-
chased from William II. Dike for $800. October 5. 1867, lot 3
was purchased From Jerome Madden for $2,400. Augusl 1". 1868,
lot 1 u.-is purchased from Samuel J. Clemans for $1,200. The
story of the selection of the location is told by F. W. Frink,
el ewhere.
BICE l HiX'i'v i OURT HOUSE
r^r;
HISTORY OF RICE AND STEELE COUNTIES 371
County Jail. The property now occupied by the county jail
was purchased from Patrick McGreery, June 12, 1873, for $5,000.
At the same time the city purchased the present fire house prop-
erty, and the county subsequently sold the city a small strip of
the jail property also. A jail was built on the rear of the
residence, and was several times remodeled and improved, the
most notable enlargement occurring June 24, 1890. Until 1910,
the jail was used by the county for a county jail and by the city
for a municipal lockup. The 
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