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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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1
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01053 1934
HISTORY
OF THE
Welsh in Minnesota
Foreston and Lime Springs, la.
GATHERED BY THE OLD SETTLERS.
9957
EDITED BY .
REVS. THOS. E. HUGHES AND DAVID EDWARDS, AND MESSRS. HUGH G. ROBERTS AND THOMAS HUGHES.
ILLUSTRATED.
1895,
1825708
1
Rev. Daniel Williams. BANCROFT, IA.
Rev. J. T. Evans. MINNEAPOLIS.
J. W. Williams. MINNEAPOLIS.
Wm. E. Williams. MINNEAPOLIS.
AUTHORS AND EDITORS OF THIS BOOK.
Thos. Hughes. MANKATO, MINN.
1
Evan Hughes. MANKATO. MINN.
Rev. Thos. E. Hughes. COURTLAND MINN.
.1.
Rev. David Edwards. LAKE CRYSTAL, MINN.
AUTHORS AND EDITORS OF THIS BOOK.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Bible Societies of Blue Earth and Le Sueur Counties, organ-
ized 46
Biographies 159
Blue Earth County, Organization of. 19
.
Location of Welsh Settlements in 1
.. Climate, Soil and Productions 5
66 Aborigines of. 6
66
Early Discoveries 10
Butternut Valley, First Settlers of
32
Organization . 48
Cambria, Organization of. 48
Emmet, Wis., Colony from.
27
Eureka, First Settlers
32
Foreston, Location of
140
Horeb Church Organized.
43
= Neighborhood, First Settlers
34
Jackson, O., Colony from
39
Inkpadoota War
50
Judson, First Settlers
24
Organized. 42
56
LeSueur, First Welsh Settlers of
16
Saron Church 44
60
Mankato, First Settlement of 12
Minneapolis, Welsh People of. 121
Welsh Church of 1.33
Lime Springs, Early Settlers
141
66 Accidents. 148
Prominent Men of 152
66
Churches of 154
Music, Interest of Welsh in. 111
113
---
.
Politics, "
Jerusalem Church Organized
Elim Church.
iii.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Seion Church, Organized.
45
Salem Congregational Church Organized 35
St. Paul, First Welsh Settlers 13
Soldiers of the Rebellion, Welsh
116
South Bend, First Settlers of. 17
South Bend Church, Organized 28
61
Sioux War, Causes of . Commencement of. 64
Sioux War, Battles of
Redwood Ferry 69
Ft. Ridgely 80
New Ulm. 83
Birch Cooley
96
Wood Lake.
109
Attack on Butternut Valley 103
Appendix
The Sioux and their Names of Places 294
Additional Account of Sioux War 296
Early Reminiscences.
302
Statistical Table of Churches
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1
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1
Arcfacc.
N June 13, 1894, the Welsh people of Blue Earth and Le Sueur Counties held an "Old Settlers Meeting" at Lake Crystal, Minn. It was decided to print, in pamphlet form, the papers presented at this meeting, and an edi- torial board was appointed, consisting of Rev. Thos. E. Hughes, of Courtland, Minn .; Rev. David Edwards, of Lake Crystal, Minn .; Hugh G. Roberts and Thos. Hughes, of Mankato, Minn. When the material was gathered, there was enough to warrant printing it in book form. It was then decided to invite all the Welsh of the State to unite in the book, and as the settlement of Fillmore County dipped over into Iowa, rather than divide this settlement into two parts, Foreston and Lime Springs, Ia., were included in the invitation. Everywhere the editors have met with the most ready and hearty co-operation. There has been no croaking or indifference on the part of anybody, but this book is the product of the combined, united effort of all our Welsh people, and our English friends have been just as ready with their help whenever asked. Much prominence is given to the Sioux massacre, because of its importance in the experience of our Welsh pioneers. No other Welsh settlements in America had such an experience. The history, however, is written from a Welsh standpoint. The work has expanded to more than double the size originally intended, and. as the material for this expansion was gathered and arranged since the first manu- scripts were given to the printer, it necessitated much haste in preparation. The article on the Indian massacre went beyond the limit assigned, after all, and we were obliged to place the concluding pages in the appendix. The biographies were written by various persons, and hence there is no exact unifor- mity either in style or length. Lack of space, however, com- pelled us to cut many of them down. In printing, the biogra- phies of Rev. John Moses, Rev. Richard F. Jones, Dr. John Williams, Owen E. Richards and David J. Jones were in-
1.
PREFACE.
advertantly over-looked, so they will be found at the end of the other biographies. A few mistakes are noted in the Errata, others may occur to the reader, for our book is not infallible.
We hope, however, it will serve the purpose of introducing our people one to the other and more than all preserve to pos- terity the deeds of our noble, sturdy Welsh pioneers. To all the friends, who have so kindly and generously aided us in the work we extend our heartiest thanks. EDITORS.
ERRATA.
Page 39, Twelfth line read "John Francis" instead of John Griffiths.
Page 64, Two lines trom bottom read "murderous" instead of murmurons.
Page 78, Eighteen lines from bottom read "John R. Roberts" instead of Rev. John W. Roberts.
Page 112, in list of Cornet Band read " Bezzaleel Jones" instead of James. Page 115, Seven lines from top read "las. A. James" instead of Jas. H.
Page 141, Twelve lines from bottom read .N. West" instead of N. East. Page 163, Next to last line, Packing Biog .. read "1899" instead of 1850.
Page 192, Next to last line, J. T. Evans' Biog., read "poetical" instead of political.
Page 194, Next to last line, Dr. O. J. Evans' Biog , read "1885" instead of 1895.
Page 200, Fourth line from top read "Elizabeth" instead of Margaret.
Page 236, Seventh line from bottom read "Montgomery" instead of Mer- ionethi.
Page 257, read "Pryse" instead of Pryce.
Name under first portrait, page E-141, should be Rev. Daniel T. Row- lands.
Name under first portrait. page E-252. should be Lewis J Lewis.
Name under fourth portrait, page E-Hi6, should be T. Wynne Jones,
Names under two first portraits should be lugh W. Williams.
Page 164. Strike out first sentence of C. E. Davis's biography and inst: "Born at Trefonen, near Oswestry, Shropshire. England, ) ly 9, 1846. Son of Edward and Elizabeth Davis."
Page 266. Strike out first sentence in biography of John G. Roberts and insert: "Born near Kingston, Wis,, in Green Lake county, in 1861. Removed with bis parents to Bristol, Filmore Co .. Minn., in 1867." Add also: "His father was born in Sab- sarna, Merionethslure, and emigrated to America in 1848, his mother, whose maiden name was Catherine Jones, was born at, Corris, in the same shire, whence she emigrated in 1843. They were married in 1-53. John was married in Isoto Miss Bertha Roberts."
The biography of Dr. John Williams will be found on page E-306.
-
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-
PORTRAITS.
Baxter, J. T
194
Evans. Evan ( Pant ) 214
Blossom, Mrs. Alice.
279
...
Evan H 27
Blythin, C. J.
203
Hugh .. 13
Bowen, Mr. and Mrs. Evan 205
=
Rev. Joshua T. Frontispiece
: Thos. E. 161
=
Mr. and Mrs. John C. 13
153
Bamford, Rich. R. 226
.4
Miss Margaret J 155
Cheshire, Isaac 181
Dackins, David 116
:
R. G
194
Daniel. R. E. 279
T. R
Davis. Chas. E
226
Griffiths, James 278
Hon. C. K.
164
: John J 197
Harris, Daniel L. 286
Daniel T.
127
D. J. (Lime Springs) 147
D. J. (Cambria) 36
= David S.
37
R. R. 126
13
.. Mr. and Mrs. David 15
Evan. Frontispiece
Mr. and Mrs. Henry 253
Miss Jennie ..
Rev. Richard. 202
Robert E. 244
..
Hon. R. H 114
R. W 152
Thos. 204
Thos. (attorney) Frontispiece
= Rev. Thos. E. Frontispiece
=
Thos. R. 190
4.
Wm. R 12
Wm. S 227
Isaac, Rev. Rich 152
114
John E
209
Jenkins, Rev. Jenkin 33
Mrs. Jenkin 210
Jones, David. 14
David E. 279
Rev. David F 215
D. K.
Rev. David M 215
David J. 13
=
Edward 12
Edward R. 118
.. Evan ..
46 Evan D 13
: Evan T.
= Humphrey
30
4.
Hugh H 250
James. 118
John
212
Wm
118
Wnl. R 126
Ellis, Ellis E. 234
Evans, Daniel M.
.. Hon. D. C.
114
.. Rev D. E.
.20%
44 D. H. (St. Paul ).
.4 Mr. and Mrs. D. H. (Tracy) 175
Col. D. M 185
D. 8. 12
Edward 14
.. Edward S. 117
E. D 190
116
1 Dr. E. J. 171
Evan J.
116
. Mrs. Jolın E. 33
.46 Jolın 1.
2.4
Mr. and Mrs. John P 175
Joli S. 37
Rev. Peter S. 257
Rev. Richard. 35
Thos. Y 30
..
Wm .. 13
Sr .. W. W. 181
Jr., W'm. W 12
Edwards, Rev. David. .Frontispiece
Hugh 26
= David 253
=
David
David L. 286
33
Howell, D. R. 126
Dr. Owen J.
171
Rev. Wm. E. .214
209
Rev. Jolin J
.. Daniel T. 205
.. C. W. 208
Hughes, Byron and Wm. F
James, Hon. J. . 1.
PORTRAITS
Jones, Rev. Humphrey. .252
Price. Rowland W 204
.. Rev. R D. 35
Mr. and Mrs. John A .141
Pritchard. Owen. 997
Rev. John A. :
Pryse. Rev. J. M
Puzh. David. 253
4. Rev. John ('
44 Rev. John E.
Jolin 1
John J. 220
.44
Hon. J. N. 161
=
John R. .
..
Thos. J. 227
Lewis P 116
46 Richard
46 Richard F
12
..
Harlan P 194
Rev. Richard F 215
=
Rev. Richard (+ 34
Humphrey O
127
Rev. R. G. ¡ Shakopee)
Rev. Joseph
267
Rev. Richard W.
Jolin Gi .. 251
.. Lieut. J. R 117
Rev. John W
34
Owen
50
Rev. Wm. A
214
=
W'm. E.
W'm. H .. 12
Wm. J
Shields. John
36
Rev. Wm. Machno.
215
1. Hon. Wm. P.
115
Hon. Wm. R. 115
V. D
190
Joseph, Rev. Edward. 152
Lewis, Griffith J 204
: Lewis D
Jr., Lewis
115
: Lewis J
9:26
Morris. 30
Thos. P. 247
Walters. David. 11×
4. Stephen.
118
Wigley. Joshua
11%
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. P
205
= Wm. R
118
Wm. T.
147
Lloyd, Jabez
214
Hon. Job.
161
John.
117
.4
David J.
36
..
E. B 250
Evan. 26
Griffith
204
= Sr .. Owen
:
Hugh W 27
Jr .. Hon. Owen
161
Rev. Owen R
153
=
Rev. John D .. 153
John Fletcher 185
Moses, Rev. John
Owens, Jolin J
126
John W Frontispiece
John L
12℃
..
Mr. and Mrs. John R 141
Maj. J. P.
270
..
Owen E. 147
= John R
007
..
Thos. D.
2×7
R. J.
126
Dr. U. G
.. Thos.
190
Parry, Evan ..
4.
Wm. E.
Frontispiece
Henry I
13
=
Win. HI
194
John H. 1227
Win. J.
36
Peregrine, Rev. P.
..
Don. Win. W. 251
Price, James D
Woods, Isaac
241
:
Jas. P
118
4.
John D. 275
46 John R.
12
..
J. W
209
Mrs. Morris 210
: Hon. Richard
115
: - Rev. T. II
152
Hon. Richard 115
Mrs. Richard. 210
Williams, Miss ('lara. 278
Rev. Daniel. Frontispiece
.. David J. ( Bradford) 26
. Peter. .22;
Morgan, Rov. John W
257
Morris, Hot. Evan R.
251
:
Dr. John
Jolın T.
250
Rev. Win 35
I
Humphrey H. 1-1
John C.
Hon. T. J 114
Rues. Jobn 257
Timothy 11x
Richard -. Owen E 13
John B 12
Roberts. Mrs. Amy 210
Rev. Griffith 214
.. Hugh G. 257
Rev. T. G. ( Tavalaw ). 252
Thos. O. 226
: T. Wynne
Wm .. 227
Richard .. 37
.. Robert 117
Por. Wm. 34
Rowland4. Rev. Daniel T 146
Theophilus, Hon. Win 272
Thomas, Dr. D. O.
.. Dr. Edward 275
= Rev. Edward 254
R. J 181
..
= Prof. John R 251
Key to Lake Crystal Welsh Business Men .- Page 3.
REAR ROW.
W'm. H. Roberts. Jas. W. Lewis. W'm. Jones. David Price. Robert G. Roberts. Win. Jenkins.
Henry C. Rowlands. Dr. John Williams. J. Edwin Rowlands.
FRONT ROW.
Edward F. Jenkins. Arthur T. Pritchard. T. Reese. W'm. Owens. Daniel T. Owens. R. C. Roberts.
L. Davis. Daniel Edwards. W. C. Davis.
ADDITIONAL ERATTA.
Page 78. the number of the South Bend company when it arrived at New Ulm was 73, and 10 of them remained and took part in the battle of Aug. 23. Page 303, to the list of Welshmen who went to New Ulm in this company add: James Edwards, Sr., Lewis D. Lewis, Wm. R. Lewis, David J. Davis, Jr., Wm. E. Davis, James Morgan and Wm. P. Jones. Read "D. C. Evans" as first lieutenant, instead of "Jehile Cheney," and "Jehile Cheney" as second lieutenant, instead of "M. Porter."
Page 197, in J. J. Griffiths' biography, before words "selling his farm at Colum- bus,"insert. "His first wife died in January, 1862, and October 15, 1867, he married near Columbus, Wis., Miss Elizabeth, daughter of William Richards, who was born near Dolgelly, Wales, in March. 1839, and emi- grated in 1840, with her parents, to Newport, N. Y , and thence to Col- umbus, Wis., in 1865.'
Page 110, Sixteen lines from the bottom read IS66 instead of ISS6.
Page 236, in Rev. Wm. MI Jones' biography, second line, read "Carnarvonshire" instead of "Anglesea," and in line thirteen after "Snowden" insert: "In April, 1867, he emigrated to Cambria, Wis."
Page 266, in first sentence of Rev. Joseph Roberts biography read"Carnarvonshire" instead of "Anglesea."
Page 254, in biography of Rev. Wm. Powell, read, 1868 instead of 1863, as date of marriage, 1873 instead of 1872, as date of going to Picatonica, and Lewis M., instead of Willie as name of youngest child.
Page 18, line 3, read "1842" instead of "1852"
Page 23, line 39 read "Gwyliedydd" instead of "Dysgedydd."
Page 51, line 14, read "Wm. F. Lewis" instead of "John F. Meagher."
Page 117, line 20, read "Wm. T. Jones" instead of "Wm. F. Jones.'
Page 191, last line, read "Mary" instead of "Elizabeth" Jones.
Page 216, read "Robert" as father of Evan Jones instead of "John."
Page 227, line 19, read "1848" instead of "1838."
Page 251, line 33, read "Owens" instead of "Evans,"
Page 233, omit "traveling" from third line from bottom.
Page 234, line 4, read "St. Paul and Minneapolis" instead of "Northwest."
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MAP OF WELSH SETTLEMENTS OF BLUE EARTH AND LE SUEUR COUNTIES.
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History of the Welsh in Minnesota,
BY THOS. HUGHES, ESQ, MANKATO.
-
INTRODUCTION.
LOCATION.
HE Minnesota river, rising near the western boundary of the State to which it gives its name, Hows, for the first hundred miles of its journey, in a southeasterly direction, when it makes an abrupt bend to the northeast, and, after following that course another hundred miles, empties into the Mississippi at the eastern boundary of the State. "Minne- sota" was the ancient Indian name of the river, and is derived from two Dakotah words-".Minne," "water ;" and "Sotah," lit- erally meaning "bleared," though variously translated "muddy." "cloudy," and "sky-tinted." The word has reference to the pe- culiar appearance of the river, caused by minute particles of bluish clay mingling with the water, so that it does not seem muddy nor yet clear, but "hazy" or "bleared."
The valley, in which the river flows. is from a mile to a mile and a half in breadth, and, on either side of the great bend, quite straight-like the two sides of an angle. Standing upon the bluff at the "V" of the big bend one may look up the valley to the northwest or down the valley to the northeast, a distance of forty or fifty miles.
What a magnificent view it is, with the cone-shaped bluffs rising in woody terraces on either side of the valley nearly two hundred feet in height, now opening into a grand amphitheater, enclosing an oasis of three or four miles of bottom prairie, and
2
THE WELSH IN MINNESOTA.
now closing into a few miles of solid timber. Occasionally one catches a glimpse of the river's silvery chain as it meanders around one of its many curves : for, though the valley be straight, the river is exceedingly crooked, turning and twisting, and often almost doubling upon its path as though it fain would loiter in its lovely valley. For the most part the river hugs its northern bluff, leaving most of the bottom-lands on its southern side. The low, flat-lands, in times of great freshets, are overflowed, while, what is known as the "bench," which rises about twenty feet from the low lands, is very; stony, so that the valley is but little used for agriculture. It is not, however, on that account less valuable, for in its prairie bottom-lands are found the finest meadows of wild hay in the country. Clay, for the manufacture of brick, drain-tile, and pottery-ware, is found, also, in inex- haustible quantities ; while the rocky second bench is full of im- mense quarries of the finest building stone, lime, and hydraulic cement.
The valley is dotted with many villages and cities ; and, in the palmy days of steamboating, the river banks on either side were lined with town sites, which might have been great cities. had the fates been more propitious.
At our feet, at the great bend of the river, lies Mankato, the principal city of Southern Minnesota. Three miles higher up the bend are the ruins of its ancient rival-the village of South Bend ; ten miles higher up, on opposite sides of the river, are the town sites of Judson and Eureka. but these cities are now no more ; fifteen miles still farther up is the pretty German city of New Ulm. Below Mankato seven miles is the old village of Ka- sota with its famous stone quarries ; five miles farther is the city of St. Peter; two miles beyond is the site of Traverse de Sioux, once the metropolis of the Minnesota valley, but now en- tirely deserted ; about a mile farther we come to Ottawa, and six miles more and we reach Le Sueur : while at the junction of the Minnesota with the Mississippi lie the great twin cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
At the great bend of the Minnesota there empties into it from the south, between Mankato and South Bend, the Blue Earth river. Its name is a translation of its Indian appellation. "Mahkahto," given it by reason of a peculiar bed of clay of a bluish or greenish color, found on the river about three miles above its mouth, which clay of old had great fame among the aborigines as a pigment for decorating their bodies. The river, with its many tributaries, branching out like a spreading oak,
Welsh Business Men of Lake Crystal, Minn.
1
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3
THE WELSH IN MINNESOTA.
drains the county of Blue Earth These many rivers, with their countless brooks and rills, each bordered with its winding chain of timber, and with the myriad lakes, many of which are dain- tily set in groves of oak and poplar, caused the naturalist, Nic- ollet, who, in 1838, visited the country, to name it the "Undine Region," after the water nymph of the famous German Ro- mance. On the eastern ban . of the Blue Earth lies the great forest. stretching fifty miles in length by from twenty to forty miles in breadth, known as the "Big Woods." This great body of timber has been protected during the centuries from the de- structive prairie fires, which almost every autumn used to sweep across the plains, by the Minnesota river on the north, the Can- non and Straight rivers on the east, the Le Sueur river on the south, and the Blue Earth river on the west. On the western side of the Blue Earth begins the great plain, which stretches over grassy knoll and reedy lake in a boundless ocean of rolling prairie as far as the Rocky Mountains.
The portion of this vast country with which we shall have to do particularly is that occupied by the Welsh Settlements. The largest and one of the oldest of which is that of Blue Earth County, comprising a strip six mites wide. extending northwesterly along the right bank of the Minnesota river, a distance of twenty miles. It embraces the townships of South Bend on the east, Jud- son in the center, and the northeasterly half of Butternut Valley and the fractional town of Cambria on the west. Its western end also dips over a little into Cottonwood township, Brown Co. A few Welsh reside in the small village of Courtland, on the oppo- site side of the Minnesota river from Cambria ; quite a number reside at the much larger village of Lake Crystal, situated on the southern boundry of Judson ; and a still greater number dwell in the city of Mankato. There is also a branch of the set- tlement twenty miles northeast of Mankato, in Le Sueur county, near the village of Ottawa, known from the great timber tract in which it is situated as the "Big Woods" settlement.
Another branch of the Blue Earth county settlement is lo- cated on the head waters of the Big Cottonwood sixty miles to the west, formerly known as Saratoga, but now called Tracy and Custer, while about 2,000 Welsh people reside in St. Paul and Minneapolis. Sixty miles to the southeast of Mankato lie three other flourishing Welsh settlements, at the head waters of the Iowa river, partly in Minnesota and partly in Iowa, and known as Bristol Grove, Foreston and Lime Springs.
In the Blue Earth County settlement, on the southern
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MINNEOPA FALLS. .
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Welsh Business Men of Lake Crystal, Minn.
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THE WELSH IN MINNESOT.1.
boundary of South Bend and Judson, there is a chain of five large lakes, beautifully environed by groves of timber, and on the banks of one of which is pleasantly situated the village of Lake Crystal. The outlet of these lakes is a sparkling little brook which flows in a northeasterly direction through the towns of Judson and South Bend into the Minnesota river. . It is called by its Indian name "Minneopa," from "Minne," "water," and "inncopa," "of two falls." These falls are situated about half way up the stream, and one is ten, and the other, just below it, nearly fifty feet in height. Stories are told how the Indian braves used to shoot over both falls in their light, frail canoes, and land right-side up in the foaming waters below. In a cave under the larger falls dwelt in the early days the brave chief San-tuhu-mah-na-du-tah. "Hater-of-the-white- race," whose mighty deeds, in avenging the wrongs of his sister, tradition tells. At the time of the Inkpadootah war the old chief went to Spirit Lake, and from there, probably, to the spirit land, as he was never heard of afterwards.
Through the middle of Cambria township flows Cambria creek, and through its northwestern corner runs the Little Cot- tonwood, both emptying into the Minnesota. The Little Cot- tonwood is so called to distinguish it from the Big Cottonwood, a larger river emptying into the Minnesota six miles above in the vicinity of New Ulm. "Cottonwood" is the English word for "Waraju," the old Indian name of these rivers.
Bordered thus, north and cast, by the two large rivers, the Minnesota and the Blue Earth, with their charming valleys and belts of wood ; traversed by so many brooks and rills with their spurs of timber jutting out across the great rolling prairie ; be- spangled with so many lovely lakes and pleasant groves, the Welsh Settlement of the Minnesota valley is the most delightful spot in all this charming Undine Region.
CLIMATE, SOIL, AND PRODUCTION.
The Dakotah Indians believed that the mouth of the Minne- sota river stood directly over the center of the earth. Nor was this traditional fancy of the untutored savage much at variance with the more exact knowledge of modern geography. The sur- veyor's chain designates Minnesota as the equi-distant point be- tween the great oceans; while the rivers, radiating northward, southward, eastward, westward, also mark it as the very top of the great dome of the American continent. This high latitude and altitude render the winters at times necessarily cold and long,
·
(
THE WELSH IN MINNESOTA.
while the distance from the sea canses the atmosphere to be ex- ceptionally dry and pure. A severe winter closes in about the last of November, and continues without any great relaxation of its rigor until about the last of March. There is an occa- sional blizzard from the northwest. The depth of snow is from one to two feet all winter, and the mercury ranges from zero to twenty or thirty degrees below ; but in the dry, crisp air of Min- nesota one does not feel the cold at thirty below, more than he would at zero in the more humid atmosphere of the sea coast. The severe winters, however, do not occur regularly every year. Half the time the winters are mild and open. with little, if any, snow. These open winters, though, are not nearly as healthy as the others. There is a tonic in a steady, cold Minnesota win- ter, which braces up one's whole constitution, which purifies the atmosphere, and which seems even to impart fresh vigor to the soil. The summer months of June, July and August are usually very warm, the temperature often getting as high as 80, 90 and sometimes even 100 degrees in the shade. Its long, maguiti- cent autumns are, however, Minnesota's pride. The tempera- ture so pleasant and uniform, the skies so clear and sunny, and nature so gorgeously rich in all her attire, that the days are a succession of delights.
The soil is a dark, rich loam, from a foot and a half to two and three feet in depth, with a clayey bottom. It produced in its natural state a most luxuriant growth of grass, taller than one's head, and which even to this day constitutes the principal pasturage and hay meadows of the land.
The chief agricultural product has been wheat, which used to yield from twenty to thirty-five bushels per acre on the aver- age. Of late years the land has become somewhat exhausted from constant wheat raising, and the farmers are turning their attention more to dairying, stock raising, and diversified farm- ing, with a success more sure and substantial than under the old dispensation of universal wheat fields. Corn, oats, barley, sorghum, and potatoes are grown abundantly. Wild plums. grapes, gooseberries, currants, strawberries, and raspberries are very plenty, and their tame cousins are also easily cultivated. Hardy kinds of apples are likewise grown successfully.
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