USA > Minnesota > Faribault County > The history of Faribault County, Minnesota : from its first settlement to the close of the year 1879 : the story of the pioneers > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
Chap. IsCopyright So ... Shell 5 11
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
. THE HISTORY
-OF-
FARIBAULT COUNTY
MINNESOTA,
From its First Settlement to the Close of the Year 1879.
IN THREE PARTS.
FIRST PART. The Annals of the County.
PART SECOND. Historical Sketches of the Several Townships.
PART THIRD. Historical Sketch of the Government of the County, and of the Several County Offices.
THE STORY OF THE PIONEERS
BY J. A. KIESTER, Attorney at Law.
43728-B-1
"Let me speak to the yet unknowing world, How these things came about." Shakespeare.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. HARRISON & SMITH, PRINTERS. 1896.
COPYRIGHT 1896 BY J. A. KIESTER.
DEDICATION.
To the early settlers of Faribault County, Minnesota, who have conferred upon me many official positions of trust and honor, and favored me with their unwavering and earnest friendship, during many years, this book is inscribed by the writer as a slight token of his regard for them, and it is his earnest wish that they may be prosperous and happy, that their days may be long in the land, which their labors have done so much to build up, that their sons may be gifted and brave, and their daughters "as the polished corners of the temple," and that all, finally, may rise to a glorious immortality, in the great hereafter.
J. A. KIESTER.
PREFACE.
This book is not a narrative of the lives and deeds of those whom the world usually calls its heroes of great achievements, its Genuses, Statesmen, Warriors, Scholars and Princes of wealth.
It is rather the unpretentious story of plain people, in the hum- ble walks of life, who have come to this fair portion of God's earth, from almost every land under the sun, to found homes for themselves and their children, and here fill the measure of their lives, and who, facing and conquering the hardships of frontier life, have in the course of years, taken up the lands, opened productive farms, insti- tuted civil government, erected numerous churches and school houses and factories, established newspapers, built railroads and telegraphs and thriving towns, and organized all useful associations, converting the wilderness into a rich and populous county, in which are found all the blessings of an enlightened, Christian civilization. And such deeds too are worthy of historic record.
There are as many and as noble deeds of self-sacrifice, of unre- quited toil, of enduring fortitude, of triumph over difficulties, in short, of real heroism, in humble life, everywhere, which never reached the historian, or found a place on his pages, as any that have ever been recorded, "since Hesiod wrote, or Homer sang."
The work was not written as a pecuniary speculation, but was undertaken many years ago, at the request of many of the early settlers of the county, and for the laudable purpose of preserving a correct account of the people. the times and events of the first set- tlement of the County. It was proper, too, that the record should be written by one of the old settlers. They have made and so shall one of their number write the history.
The work was not done in haste, but the leisure hours of many years have been employed in collecting, arranging and digesting the materials, watching and noting the progress of events and in writing the record.
The book embraces that portion of the history of the County-the first twenty-five years-which in the lapse of time was most liable to be lost or forgotten, yet which, in the course of years, becomes the most interesting.
It may seem premature to even write, but more especially to pub- lish a history of so new a county as this, yet it is true that the first quarter of a century in the history of the County, now passed, seems in a great measure, to constitute a period, or epoch, complete in itself, covering as it does, the first settlement of the different parts of the County, and the origin of almost all its civil, religious, edu- cational and industrial institutions.
5
PREFACE.
It is, so to speak, the epoch of first things, now completed.
But, however little interest the book may now possess, the time will probably come as the years go by, and when the first settlers of the County shall have passed away, when its contents will acquire an interest and an importance, not now possibly comprehended or appreciated. In the future, questions will arise pertaining to the times and events covered by the history, which can be answered only by a reference to its pages. The book was written not for the present only, but also for the future, and it may contain some- thing which may be helpful to those who are to make the history of that great future. A writer of history has very truthfully said: "The important duty of preserving local history and recording the events that attend the origin of institutions and communities, is too often neglected until a period, when truth becomes blended with fable and the original materials, one by one, disappearing, leave the analysis of events involved in an impenetrable mist of conflicting traditions."
Original and authentic sources of information have been referred to, in collecting the materials for the work, always preferring to rely on written or printed statements, rather than merely upon the uncertain memory of events long past. The official records of the County and of the several townships and villages, of religous and other societies, the files of local newspapers, standard histories of the State, official reports and the State archives have been carefully consulted. Where no record of events existed, reference was had to the actors, or eye-witnesses themselves, and no time, labor or expense has been spared to make every date and statement correct, yet in such a multitude of names and dates, there are doubtless some errors, but if so, they are of minor importance. That which purports to be history is worthless as such, unless it be true. Do not hastily question the accuracy of the work. The events of the first year of this history were mainly obtained from Mr. M. Sailor, himself, the first settler of the County.
Those of the second year were derived mainly from J. B. Wake- field, G. B. Kingsley, H. P. Constans, H. T. Stoddard, Andrew C. Dunn and others, who were the principal actors in the events of that time. From near the beginning of the third year, the writer himself, was personally present and noted events as they occurred. The writer had also a personal acquaintance with almost all the first settlers of the several townships and obtained the facts relating to their first settlement and other events, from them directly.
The history was not written from any local standpoint, or out- look, and no local, or personal prejudices warp or color any of its statements, but it was written "With malice toward none, with
6
PREFACE.
charity for all" and for the whole County. Not wishing "To make or to mar any man's fortunes," the writer has on the one hand avoided the adulation of any one, and on the other, he has refrained from censuring the acts, or impugning the motives of individuals. or parties, even where the truth of history, in a few instances. seemed almost to demand severe criticism. There are some things, though true, and even of some importance, that had better sleep in oblivion. Let them rest. This book purporting to be a history and not a biographical repository. the brief personal and biographical notices given are of those only who were connected with the more important offices and events referred to in the history. No other rule of practical value could be adopted. Special notices, or bio- graphical sketches of many omitted in this volume, will be given in the next.
The work is not a mere narrative of events and collection of biographies, but the writer has sought to weave into the record some observations, thoughts and suggestions, on various topics, con- nected with the history, which may be of value to some, and it was the design and hope that the volume might contribute something to the information of at least some of its readers on certain special subjects and be worthy of perusal in the family circle around the hearthstone. in the quieter and better hours of life, and be left as a brief memorial by our old settlers, to their children, of their lives and labors here.
Many subjects referred to in this work might have been treated more elaborately, but a low, small voice continually whispered con- dense. condense.
The work of writing the history was not little, nor without difficulties, and few can appreciate them who have not attempted such work. The book makes no pretention to literary merit, ele- gance of style or completness of arrangement, and possesses but a local interest. It is hoped that it may be received and treated in the same candid and kindly spirit in which it was written.
The writer is under obligations to many friends for their kind- ness and courtesy in furnishing him with information required in writing the history, and who have. from time to time. inquired of the progress being made. and now to each and all of them. he tenders his sincerest acknowledgments. But the writer desires especially, to express here. the acknowledgment of his many obligations to the Hon. S. P. Child, for his valuable assistance in the publication of of this work, and to say that whatever may be the merits. or de- merits of the book. Mr. Child is in no way responsible for any of its contents.
J. A. KIESTER
Blue Earth City, Minn. August. 15.0.
INTRODUCTION.
SECTION FIRST.
A BRIEF SKETCH OF MINNESOTA.
L'Etoile di Noni.
The district of country known as Minnesota, of which Faribault county is a part. lies between 46-80' and 49ยบ north latitude and extends in part from $9-89' to 9795' west longitude. I: is bounded on the North by the British Possessions. on the Eas: by Lake Sa- perior and the State of Wisconsin. on the South by the State of Iowa and on the West by Dakota Territory.
Minnesota originally. however. extended westward to the Mis- souri river and was once "The land of the Dakotas." who were the aboriginal inhabitants, and here lived and loved and warred and died. through centuries, the number of which no one will ever know.
Minnesota derives its name from the principal river within its boundaries-the Minnesota. The compound word Minnesota is composed of the Indian words Minne-meaning water and So-tah- meaning sky-tinted-the land of sky-tinted waters, because its numerous lakes and streams redeet. in their crystal depths. the clouds and blue of the over-arching skies.
Minnesota contains 58.381 square miles. equal to 38.239.590 acres of land. an area greater than all New England. and almost equal to the combined areas of the great states of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
The geographical position of the State is highly favorable-itis the central portion of the Continent of North America, lying mid- war between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on the east and west and Hudson's Bay on the north and the Gulf of Mexico on the south.
It is also in a large sense. the summi: of the east half of the Continent-a high undulating plateau, table land or plain, haring an average elevation of nearly one thousand fee: above the level of the sea, and forms the water shed of the three great river systems
8
HISTORY OF
of a large part of North America-that of the Mississippi which flows southward to the Gulf of Mexico; that of the St Lawrence, which connected with the Northern lakes has an easterly direction to the Atlantic Ocean and that of the Red River of the North, which flows northerly to Lake Winnepeg, which has its outlet in Hudson's Bay.
A glance at the map of this grand territory-Minnesota- exhibits it lined all over by numerous streams of water, which furnish the most abundant water power, and six of which are, or were formerly, navigable, and the whole surface is dotted over with lakes, nearly ten thousand in number and ranging in size from fifty rods to thirty miles in diameter, and on its eastern border lies the largest lake of the world-Superior.
Few regions of the world possess more beautiful and romantic scenery than Minnesota, especially that along the Mississippi river.
The state has been appropriately named " The Star of the North " and " The Empire State of the New Northwest." It may also be as properly called The Mother of Rivers, The Land of the Lakes or The Summit State.
The soil of the State, speaking generally, is of great fertility. It is a dark, calcarious, sandy loam and abounds in mineral elements and the rich organic ingredients, resulting from the de- composition of the vegetable growth of untold ages and is from one to four feet in depth. It is a ralley soil. It has been determined by climatologists, that "the cultivated plants yield the greatest pro- ducts near the northermost limits at which they will grow." and this law finds abundant illustration in the amount and perfection of the products of Minnesota.
The climate of Minnesota has often been unjustly disparaged. But a word will be said here in reference to this sublect, it being more fully treated elsewhere. It is sufficient to say here, that Min- nesota possesses a modified mountain climate, the seasons more or less distinctly marked, follow each other in regular suc- cession. The atmosphere is pure, dry and invigorating and the climate is adapted to the growth of all the grains and the leading fruits of the middle states in their proper season, and the general heathfulness of the entire state, as the statistics fully show, is not surpassed by any other country on the globe. This is enough.
Though Minnesota is called a prairie state, yet about one third of its area is covered with native timber. Its pine forests in the northeru part of the State are among the most extensive and valu- able in the northwest and furnish an immense lumber trade. The "Big Woods " tract, lying on both sides of the Minnesota river and about one hundred miles long and of an average width of forty miles.
9
FARIBAULT COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
is the largest body of hardwood timber, of all varieties, between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Elsewhere timber is found in groves, bordering the streams and lakes, throughout the State.
Among the other natural resources of the State mention may be made of her inexhaustible raw material of iron, copper, slate, gran- ite, clay, limestone, superior building stone, salt springs and glass sand. The statement is eminently truthful that Minnesota contains within itself, all the elemental requisites of a very rich and very independent state.
It is claimed that Minnesota was discovered in the year 1680 by Louis Hennepin, a Francescan priest and his companions Picard du Gay and Michael Ako. In the spring of that year, coming from Canada by way of the lakes and the Illinois river, they ascended the Mississippi on an exploring expedition and were captured by the Indians and carried far north and in their travels discovered the Falls of St. Anthony, which Father Hennepin named. After wan- dering about with the Indians for three months they in June, on their return, met Sieur du Luth, a French explorer, aud several soldiers under his command. In the fall they all returned to Canada. Two centuries later (1880), the second centennial of these events was celebrated in the splendid city of Minneapolis, with appropriate ceremonies and eloquent addresses.
It has also been claimed that Sieur du Luth, rather than Father Hennepin and his companions, was the real discoverer of Minne- sota. But it is quite certain that long before any of these persons visited this country, two French fur traders, about 1654-9, visited Minnesota and spent some two years in this region.
In 1689 Nicholas Perrot, a man of much influence with the Indian tribes, was made commandant of this region of country and under a commission from the governor of Canada, took formal possession of the country, in the name and on behalf of the King of France. Louis the XIV, Le Grand Monarque then held the imperial scepter of France.
In 1700 M. Le Sueur, who had accompanied Perrot and had sub- sequently gone to France, returned with a company of miners and ascended the Minuesota river. as far as the mouth of the Blue Earth River, near which he built a fort and spent the winter. In 1727 a company of soldiers were sent in from Canada, accompanied by a number of traders and missionaries. They built a fort on the west shore of Lake Pepin.
The history of Minnesota from 1700, for more than half a cen- tury, is but a broken narrative of the adventures of explorers and traders, and of the toils and suffering of devoted missionaries in their efforts to plant the standard of the cross and proclaim to the sav- age nations the blessed gospel of Jesus the Christ. On the eighth
10
HISTORY OF
day of September, 1763, the French surrendered their posts in Can- ada and by the treaty of Versailles, in 1763, ceded the district of country embracing Wisconsin and that part of Minnesota lying cast of the Mississippi to England and west of it to Spain.
In 1766 Jonathan Carver, exploring the northwest, entered the Mississippi by way of the Wisconsin river and proceeded as far north as the "curling waters" of St. Anthony's Falls. He also ascended the Minnesota River a considerable distance and spent several months with the Indians, exploring the country. He subsequently went to England and published an account of his adventures.
By the treaty of peace at the close of the War of the Revolution (1783) England ceded her claims to all the territory south of the present British Possessions and east of the Mississippi, to the United States. This cession included all that part of Minnesota east of the Mississippi river. George the Third was then King of England and our Continental Congress, which had given the king so much trouble, represented the sovereignty of the United States of America. The constitution had not then been adopted. nor had the first president been elected.
The Province of Louisiana, which included, with much other territory, that portion of Minnesota which lies west of the Missis- sippi obtained by Spain in 1763 from France, was retroceded by that power to France in 1900. During the Spanish supremacy. Charles the Third, a wise prince, and Charles the Fourth. an unwise one, sat upon the gorgeous throne of old Spain.
The same territory was in the year 1803 sold by France to the United States, for fifteen millions of dollars and is known as the Louisiana purchase. During the above period of three years, the great Napoleon was the sovereign ruler of the larger portion of Minnesota and at the time of the purchase Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States.
In 1805, General Z. M. Pike, an officer of the United States, explored this region and obtained from the Indians a grant of lands on which, in 1820, Fort Snelling was built. He proceeded as far north as Sandy and Leech lakes, where he found several forts oc- cupied by English fur traders. He also found the flag of old Eng- land bravely flying over these forts, which in the eye of our General was inimical to the sovereignty of the United States and he. there- fore, ordered these flags down and the Stars and Stripes set up. never to be lowered on this soil.
It may here be observed that Minnesota has, in time been subject to Great Britain (in part), Spain. France and lastly to the dominion of the United States, four of the most enlightened and powerful nations that appear in the world's history. But more. the first occupants of the soil, the aboriginees, were among the
11
FARIBAULT COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
most numerous, haughty and warlike of the Indian nations that held sway over the continent, at the advent of the white man. To all this we may add the words of Judge Flandreu, contained in a late address before the Historical Society :
"Our state had rather a mixed origin. Its mothers were the Northwestern Territory and Louisiana. The first gave us what lies east of the Mississippi, and the last what we embrace west of that stream; and before we became Minnesota we were on the west side of the river, first Louisiana, then Missouri, then Michigan, then Wisconsin, then Iowa."
On the east side of the Mississippi we were, first Northwest Territory, which belonged to Virginia and was ceded by that state to the United States; it was next Indiana, and next Wisconsin."
During the war of 1812, the Indians in this region were gener- ally opposed to the United States, being incited to this enmity by the British fur traders of the Northwest, but after the peace of 1815, they submitted to the federal authority. .
In the year 1812, Lord Selkirk, a Scotch nobleman, established a small colony, mainly of Scotchmen, near the British line on the Red River of the North, in British territory, known as the Selkirk Settlement. Some years later a number of Swiss immigrants set- tled in the Colony. The settlement was greatly persecuted by the employees of the Hudson Bay Fur Company, and met with many misfortunes by fire, flood, grasshoppers and failure of crops, when about 1827. a company of the Swiss left the Colony and located near the site of St. Paul, and became the pioneers of agriculture in Minnesota and its first white settlers, other than United States troops and Indian traders.
The first Mill was erected in 1822, and in 1823 the first Steam- boat that ascended the Mississippi, arrived at Fort Snelling, to the great astonishment of the natives, who thought it some horrible monster of the waters, having a voice like a demon, and on hearing which they scampered away and hid themselves
In 1832 the first regular mail was brought to Fort Snelling.
By the treaty made in -- 1837, the Indians ceded all their lands east of the Mississippi to the United States.
In 1841 a Roman Catholic Chapel was built on the site of what is now the live and rapidly growing city of St. Paul, the Capital of the State, a city with a grand future. The Chapel was dedicated to St. Paul, and hence the name of the city, the site of which was pre- viously named "Pig's Eye."
And now we have reached in our sketch the period of those important events, which in America are premonitory of the birth of a great State-the fading out of the era of savage occupancy and the rule of the strong and bloody hand and the dawn of the era in-
12
HISTORY OF
augurating the supremacy of law-civil government and enlightened progress.
On the 3d day of March, 1849, Congress passed a bill organizing the "Territory of Minnesota," the Territory extending as far west as the Missouri river. Hon. Alexander Ramsey, of Pennsylvania, was appointed Governor by the President. Gen. Zach Taylor, and on the first day of June of that year proclaimed the territorial gov- ernment organized with the following officers:
Governor, ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
Secretary, C. K. SMITH.
Chief Justice, AARON GOODRICH.
Associates. D. COOPER and B. B. MEEKER.
Marshall, J. L. TAYLOR.
U. S. Attorney, H. L. MOSS.
The inhabitants of the Territory then numbered 4,680.
On the 3d day of September, following, the First Territorial Legislative Assembly met at St. Paul, and among much other im- portant business transacted, created nine counties which were named as follows: Itaska. Wabasha, Dakota, Cass, Chisago, Ramsey, Pem- bina. Benton and Washington.
By treaty in 1851, the Dakotas ceded to the United States all their lands in the Territory west of the Mississippi to the Sioux river and Lake Traverse, except a small tract on the upper Minnesota, kept as a Reservation.
Immigration now began to pour into the Territory in a mighty stream, compared with which the first settlement of other states was but insignificant. Lands were taken up. farms opened, great high- ways established, water powers improved, towns and cities grew up as by magic, apparent prosperity was seen on every side. specu- lation in wild lands and town lots ran wild, fortunes were being made in a day, so to speak, and everything was progressing for some years, at high tide, when suddenly the great commercial revulsion of 1857 came and the bubble of land speculation burst. Then dawned the real, permanent prosperity of Minnesota.
A Convention to frame a Constitution for the now proposed State, met at St. Paul in July. 1857, and drafted a Constitution, which was submitted to the people of the Territory at a general election held in October, following, and was adopted.
On the 11th day of May, 1858, the new state was admitted into the Union with its present boundaries, and Minnesota took its place in the great Union of States, as the thirty second state.
When the great Rebellion broke out in 1861, our State was the first to respond to the call for troops to put down the rebellion, and the State furnished during the war 24,263 soldiers. This was a
13
FARIBAULT COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
larger number of soldiers in proportion to population than that furnished by any other state, and no state of the loyal North made a more brilliant record during the war than Minnesota.
In August, 1862, there occurred on the western frontiers of the State, an appalling massacre of settlers, by the Dakota or Sioux Indians-the most atrocious butchery and destruction ever known in the history of Indian warfare. Hundreds of men, women and children were killed, thousands were driven from their homes and millions of dollars worth of property was lost, wasted and destroyed.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.