USA > Minnesota > Ramsey County > St Paul > A history of the city of Saint Paul, and of the county of Ramsey, Minnesota > Part 10
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Bishop LORAS remained thirteen days at Mendota, and then returned to Dubuque in a canoé. The next spring, he was reminded, one day, when an up-bound steamer whistled for the landing, of his promise to send a priest hither. He selected Rev. LUCIAN GALTIER for the work, and, in one hour, that clergyman was en route to his new field of labor.
REV. LUCIAN GALTIER.
The following extract from a memoir of Father GALTIER, written by Rev. JOHN IRELAND, for the Historical Society, gives an account which will be read with interest :
" LUCIAN GALTIER was born in France, Department of Ardeches, A. D. 1811. From an early age, he looked forward to the priesthood as his vocation, and was a student of theology in the seminary of his na- tive diocese, when Bishop LORAS, the then newly appointed prelate of Dubuque, arrived in Europe, in quest of laborers for the immense
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region confided to his spiritual charge. The missionaries, whom the Bishop persuaded to follow him to the wilds of western America, were Rev. JOSEPH CRETIN, afterwards Bishop of Saint Paul ; Rev. JOSEPH PELAMOURGUES, now Vicar General of Dubuque; Rev. A. RAVOUX, now Vicar General of Saint Paul ; and Rev. L. GALTIER. The party landed in New York, in the fall of 1838. Messrs. GALTIER and RAVOUX, who had not yet completed their studies, proceeded to Emmitsburg College, Maryland, where they remained about a year. They were ordained in Dubuque, January 5, 1840.
" The diocese of Dubuque comprised what was then the Territory of Iowa, the present State of Iowa, and as much of Minnesota as lies west of the Mississippi. The east side, though under the direct jurisdiction of the Bishop of Milwaukee, was, however, generally attended to by Dubuque priests, who, geographically, were in closer proximity than those of other dioceses."
Of his arrival at Mendota, and subsequent founding of the church which gave the name to our city, let us copy from an account written by himself, in 1864, at the request of Bishop GRACE :
" On the 26th of April, 1840, a Saint Louis steamboat, the first of the season, arrived at Dubuque, bound for Fort Snelling. Rt. Rev. Dr. LORAS immediately came to me, and told me he desired to send me toward the upper waters of the Mississippi. There was no Saint Paul at the time; there was, on the site of the present city, but a single log house, occupied by a man named PHELAN, and steamboats never stopped there.
" The boat landed at the foot of Fort Snelling, then under command of Major PLYMPTON. The discovery that I soon made-that there were only a few houses on the Saint Peter's side, and but two on the side of the fort, surrounded by a complete wilderness, and without any signs of fields under tillage-gave me to understand that my mission and life must henceforth be a career of privation, hard trials and suffering, and required of me patience, labor and resignation. I had before me a large territory, too, under my charge-but few souls to watch over. * *
* "In that precarious and somewhat difficult condition, I continued for over a year. * * * A circumstance, rather sad in itself, commenced to better my situation, by procuring for me a new station and a variety in my scenes of labor. Some families-most of whom had left the Red River settlement, British America, on account of the flood and the loss of their crops, in the years 1837 and 1838-had located themselves all along the right bank of the Mississippi, opposite the fort. Unfor- tunately, some soldiers, now and then, crossed the river to the houses of these settlers, and returned intoxicated-sometimes remaining out a
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day or two, or more, without reporting to their quarters. Consequently, a deputy marshal, from Prairie du Chien, was charged to remove the houses. He went to work, assisted by soldiers, and unroofed, one after another, the cottages, extending about five miles along the river. The settlers were forced to look for new homes; they located themselves about two miles below the cave. Already a few parties had opened farms in this vicinity ; added to these, the new accessions formed quite a little settlement. Among the occupants of this ground were RONDO, (who had purchased the only cultivated claim in the place, that of PHE- LAN,) VETAL GUERIN, PIERRE BOTTINEAU, the GERVAIS brothers, &c., &c. I deemed it my duty to visit occasionally those families, and set to work to choose a suitable spot for a church.
SELECTING A SITE FOR THE CHURCH.
" Three different points were offered, one called La Point Basse, or Point LeClaire, (now Pig's Eye)-but I objected, because that locality was the very extreme end of the new.settlement, and, in high water, was exposed to inundation. The idea of building a church, which might at any day be swept down the river to Saint Louis, did not please me. Two miles and a half further up on his elevated claim, (now the southern point of Dayton's Bluff,) Mr. CHARLES MOUSSEAU offered me an acre of his ground, but the place did not suit my purpose. I was truly looking ahead, thinking of the future as well as of the present. - Steamboats could not stop there; the bank was too steep, the place on the summit of the hill too restricted; communication difficult with the other parts of the settlement up and down the river.
"After mature reflection, I resolved to put up the church at the nearest possible point to the cave, because it would be more convenient for me to cross the river there, when coming from Saint Peter's, and because, also, it would be the nearest point to the head of navigation, outside of the Reservation line. Mr. B. GERVAIS and Mr. VETAL GUERIN, two good quiet farmers, had the only spot that appeared likely to an- swer the purpose. They consented to give me jointly the ground necessary for a church site, a garden and a small graveyard. I accepted the extreme eastern part of Mr. VETAL's claim, and the extreme west of Mr. GERVAIS'. Accordingly, in 1841, in the month of October, logs were prepared and a church erected, so poor that it would well remind one of the stable at Bethlehem. It was destined, however, to be the nucleus of a great city. On the Ist day of November, in the same year, I blessed the new basilica, and dedicated it to 'Saint PAUL, the apostle . of nations.' I expressed a wish, at the same time, that the settlement would be known by the same name, and my desire was obtained. I had, previously to this time, fixed my residence at Saint Peter's, and as the name of PAUL is generally connected with that of PETER, and the
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gentiles being well represented in the new place in the persons of the Indians, I called it Saint Paul. The name 'Saint Paul,' applied to a town or city, seemed appropriate. The monosyllable is short, sounds well, and is understood by all denominations of Christians. When Mr. VETAL GUERIN was married, I published the bans as being those of a resident of 'Saint Paul.' A Mr. JACKSON put up a store, and a grocery was opened at the foot of the GERVAIS claim. This soon brought steamboats to land there. Thenceforth the place was known
THE CHAPEL OF SAINT PAUL.
as 'Saint Paul Landing,' and, later on, as 'Saint Paul.' When, some- time ago, an effort was made to change the name,* I did all I could to oppose the project, by writing from Prairie du Chien."
It would seem that Father GALTIER was not a bona fide . resident of Saint Paul, at any time, but only came here at reg- ular intervals, to preach and administer sacraments. On the 25th of May, 1844, he left Saint Peter's, and went to Keokuk, Iowa. In 1848, he returned to France, and remained a little time, but soon again was at work in the mission field. He was now placed at Prairie du Chien. In 1853 and 1865, he
* This was while the act creating the Territory was before Congress. Some members objected to the name, and proposed to change it.
PHOTO -ENG. CO.N.Y.
REV. LUCIAN GALTIER.
First Catholic Priest in Saint Paul, and who gave that name to our city.
VERY REV. A. RAVOUX, V. G.
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visited Saint Paul, and felt a warm pride in its growth. On February 21, 1866, he was called to his reward.
It may here be stated, that, when the little log chapel was taken down, several years later, (about 1856, I believe,) the logs and pieces were all marked and numbered, and laid by, with the intention of sometime rebuilding this truly historical structure.
Thus was the infant city baptized with a Christian name. Pig's Eye no more-" now, by Saint PAUL, the work goes bravely on." "One shudders to think," (said a writer in the Pioneer,) " of what the place would have come to if it had not been rebaptized-of the horrible marble squint of a Pig's Eye following it around the world. The head of navigation, with such an eye glaring. from its socket were a pestiferous Medusa's head, blasting everything within five miles of it . with its stony leer-blasting the rocks, especially. Imagine the effect of a Pig's Eye in a senate committee. Think of a Pig's Eye for a seat of government. Who would have come to live under the bristling lashes of a Pig's Eye? What should we have done for clothes? What Jew would have domiciled in the leering eye of a pig? Or any pen have been held in honor but a pig-pen ?"
In the first "New Year's Address" ever printed in Minne- sota, written, probably, by GOODHUE, January 1, 1850, the sequel is given :
"Pig's Eye, converted thou shalt be, like SAUL ;
Arise, and be, henceforth, SAINT PAUL !"
ARRIVAL OF FATHER RAVOUX.'
During the fall of 1841, Rev. AUGUSTIN RAVOUX arrived from below, and has been, ever since that date, a resident of Minnesota, and, most of the time, of Saint Paul. From a sketch of the good father, in the Northwestern Chronicle, I copy the following :
"Father A. RAvoux was born January II, 1815, at Langeac, in Au- vergne, France, about 20 miles from Puy, where he spent three years in the Petit Seminaire, and four years in the Grand Seminaire. Right Rev. M. LORAS, previously Pastor of the Cathedral Church, of Mobile,
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Alabama, having been consecrated, in 1837, Bishop of Dubuque, Iowa, before visiting his diocese, went to France, in order to have a few mis- sionaries and some pecuniary means for his poor and new diocese.
"Early in the spring of 1838, he visited the Grand Seminaire of Puy, and delivered before the seminarians an urgent invitation, in order to induce some of them to accompany him to America. Deeply moved by the discourse and tears of the good Bishop of Dubuque, whom he had never seen or heard of before, l'Abbe A. RAVOUX, then a sub-deacon, offered himself to him for the missions of his diocese. In September, 1838, they left France for the United States, and after 45 days' naviga- tion, they reached New York. The Rt. Rev. Bishop was accompanied, also, by his Vicar General, Father CRETIN; by Rev. A. PELAMOUR- GUES, who, in 1858, was appointed Bishop of Saint Paul, (but declined accepting the charge;) by l'Abbe GALTIER, who gave to our city its name, and by two other sub-deacons.
"A few days after, Father RAVOUX was sent to Prairie du Chien, where he exercised the holy ministry till September, 1841, when he re- ceived from his Bishop the commission of visiting the Sioux, being in the northern part of the disocese of Dubuque, in order to see if there was any prospect of establishing a mission among them. He left Prairie du Chien, for the Upper Mississippi, spent a few days with his friend, Father GALTIER; was then invited to go, in a canoe, to Traverse des Sioux ; accepted the invitation with many thanks, and, after four or five days, arrived at Traverse. He was there the guest of Mr. PROVENCAL, an old and respectable gentleman, who had been a trader with the In- dians for about forty-five years. While here, he commenced the study of the Sioux language, in which he soon became quite proficient, mean- time preaching to the Indians by interpreters. He soon after proceeded to 'Little Rock,' and, in January, 1842, went to Lac qui Parle. After having passed there two or three months, performing the same duties as at Traverse and Little Rock, he returned, early in the spring, to Mendota, where he spent the greater part of the summer with his friend, Father GALTIER. During that summer, Rev. L. GALTIER visited the Catholics living at Lake Pepin and on the Chippewa River ; meanwile, Father RAVOUX attended the mission of Mendota, and Saint Paul, and taught the catechism in Sioux to the Messrs. FRENIERES' families, who were encamped for several weeks near the church at Mendota. At their invitation, he accompanied them to Lake Traverse, being by them in- formed that he would find there several hundred families of Sioux, who would be glad to see him and hear the good tidings of the Gospel. Unfortunately, when they reached the place, the Indians, four or five families excepted, had already left for their winter expedition. He spent about two weeks near the banks of the lake, baptized many per- sons belonging to the families of the FRENIERES, and returned to Men- dota. He there, at the request of the FARIBAULT family, established
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1841] and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota.
a mission at Little Prairie, (now Chaska,) and remained some time. While here, he wrote a catechism and other religious books, in Sioux. . "In the spring of 1843, he went to Dubuque, to see the Right Rev. Bishop LORAS, who gave him some encouragement; then he left Du- buque for Prairie du Chien, where he spent almost two months, and printed, with a small printing press, belonging to Very Rev. J. CRETIN, a book in the Sioux language ;* and then returned to his mission.
"In the months of January, February, and March, 1844, 23 Indians and half-breeds received the sacrament of baptism, but, unfortunately for that new mission, Rev. L. GALTIER was, in the spring of the same year, removed from Mendota to Keokuk, and Father RAVOUx had to take his place, until another priest would be sent from Dubuque. Right Rev. Bishop LORAS had promised to send one after a short time, but, though he renewed, again and again, his promise, he could not fulfill it, and so Father RAVOUX had under his charge, Mendota, Saint Paul, Lake Pepin and Saint Croix, till the 2d of July, 1851, when Right Rev. Bishop CRETIN arrived at Saint Paul."
From the time that Father GALTIER left, until about 1849, Father RAVOUX preached alternate Sundays at Mendota and Saint Paul. The latter year, his flock here increased so that he spent two Sundays here, and the third at Mendota, and so on, until Mendota was made a parish by itself, and Saint Paul's church had the exclusive labors of a priest. Father RAVOUX's life has been spared to witness glorious fruits from his early labors. Beloved by a large congregation and revered by all, he is still actively pursuing his holy calling, with the prayers of his flock that his days may yet be many amongst us.
PROGRESS OF SETTLEMENT.
About this period, the agricultural region between the Mis- sissippi and Saint Croix began slowly settling up. During the summer of 1841, a mission was established at Red Rock, by Rev. B. F. KAVENAUGH, superintendent of the Methodist missions among the Sioux and Chippewas. He was accompa- nied by his family, WILLIAM R. BROWN, (afterwards of Saint Paul,) CHARLES CAVILEER, a Miss JULIA BOSWELL, and Mrs. MARTHA BOARDMAN, the two latter as teachers for the mission. Mr. BROWN erected the buildings for the mission, and subse-
* Wakantanka ti Cancu-Path to the House of God.
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The History of the City of Saint Paul, [1841
quently he and CAVILEER opened a farm. In 1842, DANIEL HOPKINS established a store there, and, in 1847, removed it to Saint Paul. Mr. CAVILEER also removed to Saint Paul; shortly after this, (1845,) and, in 1851, went to Pembina, where he has been postmaster almost a quarter of a century.
Soon after, other farmers settled in the Cottage Grove re- gion-HIRAM HASKELL, J. W. FURBER, JAMES S. NORRIS, and others. JOHN A. FORD and Rev. JOHN HOLTON also settled at Red Rock, and a few families at Point Douglas- DAVID HONE among them.
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1842] and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota.
CHAPTER IX.
EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1842.
HENRY JACKSON SETTLES HERE-ALSO, SERGEANT MORTIMER-FRONCHET AND "OLD PELON"-STANISLAUS BILANSKI-THE BATTLE OF KAPOSIA-STRANGE SCENES.
N June 9, 1842, there landed in Saint Paul, as we may now call it, a man whose name must always be prominently mentioned in connection with the early history of our city.
HENRY JACKSON
was born in Abingdon, Virginia, February 1, 1811. In early life he acquired but a limited education, though he ultimately, by reading and study, became a good penman and accountant, and acquired a fair amount of scholarly culture. He was shrewd, energetic, and self-reliant, and had a. large share of humor and penetration into character. He was of a somewhat roving disposition, however, and, while quite a young man, went to Texas, where he was engaged in the "Patriot War" of 1836-7, with the rank of orderly sergeant. He then made his way back to the States, and lived for a time at Buffalo, New York, where, on May 27, 1838, he was married to Miss ANGELINA BIVINS. He soon after emigrated to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and from there to Galena, Illinois, where he went into business, but failed. He then, (1842,) resolved to remove to Saint Paul, and, gathering his worldly goods together, was landed at our lower levee, on a dark, rainy night, when it re- quired considerable search and trouble to secure a shelter for the night. This was finally accomplished at the Clewett place, where the PERRYS were then living. Mr. JACKSON and family remained here several days, and then rented of old PARRANT a cabin on the levee, where they lived until their own house was ready in the fall.
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JACKSON soon purchased of BEN. GERVAIS a small tract of land, about three acres, lying in the block now bounded by Jackson and Robert, and Bench and Third streets. It was then a high bank or " bluff," a part of which still remains, in rear of the Saint Paul Fire and Marine Building. Here, on a point overlooking the lower levee, JACKSON built a log or pole cabin, and opened a small stock of goods suitable for the Indian trade. He soon did a prosperous business, and, in a short time, by his activity, tact and sagacity, became a lead- ing man in the community.
During his residence in Saint Paul, JACKSON held several important offices. In 1843, he was appointed by Gov. DODGE, of Wisconsin, a Justice of the Peace-the first one who ever filled that office in our city. In 1846, he was appointed the first postmaster of Saint Paul ; and, in 1847, was elected a member of the Wisconsin Assembly, for two years. He was also a member of the first Territorial Legislature of Minnesota,. and a member of the first town council. On April 28, 1853, he removed to Mankato, being almost the first settler in that town, where he died July 31, 1857. Jackson street, in this city, and Jackson county, Minnesota, were named for him.
Mrs. JACKSON subsequently became the wife of JOHN S. HINCKLEY, Esq., of Mankato, and still resides in that city. Mrs. H. has kindly furnished the writer, (who visited her for the purpose,) with many interesting and valuable facts of early days. It has been her fortune to pass her entire life, after marriage, in frontier towns, several of which she has seen grow up from a few cabins to prosperous cities, and endured such privation and hardships as every pioneer woman must neces- sarily undergo. She has now, in her house, at Mankato, the first clock which was ever brought to Saint Paul.
SERGEANT R. W. MORTIMER.
On August 17, 1842, RICHARD W. MORTIMER, usually known as "Sergeant MORTIMER," settled in Saint Paul. MORTIMER was a native of Leeds, England, and was born about the year 1800. His father was a man of some wealth, and young MORTIMER was educated at Eton College. When
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and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota. · II9
19 years of age, in company with a younger brother, he ran away from home, in a foolish, school-boy freak, and went to Canada. His brother soon returned, but RICHARD W. was too proud to do so, and, as a result, was disinherited. He had been splendidly educated, however, and soon turned it to account by procuring an appointment in the Signal Service of the British Army, in which he remained several years. He subsequently emigrated to the United States, and was appointed Commissary and Quartermaster Sergeant, holding both positions for some years. He came to Fort Snelling in 1835, and lived in the fort until 1842, excepting a short time during the Florida war, when he accompanied the troops to that region. During his residence in Canada, he was married to a Miss ELIZABETH MAXWELL, and two children were born there. Three were also born in Fort Snelling.
In the year 1842, Sergeant MORTIMER got tired of army life, and, having saved about $4,000, he concluded to settle in this region. He, therefore, purchased from JOSEPH RONDO, eighty acres of his claim, fronting on the river, and bounded on the east by Saint Peter street, and on the west by Washington street. The exact sum paid for this, I have been unable to ascertain. There was an old house on the claim, at the time, but MORTIMER built, near where ROBINSON's drug store now is, a good hewed log house, with a shingle roof, which his daugh- ter, Mrs. MARIA PATTEN, thinks was the first shingle roof in Saint Paul. MORTIMER made other improvements, and soon opened quite a lot of goods suitable to the trade at that time. He also expended considerable in cattle and horses, and had about 40 acres under cultivation.
Sergeant MORTIMER was really unfitted for the new life in which he had engaged. There were many troubles he had not anticipated. He had expended nearly all the ample sum he had saved in his army life, in his improvements and stock, and realized but little from them at last. The trade was small and the people poor. He was filled with vain regrets that he had ever left the army, and it weighed on his mind so that it affected his health at last. He was a liberal and public-spirited man, and, had he lived, would have been a prominent citizen. The
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first flag every raised in Saint Paul, was procured by him, at the expense of $35. He had one of his men raise it on a pole, in front of his house, on Christmas, 1842. There seems to have been almost as much rivalry between upper and lower town, those days, as there was subsequently, for the flag had been flying but a little while, when some wicked scamp, from the lower part of the village, cut it down. MORTIMER was terribly enraged when he found it out, and was about to put in force Gov. DIx's famous order-" if any man hauls down the American flag, shoot him on the spot." He went to load a gun, and ordered his horse to pursue the offender. His wife, fearing there would be bloodshed, unloosed the horse, and there was so much delay before he was caught, that MORTI- MER's anger cooled down.
Mr. MORTIMER did not live long after his residence in Saint Paul. On January 8th, 1843, he was attacked with hemor- rhage, resulting from an injury received a short time before, and died at the age of 43 years. He left a widow and five children-two sons and three daughters. His oldest daughter is now Mrs. J. R. PATTEN, an estimable lady of Minneapolis. His second daughter, FANNY, married AARON FOSTER, an old settler of Saint Paul. Both are now dead. His youngest daughter, LILY, is now Mrs. ROBERT CLINGER, of Philadel- phia. His two sons, WILLIAM and GEORGE, served in the late war, the former giving an arm to his country. Mrs. ELIZA- BETH MORTIMER died at Minneapolis, January 15, 1873.
While Mr. MORTIMER was living in Saint Paul, there worked for him, and for his family after his death, an old soldier named FRONCHET, or DESIRE-as he was generally called -- referred to more at length on page 62. FRONCHET was a faithful servant, and highly valued despite his infirmities. He always boasted of his Parisian origin and purity of language, affecting to sneer at the Canadian French, whom he declared he could scarcely understand. Poor FRONCHET ! Whisky finally got the better of him, and he came to a sad end.
"OLD PELON."
Shortly after JACKSON opened his trading-house in lower
1842]
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town, he began to feel the need of an interpreter who could talk Sioux, and assist him in selling and buying with his red customers. Opportunely, there happened along, at this junc- ture, from Prairie du Chien, a Canadian ex-voyageur, common- ly known as " Old PELON." What PELON's Christian name was, no one happens now to remember, nor is it of much mo- ment, since, probably, we have sufficiently identified him by the title given. Old PELON was quite a character in his way -- vivacious, polite, good-natured, shrewd, faithful, he proved a valuable aid to Mr. JACKSON, and remained in his service for several years. GOODHUE, who met PELON at the Indian treaty of Traverse de Sioux, in 1851, relates this incident of the old coon :
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