USA > Minnesota > Ramsey County > St Paul > A history of the city of Saint Paul, and of the county of Ramsey, Minnesota > Part 20
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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
THE ELECTION
for Councillors, Representatives and Delegate came off on August 2d. The vote in the Saint Paul precinct stood as follows :
Councillors.
Wm. H. Forbes
187
David Lambert. ...... 91
James M. Boal. 98
Representatives.
B. W. Brunson. I68
P. K. Johnson.
104
A. G. Fuller. 24
Henry Jackson. 165
Eb. Weld. 2
Dr. f. F. Dewey. . 178
Those in italics elected.
Joseph R. Brown 84
The election developed considerable "life" among the boys of those days. The Pioneer said it had "gone off as quietly as could be expected." The Register, however, speaking of the rejoicings over the election, reported more :
"FORBES, McBOAL, BRUNSON, DEWEY, JACKSON and JOHNSON, were successively placed in a small-sized 'go-cart,' and hauled through the streets by the enthusiastic crowd, at a speed rather prejudicial to whole necks. The vehicle finally broke down, but the 'boys' were not to be stopped in their rejoicings. So they carried their successful friends to the hotel, where such cheering took place, as we scarcely ever heard be- fore. The crowd then dispersed in good order."
Hon. H. H. SIBLEY was elected to Congress without op- position.
233
and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota.
1849]
BRIEF NOTES.
" The number of retail liquor establishments in Saint Paul and other towns of the Territory, is a LEETLE too great for a sound and healthy state of public morals. It is the subject of remark by strangers, and gives us a bad name at home and abroad, to say nothing of its evil effects upon society."-[ Register, Aug. 4.]
4
"SHAMEFUL .- Last Monday night, some person in Saint Paul fur- nished a band of Winnebago Indians with liquor. Of course, they got drunk and were patroling our streets at night, singing their terrific war songs, and filled with bitter malignity. These things must not be tolerated."-[ Pioneer, Aug. 9.]
"It is with pleasure that we learn that another school, for the smaller children, will soon be started in the lower town of Saint Paul. In the rush of business, it is pleasant to find the training of the infant minds of the rising generation not neglected."-[ Chronicle, Aug. 10.]
" Messrs. FREEMAN, LARPENTEUR & Co., with some aid from their neighbors, have erected a staircase from the lower landing to the sum- mit of Jackson's point. It renders the passage up and down the bluff a diversified and pleasant promenade."-[ Pioneer, Aug. 16.]
These stairs remained there and were used for several years.
" There will be a school meeting at FREEMAN & LARPENTEUR's on Saturday evening next, at 7 o'clock."-[Ib.]
" We called on friend BRAWLEY the other day, at his brick yard. He is now in a most successful state of operations. He employs two mills, ten men, and has now on hand some 400,000 brick. The quality is bet- ter than can be shown north of Saint Louis. If we are really going to build a city we must use brick."-[ Pioneer, Aug. 30.]
ยท This was the first kiln of brick ever burned in Minnesota. The yard was near the present residence of D. W. INGERSOLL. E. D. NEILL had a dwelling built from this kiln, and the Market Street Methodist Episcopal church was also built from it.
SOCIAL STATISTICS.
Some one in the east having written a letter making inquiry about the Territory, among other things, inquires whether " there are any Odd Fellows' Lodges in the Territory?" Mr. GOODHUE replies : [August 16.]
" As to the Order of Odd Fellows, we have not heard of any, but there are a great many smart bachelors, who will have to continue odd, if their other halves do not come along with you immigrants."
I6
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The History of the City of Saint Paul, [1849
Mr. GOODHUE was right about the preponderance of the male element of population. The census, taken a few months later, disclosed only 860 females to balance 1,337 lords of cre- ation, a disproportion always found in all new western com- munities. Thus, 477 of the young bachelors of Saint Paul must have remained unmated, unless, as the jocose editor sug- gested in another case, they "take up" with some of the " Wenonas of the Sioux nation, who could have been bought any day then for a few dollars each," and, indeed, were con- tinually hanging around, waiting to be bought, at any sum.
In the next issue of the Pioneer, however, one of the "brethren of the three links" throws some light on the question of Odd Fellow's Lodges. One, he says, was instituted at Stillwater, on August 15, and "the brethren of Saint Paul have made application for a charter to institute a Lodge in this place."
EARLY COURTS OF THE TERRITORY.
The first court held in Saint Croix county after the Territory was organized, was on August 12. Chief Justice GOOD- RICH presided, and Judge COOPER assisted. GOODHUE says : " The roll of attorneys is large for a new country. About 20, of the lankest and hungriest description, were in attendance." The term lasted six days. "The proceedings," says the Chronicle and Register, "were for the first two or three days somewhat crude, owing to the assembling of a bar com- posed of persons from nearly every State. But, by the urban- ity, conciliatory firmness, and harmonious course taken by the Court, matters were in a great measure systematized." At this session, it was said only one man on the jury wore boots ! All the rest had moccasins:
The court of the Second District, Judge MEEKER presiding, "met at the house of Mr. BEAN, on the west bank of the Mississippi, opposite the Falls of Saint Anthony," the same week. The grand jury room was the old government saw mill !
The court of the Third District was held at Mendota in the latter part of August, Judge COOPER presiding. Gen. SIBLEY was foreman of the grand jury. Judge COOPER read the jury
235
1849] and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota.
an elaborate charge, which, Gen. S. says, only three out of the twenty odd members understood, the rest being French. Maj. FORBES acted as interpreter during the term.
ORGANIZATION OF A MASONIC LODGE.
Reference was made a few pages back to a meeting for the purpose of organizing a Masonic Lodge. The movers in the work applied to the Grand Lodge of Ohio for a Dispensation, which was granted on August 8, 1849. On September 8, the Lodge was organized in the office of C. K. SMITH, who had been designated in the warrant as first Master. Soon after, the officers and members were announced as follows: W. M., C. K. SMITH ; S. W., JAMES HUGHES ; J. W., DANIEL F. BRAWLEY ; Treas., J. C. RAMSEY ; Sec., J. A. AITKENSIDE ; S. D., LOT MOFFET ; J. D., TAYLOR DUDLEY ; Tyler, W. C. WRIGHT. Members-AARON GOODRICH, JOHN CONDON, AL- BERT TITLOW, JOHN HOLLAND, LEVI SLOAN, C. P. V. LULL, GEORGE EGBERT, SAMUEL H. DENT, D. B. LOOMIS, M. S. WILKINSON, JOHN LUMLEY, H. N. SETZER, JAMES M. BOAL, CHAS. P. SCOTT, O. H. KELLEY, CHAS. M. BERG, WILLIAM H. RANDALL, HUGH TYLER, LUTHER B. BRUIN, A. M. MITCHELL.
The Lodge met for sometime in a room in the Merchants' Hotel building. C. P. SCOTT is said to be the first Mason made in Saint Paul.
ASSEMBLING OF THE LEGISLATURE.
On Monday, September 3, the first session of the Legisla- ture assembled at the Capitol, (i. e., Central House,) the ho- tel business not being impeded by the law-making branch whatever. On the first floor was Secretary SMITH's office and the "Representative Chamber." Up-stairs was the li- brary and the "Council Chamber." As the Council had only nine members, and the House eighteen, it did not require a large room to accommodate either, and no formalities stood in the way of their business.
" Both Houses," said a subsequent writer in the Pioncer, "met in the dining hall, where Rev. E. D. NEILL prays for
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The History of the City of Saint Paul, [1849
us all, and Governor RAMSEY delivers a message full of hope and far-sighted prophecy, to comfort us withal ; and then leaves the poor devils sitting on rough board benches and chairs, after dinner, to work out as they may this old problem of self-government through the appalling labyrinth of parlia- mentary rules and tactics that perplex their souls. Yet no Legislature which ever sat in Minnesota was made of better stuff than that which assembled to lay the corner-stone of the political edifice."
HOMICIDE.
On the 12th of September, a lad, named ISAIAH McMILLAN, accidentally or carelessly shot another lad, named HEMAN SNOW, near the corner of Third and Franklin streets, with a gun loaded with shot. The charge entered the head of the unfortunate boy, and he soon after died. McMILLAN was tried for homicide, at the February term of the first District Court, held by Judge COOPER, in Stillwater. There not hav- ing been proved any malice aforethought in the act, the jury returned a verdict of manslaughter, with a recommendation to mercy. The boy was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, but, as there was no county jail, he was sent to Fort Snelling for confinement, where he was kept as a prisoner for a year, though not closely confined. He appeared to be half-witted, or partially idiotic. This was the first trial for murder in Minnesota, whose soil has so often since been stained with human blood by the crime of CAIN.
BIRTH OF DEMOCRACY IN MINNESOTA.
Hitherto, the party lines had not been drawn very strictly in * the new Territory. At the election noticed ante, no political questions had entered into the canvass. The first erection of party standards took place at a "Democratic Mass Conven- tion," which met pursuant to call, at the American House, on October 20, 1849. Suitable resolutions were reported and adopted, the Pioneer was declared the organ of the party, and from this time dates the bitterness of party strife.
.
237
1849] and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota.
FERRY CHARTERS.
We noticed, a few pages back, an article by Mr. GOODHUE, on the necessity of a bridge across the river to West Saint Paul. This must necessarily be, however, a work for the future. To supply something better for travel and commerce to cross the river than a dug-out, a bill was introduced by Hon. HENRY JACKSON, " to grant a charter to ISAAC N. GOODHUE to keep and maintain a ferry across the Mississippi River opposite the lower landing, in Saint Paul." The bill did not pass at that session, however, but a notice was soon after placed in the Pioneer that JAMES M. & ISAAC N. GOODHUE would apply to the Commissioners of Ramsey county for a ferry charter across the Mississippi, at the lower landing. The license was granted on January 7, 1850, and, at the same meeting, a ferry privilege was also granted to JOHN R. IRVINE, to run one from the upper levee. These ferries plied regularly until the Saint Paul bridge was completed in 1858.
LOCATION OF THE CAPITAL.
The question of the location of the Capital came up during the session, on the consideration of a part of Gov. RAMSEY'S message referring to that subject. The Committee on Terri- torial Affairs, to whom it had been referred, reported that :
"They are constrained to give it as their opinion, that Saint Paul should continue to be the seat of government of the Territory until otherwise determined by a vote of the people. Apart from the fact that Saint Paul is the most central point, so far as the present popula- tion of the Territory is concerned, the fact that it is the head of naviga- tion on the east of the Mississippi, and accessible to steamboats, is another strong point in its favor. Your committee believe that it is the wish of a.majority of the inhabitants of Minnesota, that the location of the Capital should not be changed. With good roads diverging from every point, Saint Paul is easily reached at all seasons of the year."
Considerable discussion ensued during the session on this subject, as to whether the Territory had a right to expend the $20,000 appropriated in the Organic Act, for a Capitol building. The question having been submitted to Hon. W. M. MEREDITH, Secretary of the Treasury, he replied that the " Department
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The History of the City of Saint Paul, [1849
cannot doubt that the public buildings in question can only be erected at the permanent seat of government, located as described. Of course, the reply to your inquiry must be, that nothing can be expended from this appropriation until after the location shall be duly made."
So the permanent location was not definitely settled this session, however, but, at the close of the Legislature, it was a drawn battle. Saint Paul remained the temporary seat of government, and the Governor was authorized to rent build- ings to carry on the public business meantime.
Ex-Gov. MARSHALL, in his address before the Old Settlers of Hennepin county, February 22, 1871, says, regarding the contest for the seat of government :
" The original act made Saint Paul the temporary Capital, but pro- vided that the Legislature might determine the permanent Capital. A bill was introduced by the Saint Paul delegation to fix the permanent Capital there. I opposed it,* endeavoring to have Saint Anthony made the seat of government. We succeeded in defeating the bill which sought to make Saint Paul the permanent Capital, but we could not get through the bill fixing it at Saint Anthony. So the question re- mained open in regard to the permanent Capital until the next session, . in 1851, when a compromise was effected, by which the Capital was to be at Saint Paul, the State University at Saint Anthony, and the Peni- tentiary at Stillwater.
"At that early day, as well as now, caricatures and burlesques were in vogue. Young WM, RANDALL, of Saint Paul, now deceased, who had some talent in the graphic line, drew a picture of the efforts at Capital-removal. It was a building on wheels, with ropes attached, at which I was pictured tugging, while BRUNSON, JACKSON, and the other Saint Paul members were holding and checking the wheels to prevent my moving it, with humorous and appropriate speeches proceeding from the mouths of the parties to the contest. The caricature was quite a good one, and served to amuse the people of Saint Paul for some days. When this question was before me, as Governor, if it had been the old question of removal to Saint Anthony-a very different thing from removal to a point more than a hundred miles from the centre of. population, and quite as far from the geographical centre of the State- I do not believe I should have been so ready to veto it."
This was the first struggle on the Capital question. The sessions of 1851, 1857, 1869 and 1872, saw it repeated, as will be noted under those dates.
* Gov. MARSHALL then represented Saint Anthony, at which place he lived.
239
1849]
and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota.
WILLIAM R. MARSHALL
was born in Boone county, Missouri, October 17, 1825. His father, JOSEPH MARSHALL, was a native of Kentucky, and his mother, ABBY SHAW, of Pennsylvania. In his younger days, Mr. MARSHALL followed
WILLIAM R. MARSHALL.
the business of mining, surveying, &c., and spent several years in the lead region of Wisconsin. In 1847, he came to Saint Croix Falls, and settled there for a few months. During September of that year, he first visited Saint Anthony Falls, on foot. His account of this visit, in his
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The History of the City of Saint Paul, [1849
address before mentioned, is worthy of a record here: "When with weary feet, I stood at last, in the afternoon of that day, on the brink of the Falls, I saw them in all their beauty and grandeur, unmarred by the hand of man,-in such beauty of nature as no one has seen them in the past 22 years. As the light of the fast-declining sun of that autumn day bathed the tops of the trees and the summits of the gentle hills, and left the shadows of the wooded islands darkling the waters, and as the plunging, seething, deafening Falls sent up the mist and set its rainbow arching the scene, I was filled with a sense of the awe-in- spiring in nature, such as I have rarely since experienced." At that time a claim shanty or two were the only habitations there.
Gov. MARSHALL, on that visit, staked out a claim, and cut logs for a cabin, but could not get a team to haul them. So he left it for the present, and returned in 1849, and perfected his claim, which has since become an addition to the city.
In the fall of 1848, he was elected to the Legislature of Wisconsin, from Saint Croix county, but his seat was contested by JOSEPH BOWRON, of Hudson, on the grounds that MARSHALL lived out of the limits of the State, which had just been admitted.
After settling at Saint Anthony, in 1849, he was elected a member of the first Legislature from that district. He was then engaged in the iron and heavy hardware business. The following summer, he en- deavored to get the steamers to deliver his heavy freights at the foot of the Falls, but, as they would not or could not do so, he was compelled to remove his business to Saint Paul, which he did in 1851. He had, in the meantime, it may be remarked, surveyed "Leech's Addition," and other portions of our city. On removing to Saint Paul, he established the first iron store in this city, the same business now continued by NICOLS & DEAN. In 1852, he was elected County Surveyor. In 1853, with his brother, JOSEPH M. MARSHALL, (now of Colorado, ) and N. P. LANGFORD, he established a banking house, which was very successful until 1857, when the crash prostrated everything. In 1855, he was the candidate of the Republican party for Delegate to Congress, but the party were not successful in the contest, H. M. RICE being elected ; though 10 years later the tables were turned, Mr. MARSHALL beating Mr. RICE for Governor. After withdrawing from the banking business, he en- gaged in stock-raising and dairy-farming for several years, importing some of the finest cattle ever brought to our State.
In December, 1860, he purchased the Saint Paul Daily Times, and, on January 1, 1861, issued it as the Daily Press, in connection with NEW- TON BRADLEY, Esq., as business manager, and JOSEPH A. WHEELOCK, as assistant editor. The Press was very successful, soon absorbing the Minnesotian, and has been ever since, until its mergement into another paper, a leading journal of the State.
In August, 1862, Gov. MARSHALL enlisted in the Seventh Regiment,
241
1849]
and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota.
of which he was appointed Lieut. Colonel. During the Sioux out- break, he was constantly in active service, and, in several engagements, led his men with a fearless bravery which has always been a character- istic. He was also in the expedition of 1863. In November of that year he was commissioned Colonel. The Regiment went south that fall, and was soon after assigned to the Sixteenth Army Corps. It had its full share of battles and campaigns, until the end of the war, Col. MARSHALL being, in the meantime, brevetted a Brigadier. Shortly af- ter the discharge of the Regiment, in August, 1865, he was elected Governor of Minnesota, and, in 1867, re-elected for another term. On the conclusion of his term, January, 1870, he again engaged in bank- ing, being Vice President of the Marine National Bank, and President of the Minnesota Savings Bank. In 1874, he was appointed a member of the Board of Railroad Commissioners, and, in November, 1875, was re-elected Commissioner for two years.
Gov. MARSHALL has been prominent in a number of our public in- stitutions, and in measures and enterprises to benefit the city-such as the Saint Paul bridge, &c., and in educational matters. He has been active in organizing the Swedenborgian church in this city, and has liberally aided other societies. Like most of our pioneers, he rejoices in sound health and a good constitution, and his active participation in events may extend over another generation yet.
SAINT PAUL INCORPORATED AS A TOWN.
The Legislature continued in session for 60 days, adjourning on November 3, 1849. It passed many acts which had a bear- ing on the material prosperity of the Territory. Nine coun- ties were created, among them one named in honor of the Governor of the Territory-RAMSEY. Saint Paul was declared to be the county seat of the same, and, on the first day of No- vember, 1849, a bill was approved, incorporating the " Town of Saint Paul." It begins as follows :
" Be it enacted, &c. That so much of the Town of Saint Paul as is contained in the original plat of said town, made by IRA BRUNSON, to- gether with Irvine and Rice's Addition, be and the same is hereby created a town corporate, by the name of the Town of Saint Paul."
Then follows a provision for the election, on the 6th of May following, "and annually thereafter," of one President, one Recorder, and five Trustees, each for the term of one year, the same to constitute a Town Council. They were empow- ered to appoint a Treasurer and Marshal, and other subordinate
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The History of the City of Saint Paul, [1849
officers. The President was also to be a Justice of the Peace, ex-officio, in all matters, civil or criminal.
APPOINTMENTS OF OFFICERS.
On the adjournment of the Legislature, the following ap- pointments by the Governor were announced, for Ramsey county :
Register of Deeds .- DAVID DAY .*
Sheriff .- C. P. V. LULL.
Commissioners .- LOUIS ROBERT and ANDRE GODFREY.
Judge of Probate .- HENRY A. LAMBERT.
THE FIRST "BANK" IN SAINT PAUL.
The Pioneer, of November 15, aired up quite a neat swin- dle, as follows :
"Some time in September last, there came to Saint Paul a burly- looking, middle-aged man, of medium stature, dressed in a drab suit, and wearing a drab-colored fur hat, who called himself ISAAC YOUNG, and represented that he had formerly been a saddler in Ohio. This man closeted himself with a Mr. SAWYER, who was then in Saint Paul, and got him to sign a large number of handsomely engraved pieces of paper, on which were engraved the words, " Bank of Saint Croix, Saint Paul, Minnesota," or something of that purport. Mr. YOUNG
* DAVID DAY was born in Burke's Garden, Virginia, September 19, 1825, and his boyhood was passed in the same place. In 1846, he removed to the lead region of Wis- consin, where he followed mining for three years, studying medicine at night and other leisure times, and attending the Medical Department of the University of Penn- sylvania in winter. He graduated from that Institute in 1849. He came to Saint Paul in the spring of that year, and commenced the practice of medicine, which he pursued with much success for several years. In 1854, he entered the drug business, and with- drew from the practice of medicine. During this period he also held one or two im- portant public positions. In 1849, he was appointed Register of Deeds, and the same fall elected for two years more. He was also a member of the Legislatures of 1852 and 1853, from Benton county, in which he was temporarily residing, the latter year being elected Speaker. He retired from the drug business in 1866, being at that time the oldest house in the State. In 1871, he was appointed State Prison Inspector. In 1874, he was ap- pointed one of the Commissioners of State Fisheries, and also " Seed Wheat Commis- sioner," to provide the sufferers from the grasshopper raid with seed-both honorary appointments, without any compensation. On June 1, 1875, he was appointed Postmas- ter of Saint Paul. Dr. DAY has been a close observer and diligent student of questions and problems in social science, philosophy and political economy, and at the same time has been one of our most successful, sagacious and enterprising business men. With an even temperament, and well-preserved physique, one might almost expect him to be the " last man" of the old settlers.
1849] and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota. 243
disappeared from Saint Paul. The next we hear of Mr. YOUNG, he is in Saint Louis, buying printing paper, and negotiating for goods to send to Saint Paul. Notes of the "Bank of Saint Croix, at Saint Paul," are quoted in the Eastern bank note lists at one per cent. dis- count, the quotation being furnished by some accomplice in the fraud, living in Wall street, New York. Mr. YOUNG has not reappeared in
DAVID DAY.
Saint Paul, and probably never will. Mr. SAWYER, we learn, was duped in this affair."
ITEMS.
The rush of immigration continued late that fall. The Pi- oneer, of. November 15, says : "Steamboats continue to ar- rive at our wharves, laden with merchandize and passengers."
The Chronicle, of September 29, states that 2, 135 barrels of cranberries had been shipped below up to that date. The
1
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The History of the City of Saint Paul, [1849
cranberry trade, for several years, was quite a large one. They were mostly gathered by squaws, who traded them for goods and other merchandize at the stores.
Pig's Eye was stated at this time to have a population of forty families.
THE ELECTION FOR COUNTY OFFICERS,
under the new laws passed by the Legislature, took place on November 26. Ramsey county at that time extended up the Mississippi River to its source almost, including, of course, Saint Anthony. The vote stood as follows :
St. Anthony.
St. Paul.
Total.
Register
Dr. D. Day ..
39
172
2II
W. D. Phillips
30
69
99
Sheriff.
. C. P. V. Lull.
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