USA > Minnesota > Meeker County > Album of history and biography of Meeker County, Minnesota > Part 10
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November 21, 1872, General Arthur was appointed Collector of the Port of New York by President Grant, and he held the office until July 20, 1878.
The next event of prominence in General Arthur's career was his nomination to the Vice-Presidency of the United States, under the influence of Roscoe Conkling, at the Național Republican Convention held at Chicago in June, 1880, when James A. Gar- field was placed at the head of the ticket. Both the convention and the campaign that followed were noisy and exciting. The friends of Grant, constituting nearly half
the convention, were exceedingly persist- ent, and were sorely disappointed over their defeat. At the head of the Demo- cratic ticket was placed a very strong and popular man ; yet Garfield and Arthur were elected by a respectable plurality of the popular vote. The 4th of March following, these gentlemen were accordingly inaugu- rated ; but within four months the assassin's bullet made a fatal wound in the person of General Garfield, whose life terminated September 19, 1881, when General Arthur, ex officio, was obliged to take the chief reins of government. Some misgivings were entertained by many in this event, as Mr. Arthur was thought to represent espe cially the Grant and Conkling wing of the Republican party ; but President Arthur had both the ability and the good sense to allay all fears, and he gave the restless, critical American people as good an ad- ministration as they had ever been blessed with. Neither selfishness nor low parti- sanism ever characterized any feature of his public service. He ever maintained a high sense of every individual right as well as of the Nation's honor. Indeed, he stood so high that his successor, President Cleve- land, though of opposing politics, expressed a wish in his inaugural address that he could only satisfy the people with as good an administration.
But the day of civil service reform had come in so far, and the corresponding re- action against "third-termism" had en- croached so far even upon "second-term" service, that the Republican party saw fit in 1884 to nominate another man for Presi- dent. Only by this means was General Arthur's tenure of office closed at Wash- ington. On his retirement from the Presi- deney, March, 1885, he engaged in the praetiee of law at New York City, where he died November 18, 1886.
En un Clinlung
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GROVER CLEVELAND.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
ROVER CLEVE- LAND, the twenty- second President of the United States, 1885-, was born in Caldwell, Essex County, New Jersey, March 18, 1837. The house in which he was born, a small two-story wooden building, is still stand- ing. It was the parsonage of
the Presbyterian church, of which his father, Richard Cleveland, at the time was pastor. The family is of New England origin, and for two centuries has contributed to the professions and to busi- ness, men who have reflected honor on the name. Aaron Cleveland, Grover Cleve- land's great-great-grandfather, was born in Massachusetts, but subsequently moved to Philadelphia, where he became an intimate friend of Benjamin Franklin, at whose house he died. He left a large family of children, who in time married and settled in different parts of New England. A grandson was one of the small American force that fought the British at Bunker Hill. He served with gallantry through- out the Revolution and was honorably discharged at its close as a Lieutenant in the Continental army. Another grandson, William Cleveland (a son of a second Aaron
Cleveland, who was distinguished as a writer and member of the Connecticut Legislature) was Grover Cleveland's grand- father. William Cleveland became a silver- smith in Norwich, Connecticut. He ac- quired by industry some property and sent his son, Richard Cleveland, the father of Grover Cleveland, to Yale College, where he graduated in 1824. During a year spent in teaching at Baltimore, Maryland, after graduation, he met and fell in love with a Miss Annie Neale, daughter of a wealthy Baltimore book publisher, of Irish birth. He was earning his own way in the world at the time and was unable to marry; but in three years he completed a course of preparation for the ministry, secured a church in Windham, Connecticut, and married Annie Neale. Subsequently he moved to Portsmouth, Virginia, where he preached for nearly two years, when he was summoned to Caldwell, New Jersey, where was born Grover Cleveland.
When he was three years old the family moved to Fayetteville, Onondaga County, New York. Here Grover Cleveland lived until he was fourteen years old, the rugged, healthful life of a country boy. His frank, generous manner made him a favorite among his companions, and their respect was won by the good qualities in the germ which his manhood developed. He at- tended the district school of the village and
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PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
was for a short time at the academy. His father, however, believed that boys should be taught to labor at an early age, and be- fore he had completed the course of study at the academy he began to work in the village store at $50 for the first year, and the promise of $100 for the second year. ITis work was well done and the promised in- crease of pay was granted the second year.
Meanwhile his father and family had moved to Clinton, the seat of Hamilton College, where his father acted as agent to the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, preaching in the churches of the vicinity. Hither Grover came at his father's request shortly after the beginning of his second year at the Fayetteville store, and resumed his studies at the Clinton Academy. After three years spent in this town, the Rev. Richard Cleveland was called to the vil- lage church of Holland Patent. He had preached here only a month when he was suddenly stricken down and died without an hour's warning. The death of the father left the family in straitened circumstances, as Richard Cleveland had spent all his salary of $1,000 per year, which was not required for the necessary expenses of liv- ing, upon the education of his children, of whom there were nine, Grover being the fifth. Grover was hoping to enter Hamil- ton College, but the death of his father made it necessary for him to earn his own livelihood. For the first year (1853-'4) he acted as assistant teacher and bookkeeper in the Institution for the Blind in New York City, of which the late Augustus Schell was for many years the patron. In the winter of 1854 he returned to Holland Patent where the generous people of that place, Fayetteville and Clinton, had purchased a home for his mother, and in the following spring, borrowing $25, he set out for the West to earn his living.
Reaching Buffalo he paid a hasty visit to an uncle, Lewis F. Allen, a well-known
stock farmer, living at Black Rock, a few miles distant. He communicated his plans to Mr. Allen, who discouraged the idea of the West, and finally induced the enthusi- astic boy of seventeen to remain with him and help him prepare a catalogue of blooded short-horn cattle, known as " Allen's Amer- ican Herd Book," a publication familiar to all breeders of cattle. In August, 1855, he entered the law office of Rogers, Bowen & Rogers, at Buffalo, and after serving a few months without pay, was paid $4 a week-an amount barely sufficient to meet the necessary expenses of his board in the family of a fellow-student in Buffalo, with whom he took lodgings. Life at this time with Grover Cleveland was a stern battle with the world. He took his breakfast by candle-light with the drovers, and went at once to the office where the whole day was spent in work and study. Usually he re- turned again at night to resume reading which had been interrupted by the duties of the day. Gradually his employers came to recognize the ability, trustworthiness and capacity for hard work in their young employe, and by the time he was admitted to the bar (1859) he stood high in their con- fidence. A year later he was made confi- dential and managing clerk, and in the course of three years more his salary had been raised to $1,000. In 1863 he was ap- pointed assistant district attorney of Erie County by the district attorney, the Hon. C. C. Torrance.
Since his first vote had been cast in 1858 he had been a staunch Democrat, and until he was chosen Governor he always made it his duty, rain or shine, to stand at the polls and give out ballots to Democratic voters. During the first year of his term as assistant district attorney, the Democrats desired especially to carry the Board of Su- pervisors. The old Second Ward in which he lived was Republican ordinarily by 250 majority, but at the urgent request of the
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GROVER CLEVELAND.
party Grover Cleveland consented to be the Democratic candidate for Supervisor, and came within thirteen votes of an elec- cion. The three years spent in the district attorney's office were devoted to assiduous labor and the extension of his professional attainments. He then formed a law part- nership with the late Isaac V. Vanderpoel, ex-State Treasurer, under the firm name of Vanderpoel & Cleveland. Here the bulk of the work devolved on Cleveland's shoul- ders, and he soon won a good standing at the bar of Erie County. In 1869 Mr. Cleveland formed a partnership with ex- Senator A. P. Laning and ex-Assistant United States District Attorney Oscar Fol- som, under the firm name of Laning, Cleve- land & Folsom. During these years he began to earn a moderate professional in- come; but the larger portion of it was sent to his mother and sisters at Holland Patent to whose support he had contributed ever since 1860. He served as sheriff of Erie County, 1870-'4, and then resumed the practice of law, associating himself with the Hon. Lyman K. Bass and Wilson S. Bissell.
The firm was strong and popular, and soon commanded a large and lucrative practice. Ill health forced the retirement of Mr. Bass in 1879, and the firm became Cleveland & Bissell. In 1881 Mr. George J. Sicard was added to the firm.
In the autumn election of 1881 he was elected mayor of Buffalo by a majority of over 3.500-the largest majority ever given a candidate for mayor-and the Democratic city ticket was successful, although the Republicans carried Buffalo by over 1,000 majority for their State ticket. Grover Cleveland's administration as mayor fully justified the confidence reposed in him by the people of Buffalo, evidenced by the great vote he received.
The Democratic State Convention met at Syracuse, September 22, 1882, and nomi. nated Grover Cleveland for Governor on the third ballot and Cleveland was elected by 192,000 majority. . In the fall of 1884 he was elected President of the United States by about 1,000 popular majority, in New York State, and he was accordingly inaugurated the 4th of March following.
e
HISTORY
OF
KIMINNESOTA.
.
HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
CHAPTER I.
LOCATION, TOPOGRAPHY AND GENERAL REMARKS.
INNESOTA is located in the geographical center of the con- tinent of North America - mid- way between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and also mid way between Hudson's Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It embraces territory extending from latitude 43 degrees 50 minutes, to 49 de- grees, and from 89 degrees 29 minutes to 97 degrees 5 minutes west longitude. As to its area, it can only be estimated, as portions of the State are as yet unsurveyed ; but as near as can be arrived at, the area is $5,531 square miles, or about 53,760,000 acres. In size Minnesota is the fourth State in the Union. From its southern boundary to the northern is about 400 miles, and from the most east- ern to the extreme western point about 354 miles. In altitude it appears to be one of the highest portions of the continent, as the headwaters of the three great river systems" are found in its limits- those of streams flowing northward to Hudson's Bay, east- ward to the Atlantic Ocean, and southward to the Gulf of Mexico.
Nearly three-quarters.of the surface of the State is made up of rolling prairie, inter- spersed with frequent groves, oak openings and belts of hardwood timber, watered by numerous lakes and streams, and covered with a warm, dark soil of great fertility. The balance, embracing the elevated district
immediately west of Lake Superior, consists mainly of the rich mineral ranges on its shores, and of the pine forests which extend over the upper Mississippi country, affording extensive supplies of timber. But a very small portion is broken, rocky or worthless land; nearly all is arable. But few States are so well watered as Minnesota, and the numerous rivers and water-courses give ex- cellent drainage. A number of the rivers - the Mississippi, the Minnesota, the St. Croix, the St. Louis, the Red and the Red Lake riv- ers -are navigable, and nearly all of the balance afford water power. The lakes of Minnesota are among its principal physical characteristics. The estimate of 10,000 lakes in the State is not an unreasonable one.
With all these natural advantages, favor- able climate and rich soil, Minnesota has become one of the most successful agricult- ural States in the . Union, and stock-raising and dairying is rapidly becoming a leading industry. Lumbering is also carried on very extensively, and the manufacturing branch is rapidly becoming large. While at first it was supposed that this State was destitute of valuable minerals, recent discoveries prove to the contrary. Inexhaustible supplies of the best iron ore exist, and are now being mined and exported in large quantities. Sil- ver veins have also been found near the boundary line ; copper ore has also been found, and it is known that plumbago and gold quartz exist. Building material, gran-
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
ite, brownstone, limestone, sandstone and brick and potter's clay are abundant.
A few words as to railroads and history relating to their construction will also be interesting. Twenty-five years ago (1862), there were only ten miles of railway in operation in the State. At the close of 1885 there were 6,721 miles in operation. The general government has granted to railroads within this State 12,151,527 acres of land, and the State has given 1,811,750 acres of swamp and other lands, making a total of 13,933,277 acres of land within the State given to railroads, valued on the average at $5 per acre, making $69.666,385 thus given. In addition, local, county and State bonds have been given them amounting to over $6,680,000, making in lands and cash a total gift of 876,496,385, or about $19,345 for
every mile completed. There is material in these facts for an extended political essay, and they certainly furnish food for thought.
In concluding these general remarks it may justly be said that the outlook for the State is most gratifying. Its population is rapidly increasing, and its taxable wealth increasing in similar ratio. Every year sees an enormous area of its rich soil brought under cultivation, while there are still mill- ions of acres awaiting the plow of the set- tler.
The following table of census returns will show the growth of the State as to popula- tion : 1850, population 6,077; 1860, popula- tion 172,023 ; 1865, population 250,099 ; 1870, population 439,706; 1875, population 597, 407; 1880, population 780,773, and in 1885 the population was 1,117,798.
CHAPTER II.
HISTORY OF MINNESOTA-FROM 1660 TO 1887.
HE first exploration by whites of .......... the territory which now com- prises the State of Minnesota dates back early into the seven- teenth century. It is claimed by good authority that Jean Nicolet (pronounced Nicolay), one of Champlain's interpreters, was the first to spread knowl- edge of the country west of Lake Michigan. As early as 1635 he set foot upon the western shores of Lake Michigan, and traded near Green Bay, also roaming over various portions of Wisconsin at about that time. In December of the same year he returned to Canada. It is very doubtful whether Nicolet ever set foot on Minnesota soil, although it is certain that his visit to the country west of Lake Michigan was the means of spreading knowledge of this country, and of the aborigines of Minnesota. It was said of him that he penetrated far distant countries, and in a letter bearing date of 1640, it is stated that "if he had procceded three days more on a river which flows from that lake (Green Bay), he would have found the sea." The death of this explorer occurred at Three Rivers in 1640.
After Nicolet's visit to Wisconsin, for a quarter of a century history brings no trace of any explorations concerning this region. At the end of this time, in 1660, the first white men of whom there is any reliable record, set foot on Minnesota soil. They were Medard Chouart, called Groselliers, and Pierre d'Esprit, who was known as Sieur Radisson. Both were Frenchmen who had come to Canada when young men to engage + say-ya) and Radisson, accompanied by others,
in the fur trade. About the middle of that century several important changes had been made in the location of Indian tribes. The Hurons and their allies, the Ottawas, after successive battles, had drifted to the west of Lake Michigan. In former times they had been located in the St. Lawrence region. Finally reaching the Mississippi they found the Iowa River. Later, returning to the Mississippi, they settled upon an island in the river near where the city of Hastings is now located ; but becoming involved in battles with the Sioux, we finally find the Ilurons located about the headwaters of the Chippeway, and the Ottawas on the shores of Lake Superior, near where Bay- field is now situated. It was to trade with the Indians that the two Frenchmen men- tioned, Groselliers and Radisson, made their trip to this wild region. They passed the winter of 1659-60 among the Sioux villages in the Mille Laes country, and the following spring and summer was spent in the region of Lake Superior. In August, 1660, they returned to Montreal, and their report of the country they had visited created much ex- citement. Within a few weeks an exploring and trading party was formed, and accom- panied by six Frenchmen and two priests, one of whom was the Jesuit, Rene Menard, they again started westward, and on the 15th of October, 1660, they reached the Ottawa settlement on the shores of Lake Superior. The objects of this party were varions, some bent on exploration, others on trading, while Father Menard went as a missionary. Groselliers (pronounced Gro-
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
pushed on through the country to the northwest of Lake Superior and at length reached Hudson's Bay. They returned to Montreal in May, 1662. The names of all the members of this party have not been preserved. Groselliers and Rad isson proceeded to Paris, thence to Lon- don, where they were well received by the nobility and scientific men. A vessel was fitted out and placed at their disposal, in the hope of finding a northwest passage to Asia. In June, 1668, they left England and made an extended voyage, reaching a tributary of Hudson's Bay and returning to England, where, in 1679, the famous trading corporation, the " Hudson's Bay Company," was chartered.
Now to return to the venerable Father Menard, who had been left among the Ottawa Indians on the shores of Lake Superior in October, 1660. For nearly a year he lived there in a cabin built of fir branches. In the summer of 1661 he decided to visit the Ilurons, who had fled eastward from the Sioux of Minnesota and were located among the woods of northern Wisconsin, as stated. Ile was accompanied by one Frenchman, whose name has been lost in the mist of years. They became separated, and Father Menard was lost, as Perrot says, "in the labyrinth of trees." This was the last ever positively known of him, although his brevi- ary and cassock were said afterward to have been found among the Sioux Indians. Whether this good and venerable man starved or was murdered or captured by the Indians will forever be shrouded in mystery.
These were the carliest explorations of the Northwest of which any record has been left, but after that period this region was visited by various parties at long intervals, and many interesting documents have been pre- served giving accounts of their journeys and discoveries.
About the year 1665 several French trad-
ers and the Jesuit, Allouez, visited the coun- try off the western shore of Lake Superior. Early in 1679 we find Daniel G. Du Luth west of Lake Michigan, and it is believed he planted the French arms on Minnesota soil. ITis records state that " on July 2d he caused his Majesty's arms to be planted in the great village of the Nadousioux. called Kathio, and at Songaskicous and Houetbatons, one hundred and twenty leagues distant from the former." Rev. E. D. Neill in his thorough work relating to early explorers of Minnesota, locates this as being "one hun- dred and twenty leagues beyond Mille Laes." Du Luth states that at one point on Minnesota soil he found upon a tree this legend : " Arms of the King ent on this tree in the year 1679." He established several posts, carried on trading with the Indians, and was probably the most prominent of the early explorers. Later he was stationed near Lake Erie and died in 1710. His reports furnish much interesting information regarding the early explorations in the Northwest.
La Salle was given a commission by the King of France in 1678 to "explore the West," and do limited trading. He visited various parts of the Northwest. Ilis jeal- ousy of Du Luth appears to form a consider- able portion of his official reports, but it is stated on good authority that he wrote the first description of the upper Mississippi Valley, August 22, 1682, some months before the publication of Father Hennepin's first work, "Description de la Louisiane." Ile must, however, have obtained his information from one of Hennepin's men.
Father Louis Hennepin's explorations and adventures through the Northwest form an interesting chapter in the earlier history of this region. He was a native of Ath, an in- land town of the Netherlands, and had carly assumed the robes of priesthood. In 1676 He came to Canada, and two years later vas
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
ordered to join the La Salle exploring expe- dition. A ship was rigged, and on August 7th, 1679, its sails caught the breezes of Lake Erie- the first European vessel launched on the great lakes. La Salle con- ducted his expedition to Green Bay, thence along the coast of Lake Michigan, and abont the middle of January, 1680, landed it on an eminence near Lake Peoria, on the Illinois River, where he commenced the erection of Fort Crevecœur. On the last of February of the same year. Father Hennepin, in company with Michael Accault (Ako) and Angelle, left the fort to ascend the Mississippi River. On the 11th of April, 1680, after having reached a point north of the Chippewa River, they were met and taken charge of by a party of over a hundred Sioux Indians. They then proceeded with the Indians to their villages, nearly sixty leagues north of St. An- thony falls. They remained with the Indians some time, being well treated, and on the 25th of July, 1680, they were met by Du Luth, who was accompanied by his interpre- ter, Faffart, and several French soldiers. They then proceeded to Mille Lacs, arriving. according to Father's Hennepin writings, on the 11th of August, 1680. In the latter part of September they started to return to the French settlement, passing by St. Anthony falls. Father Hennepin published two works relating to his discoveries. the first, "De- scription de la Louisiane," in 1836; the sec- ond. "The New Discovery," in 1697. These works called forth much criticism, as there can be no doubt Ilennepin greatly magnified his own importance, and exaggerated his services and discoveries. For instance, he claims to have descended the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, before proceed- ing northward, then returned and proceeded on to the St. Anthony falls. This in the face of his own stated facts - leaving Fort Creve- cœur the last of February, he claims to have made this wonderful trip, and arrived two
miles south of where the city of St. Paul is now located, late in April, giving the 11th of April as the date of their capture by the Indians. However this may be, Father Hennepin's work was not in vain, and his memory is entitled to the credit for that which he did. His publications hastened and facilitated exploration, and his failing - if such it was - should be treated with charity. La Salle speaks of him highly, but charitably says, "it was his failing to magnify those adventures which concerned him."
During 1684, Nicholas Perrot and Le Sueur visited Lake Pepin, and the following winter the French traded with the Indians on Minnesota soil. Perrot had been ap- pointed by the governor of Canada as the commandant for the West, and was accom- panied by twenty men. Upon his arrival he caused a stockade to be built on the east bank of Lake Pepin, which bore his name for many years. He discovered a number of lead mines, and his name figures conspicu- ously in the history of the early French ex- plorations and frontier work. Perrot re- mained for some time after building the fort, then, in 1686, returned to Green Bay. He passed much time in collecting allies for the expedition against the Iroquois in New York, and in the spring of 1687, was with Du Luth and. Tonty with the French and Indian allies in the expedition against the Senecas of the Genesee Valley in New York. The follow- ing year he was sent with a company of Frenchmen to reoccupy the post on Lake Pepin, in Minnesota, and it was in 1689 that Perrot, in the presence of Father Joseph James Marest, a Jesuit, Boisguiblot, a trader on the Wisconsin and Mississippi, and Le Seur, made a formal record of taking posses- sion of the Sioux country in the name of the King of France.
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