USA > Minnesota > Jackson County > An illustrated history of Jackson County, Minnesota > Part 23
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The rush for the newly opened lands of Jackson county began early in the spring, the buyers spreading out into every township. Go where one might, one found farms. once deserted on account of misfor- tunes, showing fresh furrows, found smoke arising from chimneys of new houses,
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
found landseekers spying out choice pieces of land. Sioux Valley township, which had been one of the least densely popula- ted townships, was ospecially fortunate in securing settlers: the township became rapidly settled with progressive German families. Very little of the land passed into the hands of speculators : nearly all buyers were farmers who at once look pos- session and made improvements. As a writer of the time expressed it: "The growth of Jackson county this year is based upon the healthful pulsations of nat- ural and genuine merit and appreciated re- sources. It is a hearty bloom of vigorous youth, not a feverish bloom of fickle spee- ulation. It has come to stay."
Adding to the prevailing prosperity was an enormous crop, which commanded a big price. It had been found that ex- clusive wheat farming could not be de- pended upon, and farmers had turned their attention largely to lhe raising of flax. hay and livestock. Flax growing he- came one of the big industries, and it yielded a big profit in this year of jubilee. Hay also ruled high in price, and large quantities were put up. Hundreds of car loads of flax. hay and livestock were ex- ported during the year.11
The rush of landscckers continued dur- ing the fall months, and the land agents were kept busy until winter piloting pros- pective buyers over the county. 15 Over 20,000 acres of land, equivalent to more than three full townships, were put on the tax rolls for the first time in ISSt. The 20,000 acres of added lands were di- vided as follows:
"The acreage sown in Isst was as follows: Wheat. 4.815, corn. 3. 516; onts. 8,516; barley. 2.35]; flax. 7.241.
WW. T. Hansen. of Chicago, became the own- er of large traets of Jackson county land, and the bulk of the sales in 1ss1 were made by him through his agent. G. A. Albertus.
Acrea.
Internal Improvement lands sold. 30.786
School lands sold 9.268
Final entries government land -. . 4,085
St. Paul & Chiengo Ry. land- deeded
Southern Minnesota Ry. land- derded 2.681
St. Paul & Sioux City Ry. land- deeded 21,321 Sioux City & St. Paul Ry. land- deeded 101 Southern Minnesota Ry. contracted land- 1.650 St. Paul & Chicago contracted land -. .10
Total 70,049
The results of prosperous times were seen in building improvements in all parts of the county and in the prompt payment of debts. The farmer- were at last firmly on their feet, and the high road to wealth was henceforth open. The recovery from the grasshopper scourge was almost com- plate. In December. 1551. the Jackson Republic said of the progress during the twelve-month just closing: "The year 1884 is dying. Let it pas- away honored and beloved by the people of Jackson county. It has brought them more peace. prosperity and happiness than any cycle since the county was organized."
In July. 1881, came the promise of an- other railroad. This was the Towa & Min- nesota Northern, which agreed to build a road from some point in northern lowa to the village of Jackson. Secretary Hlub- bel. of the 1. & M. N .. >tated on behalf of the corporation that the road would be built provided the townships of Poters- burg. Middletown, Des Moines and Wi -- consin would vote the company a bonus of live per cent of their assessed valuation for 1883. less the amount of their indebled- ness. This would make the amount cach would have to furnish as follows: Peters- burg. $3,000; Middletown, $1,000; De- Moines, $9,200; Wisconsin. $1,000. Elec- tions were held and the bonds voted in bree of the townships. In Des Moines the bonds carried. 95 to 3: in Middletown. 22 to 6 : in Petersburg. 13 to 9 : while they were defeated in Wisconsin, 26 to 35. For lack of capital or some other reason, the
165
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
company failed to carry out its plans, and nothing more was heard of the road.
The year 1885 was noted for its im- provements. Those who had purchased land in the fall of 1884 built their houses and began farming the next spring. A good erop was raised, adding to the finan- cial standing of Jackson county farmers. The crop statistics for the year were as follows :
Grain
Aeres
Bushels
Average
Wheat
4813
76,323
15 85
Oats ..
9013
347,167
38 40
Corn
3748
97,561
26 03
Flax ..
8259
105,393
12 72
Barley
2338
56,033
23.96 .
Total
28,171
682,277
The population in 1885 was 6.110, a gain of 1,304 in five years. By precincts the population was as follows:
Alba
136
Belmont
419
Christiania
485
Delafield 401
Des Moines
348
Enterprise 163
Ewington 61
lleron Lake 440
Heron Lake Village. 280
Hunter
216
Jackson
608
Kimball
295
LaCrosse
374
Middletown
281
Minneota
138
Petersburg
358
Round Lake 153
Rost
17I
Sioux Valley 208
Weimer 278
West Ileron Lake
96
Wisconsin
201
Total
6,110
Prosperous times continued during the first half of 1886. During the spring months many new settlers came and bought Jackson county farms, the western part of the county receiving the bulk of
the immigration. The Minnesota Citizen ( Lakefield) said on March 26, 1886 :
More settlers are coming in this spring than any two before. It seems that almost every freight train brings from two to three car loads of goods. And the new arrivals are the very best farmers. A goodly number of them are from Illinois, and they are bringing with them good teams, farming implements and consider- able money. Load after load of lumber is be- ing hauled from this place this spring, and the building boom is lively.
The county received a set-back that fall-the first in a number of years. Ow- ing to a drought only about a half crop was raised. Not since the grasshopper days had the cry of hard times been so general. In addition to the crop failure, what was raised had to be offered on a low market. The cattle and hog market was also ruinously low,
The first contest for the removal of the county seat from Jackson to Lakefield -the beginning of a twenty years contest for county seat honors-come in 1886. It was the forerunner of some of the most bitter contests ever waged for county seat removal in Minnesota, contests which en- gendered ill feeling between the people of the two towns interested and caused a division between the east and west ends of the county in many things.
Prior to 1885 there had been no satis- factory county seat removal law on the Minnesota statute books. That year. on March 5, the legislature passed an act providing that when a majority of the freeholders who were legal voters and res- idents of a county should present to the county commissioners a petition asking for a change in the location of the county seat it became the duty of the county board to submit the question at the next general election. If a majority of all electors voting cast their ballots for re- moval, the county seat should be moved. If the question of removal was not decid- ed in the affirmative, the question could not be voted upon again for five years, and
166
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
if the question should once be decided neg- begun the people of Jackson did not be- atively it required a three-fifths vote to accomplish a removal at any subsequent election.
Soon after the passage of this bill the people of Lakefield began to agitate the matter of removal to their town. During the early eighties the bulk of the immigra- lion had been to the western part of the county, and Lakefield, situated almost in the exact center of the county, had grown to be a village of considerable importance. The first mention in the press of a pos- sible attempt being made to remove the county seat was made on July 31, 1885. when a writer signing himself "Brutus" published an article in the Minnesota Citi- win (Lakefield), calling upon the people of the north and west paris of the county lo bestir themselves in an attempt to se- cure the county seat for Lakefield under the provisions of the new law. Among other things, "Brutus" said :
Now, yon that are interested in Lakefield want to go to work and organize a society to put this thing through, make arrangements with your heavy landowners to secure the coun- ty from loss on buildings, have the fool-killer to operate on anyone who proposes an under- hand measure of any kind. Meet sophistry and vries of delay with sound reasoning and palient Int determined explanation; in due time. when the question has been thoroughly discussed and understood, circulate your petitions and pro- sent them to the commissioners at their moet . ing next January, showing such a majority in favor of the change that the matter is prac- tically settled at once.
From the very earliest days, until the eighties, Jackson had been the county's center of population and business life. On its townsite the first settlement had been made, and for years practically all the spilled portions of Jackson county we're in close proximity to that village. While in later years the bulk of the set- tlement had been made in other portions of the county. Jackson continued to hold the position of leading town in the county. Therefore, when removal agitation was
rome much alarmed. The Republic treat- ed the matter in a spirit of levity and said (July 31, 1885) :
The Lakefield Citizen, it is reported. will come out this week with a vigorous light in it- cohimins for the removal of the county seat, and abont 1,000 copies will be circulated throughout the county. If this is true, the Citizen is cruel beyond expression of words. What are the swellering Jacksonites down in this breathless valley going to do with a county seat fight on their hands and the thermometer lon in the shade? Bo merciful, Brother Scely.
Formal action was not taken until the spring of 1886. On February 20 a meet- ing was held at Lakefield, at which it was decided to try for the honor. On. March 9 the townships of Hunter and Heron Lake. in which the then unincorporated village of Lakefield was located, each voted to issue and donate $1,000 bonds to aid in the construction of a court house at Lake- field. the same proposition being lost in Rost township by a vote of 17 to 10. The Citizen of March 12 reported that the owner of the Lakefiehl townsite offered to donate $3,000 for the same purpose and that other citizens of the village would give $1,500.
During the month of May petitions were circulated, asking that the county commissioners submit the question of the removal of the county seat at the general election on November 2, 1886. The pe- tition received 604 signatures, and it was presented to the board of county commis- sioners July 27. Two days later the com- missioners considered the petition. A pe- tition asking that the board do not take favorable action was presented, and John K. Brown, of Jackson, presented a wrif- ten objection to having the petition filed with the county auditor-a necessary step if the question were to be submitted at the November election. The commissioners. hy a vote of three to two, decided to do- liver the petition to the county auditor for
167
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
publication. Those who voted in the affirm- ative were Christian Lewis, J. G. Fod- nes and A. E. Kilen ; those in the negative, J. W. Cowing and John Baldwin. The last two named explained their reasons for so voting as follows: That no proof had been produced to show that the peti- tion had been signed by a majority of the county's frecholders who were legal voters.
The filing of the petition did not close the question, however, and the matter was again taken np in September. The Jack- son people decided to contest the petition before the board of county commissioners and prevent the question from coming to a vote, using the argument that many of the signers were men who were not free- holders, but men who held land under contract ; that as a matter of fact the pe- tition did not contain the names of a ma- jority of the frecholders, as the law pro- vided. For three days of the week ending September 24 there was a lively discus- sion before the county board. Attorney T. J. Knox appeared for the Jackson people and analyzed the weak points of the pe- tition. Attorney Betzer appeared for Lake- field in defense of the petition. The situ- ation was complicated by the resignation of Commissioner A. E. Kilen. H. C. Sether was appointed to the vacaney, and an adjournment taken to September 28.
On the 28th the commissioners decided that the petition did not comply with the law, in that it was found that only 330 freeholders who were legal voters had signed the petition, while 433 had not signed. On the final vote Commissioners Lewis and Fodnes voted to have the ques- tion submitted, while Commissioners Cow- ing, Baldwin and Sether voted not to submit it at the general election.16
16The official proceedings of the board for September 28 are as follows:
"4:30 p. m. Moved by Mr. Lewis and second- ed by Mr. Fodnes that the board now proceed to count the names of the legal voters and freeholders on the list for and against the re- moval of the county seat. .
Not much of historical importance oc- curred in the county during the late eight- ies. The people were blessed with good crops, and prosperous times resulted. A few new settlers arrived each year, new farms were put under cultivation, and the country otherwise improved.
One event that should be recorded for this period was another-and the last- severe blizzard. In the history of the northwest there have been a few winter storms of such unnatural severity that they stand out as events of historical im- portance. The most severe of these awful storms was the blizzard of January 7, 8 and 9, 1873, an account of which has been given. Ranking second was the terrible blizzard of January 12, 1888, when scores of people perished in Minnesota and the Dakotas. Fortunately, there was no less of life in Jackson county, although sev- eral were caught in the storm. The Lake- field Standard of January 19, 1888, told of the blizzard :
Thursday of last week [January 12] one of the worst snow storms known for years raged over the entire northwest. All day long there was a heavy snow-fall and a mild wind from the south. In the evening the wind suddenly changed to the northwest, and the temperature grew eolder. The air seemed filled with all the snow banks of the country and it was not safe to venture out of doors, as objects could
"The motion was lost. "S p. m. All present.
"Two petitions, containing the names and signatures of 26 freeholders who had signed the petition for the removal of the county seat from Jackson to Lakefield, were presented, withdrawing the names of said 26 freeholders from said petition for all purposes whatever. Said petitions, after being presented, were tak- en by the attorney representing Lakefield and subsequently lost. All parties admit that such petitions were so presented and contained the names of such number of freeholders withdraw- ing their names from stid petition for the re- moval of said county seat.
"The board then proceeded to count the names on the lists of freeholders and legal voters within the county for and against the petition to remove the county seat from Jack- son to Lakefield and found that 330 legal vot- ers and freeholders had signed the petition for the removal and 433 who had not signed said petition.
"It was moved by Mr. Lewis and seconded by Mr. Fodnes that the question of the removal of the county seat from Jackson to Lakefield be submitted to the voters of Jackson county at the next general election. November 2. 1886. "The motion was lost."
164
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
not be distinguished twenty feet away. Jackson county. so far as heard trom. escaped luckily, as no human lives have been reported lost. A number of farmers were overtaken on the prairie by the storm but is caped alive.
The county seat removal question was not again opened during the late eighties, but preparations were made to take up the fight again at some future time. The legislature on April 13, 1ss9. passed a law authorizing the townships of Heron Lake and llunter to issue bonds, in sums not exceeding tive per cent of the assessed valuation. for the purpose of raising funds to apply on the erection of a court house at the point the voters of the county might select as the location for the county seat." As the people of Heron Lake and Hunter townships had no intention of furnishing money to build a court house at JJackson -where the county seat remained-the bonds were not issued.
The federal census of 1890 gave Jack- son county a population of 8.924. This was a gain of 2.814 in five years. the larg- est gain in numbers during any previous five year period. Prosperous times con- tinmed during the first few years of the decade beginning with 1890. Good crops were raised. and many new settlers from the middle states came to Jackson coun- ty to purchase the comparatively cheap Jands. Said the Jackson Republic of Au- gust 11, 1891:
A little inquiry among the real estate men develops the fact that the outlook for Jackson county was never brighter than at the present time. The bountiful crops have attracted the attention of eastern people, and the demand for wild land is unprecedented. The greater por. tion of this land is being sold to newcomers for artnal settlement next spring and the bal- ande is taken by resident farmers who desire to increase the size of their farms a sure in
FA proviso of the law was as follows:
"Said board of supervisors shall not put sach bonds upon the market, nor sell any part there- of. until the site of said court house is legally established at the location designated in such petition And if sabl court house site be not established at such place within two years after such bonds are voted such bonds shall become null and vold and shall be cancelled by such supervisors."
dieation of prosperity. Register Bald- win way - the number of transfer is increasing rapidly, while the number of mortgages filed show - a healthy decrease.
There was a -ligia ripple in county seat removal matters during the winter of 1892-93. In Nobles county the village of Adrian was trying to wrest the county seat from Worthington, when someone de- veloped a plan to setthe the matter in both Nobles and JJackson counties. The plan was to form three counties from the two. with Jackson. Worthington and Adrian as the county >cats. That would have giv- en both Nobles county towns county seat honors, and, by taking part of western Jackson county for the new county. it would undoubtedly have given Jackson such an advantage that the question of removal to Lakefield would never have been brought up again. Nobles county people seriously discussed the question of taking such a proposition to the legisla- ture of 1893. but Jackson county people never seriously considered the matter. and the project "died a bornin'."
An event of the year 1898 was a c- clone which visited the county on the even- ing of Wednesday, July 5. and which ro- sulted in the destruction of many thou- sand dollars worth of property. The principal damage was in the villages of Heron Lake and Lakofield and in the township- of Heron Lake. West Heron Lake and Hunter. Barns, outhouses. fences, chimneys and, in some instances. houses were demolished by the fury of the storm.
In the summer of 1893 came the mem- orable panie, followed by a few years of hard times. Business was for a time para- lyzed. several business houses failed. and a period of depression followed. which was not entirely broken until the latter part of the nineties. But this period of lard times was not so keenly fell in Jack- son county as it was in many of the less
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOT, LENOX ANO THEEN FOUNDATELL
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THE OLD COURT HOUSE
THE RIVALS
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
favored portions of the country. The panic was preceded by a decade of flourishing times. Nearly all had prospered and were in a position to weather the financial crash and its resultant period of depression.
The second contest for the removal of the county seat to Lakefield came in the spring of 1894. The Minnesota county seat removal law at that time (as it does now) provided that the petition for re- moval must contain the signatures of at least sixty per cent of the number of elce- tors voting at the last preceding general election ; that if the board of county commissioners found that the required number of signatures had been obtained they should call a special election to vote upon the question: that it fifty-five per cent of the voters at such special election should declare in favor of removal, lhe county seat should be changed. Ever since the contest of eight years before the people of Lakefield had been making prep- arations and laying their plans for renew- ing the conflict when the conditions were propititious. They believed the time had come in 1894.
The opening gun was fired in February, when a number of prominent citizens of Lakefield and vieinity issued a call for a mass meeting to decide upon the advisa- bility of reopening the conflict. The meet- ing was held at Lakefield February 24, at which time it was unanimously decided to proceed. The following were chosen an executive committee to have charge of the campaign : N. J. Scott, John Freder- ickson. 11. J. Hollister. M. R. Cluss. C. Young, William Searles, George Sawyer, (. Gove, John Crawford and C. Trado- well. In a platform adopted it was stat- ed that the removal forces intended to conduct a clean and honorable campaign and on the merits of the issue. The of- ficial notice to circulate the petition was drawn up on February 24 and signed by
John Crawford, N. J. Scott and W. A. Funk.
The work of circulating the petition was begun on March 12, and on the 27th the petition, containing the signatures of 1.431 voters, was filed with the county au- ditor. The board of county commission- ers, composed of Henry Thielvoldt, J. W. Cowing, H. K. Ruc, George Erbes and Thomas Chesterson, met in special ses- sion April 16 to determine the standing of the petition. No united effort was made by the people of Jackson to secure with- drawals from the petition or to fight the instrument at this meeting of the board. although W. B. Sketch, of Jackson, filed objections to each and every affidavit con- tained in the petition, maintaining that there was no evidence that the names on the petition constituted sixty per cent of the legal voters at the last general election, or that the notices of publication had been legally published. On the seventeenth the board took favorable action and issued the necessary certificate, calling the elec- tion for May 15.
So soon as the action was taken that made an election certain, the people of Lakefield opened the campaign with a elever piece of work-the building of a court house at Lakefield. A special meet- ing of the Lakefield village council was held on the evening of April 12, when it was decided to build at once a city hall of brick and stone, the free use of which should be given to Jackson county for court house purposes in the event of the removal of the county seat. Lots one and two, in block five, were purchased for a site. Architect Thayer, of Mankato, was telegraphed for, and he arrived on the evening of the 18th. Plans for a build- ing. 50x60 feet, 30 feet high, were drawn. and the contract, calling for the comple- tion of the building by May 10, was made with A. W. Schweppe & Company, of St.
10
170
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
James. Construction was bogun on the morning of the 19th, and it was rushed to completion. After the work was started a special village election was held and bonds to the amount of $8,000 were vot- ed to pay for the building. This struc- ture, much praised, much maligned, play- ed an important part in the history of Jackson county. With the possible ex- ception of the old court house, it is the most thoroughly discussed building ever erected in the county.
That the offer of this building for court house purposes should be known to be made in good faith, a quit claim deed to the lots upon which the building was be- ing erected was given to HI. J. Hollister. G. G. Sawyer and N. J. Scott. and these gentlemen excented a bond and signed a lease to the board of county commission- ers. binding themselves to provide the Lakefield court house for county purposes for a term of ten years for a nominal ren- tal price of one dollar per year. The ma- jority of the board of county commission- crs agreed to accept the lease in case the county seat was moved. The offer of this building doubtless won many votes for Lakefield in the election. One of the prin- cipal arguments of Jackson had been that removal would necessarily cause the ex- penditure of considerable money to build a court house.
The campaign which followed was an exciting one and very close. When the votes were counted on the evening of May 15. it was found that Jackson was the victor by forty votes. The total vote was 2,803. of which Lakefield received 1.502 and Jackson 1,301. To have won. Lako- field must have received 1.512. or fifty- five per cent of the total vote. The vote by precinets was as follows :
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