USA > Minnesota > Rock County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 28
USA > Minnesota > Pipestone County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 28
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Before the spring of 1900 opened, ne- gotiations were under way by T. H. Brown & Co., the townsite company connected with the Burlington road, for the pur- chase of a desirable site for the new town it had been decided to establish in Vien- na lownship. The deal as finally closed in April for the promoters by their agent. J. A. Kennicott, resulted in the transfer of twenty acres on sections 1 and 2. It was decided at that time to name the town Kenneth, for the eldest son of Mr. Kenni- cott, in recognition of that gentleman's efforts in the company's behalf.1
The townsite was surveyed by County Surveyor W. N. Davidson, the dedication was made by Thomas H. Brown July 20, 1900, and the papers filed for record ten days later, on July 30. The plat created from this survey formed the town into four blocks. The streets running east
1"The new town on the Burlington extension has at last been definitely located. The site chosen is twenty acres on the farms of Nel- son & Wold. A. B. Turner, Eric Engebretson and Ben Hoven, on the line between sections 1 and 2 in Vienna township. About five acres is taken respectively from the northwest and southwest quarters of section 1 and the north-
east and southeast quarters of section 2. The new town has been named Kenneth, in honor of the son of Jay A. Kennicott. Mr. Kennicott owns a section farm half a mile south of the new town and has been instrumental in secur- ing the location of the town."-Rock County Herald. April 20, 1900.
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
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and west were named First, Second and Third. and were intersected by First Ave- nuo west. Main avenue and First avenue Past. A second plat of Kenneth was sur- veved by W. N. Davidson for Andrew Messner2 on April 2. 1902. This survey was filed for record in May, 1902. No additions to the original townsite have been platted.
Simultaneous with the arrival of the connecting iron band to the undeveloped townsite of Kenneth, during the latter part of July. 1900. building operations were commenced and the town assured of a reality. Before the month of Angust had passed three elevators had been com- pleted and were prepared to handle the season's business, The three grain firms initially represented were Bemis & How- ard. Ryan & Berg and E. A. Brown.
Although the greater part of the year 1900 was over before activity in the pro- motion of the new town was commenced. it saw the establishment of a number of enterprises. Early in October James A. Palmer opened his saloon. The pioneer merchant and first postmaster was JJ. L. logan. He was not long to have an un- opposed fell in the general merchandise business, for during the winter A. D. Parker became a resident of Kenneth and established a second general store. Mr. Parker at once erected a building, 60x22 feet in size, to house bis business. About the same time the firm of Trotter & Trot- ter. hardware dealers, commenced busi- ness. The St. Croix Lumber company, during the same season, established a branch vard in Kenneth and installed Frank Underwood as agent. The depot was also created in 1900, and James Cos- lello became the first station agent.
The year 1901 was one of substantial
improvement. The town's first black- smith. E. M. Newell. came from Edgerton in February, erected a shop and was ready lo serve his patrons by the twentieth of the month. Thomie & Johnson were on the ground in March and commenced the erection of a livery barn. In the course of the next month the same firm3 saw a hotel building. a two story structure, 21x50 feet in size, well under way. The hostelry was opened the second week in May. The first sidewalk in the town was constructed early in April. Another business enterprise was added to the vil- lage during the same month by Walter Bemis, one of the grain buyers, who en- gaged in the farm implement business in connection with his other interests. The first dwelling house in the village was brought to completion early in May and was occupied by Section Forman Solen. This was only the beginning of other improvements of the same nature thai were consummated during the course of the year.
A visitor to Kenneth, writing in the Rock County Herald of May 3, 1901, pic- tures the condition of the flourishing ham- let at that date:
Unostentatiously, but none the less surely, a new town, small but enterprising, has grown up in Rock county and gives promise of many good things in the future-greater growth, population, business and impor- tance. One year ago Kenneth, Minnesota, had no existence, today' it is a bustling burg with every equipment for transforma- tion into a city. Peopled by enterprising. thrifty and progressive citizens, its business enterprises in the hands of public spirited and far-sighted men, and surrounded by a rich and productive agricultural country, Kenneth enters the list of Rock county towns with every promise of growth and prosperity. Where one year ago was but a fertile field are now two well stocked gen- eral merchandise stores, a hardware store, a commodious hotel, a lumber yard, a black-
3Herman Thomte and Ole Johnson, who in partnership established the Kenneth hotel and livery barn during the spring of 190], disposed of their interests to E. J. MeMullan, of lowa, in November of the same year.
2Mr. Messner purchased the Kenneth townsite from its original owners in June, 1901, and Was responsible for its later development.
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SCENES AT KENNETH
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
smith shop, three elevators, livery stable, restaurant, two dray lines, a farm machin- ery and implement business-all housed in handsome and substantial buildings.
There was a marked and steady growth throughout the whole of 1901. The popu- lation of the village had reached a point where the erection of a commodions two- story school building became advisable and the building was completed late in the year. The business interests of the young town continued lo prosper, and a number of enterprises were added. Among these was a bank, an institution much de- sired. The bank opened for business July 1 in the A. D. Parker building, with Mr. Parker in charge. In September the town was supplied with a physician. Dr. Van Krevelen, formerly of Holland, moved to Kenneth and opened a drug store which he conducted in connection with his practice. A number of new business build- ings were brought to completion during the season of 1901.
The question of the incorporation of Kenneth became an issue in 1902. The substantial and increasing growth of the town, together with the splendid material advancement that it had been privileged to enjoy during the short time of its ex- istence, seemed in the eyes of the town's business men to justify the desire to as- sume the privileges and obligations of local self government. Several obstacles confronted the promoters of the plan for incorporating. It was found necessary to extend the bounds of the proposed corpo- ration for a number of miles in each di- rection from the village in order to secure the population required by law before any village is entitled to form itself into an independent municipality. There was con- siderable opposition to the scheme, es- pecially by many farmers whose lands it was proposed to inelude within the corporation. A petition signed by A. D. Parker and thirty-seven others.
asking for the incorporation of Kenneth, was presented to the board of county com- missioners and was considered by that body at its regular meeting on December 19. 1902. A petition of remonstrance signed by B. Halverson and seventeen others was submitted to the commissioners on the same occasion, and the matter was brought to a focus. Both sides to the controversy were represented by authorized representatives and arguments for and against incorporation were made. The board ordered that the petition be referred to the county attorney for his opinion as to its legality, especially in regard to the quantity of territory which had been in- cluded.
The matter was brought to a conclusion at the meeting of the commissioners on January 8, 1903, when a request signed by twelve of those interested in the proposed incorporation, asking for a withdrawal of their original petition, was presented. Although no later attempt has been made to bring about the incorporation of Ken- netli, there is ,every reason to believe that in the near future the town in Vienna township will be in a condition to sue- cessfully inaugurale such a movement.
Kenneth's growth has been slow but substantial. It experienced a setback dur- ing the years 1903 and 1904 because of the destruction, by hail and rains, to the crops in that section which finds its mar- ket in Kenneth. Since that time, how- ever. the town has maintained its own and is still unsurpassed as a grain market and trading point.
Kenneth's school history began almosl with the founding of the lown. In April. 1901, a petition asking for the creation of a new school district to include the town of Kenneth was favorably acted up- on by the board of county commissioners. Following this action, on May 2. a meeting of the citizens of Kenneth was held and
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
the organization of the district perfected. B. Halverson was elected director, J. L. Hogan, clerk, and George Watson, treasur- er. At a meeting held later in the same month it was voted to raise $2500 for the erection of a school building. The edifice, two stories in height, 28x40 feet, was erected by Hackett & Robinson, of Lu- verne, and was completed in time for the opening of the winter term on December 6, 1901. School opened on that date with Nellie Morse as teacher and with an enrollment of thirty-two pupils.
Two church organizations are main- tained in Kenneth, the Catholic and Evan- gelical Lutheran, and both possess church edifices. The Catholic church building, which formerly occupied a site in Lis- more township, Nobles county, was moved to Kenneth early in 1903. The Evangeli- ical Lutheran church was erected during the season of 1907.
The Kenneth State Bank is an out- growth of a private institution which be- gan business July 1, 1901, as the bank of Kenneth, with R. B. Hinkly, president. and A. D. Parker, cashier. The bank erected a building of its own during the summer of 1903. The Kenneth State Bank, following the reorganization, com- menced business July 10, 1907, with capi- tal stock of $12,000. The incorporators were Andrew Messner, A. D. Parker, John Engebretson, John Wonderle, L. W. Johnson, Chris. Haiback, B. Halverson, Kittil Olson and L. Kreun. The first of- ficers and board of directors consisted of Andrew Messner, president ; B. Halverson, vice president ; A. D. Parker, cashier; John Engebretson, assistant cashier ; Chris Haiback.
"At the time application was made for a post- office at this point, in 1888, the name asked for by the petitioners was Virginia. This re- quest the postmaster general would not grant because a postoffice previously established on the Iron Range in the northern part of the state bore that name. It was then decided to name the postoffice Steen. The station located by the Illinois Central, however, was designated
STEEN.
In the list of Rock county's unincorpo- rated villages Steen ranks among the fore- most, both in size and importance. tt is located on the northwest quarter of section 32, Clinton township, near the southern boundary of the county, and is a station on the line of the Illinois Cen- tral railroad connecting Sioux Falls with Chicago. Steen makes no pretense of metropolitan greatness but is content with being a prosperous and substantially built hamlet, surrounded by a rich farming country. Several lines of business are represented, including a bank, general store, hardware store, drug store, furni- ture store, hotel, blacksmith shop, harness shop, pool hall, lumber yard, two eleva- tors, livery barn, fuel dealer and stock buyers. The town also has a town hall, two churches and a first grade public school, employing two teachers.
The land on which the town of Steen is located was taken as a homestead in 1821 by John P. Steen. A brother, Ole P. Steen, filed a homestead claim to the quarter section adjoining the year be- fore, and it was in honor of these two pioneers that the village was given its permanent name.4
The last few years of the eighties wit- nessed the founding of three towns in southern Rock county as a direct result of the construction of two new lines of railroad. the Illinois Central and the Sioux City & Northern. Included in this num- ber was Steen. or Virginia, as it was originally known, on the Illinois Central, which commenced laying rails on the ex- tension from Rock Rapids to Sioux Falls
as Virginia and was known as such for a num- ber of years, The name of the station was then made to agree with that of the postoffice. The Inst mention of the town as Virginia in the lo- val press was made in the summer of 1893. In July of that year reference was made to the town of Steen, and Virginia, Rock county, be- came an incident of history.
SCENES AT STEEN
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
in September, 1887. The station of Bruce, seven miles to the west in Martin town- ship, was the first of these to be located, the site being selected in December.
Early in the year 1888 the Illinois Cen- tral anthorities announced their intention to plat and develop a town on the line be- tween Bruce and Rock Rapids, in Clin- ton township. A number of the residents of that precinet at once became interested in the project and lent their assistance in its furtherance. It was the offer of John P. Steen to donate twenty acres of his homestead for townsite purposes that influenced the railroad company to lo- cate the proposed station on his land.
The track-laying on the extension was completed so as to permit the operation of the first passenger train on June ?, 1888. In the course of the same month the townsite of Virginia was surveyed by J. F. Whalen. The plat, made to com- prise thirteen blocks, was dedicated on June 13 by N. T. Burroughs, president, and W. A. Sanford, secretary, of the Cher- okee & Western Town Lot & Land com- pany, and it was placed on record Sep- tember 3.
The farm house of John P. Steen was the only building on the Virginia townsite prior to the activities of the railroad com- pany at that point. No sooner had the survey been completed than work was com- menced on a depot building and a flat grain warehouse, and before the summer of 1888 was over there were signs of a promising village." Two grain warehouses, one erected by John Butler, and the other by E. M. Dickey, had been established, and the pioneer merchant, C. C. Clemetson was actively engaged in business. A po- tition signed by residents in the vicinity
""Virginia, the new town in Clinton township, on the line of the Illinois Central, is getting to the front. It has two warehouses, a depot and a store."-Rock County Herald. September 14, 18SS.
6Steen has been served by five postmasters since the office was established. Those who
of the new town asking for the establish- ment of a postoffice was granted, and be- fore the year had closed an office was be- ing operated in the store with Mr. Clem- etson as postmaster.“
For several years following its founding Virginia was at a standstill so far as any material growth was concerned. It proved its advantage as a grain market from the start, but it was not until the early nine- ties that development along broader lines commenced. Among the early business enterprises was a lumber yard established by J. H. Zenker in March, 1890. The town experienced the most pronounced era of progress in building operations and expansion during the period which in- chided the years 1891 to 1894. Early in 1891 the pioneer store was taken over by the firm of Miller & Roan, formerly of Rock Rapids. A second general store was established later in the same year by Hens- ing & Thorstad." C. C. Berge was the first hardware merchant. The E. M. Dickey Co., which established the first grain ware- house in the year of founding. was the first to erect an elevator, which was done during the summer of 1892. The year 1893 was an especially active one and witnessed a number of substantial building and business improvements.
In 1895 a town hall was built by a stock company organized by the citizens of Steen. A business directory compiled in July of that year contained the names of the following men : George J. Roan, gen- eral store: W. E. Bauer, general store; C. Clemetson, billiard and pool hall ; T. L. Peyer, harness shop : George Heath, black- smith : O. A. Helgeson, livery and feed barn: (. Brant. manager Edmonds Co. elevator; Dickey & Co., elevator: J. Il.
have succeeded Mr. Clemetson, in the order of their succession, are J. P. Steen. George J. Roan, C. H. Peterson and Chris Clemetson.
"This partnership did not exist long. E. J. Thorstad, the junior partner, became sole pro- prietor in October, 1891.
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
Zenker, lumber and fuel; C. C. Berge, hardware; G. N. Graves, agent illinois C'entral railroad : C. If. Peterson, post- master.
On February 24, 1900, Steen was visited by a fire which consumed the two elevators of the town and destroyed 20,000 bushels of grain contained therein. For a time the depot building was threatened with destruction, but the energetic work of the citizens prevented further spread of the conflagration. Both of the elevators were rebuilt.
In late years Steen has enjoyed with others of her sister villages the prosper- ons times that have been incident to Rock county's marvelous agricultural develop- ment.
One of the finest little school houses in the county is found at Steen. ti was erected in 1905 and was occupied for the first time at the beginning of the Septen- ber term. This building replaced a for- mer one, erected in the days of the town's infancy.
There are two church organizations that maintain houses of worship in Steen-the German Evangelical and German Luther- an. The Lutheran church was organized in the summer of 1890 with sixteen char- ter members by Rev. Theodore Maesse, of Fulda. The present church edifice, the first in the village, was erected in 1895 at n cost of $1800 and was dedicated on October 20 of that year. Rev. H. W. Baumann, of Luverne, is the present pas- tor.
ASHCREEK.
The little village of Ashcreek, the first station south of Inverne on the Doon ex- tension of the Omaha railway, is one of the two Rock county hamlets in Clinton township. The platted town is on section 23 of that precinct. Though it has never assumed proportions that would warrant
its being set off as an independent munici- pality, Ashcreek for many years has justi- fied its existence as a trading point and grain market for a rich farming com- munity.
The building of the Doon branch and the subsequent location of a station on sec- tion 23, Clinton, were conditions undreamed of when Ashereck was first placed on the map as a country postoffice, the second postoffice established in the county. The southern part of Rock county. especially Clinton and Martin townships, was an early field for settlement. By the sum- mer of 18:1 the population of these two precinets exceeded that of all the rest of the county, and a demand was made for better postoffice facilities. The only of- fice in the county at that time was located at Luverne, and the trip to that point was much of an undertaking for a majority of the settlers living in southern Rock connty in the days when ox teams were practically the only mode of conveyance.
The agitation for a second postoffice bore immediate fruit. Ont of several ap- plicants for the position of postmaster. Mrs. L. B. Kniss was chosen and the office was established on the George W. Kniss homestead, one half mile distant from the future Ashoreek station. The office was named for the creek flowing near by. To members of the pioneer Estey family was given the naming of this stream. The incident of the christening. which ocenrred on Christmas day, 1862, has been told in Colin J. Estey's own words :
In the forenoon Byron and 1 went to tend our traps. He had one set for a fox near where Saint's Rest now stands, and on that day he caught a coyote. Byron was about eight years old then. As we went out to look at the traps we crossed Rock river at a point about where M. C. Smith's ford was eventually located and followed up what is now known as Ash creek. Byron, boy-fashion, asked the name of the creek, and I told him it had no name and that he might name it. He looked the surroundings over carefully and said: "Well, there is a
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
lot of small ash growing at the mouth, so I guess we will have to call it Ash creek," Next summer when the government survey- ors were sectionizing Rock county we gave the name in to them and the stream has been so called ever since.
The Ashereek postoffice was located on the mail route connecting Luverne with Doon and LeMars, lowa, which was first operated by Sam Bellesfield. Mrs. Kniss continued in charge of the office until 1823,8 when she removed from the locality and was succeeded as postmistress by Mrs. Susan M. Brown, who held the office seven vears.
So. Ashereek, which nominally came in- to being in the early seventies, advanced no further than the country postoffice stage until about a dozen years later. Then it was through the agency of the railroad that it was enabled to assume a more pretentious air.
The branch road from Lnverne to Doon was built in 1829, the first trains being operated in November. The rudiment of a station was established on what then was the Kniss & Brown farm, on section 23. Clinton, which was to develop grad- mally, but with a certainty. into the vil- lage of Ashereek. The initial improve- ment in the lown-to-be, and the only one recorded for the year 1899, was a small grain warehouse erected by Truax & Co. This firm had extensive farming interests in the immediate vicinity, and the ware- house erected was solely for the purpose of taking care of the products of its own farms.
In the fall of 1880 a side track was con- structed, and a correspondent predicted
"Mrs. Kniss has given some interesting sta- tistics relating to this early day postoffice:
"Our local paper was then the Jackson Re- public. as those who wished to prove up on their "laims had to go to Jackson, the nearest land office, and so their names and their witnesses were published in the paper. A paper was also printed at Rock Rapids. There were six subscribers to the paper and nine to the Jack- son Republic. The total number of regular sub- scription papers was twenty-three, and one magazine was taken by a patron of the office. ilthough a great many were sent by friends n the east.
that Ashereek was about to shape itself into a metropolis. The extent of the sub- sequent building operations, however, Was the erection of a second grain warehouse. 16x30 feet in size, put by E. A. Brown. who at that time commenced his successful career as a Rock county grain merchant. A box car was placed at the new station to answer the purposes of a depot buikling.
An event of the year 1882 promised great things for the embryo town. This was the sale of the Kniss & Brown farm. upon which the station was located, to Col. Alfred Grey, an English capitalist and a large owner of real estate in this section of the state and lowa. Col. Grey proposed to build a flourishing town at Ashereck. to be the headquarters for his varions interests, much after the English baronial system. A year elapsed before the promoter commenced the execution of his plan. A survey of a townsite was completed in August. 1883. by James P. Gilman. and the dedication of the site was made September 6, 1883, by James B. Close. Col. Grey's agent. The plat in- eInded eight blocks. The owner was fully honored in the names bestowed upon the streets running east and west. which were Colonel, Grey and Alfred. The intersect- ing streets were designated as First. Sec- ond and Third.9
Coincident with the platting, three dwel- lings, each a two-story structure covering a ground space of 24x36 feet, and three barns were built by Col. Grey for the accommodationof theemployeson his near- by farms. There was persistent talk of
"The receipts for stamps sold during the quarter ending September, 1872, were $6.47, and that was when postage on a letter amounted to three cents. Notwithstanding the fact that the postmistress was expected to be at home any time a patron should happen to call. the department paid the munificent sum of $12.00 a year for services rendered."
"One addition to Ashereek has been platted: Kitterman's, by Benjamin T. Kitterman and William Lemka, December 12, 1896; surveyed by J. P. Gilman.
12
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
a store on the site. but it remained for other than the Grey interests to supply the want. J. T. Woodrow, whose store was completed in October. 1884. was the first merchant and for a number of years the only one in Ashoreek. The Ashereek post- office was moved to the new store and Mr. Woodrow commissioned postmaster.
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