USA > Minnesota > Waseca County > Child's history of Waseca County, Minnesota : from its first settlement in 1854 to the close of the year 1904, a record of fifty years : the story of the pioneers > Part 23
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"James E. Child, (better known as 'Pat' Child) sits in the 'no corner;' he cares for nobody and nobody cares for him. No man can approach him, no man could corrupt him, no man could convince him; he knows how it is himself .- He is generally right, and stands well among the members, notwithstanding his eccentricities, and has made an excellent member .- If every legislature had a 'Pat' Child there would be less foolish legislation."
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THE LEGISLATIVE BATTLE.
The railroad battle opened in the senate the first week of the session, when Senator Coggswell, of Steele county, introduced "A bill for an Act to create a board of railroad commissioners and to provide rules for the management of railroad corporations and railroads in the state of Minne- sota." The friends of the bill did not feel sure of the senate, but had more confidence in the house; so a few of the trusty, hardworkers of the house, with the assistance of Senator C'oggswell and of Gen. Edgerton, railroad commissioner, took the Coggswell bill, revised and amended it in some respects, and had it introduced in the house by Hon. C. S. Crandall, of Owa- tonna. The move was non-partisan so far as its friends could make it so-Senator Coggswell being a democrat, Representative Crandall a republican, and both from the same county of Steele.
The bill, as introduced, was substantially a copy of the Illinois law enacted in 1871, and now (1904) in force in that state. It prohibited discriminations and made it the duty of the commis- sioners to fix all rates on all the roads. It gave the commis- sion entire control of the roads subject to the decision of the
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courts in certain cases. The bill was stubbornly fought at every stage of the proceedings both in the house and senate. The first test vote in the house resulted as follows :
Ayes-Adley, Berry, Beals, Brown, L. Buell, Burlison, Child, Clark, Crandall, Daniels, Dickerson, Doesdall, Eppel, Gilmore, Gillick, Graling, Greer, Halvorson, Hanson, J. N. Hanson, A. R. Harrington, Healy, Hill, How, Hoyt, Hughes, Hyslop, James, Kenworthy, Lafond, Martin, J., Man- ning, Meyerding, Melrose, Metcalf, Morgan, Morse, Nelson, Norton, Olds, Ottun, Parmerlee, Passon, Pease, Pond, Pratt, Rice, Shellman, Sloan, Smith, L. D. Smith, Isaac, Stanton, Taylor, D., Taylor, .J., Tirrell, Trask, Truwe, Treadwell, Walker, West, Wells, White, Willlston, Woodbury and Mr. Speaker .- 65.
Nays-Adams, Auge, Babcock, Barns, Benz, Benson, Becker, Brown, L. M., Davidson, Delaney, Denny, Dilley, Drury, Eckdall, Fletcher, Groetsch, Hansing, Jordan, Lawrence, Langley, Lord, Loomis, Martin, J., McArthur, Mccluskey, McDermid, Pettit, Rahilly and J. K. Smith .- 20.
Those not voting were Messrs. Barron, Fiker, Foss, Fleming, Hechtman, Jones, Kletchka, Mason, McDonnell, Peck, Rieland and Swanstrom.
This vote demonstrated that the people had a working majority of twelve in the house, and yet so persistently was the bill opposed that it did not finally pass until next to the last day of the session for the passage of bills, when the senate learned that none of its bills would pass the house until the railroad bill should be acted upon finally in the senate. On the final passage of the bill in the senate, only two votes were recorded against it-those of I. Don- nelly, granger, and Senator Drake, of St. Paul, president of the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad Company. This result was so comical that Senator Drake crossed over from his seat and shook hands with Senator Donnelly amidst the uproarions langh- ter of the Senate, Mr. Donnelly saying: "We clasp hands aeross the bloody chasm."
This railroad legislation, although aequiesced in, apparently. aroused all the animosity of the corporations and of the favored shippers in the large cities, and every prominent anti-monopolist in the legislature of 1874 was retired at the next election. Enough men were colonized in every county, by the railroads, ten days before election, to defeat objectionable men-the people, as a rule, being more partisan than sensible. Not only were the legislators retired, but Gov. Davis was driven out and kept out until he surrendered to the corporations ten years afterwards.
From the adjournment of the legislature of 1874 until the en-
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suing election, no money or exertion was spared to secure the repeal of the law, and the repeal was accomplished in 1875.
RAILROAD LANDS.
Another matter which was of great importance to the people at the time was the taxation of railroad lands. A large amount of land granted by government to the Winona & St. Peter Rail- road Company had been clandestinely sold to the Winona and St. Peter Railroad Land Company, and under the terms of the grant the lands had been liable to taxation for a number of years; but by shrewd management the company had escaped taxation. In the session of 1874, Senator Ward introduced a bill taxing the lands and it became a law. Under its provisions, Waseca county was entitled to some $10,000 in back taxes. And this, like the railroad law prohibiting discriminations, was repealed at the ses- sion of 1875, and the people were cheated out of their just dues by the legislative action of the railroad combine. The total taxes due upon the lands in the state amounted to $61,500.00.
INTENSE POLITICAL STRUGGLE.
An extract from the Waseca News of that date will illustrate the methods resorted to during the campaign of 1874. This coun- ty was then republican by majorities ranging from 125 to 200.
The News commenting upon the election returns said :
"There never was a more barefaced and outrageous insult ever offered to the resident voters of any county than was perpetrated on last election day in this county. The week before election the superintendent of the Winona & St. Peter Railroad came to this place, and while here stated in substance that he should have votes enough here to defeat the re- publican candidate for state senator at any rate.
"How well he kept his word, let the facts prove. The total vote last year, with a full state and county ticket, was 1,408. The highest Demo- cratic vote on any state officer (Dike) was 660. The highest Republican vote on any state officer was 787-Republican majority 127. Now mark the vote this year! Republican candidate for senator 749; democratic candidate, 875-the latter receiving 215 more votes than were cast the year before by the same party.
"Then look at the vote of last year and this, outside of Waseca and Janesville. Last year the total vote of the county, outside of the two towns named, was 905, and this year only 952-an increase of only 47 votes. Now take the two towns containing the villages of Waseca and Janesville: the increased vote in Waseca is 108, and the increased vote
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at Janesville is 61, a total increase of 169 votes. But this is not all. In St. Mary there were railroad men enough to increase the vote in that town ten over that of last year; making a total increase in the three towns of 179 votes.
"Is there anybody who pretends that the men who were sent to this county to carry the election are bona fide residents of the county? No, they were simply colonized here for ten days to carry the election for the railroad company and the saloonists, and the next day they dis- appeared like a fog on a June morning. * * *
"We admit that the majority against us in Janesville and Waseca, where the railroad concentrated its votes, where its money could pur- chase the riff-raff, where its power could terrify the weak was 192. We admit that among the farmers, outside of Janesville and Waseca, where money could not bribe, where threats could not intimidate, and where principles are not for sale to the highest bidder, our majority was 48. We admit these facts and admit them with the utmost satisfaction. The votes which we received were the free and untrammeled offering of freemen, without being brihed or intimidated. We sacrificed no princi- ples, we neither furnished nor guzzled whisky; nor did we cringe before the power, the money, nor the threats of the railroad kings.
We admit that the political agents of the railroad, with the aid of their tools, and the saloons, defeated the whole county Republican ticket, with one exception. We admit that we were defeated because we would not endorse the salary-grab, and because we are unalterably opposed to railroad extortion and discriminations, and hecause we are in favor of protecting women, children, and society against the injuries resulting from the rum traffic. But defeat, under such circumstances, is not at all discouraging to one who would rather be right than to hold the highest office in the state. Others may cringe before the hands that smite them, if they choose, but we shall not. The principles which we have advocated we believe to be right and thus believing we shall con- tinue to act."
Two weeks after the election, the same paper, under the title, "Railroad Misrepresentation," said :
"It seems to be one of the strong points of those who are at work for the railroad interest to mlsrepresent those who believe that railroad corporations should not be above the laws of the country. One of our exchanges labors through a long article to show that the editor of this paper is an enemy of the railroads. Nothing could be further from the truth, as every sensible man must know who has been a reader of the paper. Railroads are essential and important aids to the develop- ment of the country, and any man who would intentionally destroy them would be an enemy to his country. This we have always main- tained, and any effort to destroy the just rights of railroad corporations would be opposed with all the zeal that we possess.
But while we cheerfully accord to rallroad corporations all their just
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rights, we are not blind to the fact that these corporations have far ex- ceeded their rights in the past, and heaped numerous abuses upon the people who have generously aided them. We have denounced and op- posed the abuses of railroad corporations, and shall continue to do so while those abuses exist.
What are and have been the issues between the people and railroad corporations? The corporations claim the right to charge such rates as they please. For instance, a company in this State, prior to the passage of the law last winter, charged for carrying wheat fifty miles, twelve cents per bushel; and for carrying the same commodity, over the same road, a distance of one hundred miles, only eight cents per bushel. In one county where there are two villages, only a few miles apart, and where there is no railroad competition, one town was charged for ship- ping wheat twelve cents per bushel, and the other still farther on, only eight cents per bushel. In the matter of lumber, the same kind of dis- criminations were practiced all over the country. As between individ- uals these discriminations were carried on to a great extent. Governors, state officials, senators, representatives, judges, ministers, editors, mer- chants, and leading lawyers were carried over the roads at half fare, and often times free of charge; while Jack, the hod-carrier; Sam, the carpenter; Kate, the kitchen maid; Molly, the washerwoman; Jones, the farmer, and Bill, the blacksmith, were charged five cents a mile. A merchant inside the ring could get his goods shipped below cost and on time, while an outsider had to pay high rates and await the pleasure of the company as to time. These and many other abuses that might be enumerated, we have sought, both as an editor and a leg- islator, to correct; but that we ever sought to injure the railroads is a mistake, to designate it by no stronger word.
But the railroad rings are not satisfied with the great power which they naturally possess, they must go further. They must control the leg- islation of the state and nation in their interest. Having learned, during the past two years, that the courts will not sustain their theory that the legislature has no control over their rates and charges, they now go to the polls to control the election of legislators. To do this they resort to the most arbitrary means. Their workmen must vote as they dictate or leave their employ. Every man along the lines of their roads, at all dependent upon them, is made to feel their power unless he sub- mits to their political dictation. The liquor-traffic, always corrupt and wicked, is their ready accomplice in influencing and controlling elections.
During the past two years the people have made considerable progress towards checking the abuses which had become almost unbearable; but now the companies, having failed in the courts, propose to undo the work which has been accomplished; and, unless we are much mis- taken in the signs of the times, they will succeed for a time. But their victory will be short-lived. No such power as they claim should ever be tolerated in this country any great length of time.
So far as we are concerned, we propose to continue to battle for the
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right, fully understanding the tremendous power of the companies and of their saloon allies to crush out all who oppose them. We shall do this, not as an enemy of railroads, but as an opponent of the abuses which the railroad magnates practice upon the masses of the people."
"THE GRASSHOPPER SHALL BE A BURDEN."
Verily the people of Western Minnesota, in 1873-4, probably for the first time, realized the magnificent description given by the prophet Joel of the grasshopper invasions of his day when he said : "The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. Yea, and nothing shall escape them. Before their face the people shall be much pained; all faces shall gather blackness. # # * They shall march, every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks. Neither shall one
thrust another. # * # They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall; they shall climb up upon the houses ; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief."
They first made their appearance about June 1873. Vast swarms of the insects appeared suddenly in northwestern Iowa and short- ly afterwards in southwestern Minnesota. They came with the west and northwest winds by the millions. They settled upon all kinds of crops, and destroyed whole fields in a day. The peo- ple were taken entirely by surprise. They knew not what to do. In fact they were utterly powerless before this vast and innum- erable insect army of invasion. Gardens were destroyed and whole farms were devastated. While the grasshoppers left the wild grasses, they devoured the tame grasses and all kinds of grain. This year (1873), while they did not destroy all the fields they deposited their eggs by the million and then disappear- ed.
Since the settlement of the state there have been five grass- hopper invasions-1856, 1857, 1865, 1873-4-5. The insects in 1873 sowed the land from the Blue Earth River west full of eggs. Many people fondly hoped that the frosts of winter had destroyed the eggs and that we should see no more of them. How vain were all these hopes! About the 9th and 10th of May. 1874, the weather being warm. the little pests began to hatch and come out of the ground. They were about the size of fleas, but they had the appetite of a full grown hog, and they forthwith commenced
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their work of devastation. They were ceaseless workers. Neither frosts, nor heat, nor wet weather, nor storms, nor tempests, seri- ously affected them. They ate almost everything in sight where they hatched out in 1874. Fortunately no eggs, to amount to anything, were deposited in Waseca county. But in Faribault and Blue Earth counties, adjoining, the destruction of crops was very great. The writer, in driving from Blue Earth to Mankato, July 5, 1874, realized as never before, what is meant by the words, "the grasshopper shall be a burden," and that, as Joel said, "the land was as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; nothing did escape them."
Gardens were totally destroyed. Vast fields of splendid grow- ing grain were eaten to the roots-not a vestige left.
Various methods of fighting the pests were resorted to with lit- tle effect. The most effective instrument or method of destruction was called the "hopperdozer". It consisted of a common piece of sheet iron, six or eight feet long, with small strips of board along the two longer sides, to give it stiffness, and a string or wire to draw it, extending from the two front corners. The whole sheet was then covered with coal tar. By drawing this "hopperdozer" over the field or garden while the insects were wingless, they would hop on to the tar in great numbers where they would be heldi fast and soon die. Hopperdozers were used extensively during the last year of the invasion throughout the infested regions. Large quantities of tar were purchased at public expense by towns and counties and almost every farmer had his hopperdozer. But it is generally believed that none of the appliances could avail against such an invasion as that was. The troublesome creatures disappeared as suddenly and myste- riously as they came. The exodus finally occurred on the 20th of July, 1877. The day was oppressively warm, the thermometer indicating 102 degrees in the shade with very little or no wind. About ten o'clock a. m. it was discovered that the air overhead was filled with flying grasshoppers. They were in swarms of mil- lions, flying high and going rapidly southeast. For more than an an hour they swarmed past while all over Southwestern Minnesota millions of the insects rose from the ground and joined the pass- ing hosts. Whither they went remains a mystery, but their de-
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parture was a great and lasting relief for which all men were devoutly thankful.
It was estimated at the time that the following acreage was ravaged by the insects, to-wit: 150,000 acres, or 2,500,000 bush- els, of wheat; 40,000 acres of oats, equal to 1,320,000 bushels; 20,000 acres of corn, equal to 340,000 bushels, besides large quantities of rye, barley, buckwheat, potatoes, flax and other crops.
Great numbers of worthy people were impoverished by this grasshopper raid. Many farmers were left without bread or seed in the western portion of the state. Without state aid or aid from some source they must leave their farms and seek employ- ment elsewhere, leaving the land desolate. Fortunately the state authorities, under Governor Davis' able advice, came to the rescue and most of the people courageously remained upon their farms and won a victory for themselves and the state.
DEATHS NOTED DURING THE YEAR.
Mr. Andrew Jackson, one of the early settlers of Woodville, died Feb. 5, from exposure. He left an estimable family to mourn his departure.
Jerry Hogan, a single man, living alone, one of the early set- tlers of the county, was found dead in his cabin March 11. Those who found him judged that he had been dead several days when the body was found, and that he died of disease. For some time prior to his death he had been considered partially insane. His team was found in the stable nearly starved.
A sad and fatal accident caused the death of Mr. William Baker, of Freedom, March 13. While in the flouring mill of Stokes & Kimball, at Janesville, his clothing caught on an up- right shaft and he was drawn on to it, breaking one arm in sev- eral places from the hand to the shoulder. While being whirled around by the revolving shaft his legs came in contaet with a post, one of them being entirely severed below the knee, and the other nearly torn off. The poor man lived some three hours af- ter this horrible mutilation of his body.
A sad and fatal accident befell the family of Rev. L. D. Hocan- son, of Otiseo, March 20, 1874, in the evening. Mr. Mose John- son and wife, his brother and brother's wife and two children,
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and Rev. Hocanson, wife, and child had been to attend a funeral in New Richland. In returning home they had to cross the Le- Sueur river at the Michael Anderson bridge. The water was so high as to run over the bank at the south end of the bridge, and when the team reached the bridge, one of the horses became frightened and threw itself off the bridge, dragging the other horse and the sleigh with it into the swollen stream. All except Mr. Mose Johnson and wife and Mrs. Hocanson and her two-year- old child, got out without difficulty. Mr. Johnson and wife clung to the wagon box until they were rescued by a man living near by. Mrs. Hocanson and child were drowned and their bodies were not recovered until the day following. Mr. Hocanson was pastor of the Swedish Lutheran church, in Otisco, and the sad accident caused deep sorrow in the whole community.
Mrs. Lynch, wife of Andrew Lynch, died of pneumonia, April 17, 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Lynch were among the early settlers of the county, having settled in St. Mary in 1856. She reared a large family of children and was an estimable woman.
Mrs. Hicks, sister of Mr. E. G. Wood, and one of the very carly settlers of this county, a widow lady, died April 24, 1874, of a com- plication of diseases, while under treatment at Minneapolis. She was a native of Vermont and married a man named Scott, who died a few years after the marriage. She came to Minnesota in 1858, a widow, with two children, a son and a daughter. She was married in 1859 to Rev. Mr. Hicks, who died soon afterwards.
Mr. Isaac Bird, of Wilton, one of the early settlers, died July 29, of kidney trouble, from which he had suffered for years. He was a native of England, coming to this country when a boy.
Dr. M. S. Gove, the pioneer physician of the county, passed to the Great Beyond on the 1st day of December, 1874. His sudden and unexpected death was a great shock to the community. While he himself realized from the first that death was near, none of his friends could believe it. He died of blood poisoning con- tracted in the line of professional duty. He was born in the town of Strafford, Orange county, Vermont. He studied medi- cine and surgery in his native state, and, after graduating in 1849 came West, settling in Indiana where he practiced until 1858, when he came to Minnesota and took up his residence in Wilton, then the county seat. He moved to Waseca about 1870. He was
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a public-spirited man and took great interest in all public mat- ters. He was a member of the county board during the super- visor system in 1859-60, and was at one time superintendent of schools under the township system. He took an active part in the organization of the Waseca County Anti-Horse-Thief society, and was its president many years. A large concourse of people fol- lowed his remains to the grave, the members of the Anti-Horse- Thief association, mounted on horse-back, paying their last re- spects to their presiding officer by joining in the funeral proces- sion. At the next meeting of the association it resolved: "That we will ever cherish his memory with feelings of consideration and respect as a man of scholarship and ability in his chosen pro- fession, a kind neighbor and good citizen." A year or two after his settlement in Wilton he married Miss Sarah Dodge, then a teacher in the public schools of the county and a very estimable young woman.
Shortly after the death of Dr. Gove, a shocking death occur- red at the crossing of the Le Sueur river near the St. Mary farm of Thomas J. Kerr. A man named Wm. Ackerman, of Medo, Blue Earth county, came to Waseca with two other men and four teams, on December 9 for lumber. In the afternoon they started home, and when near the crossing of the Le Sueur river, at Mr. Kerr's place, the lumber on one of the wagons got shoved forward against the team, and the men stopped to fix it. Acker- man's team, which was ahead of the others, started forward while he was aiding the others. He ran to his wagon and made an attempt to catch the lines, but missed them, and fell in front of one of the wheels which passed over his body. By this time all the teams were on the run, and the team next to Ackerman's also ran over him. He was taken to Mr. Kerr's residence, where he expired within a few minutes. He left a widow and four children.
The death roll of the year closed with the name of Nathaniel Wood. Father Wood, as he was generally called, died at the residence of Mr. G. R. Buckman, his son-in-law, in Waseca, Dec. 23, 1874, aged seventy-eight years. He had suffered for several years from a cancer on his under lip, and for many months had been confined to his bed. His death was not, there- fore, unexpected. He was one of the earliest settlers of Wood-
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ville, and was universally respected for his Christian devotion and uprightness of character. His Christianity was not of that India-rubber character which is sometimes used for selfish pur- poses, but the real article, which entered into his everyday life- his business and his politics.
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