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 33
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FARMERS' ALLIANCE.
This organization became very strong this year throughout
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the state. On the 15th of May, 1886, there was a meeting of Alliance men at Waseca, George W. Sprague, president of the state alliance, being here to address them. Mr. W. D. Arm- strong announced that there were now five alliances in the coun- tv, and that they might organize a county alliance, if those pres- ent thought it advisable; but before doing so he should like to hear from the state officers that were present. He introduced George W. Sprague, president of the state organization, who ad- dressed the meeting at considerable length. After the address, on motion of M. F. Connor, the five alliances represented pro- ceeded to the formal organization of a county alliance. The president and the secretary of each alliance signed an application to the state alliance for a charter. Messrs. W. D. Armstrong, II. A. Wagoner, Patrick Kenehan, and Thomas Barden were chosen to act as a committee to draft by-laws for the county alliance, to report to an adjourned meeting to be held May 29. At the adjourned meeting, constitution and by-laws were adopt- ed and the following officers elected : President, L. C. Remund, of Blooming Grove; vice-president, M. F. Connor, of Wilton; secretary, W. D. Armstrong, of Woodville; treasurer, Jas. E. Jones, of Iosco.
The regular meetings of the county alliance were to be held on the first Saturday of January, April, July and September. The meeting of May 29 adjourned to meet again June 26, 1886. At this last meeting there were present delegates from eight alliances.
NOTABLE MEETINGS.
There were several notable meetings in Waseca during the summer months. On the 15th of June the Southwestern Editorial convention of Minnesota was held in Waseca. The editors were entertained at Hotel Maplewood at noon and in the evening a banquet was tendered them at the Grant House.
The W. C. T. U. societies of the county held a county conven- tion in Waseca, June 17, 1886. The convention was held in the English M. E. church, Mrs. D. J. Bickford presiding.
The old settlers of Freedom and Alton, met on the 10th day of June, in the cultivated grove on the beautiful farm of Prof. F. D. Seaman. The day was an ideal one for such a pienic and
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there were three hundred and fifty persons present. The feast was all that could be desired, and then followed toasts and re- sponses. A synopsis of the response by Judge Crump, then of Waseca, is here given:
He said he was the first one, as usual, to make a fool of himself, and he proposed to do it well. He deemed it a compliment to be call- ed upon to address them, although it would be unfortunate both for them and himself. "I can remember," said he, "when I became an old settler here. It was in 1865. I also remember the first old settler I met here, who is now in Wisconsin. He was neither naked or clad, and had twenty-five cents in his pocket-now he has nothing. I can appreciate and you can appreciate those who have come here and why they have come. You know that we came here to eat-especially Graham and my- self-and we have enjoyed ourselves, especially Graham. He knows when he has a good thing. We have all enjoyed ourselves on this occasion.
"I can remember when we had myriads of mosquitoes here as big as sheep and kept hogs on them. We have driven them ont, but alas! the book agents and the lightning rod men have taken their places.
"I can remember, too, that the rattlesnake infested this region. He, too, has disappeared before the old settler, and the local editor rattles at the passer-by.
"The Indian, too, I am told, once roamed over these prairies with tomahawk and scalping knife; but he is gone, and the politicians and office seekers now scour the country in search of spoils.
"I now come to the defense of my friend, Jim Cummins. He has been lied about. Somebody has said he is no old settler. I know he is. He has told me so. He broke the prairie sod here in 1858, and camped here with another Indian at that time, and I want it entered in the minutes.
"The old settlers set good tables; they are good eaters and long eaters.
"I started to say something serious but I have failed-I generally do.
"As the pioneers grow older, as the wrinkles in their faces grow long- er and more numerous, as the hair gets whiter, as the numbers grow less, from year to year, these reunions will be more valued, and your children will thank you for having subdued this wilderness and built these pleasant homes.
"We honor and ought to honor the soldier who defended the country in the hour of peril, but I think the men and women who braved the hardships and dangers of frontier life are entitled to some credit for their courage and fortitude, and ought to be congratulated for coming here.
"I don't think I'll talk any more. There are editors here who are full of talk; the only trouble is they will lie so."
The sessions at Maplewood Park, this year, were well attended.
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
Among the noted speakers was Gen. Howard, who delivered his famous lecture on the battle of Gettysburg.
DEATH OF JOHN BALLARD.
John Ballard, of Iosco, on the afternoon of July 13, 1886, started out with a hay rake, just after supper, to rake hay. There was no breeching to the harness, and the rake ran on the heels of the horse, causing him to run. The horse became unmanage- able, ran into a grove, and Mr. Ballard was thrown against a tree with such force as to break several of his ribs loose from the backbone. He was a great sufferer until August 31, when he passed into rest. He was about fifty years of age, and settled in this county in 1858. He married about 1861 and left surviving him his wife and ten children; the eldest twenty-four years of age and the youngest three. He owned a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, and a ten-acre timber lot, besides considerable personal property. He was a Union soldier in the War of the Rebellion and was a member of McKune Post G. A. R., which attended his funeral, paying the last sad honors to their departed comrade.
NOVEMBER DEATHS.
Died, Mr. Silas Buckman, in his seventy-eighth year, at 3 o'clock, a. m., Nov. 9, 1886, of diarrhoea and congestion of the bladder. He had been failing since the latter part of August. He was a native of New Hampshire, removed to Crown Point, New York, when a boy, and resided there until 1867, when he settled on a farm in Woodville township. His wife died some years before. Since that time he had lived with his son, G. R. Buckman.
Died, George Smith, elder son of Hon. Warren Smith, Nov. 10, 1886, at 2 o'clock a. m., of congestion. in his twenty-third year. George had suffered for a year or more from diabetes and was much reduced in flesh and strength. He attended the Saturday evening entertainment at the opera house, and took a severe cold, which caused congestion and death. He graduated the spring before with distinction at Dartmouth college, and had chosen civil engineering as his profession.
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
DEATH OF MISS HONORA BURKE.
A sad and fatal accident occurred at the Phelps' crossing, about a mile and a quarter west of Waseca on the Winona & St. Peter railroad, December 24, 1886, about 7 o'clock in the even- ing. Mr. Philip Brown and wife, of St. Mary, came in to meet Miss Honora Burke, daughter of Michael Burke and sister of Mrs. Brown. Miss Burke was coming from Minneapolis to spend Christmas with her parents and friends. According to Mr. Brown's evidence before the coroner's jury they left the de- pot about 7 o'clock. Miss Burke sat on the righthand side of the sleigh, Isabella MeCabe, a girl some twelve years of age, next to her, Mrs. Brown on the left side, all on the same seat, with Brown sitting on his wife's lap. He was driving along on a fast trot and did not see or hear the freight train coming from the west until within thirty or forty feet of the track. His wife then said: "There comes the train." He tried to stop the team, one horse and one mule, and had them nearly stopped within perhaps five feet of the track, when the horse gave a plunge and dragged the mule with him over the track. At the same instant the engine struck the sleigh and threw them all out. He and his wife fell near together, the MeCabe girl a little way from them, near the fence, and Miss Burke still further from them, partly under the wire fence. He got up immediate- ly and went to his wife who was hurt some, then to the MeCabe girl who seemed to be stunned,-he thought she was dead. He next went to where Miss Burke was and drew her from under the fence. He could not see that she was alive, so he put his ear to her mouth and found that she did not breathe. Dr. Young, who examined Miss Burke, said that she died of concussion of the brain, caused by being thrown against a fence post, and that death was probably instantaneous.
THE FALL ELECTION.
For the first time in years, the democrats carried the county for state candidates by pluralities ranging from 137 to 504- the latter number being for "Doc." Ames, of Minneapolis- his total vote in the county having been 1,442. The following local candidates were elected: senator, W. G. Ward; representa- tive, M. W. Ryan; treasurer, Chas. McKenna; auditor, S. Swen-
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son; register of deeds, A. F. Kruger; clerk of court, M. B. Keeley ; sheriff, A. C. Krassin; judge of probate, Win. C. Young; county attorney, P. McGovern; superintendent of schools, J. B. Dye; court commissioner, G. R. Buckman; coroner, M. V. Hunt ; surveyor, O. L. Smith; county commissioners, Austin Vinton, Philip Purcell, J. O. Sunde, James Conway, Charles Deyling, Oliver Peterson.
EARLY WINTER.
The following announcement appeared in the Waseca Herald of Nov. 19, 1886 :
"The beautiful Indian summer of this month came to a sudden close on Tuesday. Snow commenced to fall in the morning, with the wind northeast, and continued to fall through the day. Tuesday night the wind veered to the north and hlew a continuous gale for twenty-four hours, the snow falling continuously and drifting into great heaps. The roads were hlockaded in every direction, and railway trains were suspended on both roads. The passenger from Minneapolis got stuck in a snow drift hetween Waterville and Waseca, and no mail arrived during the day. It was the heaviest snow storm for years in the month of Novemher, but, fortunately, the weather was not very cold. Thurs- day morning the wind was in the northwest, the snow still falling and drifting. The outlook for winter travel was discouraging."
On December 3, the same paper said :
"The deep snow that now covers this part of mother earth is becom- ing a barrier to trade-a serious obstacle to husiness."
BUILDING STATISTICS.
The people of Waseca in 1886 expended eighty-eight thousand. four hundred eighty-five dollars in constructing new buildings and making improvements. The largest and most important building erected this year was the ('atholie Seminary, built on lots adjoining the Catholic church, in Waseca, by the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus. Their headquarters in this country are Philadelphia. The central building is 30x60 feet, and each wing, east and west, is 40x66 feet, all two stories high. Only the west wing and its basement were completed this year and cost $10,- 000. The basement of the part completed this season is 11 feet high and divided as follows : A play room in the south end 24x40 feet, next a furnace room 12x20, a cellar 10x12, and a wood room 8x12. In the center is a well of water, then a kitchen 13x15. and a laundry 13x15, separated by the stairway hall. At the
1
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
north end of the building are two dining rooms, one on each side of the hall, 13x15 feet. The first story over the basement is 16 feet high, and divided as follows: Entrance hall 7x30; the first room on the right, 14x16, is the parlor; opposite this is the reception room, the same size; the next room on the right, as you enter the hall, is the music room, 14x16; and opposite that is the chapel, 14x16 feet; then comes a hall the whole width of the building seven feet across, and next, two school rooms, separated by folding doors, each room 20x30 feet. The second or upper story is 15 feet high, and contains two school rooms, each 20x16 feet; three sleeping rooms, 14x16, one sleeping room, 9x16 feet; a bath room and water closet, 8x9 feet, and two small closets. This is one of the important educational institu- tions of the state and has done much for the people of Waseca and surrounding country.
The following is a list of structures costing $1,000 and over :
Catholic Seminary $10,000 00 W. E. Scott, new house .. 1,700 00 Adolph Schmidt, new
Pugh & Goodman, new brick store 8,000 00 house 1,500 00 H. Hoyt, new house . . 1,500 00
Everett & Aughenbaugh, engine boiler house and machinery 7,500 00
R. M. Middaugh, new
house 1,500 00
Joseph Gatzman, new
B. Hassing, house and
barn 1,200 00 brick store 3,600 00
Hans. Borelson, new
W. G. Ward, new brick store
3,500 00 house
1,200 00
Thos. Moonan, new brick store
3,500 00
ments 1,100 00 Waseca Iron Works, ma- chinery and improve- ments 1,000 00 Waseca Furniture Com- pany, new machinery
Pat. Solon, new house and barn
3,500 00
Chicago & Northwestern Railway, round house improvements ... .. P. McElroy, new residence Van Dusen & Co., im- provements to elevator W. D. Abbott, new house 1,800 00 H. Britten, new house and improvements 1,600 00
3,000 00
1,000 00 2,500 00 and improvements ... W. G. Ward, improve- 2,000 00 ments on buildings and house 1,000 00
Thos. Flynn, new house. 1,000 00
School House, improve-
CHAPTER LVI, 1887.
NEW YEAR CALLS-COUNTY LEGISLATION-THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLAR FIRE AT JANESVILLE-WEATHER NOTES-DIED, ROB- ERT MCDOUGALL, W. S. BAKER, ROBERT EARL, ZABINA CHILD, M. D. L. COLLESTER.
New Year's day was ushered in elear and fair on the north end of an iceberg, the thermometer registering thirty-four de- grees below zero, at day-break. In the afternoon, some twenty- six gentlemen made the eustomary New Year ealls. Messrs. E. A. Everett, B. U. Dye, W. A. Swift and Geo. F. Tallon com- posed one party and were drawn about town by Connelly's matehed team of white ponies, hitehed to a fur-covered sleigh- pampas grass plumes adorning the horses' heads. Messrs. H. W. Bird, Jos. Truax, and Arthur Jamison went together, riding about town on an inverted crockery erate, drawn by Charlie Clement's hybrid horses. W. J. Jennison, J. A. Stemen, F. V. Ilubbard, H. H. Sudduth, A. D. Goodman and Ellsworth Good- speed composed another party. Drs. Cummings and Davidson, E. A. White and C. C. Griffin constituted a lively quartette. G. W. Eekenbeek, J. D. Walworth, and N. S. Gordon drank together. Oysters, fruits, eake, and eoffee were generously served and disposed of with mueh zest.
COUNTY LEGISLATION.
The commissioners this year were Austin Vinton, Philip Pur- cell, Jonas O. Sunde, James Conway, Chas. Deyling and Oliver Peterson. The board organized by electing Mr. Pureell ehair- man. The question of county printing eame up as usual, a por-
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
tion of the board desiring to let the whole of the work to the lowest bidder, while the majority, led by the chairman, decided to let only four items, to wit: proceedings of board of county commissioners, proceedings of board of equalization, delinquent tax list and financial statement. The Radical offered to print these items for one cent, and received the contract.
The county fathers were very liberal this year, making appro- priations for roads and bridges. At their January meeting one hundred dollars was appropriated for corduroying slough on town line road between section 6, Alton, and section 31, Janes- ville, to be expended under the supervision of Messrs. Purcell and Conway. Thirty-five dollars was appropriated for work on road between sections 17 and 18, Iosco, to be expended under the supervision of Mr. Purcell.
At the March meeting appropriations were made as follows:
The sum of $200 was appropriated for the repair of roads and bridges in the first commissioner district, to be expended under supervision of J. O. Sunde. The sum of $220 was appropriated to be expended in the repair of roads and bridges, in the third commissioner district, under supervision of Philip Purcell. The sum of $250 was appropriated to be expended by Commissioner Peterson-$200 of the same to be expended outside the city of Waseca on roads, and not to exceed $50 inside the city limits. Three hundred and fifty dollars was appropriated for roads and bridges to be expended under the supervision of James Con- way in the fourth district; and $225 to be expended in the fifth district under the supervision of Mr. Deyling.
The board received and accepted the report of the committee on the Krassin bridge, and appropriated $339 to pay for the work. The report of the committee on the Boot Creek bridge was made and accepted, and $53.50 appropriated to pay for the work.
At the May meeting, money was appropriated as follows:
The sum of $400 was appropriated to build a new bridge at St. Mary in place of the old one, and Messrs. Purcell, Conway and Deyling were appointed to superintend the construction thereof. The sum of $400 was appropriated to build a new bridge across the LeSueur river on section 34, in Otisco, and Messrs. Peterson and Sunde were appointed to over- see the construction of it. $400 was appropriated to build two new bridges on the outlet of Lake Helena-one on section 36 in Janesville, and one on section 19, in Iosco. The sum of $120 was appropriated to build a bridge across the Little Cobb river, on section 33, town of Free- dom. $125 was appropriated to build a bridge across the LeSueur river,
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
between sections 24 and 25, town of New Richland; and the sum of $100 was appropriated to each commissioner district for the repair of roads and bridges.
On July 25, 1887, the board appropriated $1,000 for building the Wil- ton bridge and making the approaches thereto; and an additional sum of $325 for completing the St. Mary bridge, purchasing the right of way for the same and grading the approaches thereto.
At the August session of the board the sum of $250 was appropriated for completing the unfinished work on new bridges and caring for material of old bridges in the several commissioner districts.
$30,000 FIRE AT JANESVILLE.
The worst conflagration which has ever visited Janesville vil- lage, oeeurred on the night of April 12, 1887. The fire was first discovered bursting from the roof of the barn of the Northwest- ern hotel, standing east of that building. It originated in the hayloft, and was discovered about eight o'clock. The horses in the barn were taken out without diffienlty. The flames spread rapidly to the adjoining buildings, and each new blaze gave impetus to the devouring element. To add to the sad situation the big mill had been shut down for some time for repairs, and no water could be obtained from that source, and all other water supplies were soon exhansted. Everything was dry and the flames soon spread to the Northwestern hotel, MeCabe's hotel. and Kleeman's saloon. By this time, the fire was beyond eon- trol, spread rapidly each way, and soon crossed to the west side of the street. The Johnson house, barn and out-buildings, at the northern limit of the fire, were totally destroyed. Mr. Church, the landlord, removed most of his furniture and goods. It was a hard blow to Janesville, but the plucky men of that energetic town soon rebuilt the waste places.
WEATHER NOTES.
The winter of 1886-7 gave more than the average fall of snow and cold weather. A local paper of Jan. 28 said :
"The boys on the railroad are having a hard struggle with snow. The road between Sleepy Eye and Lake Benton makes costly work for the Northwestern during the winter season. Much of the time a snow plow has to be run ahead of passenger trains, from station to station, telegraphing back that it Is safe for the latter to go on another stage. With four or five such outfits between Huron and St. Peter the expense is great, the work hard, and the delays vexatlous. One or two winters of such expense would almost rebuild the line."
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
The snow was deep all winter and remained upon the ground until the middle of March. The last snow storm of the season was recorded as follows: Let it be recorded that on the 22d day of April, A. D. 1887, a fierce snow storm from the regions of the unsalted sea visited this section; that snow fell to the depth of two or three inches, that, on the morning of the 23d, ive had formed to the thickness of half an inch. The next day the snow disappeared."
NOTED DEATHS DURING THE YEAR.
Robert MeDougall passed from life into the sleep of death, on the evening of Jan. 15, 1887, in the sixty-sixth year of his life. Robert was born in the highlands of Scotland, in 1821. His parents left their native hills and settled in Canada, near Guelph, where they opened a farm in the then wilderness when he was a small boy. Robert spent the years of his minority at home, and encountered all the hardships and hard work incident to a new, timbered country. Sometime about 1854, Robert and his brother Hugh came to the "States." They stayed in Iowa for some time, then came to Waseca county, in the fall of 1855. Each made a claim where the MeDougall farm now is, and com- menced keeping "batch." There were two other young men near them, from Canada, named Robbins-George and William. All of them had made claims in good faith, none of them know- ing that it was necessary to declare their intentions to become citizens, supposing that they could do that at the time of prov- ing up. During the winter of 1855-6, men from Owatonna, who had laid out and platted the village of Wilton, brought in several persons to jump the claims of these men. This outrage aroused all the settlers in the neighborhood. A meeting was called and it was decided that the intruders must go. Robert was passion- ate and impetuous, Hugh was cool and determined. The claim- jumpers were ordered to leave at once, and so strong was the feeling that they discreetly stood aside while the "boys," as they were then called, left not one log upon another. The claim- jumpers then went to Owatonna and caused the arrest of every settler in the neighborhood except one or two, on a criminal warrant. Several of the settlers, including Robert, were found guilty of destroying property. The verdict was given by a
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
packed jury; on appeal the judgments were set aside. Contests were also instituted in the land office, then at Winona, regarding the claims. Matters became so warm that the men from Owa- tonna dared not be seen on the LeSueur alone, and when the land cases came on at Winona, the "claim-jumpers" were so well con- vinced that their lives were not secure that they virtually with- drew their claims, with the understanding that they might peace- ably take other claims near by. Notwithstanding this patched- up truce, the feeling did not die out, and on the night of the 19th of April, 1856, several house-bodies which had been put up on the village site were torn down and demolished. Wilton never recovered again until a year after, when the Owatonna proprietors, sold or pretended to sell their interests to other persons. The MeDougall brothers, a year or so afterwards, proved up on their claims and perfected their titles. Not long after this, Hugh returned to the old homestead in Canada, where he now resides; and Robert took his horses and wagon and started for the mining regions of the Western mountains. He spent one winter near the head waters of the Saskatchewan river; then crossed the mountains into Washington Territory, worked in different mines some time, and returned in 1860. After a short visit here, he returned to Canada, where he remained until he was married. Shortly after his marriage, in the year 1866, he settled on the farm where he died. Had he lived until the follow- ing March he would have been sixty-six years of age. He left with his wife nine children-six girls and three boys. He owned two hundred acres of land and quite a stock of horses and cat- tle, at the time of his demise. Some eight or nine years prior to his death, he was badly injured by a horse, one of his arms being broken. A quack doctor pretended to reduce the frac- ture, but it was done so poorly that he suffered much from it. Mr. McDougall was an honest, conscientious man; and although high-tempered and sometimes very passionate, he was a kind- hearted man and a true friend. His remains were deposited in the quiet Wilton cemetery, where he sleeps the last long sleep.
Died, at his home in Waseca, March 6, 1887, Wm. S. Baker, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. He was born in the state of Maine, April 28, 1808. He was a pioneer from early manhood, coming to the state of Ohio in early life. He was married to
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