Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 23

Author: Holcombe, R. I. (Return Ira), 1845-1916; Bingham, William H
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago : H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 1190

USA > Minnesota > Hennepin County > Minneapolis > Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota > Part 23

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* The extent and beauty of the town site attract particular attention, and newly-made houses are scattered along its river side, above and below the Falls.

"But on the west side there is a much better site and more extensive. This land, however, is not yet

subject to entry, but being such an admirable situa- tion hundreds are looking over it with eager eyes. Many have already gone across the river and made their "claims" even at the risk of having their tem- porary lodges torn down by a company of Uncle Sam's boys from Fort Snelling. There will be a grand rush for 'the other side' as soon as the land is brought into market. Another town will then and there spring up, as the result of Yankee enterprise and competition.

"Saint Anthony has been mostly built up during the present season. It has received a great immigra- tion and especially from Maine; the lower town is mostly settled by people from Maine, but the upper town is composed more of all sorts, like St. Paul. There is a marked difference between the two parts of St. Anthony. The lower part, or the Maine sct- tlement, has no drinking establishments, while it has the extensive saw-mills which supply St. Paul and the surrounding country with lumber ; it also has the largest stores, besides a noble school house and a church nearly complete. The upper town can boast of a splendid hotel, one of the best in Minnesota, and several groceries-but not of the other things found in the lower town!

In respect to churches Saint Anthony is about one year behind St. Paul. The Baptist denomination has a house nearly ready for meeting in, while the various other denominations are pre- paring to build. Within a year from this time we may expect to see as many meeting houses in this place as there are now at St. Paul. It is supposed by some that the town now contains 1,000 inhabitants ; when the national census of 1850 was taken, last sum- mer, it had about 700."

In an editorial article in the St. Anthony Express of December 20, 1851, Editor Isaac Atwater said that it would not be an exaggeration to state that 75 build- ings had been erected in the village during the pre- vious year, and that 75 more were either under way or in mature contemplation. Arnold W. Taylor's building on Main Strect (occupied as a general store in January following) was characterized as, "a large building, an ornament to the village, and an indica- tion of the enterprise of the population." It was a large building for the time; Atwater solemnly declared that it was "one story and a half high." J. P. Wilson, of St. Anthony, and Dr. Maloney, of Illinois, were having a store building erected on the corner of Main and Rollins Streets, filling a gap which had hitherto interfered with the regularity of the streets at that point. A number of other honses were being built in the upper portion of the village.

Frank Steele had a number of workmen engaged in preparing the woodwork for a "hotel of the larg- est size," which was to be completed in the spring of 1852. John G. Lennon was preparing to build a residence which was to be "equal in proportions to any which has heretofore been built in St. Anthony." Thesc established and contemplated improvements and enterprises were as important in the development of St. Anthony in 1851, as have been the sky-scraping

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

office buildings and the vast factories evolved in Minneapolis in later periods.

At the time of writing the foregoing exultant notes of the progress his village had made and was making, Editor Atwater took occasion to say that, due to the season, when the trees were bare and the skies clear, an ample and unobstructed view of the village and of the surrounding country were abundantly afforded. From the crest of Rose Hill, two miles east of the village, there could be seen, curling in the wintry air, smoke from the chimneys of St. Paul, Little Canada, Mendota, Fort Snelling, and the little hamlet then called Groveland.

A more extended prospect was offered from a big lone oak which stood, like a great plume, on the crest of a high hill in the village cemetery grounds, which were then a mile or more east and south of the College grounds. From the base of this tree the valley of the St. Peter's could be traced from Mendota up the river, for 28 miles, to Shakopee's village. And the Mississippi was visible from far above the Falls to the bend just below the mouth of what was then called Brown's Creek, or the Little Falls Creek, now called Minnehaha. Then the lines of the neat white cottages in St. Anthony were plainly visible from the same base, the whole making a delightfully impressive scene.

GOODHUE FORECASTS THE FUTURE.

It can hardly be too often and too emphatically asserted that Editor Goodhue, of the Minnesota Pio- neer, was a most serviceable friend to St. Anthony. It has already been shown how he tried to "boost" the town and promote its interests by the frequent insertion in the Pioneer of well written articles in their favor which were widely read. He was an able man and recognized the manifest destiny of a prop- erly founded city at the site of the great water-power, on a mighty river, and in the midst of a vast, resource- ful country. In fact while he claimed that his own town was then greater, in all respects but one, than St. Anthony, he conceded that St. Anthony might one day become the greater. In the Pioneer of December 26, 1850, he wrote :

"We do not say that St. Paul will always be the most important town in Minnesota; and we do not say that St. Anthony will not be."

The truth is that Mr. Goodhue was "a fellow of infinite jest." He would stop in the midst of engross- ing labor to listen to a funny story, and he would imperil not only his private business but his personal safety rather than forego the exquisite pleasure of writing and printing something in his paper which he thought was humorous.

The people about the Falls protested against Mr. Goodhue's suggestion that the new town should be called "All Saints," and then he resented the pro- test. He saw that he had been inconsiderate, but he pretended that he was deliberate. He said that "All Saints" would be a splendid name for a city --- there was no other in all the world so named. John H. Stevens (Minn. and People, p. 128) says :

"Goodhue had no patience when any other name than 'All Saints' was talked of. His letters to me were always so addressed. In September, 1851, I received a letter from him containing the following : 'I, with my wife and sister, three children, and a servant girl, propose to dine with you to-morrow, Tuesday, at All Saints.' Miss Mary A. Schofield, the pioneer teacher, also favored the name. 'All Saints, Minnesota Terry.' "'

It was not, however until in 1851, when the new town on the west side was talked of, that Goodhue proposed the name All Saints. He also contemplated that this name should be given to the combined towns; for he concluded that they would soon be combined as one municipality, the situation and all other condi- tions demanding such a combination. As has been stated, the shrewd editor foresaw, with reasonable clearness, the destiny of the place. In his "New Year's Address" published in the Pioneer Jan. 2, 1850, when the paper was but nine months old, he "dipped into the future," and thus prophesied :

"Propelled by our great river, you shall see A thousand factories at St. Anthony."

FIRST NEWSPAPER IN ST. ANTHONY.

Very early in their history the citizens of St. Anthony sought to have a village newspaper. Every- body wanted one. The politicians wanted it that they might if possible control it in their own interests; the business men wanted it as an advertising medium; the citizens wanted it so that the town could boast of such an institution, etc. January 6, 1851, John H. Stevens wrote to Sibley, then at Washington as Terri- torial Delegate :

"A press at St. Anthony now would be a money- making business. You see Rice bought up the Chronicle & Register; he already owned the Demo- crat, and both of these are his organs. The two filthy sheets are gulling the public with their pretensions of independence; but the cloven foot sticks out so plain that a blind man can see Rice-Rice-Rice- sticking out all around. and every column shows it.

"Goodhue, of the Pioneer, works for money; dol- lars are his asylum; [sic] he dreams of them at night and is ready to work by day, provided he can get well paid for the work. Had he not gone in for St. Paul so much, he would have got the public printing; he may get it yet, but it is to be doubted. * * John Rollins and Edward Patch would have gone * for Goodhue had it not been for his remarks about St. Anthony. We must have a paper of our own.

* * Now, if you know of any one or two young men who want to embark in a profitable busi- ness, and have talent, just send them on to St. Anthony with a press. I will have a house ready for them to move in. They can make money from the start. Good managers cannot help but do well. * * * We hope to hear of the reduction of the Fort Snelling Reserve soon; you little know the excitement here about it; what a help to the growth of the Territory it would be!"

If Col. Stevens's free and spirited criticisms of the

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

newspapers of the Territory were true, certainly another, and of a different sort, was needed. There were two Democratic and one Whig paper at St. Paul, and another Whig paper was demanded somewhere in the Territory.

Among the first settlers in St. Anthony was Elmer Tyler, who came from Chicago in 1850 and opened a small tailor shop on Main street, opposite the Falls. He bought a number of town lots and other real estate near the village, and in disposing of certain of his holdings made handsome profits. He was an ardent Whig in politics and prone to street and bar-room discussions. In some respects he was eccentric, but on the whole a man of information and a certain sort of talent. He often said that there ought to be a Whig paper in St. Anthony, and as he had made some money in his real estate speculations, he said he was willing to invest in one. He had no experience as a publisher and but little ability as a writer, but he put these disadvantages aside, in his enthusiasm to accomplish his desires.

In his history Judge Atwater says that Mr. Tyler proposed to establish a Whig paper at the Falls, if the then young and promising lawyer, Atwater, would edit it, and the proposition was accepted. Tyler went to Chicago and purchased the necessary outfit, includ- ing a hand press, for a seven-column folio paper. How this material was transported from Chicago to the Mississippi cannot now be stated; there was then no railroad between the city and the river.

The first number of the paper was issued May 31, 1851. It was called the St. Anthony Express. Its place of publication was given as "St. Anthony Falls, Min." In those days every pretentious paper had its motto. That of the Express, was conspicuous under the title on the first page and at the head of the editorial columns and read, "Principles, Not Men." Judge Atwater writes that for the first year the paper was published in a log house on Main Street, under the bluff, and near First Avenue Southeast ; the cabin had been used as a boarding house for the men that built the first mill dam, and was called by them the "mess house. "'

The proprietor of the paper-at least the ostensible and declared owner-was the Mr. Elmer Tyler, before mentioned, and the first announced publisher was H. Woodbury. The latter was a practical printer and Mr. Tyler brought him from Chicago to take charge of the mechanical work on the new paper. His brother, J. P. Woodbury, also a printer, came with him, and the two, as it seems, did all the work of setting the type and "working off" the paper. The Express was well and neatly and tastefully printed, and presented an attractive appearance, although the type was very plain and the printing was done upon a hand-press of the fashion used by Ben. Franklin.

It is not very likely that Mr. Tyler was the real owner of the Express; he was probably a stockholder. but as the proprietor was perhaps only a figurehead. He was an ardent Whig and the Express was a Whig paper politically. The real owner or the principal backer and promoter was doubtless Franklin Steele, who in the interests of his business did not want a

paper at St. Anthony that would in any way, or at any time, oppose them. Though Tyler was so loud- mouthed a Whig, he could not really afford to indulge in the luxury of newspaper ownership at the then little frontier village, with all the risk and vicissi- tudes which such ownership implied. Though Steele was a staunch Democrat in politics, it would be to hin money well invested if he should purchase the controlling interest in a Whig paper, not to shape its political course, but to influence its local comments and criticisms. The Democratic papers of the Terri- tory were friendly to him, as was the Minnesotian, the Whig paper at St. Paul, and then the only journal of that politics in the Territory. If he could control the Express, all the papers in the Territory would be his friends.

Judge Atwater, in his history, says that he was the editor of the Express from its first number until it was discontinued, in 1859, and that Mr. Tyler was the editor and publisher until "the end of the year," meaning the first year. The early numbers of the paper, however, do not thus show. From the first issue of the Express, May 31, until August 2 it bore the names in bold black type of "E. Tyler, Proprie- tor," and "H. Woodbury, Publisher." Tyler evi- dently did not continue with the paper longer than three months-and not until "the end of the year." August 2, 1851, the paper came out bearing the names of "Woodbury & Hollister, Publishers and Pro-

prietors." A gifted young man named Shelton Hol- lister, of Pennsylvania, seemed to have succeeded Mr. Tyler, whose name, as in any way connected with the paper, never appeared in it again. But, two months later, or October 1, the paper came out bearing the names of "H. & J. P. Woodbury. Editors and Pro- prietors," and was so issued until the latter part of May, 1852. During its first year the name of Isaac Atwater never appeared as editor of the paper, or as in any manner connected with it. It is a fact, how- ever, that he was its chief editorial writer, but it is not probable that he selected and prepared the entire "copy." The Woodbury Brothers made great dis- play of the fact that they were the "editors."'

The Express was a Whig paper. Judge Atwater was a Whig of the conservative type, and the paper's editorials showed plainly where he stood. During the first years of the paper there were in the United States but two political parties worth considering, the Whig and the Democratic; the Free Soil party did not have 160.000 members. The cardinal principles of the Whig party were a protective tariff, an extended system of internal improvements to be estab- lished and conducted by the General Government, and that the Federal and State governments of our coun- try "are parts of one system." There were in the party States' rights and Federalist members, and particularly there were pro-slavery and anti-slavery men, the former residing largely in the South and the latter living almost wholly in the North. The party was always conservative, did not believe in radicalism, opposed war. or anything likely to cause great public excitement or distress, and accepted situ- ations very readily Thus it accepted slavery and the

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

laws protecting it, whereat many of its members were offended, and contributed largely to the 156,000 Presidential votes cast in 1852 for Hale and Julian, the candidates of the Free Soilers or, as they called themselves, the "Free Democratic Party," the fore- runner of the Republican Party. The truth is that 60 and 70 years ago a large majority of the anti- slavery men of the North were Democrats. or affiliated with the Democratic party. When the Republican party was organized, in 1854-55, nearly all of the Free Soil Democrats joined it, and then, after slavery was abolished, some of them went back to the Demo- cratie party.

When the Whig party broke up. in 1855, Judge Atwater, Judge Meeker, and many other Whigs throughout the country went into the Democratic party and thereafter acted with it. Atwater was, however, at all times and under all circumstances a patriot and a true American. He was a lover of and devoted to his country all the days of his life. In 1850-51, about the time of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and when the question of slavery exten- sion was to the fore, the Southern "fire-caters," as they were termed, were blustering and blaspheming and declaring for secession and a dissolution of the Union. In the St. Anthony Express of July 12, 1851, Atwater, as its editor, wrote:

"It does seem to us that all who clamor for dis- union, whether they live North or South, and all fire- eaters, wherever found, deserve to be sent over the Falls here, and the prescription repeated until they become cool. But, seriously speaking, is not this eternal clamor about the dissolution of the Union insufferable ? And shall not Minnesota be character- ized by her devotion to the Union ? Shall not any man who advocates disunion be branded as worse than a traitor ?"

The subsequent history of the St. Anthony Express may be briefly given. May 28, 1852, George D. Bow- man an old newspaper man of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, assumed control of the paper as pro- prietor, publisher, and editor. August 5, 1855, Judge Atwater took full charge and made it staunchly Democratic in politics. In March, 1859, D. S. B. Johnston, now the well known capitalist and philan- thropist of St. Paul. became Atwater's editorial asso- ciate. Johnston was at the time principal of a select school in St. Anthony. In August, 1857, Chas. H. Slocum purchased a one-third interest in the paper from Judge Atwater and became its publisher : Atwater remained as editor although that year he was elected one of the Judges of the first State Supreme Court. In 1859 Johnston bought a one- third interest in the paper and became an equal part- ner with Slocum and Atwater. (Statement of Slocum to Compiler, in 1913.)

Sometime later Mr. Johnston became the editor and Slocum the publisher. In the fall of 1860 Slocum retired and in May, 1861, Mr. Johnston discontinued the paper. The press and other material were sold to Hon. John L. McDonald, of Shakopee, and used to establish and print the Shakopee Argus, (See Minn. Hist. Coll. Vol. X. part 1. p. 260.)

PROHIBITION IN 1851,

Many of the first settlers at St. Anthony were from the State of Maine, where for some time a stringent prohibitory liquor law-commonly called the "Maine law"-had been in effect. A majority of the Maineites in St. Anthony were prohibitionists and brought their peculiar notions with them to the North- west. There was a great deal of promiscuous drink- ing in the little frontier village, where even the family grocery stores sold liquor for five cents a pint, and the "tee-totallers," as they were often termed, were duly horrified. They called themselves "temperance men" then, for the term prohibitionist was not in vogue. A lodge of the Sons of Temperance, called Cataract Division No. 2, was organized at St. Anthony, in May, 1850; C. C. Jenks was the "W. P."

September 15, 1851, the first public "temperance" meeting in St. Anthony was held. An organization, with Washington Getchell as president, was effected and a Territorial Convention of the "friends of temperance" was advocated. On New Year's Day, 1852, in the Presbyterian Church building at St. Paul, the Territorial Convention was held. Several of the most prominent men of the Territory, including Joseph R. Brown, E. D. Neill, Joseph A. Wheelock, John W. North, C. G. Ames, and Dr. J. H. Murphy, attended and spoke for a "Maine law." In February, 1852, the Express boasted : "There is not a gambling shop, a drinking saloon, a whisky grocery store, or a grog shop in this town."

ST. ANTHONY BECOMES A LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT.

From the first settlement St. Anthony had been united with the hamlet of Little Canada as a Legis- lative district of Ramsey County ; but the Territorial Legislature of 1851 made the village an independent political division, designating it as the Third Council District. The district was to be entitled to one mem- ber of the Territorial Council and two members of the House of Representatives. The district was still in Ramsey County.

THE FIRST BRIDGE.

In the latter part of July, 1851, the first Missis- sippi bridge was completed at St. Anthony under the ownership of Frank Steele. It extended only between the eastern shore and Nicollet Island, and not entirely across the river. The gap was filled by a good ferry- boat. According to the Express the bridge was a very firm and substantial one, constructed of large and heavy timbers and raised to a level with the bank on each side. The paper said the bridge was a favorite resort for travelers and others, as it afforded a fine view of the Island and of the Rapids below. In September Edward Murphy, under W. A. Cheever's charter, began operating the ferry below the Falls.

MARKETS IN 1851.

In September the Express gave the retail prices of groceries and provisions in St. Anthony. Flour was $5 and $5.50 per barrel : cranberries. $4. Oats. 25 to

100

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

40 cents per bushel; corn, 50 cents; cornmeal, 75 cents; potatoes, 60 cents. Coffee, 14 and 17 cents a pound; teas from 50 cents to $1; brown sugar, 9 and 11 cents; crushed or white sugar, 15 cents; lard, 12 cents; butter "from below" 15 cents; fresh churned butter, 20 cents; checse, 10 and 15 cents; hams, 11 and 15 cents; fresh beef and mutton, 8 and 10 cents; pork and bacon, 10 and 12 cents; venison, 5 and 10 cents ; fresh fish, 3 and 5 cents. Common New Orleans molasses, 50 and 65 cents a gallon; N. O. golden syrup, 85 cents; whisky 25 and 35 cents; Eggs, 20 cents a dozen and very scarce. Prairie chickens, 50 cents a pair, or $2.50 a dozen.

FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH.

In August, 1851, the first Catholic Church building in St. Anthony was completed. It stood in "upper town," where now is the corner of Ninth Avenue North and Maine Street, East Division. The Express of August 9 described it as a "large and capacious building," although a few years later it became neces- sary to erect the present fine stone structure. The church was called St. Anthony of Padua, in honor of Father Hennepin's patron saint, and this name it still bears. The building was a frame and commenced in 1850, or possibly, as Stevens says, (p. 108) in 1849.

The builder of the church was the Rev. Father Augustin Ravoux, of blessed and revered memory. He had come to Minnesota from France in 1841, and had served as pastor of St. Peter's Church at Mendota, St. Paul's at St. Paul, and as a missionary among the Indians. When his superior, Father Galtier, (the founder of St. Paul) left the country, in 1844, Father Ravoux succeeded him. He secured the site of the church in St. Anthony in 1849. Previous to the build- ing of their local church the Catholics of St. Anthony attended services at St. Paul and Mendota, where the priests lived.

Father Ravoux was an engaging and admirable character. He was zealous and unwearied in his church work, but he was retiring, over-modest, and shrank from notoriety or publicity. At the request of friends, and by instructions from his superiors, he wrote his reminiscences of his early church work in Minnesota and they were published in book form. The book was disappointing. It makes very little mention of the many good works Father Ravoux actually performed. He makes no mention whatever of his building St. Anthony of Padua, although it is known that he superintended the work of construction in person, coming from Mendota, via the river, to the foot of the rapids in a canoe, which he usually paddled himself. He was engaged for more than a year in the work, but, not desiring to parade his deeds, he does not refer to it.

Father Ravoux conducted the first services in St. Anthony of Padua church, but in December, 1851, Rev. Father Ledon, another French priest, came and assumed charge as the first regular pastor. He served until in 1855, according to Atwater's History, when he was succeeded by his former college mate and friend. Rev. Father Fayolle, who had been serving at the little hamlet of Little Canada for some time.

Stevens says (p. 108) that Father Ravoux began the erection of the church building in 1849, and that Father Ledon came in 1851 and was the first resident priest, although previous to his coming Fathers Ravoux and Lucian Galtier "held services in private houses." This cannot be true as to Father Galtier, for he left Minnesota for good in May, 1844, when there was but one house on the site of St. Anthony.

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Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 23

Author: Holcombe, R. I. (Return Ira), 1845-1916; Bingham, William H Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Chicago : H. Taylor & Co. Number of Pages: 1190

Author: Holcombe, R. I. (Return Ira), 1845-1916; Bingham, William H
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago : H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 1190