USA > Minnesota > Concise history of the state of Minnesota > Part 19
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Wisconsin, admitted as a State in 184S, in her Consti- tution provided that the grant of 500,000 acres under the act of Congress approved Sept. 4, 1841, and also the five per cent. of net proceeds of the public lands should be used for the support of schools. Iowa and California made similar provisions, but the framers of the Consti- tution of Minnesota paid no attention to these prece- dents, which have since been followed by Kansas, Oregon and other states.
As soon as the legislature acquired control over these lands under the act of 1841, they were sought for by railroad corporations, and a bill was passed in 1871 giv- ing to them that which other states had appropriated to the support of schools. It failed, however, to receive the approval and signature of the Governor, and this led to the adoption, in November, 1873, by a vote of the people, of an amendment to the Constitution, which for- bids all moneys belonging to the Internal Improvement Land fund to be appropriated "for any purpose what-
1. Horace Austin was, in 1831. born in Connectiont. He received a common school education, and fora time worked at the travle of his father. Atfor spend- ing some time in the law office of Bradbury & Merrill, Augusta, Maine, in 1-54 he came West, and in 1-55 removed to Minnesota, and the next year became a resident of the town of Saint Peter. During tien. Sibley's expedition of 1-63. against the Indians, he served as a captain of cavalry. In It he was elected Judge of the Sixth Judicial District, and in 1969 was nominated as Governor by the Republican party, and elected. He has been an Auditor of the U. S. Troas- ory at Washington. In 1877 was one of the Railroad Commissioners of Min- nesota.
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ever, until the enactment for that purpose shall have been approved by a majority of the electors of the State voting at the annual general election following the pas- sage of the act."
Cushman K. Davis, 1 on the ninth of January, 1874, delivered his inaugural address as Governor. He called the attention of the Legislature to the importance of the State checking a tendency upon the part of railroad corporations to make an abatement of freight rates in favor of their friends at the expense of farmers and other customers. His language upon the subject was emphatic:
"The expense of moving products has become the great expense of life, and it is the only disbursement over which he who pays can exercise no control what- ever. He has a voice in determining how much his taxes shall be. In the ordinary transactions of life he can buy and sell where he chooses, and competition makes the bargain a just one; but in regard to his crops he is under duress as to their carriage, and under dictation as to their price. In the very nature of things, the occa- sion must be rare which will justify any advance in the rates for moving grain from Minnesota. In September, 1873, however, when a wheat crop of unexpected abund- ance was overcrowding the means of transportation, and when there was every reason why there should be a re- duction instead of an advance of rates, the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, and the Chicago & North-
1. Cushman K. Davis was born in the State of New York in 1838, and in boy- hood removed with his parents to Waukesha, Wisconsin. For several years he was a student at C'arroll College, but gradnated in 1-57 at the University of Michigan. After studying law with Ex-Gov. Alex Randall. of Wisconsin, in 1959. he was admitted to the bar. In 1962 he enlisted in the 28th Wisconsin Volunteers, and was afterwards appointed as Ass't Adj't General. and served upon the staff of fien. Willis A. Gorman. In 1-64 he settled in St. Paul. and in 1866 was a member of the Legislature. In 1968 he was appointed U. S. District Attorney. In January, 1537, he was elected U. S. Senator.
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western Railway Company simultaneously imposed upon our wheat crop a tax of three cents per bushel, by an advance of that amount in charges. If any administra- tion should commit such an act as this in performing the functions of taxation, it would be deposed by an in- dignant constituency. No less deserving of condemna- tion is the policy of the companies in regard to freights which are moved wholly within the state."
During the administration of Governor Davis, the people, at the election of November, 1875, sanctioned amendments to the Constitution relative to judicial dis- tricts, and terms of office, the investment of funds from the sale of school lands, and permission of women to vote for school officers. The last amendment is in this language: "The Legislature may, notwithstanding any thing in this article [Article 7, Section S] provide by law, that any woman at the age of twenty-one years and upward, may vote at any election held for the purpose of choosing any officers of schools, or upon any measure relating to schools, and may also provide that any such women shall be eligible to hold any office solely per- taining to the management of schools."
John S. Pillsbury, 1 on the seventh of January, 1876, delivered his inaugural message as Governor.
At the outset of his administration he called the atten- tion of the Legislature to the importance of making some equitable settlement with the holders of the State Railroad Bonds, in language which called forth a hearty
1 John S. Pillsbury was born on July 29, 1828, at Sutton, New Hampshire. After a common school education, at the age of sixteen he entered a store, and at the age of twenty-one formed a partnership with Walter Harrimon, who became Governor of New Hampshire. In June, 153, he came to Minnesota. and e-tablished a hardware store at St. Anthony, and after a few years became one of the most respected merchants of Minneapolis. Since 1563, he has been a faithful regent of the State University, aud for nine sessions represented Hen- nepin county as Senator in the Legislature of Minnesota.
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response from every intelligent citizen who had carefully investigated the subject.
On the sixth of September, 1876, the quiet inhabitants of Minnesota were excited by a telegraphic announce- ment, that at midday, a band of outlaws from another State, had ridden into the town of Northfield, recklessly discharging firearms, while a portion, proceeding to the bank, killed the acting cashier in an attempt to take out the funds. Two of the desperadoes were shot in the streets, by firm citizens, and in a brief period, parties from the neighboring towns were in pursuit of those who made their escape. After a long and weary search, four were surrounded in a swamp, and one was killed and the others captured. At the November term of the Fifth District Court at Faribault, the culprits were arraigned, and under an objectionable statute, by plead- ing guilty, secured an imprisonment for life, in place of the death they had so fully deserved.
In 1874, in some of the counties of Minnesota, the Rocky Mountain locust, of the same genus but a dif- ferent species from the European and Asiatic locust, driven eastward by a failure of the succulent grasses on the high plains of the Upper Missouri and Sas- katchewan valleys, appeared as a short, stout-legged, devouring army, and in 1575, the myriads of eggs deposited were hatched out, and these insects born within the State, taking unto themselves wings, flew to new camping grounds to deposit their ova. consequence of their devastations, many farmers were deprived of successive crops. As other States between the Mississippi and Rocky Mountains were suffering from these pests, at the suggestion of Governor Pills- bury, a conference of Governors was convened on the
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twenty-fifth of October, at Omaha, Nebraska, to devise measures by which there might be a diminution of their vast numbers. A circular was also prepared and distributed by the Governor, through the infested and other counties, giving directions as to the best methods of extermination. By visiting the suffering, pledging his personal eredit before the assembling of the Legis- lature, and inciting the charitable to send clothing and provisions, he did much to sustain the desponding.
In his annual message to the Legislature of 1877, Governor Pillsbury again urged upon the legislators to take steps which would relieve Minnesota from being any longer classed in the money markets of the world with those States which repudiated obligations to which were affixed the seals of their commonwealths. In November of this year he was elected for another term of two years. At the same time the people voted to accept the following amendments to the State Con- stitution:
Amendment to Section 1, Article 4-" The Legislature of the State shall consist of a Senate and House of Rep- resentatives, who shall meet biennially, at the seat of government of the State, at such time as shall be pre- scribed by law; but no session shall exceed the term of sixty days.
Amendment to Section 3, Article 8-" But in no case shall the moneys derived as aforesaid, or any portion thereof, or any public moneys or property, be appropri- ated or used for the support of schools wherein the dis- tinctive doctrines, creeds, or tenets of any particular Christian or other religions sect, are promulgated or taught."
For several years scientific Germans had been puzzled
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
to account for sudden explosions in flour mills, and a prize was offered for the best essay upon the subject. A professor in Berlin was the successful essayist, and contended that there was always a liability to explode when particles of dust of any kind were thickly distri- buted in the atmosphere of narrow duets or poorly ven- tilated rooms. An explosion which occurred in Minne- apolis, between seven and eight o'clock of the evening of the second of May, renewed investigation, which has already led to an improvement in mill machinery and architecture. One of the largest mills in the world known as the Washburn "A," suddenly exploded, which was followed in the twinkling of an eye by the explo- sion of two mills in the immediate vicinity, and by the conflagration of three other mills, the loss of eighteen lives, and the destruction of much valuable property. The concussion was so great in the first mill that all the walls fell, and hardly one stone was left upon another.
In the fall of 1879 the Republican party nominated John S. Pillsbury for a third term, and he was elected by a majority of more than fifteen thousand votes.
On the night of the fifteenth of November, 1SS0, the north wing of the State Insane Asylum at St. Peter was entirely destroyed by fire. The shrieks of the patients, and their wanderings over the snow-covered praries, can never be forgotten by those who were present. Twenty- seven lost their lives. It is thought that the building was set on fire, in the cellar, by a patient who had been employed in the kitchen.
The twenty-second session, the first biennial, of the legislature convened on the fourth of January, ISSJ, and Governor Pillsbury re-iterated his sentiments upon the honorable settlement of outstanding railroad bonds. On
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the nineteenth, S. J. R. McMillan was re-elected United States Senator for the term expiring in 1887, on the third day of March.
. On the second of March, the legislature passed an act for the settlement of the railroad bonds, providing a tri- bunal composed of judges to take action in the matter. The State Supreme Court decided that the act was void, because it delegated legislative power to the tribunal, and a writ of prohibition was issued. Governor Pills- bury then called an extra session of the legislature, which convened in October, and a legal provision was made for canceling bonds, the ignoring of which for more than twenty years had been prejudicial to the otherwise fair name of the commonwealth of Minnesota.
William Windom, who had been elected United States Senator for the term expiring in 1SS3, having been ap- pointed by President Garfield in March, 1SS1, the Sec- retary of U. S. Treasury, Governor Pillsbury appointed A. J. Edgerton to fill the vacancy caused by Mr. Win- dom's resignation. Mr. Edgerton after a brief period resigned, and Mr. Windom was re-elected. On the night of the first of March, 1SS1, the capitol at St. Paul was destroyed by fire, and immediate steps were taken by Governor Pillsbury to erect the present edifice.
At the election of November, 1SS2, Milo White, J. B. Wakefield, H. B. Strait and W. D. Washburn, were elected to the U. S. House of Representatives for two years, and by the legislature of 1883, Dwight M. Sabin was elected U. S. Senator.
Lucius F. Hubbard, who had been colonel of the Fifth Minnesota Regiment, in January, 1882, became Gover- nor, and for five years discharged the duties of the office to the general satisfaction of the people. In January,
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1SS7, A. R. McGill delivered his inaugural address as Governor.
The prosperity of the State during the last thirty years, has surpassed the expectations of the most san- guine. In 1862 there were not twenty miles of railway in operation, while at the close of 1886 there are several thousand. The increase in population and agricultural productions has been correspondingly great, and there is every reason to suppose that Minnesota will always continue to be one of the most important States in the Valley of the Mississippi.
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MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH.
MINNESOTA'S REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
From March, 1849, to May, 1858, Minnesota was a Territory, and entitled to send to the Congress of the United States one delegate with the privilege of repre- senting the interests of his constituents, but not allowed to vote.
TERRITORIAL DELEGATES.
Before the recognition of Minnesota as a separate Ter- ritory, Henry H. Sibley sat in Congress, from January, 1849, as a delegate of the portion of Wisconsin Territory which was beyond the boundaries of the State of Wis- consin, in 1848, admitted to the Union. In September, 1849, he was elected delegate to Congress, by the citi- zens of Minnesota Territory.
Henry M. Rice succeeded Mr. Sibley as delegate, and took his seat in the thirty-third Congress, which con- vened on December 5, 1853, at Washington. He was re-elected to the thirty-fourth Congress, which assem- bled on the 3d of December, 1855, and expired on the 3d of March, 1857. During his term of office Congress passed an act extending the pre-emption laws over the unsurveyed lands of Minnesota, and Mr. Rice obtained valuable land grants for the construction of railroads.
William W. Kingsbury was the last Territorial dele-
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gate. He took his seat in the thirty-fifth Congress, which convened on the 7th of December, 1857, and the next May his seat was vacated by the admission of Min- nesota as a State.
REPRESENTATION IN U. S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
William W. Phelps was one of the first members of U. S. House of Representatives from Minnesota. Born in Michigan in 1826, he graduated in 1846 at its State University. In 1854 he came to Minnesota as Register of the Land Office at Red Wing, and in 1857 was elected a Representative to Congress.
James M. Cavanaugh was of Irish parentage, and came from Massachusetts. He was elected to the same Congress as Mr. Phelps and subsequently removed to Colorado.
: William Windom was elected in the fall of 1859 to the thirty-sixth Congress and was continuously re-elected and occupied a seat in the House of Representatives until 1870, when he entered the U. S. Senate and served until March, 1SS3.
Mr. Windom was born on May 10, 1827, in Belmont Co., Ohio. He was admitted to the bar in 1850, and was in 1853 elected Prosecuting Attorney for Knox Co., Ohio. The next year he came to Minnesota, and has represented the State in Congress longer than any other person. He has occupied responsible positions and acquitted himself with honor.
Cyrus Aldrich, of Minneapolis, Hennepin county, was elected a member of the thirty-sixth Congress, which convened Dec. 5th, 1859, and was re-elected to the thir- ty-seventh Congress. During his last term he was chair- man of the Committee on Indian Affairs. He was born in
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REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS.
1SOS at Smithfield, R. I. In boyhood he worked on a farm and went to sea. At the age of twenty-nine he came to Alton, Ill., and in 1842 came to Galena, and became a proprietor of stage coaches. In 1845 and 1846 he was a member of the Illinois Legislature. In 1847 he was elected Register of Deeds for Jo Daviess Co., Ill. and in 1849 became Receiver of U. S. Land Office at Dixon, Ill., which he held four years. In 1855 he removed to Minnesota, and in 1857 was a member of the Constitu- tional Convention. In 1865 he was a member of the Minnesota Legislature, and in 1867 became Postmaster at Minneapolis, and held the office for four years. He died Oct. 5, 1871.
Ignatius Donnelly was born in Philadelphia in 1831; graduated at the high school of that city, and in 1853 was admitted to the bar. In 1857 he came to Minne- sote, and in 1859 was elected Lt. Governor, and re- elected in iS61. He became a representative in the U. S. Congress which convened on Dec. 7th, 1863, and was re-elected to the thirty-ninth Congress, which convened on Dec. 4th, 1865. He was also elected to the fortieth Congress, which convened in Dec., 1867. He has been an active State Senator from Dakota County, in which he has been a resident, and in 1887 represented his distriet in that body. He is well known as an author.
Eugene M. Wilson of Minneapolis, was elected to the first Congres which assembled in December, 1S69. He was born Dec. 25, 1833, at Morgantown, Virginia, and graduated at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania. From 1857 to 1861, he was U. S. District Attorney for Mine- sota. During the civil war he was Captain in First Minnesota Cavalry. While in Congress he was a mem- ber of the Pacific Railroad Committee, and introduced a
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bill by which the State University obtained the lands which had long been claimed. Mr. Wilson's father, grandfather, and maternal great grandfather were members of Congress.
M. S. Wilkinson, of whom mention will be made as U. S. Senator, was elected in 1868 a representative to the Congress which convened in Dec., 1869.
Mark H. Dunnell, of Owatonna, in the fall of 1870, was elected from the First District to fill the seat in the House of Representatives so long occupied by Mr. Win- dom. Mr. Dunnell, in July, 1823, was born at Buxton, Me., He graduated at the college established at Waterville, in that State, in 1849. From 1855 to 1859 he was the State Superintendent of Schools, and in 1860 commenced the practice of law. For a short period he was Colonel of the 5th Maine regiment, but resigned in 1862, and was appointed U. S. Consul at Vera Cruz, Mexico. In 1865 he came to Minnesota, and was State Superintendent of Public Instruction, from April, 1867, to August, 1870. Mr. Dunnell, until 1883, represented his district. John T. Averill was elected in November, 1870, from the Second District, to succeed Eugene M. Wilson.
Mr. Averill was born at Alma, Maine, and completed his studies at the Maine Wesleyan University. He was a member of the Minnesota Senate in 185S and 1859, and during the rebellion was Colonel of the 6th Min- nesota regiment. He is a member of an enterprising firm of paper manufacturers. In the fall of 1871 he was re-elected as a member of the forty-second Con- gress, which convened in December, 1873.
Horace B. Strait was elected to the forty-third and forty-fourth Congress, and in 1880 was elected again, and served until 1887. He was born on the twenty-sixth
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of January, 1835, and in 1846 removed to Indiana. In 1855 he came to Minnesota. In 1862 he was made Captain of the ninth Minnesota regiment, and became Major.
William S. King of Minneapolis, was born December sixteenth, 182S, at Malone, New York. He has been one of the most active citizens of Minnesota, in developing its commercial and agricultural interests. For several years he was Postmaster of the U. S. House of Repre- sentatives; and was elected to the forty-fourth Congress, which convened in 1875.
Jacob H. Stewart, M. D., was elected to the forty-fifth Congress, which convened in December, 1877. He was born January fifteenth, 1829, in Columbia county, New York, and in 1851, graduated at the University of New York. For several years he practiced medicine at Pecks- kill, N. Y., and in 1855 removed to St. Paul. In 1859 he was elected to the State Senate, and was chairman of the Railroad Committee. In 1834 he was Mayor of St. Paul. He was surgeon of First Minnesota, and taken prisoner at first battle of Bull Run. From 1869 to 1873 he was again Mayor of St. Paul.
Henry Poehler was born at Lippe Detwold, Germany, in 1833, and in 183S came to the United States. For a period he resided in Iowa, and then settled at Hender- son, Minnesota. Twice he was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, and twice to the State Senate. From 1879 to 1SS1 he was a member of the U. S. House of Representatives.
William Drew Washburn was born on the fourteenth of January, 1831, at Livermore, Maine. In 1854 he graduated at Bowdoin College, and in 1857 was admitted to the bar. In 1861 he was commissioned U. S. Sur-
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veyor General for Minnesota. In November, 187S, he was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives, and until March, 1SS5, held the office.
Milo White was born in Fletcher, Vermont, on the seventeenth of August, 1830, and received a common school education. He served four terms in the Minne- sota State Senate, and was elected to the Forty-eighth and also to the Forty-ninth Congress, and in March, 1SS7, his term will expire.
James B. Wakefield of Blue Earth City, was born in March, 182S, at Winsted, Ct., and in 1846, graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, Ct. He began the practice of law in Indiana, and in 1854 removed to Minnesota. For four sessions a member of the lower house of the legis- lature, and Speaker of that body in 1866, and was twice elected to the State Senate. In 1875 was elected Lieu- tenant Governor of Minnesota, and has been a member of the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congress, which, in March, 1SS7, expires.
Knute Nelson of Alexandria, was born in Norway, in 1843, and during the war served for three years in a Wisconsin regiment. He served several times as a State Senator. Has been a member of the Forty-eighth, and Forty-ninth, and is elected to the Fiftieth Congress. He is a Regent of the State University.
John B. Gilfillan of Minneapolis, was born in Barnet, Vermont, in 1835, and in 1855 obtained his acade- mic education at Caledonia Academy. Admitted to the bar at Minneapolis, in July, 1860, and has held many local appointments. He was a State Senator for ten years, and is a Regent of the State University.
Henry M. Rice, who had been four years delegate to the U. S. House of Representatives, was on the nine-
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teenth of December, 1857, elected United States Senator. During his term the civil war began, and he rendered efficient service to the Union and the State he repre- sented. For notices of Mr. Rice see Index.
James Shields, elected at the same time as Mr. Rice, drew the short term of two years. He came from Ire- land in 1826, a lad of sixteen years of age. In 1:32 le opened a lawyer's office at Kaskaskia, Illinois. In 1843 he was appointed Judge of the Illinois Supreme Court, and in 1845 was made Commissioner of the U. S. Land Office, Washington. During the Mexican war he was a Brigadier General, and distinguished himself by gallant services. In 1849 he was elected United States Senator from Illinois, and served six years. In 1856 he came to Minnesota. After his brief term as its representative, General Shields removed from Minnesota. He was for a time a General in the Army of the Union during the rebellion of the Slave States, and died in Missouri.
Morton S. Wilkinson was chosen by a joint conven- tion of the Legislature on December fifteenth, 1859, to succeed General Shields. During the rebellion of the Slave States he was a firm supporter of the Union. He served as chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Claims, and was one of the Committee on Indian Affairs. On January twenty-second, 1819, was born at Skaneat- eles, N. Y. After studying law, he settled at Eaton Rapids, Michigan. He was a member, in 1849, of the first Territorial Legislature. In IS68 he was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives, and has represented Blue Earth county in the State Senate.
Alexander Ramsey, the first territorial Governor, and also the efficient Governor of the State at the breaking out of the rebellion of the slave-holding States, was
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
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