USA > Minnesota > Hennepin County > Dayton > History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota > Part 10
USA > Minnesota > Anoka County > History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota > Part 10
USA > Minnesota > Hennepin County > Champlin > History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota > Part 10
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The year 1854 saw a considerable accession of pop- ulation. Rev. Wentworth Hayden settled in section 24 and gave his name to the lake near by. Daniel W. and Horace Mclaughlin and W. W. Cate made claims on the prairie below the village. Samuel Colburn made his claim this year, and James McCann built a log house on the north bank of Elm creek. To section 25 came John T. Giddings, and in the southern part of the town Henry L. Cheever, James D. Hervey, Benjamin Bond. Charles B. Hale and E. B. Lowell made claims. Francis Thorndyke settled above the village near the river.
CHAMPLIN.
In 1855 came Samuel D. Leeman, David S. McCon- nell and John D. Hank. In May John Martin bought out John I. Giddings, and Alvali Hills and his son George A. Hills settled in section 31. William Davenport, James W. Dyson, Fredolin Zopfi and Terrance Donnelly settled between Leeman and Hayden lakes.
RICHARD M. LOWELL.
In 1856 John Stockton bought Mr. Stevens' farm. James H. Trussell came from Brooklyn township in 1857.
The first birth was that of a child of Mr. and Mrs Stevens and the second a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Ilolt. The first death was that of Steplien Grant in
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HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
1856. In the summer of 1855 a shanty was erected near the west line of the town for a school house. The first school was taught by Miss Emily Thorndyke (Mrs. S. O. Lum), and the second school by Miss Mary Nel- son ( Mrs. G. G. Crowell). The first wedding was that of Cyrus Rollin and Miss Lucretia Clark, which took place in 1857.
In 1858 the township of Marshall was organized, eni- bracing the present territory of Champlin and Dayton. The officers elected served only one year, and the two towns were separately organized the following spring, under the naines which they now bear. At the first town meeting for Champlin, held April 5, 1859, the following officers were elected : Supervisors, Rev. Wentworth Hav- den, chairman, Samuel C. Griggs and Samuel D. Lee - man: clerk, Joseph B. Holt: assessor, Jackson A. Lin- scott; collector, Job Keniston; overseer of poor, John D. Hank: justices of the peace. Samuel Colburn and Alvah Hills; constables, Joseph Downs and George A Ilills.
The village of Champlin was platted by Joseph B. Ilolt, Samuel Colburn and John B. Cook in 1854, but the plat was not filed until two years later. George Rollin started a hotel in 1855. Joseph Downs conducted the hotel from 1857 to 1859. Other early settlers were John Depue. William Brander, Charles I. Clark, Wil- liam A. Messer, Alonzo Cook, Christian Stahlberg, E. A. Linscott. and Franklin Wood. In 1859 a school house was built in the village 'on block 43. Nicholas Faber opened a general store in 1866, which he conducted for many years.
In 1867 A. P. Lane and Colonel D. HI. Lane built the first flour mill on the north bank of Elm creek, but
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CHAMPLIN.
not long after it was undermined by extraordinary high water, and was swept into the river and destroyed. In 1874 Clark & Smith purchased the water power and built a flour mill on the south side of the creek. This mill changed hands several times and was destroyed by
1
'J
Mrs. R. H. Miller.
Robert H. Miller.
Mrs. O. S. Miller.
Orange S. Miller.
A PIONEER FAMILY.
fire in February, 1890. The same year the water powe- was purchased by O. S. Miller & Co., who erected a thoroughly equipped roller mill, which is still operated by them. In 1867 J. H. and J. G. Wiley built a steam saw mill below Lane's flour mill. This mill was soon after burned. Another saw mill was erected by Williani
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HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
Brockway and J. G. Wiley, but this was torn down on account of litigation in 1869. In 1871 Brockway and Brown built a large saw mill, which was destroyed by fire.
The Free Will Baptist church of Champlin was or- ganized in 1854 by Rev. C. G. Ames as a branch of the Minneapolis church. The first members were Betsy Shumway, W. W. Cate, Sarah C. Cate, and W. W. Woodman and wife. In 1855 the church was organized independently and named Elm Creek Church. The first regular pastor was Rev. Wentworth Hayden, who served until 1863. In 1865 Rev. S. S. Paine became the pastor and remained in that capacity until 1870.
Pastoral work of the Methodist Episcopal church was done by Lorenzo D. Brown in 1865, 1866 and 1867. In 1872 a class of thirteen members was organized in the old school house by Rev. John Stafford, with George D. Miars as leader. The next year a small church 32 by 50 feet was erected. In 1900 the present church was built at a cost of $3,200. The present pastor is Rev. J. H. Buttelman. The present trustees are, Mrs. O. S. Miller, Miss Sarah Ricker, G. W. Nicholls, John Allison and James Watson.
A postoffice was established in 1858, with J B. Holt as postmaster. Early postmasters were Samuel Colburn, J. A. Linscott, R. H. Miller, F. Thorndyke, and N. Faber. The present postmaster is Arthur J. Miller.
Population : 1860-198; 1870-292; 1880-456; 1890 -620; 1900-653.
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DAYTON.
DAYTON.
The first settlers of Dayton were Paul Godine and Isaiah Cowet, who came to the town in July, 1852. The same year J. Veine made a claim where the village of Dayton now is, and Marcellus Boulis, and Benjamin Livia settled near the river. In 1854 Francis Thorndyke, R. H. Miller and John Shumway settled in Dayton near the Champlin line. The following year came Dr. L. Bistedeaux, who lived in the town thirty-seven years, and A. C. Kimball, who made a claim on the north shor : of Diamond lake. Matthew F. Taylor made a claim nea. his present home.
. In 1856 came Neil and Alexander McNeil, F. G. Laf- lin, A. D. Purmort, W. P. Ives and George Slauyter. The same year E. H. Robinson and John Baxter buih a steam saw mill on the bank of the Mississippi below the mouth of Crow river. Mr. Robinson also built a black- smith shop, and did some custom work for his neighbors . A postoffice was established in 1855, and John Baxter was appointed postmaster. The first school was taught by Miss Cynthia Slauyter in the summer of 1857. The first wedding was that of E. H. Robinson and Mrs. Sarah L. Gardner, June 29, 1856. The first white child born in the town was George Dayton Slauyter in Septem- ber, 1856. A bridge was built across Crow river in 1857 The first religious services were held at the house of J. B Hinkley in the summer of 1857 by Rev. Winthrop Hay- den. The first death was that of a Mr. Twombley, who . was killed by a limb falling from a tree. J. B. Hinkley was the first justice of the peace, having been appointed in territorial days.
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HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
The French Catholic Church was organized in 1857. by Father Jennis, and a church was built the same year. A larger church was built in the village of Dayton in 1866. During 1904 a fine edifice of red pressed brick was completed at a cost of nearly $40,000. The church will seat 800 people. It was dedicated November 24, 1904. The present priest is Rev. C. A. Pettigrew.
Population : 1860-540: 1870-951; 1880-1197; 1890-1075; 1900-1138.
Births.
Births.
Births.
Marriages.
Marriages.
Deaths.
Deaths.
CHAPTER XI.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
WV. D. WASHBURN & Co .- In any enumeration of those to whom the industrial interests of Anoka stand most largely in- debted first place must be given to Hon. William D. Washburn of Minneapolis, and his business associate, Major William D. Hale of the same city. Under the firm name of W. D Wash- burn & Co. they began the erection of a large and thoroughly equipped saw mill at Anoka in 1872. (See illustration, page 125.) This mill had an annual capacity of sixteen million feet of lumber, and, with its complement of planing mills, dry kilns, etc., furnished employment to about 125 men. For seventeen. years logs from the head waters of Rum river and its tributaries were floated down to this mill, and the product manufactured therefrom was shipped far and wide throughout the North- west. About 1875 the company was organized as a corporation under the name of the Washburn Mill Company, with sub- stantially the same ownership, and in 1880 the Lincoln Flour Mill was constructed, with a capacity of 600 to 700 barrels of flour per day. In the great fire of August 16, 1884, the Lincoln mill was destroyed, but owing to the elaborate precautions of F. L. Pinney, its superintendent, the saw mill and lumber yards were saved. A new Lincoln mill quickly rose from the ashes of the old mill, equipped with the latest improved machinery, which still continues to furnish employment to many residents of Anoka. The new mill has a capacity of 1600 barrels of flour per day. (See illustration page 126.)
HON. WILLIAM DREW WASHBURN is a native of Maine, and the youngest of eleven children, two of whom became govern- ors of states and members of congress, and two others became United States ministers to foreign countries. Mr. Washburn graduated from Bowdoin college in 1854, and after taking a law course came to St. Anthony in 1857. Soon after his arrival he became agent for the Minneapolis Mill Company, which
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HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
owned the water power on the west side of the falls. The energy and business acumen with which he guided the company's business through the financial depression following the panic of 1857 won the confidence of men of means and no doubt in large measure laid the foundation for the immense enterprises, involving millions of dollars of capital, in which he afterward engaged. The projection and building of the Minneapolis &
HON. W11.LIAM D. WASHBURN.
St. Louis Railroad and in later years of the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic, better known as the "Soo" Railway, were in large measure his work. Anoka county citizens have numerous reasons for remembering the aid given by him to worthy enterprises in their midst, and his kindly advice has been frequently sought by her business men in cases of emer- gency. In addition to his milling interests, Mr. Washburn was the founder of the Anoka National Bank, and also built an
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
opera house at Anoka, which was destroyed in the fire of 1884. With all the pressure of private business, Mr. Washburn has found time to devote to public affairs. He was twice elected to a seat in the Minnesota legislature, and in 1878 became ? member of congress from the district embracing Anoka county, serving three terms in the national House of Representatives. In 1889 he was elected United States Senator from Minnesota,
MAJOR WILLIAM D. HALE.
in which capacity he served six years. As a director of the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company Senator Washburn still retains an interest in the Lincoln mill.
WILLIAM DINSMORE HALE was born at Norridgewock, Maine, Aug. 16, 1836. He came to Minnesota in 1856, locating first in Goodhue county. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he en- listed as a private in Co. E, Third Minnesota Regiment. In July, 1862, he was captured and parolled, returning to Minnesota
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HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
and taking part in Colonel Sibley's campaign against the Sioux. Having been exchanged, he was again ordered south, and par- ticipated in the capture of Vicksburg and Little Rock. Later he became major of the Fourth Regiment of Colored U. S. Artillery, and served in that capacity until the close of the war. After the war he came to Minneapolis and entered the employ of W. D. Washburn & Co., and in 1876 became a partner in the company and manager of its growing business. Here his extraordinary talent for details found an abundant field for development. Every part of the Lincoln mill at Anoka, from the piling under the foundation wall to the weather vane on the pinnacle of the flagstaff was the product of his care and fore- thought, and liis ability in the selection of fit assistants re- duced the complicated combination of manufacturing and mar- keting both lumber and flour to a system which ran as smoothly as one of their own Corliss engines. Major Hale's connection with Anoka business affairs terminated with the transfer of the Lincoln mill to the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Co., but he still holds a high place in the respect and esteem of her citizens. Major Hale has held various official positions of trust, and at the present time is postmaster of Minneapolis.
THOMAS J. ABBETT, head packer in the Lincoln mill since 1892, was born June 10, 1867, in Dakota county. His early schooling was in Hastings, but at the age of twelve his parents removed to Minneapolis, where he finished his education. He was later employed in the Pillsbury and Washburn mills until 1892. He then came to Anoka, and has filled the position of head packer at the flour mill in Anoka ever since. He was married in 1892, on the 20th of September, to Vernie D. Byers, of Minneapolis. He has occupied the position of president of the Anoka Street Fair Association since its inception some five years ago, and is affiliated with the Maccabees, K. P. and R. A. fraternities, while Mrs. Abbett is treasurer of the Anoka school district, having been chosen in 1902. Children, Gladys and Ruth.
ALANSON GEORGE ALDRICH, M. D., was born in Adams, Berk- shire county, Massachusetts, the son of John Rexford and Lois A. Randall Aldrich, and is the grandson of David Aldrich, a well known New England Quaker preacher. He was educated
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
in the public schools of Adams and under the private instruction of Rev. Geo. Harmon, now of Tufts college, Boston, Mass.
Dr. Aldrich began the study of medicine under the precep- torship of Dr. H. M. Holmes of Adams, and attended his first course of lectures at the medical department of the University of Vermont. He later entered the College of Physicians and Sur- geons, Baltimore, Maryland, receiving his degree therefrom in
A. G. ALDRICH, M. D.
1879. He practiced medicine in Massachusetts for three years, when he married Flora L. Southard of Westford, New York. In a trip to the Northwest a few months later, when visiting friends in this locality he decided to remain here for a few years. The few years have merged into many, and Dr. Aldrich is still an enthusiastic admirer of the North Star state, making Anoka his home with offices in Minneapolis and Anoka.
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HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
Dr. Aldrich devotes his practice exclusively to the specialty of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and is ably assisted by his wife, Dr. F. L. S. Aldrich. His preparation for this work has been extensive and thorough. In 1887 he took special instruc- tions under Dr. F. C. Hotz at the Chicago Eye and Ear Infirm- ary, and in a few months thereafter another course in the same city. In 1888-9 he took the best courses obtainable in this country at the Manhattan Eye and Ear Infirmary and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, also special work at the New York Post Graduate Hospital. In 1896 he was appointed clinical assistant to the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital, London, Eng., and to the Royal Ear Hospital, and the Central London Throat Hospital under the renowned Lennox Browne. This was followed by advanced private courses in the hospitals of Paris, Vienna, and other European cities.
Dr. Aldrich is a member of the Hennepin county Medical Society, the State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He is a frequent contributor to journals of Oph- thmology. He is a thirty-two degree Mason and a Shriner. He is an enthusiastic lover of field sports and of country life. His home, "Colonial Hall," at Anoka is largely maintained in order to bring him nearer the pleasures he so much enjoys. His private kennel always contains the finest breeds of hunting dogs, all well trained. Both he and his wife are advocates of the simple life ; both are enthusiastic students of natural sciences, and their home life is ideal. Dr. Aldrich politically is a radical Democrat and an independent thinker. Among his friends he is known as "a royal good fellow at all times."
FLORA L. S. ALDRICH, M. D., was born in Westford, Otsego county, New York. Her ancestors were of the class known as the old Knickerbockers, residents of the Hudson river valley, and the Sutherlands of Otsego county. Her mother was the daughter of Isaac Sutherland, a gentleman of wealth who be- stowed upon his daughter the best education procurable in those days, and their home, "Sutherland Place," was throughout her life a favorite visiting place for the educated and distinguished of the times. Here Doctor Aldrich and her only brother were born, and three generations previous in which were only one son and one daughter in the same family.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
Her father, S. Wesley Southard, is still living and is a gentle- man of the old school, a type of which is now fast passing away.
On the eve of young womanhood Dr. Aldrich was bereft by death of this estimable mother's love and care, and her edu- cation which had been largely looked after by her mother, became academic and was procured at the local academies. Her
FLORA L. S ALDRICH. M D
collegiate training was largely private, taken almost entirely under men and women who were specialists in each department.
Such careful training, together with the associations of her childhood and young womanhood, has developed a quality of mind and heart which every one of "Mrs. Dr. Aldrich's" acquaintances can testify to as standing for the highest ideals in everything.
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HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
In 1883 she was married to Dr. A. G. Aldrich of Adams, Berkshire Co., Mass., and immediately took up the study of medicine. In the autumn of that year they visited the Northwest, and through the influence of friends decided to locate in Anoka. She at once went on with her medical studies with her husband, and within three years received her degree from what is now the medical department of the State University. This was followed by two complete courses in the New York hospitals and in the Post Graduate Medical School and Hos- pital of New York city. In 1896, she together with her husband, spent nearly one year in the hospitals of Europe. From the beginning of her practice she has not only had a large clientelle in Anoka and vicinity, but great numbers from other North- western localities. She is a successful physician and a highly respected woman. For the last two years she has been an able assistant to her husband in the special work of eye, ear, nose and throat, and has become very proficient in this line of professional work.
She is a writer of beginning note in medical literature. She is a contributor to various medical journals, and has written a book for mothers, "My Child and I," which has a steady sub- scription sale by a Philadelphia publishing house. She is a member of the State Medical Society and the American Med- ical Association. She is a member of the Episcopalian church.
In her domestic life she is fortunate and happy, the wife of an able physician who is her co-worker and constant companion. Their home, "Colonial Hall" at Anoka, is one of unusual com- fort and elegance.
WILLIAM J. ANNON was born in Ireland Jan. 7. 1867. He came to America at the age of thirteen. He received his edu- cation partly in Ireland and partly in New York city. He came west in 1893 and to Anoka in August of that year, as business manager of the Anoka Water Works, Electric Light and Power Co., which position he still holds. Mr. Annon was married Jan. 2, 18go, to Jennie Shortt. Children : Walter T. and Charlotte Isabel.
DANIEL R. BEAN was born Dec. 26, 1862, in the town of Ramsey, Anoka Co. Attended the common and high schools at
ยท
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
Anoka. He worked as a clerk in various stores and about 1884, engaged with H. A. Harrington in the lime and coal business, which continued for several years. He was then engaged in the breaking and sale of western horses at New Brighton for a few years. About 1895 he purchased his present farm in section 25, town of Burns. He has 85 acres of land, about 35 of which are under cultivation. He was married in March, 1883, to Edith Sanger. They have three children: Florence E., Earl and Donald.
JOHN R. BEAN was born April 25, 1830, in Enfield, Maine. Attended common schools in Oldtown and Bangor. When still a boy he went on a whaling voyage to the Pacific ocean, which took him around Cape Horn and back to New Bedford, Mass., consuming three years and three months in the cruise. He made two shorter sea voyages and then found employment in a cotton factory at Salmon Falls, New Hampshire. He came to St. An- thony, Minn., in September, 1848, and worked about the saw mills there until the fall of 1849, when in company with John Simpson he made a camp on the island in the Mississippi now called Cloutier's island about opposite the farm of C. G. Richard- son in the town of Ramsey. At this camp a lively trade was carried on with the Winnebago Indians, who had not kept very closely upon their reservation at Long Prairie and were scattered all along the Mississippi above Itaska, and even as far south as the present site of Champlin. In the spring Mr. Bean built a log house on the main land on the present Richardson farm. About 1853 Bean and Simpson made a trading trip to Pembina, where they remained one year. On one occasion Mr. Bean got across the British boundary and was captured by agents of the Hudson Bay Company, but luckily escaped without having his furs confiscated, being put back across the boundary with a warning to trade only south of the forty-ninth parallel. Mr. Bean then lived several years in St. Anthony, working in the saw mills. In 1855 he built a permanent dwelling on the present Richardson farm, where he lived continuously with the exception of eighteen months, until 1870, when he purchased his present home in Anoka, where he has since lived.
Mr. Bean was married Jan 7. 1855. to Julia A. Mathison. Children : Mary E. (Mrs. William Bolstridge, St. Francis,
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HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
Minn.), Ida E. (Mrs. George L. Rathbun) and Daniel R. (See group picture, page 74.)
MARTIN V. BEAN was born in Dexter, Maine, Jan. 14, 1831. He engaged in farming until 1855, when he came to Anoka and worked at lumbering until 1862. In that year he enlisted in Co. A, Eighth Minnesota Regiment, serving as first sergeant and afterward as second lieutenant of that company until the close of the war. In 1872 he formed a partnership with C. S. Guderian and engaged in the hardware business. Some years later he purchased Mr. Guderian's interest, and has now associated with him his son, W. M. Bean. M. V. Bean was married in 1862 to Louisa McFarlan. Their daughter, Miss Edna Bean, is engaged in newspaper work, principally for Chicago papers.
JOHN T. BENSON was born at Sarpsborg, in the southern part of Norway, Jan. 24, 1849. At the age of eleven he went on a sea voyage, and followed a sailor's life for some ten years, visiting England, Germany, Russia, France, Italy, Argentine Re- public, Japan, China and Egypt, in which last named country he enjoyed a bath in the Nile river. He came to America in 1870, and at Buffalo, shipped for a lake voyage to Chicago. He served as first mate on lake vessels for five years. About 1871 he purchased 80 acres in section II, town of Burns, Anoka Co., but did not take up a permanent residence here until 1882. He was married in Chicago Dec. 18. 1879, to Clara M. Mattson. Children : Jennie T., Theodore C., Frederick J., Walter, Lydia, Leonard and Hazel P.
FREDERICK A. BLANCHARD was born at Charlotte, Washing- ton Co., Maine, Dec. 8, 1840. June 14, 1861, he enlisted in the Sixth Maine Regiment, which was attached to the Army of the Potomac. He was with Mcclellan in his seven days' fight be - ginning with the battle of Mechanicsville and closing with the battle of Malvern Hill. Mr. Blanchard was soon after trans- fered to the Veteran's Reserve Corps, and was quartermaster sergeant and did clerical work in the War Department. He came to Minnesota in 1870, and settled in Ham Lake. About 1873 he took a homestead in section 34, town of Ham Lake, where he has since lived. At the age of sixteen he made his first political specch, which was for Fremont in 1856 at Charlotte, Me. He served three years as chairman of the board of supervisors of
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BIOGRAPHIICAL.
Ham Lake; was also town clerk three years and clerk of the school district about thirty years. For nine years he has been secretary of the Anoka County Sunday School Association. Mr. Blanchard was married March 19, 1870, to Bessie R. Hill. Chil- dren: Hill (died in infancy), Mand L. (Mrs. C. R. Skil- lings, Bay Lake, Crow Wing Co.), Henry A. (Minneapolis), Charles E. (died about 1899), Frederick W. (with Wyman, Part-
FREDERICK A. BLANCHARD. Photo. by Thibodeau.
ridge & Co., Minneapolis), Alan L., Edith B., Lawrence E., and David.
JOHN C. BOWERS was a native of Blair Co., Penn .. obtain- ing his education at the Academy of Harrisburg, Penn. In 1850 he came to Minnesota and in 1851 to Itaska, Anoka Co., where he kept a hotel from 1853 to 1855. He held variou;
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HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
town offices and was postmaster for twenty-five years, having served previously as postoffice clerk at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. During the years 1851-2 he was messenger in the Territorial Legislature. He also served for twelve years following the fall of 1864 as station agent at Itaska. His wife's maiden name was Isabel Trapierre. Children: Cecelia (Mrs. W. D. Brimmer), and Charles E.
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