USA > Minnesota > Hennepin County > Dayton > History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota > Part 4
USA > Minnesota > Anoka County > History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota > Part 4
USA > Minnesota > Hennepin County > Champlin > History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19
Matthew F. Taylor took up the farm in the town of Dayton where he still lives.
The first white child born within the limits of Anoka county, so far as known, was Fernando Shumway, a son of Penuel Shumway, Jr., who was born March 22, 1851. His mother died July 9, 1851, and Rev. Charles Secomb from St. Anthony preached her funeral sermon. This was the first sermon in the county.
Land on the west side of Rum river had been pur- chased by Henry M. Rice. His brother Orin Rice broke the land for a crop and in 1852 built a substan- tial house of hewn logs on what is now the southwest corner of Ferry and Fremont streets (lot 7, block 45). This was the second house built within the present city limits of Anoka. Many years later it was moved to another lot near by and covered with modern siding. A few years ago it was torn down. The third house was begun shortly after by George W. Branch. It stood on the north side of Main street about half way between Ferry street and the bridge, about where C. J. Edgarton's gro- cery now stands. This building developed into a hotel of considerable dimensions. Branch sold it while still un- finished, and it was kept as a hotel by Silas Farnham in 1854 and later years, and known as the Farnham House. Still later it was known as the St. Lawrence Hotel and finally as the Kimball House. It was de- stroved by fire Aug. 23, 1870.
Another hotel, also known as the Kimball House, was soon after erected near the same site on the corner of Ferry and Main streets. This second Kimball House was also burned some years later.
In the spring of 1852 Logan wanted to move away, and made arangements with George Branch to take the
49
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.
ferry off his hands. During that summer the ferry was run during the day by Samuel Branch and during the night by Matthew Taylor. Most of the traffic con- sisted of the supply trains of Borup & Oakes. The drivers never paid anything, the ferriage being charged up to the company. When they came back with empty
MATTHEW F. TAYLOR.
wagons they usually forded the river in order to save the ferry charge.
In the fall of 1852 came Jacob Strout and took up the farm so long owned by Aranda Giddings in the town of Anoka. He lived in some sort of a shanty during the winter. meanwhile hauling lumber for a
50
HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
more substantial dwelling, which he erected the fol- lowing spring. About the middle of October, 1852, came Rev. Royal Twitchell with his wife, and a son and daughter, Humphrey B. and Lois C. They moved into the old trading post. The same autumn Jacob Milliman arrived and took a claim on the east bank of Rum river above that of Samuel Branch. Fifty Indians camped that fall among the burr oaks standing between the site of the State Bank and the river.
During this year a settlement was made in what is now Centreville. The Centreville lakes had long been a paradise for hunters and trappers, but no permanent dwelling had been erected until the arrival of F. W. Traves in 1850. In the spring of 1852 came Francis Lamott, and in the fall Charles Peltier, Peter Cardinal and F. X. Lavallee. These four settled in section 23. Joseph Houle lived there during the same year, but did not make a claim until some years later. During the winter Oliver Dupre arrived and the next vear came Paul and Oliver Peltier.
In 1852, also, Charles Miles settled on the present site of Champlin.
CHAPTER V.
NAMING THE TOWN.
Congress appropriated $40,000 for the construction of military roads in the territory of Minnesota, and of this amount $10,000 was to be applied in the con- struction of a road beginning at Point Douglas, at the mouth of the St. Croix river. and extending up the east bank of the Mississippi to Fort Ripley. Charles L. Emerson had charge of the survey for this road, and it soon became apparent that his line would strike Rum river neither at the old trading post nor at the ford of the Red river trail, but at some point between the two. The crossing was finally made where the Main street bridge at Anoka is still located. Sealed proposals for the construction of this road were advertised for in June, 1852. and during the summer bridges were built across Rice and Coon creeks and the road constructed to some point northward from the latter stream. As soon as the exact location of the proposed Rum river bridge became known measures were taken looking toward the location of a town site near it. In Septem- ber Neal D. Shaw hunted up Antoine Robert and ob- tained from him a deed to 154 acres of land situated partly east of Rum river and south of the proposed mil- itary road (now Main street) and partly on the west side south of Park street. Later Dr. S. W. Shaw bought from Henry M. Rice 160 acres on the west side touching the Mississippi, part of which was afterward
52
HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
platted as Shaw's Addition to Anoka. Caleb and Wil- liam Henry Woodbury, brothers, came from the East with money to invest in improvements, and joined hands with William L. Larned, Sumner W. Farnham, George W. Branch, Neal D. Shaw, and his sons, Dr. S. Wheeler Shaw and Judson B. Shaw, in laying out the new town. Some surveying was done in 1852, but no plats were filed until two years later. Meanwhile the boundary line between Ramsey and Benton counties had been moved to Rum river, and consequently the new town was partly in each. Anoka is a Dakota word or a part of a Dakota word signifying "on both sides." The Dakota Dictionary, published by the Smithsonian In- stitution, contains these definitions :
A-no'ka, adv. On both sides. Used only in anokatanhan.
A-no'ka-tan-han, adv. On both sides, from both sides.
Anoka is also a Chippeway word, meaning "work." "labor." Joseph Belanger, the first white resident of the place translated the word, "river that works." In- asmuch as the harnessing of the water power was a main factor in causing the location and growth of the city, the Chippeway word would seem to be even more appropriate than the Dakota word.
The writer submitted Mr. Belanger's translation to J. B. Bottineau and his uncle, Charles Bottineau, both well versed in the Chippeway language. Their con- clusion was that while the ordinary meaning is "labor." the word might also be made to bear the interpretation which Belanger gave it. There are two Chippeway words closely resembling Anoka.
An-o-kay'. Having it done, or has it done.
53
NAMING THE TOWN.
An-o-keh'. He is working or is at work; or com- manding some one to carry a message or do an errand for him.
There was a tradition among the Chippeways that the main river commanded its tributaries to flow toward it. An-o-keh=they are commanded to flow. The river therefore works and commands its tributaries to work. This is the foundation for Mr. Belanger's translation.
However, it would seem that those who were instru- mental in giving the new town its name were quite un- aware of its meaning in the Chippeway tongue.
In the St. Paul Press of July 31, 1873, appears an article bearing on this matter, written by L. M. Ford. who was at that time associate editor of the Press. Mr. Ford wrote :
"Some twenty years ago, while passing down Third street I was invited into the crockery store of Richard Marvin, and introduced to an elderly looking stranger from the state of Maine. Mr. Shaw, the new comer, and myself were soon on good terms, as he bore a letter to me from relatives in Troy, N. Y., where he had been to visit one of his sons, who was a physician and a res- ident of that city. *
"After spending some time in St. Paul and St. An- thony, which with the old town of Stillwater constituted the major portion of Minnesota in those days, Mr. Shaw visited the country about Rum river, and soon arrange- ments were made to secure the site for his new Lowell.
"During the next winter I was not infrequently a guest at the temporary home of the Shaws at St. An- thony. The name for the new town was a topic of no little interest, and the writer had something to do in its selection. It was decided to give it an Indian name.
54
HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
The Dakota Lexicon, just published, and of which I was the owner of a copy, was not infrequently consulted, and at length the euphonious name Anoka was decided upon for the second New England town in Minnesota. It was said to mean 'on both sides,' when rendered into less musical English, and to this day the name is by no means inappropriate, as the town is growing up and extending on either side of the beautiful but badly named river."
Having purchased the Orin Rice house, Neal D. Shaw moved into it in the spring of 1853. Up to that time the few people who claimed the new town site as their home were content to answer "Rum River," when questioned as to their place of residence. May 25th, 1853, Edward P. Shaw stopped at the old St. Charles hotel in St. Anthony, and registered as usual :
E. P. Shaw, Rum River.
Three days later, on the 28th of May, Neal D. Shaw arrived at the same hotel with a party of nine, and when he laid aside his pen the infant town had been christened. The entry on the register was like this :
N. D. Shaw, Anoka. L. Stewart, A. M. Knox
Miss Conday
Miss Rollins ..
Henry Morris
Lewis Blum Chas. Blum S. B. Garvie
The contract for the government bridge was awarded to Orin W. Rice and he began work on the abutments in July, 1853. The bridge was built of wood, was single arched and only 140 feet in length. Repeated washouts
55
NAMING THE TOWN.
of the dam have widened the river considerably since that time. Three other bridges-one of wood and two of iron and steel-have successively spanned Rum river at this point. The present bridge ( 1905), is 200 feet in length.
About the first of August, 1853, the owners of the town site began the construction of the first dam on Rum river at the point where the present dam is located, and an immense amount of timber was consumed. Work was also begun on a saw mill, which was to be run by water power. The company built a boarding house on Van Buren street between Second and Third avenues for the accommodation of the men working on the dam. This was the fourth house in Anoka. Tamarac logs for piling were cut in swamps near Round lake, hauled to solid ground by means of long ropes and then conveyed to the river to be floated down to the place where the dam was building. The first superintendent of construc- tion proved unsatisfactory and was summarily discharged 'by Mr. Larned, the company's agent, and a Mr. Getchell was then employed. Jacob Milliman helped to get out the piling. In August came among others Joseph C. Varney to work on the dam. Sept. 4 brought James C. Frost, who was found to be a valuable acquisition. Mr. Varney built the fifth house on the northeast corner of Van Buren street and Third avenue ( lot 7, block II). After being remodeled and enlarged it was the home of Mrs. Whitney for many years and is still standing on its original site. Mr. Frost built the sixth house. The seventh was probably the new company boarding house, built on the present site of the Anoka National Bank. Robert B. Porter also found employment on the dam that fall. William E. Cundy arrived after the dam was
56
HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
finished. Lumber for the houses was obtained at St. Anthony, and at Elk River, where Ard Godfrey had es- tablished a saw mill.
Joseph B. and Augustus Holt made claims where the village of Champlin now is in 1853, the latter of whom built the first frame house on that side of the Mississippi during the summer. John K. Pike and Richard M. Lowell located above the present village on the river. Rev. Lewis Atkinson, Benjamin E. Messer, Mr. Ste- vens, Job Keniston, Robert H. Miller, Hiram Smith, Stephen Howes, Colby Emery and William Milhollin made claims in the vicinity. John Shumway, finding his farm in Ramsey reduced to a small fraction by the survey, sold out to Moses Brown and joined the Elm creek settlement.
In 1850 a group of speculators and politicians pos- sessed themselves of a considerable body of land below Elk River and largely in the present town of Ramsey. A town site was platted and named Itaska. A sub- stantial hotel was built in 1852 and J. C. Bowers se- cured as landlord. A postoffice was established in May, 1852, with Mr. Bowers as postmaster, a position which he held for twenty-five years. The proprietors of the town site, Ramsey, Wilkinson, Beatty and Hatch, and others who owned land in the vicinity made a deter- mined effort to remove the state capitatl from St. Paul to this point ; and the bill at one time seemed likely to pass, but by a piece of sharp practice the bill is said to have been placed in hiding by its enemies until the leg. islature had adjourned.
57
THE FIRST STORE.
THE FIRST STORE.
As early as August, 1853, Edward P. Shaw began to deal in merchandise in a small way at his father's house (the Orin Rice house) in Anoka, among his sales
-
ROBERT B. PORTER.
being some nails for J. C. Varney's house. Although the incipient village was bustling with activity, few of the men had brought families with them, and only four children played among the oak trees that stood in the square where the fountain now is, or hid in the hazel brush which ran along Main street where McCauley's
58
HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
grocery now stands. These were Eliza Randolph, Frank Randolph, Nancy Fairbanks and Alice Frost (Mrs. W. E. Cundy.)
James C. Frost brought the first cow to the settle- ment, and sent a little of the first milking to all the neighbors.
In the spring of 1854 building operations at Anoka were vigorously resumed, and the foundation for a
5
THE "SHULER BUILDING."
Photo. by Johnson, 1904.
flouring mill laid. Edward P. Shaw built the first store. It stood on Main street near the corner of Ferry street, where it still stands. It was afterward enlarged and be- came known as the "Shuler building." That part of it next to the Baptist church is the original store. After its enlargement it was used as a court house, and it was in this building that the first enlistments for the Civil War were made.
59
THE FIRST STORE.
In the latter part of May, 1854, water worked its way under the dam, and in a few hours the whole river was pouring through the opening. The river bed was gullied out to the depth of thirty feet or more, and into this chasm the longest logs plunged and reappeared
JAMES C. FROST.
below. Hundreds of logs were left stranded in the dry bed of the mill pond.
James C. Frost and A. P. Lane ( who arrived in May ) took the contract of repairing the dam. The timbers were cut away over the opening, and great loads of brush and timbers weighted with stones were gradually low-
60
HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
ered into the seething water until at last the hole was filled and the entrance plugged up with bags of sand.
In August the saw mill began running, with one up-and-down saw and the demand for lumber was so great that the proprietors did not succeed in getting the roof boards of the mill itself in place until some time in October. Nobody waited for lumber to dry, and the man who could get green boards or slabs enough to build a shanty before cold weather set in counted himself lucky. One of the most substantial houses erected at this time was that of Frank B. Dunn, built on the corner of Park and Branch streets. It now forms a part of the residence of F. L. Pinney.
A school was started in the old company boarding house. The teacher was Miss Julia Woodman (Mrs. Hamm). This was the first school in Anoka county.
The new company boarding house was turned into a hotel, which was kept by W. B. Fairbanks. In August came Robert H. Miller, and the following month D. W. McLaughlin; both of whom settled later near Elm creek.
October 31, 1854, Dr. A. W. Giddings, at that time fresh from a medical college, arrived from Ohio and began his half century of practice in the new town. A week later he wrote his impressions of the place to his brother Aranda, who was then at Williamsfield, Ohio. An extract from the letter reads as follows :
"The city was owned and laid out by a company from Mainc-energetic men who have laid out $40,000 erect .. ing saw and grist mills, planing machine, lath factory, &c., &c. Now we have two public houses, one larger and furnished as well as any in Williamsfield [ The Farnham House]. The other accommodates fifteen boarders and two families of six each. The landlady is a half breed.
61
ANOTHER INDIAN BATTLE.
One boarding house, sixteen dwelling houses, one stable, all in the short space of three months. There are about three families in each house. This is pioneering-move the family onto the ground and build the house around them as lumber can be procured. But for my own part
DR. A. W. GIDDINGS. A practicing physician at Anoka for fifty years.
I am as pleasantly situated as I could wish. I am board- ing at Mr. Shaw's-very kind New Englanders. The old gent is a very refined, inquisitive old Yankee. His son and wife, two men and one maid servant compose the family. The house is made of logs hewed, two storys high, with a dining room and kitchen back, parlor in
62
HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
front. All the rooms except the kitchen are papered and carpeted. There is a nice piano in the parlor; indeed the house is as richly furnished as any in your own town. But a very different state of things exists from what one might suppose. All are getting rich. People make nothing of doubling their property once in five or six months. Everything is very high here-enough to frighten one at first; but I have become accustomed to the charges, which are equal to those in any of our east- ยท ern cities. One dollar per day for board at the hotel- horse three dollars per week."
October 18th, 1854, brought James W. Groat, who found employment on Farnham's hotel, which was not yet finished.
ANOTHER INDIAN BATTLE.
About this time (1854) another battle between the Sioux and Chippeway tribes took place. The Mille Lacs Chippeways planned a formidable expedition against the Sioux. Kegwadosia, a Mille Lacs chief, said there were 300 canoes that came down Rum river. After making due allowance for Indian exaggeration, there is no doubt that there was a large body of warriors. They expected to strike the Sioux at their encampments beyond the Mississippi. But by some means their enemies were warned of the approaching danger, and took measures to avert it. The Sioux cautiously assembled a deter- mined band in what is now the northern part of Oak Grove and threw up earthworks on the river bank upon what is now the farm of H. E. Seelye. The position was admirably chosen. Rapids in the river would pre- vent their enemies from turning back when once within range, while the steep bank made the place safe from
63
ANOTHER INDIAN BATTLE.
assault from that direction. The Chippeways were routed with great slaughter. Less than a dozen Sioux skeletons were found on the top of the hill by the white settlers who came there the next summer.
The victorious Sioux passed down to Rice creek, where they obtained food at the hotel kept by Isaac Kim-
SILAS C. ROBBINS.
Photo. by Nelson.
ball, afterward proprietor of the Kimball House at An- oka. John Goodspeed was in charge of a ferry at this point, and the Indians crowded upon the boat in such numbers that it began to sink and the ferryman ordered them ashore. They obeyed without protest, taking up their march to St. Anthony. Each warrior was decked with a rosette of cotton batting on the top of his head,
64
HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
and they carried a banner upon which was fastened a fresh Chippeway scalp.
Although there was such enmity between the Indian tribes, that any chance meeting between Siuox and Chip- peways meant a battle to the death, they were not dis- posed to pick any quarrel with white people, and rarely did them any harm except to steal from them. Chickens and pigs and any article of food they seemed to con- sider lawful plunder, to be begged or bartered for if convenient, but otherwise to be taken without leave.
CHAPTER VI.
PROSPERITY IN "FIFTY-FIVE."
November 30th a special election was held in St. Anthony, Manomin (Fridley) and Anoka, on account of a tie vote at the general election between M. W. Getchell and A. M. Fridley, who were rival candidates for representative in the territorial legislature. At the special election twenty-six votes were cast in Anoka- twenty-one for Fridley and five for Getchell.
The flour mill was completed about Feb. Ist, 1855. It was located just north of the east end of the bridge. When it started to grind there was nothing like wheat enough in the territory to keep it running. Francis Pet- eler. John Hunter and John West hauled 6000 bushels of wheat from St. Paul to Anoka to supply the mill. The wheat came up by steamboat from southern Iowa and Wisconsin. February 24th, 1855. the mill was totally destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of about $12,000. This was the heaviest loss by fire which had ever occurred in Minnesota territory, and as there were as yet no insur- ance companies doing business in this region, the loss fell entirely upon the owners (Caleb and William H. Woodbury and A. P. Lane). Nevertheless, preparations were immediately made for rebuilding.
In March, 1855, E. P. Shaw sold his stock of goods and leased the store building to R. Ball, a merchant of St. Anthony, and the latter sent Samuel McCray to take charge of the Anoka store.
66
HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
1855 was a very prosperous year in Minnesota. The crops gave carly promise of an abundant harvest and im- migration into the territory was large beyond all prec- edent. During the spring months every steamboat from down the Mississippi brought all the passengers it could accommodate to St. Paul. Five hundred was not an uncommon number and some brought as high as eight hundred persons. Citizens of St. Paul used to wonder what would become of the crowds which swarmed up from the steamboat landing, and the problem of beds and provisions sometimes threatened to become serious. But the crowds melted away almost as rapidly as they came-hastening in every kind of conveyance and often on foot, up the Minnesota river or the Mississippi to the opening opportunities for work and investment. A gen- tleman traveling from Sauk Rapids to St. Paul in April counted seventy immigrant teams on the way. In April Thurber started a tri-weekly stage between St. An- thony and Monticello. About the same time Joseph B. Holt opened a store at Elm creek, and Warren Samp- son started another at Bottineau Prairie (Osseo). On the 8th of May Silas C. Robbins was sent by Mr. Ball to assist and ultimately to supersede Samuel McCray in the Anoka store.
The old trading post gave temporary shelter to many of the early settlers. When Elder Twitchell moved out to take a claim just over the line of Grow, A. P. Lane moved into it, and when Lane's house was up D. Y. Smith took possession, sharing it during the following winter with Daniel Robbins, and taking S. C. Robbins as a boarder. In 1855 came John S. McGlauflin, who conducted a blacksmith shop in the town for many years.
All through the country the trees were covered with
}
PROSPERITY IN "FIFTY-FIVE." 67
notices posted up by claimants who made little or no pretense of living on their claims. But rather than waste time in law suits the settlers pushed farther on. About 1854 Joseph Trott settled in Ramsey beside the brook to which his name was given, and a little later came A. J. Mckinney and Samuel Littlefield. Francis
.
JOHN S. MCGLAUFLIN.
Peteler and John Glynn settled in Grow, and the former persuaded Jacob Milliman, whose farm had been largely flooded when the dem was built, to locate near him. He also pointed cut desirable locations to D. Y. Smith, John Mayall and S. C. Robbins in the same town, which they took. Robbins still managed the store, but contrived to
68
HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY.
stay on his claim enough to hold it. Nathaniel Small also settled in Grow in 1855. In May, 1855. Moses S. Seelye, Sr., with his son, H. E. Seelye, Jarvis Nutter and John McKenzie made claims in the northern part of what is now Oak Grove. In June David Rogers also settled in Oak Grove. Joseph Sausen took a claim in the southeast corner of Linwood in 1855, and J. H. Batzle made a claim near by in the northeast corner of Columbus the same year. The following year Yost Yost settled in Col- umbus.
The water in the rivers was low and logs for the St. Anthony mills were hung up in Rum river and at Coon rapids all summer. There were plenty of logs at Anoka, however, and the demand for lumber taxed the capacity of the saw mill to the utmost. In June a second up-and- down saw was placed in position, but still the demand for lumber exceeded the output. The steamer H. M. Rice lay tied up at Anoka all summer on account of low water, and the citizens turned it into a temporary church, hold- ing religious services on board every Sunday. When the rains came late in September and the steamer went into active service, the new flour mill was utilized for a like purpose.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.