USA > Minnesota > Cottonwood County > History of Cottonwood and Watonwan counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume I > Part 48
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ORDER OF EASTERN STAR.
Madelia Chapter No. 3. Order of Eastern Star, was organized on May 12. 1898, by William Patton, grand patron : Flora Adams, patron and grand matron. It now has seventy-five members. Its charter members included the following: C. W. Seymour, America Hopkins. Mary Gross, Harriet Dossett, Edith Hopkins, Hattie E. Seymour, Mary Seymour, E. C. Gross, M. S. Dosett. W. R. Smith, Harriet Pomeroy, Eliza Smith, L. M. Pome- roy, Charlotte Sylvester, Eva Shannon, Nora Hopkins, Nellie Estes. Mary Cooley, Isabelle Benton, W. R. Estes, Rosella Estes, Alas Sanborn, J. E. Haycroft. C. A. Trowbridge. A. H. Benton, Ardelia Bisbee, Lizzie Young, F. L. Mullen, W. A. Mullen.
The first officers included these: Mary Gross, worthy matron; M. S. Dosett, worthy patron; Eliza Smith, associate matron.
The present officers are as follow: Fannie Mitchell, worthy matron; M. S. Dosett, worthy patron: Clara Seymour, associate matron; Hattie E. Dosett, conductress : Lizzie Helling, associate conductress; Hattie S. Kitch- en, secretary : C. F. Larson, treasurer.
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS.
This is one of the oldest orders in the world outside the Masonic fra- ternity. Madelia Lodge No. 116, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized at the village of Madelia, November 20, 1886. by Deputy Grand Master Samuel Winshep, assisted by degree staff from Mankato Lodge No. 15. The original members of the Madelia lodge were as follow: Charles Cooley, Caleb D. Ash, Charles W. Kendall, Charles S. Mitchell, James C. Smith, H. M. Beardsley. The lodge now enjoys a membership of one hundred and twenty. They purchased the second story of the Flanders block at a cost of four thousand dollars, in 1900.
The first elective officers were: Charles S. Mitchell, noble grand; Charles W. Kendall, vice-grand; Charles Cooley, secretary; Caleb D. Ash, treasurer .. Those serving in 1916 are as follow : Stanley C. Sprague,
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noble grand; William E. Glasgow, vice-grand; Albert Gjervik. secretary; Nels Nelson, financial secretary, and John M. Sprague, treasurer.
LODGE OF TIIE REBEKAHS.
Madelia Rebekah Lodge No. 157, instituted on November 7, 1896, by Mrs. Hotailing, of Mapleton, Minnesota, and assisted by degree staff of the lodge at Mankato. The first officers were: Mrs. Sara Clark, noble grand; Mrs. Nellie Gove, vice-grand; Mrs. Hattie Gove, recording secretary; Mrs. Cisney, financial secretary; Mrs. Anna Christensen, treasurer. The officers in 1916 are as follow: Mrs. Maggie Ahlness, noble grand; Mrs. Mary Grimes, vice-grand: Mrs. Alberta McCarthy, secretary; Mrs. Kitty Nelson, financial secretary, and Mrs. Nellie Gove, treasurer.
Watonwan Lodge No. 237, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized June 23, 1893, by the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, with charter members as follow: E. A. Gibbs, C. E. Fuller, E. M. Jones, T. E. Aldrich, G. J. Keenan, E. N. Spaulding, G. H. Toxley, J. L. Loben, J. J. Schultz, John Luft.
The total membership in June, 1916, was one hundred and seventeen. Lodge room quarters are now had over the Boston clothing store. The present officers are as follow : J. L. Beck, noble grand; W. W. Brown, vice-grand; A. M. Card, secretary.
KNIGHTS OF PYTIIIAS.
This order is represented at St. James by a lodge organized in May, 1892, and is known as St. James Lodge No. 107. Its first officers and charter members were as follow: B .. L. Gates, past chancellor; F. W. Ilunter, vice-chancellor; G. R. Newman, keeper of records and scal; A. K. Hauger, master of finance; W. G. Manning, master of exchequer; IT. Zimmerman, master at arms; E. W. Cook, inside guard; L. C. Bergman. outside guard; Lars Swensen, W. S. Weed, E. L. Durlin, L. C. Anderson, J. F. Treffery, T. W. Edwards, Bert Bertranson, Otto Bergman. Joseph Durrenbeger, John Albert, A. Warnke. II. H. Olson. C. G. Kittleson, W. S. Trowbridge, S. Brainard, Joseph Carr, C. H. Duryer, A. Sturm.
The present officers are as follow: M. A. Hammond, chancellor ; Her- man Serombo, vice-chancellor; Gerhardt Kittleson, prelate: H. D. Cheno- worth, master of work: Leonard Clark, master at arms; P. C. Larson, in- side guard ; G. Beck, outside guard; V. A. Malmrose, keeper of records and
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seal and master of exchequer; M. Clark, master of finance. The trustees are, McShean, Gibbs and Card.
MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA.
This is one of the modern-day beneficiary orders which provides a safe life insurance and also a social feature that has made it very popular among the masses of prudent, thoughtful citizens of this part of Minnesota, as well as in almost every part of the country.
At Madelia the Hackberry Camp, No. 1326, Modern Woodmen of America, was organized on March 12. 1891. Among the charter members were the following: \. J. Framback. E. A. Young, J. McCarthy, S. Lar- son. E. H. Barnes, C. N. Kjorlang. J. L. Vernon. C. O. Cooley, W. A. Foss, John E. Sundt.
The first elective officers were: A. J. Framback, vice-consul; E. A. Young, clerk: J. McCarthy, sentry; S. Larson, E. H. Barnes, C. N. Kjor- lang, managers: J. L. Vernon, escort; C. O. Cooley, local physician; W. A. Foss, excellent banker; John E. Sundt, watchman. The chief present offi- cers of the camp are: W. E. Glasgow, consul; L. S. Colebank, advisor; H. C. Gunderson, clerk. The total membership is now one hundred and ninety- eight.
Camp No. 2882, Modern Woodmen of America, was organized at But- terfield. April 18, 1895. by the following men: G. S. Langland, R. A. Bronson, S. J. Sulem, O. C. Penner, Martin Madson, Albert Ulvested, Abraham Siemens.
The first elective officers were as follow: Vice-consul, G. S. Langland ; worthy advisor. R. A. Bronson; escort. O. C. Penner; watchman, Martin Madson; sentry, Albert Ulvested; physician, Abraham Siemens. The pres- ent elective officers are: Vice-consul, D. E. Raney; clerk, J. O. Ness ; banker, J. Brogger; worthy advisor, F. Fuich.
Sylvan Camp No. 1538, Modern Woodmen of America, was founded in St. James, September 15. 1897. the charter members being the following : J. J. Thornton, J. J. Shultz. W. H. Rowe, Charles Meyers, E. J. Lynch. A. J. Knorr, I. P. Johnston, Frank Hunter, R. B. Hall, G. W. Hiles, Ken- dall Greene, C. H. Englebrecht, W. S. Crowley, Ashley Coffman, P. O. Berg. B. Bertramsen and C. H. Beaulieu. This order is one of the strong- est in the city, as is shown by the fact that among its members are some of the most important business men of the town and community. The present membership is one hundred and fifty-two.
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The present officers are as follow : Venerable consul, Andrew Nelson; worthy advocate, Frank Thompson; clerk, E. C. Veltum; banker, M. Clark.
Camp No. 4420, Bingham Lake, Modern Woodmen of America, was organized on December 19, 1896, with twenty charter members, as follow : John C. Wilson, Frank E. Wilson, Walter Williams, George W. Warner, Daniel Siemens, William Schultz, Peter H. Rupp, W. L. Jackson, M. H. Lynch, L. P. Hyde, D. J. Goertzen, John J. Goertzen, A. W. Ewert, John P. Dickman, Adam Cogley, Charles Cogley, William Bailey, George Bur- nette, Earnest Balsukote.
The present total membership is fifty-three. The first elective officers were : John C., Wilson, consul; W. L. Jackson, clerk; John J. Geortzen, banker; A. W. Ewert, escort.
The 1916 officers are as follow: John H. Sheriff, venerable consul; L. P. Hyde, worthy advisor; John Kelley, banker; Fred L. Langley, clerk; John J. Goertzen, escort. The camp meets in Holt & Wicklund's hall.
There is also a camp of this order at Odin, report of which is not at hand for the compiler's use.
Lewisville Camp No. 7874. Modern Woodmen of America, was or- ganized October 19, 1909, by Deputy E. P. Powers, and the following were charter members: Roy L. Barrickman, John F. Chard, E. Chenney, Charles M. Davis, Archibald F. Dewar, George Gove, Edward J. Gronewald, Benja- min G. Doell, Charles S. Handy, H. M. Haycroft, D. McRae, Lee Marsden, E. G. Pond, William F. Thomas, Earl F. Kelly, J. J. Walsh. The mem- bership in 1916 was twelve. A hall was built in 1910, costing a thousand dollars. The present elective officers are: George Gove, consul; F. J. Chard, banker; John F. Chard, clerk ; C. M. Davis, advocate; George Davis, escort: Will Gove, watchman; H. McRae, sentinel; Dr. W. J. McCarthy, physician; George Gove, Richard Lewis and C. M. Davis, managers.
ROYAL NEIGHBORS.
This is the ladies' degree of the Woodmen and is a flourishing order. The second camp organized in Minnesota was the one at Madelia, this county. Its present name and number is Buttercup Camp No. 63, organized May 11, 1894, by Mrs. Watt. Its charter members were as follow: Lizzie Young, Hattie Pomeroy, Florence Stubbs, Edward Stubbs, Belle Sharbach, K. Murbeck, H. Murbeck. Emma Kjorlong, Tilla Anderson, Florence Cone, Mary Hammond, Tena Christensen, A. A. Driggees, John Matland, L. M.
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Pomeroy, Olive Driggers, Emma Mathers, Bessie Johnson, J. E. Johnson, Sarah Haycraft, Eva MeMakin, Eva Randall, Matilda MeCurdy.
The total number of members is now sixty-three. The only other lodge of this order in this county is the one at St. James.
The original officers of this camp were as follow: Lizzie Young, Emma Kjourlong. Belle Sharback, Matilda McCurdy. The 1916 officers serving this camp are: Julia Wellock, Roanaan Smith, Minnie Sorensen, Rachel Salone, Fannie Smith, Hilda St. Peter, Ida Miller.
The Holly Lodge No. 914, Royal Neighbors, was founded in St. James, March 23, 1898, with the following charter members: Gustie M. Painc, Selma MI. Finseth, Belle Hoshied, Mary L. Schwingler, Ida M. Morris, Mary Hintgen, Mary C. Miller, Alice B. Hiles, Dora Griffeth, Belle Vror- nan, Ruth Hill, Harriett Thornton, Ida Hyatt, Ida Wensrum, Olive Brad- ford, Addie Hyatt, Caroline G. Griswald, Wiley Paine, O. G. Finseth, Will- iam Hoshied, T. B. Larnich, J. L. Griffeth, G. Morris, Edward Lynch, W. H. Rowe, Charles Ekstedt, Robert Bunne.
MODERN BROTHERHOOD OF AMERIC.1.
Madelia Lodge No. 266, at Madelia, of this order, was organized on March 24, 1898, by F. A. Jacobs. It now has a membership of fifty-five, and it is the only other point in Watonwan county, aside from St. James, where the work of this fraternity is represented. The present secretary and treasurer is O. A. Crosby.
Chapter No. 2202, Modern Brotherhood of America, was organized at LaSalle by W. E. Aldrich in 1908. The following is a list of the charter members: Ole A. Brown, Ole E. Sundt. John J. Bjoin. C. H. Halverson, George O. Lee, Ingleborg Nyhus, Chester J. Olson, Ole E. Sletta, W. C. Thompson, Peter Jacobson, A. A. Halverson, Albert Thunderwald, Edward J. Sanderson. A. E. Sundt, G. M. Olson, Carl Markeson, Ole A. Halvar- son, Winnie A. Halvarson.
The first clective officers were the following: President, E. J. San- derson; vice-president, Wilton Strean; secretary, O. E. Sundt ; treasurer, William C. Thompson ; chaplain, Mrs. O. A. Spain ; conductor, Peter Jacob- $O11. The present officers are as follow: President, O. E. Sletta; vice- president, O. A. Halverson: secretary, O. F. Sundt : treasurer, George O. Lee : chaplain. . Alfred Sletta; conductor, George Jacobson. The order holds its meetings in the building erected by the LaSalle band.
Bradford Lodge No. 361, Modern Brotherhood of America, was or-
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ganized on August 30, 1898, in St. James. The following is a list of the charter members: George A. Bradford. Fred G. Hyatt, William C. Huff, Jacob Bergaman. John G. Bieman, J. N. Peffer. R. Olsen, J. M. Forsyth, J. L. Lobben, A. C. Hopkins, Charles L. Paul, J. E. Crouch, H. E. Zim- merson, William D. Forsyth, Frank Goodwin, Herman A. Karnopp and George Zellers.
The Odin Lodge No. 2.132. Modern Brotherhood of America, was organized on December 21, 1910, with the following charter members : Amanda Berdell, Henry G. Fossum, Emma Jensen. Clara Kabrick. Thors- ten P. Laingen, Palmer K. Laingen, Tina Olson, Minnie E. Petters, Henry N. Olson, Lena C. Carlson, Palmer T. Laingen, Sophie C. Olson, Hilma Berdell, Walter L. Curtis, Alva A. Harris, John E. Jensen, Hannah MI. Larsen. Julia T. Laingen, Fred Malmberg, Guilford C. Petters, Frank A. Rice, Carl D. Carlson. Edward W. Thompson, Elma T. Laingen and Lewis Olson. The lodge has recently become inactive and the membership has been moved to another chapter.
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY TRAINMEN.
This order is represented at St. James, a division point on the Omaha system, between Minneapolis and Sioux City, by Lodge No. 384. It was organized on June 27, 1897, by W. G. Lee. The charter members were as follow: H. M. Cooper, W. E. Darlow, F. T. Desmond, A. Grigsby. A. W. Haversack. S. G. Land, E. M. Osborne, A. H. Rice. F. Rodrignes, A. D. Reed, W. H. Taylor and J. B. Wellmans.
The membership of the lodge on June 1, 1916, was eighty. This order is purely a railroad fraternity and is doing much good in its line of work among railway men. The first officers elected in this lodge in St. James were as follow: A. W. Haversack, master; H. M. Cooper, vice-master ; F. T. Desmond, secretary; T. W. Edwards, financier; A. H. Rice, journal agent. The men serving as officials in the summer of 1916 were: E. H. Keegan, president; N. Leverich, vice-president; F. A. Hottinger, secretary; R. 11. Chapman, treasurer : I. M. Berg, agent for official publication ; E. H. Keegan, legislative representative: D. G. Duryea, R. H. Chapman and E. Il. Hydal, commissioners.
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CATHOLIC ORDER OF FORESTERS.
There are two courts of this order in Watonwan county-one at Ma- delia and one at the city of St. James. The latter is known as St. James Court No. 971, and it was organized on November 12, 1899. Its charter members were as follow: John Bruner, Gerard F. Heintz, Fred H. Klaras, Nichols Klaras, Anthony Guehl, Frank Steinbach, Anton Keim, Ang Engle- man. John Jacoby, Joseph Soitzner, John A. Posch, Vengek Kleim, J. J. Zender, Anton Bauer, George Kleim. John Hoschied, John W. Hintgen, J. N. Baker, Peter Steinbach. The present total membership is sixty. They own a frame hall, costing eight hundred dollars.
The officers of this court in 1916 were as follow: J. G. Sullivan, chief ranger: E. G. Wermerskirchen, vice-ranger; Fred H. Klaras, past ranger; N. L. Zender. deputy high ranger; Rev. John Meyers, spiritual director : C. E. Leonard, recording secretary; C. A. Kelly, financial secre- tary: J. J. Zender, treasurer; A. Guehl, A. J. Engleman and J. J. Gross, trustees: N. L. Zender, senior conductor; A. J. Schmidt, junior conductor ; J. D. Gross, inside sentinel; A. P. Klaras, outside sentinel: Dr. W. H. Rowe, medical examiner.
An auxiliary of this court is the Ladies' Court of Honor, now a new fraternity of St. James.
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.
After the close of the Civil War, in almost every town and city in the Northern states, there were posts of the Grand Army of the Republic or- ganized by the veterans of that never-to-be-forgotten struggle. This county had one at Madelia and at St. James.
At St. James this order is represented by John A. Logan Post No. 64. The first commander was J. P. Schultz, and the first adjutant was M. E. Mullen. E. Z. Rasey, still serving. has been commander of this post for twenty-four years. The charter members were as follow: M. E. Mullen, J. P. Schutz, R. W. Holland, G. Il. Herrick, J. L. Jones, A. K. Peck, 11. H. Higgins, John Delaughter, E. II. Heller, W. J. Kelly, William S. Ads- mond, John E. Lyons. Robert Wowland. U. H. Palmer, Frank Queen. Rasmus Danielson, Knud Knudson, W. R. Koenig. In June, 1916, only two of the original post membership were surviving-Knud Knudson and U. H. Palmer. Of the seven left in this post, which has had fifty-seven soldiers enrolled at one time or another, the last one enrolled was Walter
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COTTONWOOD AND WATONWAN COUNTIES, MINN.
J. Mallet, who was a witness in Washington, D. C., at the military trial and execution of this despicable character, the keeper of Andersonville prison, Wirz, who was found guilty and hung in the city prison at Washington. Comrade Mallet, of the St. James Post, relates how he was ordered to Washington as a witness and was asked to pick out the right man among dozens in the jail at the national capital city prison at that time. He went along through the passage ways of the dingy prison until finally he saw the man Wirz. He called him by name and was asked by Wirz what he was there for. Ile replied. "To swear against you." Then said Wirz, "I will go to hell sure," and Mallet replied, "I think you will." Mallet was of the Seventh Illinois Regiment. On the same gallows that Wirz was justly hung, also was executed the assassin of President James A. Garfield, in 1882.
The present officers of John .\. Logan Post at St. James are: E. Z. Rasey, commander; John Coleman, senior vice-commander; Clinton Ells- worth, adjutant; U. H. Palmer, quartermaster and surgeon; Ed. Hewitt, officer of the day and officer of guard; Knud Knudson, chaplain.
In connection with this post is the Woman's Relief Corps, which now has a membership of sixteen, but has been for many years the life of the post. Its president is now Mrs. Ella Palmer, and the worthy secretary is Mrs. Helen A. Rasey.
CHAPTER AV.
RAILROADS OF WATONWAN COUNTY.
The present generation of men and women living in Minnesota know nothing, save by hearsay, concerning what it meant to live out on a broad, undeveloped prairie country before the days of railroads and easy trans- portation and communication by phone and rural mail service. It was the pioneer, the early pre-emptor and early homesteader in southern Minnesota who knew of the hardships endured on account of being in advance of the iron horse and his steel roadway, on which freight and passenger trains go flying hither and thither over the broad domain of this and adjoining states, to either of the far-off seaboards. Our meat and grain now go trundling along night and day to New York and Boston markets, feeding tens of thousands of Yankees down by the Atlantic, while the orange and lemon growers of the Pacific coast send their full trains loaded with the golden fruitage of that sunny land of flowers, right to our very doors. Times have materially changed since the sixties and seventies, when the residents of Cottonwood and Watonwan counties were compelled to draw grain to Man- kato and St. Peter, and at times to St. Paul, in order to realize money with which to pay taxes and purchase household necessities. Now the "fast freights" halt at St. James long enough to take on a supply of ice for refrigerating purposes, and then speed on to distant city markets and in return bring back coal, lumber and a thousand and one things. Poultry and butter are all shipped by a new method and the products of farm and dairy are landed in the eastern cities as cool and fresh as when they were billed cut in the stations within this county.
Railroads (nothing else) came here by chance. It took pioneer heads and hands to project and construct these great highways that now have come to grid-iron our continent. Then the pioneer went ahead and pre- pared the way and made the demand for the building of a railroad, but these times the railroad companies rush on ahead of settlements and prepare the way for the comfortable advent of the settler and his family.
Farmers in all parts of the United States are seeking lands at a price which will enable them to provide for their sons and daughters, and at the same time represent a livelihood for them. At the present time farm lands are being held in various states at a price which precludes the possibility of the average farmer to own a vine or fig tree.
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COTTONWOOD AND WATONWAN COUNTIES, MINN.
St. James is only thirty-three miles north of the Iowa line. While the topographical features of the county are much the same as in other coun- ties of southern Minnesota, it is a matter of common concession that Watonwan county, even though its land values range only from sixty-five to one hundred and fifty dollars per acre, is one of the most productive of farm lands to be found anywhere in the universe. It is endowed with an abundance of lakes and small streams and with an atmosphere that is com- parable with any in the country.
Many counties in the state boast of their richness and the fertility of their soil, but it has remained for Watonwan county to produce a rich, dark- colored loam soil, varying in depth from two to four feet and resting on a clay subsoil, whose prolificness is incalculable. The area of Watonwan county is four hundred thirty-five and forty-five hundredths square miles, or two hundred seventy-eight thousand six hundred eighty-nine and ninety- two hundredths acres, of which two hundred seventy-seven thousand fifty- one and ninety-two hundredths acres are land, and one thousand six hun- (red thirty-eight are water. The land surface is divided into a few more than one thousand three hundred farms, at an average value of sixty-five to one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre.
The transportation facilities of Watonwan county are most excellent. Two great railroad systems traverse its confines. The markets of St. Paul, Minneapolis, Winona, Mankato, and other cities, which represent wholesale and commission centers, are easily accessible and this potent fact is merely one of the many which go to account for the success of the farmers of this county.
FIRST RAILROAD HERE.
The first railroad through Watonwan county was what was organized as the St. Paul & Sioux City Railroad Company, and now forms a part of that corporation known as the Chicago & Northwestern Company, this par- ticular line being chartered as the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha. It was built from Crystal Lake to St. James in the autumn of 1870 and reached the latter place in November of that year. This brought the people of the county in touch with the outer world and gave a great boom to this part of the commonwealth. With its division point at the county seat. St. James, many advantages have arisen as a direct result. The following year. 1871, the road was pushed through to Sioux City and later to Omaha and Kansas City, by direct rail connections. It is true the railroad arrived prior to the hard winters and the terrible grasshopper years which were be-
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tween 1873 and 1878; otherwise, the homesteader would have certainly perished for want of food and fuel, which in many cases had to be shipped here from distant points, where donations and appropriations had wisely been made by public authority.
The railroad just mentioned was the only one that entered this county for a number of years, but finally, when fully settled up, capital seized upon the ripened opportunity of gaining excellent feeders for their far-reaching system of railway, and surveyed and constructed various branches, includ- ing the one from Sanborn southeast into Central Towa, which crosses the main line at the village of Butterfield, with the lesser villages of Darfur and Odin within this county; also the line from Madelia, this county, to Fairmont, Minnesota, with the station of Lewisville in this county. This line crosses the townships of Antrim, Fieldon and a part of Madelia.
THE MINNEAPOLIS & ST. LOUIS.
The Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad Company, which originally had but one line extending from Fort Dodge, Iowa, to Minneapolis, via Albert Lea route, part of the distance, as the country settled up extended its lines and branches and paying "feeders" into various sections of this and adjoin- ing states. These lines included the one built in 1899 from Minneapolis to Spencer, Iowa, via St. James, Minnesota, thus giving this county a second system. This company has recently absorbed the old Iowa Central railroad and various other lines. This road traverses the townships of Riverdale, Rosendale, St. James, and Long Lake townships of Watonwan county, with station points at LaSalle, St. James, Echols and Ormsby, from which point it enters Martin county. This affords the people of this county a second and competing line to the Twin Cities and the Great Lake region of the northeast; also to the southeast, from where coal, tile and various con- modities required here, are shipped to points in this county. The passenger and freight business of this county is now excellent, having, in round num- bers, a mileage of about ninety miles- in main trackage.
ADVANTAGES TO ST. JAMES.
It was indeed a fortunate thing for St. James in 1871, when the divis- ion of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha road was moved here from Mankato. Like many of the good things in life, the people in St. James hardly appreciate the value of this enterprise or realize how much it means to them. They were happy when it came, yet it is a much larger concern now and it is well that they should ponder over the details of this
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