USA > Minnesota > Douglas County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume I > Part 15
USA > Minnesota > Grant County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume I > Part 15
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TRAGIC EVENT CREATES FRESH ALARM.
Upon finding things at the settlement undisturbed, the party separated, the settlers leaving for their respective farms. A number started for the Chippewa settlement where Henry Gager's claim was located and when that place was reached eight or ten of the party, including Andrew Austin and Ben Lewis started for Evansville to see about Rogers's property and to learn whether the Indians had burned the house. Andrew Austin and Ben Lewis were riding ponies and had proceeded on quite a distance in advance of the remainder of the party who were riding in a wagon. On the way Austin and Lewis shot a hawk and stuck the feathers in their hats. When but a short distance from their destination they were surprised by a band of about forty Indians, who sprang up from their ambush along the trail and surrounded the two, firing upon them at close range. The party in the wagon was far to the rear and unable to render aid to the entrapped horsemen; and, indeed, it would have been a mark of foolhardiness for the small party to have attempted succor in the face of the overwhelming odds presented by the much superior band of redskins.
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DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
At the first volley, Austin was seen to reel from his horse, while Lewis headed toward the south, escaping the bullets of the savages, his nimble- footed pony quickly putting a safe distance between him and his red foe, and was soon out of sight-never to be heard of again in this community. In a moment the Indians had gathered about the prostrate form of Austin and those in the wagon straightway wheeled about and beat a precipitate retreat to the point where they had left the rest of the party. There they waited for a time, prepared to resist to the death the expected attack, but as none came they presently all set out on the return to Sauk Center, abandoning their previous design of remaining on the farms which they had left at the first alarm. Through the haste of getting away a gun was accidentally dis- charged, the contents entering the back of a girl who had accompanied the party. At Sauk Center medical aid was secured and she eventually recovered. The body of the ill-fated Andrew Austin remained where it fell for several weeks, a squad of soldiers that had been dispatched to this part of the state then giving it proper burial, a coffin for that purpose being obtained at Alex- andria. The soldiers found that the savages had cut off Austin's head and one of his hands and then had cut out his heart.
THE OLD STOCKADE AT ALEXANDRIA.
After the terrible event above related none of the settlers returned to Douglas county until after the soldiers were sent to this section, which was not until the latter part of October or early in November, and Alexandria was created a government post. The first company detailed to that post was Company B, Twenty-fifth Wisconsin, under Captain Joshlin, who had quarters erected for his command at a point near the original Kinkaid log cabin, the first house erected in the county, about a square south of the pres- ent railway station of the Great Northern Railroad Company. About two months later Captain Joshlin's command was relieved by Company K, Eighth Minnesota, under command of Captain Rockwood, who caused to be erected, as quarters for his command and as a means of greater security to the set- tlers hereabout, the famous old stockade, which for some years was the center of social and commercial activity for this whole region. The old stockade was of the familiar form of construction of such structures, generally, erected with a view to stability and security against assault, the walls being con- structed of logs set endways into the ground, the enclosure being about ten rods square. It was erected on the hill near the Van Dyke Store, just south of the present freight depot of the Great Northern Railroad Company, and
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DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
the building of it in the period of mid-winter was quite a task for the soldiers and settlers thus engaged. Upon the completion of the stockade practically all the settlers who had returned to the vicinity of Alexandria moved into the same, J. H. Van Dyke even moving his store inside, all thus acquiring a greater sense of security against possible further marauding bands of sav- ages, and thus the situation remained at the settlement until the Indian excitement had wholly subsided, further fears of an uprising being pretty generally at an end before the close of another year, after which there was little excitement over the Indians, although it is recalled that as late as 1873 there was a "scare" throughout this part of the state, vague rumors of an Indian uprising driving not a few of the settlers in the sparsely populated dis- tricts to more populous centers and causing all to take effective precautionary measures such as the molding of bullets and seeing to it that effective bolts were placed on houses, but that rumor seemed to be a "false alarm," as there was found to be no foundation for it whatever.
The troops remained at the old stockade until the spring of 1866, by which time a sufficient number of settlers had returned to Douglas county, or new ones had come in to take the places of those who had fled during the uprising, to pave the way for the re-establishment of a formal local govern- ment again, Douglas county being officially and permanently reorganized in the spring of 1866, as set out elsewhere. During the time the troops remained at the stockade there generally was about half a company stationed there. Captain Grosvener, with a company of Hatch's battalion, succeeded Captain Rockwood and he in turn was succeeded by Capt. G. C. Whitcomb, who remained in charge until the post was discontinued and the soldiers dis- charged in the spring of 1866. In the meantime, the Civil War had been going on and in this great struggle Douglas county nobly performed her part in raising men, her quota being furnished without the painful necessity of resorting to the draft. After it was discontinued the stockade fell into disuse, its timbers were found useful for other building purposes and it long since has been a matter of memory only ; but among the old settlers the mem- ories that cluster around it are imperishable-some sad, some gay, but all linked with that early period that witnessed the permanent establishment of a definite social order hereabout, a process in which the old stockade played no small part, the security the presence of the soldiers there gave to the set- tlers having been a very pronounced factor in the restoration of civic condi- tions after the setback occasioned by the dread rising of the Sioux in the summer of 1862.
CHAPTER VI.
ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY.
For some time after Douglas county was first set apart by the state Legislature it was attached to Stearns county for civil and judicial pur- poses. In 1859 a move was started to establish Douglas as an independent county. P. L. Gregory was the prime mover, and an election was held-the first in the county-at Gregory's hotel. Some of the settlers were opposed to the project, and only a few voted. It was, therefore, given up, as the election was held without authority and was illegal. At the session of the state Legislature in 1858-1859 a bill was passed authorizing the organiza- tion of Douglas county for certain purposes, and the Governor appointed J. H. Van Dyke, S. B. Cowdry and A. Darling, as the first board of county commissioners. The board met at the store of Mr. Van Dyke, at Alexandria, and appointed the following county officers: Alexander Kinkaid, register of deeds; J. A. James, sheriff, and P. L. Gregory, judge of probate. This organization was kept up until the Indian outbreak in 1862, when it was abandoned and all records which had been made were lost. Nothing further was done with official matters until 1866, when the county was permanently organized.
Douglas county was established with its present boundaries by act of the Legislature in 1866, when it was ordered that "The county of Douglas is established and bounded as follows: Beginning at the northeast corner of township 130 north, range 36 west from the fifth principal meridian ; thence west on the line between townships 130 and 131, to the northwest corner of township 130, of range 40; thence south on the line between ranges 40 and 41, to the southwest corner of township 127, of range 40; thence east on the line between townships 126 and 127, to the southeast corner of township 127, of range 36; thence north on the line between ranges 35 and 36, to the place of beginning."
FIRST MEETING OF THE COUNTY BOARD.
In the spring of 1866 the governor appointed a new board of commis- sioners to organize the county, consisting of the following: J. H. Van Dyke,
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DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
James F. Dicken and Donald 'Stevison. This board held its first meeting on June 15, 1866, at Alexandria, which village, on account of its being the principal settlement and located near the center of the county, had been desig- nated as the county seat. Mr. Van Dyke was chosen chairman of the county board which then proceeded to appoint the following officers: J. Mont Smyth, auditor: Charles Cook, judge of probate; J. Mont Smyth, register of deeds; Thomas F. Cowing, sheriff; J. Mont Smyth, clerk of the court; William Shaw, attorney; T. W. Moore, surveyor; Thomas F. Cowing, treasurer ; Robert Wyman, coroner.
At this first meeting of the county board two townships were estab- lished, Osakis and Alexandria. Osakis township consisted of congressional townships 127 and 128, range 36, and Alexandria township included all the balance of the county. The board appointed the first officers for Osakis township as follows: William Shaw, clerk; J. Maguire, treasurer; T. M. Works, assessor; William Shaw and Roland Sanderson, justices; Thomas Adams and Charles Gilbert, constables. The first officers appointed for Alexandria township were: J. Mont Smyth, clerk; H. S. Rutherford, treas- urer ; T. W. Sprague, assessor ; George Cowing and N. B. Johnson, justices ; John Johnson and Henry Blackwell, constables.
At the second meeting of the board of county commissioners, held at Alexandria on October 4, 1866, a petition having been presented from the legal voters in that territory, congressional townships 127 and 128, ranges 39 and 40, were set apart as a separate civil township, to be known as Holmes City township. The board appointed the following judges and clerks of the election to be held there: Henry Blackwell, N. B. Johnson and Nels Nickelson, judges; T. W. Sprague and Noah Grant, clerks.
EVOLUTION OF COUNTY BUILDINGS.
When Douglas county was organized there was a provision in the laws of the state allowing county officers, in counties where there was no court house, to keep their offices at their homes. For some months this plan was followed by the first officers of Douglas county. At a meeting of the county board held on January 1, 1867. Commissioner Dicken made a motion, which was formally adopted, that "The county auditor be instructed to procure an office, furnish the same with stove and the necessary furniture, including a desk for the safe-keeping of books and papers, and also to furnish said office with fuel, all of which at the expense of the county ; also to procure a suit- able desk for the clerk of the district court."
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DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
On February 2, 1867, the board voted to issue county order No. I for twenty-five dollars, to J. H. Van Dyke, to pay for seals for the clerk of the court and the register of deeds. At that same meeting the board issued county order No. 2 for four hundred dollars, to W. E. Hicks, J. H. Bondy and Thomas F. Cowing, for county books.
In the spring of 1867 W. E. Hicks and Thomas F. Cowing erected a frame building on lot 10, block 59, in the original plat of the village of Alexandria, where N. P. Ward's store now stands. It was a two-story structure, having four rooms and an entry on the first floor and one large room on the second floor. On March 30, 1867, the county commissioners voted to pay Hicks and Cowing two hundred and fifty dollars per annum for the use of this building for county offices, the room on the second floor to be used only when required for holding court, possession to be given on June I, 1867.
The county officers established themselves in the building on Main street in the fall of 1867. Furniture, stoves and fuel were provided and all the county business was for a time transacted there. On September 4, 1867, James Troag was paid fifty-five dollars for a fine hand-made desk for the use of the clerk of the court. At that time none of the county officers devoted all their time to the county duties but had private business which required attention. Anyone having in hand a matter which required the atten- tion of a county official would first find the officer at his place of busi- ness, when they would repair to the building used as a court house and give the matter official consideration. On account of the small amount of county business to be attended to at that time, the early officials soon found that this plan seriously interfered with their private affairs and secured permission from the county board to take their books and papers to their respective stores and offices in the village of Alexandria.
On December 30, 1868, the county auditor was instructed to lease the southeast corner room in the court house to J. H. Van Dyke for six months, with the privilege of using the room for the county treasurer when necessary, Mr. Van Dyke to pay at the rate of $33.33 per year, quarterly in advance. At the same time the northeast corner room was rented to Lewis Lewiston, register of the United States land office, at the rate of $66.66 per year. On January 6, 1869, the register of deeds was allowed to remove his books from the court house to his office, and on March 9, that same year, the county auditor removed his books to his store. On June 22, 1869, the southwest corner room, occupied by John S. Mower, superintendent of schools, was rented to Mr. Mower for his use as a lawyer's office, the court commissioner
R WALKER BLACK SMITH SHOP.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK IN 1876.
Where C. O. Peterson's drug store now stands, in 1876 Bob Walker had his blacksmith shop. The next building was the home of the First National Bank of Alexandria.
FMALEXANDRIA POST
SIMS & JENKINS.
THE OLD COURT HOUSE.
From a photograph taken in 1876, the site now being occupied by N. P. Wardstone. The little build- ing was used by James Walker, as a jewelry store, express office, postoffice and office of the clerk of courts. The next building was the log store erected by William E. Hicks.
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DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
and sheriff to use the room when needed. The same room was rented to John S. Randolph on September 7, 1869. The northwest corner room was rented to W. F. Ball for nine dollars per month.
FIRST COURT HOUSE OWNED BY THE COUNTY.
The little frame building on Main street continued to be used more or less exclusively for public business for nine years, but very early the county fathers realized that in time the county would need a real court house, and with wise foresight began negotiations for ground for a public building. On May 26, 1871, the board conferred with W. E. Hicks to secure a piece of land in the townsite of Alexandria for a public square on which to erect county buildings. Mr. Hicks agreed to give the county a bond for a deed if the commissioners, on behalf of the county, would bind themselves to com- mence the erection of county buildings within three years and complete them in six years. The commissioners were unable to give any such assurance and the project was abandoned for the time being.
On March 27, 1875, Theresa T. Hicks, widow of W: E. Hicks, agreed to give the county a bond for a deed to block 34, in the original townsite of Alexandria, if the county would erect a court house costing not less than $10,000 on or before January 1, 1880. This amount was decided to be more than the county could afford for a building and Mrs. Hicks was persuaded to give the land to the county on condition that a court house costing not less than three thousand five hundred dollars would be built before January I, 1878. The county commissioners at that time were A. H. Taylor, K. C. Rustad, Robert Angus, Ole Amundson and M. J. Gordon. On April 6, 1876, they accepted the plans of J. N. Herder, for a building forty by fifty- four feet. The contract was awarded to Raymond & Owen, of St. Cloud, who agreed to build the court house for three thousand four hundred and forty-seven dollars.
J. N. Herder, L. K. Aaker and A. J. Arnes were appointed as a com- mittee to superintend the construction of the building. This court house was completed and accepted on August 15, 1876. It was a two-story frame building, with five office rooms on the first floor and a court room up-stairs. A fire-proof vault, nine by twelve feet, was built at the rear of the court house, by Stephen King, at a cost of six hundred and seventy dollars. When the officials moved into this building in the fall of 1876 the county business had increased to such an extent that the principal officers devoted all their time to their official duties. For almost twenty years this building served
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DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
for county purposes, when it was replaced by a modern structure which provided not only larger working space, but what was even more important, safety vaults for the storage of the many valuable records of the county.
PRESENT COUNTY COURT HOUSE.
Back in the eighties when Theodore Bordsen was a county auditor he was largely instrumental in establishing a fund for a new court house. This fund accumulated through the years and finally grew to sufficient proportions to enable the county to erect a new building without issuing a single dollar's worth of bonds. On July 11, 1893, the board of county commissioners appointed a committee consisting of Fred von Baumbach, L. J. Brown, James H. White, John B. Cowing and James Quinn, to procure and select plans and specifications for a new court house. The plans of Buechner & Jacobson were accepted on October 10, 1893, and on January 3, 1894, the general con- tract was awarded to Hinckley & Powers, who agreed to put the building under roof during 1894, for $26,037.43. Many of the common brick for this building were furnished by parties in this county, namely: J. A. Mckay, of Alexandria; Norton & Berg, of Evansville, and Gilbert Bracken, of Ida. The facing brick were brought from St. Paul.
Auditor Fred von Baumbach and Commissioner James H. White were appointed as a committee to superintend the construction of the building. At the time this new court house was erected the county was suffering from a serious industrial depression ; cost of material and labor was at a low figure and easily secured, and it was principally for this reason that Douglas county was able to erect her present handsome court house, including heating, light- ing, plumbing and vault fixtures, for the sum of $35,000.
The building was completed and accepted in the fall of 1895. It is a two-story brick structure, the facing being of pressed brick and the trim- mings of Kasota sandstone. There are eight offices on the first floor and five offices and the court room on the second floor. Fire-proof vaults are provided for the safe storage of official records. A basement extends under the entire building, providing space for the heating system, work shop and storage.
FIRST COUNTY JAIL.
On June 27, 1867, the board of county commissioners voted to authorize the county attorney and George B. Cowing to fit up a suitable building to be used as a county jail. On January, 1868, the county auditor was instructed
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DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
to ask Charles A. Gilman, then the state senator from this district, to pro- cure the passage of an act authorizing the county to issue bonds for the purpose of building a jail. However, nothing definite resulted from these 'various projects, and for about two years after the organization of the county prisoners were detained wherever the sheriff saw fit. On May 30, 1868, a committee consisting of F. B. Van Hosen, J. H. Van Dyke and George C. Whitcomb was appointed to get proposals and make an estimate on the cost of building a jail twelve by fourteen feed, to be built of oak timber, with walls, floor and ceiling six inches thick. The contract for a building of that description was let on June 30, 1868, and it was completed in September, of that year, at a cost of three hundred and fifty dollars.
This first jail building was located on the rear of the lot back of the court house on Main street. Some slight alterations and improvements were made to it at various times, but it was never more than the old-fashioned "calaboose" common in those days. After the county officials had moved to the new frame court house in 1876, the little oak jail was sold to R. Wegener for twenty-five dollars.
BRICK JAIL BUILT ON THE COUNTY GROUNDS.
Plans for a new brick jail drawn by H. L. Sage were accepted by the county board on February 3, 1880. Bids were received on February, 1880, and the lowest was that of J. N. Herder, who offered to put up the building for $8,640. As this was more than the county could afford to spend for a jail all bids were rejected and the board advertised for plans of a jail of eight cells to cost more than $6,000. New plans of H. L. Sage were accepted and the building contract was awarded to John Aiton for $6,250.
This brick jail was built due east of the frame court house, twenty-five feet west of E street. Surveyor John Abercrombie determined the proper grade. After the construction was started the contractor was allowed two hundred dollars extra to make the wall one foot higher all around. The building was completed in the fall of 1880, and accepted by the county, but it was not long, however, until the county officials realized that it was a very unsatisfactory jail building. It was mostly underground, dark and damp, and while it probably would have been considered a very proper prison in the Middle Ages, it did not meet the humanitarian ideals of the present day.
After it had been made to serve as a county jail for a number of years the county grand juries began to condemn it as an unfit place in which to confine prisoners. The building was dark, damp and unhealthful, afforded
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DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
no proper accommodation for female prisoners, was dangerous in case of fire and too small for the county needs. In 1899 the state board of correc- tions and charities finally and formally condemned the jail, and on July 18, 1899, the board of county commissioners voted to erect a new jail and sheriff's residence. The board at that time consisted of Anton H. Strom, John F. Landeen, J. H. White, Michael Hickey and Roland Bentson.
PRESENT JAIL AND SHERIFF'S RESIDENCE.
On February 9, 1900, the county board accepted plans for a new jail which had been approved by the state board of corrections and charities, and on March 22, 1900, the contract for its erection was let to Aiton Brothers, for $8,916. The contractor was to pay $400 for the material in the old jail and remove the same from the court house grounds. The contract for heat- ing and ventilating was awarded to T. M. Maguire, for $930; the contract for the plumbing was given to John M. Bailey, for $620, and the steel cell work to the Diebold Safe and Lock Company, for $4,280. The building was completed and accepted by the county on December 3, 1900.
It is a two-story brick building, with sandstone trimmings, of architec- tural design to harmonize with the court house, and stands a short distance southeast of the last mentioned building. Comfortable quarters for the sheriff and family are provided in the front part of the building, and ample provision is made in the rear for the accommodation of the few persons in Douglas county who need be detained under law. The building has every modern convenience.
POPULATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY.
The population of Douglas county in 1910, according to the Federal census report, was 17,669, of which number 4,619 were foreign born, divided among the principal foreign countries as follows: Sweden, 1,998; Norway, 960; Germany, 753; Austria, 244; Denmark, 230; Canada, 116; Finland, 86; all other countries, 232. While the different nationalities of the foreign born population are largely separated into distinct communities they are all enthusiastic patriots for the land of their adoption. The population for three decades is set out in the following table :
1910.
1900.
1890.
Alexandria city
3,001
. 2,681
2.118
Alexandria township
678
672
470
Belle River township.
719
892
711
Brandon township
632
675
570
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DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
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