USA > Minnesota > Douglas County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume I > Part 41
USA > Minnesota > Grant County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume I > Part 41
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 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
"Sunnyside." Owned by F. P. Symonds. Recorded February 23, IQII. Located on section 2, township 130, range 44.
425
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
"Maple Grove." Owned by C. D. Anderson and Thilda C. Anderson. Recorded October 17, 1913. Located on section 6, township 130, range 4T. "Meadow Lawn." Owned by Adolph Borgen. Recorded December 3, 1913. Located on section 16, township 128, range 41.
"Oak Grove." Owned by O. M. Hubred. Recorded Jannary 2, 1914. Located on sections 16, 20 and 21, township 128, range 41.
"Woodland Farm." Owned by Charley J. Anderson and Anna M. Anderson. Recorded May 27, 1914. Located on section 8, township 128, range 41.
"Lawrence Center Stock Farm." Owned by S. S. Wyand. Recorded June 10, 1914. Located on section 15, township 130, range 44.
"Evergreen Farm." Owned by W. F. Wohlers. Recorded April 5, 1915. Located on section 20, township 130, range 41.
"Maple Dale." Owned by Peter Flodin and Inger Flodin. Recorded June 17, 1915. Located on section 13, township 130, range 44.
"Green Valley Place." Owned by Willet G. Parsons and Hattie Mae Parsons. Recorded March 15, 1916. Located on section 13, township 129, range 43.
"Pleasant View." Owned by R. P. Sugden and Olive Sugden. Recorded April 14, 1916. Located on section 18, township 127, range 43. "Meadow Brook." Owned by Soren T. Endreson. Recorded May 12, 1916. Located on section 23, township 127, range 42.
"North Star." Owned by Julius H. Mau and Minnie H. Mau. Recorded June 21, 1916. Located on section II, township 128, range 42.
"Oak Wood." Owned by Errol J. McDonald and Marjorie McDonald. Recorded July 1I, 1916. Located on sections 16 and 17, township 129, range 42.
"Riverside." Owned by John Stock. Recorded July 24, 1916. Located on section 36, township 127, range 41.
GRANT COUNTY AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION.
The Grant County Agricultural Association filed articles of incorpora- tion on December 2, 1909. Its general purpose is to aid and develop the agricultural resources of the county, to promote agricultural, horticultural and mechanical experiments, and tests of various seeds, grains, vegetables, fruits and grasses, and to hold annual fairs in this county. It also aims to aid in the introduction and breeding of purebred live stock and to encourage the training of good horses.
426
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
To attain these objects the association acquired a tract of land within the village of Herman. The first officers were: O. W. Jones, president ; J. Ray Wells, vice-president ; Oscar Arneson, secretary ; A. D. Larson, treas- urer. Directors: W. T. Ziebarth, John T. Lindem, Herman Hillmond, W. H. Goetzinger, Orland Fallon, Charles Cater and F. A. Ekberg.
The association holds an annual fair and races at Herman, and has very successful meetings.
CHAPTER VIII.
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION.
The first routes of travel established in the area which now comprises Grant county were the trails of the native Indians who inhabited this region. This particular locality was a favorable hunting ground for the redmen, and as they moved frequently about the country they established certain well defined paths leading from one camping ground to another. As this was a part of the ground where the Chippewas and the Sioux had frequently bloody encounters, these trails were often traveled by war parties of one or another tribe. While these trails wound along lakes and streams, through the for- ests and over the broad prairies in apparently aimless fashion, they took the grades with surprising accuracy and subsequent careful surveying has shown that in some places they were the best and shortest routes between certain points.
It was not until 1859 that the first road built by white men penetrated this region. In that year the old stage road from St. Cloud to Ft. Aber- crombie was completed, crossing the northern part of Grant county, through what is now Pelican Lake, Pomme de Terre and Stony Brook townships. A way station was built at what later. became the village of Pomme de Terre, and it was on this road, on section 18, in Pelican Lake township, that govern- ment troops erected a stockade in 1862. Stage coaches made regular trips over this road, carrying passengers to Ft. Abercrombie, where connections were made with boats on the Red River of the North. Frequent mail ser- vice was maintained. one of the early mail carriers being a Mr. Evans, for whom the town of Evansville, in Douglas county, was named. Some of the early settlers in Grant county earned money to purchase their first teams and tools by hauling government supplies over this road to frontier garrisons located. at points farther west and north. The cumbersome Red River cart of the half-breed traders and trappers from Pembina creaked noisily along this early route, laden with furs to be exchanged at St. Paul for provisions and ammunition.
428
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
ROUTES OF EARLY SETTLEMENT.
In the early sixties the tide of emigration was flowing slowly but steadily towards this county, and a few adventurous men had already "prospected' through here, learning what a desirable country it was. The old stage road would no doubt have carried many an incoming settler. had it not been for the opening of the Civil War, which checked development in this region, and the Indian outbreak of 1862, which made settlement hereabout impos- sible until the country was cleared of that savage foe. When the war between the states was at an end and the hostile bands of Indians had been removed to distant points, the first real settlers of Grant county began to arrive.
A number of the settlers in the northern part of the county came in over the stage road and located along it or in that neighborhood. Other of the pioneers traveled to Alexandria hy teams and then came over the trails directly westward on foot, settling in the eastern and central parts of the county. Many of the early settlers in the southern and southeastern parts of the county came in from the south, on the trails which skirted the edge of the prairie; and as the first railroad to approach this region was com- pleted to Morris in 1870, it was natural that the incoming settlers should come by rail to that point and then drive up from the south. When Grant county was organized in 1873 it is estimated that there were about eight hundred people here. One of their greatest needs was the establishment of roads, and the county board took immediate action in the matter.
LAYING OUT THE EARLY WAGON ROADS.
At the first meeting of the board of county commissioners, held on April 12, 1873, after locating the county seat and appointing the county officers, the board ordered that each election district should be a road district, and appointed an overseer for each of the four districts thus established. That same summer the first bridge was built in Grant county. The board met at Pomme de Terre on July 23, 1873, to receive proposals for building a bridge across the Pomme de Terre river on section 24, township 130, range 42. A plan of a bridge was submitted by Per Erlandson, also one by Joseph Olson and Timothy Heald. Mr. Heald agreed to build the bridge for five hundred dollars, and have it finished by November 1, 1873. His bid was accepted. On July 28, 1874, a petition was presented to the county board by Even
429
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
E. Bjerke, signed by twenty-four legal voters of the territory to be affected, requesting that a road be laid out front the southeast quarter of section 12; township 128, range 41, in a certain specified indirect line to Herman, on section 13, township 127, range 44. This would give the settlers in Elk Lake township a fairly direct road to the railway at Herman. At the same meeting a petition was presented by Ole Monson, signed by a number of legal voters in Pelican Lake and Erdahl townships, requesting that a road be laid out from a point on the stage road near the foot of Pelican lake; south along the section line through Erdahl township. Also a petition was presented by Jacob Olson, signed by legal voters of Erdahl and Sanford townships, requesting that a road be laid out from Elbow Lake to the east county line, there to connect with a road from Evansville, Douglas county. At this meeting the board decided to build the second bridge to be built in the county, which was to be located across the Pomme de Terre river on . section 12, township 128, range 42. The contract was let to Christopher E. Berg, who agreed to build a good substantial bridge for two hundred dollars.
On January 6, 1874, a petition was presented to the county board from thirty-three legal voters, asking the board to have a road laid out through the eastern part of Elk Lake and Land townships, to connect with a road from Morris, in Stevens county. A petition was presented asking that a road be laid out from the home of Ole Thompson, on section 15, township 128, range 41, to run east to the county line and connect with a road from Alexandria. This would be a continuation of the road from Herman to Elk Lake township. On September 10, 1874. a petition was presented requesting that a road be laid out connecting Barrett and Herman on a some- what different route from the location mentioned in a preceding petition.
On May 29, 1875, a petition was presented to the county board, signed by fifty-two legal voters of the territory to be affected, asking that a road be laid out as follows: Commencing at the corner of Fifth street and Ham- burg avenue, in the village of Herman, to run in as direct a line as prac- ticable to the village of Pomme de Terre. H. P. Hansen and Ole Canestorp were appointed as a committee to meet at the house of Knud O. Laastuen and locate this road.
The recital of these petitions is here given at some length, as it serves to show where the largest settlements were in the county at that time, the largest communities naturally demanding the first roads. Some of these cross-country roads were actually laid out and built, but it was not long
430
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
until the practice was established of laying out the roads as nearly as prac- ticable on the section lines and the later petitions were framed accordingly.
In addition to the early roads laid out by the county there were a num- ber of trails over the prairie which in time became plainly marked roads, and some of them were developed by the state. Frequent mention is made in the commissioners record of the state road from Herman to Fergus Falls and the state road from Pomme de Terre to Fergus Falls, also a state road from Herman to Big Stone Lake.
It was not many years after the county was settled that nearly every section line was laid out as a road, and under county and township admin- istration these roads were built and kept in repair. Considering the materials at hand the "dirt" roads of Grant county compare very favorably with any in the county.
STATE IIIGHWAY COMMISSION.
The system of county control of its roads and bridges prevailed until 1913, when a more economical and efficient system was introduced under what is called the state highway commission. The present resources of this commission consist of a tax of one mill on each -dollar of valuation, which, together with the interest on the internal improvement land fund and other resources, is annually distributed among the different counties in amounts based on area, valuation, amount of their appropriation for roads and bridges, mileage of state and other roads and topographical conditions. The manner in which a county can avail itself of the state aid is by act of the county board in establishing a state road or bridge. After construction the commission will refund a certain portion of the cost. This proportion depends upon various conditions, and in Grant county amounts to seventy per cent. Under this system there has been expended in Grant county dur- ing the past year approximately fifteen thousand dollars, of which eighty per cent. was for construction and twenty per cent. for maintenance.
The first resident engineer in Grant county under the workings of the state highway commission was R. E. Kreuger, who started work in 1913 and remained three years. In March, 1916, he was succeeded by W. E. Burgess, who is now highway engineer for Grant county, assisted by Philip Jacobson, draughtsman. At present there are four routes that have been designated as state roads and are under varying degrees of improvement. State road No. I is the road east from Elbow Lake through Erdahl to the eastern county line. State road No. 2 is the road south from Elbow Lake to the northwest corner of Roseville township, and north from Elbow Lake to the northern county
431
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
line. State road No. 3 is the road through the southern part of Lawrence and Stony Brook townships, from road No. 2 to the western county line. State road No. 4 is the road which crosses the southern tier of townships, connecting Herman and Hoffman.
RAILROADS IN GRANT COUNTY.
The first railroad to enter Grant county was built by the St. Paul and Pacific Railway Company in 1871, across the southwestern corner of the county. The towns of Herman and Norcross were quickly laid out on this road. The coming of this railroad served to hasten the settlement of the county. provided a nearer market for produce and gave employment to many who later became residents here. The road is now a part of the Great Northern systemn. In 1879 a railroad was built by the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway Company across the northeastern corner of the county. It also is now a part of the Great Northern system. The town of Ashby was laid out on this road in 1880. Another railroad which is a part of the Great Northern system crosses the north central part of the county. It was built in 1887.
The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie railroad, commonly known as the "Soo-Pacific," was built through Grant county in 1887. In common with the other main lines of road in this section of the state it fol- lows a northwesterly course, this direction being determined by the efforts to tap the richest districts of the northwest.
Excellent passenger and freight service is maintained on these roads, and some of the most palatial trains in the country now cross Grant county, affording a wonderful contrast to the ox-teams which conveyed some of the first settlers.
CHAPTER IX.
SCHOOLS OF GRANT COUNTY.
No better indication of the high ideals of the pioneers who settled this county could be desired than the fact that their first concern, after estab- lishing their homes, was to secure schools for their children. The first school house was built in Elk Lake township, in 1872, before the county was formally organized. This was a log building and other schools were soon started in various parts of the county in private homes or in a claim shanty or dug-out. As soon as the county was organized, in 1873, a num- ber of petitions were presented to the county commissioners requesting that school districts be established in the principal settlements. These petitions were granted and some eight or ten districts were established, but the num- bering and the boundaries of the districts became so confused in the records that on April 1, 1875, the county board re-numbered them and established the schools in eleven districts. District No. I was all of Elk Lake town- ship and the east half of Lien. District No. 2 was all of Land and Rose- ville townships. District No. 3 was all of Logan and Maesville townships. District No. 4 was the west half of Lien and the east part of Delaware town- ships. District No. 5 was the east part of Elbow Lake and all of Sanford townships. District No. 6 was all of Erdahl township. District No. 7 was the northwest part of Pelican Lake township. District No. 8 was the north- east and central part of Pelican Lake township. District No. 9 was the southwest part of Pelican Lake township. District No. 10 was the west part of Elbow Lake township. District No. II was all of Pomme de Terre, Stony Brook and Lawrence townships. It should be understood that these townships were not organized at the time, but the use of the names in this connection is less confusing than to give the legal description of the districts by section, township and range.
Thus every part of the county was supplied with meager school facili- ties except what is now Gorton and North Ottawa townships, which were not settled until a little later. Soon after these districts were established school district No. 12 was formed in the township of Stony Brook. This numbering has been maintained in the respective locations though all the districts have since then been subdivided as additional schools were needed.
433
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
SKETCH BY ONE OF THE PIONEERS.
The early county superintendents of schools were not in every case school teachers. Some were farmers and some were business men, and at that time no uniform system of reports was made to the state officials, so no records of the early schools are to be found in the archives of the county. The early superintendents devoted only a part of their time to the duties of the office, and it was not until 1882, when Thomas C. Hodgson was county superintendent of schools, that the office was placed on a salary basis, the commissioners agreeing to pay Mr. Hodgson five hundred dollars for his services during the school term. Mr. Hodgson was an able instructor and an excellent organizer and under his guidance the schools made rapid progress. When the new court house was dedicated, in 1906, Mr. Hodgson wrote an historical sketch of the county to be placed in the corner-stone. Included in this sketch was a brief review of the early schools and a descrip- tion of conditions at that time, as follows :
"The first common school district organized in the county was undoub- tedly in Elk Lake, still known as No. I. The date of organization is not given in the records, but in the files in the auditor's office there is a notice of officers elected in April, 1873. It first comprised the whole township. It was the only district to draw its apportionment in 1873. The second district to be organized (the first one mentioned in the commissioner's record) is the same district known as No. 7, in the northwest part of Pelican Lake township. This district built a log school house in 1874 and held school that year.
"In 1874 five schools were held and drew their apportionment, but the records are so confused that it cannot be known which districts they were, except that those above were among them. Many of the schools were held in private houses, in very small rooms ; some were held in cabins and dug- outs after their inhabitants had moved into better buildings. Among the difficulties of teaching in the early days was the fact that most of the children were unable to speak English. They had to learn the language as well as the rudiments of learning. Schools were held only for a short term and when the year had rolled round the pupils had forgotten most of what they had learned the year before. It was like climbing two steps of a ladder and falling back one. Of the educational qualifications of the teachers generally in the early days not very much can be said, but it can truthfully be stated that they nearly always met the requirements of the (28)
434
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
times. They did honest work, put up with hard fare, and accepted low wages. Of those early-day pupils too, it may be said that they have served their day and generation fully as acceptably as those who came after them."
SOME OF THE EARLY SCHOOL HOUSES.
The first school house in Grant county, already alluded to, was built by the settlers in Elk Lake township at their own expense and largely by their own labor. That neighborhood had one of the largest of the early settlements and in the summer of 1872 the project of building a school was talked of. In the fall a meeting was held and all present agreed to furnish logs and labor. Those who took part were Halvor Anderson, Ole Anderson, A. Benson, Even Bjerke, Syver Ellingson, Peder Gran, Ole Gud- munson, A. Hubred, Iver Johnson, Kittel Johnson, O. W. Olson, Sam Olson, Tore Olson, Ole Ring, Jens Sethney, Bernt Swenson, Ole Torsten- son and perhaps one or two others. Logs were cut and hauled by ox-teams to the site selected, and the walls of the building were erected in the late fall of 1872. The roof was put on and the building finished in the early spring of 1873. It was eighteen by twenty-four feet in size. School was held that year and the school immediately drew state apportionment. The first teacher in this school was Mrs. Martha Sethney, long a resident of Elk Lake township. At a later date this building was sided with boards over the log frame, the roof was reshingled and the interior remodeled. The first school in Land township was held in an old machine shed on the farm of Martin Studlien about 1874. Christene Nash was the first teacher. This school became district school No. 2. District schools Nos. 3 and 4 also held sessions in 1874, in Logan and Lien township, respec- tively. The school which became district school No. 5 was started in 1874 on section 7, Sanford township, in an old log house formerly used by Ole Fletcher. Alice Hill was the first teacher and at the first term there were four pupils; Sophia Peterson, Olive Christianson and two children of Knud O. Laastuen. The first school in Pelican Lake township was started in 1874 or 1875 in a little log house owned by Ole Wold, on section Io, a short distance southwest of the present site of Ashby village. This school was taught by Sallie Johnson. The first school in Stony Brook township was held in the little log cabin which had been erected for church services in 1872. The school was started about 1874 or 1875. This school was taught by Hans H. Haavig, who had been a teacher in Norway and was well educated. He was also a fine singer and led the singing in the church.
435
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
This school became district school No. 12, which was the only school in Stony Brook township for several years after the organization.
PIONEER SCHOOL CONDITIONS.
All the early schools of course had very meager equipment. Very few children had a complete set of text books, in fact, there were not sufficient books to establish regular courses. There were no maps, charts or globes, and only a few home-made blackboards. Reading, spelling, writing and numbers were the principal subjects taught. In some of the early schools it was the custom to study aloud, and when two or more children were using the same book the result was not always harmonious. This custom soon became obsolete. As the county developed log school houses were replaced by frame structures and in a few cases brick buildings were erected.
TEACHERS OF 1896.
In 1890 the number of school districts had increased to forty-eight. In 1896 there were fifty-five districts. The teachers in that year were: Amanda Ash, Rena Asleson, Carrie Barnes, Mary Borchert, Florence Cald- well, Sarah M. Ellsworth, Gustaf Gilbertson, Anna L. Godward, Eliza- beth Godward, Isabella Groven, Hannah Gudmunson, Nora Grim, Thea C. Dahlen, Lizzie Dahlen, Hattie Davidson, Ida M. Dewey, Alphia Flade- land, Frank Heald, Kate Hodgson, Mrs. Emma Heald, Isabella Hodgson, Annie Hollen, Estella Houston, Julia D. Johnson, Maggie Johnson, Jennie Johnson, Martha C. Johnson, Augusta Johnson, Amanda Lake, Emily Lit- tle, Alice Little, Mrs. Thea Nash, Martin Mikkelson, Emily Nelson, Louise Nelson, Julia M. Osen, Julia Pederson, Mrs. Warren Polar, A. M. Pen- nock, Henry Peterson, Mae Preston, Blanche Prescott, Gertrude Schiefer, August Sethney, Mary Smith, Olive Stanley, Clara P. Stave, Tena H. Tollefson, Tina O. Tollefson, Charley Thoreson, George L. Woodworth, Bertha Scofield, H. W. Shroyer and Mrs. H. W. Shroyer.
DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOL SYSTEM.
The real development of the modern school system begun with intro- duction of grades. The graded school afforded a scientific basis upon which to work. At an early date the requirements for teaching were increased and facilities were secured to aid in instruction. Free text-books were
436
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
introduced, and all schools were equipped with maps, globes and dictionaries. Longer terms were held and buildings were remodeled or built with greater regard to lighting, heating and ventilation.
Numerous laws were passed by the state Legislature to aid in secur- ing better schools. In 1877 an act was approved allowing-women to vote on all school matters. In 1887 a state law required instruction on physi- ology and hygiene, with special reference to the effect of stimulants and nar- cotics upon the human system. In 1885 the state agreed to pay half the cost of libraries for the schools. Acts were also passed arranging for the state department of education to grant certificates to teachers; and to extend state aid to schools of a certain standing.
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.