History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 107

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > Minnesota > Fillmore County > History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota > Part 107

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FORESTVILLE TOWNSHIP.

FELIX MEIGHEN was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, in 1812. He received his educa- tion in that State and taught school one year. In 1845, he was joined in marriage with Miss Eliza Jane Foster, the ceremony taking place in Steu- benville, Ohio. In 1847, they removed to Illinois, where he was engaged in the lead mines until 1855, then came to Forestville and has since been engaged in mercantile business and farming. Mr. and Mrs. Meighen have had a family of eight children, seven of whom are living; Susan, Cath- arine, Maria, Thomas J., Eliza J., Martha E., and Joseph P. He has been Postmaster since 1868.

J. L. MICHENER was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, in 1819. He lived with his parents until twenty years old; attended school and worked on a farm. He removed to Indiana in 1839, and was engaged at farming and fruit growing. In 1840, he married Miss Mary Blackledge, who was a native of Ohio, They had four children, three of whom are living; Rachel A., Charles R., and D. K. J. Otis was killed when twelve years old by a runaway team. In 1856, they came to Forestville, section thirty, and engaged in farming, which he still follows. His wife died of consumption in 1866, aged fifty-three years. The name of his present wife was Mrs. Lucia, whom he married in 871. They have one child, Harvey, aged three years. Mr. Michener was County Commissioner from 1872 to 1879. Has been Town Clerk aud Chairman of the board of Supervisors several terms. He was a Garrisonian Abolitionist from his boyhood, was "conductor" of the "undergound railroad," and assisted many fugitive slaves to Can- ada. He has always been a pioneer in all re- forms, no matter how unpopular. He has been a zealous advocate of temperance all his life, liberal in his religious views, but charitable toward those who differed from him, and has refused at all times to join any church organization.

WILLIAM MCKENZIE was born in Monroe county, New York, in 1816. Three years later he moved to Ohio with his parents, and remained there until twenty-six years of age. He was first married in the latter State in 1834, to Miss Jane Kilborn, with whom he remained but ten years. They had five cl:iidren. In 1842, he removed to Wisconsin and engaged in farming and building until 1863, when he came to Forestville, and has since lived on a farm. He was married in Wiscon- sin in 1847, to Normanda Ricks. They were

blessed with four children, and Mrs. Mckenzie died in March, 1871, aged fifty-two years. The maiden name of his present wife was Sarah Ann Hamlin, whom he married in 1872. They have one child.

L. H. NASH is a native of New York, born in 1842. He lived with his parents in that State until he was fourteen years old, and then removed with them to Forestville, where he attended school and worked on a farm. In 1864, he enlisted in the army and served till the close of the war. In 1866, he was joined in marriage with Miss P. E. Mckenzie. They have been blessed with seven children, six of whom are living. He was a mem- ber of the board of Supervisors one term.

MARTIN QUINN was born in Ireland in 1836, and came to America in 1849, locating in New York, where he finished nis education. He moved to Wisconsin in 1856, and engaged in farming. He was married in 1862, to Miss Bridget O'Connor, also a native of Ireland. They have eleven chil- dren, all living at home. In 1863, they removed to Forestville, where he is still engaged in farm- ing. Mr. Quinn has been a member of the board of Supervisors several terms, and Town Clerk one term. He has three hundred and twenty acres of land, nearly all of which is improved.

E. W. REXFORD was born in Canada in 1837, where he attended school and was reared on a farm. In 1855, he removed with his parents to Forestville, Minnesota, where he finished his edu- cation and engaged in farming. In 1861, he en- listed in the army, served three years, then was taken prisoner and subsequently paroled. He went with Gen. Sibley at the time of the Indian outbreak, but afterwards returned to the army and served out his time. He was married in 1866, to Miss Alzuma Merritt. They have one child, Min- nie A., eleven years of age. He has two hundred acres of land, all of which is improved. Mr. Rexford has been a member of the board of Super- visors several terms.

ALMAS REXFORD was born in Canada in 1836, where he attended school. In 1855, he removed to Illinois, where he went to school another year, then came to Forestville and engaged in farming. He enlisted at the time of the Indian outbreak, and re-enlisted in 1863, in the First Minnesota Heavy Artillery, serving till the close of the war. He has been engaged in farming since 1865. In 1869, he was united in marriage with Miss Agnes A.

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HISTORY OF FILLMORE COUNTY.

Knowlton, the ceremony taking place in Iowa. They have one child, Grace K., five years of age.

JOHN W. SIKKINK was born in Holland in 1838, and came to America in 1857, locating in Roches- ter, New York, where he worked seven years in a nursery. He was married in the latter place to Henrietta Wessels. In 1865, he removed to Wis- consin and engaged in farming; five years later he came to Minnesota, and is still a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Sikkink have been blessed with eight children, all living at home. They are members of the Dutch Reformed Church.

REV. W. C. SWEET was born in Otsego county, New York, in 1814, and moved with his parents to Lisle, Broome county, New York, when three years of age. His father died in the latter town in 1817. In 1836, W. C. was married to Miss Eunice C. Sly, and they removed to Cortland county, where he graduated trom the Cortland Academy and entered the ministry, being ordained in 1838. He served as a minister of the Baptist denomina- tion until 1879, coming to Forestville in 1876. His first wife died in 1879. She was the mother of eight children, four of whom are living. In the same year he married Miss Hellen A. Rexford. He is now engaged on a small farm, and is in com- fortable circumstances.

JOHN C. SWERING is a native of New York, born in 1848. He removed with his parents to Wiscon- sin in 1856, where he received a fair education. He was employed with his father three years at the carpenter trade, after which he went to Milwaukee and followed that occupation for one year. He then came to Fillmore county and located a farm on section twenty-four, Forestville township, where he is now living. In 1878, he was married to Miss Alice V. Nash, and they have two children; Eva Irine, born on the 26th of August, 1879, and Wilbur H., born the 5th of July, 1880.

FRANK TURNER was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, in 1850, and moved with his parents

to Indiana at the age of three years. He received his education in that State. . In 1865, he removed to Forestville, this county, where he engaged in. farming and has since followed the same. He was married in 1872, to Miss Diana Baldwin. They have one child, Frank, eight years old.

JOHN WIKKERINK was born in Holland in 1822, and reared on a farm. In 1845, he was married to Miss Clara Prencin. In 1854, they emigrated to America and located in Milwaukee, remaining there seven years, then removed to Fond du Lac county and engaged in farming. They came to Minnesota in 1867, and located in Forestville, where he still conducts a farm. Mr. and Mrs. Wikkerink have been blessed with nine children, four of whom are living.

ALVIN WEST was born in Orange county, Ver- mont, in 1811. He was married in 1838, to Miss Lucia Waterman. He is a shoemaker by trade, and in 1843, removed to Janesville, Wisconsin, where he was engaged at his trade. He built the first house in Stoughton, Wisconsin, and also kept the first hotel in that place. His wife died in 1853, aged forty-one years. They had two chil- children, both ot whom are now dead. His pres- ent wife is a native of Canada, and they were mar- ried in 1856. They removed to Forestville, Min- nesota, the same year, located on section fifteen, and engaged in farming. They have three chil- dren; Fred. A., Fannie E., and Jennie E. He has been Town Clerk and Assessor twenty-two years, and Treasurer eighteen years.

JOHN W. WILBRICHT was born in Prussia in 1823. He was married in 1851, to Miss Gustava Litguy. In 1855, he emigrated to America and located in Forestville, Minnesota, on section fifteen, where he has three hundred acres of land, most of which is improved. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbricht have had six children, five of whom are living. They are members of the Lutheran Church.

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BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP.

BLOOMFIELD.

CHAPTER LXXI.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION-EARLY HISTORY-EDUCA- TIONAL-RELIGIOUS-POLITICAL - TIFFTON VIL- LAGE-ETNA POST-OFFICE - FLOURING MILL - BIOGRAPHICAL.

The town with this spring reminding name is the second from the south on the western boundary of the county. Its contiguous neigh- bors are Spring Valley on the north, Forestville on the east, Beaver on the south, and Mower county on the west. Cutting across the township in a diagonal way are four different geological formations. The stream that bisects its territory near the center of the town is the south branch of the Root River, and there are several creeks join- ing this, most of them coming from a northern direction. The little streams in the northern part of the town flow in that direction to mingle with the waters of another branch of Root River.

The western and middle parts of the town are prairie, and the southeastern, bluffy. The soil is of that peculiar black character so common in this region. Along the bottoms there is heavy timber on both sides of the river, while in the southeast- ern part it is hilly and rocky.

EARLY HISTORY.

William B. MoNee, in quest of a home, in Octo- ber, 1855, found a place that suited his purpose in section fourteen, which he bought, having pre- empted a place in section thirteen in Spring Valley.

G. W. Craig had a place in section fourteen, where he located in 1854.

Albro and C. T. Baker located in June, 1854, in section twenty-three.

Bloomfield and Forestville constituted a voting precinct. John Bateman was a Justice of the Peace by virtue of territorial authority. When

the town was organized the name it still bears was given by Dwight Rathburn.

The first school was held in 1856, in what is now district No. 110; the school was taught in a log house, and to this work Elder Ropes gave his ser- vices for six dollars a month and his board, which was obtained by itinerating around from house to house, so many days at each. In district No. 109, in 1860, their schoolhouse was built, and it yet remains in use. The settlers turned out to do the work, charging themselves seventy-five cents a day. The first school in the new house was gov- erned by Miss Helen Lilly, who received the munificent sum of $1.50 a month and board. About twelve juveniles gathered on the benches. Messrs. McNee and Craig were the most influen- tial citizens of the town, or ot least of that section, in locating the building, starting the school, and securing and paying the teacher. The first relig- ious instruction was at Etna, the little hamlet in section twenty-five. Rev. Mr. Bly, of the Baptist faith, was the missionary.

In the meantime a number of Norwegians had settled in the central and western part of the town and along the streams, and had got their farms under a fair state of cultivation. H. and Ole Hellikson and a family named Oleson had set- tled and are still living in the town; it is claimed they arrived in 1853. A. G. Langum had settled upon section sixteen; Even Stensen had put in an appearance and filed on section twenty-two. A number of others of the same nationality had secured homes in the same region.

In 1855, J. H. Shaw with his family, consisting of his wife and seven children, arrived from New York State and settled on one hundred and sixty acres in section twenty-six, where he still man- ipulates the plow although well along in years. With this party came George Barnes and Daniel Carey, together with their families, and they also

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HISTORY OF FILLMORE COUNTY.

settled in the neighborhood, but some years ago removed to Iowa.

At this early date wolves were in abundance in the woods, and hardly a night passed but some unfortunate settler lost a part of his meager flock or herd.

AN ACCIDENT .- One Sunday in the summer of 1855, Mr. O. H. Bryant, one of the pioneers near Etna, purchased a fine span of horses and took them home, priding himself on being the owner of as fine a team as was in the country, and at that day horses were very scarce in the town of Bloom- field. The next morning he hitched up his team, intending to drive over to a neighbor's on an er- rand. When he arrived at the ford he found that owing to recent rains the river had become a tor- rent. A number of friends tried to dissuade him from attempting to ford, but he, in confidence that his team could pull through, drove into the ford. He had driven but a short distance when the depth of the water compelled him to realize his folly, and in attempting to turn around, capsized his wagon and was compelled to swim to shore, the horses being swept down by the irresistible current, and drowned.

VARIOUS ITEMS OF INTEREST .- The first store in Bloomfield was in a log cabin called a schoolhouse, about a half mile from Etna, kept by Reuben Odell. The goods were afterwards moved down, and in the course of a year sold out, when Hartley Parks erected a frame building in the village, and sold goods for about three years.

The first settlers had to go to Decorah for all their goods.

There was a marriage in 1856, between David Bender and Mrs. R. Rexford.

In June, 1856, there was a murder of an Irish- man who had a claim, and his body was thrown into the south branch. Some members of a balf- breed family in the vicinity were arrested, but no convictions resulted.

The first burial in the cemetery at Etna was Russell Rexford in 1856. The Etna cemetery is owned by a company, and is well kept.

In 1859, a Sunday school was organized in T. C. Baker's granary, by Daniel Scoville, with Sam- uel Crooks as Superintendent.

POLITICAL.

The first town meeting recorded here was held in October, 1857, before the regular State government went into effect. It was in George

Craig's house, and commenced on Tuesday and held over until Wednesday at midnight before the election was decided. Mr. McNee was elected Justice of the Peace.

On the 11th of May, 1858, the first regular town meeting, to fully organize the town, was held at the same place. The town officers elected were: Supervisors, O. B. Bryant, Chairman, John Mal- lory, and Joseph Campbell; Justices of the Peace, M. T. Gaylord and W. T. Bly; Clerk, S. A. Hunt; Assessor, W. T. Bly; Collector, R. C. McCord; Overseer of the Poor, John Carey; Con- stables, A. C. McCord and Horatio French. Pro- vision was made that the next annual town meet- ing be held at the house of Andrew Lanby, in sec- tion fifteen. In September a town meeting was held, and a tax of $125 raised to meet current ex- penses.

Among the officers elected for 1882 are: D. M. Leach, Chairman of Supervisors; Clerk, O. Larson, Justice of the Peace, Dr. Spencer; Assessor, S. Toplif.

EDUCATIONAL.

DISTRICT No. 108 .- The first school taught in what is now this district was in the summer of 1857, by Mrs. Hunt, in a log cabin, where it con- tinued until the schoolhouse now in existence was built, in section twenty. This building is kept in good repair, and still accommodates the scholars.

DISTRICT No. 132 .- The first in this part of the town was taught by Miss Graham in Mr. --- Allen's house. In 1864, a building was bought, moved, and fixed up, which served until early in the seventies, when the present edifice was con- structed. The school building is located in the north western corner of section seventeen.

DISTRICT NO. 107 .- A log schoolhouse was built in 1856, and a school opened by Daniel Scoville. The school officers were John Bateman, Mr. Mc- Cord, and Dwight Rathborn. There were at first about a dozen juveniles to be taught; now the number of pupils is about thirty. The school- house is located upon the eastern line of section two. A Sabbath school was organized here in 1857, with Mr. Daniel Scoville as Superintendent.

DISTRICT No. 111 .- This district was organized in 1859, and a plain slab shanty erected on section thirty-three, by subscription. This rude hut lasted until 1876, when the present neat building was erected on the same place, size 18x24 feet, at a cost of about $400. The first school was called to

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BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP.

order in the slab shanty by Miss Sarah Beach, now deceased. The present teacher is Miss Carrie Monson.

DISTRICT NO. 110 .- This comprises the terri- tory known as the Etna school district. It was organized in 1656, and a log schoolhouse rolled together on section thirty-six. This rude structure filled the requirements until 1865, when the pres- ent house was built on section twenty-six, size 24x30 feet, at a cost of $700, and it was after- wards removed to its present location on section twenty-five, in the western part of Etna village. The first school was taught by Elder Ropes.

DISTRICT NO. 109 .- Was organized in the fall of 1858, and in 1859 a school was held in Mr. Baker's granery by .John B. Freeborn. In 1860, everyone in the district turned out to assist in putting up the schoolhouse now in use, and all were credited seventy-five cents per day on their tax. The schoolhouse is 20x25 feet, and stands on the northwest corner of section twenty-three. The cost is estimated at about $150.

RELIGIOUS.

The first sermon preached in town was in 1854, in John Bateman's house, by Rev. B. F. Hilton; wide notice had been given and people came from the neighboring towns. The first regular service was by that pioneer Methodist minister and evan- gelical itinerent missionary, Rev. Benjamin Crist, whose circuit was bounded on the east by the Mis- sissippi River, and on the west by the setting sun, and whose appointments at wide intervals of dis- tance and four weeks of time, were met through sunshine and storm, with the regularity of a through express train.

EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH .- This church is located on the west line of section thirty-three, and has a burial ground around it. It is upon the farm of G. Hanson, he having donated the land for that purpose.

BAPTIST CHURCH .- There is a Baptist Church at Etna which was built in 1871. The size of the building is 28x36 feet, and was ereeted at a cost of $1,500. The first sermon for the denomination was delivered by Rev. Farnsworth, and since then their pulpit has been supplied by various ministers of different denominations. The edifice is sit- uated in the western part of the village.

CEMETERIES.

Early in the sixties John Bateman gave a piece of land for a burial place in section one, and Ada

Loomis was the first person buried there, a little two year old girl. There are now a score or more of mortal remains reposing in the enclosure.

There is also a cemetery on the line between sections two and three, and there is another on the west line of section sixteen. A larger one than either of these is on the southern boundary of section twenty-six, with one hundred occupants, and still another on the west line of section thirty- three, in connection with the Lutheran Church, and there may be still others.

VILLAGE OF TIFFTON.

This village was platted by Enos Gray as the surveyor, and O. L. Colby as proprietor. Its lo- cation is the southwest quarter of the the south- west quarter of section twenty-five, and was re- corded as being "set apart and dedicated for vil- lage purposes" on the 18th of September, 1867. The panic which followed the next month, must have been a wet blanket to the cherished hopes and glowing anticipations, which had cut up a farm into lots, four rods by eight, to make a rural vil- lage. The village was laid out as "Tiffton," but as the post-office was called Etna, common usage obliged the village to adopt the same suggestive cognomen.

The first Post-office established for the conven- ience of the settlers of this region was one mile east of Spring Valley. John M. Smith was the Postmaster; this was in 1855.

ETNA POST-OFFICE.

In the spring of 1856, the people in the neigh- borhood of Etna wanted a post-office, as the near- est one was Carimona, twelve miles distant, and one day there happened to be a half dozen per- sons at the house of Peter McCracken, and the subject coming up, the question as to a name was discussed, and it was proposed to settle the point by lot, and each one wrote a name on a slip of paper. Mrs. McCracken drew from the hat where they had been placed the name "Etna," put there by Charles Hanson, of Forestville. A petition was accordingly started right there, and signatures were obtained at a precinct meeting at the house of Lathrop Abbott in the town of Beaver. But the name being of a volcanic origin, created opposition, and a real eruption of bad feeling, which went so far that of the superstitious opponents of the name got hold of the petition, cut off the original heading and substituted an-

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HISTORY OF FILLMORE COUNTY.

other name, and deposited it in the nearest post- office, to be sent to Washington, but the friends of Etna, by threats, induced them to withdraw it, and it was destroyed. Mr. Hanson, however, got up another and procured a few signatures and sent it on, with a favorable result. Bedar Judd was appointed Postmaster, and held the office about one year, O. B. Bryant then had the office for a year, when he was succeeded by H. French. The town plat when surveyed was named and re- corded as Tiffton, but has always been called Etna, although there has never been any eruptions of a volcanic nature, or any other for that matter.

ETNA FLOURING MILL .- This was built in 1868, on the Root River, on section twenty-five, a half mile north of Etna, by A. Defor. It has two run of stone, excellent water power, with a Lafell wheel, and grinds all kinds of grain, turning out good work. A. Defor is still proprietor.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

JOHN BATEMAN was born in Pulaski county, Virginia, on the 21st of July, 1816. He lived in his native State until 1846, when he moved to Mis- souri; remained there part of one year, then went to Wisconsin, and in three years to Iowa. In 1853, he made improvements on land in Bloom- field township, this county, and in 1854, moved his family to this place. He held the office of Justice of the Peace while in Iowa, and also in Minne- sota while this county was divided into voting precincts. He was married in Virginia to Miss Ketturah Halsey. They have had thirteen chil- dren, ten of whom are living. They are all mar- ried but two. One child died in infancy, in 1849, the second death was in 1868, and the third was killed in Texas in 1881, by the accidental dis- charge of a gun.

OLIVE HOVEY BENDER was born in Canada in 1811; was brought up on a farm, and afterward married to Russell Rexford. She is the mother of five children, two of whom are living. One boy died in the rebel prison at Macon, Georgia, in 1862, aged twenty-one years. She came to Wis- consin in 1852, remained but a short time, then removed to Minnesota, and was the first settler in Bloomfield township. Her husband died in 1856 and she was married again the same year, to David Bender.

REV. WILLIAM T. BLY was born in the state of New York, ou the 20th of January, 1812. He studied for the ministry at the Hamilton Literary

and Theological Seminary, and was ordained as a Baptist minister, in Michigan, in 1840. He has since preached the Gospel in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Minnesota. He was married in 1839, to Miss Elizabeth R. Miller, and they have had ten children, but five of whom are living. In 1853, he came to Fillmore county and settled on a farm, which he conducted in connection with his ministerial duties. Mr. Bly has been a member of the Baptist Church upwards of fifty-one years, and Mrs. Bly forty-three years.

HAWLEY COOKE was born in Otsego county, New York, in 1811. He was brought up on a farm and received his education in his native State. When he was eighteen years of age he en- gaged in a restaurant in New York City. In 1837, he removed to Chicago, where he clerked for two years, then engaged in farming and also taught school. He was married in 1841, to Miss Mary Seward, a native of New York. In 1842, they re- moved to Wisconsin, and in 1859, came to Minne- sota and located in Bloomfield, where he has since lived on a farm. Mr. and Mrs. Cooke have had eight children, five of whom are living. His wife died in 1862, forty-one years of age. Mr. Cooke has held the office of County Superintendent, and is generally well liked.

HANS C. GULLICKSEN, a native of Norway, was born near Christiania on the 29th of June, 1832. In 1854, he came to America and located in Racine county, Wisconsin, where he was engaged in farm- ing and as a day laborer, working in different local- ities of the same State. In the fall of 1856, lie came to this county and pre-empted a quarter sec- tion of land in Bloomfield, which he has made his principal home ever since. He was married in 1858, to Miss Martha O. Larsen, who has borne him seven children, three of whom are living. Mr. Gullicksen has filled a number of local offices, and in 1868, was elected County Sheriff, holding the position four years. Was then appointed Deputy Register of Deeds, held the office two years, when he resigned and moved back to his farm. In 1879, he was elected Register of Deeds, and re- elected in 1881, and has since filled the office with general satisfaction.

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History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 107

Author: Edward D. Neill Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: