History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 55

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 55

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For any sum not over $50. 10 per cent. For any sum over $50 and not over $100 5

For any sum over $100 and not over $500 212

And on any sum over $500, 1 per cent. to be added to the above rates.

For consultation without suit. $1 00

The above fees are exclusive of disbursements. We hereby assent to the foregoing fee bill, and agree to abide thereby. Dated, November 13th, 1860. SIMEON SMITH, REUBEN WELLS, .

H. D. BRISTOL,

JONES, WILLARD & JONES,

RIPLEY, WELLS & CAVANAUGH, H. A. BILLINGS,

HENRY O. BUTLER,

N. P. COLBURN, J. S. SAWYER,

J. F. MARSH, DRYDEN SMITH.

The following named lawyers represent and constitute the bar of Fillmore county, and will compare favorably as to ability with other coun- ties in the State: J. D. Farmer, Burdett Thayer, Asa B. Burleson, Dryden Smith, Norman True, George E. Hibner, Spring Valley; Peter Mc- Cracken, Cherry Grove; E. C. Boyd, Wykoff; John R. Jones, N. Kingsley, Chatfield; O. Whea- ton, Mabel; C. N. Enos, O. S. Berg, Rushford; B. A. Man, E. N. Donaldson, H. G. Day, Lanes- boro; Reuben Wells, H. S. Bassett, N. P. Colburn, H. R. Wells, Enos Thompson, A. D. Gates, Preston.

Tbis list is taken from the court calendar, and it is possible that there may be one or two recently admitted whose names were not on the list.

FILLMORE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.

This association was organized in the fall of 1862. The first meeting was at the office of L.

Redmon, M. D., in Preston, and about ten mem- bers constituted the society at that time. The objects were for mutual benefit, particularly to in- crease the medical knowledge and skill of the members.

The first officers of the society were: President, R. W. Twitchell; Vice-President, H. Wilson; Treasurer, A. H. Trow; Corresponding Secretary, G. M. Willis; Secretary, T. E. Loop. The other members were Lafayette Redmon, Luke Miller, J. M. Wheat, M. Downelly, C. H. Robbins, R. L. Moore, A. Plummer, A. F. Whitman, H. Pickett, J. A. Graves, H. C. Grover, R. W. Hoyt, and M. A. Trow.

For several years the society was in an active condition. There was a regular fee bill, and other accessories to such a society, and it had a vigor- ous growth and life, but the interest finally de- clined, and in 1879, it passed into a moribund con- dition, from all outward symptoms. However, it may be a case of catalepsy or suspended anima- tion, and the expectant treatment it is receiving may yet restore it to consciousness and activity, notwithstanding the axiom that physicians when sick are totally incapable of treating themselves.

The last officers of the society, who hold over until their successors are appointed, were: Presi- dent, R. L. Moore; Vice-President, H. C. Grover; Treasurer, L. Redmon; Secretary, A. F. Whitman. These men are supposed to be regular M. D.'s, although to avoid the monotony, the letters after each name are omitted.

FILLMORE ECLECTIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.

This society was organized on the 31st of July, 1869, at the office of Dr. O. A. Case, in Preston.

The first officers of the society were: O. A. Case, President; John A. Ross, George A. Lone, J. J. Morrey. The organization kept up until 1876, when it was dissolved.

THE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The organization of the present society was in 1871, and, with the exception of three years, when the fairs were at Lanesboro, they have been at the Fair grounds in Preston, which are well adapted to the purpose, having, with the improvements, cost about $1,500.

The present officers and managers of the society are: President, Jerome Utley; Secretary, W. E. Colburn; Treasurer, S. M. Conkey; Executive

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CHURCHES.

Committee, Jerome Utley, W. A. Miller, and M. T. Grattan.

Board of Managers, T. J. Meighen, Peter Mc- Cracken, M. T. Grattan, R. L. Flemming, N. A. Graves, T. H. Day, W. A. Pease, H. Pickett, H. Milne, P. Hutton, and W. A. Miller.

The last fair was held in September, 1881. In- terest in these exhibitions must go on increasing as the dairy interest is developed.

CHURCHES.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH .- This denomi- nation was early in the field as the country began to be settled up. The Minnesota Conference was organized in 1845, and the first annual conference was held at Red Wing, Goodhue county, on the 7th of August, 1856, Bishop Simpson presiding. There were twenty-nine members of the confer- ence, and sixteen probationers. In 1881, there were 115 effective preachers, twenty-one proba- tioners, eighteen supernumerary and twenty-three superannuated members.

Fillmore county has, from the first, been in the Winona district, and in 1856, the following preachers were stationed in this district: John Hooper, D. Kidder, R. W. Keeler, M. Klepper, B. Crist. J. M. Rogers, John D. Rich, John L. Dyer, E. Fate, C. Kellogg, S. T. Sterrett, Thomas Day, Timothy Jewett, and D. O. Van Slyke. In this year there were preachers stationed in the county at Preston, Chatfield, and Spring Valley.

Bishop Simpson, who has a world wide reputa- tion as a Methodist Divine, was the first bishop of the Minnesota conference.

When the war broke out, in 1861, the following ministers were connected with effective work of the Winona Conference District: Thomas E. Gos- sard, presiding elder; Silas Bolles, Noah Lathrop, Charles Griswold, Charles J. Hayes, Nathan Tainter, James Cowden, W. H. Soule, Ira Elling- wood, Boyd Phelps, Moses Mapes, David Tice, Oliver P. Light, John Quigley, James Dow, and Alfred Welch.

When the first Lay Conference was held in Mankato, on the 29th of September, 1871, the fol- lowing delegates were present from Fillmore county: C. W. MeMindu, Jordan; Paul Dayton, Granger; R. Wells, Preston.

The number of members reported as belonging

to the several churches in the county in May, 1881, were as follows:

Proba-

Members.

tioners.

Beaver 51

Chatfield 67

Fillmore 96

Lanesboro.

Lenora and Granger .. 169 ·

Rushford and Money Creek 58

Spring Valley 143

The value of the property owned by this de- nomination in the county is represented by the fol- lowing figures:

Beaver Church $1,000

Chatfield Church 1,000

Parsonage 1,000

Fillmore Church 2,400

Parsonage 300

Lanesboro Church.

3,000

Parsonage

300

Lenora and Granger Churches. 4,200

Parsonage 650

Rushford and Money Creek Churches 1,400

Parsonages ..

1,000

Spring Valley Church. 1,400

Parsonage

1,500

Making the value of the Churches 15,400

Parsonages 6,750

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH .- Fillmore county is connected with the Synod of Minnesota and the Presbytery of Winona, which embraces about forty churches in the southern part of the State.

In the county there are churches at Chatfield, Harmony, Lanesboro, and Preston, with an aggre- gate membership of about 200. According to the last report, the ministers connected with this Pres- bytery were as follows: J. J. Ward, A. H. Kerr, Silas Haslett, R. B. Abbott, James D. Todd, Sam- uel Wyckoff, E. N. Raymond, Augustus Busch, William C. Beebe, S. G. Lowry, George Ainslie, H. L. Craven, A. S. Kemper, S. D. Westfall, John M. Brack, H. A. Newell, F. P. Dalrymple, John W. F. Roth, Jr.

The Presbyterian Church of the United States consists of one General Assembly, thirty-eight Synods, 177 presbyteries, 5,086 ministers, 301 licentiates, 622 candidates, 5,598 churches, 581,- 401 members, and 633,564 Sunday School children.

Total contributions for all purposes in 1880, $8,674.291.

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HISTORY OF FILLMORE COUNTY.

ROMAN CATHOLIC .- Comparatively a small part of the people who settled in this county were of this faith, and consequently the pioneer work of the priests was severe and unpromising. Long distances had to be traversed to bestow the minis- trations of their sacred office. As the villages, however, have filled up, there has been more en- couragement, and the institutions that have been planted are worthy of the church which builds for all coming time.

LUTHERAN CHURCHES. - Nearly all of the natives of Norway who live in this country are adherents of the Evangelical faith, and most of them of some branch of the Lutheran denomination. There are several branches with characteristic names and features more or less distinct, and often considered of great importance by those who understand their peculiarities. And in the accounts given of the several churches in the county, there may be a confounding of these various churches under the general term of Lutheran.

When these people first arrived here and had supplied their physical wants, their next desire was for their accustomed religious food, and they are certainly entitled to great credit for what they have done to supply this need.

In the sketches of the several towns and villages where they exist, mention will be made of indi- vidual churches.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH .- This church which, in the whole country is among the largest, has not a very extensive following in Fillmore county. There are two or more distinctive branches of this denomination, with sufficient difference in the tenets of belief, as supposed by the several ad- herents, to warrant separate organizations, and whatever has been accomplished in the county will be found recorded in the town histories.

CONGREGATIONAL AND OTHER CHURCHES .- The Congregational form of belief, although not form- ulated with fixity, is well known not to be unlike the Presbyterian, and this form of organized wor- ship cannot be said to be deep rooted in Fillmore county, albeit there are several flourishing societies here. As to the so-called Liberal churches, which seem to flourish in New England, nothing of this kind has survived the transplanting to this western soil. Why this is so is not our province to discuss.

SCHOOLS.

The special history of individual schools, ap- pears in connection with the sketch of each town- ship. There are, however, points of general in- terest in relation to the school system which re- quire mention here.

The early comers never lost sight of the idea upon which the possibility of founding and sup- porting a popular government rests-the educa- tion of the children-and as fast as the children appeared and became of school age, the best possible provision, at the command of the people, was made for their schooling.

An account of the various expedients resorted to, that would meet the requirements of the cir- cumstances, would, while sometimes laughable, reveal the struggling efforts of a determination to bestow knowledge upon the rising generation in spite of all difficulties. Schools were often kept in a log dwelling, where the school room would be partitioned off from that occupied by the family by an imaginary line. Sometimes an open shed as an annex to the house would serve the purpose in summer. The usual method was for the neighbors to get together and organize a district, and select a lot for a building. Of course each one would want it near, but not too near, and generally there was little trouble in establishing the location, which would be with a view of accommodating the greatest number. And then to build a school- house, a "bee" was the easiest way, and so plans and estimates were improvised, and each one would subscribe, one, two, three or more logs so many feet long, so many shingles, so many rafters, a door or a window, and at the appointed time the men would assemble with the material, bringing their dinner pails, and by night, if there had not been too much hilarity during the day, the building would be covered and practically com- pleted. The benches would be benches indeed, often without backs, and sitting on one of them was about as comfortable as sitting in the stocks, that now unfashionable mode of punishment.

Schools were thus multiplied all over the county, until in the winter of 1859, the Legislature passed an act making each organized township a school district, to be subdivided according to local necessities. But this plan was soon repealed and the present method adopted. The districts were numbered consecutively, beginning at a certain point, and new districts, as they have been created,

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STATISTICS.

have followed the older of time in numbering. At present there are 174 school districts in the county, and 190 schools. There are four independent dis- tricts, one special school, and five graded schools.

SCHOOL HOUSES .- There are remaining four log buildings, thirteen are of brick, with twelve of stone, and one hundred and forty-three frame buildings, making a total number of school- houses 181.

TEACHERS .- Whole number 198. The highest salary per month is $111, and the average for men #41, and for women $27.

NUMBER OF SCHOLARS .- The whole number en- titled to the apportionment from the school fund is 7,701. The amount received in 1882 was $2,541.

CERTIFICATES .- The ' number of certificates issued to teachers for the year ending on the 31st of August, 1881, of all grades, was, 277. So it will be perceived that there is plenty of school teaching material to supply the home demand.

TEACHER'S WAGES .- The aggregate sum paid in the county for the past year was $38,039.45.

SCHOOL BOOKS .- In the regular district schools there is a State list of school books which are re- quired to be used, and they are furnished by the county officers as follows :

Cts.

Common School Speller. 15

Introductory Geography . 51

Common School Geography 82

First Reader. 11

Second Reader 21

Third Reader 31

Fourth Reader 41

Higher Reader 87

Geography of Minnesota 50

Primary Arithmetic. 13

Intellectual Arithmetic. 26

Practical Arithmetic. . 51

Lessons in Language 26

English Grammar 51

American History 61

Copy Book, No. 1 9

Copy Book, No. 2. 9

Copy Book, No. 3. 9

Copy Book, No. 4. 9

Copy Book, No. 5. 9

Copy Book, No. 6. 9

Curtiss's Manual of Penmanship 1.12

SCHOOL LANDS .-- In 1879 the amount of school land sold in the county was forty acres, for which the sum of $200 was received. The number of acres sold in 1880, was ninety, the amount of sale $450. The total number of acres of school lands sold in the. county has been 29,600. Appraised and unsold, 640 acres, the total value of which is $3,- 830; average value per acre, $5.98. Total school land in the county, 30,240 acres. An eighteenth of the available agricultural land of the State is set aside for school purposes, and the above represents the portion in Fillmore county.

STATISTICS.

We give the population of Fillmore county by semi-decades :

1860 .. 13,542

1865. 17,524

1870. 24,887

1875. 28,337

1880 28,220

This showing exhibits a regular increase up to the last enumeration, when there was an actual decrease of 117. Remembering the tide of emi- gration that is moving west from every State between Russia and Dakota, it becomes a matter of congratulation that the county has been able to 80 very nearly hold its own.

Pioneering is a trade that comparatively few can undertake and come out successfully at the first venture, and so with the experience gained in the first settlement many move on to pastures new where, it is not unlikely, prosperity awaits their second efforts. Those who have pushed on, have been for the most part young men, but some of the old "stagers," those who materially helped to build up the county, have been among those who are now in Dakota, or beyond, organizing new communities, inaugurating new industries, and preparing new institutions for their declining years, to be inherited by coming generations. There is also one other reason why there has been a slight falling off in the population, which should be briefly related. When this country was first settled, attention was turned by the farmers almost exclusively to the raising of wheat, and a yield of twenty or thirty bushels to the acre was not uncommon. With this experience as a basis, many farmers bought machinery and made improve- ments, and thus incurred obligations at rates of interest which only the most certain crops would

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HISTORY OF FILLMORE COUNTY.

warrant. When year after year the wheat crop, for one and another reason, failed, coming down to eight or ten bushels an acre, the farm itself would have to go, to satisfy the inexorable de- mands. Some of the farmers, who found them- selves so unexpectedly involved, had the genius to change their crops over to corn and hogs, and thus escaped the fate of their less fortunate neighbors. But for this successful transformation the hegira from the county would have been much greater. But, as the reliable direction for the efforts of the husbandman has been found, the exodus will in future be limited.

The signs of improvement and the cause is well exhibited in the following article from the pen of Mr. F. P. Wall :

"More fine herds of cattle will graze on the pas- tures of Fillmore county the coming summer than ever before during a single season in its history.

Less than seven years ago the first car load of fat cattle passed towards eastern markets over the Southern Minnesota road. All our vast agricul- tural domain was taxed to the verge of impover- ishment to produce wheat, wheat, wheat.

The laws of nature protested against this abuse of the soil, and a warning was sounded in the ears of all thoughtful and intelligent men: but the quick return for the labor expended, and the urgent need of money, forced so generally in con- sequence of protracted hard times, seemed to justify an acknowledged abuse of our once famous wheat producing soil. The farmer was content to depend upon mother earth for a continuation of the rewards she had vouchsafed him in the way of bountiful harvests, while the most limited atten- tion was given to stock raising, the butchers in the village markets taking the surplus product of cattle, while the hog product was only to be marketed after being slaughtered and dressed-a process entailing much labor and involving no slight risk, as many can attest who lost hundreds of dollars but a few winters ago by this method. What a transition from all wheat and little stock to all stock and little wheat ! But the change is upon us, rounded up to overflowing, and has come to stay, and brings no evil forebodings for the future, for while stock raising may experience the depressions attending all industries, we are build- ing up our soil under this new industrial depart- ure and preparing it and holding it in reserve for such demands as the future may make upon us.

As an agricultural people we are instinctively drifting into the true and winning policy of pro- ducing those articles involving the least tax upon our lands; those requiring the least cash expendi- ture to the producer; those guaranteeing the surest and the most evenly distributed income, and those which may be condensed into the least possible bulk for shipment. These secrets of success are making themselves more widely known each day, and the independence guaranteed by their acceptance is generally felt throughout the county.

When we condense the products of our soil into fat cattle, fat hogs, and butter and cheese, we are reducing the fruits of our labor to the most profi- table degree of refinement; and it is a realization of this fact that is scattering vast herds of cattle over the agricultural districts of this county; and all honor to those who are leading in this good work by expending their means and labor in grad- ing up our horses, cattle, sheep, and swine by the introduction of thoroughbred stock."

From the report of the Commissioner of Sta- tistics, some valuable facts are presented, and as a means of comparison the total crop of the State in the cereals and other articles are given for 1879: Total yield Av'ge yield

1879.

per acre.

Wheat

31,218,634

11.30

Oats

20,667,933

36.42

Corn.

12,939,901

33.95

Barley

2,423,932

24.87

Rye.

172,887

14.98

Buckwheat

33,163

9.80

Potatoes.

3,915,890

103.26

Beans

24,434

11,33

Flax Seed

99,378

7.96

Timothy Seed

39,376

Clover Seed.

18,460

Cane Syrup.

446,946

88.80

In southern Minnesota, which section suffered great injury by chinch bugs in 1879, the acreage in wheat for 1880 was considerably reduced, es- pecially in Fillmore county. Last year we had 149,882 acres devoted to wheat, while the preced- ing year occupied 167,198. This year the amount of wheat sown was 107,287 acres, a falling off from last year of 42,595 acres.

In 1879, Fillmore county produced 1,491,937 bushels of wheat, more than any other county iu the State, with the exception of Goodhue.

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STATISTICS.

In 1879, Fillmore county produced 1,297,965 bushels of oats, or more than any other county in the State. The area of this production for 1880 exceeds that of 1879 by 5,085 acres, and 1881 shows an increase over 1880 of 5,678 acres.

Corn is also on the increase, and from the pres- ent flattering prospects of a large yield this year, its cultivation will undoubtedly increase from year to year. In 1878, only 24.420 acres were planted, while 1880 shows 27,394 acres to have been culti- vated, and 1881 booms up to 40,056 acres.

The acreage in barley this year almost doubles that sown in 1880. Then we only had 10,474 acres, while the number of acres devoted to this cereal at the present season is given at 19,478."

GENERAL REMARKS.

The county of Fillmore has a bonded indebted- ness of $131,000.

The taxable property reported in 1880, was $8,926,708. The number of acres that are taxable are 542,919.

The number of cattle in the county was stated as being 18,661; horses, 12,283; mules, 254; hogs, 18,583.

There were five cases of longevity where over four score and five years were attained.

MARRIAGES .- In the county in 1880, the number of marriages were 168.

DIVORCES .- In 1880, the number of divorces were 11.

NATURALIZATIONS .- In 1880, the total number of naturalizations of all nationalities was 132.

BIRTHS .- In 1879, the total number of births 879.

DEATHS .- In 1878, the total number of deaths from all causes was 302.

The natural increase of population was 577 for that year.

. VALUATION .- By the last biennial report of the State Auditor it is learned that the total value of real property in the county, as equalized by the State board, was $6,767,773. The average value of the land is placed at $12.52 per acre. Total value of taxable personal property, $2,151,- 382. Total taxes levied, $97,136.55.

EXEMPT PROPERTY .- Number of acres exempt, 484. Value of the church property structures, $105,500. School property structures, $134,435. Value of all other exempt property, $40,000.

Total value of exempt property in the county, $280,215.

METEOROLOGICAL .- The mean temperature of January for ten years is here presented: 1859, 12 ° ; 1860, 14 9 ; 1861, 9º ; 1862, 6° ; 1863, 20°; 1864, 11 º 1865, 13 º ; 1866, 10° ; 1867, 8° ; 1868, 4º. Making an average of ten and seven-tenths above zero for the whole time.

The annual mean of the barometer is not far from 29.862 ° although in various years there is considerable latitude in this respect.

The annual mean temperature is perhaps about forty-four or forty-five degrees.

The prevailing direction of the wind is north- west.

The amount of rain fall about thirty inches per annum.

The number of days on which it may be expected to rain or snow is 130 or more.

POST-OFFICES .- Alba, Amherst, Arendahl, Boomer, Bratsberg, Bristol, Canfield, Carimona, Chatfield, Cherry Grove, Clear Grit, Elliota, Etna, Fillmore, Forestville, Fountain, Granger, Green- leafton, Hamilton, Hurdal, Harmony, Highland, Isinours, Lanesboro, Lenora, Mabel, Newburg, Peterson, Pilot Mound, Preble, Preston, Prosper, Rushford, Scotland, Spring Valley, Washington, Whalan, Watson Creek, Wykoff, making thirty- nine Post-offices for the twenty-four towns, so that the mail facilities must be equal to the require- ments.

AGRICULTURE.

From the last report of the Commissioner of Statistics for the state of Minnesota, the follow- ing productions are reported for the county of Fillmore:

Wheat, 167,198 acres, yielding $1,491,937 bushels -- 8.92 per acre.

Oats, 33,476 acres, yielding 1,297,966 bushels- 35.78 per acre.

Corn, 24,420 acres, 909,729 bushels-37.25 per acre.

Barley, 6,180 acres, 140,002 bushels -- 22.65 per acre.

Rye, 126 acres, 1,708 bushels-13.55 per acre. Buckwheat, 554 acres, 2,736 bushels-5.11 per acre.

. Potatoes, 1,400 acres, 143,185 bushels --- 102.28 per acre.

Beans, 58 acres, 648 bushels-11.14 per acre.

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HISTORY OF FILLMORE COUNTY.

Sugar Cane, 216 acres, 25,757 gallons of syrup, yielding 119.24 gallons per acre.

Cultivated Hay, 22,153 acres, 28,184 tons. Flax Seed, 14 acres, 149 bushels.

Root crops, etc., 839 acres, making a total acre- age under cultivation in the county for these crops, 259,634.

In addition to the above there was raised:

Wild Hay, 8,856 tons.

Timothy Seed, 9,597 bushels.

Clover Seed, 2,377 bushels.

Apples, 7,912 bushels.

Grapes, 4,209 pounds. Butter produced, 689,076 pounds.

Cheese, 12,716 pounds.

Honey, 26,280 pounds.

Maple Sugar, 100 pounds.

Maple Syrup, 63 gallons.

Strawberries, 2,027 quarts.

Tobacco, 2,640 pounds.

Wool, 14,077 pounds. .

Apple Trees. The number reported in the county is 88,389, and of these there are in bear- ing, 20,166.

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History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 55

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

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