History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 57

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 57

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WOOLEN MILL .- Mr. Schweitzer, of Preston, started a woolen mill this year.

TROUTING .-- In July, in Deer Creek and Spring Valley, thirteen men caught 1,055 trout !

RAILROAD BONDS .- On the 15th of April the county of Fillmore held their election in regard to the loan of the State credit to the Southern Minnesota railroad corporation, to the amount of

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$5,000,000, to assist said company to complete their road. The vote of the principal towns in the county was as follows :

Chatfield

For 292; Against 86

Preston For 178; Against 68

Throughout the county the vote averaged 4 to 1 in favor of the loan, the majority was 1,500. This shows to some extent the magnanimous spirit of the pioneers of the county, their willingness to assist the company in building the road, but when it was found that the road was not built, they were promptly repudiated.

ACCORDING TO THE BOOKS .- In the spring of this year, times in the county of Fillmore were hard, and the dealers and farmers were striving to make both ends meet. In this period it was not the custom, nor was it fashionable, for a lady to wear $500 worth of clothing during the year, when her husband only made $250. This is illus- trated by the following conversation which took place in the village of Chatfield between a certain individual and a store keeper:

"I say, Jones, how is it that your wife dresses so magnificently and you always appear out at the elbows ?"

"Well, you see, Thompson, my wife dresses ac- cording to the Gazette of Fashion, and I dress ac cording to my Ledger."

A table compiled on the 5th of June, shows that at that date Fillmore county had 9,893 inhabitants, and 1,822 dwellings. The county contains an area of 864 square miles.

BROKE JAIL .- On the 16th of August, five pris- oners confined in the county jail at Preston for various offenses, entered into a conspiracy to escape, and once more enjoy freedom. They suc- ceeded in their undertaking by bending the win- dow bars and, when fairly in free air, "struck for the woods" in different directions.

Of the five who got away only one was ever heard from, he, after traveling on foot some forty or fifty miles, concluded that meals were easier for him to get, and better, in the jail than anywhere else, so he returned once more to the jail and took up his sentence where he left off.

FORTUNATE ESCAPE .- On the 5th of September,. a little daughter of Maj. J. R. Bennett, of Chat- field, being alone in the yard, fell headforemost into a tub of water, and remained there some time before being found. When discovered and taken out life appeared to be extinct, but with exercise

of great presence of mind by the parents taking in the necessary course to effect a resuscitation, the life of the little one was saved.

SERIOUS ACCIDENT .- On Friday, the 17th day of September, Mr. T. Sawyer, a citizen in the vicinity of Chatfield, met with a very serious acci- dent. He was engaged with a machine, threshing grain, several miles from town, and while it was in motion he attempted to pass from one side of the feeder to the other, when his foot slipping through, was caught and torn off above the ankle, ripping flesh and bones to strips, and mangling the limb in a frightful manner. Physicians were immediately brought, who amputated the fractured limb close to the knee joint.

DEATH OF WILLIAM HENRY DEAN, M. D., AT SPRING VALLEY .-- The doctor was a graduate of the Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, and apparently had a life of great usefulness before him in the healing art, when a frightfnl accident closed his earthly career. In company with sev- eral ladies and gentlemen, he was at the mill of Mr. Stevens, and the members of the party were being weighed on a platform scale. It being just at dusk the doctor did not observe a rapidly revolving shaft near where they stood, which caught by a shawl he wore, and whirled him around and around, striking against the scales at every revolution, until the mill was stopped. He was found to be terribly lacerated and his limbs broken and otherwise internally injured, so that death came to his relief eleven days afterwards, on on the 18th of October, 1858, at the age of 25 years. He was faithfully attended by Drs. Cole, Gilbert, and Twitchell. This melancholy event saddened all hearts in Spring Valley.

TAXES .-- The county tax was $1,591.

SORGHUM .- Charles V. Gere was an early pro- ducer of sorghum syrup.

CONTESTED ELECTION .- The county election in 1858 was a contested one. The canvassers threw out the town of Chatfield on account of some ille- gal voting, as was alleged, and this gave the re- publicans a majority of 100, but finally, the mat- ter coming into court, Judge' Wilson reversed the action of the board, and so the democrats kept in power.

THE YEAR 1859.

BANK .- In this year the Fillmore County Bank had in circulation $25,000 in bills, secured by a deposit of stocks with the State Auditor to the

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amount of $33,000. This was in imitation of the New York state banking system.

FLOOD .- On the 30th of June there was a flood on the Root River; the bridge at Chatfield was carried away and other damage done.

LAND SALE .- A land sale was ordered for the 14th of November, and various attempts were made to postpone it.

COUNTY SEAT .- The spring election was held, and the question as to whether the county seat should be removed was voted upon. The village of Preston receiving a majority of the votes cast, was designated as still the county seat, and the several county offices were retained there.

FELL OVER THE PRECIPICE .- On the 2d day of June, & boy named Seeley, twelve or fourteen years of age, fell over the high precipice on the opposite side of the river below the Preston mill, and into the river below, dislocating his hip and otherwise injuring his body. After reaching the water he was barely enabled to save himself from drowning by taking hold of the willows and bear- ing himself up until assistance reached him. The boy escaped very luckily, for the fall was a fright- ful one, and but a few feet either to the right or left would have landed him upon rocks or crags, dashed his brains out, or disfigured him beyond recognition.

BURGLARS .- On the night of the 6th of August, burglars entered the boot and shoe store of Mr. Richardson, in Chatfield. They apparently did the job from purely personal necessity, and not with a view to speculation, as they only took three pairs of boots and escaped.

STAGE UPSET .- In the times of '59, in the stage business, there was considerable competition, and the stage that made the best time could command higher fare and a majority of the travelers. On the 20th of July, of that year, two rival stages started from Winona for Chatfield, both bent on keeping in the lead. When within a few miles of Chatfield, the driver of the stage on the Walker Line, which had up to this time been the loser in the race, thought he discovered a chance by which to pass his adversary aud make Chatfield in time to gather the laurels. Accordingly he suddenly gave vent to an Indian war-whoop and playing his long whip upon his horses, darted along-side the other stage. The plan would have worked well, but for the "many a slip twixt the cup and lip," for just as he had accomplished his object,

and was turning into the road to take the leader- ship his strategy had gained for him, he turned too short, and the stage hovered upon the two side wheels for an instant and went over with a crash. Several arms were broken, and many bad bruises received and the race was lost.

FROST .- On the 5th of September there was a severe frost in the county, doing much damage.

POLITICAL .- On the political canvass of the fall, the Republican party went into the contest with the motto "No taxation for railroad purposes," and carried the State principally on that issue, as stated by the Fillmore county press at the time, and this county at that time was the most populous in the State.

THE YEAR 1860.

PIC-NIC .- Early in June there was a notable pic-nic in Chatfield, a sort of a milestone marking the progress from the rudeness inseparable from pioneer life, toward a more elegant and social civ- ilization. There were by actual count 418 per- sons present; among these were seventy-five mar- ried women and forty-five single ones. The fes- tivities of the occasion were hugely enjoyed, and the people began to feel that they were not so far beyond the confines of civilization after all.

FIRE .- On the 16th of March, the Carimona Hotel, in Carimona, took fire from a defective flue, and was burned to the ground.

HORSE THIEVES .- In the spring, horse thieves committed depredations in various parts of the State, and made farmers feel very nervous as to the safety of their horses. At this time, after a number of horses had been stolen in Fillmore county, J. W. Bishop, of the "Chatfield Demo- crat," gave vent to the following: "Farmerx, Look after your horses, for we see by our exchanges, and hear from our farmers, that since the adjournmeut of the Legislature the horse thieves have reap- peared in almost every part of the State. We hope the horse thieves will forgive us this little joke."

POLICE COURT .- A miserable old man who had been "hammering his wife" was arrested in Chat- field, and on being brought before Judge Gere was fined $10. His neighbors claimed that it looked as though he did it just for exercise and the fun of it.

MARBLE .- On the 2d day of May, a marble quarry was discovered on the farm of Mr. Ketchum, about two miles from Chatfield. It was

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pronounced to be variegated marble, and was most beautiful, of fine quality, and capable of the finest Italian polish.

TERRIBLE AFFLICTION .- Died, at the residence of W. H. H. Graham, one mile west of Chatfield, on the 7th of August, after an illness of one week, W. H. H. Graham, Jr., son of W. H. H. and Doro- thy Graham, aged five years and four months. On the 15th inst., after an illness of one week, Nina Bell, a daughter of the above named parents, aged three years and four months. On the 16th inst., Mrs. Dorothy Graham, the wife, aged twenty- seven years. On the 17th inst., Ralph, infant son, and last of Mr. W. H. H. Graham's family. Thus in the short space of ten days, Mr. Graham was bereft by the grim monster, Death, of his entire family.

WHEAT YIELD .- Mr. Lee, of Fillmore, on the 8th of September, threshed 480 bushels of No. 1 wheat from the sheaves of fifteen acres, averag- ing thirty-two bushels per acre.

FATAL ACCIDENT .- A fatal accident occurred in Carrolton township on Sunday, the 6th of August. Michael O'Shaughnessy, son of Patrick O'Shaugh- nessy, in company with his brothers were out shooting, and by some means unknown, a gun in the hands of one of the party was accidentially discharged, the contents of which entered the face of the unfortunate boy and killed him almost in- stantly.

MILLS .- On the 27th of October, the Chatfield mills were grinding night and day, and turning out flour nt the rate of 300 barrels per week.

THE YEAR 1861.

TRANSIENT TRAVEL .- It was estimated in Chat- field that for the year 1861 an average of thirty passengers arrived and departed daily. At this time there were three lines of stages through Chat- field, east and west.

The breaking out of the war in April, 1861, gave universal attention to recruiting, and many items, otherwise noticeable, were overlooked during that stormy period, being overshadowed by the unusual and mighty events of that belligerent period.

THE YEAR 1862.

BURNED. - On the 25th of May, a five year old girl of Michael Langham, of Fountain township, was playing near the fire when by some means her clothes caught in the flames, and before assistance

could reach her, she was burned so badly that she expired in a few hours.

THE INDIAN SCARE .- On the 1st of September, occurred the frontier panic. The massacre at New Ulm and that region had just taken place, and there was hardly a road in Fillmore county that some excited individual, who had lost his head, would not ride through, usually bareback, shouting "Flee from the Indians!" "Flee from the Indians!" and without halting to explain, yelled that "the town right back was in ashes!" Of course there was not an Indian within 140 miles, but without stopping to consider the absolute and utter impossibility of the Indians thus sweeping across the country like a tornado, destroying everything in their track, a majority at once caught the infection, and thus bereft of reason, at once madly acted on the impulse to save them- selves and families from the murderous tomahawk and scalping knife.

The scenes that followed can easily be imagined. What transportation could be had at hand was at once put in requisition, the family was hurried into the vehicle, and what few articles were most highly prized that could be carried were bundled in, and away they went, resolved to make no un- necessary delay in putting the Mississippi River between them and the bloodthirsty savages. Such was the haste that no attempt was made to run off the stock, and usually the garden gates and the fences were opened to let the cattle luxuriate on the misfortunes of their owners. In most in- stances the houses were left wide open, and not un- frequently the table would be hastily spread, with the hope that when the savages arrived they would stop to eat, and thus the fugitives would gain time to get beyond their reach.

The first evening of the stampede there was a frightful rain, and some of the jaded ones would halt and occupy some deserted residence. There was an occasional cool head who tried to stop the bewildering rush, but they could do little to arrest the panic. Some of the men who tried to reassure the crowd by protesting that there was no danger were accused of being in league with the Indians, and were plotting for a wholesale destruction.

The village of Preston was literally jammed full of people and teams. The houses were full, the shops were full, as well as the mills and every available shelter, and a single shot, or an upusual shout on that terrible night, would have completed

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the demoralization of the already panic stricken heterogeneons gathering.

In every instance the positive news came that the very next town had been burned, and the peo- ple butchered, not a single individual left to tell the tale of their abrupt taking off. And as fugi- tives began to arrive from miles away, not having seen a single red savage on the war-path, the truth began to dawn upon the hitherto reasonless multi- tude, that they had been the victims of a causeless scare, and that the sooner they returned to their several places of abode, and began to repair the mischief their abrupt departure had caused, the better it would be for them. So the motley throng got back to their abandoned homes, and while most of them now allude to the subject with a broad smile over the ludicrousness of the whole affair, there is occasionally one who has never for- given himtelf for his part in the escapade, and still remains soreheaded, so no particulars will be here presented.

ACCIDENT .- A sad accident took place at Elliota on the 14th of November. A boy about fourteen years of age, a son of Mr. Hicks, residing about two miles west of Elliota, was found in a ditch beside the road, and a horse that he had been riding on the top of him. When found, both boy and horse were dead. Fast riding was the sup- posed cause of the fatal ending of this horseback ride.

THE YEAR 1864.

DROWNED .- On the 3d of September, a sad ac- cident occurred at the Medary House, in Chat- field, which resulted in the drowning of an infant child of Mr. and Mrs. Freeman, aged two months. A little daughter of Mrs. Norton was carrying the child, and on passing through the door leading from the dining room to the kitchen, at which point the cistern is located, and at that time was uncovered, they were both precipitated into the same. Mr. Burdick, the proprietor, immediately jumped into the cistern, where the water was about twelve feet deep, and succeeded in saving Mrs. Norton's child, which he thought was the only one in the cistern. After he came out Mrs. Freeman said her child was in also, when another person jumped in and brought out the body of the in- fant which had sunk. The body was in the water about ten minutes, and when brought out life had departed.

During the summer and fall of 1864, many of

the three year men who enlisted in 1861, were re- turning.

KILLED .- On the 29th of October, Mrs. Church- ill, of Chatfield township, was thrown from a wagon and so fatally injured that she died the next day. The accident was caused by the oxen taking fright, running off and upsetting the wagon. She was 26 years old and at the time was assisting her husband in gathering corn.

FIRE .- On the 12th of November, the granary of Peter Johnson, three miles below Chatfield, to- gether with 300 or 400 bushels of wheat, was de- stroyed by fire between 10 and 11 o'clock at night. The fire was set by a young girl not 17 years of age, named Mary Pettis, who had formerly resided with the family of Mr. Johnson. The culprit was caught within two miles of where the deed was done, and confessed the crime. Upon trial, how- ever, she was acquitted upon promising to re- form.

DIED .- Captain Edwin Hillman, of Sumner township, Fillmore county, in Winona, on the 24th of December. Captain Hillman commanded com- pany "C" in the Third Minnesota Regiment. He was fifty years of age at the time of his death, and was an Englishman by birth; a brave man, and a gallant officer.

THE YEAR 1865.

SWEPT AWAY .- On the 25th of February, Mr. McDonald, of Newburg township, in attempting to cross the branch of Root River at Preston, with a two horse team, at the ford, was swept down by the flood of ice and water and drowned, together with both horses.

CHILD KILLED .- On the 10th of June an insane woman, wife of Mr. John Long, living two miles west of Preston, struck her grand daughter, a girl of 13 years, a blow on the side of the head with a club. The child was not considered at first as being dangerously hurt, but on the day following, while attending her usual duties, sud- denly fell down in a spasm and died within an hour.

DROWNED .- On the 18th of August Mr. Zenas Root and his grandchild, of Spring Valley town- ship, were drowned in a sink hole where they were watering horses.

THE YEAR 1866.

FLOOD .- On Monday night the 6th of August, the comparatively small stream known as Weisel Creek, on the south branch of Root River, sud-

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denly commenced swelling at an alarming degree, and the formerly harmless creek or placid brook had, in a few hours, become a rushing torrent, foaming and boiling over its banks, overflooding the surrounding country and carrying disaster, death and destruction before it. The first obstacle coming in the torrent's way, consequently meeting its destruction, was the dwelling house of Mr. David Weisel. It was struck broadside by the rushing flood, swept from its foundation, and crushed into fragments in an instant. The occu- pants of the house at the time were Mr. David Weisel, his wife, his mother, a lady over 80 years of age, and a nephew named John Weisel, 12 years of age, also relatives from Burr Oaks, Iowa, Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Brace, all of whom met a watery grave, except Mrs. David Weisel, who was found the following morning still clinging to her bed, on which she had floated down the stream, and was rescued from her perilous position. She told her rescuers and others that herself and Mrs. Brace had been talking together while journeying down the stream, the last of their conversation was when Mrs. Weisel enquired of her companion how she was getting along, the reply was "God have mercy on me!" This was her last utterance. There was one man who found his house going down stream, he managed to get on the roof and made his voyage in safety, finally making a landing against two sturdy elm trees, and in the morning his cries for assistance soon brought relief.

The next dwelling in the path of the flood was that of Mr. Jonas C. Wellington. The occupants were Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Wellington, and a grand- son named Charley C. Gage, four years old, all of whom were drowved.

Several miles below, another dwelling containing one man, two women, and five children, was carried away and all drowned.

The flood soon subsided, but it will long be re- membered, as it carried with it the lives of sixteen human beings.

STAGE LINE .- J. C. Burbank & Co., established a stage line between Rushford and Winnebago City, ria Preston, and an express was added from La Crescent.

During this year, when the Southern Minnesota railroad was building, the people of Preston con- fidently expected that the extension from Lanes- boro would carry it along the south branch of the Root River and thus through Preston, and several

parties engaged in local enterprises to meet this favorable condition of affairs. And Chatfield, whose citizens had done everything possible to secure the building of the road, also expected that their larger branch of the river would be followed, but other views prevailed, and so these two aspir- ing villages had to endure their chagrin as phil- osophically as possible.

THE YEAR 1867.

On May, the 13th, a meeting was held at the Court House in Preston, to see about securing the right of way for the Southern Minnesota railroad, which, it was still supposed, would be bound to run through Preston.

Reuben Wells was Chairman of the meeting, and S. B. Murrel, Secretary. The matter was placed in the hands of a committee, consisting of A. H. Butler, D. B. Coleman, A. Bergen, W. T. Wilkins, S. B. Murrell, Thomas Quinn, H. A. Billings, Dr. L. Redmond, J. E. Burbank;, and N. P. Colburn.

RAILROAD LAND OFFICE .- In May the South- ern Minnesota Railroad land office was removed to Rushford from Houston, where it had previously been located.

EARLY FROST .-- A severe frost struck this region on the 30th of August, doing much damage.

THE YEAR 1868.

The total reported valuation of Fillmore county in 1868, was $3,789,710.

A State teachers' institute was held in Preston in October. Hon. Mark H. Dunnell was the Su- perintendent.

RAILROAD CELEBRATION .- The railroad got to Lanesboro in November, and early in December a celebration took place. The dinner, the speeches, the toasts, and responses were appropriate for the occasion. The people turned out, and numerous invited guests were there. It was a fitting inau- guration of the new order of things.

THE YEAR 1869.

On the 24th of February, several business houses on the main street in Chatfield were de- stroyed by fire. Total loss about $4,000.

In the fall of this year the Southern Minnesota railroad company got 32,342 acres of land.

THE YEAR 1870.

A fire proof vault was built on the west end of the Court House for the safe keeking of the records. F. G. Parker had the contract.

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Potter's clay was reported in the county, near Preston.

Prestou people being disappointed in securing the railroad, made a virtue of necessity and got a depot at the nearest available point, on the farm of Mr. Isenhour.

ACCIDENT .- On the 26th of August, Mr. Peter Halverson, a Norwegian of Amherst township, met with a most serious accident. While drawing a mower the horses took fright and ran away, tear- ing through the field at a frightful gait, with the mower in full gear. Mr. Halverson attempted to jump off, but in doing so failed to clear one foot from the sickle, and it was completely severed from the leg, the shoe being picked up with the foot in it.

THE YEAR 1871.

GREAT FRESHET .- On the 24th of February there was a great flood on the Root River. Nearly all the dams above Lanesboro were swept away; on the southern branch those only at Preston re- mained, and they were seriously injured.

THE RAILROAD BONDS .-- In the spring of this year there was a bitter contest in relation to the payment of the railroad bonds. Fillmore county was considerably excited. A proposition was sub- mitted to the people, and decided in the negative by a majority, in the State, of 12,206 in a total vote of 21,499.

In 1872, the question as to the feasibility of narrow gauge railroads was discussed by the press and people.

FIRE .- On the 30th of June, 1871, five business houses in the village of Chatfield were destroyed by fire. Supposed to be the work of an incen- diary.

THE YEAR 1872.

FROZEN TO DEATH .- In January there was a fearful snow-storm and a general blockade, and in the town of Granger there was a heartrending case of the freezing to death of a whole family. It seems that Rev. Mr. Evans, a Welsh minister, was out in the terrible storm with his wife and two children, and when within three-fourths of a mile of his home on his return, the team could go no further, and leaving his wife and one child he car- ried the other, the eldest, home. . He then re- turned for his other little one, and leaving his wife wrapped up in some blankets he had brought from home, he started with the child, but lost his way,

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History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 57

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

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