USA > Minnesota > Fillmore County > History of Fillmore County, Minnesota (Volume 1) > Part 12
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The next county commissioners, George M. Gere (chairman), H. S. H. Hayes and E. P. Eddy, met at Chatfield January 1, 1855, and held sessions there January 3, February 20 and March 2.
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The records are simply dated "Chatfield." April 3, 1855, the commissioners met, according to the records, at the office of W. B. Gere, register of deeds. The sessions of April 4 and July 2 were also held there. All these meetings during the first five months of 1855 were evidently held in a room rented from T. B. Twiford at Chatfield, for on July 3, 1855, Mr. Twiford was voted $10 a month from January 1 to June 1, 1855, for office rent.
Carimona was designated as the county seat of Fillmore county by an act of the Minnesota territorial legislature ap. proved March 2, 1855. The bill was entitled "A Bill for an Act to Incorporate the Root River Valley and Southern Minnesota Railroad Company," but it carried many provisions not men- tioned in the title, including the establishment of the county seat of Fillmore county at Carimona.
The first meeting held at Carimona was on July 3, 1855, and the county offices were evidently moved there shortly before that, for on that date, G. W. Willis presented a bill of $17.50 and was allowed $12 for the expense of moving to Carimona, and W. B. Gere presented a bill for $86.75 and was allowed $76.25 for services and for moving records, etc., from Chatfield to Cari- mona. The county business was then transacted at Carimona until the removal of the county seat to Preston.
The records of July 3 and 4 and October 2 and 3 are simply dated "Register's Office," but this office was evidently in the house of J. W. Brocket, for on October 3, 1855, he presented a bill for $35.10 and was allowed $20 for rent and for repairing the house for a meeting of the court. On the same day the board rented from Ezra Trask, for $75 per year, his "front room, up- stairs."
The board for 1856 consisted of George M. Gere (chairman), H. S. Hayes and M. C. St. John, but Mr. St. John was not present at the first meeting, January 8. This meeting and those of Jan- uary 9, 10, 11 and 12 were held at the office of S. B. Murrel, the new register of deeds. No location is given for the meeting of January 12. April 7 the meeting was held in the office of the register of deeds. No location is given of the meetings of April 8, 9 and 10, but the minutes of April 24 are dated Carimona, and the adjourned meeting of April 25 was of course held in the same place. Probably all these meetings from January 1, 1856, to April 25, 1856, were held in the room rented from Trask.
By an act of the legislature approved March 1, 1856, (intro- duced by Benjamin F. Tillotson, February 18, 1856), the voters of Fillmore county were authorized to vote for a point at which the county seat of Fillmore county should be located; the elec- tion to be held on the first Monday of April, 1856, and the votes to be confined to three points, Forestville, Carimona and Preston.
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On the first Monday of April, 1856, the election was held, and resulted in Preston receiving the highest number of votes and the removal of the county seat to that place.
At a meeting of the county commissioners held at Carimona April 25, 1856, Preston was confirmed as the county seat. The motion was as follows: "The board ordered that the records and furniture of the county offices be removed to Preston, said point having received the largest number of votes at the election held in said county April 7, 1856."
April 26, 1856, the board met at Preston, all the members being present. Block 10 in the town of Preston was selected as the site upon which to erect the county buildings.
Since that date the county seat has been at Preston, and there the beautiful court house, jail and sheriff's residence are now located.
After the board had confirmed the action of the voters in designating Preston the county seat, John Kaercher sent a team to Carimona for the records, and W. W. Fife went along to assist in the removal. He bought two coffee sacks for 50 cents and these were amply large for the books and documents. With them came S. B. Murrel, register of deeds, and Grove W. Willis, clerk of court, who seemed to constitute nearly the entire court house personnel. The small frame building now occupied by Mrs. Carl F. Krause on Mill street was promptly turned into a court house, and this particular building enjoys the distinction of having once had a United States court within its walls.
The people having declared in favor of Preston as a county seat, the people of Carimona, in 1859, tried another method of getting it back. They presented a petition to the supervisors of the county, September 15, 1859, asking that the county seat be established at Carimona. The vote when taken stood eleven for Preston and ten for Carimona.
Once again the people of Carimona made an effort to have the county seat located in that village. February 20, 1863, the legislature passed an act removing the county seat to Carimona, subject to the approval of the majority of the legal voters of the county, and on the strength of this, William Meighen, William H. Strong and James A. Rossman gave a $20,000 bond to the county commissioners, pledging themselves, in case the vote was in favor of Carimona, to convey or cause to be conveyed to the county block 10 in the village of Carimona, and to cause to be erected on or before June 1, 1865, "complete upon said block and have ready to be occupied as a court house and for other county purposes, a brick building two stories high, fifty feet front and sixty feet in depth, according to the specifications hereto annexed, the above mentioned building to be erected and
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completed free of all expense to the said county and the same and said land to be conveyed, erected, completed and furnished to said county as an absolute, entire and perfect free gift and donation in every particular." The people again, however, de- clared in favor of Preston.
COUNTY PROPERTY.
Court House. Various places in Preston were used for offices for the county officers, for the sessions of court, and for the meetings of the commissioners and supervisors, in the early days, but the county headquarters, generally speaking, were in a build- ing which occupied the site of what is now the Farmers' and Merchants' State Bank. In September, 1859, the board of super- visors took up the matter of county buildings, and found that there had been placed on file thirty-three bonds (one withdrawn for correction) to support an agreement of free rent of a hall for two years, and seven deeds conveying to the county thirty-six lots and four half lots in the village of Preston. These docu- ments were all signed on the condition that the county erect a court house in the village of Preston, at a cost of not less than $6,000 within two years of September 15, 1859. The documents were accepted on that condition.
At the same time there had been placed on file a deed from H. C. Butler conveying to the county block 10, in the village of Carimona, and leasing to the county, free of all charges, for three years, the upper story of the block built by W. H. Strong.
Court house square was platted for county purposes when the original village of Preston was laid out. The deed convey- ing the property was formally received by the county commis- sioners, April 5, 1863, bearing the names of Barbara Schweitzer and John Kaercher. On the same date the commissioners received and accepted an offer from the County Court House Building Association, through the executive committee, A. S. Linsley and Reuben Wells, to erect a court house free of charge to the county.
A meeting having been held by the citizens of Preston, Feb- ruary 24, 1863, at which it was decided to erect on the public square a brick court house, fifty feet square and two stories high, a subscription paper was passed, and the signers agreed to fur- nish, as required, money, labor or material, before August 1, 1863. The cash furnished was used to purchase material, which was put together by those who had agreed to furnish labor.
The list, found among the papers of the late S. B. Murrel was as follows: Jeremiah O'Brien, material $25, cash $25; Michael Hopp, mason work $50; Joseph Palmer, work $15; A. Rappe, mason work $40, cash $10; William Sawyer, twenty days' work
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$30; William M. Taylor, cash $10, work $15; F. M. Knight, cash $10; Menno Eby, work $40; Frederick Whiting, work $25; Andrew Fetch, ten days' work $15; W. Galbraith, ten days' work, $15; William K. Read, work $40; R. F. C. Kent, work $20; Daniel O'Brien, work $25, cash $25; Martin Weybright, work $10; Perry Long, team work $25; Jonas Maust, work $25; Anton Ibach, work $50; Charles Huttig, work $25, cash $10; B. S. Loomis, work $20; John Taylor, work $25; William Taylor, work $25; S. M. Shook, fifteen days' work $30; Michael Neuman, work $25; Reuben Wells, cash $30; W. R. Underwood, work $25; Thomas Quinn, $35; F. Huttig, $10; Patrick McCabe, work $10; F. Read, four days' work $6; D. C. Kerr, twenty days' work ; Richard Madigan, five days' work $10; William Seely, twelve days' work $24; E. Newton, Jr., cash $10; Jeremiah Shook, five days' work $10; Richard Hahn, cash $10; Dennis Flattery, five days' work; Alex Wright, cash $25; J. J. Merrill, work $25; Simon Dodge, work $10; E. Gould, five days' work; John Riehl, fifteen days' work; Joseph Ibach, $10 cash, work $15; M. E. Billings, ten days' mechanical work.
The court house was formally accepted by the county, July 4, 1864, and the following persons released from their bonds: S. B. Murrel, William W. Fife, D. B. Colman, Conkey Brothers and J. C. Easton. This court house was the main portion of the present court house. A bell was placed in the tower in 1865.
The two wings to the court house were completed in the fall of 1884, H. J. Anderson having the contract, and Thomas Quinn, a member of the Board of County Commissioners and appointed to represent them, working by the day. The matter of adding to the court house or building a new one had been agitated for some time, and matters were brought to a climax in the spring of 1884, when the grand jury condemned the old vault as unsafe for the storing of the valuable county records.
County Jail. After the court house was built, the old jail on the present site of the Farmers' and Merchants' State Bank, continued to be used until January 6, 1870, when a jail, on the present site of the new jail, was formally accepted by the county commissioners. The first step toward building the jail was taken January 5, 1866, when the commissioners asked Dr. Luke Miller to request the legislature to pass a bill looking toward the erec- tion of a suitable jail in Fillmore county.
September 5, 1868, the following resolution was passed by the board: "That the board of commissioners of Fillmore county will, for and in said county, erect a new county jail for the safe keeping of prisoners, and that a committee of the following members of the board, to-wit : D. B. Coleman, Orsin Holmes, and W. A. Pease, be appointed to select and purchase ground for a
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site for said jail, and to procure plans and specifications, deter- mine upon and arrange details, and execute a contract for build- ing said jail, and that there be issued bonds of the county to an amount not exceeding $8,000, for the purpose of building and furnishing said jail." Two months later the board appropriated the sum of $750 from the county fund for the purpose of paying for lots on which to build the county jail, and to get plans and specifications.
County Poor Farm. This establishment contains 386 acres of very desirable farming land, located on the town line between Canton and Amherst. This land was acquired by B. F. Tillotson in 1853, and was sold by him to the county in the spring of 1868. The price was about $9,000 for the farm and a small amount of personal property.
On July 2, 1868, the board made a contract with Burr Dauchy to build a house for the poor of Fillmore county, on the poor farm, and passed a resolution to the effect that the sum of $2,000 be appropriated for this purpose. At their meeting on Septem- ber 4, 1868, an additional appropriation of $3,000 was made for the purpose of purchasing stock, furniture and other necessary articles for use on the county poor farm. The old almshouse was burned April 14, 1896, and a new one erected at a cost of $6,660.
Of the 386 acres in the farm, 240 are in sections 33 and 34, Amherst, and 146 in sections 3 and 4, Canton. The value of the real estate is $26,000 and the value of the personal property, $9,000. The buildings are valued at $6,000. The main house is large, sanitary and commodious, steam heated, and furnished with running water and other conveniences. The barns are large and well kept. The present overseer of the poor is Albert Helgeson.
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CHAPTER IX. COUNTY REPRESENTATION.
Fillmore County in Seventh, Fourth and Eighth Council Districts -Constitutional Convention-Fillmore County in Ninth, Four- teenth, Second and Third, Second, and Fifth Districts-Con- gressional Representation-Edited by Samuel A. Langum.
On July 7, 1849, Gov. Alexander Ramsey, by proclamation, divided the territory of Minnesota into council districts; Fill- more county, with the rest of southern Minnesota (exclusive of the settlements on the banks of the Mississippi), coming within the limits of the seventh district.
1849-The first territorial legislature met on September 3, and adjourned November 1. The seventh district was repre- sented in the council by Martin McLeod, of Lac qui Parle, and in the house by Alexis Bailly, of Mendota, and Gideon H. Pond, of Oak Grove. Although Fillmore was included in the seventh district, no settlers had at that time located within the present limits of the county.
1851-The second territorial legislature assembled January 1, and adjourned March 31. The seventh district was repre- sented in the council by Martin McLeod, of Lac qui Parle, and in the house by B. H. Randall, of Ft. Snelling, and Alexander Faribault, of Faribault. Fillmore county was still practically without settlers. By the apportionment of this legislature, the counties of Wabasha and Washington, and the precincts of St. Paul and Little Canada (Wabasha county to be one representative district), were to constitute the fourth district. Wabasha then included Fillmore county.
1852-The third territorial legislature assembled January 7 and adjourned March 6. The fourth district was represented in the council by Lorenzo A. Babcock, of Sauk Rapids; and in the house by Fordyce S. Richards, of Reed's Landing.
1853-The fourth territorial legislature assembled January 5 and adjourned March 5. The fourth district was represented in the council by Lorenzo A. Babcock and in the house by James Wells, from the head of Lake Pepin. At this session Fillmore county was created, but until the apportionment of 1855, the fourth district remained as established by the apportionment of 1851.
1854-The fifth territorial legislature assembled January 4 and adjourned March 4. The fourth district was represented by
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S. A. LANGUM
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William Freeborn, of Red Wing, in the council, and O. M. Lord, of Minnesota City, in the house.
1855-The sixth territorial legislature assembled January 3 and adjourned March 3. William Freeborn represented the fourth district in the council and Clark W. Thompson, of what is now Houston county, in the house. By the apportionment of this legislature, Houston, Fillmore and Mower counties were constituted the eighth district. It was this legislature that reduced Fillmore county to its present boundaries.
1856-The seventh territorial legislature assembled January 2, and adjourned March 1. The eighth district was represented in the seventh territorial legislature by Clark W. Thompson, of Houston county, and Benjamin F. Tillotson, of Fillmore county, in the council; and by W. B. Gere, of Fillmore county, Samuel Hull, William F. Dunbar, William B. Covell and Martin G. Thompson in the house.
1857-The eighth territorial legislature assembled January 7 and adjourned March 7. Clark W. Thompson and Benjamin F. Tillotson again represented the eighth district in the council. The representatives in the house were William B. Gere, D. F. Chase, W. J. Howell, John M. Berry and M. G. Thompson. An extra session of this legislature assembled April 27 and adjourned May 23, 1857.
Constitutional Convention. March 3, 1857, congress passed an act authorizing the people to form a state constitution. Each council district was to be represented in this convention by two members for each councilman and representative to which it was entitled. The eighth district, consisting of Houston, Fill- more and Mower counties, was to have fourteen delegates of whom six were to be from Fillmore county. The constitutional convention, consisting of 108 members, was authorized to meet at the capital on the second Monday in July to frame a state constitution, and to submit it to the people of the territory. The election, already mentioned, was held on the first Monday in June, 1857. July 13 the delegates met, but a disagreement arising in the organization, the Republican members organized one body and the Democrats organized separately. Each of these bodies, claiming to be the legally constituted convention, proceeded with the work of forming an instrument to be sub- mitted to the people. After some days an understanding was effected between them, and by means of a committee of confer- ence, the same constitution was framed and adopted by both bodies. On being submitted to the people, October 13, it was ratified.
Of the fourteen delegates from the eighth district, thirteen sat on the Republican wing and one on the Democratic wing.
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They were: Republicans-Alanson B. Vaughan, C. W. Thompson, John A. Anderson, Charles A. Coe, N. P. Colburn, James A. McCann, H. A. Billings, Charles Hanson, H. W. Holley, John Cleghorn, A. H. Butler, Robert Lyle and Boyd Phelps. Demo- crat-James C. Day. The six Republicans from Fillmore county were: H. A. Billings, of Spring Valley ; H. W. Holley, of Chat- field; A. H. Butler, of Newburg ; N. P. Colburn, of Carimona ; John Cleghorn, of Elliota, and Charles Hanson, of York.
By the apportionment of 1857, set forth in the state constitu- tion adopted October 13, 1857, Fillmore county constituted the ninth legislative district, and was to have two senators and six representatives.
1857-58-The first state legislature assembled December 2, 1857. On March 25, 1858, it took a recess until June 2, and finally adjourned August 12. The ninth district was represented in the senate by Samuel Hill and John R. Jones. In the house the members were J. T. Eames, Isaac De Cow, M. J. Foster, Henry Kibler, James M. Graham and T. J. Fladeland.
1858-59-No session was held in the winter of 1858-59, mainly owing to the protracted session of 1857-58, which was believed to render unnecessary another one following so soon, the legis- lators of that year having so provided by enactment.
1859-60-The second state legislature assembled December 7, 1859, and adjourned March 12, 1860. The ninth district was rep- resented in the senate by H. W. Holley and Reuben Wells and in the house by A. H. Trow, A. H. Butler, William Meighen, C. D. Sherwood, Daniel Dayton and Hiram Walker. By the appor- tionment of 1860, Fillmore county was made to constitute the fourteenth district, with one senator and three representatives.
1861-The third state legislature assembled January 8 and adjourned March 8. The fourteenth district was represented in the senate by H. W. Holley and in the house by A. H. Butler, C. D. Sherwood and J. P. Howe.
1862-The fourth state legislature assembled January 7 and adjourned March 7. The fourteenth district was represented in the senate by Dr. Luke Miller and in the house by A. H. Butler, Peter Peterson and John McGrew. On account of the Indian outbreak an extra session was called by the governor, and it assembled September 9 and adjourned September 29.
1863-The fifth state legislature assembled January 6 and adjourned March 6. The fourteenth district was represented in the senate by Dr. Luke Miller and in the house by C. D. Sher- wood, Hiram Walker and William Chalfant. C. D. Sherwood was speaker of the house.
1864-The sixth state legislature assembled January 5 and adjourned March 4. The fourteenth district was represented
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in the senate by Dr. Luke Miller and in the house by S. A. Hunt, M. J. Foster and Reuben Whittemore. C. D. Sherwood, as lieu- tenant governor, was president of the senate.
1865-The seventh state legislature assembled January 3 and adjourned March 3. The fourteenth district was represented in the senate by Dr. Luke Miller and in the house by William Chal- fant and E. F. West. C. D. Sherwood, as lieutenant governor, was president of the senate.
1866-The eighth state legislature assembled January 2 and adjourned March 2. The fourteenth district was represented in the senate by Dr. Luke Miller and in the house by J. Q. Farmer, William Chalfant and John Hobart. By the reapportionment of 1866 Fillmore county still remained the fourteenth district, but was given one more representative.
1867-The ninth state legislature assembled January 8 and adjourned March 8. The representatives from the fourteenth district were Dr. Luke Miller in the senate and W. W. Braden, N. P. Colburn, J. Q. Farmer and G. Oleson in the house. John Q. Farmer was speaker of the house.
1868-The tenth state legislature assembled January 7 and adjourned March 6. The fourteenth district was represented in the senate by Dr. Luke Miller and in the house by John Q. Farmer, Hiram Walker, W. W. Braden and William Meighen. John Q. Farmer was speaker of the house.
1869 The eleventh state legislature assembled January 5 and adjourned March 5. The fourteenth district was represented in the senate by A. Bergen and in the house by D. D. Hammer, John Hobart, J. G. McGrew and William Meighen.
1870-The twelfth state legislature assembled January 4 and adjourned March 4. The fourteenth district was represented in the senate by D. B. Sprague and in the house by William Barton, Ole C. Bratrud, M. Scanlan and S. G. Canfield.
1871-The thirteenth state legislature assembled January 8 and adjourned March 3. The fourteenth district was represented in the senate by John Q. Farmer and in the house by N. P. Col- burn, H. S. Griswold, Hans Valder and J. E. Atwater. By the apportionment of 1871, Fillmore county was constituted the sec- ond and third districts, with one senator and three representa- tives from each district. The second district was to consist of the city of Rushford and the townships of Arendahl, Rushford, Carrollton, Holt, Norway, Preston, Amherst, Preble, Harmony, Canton and Newburg. The senator and the three representatives in the second district were to be elected at large. The third dis- trict consisted of the townships of Sumner, Jordan, Chatfield, Pilot Mound, Spring Valley, Fillmore, Fountain, Bloomfield, For- estville, Carimona, Beaver, York and Bristol. The senator was to
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be elected at large. One representative was to be elected from Pilot Mound, Chatfield, Jordan and Sumner; one from Spring Valley, Fillmore, Fountain and Carimona, and one from Bloom- field, Forestville, Beaver, York and Bristol.
1872-The fourteenth legislature assembled January 2 and adjourned March 1. The second and third districts were repre- sented in the senate by Thomas H. Everts and John Q. Farmer and in the house by John Larson, A. H. H. Dayton, L. Bothum, A. H. Trow, M. Eggleston and P. MeCracken.
1873-The fifteenth legislature assembled January 7 and ad- journed March 7. The second and third districts were repre- sented in the senate by T. H. Everts and William Meighen and in the house by Arne Arneson, Horace Wheeler, Niles Carpenter, T. P. Baldwin, II. M. Daniels and Peter MeCracken.
1874-The sixteenth legislature assembled January 6 and ad- journed March 6. The second and third districts were repre- sented in the senate by C. H. Conkey and William Meighen, and in the house by W. N. Gilmore, A. K. Hanson, J. G. Gere, W. A. Pease, Robert L. Fleming and J. W. Graling.
1875-The seventeenth state legislature assembled January 5 and adjourned March 5. The second and third districts were represented in the senate by C. H. Conkey and William Meighen and in the house by H. C. Grover, J. M. Wheat, N. E. Ellerson, E. V. Farrington, R. J. Fleming and Dwight Rathbun.
1876-The eighteenth legislature assembled January 4 and adjourned March 3. The second and third districts were repre- sented in the senate by C. H. Conkey and William Meighen, and in the house by H. M. Onstine, O. E. Boyum, Tallak Brokken, C. Robbins, George Andrus and Dwight Rathbun.
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