USA > Minnesota > Fillmore County > History of Fillmore County, Minnesota (Volume 1) > Part 18
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At the time of the muster out the roll of Company F was as follows :
Captain, Roy Viall; first lieutenant, William Denny ; second lieutenant, Burdett C. Thayer; first sergeant, O. C. MeCleary ; quartermaster sergeant, John H. Helger; sergeants, IIomer Barnes, William N. De Groot, Eugene K. Allard, James M. Pat- terson; corporals, Frank M. Dawley, Alvin H. Howard, Martin Forkelson, William J. Bly, E. Madden, Samuel W. Stockhill, Frank F. Wittenburg, Sylvester Berg, Frank W. Ford, Jesse D. Schwartz, Michael J. Healy, William N. Hostetler; musi- cians, Ben. R. Benson, George B. Alden; wagoner, Harry Tabor;
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artificer, Lars Pierson ; privates, Carl O. Alm, James W. Ander- son, James N. Arnold, Charles HI. Banks, George E. Barr, Adolph G. Blagsvedt, Howard P. Bobb, George A. Boyd, Frank A. Bradburn, William H. Brazington, Wallace Brooks, George Bush, Reynold Bucholz, Roger Byrnes, Charles M. Cattle, Alex. J. Christiansen, William E. Chamberlin, Thomas Conway, Morris Crowell, James E. Egen, Charles Engle, John E. Ford, Frank Furney, Clarence S. Fuller, Walter B. Geiser, Peter Goplen, Frank A. Gleason, Frank W. Graves, Evan R. Green, Chris. G. Haase, Emil C. Hanson, Brynjulf Halvorson, John D. Manlon, William Holland, Charles H. Holmes, John Hoffman, Bernard Jacobs, Norwin Johnson, Olaf J. Johnson, Eddie Joseph, Ludwig Lukkason, Peter Mader, Jacob A. Magelssen, Robert E. McKee, David A. McKee, Lessing J. Mengis, William W. Mose, Charles A. Morrow, James T. Mulligan, Michael M. Mulroy, Patrick J. Mur- phy, Louis Narveson, Patrick L. Newcome, Joseph J. Nedd, Charles Northway, Harry W. Palmer, Harry R. Perry, Alex Perry, Hollister L. Pease, William F. Pulford, Roy Rogers, Henry A. Schwanke, Conrad G. Selvig, Herbert Severson, James Stewart, Matthew Sweeney, Albert W. Thayer, Frank Turner, George Vail, William A. Wall, Fred E. Welch, George R. Weeks, Alfred Wins- low, Evan L. Williams, Frank Wright, Martin R. Young, Peter G. Zierath.
Resigned. Frank J. Rensberger (first lieutenant), resignation to date from July 15, 1908. Frank II. Viall (second lieutenant), resignation to date from July 11, 1908.
Transferred. George F. Cady, sergeant, promoted to ser- geant major. Leo. C. Bloomer, private, transferred to Twelfth Minnesota Band. Harry W. Johnson, private, transferred to hospital corps. Emery C. McCumber, private, transferred to hospital corps. Howard N. Stillman, private, transferred to hospital corps.
Died. Louis Mueller, first lieutenant, died at New Ulm, Minn., September 1, 1898, typhoid fever. Fred E. McDermott, private, died at St. Paul, September 13, 1898, typhoid fever.
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CHAPTER XIV.
INCIDENTS AND EVENTS.
Notes Culled From the Early Newspapers Regarding Fillmore County People-Happenings From 1857 to 1880-Items Which Recall the Names and Characteristics of the Earlier Settlers.
The every day life of the people as shown in the newspapers is always of interest. In order that these simple incidents may not be forgotten, this chapter has been compiled from various sources. It is not intended to be a history of the county for the years it covers, but contains many incidents which cannot fail to prove of interest and which do not appear elsewhere in this volume.
1857. On December 3, 1856, there was a very deep snow that remained on the ground. On December 27 there was a rain which froze as it fell, leaving a glassy crust which would bear up an ordinary man, but it proved most disastrous to the deer, whose sharp hoofs, when the animal was on the run, would cut through at every jump, and the settlers, with whom fresh meat had been an almost unobtainable luxury, were quick to avail themselves of this advantage to procure venison. A dog that could run without inconvenience would soon overtake a deer and bring him to bay, and he would soon be floundering helplessly in the crust-broken snow, when he would be dispatched with any convenient weapon. The numbers thus slain seem most incredible. Incidents relating to this slaughter appear in the town histories. It is a fact that this winter well nigh exterminated the deer throughout the wide region where this icy condition prevailed. In April, C. Wilson, of Chatfield, undertook to bore an artesian well. In May, the Root River Valley railroad engineers reached Chatfield, laying out a line which was never built. In consequence of the hard times the proprietor of the old water sawmill, one mile from Chatfield, in the winter agreed to saw lumber at $5 per thousand feet. The first issue of the "Chatfield Democrat," on September 11, says that "Forty acres of land adjoining the Chatfield town plat sold for $90 per acre."
1858. Quite a serious accident happened to one of A. M. Walker's stages as it neared Fillmore village, in this county, on February 3. In attempting to cross a small stream or creek, the
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MR. AND MRS. JAMES HOAG
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wheel of the stage came in contact with a large boulder and the stage was instantly thrown upon its side, forcing one of the wheel horses down with it. The horse, being held down by the tongue and fore part of the stage and hampered with the harness, was drowned. There were three passengers in the coach at the time, who luckily escaped without further injury than an "unsought wash" and good ducking. J. S. Weider, clerk in the office of the receiver of the U. S. Land office in Chatfield, en route for Dubuque, was one of the three. On February 10 a party of gen- tlemen left Chatfield for the purpose of hunting. At that day game of every species abounded in Fillmore county, and especially may this be said of the country immediately surrounding the vil- lage of Chatfield. The gunning party was having good luck, and the indications were that they would be bountifully repaid for their labor, when, by the accidental discharge of one of the guns, Nathan P. Langdon, of Chatfield, was shot in the leg below the knee, breaking both bones and otherwise mangling his limb in a horrible manner. He was immediately taken to Chatfield and placed under the treatment of Dr. Cole of that place, but in spite of the best of care it became necessary to amputate the limb. On April 15 the county of Fillmore held its election in regard to the loan of the state credit to various railroads to the amount of $5,000,000. The vote of the then 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. A table compiled June 5 shows that at that date Fillmore county had 9,893 inhabitants and 1,822 dwellings. The county contained an area of 864 square miles. On August 16 five prisoners confined in the county jail at Preston for various offenses, entered into a conspiracy to escape. They succeeded in their undertaking by bending the window bars. Of the five who got away only one was ever heard from; he, after traveling on foot some forty or fifty miles, returned once more to the jail. On September 5 a little daughter of Maj. J. R. Ben- nett, of Chatfield, 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 the necessary course to effect a resuscitation, the life of the little one was saved. On Friday, September 17, T. Sawyer, a citizen in the vicinity of Chatfield, met with a very serious accident. 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
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were immediately brought, who amputated the fractured limb close to the knee joint. William Henry Dean, M. D., died October 18 at Spring Valley. The doctor was a graduate of the Michigan University at Ann Arbor and came here at an early day. October 7, in company with several 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 a shawl he wore and whirled him around and around, striking him against the scales at every revolution until the mill was stopped. Death came to his relief eleven days after- ward.
1859. In this year the Fillmore County Bank had in circula- tion $25,000 in bills, secured by a deposit of stocks with the state auditor. June 30 there was a flood on the Root river; the bridge at Chatfield was carried away and other damage done. A land sale was ordered for November 14 and various attempts were made to postpone it. The spring election was held and the ques- tion 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. On June 2 a 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 bearing himself up until assistance reached him. On the night of August 6 burglars entered the boot and shoe store of Richardson in Chatfield. They took three pairs of boots and escaped. In the times of 1859 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 July 20 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 and 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 alongside the other stage. The plan would have worked well, but just as he was turning into the road to take the leadership 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. On September 5 there was a severe frost in the county, doing much damage.
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1860. Early in June there was a notable picnic at Chatfield, some 418 persons being present. On March 16 the Carimona Hotel at Carimona took fire from a defective flue and burned to the ground. About this time the numerous thefts of horses in the southern part of the state caused much uneasiness in Fillmore county. In August the home of W. H. H. Graham, living a mile west of Chatfield, was sorely afflicted. August 7 W. H. H. Graham, Jr., aged five years, died. August 15 another child of the same family, Nina Bell, died at the age of three years. The next day Mrs. Graham, the mother, died. One day later Ralph, the infant son, died, thus bereaving Mr. Graham of his entire family. Mr. Lee, of Fillmore, on September 8 threshed 480 bush- els of No. 1 wheat from the sheaves of fifteen acres, averaging thirty-two bushels per acre. A fatal accident occurred in Carrol- ton township on August 6. Michael O'Shaughnessy, son of Pat- rick O'Shaughnessy, in company with his brothers, were out shooting and, by some means unknown, a gun in the hands of one of the party was accidentally discharged, the contents of which entered the face of the unfortunate boy and killed him almost instantly. In October the Chatfield mills were grinding night and day and turning out flour at the rate of 300 barrels per week.
1861. It was estimated in Chatfield that for the year 1861 an average of thirty passengers arrived and departed daily. At this time there were three lines of stages through Chatfield 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.
1862. On May 25, 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. On September 1 occurred the frontier panic. The massacre at New Ulm 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 ex- plain, yelled that "the town right back was in ashes!" There was not an Indian within 140 miles, but without stopping to con- sider the absolute and utter impossibility of the Indians thus sweeping across the country like a tornado, destroying every- thing in their track, a majority at once caught the infection and acted on the impulse to save themselves and families from the murderous tomahawk and scalping knife. The scenes that fol- lowed can easily be imagined. What transportation could be had at hand was at once put in requisition; the family was hurried
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into the vehicle, and what few articles were most highly prized that could be carried were bundled in and away they went, re- solved to make no unnecessary 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 instances the houses were left wide open, and not unfrequently 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 could do little to arrest the panic. Some of the men who tried to reas- sure 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 unusual shout on that terrible night, would have completed the demoralization of the already panic stricken heterogeneous gathering. In every instance the positive news came that the very next town had been burned and the people butchered-not a single individual left to tell the tale of their taking off. And as fugitives began to arrive from miles away, not having seen a single red savage on the warpath, reason began to assert itself and the scare was on. An accident took place at Elliota on November 14. 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.
1864. On September 3 an accident occurred at the Medary House in Chatfield, 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, made a misstep, which precipitated both into a cistern which was located at that point. 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 infant which had sunk. The body was in the water about ten minutes and when brought out
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life had departed. During the summer and fall of 1864 many of the three-year men who enlisted in 1861 were returning. On October 26 Mrs. Churchill, 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 twenty-six years old, and at the time was assisting her husband in gathering corn. On Novem- ber 12 the granary of Peter Johnson, three miles below Chatfield, together with 300 or 400 bushels of wheat, was destroyed by fire between 10 and 11 o'clock at night. The fire was set by a young girl not seventeen 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 con- fessed the crime. Upon trial, however, she was acquitted upon promising to reform. Capt. Edwin Hillman, of Sumner township, Fillmore county, died in Winona, December 24. Captain Hillman commanded Company C in the Third Minnesota Regiment. He was fifty years of age at the time of his death, and was an Eng- lishman by birth; a brave man, and a gallant officer.
1865. On February 25, 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. On June 10 an insane woman, wife of John Long, living two miles west of Preston, struck her granddaughter, a girl of thirteen 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, suddenly fell down in a spasm and died within an hour. On August 18 Zenas Root and his grand- child, of Spring Valley township, were drowned in a sink hole where they were watering horses.
1866. On Monday night, August 6, the comparatively small stream known as Weisel creek, on the south branch of Root river, suddenly 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 tor- rent's way, consequently meeting its destruction, was the dwell- ing house of David Weisel. It was struck broadside by the rush- ing flood, swept from its foundation and crushed into fragments in an instant. The occupants of the house at the time were David Weisel, his wife, his mother, a lady over eighty years of age, and a nephew named John Weisel, twelve 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
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following morning still clinging to her bed, on which she had floated down the stream, and was rescued from her perilous posi- tion. 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 inquired 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 morn- ing his cries for assistance soon brought relief. The next dwell- ing in the path of the flood was that of Jonas C. Wellington. The occupants were Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Wellington, and a grandson named Charley C. Gage, four years old, all of whom were drowned. 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 remem- bered, as it carried with it the lives of sixteen human beings. J. C. Burbank & Co. this year established a stage line between Rush- ford and Winnebago City, via Preston, and an express was added from La Crescent. During this year, when the Southern Min- nesota railroad was being surveyed, the people of Preston con- fidently expected that the extension from Lanesboro 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 fol- lowed, but other views prevailed.
1867. On May 13 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 meet- ing 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. Murrel, Thomas Quinn, H. A. Billings, Dr. L. Redmond, J. E. Burbank and N. P. Colburn. In May the Southern Minnesota railroad land office was removed to Rushford from Houston, where it had previously been located. A severe frost struck this region on August 30, doing much damage.
1868. The total reported valuation of Fillmore county in 1868 was $3,789,710. A state teachers' institute was held in Pres- ton in October. Hon. Mark H. Dunnell was the superintendent. The railroad reached Lanesboro in November, and early in De- cember a celebration took place. The dinner, the speeches, the toasts and responses were appropriate for the occasion. The
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people turned out, and numerous invited guests were there. It was a fitting inauguration of the new order of things.
1869. On February 24 several business houses on the main street in Chatfield were destroyed by fire. Total loss about $4,000. In the fall of this year the Southern Minnesota Railroad Company obtained 32,342 acres of land.
1870. A fireproof vault was built on the west end of the Court House for the safe keeping of the records. F. G. Parker had the contract. Preston people, being disappointed in securing the railroad, made a virtue of necessity and got a depot at the near- est available point on the farm of Mr. Isenhour. On August 26, Peter Halverson, a Norwegian of Amherst township, met with a most serious accident. While drawing a mower the horses took fright and ran away, tearing 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 several from the leg.
1871. On February 24 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 remained, and they were seriously injured. 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 submitted to the people, and decided in the negative by a ma- jority, in the state of 12,206 in a total vote of 21,499. On June 30, 1871, five business houses in the village of Chatfield were de- stroyed by fire.
1872. In January there was a fearful snowstorm and a gen- eral blockade, and in the town of Granger there was a heartrend- ing 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 carried the other, the eldest, home. He then returned for his 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, and they both perished. The little one at home was found dead, as was also the mother and wife in the road. Levi Engle died May 11, 1872, at the age of fifty-two years and nine months. He was born in Alleghany county, Maryland, on September 25, 1817, and when still a young man joined the Methodist Church at Western Port, Md. Soon after he was licensed as an exhorter, which position he nobly filled for two years, then received local orders and worked for twenty-four years in this ministry. Jonas Conkey died September 15, 1872. He was a native of Bridgeport, Vt., born in 1795. He
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