USA > Minnesota > Fillmore County > History of Fillmore County, Minnesota (Volume 1) > Part 19
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was in Clinton county, New York, while young and up to 1844. He afterwards lived in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. After 1861 he lived in Minnesota. In 1830 he was received into the Presby- terian Church at Plattsburg, N. Y. At the organization of the Presbyterian Church in Preston he was constituted a ruling elder, which position he held until his death, at the residence of his son, William P. Conkey.
1873. January 6 Mr. and Mrs. William Carpenter, of Preston, celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of their wedding day by a tea party. Julia Scott King died August 20. She was born April 13, 1827, and on May 16, 1860, married Almond King.
1874. In this year a vigilance committee was organized to operate against horse thieves. The knowledge that such an insti- tution existed settled the matter. On June 10 the citizens of Sumner were horror stricken and excited over the finding of the remains of two human beings in a box in a branch of the Kedron. Dr. Grover, the coroner of Rushford, was sent for, but the sur- mises that there had been a murder most foul were dispelled when it was found that they were cadavers left in the brook by an enthusiastic medical student to macerate, that he might the more easily secure the skeletons. About the middle of June a party of Scandinavians were crossing the Root river at Newman's ford, on their way to a wedding, when the horses became frightened and unmanageable and ran, violently throwing the occupants of the wagon out in deep water, drowning one of the women and her little babe. On June 20 there were two railroad accidents on the Southern Minnesota road. High water was the cause in both cases. One of them was two miles and a half west of Spring Val- ley, where the train going west, on crossing a culvert, after the engine and tender had got over, the cars went down and were promiscuously piled up. No one was injured. The other accident was seventeen miles west of this, and happened about the same time, to the train moving east. Here the water was very high, up to the bottom of the rails, so that they appeared all right to the engineer, but the support had been washed away, and as the engine came upon the foundationless rails down it dropped with the tender; Cummings, the fireman, was crushed and instantly killed, while Brown, the engineer, escaped death with broken bones and other contusions. In July, while removing the tem- porary bridge at the point of the Spring Valley accident, William Nobles was instantly killed by being struck by a timber that was being hauled out by an engine, and Robert Lossing was also in- jured. On August 14 Frank Kefas, a son of Henry Kefas, was drowned at Lanesboro. In September a large black bear came within a half mile of Lanesboro. The following figures show the amount of business done in Lanesboro this year: Flour sold,
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77,299 barrels; amount paid for wheat, $440,400. Barley bought, 57,000 bushels. Lumber sold, 2,082,200 feet. Disbursements : Flour and wheat trade, $4,000,000, and this at a single point in the county, which will convey an idea of its resources. On Satur- day night, November 7, the valuable flouring mill of Valentine & Tew, at Rushford, was destroyed by fire. There was also con- sumed 9,000 bushels of wheat. The total loss was $20,000.
1875. Mark Hunt died February 10, 1875, at Winona, and his remains were brought to Lanesboro for burial. In January the store of S. A. Hunt, of Spring Valley, was robbed of about $200 worth of goods. On February 7, there having been an acci- dent by which some freight cars were ditched about a mile and a half east of Lanesboro, a train that had been sent out to assist in transferring the freight met with another accident, by which the caboose jumped the track and went down a trestle eighteen feet, and although the car was well filled with men and tools, no one was more than slightly injured. Joel S. Sawyer, an early set- tler, died May 24, 1875, at Chatfield. At Lenora on July 3 the fiftieth anniversary of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. D. L. Bryant was commemorated. Seventy-five persons were present. In 1875 there were in Fillmore county 2,989 farms and 276,167 acres of cultivated land. On August 30 much damage was done by flood on the Root river. On July 5 a reunion of the veterans of Com- pany A, Second Regiment Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, took place at Chatfield. W. C. Garrett was called to the chair and John F. Healy was appointed secretary. The following veterans answered to their names: L. Ober, H. G. Case, S. B. Moon, G. R. Shipton, C. E. Burk, W. R. Shipton, B. Farrington, L. J. D. Place, Sam Farrell, A. C. Case, A. F. Caffin, L. Lovejoy, D. E. Runals, T. E. Kilburn, D. B. Edwards, Simeon Foote, D. D. Farrell, Wil- liam Mitchell, William Ober, Samuel W. Wellman. August 3 a hailstorm about one and one-half miles wide swept through the county, cutting across Bristol, Forestville and Spring Valley, leaving a bleak scene of devastated crops. Benjamin Sherman died October 11, 1875. He was born in Geneva, New York, and was one of the earliest settlers here. November 7 the mer- chant tailor shop of J. H. Roberts in Chatfield was broken open and robbed of clothes and newly made-up suits to the amount of from $250 to $300.
1876. Mrs. Sarah N. Engle, wife of Walter Engle, of Preston, died February 5, at the age of forty years. Early in March there was a great flood, which kept up several days, and large amounts of property were swept away. A few of the losses will be men- tioned: Kelly Bros. & Mosher's lumber yard went out, and a cooper shop at White & Bryon's mill followed the prevailing fashion. Peter Hanson's harness shop also joined the procession.
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C. L. Colman and John Paul's lumber yards were both consid- erably damaged. H. A. Billings had a lot of wood that disap- peared. The railroad trestle went out. Thompson & Williams' mill was seriously damaged. At Whalan the mill of Williams, Fall & Co. was damaged. At Rushford the new bridge and the long bridge accepted the pressing invitation to move on. The woolen mill also sustained considerable damage. The railroad lost bridges all up and down the river. The new bridge at the west end of the village of Preston went out at about 11 o'clock on Friday, March 8. It moved down the stream under the first bridge and the people made a rush to the next bridge, the iron one, to see how it would receive the shock. When it struck the structure trembled but nobly stood the onslaught, and the enemy himself went to pieces. The headgates of the Conkey flouring mill were carried away and the dam considerably demoralized. The water was up to the window caps of the first story of Wheeler's woolen mill. As the water rose on the flats there was a lively time among the men, women, children, horses, cows, pigs, chickens and rats. The only time remembered like it was in 1859, when the water rose quite as high. At Lanesboro much damage was done, and at Rushford a rushing business was also done, as indeed hap- pened all along the river. George W. Sawyer died March 29, 1876, at the age of forty-two years. He was born in Watertown, New York. He was cashier of the bank in Lanesboro, also insurance and express agent, with a large amount of other business on his hands, which he dispatched with a geniality that made him a general favorite. At Amherst, on the 6th of April, an insane woman, wife of Enger Erickson, murdered her husband by chop- ping him about the head with an axe as he lay in bed. She was sent to the insane asylum. On August 31 there was an explosion of a boiler used with a threshing machine about five miles from Chatfield, on the farm of Chauncy Jones. Mr. Lawton, the engineer, Charles Arnold, the band cutter, and William Bennett were instantly killed and several others were injured. In May, silver began to take the place of fractional currency. The re- introduction of silver after about fifteen years of banishment was a matter of curiosity, particularly to the rising generation, a majority of whom, eighteen years of age, could not remember ever having seen a silver quarter or a dime. A thunder storm with hail burst upon the village of Lanesboro on May 20. The hail was said to have been unusually large and copious, the ground being actually covered with the icy pellets, and the tes- timony of those who were present is concurrent that the hail stones varied from the size of a filbert to that of a hen's egg. The damage to vegetation was great, but as there was little wind the glass escaped serious breakage. On May 20, 1876, there was
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a freshet which was particularly severe in Pilot Mound, the rain being the heaviest known for years; roads were washed and fences swept away. The railroad bridge spanning Rush creek was also washed away. In May some young salmon were placed in the mill pond at Lanesboro, some of the citizens having made up a purse for this purpose, and B. A. Man went to Red Wing and brought the fish, which were procured of the state fish commis- sioner. This is believed to be the first deposit of this kind in the waters of Fillmore county. Early in June a military company was formed in Rushford: M. D. Edinger, captain; G. W. Rock- well, first lieutenant, and Joshua Weber, second lieutenant. The centennial anniversary of American independence was celebrated in Fillmore county in several places, but at Lanesboro special preparations were made to have the occasion accord with the inspirations of the day. Rev. Ezra A. Terwilliger died August 21. He was born in Canada, March 9, 1835. He received an edu- cation at Pictou and Bellville. He first joined the Niagara Con- ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and about 1869 came to Minnesota, his first charge being in La Crescent, where he re- mained two years. He then came to Fillmore county, and was in Hamilton, Fillmore, Granger and Lenora, where he died. Mrs. George E. Dexter died August 31, 1876. She came to Preston with other members of the Conkey family when twenty-seven years of age. She was a native of Plattsburg, New York. In Feb- ruary, 1865, she was married to George E. Dexter. August 9 the iron bridge in Lanesboro was finished. The mill of Thompson & Williams at Lanesboro was destroyed by fire on the 29th of Sep- tember. The loss was $35,000 or $40,000, with an insurance of $27,000. In October the granary of John Souther, together with the stables, three miles northwest of Lanesboro, were destroyed by fire, the work of an incendiary. Mr. Souther lay sick at the time. In Lanesboro on November 7 Ole Knudson, who had been at work in Harmony, was found dead on the banks of the river. A careful inventory of the church property in Fillmore county in this year gave an aggregate of $93,950, divided as follows: Baptist, $2,000; Catholic, $21,100; Congregationalist, $6,800; Episcopal, $1,800; German Reformed, $4,000; Friends, $1,200; Lutheran, $38,750; Methodist, $3,800; Presbyterian, $14,500. This is exclusive of Preston, which had an estimated church valuation of $20,000. Philip Onstine died March 26, 1877, at Lenora, at the ripe age of seventy-three years. Uncle Philip, as he was called, came from Canada to the states in 1812 and located in Pennsyl- vania, afterward in Ohio, and finally in Minnesota. He was the last of seven brothers.
1877. On the Southern Minnesota railroad, on February 16, Mike Welch, a brakeman, was killed by falling between the cars
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at Peterson. In this year M. T. Grattan, of Preston, had his stock farm well supplied and it is still kept up. On April 10 a public meeting of the citizens of the county was held at the Court house in Preston to discuss "the old bond swindle," as it was called in the notice for a meeting. At this meeting the sentiments of the people of the county, as there represented, were expressed in sev- eral resolutions insisting that the constitution ought not to be violated, and that the proposition of the Legislature to submit the question to a vote of the people at a special election is "a reck- less violence perpetrated upon our constitution," and recommend- ing a vote against the proposition. A proposition was, however, submitted to the people of the State, and an election held on June 24, in relation to the payment of the railroad bonds. The project was defeated by a large majority. Fillmore county voted 178 for the payment and 3,155 against. Some of the towns did not fur- nish a single vote in the affirmative. An attempt at burglary on June 21 at Fountain was successful. The drug store of Case & Halverson was entered and the safe forced by demolishing the lock with a sledgehammer and punch and $150 taken. On the following night, it is supposed that the same criminal went through the office of White & Beynon, of the Carrolton mills, and breaking the safe lock, secured $75. At the store of Helly & Distad the next visit was made, but here the cash had been taken home and a card left hanging in front of the safe, "She is wide open-go in boys." From pure malice they broke the lock, but of course realized nothing. They were probably two men who had been seen about, one of them purporting to be a safe agent, who would inquire about the safe, and offering to sell or exchange, and the other was a mendicant with green goggles. Dr. John A. Ross, a well known, esteemed and valuable citizen of Preston, died June 20, 1877, of heart disease. He was noted for his kindness and liberality. He was honest, plain-spoken, open-handed and just. His funeral rites were attended by the Masonic and Odd Fellows' fraternities, and Rev. F. S. Drew officiated as chaplain. He had been a great sufferer for two years or so, but finally died suddenly, having been on the street up to within a few hours of the change. At Lenora, in June, a little son of David Reed was fatally poisoned by tasting some strychnine procured for poison- ing vermin. Two children of Peter Johnson were drowned in June at Lanesboro, near the upper trestle work. On Wednesday, August 8, a most distressing event occurred at the flouring mill of Dickson & Co. in Chatfield. A young lady, Eva Warriner, while in company with two other young ladies and Fred Wilson, was caught by the hair of her head by a revolving vertical shaft, her scalp completely torn off and her clothing stripped from her body while she was rapidly whirled around and round, her feet
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THADDEUS T. BROKKEN'S RESIDENCE
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striking two posts at every revolution, until young Wilson could run down into the basement and have the mill stopped. She received every attention that kindness and medical skill could suggest, but died. In August, Dr. D. F. Powell was bitten by a rattlesnake at the Big Spring, two miles from Lanesboro. On August 11, Major Fifield, a well-known citizen of Preston, was found dead on a road several miles from town, having been dead several days. From appearances he had fallen in a fit while rid- ing along, and getting caught in the spokes of a wheel, his limbs were broken and he was otherwise mangled. He was about eighty years of age, and a bachelor who had accumulated considerable property. At Chatfield, on Thursday, August 16, Rev. S. Jones and wife solemnized the semi-centennial anniversary of their mar- riage. There was an earthquake in southern Minnesota on Novem- ber 15, which was felt in Fillmore county. According to most of the observers the motion was north and south and lasted several seconds. Capt. James C. Braden died at San Antonio, Texas, December 9, 1877, of consumption. He had gone south for the benefit of his health, accompanied by his wife and children. His native place was Ohio, and he was forty-two years of age at the time of his death. In 1854 he came to this county. At the break- ing out of the war of 1861, he went to the front as adjutant of the Tenth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and was at one time detailed as assistant provost marshal of the Missouri department. On returning from the field he was elected clerk of the court, and afterward was appointed receiver of the land office at Litchfield, and subsequently register, which position he held at the time of his death. At one time he was the Grand Master of Masons in this state. The winter of 1877 was so mild that the wild geese were deceived and actually passed over the county going north in January. James Crowley died at the age of fifty-five years on December 30, 1877, at Lanesboro. He was one of the pioneers of the county. In the fall of this year a new and exasperating swindle broke out in Fillmore county, and many farmers were cheated before they could be warned. The farmers would receive a visit from a man, well dressed and apparently a gentleman who was in quest of a farm, and wanted to buy out the farmer. The farmer was willing to sell for a certain sum ; the man would agree to take it, in case a survey would prove everything all correct, and would offer to advance $5 to pay for the survey, at the same time offering the money. This would convince the farmer that the man's intentions were all right, and he would immediately change the $20 bill which the stranger invariably offered, and keeping $5, give him $15 in money. When he came to use his $20 bill to pay for the survey, he found it to be counterfeit. By this time the stranger had sought new pastures, and appeared
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no more on the scene. These swindlers were finally circumvented, by a warning which was issued to farmers, and subsided, but not until after many farmers were duped.
1878. On January 11, about thirty persons met to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Hunt, of Spring Valley. Mrs. Benjamin Dobel, at the age of seventy years, passed away March 19, 1878. She was an English woman, coming to this country in 1830. She was a member of the Congregational Church, of which her husband was a deacon. Gilbert B. O. Barrett was born in Middleton, Vt., on February 19, 1817, and died on June 8, 1878. With his family he located in Iowa while it was a territory, and in 1853 came to Forrestville. In 1866, with part of his family he went to Helena, Mont. In 1871, he moved on to Walla Walla, Washington territory. He had recently returned to this county and died at Carimona. He was a good man and was sincerely mourned. A little son of Charles Johnson, of Lanesboro, lost his leg by the cars on June 8. On Sunday, June 9, Mr. and Mrs. John Hayes were at the Catholic Church in Lanesboro, when Mrs. Hayes was taken suddenly ill, and on being taken to the American House, expired. Mrs. Niles Carpenter, of Rushford, on August 21, was given a teaspoonful of strong solution of strychnine instead of a harmless solution, by a substitution of the wrong bottle, and she expired almost instantly. At Fountain, on October 23, three tramps assaulted, beat and robbed C. H. Ichealson, rifled his pockets of $45 and left him for dead in his saloon, where he was found the next morning. The scoundrels also stole some horses in the neighborhood and then decamped. They were afterward captured. On December 20, White, Nash & Co.'s mill, at Lanesboro, was burned. The property was owned by Allen F. Nash and Seymour Gilbert, Mr. White being interested in operating the mill. The loss was $30,000 with an insurance of $16,000. Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Roberts celebrated their silver wedding on December 21 at their residence in Lanes- boro. Mrs. W. W. Fife died May 22, 1878. She was the daughter of Simeon Foote. Her name was Ann Eliza, and her birth was in Crawford county, Ohio, on September 14, 1837. She was mar- ried in 1859, having with her parents, in 1855, moved from Mount Carroll, Ill., to Chatfield. After her marriage she lived in Preston up to the time of her death. Capt. J. H. McKenny, who was one of the most enterprising men among the early settlers, died in May, 1878, at Chatfield, having arrived at the age of sixty-five years. He was born in Chambersburg, Pa., on October 24, 1813. He learned the printing business in the office of the "Staunton Spectator," and afterward worked in Cincinnati and in Ken- tucky. In November, 1834, in St. Louis, he was married to Miss Mary E. Duval, who died in July, 1836. About this time he
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went to Iowa, and in connection with James Clark, who was after- ward governor of the state, got out the first number of the "Iowa Gazette." In 1837, he was married to Mary A. Sleeth. In October, 1842, he was elected sheriff of Des Moines county, Iowa. He was in the Mexican war as a quartermaster and commissary, and soon after the war was detailed with his company to remove the Winnebagoes to their new homes in the northern part of Min- nesota. In 1848, he came to Minnesota to accept an appointment by H. M. Rice in the American Fur Company at Crow Wing. In 1849 was appointed sutler at Fort Gaines, now Fort Ripley, which position he resigned in 1851, and returned to Iowa, where he again secured an interest in the "Gazette." He was, however, soon appointed receiver of the land office for southern Minnesota, which was located in Brownsville, in the spring of 1854. In June, 1856, the land office was removed to Chatfield and his home was thus transferred. In 1861, the captain and his brother bought the "Chatfield Democrat." He run for auditor in 1872, on the state Democratic ticket, which was defeated. In 1864, was a candidate for state senator. He was elected justice of the peace and held that position for some time. He was a Mason well up in the de- grees and had held office in the grand bodies of that order. He was a large hearted man, devoted to his friends and the village of his adoption. A. J. Young came from Pennsylvania in 1855, and pre-empted the place now owned by John Real. He died very suddenly the last of July, 1878. Ole G. Langhan passed away on October 26, 1878. He was at the head of the drug firm of Laugan & Krogstad, at Lanesboro. Mrs. Sarah Barton lived in the vicin- ity of Rushford for sixteen years and died November 20, 1878, at the age of seventy-six years.
1879. Rev. Steven Jones died at his home in Chatfield, Jan- nary 29, 1879, at the age of seventy-two years. He was born in Ohio, January 3, 1807. In 1824 he was married to Isabel Robin- son, afterward removed to Indiana, to Wisconsin in 1839, and to Chatfield in 1856. For nearly fifty years he was a minister of the gospel, being connected with the Protestant Methodist de- nomination. On January 9, the alarm of fire was sounded in the village of Spring Valley, and carried with it dire destruction. The following business houses were burned: C. Evan's grocery and restaurant, loss on building and goods $2,500; Chas. Hermes' shoe store, loss on building and goods $400; John Masterbrook's billiard hall, loss $700; H. S. Porter's harness shop, loss $200. On August 29, M. T. Jones, editor of the "Spring Valley Vidette," was thrown from the buggy while on the way from Wykoff to Spring Valley and killed almost instantly. In December a band of Winnebago Indians were in Lanesboro. They got up an exhibi- tion under the patronage of Dr. Powell and realized almost $50.
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An old lady, Baakle Blerkholtz, was burned to death in February, in a small house in which she lived, in Sumner. She was eighty- two years of age. The house was also consumed. J. B. Frazer, a well known citizen of Preston, died on April 9. Ile came to Preston in 1856, and pre-empted a place at what was afterward called Frazer's point. He soon removed to the village and went into the hotel business with S. B. Murrell. He afterward kept a grocery and provision store, and finally engaged in general trade. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Cusick was celebrated in Pilot Mound, at their residence, on June 18, 1879. The safe belonging to Holmes, Desmond & Co., of Rushford, was blown open in August and robbed of $55. The wagon factory at Rushford was completely destroyed by fire September 7. The loss was $30,000, with an insurance of but $8,000. Rush Creek, on September 10, swelled beyond its capacity, and dams and bridges were destroyed. In the fall of this year S. H. Dexter published a bird's-eye view of Rush- ford, which gave a good idea of the village at that time.
1880. On January 18, 1880, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. O. Iverson was celebrated at their residence in Lanesboro. Thomas Raymond died March 4, 1880. He came to Rushford in 1866. On March 12, 1880, a Bee-Keep- ers' Association for the county was organized at Preston. Among the officers and members were L. M. Trexler, M. V. Facey, E. T. Nelson and John Carnegie. On May 5 a severe hailstorm passed over the eastern part of the town of Preble, leaving a scene of devastation in its track. The damage to the farmers was most depressing. Windows were broken in almost every house, cattle stricken down by the icy pellets, which were reported to be in some specimens two inches in diameter. J. L. Jahr resided in this county for twenty-eight years previous to his death. He had represented his district in the legislature of the state. He died May 28, 1880, at the age of forty-eight years. He resided in Nor- way township. A rare occurrence was that of a party at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. William Boles, in Fountain, on No- vember 15, 1880, on the occasion of the recurrence of the six- tieth anniversary of their wedding.
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