USA > Minnesota > Fillmore County > History of Fillmore County, Minnesota (Volume 1) > Part 20
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1881. Mrs. Harriet E. Butler passed away on October 31, 1881, at the age of sixty-two years. Harriet E. Bean was born on July 7, 1819, in Ohio. On May 12, 1842, was married in Penn- sylvania to A. H. Butler, who came with his wife to Preston about the year 1863. He was at one time county treasurer, and died seven or eight years before his wife. A. J. Stevens was born in Needham, Mass., on June 13, 1833. At the age of twenty-one he came to Wisconsin and was connected with the lumber busi- ness in La Crosse county. In 1867, came to Rushford, and in
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1870, began the manufacture of wagons. IIe was at one time for four years treasurer of the county, and then returned and organ- ized the Rushford Wagon & Carriage Company, which did a very large business. In September, 1880, the works were burned, en- tailing a heavy loss. He then went to Winona, and the business men there co-operated with him in building up a wagon com- pany. Mr. Stevens died April 27, 1881, at Winona. George C. Harding, formerly editor of the "Lanesboro Journal," died at Indianapolis, May 7, 1881. At the time of his death he was fifty- one years of age. IIe commenced his editorial career on the "Prairie Beacon," of Paris, Ill., and was in succession special correspondent of the "Cincinnati Commercial," editor of the "True Delta," New Orleans; editor of the "Telegraph," Houston, Texas, where he was at the commencement of the war. He was editor of the "Coles County (Ill.) Ledger," and either editor or proprietor of the "Evening Journal," "Mirror," "Herald," and the "Review," of Indianapolis. He purchased the "Lanesboro Journal" in March, 1880, and went there in the hope of finding rest. But his active brain required more scope, and after a few months' sojourn in Lanesboro, he returned to Indianapolis, and invested in a new publication, the "Saturday Review," which, under his guidance, was rapidly attaining a front rank with the oldest publications in the state, when he died. On September 17, as Mrs. Edward Lynch, her son Edward, and Mrs. Rotchford, who lived about two miles northwest of Lanesboro, were coming down the road leading around the side of the bluff, one of the horses-a young colt-became frightened at some object in the road, and commenced backing. Edward, perceiving the danger of being cast over the side of the road, jumped from the buggy and endeavored to get the team by the bridles, but before he accomplished his object the horses sprang to one side, and together with the vehicle and two ladies, went rolling down the steep declivity. About two-thirds of the way to the bottom of the hill the horses and front portion of the buggy came in contact with a tree, which brought them to a halt, the hind wheels dashing over stones and shrubs, finally bringing up in the river. In the meantime the two women had been tossed, bruised and torn, and were found at the bottom of the cliff bleed- ing but not insensible. They were immediately conveyed to David McGannon's house, where medical aid was summoned, the wounds dressed, and the unfortunates made as comfortable as possible. On September 16, 1881, at Spring Valley, the celebra- tion of the fiftieth anniversary of the marriage of Orpheus and Fannie Wallace was held. None were seated at the table but could look back upon at least fifty years, most of them being able to count back and review the incidents of sixty-five and seventy
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years ago. Below is given the names and ages of the guests: O. Wallace, 80 years; Mrs. Fannie Wallace, 79 years; Mrs. Eliza Allen, 76 years; Mrs. Eliza Lee, 73 years; Mrs. Theodosia Howe, 80 years; Mrs. Martha Spaulding, 71 years; Mrs. R. C. Brown, 64 years; Mrs. James Pettit, 76 years; Luke Hague, 73 years; Elisha Rose, 70 years ; John Kleckler, 57 years; Rev. J. B. Fairbank, 50 years. According to Auditor Hard's books, there were 104 wolves captured in Fillmore county during the month of April, in the year 1881, for which a sum total of $728 was paid as bounty, bounty being $7 for every wolf.
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O. W. MOORE
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CHAPTER XV.
FILLMORE COUNTY HORTICULTURE
Native Fruits Found by the Early Settlers-The First Nursery- Growth of Horticultural Interest Throughout the County- Conditions at the Present Time-Two Hundred Thousand Apple Trees Soon coming to Fruit-Fillmore County Horti- cultural Society Southern Minnesota Horticultural Society -Edited by O. W. Moore.
When the early settlers arrived in Fillmore county the wild plum trees were seen everywhere. The crabapple was also plenti- ful, and in places could be found the luscious wild strawberry. The wild grapevine was a common sight, and the wild goose- berry abounded in considerable quantity. After the forest trees were cut off and the prairie fires curbed the blackberry and the raspberry came in.
In the way of nuts, the hazel flourished throughout the county, the butternut grew here and there, and in some places the hickory and walnut could be found. In several vicinities there were groves of maple, yielding many pounds of sugar.
But in spite of the lavishness of nature in the way of fruits, nuts and berries, the domestic propagation of these products has been accompanied by many difficulties, and only in recent years has the cultivation of fruit and berries become an important part of Fillmore county's wealth.
In connection with the early nursery business in this county, William Willford has written as follows:
In the spring of 1854 W. J. Howell emigrated from the state of New York to the territory of Minnesota and bought a claim- right to the south half of section 10, township 101, range 9-of James Kelly. Kelly was a "squatter land shark" in south- eastern Fillmore county who, in 1853, had claimed a large tract of rich bottom land and the best part of the farming land and timber tracts along the creeks in that locality, which he was dividing up and selling to the newcomers arriving in the terri- tory, charging them fabulous prices for the privilege of settling on a portion of the land he had claimed as his possessions. In May, 1854, Kelly, having sold the remainder of his entire claim holdings to W. J. Howell, removed to another new country, where
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prepared a story of the growth of the industry in this county as follows:
The early settlers and pioneer fruit growers of the county were largely Eastern people and knew nothing of the varieties best adapated to the climate of this Northwest country. But they knew the varieties that were grown in their Eastern homes, and naturally would have a desire to try them here. And such varieties as the Baldwin, Rhode Island Greening, Northern Spy and others were tried. But the planters soon found that these varieties were of no practical value in this climate. The next to be tried were a few Russian varieties, which were thoroughly tested and tried. The Dutchess has been of more practical value as a cooking or kitchen apple than any other variety that has thus far been grown in the Northwest. It is good to cook when half grown and satisfies a desire for apple fruit when there is no other apple to take its place. It is hardy and an annual and prolific bearer and should have a place in every orchard, more or less, according to the wishes of the planter. The writer knows of a few Dutchess trees that have been bearing fruit for thirty- seven years and are still "doing business at the old stand."
It became a settled policy of our early pioneer fruit growers and plant breeders that if we ever obtained varieties of good size, quality and color, prolific bearing, good keepers and hardy enough to withstand weather conditions of this country; these varieties of apples must be produced from seed planted in our county or state. Peter Gideon worked along this line and gave us the Wealthy, which is now growing in most of the states of our Union, and has nearly reached around the world. The number of Wealthy apple trees planted in the county at this writing is somewhere about 35 per cent of the whole number planted, Dutchess 15 per cent, Greening 15 per cent, North- western Greening 10 per cent, Peerless, Longfield, Malinda, Wal- bridge, McMahon 2 per cent each. Twenty-five per cent is made up of other varieties and crabs.
The whole number of apple trees now growing in the county, as near as can be estimated, is some two hundred and twenty- five thousand trees. The plant breeders of Minnesota and adjoin- ing states, of late years, have brought out nothing in the apple line that excells the Wealthy in a commercial way. But we have many new seedlings of great promise, especially the Perkins group of seedlings brought out by T. E. Perkins, of Red Wing, Minn., of over one hundred varieties of seedlings, a few of which are going to be heard from before very long. One of them, "No. 72." scored 95 points at the Minnesota State Horticultural meeting in December, 1911.
The Windsor Chief, the Delicious, the Milwaukee, the Evelyn,
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BARNETT TAYLOR
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the Prosser Seedling and the Northwestern Greening, all good sized and good keeping apples, and the most of them excellent in quality, are being "top worked" more or less in the county and the southern half of the state. The writer has advocated and practiced "top working" now for a good many years, and the fruit growers of the Northwest are just beginning to realize the advantages of "top working," or grafting good varieties on vigor- ous, hardy stocks, such as the Hibernal or Virginia crab. It has been well proven that the life of our apple trees can be doubled by this "top working" process.
The Plum. The facts in regard to the past and present of the plum industry in the county do not show as much progress as could be wished. The only plums within the county in the early days of its settlement were the wild plums or the Prunus Americana. The fruit growers and plant breeders within the county have tried to improve on those varieties of wild plums by planting the pits of the best and bringing those seedlings into bearing, and then planting the pits of the best of those, and then repeating the process. Those methods have been tried out until there seems to be no further room for improvement, or in other words, the limit has been reached along this line. This being true, wherein lies the future improvement of our plums? The writer asserts that the only way out of this dilemma, or the only bridge by which this difficulty can be crossed, is to cross-fertilize our wild or domesticated plums with the Japan varieties of plums. The writer owns a hybrid plum of this variety. It is equal in size to any California plum that meets our northwestern market at the present time, and is superior in quality, a longer keeper when picked and has a smaller pit. The writer has about three hundred of the pits of this plum planted and intends to grow them this coming season of 1912 and bring them to bearing age with the hope of getting some- thing superior to the mother hybrid plum described above.
Strawberries. From the early settlement of the county up to the present time the strawberry has not been grown through- out the county as much as it should have been. Every farmer and town lot owner should grow strawberries for their own use. Early in the season there are hundreds of cases shipped into the county to supply the small towns. But this is before the home grown berries are ripe, so the home growers are not to be blamed. But in the ripening season of the home grown berries, as a rule, there is not half enough of the local berries to supply the demand of the towns within the county. As to varieties to plant the Warfield is a good berry, but is a pistalate variety or non-fertilizer, and in order to be fertilized must be planted with some stamanate variety, such as the Bederwood. The most popu
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lar and all around strawberry is the Senator Dunlap. It is a stamanate or self fertilizer, a vigorous grower of healthy plants, a great plant maker and a prolific bearer of large and most excellent fruit. But the latest fad in strawberries is the ever- bearing strawberry. The writer proposes to start in with this variety this coming spring of 1912 and give them a thorough try-out.
Raspberries, gooseberries, currants and grapes are grown throughout the county. But as a rule not for market, but more for family or home use. These smaller fruits fill a place for coming purposes that help to supply the family with fruit through the winter and spring when fresh fruit conditions are not with the grower.
The writer is no prophet but he predicts that the time is soon coming when Fillmore county will be rated as the banner fruit growing county in the state of Minnesota. In 1907 there were shipped out of the county seventy-eight car loads of apples, and in 1911 there were shipped out sixty-five car loads. There were more apples grown in 1911 than there were in 1907, but the rea- son why there were not as many car loads shipped out in 1911 was that we had no buyers out of the state looking for apples as formerly. With our rolling land and high ridges we have an ideal apple county, and there is no reason why we cannot lead any and all other counties of the state in fruit growing when over two hundred thousand apple trees, which are now planted in the county, become of bearing age.
No history of the horticulture of the county would be com- plete without mention of the two horticultural societies which have met within its borders and largely contributed to the devel- opment of the taste for fruits and flowers and the joys of out- door life.
The Southern Minnesota Horticultural Society. The prelimi- nary meeting for the purpose of organizing a southern Minnesota society was held in Albert Lea in October, 1893, when a program committee was appointed and F. W. Kimball, of Austin, was made president and Clarence Wedge, of Albert Lea, secretary. The first annual meeting of the society was held in Austin Decem- ber 13 and 14 following, and a membership of about thirty secured. Since that time this society has held regular annual meetings in December or January and has grown to a membership of nearly a hundred persons. The meetings have usually been held in Austin and Albert Lea, but several meetings have been held in Spring Valley and one in Owatonna. The society has been carried on as an auxiliary of the state society, its members being entitled to all the privileges and publications of the state society, of which it has been by far the leading local auxiliary. The pro-
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grams of the meetings and a large share of the papers read at its sessions may be found in the periodicals published by the state society. The following officers have been chosen from Freeborn county : President : A. W. Massee, 1905 to 1907, inclusive; L. P. H. Highby, 1908; C. M. Peterson, 1909 to 1911, inclusive. Vice President : Geo. H. Prescott, 1893 to 1894, inclusive; Jonathan Freeman, 1895 to 1901, inclusive; Mrs. C. E. Brainerd, 1902; P. Clausen, 1905 to 1908, inclusive. Secretary : Clarence Wedge, 1893 to 1897, inclusive; Mrs. C. E. Brainerd, 1900 to 1901, inclu- sive; Jonathan Freeman, 1902; L. P. H. Highby, 1903 to 1905, inclusive; C. M. Peterson, 1906 to 1908, inclusive. Treasurer : Chris Berthelsen, 1909 to 1911, inclusive.
The Fillmore County Horticultural Society was organized December 19, 1895, at a meeting held in the office of Asa Burle- son, in Spring Valley. D. K. Michener called the meeting to order and was elected temporary chairman. R. Parkhill was elected temporary secretary. An organization committee was appointed with J. B. Greenlee, R. C. Livingston and C. L. Wool- ridge as members, and a committee to draft a constitution and by-laws was also appointed with R. Parkhill, P. Fremer, J. B. Greenlee and J. Marshall as members. Addresses were delivered by O. F. Brand and C. G. Patten. The next day the prospective members again assembled with J. Marshall in the chair. Addresses were delivered in the morning by C. F. Gardner, C. G. Patten, O. F. Brand and R. C. Livingstone. In the afternoon an address was delivered by W. Somerville. Officers of the society were elected as follows: President, D. K. Michener ; secretary, R. Parkhill; treasurer, S. F. Leonard; executive committee, the three officers just named and B. Taylor and H. P. Moon; vice presidents, O. W. Moore, Spring Valley; J. Marshall, Jordan; G. Sheppard, Fillmore; H. Moon, Sumner; B. Taylor, Forest- ville; T. Tousley, Amherst ; L. Hill, Chatfield; R. Graham, Bloom- field; A. Seelye, Canton.
A meeting was held at Spring Valley February 20, 1896, and addresses were delivered by J. Marshall, C. P. Gardner and R. C. Livingston. June 23, 1896, a meeting was held at Preston, with O. W. Moore in the chair. Addresses were delivered by E. S. Leonard and others. It was voted to place an exhibit on view at the county fair, and also to hold a meeting of the association at the fair grounds during fair time.
The annual meeting of 1896 was held at Spring Valley. Officers were elected as follows: l'resident, J. Q. Farmer; vice presidents, O. W. Moore, Spring Valley; J. Mansfield, Jordan ; L. M. Prosser, Fillmore; Oscar Hood, Sumner ; C. Morgan, Forest- ville; L. Hill, Chatfield; A. Seelye, Canton; H. C. Ellergodt, Pilot Mound; secretary, R. Parkhill; treasurer, S. F. Leonard.
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Addresses were delivered by II. P. Moon, C. F. Gardner, Clarence Wedge, C. G. Patten and J. Marshall. Various others also gave talks and there was an interesting program of songs and read- ings.
January 13, 1898, a joint meeting was held at Austin with the Southern Minnesota Horticultural Society, and it was decided at that time to merge the county association with the larger one.
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DR. A. D. BECKER
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CHAPTER XVI
OSTEOPATHY.
Osteopathy as a System or Therapeutics-Andrew Taylor Still the Founder-Importance of the Profession at the Present Time-The First Osteopath in Minnesota-The Present Prac- titioners in Fillmore County-By A. D. Becker, D. O.
In writing the local history of a comparatively new science it might be well to give the reader a brief exposition of what osteopathy is, who its founder was and a word as to the scope of its application. A short but fairly comprehensive definition and description follow :
Osteopathy is a system of therapeutics that depends for its results upon the mechanical adjustment of the various tissues of the body by a series of leverages or manipulations constituting what is known as an osteopathic treatment. Osteopathy bases its treatment of disease on the well recognized physiological facts, that the function and well being of every tissue and organ of the body is dependent upon its blood and nerve supply, and that nature has provided all the vital forces and chemicals necessary for the maintenance of health and the repair of dis- cased conditions. Health is natural, disease is unnatural. Dis- ease, or abnormal functioning, is caused by an interference with the blood supply or blood drainage of the part diseased, or by an interference with the normal and proper nerve impulses to that part, or both. Osteopathy has discovered that such inter- ference is mechanical, due to contracted or tightened muscles or ligaments, or to the abnormal relations of the bones, the frame work upon which the softer tissues of the body depend for sup- port and protection ; such interference constituting what is known as an "osteopathic lesion." Owing to the fact that most of the nerves of the body come from the spine, and that the control of the blood supply to the various organs of the body is largely, if not wholly, through the nerves, osteopathic treatments are mainly given to the spine. It then becomes the duty of the osteopathic physician, to discover the lesions in any particular case and to adjust such lesions to their normal anatomical rela- tion, depending upon the fact that when structure has been made normal, the functioning or action of the parts will return to the normal. The osteopath, in treating a patient, only seeks to
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liberate the natural vital forces and chemicals; thereby assist- ing nature, along natural paths to restore to normal balance and function any parts which may be subject to disease.
In the early days of osteopathy cures were made chiefly in chronic diseases, as people did not have sufficient confidence in the new system to allow the osteopath to handle acute illnesses. But this is rapidly changing and osteopaths are treating more acute cases every year. Osteopathy built up its present standing by curing the incurable cases of old lines of treatment and stands today a complete system of practice, treating successfully both acute and chronic diseases. "Osteopathy then deals with the body as an intricate machine which, if kept in proper adjustment, nourished and cared for, will run smoothly into ripe and useful old age."
Osteopathy was discovered by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still. Dr. Still was a medical practitioner for many years, serving as sur- geon in the Union army during the Civil War. Being a man with an analytical mind and gifted with that rare faculty, the ability to think along original lines, Dr. Still was not satisfied to allow the many failures of his own practice and those of his colleagues to go unexplained, but worked incessantly and studied deeply into the anatomy and physiology of the human body, to determine if there was not some better and more effective way to relieve suffering humanity of its pains and infirmities. In 1874 he announced to his patients at Baldwin, Kans., that he had done with drugs forever, and that he had evolved a system of drugless healing. For eighteen years the struggle was hard and bitter. He was ridiculed, maligned and scoffed at, and met opposition of the most determined sort. Deserted by relatives as well as friends, he moved with his family to Kirksville, Mo., which place was to become the theater of his greatest achievements.
In 1892 he started a school at Kirksville for the purpose of teaching the new science to others. This school, known as the American School of Osteopathy, was the first school of the new system, and with a humble beginning and its dozen or so scholars, has grown to be a large college in the twenty years of its exist- ence, having nearly 800 students in attendance and over three thousand graduates. There are now several colleges of osteopathy located in various parts of this country, all of which maintain a high standard of requirements, and belong to the Associated Colleges of Osteopathy.
There are over five thousand osteopaths, practicing in every state of the Union, in Canada, Mexico and in the leading coun- tries of Europe, Asia and South America. No system of therapy ever gained public recognition and adoption so speedily or fully. Within fifteen years over forty states of the Union have enacted
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laws placing the osteopathic physician on substantially the same legal plane as the old school practitioners, while court decisions in the remaining states have completed the legalization. There is an American Osteopathic Association with over three thousand active members, holding annual meetings in various of the larger cities of the country. Among the many activities of this associa- tion is the financing and establishment of an institute for research work to be located in Chicago and to be known as the A. T. Still Research Institute. There are state associations in every state with subsidiary district, county and city societies.
The first osteopath in Minnesota was Dr. Chas. E. Still, a son of Dr. A. T. Still, who first located in Minneapolis in 1893 and afterwards practiced in Red Wing and St. Paul. There are now about one hundred and twenty-five osteopaths in Minnesota, and this number is being constantly augmented. The law regulating the practice of osteopathy in Minnesota was passed in the early spring of 1903 and became effective in April of the same year.
The history of osteopathy in Fillmore county is necessarily brief. There are two osteopaths in the county.
To the above excellent article on osteopathy the editors of this work have added the following biographies:
Dr. L. V. Read located in Spring Valley in 1909, having previously practiced in Winona. Dr. Read graduated from the Northern Institute of Osteopathy and located in Minneapolis (since bought by the American School of Osteopathy and dis- continued) in 1904. Since locating in Spring Valley Dr. Read has built up a thriving and constantly growing practice and enjoys the confidence and support of his fellow citizens.
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