USA > Minnesota > Freeborn County > History of Freeborn County, Minnesota > Part 22
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The year 1869 marked an important epoch in the agricultural history of Freeborn county. It was this year that the Southern Minnesota came through, and provided an output for the Free- born county wheat, thus making Albert Lea a wheat center of considerable importance. Previous to this, grain had been carted to McGregor, Iowa, or Hastings, Red Wing or Winona. Railroad facilities gave impetus to all farm pursuits, and thousands of acres of wild land were broken every year, from 1869 to 1877. The latter year marked the greatest wheat crop of the finest quality that the county has ever known. The next year the crop was much smaller, and grain raising in the county has, since 1877, gradually decreased, corn-raising and dairying taking its place.
The farmers of Freeborn county have had many difficulties to overcome. The gophers, the blackbirds and the prairie chick- ens were deadly enemies to the crops from the earliest days. Then. too, the climate presented difficulties, for although most of the settlers had considerable experience as farmers, their experience had been in warmer sections, and the climate here, with its early frosts, was a new condition to which they must become accustomed.
The insect pests were not strongly in evidence in the early days. The most serious of these pests, the Colorado beetle, better known as the potato bug, put in an appearance in 1865, and flour- ished until 1870, when the Paris-green method of killing them was introduced, since which date they have been fought successfully. In 1866 the rats made their first appearance in the county, brought here by immigration. Snakes have always been plentiful, but with the exception of certain areas in Shell Rock, in the early days, the deadly rattlers have never been a menace to the Free- born county husbandman. In 1873 the grasshopper plague began
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to work its ravages in the state, but the greatest damage done in Freeborn county by the grasshoppers was in 1876. That year this pest did much damage in the western part of the county, but even there, while the cause of great destruction, they did not totally consume the vegetation, as in some districts in the state.
In 1890 came the greatest impetus of Freeborn county farm- ing, the co-operative creamery and the cream separator being introduced that year. The growth of the dairying interests is discussed in another chapter.
The story of the primitive tools used in the early days, the gradual introduction of modern machinery, and in installation of the windmill, the silo, the hand separator and other improve- ments is a history which this county has in common with all the other counties of southern Minnesota. The almost exclusive use of oxen in the early days, the gradual introduction after the war of horses for farm work, and the still more gradual intro- duction of steam and motor power is also a tale that can be told of all the counties in this region, and is not peculiar to Freeborn county.
The history of the agriculture of Freeborn county would not be complete without mention of the subject of illumination. The original use of the tallow dip and the candle, the gradual intro- duction of coal oil, and the installation in the larger villages of gas and electricity, is the common experience of all new coun- tries. But in this county, there is still another development, that being the introduction in the homes of the gas lights man- ufactured by two companies in Albert Lea, and giving anywhere at a very low cost, an illumination superior to that enjoyed by the patrons of gas and electric plants in the largest cities.
The Grange. During the time of the Grange, or Patrons of Husbandry, flourished throughout the country, Freeborn county was particularly active in perfecting these organizations, until at one time in the early eighties, no less than twenty-five Granges, with a central county Grange, were in existence in Freeborn county. Gradually, however, the societies were allowed to lapse, but not, however, until greatly benefited farming conditions had resulted. Two years ago efforts were made to revive the society in this county and Granges were started at Albert Lea and Alden. The one in Alden is still in existence.
Registered Farms. Several progressive agriculturists in Free- born county have registered the names of their places at the court house. The names registered are as follows :
December 22, 1909, H. Hong, River View Stock and Dairy farm, section 36, Albert Lea. December 16, 1909, Knudt Over- land, Oakland Grain and Stock farm, section 1, Nunda. January 27, 1910, M. J. Doud, Mt. Vernon Poultry and Stock farm, sec-
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tion 28, Newry. March 9. 1910, F. C. Olson, Golden Hill Stock farm, section 30, Hayward. October 8, 1910, Edmund W. Hall, Maplewood farm, section 20, Manchester. November 30, 1910, A. G. Runden, Pleasant View farm, section 4, Freeman. N. E. Lestegaard, Oak Lake Stock farm, section 25 and 26, Newry. Lewis Anderson. Oakland Stock farm, section 14, London. June 24, 1909, Jas. P. Nelson, Maple Leaf Store farm, section 23, Bancroft. June 26, 1909, H. A. Freemott, Pleasant Grove farm, section 5, Alden. July 9, 1909, M. J. Harty, White Light farm, section 3, Geneva. August 30, 1909, Daniel Hess, Side Brook farm, section 23, Freeman. August 30, 1909, Daniel Hess, Fairview farm, section 24, Freeman. September 20, 1909, Lauritz Peterson, The Evergreen farm, section 16, Manchester. September 29, 1909, J. P. Kiel, Meadow Brook farm, section 36, Bancroft. Lewis Anderson. Oakland Stock farm, section 14, London. Sep- tember 11, 1911, Hickory farm, section 2, Ninda. John D. McCall, Oak Lake Stock farm, section 25 and 26, Newry, N. E. Lestegaard.
The Freeborn County Agricultural Society. Agricultural socie- ties and fairs of one sort or another have been in existence in Free- born county at intervals since the earliest days. The present agri- cultural society dates from 1891, when W. A. Morin, Dr. A. C. Wedge, T. A. Vandegrift and others organized a society and started holding fairs at Dr. Wedge's farm, west of the city. T. A. Vandegrift was the first president and Leander Thomas the first secretary. The fairs were held on the farm for many years, and several temporary buildings were erected. Later it became impossible to continue this arrangement, and there ensued an interval, during which several street fairs were held. April 24, 1903, in pursuance with a special act of the legislature, the county purchased forty-five acres northeast of the city, from A. C. Wedge and Laura A. Jenson, guardians of John L. Spicer, then a minor. The grounds have been graded, a race track laid out, a grand stand and various buildings erected, and other im- provements made. The annual fairs are largely attended, and do much toward bettering agricultural conditions; aside from furnishing recreation, and offering suitable rewards in all lines of endeavor, extending from work by the school children to stock raised by the farmers. C. L. Luce, the president of the associa .. tior, is an enthusiastic booster of the project, and has done much toward making the fairs a success. O. M. Peterson is the secre- tary and D. C. Armstrong the treasurer. The board of county commissioners constitute a board of supervisors, and Ole A. Ham- mer. the chairman of that body, has made the fair a matter for special activity. Every voter in the county is entitled to exer- cise the rights of membership in this association.
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CALAMITIES.
Late in the afternoon of June 15, 1892, one of the most de- structive cyclones recorded in the history of Freeborn county, - entered the county at the west line of Freeborn township. It swept back and forth about three miles north of the village of. Freeborn, and passed into Hartland, where one section crossed a mile north of the village, and another, went north through towns in Waseca and Steele counties. The storm entered Freeborn township from Fairbault county and swept across the township in a northeasterly direction. It crossed the county line, after demolishing the residence and other buildings of Edward Tellet, in Fairbault county. The first place which the storm struck in Freeborn was the Althouse farm, owned by Mr. Nelson. Here . the barn and out-buildings were demolished, and nearby barns belonging to John Larrabee, J. Tellet and Samuel Lowry were blown down. The house of Mr. Steen and family was next struck and here the only fatal result of the storm in this town- ship occurred. A son, seven years of age, was killed and the wife and daughter seriously injured. A barn and granary belong- ing to Truman Bowen was next blown down, also a large barn of Henry Thades'. From Mr. Thades' place the storm seemed to move north for a half a mile or more, to the school section. Here, it is said, three gigantic clouds came together forming a funnel shaped mass, which whirled like a spinning wheel. It first struck the house and stables belonging to M. Evenson, and injured all the members of the family, carrying one child into a field, where he was found two hours later. About eighty rods to the northwest stood the house of Mr. Shequin, which had been erected two years previous. This was struck by the storm and scattered over the fields. The family had seen the cloud and taken refuge in a straw stable, so escaped injury. The next damage reported was the destruction of Halvor Westby's house, outbuildings, machinery and windmill. Mr. Westby and his wife having taken refuge in the cellar, were uninjured. Across the road from the Westby place stood the home of Thomas Johnson. This had the roof blown off, and the granary, horse stable, and most of his farm machinery was destroyed. About sixty rods north of Mr. Johnson's home stood the new house belonging to Emory McColley. This was blown to pieces. Mrs. McColley and her two children had taken refuge in a milk cellar and so escaped. Mr. McColley was away at the time. The storm next struck the house on the Southwick place, which was occupied by Hans Amundson. Mr. Amundson, his wife and four children were in the house, which was lifted from its foundation and carried sev- eral rods, then dashed ot pieces, injuring all members of the
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family. The Dwyer farm was next struck and considerable damage done, after which the storm crossed Spicer Lake and blew down a house, injuring the occupant. On the east side of the lake stood an unoccupied house belonging to Lincoln Drake; this was blown down and with it a greater part of the grove which surrounded it. Some distance beyond this farm stood the fine residence of F. D. Drake; this was crushed as were also his machinery shed, well house and wind mill, and the granary, un- roofed. Andrew Paulson's house on the east side of the town was swept away and with it the outbuildings and machinery. The following is a summary of the damage done in Freeborn township : F. D. Drake, $2,000 ; Halvor Westby, $1,000; James Shequin, $700 ; Mickle Evenson, $500; Thomas Johnson, $700; Emory McColly, $400; Andrew Paulson, $700; Mahlon Steen, $500; Hans Amund- son, $200; O. F. Southwick, $400; Lincoln Drake, $200; Dazelle Bros., $150; also barns belonging to Henry Thade, Jay Tellet, Sam Lowry, Truman Bowen and others. After leaving Freeborn town- ship the storm swept through Hartland and Bath. F. E. Phipps, the day after the storm, wrote the following description of the damage done in Hartland and Bath townships: "As the result of the storm which passed through this region, Andrew Hanson is dead. He was standing in Chris Nygard's barn door, and in- stantly killed. Ole Nygard, who was standing near, was saved by oats from a bin above covering him, but he was somewhat injured. Peter Hanson saved the lives of himself and family by going into a cellar. J. J. Sullivan lost a new house, which was nearly completed. Chris Nygard lost a barn, wind mill, farm ma- chinery and a valuable horse, and several horses were injured. Frank Kruger lost a large and costly barn, and a stone wall three feet thick was demolished while his grove fruit trees and wind- mill were nearly entirely demolished. Thomas Brothers lost a windmill, granary and a part of their grove. Carl Hendrickson lost a barn, windmill, and a greater part of his grove. Chris. M. Christopherson lost half of the roof of his house and shanty. Halvor Sibilrud lost a large barn, outbuildings, windmill and a part of his grove. The schoolhouse in District 85 was completely demolished. Lynne Bros. lost a large barn, which had recently been completed. also his windmill, outbuildings and grove were practically destroyed. Dennis Nolan's windmill, milkhouse water tank and other property were destroyed. M. Sheehan's wind mill and outbuildings were destroyed, and James Lorger- son's house across the line in Steele county was destroyed. The Lutheran church building in Berlin was entirely demolished. After leaving Hartland and Bath, the storm entered Geneva, and M. M. Jones' residence was overturned, landing first on the roof and then turning on its side. Several persons were in the house
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at this time and severely injured. John Hinds' house was turned around and others of his buildings were destroyed. A school- house in Steele county was utterly demolished.
On July 5, 1902, a furious hurricane swept across Freeborn county from the southwest. It passed across the first ward of the city of Albert Lea and, striking the baseball ground, lifted the grand stand, carried it about twenty-five feet, then hurled it to the ground, completely demolishing it. The gale then seemed to leap to Fountain and Water streets, where it twisted off trees which were a foot in diameter, also broke limbs from other trees. A portion of H. H. Dunn's residence on Vine street was entirely denuded of shingles. Several barns nearby were moved from their foundation and partly wrecked. The gale also swept to the lake and did considerable damage to the trees at Ballard's Point, and many trees further south of the city were more or less injured. Fierce hurricanes also visited other portions of the county at this time. At Freeborn village many trees were torn off, and a large barn, located about a mile to the north, owned by I. H. Seath, was demolished. Mr. Seath and a man were in the barn at the time milking, but they escaped without serious injury, as did also the horses and cattle. After doing a great deal of dam- age in the northern part of this county the storm passed on into adjoining counties, where it wrecked homes and killed several people.
On Sunday afternoon, July 23, 1895, a heavy rain storm in Albert Lea and adjacent townships was followed by one of the worst cyclones which had ever visited the county. This seemed to form in Morin and Mason's pasture west of Alden, then it leaped a distance of six miles and struck the farm owned by William Schmidt, in Section 30, Pickerel Lake. Here it wrought great havoc; the large barn with its contents was entirely de- stroyed, while outbuildings, fences and trees were torn down. It then swept to Fred Yost's farm on Section 29, where it hurled a new barn into the air, scattered it on the fields, wrecked a wind- mill and outbuildings, twisted trees and killed a horse and cow. Herman Klukow's place on the northwest quarter of Section 30 was next struck, and here a barn was demolished, a corner of his residence torn away, a small granary lifted and tossed over high willow trees, then set down; chimneys were blown down and a water tank was carried back from the course of the cyclone, and large trees twisted and broken. The storm then swept across the farm of August Lenz and tore the windmill off its tower and did other damage, after which it swept to William Marpe's farm, where it reached the climax of its fury. Its pathway, which had been about ten rods in width, here widened to a width of nearly 100 rods. Mr. Marpe's large barn was destroyed, part of his resi-
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dence torn away, the windmill, corn crib, machine sheds, were hurled to destruction. George Hall's home was next struck, and his windmill wrecked and other damage done. Here the storm rose and spread through the southern part of Albert Lea and Freeman townships, where it turned into a wild gale of rain and hail and destroyed many fields of grain.
W. A. BESSESEN, M. D.
CHAPTER XVIII.
PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS.
Importance of the Medical Profession-The Pioneer Doctors-
History of Medicine in this County Begins with Dr. A. C. Wedge-Medical Associations-The Albert Lea District Med- ical Association-The Freeborn County Medical Society.
"Men most nearly resemble the gods when They afford health to their fellow men."
In an age when, in the combat of man against man, heroes are worshipped according to the number they slay in battle, it is inspiring and elevating to be permitted to pay tribute to the men who won glory in fighting disease and through whose devo- tion and skill thousands of useful lives have been saved and been made happy.
For every man slain by Caesar, Napoleon and Grant in all their bloody campaigns, Jenners, Pasteur and Lister have saved alive a thousand. The first anaesthetic has done more for the real happiness of mankind than all the philosophers from Soc- rates to Mills. Society laurels the soldier and the philosopher and practically ignores the physician. Few remember his labors, for what Sir Thomas Browne said three hundred years ago is surely true: "The iniquity of oblivion blindly scattereth her poppy and deals with the memory of men without distinction to merit to perpetuity."
Medicine is the most cosmopolitan of the three great "learned" professions. Medicine never built a prison or lit a fagot, never incited men to battle or crucified any one. Saint and sinner, white and black, rich and poor, are equal and alike when they cross the sacred portals of the temple of Aesculapius. No other secular profession has ever reached such a consciousness of duties which it corporately owes to the rest of the world. What are the principles which a profession, more profuse in its dis- interested charities than any other profession in the world has established for its guidance ?
It was about 2,300 years that the practicers of the art of heal- ing began to take an oath emphasizing the responsibilities which the nobility and holiness of the art imposed upon them. Hip- pocrates, forever to be revered, gave the oath his name.
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Robert Louis Stevenson, seeing the life of the medical man only from without, was not far wrong when he spoke of the modern scientific medical man as probably the noblest figure of the age. The noble and exalted character of the ancient pro- fession of medicine is surpassed by no sister science in the mag- nificence of its gift. Reflecting upon its purity, beneficence and grandeur it must be accorded to be the noblest of professions. Though the noblest of professions it is the newest of trades. Unless the physician will live a life of purity, of virtue, of honor and of honesty. he should seek a livelihood elsewhere, and "insult not the gods by striving through base methods and ignoble ambi- tions in resembling them."
The true physician will make his profession no trade, but will administer his duties with the love of man in his heart and the glory of God in his soul, his aim will be: to be accurate in diag- nosis and painstaking in prescribing. to allow no prejudice nor theory to interfere with the relief of human suffering and the saving of human life ; to lay under contribution every source of information, be it humble or exalted, that can be made useful in the cure of disease; to be kind to the poor, sympathetic with the sick, ethical toward medical colleagues and courteous toward all men; to regard his calling as that of one anointed to holy office, firmly convinced that no nobler work can be given to man and to go forth to his labor with love for humanity, inspired with a reverent assurance that for this cause came he into the world.
The reward of such a man, says Prof. T. Gaillard Thomas, "comes from the hand of no emperor; his glory from the appre- ciation of no applauding multitude; his renown from the pen of no fulsome historian. For him the victor's crown comes from the hand of the immortal God. He that has done the greatest good for his fellow man, has, in the doing of it, won the greatest reward in earth's possession, even though no mortal man know of the deed but him !"'
The true physician is he who has a proper conception and estimation of the real character of his profession: whose intel- lectual and moral fitness give weight, standing and character in the consideration and estimation of society and the public at large. His privileges and powers for good or for evil are great ; in fact no other profession, calling or vocation in this life occupies such a delicate relation to the human family.
There is a tremendous developing and educating power in medical work. The medical man is almost the only member of the community who does not make money out of his important discoveries. It is a point of honor with him to allow the whole world to profit by his researches when he finds a new remedy for disease. The greatest and best medical and surgical discoveries
et the Street
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and inventions have been free gifts to suffering humanity the moment their value was demonstrated. The reward of the phy- sician is in the benefit which the sick and helpless receive, and in the gratitude, which should not be stinted, of the community at large. Medical men are not angels ; they are in fact very human creatures with hard work to do, and often many mouths to feed ; but there is a strain of benevolence in all their work. From the beginning they are taught a doctrine of helpfulness to others, and are made to think that their life work should not be one in which every service must receive its pecuniary reward. The physician is a host in himself, a natural leader among his fellow- men, a center of influence for the most practical good, an efficient helper in times of direst need, a trusted and honest citizen. What more can any prophet ask than honor in his own country and a daily welcome among his own friends !
It does not take long for the waves of oblivion to close over those who have taken a most prominent and active part in the affairs of the day. The life of the pioneer doctor is no exception to this law, for as Dr. John Browne tells us, "It is the lot of the successful medical practitioner to be invaluable when alive, and to be forgotten soon after he is dead, and this is not altogether or chiefly from any special ingratitude or injustice on the part of mankind, but from the very nature of the case." However, the pioneer physician still lives in the memory of many of us, though he is now more rare as an individual than in the years gone by, and is gradually passing out of existence. The history, written and unwritten, of the pioneer physician of Freeborn county, as elsewhere, presents him to view as working out the destiny of the wilderness, hand in hand with the other forces of civilization for the common good. He was an integral part of the primitive social fabric. As such he shared the manners, the customs, the aims, and the ambitions of his companions, and he, with them, was controlled by the forces which determine the common state and the common destiny. The chief concern of himself and companions were materially engaged with the serious problem of existence. The struggle to survive was, at its best, a competition with nature. Hard winters and poor roads were the chief impediments. Only rough outlines remain of the heroic and adventurous side of the pioneer physician's long, active and honored life. The imagination cannot, unaided by the facts, picture the primitive conditions with which he had to contend. Long and dreary rides, by day and night, in summer's heat and winter's cold, through snow, and mud, and rain, was his com- mon lot. He trusted himself to the mercy of the elements, crossed unbridged streams, made his way through uncut forests, and traveled the roadless wilderness. He spent one-fifth of his life in
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his conveyance, and in some cases traveled as many as two hun- dred thousand miles in the same.
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes has graphically described the old doctor's daily routine: "Half a dollar a visit-drive. drive, drive, all day ; get up in the night and harness your own horse- drive again ten miles in a snowstorm ; shake powders out of a vial-drive back again, if you don't happen to be stuck in a drift ; no home, no peace, no continuous meals, no unbroken sleep, no Sunday, no holiday, no social intercourse, but eternal jog, jog, jog in a sulky."
He always responded to the call of the poor, and gave freely his services to those who could not pay without hardship. Who can narrate the past events in the life of such a man? His deeds were "written upon the tablets of loving and grateful hearts, and the hearts are now dust. The long and exhausting rides through storm, or mud or snow; the exposure to contagions ; the patient vigils by the bedside of pain; the kindly deeds of charity ; the reassuring messages to the despondent; the shield- ing of the innocent ; the guarding of secrets ; the numberless self- abnegations that cannot be tabulated, and are soon forgotten, like the roses of yesterday."
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