USA > Minnesota > Freeborn County > History of Freeborn County, Minnesota > Part 27
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which he has introduced to this section of the state, among which the following are worthy of special mention: 1st-The Hibernal apple, now generally recognized as the standard of hardiness and the best of all stocks to topwork with winter varieties; 2d-The Beta grape, the first good grape to endure this climate unpro- tected ; 3d-The Spirea Van Houttei, the most popular of all orna- mental shrubs; 4th-The Hybrid Rugosa roses, the first of the everblooming roses to live through Minnesota winters without cover; 5th-The Rocky Mountain conifers, such as the Colorado blue spruce, the Douglas and Concolor fir and the Ponderosa pine, now generally recognized as making the most satisfactory ever- greens to plant in Minnesota and the Dakotas. In addition to this Mr. Wedge was one of the first to recognize the value of the ever- green as a shelter tree for the western prairies and has made it a special object to encourage its planting for windbreak purposes. The larger share of the beautiful evergreen belts that protect the farm homes of Freeborn and adjoining counties were grown and distributed from the Wedge Nursery.
For a considerable period Mr. Wedge's place was used as an experiment station for new trees and fruits introduced by the state, and so much of interest has accumulated about the nur- sery that it has become a Mecca for the horticulturists of the Mis- sissippi valley.
There is perhaps nothing in which Mr. Wedge takes more pride than in the young men who have been employed with him at va- rious times and having caught some of his enthusiasm for plant life have taken up horticultural work for themselves. Among these may be mentioned : George W. Strand of Taylor's Falls, Minn., the largest and best-known nurseryman of northern Minne- sota ; O. M. Peterson, the proprietor of the Albert Lea Nursery, president of the Southern Minnesota Horticultural Society, and present secretary of the Freeborn County Agricultural Society ; L. P. H. Highby, president of the Freeborn County Horticultural Society, and member of the park board of Albert Lea, a recognized authority in northern pomology; J. O. Share of Albert Lea, pro- prietor of the Norden Nursery ; Chris. M. Jensen of Albert Lea, a specialist in the dahlia, and superintendent of the horticultural de- partment at the county fair ; Chris. Berthelsen, of Albert Lea, for some years a nurseryman, and present secretary of the Freeborn County Horticultural Society.
CHAPTER XXII.
EARLY ALBERT LEA.
Picturesque Location-Ruble and Merry Arrive in 1855-Colby and Lilly Settle in the Township-Merry Sells to Thorne and Wedge-Settlers of 1856-Principal Arrivals of 1857-Platting the Village-Early Business Interests-Albert Lea in 1858- Hotels.
For centuries the present site of Albert Lea lay untouched by the work of man. No more beautiful landscape could be found than that seen by the first pioneers of this vicinity, standing on the high plateau where the postoffice is now located and look- ing southeast at the distant view of Lake Albert Lea. Her green sloping shores, studded with scattering burr oak trees, her waters sparkling and deep, her coastline well defined and free from marsh or weeds, all combined to make a scene of surpassing love- liness. Where the Rock Island station is now located the water was deep and clear as crystal. Fountain lake, it is true, was marshy and unsightly. But it was hid from view by a skirt of large timber. extending from Bridge street to Park avenue west, and covering all the Ballard's point north of Mariners' lane. Where Spring Lake park is now located was a picturesque sheet of water on whose bosom were found many wild ducks. To the south, distant hills were covered with scattering burr oak trees, lending pleasing variety to the rolling landscape and giving promise of the fruitfulness which would follow the effort of the husbandman.
The nearly three-score years which have passed since then have wrought an almost unbelievable change. The plateau is now the site of the thriving city, with its busy paved streets, its prosperous mercantile and business houses, its successful fac- tories, and its beautiful residences surrounded with velvet lawns. Lake Albert Lea is now unsightly, partly filled up and with marshy shores unpleasing to the eye. Fountain lake is a pretty sheet of water, circled by a well-kept boulevard and skirted with comfortable residences, well-trimmed lawns, grassy slopes and scattering timber. In the distance well-tilled farms, sub- stantial country homes and productive pastures have taken the place of burr oak and wild grass, and excellent thoroughfares and modern railways ramify the landscape in every direction.
The first settler on the present site of Albert Lea was Lo- renzo Merry, who came June 1, 1855, and built a cabin on the
246
WILLIAM MORIN 1827-1887
WILLIAM A. MORIN 1864
WILLIAM T. MORIN 1894
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southeast corner of Washington and Water streets. He had previously, however, been here earlier in the year and camped several days. Merry was a native of New York state and he and another man left that state under a cloud, it being alleged that they had borrowed $10,000 which they had failed to repay. In 1853 Merry came west and settled at the present site of Merry's Ford in Iowa, on the Cedar, three miles below the Iowa state line. In 1854 he lost all that he possessed. Accordingly in the spring of 1855 lie started out with his wife and four children, Edward, John, Nettie and Fetty, ranging from twelve to five years, to seek a home further to the westward. He had two covered wagons, household equipment and a herd of loose cattle. Arriving at the beautiful prairie now occupied by Albert Lea he camped for several days and then continued westward, visit- ing the vicinity of Winnebago City and other places. Finding nothing to suit him he came back to Albert Lea, June 1, 1855, and became its first settler.
Merry pre-empted a quarter section on the west side of what is now Broadway, described as follows: The southeast quarter of the northeast quarter; the east half of the southeast quarter, and the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter, all in section 8. Merry sold one forty to Thomas Thorne and three forties to Lucius P. Wedge. He reserved for himself small pieces of land, including the site of his home. In 1858 he moved to the north bank of Walnut lake, Faribault county, five miles southwest of Wells, where he erected a large farmhouse which he conducted as a country hotel. Later he moved to a point twenty-five miles above Bismarck on the Missouri river in North Dakota. He died some thirty years ago.
While Merry was the first settler on the present site of Albert Lea, he was an impediment to progress. He was coarse and uncouth and far from desirable as a town proprietor. The great- est blessing which Albert Lea has ever had was the sale of the major portion of the Merry claim to Lucius P. Wedge. Mr. Wedge was a man of attractive personality, culture, refinement and much business ability, and though he died early, his owner- ship of a part of the original town plat was a most important influence in making Albert Lea the city it is today. This pur- chase brought here his brother-in-law, Austin D. Clark ; his widow, Mary Felicia Clark Wedge, who afterwards married Augustus Armstrong; his niece, Margaret Wedge, who married William Morin ; his nephew, Dr. A. C. Wedge, his young son, Clarence Wedge, and several others. All of these had an important part in molding the life of the community. The residence of L. P. Wedge here was very short. He spent the winter of 1856-57 at Merry's and then went back to Wisconsin. After a search for
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health in various places, he died without ever again seeing his Minnesota village.
The second comer to Albert Lea was George S. Ruble. Ruble was a resident of Beloit, Wis. He came to Freeborn county in July, 1855, and looking over the slough that is now Fountain lake, decided that the lower end was a suitable location for a dam and mill. In examining the country further, he concluded that possibly the outlet of Albert Lea lake in section 25 was a better site. LyBrand and Thompson had started the village of St. Nicholas in section 26, a mile west of this latter site, and doubtless Mr. Ruble's sound business sense convinced him that the concentration of efforts at one point, with a mill nearby, would be better than attempting to start a diversity of town- sites. Accordingly he proposed to LyBrand and Thompson that he go into partnership with them and be given half the townsite of St. Nicholas in return for building a mill and booming the village for county seat honors. On this proposition hung the future of Albert Lea. Had it been accepted the site of the pres- ent city would doubtless still be a stretch of farming and graz- ing lands. But LyBrand and Thompson shortsightedly rejected the proposition and Ruble decided to establish a village of his own. Accordingly he came to Albert Lea and during the au- tumn brought his wife and son; Charles Newton Ruble, here, building his cabin at 522 Bridge street. This cabin was a double log house, eighteen by eighteen and fourteen by eighteen feet. Ruble made preparations for building a dam and the next year erected a mill.
Ruble's claim lay on the 'east side of Broadway and was described as follows: The southeast quarter of the northwest quarter ; the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter, and the west half of the southwest quarter, all in section 9. In 1856 lie platted land on the east side of Broadway, the plat being sur- veved by Charles C. Colby. Later lie platted a tract east of the present city.
With Ruble as workmen came Saxon C. Roberts, Joseph Will- ford, who was afterwards frozen to death in Martin county ; Charles F. Warren, H. V. Henderson, A. Ableman, J. Adrian, L. C. Roberts. John B. Lenox, John Ryan, Louis Osgood, Edward Murphy, Arthur Boulton, Edward Henderson and David Irons. The payroll of these men commenced on November 2, 1855. Of these but two remained in the county after the Civil War. Ryan lived a number of years in Nunda township and then moved to the southern part of Steele county, where he died. Murphy acquired considerable land east of the city and remained in this vicinity until his death a few years ago.
A settlement was also made in the northwestern part of the
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township in 1855. Early in the spring of that year a party of eastern people left Wisconsin, where they had stopped for a time, and headed toward southern Minnesota. The party con- sisted of Bethuel Lilly and wife, John Colby and wife and the seven Colby children, six daughters and one son. They arrived at Caledonia, Houston county, this state, May 18, 1855, and there part of the little colony decided to remain, while the balance should push on further west in search of homes. Accordingly C. C. Colby and Sarah Jane Colby, afterward Mrs. Orville Ken- field, now deceased, and Mr. and Mrs. Bethuel Lilly came to Freeborn county and settled in section 6, Albert Lea township. In the fall C. C. Colby went back to Caledonia and brought here two of his sisters, Mary A., now Mrs. Daniel Hurd, and Mar- garet Ellen, now Mrs. Isaac Botsford. The next year the parents came and with them four more daughters, Emily, now Mrs. An- thony Huyck; Elizabeth, now Mrs. O. F. Peck; Clara, now Mrs. Leander J. Thomas, and Maria, now Mrs. Hanibal Bickford, deceased.
The spring of 1856 opened with but five houses at or near what is now Albert Lea city. The locations of Ruble, Merry, Colby and LyBrand and Thompson have been mentioned. A man named Wilder had a cabin on section 12, Pickerel Lake township, two miles west of the city. This man Wilder left hurriedly in the spring of 1856, selling his claim to John Ruble. Wilder had been selling whisky to the Indians and learned that the govern- ment officials were on his trail, hence his hasty leavetaking.
In the spring of 1856 came William Morin, Julius Clark. Will- iam Kellar, J. D. Dudley, J. C. Baer, John Ruble, David Stilson, A. W. White, Daniel Hurd, Hanibal Bickford and Benjamin Frost. Peter Clausen, Bradford Blackmer and the Hoopes, fa- ther and son (Moses and George P), came some time during the year. In the fall came Capt. Thomas Thorne, Isaac W. McRey- nolds and Lucius P. Wedge. Probably there were others, more or less transient, whose names are not recalled. All of these mentioned were not actually within the township, but as the vil- lage was their business and social center they were regarded as Albert Lea people.
Morin boarded with Merry and took land in the west part of present city. His biography appears elsewhere.
Julius Clark was the first merchant in Albert Lea. The early fifties found him engaged in the mercantile business in Ohio. Adversity staring him in the face in the fall of 1855, he quietly boxed a portion of his goods and shipped them to the Ohio river, thence down that river and up the Mississippi to Brownsville, Minn., in the southeastern corner of the state: In March. 1856, he arrived in the prospective village of Albert Lea. Ruble per-
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suaded him that this was the proper place for his activities and presented him with two lots. In May notice was received that the goods had arrived at Brownsville. Clark had no money and William Morin, George S. Ruble and William Kellar advanced him the wherewithal to pay the freight and bring the goods here. When the goods arrived no building had been erected and they were unloaded on the open prairie in front of 119 East Clark street. A "bee" was at once gotten up and the entire popula- tion loaned a hand in erecting a small log hut at that location. It is from this man that the street takes its name. Mr. Clark lived in the store and kept house for himself. He remained here about two years and then closed out and went back to 'Ohio .. It is worthy of note that the first purchase made at the store was that of a door latch by William Kellar, this latch being still preserved in the family.
Bradford Blackmer came in 1856 and purchased the Stilson claim west of the city. He boarded with Clark and stayed but a short time. He visited the county later, but never again located here.
William Kellar took up land in the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 17. He boarded at Merry's for a while and then built a cabin for himself. In September he went back to Wisconsin and brought his family here. This family arrived September 27, 1856, and consisted of a wife and three sons, Curtis B., William G. and Martin V., aged respectively ten, eight and six years.
J. D. Dudley came from Ohio and took a claim in section 17. In July he went back and got his family, consisting of a wife and one girl, two years old. For a time they lived in the cov- ered wagon in which they came and spent the first winter at the cabin of J. C. Baer. His son, Frank C. Dudley, born October 8, 1856. was the first white child born in the township. Mr. Dud- ley moved to the city of Albert Lea many years ago and died some time since.
J. C. Baer settled in section 17. In 1859 he moved to Colo- rado, but came back in 1864 and enlisted in Company C, First Minnesota Heavy Artillery. In 1865 he was married at La- porte. Ind .. to a Miss Ward, a resident of Freeborn county. Later he again moved to Colorado. had three children and there lost his wife. In 1891 he came back to Albert Lea and in-May, 1892, died at the Minnesota Soldiers' Home in Minneapolis.
David Stilson. an American, with a large family located on section 8. Albert Lea township. in the spring of 1856. but sold his claim to the Blackmer family in October of the same year and in the spring of 1857 removed to the banks of the Blue Earth
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river. a short distance below the present site of Winnebago ('ity. Mr. Blackmer lived on this farm until his death in 1877.
John Ruble, was a member of the farming community which formed about the village of Albert Lea. His claim, however, was over the line in section 12, Pickerel Lake, where he bought out one Wilder, and there spent the remainder of his days.
A. W. White, like Ruble, settled on section 12, Pickerel Lake. His biography appears elsewhere.
Hannibal Bickford, who had previously been elsewhere in the county, located in section 36, in the township of Manchester. His was the first marriage in the county. He lived in the county many years, then went to Tacoma, Wash.
Daniel Hurd came in the early season of 1856 and located east of Hatch bridge, directly north of the city, in section 5. The place is now known as the Washington Lee farm. Hurd was at that time unmarried. He filed on his land and boarded at. Merry's. On January 13, 1857, he was married and erected at 121 East Clark street, the first house which was built in the platted portion of the city. He has a widow and two sons, George and Frank, still living in Albert Lea.
Timothy J. Sheehan worked for Ruble and lived at his house. He attained distinction in the Indian campaign and served many years as sheriff of the county. He now lives in St. Paul.
Benjamin Frost and large family settled in section 19, Ban- croft township. He lived here several years after the war, and then went to Missouri. The family consisted of four sons, Gard- ner, Mahlon L., Jacob C., and Benjamin Jr., and three daughters, Mary, Ellen and Flora.
Peter Clausen took a claim in the southwest quarter of section 5, Albert Lea township. His family remained many years. It has been said that Clausen came as early as 1855 and that his father-in-law, Even Evenson Keale (Quale) came at the same time.
The Hoopes remained but a short time; their claim was some three miles east of the village.
Capt. Thomas Thorne located with his family near the present site of the Episcopal church on Park avenue. He left about 1858. He purchased forty acres from Merry and was one of the original town proprietors.
Isaac W. McReynolds had served in the Black Hawk War and participated in the battle of Bad Axe. He arrived here October 4, 1856, and lived a year with William Kellar. He took up a claim in section 7, one mile west of the courthouse and built a house and broke the land. In 1857 he brought his family here and remained here until his death at a very old age. He farmed, preached and officiated at funerals. He was often
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called upon to preside at weddings, but not having joined the conference was not qualified to do so.
Lucius P. Wedge spent but a short time here, but exerted a lasting influence on the city. His biography appears elsewhere.
The opening of the year of 1857 found but six buildings in the village. The Ruble house was at 522 Bridge street, and his mill was at the foot of Fountain lake. The Thorne house was on Park avenue, between Grove and Fountain streets. An empty build- ing, erected as a store, but later used as a schoolhouse was on the southeast corner of the present postoffice block; Clark's store was at 119 East Clark street, and Merry's house was at the southeast corner of Washington and Water streets. The winter had been the most severe ever known in Minnesota. After a snowfall of four feet came a drizzling sleet followed by a sharp freeze. thus forming a heavy crust. The settlers suffered the discomforts of the cold weather, but there was not that distress- ing lack of provisions which was felt the following winter.
In 1857, the arrivals in Albert Lea village were as follows: Samuel Eaton and wife; A. P. Swineford and N. T. Grey, single ; D. Cheney Brock Woodruff, wife, and fifteen-year-old son ; William Grey, single ; James Kenyon and family ; Dr. A. C. Wedge, single ; John G. Godley, single; Fritz Ewald, Truman Robinson and family; Isaac Botsford, single; D. G. Parker, single; A. B. Webber, single; Ruben Williams and family, Timothy Sheehan, single; Austin D. Clark, single; C. N. Norton and family ; J. W. Brownsell and family; R. J. Horning, single; H. T. Smith, single ; S. C. Sears, single ; J. France, single ; John Q. Fitzgerald ; David Crowfoot and family; a number of men who worked for Ruble and various transients, including Newcomer and Barnes who planned to open a store.
Among those who came to the township in 1857, were: Dr. Franklin Blackmer and family; Father Isaac W. McRenolds family ; J. B. Clifton and family ; Andrew and Thomas Wilson with mother and a number of brothers and sisters; John and Jerry Calahan and the wife of the former; John Murtaugh and family ; Ole Stugo and family; B. J. House and son; Leander Cooley and family; Chauncey Cooley and family; George W. Webster and family; John Y. Edleman; William H. Hoag and family, and possibly others.
Albert Lea in 1858. When the first term of public school closed in Albert Lea in March, 1858, there were but nineteen buildings of any importance in the village. Capt. Thomas Thorne had a house about where the Episcopal church is now located. A small brick house, built by John Y. Edleman had been erected on the southwest corner of Clark and St. Mary's street. S. C. Sears had started a house, which was later torn down, on the
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east side of St. Mary's street between Clark and Water streets. Kenyon's hotel, built by George P. Hoopes, in 1857, stood on the southwest corner of Clark and Washington streets. Lorenzo Merry's residence was on the southeast corner of Washington . and Water streets. Five buildings stood on the west side of Broadway. John W. Brownsill's house, which in after years was known as the Eaton house, was on the southwest corner of Broadway and Water streets. The office of Dr. A. C. Wedge, which was also occupied by William Morin was on the west side of Broadway, between Clark and William streets. North of it was a small building used as an office by Augustus Armstrong. The Webber house was on the northwest corner of Broadway and Main; and north of it was a house erected by H. D. Brown. On the east side of Broadway, a short distance north of William street was a building in which William L. Gray kept a saloon. On the north side of Clark street, a short distance east of Broadway, stood the first frame house in the village, built by Daniel Hurd in 1857. This building was long known as the Stacy house. West of this was Clark's log store. The post- office, kept by Samuel Eaton, was on the west side of Newton street, between Clark and William. Alf. P. Swineford's house was on the northwest corner of Elizabeth and Clark street. The old log store, in which Austin Clark kept school, was on the northwest corner of William and Elizabeth street. North of this was the printing office of the "Southern Minnesota Star." Ruble's house and mill were on the east side of Bridge street.
PLATTING THE VILLAGE.
Platting the village. The land comprising the principal parts of the city of Albert Lea was pre-empted in 1856 by Lorenzo Merry and George S. Ruble. Merry pre-empted the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter; the east half of the southeast quarter; and the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter: all in section 8. Part of this lay in Fountain lake. Ruble pre- empted the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter; the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter ; and the west half of the southwest quarter, all in section 9. August 13, 1856, Merry sold the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter to Capt .. Thomas A. Thorne for $200.00, and these three, Ruble, Merry and Thorne platted the town of Albert Lea.
Each proprietor donated a square for public use. The present courthouse square was donated by Ruble, and the present public square, by Merry. Thorne donated the third block west of Broadway, north of College street and south of Spring lake for college purposes. This latter block not being used for the
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purpose for which it was intended reverted to Thorne's successor. This block is now the middle of block 4, the Danish Lutheran church being near its southwest corner.
The plat was surveyed by C. C. Colby. It was filed with the register of deeds of Dodge county, October 29, 1856. It is inter- esting to note that in one of the acknowledgments of the filing of the original plat appear the words "Village of Lake Albert Lea," but aside from this the town has borne its present name from the very beginning. The plat was filed with the register of deeds of Freeborn county, February 24, 1859. In the meantime, February 3, 1857, Merry transferred to Lucius P. Wedge for $2,500, the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter ; the north- west quarter of the southeast quarter; and the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter, all in section 8; reserving for himself the east halves of blocks 8 and 6 and also lots 13 and 16 in block 3, which on January 6, 1857, had been deeded to Dexter and Ripley.
Dr. A. C. Wedge came here as the representative of Lucius P. Wedge, but after the death of the latter, Austin D. Clark was his administrator. Thorne disposed of his interests to William Morin. Owing to a stretching of the chain when the original survey was made, various complications ultimately arose, and in 1868, and again in 1873 certain acts of the legislature legalized the plat of the city and also dealt with the vacating of several small tracts. Since the recording of the original plat many additions, sub-divisions and out-lots have been platted.
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