USA > Minnesota > Freeborn County > History of Freeborn County, Minnesota > Part 9
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At this time the young towns that had sprung up were : Albert Lea on sections 8 and 9, Albert Lea township, principal proprietors George S. Ruble. L. P. Wedge. Thomas Thorne and
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HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY
William Morin; St. Nicholas, three miles southeast of Albert Lea, LyBrand and Thompson proprietors ; Shell Rock City (now Glen- ville), on the west bank of the Shell Rock river, eight miles south- east of Albert Lea, A. H Bartlett, Fred Cutler, Edward Skinner and others, proprietors; Fairfield on the west bank of Rice lake in Riceland township, Samuel Beardsley, proprietor; and Itasca, three and a half miles northwest of Albert Lea, Dr. A. M. Burn- ham and Charles Colby, proprietors. All these and Bancroft were candidates for the county seat, although at that time the proprietors of the latter place had not even broken ground or taken any steps to build a town, in fact they had not even recorded their plat. Ruble had been here two years and had spent quite a little fortune in improving the water power and building a fine saw mill. He was not asking for the county seat to build a town, but was trying to build a city to make a fit place for the county seat. Lorenzo Merry had opened his log house almost a year before this. Julius Clark had a little log building which he lived in, was postmaster and kept a small stock of mer- chandise. Captain Thorne lived with his family near what is now Park avenue; Wm. Morin was then unmarried, had a claim which now is a part of the city site. Daniel Hurd and his wife occupied the house on the claim and Morin lived with them. Soon afterward the Hurds moved to the first frame house finished on the town site, the location being on the north side of Clark street a few rods east of Broadway. I arrived May 10, 1857. Augustus Armstrong arrived about the same time and we both built offices on Broadway. John Ruble and Capt. A. W. White owned and occupied farms not far west of the town site and both were identified with the interests of the prospective town. Swineford and Grey were here when I came and a dwelling and a building for a printing office were under way. Soon after this there was quite an influx of young active men, many of whom held land claims in the vicinity of the town, but made the town their headquarters. I now recall to mind Austin D. Clark, David Cheeney, Geo. Watrous, J. G. Godley, T. J. and Ed. Sheehan. A little later quite a large, cheap, frame building was put up just where the city hospital now stands, as a temporary hotel, and was opened and kept by an old gentleman known as "Pap" Kenyon. This furnished quarters for many of the single men and the floating population, some of whom became more or less in- terested in the young city. At the same time a number of families had arrived and built modest dwellings. I recall J. W. Brownsill, Samuel Eaton, Brock Woodruff and a few others. A. B. Webber had the Webber House about complete, and though not finished, before election it was opened for business. On the
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HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY
opposite side of Broadway was quite a store. It was manifest that we were not a paper town.
As the time for election drew near we felt confident of suc- cess. The temporary location had given us a start, and also the opportunity to make friends of the settlers on the outlying claims. The fact that we were centrally located and the further fact that Bancroft was owned by a lot of real estate speculators, together with the fact that the opposition vote was likely to be divided between five outside candidates, made it very plain to be seen that Albert Lea would get a respectable plurality of the vote cast. But we were well aware that we had a wily foe in Bancroft; its friends were a sharp lot. The proprietors had made quite a sprint in the way of improvements in the two months previous to election. They had started up a steam saw- mill, put in quite a good store, had built a good house for the manager of the town site scheme and lastly had established quite a respectable newspaper, the "Bancroft Pioneer," with David Blakely as editor. The first issue appeared just a few days be- fore the election and it gave a great many reasons why the voters should favor Bancroft for the county seat. We got on to the fact the Saturday night before election that the proprietors of Itasca and Fairfield had combined to give their vote to Ban- croft in consideration of certain interchanges of blocks and lots.
These sites were all north of the line running east and west through the center of the county. This move looked more formidable, but we got busy and the night before election day we made arrangements for the withdrawal of Shell Rock City (now Glenville). This gave us the votes largely of the two southern tiers of townships except the strength of St. Nicholas, which persisted in staying in the fight. We also secured support and influence of Geneva which did not enter into the county seat contest. The Geneva people thought they stood a good show of getting the United States land office located there and they con- cluded that it would be better for her interest to favor us rather than Bancroft. So when the ballots were counted on that day in October, 1857, the vote stood 402 for Albert Lea, 199 for Ban- croft and 29 for St. Nicholas. This was the full vote of the county on this question, except for a few scattering ballots for Shell Rock City.
This resulted in the immediate death of St. Nicholas and Fairfield, and their sites were soon converted into farms. The proprietors of Bancroft made a desperate attempt to keep their town alive. They had spent considerable money, and did not like to give up their project. They professed to think that the north half of the county was going to have the largest popula-
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tion, thus eventually bringing them the county seat. But the hard times that followed the financial crash of the fall of 1857 presented too great a difficulty and after a fruitless struggle for a year or so the people who had cast their lot in the promising burg began to move away. Then a little later the buildings began to be moved to the adjoining farms.
Dr. Burnham did not propose to let his town of Itasca die, and some of the Bancroft houses were moved there. So we had the satisfaction of seeing our principal rival as the site of a beautiful young city, a deserted waste. The lots and blocks were year after year sold and bid in by the county for delinquent taxes and finally for a small consideration the county obtained a quit-claim deed, and now it is the location of our county poor house.
While we were a territory it required an act of the legislature to obtain a vote to change the county seat, but the first session of our state legislature enacted a law directing the county com- missioners to submit the question to the people, whenever a number of legal voters equal to one-half of the votes cast at the last general election should sign a petition requesting the same; provided, however, that no such vote should be taken more fre- quently than once in three years. Itasca city, though located only three and one-half miles northwest of us, managed to keep alive. During the summer of 1860 a general store was opened, and a newspaper, the "Itasca Herald," was etablished. . The proprietors obtained the required number of signatures to a petition and presented it to the county commissioners during the summer of 1860, said petition requested the removal of the county seat from Albert Lea to Itasca city, subject to the appeal of the voters at the next general election to be held in November of that year. The prayer of the petition was at first denied for the reason that one of the state district judges had held that the law under which the petition called the commissioners to act, was unconstitutional. But about a month later the people of Albert Lea requested the commissioners to call a meeting and reconsider their action of the previous meeting and order the election. Our reasons for making this move was an unexpected event, which took place about this time. President Buchanan issued a proc- lamation bringing the government lands in this vicinity into market and directing that they be sold to the highest bidder on a certain day not far distant. This was before the enactment of the homestead law. Most all of the real bona fide settlers were living on their claims with their families, and holding the land by virtue of their pre-emption papers, which they could do indefinitely unless the land was brought into market. The proc- lamation required every claim holder to procure a land warrant
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HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY
or get the money and appear at the Chatfield government land office, prove the fact of their settlement and pay for the land before the day appointed for the sale or they were liable to be sold out of house and home. This action of the president came at an unfortunate time, as the county had not recovered from the financial crash of the fall of 1857. Not one in ten of the settlers in the county was prepared to make the payment, and at that particular time no money was to be procured by loan in the region. The immediate result was a panic among the settlers and many were soon flocking into our little town to see what they could do. After consultation we concluded to call together a few leading men from the county at large for further consulta- tion. The result of this was the raising of a fund to pay the expenses of a representative to Washington, who would bring to the attention of the President the condition that existed in this locality, and to procure if possible a postponement of the sale. Geo. W. Skinner who was then one of the county commis- sioners, and who claimed to be a personal acquaintance of President Buchanan, was delegated to make the pilgrimage. About a week after his departure we received a telegram, which came part of the way by mail, that "settlers can refile." It was hard to understand this, but it led us to believe that there was hope. Mr. Skinner returned in due time, and a meeting of settlers was called to hear his report, which was that the president had no right to withdraw the land from market. But he had learned from the general land office that though the land the settlers occupied would be subject to private entry the day after the sale by anyone who had the wherewithal, never- theless, the settlers could refile that same day and hold their claims another year before they were subject to private entry. A great crowd of pioneers were in town that day, and an organization was perfected, which resulted in the appointment of a committee to see that new filing papers were ready to file as soon as the sale day came. The plan worked out all right. No bidder appeared at the sale, and the new filings were made. The people of Itasca took no part in these proceedings and made light of the matter, claiming that we were just playing the game of the demagogue to get the votes of the settlers against the removal of the county seat. Whether we were or not, we made use of their attitude to our own advantage, and it was soon apparent that "we had them on the run." This explained why we requested the commissioners to call the election; we thought it a good time to settle the matter forever. The election was held on the second Tuesday of November, 1860, the same day that we elected Abraham Lincoln president of the United States. The ballot was the old-fashioned form in use before the
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HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY
adoption of the Australian system. The question of the county seat removal was at the bottom, and those for the removal of the county seat read, "For removal of the county seat to Itasca," while those in favor of retaining the seat of govern- ment at Albert Lea read, "Against the removal of the county" seat to Itasca." It was reported on the evening of the election by one of the friends who were at the polling place in the town of Manchester, that a Norwegian friend of Itasca, who had been listening to the reading of the tickets as they were being counted, when the count was about complete exclaimed, "Why Albert Lea did not get a vote." We won out handsomely and poor Itasca as a town just lay down and died. And now over her grave is one of the most beautiful farms in Freeborn county, a part of the site being now occupied by the well-known Wedge nursery.
CHAPTER IX.
ORGANIZATION AND BOUNDARY LINES.
Freeborn Included in the Original Limits of Wabash County-
Máde a Part of Dakota County in 1851-Divided Between Rice and Blue Earth Counties-Freeborn County Created in 1855-Organized in 1857-Old Precincts-Township Names and Changes in Affiliation and Boundaries.
Freeborn county was included in the original limits of Wabasha county (then spelled Wabashaw), which was one of the nine counties created by the first territorial legislature.
Governor Alexander Ramsey, the first territorial governor, arrived in St. Paul, May 27, 1849, and on June 1, 1849, issued his first proclamation. June 11 he issued a second proclamation, dividing the territory into three judicial districts. Freeborn county, then unpopulated, was included in the third judicial district, with Judge David Cooper on the bench. Court for this district was to be held at Mendota.
July 7, 1849, the governor issued a proclamation dividing the territory into seven council districts and ordering an election. Freeborn county was included in the seventh district.
The first session of the legislative assembly of the territory of Minnesota was held at St. Paul, commencing September 3, 1849.
By an act approved October 27, 1849, the territory was divided into the counties of Washington, Ramsey, Benton, Itasca, Waba- shaw, Dakota, Wahnahta, Mahkahto and Pembina. Only the counties of Washington, Ramsey and Benton were fully organ- ized for all county purposes. The others were organized only for the purpose of appointment of justices of the peace, constables, and such other judicial and ministerial offices as might be spe- cially provided for. They were entitled to "any number of jus- tices of the peace and constables, not exceeding six in number, to be appointed by the governor, and their term of office was made two years, unless sooner removed by the governor," and they were made conservators of the peace.
Wabashaw county, as "erected" by the act of October 27, 1849, comprised practically all of the southern part of the present State of Minnesota. Its northern boundary was the parallel run- ning through the mouth of the St. Croix and the mouth of the
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HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY
Yellow Medicine rivers ; its southern boundary was the Iowa line ; its eastern the Mississippi, and its western the Missouri, and it also included the big peninsula between the Missouri and the Big Sioux rivers, and all of what is at present southeastern South Dakota. Of this vast country the present Freeborn county was a part.
Chapter 1, Revised Statutes of Minnesota of 1851, divides the territory in Benton, Dakota, Itasca, Cass, Pembina, Ramsey, Washington, Chisago and Wabashaw counties and defines their boundaries. Under the revised statutes, all the territory west of the Mississippi river and east of a line running from Medicine Bottle's village at Pine Bend, due south to the Iowa line, was erected into a separate county to be known as Wabashaw. This included in Wabashaw county a portion of what is now Dakota county as well as all the present counties of Goodhue, Wabasha, Dodge, Olmsted Winona, Mower, Fillmore and Houston. The line south from Pine Bend in the Mississippi strikes practically the eastern boundary of Freeborn county, the exact line being impos- sible of verification as the Medicine Bottle tepee were differently located at various times, always, however, being within a few rods of the bend in the river.
By the same revision, Dakota county was made to consist of all that part of the territory lying west of the Mississippi river, west of the county of Wabasha, and south of a line beginning at the mouth of the Crow river and up said river and the north branch thereof to its source and thence due west to the Missouri river. Thus Dakota county then included a portion of what is now Dakota county, and portions of what are now the counties of Wright, Meeker, Stearns, Pope, Stevens, Kandijohi, and Traverse, and all of Big Stone, Swift, Hennepin, Scott, Carver, McLeod, Renville, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Yellow Medicine, Lincoln, Lyon, Red Wood, Brown, Nicolet Sibley, Le Sueur, Rice, Steele, Waseca, Blue Earth, Watonwan, Cottonwood, Mur- ray, Pipestone, Rock, Nobles, Jackson, Martin, Faribault, and practically all of Freeborn as well as all of the counties in what is now South Dakota, west of the counties named, to the Missouri river.
Rice county was created by act of the territorial legislature, March 5, 1853. Section 7, Chapter 15, General Laws of Minne- sota, 1853, gives the boundaries as follows: Beginning at the southwest corner of Dakota county, thence west along said county line to Lake Sakatah, thence south to the Iowa state line, thence east along said state line to the southwest corner of Fillmore county, thence along the west line of Fillmore, Wabasha and Goodhue counties to the place of beginning.
It will thus be seen that the starting point of Rice county,
HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY
as then constituted, was at the "southwest corner of Dakota county." The west and south lines of Dakota county are de- scribed in the act as follows: "Beginning in the Minnesota at the mouth of the Credit river, thence on a direct line to the upper branch of the Cannon river, thence down said river to its lowest fork." The upper branch of the Cannon river is the Straight river, and consequently, this boundary line of Rice county started at the confluence of these rivers, at the present site of Faribault, ran southwestward to Lake Sakatah; and thence south, crossing Waseca and Freeborn counties about on the range line between ranges twenty-two and twenty-three, to the Iowa line. Thence it ran along to the Iowa border to a little village called Granger in township 101, range eleven, Fillmore county. Thence it ran in a direct line, due northwest to the place of beginning.
Rice county therefore took in only a part of the present Rice county. It included the four eastern townships in Waseca county, and all but the four western townships in Freeborn county. It also took in practically all of Mower and Steele counties, about one-third of Dodge. a very small portion of Fillmore and Good- hue, and pssibly a few sections in Olmsted county.
The counties created at the same time as Rice were Goodhue, Fillmore, Le Sueur, Blue Earth, Sibley, Nicollet and Pierce. The four western townships of what is now Freeborn county were included in Blue Earth county.
February 20, 1855, the counties of Freeborn, Mower, Brown, Carver, Dodge, Faribault, Olmstead, Renville, Steele, Stearns and Wright were created by the legislature, and some changes made in the names and boundaries of others. Freeborn county, as created, at that time embraced the same area as at present.
According to the land office records the first entry of land was made in January, 1855, by Nelson Everest, and thirty-four of the first conveyances by deed were recorded in Dodge county between April, 1856 and March, 1857. In February, 1859, these records were transcribed by William Morin and brought to Free- born county. In 1856, for purposes of territorial election, Free- born county constituted one district. At the first election which was held November 3, 1856, at the William Andrews home on the border line between Hayward and Shell Rock, forty-four votes were cast. In March, 1857, Governor Willis A. Gorman, pursuant to the act of the legislature, organized Freeborn county and appointed E. C. Stacy, S. N. Frisbie and William Andrews as temporary commissioners. These commissioners assembled March 3, 1857, at the house of Geo. S. Ruble, 522 Bridge street, Albert Lea, and then and later appointed the various county officers as follows: Sheriff, Geo. S. Ruble : probate judge, E. C. Stacy ; coroner, A. H. Bartlett ; attorney, J. W. Heath ; surveyor.
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E. P. Skinner ; justices, Geo. Watson, I. P. Linde, Elias Stanton, Patrick Fitzsimmons.
These appointments took effect March 20, of the same year, except that of Fitzsimmons, who received his authority some- what later. In April William Morin was appointed register of deeds in place of Mr. Thompson, who declined to qualify. Mr. Bartlett refused to serve as coroner and the office was tendered in succession to George Watson and C. S. Tarbell. The first general election was held October 13, 1857, and 646 votes were cast. The following officers were chosen: Register of deeds, Wm. Morin ; treasurer, Henry King ; sheriff, J. W. Heath ; probate judge, A. W. White; clerk of court, E. P. Skinner; surveyor, H. D. Brown; coroner, A. M. Burnham; commissioners, S. N. Frisbie, Joseph Rickard, Peter Clausen. Albert Lea was chosen as county seat.
OLD ELECTION PRECINCTS.
Freeborn county is divided into twenty townships, five com- missioners districts and two legislative districts. There are also various school and road districts. The township and section lines in this county were surveyed in 1854. At the election of 1856, Freeborn county constituted one election district. The first attempt at political divisions in the county was made by the county commissioners at their first meeting held March 3, 1857. Three assessor's districts were constituted. The first district consisted of what are now the townships of Carlston, Freeborn, Hartland, Bath, Geneva and Newry. The assessor was James Drake, of Geneva. The second district consisted of what are now the townships of Manchester, Bancroft, Riceland, Moscow, Oakland and London. The assessor was John Demming of Moscow. The third district consisted of what are now the townships of Alden, Pickerel Lake, Albert Lea, Hayward, Oak- land, Mansfield, Nunda, Freeman and Shell Rock. The assessor was Walter Stott.
During the early session of the board eleven election districts were created. These were the predecessors of the present town- ships. The first seven were created May 18, 1857. The first precinct contained the present townships of Freeborn, Hartland, Carlston, and Manchester. The election was to be held at the house of Elias Stanton, in Carlston. The judges were to be Ole Peterson, of Manchester, T. P. Page, of Freeborn, and Elias Stan- ton. The second precinct consisted of the present township of Bancroft, the west half of Riceland, the northwest quarter of Hayward and all of Albert Lea, except sections 25 and 36. The election was to be held at the home of George S. Ruble, in Albert Lea village, and the judges were to be Thomas C. Thorne, George
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HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY
P. Hoopes, and C. C. Colby. The third precinct consisted of the present township of London, Shell Rock, Freeman, the southwest quarter of Hayward, and sections 25 and 36 in Albert Lea. The election was to be held in the home of A. H. Bartlett and the judges were to be A. H. Bartlett, J. S. Corning and Oliver Andrews. The fourth precinct included the present townships of Moscow and Oakland and the east halves of Riceland and Hay- ward. The election was to be held at the home of R. K. Crum, of Moscow, and the judges were to be Asa Bullock, Jr., Samuel A. Beardsley and A. C. Porter. The fifth precinct consisted of the present townships of Alden, Pickerel Lake, Nunda and Mans- field. The election was to be held at the home of John Ruble, and the judges were to be John Ruble, Asa W. White and William Banning. The sixth precinct consisted of the present townships of Bath, Geneva and Newry. The election was to be held at the home of E. C. Stacy and the judges were to be Isaac P. Linde, John Heath and Edward Brooks. This divided the whole county.
This division was evidently not satisfactory, for later in the same session the seventh precinct was created out of the third and fourth precincts and included the present township of London and the south half of Oakland. The election was to be held at the home of John T. Asher and the judges were to be John Aikins, Rodger P. Gipson and Benjamin Stanton. July 6, 1857, the original first precinct was split and the eighth precinct was created, consisting of the present townships of Freeborn and Hartland. The election was to be held at the home of Edwin S. Dunn and the judges were to be Charles D. Giddings, E. S. Dunn and J. P. Page. The ninth district was created September 7, 1857. The boundaries are not recorded. The election was to be held at the home of J. M. Clark and the judges of election were to be Erastus D. Porter, Charles Sergeant and George Roberts. The tenth precinct was created the same day out of the old second and fourth precincts and occupied all but the northwest quarter of the present township of Riceland. The election was to be held at the home of Samuel A. Beardsley and the judges were to be J. Snyder, G. P. Bracket and Samuel A. Beardsley. The eleventh precinct was created from the north half of the fifth pre- cinct and included the present townships of Alden and Pickerel Lake. The election was to be held at the home of Frederick Fink and the judges were to be A. W. White, John Ruble and F. Woodward.
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