USA > Minnesota > Goodhue County > History of Goodhue county, including a sketch of the territory and state of Minnesota > Part 28
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" Resolved, That Samuel J. Hasler, be and is hereby authorized to take the bonds and negotiate the same with responsible parties, at his discretion, to raise the said sum, not to exceed thirty thousand dollars.
" Resolved, That said Samuel J. Hasler, be required before proceed- ing to perform said trust, to make and execute a bond with sufficient sureties, in the penal sum of sixty thousand dollars, to be approved by the county treasurer and county register, for the faithful performance of his said trust, and for the paying over of the money so raised to the county treasurer, on or before the 1st day of June, 1857.
"Resolved, That said Samuel J. Hasler is hereby ordered and directed not to negotiate said bonds at a less sum than their par value.
" Resolved, That the necessary expenses of said Samuel J. Hasler be defrayed out of any money in the county treasury not otherwise appropriated.
" Resolved, That the clerk of this board be hereby ordered to furnish said Samuel J. Hasler a copy of these resolutions, certified to by him under the seal of the county of Goodhue.
253
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
"Resolved, That the board of county commissioners will receive plans and specifications for a court house for the county of Goodhue, and will pay a reasonable sum for the plan adopted, such plan and spe- cification to be furnished on or before the second Monday in May to the board of county commissioners, at the register of deeds office, in Red Wing.
"Resolved, That the clerk be, and is hereby ordered to have the above resolutions printed in the Red Wing " Gazette " three successive weeks prior to said second Monday in May, 1857."
On the 11th, the clerk made the following report of expenses for the last fiscal year, which was accepted and ordered to be published :
Paid out for the support of poor,
to assessors,
182.00
Cost of elections,
119.90
county roads,
235.50
66
printing, 67.00
rents, -
136.00
Paid as salaries to county officers,
424.80
Cost of stationery,
206.75
Expense of office,
133.30
Sheriff's fees,
211.30
Coroner's fees,
13.50
Cost of surveying roads,
136.80
Safe for register's office,
251.89
Total,
$3,243.53
After which it was voted to accept the following resolution :
" Resolved, That the court house be located on the block between blocks 29 and 30, and between Third and- Fourth streets, Red Wing, provided a good title can be obtained for the same; and in case the court house is so located, Mr. S. J. Hasler is hereby authorized to with- draw the application for court house block."
[ The block above mentioned is the block now occupied by the Episcopal Church.]
1858 .- The next reference to building a court house is found under date of February 2, of this year, when, on petition of T. J. Smith and others, it was
" Voted, To erect county buildings according to plans and specifications to be presented by Messrs. Chaffee ; provided, sufficient county bonds can be negotiated at a sum not less than ninety cents on the dollar to pay for the same, the cost of said building not to exceed thirty thousand
$536.93
territorial roads,
587.86
254
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
dollars. The vote stood: yeas, Messrs. Chandler, Hasler,-2; nays, M. S. Chandler,-1."
On motion of M. S. Chandler it was " Voted, That the county bonds to be issued be made to run twelve years, interest to be paid annually, and after the lapse of two years such part of the principal yearly as shall be sufficient to pay the whole amount in twelve years."
At a special meeting of the board, held on the 22d of February, the following resolution was adopted:
"Resolved, That plans and proposals for building a court house and jail in Goodhue county be invited as follows-said plans to be for a court house and jail separately ; also for court house and jail under same roof.
"The plans to be filed in the office of the clerk of the board of county commissioners of said county, before the 15th day of March, 1858 ; said plans to be open to inspection of contract bidders, and subject to pro- posals from any person or persons, any person to have the right of offering proposals on one or more of the plans thus submitted, stating specifically in his proposal to which of said plans it is intended to refer. All proposals to be made on a cash basis, and sealed and deliv- ered to said clerk before the 5th day of April, 1858, at which time said proposals will be opened and said plans examined by said commission- ers, and the contract for the erection of said buildings let to the person or persons making the lowest responsible bid on the plan selected by said commissioners.
"The person submitting the plan adopted by the commissioners to be paid a reasonable compensation therefor. Plans for buildings not to exceed in cost the sum of $20,000, will be more acceptable than those to cost above that amount."
April 8th was occupied in considering the plans and specifications presented. On Friday morning, the 9th, the question was again taken up, when it was " voted to reject all plans for court house except those offered by Knight and Thompson, of St. Paul, and Mr. D. C. Hill, of Red Wing, and to invite bids on such plans, the bids to be opened on the first Monday of May, 1858, when the contract will be let to the lowest responsible bidder."
On the 3d Monday in May the bids were opened, and the contract awarded to Messrs. Simmons and Stevens, at $24,000, that being the lowest and best offer, and included the entire completion of the build- ing. Monday 17th, the boards " voted to notify the contractors for building the court house and jail, that the same be erected on the block known and designated as ' court house block,"in the city of Red Wing."
255
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Tuesday, June 8th, the board " voted to accept the sureties given by Daniel C. Hill and others, for the completion of the contract for build- ing the court house and jail, and ordered that the bonds be placed on file in this (the county clerk's) office.
" Voted," also, "that the contract entered into by the county commis- sioners of said county of Goodhue, Minn., parties of the first part, and Daniel C. Hill and others, parties of the second part, to build the county buildings, and to receive in pay therefore, the bonds of the said county of Goodhue, Minn., to the amount of twenty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-six ($26,666) be placed on file."
The reader will observe that there is a difference of $2,666, as speci- fied in the reference of the last order quoted, and the price named ($24,000) in the proposal or bid accepted. There is nothing on record to show the occasion of this difference-whether for extras or changes made from the plans adopted.
TOWNSHIP SYSTEM OF ECONOMY.
ORIGIN OF THE COUNTY SYSTEM-ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP SYSTEM-SPECIAL ACT RELATING TO GOODHUE COUNTY-FIRST BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
Up to this time, the management of the county affairs was vested in a board of county commissioners, consisting of three members. The commissioners were now succeeded by a board of county supervisors, consisting of one member from each organized township.
Elijah M. Haines, in his " Township Organization Laws of Illinois," says, "the county system originated with Virginia, whose early settlers soon became large landed proprietors, aristocratic in feeling, living apart in almost baronial magnificence on their own estates, and owning the laboring part of the population. Thus the materials for a town were not at hand, the voters being thinly distributed over a great area. The county organization, where a few influential men managed the whole business of the county, retaining their places almost at their pleasure, scarcely responsible at all, except in name, and permitted to conduct the county concerns as their ideas or wishes might direct, was, moreover, consonant with their recollections or traditions of the judicial and social dignities of the landed aristocracy of England, in descent from whom the Virginia gentlemen felt so much pride. In 1634, eight counties were organized in Virginia, and the system extending through- out the State, spread into all the Southern States, and some of the Northern States, unless we except the nearly similar division into ' dis-
256
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
tricts ' in South Carolina, and that into ' parishes ' in Louisiana from the French laws."
Township System .- On the 20th of March, the State Legislature passed an act entitled "An act to provide for township organization," providing for the election of a board of supervisors and defining their duties. This law went into effect on the 12th of July, 1858. When assembled together for the transaction of county business, these town representatives were known as the board of county supervisors. Section one of this act, approved March 20th, 1858, required the governor to appoint three persons to act as commissioners in each of the organized counties in this State to divide the counties into towns, providing, how- ever, that where the county commissioners had divided their respective counties into towns by making a record of the fact and filing the same in the office of the register of deeds, giving the bounds and names of the town, the governor should not make such appointment.
Section two provided that in all cases where the county commis- sioners had failed to divide their counties into towns, that it should be the duty of the commissioners appointed by the governor to make a record of the bounds, and to name each town in each township where the legal voters had organized by the election of town officers. Section three required the commissioners to discharge the duties to which they were appointed within twenty days after their appointment, and to divide the several counties into as many towns as there were town- ships according to government survey. A special act, approved June 21, 1858, made especially applicable to Goodhue county, provided, " that the action of the legal voters of those townships in the county of Good- hue, that were organized into towns on the 11th of May," according to the requirements of the general law above quoted, (approved March 12th,) except without due election notice by the county commissioners, is hereby declared legal, and all of the officers then elected in said town shall be deemed the regular and legitimate officers of the same.
Section two appointed Martin S. Chandler, William P. Tanner and Jesse McIntire, commissioners, to perform in all respects the duties that devolved upon the commissioners by the above named act, and that they should divide the county into towns within twenty days after the passage of the act ; providing, however, that no division should be made of the townships or fractional townships in which an election of town officers had been held, pursuant to previous notice on the 11th day of May, (1858.)
Section three required the chairman of the board of supervisors of the several townships in which an election of town officers had been
257
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
held, to give notice of the same in writing to at least one of the above named commissioners within fourteen days after the passage of the act ; and that if any of them failed to give such notice, the said town should be deemed unorganized, and that the election of its officers should be void.
Section four authorized the boards of supervisors to meet at the office of the register of deeds, on the second Monday in July, for the transac- tion of business as a board of county supervisors.
In New England, towns existed before counties, and counties were formed before States. Originally, the towns or townships exercised all the powers of government now possessed by a State. The powers sub- sequently assumed by the State governments were from surrender or delegation on the part of towns. Counties were created to define the jurisdiction of courts of justice. The formation of States was by a union of towns, wherein arose the representative system ; each town being represented in the State legislature or general court by delegates chosen by the freemen of the town at their stated town meetings. The first town meeting of which we can find any direct evidence was held by the congregation of the Plymouth colony, on the 23d of March, 1621, for the purpose of perfecting military arrangements. At that meeting a governor was elected for the ensuing year; and it is noticed as a coincidence, whether from that source or otherwise, that the annual town meetings in New England, and nearly all the other States, have ever since been held in the spring of the year. It was not, however, until 1635 that the township system was adopted as a quasi corporation in Massachusetts.
The first legal enactment concerning this system, provided that whereas, " particular towns have many things which concern only themselves, and the ordering of their own affairs, and disposing of busi- ness in their own town, therefore, the freemen of every town or the . major part of them, shall only have power to dispose of their own lands and woods, with all the appurtenances of said towns, to grant lots, and to make such orders as may concern the well-ordering of their own towns, not repugnant to the laws and orders established by the general court. They might also impose fines of not more than twenty shillings, and choose their own particular officers, as constables, surveyors for the highways, and the like. Evidently this enactment relieved the general court of a mass of municipal details, without any danger to the powers of that body in controlling general measures of public policy. Proba- bly, also, a demand from the freemen of the towns was felt, for the control of their own home concerns."
18
258
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
The New England colonies were first governed by a " general court," or legislature, composed of a governor and small council, which court consisted of the most influential inhabitants, and possessed and exer- cised both legislative and judicial powers, which were limited only by the wisdom of the holders. They made laws, ordered their execution, elected their own officers, tried and decided civil and criminal causes, enacted all manner of municipal regulations, and, in fact, did all the public business of the colony.
Similar provisions for the incorporation of towns were made in the first constitution of Connecticut, adopted in 1639; and the plan of town- ship organization became universal throughout New England, and came west with the emigrants from New England to New York, Ohio and other Western States, including the northern part of Illinois; and there being a large New England element among the population of Minne- sota, it is fair to presume that their influence secured the adoption of this system in Minnesota, as created in the act already quoted. One objection urged against the county system, was that the heavily popu- lated districts would always control the election of the commissioners, to the disadvantage of the more thinly populated sections-in short, that under that system, equal and exact justice to all parts of the coun- try could not be secured.
TOWNSHIPS DEFINED AND NAMED.
Pursuant to the provisions of the act under which they were appointed, Messrs. Martin S. Chandler, William P. Tanner and Jesse McIntire, pro- ceeded to the discharge of the duty assigned them, and defined and named the several townships in Goodhue county, as follows :
Belle Creek, all of township No. 111, range No. 16.
Cherry Grove, all of township No. 109, range No. 17.
Central Point, all of township No. 112, range No. 12 in Goodhue county.
Cannon Falls, all of township No. 112, range No. 17.
Featherstone, all of township No. 112, range No. 15.
Florence, all of township No. 112, range No. 13 in Goodhue county. Holden, all of township No. 110, range No. 18. Hay Creek, all of township No. 112, range No. 14.
Kenyon, all of township No. 112, range No. 18.
Leon, all of township No. 111, range No. 17.
Pine Island, all of township No. 109, range No. 15.
Roscoe, all of township No. 109, range No. 16.
Red Wing, the west half of township No. 113, range No. 14, frac-
259
' THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
tional, and sections 13, 24, 25 and 36, township No. 113, range No. 15. Stanton, all of township No. 112, range No. 18 in Goodhue county.
Union, all of township No. 113, range No. 16, north of Cannon River. All of township No. 113, range No. 15, except sections No. 13, 25, 24 and 36, and all of township No. 114, ranges No. 15 and 16, fractional.
Vasa, all of township No. 112, range No. 16, and all of township No, 113, range No. 16, south of Cannon River.
Wanamingo, all of township No. 110, range No. 17.
Warsaw, all of township No. 111, range No. 18.
Wacoota, all of township No. 113, range No. 13, in Goodhue county, and the east half of township No. 113, range No. 14, fractional.
York, all of township No. 111, ranges No. 14 and 15.
Zumbrota, all of township No. 110, ranges No. 15 and 16.
Pursuant to instructions from the Auditor of State, the names of three of the townships, as reported above, were changed.
"STATE AUDITOR'S OFFICE, ST. PAUL, Aug. 23d, 1858.
"To the Register of Deeds, Goodhue county-Sir: You are hereby notified that the board of county supervisors, at their next session, are required to change the names of the following towns, viz., Stanton, Union and York, as provided for in the "Act to Provide for Township Organization." You will inform me of the names to which they are changed as soon thereafter as possible.
" Respectfully yours, "D. N. GATES, Chief Clerk."
At a meeting of the board, September 15, 1858, the name of Union was changed to Milton ; Stanton was changed to Lillian; and York was changed to Elmira, and the Auditor of State so notified.
December 28, another communication was read from the Auditor of State of similar import, directing the name of Elmira to be changed. The communication was referred to a committee of three-Messrs. Stearns, White and Stone-who reported in favor of substituting Belvi- dere for Elmira. The report was adopted.
Minneola, including all of township No. 110, range No. 16, was set off from Zumbrota in June, 1860.
Goodhue .- September 13, 1859, in answer to the prayer of peti- tioners interested, township No. 111, range No. 15, was erected into a separate township and called Lime. In January, 1860, on petition of the citizens interested, the name was changed from Lime to Goodhue. It was formerly a part of Belvidere.
Burnside .- At the instance of the Auditor of State, Milton was
-
260
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
changed to Burnside, March 25, 1862. The change of name was desired because of their being another township of that name in the State previously organized. In March, 1864, under authority of legislative enactment amending the city charter of Red Wing, sections thirteen and fourteen, township No. 113, range No. 15, was set off from Red Wing and attached to Burnside.
Welch .- March 23, 1864, on petition, the board of commissioners divided Burnside by setting off the east fractional half of township No. 114 north, range No. 16 west, and all of town No. 113 north, range No. 16 west, lying north of Cannon River, as a separate township, and called it Grant. Another township in the State already bore that name, and the State Auditor, under date of the 13th of December, 1871, directed a change of name. January 3, 1872, the commissioners had the com- munication under consideration, and changed the name to Welch, in honor of the late Major Abram Edwards Welch, of Red Wing.
FIRST BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
Belle Creek, S. P. Chandler ; York, Cyrus Crouch ; Zumbrota, Isaac C. Stearns ; Union, W. S. Grow; Featherstone, William Freyberger ; Red Wing, A. B. Miller, P. Vandenberg, Oren Densmore ; Wanamingo, J. G. Brown; Pine Island, C. R. White ; Holden, Knut Knutson; Roscoe, Oliver Webb; Central Point, Robert L. Phillips; Warsaw, N. L. Townsend ; Stanton, John Thomas ; Hay Creek, S. A. Wise; Wacoota, Leonard Gould ; Cannon Falls, C. W. Gillett ; Kenyon, Addison Hilton ; Cherry Grove, D. M. Haggard * ; Florence, Dr. J. Kelly ; Vasa, Charles Himmelman ; Leon, Ellery Stone.
The first meeting of this board was held on the second Monday in July, 1858. In those days the Democratic party held the balance of power in Goodhue county. The Republican party was just beginning so assume strength and power. In the selection of a presiding officer for the board, both parties sought to gain advantage and secure the chairman. S. P. Chandler was the Democratic candidate for chairman, and I. C. Stearns was the Republican candidate. There was a tie vote, and both men claimed the right to the chair, and both assumed to pre- side. One of them sat upon one side of the table, and the other one sat upon the other side. When a motion was submitted-and any number of motions were made-both men would " put the question." Party feeling ran high, and extended outside of the hall in which the
* Mr. Haggard came in under appointment July 26, in place of Woodward, who had resigned. The appointing power was vested in the justice of the peace. His appointment was signed by Justices J. Haggard and F. A. Crabb, of Cherry Grove. Mr. Woodward only appeared at the first meeting of the board.
ยท
261
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
board held its sessions. A fight was expected, and " Deacon " DeKay, who was deputy sheriff at the time, was directed by his superior officer to " take up a position " in the supervisors' room, and preserve order at all hazards, even if it " took the last man and the last dollar " in the bailiwick. He obeyed orders, and for two or three days maintained a position between the two chairmen ; but the fight didn't " come off." The troubled waters were finally quieted, by the giving way of J. G. Brown, of Wanamingo, who came over to the support of Mr. Chandler, making a rousing speech in explanation of his action.
There was about as much feeling manifested in this contest as there was in the U. S. House of Representatives in 1856, when there was so much trouble over the election of speaker. The reader of political history will remember that Nathaniel P. Banks was the Republican can- didate for speaker, and that several weeks were spent in voting, making motions and personal explanations, before a result was reached in the election of Mr. Banks. So it was in the election of a chairman of the board of supervisors of Goodhue county in July, 1858. A record of the motions, explanations, etc., covers several pages of the journal, and is rather humorous reading, especially to those who under- stood the "situation."
The board first met in the office of the register of deeds, but almost equal in numbers to the Territorial Legislature ; the room was found to be too small, and a committee consisting of Messrs. Crouch, Stearns and Brown, was appointed to secure a suitable room, and a room was found and obtained in Todd & Hasler's block, Main street.
When the board was fully organized, credentials examined and passed upon, etc., the following committees were appointed :
Equalization .- C. R. White, O. Densmore, I. C. Stearns, R. S. Phillips, C. W. Gillett.
Claims .- W. S. Grow, J. G. Brown, S. A. Wise.
Ways and Means .- A. B. Miller, C. R. White, L. N. Gould.
Roads and Bridges .- O. Webb, J. Kelly, C. Crouch.
Appropriations .- P. Vandenbergh, I. C. Stearns, C. W. Gillett. Justices and Constables .- R. L. Phillips, C. R. White, W. S. Grow. Sheriff and Jailer .- I. C. Stearns, C. W. Gillett, John Thomas.
To settle with Treasurer .- Ellery Stone, P. Vandenbergh, R. L. Phillips.
Printing .- A. B. Miller, P. Vandenbergh, O. Densmore.
Poor .- Robert L. Phillips, Knut Knutson, D. M. Haggard.
Per Diem and Mileage .- J. Thomas, A. Hilton, N. D. Townsend.
Public Buildings .- O. Densmore, I. C. Stearns, W. S. Grow, C. W.
262
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Gillet, R. L. Phillips. "This committee," says a note on the margin of the old journal, " was elected by the board by acclamation."
On motion of Mr. Grow, of Union township, James T. Chamberlain, deputy register of deeds, was elected clerk of the board.
Tuesday, the report of the committee on rules and regulations sub- mitted their report, which was adopted. These rules fill about eight pages of the journal, and are about as voluminous as the rules govern- ing the Congress of the United States.
The proceedings of the board were marked by motions and counter- motions, speeches and counter-speeches-a few men doing the speaking and a few others the work. In fact, it was a kind of young congress, in which some men made speeches to be heard of men, and of course were noted for their much speaking. They were of the " buncombe " kind.
COURT HOUSE REDIVIVUS.
Wednesday morning, July 14, the " resolution offered by A. B. Miller, of Red Wing," was read by the clerk, and on motion of Mr. Stearns, it was voted to strike out all after the word "whereas," and adopt the following :
" WHEREAS, There exists a diversity of opinion in reference to the binding force upon Goodhue county of a certain contract entered into by the county commissioners of Goodhue county with other parties for the erection of court house and jail; and
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