USA > Minnesota > Goodhue County > History of Goodhue county, including a sketch of the territory and state of Minnesota > Part 47
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In 1856, Messrs. C. W. & E. Hackett built another store, which was also filled with general merchandise. In this year Charles Moe built a steam saw mill, and commenced the manufacture of lumber. At this time Central Point was the only steamboat landing near. But it was soon ascertained that a much better landing could be secured at Lake City, and the result was that the village and business found their way to that point.
In 1857, another steam saw mill was built, which is now owned and operated by S. S. Grannis, of Red Wing, and G. H. Grannis, who lives on the point.
The first school was taught in 1858. The first religious service was conducted by Rev. M. Sorin, in a log house built by Mr. Barrett, which was the first one built in the township.
The first death was that of an infant child of Mr. C. W. Hackett, in
Dania. S. Dans CANNON FALLS
THENEW YORK PUBLICLIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONE.
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THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
1856. The only business now carried on in town is the lumber business, by the Messrs. Grannis, all the rest having been swallowed up by Lake City, which is only a mile distant.
WAUCOUTA.
This township was included in the Waucouta precinct, organized by the county commissioners, June 8, 1855. It is a fractional township, and comprises only a small number of sections of land. The place was named in honor of the Indian chief of that name, who had his residence at the head of the lake. The town is hilly and sandy, yet there are many excellent farms in the valleys.
The first settlement was made in 1850 by Geo. W. Bullard, who had an Indian trader's license and established a traffic with the aborigines at that point. Abner W. Post came with Bullard and built his house. Bullard was properly an Indian trader, although a great share of his custom came from the lumbermen on the other side of the river.
The next influx of immigration came along in May, 1852. In 1853 the town site was laid out, and preparations were at once entered into for having a village that should rapidly grow into a city of some mag- nitude. Bullard and Post built a saw mill, which was the first west of the Mississippi River.
In 1854 J. B. Smith erected a hotel, the only home for travelers up to that time being Bullard's house. This hotel was subsequently removed to Mt. Pleasant, Wabasha county, and did service as the resi- dence of Rev. Mr. Williams.
Daniel Saunders built in 1855 another hotel, which in 1864 was removed to the town of Featherstone, and was converted into a dwelling house, the residence of Rev. Ezar Tucker. The population was increas- ing so rapidly in 1857, that the two hotels could not accommodate the demands of the immigration that was then pouring in. At this juncture George W. Bullard built a hotel, 40x60 feet, and finished it off in good style. This did the business until the travel and population began to wane, and hotel matters took a downward tendency at a rapid rate ; and in 1864, there being no further use for it at Waucouta, it was sold Messrs. Tibbetts & Hackett, of Lake City, who removed it to that place during the winter on the ice.
In 1857 the commissions of the postmaster at the place amounted to $75 per quarter. At the present time it amounts to about nothing per annum.
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The first birth was in the family of George W. Bullard in 1852. The same child died in 1854, which was the first death in the town.
The first marriage was Joseph F. Thompson and Miss Melissa Ping- rey, in 1855 ; James B. Smith, Esq., performing the ceremony.
In the fall and winter of 1854, J. F. Pingrey taught school in a hall over a store. Rev. J. W. Hancock and Rev. Mathew Sorin held meet- ings as early as 1853. The place now supports in and around a few well tilled farms, but other towns have ripened into prominence, and Waucouta's former glory has been eclipsed by her more enterprising rivals.
In 1862 there were thirty-two registered voters, of which seventeen entered the army, thus keeping the town always ahead of her quota.
Waucouta, like many places of early promise, lived its day, fulfilled its destiny and retired to the shade, to spend the evening of its days in quietness and rural simplicity.
BELVIDERE.
In the spring of 1855, N. B. Gaylord and his brother George, located for a few weeks on Rock Creek, in the northern portion of the town- ship. Mr. Gaylord soon after removed to a new location on Wells Creek, and in August Joseph S. Thompson, with his family, settled near Mr. Gaylord's, and began opening a farm.
Claus Holst and several other German families located near the head waters of Wells Creek that fall. The next season a large immigration poured into different parts of the township.
Ida Thompson was the first child born in the township June 13, 1856. The first marriage was the union of Mr. George Steele and Miss Junia Pingrey, a sister of Mrs. J. S. Thompson, at whose house the ceremony was performed, Aug. 14, 1855, by J. B. Smith. Little Etta Gaylord was the first death-1858-two years of age.
Mr. Gaylard having a good water power, put in operation a large hand coffee mill, and ground for himself and neighbors, flour, meal and other articles, for the accommodation of the new beginners. Having used up two coffee mills, he next procured a small burr mill stone, and kept gradually improving his primitive enterprise until he launched out into a full-grown mill with two run of stone, with a capacity of 120 bushels of wheat per day. This coffee mill enterprise was in the year 1858-9. The Belvidere mill finally took rank among the good mills of the coun- try. Rev. John Watson held religious services in the house of Nelson B. Gaylord as early as the summer 1856; and Miss Delia Eggleston
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taught a school in a room of her father's house in 1857, being the first school in that section of country.
In 1862 the German Methodists built a cosy log church near Gaylord's mill at an expense of $300, and in the southern part of the township, 1865, the Catholics erected a good frame church building, where in con- nection they have forty acres of land also.
The Norwegian Lutherans built a church near the west line in 1867. Belvidere is now amply supplied with fine churches, good school build- ings, flouring mills, together with the necessary mechanical and manu- facturing enterprises required by a thrifty rural people in the ordinary ·avocations of life.
BELVIDERE.
The town of Belvidere, was settled in the year 1855, mainly by Ameri- cans from the Eastern States, and was organized as an independent election district in 1858.
The first town board was appointed by the county board as follows : Supervisors, Mason O. Egleston, chairman, William Thomas, G. D. Post ; town clerk, Hubert Eggleston; assessor, B. F. Chase ; tax collector, J. S. Thompson ; justice of the peace, Marcus Eggleston ; constables, James Loan and George Gay.
The first town meeting was held on the 5th day of April, 1859, and the following officers were elected : Horace W. Twitchel, chairman of the board of supervisors, Marcus Eggleston and Mason O. Eggleston, supervisors ; town clerk, Hubert Eggleston; assessor, G. D. Post ; col- lector, J. S. Thompson ; overseer of poor, Nelson B. Gaylord ; constables, Jacob Church and George Gay ; justices, Marcus Eggleston and B. R. Prince.
In the year 1860, Horace W. Twitchel was elected chairman of the board of supervisors, George Gelords and Knut Knutson,-supervisors ; Hubert Eggleston, clerk ; Marcus Eggleston, assessor ; N. B. Gaylord, town treasurer and poor overseer ; Marcus Eggleston and B. R. Prince, justices of the peace ; assessor, Star Dennison ; justices, Star Dennison and H. N. Eggleston ; constables, Wm. Kinney and B. R. Prince. 1870, all the old officers held over except Mason O. Eggleston, who was ap- pointed chairman of the board of supervisors, John Alley resigning.
In 1871, John Alley was elected chairman of the board of super- visors ; Peter J. Hilden and Walter Brown, supervisors; clerk, B. R. Prince; treasurer, N. B. Gaylord ; assessor, H. N. Eggleston ; justices, John Alley and B. R. Prince; constables, Wm. Lane and Wm. Kinney.
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In 1872, John C. Johnson was elected chairman of the board of super- visors, and J. S. Thompson and Stephen Redding, supervisors ; clerk, Peter J. Hilden ; treasurer, C. C. Roberts; assessor, Walter Brown; justices, Walter Brown and George Stace ; constables, Wm. Lane and S. Mageras. In 1873, John C. Johnson was re-elected chairman, as well as J. S. Thompson and S. Redding, for supervisors ; clerk, T. J. Hilden ; treasurer, N. B. Gaylord; assessor, George Stace ; justices, George Stace and Walter Brown; constables, James Arden and E. Fountain. In 1874, the same town board was re-elected, with the exception of A. W. Fountain being elected justice of the peace, Walter Brown not qualify- ing. In 1875, William Thomas, Perry George and Martin Johnson were elected supervisors, William Thomas being elected chairman ; clerk, T. J. Hilden ; assessor, George State; treasurer, C. C. Roberts ; justice, John C. Johnson ; constable, R. Mallan. In 1876, William Thomas, Perry George and George Stace were elected supervisors, William Thomas being elected chairman ; clerk, Peter J. Hilden ; treasurer, C. C. Roberts ; assessor, John C. Johnson ; Stephen Redding, justice of the peace ; John Mageras, constable. In 1877, Perry George was elected chairman of the board of supervisors; Martin Johnson and John Shafer, supervisors ; clerk, T. J. Hilden ; assessor, John C. Johnson ; treasurer, N B. Gaylord ; justices, John C. Johnson and Peter Krall ; constables, C. A. J. Hanson and Hubert Mageras. In the year 1878, Perry George was re-elected chairman of the board of supervisors ; Stephen Redding and Olaus Johnson elected supervisors ; clerk, P. J. Hilden ; assessor, George Labbitt appointed ; treasurer, N. B. Gaylord ; John C. Johnson and P. Krall, holding the justice office ; C. A. J. Hanson and S. Mageras, constables. The town has always been very patriotic, and when the war broke out the men enlisted as one man, all that conveniently could leave their homes, and when President Lincoln called for 300,000 more they enlisted, whether they could leave their homes or not ; but besides this private subscriptions were made to bounties in the sum of $3,500. The following named men enlisted from time to time during the war :
Hubert Eggleston, William S. Kinney, John Arden, James Arden, Michael Corcoran, T. Erickson, John E. Olin, James N. Wood, Peter J. Lotty, F. Snidert, R. J. Daniels, Bent E. Olin, Benjamin Chase, B. R. Prince, Walter Brown, William Parsons, John Alley, Cyrus Klingen- schmidt, Ole Syverson, Timothy O'Regan, Timothy Houson, John Wayze, W. S. Williams, Svenom Hendrickson. A. C. Amundson, John Amundson, John C. Johnson, Jacob Wohlers, Peter J. Hilden, John Bomback, Fred. Bomback, Joachim Holst, Jacob Holst, Claus Holst, John Holst, William Buckholst, N. B. Gaylord, George Gaylor, John
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Arden, Thomas Booth, Peter Swetchser, William Suckhaa, Fredrick Luchan, James T. Bowker, William Berley, Ole Nelson, John Nelson, Watson Devore, Frank Lane, Peter Wagoner, Nicolaus Lippert, R. Kolby, Andrew Baker, Ammond Larson, and Samuel Church. Some of those died in the army, and at the time the town was almost depopu- lated of able-bodied men ; but the town is now in a flourishing condi- tion and at present pretty well settled, mostly by Germans and some Norwegians and Americans. We have five churches-one Catholic, two Methodist and two Lutheran, and seven schoolhouses, all in good condition.
In 1861, Horace W. Twitchel was elected chairman of the board of supervisors ; William Thomas and Mason Eggleston, supervisors ; Reuben Ward, clerk; Marcus Eggleston, assessor; Nelson B. Gaylord, treasurer and overseer of the poor ; Marcus Eggleston and Ben. Prince, justices.
In 1862, J. S. Thompson was elected chairman of the board of super- visors; and George Stace and William Perly, supervisors; Halvor Knutson, clerk; treasurer, H. W. Twitchel; assessor, B. F. Chase ; justices, Peter J. Hilden and Marcus Eggleston ; constables, John C. Johnson and Frank Lane. Joseph S. Thompson was then re-elected five years in succession, and held the chairmanship six years successively. The other supervisors under him in that time were:
In 1863, William Perly and George Gay; clerk, Oliver Knutson ; treasurer, H. W. Twitchel ; assessor, Marcus Eggleston ; J. S. Thompson, overseer of the poor, which office he held till the county took them in their care; Peter J. Hilden, justice of the peace, which office he held till the year 1875, when he enlisted in the army.
In the year 1864, C. C. Roberts and Halvor Knutson were elected supervisors ; J. S. Thompson, chairman; town clerk, Reuben Ward ; treasurer, H. W. Twitchel ; assessor, Julius Munger; Constables, Caleb Reynolds and William Thomas ; justices, G. H. Gaylord and P. J. Hilden.
In the year 1865, J. S. Thompson was elected chairman ; Wm. Thomas and Daniel Mallan, supervisors; clerk, Oliver or Halvor Knutson ; assessor, George Stace: treasurer, H. W. Twitchel; justices of the peace, Marcus Eggleston and John Alley ; constables, Ole Knutson and John Lucham.
In the year 1866, J. S. Thompson was elected chairman of the board of supervisors; Wm. Thomas and John Luchan, supervisors; A. W. Fountain, clerk ; H. W. Twitchel, treasurer; S. R. Ward, assessor ; justices, Star Dennison and John Alley ; constables, B. R. Prince and J. S. Thompson.
In the year 1867, M. O. Eggleston was elected chairman of the board
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of supervisors, but did not qualify for the office, and J. S. Thompson held over that year. William Thomas and Halvor Knutson were elected supervisors ; clerk, A. W. Fountain ; treasurer, C. C. Roberts; assessor, Star Dennison; justices of the peace, Marcus Eggleston and P. J. Hilden ; constables, R. W. Dewore and J. C. Maybe.
In 1868, John Alley was elected chairman of the board of supervisors; George Stace and E. Northfield, supervisors ; clerk, Stephen Roberts ; treasurer, C. C. Roberts ; justices, H. N. Eggleston and Edwin Bullard ; assessor, Star Dennison ; constable, Albert Pratt. In 1869, John Alley was re-elected chairman of the board of supervisors; Walter Brown and John C. Johnson were elected supervisors ; Stephen Roberts, clerk ; treasurer, N. B. Gaylord.
GOODHUE.
This township was first settled in 1854 by Francis Yergens and John Mann. In 1855 David Hickock, John Ingerbretson, Harry Danielson, Oliver Knutson and Knut Knutson, came in, and selected lands and made claim. David Hickock and John Mann each built houses and opened them as hotels, and though the population in their immediate vicinity was small, travel was quite brisk, and the hotels were consid- ered a success, so much so that when P. Easterly came the next year (1856) he also built a hotel, which he kept in operation for a number of years.
The first birth in Goodhue was in 1855, when a child was born to Mrs. Frances Yergens, which was christened Henry. The wife of Mr. David Hickock died in 1856, which was the first death in town. The funeral sermon preached on that occasion was the first religious service. Rev. Jabez Brooks officiated. The first school was taught by Miss Georgi- ette Easterly, in the summer of 1857.
In 1858 H. H. Oleson opened a blacksmith shop, which was the only one in the township, till 1868, when a man named Mutz built a shop near Easterly's hotel.
There are five good school houses. Goodhue is one of the finest agricultural towns in the county, and all the farmers seem to think they cannot do better than to stick to their farms, some of whom have very large ones.
The business of the town being entirely agricultural, events have not transpired to make a very exciting history, and interesting only so far as all are interested to know that material wealth is being gathered
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yearly in the abundant harvests that are gathered from the broad and fertile prairies.
The township is rich in those material elements that constitute the temporal blessings of a people, and put beyond a reasonable possibility the chances of a lack of the necessaries of life ever clouding their bright future.
GRACE CHURCH, GERMAN LUTHERAN.
This church was organized in the spring of 1868 by the Rev. Christian Bender. It had but eight members at that time, as follows: A. See- back, Gotlieb Seeback, R. Haas, Charles Semke, William Betcher, G. Betcher, Herman Kempe and Peter Tipke.
The church was built that year at a cost of about $500, including grounds. Rev. Mr. Bender delivered the dedicatory service the last Sunday in August. A new church is now nearly completed, 36x50 feet, which will cost about $2,500. There are now forty-two members, with William Kempe, Peter Tipke, Elder Charles Sempke and Elder Fred. Wing, trustees. Services are held every third Sabbath.
OTHER CHURCHES.
On section 17 the Methodists have a church, and on section 22 stands a Presbyterian edifice. There are two Lutheran churches in the town- ship-one located on section 18 and the other on section 34. All the churches are prosperous, and the people take a deep interest in their educational and religious institutions. -
BELLE CREEK.
The first settlers in this township were two Swedes, Charles Ross and a man named Kemper, in the fall of 1853. They located on section five, built a cabin and put in the winter there. In May, 1854, Walter Doyle and five sons, Henry, Richard, Michael, Walter, jr., and John, settled sections two and four. Benom Hill and three sons, John, Henry, and Thomas, followed in July of that year, locating on sections five and eight. The next year, 1855, the township settled up rapidly, and farms and gardens and substantial habitations began to round into form.
Anna O'Neil, a daughter of James O'Neil, was the first white child born in the township, March, 1855. James Connel was the first man to die, May, 1856. He started to cross a slough with an axe on his shoulder, stumbled and fell in such a manner that the edge of the tool came in contact with his head, fracturing his skull, from the effects of which he
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died. Mrs. S. P. Chandler died on the 28th of June following, the first death resulting from natural causes.
Lewis White and Miss Emeline Hill were the first couple joined in wedlock. The event was celebrated in 1856, S. P. Chandler, a justice of the peace, performing the ceremony.
Alvin Herbert taught the first school in the winter of 1855-1856, in the basement of a stone house owned by Mr. Kirkpatrick. No school house was erected until 1859, although schools were in progress nearly every season up to that time, being held in some of the settlers' houses.
In 1856 James Allen laid out a village plat and christened it Troy City, and soon after Jesse Johnson put up a store and stocked it with goods. He had the entire trade of the place, as no other building was erected on the village site. The financial crash of 1857 came and all further attempts to do business or build a city were abandoned.
A post office was established in 1854, called "Burr Oak," and H. M. Doyle was appointed postmaster. This office was located on the stage route which led from St. Paul to Dubuque. In 1855 the mail route was changed, and the office was therefore discontinued. 1858 another office was established in the southwest portion of the township and named Belle Creek. S. P. Chandler was appointed postmaster.
On the 25th of May, 1855, the first religious services were held in the township at the residence of Benoni Hill, the Rev. Norris Hobart offici- ating.
The township is watered by Belle Creek, from which it derives its name. It flows through along the western side, and affords a fair water power, and at intervals along its borders, hay meadows, limestone ledges and fine building stone.
Belle Creek is bounded on the east by Goodhue, west by Leon, north by Vasa, and south by Minneola. The township was not organ- ized until 1858, and the first election was held at the residence of Walter Doyle, that fall, at which thirty votes were polled. S. P. Chandler was chairman of the first board of supervisors, and Patrick Drudy, was the first clerk.
LEON TOWNSHIP.
This town is bounded as follows: Cannon Falls to the north, Belle Creek on the east, Wanamingo to the south, and Warsaw on the west. The surface is mostly rolling prairie, the only marked difference being six or eight sections in the northwestern part, which are considerably broken and sandy, the ridges being covered with a light growth of tim-
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ber, caused by two of the eastern branches of the Little Cannon River having their sources in this part of the township. These little streams flow to the northwest and cross the township line near the northwest- ern corner.
The first settler in this township was Haldro Johnson, a Norwegian, who came from Dane county, Wisconsin, in the fall of 1854. He made a claim on section twenty and spent the winter there. The following summer he went back to Wisconsin, married and returned with his wife to their new home, where they have since resided. During the spring and summer of 1855 the population was increased by the addition of the following settlers and their families, all Scandinavians : A. J. Ma- lande, Andrew Larson, Guttrom Pederson, Ole Pederson, John John- son Wamberg (now deceased,) John Bottolfson, M. Edstrom, C. A. Haggstrom, William Olson and Regnold Johnson. They at once pro- ceeded to make claims and improve them. Nearly all are now living where they first located.
In the spring of 1856 a number of American families settled in the central and southeastern parts of the township, but only a few of them remained. The first birth was that of Frank Johnson, son of John and Johanna Johnson, born May 8, 1856, and died September 7, 1856; this was also the first death.
During 1857 E. A. Sargent built the first store erected in the town- ship, and stocked it, but after a few years discontinued it. In 1868, M. T. Opsal built a small store and filled it with goods. Trade soon compelled him to enlarge the building, and he is now carrying on a thriving business.
July 5, 1858, the township organization was perfected, an election being held in the store of E. A. Sargent; the following officers were elected : Supervisors, Ellery Stone, chairman, George Leasons and William Olson; town clerk, Geo. F. Sargent; assessor, F. F. Dimick ; collector, E. D. Stone; overseer of the poor, John Bussey ; justices of the peace, D. C. Stranahan and S. N. McGaughey ; constables, E. D. Stone and O. L. Stranahan. E. A. Sargent was clerk of election, and A. E. McGaughy forwarding clerk. Fifty votes were polled.
The township is now inhabited almost exclusively by a steady and industrious class of people, natives of Norway and Sweden ; the former residing principally in the southwestern portion of the township, the latter the northeastern. They are all, or nearly all, naturalized citizens ; and as their interests are thoroughly identified with the land of their adoption, they take a deep interest in the political and social welfare of the country. Many of them are men of education and ability, some of
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them having represented their districts in one or both branches of the State legislature, while others have filled local positions of trust and honor.
In an agricultural point of view the township is one of the best in the country. Its cultivated fields, possessing a soil of marvelous fertilily, its broad acres of arable lands, its timber and water, beautiful resi- dences, barns and granaries filled to repletion, flocks and herds ; and finally, the health and general prosperity of its inhabitants, are the living evidences of a section of country rich in natural resources and abounding in happy homes.
The first school taught in the township was about 1857, by a man named Daniel Van Amburg, in a log school house near where William Olson now lives. . At the present time there are seven, in which schools are taught most of the year by competent teachers.
There is but one post office in the township, Wastedo, but there are offices near the line in adjoining townships which give ample mail facilities.
The churches within the limits of the township number but two, although as in case of the post offices, the neighboring townships help them out.
CHURCHES.
The oldest church organization is the Spring Garden Swedish Evan- gelical Lutheran Church, organized July 19, 1858, at the residence of Peter Johnson, on section fifteen, under the charge of Rev. P. Beckman.
The following are the names of those who composed the congregation at that time, M. Edstrom and family, C. A. Haggstrom and family, John G., Wanberg and family, Jacob Johnson and family, John P. Johnson and family, A. W. Johnson and family, Isaac Holm and family, Peter Johnson and family, Nils Challberg and family, Peter Lundell and family, Bengt Anderson and family, A. Enberg and family, Paul Nelson, John Holm, G. Holm, P. O. Holm, C. Holm, Johannes Holm, John Edwall, John Lagerstrom, and S. Anderson. The officers were : Deacons, M. Edstrom, for one year ; John P. Johnson, two years, and Peter Johnson for three years. Trustees, Jacob Johnson, one year ; Nils Challberg, two years, and S. Anderson, three years.
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