USA > Minnesota > Hennepin County > Minneapolis > History of Hennepin county and the city of Minneapolis, including the Explorers and pioneers of Minnesota > Part 55
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William Corcoran. a native of Cork county, Ireland, was born in 1821. In ist? he came to America. Janded in Boston, Massachusetts, and Inved there two years : moved to Buffalo. Now Yok, and stayed one year, then moved to Min- nesta in 1855, and located in Corcoran. Where he now lives. He has tilled all offices of trust in the town. In ist he was married to Catherine Cran - ford. In whom he has had tive children, four are now Ining. In 1963 Mrs. Corcoran died, and in 1466 be married Mary Burke.
Dennis Daniel was born in Montreal, Can- ada. in 1525. In 1s12 he moved to Vermont
where he worked ten years at farming. In 1852 he went to Canada again and stayed one year. Came to Minnesota in 1853, and worked on the river at Stillwater three years, then went to Ar- kansas, and was engaged in lumbering three years. Ile moved to St. Pan and stayed from 1859 to 1866, when he came to Corcoran and bought the farm on which he now lives. He was married in 1854. to Mrs. Mary Hennesee. who had three children.
Joseph Degardins was born in Quebec in 1835. where he lived for seventeen years, when he went to Bangor, Maine, and worked at himbering two years. In 1854 he moved to Minnesota and worked in the woods until the spring of 1855. when he came to Corcoran and made a claim in section 19 ; sold part of it and made another on section 26, where he now lives. He enlisted in a Minnesota regiment in 1862, and served three years against the Indians, was discharged at Fort Snelling. July 1861. he was married to Miss T. Scott. They are the parents of six children.
Moses Dufour was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1832, and lived there eighteen years. In 1851 he went to Maine and worked at Iumbering tive years, to St. Anthony in 1856, went up the river and worked in the pineries five years, after which he spent seven years among the Chippewa Indi- ans as interpreter for traders. In 1870 he bought the farm where he now lives. Married Rosette Lasart. by whom he has had five children.
Joseph Dupont, a native of Montreal, Canada. was born in 1831. He lived there seventern years, when he moved to Vermont and stayed eight years. In 1856 he came to Minnesota, and made a claim in Corcoran. where he has since resided. He was married in 1859, to Angelina Fortin. They have six children now living. in 1563. Mr. and Mrs. Dupont visited their native home, remaining about ten months.
Hugh Keran, born in Ireland in 1818, came to America in Is19, landed in New York and stayed there until 1850, when he went to Buffalo. In 1556 he moved to Minnesota, and bought the Tarm he now lives on. He married, in 1862, Mar- garet Branagan, by whom he has had two chil- dren.
John McDonnell is a native of Waterford county, Ireland, where he was born in 1835. Ile omigrated to America in 1852. and settled in
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CORCORAN-BIOGR.IPHIICAL.
Orange county, New York ; remained there two years, then went to Wisconsin and lived one year: from there he came to Minnesota and made a claim in Corcoran, in 1855. He lived in Minneapolis in 1856. and in 1857 went to his claim, where he has since resided. He held the otlice of town supervisor one year, and town treasurer seven years. Ile married, in 1856, Sarah Crawford, by whom he has had ten children.
Francis Morin was born in Quebec, in 1826, and lived there twenty years. ITe moved to Lake Superior in 1846, worked in the copper and iron mines for three years, and then returned to Que- bec. In 1851 he moved to St. Anthony and stayed four years, when he came to Corcoran and has since resided here. He was married in 1863 to Alice O'llearn. He is the father of seven chil- dren.
Joseph Morin was born in Montreal, in 1810. lle lived there thirty years : went to Michigan in 1840, stayed about one year, then worked four years at Lake Superior as ship-wright. Married, in 1844. Lissette Landean. In 1845 he started for Minnesota with a birch bark canoe ; and accompanied by his wife, followed the Black river fifteen days, then they packed their few things and he carried the eanoe. on foot, to the St. Croix river, which they reached in one day : they followed it to the Mississippi, thence to St. Paul, where they remained eleven years. Moved to Corcoran in 1856, and have since resided here. They have nine children.
David Noonan, a native of Ireland, was born in 1820. lle lived there thirty years, and came to AAmerica in 1850. He went to Philadelphia. where he remained six years, then removed to lowa for one year. and in 1857 came to Corcoran. where he has since resided. Married, in 1863, Margaret Hayes. They have one daughter.
Jacob Oswald was born in Pennsylvania, Octo- ber 1850. Ile lived there six years, and in 1856, moved to Minnesota with his parents, with whom he lived until seventeen years of age, when his father bought a farm for him and his brother. In 1873 he bought the farm he now lives on. He married in 1873, Caroline Kothrada, by whom he has four children.
Christian Ranking was born in Prussia, in 1835. He lived there twenty-four years ; moved to Ame- riea in 1859, and settled in Corcoran, where he
now resides. Ile was drafted in 1865, into the Second Minnesota Regiment, and was discharged at Washington, at the close of the war. In 1860 he married Katrine Heagleman. They have ten children living.
Frederich Reinking, a native of Prussia, was born in 1827. He emigrated to America in 1847: stopped in Baltimore five months, then went to Pittsburg and remained seven years, working on a steamboat. In 1855 he moved to St. Paul, thence to Corcoran where he has since lived. Hlis wife was Charlotte Schafer; by ber, he has had eleven children, eight of whom are now living.
Fred. Schmette was born in Hanover, in 1826, where he lived twenty-one years. He came to America in 1854, resided in Pittsburg eleven months and moved to Minnesota in 1855; stopped a short time in St. Paul, then came to Corcoran. which has since been his home. In 1863 he joined the Third Minnesota Regiment, went south with it and was gone sixteen months. He married Minnie Schomaker in 1852,by whom he has one son.
F. W. Webb was born in England. in 1849, and lived there twenty-one years. He emigrated to America in 1870, and settled in Corcoran where he has since resided. le has built a substantial farm-house valued at $1,000. In the fall of 1872 he returned to England, and married Elizabeth Barrows; he returned the following spring with his wife to his home in Corcoran. They are the parents of two children.
Peter Weinand, a native of Germany, was born in 1838. Hle emigrated to America in 1852, and settled in Wisconsin: removed to Minnesota in 1856. and in 1858 bought the farm in Corcoran on which he has since lived. In 1877, he was elected representative from the twenty-seventh district. and has held every position of trust in his town. He married, in 1864. Mary Swagert, by whom he has six children.
August Westphal was born in Prussia, in 1831. ile was educated in his native land; graduated from the College of Bromberg. and followed school-teaching for twelve years. Enlisted in the German army in 1851, and served three years in Berlin. Hle emigrated to America in 1864, settled in Milwaukee and taught school. In 1866 he came to Minnesota, and finally settled in Coreoran. Married, in 1866, Emily Long, by whom he has had Fourteen children.
21
HISTORY OF HENNEPIN COUNTY
MAPLE GROVE.
CHAPTER LI1.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION FIRST SETTLEMENT- ORGANIZATION - - CHURCHES LYCEUM SCHOOLS MANI FACTURES TOWN HOUSE CEMETERIES ROSTER FOR 1880 BIOGRAPHI-
The town of Maple Grove is situated in the northern central part of Hennepin county, and is bounded on the north by Dayton and Champlin. rast in Brooklyn and Osseo, south by Plymouth. and west by Corcoran. The surface of the town is rolling. excepting on sections 22 and 23, where it is bluffy. When first settled. it was heavily tim- bered with a large growth of ehm. oak. basswood and maple, the latter growing in large quantities. scattered in such beautiful groves over the town, that it was named Maple Grove, The south- eastern portion of the town is covered with a low underbrush. Bottineau Prairie, west of Osseo, includes half of section 1, all of section 12. one- quarter of section 1. and half of seetion 13. 11 is bordered by a narrow belt of brush land. The remaining portion is timber and wild meadow land, with fine rich meadows bordering on Rush Creek. The soil is a black loam with clay sub-soil. excepting on the east part of the prairie, where it is gravel. There are several lakes in the town, all well stocked with fish, except Mud Lake ; among them are Eagle Lake, in the south-east corner of the town. occupying the greater portion of section 36: this is the largest lake in the town. Fish Lake is a long and somewhat irregular- shaped body, watering portions of sections 21. 22. 27 and 26. Weaver Lake, on sections 17. 18. 19 and 20, in the west part, and Rice Lake near the centre, mostly on section 16. Cedar Island Lake on sections 26 and 27, takes its name from the three islands that it surrounds, which are coy- ered with a small growth of cedar. It is also watered by Elm Creek, which rises in the north-
eastern part of Plymouth. and flows north-easterly tirough Rice Lake ; thence on in the same direc- tion, emptying into Hayden's Lake, in the town of Dayton. Rush Creek also flows through the northern portion of the town in an easterly diree- tion. and forms a junction with Ehm Creek on section 34, in Dayton, near the northern bound- ary line of the town.
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
The stillness of the forests which covered much of the territory now embraced within the limits of the town of Maple Grove, had never been dis- turbed, except by the stealthy tread of the Indian, until Louis P. Garvais, in 1851, broke the silence which for ages had pervaded the wilderness. He settled on the southeast quarter of section 12. and sounded the first notes of civilization from that point. With his family he labored, battling with the forest and wild beasts, and with the more for- midable Winnebagos, who, two years after his settlement, were removed to their reservation.
About the same time came William M. Ewing. who helped survey the town and name it. Ewing moved to Osseo, in 1857. With the retirement of the Indians, the prospects of the settlers bright - ened, and the face of the country was soon dotted with the betterments of a hardy class of pioncers.
In May, 1854, came Harvey Abel, who, following the course of empire, westward, marked his claim where the Town House now stands. the first west of Bottineau Prairie. He sold his claim and made another, and, full of Yankee enterprise, sold that and made the third and last claim, the one on which he now lives, built his log cabin, covered it with bark, and used the same material for door and fables, cooked for himself. and lived alone for three years. The same year came A. O. Angell, and settled on section 10, built his cabin of rough logs and covered it with bark, split and laid bass- wood slabs for his floor, and commenced house- keeping. The same year eame W. E. Evans, from Chittenden county, Vermont, and located
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MAPLE GROVE-FIRST SETTLEMENT-CHURCHES.
on section 4, where he now lives. Ile built the first log cabin on the road between Min- neapolis and Crow River. Patrick Devery also came in 1854, and located on section 28, where he still lives. He built him a home, and gathered about him a small stock of cattle. He had one cow stolen and killed by the Indians, who roasted one-half of it, and took the rest away with them, on their way to the battle between the Chippewas and Sioux, at Shakopee, in 1858.
Late in 1854, O. R. Champlin came and set -. tled on section 16. He built his house in the woods, and in the place of bark, which was then much in use for eovering, used wooden troughs for shingles.
In 1855, came J. II. Briggs, who settled on sec- tion 4, in the north part of the town, and built his log house; brought his provisions on his back. from Saint Anthony, a distance of sixteen miles, marked trees being his only guide. The same year eame John Cook, and located on seetion 30. In June of the same year, Luther Hoff came and settled on section 8; he died in October 1864. ITis widow, Mrs. Minerva Hoff, is still living on the place. About the same time came Patrick Darmody and settled on section 31. in the south- west corner of the town. In the fall of the same year, came William Trott, and settled on sec- tion 10. ITe lived in a little shanty covered with bark, the first winter, and with the true pioneer pluek, he worked on alone, opening up his farm, until now he has all the evidences of thrift around him. In 1856. John M. Eddy came from Addi- son county, Vermont, and settled in the north part on section 4, of the town, and is now an honored and respected citizen. Ile has filled the office of town clerk for many years, with credit to himself and satisfaction to the lown. George A. Laffin came from Chittenden county, Ver- mont, in 1856, and settled on section 10, in the north part of the town, and is now one of the prominent citizens of Maple Grove. From this date (1856) settlements were quite rapid, and the next eare was the church and school, the only real foundations upon which a community can securely build. The first preaching in the town was at the house of P. B. Newton, on section 4, in 1855, by Rev. L. Atkinson, a Baptist. Later, in 1856-7, came the Rev. C. G. Ames and held services in the north part
of the town, preaching to the Free Will Baptists for about a year. About the same time, came the Rev. Mr. White, Methodist, preaching at the house of P. B. Newton, on section 4. The first school was taught in the summer of 1858, in an old vacant dwelling house on section 4, by Delos Hawkins. The first marriage was that of J. M. Eddy to Mary E. Evans, February 24th, 1857, by Rev. Lewis Atkinson.
First birth, Persis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. II. Briggs, in the winter of 1855-6.
First deaths, Alonzo and Melissa Corey, chil- dren of James M. Corey, in the winter of 1855-6.
ORGANIZATION.
The first meeting for the purpose of organizing a board of town officers, was held April 11, 1858, at the house of Hiram Blowers. Meeting called to order and ITiram Blowers elected Moderator, and J. M. Eddy Clerk. Supervisors, A. C. Aus- tin, Jeremiah Brown, Robert Woodard ; Town Clerk, J. M. Eddy : Assessor, William R. Champ- lin : Collector, Chauncey Blowers; Overseer of Poor, P. B. Newton : Constables, Charles Savage and J. M. Corey : Justices, William E. Evans and Moses Blowers.
Previous to this organization a vote was taken on the "Five Million Loan." and every vote in the preeinet was against it.
CHURCHES.
There are two Methodist Episcopal churches in the town, one located on section 17, and built in 1868. A class was formed about twenty years ago, and from it has grown the present church. Rev. Mr. White was the first minister. The ser- ond Methodist Episcopal church is located on section 4, in the north part of the town, and is not yet completed, but in a condition to permit publie worship. Both the Methodist churches are now supplied semi-monthly by the pastor from the town of Champlin.
Maple Grove Catholic Church is located on section 29, in the south-western part of the town near school No. 45, has been in charge of the Rev. Father, A. Ladriere for the past five years, and has a membership of over a hundred families.
The Congregationalists had preaching for a few years in the school-house on section 4, by the Rev. A. K. Packard, from Anoka, but for the past seven years have had no regular preaching.
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HISTORY OF HENNEPIN COUNTY.
The Universalists have preaching occasionally in the school-house on section 1. by Revs. Good- rich and Harrington. There is also an Episcopal Service conducted semi-monthly at the same place by the Rev. Mr. Pise. of Minneapolis.
1. O. G. T. This Lodge was organized in 1565. They built for their accommodation.a hall over the schoolhouse in District No. 12. where regular meetings were hell for several years. and the town rejoiced over the good work it was doing, but like all human efforts, it had the germ of decay in it, which fed upon its vitality until it finally became entirely extinct.
MAPLE GROVE LYCEUM.
Was organized in the winter of Isas-9. in the schoolhouse in District 12. In connection with 11. was started a paper called the " Maple Grove Watchman." read cach week during the winter months. It was here the " Conscript Fathers" of the town. met to discuss the leading questions of the day to measure swords in an earnest de- bate, and it is to be hoped. always rising above the debasing influences of an angry discussion. It grew, and flourished tor a time. calling to its and such men as W. 1. Crawford. Assistant Edi- ton of the " New York Graphic." who gave them a leftme the first winter of its existence. The . Watchman " chronicled the events of the town and many were the sharp "home thrusts " that Bristled from its columns. But its glory is past. and it. bke some of its founders has gone to rest.
The school system in this town is equal to any mn Hennepin county, which is called the banner county of the state. The first school in the town was established on section t. in school district No. 12. and is now a joint district. The other joint ones me No. 101. located on section 6, and No. 16, lo- cated on section 27. The entire districts are No. 15. located on section 29. No. 11. located on see- tion 17. and No. 100, located on section 9. Be- des ther a joint districts Nos. 83, 13 and 15. Jones Jrated mothertownships. All the school Tonldings in the town are nearly new and in good to pan. 12 and te are furnished with patent
MANUFACTURES.
A small saw-mill was built on Elm Creek, see- tion 10. in 1865. by Franklin Cook and changed lo a grist mill in 1868. It now has two run of stone, one for flour and one for feed, which is a great convenience for the immediate neighbor- hood. There are in the town. four amber cane mills, owned and located as follows: S. S. Hawk- ins, on section 3; E. P. Woodworth, on section 3: Henry Abel on section 17. and one on section IS. owned by William and James Chapman. Each one of them has a capacity of from eight 10 sixteen hundred gallons annually.
TOWN HOUSE.
The first building used for a town house, was purchased of Hiram Blowers and fitted up for the use of the town in 1863. It is located on ser- tion 9. It was used until the present building was erected on the site of the old one in 1877. Size. 22x32, one story high. well built and in good condition.
CEMETERIES.
There are three cemeteries in the town, located as follows: One on section 1, established sixteen years ago by an association, as a general burial ground : and one on the extreme west line of see tion 7 ; also one on the north line of the same section.
OFFICIAL ROSTER FOR ISSO.
Supervisors - William E. Evans, chairman, Fred Pauley and James McConnell : Town Clerk, J. M. Eddy : Treasurer. George A. Latin: As- sessor, John A. Conover: Justices, Charles Leon- ard and William E. Evans: Constables. William Joslin and John Odenbreicht. Whole number of acres. 21.318. Valuation of real estate, $293.162; of personal property, $17,607. Taxes for 1880, $3.505. Population in 1880. 1.156.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
Henry Abel was born in Essex county, New York, May Sth. 1821. He lived there twenty- three years, and in Hillsdale, Michigan. four years. Married Am E. Lobdell, in 1850; she died in 1552. He came to Minnesota in April, 1×51. and took a claim in Maple Grove, where the town house now stands. He did the first mason work this side of St. Anthony. He made a claim and sold it ; then made another ; sold
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MAPLE GROVE-BIOGRAPHICAL.
that, and took the one he now lives on ; buill a log house ten feet square and covered it with bark, using the same material for floor and tables. In 1858, he was married to Sarah M. Brown, who died in 1861. He married his third wife, Sarah Weaver, in IS62. Mr. Abel built a new house, which, with contents. was destroyed by fire in 1870. Ile is the father of four children. His third wife died in October, 1880.
A. O. Angell was born in Bridgewater, Ver- mont, in [834. Hle moved with his parents lo Michigan. then to Ohio, and in 1854, came to Minnesota. and made a claim in Maple Grove. .Inne 8th, 1865, he married Mary Atkinson. They have two children living. He lived in his cabin covered with bark and with floor of bass- wood slabs. until 1858. Mr. Angell helped to ent the first road leading from Osseo to Rice Lake.
J. H. Briggs was born in Smyrna, Chenango county, New York, April 19th, 1828. He came to Minnesota, and located in Maple Grove in 1855. Married Jane A. Faulkner in 1852. They have six children. The first year he came, he had to carry provisions on his back from St. Anthony to his home, a distance of sixteen miles. At that time, Minneapolis had but two houses. Mr. Briggs is one of the oldest settlers in this town.
William Brooks was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, December 6th, 1826. He remained with his parents twenty years. Lived in Wisconsin eight years, and came to Minnesota in 1857. locat- ing in Maple Grove, where he now lives. In 1852 he married Mary A. Carter, who died in Decem- ber, 1861. His second wife was Sarah L. Jene- son. The first eight years that he was here. he lived in a log house that was covered with red- oak shakes, and had a floor of split basswood.
Octave Caron, a native of Canada, was born in 1836. He lived there seventeen years ; then came to Minnesota, and worked on a farm; atso at the Sioux Agency. In 1855 he went to Shakopee. He ran a ferry for two seasons, at Mendota. En- listed in 4th Minnesota, Company E. Was in Sherman's march to the sea. and was honorably discharged in 1865. He has lived in Maple Grove since 1878. In 1859 he married Philomene Le Due. They have nine children living. He owns land in Brooklyn. and Wheatland. Rice county.
O. R. Champlin, born in Chenango county, New York, January 8th, 1832, and came to Maple
Grove in 1854. He married Miss HI. M. Bosworth, in 1857. The first winter he passed in this county, the Winnebagoes gave him some trouble. He buitt his house in the woods, using wooden troughs for shingles. Mr. Champtin was in Stearns county during the Indian outbreak. Nearly all the people left the country, excepting his family and a young man named Warner.
John Cook was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1820. When fifteen years of age, he had learned the bakers' trade; came to America in 1849, stopping a short time in New York and Buffalo. In 1850 he went to DuPage county. Illinois, and remained five years. He married Mrs. Mary Ann Hardy. Came to Minnesota in 1855 and settled in Maple Grove. They have ten children living. Mrs. Cook died June Ist. 1876.
Patrick Darmody (deceased) was born in Tip- perary, Ireland, in 1825. Came to America, stop- ping a short time in New Orleans and Cincin- nati, landed in Minnesota May 24th, 1855, and settled in Maple Grove. Ile married Ellen Pe- ters. July 19th, 1855. There are six children living. Mr. Darmody died December 5th, 1879.
Patrick Devery, a native of Ireland, was born in 1818, and lived with his parents twenty-one years. He then came to America; stayed in Ohio a few months, and in New York ten years. Came to Minnesota and settled in Maple Grove, October 1854 : he made a shanty of rough boards a bedstead of hickory poles, and used a dry-goods box for a table. Mr. Devery is the father of eleven children.
Fredrick Ebert was born in Germany, 1816, came to Illinois in 1817. Married October 10th, 1848. to Julia Ostrath, of Macon county, Illinois, and lived there eighteen years. Came to Hennepin county. in 1864. Have eleven children : John, Frederick, Margaret, George, Julia, Adam, Henry, Susan, Charles, Conrad and Willie.
Louis Pierre Garvais was born at Wolf River. near Montreal Canada, in 1810. Lived there sixteen years. and moved to Lake Champlain, New York, where he resided for twenty-two years : then came to Saint Pant, remained there two years, and one year in Saint Anthony. after which he came to what is now Maple Grove. He made his claim on what is known as Bottineau Prairie, and was the first settler in this town. For nearly two years their only neighbors were
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HISTORY OF HENNEPIN COUNTY.
the Winnebago Indians. After he had been here nearly two years. the whites began to settle around him. Ile married Mary Twombley. in New York. October 15th, 1530. They have had ten children, four boys and six girls, all living. with the exception of the first-born, who died at the age of eleven. in York State. On the 15th of October. 1880. Garvais and wife. celebrated their golden wedding, at Osseo, impressive ceremonies being held at the church. Eight children, and seventy-tive grand children were present.
John M. Eddy is a native of New Haven. Ver- mont. When twenty-two years old. he went to California, and stayed about five years. In 1856 he came to Minnesota. and settled in Maple Grove. He was married in 1857, to Mary E. Evans, of Chittenden county, Vermont. They have five children. Mr. Eddy was the first town clerk. and held the office nine years. Heenlisted in the Second Minnesota Cavalry. December 22d. 1663, was discharged December 20, 1865, and has been farming since that time.
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